33tekfan’s Weblog

How does nearly a week go by without my even realizing it?  About twenty times a day I think “I need to go write something….” and then the thought is gone as quickly as it came.

So….the field trip.  From hell.  It wasn’t all bad - I will get to the good part in a minute - but it was too L-O-N-G.  The whole point of leaving so early, as I understood it, was to prevent the feeling of being rushed through the day - but it didn’t work.  We raced through our day and had a busload of tired, cranky kids (and parents!) on the way home. 

The best part of the day was this:

Our tour of Fenway Park.  Unfortunately, there was no chance I’d actually *see* Varitek since the team was in Baltimore.  But still.  We had a super tour guide named Ed.  Although we were not allowed on the field level, we still had a nice tour of the Right Field Roof deck, the luxury suites, the press box, the Green Monster, and the grandstand.  While in the press box, we were able to sit and listen to Ed tell us a lot of history about Fenway Park.  He would ask questions, and I knew almost every answer - he stopped picking me to answer after the first couple.  The only answer I didn’t know was the date Ted Williams hit his record home run.  I thought it was 1947 - turns out, it was 1946.  When the tour was over, I shook our guide’s hand and thanked him and he said “Stay such a good fan - you know everything!”  Of course, the Diva rolled her eyes dramatically which made him laugh.

Two new facts I learned about Fenway:  The color of the Green Monster, literally named Green Monster Green, is trademarked and not available for purchase by anyone outside of a handful of Fenway employees.  Although there is a color available for general purchase that comes close, Fenway Green, it is not exactly the same.  Fact number two:  Tom and Jean Yawkey had their initials in morse code painted on two of the vertical white lines on the scoreboard.  I tried taking a picture of them but since I’m not allowed to use the “good camera” unless surrounded by mattresses and pillows (due to my um, lack of grace), I had to use the old outdated model that doesn’t zoom for crap.  So it really just looks like I was taking a picture of the scoreboard.  I can see the little dashes and dots on the white lines but only because I know what to look for and where.  Anyone else?  Not so much.

Here is the Diva (the blonde one) looking less than thrilled to be sitting on the Green Monster:

Sometimes I wonder how this non-baseball lover could be my child?!  I mean, I WAS under general anesthesia when she was born…and because there was no coaching to be done under the circumstances, her dad wasn’t in the delivery room either.  If it wasn’t for the fact that she’s like me IN EVERY OTHER WAY, I think I might have a case against the hospital.

After Fenway, it was on to The Museum of Science.  This is when our scheduling took a turn for the worse.  Eat lunch on the bus.  Have about 45 minutes in the museum before all meeting up for the electricity show.  Have another hour or so before meeting up again for the show in the Omni Theater.  Then about another hour before boarding the bus for the return trip home.  It just wasn’t enough time to see all there is to see in the museum.  I was in charge of two girls - the Diva and one of her friends - and they wanted to see it all!  We raced here and there and back to here - until I suggested that perhaps it would be a better use of their time to see everything they wanted to on one floor before moving on to the next.  When we got back on the bus, I heard conversations between the kids consisting of alot of “DId you see…?”  “No, but did you see…?”  “No, where was that?”.  It made me realize just how much EVERYONE seemed to miss, but they were so pressed for time that there was no avoiding it, I guess.

In  other news:  The Captain got his first little league hit.  His first hit not pitched by a coach in Farm League.  His first hit that got him on base.  Where was I, you ask?  Doing my time in the snack shack.  Every parent has to do 6 innings in the concession stand.  Our team chooses to do 3 innings at a time so we don’t miss a whole game.  I did the first three innings of the game, and got back to my chair at the top of the 4th, to see my son standing on first base.  Jokingly I said “Oh no - my kid’s on base - did he get hit again?”  I was assured by the other parents that he did not, but no one gave me any other information.  In fact, MY SON didn’t even tell me until later that evening.  He had waited so long to tell me, and he is somewhat of an imp, that I didn’t even believe him at first!  His coach, our pharmacist, did re-tell the story when he saw the Postman in the store the next day so I guess I have to admit that I did indeed miss his big moment.  Yet another example of how I rock.

This is what happens when I don’t write for so long…so I’ll end for now.

Hope all is good in your worlds!

All mothers are working mothers. ~Author Unknown

Tomorrow is the 6th grade Boston trip.  Complete with a tour of Fenway!  The Diva and I will be up at 4:00AM for a 5:30 departure, and back home at 10:00PM tomorrow night.

Details to follow!

Disclaimer:  Although I try to not bitch about my ex-husband here - in case my children ever read the blog - I am straying from that rule for this one post.  Because I am just.that.pissed.off. and the Postman’s ears are beginning to bleed from all the bitching I’ve done.  And while my new BFF, the Whirlpool Duet, will take the blood out of the clothes it won’t do anything for the blood that’s pooling on the floor.

My kids are with their dad this weekend.  Due to baseball, we rearranged visitation and they hadn’t seen him in a couple of weeks.  Which means the Diva hadn’t spent any time with him (and his wife - referred to from here on in as the Nurse) since her declaration of vegetarianism.  The Postman warned me - oh yes he did!  He said “What do you want to bet her dad wants no part of this vegetarian stuff?”.  “Oh, no”, I replied.  “His sister is a vegetarian.  It’s no big deal.  He’ll be fine with it.”

I am so damn naive at times.  The Postman was SO right.

The Diva called me just a couple of hours after we dropped them off last night.  Nearly in tears.

Her:  “Guess what, Mumma?  Guess what I had to eat for dinner?”

Me:  “What?”

Her:  “Fish.  Daddy and the Nurse said I had to eat meat to get protein.  They said I wouldn’t get enough protein if I don’t eat it.”

(In my head:  “WTF???”)

So we had a talk about how she didn’t eat all that much meat to begin with so it’s not like she was getting an abundant amount of protein from that anyway - and that she was probably getting MORE protein now because she actually eats the soy products I prepare for her.  She was so upset that she had eaten the fish.  I asked her if she felt bad that she ate it and she said yes.  I tried to make her feel better by telling her it was no big deal, that she could figure this out over time.  The thing is, she will do ANYTHING to make her father happy.  Truly.  She will sacrifice every ounce of herself for him.  So if he says he wants her to eat meat, she will eat it even if she doesn’t want to.  Then she’ll call me and cry over it. 

I am far more liberal than my ex-husband and that is a big issue between us.  I also believe that he purposely chooses the opposite opinion from mine every single time we need to agree on something…but that’s a whole other issue that I can’t even begin to go into here.  So while I think our daughter is asserting her independence, and making what could be a lifelong decision about her food choices; he thinks she is still a child who needs to be told what to eat.

I know what some of you are probably thinking:  talk to him about it.  I would love to be able to.  I really would.  Unfortunately, he is just not open to that.  I have tried - believe me, I have tried.  The last time was late last spring.  The kids spend a good part of the summer with him and there were some things I wanted to talk about before the summer began.  I spent hours, literally, on an e-mail.  I worded and re-worded it dozens of times so as not to offend.  The reply I got was “I will need time to respond to this, I don’t want to be hasty in my response”.  And I never heard anything again.  He thinks if he ignores me, he can continue to do what he wants.

So, what do I do about this?  I told the Postman what I WANT to do is fill a cooler with soy burgers and soy dogs, and all the soy/veggie products I know she likes and hand it to him when I drop them off next time.  It’s not rocket science - when he throws their beef burgers on the grill, throw on a veggie burger for her.  When they have baked chicken, cook one of her veggie bundles in the oven at the same time.  It takes so little effort and it shows her that we will support her decisions.  Maybe this won’t stick - maybe she will decide she loves double cheeseburgers too much to give in to her belief of ethical treatment of animals.  Only time will tell.  But for something so important to her right now, would it kill him to be a little more supportive and a little less controlling?

For the record, I stocked up on soy at the grocery store today.

The Diva decided recently (11 days ago to be exact) that she is going to be a vegetarian.  Since it has lasted about 10 days longer than I thought it would, I have bought her some soy products to replace her meat at dinner. 

Last night I decided to make a favorite dish of ours, sans meat.  It is a Mexican Lasagna and the only difference was that I did not mix ground beef into the refried beans before I put it all together and baked it.  The Diva was at the barn so I prepared dinner for the rest of us with the intention of keeping some warm for her.  The Captain and the Postman came to the table, took one look at it and asked what was wrong with it.  “Nothing”, I replied.  “I just left the meat out for the Diva.  There’s no reason we can’t all skip the meat once in a while.”

I have never seen such sad faces in my entire life - along with the mumbled “Why do WE have to suffer just because she doesn’t want to eat meat?”  My son even scraped the refried beans into a pile on the side of his plate and refused to eat them - although he has eaten them plenty of times before when the meat was present.  I have my own lion pride - albeit a small one.

On the other end of the spectrum, when the Diva came home she was genuinely happy that I made a meal for all of us that she could eat also.  “Really, there’s no meat in it?  Thank you, Mumma!”

So I guess the old adage is true:  you can please some of the people all the time, all the people some of the time, but never all the people all of the time!  So again, I realize it’s all about balance.

Vegetarian:  A person who eats only side dishes.  ~Gerald Lieberman

This is the Captain being hit by a pitch - AGAIN!  I really need to teach that kid to duck!  This time it was on the back part of his arm, near his shoulder.  It was actually warm to the touch after it happened.  So he took his base - and stole second again.  After being hit, his team rallied and ended up winning 14-12.  His coach gave him a game ball for “Taking one for the team”. 

I had a really nice Mother’s Day.  The Diva painted a plant pot for me and The Captain made me a very cool glass trivet. 

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you!

Any mother could perform the jobs of several air traffic controllers with ease.  ~Lisa Alther

Spring always seems to be the busiest time of year for us and this one is shaping up to be no different.

P-Man’s dad has been in the hospital - yes, again - since last Wednesday.  Good news though!  His team of doctors have diagnosed him!  It is a rare infection that is slow growing, and in return, hard to kill.  He is going to be on antibiotics for at least 6 months.  For three weeks after he comes home he will need them to be administered through a PICC line, then he can switch to the oral form of the medication.  If a family member felt confident enough to learn the procedure, he could stay at home and not have to travel to the hospital three times a day for the infusion.   My name came up as a candidate for the position…and since I was unopposed - I win!  For three weeks, I will head over to their house at 6:00AM, 2:00PM, and 10:00PM to administer his antibiotic.  It seems like a fairly easy process - wipe off each port with alcohol, flush the line, hook up the tubing and let him sit there for an hour and a half while the miracle drug flows into his body.  Then I reverse the process upon completion of the infusion.  When I look at it written down, I must admit that it is a little daunting.  But this will save him from having to be driven to the hospital every 8 hours. Or worse, have to be in a short term care unit for the three weeks.  He gets to be in his own home.  And really?  I’m glad I can help out. 

Then there’s all the kid stuff. 

My daughter had an appointment with the optometrist last week and besides her need for glasses, he saw a “freckle” in her eye.  He kept looking at it, then he would continue on with the exam…then he would look at the freckle again.  He even tried to help ME look at it through all his equipment.  Then he pulled out a reference book to try to find a picture.  Then he decided she needs to see a specialist for a second opinion.  I should clarify that he stressed that it is probably nothing…but to be sure, he’d like another opinion.  That has me a wee bit stressed out.  I try not to let things like this bother me until I have the facts straight up.  I’m generally pretty black and white; there’s not a lot of grey area with me.  But…HOLY CRAP…this is HER EYE.

My son has baseball nearly every day this week.  Last night he was very discouraged because he did not get a hit at all during practice.  Baseball is not shaping up to be his strongest sport but he tries so hard!  Tonight he got on base.  He walked (which I think is just fine - he knows when NOT to swing)…and he got nailed in the head with a pitch.  Yeah.  My heart immediately went into my throat and the mom next to me grabbed my arm.  He didn’t fall down (Really?  They are 9 and 10 years old so it’s not like a Beckett fastball was coming toward his head.  But still.)…and he headed down to first without so much as a cringe or an “ow!”.  He even stole second after that.  Needless to say, his confidence improved and he was a happy kid after tonight’s game.  Who knew getting hit in the head was the key to happiness?

Mix in the fact that I have a household to keep in order and a J-O-B to do, and it’s been crazy , crazy, crazy.  Thankfully the Postman has covered making dinner every night.  Oh…and?  Thursday is teacher appreciation day at one of the schools.  The PTO president asked if I could make a breakfast item or a dessert.  Since I am an overachiever a moron, I said I would do one of each.  Go me.

And that’s all there is that’s fit to print in my corner of the world today.

Chaos is a name for any order that produces confusion in our minds.  ~George Santayana

Dear Dunkin’ Donuts,

One hour and 5 minutes for 3 bagel sandwiches is highly unreasonable.  I understand you run out of things sometimes - although on a Sunday morning?  Really?  You couldn’t predict you’d be busy on a Sunday morning at 10:00AM?  Ok…I’ll drive to the OTHER Dunkin’ Donuts in town.  Except, well even though they weren’t out of anything, they weren’t especially speedy.  Customer Service doesn’t seem to be a priority for you so as much as I love your product, I think you’ll find me at Tim Horton’s from now on.

Sincerely,

A disgruntled customer

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Dear Target,

I didn’t mean to shop lift.  Truly, I didn’t.  The fact that I’ve spent about $150 at your store in the last several days should indicate that I didn’t mean to walk out without paying for the $1.49 shoelaces.

I must have been holding them in the same hand as my keys, and when I needed both hands to help my son pick out a new baseball glove I put my keys - and the laces - in my pocket.  When we got home, I was mortified to find them when I reached into my pocket.

The thing is?  I live 40 minutes away from you.  At $3.57 a gallon, driving back to pay for the laces seems somewhat absurd.  But I believe in karma, so what I’m going to do is make an extra charitable donation this month.  Deal?  Good.  Thanks for understanding.

Sincerely,

A most apologetic customer (who loves Target WAY more than Wal-hell*)

*Stolen Borrowed from Morgan.

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Dear Postman,

You rock.  Thank you for putting together the Captain’s pitch back, and tightly strapping his new glove.  I spent 5 years doing all of that by myself (not always with great results!) and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it when you help my kids with things like that.  I know they appreciate it, too.

I love you more,

Me

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Dear Captain and Diva,

I missed you!  I am glad you had a nice time with your dad, but I am also glad you are home! 

Love you lots,

Mom

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.  ~Phyllis Theroux

It has been unseasonably warm here the past couple of days. In fact, my daughter’s school lifted the “no shorts until after April vacation” ban. They are being allowed to wear shorts tomorrow. The Diva announced this to me immediately upon getting into the car this afternoon and quickly followed up with “I need to shave my legs. They are disgusting.”

The Diva is 12. I have discouraged her from shaving for as long as I could. I mean, let’s face it ladies. We all know what a pain it really is and the newness wears off quickly. I knew I wasn’t going to discourage her for one more summer though.

This evening it was time for the big lesson. I told The Postman we were stealing borrowing his shaving cream. I rarely use it (and steal borrow his when I need it) so I don’t have any.

Him: Why don’t you just show her how to use the electric razor?

Me: Because it doesn’t work as well. It doesn’t leave the skin as smooth.

Him: What does it matter? NO ONE is going to be touching her legs.

Me: How very “stepfather with a shotgun” of you.

Sometimes the smallest, silliest things remind me why I love that man so much.

The troubles of adolescence eventually all go away - it’s just like a really long, bad cold. ~Dawn Ruelas

* 5 points to whoever knows who said that!

Well, as I think I mentioned in my last brief post, the Postman’s father is home. Too much happened to try to recap it all here but here are some high (or low) lights:

- Spent 4 days in ICU
- Spent 6 days in Respiratory SCU
- Spent 2 days in a regular room on the respiratory floor
- Doctors don’t know what was wrong. They gave him a broad spectrum antibiotic that seemed to be working. He felt better and the congestion in his lungs was breaking up.
- Right before they moved him to the regular room they said although he FELT better, he wasn’t GETTING better. Um, what? Based on CT scan comparisons and bronchoscopy comparisons, there was no actual change in his lungs.
- 2 days later they sent him home - not knowing what was causing the breathing difficulty (beyond his already known COPD), and after stating he wasn’t getting better.

So that’s kind of where we are. He’s home, and although he feels better, he has to follow up with a respiratory specialist closer to home to try and track this and at least keep him status quo if not improved.

On a happier note, the Diva competed in a Dressage competition today and placed 2nd in one category and 3rd in the other category she was in. This was the first time she competed in Dressage, so it was quite an accomplishment!

I am looking forward to a quieter week - no driving 90 miles to the hospital. I can catch up on my work, my housework, and time with the Postman and the kids.

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit, and fire. ~Sharon Ralls Lemon

How is it that the Postman’s mother - and even worse, my mother! - are hipper than I am?

My daughter and I watch Dancing With the Stars. I know it’s a bit on the cheesy side, so I refer to it as one of my guilty pleasures. On the other hand, it is nice to be interested in the same show as my daughter. I can only take so much of Hannah Montana before my brain seizes up. So this dancing show we watch together. My mother, and P’s mom watch it also.

Yesterday, during our 90 mile (one way) car ride, P’s mom and I were talking about the show as the new season started last night. She was the first to tell me that Julianne, an adorable dancer on the show (and my favorite!), has released a song with a whole album to follow soon. How did I not know this? I proclaim to be a huge music lover, yet this little tidbit escaped me.

To make matters worse…I spoke with my mother last night and she gave me the same information. Um, what? My mother doesn’t even listen to music all that much. How on earth did she know this before I did? I am such a loser.

We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. ~Japanese Proverb