three sour tummies

We had a barfy day today. Literally. Thomas had it yesterday and lost what seemed to be the entire contents of his little stomach in the car. That was a fun one to clean. I'm still not sure if i got the oxy clean in all the nooks and crannies of his car seat. Last night , In the middle of the night Ella got it. I was impressed, she came into my room and said, "Mom, I have to throw up." Then she walked straight to the bathroom went right to the toilet and did it. Then this morning I got it. So it happened boom, boom, boom. I think we are all over the worst of it now or I wouldn't be at the computer. We still have the lethargy and our stomachs are gurgling and churning. Ugh, Blah.

Ella was actually sad to miss school because it was wear your pajamas and bring your stuffed animal to school day. Here was our agenda instead. We spent the morning barfing. As I was knee deep in it, I could hear Thomas over my shoulder saying "Okay mama? Okay?" He was really worried. I think my sounds were scaring him. By late morning Ella and I were still throwing up but, with barf bags in hand, we decided to start our Pixar movie-watching marathon. Since Thomas was the most quick of foot he was bringing us water in Ella's plastic tea cups. It was so cute. In the afternoon Thomas was getting restless with us so we attempted to play cars from the Pixar movie Cars. Ella was Sally, I was Dinoco and Thomas was Ramone. That didn't last long. Ella and I napped while Thomas watched Cars. We woke up feeling significantly better. We read curious george books and half of Ella's chapter book, My Father's Dragon (highly recommend by the way). We haven't attempted to eat yet, but Wade is bringing home Campbell's chicken noodle soup, which is full of sodium but somehow always tastes good when sick. So there you have it. The kids are now watching Spongebob and I am hoping their brains don't melt away from the rays of the television. Ella's skin tone still looks greenish grey. I have to say when your kids are sick you are reminded of how much you love them. Eventhough we were miserable today I loved being with them. I loved that I was the one at home with them. Now gosh darnit where is Wade so we can have him baby us! Come home!

I love frogs and carnivorous insects

Here is a tree frog that we saw at the Natural History Museum on Saturday. I wanted to take him home. He reminded me of Jeremy Fischer from the Beatrix Potter books. Doesn't he look wise?

We found a praying mantis at the LA Arboretum yesterday. I was holding him and I was so happy that Ella wanted to hold him too. I thought she would be afraid. I remember as a kid watching a praying mantis devour a cockroach and I will never forget it. So little does Ella know that gentle creature is a fierce beast in disguise. I wanted to take him home too but instead we put him in an ivy bed.

Martha's Thanksgiving 1-2-3 ?

Dear Martha, what would we do without you? You saved us once again with your infinite wisdom. Here is what we made from you... From the Nov 2007 Everyday Food issue...roasted turkey with sage, mushroom stuffing, white wine gravy with garlic mashed potatoes, green bean watercress and crispy shallot salad and the harvest vegetable blend which included roasted sweet potatoes, carrots and a butternut squash. All of which were delish. You will also be very proud... the day after the feast we made your asian noodle soup from the Nov 2004 Everyday Food issue with the leftover turkey bones!

What is a Martha Thanksgiving without a wonderful craft to enjoy with family and friends? The yarn turkeys or as you call them, "feathered friends" were a great hit. We also made your paper squirrels which were adoarble. Oh, and FYI Martha, it IS possible to make the squirrels without a bone folder. I still got those crisp clean folded lines... So I guess the only item that wasn't Martha were the pies. Which were still amazing by the way...butterscoth pecan and a classic pumpkin. Hmmm, maybe my pumpkin wasn't as classic as yours? I don't know. Oh no, now I'm insecure about my pumpkin.

I realized I had everything Martha in food, fixings and craft, but wow, was I lacking in the serving dish/utensils and tablecloth area. I guess we don't really do much entertaining at our household. Grandma Winnie would have been flabergasted. Instead of a nice antique white tablecloth I used our old queen sized Ikea duvet cover with big red flowers all over it. (Don't worry I washed it.) I didn't even have a victorian gravy boat, just a tall plastic measuring cup full of gravy. No dazzling China either... Dixie paper plates anyone? I even used the outside lawn chair for an extra chair. Good grief. Ah well, good times were still had. The Yang's came over with dim sum, Scott brought the rolls. We put on a thanksgiving play. Wade was the narrator. Ella and Stephanie were pilgrim girls. The couch was the Mayflower and they used light saber's for oars. When they arrived in Plymouth, Scott was Squanto and I was his wife. Later, we ate pie and played Bingo. Turkey and Pie + Bingo= Bedtime. Hence, we all went to bed early with food in our bellies.

Priscilla the Pilgrim

Ella loves to assume the role of other charcters. When she does this, which is usually all day long, it is never a minor attempt. In classic Ella style she puts every ounce of her being into the role. Currently, mermaids, cowgirls, damsels in distress and pilgrims are at the top of Ella's list. So it is no surprise that when she was told she could dress up as a favorite character from a book for the 1st grade book report Ella jumped at the chance. She had already been reenacting the role of pilgrim girl in her play so this was a breeze. So here she is as Priscilla, a young pilgrim girl from the Magic Tree House book series. When I walked her to school the morning of the book report she became a little anxious because not as many of the kids had dressed up. She told me she was embarrassed. I could feel her confidence dwindling, when all of a sudden we see a boy dressed as an indian running towards her. Ella bursts out... "Oh my gosh, Chace! Your Squanto?!?!" It was all good from that point.

Stink Spirit

I felt just like the stink spirit in the Japanese anime film Spirited Away. My insides felt like they were full of the nastiest grime and garbage. The scene where the stink spirit comes to the bath house and all the trash and filth is pulled from his side and spews out all over the place was so satisfying to watch. I wanted that to be me. Please somebody take a pin to my side and prick me....let it all come out. Turns out he wasn't just a stink spirit but a river spirit, a famous, wealthy river spirit. People had simply been dumping too much waste into his river and he needed a good "bowel cleansing".

For me it started back in June. I had felt bloated and my stomach always seemed to be upset. I simply attributed it to the coffee that I had started drinking each morning to get me going. The caffeine would upset my stomach but give me my burst of energy that I was looking for. That quick fix kind of energy never works and I always ended up crashing and feeling sluggish by afternoon. So regardless, I was just feeling down right crappy and unhealthy. The Fam and I had met Jayne in Gualala for a summer vacation and then I flew to Utah. This is when I got really sick. I had the soarest neck and joints, a constant fever, diarrea and I just felt funky. Not your run of the mill flu funky, but something else. I went to urgent care sveral times and they ran test after test. They said I had parasites, they put me on cipro to kill off the bad bacteria, ran xrays and so on. I was scared. When I got back to California I still wasn't better. I was running to the bathroom all the time, I had blood and mucous in my stool I was exhausted all the time. Plus, I was doing damge by running google searches on the inet and diagnosing myself with every malady. After months of the not knowing I was finally diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis.
So now, I have this thing. Basically my colon is on fire and it makes for some unpleasant stuff. Stuff that isn't fun to talk about. Colitis is a form of Irritable Bowel Disease which is not to be confused with Irritable bowel syndrome. It's a chronic condition that I will have for the rest of my life. Although it is chronic, a person can get it to go into remission for months, even years. So it's a matter of finding out what daily regime works for me. So for the past 4 months I was indeed having what I know now as a "flare up". I was running to the toilet way too often only to find I didn't actually make it to the toilet. The first few meds I tried ended up not working out for me at all. The colitis was the same but the side effects were awful. I had the chills and whatever ingedient was in them was making me itch incessantly all over my body, especially my hands and feet.

Months later I finally feel I have found a combination that is working for me. The doc has given me an anti-inflammatory drug called Dipentum. I am also using a hydrocortisone enema(steroid therapy) each night. I have been taking both of these for almost a month now. Along with the drugs I have also been reading that natural therapies are very effective when treating colitis. I have been trying to live this article by Dr Mercola. Currently, I am taking 2 T of highly concentrated fish oil every day(not the cheap kind). The fish oil is very high in Omega 3's. Not only does it give me good nutrition by bringing my body back to the correct balance it is highly effective in reducing my inflammation. I swear to you it is improving my overall general health. I get a jolt of energy every time I take it. My body must be low in my DHA and EPA's. I am also drinking wheatgrass (I am going to start growing my own) and non-pasteurized kefir milk to dose up on my probiotics. I'm also drinking a ton of water. I've cut out caffeine completely and I eat alot less meat. I am just eating better all together. I am almost through taking my steroid and I'm hoping I can taper off of that completely so I don't have to worry about the adverse side effects of steroid therapy. I feel like the only thing I really need to get more of is a daily dose of antioxidants. I guess I should just eat more blueberries on my oatmeal. I got a cold a few weeks ago and because it causes inflammation and infection in other parts of the body it made my colitis much worse. So I really need to avoid the colds and flus this season.

For now I am no longer the stink spirit I used to be. I am feeling refreshed and have more energy. In fact, I have been feeling so good about my formed, normal looking stools that I have been having bursts of creative energy every day. I want to knit, sew, bake, do art, hell, I even want to organize the laundry. You can call me the get things done girl at the moment. I do have sudden bouts of short temper which has been making me a little testy and critical of Wade and kids, but I think that is the steroid talking. I've only got 4 more days of that drug. Hopefully I can still be the get things done girl but also the happier, healthier, even-tempered girl who doesn't yell at kids and husband. Hail and praise to the fishes in the deep cold seas of Norway who give me their fatty fish oil secretions!

Please Vote for Me

On Sat Wade and I went to the Archlight to a screening of the documentary film Please Vote for Me at the AFI film festival It follows 3 kids in a third grade classroom in the city of Wuhan, China who are competing for the postion of classroom monitor. This is the first election of its kind in a public school where the students run for office and their classmates vote for who they they want for the position. The director wanted to experiment with how democracy would play out in Communist China.

I fell in love with the film immediately. It took me right back to the China I love and miss. The children were so determined and their personalites were so fun to watch. I loved hearing them speak, seeing them eating their lunch, interacting with their classmates/families. China is sure changing in a hurry. I'm worried I won't recognize it when I go back. All I know is I better get back before they add another Starbucks at the Forbidden City. I think the film may air on the BBC and or PBS check your local listings. This film is one in a series of 10 films written for whydemocracy.net

Halloween 2007