will the real Small Baby please stand up

so, since I am currently in the habit of posting FAScinating things that inspire a vast amount of correspondence, the latest is that my Baby (age 1 year and some weeks) has now started doing things like:
- push chair over to fridge. Climb up on chair. Open fridge. Climb inside. Throw glass jars on floor
- climb on toilet. Catapult self into bathtub
- throw whatever can grab (unopened mail, Barbies, mommy's sunglasses) into a) toilet b) bathtub c) trash

very exciting

I'm sitting in the dining room hosting a play date. Two five year olds are screeching and the baby keeps crying, either at them or at random. He missed his nap. I'm impressed I can string a sentence together right now... Rain is coming down in sheets outside, but the upside of all this rain is, my lawn sure is green. And my flowers are really growing nicely, even the impossible sweet peas.

Not sure why I am bothering to write a blog right now. I guess when my mom was here I got used to adult company in the midst of the child madness and now I have no one to talk to.

moms

My mom was here for two weeks visiting. It was great. I did all kinds of things that I never get to do, like scrape the greenfly off my roses and move my furniture around. Another pair of hands sure comes in handy. I think she had fun. Her goal was to play golf, which was not met, but she did get to go to a driving range where she was driving into a field of grazing sheep. In disbelief, she mentioned this potential hazard to the people at the driving range, who said "Oh, they'll get out of the way." And they did.

I am now in panic mode about filing my (late) US tax return. I could be in trouble... Also I had an MRI today which was not a happy-clappy experience. Although, I almost fell asleep during it. Something about having to remain absolutely still for a long period of time kind of makes me shut down I guess. But I'm glad I went for it. I asked the radiographer if she saw anything interesting. Her reply was, "Even if I did, I'm not allowed to tell you." Does that mean she didn't see anything of note? I guess I have to go and see the neurologist-on-high to find out. Who, incidentally, resembles a member of the Addams Family in support hose.

qi

I am struggling to understand what I may be letting myself in for in trying acupuncture. Everything I've read on the web so far basically says that acupuncture is accepted as a possibly beneficial complementary therapy, but it only works on some people, sometimes, and for a handful of conditions. I didn't run across any posts or articles that talked about episodes of fatigue and emotional upset following a session.

In case you are interested, I felt fine after my session, but after that things went rapidly downhill and I really was feeling dreadful all weekend. My exhaustion peaked, I felt really angry and I cried a few times. What is that about? Coincidence? Or does it have to do with restoring the flow of Qi?

A week later, I feel relatively normal. I am really tired right now, as that baby got me up at 5:45, but over the last 7 days I have for the most part forgotten about the Bell's Palsy. I just don't feel it every minute like I did before. I should film myself with the web cam to verify it's still there. Or...maybe I shouldn't.

The Irish elections are over and the same government has been returned to office. According to David McWilliams, Irish economist and journalist, this is simply because people want to maintain their house prices. This government orchestrated the overinflated property market and everyone wants prices to stay up; we are supposed to be at the edge of a crash, but no one believes it. How I cope: I repeat the mantra "I am not a property speculator. My financial future does not begin and end with my house." At least, I won't admit that it does.