Midday Rant

Anna is sick. Again. I spent all of yesterday morning trying to get her in to a doctor to confirm what I had diagnosed myself: ear infection. (I mean, honestly, how hard is it when you are up all night because your kid can't get comfortable enough to sleep and is pulling on her ear saying "ow".) I called our pediatrician first thing in the morning and was told that they didn't have any appointments for a week but I could talk to a nurse as a consolation prize. I talked to the nurse. She said that she could not look in Anna's ear for me and they were not only booked, but double-booked. I confess to practically hanging up on the nurse in frustration (I said "okay" before the click). I was more than bugged because this is not the first time that I haven't been able to an appointment when I really needed one. (Is this normal? Should I switch doctors?) The nurse suggested instacare.

So I head ACROSS THE VALLEY to instacare only to be told that they don't work with the PPO version of BCBS which is what we have. I could try the urgent care place instead. We go to urgent care (sick child and preschooler in tow). We wait. We fill out forms. We wait. We watch a national geographic special on shipwreck identification. We see the doctor for 3 minutes who confirms that Anna does indeed have another ear infection in her right ear (same as last time, several weeks ago). We go to a pharmacy. We wait. And wait. We proceed back across the valley to pick up E & S from school. It's 11:15 and I'm totally done for the day.

Except that I'm not because we also need to go to the animal shelter (and drive to Provo and then to Midway and party with the tribe, etc.). Our feral-turned-manic cat is missing in action. I (stupidly I guess) let him go out to feel the breeze on his face for once in his life on Monday and the skittish kitty took off. Gone. Our neighborhood is not exactly feline friendly as we suspect Moppet was poisoned last summer. At least our more immediate neighbors feign ignorance and so far he has not showed up at any of the 4 shelters I've checked daily, dead or alive. (I did discover, however, that the humane society posts pictures, descriptions and other pertinent info of their received animals you can check online. After traipsing around to one place after another, this is a service I appreciate!)

Still no Mopp. Please report any suspicious behavior or possibly helpful clues to yours truly.

Anna has been a screaming barnacle today. She started her full-throttle cries shortly after 5 this morning and has been at it regularly ever since. Martin left early for a conference so I made lunches for E & S with her clingly to my leg and howling. She quiets down if I hold her but I do sometimes have to put her down (to drive Eden to the orthodontist for instance or to get something to eat for the girls). She is screaming as I type. I had rocked her to sleep, put her quietly (and content!) in her bed and left the room. All's well for a minute or so then the crying began and it hasn't let up yet. I had hoped for a nap too after the 5 a.m. wake-up call but I might not be so lucky.

And can I just say that animal shelters are one of the most depressing places on earth? They reek and seeing all of those animals in rows after rows of cages makes me sad. I think an orphanage would put me over the edge.


p.s., Glory be, there is quiet in the house. I'm going to go chase some z's after all. Wish me luck.