Let's Leave The Stick Out Of It.

She IS part Celt.

Today we're gonna play the game called Highlights, Lowlights, and Jheri Curl. (Okay, there's no Jheri Curl. Except for Nora's. But she can't help it on account of the humidity.)

Highlight: My blood sugar and hemoglobin are both good for this week. Which is awesome, since I wasn't aware of anything remotely connected to my hemoglobin, and would have no idea what "bad" hemoglobin is.

Lowlight (Low point? Lowlight sounds fancier): The positively ancient and nearsighted endocrinologist was the one doing the four blood draws. At one point I was fairly certain he was sniffing the inside of my elbow- nope, just looking for a vein. Can we get an intern or some high school kid in here, please? He was also fond of announcing HERE COMES THE STICK before each blood draw. Which is...unnerving.

Jheri Curl (Maybe there is one): Since my blood is normal this week...I get to come back every two weeks as opposed to each Tuesday. Which is great. But still sorta lame. Hence the Jheri.

Highlight: Nora painted for the first time yesterday on an easel we'd been keeping in the garage. Just in case. After stripping her down to bloomies, I gave her some watercolors and let her have at it. She was elated and I felt like a creative, hands-on Mom.

Lowlight: She realized it was way more fun to paint her own belly and feet with the darkest shades available. Requiring a forty minute bath and much harder scrubbing than your typical toddler normally needs. (Which is, to be fair, still a lot o' scrubbing.) There were repeated entreaties of "All done, Mommy" and the piteous "Mommy, no."

Jheri Curl: My daughter's belly is still a faintly Smurfish blue.

Highlight: This is my first full week home with NJ, facilitating such things as frequent playlot trips, My Little Pony picnics, and Smurfing our bellies.

Lowlight: I have already done seven loads of laundry, and it is only Thursday morning.

Jheri Curl: The amount of cleaning and laundry has not changed, only the frequency in which it is being done. Which is a depressing yet productive thought.

Having nothing whatsoever to do with the Jheri Curl.

But the category for which shall remain until I tire of it/no longer find it funny.

Which could take a while.