Last update before the trip! Not sure if I'll bring the laptop along or be able to update from Maryland, but Megan is already down there. Her event is listed to go off at 8:46 so I am going to have some kind of time getting there in time for that one! I don't know, maybe if I feel like I hit the alarm one too many times I'll just bag the day and get down in time for Wednesday. (:-X) I'll probably have to leave at 4:45 to get there in time for that, and even then, might miss it! In a few minutes I'll pack and load up the car.
In medical news, Brian's swallowing issue has either improved or he's gotten used to it, because he has a healthy appetite and he isn't putting his face into his shirt all the time anymore. Today he was in the house all day, reading, milling about, and "cleaning" his room (read: ripping everything out and leaving it all over the floor) so maybe that kind of quiet was helpful. He'll be more or less on his own this week, so I bought him things like corn muffins, soup, and yogurt. I don't like them eating when nobody is home anyway, but especially under these circumstances.
I took Wilbur to the vet the other day, as I think I posted, and he is now over 8 pounds. And, as I learned today, harboring coccidia this time. So, more medicine for our furry friend. He's been doing well with the housebreaking, I started leaving him off the leash and he has had only a few accidents, mostly out of excitement, and just one random puddle, which he was kind enough to leave on the tile this time, rather than the pile carpet in the family room!
Anyway, in other news, I have a quandary. I decided to bring some locally brewed beer to my Maryland hostess, and I went in and found that they have to put it into a giant bottle-thing ("growler") that can be refilled for half the price of the original filling. I probably won't get my growler back, but it's the thought that counts. The problem? It's cold! And I am leaving at 4:45 and heading to Maryland, not expecting to join up with the host family until after 3pm! What will become of the growler during that time? I guess I will pack it in a cooler with ice? I think I was possibly better off just sticking with my other gift, cocktail napkins with the skinny, frizzy-haired cocktail napkin girl, saying, "just call me Rita, Marga-Rita."
Monday, July 27, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
this n that
So dawns the new day of the family of four again. Kevin has invited a friend from work to come down and spend the day with us, we'll take her to the beach and then she can stay over if she likes. She's from Denmark, and is moving back, and her husband and son have already left ahead of her, so she is all alone. I don't know if she'll end up staying but I guess I should prepare the bed just in case. We're supposed to pick her up at the train at around 11, which is soon.
Megan had her party last night, and I didn't think about food until the last minute, so I ended up heating up a couple of Costco dinners, and making a big pot of sauce and some pasta. There is plenty left over, so that will be good. They didn't end up leaving until around 11:30 and I had let Wilbur be loose for most of the day, so we were all wiped out. He didn't have any accidents in the house, except for when he peed on the girls who were ooh-ing and ahh-ing over him and he got all excited.
This morning I have already had Wilbur to the vet and dropped off my money-sucking Explorer for an oil change, because I realized that it's been 5,000 miles since its last one, and I want to drive it to Maryland on Tuesday, and to Cape May the week after that. After that it will get a nice long rest and the Honda will step up again. I also have to remember to check when the Honda needs one, and I have to call and schedule Megan's six hours of driving lessons, because when we get back from London, she will be old enough to pick up her permit! She already passed the test in drivers ed, so she doesn't have to worry about that. She has to do three two-hour sessions with the school, and then she can start driving with one of us in the car. I can't believe it! But now I will have a designated driver when I want to have that second glass of wine if we're out for dinner :-)
As for Brian, I am still trying not to dwell on the swallowing thing, but I do ask him a few times a day and get a cryptic response each time. "Just a tiny bit," or, "my throat was burning," or "I killed my throat in the pool." So he now is saying that it bothers him when he's swimming, which is what he was doing when it first started; and then he was doing some weird cough last night, like a hack, and Megan was in her room coughing, just in time for Nationals next week. Wonderful.
Anyway, in other news, Kevin and Brian are out doing their Saturday morning grass cutting, and I should go get Kevin to take me up to get my car - then he can get his friend on the way back and I can bring the Explorer home. It seems like it's going to be quite a nice day out today. Tomorrow is Megan's last day before she has to leave for Maryland at 7:30 Monday morning, and I have to get some of the clothes washed for her to take down. They have practice tomorrow night and will get their t-shirts and "uniform" that they all have to wear on the bus down (just a shirt). She's also swimming on a relay team in the pool club championship meet, against my better judgement, tomorrow at 10. I don't think it's wise, but she didn't have the nerve to get herself out of it, I guess.
Megan had her party last night, and I didn't think about food until the last minute, so I ended up heating up a couple of Costco dinners, and making a big pot of sauce and some pasta. There is plenty left over, so that will be good. They didn't end up leaving until around 11:30 and I had let Wilbur be loose for most of the day, so we were all wiped out. He didn't have any accidents in the house, except for when he peed on the girls who were ooh-ing and ahh-ing over him and he got all excited.
This morning I have already had Wilbur to the vet and dropped off my money-sucking Explorer for an oil change, because I realized that it's been 5,000 miles since its last one, and I want to drive it to Maryland on Tuesday, and to Cape May the week after that. After that it will get a nice long rest and the Honda will step up again. I also have to remember to check when the Honda needs one, and I have to call and schedule Megan's six hours of driving lessons, because when we get back from London, she will be old enough to pick up her permit! She already passed the test in drivers ed, so she doesn't have to worry about that. She has to do three two-hour sessions with the school, and then she can start driving with one of us in the car. I can't believe it! But now I will have a designated driver when I want to have that second glass of wine if we're out for dinner :-)
As for Brian, I am still trying not to dwell on the swallowing thing, but I do ask him a few times a day and get a cryptic response each time. "Just a tiny bit," or, "my throat was burning," or "I killed my throat in the pool." So he now is saying that it bothers him when he's swimming, which is what he was doing when it first started; and then he was doing some weird cough last night, like a hack, and Megan was in her room coughing, just in time for Nationals next week. Wonderful.
Anyway, in other news, Kevin and Brian are out doing their Saturday morning grass cutting, and I should go get Kevin to take me up to get my car - then he can get his friend on the way back and I can bring the Explorer home. It seems like it's going to be quite a nice day out today. Tomorrow is Megan's last day before she has to leave for Maryland at 7:30 Monday morning, and I have to get some of the clothes washed for her to take down. They have practice tomorrow night and will get their t-shirts and "uniform" that they all have to wear on the bus down (just a shirt). She's also swimming on a relay team in the pool club championship meet, against my better judgement, tomorrow at 10. I don't think it's wise, but she didn't have the nerve to get herself out of it, I guess.
Friday, July 24, 2009
and back to the city goes the mouse
That was a quick week, although at times it seemed like we might not make it, between R's allergies and Brian's swallowing attacks. R left with a cough, but the other symptoms were a lot better. I actually felt sad this morning that he was leaving, although I guess it does get tiring trying to keep someone entertained all the time, even though he was pretty good on occasion about just going into his room and watching tv. I think he was just happy to have his own room to go into, and he enjoyed the pool in the yard as well. I made him up a little photo book, and stuck it in his suitcase along with some glowsticks, glowing bracelets and glowing necklaces to take home. He loved them when we took him to the beach on his first night here. Kevin said he broke out the photo book on the train ride home. I'm sure he is tired and a little sad. Sounds like he doesn't do much other than play video games and watch tv at home.
As for Brian, the swallowing seemed better yesterday but I wasn't really able to keep asking him about it, because I'm trying to downplay it for a week or so. After claiming that his pasta and cheeseburger were getting stuck on Wednesday, he didn't have breakfast yesterday other than a little drinkable yogurt, but then he asked for money for a muffin, which I didn't give him because he wasted the whole muffin the time before (not because of swallowing). I took them all to Panera, where Brian likes the soup in the sourdough bread bowl, and he ate pretty much the whole thing, I guess his hunger had caught up with him by then. Then he had a little fruit. Kevin said his popcorn chicken and tater tots at night went down without incident, too.
When we got home, he ate some gluten-free cookies I had bought, they're sort of cardboardy but they dissolve in your mouth so it would be impossible to choke on them, and also a chocolate bar that E left behind. I had told R he could have any of the stuff she left to eat, and he said that he had eaten a chocolate bar and it tasted like potatoes. So of course Brian had to try it, and it went down fine. I have noticed that throughout this swallowing issue, a few safe foods have emerged: ice cream, cookies, chocolate, as well as a cure: playing xbox. So we'll see today if the anxiety of having R around was a contributing factor. R was very loud at times and could get under your skin when he was riled up. And being the closest in age and gender, Brian was sort of his assigned caretaker most of the time, although he usually shirked that responsibility, especially after the swallowing issues began.
Anyway, a couple of other things could have contributed. It turns out that he had been drinking 2-4 iced teas a day in the basement, and he also had just been to the dentist where some inept hygienist had left him with his tongue feeling numb. I don't like to complain, but I think the next time I'm going to request that he not get her. I think Megan had her the time before, and she was the one who told Megan it was OK to swallow the fluoride treatment. I was horrified! They're never getting fluoride again anyway, I found out after that that our insurance won't pay for it once they turn 14 anyway. So I am trying to continue to remain calm, but Brian and his chiari will haunt me forever anyway.
In other news, the day is beginning to look like a good one outside, but I have laundry and cleaning to do, in preparation for the week away next week, as well as for the party Megan is planning with about 25 kids from the swim team tonight. And she won't be home all day, as she is at the school now and will be at the hospital later. She is really sad that the school job is ending, and she has to miss all of next week for swimming and one day the following week for Cape May. That's the last week of the program and she has really grown to enjoy the preschool. But now I must be going, because Wilbur is on the prowl, and I have to make sure he doesn't pee on the rug. I'm trying to get him used to having a little freedom. Most of the time he is either in a crate or tethered to something, and I'm afraid he'll never learn that way. Sigh.
As for Brian, the swallowing seemed better yesterday but I wasn't really able to keep asking him about it, because I'm trying to downplay it for a week or so. After claiming that his pasta and cheeseburger were getting stuck on Wednesday, he didn't have breakfast yesterday other than a little drinkable yogurt, but then he asked for money for a muffin, which I didn't give him because he wasted the whole muffin the time before (not because of swallowing). I took them all to Panera, where Brian likes the soup in the sourdough bread bowl, and he ate pretty much the whole thing, I guess his hunger had caught up with him by then. Then he had a little fruit. Kevin said his popcorn chicken and tater tots at night went down without incident, too.
When we got home, he ate some gluten-free cookies I had bought, they're sort of cardboardy but they dissolve in your mouth so it would be impossible to choke on them, and also a chocolate bar that E left behind. I had told R he could have any of the stuff she left to eat, and he said that he had eaten a chocolate bar and it tasted like potatoes. So of course Brian had to try it, and it went down fine. I have noticed that throughout this swallowing issue, a few safe foods have emerged: ice cream, cookies, chocolate, as well as a cure: playing xbox. So we'll see today if the anxiety of having R around was a contributing factor. R was very loud at times and could get under your skin when he was riled up. And being the closest in age and gender, Brian was sort of his assigned caretaker most of the time, although he usually shirked that responsibility, especially after the swallowing issues began.
Anyway, a couple of other things could have contributed. It turns out that he had been drinking 2-4 iced teas a day in the basement, and he also had just been to the dentist where some inept hygienist had left him with his tongue feeling numb. I don't like to complain, but I think the next time I'm going to request that he not get her. I think Megan had her the time before, and she was the one who told Megan it was OK to swallow the fluoride treatment. I was horrified! They're never getting fluoride again anyway, I found out after that that our insurance won't pay for it once they turn 14 anyway. So I am trying to continue to remain calm, but Brian and his chiari will haunt me forever anyway.
In other news, the day is beginning to look like a good one outside, but I have laundry and cleaning to do, in preparation for the week away next week, as well as for the party Megan is planning with about 25 kids from the swim team tonight. And she won't be home all day, as she is at the school now and will be at the hospital later. She is really sad that the school job is ending, and she has to miss all of next week for swimming and one day the following week for Cape May. That's the last week of the program and she has really grown to enjoy the preschool. But now I must be going, because Wilbur is on the prowl, and I have to make sure he doesn't pee on the rug. I'm trying to get him used to having a little freedom. Most of the time he is either in a crate or tethered to something, and I'm afraid he'll never learn that way. Sigh.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
keeping the faith
Well, the last couple of days were a bit better. On Monday, I called and spoke with R's pediatrician, who said that it would be OK to give him a Claritin each day along with his singulair. I did this, and although he sneezed a lot that day, his eyes did look better. Yesterday his runny nose and eyes were almost all better, but he had developed a dry hack. I added his inhaler in the morning as well as at night, but today his cough sounds a lot looser and more junky. He only has to get through today and tomorrow, though, so hopefully we can do that. He's been sleeping in pretty late, and he just got up but I forgot to do his eyedrops and give him his Claritin. I'll have to recall him for that.
So the next two days just involve a bit of hanging around. Brian is using his xbox a lot again, alas, and we discovered that R loves to build things with Legos, so he has been doing a bit of that. He really is pretty easygoing and entertains himself when we need him to, unlike C last year. He is also helpful (almost to the point of being annoying when one is used to kids who are spoiled and don't help out unless threatened) and does whatever he is asked to do. He's very self-sufficient. The Fresh Air Fund called this morning to confirm his return trip on Friday. Aside from this allergy issue, he has been no problem at all; although Brian has created his own problem with his latest swallowing issue, sending ice coursing through my veins.
On Sunday at the beach, not only did R wipe out but Brian did as well. He has a big bruise on his back and is complaining of rib pain, also stomach pain. He says it is like gas. I feel like he is swirling with an myriad of symptoms that may or may not be connected to the fall, to chiari, to anxiety, or to nothing. Such is the nature of the beast that is chiari and, ::knock wood:: it's been pretty tame for Brian these past few years. I hope that it remains so, but when we have episodes like this with "weird" symptoms, self-reported, that are chiari red flags, I always get very worried. We see the neurologist anyway in three weeks, and I did consult with him on this, and his advice was to wait, since there is no interference with eating or drinking, just some discomfort and a feeling in the throat and chest. The infamous waiting game of chiari. Fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, Megan is preparing for the swim meet in Maryland, practicing every day and then going back to her volunteering. She does have interest in being at the hospital, she brought up continuing one weekend a day for the year, but I just don't know if she can spare four hours on a weekend, with swimming and school taking up so much time. I told her to ask if she can do just one day a month, or even biweekly, because even a four hour shift takes a minimum of five hours, as the hospital is half an hour away. The only thing is that she does get down time and she can sit down and read. But she'll have a lot of AP classes next year, and what happens if the acitivty level picks up on the job and she actually IS busy then?
In other news, we have followed progress on E's Facebook and it seems she is set to have her surgery tomorrow to remove the plate she had put in. Then she will plan her return trip to the US immediately after, although she has not contacted us directly. She isn't staying with us, she hasn't asked, although we told her she could crash for a night if she needed to. However, I will not be responsible for her while she is here. The other night Megan found out that the night she went to the teen night at the club, the same night Brian went, E and her friends were kicked out for being drunk!
So the next two days just involve a bit of hanging around. Brian is using his xbox a lot again, alas, and we discovered that R loves to build things with Legos, so he has been doing a bit of that. He really is pretty easygoing and entertains himself when we need him to, unlike C last year. He is also helpful (almost to the point of being annoying when one is used to kids who are spoiled and don't help out unless threatened) and does whatever he is asked to do. He's very self-sufficient. The Fresh Air Fund called this morning to confirm his return trip on Friday. Aside from this allergy issue, he has been no problem at all; although Brian has created his own problem with his latest swallowing issue, sending ice coursing through my veins.
On Sunday at the beach, not only did R wipe out but Brian did as well. He has a big bruise on his back and is complaining of rib pain, also stomach pain. He says it is like gas. I feel like he is swirling with an myriad of symptoms that may or may not be connected to the fall, to chiari, to anxiety, or to nothing. Such is the nature of the beast that is chiari and, ::knock wood:: it's been pretty tame for Brian these past few years. I hope that it remains so, but when we have episodes like this with "weird" symptoms, self-reported, that are chiari red flags, I always get very worried. We see the neurologist anyway in three weeks, and I did consult with him on this, and his advice was to wait, since there is no interference with eating or drinking, just some discomfort and a feeling in the throat and chest. The infamous waiting game of chiari. Fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, Megan is preparing for the swim meet in Maryland, practicing every day and then going back to her volunteering. She does have interest in being at the hospital, she brought up continuing one weekend a day for the year, but I just don't know if she can spare four hours on a weekend, with swimming and school taking up so much time. I told her to ask if she can do just one day a month, or even biweekly, because even a four hour shift takes a minimum of five hours, as the hospital is half an hour away. The only thing is that she does get down time and she can sit down and read. But she'll have a lot of AP classes next year, and what happens if the acitivty level picks up on the job and she actually IS busy then?
In other news, we have followed progress on E's Facebook and it seems she is set to have her surgery tomorrow to remove the plate she had put in. Then she will plan her return trip to the US immediately after, although she has not contacted us directly. She isn't staying with us, she hasn't asked, although we told her she could crash for a night if she needed to. However, I will not be responsible for her while she is here. The other night Megan found out that the night she went to the teen night at the club, the same night Brian went, E and her friends were kicked out for being drunk!
Monday, July 20, 2009
every silver lining has a cloud...
I'm afraid that now that I finally found a good Fresh Air child, there will be problems, but I hope I am wrong! I will know within a few hours, or at least I will have a better idea. Yesterday at the beach, R was wiped out by a wave, and off to the briny deep went his brother's $10 swim mask. He handled this well, and proceeded to enjoy himself for another several hours in the pool and ocean.
We took him to dinner at Bahr's (my favorite) but the service was less than the standard, as I tend to forget it will be in the summer. But they had a lobster special on the kids' menu and he ate it, and enjoyed it, and entertained the Doll with his comments and his quirky humor.
We got home and Brian and R chose a movie, The Money Pit. Suddenly we noticed something was wrong with R. He kept getting up to go to the bathroom, and his eyes were running full of tears, which was setting off his nose to pretty much do the same. He said that when he rinsed out his itchy eyes in the shower, they got worse, and now would not stop running, and he couldn't see, and everything looked "brighter."
In the end, I had to send him to bed (it was close to 11 anyway) with wet compresses to keep on his eyes. I had already given him his singulair, and his eyedrops (also for allergies) are only once a day for mornings. So when he gets up this morning, I'll have to see how he is, and I can give him the drops and check on any additional allergy meds he might be able to take. I am really hoping it's just a severe reaction to chlorine, sun, and sea; but he had a big play session with Wilbur and then sat around the House of Cats when the runniness really kicked in. I cannot believe that they placed a kid with such allergies in a house with so many pets! But we'll see today if that is it. R keeps insisting it is not, that he is fine with animals. But perhaps he has never been immersed for so long with so many.
Other than that, he had a wonderful time at the beach yesterday, and I'll have to go out and try to find a new swim mask for him to return to his brother. We have plans to go to the waterpark today, which I worry a little about, but as long as he keeps his eyes shut while underwater, he should be OK. Yesterday morning, he gave us a great scare, because he wouldn't answer loud knocks (bangs) at his door, or hollerings of his names, both R and F.
We tried the door and he had locked it! With all my drug paranoias (he came with these medications and I worried he reacted to one, or to the allergies he is taking them for) I was sure he had perished and - what would we do?!?! The horror of it! And we couldn't figure out how to get in, if the doorknob was unscrewed, it remained firmly secured shut; and the hinges were on the inside so the only option was to break down the door which, of course, if he were not unwell, would seem kind of silly. Then, all of a sudden, as Kevin was fiddling with a hanger in the doorknob hole, the door just opened, and a very sleepy R was dismayed to find the four of us trying to break into his room!
But in other news, Megan went to her two parties Saturday and one last night. She has a dinner tonight for another's birthday, a make-up for a rainout a few weeks ago. Then she has to go to practice after that, and tomorrow and Friday are her long working days. This is going to be a busy week, and she leaves Monday morning at 7:30 for the big meet in Maryland. The meet starts Tuesday, so I'll follow along. I'll stay with a cousin, from Tuesday through Friday.
Brian will stay home with Kevin, and the Doll will look in on him during the day quite a bit more than I think he will like. I'm going to need him to be responsible for Wilbur, though, so that will be asking a lot of him that week! And he needs to get moving on his summer reading book, the one about Michelangelo. That's a tough read. He also got a letter from the principal, thanking him for his essay. He had to write a three paragraph essay about his past, present, and future. So check back for news on the runny eyes. And join me in hoping for the best, or at least, not the worst (severe cat allergy: R will be devastated, because he keeps talking about how he is going to come back next year and how he is having such a great time; he is very appreciative and shows what the program is all about).
We took him to dinner at Bahr's (my favorite) but the service was less than the standard, as I tend to forget it will be in the summer. But they had a lobster special on the kids' menu and he ate it, and enjoyed it, and entertained the Doll with his comments and his quirky humor.
We got home and Brian and R chose a movie, The Money Pit. Suddenly we noticed something was wrong with R. He kept getting up to go to the bathroom, and his eyes were running full of tears, which was setting off his nose to pretty much do the same. He said that when he rinsed out his itchy eyes in the shower, they got worse, and now would not stop running, and he couldn't see, and everything looked "brighter."
In the end, I had to send him to bed (it was close to 11 anyway) with wet compresses to keep on his eyes. I had already given him his singulair, and his eyedrops (also for allergies) are only once a day for mornings. So when he gets up this morning, I'll have to see how he is, and I can give him the drops and check on any additional allergy meds he might be able to take. I am really hoping it's just a severe reaction to chlorine, sun, and sea; but he had a big play session with Wilbur and then sat around the House of Cats when the runniness really kicked in. I cannot believe that they placed a kid with such allergies in a house with so many pets! But we'll see today if that is it. R keeps insisting it is not, that he is fine with animals. But perhaps he has never been immersed for so long with so many.
Other than that, he had a wonderful time at the beach yesterday, and I'll have to go out and try to find a new swim mask for him to return to his brother. We have plans to go to the waterpark today, which I worry a little about, but as long as he keeps his eyes shut while underwater, he should be OK. Yesterday morning, he gave us a great scare, because he wouldn't answer loud knocks (bangs) at his door, or hollerings of his names, both R and F.
We tried the door and he had locked it! With all my drug paranoias (he came with these medications and I worried he reacted to one, or to the allergies he is taking them for) I was sure he had perished and - what would we do?!?! The horror of it! And we couldn't figure out how to get in, if the doorknob was unscrewed, it remained firmly secured shut; and the hinges were on the inside so the only option was to break down the door which, of course, if he were not unwell, would seem kind of silly. Then, all of a sudden, as Kevin was fiddling with a hanger in the doorknob hole, the door just opened, and a very sleepy R was dismayed to find the four of us trying to break into his room!
But in other news, Megan went to her two parties Saturday and one last night. She has a dinner tonight for another's birthday, a make-up for a rainout a few weeks ago. Then she has to go to practice after that, and tomorrow and Friday are her long working days. This is going to be a busy week, and she leaves Monday morning at 7:30 for the big meet in Maryland. The meet starts Tuesday, so I'll follow along. I'll stay with a cousin, from Tuesday through Friday.
Brian will stay home with Kevin, and the Doll will look in on him during the day quite a bit more than I think he will like. I'm going to need him to be responsible for Wilbur, though, so that will be asking a lot of him that week! And he needs to get moving on his summer reading book, the one about Michelangelo. That's a tough read. He also got a letter from the principal, thanking him for his essay. He had to write a three paragraph essay about his past, present, and future. So check back for news on the runny eyes. And join me in hoping for the best, or at least, not the worst (severe cat allergy: R will be devastated, because he keeps talking about how he is going to come back next year and how he is having such a great time; he is very appreciative and shows what the program is all about).
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Beach Day
Day One at the beach and R had a great time! We'll be back today, but Megan has to babysit in the nursery at church this morning - her one day all summer, and it comes the day after the two-in-one-night parties. She was home by 11:30 and went straight to bed, then slept till 9.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
#300!
I just noticed that this is my 300th post on this blog! How exciting. And I do have good news to report about F. Kevin met him in the FAF office at 2, and the kid talked non-stop from there, throughout the walk to Port Authority, and all the way on the bus until he suddenly realized he felt like he might throw up! (Which, fortunately, he did not.)
They got here around 4:00 and Brian and I met F, who we found prefers to be called R, so we have R after all. He is from the Dominican Republic, moved here four years ago. He's going into sixth grade, and is a self-reported good student. Wilbur was so excited to meet him that he peed on the floor in the kitchen, then, because I foolishly left him off his leash, he ran around yapping in Brian's room, forgot himself, and peed on the rug!
We took R to the beach club last night for the sleepover, but between the weather, Brian's friends' plans to all go home, and the fact that he came with three different types of allergy/asthma medications, we decided it was best to come home, but we didn't get out of there till close to midnight. Megan stayed, and got a ride home this morning with a friend. She is asleep now. Someone is up, probably Brian; Kevin got up earlier and is out mowing the lawn. He's in frenzy this morning for some reason. He gets mad when we all get lazy.
We'll probably head down to the beach later this afternoon, but Megan won't come, she has two sweet-16 parties tonight. One from school and one from swimming. She really wants to go to both, so one is 7-11 and the other is 7:30-11:30. So she'll go to the first one first, at 7, and then leave whenever she feels is appropriate, and go to the other, and stay till 11:30. It's too bad that they're both on the same night. They're the only parties she was invited to this summer (so far anyway) and they're both on the same night!
Anyway, in other news, Kevin has just come in and is recounting his accomplishments, which I guess is is way of saying, "when are you going to get off your butt and do something?" So I guess I should do that now.
They got here around 4:00 and Brian and I met F, who we found prefers to be called R, so we have R after all. He is from the Dominican Republic, moved here four years ago. He's going into sixth grade, and is a self-reported good student. Wilbur was so excited to meet him that he peed on the floor in the kitchen, then, because I foolishly left him off his leash, he ran around yapping in Brian's room, forgot himself, and peed on the rug!
We took R to the beach club last night for the sleepover, but between the weather, Brian's friends' plans to all go home, and the fact that he came with three different types of allergy/asthma medications, we decided it was best to come home, but we didn't get out of there till close to midnight. Megan stayed, and got a ride home this morning with a friend. She is asleep now. Someone is up, probably Brian; Kevin got up earlier and is out mowing the lawn. He's in frenzy this morning for some reason. He gets mad when we all get lazy.
We'll probably head down to the beach later this afternoon, but Megan won't come, she has two sweet-16 parties tonight. One from school and one from swimming. She really wants to go to both, so one is 7-11 and the other is 7:30-11:30. So she'll go to the first one first, at 7, and then leave whenever she feels is appropriate, and go to the other, and stay till 11:30. It's too bad that they're both on the same night. They're the only parties she was invited to this summer (so far anyway) and they're both on the same night!
Anyway, in other news, Kevin has just come in and is recounting his accomplishments, which I guess is is way of saying, "when are you going to get off your butt and do something?" So I guess I should do that now.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
lo es!
And we have Plan B. Now we are having F, from our old stomping grounds in Queens. He is 11. I haven't been able to get in touch with his guardian yet, but I just got her name and I just tried a few minutes ago. I imagine this evening I will be able to get through. So this is most exciting again. We are having extreme ups and downs! Kevin will have to pick him up and bring him on the bus, and then take him back on Friday morning, because they have a minimum trip of one week. But with our broken-up August, this is really the only week we have available for this pursuit.
So there it is, the very latest. I feel a bit disappointed for R, but at least F will be a little closer in age to Brian, and hopefully he will still like fried chicken, swimming, sports, and eating fish. Maybe he'll speak some Spanish and train those with the less-than perfect accents. His name sounds more hispanic than the others, and based on where he lives, I'd say there's a good chance!
As I said, I won't give up until this works out! It may take a while. I told Kevin that we could get this new kid if he is willing to pick him up and take him back. I asked if he was willing. He countered with, "would it really matter if I wasn't?" And I said, "no."
In other news, Brian is disappointed because his friend was asked to go to dinner with two girls, and was asked to bring a friend. Brian can't go because he has to swim in the beach club meet tonight. He was even more appalled when he found out that Megan isn't going (she has to go to Y practice and the meet is one where we only get two lanes in each event anyway); but it's too late to sign him out of it without being dishonorable to the commitment, so he has to miss out on the double date :-) We thought all of this would be ruined by rain anyway, but that seems to have been pushed either way back or completely out of the picture. I should get out with the hose and water them.
So there it is, the very latest. I feel a bit disappointed for R, but at least F will be a little closer in age to Brian, and hopefully he will still like fried chicken, swimming, sports, and eating fish. Maybe he'll speak some Spanish and train those with the less-than perfect accents. His name sounds more hispanic than the others, and based on where he lives, I'd say there's a good chance!
As I said, I won't give up until this works out! It may take a while. I told Kevin that we could get this new kid if he is willing to pick him up and take him back. I asked if he was willing. He countered with, "would it really matter if I wasn't?" And I said, "no."
In other news, Brian is disappointed because his friend was asked to go to dinner with two girls, and was asked to bring a friend. Brian can't go because he has to swim in the beach club meet tonight. He was even more appalled when he found out that Megan isn't going (she has to go to Y practice and the meet is one where we only get two lanes in each event anyway); but it's too late to sign him out of it without being dishonorable to the commitment, so he has to miss out on the double date :-) We thought all of this would be ruined by rain anyway, but that seems to have been pushed either way back or completely out of the picture. I should get out with the hose and water them.
what is, or what will never be?
And it was not to be yesterday. I got a call from the rep on the bus, saying that R had been left behind for not having some medicine that was listed on his form. I know that they allow you to pick up your guests in the FAF office, so I offered that Kevin is in NYC and can bring him with him on the bus home. I checked and found he could leave after 3, but then we never heard a word from the people again. I called the rep around 4:45 only to find out she'd heard nothing more either. All I know is that the prescription was so outdated that it had to be renewed.
So we are back to the waiting game. The kids and I sort of just moped around because we had expected to have this fun new playmate, and now we had only ourselves once more. I fell asleep for a short time, and Megan and Brian decided to ride their bikes up to the tennis courts, where they were approached by the old man who hangs around there teaching lessons, and told that they should take lessons before they develop 'bad habits.' Then we had a nice dinner of grilled chicken sandwiches, and all four of us went to Wilbur's puppy class.
I'm really growing weary of puppy school. Wilbur is so different from the other three dogs, the two goldens and the mastiff. They are all very cute and some do funny things, but they always get distracted from one exercise to the next where Wilbur remains focused on the food all the time. I get bored and can't follow the teacher's lengthy instructions, and always have to be corrected. In my mind, my dog will grow no larger than a cat in the end. I want him to know a few basic commands, to come when I call him, and not to jump on and yap at my visitors. He's not going to be the problem that these bigger dogs will be if they don't become civilized. I think the class has been good for us, but I'm ready to be done with it. I only have to go one more time, next week, because the following week is the last week, and I'll be in Maryland with Megan, so Kevin will have to take him.
They also let the dogs be free to socialize at the end. The big dogs get into big dog play, and Wilbur hoards toys on a blanket that one of the other dogs' dad brought for himself to sit on. Finally, the female golden, whose parents videotaped her on her first night, started playing rough with Wilbur, and his fangs came out. He's a tough little monster.
In other news, they are now calling for rain for the next three days, starting later today. At least I can take Brian to his beach swim practice without worrying about R, but I don't know what will happen later. They have a meet tonight, but Megan's Y coach asked her to miss one meet a week to come to practices to prepare for Nationals. If R doesn't come and it doesn't rain, that will be easy enough, although I will have to get Brian 12 miles to the east and Megan 20 miles to the southwest, at basically the same time. There are many unknown variables for today. So I'll just head down and take my walk along the seawall before the rains come, while he swims. Megan is doing her assistant coaching at the pool club again. She was mentioned in the weekly paper - that team is undefeated this season! So stay tuned. Either we'll have news or we won't. Again.
So we are back to the waiting game. The kids and I sort of just moped around because we had expected to have this fun new playmate, and now we had only ourselves once more. I fell asleep for a short time, and Megan and Brian decided to ride their bikes up to the tennis courts, where they were approached by the old man who hangs around there teaching lessons, and told that they should take lessons before they develop 'bad habits.' Then we had a nice dinner of grilled chicken sandwiches, and all four of us went to Wilbur's puppy class.
I'm really growing weary of puppy school. Wilbur is so different from the other three dogs, the two goldens and the mastiff. They are all very cute and some do funny things, but they always get distracted from one exercise to the next where Wilbur remains focused on the food all the time. I get bored and can't follow the teacher's lengthy instructions, and always have to be corrected. In my mind, my dog will grow no larger than a cat in the end. I want him to know a few basic commands, to come when I call him, and not to jump on and yap at my visitors. He's not going to be the problem that these bigger dogs will be if they don't become civilized. I think the class has been good for us, but I'm ready to be done with it. I only have to go one more time, next week, because the following week is the last week, and I'll be in Maryland with Megan, so Kevin will have to take him.
They also let the dogs be free to socialize at the end. The big dogs get into big dog play, and Wilbur hoards toys on a blanket that one of the other dogs' dad brought for himself to sit on. Finally, the female golden, whose parents videotaped her on her first night, started playing rough with Wilbur, and his fangs came out. He's a tough little monster.
In other news, they are now calling for rain for the next three days, starting later today. At least I can take Brian to his beach swim practice without worrying about R, but I don't know what will happen later. They have a meet tonight, but Megan's Y coach asked her to miss one meet a week to come to practices to prepare for Nationals. If R doesn't come and it doesn't rain, that will be easy enough, although I will have to get Brian 12 miles to the east and Megan 20 miles to the southwest, at basically the same time. There are many unknown variables for today. So I'll just head down and take my walk along the seawall before the rains come, while he swims. Megan is doing her assistant coaching at the pool club again. She was mentioned in the weekly paper - that team is undefeated this season! So stay tuned. Either we'll have news or we won't. Again.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
the big day
And here it is, the dawn of a new visitor. It's a beautiful day, nice and cool and sunny and not a cloud in the sky. Megan is up at the school, and Brian slept over at a friend's last night (against my better judgement) and is now incommunicado. I guess I'll have to hunt him down, but so far I have been busy shopping for groceries, running some quick loads of laundry, straightening up the kitchen, and taking care of dogs. As soon as I rest a minute, I'll run the vacuum through the house, then go on a search-and-rescue mission to find Brian and make him come home to get ready.
I sent the photo album with the pictures from last year to an old friend from college, and as I had it open, I looked through all the photos, and it made me feel really bad about not having invited C back. I hope that he was able to be placed somewhere else and that he has a good time. I envision him trapped in his apartment in the Bronx, not being able to participate because he wasn't invited back. I hope this isn't the case, I would have had him back if it were, and I tried to make this clear, so I hope I was successful in so doing.
Anyway, as Lady Macbeth said, what's done is done, and it cannot be undone. So we will be there to greet R as he disembarks this afternoon. Then we'll see what type of kid he is, bring him home to unpack, and see if he wants to try a day at the beach already. It's supposed to turn warmer and more humid tomorrow; I will probably drag him down there early so Brian can do swim practice. And we also have puppy school tonight. I am kind of mad at myself for signing up for this. It was pretty expensive for just six weeks, and I happened to notice the parks department offers the same type of class for a quarter of the cost, and for one extra week.
I have mentioned that I somehow lost my camera. I don't know what happened, I have a vague recollection of pulling it out and taking pictures, discovering that the memory stick was left at home. But I may have created this memory because, in fact, the memory stick IS left at home. It's here in this laptop. I don't know if the cleaning ladies moved (or stole) it or what happened. But I made the mistake of taking Megan with me to Target yesterday so I could buy a new, cheapo one. Instead, I ended up buying HER a brand new underwater camera, and taking her old one for myself. It's actually a good deal for me, because that camera she has is the same as my lost one, only better. But the transaction cost me a whole lot more than I had intended!
Anyway, in other news, I feel like I am at a construction site. The neighbors in the back must be having their floors redone, but it just sounds like there's a huge generator running directly outside the back of my house. Another idyllic day in burbtopia. I guess I should go and start vacuuming. At least then I won't hear them. Stay tuned for Fresh Air updates!
I sent the photo album with the pictures from last year to an old friend from college, and as I had it open, I looked through all the photos, and it made me feel really bad about not having invited C back. I hope that he was able to be placed somewhere else and that he has a good time. I envision him trapped in his apartment in the Bronx, not being able to participate because he wasn't invited back. I hope this isn't the case, I would have had him back if it were, and I tried to make this clear, so I hope I was successful in so doing.
Anyway, as Lady Macbeth said, what's done is done, and it cannot be undone. So we will be there to greet R as he disembarks this afternoon. Then we'll see what type of kid he is, bring him home to unpack, and see if he wants to try a day at the beach already. It's supposed to turn warmer and more humid tomorrow; I will probably drag him down there early so Brian can do swim practice. And we also have puppy school tonight. I am kind of mad at myself for signing up for this. It was pretty expensive for just six weeks, and I happened to notice the parks department offers the same type of class for a quarter of the cost, and for one extra week.
I have mentioned that I somehow lost my camera. I don't know what happened, I have a vague recollection of pulling it out and taking pictures, discovering that the memory stick was left at home. But I may have created this memory because, in fact, the memory stick IS left at home. It's here in this laptop. I don't know if the cleaning ladies moved (or stole) it or what happened. But I made the mistake of taking Megan with me to Target yesterday so I could buy a new, cheapo one. Instead, I ended up buying HER a brand new underwater camera, and taking her old one for myself. It's actually a good deal for me, because that camera she has is the same as my lost one, only better. But the transaction cost me a whole lot more than I had intended!
Anyway, in other news, I feel like I am at a construction site. The neighbors in the back must be having their floors redone, but it just sounds like there's a huge generator running directly outside the back of my house. Another idyllic day in burbtopia. I guess I should go and start vacuuming. At least then I won't hear them. Stay tuned for Fresh Air updates!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
nothing like advance notice
Last night during dinner, the phone rang. The house phone has not been ringing much, with the laziness of summer and the overtaking of the airwaves by cell phones. The kids and I looked at each other and I checked the Caller ID, and it was the Doll, asking about when she would be watching Molly this summer, for the fourth time. We settled back in to eat, and all of a sudden, the phone rang again. This time, it was, indeed, the Fresh Air Fund lady!
She told us that she had fallen asleep around 2pm and as of that time, still, we had not been matched. She said she has been checking her email five times a day and has been finding nothing. But upon awakening from her nap, she checked again, and through bleary eyes, there it was! So all this time, I have been thinking she has forgotten, but she is just at another stage of the command chain, and is wondering as much as I am if we are doing this program this year.
So our new boy is R and he hails from Brooklyn. He is ten years old, entering fifth grade, loves fried chicken, dogs, and sports, but hates peanuts, peanut butter, or anything related. He is excited to come and I did hear a whoop when he found out there is a puppy. But this is such short notice! Of course I knew it was possible but I have two appointments, plus Megan's many volunteer and swim obligations, over the next week. But it is done. The bus arrives around 12:45 tomorrow. Today will be spent doing a quick bit of shopping, running the vacuum, straightening up and trying to get caught on the laundry (which may not ever happen at this point). I'll cancel one of the appointments, and have enlisted the Doll to drive Brian to his orthodontist next week, unless they can see him at a different time. His appointment is at the exact time when we need to be at the bus for R's return.
This trip should be better than last year; for one thing I do hope that we will have a more participative guest this time. We got very little in terms of interaction last year. The other reason is because the visit is so much shorter. We will have R from tomorrow around noon until next Wednesday morning. We had C from a Thursday afternoon until the following Monday morning. And some long weekends those two were. This Friday night is the beach sleepover. But we'll have to see how R is before we decide if we're doing it or not. Megan definitely wants to, and I expect Brian will as well. But we have to be sure this kid can run with the crowd and that he will not get lost in the darkness on the beach.
So stay tuned. I hope for some fun times. The group is going to the waterpark on Monday, so I'll save that for then. Megan will be able to come with us if she wants, and I can use my two-for-one coupon. We'll obviously make good use of the beach, and hopefully our pool. Brian is watching for the return of his xbox from its free repairs at Microsoft, and I will make sure that I have a nice bag of fried chicken from Acme at the ready. Hopefully R will be good on a bike, and if he is really athletic, maybe he can pick up tennis and play a bit with Brian. But we will know more tomorrow.
I hope he isn't a light sleeper though. With Wilbur up early every morning, there is always some activity going on before 6am. This morning he slept in, till nearly 6, but then leaked all over the rug while I got my shoes on to take him out. I'll have to remember he needs to be carried in the morning.
In other news, I am still trying to secure accommodations for Wilbur for when we go to London. I called a kennel and the guy told me to call back and make an appointment to come visit. So I finally did that yesterday and the guy is on vacation himself, till the 18th! So I left a message with the dates that I need and said that I would like to come in and see him, so I hope I didn't wait too long and end up losing the spot. That was sort of my best idea, it's a kennel in a guy's backyard. I don't want to board him in a large generic kennel, and I think he is too much work at this age to impose him on anyone in a private home. Molly will stay with the Doll and Baxter again. She enjoys that anyway. I also still need to find a cat-sitter.
She told us that she had fallen asleep around 2pm and as of that time, still, we had not been matched. She said she has been checking her email five times a day and has been finding nothing. But upon awakening from her nap, she checked again, and through bleary eyes, there it was! So all this time, I have been thinking she has forgotten, but she is just at another stage of the command chain, and is wondering as much as I am if we are doing this program this year.
So our new boy is R and he hails from Brooklyn. He is ten years old, entering fifth grade, loves fried chicken, dogs, and sports, but hates peanuts, peanut butter, or anything related. He is excited to come and I did hear a whoop when he found out there is a puppy. But this is such short notice! Of course I knew it was possible but I have two appointments, plus Megan's many volunteer and swim obligations, over the next week. But it is done. The bus arrives around 12:45 tomorrow. Today will be spent doing a quick bit of shopping, running the vacuum, straightening up and trying to get caught on the laundry (which may not ever happen at this point). I'll cancel one of the appointments, and have enlisted the Doll to drive Brian to his orthodontist next week, unless they can see him at a different time. His appointment is at the exact time when we need to be at the bus for R's return.
This trip should be better than last year; for one thing I do hope that we will have a more participative guest this time. We got very little in terms of interaction last year. The other reason is because the visit is so much shorter. We will have R from tomorrow around noon until next Wednesday morning. We had C from a Thursday afternoon until the following Monday morning. And some long weekends those two were. This Friday night is the beach sleepover. But we'll have to see how R is before we decide if we're doing it or not. Megan definitely wants to, and I expect Brian will as well. But we have to be sure this kid can run with the crowd and that he will not get lost in the darkness on the beach.
So stay tuned. I hope for some fun times. The group is going to the waterpark on Monday, so I'll save that for then. Megan will be able to come with us if she wants, and I can use my two-for-one coupon. We'll obviously make good use of the beach, and hopefully our pool. Brian is watching for the return of his xbox from its free repairs at Microsoft, and I will make sure that I have a nice bag of fried chicken from Acme at the ready. Hopefully R will be good on a bike, and if he is really athletic, maybe he can pick up tennis and play a bit with Brian. But we will know more tomorrow.
I hope he isn't a light sleeper though. With Wilbur up early every morning, there is always some activity going on before 6am. This morning he slept in, till nearly 6, but then leaked all over the rug while I got my shoes on to take him out. I'll have to remember he needs to be carried in the morning.
In other news, I am still trying to secure accommodations for Wilbur for when we go to London. I called a kennel and the guy told me to call back and make an appointment to come visit. So I finally did that yesterday and the guy is on vacation himself, till the 18th! So I left a message with the dates that I need and said that I would like to come in and see him, so I hope I didn't wait too long and end up losing the spot. That was sort of my best idea, it's a kennel in a guy's backyard. I don't want to board him in a large generic kennel, and I think he is too much work at this age to impose him on anyone in a private home. Molly will stay with the Doll and Baxter again. She enjoys that anyway. I also still need to find a cat-sitter.
Monday, July 13, 2009
monday morning (again)
Seems like it is always Monday morning!! This morning, at least, and from now on, there is no early long course swim practice. So we get to sleep in. Wilbur has continued to have a little diarrhea, I don't know if it's still his giardia acting up or if he is just having puppy upsets from all of the various snacks he procures for himself.
This morning Megan had the school program, and Brian had to go to swim team practice at the beach club, because his camp is over. It was a beautiful day, but Wilbur with his belly and Brian with his red-sunburnt nose caused me to just come straight home. Well, not straight. I wanted to see if I could get a new beach umbrella (our brand new Costco one died already) and maybe a cheap lightweight lawn chair for the Cape May trip. There is a little beach shop on the highway, so I stopped to look around. Here is how that worked out:
The type of chair that I wanted was $17.99. Not terrible, but the chair was a little heavier than the one I had in mind. We browsed a bit and the woman came out and asked if we needed help. I said no, we were just looking. She was a somewhat haggard looking blonde woman with a cup of coffee in her hand. I went to the other side of her little shack and noticed a knife with a 12-inch blade, just lying across some boxes. I assumed she had been cutting open new merchandise and had left it out by mistake. So I called out to her, "excuse me, did you know that you left this giant knife out over here?"
Her response was a complete shock! She said, "of course I do, ma'am, this is my business! That knife is my best friend." (next she went to her chair, seeming to expect to see it there, and then mumbled, "where is it?" before realizing where she had left it.) I said, well it might end up being someone else's best friend if you leave it out like that. To which she replied that she had something much better in the back. I apologized for being concerned about her, and she said I should be sorry, because she was not concerned about me. I decided at that point that it was best if Brian and I left. I have to wonder about the safety of the customers with a merchant like that!!
And then we stopped at Sears and continued to build up Brian's school wardrobe. I now know his size in Lands' End and Brooks Brothers, as well as my favorite, Tommy Hilfiger. Although I will say the Brooks Brothers shirts have the best fit. But the Polo pants win, especially since I have managed to amass four pairs, all from Marshall's, at a cost of $13-20 each.
And now I have several unpleasant chores to do - stupid things like laundry, phone calls, making appointments, and straightening up. I am also on a quest to find two things that have gone missing: my digital camera and a bag of about ten different sunblocks, all unused. I remember where it was last and it is not there now. And as for the camera, it's nowhere to be found, although the memory stick is right here in the laptop. I wonder about the cleaning people (who, by the way, barely clean these days) but I hope that I'm mistaken. So every day, I have to do a little bit of searching for both of these missing items.
In other news, we all went to see Macbeth in the park last night. I didn't really remember the story, but it was fairly manageable to follow along, as long as I could hear the actors. Brian, exhausted from a day at the beach (they both volunteered from 7:30 till 1:30 at the beach helping out special populations for a day in the sun) and bewildered by the dialogue, passed out just as Lady Macbeth was about to throw her husband's cloak open and reveal his bloodied hands holding two blood-red daggers. Kevin seemed completely entranced until he turned to me and said, "I have no idea what's going on." I can hardly wait to see what they choose to perform next summer!
Oh, and the Fresh Air Fund. Still a bust for today. There now remains only a day and a half in which for us to be given the name of a child. I am feeling some remorse for not gleefully snapping C back up again. I would have preferred him to nobody, but I didn't want to ruin it for him if we didn't do it next year. And at this point, I have a lot lined up for the next week, and this might make for a not so relaxing vacation for our visitor, if we end up getting one at the last minute. I have heard they can sometimes tell you the day before, although I don't understand why they would do that
This morning Megan had the school program, and Brian had to go to swim team practice at the beach club, because his camp is over. It was a beautiful day, but Wilbur with his belly and Brian with his red-sunburnt nose caused me to just come straight home. Well, not straight. I wanted to see if I could get a new beach umbrella (our brand new Costco one died already) and maybe a cheap lightweight lawn chair for the Cape May trip. There is a little beach shop on the highway, so I stopped to look around. Here is how that worked out:
The type of chair that I wanted was $17.99. Not terrible, but the chair was a little heavier than the one I had in mind. We browsed a bit and the woman came out and asked if we needed help. I said no, we were just looking. She was a somewhat haggard looking blonde woman with a cup of coffee in her hand. I went to the other side of her little shack and noticed a knife with a 12-inch blade, just lying across some boxes. I assumed she had been cutting open new merchandise and had left it out by mistake. So I called out to her, "excuse me, did you know that you left this giant knife out over here?"
Her response was a complete shock! She said, "of course I do, ma'am, this is my business! That knife is my best friend." (next she went to her chair, seeming to expect to see it there, and then mumbled, "where is it?" before realizing where she had left it.) I said, well it might end up being someone else's best friend if you leave it out like that. To which she replied that she had something much better in the back. I apologized for being concerned about her, and she said I should be sorry, because she was not concerned about me. I decided at that point that it was best if Brian and I left. I have to wonder about the safety of the customers with a merchant like that!!
And then we stopped at Sears and continued to build up Brian's school wardrobe. I now know his size in Lands' End and Brooks Brothers, as well as my favorite, Tommy Hilfiger. Although I will say the Brooks Brothers shirts have the best fit. But the Polo pants win, especially since I have managed to amass four pairs, all from Marshall's, at a cost of $13-20 each.
And now I have several unpleasant chores to do - stupid things like laundry, phone calls, making appointments, and straightening up. I am also on a quest to find two things that have gone missing: my digital camera and a bag of about ten different sunblocks, all unused. I remember where it was last and it is not there now. And as for the camera, it's nowhere to be found, although the memory stick is right here in the laptop. I wonder about the cleaning people (who, by the way, barely clean these days) but I hope that I'm mistaken. So every day, I have to do a little bit of searching for both of these missing items.
In other news, we all went to see Macbeth in the park last night. I didn't really remember the story, but it was fairly manageable to follow along, as long as I could hear the actors. Brian, exhausted from a day at the beach (they both volunteered from 7:30 till 1:30 at the beach helping out special populations for a day in the sun) and bewildered by the dialogue, passed out just as Lady Macbeth was about to throw her husband's cloak open and reveal his bloodied hands holding two blood-red daggers. Kevin seemed completely entranced until he turned to me and said, "I have no idea what's going on." I can hardly wait to see what they choose to perform next summer!
Oh, and the Fresh Air Fund. Still a bust for today. There now remains only a day and a half in which for us to be given the name of a child. I am feeling some remorse for not gleefully snapping C back up again. I would have preferred him to nobody, but I didn't want to ruin it for him if we didn't do it next year. And at this point, I have a lot lined up for the next week, and this might make for a not so relaxing vacation for our visitor, if we end up getting one at the last minute. I have heard they can sometimes tell you the day before, although I don't understand why they would do that
Saturday, July 11, 2009
saturday
It's quiet in the house for now. I don't know how long that will last, or what is going on. Megan had to be out at 7:30 for a pool club swim meet, and then she was asked to give a lesson back at the other pool club. So when I went to get her from the meet, I had to take her back to the home club, and then come back for her afterwards. She is going to charge $20 a half hour for a lesson, but she didn't know what time it was, and she ended up in the pool for over an hour! So that was a bargain of a lesson. The girl she taught is learning butterfly, she was all excited because Megan worked with her once for free and she took ten seconds off her time at the next meet. I asked Megan if she also explained the difference between a meter pool and a yard pool :-). (the first meet was in meters, the second in yards ... but ten seconds is not the normal difference between the two, so it's still good.)
Anyway, I had a chance today to go into NYC and meet up with one of my 'cyberfriends' from many years ago, but as usual with the life I lead, I wasn't able to swing it. So I think that Brian has a friend coming over and I am just sitting here doing laundry and tending to wayward pomeranians. I'm still not caught up on all the laundry from the broken washer era.
Also, nothing to report on the Fresh Air Fund. It's getting annoying. First, I feel a little duped that they sent us C when they must have known that there were issues from the family who had hosted him the year before, who didn't sign up again or just didn't take him back. He was a good kid but didn't seem to really want to be here. Second, the rep was supposed to call me back weeks ago and never did, and now I have been told I'm in the system for a different boy aged 10-12, which is not what I would have requested this time around. Third, here we are two days from the trip (because I doubt they work weekends doing placements) and I have a week packed with other busy activities that will cause disturbances to my schedule if they suddenly do spring someone on us.
I hate to back completely out of the program, but I don't even understand how the Fund operates. I understand they have a lot backed up, and maybe they want the host families to be on alert to a call the night before, but how do you call some inner city mom and tell her she has to have her kid ready for the bus by the next morning? Or is the delay on the end of the child? I just don't know, and I have no contact with the rep. I emailed her once, she wrote back, I emailed again, and she never replied. I feel so disillusioned. I'm sure it's a great program, but we haven't seen evidence of that greatness in our experiences at all. I wish we were able to talk to someone who actually DOES the placements, but instead, we talk only to a rep who claims to know no more than we do. I was so excited to have an experience like all the ones you read about in the press. But I guess that's why those stories make the press.
Well, there goes the washer beeping. Time to fold. but first, in other news, Megan is finding her hospital volunteering to be interesting. She didn't really think physical therapy looked like a lot of fun, and she didn't get to do anything there anyway. They mostly had her taking discharged patients down to the lobby. She also walked down the hall and a woman asked her, in Spanish, if she knew why the ATM wasn't working and if she could fix it. Megan, who says she doesn't know anything about ATMs in English, replied, "no se, sorry". Then someone else asked (in English) if she knew where radiology was. Again, she replied no, and then proceeded to walk by radiology. So she is learning.
Anyway, I had a chance today to go into NYC and meet up with one of my 'cyberfriends' from many years ago, but as usual with the life I lead, I wasn't able to swing it. So I think that Brian has a friend coming over and I am just sitting here doing laundry and tending to wayward pomeranians. I'm still not caught up on all the laundry from the broken washer era.
Also, nothing to report on the Fresh Air Fund. It's getting annoying. First, I feel a little duped that they sent us C when they must have known that there were issues from the family who had hosted him the year before, who didn't sign up again or just didn't take him back. He was a good kid but didn't seem to really want to be here. Second, the rep was supposed to call me back weeks ago and never did, and now I have been told I'm in the system for a different boy aged 10-12, which is not what I would have requested this time around. Third, here we are two days from the trip (because I doubt they work weekends doing placements) and I have a week packed with other busy activities that will cause disturbances to my schedule if they suddenly do spring someone on us.
I hate to back completely out of the program, but I don't even understand how the Fund operates. I understand they have a lot backed up, and maybe they want the host families to be on alert to a call the night before, but how do you call some inner city mom and tell her she has to have her kid ready for the bus by the next morning? Or is the delay on the end of the child? I just don't know, and I have no contact with the rep. I emailed her once, she wrote back, I emailed again, and she never replied. I feel so disillusioned. I'm sure it's a great program, but we haven't seen evidence of that greatness in our experiences at all. I wish we were able to talk to someone who actually DOES the placements, but instead, we talk only to a rep who claims to know no more than we do. I was so excited to have an experience like all the ones you read about in the press. But I guess that's why those stories make the press.
Well, there goes the washer beeping. Time to fold. but first, in other news, Megan is finding her hospital volunteering to be interesting. She didn't really think physical therapy looked like a lot of fun, and she didn't get to do anything there anyway. They mostly had her taking discharged patients down to the lobby. She also walked down the hall and a woman asked her, in Spanish, if she knew why the ATM wasn't working and if she could fix it. Megan, who says she doesn't know anything about ATMs in English, replied, "no se, sorry". Then someone else asked (in English) if she knew where radiology was. Again, she replied no, and then proceeded to walk by radiology. So she is learning.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
whirlwind summer
So this is it, the apex of the summer activities ... Brian is in tennis, Wilbur and I are in puppy school, and the beach club swim meets have begun, as have the volunteer jobs for Megan. All I do now is drive around. Add to that the 'social' driving and there isn't time for much of anything! And I am exhausted from getting up at 5 every morning with Wilbur. This morning he got up at 5:15 and had peed in his crate, only the second time he's done that. I think that he heard Kevin get up at 4, and that probably disturbed him and he forgot to hold it in. I can always tell, because when he whimpers to get out, he is sitting at the back of the crate, which fortunately has two doors, one on the front and one on the side. If I take him out the side, he avoids the runoff.
Today the cleaning people came, so I took Molly and Wilbur out (he hates the car!) and we went to the off-leash dog park. He loved it! Molly is so old that I bring her on the small dogs side (supposed to be under 35 pounds, usually they look to be about 40, so even then Wilbur is small) but noone usually complains. One woman today made some comments that her dog was scared of Molly because she was "big," but really Molly sniffed her dog and then laid down, there are far more disruptive small dogs than Molly. That dog cowered by her owner the whole time anyway, even with all the assorted small- to medium-sized dogs. Now Wilbur is having a nap, and Molly is also worn out.
It's nice and cool out today, which would be really nice if we were going to see Macbeth at the community college like I had hoped to do, but I didn't think about the beach club swim meets, so we will have one of those tonight, and it's sure to be pretty cold. Megan wants to go and scoop ice cream first for a pool club fundraiser, so again, more driving around.
Regarding Megan, she did her first day of hospital volunteering and it cost me $40 - $25 for a pair of khaki pants and $15 for the uniform shirt. She liked it OK. They get to eat $5 of food for free, and then she sat around for a while. But later on she was asked to deliver some flowers and balloons, and she got to bring them to a couple of patients on the pediatric floor. So that was at least something.
Tomorrow she volunteers in physical therapy for the afternoon, for the first time. Her school assignment (for the extended year program) turned out to be preschool, so she was less than thrilled about that, but she knows a boy who's in there with her and at least in those classes they keep you busy. But the kids are a little less responsive so it's not rewarding in the same way. But she still enjoys it.
And we went to visit TCNJ on Monday, for a tour. She had some interest, which is good, because if we find ourselves in the poorhouse in two years, we might have to insist on a state school. Even being a state school, without any type of scholarship, tuition + room and board is about $20,000 per year. But hopefully she will get some sort of aid.
Brian is finishing up his tennis camp, which he absolutely loved. Aside from a couple of boring and overcrowded camps when he was little, he has never played before this and he's really enjoying it. I might look into letting him take lessons throughout the year, since it looks like he'll be giving up baseball anyway. His team is more or less falling apart and they never win a game. He also has to start his summer reading. I ordered the one book, about Michelangelo, on cassette to help him with the pronunciation and to stay on topic. Now we're waiting for it to be delivered.
In other news, Kevin is in Pennsylvania for some golf event or other. He took my TomTom so I won't be able to find the tricky back roads into the beach club we have to go to for tonight's meet. But I'll get there eventually. I always do. Just keep heading east and I'll end up at the ocean! The good news is that the washer is working, but the bad news is that I have so much laundry piled up that it will probably take me two weeks to get all caught up. The dryer is squeaking now, too, but I won't worry about that until it starts smoking or stops drying clothes!
Also, the Fresh Air Fund trip to our area is in six days, and we still have not been assigned a child. I just have that feeling that something is wrong, and I have emailed the new rep, and she wrote back once, but not the second time. I don't know if she is on the ball, and this is just how things work, or what is going on. But I was under the impression they had more children applying than they had host families willing to take them in; so I don't know why they would wait so long to assign a child. The rep said she had one other family in the same situation. I wrote back and said we'd take anyone, I don't want to really specifially have to be locked into a gender or age. But that's the mail she didn't respond to, so I don't know if you can even enter an open request. I really would take any age or gender; what difference does it make? Just adjust the activities accordingly.
Today the cleaning people came, so I took Molly and Wilbur out (he hates the car!) and we went to the off-leash dog park. He loved it! Molly is so old that I bring her on the small dogs side (supposed to be under 35 pounds, usually they look to be about 40, so even then Wilbur is small) but noone usually complains. One woman today made some comments that her dog was scared of Molly because she was "big," but really Molly sniffed her dog and then laid down, there are far more disruptive small dogs than Molly. That dog cowered by her owner the whole time anyway, even with all the assorted small- to medium-sized dogs. Now Wilbur is having a nap, and Molly is also worn out.
It's nice and cool out today, which would be really nice if we were going to see Macbeth at the community college like I had hoped to do, but I didn't think about the beach club swim meets, so we will have one of those tonight, and it's sure to be pretty cold. Megan wants to go and scoop ice cream first for a pool club fundraiser, so again, more driving around.
Regarding Megan, she did her first day of hospital volunteering and it cost me $40 - $25 for a pair of khaki pants and $15 for the uniform shirt. She liked it OK. They get to eat $5 of food for free, and then she sat around for a while. But later on she was asked to deliver some flowers and balloons, and she got to bring them to a couple of patients on the pediatric floor. So that was at least something.
Tomorrow she volunteers in physical therapy for the afternoon, for the first time. Her school assignment (for the extended year program) turned out to be preschool, so she was less than thrilled about that, but she knows a boy who's in there with her and at least in those classes they keep you busy. But the kids are a little less responsive so it's not rewarding in the same way. But she still enjoys it.
And we went to visit TCNJ on Monday, for a tour. She had some interest, which is good, because if we find ourselves in the poorhouse in two years, we might have to insist on a state school. Even being a state school, without any type of scholarship, tuition + room and board is about $20,000 per year. But hopefully she will get some sort of aid.
Brian is finishing up his tennis camp, which he absolutely loved. Aside from a couple of boring and overcrowded camps when he was little, he has never played before this and he's really enjoying it. I might look into letting him take lessons throughout the year, since it looks like he'll be giving up baseball anyway. His team is more or less falling apart and they never win a game. He also has to start his summer reading. I ordered the one book, about Michelangelo, on cassette to help him with the pronunciation and to stay on topic. Now we're waiting for it to be delivered.
In other news, Kevin is in Pennsylvania for some golf event or other. He took my TomTom so I won't be able to find the tricky back roads into the beach club we have to go to for tonight's meet. But I'll get there eventually. I always do. Just keep heading east and I'll end up at the ocean! The good news is that the washer is working, but the bad news is that I have so much laundry piled up that it will probably take me two weeks to get all caught up. The dryer is squeaking now, too, but I won't worry about that until it starts smoking or stops drying clothes!
Also, the Fresh Air Fund trip to our area is in six days, and we still have not been assigned a child. I just have that feeling that something is wrong, and I have emailed the new rep, and she wrote back once, but not the second time. I don't know if she is on the ball, and this is just how things work, or what is going on. But I was under the impression they had more children applying than they had host families willing to take them in; so I don't know why they would wait so long to assign a child. The rep said she had one other family in the same situation. I wrote back and said we'd take anyone, I don't want to really specifially have to be locked into a gender or age. But that's the mail she didn't respond to, so I don't know if you can even enter an open request. I really would take any age or gender; what difference does it make? Just adjust the activities accordingly.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
july 5
I hate July 5, generally. This year is significant because the reason I hate July 5 is because it is the anniversary of the day the dog bit my nose off. July 5, 1979, to be exact, so that means that this is the 30 year anniversary! So far, the day has started out fairly as usual, with the puppy beginning his whimpers at 6am, and the house smelling like a dirty litterbox that needs complete changing as soon as I am awake enough to tackle it. I usually just try to stay low key and not do anything too significant on July 5. I just dislike the day.
And so we had a very nice Fourth. We decided to go to the party for the twins and then come later to the beach for the fireworks, and it actually worked out quite well. We left right after their birthday cake, came home and walked the dogs, and then headed out to the beach, hitting almost no traffic at all. We stayed until around 11, then came home and had to hang out with the puppy for a little while, since he had been confined for so much of the day in his little crate. Maybe I can run him to the dog park again today so he can get some exercise. His little ears are looking greenish, I don't know why. I thought he had scratched them after he walked in grass but it seems to be getting worse, so I don't think that's why. I'll try cleaning them today and see if that helps. Since his bath, he smells a whole lot better, but I didn't want to freak him out in his first bath, so I didn't wash around his face or ears. He also has oozy eyes, so he always has a little reddish brown discharge on the sides. I'll have to ask the vet about that, but it may be normal for these little doggies.
And we're heading into busy times now. Megan starts her school volunteering tomorrow, then we're going for a college tour at TCNJ (The College of NJ). The Doll had said she wanted to come, I guess I'll have to find out if she is able to walk well enough to join us. If she comes, I hope she can walk, because it will be a pain if she's dragging behind the whole time. She is so excited about the whole college selection process, although she wants Megan to go to NYU so she can take trips in and meet up with her for lunch. Beach club meets also start Tuesday, so Megan will have those meets Tuesday and Thursday (so will Brian) as well as Wednesday and Saturday for the pool club, except this coming Saturday, when she has to go swim in a meet at Rutgers. (where I also need to schedule a college tour)
The hospital volunteering also starts this week, but she hasn't been able to get hold of the volunteer coordinator, to make sure it's OK that she comes Tuesday afternoons instead of mornings, because she is supposed to be at the pool club on Tuesday mornings for the next three weeks. And then, the last week in July, she goes to Maryland for nationals, and returns home with very little to do, just the two days at the hospital. And the vacations. When I speak of it like that, it seems like summer is over already! Better get Brian started on that summer reading!
In other news, Brian was taught to operate the ride-on mower yesterday. He did all the open areas, and Kevin supplemented the work with the push-mower and edged with the weed whacker. So we are lawn-service free now. Kevin says the guy finally did return his call, saying he couldn't find our number. Hmm. I think we have two listed in the phone book but I guess he doesn't use that modern technology. I have to spend part of this week figuring out how I am going to pay my bills from the last weeks of school; and the cleaning people come this week. I would like to put them on hold for the summer, but then I'm just afraid I won't ever clean the house well. Not that they do! Oh, and the Fresh Air Fund visit to our town is a week from Wednesday, but we apparently still haven't been assigned a child, so I don't know if we'll be doing it this year or not. At this point I almost hope not because I have things lined up for some of the days that week, although of course I will work around that if something comes through. But if we don't get one, and then they put out desperate pleas for hosts needed, I'll be annoyed at the inefficiency.
And so we had a very nice Fourth. We decided to go to the party for the twins and then come later to the beach for the fireworks, and it actually worked out quite well. We left right after their birthday cake, came home and walked the dogs, and then headed out to the beach, hitting almost no traffic at all. We stayed until around 11, then came home and had to hang out with the puppy for a little while, since he had been confined for so much of the day in his little crate. Maybe I can run him to the dog park again today so he can get some exercise. His little ears are looking greenish, I don't know why. I thought he had scratched them after he walked in grass but it seems to be getting worse, so I don't think that's why. I'll try cleaning them today and see if that helps. Since his bath, he smells a whole lot better, but I didn't want to freak him out in his first bath, so I didn't wash around his face or ears. He also has oozy eyes, so he always has a little reddish brown discharge on the sides. I'll have to ask the vet about that, but it may be normal for these little doggies.
And we're heading into busy times now. Megan starts her school volunteering tomorrow, then we're going for a college tour at TCNJ (The College of NJ). The Doll had said she wanted to come, I guess I'll have to find out if she is able to walk well enough to join us. If she comes, I hope she can walk, because it will be a pain if she's dragging behind the whole time. She is so excited about the whole college selection process, although she wants Megan to go to NYU so she can take trips in and meet up with her for lunch. Beach club meets also start Tuesday, so Megan will have those meets Tuesday and Thursday (so will Brian) as well as Wednesday and Saturday for the pool club, except this coming Saturday, when she has to go swim in a meet at Rutgers. (where I also need to schedule a college tour)
The hospital volunteering also starts this week, but she hasn't been able to get hold of the volunteer coordinator, to make sure it's OK that she comes Tuesday afternoons instead of mornings, because she is supposed to be at the pool club on Tuesday mornings for the next three weeks. And then, the last week in July, she goes to Maryland for nationals, and returns home with very little to do, just the two days at the hospital. And the vacations. When I speak of it like that, it seems like summer is over already! Better get Brian started on that summer reading!
In other news, Brian was taught to operate the ride-on mower yesterday. He did all the open areas, and Kevin supplemented the work with the push-mower and edged with the weed whacker. So we are lawn-service free now. Kevin says the guy finally did return his call, saying he couldn't find our number. Hmm. I think we have two listed in the phone book but I guess he doesn't use that modern technology. I have to spend part of this week figuring out how I am going to pay my bills from the last weeks of school; and the cleaning people come this week. I would like to put them on hold for the summer, but then I'm just afraid I won't ever clean the house well. Not that they do! Oh, and the Fresh Air Fund visit to our town is a week from Wednesday, but we apparently still haven't been assigned a child, so I don't know if we'll be doing it this year or not. At this point I almost hope not because I have things lined up for some of the days that week, although of course I will work around that if something comes through. But if we don't get one, and then they put out desperate pleas for hosts needed, I'll be annoyed at the inefficiency.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
the rain goes on
So every day it rains, at least a little. It's like living in London, or in Forks, Washington. The grass is always wet and the cars are always spotted. Hair is always frizzy, but that's to be expected in the summer in NJ anyway. So far it hasn't dampened plans too much figuratively, although literally most things end up damp much of the time. The forecast for today was for rain for the morning, but now it seems pushed to the afternoon.
So Wilbur/Duke is still not sure of his name. After two weeks, I think we need to decide, because if it's confusing to me, I am sure he is baffled. The only consistency is Pompom, my name for him, to which he responds only if he thinks it means he will get food.
He's doing well in puppy school too, although he considers it little more than dinner out on the town. Last night I had no treats so I cut up a leftover rotisserie chicken, and he thought he was in puppy heaven. His little mouth was chattering at the very thought of his next bite. But then at the end of the class, when they 'socialize' the dogs by introducing them two at a time to each other, he ignored the other dogs, focusing only on the treat sacks on the hips of the two trainers. The other dogs, two goldens and a mastiff, all got excited and waggly when they met each other. Wilbur/Duke jumped on them a little, but kept trying to get past them to get at the food.
So we are like the oddballs. Even driving in, I have him on my lap because I can't figure out how else to transport him. When I put him in a small cat carrier, he puked. If I have help, he rides on their lap, but last night I did not. The others all travel safely - crates in the back, one couple has the wife ride in the back with the puppy. But all of these puppies will grow up to be bigger. The goldens are not much larger than Wilbur/Duke now, but they get bigger every week, and he stays about the same. My favorite thing last night was the new dog and her family - they videotaped the whole thing!
Brian is enjoying his tennis camp very much, and I like that he can walk there and back by himself, albeit through coyote populated woods! It's good to know that if I can't get home in time, he can get himself there and home again, because I'm forever driving Megan somewhere or other. Whatever happened to summer being relaxing? I haven't slept past 5:30 or 6 more than once since school got out!
In other news, I cleaned out E's room yesterday. She left it such a mess! I told her she could leave things but they had to be boxed and in the closet or basement. They were all over everything. I shoved them all into the closet, and stood her suitcase up against the wall. I went through the clothes she is getting rid of, and emptied her trash. All I have to do is strip the bed and remake it, but I'm waiting until I have a working washing machine to do that, which should be Tuesday. I hope. Kevin got his ride-on lawnmower yesterday, but I didn't have a chance to take pictures because I had to run off to puppy school. I'll be sure to get some and add them later on. Now, as always, must drive Megan to the pool club.
So Wilbur/Duke is still not sure of his name. After two weeks, I think we need to decide, because if it's confusing to me, I am sure he is baffled. The only consistency is Pompom, my name for him, to which he responds only if he thinks it means he will get food.
He's doing well in puppy school too, although he considers it little more than dinner out on the town. Last night I had no treats so I cut up a leftover rotisserie chicken, and he thought he was in puppy heaven. His little mouth was chattering at the very thought of his next bite. But then at the end of the class, when they 'socialize' the dogs by introducing them two at a time to each other, he ignored the other dogs, focusing only on the treat sacks on the hips of the two trainers. The other dogs, two goldens and a mastiff, all got excited and waggly when they met each other. Wilbur/Duke jumped on them a little, but kept trying to get past them to get at the food.
So we are like the oddballs. Even driving in, I have him on my lap because I can't figure out how else to transport him. When I put him in a small cat carrier, he puked. If I have help, he rides on their lap, but last night I did not. The others all travel safely - crates in the back, one couple has the wife ride in the back with the puppy. But all of these puppies will grow up to be bigger. The goldens are not much larger than Wilbur/Duke now, but they get bigger every week, and he stays about the same. My favorite thing last night was the new dog and her family - they videotaped the whole thing!
Brian is enjoying his tennis camp very much, and I like that he can walk there and back by himself, albeit through coyote populated woods! It's good to know that if I can't get home in time, he can get himself there and home again, because I'm forever driving Megan somewhere or other. Whatever happened to summer being relaxing? I haven't slept past 5:30 or 6 more than once since school got out!
In other news, I cleaned out E's room yesterday. She left it such a mess! I told her she could leave things but they had to be boxed and in the closet or basement. They were all over everything. I shoved them all into the closet, and stood her suitcase up against the wall. I went through the clothes she is getting rid of, and emptied her trash. All I have to do is strip the bed and remake it, but I'm waiting until I have a working washing machine to do that, which should be Tuesday. I hope. Kevin got his ride-on lawnmower yesterday, but I didn't have a chance to take pictures because I had to run off to puppy school. I'll be sure to get some and add them later on. Now, as always, must drive Megan to the pool club.
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