Status Quo

Not much going on...
Last Sunday, my mom and I went up for a 3 year old birthday party--my sister's grandchild by marriage (her step daughter had a baby) and so we went to show support for her. We don't really connect with my sister's step daughter--she keeps her distance for some reason. But her little boy is a doll and my sister loved that we came.

Last weekend I wrote about 90% of my big fat scholarly paper due in a few weeks. I finished at 2AM on Saturday night and it looked good then. But I better re-read it and refine it. I'm sure it could be improved. And I also have to create a power point to go along with it. But the next 2 weeks are pegged to study for the Legal Environment in health care, so that's where my efforts are going now.

Last Monday, in T's class I got to work with the kids, two at a time, in making a pattern that repeats itself with Fruit Loops and a piece of yarn. When they finished, they each had a lovely necklace to wear. T and another child were first and they did great! I got through 12 kids--most were excellent with the concept of a repeating pattern but some needed more help. Plus I made a rule that they could eat the "duds" (broken loops) and it was almost as much fun looking for those as it was making the necklaces.

Last Tuesday my mom dropped off my dad at the airport to go to Holland for a 4 week vacation. He was quite nervous to find his way in the airport on his own, but we informed the KLM people that he'd need some guidance to get to the terminal and they were fine with it. He called the next day to let us know that he arrived safely, so hopefully all will go well with his planned reunion with his six sisters and any friends he can locate and visit with. Dad's 77 now and his sisters are all still relatively healthy (a little diabetes and hypertension here and there) but you never know when one will be taken. It's good to go now while all are still doing well. Mom was looking forward to some quiet time alone, but wouldn't you know it, she caught a nasty virus 2 days before Dad's plane was to take off. Their house is looking pretty nice now. A few months a go they got nice replacement windows and last weekend, the house was painted. Now a little attention to the lawn and it will be lovely, once again. Hopefully, mom will recover soon and we able to enjoy herself fully.

I decorated the house for Halloween and took out my costume so the wrinkles will let loose. I'm gonna be a witch and T will be a dinosaur. At first he was going to be a Prince, but mom found an excellent dinosaur costume for cheap at Savers. Plus, T loves it too. T is excited to have the jack-o-lanterns around the house. He remembers well last year and all the fun he had. This year we are starting out at a neighbors house of his best buddy (a girl named "A") and have dinner there. It's a birthday party too because it's also A's dad's birthday on the 31st. Several other kinder kids are coming too, so I'm sure lots of fun will be had.

This Sunday I'm having A's family over for spaghetti dinner. Mostly as a way to say "thank you" for being gracious enough to pick up T from the CDC last Monday when mom couldn't babysit for me (she caught a nasty virus and is unable to do much), and also because they're good, fun people! I had to go to the hospital for my preceptorship, but left a few hours early so I could get T at 8PM from their house and put him to bed. It's SO good to have neighbors that are there for each other. I hope one of these days I can do something for them, if they are ever in a bind.

Tomorrow is a teacher in-service day and that means "no school", so I have to find a babysitter for T. My mom might be able to do it, but since she's been pretty sick, I have to find a plan B just in case. Perhaps I could bring him to Kids Park for 5 hours (they have a 5 hour daily limit per kid) so I still have to find another babysitter for the rest of the day. We'll see how it works out. Fridays are very busy at work and I don't dare call in sick as all my patients would have to be loaded onto the other's already full schedules.

I'm having a hard time making myself study this week. I'm tired of studying and the subject isn't very enticing--legal environment. Blah. Plus, I've had head aches and my neck is quite stiff--no doubt from stress. But Excedrin or Motrin always does the trick!

One day at a time....