We Did It!

The move is finished.  It took most of yesterday and I am exhausted.  Everything hurts.  Today I am unpacking and organizing and settling in.  Yesterday was not fun but I like today.  It's fun to figure out where everything fits and when all of that is done, I get to put things on the walls and prettify the place.  Yay!

Also, a million thanks to everyone who helped.  I truly could not have done this without you -- no way, no how.  Thank you to Jennifer and Caleb, Kim and Blake (and your kick ass trailer!), Paul, Lance (who was too sick to work but not too sick to help me move furniture. :winkwink: ), Lisa and Megan and Lisa's brothers (I'm sorry, I don't remember your names. Please forgive me).  You guys make a girl grateful that she has such awesome family and friends.  Truly.

Coming soon to a blog post near you -- photos of the new place!  Fun!

Duh

 We saw a commercial for Pepperidge Farm cookies this morning.  The voice over intoned, "Why do cookies in ruffled paper cups taste so good?" and "What makes cookies covered in chocolate so delicious?" and other delicious, dramatic nonsense.  Images of creamy, melted chocolate and crisp, airy, buttery cookies floated across the screen.
 
Miriam and I were sitting on the couch, brushing her hair and trying to fashion some sort of pony tail.  The last line of the commercial said, "What makes these cookies so perfect?"  Miriam turned to look at me and said, with all the drama an 8-year-old girl can muster, "Well, it's because they are made with chocolate!" And rolled her eyes.  And waved her arms violently.

How can you disagree with that?

Moving Day!

It's finally here!  I don't want to go into all the back story because it makes me really angry every time I think about it, but moving day almost wasn't going to happen.  But it's all good now and I'm so excited!  I'm sick of living with walls of boxes around me, sick of my boring walls, sick of worrying about what might go wrong, sick of my rude neighbors and so, so, so ready for more space.

The utility companies have been informed of my move and are switching my accounts to the new place either today or tomorrow.  My friends and family are coming tomorrow morning to help me with the bulk of the moving.  I'm hoping to go to the leasing office today and get keys for the new place.  I've been told the apartment is ready so there really isn't any reason I can't have them today.  The kids and I are going to take the vacuum, dusting cloths and other cleaning supplies to clean it to my standards.  If we're feeling ambitious we'll even move some of our boxes and get them unpacked.

It's really happening!

I Don't Know Which is Worse

A cup of warm pee, or a cup of cold pee.  I hate picking up a cup of fresh-from-the-body pee because I have this weird aversion to knowing that the pee is warm because it was just in someone's body.  Ew.  It's like hating the feeling of a chair that someone else recently vacated.  But I also hate picking up a cup of pee that's been sitting in the lab for an hour and is now cold.  It's cold because it's old pee that is now probably swimming with bacteria.  Gross.

Parent Teacher Conferences, Again

I met with each of the kids' teachers.  They're all doing fantastically.  I already knew that, but it's nice to have their teachers say so, you know?  I am so proud of them and all of their hard work.  I told each of the kids that their hard work is what makes me happiest.  Getting As is nice and all, but what I really want is to know that they're all doing their best and giving it their all.

Everyone is 'proficient' in all the core subjects -- meaning that they are performing at grade level -- except for one.  Solomon has almost caught up in reading.  That's been the subject he has struggled with immensely since first grade.  Fortunately, between his perseverance and his teachers' patience, he's doing much better.  He has made huge strides in fluency and comprehension just since this year began so I have a great feeling about how things will look when we meet again in a couple of months.

On the behavior front, things are good also.  Fortunately, that hasn't been a problem with my kids.  I feel very lucky -- at least, when they're at school.  Ha!  Home is another issue entirely, but it usually is, right?

So that's how things are at school.  My kids are brilliant.

/shameless bragging

More School Artwork

 

Samuel made this in art class with clay and he painted it himself.

  

It's a Ninja Wild Thing.

 

It even has a tail.

Google Voice Message 2

This is Matt Eaton press one. Yeah, this is calling from you. Yeah, this message is 4. Jessica Xxxxx. Yeah, Jessica Xxxxx. You, yeah You, yeah, Hi. This is an important message from Midland Independent School District. Due to current weather conditions are friends, I've traveled all of my S T campuses will be closed today's Tuesday 3rd with 23rd 2002. Yelling early morning will be valuation, Midland. I guess the administration transportation officials and local law enforcement of green has current weather conditions are touch with will not improve over the next several hours. Therefore, all of my few campuses will be close to the 8th and all extracurricular event are canceled until further notice. Yeah if you have further questions, please log on to our website at W. W. W, Dot Net, and, I, S, T, dot net for more information. Yeah if you had an questions. I've got this message, please contact the school at 413 came in 6 and 9 1 me around around around there are no more messages. Goodbye your messages will not be repeated.

I have a daily alarm on my phone set for 5:30 am.  This morning I got a phone call before the alarm went off but in my sleepy stupor I thought it was the alarm so I hit snooze, which also happens to be the button that rejects a call.  When the alarm went off I saw that I had missed a call from the superintendent of the district where I used to work and the kids went to school.  I fell asleep, had a weird dream about the people I used to work with and woke up when the alarm went off again.

Then I got curious about why anyone from the superintendent's office would be calling me, especially at 5:00 am my time and 6:00 am their time.  No one from human resources has any reason to call me and if they did, they wouldn't do it that early, right?  So I checked my voicemail.  There was a message stating that due to bad weather conditions, school and all extracurricular activities have been canceled today.  It was perfectly understandable.  But then I got the transcript from Google Voice and I almost ROFLed.  Seriously.

A couple of things to point out regarding this message:

• No where in the audio of the message did the call reference Matt Eaton.  As far as I know that isn't a real person having anything to do with MISD.  So I left it.
• Somehow the transcription got my last name right so I censored that.  Those of you who know my last name can just imagine it's there.  Those of you who don't know my last name ... well, to my knowledge no one reading this blog doesn't know my last name.  But I'm still not leaving it there.  Duh.
• The bolded portion that reads, 'Your message will not be repeated," is especially entertaining to me because the message was repeated.
• With the exception of one call from the kids' school asking if we wanted to keep our enrollment slots for the coming school year, I haven't gotten a call from a school official in the last 2 years.  I have no idea which database they're getting my number from but if it means I get funny messages like this, I'm never changing my number.

I Love T-Shirts

You know that, right? Well, I especially love funny t-shirts. I came across this contest online for the best Princess Bride t-shirt. And since that's one of my favorite movies ever I loved most of these shirts. If you're not a Princess Bride afficionado, feel free to go right on past this post because you probably won't find it funny.

 

  

  

 

Weird Apple

A Very Odd Dream

I should have written this a week ago.  That's when I dreamt it and I told myself I would write it down before I slept again.  But I didn't and now it's starting to fade and I'm mad at myself.  It's the strangest dream I've ever had, in that half way through the dream I remembered things from another dream that I had forgotten about.  And in the dream I just had, I accepted those memories as fact.  Confused yet?  I am.  I can't stop thinking about it.  So, before more of it is gone and I'm madder at myself, here we go.  Also, this is very long so don't feel obligated to finish it if you get bored.  Ha!

I was shadowing, for lack of a better word, someone I didn't know.  She took me through the motions of her day, showing me where she worked, introducing me to her friends and co-workers, taking me on her errands, telling me about her family and showing me her old neighborhoods.

She reminded me of myself in every way -- her way of speaking, thinking, moving, doing -- she even looked like me except that she had dark hair.  Each of her friends were similar to one of my own friends and she worked in an office that was set up like mine.  She went to the same grocery store and bought the same food I would buy.

Only her family was different from mine.  Her parents were not good people and she hadn't seen them in many years.  She'd left home at a young age and hadn't spoken to her parents since because of all the pain they'd caused her.  She had a brother but also hadn't seen him in quite some time -- not because he was a bad person but just because they drifted apart.  Each reminded the other of bad times and it was just easier not to see or talk to each other.

We spent the better part of day on this exercise.  I didn't think it was weird but I didn't know why we were doing it, either.  What's more, I didn't question it.

Suddenly the woman disappeared and I was standing alone on a street corner.  To my left and across the street, a block away, I could see the back of a house on the next street corner.  There were people in the backyard around a swimming pool.  I recognized the house as the woman's childhood home and the people as her parents and some other relatives.  I had no desire to talk to those people so I looked ahead of me.

Straight ahead and across the street was another row of houses.  I crossed the street and continued down the sidewalk.  About three houses down, I came to an older house that had been divided into apartments.  I knew that the upstairs apartment had once belonged to the woman I'd just spent the day with.  I climbed the stairs to the front door and let myself in.

When I opened the door memories came rushing at me.  A broom and vacuum cleaner in a closet.  Hand towels hanging from a hook on the kitchen wall.  Photographs on the mantle piece.  Clothes folded and placed in a chest of drawers.  I remembered moving into that apartment.  It had been mine.  I had unpacked my things and decorated the way I wanted to, making everything just right.  It had been fun.  I liked setting up my new home.  I had had a sense of well-being, of good things to come, of anticipatory excitement for the future.

This is where I became conscious of "memories" I had in a previous dream, except that during the current dream they were real memories.  I had another dream a long time ago about moving into that apartment.  And I forgot the dream until I had this more recent one.  I was also very confused because this apartment belonged to the woman from earlier in the day.  How had I lived in it also?

Now the apartment was in a state of disarray, as if I had moved out hurriedly, taking only the barest of essentials.  Doors and drawers hung open, the contents spilling out onto the counter tops and floor below.  I sifted through the clothing, mementos, dishes and other personal items.  I remembered needing to move immediately and knowing that I couldn't possibly take all of my belongings.  I remembered being distraught over the circumstances but I couldn't remember what those circumstances were.  I remembered picking and choosing the most important things to take with me.  I made some very difficult choices and hated everyone of them.

I looked through all of my things, laying there just as I had left them.  I was happy to see them again but puzzled as to what had made me move out suddenly.  I wracked my brain and couldn't come up with any reason at all.  Nothing was plausible.  I decided that there was no way I was going to leave all my stuff again and I began packing everything up in boxes and bags.  I took them all down the stairs and loaded them into a vehicle that was apparently mine and had magically appeared on the street in front of the house.

As I was packing the car Jennifer drove up.  She didn't seem to think there was anything odd about the scene there.  She was just stopping by to say 'hi' on her way to do something else.  As we chatted I absentmindedly opened the door to a storage closet on the porch.  Inside were jackets, boots and other winter clothing that I recognized as belonging to Jennifer and her family.  We dragged it all out and she just grateful to have found it.  Part of me wanted to say to her, "What is going on here?  Don't you think it's weird that I'm moving out of this apartment a second time? Do you know why I moved out the first time? Why is your winter stuff here?  Who the hell is that woman I just spent all day with?  Is she me?  Am I losing my mind?  Help me understand this!"  But I didn't.  She was acting normally so I accepted that things were normal.

And then I woke up.  And I've been confused ever since.  I feel like there is more to this series of dreams and I hope I have another one.

The Number, Part 5

So the number is steadily decreasing and my resolve is steadily strengthening.  To date, I have lost 10.7 pounds and I feel great.  That's 10.7 pounds that will never be on my body again!  And the best part about all this is that I'm not on a 'diet.'  I have made sustainable changes to my eating habits.  And yes, my diet is different but it isn't a diet like most people think of a diet.

Which brings me to this: I hate when people talk about dieting.  Your diet is simply what you eat.  There are good diets and there are bad diets.  And the irony of this is that when people talk about dieting, they're talking about bad diets.  Any dietary changes you make that you cannot sustain for the rest of your life will not improve your health and therefore constitutes a bad diet.  You may lose some weight -- or even a lot of weight -- but when you stop 'dieting' you'll gain it all back and likely more with it.

That's not going to happen to me.  I've learned that I don't have to slather oil or butter or cheese on my food to enjoy it.  I've learned that I don't have to make my coffee mostly 1/2 and 1/2 to love it.  I've learned that when I eat properly, there's enough room in my diet to have a reasonable amount of ice cream on a fairly regular basis.  I've learned that herbs and spices add a lot of flavor and increase my enjoyment of my food without adding a lot of calories or any fat. The way I'm preparing my food means that the weight I lose now is going to stay lost.

And I feel pretty dang fantastic about that.

I Had a Flashback (& Thank You)

Tonight Samuel wanted to tell me about a story his teacher read in class today.  He insisted on telling me every single detail, no matter how small and using voices and expressions like his teacher did.  It took forever.  It took the entire time we ate dinner.  Solomon and Miriam didn't get to talk at all.

While I was spacing out completely listening, I remembered a family dinner many years ago when Jennifer and I told Mom and Dad about a movie we had seen in school.  I think it was called The Million Dollar Duck or something like that and yes, it really was that lame. Anyway, Jennifer and I thought it was terrific and that our parents needed to know every. single. detail.  And we didn't miss any of them.  It took all of dinner and then some, with the two of us alternating parts, interrupting each other and being quite annoying I'm sure.  But Mom and Dad let us go on and on and on.  I don't know how they did it.  They don't even drink.

So anyway, I let Samuel continue because I remember Mom and Dad putting up with our yammering.  That was important to me.  I didn't notice so much then but every time I've thought of it since, I've marveled at my parents' patience in listening to that whole long, boring narrative and not acting the least bit put out or exasperated.  Thank you, Mom and Dad, for doing that.  And for all the other countless, selfless things you did for me as I was growing up.  I know I'll never remember them all or be able to thank you for them.  But thank you.

That's What She Said

We may have been watching a little too much of The Office around here.  On two separate occasions this evening, my kids asked, "Who is 'she' when Michael says 'That's what she said'?" and "What does that even mean?"  Miriam asked first and Solomon asked second and neither of them heard the other ask the question so it's not like one of them prompted the other to think about it.  Oops.

Why I Got a Garbled Voicemail from the Vision Place

Miriam needs glasses.  I feel a bit thrown off because she's never complained that seeing the board is difficult or that she can't see the television or anything.  But she failed the school eye exam last week.  Failed miserably.  And the family history is there.  So here we are.

I was worried that she'd be really upset about needing glasses.  Miriam doesn't do well with change and this is a big one.  And she did balk a little.  For the last few days she's been anxious about this appointment and kept asking things like, "What if I need glasses?" and saying, "But I really don't want glasses."  I can commiserate.  I didn't want glasses when I had to get them.

So we talked about it.  I told her that she will see better, even if she doesn't think she will.  I told her that I know how she looks is important to her and I understand that.  But her vision and her school work are the most important things to think about.  I told her that she can pick out whatever pair she likes best.

In the end, she's fine.  She was even a little disappointed when we left without her glasses because they have to be ordered.  And she's excited to wear them when the finally do come in.

Google Voice Message

Parker, Vision Specialist calling and appointments from hearing is scheduled on Tuesday, February 16th at 3:15 in the afternoon with doctor that we have moved to our new location at 9230 5 Crown kratz Boulevard, Suite 150, next to Parker Adventist Hospital to save me time in the office. Please visit our website at Parker vision Specialist dot com to complete, and I've been to your paperwork. We would appreciate new confirming your appointment by pressing the one key now. If you have any questions about your appointment, please call our office at (303) xxx-xxxx. We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, February 16th at 3:15 in the afternoon press star to repeat this message. Thank you and have a nice day.

I Don't Understand

 

Why?  Why are Reese's peanut butter cups being sold by the pound in plastic containers?  I don't get it.  The store is selling all kinds of candy in these containers.  Why not leave them in their original packaging?

I Am So Proud

Miriam is in an advanced reading class.  I'm extremely proud of that but it's not the reason for this post.  Her class has been learning how to tell stories with expression and emotion.  To do that each student has memorized a story from another culture and they have presented them to each other in pairs and to their class as a whole.  Last night they presented them to family and friends in a show called the Folk Tale Festival.

Miriam started talking up the Folk Tale Festival several weeks ago.  She seemed really excited about it and kept asking if we could go.  At that point I wasn't sure what it was.  But then she came home 2 weeks ago with an invitation that she made herself.  I realized then that the Folk Tale Festival coincided with the ex-husband coming to town to spend this weekend with the kids since they have 2 days off school.  I thought that was a perfect opportunity for him to see more of where the kids are and who they're with all day.  The ex-husband agreed that it was a good idea and we made plans for it.

When I got off the phone Miriam collapsed into a crying mess and said that she didn't want to go.  It was a huge mess, figuring out what was wrong.  We finally decided that Miriam was probably nervous about performing in front of not just a group of strangers, but also her parents.  The teacher told me that Miriam was under no obligation to actually tell her story in public, that her grade was already determined by her work in class.  So I told Miriam that she would decide whether to perform her story and we left it there.

Last night I had serious doubts that she'd actually go through with it.  She still wouldn't commit to performing but wouldn't say that she wasn't doing it, either.  Finally, at the very end Miriam got up, put on the microphone headset and introduced her story.  She was very quiet and didn't add any embellishments to the story but she did it!  She spoke clearly without stumbling on her words and she was fantastic!  I was so excited and proud I couldn't stand it.  I admit it, I cried.

Miriam amazes me.  I really don't know how to put this into sufficient words.  If you know her you know that she is possibly she shyest child ever born to this earth.  She's extremely emotional -- sadness, anger, happiness, giddiness, silliness, they're all expressed in extremes -- in the privacy of our family but other people rarely see this because of her extreme shyness.  I've worried that she might have trouble in social situations throughout her life because of this.  But now I know she's going to be fine.  She possesses determination, smarts and discernment already at this young age and that is a great reassurance to me.

Friday To Do List

1. pack the kids' weekend bag
2. wash, dry, fold, put away 4 loads of laundry   Or most of it.
3. pack up a few more odds and ends
4. unpack my new coffee maker
5. vacuum
6. clean toilets
7. wipe down counters
8. sort out clothes to be donated
9. drop off donations  Boxed up and ready to go.
10. go for a run? maybe?    Nope, not gonna happen!
11. lunch meeting at work
12. relax, minus children    In progress.

She is Definitely My Daughter

Miriam knows how to appropriately use their/they're/there and you're/your.  My job as a parent is at least 33.3% done.

edited to add: I forgot!  She also has its/it's down pat!

Ups & Downs at Work

I really love being a nurse.  If I can make a small difference in someone's life, for the better, it makes my life a little better.  It makes me feel good.  A lot of times making a difference as a pediatric nurse means supporting a parent when they deal with a severely ill child, or a child's suicide attempt or a devastating diagnosis.  Sometimes it means reassuring a first-time mom that her baby's ear infection will pass and she will sleep again.

Last week had its share of ups and downs.  We transported a young infant to the ER when her oxygen saturation dropped dangerously low, even after breathing treatments and supplemental oxygen.  This was especially tough because this baby has other problems that will require many painful surgeries. The parents also have a language barrier that makes this situation even more difficult and scarier than it would be for others.  My heart hurt for them.

 I also saw one of my favorite families last week.  This woman has two sons, the elder is at the Asperger end of the autism spectrum and the younger is at the opposite end, a severely autistic child.  I admire this woman for her strength and patience and for the obvious understanding and love she has for her sons.  Her boys are such sweet kids and it really brightens my day to see them.

Last week I had to swab the younger boy's throat to test for a strep infection.  He was miserably sick and understandably terrified, considering what we had to do.  After I set up the test I went back to check on him.  The mom asked me if I could stay with him for a couple of minutes while she ran to the bathroom.  So I stood by the exam table and held the boy's hand.  He laid there, whimpering in pain and clutching my hand.  I tried to calm him and after a minute he quieted.  He was petting a stuffed toy, his security item.  Then he opened my hand, placed his toy on my palm and closed my fingers around it.  And then he patted my hand.  And he made my whole week.

Veggies!

You know how They say you have to offer less palatable foods to resistant children multiple times?  Somehow you're supposed to be able to wear them down and sucker them into liking things like vegetables.  Well, my kids are living, breathing, eating proof that this works.

Seven years, I have tried to get Solomon to eat and enjoy citrus fruits.  Seven years.  Last week, he ate a clementine and now he loves them.

Miriam turned up her cute little nose at asparagus for the better part of two years. Then she relented and would eat just the stalks and leave behind the budded tops.  I told her tonight that we were having asparagus as part of dinner and she cheered.  And she ate the entire stalks and buds.

Samuel ate half a zucchini and half a yellow squash tonight.  He was sad when I told him I might not have room in the roasting pan for them since I was making several other things.  So I squeezed them in.

Also tonight, Solomon ate roasted carrots.  The kids have always been good at eating raw carrots but that requires mucho ranch dressing for dipping.  Tonight he ate 5 of them!

So, once again, They are right.  And I'm happy with Them.

Solomon's Birthmark

I discovered it about 4 hours after he was born.  It was late, the ex-husband was asleep on the pull-out sofa in our recovery room and Solomon and I had just sort of gotten the hang of nursing.  I inspected his bruised and misshapen head, thanks to the vacuum extractor.  I noticed that he has a cowlick on his forehead in the same place I have one.  I unwrapped his receiving blanket and looked him over.  I'd always thought it was weird when people said they counted their new baby's fingers and toes, but I did that, without even thinking.  And then I saw it -- a large, very dark birthmark on his right ankle, across the Achilles tendon.  I wondered if he'd be self-conscious of it when he grew older.  And then I thought how cool it was.

Throughout Solomon's infancy, people noticed his birthmark all the time.  He was born in late spring so there wasn't much need for socks and definitely not for shoes for several months.  Some people thought it was weird.  Others thought there was something wrong with him, and suggested that maybe I had forgotten to pin something metal to my clothing during the lunar eclipse that occurred while I was pregnant.  (I hadn't.  I don't buy into that sort of stuff, but I'd worn safety pins on my shirt that night to appease my in-laws and their friends.)  I still thought the birthmark was cool; it was unique and special, something that I'd never seen on another baby.

In the last few years I haven't given much thought to Solomon's birthmark.  He talks about it sometimes but mostly in neutral terms and I've never thought to ask him what he feels about it.  Tonight he mentioned that the skin is peeling from it.  He says it's shrinking.  He is troubled by this.  Part of it is his tendency to over-dramatize things, I'm sure.  But another part of it, I'm realizing, is that he thinks it's cool, too.  He identifies it as a part of him and he likes it.  I'm glad for that.

To appease Solomon, I traced the outline of the mark with a Sharpie and told him that we'll watch it for a couple of days to see if it's actually shrinking.  I'm pretty sure it isn't.

The tracing was fun.  Solomon is the most ticklish person I know.  It's become legendary.  He's so ticklish that having his physical exam done is almost impossible.  He can't stand to be touched with the otoscope, stethoscope or any other scope.  He's so ticklish, he's convinced himself that I can tickle him from across the room with my brain.  I'm serious.  So tracing his ankle with a Sharpie was hilarious!  I may or may not have gone over it a second time, just for grins.

More Schoolwork

This time from Samuel, a quiz on Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

My favorite part is 'segrugashin'.