Hubby has been promoted! So I guess that makes him Sergeant Hubby! I'm so proud of him and I know he has worked hard to get there.

He's still in supervisor training for another couple of weeks and is already having an interesting time. On his last shift he got to see the best and worst of two of his deputies. One will be getting a commendation, the other will be written up for insubordination. I don't think the one who's getting written up has any idea of what's coming, but he made the mistake of lying to the shift lieutenant about going against Hubby's instructions not realizing that the Lt was with Hubby when he gave the instructions. Apparantly Lt is not forgiving of insubordination and will be adding his comments to Hubby's reprimand. He may even demand an AI investigation. Somebody is not going to be happy.

The deputy who will get a commendation talked a potential suicide out of harming himself in a situation with a gun. He deserves it.

We just returned from vacation and came immediately back to the real world.

Vacation was awesome. We road-tripped to visit family - 2 weeks and 3000+ miles. The kids were amazing with all the driving. We visited all the grandparents and saw some good friends. We also did a bit of sightseeing and the kids got to experience some beautiful places in the Smoky Mountains.

As soon as we were home Mom notified me of an upcoming endoscopy this week - one that she needs transportation to/from. Of course. She's been having GI problems for a couple of months and finally decided to go to the doctor - even though I've been pestering her to make and appointment for weeks. Turns out she has blood in her stool, was referred to a gastroenterologist and he suspects an ulcer. Great.

Tonight I received a panicked phone call from Mom. She fell and cut herself and needed bandages. I coped wonderfully as always, got angry and shut down, so Hubby offered to go. He handled the situation much better than me, and called her back for details. The cut was actually a 3ish inch gash in her leg that was still bleeding and she also may have broken a finger. (I'm so used to her panicking and crying wolf that I have the tendency to blow her off.) He took her to the ER, after arguing with her about diabetics and the need to get medical attention for injuries to the lower extremities, and thankfully they fast-tracked her. She ended up with 7 sttiches and was heading back from X-ray when I last talked to Hubby.

She was also insistent that she wouldn't be going to the endoscopy this week because of whatever medication they will prescribe in the ER. (Antibiotics? Maybe a pain killer?) Hubby told her to call the doctor's office tomorrow and let them decide if she's OK for the scoping this week rather than deciding it herself.

And in true Mom form, she found yet another way to insult Hubby. While sitting in the waiting room, she decided he had ugly legs and big feet and told him all about it. He kindly waited until they were in a private room before explaining to her that insulting a person while they are doing you a favor isn't such a great idea.

And that is why I can't stand to be around my own mother for more than 5 minutes unless she's asleep or muzzled.

No, the blog hasn't imploded. Yet, anyways.

Bean's oral cyst resolved on its own. It became markedly smaller over the week or so before his surgery was supposed to happen. He followed up with the pediatric oral surgeon a month later and was released from her care. He still has a small swelling on the gum, but nothing like it was.

We've all been doing well. Hubby has regained most of the use of his injured knee and is back to teaching defensive tactics and plans to return to martial arts classes soon. The extra income from his teaching at the academy is great, too.

We just paid off our credit card (Again! for the second year in a row!) and the car loan and medical bills....which means our mortgage is our only debt! I'm praying we can keep things that way so we can start saving towards a replacement car in the next year or two, our home a/c which probably will need repacing in the next couple of years, the kids' college (so far unfunded), and more toward retirement. If we can keep out of debt, it will be such a great thing. However, our criminal of a governor (medicare fraud, anyone?) wants to change our retirement benefits to help balance our state budget. It would mean a 5% pay cut for both Hubby and me...and losing the extra money we now have from paying off the debts. I know we're lucky to have jobs, but I'm angry. We make a decent living but could make more in the private sector, so the retirement and health benefits are compensation for that. We buried a friend and coworker of Hubby's in December, who was killed while working, and just last month two other LEOs were shot and killed in the line of duty less than an hour away. His job is risky and he deserves not to have a pay cut. I've worked hard to get where I am and continually learn new techniques to stay relevant and useful in my lab. I have a draft letter written and am letting it stew a bit before I finish and send it.

Peanut is kicking Kindergarten's ass! He was just tested for the gifted program and passed the initial evaluation with flying colors. Now we wait to meet with the guidance counsellor and figure out the next step.

Bean has a full-on toddler attitude. Hubby and I laugh over it so often. At least we were prepared for it - Peanut's 'Tude years lasted a while.

I asked Bean a yes/no question and couldn't understand his answer - it could've bean "yeah" or "nah". I asked him to repeat it. "I SAID NO, MOMMY!" Mmmm-kay.

He loves the moon. We've made sure to look at the pretty full moon the past couple of nights. We checked out the moon last night, shortly before bedtime. I was getting ready to do the final back scratch when he demanded to see the moon again. Up he got and trundled into the master bedroom, with the best moon view. We said our goodnights to the moon and the boys went back to bed.

He flipped out this morning wanting the moon. Nothing was working. Finally Hubby said "I'll call the moon when we get home and make an appointment to see her tonight." Bean was happy.

Things continue to be a roller coaster at Chez Selzach. Thankfully, it's been nothing we can't handle, but I'm ready for things to settle down.

Hubby got out of the leg brace this week. Now the hard part of physical therapy will start. He's regained some limited mobility in the knee, but it needs a lot of work.

I had an ugly mole removed today. It's something I've had for years and the dermatologist was pretty sure it's nothing bad, but he recommended removal. I was tired of every doctor/dentist/pediatric dentist/concerned person asking about it. I had it checked several years ago and was told it was OK but was ready to be done with it. Biopsy results and suture removal come next week.

Bean has now had 3 dentist/oral surgeon appointments for what we believe is a lamina cyst. The oral surgeon has referred him to a pediatric oral surgeon in nearby Big City so we're waiting to hear back on that. It will probably be removed under anesthesia.
I'm hoping we can just go and get it done, but have a feeling we'll have to go in for a consultation, then the actual removal. Having anyone go under general anesthesia really stresses me out, but I'm glad the oral surgeon wants us to go to Big City. Apparently our local hospital doesn't have a pediatric anesthesiologist and they have a reputation for delaying surgeries which isn't easy with a 2-yr-old under NPO orders.

Peanut ran out of subsidized Pre-K hours, then daycare upped their rates $45/week. In two months our costs have gone up $70/week. We were already just squeaking by with making payments on all the medical bills. Now we're back to putting stuff on the credit card. I have no idea how much the pediatric oral surgeon will be. Our dental coverage is shit. If it somehow falls under regular health insurance we'll be much better off.

I think my friendship with BF may have breathed its last breath. I'm still feeling ambivalent about it. She hasn't been much of a friend for years, but we were such good friends at one time. There weren't any fights or anything, just that we've really drifted apart and rarely speak to each other. She still forwards me chain emails, but that's about it.

Work is good. Things are still mostly calm with the occasional outburst by Dr. Evil directed at Newer Coworker. I still get along very well with Newer Coworker, but she is LAZY. It's getting old and I'm wondering if Boss has started to pick up on it. She stresses about having so much work to do, but spends hours online every day. I can't say too much - I have my slow days, too. But when I have work to do, I do it. And when I'm really slow I find things to do.

The boys now sleep in their own beds! It's awesome! Speaking of which, it's time to get them ready for bed.

Peanut is really, really reading. He points to signs from the car and reads them out loud to us. He has a couple of beginning-reader books that he can read almost competely by himself. It's so cool!

Bean is talking in sentences, including lovely phrases like "Mommy, leave me 'lone!" and "I do it!" He's transitioning into the terrible twos. Tantrums have increased exponentially and have ramped up from crying and the occasionaly lying-on-the-floor-and-kicking variety to the full-blown-ear-splitting-screaming variety. Yay.

He's still a sweetie, though. We get plenty of "I love yous".

Hubby's knee surgery was two weeks ago. He's healing well, but is still fairly limited. His mom stayed with us until just a couple days ago and I am so thankful. I don't know what I would've done without her help.

Hubby was in a horrid pain for the first 2-3 days and was dizzy and nauseous from the pain meds. He fainted in the bathroom two days post-surgery, resulting in me calling an ambulance. He was OK and managed to get back up and into bed with his mom's help. We decided to let EMS respond anyway, to make sure he was alright. Everything checked out and it was probably a combination of the meds and him getting upright too quickly.

Our awesome neighbors mowed the front lawn for us yesterday. I came home, and there the neighbor was, zipping through our yard on his riding mower. I took them a bottle of wine and thanked his wife - haven't had a chance to thank him yet.

Mom stayed last night while Hubby worked late (he's on light duty now). The kids were pleased. I was driven nuts. She wasn't tolerating a new medication and was feeling shaky and sick. She took it out on Hubby this morning while he drove her home, telling him I need his help. Yes, I do, but he's still limited as to what he can do around the house & with the kids. He's doing as much as he physically can and didn't need her to make him feel like a lazy-ass.

I'll be so happy when he's back to full use of his leg and can start working details again. The medical bills are adding up!

Gah, I feel like I'm nothing but a downer lately. I'm not always unhappy, really.

The latest - Hubby fucked up his knee during his martial arts class. He threw a new student, who supposedly had martial arts experience. The guy didn't know how to be thrown, so Hubby held him longer than he should have and the guy fell on Hubby's leg, so POP went the knee. The new student is well over 6 ft tall and a big guy, naturally.

Hubby had an MRI yesterday and won't see the orthopedic specialist till next week. He just happened to drop our kids off at the same time as one of Peanut's friends was being dropped off and they boys got talking about his knee. The other dad asked if Hubby had testing yet and Hubby replied in the affirmative and mentioned the medical clinic we use. Other Dad is a radiology tech there and offered to call Hubby today with the results. He called this morning and it's bad. Completely torn MCL + one of the other ligaments and a torn meniscus. We won't know if it will require surgery until the doctor sees him.

Please, no surgery.

What a week.

Lily took a turn for the worse overnight Tuesday. She had tarry stools and fluid in her abdomen on Wednesday morning. We knew things were bad, but Hubby decided to take her to the animal hospital for the ultrasound, just to be certain. She had stomach cancer. I went Thursday morning to say our goodbyes and be with her. She was so much worse than when I had last seen her Monday morning. Afterward, the vet asked if I wanted to feel the tumors. I'm not a vet, but I could feel the lump. I'm a bit upset that our vet missed it, but I don't know how easy it would be to find if it wasn't something you already knew was there.

Peanut took her death much better than we thought he would. He's already asking when we can get a new dog (not anytime soon).

I also found out that the woman who babysat me from babyhood into early school years passed away last week. I was happy to hear she was at home with her family. She was one of those very special people. She loved us as if we were her own grandchildren. For some reason, she especially took to Mom and me.

One of my friends/coworkers lost her grandmother this week and another's has cancer.