- 11:57 is "officially" on maternity leave with new baby girl, Abigail, 10 lbs 1oz. Yay!
- 12:08 Lots of links accruing! let's start w/ cool baby brain stuff: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/opini
on/16gopnik.html
Many think that babies, like adults, should learn in a focused, planned way. So parents put their young children in academic-enrichment classes or use flashcards to get them to recognize the alphabet. Government programs like No Child Left Behind urge preschools to be more like schools, with instruction in specific skills.
But babies’ intelligence, the research shows, is very different from that of adults and from the kind of intelligence we usually cultivate in school. ... But babies and very young children are terrible at planning and aiming for precise goals. When we say that preschoolers can’t pay attention, we really mean that they can’t not pay attention: they have trouble focusing on just one event and shutting out all the rest. This has led us to underestimate babies in the past. But the new research tells us that babies can be rational without being goal-oriented.
Babies are captivated by the most unexpected events.
- 10:21 http://www.onpointradio.org/2009/08/rai
sing-well-rounded-kids -- Good food for thought/planning to parents & my nieces.
In the last two-ish weeks, I've
( ... posted some links: pollinators, estrogenic compounds, gender and layoff ratios, dumbass behaviors, robots, 'safety' bills ) It's not so much that I agree with any or all of these, but I found them somewhat thought-provoking (and often deserving of more time than I had to think/discuss).
( ...tried to find a little time for self, family, silliness ) I like it that there was time for me and art and communication. I needed that.
( ...and one geeky thing )
( ... posted some links: pollinators, estrogenic compounds, gender and layoff ratios, dumbass behaviors, robots, 'safety' bills ) It's not so much that I agree with any or all of these, but I found them somewhat thought-provoking (and often deserving of more time than I had to think/discuss).
( ...tried to find a little time for self, family, silliness ) I like it that there was time for me and art and communication. I needed that.
( ...and one geeky thing )
- 06:24 Third Sector Associates has won more grants! Great help for nonprofits + more. New email too. www.thirdsectorassociates.com
- 08:53 ReVisions just sent out the newest "Ideas for Leaders". Check out "Spreading Hope" at www.revisions.org/news.php
- 15:26 The dog barked while baby was sleeping. 20 minutes, if that. Gah. If only I can get M & baby out door for a walk...
- 16:37 Registered (finally) for 20th (!!!) reunion. Totally psyched. Unrelatedly, now must run to Post Office.
- 05:47 Took Orca to vet on Saturday: tumor on bladder. This explains lots from last half-year. Dr Ellen says maybe a month. I'm not ready.
- 07:24 Hacker changes road sign's message www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/2009
0503/NEWS02/90503012/1007/RSS02 - 12:40 Swam again... joined the gym. Must work more to afford it, but on all the other hands, I can't not do *something* and so far this draws me.
- 16:02 Organic farms are ...where? Fancy that! Check out the graphic at www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/business/03me
trics.html - 16:26 "The Great Disruption": www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/opinion/08fri
edman.html + tinyurl.com/cqt68u - 19:12 Home again, home again...
- 05:38 Elderly dog with incontinence now too... leads to a lot of questions. :(
After her bout with E. coli in February/March (1, 2, 3, 4 (longish), 5, 6 (real improvement!)) Orca has not gained a lot of weight or strength, but she has gained some, did get better, has gained muscle mass. I could and should have been doing more with this. (She also had somewhere in there a yeast infection in her ear... just one more thing.)
She's also been drinking lots more water. More than before she was sick. And despite the larger leg muscles, she's also having more times where she seems to not know he hind toes (especially on the left) are curled under and she's standing on the tops of them, not the pads. And she's clearly using the right hind leg more than the left, and panting more (but not obviously less enthusiastic) during/after our short walks.
So I called and wound up taking her to the vet on Saturday morning. Dr Ellen (who is one of several wonderful vets there) palpated her belly and diagnosed a tumor pressing on her bladder. (The ultrasound back in Feb. neither indicated this nor clearly showed nothing there (plus it's probably growing). Plus this jives with the weird blood work and that strange half-hidden infection that took a sterile urine sample to find). Given the slow, partial recovery we've got here, plus this new "feature" (repeated accidents over the past several nights, and it's not clear Orca's aware she's about to pee)...
Dr Ellen gave her a month, more or less.
I do believe in euthanasia.
That doesn't mean I like it. Or want it. Or know when to arrange it.
I've been so struggling to know what to do, when to do it, to find the right balance between Orca's comfort, interest in things, ability to get better, and the responsibilities to my family (in terms of balance time and caretaking duties, mess, money, and of course that family includes Orca too). To not do this for my convenience, but for real need, for real ease for Orca. I have not known when this is.
Dr Ellen's prognosis gave me a moment of clarity: I know what's coming; I know our schedule; now I need to just fit them together and it's now OK to pick the time, somehow. Permissable, responsible.
Fuck though, it's still not easy.
- how:terribly sad; slightly eased
- 08:04 Gorgeous weather today. Must feed Mojo. Looking forward to a short burst of intense paperwork, and then playing w/ kids in pm at swings.
I suppose I've mentioned that most Tuesdays and Wednesdays -- well, over half -- my sisterE and I combine the kids and split the day, so each of gets between 2-4 hours of work in (2 is much more likely, and sometimes even 3). Wednesdays this has been involving a lot of driving as well, so it's not as efficient as we think we should be, yet we haven't quite sorted out how to improve it....
I am very grateful for the splits though, and I thin the kids like it too. Even if it's inefficient.
- 10:38 Want to do ~12 different things (now!). Being asked to do ~5 different things (now!). Plus chores (at least they're easy) (now!). Ack!
- 16:54 Lovely afternoon with sib and kids: errands and ice cream. Now a few minutes alone while they return books to library.
- 17:15 A little brown bat is flying around over the road, in the shadow of the hillside. Sweet to see, but I worry he's not catching much.
- 22:22 I like writing little if-then series. Need to fix the thumbnails next at www.productionsolutionsvt.com
- 11:35 Orca's leg and hip strength showed great improvement today! When is age age, and when is it infections? This time seems mostly the latter.
- 00:02 Managed to get in a few updates to the EMG-Zine Calendar (emg-zine.com/calendar.php) for March and April. Additions welcome!
- 09:37 Farewell, little BugKitty.
- 13:23 Especially for Dad and Jeff Doyle: www.alistapart.com/articles/theelementso
fsocialarchitecture
- 16:22 Turnabout: Orca's bloodwork 1 week later: normal. Yay antibiotics!!! Bug: still breathing shallowly, very tired. Waiting on return calls.
- 16:58 is all teary-eyed: sisE is watching a family movie DVD from dad -- us as kids, my wedding & dancing, climbing Lookout, cousins...
metasilk ...
... I really wanted to write "wrapstuff" ... yikes!
- 17:26 Exhausted. Tornado of nieces/nephews/presents. Mother in law read SWAPA out loud to me. All 3 mothers in 1 house yesterday. Today: sledding.
... I really wanted to write "wrapstuff" ... yikes!
My son, my husband, and my dad all went out for a morning run. The age range here is just under 60 years. I'm so pleased!
My stepmom is washing my windows, too.
I feel like such an underachiever! I better vacuum or weed the garden or something. Yikes!
My stepmom is washing my windows, too.
I feel like such an underachiever! I better vacuum or weed the garden or something. Yikes!
10:15 p.m. Finished -- no, stopped editing something because tired. Went to email it.
11:00 p.m. Finally emailed it, after having gotten distracted (checked other email which led to emailing 2 posts which led to posting). Had to log back on to do it. Sheesh.
11:10 p.m. Went to bed. R still up talking on the phone. Hard to fall asleep, too tired to read. Finally tried daydreaming of taking a month in a Buddhist monastery or something, like the Dad in Red Doors, which helped relax and stop me from doing the tired brain fretting.
??: The smoke alarms go off. They are hardwired into the house, so if one goes, they all go. Turns out R was stoking the stove (really old dry wood burns with a lot of smoke and ash relative to heat) and the damper fell shut (which is prone to do for a while after chimney cleaning). Doors and windows open... Goodness these are loud and obnoxious. MonkeyBoy sleeps through this. (!!!) Finally we get them clear and quiet. Then R opens the stove again, not realizing the damper has fallen shut/is still shut. The smoke alarms go off again. Takes even longer to clear them.
??: MonkeyBoy cries for his Mama. Refuses R's comfort. I hobble out of bed again (what is with my joints? Augh. I need to do more exercise) and cuddle him down. Sleep badly on his bed, but am too tired to get up and change.
5:30 a.m. MonkeyBoy gets up, all cheerful, and goes downstairs to R, who is getting ready for an early day.
5:35 a.m. R brings me a coffee and I drag myself up.
5:45 a.m. R has to go, which doesn't suit M's plans for who should make his oatmeal. Oh well. Whine if you must, kiddo, it changes nothing.
6:00 a.m. I start more coffee.
*blink blink* Wonder what could get us a do-over on this night/morning. No? Bummer. Then, onward, I guess.
11:00 p.m. Finally emailed it, after having gotten distracted (checked other email which led to emailing 2 posts which led to posting). Had to log back on to do it. Sheesh.
11:10 p.m. Went to bed. R still up talking on the phone. Hard to fall asleep, too tired to read. Finally tried daydreaming of taking a month in a Buddhist monastery or something, like the Dad in Red Doors, which helped relax and stop me from doing the tired brain fretting.
??: The smoke alarms go off. They are hardwired into the house, so if one goes, they all go. Turns out R was stoking the stove (really old dry wood burns with a lot of smoke and ash relative to heat) and the damper fell shut (which is prone to do for a while after chimney cleaning). Doors and windows open... Goodness these are loud and obnoxious. MonkeyBoy sleeps through this. (!!!) Finally we get them clear and quiet. Then R opens the stove again, not realizing the damper has fallen shut/is still shut. The smoke alarms go off again. Takes even longer to clear them.
??: MonkeyBoy cries for his Mama. Refuses R's comfort. I hobble out of bed again (what is with my joints? Augh. I need to do more exercise) and cuddle him down. Sleep badly on his bed, but am too tired to get up and change.
5:30 a.m. MonkeyBoy gets up, all cheerful, and goes downstairs to R, who is getting ready for an early day.
5:35 a.m. R brings me a coffee and I drag myself up.
5:45 a.m. R has to go, which doesn't suit M's plans for who should make his oatmeal. Oh well. Whine if you must, kiddo, it changes nothing.
6:00 a.m. I start more coffee.
*blink blink* Wonder what could get us a do-over on this night/morning. No? Bummer. Then, onward, I guess.
This is a short note:
My grandmother (in her 80s) is experiencing aging rather actively at the moment. Lots of tests and this just generally sucks.
However, I'm pretty sure the three of us (MonkeyBoy, sweetieBean and I) are going to Philly the week after Thanksgiving so see this grandmother's sister. Our schedule is flexible (at the moment), and there's a been a mention of my staying an extra day/night to see friends. If you're there and available, please comment with your PHONE number -- I've got comments screened on this entry! -- or email me (use the LJ address in the profile or go directly to my gmail address; the old sover.net address will not reach me). Maybe something extra happy can come about.
Everything else is going as well as my super disorganized / easily distracted self can make it.
Off to watch the last few minutes of Batman Begins.
My grandmother (in her 80s) is experiencing aging rather actively at the moment. Lots of tests and this just generally sucks.
However, I'm pretty sure the three of us (MonkeyBoy, sweetieBean and I) are going to Philly the week after Thanksgiving so see this grandmother's sister. Our schedule is flexible (at the moment), and there's a been a mention of my staying an extra day/night to see friends. If you're there and available, please comment with your PHONE number -- I've got comments screened on this entry! -- or email me (use the LJ address in the profile or go directly to my gmail address; the old sover.net address will not reach me). Maybe something extra happy can come about.
Everything else is going as well as my super disorganized / easily distracted self can make it.
Off to watch the last few minutes of Batman Begins.
I just found out that a really important friend of our family passed away on Sunday. He was 87; it's not odd, but I feel really terrible because I've been meaning for MONTHS to at least send him a hello card so he didn't feel too lonely in the retirement/care center he moved into/was moved into.
I am suddenly really, really grateful I got to go the moving-out sale at his house and got to come home with a wooden recorder and some books to remember him with.
He bought me my winter jacket when I was in high school. He helped R and me buy our shingles for our roof when we were building our house. He travelled around Europe with my Mom and made her happy by being a really good friend. He always has fascinating things to say: stories about saints and witches and what life was really like in the middle ages. We had tea together. We used to have lunch now and then.
Then I started working in Montpelier and hardly saw him.
He came to our wedding. He got to see Morgan a few times.
I didn't even send him email in the past couple of years.
I had no idea I would feel this sad. Because he cared about us and I didn't show enough how wonderful that was.
I am really, really sorry.
I am suddenly really, really grateful I got to go the moving-out sale at his house and got to come home with a wooden recorder and some books to remember him with.
He bought me my winter jacket when I was in high school. He helped R and me buy our shingles for our roof when we were building our house. He travelled around Europe with my Mom and made her happy by being a really good friend. He always has fascinating things to say: stories about saints and witches and what life was really like in the middle ages. We had tea together. We used to have lunch now and then.
Then I started working in Montpelier and hardly saw him.
He came to our wedding. He got to see Morgan a few times.
I didn't even send him email in the past couple of years.
I had no idea I would feel this sad. Because he cared about us and I didn't show enough how wonderful that was.
I am really, really sorry.
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