Leverage totally worth it.

Thanks for all the good wishes. It was a totally awesome day--I got brunch made for me, got some time to myself while H went off to get the rest of the lumber cut for bedroom and the last of the living room bookshelves, and then we went for a drive in the sparkling sunny, high-50s (sorry, Erin!) day. I had salmon, broccoli (sorry Tom, but I love it, so that's okay), and rice noodles for dinner. No cake, but I did have a steamed bun. And then we got home and H was doing some banking and looked up all chagrinned. "Happy Birthday, hon. The date snuck up on me!" Oh, don't be sorry, I had a splendid day!

Aims, what others have said, you and MM are terrific parents, and Em's lucky to have you. But a note on what Hil said--we noticed too that red food coloring, especially in "fruit" drinks, set off manic behavior in StY. His 32-year-old preschool teacher asked us to take him out of her class of seven (seven!) four year olds, as she found him "uncontrollable." Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact you're feeding him cookies and Jungle Juice before you send him outside to play might have something to do with his wild behavior? We restricted sugar and eliminated red from his food palate, and he was much more even-keeled.

Jessica, it's good to hear from you. You have been, and continue to be, much in my thoughts.

Aims, I nannied a couple of severely ADHD boys over a summer way back when. At their doctors' prescript., they were off their meds for most of the duration (I guess to develop alternate coping techniques? Mitigate the weightloss both of them had?) They were 7 and 11 and both had been on 'em since they were 4 and 6. They did pretty well with the unstructured days, but it really drove home to me how USEFUL the meds can be, even so early, when the 7 year old was having a really shitty day and clearly overwhelmed, he came to me and said "I think I need my meds today." He had this ocd finger touching thing going on and it unnerved both of us. He'd learned what it was to be in control, and knew he was well outside those boundaries. And that's a good thing to get a handle on early. He knew when he could self regulate and when he couldn't. It was really my first experience with that in kids, and man, that kid? Awed me.

Hee! It was seeing a Gold Star with a TOO LONG LINE is what made me wish I had more than fifteen minutes in this airport (nice connection, mom). And I'm not coming through Cinci on the way back. :(

I guess I'll just have to make a special trip some time.

I think that's an excellent idea!

I have acquired Leverage by other and highly dubious ways.

For anyone interested, Demonoid has open registration right now.

Jessica, I've been thinking about you and your family all week. Take care of yourself.

I have to say my Strattera makes a HUGE difference.

When I had to get it refilled they didn't have it so I had to come back the next day.

That was like two weeks ago, I kept forgetting because I'd get distracted. As in I'd walk to my car and think "I need to get my meds" and drive past the pharmacy on the way home and remember it later.

FINALLY remembered to get it, I can't feel a difference yet but it will be nice to be able to keep thoughts in my head and be able to stay on task at work.

Oh, don't be sorry, I had a splendid day!

I am rather charmed that you had a splendid day even before H realized your birthday had snuck up on him. (Birthdays are tricksey and like that, you know.)

Happy Birthday, Bev!

{{{{{Miracleborn family}}}}}

Jessica, my thoughts are with you.

About the cold, this is what I think: There's something not quite right about walking out to your car, thinking, "Well, I'm glad I started earlier to warm it up, but really it's not too terribly bad out here," only to look up at the thermometer on the outside of the garage to see that it was 10 degrees Farenheit.

Sometimes the best way to have a splendid day is to have it sneak up on you.

Happy Birthday, Bev!

I can tell an enormous difference when The Boy takes Ritalin vs. when he doesn't. (Though every once in a while he's in total "Oooh shiny" mode and I'll ask him if he took his Ritalin and he says yes, and all I can do I shake my head and conclude that the shiny was extra-mega shiny that day.)

ION, the combination of (1) my paranoia, (2) my father's fully founded paranoia, (3) IBS, (4) a strenuous workout, and (5) a new antidepressant's side effects have combined to make me consider whether I was having a heart attack.

Not in a hugely serious way, but still. My dad is total gloom-and-doom Eeyore (though with good reason when it comes to the ol' ticker), and so he attributes any and every twinge to a heart attack.

Cymbalta's most common side effects are nausea and fatigue (2 of the more common, frustratingly vague heart attack symptoms).

I worked out hard today, including the press-ups (like push-ups, but not) that I have to do for my back; if I haven't done them in a while, they make my arms feel weak later.

My tummy is gaseous, as always.

In conclusion, the nausea, fatigue, stomach upset, and weak arms (including the left one), combined with my dad's doom and gloom prophesying, made me a little freaked out.

And then I remembered that there are strong, attributable, closely time-linked antecedents for each of those symptoms, and I need to perhaps chill out. So I'm chilling.

And ND, since you've just recently posted, you wouldn't happen to have the Nav System DVD for your car would you? I need to reset my nav and have found every single piece of documentation for the car other than the blasted DVD. Would you, by chance, have a copy of yours and be willing to loan it?

I do have the DVD but for my NAV system to work it has to be in the DVD drive in the dash. What year is your 335i? Mine is a 2007 and I don't know if they changed the way the NAV works in later years.