The Crab Chronicles

Fighting the Good Fight

It’s been a long day and I am very tired, mentally and emotionally more than anything else.

I heard from a friend who works in the production side of things at CNN and he said he would try to interest one of the producers in running a story about little Igor, the boy I posted about a few days ago who needs a home. Please pray that CNN will run a story, or a donor will step forward, to allow Donna and her husband to adopt the boy, so he won’t have to go back to live in the orphanage. Since he will never walk properly and will always be short, he will have no chance of getting a decent job or having a decent life in Russia. I have praying for the boy all day.

I heard from the vice principal at Alesia’s school, and we have a meeting set up for December 4^th. I wrote her a letter last week, setting forth how the school has failed to comply with the law in getting my daughter an IEP, which she desperately needs, and how my next step will be to hire a lawyer, if we’re not treated fairly. I had to threaten a lawsuit just to get the meeting, which is ridiculous.

We finished Braveheart. I used it as an opportunity to point out that there are some things worth fighting and dying for. William Wallace fought for Scotland to be free. I feel like Wallace, always fighting to get my children the help they need.

I ended the letter to the vice principal saying I will NEVER stop fighting until my daughter gets the help she needs. They ain’t seen nothing yet.

Short Skirts and Big Hair

This was the first day in three weeks that I actually felt well. I didn’t cough but a few times, to clear my throat mainly. My voice was 98% normal – no hoarseness, which is a breakthrough. Yesterday I was still hoarse. This bronchitis, ear infection, and sinus infection have just had me feeling like poop. However, things seem to be getting back to normal.

We had another quiet day today. The kids and I ran to Kroger late this morning, and my friend Laura drove up and had lunch with me. We had such a nice visit. The kids were good, and played outside, or on the computer, while she was here.

I am very tentatively testing the waters at E-Bay, trying to sell some non-essential things which could bring in a little cash for Christmas. I am so strapped this year, it’s scary. I want my kids to have a nice Christmas. I have a few things, but not much, and there’s very little in the bank. Plus, Mother’s birthday is one week after Christmas.

I will see if I can get anything from the items on E-Bay. All the listings were for books, except for one little piece of pottery which is handmade and signed, and I thought I might get something for it. Who knows.

We started watching Braveheart tonight. I’ve had it on video for years, but the DVD is so much better, the colors are so much sharper. When I watch it, it makes me want to go back to Scotland. I was there once, years ago, when I was in grad school. I remember seeing a statue of William Wallace in Edinburgh, and feeling an odd sense of wonderment and what Mom and I call “radar” or what other people call psychic. I get those feelings sometime. It turns out that Braveheart was one of the last movies I ever saw with my father in the theatre.

We started watching the movie and in Mel Gibson’s first scene Alesia said “Look at that, like Lethal Weapon there’s his long hair - does Mel always have long hair in movies?!”

Well no, but I see it this way – in Braveheart, Mel’s got long hair, he’s wearing a cute skirt, and he has a problem with authority. What’s not to love?!

Quiet Day, Big Talks

We have had a very quiet, stay at home day. We went out to lunch, and I took the kids to Best Buy late this afternoon, but otherwise it’s been a very low-key day, which has been a blessing.

Sometimes I think there is a great plan for all of us and we live our lives in a pattern we cannot control. Other times I am convinced that our choices alter our lives, and we just have to have faith and hang on for the ride, even when we make the bad choices. I vacillate between these two ideas. In the day to day world, such philosophizing moments are brief.

I felt today a sense of peace and family togetherness I consider a breakthrough. I felt it when we ate lunch and sat in companionable silence, everyone munching contentedly on their food. I felt it when I looked outside and saw Alesia and Michael raking leaves together. I felt it when all the yard work was done and we were riding through a beautiful, crisp, late fall afternoon, listening to the radio, just me and the kids.

At breakfast, we did some more talking to Michael about Christmas, and what will happen. I thought he was fixing to yell Enough! I get it already! When instead, he looked at me in utter seriousness and said “What costume will I wear?”

Alesia saw the look on my face and said hastily, “In Russia, we wear costumes for New Year’s, which is like Christmas.”

I thought for a second. “Mike, you can wear your Ninja costume all day if you want, but nobody else will be in costume. It’s up to you.”

I got my bedroom cleaned up, including the corner where I have my desk and the computer. It’s always been messy since we moved here 2.5 years ago. I finally got it dusted and cleaned off, and looking very nice, I think. Of course, you do NOT want to look in the closet…

Our feature film was “Dragon, The Bruce Lee Story.” It’s one of the movies we bought at Best Buy. I find they sometimes have great deals on DVD’s. I got Dragon, Braveheart, and Terms of Endearment, plus a computer game for the kids, for $34. Not bad.

Michael’s interest in karate has kind of waned lately. If I am correct, the Bruce Lee movie has reawakened his interest. Afterwards, as I was tucking him into bed, he said he wanted to start a fitness program, which included running. He also pointed to his little chest and said he wanted to draw on some pectoral muscles. I managed to not laugh and said, quite seriously, “I think that’s a fine idea. I will take a picture and send it to Mr. Quinn.” [He’s the head of Michael’s karate school and is in the Phillipines right now.]

I had to take some time to explain to the kids that Dragon is a very realistic movie except for the fact that it shows scenes of Bruce Lee physically fighting “The Demon” – the evil spirit. After trying to explain the word “sympbolic” I finally told them, when the movie was over, something like this:

“All of us have to fight demons, all the time, every day. The demons we fight are fear, and anger, and sadness. We must always fight them, or we will never be happy.”

After the movie, Alesia teased Michael about taking off his nightshirt to watch the movie – it was pretty warm in the house – and she said something about his “milky white skin.” He didn’t really understand the remark, and took offense. I made Alesia apologize, even though she didn’t understand why he couldn’t take a little teasing.

What followed was an impromptu Family Meeting in Granny’s room. We talked about how Michael has been taking everything personally and getting upset a lot lately. He said last night in karate class some boy was staring at him and it really upset him. He’s made some other remarks like that lately. I think it’s just been a stressful week, trying to get adjusted to life with the prosthetic hand.

He didn’t wear his hand at all today. He won’t say it, but I think it’s frustrating to him that the hand doesn’t do more. I have to encourage him to use it and not give up. He’s got to get his muscles trained to work those myoelectric buttons. I bet those muscles were sore today.

Back to the meeting – I pointed out to Michael that I was always a fat kid, and people always said mean things to me when I was growing up. I finally had to learn to ignore the mean things, so I wouldn’t be eaten up with anger. I told Michael, “Nobody in this family will ever intentionally say anything mean or hurtful to you. We are a team. We love each other, and we look out for each other. Alesia didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

His head was buried in my chest. I pulled away and looked into his beautiful, sad little eyes, and I wanted to cry. “Michael, look at me. What matters is what’s in here [I patted his chest] and what’s in here [I patted his head.] This doesn’t matter at all [I patted his short arm]. Anybody who stares or who says anything mean to you is just stupid. Just ignore them. You are strong, and you have three strong, beautiful women who love you. We will always have your back.”

We talked a little bit more about fear and anger, and other negative emotions, while we were brushing teeth. I finally said to Mike, “Honey, if anything every happens to me, Uncle Bruce will come over here and take care of you. If something happens to him, someone else will take care of you. I know sometimes in Kazakhstan you didn’t have a place to live, or food, but that will NEVER happen here. You will always be taken care of, because we have a great family, a big family, and there will always be someone to take care of you. I don’t plan on going anywhere, but if I do, we’re covered. This is what good families do, they look out for each other.”

I sometimes wonder if this is the best time in my life. I have two beautiful kids who adore me, and I adore them. I have problems, but I don’t feel overwhelmed. I have faith. The last few weeks, feeling ill, I have been forced to take a breather, to look around. I have spent a lot of quiet time with the children. We have bonded even closer.

I never cease to be amazed at the power of God’s grace. That’s enough for me.

A Special Request

I have a special request, concerning a little boy named Igor, who has a limb difference. No, I'm not talking about my son Michael [his Russian name was Igor]. I am talking about a boy I learned about the other day, who has a loving home and family available to him here, if only the fee money for his adoption can be raised.

I belong to a Yahoo Group called Adoptive Parents of Children with Limb Differences. I saw a post on there last night by a lady named Donna Larner who desperately wants to adopt a little Russia boy who is currently staying here with a host family and receiving care for his condition, called bilateral PFFD (Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency). It causes the thighbones to not form properly. The charitable group that brought Igor here is called International Guardian Angels Outreach. They help physically disabled orphans to find homes. Here’s their website: http://www.igao.org/project_hope.htm

Igor, has been here receiving treatment for 10 months, and is doing really well. This page describes him: http://www.igao.org/children_hope.htm

The host family who has Igor wants to adopt him but they can’t due to illness in their family. Donna Larner and her husband want to adopt him but they can’t afford the fees - usually adoptions cost $10-25,000 in fees]. Here’s what Donna said:

Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:35:57 -0800 (PST)

From: Donna Larner <donna.larner@sbcglobal.net>

Subject: Re: Igor

To: Dee Thompson

Dee,

I'm so glad you e-mailed. From what I understand Igor would return only with the adoptive parents to finalize the adoption. My husband and I have been very interested in adopting him but we couldn't afford > it. We have prayed and said Lord if you want us to adopt him You will have to provide the funds.

We felt if we got the word out about Igor we would be able to help him find his family. If it was us, great. If it is not, we would be happy knowing he had a family. We just don't want to see him have to go back to Russia because he does not have a family.

This is what the host family says about Igor:

Igor has a great attitude towards life and his future.

He is willing to try and prove that he can do anything that anybody else can do. In the time that he has been with us, he has continued to grow in faith and has learned many things about life outside of the orphanage and how to live in a family. Igor is very capable of giving and receiving love. He is learning to walk in truth and receive loving correction with out challenge. He is attending a public middle school in the "Newcomer's English Program". He is very bright and his English is quite good for only being in the US for 10 months. Igor has had a challenging time with the insensitivity of the students and teachers to his situation, but has managed to adapt well. He is truly an overcomer.

Igor has many interests. He loves to play ping-pong and has been part of a table tennis club where he has been coached by nationally ranked players. He enjoys the competition and recently came in second place in a local youth tournament in the under 14 class.

Igor also likes to ride 4 wheelers and does so very well. He likes to swim, watch Nascar and play all sorts of video games. As you can see, Igor is a boy with so much potential. So, why is he still looking for a family to adopt him? Our family received an e-mail about Igor about how he was brought to the US by the Hope Program for surgery and that he needed a family or that he'd soon be sent back to the orphanage. Our family prayed and acted out of compassion. We called and got information and within a week and a half he was living with us and bonding with our family. But as the adoption was moving forward, and unexpected illness in our family was detected which has left us unable to complete the adoption.

This has broken all of our hearts. But what is amazing is that when Igor was informed about our situation, he was very understanding and has continued to be very loving and supportive of our family. He still believes with child-like faith that God has a plan for him and that He will supply the forever family that he is longing for.

PLEASE contact Donna if you can help with a financial donation towards the adoption [e-mail her at donna.larner@sbcglobal.net]. Alternatively, I was thinking if a newspaper or television station picked up the story, perhaps folks would donate. Do you know anyone in the newspaper or television areas?

If nothing else, please pray for these folks.

Thanks -

Dee

Throwing Out Observations

There's really no news of note to report from home. The kids were bickering so much at dinner last night I had to impose a Total Timeout on them - which means I make the Timeout sign and they are supposed to shut completely up. Alesia can usually do it, but Michael has a hard time not making comments, or getting giggly. Last night I sabotaged myself because I had to walk away from the table and kill a bug right after I imposed the Timeout. Michael couldn't resist commenting.

My kids just bicker constantly. Alesia is a one-girl grievance committee and everything starts out with "You never let ME do that and now you let Michael! That's not fair!" Michael is such a mischief and he does get away with too much, I'll own up to that. No matter how fair I try to be, someone is constantly getting their nose out of joint. And yet, when we sit down to watch movies at night, they usually both curl up on the loveseat in the family room, and snuggle together quite contentedly. I don't remember ever voluntarily touching my brother when we got older. Maybe the 5 year age difference is a bonus for my kids..

We actually got RAIN the other night!! I was so thrilled I didn't even care when my high-tech clock radio woke me at 3 a.m. with the creepy mechanical voice informing me there had been a power failure. Let me tell you, when you hear that creepy mechanical voice right in your ear and you're sound asleep, you flat JUMP out of that bed! I was just thrilled to get a shower, to see actual moisture on the ground! You can't tell me our governor's little prayer meeting was a waste of time!

The leaves are absolutely gorgeous here right now. We have a lot of pine trees, but there are enough hardwoods so that the foliage is breathtaking. Every time I see a gorgeous tree I think, Wow, God, you sure are the greatest exterior decorator in the universe..

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I posted this in the Older Child forum on Soul of Adoption today:

As any of you know who read my blog, I am a huge movie nut. I despise most TV, but I watch a movie [or part of one] every night. Here are two family-friendly recommendations:

The kids and I watched a movie last night that I really didn't think I was going to like, but I ended up really enjoying it. It's called "Surf's Up." It's basically a surfing movie where all the main characters [except a couple] are penguins. Seeing the penguins with the California "dude" accents is very funny. . There are a lot of famous voices in it, my faves being James Woods [as an oily sports agent] and Jeff Bridges [as a grizzled old surfer dude]. There are a lot of jokes my kids didn't get, but they were enthralled. It's cool to see how they do the special effects of the surfing, too. It's not terribly long, either, less than 90 minutes. Anyway, it's light entertainment, and funny.

Last weekend we went to the theatre and saw The Game Plan, which stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. [I feel silly even typing that]. Another nice movie, and one I was prepared to snore through. The main character, the egotistical football player, is startled when his ex-wife sends his daughter to stay with him. There are a few of the usual cliches you would expect, but there are surprising twists to the story that add intelligence and heart.

I am very curious to see a new movie called The Martian Child, although since it's about a boy in foster care with a single dad, I have a feeling from watching the previews it may make me cry. Might be better to wait for the DVD. Anyone seen it?

FUNNY NOTE: We watched the first Die Hard movie recently, which the kids loved. Alesia asked me why the bad guys had weird hair. I then got so tickled watching the bad guys run around wearing those elaborate 80's hairdos - I was thinking, they all look like they just finished making a Duran Duran video...

Tonight's feature is Lethal Weapon, and I will have to explain Mel Gibson's hair in that one, I fear...

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One of my dear and faithful readers recently recommended I check out a site called www.lulu.com, which is a site that publishes books. I have been reading the site a lot, trying to understand it. I like the idea of making my own book. I was thinking about using it to publish my book about Michael's adoption, which I am working on in my meager spare time. It's 100+ pages, so not a short little story. I know of no books about adopting from Kazakhstan, particularly not an older child. I've never seen, anywhere, a book about adopting a child with a limb difference.

With lulu, It would basically be me self-publishing, although theoretically since I can get an ISBN number I can offer it for sale on Amazon. I am not sure it's the way to go, though. I would control the whole process, but I would also be responsible for ALL the marketing. One nice thing is, people could order it one copy at a time from lulu.com, without me having to stockpile an inventory. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Anyone think you might be willing to buy it [probably selling for around $15]?  : ) 

[I can hear you out there now, muttering, what a fabulous Christmas gift idea! Wow! When can I get it?!]

High Functioning But Still Scared

I had my meeting this morning with the head of Special Ed at Alesia's school. I also hand delivered a letter to the Vice Principal formally asking for an IEP [in case they need something signed and want to argue about it] and protesting her lack of assistance in her two classes she is failing. I don't think it will do much good, but at least there will be a record of my issues.

I am still mentally processing the meeting this morning, which ran to 90 minutes instead of 30. I think the folks I met with are well-intentioned but the process is slow and unwieldy and the IEP will take a long time to get in place, if I can get it. They won't accept Dr. Federici's test results! They said his results are not up to academic standards, which is ridiculous.

After explaining all about Alesia's issues from her early life, they are all amazed and admiring of how well Alesia is doing - B's in everything but Biology and Art. She's failing those classes, which I find very distressing. She's failing because she's not being taught appropriately. I can't get them to understand why I am so concerned. They see much worse all the time.

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I posted this on one of my message boards discussing a 3 year old having nightmares:

My daughter Alesia listens to music, and I give her a Melatonin just before bed - but she is 16. Might not be appropriate for a little one. She listens to the radio all night, usually a broadcast of a baseball or football game, which she finds oddly relaxing.

With my son, who is 11 but has only been home 6 months, I do several things to get him relaxed and ready to sleep. He hugs his sister. We go in his room and get the bed cleaned off. We always pull out his outfit for the next day, turn on the lamp, and start a CD playing softly in his CD player. I lie down and talk to him, often while cuddling him loosely. [He is quite small for his age but needs the mama comfort] We say prayers. I TRY to get him to calm down, which isn't always easy! Finally, if he's really hyper, I massage his back for a few minutes, without saying anything, then I kiss him, say I Love You, and tiptoe out. He listens to an entire CD every night, but playing softly.

Last night, I heard him talking in his sleep, and realized I hadn't given him his "massagee" as he calls it. I went in and he had quieted down, but the sheets and cover were thrown everywhere. I fixed his cover, rubbed his back for a moment, and kissed him. He never woke up, but he seemed to relax, then.

I think with both my kids, night is so scary, because in an orphanage it's a scary time. My kids never come get me in the night because they sleep like rocks. In the orphanage there was no one there to comfort them, so they didn't get up and look for it. I always tell them to come get me if they need me, but they don't. It's sad. I imagine this is true for little ones, too.

Every kid is different, but it helps to find ways to get them calm and relaxed, and reassure them before bed.

Pass the Evian, Thelma Lou

I was tucking Michael into bed tonight, and the CD playing was the original kingsmen version of “Louie Louie” – which of course has nearly indecipherable lyrics. I teasingly said to Michael, “I want you to memorize all the words to “Louie Louie.”

Those little eyebrows shot up – “You kidding me?!” he piped out.

Mother and I were just laughing today at how well he has picked up American idioms. “Well, duh,” and “chill out!” are two of his favorites.

He impressed the therapist, Colleen, this afternoon. She worked with his on counting out money, holding playing cards, cutting meat, fastening his pants, etc. – all skills he mastered in the blink of an eye. She was amazed. He also finally relaxed enough with her to be not so shy, so she got to see his little personality. At one point she said “I am amazed by how well he speaks English!”

Yep, that’s my boy. He may not get all the grammar right, but he can have a perfectly lucid conversation. I rarely ever speak a word of Russian to him any more, although he still speaks some with Alesia.

We picked up Alesia’s friend Kelly – her first American, non-Russian speaking, non-adopted friend – and ate dinner at Fuddruckers. The kids gobble down their burgers, then go play video games. I can tolerate it. I don’t do Chuckie Cheese. I had not met Kelly before. She is a sweet girl, if a little ditzy.

I spent the early afternoon in a seminar at the Intercontinental Hotel in Buckhead [the Rodeo Drive of Atlanta]. It was easily the most swanky place I have ever been. I got tickled in the ladies room, because they have a separate sitting area with comfy chairs and fresh flowers. They have paper towels that look real. The toilets are in cute little closets, a bit removed from the socializing areas. The toilet paper has a little silver lid over it, which makes it easy to rip off the roll as needed. I was almost too cowed to tee tee in there. It seemed vulgar somehow.

I went out to the marble and glass sink area. Of course, I grabbed the wrong little fancy bottle when I was standing there, and found myself trying to wash my hands with lotion – oops – can you say “country come to town?!”

I had to leave early to take Michael to therapy. Just before I left, I was dying to see what was on the refreshment table in the banquet room. It was artfully draped with a fancy tablecloth, although you could see those huge round silver serving dishes with the domed tops peeking out beneath the cloth. What was in those things? I kept wondering. What sort of luscious muffins or pastries, to go with the Evian water and gourmet coffee on the drinks table?! Hmmm? I was salivating just imagining the goodies.

Right before I left, I looked back, and was stunned to speechlessness. The fancy silver dishes held – an assortment of small bags of popcorn, and a few stale, hard cookies! I tried one of the cookies and about knocked my TMJ jaw out of alignment. What the?! I was APPALLED. I left.

Memo to the Intercontinental Manager: leave off the fancy fresh flowers in the bathroom, and serve some decent FOOD!

Twistin' The Night Away

Alesia is not doing well in her Art class, on her Art History tests. To get her some extra credit, we are going to do an Edible Art project for her. I don’t know what we’re going to do, yet – all I can think of is doing the Mona Lisa in pinto beans, or a Jackson Pollak in mustard & ketchup… if you have any ideas, send ‘em quick… this thing has to be done by December 6^th!

I did find one interesting link, and I think I could help her make an edible fruit arrangement like these:

http://www.incredible-edibles-llc.com/

But would it be “art”?! hmmm…

I went to Borders on my lunch hour, armed with a coupon and a Borders rewards card. I HATE shopping, but bookstores are the only type of shopping expedition I relish. I got nice books for everyone in the family, plus a movie for Michael and a card trick kit for Alesia, all for $80! Yessss!

I glanced through a cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld, wife of Jerry, which basically advocates taking vegetables and hiding them in your child’s food, to get them to eat more healthy. I think there was some mention of things like flax seed, too. It boggled my mind – here’s this woman who is Big Rich, as Mama would say, and she’s talking about COOKING?! I bet she doesn’t even know where her kitchen is! I found the funniest article about the book – read the comments –

http://www.observer.com/2007/it-s-pur-e-hell-testing-jessica-seinfeld-s-new-kiddie-cookbook

We were watching a movie tonight and my son, 11 years old, watched one of the main characters with her back to the camera, and muttered under his breath, “Nice butt!”

When I went to put Michael to bed tonight I got so tickled. I will often rub his back for a minute before bed, while he listens to a CD. Tonight’s CD was the soundtrack to Animal House, a favorite of mine. The song “Twistin’ the Night Away” came on, and Michael’s little butt was just twistin’ away, in his Transformers undies. I had to laugh, and stop. It was pretty hard to switch to prayers and calm him down time after that…

Tomorrow is a bittersweet day for me. My father’s birthday, he would have been 77 tomorrow. It’s also Alesia’s 3 year anniversary of her adoption, her Gotcha Day. We are taking her out to dinner at Fuddrucker’s with her friend Kelly, to celebrate. I told her after I kissed her goodnight, “I remember where I was 3 years ago tonight, trying to sleep in that stuffy little hotel room in Russia, nervous as a cat about court the next day. It was one LONG night, but it was all worth it the next day!” She smiled before snuggling into bed with Coco. [BTW, Coco’s tummy seems much better, knock wood]

It’s hard to believe only 3 years ago I was a childless singleton, leaping into the unknown with totally naivete, but great Faith in God. I knew he wouldn’t let me down, and I have a beautiful daughter to show for it!

Sweating it Out

I went back to work today, and sweated all day. It was weird. I guess it's a reaction to the medication. I haven't sweated that much since last July, working in the yard. Thank goodness I wore plenty of deoderant. At first I thought it was a hot flash, then I realized it was going to be a series of extended hot episodes, not just flashes, oh no, that would be too easy. Ah, the joys of perimenopause...

Michael went to the historic Fox theatre today in downtown Atlanta, with his class from school to see a children's play. I was so excited he was going there. I grew up going to movies at the Fox. Mother grew up going there. It was built in 1929, originally as a meeting hall for the Shriners. It has incredible Egyptian and Islamic architecture features, and a huge auditorium. The ceiling is decorated lavishly in gilt and has a design that looks like stars in the sky. I actually kind of like this Wikipedia article about it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Theatre_(Atlanta)
I asked Mike on the phone this afternoon what he thought of the Fox, and his reply was "It was OLD!"

I got an e-mail from the head of Special Ed at Alesia's school, and I am meeting with her on Thursday morning. We shall see if that results in anything useful. I am not optimistic.

We had our team Thanksgiving luncheon today, which was very pleasant. I completely forgot about it and didn't bring my green beans, but we survived without them. There was plenty of turkey and dressing, which was important.

There was leftover dressing, which I brought home. Mother fixed a small turkey breast, and my kids ate their weight in turkey and dressing. I had to fuss to get them to finally eat their salads, they were so full of turkey. Mother simply boiled it, which made the meat incredibly tender. It's not traditionally attractive like that, but it tastes yummy. I explained to Michael about the fact that in America, we eat turkey and dressing on Thanksgiving. Next week when we go to the beach, we will likely eat out for the big meal, and lord knows what my kids will eat - probably corn on the cob and pizza, since it's a buffet. LOL

I am still coughing and my voice comes and goes and is hoarse. I am getting really sick and tired of being sick and tired..

Mr. Gunslinger, Well Duh

We have had a very quiet day. I didn’t feel up to going to church, so we stayed home this morning and puttered around.

I polished the dining room table, then I showed Michael how to polish the wood tables in the living room. That was exhausting and I had to rest afterwards.

My voice is still not 100%. It comes and goes. I can’t sing. I only had about 5 coughing fits today, though, and they weren’t too bad, so I am definitely on the mend.

We went over to the DeKalb County Farmer’s Market for lunch. They have a huge selection of foods from all over the world, and fresh produce, fresh breads, fish, etc. Huge place. Lots of fun to go over there, but it’s very crowded on weekends.

Michael had an ear of corn, a few mashed potatoes, and half of a small bowl of soup. I had a bowl of delicious homemade New England clam chowder, some zucchini, and a lentil filled samosa, which is like a pastry. Alesia had corn and a beef samosa, which she said was good. Mother had chicken salad and some clam chowder. The clams were a little rubbery and she couldn’t finish her soup. She was not thrilled with the meal, I could tell. It’s noisy and crowded. I told the kids to go look in the bread section while Mother and I bought shrimp, and they wandered off. Mother was upset about it, but I was just annoyed. Anyway, it was not a great lunch, but it was different.

We stopped at Brusters on the way home. The kids like to get a type of sundae called “Dirt and Worms.” It’s vanilla ice cream covered with “dirt” [oreo crumbles] and gummy worms. Looks revolting. They love it. Mother and I had regular sundaes.

I spent the afternoon working on a For Sale By Owner sign to put in the condo. I hand lettered one because I couldn’t find one to buy at CVS or Office Depot. We went over to the condo to put it in, and it was too large to fit in the window! Aaargh… Clearly, that’s not the best plan at the moment. The universe is telling me to re-think that idea. I still haven’t found time to get over there and do the paint touch-ups and cleaning needed. The only things I accomplished this weekend were around the house little jobs, and the kids did most of them.

We’ve had some drama this weekend. Coco has been refusing all food and running around pooping everywhere, so that’s been a whole lot of fun, cleaning the rug. We need to have it steam cleaned again, but I hate to pay $100 and then have her throw up or poop on it. I actually walked her outside for a long time yesterday, which thrilled her, but she couldn’t poop. I think more about the state of my dog’s stomach and bowels than I do about my love life, which is depressing.

I sent the following to my brother, who has had an affinity for hunting and gun collecting his entire life:

We were driving over to the condo today, the kids and I, and Alesia saw a sign for a Gun Show. She was totally puzzled until I explained what a Gun Show is, then Michael started hollering from the back seat "Awesome! Awesome! I want to go! Can we go now, pleeeeeease??!!" I said nope, but maybe Uncle Bruce would take him sometime.

Earlier today, at CVS, he had bought a cap pistol, with his own money made from walking the neighbor's dog. He had great fun running around the back yard, firing it, sniffing the smoke and hollering "Doesn't that smell GREAT! I love that smell!" [sorta reminded me of the line from Apocalypse Now "I love the smell of napalm in the morning..."]

He also enjoys putting things together with Legos. They have Lego kits now that aren't expensive, where they have all the parts to make little helicopters, forklifts, etc. right in the little container. He also likes big Lego kits, too. I LIKE the Lego thing a lot better than the gun obsession, but he doesn't find them nearly as exciting as guns.

We saw a cool trampoline in a yard today, and I told the kids maybe what we can do it pool our money and save up for a trampoline, so maybe we could get one by next spring. I need to teach them how to save. I looked online and those suckers cost about $300-800 for a good one with an enclosure. Yikes. It's warm enough to jump on those things all year, except a few times maybe in the "winter"...

Anyway, this is a heads up that your nephew loves guns. I have not encouraged this, but he does.

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Michael’s new favorite expression is “well duh.” He got it from me, I must admit.

He was supposed to be helping Alesia clean up the kitchen tonight after dinner, and he kept coming over to me. I was sitting at the kitchen table looking through a catalog.

Alesia hollered from the kitchen, exasperated, “Michael isn’t helping me! He doesn’t want to help me!”

Michael just looked at me, eyes twinkling, “Well, DUH!” he said. I laughed so hard I started coughing.

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My cousin Malinda sent me the most interesting quote. I printed it out and put it next to my computer, and I’ve been pondering it for several days:

Watch your thoughts, they become words

Watch your words, they become actions

Watch your actions, they become habits

Watch your habits, they become character

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

- author unknown