Out With the Old, In With the New

Happy 2007 ... less than an hour to go for 2006, and I am glad to see this one go. May this year bring greater peace, kindness, and a balance of happiness to us all.
I have been now four days off the ADs, and I seem to be doing well so far. I have been down with a nasty cold for the last 36 hours or so, and have spent the time either wondering why in the hell Steve can't seem to handle two kids on his own when he expects me to be able to manage at the drop of a goddamn hat, or wondering how I got through the last year, and what I want the next year to be like.
How did I get through the last year? Let's see ... a lovely combination of alcohol and antidepressants for the most part, some inner stamina, and a sturdier bit of backbone that I wasn't sure I had. How about the next year? Maybe a bit of better planning, definitely less of the alcohol and hopefully none of the antidepressants. I've decided I will only go back to those as a last resort. They weren't bad for me; on the contrary, it was all too easy to take one a day and let that give me the patience I need for dealing with all the bullshit in my life. I guess I need to see if I can deal with all this myself.
I need to start taking care of myself. I missed the appointment with the cardiologist for my stress test, and I have to go get my cholesterol checked again in February. Jimmy's going to fuss at me if I haven't had the stress test by then. Guess my comp day will be a med day after all. I've been thinking that I should maybe go over and use the treadmill a couple times a week. I can't seem to get any exercise in any other way ... maybe there with something for the kids to do I could manage it. I know I need it.
Steve's mad about Mal's girlfriend. I need to talk to both of them about that, and I have no idea how to go about it. The dinner we had was lovely, but the repercussions later were not. It wasn't even technically about hat -- he was officially mad because I went back out after dropping off the sitter to spend another hour or two socializing with them at Uncle Mike's house in Stamford ... something he would have done himself, and has done many times in the past, left me home with the kids to go do something else after dinner is over and done. He was just mad because there is a new person in the mix, and she by her simple presence makes things damnable difficult for him. I hope we can come to some balance with this too.

Trial By Fire (Lite)

We'd made plans to all go out for dinner , and then we got the news that Nan's friend Lulu V had died, so we ended up going to the wake before we went out for dinner. It was old school Italian, open casket and the whole nine yards. I don't do that very well, but it wasn't too awful. Mal and Steve and I went together. Steve and I went on to Val Bella, and Mal went back to his house to pick up Karen. We sat in the bar for a little while until everyone else (Mal and Karen, Mike, and U.J.) got there. Dinner was very nice. I had the stuffed zucchini blossom appetizer, and it was wonderful. Everyone else had shellfish appetizers, so I didn't share with anyone. I had a filet, Steve had a rigatoni dish, Mike had fish, Mal had pork tenderloin. I didn't see what U.J. and Karen had because the table was pretty crowded and it was hard to see their side. Karen and I both had chocolate souffle for dessert, and it was divine. All of my boys behaved themselves. Steve even went to Macy's and bought a new outfit -- new sports jacket, nice shirt and tie, and new pants. He looked great! Mike looked like a schlub (had on an old polo shirt, no jacket).
After dinner, Steve drove home, and then I took Alice home and went over to Uncle Mike and Aunt Deb's to meet everyone and be social for a bit. They were all surprised when I walked in the door -- I never get to do that kind of thing! I'm always the one staying home with the kids. But Steve didn't want to come because he had to get up and go to work. It was fun, and I ended up staying until after midnight. U.J. is a little upset about this whole Karen business still.
I'm hoping things will slow down some after New Year's. I'm thinking about asking Mal if he would like to go with me and the kids (and maybe Mike and the kids too) somewhere during February vacation, maybe down to Disney for a couple days or something like that. I think he needs to spend some time with them, more than just an hour here or there. I hope he'll go for that. February is slow for him.
Steve said he would like to go to Louisiana in April, so I need to hunt up tickets for that and make sure Kristen and Danny are still on for the dates. Also talked to Kathy, and I may take a personal day mid-January and go see them in Boston. Jerome will be home for a few weeks then, but she has a business trip to Boston the week of the 14th, so he is coming with her. I thought I might take the kids and go stay one night there and take the kids and Jerome to the aquarium or the children's museum there -- something fun like that. She invited us down in the summer, too, so we talked about me and the kids coming for a week or so -- and me taking off for a couple days to go meet Steve in Vegas if Mom will come down and help Kathy and Jerome. Hopefully that will work out.

January Here We Come

Well, Christmas is over and done with. We survived all four rounds: Christmas Eve morning opening the gifts from my family, Christmas Eve at my father-in-law's, Christmas morning here, and Christmas dinner here. Steve once again wins the prize for toy purchases: a Homer Simpson-themed "Operation" game, otherwise known as "Junior Spanish Inquisition" for the way Homer howls and screams every time Sadie takes a stab at him, and a completely realistically ugly baby chimp doll that responds to sound and make chimp noises and moves (scares Sadie every time).
On the better side, he got Sadie the Dora castle, and Jake got a new backpack full of Pokemon cards and a child-size real guitar. Unfortunately, the instructions for tuning that would only have been less helpful had they been in Chinese, so we have to go to the music store in town sometime today and see if they have a better set of instructions and "how to play" books. Either that or I'll call Marie and see if she can help.
The kids got lots of wonderful goodies from Granny and Papa and the aunts and uncles, too -- lots of toys and games and fun stuff. Kathy apparently went to Target after Halloween and bought up the leftover costumes to send Sadie for dressup, and she found some really cute little suitcases and a giant hatbox to hold them all. There are accessories out the yingyang -- and sparkle shoes to boot! Jake's suitcase was full of art supplies, which he absolutely loved, and he was thrilled to get the Cranium Hullabaloo game from Granny and Papa.
Christmas Eve on North Street was somewhat stressful. Mike and I did the cooking, as Mal didn't make it home from dropping Karen back in NJ until after everyone else had arrived. He was tired and semi-hungover, which didn't help. Steve was cranky and when I went out to the garage to refill my wine glass, he followed me out and barked at me "You better not get drunk." I put the glass down, told him he couldn't talk to me like that, and he could damn well keep the glass. I should have thrown it at him, but I didn't want to make a scene. I went in and sat down in the living room with Sadie and decided to put another coat of nail polish on. He came in, brought me the glass now full of wine, and I told him he was rude and mean and I didn't want it. He didn't apologize to me until after we had opened up all the kids' gifts and I had taken the kids downstairs to see the tea house and the fort I built and painted for them. Those were the hit of the evening -- the kids loved them. I actually forgot to have them open up the dressup closet! That will be a New Year's gift for them. Mike and I decided to exchange the rest of the gifts for the kids after they get back from Boston. Mike gave me a pair of earrings, and Mal gave me a beautiful ring and earring set that he bought in St. Martin. He told me he thought it looked like the islands -- it's a wavy white gold design, with alternating diamonds and multicolor sapphires (pink, yellow and greenish blue). Steve gave me the matching necklace Christmas morning. Christmas morning with the kids was fun, and Mal came over to see the kids. He didn't eat because he wasn't feeling well. I told him he'd feel better if he quit trying to singlehandedly support the Chianti industry. He smiled, and fell asleep on the couch sitting up. Steve made a wonderful dinner later in the day, and I had all my boys at the table except Owen. Mike only stayed with them for about 2 hours in the morning -- he had planned on being there most of the morning, and then things didn't go well and that didn't work out. We talked about doing things differently next year for Christmas ... ie he will wear a decent shirt for Christmas Eve, he wants to have his own Christmas with his kids, Mal will not be allowed to go out carousing the day and night before a holiday and has to be over his hangover, Steve can't be an asshole, etc.
We're going out to Val Bella for dinner on Wed night with Mike, Mal, U.J., BettyAnn and Karen, so that should be nice. I hope. Mal and Karen are going down to Harrah's in Atlantic City for New Year's, so they should have a very nice time. We're doing a grand total of nothing again this year ... doubt we'll even see the ball drop.

Joining the list of things I never want to do again...

We've been trying to correct Sadie's habit of getting up in the middle of the night and demanding to come sleep in our bed. Thus, we've been letting her yowl a bit when she wakes up, and if nobody shows up, she tends to play with the stuffed animals and books in her bed until she falls back to sleep. So far, so good, right? Last week when she had a cold we had the Benadryl out at night so she would breathe better and sleep better. I thought the top was on tight, and it was up out of reach. Think again.

Joining the list of things I never want to do again: taking a hallucinating two-year-old to the ER. My chance at the Mother of the Year Award is completely shot to hell now.

Last night (this morning) she got up and started yowling a little about 4:15 or 4:20. After a few minutes she started talking to herself, and I dozed off again. I woke up at about 4:40 when she started yelling "Sticky! Sticky!" which is definitely NOT normal. I found her sitting in her bed, covered in Benadryl with and empty bottle and the top right next to her. I asked her if she drank any and she said yes -- but with an 8-oz bottle about 2/3 full, there was no way to tell just how much she actually ingested. Steve cleaned her up and I went hunting for the ipecac and charcoal, which were nowhere to be found. We still don't know where the first aid box went. I hunted for about ten minutes and then went up and told Steve I was taking her to the ER. He went to look for the first aid kit while I was throwing on clothes and getting Sadie into warmer pajamas -- he didn't find it either.
The ER was whopping busy (couple car wrecks and a lot of espanol going on), so Sadie and I sat in the triage room for about 45 minutes waiting for a nurse. She started twitching, and got pretty bug-eyed during that time, and after the nurse arrived, took her vitals and put all the relevant info into the computer, Sadie was looking fairly stoned. It was far too late for ipecac or charcoal at that point, since the medication was liquid and was already well in her system. The doc who came to see us put her on a heart monitor and had the nurses put in an iv line and draw some blood. They had to tape her entire right arm to a padded board to protect the iv line. Apparently since we didn't know exactly how much Benadryl she got, there was no way to know if she was going to cross the line into seizure territory -- thus the iv line at the ready in case they had to administer anti-seizure meds. That was delightful, as were the two times they had to take her temperature rectally. After that, the stickies holding the heart monitors to her chest were nothing.
We stayed in the ER for 6 hours, during which time her heart went racing several times and she hallucinated on and off for about 4 hours. She started off waving her hands in front of her face and telling me there were goldfish flying in her face, then later pointing to an empty wall in the room and telling me to go sit on the couch, then telling me a few times that Daddy was at the door (no one was there), and she spent some time having conversations with people who weren't there ( Miss Natacha, her teacher, Alice the babysitter, and Jake, who got yelled at for changing the channel on the TV, except he wasn't there and the DoodleBops were singing happily the whole time -- not even a commercial). She was also twitching a lot, like when you're just falling asleep and your whole body jerks. She definitely wasn't sleepy, so it was really weird to watch her do that. She was too dizzy to sit or stand, so she spent virtually all of that time on my lap. A volunteer brought us a breakfast tray with coffee (I drank) and orange juice (Sadie drank), and some other less than memorable breakfast items that neither of us wanted.
After they cleared her to go home (heart rate back down to 120s consistently, not hallucinating (or at least talking about it) and minimal shaking), we drove home, had lunch and she went down for a 3 1/2 hour nap. Steve came home with a cold, and I took a nap before I went to go pick up Jake. She was fine after her nap and a warm bath, and we are all relieved that this ended well.
I made sure to check caps on all the medicine bottles we have, and made sure they were all put up higher than before.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,
9 days to go, so I figure this is enough warning. Can you just fast forward me to January? The kids are so looking forward to your visit, and I keep putting on the sorority smile about the whole shebang. All I want for Christmas is to not have to deal with any of the grownups I am related to by marriage. If you can't send me ahead to January, can you send all of them to somewhere waythehellfargone? Several different somewheres would be ideal. And if you leave me with all the kids, make sure and leave a bonus for our beloved cleaning lady (or send the elves over for the magical mystery cleanup).
I think this is the first Christmas I am really not enjoying at all, and worse, dreading.
Now, for the radio station that is playing a near-constant barrage of Christmas/holiday tunes, I have the beginnings of a variation on Santa Baby. It's a work in progress.

Santa baby,
slip a chainsaw under the tree
For me
To use upon my no-good (insert relative-in-law here)
I've been an awful good girl
So hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa baby,
a reinforced Humvee to schlep the body out to the dump
that chump
I'll wait up for you dear
So hurry down the chimney tonight!

Come and stuff my stocking tight
With those goggles that can see in the night
I really do believe in you
Let's see if you believe in me too
Ba-Doopy-Do

Santa Baby, forgot to mention one little thing
A string
nice and strong for a good-size garrotte
Why not?
Santa Baby, hurry down the chimney tonight!
Hurry down the chimney tonight!

Done:

1. Shopping is done
2. Christmas cards are done and mailed
   
3. packages sent
4. teacher gifts gotten
   

Still to Do:

1. wrapping -- nighttime garage activity
   
2. finish painting the playhouse
3. make the cinnamon rolls for the neighbors and us
   
4. make a shopping list for Mal/Mike for Christmas Eve dinner
5. make sure we have vegetables and dessert for Christmas Day
   

Up and Down .. and Back Up Again

After yesterday and today, I decided to go ahead and get the last refill of my double-dose ADs. I really thought that the shit wouldn't hit the fan until much closer to Christmas, at which point I had planned to be much more used to the single dose schedule. Best laid plans, eh? Well, shit. I hope this is a whole lot better by the end of December. I really don't want to have to admit to Jimmy that I've done this and worse, that I might need another month or so of higher dose crap. I keep thinking, though, that not only do I need to make sure that I am sane and apparently normal for my own children, but also for Charlotte and Owen ... everyone else (almost) can take a flying leap. All four kids have been through the wringer these last several months (O and C more than anyone) , and they need as normal a Christmas as we can give them. So if it takes pharmaceutical help for me to achieve that this year, so fucking be it.
Had a TMI conversation with my dear FIL today ... took the giant box pieces that Joanne and I will hopefully transform into a fun playhouse for the kids over to his house, and he helped me tuck them into the garage. I asked if he was going south this afternoon, and he got a shy, sheepish look on his face and said, "well, I was thinking about it..." I told him to have a nice trip, and he said, "that's better than BettyAnn telling me to be careful!" and I said, "I don't want to think about whatever Betty's telling you to be careful about!" His response was "Well, the Lexapro pretty much takes care of that so nobody needs to worry." Then we talked a little about the meds -- how I was going to go back to the double dose for a month and then go back down after the holidays, and he said he had tried going off it last week and he decided that was a bad idea, side effects and all. I just hope that this works out for him. Leaving him today I was so very sad, but it was weird -- it wasn't an I'm sad for him kind of thing, it was more an "I'm sad that things are going to be different and I don't know what all this means". Part of me wants to tell him this, but I don't want to burden him, and I don't want him to think I disapprove -- because I definitely don't. That man put in a lifetime's worth of effort and emotion into the last ten or fifteen years, and he deserves every break and wonderful thing there is in life at this point.
Damn, but I need to get my hair done. I haven't been to the salon since July, and my hair looks like absolute shit on a shingle. There's my selfish moment for the week.

The First Thanksgiving

I have officially survived the first Thanksgiving. It's been a first on several levels -- most importantly, it's the first major holiday since my mother-in-law died in late August. I had this bizarre fear of having to sit in her chair at the end of the table. It was also the first Thanksgiving with Mike there alone. Joanne took the kids to Boston to be with her family, and they will be there a couple days. And finally, it was the first holiday since Mal told us last week that he was seeing a woman whom he had met in Atlantic City. She didn't come up (he had said that that would be too much, and he was right). He had gone down to NJ the night before, and didn't make it back until early afternoon. I called Steve to ask him to bring a few more things over and he actually asked me if his father came back alone -- he was worried about that. I had made the rolls the day before and set them to rise in the fridge overnight, along with cinnamon rolls. Mike and I took care of getting things ready and doing the cooking at the house, while Steve took care of the turkey at our house (fried, of course). Sadie came with me and took a nap there, and Jake came with Steve later. Linda and Steve came with Linda's friend, and U.J. showed up looking like he was headed for the cheap side of Vegas. We had plenty of food, and the kids behaved themselves, so that was good.
Mal is going to St. Maarten to visit Karen, his new lady friend, for 6 days starting on the 3rd or 4th. I told him he wasn't allowed to leave the country until I had the phone number where he would be! He called her to get the number for me, so that was good. He doesn't understand why I was so insistent, and I couldn't talk to him about that yesterday. It's the whole thing with Mom and Dad when he had his heart attack on their trip through Texas, and she didn't call anyone for two days and no one knew where they were until they got transferred to the hospital in Dallas. They scared the crap out of me. I can't deal with people I love traveling and not being able to reach them, or know where they are.
Mike and Mal and I are going Christmas shopping for the kids this next Wed. after work. Maybe if we can get Wayne to come stay with the kids, Steve will come too... he would probably like that. Mike and I talked about Christmas, and we both agreed that whatever happens with the grownups, we need to focus on just making it as normal as possible for the kids ... first Christmas without Mimi, and that was HER holiday. It's going to be rough, especially if we have everyone there, but if they can just behave for 24 hours we'll be fine -- Christmas Eve through Christmas Night. I was hoping Kathy could come up, especially since Jerome will still be away, but she doesn't have any more time off for this year, so that's not going to happen.
Joanne and I talked about making the dressup closet the present for the kids this year. I am going to go check out the Salvation army store in Port Chester and see what kinds of fun dressup clothes they have. I brought home a giant heavy-duty cardboard box from work (we got a big cart for the new laptops) and we are going to paint a playhouse for the kids too. This way we can do some fun things together (for not a lot of cash) and do two big presents to all of the kids.

murphy's lawyer

The Murphy of the title would be my sister-in-law, who is working on getting a lawyer and ridding herself of my husband's brother. She's been to one, and will be seeing another one hopefully this week. He's moved out, and moved in with my father-in-law. The plan (for what it is at the moment) is for them to both have lawyers and have the lawyers help them find an acceptable mediator, so they don't have to litigate everything. They tried one mediator, who wasn't acceptable to either of them, and they are going to try another one as soon as she finds a lawyer she can work with. The problem is that all their funds are tied up in the house -- which they will have to sell in all likelihood. He seems relaxed about all this, while she is upset and tied up in knots most of the time, and the kids are sometimes a mess. She and I took the three older kids to see Flushed Away on Thurs, and when we left the theater Jake and Owen were walking ahead of us. When I got Jake into the car he said "When are you and Daddy going to get separated?" Trying to explain separation and divorce to a five year old is NOT fun. How do you explain that it happens to some people and not others? How do I assure him that we're not going to do that -- that we are staying together? Eeeuuuwww.
Started a little Christmas shopping this weekend and dropped a bag of games for the kids over at Mal's. It was my excuse to come in and get the Christmas stuff organized and put in the spare room closet. I also took the last couple things that I wanted to put on ebay and get rid of (they're listed, hope they sell so I can be done with it). The one thing I thought I would sell and had second thoughts about was the little Coach bag. I put that away in the closet ... it's not really my style, but maybe Sadie will like it someday.
Looks like Mike will be with us for Thanksgiving. Christmas could possibly include everyone, but we'll see how messy things get between now and then. I'm having more trouble with feeling depressed again ... could be because I cut my dose of AD. I'm waiting to see if this evens out.
I took Thursday off as my first comp day (since they couldn't pay me for the time I put in over the summer working on the library). It was a good day in that I got a lot of things done, like take care of several things at the bank, got my glasses fixed (the solder joint in front is going to self-destruct in a couple months, so I went ahead and ordered another pair), went to get my blood drawn to finish off my bloodwork for my physical, and went to Avrick's in Norwalk where they are having a going out of business sale. I got Sadie a beautiful twin bed, two file cabinets for Jake (so he can have the desktop Pop made me), two end tables for the living room, and two hutch pieces, one for Jake's desk and one for on top of Grandma's buffet so I can display some of our china. All that's getting delivered Tuesday. Hopefully Mal will agree to take care of Sadie's bed and maybe Jake's desk pieces for Christmas. If not, that's okay -- I like what I got.
Talked to my favorite dr this weekend. Apparently my bloodwork came back all reasonably normal except for my cholesterol, which is pretty much through the roof at 235. He wants me to work on my diet for a couple months and come back to see how the numbers are, so I'm in for February. I called Mom because I remembered her cholesterol got out of hand at one point, and it turns out hers was over 400, but that was after her hysterectomy. She didn't know if it was high before, but she suspects it was. Her mother's was always very high also. Great. Dad's is also not good (it's better now that he's on meds for it), and Grandmona's was apparently always high also. On first glance it would seem that genetics are against me, but considering that both my grandmothers lived past 90 (Grandmona almost made it to 100), maybe there are other things at play here also. Can't depend on that though, so if the numbers are still bad in February I'm going to tell Jimmy to just go ahead and give me the lipitor or whatever he recommends.

An All-Day Media Affair

Today was the annual CECA conference up in Cromwell. I was generally disappointed -- nothing phenomenal in terms of workshops or presentations, although I did like the keynote speaker (David Warnick?) very much. I mostly went to get the iPod they were giving to attendees. Of course, as usual, it's the newly discontinued model, the 1 gig nano, but I was happy to get it as I didn't have one up until this morning. The last workshop I went to was one on blogging, and I found that very interesting.. So, the beginning and the end of the day were good, and then there was the middle, with starving attendees, not enough food from the hotel staff, and quite possibly the worst coffee I've had since my very first attempt to make coffee by myself without any directions. I've since gotten reasonably decent at it -- these people have a LONG ASS way to go. Unfortunately, there was literally nothing else available until we turned in out lunch ticket stubs for a white paper sack lunch and a bottle of water. Jen and I escaped right after lunch and ran away to Dunkin Donuts for a breather.
Mal and Steve managed the kids just fine today, so there is hope that I will be able to do other things like this every now and again.
Tonight I went to Arcadia Coffee Co/Just Books and met Anita Silvey, who has just published a book called 500 Great Books for Teens. She's got another one that's for younger kids, but this one's right up my alley. She was absolutely delightful, and it was such a treat to be able to discuss the books I really enjoy with a new grownup who sees them in the same light. After we discussed the process she went through for her decisions and criteria for which to include, we talked about her next project, which sounds amazing. She is working on a nonfiction book for the middle grades all about the women who dressed as men and fought in the Civil War. She was telling us about her research, and how she has discovered fascinating stories about so many families. Her initial question upon learning that many hundreds of women fought in the war was "Why did they fight?" and she told us that the question quickly became "Why did they stay?" because so many of them stayed with their units for long periods of time, when they could have easily gone home or at least to somewhat safer territory. She also said that she took trips to battle fields and mapped out where the known women soldiers would have been. Wow...
I can't wait to see what she does with this.
I bought copies of her current book for all 3 middle schools and she autographed them for me, so I'll pass those out on Wed.

Mama Ball Says

Busy as usual. Ran over to CMS today to pick up extra copies of a couple books for our 6th graders to use in research, and hit the jackpot in galleys from Jenny at Just Books. I brought home about 6 or 8 to read, and will send them back over when I'm done.
Looks like some fun stuff in there. I read Knights of the Hill Country by Tim Tharp last night, and I think it will be a hit with our fellas who need good sports books. The voice is pretty authentic -- not what my guys are used to as there is a definite Oklahoma twang to the characters, but I think they will all relate to the issues of friendship, and how far do you go to protect a friend and keep a friend. I know, it's set in OK, so I have a soft spot for that, and the guy who wrote it still lives there (more power to you, honey). But I liked the imagery, and there were several places where the figurative language stopped me and made me re-read just for the pleasure of a well-crafted phrase. I think that's a little unusual in a sports book. Mike Lupica does it well, and I thought John Coy's Crackback was good with that also, but I haven't really seen anything else in that category.
I have lots of reading ahead of me ... I'm actually considering going to see Our Fearless Leader and telling him I want a full day comped to me just so I can sit and read. He owes me a grand total of 48 hours from the summer that he said he could pay me for, and then he couldn't, so he said I could comp out time like that. If he lets me I may do that a couple times this year just to go read and catch up. I definitely have to do that on the Thursdays after Elizabeth has cleaned my house, though -- I can concentrate more and relax if the house is clean. She is an absolute godsend. It makes such a difference in my stress to know that I'm coming home to a house with clean floors and clean bathrooms.
Set up the staff development day today, and hopefully it will go well and everyone will find enough to do. I've got Eeyore and me doing a workshop on new online resources, so that will be good. For once, that's the only one we are doing.
The March Hare has started occasionally finding herself in the Hundred Acre Wood, mostly with Eeyore, and occasionally with Owl (who morphs into Tigger and then back into Owl), and Kanga. Every kid in the school qualifies as her Roo! Christopher Robin shows up also every now and again, but the March Hare has yet to spot a Pooh or a Heffalump (unless Our Fearless Leader counts as the Heffalump ... maybe if Heffalumps have Groucho Marx combovers).

Mama Ball Says

The trip Jake and I took to Washington DC last weekend for the National Book Festival was fantastic! He was wonderful -- walked everywhere with me, did a LOT more than I thought we'd be able to do, and was generally a great traveling companion. He was excited to be able to stay overnight in a hotel (we stayed at the Capitol Hyatt, which has a great rate for Sat night and was only 3 blocks from the mall). He was so happy to have me all to himself, and also to be able to do whatever we wanted - whenever we wanted! We haven't been anywhere without an agenda or anyone else to worry about in ages, and theat was really good for him.
The National Book Festival was amazing. There were plenty of authors for every age group and genre, and lots of free activities and presentations as well. We came home with a boatload of free posters -- the artwork was wonderful. I definitely want to do that again next year. I told Jake we would definitely go down again, hopefully soon so we can take advantage of the great fall weather, and next time we'll work it out so we can stay with Paul and Kelly and go in with Kelly and Cate.
Yesterday we interred L's ashes at the cemetery. The kids were reasonably well-behaved through most of the ceremony with Father Fred, but they lost it at the end and started running around. Mal didn't take that too well. He was trying so hard to hold it together. We went back to the house and had everyone for lunch ... I guess about 25-30 people. J and I went through the costume jewelry and decided just to move it all into the corner of the closet we are making the "dressup" closet for the kids. I guess at some point we will go through the good jewelry with Mal. I don't know that I want to have any of it for myself, but I would like to pick out some pieces for Charlotte and Sadie to have as graduation/wedding gifts, and maybe some for the boys for when they get married (for our future daughter-in-laws). Still have to finish all the thank you notes. I think I have about 10 or 12 left to do.
Work is going well. It's amazing to me how I'm working harder than I ever did last year, but I'm happier. I think it's because I don't have to worry about getting hit from behind with manic behavior or wonder what's going on that I don't know about (and will have to drop everything and jump in to fix at the last minute). There are issues at work, but they are manageable. Eeyore is still not doing much, but she did get a few things done this week to prepare for the eztraxx nonsense we have coming up early next week. She sent the book order -- didn't really look at it, but she sent it. I started weeding the fiction, and told her to look over what I'd pulled -- and told Kanga to give her four days to look it over and then delete anything left on the cart on Friday. That got done, but I'm not sure she actually looked at anything. I've been doing all the website updates too. That doesn't take much time, but it's something we have to discuss as doing double duty on this isn't going to work out easily. The Boss is supposed to come in from downtown sometime soon to divvy responsibilities. That should be interesting.
Haven't had much time to read lately, but I'm working on Meg Rosoff's new one, Just in Case.

Mama Ball Says

So far, so good. At least I think. Went to see our beloved doc, Jimmy B, today for the annual physical. Apparently there is something weird with my EKG, so he wants me to go see a heart doc and get it checked out. The guy he recommended is actually moving offices in the next two weeks, so he said an appointment in the next month or so would be good. Obviously I am not going to drop dead or anything, but I didn't really understand 100% of what he was telling me ... something about my heart is not in the right place and has moved toward the left side of my chest and I have some kind of block? Anyway, Jimmy wants me to have a stress EKG (guess that means I have to get on the treadmill and sweat with all those damn wires attached -- should be more fun than a goddamn barrel of monkeys). On the good side, he gave me prescrips for my seasonal allergy meds and asthma meds, so that will get me through the fall. The plan is to get me onto the lower dose of ADs by Nov, and then off them sometime Jan or Feb, depending on how the holidays and other nonsense go. I told him I really don't have time tto screw around -- I have all my fellas to take care of, and my two kids. He just smiles at me. Jimmy's nurse fussed at me because I forgot to fast and therefore couldn't do the blood work for cholesterol because I had treated myself to breakfast at the deli (egg, cheese and bacon sandwich and coffee). Well, shit a brick, Nancy, I never get to have a decent breakfast anymore, and a half hour in the morning with no kids and off work seemed like the perfect time to do just that. So now I have to go back for the flaming bloodwork -- she's there Friday at 8:30, so I'm aiming for that. We'll see -- it'll probably be like the goddamn mammogram which I keep missing for one reason or another. I think Leslie D.'s going to string me up if I miss another year doing that.
iWeb seems like it will be a piece of cake to teach to the 8th grade, so we'll have to fill up the time with other shit. Of course, that's if we can figure out how to upload to the .mac accounts and m,ove all the kids' folders from hither to yon and back. We'll see. Training today with Gary Webster was awesome as usual -- he gives the best, clearest instruction in using software and hardware, and he has handouts that are equally idiot-proof. Very, very nice. My biggest worry for tomorrow is what the hell do I do with the bloody budget for next year!!! Haven't done that before, and the form I got from Ro yesterday doesn't help much. I really, really don't want to fuck this up. Have to go talk to Ro and Ralph tomorrow about all this hoohah, and I have to talk to Gina about which computers are going to bite the dust next year. I don't know how much help C is going to be. We also have to send in the next book order soon as it has several things we really need on it, and if she doesn't look at the damn thing soon I am just going to send it anyway and to hell with the bitch and moan session that will follow. The next big issue will be weeding the fiction section, as I can tell that's not going to happen unless I get after it... and that will be next week's project. Have to talk to Fran about division of responsibilities .. and what happens if things don't get done. I don't want to do everything myself, and I shouldn't have to.
The other irritating thing I have to do is figure out how to write my annual improvement/staff development plan, or whatever weird acronym they've given it this year. Have to do it online this year, and has to be done relatively soon I think. Another "next week" project. I did get my confirmation that I'm off to CECA on the 23rd, which will be lots of fun. We get ipods for going this year, so that's nice.
Decided to take Jake and trot off to DC this weekend. The National book festival is this weekend, and there are going to be lots of fun things going on down at the mall. Kelly and co. are busy with family reunion, so I'm just going to get a room at the capitol hyatt and not worry about it. It's 3 blocks from the mall, so we'll be good. Hopefully Jake will think it's really fun!

Mama Ball Says

Things are definitely getting better. We are almost done with the web training (only a few stragglers left), everything went well with Eeyore's husband's surgery, and other than having to revise the handouts at least five times, it wasn't horrible... just exhausting. Our next battle is figuring out the curriculum, as we now have WHAT we're supposed to do, but nothing firm on how we're supposed to teach it. Then we have the budget (eeeeuuuuwwww) for next year which has to get done next week. We had our first media staff meeting, and it went pretty well. D is a little out of control sometimes ... haven't figured out how to rein her in yet. Everyone else is doing fine so far.
On the good side, I went over to Kristine's to see the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy with a group of girls from EMS, and we had such fun! I was glad to see they included Joanna, our new ss teacher, who is such fun.
Home is pretty good at the moment. Mal is hanging in there. Steve was in Florida last weekend, and the kids and I ended up staying over at Mal's on Saturday night. He was lonely and didnn't want us to leave and go home ... so we stayed, and he and I stayed up until midnight talking. The nights must be difficult -- nothing to keep you busy. The next family disaster is coming in the next few weeks, I think. Who knows what this will bring.

Mama Ball Says

Things are getting better, albeit slowly. Jake's first few days at kindergarten were hard for him, mostly because he didn't know anyone, and then his teacher had to be out for two days to get her daughter off to college. This week was much better, though, as he started saying he was finally having fun and managed to figure out how to get his lunch eaten quickly enough! He also started going to the YWCA two afternons a week, and he loves it there. They have a wonderful staff, and he loves the activities (chess and gymnastics right now). Two of his favorite buddies from preschool are also there, along with a lovely little girl from his kindergarten class, and that helps a lot.
Work is overwhelming at the moment. We started off with a completely changed curriculum (and no idea exactly what it was as we didn't get the documentation for a week), a crash course in website management using the new system (happened yesterday), and we have to get the entire faculty trained to use it and post homework by the 25th. And we have to actually start updating the website also. Add to this C's husband is having some kind of surgery which will keep him in the hospital for basically all of next week, so she will be out at least 2 days, possibly more, plus I am sure more once he arrives home to recuperate. It looks to me like training the faculty will be 90% on my shoulders, if not completely. I am going to be exhausted. I feel like I should be scheduling my nervous breakdown. It'll be a doozy.

Mama Ball Says

It's been six days since my mother-in-law passed away. This has been one of the most difficult weeks of my life, and there's more to be done. I took today off work, and tomorrow also, just so I can get my sanity restored a little. I haven't been sleeping well at night for the last few weeks anyway, and this morning I went to see my favorite doc for three or four nights' assistance. I think I just need to get myself in the habit of sleeping through the night, or at least give myself a break of a few nights where I really sleep so I can make it through going back to work on Wednesday and Jake's first day of kindergarten.
I realized last Thursday night that, at 37, I have become the de facto matriarch of this family. I've seen the job. I don't think I want it, but I don't think I have much choice in the matter.

Mama Ball Says

Woo-hoo! Freya has returned from overseas, and has brought back a load of wonderful books, most of which we can't get yet here, like the new Artemis Fowl. I had three bags full to read,and I am really excited! I have to get busy on those. :) Book reviews will be forthcoming on those.
This week I read Caroline Cooney's latest, Hit the Road, which was fantastic. Great multi-generational read, with the teen protagonist managing her grandmother and her grandmother's friends on the way to a college reunion .. with a kidnapping, some theft and a lot of suspense -- who's the real bad guy and how do you know? Good, realistic twists. I loved it!
More excellent reads: Crackback, The Sixth Grade Nickname Game, and Ball Don't Lie. Very different levels and audiences, but all well written and good books, especially for boys. Can't wait to booktalk these!
I've been working on Jeanne DuPrau's Prophet of Yonwood, and it's looking good so far. Once that's done it's off and running into the Brit books ... and I have a LOT to read!

Mama Ball Says

Well, it's midnight and I can't sleep! I think the last time I was this awake at this hour was when Sadie was tiny and had her days and nights screwed up for a bit. Got back about 45 minutes ago from NYC. Nic and Justin drove me home from New Rochelle which was where Nic had her truck parked.
I had the BEST time at Harry Carrie and Garp! Whoopi Goldberg introduced the program, and she was hilarious. Whoever wrote the script didn't run it by her much -- she kept making faces at the teleprompter and going off on her own tangents ... and finally she just looked at the audience and said "You know, sometimes you just have to skip over things!" Kathy Bates introduced Stephen King, and she was really funny too. Stephen King is a wonderful reader. He read the pie-eating contest scene from "The Body" (aka Stand By Me), and we were absolutely rolling! He was so much fun to listen to, especially with his asides and quick comments during the reading. Later, during the question session, he was aked "What scares you?" and his response was "Everything!" He also explained in a different answer that when he gets an idea for a story, it's "a red thread leading into a mousehole, and you have to carefully pull the thread out of the mousehole..." and the thread is your story, and you can't quite see where it's coming from or where it's going, but you just know you have to get to the end of it. He also said emphatically that "the story is the reward -- not the money!" John Irving addded onto that, saying he would have to check out the mousehole first and the thread and everything about the whole situation -- he has to plan everything before he writes, and then he rewrites everything.
I forget the actor's name who introduced John Irving, but I did recognize his face -- I'm just terrible with names. John Irving read the Christmas pageant scene from A Prayer for Owen Meany, and we were all rolling again! His rendition of Owen's voice was exactly the way I heard it in my head when I read the book: squeaky and high-pitched, but with a tinge of sarcastic attitude. One of the questions he got later was about the inspiration for his book The Fourth Hand, and he said it came from a comment that his wife made when they were watching the news and saw a story about a hand transplant. She said to him that if his hand went to someone else after he died, she's want to be able to visit it -- and then she went to bed and he stayed up thinking about it all night!
Jon Stwewart from the Daily Show introduced J.K. Rowling, and she read the scene from book 6 where Harry and Dumbledore use the pensieve to observe Dumbledore's going to the orphanage to get the young Voldemort to come to Hogwarts. One of the best questions for her afterward was "If Hermione were to look into the mirror of Erised, what would she see?" J.K. Rowling replied after a moment that she thought Hermione would see herself, Harry and Ron victorious over Voldemort, and also that she would be "entwined with another character whom I'm sure you can name."
It was wonderful -- there was a full house at Radio City, amounting to some 6,000 people on the absolute hottest day of the year so far. The stage sets were fun too -- each author had a rolling mini stage upon the stage that was set up with a large chair and some props appropriate to the author. Stephen King's chair was a heavy wooden thing that looked something like an electric chair with an afghan on it, and he had farm kinds of props -- wheelbarrow, etc. John Irving's set looked like a living room, with fake fireplace, giant leather chair, side table and antique-looking globe. J.K. Rowling's set of course had a throne-style chair on it, and the other pieces looked like they came out of a castle somewhere. The end q & a session was moderated by Soledad O'Brien.
It was wonderful to sit with 6000 other people who enjoy books and want to hear from their favorite authors! There were people from all over, including a woman from Shanghai who stood up to ask a question.
This was one of the most fun evenings I've had in the last year (other than the trip to Vegas!).

Mama Ball Says

Big night tonight -- going into the city with Nicole and friends to see An Evening with Harry, Carrie and Garp" at Radio City. It's JK Rowling, Stephen King and John Irving reading from their works and answering questions. They are raising funds for Doctors Without Borders and the Haven Foundation, and it should be really, really fun!

Mama Ball Says

Vegas was terrific! We had a wonderful time. I think a lot of that was due to the fact that Steve finally at some point came to grips with the fact that I really don't like gambling much. So I went to the pool to swim and read, went to the spa every day, and went shopping once. Steve went down to his favorite bar and played video poker mostly. He did play some roulette, too. I played a few rounds of video poker, but I never did well.
We went to the Bellagio for brunch when we arrived on Sunday, and I highly recommend that. Tip -- sit at the bar. You get seated faster, and the bartenders fill up your drinks a lot faster and more often than the waitresses do. We walked past 50 or 60 people who were waiting for tables! While we were at the Bellagio we went to the art gallery and saw the Ansel Adams photography exhibit, which I loved. It was really interesting to see all the photos in person, and read about what he was doing when he took them. They had letters and items from his personal life, which gave you a sense of who he was beyond his photography. There was also an old camera setup of his. It was HUGE! I was amazed that he got all that out into the wilderness and made it work. He must have had quite a crew of people to haul his stuff around. There were a couple that Steve and I both liked, so I went into the gift shop to see if they had prints, but they only had postcard size of the ones we liked. I'm going to try framing those. I spent the rest of Sunday afternoon in the salon, getting my hair colored and cut. I was much happier with my hair afterward! By dinnertime, we were hungry again, so Al recommended the Italian trattoria in the MGM and off we went. Halfway through dinner, we were both trying not to fall asleep in our plates! We finally gave up and went up to the room (Steve got us a bungalow suite which is basically a room big enough for a double size bathroom, bedroom area and a sitting area) to crash for the night .. and it was only about 7 or 7:30. Yes, we felt incredibly lame, but in our defense, neither one of us slept much the night before.
Monday morning I got a manicure and pedicure at the spa. I've never had a spa experience like this one. Every spa I've been to (and yes, it's a very limited number) has been borderline uncomfortable, because I always got the feeling that the girls running the spa didn't think I ought to be there, like I wasn't the kind of person who deserved their attention. That was definitely NOT the case at the MGM spa. Everyone there was incredibly welcoming and nice, and the girls at the front desk who gave me a tour on my first day explained everything in detail. Monday I got my first-ever set of acrylic tips (very fancy looking nails I have now!), and first ever full pedicure. I discovered later that two Bailey's prior to foot treatments makes them much nicer, as I usually can't stand to have anyone touch my feet. However, I was thrilled to have nice-looking nails!
Monday afternoon Steve and I both went to the pool to go float in the lazy river (1/4 mile of "river" pool where all the jets point in the same direction to create a gentle current). It was phenomenaly hot, and there were a lot of people and kids out. It was fun, but not really relaxing as you had to pay attention in order not to run into people! We decided that mornings were probably going to be better for the pool. Monday night Steve surprised me with a limousine, and we had a lovely ride over to old Vegas where we went to the Four Queens. We had reservations at Hugo's Cellar for dinner, but we were quite early, so we played 50-cent roulette ... and I won over $100! I didn't even know the odds until the dealer handed me my first $25 chip, and Steve told me the odds were 35 to 1 to win. There was an old gentleman across the table who had a retired Marine cap on, and I bought him $25 worth of chips when he started running low. Steve thought I was odd for doing that, but the guy reminded me of Pop, and I just wanted to do something nice for him. He was really surprised, so that was fun! We ended up cashing in $150 worth of chips, which put a dent in our dinner bill. Hugo's Cellar was by far the best dinner we had in Vegas. The hostess handed me a rose when we walked in, and they seated us in a very comfortable booth. We had a wonderful bottle of wine, and they had a guy who came to make your salad tableside, with your choice of about 12 different ingredients. Steve had steak, and I had chicken with mushrooms (heartier than regular chicken marsala), and we enjoyed every bite. The service was impeccable -- the next time we get to Vegas I want to go there again! The limo ride back to the MGM was a lot of fun, as we got to see all the lights -- old Vegas as well as the strip.
Tuesday we went to the pool in the morning, after we had a nice breakfast at the cafe. The pool was much better first thing in the morning -- fewer people, not as hot, and we enjoyed it more. After that I went back to the spa for a basic massage, and I decided to go a little early and check out their shower facilities (mostly because housekeeping was cleaning our room at the time). VERY NICE! I had a nice relaxing post-pool cleanup before my massage, and then a nice hot shower again after the massage (incredible massage, by the way). Apparently you are supposed to go sit in the sauna for a little while after a massage, but I didn't feel like doing that. The spa facilities are great as they have everything you need in quantity, and it's all placed right where you need it. With any spa treatment, you are allowed to come back at any point during the day and use the spa facilities, like the jacuzzi pool, sauna, whatever ... but I never made it back down to do that. The jacuzzi pool made me a bit uncomfortable on Tues as there was a particularly heavy older woman getting out as I came down the hallway, and she was absolutely stark naked. There are three other sides to the pool, all of which do not face the hallway entrance -- so she COULD have avoided showing her altogether (which was going every which way) but apparently that wasn't what she wanted to do. I had once of those shuddery "eeeuuuuuwww" moments as I tried not to go blind. We went for a short walk down the strip after I finished at the spa and had Fatburgers for lunch -- old time greasy burger joint. The milkshake was really good! Later, we got dressed and took the monorail over to Caesar's Palace to pick up our Elton John tickets and have dinner at Nero's. Caesar's is enormous, and they have a giant shopping mall also. Nero's was by far the worst dinner we had. I'll never go there again. We sat down for dinner at 5:15. I think our wine that we ordered right away finally showed up at 5:45. Dinner didn't arrive until about 6:40 -- when we had basically finished the wine. The food was good, but the service was so awful (the waiter just disappeared and I think visited our table twice in the hour we waited between wine and dinner). We told the waiter when we arrived that we were seeing Elton John for our anniversary that night, and you would have thought that would have made some difference. Obviously not. Aside from the Nero's disappointment, Elton John was fantastic! The band was incredible, Elton John was amazing, and they had all kind of fun props on stage for the various songs. THey also had a giant movie screen behind them, and they showed videos for each song, most of which were "arty" and somewhat strange (several of them had the same gay dancer who needed some serious lessons -- probably somebody's boyfriend). One of the better videos had Pam Anderson doing a poledance to "The Bitch is Back" and that was great! That was definitely Steve's favorite, even though most of the other videos had an assortment of hooters in them. Lots of fun! The two women seated on my other side recommended the spa at the Paris hotel: said it wasn't as expensive as other places and it was still really nice.
Wednesday I went back to the pool in the morning to read and swim a little, and that was nice. I met Steve at the bar and had tweo Bailey's, and then I went to the spa for their "rainforest" spa treatment. That was REALLY cool. I did the arrive early and use the facilities strategy again, and tht was nice. When it was time for my appointment, Laurie came to get me and she took me back up the main stairs, and down a separate set of stairs to a private suite that was bigger than the downstairs of my house. I walked in the main room, which had a huge jacuzzi tub on the right, and sofas and comfy furniture scattered around. The bathroom area had a sitting area, a separate room with a toilet and bidet, a separate room that was the shower (must have been at least 8x8), and off that was a steam room. I never did figure out how big that was because it was so steamy I couldn't see, but I think it was at least the size of the shower room. Laurie told me to go sit in the steam for 10 minutes, and then come out when I was ready. When I did (all wrapped up in the cushy robe they give you), she took me into the treatment room, which was about 3 times the size of all the other rooms I'd been in, there were 2 massage tables. The rainforest treatment consisted of a messy but delightfully aromatic body scrub with crushed cocoa beans, sugar, vanilla and flower oils. It was like getting a massage before a massage. When that was done, Laurie went to start the shower for me, then came back and wrapped me all up in the sheets and towels and walked me into the bathroom area. She told me to take a really good shower and come out when I was done. The shower was amazing -- it was one of those showers with multiple sprays coming from all different directions, and there were several on/off handles. The shower amenities besides the sprays were wonderful: fancy shampoos and conditioners and a couple different body washes. Once I finished that, I went back out (again wrapped in that cozy robe) and Laurie finished with a fantastic massage. The oils she used smelled much like the body scrub, just without the scrubby bits. I smelled like dessert when I got done there! It was such a treat to do that, and it made such a difference for me in terms of how relaxed I was ... all of those spa treats really helped me to unwind and recharge my batteries. I didn't realize just how run down I was until about half way through our trip.
I went shopping at the Fashion Place mall that afternoon and picked up some gifts -- especially for Kathy. Macy's was having a sale with multiple discounts, so I got her a really pretty necklace as a thank you for taking care of the kids for us. When I got back, Steve was asleep in the room, and I went down to see Al at the bar for a little while. I went up to get Steve, and we spent another hour or so talking to Al, and then AL met us for drinks over at New York New York in the 9 Fine Irishmen bar. Great place -- loved the ambience. It was fun: we had a few hors d'oeuvres, and by the time we got back to the room we were too tired to go to dinner! We packed a little, crashed, got up the next morning and finished packing. Steve went down and got breakfast at the Stage deli for us, and then we went out to wait for the airport shuttle. We got tired of waiting in the hot sun, so we ended up taking a cab (tip: it was less to take the cab to the airport than to take the shuttle). We decided that next time we would only get the shuttle from the airport to the MGM as you can check in to the hotel right in the airport by baggage, and they take care of your luggage for you. I highly recommend the JetBlue nonstop from Kennedy to Vegas. IT was a great flight both ways. You do have to eat something substantial before you fly though as they only have light snacks on board.
Kathy and the kids did fine all week, other than Jake refusing to eat anything healthy. He ended up getting sick, and he'd been more of a pain in the butt than she expected (due to his eating crap all week). I had a long talk with him about that and I think he will be better next time. I decided I'll do the Jewish mother thing and remind him of this experience at least once a week until Kathy comes back for another visit (hopefully Christmas, if Jerome is still in Iraq). We'll see. Things on the home front are deteriorating rapidly in terms of M.I.L.'s stage 4 progression and other in-law difficulties that have been brewing for the last couple years. I think this family is headed for at least one nuclear meltdown, if not several.

Mama Ball Says

Happy Independence Day! Freedom means a lot more to me this year -- and like Forrest says, "That's all I have to say about that."
We took the kids to the annual Salute to Veterans, which was moved from the high school to Havemeyer Field behind town hall this year (due to the new artificial turf on the football field). Steve went and parked his truck behind town hall very early in the morning to get us a good spot, and then we drove over with the kids right before it got started. We were in a spot where we could see virtually all of the lower field, where the military demonstration, but we couldn't see the speeches or singing or giant flag on the upper field. Two F-18s did a couple fly-overs. This year's demo was a "take out the terrorists" one: four guys on patrol get targeted by two shooters in a beat-up van, so they start firing back, then the Humvee shows up with the big gun on top and the huge chopper shows up to strafe the field. All fake bullets but very loud explosions and flybys with the chopper. Sadie was freaked out by the noise, but Jake hung in there until the end, when they set off four REALLY loud charges on the field -- that's when he got a little scared. They both took long naps after that experience! We avoided the town fireworks that night -- maybe next year we will do that.
The neighbors south of Chris's place set off a lot of fireworks last night, which also freaked out Sadie, so she spent the entire night in the middle of our bed. Jake liked them, though, because he could see them out his window. We're going to watch the D.C. fireworks on TV tonight, and maybe some of the Macy's ones also.
My glasses bit the dust yesterday morning, so after we dropped Sadie off at daycare Jake and I went up to Opticare in Norwalk to get new ones. Unfortunately they can't guarantee that I will have have the new ones before we leave for Vegas! I should have asked for a pair of contacts then and there, but I didn't even think about it since I haven't worn them for the last few years. I'm calling tomorrow to see if they will give me a pair and a spare for my trip, just to be sure. I still have my prescription sunglasses, so driving isn't a problem -- just wearing them inside is annoying. I can still perch what's left of my regular glasses on my nose, as long as I don't move around too much (otherwise they start sliding and it screws up my vision). Works for reading and this, but not much else.
Kathy called last night and miraculously she is still looking forward to coming and playing with the kids. We have visitors set up: Mal on Sunday, U.J. after work on Monday, Wayne bringing pizza onTuesday, and she thought all that was pretty good.
Shopping tomorrow, cleaning service here on Thursday, packing Friday -- and taking the kids to see "Cars" again Friday afternoon with Joanne, Owen and Charlotte.
I can't wait to get to Vegas. I have a couple hours booked at the salon on Sunday afternoon to get the works -- color, cut, style etc. I have an appointment to get a really good manicure (tips!), some kind of "rainforest" package that takes a couple hours including a massage, and Steve wanted a couples massage, so that's another day. He wants a pedicure, but I think we will try to schedule that once we get there -- maybe he can get that done when I'm getting the manicure. We have tickets to see Elton John, and a couple really nice dinners planned. Other than that, Steve wants to gamble, and I will either shop or go out to the pool to swim and or read. I think what I am looking forward to the most is just having a short reprieve from the constant demands of the kids. I love them, but that part is extremely wearing sometimes, especially when I feel like I just can't get ANYTHING done for all the interruptions. I think I have less patience for that after this last year of work. I really hate the fact that my job stress affected my family life so much -- and still does. I'm hoping this vacation will restore some of my reserves of patience.

Mama Ball Says

Good grief. You'd think I fell down a hole or something. The last several weeks have been quite the rollercoaster ride around here. Made it through both CMS and EMS retirement parties, hung in till the end of the year (barely) and collected my shit and got the hell out of Dodge. I don't remember ever having been so worn down at the end of a year. I really felt like I'd been put through the meat grinder, and it was damned easy for me to walk out of there. The only difficult part was saying goodbye to Nic and Freya, but even that wasn't so bad because I know those friendships will last. I felt like a fifty pound wet blanket was lifted off my shoulders when I drove away. I know there is a lot to do over at EMS, but I feel like it is going to be a good challenge, and I am making plans for changes with Carm.
First off is the July book orders, which I've been adding to online. It's really nice to be able to manage that from home, and be able to hop online and add a book I've just read about to the order. Next up will be furniture rearranging and book weeding, but that's not happening until after the asbestos abatemant is finished over there (and Sherry finally abandons the space). I'm actually looking forward to that very much. Steve agreed to look at the plans for the library space and recommend changes, and tell me more about the kinds of changes I have been thinking about -- like how expensive those would likely be, how much time they would take etc.
Sadie goes back to daycare this week, and I am looking forward to having some good one-on-one time with Jake to do things with him. Steve actually agreed to have a cleaning service come and tackle the archaeological dig that is our house this coming week. Hopefully they will find our living room and kitchen somewhere in here. Kathy arrives this coming Saturday, and we leave a week from today for four days in Vegas. I still have to go do a little shopping for me, too, before we leave! Jake starts camp down at the beach the Monday after we get back, so that should be fun for him.

Mama Ball Says

Well, it's been one hell of a week. On the good side, we got through Dr. B's retirement party last night without incident or technological disaster, and we had a very good time. His gifts from the media staff were an early copy of Steinbeck's Travels with Charley (which he brought up when he announced his retirement earlier this year) and a particularly well-decorated copy of an Aztec/Inca/Maya reference book in which the 7th graders had done an exceptional job of adding interesting *ahem* items to the illustrations and photos of artifacts on virtually every page. We added a nice brown paper wrapper cover to conceal the semi-pornographic artistic nature of the contents, and entitled it "Central Middle School Media Center: Cure for Retirement Misgivings." One look through that and you'll never want to go back dealing with the hormonally challenged!
Saw Eoin Colfer this week at Arcadia/Just Books Too. He's hilarious! I really enjoyed meeting him and hearing him talk to the kids. Jenny gave me the advance copy of Stephenie Meyer's New Moon, sequel to Twilight. Blazed through that one in two nights, mostly because I knew the 8th grade girls were going to storm the media center desk if I didn't get it to them before the weekend. Once again, I loved the story, her poetic writing, the romantic aspects of the story and how on target she is with the experience of first love, true love, and rejection/abandonment. Her characters are well drawn and, although we are dealing with vampires and now also werewolves, she has taken the cliches of those two archetypes out of the mix entirely. This is a refreshing take on the fantasy/horror business, and I appreciate how Romeo and Juliet references get worked in throughout. Talk about a reason for kids to go back to the play and see what they forgot, missed, or haven't seen yet! Wonderful stuff. I'm working on a draft of a review to post online...maybe get it done tomorrow or Monday. Have to call Jenny and see if she can lay hands on another advance copy ... maybe, maybe not. If not, they'll just have to hound each other to read faster!
Kindergarten orientation went well, I think. I got the feeling afterward that Jake was more nervous than he let on. I knew he was worried that he didn't know anyone in the room when we went to the parent meeting, but he held it together very well. The Barbie doll factor wasn't in such evidence at our parent meeting (only half of the parents -- they did this in two shifts), possibly because they put most of the normal parents in this group, or possibly because of the weather. Should go well in the fall, I think. Looks like the early morning drop off program will work nicely once he has adjusted to going, and I am sure he can find his way to his room without me. Went through most of the reference collection over at EMS, and it is screaming for an overhaul. I think almost the entire science and technology section will have to be pitched, as most of the sets are from either the 60's or the 80's. Either way, they are eons beyond the recommended age for books for that particular section of the collection. I met with one of the newer (read: since I left) science teachers, who basically said there was no point in bringing her kids into the media center for books as the science ones were "so awful." Changing those sorts of attitudes is going to require a lot of work, a lot of creativity, and a lot of money from Ralph. Fortunately, I think I can work all that out -- we'll just see how receptive the staff is to change.
:)

Mama Ball Says

Last day of vacation. Mom and Dad were here all week -- arrived a bit late, but without incident. The weather was great all week, and I kept the kids home for the week so they could play with Granny and Papa. Easter was fine -- got some great shots of the kids and the flowers. Mom had refurbished her antique wicker doll carriage and had it shipped from Tulsa to arrive in the middle of their visit. It's adorable -- Sadie loves it! Mom's great grandmother (Grandma Anna) bought it secondhand for her when she was very little, so who knows how old it actually is. Dad bought some clear plastic tubing, split it, and wrapped the wheels in it to protect the original rubber tires (which are now hard, cracked and dropping off in chunks here and there). The new tubing is a vast improvement! Mom made a new liner and made it look wonderful, but it still has that antique look to it -- very cool.
Read a couple books over break. Garth Nix's latest, Sir Thursday, was excellent. You definitely have to have read the previous three to understand what's happening to Arthur Penhaligon and Leaf, but it was a fast-paced exciting read. Great for the boys, as Sir Thursday commands the House army, and there's lots of military training, strategizing and battle scenes ... and Arthur's been drafted. He has to survive, find and free the Fourth part of the Will, and somehow keep from becoming a denizen of the House as he wants to return to his normal mortal life when this is all over.
Gordon Korman's new one, Born to Rock, was a lot of fun too. Leo is living with his mother and father and loses his scholarship to Harvard over a misunderstanding with a hard-nosed principal. He spends the summer on tour with the man he believes is his biological father -- Marion X. McMurphy, aka "King Maggot" of worldwide punk rock fame, in hopes that he will write a $40,000 check so Leo can go to Harvard in the fall The tour is an assault on Leo's Young Republican senses and sensibility, and he learns more than he ever imagined from this bizarre group of people.

Mama Ball Says

Last day of vacation. Mom and Dad were here all week -- arrived a bit late, but without incident. The weather was great all week, and I kept the kids home for the week so they could play with Granny and Papa. Easter was fine -- got some great shots of the kids and the flowers. Mom had refurbished her antique wicker doll carriage and had it shipped from Tulsa to arrive in the middle of their visit. It's adorable -- Sadie loves it! Mom's great grandmother (Grandma Anna) bought it secondhand for her when she was very little, so who knows how old it actually is. Dad bought some clear plastic tubing, split it, and wrapped the wheels in it to protect the original rubber tires (which are now hard, cracked and dropping off in chunks here and there). The new tubing is a vast improvement! Mom made a new liner and made it look wonderful, but it still has that antique look to it -- very cool.
Read a couple books over break. Garth Nix's latest, Sir Thursday, was excellent. You definitely have to have read the previous three to understand what's happening to Arthur Penhaligon and Leaf, but it was a fast-paced exciting read. Great for the boys, as Sir Thursday commands the House army, and there's lots of military training, strategizing and battle scenes ... and Arthur's been drafted. He has to survive, find and free the Fourth part of the Will, and somehow keep from becoming a denizen of the House as he wants to return to his normal mortal life when this is all over.
Gordon Korman's new one, Born to Rock, was a lot of fun too. Leo is living with his mother and father and loses his scholarship to Harvard over a misunderstanding with a hard-nosed principal. He spends the summer on tour with the man he believes is his biological father -- Marion X. McMurphy, aka "King Maggot" of worldwide punk rock fame, in hopes that he will write a $40,000 check so Leo can go to Harvard in the fall The tour is an assault on Leo's Young Republican senses and sensibility, and he learns more than he ever imagined from this bizarre group of people.

Mama Ball Says

Today was one of those sandy britches days -- the ones where everyone and everything gets on your last nerve. Damn, and I didn't even have a hangover from dinner and seeing David Sedaris last night with Pat, Beth, Rie, Kristen and Rob. Last day of teaching my 8th grade classes was today, so now all I have to do is get grades in (and corner the last few kids who still have yet to turn in their final project). We'll see how exit project and all the other nonsense turns out last marking period.

Sadie is now all set for the Riverside branch of CDS in the fall, and I have an appointment for next Wed to go enroll Jake in Riverside Elem. so I am relieved to say the least. I felt like a fifty pound wet blanket was suddenly lifted off my shoulders when I got the email this morning that they had room for him. Things are coming together pretty well at the moment.

Mom and Daddy are coming late afternoon Easter, so that will be nice. They are staying the week and I am hoping for nice weather. I made an appointment to get pictures taken that Tuesday, so maybe we will get some of the kids and the grands together if everyone behaves. The kids officially have daycare that week, but we may just take the entire week off and play. And a good time will be had by all ...

Mama Ball Says

I'm home today for the second day now -- Sadie had a nasty stomach bug all weekend and was still vomiting yesterday, so I stayed home with her. Last night, I started with it and this is definitely NOT a pleasant virus -- painful stomach cramping to go with the barfing. I think I'm getting past this faster than she did though as I am feeling better and haven't upchucked anything since this morning. Of course, I haven't eaten anything, and have had only water and tea. Food is a far-off thought at this point.
Jake is now signed up for four weeks of summer camp down at the beach, so hopefully he will meet some kids he will be going to school with in the fall. Sadie is all set for Riverside, and I asked for her to stay on full time through the summer so she will be all set too. This should free me up to put in a couple day's worth of hours over at EMS to work on the weed and feed project in the library.
The meeting at EMS went well. I think we will all have most of what we want, mainly that Carm and I get to keep our schedules, and there is going to be an ongoing process for renovating and updating the collection (looks like bit by bit at this point).
Kathy emailed and said Jerome was scheduled to leave yesterday, which was earlier than the original plan, so she was pissed. I hope he gets there all right and has everything he needs.
Next projects: furniture requests for EMS and updating the new and recommended reads website. I have lists going for both, but I don't have finals on anything --hopefully by end of the week I will be set with those.

Mama Ball Says

Oreos are culinary crack.

Mama Ball Says

The meeting went well. I had a very good visit with everyone over there, and I think we are all reasonably on the same page. Time to start shopping -- for library chairs and tables and desks. Carm and I are supposed to to get a wish list together of the furniture we want (prioritized) so they can spend this year's money first, and then look to spend some of next year's maybe a little later. Weeding is going to be an intensive job, but there is money to pay both of us some days over the summer to get a jumpstart on that(hopefully we can get Janet to come help delete as we weed), and Ralph says we can start putting orders together for next year's money as soon as May. He is putting extra money toward books next year and the year after to help us get the collection in order, which is great. Other than during testing time in March, they are very willing to work the schedule around all of our little guys, so I told Steve tonight he doesn't have a choice -- he has to step up to the plate during testing time next March so I can make it to work early when they rearrange the schedule. If I have to manage the rest of the year, he can goddamn well pitch in then. On the very up side of things, I had a lot of people come up to me while I was there and tell me that they were very happy that I would be returning to EMS. Some of those folks were people whose opinions I value highly, so that meant a lot to me.
Tomorrow Jake and I are headed to a birthday party for his friend Chris, and then off to the Toys R Us to go blow his birthday money. He has a Thomas toy picked out, so hopefully they have it. Should be fun! Depending on the weather we may make a stop at the park to paly for a while. It's been cold and windy for the last week and a half -- the kind of north wind that blows right through you. If it's that kind of day, we'll avoid the park like the plague. I like him to be outside to play every day, but not when it's miserable.
We have to bake for Steve's birthday (gotta make the white trash "yellow box cake with canned frosting" that he always wants .... oooohhh, maybe that'll be breakfast so we don't screw up whatever cake Lucille wants to bring) and figure out something fun to do on Sunday .... maybe we'll head up to the zoo if he wants to do something with the kids. We haven't talked much about our birthdays this year. I think we are both kind of saving things up for the big anniversary trip in July.
Speaking of, Steve made reservations for Jet Blue and the MGM, and got tickets for us to see Elton John. I found a couple other fun looking shows and dinner places, and found a whitewater rafting trip and a ballooning trip. The ballooning thing is VERY early -- as in they pick you up at 4am at the hotel and give you champagne brunch. It did sound really cool, though. I would love to go rafting again, but the drawback is that it's an all-day thing. Maybe we could pull that off Wednesday. I think we're seeing Elton John Monday or Tuesday. I told Steve I really want to spend parts of a couple days at the spa --

Mama Ball Says

Spring has sprung, and the hormonally challenged are ever more so this time of year. At least it's still chilly enough to keep the girls at school wearing some semblance of clothing. The middle school summer reading website update is almost done -- only a few pain in the ass nitpicky things left to polish off, so hopefully I can finish that tomorrow afternoon. At that point I have to go start the update for the new and recommended reads website, which will take longer as I actually have to write more for that one.
I'm off tomorrow morning to go to EMS to meet with the admins with Carm and to take a look at the library. Should be interesting. We'll see what transpires from all this. I got my paperwork back for my attempt at taking one of my discretionary days when the kids had no day care because their teachers had staff development day, and the director of personnel denied it without explanation. This means that they are going to dock my pay for the day, which will really screw things up for me. My principal sent a firmly worded email to her that started off by saying flat out "You cannot do this." He's mad because he approved it and she denied it, and it's allowed in the contract. Hopefully they can straighten things out between the two of them -- if I have to take time off to go park my butt in her office to do that I am going to be really pissed off. Given my experience with personnel a year and a half ago when they were absolute assholes about me taking time to travel to Kathy and Jerome's wedding (time which I was contractually allowed to take), I won't feel like being nice to anyone in that office.

Mama Ball Says

Parenting Lesson #729: Never, EVER take a not-quite-two-year-old bowling with 23 five-year-olds. You will be suicidal, homicidal, or an alcoholic by the time it is over. Aside from Sadie wreaking havoc every three minutes for two hours, the party went very well, and Jake and all of his friends had a great time. The parents had fun too, at least from what I could tell. On the good side of doing the party this way, all we had to do for the party was bring the goody bags and balloons (and write the check to the bowling alley). They did the rest (sometimes with a lot of prodding from me ... should have threatened to sic Sadie on the skinny kid they assigned to be our "party host"). I did manage to get a lot of fun pics.
Charlotte's party was Sunday, and Steve stayed home with Sadie as neither of us could stomach chasing her around that much again (plus party time was also during naptime, and no way in hell were we screwing that up two days running ... that's like inviting Satan in for drinks and hors'd). I got a lot of really adorable pics of Charlotte. I took the new school camera home (Nikon digital slr) to practice using, as I am scheduled to go photograph the 7th grade's recreation of ancient African trade gold/salt trade routes early next week.
Anyway, the pics were fantastic for the most part, and the ones that weren't were all my fault. I love being able to take a bazillion pics and the delete function is exceptionally easy to use, so I can ditch the crappy and soso pics and just keep the better ones. I did find that sometimes the ones I think look all right on the LCD screen actually are a tad out of focus once downloaded, but there weren't too many of those.
Ah, maybe next year or the year after I will be able to afford one of these for my very own.
Still on pins and needles about where Jake will go to kindergarten...couple more weeks before the big guns come out. I'm meeting with Carm and the admins at EMS end of this week to talk about the direction of the media center there for next year and the near future. We'll see ... I was thinking I should go talk to the teams there and explain a little bit about where the media curriculum is going and what they would like to see the media center doing for them in relation to that. I'll see what everyone at the meeting thinks of that idea ... we'll see where things go.
Kristen sent goodies that included a cookie mix in a bandanna with a cowboy boot cookie cutter, so Jake is now asking when are we making the cookies every five minutes. It reminds me of the Dunkin Donuts commercials from many years ago: "Time to make the donuts." Maybe this weekend we will get to that.

Mama Ball Says

Hoo-wah, the boy is FIVE!!! The kids were home today as daycare had staff development today, so I took the day off, spent the morning at the park with them, and did birthday stuff in the afternoon with Jake while Sadie slept. We made a birthday cake, opened up Aunt Kathy and Uncle Wome's presents (the Playmobil grocery store set and grocery delivery van), read some of Granny's Thomas book, and Jake rested on the couch while I cleaned the kitchen (read: did everything short of sandblasting the floor ... damn, do I need a cleaning service) The weather was chilly, but it was bright and sunny and we had a nice day.
UJ came over after work, and Mimi and Pop-pop came over for pizza and corned beef and cabbage (Italians are so damn strange about St Paddy's day). Jake got one of those battery-powered cars -- one he can ride in and drive -- from them. That's what Steve wanted for him last year, but I wouldn't let him have it last year. I caved this year. It went well overall, even with Sadie ruining the birthday cake. I had set it up on the bar between the living room and dining room to finish cooling, and she crawled up to the top of the couch and took a couple fistfuls out of the top of the cake. Jake was more than a little pissed, until I covered the whole top with ice cream and then you couldn't see any of the mess she made. After everyone left tonight and Sadie passed out, Steve and Jake worked on setting up the pieces to the grocery store. There are a lot of stickers for all the parts, and Jake was really good about putting them on correctly by himself.
Tomorrow should be easier (somewhat) as the bowling alley provides everything. I did want to get some balloons, so I am going to go out in the morning and go get a couple dozen to bring with us. I have to go drop by Freya's and pick up the camera to use, too. I have the goodie bags all taken care of, so that should be no problem, and Mom and Kristen both sent thank-you notes. The only other thing tomorrow is that Big C is coming by about noontime, and Steve asked him to take pics of the four grandkids together in hopes of getting one he could blow up and give to Lucille for her birthday in a few weeks. We'll see. She apparently also told him that she does want an all-family picture, so he is going to have to call Bea and get the name of the photographer that handled her family portrait sessions. Hopefully he will get that done soon so he can get a time for the photo session as soon as possible.
Talked to Kathy for a while this afternoon. Apparently she and Jerome have decided that he will go work for a contractor in Baghdad, setting up computer network infrastructure for the new Iraqi government. He'll be working in the middle of the Green Zone which is supposed to be the most secure area, surrounded by Marines etc... but still. The money is phenomenal, but I guess it has to be to attract the kind of talent they need and give them a reason to put up with having to be there for months and months. He's going in April to help finish up work on one contract, and then will stay on for a full contract period. Yeeeeeeeeeeeee.. I told her to load his bags up with Neosporin. Forgot to tell her about the flea collars. I'll tell her tomorrow. Shit, and I thought I had a lot on my plate. Kathy is going to work on starting her own business, which I think she will like a lot.

Mama Ball Says

All I have to say is "holy cow." Kindergarten parent orientation was ... interesting. I think aside from the elementary school staff in the cafeteria, there were probably about a dozen or so other people who appeared to be relatively normal. The rest of the people filling up the place were a bunch of Barbie doll clones with designer shoes and bags, and expensive clothes that had OBVIOUSLY never had any kind of child-generated bodily fluid on them. The clique sitting in the row behind me were busy discussing their nannies and manicures before the principal got started. Aside from the parents with whom I am doubtful I will have anything in common with, the meeting went well. The staff there seems to be a great group, the principal is a nice man who appears to know his parent community (as in they have an opening day ceremony that involves leaving the parents at the curb). The kicker is that they have 107 kids that the district knows about living in the school's assigned area ... so Jake will be 108. There are four teachers, and max number of kids per class is 23, so if they hit 92 registrations, he will have to ask the district for another kindergarten teacher. It just depends on how many parents choose to send their kids to private schools. If I can get him in, it will make things easier, as Steve has announced he will not be helping. Pain in my ass. I'll have to leave work to go pick Jake up, and bring him back to work with me if I can't get him in to the after programs (which are not year round and never on Wednesdays).
Alice is coming to take Jake to the movies this afternoon, so that should be fun for him. He and Sadie were digging holes in the garden this morning and getting muddy -- they were so filthy we stripped them down in the driveway and took them down to the basement bathroom for a bath. They were both exhausted, but they had a really good time.
I need to get out of here at some point.
Staff development yesterday was good -- we have the game plan for the next year, until things change and we get rid of the scheduled classes. After that, it'll be a whole different ballgame. Should be interesting. Talked to my compadre for next year, and we are going to meet some evening this coming week and go out for dinner to discuss the battle plan before we meet with the admins. THAT will definitely be interesting. I hope the team plan idea I have in mind will actually work.

Mama Ball Says

Another big whew -- I think I have all the appointments lined up for the next month. Thurs afternoon is parent orientation for kindergarten. Monday I go meet the principal and lobby for a spot. Next Friday I have to take my discretionary day as it's staff development for daycare and I have no one to watch the kids...and it's Jake's birthday, so it's not like I mind!! Jake's party is Saturday, then Charlotte's is Sunday, and then the following Friday I go over to Eastern to spend the morning getting the battle plans ready to go. Rumor has it that a major renovation is in the cards for the media center there. I don't know if that's a reality or someone's wishful thinking, but I guess I will find out soon enough. We are loaded for bear the next couple weeks.
Emma is home, and hopefully they will get her set up with enough adaptive equipment so that she can remain at home and independent like she wants to be. We'll be checking on her more frequently now ... 92 years old and still refusing the "I've fallen and I can't get up" button on a necklace because "those are for old people." She's a pip, our Emma!
Looks like it will warm up a bit this week. Good thing, as the kids need to get outside and play. Daycare is VERY good about getting them out at least for walks every day unless the weather is absolutely hideous or the windchill hits the dangerous level. They have both come home absolutely filthy from the playground the last two days! I told the teachers I really don't care if they get dirty -- it tells me they've been having a good time, and that's all I really care about. Tide can take care of the rest for me.
The cats have been eating us out of house and home -- you would think that the famine of the world was coming. If Daisy gets any wider she's not going to fit through the cat door anymore, and then we'll REALLY have problems.

Mama Ball Says

Whew. Some of next year is now officially a done deal -- I am going back to Eastern to work with Carmela (and Janet, Gina and Doris), so that's now less to worry about. It didn't quite go over like a lead balloon at Central, but it was close. I still have to meet with the principal over at Riverside and see if I can get Jake in there for kindergarten, and I am still waffling over moving Sadie to the Riverside campus of Children's Day. Does the geography of having her closer translate into less actual stress, or is it really worth keeping her a little further away in a place where she's happy and knows the staff best??? I'm leaning toward keeping her where she is, as her class is a fantastic group (and the parents are normal) and the teachers she will have over the next couple years are all amazing people. The difficulty is coordinating the dropoffs and pickups if she is further away. It'll be a tough call if they actually have a space open up there in the class where she could go.
Kindergarten orientation for parents is (holy cow!) THIS Thursday the 9th at 3:30. I guess I have to try to go see what the scoop is even if I haven't spoken to the principal yet. Kindergarten orientation for Jake will be May 11. I printed the forms off Riverside's website that they say I should have for him -- can't do the health form until the summer when he's due for his annual. Eeeeewwww... it's the appointment with all the shots. I'm going to have to arrange to take him for that without Sadie and then take him for ice cream afterwards. Part of me can't believe he's almost big enough for kindergarten, and part of me says " 'Bout damn time!"
Steve took Jake with him to JFK this morning to pick up Terry, and while Steve went to go help Mike move furniture (their house is going to be under major renovations shortly so they are moving to a rental temporarily) I took Terry and the kids to Stop & Shop. Sadie didn't cooperate with napping, and ended up falling asleep much later than normal, so I just took the truck keys over to Terry and told him to go see Emma and not worry about waiting on us. Emma's supposed to come home tomorrow, and Terry's got Enterprise coming to pick him up to go get his rental car tomorrow morning, so they ought to be okay.
Lucille is doing okay at home for now -- we will see what comes next, but right now we are in a window where, while she is very frail and easily exhausted, she is still with it and managing to stay home with just partial day help. We are avoiding the oncologist at this point, but that, like everything else, will come to an end at some point.
Amazingly, I almost have the laundry all done this weekend. That never happens. Maybe I'll find the surface of the pool table in the basement tonight. It hasn't been seen since Steve moved it down there right next to the washer/dryer. ;) Holy crap -- my life really IS starting to come together!

Mama Ball Says

Busy day in the middle of vacation today! Dropped the kids at school, went to work for a little while and sorted donated books for Grand Caillou, then went to see my mother-in-law hard at work in rehab, then off to see Jake at swim lessons. He was REALLY nervous -- last year's incident is still hanging on. I'm going to have to get him in the pool this summer as soon as it's warm enough and keep him in every day to get him past this. Went back to work after and sorted through more stuff ... have a shitlist for tomorrow to blow through in the morning.
Tomorrow afternoon I promised to take donuts and juice for snack for Jake's class, and then I am taking him out early so we can go skating over at Doro Hamill. They have an extra public session tomorrow afternoon since it is vacation week. Wayne is coming over so I am leaving the boys with the kids and I am going to go see Brokeback Mountain in Port Chester. Otherwise, I'll never see it until it hits HBO or Cinemax. I was hoping that they'd have early times this week but no dice, the only time it shows in the afternoon is too late for me to get the kids ( I COULD... but picking them up at 6 pm is just not something I like to do ).
Wine barrel opening party is Friday night, so Friday is a clean house day for me, even though the majority of the shindig will happen in the garage. Gotta take what opportunities I have to get the big stuff done. Steve and Wayne are going to the Bronx to get food ... I may have to go with them as I don't get to do that often.
Steve bought me a combo blender/food processor -- hurray! Came from UJ's store, and the only color available was red, but I think it looks nice in the kitchen -- lots of fun. :) The coffeemaker isn't dead, but the pot is completely shot to hell (terrible design if you ask me) and I am stymied as to replacing that part, If I don't find it this week I am going to either go back to Gevalia and get a free coffee pot from them or go buy a Mr Coffee as they have replacement pots at the goddamn Stop and Shop.
Spent time with my father-in-law today, hope things go okay for the next few weeks. don't hold out much hope beyond that, but you can never tell. I suck at betting anyway, so I am not the person to ask about odds.
Someday soon I will live in a house where I don't have to drink to get through the hours of 5-10 pm.

Mama Ball Says

Well, Wayne didn't call, so I am assuming that like a bajillion other folk, we didn't have the right set of numbers. Oh well! It was fun to play.
It went past frigid right to goddamn cold yesterday and today. I'm not sure the wind chill ever got above 20. Yuck. Tomorrow is supposed to be a little better, but not much, so I am taking the kids to the "members-only" 1-hour-early opening time for the children's museum in Norwalk. I figure we'll play there until it gets too crowded and then we'll head home for lunch and naps before we head over to Dr. Devine's. Jake decided we should go see the tigers at the zoo Tuesday, and then go see Curious George after lunch. Sounds good to me! Sadie's been running a fever on and off the last few days -- nothing worse than that and occasionally not being herself -- some whining and crabbing, but that's about it.
Took Jake skating today during the public skate time, and we had such fun! He was so proud of himself because he was getting moving on his own and staying up -- and moving relatively quickly! No lessons next Saturday, so we are going to take advantage of the extra public session at 3:30 on Thurs and then the regular sessions over the weekend.
Got home from that and took Sadie out to the mall just to get her out of the house. It was too cold to take her for a walk around the block. She was hilarious -- we walked around the mall for a while, wherever she wanted, and then she led me into Gymboree, cried and hid from the salesgirl, then went flipping through the clothes until she found a really adorable skirt that she refused to let go of. I have no idea how she did it but she not only grabbed the right size, but the damn thing was on sale. I picked up a little embroidered shirt to go with it, and we went up to the register, where Sadie proceeded to pitch a fit because the girl at the register needed her to LET GO of the skirt so she could scan the tag. I had to pry her fingers off it -- it was so embarrassing. You would have thought I was ripping her leg off the way she was howling! Anyway, other than the hissy fits, she shops like Kristen: she can find the best thing in the store in her size and on sale in three minutes or less. If this were an Olympic event, I'd have a gold medalist on my hands. I came home and told Steve that we're doomed.
Here's to a relatively uneventful vacation week!