Sixteen Years Ago

Cody came into the world and into my life. We celebrated his birthday by having the flu.

Not really. Well, yes really. He has the flu, but we didn't choose to celebrate his birthday that way. He is feeling a bit better today, but is still pretty miserable.

What a way to spend a birthday, huh?



The most shocking news of the day is that Cody actually got a birthday card from his father. Shocking, because for 16 years, he'd wanted nothing to do with us. Now, he sent a birthday card. I was trying to be nice, but I just couldn't resist.

"If he suddenly wants to start being a dad," I said, "he can chip in for some of that $100 bucks I just spent on flu medicine for you."

I really did try...

Lesson For The Day

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Never cough in the middle of a swallow. It doesn't work too well.
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Sickness

Cody has the flu.

He woke up not feeling well this morning, and took his temperature. I was eating breakfast when he came into the room and said, "Mom, I've got 101.2 temperature." I said, "You go back to bed!"

I gave him some acetaminophen and settled him in on the couch watching DVDs. I went on to work, thinking that if he was still sick tomorrow morning, I'd take him to the doctor. However, that 101 got more and more worrisome, so as soon as the Dr.'s office opened, I called and made him an appointment, pausing to thank God that we still have quality health care in this country--though that seems to be about to change.

When I got came home from work to take him to the Dr, I checked his temp again, and it was 102.3, and that was after two doses of Acetaminophen. They did a flu test on him, but it came back negative. His Dr said that despite what the test said, he thinks it's the flu anyway. He told me that those tests have up to a 70% inaccuracy. He didn't test Cody for swine flu. He said that the CDC would not allow them to test at the office, and the local ER was only allowed to do three swine flu tests per week.

Dr said that those tests were mainly so the CDC could track swine flu, because the treatment is the same as it is for regular flu. If I really wanted to confirm H1N1, I would have to take him to LeBonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis.

The Doctor gave him some Tamiflu to help with the flu symptoms, and an antibiotic. The deaths that occur from flu aren't really from flu, but from secondary infections--thus the antibiotic as a precaution. He also said that since we caught it within the first 24 hours, Cody ought to bounce back pretty quickly.

Anyway, Cody'll be out of school all week, and he'll have to miss the band contest this weekend. He is majorly bummed about that. He loves being in the band and takes those contests very seriously. Not only that, tomorrow is his birthday, and he's going to be sick on his birthday. Poor baby.

Funny how life comes full circle. I had a serious case of the flu back during the first swine flu outbreak, back in the '70's. Now during the Great Outbreak of the 00's, my son has the flu.

Updates

I've finished the first chart of my Queen Anne's Lace, and am about to start the second.

It's hard to take good photos when it's all squshed up on the needle.

And as promised, here is a cute puppy photo:

Kindly ignore the teenager glaring at the camera.

Rylea says, "I'm still cute, too."

Yes, you are, sweet girl!

The Man Of The Hour

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Somewhere under that pile of bodies is a man. Somewhere under that pile of bodies is a record breaker. Somewhere under that pile of bodies is a hero.

With number one receiver Roy Williams out with a rib injury, the team knew that someone else would need to step up and fill that spot.

That someone was


Miles Austin.

With the offense struggling, and Kansas City leading 10-0 off of two Cowboys turnovers. It was time for someone to give this team the spark it so desperately needed. The spark was provided by a Tashard Choice touchdown.

That spark was kept alive by DeMarcus Ware's two sacks--his first of the year.

The spark was nurtured by a Jay Ratliff block of a Ryan Succop field goal attempt.


But it was Miles Austin who fanned that spark in to a blazing flame. With 10 receptions for 250 yards--breaking a team record held by Hall of Famer Bob Hayes since 1966--, it was Austin who had fans asking "Roy who? Terrell who?"

It was Austin who broke a tackle to score the go ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter.


And after Kansas City tied the score in the last few seconds of regulation play, it was Austin who once again shook off a defender to score the game winning touchdown in overtime.

That's why it was Austin on Mark Colombo's shoulder.


That's why it was Austin embraced after the game by offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.


That's why it was Austin being mobbed by his team mates in the Kansas City end zone.


Because on this day, for this game, it was Miles Austin who was the hero of this team.

Band Festival

Cody had a band festival here in town today. He told us that the band was supposed to perform at 4:15. However, when we got there, they had added some more bands to the program. They were supposed to compete up in Tupelo, but due to poor field conditions, they moved them down here. Since the host band always goes last, we had to wait until they were done.

This wasn't a contest, in that they didn't compete against each other. They competed for ratings. They could earn a score of 1 through 4, with one being the best. Still, out of the 19 band that performed in the afternoon session, 17 of them got overall scored of 1. It's like they just have to show up to get a 1. And when they hand them out like candy, do they really mean anything?

Nevertheless, here is the video I took. Sorry it's so shaky. It was pretty chilly out there. Plus I really need a better camera, but that's going to have to wait until times get better.




After the band competition, I came home and caught most of the LSU/Florida game. Florida won, as I expected 13-3. Still, I guess it's sort of a moral victory that LSU was able to hold them to only 13 points and a single touchdown.

Oh, the conundrum! Texas was playing at the same time! They were about a quarter ahead of the LSU game, so I watched most of Texas' second half before switching to the LSU game. Texas won handily 38-14. When they took Colt McCoy out of the game, that's when I stopped watching.

Gratuitous Colt McCoy photo:

When they take Colt McCoy out, the game's pretty much over anyway.

Changing Weather

I went into Wal-mart this afternoon to do my weekly shopping. While I was in the store, a cold front blew through. I hung around in the store until the rains stopped, and by the time I got out, it was 10 degrees cooler than it was when I went in. I was going to post some gratuitous cute puppy pictures, but it has been so dreary and drizzly that I didn't take any. I spent most of the afternoon knitting on my Queen Anne's Lace shawl.

I hope the rain moves off before tomorrow. Cody has a band contest.

One Drawback

to my new spot cleaner, is that I now have clean spots in an otherwise dirty carpet.

Sigh

Knitting, and pretty much everything else got put on hold when I got out of the bathtub to discover Cody asleep on the couch, and puppy poop all over the living room floor. I woke Cody up, made him corral said puppy and clean up said poop. He made sort of a half hearted attempt at wiping said poop up, so I had to take care of the rest. Fortunately, I had JUST TODAY bought a Dirt Devil spot scrubber. Sort of a hand held mini shampooer. And I had bought it for that very purpose.

I took a photo of it, but right now I'm too tired to go upload it.

Can't Get It Together

I really have a lot to talk about, but I just can't get my thoughts together today. So I'm going to do what I always do in this situation. Post a photo.

Or two...

In Case You Were Wondering

why there was no Gratuitous Colt McCoy photo Saturday, it's because Texas had a bye week.

In other college football news, after being upset by the Miami Hurricanes, still Bradford-less Oklahoma dropped all the way from #8 to #19 in the polls. Tim Tebow still has not been cleared to practice after his concussion last week against Kentucky. If he can't practice, he can't play against LSU this Saturday.

Both teams go into this game undefeated, and though I'm an LSU fan, I'm going to have to go with Florida this time. They just seem to have the stronger team.

That Creaking Sound You Hear

is the sound of the all bandwagon fans jumping back off.

Despite a good first half, Dallas just couldn't get anything going, and fell to the still undefeated Broncos 17-10. As each game passes, Roy Williams seems to be proving his critics right. He sucks.

He hasn't made a play since the first game of the season. If he wants to be the number one receiver, he has got to make those difficult catches. That's what champion caliber players do.

What was the difference between the first half and the second half? Marion Barber stood on the sidelines for most of the second half. What were they thinking? Since Roy Williams has proven he can't be relied on, and Felix Jones was out injured, why would you keep your biggest threat, and most reliable player, standing on the sideline?

And who in the world puts their FOURTH receiver up against probably the best cornerback in the league, Champ Bailey?

(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

And on what could have been the game tying drive, no less? Clearly, there is something terribly wrong in Dallas. And there's no prizes guessing what.

(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Queen Anne's Lace

I'd started a Queen Anne's Lace shawl a few months ago, but it just wasn't working out. I was using Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Iris Heather, but the yarn wasn't right for the pattern, and I finally just ripped the whole thing out. The yarn just seemed too thin to be knit on size 8 needles. I don't know if it was just a bad batch or what. The other colors of Alpaca Cloud that I have aren't that thin.

I cast it on again using a different yarn.


This is Knit Picks Shimmer in Cumulus--which has been discontinued. It is supposed to be the same weight of yarn, but when I wound it, you can see how much thinner the cake of the previous yarn is.


I cast on using the Belly Button cast on, introduced to me by my buddy Opal. It's a whole lot better than trying to wrestle those needles, although, since you just end up knitting a glorified i-cord, why can't you just cast on and knit an i-cord anyway? I think with my next circular shawl, I'll try it that way.

Hello Young Fellow

When you bring a puppy home, you know that dogs don't live as long as humans.

Somewhere in the back of your mind, you know that one day you'll have to face losing that puppy.

But you don't have to think about that yet. That's a long way away.

Right now, he's just a cute little puppy with soft little puppy fur, and sharp little puppy teeth.

He'll make a good companion for your guitar playing, soon to be driving, teenage son.

Hello, young fellow. You've got some mighty big shoes to fill.

Show Me

good Lord! Is it October already? Well, here goes...

My bedroom calendar, only with my brother and sister in law instead of my adorable nephew Joshua:

My kitchen calendar:

My living room calendar, featuring Early Doucet, who now plays with the Arizona Cardinals:

And my office calendar, featuring the incomparable DeMarcus Ware:

And in the mail today, I got TWO, yes two issues of my Star magazine. One was last week's issue that just got here.

So, it was time to order more snake food. The best thing about ordering frozen mice is the dry ice. Did you know that if you put a drop of water on dry ice, you can watch it freeze solid before your very eyes? Cool, huh?

Then, of course, there is the fog.

Whispy tendrils creeping out of the sink and across the kitchen floor.

A sink full of fog...

And before you get all mother hen on me, yes, I know dry ice is dangerous. I know not to touch it. Even Cody knows that.

Speaking of Cody, earlier this week he said to me, he says, "Mom, if I tell you something tonight, will you remember it tomorrow?"

What can I say? The kid knows his mother.