I'm utterly alone, but not for long: Mr. Q and Li'l E are heading back from the family camping trip today. (I haven't heard a word from them in forty-eight hours! This is the longest I've gone without any contact with my kiddo! I appreciate the break, but I'm getting a little separation anxiety here.) It's also the (fairly busy) calm before the storm around here, in that we're into the second-last week before our Busiest School Year Ever begins!
And so I'm going to enjoy the quiet while I can. (I'm also going to volunteer for hosting here as much as possible before the frantic busy schedule begins! And I suspect that it's for the best for me to volunteer, with Sue on vacation, Kathy approaching medical stuff, Miranda recovering, esperanza dealing with the baboos...)
How are things in your neck of the woods?
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I've hit the point where I'm staring at my phone and wondering if something has happened to Mr. Q's phone, since he hasn't responded to my texts since they left for camping (and there's definitely cell coverage around there, and electricity).
Hmm. They may not have gone through even so.
We have contact! It turns out that the campsite was way further out of town than we expected, to the point that there was no cell coverage at all (this was a new concept for E, since there's even cell and data -- albeit spotty -- up in Middle Earth Canada). They got into town and called to say that they are on their way home (carefully, stopping to check the tire frequently, since they apparently picked up a nail somewhere -- yikes!). E tells me that she has money in her piggybank, and she is going to build a cellphone tower for the people who live near the campground.
(It might sound funny that we were surprised by this, and didn't consider it to be a possibility, but our province is VERY flat, and our government-owned telecom company has made sure than almost the entirety of the southern half of the province is entirely covered. But there are still a handful of dead spots!)
Thank you for hosting, QWP. I'm so glad you heard from them and I hope you are all home together now.
My plate is full this week. My dad is super excited to have made contact with me and eager to make up for lost time. I'm not there exactly. My kids are definitely not ready to welcome a strange grandpa into their lives. He's coming out over Labor Day and I think it will be a challenge managing expectations.
My mom doesn't know about my speaking with my dad. The kids are against saying anything just yet. She's upset with another sibling over something utterly ridiculous.
My daughter requires additional trips to radiology for a suspicious lump that is changing and not shrinking. She's in good spirits and has a really really cool internship at an interdisciplinary research institute at our local fancy pants university. This is her first exposure to academic research and she is thrilled. Bonus: she asks for my advice.
Both of my sons are doing well. Thank heavens.
Hooray for the returning campers!
The Ordeal is over. Sounds like nothing major; one polyp will be biopsied just in case. I was not only a giant crankypants, but so fuzzyheaded this morning. One burger and one nap later, and am on the road to humanity again.
Kudos to my wonderful daughter, who chauffeured me, listened to the post-op instructions in case I forgot them, and is now off to restock necessities.
((( Miranda ))) Caution seems like a good idea with the "brand new" dad/grandpa. So sorry about the mystery medical thing with your daughter, but glad she's in good hands and good spirits.
xoxo
Hugs, Miranda. I hope that both of your parents behave themselves, and agree with kathy that approaching the dad situation cautiously seems like the wise direction. More hugs about the medical stress with your daughter. I hope things turn out to be clear.
Kathy, I'm glad that your procedure is over, and that daughter was there to take care of you.
The campers have returned! And now I realise that it was good that concussion recovery happened in a quiet house. (E had fun, but did not sleep much, and is crashing hard now.)
Oh, what a glorious difference a day makes! And lots of sleep! Woke up happy and relaxed and ready to go!
YAY Kathy!
Yay campers being home and sleeping!
AW: School starts in two weeks.
Liz -- Or, as experienced parents sing it (privately), "the most wonderful time of the year!" ;)
I need to go get some photos printed and frame them. Yeah, and catch up on some cleaning tasks, but some happy tasks have been left behind, too.
I'm glad that you're feeling better, Kathy!
The difference between the house with the teacher and the house with the kids:
W: School starts in two weeks.
Kathy, thanks for the reminder that I need to get some pictures printed. I need to add that to my to-do list. (I got a few nice ones at the wedding last month, and am giving some to the bride, at my mother's suggestion.)
AW: our family picture prints were done in time for Mr. Q to pick them up on his way home from camping! (We did our pictures in the next town over, and so it's an extra bonus that we saved a trip!) They look nice! I'm really excited about the big print we had made (but now I need to price out a big frame).
Okay, I'm also excited about school coming back, because as of mid-September, I will have four whole hours a week to myself! I spent some time on Pinterest today, researching how to decoupage a map to a sheet of plywood, because I'm currently delusional about how much time four hours a week really is. (C0$tc0 said they can't mount my map for me, because the edges are torn, and so I'm going to podge the thing myself. I think. Watch this space for podge-related whining, when I realise how bad I am at crafts.)
QWP -- For sticking something (especially something big) to a flat surface, you really want to have some kind of roller to flatten it out from the middle toward the edges. Last thing you want is bubbles in the middle!
Nobody is bad at crafts. Everybody needs a little learning curve working with particular materials, though. Have you thought of doing a smaller project just as a test run?
QWP, my advice for making the most of limited time to myself: determine what it is I really, really want to (or have to) do completely alone. Sure, I could do laundry while they're at school, but I can do it almost as easily when they're home. No need to waste precious school hours doing laundry. Yearly doctor checkup? That's a priority. Decide ahead of time what you want to do on her school days; that way you won't waste any of your alone time dithering about what to do.
AW: company is gone. They'll come back for an overnight on Friday night. The food thing was pretty much as I suspected. My SIL helped with the cooking and the shopping, but we mostly stuck to their limitations. On the upside, we ate a lot more veggies than we usually do.
W: Mr E got some concerning health news from the new doctor. Probably things that have been going on for a while, but not caught by previous doc. He seems mostly relieved that new doc is on top of things and that there's hope of some improvement.
W: Sweet is (a) exhausted by cousin visit; (b) starting to get very anxious about school starting; (c) reverting to some coping mechanisms I haven't seen her do in a long time. I wish I knew how to ease her worry. Meet the teacher night is Thursday. Mr. E will be able to go with us, thankfully.
((( Esperanza ))) Glad the visit went well; but sorry about Mr. E's health news. Glad Mr. E is relieved, though, and hope Sweet is feeling less anxious.
This is it, the entire news of the day: my new glasses are waiting for me! Also, cooking some heirloom dried beans that the beloved picked up somewhere, which are pretty tasty even half-cooked.
(((( Esperanza )))) I'm so sorry about the concerning health news. I hope that the new doctor can help bring about improvements in Mr.E. And hugs for Sweet.
I've been thinking along the same lines about the preschool time (it's basically how I approached naps, back in the glorious days of naps): save the stuff I don't want to do with the kid until that time. It'll be REALLY nice when the new grocery store is finished, right near our house, because I'll be able to do a bit of shopping then. (Mr. Q loves grocery shopping with E. I do not.) I'm not touching any decoupage project until E is in school (and I'm thinking of smaller ones to do first, as a test -- thanks for the tip, Kathy!), because I know she'd be all up in my business, if I tried to do it while she was home.
AW: so, we traded our shed for a barbecue, and my parents came over today and helped Mr. Q go and get it! (We have a small car.) Now, Mr. Q is buying a replacement burner and some patio blocks to put under it, and we'll be able to grill again! (My mom also brought over a patio umbrella, because it turns out that she has two, after she won one in a contest.) Just in time for the end of summer, we'll have everything really nice for our backyard.
Even bigger AW: a beloved professor friend just sent me a message, offering to come over tomorrow with freshly-picked blueberries, and to discuss freelance work I can do for her. It took me seconds to respond, and it involved exclamation points.
(In related news, we're in the middle of our summer projects, all of which involve too many trips to the hardware store, and I'm starting to grasp the fact that we still have to buy more textbooks for Mr. Q's night classes. Work is very welcome today! As are wild blueberries.)
Esperanza, glad Mr. E has gotten some answers, tho sorry that he's having health issues at all.
Also sorry about Sweet's anxiety. I have no advice for you, but I did write a post about Muffin Man's First Grade orientation night if it's helpful.
QWP, YAY for blueberries and work and barter!
QWP, hooray for work and blueberries! And your fantastic trading skills!
W: In an attempt to relieve some of Baboo and Mama anxiety, I called the school to ask about bus information. (Baboos have never ridden a bus before). There is one bus at this campus. One. The school secretary doesn't have the information. She directed me to the parent portal, which I had already tried. It doesn't roll over to the new school year until tomorrow, so we are not yet in the system.
One. Bus? For the whole school? How big is the school? Are they reliant on public transportation instead? Is there a large walk zone?
Like, for instance, the elementary school across the street from my mom's house has buses for kids with disabilities. Everyone else walks. But it's in a high density area.
QWP -- yay, blueberries, tradsies, and work prospects!!
One bus??? Yeesh.
AW: New! Glasses!! They're cute, and everything looks so crisp!
AW to the max: Good pathology report!
It's a pretty compact attendance zone. State law requires only that students over 2 miles from the school receive bus service. We are the only neighborhood that is over 2 miles from the school. Sweet would qualify for bus service for students who receive special ed assistance, but I see no need for her to be singled out for the special ed bus when she is capable of navigating the regular one.
Yay for good pathology report!!! And new glasses! I love that crisp feeling!
Good call on the regular bus, Esperanza! And yes, a bus for one neighborhood sounds reasonable.
Another big AW: Even the referring doctor gives her blessing to me cancelling the referral to genetics. She agreed that the pathology report knocked out the possibility of the genetic condition suspected. I didn't think I had that thing, but am so relieved. Facts for the win!
Understandable, Esperanza. Looks like one bus is reasonable given you're the only neighborhood!
Bonus: eases mama's worry that they will get on the wrong bus: impossible!
TRUE THAT.
W: Probable UTI (self-diagnosed). Drinking cranberry juice as I type this.
ouchie, Liz. I hope the cranberries take care of it quickly.
Oof, Liz. I hope the cranberry juice knocks it out of your system. (You have the pure, unsweetened stuff, yes?)
Kathy, I'm cheering for you for that good pathology report, and for ruling out the genetic condition!
Esperanza: I'm glad that the bus only services your neighbourhood. Hopefully it won't be too long on the bus for the baboos.
My friend came over, and brought the first batch of documents for me to transcribe. And it turns out that it's even more fun: she is investigating something from her grandfather's WWI record (he spent some time in a German POW camp), and needs me to research something connected to my own field of research. FUN. (I'm so tempted to start researching it now, but I don't like to log hours when I'm dealing with a child. I'd like to use my time well, and not waste my friend's money. But tonight, after E is in bed! I'm going to do some research!)
W: I ordered a load of yellow clay to be delivered this morning, and then it rained all morning. We got it delivered at lunchtime, but the weather has been preventing much work from getting done. I apparently can control the weather: it rains every time by ordering the delivery of a pile of dirt.
Unsweetened, yes, but not pure cranberry. Cranberry is first ingredient, but includes other juices. Have had 32 ounces, last two bathroom visits have been pain-free
Go, Liz!!! (So to speak...) Here's to the wonders of cranberry. I've heard there is a chewable cran something, which some people swear by.
QWP, that sounds like interesting work! And -- well, the clay will still be there, right?
Kathy: the clay will indeed stay put, but it is a pain to work with, if it isn't dry! Hopefully Mr. Q's tarp worked.
Ah, a tarp. That is on the any-emergency list, along with duct tape. Should work OK.
All hail the magenta elixir! All symptoms are gone. Gonna drink the rest of the gallon tho, I'm not risking a re-run.
Go, team Cran!
Hooray for cranberry juice!
Well. Pook. That did not go as we had hoped. Biopsy/surgery up next.
I am absolutely gutted right now.
Kathy A, glad your pathology report was good!!!
Esperanza, i wishing you a speedy new school transition.
Go, Liz, go!!! (Sorry, that is dreadful but I couldn't resist)
QWP, I hope the rain lets up for you soon.
For your daughter, Miranda? Oh no! Sending hugs and strength your way.
Oh no, Miranda!
((( Miranda ))) xoxoxoo
Yes, for my daughter. She has overcome so very much. Everything is coming together for her and now this! I'm really angry at the universe at the moment.
Sending love to your daughter and you. And cluesticks to the universe. xoxoo
Universe-directed anger is in order, Miranda. I know there's nothing we can do to help from way over here, but I wish I could do something to make it better. We're always here when you need a listening ear.
AW: Slight calming of nerves over meet-the-teacher night. Special ed teacher called to make sure we knew who Sweet's teacher is, and to say if we needed her tonight, the teacher could call her cell phone. I love working with people who are on top of things, especially when it involves my Baboos.
(((Miranda))) sending love to you all. Praying hard for a good outcome and a swift recovery.
((((Miranda and Miranda's daughter))))))
-Neighbor Lady
Bleah. Paid off my credit card, then noticed it had this big charge to a place I don't know. So I called, and it turned out that this was last month's plumbing emergency, which I completely forgot about. Fuzzy brain!
W: I'm a wreck. Meet the Teacher night was terrible. So much traffic (it took us 25 minutes to go 2.5 miles to get there. I'd walk, but Sweet can't walk that far and it was pouring down rain). So many people. School of...say 600 students...only having an hour scheduled for everyone to get there, drop off supplies, and meet the teacher?!? Sweet was a mess. Mr. E dropped us off and waited for almost the whole hour to find a parking spot. People were parking in the grass, but then they got stuck because it's rained 6 inches (!) this week. Being recently arrived from the country, we knew better than that.
AW: So I called the special ed coordinator this morning, and I might have been a little teary on the phone, and she suggested we come back this afternoon and try again, with fewer people to negotiate. We'll see how that goes.
((( Esperanza ))) What terrible planning on the part of the school!! I'm sure everybody would be less stressed -- teachers included -- if they scheduled a number of smaller groups for each class, staggering the times.
So glad the special ed coordinator suggested coming back this afternoon! Much much much better.
Daughter got a job offer, starting monday!!
It sounds like this is just the way they do it, which is bananas. Little Town Elementary just had it all day--teachers would work and when students came they could meet them. The only people it could possible more convenient for is the "vendors" they had set up in the cafeteria--cub scouts, karate lessons, PTA table, etc. Crossing fingers for this afternoon. Sweet was not completely opposed, so that's something.
Hooray for daughter!
Cafeteria full of vendors? That is a foreign concept for me, for meet the teacher night. I'm so sorry that it was such an overwhelming mess, and I hope that it works better this afternoon.
Hooray for kathy's daughter!
More hugs for Miranda and daughter. We're here to support you.
W: we were getting E ready to go to my parents' house for the day, so that we could get landscaping done (thankfully, my sister was already planning on picking her up) when we discovered ANOTHER flat tire! I suspect that we picked up another nail in the back alley. (The garage across the alley from us was just reshingled, and the roofers were not careful when they removed the old shakes.) Three nails in one summer! So, the tire is at the tire shop, and hopefully it can be repaired and doesn't need to be replaced.
Also W: our outside work day has been repeatedly interrupted by downpours. It wasn't supposed to rain today! And yellow clay is terrible when it's wet!
AW: my parents and sister took E for the entire day, and then they're bringing her AND supper at the end of the day.
AW: whew. I feel much better. Sweet feels somewhat better. Even the teacher feels better. She got to check out the room and the books. She didn't speak, but that's not unusual for her in new situations. Special ed person is going to meet the Baboos at the bus and escort them to their classrooms.
QWP, roofers around here are notorious for not picking up nails. Bummer.
Isn't Mr. Q a sciency-oriented guy? I would put a large magnet on the end of a stick (with duct tape?) and wave it around the alley to attract the nails. This is why I have a magnetic pincushion, by the way, because those go astray and deflate my tootsies.
Miranda, thinking of you and your daughter a lot. When is the surgery/biopsy thing? xoxoxo
QWP, I second the nail magnet idea. 3 tires in one summer is not kosher.
Esperanza, I'm so glad that you all got to have a second bite at that apple.
Kathy, YAY for your daughter, and I think you should get a mullet for the pins in tootsies.
Miranda, I'm thinking of you and your daughter, too. Sending so much love.
AW: Went to see an all-girl production of Julius Caesar at the HS my son will be going to in 2 weeks. The director is a rising junior who lives down the block from us, who is a lovely young woman. The cast included cast mates of Muffin Man (both played the genie in separate casts of Aladdin this past Spring and one played Adelaide and the other played Sarah in Guys and Dolls)
All the members of the group are really excited about MM coming to the high school, because apparently all the boys interested in acting graduated in June. And so MM may just be a male lead in every. single. play for the next four years.
The play was really well done. Minimalist, with most of the actresses taking multiple roles except for those playing Caesar, Antony, Cassius, and Brutus. I've never seen the play before and now I know where a lot of mystery books' titles come from.
A continuing "break a leg!" to MM, who is going to like this school just fine.
That's really fun for MM, Liz!
W: it turns out that the nail was the least of that tire's problems. It was in terrible condition, as are the other three. (To be fair, I don't even know how old these tires are: they pre-date the purchase of the car, three years ago.) This day just got a LOT more expensive.
AW: the weather got better in the afternoon, and we had a really productive day. I used a drill, and put together the deck myself! That's a good feeling.
Yay QWP for the drilling expertise!
W: Neighbor Boy just came upstairs in tears because as he was jumping (bounding) down the stairs, he hit his head on the ceiling at the bottom of the stairs. Has a huge goose egg. (we are icing). Everything went black for a second ("maybe I closed my eyes" he says) and saw a flash of light. Yes, same boy who had a concussion at end of school year. AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGG! If I had a nickel for every time I have told him to be careful on the stairs or to slow down or not flop around, I would be able to retire.
sigh.
He says he doesn't think it's a concussion, but my goodness the huge goose egg is a scary thing.
(I think he is taller than he realizes, too)
waaaahh!
Neighbor Lady
Oh, no! Hope NB is feeling better.
It's very rare for lumps in young women to be cancerous. This is what we are clinging to since the radiologist said he thought it was likely to be a fibroadema. But the report isn't online which is making me a little crazy. She has an appt with her breast doc Monday morning and a biopsy scheduled on Friday. The breast doc is not happy with the mass since it is growing harder and causing my daughter a lot of dicomfort.
Daughter is a wreck but trying to stay busy. She didn't fall far from the tree. My mom is still being helpless and we both agreed we weren't helping her this weekend. Neither of us can emotionally handle her crankiness.
Now, if Older Son (who lives with her) asked us, we'd go over in a heartbeat. He seems to think she can handle this and he has a good sense of her actual limitations.
AW: my youngest and I are going to see a Viking Ship and I got loads of free kale from a friend's garden.
Miranda, as a (not so proud, but what I am going to do) owner of a fibroadenoma, diagnosed at age 30 or so, I will confirm that they can be painful. At the time, the dr told me that cancerous lumps are usually not painful. Is it a needle biopsy? If so, I'll pass on some information that I would have found helpful. We just left mine alone, but I do know people who have found them more troublesome and had them removed.
In the meantime, deep breaths. I think staying away from your mom right now is a good idea. Prayers for everything to be resolved soon, because you have a teensy bit too much on your plate right now, yes?
AW: I have already received more communication from the Baboos' school this year than I did for the whole year at last year's school. I think that's an AW. It may get annoying. And I think it reflects the economic status (ie, probably universal internet access) more than anything else.
(((Miranda)))
Communication = good, Esperanza, even if it gets annoying.
I canvassed for Clinton & my congressional candidate today. It was just a wee bit hot (translation, my face was melting into a large puddle of sweat). But! I did a full pack of 38 doors, got 10 commit to vote cards, and am thus a hero to the campaign staffer who is organizing all this in our area.
((((MIranda))))
--Neighbor Lady
and, go liz! woot!
((( Miranda ))) Fingers crossed. I, too, am a member of teh lumpy breast club; left mine intact, too. xoxo
Yay, Liz!
Id appreciate more information. She has wanted to do the last few appts alone but she now wants me there. So I'm relying on second hand info.
Hugs for Miranda and daughter, and all appendages crossed for the mass to be benign. I agree with esperanza: some distance from your mom seems wise right now. You're both dealing with a lot: I think you're in a "put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others" situation right now.
Hugs for NB, NL! I did literally the same thing, one week ago, and am also dealing with some concussion symptoms. I understand how frustrating it is. (And I didn't think I was that tall!)
AW: we had a load of topsoil delivered this morning, and the weather actually cooperated! We're nearing the finish line.
OK, Miranda. I think that means you can ask a lot of questions at the breast doctor's office. Needle biopsy is just an in-office procedure (I had that). That she also has a biopsy scheduled for friday suggests a surgical biopsy. Two of my sisters had their (benign) lumps removed that way; the incision isn't too large and it doesn't take all that long, but anesthesia is involved, and a few stitches. (So, there may be barking; lots of sleepiness; ouchies.) xoxo
My experience with needle biopsy: I had imagined that meant *one* stick with the needle, but it was more like six sticks with the needle. Doctor was guided by ultrasound. He told me (this was pre-Baboos, thus pre-nursing) that young breast tissue was very dense and he had a hard time pushing the needle through it. (Sorry if this is disgusting). Local anesthetic. No stitches, just a bandaid. Hurt for a couple of days, but it was at the bottom, where the underwire on my bra was. No restrictions post-biopsy.
I hope that is helpful. My doctor said drinking lots of caffeine could cause fibroadenomas and that some people were just more susceptible to them. They do not correlate with increased risk of malignant breast tumors at all, nor does leaving them interfere with milk production at all. (those were my two worries at the time).
Again, hugs for you and your daughter.
P.S. -- I got closer scrutiny after one of my sisters turned up with breast cancer (in her mid-late 40's -- she's fine now!). That involved regular mams + a couple of ultrasounds, to get a better look at the denser tissue. If that is an option, it is totally pain-free and non-invasive. for what it's worth...
Thank you all for sharing your stories. It helps me a lot.
NL, how is NB feeling today?
Yes, hope NB is feeling better! (And also trying to think of a stylish way to pad that area above the stairway, but am coming up short, design-wise...)
I'm straight-up tempted to buy that stuff that pads sharp corners, etc., for when babies are learning how to walk. And then cover everything that's remotely head-height in this house.
There is the always popular "WATCH YOUR HEAD" sign, along with bright tape noting the problem area -- frequently seen in various sites formerly used by short people like me. But that doesn't fit most people's decorative scheme.
The backyard is basically finished (for this year)! Now, we just need to repair the (crumbling) concrete on the front step, and we'll be done our summer projects. (Weather permitting, we're saving that job for the Labour Day weekend.)
So the Dad visit planning is going well. We talked plans and he already was planning on staying in a hotel. Daughter has a rule: No deadbeat dads allowed in our basement ever again. She has a very deadpan delivery that makes it a slow burn. It's funny. And true. And sad. But still funny.
I'm 43 years old and tonight is the first time I have ever remember that man saying "I love you".
There are a lot of complicated feelings to unpack.
I have a relative of sorts who is going to help me with the dad situation to take some of the pressure off me.
There is a lot of discussion around whether we should tell my mom or brothers about the visit. I'd rather not because that's when all the emotional "HOW DARE YOU" calls start. But it's hard to keep it a secret.
My exhusband has many things wrong with him. Many, many, many things wrong with him but we try not to put kids in the middle or make them "choose" a parent or side. He understood how much it hurt me and he didn't want that for our children.
I only wish my sister were here for this. She teaches in South America.
She has been working on this meeting for years. By all accounts, he's been a good father to her the last ten years (we are 17 years apart and we have different mothers) and they are close.
Miranda, I will keep thoughts and prayers for you as you plan this visit. Maybe he has grown some in the last ten years.... and here's hoping that reconnecting brings some joy to your life (even though it will probably still needs lots of unpacking). Evolution is a slow process. (for people too!) :) But I always think the more positive people in your corner the better. Love your daughter's mantra.
:) Neighbor Lady
aw: Neighbor Boy's head seems to be sore to the touch, and to shampoo, but he has not reported headache (knock wood). We played tennis yesterday and he had more stamina than I did.
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