We’ve had a nasty cold running through the house, so the boys have been up and down all night all week. Well, on one such occasion with Emmett, we went to stand at the front door so he could see his favorite celestial body, the moon. Here’s the ensuing conversation:

*Emmett knocks on the glass*

“Who’s there?” I ask.

“Banna.”

*Emmett knocks on glass again*

“Who’s there?”

“Banna.”

*Emmett knocks on the glass a third time*

“Who’s there?”

“Oranges!”

He’s a comic genius at only 23 months and might even rival his mom someday in sarcasm. Crap.

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Ollie started off with a congested cough on Friday. Fortunately, that’s all it was at the time. We thought it might sink our Saturday in Raleigh. (I know, I’m a selfish bitch.) Seriously, I don’t want to wish my sick kids on anybody, but rarely do the stars align and Andy and I get to leave at 2:30 pm and not return until 1 am. We had a fabulous time, but came home to a full on outbreak of the plague. My mom, thank you thank you thank you, kept Ollie overnight on Saturday. He had the respiratory yuckies and a low grade temp, but she said he behaved and wasn’t too pitiful. Emmett woke up shortly after we got home from all of our hockey goodness, making sure we heard every snot molecule he coughed up. Joy. He’s been about a day behind Ollie, who is finally showing signs of improvement today. His cough isn’t as deep and there finally seems to be an end to the yummy stuff that’s been coming up. I’m hoping that Emmett will reach that phase tomorrow, because he’s the picture of pitiful. His eyes are purple, swollen, and red rimmed. His little lymph nodes are so swollen, they look like goiters on the side of his neck. He’s so tired from all the coughing, he literally passed out, cold, on the couch for over an hour yesterday afternoon (that’s not my kid, my kid throws himself to the ground, bounces and runs in circles if you tell him it’s time to sleep).

Oh well, it’s been a week of waaaayyyy too much TV so far, but what better way to keep the boys from running around like maniacs and coughing even more?

So far, nobody else in the family is showing signs of the plague, so maybe it’s one of the bugs we’ve all already had. *crosses fingers*

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The Hurricanes lost a piece of their heart last night. It’s going to be rough going without you, Roddy. I guess it’s the hockey gods’ way of telling us it’s time to let some other stars shine for a bit.

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We all know fast food is bad for us, but occasionally it’s a treat or a necessity. I took my boys to Hardee’s in Washington this afternoon for a Valentines’ treat. I brought them home and unpacked their kid’s meals to find this….

It’s kind of hard to capture with the camera I have on hand, but THAT IS GRAPHITE. It’s commonly used in machinery as a lubricant, but let me tell you, it has no place on our FOOD! That’s right, the same stuff that forms pencil leads and that lubes molds in the steel making process. Those bastards were trying to feed it to my 3 year old.

I took the burger back to the restaurant and asked for the manager. According to her name tag, I was addressed by the General Manager. When I told her that I didn’t think that graphite was an acceptable condiment, she said, “it’s just the grease from the chain on the grill. It won’t hurt nothin’.”. She offered me another cheeseburger or some chicken strips. Um, no. She refunded my money for the kid’s meal. I could give a crap about the $3.50 right now. What else have these people put in my kids’ food that they thought wouldn’t “hurt nothin’”? What was on the hamburger patty that I couldn’t see? The fact she thought it was OK that there was grease (and not the kind you cook the fries in) on my child’s cheeseburger is extremely disturbing. Then she swept it all off of the counter and into a trash can. Nope. I made her dig it back out. I wanted my receipt for my son’s graphite burger and a picture to prove it.

Graphite is a carbon allotrope and is used heavily in industrial settings. Hell, it’s even in between the gears on my coveted stand mixer……but I don’t feed it to my children. I don’t let them eat pencil lead or suck on steel castings, so I’m damn sure not going to let some fast food restaurant feed it to them.

I’ve put in a call to Hardee’s corporate headquarters. Wonder what they’ll have to say…..

Wonder what the Health Department would have to say?

Update:

I spoke with an area Rep for Hardees’, who was on his way to Beaufort County. While I appreciate their quick response, I don’t appreciate the BS he fed me. He visited the restaurant and called me back to inform me that it was burnt butter on the hamburger bun. I didn’t get into an argument with him, because it just isn’t worth it at this point, BUT…….I’ve burned plenty of butter in my lifetime and I’ve never seen it have a metallic sheen to it. I’ve also seen plenty of graphite from the inside of my stand mixer while cleaning it and I’m pretty certain that’s what’s on our bun. Burnt butter doesn’t usually have flecks of silver in it.

Oh well, guess there’s a lot to be said for cooking for my boys at home whenever possible. Eventually they’ll get old enough to see past the commercial crap and the toy that comes with the food to realize that my cheeseburgers taste better anyway. They’re damn lucky I’m a good cook. I only hope I can learn to market myself as well as McDonalds’ or Burger King.

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Yup, it’s Valentines Day yet again. The boys and I made Andy a big Valentines’ banner with boy hand and foot prints to tell him we love him. Other than that, I’ve taught Emmett to say “Love you” since “Valentine” is a stretch for his little mouth. My Valentines’ Day will be celebrated tonight with babies in bed. Sounds kinky, huh? That’s right, folks, the down and dirty part of my celebration…….The Pittsburgh Penguins at the Carolina Hurricanes. Everything will be G-rated except my language. Go Canes!

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