seven quick takes - ed. 13

1. My thirteenth Seven Quick Takes! I love 13.  I was born on a Friday the 13th, so I joked all through my childhood that traditionally "unlucky" superstitions were lucky for me. And I always feel as if Friday the 13ths (no matter the month) are sort of an honorary birthday for me.

2. With the big 3-0 rapidly looming (!!!), I recently decided it was time to start wearing Grown-Up-Lady makeup.  Because, I mean, wearing only concealer + cherry Chapstick may have worked in college, but that was (gulp) ten years ago.

So here's me with my Grown-Up Lady face. 

I made a conscious decision to go with actual red lipstick (well, this is my newly-dubbed Work Lipstick so it's sort of peachy-red), which is against my every instinct. But I realized that whenever I see a woman wearing red lipstick I think "I LOVE IT SHE LOOKS GREAT."  And after the shock of seeing it on my own face has worn off, I do love it.

3. Faith has been copying EVERYTHING we say lately. We've been trying to teach her not to interrupt by saying, "Faith, I'm talking to Daddy right now. It'll be your turn in a minute." Recently she began tossing that right back at us. "No, Daddy, I talkin' to Mama!" Or, more hilariously, when she's talking aloud to herself while she's playing, "Mama, shh! I talkin' to Faify!"

4. Short but sweet article that my pediatrician self can't help sharing:  Fever in Children: 5 Facts You Must Know.  I wish this could be required reading for parents of young kids.

5. Recently an old friend of mine was debating which attachment to put on a Swiss Army knife she was ordering-- a Phillip's head screwdriver or a corkscrew. (You can already tell she's way cooler than I am, because the knife is for her. She's also an architect and lives in NYC. See what I mean?)  Her reasoning was that theoretically the Phillip's head would be more practical in a pinch... but then again, you could probably use the flathead screwdriver attachment in a Phillip's head screw if necessary, but if you want to open a bottle of wine and don't have a corkscrew, you're SOL.

OR ARE YOU?!

I so need to try this.

6. Josie has been getting super grabby and pinchy... especially when she's nursing.  When I wear a tank top it looks like I've got sun freckles on my chest, but they're actually tiny bruises from tiny baby fingers.  Ouch.  So I channelled my inner crunchy-granola mama and ordered a couple of nursing necklaces from this Etsy seller.  Hopefully it helps! Anyone have any experience with this type of baby-distraction?  

7. Apparently there's an ongoing measles epidemic in the Philippines, with over 1500 people infected and 21 dead over the course of 2013.  With the Philippines being the closest major land mass to Guam, and with an impressive 25% of Guam's population being Filipino, there's a lot of travel between here and there. As a result, the local public health department is asking all physicians on the island to keep their eyes out for any possible cases.  This is pretty crazy.  I've never seen a case of measles in my life-- it was declared to be eliminated in the US back in 2000 thanks to widespread vaccination.  (Note that, in epidemiology, "eliminated" doesn't mean "gone completely;" rather it means that measles is no longer present continuously, but only in discrete outbreaks-- thanks to those who don't vaccinate.)  I hope to go my whole career without having to diagnose it... but we'll see.

On that lighthearted note... go see Jen at Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!