My foot hurts. It's been hurting off and on for several weeks now. My foot doc has given up on me. We've done new orthtotics, new shoes, an X-ray, an MRI, a blood-test (to rule out arthritis), and electrical stimulation therapy. The upshot: ther's nothing wrong with my foot (according to my foot doc).

 

And yet, it still hurts.

 

My foot guy thinks I need to buy MBT shoes. So far, I'm refusing. These are $260 ugly shoes. I have a hard time spending $100 for a pair of shoes, let alone $100 for a single ugly shoe. My foot doc has mentioned these ugly shoes for the last 3 visits. I've mentioned them so much that even Ben knows I don't want to buy the ugly shoes.

 

Altho, if this keeps up, I may buy the ugly shoes, out of desperation....

Steve is recovering from an "acute inner ear infection." I say recovering because this ear infection was so bad it totally messed with his balance: he walked into walls, he almost fell when going from sitting to standing, the room spun for mintes at a time when he got into bed at night. This was two weeks ago. He is mostly OK but still has his periods of vertigo. Apparently, this virus that caused his ear infection permanently messed with his inner ear and his balance center. It may have caused so much swelling that his inner ear chamber changed shape, but whatever. The upshot is that his brain has to relearn the balance messages his inner ear is sending. It will take as little as six weeks and as long as a year to fully relearn everything. Worse, Steve has to stay out of the water until his brain understands his ears.

 

At least he didn't burst his eardrum this time around...

It all started with one fuzzy cow.

Then two.

Then, well, more.

Today, on Ben's bed, you will find:

Ben had a birthday party to go to yesterday. He chose to wear jeans and a white shirt with blue collar and cuffs, "Because I wanted a shirt that would look good with my jeans."

 

I hate that shirt. It used to be white but now has random faint stains on it giving it a mottled appearance with faded yellows and grays all over it. When I suggested to Ben he change his shirt, he refused. He just knew it looked good with his jeans.

 

And he wore a belt. "Because I wanted to look like a man."

 

I hate belts on boys. They can't undo them so it's particularly urgent when they finally realize they have to pee and can't get their belt off. They can't put them back on, so you never know when you're going to see a half-naked boy walking out of the bathroom with his pants around his knees because he can't just pull them back on over... well, you know.

 

I blame Steve. A few weeks ago I suggested Ben was at an age where he needed a more masculine influence in his life. Steve apparently chose to focus on burping and looking good.

 

My son is going to grow up to be a burping metro-sexual.

I suppose there are worse things...

A serial killer, maybe.

And we do seem to create quite a few of them in the Washington area....