This post brought to you by amoxicillin March 15, 2008

I am currently undergoing my first-ever strep throat ordeal. It sucks!

Tuesday and Wednesday, I thought I had a cold. I had a few sniffles…whatever. Thursday morning at about 0100, I woke up feeling like I had swallowed a porcupine! By the ‘morning’ (when everyone else wakes up), I was so achy and miserable and feverish that all I could do is lay in bed and cry. I’m normally not like that. Mom casually mentioned that Little Bro had strep throat. DAMMIT!

I figured I should call the doctor, to either rule out strep or get antibiotics so I could work on Sunday. We’re short-handed, so I really can’t miss work. Well, I guess I could in an emergency, but I’d feel like the world’s biggest asshole. We’re also short paramedics, and the person most likely to cover my shift is a paramedic who works the front half overnight shift. So, we’d be down another paramedic, and that’s not good.

Anyway, I went to the doctor. She stuck things down my throat. That bitch! Then she told me that I have strep, which sucks, but she gave me a prescription for amoxicillin. I had no idea how awesome that stuff is!

I spent all of yesterday feeling miserable. I spent a good portion of today feeling crappy. The in-laws saved my ass by agreeing to watch Liz today and tomorrow while Stephen’s out of town. Normally, I would have loved to have kept her, but I couldn’t do it yesterday (probably not today, either). Now that it’s 1215 in the morning, and I’ve taken a couple more pills, I feel pretty good! By tomorrow, I’m going to feel like I’m back to my old self!

And that means…….I get to clean house. Hooray.

Here, have a lyre bird. March 12, 2008

I showed this to Liz yesterday.  She signed ‘bird’ every time the camera zoomed in on the bird’s face, and she cracked up laughing when the lyre bird was having words with the kookaburra.

Who am I? March 12, 2008

I’m Jen.

I am a 26-year-old married woman living in the suburbs.  I am nerdy and indoorsy.  I like coffee, chocolate, the Discovery Channel, dogs, and football.  I don’t like olives, emotional excess, or shopping for shoes.  I am easily amused.

I am Liz’s mom.

Liz was born on April 24, 2007.   She’s our first and only.  She is a handful.  She’s also ridiculously cute, incredibly silly, and full of surprises.  Being a mom, especially a first-time mom, is hard.  I never knew there were so many ways to second-guess myself!

 I am Stephen’s wife.

We’ve known each other for longer than we haven’t.  He’s the best partner ever.  I try to pull my weight.  Being married takes a lot of work, but it also makes life easier.

I’m an ambulance dispatcher.

I can’t write too much about the specifics, because I don’t want to splash big ol’ HIPAA violations all over the internet (Hi Mr. Clinical Director!).  But coworker drama and lamentations about the sorry state of the world are fair game.

I’m a twin.

I have a twin brother.  We don’t have ESP, we don’t feel each other’s pain, but we do have our own language (written, not spoken).  Yes, we’re very close; he’s that one person who I can tell absolutely everything to.  I don’t know, or care to know, where he is at all times.  He is an EMT. I dispatch him sometimes.  I give him crappy calls and it’s funny.

Why am I here?

There are approximately eleventy billion blogs on the internet.  Many of them have to do with parenting, marriage, lamenting the sorry state of the world, and posting funny pictures and videos.   So what qualifies me to start yet another blog dealing with all of the above?

 I have some life experience.  It’s different from yours.  I have ideas and opinions.  I make mistakes.  They’re usually educational.  Sometimes they’re funny, too.  I give advice, but only if I’m sure I know what I’m talking about.  If that works for you, read on.

You’ve probably seen me around.

I’m similar to most people.  I’m not really “the same” as anyone, not even Twin Bro…but you’ve seen people like me at the playground or the mall or the coffee shop.  And if you’ve ever called for an ambulance, you’ve talked to someone like me.