Lola's Big Adventure

The Test Line

2009-08-17T22:32:00.001-04:00

At my workplace I have been ‘harrassed’ by phone calls from collections in my company looking to resolve the issue of payment for a ‘test’ telephone line. This has been ongoing for about 2 years but lately they have made it a point to call me every day and leave an automated message. I have been on the phone to several contacts through the numbers they leave to explain that the ‘test’ line they are billing us for is not a test line at all, but a desk phone at a place of business, which, ironically, happens to be the very same company that they are, so how on earth would it be logical to charge your own company for the utilization of a ‘test’ line that really doesn’t even exist???

Anyway, the culmination of all this occurred when I arrived at work this morning only to find that my desk phone (aka the ‘test’ line) had been DISCONNECTED!! Let’s just say that with the help of my boss and a couple other people this matter was rectified in a matter of hours…

In a situation such as this I often wonder if the person they deem as the 'responsible' one ends up in a little room getting written up for being such a dufus...

The (GASP) Chaaaaaange...

2009-08-16T21:27:00.000-04:00

As if by magic, the wonderful world of menopause has begun for me. I have lost count of hot flashes when I got to 11 in one day. I think they are hilarious. I cannot help but laugh each time one occurs, because I am caught so entirely by surprise! I am hoping that I retain my sense of humor throughout the rest of this inevitability…

Computer Issues

2009-08-04T21:11:00.000-04:00

We have been having ever-increasing issues with the desktop computer. I’m suspecting it may be a virus, so I purchased what I thought was an effective and easily installed anti-virus program. I had the same brand installed on the PC last year, and it seemed to meet my limited needs. However, this year’s version has been nothing short of frustrating to load. It seems that when I install the anti-virus it somehow disengages my internet capability. If I un-install, the ability to use the internet is magically granted. Rather ironic, yes? I was quite befuddled by this whole mess and just happened to mention it to Glen, my friend in Omaha (with whom I have recently re-connected with - - he used to play in a band with me and we were boyfriend-girlfriend waaaay back in the day) and he had graciously volunteered his expertise. I’m quite thankful, as I am not good at all when it comes to computer trouble-shooting. I’m more the type to turn to shooting the computer when there’s trouble…

I am happy to report that not only did we determine that the anti-virus software I bought was worthless, but Glen was also able to help me connect the new router with my old Ethernet box so Lola can be wireless on her new laptop! So we have one problem solved and the other is partially solved. For now I’m perfectly ok with that.

It's What's For Dinner

2009-07-30T21:08:00.000-04:00

Tonight was a culinary free-for-all at our house. I decided to make tacos and let Lola decide what should go with them. She chose her ‘world-famous guacamole’ and our version of Russian-style potatoes (sliced and fried in a pan with olive oil). It was really quite good!

Fire and Ice

2009-07-27T22:34:00.001-04:00

Well, I’ve had my fourth ice-skating lesson and I believe that I may actually be improving! I’m learning the front crossovers as well as the turn to go from forward to backward. The crossovers are coming along nicely, and I’ve noticed that I’m much more comfortable crossing over toward the right (crossing the left foot over the right) than I am toward the left. Honestly, the crossover to the left is like a foreign country to me. Isn’t it interesting that something that seems so seamless and natural on one side can be so utterly and seemingly IMPOSSIBLE on the other? It’s as if my left side is afraid and my right side isn’t! My coach advised me the best way to even things up is to practice the bad side twice as much as the good side. We shall try that and see what progresses…

This evening Lola decided to try out her new grilling utensils she received as a birthday gift from Boris and his parents. She loves to grill out as much as I do and frankly, I’m fine with her doing steaks, chops and burgers - - she has become quite good as the Grillmistress! The only disadvantage I see is if she gets distracted from grilling with a good episode of iCarly or the Jonas Brothers as she walks past the TV to go out to the courtyard to flip the food…at which point she stops dead in her tracks and totally forgets all about the food quietly charring into oblivion on the grill…

Mastering the Trot

2009-07-25T22:04:00.000-04:00

Lola seems to have mastered the art of the posting trot on the back of a horse. Her instructor has decided that she is now ready to CANTER!! Lola is so excited she cannot be still about it. She did divulge to me that she’s still a little scared about going that fast on a horse, but she really wants to learn how to do it. I assured her not to worry, as Miss Toni will make absolutely sure that it will be a gradual transition. Shadow has been chosen as Lola’s ‘cantering horse’ and he is wonderful - - he’s quite obedient and sweet, and has the strangest move when going into a trot from a walk - - he makes a lurch forward as if to canter, then settles into a trot. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect horse for her learning process; at least once she gets used to the forward motion the actual canter should be a snap!

Lola's Very Own PC

2009-07-23T22:00:00.000-04:00

After having saved money from last Christmas, from her weekly allowance and her birthday, Lola finally had saved enough money to purchase her very own laptop computer! We went to Wal-Mart with a list of criteria the two of us had discussed and decided on a Toshiba.

Once she got it home it was noooooo problem for her to whiz through the setup process and be immersed in the wonderful world of the PC in the most personal sense of the word. The only drawback is that she has to be connected directly to the router in order for the computer to function, as we do not yet have a wireless router.

Transitions

2009-07-22T21:55:00.001-04:00

Lola has been having increasing issues with her eyesight since the beginning of 6th grade, although with each optometrist visit her sight was pretty close to 20/20. During this visit we were somewhat prepared for the inevitability of glasses / contacts, so it was no surprise when the doctor announced the time had finally come.

And so, with a mini-workshop from the doctor’s assistant, Lola learned how to insert, remove, and care for contact lenses. An order was placed for some disposable lenses, as well as a pair of glasses as back-up.

Later on while at home, Lola proudly came to me with a baby tooth she had lost. It was amazing, she said, because she was just sitting there watching tv and when she pushed the tooth with her tongue it magically disengaged itself from her gumline!! I teased her that the Tooth Fairy would have to come out of retirement to pay her a little visit during the night.

4th of July in Iowa - Part 2

2009-07-12T23:04:00.000-04:00

I love my home town. It’s Storm Lake, Iowa, population about 10,000 and it’s a place dear to my heart. Within recent years, there have been numerous changes to the town. Some group made the decision to tear down our beloved public swimming pool (where I would guess the admission price to be something like $3.00 per person) as well as other buildings and in their places construct a resort-style hotel, restaurant, conference center, indoor and outdoor pool / water park. The complex is now known as King's Point Resort. As a consequence, the admission to their water park ranges from $14.00 pp for either the indoor or outdoor facility to something like $22.00 pp for both parks. I noticed on their website that they even charge admission of $5.00 for people who do not wish to swim!

We decided to pass up that wallet-sucking experience and head to the lovely little town of Alta (5 miles away) to use their public pool. Lola was excited the pool in Alta has diving boards. She didn’t know how to dive, but within a couple hours she learned to dive off the side of the pool and then on to the brave move of diving off the boards!!

While swimming there three days in a row, Lola made a new friend named Izzy. Izzy (short for Isabel) is a year younger and lives just a couple blocks from the pool. We have her address so we can keep in touch, and hopefully we’ll have a chance to see her when we make a visit back to Iowa for the Christmas holiday!

On the morning we left Storm Lake to head back to the Minneapolis airport we stopped at my old elementary school, which I had heard was going to be torn down soon. I just had to take some photos of the poor old building before its demise. There are many memories from that school, and I'm a little saddened about the plans to raze it.

How things change! Storm Lake, at one time, had five public elementary schools. During the time I was in middle or high school, Hayes Elementary outside of town was closed. Now the remaining four - North, South, East and West, have all been replaced by a brand-new elementary school on the west edge of town, large enough to accomodate all. I remember the 1/2 day track meet that took place every spring, with participants from the third through the sixth grades. All five of the elementary schools would compete against one another in various events at the high school track. That is one of the fondest memories of my early school days.

4th of July in Iowa - Part 1

2009-07-12T22:45:00.000-04:00

We spent the July 4th holiday in Iowa at my mom’s and in Nebraska at my friend Dawn’s house. We had a blast cooking on the grill, watching fireworks over the lake, hanging out with “babushka” and swimming in Iowa, and spending a couple days in Omaha visiting Dawn and her dogs and cat.

The day we flew in we landed in Minneapolis - - the airfare was much less expensive than flying into Omaha, and I figured on the 4-hour drive from the Twin Cities to Storm Lake we could stop for an hour or two at Lake Okoboji so Lola could swim.

Upon arriving at the lake, the water was COLD!! Lola was braver than I, and she jumped in excitedly. I soaked up some sun while she splashed and swam around. After about 30 minutes, she decided she had had enough and so we packed our stuff up to go. As I picked up my towel, the sand flies began attacking my feet and legs. I'm sure it was quite entertaining for those around us as I jumped, slapped my legs and danced around in pain from the bites. Once we got inside the car I counted five bites - - two on my foot, and the other three on my legs. Nasty little things drew blood, too! The ones on my foot began to swell almost immediately, and took many days to heal. Luckily my mom had an aloe vera plant and some hydrogen peroxide, and the combination of those did the trick to bring the swelling down and help keep them from itching. I'm quite thankful (and utterly amazed) that Lola never got even ONE bite!

We continued on to my mom's house and relaxed for the night and then the next morning we had planned to spend a couple days at Dawn's house in Omaha before returning to Mom's for the remainder of our visit.

The evening we got to Omaha we planned to meet Dawn at Surfside - - -one of my all-time favorite places to eat. It’s situated on the Missouri River north of the city and is famous for its chicken and catfish dinners. It’s quite informal - - jeans or shorts are allowed, but as the sign indicates absolutely no cut-offs or swimsuits, and one must be wearing shirt and shoes!

There are tables arranged on a long patio parallel to the river, and from what I hear it is not unusual for boaters to drive by and moon anyone enjoying their meal. For those who wish not to be mooned, there is an indoor dining room.

The highlight of the restaurant, aside from their to-die-for fried catfish and hush puppies, are the cute little raccoons who live in the tall grass by the outdoor dining area who come up for food. Lola was enamored by them, and took a fancy to the mama raccoon and her baby who came up to clean the chicken off the bones that were tossed over the railing. The mama would take the bones and disappear into the grass to the river, wash the bones, then eat the chicken from them, and return in a few minutes for more!

We visited the park at Standing Bear Lake, where there are several large metal tubes inserted upright in the ground on a small hill overlooking the park and lake. The tubes have holes placed in strategic locations, and with even just the slightest breath of wind, the tubes emit a beautiful but rather eerie harmonic moaning sound. I, personally, find it comforting and relaxing, but I do know some other people find it a bit disturbing. Unfortunately, there was absolutely NO wind that evening so we were not able to experience it this time around.

The next morning we went to the Henry Doorly Zoo (my personal favorite), checked in on most of the animals, went through the rain forest exhibit (Lola loved this), attended the Imax 3-D movie “Under the Sea” and rode on the aerial tram across the zoo complex. It was a total blast!

Dawn told Lola to choose a stuffed animal from the gift shop as her birthday present, so Lola came to the IMAX theater with a stuffed white tiger. She named it Scooter, after our dearly departed cat.

Scooter the stuffed white tiger made a trip to the Cat House, and Lola put him on the ledge outside the glass of the white tiger exhibit. A female tiger came up and pawed the glass as if to get to the little tiger - - we figured she thought it was a baby tiger!! It was amazing!

That evening we drove back to Iowa just in time for dinner and then down to the lake to see the 4th fireworks. Lola took her shoes off and sat on a dock with her feet dangling in the water while watching.

Cat Parties

2009-06-30T21:54:00.001-04:00

My house, I’m sad to say, has become what looks like a wind tunnel testing area. Clothes from both of us are everywhere, shoes line the hallway and wet towels from swimming adorn most of the downstairs doorknobs (Lola sometimes just drops them on the floor - - the doorknob option is a quick fix until I take the them upstairs to put in the dryer). In addition, there are several blankets moved from room to room (or level to level) and rugs bunched up at the end of the hallway, courtesy of the cats. So it appears I don’t pick up after just two residents, but actually four!

Here is just one example of a typical day at the house:

"Oh, are you leaving? We'll be good - - we're just going to take a nap."

"We promise we won't rug surf!"

"Oh, YES! We PROMISE!"

"ohhhhhhh, hi.....this is not what it looks like...."

Oh, yes, there are rug-surfing parties, litter box parties (where they see who can knock the litter scoop into the box and bury it first), slam-dancing parties (they usually have those while we are home), and massage parties (pictured below).

"Ohhhhhh, I am sooo relaxed....this head massage rocks!"

Lola's 12th Birthday

2009-06-28T21:38:00.000-04:00

Every few days since the middle of May Lola had reminded me exactly how many days there were until her birthday. As the big day approached it was interesting to watch her increased excitement. Strangely enough, this year she didn’t ask a lot of questions about her presents. I had sent her off with Kimmi one evening so I could stay home and do a little gift-wrapping, and when Lola came home she asked me if I had gotten her ‘surprises’ wrapped. The subject was pretty much abandoned after I assured her they were definitely wrapped.

And so, the big day finally came - - June 27 - - and it began just like every other Saturday with horseback riding lessons, lunch, then ice-skating lessons. Her party was scheduled for 3pm, with her invitees meeting us at the skating rink for a couple hours on the ice, then a short drive to Pizza Hut for dinner, cupcakes and gift-opening. We had invited about 20 people, including children, their parents and several adult invitees but when the day came we had only four children (Boris, Nastya, Nastya’s little sister Masha, and Natalie, a friend of Lola’s from horseback lessons) and their parents. The others whom Lola had invited were busy with summer vacation, church activities and other obligations. Even so, it was a fun day and Lola had a wonderful time spending time with the friends that were able to attend.

Boris & Lola begging Boris' dad to skate

Nastya

Nastya & Natalie

Lola practicing her lunge

Lola & Nastya

Just Goofing Around

The pizza party (opening gifts)

Nastya, Masha, Lola and Boris

Later, after the party, Lola opened her other gifts with Petie and Sebastian's help.

The Need For Speed

2009-06-26T21:38:00.000-04:00

As usual, we went ice-skating last Sunday - - - it was Father’s Day and the lack of attendance at the rink made skating a wonderfully private event. As usual, I had to have a few fast laps around the rink - - and as I was happily speeding down the ice I noticed a patch of water at about the same time I touched it with my skate blade. The presence of the water created somewhat of a braking effect and I didn’t have time to adjust my balance for it. However, rather than land face first on the ice I did manage to shift my weight and bend my knees a bit so as to land properly (or so I thought). Even so, I landed squarely on my rear end and at that moment a feeling of both extreme pain and a wash of intense heat inside my lower trunk took place. I then crawled out of what seemed to be about a quarter-inch of water standing at the end of the rink! Lola came over to see if I was ok and I sat in the bleachers for about ten minutes, all the while fighting nausea and light-headedness that accompanied the pain and numbness in my butt and tingling in my hands! I do hate that when I’m injured my body betrays me by acting ill!

So there I sat, scolding myself for having a need for speed, and gradually the light-headedness subsided. So what did I do? Why, I got back out there on the ice and skated some more, of course!! I didn’t hurt as much at that point, although I knew that pain-free feeling wouldn’t last.

When we went home the reality began to set in. I couldn’t bend over, couldn’t sit in a chair without looking startlingly akin to Tim Conway in his famous “old man” skit, and had a hilarious time crawing (literally) into bed, all the while muttering “ow, ow, OW!” under my breath. Lola, of course, was thinking this was quite entertaining, but was maybe just a LITTLE sympathetic.

Getting up the next morning for work was an adventure in itself. I knew it would take longer than usual. I called the doctor and set up an appointment to see what she could determine. I had x-rays taken at lunchtime. The doctor asked if I was taking anything for the pain and I was literally surprised, because it never occurred to me that I could have done that. Why? I don’t know. I guess I just figured it was my own fault for going too fast and therefore I felt as though I was pretty much destined to own the pain. The option of taking an Advil or whatever was not even in my realm of thinking!

After the x-rays I went back to work and by late afternoon felt ok enough to attend my first official ice skating lesson. My instructor was very understanding and I had a good time in spite of hurting!

I didn’t get the x-ray results back until today, and per the radiologist, nothing is broken! HOORAY!!!!!! So all I need to do is relax and chill out and wait to heal whatever got scrambled around in there. And yes, it still hurts! But it’s getting slightly less intense each day…

People-Watching

2009-06-17T10:24:00.000-04:00

No matter where I am I love to watch people - - - in their cars, walking, waiting for the bus, it doesn’t matter. People are simply fun to observe! This morning while driving to work my point of interest for the day was to make note of how people walk. I find it fascinating that everyone has their own unique gait. Some are fast, or slow, choppy, smooth, slinky, loping, lazy or agitated. I have never thought about it, but I wonder if a person’s gait belies or agrees with their personality? Hmmmmm….I wonder if government grants are given out to study such things? I’m sure they have been awarded for stranger studies…

Here Kitty Kitty

2009-06-16T09:53:00.000-04:00

I woke up this morning and went downstairs to feed the cats and the only one attending the daily can-opening ritual was Petie. I thought it odd that Sebastian wasn’t there, but opened a can of their favorite food and divided it evenly between two small bowls. Upon placing the bowls on the floor, Petie sniffed at one and walked away. I was a bit surprised, and told him he was too picky, while adding comments about all the starving stray cats in Atlanta. I then went to find Sebastian, with Petie following in hot pursuit. Sebastian was lounging in the courtyard, and when he saw me he hopped down from his perch on the table and came inside. They both followed me to the kitchen, where Petie excitedly showed Sebastian that their breakfast was ready. When Petie made sure Sebastian was beside him, they both began to eat.

I realized at that moment that Petie wasn’t being picky by not eating his food ------it was because he was being polite and wanted to wait for his brother!

The Affirmation

2009-06-09T21:52:00.001-04:00

Last night was baseball night!! Lola, Kimmi and I got tickets to see the Braves play, so we rode MARTA to Turner Field. We all love baseball and were rather excited when at the bottom of the ninth inning the game was tied 6-6. It ran into extra innings – 15 total - - and the Braves WON 7-6! It was about 1:00 am when we got home, but it was worth it! The only drawback was that I had to go to work the next day…

On a more serious note, the strangest/coolest thing happened on the ride home in MARTA. While riding, there was a young man passing out flyers, and of course, requesting donations. At first I didn’t want a flyer and politely told him no thank you. But Lola wanted one. She asked me to read it to her. Here is an excerpt from it:

Proverbs 13:20 – ‘He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed’.

“Everyone can’t be in your front row. There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you let go of draining, negative, not-going-anywhere relationships. Observe the relationships around you. Which ones lift and which ones lean? Which ones encourage and which one discourage? Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are just going downhill? The more you seek God, the more you seek growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you. The more you seek God the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the front row and who should be moved to the balcony of your life. You cannot change the people around you…but you can change the people you are around! Ask God for wisdom and discernment and choose wisely the people who sit in the front row of your life.”

It was something that was nudging at me quite a bit lately, but I just needed it there in front of my face to affirm some decisions I have recently made. I had been contemplating my relationships with others for quite some time and had to re-evaluate whether some are healthy for me or if they are pulling me down. After much thought I made the decision back in early April to let go of one of these and move that person ‘to the balcony’ because the relationship was not spiritually healthy for either Lola or myself. I have been patiently trying to nurture a new friendship because I feel a very strong connection there. We shall see how that progresses. For now it is in ‘the balcony’, but I hope it may relocate to ‘the front row.’

I have also realized the burden that has been lifted from me by making the decision to let go. It boils down to self-preservation. It is preservation of a positive environment for my daughter and myself. I am now a walking example for Lola in dealing with different types of relationships and how it is necessary to surround ourselves with only positive, peaceful and loving people. On the other hand, I must also be an example in showing how those in the balcony of our lives are given love and care, but with a bit of distance and caution as well.

Progress on the Ice

2009-06-07T21:31:00.000-04:00

I can now ice skate a little faster backwards and can now do front crossovers in both directions (one direction being a little easier than the other). I can now also STOP (sort of)!! Lola, as usual, is learning more new moves. She has now taught herself to do lunges. Next on the list is the bunny hop. We both have signed up for lessons beginning the last full week of June. I was pleased there was finally a weekday evening class offered for adults, since the other adult class was always scheduled during her horseback riding lessons on Saturdays.

The Two-Gear Horse

2009-06-06T23:50:00.000-04:00

Lola went to her horseback riding lesson and it has been determined she is ready to learn to canter! She’s excited to learn, but sad to know that she will be training on a horse other than Apache for this phase of her training. She rode a dark chestnut named Will - - a very sweet horse, but he had only two gears - - walk and canter. I guess Lola got her wish to canter a little sooner than expected, since this lesson was to walk and trot on Will in order to get accustomed to his gait and personality. She wants to ride him again, so I guess she likes him! More on this after the next lesson.

What We Did on Our Summer Vacation

2009-06-06T22:48:00.001-04:00

We embarked upon our journey to the beaches of Hilton Head around lunchtime on May 29th and arrived in the late afternoon. We ran into quite a bit of heavy rain and much thunder and lightning on the way, so the trip time was somewhat longer than usual. This three-day trip was strictly for relaxation. We swam every day in the hotel pool, and then went to the beach a block away and swam some more! Another perk was that we were just 50 yards from the Van der Meer Tennis Center. All I can say about that is - - - EYE CANDY!!! I could have watched some of those tennis players for HOURS!!

For breakfast we went to a popular local place called Kenny B’s French Quarter Café. They offer a nice buffet breakfast for a very reasonable price, and the owner is a HUGE Georgia Bulldogs fan so there is Bulldog memorabilia all over the café, in addition to murals of the New Orleans French Quarter. He also brings his bulldog in the restaurant as an added attraction. Lola, being the eternal dog lover, was so excited to see the bulldog and spent several minutes petting him and posed for a photo!

We left Hilton Head on June 1 and drove home to see if a strike was called yet at my company. YAY! No strike yet! We did a quick load of laundry, repacked the suitcase, and got up the next morning to embark upon our journey to Las Vegas.

The purple suitcase is ours!

The flight to our stopover in Houston was totally easy - - - the flight from Atlanta was only delayed 30 minutes, so Lola and I played UNO (our favorite airport time-killing activity). We had a very short layover, then off to Vegas. On the way we just happened to look out the window of the plane and saw the Grand Canyon!!! It is so amazing, no matter from what angle!!

Upon arrival we boarded a shuttle bus to the Venetian hotel. The per night price on the accommodations was a steal and our suite was heavenly!! We arrived in the mid-afternoon, so we did a little swimming at the hotel pool, then went to a buffet at the Imperial Palace down the street for dinner.

Lola discovered that night that she LOVES crab legs!!! She was a total shrimp fanatic in Mexico last summer, and now she likes crab legs. Who knows? Maybe someday she will decide upon tasting lobster that it is good, too!

Our hotel had what we have determined takes the title for The World’s Most Comfy Bed. We never wanted to leave our soft, conforming pillow-top environment, but of course the pool and the adventure beyond the room beckoned.

Lola was enamored with the deep bathtub (much like the standard bathtub in Russia) and made it a point to take a long tub bath every evening before bed. The TV mounted near the ceiling in the bathroom was a good perk as well, so she could soak in bubbles and watch Spongebob Squarepants at the same time.

We were out and about one afternoon and found the most wonderful little booth that sells Iris Impressions reversible skirts. The long skirts can be tied to be nearly anything you want it to be - - halter dress, bandeau dress, skirt, top, whatever the imagination can invoke! We liked them very much and after having made our purchase we went back to the room to design our dress style for the evening and then went to dinner.

Rick, one of my long-lost-but-now-found friends from a band I was in back in the mid-1980’s (he is a guitarist) happened to be in Las Vegas the same time we were there but unfortunately, as much as we tried to get together for lunch or dinner it just didn’t seem to work out. He and I did talk on the phone for a couple hours (while Lola yawned dramatically from ultimate boredom and wrote me little notes telling me how utterly booooooooring our conversation was). Perhaps one day we’ll see one another in person and will be able to catch up more. I must say, though, even if Lola was bored listening to my end of the conversation she sure did have fun hearing all my stories about the adventures Rick and I had with the other band members. Rick and I were best buds and partners in crime when in came to practical jokes played on the other band members. It was good to talk to him again, and while doing so I realized how much my speech pattern has slowed down since I moved to the South. I speak much more slowly than when I lived in the Midwest and now Rick’s speech seems to me like the verbal Evelyn Wood Speed Reading Course. I can follow him pretty well, but it’s just so much DIFFERENT from the everyday speech I encounter here in Atlanta.

During the course of our trip Lola and I swam several times in the hotel pool, walked around to see other hotels, went to the M&M store, rode on the Monorail, went to a McDonalds that is up an escalator off the street, ate at the Imperial Palace for dinner every night, made friends with one of the girls at the skirt booth, drank Starbucks Chai Latte, watched the Siren and Pirate show outside the Treasure Island Hotel, saw the volcano erupt at the Mirage, saw the dancing water show at the Bellagio, and every night fell into bed exhausted!

Our trip home from Vegas began about 4am on June 5. It was way too early in the morning and Lola was sooooo reluctant to wake up, but we did make it to the airport on time and the flights were both very smooth and as always, very fun. We both LOVE to fly and have such joy when the planes take off and land. The two of us just giggle and grasp the armrests of our seats as if we’re about to be thrust at warp speed into outer space. Again, I must pat myself on the back for purchasing the portable DVD player last year. This little device has been intrinsic in keeping us both occupied during long car trips and flights. It has to rank up there as one of the best inventions ever!

We finally arrived in Atlanta - - missing the fun of Vegas, but happy to be home. The cats did indicate they were glad to see us, but neither one of them did the huge dramatic welcome that Scooter and Boo Boo always displayed. I guess we’ll have to get used to these two being very low-key…

Summer Vacation

2009-05-27T09:52:00.002-04:00

Ahhhh, school is finished for the summer, we are planning a trip to the beach at the end of this week and then off to Las Vegas if all goes well and there is no strike…

I’m still fuming about the impossibility of going to Russia this year. Both Lola and I had our hearts set on it, and I’m tossing dates around in my head to see if there is another time we may be able to go. Darn the strike threats anyway!!! Having the possibility of this affecting my schedule at work if it actually happens is one thing to be expected, but when the ghost of a threat interferes with my life outside of work I think I have every right to be indignant and resentful!! Enough said.

Lola and I talked about “The Russia Trip” a couple days ago and decided perhaps Spring Break 2010 might be a possibility. Her relatives will not be going to the dacha until that summer, so we most definitely will find them at home. She tells me her aunt is so looking forward to meeting me, and the feeling is intensely mutual. All I have for her family is gratitude for dealing with a difficult family situation as best they could and for showing Lola they love her no matter what. She is most definitely close to all of them, and for that I am thankful.

I have literally BEGGED Lola every weekend since April to call her family to inform them we are not able to visit as planned this year. Each time I mention it, she refuses, because she doesn’t want to disappoint her aunt. I told her it is better for them to know we are not coming rather than just not telling them anything, leaving them to think we just don’t care! This was the time I so wished I was fluent in Russian. I would have called them myself to apologize for the whole situation. A few weeks ago I sent a letter of sorts to a friend who is in Russia, asking her to call Lola’s family and translate it so they know the complete situation. I don’t like to depend upon others for help, but in a situation like this it really was necessary. Guess I should get my Russian language books out and do a little summer studying…maybe by next April I’ll be able to communicate a little more confidently.

So with the prospect of going abroad crossed off our list of things to do this summer, we have decided on a few days on the beaches of Hilton Head Island and then a few days in Las Vegas so Lola can see what it’s like in real life. She was excited to see the city on TV in documentaries and movies, so I figured since we had some travel vouchers from last year that were about to expire we’d use them to take a trip to somewhere without going too many dollars over the voucher price. Luckily, we only had to pay $36.00 to fly to Vegas!! We also got a total steal on a 5-star hotel room there, so we’ll be living it up in our little suite and checking out all the different fun things and hotels on the Strip. I had brought up the subject of taking a day trip to the Grand Canyon, but after much thought Lola decided if we go to the Grand Canyon she would prefer to stay there for a couple days rather than go see it for a few hours and then board the bus back to the hotel. I think that is also the way I’d like to see it again. My first time was backpacking for a few days into the canyon from the North Rim, and the second time was via a full day bus tour to the South Rim. I think her choice of spending a few days there is a good one. Perhaps in the future we can incorporate that trip with one to the Colorado Rockies as well (another place she wants to see).

The Horse Show

2009-05-20T21:51:00.000-04:00

Lola had been entered in three events at the annual horse show, but with the continual rain we had been having I had to literally prepare both of us for the possibility that the show may actually be cancelled. Not a fun thought, especially when both of us were so excited for her to show off all she’s learned this past year.

So of course we arrived at the horse park about two hours earlier than needed (my error entirely - - - after years of making sure I’m early for important events it seems that in this instance it wasn’t such a wise idea - - - Lola being bored is painful for BOTH of us…though in totally different ways…) and had to wait through about five events, then a thirty-minute delay due to rain (and umbrellas are prohibited so as not to spook the horses so all were searching for places to stay dry), but then finally the decision was made to continue with another event, and it luckily was the walk/trot obstacle course. Lola did a FANTASTIC job and won a blue ribbon for her efforts! The big disappointment was when they announced that that was the conclusion of the show. Apparently they wanted each contestant to ride in at least one event to make it fair for everyone.

On the way home, Lola told me how she was shaking from nerves when she mounted Apache, but she talked to him the entire time she rode the event. I told her it paid off, because he was listening to her! A week later her riding instructor told us that Apache responds as well to verbal commands as much as rein commands. Good for Lola! She now knows that she can talk to Apache all the time and he’s a very good listener!

Bug Reality Check

2009-05-16T22:12:00.000-04:00

Lola came home from school and told me she wanted to help her friend out so she told her there might be lice in her hair The friend responded with comments of disbelief and denial. Lola further tried to convince her that she literally SAW them crawling, but still she was not to be taken seriously.

It was then I decided Lola had done everything she could to remedy the situation, and bravely so, but a little intervention was needed. I called the school nurse, identified Lola's friend as the suspected source of the lice, and waited.

Lola came home from school today and said she has not seen her friend there for the last four days. I'm guessing the lice were found and were being treated...

Lola the Pool Shark

2009-05-14T14:14:00.003-04:00

We are winding down the school year and are both quite ecstatic that there is not much homework the last two weeks of school. All Lola has is a science project, in which she has been happily immersed every afternoon after she comes home from school, and a project for her ESOL class, which she is working on in class. Life is GOOD! Yesterday she worked on her science power point presentation for awhile, then we were off to the gym for an hour, and afterward went to meet Kimmi at Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game on the big screen TV.

We had fun at the gym, and more fun at Buffalo WW watching hockey. While we were eating Lola spotted a pool table over in the corner. She remembered how much fun she had playing while we were in Mexico last year and begged me to play with her. We had a blast! I showed her if she hits the intended target ball on the right side with the cue ball, the target will go in the opposite direction. She thought that was pretty cool! I love being able to present a scientific or mathematic concept to her through something she loves. She practiced and was actually getting better the more she played! The game was close - - and I lost. Scratched on the eight ball. She was ecstatic! That's my girl!!!

Later that evening she informed me which one of her friends may have been the one who gave her head lice. She told me she was sitting next to this person and saw not only eggs in her hair, but bugs as well ! Lola was afraid to tell her, but asked me if I would contact the school and let them know…

Yes, what an uncomfortable situation for me, but still, considering how many children may potentially contract the lice because the friend may not even be aware she has them, and the fact that it’s not only my child’s head at stake, but the heads of all the other students (and teachers), it’s worth my discomfort in contacting the school to let them know. The thing that does bother me, though, is that I had already named this friend of Lola’s as a possible source for the head lice in the first place when Lola brought them home a couple weeks ago! Was there nothing investigated? And, all curiosity aside, how exactly does the school check to see if other students have these little critters? A notice to the parents? I haven’t seen one. A general head check done at the school? Doubtful. That may have been deemed an ‘invasion of student privacy’. Maybe I'll ask...

Forgiveness

2009-05-07T23:28:00.000-04:00

Lola came home from school with the matter of the head lice in the top spot of importance, but she did find time to let me know that her teacher, with whom she was disappointed by the no-show at the ice rink the day before, had a hugely valid reason for not having been there - - -she had somehow injured her back over the past week and was in such pain she couldn’t even stand upright. Lola was understandably quick to forgive…

BUG-a-boo

2009-05-07T20:03:00.000-04:00

When I made my final adoption journey to Russia to bring Lola home in December 2007, little did I know I’d be introduced to the wonderful world of head lice.

Lola had them while living in Russia and unwittingly shared them with me. It was a situation which took the better part of three weeks to resolve. Her fondest wish was to NEVER have bugs again! She did share with me that she had had them since summer camp in June 2007, and since they were discovered in January 2008 that’s SIX MONTHS of itching and reproducing. I can’t even begin to imagine how many generations of the little pests were living in her hair.

This last Monday after school she called me and said “Hi, Mom - - I have good news and bad news - - which do you want to hear first?” I decided I wanted to hear the bad news this time. She told me she was in her first period class and her head itched. When she scratched she found a 'bug' in her hair. Being so mortified she could hardly function, she held that bug in her hand for the entire class period before finally squashing it and throwing it in the trash once she was sure everyone had left the classroom. All day worried about how she got them and from whom, and was fearful that they would jump off her onto other people.

That evening I inspected her hair (yes, we still have the nit-picking comb and some shampoo from last year’s ordeal, so we were well-equipped at a moment’s notice) and thankfully only found one other live critter and removed several eggs that were just about to hatch. We had caught the silly things just in time.

We did the shampoo treatment and combed her hair with the fine-toothed comb for about an hour. She was thankfully quite patient. I knew I had to keep her out of school until there was no trace of them. Since we had such a long-term resolution to the problem last time, I wasn’t sure how long this episode would take.

I checked my own hair and found a couple eggs - - I did the shampoo treatment on myself as well (and darn it, I have checked everywhere for less toxic shampoo - - - which is a much safer alternative - - - but I just cannot find it anywhere!) and combed and combed, but didn’t see anything else.

The next morning I called the school to inform them of the situation and was told to keep Lola home until all traces of the little rascals were gone.

That evening we had a mutual hair-combing session, as well as the next morning. I was safely bug-free, but she still had a few eggs which we quickly exterminated with the comb. Another day at home. She was truly bored and I think secretly wished she was at school.

It took two days of some serious combing, but she was deemed bug-free on Wednesday night!! She was ecstatic knowing that this time it only took two days to resolve the problem!

Disappointment and Forgiveness

2009-05-03T23:05:00.001-04:00

Lola and I went skating today, but her friend Lavinia had to stay home this time. She was grounded by her father that weekend just from skating, and for reasons we thought a little strange, but hey- - - who am I to argue with what parents establish as house rules?

Anyway, at the last minute Kimmi decided to join us skating, even though she had gone through some dental surgery on Friday and was still very sore. As was the usual routine, we headed off to McDonald’s for lunch (which is the only time we go to eat at McDonald’s aside from grabbing breakfast there on Saturday mornings before all of Lola’s lessons) and then off to skate.

Lola was very excited because she has been learning new skating moves at the speed of sound and was quite anxious to show them off to her ESOL teacher, who had told her she was definitely going to be there. It had been about a month since we last saw her teacher at the rink, and today Lola was so happy she was almost in vibration mode.

While we skated I noticed Lola looking around for her teacher every so often, and when the Zamboni came out at 3:45, she went on a massive search. After the Zamboni finished and we were allowed to go back onto the ice, Lola was going to the concession area every fifteen minutes to see if her teacher had arrived, but each time she came back her expression was that of further disappointment.

By the time we were ready to go home, Lola looked at me and said, “Mom, I’m so mad at her. I just don’t care any more.” I told her I knew she was very sad and felt let down, but perhaps although her teacher really wanted to come and had planned to come, something else came up so that it just wasn’t possible. My heart was breaking for Lola’s feelings of betrayal and hurt, but I wanted her to understand that what she was feeling was part of a much bigger picture. Usually, once all the pieces of the whole picture are put together and we learn of the situations of all persons involved our reaction changes. She decided to talk to her teacher first thing tomorrow about it.

In the evenings just before bedtime, Lola and usually have our heart-to-heart talks. Today was no different. We sorted out all the issues of the day - - why Lavinia was grounded and why it was or wasn’t fair, how long until Kimmi would feel better from the dental surgery, and possible reasons why Lola’s teacher was a no-show at the rink.

We talked about forgiveness and situations where forgiveness is difficult, and Lola revealed to me that after how her Russian mama treated her she feels that she cannot ever forgive her. I just hugged her and told her everything takes time…

I thank God every day for this little girl, and the way in which He brought us together. I thank Him for what life experiences I’ve had, both good and bad, because that is what develops wisdom and insight within us. I’ve had some major forgiveness to distribute, and it was never an easy task.

I see now that even my most difficult life situations were really gifts in disguise. They were presented to enrich me emotionally so I may be better equipped to give Lola the foundation she needs of patience, tolerance and forgiveness once she can finally see the whole picture.

Historical Find

2009-05-03T08:08:00.003-04:00

I was looking through some things on our computer due to the inkling that my system has been infected with a potential virus, and I came across a journal I had written to Lola when I made the decision to adopt. It covers the period of time between November 2006 and May 2007, and I have added this to the very beginning of my blog. I re-read the entries this morning and so vividly remember all the feelings that I experienced during the adoption process. There are later entries to Lola in the journal, but I have some hand-written and others elsewhere within my computer.

Entertainment

2009-04-27T14:36:00.003-04:00

Here are some fun photos!

Petie & Sebastian Bee-Watching in the Courtyard

Our neighbor's dog Buster

The Therapy Car

2009-04-27T14:31:00.000-04:00

This past weekend produced gorgeous weather and our VW Cabrio has been getting a workout. I love this car in spite of all the mechanical issues it has had, and it is affectionately known as the ‘Therapy Car’. Lola and I put it in convertible mode and drive all over Atlanta. It is not only relaxing, but exhilarating as well!! It’s so fun that we invite friends along for the ride!! There is nothing like feeling the sun on a summer afternoon, or seeing the lights of the city of Atlanta at night without the encumbrance of a ceiling.

I guess this is the main reason I have hesitated for so long to trade the Cabrio in for a newer, more dependable vehicle. May the ‘Therapy Car’ live forever!!

Facebook

2009-04-25T23:22:00.000-04:00

Over the past few months I have been getting better acquainted with the Facebook social network on the internet. Through Facebook I have found long-lost high school friends and regained communication with former classmates, college buddies, students, friends from my workplaces and former love interests.

In one case, it has been quite therapeutic to find that one of my past serious relationships which came to a less-than-lovely end has produced a positive new beginning; over the years we each have learned some important life lessons and, amazingly enough, we have picked up the pieces and are forming a friendship. A negative experience which haunted me for years has now been made into a positive. God is with us always, and only He knows what can heal the soul.

I have to admit, upon looking at my contact list on Facebook, there are some pretty amazing people I am proud to call my friends. They hail from all walks of life, all backgrounds and all cultures. Each, in his or her own way, is an amazing person and I feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to connect or re-connect with each of them.

We Love Starbucks

2009-04-23T22:21:00.001-04:00

One day after school I took Lola to Starbucks for a Chai Tea Latte. They have become somewhat familiar with our faces since we frequent their location weekly. Here is a little surprise they included with our Chai…

Девочка / Девyшка

2009-04-23T13:58:00.003-04:00

(Dyevotchka - little girl / Dyevushka - young woman)

I find it quite intriguing to witness Lola’s ongoing transformation from little girl to young woman. At present she is caught somewhere in between, but she’s taking it all in stride.

Her friend Lavinia is almost a year older, if my facts are correct, and as of now I can see the definite difference in conversational / behavioral priorities between the two of them. Lavinia is now very much aware of boys and she talks about them quite frequently. She is cognizant of the fact that they notice her and she enjoys this. Lola is still at the stage of not quite understanding what all the hype is about boys, and is quite jealous when Lavinia talks to one. However, Lola is very aware of one particular boy in her class, whom she has liked since she began school in America in February 2008. After seeing them together on occasion, I believe they do have a strong liking for one another, but it will be awhile until both feel comfortable with their affections. I like this boy very much and he’s not only very handsome, but very kind to Lola. I often see them chasing each other around in front of the school and while observing this I still can’t help wondering to myself who on EARTH decided that sixth-graders should be categorized in the same building as seventh and eight-graders? The social difference between the age groups is monumental.

Anyway, last Sunday Lavinia went ice-skating with us and had dinner at our house that evening. She has now reached the ‘giddy scream’ stage of puberty and I pray that it doesn’t last long. Lavinia also now thinks it is fun to walk up to Lola and lick her on the face. Why, I don’t know. But Lola was so grossed out by this she reverted to the 11-year-old tactic of wrestling Lavinia to the ground and sitting on her. They both had fun and were actually laughing while they were wrestling. No one got hurt, no animals were harmed and no furniture got broken, so it’s all good.

To Strike or Not To Strike - - That is the Question

2009-04-23T11:43:00.003-04:00

Since our Spring Break last week was kept to a home-bound level due to the ever-looming possibility of strike at my company, Lola and I are even more so experiencing the need to travel. When I adopted her from Russia in December 2007 I told her the plan was to return to Russia to visit her family every other year. This is the year. I have found the most wonderfully reasonable airfare and our favorite hotel is available for the days we wish to go (right after school is out, and before her family goes to their dacha for the summer). HOWEVER, with the possibility of an impending strike being dangled above our heads like the Carrot of Doom, it seems futile to even dream about a return trip to Russia, much less even dare to look at the fares and hotel rates. I wish I hadn’t checked prices and dates, because it all was so affordable I now am beginning to resent the control being imposed upon us by good ol’ Corporate America and the existence of unionized workers.

Part of the employee force in my company is unionized. The union and the company are presently negotiating to fashion a healthcare plan that meets both their criteria, among other issues. If at any time during the course of negotiations the workers choose to strike, my fellow colleagues and I will immediately be required to work 12-hour days for 6 days each week to take ownership of the duties of those who will be on strike. We have been advised NOT to take a vacation that is more than four hours’ driving time away because if a strike is called we will need to return to Atlanta ASAP to be ready to work. So if the strike is called on a Friday night, we have to be in bright and early on Saturday morning. If it’s called on a Saturday morning, we must come in to work what would be the remainder of our new shift on Saturday afternoon.

Basically, it’s a guessing game. There may not be a strike, but then again, if I’m be-bopping around Russia and one is called I may as well kiss my job goodbye. Lola is not happy about this whole issue, and frankly, I’m incensed (I refuse to get up on my soapbox for this one), but there is nothing we can do but wait…

AAAARRRRRRRGH!!! My only hope here is that everyone comes to an agreement SOON and life as we enjoy it can finally continue.

Baby Pics

2009-04-22T23:04:00.001-04:00

I received a wonderful e-mail from Deborah, the woman who was Sebastian and Petie's former 'kitty mama'. She had found some photos of 'the boyz' when they were kittens and sent us copies. Lola was thrilled to see them and insisted that the desktop photo on our computer monitor at home be changed to the photo of the kittens! In looking at these it seems as though our two fuzzy boys were buddies from birth!

The top two are Petie & Sebastian

Again, the top two...

From left, Petie, then Sebastian!

Tiiiiiiimbeeeeerrrrrr!

2009-04-21T21:02:00.003-04:00

A week ago last Monday while I was at work and Lola at school, a big thunderstorm swept through the Atlanta area. Lola told me she heard it outside, but since I’m pretty much isolated from the outside world in my office cubicle, I was not as privy to the severity of it as I might have otherwise been. I had looked out the window and saw that the sky was quite dark, and had seen some lighting and heard the thunder, so I was aware of the fact there was a storm, but we are sound-proofed from hearing any wind.

When Lola arrived home from school that evening she called me to say that a huuuuuuuuuge tree fell behind our phase and a newer phase of the subdivision, but luckily was about ten yards from the nearest townhome so no one’s unit was damaged.

Upon arriving home, I went exploring around the tree and saw that it fell from the yard of the neighbor behind us. The tree fell away from his house, thankfully, but crushed a chain-link fence in his back yard and landed on top of some bushes in our subdivision. Part of the tree blocked the driveway to the rear of our section, but someone had already cleared the debris out so cars could pass through.

Several days have passed and it’s still there.

If it stays there much longer I will feel obligated to personify it and give it a name.

Continuing the Need for Speed

2009-04-20T22:24:00.002-04:00

When Lola, Lavinia and I went ice-skating on Sunday, we were happy to see our new friends Monica and Joe at the rink. They came to the USA from Poland, and we met them the night of my birthday party last month.

Monica said they have spent the last three weeks moving into a new home, and now finally have some free time since they are, for the most part, unpacked. Lola stuck to both of them like glue while we were at the rink and at one point challenged Joe to a race. I watched as they sped off to the other end, and thinking that was the end of the race, I turned my attention back to improving my backward skating. The next time I met up with Lola she was gloating over having beaten Joe at the race. She was also complaining of her arm hurting. We noticed it was swollen quite a bit, and I asked if she fell. Lavinia explained in detail how Lola was literally flying down the rink and couldn’t stop fast enough, and fell forward on her tummy, then flipped over a couple times....again I had the visual of the penguin documentaries on National Geographic where they slide down snow-covered hills on their tummies...

My child most definitely has a need for speed.

Lola was laughing the whole time Lavinia described how she fell, and they both agreed that if we had it on videotape it would have been worthy of sending in to “World’s Funniest Videos”.

The arm hurting was a given, as there was the beginning of a nice little bruise on the inside of her elbow. I pretty much told her if she was going to be Evel Knievel on skates she will have to survive the wipe-outs.

She has been sporting the bruise like a trophy.

CRCT Week

2009-04-17T11:35:00.002-04:00

During this week and next Lola will be immersed in the CRCT battery (seems more like 'assault and battery', in this case) of tests. This year she is required to take them all - - Reading, Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies.

We shall see how it evolves...at least this year the fate of her moving on to the next grade is not contingent upon her resulting scores...and I do appreciate the testing as a tool to see how she has been progressing over the past year...although I still find it totally pointless that her scores are counted, because she's still an English-Language Learner...

She seems ok so far with the tests, although I'm sure she has a little fear of the unknown with the language-based tests. I just told her to do her best and she may come out of it surprising herself at how much she may know!

Last summer we concentrated on Math. This summer I think she is ready to tackle more spelling, grammar and reading. There is no doubt in my mind that her reading skills in English are far above what her reading skills in Russian were when she lived in Russia! She knows she can progress even more. We touched on the subject of holding one-hour sessions this summer at a specific time each day to hone her English-language skills so as to get her up to grade level. She understands this is necessary. I told her we are in this together, no matter what. We're a TEAM!

The Shoes

2009-04-15T13:18:00.003-04:00

Ever since the day of orientation for Lola’s middle school last August we have found it impossible not to notice a pair of leather high-top tennis shoes dangling by their tied-together laces from a power line as we drive over the hill to the school. We do not know how long they have been hanging there, but we do know they seem intent to remain there, steadfastly swaying in the wind, seeming almost like a beacon of welcome each morning for passers-by. These shoes have often been the topic of conversation for Lola and me as we verbally imagine how they got there, under what circumstances, how long ago, and the condition they are now in after being weathered by every possible manner after all these months.

The other day I was continuing my ‘divinely inspired’ project of cleaning the garage and I happened upon a box which had been sorely missed for many years. The box contained my high school diploma and commencement invitation, my college diploma, my battered teaching degree for the state of Iowa (which expired in 1990), notes and completed assignments from my French classes taken sometime during the early 1990’s, and a huge binder with pockets containing most of the poetry and short stories I have written since the 6th grade. After reading some of my short stories and remembering from my Creative Writing class in 11th grade how many of them were conceived simply by looking at a photograph in a book and letting the imagination take over, I couldn’t help but think ‘the Shoes’ Lola and I see every day on the way to her school would make a favorable subject for just this type of story.

Spring Break 2009

2009-04-13T10:16:00.004-04:00

A week or so ago while putting the new grill through a ‘test drive’, Lola insisted on being the chef - - we had Italian sausage and hot dogs, and they tend to roll all over the wire rack. As Lola was turning one of the hot dogs over it rolled off the grill and onto the courtyard floor. She picked it up with a fork and as she was going to wash it off in the sink and I heard her say to it, “It’s ok, don’t worry, we’re just having a little fire drill.”

We have cooked on the grill about three times in the last week or so in between rainstorms. We have had far more rainy days than sunny days this spring. Not fun on the weekends. Friday night we went to see the movie “Monsters vs. Aliens”. It was sprinkling rain when we arrived, but about halfway through the movie we heard thunder, lightning and torrential rain pounding on the roof of the building. Strangely enough, the power of the storm was enough to reverse the locks on my car to ‘unlock’, so that left everything in the car up for grabs if any thief wanted to risk drowning to secure a couple empty water bottles and drink cups from the car.

Easter weekend was quite nice. The weather was warm and sunny and perfect for grilling chicken tenders!! As we grilled, the kitties were sunning themselves in the courtyard and enjoying the aroma.

On Saturday Lola had another ice skating lesson and she has again been moved up another level to Basic 3. I’m amazed at the rapidity she learns skating. In comparison with other sports that she professes to love, skating is by far the most suited to her need for speed and artistry! I allow her to be proud of herself in learning quickly, but at the same time stress to her about being equally humble about her accomplishments. She is trying to follow this principle, but every now and then I see the little showoff come out, immediately followed by the ‘diva mode’. It’s really a fine line between self-confidence and self-centeredness, but with some guidance along the way perhaps she will come to understand the importance of humility. If she decides to compete in the future, humility will be to her advantage in many ways. After having been a musician for many years I have learned no matter how skilled you are, there is always room to learn and grow from others who are even more skilled.

We called her skating lesson friend Jane during last week and Jane’s father said she is recovering quite well from her fall last Saturday at lessons. He said he was going to keep her out of lessons for another week but she still wants to skate and will be back next Saturday. We invited her and her family to meet us at the rink on future Sunday afternoons for open skating so she and Lola can become better acquainted.

Easter Day afternoon we had the urge to skate and after checking the rink’s website we didn’t see any cancellations of public skating so we went to pick up Lola’s friend Lavinia and went to the rink to see if it was open. Luckily, it was, and we were all very glad we went. There were only 10 people on the ice, and later at about 3:30, there were only 30 people on the ice. It was fabulous to skate without the obstacle course we usually encounter. We hated to leave!

As all good things must come to an end, so has the wonderful Spring Break vacation. We were pretty much forced to stay home for the week instead of making our usual trek to visit my mom, due to the possibility of an impending strike at my company with the result of being called in to work at any time if the possibility becomes a reality. So far we have not heard any news of a strike being called, but we are to be on the alert at all times.

Lola told me this morning that she hopes there is no strike and I am right there with her on that one. We are hopeful…

The Deviant Cats

2009-04-09T11:19:00.001-04:00

After having lived with Scooter and Boo Boo for so long as well as a myriad of other cats over the years, I regard them as all pretty normal felines. Quite entertaining, but normal. After having lived only a few months with Petie and Sebastian I have come to realize that they are really quite unique. These two are like partners in crime - - where one is doing something he shouldn’t, the other one is not far away.

Early in the mornings they engage in a game I call “Throw your Brother Against the Wall”, because that is how it sounds. There are the unmistakable sounds of one cat chasing the other up and down the stairs, then the sound of two cats wrestling, then a few minutes later the sound of one cat hitting the wall. This is repeated as necessary or until both of them are exhausted.

Lola and I have come to discover that Petie has a fondness for fuzzy blankets that goes above and beyond the platonic level. He treats blankets as a ‘girlfriend’ cat and does the ‘hop hop’ on it, as Lola would say. Yes, this cat is neutered. We inquired about this odd behavior with our vet during an immunization booster appointment, and were told Petie was definitely neutered and the behavior is not attributed to any physical malady. The vet speculated it was a dominance issue. At first we tried to deter him from doing this, but it seemed the more we drew attention to it the more he would insist on not leaving his chosen object of affection. After realizing other methods of behavior modification, including hiding the blankets, proved unsuccessful I have just chosen to ignore it.

The latest ‘fetish’ with one of them is to drag a plush stuffed animal down the stairs from Lola’s bedroom to the landing. It is then left there. It never gets dragged all the way downstairs. Over this past week we have found a large stuffed black panther (on Monday) and a floppy-eared dog (yesterday). I am puzzled about this new activity. Totally stumped.

Maybe I can teach ‘the boys’ how to move furniture…

It's Science - Part ll

2009-04-07T05:34:00.000-04:00

Last night Lola was up doing some activity in the kitchen sink with soap bubbles while she was washing up a few of her dishes from dinner (yes, she has decided she loves to do dishes!!) and she looked up excitedly and said "Look, Mom! It's Science!"

...ah, yes, the plan is working....

Seaweed Salad

2009-04-03T13:05:00.002-04:00

Lunch today - - - seaweed salad! I cannot even begin to describe how totally delicious and intoxicating this delectible little dish is! I'm like one of Pavlov's dogs when the words 'seaweed salad' are uttered. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!! Here is a recipe.

Ingredients
o 3/8 oz dried wakame seaweed (stems or rib)
o 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
o 3 tablespoons rice vinegar (without seasoning)
o 1 teaspoon sugar
o 2 tablespoons sesame oil
o 2 scallions, thinly sliced
o 1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
o 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Preparation
Soak dried wakame in warm water for about 5-8 minutes
Drain and place in a bowl of water. Quickly remove and plunge into cold water
Mix vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and ginger in a bowl until sugar is dissolved.
Mix wakame and dressing.
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and scallions
Chill in fridge prior to serving

Boredom...

2009-03-31T23:42:00.000-04:00

The other day Lola came home with what I thought was white fingernail polish on. Upon closer inspection I found she had painted each nail with ‘Wite-Out’!!

“But Mom, I was bored! I was sitting in the class and was finished with my classwork, so I did this.”

“Which class?” I asked, almost cringing at which one she would pick that day.

“Health,” she replied.

Eeeek.

The Incident

2009-03-31T19:30:00.000-04:00

Today Lola called me at the office upon arriving home from school and told me something happened to her at school but she couldn’t tell me until I got home. I asked if she was ok, and she said yes. I asked if she was in trouble and she said no. I asked if she could please just tell me anyway and she said “Mom, if I tell you now your hair will fall out!” I informed her if that were the case I’d much rather have my hair fall out at work where someone else can clean it up rather than at home where I have to clean it up.

…and so she told me…

Apparently while she and several other girls were in PE class someone had gained entry to the locker rooms and proceeded to steal any and every electronic device accessible from any purses/coats that were lying out and from lockers that were not secured. Lola’s telephone was one of the items stolen. There were a total of thirteen students who had items missing. I’m not fully informed about the entire issue, as the school has not yet issued any kind of statement to the parents, but from the bits and pieces I gathered from Lola there was a girl who was a student at the school who unlocked the locker room door from the inside for some kids who apparently were former students, and that is when the theft took place.

I felt badly for Lola and the others, as one of the girls had an iPod Touch that was missing, and others were also missing phones and MP3’s. I have tried to stress to Lola to make sure anything she values is in her locker (PE or school locker) and make sure it is LOCKED! All I can do at this point is commiserate with her on the loss of her phone and see what we can do to find a cheap replacement until the time comes when I will be forced to change my current wireless plan due to our company’s merger.

As soon as she told me I tried to call her number to no avail, so I then proceeded to call my wireless carrier’s 800 number to suspend her account. Perhaps the phone will be recovered, but I’m not holding my breath. At least in the interim I’m not taking any chances on unauthorized charges!

Lunchtime Heaven

2009-03-31T14:10:00.001-04:00

As I walked down the stairwell in my office building to the cafeteria today, I could detect a faint smoky aroma of barbeque wafting up to the second floor. By the time I arrived at the food service area, I was drooling uncontrollably, my taste buds dancing in expectation of what I already knew was inevitable - - -.

…ooooooh, I just looooooooooooove barbeque…

And to find that lovely item on a plate was the highlight of my work day.

I try to never overindulge in what I consider to be on my list of ‘passion foods’. If I did, I’d be eating not only barbeque every day, but also raspberry chocolate truffles, guacamole, lemon meringue pie and lobster, and complimenting it all with gallons of orange juice and Starbuck’s chai tea latte!

…so for today, I am happy to savor every bite of my lunch even more so than usual…

De-smacky-licious!!!

Guess What? It's Science! : The Breakthrough

2009-03-30T13:46:00.006-04:00

Since Lola's science teacher relocated to Chicago last November due to her husband's job transfer, Lola has been very negative about going to science class since the arrival of a new teacher. Just when she was beginning to have fun with the labs and learning cool new earth stuff, she lost a teacher she truly liked and in the process has been subjected to an array of substitutes, then finally a permanent teacher that is not well-liked by the children. Almost every day Lola comes home with a new story about how this new teacher spends the entire period yelling at the rowdy kids, or which of her classmates were sent off to In-School Suspension. Lately it seems their class has a quiz about twice per week and Chapter tests are given about every two weeks. Is this learning?? It's more like 'faster than the speed of light'. She had decided most definitely that she now HATES science.

To help salvage what love of science that had been acquired from her former teacher, when we see things in nature, at home or on TV I explain how they work and then I say "Guess what? It's science!" Usually she rolls her eyes, but I still do it anyway.

Last night when she was getting ready for bed she was doing a little experiment with a light near her bed and said "Look at this, Mom. It's science!! Isn't this cool?" Then she was quiet for a moment and said "You know, I guess I really do like science - - I just don't like the new teacher."

This morning when driving to work I drove through fog coming off the river and it was so dense and mysterious as it rose up from the water, over the bridge and up to the trees! Absolutely breathtaking! And guess what? It was science!

Spring Cleaning

2009-03-29T23:33:00.000-04:00

Since I was divinely inspired to clean out my garage last week, it seems the inspiration has lingered, so on Saturday I decided to ‘spring clean’ the main level of our townhome. Lola helped me condition the wood floors, Windex the coffee table and the dining room table, helped me put together our new gas grill, and she even replaced the doorknob and hardware on the front door! Lola has recently discovered that she loves to assemble things. She did a wonderful job on the front door.

We had invited her ESOL teacher to dinner this evening after ice-skating and the big debate for me was "to grill or not to grill". There were two factors involved in making this decision: 1) we had just assembled the grill and I was not as well-versed on the ease and comfort level of transitioning between the dearly departed electric grill to the gas grill, and didn’t wish to CHAR-broil (literally) the chicken, and 2) it had been raining for numerous days prior and it was still cold and soggy outside - - not the perfect grilling weather. OK, I admit it - - I’m a big weenie when it comes to cold weather. I am most certainly not going to stand out there freezing my nether parts off while I wait for our food to cook! The decision was made on Sunday morning that the chicken would be oven-baked. I will be doing a trial run before this week is over, so I can ‘become one' with the grill.

Lola and I went skating this afternoon and later met up with her teacher. I was trying out a “new” used pair of white figure skates and wondering why they felt so slow - - I had just had the blades sharpened and they just weren’t responding the way I had expected. Taking the idea from Petie, our cat, I decided to do the ‘aerodynamic speed test’ (mentioned in an earlier blog entry) and picked up my pace a little. Just as I rounded the end of the rink, a cute little boy donned in hockey gear a few sizes too large suddenly stopped, did a 180, and skated right into me. I did my best to either pick him up or move him out of the way, and I spun out. He hit the ice first, and I dove elsewhere so I wouldn’t land on top of him. I hit the ice mostly on my rear end (I am sooooo thankful there is a generous amount of cushion back there) and on the inside of my right knee. How funny when his dad came over to me to apologize and ask if I was ok, and I sprang up off the ice, and while doing so I asked the little boy if HE was ok…

The monumental thing here is that that fall was the very first I have ever had on ice skates! Now that it’s finally happened, I have to side with Lola - - if you know how to position yourself to land when you fall, it’s really kind of FUN!! I really don’t hurt at all yet, and I fully expected to be quite sore…

After skating, Lola’s teacher followed us home in her car and joined us for some of Lola’s famous guacamole as an appetizer, then some baked garlic chicken and yellow squash and peppers. We had fun and I, for one, truly regretted seeing her go home early at 8pm. Hopefully over Spring Break she will make a return visit and we’ll have a late night with some barbecue on the grill and a good movie - - or if it finally stops raining here in Atlanta (tell me, what color is the sky?? I seem to have forgotten, as it is grey here every day!!!) we can sit outside and enjoy the weather.

Dreaming

2009-03-27T11:51:00.000-04:00

I had a dream two nights ago that was soooooooooo pleasant I cringed when the alarm went off at 6am….so I turned it off and continued my dream for another thirty minutes! How wonderful! Now, what is the chance I can conjure up a Part II to this lovely thread of imagination?

Grill-icide

2009-03-26T12:18:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday evening the plan was to have a couple juicy steaks, medium rare, sizzling happily on the grill. Many years ago, back in my apartment-dwelling days, I had purchased an electric grill at Service Merchandise. It was an awesome little thing, dark red and black, standing at the same height as a normal-size grill, but smaller capacity. It grilled burgers and steaks to perfection. It was easy to clean and was used many times every week during the spring/summer/fall seasons.

So on Saturday, I removed the cover, patted it fondly on its little lid, plugged it in and turned it on. It replied with a huge surge of heat and an explosion of sparks - - ka-POW! Needless to say, it committed grill-icide…

Half-expecting the poor little thing to be nearing its untimely demise after so many years of dutiful service, Lola and I had been to Wal-Mart at the end of the summer season last year and purchased a new grill, at an insanely low sale price, just in case something like this might happen. I had looked high and low for another electric grill, but was not able to find one. Instead we brought home a small free-standing gas grill. It patiently sat in its box snug in the garage through the winter and after the event on Saturday, Lola and I were anxious to assemble the new grill and fire it up for the season. Unfortunately, the new grill requires COMPLETE assembly, and since it was so late in the evening (8pm) and our tummies were hungry, I decided to put off the grill project until later in the week, and we broiled the steaks in the oven. They didn’t have the wonderful ‘outdoor taste’ but were good just the same.

Perhaps tonight we will have a nice rainy-day project. Lola is excited to help put the grill together. She likes putting anything together. Most of my furniture is that which I have assembled. I actually find it to be a relaxing (although sometimes frustrating if the only instructions provided are crudely-drawn stick-figure diagrams only understandable to the individual who drew them) hobby. Lola and I put the computer desk together. I have assembled sofas, dressers, chairs, desks, and bookcases. My next project (after I have saved the money to buy it) is one of those huge IKEA wall wardrobe units where the bed nestles in between the closet sections and has overhead storage with lighting and shelves and drawers. Most people I know who like to assemble things do it as quickly as possible. I find that it’s much more fun if I take my time. A 45-minute project like this grill may take me 1.5 hours just because I like to enjoy what I’m doing! And of course the cats have to supervise and Lola has to help and the phone will have to ring a few times during the process and it’s all good - - I wouldn’t have it any other way~!

Lola's Very Bad Day

2009-03-25T22:03:00.001-04:00

For the most part life with Lola so far has been wonderful. It’s been fun, entertaining, a bit frustrating at times, and a learning experience for both of us. She has been fairly even-tempered, with the occasional pouting session, but I think that is normal for any 11-year-old. She has not been a discipline problem, is now becoming happy to help me around the house, and learning about respect for herself and others.

There has been the occasional incident at school where she is too loud or too rowdy or even sometimes just refusing to cooperate. Her ESOL teacher has been witness to most of this and has handled it with admirable aplomb. The big surprise came today while Lola was in her ESOL class and 1) deliberately disobeyed her teacher’s instructions and 2) sassed off to her when reprimanded. Since this was the third (yes, THIRD) incident this week so far (and it’s only Wednesday!) her teacher was required to inform me of this. Lola was sent to another teacher’s classroom for quiet time for the rest of the period, and she also must have a silent lunch with one of her teachers. If she receives two more ‘citations’ such as this for the current nine weeks, she will be sent to In-School Suspension and it will go on her permanent school record.

I tried to think of something that was bothering Lola that may have caused her to conduct herself negatively. She seemed just fine this morning, we had a good conversation over breakfast as usual, and she was happy and ready to go to school. I dropped her off and not even an hour later I was informed of her behavioral faux-pas.

Yes, I know…welcome to parenthood…

After over-analyzing the incident in my head, I finally accepted that it is what it is and I would talk with her about it.

After arriving home, Lola and I sat down and discussed the events of the day (and week). She did show remorse, although a little apprehensive about verbally apologizing to her teacher. When I asked her why she behaved this way to one of her favorite teachers, she replied, “I don’t know, Mom, something just snapped in my head and I did and said all that and I just couldn’t stop!”

I think we all have days like that once in awhile. I told her that. But there are places that this type of thing just cannot happen. School is one of them. There are consequences.

She knows I’m serious about the importance of behavior in school. The unfortunate thing is that the public schools of today are full of children who display unacceptable behavior. Things are far different that when I was Lola’s age. There are different issues children face today within the family unit and with their peers. Some teachers, like Lola’s ESOL teacher, refuse to put up with bad behavior and place the responsibility back onto the child. Other less experienced teachers have a constant uphill battle, or perhaps the battle was lost long ago. I can understand the confusion about what one can get away with and what one cannot. But I will continue to stress to my daughter that no matter what she sees going on around her, she must always use her head and sound judgement to dictate her own behavior.

…it is truly a process…

Home Show - Spring Edition

2009-03-22T21:29:00.001-04:00

I have attended both the Spring and the Fall Atlanta Home Shows for the last I-have-lost-count-as-to-how-many years and I never tire of seeing the new innovations for home décor and improvement. Lola loves the Home Show for some of the same reasons, but she has an ulterior motive in going so she can stock up on candy, pencils, pens and new gadgets like laser-light keychains and jewel-tone-colored plastic piggybanks.

We arrived at the Home Show just before they opened the doors for the day and while I was at the ticket counter Lola was preparing the plastic bags to carry home goodies. The show was fun as always, and we saw everything in a record time of 1.5 hours! She was anxious to get to the skating rink by 2pm so she could get some practice time in before her ESOL teacher arrived at 3. Lola could hardly wait to share with her the story of her first skating lesson!

The Productive Day

2009-03-21T23:18:00.000-04:00

Lola had no horseback riding today due to a charity event at the horse park, so we woke up early to go watch her friend Boris play soccer. His match was at 8:30am. We arrived about 8:45 and it was so cold we brought a very large old king-size comforter to use as a blanket/seating area/windbreaker. It was a good choice. The wind was blowing and I’m guessing the temps were in the 40’s. We even drank coffee at the soccer complex but it didn’t keep us warm for long. We sat with his parents to watch him play and caught up on all the latest news.

Boris has grown a couple inches since the last time we saw him and he now towers over Lola by about 5 inches. The two of them seemed glad to see one another this time, thankfully. The last time we went to his soccer match (sometime last fall) he never even spoke to her or acknowledged her. Her feelings were quite hurt by that and she was not sure she wanted to see him play this time, but as it turned out they were just like the usual old friends.

We all went out for a quick brunch/lunch afterward and continued getting caught up on what had been going on with each of our families since before Christmas. When Boris discovered Lola liked to ice-skate, he asked his parents if he could go sometime too. I am hoping we will see them again soon, perhaps at the rink.

After brunch Lola had her first ice-skating lesson. I had enrolled her in the beginner class for her age group, which appeared to be the only class available through the online registration, and during her lesson I realized her love for skating these last three months has enabled her to progress quickly enough to where the coaches felt she needed to be moved up one or two class levels so she will feel challenged. Next week she will be in a more advanced class, but we won’t know which one until we get there and talk with the coaches.

She did make a new friend at her lessons. Another 11-year-old girl named Jane was a true beginner in every sense of the word. Jane’s father and I spoke briefly and he said this was Jane’s dream - - to learn to ice skate. It was evident just by looking at her, too. She’d take a few steps on her skates, collapse to a heap on the ice, then get up with a smile that lit up the room. No matter how many times she fell, she always got up smiling! Lola helped her out as much as she could and whenever Jane got up from a fall both of them were laughing.

Later in the afternoon I was divinely INSPIRED to clean the garage. I guess to say ‘divinely inspired’ is much better than saying ‘sick of looking at the mess’… I was out there about four hours and lifted, carried, threw things out, designated a pile of stuff for charity, found a tub with my old figure skates, roller blades and roller skates (and they all still fit!!!!!!), found a box with my baby clothes, found some postcards of horses I collected when I was Lola’s age (she was excited I found the postcards and absconded with them to her room), and located a comfy leather-look executive swivel chair of Chris’s he said we could use for the computer desk in the basement. Lola cleaned that up and I carried it to the basement. While I did sorting and tossing Lola had fun with tennis racquets, the mini-trampoline, her bicycle, her scooter, and a basketball. Then she disappeared to her room and announced that she would return in “one hour”.

As I diligently sifted through boxes of things I hadn’t seen in decades, the neighbor’s cats came in to help. We have a new neighbor two doors down where Janine used to live. Her name is Julie and she and her teenage son, two dogs and two cats now live there. Her two cats are solid grey short-haired and both have the same Russian Blue coloring and plush fur like our cat Sebastian. The only difference is that both of her cats are smaller and have sweet little round faces like the Russian Blue. The smallest cat has the most intense eyes and doesn’t miss a thing, but she is the most loving. She followed me all over the garage as if she was either helping or supervising. The larger male cat was much shyer and would stare at me from under my car or from around the edge of the trash can.

When I finally cleaned up the mess I had made in the garage I told Lola we were going to Starbucks as a treat. She was in the car before I finished the sentence!

...so good no title is needed...

2009-03-20T19:25:00.000-04:00

….mmmmm…strawberries and cream! Need I say more?

Thought For the Day

2009-03-19T11:52:00.002-04:00

Thought for the day:

Why sit in a chair when there is a whole world of FLOOR out there?

Lola’s ESOL teacher e-mailed me this morning titled “Lola, Lola, Lola” with the message reading “Lola is sitting on the floor!” I’m guessing she meant it as ‘I’m not surprised at this but just wanted you to know…’

I wrote back with “She gets that from me, you know.” And she does.

I sit on the floor whenever I can. At home I used to have my computer set up on a table that was just the perfect level for typing when sitting on the floor. Did it for years. I sit on the floor to watch TV, do reading, crossword puzzles, you name it. I sit on the ground outside. Hey, who needs chairs when going to an outdoor sporting event? Just take a blanket and a cooler of drinks and you’re set! There is a whole floor out there in nature to explore. The floor is my domain.

You GO, LO!!! You claim that floor as your own! Yeah!

THE BIG FIVE-OH

2009-03-15T21:59:00.002-04:00

This year both my auto license and my driver’s license expired, so that had to be done and I must say the two renewals were the most efficiently handled experiences in all the years I’ve lived in Atlanta. It took me only 15 minutes to get in and out of the car tag office, and 45 minutes at the DMV for the driver’s license. And what made the whole experience even more pleasant was that I was able to renew the driver’s license for TEN YEARS. Wow. It will be interesting to compare the photo on this new license with the scary little face that may be looking in the mirror back at me in ten years…

So this year was the big FIVE-OH birthday for me. I am now officially eligible for AARP, but, unfortunately, no senior citizen discounts. I’m not THAT old yet. I can hardly believe I have hit the half-century mark. I still feel like I’m in my twenties (and act like I’m twelve)!

Since I took Friday afternoon off from work to do the DMV trip, I had a longer weekend than usual and it was all birthday celebration!! Friday night a group of us went ice-skating for the evening session. Once we got there and ‘lived the experience of Friday night public skating’ I promised myself I would never go on Friday night ever again. The rink had maybe forty people, but 80% of them were teenagers and the hormones were raging rampantly almost to the point where you could see them jumping off the bodies! The boys were skating much faster than common sense dictated and they were doing quick snowplow stops dangerously close to a huddle of girls, sending shaved ice flying and evoking giddy screams. For the average leisure skater and the people practicing figure skating in the middle of the rink it seemed like an obstacle course, except in this case the obstacles were moving. We left a little earlier than closing simply because it ceased to be fun. I think we’ll stick to Sunday afternoons - - even though there are more people skating it’s generally a much safer environment.

After leaving the rink (which was about 10:30pm) we drove to three different places to find a pizza! For some reason we couldn’t find a pizza place with a dining room or pick-up desk open that late. We drove to back to the house and I called Pizza Hut and pleasantly discovered they were still open for pick up as well as delivery until midnight! I went to pick up two large pizzas which were annihilated to crumbs within minutes (four of us chowing down). For dessert - - BIRTHDAY CAKE!

Saturday was day 2 of rain and cooler weather, with the temperature barely peaking 40 degrees. Lola had horseback riding late that morning and no matter how many layers and polar fleece I put on that day I simply could NOT get warm! Afterward we went to our favorite noodle place to have lunch and thaw out and then on home to stay warm. I did a couple loads of laundry and I helped Lola study for her Social Studies test on Tuesday.

Sunday was day 3 of rain and officially my birthday. We went ice-skating that afternoon and saw Lola’s ESOL teacher again for just a little while before she had to leave the rink.
Lola decided she is now ready to take skating lessons. I had offered to let her take them back in January, but she decided at the time she would rather just skate for fun. Now that she has seen her ESOL teacher do spins and jumps she wants to learn, too. A new lesson session is to begin this week so I signed her up for Saturdays at 11:40am. I knew the leisure skates she has been using are all wrong for figure skating, so we did a quick visit to a local sporting goods consignment store and found a pair of figure skates that fit her just right. The price was just right, too!

Sunday evening was pretty quiet, with a bit of dinner, more birthday cake, and present-opening. Lola and Kimmi had gone shopping a day or so earlier and Lola knew just what to pick out for my gift. While Lola and I were staying at an apartment in Moscow in December 2007 to get her American passport and visa, we made tea and boiled water in an electric pot made just for that purpose. The speed at which the water heated up was quite impressive to me ( perhaps I’m just easily impressed) and I made a mental note to look for one when we got home. Once I got back to the states I didn’t really see any I liked as much as the one in Russia. But I must say when Lola and Kimmi went out to find one for my birthday they chose the PERFECT water-pot! It’s tempered glass and stainless steel and sits on a platform to heat up. It is both beautiful AND amazing! It now ranks up there neck-to-neck with my GreenPan no-stick cookware. Lola and I now have tea every morning for breakfast and with things being hectic getting ready for work and school it’s pleasant to know that in just about one minute we can have steaming hot tea on the table with our breakfast!

The Healing Process

2009-03-09T22:21:00.000-04:00

Lola had a very restless night. The back of her head was quite tender and she had difficulty lying down in bed with her head on a pillow. She tried it with the pillow, then without, and either way she just simply had a bad headache. I had been giving her some ibuprofen to help ease the discomfort, and she gained some relief for about an hour and then the headache was back again. I must say I kept a close eye on her all night, waking up every hour to check on her just by instinct alone to determine whether or not to pack her up in the car and take her to the emergency room. She seemed fine throughout the night albeit restless, and of course this morning she still had a headache. She went to school anyway and when she arrived home that afternoon she called and told me she was going to sack out on the sofa and take a nap. Luckily Chris was there and he checked on her a few times, then I checked on her once I got home. She was simply TIRED.

Last night during dinner Lola was looking at a canned protein shake I was drinking with my meal and asked if it tasted good. I told her it tasted good to me. She tried a sip - - her eyes got really big, she made a huge sour face, then used a napkin to wipe off her tongue. Apparently that didn’t work, so she poked her fork into a meatball and furiously scrubbed her tongue with the meatball to kill the taste, and when even that didn’t work she went to the sink and washed her tongue off with water! Her futile attempts to rid the taste from her mouth was so comical, especially the meatball remedy - - - I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face and almost fell off my chair.

I love this kid. She is priceless!

Fashion Advice

2009-03-09T14:06:00.000-04:00

The other evening Lola and I were watching one of our favorite TV shows - - “What NOT to Wear” - - and Lola commented that perhaps the people on this show should come and pay me a visit.

I said teasingly, “Oh, so you think my wardrobe is pretty awful?” and she said, “Some of your things are cute, but most are really BORING, Mom!”

To Lola, BORING = earthtone colors, including black, brown and gray. And, yes, I do have some, but I would say about half of the closet contains bright colors and prints as well. Hey, I’ve come a long way since my ultra preppy-conservative-dressing teaching days. At least I think so.

Anyway, I told her if she wanted to come with me the next time I buy any new clothes for myself (which is close to never since about December 2007 – ha ha ha - - we both know she despises shopping, so fat chance on her sitting patiently while I try on items of clothing) she can help me choose some things. She seemed ok with that and we went back to watching the show.

My Bubble Wrap Poster Child

2009-03-08T21:12:00.000-04:00

Lola was so excited to go ice-skating today, and Kimmi decided to come with us. One of the big highlights of ice skating for Lola is when we chance upon her ESOL teacher being at the rink. Lola quickly identified a car in the parking lot as that of her teacher and was anxious to go find her. Her teacher gives skating lessons at the rink, from what I understand, as well as taking lessons herself. She comes to the rink on Sunday afternoons to practice for her lesson. She is quite an amazing woman and I must say I liked her immensely the first time I met her back in August 2008. I’m glad she is Lola’s homeroom teacher as well as her ESOL teacher.

Lola put her skates on in record time and went out to visit with her teacher. We had arrived there later than planned so we were on the ice perhaps about twenty minutes before being shoo-ed off for fifteen minutes so the zamboni could come out. Once the ice was clean Lola was one of the first ones back out there; I was about ten people behind her in line, and Kimmi was farther back than I. When I finally got my first step back in the rink I observed a man of about 30 escorting Lola to the side of the rink. Upon reaching the spot where they were standing I noticed Lola had tears rolling down her face. I realized then that she must have fallen. The man was making sure she was ok as well as getting her out of the way of other skaters. I thanked him and turned my attention to Lola. She told me a little boy was skating fast like the hockey guys do and ran smack into her, knocking her over with such force that she said she felt like her head landed on the ice before her rear end did. Kimmi and I got her out to the concession area and applied a bag of ice on her head for about 30 minutes. Apparently the incident was serious enough to be brought to the attention of the management, and an employee of the rink (coincidentally, he was also the zamboni driver that day) came out with a clipboard and an incident report form. He asked us several questions and when finished he told us to notify the rink immediately if Lola required hospitalization.

Considering all the questions he posed to us, it was odd he never asked Lola if she could identify the boy who ran into her. When I asked him if they needed an ID on the person who had sent her flying, I was told it ‘wasn’t necessary’.

Hmm….don’t even get me started on that one - - I’ll go on and on about logic and policy regarding improper conduct on the ice and setting a clear warning for other rambunctious skaters.

After the twenty minutes or so of an ice bag applied to her head, Lola decided she was still ok enough to go back out to skate and hang out with her favorite teacher. Needless to say I was, as they say in the South, ‘on her like white on rice’ to make sure there were no other ‘incidents’ that afternoon.

I told Lola that if we go skating again in the future, she must wear a helmet. I told her that her well-being was more precious to me than her embarrassment at wearing head protection. She loves skating so much she was in total agreement with this idea.

One of my friends at work had made the comment one day that I should roll Lola in bubble wrap before she does any sports activities. I laughed at the time but now I’m beginning to think it’s not such a bad idea…

The Eternal Quest for the Perfect Mascara

2009-03-04T14:45:00.000-05:00

Every now and then I find that no matter what some products promise, they still do not live up to their advertising or my small expectations. And the sad thing is, to some people this would be a very trivial complaint. Well, yes, it probably is. But since it matters to me I’m going to put it out there to the masses (or the ten or so people that actually read this blog) and appeal for help. Here is the question - - - - - (drum roll, please) - - - -

Is there a mascara out there - - SOMEWHERE – that is truly waterproof and most of all - - - smudgeproof???

If there is, I haven’t found it.…wait, I take that back. I HAD found it, about fifteen years ago, and was happily tripping along in life without giving a second thought as to whether or not I looked like a giant blonde raccoon. What I thought to be my lifelong supply was Cover Girl Marathon Mascara in the green tube. But about two years ago it became increasingly difficult to find in the stores and I am again on the eternal quest for the ‘perfect mascara’. This stuff was amazing! I could swim in it, cry in it, stand in the rain with my face to the sky in it, and still it would not flake, run, clump or smudge. It was, in my opinion, the world’s best invention in the cosmetic industry. And now it is very difficult to find. I thought perhaps it had been discontinued, but not according to the Cover Girl website. If I truly was upset enough to cry about it, I wouldn’t even consider it now, due to the inferior stuff I’m now relegated to wear.

I have tried the other Cover Girl options, Avon, Max Factor, Maybelline, Almay (strangely enough, it’s hypo-allergenic and I’m allergic to it!!), and Clinique. All have been tested and all have failed. I am not one to spend more than about six dollars for mascara, so I am not open to the high-end items.

It seems the best option at this point is to buy Cover Girl Marathon in bulk online and stock up. I will, at the very least, postpone the inevitable day where I have to search again for the ‘perfect mascara’!

Snow Day With No Snow!

2009-03-02T14:36:00.001-05:00

I woke up this morning about 6am and watched the local news for any information on school closings,and there it was - - - Fulton County Schools closed today. Not so much due to any accumulation of snow for our immediate area, but more because the roads had iced up overnight and the wind chill was quite extreme for this part of the country. I thought I’d let Lola sleep until her body told her to wake up. She was excited to find out there was no school! The bad news was that we still had to stick to our study schedule…

Let it SNOW!!

2009-03-01T22:27:00.003-05:00

We woke up to rain for the fourth (or was it fifth? I lost count) day in a row, but later in the morning it actually began to snow. The flakes were quite large, and Lola was so excited she just had to go outside and play in it! I went out long enough to take photos of her and throw back a snowball, but since I had wet hair from my shower I thought it best not to aggravate the little cold I’ve been dealing with for the past couple weeks.

I guess the reason I love Atlanta is because we see four distinct seasons every year, and every now and then we see some snow, like today. The summers are about six months long and hot and perfect for swimming every day and our winters really only last two to three months and even then only occasionally does the temperature drop below freezing. We are only four hours’ driving time (five with gas and potty breaks) from the beaches of Hilton Head Island, SC and six hours from the beaches of Destin, FL. We are safely situated away from hurricanes, only see an occasional tornado, and there are scads of trees everywhere you look! My first love is the ocean, but until I retire there Atlanta is a wonderful second option!

So while Lola was out frolicking in the snow, I dried my hair and grabbed the car keys and she and I went for a drive in the snow to take more photos. We drove until the slush accumulated on the road enough to warrant going back into our house to be safe and dry, but it was an amazing thing to see!! The snowflakes ranged from dime-sized to quarter-sized and they were big and wet and slow…. ideal for snowballs or snowmen. Lola pelted me on the rear end with a small snowball and it was so wet my jeans were still damp hours later!

Later in the afternoon the snow stopped and the wind came up - - it was really quite strong. There was nothing on the evening news about Fulton County closing schools, but Lola went to sleep hopeful that she would actually have a snow day…

Our townhome after the snow - - yes, that is a Christmas wreath on the door! Lola insisted we leave it up even after Christmas because it was so pretty!

Lola's New Purchase

2009-02-25T10:09:00.002-05:00

Lola has been saving her money since last fall with the intention of someday purchasing her own laptop computer. With cash gleaned from the Tooth Fairy, Christmas monetary gifts and her weekly allowance she had saved almost $250.00. The Laptop Fund was still growing when one day last week as we were wandering through the aisles of Costco she said, “Mom, I decided I don’t want a laptop. I want an iPod.”

I said, “You have an iPod - - the MP3 you got for your birthday last year.”

“No, I want one that plays video, too.” She pointed to the rack with the brightly colored Apple iPod display. “Like those. I want an Apple iPod.”

I thought about it and told her I’d help her research the best price for what she is looking for. We checked the price at Costco, then I checked the price at Apple to get a baseline as to what the normal price was, then looked online at the different stores’ prices. Lola decided she didn’t want to mail-order it over the internet, but instead she wanted to take her money to the store and quite literally make the purchase herself.

Last Friday I was talking with my boss about electronic devices and I remembered that Lola was enormously mesmerized by the iPhone that had recently come out. She was most enamored by the fact it could play music, store games, show video, surf the net and make calls. I also remembered that the iPod Touch was just like the iPhone, but minus the phone part. From my research talking to others and checking online, it seemed that perhaps Lola would be most satisfied with this device. That evening I asked her if she still liked the iPhone. Her response was, “Well, Duhhhhh,” with a huge laugh. I told her about the iPod Touch that has all but the phone and she was nearly drooling. “Oh, MOM!!! Can we go get one NOW???” She ran upstairs and brought her money down to re-count it. I reminded her of the 7% tax here in the state of Georgia and she immediately got pencil and paper and figured out how much she would have to add to the cost of the iPod to get the total cost. Once figured, she counted out that much rounded up to the nearest dollar and off we went to Costco (which seemed to be the best deal around).

Once we got the iPod home and charged up/registered and set up on iTunes, I found that this is a pretty amazing little thing! Games can be added to it from the website, many of which are free. She has accessed YouTube to bookmark some of her favorite Russian music videos. Later when we have some time on the weekend I’ll upload some songs for her on it. We can store photos and movies and all kinds of things on this device. She absolutely loves it and understands very well that it is not to ever leave the house unless we are on a weekend trip or vacation. I am actually so impressed with it now I want one, too!!! I told Lola I will do the same as she did and save up my spare change and create Mama’s iPod Fund!

Pet Peeve

2009-02-22T17:55:00.002-05:00

Can someone PLEASE tell me how a cell phone call can be so important that it is necessary to take the call while sitting on a toilet in a public restroom? There are a number of reasons I can list to justify the rudeness of this action, but for the sake of brevity and me not getting up on the soapbox, I'll include the most obvious ones here:

1) No one else in the bathroom wants to hear the telephone conversation.

2) This is just a guess, but the person on the other end of the call does not want to be subjected to the detailed sounds of a public restroom.

3) Isn't the person in the restroom on the phone even just the slight bit embarrassed about any possible 'accidental' noises they may emit?

4) What if the person in the restroom drops the phone in the toilet? I guess this one would be the solution to all of the above...

The biggest question is - - - IS NOTHING PRIVATE ANYMORE!????

The Greatest Consumer-Driven, Overpriced, and Overly Dramatic Show on Earth

2009-02-22T12:32:00.001-05:00

Ok, in spite of Lola aching from her riding mishap, she felt well enough to go to the circus yesterday afternoon. I had been able to secure a couple tickets a few weeks ago by making a small charitable donation to a rather well-known organization and for doing so two tickets would be held at the will-call window for us. Lola had mentioned every now and again over the past few months that she loved going to the circus in Russia and would like to attend one here.

So we hopped on the MARTA train and went to Philips Arena to the circus. Thankfully the seats were like movie theater seats and very cushy, so Lola was fairly comfortable. Aside from the food being outrageously overpriced ($12 for cotton candy and a silly Dr. Seuss-looking hat included and $7 for a box of popcorn) and the ringmaster being a personality double for William Shatner, complete with the ego and overdramatization of his lines, the circus was quite enjoyable! Lola laughed at one of the silly characters so much that she hurt more from laughing than from the tumble off her horse! We enjoyed acrobats, tigers, elephants, horses, dogs and even a porcupine! We took lots of photos and a few videos so we could show both Chris and Kim the next time we saw them.

It really was a fun afternoon, and on the way home Lola sat in my lap on the train and waved out the window at all the cars driving on the freeway.

That evening she was still quite sore so she sacked out on my bed and later Sabbie came up and did his kneading routine on her tummy (this cat does it with all four paws - - quite an interesting approach) and fell asleep right beside her as we watched TV.

Horse Mishap

2009-02-21T23:38:00.000-05:00

Lola had a wonderful surprise this morning during horseback riding lessons. Rather than riding Bandit, her usual horse since about October of last year, she was excited to find out she was going to ride Apache, her all-time favorite horse. She loves Apache more than all the other horses because he likes to trot, and does so willingly, whereas it is necessary at times to almost kick the tar out of Bandit to get him to do even a lazy trot.

Toward the end of the lesson Lola was at a comfortable trot on Apache around the ring and the next thing I knew Apache had begun to canter! Lola has not yet progressed to the canter so she was totally unprepared for the shift in movement. I was sitting a few yards away on a wooden bench in the sun trying to stay warm and when I saw this change in pace I was puzzled as to WHY she had the horse in a canter, but at the same time marveling at how much she looked at ease up there. By the third or fourth stride the teacher verbally instructed Lola and Apache to slow down and/or stop, and while doing so, instead of shifting her weight back a little to accommodate the movement of slowing down, Lola instead leaned forward as if she was going into two-point position. This puzzled me even more, because the laws of physics were becoming pretty evident in my mind right then so when I saw her head pitch forward I was already off the bench and sprinting to the gate. From where I was it appeared that she landed on her head / neck area. I rushed into the arena and the sounds coming from Lola scared me to death. By the time I skidded on my knees to a stop in the dirt beside her, I had composed myself enough to realize the fall had mostly knocked the breath out of her and the sounds she was emitting were frantic gasps for air. I took her hand and while stroking her hair I softly coaxed her to relax and try to breathe more slowly so the air could come back into her lungs. I could hear her instructor’s voice drifting above us reinforcing this. When she finally could breathe normally, she was able to slowly move her arms, legs, fingers, toes, and then her neck. Imagine my relief when she was able to move with no difficulty! She then sat up, then got up, and walked! Hooray! My baby was going to be all right! She even decided to get back up on her horse to finish the last five minutes of the lesson.

Her teacher told her that one cannot be a horseman / horsewoman unless you fall off the horse at least once, but always make sure to get back on, even for a few seconds!

Amen to that! Been there, done that.

All I know is that my heart stopped to see her land in what I thought was a very awkward position.

Some of the mothers who were watching from a different angle said they saw Lola tuck her head and roll when she landed on the ground, and it was really quite a relief for them to see she had done that.

Things are all a matter of perspective. I saw it one way and they saw it another.

Later when we were having lunch at her favorite noodle place Lola shook her head and said “Mama, I cannot believe I fell off Apache! I don’t remember anything except trotting, and then waking up on the ground and hurting and everybody looking at me!”

The ‘everybody looking at me’ part was what disturbed her more than anything. Yes, that is proof positive that my girl is becoming a bit self-conscious as she enters the lovely phase of growing into a young lady…

Later in the car she remembered that she was so used to urging Bandit to keep moving past the gate when they were trotting (Bandit slows and stops when he goes by the gate every time he and Lola go around the ring, perhaps wishfully thinking he can go back to his stall) that she momentarily forgot it was Apache she was on that time, who needs little or no urging to trot. So when she gave Apache that little extra nudge he took it for a request to shift gears into canter mode.

Bless his little palomino heart, he stood like a statue when Lola fell. He stayed put until led to mounting area for her to get back in the saddle.

And if it’s possible to love that horse more than we already do, we DO!!

When we got home from lessons she announced to our cats, “Hi, guys!! I fell off my horse today - - can you believe it? Man, do I HURT!”

Petie Talks To God

2009-02-19T22:37:00.002-05:00

This morning Petie and Sabbie went out to the courtyard to get a bit of fresh air and Petie wandered over to the fountain that sits in the corner. There had been a couple big rainstorms this past week, so one of the basins in the fountain had water sitting in it. What water had been captured there had mixed with dirt and bugs and who knows what other debris that blew in. He began to drink from the fountain, and upon noticing this out the window I said rather loudly, “PETIE!! Do NOT drink out of that fountain!” He stopped in mid-slurp, looked up at the sky and said, “Meow?” (please bear in mind I didn’t actually hear him meow, but could clearly see that one was uttered). He kept looking up at the sky, then decided he needed to be closer to ‘the Voice” so he climbed up the fountain, all the while trying to see from where it came! He continued to gaze expectantly up to the sky as if he expected God to give him further instructions!

A few seconds later he must have realized the scolding he heard was coming from the house, so he peered in the window to see…

The 'Gray Boyz'

2009-02-18T22:10:00.000-05:00

Sebastian (aka Sabbie) had tapeworms so we had to get him de-wormed as well as getting all his shots updated. Needless to say, he has not been a happy kitty about going to the doctor. He hid out for a day or so afterward, quite indignant, but this morning came out to join us at breakfast. He is quite the snooze-monster! He loves to sleep! Petie is always playing and Sabbie is always sleeping!

Anyway, this morning he decided he still loved me even though I took him to the vet. He’s a sweetie just like his brother. He and Petie are best buds now.

My Fuzzy Valentine

2009-02-16T22:25:00.000-05:00

We miss Scooter very much, and Petie misses him too, but for the last couple months we realized Petie needed someone nearer his own age to romp with, especially during the time Scooter was ill. I felt that it would be too stressful on everyone (including Scoo and Petie) to obtain another ‘brother’ into the family, especially since Scooter required such intensive care and undisturbed rest. Lola and I had often spoken of Sebastian, who is actually Petie’s biological brother (same litter of kittens), and Petie’s best buddy at his former home. We decided that someday we would adopt Sebastian, but of course we were hoping all along that Scooter would go into remission and start getting BETTER, and then once he was well and stable for awhile we’d bring the ‘new guy’ in.

It didn’t quite work out that way. Scooter is now in Kitty Heaven and Petie, although he is the consummate expert at entertaining himself, really seemed like he missed having a buddy. When Lola and I would say “Sebastian” Petie’s ears would pop up, and he’d look at us as if to say “Where??? Where is Sebastian?” We decided to go ahead with the adoption of Sebastian. On Valentine’s Day we made the trek over to bring Petie’s brother home.

The first day he found all of Petie’s same hiding places from when Petie was the ‘new guy’, then by the next afternoon he was out exploring. Petie constantly followed him around meowing “Hey, dude, it’s me - - your BROTHER - - -remember me??” Sebastian was not buying it. He was clearly annoyed at Petie for following him all around the house!! Petie remembers Sebastian but Sebastian is not too sure about Petie. I do definitely know who the Alpha cat is, though - - Sebastian!!

Sebastian (aka Sabbie)
Sebastian and Petie

Lola's First Year in America Dec. 2007-Dec. 2008

2009-02-16T07:52:00.001-05:00

View Project at Shutterfly

Holy Guacamole

2009-02-13T23:37:00.002-05:00

Last night Lola had NO homework. PRAISE THE LORD!! Honestly, I didn’t know what to do with myself!! She was assigned a project for her Home Ec class which wasn’t due until next Friday, but she wanted to do it anyway. The assignment was to make a food item of her choice, and it was up to her to do all the preparation, creation and clean up. She decided she wanted to make guacamole. It was my duty to critique her on all categories. These categories were Safety in the Kitchen, Preparation, Taste, Clean up, and Overall Critique. The total number of points possible is 90. Lola got an 87. I took off three points due to her trying to mix it with a spoon (mushing up the avocado is more difficult with a spoon than a fork) and pushing the bowl toward me and saying “Here, Mom, can you stir this?” Rather than stirring it for her I offered her a fork as an alternative to the spoon and she then had no problems mixing it.
The taste - -FANTASTIC!! Reason? We have perfected the same mixture of ingredients as the “Guacamole Live!” at the restaurant On the Border.

We had picked up the mail on our way to the house and discovered that the Animal Hospital that treated Scooter's lymphoma had send us a pet sympathy card. I almost cried after opening it; in preparing this card, the staff had written their thoughts about Scooter and signed their names. In addition, someone had taken Scooter's pawprint and put it on a card that said "Angel With A Tail". That was very touching and quite thoughtful on their part. The pawprint was a wonderful way to remember Scoo as well.

Russia Rocks!!

2009-02-11T21:26:00.000-05:00

While driving to work today and missing Scooter with all my heart I put a Russian pop music CD in my car stereo and marveled in how I truly and passionately LOVE the Russian language. Even though my level of fluent daily conversation is still in process, I can identify words and phrases here and there, and I feel a deeper connection with it than the other languages I’ve learned in the past. And, strangely enough, my love of Russia and its culture and people began as far back as my childhood! I recall being totally fascinated with both Russia and Egypt while still a child and in high school taking a music composition / appreciation class with all my original compositions turned out sounding Russian (so evident that the teacher even made mention of it).

While in college I took a Russian language course, and loved it. Sadly, after college I had no opportunity to utilize it on a daily basis and all but a couple phrases of what I had learned was lost.

My love of Russian was still always lying dormant in the back of my mind, and when I made the decision to host Lola during the summer of 2006 I purchased the Pimsleur Method CDs to play in my car to and from work. I found that much of what I had learned in college came back to me. The strange thing is that I know I could count and speak in full sentences in Russian back in college, so why did learning it again not spark a glimmer of recollection? The only thing I can attribute the memory loss to is that in the summer between my junior and senior year of college I attended summer school and lived in a high-rise dormitory. A few weeks into the summer session there was a fire in the dorm. It began in a room on the next floor up from mine and all I truly remember was that the boy living there was hanging out the window at 6am and fell 6 stories to his death, with a blood alcohol level many times above the legal limit. The rest of what I know about that day was what was later told to me by my friends, and later on I found that things I should have remembered about that summer were suddenly erased from my memory. As the years have passed I find that little pieces of the events of that summer and the school year before have come back to me, but unfortunately, my knowledge of the Russian language seemed to have been obliterated from my memory bank.

Lately while at the office I have been listening to Russian music exclusively - - for the entire eight hours I am there- - - and talk about sparking the endorphins!! WOO-HOO! This is better than champagne on New Year’s Eve!

The Russian language is not fluid like French, nor guttural like German (both of which I had studied), but has a sound all its own which I find oddly comforting - - as if by just hearing the sound of it I feel like I’m home. The same feeling came over me even more so when I set foot on Russian soil…I welcomed each time I visited Russia, with a mixture of excitement and anxious apprehension and just being in Russia was like stepping into a wonderful new adventure. The food, the history, the people and their generosity were overwhelming! During the adoption process I was advised prior to each visit to provide ‘gifts’ for the various people in Russia who were involved in part of the process, but I came home with gifts from some of them as well (which I had not at all expected).

Lola and I hope to travel back there after school is out for summer, but we are not yet in the planning stages. Much depends on what's going on with my workload at the office and finances...

In Loving Memory of Scooter

2009-02-10T21:18:00.003-05:00

In Memory of Scooter – 4/27/1994 – 2/8/2009

It is with great sadness I write this… our wonderful, dear kitty Scooter passed away on Sunday, February 8, 2009. As referenced in prior entries, he had been diagnosed with FIV in October (which I’m guessing had been present since before 1998 when I adopted him) and had recently battled lymphoma, undergoing chemotherapy for the last 10 weeks or so. He had lost quite a bit of weight due to the treatment, but was a sweet and happy little guy, doing his best to interact with us. During the last couple weeks we rolled him up like a burrito in a towel and took him into whatever room we were occupying at the time so he was still part of the family’s activities. He LOVED this, and spent endless hours on our laps. Friday was scheduled as the day the oncologist would evaluate the success of treatment, but poor Scoo took a dramatic turn for the worse on Thursday. We took him in on Friday and the doctor kept him for the day to run some tests and ultrasound to see how he had fared with chemo. The determination was that Scooter was in complete remission!! But the other question at hand was “Why, then, is he sooooo sick now? He hasn’t had chemo for two weeks!”

We took him home that evening and I was vigilant (as usual) during the night, listening while half-asleep for any cries from him that indicated he was in any pain or discomfort. By Sunday morning he was unable to walk or move without extreme difficulty, and had the blank stare of one who was ready to leave this world.

Lola told me she was prepared to say goodbye to Scooter but she chose not to go to the vet for the final goodbye because she was so sad when Boo Boo had to be euthanized. I respected her decision, so Kimmi volunteered to come with me for moral support and because she loved Scoo as much as we did. Chris was unable to be there due to his work schedule, but he was definitely with us all in spirit.

Later that afternoon, Lola and I were coming home from the supermarket and she looked up in the sky and said, “Look, Mom, there’s Scooter going to heaven.” In the midst of many clouds there was a break between them and a strong beam of sunlight shone down for several minutes. It was really a beautiful thing to see, and Lola’s summation of why it existed was both eloquent and touching.

We will miss Scooter with all our hearts. He was a wonderful personality and quite a comedian. I’m certain he and Boo Boo are now chasing each other, grooming each other and sleeping in each other’s arms (paws) just as they did here on earth.

It Always Hurts Worse the Next Day...

2009-02-03T23:15:00.000-05:00

Lola woke up yesterday with a bit of pain in her neck. She was able to move everything all right, but seemed a little stiff, so I gave her an Advil and dropped her off at school. I asked her to call me later in the day to let me know how she was feeling.

About 2:30 I received a phone call at work. Lola was on the other end. “Mom, I hurt so badly I cannot sit in class. Will you come get me?”

We got her home a bit later and put her in the bed with a heating pad and another Advil. She was hurting quite a bit, but seemed to relax a little as the evening progressed. She fell asleep, but was quite restless most of the night.

This morning she woke up and literally could not sit up in bed without help. We got her up and downstairs for breakfast, but she said she hurt so much she was not hungry at all. Not only did the neck hurt, but she had a whopper of a headache and her ribs on the left side were very sore and tender to the touch. It suddenly dawned on me that her pain was a result of her taking those few penguin dives on the ice Sunday. I decided to take the day off work (this is the fourth day of vacation I have used for illness/injury/car repairs rather than that for which it is intended - - yes, I know - - welcome to motherhood) to get her to the doctor to make sure she didn’t have any fractured ribs/vertebrae, etc. I managed to get a doctor appointment for her at 10:30am and we finally left the doctor’s after the exam and x-rays at about 1:30. I was hoping perhaps to go to work for at least four hours, but since Chris wasn’t available to stay with her I took the whole day off. They called me later from the doctor’s office to tell me that Lola didn’t have any breaks or fractures, thankfully, but she did strain her neck (much like whiplash) and she needed to stay out of PE class (luckily there is no PE this semester) and no horseback riding or skating for at least a week or until her neck is recovered.

I set her up for a therapeutic massage session which may hopefully help her recover more easily by relaxing those muscles…I set one up for myself as well!

New Ice Skates

2009-02-01T22:52:00.000-05:00

New Ice Skates

Lola got new ice skates via UPS a couple days ago. We decided to get the adjustable skates so they’ll be easily adaptable as her feet grow. She was so excited and could hardly wait to try them out.

Today we went to the ice rink and she spent quite a bit of time making minor adjustments, but finally got out on the ice. I was in the midst of lacing up my lovely rental skates (the skates I had purchased for myself the same time I ordered Lola’s were not true to size so they had to be sent back for an exchange. Sadly, I was stuck with stiff old brown rental skates for yet another week) when Lola came back from the ice and said, “Mom, I fell down already! These skates are not working!” I finally got my skates laced and went out on the ice with her to observe her in action. She took a couple strokes and seemed to be ok, then when she put her right foot forward to gain speed, the toe pick caught the ice and down she went on her tummy, not unlike a penguin on one of those nature documentaries on TV.

By this time poor Lola was so frustrated she said she wanted to stop skating and go home. We sat down for awhile and I told her what I saw happen and explained that she needed to tell her feet to step higher because the blades on her skates are now similar to hockey skates - - there is at least an inch increase in blade height due to the plastic casing. We went back out to skate, this time on center ice to work on skating backward. She was fine with that and I thought if she works at that her feet will adjust to skating forward as well. After a little while we were advised to leave the ice due to ‘zamboni time’. I LOVE the way the ice feels just after the zamboni has smoothed it out!! It is an amazing feeling! After the ice was nicely polished we went back out and suddenly she realized she knew her feet were adapting to the new skates. “Mom, I can now skate easily on these! I really love these skates!”

While we were skating I saw a man who appeared to be in his early 40’s struggling to teach himself to skate backward. He pushed his legs out and forced them back in and it was evident that he was exerting excess energy to do this, but he appeared to be the type of guy who was going to learn it if it killed him. I have seen him almost every weekend since we began skating, so to me he was a familiar face. I skated over and said ‘Hi, I’m teaching myself to skate backward, too. My daughter’s teacher said the easiest way to learn is to wiggle your butt! It sounds funny, but it really works!” I demonstrated as best I could, even though I’m not very good at it yet. He tried it out to see if it was a little easier. He then spoke to me and I detected a familiar accent. I asked him if he was from Russia, and with a bit of surprise he said yes, from the south part. He said he has been in America for 20 years. I saw Lola and introduced her to him. His name was Boris. Lola was a little shy at first, but then took the initiative to help Boris master the art of skating backward. How cute is that! She hovered over him to make sure he understood, speaking to him in Russian. Later on when we left the rink we saw him with his wife, son and another woman. We waved farewell and told them we would most likely be seeing them again soon.

We Found Misha / Scooter Update

2009-01-12T21:21:00.001-05:00

Lola received her report card for the 1st semester of the 6th grade. She received one A, several B’s and one VERY low C in Math. Interestingly enough, there is no such grade as “D” in the Fulton County school system. Hmmmmmm….I would love to hear the story on how THAT began…

90 – 100 A
80 – 89 B
70 – 79 C
Below 70 F

In that light, it seems that Lola is scarily close to failing math. EEEK. I have been in contact with her math teacher to see if perhaps she can attend some of the help sessions that have been offered.

I was the farthest thing from the proverbial math whiz when I was in school, so I do understand Lola’s frustration in seeing all those numbers plopped on a page in the form of a problem and having not a clue what to do to get the answer. But logic also dictates that if one does not understand something, perhaps a little help from the teacher would be a step closer to the enlightenment of that subject…

I have even had one of the teachers from the Russian School come over to tutor Lola in Mathematics once a week in Russian. This has been ongoing since last September.

Lola is tragically reluctant to attend the help sessions at her school, she says, because “the teacher is helping everybody else and not helping me.” I have now solved that problem and didn’t even have to ask. Her math teacher offered to provide Lola with a one-on-one help session this week, and if needed, she will set up a time for Lola to come in for extra help on an individual basis!

A couple evenings ago while Lola and I were dining at her favorite restaurant (Fuddrucker’s) we were talking about her friend Misha from her Detsky Dom. His name comes up quite often in conversation and he is very much loved by Lola. She considers him her BEST FRIEND in Russia and she was so very much hoping to be able to contact him now that we discovered in December that he was in process of being adopted by a family in Texas. I did some research and found out the name of the adoption agency that was handling his process and asked them to forward his new family our name, address and telephone numbers. It had been about a month or so and we hadn’t heard anything yet, and both of us were getting quite anxious. As we left the restaurant I looked at my cell phone and found a new message from a number I didn’t recognize. Upon picking up the message, I found out it was Misha’s new mom and she said that Misha is very excited to talk with Lola again ! I had the biggest case of goosebumps the entire time I was listening to the message! I commented, “Wow!! Oh, my gosh!! Woooooooow!!” and Lola kept asking, “What, Mom? Who is it?” Finally I hung up and told her it was Misha’s mom and that Misha is now home in Texas and wants to talk to her. She just sat there and SMILED and SMILED and SMILED!! It wasn’t until we were picking up a few groceries at Wal-Mart before heading home when she suddenly turned to me, grabbed my arms and jumping up and down said, “Oh, Mom!! I get to talk to Misha again! I’m so excited!!” Once we arrived home, she called him and the look of joy on her face was indescribable! I told her later once he’s settled in awhile with his new family we’ll ask them if we can come to see them, perhaps over spring break.

Scooter is still having chemo treatments weekly. He’s such a sweetie. He crawls in bed with us every night and just loves to be petted. His appetite hasn’t been too keen lately and he really cannot afford to lose more weight. I remarked to Chris the other day that I never thought in a million years that I’d be begging Scooter to eat. It seems that cat had the most voracious appetite for most of his life. So voracious, in fact, that at one point he tipped the scales at a plump 19 pounds! In late 2007 I modified his eating plan so that he would lose the unnecessary weight very gradually, so when we took him into the vet last September and he weighed in at 15 pounds I was not overly concerned. I am quite thankful to the doctor for making sure we had a follow-up visit to determine if the weight loss was due to the ‘diet’ or due to some other problem. Since beginning chemo Scooter is now somewhere around 10 pounds. Hopefully he can gain back a couple of those.

He’s moving a bit slower now, and still has to rest while climbing the stairs, but now it seems with the help of some medication to increase his appetite he is willing to eat a bit more. I think once he regains his strength from finally eating he’ll perk up and be able to move around without the degree of enormous effort. I have noticed he has good days and bad days. Some days he’ll be perkier and be attentive at all that is going on around him, and other days he just wants to sleep, eat, visit the litter box and then sleep some more.

This cat knows he is loved. There is no doubt in my mind. Even though he lost control of his bladder for the first time ever today on Lola’s bed (I anticipated a few possible bathroom accidents of every kind with the chemo so I took the liberty to cover ALL beds and futon sofas in our house with those lovely plastic mattress covers and put the mattress pad, sheets and comforters on top) and I spent the better part of the evening doing laundry, we still picked him up and hugged him and gave him kisses. Lola loves Scooter no matter what. They do everything together - - watch TV, play on the computer, eat…

Petie is one of the funniest and most entertaining cats I’ve ever had the privilege to know. Last night he was playing a game I’m certain he calls ‘Aerodynamic Speed Test’. He plays this game on occasion, but last night marked a new entertainment high. Here is how the game is played: he lies on his back at the foot of the stairs, then suddenly jumps straight up in the air, gallops at top speed through the living room and literally becomes airborne, diving through the cat door to the courtyard. He then leisurely walks around the courtyard a couple times, then repeats the process in reverse. He did this about five times last night, with the speed increasing each time Seeing him fly through the cat door is like watching a fuzzy gray bullet explode from an invisible gun. Once he gets to the foot of the stairs, he surfs on a small rug and skids to a stop on the hardwood floor. It is hilarious! He came quite close to colliding with me when I got into his trajectory. The expression on his face when that happened was like “Whoooooooooooooa, there!!”

If any of you have ever seen the movie “Over the Hedge”, just think of Hammie the Squirrel. That is Petie!

Then a few minutes later he’ll hop up with us and lay down on our laps and request a massage.

Christmas Vacation

2008-12-31T09:20:00.005-05:00

Lola and I had planned a trip to go see Grandma since August, and the time had finally come! We had made arrangements for Scooter and Petie to be under the care of Chris and Kim so we knew the kitties were going to be SPOILED ROTTEN!!!

We celebrated our Christmas at home on the 21st, so Kimmi and Chris came over, and we had dinner and took turns opening our presents.

We also dressed up the kitties with ribbon, although they didn't seem too happy about it!

The next day we hopped the plane to head for Omaha!

Since the airline industry is cutting back it was no surprise that the flight we were scheduled to be on at 8pm had been cancelled. They did find us an ‘earlier’ flight at 5:30 pm but it was delayed and was not expected in Atlanta until just about the time our original flight was scheduled to leave…sigh….

But with all of that having been re-arranged, we arrived happily into Omaha at 12:30am on Dec 24. Yes, we were tired and bleary-eyed, but we were so excited to be there and to see snow and visit with my friend Dawn (we spent the night at her house) it was a few hours later that we finally decided sleep was a true necessity. Sleeping until 9am was wonderful, and we had picked up a rental car the night before so we were ready to embark on our trip to Iowa to see Mom/Grandma. I’m not sure how we lucked out at the car rental place, but all of their budget/cheapo cars were rented and all they had was some huge tank of a car (like a Mercury Grand Marquis or whatever) or an SUV to choose from. Of course, we claimed the SUV in a heartbeat!! (Lola and I have the dream that someday we will tell our problem child Cabrio car farewell and replace it with something much more reliable, but not until we have test driven everything out there and have done extensive research on each vehicle we like!)

As we drove to Iowa we noticed the amount of snow increased, so Lola was totally excited.

We did have a wonderful visit with my mom and we played in the snow and ate Christmas dinner and watched TV and played cards and played in the snow some more. We really hated to leave, and every time we do leave we want so much to take my mom home with us!!!

Lola and I would love to have her live with us but we don’t have the proper amount of space / room configuration to allow one more person enough private space (aka an extra bedroom), but I am looking to see if we can possibly re-furbish our townhome to do just that. It will take some thinking, though, but it’s not impossible.

When we left Mom’s house we drove back to Omaha to hang out with Dawn for a couple days. Lola absolutely loves her and especially loves her dogs / cat!! I truly hate being allergic to dogs so I was popping allergy pills and hoping for the best…

One of the evenings during our visit to Omaha we were able to get together with some of my old work buddies and have dinner at Village Inn. It was a BLAST!! I soooooo love Village Inn - - I wish we had them in Atlanta, but unfortunately there are none in the south. Village Inn has the world’s best coffee and their Santa Fe Chicken Skillet with Green Chile sauce is to DIE for!

While in Omaha we found out that a temporary ice rink was set up by Con Agra downtown, so for a donation of $5.00 Lola got to rent skates and have some fun for a couple hours.

We arrived back home mid-afternoon on December 30. Chris came to pick us up and the kitties were so glad to see us!!

Scooter Comes Home

2008-12-12T22:49:00.002-05:00

We picked up Scooter from the vet on Tuesday and he seemed much better. He’s been having a few good days, but today we had to drop him off for yet another chemo treatment. He is doing much better this evening, and is resting quietly. He does tire out easily, and when climbing the stairs he has to stop and rest at the landing for a few minutes, then continue on his way up to one of the bedrooms. I have set up a litter box in Lola’s bathroom for him so he doesn’t have to make a trip downstairs, and he seems quite happy with that arrangement.

Lola and I are preparing for our trip to see ‘Babushka’, and from what she has been telling us there is plenty of snow in Iowa! Lola is overjoyed! The last time she saw snow in any quantity was back in Russia last year.

We are so thankful to Chris and Kimmi for coordinating the care of the kitties while we are gone. Scooter needs extra care, and Kimmi is happy to stay at the house while we are away. The plan is for Chris to be there during the daytime and Kimmi to be there at night.

Luckily Scooter doesn’t have to have chemo during that week, so it all works out rather well.

Our Little Green Burrito

2008-12-08T21:45:00.000-05:00

I got a phone call from the vet, and the doctor told me they would like to keep Scooter for another night. He gave me the visiting hours schedule and when I picked Lola up from school we decided to go pay Scooter a visit once her homework was finished.

We arrived at the vet building about 8pm and signed in to have Scooter brought to a room for a visitation. We had to wait quite awhile and Lola was getting restless, so we went around the waiting room to pay a little visit to all the pets who were there. Finally they came out and said that we could come back and see Scooter. They ushered us into one of the exam rooms and a few minutes later they brought Scooter in, all wrapped up in a green towel like a burrito. We kept hugging him and kissing him and calling him our “little green burrito”. He was so happy to see us, but it was quite evident he was not feeling well at all. After about 30 minutes of visitation, he fell asleep so we called the tech to come and take him back so he could sleep.

We soooo love our little green burrito!!

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

2008-12-07T22:01:00.002-05:00

Today we went grocery shopping and when we arrived home Kimmi was at the house. We had invited her over for dinner and when we pulled up in the garage she came out to help carry the bags in. She had her arms full and Lola opened the door for her. I was still digging in the trunk of my car to get more bags to take inside when I heard Kimmi say “Petie, NO!! Come back here!! Peeeeeetie!” Right at that moment Petie came flying out the back door saw me and screeched to a halt, with a look of total surprise. He then did an about-face and sped back into the house. This in itself is not so much funny, but to be there and experience the expressions on this cat’s face is PRICELESS! (“Uh,oh, there’s MOM!! I’d better get back in the house NOW before she sees me!!”)

Poor Scooter is sick again. He’s been vomiting and has had a very difficult time in the litter box. We took him back to the vet ER and they were concerned enough to keep him for the night. I am wondering if the chemo treatments are ever going to be easier for him...

Ice-Skating Fever!!

2008-12-06T23:16:00.000-05:00

Lola had her horseback riding lesson this morning and afterward we had to scramble to get home, change clothes and prepare to meet with her ESOL teacher to coordinate the day. There were five children who were able to come, so we made the rounds to pick them up for the day’s events.

After lunch at McDonald’s, we made our way to the skating rink, got everyone’s skates on, and watched each other stumble around a bit until most of us had a better comfort level. I watched Lola to see how she would do, and strangely enough, she skated like she had been doing it all her life! She came up to me and expressed total amazement that she could actually skate and it was actually FUN! She is now totally hooked on ice skating and wants that to be one of our main activities from now on. Most of the other kids did quite well skating and it was really very entertaining for all. Lola’s teacher is an ice-skating instructor when she’s not teaching so she was helping each of the children with how to fall properly, how to stand up after a fall, and most of the true basics of skating. Afterward we went to see “Bolt” and I must say, that was quite an impressive 3-D experience! Lola and I took photos as well and put them together to make her teacher a photo-collage computer mouse pad!

2008-12-05T22:45:00.001-05:00

Scooter’s had his 2nd chemo treatment – not so good. Poor Scoo is sick and very lethargic. We are keeping him close to us, although he sleeps most of the time.

We are preparing for Lola’s ESOL class party – her teacher is planning it and I have been requested as parent chaperone. The plan is to go pick up all the kids who are going, meet at McDonald’s to have lunch, go ice skating at the local rink and then head to the movie “Bolt”. Lola is so excited, but quite apprehensive about the prospect of ice skating. She told me the first and only time she ever ice skated was when she was about 4 years old and she was horrible. She said she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to stand up long enough to have fun! I assured her that now she is older she may have an easier time of it since she has a better sense of balance now - - I didn’t learn to ice skate until I was 20, and I found it was not as hard as I thought. I’m not fabulous or anything, but can skate around without flailing arms and legs everywhere. I’m always open to learning new things - - like skating backward!

TURKEY DAY!!

2008-11-29T21:42:00.001-05:00

Scooter is now home from the vet and has had his first chemo treatment. He’s much MUCH better, and has perked up quite a bit! Maybe this series of treatments will be as helpful as we hope. He’s so happy to be home, but the doctors there told me he’s their little baby and such a sweet boy. Petie is happy to see Scooter and has been trying to play with him. Scoo isn’t quite perky enough to play, but we can tell he appreciates all the attention from Petie! Scoo and Petie both got some turkey for a belated Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving was fun - - Lola and I went to Kimmi’s house. Kimmi invited her mom and grandmother and it was a wonderful dinner. There were tons of leftovers so we each took a plate of food home. Kimmi had to help her mom navigate to the right road to get home, so while she was gone I did all the dishes and put the leftover food away and when she got back the kitchen was pretty much CLEAN!!! I told her it was the least I could do since she had been up until 1am the night before and again up at 5am the next day to make sure all was prepared and turkey in the oven and pies made, etc. All Kimmi wanted us to bring was mashed potatoes and cranberries, so I felt like perhaps cleaning up would make me feel not so much like a slacker!

We decided to have photo Christmas cards this year and getting Lola to dress up for a photo, much less stand still for one, is a painful endeavor. But after much persuasion on my part she donned a red sweater she brought from Russia and her khaki pants and reluctantly posed with me while Chris took the photos. First we stood in the front yard. Those photos didn’t look quite right, so we went back in the house and sat in the chair. Those photos were not good, either. Then I thought about us sitting in front of the fireplace and lo and behold, the cats thought that was a famous idea and they sat through a couple photographs with us. Then Lola started feeling a little more comfy with posing, and Chris managed to get a couple good ones of us that would work wonderfully on a Christmas card.

Scoo's Diagnosis

2008-11-25T22:02:00.000-05:00

The vet called to say that Scooter definitely has lymphoma. He recommended treatment by chemotherapy, which is much easier tolerated by cats than humans. In fact, 80% of cats respond quite favorably to the treatment and their remission can last up to 2 or more years. I didn’t want to make a decision one way or the other until Lola and I had a discussion about it and all the factors were weighed. So, after a consultation with Lola and Scooter, of course, it was decided to go forward with the treatment. The first session (of MANY) is to be this upcoming Friday.

Latest Update

2008-11-14T23:42:00.000-05:00

Well, Petie has escaped again. It rained all day today so the workmen couldn’t come and finish the window/siding job. They left their ladders propped up against the roof of the garage and sure enough, Petie went exploring last night and the little fuzz-ball must have climbed up the ladders…again…

Well, the good news is we know where he is. Out back in the woods hanging out with the squirrels and Janine’s (our neighbor) cats.

No, I am not going to give him back to his former owner. Lola was very worried about that. I assured her that in spite of his imagination-defying escapes and life of international intrigue outside the house, Petie is now officially our cat and we love him. He’ll come home when he’s hungry….which we hope may be tonight…

Poor Scooter slept in the sunroom by the back door all night in case Petie came home. What a good buddy he is!

My arm is still bruised from the blood-taking last week, but the bruise has now diminished to the size of a quarter.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Lola had a new friend spend the night with us last night. Almost from the time this girl walked into the house until she went to bed she was playing on our computer. I tried to encourage her to do things with Lola, and it worked for awhile. They went outside to play, but that didn’t work for long. Once they were back in the house she was planted in the chair playing computer games. Lola was getting frustrated, so I suggested that they go to bed. They decided they wanted to sleep on the futon sofa in the living room so I put some sheets, blankets and pillows on the mattress and they were set for the night.

The next morning I fixed them breakfast and we took her friend home, and once back home I began to strip the bed and found a giant wet spot on the friend’s side of the bed…

Now I don’t ever mean to cause trouble, but with a mixture of worry for the friend’s bladder as well as for my newly ruined futon mattress I called her mother to inform her that we had encountered an issue with bedwetting. Since the mother and I are both raising children on our own, I suggested that we split the cost of a new mattress, since the one that was wet could not, in any way, be salvaged.

All day Sunday was spent taking the old mattress to the trash, going to get a new one, and doing laundry. All day. Not really what I had planned …

Friday, November 21, 2008

Well, Scooter had yet another vet appointment - - this time at a specialist. We had to leave the poor little guy there for two days of testing to see why he is not doing well. It has been determined so far that he has FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus). It is much like HIV in humans where the immune system is compromised due to blood or saliva contact with an infected cat. Apparently Scooter had a run-in with an infected cat back in the first three or so years of his life before I adopted him at age 4. According to the vet, the virus could be dormant for many years and later become apparent, as has happened here. He’s now 14 and has been relatively healthy with the exception of a detached retina in his right eye a few years ago. At this point the doctor thinks Scoo has lymphoma and they have shaved all the fur off his tummy and his right front leg to do tests to confirm or deny their suspicion. When we went to pick him up he was so happy to see us and he had become the little sweetheart of the clinic. All the techs love him and they spoiled him as much as they could during his stay there. Lola was a bit disconcerted by his tummy being shaved, but when I told her to touch him she found it to be quite fuzzy like velvet and now she loves to gently rub his tummy. We should hear about the diagnosis sometime next Tuesday or so. In the meantime they told me to keep doing what we’re doing - - same food, same routine, with the addition of fluids to give him subcutaneously if needed. I told Lola that it is possible that Scooter has a problem the doctors cannot fix and we may need to decide what kind of treatment (or not) he may benefit from the most. She loves Scooter so much! It’s kind of heartbreaking to tell your child her favorite pet is gravely ill, especially when your own heart is breaking…

Another Car Expense (Sigh...)

2008-11-13T22:46:00.000-05:00

I have an appointment for Monday to get the top repaired on my car. My insurance company called a couple days ago to say that they cannot approve the claim since their ‘expert’ says that the issue with my convertible top happens quite frequently with VW Cabrios. Supposedly it’s due to normal wear and tear, plus the fact that VW made sub-standard tops for these cars….how lovely…so the car is going in for a repair job to start with. They gave me a quote of $350.00. If that doesn’t work I’ll have to oil the hinges on my pocketbook and squeak out about $1300.00 to get the top replaced.

I got a rental car after I rode the bus home (it rained all day so I couldn’t drive the VW, plus it’s supposed to rain most of the weekend and we need transportation) and then went to pick Lola up from her Extended Learning program at school. The auto renters didn’t have the ‘economy’ car I requested. They decided to upgrade me to a Dodge Caliber (I may be one of the only people on earth that hates to get an upgrade at the auto rental place) and Lola thinks it’s the coolest car on the planet. She now wants me to buy one just like it. As if I can just pluck $20,000.00 out of the air and take one home that day! I wish!! Strange how her loyalty to the VW she loved with all her heart has waned. Maybe when it’s finally got a top that is durable she’ll love it again. Oh, trust me, I’m doing extensive research on new cars. I’m just not ready yet to fork over the dough to actually buy one.

2008-11-12T21:52:00.001-05:00

I was sitting in an office meeting this morning in our building cafeteria and gazing out the window while listening to our guest speaker (of course I was paying attention!). The leaves are now finally falling from the trees at an amazing rate, and strangely enough, my poetic side popped out after many years of suppression (not by choice, but only by lack of quiet time to actually ponder life and all that is around me) and out of my dormant little brain came a haiku. Here it is:

Leaves float to the ground
Like snowflakes in the winter
Slowly, gently down.

Ok, it’s not Robert Frost or anything, but hey, there it is. At least it proves I still have a thought process outside of accounting and child-rearing!

The window guys came on Monday to install the windows on the back of our townhome, and I must say, they did a GREAT job! Lola is so excited that we have new windows. She loves to open one of the five installed in the living room on the main floor and she and Petie exit through the window out into the courtyard, then back into the house, then back into the courtyard… watching her reminded me of the irony of people who buy their kids all kinds of toys to keep them entertained vs. the people who just hand the child a life-sized cardboard box and allow their imaginations to soar. What was a necessary home improvement for me became the giant cardboard box for Lola. It was fun to watch her, although I had to insist on her wearing shoes so she wouldn’t step on a nail or shard of metal or glass, since the crew was not yet finished with the job. Petie was on his own with the footwear issue. I can’t imagine a cat in shoes or socks, but it’s an amusing thought.

Petie the cat has proven to be a truly wonderful addition to our family. I’m glad I relented on returning him to his former owners because of his James Bond-like escapes into the woods. It was getting tiresome (not to mention worrisome) going out every evening at 10pm to entice the little fuzz-ball to come back in the house to eat and return to captivity. We had to do some creative solutions at times since Fuzzy, the cat from down the street, had taken up homestead in the bushes behind our driveway and followed us everywhere. We knew Petie well enough to know that if he saw us with another cat he wouldn’t come down out of the woods. Once we showed Fuzzy the cat carrier, she took off for the hills, so to speak. It was an effective way to eliminate any interference in getting Petie back home.

He seems to have settled in quite well now and really has quite a bit of fun exploring every corner of the house. He is shy no more! We bought some spongy balls from the pet store and he and Lola can play “ball-wall bouncy” for hours. Hey, it’s what I used to do with Fritz, one of my former kitties from long ago. Fritz even had the talent of batting the ball back to me after it hit the wall, quite like the game of racquetball, and quite often would carry the ball back and drop it so we could play again. And they say a cat can’t be taught tricks!! Lola is hoping that Petie will learn to do this as well.

Scooter’s left eye is now looking very weird (his right eye is blind due to a detached retina from long ago but now his one good eye is not so good any more) and I took him to the vet again to have it checked. They said it was pus, maybe due to an infection since he also had a fever. They prescribed some drops for his eye and also some fluids to administer since he was still a bit dehydrated. I’m hoping this will help him feel better.

Hiss No More

2008-11-07T22:03:00.000-05:00

Last night Lola and I witnessed the most touching thing! Petie, who has been intermittently ignoring and hissing at Scooter for the past however many weeks we have had him, almost to the point where I was about to again re-name him Kiss & Hiss, suddenly went up to Scoo and rubbed the top of his head on Scooter’s shoulder, then proceeded to lay down in front of Scoo with his tummy up!! WOW!! That is the most declarative way I’ve ever seen a cat to show submission to another cat.
Scooter was so polite. He sat there for a few seconds as if to acknowledge Petie’s gesture, then got up and went to the food bowl. Typical!

Well, Lola and I put the finishing touches on her Science project poster. I hope she has fun presenting her report. She seemed happy to write notes on her index cards to assist through the presentation. It’s so amazing how she did this - - I had translated her report into Russian so she could more easily write the main points on her note cards. She read a paragraph in Russian, then translated it to English and wrote her ‘phonetic’ version in English to present to the class. She did have a little difficulty with some bigger words and concepts, but with a little help, she did just fine. Then we rehearsed the speech and demo, and she seemed confident she would do just fine.

There are moments where I’m so proud of her for her hard work (of which this is a perfect example) as well as moments where my frustration of her flippancy towards homework is at the max (which is, sadly to say, the majority of the time).

Patience, Jill, patience….

The Day of Spills

2008-11-06T22:47:00.000-05:00

This morning I was walking to the cafeteria at my office and upon entering the stairwell I found a large puddle of coffee and some other type of drink all over the floor on the landing, along with two empty cups. It happens every so often, since the doors to the main stairs are so heavy as to require quite a bit of force to open, along with the fact that the door does not have a window to alert anyone entering the main stairs to approaching (and totally unsuspecting) people bearing food and beverage…

Once in the cafeteria, I was greeted by a large pile of bacon in the middle of the floor that someone had dropped. Okay….

Then when I went to get my cup of decaf for the day, I found that someone had spilled their coffee in that area as well…

Is today National Klutz Day and no one told me? I thought I was the poster child for that organization!

The Blood Bank

2008-11-05T23:03:00.000-05:00

Giving blood is one of the things I have done over the years as a voluntary habit to help the community. However, after my experience today at the mobile blood bank bus I may have to ponder an alternate way to help my community in the future. Without going into too much detail for those readers who are somewhat queasy just hearing that I actually LIKE to give blood, I’ll just say they did quite a number on my poor arm yesterday due to a number of reasons, none of which I believe were within my own control. I am sporting a lovely bruise on the inside crook of my left arm that is approximately two inches wide by three inches long and has every color of the rainbow present. Not only that, I’m dealing with quite a bit of pain in the arm and I’m not sure if it’s because I slept in a weird position last night or because the blood bus people mangled my arm. Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll be frequenting the Red Cross or any other affiliate of Dracula’s crew in the future. Lola says “YAAAY,” because she thinks it’s gross to give blood.

Scooter and Petie

2008-10-21T18:44:00.003-04:00

Poor Scooter is not feeling well. To put it delicately, the poor little guy is “not regular”. After a couple days of watching him try unsuccessfully to do his ‘business’ and his inability to hold food down we made the decision to take him to the vet. They found him to be somewhat dehydrated and plugged up, so he stayed at the vet’s office for the day to get a little help….when we went to pick him up, he was so happy to come home! He’s still a bit listless, but we have him on antibiotics and fluids to help him feel better. The vet was concerned that he had lost a bit of weight, since he had gone from 19 pounds to 16 within the last year, but we had been monitoring the amount of food intake he had for the last several months so as to be at a more healthy weight so I wasn’t alarmed that he had slimmed down some.

Our newest little fuzzy friend, Petie, is a wonderful cat but still insists on being outside. He almost goes stir crazy if we don’t let him out! He has been out a couple times but of course we worry about him while he’s gone. Lola thinks he has a new girlfriend! I think he likes to play Jungle Cat in the woods. We are working on what to do to help him adjust. He’s had an update on shots and been treated for tapeworms last week, so at least he's current on the medicals...

Here are a couple photos of our new little guy that I took last Friday!! He’s such a cutie!! I do hope he can learn to adjust!

Petie 007 (He thinks he's James Bond)

2008-10-16T22:49:00.000-04:00

Petie is just fine and we are hoping he will settle in. He and Scooter have actually slept in the same room and no worries - - but Petie is constantly trying to find ways to go outside!! We didn’t see this happen, but we speculate yesterday the little stinker climbed a ladder in our courtyard (we are de-leafing our gutters and put the ladder up against the chimney), jumped about seven feet across to the roof (not very steep or very high), walked the roof to the garage roof, jumped 7 feet down into our alleyway and ran into the woods to play with the squirrels (!!!???).

As usual, we were able to entice him to come home that evening with food.

I have a vet appointment for him today to get his shots updated. I hesitate to take him because I honestly don’t know if he’ll be able to adapt to the indoor way of life, and the thought has run through my head to take him back to his original family. Lola is begging me to give him another chance (he has escaped three times now in the last week) and we love him so much, but of course when he’s outside I worry about him in the woods. There are other cats out there and some of them like to pick fights with my neighbor’s cats, so I fear that Petie may be a chosen target at some point in the future.

We really do love him and he’s a sweetie and so fun to be with, but his longing for the ‘call of the wild’ is becoming an issue.

Upon asking Petie’s former owner about his outdoor obsession, she told me Petie can climb a ladder, and he would climb their neighbor’s ladder all the time. She thought that perhaps he is out looking to see if his brothers are somewhere about.

Petie Joins Our Family

2008-10-08T23:14:00.000-04:00

We made the trip to go get Petie the Cat. Lola fell in love with him at first sight! Petie was very good in the cat carrier all the way home. Lola sat in the back seat with him and talked to him through the carrier door.

Scooter was so happy to see a new baby brother he wanted to snuggle right away, but Petie hissed and growled and would have NOTHING to do with that!! He hid in the powder room behind the toilet and then behind the sofa for most of the night. He did come out this morning to eat and use a temporary litter box we set up, so I think in a couple days we’ll be having fun with both of them. So far Scooter is being VERY patient. He lays nearby, and Petie hisses, but Scooter looks at him like “It’s ok, I can wait for you not to be scared any more.”

Even though his name is Petie Lola and I thought he moves, hides and meows more like a shadow, so we are temporarily trying out the name SHADOW.

Still Feeling the Void

2008-10-06T18:37:00.000-04:00

We are still saddened by the loss of Boo Boo, but Scooter is acting like he is wanting a new buddy. It has been a few weeks and some friends of ours who adopted Lola's friend Boris told us about a lady they work with who has four kittens that are now 1 1/2 years old that are available. Lola and I looked at the photos she e-mailed to us and have decided we will go in a couple days to see them. Lola has decided on a fluffy gray cat named Petie, so he will be the cat of main interest when we pay this family a visit.

In Memoriam - Boo Boo Kitty - Jan 1990 - Sep 2008

2008-09-17T22:47:00.003-04:00

I am sad to say that our dear little sweet Boo Boo is now in kitty heaven. He took a header off the sofa last night and was in extreme pain. The only thing we could do was take him to the vet to help his journey to kitty heaven easier. I am so very much dealing with the moral dilemma of whether or not it is right in God's eyes for us to take the role of Life Manager for animals. In this case it was distressing for both Lola and me to see Boo in the condition he was in. Perhaps when I have some quiet time to think I'll come to terms with this decision. I know Boo would have been happy to go and not be in pain, but how does God view this decision??

Boo was a wonderful cat. He was sweet, quiet, gentle, polite and always very proper, quite the little gentleman. He would tap his paw on us when he was hungry and was always so tidy in the litterbox but such a slob at the dinner bowl. He was never a lap cat, but instead would snuggle up parallel to the person of his choice and sleep as close as possible. He and Scooter were the best of friends and would groom and sleep with each other for hours. Even for the past few months Scooter kept watch over Boo at night from a close distance to the sofa. We will all miss him greatly.

Boo Boo came into our home in 2000 at the age of 10 years. He was one of four cats that were loved supremely by my friend Christie, a woman with whom I worked at the office. Christie was a great lover of all animals and was not afraid to stand up for their rights. She had some health issues, and in the summer of 2000 she encountered what was thought to be a gall bladder problem. She checked into the hospital and during the time we all thought she was recovering from gall bladder surgery she was actually battling a disease called hemochromatosis. None of us knew anything about it until she was found dead in her home by my boss, another co-worker and the police in October 2000. It was quite a shock to all of us and after a few days I found out the police had sent 3 of her 4 cats to the local animal shelter. The fourth one, Boo, had not been taken because he was in hiding and wouldn't come out and the police didn't want to spend all day finding him. Instead, one of Christie's neighbor friends said he'd go and feed Boo at her townhome until her lease ran out, and in the meantime try to find him a new home. Christie once told me that if anything ever happened to her, she wanted to be sure her sister got her cats. In this instance, I was under the impression that the sister could not take all the cats, but was going to adopt Boo. Within a week we had new owners lined up for the three cats who were sent to the shelter. I called the shelter to tell them there were people who wished to adopt the cats when Christie's sister signed the paperwork to adopt them out. They agreed to call me when this happened. A few days later I called back only to find out that the shelter had euthanized all three cats after the paperwork was signed. Their story was that the cats had all contracted upper respiratory infection. I was outraged, as were the others who had volunteered to adopt the cats.

I had been contemplating on getting Scooter a buddy for a couple months prior to Christie's untimely death because he was bored and started to pull tufts of fur from his tail area, leaving them like little fuzzy gifts for me all around the house. When I found out that Christie's sister was not able to keep Boo (Christie's favorite) and that Boo was still at Christie's townhome being cared for by the neighbor until her lease ran out the end of October, I called the neighbor and told him I would like to take Boo. Christie had done some cat-sitting for me in the past for Scooter when I was out of town a few weekends, so Scooter was familiar with her smell and absolutely loved her. Apparently the two of them watched the Animal Planet on TV together, had lunch together and sat out on the deck. Scooter was totally spoiled by her and loved every second of it. When I brought Boo home in the cat carrier on October 31, Scooter was overjoyed. From that day forward the two of them were in LOVE!! They have been buddies ever since.

I have so many wonderful memories of Boo, whom I dubbed "Boo Boo Kitty" and I find it hard to think that he is no longer with us. Scooter has lost his best friend and is so sad, and yes, we can tell that he is very sad. I know that perhaps in my own mind that Christie and Boo Boo are now together again, and that makes me very happy.

...and the Cold of the Century Still Lingers...

2008-09-11T22:00:00.002-04:00

I cannot believe I am STILL SICK!!! It seems that this began about the last week in July - - -actually, yes, it was the week I went back to work after having taken leave of absence during the summer. Now my ears are all plugged up and I'm still sounding very congested. The sad thing is most of my co-workers are battling the same thing. I do hope this finally goes away!

Boo is still having problems. Tonight he was trying to walk away from the sofa, and I have no idea where he was going. He looked like a cat on a mission, but couldn't really get himself where he wanted to be...

I'm sad to say this but I think Boo does not have much longer with us...

We try to make him as comfy as possible and he still loves to eat, but he's forgetting where the box is at the other end of the sofa, and although he doesn't seem to be hurting anywhere, his little eighteen and one-half year old body is just too exhausted to go very far. He's such a sweet little guy, and this week has been what I imagine to be like hospice care - - Chris has been here during the day and Lola and I have been here at night trying to make sure he's as relaxed and happy as he can be.

Lola is still liking school, but this year she is extremely forgetful when it comes to homework. It seems that without micro-managing her subjects and staying in touch with her teachers, she would forget homework every night. So far she's getting A's and B's, but with this going the way it is, I'm not omnipotent and she's going to have to bite off a big chunk of responsibility or else her grades are going to head south in a big way. Her teachers have been great in making sure to tell her when things are homework and when they are classwork, but like I said, we all can't be there every moment monitoring her taking the books home that she needs. She is liking her technology class and for the most part, she loves her teachers, especially her ESOL teacher.

Poor Little Boo Boo

2008-09-10T22:45:00.000-04:00

Boo Boo is not doing well. He’s had a few seizures, his back legs are quite stiff with arthritis and, for the past few months, has been a permanent resident on the sofa. We have set up the sofa with plastic mattress covers for protection and incontinence pads so he has easy access to his litter box on one end, food in the middle and his bed on the other end. It’s worked out fairly well. He does have bladder accidents but it’s easily cleaned up by removing the soiled incontinence pad and replacing it with a new one. His appetite is quite good, and he’s still interacting with us when we get home from work and school, but his general health is declining. Scooter has been close by, sleeping in a nearby chair in case Boo needs anything.

My Little Chocolate Bunny

2008-09-05T05:34:00.002-04:00

Last Sunday we were invited to a picnic by one of Chris' business associates in Washington, GA. The Labor Day picnic is an annual event with huge numbers of people in attendance. There is barbecue (this year there was pork, beef, chicken AND goat), a vast array of side dishes populating three long tables and a table dedicated just to desserts. This picnic takes place on a farm outside of Washington and there are cows and horses and dogs and cats and food and it is just FUN!! So Chris, Kimmi, Lola and I piled into the car and drove the two hours to attend for the afternoon. I took Lola's swimsuit along in case we found anywhere to swim that day (the weather was upward of 90 degrees and HUMID). Since were driving by Lake Oconee I thought she would enjoy swimming in a place with no chlorine (the poor thing has such eye discomfort swimming in chlorinated pools). The picnic was a blast, as usual, Lola had a good time in spite of it being HOT HOT HOT outside and on the way home we stopped at a place on Lake Oconee so she could swim. There was also an inflatable Slip 'n' Slide set up and she was ecstatic about playing on it. The only drawback was, in spite of an upward curve built into the end of the slide to keep kids from flying off the end, there were still kids being launched upward and outward onto the ground. That in itself was bad enough, but at the end the grass had been so inundated with water and the stomping of little feet it had become a giant mud puddle. So, with Lola excited to play on this thing and me overcoming the fear of my child breaking bones and becoming a mud-ball, I relented and let her go on it. She was very careful in trying not to go flying off the end (we watched several people who were not so cautious and she paid close attention to the results) but there were a couple times where she underestimated her speed and slid off (thankfully not flying off) the end into the mud. Without hesitation, she went running back to the line to do it again! After awhile of running, sliding and only falling off the end three times out of about thirty passes, she decided her arms hurt from trying to break her fall those few times and her stomach hurt from all that sliding. She jumped and swam in the lake for awhile to clean up and we got her clothes changed and headed home. On Monday she said her arms hurt a lot (muscle strain) so we put cool packs on them and let her rest up. She was excused from P.E. for part of this week and she seems to be doing much better. And yes, we have photos of Lola looking like a chocolate bunny!

Taking Care of Each Other

2008-08-30T04:59:00.002-04:00

This cold has been the Monster of the Decade for me. It has congested my sinus cavity, my ears, nose, throat and lungs. I have experienced fever and fatigue and from there went to having to sleep in a half-sitting position due to the drainage. I can no longer taste or smell anything, which makes eating a total boring experience...Lola had 'the cold' for about a week, but only had a minor sore throat and a little coughing. Then, like magic, it was gone. Her immune system must be like that of a Sherman tank. I am thankful for that! Kimmi had started the symptoms of this thing the same time I did, but she was battling mostly the sinus infection part. She came over on the weekends and the three of us played on the computer, played card games and watched TV while recuperating. I was determined not to miss work (as I was still trying to fix all the little things that had gone awry during my leave of absence) and I'm certain my fellow employees were wishing I had stayed at home. I was coughing and sneezing and was the Queen of Kleenex for the better part of three weeks, but I was not the only one. There were a couple other people in my department who had been battling the same thing. At this point in time my taste buds and sense of smell are back about 80%, and I'm just taking each day as it comes and hopefully soon I will be able to say I'm WELL AGAIN!!

While battling the Cold of the Decade we have had to take Kimmi to the emergency room a couple times due to her severe anemia (which started before our trip to Mexico) and her constricted throat issues (which has been going on for many years, but had gotten progressively worse due to scar tissue forming after an injury to her throat) making it impossible for her to eat anything but soft, mushy foods. We have also endured the remnants of Hurricane Fay, who decided to dump rain on Georgia for about four days straight, causing the windows on the courtyard side of our house to leak profusely and in the process soaked the carpet and caused damage to the ceiling. The windows are due for replacement anyway (I had the windows on the front of the townhome replaced in January this year, and was waiting until autumn to have the back of the townhome done).

We have tried to make the best of it all by attending a Braves game once we all felt better, and Kimmi and Lola were experimenting with their hair color using Garnier (Kimmi is now dark brown and Lola a muted auburn). I am still too chicken to mess with the color of my hair. Well, I guess the word is not chicken, but the fact is I rather LIKE the color of my hair. I always have. I have started to go gray a little, but it's not enough to make me want to change my whole hair color scheme (as if I successfully could) to cover the gray...besides, I looked in the hair color aisle and I have to admit no hair color out there even comes close to my own shade. I have found a rinse/conditioner for blonde hair that seems to improve the gray, and I'm sticking with that. Nothing else!

As of now (and I apologize for being so horrible lately at keeping up with the blog- - being sick makes me so listless and unmotivated to do anything) the cold is beginning to subside and I'm feeling like part of the living human race again. WOO-HOO!!!

The Long, Loooooooooong Hallways

2008-08-09T05:36:00.000-04:00

I am quite pleased that at the middle school 'entry' level there is a program that takes place before the school year begins that allowing parents to register their children in school, buy the required Phys. Ed clothes, and allow a tour of the school and a 'meet and greet' by the teachers. I think Lola and I had equally as much fun wandering the long hallways of the middle school together exploring every classroom and meeting her new teachers. I am totally impressed that a class in Engineering and Technology is offered at the 6th grade level. Hmmmm, I wonder how long I could attend classes before they find out I'm not really a 6th grader?? ha ha ha
I have developed the weirdest cold over the last week or so - - it began with a bit of a sore throat and some stuffiness in my nose. But a couple days later the sore throat became so intense I couldn't eat or swallow without great pain! That lasted three days. Then after the sore throat subsided I was left with a great amount of congestion in my nose! Right now the congestion is beginning to feel as though it has moved on to my lungs. This pattern (minus the intense sore throat) is pretty typical of the usual cold I get, which occurs maybe about one time every year. Somehow this one has taken more of my energy to fight than the usual cold. We'll see where it goes...

Middle School or Bust

2008-08-06T18:26:00.001-04:00

Well, the day of my conference with the staff at Lola's elementary school was quite surprising. I was told by Lola's teachers that she puts forth much effort in class and is always happy to participate, and retaining her in the 5th grade would not really be doing her any good. They pointed out that with a greater understanding of the English language she will quickly fill in any gaps needed to be up to level in the 6th grade. In addition, there is a great amount of ESOL support at the middle school level as well so she should be able to transition smoothly. WOW! Imagine the look on Lola's face when I went home that afternoon to tell her she was going to the 6th grade after all! I told her also that she needs to try a bit harder in making sure she tracks her homework and if she does not understand something to always ask the teacher to explain it (quite often in 5th grade she was too shy about her English to ask questions, but over the summer her vocabulary has developed quite nicely)
The mad dash for school supplies has begun!!