Bloom where you're planted

Yesterday was busy. John had a Callers Association luncheon in North County (about an hour's drive each way) so we left the munchkin with Jane and headed north around 11. We got back around 3:30 or 4 and Rick and I took naps. Dinner was ramen with chicken added to it. Took John to a dance; stopped by Target and picked up a microwave oven (for work) and two sets of sheets (both on sale). Home; fed Rick (he'd slept through the ramen) and put him to bed. Made a fresh fig pie. (Yum!) In bed around 11:30.

Today: Couldn't sleep; up around 6:30. Made raisin bars and a fruit salad for post-church refreshments. Church. Refreshments. Lunch. Then the three of us went to see Ponyo. This was Rick's first theater experience, and he did pretty well. He got a little wiggly after the first hour but overall it was a really positive experience. It was a nice movie, too. (I am glad to say that even though I am not the world's best mother, I am a better mother than the mother in the movie. I drive better, too.)

When we got home, we started laundry and I went off to the grocery store for the week's supply of food. Now the cupboards are stocked and dinner is in the oven (Mushroom Smothered Halibut). All I have to do for the rest of the day is eat dinner, process 4 or more loads of laundry, bathe Rick, and get to bed early.

Speaking of Rick - rephetibel, I am truly sorry if I ever said, while you were cooking, "Hey! What's that smell? That smells disgusting!" If such words did pass my lips, I hope you smacked me soundly and sent me to bed without dinner.

Speaking of laundry, I think another load is due to come out of the dryer.

I know someone who might find this interesting: Samurai Sword Umbrella.

In other news, it appears that my jam did not turn into jam. To all appearances, I have seven 12 oz. jars of fig sauce (which would taste just wonderful heated up and poured on top of vanilla ice cream). I haven't opened any of the jars to see how runny the stuff is; it might be just thick enough to be usable in sandwiches.

Rick was very tired today; he fell asleep on the way to camp today, and again on the way home. He's passed out on the couch now; aside from a minute or three of wakefulness when we got home, he's been sound asleep for 2 hours. In a little bit I'll wake him up to put him in bed. (He's gotten too heavy for me to lift and cart around without a Super Mom Adrenalin Burst.)

And that's all the news there is...

The other day, Rick was getting ready for his bath, and said, "Mommy, why do I have a different penis than everybody else?" (Rick is uncircumcised but attends a Jewish preschool, so most, if not all of his classmates are circumcised.) John overheard the question, and just started laughing his butt off and didn't help me. Hmph.

i told Rick that some boys had penises like his and some boys had the other kind, and that there was nothing wrong with either. Then he told me that he wanted his penis to look like everyone else's. I said, "Well, to do that, a doctor would take a very sharp knife and cut this part off." At this point, he crossed his legs and pulled his t-shirt down as far as he could. He decided that he'd rather not have a big owie on his penis.

I got him settled in the bath and whacked John for not helping.

It was, as promised, a busy day; it started at 7:30, and will soon be ending - but it's after 11:00 now.

7:30 - I struggled out of bed, made my breakfast and  Rick's, then planned menus for the week and made my grocery list (I knew I was in trouble when I had to tape two lists together). Showered, dressed, put a load of laundry in the washing machine.

9:30 - Took John to Rusty Hinges; went to Borders to get a gift for Rick's friend who was having a party today. While I was there, John called to say that they didn't have enough people for a square. We arranged to meet at the next place on my list  - the hair salon. I got my hair cut. With the extra time we suddenly had, John and Rick each got their hair cut as well. Went to Denny's for lunch, then home. Transferred laundry, started another load. Wrapped present. Pant, pant, pant.

2:45 - Woke Rick up out of a deep sleep to go to the party at Mission Bay. Rick wanted to go into the bay; since it's a safe swimming area, and we had brought our swim stuff, we changed and went into the water. Rick enjoyed  it except for the time he lost his footing and swallowed a little bit of saltwater. We applied comfort and drinking water, then went back into the water. Dried off, went home, showered, dressed.

6:30 - Made, served, ate dinner. Went out looking for a birthday present for tomorrow's party. That took a little longer than anticipated, but I was successful. Went to grocery store, where I FILLED my cart up to the top. My receipt thoughtfully pointed out that I saved $53 today.

10:30 - Arrived home. John, who had been doing dishes, brought in the groceries while I put them away. Had a snack; writing in my journal. Going to bed really, really soon.

On Monday, Rick went to the dentist for his first checkup / cleaning. He watched me get my teeth cleaned first, so he would know what to expect. He did very well, and - unlike the 3 year old in the next room - does not have any cavities. The dentist came in and explained to Rick the importance of brushing teeth. He told Rick that there are little tiny tooth bugs that live in our mouths, and they eat the sugar from our food. After they eat, he said, they  poop. It's the tooth bug poop, he said, that makes holes in our teeth.

Well, this made a big impression on Rick, of course, as did the mask and gloves they gave him. I can't say that I'm real happy about tooth bug poop myself. I've never been able to  get in the habit of brushing my teeth before bed, as the many fillings in my mouth clearly indicate, but I've been brushing twice a day since Rick's tooth bug poop lecture.

And while we're on the subject of things said by doctors, I went to my optometrist tthis week, and I asked him what my vision is.. I think the last time I got a number was 20 years ago, and my vision was somewhere around 20/70. Well, it's deteriorated a bit... He said that my vision isn't quite 20/400, but it's close. No wonder I can't read my bedside clock in the middle of the night!

You may have noticed that I haven't been posting recently. I've been taking advantage of John's vacation to soak up all the relaxing I can so that I can recharge my batteries before John goes back to school on July 23rd. I've been cooking real food, too, not crock pot stuff, since I have a bit more time and energy in the evenings.

We have a new electrical panel now, and our neighbor is working on the concrete platform. The air conditioner should be installed about the time that John goes back to work. It'll sure be nice.

At work, we're beginning to work on the High Holy Days, which are in mid-September this year. It'll all be over before I know it, right? It's hard to believe that this is my 10th High Holy Day season.

It's taking me a loooong time to recharge. Our vacation helped but my batteries were only partially recharged. Two days back at work undid all the good that our trip did. [sigh]

It helps a lot that John is on vacation, so I am doing a lot less driving than usual. Also since he's on vacation he's doing more around the house, like laundry, dishes, etc. (Don't get me wrong - he does it during the school year as well. During the summer he does more.) It also helps that a couple of John's usual dances were not held this week - I got to sleep in on Saturday!

Rick discovered recently that he is scared of the dark (so we got a nightlight) and is also scared of the light cast by headlights coming up our street (so I put up very substantial curtains in his room). The new curtains block out so much light that Rick has been sleeping later in the mornings and on Saturday, he didn't wake up until 8! I'm really liking that!

I think it will also help a lot that we won't be holding the Callers' School this summer. I agree whole-heartedly with John's reasons and motivations for holding the school, but it gets really rough to give up every Sunday afternoon for 3 months. (We didn't get enough people this year to hold a class.)

Something else that should help is that we are getting central air conditioning installed soon! Yay! No more days of 97 degree temperatures inside the house!

So all these factors will help; I can feel my batteries recharging. It's just going to take a long time, that's all.

Rick had his general 4-year-old checkup this morning; his vision, hearing, blood pressure, weight, height, urine, and blood were checked.

Vision: works
Hearing: works
Blood pressure: normal
Weight: 71 lbs.*
Height: 46.5 inches
Urine: fine
Blood: not anemic

71 lbs. and 46.5 inches. His last checkup was in January of 2008; he has grown 5.5 inches since then, and gained 16 pounds. 5.5 inches in 17 months - that's an average of 1 inch every 3 months. No wonder I have to keep buying clothes! (I will say here that one of John's teenaged relatives grew 12 inches in the last year, and he's not done growing. 5.5 inches doesn't really compare to that.)

When I explained to Rick what the little cup was for, he thought I was joking. Peeing in a cup is silly! Besides which, he didn't need to pee. (He got pretty stressed about it even though I was trying to calm him down. However, all the discussion about peeing eventually made him realize that he did have to go, after all.) He also got four shots, poor kid. He didn't like them at all, though he was pretty good. He cried, but held pretty still. I'll be glad when the immunizations are all done. 

I was surprised to find out that the carseat law is "6 or 60" - I thought it was "6 and 60." Apparently it would be legal for Rick to go without a carseat or booster. Don't worry; I have every intention of keeping him in a carseat or booster as long as I can stuff him in one. (His current seat goes up to 55 inches and 100 lbs. so it's good for a whiile.)

All in all, a pretty good checkup.

*Yes, he's a big boy. The doctor said that he's on the heavy side, but is satified since we're aware of the issue and are encouraging activity and not stuffing him with junk. I am extremely prickly on this issue. Negative comments - possibly any comments - about his weight or my parenting skills will have the same results as poking a surly bear. 

I found some of the lactose-free cheese at Smart and Final and selected the Swiss to bring home. It's actual cheese (and tastes like it, too), but it doesn't upset my tummy! It is a little stronger cheese than I'm used to, but it's CHEESE and therefore all is well. Other flavors that were available were Havarti and Muenster (sp?). I'm sure I'll try those at some point.

Today is Rick's family birthday party at the park. Just about everything is ready; I will just need to frost a cake and pick up a couple of things at the store today (like ice) and pack it all up in a convenient take-to-the-park package. We're having make-it-yourself sandwiches. I have three kinds of bread, 4 kinds of meat, two kinds of cheese, assorted condiments, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, etc.; small bags of chips; water, soda, and juice boxes; chocolate cake (fully loaded with sugar and calories, but non-dairy) and reduced-sugar angel food cake, accompanied by fresh strawberries (kept separate) and blueberries and cool whip. That should take care of the dieters, non-dieters, diabetics, lactose-intolerant, and strawberry-allergic folks, while still feeding them yummy food.

Well, we all had noodle soup for dinner, followed by chocolate cake (decorated with a red spaceship on top) and Rick's present from us. He got a remote-controlled space shuttle, and he was very excited. It only goes forwards and around in circles but Rick really likes it.

Since Friday night, we've eaten out 5 times (if you include ordering pizza as 'eating out'). Oh boy. That'll hurt both the budget and the waistline. [sigh]

I haven't done much this weekend... Yesterday afternoon I spent watching mindless tv and dreaming about how good pizza would taste. My discovery was that pizza doesn't taste nearly as good without cheese. Still good, just not great. AND I reacted to something in the pizza, darn it. Hmph.

Today was the preschool's art show, sing-a-long, fashion show, and auction - their major fundraiser of the year. We went, watched Rick sing and walk the catwalk - and boy, did he ham that up - and admired his artwork that was on display. We quite easily restrained ourselves from bidding on anything. There was some nice stuff, but...

Rick's birthday is on Tuesday, and he has two parties - one on Wednesday at preschool, and one on Sunday at a park for the extended family. I thought it would be nice to have a small celebration for the nuclear family; because of our insane Tuesday night schedule, we decided to celebrate tomorrow night. I told Rick tonight that he could pick what we have for dinner - he could choose a restaurant or he could choose what I would cook. He was very excited, and immediately asked for noodle soup (aka ramen) (wow - cheap, fast, and easy!). I told him that I would also make a cake, and of course he chose chocolate. It got complicated, though, when I asked him if he wanted a tall circular cake or a short square cake (I meant rectangular, but said square). He didn't care for either option and decided that he really, really wanted a tall square cake. I baked a rectangular cake and will cut it in half and stack it, and see how it comes out. I got a dairy-free chocolate cake mix and dairy-free icing mix; we'll see how it tastes. I know I could have made a cake and icing from scratch, but I'm tired and didn't wanna deal with it. So there.

I looked around online and discovered a company that makes lactose-free cheese. This is real cheese, made from real cows' milk. Somehow they do an extra something to the cheese that takes the lactose out. I looked for it at the store tonight - the website said my grocery store carries it - but I didn't see it and the three of us were all perilously close to melting down, so I didn't ask anyone. I'll look more some other time, or try another store. If it's good, I'll let you know. Mmmmm... cheese!

Off to bed.

Rick had a thorough eye exam, complete with dilation and whatnot. His eyes are perfectly healthy, thank you, and he doesn't seem to be favoring one eye over the other. His stereoscopic vision is excellent. Yay!

We're to take him back in a year or two for another exam, just to see how he's doing then.

see more Lol Celebs

I just love that.

Anyway... Rick and I got back yesterday from a lovely visit with adrianeh and her family. We got in a lot of visiting, an afternoon in the pool, a dinner out, and a trip to a local park in the short time we were there. It was a really nice visit, and Rick behaved pretty well. He was VERY good during the actual traveling portions of the trip (until we were almost home).

I went back to the doctor today - she had sent me to get an abdominal ultrasound - and she said that my insides are perfectly normal, so I must just be lactose intolerant. I have to say that I have been feeling much, much better since I cut milk out of my diet. I am surprised how many foods have milk or cheese as ingredients, though. It'll take a while for me to find things I know I can eat.

[yawn]

I need to go to bed. G'night.

This last weekend, I got a digital timer for my crockpots. The timer that I had before had failed TWICE last week, so it was high time for a new device. I've used it three times this week, and it works just fine - yay! And last night I got the replacement crock for my small pot. Yay! It's so nice to know that dinner will be ready when we get home.

Last night's dinner had some milk in it, which I didn't realize until it was already prepared. (The recipe called for a jar of beef gravy, and the gravy had milk in it.) I took a lactaid tablet and tried a small bowl of the dinner (Swiss Steak Supper). Then I went to bed with a heating pad on my tummy and a painkiller. I seem to be really sensitive to dairy products, and the lactaid either doesn't help much or doesn't help at all. I've talked to a friend of mine whose husband is lactose intolerant, and he apparently thinks that I may be allergic to lactose because my reacation is much more intense and more immediate than his. I dunno what's going on; at this point, all I know is that milk = pain. I have a follow up appointment with my doctor in a week and I will either find out more then, or be sent for more tests. In the meantime, I will continue diligently avoiding dairy products.

Next week, Rick and I will spend a couple of days visiting with my college roommate and her family. It'll be so nice to see her and her husband and meet her toddler! It will also be very nice to get away for a couple of days... John wasn't able to get the time off, so he'll be staying here.

Rick's birthdays are approaching with great speed and it's hard to believe that he'll be FOUR in just over 2 weeks! Where has the time gone?

There's more that I've been wanting to write, I know there is, but now I don't remember... I suppose it will come to me when I am away from a computer or at work. Ah well. [yawn]

G'night.

Yesterday, John did not have his Saturday morning group. Yay! We were foiled in our attempts to sleep in by someone who shall remain nameless but who kept waking us up to see if we were ready to get up. :)

Once up, we cleaned the house. For a looooong time. It desperately needed it and I feel much better.

cinediva came over with Sami around 1 and stayed for a very nice visit. Rick and Sami had a lot of fun playing with each other for a really long time, and I had a really nice time visiting with Cinediva.

After they left, we all went to Bible Study and had a good time there, despite everyone being tired. Two of the people there are teachers at a school that's been shut down for 2 weeks because one student has Influenza A. No one knows which student, how bad the case is, or if it's the H1N1 (aka swine flu) virus. There was much conversation sparked by this circumstance. The wives were pretty excited to have their husbands home for two weeks, though - their to-do lists grew exponentially!

Today after lunch, I need to do my menu planning, grocery shopping, and laundry. I should be able to get that done fairly easily in 6 or 8 hours, right? Right? Hmm. I also need to figure out what we're going to do about Rick's birthday party(s).

I had better stop chatting and get to work.

I took Rick to be evaluated by an orthopedic specialist today. Dr. Wallace said that Rick is knock-kneed, but we shouldn't worry about it now. The degree to which his knees knock will fluctuate as he grows and develops. At about age 8, we should take him back in if he is still knock-kneed and they'll monitor him annually from there. If necessary, they can perform minor surgery which will help his knees straighten out through the teen growth spurts. X-rays of Rick's hips were taken, and his hips are perfect.

Good news all around! I'm very relieved, I must say.

John told me last night that there's a possibility that he'll be teaching some form of science next year if he stays at his current school. That would be great for him, so we have our fingers crossed.

John and I are going to take Grandpa Mike to a baseball game in July - there will be fireworks and everything! Grandpa loves baseball but has yet to go to the new ballpark here, and so John and I thought we'd take him. I'm still in the process of getting the tickets - I'm playing phone tag with Disabled Services at PetCo Park - but it should be a fun evening. When we first asked him, he looked dubious until I started telling him about all the accomodations they make for people in wheelchairs. It's really nice; they have wheelchair and transfer seating, along with companion seating, in every price level at the park, and also can arrange handicap parking. Once I told him all that, and asked him for his preferences regarding day vs. night games and opposing teams, he really started to get into it. I really hope he has a nice time! (This will also give my mother-in-law an evening off, and I think she's looking forward to that. He doesn't require constant care or supervision, so she can - and does - leave for three or four hours at a time, but this will be a longer time span.)

adrianeh, I need to tell you this. The other day, Rick was asking about swimming and I told him that when he and I go to visit you, there'll be a pool and we can go swimming. He said, "And Max? Can Max go swimming at the same time and we can play together?" He was very excited when I said yes. I was impressed that he remembered Max. I'm looking forward to visiting, too. I'll have to check to see if my suit still fits...

Nothing much else to report... the weather has cooled down, which is nice. We have a busy weekend: Rusty Hinges, a bridal shower, and a benefit dance tonight for Father Joe. Church tomorrow - I'm on refreshment duty - and laundry, menu planning, shopping, and house cleaning, of course. I'm also going to meet cinediva for coffee or book shopping or something (mostly just socializing without the kids!).

kloujm rick marus mommy

Rick typed the above paragraph, naming the letters as he went. What a kid!

( This turned out to be a very long entry. )

Those of you who can't read my friends-locked posts probably won't know this, but I was feeling put-upon last week. I'm feeling much better now, though I wasn't earlier today.

Yesterday and today have seen a convergence of days off for all three of us. Yesterday, we went to the Wild Animal Park. Rick had never been and it had been several years since John and I went. I came to the conclusion that Satan would have won his bet with God if he had, instead of taking away Job's family, had simply caused him to take his family to a theme park or similar attraction on a warm day during Spring Vacation and while Job was tired. Job's fabled patience would not have held up.

The park has been reconfigured so that the bus ride - which replaced the monorail - is accessed from deep within the park, not right by the entrance. We walked. We looked at animals. We ate lunch. We walked and looked at animals. We all were tired and grumpy by the time we got to the line for the bus. An hour later (!) we got on the bus and had a nice 20 minute tour. Once we got off the bus, we had to walk UP through the park to the exit. I think we left the park around 2:45 or so; by the time we got on the freeway 10 minutes later, Rick was asleep. He woke up around 8.

Today we went to a lab so John could have a routine blood test. Then we went to Rick's doctor for an evaluation to get a referral to see a specialist for his legs. (He's knock-kneed like his mother and it's quite possible that this can be corrected while he's still young. I'd really like to spare him from the arthritis that I have if I can.) While there, we also got a referral to an opthalmologist because I've noticed an odd quirk when he wants to look closely at something: he turns his head and brings the object up close to his right eye. The exam itself only took about 10 minutes but all told, we were there for an hour and a half. We were planning on going to Home Depot after lunch but upon consideration of several factors (my energy levels, patience levels, and Rick's behavior) we came home instead so Rick could have a nap and I could have a break.

I slowed down as we approached the house and pushed my guys out onto the sidewalk then went off BY MYSELF for a while. I went shopping and now I feel much better! It's amazing what no schedule, no clamoring people, new clothes that fit, and two new pairs of black heels will do for one's psyche. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up egg-dying supplies - we may try decorating eggs tonight.

Rick had been asking me if we could make Ants on a Log - this is a snack that he's seen on the Disney Channel. I picked up the ingredients this afternoon and he was sooo excited! To make this treat, you spread peanut butter on a celery stick, then push raisins into the peanut butter. He helped make the logs, and ate several pieces.

I don't know if I can say that Life is Good right now, but Life is Better. Life is definitely Better.

First, the house itself. It's currently going through an infestation of subterranian termites. Luckily, we are still under warranty from last year's treatment. The exterminator will be here tomorrow morning to drill more holes in our foundation and inject chemicals which are nasty to termites but not people or pets. Thanks to mteneyck for supervising the exterminator...

Now the people. Rick is - now here's a news flash - growing again. We bought new shoes this week and I just can't believe that he's now wearing size 3 shoes. For those of you who aren't up on kid's shoe sizes, just haul out a handy ruler. Rick's feet are a smitch over 8.5 inches long. That's huge!

Rick has been learning about Moses and the plagues in preparation for Passover. He came home on Monday singing that "King Pharoh woke up from his bed. There were frogs on his bed, frogs on his head, frogs on his nose, frogs on his toes; frogs there, frogs here, frogs are jumping everywhere!" He also announced that he ate frog pudding with graham crackers. When we asked what frog pudding tastes like, he looked at us like we'd lost our minds, and said, "Frogs!"

Tomorrow, while the house is getting debugged, we will all be getting haircuts, John will call a dance, Rick and I will go shopping for birthday presents, then we'll meet John's family at 12:30 for the March birthday celebration. Then we'll come home, work on laundry, menu planning, and grocery shopping. On Sunday, we'll go to church, then out to lunch with John's grandfather, who will be celebrating his 95th birthday! After that, we'll come back home and finish the laundry, menus, and grocery shopping. And maybe, possibly, try to relax and get ready for the work week ahead.

Spring break is coming, and we could sure use it! John has one week off; Rick has 10 days off; and I have four days off. There's some overlap - we all have two of the days off together - but I think Rick will have to have some grandparent days in there while John and I are at work.

Rick is just about done with his bedtime snack, so I'd better wrap this up. Shabbat Shalom, y'all!

After years of not having a social life, I seem to have acquired one! It feels good, though pretty strange.

Cheryl is the mother of a girl in the same preschool as Rick, though in a different class since she's a year younger than he is. She's a really nice woman, with whom I seem to have a lot in common. Our kids had a play date at Sami's house last Saturday, much to Rick's excitement. At the end of the play date, Rick asked, "After Sami's nap, can she come over for a play date at my house?" Sami and Cheryl are coming over after Sami's nap tomorrow, and will stick around for dinner. Should be fun!

A couple of people at our church have started a Bible study group for young/not-so-young families. It meets twice a month at someone's house, and some of the older kids (teenagers) look after the herd of younger kids while the adults fellowship and study. We went for the first time two weeks ago, and had a good time. The second meeting is tonight, and we're planning on going. Rick is excited about going to "the Bible study with toys." I'm going prepared this time. Last time, I dusted off my study Bible and took that, but automatically flipped it over and opened it from the back. Even when I realized what I was doing and flipped it back to the front, I had trouble finding the passage we were looking at, because I was turning the pages the wrong way. It really brought home the fact that I spend a LOT more time in a Hebrew Bible than an English one. Anyway, I brought a copy of Etz Hayim home from work and will take that tonight so I can find passages easily and so we can get a different viewpoint through the commentaries.

Rick is telling me that it's time to go to Bible study, and he's right. More later (perhaps much later)!