Classic MAZ at LeBonheur

I  have always been a supporter of LeBonheur Hospitals!! They have great doctors and nurses and accomplish great things. As with everything, there are good and bad people, events, etc. When Jack had his growth hormone testing at the age of 2yrs, we had the worst nurse EVER. She just happened to work at LeBonheur. All of Max's surgeries have been with LeBonheur (except one) and all the staff have been fabulous. The facilities have always been spectacular (but old).

The staff today was fabulous. BUT the facilities were GROSS!! The waiting room of the lab was disgusting and the restrooms were nasty and the hallways were dirty.........

But that is not what I am writing about.....

When Max and I got on the elevator.............CLASSIC MAZ.........

This man stood in front of us. He was a hospital employee (I guess). He had a badge. He was wearing shorts and holding two biohazard bags with tubes. I noticed that they looked used and I thought that was odd. I was thinking that they should be in a container and I was looking him up and down. My eyes came to the bottom of his shorts at the back of his knees. One leg had brown stuff draining down his leg out from under his shorts. I looked again at his clothes to make sure he wasn't a patient. NOPE...he was an employee. Then Max and I at the same time saw his sock!! At the same time we saw the brown stuff draining down his leg was chunky and all over his sock and going inside his shoe! We looked at each other at the same time with our eyes bugged out and our mouthes flew open!! Luckily the elevator door opened before my gag reflex activated. The guy went one way and we went the other way to finish Max's lab work............

Please Stand By

I am sorry. I will not be able to post until the end of next week (near Easter). I am anxious and weary. I will share the life adventure soon.
Much love to my readers.......
maz

Max's illness update

Max has another sinus/chest infection. They actually called it severe (whatever). He will be going to his concert tonight and holding his trumpet to his lips....hee hee.

Max was diagnosed with another allergy today and it came as very sad news. He is allergic to animals (after begging for years he was given a dog for his birthday last August). We are going to have to make a "pet decision" soon. But for now, we bought an air purifier and the dog as been banned from his bed and all pets have been eliminated from his room. In fact, I am having to rearrange the house. Max's room is a "walk-through" room and I must move him to another room in order to keep his doors closed at all times. Max is now officially allergic to everything except foods!!

For those who are not familiar with Max's history, he has been sick all his life and I have had to be a MAD CLEANER. I washed curtains and bed linens once a week, mopped and vacuumed furniture once a week, washed our base boards, etc. Since Max has been taking allergy shots for 2 years, I relaxed a tiny bit. I am now back to being the MAD CLEANER.

I was ordered by the doctor to purchase an air purifier for Max's room. I did that today. I actually got a deal. I got one for the house and got the one for his room for free.

The allergist is concerned that at his age, and being on allergy shots for 2 years.....he is still having so many infections and surgeries.....and now developing another allergy. She is sending us downtown to Lebonheur for a sweat test to rule out Cystic Fibrosis. I am not worried because Max does not fit any of the symptoms except chronic infections......but still pray for him. The doctor also gave me a letter to give to his ENT. She is asking that in his next surgery....he check that the nasal hairs are beating away the bacteria as they are supposed to be doing.......

So Max is marching on through his life as happy and goofy as ever and I am a ball of stress as usual!!
Now I am going to mop or scrub something.....

Jack is truly special

It seems that just when I am understanding the stage my oldest son is in.....he moves on to another stage!! WORSE....I don't even know it is a stage until 2 years later when my other son starts acting the same way!!

"oh! Jack did that.....this must be a stage for this age."

Jack has hit a really cool stage. He is very funny. He does physical or facial comedy as well as spoken word. Smart kid has already figured out how to "defuse" me. I don't mean in a bad way to manipulate or get away with bad behavior. I mean he notices when I am grumpy, angry, tired or whatever....and instead of "normal" teen attitude coming my way....he breaks into comedy. He can give a look, a comment, etc....and we both are laughing.

Jack has always been able to converse with adults. Now, we have great conversations!!! I have to remind myself that he is only 12 and not 18 or 19. He sees other kids exactly the way I do......the odd ones, the special ones, the nerdy ones, the naughty ones, the ones neglected by parents, the ones that choose to be brats, the ones that are obnoxious......I have to remind myself that he is one of them BUT PERFECT ha ha...I could see him as a behavior teacher like me but will try hard to guide him in another direction.... hee hee

As far as school goes, he is very smart but hates doing work. It has been a small struggle to keep school fun when the student snarls at everything.....

A couple of weeks ago, Jack decided that he was going to Vanderbilt and major in Engineering. This week he has done double his usual school work. His attitude toward math has done a 180!!
AND it is not just the school work......he is being such a great big brother to Max, he is playing more instead of asking to play video games.....

I am not sure if this is a stage, how long it will last, etc.....but I enjoy getting to know my Jack and his individual personality. I worried that me being such a controlling mother would make Jack a kid that did not know who he was.....but he does.....lordy, he does!!

MAZ endorsement

Two thumbs up for the Frist Museum in Nashville!!

We have been studying Ancient Greece in school. We took a day trip to Nashville last weekend. We went to the Parthenon and the Frist Museum. The Frist had an exhibit about the heroes and legends of Greek Mythology. It was interesting to us because we had just read the myths. However, it was mostly reading and looking at the illustrations on the pottery. I do not suggest driving to Nashville for this exhibit...

BUT

I do suggest driving to Nashville for their "hands-on" art room. I think this is a permanent room. They have more than 30 stations set up for the children:
printmaking, self-portraits, water color, still life drawing, light/dark shading, paper sculptures, stop-motion animation, etc.....

I was very impressed at how they have organized and designed this to be kid-friendly but actually teach something!!! So many times, museums will have something like this but then let the kids go with no instruction.

The Frist provided staff at each station to show the kids what to do and then encourage them to do it on their own!
I am NOT a person or parent who likes kids to just be kids!!! They need boundaries and instruction and then let them be themselves!!!

I give the Martin Artquest Gallery (inside the Frist) 5 MAZ smiles!!!
1st smile: organized and well manned
2nd smile: actual art being taught
3rd smile: fun and interesting for all ages!!
4th smile: staff was friendly and involved with the kids
5th smile: was really crowded but everything flowed smoothly!!

Martin Artquest should be honored!! I mostly roll my eyes or run away from kid zones!!

I also liked seeing the building! They redid an old Post Office building Art Deco Style!! It reminded me of the movie Hudsucker's Proxy. They had the Baroque exhibit which I liked but the boys were mortified at all the naked women. My favorite was The Temptation of St. Anthony. No boobies, just demons!! Very cool!! They also had a really cool exhibit where these machine sculptures moved and lit up, U-Ram Choe: New Urban Species.

I GOT A NEW CAMERA BEFORE WE WENT!!!

Classic MAZ in Nashville

We took a day trip to Nashville on Saturday. Jeff's parents went with us and it was a great day!! We left at 6:30 AM and returned at 11:30 PM. It was a wonderful fun-filled day!!

HOWEVER, as my long-time readers know, Classic MAZ means crazy adventure!!!

I have been sick with a cold but felt "ok" on Saturday. Around 4pm I started feeling worse. My ear hurt, my throat hurt, one eye was watery, one nostril drippy, one side of my face full of pressure and aching badly from head to toe.

We stopped at Opry Mills to eat at Rainforest Restaurant before heading back to Memphis. By the end of dinner, I was barely hanging on!! The server finally got our checks right and was bringing them back to us for the 2nd time. She looked at me and said "you look AWFUL are you ok??" I explained that I was feeling bad and tired and we were headed home. I did NOT say what I was thinking "about to give you your tip and you tell me I look awful???"

I was headed out of this absurdly crowded and HUGE mall and Jeff was to pull around and pick us up in his parents black Trailblazer. All I could think about was sitting down in the car. I was about to pass out!! We walked out of the mall and parked right by the curb was a Trailblazer. I went around to the other side as my in-laws and kids walked up to the side closest to the curb. As I approached the car, I noticed something in the window of the backseat.  Here are my thoughts within about a 30 second time period:

"what did Jeff stick in the back seat?"
"I am so tired and sick. I will push that thing over and just crawl in the seat."
"I should help my kids climb in to the back but I will leave that to Connie (my mother-in-law)"
"I am going to die from a cold."

Then I jerked the back door open ready to hurl myself into the seat. As I saw that this form in the back seat had dark hair and was wearing jeans, I heard Connie on the other side of the car yelling, "I AM SO SORRY, I AM SO SO SORRY, I AM SO SORRY!" She slams the car door shut (which she too had jerked open to enter the back seat).

I realize that this was not our car and slammed the door. I made my way around the back of the car toward the curb and saw my kids running toward me and Connie still standing at the car yelling "I am so sorry!" Lee (my father-in-law) had his hands in his pocket, looking in the car window and laughing. All this happened within about 35 seconds.....we all gathered on the curb behind this poor unsuspecting car and laughed hysterically!!! Jeff pulled up and we got into the right Trailblazer and laughed, giggled and told him the story.

The poor people in the back of the GREEN Trailblazer never said a word. They just had open-mouthed confused looks. They looked hispanic and possibly did not speak English. I hope they were not afraid they were being car jacked by banjo-playing hillbillies!!

Wise Mom or Stupid Kids????

Jeff has had a few days off from work since he got back in town.

Yesterday, we went to the Memphis Pink Palace Museum. We watched the IMAX movie The Alps (educational and entertaining). We saw the Chocolate exhibit (educational and entertaining). We joined  the museum for the next year. If we go three times, it will have paid for the membership!!

Today, we went back to the Pink Palace. We watched Nine Planets and Counting in the Planetarium (educational and entertaining). We walked through part of the insect, rock and early history exhibits (educational and probably entertaining to some people).

Tonight, the boys were moping because we have school tomorrow. They liked having several days without learning anything.

So am I a wise mom??? Making learning SO FUN that they have no clue they are learning???
Or are my boys complete idiots and have no idea that they spent 2 days learning, reading and listening??