And whether you are FS or not, it's something you should read, and try to understand.
Current Events (or Why We Deserve This Paycut) by Donna at Email from the Embassy.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Day 6
We had a rocky start to our time without Dad, but thanks to my mom things definitely improved this weekend.
I tell you what, I got nothing done last week. Nothing. Katherine had a doctor's appointment which took all morning because her doctor is nearly an hour away, and of course Ian left Monday afternoon so I didn't do "stuff" that I would normally do on a Monday. Tuesday I managed to hit 3 stores for all the groceries and such I needed for these 2 weeks. Wednesday I volunteered in Jonathon's classroom then checked on Nicholas who had complained about a stomachache for a couple days only to find him in art class bright pink and sweaty even though they were in a chilly room. I warned the nurse and walked home. Twenty minutes later I got the call and returned to the school to him up. The rest of the day was spent at Saunders MS helping out with Positive Referral Day, Nicholas had to tag along. Wednesday night was a Retreat meeting for Katherine (couldn't find the meeting, learned today it was in a different room, she'll know for next time), and an Altar Server meeting for the boys.
So, Thursday rolled around and Nicholas still had a stomachache. After several days I figured it was time to get checked out, especially with the nausea, though he was notably lacking any fever or vomiting. The doc couldn't find anything wrong, tested him for strep which came out negative, and said for him to eat a bland diet and just take it easy. That afternoon Katherine had her second flute lesson which ended up starting early and running late because they were having fun learning some Celtic music, a quick stop at home to change before schlepping Katherine back to school for the Pre-State-Assessment-Band-Concert. She needed to be their early so I took the other kids to Dairy Queen for dinner before returning to the school again. The Wind Ensemble was good, the visiting 8th grade band was terrible (I'm familiar enough with Middle School bands to know that yes, it was "close your eyes and think it's a 6th grade band" bad), and the Symphonic Band (Katherine's group) was good. It made for a late school night though as we customarily get Wendy's frosties after performances.
Friday, finally. But wait. A three-hour High School delay meant Katherine was home all morning. The delay was for parent-teacher conferences. I've mentioned the In Touch conferences before. Last time we talked to the Biology teacher, this time we were with the Language Arts and History teachers. See, Thursday night Ian forwarded an email he received saying Katherine was starting the quarter off with 5 solid zeroes in LA. An assignment I asked over and over about had not been completed. Actually, let me clarify. The assignment itself was done and turned in, but for the IB World Programme to allow her to have a grade for it she needed to submit the same paper to an on-line program. She insisted she didn't need to. So at the conference her teacher stated that without a doubt she absolutely had to. That night she did. Her teacher also said she needed to do some poetry assignments because she'd missed the last class by going to the clinic and falling asleep. That's a separate issue and one I addressed with the school nurse. Katherine is no longer permitted to sleep in the clinic and should be there no longer than 10 minutes at a time. On to History then where she's also pulling an F two weeks into the quarter. There have been two quizzes so far and she's taken neither. The first she missed due to the doctor's appointment. Did she go to his class the next afternoon to take it? No. So next class period rolls around with another quiz, which she also didn't take because by missing the previous class she also missed the material for quiz #2. By talking to her teacher she now has a day and time to take everything she's missed and hopefully that F will disappear.
That's how I like to spend my Friday mornings, how about you?
You'd think that the tickets for the My Chemical Romance concert in May would be the right incentive to avoid all this. She has to get all As and Bs to go to the concert, or her sister goes in her place. Seriously.
We followed conferences up with a trip to Petsmart to get the cats a new toy, then McDonalds for a really unhealthy breakfast before dropping her back to school for a single period of French and an all-important pep rally.
Remind me... why do I send my kids to school?
Back at home I finally took down the outdoor Christmas lights. How bad is that? Not that bad, we still see lit Christmas trees inside homes throughout our neighborhood. I also cleaned up the flower beds. My crocuses are blooming in the grass, the tulips and daffodils are coming up.
Then, my mom to the rescue. Since my dad is out of town and Ian is out of town, Mom came down to hang out with us for a couple days. The weather had taken a turn for the better so she took me out to lunch at Panera where we sat outside and soaked up the 70 degree weather with our breadbowls. Spring, you are such a tease. But we love you and miss you and wish you would stay.
See, we even washed the cars that afternoon, see how much we like you Spring?
So much so that on Saturday, even when the temps dipped just a bit to around 58-60F, we took the kids to Leesylvania State Park for a little adventure hike, then a romp along the beach. We still romp.
More photos can of course be seen in our Winter 2010-2011 Flickr set. You know why? Because my awesome husband got me a new little Canon to carry everywhere with me. I broke the last one. And I'm so happy to get great photos on the fly again. I didn't take a picture of the leech Jonathon picked up, you can thank me for that. But I should really take a photo of my Valentine's Day roses before they all start to wilt.
After the park and dealing with the wicked winds with the smell of smoke in the air, we did church and decided on Red Lobster for dinner. My mom was taking us out, which is just how awesome she is. On the way we passed a brush fire. No joke, the land behind our Border's and the new Alehouse was on fire. The trees were on fire too. There were fires across Maryland and many spots throughout Northern Virginia including in the parks, behind our KMart and within the grounds of the Woodbridge NoVA. The grasses are so dry and the winds so strong that broken branches were knocking power lines and starting blazes making a mess of traffic and closing businesses. Red Lobster had an hour+ wait, so that was no good either. We tried Macaroni Grill (an hour wait) and considered Olive Garden before ending at one of our favorite places, the Silver Diner.
This morning the boys had RE. After lunch at home came the basketball games. Nicholas already had a game on Friday, so another one today at 1 p.m., followed by Jonathon with a game at 3 p.m., followed again by Katherine with a Retreat meeting at 5 p.m. My mom dropped Katherine off at church on her way home allowing me one fewer car drives, while Rebecca went for a walk and the boys played on the xBox.
I sat quietly.
Because the one thing I haven't had, since Tuesday for a couple hours between getting groceries and Katherine returning home from school, is quiet. I thrive on quiet and it's been sorely lacking since Ian left. Tomorrow is a holiday so all the kids are home still, but I can sleep in until I feel like getting up, and that is something I haven't done in nearly a month.
I'm so excited to say Goodnight.
I tell you what, I got nothing done last week. Nothing. Katherine had a doctor's appointment which took all morning because her doctor is nearly an hour away, and of course Ian left Monday afternoon so I didn't do "stuff" that I would normally do on a Monday. Tuesday I managed to hit 3 stores for all the groceries and such I needed for these 2 weeks. Wednesday I volunteered in Jonathon's classroom then checked on Nicholas who had complained about a stomachache for a couple days only to find him in art class bright pink and sweaty even though they were in a chilly room. I warned the nurse and walked home. Twenty minutes later I got the call and returned to the school to him up. The rest of the day was spent at Saunders MS helping out with Positive Referral Day, Nicholas had to tag along. Wednesday night was a Retreat meeting for Katherine (couldn't find the meeting, learned today it was in a different room, she'll know for next time), and an Altar Server meeting for the boys.
So, Thursday rolled around and Nicholas still had a stomachache. After several days I figured it was time to get checked out, especially with the nausea, though he was notably lacking any fever or vomiting. The doc couldn't find anything wrong, tested him for strep which came out negative, and said for him to eat a bland diet and just take it easy. That afternoon Katherine had her second flute lesson which ended up starting early and running late because they were having fun learning some Celtic music, a quick stop at home to change before schlepping Katherine back to school for the Pre-State-Assessment-Band-Concert. She needed to be their early so I took the other kids to Dairy Queen for dinner before returning to the school again. The Wind Ensemble was good, the visiting 8th grade band was terrible (I'm familiar enough with Middle School bands to know that yes, it was "close your eyes and think it's a 6th grade band" bad), and the Symphonic Band (Katherine's group) was good. It made for a late school night though as we customarily get Wendy's frosties after performances.
Friday, finally. But wait. A three-hour High School delay meant Katherine was home all morning. The delay was for parent-teacher conferences. I've mentioned the In Touch conferences before. Last time we talked to the Biology teacher, this time we were with the Language Arts and History teachers. See, Thursday night Ian forwarded an email he received saying Katherine was starting the quarter off with 5 solid zeroes in LA. An assignment I asked over and over about had not been completed. Actually, let me clarify. The assignment itself was done and turned in, but for the IB World Programme to allow her to have a grade for it she needed to submit the same paper to an on-line program. She insisted she didn't need to. So at the conference her teacher stated that without a doubt she absolutely had to. That night she did. Her teacher also said she needed to do some poetry assignments because she'd missed the last class by going to the clinic and falling asleep. That's a separate issue and one I addressed with the school nurse. Katherine is no longer permitted to sleep in the clinic and should be there no longer than 10 minutes at a time. On to History then where she's also pulling an F two weeks into the quarter. There have been two quizzes so far and she's taken neither. The first she missed due to the doctor's appointment. Did she go to his class the next afternoon to take it? No. So next class period rolls around with another quiz, which she also didn't take because by missing the previous class she also missed the material for quiz #2. By talking to her teacher she now has a day and time to take everything she's missed and hopefully that F will disappear.
That's how I like to spend my Friday mornings, how about you?
You'd think that the tickets for the My Chemical Romance concert in May would be the right incentive to avoid all this. She has to get all As and Bs to go to the concert, or her sister goes in her place. Seriously.
We followed conferences up with a trip to Petsmart to get the cats a new toy, then McDonalds for a really unhealthy breakfast before dropping her back to school for a single period of French and an all-important pep rally.
Remind me... why do I send my kids to school?
Back at home I finally took down the outdoor Christmas lights. How bad is that? Not that bad, we still see lit Christmas trees inside homes throughout our neighborhood. I also cleaned up the flower beds. My crocuses are blooming in the grass, the tulips and daffodils are coming up.
Then, my mom to the rescue. Since my dad is out of town and Ian is out of town, Mom came down to hang out with us for a couple days. The weather had taken a turn for the better so she took me out to lunch at Panera where we sat outside and soaked up the 70 degree weather with our breadbowls. Spring, you are such a tease. But we love you and miss you and wish you would stay.
See, we even washed the cars that afternoon, see how much we like you Spring?
So much so that on Saturday, even when the temps dipped just a bit to around 58-60F, we took the kids to Leesylvania State Park for a little adventure hike, then a romp along the beach. We still romp.
More photos can of course be seen in our Winter 2010-2011 Flickr set. You know why? Because my awesome husband got me a new little Canon to carry everywhere with me. I broke the last one. And I'm so happy to get great photos on the fly again. I didn't take a picture of the leech Jonathon picked up, you can thank me for that. But I should really take a photo of my Valentine's Day roses before they all start to wilt.
After the park and dealing with the wicked winds with the smell of smoke in the air, we did church and decided on Red Lobster for dinner. My mom was taking us out, which is just how awesome she is. On the way we passed a brush fire. No joke, the land behind our Border's and the new Alehouse was on fire. The trees were on fire too. There were fires across Maryland and many spots throughout Northern Virginia including in the parks, behind our KMart and within the grounds of the Woodbridge NoVA. The grasses are so dry and the winds so strong that broken branches were knocking power lines and starting blazes making a mess of traffic and closing businesses. Red Lobster had an hour+ wait, so that was no good either. We tried Macaroni Grill (an hour wait) and considered Olive Garden before ending at one of our favorite places, the Silver Diner.
This morning the boys had RE. After lunch at home came the basketball games. Nicholas already had a game on Friday, so another one today at 1 p.m., followed by Jonathon with a game at 3 p.m., followed again by Katherine with a Retreat meeting at 5 p.m. My mom dropped Katherine off at church on her way home allowing me one fewer car drives, while Rebecca went for a walk and the boys played on the xBox.
I sat quietly.
Because the one thing I haven't had, since Tuesday for a couple hours between getting groceries and Katherine returning home from school, is quiet. I thrive on quiet and it's been sorely lacking since Ian left. Tomorrow is a holiday so all the kids are home still, but I can sleep in until I feel like getting up, and that is something I haven't done in nearly a month.
I'm so excited to say Goodnight.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Day 1
Ian left for India yesterday afternoon. We left to the airport at 2:30 and I was home at 4:45 so it went smoothly on my end. His, not so much. His flight left nearly 2 hours late, missed the connecting flight in Newark (direct to Delhi), and is currently waiting in London to catch an Air India flight to Delhi, arriving at 3:30 a.m. and heading to meetings that morning. I feel for him. Traveling to India is a pain on a good day.
The rest of us are going to muddle along these 2 weeks.
When I left you last I was just pulling out of the flu. Little did I know that afternoon would start a two week craziness of trying to delouse the kids, myself and the house. It took me longer to really get over the flu thanks to jumping straight into hours and hours of laundry, spraying the house, nit-picking, and all the other gross stuff that comes with finding living creatures on your scalp. I don't wish that on anyone. Rebecca escaped unscathed thanks to being particular about everything. She keeps her brushes separate, her clothing separate, everything. Katherine was no doubt our source as she regularly comes home wearing other people's items. Warnings beforehand clearly didn't sink in, and even this nasty experience hasn't really set in... she's since come home wearing someone else's hat and jacket. I don't get it, I really don't. The boys were easy to treat, they have nice short hair now. Very short. I don't know that I'll ever feel secure that we're truly clear, so I'll continue checking heads, changing pillowcases, washing hoodies. I guess I should count my lucky stars that it's taken us 15 years to have lice.
Katherine turned 15 on the 5th. She started a fitness training class at the rec center that morning, celebrated with my mom that afternoon (Katherine and my mom share a birthday), and went to a Caps/Kings hockey game with Ian on the 12th. One of her big birthday gifts from my parents is weekly flute lessons at the local Music&Arts for the next four months. She figured out that the teacher is the mom of the girl who sits next to her band class.
All in all the past couple weeks have been filled with mundane household activities, basketball games, and parenting. I did take Nicholas to a Youth Orchestras of Prince William concert. It's something I'd like for him to do next year with cello in the Preparatory group, and perhaps even Katherine as with the Wind Ensemble group or an orchestra. She's never played with an orchestra, it would be good experience. Even better, all the rehearsals and most of the performances are at Gar-Field HS. Score.
So here we go. Day 1 of solo-parenting. Doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms, getting groceries. Looking ahead to Jonathon's basketball practice tonight and RE for the girls, volunteering for 4 1/2 hours in schools tomorrow, flute lesson on Thursday followed by a band concert Thursday night, and next week full with more of the same but tossing in a few doctor's appointments just to mix it up. Fun times, fun times.
My sweetheart left on Valentine's Day and I returned home to find roses with chocolate and bubbles waiting for me at the door. I didn't expect anything, but gifts aside I really am loved. And I miss him.
The rest of us are going to muddle along these 2 weeks.
When I left you last I was just pulling out of the flu. Little did I know that afternoon would start a two week craziness of trying to delouse the kids, myself and the house. It took me longer to really get over the flu thanks to jumping straight into hours and hours of laundry, spraying the house, nit-picking, and all the other gross stuff that comes with finding living creatures on your scalp. I don't wish that on anyone. Rebecca escaped unscathed thanks to being particular about everything. She keeps her brushes separate, her clothing separate, everything. Katherine was no doubt our source as she regularly comes home wearing other people's items. Warnings beforehand clearly didn't sink in, and even this nasty experience hasn't really set in... she's since come home wearing someone else's hat and jacket. I don't get it, I really don't. The boys were easy to treat, they have nice short hair now. Very short. I don't know that I'll ever feel secure that we're truly clear, so I'll continue checking heads, changing pillowcases, washing hoodies. I guess I should count my lucky stars that it's taken us 15 years to have lice.
Katherine turned 15 on the 5th. She started a fitness training class at the rec center that morning, celebrated with my mom that afternoon (Katherine and my mom share a birthday), and went to a Caps/Kings hockey game with Ian on the 12th. One of her big birthday gifts from my parents is weekly flute lessons at the local Music&Arts for the next four months. She figured out that the teacher is the mom of the girl who sits next to her band class.
All in all the past couple weeks have been filled with mundane household activities, basketball games, and parenting. I did take Nicholas to a Youth Orchestras of Prince William concert. It's something I'd like for him to do next year with cello in the Preparatory group, and perhaps even Katherine as with the Wind Ensemble group or an orchestra. She's never played with an orchestra, it would be good experience. Even better, all the rehearsals and most of the performances are at Gar-Field HS. Score.
So here we go. Day 1 of solo-parenting. Doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms, getting groceries. Looking ahead to Jonathon's basketball practice tonight and RE for the girls, volunteering for 4 1/2 hours in schools tomorrow, flute lesson on Thursday followed by a band concert Thursday night, and next week full with more of the same but tossing in a few doctor's appointments just to mix it up. Fun times, fun times.
My sweetheart left on Valentine's Day and I returned home to find roses with chocolate and bubbles waiting for me at the door. I didn't expect anything, but gifts aside I really am loved. And I miss him.
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