well, going better so far!

Well, today is going better so far, though I am so tired my head feels as if it is wrapped up in cotton. I might have to stop off at the gas station on the way to work to buy some energy drinks.

Steven went ahead and read The Iliad and did the questions by himself. He also read the Civil War chapter, but had to wait for me to get the questions together. Then we watched the next episode of Ken Burns' Civil War documentary mini-series. He still has to read the next chapter of Gods and Generals, and do his blog.

I have to get the astronomy ready for tomorrow; tomorrow it is supposed to rain yet again, so we need to wait still more to do the diet coke & mentos chemistry experiment.

I just hope work is quiet tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I get home I will have to order some tickets to various jazz (for all three of us) and classical (for me and Dan for dates) concerts.

rough weekend

It's been a rough few days. Poor Dan has been very sick, and very grouchy as a result. I have been just plain tired. Steven and Dan fought all day Friday about his algebra, and I wanted to run away from home. The dog had the worst diarrhea yet, and I was stuck cleaning it up all by myself yet again (and Dan and I exchanged some rather nasty words about that). It has been rainy. The Detroit Tigers have been losing. I had to stay and work overtime and cover part of the midnight shift tonight after having worked short on my own shift and doing the work of two people (I just got home, and still have to take a shower and get the history questions ready for Steven for tomorrow). We called Bill on Saturday and he sounds exhausted beyond the ability of words to describe.

At least a good friend of Steven's came over and spent the weekend with him, and that made the kiddo very very happy.

And with that, it is shower time!

better day

Steven got a good night's sleep, and so was in a much better mood today. The schooling went very well. We covered the Civil War, The Iliad (we are up to chapter 6), and watched the first episode of Ken Burns' documentary mini series The Civil War, which delighted us both.

We have decided to do what the local school system does, and alternate days for classes. So on one day Steven will have literature and history, and on the next day he will have science and math and they will continuously alternate like that. I will be doing the history and literature and writing and most of the science. Dan will be doing the algebra. So that way every other morning I can sleep in, which will be a great boon to me, working second shift as I do.

Tomorrow we will do a great science experiment with mentos and diet cola. When you drop in the mentos the diet cola explodes like a geiser. So after Steven's math (and I wake up) we will go out to lunch then go to the store to get lots of mentos and several brands of pop, to see which ones blow up the best. It should be a lot of fun!!! We will keep a record of how much pop is left in each bottle after the explosion, and see if results vary with different temperatures and/or brands of pop and with different amounts of mentos.

We've been invited to a couple of parties this weekend, but we will have to see how we are doing. Dan has not been feeling well since Bill went to school. I was so tired today I was tripping over my own feet at work tonight.

One more work week and I can go to Muncie to see my son!!!

rough day

Today was a sort of rough day.

Steven has stayed up most of the night reading the book we bought yesterday. So he was very tired (kept falling asleep no matter how hard he tried to stay awake) and was really grouchy as well. So that sure didn't make for a fun time.

I was on the phone with the mutual fund people for a long time this morning while I was still half asleep. I have three mutual funds for both kids, and I have squirreled away money for years. I closed one of Bill's and the money was just enough to cover his university fees for the rest of the year after all of his scholarships are applied to his account. So that money will be wired to our bank, and we can pay Ball State. So that at least went very well.

The dog no longer had diarrhea, but he sure had farts this morning that would wake the dead.

Oh, and Bill is very worried because he has little money right now, and he has to buy a bunch more textbooks and a bunch more art supplies. Being only 17, he cannot have a checking account or an ATM card. So we will have to take some money out of his savings account up here and deposit it in his bank in Indiana (which also has a branch in Ann Arbor) so he can take the money out to buy the books and supplies. What a pain in the rear.

On the other hand, everyone is healthy (even if they are tired and grumpy) and hopefully tomorrow will go a bit more smoothly.

 

weird day!

Today was a weird day.

I gotten woken up out of a sound sleep this morning by the phone. I hate that! It was one of Steven's friends, and Steven was also sound asleep. I had to pound on his door for a long time to get him up to talk to his friend.

I was making breakfast, and Steven came downstairs to let the dog out. He did so, then came back upstairs and said that the dog was sick, and there was a trail of diarrhea from the stairs to the back door. So I stopped making breakfast, and came downstairs and cleaned it up. After doing so, I no longer wanted to eat. Steven also did not feel like eating. Funny how lots of smelly poop can do that to someone! Yuck! <shudder> Yuck!

We went into Ann  Arbor to meet Dan for lunch at Panera and a trip to the bookstore. He (Dan) was on the phone for at least twenty minutes yelling at the energy company, trying to get the natural gas turned back on for an apartment building. He was also very grouchy as a result of dealing with said people at the energy company. So no one really enjoyed themselves much, though Steven was very happy to find the book he was wild to get, Twilight by Erin Hunter.

Then came work, and enough said about that.

Now, being home, I have discovered more doggy diarrhea, this time on the carpeting rather than the cement floor. I am not even sure how to even attempt to clean it up. I might just cover with a pile of those bleach filled cleaning wipes, in hopes that they soak up a lot of it so the rest will be easier to clean.

Well, one good thing has happened - I heard from my dear friend John. His cell phone, and those of his family members, do not like to work in a small town in the far northern plains. While he is still very sad, he is feeling better than when I talked to him last week. That is a huge relief!

Well, it is time for a shower, and then bed. Steven's home schooling begins tomorrow!

fall is coming

Fall is coming. The nights have been delightfully cool lately, and the days have a crispness to them. The sky is that lovely blue that only comes in the autumn.

I went into Bill's room today and made his bed and put away a couple of books back into his shelves and changed his garbage bag. A few dress shirts got dumped on top of his dresser because he needed the hangers, so I will have to find some more hangers and put them up in his closet and his room will be perfectly clean.  It is the first time any of us have been in there since he left, other than to open the window. Getting the emails from him, and knowing that he and his roommate get along great and that half of the kids in his hall are honors architecture students and will be in his classes make me feel a lot better about him being gone.

Steven is starting his soccer practices soon. Even with the home schooling, he will have plenty of athletics - travel soccer in the spring and fall, and lots of wrestling. He has been invited to come to a very exclusive training club in Ann Arbor, where he will be working with former and current University of Michigan wrestlers and coaches in small workshops twice a week.

The home schooling will start on Wednesday. For literature (and writing) he will be studying classics. We will take up The Iliad where we left off. For social studies we will continue with the Civil War and Reconstruction, possibly switching to some world history later on in the year. For science he will be studying astronomy/cosmology. I will also have him read books on his own and do book reports on them. And we will go see some theater, as well as classical music concerts, and he will have to write reviews/impressions of those as well. And for math he will have beginning algebra.

Tomorrow we will go to Barnes and Noble to get a book he has been wanting and so he can inspect the collection of CD's from one of his favorite rock bands. We will have lunch at Pannera Bread. That will be our send off to summer.

work sucks

Work sucks. I just had to say that. Right now all of the people I like to work with the most are actively looking for other jobs and are pretty serious about quitting. We are talking about people with ten or more years (in some cases more than twenty years) on their jobs. Work sucks.

I apologized to my former friend, though I doubt he will ever accept it. He does not offer or accept apologies, in my experience. Nonetheless, what I said was shameful and beneath me, and I felt bad about, so I did apologize. Now I consider the incident to be over, and my former friend can go back into the category of people to be ignored and avoided at all costs. It is too bad it has to be that way. There are many wonderful things and qualities about him ~ but I simply do not wish to be around people who have a low opinion of me. Why put up with that if I do not have to? It makes me sick that is has to be that way, though. I tried to fix it, but he made it very clear that nothing can be fixed. If he ever changes his mind and approaches me in a kind and honest and respectful manner, I might reconsider my self-protective stance. But I am not holding my breath. In fact, given his low opinion, it is the last thing in the world I expect to happen.

I tried calling John yesterday, but got his voice mail. Apparently the funeral was yesterday. We had intended to call him from work tonight, but it got too busy. I will send him an email in a few minutes.

back to work

Well, in about an hour it will be time to go in to work, something which I truly do not want to do today. I still miss Bill, even though we have been exchanging emails like crazy the last couple of days. He wants me to get his ipod repaired, as he does not care for the selection of radio stations down in Indiana.

Last night we watched V for Vendetta, another interesting science fiction movie marred by the non-acting of Natalie Portman. She's a lovely girl, but I have yet to see her show any acting ability whatsoever.

We had a good dinner, and I baked a cake - strawberry with strawberry icing.

Today we ate a wonderful breakfast, and have spent most of the day figuring out which plays and classical concerts to take Steven to as part of his home schooling. Unfortunately, I had to let my season tickets with the University Music Society go, as most of the concerts I wanted to hear will be on nights when I have to work. But we will go see the Royal Shakespeare Company, and possibly three Detroit Symphony Orchestra concerts, and one from the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. We will also probably get tickets to Tommy and to Spamalot.

Eight Below

Steven and I just got finished watching Eight Below. I am trying to watch my three Netflix movies this weekend, so I can hopefully have the first couple of discs of the Ken Burns mini series The Civil War on hand for Wednesday, as a supplement to the Civil War books Steven has begun reading. Last night I watched one, Eight Below was the second of the three.

We did enjoy it. It told the story of a team of sled dogs who were unintentionally left behind when a scientific base in Antarctica had to be evacuated due to a medical and weather emergency. It was intended that the dogs would be picked up right away as soon as the injured humans were taken out - but the brutal winter weather moved in, and no one could go back for the dogs. It is heart wrenching when bad things begin to happen to the dogs...you really do pull for them to survive until spring.

I think Dan is also bothered by Bill being gone, though he will, of course, not admit it. The entire time we were in Indiana his customers were all calling him about work. He said he would get to them Friday afternoon, but he stayed at home with me and Steven yesterday. And then this morning, he was sad and quiet, and I pretty much had to push him out the door. I am still sad, too - but watching the two movies was a nice escape. And now I will try to read ahead to come up with more questions for The Iliad and for astronomy. We shouldn't be so silly - we will get to see out big guy for four days over Labor Day weekend. And I have a whole week off in November, and I was planning on going to see him for at least part of that week.

Now it is time to go call my friend John, though, and see how he is doing!

Something the Lord Made

I miss my son. I know that is selfish and silly, as he will be very happy at school. But I still miss him anyway. Hopefully this will get better in a couple of days; perhaps home schooling the younger son will keep me busy enough to keep my mind and heart off of this. And that will start on our district's first day of school - next Wednesday. I had taken the books down to Muncie with me, but we were so busy I only had a chance to read a few more chapters of The Iliad. I will have to spend a good portion of the day working on this tomorrow.

I did take the time to watch a movie tonight - from HBO called Something the Lord Made. It is set in the segregated South over a period of decades. It featured Alan Rickman as Dr. Alfred Blalock, a surgeon who has the ability to think outside the box, and Mos Def as a brilliant young African American named Vivien Thomas, who helps him with his lab work. In a world filled with racism and poverty, the genius of Vivien Thomas was never able to advance further than high school. Yet somehow these two men formed a partnership which made huge medical breakthroughs in the treatment of shock, and they pioneered cardiac surgery. The performances were brilliant, the settings and script were excellent. And the movie shows how institutional racism holds back recognition and opportunity for the individual and also robs society as a whole from the contributions of those held down. Very powerful, finely made film.

I miss my son!

an eventful week

Well, we're back home. Our older baby is off at school in another state. What a busy week it's been...all I want to do tomorrow is sleep...

Wednesday we did the initial move-in for the dorm. Then Dan and I went on the first leg of a long scavenger hunt. The architecture school had sent us a list of needed supplies, front and back single spaced. Some of them were specialty supplies for artists, others for engineers, other for draftsmen. So on Wednesday night after dinner we spent a couple of hours at the Wal-Mart in Muncie trying to get some of the general items like sewing scissors and glue sticks.

That night I called one of my friends, John, who had a daughter graduate from Ball State a few years ago. This is the dear friend who transferred out to Las Vegas in June. I just wanted to touch base with him, since I have only been able to talk to him a couple of times since he moved, and I miss him, and Muncie seemed like a good reason to call him since he also had a child go to school there. Since he works midnights out in Vegas, he doesn't really know anyone out there yet. Well, he had just gotten the news that his father had passed, so he was very sad and upset. What a terrible thing, to lose a family member when you are so far away from your family and your friends.  So I took it upon myself to call some of his other friends to pass on the news, and I asked them to call him. When you cannot get hugs, at least you can hear friendly, caring voices on the telephone. This was someone who really helped to take care of me when my father passed; it is killing me to not be able to help him in an even worse situation.

But that was enough, combined with the stress of moving Bill, to get the stress diarrhea problem going full tilt. I have mentioned to Dan a few times that when I feel emotionally stressed I get sick these days, but it did not really register with him until after that phone call and he saw for himself how sick I get.

Thursday morning we went on the second leg of the scavenger hunt, buying items such as a length of chain at a hardware store. Then we picked up a loft for Bill's room, walked with him through the lines at the parking office, financial aid, and the bursar, and bought those textbooks he could buy (one of his professors had not yet turned in the book list for one of his classes). Since he is only seventeen and cannot have a checking account or an ATM card, I wrote him a pile of checks made out to the college without monetary amounts filled in for all of his architecture lab fees and field trips. We built his loft and put together his TV stand and his easy chair, and helped him get his room put together. Then we took him out for a steak dinner.

We then dropped him off at his room and went on another leg of the scavenger hunt, this time hitting office supply stores and art supply stores. He did not come with us as he had many meetings to attend that night.

Then we finally got a good night's sleep, even managing to catch the tail end of the Tigers game on TV.  Dan and I were both exhausted by that point in time.

This morning we took Bill out to breakfast and gave him the supplies we had bought last night. Then we dropped him off at his dorm and  headed home.

Then we picked up Steven, went grocery shopping, then went to pick up the dog.

I miss my son.   I am worried sick about my friend John.   And something else happened this week that also has me upset...the return of that former friend who has broken my heart so many times.

Since I decided in February that I just couldn't trust that person anymore, and couldn't handle anymore pain from that particular source, I have just avoided him as best as I could. I do not want to make any fuss in front of our mutual friends, as that would not be fair to him or them. So I have just quietly gone about my business and living my life without him in it and ignored him as much as humanly possible whenever he has been around. And he respected those boundaries for these seven months, or at least he seemed to. But all of a sudden this week he started talking to me - God knows why, as he has made it so clear that he does not want me as a friend and that I have no value in his eyes. And of all the weeks to do it - when I was so busy and stressed out over the move. And of all the ways to do it - not being kind and gentle, as I know he can be, or with any sort of acknowledgement of the pain he has caused and a promise to be better, as any normal person would do - or even to say hello and ask how I am doing or what is going on in my life -- but to be snotty. And to my shame, I responded by being even more snotty to him in return. And I am ashamed. So for now I will just stay away from him and our mutual friends for awhile. The whole situation just makes me want to puke.  I hate being mean. I hate being snotty. I do not like the person that I am when I am around this former friend.

I miss my son.  I am worried sick about my friend John losing his father at a time when he is so far away from his friends and family.   And I am just not emotionally up to dealing with this other crap right now.

 

well, tomorrow is the day!

Well, tomorrow is the big day when our older son goes off to architecture school! I know I am going to miss him like crazy - he is one of the greatest and most positive people to ever happen to me - but I also know he is on the path to good things. I think that once the initial adjustment is over he will be very happy at the university. For the first time in his life my gifted child will have an honest to God peer group, and one that shares his interests. And knowing that makes me very happy for him, though I know once he is gone I will miss him. I am expecting it to hit bad when we come home and he will not be here...but I will have a couple of days before I have to go back to work, so hopefully the worst of it will be over by Sunday night.

And, of course, there will be the home schooling to get ready for - and that plus work should keep me busy enough to keep my mind off of things.

One of the most important things about loving someone is letting him or her go so that they can be happy and have a better life. And this is a wonderful opportunity for him. Definitely a potential path to happiness, fulfillment, and wonderful career where he can use his mind and his hands and his creativity. So I am letting him go - with all of my love, and encouragement, and all of my blessings.

 

still getting ready for college

Another day of working our butts off. Bill's room in now perfect - just in time for him to move out. I do not know whether to laugh or cry about that. I guess  I will laugh, as I prefer that to crying, and usually only cry when I am tired enough to let my emotional fences down.

We did buy a few things for his dorm room today - a foldable easy chair to fit under his loft and a TV stand for our old crappy television that he will be taking with him. And we got him three pairs of jeans. The winter coats are not in the stores yet, so he will have to wait for that until sometime in the fall.

I am still plugging away on the cinder block called House of Chains by Steven Erikson. Good stuff, but man his books are very long. I think I reread Latro in the Mist by Gene Wolfe after that, followed by rereading Dan Simmons's Hyperion/Endymion books, followed by a reread of Frank Herbert's Dune sequence. I am sure I will sneak some short mystery and general novels in there, too.

I am exhausted - it is time to read a bit more Erikson and then get my tired rear to bed.

getting ready for the university

Since Bill will be moving to his dorm next week at Ball State, this weekend we are very busy getting ready for his move. We went furniture shopping today. We had gotten Steven's room all ready a couple of weeks ago, but had not gotten a chance to finish Bill's room. So today we bought him a very sturdy futon with a thick mattress, a dresser, and a little bedside table. He was happy to have a bed again, rather than having to sleep on a box spring and mattress on the floor.

We bought the furniture at a little furniture store just to the west of Saline, so we stopped off at the Tim Horton's in Saline and bought a bunch of croissants and doughnuts on the way home for breakfast tomorrow.

Anyway, Bill's room is nearly ready; tomorrow we will finish it up, then finish up washing his dirty laundry, then figure out what (if anything) we need to buy for him before he moves. I already know he needs a stereo! His roommate will be providing the microwave and refrigerator; Bill will be providing a TV (the old one we rarely watch down in the basement) and a stereo. But we will pack his clothes and personal stuff (like his electric razor). I suspect he needs a couple more pairs of jeans, and I know he will need a winter coat, but we can figure that out tomorrow.

We will be moving him down to Muncie on Wednesday; Dan and I will be spending two nights there. The first day we will move him into his room; the second day we will pick up his textbooks and school supplies and any little things he might need (a bag of socks, notebooks and pens, shampoo, etc). We can also do that on Friday morning if we need to. And then he will be officially at school...

Dan has been quietly freaking out and really starting to get the empty nest thing going. I went through a lot of that last summer and throughout the last school year (this will be the last time I see Bill play soccer...this is the last time I will see him wrestle...this is the last time I will pick him up or drop him off at school...etc.) so I am actually handling it better than Dan is (for the moment anyway).

Steven and we have decided to go the home school route for his major subjects; he will be taking band and perhaps art at the middle school, so he can still spend time with friends and participate in sports. We will follow the basic school calendar for the year, so will get started again later this month.

I am exhausted but cannot sleep tonight. There is this huge full moon shining right in through the blinds. It is lovely, but it does make it difficult to fall asleep. I just took some benadryl, and hopefully will be out cold soon.

long week

It is only Wednesday, and it is already a long week.

The cement people finally turned up on Monday and they have been here early the last three mornings. The big truck in particular makes a lot of noise. And now we cannot use our driveway for at least a few days. I only hope it will make cleaning & using the driveway easier in the winter, as Dan claims it will. I am worried it will only make the driveway even icier.

Monday I had to take the Jeep in for an oil change and a routine checkup before work. So most of the early afternoon, my most productive time at home, was shot.

Yesterday Dan and Stevie and I had a meeting with the high school principal about what to do for next year. The school district really wants him at the high school, and at least one of the high school coaches in one of Steven's sports preceded us in meeting with the principal.

In this ultra competitive world, no one seems to understand that our son wants one more year of childhood - and one that he should be able to get, as he does not want to have to be an adult at age seventeen, like his brother.

Pushing towards college and sports as fast as you can seem to be more important than finding your own pace and place in life.

After the meeting we went and visited one of Steven's friends, who had a horrid accident on his little dirt bike last week and who was badly hurt and was in the ICU and had to have some serious surgery. He had come home, and we went to see the poor kid. Concussion, broken collar bone, broken arm, messed up jaw, shattered face. Poor kid. He enjoyed having Steven there, so I left him there and went to work (with the understanding that Dan would pick him up). I'm glad I did, as Steven coaxed his friend out for a walk, and helped him with the walk. And the poor mom was still so wound up and upset over everything that happened (the ambulance had gotten lost on the way to their house, among other things).

And then, of course, there is work. That never ends. Mine, Dan's, Bill's.

Someday I hope to able to retire. Get a pickup truck and one of those campers that sits in the truck bed. Go to the mountains and the canyons for a month at a time. Take lots of pictures. Watch wild animals going about their lives. Spend time outside in the sunlight to counteract spending so many years already spent two stories underground in the afternoon and at evening and at night and having to miss part of every morning sleeping. Actually see the dawn. Get caught up with the big pile of books that I want to read. Have time to write stories and poetry. Not be surrounded by sickness and pain and death every five days out of seven. Lie on top of a mountain and watch the stars. Dance naked with a snuggly man in the light of the moon in a mountain meadow, near a rushing stream to provide us with music for our dancing. Laugh. Laugh. Laugh. Laugh. Laugh.

productive day

Worked all day. Did numerous loads of laundry (the last is drying now). Did a big load of dishes, though the sink is full again and I will have to do more tomorrow before work. Cooked a huge dinner. Kept Dan (who is absolutely miserable after a particularly back breaking day of work) supplied with cool drinks. Have fed and watered and brushed the pets (though that is a joy rather than a job).

While I would have rather been doing any number of things other than housework, I still feel good about how much I got accomplished. I want to get the house in good enough shape that I can get Bill off to Muncie with nothing to worry about other than getting him set for school.

I even sorted out a lot of the books in my "To Be Read" stacks. They are a lot more organized now, though I might not get to many of them for awhile.

And I have picked out some classic works for Steven to read if we do decide to do the home schooling thing. Also some things that might not be classics, but are just plain fun to read.

the decapitation of Dmitri Young

Yesterday morning started out very strangely, with the decapitation of Detroit Tigers designated hitter Dmitri Young in our family room. Not the real guy - Steven's bobble head doll. Bill did it while Steven and I were still asleep. I got up, and there was the doll standing in his normal place, with his head on the shelf next to him!  Bill says that he just bobbled the head a little bit and off it came flying.

The experiment in home schooling is over for now. Steven says he prefers it to real school because he learns more and because food at home is better than food at school and because when he got really tired that one morning, I let him go lie down for half an hour for a nap. I think it is a heck of a lot of work. I am not a teacher by training or natural inclination. But I am willing to try it for a year if it comes to that. Nothing could ever be as important as my children! We have a week to make the final decision.

Yesterday we went on the last fun full family excursion we will be able to have for quite sometime, as Bill's departure for college comes ever closer. We headed into Detroit to eat at Greektown and go to a Tigers game.

We had planned on eating first, and got off the Lodge onto Jefferson two hours before the start of the game. But we had not known that there was going to be a huge political rally and parade in downtown Detroit yesterday afternoon. There is a huge Muslim (with Arabic roots) community in the Detroit area- supposedly the largest in North America. So there was a huge rally and parade to object to what is going on in Lebanon right now (and who could blame the people for being concerned, when so many of them have relatives who are endangered right now?) We sat right there on Jefferson near Hart Plaza for about 45 minutes in stopped traffic as thousands of people carrying Lebanese flags crossed the street to march up Woodward to the government buildings. I explained to the kids that this was democracy in action, and that the people marching are the ones that are working within the political system to use their rights to freely assemble and freely speak to try to bring about change.

An important lesson - whether you personally agree with their views or not.

But it did delay things enough that when we could finally move we found a nice free parking spot about halfway between the ball park and Greektown, parked there, and headed to the park.

The game was a lot of fun. The Tigers got way behind in the early innings, but came back and won it in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jones got his thirtieth save of the year for the Tiggies. As with every Friday (and Saturday) home game, there were fireworks following the game.

And we got Steven a Pudge (Ivan Rodriguez) bobble head to replace the one that was decapitated that morning.

After the game we walked to Greektown where we had a delicious dinner at the New Hellas Taverna. MMMMM. Flaming cheese!!!

Today Dan and Bill are off working. Now that the weather has moderated (we have the windows open and the house is deliciously cool), people are free to use their major appliances at will. During the heat wave the authorities asked people not to run their laundry or dishwashers, so as to try to not overstress the electrical grid. So I am trying to get caught up with the laundry this weekend. That is my major project - we're talking three or more loads washed, died, sorted, and put away each day. Not one of my favorite things in the world to do - but it has to be done.

glorious cool night!

The cold front finally came through with a bunch of storms this morning. Oh, what a blessed relief!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I spent the morning working on school work with Steven, then spent the afternoon before work at the doctor's office with Bill. He was getting his pre-college physical. Poor kid had to get three shots - his tetanus booster and two that the college wanted him to get which are not required for public school students in this state - meningococcal and hepatitis A. I realized later I should have gotten him a pneumovax too, but maybe I can get him one at Christmas with his second hepatitis A shot, and maybe a flu shot as well. Anyway, Bill is doing very well. The doctor is very happy with his post-wrestling weight gain, and says he is the perfect weight for his height. The doctor reassured him that the jitters he is experiencing right now are perfectly normal for someone about to have a major life change.

I will mail the forms off to the university's health services tomorrow, and then there is only the packing and moving. Even though he is anxious right now, I think that Bill will be very happy as soon as he has made the initial adjustments.

It is a glorious night. I drove home with the windows down and let the wind blow in my long hair. It is about 65 degrees, simply lovely!  If Dan were still awake I would drag him out on the deck to dance with me in the glorious cool air!

It is the weekend now! And tomorrow night we will be able to go to the Tigers game! Life is very good today!

feeling better

I am feeling a bit better today, though the heat will not abate until tomorrow when a cold front moves through. I made a point of drinking a gallon of water and some large glasses of juice before work, and drinking more water and some iced green tea while at work. I think I have been dehydrated since at least Saturday (when I started feeling rotten) and all of the water definitely has helped.

I even snuck in watching a movie this morning. I watched Casanova, starring the ever handsome Heath Ledger. I was surprised that it was rated an R, as I have seen more naked flesh and raunchiness in PG-13 movies. I will never understand how they come up with some of these ratings. It was actually a cute romantic comedy set in 1700's Venice (which was gloriously lovely).

dangerous heat; an experiment in homeschooling

I am still not feeling well today; I went home halfway through my shift at work last night. I do not know if it is my allergies being out of control, or the horrible heat and humidity getting my asthma going. When you step outside to let out the dog or put some mail in the mailbox, the heat and humidity make you gasp and wheeze in pain; at work the hallways are air conditioned, but when the elevator opens you are blasted with a wave of painful heat. I am drinking as much water as I can stand to (I even broke down and drank a huge glass of nasty Ann Arbor tap water last night - oh the horror!) but it doesn't seem to be quite enough.

We started the experiment of home schooling Steven yesterday morning, and continued it this morning. It is only for this week, and we do not have an appropriate math book, so we are not doing math this week (we will obviously add it if we do this for real). But for social studies, we are doing the American Civil War, for literature The Iliad, and for science astronomy. We are trying to integrate other things into the curriculum - for example for The Iliad we included a map study of the area where the war took place, and discussed why the war might have happened (such as Troy commanding trade routes). For the Civil War I have him reading a novel Gods and Generals as well as a factual book on the war. If we end up doing this for real, we will add classic movies on what we are studying, as well as well done tv factual specials and mini series (such as Cosmos and Ken Burn's Civil War) and add art and music appreciation. We will go to plays and concerts and maybe even an opera or a ballet and plenty of field trips to area museums and botanical gardens and the like. I have warned Steven we will work him harder than he has ever been worked in school in his life. To see what we are doing:

http://journals.aol.com/stevenfrommilan/my-home-schooling-record/

I am actually letting him take a nap right now. He has done all of his reading (the civil war book, Gods and Generals, The Iliad, and astronomy; and he has answered the questions on the Civil War, though he still has to answer the questions on the other readings). The heat is draining him and making his asthma act up, as well. So I sent him off for a nap in the air conditioned bedroom.

Bill is anemotional wreck this week. He is driving us (and himself) up the wall. I think is stress and fear of the unknown, with him going off to college in two weeks. Hopefully he will settle down quickly once he gets there.