Saturday, March 31, 2007

Kids and Baseball

This am was Opening Day for Little League. zzzzzzz. A bit of bla bla and waiting.
Ki is playing t-ball (where the kids hit the ball off of a tee versus being pitched to). It is co-ed, mostly boys. Four girls on this team, and they are some of the better players.There are no outs, everyone bats and then the other team is up. So each turn a kid swings until s/he hits one and then runs to first (only) and then with each child up, the run the bases. It can be pure entertainment to watch 5 and 6 year olds play a game they are only somewhat clear on. Lots of dirt hill building and daisy picking in the outfield.
Ki takes the game quite seriously. At the last inning she was catcher. One of the other kids threw the ball in and she tagged a runner out before they stepped on home plate. She knew she got him out and was quite proud. She is not a boastful child, so it was fun to see.
AJ's game was later. We kept him back this year so he is in coach pitch, as he was last year. We ended up knowing a large number of the families, and boys, on his team. So many people there know that he has issues with co-ordination, attention etc. At one point AJ was playing third base and a player hit a pop fly. AJ caught that pop fly. I cheered so hard I almost unhinged myself. Lots of people were cheering, because those pop flies are tough for all the boys to catch. He was so proud to hear all the cheering. He gave the crowd a little victory peace sign.
Go get 'em kiddos.

Granny and Ki

They are having such a nice time. They are in the other room making up rhymes and stories. Ki sets up lots of imaginary games for them to play, and Granny plays along so well. She always has.
Granny is so good with kids. She always has been. When i was growing up she (and our home) was often the haven for friends of mine from not so desirable family situations.
I hope that Ki will be able to remember her for the fabulous Granny that she is. They go on walks, play cards, read books, play imaginary games. Granny is the very attentive audience for nearly daily "Ki Shows".
At times Ki gets tired of the repetitions from Granny and is snitty, I have to work to control that.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Updates

In no particular order and with poor grammar

~school district has shat upon my friend and child. no communication, breaking laws, betraying, seemingly supporting an exceptionally crappy teacher. I (and i am no the mama) betrayed, stounded, angry, sad

~Java is a raving psycho puppy to Sierra. I am so sorry Sisi!

~I have a mouth and throat full of kanker, canker, canchor sp? sores. They HURT in a burny, itchy way and are making me irritable.

~A client's Mom brought me a cookie bouquet. So nice! She is thinking of me when her Mom is having total ysterectomy due to cncer

~Another friends Dad recently diagnosed with lung cancer

~Another friends Dad with ramping up leukemia

~There is some shitty stuff going on out there

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Java

Well the new "baby" has been here for a month now. The initial entry on Java was put in late. Poor peanut was fixed last Th. Hardly slowed her down, but she did end up with a shave job that makes her look like she has some wild bikini-bottom tan.
She is a typical lab, affectionate, wants to please, goofy. She is also a bit fearful of new people and other dogs. Clearly, she has some social issues. So basically, she fits in well with the rest of us. She is also quite clingy, always wants to be with me. This is a problem with me working here with small kids. She barks and bowls then over and wants to be WITH me. Not in the other room with Granny. She goes nuts when she is cornered off. MMM... This will be a fun one to take care of. I'm taking her to dog school in 2 weeks. I already know I'll have the biggest dork in the class. She will be way bigger than the others and barking and feeling anxious. We have had a couple doggie play dates with neighbor dogs already, that should help.
Poor Sierra. Java runs under her, then over her and is constantly standing on her to get her to play. She completely and totally ignores Sierra's growls to be left alone.
There is one interesting story about Java.
Sierra was a wedding gift to us 10 years ago. She has been slowing down and is ready to retire from duck hunting with Pops. Holding down the couch and looking out the window all day has become her permanent hobby. So Pops and I had been talking about getting a second dog. In the fall, for our tenth anniversary, I surprised him with the gift of an already trained hunting lab. But she was not the (expensive) dog she was supposed to be and we returned her. Later, on Cragslist I hooked up with people about 4 or 5 different dogs and came down to the wire every time. One time we even had to go interview. But each time, no go.
We heard about Java (Joanie) from a friend of a friend. She was up to date on her shots and free. To be honest, no one knows if she has "hunting lines" in her family. We're crossing our fingers.
We took her to the vet last week. Her forwarded vet records listed her birthdate as 9/29/06. Her birthdate was the day after our 10th wedding anniversary. That same day last September was the first time, since our wedding, that Pops and returned to the chapel we were married in.
I believe Java is meant to be with us. Like I said, she fits in with the rest of us.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Java joins us

Hi. My name is Java(?)
Well, I’ve been here for about 48 hours now. Before, just yesterday even, my name was Joanie. Now The People are calling me “Java”. The place seems okay, there are lots of things to do here. But before I tell you about that, let me tell you more about myself.
I am a gorgeous, silky-rich dark brown. I am a dog, although The People call me a chocolate Labrador. I was born in Oregon. I was the biggest of 12 pups. When I was six weeks old different people took me home and took care of me because my Mom was too tired from having so very many puppies to feed. Then I kept growing, and at only 5 months I was a big girl weighing in at 40 pounds. The people keep saying things like, “Look at those paws!” and “She has long legs!” and “Her parents must be big”. The Oregon People took good care of me, but I think they thought I was too busy, too much work or something like that. The Little People there got tired of playing with me. I sometimes knocked them over when I was excited. They talked about school for dogs and leashes and following commands, but we never did any of those. So, the Oregon people decided I would be better living with a family who had time to work with me. Next thing I know we are in the car and driving for hours from our home in Medford, Oregon to Redding, California. The Oregon lady takes me to a park and The Pops is there looking at me. I gave him a big bark, I was afraid. Turned out he wasn’t too scary. He had treats and knew how to play. We hung out and then he took me and put me in his car! I just met him! The Oregon People drove away! I’m scared. I sat straight up on the seat behind the Pops and watched his every move. After awhile, I let him pet me. We drove, I slept, we took a break, we drove, and I slept. It was almost dark when he stopped the car for the last time.
“We’re home!” The Pops said.
I am still a bit scared and just want to sit next to The Pops. They introduce me to this other dog (Sierra). She looks and acts like my Mom. She is a bit tubby and moves slow. She is also really grumpy and won’t come play with me.
Later we go in the house and there is a cat (Bear)! I’ve never seen one before! I try and chase him, but he won’t run. He keeps slapping me with his paw; mostly he leaves his claws in. Sometimes I slap him back with my paw. Then when he did finally run-he ran straight toward a door and disappeared thru it! The People said something about a “pet door” but I know that guy is just plain magic. Ten minutes later I found a funky looking cat-like animal. Turns out it’s a guinea pig. Every time I bark he jumps straight up. I barked a lot and he jumped a lot. There are Kid People here, too. They seem fun. I just love water and when they took a bath, I climbed in too.
Later at night time, I am not sure how to get outside or where to go potty. That is all a bit confusing. At bed time I jump into bed with The People and curl up on their heads. They don’t seem to think this is a good idea.
I suppose I’ll be alright here, as long as I can always be right with The People. I hope they know that.
They are calling me Java, instead of Joanie. I’m already figuring it out and come when they call.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Teacher Confs and

Today we (Pops and I) had teacher confs for both kids.
Ki is doing great. All "4"'s on a 4 point scale. The teacher also mentioned Smarty Pants Academy ( a local public school that a child has to test into to be able to enter in 3rd grade).
She is warming up to the other kids more and gives them gregarious partings when we leave school, "Bye Mary, see you tomarrow!" She still doesn' t have a close friend really, but I think that will come. I know she will be a good friend when someone gets to know her.
In summary, she is a very bright girl and a kind girl. I am not worried about her. I foresee her to be a kind competent adult who will make her way in this world just fine. She will be good at whatever she chooses to do for work and she will be a good friend, partner and parent.

My ability to really focus on the important things and the larger picture in life is thanks to my experiences as the Mom of AJ. He has given me the gift of perspective, and for that I am grateful.

Home work

I'm doing homework with AJ. This can make me f&*%ing nuts. He is SO distractable and snotty at times. I grind, grind, grind my teeth.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Cussing with the Christians

We were at the pool today. It is Community pool you can join for a fee. It is run by a local conservative Christian church.
I informed AJ he would not be able to go on the diving board-as a chair had been placed acrossit, and there was no life gaurd on. As all things are usually my fault, he started sputtering angry words. Then he swam between the 2 Christian guys and screamed, "God Dammit, Mama."

Thursday, March 15, 2007

3 raging tantrum meltdowns in 4 hours

Mom is further agitating kids and then is annoyed by me.

I just keep hearing in my head that Southernwest Airlines commercial line, "Wanna get away?".

When it is a strong feeling it feels more like a flight or fight response. Neither of which is to responsible to act on.

I just want to go eat a mound of good chocolate and a good strong cup of coffee. Like, I'va said before-good thing I don't drink. But it does explain the weight gain.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Burning Down the House

Sunday morning Pops and I took the kids to church and an hour later we were home. I opened the front door and their was a visible smoke layer through out the house and the smell of something burning.
"Mom, are you okay!"
"Yes, Judy, what's wrong?"
"Something is burning!"
I ran to the toaster oven and looked and it was very slightly warm and off. But clearly the culprit. Mom has a habit of broiling (vs toasting) her bread. She thinks it works better that way. There is a timer on the oven, it sometimes sticks. Or you can turn it on and it just stays on. Another piece of this is that as Mom has aged, she has lost her sense of smell.
" Oh, I don't think so. I cleaned the oven. But I don't think I burned anything."
Well I knew she had in that it was morning and all of the above.
"I am pretty sure I didn't cook anything but I'll try to find what it was."
Shortly she showed up with a charred bagel.
"This must be what burned."
She had NO recall of that event and it happened within the last 45 minutes.
"Mom, do you understand why I am worried?"
"Well of course! The house could have burned down."
She gets that.
But she doesn't get how unsafe she is.
Later that day we replaced the dead batteries in the smoke alarms.

Sick

Little kids get bunches of colds. If I told parents to keep their child home every time s/he had a runny nose-I'd never work. I use lots of the no-water hand cleaner and don't worry about it.
Today I was working with one of my regular little guys. He had a strong cough and runny nose and seemed tired.
I walked him out to the car and said to the Nanny,
"He seems kinda sick and I'm pretty sure he has a fever."
"Yeah, I know. We kept the kids home from school today. I packed towels on the drive over here because his (twin) sister was vomiting earlier."
"Oh." I said out loud. Inside was more of a "WTF?"
Feeling good about hugging and cuddling that little guy.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Soul Train

We have cable at our house. Today I walked in and AJ was watching a '70's classic show.
"Mama, I'm watching Soul Train."
"I see that."
"Why are they dancing."
"Well, that's what they do on this show."
"Oh. Where's the train?"