2009 February | Table for Five

Diagnosis: Bronchitis, times three

February 26, 2009 By Elizabeth

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.

ChrisÂ 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.Â Hopefully I’ll have some interesting content for you next week.

Hope all is well with you and your families.

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Family, Health, illness

Max Payne DVD review

February 25, 2009 By Elizabeth

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.

I 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, Maxâ€™s former partner Alex (Donal Logue) turns up a clue connecting the womanâ€™s grisly dismemberment to the death of Maxâ€™s loved ones, but he too winds up slaughtered, in Maxâ€™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 Oâ€™Donnell, Kate Burton and Chris â€œLudacrisâ€ 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.

Filed Under: DeeVeeDees Tagged With: Beau Bridges, Donal Logue, dvd, MarkWahlberg, MaxPayne, Mila Kunis, Video game

Video of dolphins makes me feel a bit better

February 24, 2009 By Elizabeth

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 Orlandoâ€™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!