Pain in the neck

We've all used the phrase "Pain in the Neck" usually to complain about someone or something, but last night I had (and still have) a literal pain in the neck. Little Girl and I met hubby at Sweet Tomatoes for dinner and then we all went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to see if we could find a new mirror for our bathroom fix up project. When we left BBB, I was trying to get Little girl in the car quickly because it was so cold and windy, when I felt something pop and had a horrible pain. We made it home and got the little one to bed, then hubby was sweet and rubbed my shoulder and neck, but it didn't help much. Needless to say, I didn't sleep real great and ended up coming down into our family room around 3 AM. I spent the rest of the night down on the couch with a heating pad and slept a little bit better. This morning, hubby was nice to rub my shoulder/neck again this time with tiger balm. That helped enough that I have been able to move around more and it feels a lot better this morning. I'm sure the Ibuprofen I took helped too!

A little frustrated

My Mom called this morning.... (she does most mornings at some point) and asked if I had a minute. I didn't REALLY, but wasn't doing anything that couldn't wait a few minutes. Well, it was almost an hour later when we got off the phone. My toast, which I had been eating when she called, was now cold and I hadn't worked out yet. I wasn't sure how much longer the baby would nap because she went down a little before my Mom called, but I decided to try to get a least a little workout in. Thankfully, my precious little girl took a long nap this morning, so I was able to get my 30 Wii Fit credits, even if it wasn't the yoga work out I really wanted.
The frustrating part is that it wouldn't have mattered if I told my Mom I was eating or about to work out, she would have kept talking anyway!

Driving Scare

Yesterday afternoon, hubby called to let me know that his parent's dog was FINALLY being released from the animal hospital where he's been since being hit by a car on Feb 6. Someone needed to go stay with my Father-in-law (who was also hurt in the accident) while Mother-in-law went to get the dog and get him settled at sister-in-law's house. I headed over as soon as the baby was up from her nap and fed and hubby met me there as soon as he got out of work for the day. We had dinner there and hung out until about 7:30 PM when the baby started getting tired. Hubby went out to the car with us and helped get the baby buckled into her seat and off she and I went for the short ride home.
Not long after I left my in-laws neighborhood, I thought I saw the car behind me flash their bright lights. So, I checked my dash to see if any of my idiot lights were on... they weren't. The car behind me kept flashing their brights... I thought maybe they wanted to pass me because I was going the speed limit, so I got over to the right as soon as I could (the road had a bike lane), but they didn't want to pass, they tried to pull up along side me at a stop sign. I kept going and made sure my doors were locked, but I was getting very scared. When we got to the first major intersection, I turned to go onto the major street instead of continuing on the residential street. Once I made the turn, the other car continued going straight. I called my hubby and we decided that I would return to my in-law's house to wait for him to be able to come home with me.
The more we talked about what happened, we figured that the person flashing their lights at me could have been someone who knows someone who also drives a car like mine (it's a common make and color) and that they were just trying to get m attention. But, there is a slim chance that they were up to no good, so we played it safe.... especially with the baby in the car.

Illinois Senate Seat - part 2

Our Junior senator, Roland Burris, should never have accepted is appointment from Gov. Blagoviech. Based on his record of public office and attempts to gain additional offices, I get the feeling that Mr. Burris' personal desire for glory and/or importance overshadowed his desire to do right by the people of Illinois.
It's bad enough that one of our former Governor's is in jail, his successor has been impeached while under federal indictment, but now our junior senator has a cloud hanging over his head too. How in these difficult times, are we supposed to have the representation we need if there are constantly questions about if the man is telling the truth or not?
The writing was on the wall regarding Blago's impeachment, so I'm not sure what Mr. Burris was thinking when he accepted the appointment......

Busy weekend

We've had our typical busy weekend. FIL came home from the rehab center on Friday, so we have honestly spent a big chuck of our weekend over there. I can't say that I really enjoy the time, but I understand why we do it... They are family.
The dog gets to come home soon too........

ENT Update

I went to the ENT on Tuesday....
Basically, I get to go to another doctor. Frustration is running rampant for me right now.

Bells and the ENT

I go to a new doctor tomorrow, hopefully to get help with my Bell's Palsy. I'm really hoping that the ENT I'm going to see can help me. The pain is getting really annoying to the point where I am having to take Ibuprofen at least once a day and taking Tylenol sleep almost every night. I don't want to be addicted to pain killers for the rest of my life. The cross wiring of my face is also getting really irritating because it is making it difficult for me to play with my little girl.

The Dog is Paralyzed

We found out last night that my Father-in-law's dog is paralyzed in his hind legs and the chances are that he won't recover. He is currently being fitted for a little cart that will allow him to "walk"
The last figures I heard for the cost of his care to date was north of $10,000... I really hope that the driver who hit him is held responsible and pays the bills.
My FIL was just out for a walk with his dog, he shouldn't have to suffer the expense of someone else being reckless.

Who's to blame

There is some frustration in the family over FIL's accident on Friday. The young man driving the car that hit FIL received a citation and only a citation because he called the police. His punishment for hitting a man walking his dog with his 2000 pound car is a ticket and the difficulty he'll have getting car insurance in the future. That just doesn't seem fair because my father-in-law will be dealing with his injuries for months to come. And let's not forget the dog, he's not out of the woods yet. There is speculation that he still might have to be put down. If he does survive, he has months of recovery ahead of him too.
And what about the people who didn't clear the snow, which turned to ice, off of their sidewalk? They are the reason the FIL was walking the dog in the street in the first place. Aren't they at fault too? We found a village ordinance that says you can't clear snow so that you impede pedestrian traffic. That means you can't dump snow into the sidewalk when you clear your driveway. But, doesn't failing to clear the sidewalk impede pedestrian traffic?

We survived the weekend

We spent the weekend going back and forth to the hospital. FIL is doing much better, but will be in the hospital for a while yet.
I didn't really feel like I did much to help. I spent most of Friday taking care of the kids and all I really did on Saturday was make dinner for everyone. Hubby says it was helpful... I hope so.

Downers Grove Police

The Downers Grove police ROCK!!!
This morning, my father-in-law was walking his black lab mix, Buddy, in their neighborhood. He was walking along the sidewalk until he reached an area that hadn't ever been cleared of the latest snow and was now icy, so they were walking along the curb until they cleared the obstacle when they were hit from behind by a car.
Thankfully, the driver did the right thing and called 911. The police responded and called the ambulance. My FIL was taken to the hospital, one officer went to get my MIL, and THREE squad cars took Buddy to the ER vet.
As of tonight, the driver has a citation. FIL is in critical care with a broken ankle, broken fibula, broken ribs, broken scapula, and various bumps and bruises. Surgery to fix the ankle is tomorrow. Buddy, is still at the vet and is resting. He has temporarily lost the use of his hind legs, but tests show no spinal cord damage, just trauma. The vet believes he will recover.
We are all very grateful to the Downers Police for the help and kindness during the situation.

Doctor Frustration

I had a neurologist appointment yesterday and left extremely frustrated. Nothing that was said in that appointment couldn't have been said over the phone and I got the feeling during the whole appointment that the doctor couldn't wait to get us out of her office so she could move on to the next thing.
I understand that doctors need to get paid, but as a patient it is really annoying to feel like they care more about the paycheck than your well being. I wish there was a way to have "phone appointments" with a doctor so that they could get paid. It's a waste of every one's time to have an office appointment just to have a conversation, especially when the doctor is telling you that test results are fine and they can't help you anymore.

Nominee Tax Issues

On today's news, it was reported that two more nominees for positions is President Obama's cabinet have withdrawn their names from consideration due to tax issues. This is after our new Treasury Secretary was confirmed after paying back taxes.
This makes me wonder what on Earth is going on in Washington D.C. - I can understand one person making a mistake on their taxes. To be honest, I can understand 3 average people making mistakes on their taxes, our tax code isn't simple. But, these aren't average people. I'm wiling to bet that these people have people do their taxes FOR them. It makes me wonder if there is an unwritten rule in Washington that it's okay to not pay your taxes.

OUCH

Today I went for the second of three appointments to replace a crown. The whole appointment was supposed to take 40 minutes, but the dentist had a hard time getting things numb enough that I didn't feel a lot of what he was doing, so we spent the first hour giving me anesthetic and testing then giving more anesthetic. We finally got everything numb and were able to get the needed impression made, but now that I'm not numb anymore, my jaw is really hurting.
I still think Dr. McGuire is great, but I really hope that once I get this crown, I'll be done for a long time.