I’ve got some fun ones to post, but this blog’s being twitchy just now.
Will get them up when I can.
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I’ve Started Lessons again
I signed up for the intermediate guitar class, and got the run-down tonight.
It looks to be just what I need (Highly structured and purposeful) goes where I want to go, and (God. help. me.) at breakneck speed.
I’m hoping I can keep up, because if I can I will learn a bunch of stuff I’ve wanted for a long time but didn’t have the self-discipline/structure to make happen.
Sick sick sick
Thank God for ibuprofen (even if the kid’s not taking it willingly anymore) and “Snarkers.”
Melody at least is big enough to blow her own nose, but E ceratinly isn’t. With a plugged nose and (just last night) a temp of 103-degrees he is one wiped patoodie.
Both girls have the cough and runny nose, but because of his age (the doctor said) it’s just grabbed Elisha a little harder and longer. He spent most of the weekend attached to Jay’s chest so it was very hard for him to watch Daddy leave for work Monday morning.
One blessing (?) is that the fever seems to confine itself to the nights. I used to think this was because the kid was covered in blankets, but last night he was wearing the same warm snuggle-suit he’d had all day without fever and his temp really popped up– second night in a row.
Things are Rocky but Improving
Well, I wrote a post about my migraine the other day, complete with thank-yous about the way I get them as opposed to the worst they could be (which I did get once, so I do know what I’m missing).
But by the end I realized it was more for my own sorting-out of things, so you’ve been spared 😉
Thing continue to tumble wildly at Jay’s work. Specific prayer requests:
- Improved communication!
- Grace for transitions, and a quick settling of disputes (the fellow formerly in-charge is disputing his removal from power, and poor Jay would just like to do his job with the most help and least drama possible).
- Favor with those who could make Jay’s work easier. There are a couple of these, and one I’m already thanking God for.
- Strength for Jay. Yesterday he was exhausted before even getting home.
Praises from the home-side:
- I was able to put a detailed menu together that will help smooth our days quite a bit
- I’ve been able to be in the Word consistently for a couple weeks now, and I can tell it’s been good for me.
- After Mom’s help the day of my migraine (*so* needed and appreciated) I’ve been hacking away at laundry and dishes and have things almost to maintainable-level. Very encouraging.
Prayer needs:
- Elisha was weaning and sleeping through the night for about a week and has started teething again (complete with the cold, massive runny nose and once the fever). So peace for him and sufficient rest for us all.
- Melody also is sick, so prayers Natasha doesn’t get it too.
One thing I’m very thankful for is how attitudes have sweetened up as the week has progressed. This is a good thing all around.
And (Yay!), Jay has told Shop-boss that he’s got too many other responsibilities to keep working in the Shop right now. He’s left the door open to return and help some more, but now Jay’s able to narrow his focus a bit more, and that also is a good thing.
Sleeping With the Cow for Free Milk
(Extra points for anyone who recognized that line from Mad About You.)
I don’t know if anybody really uses the “Why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free” line, just like I don’t know anybody who uses the “If all your friends jumped off a cliff would you?” line, but I just did today.
The Cow line.
Jay is no longer in the Electronic Shop at the University. He is now working “exclusively” in infrasound and is down to three jobs:
- Operator of two CTBTO infrasound sites
- Part-time deployment data-collection specialist (assisting with preparation and deployment of portable sensor arrays for specific data-collection projects)
- Working for Chaparral.
Not just working-for.
Due to some bizarro (but ultimately positive?) events he is now the Boss Supremo (second only to the guy who’s the head of the whole Geophysical Institute). But he’s still the only full engineer “in” the Electronic Shop.
And he’s under a *lot* of pressure right now trying to keep a bundle of knives in the air. No only is he going to have to start learning how to run a company by doing it (I’m thankful he has such high quality standards, and he’s thankful he can now have full say in how the products are presented), but he has to help his Shop (former) boss finish up a project.
Naturally this has led to long hours and an over-tired, stressed-out man at home. I found a Business Administration class he is now considering, to ease the transition. This would result in more time away from home but– Lord willing– a less-stressed man in the end.
I’ve been calling his Shop project an albatross. I asked Jay why someone else couldn’t take it over.
He said it was because said he was the only engineer in the shop, and it would take forever to hire a new one. I pointed out that there was no motivation for the Shop to look for a new engineer while they have access to one as good as he.
That’s when I made my lame attempt to quote the line about the cow, and it came out like the misquoted title, and I had to try again.
“Why would you do that?” I asked.
“I’m a nice cow,” he said, firmly.
Then he explained that he wants to use the finished project at Chaparral, so being a part of this ensures he ends up with what he needs.
Making Muffins (and a prelude)
Today when I came out to grab Elisha for his turn after putting the girls to nap, this is what I saw:
There’s even jam up his nose in that last picture! (I think cameras are a good to for delaying reflexive anger.)
So I cleaned him up and worked in the kitchen for a while during nap. Never did find the lid to that jar though. Makes me glad I don’t live in a region where that could be hugely unsanitary.
Natasha was the first to wake up, so we had a great mother-daughter time making “Hide and Seek Muffins” from this book. Natasha loves it– it’s designed for preschoolers (with picture directions) with food that’s not “traditional” preschool fare.
(If anybody’s interested, it would make a great Christmas present… and it looks like there’s a sequel too.)
The book is designed to make the adult the child’s helper, instead of the other way around.
Natasha got to stir the dry ingredients, measure and pour the milk.
She broke all the eggs:
and stirred the batter (I helped by holding the bowl still and showing her how to hunt for the flour “hiding” by the bowl’s walls), and then she filled the muffin papers– all by herself.
Part way through the filling the other kids woke up, so everyone enjoyed the fruits of Natasha’s labor.
We had muffins with our dinner.
They’re called hide and seek muffins because of the last step. Melody was awake by then, so I was guiding two kids instead of taking pictures.
They rolled the raspberries they picked yesterday in sugar, then poked them into the middle of each muffin.
The berries hid when the muffins cooked, and were found again when eaten.
Fun idea, good muffins, and the interaction was priceless!
The New Car (Jay takes the keyboard)
Because of the problem of proper disposal, along with the special tools and necessary expertise required, we strongly recomend that you have your oil changed by an authorized VOLKSWAGEN dealer or a qualified workshop.
Wow. Bolded and italicized. This must be *really* important.
Never mind that the nearest VW dealer is in Anchorage (i.e., more than 300 miles away).
So, yup, Jay got the exact car he was wishing for– down to the color. He’ll be stepping in in a moment to give all the specs (he’s been reading the manual all evening) and here’s a pix he just took:
Cute little car. We bought it from a couple with two little kids who said they were running out of room and needed a bigger car.
The wife seemed positively embarrassed when she heard we were buying it with three kids in our family.
What I know:
- It’s cute.
- It will fit the whole family if we need it to.
- Manual transmission
- CD/tape players
- Heated seats
- Fabulous gas mileage due to diesel engine.
Jay will now take over and give as much as you’ll ever need to know.
If you haven’t guessed from the picture it is a blue 2002 Volkswagen Golf GLS with the TDI (turbo diesel) engine. It is basically exactly what I’ve been looking for to replace the Ford Escort. I was looking to get one a few years newer, but then I went flying in the Cessna 172, and I decided that I needed to conserve money so I can get my pilots license. The main reason for this car is the “fabulous” gas mileage (as Amy put it): mid 40’s in town and low 50’s on the highway. Experiencing it was a blast too, we picked the car up (in Anchorage) with ~180 miles on the tank and drove to Fairbanks, and I still have more then a quarter tank left (over 500 miles total). 🙂 🙂 The other reason is that the Golf is a very upscale economy car: heated seats, auto up/down windows, speed adjusted volume, etc. One of the nice things with the diesel engine is that with the lots of torque you don’t have to down shift very often, which makes cruise control just about as simple as in an automatic. It is definitely a different experience to pass without the engine howling and screaming at high rpm’s.
Despite the dire warning I think that I will be changing the oil myself. 🙂
Only the child of a storyteller…
Natasha’s first homonyms:
Roc and rock.
Second homonyms:
Knight and night.
Both sets are presented in the order we encountered them in the stories. Phonetic and observation (of spelling differences) lessons smoothly inserted themselves. This kid is sharp.
ETA: I have since learned that these are not true homonyms– rather, they are homophones, sounding alike while looking different.
Pre-School begins
Couldn’t wait to share these. This many pix is an experiment.
Let me know if these are too much (Teena) and clutter up your modem– I’ll still do pix if you want, but maybe not so many in one post?
I didn’t think to get out the camera until the second activity, but you can see what we’ve got started.
This is Natasha’s sweetly pleased with herself look. (I think she got it from my “I’m pleased but don’t know what to say” look)
I set the kids’ table inside the baby-pen to keep all the pre-school stuff from the baby (they started with playing with beans), and the mess contained (they have to clean up each project before getting a new one).
Elisha was *really* not this pleased to be locked out.
Though he did show a remarkable (and basically new) interest in sitting still and listening to stories. We got all the way through Going on a Bear Hunt for the first time. It was like he recognized his regular source of entertainment (Melody) was unavailible, and “Well, I guess this is entertainment too.” The cutest part was when he would repeat “Uh-oh!” at that part of the story.
So this is good for Elisha too. I’m a little nervous that it might create a (new) “mom entertains me” mentality, but we’ll wait and see.
They played with dried beans first– scooping, spooning and pouring with different-sized containers and spoons– then got the lovely practice of detail-work getting all the loose beans re-collected. Natasha practiced with her little broom.
After that I brought out the big beads that have been out-of-reach for a while and suggested they match beads by color.
Then we did playdough with some letter-cutters I got from Dad’s school’s stuff-dump last night. One advantage of this over magnetic letters is that you don’t run out of the letters you need– you can just make more 🙂 .
This was also the first word the girls got the sound-it-out figured out on. The blending of sounds has been a concept just beyond them every time we tried before. They both “got it” at the same time, which was sweet, since Melody’s feeling (being) increasingly left behind in some things.
And then here they all are in rubber boots outside– probably no one is in boots that actually fit, but the novelty-factor beat out any discomfort. (Natasha requested they be brought out of the garage to wear in the wet grass.)
So there you go. First day. Not even done yet.
Not sure how far or long this will go– but (especially!) getting a specific space figured out has made it more likely to carry on.
Home Again…
Was gone much of the last week for our last (immediate) family wedding.
Random “over-heards” from the weekend.
A tee-shirt on the groom:
No, I don’t have a girlfriend.
But a know a girl who would be pretty upset if she heard me say that.After the wedding:
60-something uncle: So, [Groom] what are you planning on doing tonight?
Unbelieving stare from groom.
40-something uncle: Has it really been that long since you were married?And then there was the one on the drive home where my oldest asked,
Are we going to Fairbanks and real-Alaska, now?
And here we are, at almost 1400 miles of driving, five in a Subaru Legacy, in less than a month.
Do we look a little dazed to you? (In case you didn’t know: these pictures are “clickable.” Click to see the picture full-size.)
Now, Lord willing, my goal is to really set up house and find a balance now that sickness, dog (yes, dog 🙁 ) and crazy-fast weekends across the state are over for the present.