Gripes and Vents

No, No, No... I can't be getting sick now, I just can't!! This is Thanksgiving week, and if I get really sick, lose my tastebuds, and can't taste dinner on Thursday... then watch out people, because all those raging hormones I've been suppressing will be back with a vengeance... seriously! I love me some Thanksgiving food, so this is the absolute pits. I've been getting a sore throat off and on for two weeks, but now it's here to stay, and I'm getting increasingly worse tonight as the minutes tick away. ::sigh::

---

I was at the gym today on the elliptical machine - the elliptical machine at the end of the row, far away from everyone, with at least 4 empty machines between me and the next closest person. I am reading a book while I'm on the machine, the book is propped open in front of me, and I'm pretty sure that if you saw me, you would think "she looks pretty engrossed in that book". Well, first you would probably think "gee, can't she go any faster on that machine", but right after that, you would recognize how engrossed I am in my book.

So, this guy walks up, he's wearing a super tight, white spandex shirt and too-short shorts (seriously, stuff like this should be outlawed), and he proceeds to get on the machine right next to me. Whatever happened to giving people space and using every other machine if they're available? And 5 seconds later, this happens:

Annoying Guy: Hey There

Me: (just stare blankly at him and manage to squeak out a smile, surely this will send the message that I don't want to be bothered)

Annoying Guy: Good book?

Me: Yeah, it's okay.

Annoying Guy: You seem really into your book (okay, so the moron did notice afterall), what's it about?

Me: It's just a typical chic-lit book, nothing you'd be interested in.

Annoying Guy: Oh, you'd be surprised.

Me: Mmmmm Hmmmm

Annoying Guy: Let me guess, is it the Twilight book?

Me: No, it's not (and knowing where this conversation is headed, I shut it down immediately). I didn't read that book nor do I have a desire to, I'm not a fan of that genre type.

Annoying Guy: Well, you'd be surprised.

Me: Mmmmm Hmmmm (and with that I turn back towards my book and try to keep reading... exactly 2 seconds later...)

Annoying Guy: You see, my sister loved the Twilight books and begged me to read them. I never wanted to but I finally gave in and started reading the book, and blah blah blah blah...

Me: Mmmmm Hmmmm

Annoying Guy: (trying to get the tv on his machine to work) I don't think the tv is working on this machine.

Me: Oh really? You should try the other machines down there (pointing to the other end of the row).

As he starts to walk toward another machine, I breathe a sigh of relief. He conveniently gets on a machine next to another female, and I hear "What music are you listening to? Is it good?". Seriously, is this guy for real?!?

---

Chase is officially 4 months old today. I've given up on holding out hope for that 12-hour stretch of sleep. I've almost completely accepted the fact that Braedyn was the laid back baby, and Chase is the high maintenance, demanding baby. At his 4-month appointment last week, it was determined that Little Chasey has eczema. All that flaky stuff on his scalp that was supposed to go away after 3 months has decided to stick around. So I head out to the store and spend way too much money on products to help with Chase's dry skin. I didn't really see much of an improvement, so I did some research online, and then picked up a few more products. The problem with something like this is that what works on one baby doesn't necessarily work that great on another. It's all trial and error, and a massive money pit trying to figure out the products that work best for your baby. (Sidenote: Maybe it is a good thing that I finished my Christmas shopping already, Ben might've tried to offset these "research and development" costs against my Christmas budget!!)

So Chasey's pediatrician stated that the itchy scalp was probably a main reason for him waking up at night (he was still waking after about 6 hours of sleep). She instructed me to give him a dose of Benadryl before going to bed, and told me I should see an immediate difference. So as my ultra-naive side kicked in, I excitedly bought some Benadryl, gave him a dose that night, then later went off to sleep knowing that the Benadryl was going to work a miracle and give me a 10-12 hour night of sleep. Exactly 4 hours after putting Chasey to sleep, I'm awoken by the infamous "waaaahhhh waaaahhhh" sounds echoing from his monitor. Oh, okay, now I get it... so not only did the Benadryl not give me the miracle night of sleep, but in fact, it made things worse as Chase woke up after 4 hours, rather than 6 hours?!? AND back to the drawing board we go...