Today, I want to start off by briefly exploring the topics of blog comments and stats. Those of you who already have a good working knowledge of those topics, as well as those who have no bloody interest in them may be excused to below the line of asterisks. Go ahead but quietly.
For the rest of you, I’ll keep it short and to the point.
If you visit my blog, I know about it.
See, I have a magical tool called a JavaScript installed on my site and its sole purpose is to take notes on the when, where, how long, and how often of your visits. Think of it as sort of a Blog Big Brother. And while BBB may not be able to tell me your actual names, he knows just about everything else about you. (And you should really get those clothes out of the washer before they mildew.)
Which brings me to our second and final point:
If you visit, you should say “hi” every once and a while.
Because I know you were here anyway and I do This Thing I Do for LITTLE TO NO PAY so your comments are sort of like compensation for my efforts. Look at it this way: My comment form is your wet cement. Go for it.
Thank you for your attention.
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One of my favorite writers is Susan Wagner of Friday Playdate. I like Susan not only because she is the smart, funny, sassy mom of two precocious little boys, but also since she feels my pain of living in the heart of tornado alley, albeit a couple of hours to the west of me and mine. Also, that when I comment on her blog she almost always shoots me a response via e-mail. LOVE THAT.
So yesterday, I read her latest post and commented, and she e-mailed a response and I responded to her response by telling her a little story. Except the little story turned into a big…..long…..drawn out….epic….novella and I’m pretty sure by the end of it Susan was rethinking her earlier position re: sending e-mails to that whack job Crash Test Mommy chick in Tulsa.
To the contrary, by the end of it I was all HEY! I JUST WROTE MY BLOG ENTRY FOR TODAY! WOOT!
Here you go:
My youngest, Katelynn, was complaining of her foot hurting all morning yesterday. And I looked and looked but couldn’t find any reason why it would be bothering her. When she finally worked herself up into actual tears I gave her half a Tylenol and planned to call the pediatrician if she wasn’t feeling better in an hour or so.
Which….how awesome that she can now swallow half of a real human adult Tylenol since she’s not even four-years-old, right? She just learned that little trick in the last week.
And I’m not saying she learned it when, around 2 A.M. last Thursday, she had no choice since the pain from a shoulder sunburn was about to kill her and we were out of children’s Tylenol (naturally, since they only pack 15 or 20 pills in the bottle to start with) and my husband was at work (again, naturally — he’s a cop and works four 10-hour night shifts per week and how my kids manage to be hemorrhaging or puking only on the nights he’s not home I will NEVER know) and I was just a little bit hesitant to make a trek out to Walgreens at that hour.
Also am not saying she got said sunburn on Wednesday when she insisted on playing out in the backyard in her two-piece and I couldn’t find the Coppertone and told her to just “stay under the trees.” Ahem.
Anyway, after taking the Tylenol for her foot she plopped down in a chair with her big sister who investigated and within two minutes had a diagnosis. Katelynn had a [HUGE] splinter [festering] in the side of her foot. Up around almost to her pinky toe not quite to her toe pit.
Not on the bottom of her foot where I of course had been looking.
And I know my nursing license should probably be revoked. Not to mention my mommy license. But in my defense, I had LASIK a few years ago which made me slightly far-sighted so I’m blaming my better than 20-20 vision.
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Quick note since so many of you have asked: We still have not found Pete. And still are doing everything we can to find him. And still cry just thinking about it. So still can’t write a full post to talk about it. But THANKS SO MUCH for your comments and letters of concern. Keep hope alive!
25 Responses to Comments and splinters and Pete. Oh my!
Enough about me.
Not your mommy's blogger.
A freelance writer and editor, wife and mother of four who excels at Wii bowling, makes a mean cherry pie, and has probably seen the movie Grease more times than you. Read a lot more about Jenny Motley here.pinterest is the new black.
Problem: Keeping track of all your internet fab finds. Solution: Pinterest. Read the whole story.
Howdy. Just sayin’ hi. Time to get back to work and plurk (hopefully in that order) now…
Because comments are like gold . . .
HELLO!
Thanks for the reminder about the mildewing clothes!
Can you also see me ignoring my sick two-year-old as I type this comment?
Had to laugh at the husband-always-gone-when-kids-are-sick-at-2-a.m.-remark. Clayton is gone 1 of every 3 nights. And it so happens THAT is when tornado warnings happen, we lose our power, both my kids freak out, and we are hiding under the stairs. Fun!
By the way, we should playdate sometime this summer. Bring the kids swimming, I GUESS we could invite those cousins of yours and their offspring.
FINE! HI!
just started reading your blog a few days ago, but you probably already know that…can’t remember how i got here but maybe you know that too. so, hi. hope you find pete soon.
Damn. I always eff up on the clothing transfer. My wash backs up because I end up having to run the mildew-y stuff twice. I roll my eyes in my own general direction.
When we were in Hawaii, my nephew went in the ocean with a sliced foot. He started complaining the next day, but my sister didn’t do anything about it until my dad realized that the whole side the kid’s foot was swollen and nasty. We all just figured that my nephew was trying to get a little more attention. Bad family! BAD!
I am a newbie to you too… so hello! We’re a nomad USG family – living overseas, but currently on home leave in California… a quick introduction! Happy Monday!
That happens to me, too – I’m responding to a commenter and I end up writing the next day’s blog post while I’m at it. Very efficient!
Hey Cuz! So Parents are on their way to China and I’m pretty sure they NEVER used the Chinese CD I got at Chick-Fil-A….whatev.
And Merrill–I am expecting an invite to come swim…Have fun at Disney World, by the way!
Now I’m scared not to say hi – so HI!
Here via Tootsie!
Um, hello, don’t hurt me. Seriously, glad to see you got your blog back up and running.
Twitter: CrashTestMommy
says:
@ Khyle:
So glad you did! Now get back to Plurk. Oops. I mean work.
@ Tara:
Yup, TWENTY-FOUR KARAT GOLD baby!
@ San Diego Momma:
No but I hear they’re working on an upgrade that will allow that sort of surveillance.
@ Merrill:
Oh right, I should have said Rob’s never home to share hemorrhaging, puking, OR tornado warnings.
We too hide in the closet under the stairs. Remember that movie The People Under the Stairs? Just checking.
Yes DEFINITELY on the playdate. And the swimming. The cousins? Maybe.
@RubiaLaLa:
FINE! HI BACK! AND THANKS! FOR SAYING HI!
@ merlotmom:
Hi!
Your comment made me laugh out loud except the part about Pete of course which I also know wasn’t meant to be funny anyway. I’m all-knowing like that.
Glad you came by and said hi!
@ heels:
Your Hawaii story totally could have been us. Except we’ve never been to Hawaii. And if we had been it’s doubtful we would taken any of the munchkins with us. Otherwise JUST LIKE US.
@ Jill:
Thanks for saying hi! And hi back!
So glad you stopped by.
Will def. have a read at your site too, sounds like life is more than a little interesting for you and yours.
@ suburbancorrespondent:
I actually just almost did it again. I was leaving a comment (for none-other-than Susan AGAIN) and it sparked a blog post.
Isn’t that ODD?
Am thinking Susan is like a muse or something. Will delve into THAT further later.
@ Katie:
Then it’s gonna be pretty tough finding a bathroom quickly once that Chinese food kicks in like you and I KNOW it will.
Of course it’s doubtful that your mother will actually use a public restroom while she’s there anyway since I know it’s against her religion.
@ Don Mills Diva:
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Am kidding of course!
Thanks so much for stopping by and hi! back.
@ Burning Prairie:
ha! Thanks Jen!
I was pretty cranky while waiting to be back online but am better now.
Much, much better.
Hi! Just started reading you as a referral from a friend who lives in texas… i live in tulsa/ba too!
I’m with merlotmom…just found you a few days ago, but have no idea how. I’m trolling the internet these days for good blogs so I can learn a thing or two about how to be just as funny and warm and compelling on my fresh-out-of-the-box blog. Now that I’m here to stay, I thought I’d say hi…since you kind of asked.
AMEN to the comments comment!
And as for splinters, we just had our first big festering splinter episode ourselves. It was like performing mini-surgery, but I like grossness like that. My four-year-old … mmmm, not so much.
You know, every time I come here I look and say, “Damn! She already has 30 comments and she JUST POSTED!” Then I look and I remember that a good portion of those are from you – responding to comments. NOT THAT THERE’S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT. In fact, it’s very validating.
Ahem.
While I’m here….please, never, ever mention the splinter story to my husband. UNLESS you want to sit for a good 45 minutes and hear all about the time when he was a kid and had a sewing needle stuck in his foot. For two weeks. Brings new meaning to festering. And if I have to hear it again, I may stick a sewing needle in my eye.
I should probably keep that stuff to myself.
Another lurker busted.
Our son’s only (so far) visit to the emergency room was on account of a splinter in the foot. It required 4 shots in the bottom of his foot to numb it so the doc could SLICE HIS FOOT OPEN to remove the offending wood.
Twitter: CrashTestMommy
says:
@ bagirl:
Very cool! Thanks for saying hi and for reading!
Thank your friend in Texas for the referral too.
@ Chubby Mom:
I’m pretty sure even my husband has no idea how he found me. Just that it was the best day of his life. heh.
Thanks so much for checking me out. And for saying “hi.”
@ mommypie:
Truth be told, I’m into The Grossness too.
I mean, I was an operating room nurse for five years. I’ve seen genital warts. Not to mention a fibroid tumor as big as my head. It’s pretty hard to make me nauseated.
@buffi:
OUCH!!! Did anyone know the sewing needle was in his foot for two weeks?? I think I DO want to hear that story. My oldest daughter once stepped on a brooch pin (about an inch long) and it went in as far as it could. Of course I made my husband pull it out.
I’ve been trying out this Greasemonkey script that lets me respond to comments on the blog AND sends the response to the original commenter. Which….cool since the commenter doesn’t have to visit one post over and over to see if I responded. But not so cool since it makes my comments section VERRRRY LONNNNG for each post. Am kicking around just sticking to e-mailed responses.
@KMed
haha! Busted! gotcha.
OMG. Your poor son! I’ve had shots in my foot to fix a dislocated toe (yeah, I rode my ten-speed in flip-flops) and oh the pain. OUCH.
Just visiting for the first time from Blog Nosh. Comments are lovely aren’t they?
It’s how we know we’re not just talking to ourselves.
So sorry about Pete.
You mean we’re doing this blogging thing for COMMENTS? I was still waiting for the check in the mail.
So glad to know I’m not the only one rewashing the washed clothes…better go check that now…and BTW comments are GOLDEN when you’re home with kids all day! Since you’re into watching where we’re coming from, I’ll just let you know that I was sent here by a google ad in my gmail! ^_^
um hi? i stumbled here today and wow you did a good job of making me feel compelled to comment. you’re certainly an interesting read for this 22 year old.
[...] I know many some two or three of you have been following my family’s epic saga of the search for our gray tabby cat, Pete, with some interest, so I thought I would take a minute [...]
Hey – found you on Mom Blogger Network. I’ll have to use that one next time I can’t find any sunblock, “just stay under the trees!” Ha Ha