Some Things I Know and a Few that I Don't

2009-08-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry I don't really keep this up much anymore...but here goes, short but sweet:

I'm really going to try to lose weight and I'm back on Jenny Craig. I'm fatter now than ever in my life, ever since my thyroid gave up. I'm on the meds now but the weight I gained when I wasn't is what I have to lose.

Steve and I went to Taste of Blue Ash and had some tasty food (mine was a salad...I was being good) and drinks on Friday night to see a free concert by 3 Dog Night. We liked it so much we went back the next night to see Kansas. The Commodores were playing Sunday but we didn't go- would have liked to- but we had other stuff to do (Steve repainting part of my car). Anyway those are 3 bands that have been around, 30, 40 years? and they don't disappoint. TDN has been around 40 years. That's some mileage. And still sound as good as when I was 10. I have always liked Kansas and John Elefanti wrote some good stuff both for Kansas and on his own.

2009-08-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

Things seem good here at work, and this weekend we are going to Chuck and Ellen's 50th anniversary. Micah and Steve are refinishing Steve's historic car. Micah will be starting at Scarlet Oaks in a few days, majoring in auto repair. Nathanael is going back to Grinnell (cry cry, off he goes again) to live in the ecohouse. He's majoring in anthro, minoring in linguistics.

2009-06-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

I. GOT. A. JOB!!!! Here!

I start on the 24th. I will be doing bilingual customer support and export support.

2009-04-21T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hi all, I am back from the hospital.

Irene, I don't know if you read this blog but my cat had 5 kittens. My mom and I had this crazy idea that we would like to drive out and give you one of them as soon as they are old enough to leave their mommy. I know your present cat is very sick and we thought having a new baby around would cheer you up. We may actually do this so please don't say no.

Ann

2009-04-10T08:12:00.001-07:00

Thanks for reading. I am in depression now. I am very worried that I will not be able to get another job-they just aren't out there. The ones I have applied to have dozens of other applications. The best thing it seems is to sit on unemployment rather than taking a regular job at a store or something since I've done the calculations and that money would not make up what I would be getting in unemployment. It seems God wants me here for Micah right now. Micah was getting in more and more of a mess and I was oblivious, or at least mostly unaware, of how much it was until Feb. 2 when the cops took marijuana from my house and I almost lost my mind. I have been in a depression ever since. I am taking hypothyroid meds which seem to help somewhat but now I am at the end. I am breaking apart here now with the fact that we are not going to be able to complete Nathanael's education. I am going to cash all of my teacher's retirement, which isn't a whole lot, but it may help for a semester or two. Please, please, anyone who has suggestions on how to help your fav Grinnellian, please help. Steve's job is good but it just does not pay for what they ask for plus all of our other expenses. When his company got bought out last year they cashed in everyone's options. Well Steve had some nice money in those options but we have to pay almost 18K in taxes on them this year. Those are quickly running out. Every month Steve puts 2K of his money over there and that doesn't leave much for living expenses when you consider he's putting money in retirement. Steve has said he wouldn't take his retirement for Nathanael's schooling. I just don't want Nathanael to be strapped with debt due to my layoff or due to Steve and I not agreeing on what to do. People say why doens't he sell his motorcycle, etc. Well Steve worked darn hard and people could have said that to dad about the motorhome he bought, with 4 kids coming up on college and all, but it was something he really wanted and that we all enjoyed. People you all know I am a thrifty shopper and do not get expensive stuff. I sometimes shop at Aldi's. I always use a Kroger card. I may not be the best at clipping coupons but I have used them. I am not even buying new clothes or anything at this point. I know that when I get a job again it will probably not be the kind I have been used to. I know that in depressions people have taken whatever work they can get and I will, too, if God allows me to do it.

I know that if I had not lost my job at Hillman, Micah would have gone and done what he did and I would probably have had to take time off or quit anyway in order to assess and deal with this situation. If I were still working there, he would be still in all sorts of trouble and probably not in Dohn School since I am his means of transportation. I think I probably would have lost my mind more than I am now. I did really like that job.

I just went and applied for a job 2 days ago at a place; when I got there, 2 other people were filling out apps; I gave them my apps and my nice shiny resume on top of it. I mean I was wearing my business clothes and my credentials are perfect for the job. Really perfect. But out of hundreds of applications I am not holding hope for this. If I get this, how will I manage Micah too...and his community service, which is at Crossroads, which I have to drive him to and manage.

Sometimes I sit with him in Dohn School and I feel like an adjunct nothing, a useless person sitting there because I have nothing else to do.

You guys Nathanael already has loans he will have to pay back; that's part of the package; I would really like not to have to compound this with more loans that will strap him for years to come. He is doing so well and thriving so well there...All I am saying is....HELP. He is doing so well at Grinnell. He is thriving. He has been involved in the publication of several books there. I can get copies to you all if you want them. Or he can get some to all of you. I am so proud of him. I just wish I were well.

You may be interested to know that he helped edit and publish a book about some tenements in the Washington, DC area written by a student who grew up there; Irene, I will send you a copy of this book if you want, a book about DC from Grinnell Press, with Nathanael as one of the main editors.

You all know I am doing everything I can do and it just is not enough. I have failed. We have failed. We wanted to graduate a son not steeped in debt. A little debt is fine but not buried in it. Every day I am losing sleep, I am losing my hold. I am praying a lot. Some aspects of my faith are changing. I have too much time to kill and these great swaths of time when I feel I should be doing something...this is insanity....I get on a few of my favorite web sites but I need my family right now, all of you guys, I am falling apart.

2009-04-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm now on meds for hypothyroidism. Hope this works.

2009-03-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

Test results are in from the last time I was hospitalized (thank you, Mom)....

I definitely have a thyroid problem!

Woohoo! Yay! Wonderful!

I can now explain what has been happening to me...the moods, weight gains and losses, sometimes huge appetite to no appetite, I mean I was gaining like a porker...not to mean the things I WORRY about have no merit, because they do. They are the heaviest things on my heart. But now at least I know what has caused me to respond so much like I have been and I have an appointment Thursday at the doctor's.

2009-01-30T12:59:00.000-08:00

Job search not going well. I may be out of it for a while. We will have to cope without my income. I don't know how long unemployment lasts. I'm still on severence. I may be done for a while. I have been looking and going out and going to these places. One place I went to (that did not choose me) had 400 apps for one job. Another place- the person liked me a lot but said there were 300 apps at that time for a job. These are not the most skillful jobs, either. I just will keep plugging away. I have applied with about 3 other places. There are always way more apps than jobs available. The job that had 300 people- the same job was advertised 6 months ago and there were only 12 applicants. I just may be done for a while. I have applied for jobs even at a day care center and still lots more applicants than jobs. And some of those people have more "experience" than I do- as in, paid experience with kids- probably- and I don't even care that much about pay, just want to be busy and do a job. Really this is scary. There are lots of people in my position. I'm going to take a civil service test for a bilingual clerk job nearby on Monday. That may be a hopeful thing, but certainly there will be a plethora of applicants for that one, too. This all is really sucky but at least I have some good news-we found a buyer for our house- and the closing date is Feb. 27. Hopefully nothing happens to her-she's put earnest money down- this is crazy. I've never seen an economy like this. I can't tell you how many jobs I've gotten just by answering ads but now there are very few jobs even advertised so those that are advertised are swamped. My resume is one in a huge stack and I'm only 2 weeks into this- I can't imagine doing this for years and years trying to find work. Those placement and temp agencies- not around anymore. I look at Monster and I'm just applying for about anything I can get. I need the money but we're not desperate for it- I just need to do something. I'm going to lose my mind!

2009-01-15T17:26:00.000-08:00

Ouch! Economy got me. And it's making my company hurt, hurt so bad it had to let some of us out. So...there I go. Gone. Story of my life. Laid off how many times? Well anywho I have some severance time and I guess unemployment to go looking elsewhere. It may be a while. It may not. We will see. Being bilingual helps. Always has always will I guess. Steve found out he's safe. Plus he got a nice bonus. But we still need to unload or rent (becoming more of an option) the Finneytown house. And now I'm going to take this time to concentrate on Micah. I do not know at all in the least whatsoever. But anyway this is causing me to get pretty jittery. Because I'm just like that already. Before I was laid off (btw I don't blame my boss, company, etc. and totally understand where they're coming from and penny penny nickel quarter was on the wall for some time....things are not going well....maybe when they are again I can go back to work there though in a different position....I had even written in my dayrunner ponderings of "why do they even have this position still?")...OK....before I was laid off I ordered some gardening stuff online and I think I'm going to try to grow lots of vegetables this summer. Last summer I just grew tomatoes. (Tomatoes...that's the right spelling...looked a little funny....because "potatoes" isn't right...it's POTATOS. Ask Dan Quayle.)

Sorry I haven't kept up the blog. I think I've said that before but I did get tired of getting slammed sometimes, but having a blog invites that. I suppose I exhibited my share of rudeness online too, and if I have, I am sorry. So sorry, so sorry, so sorry.

PEACE OUT-

Ann

Nathanael just informed me that "potatoes" is indeed right...now I do remember. Quayle went out on "Potato" - Just one potato did him in.

2008-12-07T19:11:00.000-08:00

Kim, pastor, Dave

Dad and Mom

Hayden

Dave and Sierra

Dave and Kim's Wedding

2008-12-07T19:03:00.000-08:00

Micah and Steve
Chris Atchley
Dan and Tracy
Alice
Chuck and Ellen

2008-09-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

I have always told people we don't have hurricanes in Ohio. I will be revising that statement.

We had a hurricane. In Ohio.

It was an amazing weather event. Nothing like you would expect. It was just wind. I mean, JUST wind. No rain or lightning. It was actually partly sunny. The wind just started whipping everything apart. It was unbelievable. I have been in sizeable storms (typhoon, for example) and nothing compares to a hurricane in...Ohio.

The huge tree at the old property split down the middle. The right half fell into Boyd's yard. At the new property, trees and branches fell everywhere. Not dead trees. Not small branches. HUGE trees, living ones, ripped up and thrown about. Roofs came off. For 6 hours it went on. It didn't feel like a storm. Just...a really big, long...wind. The most peculiar thing I have EVER seen. I have lived in Ohio most of my life. This is by far the weirdest weather I have ever experienced here.

The power went off Sunday afternoon and returned earlier tonight (Tuesday). It really gave us all a chance to go out and meet neighbors, help each other, have a wonderful sense of community. I met 81-year-old Pauline down the street, the lady with glass lamps, dolls, and tchachkes everywhere in her windows. She told me all about her grandkids and kids (several times- she forgot what she had already told me). I met the new couple and their little girl. Steve helped our neighbor across the street remove a huge tree from on top of his garage. Another went sprawling across the fence almost to the Micah's buddy's swimming pool a couple of yards away. Some of these trees are thick- 2 feet in diameter or so. The dead ones had no chance but the living ones were also torn apart.

There was no work Monday. Schools were all closed Monday. Most were closed today (Tuesday)- not Micah's, and he complained the whole time. About half of the kids showed up. Turns out the Wyoming high school and middle school are on the same power grid as the police and fire stations, so they get first priority. Well, second. Hospitals first, police/fire second, etc.

It was more amazing than level 4 tornadoes (which one would expect here), huge 2-foot blizzards (also precdented), big floods (been there done that)...but hurricanes? By the time we get them they are blown out and just full of extra rain. Even Katrina. This was the most peculiar hurricane ever. The front it happened into gave it some extra push. Yes, this is the same one that devastated Galveston.

The real victims, of course, are on Hispaniola. They got the alst 4 hurricanes plus more heavy rains to come. They are not in a good way and the infrastructure is weak to start with. Those folks could use lots of prayer and relief. Not saying people here couldn't- Matthew 25 has been here in Cincy distributing ice and water for free. Great people. They go where needed. They don't ask if you're rich or poor. Just whoever needs whatever, they have it. If you ever donate stuff to Matt. 25 Ministries, it goes where needed. I have volunteered a time or two helping organize stuff, clothes, I guess- I think it might have been hurricane Mitch. I don't remember even. But trust me, go to any Catholic school or church and they will be there. Same with Salvation Army. Those people walk the walk, they do instead of talk and yammer on about stuff.

2008-08-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

Hi- sorry for not keeping up with this. There are several reasons:

1. Some of my thoughts I am writing in a private journal-something I have done since about the age of 12. I don't feel comfortable sharing those all with everyone.

2. This doesn't happen always, but sometimes people do attack or ridicule me- and I really am not strong enough all the time to withstand it. Sometimes people are buttholes but I really don't want to be inviting it, which is what I sometimes did. So I will keep up with things that everyone can know...more private issues are just going to stay that way. If I feel comfortable talking about something with someone, I will. I will email you or talk to you in person. I guess when you stick out your thumb (by having a public blog) you expect it to get shot at a few times. The blogosphere is the venue for such things and by having a public blog one does invite such comments. I will still keep up the blog but will refrain from exposing opinions which may hurt people or invite others to do the same to me.

3. Nathanael's back at Grinnell and he's in a sub-free dorm at his request. This is a completely different type of place than last year. Last year he really did live at Animal House. Stumbling over drunk people, people inviting people inviting people to smoke pot in his dorm room, people spilling food and beverages and never cleaning them, him walking in on unknown folks drunkenly doing stuff...guess it's funny for the first minute but then gets tiresome. He DID have his private area and they did have at least the wherewithall to respect that. Well now he is in a sub-free place and the kids who tend to request such a place are, well, not nearly as crass and crude and loud as those who don't. Talking in general here. But I met his roommate. What an outstanding kid this is. He's in about 349875 student organizations. Helps direct campaign for Obama, in Student Democrat organization, and leads a Bible study. OK I expect he will definitely run for office one day. They won't be able to go back to his college days and find a single negative thing. Name a politician these days who can say that. (snicker) Thought not. Whoops, thought I was gonna restrain from too many personal views. OK, just one slipped out.

4. I've been going to a Quaker church. :) That IS a long story. Sometime I will tell you more.

5. Micah's talent has been making things from metal. Today he made a metal lock cover for his motorbike. I mean he sawed and bent and polished it, drilled it...he wasn't made for metal, metal was made for him.

2008-07-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

Hello, just to inform my fan base:

My colon is fine. The procedure was not the least bit uncomfortable. There was nothing wrong with me as far as that goes. So back to square one. Maybe endoscopy next- where is the blood coming from- they said maybe stomach. But I don't have a tumor, diverticulitis, colon cancer, etc. I will see what happens next painwise. I mean something is weird in some organ somewhere. :)

Thanks for your prayers and thoughts!!!! Love you all, and I mean that.

2008-06-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

Yup, I know it's been a while. Not much, how 'bout you.

Lessee...besides my issues, what has been happening...well, Nathanael's enjoying life in Wisconsin, and Micah is back with Chichi and now his friend Victor is going with ex-GF Hallie. I just met Hallie today and she's a sweet girl. Brandon is back with Georgina so now everybody's happy and hope that lasts for more than a minute. LOL Oh, the dramz. I don't know what else to say right now except everyone, love one another.

2008-06-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have NOT been around here much.

I'm in the process of finding out what is (medically) wrong wi'me. Will let you all know. God bless you all.

2008-05-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

Haven't been writing much on here but that's not for lack of sufficient stuff. I have my reasons.

In regular news: we now have a zoo at this house- Weasel the ferret, Gigi the cat, Tom the cat, Fry the dog, and Jester the rabbit. Micah found Jester on the way home from school one day. Steve has taken to the rabbit and built him a cage. This is a pet-type rabbit, not one of those wild ones. Very tame. Micah tried to find the owner but no one claimed Jester. So he became Jester to us and he's very tame and soft and pretty. White and gray/brown and already potty-trained.

Micah's been making way cool projects in his metals art class. He is currently sort of fluctuating between 2 girls- Chichi and Hallie. But being honest with them, too. He told Chichi he thought he wasn't being a very good boyfriend to her because they don't see each other much. Hallie is a couple of years older than he is and seemed to like him more than he liked her and were going to have a date at Wendy's but just ended up taking a walk. But I guess the volume of interaction that takes place in relationships these days is not in person or even on the phone but just texting. Text text text....what r u dng....brb....pos....wazzup....hi babe....jst chllng....lv u....hearts....cu l8r....how m boyz...woot.... (OK, woot is sooooo 2006). Oh, and I just found out today what a lam party is. You know, dating years ago was on some levels more interesting. We had to take actual turns on video games rather than hooking up computers. We actually kissed on the couch instead of texting "xoxoxo"........but I'm not going to complain.

2008-04-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

I am taking antibiotics because I have a strep infection but it's not the sore throat kind. I didn't know there was another kind. That's all I know for sure and that may be the source for my problems. There is pain and bloating and some other symptoms. I will have a colonoscopy but don't know when. All my bloodwork is good. So I think this is not physically serious. Thanks for the kind prayers and thoughts. Love you all.

2008-04-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not updating. I have some health issues and tomorrow I'm going to get checked out. I do know something is wrong. I just don't know what. Once I find out, I will be able to take steps to fix it. Hopefully it's something minor and fixable. Prayers welcome. I didn't want to alarm everyone. I'm sure better off than most folks.

2008-03-10T20:32:00.001-07:00

Guess I could do a quick update.

Steve got a nice raise and bonus and more options today so that definitely helps with the college and maybe a couple of fun extra things for us, too.

Nathanael will be coming home next weekend for 2 weeks. He's been busy a LOT and trying to be more social-tends to isolate himself- but he has been enjoying the Iowa winter.

Speaking of winter, we got quite a helping of it a couple of days ago- huge storm- then right away it got warm and it's about all gone- supposed to be almost 60F in a couple of days. Wet, wet, wet. It sure was a pretty storm. It was on all the stations for, like, 4 hours, because, well, people are obsessed. "We're all gonna DIE!!!!! Ah!!!! The white death!!!!" Truth be told, the driving wasn't bad and the extra fuss was needless (as was with the previous 2 storms). Some of our radio "personalities" had lots of fun making fun of the newscasters who told us to stay inside as if bombs were dropping. One of those was Bill Cunningham. You know him as the guy who kept repeating Obama's middle name. Of course he had the right to do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But he did it derisively and he knows it. He's trying to say Obama has terrorist ties because his middle name is Hussein. Which is ridiculous. Hussein is a fairly common name, it means "good/handsome", what of it? That doesn't make him Saddam Hussein. What if my name were Hitler... should they retire the name Hussein because of one bad apple (and his sons)? But Cunningham, he's been around Cincy at LONG time. He's amusing and that is his THING- causing controversy, getting banned for a week, etc. etc. etc....this is how he plays the game and it works! I think McCain was an absolute gentleman for taking the high road on this one. He can afford to sit back now and now let Obama and Hillary go at it. And some of the stuff that's come up on that is pure ridiculous. McCain's non-affair with a lobbyist that looks dead on his wife? Obama's kindergarten records that Hillary's people dug up for Pete's sake! And Obama in Kenyan clothes- so WHAT! His dad was Kenyan! He looked pretty darn good in those clothes too. But it doesn't MEAN anything. Politically. Saying Barack has terrorist ties in Kenyta because he wore Kenyan clothes is like saying that since I used to wear a ruana in Colombia I guess I am Manuel Marulanda's mistress, LOL! (I still have it and sometimes I still use it- it's WARM for wearing up in the mountains....) Btw that does NOT mean I'm on the Obama bandwagon. Charismatic as he is, I see that as his main attribute- it's useful but I need to know MUCH more. And Hillary- I know enough about her- and no. way. Looks like McCain for me though I really liked Huckaby a lot. On a "conservativeness" website, Steve took the "test for conservativeness" and got a 37 of 40....me, I got a 23.... I'm just not as conservative, I guess, as even I once thought I was. I'm pro-life. But I don't want a frackin' fence along the Rio Grande. I can't think of anything stupider. The gov't is so stupid it would be hiring companies who hire illegals to even put UP the fence. Guatemalan migrant workers sneaking into the US to work at Club Chef are NOT a national threat. What else...don't really want universal health care the way it's being proposed because do you really want what Canada has....no thanks...but I do know that something has to be done to fix the system we DO have. Because we already HAVE universal health care- it's just that it's expensive ER services. I'm satisifed with my own health coverage. But I'd like that net in case it fails...that being said, I don't see how, logically, you can get insurance companies to be able to cover everyone. It would be nice but insurance companies have to make SOME profit or they will go out of business. Plain and simple. I don't believe it's fair to deny someone treatment if they are enrolled and they then get something very serious, like cancer. The more people get sick, though, the more everyone's premiums go up. Like any insurance. I don't think an insurance company is necessarily WRONG in saying to 60-year-old smoker with a risk for cancer, "sorry, can't insure you at a reasonable rate." If they said yes to every American, they couldn't stay afloat financially- premiums too expensive. But then I have the opinion that for CHILDREN there should always be treatment, the best and finest, no matter what their family's finances. And no matter what their family's nationality. Or legal status. I would be willing to pay for that in my taxes. There. I know a lot of hospitals and doctors do things like this already for free. I think that should always be the case. So there. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. At least for the next 5 minutes.

Sorry to ramble. It's MY blog and it's incoherent as usual. Bear it or stop reading it.

During this blizzard I read We Were the Mulvaneys. I got it for free at the adult spelling bee I was in (don't ask how I did- could YOU have spelled "mounteblank"?) Now Joyce Carol Oates does not know me. So how does this story KNOW me. And my life. HOW. I also picked up other free books including one about Mother Theresa with some utterly beautiful photos.

2008-02-25T15:21:00.001-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. Lessee- a couple of weekends ago Micah had a great ski trip with the youth group. He thoroughly enjoyed it and the people he was with. He's also still going with his little girl Chichi and hanging around his homies Brandon (who goes with Georgina, the sister), Josh (who goes with their friend Amanda off/on- oh wait- he's a free agent right now), Dustin (who has a gf), and Conner (ladies 13-15, it's your lucky day since he's a free agent, too). Right now his interim report is less than stellar so he's grounded from everyone and everything non-homework until that is where he promised it would be. Dog is cute and growing- adjusting schedule back to the first one we had- no food after 6 p.m. to reduce accidents. He had one today but that's the first in 2 days and it wasn't his fault. Dog does not like to poo in the snow, garrrr! So he will poo on a floor or grass or anything as long as it isn't snow. I have read up on his breed (Boglen) and their kind is very smart (check) but has a short attention span (check) which makes training something you really have to attend to (um, check). Micah gets frustrated at times but so it goes. HE wanted a dog. The other things he does are very cute. I play "gogiddit" with him and he loooooves that. His breed (hybrid boston terrier/beagle) is VERY energetic (check) and very loyal (check)- lots of fun to watch. He has not a malicious bone in his body, but sometimes the teeth CAN be if left unchecked. He has now learned mostly to lick, not bite. He knows to reserve biting for sticks and toys.

YES, I know this is a run-0n entry. I don't spell-check 'em, I don't arrange them into cohesive paragraphs. Hm, Nathanael's enjoying his Iowa weather- more winter than he's ever had here by a long way However, THIS February has not done much to reinforce the global warming theory- it's been a heckuva lot snowier and colder than last February, though January was remarkably balmy. We had a couple of days in February where the jet stream pulled the gulf air up to us, but it's been mostly snow and a good amount of snowdays for Micah. It's still a more piddling amount of snow than Nathanael gets. But fair enough for here.

I am here at the 'puter -didn't go to work today- had what I think was food poisoning- so last night I paid lots of homage to the porcelain gods. Fun fun fun. But I'm better now. Steve brought me Gatorade which restored my electrolytes. Like depression, this is NOT a fun way to lose weight.

2008-01-31T16:06:00.000-08:00

My chance to be crazy proud :)

2008-01-13T19:40:00.000-08:00

"I'm in love"- Micah, who spent this afternoon at the movies with Chichi. He and we had thought this Chichi thing was over. They hadn't hung out in a long, long time and he thought she was dating someone else. Well, "dating" - not really. I don't think her parents allow her to "date", thank goodness. But today the group of their friends went to a movie. Brandon is dating her sister Georgina and Josh is dating their friend Amanda. (I still use the term "dating" loosely since no one actually dated or paid for someone else, and Brandon's stepdad took them.) But Micah and Chichi have been kissing and now he says "we're in love"- he is on cloud 9- imagine how you felt at your first crush/puppy love.

2008-01-08T10:21:00.000-08:00

So during lunch times I have been walking both Fry and Tom. People think it's weird that the cat walks with us but he does and has always walked with me. Now finally Fry and Tom are friends. The weather has been very, very mild but is expected to change. I remember it having been this warm before but I can't deny the mean temp for Ohio is going up in winters. I think. Will have to check the records. Seems like in my short life span there have been a few warm and cold spells. Looks like the global warming thing is happening but I don't know that the results will be as catastrophic as some predict, nor as inconsequential as others do. People will look back on it and say, "Wow, well we knew it was coming, but x didn't happen, y didn't happen, but z DID happen." Just my brain dropping. Anyway, the sun does weird things and at some point we could go back to freezing again. I remember for a while the scientists thought (and had all kinds of charts and evidence for) the new Ice Age (Nathanael bought that one hook, line, and sinker about 4 years ago and even made t-shirts and researched the main proponent of it) was on its way and FAST. Everyone got off that boat in the late 70's except one main author- don't remember his name. Said by now NY would be covered in a vast ice field. Well the fact is that we technically (if the global timeline is right) ARE in sort of an ice age right now, in that we have ice at the poles. At some times, earth has not had that. See how many fossils you can dig out of Antarctica (and this is assuming Antarctica was then where it is now). Antarctica used to be tropical. Well, anyway, no matter what part humans have played in it (we have always played at least a minor role just by breathing), and how much we can stop it, and what the consequences are for not stopping it, life will continue here. That isn't to say it couldn't be snuffed out in a microsecond. The next meteor could come along and bam! we're gone. Then what's it all for? Life, meaning, love, etc? Is the answer "42" like the science fiction movie says. No, God tells us to store up in Heaven our treasure. Our treasure here is gone in a poof! What does it mean to store up treasure in Heaven? I offer as an example Mother Theresa. So much of what she did was a command of Jesus. "Feed my sheep." She was genuine in love. Her reward for each deed did genuinely in love, for Jesus, is stored in Heaven.

2008-01-07T05:40:00.000-08:00

Wow, our firewall isn't working today? I'm at work. Just to catch up:

I've been learning some new Biblical truths and Virgi has been a gift from God helping me through it so I can even answer some things for my kids, too. I am NOT a rabbinical scholar...so it is hard for me to understand all of the hyperbole, the questions about how the OT was written, why Moses did this or that or killed these people, what God did to punish those who shed innocent blood but at the same time so many people do this in God's name....? But I know the truth of Christ. Even Gentiles with no clue like me can understand at least that. I'm beginning to understand Christ more in the context of the time in which He lived and the destruction of Jerusalem that was about to happen by Nero, which then happened. Jesus warned about these things and the diaspora happened and the Jews are all over the globe yet today even though they now have part of this land back (Israel). I just do NOT understand everything but Jesus came to the Jew AND the Gentile and we do not have to know everything in order to understand how Jesus has drawn us into His fold. Rabbis and Bible scholars study OT for lifetimes- context, culture, who wrote what, where, why, hyperbole, allegory, poetry, and even we Gentiles can draw from it and it shows what God is doing, and I definitely need more teaching. Please pray for me-sometimes I read skeptics' questions and I just say man, what is this whole life even for? - and then I see that there are sound answers to them and there are for mine and Nathanael's and Virgi's and everyone's as well. Dr. Y gave Nathanael an exhaustive Bible with references to why things are written certain ways, etc., references to other non-Biblical sources, other archaeological findings and writings, and more. One of the foremost scholars of the world on these ancient things. I will actually be asking some things myself.

Other things: Our doggie. Micah named him Fry. He is doing extremely well in taking care of him so far. He's a puppy so we are going through training. I have never owned a dog so this is new to me. Steve said if I got a dog he'd get a raccoon. So now there's the challenge. We have a zoo now with 4 pets. 2 cats, 1 dog, 1 ferret.

2008-01-06T16:34:00.001-08:00

We have a dog.

Micah has a puppy. Boston terrier/beagle mix. So far yet no name. But he's a lot of work and Micah is in love.

2008-01-01T06:33:00.000-08:00

Thank you everyone who has been following Nathanael and his journey of figuring out what he really believes about God and, well, everything. I support my beautiful son 100% all of the time and all I do is call out to God in my own weakness. My heart breaks but I know God is merciful and looking out for him. It's been really, really hard on both of us. My heart and intellect continually cry out to Christ and Christ is merciful and I know that there is much that I am not aware of, and God is working everything together for good. I can not know the whole future but God has promised me He will not give me more than I can endure. I think I always knew these moments were coming for Nathanael, no matter what the university. It is drawing me closer to Steve. Micah is actually maturing little by little and he is open to people discussing these things with him....he has said a lot of things and he has admitted the "I don't believe in anything" statements have had to do with his upholding his "image"...his little group of friends has begun to disband and I believe now he is ready for the next steps of his life. He is maturing day by day. I watch my children go through these things and all I do is fall to the floor open and vulnerable calling out to God that I am broken.

There are miracles and they confirm what I believe. They do not happen as Santa gifts. They happen to confirm something (i.e. Duane Miller).

Another thing is that I am going through menopause. My hot flashes and emotions are something I have not experienced before. I am broken in body and spirit and right now that is how I fall on my face before God. I can cling on to his promises for my children and me and Steve. Thank you for not making fun of me or my faith at this time.

2007-12-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this entry on a wireless keyboard that goes with this 42" monitor/TV that Steve got me? us? himself :) for my birthday/Christmas. He bought this gigantic monster and stuck it up on the living room wall. A very nice TV. I had asked for a little portable TV and he got me this PLUS all these crazy features like using my TV as a monitor. So here I am eight feet away from what I am typing. Below this monitor is a really nice Amish cabinet Mom gave me. This is definitely the lux du jour. I was a bit scared about how much this may have cost but I was told "I got a really good deal on this." And that is all he said. He wants me to stay out of the "man cave" (aka den). Well, not always. But often. I said, "Why don't you give me your old TV and you take this one to your man cave?" "No, no, no", he replies. "This is for your birthday so it is for YOU." The first thing I watched on it was the Bengals beating the Browns. I don't know what all this TV does and like Mom I have no idea why I need two remotes for the TV and what all these little buttons do and how to turn it off one thing and on to another. I'm such a girl. The person (probably a woman) who makes a woman-friendly remote control will make millions. Mom got Dad his big plasma TV a few years ago. She tries to turn it onto movies, back to TV, to DVD, to whatever, and then after we both try without success, Dad comes in and punches 2 buttons and says, "see how easy that was? Stop screwing up my remotes. You mess everything up." LOL Well, I'm going to learn how this monstrosity functions so I can at least enjoy all the little buttons that say SLEEP, COMPONENT, AV, CC, MTS, PIP, PIP CH -, PIP CH +, PIP INPUT, PIP SIZE, RGB, HDMI, and others as well as these little symbols that look like ET's alphabet. And you can't just punch the keys- they have to be punched in the right order. "Read the instructions!" Steve will say. Um, yeah. I'll get right on that. Now I want a remote control that doesn't have these buttons but has an automatic espresso machine- execute, a bathtub auto refill with aromatic options, offspring instant locator, and an aprés-work de-stressor switch.

2007-12-24T11:21:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PS Below post is there to annoy the hypersensitive. Hopefully its Orwellian message serves its purpose if that's the kind of greeting you need. Admitting you have a problem is the first and most crucial step toward recovery. LOL
Oh, yes, for everyone else:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

ROTFLOL

2007-12-19T12:21:00.000-08:00

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

2007-12-15T13:53:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the party- we decided to cancel due to weather and really few people could make it...and to be honest I could blame those things but Steve and I just weren't interested in doing this right now, either. But we decided this a.m. it wasn't worth it...but we are having our own party anyway and IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO see us this evening you would be more than welcome. By that I mean Karl is coming over and cooking, like every weekend. We just aren't having a "party" party. You know how women talk- we're having a party. It's no longer a party party, just a party. I have to admit I talk like this- has X left the company? Is she gone or gone gone? Gone = for today, gone gone = for good. Is your event dressy or is it dressy dressy? Is the movie funny or funny funny? LOL Works w/ nouns or adjectives. Verbs, too. Is he working or working working? LOL

2007-12-12T12:38:00.000-08:00

LOL on Nathanael's Gigi comment. :)

So....

Saturday night you are all invited to watch the game with us (49'ers vs. Bengals) at our house. Come around 5, 6, 7, and the game starts at 8. So come anytime. Dave & Maria and kids, Dan and Tracy, Mom and Dad, and anyone else who would like to come. This is my shout out because I don't have my dayrunner with me and today's my day off. Anyone from elsewhere who is in town is free to come or if you want to fly across the globe to come at this last moment's notice, the more the merrier.

Karl would like to cook for you all. HE REALLY WANTS YOU ALL TO COME.

Anyone reading this please tell everyone else. If you can't make it, fine. If you can, come anytime for good tailgating-type eats.

2007-12-10T15:38:00.000-08:00

OK I'll update.

Tom just scratched me. I mean HARD way down in my finger and it is THROBBING. Tom, btw, has a hurt leg (another animal bit it) and he's been taking meds for the ensuing infection. He scratched me because I've been giving him his pills. I spend more on him than on my kids or myself medically. No insurance for cats.

Update- our pets-
Tom (have had him for about 2 yrs) is a big old orange tom that we have had since we found him and his brother Aeron(who went to Brian's house). Aeron is an Aeron but no longer a tom and soon that will be happening to our cat's unfortunate jewels. Micah has been protesting but if Tom didn't have them he wouldn't care about his territory and therefore would not fight with other animals and get massively infected leg wounds.

Gigi (aka Gigi Falona Prissypaws) is our new cat-about 5 months old- spayed- totally indoors- great cat and very affectionate- cuddly and loves to lick faces but we also call her Heidi because she hides all the time. (Micah came up with that.)

Weasel is Steve's ferret. When she is out she sneaks around and hides all of our shoes in various places- under stove, behind couch, behind dryer, etc. so I never have a complete pair of shoes unless I put them in the closet where they belong. Besides shoes, she also hides cookies, balls, pieces of old things, whatever she can find to put in her "stash". Oh, and she BITES! And loves to tease Tom.

Gigi and Tom love each other and despite Tom's unrequited romantic overtures, they get along great and play and flirt a lot.

So there's the pet situation and I know I talk too much about pets so unless anything happens that's it for a while.

How 'bout them Bengals? Woot! Who dey! OK, OK, I KNOW yesterday was a gimme but we will take anything we can get!

I had 5 extra vacation days left over this year so I took 5 random days off. I had to use or lose them so this Wed. is the first one. I am going to Trinidad in a couple of months (methinks- not 100% sure yet) for a real vacation. Will meet a coworker's family. Fun!

2007-11-22T19:51:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was fun. Lots of food. I didn't bring any of it. I was busy getting Nathanael last night. And staying up last night late talking with him so we all slept in this a.m. Steve came back today and came by. Karl was going to have come with us but he never got back with us on that. Nathanael showed me a picture of the girl he is now interetsed in- Nicole, from Maryland. She is a music major and plays piano and violin. Like yours truly? LOL She comes from a family that all is into classical music, I think all professionally. He showed me her pic and hey they have matching hairdos. :) She looks like a cute girl. They are crushing on each other. So now both my boys have girls they are interested in. :) Everybody 1 2 3 awwwwwww.....

2007-11-21T22:50:00.000-08:00

I went w/ Micah to pick up Nathanael at his friend's house near Dayton. First thing Nathanael said to Micah, "Wow, so are you goth/emo/skater?" Micah got offended. He is touchy around Nathanael. They get along but when Nathanael is home Micah takes a lot of time to sharpen the distinction between them. Whatever "statement" Nathanael makes, Micah makes another.

Nathanael's current fashion statement is plaid and no shoes. Micah got a cool jacket and skinny pants at Hot Topic. And a skater hat and gloves. The skater hat looks like it could have been crocheted by a loving old granny. But it's THE style. He went to school with that look and got complimented. He's not emo or goth, but definitely kind of skater. He's kind of, hm, combined a few different looks: Roca wear or Paco (rap), skater shoes and hat and gloves, emo this or goth that. Well he thinks he's da shiznit....LOL....and I guess maybe he is. :) Uh, the look may work when your 14 but Steve and I have said to him, "It's OK for now, but if you dress like this at age 25 you have some issues." So anyway he skates around a lot and listens to a lot of post-grunge, nu-metal, indie this or that... call it what you want but it will be "classic" in 20 more years.

Tomorrow is T-day at Oxford. Steve is in W.Va. but is coming home soon. He got a deer! He was pretty happy about that. Missed going to W.Va. this year but the logistics didn't work out. I will miss all those people. I guess I will see them at the summer reunion when again I will bid on the mystery gift. :) Every year there is a cute auction to raise money for the next year's gathering. Old family photos, tchatchkes, ornaments, and all kinds of cool old things. Way fun. But they don't do the auction at Thanksgiving. At T-day it's EAT EAT EAT at noon, some people go hunt, then everyone comes back to EAT EAT EAT again. OH MAN it's good eats there. I will miss it. But I will like t-day in O-town with my kids and my brother's kids. Dad will do his oyster dressings.

btw my dad is doing pretty well. Mom broke her ankle so now he is taking care of HER again. They seem to be taking turns at it lately. Dad's back more to his old self and personality now that his health is better. We all know something happened to his personality some years back (and it was a sudden shift, so a mini-stroke possibly but we will never know) and it was like he was a different person completely. But a lot of his old personality is coming back since his operation and his much improved diet. Good for him!

2007-11-21T16:45:00.000-08:00

To everone who reads this post:

My apologies if I offended anyone who reads this. I realize I should set some things to "private". I apologize for hurting anyone or exposing personal things that I shouldn't.

This is kind of like a diary which I have kept all my life. In my paper diaries I always wrote EVERYTHING. I have found myself discarding some of those, too. At the time, though, it helps to vent.

I found that I was using this blog as a way to vent as well. I realized 1 or 2 people occasionally read this but that is all. I mainly keep it for myself. I know that some people do like to see the pictures but like most blogs this is fairly boring unless you are me.

So I am going through old entries and trying to filter out things that could have hurt Steve. I am sorry, Steve (husband).

I have asked Steve to read this blog but he doesn't want to. Most other people don't read it, either.

Believe me, there are MANY personal things that I absolutely leave out of this blog. But I should have been even more careful.

I AM SORRY to anyone I have hurt.

In the past a couple of people have brought this to my attention and I have had to delete things, and Steve just brought it to my attention again. Seems I have to be constantly reminded that this is public, not private. I guess whatever I want to keep private I should put as private...which some of these blog entries are...that's why no one can read them. At one time I didn't know how to do this on blogger but now I can.

Please accept my apologies and if you are still angry at me, then you have every right to be.

But there is nothing I can do about it now except apologize and I do mean it sincerely.

2007-11-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

Micah has a new little honey. The poor thing's name- Ernestina. But she calls herself Chi-chi. WHY oh WHY did her parents name her Ernestina? The world is full of questions. She is about Micah's age and in the eighth grade at Finneytown. She's a cute little girl with three sisters. Short with long hair and likes to have fun and laugh.

Rules for Ze Loft

2007-10-23T19:31:00.000-07:00

1. Consult to me before changing anything in the loft.
2. Leaving trash on the floor is right out!
3. Turn off lights when asleep or outside.
4. If you leave door open don't do anything bad....i.e., cuss/DP.
5. Respect all work done.
6. Conserve all food/supplies.

Stuff You Can Do

Write on walls.
Almost anything you want!
Be a good person.

Stuff you can't do:

yell
jump
burn stuff
blast radio/tv
bring weapons like knives/grenades
bring glass
be an idiot he he

Those are indeed Micah's loft rules. As a hangout, it looks great! He has old couch cushions and various other "found" items serving as furniture, an old comforter for a carpet, some old linoleum, some camouflage-type wall decor, and "walls" of plywood, etc., including a "door" that locks. Various other things that open and close using elaborate pulley setups. It is really, REALLY comfy there. I will know now NOT to bring grenades up there (darn!), and who he has to be telling that TO?....and no, I do not know what or who DP is. And I think the cussing is only allowed with the door sufficiently closed, though when I listened to them that time unbeknownst, I was actually knownst, and I really did know I was knownst.

NATHANAEL is HOME!!!!!! For a visit for a few days. I HUUUUUUUGGGED him and I am glad to have my baby back for a few days. He got a ride back with a guy visiting UC friends, and that is who he will ride back with. Thank you God for getting him here safely! He's been a busy guy and you can check that out on his blog. Right now he's helping Micah with his homework. Nathanael is the best at explaining things that, well, have gone a bit rusty in MY head. Last night it was rise over run.....and yes I DID tell him you will use it in life. Then I commenced to struggle with rates of change in the prices of bramblepots in Bangaloon (OK I am making that part up).

PS Almost forgot...Micah successfully completed the spaghetti noodle trick twice tonight for his brother's amusement. That's it. No more pasta for him!

2007-10-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

Today was DEFINITELY a You Tube day had I just had a camera!

I cooked spaghetti. Spaghetti and Micah is a bad combination. Like guns and alcohol. Anyway, after snorting a noodle AGAIN (this passes for entertainment), Micah was unable to blow it out or swallow it as he had done before (inhale it through his nostril and then pull it out from his mouth). Uh....it just sort of stuck up there...He was maniacally snorting and blowing and sneezing while at the same time we were both falling on the floor in stitches. I about blew 10 hernias laughing at him. It took him, probably 2 hours???? to really get it all out...trying to extract it by shoving ANOTHER spaghetti noodle up there (Um, that is NOT going to work, Micah...) He finally sneezed and blew between math problems and it mostly came out. I guess it did, anyway. I called Steve who was still at work and told him to hurry home with his camera so we could post this on You Tube. But it was out before Steve came home. This was definitely one of the best moments You Tube could EVER have had. I am, ahem, SO SORRY I could not share this fine moment with you all.

Aptober

2007-10-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

Most of the red blips have tornadoes, too. There's one heading just south of here. Interesting weather. Well, Pa, time to run t'the' cellar! Land sakes! Well, I for one enjoy the balmy brew. I seem to remember a blizzard one Halloween when we made a snow-o-lantern. I will dig up the pic sometime and post it. I much prefer this, hail, tornadoes, and all.

2007-10-15T17:08:00.000-07:00

Haven't updated lately....sorry...haven't felt much like writing. No reason, really. But I am interested in reading other blogs, which I've been doing more of.

2007-09-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well, my idea of writing a note on Tom's collar DID work, after all. I got a call from the other family- turns out they were moving and their last day 2 doors from us was Saturday. They were calling him Melvin. We talked a lot. They made the decision not to take Tom after they knew he had a home here, and they had not been wanting to keep him inside all day yet they would have been afraid to let him out because it's a busy street. Turns out the man was a cat-hater and allergic until he met Tom/Melvin, whom he wasn't allergic to.

Well it turns out Tom has ingratiated himself to no less than 4 neighbors. The woman across the street, the woman next to her, the people between us and the neighbors that moved- he would walk in to ALL of their homes, get fed because all of those people were charmed by him, and all kind of thought they owned him, but who was doing the owning? TOM/Melvin owned us all. And he still does. I have made an agreement with the remaining neighbors that if they want him to just walk in their homes like he owns the place, that is fine with me. They would like it and so as far as the immediate future, Tom's house is about every house here though we are his official residence still. We just happened to have a lot of cat lovers here. He doesn't settle down and has no shame in lavishing affections in order to garner some bites of food. No wonder he was gaining so much weight. He's getting fatter and more lethargic, and no wonder. The neighbor across the street thinks he is still too skinny. She is one of those people who lets their cats grow into monstrous proportions. Micah is happy; he was heartbroken when he thought Tommy was going to be gone and lately he doesn't seem to get emotional about so many things, trying to be a tough guy skater boy and all. But he just lrrrrrrrrrrves his animals.

Lily and Trixie are really cute, and Weasel is something else. Pretty little kittens, and mastering the art of peeing and pooping appropriately is at least going faster than it does to teach a human.

2007-09-21T16:54:00.000-07:00

We have now added to our family.

About 4 days ago, Micah came home with 2 calico kittens he had found roaming near Dairy Queen. We cleaned them up. We had to take them to the vet. So now they look much prettier than when we found them. Micah named the callie/tortie mix Trixie and his friend Alex named the pure calico Lily. I was wanting calicos and now I have them. :-)

Not to be outdone, Steve went out and bought Weasel, a ferret. She is playful and we are training her not to bite.

Pictures shortly.

Tom is around a lot but we also have been sharing him with another family. We have no idea who they are but they thought he was a stray, I guess, and put a flea collar and rabies vaccine tag on him. When we lived in F-town, we sort of shared him with the Rumpings this way. He is just not a one-family cat. Philanderer! Anyone with fresh fish and he's there. I wrote a note to the "other family" and attached it to his collar, but he pulled it off. I am going to have to write another one, enclose it, and attach it more securely. We are offering to share but, since Micah loves that cat so much, not cede ownership entirely. I will offer to pay for his vaccine. But I do know he has his affairs. He loves easily and for food.

2007-09-17T18:22:00.000-07:00

Here's Nathanael via phone from his dorm room showing off how purty he is. ;)

2007-09-16T16:21:00.000-07:00

Major fights over homework now. Hey, I'm going to post some pix of Nathanael. We had a Skype camera call last night. If you all want to see me and chat with me sometime I have a camera and microphone. Nathanael has the camera but no microphone.

2007-09-13T16:12:00.000-07:00

Bad day at work today. I really got slammed for daring to make a suggestion, and some people are realllllly hypersensitive and think I'm a total and complete halfwit. I really don't understand the response I received for something I was trying to do to help, but it actually fueled a big old fire...does this sound familiar...the thing I caution Micah not to do. I made a suggestion that it turns out has already been nixed and nixed and nixed again by the powers that be and that I had the guts to suggest it REALLY had people jumping out of their skin.

I really, really have a problem and now that I look back and analyze my life and situations in my life, I do have a knack for saying the Emperor has no clothes at VERY inappropriate, sensitive times. (If the Emperor HAD clothes on, no one would be so hypersensitive about this...there really is no good reason that I have heard of why this can't be done...it's just that my suggestion agreed with a very arrogant, disagreeable, antipathic, verbally abusive person who happened this one time to be, in my estimation, right.) This person is someone no one can tolerate but they do because he makes the company lots of money. SOOOO anyway...it is like any workplace. I tend to have a very lacking knowledge of timing, or knowing when to shut up. So now I am JUST going to shut up....everything is just yes. no. yes. no. If I don't know, I will find out for you. I guess I stuck my hand in a HUGE battle going on and it's time to slink away with my tail between my legs. I have a poor sense of who to align with, and I am politically obtuse. My boss blows everything out of proportion and makes it seem like the sky is falling, so from now on I'm just taping my mouth shut.

2007-09-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

Micah's in his loft now with 2 friends from his new school, Connor and Alex. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't have at least 1 extra kid at my house. That was at the old and the new house. Well they're up there talking about stuff that, well, 14-year-old boys find humorous. Nathanael didn't prepare me for this. Micah's going through a lot of the kind of rebellion that hits most boys around this age. :O So- unbeknownst to them, I listened for a while to their talk (b.s. more to the point)- it consisted of past injuries, (did you see the you tube video of this guy that broke his leg and it was all shaped like thiiiiis), what girls in school are hot and which ones are butterfaces (Everything on her looks good but her face...), various other topics, and everything peppered with "Dude, that would blow a$$," "that was BEAST" (means cool), "I'd feel salty if..." Connor uses a lot more of the 4-letter words. "Why do girls always get drunk and then wake up the next day saying why did I F that dude?" Um, yeah....sure, how many girls do YOU know who do that on a regular basis... He dyed a green stripe in his hair the other day. He is a goofy kid looking for attention. Well you know how 14-year-old boys talk like they are BMOC. Oh please tell me this doesn't continue forever...I hope Micah matures out of this...but I honestly remember being in college and seeing how many people, both men and women, talked like that all the time. Sorry, when you're 25 this isn't so cute any more: "Dude, I was making out with this one girl once..." "Yeah RIGHT...what girl were YOU making out with..." "Well anyway, dude, Jackie from that 70's show is HOT". "Dude, one day I'm gonna get a (name that car)."
Nathanael didn't prepare me for this! HELP- people with grown kids, how did you deal with this? I just know there's a light at the end of this tunnel, but I hope that light isn't a train waiting to run me over. Shrink says he's a normal boy seeking independence, which people do at about this age.
Man I remember how utterly horrible I was at age 14. I can only imagine what my parents went through. I was a drama queen, nowadays referred to as emo. I was an emo. I screamed and cussed and caused a HUGE scene many times. I remember threatening to run away and really NOT wanting to live with my parents because they were totally nerdy and retarded. My thinking didn't go much beyond that except for having crushes on rock stars and boys at school. Everything my parents did embarrassed me beyond belief. I guess they just knew I would grow out of it but boy was I a pain when it was in process. But my mom says she herself was a total nuisance to her own parents and I know my dad was to his. Smoking and running around and my mom in the attic kissing boys. LOL
God, please pull him through this unscathed...

By the way, Micah is really enjoying having a broken arm. "All the hot girls want to sign my cast."

2007-09-06T20:39:00.001-07:00

Resolution finally. We went to the superintendent. Had a meeting this a.m. Got the doctor's report saying Micah is a normal 14-year-old, warts and all, but certainly does not have dangerous tendencies. He's going back to school Tuesday. Superintendent is very nice. Principal and vice principal fine, everything OK now. We have a meeting with Mrs. Wade (principal) Monday. Everyone now knows Micah is not a threat. Immature, yes, but not a threat. Shrink says he's developing fine. Normal brain development for a boy his age. Nothing I didn't know and needed to pay $360 to know. He has a "metric buttload" of homework to catch up on still. And I went to meet the teacher night tonight. This place is interesting. I have never seen so many anorexic, frosted-blonde soccer moms in one place in my life. :) They are pretty nice, though. It was an informative, effective evening. The teachers are definitely a league above most others, too.

I am grateful to God because I really desperately prayed my way through this and my nerves were twisted into a million knots that are slowly loosening now. God answered in His usual BIG and generous way.

2007-08-31T18:08:00.000-07:00

Things are just getting nuts. I'm having nervous breakdowns all the time. This is NOT the way to lose weight but I have. Steve is so angry he's filing a lawsuit. Has a lawyer now. If we just had a DATE for a return to school. But the principal waffles along and avoids answering questions, keeps it all open-ended. If they could just say 10 days I'd be okay with that (it's been 4). But now Steve has gotten pissed so badly he wants to sue no matter what they do, because Micah was taken out of school for a non-reason, for something he's already been punished for, which in itself was ridiculous, with no hope of an end in sight to this. Steve's now been in contact with the school board and ass't superintendent. He said he'd look into it Tuesday. Hey, all I want is a date but now Steve has seen what this is doing to us all and he's mad and once he starts he won't stop. I am willing for Micah to comply with any behavior plan or anything they want to do. Micah will go along with it. Steve is so angry right now at those 2 (principal and ass't principal). I could get over it IF they just gave me a date. I mean we've gone through the psychological testing now and they've been told Micah's not a risk for going postal. He's not one of those kids who gets on nazi websites and stacks guns around. He's so opposite. Very outgoing. Can't be a loner- always has to have someone around him. Good with animals and good with younger kids. Does that sound like the Unabomber? I have taught kids like the ones who do school shootings. I know this type very well. Micah is SO not like that and I can understand them wanting to be 100% sure but this woman is so weird and skittish and paranoid that she seems to make any excuse to just put this off. That has to be against some kind of law. Steve thinks they can't just exclude someone after 10 days unless there's a good reason and there is no good reason, even for the 10 days. Micah threatened no one, didn't get angry, is still not angry. He is on the downslope of adolescence now. Both my boys went through a stage at about age 11-12 where anything set them off, but their anger was unfocused, and I just knew those hormones were about to shoot off the charts. As Nathanael matured and just got so calm and mellow, I waited for Micah to do the same, and now he seems to be so calm as well. This kid just doesn't get too mad at anyone. The one mistake he made when he was still in 7th grade, making a list of people he hated, not even planning to show it to anyone, never even directly saying anything threatening to anyone, well a teacher found it and then he was expelled. It seems this is going to follow him everywhere. Meanwhile, some real nut job is lurking around waiting to shoot up a school and they are not going to catch him because people are wasting time focusing on Micah. There's a book called Columbine's Collateral Damage and that's what Micah is right now. He's getting most of his assignments but still we don't have the makeup work for Latin and biology. Luckily we can teach that stuff to him. Steve used to teach this biology and right now they're doing trees and all the various kinds of leaves. I overheard (shhhh, don't tell) the bio teacher questioning HRH the principal too and her waffling answers. This lady is haunting my every thought. The kids think she is 85 years old. I know she can't be that old but sometimes I wonder. She's IRRATIONAL.

On top of this, Micah broke his ARM tonight skating. We just got back from the hospital where they reset his bones. I got the call from work from a fireman who said my son had a fractured wrist from skating. It's not a HUGE fracture, but it is on the radius and there's another on the tip of the ulna. I asked if Micah heard his bone craaaaack and he said he did. He panicked when he got up and saw the weird shape of his arm- trying to find an adult who could get help- and they helped- ambulance was there in 2 minutes. I sat in the hospital while they put morphine in him (did little) and re-set the bone. Micah was in a lot of pain while they re-set the bone, but still barely winced. He watched them put needles and caine of some type in him, had sort of a Calvin & Hobbes approach to it all, like "This is cool, kind of interesting!" Kid's not afraid of blood. He said to one of the nurses, "How do you get used to seeing all these freaky injuries here?" His one regret? "Mom, I really hate that you and Dad had to miss the Bengals game for this."

2007-08-29T18:04:00.000-07:00

Things are not good right now here.

Long story short: A few days ago Micah told a few kids at the school about what happened in 7th grade. Now before going back to school he had to have a psychiatric evaluation, etc. etc. etc. to prove he won't go postal. He's been to one. God answered my prayer and I was able to get an appointment with a great doc today. However, school has to "discuss" and all before he can return. In the meantime they are letting him keep up with his work but it's been short in coming. This is ridiculous. My nerves are shot and I won't tell you what I think of the administration. I think the teachers agree with me. I am tired of schools. He has to go for 2 hours of another evaluation later this week or Monday. I don't know if the school will pend for that or not. Could use some prayer. There are particular people whose competency I question. He is being punished for something in 7th grade all over again. They say he should have never mentioned this whole thing but since he did, rumors started about a kid who in 7th grade had a "hit list". And so on and so on and so on. It never ends. The whole year started great. Now I'm just sick.

2007-08-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

I met Jeremy, Nathanael's other roommate. Nice kid from Chicago who is studying Japanese. Talking to both him and his mother, it seemed they spoke with a very, very slight Haitian or Jamaican or some kind of West African lilt. But they say they are from just Chicago. I let it go at that. It was just distinct and, well, un-Chicago-sounding. So anyway. He had about 15 books of kanji, Japanese grammar, and kana. So next time I go there, I will let him use/have MY 15 or so books of kanji et al. The one other book he had is the Bible. :) Jay is from New Delhi and NOT a vegetarian. So if I send food with meaty stuff in it they can all have some. Across the hall is a boy from Hawaii of Japanese descent who was interested in why Jeremy wants to study Japanese. I think Jeremy is into the Japanese martial arts as well, far more than most Japanese are. Then there is Ben. I met Ben and his parents and they are a normal family from Colorado Springs with one exception: Ben is strikingly good-looking. So I said to his mom, "Well he's such a good-looking boy, I guess there must be a girlfriend back in Colorado Springs." "Ex," she said. "They didn't want a long-distance relationship." I said, "Well I'm sure it won't take the girls long to notice him." And I was right. I saw a little 90-pound girl orbiting around him in a lunch line. Have you ever picked up a bunch of paper clips with a magnet? Maybe he will major in theater and be the next Brad Pitt but smarter. Face it, most pretty boys in H-wood are total buffoons (see also Tom Cruise), so maybe Ben can change the image. But anyway, back to my OWN good-looking boy...who is making lots of friends, especially with the GOOP people he went to Wisconsin with. I met Dr. Savarese. I think it will be a good match for developing Nathanael's writing. Dr. S. remembered and has been corresponding with Irene. These connections are all good. We talked a little about autism. He talked to all of us parents about the tutorial. He isn't lax and he works the students well. If they are late he shakes them out of bed. He makes them go to the actual LIBRARY and not just the internet.

So then I drove back starting yesterday. I took another drive around Iowa City. It was a beautiful evening. I went through my park again. I thought I would be able to find the road I lived on. I know the house isn't there anymore. I went along the railroad tracks beside where the house once was. Well as I was driving a boy fell off his bike and I stopped and helped him. He seemed in a lot of pain and I helped him up as his friends jeered at him for falling. He pretty much had a scraped up hand and a very bruised ego. He was 13...I wanted to get him to a place where he could clean his hand but didn't know where to find such a place. Finally he and his friends rode off to a place down the street they knew, since they were several blocks from their home.

I also drove by a huge crowd of girls standing in front of a sorority house. New pledges were in black dresses, holding candles, posing for a picture. Probably 80 of them. They were stunning, breathtaking. I may actually be able to find this picture by googling them. I don't know what sorority it was but maybe I will dare myself to find this photo. :)

2007-08-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

Since I left Wednesday, I decided to drive leisurely to Grinnell. I diverted at times to some backroads. The dry, brown drought of southwest Ohio (I must emphasize the southwest, since northeast Ohio has seen its worst flooding in 100 years) soon gave way to green, thriving vegetation. I stopped at a cafe near Peoria where I listened to some eight old men sit around and talk about, in order, food poisoning, laxatives ("prune juice always loosens me right up"), whichever war they fought in, social security benefits, and "some old sumbich" they all knew. They were just too cute.

In Northern Illinois, I drove right into storms, the same ones that hit Chicago and spawned many tornadoes (I looked but didn't see any of them). They were breathtaking storms. All the rest of last night (Thursday) I drove through intermittent driving rain. Lightning threw webs across the entire sky. I even left the interstate to park in a lot and watch the storms crawl over a small town while the crickets chirped and wind gusted through tall grass. The lightning in thiws storm looked so close, but it was still so far away, being cloud to cloud, that the thunder it created was barely audible, if at all. Just flashes and flashes in silence. That is the nature of these expansive storms. The storms across the vast midwest are visible for perhaps a hundred miles.

I stopped for some time in Iowa City. I went to MY old park. MY PARK. The city park where I have some of my first memories ever. As a baby. Unbelievably, the carnival rides are still there. Yes, everything on them has probably been replaced in the last FORTY years, but they are in the exact same place. I sat on a swing and watched the cars go by and imagined them the way I saw them as a baby. A busy road runs behind a bunch of trees, so as a baby I thought they were actually little cars, in trees. Of course long ago I realized that memory was actually due to not knowing how to perceive size and distance accurately yet. A baby learns it early.

It's one of those things that a person has been blind for life, upon seeing for the first time, has to learn cognitively. When Jesus healed a blind man by mixing spit and dirt and touching the man's eyes with it (something like scales fell from the eyes, so perhaps it was what we now know as cataracts), he then asked the man what people looked like. "They look like trees walking" said the man. Jesus touched his eyes with a second pat of spittle and dirt, and that brought the actual interpretation of what the man was seeing. Had Jesus not touched him a second time, this man would have had to learn completely how to perceive size, distance, where one thing ends and another begins, the meaning of shadows, light, human facial expression, movement, colors, everything. What an alien a human must look like to an adult seeing one for the first time! For that matter, a baby! I remember when Nathanael was just born, how he just spent so much time LOOKING on the first day of his life. Just looking and quietly, intently, focusing on sources of light. Micah spent his first moments just looking at my face and Steve's face, rolling his tongue the whole time.

Iowa City was so flooded that a "puddle" in the middle of the park had become a large pond. About a dozen college students were throwing frisbees around in it, diving and sloshing in it and having a great old time. I thought of the lack of rain back in Cincinnati, the curled up leaves around my house, the grass that everywhere has just given up. No way to even anything out.

Today I had some time before Nathanael returned from his GORP trip, so I drove up to Tama. I bought him some corn tortillas at the Mexican store. I was going to go look at the old farm but I decided to do that some other time.

Nathanael's room is a triple. I still have not met either roommate though I briefly talked to one of them, Jay from New Delhi. Jeremy has still not arrived. The room is a big room with 2 smaller rooms adjoining. Nathanael and Jay each took an adjoining room. Jeremy gets the big room, though he has no privacy, because Jay and Nathanael have to walk through Jeremy's room to leave.

I'm here at Super 8 and the students and parents are pouring in for orientation tomorrow. There are still a few things I have to check on. Most of his orientation and all of his moving in is done, but I need to attend some things and so does he. He has gotten really involved in GORP, the Grinnell Outdoor Recreation Program....(I think that's what GORP stands for). He had a great time in Wisconsin. I'm sure he will detail everything on his blog tonight.

I bought him a few creature comforts neither he nor his dad thought of and got him started on laundry, which was badly needed. His shoes REEK and they are still unwashed. I hope he didn't forget his laundry...I better call and remind him....he forgets things like that.

I almost forgot to mention that I was SO happy to see Nathanael. I already missed him terribly. I have great grief taking my baby and dropping him off in a cornfield in the middle of Iowa. But then I am also happy he's a grown man now and is where he is supposed to be. I pray for him all the time. I will never stop doing that.

2007-08-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

Micah LOVED his first day at school. He already has some friends who share his interests of skating and RPG's (in particular Runescape...I don't get the huge appeal...it's a game that thousands of people play at a time online. You create a character. You walk around in this virtual world that has lots of levels learning "skills" in woodcarving, arrow making, etc. etc. etc. You never actually win the game- you just advance in levels.) He came home and did his homework right away, and another comment: "Already 5 girls have a crush on me." Me: "How can you tell?" Micah: "You just know. You just know it." Aren't we Mr. Cool. Sloooooow down. He actually did get back together with his "girlfriend" in Texas...she's a person he met doing what...you guessed it...Runescape.

2007-08-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

Micah says of freshman orientation, "It was BOOOOOORing...." typical. But as I watched him watch the program, I saw him connect with a few kids right away. He was already sitting with some kids and talking and having fun. Later he and Brandon went to the skate park. Now he is reading his summer assignment, Lord of the Flies. Steve chided ME that Micah had only read 40 pages while he was gone in Iowa. Well now I've gone and gotten some study guides online and I chided Steve that HIS discourse doesn't work when tutoring Micah. Same old same old. We'll work it out.

The weather is still ridiculous here. DRY. Yesterday lightning split the thirsting southern sky a few times, but the rain only continued its tantalizing flirt with the far edges of the city. Meanwhile all grass has turned brown. The long, shrill cicada chirp pierces the heavy sunshine. Plants from the north have no hope here. Some plants in my inherited garden, some small little things with large, veiny, deciduous leaves, have just given up. The leaf edges are brown and the stems withering, wilting hopelessly even if I use the hose on them. It just is not enough. They have literally been cooked alive. The earth is cracking like millions of fault lines. Plants of southern origin have flourished in the heat but are now beginning to tire of the lack of water as even their roots dehydrate. The magnificent magnolia tree thrives but its leaves are turned upward in hope. Meanwhile Texas drowns under its diluvian surge, and Dean has menaced St. Lucia. His plans for the coast are unknown but to him. Yucatan? Houston? San Antonio? New Orleans? We can only guess while Cancun genuflects and whispers please....no....not again....

2007-08-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

Nathanael has moved into Grinnell. He then goes on to his outdoor orientation activity, in which about 25 students chose to participate. I will go up to visit him next weekend- parents' weekend. You can get on his blog. Currently he and his friend BJ are discussing Thoreau and some essays written by, well I don't remember his name, on the merits of agriculturalism...so feel free to jump into that one...BJ goes to Brandeis and the knot in my stomach twists ever more as he details how Finneytown did not prepare him for Brandeis. They didn't offer enough calculus and he didn't feel challenged in any of his classes, even the AP classes. For the first time at Brandeis he had to really study and think HARD and things aren't coming as easily. Sounds exactly like what Nathanael had to say, from correcting his trig teacher jr. year (you can go back and read it in his blog)...maybe it's just academic standards in general...he got five 5's in his AP classes this year. That's like, 20 hours he does not have to take at Grinnell. 20 hours of something more advanced. So he learned well enough at Finneytown to get 5 5's (and a 3 his jr. year in an AP class). A 34 on ACT. And extremely high SAT's. OK OK we know he's smart. Now we have just moved to a school district and this public school system is rated (Newsweek, I think) #12 in the whole US. That is #12 from, what, a hundred thousand school systems...? I could kick myself that Nathanael didn't go to this school, though I didn't want him to leave his friends at Finneytown. He and Matt R. and BJ and the rest seemed to muddle through and make great strides despite the mediocrity around them. The median ACT here was 23, and the median at F-town was 21.5, though, so what difference would it have made? He'd have been unchallenged even here. NOW I have Micah coming up in these schools, and I hope he makes every effort. He is such a younger brother in this whole thing. He has lately become the anti-Nathanael. Everything Nathanael likes, he doesn't. If Nathanael doesn't like it, he does. Music, sports, books, friends, games, EVERYTHIING. Now that they are not in such proximity, I HOPE Micah develops into what he wants to do, regardless of Nathanael's opinions. He continues to say "I'm not smart like Nathanael...." Well, he ISN'T smart like Nathanael. He's smart like Micah. I'm not going to get all touchy-feely and say we're all so suuuuper special. But Micah thinks that because he's not like Nathanael, he's just average. Um, he is pretty high functioning. Extremely creative and can do anything with his hands. Not to mention his ability with math and science. He has a lot of ability, actually, but in his attempt to be the anti-Nathanael, he stifled some of it. Now I hope that emerges again. I would buy into his "I'm just average so lemme alone" bit, but his achievement tests and even final exams tell a different story. No, he's not interested in spelling and fonts. He's interested in skating and video games. What's NOT smart about that? Now maybe he can get more into his art and the talents he has (fixing anything...like dozens of bikes...mechanical ability...likes doing this because, well, his brother doesn't do it...and the truth is Nathanael could have done THAT had he been interested in it, but he wasn't nearly to the extent Micah was.). OK OK I just want him to develop his skills and his talents and do the BEST he can. We're 2 miles from where we lived. But sometimes it seems like 200. Other times like we haven't moved. Wyoming and Finneytown share a border. Every day I want to kick myself again for not having moved to Wyoming earlier. The truth is, when we moved to F-town, it was renouned for its schools. It had achieved some "excellence" ratings which they proudly displayed on their marquees. They still have the "school of excellence in 1987" marquee stored in the school warehouse somewhere. I was pleased with the elementary school- the gifted program- Gail Siefert and Tom Gugeon and the other teachers there- what they did with Nathanael and then Micah. It was so wonderful. Nathanael was out of the mainstream class for half the day. I didn't think everything they did was perfect. Both had their moments. And both had bullies. Nathanael had bullies and then something happened. He won his first school spelling bee. He kept competing in spelling bees. He was written up in the papers. Then, when he went to DC, it was a highlight. He rose to the top of the peer heap. He never had another problem from that moment on. Micah has had no such defining moment. He is not interested in learning a lot about spelling. He's just a different person. He's a pretty good speller but it's just not his hobby. So he's trying to make his mark like the rest of us do. Most of us don't have a defining moment of fame which we ride for years. I'm hoping Micah will leave an indelible fingerprint on his Wyoming years in a different way. I just offer encouragement and want him to leap at the chance.

2007-08-12T08:21:00.001-07:00

Another thing for kids with autism AND siblings.

www.campbarnabas.org

Dave I think someday your kids might love this. There is a week they deal with just autism. Another week= visual disabilities, another = kids who have difficulty moving or are amputees, another = mental delays (sorry, I don't know the current euphemism for everything.... but you get my gist). This was featured on Extreme Home Makeover a couple of years ago. Nondemoninational Christian camp and I have heard nothing but extremely positive stuff about this place. It's a total haven for everyone. They also group them by age. It would be a fun thing to do sometime. I would love to volunteer sometime there.

2007-08-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

We went today to a quarry in Indiana for the first day of Micah's final certification tests in scuba. He did pretty well. Steve and Nathanael dove as well. Tomorrow Micah finishes up. Weather was 98 degrees at one point depsite the predicion of a "cool" 90. Tomorrow was supposed to be 98 so I suppose now it may be, as some days have been, over 100. You zonies out there are used to it but over here it's no dry heat. :) I am just fine with it. We were going to camp but Steve and I had had a fight and he didn't want to camp in the heat so we conceded. Our house is SO comfortable. Tomorrow I won't go with them but rather continue to clean the old house. I need Dan to inspect and say when he can put a sign up. The old AC from this house is at that one. Dan I already have a couple of people who may be interested. They are both parents of people who already own houses. One is a recent widower who owns the house 2 doors from us, and the other is James' grandmother. The door in the living room is JUST RIGHT for an older person who has difficulty getting around. Get into your car, come home, open the garage, put your car in the garage, close it, and get out right at your door. No going around anything. No cold air or anything.

My parents are in England right now so I'm sure they are a little cooler though a few years back I remember them getting hit with a heat wave that, though typical for us, sent them in fits.

2007-08-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

Couple of updates:

MICAH will be going into the 9th grade, not the 8th. I was kind of overruled by several people who thought he was ready for 9th. I have mixed feelings. I don't want him bored in the 8th but since 9th is so important, if he goes into 9th, he has to be very mature. I feel the immaturity is still an issue.

This was a recommendation by the counselors. Final decision was up to us, I guess, but we are deferring to them. At this point it would take extra effort to keep him in 8th. I guess they looked at test scores and those proficiency tests and said well, since he knew his stuff it might not be good to repeat. And that being around high schoolers in a serious school would help him mature. My thing is that when I see him with his peers, he is pretty goofy and immature. When he is around younger kids (Kross, for example) he's a totally different person. He acts like a leader and is very responsible.

It was just one of those "blink" feelings of mine. I can't explain it. It just seemed right. I know it but I don't know why I know it.

(Here's a digression- feel free to skip my diatribe if you're bored by my observations, etc.)

If you have never read Blink, read it. It tells you why you should trust your guts on some things even if you don't know why, and when not to. For example, if you're prejudiced and don't want to be, it will show you exercises on how to train your brain not to prejudge.

It's pretty cool and since there is some sort of unwarranted prejudice anywhere you should at least be aware of how this happens and how to overcome it. It is nothing if not profitable because prejudice in business is a huge money loser.

In our culture, for example, US Caucasians and Blacks should both read it. There is an ingrown prejudice each has toward that other that has really caused the sufferer OF the prejudice more harm than the person being prejudiced against.

Most Caucasians have had a prejudice, and most wish they did NOT. They cannot verbalize it, but were it verbalized, it would go like this: Black people are dangerous and want to steal from or harm me.

Similarly, African Americans have an equally harmful prejudice, and most wish they did not. They cannot verbalize it, but were it verbalized, it would go like this: White people do not want me to succeed and think of ways to keep me down.

These prejudices over the years are responsible for riots, attacks, murders, and crimes against both those one's same group and the other. More often they are responsible for extreme FEAR, intimidation, avoidance, shame of having but not being able to get rid of this thought, and overall general rudeness. In business it costs millions of dollars. Savvy businesspeople have learned to overcome these prejudices. In terms of friendship and openness, the cost is priceless.

You CAN fix this. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is ONE resource one can use. Another exercise I've known people use for a long time is this: If you see people of the group you are not in, and you are feeling fear or intimidation, think: "Would I be afraid of these people if they were in my own ethnic group?" I have seriously seen people afraid of groups of children or teenaged boys riding bikes. Since I live around many Blacks and many Whites, I have seen this on both sides.

If you are Black, you are thinking, "Why would ANYONE think this about me? I am not dangerous. I'm not out trying to hurt anyone." If you're White, you are thinking, "I have no intention of keeping anyone down. Maybe I even try to help people succeed." Believe me, prejudice has no grounds in reality but is a very prevalent thought that is infused from moment one, very subtly, through messages around you. If you are in some other country, you can find two groups who have similar prejudices. How much does this cost everyone!

Use this exercise if you are a policeman, teacher, or just a neighbor. It eliminates the crime of Driving While Black, for example. Or like this: When I was in Oxford I worked for a few weeks at Odd Lots. They buy overstock and sell it at way discount prices. One day a Black lady came in and was looking for a doll. All of the overstock of this particular doll was the white version, and I tried but could not find the black one. "That just figures", she said, disgruntled and almost hurt. "I see how it is" and stormed off in a huff. Now it is just overstock but somehow to her the great white Powers that Be had conspired to keep little girls from having the dolls they wanted which matched their skin.

If you know this, you can recognize and reject those messages when you see them and go on about your business much more enlightened.

END OF DIGRESSION

Nathanael's roommates are Jay and Jeremy. Jay is from New Delhi and is going to play for the Grinnell soccer team. We have still not heard from Jeremy. But as far as Nathanael is going, he is still going from an east midwest mid-sized city to a central midwest tiny town. Jay is coming from half a day ahead, from a burgeoning Indian metropolis to a central midwest tiny town. OK, Nathanael says New Delhi isn't burgeoning - it's already burgeoned. Hm. I don't know about that.

2007-08-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let you all know that Nathanael will be studying under Dr. Savarese for his tutorial. Literature of Disability or something like that. But with regards to that, his real expertise is autism. So Dave, this guy is one of the foremost experts on reaching autistic people. Read his book "Reasonable People". I think Irene got you a copy. It's about the experience he's had developing a communication system with his autistic son, and understanding how autistic people put together thoughts, associations, and logic. He and his wife adopted the boy at age 6, and the little boy was shut up in his own world and had been abused, but he now fully communicates using the facilitated method. Savarese is probably the leading expert in the study and understanding of the autistic mind. This boy is a pretty smart kid and is doing well in the Grinnell schools. He doesn't talk much but types everything. Autists are smart and they remember EVERYTHING. I bet Hayden remembers stuff you don't realize.

2007-08-06T17:23:00.001-07:00

First time visiting my blog in a while. Just got hooked up at the new house.

It's just a wee bit warm out there... every day almost 100F. The haze obscures the lumbering, lazy cumulus, which occasionally cough a dozen tiny beads of rain. The thunder tantalizes without giving. The plants strain upward and open in anticipation, but the sky withholds until everything green turns a sizzling, thirsty brown and collapses in dry, cracked, hopeless heaps.

Well, that's the way SEEMS, anyway. Ya think it's HOT?

No, just a nice, balmy, southern zephyr...

Time to go check out the web sites I've missed for about a week. They've firewalled just about everything at work, including blogspot...

Oh, and I have to find out WHO has been letting their dogs dump their stinkin' business on our lawns. Ours = ours and Mary's. Mary is our new neighbor. She's in her 70's and is a real gem. She said to Micah, "I'll pay you five dollars if you can tell me who's letting their dog do their business on my lawn without picking it up. I'll give you five more if you take a picture of the dog in action."

2007-07-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

Today Steve and I bought a couch and 2 futons at Furniture Fair. (FYI they are "futons" in the American sense- they are foldout beds which can also be a couch.) Steve wanted 2 futons for the downstairs....wasn't so sure about it aesthetically speaking. The couch we bought for the LR is awwwwesome. The futons will be there Saturday, but the couch will take 6 weeks.

Couches come Saturday, the pods the next Saturday. We close Friday the 27th. I have packed up a lot of stuff here but much remains. Now Steve wants to buy a trailer (WTF????) from some guy Dan knows. That was news to me. At least I consulted with him about my hopefully pending trip to NYC. Still haven't bought tickets yet but I'm thinking of it. It's a lot of $$ for a few days in Manhattan but I think Micah would appreciate Ground Zero, Chrylser Bldg., the Guggenheim, etc. Micah said "it's OK if we don't go, Mom", but I would like to do this. This around everything else. Everything else is crammed in- moving, registering for schools, Nathanael moving to Iowa, orientation for parents at Grinnell. August is a busy month and I have saved my vacation days. As predicted Steve doesn't like the idea of NYC but then again he never told me about his trailer.

BTW this money to do all of this? Well part of it we are making, part of it from the hefty sum he borrowed from his 401K. When we have it all paid back he will be able to take it out for real if he wants. Now we are just borrowing from Steve. Part of this we have already, but yes a lot of it (big down payment and anticipate recasting once our current house is sold) came from borrowing from the 401K. He pays low interest to himself. We got locked in at a halfway decent mortgage but hopefully it won't matter TOO much once our Finney Trail house sells- after recasting, our payment will be LOW. :) Low enough that we can focus on educating our kidlings.

2007-07-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

I am SOOOO freaking out right now.

Sometimes I google names of people I used to know...

Today in a spare moment at work when our AS400 was down I decided to google an ex-BF.

http://www.monm.edu/news/releases2006/rovinski.06-06-06.htm

Yes, that's him! Same smile but wow he looks older than when I knew him when he was 25. WOW I remember him differently.... OMG HE WAS KILLED IN IRAQ last year. I am sooooo freaking outtttt.....this just is making me flip, this is just making me flip! OMG he got involved in his church...

I was about 19 and he was about 25 when we dated.

This just knocks me over and I am just so freaking crazy now! We were close. Not a long relationship but wow, pretty intense, and even though that was when we were practically KIDS I still remember it well and I am so glad to see he went on and lived a great life and had an awesome wife and kids and got involved in a church and WOW OK I am still really, really freaking out. I'm sure his wife has NO CLUE I ever existed and why should she and she won't, but this is still WEIRD.

2007-07-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

Just random thoughts today. I want to get a new camera, a decent one.

Getting ready to move. It will be busy here. Closing soon, getting packed. The owners of the house we're buying have come back and Dan and Sue have worked it out. They are an old couple and one of them has Alzheimer's, and it's difficult to talk to either of them, though they have a son who is their POA...still hard to deal with them...waited long enough. Latest closing date is July 27 but we're hopeful it will be done before then.

Nathanael on the way to Crowduck tomorrow with my parents and I will be worried the whole time, especially about the driving situation, so please keep this and them in your prayers. Safe trip.

I'm glad Dave & kids are going. I don't know about Maria and Jazmin.

We may be moving while he is there so he will come back to a new house and all.

Then in mid-August a Grinnell orientation somewhere in Wisconsin, then there's a parent orientation at Grinnell for a few days. During this summer I have also promised Micah a trip to NYC and Ground Zero, Chrysler Tower, Central Park, and a few other things he wants to see. He is still so interested in being a NYC Port Authority Cop. :) I have saved my vacation days at work so I will take them for these events. Then also in early August I need to schedule Micah to meet with the new school's counselor, assess with them the fact that I think he needs to redo 8th grade (and he agrees with me) and he will be with people closer to his age. He is just not ready for high school. Intellectually yes but we still have maturity issues. I have read up in Scientific American about the teen brain...a brain in transition from childhood to adulthood can do more kneejerk and compulsive stuff than a fully adult brain. (Tell me something I DON'T know.)

Now physically Micah is right smack in the middle of it all. His voice is about halfway, I think, to where it will eventually be. He eats about 5,000 calories a day and still has a 28" waist and weighs little more than 100 lbs. and is about 5'5". I think he has about 4-5 inches of growing left to do. His muscles are tight and strong and he has not an ounce of fat anywhere. His face is getting that long, angular look with the well-defined bones that men have. He will probably be about as tall as his brother, if not an inch shorter.

Nathanael is in excellent shape. He does a lot of exercise for parkouring purposes- pullups, situps, "hanging" situps, biking everywhere, balancing exercises. He has a nice little 6-pack and great cardiovascular stamina. He frequently complains at us because we can't keep up. He recently left his dad walking a bike up a big hill that Nathanael easily mastered. He complained about Steve being out of shape and I had to remind him that he is 48 years old and not 18 and no, he isn't one of those exceptional athletes that stays fit until they are 80.

Sorry for the run-on stuff. Unlike my older son, I don't really proofread before publishing. It's just blah blah blah...whatever I feel like writing...not polished or concise.

2007-07-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

I also want to urge you all to get a copy of GAMES magazine- August 2007 issue- Nathanael won a "hidden puzzle" a few issues back. About 400 people sent in the correct answer, and a few winners were drawn at random. You will see his name in the puzzle winners section. OK so it's not like he's as famous as Ken Jennings but I'm proud and I bought 4 copies! (This is my favorite puzzle magazine because the others have a few good puzzles but they're way easy and this magazine's puzzles are varied and fun and just right. Some are really challenging but always FUN. btw Nathanael still hasn't received the free t-shirt which is his prize for winning. :)

OH btw, I think he COULD be a great Jeopardy contestant! I think college edition...that would be great- he could wear his Grinnell shirt to see Alex. I always researched getting him on kids', then HS edition, but auditions weren't nearby...should have researched it further because he took his academic team to 3rd - they would not have made 3rd without him- and placed ahead of many school teams of students whose parents pay something like 30K a year for their school tuition. :) Wow, that was a sentence full of prepositional phrases.

2007-07-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

We and Grinnell got the results of Nathanael's AP tests. (He took 5 AP courses this year: calculus, biology, psycholoy, English lit, and Spanish.) He got perfect 5's on every exam!!! Cheez Whizz what a kid! It's NOT that he's smart or gifted in one or some things but in EVERYTHING.

Anyhoo, it might be a good thing he did not get summer work because he has spent this time making his font "Newt" ready to market...wanting to spend the first money he makes on an upgrade to his font program. (I WANT to just buy it for him anyway but I also want to let him have the satisfaction of making the money and spending it on this business.) He has been contacting people in the graphic arts and will be marketing on one of two main sites from which people buy font suites/packages. So he's about to go live with this font.

He then wants to market the same font in Cyril and get the rest of his fonts to marketable status. If you check out his page, he has links to his network. The font has been tweaked over the course of a year and he has sought advice from the best in the business. I just wish I knew how it felt to be THAT smart!

OPPOSITES DAY!!!!

2007-07-05T16:23:00.000-07:00

OPPOSITES DAY Sept. 29, 1992 - what fun it was! Isn't it about time for another one?

GORE BLASTS BUSH FOR BEING SOFT ON IRAQ AND IGNORING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

BUAHAHAHAHA! Yes, Al lays into Papa George for being best buddies with Hussein.

I vote by issue, not party, but this kind of inconsistency is one reason why I'm DEFINITELY not a DEMOCRAT.

It's not just the Inconvenient Doofus at fault here...see also John Kerry, Slick Willie, etc. etc. etc. kaFLIP! kaFLOP! Wheee, isn't this fun? Like a carnival ride.

2007-06-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

I recommend you start at the "end" of this series of photos. Blogger only uploads 5 at a time and, while a huge improvement on how it performed a year ago, it still is too much for me to remember to upload everything backwards chronologically.

Links

Edit-Me

2007-06-28T19:46:00.001-07:00

2007-06-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

It's interesting in the second photo how the shadow makes it look like the guy on the left painted his face with shoe polish or that stuff football players put on their cheeks.

Yes, there is a big barn by the school. As a backdrop I think it's way keen though it's nowhere near a functioning farm or even a farm at all. It's an old farm with a suburb grown completely around it. There are no actual cows or fields nearby but it sure makes you think there are.

2007-06-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

OK, there's the great illustrious school board and principal who wouldn't let them throw their hats (yawn yawn yawn)...OK maybe they DO know something or two about running a school, especially Matt Rebman's mother who was willing to wake up at 2 a.m. one morning to answer my frantic-mother call, because Nathanael had forgotten to tell me he was going to an after-play party at Anna's house. Then the man in picture 2 is one of Finneytown's few ph.D's and he is retiring. Too bad for the next students!

2007-06-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

In Finneytown auditorium, Mr. Handsome impresses a pretty young lady; Neo is nominated for an Oscar for his performace as John Hutchins in Ayn Rand's "Night of January 16th" (and he took the judge to prom). "Mr. Hutchins" is the man in the hat. I thought we had more photos of this...sorry.

2007-06-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

Micah's Confirmation

Micah and the other confirmands, and there's a pic of our youth praise team.

Interesting factoid: Two of the girls in the front row of the praise team are Alexandra and Katie Bolig. If you google their mom Deb Bolig, you'll find that she's Joan Lunden's surrogate. Deb had Joan Lunden's 4 little ones. :) She's also had another set of twins for a couple in Europe. Deb's a wonderful lady! I know I could never give them up even if they weren't my DNA. She says she just loves helping families.

2007-06-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

2007-06-28T08:48:00.000-07:00

I'll try to get the recent photos in tonight.

I'm thinking of taking Micah to NYC to see the sights and Ground Zero, as he has been interested in this for some time now. He still wants to be NYW Port Authority Policeman, but at age 13 he is still at least entertaining other possibilities. Now that he is no longer aspiring to be a ninja or jedi warrior, he is thinking about architecture, carpentry, and animal care. :)

Nathanael is in a quandary. He isn't really in a position to get a decent job now except for one-time things, which is fine. The Crowduck thing interrupts the summer and he has to be at Grinnell orientation in mid-August. My company Hillman said they'd like to have him over winter break but couldn't hire him for 2 weeks, then 2 more weeks, then poof he's gone.

Moving right along on the house. Interest rates could be better but they're doable.

2007-06-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

All right here is the surprise. Imagine how sweet after developing my mystery roll...two little boys with two hamsters and some beanie babies, looking back at me from across the divide of some 9 years...these are my boys at about ages 5 and 9. The one guy is our friend Suhith Wickrema whom we've known for about 20 years, and that is Steve- has HE ever changed! WOW. Micah excitedly remembered his kindergarten class. Sorry they were a bit dim- it's due either time or the lack of a good flash. I have NO recollection of Mr. Clown but the kids maintain it was the delivery person of some Childcraft children's encylopedias. But the encyclopedias I remember (that I gave to Dave for his kids) were delivered by someone else at our previous house. Maybe it was a subsequent something-or-other. Now Micah's ninja/pirate costume I DO remember. He was proud of that!

Enjoy!

2007-06-27T17:14:00.000-07:00

2007-06-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, don't I realize now what a boring yarn that was! (yawn) I was tired and just writing train of thought. I don't know what prompted those weird memories. BOOOOORING!!!! But it's my blog and if it's like yours it's got a lot of boring parts that no one reads. What about dreams? Everytime I start to tell a weird dream everyone I know rolls their eyes and goes "oh no here we go again..." Some dreams don't come true. If they did, I would be playing broomball on an Inuit whaling boat, delivering my son to a college made entirely of glass, have about 1000 white cats ranging from normal to marble-sized, and there are some strange countries in strange locations on this planet.

Anyway photos to come. No more boring junk.

2007-06-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

Many many pictures to come. Probably tomorrow, including a mystery film I found in a drawer. I had no idea what to expect. Was I pleasantly surprised! To be revealed shortly.

In the meantime, tell me of a time you remember your parents NOT letting you do something you really, really wanted to do. For me, it was movies. MY PARENTS DID NOT LET ME SEE "JAWS" AND I WAS SO DISAPPOINTED! I and my brothers stayed at the farm while my parents went. Boo hoo! Then when I went back to school that year, EVERYONE was talking about it, even our orchestra teacher Mr. Goldflies. He was talking with kids who were allowed to see the really cool movies like "The Towering Inferno". (Well I had to cut corners!) LOL Another one my mom nixed was when we were in this super snazzy hotel. We had eaten at the cool rotating restaurant on top with a panorama of Cincinnati and Newport. Annnnnnyway I settled back on the novel hotel bed and turned on the TV to watch "Sexual Bombshells". I was a few minutes into it when my mom said, "No, I don't think that's appropriate." After I protested, she said, "Here. You can watch 'The Rockford Files'. You're allowed to watch that." I had no interest in the Rockford Files. I wanted to know what Cher had to say about being a sexual bombshell, the definition of which I had NO CLUE. It sounded way glamorous and powerful. Now I can't stand Cher. I think she's just one more self-obsessed Hollywood freak show. But that was a time before Cher became the current Cher. She was Sonny's Cher. There were other actresses on the show. Who knows, Farrah maybe? Google it now and it doesn't even come up. Maybe it all never happened! At the same hotel Dave and I started to watch "One of my Wives is Missing" with Jack Klugman (that is findable on Google) and my parents nixed that, too. Boo hoo!

In first grade Mom suddenly, without warning, NIXED our favorite cereals! DENIED!She read a health report of some sort and the rule was made. All the empty-calorie cereals we CRAVED every morning were GONE! Oh the humanity! The rule was: if the first or second ingredient was sugar, we could not have it. Which was a good idea because I find now I'm extremely, extremely hypoglycemic and that was one of my problems in Grade 1. I most likely would have been classified today as ADHD! Then in second grade it became magically easier to concentrate. I WONDER WHY? No more Quisp! (Quisp remains my all-time favorite cereal, though. Love chomping on the little space disks.) I recently had to rule out all cereal in the a.m. because the sugar drop had been making me crash at work for YEARS. I wondered what was making me want to fall asleep. I don't know why I was too dense to figure that one out, DUH. The one cereal I can continue with is Ezekiel 4:9, which create a protein similar to that found in eggs by mixing and then baking together a series of grains using an ancient Biblical recipe. I don't get the sugar sways, and if God wrote a recipe it's got to be healthy. Nathanael said "It tastes so .... Amish." and I said "It tastes so...Jewish." I sometimes just have a bowl of that instead of a whole meal and I'm satisfied for hours.

Must get to sleep. Pix forthcoming.

New Territory

2007-06-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

Besides moving, I'm going to be doing another new thing. Something I have not ever done before. So I need some advice. Actually Micah is going to do it, but I will be responsible...

Become a dog owner.

Micah really, really wants a dog. I'm thinking of getting him one for his birthday. The new house has few carpets and a good yard. And a big basement of concrete.

How often does a dog have to do business?

What kind of dog is best?

What kind is quiet but loyal?

How often do we walk him/her?

Will a dog get lonely/bored alone in a house?

Can we leave the dog outside in a little dog house? Can a dog deal with living in a little Snoopy house? (Well, actually Snoopy had a pool room and a nice-sized Van Gogh museum in his house, but that's another story.)

Will a dog be OK with his/her boy at school all day?

How expensive is it to feed a dog?

How expensive are vet bills? Way more than cats, I presume?

What kind of dogs are most trainable?

I don't want a yippy, squeaky, irritating nip-at-the-heels little dog. No Dachshunds. Anything else to stay away from?

Will the dog be happy if I give him/her a little place in the basement with his/her own toys, blankets, etc.? Will a dog stray from this area and rip other stuff up?

How is a dog on hardwood floor? I have heard stories.

2007-06-20T12:51:00.001-07:00

This is such a cool thing. The next thing I'm wondering is if, when Dave sells and moves, maybe he can move to Wyoming, too...it's a beautiful place. I mean the trees and houses are gorgeous. Lots of parks for kids. I might even ask the school what their program is for autism.... :) Anyway, just a thought. Also closer to Crossroads. Some homes near Sherry for sale, too. Goooooood schools. And I could babysit Hayden more easily.

I also found out that if you sell a house and move into a less expensive one there is no capital gains tax anymore. I remember when my brother and sister in law moved and they had to hurry up and get a new house to roll their old one into by the end of the year, or they'd have paid thousands and thousands. Well now that law's changed and only a few pay it and I think it's if they make 125K or up on it. I may have my details wrong, but most people no longer have to pay it, and that is a fact. Dave, hurry up and do this before Hillary's president or you'll end up paying more! LOL (Let's just see who takes this bait.)

2007-06-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

Our offer's been accepted! Thanks Dan! And everyone. And God. And 401k's. And Steve for being such a diligent little saver. We move on or before, I think it is July 27. We have until then but can do this before then. We have a broker working. Unbeknownst to Steve I had called another broker who worked up some numbers and showed us our credit report. Steve's broker came and visited us. Both were recommended by Sue Lewis of Sibcy Cline. That makes 3 banking people I've talked to now, and we'll see what Steve's guy comes up with.

31 Sherry, Wyoming, OH, 45215 (I think that's the correct zip code). Next step is Dan selling these digs here. I think that will go well. I saw Dan work his skills and he's in his element in this business.

2007-06-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

OK we're actually closing, in, well, a coupla weeks.

Dan please come on over and sell our house. We are working on getting it sale-worthy and with our crap out of it it will be even better.

2007-06-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

Fast forward to Wed. Steve used just a small part of his 401K and borrowed and we are going to pay Steve back...so guess what, we're moving sooner than we thought. Maybe closing on Wednesday. :) So Dan feel free to stick a sign in our yard. We will have to find out what is higher- to pay Steve's 401K back out of the equity we get for our house we own now, or just pay the house and nearly own it and just have the 401K to pay. I hated to think of touching the 401K. But Steve has gone and done it. :) Boy was he dragging his heels but NOW he's really jonesing to get into his nice new HUGE detached garage with loft and place for all his tools.

Youngsters, ALWAYS put $$ in your 401K! When you're old like us you can use it! When you're even older you can have it!

2007-06-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

Earnest money going down today or tomorrow. We're finally doing this. :) 31 Sherry Road.

2007-06-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

Micah's grades came in- as predicted...

D's and F's for classwork, but A's and B's for final exams.

Math, for example. Didn't do lots of the homework (EVERY DAY we fought this! Sometimes he'd do it but didn't turn it in, sometimes he forgot about it...why don't these people make a syllabus! Why don't little 13-year-old boys come with organized brains?)...but on the final exam he got an A.

Same in science...D for the regular classes, B for the exam. Most classes were the same story. Except art. Great grades there- no surprise. :)

So yes we know it's a maturity issue and not an ability issue. His brain has long-term jet lag.

2007-06-08T07:32:00.000-07:00

Due to us not receiving summer school info until yesterday, Micah can't go to SS.

HE WILL BE REPEATING 8th GRADE.

I for one am happy about it. I think he really needs it but at another school. I KNOW it is the best. He really belongs and is the age for 8th grade, but the problem is now that Steve is livid and I'm afraid of the damage Steve's going to do to the whole situation. SUX! We should have waited a year for him starting in kindergarten but we based it all on what we thought he needed at the time. How could we have known?

2007-06-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

The joys of summer. And summer jobs and summer school. Yes, Micah is going to summer school for language arts and social studies. Arrrrgh!!!! After he completes it, I will then decide with Steve how ready he is for high school. Mom- remember what you said about Dan. I am thinking about that regarding Micah and how he really is 1 year younger than almost everyone. He just isn't ready for high school- maturity is a huge issue. I would rather see him really succeed than barely limp along. His brain works academically but everything else is in turmoil...refusing to complete things on time, do projects, participate in class...that sort of thing. We will see what happens in summer school and then decide for next year. If he repeats 8th, it won't be in FMS...it will be in Wyoming, likely...with a year under his belt imagine what he could THEN do starting in 9th...

Maturity DOES happen but man we're right in the middle of adolesence and puberty and all the angst. He is an extrovert in a family of introverts and that can't be easy for him.

2007-06-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

There were 33 people in our house last night! :)

It was by far the way coolest party/ get-together ever.

There was/were NO:

-political arguments (okay Dad ALMOST started one but I shook my head behind him at Tami and Jim, his usual targets, and said "don't bite!!") and headed that off at the pass. For the rest of the night he was his OLD self and in great spirits.
-gossip.
-put-downs or insults.
-paranoia ("that person's out to get me...")
-drunkenness, despite the plethora of drinks available. (occurs more on my side.)
-uncomfortable silence. -kids fighting (where doesn't that happen?).

UNBELIEVABLE.

I am OVERJOYED!

There WAS/WERE:

-people talking and laughing.
-silliness.
-congratulations.
-kids all getting along.

Miracle from God!

No one put down because of their beliefs! Woot!!!

And I thoroughly enjoyed being Queen Victoria Agnes Mildew and making Sierra my Pink Princess.

2007-06-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

We had a graduation party and it was a HUGE success! EVERYONE came and more. Karl spent 2 days preparing the food- everyone says it was the best ribs they had ever had. Karl is the ULTIMATE chef! There were ribs, chicken, potato salad, baked beans, fruit and vegetables, EVERYTHING. Mom brought my family's staple, cherry jello salad, Jackie and Tami brought brownies and fruit cocktail cake (Bonnell staple), I got a cake at Kroger's with graduation decor.

Nathanael's friends- Bryce, Matt, Kristen, Rosie, Aaron, and Tara were here. They all played croquet. Tami and Mike and little Jackie, Martha, Jim and Jackie, Dave with Jasmine, Sierra, and Hayden, Jeff and Tawnya and Kyle, my parents, Dan and Tracy, Aaron Taylor and his son, 3 neighborhood kids Ariana, James, and another James I had not met before, Micah and me and Steve- it was a huge success. Food for days. Different kinds of drinks. It was really awesome. Even though the back porch or patio isn't done, everything was great. Nathanael received tons of excellent gifts including a homemade plaid flannel quilt made by Jackie who makes beautiful quilts. A computer (still has to choose it) from my parents, gift certificates, a Grinnell sweatshirt Tami got online.

Everyone met Martha and LOVED her...she is soooo adorable...my kids' godmother...she is such a wonderful person and I was so glad she came and met so many people. And people got the honor to know her.

Most people knew Karl or had heard of Karl, this guy who is Steve's best friend and really the family's best buddy, he's another one of us, but no one knew his real skills (except us) in the kitchen. He is a chef by trade. They knew there was this guy named Karl that hung around us most weekends but they were like, who is this guy and why is he always there? One taste of those succulent ribs and now everyone wants to adopt Karl.

Pictures to come. Huge success even despite thunderstorms!

2007-05-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

Graduation: 7:00 at Finneytown's football field. If it rains, it will be in the PAC.

2007-05-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

Last night Micah insisted on getting some new clothes yet again (he wears them out a lot). Well he's recently into hip hop and the other kids compliment him when he wears the name brands so like a typical sellout I take him to the mall where we get some cool tee shirts with funny sayings for cheap, then I told him we'd only get the expensive stuff if it were on sale. We finally found a men's store that had some Rocawear his size. Most of it is for guys about 8 feet tall or babies, hardly anything for a size 28 waist. Well the stuff's expensive but it was a buy one get one half off deal and then he saw a hat behind the counter. He said "can I try it on? Pleeeeeze..." and then cashier gave him the hat and he tried it on. He had such a huge smile...he looked at himself in the mirror....adjusted the hat...cashier said "I'll take $20 for it" (original price = $28) and I said, well OK. Well the rest of the evening Micah just LOVED that hat. I caught him looking in the mirrors and adjusting it, wearing the brim low, tipped to one side, tipped to the other, and then he washed his hair and asked me to comb it. I blew dry it straight and then he put the hat on again and he said, "Mom, I just LOOOOVE this hat!!! This is the BEST HAT ever!" and he hugged and hugged me....he thinks it's the hat but it's his big smile that makes him look like such a cool dude now. Of course he doesn't know it.

Micah, skater boys at school, neighbor boy Cross crashing on Micah's bottom bunk

2007-05-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

2007-05-14T21:12:00.000-07:00

Prom

These kind of got in reverse order. Nathanael's official date was Tara (dark blue dress) and they all went together, including the other 2 girls, Katie and Amanda.

They ate Chinese food at Amanda(black dress)'s and they all drove to prom together. Katie (light blue) is one I've known since she was about 5.
They had the Chinese food delivery guy pose for photos just for fun and silliness.

Tara showed off her beautiful nails and jewelry. Her hair was perfect. All of the girls looked stunning. Then dapper Neo there...what can I say? Putting the corsage on Tara. I am putting the boutiniere on Nathaanel. I forget why they asked ME to.

Nathanael had a good time and actually danced with girls. This is someone who says "I just do. not. dance." And he did fine. So I hear. He came home early (around 12:30) - he says it was because he still had to decide between Miami and Grinnell and he wanted to have time the next day to think about it some more without being tired...so he skipped after-prom.

So he had a good time with his 3 girls! Any of them seem like a good catch in my book! Way nice girls.

Oh yeah, I don't know what's up with the crazy squinting!

2007-05-14T21:09:00.000-07:00

2007-05-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

2007-05-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

2007-05-14T21:01:00.001-07:00

The following are Micah and Nathanael being silly and then Nathanael accepting an award at school (Honor Society, I believe).

2007-05-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

2007-05-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

2007-05-14T20:49:00.000-07:00