Just life

We went to playgroup this morning. Today, only the lady in charge and I bothered to show up. Sometimes we get five or more moms, but things have been slow lately. I didn't make it last week because K's cold was so bad. Anyway, it was nice to talk to an adult for an hour.

K and I ran some errands afterwards. We ended up at Target, where I got her a cheapy booster seat for her chair so she can sit up higher. If it works out, I want that high chair gone and out of my world forever. The dining room would look neater without it stashed in the corner.

I also got K her first toothbrush at Target, and she was delighted. We were near the pharmacy at the time, and I looked up and saw the pharmacist. It was a lady from my Spanish class! I knew she was a pharmacist, and I knew she worked at a Target, but I never made the connection. We talked for a little bit. She told me how once in a while now, a doctor will put a note on the prescription to print the instructions in Spanish. No one there knows enough Spanish to do it, so it isn't getting done. Hopefully the doctor had someone help the patient understand what to do with the prescription, but if not, it's sort of scary having people with prescription medicines not able to read the bottle. Actually, I've heard that some of the people coming here (especially illegally) that speak Spanish often don't read and write it anyway, so instructions in Spanish wouldn't help those who are illiterate.

I can only imagine if I went and saw a doctor in say, France, who only spoke French how difficult I would find it to explain what was wrong (I'd have to resort to gestures), how little I'd understand of the diagnosis (unless written I could recognize the Latin root word or anything similar to Spanish), and how much trouble I'd have with understanding the treatment.

Anyway, I think that it will be useful if I become a nurse who can speak some Spanish.

K and I ran by Bed, Bath, and Beyond, a store I pretty much detest. It's full of all kinds of overpriced items for the home. Anyway, there is a Gel-Pro floor mat for kitchens I've seen advertised in the back of magazines that I discovered on-line that store was supposed to stock. I went there to check, and they did. I want the double-sized one since I have a galley-style kitchen (long and narrow). It costs $200. Quite often, Bed, Bath, and Beyond has coupons for 20 % off any one item. I need to keep my eyes opened for one of them. Also, they have an arrangement with my Discover Card to make a $20 cash-back bonus worth $25 in a gift card. I've got $120 in cash-back bonus money that could be cashed in right now. I may cash in $100 of it to get gift cards totaling $150. That would cover most of the price of the Gel-Pro kitchen mat.

We got some money from the tenant we keep going to court (or almost going to court) with. Ignoring that her late fees were a bit small, and it didn't include the court costs, she's caught up with rent through tomorrow. Mr. K was going to go to court with her tomorrow, but he's called it off. She says she'll put next month's rent in the mail today or tomorrow (I called her to tell her court is off). Of course, I'll believe it when I see it. Mr. K keeps putting up with this to avoid the high price it costs us to maintain the place while vacant, and because it took us months to find a tenant before.

My final Spanish class is in mid-March. We'll have about half an hour of lessons, and then the instructor has arranged to talk some native Spanish speakers into coming to the class. She'll get us sorted into groups, and give each group four minutes with the speaker to practice speaking. Then the guest will move on to the next table for the next four minutes, etc. After that, we'll have a pot-luck party. I'm working out what to bring. It would be hard for it to be hot or cold since it will be about an hour before we begin to eat. I might go with some chocolate-raspberry tartlets I found a recipe for, or perhaps cookies. I think dessert might be best since class starts at 6 p.m., after most people have had dinner.

A trip to the creek

My street
Originally uploaded by greycharleigh

Mr. K, the kids, and I went to the creek that is about 1/8 of a mile down the road from our house (very close) this afternoon. When we got into the woods, I took a shot back of where the creek goes under the road. I took a lot of other photos, too, and they are at my flickr page with a bit of explanation for each picture.

Two thinks make the pictures a bit dreary. It was an overcast day, so things look more gloomy right off the bat. The other thing is that it is winter so the deciduous trees are naked and most plants are dead. That is good actually, because the poison ivy is so bad at the creek that I seldom bother to walk back there anymore. Mr. K usually takes the kids without me.

Anyway, the scenery looks quite beautiful, lush, and green on clear days in the summer.


The pond is the same pond that I see through the woods as I wait for the school bus on school days.

Ice might be coming

We have some kind of a winter advisory tonight. It might be icy by morning. So, the first thing I have to do when I get up is turn on the TV and figure out if school is closed or delayed by an hour or two. When I mentioned this possibility to J, she started crying because she was afraid she'd miss her pizza for lunch (Friday is pizza day at school).

Later she was just sitting around crying, but said she didn't know why. This isn't new. I thought this sort of behavior would wait until puberty. My mother warned me as puberty neared, that I might sit around crying for no reason. She said she did, and her mom didn't know what to do with her. I didn't, and now it looks like this sort of stuff skips a generation, only J is only six.

Last night I got a glimpse of the lunar eclipse. The moon looked reddish. I was lucky enough to see it between clouds.

Tonight was N's Cub Scout den meeting. Mr. K says he can't bear to take N much longer because N behaves so poorly at the meetings. I think the boys are very unruly.

I really like my Spanish class. I'll probably take it again for the practice. I'm remembering a lot of stuff I thought I'd forgotten forever, and I'm learning some new things.

My mom is coming for a visit in March. She just got her plane tickets arranged today. Her husband is remaining in Michigan. She had planned to visit in January, but when I told her the kids had two days off school during the time she was looking at, she changed her mind. A little of my kids goes a long way. I fully understand. There's a lot of times I'd get away if I could. Of course, when they're grown up and gone, I'll miss them terribly.

Just running around

Last night N had his first reconciliation. That's what first confession is now called. We all went, and it was so boring. They only had six priests, and many, many children waiting there turn. They divided us into three groups and then created busy work in the groups that weren't waiting to see the priest. One activity was eating cookies and punch. That went over well. The other was meditation. We were in the chapel with the lights out and some candles going. K and I spent the time in the foyer with her running circles. Let's just say K flunked meditation ;).

Before we left, N was supposed to go and get his first reconciliation workbook, which he had been told to keep in his underwear drawer so he wouldn't lose it. Of course, he couldn't find it. He and his dad had spent a long time doing the activities, and he had to turn it in last night. Finally Mr. K went up in his room and dumped everything all over the floor, hunting for it. He literally emptied all the drawers on the floor, but it didn't show up. He concluded it wasn't even in N's room. Shortly before we left, we found it in our built-in bookcase, laid across a bunch of my cookbooks. Obviously N didn't put it away when he was supposed to.

Mr. K took his first communion workbook away from him. It was in the underwear drawer, where it was supposed to be. They'll start working on that this weekend, I think. Mr. K is going to take charge of that book to assure it doesn't get lost. You'd think by age seven a kid could keep track of something so special when told where to keep it.

All in all, the first reconciliation thing was very boring.

I went to the gym this morning with K. In the afternoon, she and I hauled a pile of pine needles I raked out of the driveway a couple months ago back to my garden in a wheelbarrow (K used her toy wheel barrow). I'm going to use the pine needles as mulch around the plants in my garden this summer. I was impressed with Sarah's sugar cane mulch. Hopefully this will work as well. It was free. I think I'll put some pelleted lime down in my garden, too. We already have acid soil, and I've heard both that pine needles can rot and add to the soil's acidity and that they don't add to it. Vegetables do better in a more basic soil anyway.

This evening I have my Spanish class. It should go well. I don't feel at all behind in there. My five years of studying Spanish in high school over 20 years ago is serving me well.

None

The kids had the day off of school today. It was a teachers' workday and Presidents' Day. I dragged them to the gym this morning. Then we were home for the rest of the day.

Our weather was great! It got to 75 °F. I let the girls use Play-Doh on the picnic table. I think I need to get more Play-Doh. We haven't had it out for about half a year, and a lot has dried up. It was Kate's first time ever using Play-Doh.

Mr. K found a spot in the yard where the chickens had hidden a nest. He'll be keeping an eye on it now to get the eggs while they are fresh.

Dinner was leftover roast beef from our Sunday dinner.

I got gas today. It took $21 to fill half my tank.

N spent most of the day playing with his Webkinz on the computer. At least he wasn't fighting with J. It's good they'll be back in school tomorrow.

Our first daffodil bloomed today. I never got to see it in place. J picked it and brought it to me. I was disappointed I didn't get to see it growing, but now it's in a vase on our dinner table. It looks like there might be another one tomorrow. J also picked one of our first red camellia blossoms. I saw it, though, this morning when I got the newspaper from by the foot of our driveway. J picks all my flowers without asking. It annoys me.

A Night Out

Last night, the YMCA (the gym I go to) had a special program--free daycare in which parents could leave the property and go out from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. It included dinner for the kids. They only took the first 25 kids whose parents signed them up, and I signed up the moment I learned about it, so we got in.

Mr. K and I dropped the kids off and went out to a Thai restaurant. He had a spring roll; I had a summer roll. We both had Pad Thai with shrimp. His had no chicken because it was a Friday during Lent. We had a pair of coconut custard hearts for desserts (a free Valentine's week promotion). The food was okay, and certainly unusual. Then we went home and saw a movie I had picked up from the library (for free). I had actually picked up four movies and I let Mr. K pick from among them. The one he chose was called The Ice Harvest. It stunk, but it was nice to spend time with Mr. K without the children around.

The kids seemed quite happy when we picked them up shortly after 9 p.m. K was running around, wild. I think she was over-excited from missing her bedtime. N and J made ice cream floats for dessert there, so they were really happy, too. They told me K ate a whole bag of Doritos (single-serving sized) and she made a big mess of it, but had a great time. She only ate half her hot dog.

I'm glad to have the chance to get out without the kids. I enjoy restaurants much more without them. I actually prefer take out if I have the kids with me.

Cold and wet

It was supposed to get into the mid-50s today, but I don't think it got past the mid-40s. We had a lot of rain in the night, and it rained or misted all day. Yesterday the weather forecaster mentioned a chance of snow (just a little snow), but since it's colder, I'm worried we might get something nasty like freezing rain instead.

I've got my third Spanish class today. I reviewed the material for today at the gym while K was in child care. Hopefully Mr. K will come home in time for me to attend class. He's got about 45 minutes left before I must leave to arrive on time. Dinner is prepared and is getting cold. I should get as many of the dishes done as I can before I leave since they will be waiting for my return if I don't.

J is mad at K. Apparently K feel asleep on J's bed for her afternoon nap. K started screaming when J went into the room, so I think J woke her up and beat her up. Poor baby. J also found that K went through a bag of J's toys today and messed them up. She's furious.

I voted

I went and voted in the primary today. It was at the regular polling place. In this state, you don't have to belong to the party to vote. You have to pick between getting a Republican and a Democrat ballot. You can't have both. My vote was pretty much a throw-away vote. I voted for Mitt Romney, who is still on the ballot but no longer campaigning. He's concluded his chances of winning the nomination are too slim to bother spending any more money on it. I'm hoping John McCain will see it as a message that he needs to be a lot more conservative if he actually wants to have my vote in November. Otherwise, I just may write in someone whom I think can do a better job, even if I know they don't stand a chance.

K got an "I voted" sticker. She stuck it on a wall so I threw it away.

I've had about six calls a day for the past few days were campaign calls. I expect that will end today for a while. Unfortunately, I think my state will be a "battleground" state in the fall, so whoever is running will spend an arm and a leg here bombarding us with computerized phone calls, radio ads, TV ads, and junk mail.

Ms. Clinton's supporters are big money wasters. I understand she's having money problems. One of her union support groups was spending money on ads during my radio talk shows, like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and I think Michael Savage. They hate her, as does most of the listening audience. Those ads would be much better placed on radio shows where a good percentage of the audience might consider voting for her, and not one where they feel it should be, "anyone but Hillary." One conservative radio talk show's slogan for the past half year has been the "Stop Hillary Express" (Sean Hannity). I'm not sure of those ads ran during his show, though. My guess is they group running the ads just looked at the numbers of people and the age group listening at those times and bought the ads.

Anyway, I'll be delighted when the barrage of misinformation and misrepresentation stops.

I'm going camping!

N's Cub Scout Pack is planning a two-night camping trip instead of a final meeting of the year in May. It's at a state park in our county, about 20 minutes away. I've wanted to go camping, but Mr. K will never go because he says he might get a call for his business so he can't be away. I've always planned on taking the guys camping myself when N was a bit older, but I admit it would be a bit scary to be by myself out in the middle of nowhere with the kids (humans, not bears, scare me).

I told Mr. K about this trip, and he said he couldn't go. I asked if he'd watch the girls while I took N. He wouldn't because leaving him with any children doesn't help if he gets called out. Finally I thought about it and concluded this would be the ideal time to camp with the kids myself. Even if N is too small to help with the tent, there will be other people around that will help out. I called the coordinator, and she said it would be fine if I came alone with three kids. It will be a great chance to camp without worrying about being murdered.

Mr. K says he'd like to go, but he just can't commit to something this far in advance, and we were told to get our reservations in place in the next week because the campground fills fast. He might have to leave to take a call or something, and he'll need to come home to take care of our animals, but since the campground isn't that far from home, he'll try to join us most of the time.

Now I need to get a tent. I have a two-person tent left from my days as a single woman (that means it's old). I'm thinking about getting a six-person dome tent. That means it will hold about three people with any degree of comfort once they grow up. Something larger would be nicer, but it will be harder to put up, and might take up most of my trunk. I meant to buy one last summer but never got around to it.

Blue and Gold Banquet

Tonight is N's Cub Scout pack's Blue and Gold Banquet. I think Cub Scouts around the country do it today. We are having a pot luck dinner at 6:15. This year, just like last year, we were assigned a vegetable to bring due to our first letter of our last name. I didn't go last year because K was so young. I'll be going this year.

I've made spinach balls, and they are in the refrigerator. I'll be popping them into the oven just before we go so that they'll be warm when we get there. I had some years ago (like 20) that my aunt made, and from what she said was in them, this recipe I found on the Internet sounds like hers. They were very good. Hopefully mine will be edible. Hopefully it's okay to pop them back in the fridge without baking them like I have done in order to get the timing correct.

I think the pack is providing fried chicken. I'll enjoy it. The funny thing is that today is a Friday during lent, so all the Catholics (like Mr. K and N's den leader) can't have any chicken. I think Episcopalians don't eat meat on Friday's during Lent, either. This city is full of Baptists, and the sponsor church for the pack is a United Methodist church, and they don't bother with such things. I'm sure that's why there's going to be fried chicken. I love fried chicken.

I consider it a courtesy that I don't make dinner with meat on Friday's during Lent since it would be rude to eat meat in front of Mr. K and leave him to have PB&J. I usually have it for lunch when he isn't home. I'll certainly enjoy having chicken tonight.

Getting Dinner Ready

Dinner is on the stove and in the oven. It doesn't require my immediate attention. We're having chicken with leeks, baked acorn squash, and little red potatoes with butter and parsley. It should be done soon.

N and J hate it and will refuse to eat. They pull this pretty much every day unless we have pizza or bacon and pancakes. I think N likes rotisserie chicken.

Mr. K is watching K in the back yard. She's really happy to get outside.

I went to playgroup this morning. It was fine. I saw some women who haven't come in a while.

I thought I was in the mood to write, but I'm not--too worried about burning dinner.

I spoke a little Spanish

I remembered my Spanish for Gringos book this time when I went to the gym, so I worked on it for a little while K was in the child care after I worked out. I quit when I realized there was so much vocabulary that it wasn't sinking in anymore.

Then I decided to pick up lunch at La Milpa, an rather authentic Mexican restaurant. I asked the lady at the counter (in Spanish) if she spoke English, and she said not much, so we mostly did my transaction in Spanish with just a touch of English.

K is fussing up a storm so I think I'll color with her or take her outside.

We went to the James River

Rocks are all over in a little branch of the James (or perhaps it was a canal running parallel to the river). Nick and Kate sit on a rock to see the river.

Mr. K wanted to go to the James River to look for rocks to use for flint knapping. He had poor luck finding rocks, but I filled my memory card up on my camera, which I've done very few times before. I might put some of my pictures of the river at the Flickr site.

K liked throwing rocks into the river.

N liked jumping from rock to rock in the river or a little canal (I think) parallel to the river. I took pictures. I forgot to bring my field glasses, and I was quite sorry because there were so many birds to see that I would have like to have seen with them.

J found some clam shells in the water. She brought them home, which I thought was a bit disgusting.

We live about four miles from the James River. I seldom stop there; I just drive across on different bridges. Today we stopped. The first part of the James River Park we stopped at was about as close to our house as you can find the river. Then we continued along the river, stopping at different parts of the James River Park system in Richmond. We went from Huguenot Flatwater to Pony Pasture to a place called "The Wetlands," and ended at the access from 42nd Street. We didn't make it to the Floodwall at Mayo Bridge, but I think we will next time we go to the river. I can get greats shots of the city skyline from the Floodwall.

Everyone and his dog was out having a walk along the river. J loved it because she'd love a dog. K was interested, but afraid of the dogs. I saw a nice beagle I sort of liked.

At the end of the trip, we went to McDonald's and got lots of chicken nuggets, hamburgers, French fries, and a salad to take home. It was a very late lunch, and now I'm not sure to do about dinner since I'm not hungry and won't be until almost bedtime.

K won't stay in bed

K was driving me crazy. She was refusing to nap, doesn't watch TV yet, and clung to me crying because she was so tired. I finally had a loud discussion with her, and got her back into bed, shutting the door so it latched. I've heard some noises in there, but I'm hoping she's going to take a nap because a) I have no time for myself if she stays awake, and b) when she doesn't nap, she gets harder and harder to deal with as she gets sleepier and sleepier.

I heard my bedroom's French doors rattle around 3 a.m. I got up and opened them, and K was sitting on the floor, sucking her pacifier with her blanket wrapped around her. I had to pee, so I told her to wait a minute. She followed me into my bathroom in the dark and waited while I peed. Then I put my crocs on and carried her to bed. I latched her door so it would be harder for her to get out. The whole time she never said a word or made any noise. It was very strange. Fortunately she went right back to sleep, or at least didn't cry so I went right back to sleep.

I forgot to take my Spanish book to the gym, so I am hoping K actually will nap to give me a chance to read it. I should go try to read it now, while she is at least quiet.