So here I am a day early, who knows - maybe I will manage a double update this weekend! Much has gone on, I hope I can remember it all. First, B finished his whole week in tennis camp. He's pretty low energy in general so it about wiped him out. Then I took him for new glasses because I found out that he hasn't had any he will wear for a while. He's just been keeping his contacts in until it's time to go to bed, then he takes them out and goes to sleep because he can't see anything anyway.
As for M, she is FINALLY done with school. All she knows is that she got a B on the physics final and a B+ for the class for the marking period. I don't know when report cards will come with the rest of the info. But that was a pretty good grade for that class. Her one friend got a 95 on the final, the highest grade ever for the final with this teacher.
Today she started her rookie training at the beach. Of course, as luck would have it, we had our semi-annual skin review for her face at the dermatologist. She also has ringworm (ew) but that's going away. He gave her something stronger than what I had, even though it did look a lot better than it had. He says this new one is better. But he gave the whole speech about sun protection and skin damage even with sunblock. I told her maybe next summer she can look into a study-abroad program for a few weeks so she can get a practical application for the Spanish she's been studying and she won't have to spend 400 hours in direct sunlight.
She got her SAT2 scores back and she scored quite well on the Spanish test, for a non-native speaker, I think. She did even better on the US History test. Now I'm anxious for her AP scores, which will be out during July. She's also waiting to see if she got a position with the National Honor Society (she is going to be secretary of the Spanish Honor Society) and also she's awaiting the ACT scores. And July 1 is the first date that college coaches can make actual contact with her, so that will be an interesting day - will she get lots of calls, or none?? Much to anticipate this month.
But, oh. The biggest milestone is B's trip, which we booked using Kevin's miles. He is going to fly out to San Diego in July, leaving on a Sunday morning and returning on a Friday night.I can't believe that I am going to put him on a plane alone for six hours! But it's a great opportunity for him to have an experience that's all his own. He has really never been able to do that. I'm trying to find ways to help him build his confidence.
And in other news, Molly is still on her "loading" dose of the Cushing's medicine. She takes it twice a day and once a day I give her prednisone. He had said to do the latter twice, but it seemed to be making her worse. I'd like to not give it at all but the danger is that the dogs can crash. This way, she's pretty mellow and doesn't pant a lot during the day, but at night after the prednisone, she starts the whole panting thing again. And her limbs seems a lot weaker too, but I don't think that has anything to do with this medicine. And the one thing she is enjoys is that the medication is fat-soluble, so I have been giving it to her with hamburger. Wilbur enjoys that, too.
As for Kevin, he is trying to fix cars today. He replaced the mirror on my Explorer and only lost 1/3 of the screws that hold it on. Should be OK, right? (Don't drive too close behind me). Now he has gone off to try to pick up a part to repair the blower in his truck, which lost all the speeds from 1-4 (of 5), as I discovered on Monday when I went to return the tables and chairs from the party. And I should be off to procure food. The cupboards are bare of anything with any nutritional value.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
weekly review
So here I am a day early, who knows - maybe I will manage a double update this weekend! Much has gone on, I hope I can remember it all. First, B finished his whole week in tennis camp. He's pretty low energy in general so it about wiped him out. Then I took him for new glasses because I found out that he hasn't had any he will wear for a while. He's just been keeping his contacts in until it's time to go to bed, then he takes them out and goes to sleep because he can't see anything anyway.
As for M, she is FINALLY done with school. All she knows is that she got a B on the physics final and a B+ for the class for the marking period. I don't know when report cards will come with the rest of the info. But that was a pretty good grade for that class. Her one friend got a 95 on the final, the highest grade ever for the final with this teacher.
Today she started her rookie training at the beach. Of course, as luck would have it, we had our semi-annual skin review for her face at the dermatologist. She also has ringworm (ew) but that's going away. He gave her something stronger than what I had, even though it did look a lot better than it had. He says this new one is better. But he gave the whole speech about sun protection and skin damage even with sunblock. I told her maybe next summer she can look into a study-abroad program for a few weeks so she can get a practical application for the Spanish she's been studying and she wont' have to spend 400 hours in direct sunlight.
She got her SAT2 scores back and she scored quite well on the Spanish test, for a non-native speaker, I think. She did even better on the US History test. Now I'm anxious for her AP scores, which will be out during July. She's also waiting to see if she got a position with the National Honor Society (she is going to be secretary of the Spanish Honor Society) and also she's awaiting the ACT scores. And July 1 is the first date that college coaches can make actual contact with her, so that will be an interesting day - will she get lots of calls, or none?? Much to anticipate this month.
But, oh. The biggest milestone is B's trip, which we booked using Kevin's miles. He is going to fly out to San Diego in July, leaving on a Sunday morning and returning on a Friday night.I can't believe that I am going to put him on a plane alone for six hours! But it's a great opportunity for him to have an experience that's all his own. He has really never been able to do that. I'm trying to find ways to help him build his confidence.
And in other news, Molly is still on her "loading" dose of the Cushing's medicine. She takes it twice a day and once a day I give her prednisone. He had said to do the latter twice, but it seemed to be making her worse. I'd like to not give it at all but the danger is that the dogs can crash. This way, she's pretty mellow and doesn't pant a lot during the day, but at night after the prednisone, she starts the whole panting thing again. And her limbs seems a lot weaker too, but I don't think that has anything to do with this medicine. And the one thing she is enjoys is that the medication is fat-soluble, so I have been giving it to her with hamburger. Wilbur enjoys that, too.
As for Kevin, he is trying to fix cars today. He replaced the mirror on my Explorer and only lost 1/3 of the screws that hold it on. Should be OK, right? (Don't drive too close behind me). Now he has gone off to try to pick up a part to repair the blower in his truck, which lost all the speeds from 1-4 (of 5), as I discovered on Monday when I went to return the tables and chairs from the party. And I should be off to procure food. The cupboards are bare of anything with any nutritional value.
As for M, she is FINALLY done with school. All she knows is that she got a B on the physics final and a B+ for the class for the marking period. I don't know when report cards will come with the rest of the info. But that was a pretty good grade for that class. Her one friend got a 95 on the final, the highest grade ever for the final with this teacher.
Today she started her rookie training at the beach. Of course, as luck would have it, we had our semi-annual skin review for her face at the dermatologist. She also has ringworm (ew) but that's going away. He gave her something stronger than what I had, even though it did look a lot better than it had. He says this new one is better. But he gave the whole speech about sun protection and skin damage even with sunblock. I told her maybe next summer she can look into a study-abroad program for a few weeks so she can get a practical application for the Spanish she's been studying and she wont' have to spend 400 hours in direct sunlight.
She got her SAT2 scores back and she scored quite well on the Spanish test, for a non-native speaker, I think. She did even better on the US History test. Now I'm anxious for her AP scores, which will be out during July. She's also waiting to see if she got a position with the National Honor Society (she is going to be secretary of the Spanish Honor Society) and also she's awaiting the ACT scores. And July 1 is the first date that college coaches can make actual contact with her, so that will be an interesting day - will she get lots of calls, or none?? Much to anticipate this month.
But, oh. The biggest milestone is B's trip, which we booked using Kevin's miles. He is going to fly out to San Diego in July, leaving on a Sunday morning and returning on a Friday night.I can't believe that I am going to put him on a plane alone for six hours! But it's a great opportunity for him to have an experience that's all his own. He has really never been able to do that. I'm trying to find ways to help him build his confidence.
And in other news, Molly is still on her "loading" dose of the Cushing's medicine. She takes it twice a day and once a day I give her prednisone. He had said to do the latter twice, but it seemed to be making her worse. I'd like to not give it at all but the danger is that the dogs can crash. This way, she's pretty mellow and doesn't pant a lot during the day, but at night after the prednisone, she starts the whole panting thing again. And her limbs seems a lot weaker too, but I don't think that has anything to do with this medicine. And the one thing she is enjoys is that the medication is fat-soluble, so I have been giving it to her with hamburger. Wilbur enjoys that, too.
As for Kevin, he is trying to fix cars today. He replaced the mirror on my Explorer and only lost 1/3 of the screws that hold it on. Should be OK, right? (Don't drive too close behind me). Now he has gone off to try to pick up a part to repair the blower in his truck, which lost all the speeds from 1-4 (of 5), as I discovered on Monday when I went to return the tables and chairs from the party. And I should be off to procure food. The cupboards are bare of anything with any nutritional value.
Monday, June 21, 2010
summer starts soon!
The party is over! The big surprise :-) It was a lot of fun. Lots of cousins, and long lost friends, and some we have not seen in decades. To me, everybody looked exactly the same, especially Koke, the birthday boy. And now the balloons begin to deflate and we are polishing off the leftovers and pouring the flat soda down the drain and following the adventures of those were lucky enough to move on to Cape May rather than work, finals, and tennis camp.
So, back to reality. Molly has Cushing's disease, whatever that is. She's starting her medicines tomorrow morning, she'll take some adrenal-gland-killing drug and then, ironically, some cortisone as well. She goes back in a week for more testing to see if it helped. Meanwhile, we're just glad the huge disgusting bloody growth she had on her eye rolled off right in the middle of the party! She looks great now!
And for M, one more final: physics. As if the year could end on a more stressful note. But I'm glad it worked out this way, she's able to study and spend the time on her own. And ew, now she has ringworm. Good grief, can she not get a break. After weeks in the podiatrist's office for an unsuccessful attempt to eradicate the return of the plantar warts I spotted a bright red circle on her calf.
"What is that?" I ask. "I got a pimple from shaving and scratched it," she responds. But I'm not buying it. It looks like ringworm, but I treat it for eczema and staph. Yeah, not the right thing. It gets bigger and uglier. We go to the EMO, and it's ringworm. He tells her to put OTC medication on it for up to six weeks, four times a day. I think, great. We'll take his advice for exactly six days, which is when we have her regular appointment with the dermatologist, thankfully. And it looks stable for now, on the Lotrimin.
And B started his tennis camp today. We were lucky to have cousins and aunt and uncle here this morning, to pick M up from school so she didn't have to stay for the time when she would have had a history final, and B led himself across to the tennis academy. He said he had fun, and knew one kid there, as well as met a bunch who will be freshmen next year. By the way, his report card did arrive last Friday, and although I was prepared to say, "I never thought I would be so excited to see so many Cs," this is not quite true, as there was an actual 85 in the midst! In Spanish, of all things. The rest, sigh, were Cs, but one was a 77 so that was encouraging. Of course, these are year-grades, and include the first semester when a lot of work was just review and there were some higher grades.
So now it's time for the summer reading. Apparently they are doing things differently, and the books are being applied to the first marking period grades in the various subjects rather than to a random score which, if you fail, means you have to take gym your senior year. I find that bizarre, but - whatever. You fail summer reading and have to take gym? Not a real strong motivator to try too hard. I'm going to try to make him study guides; I told him after each chapter to stop and write all the new characters, the main things that happened in the chapter, and what he thinks will happen next.
Anyway, as for Kevin, he is back from Europe yet again but carrying on that he needs to fly 3,000 more miles before September to maintain his status with SAS. Maybe we can go to London again ;-) That'd be worthwhile!!
But really, there will be no big trips this summer for us. Maryland for M, maybe Colorado in August, and B will go to San Diego if we can work that out. I'm saving my (unpaid) holidays for the fall to take M to visit some colleges. The next few weeks should be interesting with a lot of important milestones: she starts her job next weekend, gets SAT scores this week, ACT scores possibly next week (although I accidentally registered her with a 1983 birthdate), colleges can begin calling her July 1, and she'll get her AP test scores in July. So stay tuned!
And in other news, I am committed to my job through the end of summer, which is when I figure my boss will break even on his buyout of me from the agency, and hopefully he will pay me enough to make it worth my while to stay there and do the work I have been doing for less than it's worth! I am just happy to be able to hack away at bills, knowing there will be another paycheck along in a couple of weeks.
So, back to reality. Molly has Cushing's disease, whatever that is. She's starting her medicines tomorrow morning, she'll take some adrenal-gland-killing drug and then, ironically, some cortisone as well. She goes back in a week for more testing to see if it helped. Meanwhile, we're just glad the huge disgusting bloody growth she had on her eye rolled off right in the middle of the party! She looks great now!
And for M, one more final: physics. As if the year could end on a more stressful note. But I'm glad it worked out this way, she's able to study and spend the time on her own. And ew, now she has ringworm. Good grief, can she not get a break. After weeks in the podiatrist's office for an unsuccessful attempt to eradicate the return of the plantar warts I spotted a bright red circle on her calf.
"What is that?" I ask. "I got a pimple from shaving and scratched it," she responds. But I'm not buying it. It looks like ringworm, but I treat it for eczema and staph. Yeah, not the right thing. It gets bigger and uglier. We go to the EMO, and it's ringworm. He tells her to put OTC medication on it for up to six weeks, four times a day. I think, great. We'll take his advice for exactly six days, which is when we have her regular appointment with the dermatologist, thankfully. And it looks stable for now, on the Lotrimin.
And B started his tennis camp today. We were lucky to have cousins and aunt and uncle here this morning, to pick M up from school so she didn't have to stay for the time when she would have had a history final, and B led himself across to the tennis academy. He said he had fun, and knew one kid there, as well as met a bunch who will be freshmen next year. By the way, his report card did arrive last Friday, and although I was prepared to say, "I never thought I would be so excited to see so many Cs," this is not quite true, as there was an actual 85 in the midst! In Spanish, of all things. The rest, sigh, were Cs, but one was a 77 so that was encouraging. Of course, these are year-grades, and include the first semester when a lot of work was just review and there were some higher grades.
So now it's time for the summer reading. Apparently they are doing things differently, and the books are being applied to the first marking period grades in the various subjects rather than to a random score which, if you fail, means you have to take gym your senior year. I find that bizarre, but - whatever. You fail summer reading and have to take gym? Not a real strong motivator to try too hard. I'm going to try to make him study guides; I told him after each chapter to stop and write all the new characters, the main things that happened in the chapter, and what he thinks will happen next.
Anyway, as for Kevin, he is back from Europe yet again but carrying on that he needs to fly 3,000 more miles before September to maintain his status with SAS. Maybe we can go to London again ;-) That'd be worthwhile!!
But really, there will be no big trips this summer for us. Maryland for M, maybe Colorado in August, and B will go to San Diego if we can work that out. I'm saving my (unpaid) holidays for the fall to take M to visit some colleges. The next few weeks should be interesting with a lot of important milestones: she starts her job next weekend, gets SAT scores this week, ACT scores possibly next week (although I accidentally registered her with a 1983 birthdate), colleges can begin calling her July 1, and she'll get her AP test scores in July. So stay tuned!
And in other news, I am committed to my job through the end of summer, which is when I figure my boss will break even on his buyout of me from the agency, and hopefully he will pay me enough to make it worth my while to stay there and do the work I have been doing for less than it's worth! I am just happy to be able to hack away at bills, knowing there will be another paycheck along in a couple of weeks.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
a new beginning
So it's Sunday again and I realized it's time to update although again there is not much to report! But I was prompted to investigate new blog templates so I decided it was time for a facelift after all this time. Hope it's pleasing to the eye!
Anyway, this was a hectic week for me at the job. Since I have been bought out I seem to be facing increased demands, which might be OK, but they always come at the time that I'm supposed to leave, and they often seem to involve things that did not come up at the last minute. I'm beginning to worry, but I am committed to see this through the summer before making a final decision, although as long as I keep showing up, there is no decision to be made on my part! And who was beating down my door before I had this anyway? No one.
As for B, there's been no news of grades. I came home with my heart in my throat every day when I checked the mail, but not a thing showed up. Yesterday we went to the school picnic to commemorate the 50th anniversary, complete with the groundbreaking for the new building improvements, and someone told me that the notices of failures went out last week and we would have received them by now! Oh, I hope that is true !! Although the one I most worry about is the one from the last day, which had a couple of essays on it. But I do believe that the teachers were supposed to come in the next day and it was called 'rating day,' and then the day after that the grades were due. So hopefully this source provided accurate information. I will be SO excited if this is the case. I am praying that we'll get the report card this week. I just want to close that chapter (hopefully) and move on.
The other night we had the Doll over with her other son and companion, and it was a lovely dinner although I was harboring stress from the workday. But they made a proposition for Brian, inviting him to come out and spend a few days with them on the west coast. I think this is a great idea, although of course, I'll be a nervous wreck if and when he does go, quite a long flight and what if they have an earthquake? They have had a few recently already ! But I will send him if it turns out he doesn't have to go to summer school. That will take care of one more week for him this summer.
So he has three weeks of tennis camp, that week away, and I may put him in another week or two of tennis camp at the indoor Academy where he takes his weekly lessons. Then Kevin will have a bit of vacation, and B also has his summer reading. I was also considering putting him in a geometry class, so that when he starts school he'll already have an understanding of it. I want to make sure we don't watch history repeat itself next year (good luck with this). The stress was unbearable for all of us, at times.
As for M, she is still in school. She had the ACTs yesterday and she said the science section was horrible. She spent so much time on the biology that she didn't have time to complete the chemistry, and she just filled in bubbles. She said the physics was fine, but she's in physics now. So I'm not terribly optimistic for those scores, but it won't really matter unless her SAT2 scores from last week aren't good, and hopefully this will not be the case.
And she has swimming all the time still, they don't even have a weeknight off, which has been a real pain. They start their outdoor practices this week, and she has a meet today. The meet started Friday but this is the first and only day I signed her up for, because of the ACTs. She missed her better events, but at least she'll get into the pool and do a few races before Nationals in July. She won't start her job until after school gets out, probably around the 26th.
And in other news, Molly has her test for Cushing's Disease this week. It's a two hour test and she has to hang out at the vet the whole time. If it's positive, she'll go on a one week trial of the medicine, and repeat the test at the end of that week. If the test shows improvement, she goes on maintenance medication with repeat testing at three month intervals or so. If not, we are in trouble. And Kevin is off to his softball game this morning, the first since The Accident. Hopefully he returns in one piece. Otherwise, we prepare for the upcoming gala this weekend, keep our fingers crossed that the weather gods cooperate, and that a good time will be had by all!
Anyway, this was a hectic week for me at the job. Since I have been bought out I seem to be facing increased demands, which might be OK, but they always come at the time that I'm supposed to leave, and they often seem to involve things that did not come up at the last minute. I'm beginning to worry, but I am committed to see this through the summer before making a final decision, although as long as I keep showing up, there is no decision to be made on my part! And who was beating down my door before I had this anyway? No one.
As for B, there's been no news of grades. I came home with my heart in my throat every day when I checked the mail, but not a thing showed up. Yesterday we went to the school picnic to commemorate the 50th anniversary, complete with the groundbreaking for the new building improvements, and someone told me that the notices of failures went out last week and we would have received them by now! Oh, I hope that is true !! Although the one I most worry about is the one from the last day, which had a couple of essays on it. But I do believe that the teachers were supposed to come in the next day and it was called 'rating day,' and then the day after that the grades were due. So hopefully this source provided accurate information. I will be SO excited if this is the case. I am praying that we'll get the report card this week. I just want to close that chapter (hopefully) and move on.
The other night we had the Doll over with her other son and companion, and it was a lovely dinner although I was harboring stress from the workday. But they made a proposition for Brian, inviting him to come out and spend a few days with them on the west coast. I think this is a great idea, although of course, I'll be a nervous wreck if and when he does go, quite a long flight and what if they have an earthquake? They have had a few recently already ! But I will send him if it turns out he doesn't have to go to summer school. That will take care of one more week for him this summer.
So he has three weeks of tennis camp, that week away, and I may put him in another week or two of tennis camp at the indoor Academy where he takes his weekly lessons. Then Kevin will have a bit of vacation, and B also has his summer reading. I was also considering putting him in a geometry class, so that when he starts school he'll already have an understanding of it. I want to make sure we don't watch history repeat itself next year (good luck with this). The stress was unbearable for all of us, at times.
As for M, she is still in school. She had the ACTs yesterday and she said the science section was horrible. She spent so much time on the biology that she didn't have time to complete the chemistry, and she just filled in bubbles. She said the physics was fine, but she's in physics now. So I'm not terribly optimistic for those scores, but it won't really matter unless her SAT2 scores from last week aren't good, and hopefully this will not be the case.
And she has swimming all the time still, they don't even have a weeknight off, which has been a real pain. They start their outdoor practices this week, and she has a meet today. The meet started Friday but this is the first and only day I signed her up for, because of the ACTs. She missed her better events, but at least she'll get into the pool and do a few races before Nationals in July. She won't start her job until after school gets out, probably around the 26th.
And in other news, Molly has her test for Cushing's Disease this week. It's a two hour test and she has to hang out at the vet the whole time. If it's positive, she'll go on a one week trial of the medicine, and repeat the test at the end of that week. If the test shows improvement, she goes on maintenance medication with repeat testing at three month intervals or so. If not, we are in trouble. And Kevin is off to his softball game this morning, the first since The Accident. Hopefully he returns in one piece. Otherwise, we prepare for the upcoming gala this weekend, keep our fingers crossed that the weather gods cooperate, and that a good time will be had by all!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
june again and all is well?
Yet another week gone by. Kevin is back from Denmark and the kids are winding down their schools, especially B. (I have decided to write about them in stealth format. It's faster and it protects their privacy, Facebook-style). He is upstairs now, studying for his last two finals, math and history. Of course, he forgot the history study guide, lost it, whatever. And who knows if he understands the math. I wanted M to sit with him for another hour tonight just to review a few things, maybe help him to remember some formulas or something.
She has had a sluggish weekend. Yesterday morning she took the SATs, US History and Spanish, and then we went to a confirmation dinner, which was quite fun. We left B at home, at his insistence, and it was good that we did, as we left at 3 and didn't get home until 9:45!! And then today, she had to do her re-certification class for CPR. She's all set to begin her job now, whenever that may happen. After she gets out of school for sure, which is the 23rd of June.
As for me, I plug along. I am still underpaid and am beginning to need some days off (or half days, which for me is really a half of a half-day). I still feel that it's unfair that I am required to work this many hours every week, although I am not held to it, but I can't have too many days off in one month or it would appear that I was not working the full number of hours. And the job is OK, not what I would have probably sought out, but I don't usually feel bored, and I like the people in the office, for the most part.
Kevin is back from Denmark and working a lot in the yard. We got our new carpets downstairs on Friday so we have to set all of those rooms back up again with the furniture where it belongs. I'd do it now but my feet are up!!
Anyway, I guess our lives are somewhat boring for now! I like that. In other news, I have to make an appointment with the vet to get Molly checked for Cushing's disease. It's moderately expensive to treat at first, but if you get it right the first time, the cost is not too bad and then it becomes manageable. And Wilbur is about due to go back for his next annual visit and rabies vaccine. He won't be happy about that!
She has had a sluggish weekend. Yesterday morning she took the SATs, US History and Spanish, and then we went to a confirmation dinner, which was quite fun. We left B at home, at his insistence, and it was good that we did, as we left at 3 and didn't get home until 9:45!! And then today, she had to do her re-certification class for CPR. She's all set to begin her job now, whenever that may happen. After she gets out of school for sure, which is the 23rd of June.
As for me, I plug along. I am still underpaid and am beginning to need some days off (or half days, which for me is really a half of a half-day). I still feel that it's unfair that I am required to work this many hours every week, although I am not held to it, but I can't have too many days off in one month or it would appear that I was not working the full number of hours. And the job is OK, not what I would have probably sought out, but I don't usually feel bored, and I like the people in the office, for the most part.
Kevin is back from Denmark and working a lot in the yard. We got our new carpets downstairs on Friday so we have to set all of those rooms back up again with the furniture where it belongs. I'd do it now but my feet are up!!
Anyway, I guess our lives are somewhat boring for now! I like that. In other news, I have to make an appointment with the vet to get Molly checked for Cushing's disease. It's moderately expensive to treat at first, but if you get it right the first time, the cost is not too bad and then it becomes manageable. And Wilbur is about due to go back for his next annual visit and rabies vaccine. He won't be happy about that!
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