End of March

I had to work a long day at work.  As soon as I picked the littles up they wanted to know if we could go to the park.  And so we did.  And what a great ending to March.  They mostly played on the tire swing.  And when they were tired of that they found a group of teenagers to play with.  And the teenagers played.  Amazing.

Bits

Phoebe figured out how to get her cone off.  I put it back on and two minutes later it was off again.  So I give up.  She does appear to be doing better.  She isn't closing her eye so much.
The little man wanted to do spelling words for his homework.  He got lots of pointers from his sister on how to make letters he didn't know how yet. Wish I could find my pre-k book for him.  She got to work on punctuation.
I think it is about time for Mom to have one of her anger spells.  I noticed that she was complaining when I was there.  Seems to be a precursor for the anger.  It's the second hardest thing about her dementia.  Maybe it will hit this weekend and I will miss it.  ;p

Letting It Go

Sometimes it is more healthy to let it go and walk away.  I have no idea how I ended up where I ended up.  Ten years ago I never would have said this is where I would be.  But I have to live in the now and be accepting of it.
So it is time to let go of the thoughts of what was suppose to be.  Moving forward.  Living our life and not regretting the choices we make.  It's just kind of sad.  I haven't seen Elizabeth for a year.  And I'm letting that go.  We had a great relationship when she was young and I shall treasure those memories.
Tanya has again shown who she is.  I don't know why I keep expecting different.  But maybe now I won't.  Actions, not words.  So when she said she was working on mending the relationships...she didn't mean it.  And that's okay.  She won't ever have to lie to me again.
Doug, so right.  I did not love him as a son.  But he sure as hell doesn't get to use that as the excuse for anything that didn't work out in his life like he wanted.  He alone is responsible for his life.  And I loved him like he was Dave's son.  I choose that.  Because I loved Dave heart and soul and those that came with him.  But I can let that all go now since it isn't needed or wanted.  And I don't need or want it.
Letting go of all the people who said they would be there for us and proved otherwise.  And trying hard to let go of the resentment of that fact.  They really did manage to hurt my feelings.  But I'm a grown up and can deal with it.
I'm going to move forward and appreciate the people who are there for us.

Homework

So we were playing catch up with homework.  We tend to like to be lazy at the beginning of the week.  So we had two math pages to do.  Well the little man gets right in there and helps.  And now he has proclaimed that he needs his own homework.  So I guess I need to find him some.  Have to keep encouraging it when it presents itself.
The little woman is working with graphs this week.  I am still always amazed at how much more stuff they are taught and how they are taught at these younger grades.  And naturally I find it amazing how she picks stuff up and has those epiphany moments of understanding.
These two little kids are just growing up on me and learning so much.  They definitely are not little kids anymore.  And while I miss moments of their little years, I really love where they are now.

Phoebe

Phoebe got to go to the vet today.  Her eye has been bugging her.  And I had noticed she had a lot of goop in the ear on the same side.  She got her ear all cleaned out and flushed.  They put stain in her eye and found an ulcer.  Maybe from digging at her ear and missing.  Maybe something else.  So she has drops for her ear and drops for her eye.  She has pain pills for her eye for a few days.  While there we got her nails clipped and picked up her flea stuff.  $250 later we walked out of the vet's office.  Granted the flea stuff for six months was $100 of it so that kind of brings the visit down to more reasonable.  Oh and she has this wonderful cone that she is none too pleased about.
The little man can't wait to try the cone after the dog is done with it.  Funny kid.

Feast

It is feast or famine at work and right now we are feasting. Brenda really feasted the last two months.  Just the way the schedule had to work out.  We finished up buy back and had to tear the room down today.  It doesn't quite take as long to tear it down as it does to set it up.  We are finishing up rental returns and I will be shipping those out later in the week.
I noticed we are getting Coremark down more to a routine.  That is good.  I was worried at first that it wasn't going to come together. It was taking almost a full day to process at first.  Now we have it down to a few hours.  Whew.    

An Outing

It's in the works.  I had gotten a groupon email that included admission for the children's museum in Olympia.  The groupon coupon took off about a quarter so was an all right deal.  I went to the website of the museum to gather some information.  I don't like buying coupons unless I know it is going to be valuable to me.
Well lo and behold if we have an EBT card (which we do since we receive TANF) we get free admission anytime.  The museum in Portland may have a similar thing but it is in Oregon and would be looking for Oregon people using their services.  That is why we usually go to the one in Oregon on First Friday for the free admission.  I did notice the one in Olympia also has a First Friday.  Makes me think they are somehow connected.
Anyway we now have a plan for an outing to go to Olympia and visit that museum.  It looks really cool. And naturally while we are up there we might try and connect with some relatives up there.  Nana Nita, Aunt Treva, etc.

Lazy Day

Seems like I always have a lazy day after working a string of days in a row.  So today was that.  We vegged in front of the TV.  I caught up on some shows that I had taped.
The most interesting part of the day was the little man helping out his sister.  She had made a big mess with rice krispies.  I had explained that I am not the maid, for the zillionth time, and that she needed to vacuum them up.  Well she didn't.  We went around a few times and I said we aren't going to do anything until that mess was cleaned up.  Finally the little man got the vacuum cleaner and cleaned them up for her.  Not really sure he was helping her.  He wanted to go somewhere.
Later we went and saw Uncle Pat and the little man got to watch the CNC machine working.  He was fascinated.  Then we got a late supper and did some grocery shopping.

My Hero

Thinking about this a lot lately as my mom's dementia progresses.  We have lost a lot of who she is over the years.  But she is and always has been my hero.
She is the most incredibly brave woman.  My dad left when I was like six.  Mom had to go back and get some schooling to get a job.  I remember her jumping through hoops to get state assistance so she could do that.  Then she went to work for our town paper doing typesetting.
Then when I was ten she decided to uproot us and move us across the country.  She had planned on living in Seattle when she was young, but she got married instead.  Well we didn't end up in Seattle, but Portland.  Single Mom raising kids in a town with very little family support.  How brave is that?
I watched her work on her relationship with my dad and take him back.  And that couldn't have been easy ever.  He was an alcoholic and that brings a whole slew of dynamics to a family.  She weathered it with grace.  She turned to Al-anon when she needed that.
She took care of my dad in his final illness of the brain cancer.  And was left with just enough money to put herself through nursing school.  Yes, she became a nurse in her late forties and then a hospice nurse until she retired.  It takes special people to be able to do that job.
Before that she had held a myriad of low paying jobs.  She worked at the cannery one year, she sold Avon and Tupperware.  She worked for a local typesetter.  Always doing what she had to do to move forward in life.
My mom has weathered more than her share of health problems.  Multiple surgeries over the years.  Cancer.  Precancer.  Asthma, COPD, dementia.  Dementia is the one that scared her the most.  And yet she is going through it with mostly grace.  This one she is not going to win or turn around.  And that makes us all sad.
But she has had a pretty good life.  Lots of love and laughter.  She has always been available to us for any kind of help she could offer us if needed.  She has given us a great foundation and shown us how to live through life's curve balls.
She is my hero.

Reading

It seems that all the accolades these past few weeks and the new coming together for the little woman, has her wanted to read more.  She is wanting to work on her sight words and play with them with the little man.  So wonderful to see.
She read "Chicken Little" to me today and was fluent.  It is an E book.  She was barely in B books when she started the year.  And her teacher said she is really ready for F books, but still uses the E and D books for fluency.
So at home we have started doing echo reading.  Which is where I read the sentence, then she reads the sentence.  And we aren't using the books from school.  We are working on "The Day the Crayons Quit."  They have read it at school and it just connects for her.

She's Amazing

"Do you like to step in poop?"  And that is how the little woman's opinion writing starts.  The opinion is which is better for a pet, a dog or a cat.  Now I could tell you right off the bat that the little woman likes cats.  But I did not see her humor about it, nor did I understand how her art talent was going to show itself in writing.
I had my parent teacher conference with her teacher and her reading intervention specialist.  The little woman has made great strides since the beginning of the year.  She is maturing and that is allowing her to settle down and focus better.  And once she figured that out, it is just all coming to her.  She is improving so much in math and reading.  Her teachers told me that she is almost at benchmark for mid year and it is just a few weeks past mid year.  She is so proud of herself.
Mrs. C also shared the little woman's paper on why red is her favorite color.  One reason is because strawberries and cherries are red and she can't imagine a world without them. Just amazing how her thinking is now.  I'm so proud and impressed.  The little woman really loves school.  Maybe that is why she plays teacher and student with the little man so much.
It was a super positive conference and I was pleased.  I'm glad that what I see at home is actually just a little of what her teacher sees at school.

Bleh

Elizabeth got a new car.  I mean a new new car.  I'm thinking with a loan.  I remember Tanya commenting about setting up the trust from Jason's death into a payment thing so if Elizabeth wanted a car she could buy one.  So maybe that is what transpired.
Sure am glad I made different choices.  I would not go into debt at 18 for a car.  Nor would I encourage anyone to do that.  It's a horrible investment and puts a big damper on the future before the future even starts.
But my opinion nor advice was sought after.  So hope she enjoys her car.
I personally haven't had any interaction with Elizabeth since the beginning of October.  I decided to let her have the ball in her court and I see how it is.  Words mean nothing when actions prove other things.

Family Night

It was family night at the facility that Mom lives at.  So naturally we went.  We had a nice sporty dinner.  The theme of family night was basketball.  So they served wings, onion rings, fries, carrots and dip and cupcakes.
First thing that occurred when we got there is the little man made a friend.  They played with the flat balloon for quite awhile.  And then the little man made sure the big man got to his table and then back to the living room for his blood check.  I assume he is diabetic.  Then the little man helped him back to his table.  As soon as my man was done eating he headed back over to his new friend's table and visited with him and his family.
Many people told the little woman what beautiful hair she had.  The light hit it wonderfully in the manor's eating space and it shone like copper.  And she was so polite and always thanked everyone for their compliments.  I was impressed.
The littles really were on their best behavior.  One of those times when I get to see that what I am teaching is working.  And as long as they aren't too loud and rambunctious I think the oldsters like them also.

Ice Cream Cone

The littles wanted an ice cream cone from Dairy Queen.  And I said we could go get one after dinner.  And so we did.  And the place was packed and the drive thru line long.  We got in it anyway and waited  and waited.  Then I saw the sign on the door. Today was free cone day.  That explained it.
So we finally made it so we could order.  And we did. When we got to the window, our total was 11 cents.  The little man had wanted a dipped cone and that was extra.
Made all of our night.  Got to love free ice cream.

Met At a Park

Technically we did not meet at a park.  We met at McDonald's a couple of weeks ago.  While at McDonalds I saw a man come in with a boy about the little man's age.  The man reminded me of a guy I used to know.  So I asked him and he wasn't.  I thought he said his name was Cort.  But I heard that wrong.
Skip ahead to today.  The weather was perfect.  So we checked out a new park we hadn't been to before.  A wonderful park.  Good play structures, swings and best of all a dog park.  When we arrived I saw that man and boy again.  And this time we had a nice conversation.
Tor, as his grandson informed was his name, is raising his great-grandson.  The boy just turned four and is in the middle picture in the middle of the teter toter thing. Tor said none of his children or step-children wanted to take on the job because the boy was born with meth in his system.  So Tor, who is in his 70's and his wife took it on.  Then two years ago his wife died.
Tor and I compared notes.  Laughed about some things that are the same.  I think the boy got to play an hour longer than he would have since his grandpa was talking to me.  They go to McDonalds a couple times a week for the play place and they spend a lot of time at this park in the summer.
Bet we run into each other again.  And it was nice to talk to someone else on my path.

Rainy Saturday

No outside playing today.  We did get to the grocery store and bought some groceries.  Have to be able to make lunches every day next week.
We also went to Pat's and dropped off his birthday presents.  A new sleeping bag and some ammo for one of the hunting rifles.  While there I got to help him figure out why his truck wouldn't start.  And then we left and he headed to the auto parts store for stuff to tune it up.
He told me later that the tune up worked and the truck runs again.
The littles discovered that "Pete's Dragon" and "Coraline" are on Netflix.  Cool.  Maybe tomorrow we will sit down together and watch one of them.

St. Patrick's Day

We all wore green today.  No getting pinched for us.
When I picked them up from daycare the little woman told me all about the mess the leprechaun made in her classroom and how she got a gold coin.  She was so excited.
We had our own mini celebration by going out for cones at DQ.  If we would have been authentic we would have ate green ice cream. Instead one had chocolate and one had a dipped.   Just a little treat.
We are Irish after all.  We hail from Derby shire.

Short Walk

Seems like I am a day behind.  We went for a walk on the last sunny day of the week.  Just a short one.  We started out around the block.  Listened to the frog at the pond.  And then the little woman remembered she wanted to ask about a sign.  So we went the other direction.  She was questioning the neighborhood watch sign and trying to understand what it meant.
After that sign we headed back the way we were headed and there were a lot more frogs talking in the pond.  I love the sound of them and love them on summer nights.  The pond is less than a block away from our home.
When I add what we walked on to what they walked with Nivea they got a little exercise in on a nice sunny day.

Remote, Remote, oh Where is the Remote?

So we started on our Comcast journey on Friday.  Getting used to how to work the remote and find stuff quickly and easily.  By Saturday we had lost the remote in the living room.  And we have looked and looked and looked for it.  To no avail.
Enough was enough.  I want to be able to sit on the couch and watch television without it being cartoon network (last channel watched before the remote got lost).  So we traipsed on over to the Comcast store.  Walked in and asked if I could buy a remote.  I had been online and they run $30.  Since I wanted one immediately we made the trip to the store.
As soon as I asked, the gal at the check in told me no.  They don't sell remotes.  Wait...what?  And then she told me they just give them to us and did I have the voice remote.  I did.  And now again I do.  Got to like that.  Excellent customer service in this instance.  Sure am glad we drove to the store.
And she told me I could come get one anytime we lost a remote or whatever.  For free.  

Happy Birthday Little Brother

Today is my brother's birthday.  Last year in his forties.  Next year he has a big bang planned.  But this year he took Mom out to lunch.  And then he went out with friends for dinner.  We couldn't quite manage to catch him so he will have to wait for his presents from us.  Mom got him a really nice fishing reel though and at least he got something on his birthday.
Happy birthday my brother.  I love you.

Love It

The littles sure keep me on my toes.  From day to day they change their minds on everything.  From the food they will/won't eat to whether they want to go to daycare.
So this morning the little man is so happy he gets to go to daycare because he loves it.  Not last week, but today.  Tessa taught him how to play Battleship and he discovered the puzzles in the gym with Aiden.  And so it goes.  Makes life a lot easier when he wants to go.  No messing and stalling around.
Now if only he felt like this every day.  ;p

Sunny Day Play

We had went to check out the camper that Uncle Pat bought, but he wasn't home.  So we trekked on down to the park to play.  They played with some kids on the playground.  And then we took a path through the woods and played on some stumps.
We were amazed when we found a wooly bear caterpillar.  And it was alive.  It is totally the wrong season to find them.  They were fascinated.

Gun Shows, Gun Stores and Ammo

Well.  My brother is looking for 25-20 ammo and it seems to be hard to come by.  It is for an older rifle that belonged to my grandfather.  I'm looking for a target shooting gun.  So we started out at the gun show at the event center.
He had no success, but the last place we went had had some and intended to get more.  So they took his name and number and told him they would call when they got some in.
I held a lot of handguns.  Amazed at the differences in weight and feel.  Decided I liked the Glock 42 the best and the Ruger 380 next.  A lot to think about.
My friend Doug suggested if I really wanted a 380 that I should look at a Sig Sauer P238.  I couldn't tell you if I handled one of those at the show.  So I'm going to do some more studying and looking.  And if we go target shooting before I buy something I will just borrow the 38 special.  But I really like the feel of the boxy handguns.
After the show we hit a couple of small gun stores.  Talked to some guys.  Didn't buy anything.  Just looking and doing research.  One interesting thing.....a guy told me that the price of ammo has been ahead of gold for the last twenty years.  Meaning the price is more about what the market will bear than anything else.  Now granted when a liberal is in charge of the country the gun folks tend to stock up driving the prices up.  To me that says it is the market and the buyers, not the president who sets the prices for the ammo.

Best Day Ever

Wow.  As the night was winding down, the little woman pops up with this was the best day ever with you.  Now I don't know what I did to deserve such high praise, but I will take it.
Their day got a kick start when the new babysitter came to sit.  They played the whole time I was gone and they were happy.  All three of them.  I'm relieved and glad and blessed.
Then the little man went home with Uncle Pat.  So that left the little woman and me to have a girl night.  We made a quick run over to Best Buy to pick up a new kid tablet.  Two broken i-pads just leaves us in a lurch.  And new ones aren't on sale right now.  After that we went and had dinner at Shari's.  And a quick trip into Fred Meyer's and then home.  We laid in bed and I watched TV while she played with the new tablet.  Then she made her comment.
I think maybe she just enjoyed time with me with no stress and no brother.  ;p

Television

Woke up and got online.  I had an email from Comcast.  They would be at our house between 8 and 10 this morning.  Wow.  And the guy arrived at 8:04.  Hooked us all up and gave us a new faster modem for the Internet.  Walked me through all the things I needed to know.
Watching television tonight and I realized the picture is so much crisper with cable that it was with satellite. Amazingly so.
And I love having all new equipment.  The DISH stuff was locking up several times a week.  Sometimes the whole system and sometimes just Netflix.  So I never was sure what the problem was.  Bet we don't have that problem any more.
And I am already loving some of the features....like watching last weeks episode of Grimm that isn't on my DVR box, but is sitting in my DISH box.  Comcast just had it there for me to watch.
I can tell you right now though.....while they say this new remote is the easiest they have ever had....my mom would be lost with it.  Now I just need to find the cartoon channels that we have.

Walmart Gets Me Comcast

So after picking the littles up from daycare we went to Walmart.  We needed cat litter.  While there we were accosted by an independent seller of Comast services.  Now I already have Comcast for internet and phone.  And I had been thinking about trying to get in on one of the deals for those plus television.
I have been using DISH ever since Mom moved.  They have exorbitant termination fees.  Mom had changed her mind shortly after getting DISH, but they told her sorry you signed a contract.  You want out, pay $20 per month for every month remaining on the contract. Ouch.  So I have just been using them until the contract is up.
Now we still have six months, but I figured I need to slim down my budget so one cut can be TV.  So I signed up with the guy which should cut my bill by at least $25.  We have gotten used to two TVs so we are going to keep two TVs.

Shopping With Mom

I don't know.  We set up a shopping day a week in advance and I remind her about it a couple of times.  And yet we have not ever completed our shopping day.  Every single time it is time she won't get up.  Goes back to sleep.  I sit there for 45 minutes and then leave.  I don't know what the aversion is to shopping.  Today we were suppose to find a birthday gift for my brother and get her some new bras. Ha.  Now she gets right up if we are going to eat.  She gets up when we go to the doctor although not as quickly as eating.  Maybe it is a matter of what she wants to do at the moment.
So after leaving her I went to three stores price shopping on the things on his list. I picked up a gift from the littles.  I'm still up in the air about my gift.....and think maybe I might see something when he and I got out this weekend.
Once home I ordered her some bras online and had them shipped.  Hope they fit....they should.  Same brand and size she is currently wearing.  And if not then I return them and do it again.
I just don't know.  Maybe our shopping days are over.  And yet she went shopping with Pat last month for my present.  ;p

Angry Like Snow

I was reading an article of what to do when a child is angry.  When they are young they have to learn to contain some big emotions.  Process.  And it is hard.
So I had noticed that the little man has been having some real issues with anger and not getting his way.  And I'm a reactor.  Not the best combination.
In this article it said to have the child use words to describe what they are feeling.  But not like happy, mad, sad.  The example that sticks out is like weather words.  And it worked.  He was very angry the other day and I stopped before I reacted.  I asked him to describe what he was feeling like weather and he stopped.  Looked at me and said "snow".  He went on to explain it was a lot of snow and it covered the window.  And when he was done he wasn't angry anymore.
Now I just need to keep it in mind when the next time he blows up comes around.

Soda

I realized today that the little woman doesn't like it.  We have root beer in the frig for root beer floats.  A nice treat on occasion.  Well the little man will just devour it.  He will sneak any soda that he can find.  Mostly we don't have it in the house.  I don't want them drinking it on any regular basis.  I want them drinking water, milk or juice.  And that is what she prefers.  She definitely doesn't do the floats.  The other time I buy soda is when we are camping and she doesn't drink it then either.  Funny girl.

Babysitter

So we had finally found a great reliable babysitter.  Haven't needed her for a few months because Aunt Traci has been down just enough to cover a break or two for me.  So I contacted the babysitter to see about sitting soon.  And alas, she now has a paycheck job.
Now we knew this would happen.  She is very responsible and reliable.  She has a work ethic.  So we wished her happiness and gave her congratulations.  And that is when she said her sister would be interested.  Yeehaw.
So I contacted her sister and we have a new babysitter.  We will have our trial run next weekend to see how the three of them connect.  Here is to hoping for a positive time and then we will have her for well over a year before she moves into the paycheck world.

Saturday

Pat decided to have Mom over for awhile today. So we took Phoebe over to his house so Mom could have some time with the dog.  I guess the visit was kind of short.  They got Wendy's for lunch and then before nap time Mom wanted to go back home.  So Pat took her.  She did enjoy her dog time though.
We left Phoebe there at his house overnight to have a sleepover with Betsy.  It is so funny watching Phoebe and Betsy play.  You would almost think Phoebe was a young pup rather than an old girl dog.  We enjoyed our time with a cat who didn't have to hide or run.

Celebrating Dr. Suess

There was a celebration for Dr. Seuss's birthday at the little woman's school tonight.  We went and had a lot of fun.  Now when we got there I wasn't sure how long we would be staying.  The littles were wound up.  But when we got to doing the activities they settled into it.
We made moustaches and got dressed up.  We did sentences and sock matching and bean bag tossing.  We made hats and had our hair done in a Seuss kind of way.
I was surprised at all the people the little woman knew.  I liked it when she introduced people to her brother.  I liked it when he introduced himself to people.  I don't care what they say when asked....they really are each others' best friend.
I heard lots of good things about the little woman.  Her teacher gave her high praise and her technology teacher said she is awesome.  I agreed.  Technology and art are my girl's best subjects.  She should do great this semester.

Groceries

I managed to go grocery shopping by myself.  Doesn't happen all that often, but I am appreciative when it does.  When we all go, I like it best when kids are in the cart and entertained.  The problem is there isn't much room in the cart for anything else.  So this trip being by myself I was able to fill the cart.  And I think I pretty much got the pantry whipped back into shape.  The problem with not taking them is I get more groceries.  And that costs more money.  ;p

Fresh Air

After the little woman got home from school we decided to take a little walk.  We are still trying to find where the gaggle of geese land.  And no we did not find it, but we did find the field with the big cows with big horns.  That could be fun when the cows are out there.
We did spot a cat in a window.  We saw crocuses, daffodils and the beginnings of tulips.  We made it almost all the way home before it started sprinkling on us.  I considered it a good walk with pretty good timing.  We needed a little fresh air.  Happy first day of March.