And here it is, the dawn of a new visitor. It's a beautiful day, nice and cool and sunny and not a cloud in the sky. Megan is up at the school, and Brian slept over at a friend's last night (against my better judgement) and is now incommunicado. I guess I'll have to hunt him down, but so far I have been busy shopping for groceries, running some quick loads of laundry, straightening up the kitchen, and taking care of dogs. As soon as I rest a minute, I'll run the vacuum through the house, then go on a search-and-rescue mission to find Brian and make him come home to get ready.
I sent the photo album with the pictures from last year to an old friend from college, and as I had it open, I looked through all the photos, and it made me feel really bad about not having invited C back. I hope that he was able to be placed somewhere else and that he has a good time. I envision him trapped in his apartment in the Bronx, not being able to participate because he wasn't invited back. I hope this isn't the case, I would have had him back if it were, and I tried to make this clear, so I hope I was successful in so doing.
Anyway, as Lady Macbeth said, what's done is done, and it cannot be undone. So we will be there to greet R as he disembarks this afternoon. Then we'll see what type of kid he is, bring him home to unpack, and see if he wants to try a day at the beach already. It's supposed to turn warmer and more humid tomorrow; I will probably drag him down there early so Brian can do swim practice. And we also have puppy school tonight. I am kind of mad at myself for signing up for this. It was pretty expensive for just six weeks, and I happened to notice the parks department offers the same type of class for a quarter of the cost, and for one extra week.
I have mentioned that I somehow lost my camera. I don't know what happened, I have a vague recollection of pulling it out and taking pictures, discovering that the memory stick was left at home. But I may have created this memory because, in fact, the memory stick IS left at home. It's here in this laptop. I don't know if the cleaning ladies moved (or stole) it or what happened. But I made the mistake of taking Megan with me to Target yesterday so I could buy a new, cheapo one. Instead, I ended up buying HER a brand new underwater camera, and taking her old one for myself. It's actually a good deal for me, because that camera she has is the same as my lost one, only better. But the transaction cost me a whole lot more than I had intended!
Anyway, in other news, I feel like I am at a construction site. The neighbors in the back must be having their floors redone, but it just sounds like there's a huge generator running directly outside the back of my house. Another idyllic day in burbtopia. I guess I should go and start vacuuming. At least then I won't hear them. Stay tuned for Fresh Air updates!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
nothing like advance notice
Last night during dinner, the phone rang. The house phone has not been ringing much, with the laziness of summer and the overtaking of the airwaves by cell phones. The kids and I looked at each other and I checked the Caller ID, and it was the Doll, asking about when she would be watching Molly this summer, for the fourth time. We settled back in to eat, and all of a sudden, the phone rang again. This time, it was, indeed, the Fresh Air Fund lady!
She told us that she had fallen asleep around 2pm and as of that time, still, we had not been matched. She said she has been checking her email five times a day and has been finding nothing. But upon awakening from her nap, she checked again, and through bleary eyes, there it was! So all this time, I have been thinking she has forgotten, but she is just at another stage of the command chain, and is wondering as much as I am if we are doing this program this year.
So our new boy is R and he hails from Brooklyn. He is ten years old, entering fifth grade, loves fried chicken, dogs, and sports, but hates peanuts, peanut butter, or anything related. He is excited to come and I did hear a whoop when he found out there is a puppy. But this is such short notice! Of course I knew it was possible but I have two appointments, plus Megan's many volunteer and swim obligations, over the next week. But it is done. The bus arrives around 12:45 tomorrow. Today will be spent doing a quick bit of shopping, running the vacuum, straightening up and trying to get caught on the laundry (which may not ever happen at this point). I'll cancel one of the appointments, and have enlisted the Doll to drive Brian to his orthodontist next week, unless they can see him at a different time. His appointment is at the exact time when we need to be at the bus for R's return.
This trip should be better than last year; for one thing I do hope that we will have a more participative guest this time. We got very little in terms of interaction last year. The other reason is because the visit is so much shorter. We will have R from tomorrow around noon until next Wednesday morning. We had C from a Thursday afternoon until the following Monday morning. And some long weekends those two were. This Friday night is the beach sleepover. But we'll have to see how R is before we decide if we're doing it or not. Megan definitely wants to, and I expect Brian will as well. But we have to be sure this kid can run with the crowd and that he will not get lost in the darkness on the beach.
So stay tuned. I hope for some fun times. The group is going to the waterpark on Monday, so I'll save that for then. Megan will be able to come with us if she wants, and I can use my two-for-one coupon. We'll obviously make good use of the beach, and hopefully our pool. Brian is watching for the return of his xbox from its free repairs at Microsoft, and I will make sure that I have a nice bag of fried chicken from Acme at the ready. Hopefully R will be good on a bike, and if he is really athletic, maybe he can pick up tennis and play a bit with Brian. But we will know more tomorrow.
I hope he isn't a light sleeper though. With Wilbur up early every morning, there is always some activity going on before 6am. This morning he slept in, till nearly 6, but then leaked all over the rug while I got my shoes on to take him out. I'll have to remember he needs to be carried in the morning.
In other news, I am still trying to secure accommodations for Wilbur for when we go to London. I called a kennel and the guy told me to call back and make an appointment to come visit. So I finally did that yesterday and the guy is on vacation himself, till the 18th! So I left a message with the dates that I need and said that I would like to come in and see him, so I hope I didn't wait too long and end up losing the spot. That was sort of my best idea, it's a kennel in a guy's backyard. I don't want to board him in a large generic kennel, and I think he is too much work at this age to impose him on anyone in a private home. Molly will stay with the Doll and Baxter again. She enjoys that anyway. I also still need to find a cat-sitter.
She told us that she had fallen asleep around 2pm and as of that time, still, we had not been matched. She said she has been checking her email five times a day and has been finding nothing. But upon awakening from her nap, she checked again, and through bleary eyes, there it was! So all this time, I have been thinking she has forgotten, but she is just at another stage of the command chain, and is wondering as much as I am if we are doing this program this year.
So our new boy is R and he hails from Brooklyn. He is ten years old, entering fifth grade, loves fried chicken, dogs, and sports, but hates peanuts, peanut butter, or anything related. He is excited to come and I did hear a whoop when he found out there is a puppy. But this is such short notice! Of course I knew it was possible but I have two appointments, plus Megan's many volunteer and swim obligations, over the next week. But it is done. The bus arrives around 12:45 tomorrow. Today will be spent doing a quick bit of shopping, running the vacuum, straightening up and trying to get caught on the laundry (which may not ever happen at this point). I'll cancel one of the appointments, and have enlisted the Doll to drive Brian to his orthodontist next week, unless they can see him at a different time. His appointment is at the exact time when we need to be at the bus for R's return.
This trip should be better than last year; for one thing I do hope that we will have a more participative guest this time. We got very little in terms of interaction last year. The other reason is because the visit is so much shorter. We will have R from tomorrow around noon until next Wednesday morning. We had C from a Thursday afternoon until the following Monday morning. And some long weekends those two were. This Friday night is the beach sleepover. But we'll have to see how R is before we decide if we're doing it or not. Megan definitely wants to, and I expect Brian will as well. But we have to be sure this kid can run with the crowd and that he will not get lost in the darkness on the beach.
So stay tuned. I hope for some fun times. The group is going to the waterpark on Monday, so I'll save that for then. Megan will be able to come with us if she wants, and I can use my two-for-one coupon. We'll obviously make good use of the beach, and hopefully our pool. Brian is watching for the return of his xbox from its free repairs at Microsoft, and I will make sure that I have a nice bag of fried chicken from Acme at the ready. Hopefully R will be good on a bike, and if he is really athletic, maybe he can pick up tennis and play a bit with Brian. But we will know more tomorrow.
I hope he isn't a light sleeper though. With Wilbur up early every morning, there is always some activity going on before 6am. This morning he slept in, till nearly 6, but then leaked all over the rug while I got my shoes on to take him out. I'll have to remember he needs to be carried in the morning.
In other news, I am still trying to secure accommodations for Wilbur for when we go to London. I called a kennel and the guy told me to call back and make an appointment to come visit. So I finally did that yesterday and the guy is on vacation himself, till the 18th! So I left a message with the dates that I need and said that I would like to come in and see him, so I hope I didn't wait too long and end up losing the spot. That was sort of my best idea, it's a kennel in a guy's backyard. I don't want to board him in a large generic kennel, and I think he is too much work at this age to impose him on anyone in a private home. Molly will stay with the Doll and Baxter again. She enjoys that anyway. I also still need to find a cat-sitter.
Monday, July 13, 2009
monday morning (again)
Seems like it is always Monday morning!! This morning, at least, and from now on, there is no early long course swim practice. So we get to sleep in. Wilbur has continued to have a little diarrhea, I don't know if it's still his giardia acting up or if he is just having puppy upsets from all of the various snacks he procures for himself.
This morning Megan had the school program, and Brian had to go to swim team practice at the beach club, because his camp is over. It was a beautiful day, but Wilbur with his belly and Brian with his red-sunburnt nose caused me to just come straight home. Well, not straight. I wanted to see if I could get a new beach umbrella (our brand new Costco one died already) and maybe a cheap lightweight lawn chair for the Cape May trip. There is a little beach shop on the highway, so I stopped to look around. Here is how that worked out:
The type of chair that I wanted was $17.99. Not terrible, but the chair was a little heavier than the one I had in mind. We browsed a bit and the woman came out and asked if we needed help. I said no, we were just looking. She was a somewhat haggard looking blonde woman with a cup of coffee in her hand. I went to the other side of her little shack and noticed a knife with a 12-inch blade, just lying across some boxes. I assumed she had been cutting open new merchandise and had left it out by mistake. So I called out to her, "excuse me, did you know that you left this giant knife out over here?"
Her response was a complete shock! She said, "of course I do, ma'am, this is my business! That knife is my best friend." (next she went to her chair, seeming to expect to see it there, and then mumbled, "where is it?" before realizing where she had left it.) I said, well it might end up being someone else's best friend if you leave it out like that. To which she replied that she had something much better in the back. I apologized for being concerned about her, and she said I should be sorry, because she was not concerned about me. I decided at that point that it was best if Brian and I left. I have to wonder about the safety of the customers with a merchant like that!!
And then we stopped at Sears and continued to build up Brian's school wardrobe. I now know his size in Lands' End and Brooks Brothers, as well as my favorite, Tommy Hilfiger. Although I will say the Brooks Brothers shirts have the best fit. But the Polo pants win, especially since I have managed to amass four pairs, all from Marshall's, at a cost of $13-20 each.
And now I have several unpleasant chores to do - stupid things like laundry, phone calls, making appointments, and straightening up. I am also on a quest to find two things that have gone missing: my digital camera and a bag of about ten different sunblocks, all unused. I remember where it was last and it is not there now. And as for the camera, it's nowhere to be found, although the memory stick is right here in the laptop. I wonder about the cleaning people (who, by the way, barely clean these days) but I hope that I'm mistaken. So every day, I have to do a little bit of searching for both of these missing items.
In other news, we all went to see Macbeth in the park last night. I didn't really remember the story, but it was fairly manageable to follow along, as long as I could hear the actors. Brian, exhausted from a day at the beach (they both volunteered from 7:30 till 1:30 at the beach helping out special populations for a day in the sun) and bewildered by the dialogue, passed out just as Lady Macbeth was about to throw her husband's cloak open and reveal his bloodied hands holding two blood-red daggers. Kevin seemed completely entranced until he turned to me and said, "I have no idea what's going on." I can hardly wait to see what they choose to perform next summer!
Oh, and the Fresh Air Fund. Still a bust for today. There now remains only a day and a half in which for us to be given the name of a child. I am feeling some remorse for not gleefully snapping C back up again. I would have preferred him to nobody, but I didn't want to ruin it for him if we didn't do it next year. And at this point, I have a lot lined up for the next week, and this might make for a not so relaxing vacation for our visitor, if we end up getting one at the last minute. I have heard they can sometimes tell you the day before, although I don't understand why they would do that
This morning Megan had the school program, and Brian had to go to swim team practice at the beach club, because his camp is over. It was a beautiful day, but Wilbur with his belly and Brian with his red-sunburnt nose caused me to just come straight home. Well, not straight. I wanted to see if I could get a new beach umbrella (our brand new Costco one died already) and maybe a cheap lightweight lawn chair for the Cape May trip. There is a little beach shop on the highway, so I stopped to look around. Here is how that worked out:
The type of chair that I wanted was $17.99. Not terrible, but the chair was a little heavier than the one I had in mind. We browsed a bit and the woman came out and asked if we needed help. I said no, we were just looking. She was a somewhat haggard looking blonde woman with a cup of coffee in her hand. I went to the other side of her little shack and noticed a knife with a 12-inch blade, just lying across some boxes. I assumed she had been cutting open new merchandise and had left it out by mistake. So I called out to her, "excuse me, did you know that you left this giant knife out over here?"
Her response was a complete shock! She said, "of course I do, ma'am, this is my business! That knife is my best friend." (next she went to her chair, seeming to expect to see it there, and then mumbled, "where is it?" before realizing where she had left it.) I said, well it might end up being someone else's best friend if you leave it out like that. To which she replied that she had something much better in the back. I apologized for being concerned about her, and she said I should be sorry, because she was not concerned about me. I decided at that point that it was best if Brian and I left. I have to wonder about the safety of the customers with a merchant like that!!
And then we stopped at Sears and continued to build up Brian's school wardrobe. I now know his size in Lands' End and Brooks Brothers, as well as my favorite, Tommy Hilfiger. Although I will say the Brooks Brothers shirts have the best fit. But the Polo pants win, especially since I have managed to amass four pairs, all from Marshall's, at a cost of $13-20 each.
And now I have several unpleasant chores to do - stupid things like laundry, phone calls, making appointments, and straightening up. I am also on a quest to find two things that have gone missing: my digital camera and a bag of about ten different sunblocks, all unused. I remember where it was last and it is not there now. And as for the camera, it's nowhere to be found, although the memory stick is right here in the laptop. I wonder about the cleaning people (who, by the way, barely clean these days) but I hope that I'm mistaken. So every day, I have to do a little bit of searching for both of these missing items.
In other news, we all went to see Macbeth in the park last night. I didn't really remember the story, but it was fairly manageable to follow along, as long as I could hear the actors. Brian, exhausted from a day at the beach (they both volunteered from 7:30 till 1:30 at the beach helping out special populations for a day in the sun) and bewildered by the dialogue, passed out just as Lady Macbeth was about to throw her husband's cloak open and reveal his bloodied hands holding two blood-red daggers. Kevin seemed completely entranced until he turned to me and said, "I have no idea what's going on." I can hardly wait to see what they choose to perform next summer!
Oh, and the Fresh Air Fund. Still a bust for today. There now remains only a day and a half in which for us to be given the name of a child. I am feeling some remorse for not gleefully snapping C back up again. I would have preferred him to nobody, but I didn't want to ruin it for him if we didn't do it next year. And at this point, I have a lot lined up for the next week, and this might make for a not so relaxing vacation for our visitor, if we end up getting one at the last minute. I have heard they can sometimes tell you the day before, although I don't understand why they would do that
Saturday, July 11, 2009
saturday
It's quiet in the house for now. I don't know how long that will last, or what is going on. Megan had to be out at 7:30 for a pool club swim meet, and then she was asked to give a lesson back at the other pool club. So when I went to get her from the meet, I had to take her back to the home club, and then come back for her afterwards. She is going to charge $20 a half hour for a lesson, but she didn't know what time it was, and she ended up in the pool for over an hour! So that was a bargain of a lesson. The girl she taught is learning butterfly, she was all excited because Megan worked with her once for free and she took ten seconds off her time at the next meet. I asked Megan if she also explained the difference between a meter pool and a yard pool :-). (the first meet was in meters, the second in yards ... but ten seconds is not the normal difference between the two, so it's still good.)
Anyway, I had a chance today to go into NYC and meet up with one of my 'cyberfriends' from many years ago, but as usual with the life I lead, I wasn't able to swing it. So I think that Brian has a friend coming over and I am just sitting here doing laundry and tending to wayward pomeranians. I'm still not caught up on all the laundry from the broken washer era.
Also, nothing to report on the Fresh Air Fund. It's getting annoying. First, I feel a little duped that they sent us C when they must have known that there were issues from the family who had hosted him the year before, who didn't sign up again or just didn't take him back. He was a good kid but didn't seem to really want to be here. Second, the rep was supposed to call me back weeks ago and never did, and now I have been told I'm in the system for a different boy aged 10-12, which is not what I would have requested this time around. Third, here we are two days from the trip (because I doubt they work weekends doing placements) and I have a week packed with other busy activities that will cause disturbances to my schedule if they suddenly do spring someone on us.
I hate to back completely out of the program, but I don't even understand how the Fund operates. I understand they have a lot backed up, and maybe they want the host families to be on alert to a call the night before, but how do you call some inner city mom and tell her she has to have her kid ready for the bus by the next morning? Or is the delay on the end of the child? I just don't know, and I have no contact with the rep. I emailed her once, she wrote back, I emailed again, and she never replied. I feel so disillusioned. I'm sure it's a great program, but we haven't seen evidence of that greatness in our experiences at all. I wish we were able to talk to someone who actually DOES the placements, but instead, we talk only to a rep who claims to know no more than we do. I was so excited to have an experience like all the ones you read about in the press. But I guess that's why those stories make the press.
Well, there goes the washer beeping. Time to fold. but first, in other news, Megan is finding her hospital volunteering to be interesting. She didn't really think physical therapy looked like a lot of fun, and she didn't get to do anything there anyway. They mostly had her taking discharged patients down to the lobby. She also walked down the hall and a woman asked her, in Spanish, if she knew why the ATM wasn't working and if she could fix it. Megan, who says she doesn't know anything about ATMs in English, replied, "no se, sorry". Then someone else asked (in English) if she knew where radiology was. Again, she replied no, and then proceeded to walk by radiology. So she is learning.
Anyway, I had a chance today to go into NYC and meet up with one of my 'cyberfriends' from many years ago, but as usual with the life I lead, I wasn't able to swing it. So I think that Brian has a friend coming over and I am just sitting here doing laundry and tending to wayward pomeranians. I'm still not caught up on all the laundry from the broken washer era.
Also, nothing to report on the Fresh Air Fund. It's getting annoying. First, I feel a little duped that they sent us C when they must have known that there were issues from the family who had hosted him the year before, who didn't sign up again or just didn't take him back. He was a good kid but didn't seem to really want to be here. Second, the rep was supposed to call me back weeks ago and never did, and now I have been told I'm in the system for a different boy aged 10-12, which is not what I would have requested this time around. Third, here we are two days from the trip (because I doubt they work weekends doing placements) and I have a week packed with other busy activities that will cause disturbances to my schedule if they suddenly do spring someone on us.
I hate to back completely out of the program, but I don't even understand how the Fund operates. I understand they have a lot backed up, and maybe they want the host families to be on alert to a call the night before, but how do you call some inner city mom and tell her she has to have her kid ready for the bus by the next morning? Or is the delay on the end of the child? I just don't know, and I have no contact with the rep. I emailed her once, she wrote back, I emailed again, and she never replied. I feel so disillusioned. I'm sure it's a great program, but we haven't seen evidence of that greatness in our experiences at all. I wish we were able to talk to someone who actually DOES the placements, but instead, we talk only to a rep who claims to know no more than we do. I was so excited to have an experience like all the ones you read about in the press. But I guess that's why those stories make the press.
Well, there goes the washer beeping. Time to fold. but first, in other news, Megan is finding her hospital volunteering to be interesting. She didn't really think physical therapy looked like a lot of fun, and she didn't get to do anything there anyway. They mostly had her taking discharged patients down to the lobby. She also walked down the hall and a woman asked her, in Spanish, if she knew why the ATM wasn't working and if she could fix it. Megan, who says she doesn't know anything about ATMs in English, replied, "no se, sorry". Then someone else asked (in English) if she knew where radiology was. Again, she replied no, and then proceeded to walk by radiology. So she is learning.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
whirlwind summer
So this is it, the apex of the summer activities ... Brian is in tennis, Wilbur and I are in puppy school, and the beach club swim meets have begun, as have the volunteer jobs for Megan. All I do now is drive around. Add to that the 'social' driving and there isn't time for much of anything! And I am exhausted from getting up at 5 every morning with Wilbur. This morning he got up at 5:15 and had peed in his crate, only the second time he's done that. I think that he heard Kevin get up at 4, and that probably disturbed him and he forgot to hold it in. I can always tell, because when he whimpers to get out, he is sitting at the back of the crate, which fortunately has two doors, one on the front and one on the side. If I take him out the side, he avoids the runoff.
Today the cleaning people came, so I took Molly and Wilbur out (he hates the car!) and we went to the off-leash dog park. He loved it! Molly is so old that I bring her on the small dogs side (supposed to be under 35 pounds, usually they look to be about 40, so even then Wilbur is small) but noone usually complains. One woman today made some comments that her dog was scared of Molly because she was "big," but really Molly sniffed her dog and then laid down, there are far more disruptive small dogs than Molly. That dog cowered by her owner the whole time anyway, even with all the assorted small- to medium-sized dogs. Now Wilbur is having a nap, and Molly is also worn out.
It's nice and cool out today, which would be really nice if we were going to see Macbeth at the community college like I had hoped to do, but I didn't think about the beach club swim meets, so we will have one of those tonight, and it's sure to be pretty cold. Megan wants to go and scoop ice cream first for a pool club fundraiser, so again, more driving around.
Regarding Megan, she did her first day of hospital volunteering and it cost me $40 - $25 for a pair of khaki pants and $15 for the uniform shirt. She liked it OK. They get to eat $5 of food for free, and then she sat around for a while. But later on she was asked to deliver some flowers and balloons, and she got to bring them to a couple of patients on the pediatric floor. So that was at least something.
Tomorrow she volunteers in physical therapy for the afternoon, for the first time. Her school assignment (for the extended year program) turned out to be preschool, so she was less than thrilled about that, but she knows a boy who's in there with her and at least in those classes they keep you busy. But the kids are a little less responsive so it's not rewarding in the same way. But she still enjoys it.
And we went to visit TCNJ on Monday, for a tour. She had some interest, which is good, because if we find ourselves in the poorhouse in two years, we might have to insist on a state school. Even being a state school, without any type of scholarship, tuition + room and board is about $20,000 per year. But hopefully she will get some sort of aid.
Brian is finishing up his tennis camp, which he absolutely loved. Aside from a couple of boring and overcrowded camps when he was little, he has never played before this and he's really enjoying it. I might look into letting him take lessons throughout the year, since it looks like he'll be giving up baseball anyway. His team is more or less falling apart and they never win a game. He also has to start his summer reading. I ordered the one book, about Michelangelo, on cassette to help him with the pronunciation and to stay on topic. Now we're waiting for it to be delivered.
In other news, Kevin is in Pennsylvania for some golf event or other. He took my TomTom so I won't be able to find the tricky back roads into the beach club we have to go to for tonight's meet. But I'll get there eventually. I always do. Just keep heading east and I'll end up at the ocean! The good news is that the washer is working, but the bad news is that I have so much laundry piled up that it will probably take me two weeks to get all caught up. The dryer is squeaking now, too, but I won't worry about that until it starts smoking or stops drying clothes!
Also, the Fresh Air Fund trip to our area is in six days, and we still have not been assigned a child. I just have that feeling that something is wrong, and I have emailed the new rep, and she wrote back once, but not the second time. I don't know if she is on the ball, and this is just how things work, or what is going on. But I was under the impression they had more children applying than they had host families willing to take them in; so I don't know why they would wait so long to assign a child. The rep said she had one other family in the same situation. I wrote back and said we'd take anyone, I don't want to really specifially have to be locked into a gender or age. But that's the mail she didn't respond to, so I don't know if you can even enter an open request. I really would take any age or gender; what difference does it make? Just adjust the activities accordingly.
Today the cleaning people came, so I took Molly and Wilbur out (he hates the car!) and we went to the off-leash dog park. He loved it! Molly is so old that I bring her on the small dogs side (supposed to be under 35 pounds, usually they look to be about 40, so even then Wilbur is small) but noone usually complains. One woman today made some comments that her dog was scared of Molly because she was "big," but really Molly sniffed her dog and then laid down, there are far more disruptive small dogs than Molly. That dog cowered by her owner the whole time anyway, even with all the assorted small- to medium-sized dogs. Now Wilbur is having a nap, and Molly is also worn out.
It's nice and cool out today, which would be really nice if we were going to see Macbeth at the community college like I had hoped to do, but I didn't think about the beach club swim meets, so we will have one of those tonight, and it's sure to be pretty cold. Megan wants to go and scoop ice cream first for a pool club fundraiser, so again, more driving around.
Regarding Megan, she did her first day of hospital volunteering and it cost me $40 - $25 for a pair of khaki pants and $15 for the uniform shirt. She liked it OK. They get to eat $5 of food for free, and then she sat around for a while. But later on she was asked to deliver some flowers and balloons, and she got to bring them to a couple of patients on the pediatric floor. So that was at least something.
Tomorrow she volunteers in physical therapy for the afternoon, for the first time. Her school assignment (for the extended year program) turned out to be preschool, so she was less than thrilled about that, but she knows a boy who's in there with her and at least in those classes they keep you busy. But the kids are a little less responsive so it's not rewarding in the same way. But she still enjoys it.
And we went to visit TCNJ on Monday, for a tour. She had some interest, which is good, because if we find ourselves in the poorhouse in two years, we might have to insist on a state school. Even being a state school, without any type of scholarship, tuition + room and board is about $20,000 per year. But hopefully she will get some sort of aid.
Brian is finishing up his tennis camp, which he absolutely loved. Aside from a couple of boring and overcrowded camps when he was little, he has never played before this and he's really enjoying it. I might look into letting him take lessons throughout the year, since it looks like he'll be giving up baseball anyway. His team is more or less falling apart and they never win a game. He also has to start his summer reading. I ordered the one book, about Michelangelo, on cassette to help him with the pronunciation and to stay on topic. Now we're waiting for it to be delivered.
In other news, Kevin is in Pennsylvania for some golf event or other. He took my TomTom so I won't be able to find the tricky back roads into the beach club we have to go to for tonight's meet. But I'll get there eventually. I always do. Just keep heading east and I'll end up at the ocean! The good news is that the washer is working, but the bad news is that I have so much laundry piled up that it will probably take me two weeks to get all caught up. The dryer is squeaking now, too, but I won't worry about that until it starts smoking or stops drying clothes!
Also, the Fresh Air Fund trip to our area is in six days, and we still have not been assigned a child. I just have that feeling that something is wrong, and I have emailed the new rep, and she wrote back once, but not the second time. I don't know if she is on the ball, and this is just how things work, or what is going on. But I was under the impression they had more children applying than they had host families willing to take them in; so I don't know why they would wait so long to assign a child. The rep said she had one other family in the same situation. I wrote back and said we'd take anyone, I don't want to really specifially have to be locked into a gender or age. But that's the mail she didn't respond to, so I don't know if you can even enter an open request. I really would take any age or gender; what difference does it make? Just adjust the activities accordingly.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
july 5
I hate July 5, generally. This year is significant because the reason I hate July 5 is because it is the anniversary of the day the dog bit my nose off. July 5, 1979, to be exact, so that means that this is the 30 year anniversary! So far, the day has started out fairly as usual, with the puppy beginning his whimpers at 6am, and the house smelling like a dirty litterbox that needs complete changing as soon as I am awake enough to tackle it. I usually just try to stay low key and not do anything too significant on July 5. I just dislike the day.
And so we had a very nice Fourth. We decided to go to the party for the twins and then come later to the beach for the fireworks, and it actually worked out quite well. We left right after their birthday cake, came home and walked the dogs, and then headed out to the beach, hitting almost no traffic at all. We stayed until around 11, then came home and had to hang out with the puppy for a little while, since he had been confined for so much of the day in his little crate. Maybe I can run him to the dog park again today so he can get some exercise. His little ears are looking greenish, I don't know why. I thought he had scratched them after he walked in grass but it seems to be getting worse, so I don't think that's why. I'll try cleaning them today and see if that helps. Since his bath, he smells a whole lot better, but I didn't want to freak him out in his first bath, so I didn't wash around his face or ears. He also has oozy eyes, so he always has a little reddish brown discharge on the sides. I'll have to ask the vet about that, but it may be normal for these little doggies.
And we're heading into busy times now. Megan starts her school volunteering tomorrow, then we're going for a college tour at TCNJ (The College of NJ). The Doll had said she wanted to come, I guess I'll have to find out if she is able to walk well enough to join us. If she comes, I hope she can walk, because it will be a pain if she's dragging behind the whole time. She is so excited about the whole college selection process, although she wants Megan to go to NYU so she can take trips in and meet up with her for lunch. Beach club meets also start Tuesday, so Megan will have those meets Tuesday and Thursday (so will Brian) as well as Wednesday and Saturday for the pool club, except this coming Saturday, when she has to go swim in a meet at Rutgers. (where I also need to schedule a college tour)
The hospital volunteering also starts this week, but she hasn't been able to get hold of the volunteer coordinator, to make sure it's OK that she comes Tuesday afternoons instead of mornings, because she is supposed to be at the pool club on Tuesday mornings for the next three weeks. And then, the last week in July, she goes to Maryland for nationals, and returns home with very little to do, just the two days at the hospital. And the vacations. When I speak of it like that, it seems like summer is over already! Better get Brian started on that summer reading!
In other news, Brian was taught to operate the ride-on mower yesterday. He did all the open areas, and Kevin supplemented the work with the push-mower and edged with the weed whacker. So we are lawn-service free now. Kevin says the guy finally did return his call, saying he couldn't find our number. Hmm. I think we have two listed in the phone book but I guess he doesn't use that modern technology. I have to spend part of this week figuring out how I am going to pay my bills from the last weeks of school; and the cleaning people come this week. I would like to put them on hold for the summer, but then I'm just afraid I won't ever clean the house well. Not that they do! Oh, and the Fresh Air Fund visit to our town is a week from Wednesday, but we apparently still haven't been assigned a child, so I don't know if we'll be doing it this year or not. At this point I almost hope not because I have things lined up for some of the days that week, although of course I will work around that if something comes through. But if we don't get one, and then they put out desperate pleas for hosts needed, I'll be annoyed at the inefficiency.
And so we had a very nice Fourth. We decided to go to the party for the twins and then come later to the beach for the fireworks, and it actually worked out quite well. We left right after their birthday cake, came home and walked the dogs, and then headed out to the beach, hitting almost no traffic at all. We stayed until around 11, then came home and had to hang out with the puppy for a little while, since he had been confined for so much of the day in his little crate. Maybe I can run him to the dog park again today so he can get some exercise. His little ears are looking greenish, I don't know why. I thought he had scratched them after he walked in grass but it seems to be getting worse, so I don't think that's why. I'll try cleaning them today and see if that helps. Since his bath, he smells a whole lot better, but I didn't want to freak him out in his first bath, so I didn't wash around his face or ears. He also has oozy eyes, so he always has a little reddish brown discharge on the sides. I'll have to ask the vet about that, but it may be normal for these little doggies.
And we're heading into busy times now. Megan starts her school volunteering tomorrow, then we're going for a college tour at TCNJ (The College of NJ). The Doll had said she wanted to come, I guess I'll have to find out if she is able to walk well enough to join us. If she comes, I hope she can walk, because it will be a pain if she's dragging behind the whole time. She is so excited about the whole college selection process, although she wants Megan to go to NYU so she can take trips in and meet up with her for lunch. Beach club meets also start Tuesday, so Megan will have those meets Tuesday and Thursday (so will Brian) as well as Wednesday and Saturday for the pool club, except this coming Saturday, when she has to go swim in a meet at Rutgers. (where I also need to schedule a college tour)
The hospital volunteering also starts this week, but she hasn't been able to get hold of the volunteer coordinator, to make sure it's OK that she comes Tuesday afternoons instead of mornings, because she is supposed to be at the pool club on Tuesday mornings for the next three weeks. And then, the last week in July, she goes to Maryland for nationals, and returns home with very little to do, just the two days at the hospital. And the vacations. When I speak of it like that, it seems like summer is over already! Better get Brian started on that summer reading!
In other news, Brian was taught to operate the ride-on mower yesterday. He did all the open areas, and Kevin supplemented the work with the push-mower and edged with the weed whacker. So we are lawn-service free now. Kevin says the guy finally did return his call, saying he couldn't find our number. Hmm. I think we have two listed in the phone book but I guess he doesn't use that modern technology. I have to spend part of this week figuring out how I am going to pay my bills from the last weeks of school; and the cleaning people come this week. I would like to put them on hold for the summer, but then I'm just afraid I won't ever clean the house well. Not that they do! Oh, and the Fresh Air Fund visit to our town is a week from Wednesday, but we apparently still haven't been assigned a child, so I don't know if we'll be doing it this year or not. At this point I almost hope not because I have things lined up for some of the days that week, although of course I will work around that if something comes through. But if we don't get one, and then they put out desperate pleas for hosts needed, I'll be annoyed at the inefficiency.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
the rain goes on
So every day it rains, at least a little. It's like living in London, or in Forks, Washington. The grass is always wet and the cars are always spotted. Hair is always frizzy, but that's to be expected in the summer in NJ anyway. So far it hasn't dampened plans too much figuratively, although literally most things end up damp much of the time. The forecast for today was for rain for the morning, but now it seems pushed to the afternoon.
So Wilbur/Duke is still not sure of his name. After two weeks, I think we need to decide, because if it's confusing to me, I am sure he is baffled. The only consistency is Pompom, my name for him, to which he responds only if he thinks it means he will get food.
He's doing well in puppy school too, although he considers it little more than dinner out on the town. Last night I had no treats so I cut up a leftover rotisserie chicken, and he thought he was in puppy heaven. His little mouth was chattering at the very thought of his next bite. But then at the end of the class, when they 'socialize' the dogs by introducing them two at a time to each other, he ignored the other dogs, focusing only on the treat sacks on the hips of the two trainers. The other dogs, two goldens and a mastiff, all got excited and waggly when they met each other. Wilbur/Duke jumped on them a little, but kept trying to get past them to get at the food.
So we are like the oddballs. Even driving in, I have him on my lap because I can't figure out how else to transport him. When I put him in a small cat carrier, he puked. If I have help, he rides on their lap, but last night I did not. The others all travel safely - crates in the back, one couple has the wife ride in the back with the puppy. But all of these puppies will grow up to be bigger. The goldens are not much larger than Wilbur/Duke now, but they get bigger every week, and he stays about the same. My favorite thing last night was the new dog and her family - they videotaped the whole thing!
Brian is enjoying his tennis camp very much, and I like that he can walk there and back by himself, albeit through coyote populated woods! It's good to know that if I can't get home in time, he can get himself there and home again, because I'm forever driving Megan somewhere or other. Whatever happened to summer being relaxing? I haven't slept past 5:30 or 6 more than once since school got out!
In other news, I cleaned out E's room yesterday. She left it such a mess! I told her she could leave things but they had to be boxed and in the closet or basement. They were all over everything. I shoved them all into the closet, and stood her suitcase up against the wall. I went through the clothes she is getting rid of, and emptied her trash. All I have to do is strip the bed and remake it, but I'm waiting until I have a working washing machine to do that, which should be Tuesday. I hope. Kevin got his ride-on lawnmower yesterday, but I didn't have a chance to take pictures because I had to run off to puppy school. I'll be sure to get some and add them later on. Now, as always, must drive Megan to the pool club.
So Wilbur/Duke is still not sure of his name. After two weeks, I think we need to decide, because if it's confusing to me, I am sure he is baffled. The only consistency is Pompom, my name for him, to which he responds only if he thinks it means he will get food.
He's doing well in puppy school too, although he considers it little more than dinner out on the town. Last night I had no treats so I cut up a leftover rotisserie chicken, and he thought he was in puppy heaven. His little mouth was chattering at the very thought of his next bite. But then at the end of the class, when they 'socialize' the dogs by introducing them two at a time to each other, he ignored the other dogs, focusing only on the treat sacks on the hips of the two trainers. The other dogs, two goldens and a mastiff, all got excited and waggly when they met each other. Wilbur/Duke jumped on them a little, but kept trying to get past them to get at the food.
So we are like the oddballs. Even driving in, I have him on my lap because I can't figure out how else to transport him. When I put him in a small cat carrier, he puked. If I have help, he rides on their lap, but last night I did not. The others all travel safely - crates in the back, one couple has the wife ride in the back with the puppy. But all of these puppies will grow up to be bigger. The goldens are not much larger than Wilbur/Duke now, but they get bigger every week, and he stays about the same. My favorite thing last night was the new dog and her family - they videotaped the whole thing!
Brian is enjoying his tennis camp very much, and I like that he can walk there and back by himself, albeit through coyote populated woods! It's good to know that if I can't get home in time, he can get himself there and home again, because I'm forever driving Megan somewhere or other. Whatever happened to summer being relaxing? I haven't slept past 5:30 or 6 more than once since school got out!
In other news, I cleaned out E's room yesterday. She left it such a mess! I told her she could leave things but they had to be boxed and in the closet or basement. They were all over everything. I shoved them all into the closet, and stood her suitcase up against the wall. I went through the clothes she is getting rid of, and emptied her trash. All I have to do is strip the bed and remake it, but I'm waiting until I have a working washing machine to do that, which should be Tuesday. I hope. Kevin got his ride-on lawnmower yesterday, but I didn't have a chance to take pictures because I had to run off to puppy school. I'll be sure to get some and add them later on. Now, as always, must drive Megan to the pool club.
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