How can I be exhausted all day long and still be awake at 2:30 AM? Surely my desire to watch Tivo'd episodes of House and Friday Night Lights isn't that strong.

I think I should publish a pamphlet called, "Answers to the Questions Medical Professionals Will Ask You." The answers would be either "yes," or "I don't know," but it would be helpful to have those oft-asked questions and a cheat sheet. I've now called our agency twice regarding Medicare -- the first time was to ask if the babe is on traditional Medicare or one of five acronymed derivations of Medicare (this was important because with traditional Medicare, doctors will take you without waiting for referrals from PCPs), and the second time was after the pharmacist asked me which three prescriptions we wanted filled with Medicare and which we wanted to pay for, at which time my head promptly spun around four times and then I whipped the cell back out, introduced the pharmacist to our caseworker, and then went on my merry way. I'm thinking that CVS hasn't gotten a lot of foster kids in the two weeks since it opened.

Now that I'm nearly twelve hours removed from the very horrible, no good day with doctors and blood drawing and too-quickly eaten granola bars, I do have to tell you that I'm amazed that The Babe held it together as well as he has, not only today but for the last week. The last time I remember someone having an ear infection, I recall that it took some poking around with the otoscope, some searching for fluid or discoloration. With The Babe, the doc barely turned the light on before he jumped back and said, "Oh, that looks like a pretty rough ear infection!" Either it came on very quickly, or he's had it for a week or more. The first day I met him he pulled at his ear, but that was eleven days ago, and his (very experienced) foster mom and all the caseworkers and other professionals missed it too.

This kid is a trooper.