Tuesday, October 25, 2011

ER for ear and failure as a mother

The fun never stops around here.

Last night Gavin decided his ear itched and we didn't have any Q-tips so he stuck a lollypop stick into his ear.  He screeched and came running to me.  His ear was bleeding.  Great.  So Cody took him to the ER.  Thankfully it was just a scratch to his ear canal.  Good grief.  While at the ER, the doctor was concerned about Gavin's runny nose and prescribed him some Zyrtec (which we will pick-up today or tomorrow).

This morning Gavin was exhausted from being up late and had a melt-down over the clothes I had out for him to wear.  They were shorts.  I did not finish laundry yesterday and the few pair of jeans he has were not clean.  He freaked out.  I felt awful.  I mean seriously bad.  He has several pairs of shorts but only a few jeans.  I'm going to the store today and buying him 4 more pair so he won't freak out again.  I cannot explain how terrible I felt, feel about the whole thing.  It has been a frustrating day with the feeling of being a failure and it's only noon.  

Antibiotics and Fingerprints...

Since I last wrote Gavin went to the doctor and indeed did have strep throat and I got fingerprinted by the Italian government!

Cody had to take Gavin to the doctor because I was at the appointment to get my sojourner permit.  This permit allows me to stay in the country of Italy over 90 days.  I had anticipated an hour or so for the appointment, but of course I wasn't taking into account Sicilian time.  The Polizia didn't arrive until 9:40am, they were supposed to be there at 9.  So I was stuck being fingerprinted by two Italian police ladies while Cody took Gavin to the doctor.  


I better mind my p's and q's since the Italians know who I am now!  LOL



Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Sick Day

Gavin wasn't feeling well all weekend.  He complained of having a sever sore throat and he slept off an on all day Saturday and Sunday.  I decided to keep him home from school and try to get him an appointment at the doctor.  I called this morning and there wasn't any appointments available but they told me a nurse would call me.

I got a phone call around 9am.  She asked about Gavin and I told her how he was doing.  She again said that there wasn't any appointments because the one doctor was out on leave.  I wasn't stressing it.  She then said she would try to get me an appointment before lunch or we could come in tomorrow at 9:40am.  I told her it didn't matter to me, she told me she'd call back.

After I talked to her the maintenance guy from housing showed up. Our hot water heater pilot light was out and I couldn't get it re-lit.  They ended up having to replace the whole burner mechanism.  I'm kind of glad that there was something wrong and I'm not just a complete moron that can't relight a water heater.

The nurse called back at 10:45am.  She said, "I got you an appointment at 11."  What?!  I can't make it.  "The doctor is running a little behind."  There is no way I can get there.  The maintenance guy was here, Cody had the car and I don't like the idea of last minute appointments.  I told here I couldn't make it and she said to me, "Ugh and I have an injury and I've been hobbling all over trying to set this up for you!".  Like it was my fault and I put her out.  I just felt bad and was aggravated as well.  So we have an appointment tomorrow.

Of course around 7pm tonight, Gavin suddenly feels awesome and is acting like nothing is up.  I'll still take him to the doctor tomorrow, but I hate this kind of stuff.  I always feel so inept as a mother in these situations.  I know I should just make a decision and be strong in it.  I feel like I am making the wrong choice; keep the kids home, send them to the school, take them to the doctor or not.  I wish I felt like a grown-up.



Bunko


I went to play Bunko with a bunch of ladies and one guy that is part of the Community Spouses Club.  It was a riot.  I went with a neighbor (Shannon) and it was nice getting to chat with her.  We watched a bunch of ladies get sloshed on wine and be hilariously loud while playing this crazy dice game.  It was pretty fun. I guess it's going to be a once a month activity.

Cody and I finally got gas at a different gas station and it was easy.  Little steps I tell ya, little steps.

I put a new hard drive in our desktop and it works now.  We had to buy Windows again, but it works and that is what matters.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Vaccines and Italian Girlfriends

I had to take Ethan to get a vaccine yesterday.  He needed to get the menegecocal vaccine per the schools policy.  I drove him over to the hospital first thing in the morning.  Of course the immunizations clinic doesn't open until 8AM so we waited for 15 minutes.  I thought it would be a very quick thing, but it wasn't.  The guy at the clinic needed to verify with the pediatrics doc  that was okay to give Ethan the vaccine since it's a live vaccine.  Well the doctor was in with a patient so we had to wait for her to finish he could ask her.  We finally got the shot and got out of there with Ethan only missing the first hour of school.  He only missed music class so it wasn't a big deal.

Norah and I came home and hung out for a few hours then we went back over to Nas 1 and bought some popcicles for Gavin's class.  He chose ;popciles instead of cookies or cakes to be his school treat for his birthday.  Gavin is a popular little guy in his class.  All the kids seemed to like him and he's so funny.  He had three little girls and one little boy giving him hugs.  His teacher told me that he's a great kid and a joy to have in class.  I'm glad he saves his wildness and crazy time for here at home.

After school Gavin, Norah and I came home for a few minutes before we picked up Cody to go buy Gavin's birthday gift.  Last week Gavin jumped on the little girl next doors bike and she told him how to ride it and he took off!  No training wheels.  No running along side with him, he just took off; so he wanted a bike for his birthday.  We headed over to the NEX Depot.  They had a couple bikes to choose from and Gavin chose the green one.  Thankfully it wasn't expensive ($49.99).

The Italian guys that work there are really nice.  They had Gavin sit on the bike and they adjusted his seat for him.  I told them it was his birthday.  The one guy was surprised that Gavin was only 6.  He seems tall, apparently.  Then the guy proceeded to say the following, "My daughter turned 6 on Monday, the 10th.  Hmm. You want an Italian girl friend?  She's got blonde hair, blue eyes and she's beautiful!".  Gavin got so embarrassed.  It was great.  I told Gavin that he must be a special boy if that guy wants him to be his daughters boyfriend.

Gavin rode his bike all over when we got home.  Then he decided that he wanted Burger King for dinner.  We have a Burger King at the Food Court next to the Commissary.  It's actually pretty expensive and not that great, but we haven't ate there in a while.  We picked the food up to go since Ethan was still at school (he had rehearsal for the Christmas musical).  Gavin had chicken nuggets and we all got burgers.  BK is the only place on base that you can get a fountain soda and even then they taste a little off to me.  Everywhere else you can only get canned sodas.

Gavin wanted an icecream cake too.  I went to the commissary to get a Carvel cake.  I bought it and thought it looked okay, but when we got it home realized that it had been partially melted.  The whole bottom had spread way out and was refrozen.  It tasted okay though.  It's tough being here.  Our meat, frozen foods and refrigerated stuff are all shipped from Germany.  Sometimes you go over there and they are out of something like milk or lunch meat.  All the meat has been previously frozen so you can't refreeze it.  It's one of the not fun parts of living over here.  I suppose I should really go back out to Auchan (grocery store) and see what they have and how much it is.

Overall it was a pretty good day.  Ethan was pleased to have a double cheeseburger when he got home from school yesterday.  Gavin loves his new bike and is excited to be 6 years old.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Getting Settled...

We have, for the most part, settled in.  All the boxes have been opened and most of the stuff have been given homes. We went to Ikea and bought a new bookshelf to put our DVD's in.  I managed to get it put together.  We also bought a new Entertainment Center, but I've not put it together yet.  None of our things really match, but I've decided that it doesn't matter.  I'm waiting for someone to say something (not that we really have anyone in our house).  If they do, I may just go off on them.  It's hard to find anything that looks halfway decent that doesn't cost an arm and a let and as much as I hate to admit it, our kids are monsters.  They love to destroy and I don't want to waste money on things they will destroy or will get destroyed in a move.

Ikea was an adventure.  The first time we went was on a Sunday and half of Sicily was in there.  It was a mad house and it was our first time in an Ikea.  We were extremely overwhelmed and left promptly.  The second time we went on a Friday.  It was me, Cody, Gavin and Norah.  (Ethan had school).  It was much more calm and we felt better about the situation.  Thanks to the advise of my best friend, we were more prepared too.  Lesson learned=do not go on a weekend.

We've ate out in a restaurant twice now.  The first time was at Alphio's Garden, across the street from housing. It was decent food and the menu was in English and Italian.  We enjoyed our food.  Ethan missed out on that trip because he was camping on Mt. Etna with his Boy Scout Troop.  What a great adventure for him!  Mt. Etna is an active volcano.  He also got to climb in some lava tubes (caves and tunnels created by lava that has cooled into rocks).

The second restaurant we went to was Pizzaria Donna Fortunata in Motta.  The guy that Cody replaced had his going away dinner there.  The food there was good as well.  The menu again was in English and Italian and made it easy for us.  They tolerate our loud kids!  They even let Gavin make a mini little pizza in the kitchen!  It was relaxing and nice.  I'd like to go back again in the future, just our family and see if it's just as relaxing.  I felt a little bad, we didn't leave a tip.  I'm so confused by the tipping here.  I've had some people say that you don't have to because you pay an extra fee for the use of the table etc.  Then I've had other people say you should still leave a tip.  We did leave a tip at Alphio's, but did not at Donna Fortunata.  I don't know which is right!  I don't want to be a cheap American.  I guess I better get that figured out.

I've been going to the market in Motta every Wednesday morning, (that's the day it's open).  I've become addicted to tomatoes.  I make my own little version of capese salad.  I adore it and want to eat it every day. Norah has made a friend at the market.  The last two times we have been there has been this little old man that tries to talk to us.  I have got to learn some Italian so we can talk to him.  He gave her some candy today.  I also need to learn the names of the fruits and veggies so I can ask for them easier than just pointing.  The vendors there are pretty nice  and don't have any problems understanding what I want, I just want to make it easier for all of us by using the proper name.

I think that we are slowly coming out of our shell here.  We are always anxious when it comes to doing something off base.  We don't want to do it wrong.  I'm a little better than Cody.  I tried to get him to go into the bread store for us by himself,  but of course he said no.  I've done it, but he won't.  We're also silly and only go to the one gas station across from Nas 1 because it was the first one we went to and we kind of feel like we know that guy (we don't, but it feels comfortable).  There is a guy selling stuff on the side of the road that has some really neat pumpkins but I'm too chicken to stop and ask how much they are and buy one, even though I really want one.  Ugh.  I hope I can get braver.