Sigh. The end of another week. This one felt like forever and next week will be hectic too! B had so many tests this week and as I always say, it's like a game of whack a mole with him. He fails one class so I find out about it and buckle him down, then he does well, but at the expense of the others. You never know where the bad grades might pop up or if you can get to them fast enough to beat them away.
This time, it was chemistry which had to be improved. After sitting with him at first and then later just reviewing all of his homeworks before he turned them in, he got the only 100 in the class on the last test. But alas, he got a 50 on the history test he had over a week to study for (missed it when he was sick) and various other not-quite-so alarming but not acceptable grades in other classes. The final results are not yet in, but this weekend will be spent in preparation for the fourth marking period, which concerns me because of our plans to have him in Florida for three school days.
As for the family health, all is well ::knock wood::. The evil stomach virus so far has not claimed any more hosts since it felled Kevin for the better part of the weekend and Monday, and the sniffling of the kids is kept to a minimum; there are no more coughs or frightening body rashes. However, M comes off the antibiotic after this weekend, so that she won't have the side effect of sunburning while in Florida, but that means that her second week off of it will be spent out from under my watchful eye. I'll be sure to scan her every chance I get, and make sure that she remembers to check for anything that looks even remotely infected. I'll bring the pills down anyway, just in case. Sunburn is better than MRSA, but let's hope it doesn't come to that!!!
So she and Kevin leave on Saturday and B and I will follow along a few days later. The dogs will return to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, and we all come home the following Saturday night. I'll get the dogs back on Sunday, and I think both M&B have school that week and then spring break a week or two later. As for summer, we are trying to figure out what we will do, what we can afford timewise and moneywise, and what obligations M will have for college, we know there is a summer orientation and we'll probably all go up for that, as they run concurrent programs for the families.
The boring part of signing and applying early to college is that now, when all the excitement of finding out is so widespread amongst her classmates, her choice is old news. But she does have some excitement: she has a roommate! There are two girls from our state who are both going to be on the team, and she found out that they are rooming together! She had thought that you just let the coach know you want to live with a teammate and he puts you with one. But then she got nervous, and there are only a handful of new girls joining this year.
So she messaged one of the other girls she had met, but the girl had applied regular decision, so she was accepted later, just two weeks or so ago. M didn't know how to bring it up, so she was making a lot of small talk, and finally, the girl just asked her. So that is a relief. She thinks that the girl will make a good roommate. Interestingly, she is from Canada, and way out west.
And in other news, my job limped through the week without any major horrors, thankfully. Nothing new and exciting to report on that front, still underpaid but still happy to have an income at all. Hopefully some new business will start pouring in and I can insist on some better benefits as well as a better pay rate. I'm a little anxious though. I still feel a lot of loose ends, and we have a regulatory review next week (internal). One of the other guys told me that he had a dream that I left the company. And it must have been unplanned, because he said that he followed me out to my car asking, "what happened??" Uh oh.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
it's the weekend!
Ugh! A giant dog just came over and breathed kitty litter breath on me! Now I know why she was so quiet before.
I guess I should explain the lack of creativity in my heading. It's because I am zapped of it all. This week began with such frustration that I did actually move towards improving my working life. However, it got me nowhere and the next couple of days were better. I don't *want* to have to find a new job but this one just sometimes pushes me to the point of futility. So I put some feelers out but to no avail.
In health news, maybe it is allergies, but M's sniffles have picked up and B's cough is the cough that won't quit. I have to run out and refill her doxy anyway, and I'm also getting her some Nasonex, so maybe I'll pick him up some allergy/cold combination for B as well and see if that will knock it out over the weekend. It's been more than five days since he finished that z-pack so if there were any germs left, there may not be much z left to fight them. Best to dry it out if I can before they put him on more medicine. I hate that!
The big dog news is that the town finally cashed my check! My dogs are legally dogs! And tomorrow Abby is going to have her first real bath, and I'll get that furry leg trimmed down a bit to match the shaved one, which is now fully covered in fuzz. Yesterday I took them to the dog park and she did pretty well, but I worried about her hurting her knee so we didn't stay too long. I see she has a sense of distrust of strangers, which concerns me, so I want to work on that. The Doll took B out for lunch today and when she brought him back, Abby barked and growled at her when she offered her hand to be sniffed.
She did settle down but then she started back up again. I can't really have a dog who acts like this! She needs socialization. I might also take her to puppy school at PetSmart. I think the eight weeks of rehabilitation pretty much made her more protective of the house than I would like, although it is nice to have a dog who will protect us from intruders. We just don't want her to protect us from family and friends!
And in other news, we got new neighbors the other day. Sadly, it seems that they got the house for about $100,000 less than we paid five years ago. That's not good for the market value of our house at all, which is not good news for our refinancing hopes. By the time we manage to get back up to a reasonable loan to value ratio, the rates will probably have soared!
I guess I should explain the lack of creativity in my heading. It's because I am zapped of it all. This week began with such frustration that I did actually move towards improving my working life. However, it got me nowhere and the next couple of days were better. I don't *want* to have to find a new job but this one just sometimes pushes me to the point of futility. So I put some feelers out but to no avail.
In health news, maybe it is allergies, but M's sniffles have picked up and B's cough is the cough that won't quit. I have to run out and refill her doxy anyway, and I'm also getting her some Nasonex, so maybe I'll pick him up some allergy/cold combination for B as well and see if that will knock it out over the weekend. It's been more than five days since he finished that z-pack so if there were any germs left, there may not be much z left to fight them. Best to dry it out if I can before they put him on more medicine. I hate that!
The big dog news is that the town finally cashed my check! My dogs are legally dogs! And tomorrow Abby is going to have her first real bath, and I'll get that furry leg trimmed down a bit to match the shaved one, which is now fully covered in fuzz. Yesterday I took them to the dog park and she did pretty well, but I worried about her hurting her knee so we didn't stay too long. I see she has a sense of distrust of strangers, which concerns me, so I want to work on that. The Doll took B out for lunch today and when she brought him back, Abby barked and growled at her when she offered her hand to be sniffed.
She did settle down but then she started back up again. I can't really have a dog who acts like this! She needs socialization. I might also take her to puppy school at PetSmart. I think the eight weeks of rehabilitation pretty much made her more protective of the house than I would like, although it is nice to have a dog who will protect us from intruders. We just don't want her to protect us from family and friends!
And in other news, we got new neighbors the other day. Sadly, it seems that they got the house for about $100,000 less than we paid five years ago. That's not good for the market value of our house at all, which is not good news for our refinancing hopes. By the time we manage to get back up to a reasonable loan to value ratio, the rates will probably have soared!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
back from the beyond
Finally! B is better, the staph is gone (please please stay that way!) and we are back from the state meet. It wasn't a great meet for M, but after she go a new suit it did improve. I hope she will still do well at Nationals, these were some of the slowest state times she has posted since her freshman year.
B finished his z-pack but he had googled possible side effects, and saw all these people who said that they were exhausted like zombies and totally lost their appetites so now he sleeps all day and eats next to nothing. He is a walking string bean, it is alarming. At least he is improved. He still coughs but overall he is 1000% better. It doesn't hurt that his school is on break all week, either!
In the case of M, we see the dermatologist on Saturday, which will be when we find out how long she stays on this doxycycline. It seems to have taken care of the MRSA, and her face is surely looking better. But will both remain true once she stops? Because surely we cannot sign onto this for the long term!
Kevin is also back from his many travels, next trip is Fort Lauderdale! He just found out that there is a customer who would like to see him while he is down there so he can get some of the expenses paid for! That's certainly a plus. He'll fly down for the whole week, but B and I will only be there a handful of days. We're missing the first even again, unfortunately. Although I feel less bad about it now that the bleachers collapsed and the on-deck seating is being meticulously rationed out. They sold tickets through an internet sale and revoked all the ticket sales for the evening sessions because some teams bought them all and others got none. It's going to be crazy down there this year!
And in other news, the dogs enjoyed their stay at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. Of course, he misunderstood me and put the two of them together in a pen for a while and they (she) ate Wilbur's dog bed. I guess I should just be glad she didn't eat Wilbur, too!
B finished his z-pack but he had googled possible side effects, and saw all these people who said that they were exhausted like zombies and totally lost their appetites so now he sleeps all day and eats next to nothing. He is a walking string bean, it is alarming. At least he is improved. He still coughs but overall he is 1000% better. It doesn't hurt that his school is on break all week, either!
In the case of M, we see the dermatologist on Saturday, which will be when we find out how long she stays on this doxycycline. It seems to have taken care of the MRSA, and her face is surely looking better. But will both remain true once she stops? Because surely we cannot sign onto this for the long term!
Kevin is also back from his many travels, next trip is Fort Lauderdale! He just found out that there is a customer who would like to see him while he is down there so he can get some of the expenses paid for! That's certainly a plus. He'll fly down for the whole week, but B and I will only be there a handful of days. We're missing the first even again, unfortunately. Although I feel less bad about it now that the bleachers collapsed and the on-deck seating is being meticulously rationed out. They sold tickets through an internet sale and revoked all the ticket sales for the evening sessions because some teams bought them all and others got none. It's going to be crazy down there this year!
And in other news, the dogs enjoyed their stay at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. Of course, he misunderstood me and put the two of them together in a pen for a while and they (she) ate Wilbur's dog bed. I guess I should just be glad she didn't eat Wilbur, too!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
the only fever i want to have is spring fever!
Enough of the sickies! First B with the puking and fever, then M with the staph, and now he has a new mystery ailment. Tuesday, low fever, headache, sore throat. Thursday, red eye with white discharge, eye doctor says no infection maybe virus, wait it out. Yesterday wakes up 103 fever! Take straight to MD, fever still 102.7 an hour after advil. Gives tylenol, flu test negative. Fever comes down to 101.7, no sign of infection, probably viral? Take him for blood work so in case of no improvement don't have to wait two MORE days.
Update is improved but not out of the woods. Eyes a mess, coughing, sneezing, no more fever. Sniffling, lounging around. At least I'll get the blood test results tomorrow. Hopefully he will be better. Tomorrow is the first day of tennis tryouts, but he already is at a disadvantage because he can't wear his contacts till this eye thing works itself out. And he won't likely be back to 100% anyway, judging by the progression of this thing. Enough!
As for the staph, still much improved, just a spattering of dark scars from the pimples but they're basically gone. After a couple of hours at the pool they usually pink up a bit, which I don't like, but we have our appointment in two weeks anyway, and she will be on the antibiotic until then, though hopefully not after!
Otherwise, things are well. Kevin is back from Sweden and performed his usual perfunctory inspection of the basement sump pumps. The three of us spend the entire week not giving them a thought and he comes home and finds that coincidentally the pump will not shut off and has to be replaced. So that was his excitement, that and a haircut, which is where he was about to take B when B was found to be with fever.
Dogs are happy, especially Abby, who is finally starting to settle down considerably. She can even be in the room with certain cats at certain times and have no problems. Her fur is growing back and she walks with no limp at all. She and Wilbur are heading to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm on Friday, so I hope she won't think she is being traded away yet again! But hopefully having Wilbur there will make her feel more comfortable; and his familiarity with the place should put her at ease. They have to go back again in April, so she'd better do well!
Speaking of April, I am terribly concerned about B. I plan on taking him to Florida and actually have no backup plan anyway, as the Doll says she's having some anxiety issues again. But he would have to miss three days of school and he is currently doing extremely poorly in chemistry - so poorly that it may take divine intervention for him to pass! At least this marking period may be a bust...and at times his efforts are pretty lacking, I have to admit. So stay tuned for news on that.
And in other news, we have officially forsaken our beach club membership for the summer. I can't remember if I have already said this, but it means that we will have to be more creative this summer. Although with M working at the other beach and me also working, I'll just have to find things for B to do, like tennis camps and other longer-term activities, including getting him to jump start his volunteer hours for school!
Update is improved but not out of the woods. Eyes a mess, coughing, sneezing, no more fever. Sniffling, lounging around. At least I'll get the blood test results tomorrow. Hopefully he will be better. Tomorrow is the first day of tennis tryouts, but he already is at a disadvantage because he can't wear his contacts till this eye thing works itself out. And he won't likely be back to 100% anyway, judging by the progression of this thing. Enough!
As for the staph, still much improved, just a spattering of dark scars from the pimples but they're basically gone. After a couple of hours at the pool they usually pink up a bit, which I don't like, but we have our appointment in two weeks anyway, and she will be on the antibiotic until then, though hopefully not after!
Otherwise, things are well. Kevin is back from Sweden and performed his usual perfunctory inspection of the basement sump pumps. The three of us spend the entire week not giving them a thought and he comes home and finds that coincidentally the pump will not shut off and has to be replaced. So that was his excitement, that and a haircut, which is where he was about to take B when B was found to be with fever.
Dogs are happy, especially Abby, who is finally starting to settle down considerably. She can even be in the room with certain cats at certain times and have no problems. Her fur is growing back and she walks with no limp at all. She and Wilbur are heading to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm on Friday, so I hope she won't think she is being traded away yet again! But hopefully having Wilbur there will make her feel more comfortable; and his familiarity with the place should put her at ease. They have to go back again in April, so she'd better do well!
Speaking of April, I am terribly concerned about B. I plan on taking him to Florida and actually have no backup plan anyway, as the Doll says she's having some anxiety issues again. But he would have to miss three days of school and he is currently doing extremely poorly in chemistry - so poorly that it may take divine intervention for him to pass! At least this marking period may be a bust...and at times his efforts are pretty lacking, I have to admit. So stay tuned for news on that.
And in other news, we have officially forsaken our beach club membership for the summer. I can't remember if I have already said this, but it means that we will have to be more creative this summer. Although with M working at the other beach and me also working, I'll just have to find things for B to do, like tennis camps and other longer-term activities, including getting him to jump start his volunteer hours for school!
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