Apr 2, 2010
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See, I’ve never had braces. I had an orthodontic appliance where there were 2 brackets on my back molars with a thick wire behind my bottom teeth – like this. So I was completely unaware about the actual pain experienced after braces are applied. I have had my top front 6 teeth capped, which hurt like crazy, and 2 wisdom teeth extracted, which was horrible, but I’ve never had braces.
I knew just intellectually that it hurts. You put metal stuff on your teeth and strapped wires to them, pulling, stretching, pushing your immobile teeth to different positions. That’s gonna hurt. Apparently, however, the pain is pretty darn bad in these first couple of days. My children are miserable, and Steven just has them on his top teeth.
I’ve been giving them the allowable dosage of Advil & Tylenol, offering popsicles and we even went out for smoothies today. We stopped at the hospital so Steven could say hi to Daddy and left Maggie in the car with Henry & Will. By the time we returned, Maggie was SOBBING. Tears just running down her face, trying to be brave and not complain, but the pain was more than she could bear. Not one to tolerate it when my kids are suffering, we went to the store and I stocked up. Two kinds of Anbesol, more Advil, popsicles. A Water Pik, books for Maggie and a Bionicle for Steven. Then off to pick up Easter dinner at Honeybaked Ham. Then to a Chinese restaurant to get soup & shrimp noodles for Maggie to eat. Looks like it’s going to be a couple days of smoothies, milkshakes, mashed potatoes (for Steven) and soup (for Maggie). Maggie doesn’t do mashed potatoes, pudding, yogurt or other soft foods. I just hope it gets better for them soon. Steven was actually insisting that we go back to the doctor and have the braces removed NOW. He said he’d rather have his crossbiting tooth pulled rather than continue on with this pain. Talk about living only for the moment?
Steve is back home after 3 days in the hospital and hopefully better. Everything looked fine – CAT scan, Xrays, EKG – nothing showed anything alarming at all. We’ll see what happens over the next week.
And I just received news that made me excited for the 1st time in days. Jason Isaacs has a new show (hopefully) coming to FOX in which he plays an attorney alongside John Larroquette. My Jason on network TV. De. Lic. Ious.
Jan 11, 2010
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A lovely nap this morning, my 30 minute Wii Fit workout, a scrumptious dinner of herb-baked salmon, green beans & rice and now sitting with Maggie watching my pretend celebrity boyfriend as the most delicious Captain Hook ever. I mean, seriously. If there’s a Hook that’s yummier than this, I don’t wanna know. It would make me swallow my tongue.
Anyway…..let me attempt to get my focus back. Wait…it’s the final fight scene. Dang, he’s good…
“A thimble…? How like a girl.” LOVE that line and his delivery of it.
Okay. 10 minutes later…
I love my Wii Fit. I have done 30 minutes every day since we got it. I love it. And I’m doing quite well. Between the exercise & the delcious Cooking Light meals I’ve been making, I’m already down NINE POUNDS. And, I know, I don’t want the weight to come off too fast, but, believe me, I’m eating just fine and not doing anything extreme. Plus, when you’re as heavy as I am, the weight falls off pretty fast at first. It’s getting ALL of it off that’s the real problem. It’s just really cool. I’m actually enjoying exercising. I’m not getting bored yet (which I always do) and it’s set up so nicely to keep things interesting and fun. It’s much more fun to do exercises if you’re getting feedback on them (am I doing this right? how many calories have I burned?) plus, turning them into a game rather than just a series of annoying repetitions is awesome. They’ve even got premade routines based on what you might want to work on, like Warm Up, Hips, Tummy, Figure, Balance, Arms, etc. that put together 3 different exercises into a 7-8 minute focused routine for you. No thinking required. I’ve been doing about 4 of those and then finishing up with the Basic Run or Rhythm Kung Fu or Island Cycling for a fun finish. I mean, I’m RUNNING. Not much, not fast, not hard, but I’m RUNNING. You’d be hard-pressed to come up with a monetary figure that would have forced my big ‘ole butt to run previous to this.
In addition, Steven and Maggie are enjoying it as well. Steven’s getting a big kick out of all of it – just running and cycling and boxing and kung-fuing to his heart’s content. I actually have to tell him to stop so he doesn’t overdo it. He’s lost almost 3 pounds already. Maggie is doing great, too. She wants to focus on the fun balance exercises which aren’t hard, so I’m trying to encourage her to do more of the actual exercises that will help her body. She’s started doing some of the routines, too. I can’t remember how much she’s lost, but she’s down as well. I see nothing but positivity resulting from this. Even if we don’t “get skinny”, which I probably won’t, because I’m not built like that, it will rock to be more healthy, more active and less manatee-like.
In lighter news, Steven has made a decision about his future. After much consideration, he will be moving to Seaside Heights, NJ to join the cast of Jersey Shore. He will become a “guido” and attempt to take over the world with hair gel, light sabers and Bionicles. My prediction? That, at eight years old, he will be smarter, more capable and less horrifying than all the castmembers put together. He’s got the ‘tude goin’ and that “yeah, I’m better than you” rockin’. He’s gonna have to work on his tan, though.
Reach for the stars, buddy. Reach for the stars.
Nov 2, 2007
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Does it get any better than this? Some of the stuff that comes out of my boy’s mouth is simply mind-boggling. I’m talking to Maggie – something about being “slender”. From the backseat comes this: “Mommy, what’s “slender” mean?” “Slim….skinny, Steven.” Pause Pause “Speaking of skinny,” Steven states, “weasels are skinny.” What??? What???!?!? Where the bloody blazes did THAT come from?? His mind is a terrifying place.
So….Brotherhood on Showtime. I have to say, I LOVE this show. Now, I know what you’re going to say. “Of course you love Brotherhood, Christy. It could be an hour long show of Jason Isaacs trimming his toenails & you’d sing its praises.” And your point would be….? Seriously – this show is AMAZING. The writing is outstanding & the acting….sheesh. The acting is simply brilliant. Yes, the language is very, very vulgar. However, if you liked The Sopranos, then Brotherhood is an excellent replacement. Jason Isaacs as Michael Caffee is, of course, freaking incredible. It would be so easy to just play him as a caricature, but this character is so incredibly fleshed out – you can almost see every emotion, every struggle, every decision played out on his face. Michael seems, to me, to be a man who is very smart, very loyal and very conflicted. His family is, without a doubt, #1 in his life. You don’t mess with Michael’s family or he will rip your throat out. Watching him deal with his traumatic brain injury this season is some of the finest acting I’ve ever seen. The only problem I have with his storyline is that I don’t see Michael doing what he’s done with Cath & her kids. It seems to me that Michael’s sense of family would be so strong that he wouldn’t break up Cath’s family simply because he wanted her. He would make it clear that he’d be there if she made the decision to leave her husband, but he wouldn’t just move in like that. Plus, I don’t think Cath is right for him. She seems to be too filled with trepidation. She’s always looking slightly frightened & unsure of herself & Michael. I would think that, with the mother Michael has, he would be drawn to a much stronger woman.
Speaking of mothers, Michael & Tommy’s mother is one of the scariest women I’ve ever seen on TV. I can barely watch her. She’s played by Fionnula Flannigan, who I first saw in the Nicole Kidman movie, “The Others”, where she played this creepy ghost of a woman. She creeped the hell out of me in that movie and she continues to creep me out here. Rose Caffee is a brick wall of a woman – cross her & you will smash your face in. She will destroy you with manipulation & guilt & a little bit of scheming.
As scary as Rose is, however, even she cowers in the presence of the wife of her unrequited love, Judd Fitzgerald. Mrs. Fitzgerald makes Rose look like Barbara Bush – this woman is HARD. She’s blunt, brash, and calls it like she sees it. She’s sure of herself & her position & makes it clear that if you mess with her world, you will be crushed, smashed & humiliated. Then there’s Tommy – poor Tommy. He’s actually a good guy who’s surrounded by crap & is now dealing with it all. His cheating, druggie of a wife, the return of his gangster brother, corruption in the House, all of it. And it’s starting to bring him down, too. Y’know on the Sopranos how there was Paulie Walnuts – who most of the time, didn’t even seem to be acting? He just WAS this guy & happened to be there. That’s how I feel about Freddie Cork. He’s just totally got this character DOWN and every time he’s on screen, it’s like he just happened to be in the shot. I totally loved the recent scene when he’s got the guy from the furniture store in the back room & Michael goes to break his leg with a cement block. Freddie’s expression is priceless. Then there’s Decco. I simply cannot believe that Declan is played by the same guy from Can’t Hardly Wait. There ain’t NONE of that cute little teenager in Declan. This poor guy is going to choke on his own vomit soon – I’m just so sad for him. And when Michael finds out that Declan’s the one who beat the living snot out of him, causing the brain injury, Decco’s gonna be lucky if he makes it out alive. Seriously, Dec, lose the Vicodin & the whiskey. You still have a chance….I think. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Everybody’s awesome in this. Annabeth Gish as Tommy’s Wife, Eileen – she’s so haunted & I have no idea why. Because she’s bored?? Len Cariou as Judd Fitzgerald – this guy played SWEENEY TODD, y’all. I didn’t even recognize him – but anybody who originated Sweeney is kick butt in my book. Even the guy who plays Moe (I’m sorry…JEFF) has it nailed. I hate that character, but then, I’m supposed to. I love this show.
Now if my brother, Andrew, could just get a gig on this show… I mean, he’s Scottish, which is KINDA close to Irish. He went to Brown, so he KNOWS Providence. He’s really good at accents. He could fix everybody’s laptops. Please hire him, O Brotherhood Powers That Be. I could be ONE degree separated from my Pretend Celebrity Boyfriend.
Oct 28, 2007
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We’re still only about halfway in the house, but it’s starting to feel home-ish. It helps that the master bedroom is feeling so amazing. It’s so big – it’s truly incredible to me to be able to sit on the floor & play with the kids in my bedroom. I could hardly even walk from the door to my side of the bed without injuring myself in the old house, so this is freaking me out.
We got our new washing machine yesterday. Add us to the list of eco-friendly households now. It’s an Energy Star front-loading appliance, so I’m doing my part to be more greenish. Plus, it works. So that’s good.
For those of you who’ve been around Motherhood…Unscripted for a while are already aware of my love/hate (without the love part) relationship with inflatable lawn ornaments. I realized the other day that we’ve entered into what’s, in my opinion, the most loathsome time of year. That’s right, folks, inflatable season is upon us. The last quarter of the year when everybody decides that nothing would be more attractive & create more curb appeal than to place seasonal inflatable eyesores on their lawns. Inflatable snowglobes filled with the demons of hell and creepy possessed trees, Pooh & Tigger dressed up in Halloween costumes, blow-up archways with glowing eyes. It’s so festive. Especially when they lose their air. Flapping obscenely in the cold October wind. Ew.
Steve & I decided we’re commissioning 2 inflatable lawn decorations for our new home. The first will be the Holy Family riding a Jet Ski. Mary cuddling the newborn baby Jesus, Joseph behind the controls & an “I Love The Dells” sticker on the back end. It’ll play “Silent Night” really, really loud. The second will be saved for Easter. It’s gonna be phenomenal. A 20 foot tall inflatable recreation of the crucifixion. As depicted in “The Passion of the Christ”. Complete with realistic blood, thieves flanking Him, Roman soliders piercing His side, all of it. I’m gonna take a screen shot from Mel Gibson’s masterpiece & have it made in full inflatable glory. Because if I have to look at the monstrosities I’m seeing to celebrate Halloween & Christmas, somebody’s gonna have to look at what my Savior did for us. In blow-up form.
PS: We have Showtime now. Which means I got to see Brotherhood at its regularly scheduled time. Jason Isaacs’ character posed as a cable guy to break into some guy’s house. Which made me think, “Why wasn’t THAT my cable guy??” Sheesh. :sigh:
