"7 Quick Takes Friday," Volume 14

I'm normally a daily blogger, or an almost-daily blogger, but I've been neglecting my "String of Pearls" duties lately.  ("Did she just call blogging her duty?  Wow, she has an inflated idea of how important her silly little blog is."  I can hear you thinking that.  I can.)  This probably has to do with the fact that my husband and I are staying with our oldest son, our daughter-in-law, and their three little girls (that's three little girls under the age of two!), and I don't seem to have the energy or desire to write every day. I usually don't like to take afternoon naps, but I've been finding that when the twins go down for theirs, taking a nap sounds a lot more enticing to this old grammy than blogging.  And then when the house quiets down after bedtime, I've been finding that turning in early sounds a whole lot more enticing to this old grammy than blogging.  And when I wake up in the morning before the twins get up (which happens occasionally, since my body still appears to be on East Coast time and keeps thinking it's two hours later than it really is), I've been finding that lazing in bed for awhile and doing a bit of reading sounds a lot more enticing to this old grammy than blogging.

I've been reading a lot of children's books aloud lately, and after re-reading the previous paragraph, I think perhaps their heavy reliance on repetition is starting to affect my writing style.  Which gives me a great segue into Take #1 (for the 7QTF link-up with Jen and the rest over at Conversion Diary): 

--- 1 ---

Yesteryear's classic Little Golden Books are simply the best.  And when I say "classic," I mean just that; not the newer ones, the main characters of which are taken from the latest Disney/Pixar flicks, but the tried-and-true staples of childhood such as The Saggy Baggy Elephant, The Pokey Little Puppy, and The Little Red Caboose.   You know, the vintage ones.  We had a lot of Little Golden Books in our house when our boys were young, and now whenever I see a new edition of a classic title that I know my granddaughters don't have yet, I just have to buy it for them.  Here are the two latest additions to the girls' library c/o Papa and Grammy.

Nothing against popular children's book author Sandra Boynton or anything.  I mean, her adorable little board books fill up half the bookshelves in my granddaughters' house, and they love every last one of them; but nothing really compares to those old-school Little Golden Books--at least in my book.  (Har-dee-har-har.  Did you see what I did there?)

--- 2 ---

Melissa & Doug make the greatest children's puzzles (sometimes also known as "puthh-oths," depending on whom you ask).

Where in the world were Melissa & Doug when my boys were itty bitty sprats?   They would have loved these!  My granddaughters have a pretty extensive M & D puzzle collection (thanks in part to some hand-me-downs from their cousins), and they can't get enough of them.

--- 3 ---

There just isn't anything cuter than watching a wee lass puttering around her play kitchen.  (Especially when she's sporting a pink Easter bonnet.)  Here's a shot of my little Bonny Babe, rustling up some grub with her plastic fruits and vegetables and miniature pots, pans, and dishes.

I'm pretty sure I need say no more about that.  The picture says it all.

--- 4 ---

There are a lot of glitzy, high-tech toys these days, but a big rubber ball will never go out of style.  The bigger and bouncier the better!  Give a small child a big ball, and his fun meter will be pegged in no time.  Here's Cutie Pie playing with a "just because" gift we brought home from a shopping trip the other day.

Target.  $2.99.  BAM!  Score one for Papa and Grammy.  (And give us extra props, because we really wanted to buy two of them, so the twins wouldn't fight over this one, but we held back.  And they are learning to share it.)

--- 5 ---

Please keep praying for my fourth son, who is on deployment in Afghanistan.  Some of you have already said you're praying, and I want to let you know that your prayers are deeply appreciated.  So far, so good; and he's already been gone over a month, so he has less than five to go.  Because of the nature of his job and the crazy hours he works, my boy doesn't have much time to do anything else.  After work, he works out, eats, Skypes with his girlfriend, sleeps, and then it's time for work again.  It's like Groundhog Day over there (you know, the Bill Murray movie?), he says.  He works 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are no "days off" on deployment.  He's counting the days until it's over and he's back home again.

But keep those prayers coming.  And here's a recent photo of him (which was given a cool color treatment by his girlfriend).  I thought you might like to see whom you're praying for.

My son's "blue steel" beats Ben Stiller's by a country mile, don't you agree?

--- 6 ---

Six hours in the ER is not a fun way to spend the night when you're visiting with your beloved grandchildren.  Luckily, though, the patient was not one of my three little girls; it was me.

I was taking an antibiotic because I have a tooth that needs some root canal work, but I'd pushed back the date of my oral surgery so that I would be able to spend this week with my oldest son's family while my husband had some time off from work.  I was in some pain, and the doctor wanted me to take an antibiotic in case the tooth got really infected while I was out of town.  I took the medication religiously for seven days (four pills a day), and I was thrilled because I've already had allergic reactions to three commonly prescribed antibiotics, and it seemed like I didn't have a problem with this one.

Wrong!

No sooner had I taken the last dose two days ago, and within hours I had an itchy rash on my abdomen.  I took some Benadryl and hoped that would be it.  Then through the night, the rash grew and grew and spread and spread and itched and itched (children's book-style, again).  Yesterday, no amount of Benadryl would control the continuous spreading or the unbearable itching, and finally at dinnertime my husband took me to the hospital.

Long story short:
1. I'm allergic to yet another antibiotic.  (I hope I don't run out of options.)
2. Epinephrine and I don't mix. It made my blood pressure skyrocket and brought on the scariest headache I've ever had--besides the one I got during labor with my firstborn son, and that was diagnosed as preeclampsia.  (I don't know which is worse: having hives all over your body, or feeling like your head is going to explode.)
3. Thank God for ER doctors.  I don't know how they do it!  The ER was jam-packed when we arrived last night, and we waited for three hours just to be seen.  How do those guys keep their cool and get it all done. when they're dealing with multiple emergencies all at once?

--- 7 ---

I'm so glad I discovered blog link-ups!  (Like this one, for instance.)   I am continually amazed by all the wonderful people I've "met" because I've linked; I feel like some have truly become friends.  (I'm rich in eFriends!)  There are so many sharp, funny, insightful, faith-filled, thoughtful women out there--and they're good writers, too!  One day I'd like to meet some of them face-to-face, like my friend Erica over at Boys, Books, and Balls.  Erica and I "talk" a lot.  And recently she was kind enough to give my novel a plug on a "Five Favorites" post at Hallie's Moxie Wife, as well as a couple of mentions on "Yarn Along" (another link-up I would enjoy, if only I knew the first thing about knitting).

Well, it's nap time now, and I think after last night's ordeal, I better try to get some shut-eye.  But you can head on over to see all the other bloggers who've linked up with Jen today.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!