TGIF

So, another week down. Why is it that the longest weeks are always the short weeks? When there's a holiday mid-week, I always anticipate a fast week, but it always seems to drag by. This has just been a long week for some reason. Today I only have to work a half day in the afternoon, standard Friday for me, it seems.

The other night I got a call from yet another sub caller. It seems the replacement for the original has had enough. She quit already. So I finally got 'in' with her where she was calling because she knew I'd go in and cause her no trouble (well, except for the time she didn't put me on the list when I was supposed to be there) and now I don't know what will happen, and with the holidays often being so busy, I don't even know where to call to let them know I want to work! So for now, today is the last day I have lined up. At least I have a good couple of weeks of pay coming in, in time for Christmas shopping.

The big news in town is the opening of a new premium outlet center. E is most excited and keeps begging me to take her. I told her we would go on Sunday, but she's afraid everything will be sold before she gets there. As a joke, this morning in the car I offered to drop her off tomorrow at 11 am before Megan's swim meet and then pick her up at 6, after Brian's. She didn't really laugh. I think it seemed perfectly logical to her. I don't doubt that she could use that time, and was only half-joking, in fact. I am also excited to go. I'm just afraid it's going to be really crowded there this weekend. The economic downturn doesn't seem to have hit our area so much just yet.

Meanwhile, Brian received a postcard with his room assignment for the Catholic Schools Entrance Exam that he is taking tomorrow. Or should I say, 'Brianne' received her card. I'm wavering on this school because I've heard a couple of things that lead me to believe it may not be much different from the public school in terms of cliques and drugs/drinking. A stupid mistake like that one also makes me think they have incompetent staffers. I'll probably run an application over to the smaller school today, just so they will have it on file before he takes the test. I already missed their deadline of November 7, but I don't think it will matter. They take up to 125 freshmen, and I have a feeling they don't usually get that many applicants per year.

Our meeting with his guidance counselor went pretty well, I don't think I posted on that. We told him about how he gets picked on, about the blackout episode, and about the gum in the hood. The counselor was sympathetic and agreed that in Brian's case, a fresh start might do him good. He actually wanted to intervene but we said no, Brian doesn't want to name any names and that wouldn't help him in the long run anyway. We just wanted him to understand why we have all these applications in for the other schools. Yesterday was the last day of the marking period, so grades will be due in a week or two and report cards come out on the 25th. After that, they submit the grades to all the high schools. At that point, we'll have a better idea if Brian actually is improving in school or if it's been a smoke-and-mirrors act up till now.

In other news, Megan and E both have a big chemistry test today and neither one of them studied much. They are both confident, but that worries me. This seems like the type of teacher who lulls them into a false sense of security and then writes a test to trip them up at the last minute. But I guess we will find out soon enough. I have finally gotten rid of those 637 directories, but the post office made a mistake and undercharged, which has resulted in a comedy of errors and another project that won't quite go away. Oh, and I received an email that the Fresh Air Fund was looking for local area volunteers, and I sent an reply and may be taking that on in the spring. It sounds like a fun and good thing to do, but I am nervous about having to go into people's houses alone to interview them as prospective host families. I have little faith in humanity, I guess. I'm afraid.

Friday Eve

Well, it is the eve of Friday, what a big Friday it is, our schools have a three day weekend. We are just back tonight from the open house at the other local Catholic high school, which in Brian's eyes eclipsed the first one by a landslide. This school had a very nice feel, although at first I didn't think it would. It's as large as the public high school (about 1000 students, a bit more even), and the building is old. However, as we went through on the tour, which was pretty well run and everyone was nice and well-spoken and just, well, normal, we got more and more comfortable.

One thing that particularly appealed to us in light of Brian's chiari issues is that the entire school is on a laptop program. Every student has a laptop and the entire building is wireless. Notes can be taken on the laptop, either typed in or written as if it were a tablet; all assignments are turned in electronically. All teachers report grades via 'parent connect' which is something I have heard quite a bit, but for some reason our public schools don't do. There are no textbooks to be toted around, they stay in school and are usually available to be viewed online at home.

Of course, this comes with a price tag. Our next visit is Sunday or Monday to one more school, and then Brian will visit the public school on the 28th with his middle school. Oh, and the school we went to today is also on "block scheduling" meaning that they have four classes in the fall, and four classes in the spring semester. Classes run for 70+ minutes, and they all have an hour for lunch in the middle of the day, which is also when a lot of clubs meet.

Progress reports also finally arrived, although Megan's did not. I called her guidance counselor and he read it to me, so it was all positive, the worst being the B she is getting from the chemistry teacher who feels it is his job to break the A students in to failure (not that a B is failure, but the 65 on her last quiz practically was). She has another quiz tomorrow. I always panic when she has a quiz in there after a particularly long day of swimming, because she's tired and has less time to prepare. And she's been not feeling so great the past couple of days.

Brian's was pretty good as well, the worst on his being that he is talkative in MATH class!!! The math class is taught in a strange way, though, and may lend itself to non-attentiveness. I thought at back to school night that it didn't sound optimal. Hopefully he's learning. He also has a test tomorrow; in that class and one in science. And then today, I got a call and an email from his social studies teacher, just to let me know that he has been doing very well in that class! So that was nice.

And in other news, I am still unemployed but will not be tomorrow. I awaited a call this morning to see if I would work today or tomorrow, but it turned out to be neither. But later, I got another call and have a pretty good assignment, I daresay. It's from about 10-1, so that should be great. Kevin has just informed me that there are TWO munks on the back porch, and all this without any cats being let out at all today! I got mad because yesterday I let Wren out, and she spent hours out there, and then came in, and went straight to the litterbox and left a big dump in there, didn't even bury it! Oh, and the house is clean. Today was a cleaning day. That's always noteworthy.

Multiple Migraine Menace

Well, the headache was not to be defeated. It came back with a vengeance in the form of a back-to-back 'aura' yesterday afternoon. I thought I'd be OK after the first one receded, and we set off for the open house at the Catholic boys high school next to our house, but as soon as we went to go out the door, I sensed a new aura starting over. It was mildly alarming, although it's happened before, jut not too often, but it did follow its normal pattern and passed within less than an hour between the two episodes. Afterwards, though, I was left with a sickening headache.

The school tour was OK, considering my condition, I tried to get the most out of the day. I enjoyed waiting behind people who seemed unaware of the line forming behind them as they grilled the guidance counselors at their information desk, particular the woman who pronounced the name of another local high school, Mater Dei, "mayter dee". Then there was the elderly gentleman who heckled the poor boy who sat alone at the Future Business Leaders of America table about capitalism. Bad enough nobody seemed to have any interest in leading business, but the poor kid had to put up with that onslaught of misdirected patriotism. (What?! You're not a capitalist? That's what America is all about!!! to which the kid replied, "Ok. I'm a capitalist)

Anyway, I just doubt this is the school for Brian but he and Kevin were swept up in the moment and paid the $75 and registered on the spot for the entrance exam, so I guess we'll just cast that die and see what lands face up. This school wouldn't honor any of the accommodations in Brian's 504 plan, somehow they are exempted from doing so, or perhaps it's just that if they find out he has any special needs, they won't accept him. This is sort of a cookie cutter old-school type of school, and I guess it does develop a work ethic and seems to produce a lot of achievers, but again you have the differential between honors and non-honors classes, and I don't know where we're heading with that.

But there are two other Catholic schools to check out in the area, one has block scheduling, where the periods are twice as long but they only take half the classes each semester, and then the other half the next, which reduces the amount of different homework, as well as the weight of the backpack. The other school is smaller, perhaps not as academically blessed as some, including the public school, but publicly funded benefits seem only to benefit those in the honors track or the special needs groups. It is easy to get lost in the mainstream.

Both Catholic schools have laptop programs, where they require each student to purchase a laptop and use it for all of their classes. This would be a great thing for Brian. And the middle school will take him on a tour of the public high school. So by mid-January, we should be pretty sure where he will attend 9th grade. I wonder if the Catholic school might give him a smaller environment in which he won't get as 'lost' as he seems to be doing in the middle school. Just not sure how we pay for this ... but ...whatever.

Speaking of honors, Megan has an impossibly difficult chemistry teacher this year. E is also in the class, she has him at a different time. Megan got a 65 on the last quiz, E got a 71. However, the fire alarm sounded while E's class was taking the test, and they were not able to complete the end, which included a few open ended questions, which is where Megan says she lost most of her points.

The scores were calculated as a percentage of total responses, but since the test given to the earlier class was lacking the more challenging questions, Megan maintains that this was unfair. I think probably the teacher is trying to shake the kids up early on so that they will see that they need to study more than they have ever studied before. It is only one quiz of three, and quizzes only count as 30% of the total grade. But my jury is out on this teacher; they all say he is a very good teacher, and that his students will learn more from him than anyone else. But I don't understand why he has to be impossibly hard. I have particular interest in this issue, in light of my chemistry debacle in 10th grade, which was sort of the catalyst that led me to drop out of Girls High School and pursue alternative education.

And so today I am just hanging around. I did some work on the middle school directory last night, but I have more to do. My neck is still stiff from the migraine, so I'm not going to attempt to work out today. In other news, Wren got out last night and tried to come in with a chipmunk! Molly seems to have stopped licking her paw again, at least for now, and Kevin is back to work but is about to embark on several trips in the upcoming weeks. Also coming up are many days off from school, and the start of the swim season. Otherwise, all is pretty quiet at the moment. Nothing of interest to report.

Picking up the Pace

The school year is kicking off for real now. I got my first call from the sub caller last night. Alas, she informed me that it may well be my last call from her as well. She and her two associates have all resigned from this assignment, due to changes and complex requirements that were imposed on them for not much compensation. That has to be a terribly stressful job anyway, having to fill all the openings of all the absent teachers every day of every month. They make calls until late at night and start again at 5:45 am. And then they go to their regular jobs.

So I am working Friday and Monday mornings, and all day on the 23rd. I'll be happy to see the paychecks, but I'll be even happier when they start to fill in a little more. The end of summer is always hardest, coming off of birthdays, vacations, and end-of-summer party mode. By Christmas I usually recover, and then spend it all all over again.

I still have not heard from Useless Sir Guidance (hereforth known as USG). I have been emailing Brian's teachers at a rate of one per day, because it exhausts me to repeat myself, but I don't want to send them all the same impersonal note. I was waiting on USG, but since he never deigned to call me, I decided to make the science teacher my email of the day for yesterday. I explained a little about Brian's condition, and then said that I hoped the binder he was using for math and science would be ok. She wrote back: "his binder is fine. And if you feel it is a burden, we can work something out."

Huh? What happened to the two inch dedicated binder, and Brian's permission to show up late for his Spanish class so he could put that binder back in his locker? First of all, I know Brian would never have done that. The last thing he wants to do is draw MORE attention to the fact that he is different and weaker than the other students. Second, WHY was it such an argument on the phone with USG that I had to get myself all upset, and still not have heard back, when in actuality, the teacher is perfectly willing to work with us? What is the point?

Anyway, I have met a few people in response to my post on the forum, of course I had to discount the half dozen or so suggestions that I get Brian a rolling backpack, but most have come through with good thoughts and words of encouragement. It's really important for Brian to do well this year, because he didn't do so well last year. If he is going to go to a different high school for a fresh start, he is going to have to have a good first marking period. If he is not,, and he is going to the public school, he is still going to need to do well, in order to be placed in the highest level of classes possible. Honors won't be an option freshman year, but he can perhaps work towards that. But I certainly won't stand for anything below the next level down, which is called "college prep."

In other news, the weather is lovely and is forecast to remain that way through tomorrow. The girls at HS South will be happy about that, as they have picture day this week. Megan's is today, and E's is tomorrow. It always helps when picture day is a good hair day. Brian starts his swim team practices today, but he has to go to the orthodontist first. Megan starts tomorrow. And so begins my life of taxi driving!! I have already researched crock pot recipes. In fact, I think I need to start one cooking right now. :-)

Saturday

In half an hour we will leave for the exchange student orientation at the home of the local rep, so this should be interesting. E is excited to meet the other students and I am curious to see what the other families are like. One is a single man, and the other is a couple without children of their own. Their student is only here for a half-year, so there will only be two students remaining after the end of January.

My ear is healing slowly, at least it isn't itching as much, and I am continuing to worry about the spot on my face. I hope to get a good report, as the dermatologist predicted, but I happened to notice a spot of brown in the middle of the excavation site. I checked my invoice, and it reads "shave exc" which I guess means shave excision, so he just scooped it out. I'm not sure if he left some because he wasn't concerned about it being anything, or if he left part of one thing and removed all of the other, because he did say they were a couple of different things in one place. But as usual, I will panic myself until I hear from him.

I suppose it's good that I didn't hear yesterday, but if he wasn't concerned, he may not have put a rush on it. And if I hear good news, ::knock wood:: I can find something else to worry about.

Yesterday Megan and E went to Six Flags with an old friend and classmate of Megan's. They had a good time, but they didn't get to go on a few of the coasters because they were either closed or had ridiculously long lines. Maybe they can go back for FrightFest at some point. I'm sure E will start to make her own friends and schedule some of her own activities once school starts anyway.

Brian is also getting anxious for school to start. He is running out of things to do this summer and hasn't really been being terribly social lately. I just hope that he can focus better on the schoolwork this year; if he doesn't, I intend to get a complete evaluation done, so I can have some professional guidance as to which areas might need special attention. He'll be doing swim team this year, and also playing baseball, and that coach schedules and changes practices as if nobody else has any other obligations. It can be really difficult. I'm a little concerned about overscheduling Brian, but we've tried the other route already, scheduling almost nothing, and that was not successful.

Brian's group at church also enters the first of the two-year progam that turned me off when Megan participated. Add to that that they are restructing the classes and have made a good friend of mine one of the leaders of Brian's group, which admittedly I find a little awkward.
What I didn't like with Megan was the focus on fundraising for the 'pilgrimage' to England, which just comes at such busy times, and I didn't send Megan, so I may also not send Brian. This tends to be an unpopular decision, and his group has been better structured and run throughout the years, so it promises to put me in an uncomfortable position for sure. I have to determine if participating in the group brings a benefit to him of some sort; otherwise I would stop sending him to the classes, and just take him to church and let him keep doing his volunteer jobs. Then next year, he'll have to take part in the grueling confirmation class, which is separate, but together with that same group.

In other news, Kevin has been back to work for one full week now. He is already talking about trips to Orlando, Norway, Finland, and who knows where else. We're trying to figure out how we are going to work the Christmas holidays with visitors from out of town and Megan's presumed training trip, which hasn't been announced yet. In fact, they still haven't even posted the schedule of winter meets, which makes it difficult to plan anything for the rest of the year.

Home Sweet Home

We're here at last, back in the Land of Cats and Dog. Everyone survived, but Molly is still panting a lot, especially at night. I'm afraid to take her to the vet because I know it could mean, at minimum, a chest xray and blood work. I was worried because our pet sitter left a message, but it turned out she was just telling me that the roofer had shown up and started ripping off the roof! We were not expecting him, didn't know when he'd be coming, because we had asked him not to come during our Fresh Air week, and he just never called again. He did stick a giant sign on our lawn, though, about three weeks ago.

I guess it's better in a way - we missed out on two days of banging and flying debris, but today will be another big one.

So the week was fine, not really where you would choose to go on a vacation, but Silver Spring was an interesting place. There was a lot to do near the hotel, but they had only valet parking, so you had to tip the guy every time you wanted to take the car out, so we used that sparingly. And Megan swam OK, about how she would have been expected to swim with the amount of practice she has had this summer, and the pools she's been swimming in - half of them not even long course pools.

Brian had the two teeth pulled right before we left, and they have healed without incident. In two weeks, he goes back for the spacers in those two gaps. Starting next week, we have all of our doctor appointments. I'm taking them both to the dermatologist for various things, then we have the neurologist on the 11th and on the 12th the orthodontist. E arrives on the 21st, and Megan and Brian both have their check-ups on the 26th (happy birthday to Brian) and I have my dermatologist appointment on the 28th - if I can make it that long. I have been panicking over a small light mole on my cheek, because it sits on a bed of age-spot looking skin.

In other news, I heard from the guidance counselor regarding Brian's 504 plan for accommodations. He didn't really want to be bothered making any changes to it, but I don't really think three C's on a report card are a good sign, especially when they are there mainly due to lack of studying and failure to turn in assignments. So I want to see what else we can work out, or what we might be able to put in there. If I can't get any input from the doctor, I might seek out someone who specifically helps with these modifications, like a child psychologist or neuropsychologist. I'll talk to the pediatrician too, if I don't really make progress with the neurologist. He seemed happy enough to wait it out when we talked to him in February. But maybe we have waited long enough.

T Minus 1 Day

So tomorrow is the big day. The day that we put C on the Big Bus back to NYC. Brian starts his baseball camp, he will miss the first morning to send C off. I think I will feel like something is missing for a while, but what I won't miss is the extra daily laundry. I have done more laundry in this past week than I normally do in a month, and none of it has belonged to anyone in my family!

We went to the Fresh Air Fund picnic today. The entertainment was interesting, they had some sort of juggling troupe there giving juggling lessons, and then they put on a little performance, which wound up with a hip hop dancer who followed her dance performance with a thumb wrestling showdown where she beat all the big strong men in the group, as well as the alleged world thumb wrestling champion. After that, a Fresh Air child beat her.

They also had two chess experts there, each with two or three games going at a time. Brian gave it his best shot, playing each of them several times. Allegedly, they complimented his mad chess skills, but they seem not to have been mad good enough.

They had a few boats, which had sounded lovely in the description, but in reality, they were out on a lake that had no breeze and was in the direct sunlight. There was just one small dock, and in order to get to it, you had to pass people who were fishing with small boys who didn't really pay attention to the loading boats when they cast their lines in any direction they pleased. Kevin and C went in a paddle boat, and Megan and Brian went in a kayak, then Kevin and Megan went in one as well. By the time I was ready, the dock was overcrowded and there was a line for the boats, so I never got to go. I do have some photos and video I can put up, but tonight I am tired, and must go to bed in anticipation of Departure Day.

In other news, one more week and then Megan leaves for Maryland, for Y long course nationals. She has not taken the summer season nearly as seriously as the regular season, so I don't know what expectations we can have for this meet. But it's a good experience anyway, and hopefully none of the practices this week will be cancelled due to weather! That is the problem with the summer season. And now that C is gone, I must focus some of my energies on making sure Brian does his summer reading and readers response. I found another failed test from the school year today, an English test on a story that must have been in his reader. He had gotten a 65 and stuffed it in his gym bag so I wouldn't find it. I read through and it was pretty clear that he either hadn't read or hadn't paid attention to the story, the questions looked pretty basic.

Damn those Ducks.

Not enough wine in California, I say. It's just been one of those days. I let Megan skip her beach club practice because she had two Y practices yesterday and was just worn out. I dragged Brian out of bed and took him, because he needs it. I went for my walk and was sweating bullets from the humidity. I thought I must have bullet holes in my face and blood was pouring out, but I was just sweating.

Anyway, come back to find out that between bees and lane line issues, they did a beach practice instead of a pool one. Waste of time. Then it started to rain. But at least I wasn't the one to crash my car into the seawall, as the Favorite Boy's sister did. Oh well. A lesson learned about the hood of your car being longer than you think it is.

So then our E saga continued. I realized the paper she had been sent told her almost nothing about us. She had Megan's Facebook, but that is mostly meaningless banter, plus it says she is married to someone named Michael, before that she was married to Charlie and before that Michael and Charlie were married to one another. But E doesn't know that. So I sent her a whole email telling her about the town and the school, and attached a few pictures of us, and, lo and behold, she still wants to come! So she will be here sometime between August 21 and 26. She said her original date was the 23rd, but other students are leaving on the 21 and 26, so she will travel with them if possible. I told her the 21st is better, but we will work it out no matter what. We have our physical appointments for the school sports forms on the 26th in the morning.

Oh, by the way, the board approved her enrollment last night. Now we just need an official letter.

But then, the mail came. Sigh. Oh, make it stop. In the mail was a letter from the schools. I thought it would be Brian's test scores, but worse, it was his report card. He received three C's this marking period: spanish, science, and language arts. I am so upset about this. Somehow I feel the school will not think it is worth getting this upset over, but I certainly do. Social studies was a B+, as was math; math should have been an A. I do not know what to do with this kid anymore. So I took him to baseball, and came home and poured myself the largest glass of wine that I could hold. It just never ends with him. I was expecting report cards tomorrow. And I still have the test scores to look forward to. Oh, help me, please.

Oh, yeah, and Megan's SAT2 scores were finally available online. Her friends texted her and said they got a 540 and a 560. I couldn't log in and then finally managed to. She got a 530. Not so good. The others studied and prepared more, but honestly, that is out of 800, so none of them are getting into any school based on those scores. Any school that requires an SAT2 in the first place will look for a grade of 700 or higher - perhaps even an 800. But I don't think most schools actually even require them anyway, which renders this nothing more than an exercise in test taking. The girl who got the highest score left the most blank. The others must have lost points on their guesses. Megan, rocket scientist, answered them all.

So that is that. In other news, um. Well, we have strange white bugs in the soil under one of the plants in the yard. I am going to try to trap some and take them to a garden center. Hopefully they are easily eliminated; I hope the plant will at least bloom. It looked like it had been doing so well up till now! Oh, and the shed. Kevin's shed is being delivered on Saturday. He is so excited! And the neighbors who already hate us because our pool ran water past their driveway for ten days will be really furious when they see this thing show up!! Haha!

Friday the 13th

All in all, it was not such a bad day. First, no news from the exchange agency, so I don't even know if she has sent off the package. I need to find out, because I did my part and had the affidavit notarized, then overnighted it to the rep so she could stick it in the package. I also called my neighbor, who happens to be the president of the board, and filled her in, and she said to let her know on what day the package will arrive, and she will make a point of looking into it. I relayed this to the rep, but she hasn't gotten in touch with me at all. So I don't know if there's a hold-up, or if she just assumes I know all has gone according to plan. I sent her another mail late last night, so maybe she will answer. She is the one who is "on the ball" but sometimes she isn't that good about following up with news.

The other rep is still on vacation until the 19th. But I won't dwell on it. I'm sure we'll hear soon enough. I would have expected to have heard from E by now, so I don't know what it means that we haven't. But when I opened my link to her profile, her status showed as 'placed'. However, that's on our end. She may have a different status with the agency in Denmark; I don't know how that works.

Yesterday I just did some walking and went to buy some more orange lilies for the yard, because the ones I got last year came in so lovely this year. I only have them in one small spot, and if they were in a few, there would be splashes of color all over. So I or Kevin will have to dig them into the ground this morning. I have to spend the day housecleaning, because some of the baseball boys from the Little League team are coming over to swim at 4. Megan has to study for her midterms, which are next week, because we have the race track and the Doll's birthday dinner tomorrow, and won't be around for much of the day.

Then last night, we had to go to a swim meet at Princeton. Megan was in three events, but she scratched the 200 breast because it's not one of her stronger events and she wanted to save some strength for the 400 free at the end of the night. It worked out well because she came in second, and her time was pretty good, considering that that was the first time she's been in a 50 meter pool since last July. She came in 11th in the 200 back, she didn't really swim that so well, but again - first time in a long course pool in almost a year. Luckily, they swam the events last night from fastest to slowest, so she was in the first heat of the 400 free, which went off at 8:00. The last heat was scheduled to go off at 9, so we would have been there a whole extra hour if they had done it the way they normally do. We were out so early that we decided to stop by and surprise our friends in Princeton, so that was fun. We sat and talked with them for an hour or so before heading home.

So that was that. In other news, Kevin took Brian to the fair and he won all sorts of junk prizes, for the mere sum of $32. Brian informs me that his current score on the Spanish final is a 93 out of 102, and that is not including the written part that he took on Friday. This from the kid who had dropped to a C in the class. He told me one of the questions, it went something like this:

If Johnny likes cats and dogs, which class would he prefer:

art
something else
biology

He chose art. I am quite sure it's biology.

Anyway, Megan plans to rest and then study - she is awaiting mail from the school letting her know if she got accepted to the volunteer program at the extended year program for the special ed kids. Two other girls got their letters already, so we don't know why she didn't, other than hoping that it's just our backwoods post office. There have been other times when we get our mailings the day after everyone else, because of the ZIP code. One of the other girls does live in the same ZIP as the school, but the other does not. However, she doesn't live in our ZIP, she lives in a different one. So we will be watching the mail today.

The Portraits are in! The Portraits are in!

One of the standby lines from 'The Jerk' is the inspiration for my title; only in his case it was the phone books. It meant that he was somebody, the Jerk had arrived! In our case, we are a family. We have a family portrait. These are from the church sittings and there are so many extra proofs! I'll scan one or two in and post them if I get time. They arrived in the rain, and were left on the porch. I brought them in, and opened them up on the kitchen table, only to have two cats walk across them. I also noticed immediately that my bulging migraine vein was NOT airbrushed out as promised. Oh well - I guess I might as well look realistic! That picture was taken the week before we left for Nationals, and I was stressed with trying to get everyone packed and off at their respective departure times.

Brian started his standardized testing today. It's four days, and I am terrified to see the results. He has been declining each year, for some reason. He also hates to write with pencils. It's the only sensory issue I would say he has. Last year, in language arts, his teacher asked if there were any other skills they wanted to practice. He raised his hand and said that he would like to practice writing with pencils. She got mad, thinking he was being a wiseguy. He was a bit dismayed; of course, he was serious.

And so my newest project: The Fresh Air Fund. Having grown up in the city (not poor thankfully) I know what it's like to get out to the country for a few days or even a week each year. When I smell wet grass or fresh cut lawns, sometimes the smell still reminds me of my days at Camp Laughing Waters. Last year I saw an article about the fresh air fund, where they described the meeting of the bus from New York City by the dozens of host families from around the area. It sounded like a nice thing, so I sent away for information, but never followed up, as the prospect is a bit daunting if you really think about it: taking in an inner city child, having to be responsible for them, and having to trust that they are well-behaved and responsible themselves. Also, the period was two weeks for the visit! That seemed awfully long to me, in case it didn't go well.

Fast forward to yesterday. I got an email that said that last year there were way more applications than there were host families, and they begged for consideration: "if you have ever considered being a Fresh Air Fund host family, please let this be the year!" So I started emailing, and we are being interviewed and screened on Monday night. After that, if we are approved, we will be matched with an appropriate child within a couple of weeks. This visit would take place in July, and we have a little flexibility as to the time frame and dates. Neighboring counties have slightly different offerings, which might work better for us around Brian's baseball camp.

They only allow children to enter the program at ages 6-12, but they may continue their visits up to age 18. I don't know if we would continue that long or not, but it will be an experience to try it out this year, anyway. I do wish we had started sooner, as Megan is more or less closed out of having a peer, but we can request a boy around Brian's age (if we dare!) So, keep watching this space for updates.

In other news, Megan is officially back to swimming. I worked all day today, but have promised a ride to the garden center in Kevin's truck to my friend Denise for tomorrow. I would like to get a haircut, but don't know if I will have time or inclination. We also have an appointment with a landscape architect to come and look at the front of our house on Saturday, and I filed an application for a permit for a shed. We didn't know what he setbacks were, we thought 15 feet from the property line, but were thrilled to learn that it is now only three feet! And we plan to put it on the side of the neighbor who repeatedly called the pool company in a rage when our water was draining past their driveway. Oh, here comes my little Puff! She must know that Kevin isn't home :-)

Friday News

Well, the day was not so bad, even after the principal happened by and found the class largely not on task at 9:30 because we hadn't started our lessons for the day. The band teacher had forgotten his stands at his other school and had to go get them, so we were waiting for the first group to leave for band before launching into poetry and alliteration (as if I even know what that is). Anyway, perhaps she was checking up on me, because she came back about 20 minutes later, to tell me I had to give up my prep to meet with the other fifth grade teachers to sort through the science kits in the All Purpose Room. Well, luckily I had the class entranced with my fascinating readings of the poem, "Souvenir"; they were so quiet at that time that you could have heard a pin drop. Come to think of it, maybe they were asleep.

So it really was an OK day, this teacher leaves reasonable lesson plans, but her entire room is a mess! She has stacks of papers on her desk to the point where you are afraid that if you move one, the whole desk might collapse. To some degree, she leaves duplicates on a table at the front of the room, but you must brave the Big Desk first, in order to get your bearings for the day. When she had Megan for fifth grade, I sent in Megan's baby picture for the yearbook, and she gave it back to me at the end of the year, after finding it on her desk. Luckily, I ran the yearbook and substituted another one.

But those days always go quickly. We were scrambling to get things done. One kid would say, we always do it like this; to which half the rest would all respond, "no we DON'T!!" with indignation. I had to put out a lot of those first throughout the day, but it was fine. I'd go back. Not like that first grade class last Friday. Give me this group any day. Even Nick D., who couldn't stop talking. Then I had to remind myself that this might be how Brian behaves in class. With that in mind, I took away five minutes of his recess. While he was on the bench, one of the other teachers told me he sits there often.

Speaking of Brian...today his report card came and it was not good. Of course, there were some positives, so I can start with those: as he has redeemed himself in chorus and been granted amnesty from the Seat at the Head of the Class, he has been given an A in chorus again, as well as in math. When I told his math teacher that since the brain surgery, blah blah blah, she wrote back saying, "I didn't know he had brain surgery! The poor baby! Does he need a computer? I'll send him a book for home, and some ????"(no idea what this was, but she sent it, it had to do with 3D shapes for geometry); and she did. So he got an A.

Which was interesting, because the other day I had a conversation with his fourth grade teacher, which I started by telling her that was the best academic year he ever had, despite having brain surgery, pneumonia, and missing 32 days of school. She insists that this is not because she was strict (she doesn't think she was, but she is mistaken) but rather because she let the students know what was expected of them, and she took an interest in them. Perhaps she is onto something after all. Too bad she''ll be retiring, along with the teacher I subbed for today.

Otherwise, I believe his social studies grade also improved from a C+ to B+ or some such ... which is a start. We haven't heard how he did on the last test, though, the one he didn't study for until we got the chapters copied at 8:00 Sunday night.

Onto the rest: science declined by a + ... meaning it's a B without one now. But that's sort of OK. I think the grade was mainly based on project work done in-class, and for some reason, Brian hasn't mastered independent work yet. But the biggest dismay comes from the languages - both Spanish and our very own, English. In LA, he dropped a full letter grade, from a B+ to a C+, which may be due in large part to the Rip Van Winkle test I uncovered yesterday, with "67D" written on the top. One example of his response to the vocabulary part:

word: pestilence Brian's definition: something from your past

and so it goes. Here's one from the written responses:

Question: Why did RVW prefer younger people? Brian's response: Because they were nice to him, and he liked them.

And this, folks, is my life. Oh, wait, Spanish. Now he has gone from C+ to C. He claims it's a test he took after the trip to Florida. But funny thing about that, he had the Spanish book with him in Florida. He even ... "studied"...

One thing about Spanish 1 in 7th grade. It is a high school level course (reminder: despite these C's, he got an A on the midterm) in which one must maintain an average of C+. So he is in danger of having to repeat it. Which, according to Megan, may be OK. She says Spanish 2 is "much harder." She is now in 3. It isn't a big deal, I guess, because I would never put him into 3 anyway. I'd have him either repeat 2 or change languages. Megan's teacher speaks to them IN Spanish. He would never survive that. I'm sometimes not sure that he understand English.

Megan's report card should come tomorrow. Stay tuned.

In other news, Megan's knee is hurt. She went to the beach practice the other night, and hated it. He made them run six miles. Six. She has not run since October. Now she can barely walk. She had to run the mile in gym today, too. So she did it in 7:12. I believe she normally runs a 6-something (ha!). But she won't complain, she is too stoic. She'd rather run on it and ruin it for life. If it isn't better by next week I'll have it checked, but I'm furious. She's a good runner and if her knee gets wrecked because he made them overdo it their first time out ... expletive ...I know how it is to lose your knees before anything else. I think I'll buy her an embarassing knee brace tomorrow...hahah -- when I bought mine, I traded woes with a senior citizen and her husband. Her xray had just shown arthritis, and she needed to wear this brace over her knee-highs.

Tomorrow: landscaping!!!

Social Studies Stress

Yesterday was a busy day for Brian. He had to go to church in the morning to get their version of the birds and the bees - not something I really approve of, but I don't really mind so much, either, since I doubt he listens to anything they say to him. He just goes for the munchkins and juice. After that he had a travel baseball game in Somerset, so he had to leave by 1. The neighborhood boys have decided that he's worthy of the occasional inclusion, so they came to get him to go play on the tennis courts at CBA (the Catholic high school behind our neighborhood).

After all this, and also after the whole day on Saturday had passed, he came in and asked in his innocent tone, "have you seen my new social studies book?" He is supposed to have a set of books at home so that he doesn't have to carry them back and forth to school, and in social studies they change books every unit. So it turns out he has a test on five chapters, and hasn't brought his home edition HOME yet! So it erupts, as usual. I explained to him that he is 12. He is in seventh grade, and it's April. This should not still be happening. I told him if he can't pull it together by next year, he will have to go to Oak Hill Academy for another year of 8th grade, and if that doesn't work, he'll have to go away to boarding school, where hopefully they will have someone who can teach him to be responsible for his work. He does not want to go to Oak Hill. The boys have to wear ties.

Eventually, he got copies of the work from his friend, and, as he had said, he knew a lot of it just from having read it in school. So, he went in early for extra help with Mr. Durr (how can you take a teacher with this name seriously, and to make things worse, he teaches special ed) and came home saying the test was easy.

See, I think that is the problem with the schools. If you can put in no effort at all and think the test was easy, then the test wasn't testing you well enough. But stay tuned for the results of that test in a few days.

So I only worked this morning. It was pretty easy. The first meeting was cancelled (I was floating for the child study team meetings) because the parent never showed up (!). The second was fine, I was in the resource room, where I will be all day tomorrow. They're a little hard to work with because all they do is look around and try to roam the room, but they're not bad, and they're just little. It's all second and third graders. Plus, I got to read to them from Ralph S. Mouse. I hope we read more tomorrow. Then I went into the 3/4/5 special ed classroom and played Connect Four with a kid who kept asking when recess would be over, because he hates to play, but the teacher has a rule that he must stay on task. The floating days are usually pretty low stress.

It's a little chilly here today, so I toured the yard and came back in. Megan wants to go back to practice tonight, even though she doesn't have to. It is a good thing, because she has still been having two dinners a night if she can manage it. The other day she went for a "run" and tripped within a half a block, so she came back home and had a snack.

So, in other news, I ordered two lampposts from a lighting store today. They will be in in a week to ten days and then we will have access to an electrician! It's all because of the lighthouse we bought yesterday, we need to be able to plug it in somewhere useful. But I have wanted outdoor lighting ever since we got the pool. Kevin likes those tiki torches, but they just cast a Survivor-like glow about the place. I also ordered a new lamp to put behind the piano. Rusty likes to knock things down, so he knocked over and shattered the antique lamp that we used to have ON the piano. I think this will work. Brian is having a lesson tonight. My friend Denise has applied for my dream job: control desk at the YMCA! She gave my name as a reference, and after trading calls with the woman for a few days, we finally connected. So I am waiting to see if they'll offer her the job. Hey, maybe if it's timed right, I can get her to drive Megan home from practice once in a while. (haha - fat chance!) I'll be so jealous if she gets the job. I always wanted to do that - except you have to start out on the night shift, and I won't do that.

OK, I'm going to get my camera and take pictures of the new shrubs. I'll try to link them in from photobucket.

Forbidden Knowledge?

So, during spring break, I dragged the kids to Philadelphia for a quick visit. We went out on a quick shopping spree, ending up at Urban Outfitters. Brian, ever the spoiled and pampered, was whining because I wasn't buying him things (like laser pointers, or Airsoft guns). In Urban Outfitters, he picked up a book. It was titled, Forbidden Knowledge: 101 Things NOT Everyone Should Know How to Do. He asked to have it, and I quickly glanced at it. Here are the ones that caught my eye:

* how to know if your neighbor is a zombie
* stage a coup
* e-bay scams
* Negotiate with kidnappers

So, I think, OK, he will read this (thats good, right?) and it sounds a lot like The Worst Case Scenario Survival Guide that I have had for years. So I got it for him. No big deal. He read a couple of humorous excerpts on the way home, and I forgot all about it.

Until today.

I was working, during the Math Olympics at school. At lunch, I checked the messages at home. It was a bit raucous in the teachers' room, so I didn't know who it was that was on the machine, until I realized that it was the guidance counselor from the middle school!!! He was rattling off something about Brian's language arts teacher, and the book...suddenly I realized he meant THIS book! Then my mind went back to Brian showing the book to someone who said, "if that is forbidden, are you supposed to know about it?" at which time I briefly thought, "Hm. Maybe I should delve a little further into the book." And I forgot all about it.

Until today.

So I have opened it up again, and found the topics I did not notice at first:

* how to be a porn star
* how to play Russian roulette
* how to become an assassin

And, as the guidance counselor pointed out, it "goes on and on" and is entirely inappropriate for middle school!!! Of course, most of the topics could be very helpful, such as how to complain and get results, lighting farts on fire, or placing a gypsy curse. I would also very much like to know how to create crop circles, or ten things I should never say to the police. But, all in all, I have been forced to suck it up and act appalled - as, in fact, I am. This is just what I did not need with this kid!!

Lately I have been thinking, well, maybe guidance can help with the fact that these kids in his grade are being mean to him. Just yesterday they were all together in the neighbor's garage, and the other three jumped up and got on their bikes, and all rode off without Brian. It makes me wonder what life is like in these kids homes to convince them that they are so far superior to others that it's ok to treat other people like that. Then they'll come and ring the bell, like they can't wait to play. There's no rhyme or reason to it. Perhaps Brian should look up "build freakish muscles" in his new book, and use that to overcome them the next time they pick on him.

But, I suppose I can scratch that. I don't imagine guidance will be feeling too sympathetic towards us these days. On to Plan B, whatever that might be.

And so, such went my day. Tonight we are going out for dinner and to see a play with a church group. At least I have some good dinner conversation. This book will be well accepted by the church folk, to be sure.

In other news, the one little chiari girl I have been following is not doing well, and it is making me so mad. I am getting the feeling that the doctors who are treating her just do not know what they're doing at all. If that were my kid, I'd want her out of that hospital so fast; but she's too sick to be moved, and she's their mess now anyway. I remember feeling that way with Brian briefly, but he was never as sick as this little girl. For the one day that he was, our surgeon was very understanding and accommodating. And effective. Otherwise, it is the weekend. Which will revolve around baseball and weather in our house. Time to catch up on some more laundry. And maybe make some moonshine, crash a wedding, or do some subway surfing.

Look Out, Fort Lauderdale!!

So here I am. I'm 42 years old and finally making it to Fort Lauderdale for spring break. And on a year during which I neglected to start my diet as of this writing, March 29. AND spring break is over - a little late on both counts! I hope the shorts I have packed will fit.

Yet here I sit, trying to figure out how I will survive the next forty eight hours with Brian, who is just beside himself with excitement and anticipation of the trip. Having Megan and Kevin already down there is certainly not helping. He just tried to read Kevin every rating ever written on our hotel, while Kevin sat trapped in our hotel room, trying to escape to the beach.

Megan left Friday night with her team, the weather cooperated despite forecasts to the contrary, and the flight was delayed by about 40 minutes. Once there, some sort of controversy ensued, and all the pre-assigned roommates were re-assigned. This worked out fine for Megan, she was happy enough before, but now she's with a good friend, and she has only to worry about herself in her bed. In the other room, they would have either had to share beds, or they would have had to put someone on an uncomfortable pull-out at an old hotel. I can't wait to hear what the event was that precipitated the mutiny.

Kevin, ever the considerate, booked himself on a 7:30 flight out of Newark this morning. I had to drive him. We left shortly after 5:30, and I was home around 7:00. So now he is on the beach in Florida, and I am here packing, cleaning, and dealing with an obstinate preteen with an apparent hormone imbalance.

Our Florida hotel, which is right on the beach, shows beautiful pictures of pristine beaches lined with palm trees in an unobstructed view from the guest room window. Fortunately, I will not have to bear disappointment, as I have already been warned that, no. OUR guest room faces the other building. If you lean your head really far to the right, and knock your heels together three times, you can probably catch a glimpse of the ocean. Well, no sun glare.

Oh, speaking of sun glare! There's rain in the forecast for every day!! We are supposed to fly out Monday night, it's supposed to rain Monday night. Lovely. And Brian has baseball practice today, and a game tomorrow. I think I heard a chance of SNOW for tomorrow. This is just insanity. And even in Florida, the forecast high is 81 for the week, and chance of rain or ::gasp:: t-storms every day of the meet!

Megan swims Tuesday and Wednesday in her two events, will do time trials on Wednesday and Thursday, and probably swim in a Thursday relay. She should be done with her races by Friday, although she will still have to accompany the team to the pool. The boys are ranked fairly high, and will probably be coming back to swim finals every night. No such concern for Megan. Her rankings: 200 freestyle: 109th of 128 total; 500 freestyle: 95th of 116 total. A big difference from these little state and county meets! She swimmin' wit da big fishes now!

Well, I did have more to say on the topics, but I think I hear Brian pacing outside the door. I just lost my temper with him when he insisted on arguing with me when I told him that perhaps he wants to wear a baseball shirt to baseball practice, instead of a brushed cotton surf shop shirt. He became very belligerent, so I yelled, slammed the door, and threatened him with spending the rest of the weekend in his room. He has yet to do one thing I have asked of him: pack up his school work for Monday, his only day of school; put away his laundry; FINISH said homework and not wear the baseball pants that the travel team gave him to the rec team practice, as he will probably need them for the travel GAME tomorrow. Not to mention it looks like he stuffed a melon in the front of his pants. He said he was trying a new kind of cup. God only knows what kind THAT is.

It even took him about two hours to eat anything, because I have refused to buy Fruit Loops. But he must be eating something, because the Size 14 shorts I got him at Kohl's barely closed. I am going to return them, even though I washed them both (who would think they'd be too tight? A similar pair by the same maker purchased last week at Costco fit fine). So I am off to do that now.

Hang Ten!

Emerging from the Shadows

Well, it's been a while!!! Things just really picked up, and I found myself working every day in one way or another. What was supposed to be a one day assignment turned into four, and that went into another full week. I had to actually take off a day to leave for Y States. Then I was switched to a different assignment for this week, which I had already agreed to do. Now all assignments have ended, and my calendar is clear for the next week. The week after that is spring break, and the week after that we go to ...

Nationals!!! That's right, she got her time! We drove out to PA on Thursday night, checked into the hotel, and went to bed. The next morning, the 200 free was the first event. Megan was in one of the later heats, and with circle-seeding, she didn't get to race her best competition in the prelims. She beat her time by half a second, but needed another full second. Her coach scratched her out of the 1000 for that day, as well as out of a 100 backstroke swim-off for first alternate, and I brought her back to the hotel to sleep.

That night at finals, she was seeded first, and was next to the top-seed from prelims, so we knew this would be the make-or-break race. It was so exciting! Megan was ahead for most of the race, and at the end the other girl kicked it up. Megan tried to hang on, and they were so close that you couldn't even tell which had touched first. I looked up at the scoreboard and saw the exact same place and time for both girls! They tied for first, and qualified for nationals with nearly half a second to spare!

And it was a good thing, too, because she failed to qualify in the 500, the one they all thought she would get. I wasn't surprised, though, as she had no real competition in that race. Her time was the top time by nine seconds. She ended up shaving milliseconds off her time at finals, after a bad swim at prelims due to nausea. The next place time was five or six seconds slower, she had no push at all in that race. She is going Sunday to swim it again at Junior Olympics, where she has the seventh seed position. Hopefully that will go better, but, no matter really. You only need one event to go to Florida!

So that's where we're headed in two weeks. Megan flies with the team Friday night, and Kevin will go down on Saturday. Brian and I will follow on Monday night, so that he can go to school and I will have more time to get things straightened out with the house and pets, and less time to have to worry about them being pet-sat. Her event will be on Wednesday, but they allow them to swim three time trials in four days, and she will be in a relay or two as well.

In other news, Brian's progress report showed indications of slight improvement. Two teachers said that he had missing assignments but I'm afraid that fails to rattle me anymore; if anything it gives me just a headache. I don't really want to hear it anymore. Most of the time, he has done the work, and he loses it. That's the best part. I almost want to put it into his 504 plan that he is allowed to forget homework, but that seems like it would defeat the purpose of homework in the first place.

Otherwise, I am just glad to emerge from the shadows that have been my substituting life for these past few weeks. I'm not used to having NO time to procrastinate, and no time to get anything done. I have decided to use this afternoon to do the former, and tomorrow I will try to be productive.

Migraine Menace

So I was off today. Kevin, always sure that I am just lying there waiting to be awakened by some shocking statement that I am not expecting, came in and announced that two of the girls on the Y team made National times at their high school tournament meet last night. This rattled me, not only because I wasn't even thinking about national times OR expecting either of them to do it (although had I thought about it, I would have known it was quite possible), but because I know that this will increase the pressure and the stress that Megan feels going into the state meet, in a little over two weeks.

Then, to top it off, he didn't tell her. So when we talked about the times, she asked if that was a best time, and I said - well yes! She didn't have a national time before. At which point, Kevin says, "oh great. She didn't know."

Which, of course, draws more attention to the fact that there is pressure, or why wouldn't he just have told her? It's not like it won't be all over the media wires and the pool by sunrise anyway; better that she should know already than to walk in and find out at the pool.

But, that is that. So, as I cruised through my morning websites, all of a sudden I got a blind spot. I blinked. It went away. It came back. I blinked again. It got bigger. Damn!! This is the first 'aura' I have had since September! And that one represented the end of the three month long cycle. And there went my day off. I spent the day in bed, watching the History Channel. Now I am up and have showered, but must go dry my hair. I have to work all day tomorrow, and hope that this will be completely over by then. I still feel spacey.

I have to wonder what brings on all of these attacks, and this time, there is no food culprit, or lack of sleep. I've been feeling little hints of one coming on, like flashes of light here and there, or yesterday my mouth felt cold while I was drinking hot coffee. But what is is that sends me over the edge? Perhaps, this time, again, it was Brian.

Last night the school tensions came to a head again. I sat down to help him with science, he gave me nasty attitude, I yelled at him. He cried, he went up to his room and slammed the door so hard that it went to the OTHER side of the door jamb. Kevin followed him and yelled and slammed things around. Brian hyperventilated. Kevin knocked my vacuum down the stairs. I gave Brian a paper bag. Kevin left the house. Brian sat down with me and studied science.

I just don't know why it has to happen like that. We want to help him, and he doesn't want to be bothered. I guess we should just be glad that Megan never put us through this with school. It's very difficult at the middle school level, because I don't even know what the work is that they're grading. Half the time it doesn't make it home; whether it's in the locker, or if it's in the classroom; I just don't know. And then I have to wonder if his 504 plan is being followed. I feel like I need some more help in this situation, and I'm just not getting it.

That school is the biggest joke, with their Mr. Rogers principal and his Mickey Mouse cheering section. All they do is tell you how great their teachers are, how wonderful the student body is, and how everyone just has the best time at that school. Sure, that's probably true in some cases. But if you don't fit the mold they're trying to present, they don't even want to know about it. Certainly, there are exceptions, but if I hear one more time from a teacher how they have so may students that they can't do this, or remember that, for my child, I am really going to scream. And I still want to know why Brian came back from the dance with his jacket smelling like smoke.

But, at least I didn't have to work today.

Report Card Randomness

Yes, that's right. Report cards arrived on Friday. Since I was in the kindergartens all day (having quite a lovely day, who would ever think that kindergarten would be my favorite assignment, ever?), the kids got to take them out and open them before I saw them. First, once again, Megan had straight A+'s. In honors classes. She had A+'s on all midterms, except for two A's - in Spanish and Language Arts.

Allow me to dedicate an entire paragraph to Brian. Sigh. Science went up. C+ to B+. at the expense of, yes folks, everything else. Well, aside from the A+ in Computers. He had two C+'s: Social Studies and Spanish. But wait - there was an additional grade in Spanish, for the midterm, administered to all students district-wide, regardless of their grade level. Brian's grade on that exam? An A. Go figure. I just don't know how to proceed with this kid.

So I went to look through his backpack for evidence of deterioration in social studies. The teacher says he needs to work harder, but she keeps all his graded work at school. I don't see what she is talking about, and she isn't clear. Quite frankly, if that's the level of my involvement, we'll take the freaking C+ and put the year behind us. Eventually all of this has to take its toll on his conscience. Doesn't it? Anyway, I found no such evidence. What I found was his math notebook with stick figures depicting brutal shootings and suicide. Great. And he thinks this is funny, and normal. Sadly, it may be. (Normal.)

So that was the Great Tragedy of the End of the Week. Other than Buddy's voice, which is slowly coming back, and the broken seal in our kitchen window, which overlooks the pool and backyard and is now, forever, permanently, hideously filled with condensation and droplets of water running down the entire length of the glass. We replaced all of the other windows a year ago, but that one still looked good. Well. No more. The good news? The neighbors won't be able to see the cats sitting on the kitchen table and eating off of our plates anymore.

Finally, I am trying to come up with The Great President's Day Caper. I have ideas, but alas they will enter into the triple digits in terms of expense. I have considered Franklin Institute and a visit to the new cat in my parents' house. I have considered the ferry to NYC and a trip to the bodies exhibit at the Seaport. I considered, but had to reject, a trip to the Poconos to visit my college friends, who planned a trip their for the weekend. I declined because I thought Megan had to fast, but she doesn't. It's next weekend. But she did have swim practice every day, and I don't want to risk her getting hurt before states, which is now just three weeks away. And still no dog sitter.

So that's the end. This laptop is burning my lap, and I must get it off of me. A random end to a random blog. Oh, the excitement!

Boredom

Well, I'm bored. This will probably be a boring post, in turn. I'll just ramble a bit because I don't feel like starting dinner and I don't think eating more conversation hearts or chips in five day old onion dip is really the right way to go.

This morning I did my duties - got kids off to school, even door-to-door service for both of them. I was just surfing the net, waiting for numbskull to update his swimming blog page, when the phone rang at 8:40 am. I hate phones when I use the laptop, because I usually have to get up out of the recliner, destiffen my joints, put the laptop down, and stagger across the room by the fourth ring. And check the Caller ID, which, invariably, says, "Mtn Schl" =:-O

As it did today. I have finally figured out that the number that starts in the particular exchange I saw today is the woman from personnel who calls for subs once the day is underway. Yesterday I turned her down, so today I picked up. Turns out I was supposed to be in for the morning, not the afternoon, as I had been told. My morning bliss was shattered and I had to fly into the shower, and rush off to school. Imagine my relief when I zoomed around the corner at 10 mph above the speed limit and almost crashed into a police car who ALREADY HAD SOMEONE PULLED OVER. whew. I checked to see if I knew the unfortunate perpetrator (I didn't) and tried to keep my eye on the speedometer.

But all in all, it was a good day. Easy assignments. They put me in a kindergarten class with another sub for the first hour, and she didn't really know how to run circle time, so the inmates were in charge. I didn't want to step up and challenge her authority, so I minded my business and went on butt-crack patrol. (Two incidences successfully corrected) And the best of all, I was done by noon.

Of course, would I use the afternoon wisely? No. I picked up some items and came home and whittled away the time. Which is why I am bored.

So, in other news: an email from Brian's math teacher, saying he talks excessively in class these past two weeks. His excuse? She put him near "this kid" and X and Y, who talk all the time. I explained to him that this does not mean HE needs to talk all the time, and he went away to play X-Box. Speaking of the inmates running the asylum.

Tomorrow I have a full day in special ed. I hope no fights will break out over who likes the number 1 better than whom, or why this one said that to the other one. But really they are a good group, and I like them. One of the best things about special ed classes is that they have paras, who can always answer any questions, and help to keep the worst situations under control. And then: Friday night! And then: the big meet! And then: another meet. Sigh.

So there it is, if you made it this far. The most boring, and perhaps most aptly named, post of my blogging career.

Perhaps.

New Car!!

I got it! I got the new car! I don't really know how I managed, but I convinced Kevin to let me get the Accord and keep the Explorer. Although I hate having to spend every third or fourth day at the gas station, filling up for $50 or so a pop, I am also not ready to give up the luxury/convenience/feel of having a big road-hogging V8 SUV either. So in a year that one will be paid off, and we will have it for virtually no additional cost.

The new car is a Honda Accord, and, so far, I love it! It's different in many ways, obviously, but it is so comfortable, cute, and fun to drive. I have driven about 70 miles in it already, and have used 1/4 tank of gas. The thing is that the pin may stay on the 1/4 tank for many more miles, as it seems to do. I will see the benefits when I first go to fill it up. I am so excited!

I took the Explorer yesterday and washed and vacuumed it, had it inspected, then pulled it into the garage and sealed it up there. I will still need it for times of bad weather, when I need to shuttle multiple kids, or if I am going to park it somewhere where I don't want people looking into the car. (Such as last night, when I was lost in Asbury Park! Would not want to be in that situation in a little Accord with the new car tags still all over it.)

And Puff is doing amazingly well. We went and had her stitches out yesterday, and she's happy as can be. All it took to get her over the trauma was a bit of sliced turkey. She stays out a lot more, she plays, she purrs - she is like a new kitten, and she is so beautiful. I tell her that every day. When the tech saw her dumped out onto the table, she even exclaimed, "hello, Beautiful!" Puff obviously knew that meant her, because I call her that every day :-)

So tonight we are going to Bahr's again, for my birthday. That is the best part of January, I get to go to Bahr's twice. But, alas, since we have to drive the Doll, we have to go there to get her - it's such a pain. Then we all cram into one car, which usually means SHE gets the front seat. I am hateful, I know. But it makes the trip twice as long for all of us, being packed in there and having to weave through the streets of the retirement Village to where she lives, nestled amongst the biddies.

Megan had another successful week at swimming, but she had to fight for first place in the 200 IM yesterday! The girl was ahead for the first 100 yards of the 200. When Megan ended up beating her, the girl was so mad she wouldn't even look at Megan, let alone shake her hand. Not good sportsmanship - my theory is that this girl would have been put in the 200 free, but they probably thought Megan would swim it, so they took her out, and she ended up losing the IM instead. I have been noticing no schools have been giving Megan any competition since counties. Her name is in the paper today as having the fastest 200 free time in the conference.

However, if you read a little deeper, you will see that she is no longer in possession of that title. One of the girls in the other county beat Megan's best time at their championship meet last night, by a full second. So Megan is relegated to second, which is also where she is with the 500. Two of the remaining three meets could potentially serve her up her first defeat of the season - either in the 500 at the meet this Tuesday, or in both the 200 and 500 next Friday, when she races the other county's champ. The conference meet on February 9 should be a challenge. If all things line up well, she could get her National times at that meet, with that competition, and probably a 3rd place seed in both events.

Brian continues to be difficult, with his homework retaliation and general belligerence. I have decided to remain hands-off for the rest of the marking period, which I think is only a week or two. If he can handle it, his grades will be unchanged or improved from last time. I already told him if I see anything below a B on there, he is out of luck, and will have to do it my way for the rest of the year. He agreed to that, but we'll see.

So it is not surprising that I am on the fourth day of a headache. And I don't expect my birthday dinner to make that much better. Sometimes, it's barely worth going.

My God, What Have I Done?

Thanks to the Talking Heads, Once in a Lifetime, this has become my catch phrase for everything and anything blundersome. For me, today, it is my hair.

I am now 42. It was my birthday yesterday. As is standard around my birthdays, I feel the need to change. I am campaigning for a new car, something more fuel efficient and 'green', but I also decided it was finally time for a haircut. I went to my regular guy and told him I was considering bangs. He said he would angle them so I could still pull the hair back if I wanted to. This sounded good.

Partway through my appointment, a woman came and began to talk to him, which I found to be rather rude. I listened to everything they said, and they included me to a degree, but they were discussing people and places with whom and which I am not familiar. Afterwards, my hair looked ok at first glance.

When I got home and took a better look, this was no longer the case. The angled bangs are only angled on my right side - on the left, I have just a very short piece of hair, angled into nothing. Then I have very long layers and very, very little change in the length. Which, to me, is a little long to have at age 42. Or 41. Or 40!

The next day I let it curl and the results were just not good. The small piece was ok, it curled to look more like a little curl. The 'angled' side was a wild runaway experiment.

Yesterday I tried to straighten it, but was so discouraged with the unevenness that I just gave up. So today I say to myself, "My God, What Have I Done?" I want to call and request a fix, but I am generally non-confrontational. I feel like they will resent this and I always feel I will be expected to tip again, and I don't want to. Plus, I hate going there, and now I have to go back again - and I don't even know if I can get an appointment.

But in other news - I am working on the car purchase(or waiting to see if I will get permission to get it!) Puff is recovering well and seems thrilled to be spayed! No more heats, no more peeing. I take her into the bathroom and close the door, and she hops right into her box and pees. She is so good. Swimming is still in full swing, and now Brian has started basketball, with baseball just around the corner. One of his teachers sent back her questionnaire and I think it is pretty clear that he will not end up being diagnosed with any learning issues, if we're going on those responses. So I guess that is good news.

Megan is still undefeated in the 200 and the 500 free, but for some reason no teams ever put their better swimmers up against her. There are two meets coming up where that may not be the case, but I expected her to have a good race last night, and she did not.

I've read a few chiari pages and many of the kids are having problems. Some are having unexplained pain and issues, others are developing reherniated tonsils. It is so upsetting that this is something that should be so simple, and yet it just isn't. It makes me so grateful that Brian has done so well, and yet so anxious for the future at the same time. I ""knock wood"" every time I talk about this. It is a monster.

And so, as I do the loads of laundry and suck down advil today, I work up the nerve to look in the mirror. Then, I ask myself, "Where does this highway go?"