So I am hosting half of my family for Christmas. We will have 10 people living here for a few days and the stress levels will probably be pretty high. My dad will need to figure out strategies for getting around my house and generally making himself comfortable and we will need to find a place to let the kids hang out without driving us up the wall.
I've spent the past two weeks baking cookies, wrapping presents, making gift card holders and decorating for Christmas. Oh ya, and publishing two newsletters for two different organizations.
And today we are holding Firstborn's 12th birthday party.
The weather here has been terrible with record cold days and an ice storm to make us all feel jolly and bright. But today, after the pouring rain of the morning, the sun broke through for a brief period and heated us up to a balmy 59 degrees. I ventured outside to put up the last of the decorations while the ground wasn't soggy or frozen solid. Nova accompanied me, glad for the companionship.
When at one point, I thought I saw her head disappear from the corner of my eye. I turned quickly enough to see her pull it out of a hole in which she had hidden her head all the way to her shoulders. When did she create this masterpiece in my front yard and what in heck am I to do about it. She must have run into a network of mole tunnels when she was digging in the yard.
Now the frozen ground doesn't seem like such a bad thing. At least she can't dig when it is frozen.
Sigh.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
They're off on the hunt
Yesterday morning at 3am, the guys headed off to their hunting trip in western PA. For those of you who object to hunting, don't worry, I'm sure no deer will be hurt on this trip. This particular group of hunters has not come back with anything in about 7 years and I'm sure DHs lack of experience will not improve their lot at all.
Even so, we were not willing to let this trip go without a fair amount of ribbing. DH is taking a lot of gruff from the hunting party because this is his first trip and they feel the need to haze him. They are approaching his hazing in a rather adult way that can't be described on this blog. But they are very much making him the butt of their jokes, so to speak.
We, however are taking the Save Bambi approach. And so on the night after Thanksgiving, after a spaghetti and clam sauce dinner with the neighbors and our Kansas relatives, we plotted and laughed and came up with a few prime ideas.
The next day, Marianne and I headed out to see the Westcott House in Springfield, OH and on our way, we stopped at Centerville's own brand new Christmas Tree Shop (don't you just love a bargain?). Our aim was to pick up a few deer-related decorations to use in our plans.
The Christmas Tree Shop did not fail to provide us with all the wares we needed. A pair of antlers for Nova's head, a light up reindeer that nods it's head up and down, and a decorative door hanger in the shape of the head of a deer. It made the whole trip out on black Friday worth it. And we got 20% off everything we purchased.
At about 9PM on Friday night, DH headed upstairs to take a shower and hit the sack before his early wake-up call. We brought the light-up deer in and began to assemble it. We did not notice the directions attached to the little plastic bag on the plug, so we really struggled with this. Just for fun, we applied the antlers to Nova, and Marianne began to decorate the deer head with a few tears in silver Sharpie. A little sign reading "Please don't kill me!" would round out the decorations.
As we struggled to put the light-up deer together, Nova wandered around the kitchen in her antlers, and Marianne was decorating the deer face, DH decided he had to come downstairs to wrap up some last packing things. Cousin J warned us he was coming, and I ran out to the garage to stash the light-up reindeer while Marianne hid the deer face. We did our best innocent act.
Then he went out to the garage. Why? I hoped he didn't' notice the light up deer. Marianne and I were looking at each other across the kitchen with worry. As DH returned to the kitchen, I noticed that Nova still had her antlers on and she was prancing around the kitchen. I mouthed to Marianne, who was closer to her, to take the antlers off and she deftly slipped them off Nova's head. We hoped DH hadn't seen.
We had to wait until 10 to get out and set up the decorations. Our next door neighbor Miss T was in on the joke and planned to help us get into the car and set things up. The idea was to strap the lighted nodding deer onto the hood of their car like hunters do with their catch. But Miss T was asleep already. So Marianne and I had to set him up in the drive in front of Miss T's Car. That was the car the guys were taking on the hunt. We also could not put the crying deer face on the dashboard of the passenger seat where DH was going to sit for the ride. So we hung it on the mirror.
The next morning at 2:30, I was awakened to DH getting ready for the trip. So I slipped the antlers over Nova's head so he could see them when he came out of the bathroom. He almost didn't notice. So I asked him if he was going to leave without saying goodbye to his dog. Then he noticed. Nova was lying on the bed next to me with her head hanging sadly off the side. She doesn't really like these antlers and I think she was feeling a bit sorry for herself. So she looked like a sad dog-deer. Perfect. He cracked up and told her he was off to kill her sister.
I heard from Miss T later that day that the boys loved the light up reindeer in the drive way and the next day I got to talk to DH who appreciated the crying deer face on his door.
But wait till he returns. I plan on stringing that light-up-reindeer-with-the-head-that-nods-up-and-down up in a tree by it's back legs. This will probably be the only deer these guys get to see strung up in a tree. I'll have to take a picture when I do.
Even so, we were not willing to let this trip go without a fair amount of ribbing. DH is taking a lot of gruff from the hunting party because this is his first trip and they feel the need to haze him. They are approaching his hazing in a rather adult way that can't be described on this blog. But they are very much making him the butt of their jokes, so to speak.
We, however are taking the Save Bambi approach. And so on the night after Thanksgiving, after a spaghetti and clam sauce dinner with the neighbors and our Kansas relatives, we plotted and laughed and came up with a few prime ideas.
The next day, Marianne and I headed out to see the Westcott House in Springfield, OH and on our way, we stopped at Centerville's own brand new Christmas Tree Shop (don't you just love a bargain?). Our aim was to pick up a few deer-related decorations to use in our plans.
The Christmas Tree Shop did not fail to provide us with all the wares we needed. A pair of antlers for Nova's head, a light up reindeer that nods it's head up and down, and a decorative door hanger in the shape of the head of a deer. It made the whole trip out on black Friday worth it. And we got 20% off everything we purchased.
At about 9PM on Friday night, DH headed upstairs to take a shower and hit the sack before his early wake-up call. We brought the light-up deer in and began to assemble it. We did not notice the directions attached to the little plastic bag on the plug, so we really struggled with this. Just for fun, we applied the antlers to Nova, and Marianne began to decorate the deer head with a few tears in silver Sharpie. A little sign reading "Please don't kill me!" would round out the decorations.
As we struggled to put the light-up deer together, Nova wandered around the kitchen in her antlers, and Marianne was decorating the deer face, DH decided he had to come downstairs to wrap up some last packing things. Cousin J warned us he was coming, and I ran out to the garage to stash the light-up reindeer while Marianne hid the deer face. We did our best innocent act.
Then he went out to the garage. Why? I hoped he didn't' notice the light up deer. Marianne and I were looking at each other across the kitchen with worry. As DH returned to the kitchen, I noticed that Nova still had her antlers on and she was prancing around the kitchen. I mouthed to Marianne, who was closer to her, to take the antlers off and she deftly slipped them off Nova's head. We hoped DH hadn't seen.
We had to wait until 10 to get out and set up the decorations. Our next door neighbor Miss T was in on the joke and planned to help us get into the car and set things up. The idea was to strap the lighted nodding deer onto the hood of their car like hunters do with their catch. But Miss T was asleep already. So Marianne and I had to set him up in the drive in front of Miss T's Car. That was the car the guys were taking on the hunt. We also could not put the crying deer face on the dashboard of the passenger seat where DH was going to sit for the ride. So we hung it on the mirror.
The next morning at 2:30, I was awakened to DH getting ready for the trip. So I slipped the antlers over Nova's head so he could see them when he came out of the bathroom. He almost didn't notice. So I asked him if he was going to leave without saying goodbye to his dog. Then he noticed. Nova was lying on the bed next to me with her head hanging sadly off the side. She doesn't really like these antlers and I think she was feeling a bit sorry for herself. So she looked like a sad dog-deer. Perfect. He cracked up and told her he was off to kill her sister.
I heard from Miss T later that day that the boys loved the light up reindeer in the drive way and the next day I got to talk to DH who appreciated the crying deer face on his door.
But wait till he returns. I plan on stringing that light-up-reindeer-with-the-head-that-nods-up-and-down up in a tree by it's back legs. This will probably be the only deer these guys get to see strung up in a tree. I'll have to take a picture when I do.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Hole
Yesterday, Lastborn was home from school with a mild stomach bug. Firstborn needed me to bring him into school to sign a permission slip he had forgotten to bring home.
DH could not stay with Lastborn because he had a 9:00 meeting. So, I had to drag Lastborn with me to the middle school.
On our walk from the car to the school entrance we passed a piece of plywood obviously covering a freshly dug hole. The plywood was labelled Hole in red spraypaint. This label must have been placed there for the 8 year old who would be passing by because said 8 year old did not fail to notice the hole and almost moved the plywood and climbed in had I not been aware enough to yell "Leave it!" at him.
Yes, I am yelling dog commands at my son. And yes, he responds quite well; better than the dog sometimes. It's OK. We're stashing away a buck here-or-there to pay for his eventual visits with the shrink.
DH could not stay with Lastborn because he had a 9:00 meeting. So, I had to drag Lastborn with me to the middle school.
On our walk from the car to the school entrance we passed a piece of plywood obviously covering a freshly dug hole. The plywood was labelled Hole in red spraypaint. This label must have been placed there for the 8 year old who would be passing by because said 8 year old did not fail to notice the hole and almost moved the plywood and climbed in had I not been aware enough to yell "Leave it!" at him.
Yes, I am yelling dog commands at my son. And yes, he responds quite well; better than the dog sometimes. It's OK. We're stashing away a buck here-or-there to pay for his eventual visits with the shrink.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Second Place
One of the things that Lastborn struggles with is low self confidence. He never got to see his big brother struggle, and he thinks that if you struggle, you must not be very smart/strong/whatever. So he will often give up quickly or cop an attitude to get out of doing something he thinks he can't do.
Since attending Kumon this summer for math, he has learned that sometimes, if you work at something you think you can't do, not only can you learn to do it, but you might actually be good at it. So we are seeing less of a struggle with trying things.
For example, his first year of pinewood derby, he wanted to stick the wheels on and race a wooden colored block, not paint, no cutting, no decorations, We finally compromised at this:
And he did well, until the wheel came off. This gave him hope and he allowed a single cut the next year and painted the car red. The wheel fell off that one too.
Last year, Dad helped put the wheels on. We put the extra work of deburring the wheels, adding graphite and weight. The car was perfect in every way. It didn't do too well though. But Lastborn was happy. His big fear is that he will make a fool of himself. And he proved that he could do pretty well. This is the 2008 car.
We will see what 2009 brings.
But before the 2009 pinewood races, we had to get through the 2008 raingutter regatta. We've never done a raingutter regatta before, so we weren't sure what would happen. Again, Lastborn didn't want to even try. A plain wooden boat with his name on it was all he wanted. In fact, for this race that is all that was needed. It's more the skill of blowing on the sail in the right position than anythign having to do with physics or design. But Dad was able to convince him to go with a cool hammered metal spraypaint and I was able to suggest a Bakugan theme. He had fun working on this boat and because the theme was so popular, he knew he would not make a fool of himself.
Since attending Kumon this summer for math, he has learned that sometimes, if you work at something you think you can't do, not only can you learn to do it, but you might actually be good at it. So we are seeing less of a struggle with trying things.
For example, his first year of pinewood derby, he wanted to stick the wheels on and race a wooden colored block, not paint, no cutting, no decorations, We finally compromised at this:
And he did well, until the wheel came off. This gave him hope and he allowed a single cut the next year and painted the car red. The wheel fell off that one too.Last year, Dad helped put the wheels on. We put the extra work of deburring the wheels, adding graphite and weight. The car was perfect in every way. It didn't do too well though. But Lastborn was happy. His big fear is that he will make a fool of himself. And he proved that he could do pretty well. This is the 2008 car.
We will see what 2009 brings.But before the 2009 pinewood races, we had to get through the 2008 raingutter regatta. We've never done a raingutter regatta before, so we weren't sure what would happen. Again, Lastborn didn't want to even try. A plain wooden boat with his name on it was all he wanted. In fact, for this race that is all that was needed. It's more the skill of blowing on the sail in the right position than anythign having to do with physics or design. But Dad was able to convince him to go with a cool hammered metal spraypaint and I was able to suggest a Bakugan theme. He had fun working on this boat and because the theme was so popular, he knew he would not make a fool of himself.
His cub leader made a neat block that the boat can rest on with 2008 written on it.
Lastborn entered the first race. He had watched a friend get left at the starting gate in the previous race. So, he was very worried. It would be his worst fear to not be able to make his boat move and since the friend who faltered in the last race was very into scouting, Lastborn figured he didn't stand a chance. The race official called a start to the race and Lastborn concentrated on the instructions I gave him to blow low on the mast to keep the boat from tipping. The boat jumped forward almost halfway down the gutter in one gust of Lastborn's Scalzi hot air. You could see the look of surprise on Lastborn's face. He gave it a couple more blows before his opponent even got his boat to leave the starting line and won the race handily. This meant he would wait for the winners round.
Again, we worried when Lastborn stepped up for his first winner's round. He was going against the boy who pummelled his friend. Lastborn knew his boat was fast, but everyone figured this kid's boat was the best. He had a different design to his mast and sail. But his opponent's boat kept getting snagged on the sides of the gutter and Lastborn's wind was true. He handily won that race too.
All that was left was the final race for 1st or 2nd place. This is where Lastborn's luck ran out. His boat kept getting hung up on the sides of the gutter and he came in second. He was sad, but very happy that he had gotten second instead of coming in last. I'm sure he will be looking forward to next year's race and ready to get a bit creative with his boat design.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
He finds his voice
Being Lastborn has its advantages. I remember a friend telling me she felt guilty with how strict she was with her firstborn child and how lenient she was with her third. I wouldn't call myself lenient. It's not in my nature, but I certainly know better which battles to wage than I did on my first go around.
Lastborn is beginning to realize that the older brother he used to idolize has his weaknesses. For example, Firstborn sets him up to get into trouble. He can't always be trusted by his fan club. Lastborn is also realizing that not everything that Firstborn likes is necessarily great and not everything Firstborn thinks is boring is actually that much of a drag.
These changes can sometimes be a lot for Lastborn to take, though he rarely goes around whining about the loss of his idol.
Lastborn is mixing this loss of his leader with a new found understanding that he is smart and interesting on his own. He is beginning to try things even if they aren't recommended by Firstborn. He is also beginning to fight for his rights under the tyranny of Firstborn.
So yesterday, we were beginning a wonderful Saturday with nothing on our agenda. Being adults, we awake to days like this with great glee. Nothing to do. Nowhere to run around. Maybe I can do what I want to do today.
In fact, these days usually end up with the kids plastered to the electronics and fighting about who gets a turn, or will you help me with this part. Since Firstborn is officially a tween, he relishes torturing Lastborn by not complying with his requests. And he has an amazing ability to ignore Lastborn's whines.
I do not.
So I began my first yelling tirade of the day. "Everyone gets only one hour today, so play it and get out. We're not sitting in front of the game system all day rotting our brains and arguing." And yada yada yada.
Firstborn continued to press, "how about the PC? How about hand helds? Do we really have to not play games all day? No I won't read. No I won't play outside. None of my friends want to play because they get to sit in front of the game system and rot their brains!"
... and on and on.
I warned him.
So they lost all electronics for the day with the threat that it would be for November!
I had to give Lastborn credit. He did call his friends. No one was available.
Rewind to last weekend. No rewind further to this summer when we returned from vacation and found that someone had chewed the plugs off two of our lights.
It probably wasn't the kids this time.
It could have been the puppy, but she was either locked up or under supervision in this room, so that was hard to believe. However, she chews on everything.
But then that cats chew on everything too. It must have been the cats.
Whoever, we had to rewire the lamps. One was easy, just a new cord. ba da bing, it was done. The other was made so that you couldn't get to the connections for the socket. So there was no way to remove and replace the cord. DH bought a new socket but we never got to fixing it. Then I saw in Lastborn's Cub Scout book that fixing a small appliance is an elective, so I figured we would do it together.
Last week, we finally got a chance. He was reluctant, but when I started having him wrap wires around screws and use a Phillips head to tighten the screw himself, he began to take interest and ask questions. I was surprised. He's not as much the engineer personality as his brother. He's disorganized and imprecise; more the artistic type. He's very into interacting with others and bending the rules. But he was very interested and so proud of himself when he switched the lamp on.
So when he was looking for something to do, and I was sick of playing board games with him, I pulled out the Snap Circuits set that DH had gotten for Firstborn years ago. Firstborn has done a few circuits and liked it, but never loved it.
We did the first circuit together and I explained to Lastborn that the pieces snap together sort of like Legos. There are pictures to tell him what to do and there are all kinds of attachments to use to make things. Once we finished the first circuit, he was off on his own and had the greatest time hooking up sound boxes and making serial and parallel circuits. By the end of the day, he had completed about 40 of the circuits. DH promised him that if he completed all of them, he could use the other bigger set he had in his closet. So Lastborn finished all of them this morning.
He announced at dinner that he didn't need gamecube. Circuits were just as fun as playing video games. Not only that, but he carefully kept track of each piece placing them back into their plastic compartments between each build. He even remembered favorite circuits and built them from memory to show us.
I think a light went on for him. (Sorry.)
Lastborn is beginning to realize that the older brother he used to idolize has his weaknesses. For example, Firstborn sets him up to get into trouble. He can't always be trusted by his fan club. Lastborn is also realizing that not everything that Firstborn likes is necessarily great and not everything Firstborn thinks is boring is actually that much of a drag.
These changes can sometimes be a lot for Lastborn to take, though he rarely goes around whining about the loss of his idol.
Lastborn is mixing this loss of his leader with a new found understanding that he is smart and interesting on his own. He is beginning to try things even if they aren't recommended by Firstborn. He is also beginning to fight for his rights under the tyranny of Firstborn.
So yesterday, we were beginning a wonderful Saturday with nothing on our agenda. Being adults, we awake to days like this with great glee. Nothing to do. Nowhere to run around. Maybe I can do what I want to do today.
In fact, these days usually end up with the kids plastered to the electronics and fighting about who gets a turn, or will you help me with this part. Since Firstborn is officially a tween, he relishes torturing Lastborn by not complying with his requests. And he has an amazing ability to ignore Lastborn's whines.
I do not.
So I began my first yelling tirade of the day. "Everyone gets only one hour today, so play it and get out. We're not sitting in front of the game system all day rotting our brains and arguing." And yada yada yada.
Firstborn continued to press, "how about the PC? How about hand helds? Do we really have to not play games all day? No I won't read. No I won't play outside. None of my friends want to play because they get to sit in front of the game system and rot their brains!"
... and on and on.
I warned him.
So they lost all electronics for the day with the threat that it would be for November!
I had to give Lastborn credit. He did call his friends. No one was available.
Rewind to last weekend. No rewind further to this summer when we returned from vacation and found that someone had chewed the plugs off two of our lights.
It probably wasn't the kids this time.
It could have been the puppy, but she was either locked up or under supervision in this room, so that was hard to believe. However, she chews on everything.
But then that cats chew on everything too. It must have been the cats.
Whoever, we had to rewire the lamps. One was easy, just a new cord. ba da bing, it was done. The other was made so that you couldn't get to the connections for the socket. So there was no way to remove and replace the cord. DH bought a new socket but we never got to fixing it. Then I saw in Lastborn's Cub Scout book that fixing a small appliance is an elective, so I figured we would do it together.
Last week, we finally got a chance. He was reluctant, but when I started having him wrap wires around screws and use a Phillips head to tighten the screw himself, he began to take interest and ask questions. I was surprised. He's not as much the engineer personality as his brother. He's disorganized and imprecise; more the artistic type. He's very into interacting with others and bending the rules. But he was very interested and so proud of himself when he switched the lamp on.
So when he was looking for something to do, and I was sick of playing board games with him, I pulled out the Snap Circuits set that DH had gotten for Firstborn years ago. Firstborn has done a few circuits and liked it, but never loved it.
We did the first circuit together and I explained to Lastborn that the pieces snap together sort of like Legos. There are pictures to tell him what to do and there are all kinds of attachments to use to make things. Once we finished the first circuit, he was off on his own and had the greatest time hooking up sound boxes and making serial and parallel circuits. By the end of the day, he had completed about 40 of the circuits. DH promised him that if he completed all of them, he could use the other bigger set he had in his closet. So Lastborn finished all of them this morning.
He announced at dinner that he didn't need gamecube. Circuits were just as fun as playing video games. Not only that, but he carefully kept track of each piece placing them back into their plastic compartments between each build. He even remembered favorite circuits and built them from memory to show us.
I think a light went on for him. (Sorry.)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Miss. Communication
So this weekend, Firstborn went on a 25 mile bike ride with the boy scouts. Well, sort of. He went to the bike trail (about 45 minutes away) and stayed overnight, but it was raining and snowing and the leaders (bless them) felt that the mixture of fall leaves on the ground with rain and snow was an unsafe combination and so the boys just stayed at the camp for the day so that one of them could finish an outdoor cooking requirement. They came back last night cold, tired, and wishing they had never gone.
It's the back story that is really interesting.
You see, we have been putting off buying Firstborn an adult bike because 1) it took him so long to ride, 2) he showed absolutely no interest in getting an adult bike even after the neighbor's twins got adult bikes, and 3) we had a hand-me-down teen bike that still fit him. So, when he announced that he wanted to join the BS troop on the 25 mile ride and we couldn't nudge him to understand that this was a long way to go for your first distance ride, we decided that he probably needed something more grown up with larger wheels.
I looked around on line for an American made 18 or 21 speed bike. I still can't get over the fact that 10 speeds just isn't enough. Target carries some really nice Schwinns that were somewhat in our budget, but DH really wanted to fit him and buy from a small bike shop where they know what they are selling. So off he went with Firstborn and they came home with a Japanese made 21 speed bike that cost a wee bit more than I wanted to spend. DH believed the line about American made bikes are either crap or too expensive. The only American made model at this shop was over $1,000. As you read this back-story, you will know why a $1,000 bike is just not acceptable for an 11 year old boy.
Firstborn is very happy with the bike though, which is very important. He rode it a bit, wiped out once, and didn't really make us feel any better about the upcoming 25 mile ride in the freezing cold. However, I'm trying not to be the overly protective mum who doesn't let him do anything.
So, Wednesday night, he headed out for his pack-out. This is a time when the boys get together and pack the supplies (tents, gas cookers, rope, TP, etc) that they will need for the trip into the troop trailer. I had a meeting scheduled at my house and DH was out of town on business. So I arranged to have some friends drive him to and from the pack-out.
When he arrived home, I sent him straight to bed because it was late and he didn't say much. I later went outside to bring the garbage to the curb because DH always seems to plan his travel around garbage days. I notice the bike was gone. I was kicking myself for leaving the garage door opened. Our investment was gone and Firstborn would not be able to go on the bike trip. This last point I was ambivalent on. I knew he would be crushed but at least I wouldn't have to worry about him freezing to death. I tried to call DH but he was not answering. So I called the sheriff's office to report the robbery.
The sheriff's deputy came that night and took the report where I explained the missing bike. He asked if it could be anywhere else and I confirmed that the bike was in the garage when my son went to his BS event and it couldn't be anywhere else.
I lost a lot of sleep that night upset over the loss of this bike. DH never called back. I had to handle the whole thing alone, including breaking the news to Firstborn. He got up early Thursday to finish some homework he had not finished.
I knew he was still a little sleepy, but I wanted to get it over with quickly. I told him his bike was stolen. He looked confused and asked how. I explained that the bike was missing from the garage when I took the garbage out and someone must have grabbed it while he was at his meeting. Still confused, he said, "but I loaded it onto the trailer last night."
"What trailer," I replied.
"The Boyscout trailer. "
"You brought the bike to the pack-out?"
"No, the leader brought me home and when we got home we loaded the bike."
Guess who had to call the sheriff and tell them that it was all a false alarm.
And guess who had to send her boy off on a 25 mile bike ride in the freezing cold snow and rain.
But guess who was relieved that the bike wasn't stolen and survived the whole ordeal.
It's the back story that is really interesting.
You see, we have been putting off buying Firstborn an adult bike because 1) it took him so long to ride, 2) he showed absolutely no interest in getting an adult bike even after the neighbor's twins got adult bikes, and 3) we had a hand-me-down teen bike that still fit him. So, when he announced that he wanted to join the BS troop on the 25 mile ride and we couldn't nudge him to understand that this was a long way to go for your first distance ride, we decided that he probably needed something more grown up with larger wheels.
I looked around on line for an American made 18 or 21 speed bike. I still can't get over the fact that 10 speeds just isn't enough. Target carries some really nice Schwinns that were somewhat in our budget, but DH really wanted to fit him and buy from a small bike shop where they know what they are selling. So off he went with Firstborn and they came home with a Japanese made 21 speed bike that cost a wee bit more than I wanted to spend. DH believed the line about American made bikes are either crap or too expensive. The only American made model at this shop was over $1,000. As you read this back-story, you will know why a $1,000 bike is just not acceptable for an 11 year old boy.
Firstborn is very happy with the bike though, which is very important. He rode it a bit, wiped out once, and didn't really make us feel any better about the upcoming 25 mile ride in the freezing cold. However, I'm trying not to be the overly protective mum who doesn't let him do anything.
So, Wednesday night, he headed out for his pack-out. This is a time when the boys get together and pack the supplies (tents, gas cookers, rope, TP, etc) that they will need for the trip into the troop trailer. I had a meeting scheduled at my house and DH was out of town on business. So I arranged to have some friends drive him to and from the pack-out.
When he arrived home, I sent him straight to bed because it was late and he didn't say much. I later went outside to bring the garbage to the curb because DH always seems to plan his travel around garbage days. I notice the bike was gone. I was kicking myself for leaving the garage door opened. Our investment was gone and Firstborn would not be able to go on the bike trip. This last point I was ambivalent on. I knew he would be crushed but at least I wouldn't have to worry about him freezing to death. I tried to call DH but he was not answering. So I called the sheriff's office to report the robbery.
The sheriff's deputy came that night and took the report where I explained the missing bike. He asked if it could be anywhere else and I confirmed that the bike was in the garage when my son went to his BS event and it couldn't be anywhere else.
I lost a lot of sleep that night upset over the loss of this bike. DH never called back. I had to handle the whole thing alone, including breaking the news to Firstborn. He got up early Thursday to finish some homework he had not finished.
I knew he was still a little sleepy, but I wanted to get it over with quickly. I told him his bike was stolen. He looked confused and asked how. I explained that the bike was missing from the garage when I took the garbage out and someone must have grabbed it while he was at his meeting. Still confused, he said, "but I loaded it onto the trailer last night."
"What trailer," I replied.
"The Boyscout trailer. "
"You brought the bike to the pack-out?"
"No, the leader brought me home and when we got home we loaded the bike."
Guess who had to call the sheriff and tell them that it was all a false alarm.
And guess who had to send her boy off on a 25 mile bike ride in the freezing cold snow and rain.
But guess who was relieved that the bike wasn't stolen and survived the whole ordeal.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Mea culpa
That last post about Lastborn ended up with the wrong picture. That picture of Lastborn was from last spring. It gets better. Really. Look.
I rest my case.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Lastborn: a retrospective
Every year at picture time, DH and I bite our fingernails in expectation of Lastborn's pictures. (You can cue the scary music here.) Last year, they were so bad, we had to send them back and ask for a retake. Some years, they are just hilarious.
The only constant, is that you never know what you will get. Here is a retrospective. A bit blurry, but I hope you get the idea. We will go counter clockwise starting with the necktie picture. 
This picture was taken when he was 4.5 years old. We felt that the conspiratorial grin pretty much summed up his personality and felt we would probably never see another picture that so captured his personality. Then came the suave and debonair Lastborn with the big gap in his teeth. Cute. Then the All-American kid still sporting the gap, and finally, they caught a photo of him as he was telling a joke. So we really thought our days of cute photos were over. Then this year's photos came in.
Yep. If that isn't the face of a trouble maker. I wish I could have caught it more clearly. Those of you who get photos at Christmas can have clearer versions. Even his teacher had to laugh at this expression.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Living in a swing state
This year has been an eye opener for us MA natives. Ohio is a big swing state. It is very unpredictable as to which way they will go and as a result, the concentration of Republican nastiness can be seen here. Everything from constant smear ads to questioning the validity of votes (otherwise known as voter suppression).
Likewise, we have had numerous visits from all the candidates. As a matter of fact, Miss Lipstick is speaking right now and it is being televised live!
Obama has been calling as well as visiting. He called a few weeks ago and DH answered. I'm proud to say he was mannerly, but he did explain that he is voting for the McPain ticket. I believe though that because DH is registered as an independent, he is on some kind of undecided list.
Because Yesterday, the phone rang and I noticed the Ohio for Change title in the caller ID. I knew this was Obama, so I answered thinking he was going to personally ask me to help out with his campaign. Instead a very well spoken gentleman asked for DH. I told him that DH was at work and he continued and asked if DH had made up his mind yet and if there was any chance he would be voting for Obama.
After I stopped laughing, I explained to him that yes, DH had decided very firmly, long ago, and though I had spent the past 9 months trying to make him see reason, he was still going to vote for McCain. So in the end, we will be cancelling each other out again this year.
"Well, you just make sure you get to the polls on election day," he replied.
I assured him I would but was bothered by the subtext I felt in his statement. Somehow, I heard, "or maybe make sure he doesn't, like slip something into his coffee that morning." Ya. That was probably just my conscience.
Likewise, we have had numerous visits from all the candidates. As a matter of fact, Miss Lipstick is speaking right now and it is being televised live!
Obama has been calling as well as visiting. He called a few weeks ago and DH answered. I'm proud to say he was mannerly, but he did explain that he is voting for the McPain ticket. I believe though that because DH is registered as an independent, he is on some kind of undecided list.
Because Yesterday, the phone rang and I noticed the Ohio for Change title in the caller ID. I knew this was Obama, so I answered thinking he was going to personally ask me to help out with his campaign. Instead a very well spoken gentleman asked for DH. I told him that DH was at work and he continued and asked if DH had made up his mind yet and if there was any chance he would be voting for Obama.
After I stopped laughing, I explained to him that yes, DH had decided very firmly, long ago, and though I had spent the past 9 months trying to make him see reason, he was still going to vote for McCain. So in the end, we will be cancelling each other out again this year.
"Well, you just make sure you get to the polls on election day," he replied.
I assured him I would but was bothered by the subtext I felt in his statement. Somehow, I heard, "or maybe make sure he doesn't, like slip something into his coffee that morning." Ya. That was probably just my conscience.
Lastborn provided two funnies this week. We are well into Halloween festivities, so those provided the perfect backdrop for his wit and wisdom.
The first was at a cub scout pack meeting. All dressed in their Halloween finery, the den was in front of the pack presenting what they had learned about Leave no Trace. The den leader asked each of the kids to further explain a specific point about Leave no Trace. He had not assigned these points, he just randomly asked the kids to share their thoughts. He arrived at Lastborn last in the small group and asked him "What about be a responsible pet owner."
I shuddered knowing what my son is capable of and knowing that this point could quickly downgrade into the depths of toilet humor.
Lastborn thought for a while. You could tell he was uncomfortable. You could tell he wasn't sure if he knew the answer. Then he blurted out "Bring a fire hydrant with you?"
The following Monday, the school held a trunk-or-treat. What's that? It's an opportunity for the kids to dress up and go trick-or-treating a second time in October. Don't ask me why we need this, but being a big fan of the whole dress up thing, I was totally into this. We decorated the hatch of my minivan with cobwebs and witchey material and had a twitching severed hand crawling it's way out. Then I brought Grandma's Cauldron and a stick to stir the brew with. Of course, 4 jumbo sized bags of candy were necessary and I had to dress up as a witch. To make sure I was not outdone, I had to do the green face thing too. And a big plastic nose and the whole works. The kids loved it. The adults laughed too. Once everyone was completely sugared up, we headed home.
On our way, I commented on the fact that this makeup might not come off completely, to which Lastborn responded, "did you think of the aftermath when you came up with this plan?"
Little smart alec. I never think they are listening when I lecture them on thinking before they act. Obviously, Lastborn has been listening, but instead of taking my words to heart, he is saving them up to use against me. I hate when they do that.
The first was at a cub scout pack meeting. All dressed in their Halloween finery, the den was in front of the pack presenting what they had learned about Leave no Trace. The den leader asked each of the kids to further explain a specific point about Leave no Trace. He had not assigned these points, he just randomly asked the kids to share their thoughts. He arrived at Lastborn last in the small group and asked him "What about be a responsible pet owner."
I shuddered knowing what my son is capable of and knowing that this point could quickly downgrade into the depths of toilet humor.
Lastborn thought for a while. You could tell he was uncomfortable. You could tell he wasn't sure if he knew the answer. Then he blurted out "Bring a fire hydrant with you?"
The following Monday, the school held a trunk-or-treat. What's that? It's an opportunity for the kids to dress up and go trick-or-treating a second time in October. Don't ask me why we need this, but being a big fan of the whole dress up thing, I was totally into this. We decorated the hatch of my minivan with cobwebs and witchey material and had a twitching severed hand crawling it's way out. Then I brought Grandma's Cauldron and a stick to stir the brew with. Of course, 4 jumbo sized bags of candy were necessary and I had to dress up as a witch. To make sure I was not outdone, I had to do the green face thing too. And a big plastic nose and the whole works. The kids loved it. The adults laughed too. Once everyone was completely sugared up, we headed home.
On our way, I commented on the fact that this makeup might not come off completely, to which Lastborn responded, "did you think of the aftermath when you came up with this plan?"
Little smart alec. I never think they are listening when I lecture them on thinking before they act. Obviously, Lastborn has been listening, but instead of taking my words to heart, he is saving them up to use against me. I hate when they do that.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
The graduate is in
Well, she did it. At times we were not sure, but in the end, she kept up with the class and she is now a graduate rookie rover. Here's her graduation picture on the Pawsitive Pet Solutions website:
http://www.pawsitivepetsolutions.com/images/dogs/thumbnails/Nova.jpg
http://www.pawsitivepetsolutions.com/images/dogs/thumbnails/Nova.jpg
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Quotable Quotes
I always want to record these great quotes when they happen, but it seems like I never have the time until something else big comes up to blog about.
Firstborn was watching a show on TV where someone was remarking on another characters bicepts, referring to them as guns. Firstborn lit up and said, while raising his fists in the air. "I've got guns! They're kind of mushy, but they're guns."
Then the other day, we were driving around town and passed some unfortunate woman who had the dubious honor of standing outside a resturaunt, dressed as a bottle of mustard and waving a sign for the resturaunt. It was very hot and humid and the costume did not fit her well to say nothing of the embarrasment of being seen in this predicament. In my mind I'm wondering what a woman in her 40's has done to leave her dressing in costume on a street corner to drum up business, when Lastborn blurts out, "well, theres a great reason to get a college education."
Ah. My job is done. Even my 8 year old realizes that without a good education, he could end up on a street corner dressed as a bottle of mustard on a hot summer day. I mean, if it were Ketchup, that would be a totally different thing.
Firstborn was watching a show on TV where someone was remarking on another characters bicepts, referring to them as guns. Firstborn lit up and said, while raising his fists in the air. "I've got guns! They're kind of mushy, but they're guns."
Then the other day, we were driving around town and passed some unfortunate woman who had the dubious honor of standing outside a resturaunt, dressed as a bottle of mustard and waving a sign for the resturaunt. It was very hot and humid and the costume did not fit her well to say nothing of the embarrasment of being seen in this predicament. In my mind I'm wondering what a woman in her 40's has done to leave her dressing in costume on a street corner to drum up business, when Lastborn blurts out, "well, theres a great reason to get a college education."
Ah. My job is done. Even my 8 year old realizes that without a good education, he could end up on a street corner dressed as a bottle of mustard on a hot summer day. I mean, if it were Ketchup, that would be a totally different thing.
I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK
In case you don't get the title reference, here's a clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clPYfaTvHT0.
Friday, DH announced that he had purchased a chainsaw to take care of the trees in the back yard. Sigh. He promises that he knows what he is doing. He has never been taught how to use a chain saw. He assumes it is some trait carried on the Y chromosome that will enable him to immediately know how to use a chain saw once it is placed in his hands. Having no Y chromosomes of my own, I find this explanation a bit doubtful, but I reserve judgement.
Friday night, as usual, we wandered over to the neighbors' house while the kids played neighborhood games outside. The neighbors always have an open bottle of good red wine. She is a buyer for a local wine store and she has a very reliable palette. So we know it will be good and it will be flowing. They have another friend, Firstborn calls him Mr D., who comes by nearly every night. He's a whiskey drinker, though. When DH arrived, he asked him about the chain saw.
"Picked one up today" DH replied.
Mr. D's face lit up. "Didja get the 16" or the 18"?"
"Ah. the 18".
"Much better choice. That should take care of whatcha got" said Mr. D.
Let me point out here that Mr. D is an placement specialist. I highly doubt he has ever picked up a chainsaw either. But you know, that Y chromosome. I shook my head and asked my neighbor, who works the ER at the local hospital if she would be on duty tomorrow night.
Saturday, DH suited up with his steel tipped boots, suitable denim and long sleeves, eye protection and gloves and headed to the back yard. He pulled the cord and started the beast. I could see his back straighten, he stood a bit taller.
Within minutes, there were neighborhood men walking into our yard to check it out under the guise of helping him stack the wood. It was like something from Home Improvement. "how many horsepower that thing got?" I could see one man asking. They all practiced their primal grunts, starting softly and then increasing as they all gained confidence. Well, it was either the confidence, or the logs they were all carrying to the new wood pile were getting heavier and heavier. Ya. That could be it.
My plan was to take pictures of him using the new chain saw and then take a picture of all ten fingers for my mother in law. I was simply having too much fun watching the testosterone fest in the back yard though. Forgot to get out my camera. And no, there were no trips to the ER that day.
Friday, DH announced that he had purchased a chainsaw to take care of the trees in the back yard. Sigh. He promises that he knows what he is doing. He has never been taught how to use a chain saw. He assumes it is some trait carried on the Y chromosome that will enable him to immediately know how to use a chain saw once it is placed in his hands. Having no Y chromosomes of my own, I find this explanation a bit doubtful, but I reserve judgement.
Friday night, as usual, we wandered over to the neighbors' house while the kids played neighborhood games outside. The neighbors always have an open bottle of good red wine. She is a buyer for a local wine store and she has a very reliable palette. So we know it will be good and it will be flowing. They have another friend, Firstborn calls him Mr D., who comes by nearly every night. He's a whiskey drinker, though. When DH arrived, he asked him about the chain saw.
"Picked one up today" DH replied.
Mr. D's face lit up. "Didja get the 16" or the 18"?"
"Ah. the 18".
"Much better choice. That should take care of whatcha got" said Mr. D.
Let me point out here that Mr. D is an placement specialist. I highly doubt he has ever picked up a chainsaw either. But you know, that Y chromosome. I shook my head and asked my neighbor, who works the ER at the local hospital if she would be on duty tomorrow night.
Saturday, DH suited up with his steel tipped boots, suitable denim and long sleeves, eye protection and gloves and headed to the back yard. He pulled the cord and started the beast. I could see his back straighten, he stood a bit taller.
Within minutes, there were neighborhood men walking into our yard to check it out under the guise of helping him stack the wood. It was like something from Home Improvement. "how many horsepower that thing got?" I could see one man asking. They all practiced their primal grunts, starting softly and then increasing as they all gained confidence. Well, it was either the confidence, or the logs they were all carrying to the new wood pile were getting heavier and heavier. Ya. That could be it.
My plan was to take pictures of him using the new chain saw and then take a picture of all ten fingers for my mother in law. I was simply having too much fun watching the testosterone fest in the back yard though. Forgot to get out my camera. And no, there were no trips to the ER that day.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Ike: the aftermath
Wednesday, schools started on time; except for one middle school. This happened to be the middle school Firstborn really wanted to go to. He had heard rumors that they brought in name-brand junk food for lunch every day. We are not zoned for that school, so he had to go to a different one. Poor Firstborn.
I loaded the kids onto the bus and updated my blog with the story and pictures. Then I ventured out to the grocery store to refill our fridge. It was crowded and crazy. The stock boys were trying to refill the shelves and the shoppers were emptying them as soon as they filled them.
Some shoppers had just gotten power on either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Others were still waiting and looking for ice and water and cooking fuels.
There were no eggs. None. Not even the crate of broken eggs that everyone rejected. Both in the organic sections and the regular dairy sections, no eggs. So we would go without. No biggie, at least we had other food. The chickens would catch up soon.
I decided to stop at Wendy's for lunch because I was running so late. Wendy's drive through was backed up right in to the grocery store parking lot. Fast food establishments have been doing a booming business since they got power on. I stopped by the grocery store again on Thursday and again the Wendy's was backed up into the grocery store parking lot.
Those businesses who could open up have been making a killing. Those who could not are losing money like crazy.
Everything in our house is coming back to normal. My laundry is almost caught up. I still have a bit of vacuuming to do. It upsets the dog, so I go slowly. Many are still without power though and they usually have to go to work. Our township rec center finally opened up to even non members for showers. They publicized it by sending out an email through the schools. That made me laugh. The people who need the service don't have power let alone email.
Many people are still without phone and Internet as well. I see AT&T trucks everywhere. So it must be their services that are effected. We lost phone because we have digital and it needs a router to operate. We have a battery back up for short power outages, but nothing like this. But once our power came back, Internet and phone both came back too.
So as things calm down here in Ohio, I'll leave you with some pictures of a praying mantis I found sunning on my porch today.
I loaded the kids onto the bus and updated my blog with the story and pictures. Then I ventured out to the grocery store to refill our fridge. It was crowded and crazy. The stock boys were trying to refill the shelves and the shoppers were emptying them as soon as they filled them.
Some shoppers had just gotten power on either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Others were still waiting and looking for ice and water and cooking fuels.
There were no eggs. None. Not even the crate of broken eggs that everyone rejected. Both in the organic sections and the regular dairy sections, no eggs. So we would go without. No biggie, at least we had other food. The chickens would catch up soon.
I decided to stop at Wendy's for lunch because I was running so late. Wendy's drive through was backed up right in to the grocery store parking lot. Fast food establishments have been doing a booming business since they got power on. I stopped by the grocery store again on Thursday and again the Wendy's was backed up into the grocery store parking lot.
Those businesses who could open up have been making a killing. Those who could not are losing money like crazy.
Everything in our house is coming back to normal. My laundry is almost caught up. I still have a bit of vacuuming to do. It upsets the dog, so I go slowly. Many are still without power though and they usually have to go to work. Our township rec center finally opened up to even non members for showers. They publicized it by sending out an email through the schools. That made me laugh. The people who need the service don't have power let alone email.
Many people are still without phone and Internet as well. I see AT&T trucks everywhere. So it must be their services that are effected. We lost phone because we have digital and it needs a router to operate. We have a battery back up for short power outages, but nothing like this. But once our power came back, Internet and phone both came back too.
So as things calm down here in Ohio, I'll leave you with some pictures of a praying mantis I found sunning on my porch today.
Hurricane Ike; Day 3
Monday night, over drinks, our neighbors talked with us about how this had really been fun. While it has been a huge inconvenience, the weather has been nice for this forced camping trip. We are all sleeping pretty well and it is cool enough to do the work we are left with. The kids can play their hearts out and get very dirty, but we are all aware that we are on the verge of problems. For example, the kids really are getting dirty. They have been taking sponge baths every night and the baths are becomming increasingly colder.
DH insisted that I take a shower Monday night. I think I was not smelling pretty, though he denies it. He just kept talking about how there really was enough warm water for a shower. Really.
Well there was not enough for a warm enough shower. Not pleasant.
We also heard at about 8:00 that the schools would be closed again on Tuesday.
We all slept to the sounds of emergency vehicles and neighbor's generators. There were many fires and other emergencies overnight. This included a house in our development that caught on fire when their power was turned on at 5am. Luckily, damage was low, but it all added to the worry.
Tuesday Morning, we heard the details of that house fire and rumors that the power would be out until Saturday. The comforting fact was that our grocery store was open and more gas stations were opening as more sections of the grid were turned on. We were hearing on the news that stations were running out of gas. The first day, delivery trucks were having a hard time getting to their deliveries because so many lights were out. So deliveries were late and everyone was frantically converging on the few gas stations that were opened.
I'm just not driving anywhere until enough power comes on to stabilize the gas situation, and we figured that with the grocer opened, we can buy daily what we need to live on since everything perishable in our fridge would be spoiled by now. Things in our freezer are still covered in crystals (except the soft ice cream that the family finished off Monday night).
I had a front yard to rake since the pear tree was now gone. I spent the morning cleaning low tech; boiling water over Sterno to wash my dishes and sweeping the hard surfaces. The whole place could use a good vacuuming, but that won't happen. Housecleaning was indeed a good way to avoid the raking. I was still sore from raking the back yard Monday.
I had to kick the kids out of the house at 10:00 because Firstborn was convinced he was going to spend the whole day playing DS and Lastborn was going stir crazy. They joined up with all the neighbor kids and hung out in the newly fallen trees.
I headed to the front yard to rake. Nova was tied up in the middle of the yard pulling sticks out of every pile I raked. The three kids across the street were tasked with raking their yard and they started singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall substituting names of soda for each bottle that came down. When they ran out of soda names, I supplied grape nehi and Dr. Pepper for them.
At about 1:00 my kids wandered back to our house with their friends. Everyone was looking for trouble. So I sent them next door where I had heard there were two large boxes of sugar free Popsicles that needed to be eaten before they became a sticky gelatinous mass on her freezer floor. There was a feeding frenzy over the dripping pops. The kids were all in heaven and my neighbor and her mother in law (visiting from Montana for this joyous week) enjoyed watching them. Once the kids were finished, they had to hose down the patio where the feeding frenzy occurred.
At 4pm, the power on the cul-de-sac across the street came on. Firstborn came running home to tell me the power was on, but it was just a tease. We sat watching the porch lights across the street jealously.
Then at 5 our power came on. Cheers were heard all down the street and into the next cul-de-sac.
The funny thing is that I still stop my self on the way into a bathroom and wonder where I left that flashlight last. It took me three days to stop hitting the light switch, now how long will it take me to remember that we have power.
There are still areas of Centerville without power.
DH insisted that I take a shower Monday night. I think I was not smelling pretty, though he denies it. He just kept talking about how there really was enough warm water for a shower. Really.
Well there was not enough for a warm enough shower. Not pleasant.
We also heard at about 8:00 that the schools would be closed again on Tuesday.
We all slept to the sounds of emergency vehicles and neighbor's generators. There were many fires and other emergencies overnight. This included a house in our development that caught on fire when their power was turned on at 5am. Luckily, damage was low, but it all added to the worry.
Tuesday Morning, we heard the details of that house fire and rumors that the power would be out until Saturday. The comforting fact was that our grocery store was open and more gas stations were opening as more sections of the grid were turned on. We were hearing on the news that stations were running out of gas. The first day, delivery trucks were having a hard time getting to their deliveries because so many lights were out. So deliveries were late and everyone was frantically converging on the few gas stations that were opened.
I'm just not driving anywhere until enough power comes on to stabilize the gas situation, and we figured that with the grocer opened, we can buy daily what we need to live on since everything perishable in our fridge would be spoiled by now. Things in our freezer are still covered in crystals (except the soft ice cream that the family finished off Monday night).
I had a front yard to rake since the pear tree was now gone. I spent the morning cleaning low tech; boiling water over Sterno to wash my dishes and sweeping the hard surfaces. The whole place could use a good vacuuming, but that won't happen. Housecleaning was indeed a good way to avoid the raking. I was still sore from raking the back yard Monday.
I had to kick the kids out of the house at 10:00 because Firstborn was convinced he was going to spend the whole day playing DS and Lastborn was going stir crazy. They joined up with all the neighbor kids and hung out in the newly fallen trees.
I headed to the front yard to rake. Nova was tied up in the middle of the yard pulling sticks out of every pile I raked. The three kids across the street were tasked with raking their yard and they started singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall substituting names of soda for each bottle that came down. When they ran out of soda names, I supplied grape nehi and Dr. Pepper for them.
At about 1:00 my kids wandered back to our house with their friends. Everyone was looking for trouble. So I sent them next door where I had heard there were two large boxes of sugar free Popsicles that needed to be eaten before they became a sticky gelatinous mass on her freezer floor. There was a feeding frenzy over the dripping pops. The kids were all in heaven and my neighbor and her mother in law (visiting from Montana for this joyous week) enjoyed watching them. Once the kids were finished, they had to hose down the patio where the feeding frenzy occurred.
At 4pm, the power on the cul-de-sac across the street came on. Firstborn came running home to tell me the power was on, but it was just a tease. We sat watching the porch lights across the street jealously.
Then at 5 our power came on. Cheers were heard all down the street and into the next cul-de-sac.
The funny thing is that I still stop my self on the way into a bathroom and wonder where I left that flashlight last. It took me three days to stop hitting the light switch, now how long will it take me to remember that we have power.
There are still areas of Centerville without power.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Huricane Ike, Day 2
We didn't get to eat until after 8:00 on Sunday. By then, our battery operated and crank radios were telling us that 800,000 people were without power in Cincinnati. We figured that schools would probably be closed because all the power was out; this includes traffic lights and even cell towers.
I dug out Sterno and a fondue pot and warmed up some leftovers being careful not to let too much cold air out of the fridge.
By 9, we had confirmation that there would be no school. The kids got to stay up late and enjoy dinner by candlelight.
The next morning, I boiled water and dripped it through grounds in our automatic drip coffee maker -- sort of a manual drip coffee maker. The coffee was good and we enjoyed a cup while surveying the damage and greeting all the gawking neighbors who wanted to see the back yard. They could see some of the damage from the street and just wanted to get an up-close look.
We then put the kids to work clearing walnuts. We paid them a dollar a crate to pick them up. The ground was littered with walnuts. They must have been about a dozen per square foot in places. Here Lastborn sits on his milk crate while picking up walnuts. He filled three crates while many of the kids filled upwards of 10.
We used the hold made by the pulled-up root ball to hold the walnuts. In this picture, they are at least 18 inches deep. It took the kids at least 3 hours to clear them.
I dug out Sterno and a fondue pot and warmed up some leftovers being careful not to let too much cold air out of the fridge.
By 9, we had confirmation that there would be no school. The kids got to stay up late and enjoy dinner by candlelight.
The next morning, I boiled water and dripped it through grounds in our automatic drip coffee maker -- sort of a manual drip coffee maker. The coffee was good and we enjoyed a cup while surveying the damage and greeting all the gawking neighbors who wanted to see the back yard. They could see some of the damage from the street and just wanted to get an up-close look.
We then put the kids to work clearing walnuts. We paid them a dollar a crate to pick them up. The ground was littered with walnuts. They must have been about a dozen per square foot in places. Here Lastborn sits on his milk crate while picking up walnuts. He filled three crates while many of the kids filled upwards of 10.
We used the hold made by the pulled-up root ball to hold the walnuts. In this picture, they are at least 18 inches deep. It took the kids at least 3 hours to clear them.
While the kids picked walnuts, DH and many of the men from the neighborhood helped the neighbors with the tree over their driveway. That was a story in itself. These neighbors had been on vacation. They pulled into their driveway just before I had gotten home and as they pulled in, a large branch fell on their car. Luckily no one was injured, but the car was a rental. The husband, who is from S. America and very unfamiliar with Midwestern storms ran into the house leaving his wife to get the kids (2 yrs and 9 months) out of the car. He would not leave the house for the rest of the day. As they cleared the branch off the car (that was happening as I drove past the house Sunday) the rest of the tree came down across their drive.
This was the tree DH helped clear. They had to tie it to an SUV and drag it out of the way and then they used hand saws to cut it up enough to clear some of it. Later in the day someone with a chain saw cut the larger sections up.
After the kids finished with the walnuts, we walked around and surveyed the damage and took pictures. This is the double tulip poplar that fell into the neighbor's shed It came very close to damaging their house. Their entire back yard was full of this tree.
Here's Eddie making lemons out of lemonade. We have nicknamed this fallen tree, the temporary jungle gym in the back yard.
After the walnuts were cleared the kids got to play on the trees.
Here Mr. T from across the street plays on one of the smaller trees attached to the root ball of the first tree to come down. They were also climbing the roots. Children are so agile.
At 2 our neighbor across the street came over with some fish stew. She had to use or lose the fish and this is what she could make over a camp stove. But it was too spicy for her kids. We had already eaten, so DH had some and we kept it hot and gave it to the tree guy. The tree guy will come back in a couple of days to take care of the other pear tree that was damaged.
We got to meet lots of people that day. Everyone was out checking out the damage or cleaning up. The kids were playing in a pack, mostly on the trees in our back yard. People were sharing food and grills to cook out. The kids were not wining about lack of TV. Altogether, it was fun. Nova was out of a lead the entire day eating fallen sticks. This was doggie heaven. I had been making a beef and barley soup with one of our beef bones when the power went out Sunday. All I had was a bone and broth. The meat was dinner Sunday and I saved the bone for Nova. She spent the day working on it.
By evening, we heard no school on Tuesday. The kids played until 9pm outside. We hung with the neighbors. Then we all crashed by 10 or 11 exhausted from our day of raking and cleaning up.
Ike Pictures
Ah. Pictures are working.
This is the second tree to come down. The one on our property that hit the shed. It was a double three; a tulip poplar. It was one of my favorite in the yard. It also ripped out a large section of our pathway.
A view through the family room at the root ball of the first tree to go down.
This is the second tree to come down. The one on our property that hit the shed. It was a double three; a tulip poplar. It was one of my favorite in the yard. It also ripped out a large section of our pathway.
A view through the family room at the root ball of the first tree to go down.
The view of our front yard and the pear tree that went down.
A closer look at the root ball of the first tree.
2 Mil Without Power in Ohio, But Nobody knows
Today, I am faced with lots of vacuuming, piles of laundry and an empty refrigerator that I need to fill, but I can't go shopping until the kids go to school. They are on a two hour delay. This all started Sunday, which was a terrible, horrible, not good, very bad day.
Sunday started out very warm and very humid. We had a warm humid week in fact. Our only event for Sunday was a cub scout meeting where they were getting their whittling chips. So when the high-wind warning came on the news, I didn't think much of it.
We headed to the meeting at 2pm and the den leader insisted that we meet in his back yard, until the kids almost blew away. At about 2:30, the power went out and we all laughed. The meeting was a mixture of learning how to use a knife and watching things blow around. By 3pm, I was getting worried and we hurried out of the meeting fighting our way through the wind to our car. As we climbed in, I heard a crack like thunder, but there was no lightening.
As we left the den leader's street, I noticed all the roofing shingles lifting off in the wind and the neighbors and kids were outside watching it. It seemed like a good time to be inside the safety of your house to me.
Coming around the bend of the den leader's development, I noticed a pear tree snapped in half in a yard. I concluded that the crack I had heard was probably a large branch breaking off a tree.
The ride home was scary. We passed many large limbs on the road and debris was blowing everywhere. At one point, we approached a loose cable whipping from a pole. It could have been telephone, or cable or even power, but it wasn't arcing, so I just told myself that the rubber tires would protect us. It hit the windshield and scraped across the roof of the car as we passed. about 200 feet further down the road, a girls soccer game was still in progress. No one seemed to notice the chaos going on near the trees.
I had Lastborn watch for tornadoes and pressed on only feeling safe on the wider roads where the trees were well back. We breathed a sigh of relief when we entered our development. Until we saw many people in a neighbor's yard trying to clear a tree from across their driveway.
When we pulled into our driveway, DH was there with the dog on a leash and Firstborn. DH looked concerned and I wondered why he was outside with the kid. He told me he had tried to call me and said to go into the family room and check out the back yard. This was the view from the kitchen.
Sunday started out very warm and very humid. We had a warm humid week in fact. Our only event for Sunday was a cub scout meeting where they were getting their whittling chips. So when the high-wind warning came on the news, I didn't think much of it.
We headed to the meeting at 2pm and the den leader insisted that we meet in his back yard, until the kids almost blew away. At about 2:30, the power went out and we all laughed. The meeting was a mixture of learning how to use a knife and watching things blow around. By 3pm, I was getting worried and we hurried out of the meeting fighting our way through the wind to our car. As we climbed in, I heard a crack like thunder, but there was no lightening.
As we left the den leader's street, I noticed all the roofing shingles lifting off in the wind and the neighbors and kids were outside watching it. It seemed like a good time to be inside the safety of your house to me.
Coming around the bend of the den leader's development, I noticed a pear tree snapped in half in a yard. I concluded that the crack I had heard was probably a large branch breaking off a tree.
The ride home was scary. We passed many large limbs on the road and debris was blowing everywhere. At one point, we approached a loose cable whipping from a pole. It could have been telephone, or cable or even power, but it wasn't arcing, so I just told myself that the rubber tires would protect us. It hit the windshield and scraped across the roof of the car as we passed. about 200 feet further down the road, a girls soccer game was still in progress. No one seemed to notice the chaos going on near the trees.
I had Lastborn watch for tornadoes and pressed on only feeling safe on the wider roads where the trees were well back. We breathed a sigh of relief when we entered our development. Until we saw many people in a neighbor's yard trying to clear a tree from across their driveway.
When we pulled into our driveway, DH was there with the dog on a leash and Firstborn. DH looked concerned and I wondered why he was outside with the kid. He told me he had tried to call me and said to go into the family room and check out the back yard. This was the view from the kitchen.
The root ball from a large tree, sticking up in the air. This one was just off our property, but if it had fallen in the other direction, it would have hit our family room. This tree took down a few others in a domino effect and one ended up through the roof of a house on a cul-de-sac near us. Blogger is giving me a hard time about uploading pictures, so I have to use this one. I do believe I have better ones I will try to share soon.
The storm progressed. The kids wanted to go out in it. After all, most of the neighborhood kids were out playing. I would not let them, for fear they would get hit by a tree. My husband was basically laughing at my fear and he spent the whole storm out and about. Here he is with our next door neighbor and a guy from a couple doors down. Many people were out. The warmth of the air and the lack of rain was lulling people into a false sense of confidence. By the way, the woman in the black shirt is a nurse and she had to work the ER that night. She told me the place was hopping with people who got hit with branches. Funny, that. Notice the branch by their feet.
At one point, DH and the guy next door went out to the woods to check out the fallen tree. Less than 20 minutes after they returned, we heard another crack. DH asked if I could see what had fallen I noticed that there was a lot more light coming through out there. He looked, and another big tree, this time on our property, had come down. Again, in the right direction. It fell on a neighbor's shed. Just like the last tree, this one had taken several others with it.
At this point, the boys from the cul-de-sac across the street came to see if Ken wanted to play outside. They though this was a lark, so I brought them to the family room to see how bad it really was. Of course, as boys, they thought this was great, but they did get a little more appreciation for the size of this storm. I didn't want to send them home through it, but I worried that their mom would worry and I had no phone at this time to call her. Within 5 minutes of their arrival, a large branch fell off one of the ornamental pears in our front yard. This was the final convincing they needed to be careful and they ran home.
But they returned in about 10 minutes. So my boys spent the afternoon playing a board game that one of the neighbor boys made up.
Then the other ornamental pear in our front yard came down.
By 6 the winds were still high, but the damage was done. By 7, it was safe to go outside again. We let the kids play on the root balls and I had a glass of wine with the neighbors.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Even the dog is gifted!
Let me just start out by saying that the headline is a joke.
When I signed Nova up for doggie school, I had no idea that it would be so much like getting my kids through school. We had our first class last week and I had no idea what to expect. I mean, I think Nova is a pretty cool dog. I've done my best to socialize her around other dogs and people so that she can go into the class with the best attitude her genes will allow. I even began doing some basic puppy training with her hoping that we wouldn't go in there as the most ignorant and out of control puppy/owner pair in the history of Pawsitive Pet Solutions. Short of signing her up for the most elite puppy pre-k on before we even adopted her, I thought we were pretty well prepared.
Well, her first day of puppy school was very embarrassing. The class consists of 5 dogs; an older spaniel who is shy and very attached to her two elderly owners, a nervous beagle and his single, professional, divorcee owner, an adorable, unflappable, 6-month old bloodhound, and a very nervous black husky/Shepherd/lab mix who was recently rescued and is handled alternately (but never together) by a young unmarried couple. In the latter case, it is clear that the dog is the young woman's, but this week, the young man had to bring her. I suppose it is better than getting pregnant, but I worry about this couple. They don't seem particularly communicative.
Nova is kind of nervous, but she is such a happy dog that she gets over it quickly and moves on. She's not much interested in the calm spaniel, the beagle's owner is very rigid and seems to be protecting her dog from my big oaf, the blood hound's owner's are very nice, but we all try to keep them apart in class because anyone could see that 2 large 6-month old puppies would produce a big bang in class. Nova seems to constantly try to make friends withe the nervous husky mix. No doubt she is a beautiful dog, and the two of them together make a great looking pair. But her owners are so young, and nervous, and shut down and the dog is nervous too.
Anyway, Nova is clearly the extrovert in the crowd. And she already knows sit. The clicker was a novelty though and she found it very interesting. In fact, she found everyone's clicker to be interesting. Not knowing I should not feed her before class, she went there a little less interested in treats than she should have been and she spent the night turning for every click in the room and wondering what treats the other dogs were getting. She just wasn't interested in working with me at all. Although when the instructor would come over to demo on her, she was just good as gold. Curiosity can do that.
So last night, I didn't feed her before class. I got some really strong smelling treats to use with her and we dutifully practiced our sits and watches and name responses all week.
Starvation will make a big difference in a dog's willingness to work. You could tell that when we went over the lessons from last week, though, that she was only humoring me. Until we started on down. The teacher asked if Nova knew the command and if we had a hand signal. She knows it well. You can't have a large dog without teaching it down very early. Especially when you don't use a crate. So she demonstrated how to mold the down command by luring the dog with a treat using Nova. She likes to show it on large dogs because it takes them longer to get their bellies down so it is like doing it in slow motion. And then she showed how to add in the hand signal. Nova was perfect for the whole thing. The star of the show. With ears perked up and eyes firmly on the treat, she laid down just as asked, and as soon as the instructor used the hand signal, she popped down and wagged her tail.
So the instructor said we could move on to teach her how to sit from down. I've never done this before. So it was new for me too. Nova loved it. She didn't take her eyes off me the whole time. She didn't go check on the nervous dog or wander off to smell things. She just laid down as asked and then popped into the most perfect sit; repeatedly. It was so much fun. She was obviously having fun. I was so proud of her.
Maybe she was just bored last week and at the beginning of class. Maybe, like gifted kids, she needs a challenge to keep on track and stay out of trouble. Ya. We'll go with that.
When I signed Nova up for doggie school, I had no idea that it would be so much like getting my kids through school. We had our first class last week and I had no idea what to expect. I mean, I think Nova is a pretty cool dog. I've done my best to socialize her around other dogs and people so that she can go into the class with the best attitude her genes will allow. I even began doing some basic puppy training with her hoping that we wouldn't go in there as the most ignorant and out of control puppy/owner pair in the history of Pawsitive Pet Solutions. Short of signing her up for the most elite puppy pre-k on before we even adopted her, I thought we were pretty well prepared.
Well, her first day of puppy school was very embarrassing. The class consists of 5 dogs; an older spaniel who is shy and very attached to her two elderly owners, a nervous beagle and his single, professional, divorcee owner, an adorable, unflappable, 6-month old bloodhound, and a very nervous black husky/Shepherd/lab mix who was recently rescued and is handled alternately (but never together) by a young unmarried couple. In the latter case, it is clear that the dog is the young woman's, but this week, the young man had to bring her. I suppose it is better than getting pregnant, but I worry about this couple. They don't seem particularly communicative.
Nova is kind of nervous, but she is such a happy dog that she gets over it quickly and moves on. She's not much interested in the calm spaniel, the beagle's owner is very rigid and seems to be protecting her dog from my big oaf, the blood hound's owner's are very nice, but we all try to keep them apart in class because anyone could see that 2 large 6-month old puppies would produce a big bang in class. Nova seems to constantly try to make friends withe the nervous husky mix. No doubt she is a beautiful dog, and the two of them together make a great looking pair. But her owners are so young, and nervous, and shut down and the dog is nervous too.
Anyway, Nova is clearly the extrovert in the crowd. And she already knows sit. The clicker was a novelty though and she found it very interesting. In fact, she found everyone's clicker to be interesting. Not knowing I should not feed her before class, she went there a little less interested in treats than she should have been and she spent the night turning for every click in the room and wondering what treats the other dogs were getting. She just wasn't interested in working with me at all. Although when the instructor would come over to demo on her, she was just good as gold. Curiosity can do that.
So last night, I didn't feed her before class. I got some really strong smelling treats to use with her and we dutifully practiced our sits and watches and name responses all week.
Starvation will make a big difference in a dog's willingness to work. You could tell that when we went over the lessons from last week, though, that she was only humoring me. Until we started on down. The teacher asked if Nova knew the command and if we had a hand signal. She knows it well. You can't have a large dog without teaching it down very early. Especially when you don't use a crate. So she demonstrated how to mold the down command by luring the dog with a treat using Nova. She likes to show it on large dogs because it takes them longer to get their bellies down so it is like doing it in slow motion. And then she showed how to add in the hand signal. Nova was perfect for the whole thing. The star of the show. With ears perked up and eyes firmly on the treat, she laid down just as asked, and as soon as the instructor used the hand signal, she popped down and wagged her tail.
So the instructor said we could move on to teach her how to sit from down. I've never done this before. So it was new for me too. Nova loved it. She didn't take her eyes off me the whole time. She didn't go check on the nervous dog or wander off to smell things. She just laid down as asked and then popped into the most perfect sit; repeatedly. It was so much fun. She was obviously having fun. I was so proud of her.
Maybe she was just bored last week and at the beginning of class. Maybe, like gifted kids, she needs a challenge to keep on track and stay out of trouble. Ya. We'll go with that.
Our plan to take over the world has been discovered!!!
This week, Nova started obedience training. They use a method called clicker training. Each owner is given a little clicking device. When the dog performs the behavior you are looking for, you click the clicker and give them a treat. Eventually, they learn that the sound itself is a good thing and you can skip the treats. It's a very effective method of training.
I keep my clicker close by so that I can use it to reinforce good behaviors. The other night, the clicker was sitting on the side table next to me. The kitties get up on the side table to ask for attention. I don't think much about it. I just pet them and talk to them when they ask. Suddenly, I notice that the clicker is on the floor in the middle of the room. The two cats are sniffing it and looking at each other. To get the clicker to that point of the room, one of them had to have picked it up and carried it in her mouth. Otherwise, I would have noticed the playful batting and even heard it scratch against the surface of the side table.
I suspect that they decided to use the clicker to train the dog to do something in support of their goal to take over the world. They were planning their strategy. Kitties must be watched!
I keep my clicker close by so that I can use it to reinforce good behaviors. The other night, the clicker was sitting on the side table next to me. The kitties get up on the side table to ask for attention. I don't think much about it. I just pet them and talk to them when they ask. Suddenly, I notice that the clicker is on the floor in the middle of the room. The two cats are sniffing it and looking at each other. To get the clicker to that point of the room, one of them had to have picked it up and carried it in her mouth. Otherwise, I would have noticed the playful batting and even heard it scratch against the surface of the side table.
I suspect that they decided to use the clicker to train the dog to do something in support of their goal to take over the world. They were planning their strategy. Kitties must be watched!
Monday, September 08, 2008
Catching up
It's been a while, I know. We've been very busy.
Last weekend, I attended a letter boxing event in Eastern OH. Beautiful country and Firstborn and I enjoyed seeing the world in 3D again. But we are back in the flat country and I will recap the event in another post.
Today, I went to the dog park with Nova. She loves the dog park and already recognizes my dog-park bag. I carry a water bottle, collapsible bowl, plastic baggies and sometimes a toy in it. It also doubles to hold my keys, wallet, phone and ipod, so I don't have to carry my purse as well.
She is still reluctant to jump into the car sometimes. In the back of her mind, I'm sure she is afraid that I might trick her and bring her back to the vet for another operation. She is just growing back the hair from the bikini waxing they gave her when they fixed her. She's not in the mood for another. Especially with winter approaching. Too cold to have a bald belly.
Anyway, we had fun at the park and she ran and ran. I usually walk the perimeter of the park while she runs in circles around me. I got some good shots of her having fun. You can see in the bright sunlight that she is not just a big black blob. She has a separate head. Of course when she is panting, it just looks like a black blob with a big pink tongue.
We had the park to ourselves for a while and then a little fuzz ball named Jazz took over the small dog area. The two of them ran along the length of the fence between the small dog area and the large dog area. They seemed well matched, but Jazz was just coming home from a stay at the kennel and wanted to go home and get away from strange dogs.
Nova is now sleeping next to me. She's tired and happy.
Friday, August 29, 2008
New Phase in Life
Since moving here to OH, I have been struggling with entering a new phase in my life. I've been a mother of older children and in my 40s for a few years now. But back in Tewksbury, I was able to avoid admitting that I was aging because members of my mother's group often had younger kids and even the ones with kids my kids' age, were still about 10 years younger than me. In fact, through my entire motherhood, I've been about 10 years older than my peers. This has helped me think young, I tell myself.
All the mothers' groups rejected me here. :-( Some didn't like that I worked and others didn't like that my kids were past preschool. OK. I'm fine with it. A couple sessions with my therapist and I'll be fine. Really.
I found New Neighbor's League and felt better that at least I can get out of the house and socialize. I attended my first event and felt a bit down. All the women I met were old. The entire room was old save a few faces across the room. OK. I'm being mean here. They were not all old. But they all seemed to be at least 10 years older than me. Ah. The shoe is on the other foot now. But I am finding it hard to "act my age."
Another new stage is entering a child into middle school. Last night was the open house. DH was out of town, so I had to drop the kids with my lovely, wonderful neighbor. Yes, the one who took care of Nova while we went out of town. I arrived at the event a few minutes late after dropping the kids off late and getting Nova out for one last potty break before leaving her at home. A few other parents stood outside the Gym with me. We were the overflow. We struggled to hear the principal speak about how wonderful the teachers were. They dismissed us to our children's advisory teachers. But where? Advisory is like homeroom, but the teacher is expected to do a bit more than take attendance. She/he is expected to advise.
We had no maps (except for the parents of the nice kids who brought their maps home to share. My kid was purposely not nice.) We only knew the names of the advisory teachers. This was not a good idea overall. It led to a lot of pushing and shoving. And I might add here that the school is a really weird layout. It was originally a completely open space/wall-less building. They gradually sectioned it off into pie piece shaped classrooms arranged around smaller circular rooms. An absolute mess for changing classes.
After asking for directions (because I'm not a guy), I found my way to the advisory room for Firstborn where I got a map and class schedule.
The good news, Firstborn's advisory is very nice. One of the nicest groups she has had. They even helped her set up the classroom on the first day. It is a mixture of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders and they are all like a team.
Next I moved on to gym where I found out that Firstborn has a woman gym teacher even though all the boys think the male gym teacher is theirs and the girls all think the female gym teacher is theirs. He takes 7 weeks of daily gym, has 14 weeks off and then takes 7 more weeks of daily gym. Interesting plan. They have to run a mile once a week and they have to change clothes for gym but they don't have tacky uniforms like we used to.
Then came science where his teacher has broken them up into Survivor-style teams and they have each picked a team name. She promises no one will be voted off the island. They are mostly exploring science this year. Firstborn will find this quite easy.
In science, I ran into a woman I had been standing outside of the gym with at the beginning of the night. We compared schedules and found that we were in different classes next, but ran into each other again at "lunch." She promised she wasn't following me, but struck up a conversation. We both had English Language Arts with Firstborn's advisory teacher after lunch. They didn't ring the bell at the end of lunch so the two of us walked into ELA late, looking sheepish. How did those other parents know that lunch was over when we didn't? I hope we don't get a referral over this (that's what they call their discipline warning system).
During our "lunch" this woman and I talked a bit about our kids, both sons. She commented that she was desperately trying to find another one of the "younger moms" to lean on when she found me. I laughed. I've never been one of the younger moms at a school gathering. I explained this to her and she insisted that I looked much younger than the others. I told her I was in my forties and she looked at me in amazement. I think it was that deer-in-the-headlights look I was sporting that threw her off. She thought I was in my early thirties. What can I say, I'm well preserved.
So for one more night, I can feel younger than I really am. This helps when recovering from the first open house at middle school. I had heard about these. Now I got to experience one. It was chaotic, but I like this crazy woman who followed me around all night and told me I look young.
First born is doing well in middle school. He was really ready for it. I'm glad I got to see the new-improved (with walls) school and meet his teachers. It makes me feel a bit better to know that they all seem nice and all have a sense of humor. I can rest now.
All the mothers' groups rejected me here. :-( Some didn't like that I worked and others didn't like that my kids were past preschool. OK. I'm fine with it. A couple sessions with my therapist and I'll be fine. Really.
I found New Neighbor's League and felt better that at least I can get out of the house and socialize. I attended my first event and felt a bit down. All the women I met were old. The entire room was old save a few faces across the room. OK. I'm being mean here. They were not all old. But they all seemed to be at least 10 years older than me. Ah. The shoe is on the other foot now. But I am finding it hard to "act my age."
Another new stage is entering a child into middle school. Last night was the open house. DH was out of town, so I had to drop the kids with my lovely, wonderful neighbor. Yes, the one who took care of Nova while we went out of town. I arrived at the event a few minutes late after dropping the kids off late and getting Nova out for one last potty break before leaving her at home. A few other parents stood outside the Gym with me. We were the overflow. We struggled to hear the principal speak about how wonderful the teachers were. They dismissed us to our children's advisory teachers. But where? Advisory is like homeroom, but the teacher is expected to do a bit more than take attendance. She/he is expected to advise.
We had no maps (except for the parents of the nice kids who brought their maps home to share. My kid was purposely not nice.) We only knew the names of the advisory teachers. This was not a good idea overall. It led to a lot of pushing and shoving. And I might add here that the school is a really weird layout. It was originally a completely open space/wall-less building. They gradually sectioned it off into pie piece shaped classrooms arranged around smaller circular rooms. An absolute mess for changing classes.
After asking for directions (because I'm not a guy), I found my way to the advisory room for Firstborn where I got a map and class schedule.
The good news, Firstborn's advisory is very nice. One of the nicest groups she has had. They even helped her set up the classroom on the first day. It is a mixture of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders and they are all like a team.
Next I moved on to gym where I found out that Firstborn has a woman gym teacher even though all the boys think the male gym teacher is theirs and the girls all think the female gym teacher is theirs. He takes 7 weeks of daily gym, has 14 weeks off and then takes 7 more weeks of daily gym. Interesting plan. They have to run a mile once a week and they have to change clothes for gym but they don't have tacky uniforms like we used to.
Then came science where his teacher has broken them up into Survivor-style teams and they have each picked a team name. She promises no one will be voted off the island. They are mostly exploring science this year. Firstborn will find this quite easy.
In science, I ran into a woman I had been standing outside of the gym with at the beginning of the night. We compared schedules and found that we were in different classes next, but ran into each other again at "lunch." She promised she wasn't following me, but struck up a conversation. We both had English Language Arts with Firstborn's advisory teacher after lunch. They didn't ring the bell at the end of lunch so the two of us walked into ELA late, looking sheepish. How did those other parents know that lunch was over when we didn't? I hope we don't get a referral over this (that's what they call their discipline warning system).
During our "lunch" this woman and I talked a bit about our kids, both sons. She commented that she was desperately trying to find another one of the "younger moms" to lean on when she found me. I laughed. I've never been one of the younger moms at a school gathering. I explained this to her and she insisted that I looked much younger than the others. I told her I was in my forties and she looked at me in amazement. I think it was that deer-in-the-headlights look I was sporting that threw her off. She thought I was in my early thirties. What can I say, I'm well preserved.
So for one more night, I can feel younger than I really am. This helps when recovering from the first open house at middle school. I had heard about these. Now I got to experience one. It was chaotic, but I like this crazy woman who followed me around all night and told me I look young.
First born is doing well in middle school. He was really ready for it. I'm glad I got to see the new-improved (with walls) school and meet his teachers. It makes me feel a bit better to know that they all seem nice and all have a sense of humor. I can rest now.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
After the backache
It did happen. We did go camping. And we are still recovering. I tried to tap into my inner Girl Scout, but this is tough when camping with Cub Scouts. They have a very different view of camping with kids. It includes wild mayhem and lots of kids not taking on responsibility. Very different from my Girl Scout days.
Now, I must point out that when I committed to this trip, it had been a very balmy 75 to 80 degrees for over a week. Indeed, our entire summer has been comfortable with only occasional days over 88 degrees. So I prayed for the cool weather to last. But God, Having a very sick sense of humor, or perhaps answering the prayers of someone more faithful than I deigned to up the temps for this weekend, just a bit.
Lastborn's den leader helped me raise the tent. Firstborn was happy to leave this task to us instead of helping out. By the time the tent was up, I asked Firstborn about the whereabouts of Lastborn and heard he was down by the lake. Were there any adults with them? No. Of course not. Just a couple of Boy Scouts who were along for the trip. And, Oh yes, Lastborn was wearing his new white school sneakers.
Firstborn led me down the very steep slope to the lake and there I found him and all the other Cub Scouts and their younger siblings deep in the water, throwing mud from the lake bed at each other. Oh. Joy. The Boy Scout who had been watching them had wandered off, and the kids were all joyously and loudly calling the mud crap. Along the banks of the lake, rows of little shoes and socks faced the water's edge. None of them were white, not even formerly white. You know what that means... Lastborn is still wearing his new white sneakers.
Because they were already sopping wet and dirty, I didn't pull them out of the water. I'm fairly easy with my ability to save a child from shallow water though I didn't relish the idea of having that responsibility.
After a while of this, we herded all the kids out of the water and back up the hill to change into dryer clothes. The lake had become the big draw of the weekend. And this is one of the areas where I really differ from the Cub Scout philosophy. While each child has to have a parent/guardian with them on the weekend, there is still an overall feeling that someone else will watch these kids. But the leaders are not tasked with teaching any camping or safety skills. They do this well in Boy Scouts, but not in cubs. The end result is that every Cub Scout outing is a big flirt with danger for everyone involved.
On the high note, Lastborn loved the tent and found another boy to play with; one whose parents were unwilling to let him run wild by the lake. They spent Saturday morning running between our two Coleman tents using the "doggie door" as Lastborn named it. It is really a "cooler access hatch" according to Coleman. In other words, you can lay on your sleeping bag and reach out this door into your cooler for a beer. Just what I need on these Cub Scout outings.
Now, on Friday night, there must have been about 20 mosquitoes in our tent. I couldn't understand how they got in there. I was on the kids constantly about zipping up the fly and Lastborn had not yet discovered the "doggie door." But they were there, and with the 80 degrees we were still getting at 11:00 at night, we all had to pile into our hot sleeping bags for relief. Finally, at 3am when I went for a potty break, I returned to the tent and turned my flashlight on to discover these 20 mosquitoes and kill each one of them. Since they had already feasted on me and my sons they left little bloody blotches all over the inside of the tent. It looked like there had been a murder in there. But we were all finally able to sleep and then it started to get cold and it was comfortable in our bags.
Now, I must point out that when I committed to this trip, it had been a very balmy 75 to 80 degrees for over a week. Indeed, our entire summer has been comfortable with only occasional days over 88 degrees. So I prayed for the cool weather to last. But God, Having a very sick sense of humor, or perhaps answering the prayers of someone more faithful than I deigned to up the temps for this weekend, just a bit.
Lastborn's den leader helped me raise the tent. Firstborn was happy to leave this task to us instead of helping out. By the time the tent was up, I asked Firstborn about the whereabouts of Lastborn and heard he was down by the lake. Were there any adults with them? No. Of course not. Just a couple of Boy Scouts who were along for the trip. And, Oh yes, Lastborn was wearing his new white school sneakers.
Firstborn led me down the very steep slope to the lake and there I found him and all the other Cub Scouts and their younger siblings deep in the water, throwing mud from the lake bed at each other. Oh. Joy. The Boy Scout who had been watching them had wandered off, and the kids were all joyously and loudly calling the mud crap. Along the banks of the lake, rows of little shoes and socks faced the water's edge. None of them were white, not even formerly white. You know what that means... Lastborn is still wearing his new white sneakers.
Because they were already sopping wet and dirty, I didn't pull them out of the water. I'm fairly easy with my ability to save a child from shallow water though I didn't relish the idea of having that responsibility.
After a while of this, we herded all the kids out of the water and back up the hill to change into dryer clothes. The lake had become the big draw of the weekend. And this is one of the areas where I really differ from the Cub Scout philosophy. While each child has to have a parent/guardian with them on the weekend, there is still an overall feeling that someone else will watch these kids. But the leaders are not tasked with teaching any camping or safety skills. They do this well in Boy Scouts, but not in cubs. The end result is that every Cub Scout outing is a big flirt with danger for everyone involved.On the high note, Lastborn loved the tent and found another boy to play with; one whose parents were unwilling to let him run wild by the lake. They spent Saturday morning running between our two Coleman tents using the "doggie door" as Lastborn named it. It is really a "cooler access hatch" according to Coleman. In other words, you can lay on your sleeping bag and reach out this door into your cooler for a beer. Just what I need on these Cub Scout outings.
Now, on Friday night, there must have been about 20 mosquitoes in our tent. I couldn't understand how they got in there. I was on the kids constantly about zipping up the fly and Lastborn had not yet discovered the "doggie door." But they were there, and with the 80 degrees we were still getting at 11:00 at night, we all had to pile into our hot sleeping bags for relief. Finally, at 3am when I went for a potty break, I returned to the tent and turned my flashlight on to discover these 20 mosquitoes and kill each one of them. Since they had already feasted on me and my sons they left little bloody blotches all over the inside of the tent. It looked like there had been a murder in there. But we were all finally able to sleep and then it started to get cold and it was comfortable in our bags.Please note: Firstborn had been insistent on sleeping outside with the other Boy Scouts who all got eaten alive. I refused. He hated me. Such is the life of the mother of a tween.
The next day, Lastborn ran around with his friend and Firstborn decided to walk to the beach with the other Boy Scouts. Little did they know that it was about 2 miles away. So Firstborn has quite the tan.
But it got hotter and hotter and I was working on little sleep. So, after lunch, when DH showed up to take the boys fishing, I made the decision that we would pack up the tent and sleep at home Saturday night even if we did stay for the day. I was beginning to feel pretty badly and no matter how much water I drank, I was just feeling worse. I felt this really strong pressure in my head. Like when you hold your breath for too long. It was not fun taking the tent down and packing all our stuff.
So I asked DH to take the boys swimming at the beach and I headed home.
On a funny side note. What happens when a bluebird and a Massachusetts driver cross paths?
Just look at DHs car...
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Upcoming backache
I have signed the boys up for a cub scout camping trip. Last time I went with Ken, we borrowed a tent from the pack. It was not entirely to my liking as it was very well vented and it was a rainy cold night. So I searched online for tents. Target had some nice ones. So did Walmart. So, I narrowed it down to a nice Ozark Trail 6 man tent from Walmart that got some great reviews. At this point, I don't think we will be doing a lot of camping. As it is, one night in a tent will have me pretty well incapacitated for by the next morning. I keep having these visions of the fun I used to have as a Girl Scout. It's just not fun anymore. But I can't keep my boys from experiencing something that gave me such great joy as a kid. And Cub Scouts requires a parent to attend with the child. Not that I can argue with that.
I'm also attending a letter boxing event next weekend with Firstborn. Because it is in a remote area of Ohio, there are few hotels. So we will be camping. It's too far to drive there and back in one day.
All this camping gives reason for a tent. Hopefully, I will gain some camping muscle and I can do this with the boys in the future as well. But because we are not going into this with high hopes, a cheap tent should be fine. Besides, no rain has been predicted here in Ohio for the last 2 months and we are not expecting any more soon.
So, off I went to Walmart only to find that the great cheap tent with the good reviews was all sold out. Big surprise, I know. So I bought a Coleman 7 person tent for what was still a made-in-china-great price. A bit big for 3 people and no, there's no chance that DH will join us.
So last Saturday, I decided that I should set it up myself before we arrive at the camp site. No use making a fool of myself in front of the Cub Scouts. I have some pride you know. Enough pride that I didn't want to set it up in the yard. I chose the garage. With the door closed. The neighbors get enough entertainment without watching me struggle with a tent raising.
I was able to do most of the job myself calling Firstborn in only when it was time to raise the poles. This is a two-person job even for the most experienced, unless you are a giant octopus; which I am not.
The tent looks great and is large enough for a party. I had visions of bringing the dog. We could fit her crate in there. I'm not courageous enough for that yet though. After she goes to her training class next month -- maybe.
Sunday, I decided to take it down. It had aired out enough. The magic is always in the refitting in the duffel it came with. Will it? Take down was a 1-person job. All went well. The tent folded nicely and even fit in the bag with some room. Would the poles fit as well? That would be too much to ask for.
I gathered them together and tried to fit the first folded pole into the plastic bag it came in. There was no bottom to the plastic bag. The pole fell through the sleeve and hit the garage floor. The impact of the aluminum poles against the cement caused the shock cord in the poles to break at every joint. Holy tent pole, Robin! What do you do in this case?
You immediately search the Internet for Coleman replacement poles. It says to call Coleman. So, the next day, I get on the phone with Coleman to see if they can ship me a new pole and maybe a spare. No. They are out of stock and it will take a month for them to get new ones. Is this why the tent is so cheap? There are pole fabricators out there, but that will no way provide 5-day turnaround like I need. What to do?
So Tuesday, I dragged the boys to Jo-Ann Fabrics to find a replacement shock cord. I'll let you in on a secret. Shock cord is really just thin elastic. They have it but not in the thickness of the tent pole I have. I chose the thinner weight one because it could fit in the tiny holes of the pole pieces. I spend the afternoon stringing poles together. It turns out that one package of elastic cord is just the right length for the Coleman 7 person tent poles. Voila! I bought two packages. The second will be slipped into our tent duffel for future repairs. It happened once, it will happen again.
I'm sure I will have stories to tell on Monday. Let's hope I'm not too incapacitated to type.
I'm also attending a letter boxing event next weekend with Firstborn. Because it is in a remote area of Ohio, there are few hotels. So we will be camping. It's too far to drive there and back in one day.
All this camping gives reason for a tent. Hopefully, I will gain some camping muscle and I can do this with the boys in the future as well. But because we are not going into this with high hopes, a cheap tent should be fine. Besides, no rain has been predicted here in Ohio for the last 2 months and we are not expecting any more soon.
So, off I went to Walmart only to find that the great cheap tent with the good reviews was all sold out. Big surprise, I know. So I bought a Coleman 7 person tent for what was still a made-in-china-great price. A bit big for 3 people and no, there's no chance that DH will join us.
So last Saturday, I decided that I should set it up myself before we arrive at the camp site. No use making a fool of myself in front of the Cub Scouts. I have some pride you know. Enough pride that I didn't want to set it up in the yard. I chose the garage. With the door closed. The neighbors get enough entertainment without watching me struggle with a tent raising.
I was able to do most of the job myself calling Firstborn in only when it was time to raise the poles. This is a two-person job even for the most experienced, unless you are a giant octopus; which I am not.
The tent looks great and is large enough for a party. I had visions of bringing the dog. We could fit her crate in there. I'm not courageous enough for that yet though. After she goes to her training class next month -- maybe.
Sunday, I decided to take it down. It had aired out enough. The magic is always in the refitting in the duffel it came with. Will it? Take down was a 1-person job. All went well. The tent folded nicely and even fit in the bag with some room. Would the poles fit as well? That would be too much to ask for.
I gathered them together and tried to fit the first folded pole into the plastic bag it came in. There was no bottom to the plastic bag. The pole fell through the sleeve and hit the garage floor. The impact of the aluminum poles against the cement caused the shock cord in the poles to break at every joint. Holy tent pole, Robin! What do you do in this case?
You immediately search the Internet for Coleman replacement poles. It says to call Coleman. So, the next day, I get on the phone with Coleman to see if they can ship me a new pole and maybe a spare. No. They are out of stock and it will take a month for them to get new ones. Is this why the tent is so cheap? There are pole fabricators out there, but that will no way provide 5-day turnaround like I need. What to do?
So Tuesday, I dragged the boys to Jo-Ann Fabrics to find a replacement shock cord. I'll let you in on a secret. Shock cord is really just thin elastic. They have it but not in the thickness of the tent pole I have. I chose the thinner weight one because it could fit in the tiny holes of the pole pieces. I spend the afternoon stringing poles together. It turns out that one package of elastic cord is just the right length for the Coleman 7 person tent poles. Voila! I bought two packages. The second will be slipped into our tent duffel for future repairs. It happened once, it will happen again.
I'm sure I will have stories to tell on Monday. Let's hope I'm not too incapacitated to type.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Georgia: the momma cat
We had Nova fixed on Monday. Not that she was broken, but you know...
It was rather stressful for her considering I had abandoned her for just under 2 weeks and 5 days of that time was with a complete stranger.
So, Monday night, we picked her up at the vet. She was happy to see us, and oh so well behaved. Turns out they had given her a sedative because she had nipped at them when she was coming out of the anesthesia. I expected her to be unbalanced and tipsy, but she seemed in pretty good control of her muscles. She was just quiet.
The cats seemed to pick up on this fact quickly. All evening, Nadia seemed happy to wrestle with Georgia right in front of Nova's face. An act that would normally have Nova trying to join in on the fun. Georgia showed immediate concern. She would walk up to the sofa where Nova was laying with me and she would sniff Nova to make sure she was OK.
That night, when I was settling Nova down for the night, Georgia again came up to her and sniffed her face. A few minutes later, she walked up and cuddled into Nova. Almost like she was trying to comfort Nova. For a few minutes, Nova just sat there at attention. She was in shock. She didn't know what to do with this cat being so friendly. Then she started sniffing Georgia's butt and the magic just died. But it was a touching moment while it lasted.
It was rather stressful for her considering I had abandoned her for just under 2 weeks and 5 days of that time was with a complete stranger.
So, Monday night, we picked her up at the vet. She was happy to see us, and oh so well behaved. Turns out they had given her a sedative because she had nipped at them when she was coming out of the anesthesia. I expected her to be unbalanced and tipsy, but she seemed in pretty good control of her muscles. She was just quiet.
The cats seemed to pick up on this fact quickly. All evening, Nadia seemed happy to wrestle with Georgia right in front of Nova's face. An act that would normally have Nova trying to join in on the fun. Georgia showed immediate concern. She would walk up to the sofa where Nova was laying with me and she would sniff Nova to make sure she was OK.
That night, when I was settling Nova down for the night, Georgia again came up to her and sniffed her face. A few minutes later, she walked up and cuddled into Nova. Almost like she was trying to comfort Nova. For a few minutes, Nova just sat there at attention. She was in shock. She didn't know what to do with this cat being so friendly. Then she started sniffing Georgia's butt and the magic just died. But it was a touching moment while it lasted.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Doggie communications
A major milestone in puppy development is the development of a clear signal that the puppy needs to go out. In most areas, Nova is a very clear communicator. She's happy, she wiggles. She's afraid, she cowers. She doesn't want to lay down for you, she gives you her paw; very clear.
Potty, not so much.
As a result, she seems to have us housebroken. That is, we take her out on a set schedule and rarely wanders from that. However, I think we have narrowed down on a signal, however subtle it may be. She walks up to me and sits and then stares at me with a deep, soulful, searching look, as if she is trying to telepathically tell me her bladder is full.
Of course, there is a wrinkle in this whole plan. She is in love with the neighbors. They spoil her rotten. They also serve wonderful wine whenever Nova wanders by their house, and let's not forget that they are very nice, fun people as well. So, It's not a problem for me that she wants to go over there every time she goes out and hears them on their porch.
The only problem is that she spends the entire evening sitting in front of me telepathically telling me she needs to go out; every night. If I don't respond, she whines. Which of course worries me because she's only 4 months. So I take her out and she immediately heads next door. Tricked again!
The other night, said neighbors were out of town for a wedding. It was a rough night until we went to bed and it was clear to her there would be no partying that night.
When she doesn't have to go out, this is a more common expression.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Of cats and dogs
Georgia and Nadia are delicate creatures. They are afraid of humans. Not so afraid that they can't be seen by our visitors, but they certainly won't walk up to a stranger shortly after the stranger enters our house.
Of the two, Georgia is the more courageous. When I first let her loose in the house, she ran around the house sniffing everything with her belly close to the ground. You could feel the tension. On the one hand, she was feeling the thrill. On the other, she was scared to death.
So, imagine my worry at bringing a Labrador cross into the house with these two. I was fully aware that they might completely shut off to us and we would never get to pet them again.
The truth is they are doing better than most cats and dogs. Georgia, as always, the courageous one, spent a lot of time sniffing the dog through her pen, walking on top of the pen and watching the dog, or just walking right up to him and sniffing him when he slept.
Surprisingly, Nadia seemed to gain confidence in the situation. Not that she cuddles with the big lug, but she doesn't let the dog restrict her in any way. I think what helps with her is that she knows she can jump much higher than the dog can. So, while he is big and scary and has a very large, wet tongue, she can get away. And she does. Her favorite maneuver is to run onto the cat tree and look down at him, tail swooshing in a kitty laugh. She takes no pity.
As the dog gets larger, and boy has she gotten larger, Georgia has become a bit more timid. But the other day, I caught on video, to cases of Georgia and Nova enjoying each other's company.
In the first, Georgia was sleeping in her patch of sun in the family room. Nova likes to sleep in that patch as well, so she walked calmly over and laid down next to Georgia. For a moment, Georgia checked out her escape routes and sized the dog up to see if she would be the next meal, and then she rolled onto her side and relaxed.
Unfortunately, at 4 mos, Nova doesn't relax and she had to keep sniffing and licking the cat. So eventually, Georgia gave up and climbed the tree.
The clip I am including here was later the same day when Georgia was hunting a bug in the same sun patch. Nova comes by to help her out and the two have a very enjoyable time bug hunting for several minutes.
Cats and dogs laying down together!!!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3518702831301539733&hl=en
Of the two, Georgia is the more courageous. When I first let her loose in the house, she ran around the house sniffing everything with her belly close to the ground. You could feel the tension. On the one hand, she was feeling the thrill. On the other, she was scared to death.
So, imagine my worry at bringing a Labrador cross into the house with these two. I was fully aware that they might completely shut off to us and we would never get to pet them again.
The truth is they are doing better than most cats and dogs. Georgia, as always, the courageous one, spent a lot of time sniffing the dog through her pen, walking on top of the pen and watching the dog, or just walking right up to him and sniffing him when he slept.
Surprisingly, Nadia seemed to gain confidence in the situation. Not that she cuddles with the big lug, but she doesn't let the dog restrict her in any way. I think what helps with her is that she knows she can jump much higher than the dog can. So, while he is big and scary and has a very large, wet tongue, she can get away. And she does. Her favorite maneuver is to run onto the cat tree and look down at him, tail swooshing in a kitty laugh. She takes no pity.
As the dog gets larger, and boy has she gotten larger, Georgia has become a bit more timid. But the other day, I caught on video, to cases of Georgia and Nova enjoying each other's company.
In the first, Georgia was sleeping in her patch of sun in the family room. Nova likes to sleep in that patch as well, so she walked calmly over and laid down next to Georgia. For a moment, Georgia checked out her escape routes and sized the dog up to see if she would be the next meal, and then she rolled onto her side and relaxed.
Unfortunately, at 4 mos, Nova doesn't relax and she had to keep sniffing and licking the cat. So eventually, Georgia gave up and climbed the tree.
The clip I am including here was later the same day when Georgia was hunting a bug in the same sun patch. Nova comes by to help her out and the two have a very enjoyable time bug hunting for several minutes.
Cats and dogs laying down together!!!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3518702831301539733&hl=en
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