The Crab Chronicles

Housebound

January 18, 2005

Mother has a horrible, rare strain of flu that the doctor said is viral and she couldn't give us anything for it. Mother is weak and miserable, and her nose drips constantly. She has run fever of 102 yesterday and 100 today. The doctor said the CDC had sent out a warning that this strain of flu is vicious and there is nothing that can be done but to let it run its course - that's 5-7 days of misery.

The doctor was pessimistic and blunt this morning - she had put two of her patients in the hospital with pneumonia from it. I am praying it won't go into Mom's lungs. She's coughing a little bit.

There is a quick test now to determine if someone has the flu, a nasal swab. As soon as the doctor found out Mother definitely had the flu she practically propelled us out of her office. It was like we were lepers or something.

I got Mother some sudafed and soup on the way home. She seems to be getting worse. She sleeps all the time and doesn't want to eat.

Frankly, I am worried. It's a sure bet I probably won't go to work the next few days. I would be a nervous wreck if I left her alone. It came on so quickly, which is scary.

Monday she was fine, yesterday by the time I came home she was spiking a 102 fever and had already gone through two boxes of kleenex. In a 72 year old woman with COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] it's scary.

I also helped Alesia with her science project paper [the Effect of Acid Rain on Plants], washed sheets, did dishes, put out the recycling box and extras, ran to the grocery store for Sudafed [and worried about mom the whole time I was gone].

For dinner, Mother had chicken noodle soup I had made. She ate very little. I gave Alesia a salad and some pasta and fried chicken.

After dinner, we watched a good movie, “Songcatcher,” and Mother stayed awake through most of it. It’s about a woman who goes to Appalachia in about 1915 and records mountain music, which is mostly old English ballads passed down orally through the generations. It’s an excellent movie, but few people saw it when it came out a few years ago, probably because it has a subplot about lesbian schoolteachers who live in the mountains. The subplot is handled tastefully, but people are still uncomfortable with certain themes.

While Mother took a long nap this afternoon after lunch, I started re-reading my long-neglected manuscript for the book about the adoption. It wasn’t as bad as I had feared. It may be worth working on again. I had given out some copies to a few close friends to read and only one friend was kind about it. I think it just needs a lot of editing. Maybe I could find a Christian publisher to publish it.

Tornado Weather

January 17, 2006

It's very warm and windy here, and it has poured rain all day. Freaky. The house got so hot earlier I had to turn on the air conditioner. In January, I need air conditioning! Bizarre.

My work wasn't too piled up from being out a couple of days, fortunately. I did have several cases settled and I need to process those agreements and checks before the end of the month. That's boring clerical crap that I hate doing. The attorney also promised we could deliver the checks within a few days  - I had to tell her that won't happen. Accounting is not processing checks until mid February because Jan 31 ends our fiscal and they have to balance the books. So the lawyer [one of my 3 supervisors] is in hot water, but she's used to it. She's a nice person but she doens't know what she's doing. She was recently promoted and she's in way over her head, which is her own fault. If she'd listen to me and the other paralegals she wouldn't get in these jams. We're all tired of dealing with her.

It took me over an hour to get home in the pouring rain, fog, and multiple fender-benders, and I found to my horror, that Mother is sick. She had a temp of 102. I gave her some chicken soup, extra vitamins, a Grapeseed Extract of mine - great antioxidant - and some tonic water. She had had a leg cramp before I got home. She had already taken extra potassium. Tomorrow, I am staying home to take her to the dr. I want this thing nipped in the bud.

We are supposed to have carpet delivered tomorrow, a big piece of berber-like carpet for the breakfast area. The uneven tile floors are horrible on the chairs, which we just got repaired by the handyman. We're hoping the carpet will help. We're just going to lay it over the tile floor, like we did the big carpet in the family room. After I get the drs. appointment I will call the rug place and explain the dilemma. I know the guy there, he will work with us on the delivery. For years, I have bought carpet from him. He buys high quality remnants and I get them really cheap.

I hate seeing Mom sick again. It brings up all the bad memories from last summer, and makes me want to scream or cry. Thank goodness we still have the walkie-talkies, so she can call me in the night if she needs me.

History Day

January 16, 2006   New Photos Posted!

I took a personal day off from work. I got a lot accomplished.

Alesia and I spent a large part of the day studying for her upcoming Georgia Studies test. I had to read her the entire chapter and teach her about the Civil War. Of course, we had to cover new vocabulary words, too. I don't know what her teacher does in class - besides show movies - but Alesia was woefully ignorant.

Alesia seemed to relish the one on one time with me, and she absorbed the material pretty well up until the end of the day. I had to wonder if my explanation of Sherman being a horrible person was going to be echoed by her teacher, who is an African-American lady from New York City. I told Alesia if the teacher said Sherman was a good guy, to just keep quiet, as everyone has their own opinions.

We also got some boxes broken down and the garage a little more cleaned out. A lady from church is supposed to come by tomorrow with a truck and some helpers and load up some of the extra furniture.

I made Alesia get out and ride her bike, for the first time in months. I think she was amazed it wasn't horribly cold. Maybe that's why she didn't want to ride, remembering how cold the winter bike rides must have been in Russia. Of course, there, the kids probably couldn't ride from November through April. Just walking around in below freezing temps were awful enough for me.

I think Alesia is growing, again. She was ravenously hungry at 5:30 today and wanted a Happy Meal, which we got when we were out gassing up the car. She also went to bed early with a headache. She complains of things hurting when she's in a growth spurt, I've noticed.

Tomorrow, it's back to work, which I dread. It will take me all morning just to get through the hundreds of e-mails, I bet.

Parties and Celebrations

Sunday, January 15, 2006

I was so exhausted when I went to bed last night – I woke up tired today, too.

Yesterday, I hosted the Russian Christmas celebration for MAPREC [Metro Atlanta Parents of Russian and Eastern European Children].

Several food funny things happened. On Friday night, I made pickled eggs. Saturday morning, I had Alesia peel and slice some seedless cucumbers. Last night, with dozens of people in the house, I then totally forgot to put them out for everyone.

I spent all morning yesterday trying to make Russian black bread, and realized just before putting it in the oven I had left out the sugar. The yeast didn’t work properly. The bread had the consistency of chewing gum on the inside, a hockey puck on the outside. I threw it out after the party.

I was going to do a little speech about Russian Christmas traditions, but it was too crowded and noisy and I didn’t try.

However, several things went right.

My borscht was excellent. Everyone was very complimentary. One couple brought pilmeni [Siberian dumplings filled with meat] in a mushroom sauce. Alesia loves pilmeni and they are excellent – like ravioli, just a different shape. One lady brought a wonderful pasta salad. Alesia’s English teacher came – the only Russian adult in the house – and brought a Zimni Salat [winter salad] that was excellent. There was a wonderful chicken casserole brought by Tina Barr, Elena’s mother. Several folks brough desserts, including Russian chocolates.

The turnout was great. We had six families, and one single friend of mine still in the adoption process. Alesia’s teacher, Miss Kerivan, was the only other person there childless. She has a grown daughter, however.

Three families are gay couples, and they were very sweet. I had not met them in person before. I liked the first couple a lot, Aurora and Julie. They had two 3 year olds, Rory and Payton, that are just adorable. I also liked Lisa and Laura, though both are a lot more quiet. They have a baby, Sasha, who is about 18 months old and just gorgeous, a Kazakh/Russian ethnic blend with huge dark eyes. The third couple, whose names escape me, seemed very nice but I didn’t have a chance to get to know them as well. They have two little boys under 5 who are both pistols.

One of the couples said their parents were a lot better able to accept their alternative family, than the idea of baptizing the children non-Catholic. They have a good sense of humor about that, fortunately.

Elena’s whole family came except her sister Jordan. The kids were pretty well-behaved. All the kids were well behaved, really. They couldn’t play outside much because it was very cold, in the upper 30’s. Unusually cold for Atlanta.

My buddy Linda came, and we got a chance to catch up a bit. She was in Russian class with me in winter 2004 before I got Alesia. She and her husband have a 10 year old, Ina Claire, who is a cutie pie. She latched onto baby Sasha and played dolls with her. She told Linda the food was the best she had had since coming to America.

We had taken Coco over to Bronwyn’s but when everyone left we picked her up. I was so very tired. We ate borscht and watched the dog show the rest of the evening.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Today has been pretty non-eventful. I overslept and we were late for Sunday school.

We started a new adult Sunday school – ours are more like seminars – and it’s great. This musician is lecturing about Johann Sebastian Bach. Sounds boring, but he is a great lecturer, very animated, and clearly a Bach expert. He said it was a fit subject because everything Bach wrote was to the glory of God. I can tell it will be a fun class.

In the church service, we were treated to a substitute choir, the Singing Sisters of Ebenezer Baptist Church – MLK’s former church. They were awesome. They did a lot of spirituals, and the church was much more animated than usual. They did “My Lord, What a Morning,” which is a favorite of Mother’s.

I had a quiet afternoon while Alesia played at Elena’s house, then I picked her up and took her to youth group.

While Alesia was there, I met my friend Maria for coffee. She looks more tired than me – she worked 60 hours last week. We had a good visit and I said goodbye to Sam, the exchange student who has been staying with her for several months and now has to return home to Australia. He’s a great kid. He went with me and Alesia and Gary to the Braves game a few months back. I gave him a Braves tee shirt as a going away present.

I told Maria how concerned I am about Alesia being lost in High School next year. She pointed out that if I am going to get her tutored this summer I need to find someone now.

Mother and Alesia and I watched “Shall We Dance,” tonight. Wonderful film. Richard Gere is an amazingly good dancer. The film has a great story.

Grocery Humor

Friday, January 13, 2006

Spent all day in a store observing an HR Manager, Jennifer. Really nice woman. I liked her. I learned a lot about the day-to-day lives of the store folks and the employment issues they handle. Plus Jennifer is very shatty. Aside from having to sit in two different, uncomfortable chairs, it was an enjoyable day, a nice change of pace.

We went to the grocery store after I got home this afternoon. Alesia made the funniest remark. We were walking through the dairy section and she pointed excitedly at some of that aerosol can whipped topping, and said “OOOOH! That stuff is really good! You can open your mouth and put it right in  [she pantomimed that] and then [her voice dropped] you get sick.” I had to stand in the store and laugh for ten minutes.

I came home and made 2 big pots of borscht for tomorrow’s parents group event at my house. This is the first time I’ve ever had everyone here. We are having Coco removed to stay offsite with Bronwyn all afternoon, so she doesn’t drive us nuts. Alesia and I are going to the Russian grocery store in the morning. I will attempt to make black bread when we get back. It’s really wonderful but rather complicated. I hope it doesn’t taste like old chewing gum – I made a loaf like that once…

Job Jeopardy

January 11, 2006

Work was very harrowing I was told I was supposed to meet with a senior attorney about a mistake I made on one of my cases. It made me nervous, then the attorney said she had an interview and the meeting would have to wait. While I waited, I just constructed a timeline showing how I made the mistake and owning up to it, but I also showed how the two attorneys involved also screwed up. Miscommunicaiton all around. I couched it diplomatically, of course.  We shall see tomorrow. After all that, the attorney never got with me, so just before I left I e-mailed her the timeline. It will either save my butt or get me fired. If I get fired I can always work somewhere else.

I came home to a sparkling clean house. We hired Molly Maids, to see how they would do. They cleaned very thoroughly. We plan on having them back monthly, and in between Alesia and I will keep it clean.

Mother made moussaka for dinner. Yummy. Also low carb.

Tuesday

Tuesday, January 10, 2005

It was a hectic day at work, with an unexpected 45 minute conference call just as I got up to go to the bathroom. I had to take the call, and my kidneys again got a workout - not as bad as the 2 hour scream-fest traffic nightmare last night, but bad enough.

I forgot to mention a funny thing Alesia said last night at dinner. Mother gave her a small piece of stewed okra and I told her she had to try one bite. She took a small bite, grimaced and shook her head when Mother said "Don't you like it? Tastes like corn, right?" I sighed, looked back at my plate, got a forkful of lemon chicken. When I looked back at Alesia's plate the okra was gone. I said "What happened to the rest of the okra, sugar?" She shrugged, sighed, "I ate it so my plate would look nice." Mother and I howled.

We got Alesia's grades. 2 A's, the rest C's. Not stellar. She developed better study habits and only consulted us when it was time to study for a test, last term. Obviously we were too lenient. I told her Granny and I are going to have to go back to checking her homework every night, and going over the unknown words with her. She then mentioned she has tests in science and Ga. Studies on Friday. oh joy.

Traffic Hell

January 9, 2006

It has not been a notable day except for one thing: traffic.

This morning I was late because of a big accident on 285, so I went another route. Sitll got to work by 9.

I left at 6 p.m. and went 75 southbound, and sat. I sat for an hour and 45 minutes Aaaargh! I was so pissed off, and I had to go to the bathroom sooooo bad. I finally got so frustrated I started crying and I couldn't stop, even after I got home. Mother held me and made comforting sounds, and Alesia came up behind me and made a hug sandwich. It was so sweet. I had been crying because I hated to not see Alesia until after 8 at night.

After a hot dinner and watching "Garfield: The Movie" I was pretty calm again. Mom tried a new chicken recipe that was excellent.

Back on the diet, though. I jumped on the scale this morning and was horrified, so it's back on the wagon.

Yucky Sunday

Sunday, January 8, 2005

This was an incredibly rotten day, on so many levels.

I didn't sleep well last night, for starters. I woke up and went down for breakfast, and Alesia came down for breakfast and was a pill. She is often grumpy in the mornings, but after her attitude problems and backtalk yesterday, I was in no mood. breakfast was a quiet meal.

We go to church, and there is no adult Sunday school, just a meeting in the parish hall to discuss mission money allocations. Yuck. mother and I skipped that and sat in a vestibule and people-watched. A boring 45 minutes as most people who skipped the meeting were just standing around talking. Mother noticed a bizarre looking old woman, probably 75, trim figure, very expensive clothes, white hair, and a face drawn like a death mask. Obviously she had had a facelift, maybe two. Yikes. There are lots of rich folks in church but few looked as scary as her.

Church is miserable because 1) Mother has a hay fever attack and blows her nose constantly; 2) there are baptisms and that always makes the service really long; and 3) Alesia asks me questions throughout the service. We finally leave right after communion, and when we get outside I discover the car keys are lost. Fortunately, Mother has a spare set, and we can leave. I make a mad dash around th parish hall first, and send Alesia back to the sanctuary to look under the pew.

Mother doesn't feel like going to lunch, so we come home. As we're walking in, she discovers the car keys in her coat pocket. I accidentally stuck them in her pocket instead of mine - our coats look alike on a sofa. Mother stays home and takes some Benadryl.

Alesia and I have to run get her a folder for school at Office Depot, and I have to run to the ATM. By now it's 1:30 and I'm starving, so I just pick up Captain D's. Blew the diet. By then I didn't even care, I was so irritated.

After lunch I went over some vocabulary words with Alesia. She didn't know any words we talked about yesterday or in the past couple of days. We looked up the words in Russian - no help there. I am now understanding that her vocabulary in Russian was very limited. Words like "imply" and "anxious" are new to her in either language.

I went to the movies with some friends and saw "Brokeback Mountain." I really only saw it because it's an Oscar contender and I like the director, Ang Lee. It's about gay cowboys. Very beautiful scenery. Very depressing movie.

Got home and Mother is still drippy and miserable. Nothing I can do. She won't let me give her any new medications, just wants Benadryl. It makes her sleepy. She did make a good pot roast and green beans for dinner. We were hoping Lesleigh would come to dinner, but she never showed up at the movie, and I don't know what happened. Worrisome. Not unusual behavior for her, however.

I also learned today that no good deed goes unpunished. I went out on a limb to get a friend of mine a job at Home Depot down in Brunswick, when he desperately needed a job last summer. Now, after less than 6 months, they offer him a promotion and he decides to quit. I've told him Home Depot has a great career ladder and he can get a job at corporate - his background is in writing and computers - if he will stick it out in a store for a year. No, he decides to job hop to an office job with the local sheriff. No future in that, since he and his wife are leaving the area in 6 months. Then he will be right back where he started, unemployed with massive debts to pay. I won't stick my neck out again. Really pisses me off, but then he's never had any common sense.

Tomorrow, I am praying, will be a better day.

Thai Elva

Friday, January 6, 2006

Yesterday was a long day, and I was too tired to write last night. However, it was a momentous occasion.

When I came home from Work, we measured the breakfast area of our kitchen and went to a discount carpet place nearby, where I’ve bought carpet for years. We picked out a piece of durable multicolored carpet to put in the breakfast area, over the expensive ceramic tile. The tile eats up our chairs – two broken chair legs so far, and the chairs are brand new. I hope the rug looks decent. We’re getting it bound. We did the same thing in the family room, got a piece of carpet bound, and it looks fine.

After the carpet store we went out to dinner. I persuaded Mother to try a little family-owned Thai restaurant I’ve been going to for years. Excellent food, never crowded. At first, she turned up her nose, even though she had never eaten Thai food. She doesn’t like Chinese food and she thought Thai was the same. However, ever since we went to PF Chang’s, the very upscale Chinese place, the day after Christmas, she has softened her stance a bit. She had scallops which were delicious.

After a glass or two of wine, she was chatting with the owner, very charming. We were the only ones in the restaurant.

The owner’s daughter waited on us – she is 14 years old, but she looked and acted older. She was serving wine, which is probably illegal, but we weren’t in the mood to turn them in. After she took our order she looked at Alesia and said “She looks just like a doll!” Alesia just giggled.

 

Today was very uneventful. We watched Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves [the 1991 Kevin Costner movie] after dinner. Alesia had not seen it before, and loved it. They had added some scenes to the DVD version, which really made the movie better.