Where Do The Days Go?

Falcom and Iris

I'll tell you where they go, they get sucked up by a lot of outside responsibilities! Fortunately many of them are fun.

After my week at Razdolna, I was trying to catch up on the laundry and found my camera in the wash.  Nice.  It still works but it does not have the same vavoom that it did a week ago.  In fact, it is about the same level as my phone camera now.  This will not do.  Fortunately Christmas is coming and I've been good (-ish).

I took my darling Brownie Troop to Soldotna on Saturday to a hay maze.  What a riot!  This troop is not about craft activities.  They are physical!  All the way!  Before they were allowed to enter the hay tunnels they had fun lassoing calf replicas and playing soccer. 

It is my understanding that hay tunnels are fantastic places.  I would not know this first hand since I chose to hang out with Janet and my new friend Beezer by the warm fire in order to ensure my allergies not become inflamed by the hay dust.  According to the girls, it was dark in there.  It was a little scary.  When the tunnel would get backed up it would make people a little claustrophobic.  Overall it was FANTASTIC!

 Afterwords, the troop headed home in a serious sugar coma due to the hot chocolate, hot cider, store bought cake, and marshmallows available.  Whew!

This weekend we also began preparing for Halloween in earnest by carving our pumpkins.  Kaylene, Maygen and Iris came by and together we put some of our magic handiwork on the pumpkins.

I'm not sure how it happened, but about half way into the process Willie and Kaylene were the only kids working on their own pumpkin.  Falcom chose and incredibly difficult design and needed Maygen to all but do it for him, and Marina tapped Daddy to take over her carving.  At the end it was worth it.  We had some laughs and Maygen taught me that mopping the floor after carving was a fun and not too difficult of a thing to do.  Thank you Maygen!  (This leads me to another realization I had this week and a new mantra that I am trying to encapsulate into my hard drive--MAINTENANCE--  More on that later.)

Once we finished our carving and cleaning, Marina instigated a contest:  Best.  This girl is really into contests.  She is a very competitive spirit that is for sure!  Fortunately we created nine categories and everyone was the winner in three sub sections.  Ugh!

Maygen and Iris tackling Falcom's advanced level pumpkin design

The remaining tidbits of my week fall under the heading "Maintenance".  No, it's not romantic or delightful, it's simply the area of existence I am most reluctant to participate in and yet it is the one I need to embrace with more enthusiasm (OK...any enthusiasm).  This is the title of my next post... The importance of maintenance.

Life

Alana self portrait done at Razdolna.  If only I could straighten it for the  blog!

Yesterday I taught Marina how to play the game of Life. Because counting the money is not a challenge for her we were able to focus on the other areas of strategy that are key to success at the game. "Go to college every time if you can." "Sometimes borrow money to make more money" "Don't forget to count the money even if its coming from the bank!"

As I played Life with Marina I could see this great blog metaphor unfolding. The art of this metaphor is right there in my grasp, but I don't know when or how I'll have the time to develop it. Since my creativity is inhibited by my thumb typing, I will update you on the status of all family members from oldest to youngest.

Vince: we have devoted this month to making money. We have spent quite a bit this past 5 months so we are catching up. When he is home he is taking care of whatever project is in need of his attention. He is building an Arctic Entry and fixing all of our cars.

DeeJay: we got a call from the bank on Monday. Someone had turned in his ATM card. Thank God all of his money was still there. Had he left it at the gas station last month or did one of his friends try to use it this past weekend? His good buddy went to jail last week. Leaving when he did was a good thing for DeeJay. He has gotten a job in Guam at a hardware store. He was accepted into JobCorp but at this point he wants (or his family wants) him to stay there with them. It is true that he is not ready to be on his own. I am hoping that by the time his place comes up on the waiting list he will be ready. We will see. He is healthy and they are happy together and he will begin school in Guam to study welding in the spring.

Willie: took the high school qualifying exam this month. He is always so energetic after exams. And optimistic! I can see how it happens, he is so weighed down by the pressure of the tests that when they are over his elation convinces him he must have done great! As we reflect we realize he probably didn't do as well as he thinks. Its kind of sad and kind of funny and makes me kind of excited for him to be through this part of his life. He is still happy with Kaylene. He is still happy with life.

Falcom: is getting ready for his vocal show at the Counsel of the Arts. He is singing a lot of songs that he and I are unfamiliar with. It should be interesting. Its nice to see him stretch as a vocal artist.

Thursday was the last day of school this week and when I picked him up he was light hearted. He told me he told the bullies who were calling him names that he was gay. I was stunned and worried. I asked him why he did that. He said, "I had to face my fear and find my words." Needless to say I was worried. In some ways it would be a relief to just get it out and deal with it. On the other hand if he had given me some warning I could have prepared a power point presentation and brought in psychological professionals.

Marina's Piece at the Art Shop Gallery

Yesterday I picked him up from voice and everything was fine. No one said anything and no one bothered him and he got in trouble for not doing his school work.

Marina: still doesn't like to comb her hair. Still thinks she is co-leader of her scout troop. she has compartmentalized her anxiety over her surgery. She always wins at Life. Her art is hanging in the gallery in town this month. Very exciting.

Alana: I've been anxious. Not the kind of anxious where I don't have enough oxygen. Its the kind of anxious where I feel like if something doesn't happen out of the ordinary soon, I'm going to loose my mind.

I'm sub teaching all week. The kids are great. Falcom didn't get beat up. Willie is passing his classes. Marina is clever. DeeJay is employed. Vince had me watching Dexter with him. What a mistake! I can't get it out of my mind. Great show. Too intense!

I was supposed to go to Anchorage this week for a training but that didn't pan out. I was anxious about that until I learned the topic-public speaking. Not my weak spot. Glad I didn't rearrange my entire plan for that.

Today I got home from school and Marina had Mema on the floor playing Life. Mema was telling Marina that she had had enough, that this game was not working for her. "Ill let you change jobs Mema!" Marina was saying.

"She told me I could take the short cut or go to college. Of course I wanted the short cut." Marina stood behind her smiling. "Do I look like I want to be a mechanic?". Meanwhile, Marina was making 100 grand a pay day as a lawyer. Ah...Life.

Tonsils and Adenoids

I have not had the urge to write.  This is an unusual feeling for me.  Yes, there have been adventures and events but how do I document life events that I am not at all excited about?

I'm excited about one thing:  The shoes I'm painting.  I got these at a garage sale for a really cheap price (thank you Lenore!) and now I am spending parts of each day in meditation on my favorite fragrant island flower. 

waiting room fun with Marina

We drove to Soldotna and had our third visit with Dr. Z.  One of Marina's tonsils were touching her uvula.  He was sure her adenoids were also giant.  He recommended surgery.  "But how can you be so positive?"  I asked.  In my mind I did not sound like a doubting earth munching mom who knows that tonsils are the key to overall lifelong wellness. 

"Well, I could do the scope and show you that they are huge." 

"OK"  I responded.  He seemed almost stunned that I wasn't just taking his word because I am Vince's wife and Vince is logical man of medicine not an earth muncher. He then seemed stunned with himself that he offered  the scope without checking the schedule. 

It was at this point I realized I must have sound like an earth munching momma because I found myself being very clear, "It's not the tonsils I have issue with, it's the idea of surgery on my baby and anesthesia.  I am not going to go into it lightly."

He then told me all the reasons that having her tonsils removed was a very good idea including the deformation of Marina's face due to mouth breathing which will make her unbearably ugly within a short period of time.  (This is what I heard.  I am sure that it is not entirely what he said,)

huge adenoid

Before I knew it, Marina was enduring a bad spray up the nose and then was having a tube placed up her nose and down to where we found two enormous adenoids.  "When can I book it."

Vince asked, "Is it infection."  No.  "Is it allergies?"  No.  They are just enormous.  November 17 is our surgery date.  Marina wishes we could do it sooner because it is weighing on her mind and she's having too much time to think about it.  I told her that this was the only way her daddy could take care of her and so she embraced waiting.  I don't know if it was a fib or not but, it worked.

As I laid there listening to her 'baby sleep apnea' this morning I too wished we could move up the date, but as Dr. Z said, "She's probably been doing this a while.  What's another month?"  Um, hello!  Total facial deformation....

What has been going on?

How does a person photograph a huge rainbow that is arching directly over her house?  First tip?  Don't use your blackberry phone camera.  Second tip?  Stop the car.  Did I do either of these things?  No.  I can barely make out the shadow of that rainbow.  But in my soul I caught an incredible sign from the spiritual realm that everything was going well.  We are the pot of gold!

This week:  Brownie Troop 584 took a field trip to Kilcher Homestead and Milked some cows.  Great day.  (Yes I found it very amusing that we were tasting the fresh milk from plastic keg cups.)

The week was busy.  There was a birthday party.  There was a garage sale Brownie fundraiser.  There was a GS leader training.  There was substitute teaching every day.  There was vocal lessons and homework.

The list is exhaustive!

I kept sane with the memory of the rainbow and the pot of gold right under it...