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Diagnosis: Bronchitis, times three

February 26, 2009 · by · 8 Comments
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Chris saw the doctor yesterday, I saw her today and Ryan saw his pediatrician today. All three of us have Bronchitis. Chris’ is the most severe, although Ryan had the highest temperature.

We were all prescribed the same antibiotic, Zithromax, also known as the “Z pack”. You take two tablets the first day and then one a day for four days and supposedly you are better.

Chris and I were also prescribed Albuterol inhalers, two puffs every four hours. Ryan wasn’t prescribed an inhaler, probably because his twelve year old never-smoked-anything lungs aren’t as traumatized as ours are.

So that’s the update. I wish I could post more, like oh, say, any of the half a dozen reviews and giveaways I agreed to do this week, but it’s taking all my energy just to sit up and write this. Hopefully I’ll have some interesting content for you next week.

Hope all is well with you and your families.

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Max Payne DVD review

February 25, 2009 · by · 5 Comments
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Well unfortunately, Chris and I are not only not getting better, we are both getting worse. He is home from work for the third day in a row, and now he’s coughing up green gunk, and so weak he can hardly stand. My throat is irritated and it hurts at the top of my chest when I cough. I really, REALLY hope we can both beat this soon because it is exhausting to be sick and try to parent three kids too.

maxpayneI have no energy to do anything except lay on the couch and watch DVDs. One recent movie I watched was “Max Payne“, the 2-Disc Special Edition, starring Mark Wahlberg. It’s based on a popular video game about a former narcotics agent reassigned to the Cold Case department, seeking both answers and revenge for the murder of his wife and baby. While investigating, Max meets a woman with a wing tattoo on her arm; she soon turns up dead, carrying the wallet she stole from Max. Next, Max’s former partner Alex (Donal Logue) turns up a clue connecting the woman’s grisly dismemberment to the death of Max’s loved ones, but he too winds up slaughtered, in Max’s apartment, of all places.

Now Max is a murder suspect himself, and while trying to figure out what the wing tattoo means, he is drawn into a world of the supernatural. He meets Mona, the sister of the first victim, played by Mila Kunis (“That 70s Show”). She plays a Russian hired assassin who’s character really could have used a tad more backstory. I mean, she looks hot and wears leather and big hulking guys take orders from her, but it’s not apparent at all at first that she’s a trained assassin.

Other stars in this movie include Beau Bridges, Chris O’Donnell, Kate Burton and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges. It’s not a bad movie as far as solve-the-mystery, shoot-em-up movies go. You just have to watch it and remember you are watching a movie based on a video game. And completely suspend your disbelief in order to accept the ending.

The 2-Disc special edition DVD includes both the theatrical and unrated director’s cut (which I watched), and a “making of” documentary. It’s available on Blu-Ray too.

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Video of dolphins makes me feel a bit better

February 24, 2009 · by · 7 Comments
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I’m trying so hard to deny being sick, because someone has to change Kaitlyn and you know, interact with her, and keep the boys from rotting their brains with too much Rock Band, and feel Chris’ forehead and suggest he not go into work tomorrow even though it’s been two days.

You know what helps when I’m sick? YouTube. There is just so much fun stuff to watch there, like this really great video called “dolphin bubbles“. It’s just like it sounds, a video of  dolphins, at SeaWorld Orlando’s Dolphin Cove, playing with a bubble ring! Really, it is so cute. It’s only a minute long, I wish it was longer so I could stare at it; I think this video could have magic de-stressing properties. Watch:

The related blog, at http://www.dolphinbubbles.com, was created specifically for posts by real families visiting SeaWorld Orlando. You can see photos of families feeding the dolphins, there are links to other SeaWorld websites, and you can even book a vacation to SeaWorld right from the dolphinbubbles.com site.

We went to SeaWorld in Ohio when the boys were 3 and 1, but we figured they were too little to participate in dolphin feeding.  Unfortunately for us, that location is closed, there are SeaWorlds in Orlando, San Diego California, and San Antonio Texas. I’d love to go again while the boys are still young enough to enjoy it.  So if anybody reading this wants to send a family of five to a SeaWorld for a first-hand review, please let me know! :)

Tell me in the comments, what did you think of the video? Have you been to SeaWorld? Would you like to go?

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A Pox Upon My House

February 23, 2009 · by · 7 Comments
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Chris is sick with something flu-like. He has the chills, the body aches, the bad cough, he feels hot but doesn’t register a temperature. He gets exhausted if he spends more than about 20 minutes out of bed.

I have body aches and a dry cough, and feel kind of dizzy most of the time. I’m slamming glasses of water and trying to keep everything going around the house.

Ryan came home from school white as a sheet, saying that every time he swallows his throat hurts, and he had a pounding headache. Peachy.

I’m crossing my fingers and toes and everything else that neither Nathan nor Kaitlyn come down with anything.  Chris and I have both been sick more in the last few months than we have in years, and the ironic thing is, we both got flu shots this year.

I just want everybody to be healthy at the same time. Is that so much to ask?

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Friday Flicks- I Love The 80′s DVDs

February 22, 2009 · by · 3 Comments
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Ahh, the 80s.  Also known as my formative years, since I was 13 in 1980.  But most of the movies that came out in the early 80s were ones I either wasn’t interested in seeing or wasn’t allowed to, which means I didn’t see most of them until a good decade later. Fortunately for me, my husband’s Dad had taken him to see a lot of movies, so when we went to the video store, Chris knew which ones to rent.

And now thanks to DVDs, we can watch 80′s classics with much better quality and sound than those videos we rented. Recently released is the I Love The 80′s collection, of which I reviewed two- “Top Secret” starring Val Kilmer, and “The Naked Gun” starring Leslie Nielsen.

lovethe80movies

Written and directed by the Zucker Brothers and Jim Abrahams, the trio also responsible for movies like “Airplane” and “Ghost”, Top Secret! spoofs both World War 2 spy movies and those cheesy teen rock and roll movies that Elvis Presley used to make. Nick Rivers (Val Kilmer) is an American rock singer asked to perform “behind the Iron Curtain”, specifically East Germany. The East German military is in the process of developing a devastating weapon that would allow them to conquer the world, but they need public attention focused elsewhere. That’s where Nick comes in.

Nick arrives, becomes inadvertently mixed up in the rebellion, and suddenly he must not only protect his own life by evading the authorities, he must also team up with the rebels to thwart the Communists’ plans at world domination.

Okay, it might not sound funny, but this is a Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker movie. The sight gags are constant and hilarious. The DVD extras are an audio commentary by the directors and some alternate scenes.

It’s full title is “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!“, and it is freaking hilarious. The movie is based on a failed TV series that David Zucker created for star Leslie Nielsen, just called “Police Squad”.  Nielsen plays Lt. Frank Drebin, who is a moron with no sense of humor, which makes him the perfect foil for the constant sight gags of this movie.

Veteran actors  George Kennedy, Ricardo Montelban, Priscilla Presley and yes, O.J. Simpson are the costars, and while the storyline involving a plot to assassinate the Queen of England during a Major League Baseball game is just plain dumb, that’s part of the beauty of the film. It’s just funny, funny, funny. The commentary by David Zucker is almost as funny as the movie itself. Never seen it? SEE IT.  Both DVDs are available on Amazon.com.

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Send a Blogger to BlogHer 2009!

February 18, 2009 · by · 16 Comments
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edited again: WELL! it turns out that I won’t need help going to BlogHer ’09 after all; the wonderful events manager Lori just offered me a volunteer position helping with the Bookstore like I did last year! w00t!

I am all kinds of fired up about it though, so how would you all feel about sponsoring someone else? We could get enough money together to pay for at least the registration, then have an awesome contest to help send a deserving blogger to BlogHer! We could show the BlogHer community just how awesome the readers of Table for Five are! Come on, who’s with me?!?

The BlogHer community’s  annual BlogHer Conference takes place in Chicago this year, from July 24-25.This will be my 4th year as a member of the BlogHer online community and my 4th conference as well. Not only is it crazy fun, but I pick up invaluable blogging and business tips every time I go. And meet people who are my blogging idols.  You can see photos from last year here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/table4five/sets/72157606303949392/

Registration is $199 until the end of February and $299 after that until all the spots are filled. That price includes two full days of conference sessions, breakfast, lunch, and two snacks, and two free drinks at each of the two night’s cocktail parties. Rooms at the conference site, the Chicago Sheraton Hotel & Towers are a special $200 a night until the rooms are booked.

Which means that for someone to attend, they need $200-$300 for registration, $400 for two nights (most people split that with a roommate), plus transportation.  I have been extremely fortunate to have help getting to all four conferences I’ve attended, and now I want to pay it forward!

So, here’s what’s happening! I’m putting up a “Send a Blogger to BlogHer!” page, with a PayPal donation button. Payments can be made from another PayPal account or by credit card. Every person who makes a donation of ANY amount gets a link here on the homepage in the sidebar until after the conference, under the heading “Sending A Blogger To BlogHer”.

I’m working on a badge and some fun contest ideas, so look for more ideas on how this amazing community I’ve got RIGHT HERE can help a deserving blogger go to the BlogHer conference this July!

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Sunny outside, cloudy inside

February 16, 2009 · by · 26 Comments
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It’s a beautiful sunny day today. Blue sky, no wind, even at 27 degrees the sun feels warm. Ryan got Kaitlyn up this morning and kept her entertained so I could sleep in, which I did, until 11:50 am. Then we went to Quality Dairy and got Paczkis for lunch because why not. I’m in no mood to deprive myself of fried balls of jam-filled dough today.

It was a bad weekend. I can’t say a lot about it because I didn’t get the other person’s permission, but suffice it to say, my feelings about pretty much everything I do and have done over the last 20+ years are not as good as I would like. You know that saying “you can’t un-ring a bell”? Well, I can’t un-hear things that were said this weekend, and I’m having trouble figuring out how to proceed.

How do you do it? How is anyone supposed to have personal fulfillment plus have a successful marriage plus be a good parent plus keep up with bills and cleaning and everything else that goes into running a household, without going completely insane?

What do you do when you wish everything was completely different?

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Oliver & Company 20th Anniversary Edition DVD

February 14, 2009 · by · 3 Comments
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oliverandcompanydvdOliver & Company is  Disney’s animated version of the Charles Dickens classic “Oliver Twist”. Oliver (Joey Lawrence) is an adorable orphaned kitten who is befriended by street wise mutt Dodger (Billy Joel). After a wild chase through the streets of Manhattan, Dodger brings Oliver home to where he lives with a ragtag bunch of pickpocket pooches, including dimwitted Einstein (Richard Mulligan), sexy Rita (Sheryl Lee Ralph), and live-wire Tito (Cheech Marin), under the care of Fagin (Dom DeLuise). Fagin is in deep debt to ruthless loan shark Sykes (Robert Loggia)

Oliver’s luck changes when lonely rich girl Jenny (Natalie Gregory) takes him home, although her ridiculously spoiled and pampered poodle Georgette (Bette Midler) is not happy about it at all. Dodger and the gang are sure Oliver is miserable without them and “rescue” him, but when Oliver admits he was happy with Jenny, Fagin sees an opportunity to blackmail Jenny’s family for the money to repay Sykes-he’ll “return” Oliver if they pay a ransom. Sykes, however, has a different plan, and kidnaps Jenny himself to get his own reward. Now Oliver and the gang have to team up to rescue Jenny!

With music by Billy Joel, Bette Midler and Huey Lewis, Oliver & Company is a fun movie for kids and parents alike. It’s got enough of a plot to keep older kids and grownups interested, and adorable puppies and kitties to please younger viewers!

BONUS FEATURES

Games & Activities
• All-New Game
Backstage Disney
• The Making of Oliver & Company
• Puss Café – A delightful animated short starring Disney favorite Pluto and friends
• The History of Animals in Disney Films – A Disney animated featurette
• Return of a Classic – A look at the 1996 theatrical re-release of Oliver & Company
Bonus Short
• Lend a Paw— Pluto rescues a kitten and saves the day in an Academy Award® (1941 Short
Subject -Cartoon) winning animated short.

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What’s the rudest comment you ever got about your parenting?

February 13, 2009 · by · 17 Comments
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When Kaitlyn was ONE MONTH OLD, my Great-Aunt Anne took a look at her during the family Christmas party and said:

“her ears really stick out. You should tape them to her head at night to help push them back”.

This was Kaitlyn at one month old:

kaitlyncloseup

Her ears did  NOT stick out! Chris and I laughed it off and then when we got in the car to drive home, looked at each other and said “what the heck was she talking about?!?” We think her ears are PERFECT, thank you very much.

I want your comments on this post, please. What was the rudest thing anyone ever said to you about your parenting? Did they criticize you for not piling twelve blankets on your already-warm-enough infant? Act shocked because you were breastfeeding your 13 month old? Accuse you of starving your kids because they were skinny despite eating constantly? Let’s hear your stories!

And, to read more incredible “rude comments” stories, visit the TwitterMoms “Oh, No YOu Didn’t” Contest, sponsored by Care.com.

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“Ghost Town” DVD Review

February 12, 2009 · by · 9 Comments
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I had a chance to review the DVD of Ghost Town, which came out in December but I sort of…forgot to post the review. “Ghost Town” is a movie full of stand-out performances. There isn’t a single person on screen at any time who isn’t a joy to watch. And yet, there’s also no over-acting, prima donna pampered Hollywood actors, either. What “Ghost Town” has is an ensemble cast of brilliantly understated actors who move the plot along at just the right pace.

ghosttownRicky Gervais plays Dr. Bertram Pincus, a dentist who really doesn’t like people. He likes being a dentist because it’s hard for people to talk at him when they have dental equipment in their mouths. He avoids holiday gatherings and his neighbors, tosses off smart-aleck comments under his breath. Then he goes to the hospital for a medical procedure that requires general anesthesia, and when he leaves, he starts to notice people watching him, people who other people can walk right through. He goes back to the hospital to find out if something went wrong. Kristen Wiig is hilarious as the surgeon he confronts, wondering if something went wrong during the procedure. “I died for seven minutes?”, Gervais asks. “A little less than seven, yes”, is her deadpan reply.

One of the most persistent ghosts is played by Greg Kinnear, who can’t “move on” until he takes care of unfinished business. He wants Gervais to bust up the impending marriage between his widow (Tea Leoni) and a no-good human rights attorney (Billy Campbell). Gervais agrees if Kinnear can get the other ghosts to leave him alone, and it doesn’t hurt that he actually finds Leoni interesting.

This isn’t a laugh-til-you-cry type of comedy, it’s more what I would consider a romantic comedy, with moments both funny and touching. Kinnear and Leoni are totally believable as a former couple, and to me, they are both as good at acting as anyone on the usual Oscar nominee list. Other stand-outs from the cast are Aasif Mandvi (“Jericho”) as Gervais’ dental practice partner, and Alan Ruck (“Spin City”) as a Ghost Dad worried about the young son he left behind.

If you haven’t seen “Ghost Town” yet, it’s one I recommend. It’s rated PG-13 but probably wouldn’t be interesting to kids, I’d say get this one to watch with your honey this weekend for Valentine’s Day!

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