Holpineville

Things are Speeding Up

Pneumonia is really not much fun.  First, I didn't realize I was officially so sick, so I didn't get much time off from my regular workload during the worst of it, although Rod did take a few extra turns at kid bedtime duty.  Second, although I am feeling MUCH better overall, it doesn't go away very fast, even with the big drugs I'm taking. For example, getting a little winded going to the grocery store or while shaving my legs is discouraging.  And third, it's not a one office visit problem.  I had the follow up CT scan done, which (no surprise) shows a lung infection, and apparently not a simple one, because now I'm being sent to the pulmonologist for a consult, and I get to buy another round of prescriptions.  After it's all over, I have to go back to my regular doctor for blood work and an x-ray to confirm I'm cured.  I'm not a religious person, but thank God for health insurance.

Suddenly we are busy again.  The kids have school, homework, piano lessons, dance class, and play dates, and Carl wants to start taking karate or some kind of martial arts class.  I'm also looking into a sewing class or two for Ruby, because there's a place nearby that offers them.  The weekends are filling up with camping trips, classes, and parties.  This week, there's a big school open house, a couple of committee meetings, and I have a very large quantity of volunteer work to accomplish. 

Tonight, Ruby is going to a sleepover and Carl is going to have a friend sleep over here.  I'm happy we can do it, since our ability to host sleepovers for both kids at once is diminished with our new resident, L. 

I'm trying to plan Carl's birthday party, but it's not coming along very well.  He keeps changing his mind about what he wants and I keep changing my mind about the scope and budget.  Carl does have his wish list firmly in place, which I will record here for his amusement when he's a grown-up: 1) a chihuahua (which he knows he's not getting), 2) a "video game" (handheld variety, which Rod the Mean Dad says no to), 3) a Hoberman sphere (I think a friend has one for him), 4) "a wallet that's satin with a little flashlight and velcro", and 5) "all the rest should be Legos."  Ruby bought him a Webkinz; we'll see if she can keep it a secret until the big day or not. 

Radiation Week

Back to School!!!  Do you hear the trumpets? 

Ruby is now in second grade, and Carl in the final year of Pre-K.  With Ruby, I am having one of those trite “how did my baby get so old?” moments, and with Carl, it’s more like “why aren’t you in kindergarten already?”  It’s not just me, either; one of the teachers was asking him how he liked first grade.  It’s hard being the oldest and biggest one in your class.

As per Montessori practice, both kids have the same teachers again this year, so the only drama is about the new kids in class.  Carl reported the first day that he made two new friends: “one named Michael and one I don’t know his name.”  The schedule in Ruby’s class has changed a bit from last year, and she’s reluctantly adjusting to that and the new faces.    

We are all getting used to having L, our new live in babysitter/houseguest/friend around.  Ruby is starting to feel the loss of her room.   She is happy to give L a place to stay, and she understands why we did it and that it’s not forever, but having to stay out of her former space is harder than she thought it would be.  For example, we had some friends over for playtime on Monday afternoon, and normally Ruby and her friend would have been playing in Ruby’s room, but suddenly, there was no “Ruby’s room” available, and the kids can’t run in and out of it at night when they’re getting ready for bed, either.  I think things are going to be fine once we get through the adjustment phase, though.

It is strange not having the kids at home all day, but I haven’t been home enough to miss them much yet.  Monday I had a celebratory breakfast with some other moms, followed by errands and frantic housework.  Tuesday I made phone calls, and then headed out for an afternoon of doctor appointments. I started with my regular doctor, who was impressed enough with my fever, pallor, and enduring cough to order a chest x-ray and give me antibiotics and steroids.  Then, I went on to the back doctor, who took more fancy composite x-rays like you see here from various angles, and told me 1) I can have all the steroid shots I want until they stop working for me, 2) that I should put off back surgery as long as I can possibly stand the pain, but 3) he’ll be ready to straighten and fuse the whole disaster when I finally decide it’s time. Yippee.

Later, I went to what I thought was a plain ol’ boring meeting of the bariatric surgery support group, as I’m trying to get my brain ready for that adventure sometime this fall.  It turns out it wasn’t really about renewing your diet and exercise motivation; it was about revving up your mid-life (and perhaps post-surgery and post-dramatic weight loss) sex life and it was extremely surreal.  I sort of resented the implication that my love life might need any resuscitation, although after a month of illness, I guess it might.  (The tips: Exercise.  Masturbate ten minutes a day.  Do your Kegels.  Try some of the fun gadgets the therapist brought along. There, I probably just saved you a $150 sex therapy appointment.)    Then I went to the movies with friends, even though I was yes, sick, and strictly speaking, had no business being out, but I justified it by saying it was more restful than putting kids to bed and cooking dinner.  We saw Julie & Julia, which I recommend with only a few reservations, and can I please go back to Paris now? 

This morning brought word from my doctor that, no surprise, the blood work and chest x-ray were consistent with pneumonia, and I’ll likely need a second course of antibiotics.  That was the good news.  The bad part is that there were some “spots” in my right lung that they not sure about, so I have to get a CT scan tomorrow to rule out the ominous-sounding Something Else (lung cancer, I guess? inhaled Legos?   TB?) 

Let’s pause now to reflect on what an idiot I am.  If I had found a baby sitter and gone to the doctor when it first became clear I wasn’t getting well fast enough, I might be healthy already.  I might have spared myself the weeks of feeling lousy, the massive radiation dose of the CT machine, the large financial expense, and the slight niggling worry of this whole ordeal.  But no, I waited.  Moral of the story: When it's your turn, and assuming you have insurance: don’t be tough, people, it’s not worth it.

So, I’ll let you know if I turn out to have anything exciting.  Tonight, I’m filling out 18 pages of school forms per child.  It seems a little excessive and more than a bit redundant, but I’m trying to stay positive and supportive this year.  Then, I’m going to bed on the early side, because….that’s right!  I don’t feel good!   

Ready or Not

It's been busy.  Last week, the kids and I went with another mom and her kids to her lake house for a couple of days.  This was way better than the alternative of being home with the kids, and there were some definite highlights: kayaking, the dog's first birthday party (as planned by Ruby and her friend), naps, and so on.  And it was also a lot of cooking and cleaning and packing and unpacking and wrangling grumpy children.    

We came home Friday and there were birthday parties Friday night and Saturday.  Saturday's party kept me pretty busy all day with preparations and featured the highly successful debuts of Rod's foam machine and the "band" formed by four guitar-playing dads we know.  Ruby is suddenly a groupie.

Today we are getting a boarder?  guest?  housemate?  Our foreign student occasional babysitter needs a place, so Ruby has graciously moved out of her room and we are going to give it whirl.  Part of me thinks I am completely nuts because non-family house guests start to bug me after about four days. And then part of me thinks it will be fine because she's a nice girl who deserves help and we can give it, plus I can get some baby and cat sitting out of the deal, and she won't be here much, right?  However, this all was finalized at the very last second, and it's coinciding with a lot of other stress for the kids: being tired and going back to school tomorrow, for instance.  Therefore, we have had some really fine tantrums and battles as I moved stuff in and out of the kids' rooms upstairs, and it is just Not a Fun Day at Home. They are going to be some exhausted and crabby kids going back to class tomorrow.

Finally, I have been unwell during all of this, so it's all had sort of an exhausting underwater aura about it.  I had a really dramatic fever Friday night, and since then, I feel more energetic and slightly less coughy, so maybe it's finally going away?  I have a couple of doctor appointments this week, so if not, I can get the lung x-ray or TB test or whatever.

And now I have to go argue with Carl and then go buy stuff to help integrate Ruby's belongings into Carl's room, plus some school items I thought we had but (Whoops!) we don't.  There are over 900 e-mails in my inbox, and if yours is one of them, rest assured I will get caught up and answer you this week, yes indeedy. 

Cursed

Poor Ruby. We went shoe shopping yesterday, to find a pair for school that wasn’t “uncomfortable” like the ones we just bought her, that featured “closed toes and heels” per the school dress code, and that fit both our tastes.  Sneakers, you might think, would be the thing.  But Ruby doesn’t like them, although she gamely tried a few pair.  So mostly we were looking at things with sturdy soles and a bit of padding that weren’t actually sneakers. 

We went to nine stores.  She tried on at least twenty five pairs.  We started in the children’s department at Nordstr@m, the best place for a careful fitting and pricey orthopedic children’s shoes that I know.  But this time, they failed us; nothing that was both long enough and narrow enough. 

So, at barely seven years old, Ruby is in the transition zone between children’s shoes (size 4) and adult (size 5).  Ruby is proud and excited to be able to shop in the grown up department, and I didn’t have the heart to make her see the down side: that if she is wearing adult sizes this young, it means that before long she’ll be competing with me for the six pairs of size 13’s released onto the U.S. market each year. On the up side,  I thought that moving to adult sizes would open up a new world of possibilities for her, but it turns out there are not so many non-athletic styles that work for adults and seven year olds alike.  To complicate matters further, Ruby’s feet are narrow, especially in the heel, and she has a problem with her ankle bone hitting the side of the shoe in many styles. 

So we forged on, to the adult shoes.  These seemed to fit best, and I’ve had good luck with this brand (kinda ugly but comfy), but then I realized they were a heart-stopping $180, so we moved on, out into the Dreaded Mall.  After the pricey ones, the $80 shoes at the next place seem practically reasonable, but they were just a bit too wide, with no strap to help keep them on.  And on and on we went: to Clark’s, Naturalizer, Geox, Foot Locker, Easy Spirit, Macy’s…. 

Finally Ruby settled on a pair at the Skech*rs store.  I just hate that place.  It’s loud and obnoxious and I don’t think the shoes are particularly attractive or comfortable (although I wouldn’t know, they don’t make my size).  It’s also where we bought the last rejected pair.  But the new ones come from the women’s section, not the kids, and maybe that will make all the difference.  And if not, she’ll need a new pair in a bigger size by Christmas, when I will get to go do this all again. Yippee.

In other news, I am still not quite well.  Part of me thinks it’s just a lingering virus and nagging cough and things are getting slowly better.  And part of me is tired of buying cough syrup, falling asleep with cough drops stuck to the roof of my mouth, being exhausted, and how it vaguely hurts to take a deep breath.  And yet I am also sick of going to the doctor, where I have been a lot this year, and I have plans for this week and no childcare, so it would be difficult to arrange a drop-by anyhow.   

Of course, the plans for this week may be altered by hurricane and storm warnings.  Yeah, I know the storms are way over there and not really likely to come here, but we are all a little nervous after last fall’s hurricane.  So Rod is mumbling about fast-tracking his generator starter upgrade and the newspaper is printing storm preparation checklists, and suddenly everything on the agenda for next week has a new tentativeness about it.

Otherwise, we are just counting down the days until school starts.  The kids hosted some friends for a sleepover on Friday, and we spent a few hours at the pool on Saturday.  Today I am going to try to get Ruby and Carl to try on their school clothes and see what still fits and what doesn’t.  We bought sparkling new lunchboxes, and I’m doing some volunteer work on the welcome-back school ice cream social this week.  With great anticipation, I am making a list of things to deal with once I have Time Without Children (cats to vet, oil change, yet more doctor/dentist visits, buy cat food, organize stuff for consignment sale, finish closet reorganization, drop the recycling, return ill-considered Internet purchases, plan Carl’s birthday party, finally work on big volunteer project, make this blog look better, and so on). 

 

It’s all over but the coughing

There are twelve days until school starts. I’m not ready, nor are the kids, for the return of the school routine, but I’m also not full of exciting ideas and enthusiasm for filling those twelve days, either.

We spent most of the last week visiting my in-laws.  Someone had one of those birthdays ending in zero, and that was a good excuse to get everyone together, so the kids got to spend time with their cousins and a rarely-seen great aunt and great uncle.   Rod even finished his business trip in time for the vacation.  I think it was a good time, but I was deep in the fog of illness for most of it.  Yes, after months of really good virus luck, I caught a whopper, and it’s been fever/cough/sleepless/yuck for the last ten days or so.  I do think I’m slowly getting over it, but I wish I were done already. I also thought for a couple of days in there that I broke my foot, but apparently not.  It was just a weird ugly bruise, combined with my loser spine doing a creative compression number on my nerves yet again.

Anyway, I’m just trying to make it through until I feel like being part of the world again. Today, I took the kids to the Health Museum, hoping I’d absorb some. Now we’re lounging at home.   Maybe I’ll take my germs to the pool later. 

As for the kids, they haven’t changed much this week.  Ruby is very, very hung up on Webkinz.  She is so very sensitive lately, and every little scratch or bruise requires intensive first aid, tea, and sympathy.  She’s having a crisis about her socks and shoes.  I think the latest growth spurt means most of her socks are too small.  We just bought her a new pair of shoes, after extensive shopping to find some that fit the parent acceptability criteria, Ruby’s fashion taste, and her narrow bony feet.  Ruby swore they were completely comfortable and that she would wear them.  Well, guess what?  Two weeks later, the shoes hurt and she just doesn’t want to put them on at all.  There goes another $60 down the drain.

Carl has been seduced away from Legos All the Time to incorporating some time playing Webkinz with Ruby.  He is beginning to get worked up about his birthday, which is a mere six or seven weeks away, and he can’t go near a store without wanting something to the point of tears.  Carl has also been interested in human reproduction lately; not so much where babies come from, but more how to prevent that sperm from getting to that egg. He’s pretty adamant that he doesn’t like babies. Rod is mighty pleased.

What more?  It’s way too hot here.  I’m trying to reorganize my closet, and to finish up some knitting projects.  I promise to come back with something more interesting to read, once I end my love affair with the Robitussin. Until then…

The Wall I am Hitting

I am in that weird place I get to when Rod is gone, where it feels like I am just marking time and nothing important will ever happen, and I  am very zen-ly living in the moment until things get back to normal and life starts up again.  This week, I have read a trashy novel, done a bit of knitting, and watched four movies this week, with more to follow, I am sure.  There are bunch of things going wrong with my body today, including a mysterious leg lump, weird bleeding, headache, and a fresh cold.  To my vast disappointment, my new glasses are not right, or maybe I am just blurry and headachey this week, but I won't be able to go get them fixed for another couple of weeks.

Yesterday's plan to stay at the pool as much as possible was shattered by thunderstorms.  Ruby finally was able to make her no-bake poop cookie recipe from zoo camp, though.  She thinks they are unbelievably delicious; I guess they are if you like oatmeal, butter, sugar, peanut butter and cocoa powder all melted together into mushy little blobs. She and Carl both spent a bunch of time yesterday sobbing over toys they don't own but they deeply desire, and yet, have not enough money saved to buy.  Plus, Carl wants a hand-held video game thing of some variety and I am not sure yet whether they are allowed under the Holpine Family Bylaws and Operating Agreement.  I am leaning toward "maybe for Christmas, with a lot of rules attached" and I am sure Rod is leaning toward "Heck no, Never," so there may need to be some family discussion. 

Today, we went to Home Dep@ot for the monthly kids' project.  Carl is getting impressively good with a hammer and screwdriver, especially considering he's not yet five.  Then we went to the craft museum for their "hands-on" project-- some funky little cone-shaped dolls.  Both kids really got into that, too, and it took them a long time to finish.  Then it was lunch, and a stop at Target to look for...oh, nevermind. 

Things are dull here.  Please send excitement.