What a cool idea! I have been trying to get Sarah to photograph herself once a day then morph the pictures together in a few years. This family simply takes a picture of everyone in their family once a year. Notice the guy never smiles again after 1978.
Category: Daily Life
Ramblings, often stream of conscious, journaling the events of my life.
Yikes
The first dominoe could fall today.
TIA
Cathy feels that within 12 months I will have a life altering event.
They can occur days, weeks or even months before a major stroke. In about half the cases, the stroke occurs within one year of the TIA. [Source]
What’s a TIA?
A TIA is a “warning stroke” or “mini-stroke” that produces stroke-like symptoms but no lasting damage. [Source]
And the symptoms:
- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body (see the last point with the target reference – that was sudden!)
- Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding (Sarah)
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes (see)
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination (June 19, 2007 actually)
- Sudden, severe headache with no known cause (Click, Kneed and death)
Guess I better play a littler harder this next year.
Today’s Non-verbal Communication
For no apparent reason, Cathy wants me to stand behind the van. And I knew it before she posted this!
Sarah did a doubletake!
Sarah is one of those "must contain all my emotion inside and always look morose" teenagers. She refuses to say "I love you" to anyone and conversation with the parents is totally uncool. Although I have minimized the amount of NPR listening when she is in the car I still force her to hear a little bit about what is happening in the world. She does her best to ignore me.
As I dropped her off at school this morning I chimed out, "Have a nice day Sarah! I love you!" then as she got out my autotomic brain spouted out, "Have a nice day Noah." Sarah had already begun closing the door and instead of running from the car as quickly as possible like normal, she stopped, turned back to car, opened the door and gave me the quirkiest look wordlessly declaring, "you are the craziest dad in the world!" then went off to school with a smile on her face.
True Love – Speechless Communication
When Cathy and I were dating, I could read her mind. How connected! To know one another’s thoughts without speaking a word is bliss.
All married couples are familiar with this non-verbal communication. It changes a little after tying the knot. Ok, it changes a lot. For instance, when dating, I knew what Cathy needed. Now married, I simply know how angry she is with me.
The kids have a game called Punch Buggy. We archaic folk know it as Slug Bug and shun the unnecessary "no punch backs" childishness. Our most open communication comes through this game.
- When things are hunky-dory
- Cathy will call Slug Bug and the color and choose a child. No hit thrown of course. Occasionally, for balance, I receive a no hitter. And we all laugh.
- I may have irritated Cathy or she has had a frustrating day
- I get a light punch to the arm.
- I said something stupid
- I will feel a sting, still to the arm.
- I directly confront her, maybe without substance
- She stares into the parking lots like a hawk searching for a mouse and wallops me a good one possibly leaving a bruise. Any body part is fair game.
- My very presence annoys her for no rationale reason
- She will make up seeing a slug bug and magically find one of those Jedi nerve places bringing subtle tears to the corners of my eyes
- I yell at a child, scare her, or momentarily forget where I am
- She waits until we move to the back of the car, then she takes the tailgate and repeatedly slams it on my head. As I falter toward the ground she takes the baby from my hands and storms into Target with the other children leaving me bloody, dizzy, and barely standing in the parking lot. She never tells me the color of the Volkswagen.
Ah! Now that’s efficient communication.
Beware the Intertubes!
No wonder I can’t get any work done! It’s that 97% thing!
InstaPost
THE FUNNIEST THING I’ve read all week. Thanks Jonathan.
And the wheels fell off
I forgot to mention that yesterday we drove roughly 258 kilometers just running errands.
So, how’d that coffee thing go
One pot of coffee later and I magically tranform from good dad to bad dad. So much for a romantic evening.
Lost – no, not that one
So I had an interesting experience this past Saturday. I am driving Cathy and crew over to her mother’s house so that Noah and I can steal the Dodge Neon since the Jeep was still in pieces on the driveway. Cathy, Sarah, Amy, Evan and Tommy had to go to the ice skating rink after dropping Noah and I off. I had forgotten my cell phone and would not be able to walk her through the back roads if she needed help.
I was verbally giving her a rundown of directions that I thought would get her there most directly with the least amount of chance for getting lost. See, her parents live in this neat little spot of town that is centrally located but somehow not directly connected to anything. Getting anywhere, except the interstate, involves a back road. Well, suddenly I did not know where I was. I could not remember how I got there and I had turned the car around but I only vaguely remember making the turn. It seems liked I was driving in a bright light and the conversation I was having with Cathy didn’t even make much sense at that point. As I re-oriented I almost turned back toward our house instead of the inlaws. It was very bizarre and surreal.
I think what happened was that I started to visualize the directions I was giving Cathy a little too much and started following my own directions. Good puppy.
Hard Lessons
Sarah is the student council historian this year. So for her birthday, we got her a Kodak EasyShare Z730 camera. I am very impressed with the camera.
One of my mantras to the children that they hear moaned out several times a day is "Don’t put it down; put it away." Sarah does not follow this at all. Her world does not operate by our laws, our physics, nor our logic. And, she leaves droppings wherever she goes. If she visits a friend, socks, trinkets, school notes, or something will have to be picked up several days later.
She took pictures in art club after school yesterday. Art club is supposed to end at 4:45 and we picked her up at 5 (the time she always comes out of the building anyway). She had set her camera beside her stuff then picked up her stuff to rush out leaving the camera behind. She realized this 15 minutes later at Target. Since the school would have been locked up it made no sense to go back but I got her there early this morning.
Apparently she was the first into the classroom but no sign of the camera. The teacher doesn’t recall seeing it and it hasn’t appeared in lost and found. It may still turn up but, sadly, the odds are against it. What is worse, the list of suspects is small: custodial staff, the few remaining art club students, and teacher. It should be easily recovered.
I feel bad for Sarah. I grew up with a belief system of trust. I believe people should be trustable and honest. If I find money or something like a camera, I seek out the person that may have lost it. I try to do my part as a citizen. Yesterday as I parked at Target the lady with a child in the car beside me was unloading the last few items from her cart. I waited then asked if I could take her cart for her. It was the right thing to do. If a person took Sarah’s camera with no intent to return it, that would be the wrong thing to do. I only hope that this does not scar Sarah’s trust in people or influence to not do the right thing because she has been burned. I want her to care enough to take the person cart rather than declare it SEP.
Now, the angry dad in me wants to jump to conclusions, secure the school security tapes, and go after somebody.
Off the wagon – Gimme the juice!
My first cup of coffee was at age 10 or 11 in Café Du Monde (wikipedia entry) eating beignets.
The cafe is open (has been since Oct 19, 2005) and trying to contact its employees. If you took in some Katrina victoms that are related to or know of people who worked for Cafe Du Monde, please let them know.
We are still trying to make contact with many members of the Cafe Du Monde team. If you are an employee of Cafe Du Monde please E-Mail us to let us know that you are O.K. and fill us in on your future plans. [Source]
That cup of coffee was horrible. I switched to hot chocolate and stayed away from coffee for nearly a decade.
In college I was very involved in dorm life. I became the treasurer of the Clement Hall Resident Association. I ran movie night introducing double features with animated cartoons during intermission. I would start of with a series of cartoons then we would show a popular movie, do a cartoon intermission, and finish the evening with an esoteric cult flick (wish I had written the names down). I also had a bootleg of the Rocky Horror Picture Show (before it was released to video) and we would periodically watch the show on Friday’s at midnight complete with a virgin call but not with the full regalia. Eventually I took a job as a desk worker with shifts of midnight to 4am and 4am to 8am. Later I would become a Resident Assistant for the 8th floor.
As a desk worker, sleep would call. Change would tinkle into the vending machine and coca-cola would keep me awake. Soon it felt like all the money I was making was going into that machine. One night the coffee pot caught my eye. It was ever present and best of all free. I tried it. Didn’t really like it but it worked! And better than the Coke. I was renewed! And hooked.
At my peak, I was drinking 2 pots of coffee a day. I would brew one in the morning and another about 8 in the evening. I thought all that shaking was due to unstable ground (Knoxville is on a fault line discovered in 1993). When I started having serious dizzy spells, I cut way back on the coffee. 4 or 5 weeks ago I stopped drinking coffee altogether. Since then I have had 3 cups. I also had a very minimal number of soft drinks. In recent years, I have had very little alcohol to drink.
A full pot of coffee sits on the counter now. Thanks Target! Stopped in Target last night to get dinner supplies and they had my coffee marked way down. I grew weak. I bought it. Today I shall be perky!
See also RHPS fan club.
Knee Replacement Surgery – No Big Deal
So this morning I pull in to pickup my mother-in-law to take her to physical therapy. See, a few weeks ago she had a mad scientist take a Dewalt 5 inch saw and cut her knees off. To his manic cackling he scraped out the stuff that holds the bottom part of the leg to the top part. To lightning, the humpbacked nurse helps insert the plastic and titanium, guaranteed-fun-at-the-airport new knees! He laughts and raises his hands skyward shouting, "she lives! She lives!" She stands up! And immediately falls on her face.
Getting back to this morning. As I approach her house I see hop-a-long with brace on the deadleg left knee toward the end of the driveway with walker in both hands and making the final adjustment on the second trash can that she just pulled down the driveway–somehow. I only wish I had shown up a few minutes earlier to watch. Fortunately, she had only pulled the recycle container out the back door and not worked it down to the street. Apparently, my inlaws recycle lead, ore, rock, and concrete disguised as aluminum cans and newspaper. After lugging it to the street I begged to take her place in physical therapy or at least sneak me one pain pill. I also noted that had she taken the recycle bin herself that she wouldn’t need the PT today because she’d be in the hospital!
Yes, I said "inlaws." Note the s. It makes the word plural. She has an ambulatory husband who, like my son, was asked to do the garbage the night before and, like my son, 7:30 came and he went. Also like my son, he doesn’t clean up animal poop. These two should live together for a year with cats and dogs! But that really wouldn’t be fair to the cats and dogs.
My morning thus far
3:30 – beg myself to get up
5am – actually rise, bathe and dress
6am – wake the doughnuts
6-7am – some blogging, mostly help Noah cook muffins
7:30-8 – drive Sarah to school
8-8:30 – pickup mother-in-law
8:30 – pickup Amy
9 – Drop Amy at pre-school
9:20 – Drop mother-in-law at sadist’s (PT)
9:20-10am – Starbucks theraphy then home
Later:
10:50-11:30 – pickup mother-in-law, take her to bank then home
1:30 – pickup Amy
4:15 – Noah to karate
4:45 – Pickup Sarah from school
5:00 – Pickup Noah from karate
5:30-6 – drive to Lenior City
6 – Drop Tommy in Lenior City
8:30 – Pick Tommy up from Lenior City
9-10pm – Lost!
To squeeze in: work, programming, marketing, resume writing, returning calls/emails, budgetting, banking, and food
