the sometimes senseless ravings (and the occassional rant) of an aspiring marine ecologist who may enjoy killing things a little too much

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Dear Weather Broadcasters...

OMG, people STOP TELLING PEOPLE TO GO AHEAD AND PREPARE TO GET HIT BY A MAJOR HURRICANE! do you have any idea how much shit i have to do before monday? not even considering hurricane preparation? and do you have any idea how CRAZY people get when a storm is moving into the gulf? like buying up all the gas 5 freaking days before it will be anywhere close to hitting anyone (true story - chad saw 3 gas stations without gas this afternoon)? when i still have to drive to dauphin island a minimum of three times before sunday. which means I WILL HAVE TO BUY GAS TWICE. just to get to work and home again. not even hoarding any. just filling up my car. geez.

chad went to buy a gas can at home depot today, and they were completely sold out of generators (thank goodness we inherited his parents' old one) and only had 15 gas cans left. crazy.

do you know what i have to do this week? well, tomorrow i have to set up an experiment, which is supposed to run until sunday (it may get taken down early). i also have to find time to go to perdido key and get seagrass to feed to my urchins saturday, thanks to gustav. plus, this is a major grocery shopping week. i am so screwed on that front. i usually do grocery shopping on saturday mornings. but this weekend will be madness and store shelves will be bare, i'm sure. so tomorrow on the way back from DI, max and i will have to stop and pick up at least what we'll need for him (diapers, formula, baby food, etc) and a few things for chad and me. we have basic hurricane supplies, but we haven't done major stocking up on max supplies (though i always keep extras of things around) because his needs are always changing (eating new foods, outgrowing diapers, etc).

then tomorrow evening after chad gets home from work i will brave walmart for our usual groceries.

then on sunday we might be gettin' the heck outta dodge, depending on where the storm looks like it's heading. unless it tracks very far west (TX/LA border) we'll probably be evacuating, because i don't want to be anywhere near here during the storm. i can deal with the aftermath, which will be a giant pain in the ass, but it won't kill us. ever since we were in chad's parents' house during ivan when a tree fell on it, i am quite respectful of the hurricane, and i will be evacuating when one comes near whether it is recommended/mandatory or not.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Silly

Improvement

it looks like things are finally improving here in latina-land. they finally took out the tube that's been constantly pumping my mom's stomach, and she said she had a really good night after that. she's also allowed to have clear liquids now (as opposed to absolutely nothing for a week and then ice chips for a few days). they may try some jello or similarly soft and watery food today. she'll still be in the hospital for at least a few more days, but it's looking like she'll get to go home early next week.

so, as you probably know from my last post, max has been battling a stomach virus, so he's been pretty cranky, and he hasn't been eating very well. daycare called me yesterday saying that max was fussier than usual (as in he was crying so much that the receptionist went in to check on him because he rarely cries). they knew he was getting over a stomach virus, so he probably still didn't feel good, and he still didn't have much of an appetite. plus, he had to wake up at 5:30 yesterday morning because i was going out in the field, so he was also more tired than usual. oh, and he has another crazy rash. i swear, he has to be the rashiest baby ever. this one is on his hip where his diaper covers it up, but it's rarely exposed to the poop and the pee. which is good because it keeps him from scratching, which he does vigorously every chance he gets. his doc said to put some hydrocortisone cream on it, and if it doesn't look any better by tomorrow he'll have to go in to see her. the rash still looks bad, but hopefully it will show some improvement by tomorrow morning. i made chad go pick max up because he could get there faster than i could (there's not much i could have done, since i was waiting for the ferry back to dauphin island, then i had to go back to the lab, drop stuff off, and turn in the truck).

max's tummy issues seem better today. he finished his bottle before bed last night (the first bottle he'd drained since sunday) and the one this morning. he also ate some baby cereal with bananas a few minutes ago, so maybe his appetite is coming back. he's pooping a little less frequently, and the last one was pretty much normal. we'll see how it goes with peas and carrots for lunch. he didn't want any peas at dinner last night, and this boy loves his peas.

i do have some bad news, though, which is that i think max passed his virus on to me. blah. i don't feel like eating, and when i do it makes me queasy. i'm chillin' at home with max today, so maybe i'll feel better tomorrow.

Monday, August 18, 2008

So Much Poop

OMG, who knew a baby could poop SO MUCH? i feel bad for the little guy. he's pooping again right now. i've lost count. this is either poop #6 or #7 for today. yikes. it isn't pretty. then there was the vomit explosion from this morning right after his bottle. thankfully, there hasn't been anymore vomit. just the poop. he's not eating anything. how in the world can he poop so much?

Sunday, August 10, 2008

There Are Hardly Words

why is that you run out of words for the most important things in life? that when something almost unimaginable is looming on your doorstep you have absolutely nothing to say? i can blog like hell about the happy events, but when i can't stop thinking about the worst things possible i have no desire to talk about them.

see these posts from two years ago. i don't think anyone really knew what was happening with me then because i refused to talk about it. because talking about it makes it more real. that's where we are again. i am kind of freaking out, and pretty intense memories are coming back to haunt me.

Saturday, August 02, 2008