My head hurts

Up at 5am again.

Meetings scheduled all day. First one starts at 6am. Oh it's cancelled. Lovely. So I got up at 5am for nothing?

I went for a walk with my neighbor Leann at 9:30am (super hot & sweaty). I like her alot. It's so nice to be able to talk to someone who you can be totally honest with and who is honest back. We talk about how we feel crazy and just "not right" sometimes. Snapping at our kids and husbands for no apparent reason. And for some reason when other people admit they are totally fucked in the head too...it makes me feel better. Misery loves company or...if you feel like that and I respect and admire you then I must be ok too. Yeah that's it. Anyway, pretty basic work day.

Go pick up the kids at 2:35pm at school. Home for a quick snack and then off to the math tutor for Claire.

Camryn and I sit in the car in the hot sun outside the tutors house in Danville doing homework and figuring out how to work Claire's new Nintendo DS. And then here they come.

Claire has a headache and stomach ache and has been to the bathroom three times during the hour lesson. She complained her tummy hurt on Tuesday (2nd day of school) and then stayed home on Friday for the same reason. My diagnosis is that she is obsessed with getting sick (throwing up) and is so afraid of it that she makes herself sick. The funny thing is she never has this problem while watching TV, or having a play date or really anytime during the summer. I took her to the pediatrician on Friday because I wasn't sure how to handle her hysterical behavior or complete paranoia of being sick at school.

There are alot of details I'm leaving out here but this has been going on off and on since the end of last year. At this point I'm not sure what to do. We started out with the normal parent reaction..."Quit faking. Your not sick. Your going to school!" Then I actually thought something might be wrong with her physically so I took her to the doctor. Then recently I Googled some obsessive child behavior and thought she might be OCD. But after talking to the pediatrician and her teacher last week she doesn't seem to posses all of the OCD characteristics. Thank God. Anyway, it's obviously mental. Meaning she is stressing herself out about school work, or friends or whatever to the point that she is making herself sick. Whether the illness is in her mind or not I am totally incapable of fixing this problem. So I think I will call and make an appointment to have my 8 year old speak with a counselor. Oh boy.

Came home and finished homework. Claire read a book to me. Junie B. Geoff and I made dinner together while the girls watched the Disney Channel. We all ate together and then watched the Republican National Convention and listened to the speech of the first female Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Although I am an Obama supporter and will probably vote against her, I was really impressed with Mrs. Palin's speech. She seemed really spunky and feisty. Not afraid to ruffle feathers. I thought she was a great speaker and McCain himself could learn a thing or two from her. Anyway, I don't much trust politicians no matter what kind of panties they wear. But on the surface -- she seemed alright.

Time for bed. Working in San Ramon tomorrow. We'll see if Claire makes it through a school day without any issues.

Off to bed I go.

Final last words: Some day I will get paid to write.