Lucky

"Mom, whenever I get sick, you start saying how lucky we are!"

Sam, the kid who never gets sick, has been through it these last few weeks. First, difficulty breathing at night; now he takes allergy meds every night. Next, his eyes become so inflamed he looks like Linda Blair; weeks of antihistime eyedrops followed by steroids finally clear it up. The final straw, severe abdominal pain in the middle of the night, the on-call nurse mentions surgery and suddenly everything is scary ... until we find out it's "only" constipation caused by dehydration. Five days later, he's fine.

So why are we lucky? We're lucky my sister could come over in the middle of the night so I didn't have to wake Emma Jane to go to the hospital. We're lucky to have health insurance to pay for the thousands of dollars in medical treatments we've received. We're lucky Rich was planning to take this week off anyway to spend with the kids. We're lucky to have jobs where we can legitimately take sick time to care for a child. We're lucky Sam wasn't born 150 years ago, in which case he would likely be blind or dead by now. And, we're lucky not to be among the several families we saw in the emergency room, whose babies are in surgery or receiving morphine drips at 1 a.m. on a Thursday night.

So no, Sam, I'm not glad you haven't been feeling so great lately. I'm sorry about that. But yes, I do feel lucky.

The Price of Underpants

Somehow it doesn't seem right that our all-new closet cost the same as the eight pairs of underpants I bought at JC Penneys on the "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" rack. I'm turning into a walking advertisement for ClosetMaid.

The whole point of the project is to turn Sam's room from a 9x9 large closet to a 9x12 normal kid's room. To do this, I need to tear out the add-on closet in our room, build a new wall where the closet door used to be, and convert the strange small room that leads to our bedroom into a closet. Plus a lot of little details, like shoe molding and wall painting, along the way.

So far, so good. I've removed the carpet and carpet tack from Sam's room, removed the closet hardware from the old closet, and installed new closet hardware in the new closet room. The wrinkles:

(1) the linoleum glue (possibly containing asbestos) that is all over Sam's floor, underneath the wall-to-wall carpet;

(2) the giant holes in the plaster I created when I tried to use molly bolts in lathe (wish I had pictures)

See my entry from August 5 of last year to make your judgment as to the wisdom of this project.

Anxiety Dreams

I am in the parking structure when I realize that it is 6 pm. I was supposed to be at University Commons at 5:00 to give my presentation, but I was also supposed to pick up Emma Jane at synchro at 5:30. I stir, realize I am in my own bed, and decide I don't need to solve these problems at this time.

Moments later, it is 6 pm. I was supposed to be at University Commons to give the presentation at 5, but I can't find my car. I am walking down the ramps in the structure, pressing the "panic" button on my key chain, but the horn isn't honking. I still can't find my car. I'd like to call Margaret to tell her to have everyone eat dinner first. I'll be there in time to give the presentation with dessert. But my cell phone isn't working. I still can't find my car.

When I got to work this morning, I spent over an hour preparing for the presentation. I've never given a single presentation for an entire hour, unless it was about a project for which I had full ownership. This will be more like a lecture.

How can I possibly keep these people interested for a full hour?

I hope I don't get lost on the way there.

Unfinished Projects 2

My blog.

Keyless Entry

So Rich and I are lying around in the living room reading. It's been a long day. In the distance, I hear a horn honking over and over. Not a regular repetition, but erratic, kind of a "honk-honk-honk" pause "honk" pause "honk honk." I think maybe somebody got married, but that seems unlikely at 10 pm.

Then I start thinking about how, the day before, I got locked out of the car in the credit union parking lot. I was late picking up Emma Jane from synchro already. I called Rich, and he did a drive-by key drop-off while speeding toward Mack Pool.

And I started thinking how I hadn't returned his key and the keyless entry. Wondering what had happened to them. Thinking about how the drier was running.

"That sounds awfully close," Rich says.

So while he's in the driveway turning the car off and on, trying to get the horn and blinking lights to stop before the neighbors call the police, I'm in the basement rooting around in the drier. Sure enough, when I find the keyless entry and press "unlock," the horn stops beeping.

A half-hour later, I'm back on the couch with my book. Rich is in bed. The keyless entry is cooling off on the counter. And the horn starts honking again. Fortunately, I keep a screwdriver in the silverware drawer.

The sad mangled bits of Rich's keyless entry are still hanging out in the silverware drawer. Maybe someday I'll get it repaired.

Unfinished Projects

Recovering the Dining Room Chairs
Start date: January 2, 2007
Status: Four of six chairs covered.






Repairing a Hole in the Plaster in the Upstairs Hallway
Date the Plaster Began to Fall Down: some time in 2004
Start Date: March 1, 2007
Status: New piece of gypsum board installed. Not filled in,
sanded or painted.




Creating a Mudroom in the Basement
Start date: January 28, 2007
Status: Everything moved out of the room. No storage designed, purchased or installed.





Putting in a Michigan Native Plant Garden
Start date: May 5, 2007
Status: Killed the grass, dug up the yard, installed a path. Nothing planted.






Installing a Trellis around the Deck
Start date: May 5, 2007
Status: Acquired trellis. Not cut to fit or installed.

Birthday Present

Me: What do you want for your birthday?

Sam: I've already got friends, family, plenty to eat, and a dog.

Me (to myself): Boo hoo hoo!

Sam: But I would like a Darth Siddius light saber.

(Sam is turning 9 on June 13. My birthday is June 9, and I couldn't have asked for a better present. Really.)

Baby Beckham

My little star, filmed by my big star:
www.annarborusasoccer.com.

Click on the first link (the one that says "video highlights").


Photos by fellow soccer mom Kirsten Carr

Why Knox?

You may not be able to tell from the picture, but Knox gives hair the consistency of a Playskool figure's. Did you know that it can take up to two weeks to comb it out?

Why, oh why?

The Weekend

Blah, blah, blah, I'm so busy, to quote my sister. So as not to bore you, let me say it in haiku.


Saturday
Don't cry, small nieces.
Your daddy will be home soon.
Lucky you're so cute.




Sunday
Earth Day, family, Zen.
Sam, soccer. Emma, synchro.
No time for laundry.





Monday
Dog runs off, I'm late.
Sam gets x-rayed. He winces.
Meetings run over.

Mixing Work and Play

I am in the office area at the Arboretum's Reader Center, writing case statements for our top six funding priorities, when my cell phone rings. I don't recognize the number.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is Lily R. Tell Emma Jane she doesn't need to bring a sleeping bag."

"Okay. Does she need anything else?"

Pause. "Pajamas, a change of clothes and a toothbrush. Oh, and if she wants, a stuffed animal."

I wonder why all the kids' friends have my cell phone number. Does Rich get interrupted in the middle of conducting psychological testing to talk about slumber parties?