Frodo on Steroids

I took Frodo the Wonder Dog to the vet on Monday to get her rabies vaccination, but I changed that to a regular vet visit when I noticed that her ears looked bad...and she had been seeming mopey.  She had a slight fever, irritated eyes, and inflamed ears.  So, $75 later, we came home with antibiotics and Prednisone for pooches, and no shots.  The vaccinations will come in two weeks when we return to the vet.  (She's allergic, so has to be watched for several hours after vaccination.)  The good news is that the Frodog had lost two pounds since her last visit.  (She needs to lose another 5-10 more.)  The doc told me that Frodo would seem hungry and thirsty, but that I wasn't to feed her more--just make sure she had lots of water.  I didn't notice anything different in her behavior--until today.  Today, she has become a ravenous food whore who has followed me virtually EVERYWHERE in the house, every time I move, hoping that I will provide food!  (It sounds funny, but I was getting seriously tired of it!)  The vet is concerned about food allergies with her, telling me to abstain from giving her table food, etc.  Well!  Good luck with that!  After meals, food must be put up immediately--and I mean put UP because the dog will pull down dishes that are anywhere close to the edge of the counter or table.  If plates are left on the table, the chairs have to be pushed in all the way or Fro will be on top of the table the instant one's back is turned.  The grandkids have to guard their snacks like hawks!  I finally relented this evening and gave the dog a "snack" of 1/2 cup of dry dog food, just to stave her off.  Geez!

I worked all day today on laundry.  It's a quest.  Laundry for four people (two of whom come back from day care absolutely FILTHY from playing in the pea gravel at Ms. Shelly's) isn't all that big a deal, except that it all has to be folded/hung and put away....or else it becomes clutter--and it's never done!  Putting it in the washer and dryer is the easy part.  When I did laundry for Nathan and Meg in the old days, there wasn't a single sock or shirt or pair of pants that came out of the dryer right-side-out.  At least now, Meg has learned to put stuff in the hamper in the condition it should come out of the dryer...and it helps a lot!  I'm just enough of a perfectionist to want the laundy all caught up at once.  Unreasonable, I know.  As I said, it's a quest.

Robin misses her daddy.  It's not visible during the week, but on Thursday nights, she is scurrying around making him pictures and gathering things to take to him.  The other day, she told me that she wished everyone she loved lived in the same house with her.  It's tough.  Ryan, on the other hand, doesn't exhibit the same need--but he's still only 3.  He lives in a world filled with women, at this point.  He loves his mommy, but he is very much a boy and needs more male attention.  (Daddy and Grandpa--are you listening?)  I am going to suggest some weekend trade-offs--where the children are split for a weekend so each can have some uninterrupted one-on-one with both parents.  Don't know how the suggestion will be met...

And now for the It's Hell to Get Old Department:  I sat down in my computer chair early this morning and felt something strange.  It seemed to move!  I jumped up and messed up my ankle, somehow...wondering what I had sat on!  (Turned out to be the TV remote control.)  A week or so ago, I was mowing the lawn.  A car came around the corner.  It seemed like something was approaching me unannounced.  I flinched...scared me to death...like a person was there.  Ugh!  One of my ham friends launched in a downpour yesterday to close car windows and ended up on the pavement, face first.  He'll be getting over that for awhile...

I feel somewhat useless in radio and in life.  There aren't enough hours in the day!

So Very Sad

I got an email from my sister in Illinois the other day saying that their beloved 7-year-old Siberian Husky (Cain) had to be euthanized on Saturday.  He had a "catastrophic event" that rendered him nearly immobile.  (The vet suspects a stroke.)  They adored that dog as much as a child.  (Our pets ARE our children!)  They are devastated, especially (I think) because of the sudden nature of his illness.  No time to prepare for the end...

The Rainbow Bridge can be a scary place for those of us who haven't crossed it with out pets, especially when we are the ones who have to make The Decision about our furry buddies' quality of life. 

Roger and Shari, I'm sure thinking of you in your sadness.  God bless...

Reflections on Field Day

Field Day comes but once a year!  (For the uninitiated, Field Day is a national amateur radio event--similar to camping--where radio operators throw up antennas somewhere and make as many contacts all over the country on High Frequency as they can in 24 hours.  It is a disaster exercise disguised as a contest.)  This year, my radio club chose a new venue for the event:  the Hendricks County Fairgrounds.  Since we had never been there before, it took some planning to get everything just so--and, as always, there were surprises...some good and some bad. 

Good surprises:  A.) The maintenance dude at the fairgrounds opened the room beneath the broadcast booth in the grandstand to allow us to keep our food in there, high and dry.  B.) The newly-purchased tent the club purchased for contesting turned out to be a really good choice.  It turned out to be really sturdy and held up well.  C.) No one fell off anything and got hurt.  D.) There was plenty of food, both purchased and donated.  No one went hungry!

Bad surprises:  A.) We had to disconnect antennas along about 10:00 PM on Saturday because of a thunderstorm.  B.)  There was rain.  Lots of it.  Not heavy (thank God) but steady and lasted several hours.  There was mud...  C.) The attempts to shoot an antenna into the trees and/or light poles with a bow and arrow resulted in a fishing line burn on KC9HNS's hand.  Had it been something sharper, he could have lost his thumb!  D.)  The same  bow and arrow attempts almost hit one of our taller club members.  (The arrow has a blunt tip.  It wouldn't have killed him!)  E.) The new site was not particularly pretty or "family friendly".  F.) The location wasn't easy to find. 

It remains to be seen how well we did in the contest.  What my club lacks in numbers, we make up for in heart.  This is my last FD as club president.  (I am retiring after three years, to let someone else take over.)  I will still do what I do for FD, but hope for fresh inspiration from new leadership for next year!

Grunt Time

The more I clean, the more I realize how filthy everything is.  I need a maid!  The cobwebs alone are embarrassing. 

I have come to the conclusion that the kitchen carpeting--WELL over 15 years old--has got to go.  The carpet shampooer makes it look good for a week or two, but then the stains reappear and look worse than ever.  I'm not crazy about the idea of spending the money on kitchen flooring when the main bathroom needs a new floor so badly, but it just isn't healthy.  The dog hasn't helped...nor have the grandkids.  If the stains were anything less than dog urine, I wouldn't be so concerned....but, well...you get what I'm saying. 

Tomorrow, the grandchildren will be going with Daddy after day care.  Somehow, between the time that they leave and the time Meg gets home in the evening, I have to get the house clean for a dinner guest AND get everything done for Field Day.  I have my magic wand! 

Lightning Bugs, TP, Tents, and Swimming Poo's

I have spent a great deal of time out on the patio this summer, mostly in the evenings when it's cooler.  I have even turned on the fountain and sat on the garden bench just listening to the water burble.  Just after dark, the yard twinkles with lightning bugs, and that always reminds me of summer evenings at the farm when I was a kid.  The setting in my back yard is a quite a bit smaller and more urban than that of my grandparents' farmyard, but I hope my grandchildren have some of the same happy memories of Grandma's house when they are grown.  Robin runs around the yard chasing the flashing bugs, usually to no avail...but I sure remember doing the same thing when I was a pup!

Little Ryan has taken to being silent at day care.  We don't know what's up with that, but the past two days, he has decided to be silent at home, too--pointing to things he wants instead of asking.  (He doesn't get them unless he asks, by the way!)  He eventually comes out of that sometime after dinner, but yesterday he was still in silent mode when he left the dinner table to go potty.  He was there a long time.  (I should point out that at age 3, he's still not adept at doing a good job with the "paperwork" after he does his business in the bathroom, so he is trained to yell for someone to come check his bottom.  We heard no such yell...but I did hear something so decided to go check on him.  Egads!  He had wiped himself, filled the commode with toilet paper--I mean level-to-the-top full--and flushed.  I got there just as the water had come all the way to the top of the bowl.  Fortunately, the tank was about done refilling, so no more water was rising, but it was a moment of panic.  I got a big slotted spoon and a plastic bag and started dipping TP out of the pot.  (The other "schtuff" had gone down first--thank God!!)  Had to use the handle of the spoon to dislodge a huge clot of TP damming up the hole...and the day was saved.  Will my plumbing survive my grandchildren????????

After dinner yesterday, I took the children to Hollywood Video to return some DVD's and pick out a couple of new ones.  (My grandchildren don't watch a lot of TV, but when they do watch, it is usually videos.  We have become weekly visitors to the "movie store"!)  Then we stopped at Wal-Mart to get a swimming "poo"--and Grandma found a cheap little tent for the back yard.  (It's a real tent--just not very big and not very expensive.  Like less than $20.)  Tonight, we halfway filled the poo and put the sprinkler in the middle of it, then put up the tent for an hour or so of play.  I get irritated because they are so rough with the tent zippers, but I have to remind myself that I bought the silly thing for them to play in.  If they mess it up, they mess it up--and it will be gone.  As for the poo, the water was cold, of course, so that was good for some shrieks.  Ahhh...summer!

"Big Ryan" was here again today to finish up a towel bar/drywall repair job in the half bath that "Little Ryan" created.  It was a multi-step process.  The good news is that I still had some of the wallpaper in storage with which to repair the damage.  The bad news is that the old wallpaper is so much more yellowed than the new stuff that it shows!  Also, the paste on the back of the new strip was apparently too old to work, so I had to make a run for wallpaper paste just to hang a partial strip.  Hey...it's better than re-wallpapering the entire room!  No one is ever in there, anyway...

I continue to do housework that doesn't show.  Were it not for the repairs that Big Ryan is helping with, I could get really depressed.  One of the things I do with the family here is have supper largely on the table when everyone gets home.  That's different!  Ever since Meg got married, I quit cooking because there was no one here to eat it.  I opened cans or nuked frozen stuff.  If I actually cooked, it was something I liked...and I ended up eating it all in short order.  Now, all that has changed.  Meg is actively counting diet points, so I am trying to come up with meals that accommodate everyone's tastes.  Ryan eats next to nothing.  Robin is big on fruit--and veggies such as cucumbers, cooked spinach, and carrots.  Meg needs balanced meals carefully cooked to be low in fat.  (I've been trying to make veggies desirable to her.)  I eat anything...which is documented by my weight!  Meg lost over 4 pounds last week.  I probably found them!

Field Day this weekend.  Gotta get busy on that!

 

Ugh

I didn't do much today.  Meg woke me this morning to ask if I'd take the children to day care.  Ryan (who was put to bed straight from the car coming home last night) had understandably wet the bed.  He needed to be wiped down before heading off to Ms Shelly's. 

After I took the kids to day care, I went back to bed and slept almost to noon.  I had other things to do but didn't care. 

Ryan has developed a thing that could be a problem:  he won't talk at day care.  That carried over at home this evening.  Hmmm...We need to figure this out.

Tomorrow IS another day...

Another Day...

I slept late again today.  (Have to set that alarm!)  Meg and I piddled around all morning, then (slowly) got ready to go to Heartland Crossing near Mooresville to check out Menard's and Lowe's for a kitchen ceiling fan...then do grocery shopping at Meijer.  I guess Plainfield is getting a Meijer, and I'm happy about that!  Although we have a Super-Wal-Mart, I don't like the layout.  For instance, in order to get dog food, I have to walk the whole width of the store from the people food to the pet department, then back again.  Also, Wal-Mart has the cold and frozen foods at the far end.  It makes sense to me to start at the far end and work toward the front...but if one does that at Wally, the frozen food is half thawed before one gets to the check-out lanes.  Don't know who they consulted on the layout, but it doesn't work for me!

I have looked at ceiling fans from time to time in just about every store that has them--just because the bedrooms need them, etc.  I've never really seen anything that I care for that much.  Well...this winter, the fan in the kitchen gave up the ghost, so it was do-or-die time.  We looked at Menard's.  Meg saw one she liked, and I liked it, too.  Of course, they didn't have any more!  The gal directed us to the Menard's in Greenwood who still had five of them...so off we went to Greenwood.  Hadn't planned to be gone so long, but that's the way it goes in my life...  (Fortunately, we had the foresight to do the grocery shopping AFTER we did the fan shopping.)  Megan's friend said he could install the fan.  I'm not sure how long it will be before he can get here to do that, but I'm going to hold out for him to do it, unless she tells me it's going to be awhile. I've not met him yet!

The grandchildren came home late this evening (past bedtime) unfed and quite dirty.  Ryan was asleep, so he was just put to bed.  The first words out of Robin's mouth were:  "I haven't had supper."  Nathan confirmed that they hadn't had food...  Robin got fed and bathed.  Ryan will be hungry tomorrow!!  This isn't cool...

Meanwhile, I am shifting into amateur radio Field Day mode.  My  job is to feed the masses.  Have been doing it for years but have opted for a change in menu this year.  We'll see how that goes!  If next weekend is as hot as this one has been, we will be hot hams!

We really need rain.  The grass is getting dry and crispy.  Even with all this heat, no pop-up thunderstorms.  Some communities are ordering no lawn watering.  (I don't do that, but I do run the sprinkler for the children, from time to time.)  I water the flowers.  Heh heh...the new bird bath/fountain in the back yard has been discovered by at least one dirty bird who took a bath in it.  Yay!

Meg and I talked at length about the household situation today.  We didn't solve the problems of the world, but we at least expressed our individual concerns.  More to come...

Hope all of my father friends had a nice Father's Day!

 

 

It's Always Something!

Megan asked me this morning if the bathroom bothered me.  Huh?  What's up with that?  She said that the rug by the bathroom sink was wet.  She thought the children had spilled water...but it wasn't drying in the kids' absence...and the space under the sink was dry, so that wasn't leaking.  Hmmm...  Ryan H. was coming over after work to finish a job on my to-do list (patching a hole in the half-bath wall where one of the grandchildren decided to chin him/herself on the towel bar), so he went on a hunt for a leak.  Moved the stove out to look behind the dishwasher, etc.  Found lots of cobwebs and dirt, but no leak.  He did a little more exploring and came up with the problem.  The little tank for the condensate pump for the air conditioner was overflowing because the float was stuck.  He knocked it and it worked again.  (Unfortunately, I had to do it again later, so the problem isn't resolved until I take the thing apart and check on the float.)  It's always something!

I haven't accomplished much housework in the last 24 hours.  I just didn't feel like it, I guess.  Maybe tomorrow, I will be more inspired... 

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

I didn't make it to school today, largely because I slept until 10:00!!!!  I have turned the alarms off because they were ringing so ridiculously early, but I guess I need to reset them for later.  I woke up at 7:00, realizing that Robin wasn't in bed with me and the house was quiet.  How is it that I didn't hear the morning hassle of getting the chilluns ready for day care??  I went back to sleep and stayed that way for three more hours.  Ahhhhh!

So...what did I accomplish today?  Not much!  I did a little laundry and a little picking up.  I went to get a bath and...huh?  No hot water!  Ryan H. had the gas shut off yesterday and apparently hadn't set the water heater dial beyond "pilot".  He came over after work this afternoon and took care of that, then put trim on the buffet inserts to hold them in.  It was a tedious job, but the doors sure do look good.  When Ryan left, he had just about enough time to grab a bite to eat and a shower before heading to bed for his 2:00 AM rising time to head to the Wonder Bread bakery.  Don't know how he does it!

God bless my little ones...  They get a little supper in them and then are wound up tighter than coils while their mother and I are flagging.  The last two days, they have played "soccer" in the back yard, pretending that I am their mother and they are returning from school...then off to play soccer.  Ryan even had to change his shirt from the one he had on to the one that says "socker" on it.  He just ran and ran.  (Robin lost interest and came in the house to build a "fort" around a couple of chairs with every blanket, pillow, and couch cushion she could get her hands on.   This is a nightly event and drives us nuts!)

I've been on "vacation" almost two weeks now.  I DO have a little to show for it this year...with a little help from my friends!

 

Navigating Plainfield

If you don't know anything about Plainfield, Indiana, you can skip this post!

Okay...so I had an errand to run.  I let Meg take my air conditioned car to work today, so I had her un-air-conditioned buggy.  Needed to go to Hollywood Video which is on the east side of Plainfield on US 40.  The construction work on SR 267 has us taking all kinds of detours...and then they mess up the detours!

I took Stafford Road, trying to get to Perry.  The intersection at Stafford and 267 was messed up with line painting, a bucket truck, some orange barrels being put out, etc.  I thought the line painting truck was blocking the right lane which would have let me go through to Perry...so I got in the left turn lane and turned onto the under-construction 267.  Thought I would cut off part of the agony at 267 and 40 by taking Clark's Creek Road.  I got partway down Clark's Creek...and the road is barricaded.  As in, CLOSED.  Turned around.  Went back to 267 and headed to 40.  Got to my stop at Hollywood Video.  Came out and headed home the back way on Perry Road.  Oops!  Stafford at 267 is still messed up.  (I forgot!)  Can't do Stanley Road because it's closed.  There is construction on Hadley, Center, and Quaker Blvd...and Reeves, Stanley, and Clark's Creek Road are all closed due to construction.  How in the blankety-blank are we supposed to get around in this burg?!!!!

Updates

My trip to Merrillville to the Salvation Army Commissioning Service went without a hitch.  It was nice to see Majors Pat and Carmella again, AND their family.  I hadn't seen their grandchildren in quite a long time.  How they do grow, and how handsome they are!

On Monday, I was supposed to go to school but opted to stay home to get things done since I had radio club that night.  Meg and I had cleaned ourselves silly on Saturday...then Sunday was busy...so I needed the alone time just to regroup.  Unfortunately, I was up at 4:00 AM because my bedmate kept thrashing and stealing covers.  ARGH!

Tuesday, I took the children to day care because Meg had to be in court in Muncie early.  As of yesterday morning, my daughter is officially single and a McNary again.  There was no rejoicing.  There was some relief and some sadness, with tears (from me, too).  I just wanted Meg to know that I understood, so I set the dinner table with the good china, put a small bouquet of flowers on the table by her plate, and got her a card that expressed my feelings about her life...and waited for her to come home from work.  I think she appreciated it.  I didn't want the whole day to be a downer for her...  

Today, Ryan Holly gave up yet another of his days off to come help me with some of the household repair projects that we didn't get done last week.  I'll bet he wished he hadn't!  I had added one thing to my to-do list--and that one thing took most of the day, out in the sun and heat.  I had asked Ryan to look at my gas grill to see if it was a goner.  (I hadn't been able to get it to light.)  This grill operates on a natural gas line off the house supply.  It's not an issue of dumping it to get another, and replacing it in kind would be an expensive venture.  I really didn't intend for Ryan to repair it, but the more he looked at it and did trouble-shooting, the deeper into the project he got.  It was after 5:00 before he was able to leave, and his own household projects ("chores" he calls them) went begging.  I hope his wife wasn't too upset that I stole him for most of the day!

And speaking of Bonnie, a couple of years ago, she started a copper punch project for the inserts in my buffet doors.  At long last, they are done and installed.  They look fantastic!  No one else in the world has a buffet like mine!  Robin looked at them this evening.  The top and bottom of each panel have a lotus blossum.  The centers have, respectively, butterflies, dragonflies, frogs, and fish.  Robin, ever the sharp one, said, "Two things that can fly and two things that can swim."  I continue to be amazed...

I have spent a lot of time over the last four years just spinning my wheels with household projects.  It seems that I run full tilt just to stay in one place all the time.  This summer, so far, some of the little projects are finally getting done.  For instance, I have been messing around with the problem of the back door for over a month.  The dog scratches at the door to get in.  She has scratched off the paint in places, and mere repainting wouldn't solve the problem.  Over time, I have managed to get the new paint and have a "scratch plate" made to install.  FINALLY, today, while Ryan was scorching in the sun, I painted the ding-dang door and installed the plate (after Ryan made the pilot holes).  What a difference such a little thing makes to my morale!

I have puttered and puttered around on the patio, doing this thing and that thing to improve the back yard experience.  The grandchildren and I spend a lot of time out there, so getting it right is important to me--from planting flowers to getting the turtle sandbox situated the way I want it.  Although it seems a little ridiculous to spend so much time working outside when there is so much to do inside, I don't care!  That is what summer is all about for me!  I can go out to the patio early in the morning before the heat of the day has hit and enjoy listening to the fledgling birds annoying their parents for food.  It is a simple pleasure.  There are also young squirrels that amuse...

Things are easier for me now that I am on "vacation".  Easier for Meg, too.  Generally, I do the laundry and I have supper ready at the end of the day.  I also pick the children up from day care.  The stresses that happen during the school year don't happen now, so that helps.  Meanwhile, it is important to me that Meg and the children feel comfortable here.  It isn't the best situation, but we are making do, and no one seems the worse for wear.  In due time, everything will work out.  God provides!

I will go to school tomorrow, hopefullyfor the last time (except for meetings).  Thank you, God, for all my friends and family!

 

 

 

Overwhelmed

Meg was going to take the children to see their father in Muncie today at about 10:00.  Ha!  Ryan slept until 10:00.  They left about noon.  I was in serious need of alone time by then.  Even the dog was annoying me by following me around! 

When everyone vacated, I realized I needed a nap, so I plopped on the couch for 1 1/2 hours.  Got up and started cleaning.  Cleaning always starts with picking up, just to find the surfaces that need to be cleaned!  And then there is the endless laundry...

Meg came back crabby.  It seems she left some important papers here at home, and didn't have her wallet in order to get food.  (The wallet is still missing, dammit!)  We took a quick run to Wal-Mart to see if someone had turned one in there (which is where she had it last), but no luck.  Back at the house, she was ready for a nap.

Meg will be entertaining a friend tomorrow, so she and I launched into housework.  If time stopped right now, there would still be enough for us to do for several days, just to achieve a status quo before restarting the clock.  Ugh!

I will travel to Merrillville tomorrow to attend the Salvation Army's Commissioning Service.  Have been doing this with Majors Pat and Carmella for a number of years.  It will be good to see them!

In the meantime, I'm worried about another friend.  He is having a troubling time, although I'm not sure what it entails.  I only know that he is not on the radio and not responding to emails...and that is not like him.  He has indicated that he needs to "work through" some things.  I hope that is soon.  I worry...

Have to hit the sack.  Where has the day gone???

Grandkid Duty

Today was my last day (this week) of babysitting with the grandchildren while their day care provider is on vacation.  We slept in!  It was kind of a gray, rainy morning, so I didn't make any plans.  Besides, I let Meg take my car to work because I'm not sure it should be driven until we figure out what the problem is...so the children and I were "in" unless we decided to walk somewhere.

After breakfast, we played with clay.  That was good for 45 minutes or an hour.  Then Robin wanted to paint, so naturally Ryan wanted to, as well.  My watercolor paints are old.  We never could get them wet and soft enough to show much color...so that didn't last long. 

For lunch, we had Chef Boy Ardee ABC's and 123's with mini-meatballs.  Robin spent her time calling out the letters in her bowl (and the evaluator at the Kindergarten Center yesterday said she didn't recognize letters or numbers!).  Then the children started playing...together.  Ordinarily, that isn't a good thing, so I watched closely...but as time went on, I could see that they were playing okay together.  They had every blanket and pillow and couch cushion made into a "house" around the swivel rocker, but they were occupied for hours with that and not fighting.  Yay!

As it got closer to time for Mommy to come home, I instructed the kids that they had to pick up the stuff in the living room--and wonder of wonders, they did it!  Then there was the comment from Ryan, "Gramma, I accidentally threw my shorts in the potty."  Uh.......huh??  The operative word there is "threw."  I didn't ask...

When Meg got home, we took the kids to McD's so they could play.  Fast Food Friday!  Here is what I ordered:  two McNugget Happy Meals with Apple Dippers instead of French fries, and chocolate milk.  Two Big 'n Tasty meals with cheese.  Four apple pies, plus drinks.  The gal behind the computer was fast and thorough, but I stood by to watch what was being put on the tray by the tray-filler dude.  First, he put out four big packs of Apple Dippers.  Uh...no.  That's apple pies.  Back went the Apple Dippers.  Then came the Happy Meals--both with French fries in them.  Um...no.  Back went the Happy Meals to get the kid-portion of Apple Dippers and lose the fries.  Got the stuff to the table.  The Big 'n Tasties didn't have cheese, although I had been charged for it...so back with the Big 'n Tasties.  The guy brought me two more with cheese.  Back at the table, we discovered that these didn't have mayonnaise on them.  Meg went on the hunt for mayo.  (Had to ask for it.)  And a bit later, we found that the Apple Dippers didn't have the little caramel cups (although we generally don't encourage the kids to have them, anyway).  In short, there were five errors just on our one order!  Unbelievable!

That is my day, in a nutshell.  The Nuthouse in a Nutshell.  Hmmm...sounds like a good blog title!

More...

Yesterday, friend Ryan came over as paid help.  (Most of the time, he gives up a large part of his day off for free when things go awry here.  Hey...time is money!)  I had a list of things for him to do and was amazed at how quickly he got them done.  Had I been attempting them--if I even could--it would have taken three times more.  (Heck, I've been trying to get the back door painted and a kick plate put on where the dog scratches.  Just that one project has taken three trips to the hardware store...and it isn't done yet!)  Thanks, Ryan!

Today; I was to have Robin at the Kindergarten Center in Plainfield at 9:00 AM for an "early entrance" evaluation.  Big deal.  She would be only a 5-day early entrance, since her birthday misses the cutoff by only that much, but the district has the option to evaluate and decide.  Today, they were doing kindergarten screenings for everyone, but Robin was special because we had requested a waiver to the deadline.  (Megan had already called to say that her car had overheated on the way to work.  "Bring antifreeze when you come for lunch".)  Robin was called in by the principal (or assistant principal...I didn't hear which), and was taken to an office while little Ryan and I waited in the hallway.  After 15 minutes or so, I saw the principal return to the reception area...without Robin.  Hmmm...I though perhaps she had passed Robin off to another teacher.  After about five minutes, I saw the woman jump up and looked around the corner to the office where she had left Robin and invited her out.  Robin was in tears.  She had been left alone in a strange place, and she was scared.  She wanted her grandma.  Grandma and Ryan were invited into the outer office to help coax Robin to talk about things...but Robin was done.  She refused to talk, except to say "yes" when the principal asked her if she wanted to come to school next year. 

Apparently the evaluator (principal or whoever) had been blown away by one of Robin's answers to a question and wanted the secretary to hear it.  Of course, that's the time that Robin clammed up.  The question she had been asked is, "Do you know why we brush our teeth?"  Robin replied, "Because Mr. Tooth Decay comes and puts holes in our teeth if we don't."  The brilliance of the answer is moot, however, because she never said it again...and the gal doing the evaluating said Robin didn't recognize letters or numbers (which is insane because she can write whole sentences if I tell her what letters to write!).  I guess the woman was ready to admit Robin to Kdg, but now hesitates because Robbie refused to talk after she got scared.  "We can't have that in a school setting where the child refuses to talk."  Well...guess what?  They can make Robin wait another year before admitting her to kindergarten, and she will do the same thing.  This isn't immaturity on Robin's part--it's willfullness...and her mother was the same way!!!!!  So, the evaluator called today to say that they want to see Robin again in early August before they will decide whether or not to admit her for this fall.  Last minute stuff!

We came home after that for awhile.  We were scheduled  to go to Indy to meet Megan for lunch at her new workplace at IUPUI.  (Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis.)  Robin kept after me for two hours to look at the clock.  "Isn't it time to go yet?"  When it finally was time to go, the children greeted their mother with cheer and were paraded around a few offices, meeting people.  They were as charming as could be!  I gave Meg the antifreeze and prayed, staying close to the phone at quitting time.  She made it home...but I am making her take my car tomorrow.  We'll figure something out...

I could tell from the very beginning that the day wasn't going to be good.  Both children went to bed too late last night.  They were both yawning during our early running around...and they fussed with each other endlessly.  They both had breakfast, but ate everything in sight at lunch...and even though they had snacked, they ate well again at supper.  

I took the children to Swinford Park mid-afternoon.  It was too hot to be out.  Ryan wanted me to follow him around and Robin misbehaved.  We came home less than an hour later.  (Robin got a swat or two for her treatment of her brother.  As we were driving out of the park, she threw a water bottle at Ryan and hit him in the head.  I pulled the car over on that one...)  I threw a miserable dinner together for the family when Meg and the car limped home, and turned on the sprinkler in the back yard.  Once the kids were thoroughly wet and cold, we brought themin for snacks and quiet time--a video--and on time to bed, for a change. 

Based on the reaction of the children to their mother at her workplace, and their eagerness to make the clock move faster, I truly think they miss her.  I don't think she has spent more than 25 minutes of non-directive time per day with them since she started work a couple of months ago...and I don't know how to fix that.  (My field of education offered me shorter hours.  I was never home later than 4:00.)  Dinner by 6:00 if we're lucky...baths and bedtime by 8:00 or 8:30, with resistance, if we're lucky, leaves no time for much fun during the week.  And they go to see Daddy on the weekends.  I'm not sure how all of this will pan out for Robin and Ryan.  They get tired of me.  Robin told me that she wants to see Grandma Judy tomorrow...but Grandma Judy isn't available.   I wish she were!

The major upset of the day for Meg (besides the car and the kindergarten thing) is the announcement that she made too much money in the last 30 days for her to qualify for child-care assistance--and that is based on money that she no longer gets.  She won't receive another full paycheck until the end of June...  She is freaking out.  Stress, stress...  We will manage somehow.  I just don't need the crisis.  Meg, if you are reading this...I am doing all I can.  It will work out.  God provides!  Please keep a positive attitude. 

A couple of quotes from 4-year-old Robin today:

(When driving by the Colts' stadium construction):  "Wow!  How 'koo' is that, Gramma!"

(After having been disciplined for mistreating her brother):  "I don't like you!  I'm not giving you any more of my pictures!  Do you want any?

(And again after being disciplined):  "I don't like you!  You are acting like a stink bug!"  (I laughed.  Sometimes if I laugh at her defiance, she sees how silly it is.  This time, she did.)

After supper, the sprinkler went on for play, then we took wet children into the house to be snuggly enough to watch a video and go to bed.  Which is where I am going now.

Nightie!

The Oddest Thing!

Meant to mention this last night because I've never seen anything like it before:

After dinner, Robin was eating a little cup of rainbow sherbet at the table.  When it was about three-fourths gone, she abandoned it and went back to eating something she apparently likes even more.  Care to guess what?  Cooked spinach!  The child amazes me, sometimes...

Of Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax...

...and whether fish have wings.  --Alice in Wonderland.

The whole thing goes:

"The time has come, the Walrus said/ To speak of many things/ Of shoes and ships and sealing wax/ And why the sea is boiling hot/ And whether fish have wings."  And most people interpret that as announcing a conversation with many disjointed topics.  Hence this one!

I went to school yesterday and spent six freebie hours trying to bring my classroom to closure, but it ain't done yet!  Nothing critical is left to do, so I stayed home today in hopes of putting the house in order before the grandchildren came home this afternoon...also to no avail.  I did several loads of laundry and food shopping at Aldi's and Wal-Mart.  Before long, the g-kids were at the door, and the rest is history.  They had been with their father since Friday, and we really missed the little turkeys!

A year or so ago, I gave the children a turtle sandbox in Muncie.  (Every kid needs a sandbox!)  Grandpa Phil helped me get it there in his "big brue truck".  Well...since Meg and Nate have split, Nate sent the sandbox here...thinking, I guess, that it is a pain.  (It is.  Sandboxes always kill the grass, etc...)  I spent a lot of time thinking about that sandbox, and finally came up with the idea of putting a tarp under it so the children had someplace to kneel...and we would have some way of sweeping up the overflow, and would only need to flip up the ends of the tarp to mow around it.  The portion of the back yard where I put it is mostly broadleaf weeds, so I am not at all concerned about what the tarp/sandbox will do to the lawn. 

The children spied the sandbox very soon after returning today, and launched into play.  There was the expected result--sand all over both of them--but they played nicely for a little while.  We'll see how long that lasts!

I have spent a lot of time working in the back yard and the patio.  That is my little retreat back there...the nicest part of spring/summer for me...but it is supposed to be over 90 degrees tomorrow...so we will probably do the sprinkler thing with the children.  Meantime, I planted some flowers in planter boxes that I had given Meg/Nate a few years ago...but they apparently don't have holes in the bottom.  After yesterday's rain, I noticed that the boxes were afloat in water and the plants were drowning.  Will get holes drilled in them tomorrow!

My friend Ryan is coming over tomorrow to help with some household repairs.  (Little things that sure add up fast with four people in the place!)  Sometimes I don't know what I would do without my ham friends...  God bless them all!

Another non-ham friend and I are planning a walking schedule for the summer.  Phyllis is a fellow teacher and bud who has been around the block with me since the beginning of my life in Indiana--just pre-and mostly post-divorce.  I love her to pieces!  I look forward to our walk-and-gab fests.

Nathan has a job!  He starts on the 18th as a Schwan man.  I wish him luck.  The product is pricey but good.  Hope he can find a market in Muncie.

Enough of this.  My bedmate isn't asleep yet.  This could be a long night!

 

 

 

The Beginning of the End

I spent most of my day at school today trying to get my grades done and in.  I must have been one of the latest because when the secretary got on the PA and announced that the office would be closing, the gal in charge of grades IMed me that she was still there.  Hmmm...  When I finally got the grades exported, she told me that they hadn't gone through.  Even after another attempt, still no go.  Finally, she showed up in my room and had to click on a few things to get everything to work.  I left for home at about 3:15.  I have to go back on Monday, however, because there is a lot left to do!  Just the physical work of getting textbooks put away in numerical order is a pain!

Meg and the children are gone for the weekend.  Tonight, I have deliberately done NOTHING.  I can kick back into reality tomorrow.  For now, I am just enjoying a few hours of peace and solitude.  I can do this!

I will sleep in tomorrow, then launch into another gear.  Take the dog to the groomer, buy flowers for my patio, get paint for my back door, grocery shop, etc.  Laundry, of course, will be ongoing.  So much to do...so little time!