Halloween Horror

Today was Day #5 in the quest to find Sarah her Halloween costume. You see, my mom (a.k.a. Tyra the Taskmaster) didn't come for her yearly Fall visit. This means stuff that I usually put off doing until she is here to MAKE me do such as clean up all the crap . . . I mean clutter from off the top of my dryer and finding Halloween costumes for kids. . . still hasn't been done. There can't be anything more TORTUROUS in my book (other than potty-training a stubborn 2 1/2 year old) than trying to round up costumes for 3 kids. That in and of itself is the perfect call to action for birth control. Less kids means less costumes which means less stress and headaches for mothers that can't figure out cutesy costumes for her kids every year. Since we struck out YET AGAIN in the quest to find a costume for Sarah, I figured I wouldn't make the same mistake as last year and do the Halloween candy run at 6:45 p.m. on Halloween night. Just for future reference in case you didn't already know, it's a very very very good idea to purchase Halloween candy prior to Halloween. Otherwise, you might have to do what we did last year and A. Turn off all the lights in the house and pretend that you're not home or B. Send hubby and 3 kids down the street and around the corner to Trick or Treat to as many houses as possible and as fast as possible, returning to the house so mom can pillage through the kids' Halloween stash and "re-gift" all the yucky candies that mom and kids won't eat OR giving out the candy that has peanut flour, peanuts, nuts, etc. in it that would otherwise have the potential of killing my second-born child.

Anyway, I decided to buy candy today so I wouldn't run the risk of forgetting about that minor detail again this year. I had a BRILLIANT idea. I decided to buy candy that my kids didn't like or that they aren't particularly fond of. One of the 5 bags of candy I purchased was an 8 pound bag of tootsie rolls, tootsie pops, dots, etc. Sarah and Mateo aren't fans of tootsie anythings. Tino likes it, but is away at school and baseball practices, games, etc. so he won't even remember it's in the house. So guess who has eaten about 20 pieces of the tootsie rolls today? Yes, I have eaten the midgies, the long skinny ones, the fat/stalkier ones, the fruit flavored ones, etc. This is why I can't have this stuff in my house because I have NO self-control. My head is pounding so hard right now cause of the sugar rush. My tummy hurts big time. And I just did a search to see how many calories those tootsie things have. Let me tell you IT'S NOT WORTH IT. So much for having Saturday be my non-workout day. I better put the kids to bed right now and head back over to the gym. So much for my brilliant idea.

The San Diego Hazen Update

I just received this e-mail. I know everyone has been worried and wondering what is going on. Here's Rob's latest update:

Subject: Hazen Family Update

It has been an interesting last couple of days but all is
well with us. Monday morning at about 2:00 am we were woken by
75 mph winds. Rachel told me to make sure the patio furniture
didn't come through the windows. So I went outside to fix the
furniture and saw flames on the hills behind our house.  After
driving up the hill to see how close the flames were, I decided
it was time to call the Emergency Preparedness Rep in our
ward to initiate a telephone tree to wake the members.  About 1
hour later the sheriff's department was in the streets with their
sirens announcing a mandatory evacuation.

After 2 evacuations, we have returned to our home and there has been
small handful of homes lost in our stake but everyone is safe.
Our stake center was converted to a public shelter yesterday.
Today it was converted to a home for 150 National Guard
troops. It is pretty cool to see the parking lot full of hummers
and troops carrying machine guns walking around in the
building. It has been overwhelming and very humbling to see
the outpouring of support, sense of community and generosity.
With over 500,000 people evacuated it is not uncommon to be
working side by side with someone that has also been
evacuated, is unsure if their home is lost or homeless.
The shelters have been filled quickly with water, supplies and
volunteers.  Many of the shelters have halted any further
donations because they have more than enough.

Yesterday, the Humanitarian Aid dept. of the Church
dropped off an 18 wheeler of food to our stake center.  It was
of course more than we could handle so it was distributed to
other shelters, food banks and locations in need.  We had a
need for cots and were able to trade some of our blankets for
cots with other shelters.  As a result, our buildings in the stake
will now be fully equipped with cots if another need arises.

Today when the National Guard came in, our Stake
President asked what we could do for them for food and they
responded that they were self sufficient and didn't need
anything.  He asked for meals, snacks and baked goods
to be brought in.  Within 30 minutes, Chipotle, McDonalds,
Baja Fresh, Chic-fil-A,Subway, Starbucks, Mr. Taco, and other
local restaurants had donated meals for the troops (can you
tell that I had some suggestions on who to call?). I am sure
that any other restaurant that was called would have
responded in the same manner.

It has been an anxious time but a wonderful experience for our family. 
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.  Give it a week and we will be back to
sunny blue skies. Don't let these fires keep you away.  We would love to see you.

Love,
The Hazen Family

The Pee House

Yes, you read that title correctly. I now live in a pee house. As in pee-pee house. Ms. Erika, Sarah's behavior therapist is determined that Sarah is ready to be potty trained. And I am determined that this takes too much stinkin' effort. I have been held hostage within the confines of my home for the last 4 days. AND I AM GOING C-R-A-Z-Y. As in maybe I need to up the one a day dosage of lexapro to maybe two, three, or four. We have done quick little outings to Tino's baseball game, to church, to the gym, etc. But my blood pressure rises (probably off the charts) and I am in a constant state of anxiety and can't wait to rush back home. To the pee-pee house. My kid refuses to go to the bathroom in public places, which is a totally good thing. She knows how to hold it for long periods of time (between 5 and 7 hours). But the second we get home all hell breaks loose. She will sit on the toilet and then jump off immediately. Then about 5 minutes later she has an accident. I have been mopping floors, sanitizing where bodily fluids have spilled, and doing laundry like there's no tomorrow. I was bathing Sarah after every accident, but Ms. Erika told me that is sending the wrong message and it was rewarding her accidents with quality/positive bath time with mami. So now I'm supposed to hand Sarah a wipe, have her clean herself up, change into dry clothes, etc. This part is sending me over the edge. I can't stand the smell of urine. Especially when it's on MY KID. My kids take at least 2-3 baths per day (probably a trait passed down by their overly-hygiene conscious papi who also bathes at least 2-3 times per day). So this wipe down the pee with a wet-wipe and move on with the day is a little much for me to handle. So for now, if you come visit me, just be prepared for the fresh stench of urine you will smell on MY DAUGHTER and at MY HOUSE. YUCK!

Purses and STUFF

My cousin has been posting in reference to all you could learn about someone by looking at their google history on the internet. Celia Fae is NOSY (according to her, not me . . .) and she wants to hear more about Cristian and I (see her comment Mis Queridos Hijos 10/21/07). My question is, what can you learn about someone by looking at the contents inside their purse, handbag, etc.? I was looking for something the other day and couldn't find it. I knew it was in the deep dark abyss somewhere. I dumped out the contents of my Thursday purse a.k.a. Nike backpack . . . . and this is what I found. What do you have hiding inside your purse, handbag, etc.??? And what did you learn about me by looking inside my purse????
Now for Cristian. Here's a Cristian story. More stories to come. Let me preface this by saying English is not his first language. He was born and raised in the Dominican Republic. He has been immersed in U.S./American culture and the English language for almost 12 years. This story might not be funny to the general population . . . but it's funny to me. (And it's funny to him . . . he thought this would be a good story to add to "My Blog". ) Cristian has been coaching Tino's baseball team. Actually, he's an assistant coach . . . trying to learn the ropes so he can someday be the coach and/or manager of Tino's baseball team. Each team and the coaching staff need to participate and help out with umping duties. Last week, it was the #1 team (Cubs) that umped for Tino's game. The parents and coaches continued throughout the game to make comments to Blue and yell at Blue who was standing behind home plate. After the game, Cristian went up to Blue and asked him with complete sincerity and seriousness. . . "Hey Blue, is that your given name or your nickname? I've never heard that name before. It's a really cool name." Blue rolled his eyes, gave a complete look of DISGUST, and walked away without answering. Cristian's friend Santiago (fellow Dominican/Islander) pulled him aside and gave him a little English lesson, explaining that "Blue" is the term used for umps because they are usually dressed in blue.

Mis Queridos Hijos 10/21/2007

Dear Tino, Mateo, and Sarah,

First of all, today was the Primary program. Today was also the first time in a couple of years that I was sitting in the congregation for the program. I LOVED IT! It's nice not being the Primary counselor in charge of writing the program and overseeing the music for the program.



Tino: We went to Blizzard Beach on Friday. You and Isaac convinced me to go on the big giant scary water slide with you. I could feel my heart leap out of my chest. I don't think I will ever go on that slide again. But I'm glad you invited me to go along. Yesterday you hit a grand slam homer. You also pitched. The opposing team had 2 outs and 2 strikes . . . one more strike/out and you guys would have won the game. Then the unfortunate 2 hour rule went into play. Since the other team didn't have the chance to finish up the entire inning, it reverted back to the score from the previous inning and your team lost by 1 point. Don't worry. In my mind, you guys WON with your 5 point lead. And you were the pitcher that SAVED the day.

Mateo: You continue to love Thursdays because you get to socialize with the students in my Silvers Sneakers class after the cool-down/stretch. They love the fact that you smile and listen to all of their stories. That makes them feel very special. You had a great time on Friday at Blizzard Beach. You helped Sarah break all the rules. Every time the lifeguard would turn his back, you and Sarah would either climb UP the slide, or go down head first. You have that sense of adventure in you. I think that same sense of adventure is going to give me a big giant headache when you get older. Today you were offended that you didn't have a part in the primary program. You demoted yourself and returned back to Nursery to be with Sarah several months ago. You want to speak in the microphone next time there is a primary program. Guess where you went today during the 2nd and 3rd hour of church? I think you are FINALLY ready to make the transition into big kid primary. No more nursery for you.

Sarah: Your overall affect has changed dramatically over the last couple of weeks. I don't know what is going on, but EVERYONE has noticed it. You are a lot more happy and pleasant to be around. You have also started to pretend play AND TALK while you are playing. This morning you spent 2 hours in your room playing by yourself. I kept thinking Mateo was with you because there was so much conversation going on. You are talking because you want to talk. It's very exciting. Also, you have been wearing your big girl underwear for 4 days now. Mami has mopped the floor 6 times in the last 4 days. How about I cut you a deal. I will mop more than my usual once or twice per month. You don't need to pee on the floor in order to get me to mop. How does that sound???? Let's practice using words. All you need to say is "Mami, I want a clean floor please". You don't need to pee on the floor to get your point across. Words are powerful things. Please use them.

I love you!

Mami

SHHHHHHHHHH Don't tell Cristian

I love Heather's headline from yesterday. Why re-invent the wheel? And about not telling Cristian . . . TOO LATE. My plan earlier this week when I went to UPS to send the boxes of baby clothes was to do the world-famous credit card float. You know . . . buy me a couple of days. Send the boxes UPS . . . pay with credit card . . . pick up my paychecks on Friday . . . pay the credit card back . . . end of story. Yeah, it all worked out until "the pick up the paycheckS on Friday" part. New work policy is that the paychecks get locked up in the safe. And the only person that can open the safe and have access to the contents of the safe is the General Manager, who is hardly ever there when I go there. So I guess I have a new way to save money. Saves me that trip to the bank. I'll just keep all my uncashed paychecks locked up in the safe. Oops . . . digression. Back to the original story. Cristian went to do bills today and I was discovered. He checked out my credit card statement and wanted to know what on earth I had spent $85.16 on at UPS. (And how many cute Ross outfits could that buy me Celia Fae???) Oops. Next time I'll wait until pay day before visiting UPS. Or at least I'll do something FUN like rearrange furniture and paint rooms in the house. That's a way better SHHHHHHH Don't tell . . . . than my UPS field trip.

Blizzard Beach

My sister Heather was in the holiday mood at the CRACK of dawn this morning. Since she was in the holiday mood, it also got the Ramirez family in the holiday mood. We decided to go to Blizzard Beach and use up the last of our free passes before they expired December 31. I know that the water is heated year-round, but you have to get out of the water to go to the different rides and that just isn't my thing when it's COLD. So what better time to hit the beach . . . Blizzard Beach than late October. It's off-season, so most of the tourists are gone. The longest we had to wait for any ride was about 15 minutes for SUMMIT PLUMMET. (I am not computer savvy, so I don't know how to upload a video of the ride into my blog. Do a google search and check it out if you get a chance.) I went on Summit Plummet. And I will never do it again. About scared the pee out of me. A 120 feet drop and moving downwards at speeds of up to 60 mph are not my thing. Sarah and Mateo LOVED the ski lift that you ride to get up to the top of the "mountain". There's a fun family raft ride right next to Summit Plummet. We had a lovely day listening to Christmas songs, riding ski lifts, toboggans, and floating down the rapid river. I'll post some pictures later. Heidi later. You all know what that means. Could be tomorrow. Could be 10 years from tomorrow.

P.S. Special thanks to Arthur Levine at about.com for this picture of Summit Plummet.

IN-SOM-NI-A

So I suffer from insomnia BIG TIME. I don't know exactly why, but I just do. And then it starts the vicious cycle because when I am tired and ready to sleep (usually around 6:30 a.m. or 7:00 a.m., my kids are ready to get up and start their day.) Then if I nap during the day, I'm not tired when it should be bed time . . . around 11:00 p.m. or 11:30 p.m. There are nights like last night, where I actually could have slept through ANYTHING. That is, if I wouldn't have been awakened at least 20 times for one reason or another. I guess since I didn't suffer from insomnia last night, apparently Cristian did. Prior to each incident, I was in a DEEP SLEEP.

Incident #1 Cristian: (Waking up Heidi to have this conversation) Heidi, someone is in our bed. Will you check it out? I'm tired and need to work tomorrow.

Incident #2 BIG CLUNK NOISE as if someone just fell out of the bed. Heidi ignores this sound and tries to get back to sleep.

Incident #3 Cristian: (Delayed reaction . . . about 5 minutes later) Heidi, someone just fell out of our bed. You better see if they are alright.

Incident #4 Cristian: Heidi, don't forget I need to wake up by no later than 7:00 a.m. You need to help me get up. I really, really need to get to the office early.

Incident #5: Cristian: (Waking up Heidi again to have this conversation) How are you going to wake me up in the morning? Don't forget. I need your help.

Incident #6: Cristian: Who was in our bed? They aren't here anymore. Where did they go? I don't see anyone in our room.

Incident #7: Cristian: Did you hear the alarm go off? You were supposed to help me get up.

Incident #8: Cristian: Have you seen the iron?
Heidi: (Thinking to herself, but unable to open her mouth and say the words . . . I iron maybe 2 times a year if lucky . . . And I think I've already filled my quota for the year. So I have NO CLUE where the iron is since I won't need it for at least another 5-6 months).

Incident #9: Cristian: Do you know where the iron is? I really need to get ready for work.

Heidi: How about looking next to your bathroom sink for the iron where you put it yesterday when you filled it up with more water???

Incident #10: LIGHTS IN ROOM TURNED ON. Iron and steam sound coming from the foot of the bed where speed ironing is taking place.

Incident #11: Cristian: Are we meeting for lunch today? What time?

Incident #12: Cristian: Did you hear that beeping noise? What was that? It wasn't the alarm. Where did that noise come from?

Incident #13: Cristian: If you can't meet for lunch today, we can meet tomorrow.

Incident #14: Cristian: I can't take Tino to school. He's going to have to go with the neighbors. I can't be late for work.

Incident #15: Cristian: Why aren't you talking to me? Why aren't you answering my questions? I'm just trying to hold a conversation with you.

Well, that was my night and early morning in a nutshell. Now I'm heading off to nap so we can start this vicious cycle over again. And tonight it will be MY TURN to be chatty throughout the ENTIRE NIGHT.

Conspiracy Theory

Yes, you read right. It's a big giant conspiracy. I finally took the boxes to UPS today. You know, the ones that have been sitting in the corner of Sarah's room since dad's visit in April and mom's visit in May. Since they had been sitting there so long, I had to go through and take out all the summer-ish baby clothes, since Max and Hazen won't be needing to sport their cute Gap shorts and short sleeved t-shirts in the SNOW. So even after I consolidated the 4 boxes into 3 boxes (yes, we only have 1 box sitting in the corner of Sarah's room now), it was still a MAJOR UPS RIP-OFF. I get big Kindermusik shipments Fed-Ex-ed to me 2nd day air and the most it has ever run me per box/shipment is $37.00. The thing that really irritates me is that the rates for USPS ran at least $5-$10 more per box than UPS. And I knew that if I put off sending this boxes one more day so I could go to FED EX another time, it wouldn't be happening anytime soon. (Perhaps by the time Heather was on Baby #4 and Anne was on Baby #5, 6, or 7). So, I know my grocery store, CVS and Costco prices but am CLUELESS when it comes to shipping things cross-country. How much did this cost to send to UT by ground????? If you get it right, your prize will be whatever I have still left in Sarah's closet and out in the garage shipped to you by your carrier of choice . . . UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc. as long as you foot the bill. :0)

Dr. Davis

So as per usual at a momentous occasion in history, I left the digital camera at home. Yesterday afternoon Sarah and I went to see Dr. Davis, the pediatric neurologist. He was absolutely phenomenal. Since we haven't had any medical work done relating to Sarah's developmental delays, we are getting the ball rolling with that. I guess that if you are prone to seizures, you are also prone to having developmental delays. Over the course of the next couple of months, we will have Sarah's blood work done, genetic testing, MRI, EEG etc, (and some other stuff that I can't think of off the top of my head but I am way too tired to go out into the van to grab Sarah's medical file and read my notes from yesterday.) As for autism and anything else related to that, Dr. Davis did notice some characteristics, but doesn't want to further evaluate Sarah for autism until he receives all of the medical testing results.

FINALLY, speech and OT called to set up appointments to get started with Sarah. Between Kindermusik classes, piano lessons, Silver Sneakers, and tutoring I only work 7 1/2 hours-8 hours MAX per week. And it's still challenging to find the time to fit Sarah's behavior therapy sessions in. That's not even adding Speech, OT, and special needs preschool to the mix. How do moms that work FULL TIME find the time to fit in all the extra appointments and therapy sessions that having a special needs child entails? I am so open to suggestions.