Helpful! Thanks, guys. Of course, ideal sitch is a smooth transition to another, less stressful job.

But I will do whatever is the most practical.

I gotta go to sleep early tonight. Today kicked my ass, after that flu. I have so much to do, but after getting 5 hours of sleep last night, and still recovering, I can't keep my eyes open any longer.

I'm in a "don't wanna" mood. I'm not sure what it is I'm supposed to be doing, but whatever it is, I don't wanna.

I know this one, Hil!

Spent the day in full battle mode at the hospital. Two of the doctors were making noises about discharging mom. I told them they were nuts. She was able to walk around the block a week ago. Dress herself, go shopping, go up and down stairs. Today she needs 3 people to help her from the bed to the potty. Discharge, I don't think so. All the tests were coming back ok or near ok and I think they just decided she was 89 so this was ok. Not!

Tonight they are going to be monitoring Mom's oxygen level while she sleeps to see if she has a sleep apnea thing going on and tomorrow they are going to do a bunch more blood tests and urine tests related to the low sodium levels.

So she has a primary doctor, cardiologist, pulmonary, and renal. The Pulmonary guy made the most sense to me. He said he didn't think it was one major thing that was causing her to be so weak and unwell, but a combination of several minor things. Her sodium is a little low, her magnesium a little low, she is a little anemic, her oxygen levels are a little low, maybe a little bit of pneumonia, maybe not. Each one making each of the others a little worse, affecting her appetite, etc. until she reached the tipping point and became more severely ill.

So they need to address all the little problems and see if the balance can be tipped in the other direction leading to all of the problems getting better. So I am continuing to work on my laptop in her room until they make it right!

I'm sorry Erin, that's sucky news. Though I am hopeful the snarky review job works for you.

We just found out our two preschool teachers got pink slipped which was expected. One will probably get rehired, but I am very bummed that they'll lose Teacher Vicky as she's a great teacher and a total sweetheart.

It doesn't affect Matilda much next year since she's moving up to K, but it's been a huge boon having two such excellent, young, highly competent, fully credentialed teachers in preschool.

I've been polling the parents to find out which of the moving-up preschool kids will get into Grattan. Only one other so far. It sucks, but at least Matilda will have the school grounds that she knows.

Good for you, Laura. It really needs that advocate on the ground there. We had similar issues with my grandmother, exacerbated by her inability to communicate for herself, blind, deaf, and then they stuck a tube down her throat without telling her it would happen, so she couldn't talk either. So at a certain point, they were like, she has a lot of problems. And we were all, uh, no, she has a few very specific problems. You just don't know where she was before she was admitted.

I like my hair short , DH likes it long. however, I can't be arsed to go find a new place to cut my hair so it has been a while. so my hair goes from long to short. It does not ponytail or braid -- too many hairs escape.

Laura , good luck.

Erin, it sounds to me like you were prepared for this , so keep a clear head , sounds like a plan .

And I went through a summer with that kind of a headache -- couldn't smell alcohol with out it coming back. It wasn't until it stopped ( and I don't know why) that I really knew how bad it was. DH is under strick orders to make me pay attention if I ever have frequent severe headaches again

It makes me feel bad for the patients that don't have a strong advocate to fight for them. And as much as I like my step-dad he isn't assertive enough in this regard. It is like they don't feel they should challenge authority. Since I talk to doctors all day long in my work life it is no big deal for me to challenge them. They are the first to admit that the patient and family know what is normal and what isn't.

Ugh, must get some sleep. Thanks for the continued ~ma.

And we were all, uh, no, she has a few very specific problems. You just don't know where she was before she was admitted.

This was exactly the case with my Niki after her knee replacement surgery. Had it been up to the PT staff, she'd have slipped into oblivion as a matter of course.

It makes me feel bad for the patients that don't have a strong advocate to fight for them.

Totally this. On a very bad day, I actually said to one of the PT fellows, "Sir, if you hate your job so much, get a new one. In the meanwhile, please go find me someone who will do the work needed here. If not, be assured, I will be finding your supervisor within a matter of minutes."

It wasn't kind, but I was at my wit's end. Ultimately, he DID go find someone else and that person did a great job. But without a strong hand on the wheel? Epic fail.

It is like they don't feel they should challenge authority.

This was a HUGE problem with both Niki and her husband. Bless them. It's a good thing they have 5 strong personality kids and one SUPER big mouth faux-kid.

Extra strength ~ma Laura, for everyone involved!

But you can't get unemployment if you are bringing in any income, like freelancing, right?

In the places I've been, it depends--you just have to report what you're making, and if it's less than your unemployment would've been, you still get some of that (whether it's the difference, or even a little more, depends on the state).

In the last week, I colored my hair for the first time ever, bought a hot iron/roller thing, and got my hair cut into a long-ish angled bob. (I think.). Anyway, I love my haircut and not having Greyson hair all around my face!!

Eta: I meant gray hair. Greyson hair sounds like it should belong to Robin. Although is he Grayson?

Oooh, I'm thinking about dyeing my hair as well, Nonian! I've got lots of grey, and I'm turning 45 this week, so it's probably a good idea to try and look a bit younger. I'm heading out to my mom's for a few weeks in April, and her salon does a great job with her hair color, so I'm thinking about asking her to make me an appointment to see what they can do for me.