"feelin' blue" (painting, day 2)

I'm fine, I'm fine -- that's just the incredibly lame name foisted on this lovely shade of blue by the paint company.

We have blue, lots and lots of blue, with more to come.




It's looking much more gray here than it does in reality, although there is a bit of gray in it. It looks fantastic with the tile.

painting, day 1

The paint fumes are really wretched.

I'm hoping tomorrow I won't feel quite as ill, since I'll be working at school most of the day. Today I was here from the time the paint cans opened... not such a great idea.

The only one who really had a good time today was Alice, who somehow managed to get into the paint and track bits of it here and there. Nothing that a wet paper towel wouldn't clean up, but more than enough to convince me that tomorrow the cats are getting put up in the bedroom until the paint is dry.

They painted all the ceilings today, and tomorrow they'll start on the blue.

We're leaving the kitchen for last, since all the furniture is currently residing in there. We had to move the bookcases and the curio cabinet, but since I didn't have to do it myself, it took a minute fraction of the time it took before. Now we have furniture oddly free-standing in the middle of drop-clothed rooms.


If you look closely, you can see the colors we're using.

Eventually, everything will get put back where it belongs, when we figure it out again.

here's something different

I discovered scribbit sometime last month while investigating the prevalence of women bloggers. Given that one of my primary topics here at OoS is parenting, you'd think I'd have been more keyed in to the existence of "momblogs"; I had no idea that there was such a huge community. Chalk this one up to failing, yet again, to recognize how niche-filled the blogosphere is.

If you've got an interest, chances are there's a blogging community talking about it.

Scribbit is a fun, diverse blog but one of the things that is driving its success is that Michelle, its owner/author, runs give-aways and contests, weekly and monthly. These are a great way to generate links and traffic, and they provide an opportunity to get exposure for smaller blogs.

This month's Write Away contest's topic is learning. I'd never been inspired to enter a contest before, but for some reason this topic resonated with me, and I knew exactly which post to enter: the person I want to be. So I did. Contest rules request a link back to the contest post (there's that link-generating operation in action), so here it is.

I'm not expecting anything here, but I'm dipping my toe in the waters of momblogging. I've been doing it for years now, outside of the community. Do I want to get into that? I don't know. One of the characteristics of this blog is that it is a jumble of all different kinds of things, personal and analytical, to the point where it sometimes seems schizophrenic even to me. I'm at the point where I don't know where I want this to go, so this little experiment may give me more information to consider in making any decisions.

tactile memory

Walking barefoot across the family room today, I found myself suddenly trying out ballet moves -- just the simple ones, tendu, relevé . I liked the feeling of my foot sliding across the smooth cool wood.

I was never very good at ballet but I still remember quite a bit of what's supposed to be done, since I studied for several years and didn't give it up altogether until I graduated from college. I never "got it" back then; I didn't work hard enough at it. I was just a dabbler.

It occurred to me that I've had classes in studios that were smaller than my family room. Now I wish I could really dance, and take advantage of all that space.

pause

The floors are done! See:




Typically, today would be a day of moving furniture back into the house and beginning the process of settling in. However, we're still in limbo, because the house is being painted next week, so there's no point in getting everything situated only to have to move it all over again.

Cooper's not going to like it. He had a rough couple of days. Alice, on the other hand, adored the installers and was practically puppy-like in her devotion to them. They were very kind to her. They couldn't figure out what the deal was with her -- most cats are like Cooper and freak out with all the commotion -- until I explained that she's deaf, which explains a lot. She likes a lot of movement and visual stimulation, whereas Cooper was overwhelmed by all that, plus the noise of the saw and the air compressor. Poor baby.

Thank God they've gone away!

Still, both cats are enjoying the smooth, cool floors. Eventually it will be hard for any of us to remember what it was like with the carpet.

Alice doing her best Jawa imitation. Cooper can't stand it when she makes her eyes fluoresce like that.

floor's done...

...pictures to follow. It looks smashing.

Now, though, we have to figure out which furniture we're moving back where; it doesn't make sense to re-arrange completely because the painters will be along shortly.

Even before that, we have to finalize our paint color choices. And then buy some area rugs and curtain-y things.

Sometimes I think if I'd known what a hassle this was all going to be, I would've said forget it -- but it really needed to be done, and when it's all over, then I can be happy about it.

flooring install, day 1

We spent surprisingly little time this weekend having to move furniture, because I tried to get as much done as I could before the weekend hit. So Friday I tackled the bookcases.

The big one: children's books and dvds (post-move)

The smaller one: the vertical equivalent of a junk drawer (pre-move)

The hallways now house our extensive library.

Friday morning, Lowes delivered the materials:

Kronotex laminate, top-rated by Consumer Reports, plus underlay, quarter-round, and all the other assorted materials needed for the installation.

By Friday evening, the family room was significantly bare.

What a mess!

Saturday morning, we pressed the children into work moving their toys upstairs, along with various cubes and cushions. Then we moved the biggest things -- the bed from the guest room, the futon mattress, the sectional sofa from the living room -- out into the garage. This morning, I moved the last few things out (like Nina, I come from hearty Polish peasant stock; it's not often I'm reminded of that.)

You can see why we're getting rid of the carpet. After 9 years, 3 chilren, and one very sick cat, it doesn't owe us anything.

And now I'm cosily typing away at my new office in the breakfast nook.

It's a good thing I'm not claustrophobic.

The installers arrived around 9AM this morning and very quickly removed the carpeting from the family room. Since the floor was nicely level beneath, they only had to do minimal work to prepare for the new flooring to go in. In less than two hours they've already put down a significant amount of laminate.

Rain Forest Mahogany

I'm very impressed with these guys. They are doing all the cutting outside, so there is no sawdust, or any mess at all, to deal with in here. Even better, the noise from the saw is minimized. The cuts are small so the noise wouldn't be that big a deal anyway, but not having it echoing in this cavernous room is a major bonus.

It's hard to believe this is happening. While we had kicked the idea around a few times, it had always been a "some day" project. I'm still not clear on exactly why we're doing this now, other than that we got a huge tax return and so we had the cash on hand to pay for it. I think it is some combination of carpe diem -- we're living here now, we might as well enjoy it -- as well as financial optimism, since I haven't needed any surgery or treatment in nearly two years now, and I was able to skip going to Houston altogether. It is such a great thing to be able to spend money on things we want rather than on paying doctors, hospitals, and medically necessitated airfare and hotel bills.

stop, chef --

I am enjoying season 3 of Bravo's Top Chef enormously, even though I don't talk about it much -- but I had to write something tonight, because Tre was sent home.

(sigh)

I really had thought that Tre was a contender to take this whole thing. He seemed ultra-competent, imaginative, and above all, he wasn't a jerk. At all. He just was a great guy and really great chef... who totally blew it this evening.

When I heard the description of the dish, raw salmon with pesto, I thought to myself, That's just wrong.

As Colichio said in judging, pesto is basil, garlic, nuts, olive oil, parmesan cheese -- why would you put those with salmon? That's just crazy talk. Salmon always needs some acidity to cut the richness; pesto can't provide the flavors that will highlight and complement the fish.

On the basis of that dish alone, Tre deserved to go home. But then he totally blew the bread pudding! Bread pudding is one of the easiest dishes of all time, here's a recipe. Well, not really a recipe; call it a method:

Bread Pudding

Figure out how much you want, and find the pan you want to bake it in. Roughly tear whatever bread you want into chunks (you can dice, but tearing helps the texture smooth out, I think) to fill that container about 3/4s full.

Dump the bread pieces into a large mixing bowl.

Wipe the crumbs out of the baking pan and butter it; set it aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, break 1-2 eggs for about every 2 cups of bread. So if you're using an 8x8 pan, you can use 1 egg, or 2 eggs if you like it more eggy. Don't skip the eggs, they are the glue that's holding this thing together. Beat the eggs, then add them to bread pieces, and stir to combine.

Next, add milk, half-and-half, or cream until you've got a slightly soupy, squishy mixture of bread and liquid. Don't worry about over-mixing, it's not possible. You have to make sure there is enough liquid here; err on the side of too much rather than too little.

Next, add your sweetener of choice to taste. Maple syrup might be nice; Splenda works fine if you're trying to watch carbs (although bread pudding is not the most obvious place to do that), sugar is fine, too. How much depends on how sweet you like it, and the type of bread you used. I do not like mine too sweet, and so would maybe add 1/4 cup sweetener to an 8x8 pan, more for a larger pan.

Last, add your extras if any. Raisins were always traditional in our house. Tre's bread pudding suffered from having crunchy, unpeeled apples -- remember, bread pudding is all about the creamy smoothness. A little chewiness is OK, but if your dried fruit is very dry, you may want to pre-soak it (in rum? mmmm) before you toss it in. If you're going to use fresh fruit, make sure to dice it small enough so it will cook, and for heaven's sake, peel it! (What was Tre thinking? Casey and/or CJ could've peeled those apples!)

You might want to sprinkle the top with some cinnamon, or dust with nutmeg, or flavor with any other herb or spice you like. (I think a savory bread pudding with rosemary could be really awesome as a side dish with something like a pork or lamb chop.)

Pour the whole mess into the buttered pan, and bake it in the 350 degree oven until it's cooked: a knife inserted into the center will come out clean. This is not rocket science, and while I suppose it is possible to overcook a bread pudding, it's not easy. A deep-dish pudding can take up to an hour to cook; even and 8x8 pan is going to take at least a half-hour. Puddings with more liquid will take longer too cook than dryer ones; dryer ones will have a stiffer texture, while more liquidy puddings will be creamier.

When it's cooked, let it cool a bit, but you can definitely eat it while it's still warm. It's great with whipped cream or creme anglaise or just plain cream, It's great just plain. I recommend it for breakfast.

* * *

Bye, Tre. I will really miss you, but given your missteps in this episode, the judges really had no choice. But I'll be keeping an eye out for you -- I expect great things. Best of luck, man.

handy with a wrench

After very little sleep last night, I spent the day, until about 1:00PM, wandering around in my pajamas, eating various things directly out of the packaging, and bouncing around online. In other words, wallowing.

At about 1:00PM, I got so sick of myself that I put on some gym clothes and cleared out about 85% of the living room/dining room. DH had said something about putting stuff out in the garage, but it's 120 degrees out there on a cool day, and that's no environment for a Mission curio cabinet, or any of our other wood furniture.

My favorite piece of furniture; contents currently a jumble of trophies, dolls, and little crystal and glass sculptures... hardly anything in there is actually mine.

Recalling my plan (mentioned yesterday), I moved it. The CD rack, and all its contents, went upstairs into the playroom, one of the few rooms that won't be disturbed in the coming weeks. The curio cabinet is now nestled where the humongous CD rack used to be, and we're thinking that will become its permanent home. (Who needs access to all those CDs when they're all loaded up on the iPod already?) The coffee table, piano bench, side tables, and dining chairs all went upstairs in the playroom, also. All the books and photo albums are up there now, too.

The dining table itself was a pip to disassemble: took out the leaf, made sure the top was securely fastened, and flipped it over; taking off the legs took about 2 minutes. Getting the top into the closet was a bit of a hassle, but there was no way that was going upstairs -- it was the heaviest thing I wrestled with all day.

Now the only real work to be done in there is emptying the china cabinet and moving it into the kitchen; with DH to help (that's one job I will not tackle alone), it'll be a snap. I may get started on some family room tasks tomorrow, but there's no point in disrupting our entire lives so early. We'll finish up over the weekend.

The couch stays until the installers say it needs to go... everything else? Fair game.

Two hours, solid, of hauling things up stairs and running back down -- quite a workout, and it didn't wreck me. Now that's a miracle, but one I'll attribute to my recent cultivation of a consistent exercise habit.

no sassafras, either

You don't find beech or pin oak in southern Arizona.

Struggling through my annual end-of-summer, left-the-beach, damn-it's-hot-here funk.

I've watched a ton of movies and some other stuff, some of it quite good, and some of it that makes me think that the critics who recommended it (yes, all 92% of them) must have been smoking crack when they wrote their reviews.

The most substantive thing I've written lately is an email, but maybe that will have primed my writing engine so that tomorrow I can actually write something. Maybe I will, or maybe I'll go to the matinee of "Hairspray."

Flooring install starts Monday, painting the week after -- consequently, there is a ton of work that must be done around here, moving furniture around and out of the way. Not to worry, I tell DH: I have a plan. Will the plan survive contact with reality? Stay tuned.

On a positive note, I passed my eye exam today with flying colors, as usual.

There's nothing wrong. I'm just spoiled and lazy. (I could say I'm busy, but that would be a complete lie, and an easy one, since people are so quick to believe that a mother-of-three must be constantly running around and cleaning the house and all that -- but I'm not, so I won't say I am. What I am is insufficiently motivated, even as a good half-dozen projects are in constant circulation inside my head. Will they ever get done? God only knows.)

well!

The lab results came in the mail today -- sample date, 8/3/2007; Tg: 1.1.

YAY!

well --

I called the endo's office today, and the doctor's assistant read me my thyroglobulin (Tg) results. Supposedly, my Tg, with TSH elevated all the way to 159, was only 1.1. I'm having a hard time believing that, so I asked her to please mail me a copy for my records. Last year in Houston, my Tg elevated to about 4.5, which is quite a difference from 1.1 -- and I haven't had any treatment at all since then, except of course for my daily dose of thyroid medication. The stupid/stubborn part of me is thinking, "That can't be right."

But I guess I can believe it, because the endo didn't want to speak to me or schedule an appointment -- so I'm tentatively believing that, for all intents and purposes, I'm CURED.

I won't really believe it until I hold the lab results in my own hands, though.

"how to sleep more"

I'm cracking up -- there's a huge GoogleAd in my sidebar, "How to Sleep More" in approximately 14 point typeface.

For me, it's not really that complicated: Go to bed.

Here's the Monopoly version: Go to bed. Go to directly to bed. Do not check your email. Do not update your blog. Do not watch yet-another-repeat of Sex and the City. Turn off the damn TV, put the computer to sleep, and Go. To. Bed.

teething

Alice lounges behind the computer...

Yes?

... snacking on the cable modem's power cord. She'll take what she can get; it was the only thick cord not already encased in half-inch plastic tubing (Home Depot is cheaper). I remedied that and replaced the cable:


Ha! Plastic tubing won't stop me!

At least now she won't electrocute herself.

half-measured

I had my follow-up appointment today, and it was more or less a waste of time, because my thyroglobulin test results are not yet back from Dr. Spencer's lab out at USC. I can call and get those results on the 14th. Yay.

I did get copies of all my other test results, though -- the ultrasound, the whole body scan, and the before-and-after TSH tests. After the two Thyrogen shots, my TSH went up to an astonishing 159.

It's no wonder I'm still feeling pretty whacked out. I can't imagine how long it's going to take to bring that down to the 0.20-0.10 that it's supposed to be.

Now what? In the near term, nothing, as long as my high-TSH thyroglobulin comes back less than, say, 10. (Last year, it was around 4.5.) That means I can cancel my end-of-month appointments in Houston, too; next up will be an ultrasound in January.

If the Tg does come back elevated, I'll go for a PET/CT scan, and we'll see what happens from there. I'll be speechless if it's elevated, though. I am so done with this disease, and the stress of these follow-ups.

trust but verify

There's faith, and then there's gullibility.

Yesterday, I made some cornbread from a recipe in Julee Russo's Great Good Food cookbook, more or less. (I skipped the herbs, and baked it as muffins instead of as a single cornbread cake in a cast-iron skillet). One of the things that appealed to me was the carb count given for each serving (one-twelfth portion), 6 grams.

Now sometimes I am naive but that number looked suspiciously low to me, and so after dinner, while I continued the reconstruction of my ingredient nutrition information database, I looked up a few types of cornmeal -- there was a whole cup of it in this bread.

Typical supermarket cornmeal, degermed and enriched, has 107 grams of carbs per cup, and about 10 grams of fiber, according to the USDA database. Fancy-pants whole grain corn meal from Bob's Red Mill has about 94 grams of carbs, with 9 grams of fiber. I'm pretty good at math, and spotted right away that both 107 and 94 (or 97 and 85, to go with the net count) are both substantially greater than 72, which is 6*12. And that's not even counting the cup of whole kernels, which clock in with another 32 grams (net fiber) of carbs. If we throw in the carbs from the yogurt (used in lieu of buttermilk) and the honey, it adds up to more like 12 grams, which isn't that big of a deal to me, but to someone who's really counting every gram, is quite shockingly far from accurate.

But still quite tasty with butter and jam this morning. Made a nice breakfast.

images of summer

Fenway Park, so far my only visit to a ballpark this summer. We'll be going to a Cubs game later this month at Chase Field, though, with the entire brood in tow. I'm looking forward to it (really -- that was not sarcasm!)


The kids and cousins, on the T, that day up in Boston.



This guy was the boldest of all the gulls we saw this summer.



Beach creatures... they want... snacks!



The biggest hermit crab ever, one of DD's greatest finds.



Blueberries, washed and spun dry, for awesome blueberry cake.



Lobster, lobster, lobster.




Evening in Mystic, CT.



DH and I, after ice cream at that place right by the bridge in Mystic. (Yes, this is the kind of photo you get by holding the camera at arm's length and randomly snapping.)



Full moon peaking out through the trees in my in-laws' backyard.



Kids and cousins in Connecticut, obsessing over WebKinz.



Back home again, junior scientists finally, finally getting to play with DS2's birthday present science kit.




And this is what comes of allowing children to amuse themselves with the camera!

DIY birthday

I ended up having a delightfully low-key birthday.

DH bought me some beautiful roses -- this one bloomed in a matter of hours. It's good I took this shot because later the cats started snacking on the whole affair, and now they're all a bit raggedy looking as a result.



The family seemed a bit distraught that I wasn't going to have much of a birthday dinner or a "something we can stick a candle in, so we can sing you Happy Birthday," so I picked up some nice strip steaks for dinner, and pan fried them while the cake baked: I made the LID-friendly "mix-in-the-pan" chocolate cake from my favorite, The Fannie Farmer Baking Book.

One candle sufficed:


This cake is 1) delicious 2) incredibly quick to put together and 3) compatible with the Low Iodine Diet. Here's the recipe:

Mix-in-the-Pan Chocolate Cake
one 8-inch square cake -- from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book

1+1/2 C all purpose flour
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 C granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 T white or cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 C vegetable oil
1 C water

for topping
Confectioner's sugar

Grease and flour an 8-inch square baking pan, or cheat and line it with foil, and then spray it with non-stick spray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, and then sift them into the pan. Spread the mixture out so it is more or less even in the pan, then make three small wells in the dry mixture. Pour the vinegar, vanilla, and oil into the wells, one each; pour the water over all. Using a fork, mix thoroughly so that only small lumps remain. Be sure to scrape up the dry mixture from the bottom and corners of the pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Dust with Confectioner's sugar before serving.

We got 9 generous servings, and the only reason why it lasted until Sunday was because we forcibly restrained ourselves from polishing it off on Saturday.

I made this cake exactly according to the (high carb) recipe, and it was very interesting to see the texture, which was very good, but altogether different from a more traditional cake with eggs. At the same time, this was definitely a cake and not brownies, not even cake-like brownies. In any event, I think it can be ported over to the low carb world very easily, but it may take some extra tweaking. Any recipe with an entire cup of sugar for such a relatively small cake is relying on that sugar for structure as well as taste. I could easily boost the cocoa powder and add almond flour, use erythritol instead of sugar, bump up the baking soda... hmmm.

Almost forgot: ended the day watching 300, and am only half embarrassed to admit that I dozed off repeatedly. It was gorgeous, but, on the small screen and without an audience, sadly tedious -- the book's better. It was interesting seeing this after finally finishing Victor Davis Hanson's extraordinary A War Like No Other, about the Peloponnesion War, knowing that not long after Sparta's glorious stand at the Hot Gates, all of Greece would be embroiled in a mess of a war that stretched on for nearly 30 years.

that was quick

Today was the first day of school -- navigated successfully all around, with hopes that we'll settle into a new routine very soon.

I had my whole body scan today, and it was completely clear -- so much so that they didn't even bother doing the two small-field scans of my neck. There just wasn't anything to look at there, so they let me go. I was there for barely an hour, and it seemed shorter because I kept dosing off.

That was a good news, now I just have to wait until Thursday to find out what my thyroglobulin (Tg) was to see if there's anything going on that might necessitate something like a PET/CT scan to ferret it out. You'll forgive me if I don't put too much stock in negative scans, since I've had negative scans at the same time as a boatload of cancer. Last year my Tg elevated to around 4.5, it would be nice if it just stayed there. We'll see.

44

Happy bday, me. I did manage to blow out all the candles eventually. The Manhattan probably did not help that effort.



That was weeks ago, when I was still on the Cape -- Mom wasn't about to let me leave without acknowledging the upcoming event somehow. Back then I was just about stress-free and sleeping like a baby every night.

Can I blame the Thyrogen shots for this recent insane inability to go to bed? The Thyrogen shots combined with the stress of the upcoming scan? The shots, the scan, the lumpiness in my throat? It's scant comfort that I went through exactly the same thing last August, and everything was fine.

I expect to hit the wall eventually. For now I amuse myself by noticing that my scar is nearly invisible in these pics, and those blond highlights? Completely natural. So, 44. The discrepancy between my mental age and physical age is not large enough to mess with my head yet. The combination of good genes, young children, and an aversion to frumpy clothing allows me to pull off a 30-something vibe, but I'm not sure how much longer that will last.

I'm nowhere close to saying that getting old sucks, because I don't find the alternative at all attractive (now) -- but I will say I haven't figured out how to age gracefully. I'm clutching at every possible straw short of plastic surgery to prevent physical decay... so far, so good. Good enough for me, anyway.

If I can just get through this latest round of tests without making myself sick from lack of sleep, that would be great.

lyrical fragments (Talking Heads edition)

Well, how did I get here?

[Staying] up all night

[I'm] looking at [myself], and things [are] looking like a movie

this is not my beautiful [life]

no doubt about it

Home -- [strange] as it ever was

Same as it ever was, it's where I want to be --

this must be the place.

latest LID staple

Breakfast!

The kids adore the oatmeal pancake recipe from this book; they've become our family's default pancake recipe. DH likes them better than any other. A few tweaks gave me these delicious, highly portable LID-compatible breakfast cakes.

LID Oatmeal Pancakes
Makes about 6 substantial pancakes (I always make a double batch)

1 C coconut milk
1 C quick-cooking (not instant) oats

1/4 C maple syrup
2 egg whites (large or extra-large eggs)
1 T vegetable oil

1/2 C AP flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine coconut milk and oats in a large mixing bowl. Microwave on high power for 4-5 minutes to soften the oats, or allow to soak for at least an hour. Allow the oat mixture to cool for a few minutes, then stir in the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add the maple syrup, egg whites, and vegetable oil and stir well to combine all the ingredients.

Let the mixture stand for about 10 minutes before cooking. I've found that if I'm using a non-stick pan, I'm better off not using any grease at all to cook them. I use a 1/3 C measure to ladle out the pancakes into the preheated (about 325-350 degrees) pan. They'll brown nicely. Because these are very dense they do take a while to cook through; wait until you see a lot of bubbles on the top before you flip them, and let them cook for at least 3-4 minutes on the other side.

I've added the maple syrup to the batter because I love the maple taste with the oats, and building it in makes these deliciously portable. If you want a more traditional approach, increase the coconut milk to 1+1/4 cups, and add 3 T of sugar (or Splenda) instead of the maple syrup.

Yum.

it's that time of year, again --

I've entered the Annual Cancer Test Gauntlet.

Happy to report that phase I is going well so far, with a negative ultrasound on my poor mangled throat. The lumpy-stickiness is so far explained by a lot of fibrous tissue the doctor saw today. The only vaguely troubling thing she saw was a separation of my carotid artery and jugular vein, which are normally close together; she said sometimes recurrence can pop up there, but she didn't see any signs of it. So: yay!

Today also featured my first of two Thyrogen shots; second shot tomorrow, then dosed on Friday, then the scan on Monday -- which is also the kids' first day of school. So Monday I'll have an idea of whether or not anything's going on, but frankly I'll be astonished if the scan doesn't come back clean. My scans always come back clean... the problem is they've been clean when I've had cancer, so I don't put a tremendous amount of stock in clean scans. The number that really matters is the stimulated Tg (thyroglobulin), which I could theoretically get on Monday, also.

Whatever. I just want it to be over so I can get on with a) my life or b) plans to go to Houston for treatment. Of course a) is much preferred over b), and I'm 99.5% sure I won't be going to Houston... just imagine me figuratively drumming my fingers and checking my watch approximately every five minutes to see if the current round of this too-familiar ordeal is over yet.

When this is over, I'll have to schedule my eye exam, and I'm pretty sure I have a dermatologist appointment already. The one I really have to check is the mammogram, after last years' lumpectomy adventure, I'm not sure whether I can just go for a regular mammogram, or have to have the ultrasound as well.

free!

Jane links to Lileks, who recently survived an Alaskan cruise, and ponders (as does Lileks) the behavior of most passengers: eat, eat, eat!

One of the reasons often cited for shipboard gluttony, as Jane mentions, is "But it's free!"

Here's the thing: it's not free, it's included in the price you paid when you bought your ticket for the cruise. You've already paid for it.

TANSTAAFL, even if you're on a cruise.

regarding salivary gland issues

From time to time (like today!) I get an email or a comment asking for good information about salivary gland damage from RAI, RadioActive Iodine treatment for thyroid cancer.

Unfortunately, post-RAI salivary issues are a lot more common than your doctor may let on. For the most part, the first flare up is (more) severe. Some people have one incidence, post-treatment, but many continue to experience periodic flare-ups, some triggered by eating certain foods (sour, spicy), or sometimes nothing at all.

If you're looking for some good introductory material about this condition, here is an article on ThyCa.org.

Here is the link to the article on MedScape about radiation damage to salivary glands. This is a much more technical article targeted at a medical professionals, but it also includes an illustration of a very beneficial massage technique (figure 7). (MedScape may require free registration.)

Last but not least, I recommend NSAIDs such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) or naproxen sodium (Aleve) as both a preventative immediately after dosing with RAI and for the next 2 days, and as a treatment whenever the salivaries swell up and become painful.

An aside: I had trouble recently distinguishing jaw pain (TMJ/TMD) from salivary gland issues. Some ways to distinguish between the two: salivary gland issues will not cause clicking or popping when you open and close your mouth, as far as I know, and repositioning your jaw or opening or closing your mouth will not change the type of pain/pressure you experience from salivary glands. If you're hearing pops or your jaw joints hurt when you open or close your mouth, you're most likely suffering from TMD. Unfortunately, it's entirely possible to have both issues at the same time!

home again

We're home, after a long day of stuttering travel -- nothing after the initial takeoff went to plan, and instead of getting home at about 11:30AM we ended up here must closer to 2PM. It really wasn't much of delay -- when I see it written out like that -- but it was all rather excruciating. Radar down in Cincinnati, flight crews diverted, problems getting the luggage out, and nothing really decent to eat, either.

Still, we're all unpacked and put away, and I went and did errands with DD and finally got my copy of the latest, last Harry, and I suppose I'll get to read it eventually, now.

This week I've scads of appointments and after eating junk food all day must start on the low iodine diet (LID) immediately, because I have a scan a week from Monday. Whee! Labs tomorrow, then u/s, injections, all that yada-yada later in the week.

Wish my throat felt less lumpy, but I'm deeply, overwhelmingly contented, just to be home.

blur, v 2.0

Since I last posted... too much to recount, and in all honesty I'll have to check the credit card statement to remember what we did, exactly. Here are the high points:

- DH arrived, yay!
- went to the beach lots more times
- went candlepin bowling one rainy afternoon
- got huge lobsters for dinner
- had fantastic, long visits with my two best friends in MA
- went to the Barnstable County Fair
- relocated to the in-laws in CT
- had a fabulous overnight in Mystic with DH at the same delightful b&b we stayed at a couple of years ago
- took the kids back to Mystic to visit Mystic Seaport, "the museum of America and the Sea"

I've done a lot of eating, a fair bit of walking around, and way too much indulging in everything. Can't believe we're heading back home on Sunday, back to reality. What happened to the summer?

that's better

My brother and his family left just after 8 this morning, and about 10 minutes later, DD announced she was bored. Typical.

It was a working morning -- laundry and yard work -- and a relaxing/beach afternoon. Part of this morning's work was periodically reminding DS2 that he owed me an apology and not letting him do anything until I got it. I can be so stubborn sometimes.

He finally capitulated just after noon, most likely because his older brother reminded him that his Dad is coming in a few days, and Dad would most certainly not put up with this nonsense. In the space of about five seconds we were as right as rain, and the rest of the day was very pleasant. Let's hear it for peer pressure!

It's nice to be here with just us, and Mom. I had forgotten how peaceful it is. With five (or more) kids in the house, peace has been in short supply.

Ahhhhh...

ouch

The last time my throat had a lump in it like this, it turned out to be cancer. Tonight, it's just me feeling miserable.

DS2 had a bad day, and threw the biggest fit ever at Border's. We went to the movies, then to Trader Joe's, a bit of home! and continued that with a trip to Border's for a snack. I ended up carrying him out of the building while he screamed and shouted at the top of his lungs, which he continued for at least a half-hour on the drive back from Hyannis.

Once he shut up, it was as if someone flipped a switch -- he was fine. Unfortunately it's not that easy for me, I'm still reeling from last night's debacle and trying to get over it.

I couldn't let that kind of horrid behavior pass unremarked, though, and so I asked for an apology, and got the most insincere "Sorry!" ever. We talked about ways to make someone feel better after you've hurt them, and came up with three things -- saying "sorry", a hug, and saying you know you did a bad thing and you won't do it again, that you've learned from your mistake.

Since he has been lying lately, I told him I need all three of these things to believe him. It would take him about 10 seconds to accomplish that; do you think he has? I was about an inch away from him, and all he had to do was pick up his arms but he wouldn't do it. He says it won't work, I told him the best thing about giving a hug is that he'll get one back, and that it would certainly work... nope.

He's six years old, and he's stubborn, and of course self-control takes practice. We've made some progress in that he finally admitted that his behavior was his own fault, and not mine or anyone else's -- Hallelujah! I'm sure he has convinced himself that I'll forget about this eventually, because he is adept at doing just that, having "forgotten" all about it twice already in the space of a couple of hours. Perhaps I will -- perhaps I will have to, because even when I asked him if he wanted to go to sleep without apologizing to me, he was still fine with that: "Won't work," he said yet again, calling me a liar, yet again.

It's stupid, but it hurts.

should've seen this coming

And everything was going so well!

We exhausted ourselves yesterday, but woke in good spirits and headed out to the Sandwich Glass Museum at about 10AM. That in itself was something of a miracle, since I'm not exactly fast-moving in the mornings these days. Near constant dosing with Aleve is helping, but the days when I don't seriously contemplate hip replacement are few and far between. Nevertheless, I'm managing.

After the museum -- and the obligatory shopping -- we had a nice lunch in Sandwich at the Taverna, and then came home. We're having July weather now, which means sticky and hazy and hot, which is good beach weather. I wanted to go to the beach straight off, but the neighbors across the street had up their inflatable water slide, so all the kids went over to play on that, having previously received an open invitation.

We finally did make it to the beach shortly after 3, but didn't get to stay too long. The kids have been in herd mode all summer, and seemingly getting dumber and dumber about it each passing day. All kids laugh at potty humor and can be obsessed with bodily functions, but they all know that's not something they should be doing in public. One of them had made up a song they liked to sing which of course involved various naughty words, which they were chanting at the beach. I had to remind them a few times that while we'll tolerate that at home (and where the grown-ups don't have to hear it), it's not appropriate out in public. After repeated warnings to knock it off I finally told them that if I heard it again then we'd be going... and not 10 minutes later DS1 starts singing, followed by one of the cousins.

That's it, everyone out of the water, we're out of here! I let them drip for a few minutes, had them all wrap up in their towels, and bundled them back into the car. I was disappointed because I didn't want to leave the beach, but at the same time I was relieved because I was tired of screeching at them like a harpy for being such rude children! It was embarrassing.

In spite of that, we agreed they could do one last sleep-over, but in retrospect we should've nixed it after the beach incident. On a dare, DS2... well, let's say he did something that he's known not to do since he was about 2 years old, the kind of thing puppies used to get swatted with rolled-up newspapers for doing. The girls came upstairs to tell the grown-ups about it, and that was that: end of the sleepover, much yelling, crying and carrying on from various chidren, not to mention complete disavowal of responsibility. We asked the older ones, Why didn't you stop him? They didn't notice what he was doing. We asked DS2, why would you do such a thing? His cousin dared (or possibly told) him to... to which we replied, so what!

Anyway, my brother is completely disgusted and taking his family home tomorrow instead of Thursday -- or so he says now, we'll see how he feels in the light of day. I'm at a loss as to what meaningful consequence I can impose on my kids at this point. The immediate consequences -- loss of sleep-over, major chastisement -- hardly seem sufficient. DH recommended a complete ban on the potty talk, with severe consequences for infractions, and I'm on board with that, but I just don't know what else to do.

It's really too bad the vacation should have to unravel like this. I just feel disappointed that the kids would behave so inappropriately, and afraid that this is going to taint the rest of the summer. Honestly I wish I could pack up my kids and take them home, too -- it would be so much easier to deal with this there! But that's not an option at all, and DH won't be here until Sunday.

what? who?

We hit the road early this morning and drove first to Waltham, to pick up the girls -- DD and her cousin, M, at my older sister's house. Then we parked at Alewife T station and rode the train to Harvard Square, and went to the Harvard Museum of Natural History. It's a great little museum for the kids, you can see a lot and not be overwhelmed.

Then we traipsed through the steamy weather back to the other side of Harvard Square for lunch at Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage, which was excellent except for the decor, which being geared towards college students has a number of less-than-appropriate posters and bumper stickers all over the walls. Nothing raunchy, of course, just the kind of stupid sex and drinking college humor that I don't want to explain to my 8-year-old. But lunch was delicious, and fortified us for our return to the subway and the trip to Fenway Park, where we 1) shopped and 2) did the tour.

It was fun, and somehow the kids remained engaged throughout, even though it was hot when we were sitting in the right field roof seats. The Green Monster Seats are completely fabulous, but I doubt I would be willing to cough up $140 for one. I'm just not that fanatic. ("And you call yourself a fan?" Well, no, I don't -- but I do like baseball.) Doesn't matter,Red Sox Nation will thrive without me.

So after all that, took the T back to Alewife and took the Fresh Pond Parkway-Soldier's Field Road-Storrow Drive route over to 93S (since 128S would be a parking lot by that time) and was just amazed at the lack of traffic -- really, it took us less than 15 minutes to get across town. Back when I lived in Boston, that would've been considered miraculous at any time of day, and obviously impossible at rush hour. Let's hear it for the Big Dig, which did some good after all!

Finally get home after 7PM, argue some dinner into the kids, get them into their pj's, etc. 8:45PM, bedtime is imminent, so what do they ask?

Can we watch an episode of Doctor Who?

(We polished off Season 1 last week, and and are about 4 episodes into Season 2... clearly, my work here is done. In all honesty, I knew I was nearly there when at the NE Aquarium, DS2 bought a small keychain that glows blue when you push a button so it will project a shark image, declaring it a perfect sonic screwdriver...)

Transformers, etc

A mild, rainy day, the sort of weather I really adore and never, ever see in Arizona.

Of course, this isn't beach weather at all, so we went with the usual Plan B, a movie.

The bad news? Everyone except me has already seen the latest Pixar gem, Ratatouille, so that left us with few alternatives. We'd all seen Pirates 3, too, long ago, of course. We probably would've seen Shrek 3 if it were anywhere to be found in a theater around here, but they are all so tiny that it's long gone.

So, Transformers it was. General assessment: not a movie for little kids, with enough teen frustration-themed conversation to cause eye-rolling induced headaches. The transformer effect was very cool, and the vehicles that the robots transformed into were excellent. I liked the two teen leads just fine, and the Army guys were cool, and even the blah-blah backstory and tagline (something about no victory without sacrifice) were all OK, even more than OK some times. But it missed being a great movie by a wide margin, mostly because it was 1) way too long and 2) too confusing in the battle sequences to tell who was winning. It was generally hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys, even though the good guys had blue eyes and bad guys had red eyes -- when they were mid-battle, you couldn't see their eyes. Optimus Prime, Bumble Bee, and Megatron were all readily identifiable, but the other transformers were more or less fungible. For example, I know at least one of the good guys dies, but I still can't tell you which one, and it didn't really matter one way or another.

Another major problem was the resolution of the climactic battle -- I didn't think I was that distracted, but I still was left wondering, "Hey, how did that happen? Why did that happen?" Some minimal fan-wanking -- "oh, that must be what Optimus Prime was talking about..." -- makes it work, but really, it should've been more dramatic.

It was pretty much a mess, really, and overlong, but it could've been worse.

PotC3 was a much better movie, although probably less well-received (if I could call it that) by the critics.

Somehow or other I'll wrangle my way into Ratatouille, but I suspect the next movie I get to will be Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, for which I almost cannot wait.

Outside of the movie, it was mostly a long, hard day. My hip has been really bothering me these last few days, even with taking regular walks. I can blame the weather, but that doesn't help much. It is exhausting to be at this level of pain all day, and I had forgotten that. Overall my energy level has been fine, as have been my reserves of patience, but not today. I took five kids with me to the movies, and then to the toy store, and then to the book store, and then for a long walk when we got home, and I think my head's about to explode. It's not any one thing but dozens of little things -- well, that's not right, it is one thing, isn't it? That pain.

If I felt like this all the time I would have to go back on some kind of meds for it. As it is, I'll manage for now with Aleve, and hope to feel better tomorrow.

thoroughly confused

Great, very busy weekend in Phoenix, then up at the crack of dawn yesterday, two uneventful flights landing me back in Hartford.

Got up this morning, packed up all our stuff and headed back to the Cape, and now here at Mom's once again.

I'm coming down with something (excruciating ear aches during that final descent, yesterday), my throat is sore and I'm just out of it. Where am I again? What time zone am I in? I keep adding and subtracting three hours to figure out what time my body thinks it is, but then I give up. I was on East Coast time when I left last Thursday and never really went off it -- how could I, over just three days? But now that I'm on the East Coast again I'm thinking things like, "Well, it's only 8:30 so no wonder I don't feel like going to bed."

I just hope this doesn't last too long, I'll keel over.

Plus: continuing a disturbing trend, I seem to have lost my entire (small) jewelry pouch, which held all my favorite earrings: the blue glass beads from the Virgin Islands, the Russian enamels, the fresh water pearl drops, and my new peridot studs. I don't think I packed it to take with me last weekend, but I can't find it anywhere, here. It wasn't in any of the bags (either the ones we took with us, or the ones we left here), and I asked DH if I had left it at home, and he couldn't find it there, either. Possibilities: it's here somewhere; it's at home somewhere, because I did take it home and left it there; it was stolen out of my suitcase en route. Things don't just disappear, right? Am I daft enough to have packed it? Yes, because I thought no one would be low enough to take it -- it's so small, and the monetary value of the contents is nil -- they were just pretty things I happened to like, the most expensive pair cost less than $50.

They are only things, and unimportant things by anyone's reckoning, but their loss is upsetting to me -- mostly because I can't remember what the heck I did with them, and I'm not willing to concede that they might have been stolen. I do hope they'll turn up. (Why does it always have to be earrings?)

further notes

I'm having trouble posting photos to the blog from my mother's computer. I'm not sure what the trouble is, but it is really frustrating!

I love having my little rental car. It's a Chevy Cobalt, and the most stripped-down car ever. The windows are manual, the door locks are manual -- there isn't even a "lock all doors" button, which means I have to remind the kids to lock their doors all the time. That's OK, we all fit, and it has a zippy little engine, handling highway speeds without a shudder or hesitation. Of course, highway speeds in MA means 65-75 mph, as opposed to Phoenix where highway speeds are 75-85 mph, but the car is in New England and it's suiting me just fine.

What is not suiting me at all, it turns out, is this haircut. I have to spend at least 20 minutes straightening it to get it to look somewhat decent, as in the pictures below -- but on beach days, it's all crazy-curly, to the point that even DD comments, "Mom, your hair looks wild." The problem is, the back is too short to control (after a month of growing out, it's barely two inches in some places with all the layering), even though the front is finally long enough to pin back. I will just have to put up with it until it grows out -- but I'm officially warning myself here never to get my hair cut that short again unless I am willing to commit myself to it being curly.

blur

I think I say the same thing every summer, but it really has all been rushing by. So let me hit the high points so far for sometime this winter when I will be tired of drab and dry and gray and brown...

We went east much earlier this year for Mom's 80th birthday celebration. Here I am with the birthday girl:



And here's nearly everyone (save for the brother who took this shot) who assembled for the momentous occasion:



Here's a nice picture of the family:



After the party, things start to become fuzzy. The weather has been fantastic, but cool. So we went to the Zooquarium one day, and to the beach another -- actually two beaches that day, and my niece found a whelk which, post cooking and bleaching, makes a beautiful addition to her shell collection:



We made our annual pilgrimmage to Beebe Woods (nearly dead link, there), the beautiful conservation land up behind the Falmouth branch of the Cape Cod Conservatory, on the most perfect day imaginable -- clear blue sky, no humidity, not a mosquito in sight (although I insisted on insect repellent for everyone, remembering previous trips into these woods.) It's not so much a hike as an enjoyable ramble, with a snack at the Punch Bowl, the little kettle pond at the end of the mostly-easy path.



The way back was more nature-walkish, as I was finally able to get the kids to slow down enough to look at the dessicated lady slippers, the wild pink orchids formerly impossible to find, but seemingly everywhere this year. We saw indian pipes and smelled sassafras leaves and roots, found nests in trees and avoided poison ivy.

The weather warmed up a bit and we went to Good Will Park, where the kids can both swim and exhaust themselves on the playground equipment.



Road trip! We all -- Mom included -- piled into two cars and drove up to the New England Aquarium, where we saw Deep Sea 3D at the IMAX (you wouldn't think there would be much difference from theater to theater, given the IMAX format, but there is, and the NEA's IMAX is awesome), then wandered around the aquarium for a while, had a snack, plundered the gift shop, and then braved the rush hour traffic to head to my brother's house for dinner. That was a day... if I thought I would ever forget the details of its myriad stresses, I'd write them all out, but no one should have to endure such things, even second hand. Gorgeous things to look at in the aquarium, though:



Back on the Cape, the weather continued to warm up and so we tried out Wood Neck beach -- a great beach for combing, but not for the kind of play the kids like, and so back we went to our favorite, Chapoquoit, where we all had a blast jumping in the humongous waves. I was, in fact, in the water having fun myself, and so have no pictures to show for it.

And now I'm here, finally having a chance to blog. This summer things are very different at my Mom's because my sister-in-law is there with her two kids. The positives far outweigh the negatives, namely that my brother and his wife permit their kids to do all manner of things I forbid or strongly discourage in my own. I wondered how that would go, but it's been great because my sis-in-law doesn't expect me to keep my mouth shut when her kids get uppity, and she has taken many pages from my book (nearly literally -- I printed out a copy of Mrs. H's class rules for her, and she loves them).

It's fantastic having another grown-up around, too, as neither me nor my sis-in-law wants to burden Mom with anything, so it's great to have someone who can watch the kids while one of us runs an errand or something -- and it's just very nice to have someone around to have a cup of tea with in the evening after the kids are in bed, to review the day and just chat. This living arrangement gives me a good idea of what living in a traditional extended family must have been like. I'm sure it could be hellish if the wrong people were involved, but when we're talking about someone as nice as my sister-in-law, it's pretty awesome.

interlude

I'm home, the kids are with the in-laws, and it's very, very odd. And wonderful.

This is the longest time DH and I have ever been away from the kids, other than when I was in Houston at M. D. Anderson having my neck dissection surgery -- and that doesn't count, because I wasn't conscious for a lot of that time, and it certainly wasn't romantic.

But this is. It's important to remember that we were a couple before we were parents.

mouselings

We relented today and took the kids to the beach, knowing full well it was going to be 1) too cold and 2) too windy to enjoy it. Of course, we were right, but they all went into the ocean anyway, and the larger ones stayed in for the better part of an hour, jumping in the huge waves. The smaller ones had to give up sooner, because the waves were so big they were knocking them over. DD got a nasty scrape on her knee when she tumbled into some rocks. When all four of the younger ones were huddled under their towels, trying to shield themselves from the thousands of tiny needles of the blowing sand, we finally called the older ones in and called it quits, packing up and carting everything back to the car.

That's when I found them, one on the walkway, one in the parking lot, and one actually being blown along the sand of the beach itself: three little mouse-babies, about an inch and a half long, utterly unable to cope with the impossible wind.

I noticed the one at the edge of the boardwalk first, and we all exclaimed over how cute it was, but it was clearly lost. I scooped it up with a shovel and put it near the wall of big rocks so it could find some shelter, but the first thing it did was climb out and head for the parking lot. We steered it towards the walkway and eventually it went beneath, out of the wind.

On the way back from the car to get more stuff, I noticed the poor wind-swept one on the beach. Every time the wind blew he tried to flatten himself out, but since the sand itself was blowing, the pathetic little thing couldn't get a hold on anything, and ended up being tumbled. I scooped him up and brought him up to the walkway, where he could get some shelter and some companionship. He was clearly dazed and even more loopy than the first mouseling had been. He had so much sand in his fur he was probably carrying twice his normal body weight, but that didn't stop him from trying to get somewhere... anywhere. He was literally going in (very small) circles.

The last mouse was lying flat in the parking lot, clinging for dear life as the wind whipped over him. I scooped him up with some difficulty as he was much more lively than either of his brothers, and he did end up scampering over my hand while I moved him to the walkway. He seemed to have his wits about him, though, and dived right under. His poor sand-covered brother was still shivering at the edge of the walkway.

Of course during all this time the kids were exclaiming over the cuteness of the little mice, and we all felt very sorry for them. Obviously they'd lost their mom; they just seemed too clueless to be running around the beach on their own like that. One thought just occurred to me, which is that they may have been nesting in our car (the beach and parking lot were nearly deserted), which would explain how they got to the beach/parking lot in the first place. Oh, no!

The odds that the mouselings will survive is very low, and I knew it was a futile effort to try and save them -- but I had to do it anyway. I suppose it would have been better (and kinder to the mice, too) if I had just scooped them up and tossed them in the trashcan. They would've been out of the wind entirely there, most likely with a supply of food as well. But that just seemed heartless, and as silly as it sounds, I wanted to give them a chance. There are far too many hungry gulls and a huge nest of ospreys near that beach for such tasty little mice snacks to last long in the open. What does it say about me that I can be realistic to the point of callousness about such things -- those mice aren't long for this world -- but that I still made the effort to make their likely final hours a little less unpleasant? Being wind blown to death just seems like such a dreadful, useless way to die.

the same, only different

So, here we are again in Falmouth and adjusting to our summer life.

I remembered yesterday -- too late! -- that the delightful-sounding Coffee Toffee sundae at Friendly's has more candy than ice cream; the same thing happened last year. But when a whole year elapses before you see it on a menu again, you forget. Well, I did, anyway.


Today we all piled into two cars and visited the Zooquarium in West Yarmouth, where we learned to our dismay that the two sea lions had died last August. They both led long and happy lives, so it's difficult to be sad for them, but we were disappointed that we wouldn't see the show. We were nevertheless charmed by the two animal presentations we did see, one of a pot-bellied pig, and one of a pygmy African hedgehog, which has to be among the cutest animals in existence. The sneeze-bark sound is hysterical.


I'm trying to keep the kids on track with things like eating, sleeping, and not turning into snide, disrespectful jerks, with moderate success on all counts... it's a constant battle.

We've made a good beginning.

time to go!

Actually, I still have about 7 hours or so.

Somehow, everything got done today -- the errands, the haircuts for the boys, the cleaning, the additional laundry, the packing. And with the exception of one long linen dress eaten by the washing machine, everything came together without a hitch. (Including being able to reschedule DS1's 8:30AM missed allergist appointment -- we all overslept -- for 4PM this afternoon. That never happens!)

Our bedroom was covered from one end to the other with stuff to be packed. I spent the entire day spiraling up and down the stairs, in and out of various rooms to assemble everything, so after we put the kids to bed, all we had to do was pile it into the various suitcases and duffle bags, and that was done shortly after 9PM, which must be some sort of record.

Now I'm second-guessing some of my packing decisions, but there's no point in doing anything about it now. Off to bed -- tomorrow will be a very, very long day.

panic!

We're leaving Friday and will be gone for, oh, approximately 7 weeks. Haven't started packing yet, either.

What have I been doing? Hmmm, let me see -- we purged the bookcases, the playroom, and DD's room, and got rid of a huge amount outgrown books and toys, not to mention trash. That took a whole day.

Today was laundry day, plus getting our new cat caretaker acquainted with the kitties and their routine, plus doing stuff I should've done weeks ago -- loading the photos onto the digital photo frame we got for Mom's birthday, and doing the pages for her scrapbook.

Now I'm thinking that I need an entire extra suitcase for things I want to bring (like my knitting) that are not made for travel. But I'm going to be gone long enough that I want them with me. Maybe I'll pack them up and ship them? We'll see.

Oddly, I'm not panicked yet, because I have all day tomorrow, and the laundry is already finished, and now it's just a question of pulling things together. I'm off to check the long-range forecast to see how cold it will be, to help in the decision on how much cold-weather clothes we need to bring.

pathetic

DS2 came down with a stomach virus a few days ago, but bounced back quickly the next day. I was hit by the same horror yesterday, and after a day in bed doing my best not to puke, I'm better, but still pretty far along on the Ick scale. At least I don't feel like puking anymore.

I missed the Red Sox-Diamondbacks game yesterday, and I'm not fit to do anything today, either. I'm just hoping that I'll get better quickly, because Friday we're flying out.

When DS2 was sick he perfectly described the fear that always accompanies that kind of misery: I'm never going to get better! I don't know why he would say that -- yeah, he has had a couple of longer-running illnesses, but nothing you could categorize as chronic -- but I sympathized. I mean, I have conditions that won't ever get better, and right now I'm praying that what I'm going through really is temporary, and not some new manifestation of the interesting ways in which a body can break down without actually killing you.

that's better

I did finally get moving and managed to do just about everything I wanted to do today, but now I can barely keep my eyes open. I'm not used to manual labor, and loading up a van full of furniture definitely qualifies. Given the state of the van's floors prior to my cleaning them, I'm pretty sure vacuuming qualifies as manual labor, also.

The kids are all spun up, having only one and a half days left of school. DS1 checked his grades online today and rejoiced at having pulled out all A's, announcing, "I've got all A's and nothing can happen to change that now!" He was so happy. I was so happy because it was his accomplishment, not mine. Very minimal nagging happened in this last quarter of school.

Tomorrow: grocery shopping, laundry, and the last of the clean-up. I want to be able to enjoy Wednesday with the kids, and Thursday, late morning, my in-laws arrive for their long weekend here. Whee!

typical

I've been up for two hours, and what have I done? Made breakfast for the kids, made lunches for the kids to take to school, read a number of blogs, posted comments on a few, made a few phone calls. Not much to show, and I haven't even eaten breakfast yet.

Meanwhile, my in-laws arrive on Thursday and the house is an absolute disaster. Partly because the guest room had become the "junk room" after my Mom left last winter, and I had been accumulating stuff to go to charity in there, all of which needs to be inventoried, packed up, and delivered to the donation center.

But more than that, there's furniture and bedding where it doesn't belong, also. Looking over the guest room Saturday morning, DH and I once again discussed how the over-sized furniture in there made it difficult to move around, and for the Nth time talked about getting some smaller, sleeker furniture which could be arranged to leave more floor space. We had a big cherry sleigh bed in there:
Along with two matching night stands that were more the size of end tables, and a humongous 6-drawer double-length dresser. All of this furniture is beautiful, but approached dysfunctional in the smallish guest room.

So yesterday we hauled the entire family off to Ikea and replaced the gorgeous solid wood cherry-stained furniture with way cheaper stuff, and DH spent most of the rest of the day putting it together. (I helped, but it was mostly him, so I'm not going to take any credit). We got this bed, these nightstands, and this dresser, which will fit in the walk-in closet. The double dresser was too big, and has been moved into an upstairs closet for now, which resulted in another large pile of stuff that needs to be sorted through and mostly disposed of, one way or another.

Furniture assembly is not yet complete, and that's another thing I could be working on, but really, I have to get rid of the stuff that's just haphazardly piled up all over the place. It's just too much! Maybe if I have some breakfast, it won't seem so bad...

a delightful day

The ultrasound was negative -- they didn't see anything unusual at all. I learned this news about 10AM, when the PA from my doctor's office called me. She was happy about the ultrasound, but with my history, she wanted to follow up with a CAT scan. I was able to talk her out of it very quickly, though -- I noted I can't have anything done with contrast, because I have a whole body scan scheduled for August, and the iodine would not have cleared my system by then. She seemed pleased that the WBS was already scheduled, and was satisfied to leave it at that. So, another expensive medical test was averted, at least for today.

In other news, my TSH is still too high (0.188) and my Tg is 0.6. I shall work on my endo to give my Levoxyl another uptick, and proceed with my life as planned. (whew!)

I spent the day engaged mostly in laundry and reading, for the first time, the delightful Pride and Prejudice. Having seen the mini-series and the newest movie countless times, I was very curious to see how much of the book each version had excised, and whether or not I would enjoy the book as much as I had the films.

Save for a minor irritation at Austen's propensity for italics in her dialog, I loved it. I'm amazed at the economy of her descriptions, which remain powerful nonetheless. I suspect my own electronic scribbles here will suffer from unconsciously imitating her style for some days, but then again, I've always written weirdly. At least I don't use as many semi-colons as Austen does. (usually!)