Fours

Fours

Eek! I have been tagged! I have seen this one floating about and Patricia tagged me. So here we go with my take on Fours.

Four Jobs I've Had:
1. Waitress (toughest job I’ve ever had)
2. Florist, sales and delivery (I loved doing the deliveries)
3. Exercised horses for the lady across the street (not paid, but very cool)
4. Lab technician (my last paying gig)

Four Movies I Watch Over and Over Again:
1. Harvey (first movie I ever bought)
2. The Incredibles (No capes!)
3. The Producers (the original of course)
4. Evil Dead II (haven’t seen it in a while, but I do love it)

Four Places I've Lived:
1. New London, Connecticut (Home to the Hygienic restaurant, which wasn’t in my time)
2. Branford, Connecticut (First place after I moved away from home)
3. Madison, Wisconsin (Great city)
4. East Brandywine, Pennsylvania (The Blob was filmed near here)

Four T.V. Shows I Watch:
1. CSI: Miami (beautiful dead bodies in bikinis)
2. Numb3rs (FBI and geeks)
3. Avatar: The Last Airbender (The whole family loves this one)
4. The Red Green Show (When I can find it)

Four Places I've Been on Vacation:
1. Curacao (Honeymoon)
2. Deerfield Beach, Florida (Gorgeous public beach)
3. Leningrad, USSR (Beautiful city, Moscow was so drab)
4. Gallatin National Forest (The last big vacation before kids)

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
1. Meryl
2. Terry
3. Woulda Coulda Shoulda
4. The rest of my blog roll

Four Favorite Foods:
1. Chocolate
2. Yummy cow (steak)
3. Curry
4. Scallops

Four Places I'd Like to Be Right Now:
1. Curacao
2. Vermont
3. England
4. Australia

Four Bloggers I'm Tagging:
1. Y
2. O
3. U
4. !

Now That's Just Wrong

Just over nine years ago we moved away from Wisconsin, which is located on the north eastern edge of tornado alley. I remember hearing the tornado sirens being tested during the summer months. Tornado season generally lasted from about May to November.

I remember the first few times we heard the sirens go off, Larry and I would huddle down in the basement with our portable radio until the all clear had been sounded. After a few years we became a bit more blasé about the whole thing.

When we left Wisconsin I cried the day we pulled away from our house for the last time. Part of it was the onslaught of new mother hormones (Jake was just 6 weeks old), but I had also come to love the Midwest. I had a great job and lots of friends that I was leaving behind. But one thing I was not going to miss was the weather. I can’t stand the shear unpredictability of tornados.

Fast forward to last Friday night. As I was puttering about late that night a huge, rip-snorting thunderstorm cut loose. I was stunned by the lighting strikes, great brilliant flashes that lit the whole yard. I had the TV on and after a while the show was interrupted by the breathless announcement of a tornado warning.

What?!

It’s freaking January. I know it has been unusually warm, but a tornado warning?

I was offended enough by the thunderstorm. Growing up in the northeast, I never had encountered a thunderstorm in January. The addition of the tornado warning was just plain wrong.

And the capper to all this, the wind gusts blew the tarp right off of the shed. Our poor, beautifully roof papered shed with just one course of shingles. When the thunderstorm/tornado moved on I ran out and recovered the shed. It was going to rain all night. Fortunately we had used the pricier paper and it survived the deluge and the interior of the shed had remained dry.

So what I want to know is when is it going to be winter?

Hey it's Lee-Jackson Day!

Well this weekend it looks like it will be festival of the shed. Today in the Commonwealth of Virginia it is Lee-Jackson day and Larry was able to take the day off.

As an interesting side note, there was for a brief period in Virginia the bizarre conglomeration of a Lee-Jackson-King Day. At one point, in Virginia, King Day was observed on New Years day. The Lee-Jackson holiday has been observed since 1904 on the third Monday in January. The federal declaration of MLK Day created the conflict of the two holidays as they both fell on the same day. In 2000 the two holidays were separated by moving the Lee-Jackson day forward three days to the Friday beforehand.

Larry’s comment about the holiday was to dryly observe that it was to celebrate his confederate heritage, pretty funny coming from a Yankee transplant.

So instead of staggering about in some mucky field we will instead shingle the shed. So far we have gotten the starter course up on both sides and the first course up on one. The shingles are a bear to cut. I think I need to get a better tool for the job, but I think this one is a little more in our price range.

Thursday Three: Boring!

Today Terry showcases a slate of questions to show how dull and boring we all are.

Well, it’s a good thing YOU’RE excited, because these questions have been designed to suck all the exhilaration right out of the entire Internets!

To get right to it, then: Think about where you work, whether it’s in an office or factory or your own home, and tell us--

1) What sorts of activities that you have to do in your normal everyday life that are so mind-numbingly boring that you could just scream, if you cared enough?

2) Although you might think YOUR boring thing is the most boringestest thing of all, what do you see OTHER people doing around your workplace that causes you to think maybe you don’t have it quite so bad after all?

3) Conversely, what sorts of things do you see other people getting to do in their daily tasks that you think would be SO COOL if you could do them?

Now then, either leave your answers below in the comments, OR answer them on your online personal journal, which some people call a “web log,” or “blog” for short.

Hmmm, I’m going to answer this two ways; before kids, when I was gainfully employed and now.

1.)When I was earning a paycheck it would be when I had to feed the cell stocks. Two times a week and it was boring. Occasionally I would have the excitement of finding something contaminated, but that was rare. I was very good at maintaining the tissue cells in culture and I successfully kept one line in continuous culture for over a year without contamination. We had a little birthday party for it.

Nowadays it would be doctors’ appointments for the kids. With four kids and one having CF I spend a lot of time shuttling people to the doctors’ office. The regular pediatrician isn’t so bad. I’ve learn to avoid the place on Mondays and Saturdays. On average we end up waiting about 30 minutes in the waiting room and another 10 in the exam room. The CF clinic at MCV is another story. We had a record breaking appointment yesterday. I spent 2 hours in the waiting room and another 45 minutes in the exam room. Mind you this was with two restive four year olds. It was hideously boring. At least the staff was very apologetic. All of the doctors ducked their heads in shame and apologized for the delay. Personally I think they need to reevaluate there scheduling and hire more doctors.

2.)In the old days it would have been Pat’s job. She made up all sorts of sterile solutions for the various research labs at Yale. She had minimal human contact and her office/lab was in the basement and had no widows. Apparently she could be difficult, but she liked me. I was always polite and I made sure that my bottles were clean (some idiots would bring her dirty bottles to fill with sterile solutions).

Today it would be parents that spend all their time chauffeuring their children from one activity to another. I gripe about soccer practice, but some kids have multiple after and before school activities. All that time spent in the car and waiting for the little darling to finish. I have a policy of one sport at a time and we are trying to avoid the more time consuming ones (i.e. hockey and skating).

3.)The coolest job, why that would be ... Lion Tamer!
Actually I was happy as my job as a lab tech and I do love being a mother. A really cool job would be one that lets me putter about and actually get paid to raise my children.

Remember That Shed We're Building?

When we last left off Larry and I gotten the walls up.

And then we had a bit of a break. Between birthdays, holidays and various people being sick we did not get a whole lot done. Just before we left for out epic trip up north Larry and I found the time and energy to put up the rafters and the roof deck.

Project1
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

Now that really looks like a shed.

It was a bear to wrestle the big panels up, position them and nail them in place. It might have even been harder than getting the walls up. But we got the job done. Since we were not going to be shingling the shed until after the start of the New Year, we decided to put a tarp on the shed.

tarpshed
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

This would protect the roof deck and I could now use the shed. Before we left I stuffed all sorts of toys and junk strewn about the yard into the shed.

Yesterday (Monday) Larry stayed home from work so that we could do a little more work on the shed.

He went off and got the shangles (Yes they are shangles, not shingles. Our fancy pants subdivision covenants specify what roofing materials we can use. We have a choice of Certainteed shangles, Hendrix tile, imitation slate and cedar shakes/shingles.), roofing felt and nails. I had bought the drip edge on Sunday when I was getting my plumbing supplies.

The weather was perfect. The temperature was in the 60’s (!), sunny with a steady breeze. Since the shed in the woods and our property is naturally protected on windy days, the breeze presented no problems for us. The roof deck was nice and dry when I unveiled it. I was able to install the drip edge on the eaves and lay out the roofing felt. Larry than got up on the roof and nailed down the felt.

shedpaper
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

The felt is a much better surface to work on than the deck itself. It was very slippery when Larry had to put in the upper nails of the roof deck. On the felt he could sit in place and not slide off the roof. This made me feel much better about our shingling the shed ourselves.

We were not able to get any shingling done yesterday, but if you look carefully in the picture above you can see them in the shed. It is nice that we can now store our building materials in the shed.

In the meantime there are all sorts of finishing touches I can do before we do the shingling.

More Plumbing with Sarah

Sunday I was quite a busy beaver. I went out and got some building supplies for the shed, a new toilet seat for the kid’s bathroom and a cartridge for the tub facet.

The faucet had been leaking for a while. Originally it was just a slow drip, but it had been worsening (as these things are want to do) over time. For a while if I banged on the handle the drip would stop and then that stopped being effective. Finally, the drip turned into a stream and I realized I had to do something. Admittedly I procrastinate, but I was loath to do this job because I did not have ready access to the shut off valves to the tub. The tub’s fixtures abut our linen closet, but the builder did not provide a knock-out panel. I could cut into the back wall of the closet, but I don’t like cutting blind into a wall. Instead I shut off the main water supply valve to the house. This meant I had to go to the far corner of the crawl space under the house.

Most of the crawl space is fairly reasonable and it is possible to walk about with only ducking your head. But the dirt floor rises towards the far corner and you have to scuttle about, twisting by pipes and low hanging phone wires.

crawlspace2
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

Once the water was shut off I tromped back upstairs to fix the faucet.

I tried to get a picture of the drippy faucet, but the water drips wouldn’t show up, so you’ll just have to believe me on this one.

I popped off the cap and removed the faucet handle.

bathtub2
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

The cartridge was a bit tricky, but the manufacturer did supply a handy tool. Once the cartridge was out I was free to pop in the new one. This proved to be tricky. The little piece that holds it in place would not go back in. It took a fair about of wiggling and repositioning until both sides of the pin slid into place. Finally it went in and I was able to put the handle back on.

Then I trudged back to under the house and turned the water back on. Sucess! Now we have a nice drip free faucet.

bathtub
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

The toilet seat was a bonus. I figured since everything else was getting fixed up it was time to replace it as well. It was getting chipped and had odd bumps on the surface. The bathroom now looks 100 % better.

Thoughts from Saturday Morning

I like eggnog. I like it a lot, but not enough to make my own (I don’t do raw eggs). I am very happy with the non-alcoholic version, so as a result I look forward to this time of year when I can pick up my favorite brand at the grocery store.

On Saturday morning I was sipping on my eggnog and cooking up pancakes. When I put down my glass next to the bowl full of batter I noticed something interesting. (I just want to say here that it is amazing how you can find pictures of almost everything on the web.) Except for the flakes of nutmeg, they look almost identical. I called Larry over and he agreed. The only other difference was that the batter was significantly thicker than the drink. We decided to try a little of the eggnog in the pan. It was, as I thought, too thin and rapidly boiled away with little spits and bubbles into a smudge of caramelized paste. I scraped it up and had a little taste. Meh, it warm, solidified eggnog, not horrible, but not worth repeating. It probably would work *in* the batter and would result in eggnog flavored pancakes. However, I won’t try it because I like my pancakes plain and slathered with butter.

So be careful, cook the batter and drink the eggnog. I am happy to report that I did not drink any batter.

Wintertime Fun

As y’all have probably figured out by now we went north to go visit family for the holidays.

My mom lives in Vermont and we are pretty much guaranteed to get a nice taste of winter when we go visit. This year was not an exception, but it was a close thing with the rain and warm temperatures (40’s at Christmas time, how absurd). There was a good 4-6 inches of wet snow in her backyard. The kids had a blast making snowman, knocking them over and having snowball fights. It wasn’t until Monday that we went sledding.

happy
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

The town park is just a few houses down from my mother’s and there is a nice sidewalk to take us there. The park is at the bottom of a small valley formed by a brook that extends to behind my mom's property. As a result it is a flood plain that has sensibly been turned into a park with a playground and all sorts of playing fields. To reach the park you have to descend a fairly steep hill down to the flood plain. In the winter the hill makes for some spectacular sledding.

On Monday we all trooped over to the park. It was warm (the aforementioned 40’s) and the snow was soft and slushy. The sledding was fun, but a bit wet. The bulk of the hill had a large slushy puddle at the base. It was fun to zip through the puddle and send up a large wave of slushy water, but you ran the risk of getting soaked and possibly stranded in the puddle. We elected to stay near the staircase on its East side. There were various hazards on that side, but they were easily avoided and there was no puddle. We stayed out for about an hour before hunger called us in for lunch.

On Monday night the temperature dropped and the snow solidified. As a result sledding was spectacular on Tuesday and Wednesday. The sled runs were fast and the puddle had frozen over. With a good push you could rocket down the hill and almost across the field.


lookingdown
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

Somebody had built a small jump and Nate had a glorious time jumping his sled. For Hanukkah we gave him a shirt that said “I do my own stunts” which was really appropriate.

jump
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

Here you see Nate just before he gets on the sled and during mid-jump. This one wasn’t quite as good as the other jumps because you can see he is about to tip over.

lookingupstairs
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

In this photo you get to see the handy staircase on the hill. I must say it made tramping up the slippery slope much easier.

Near the end of our sledding session on Wednesday we also went to take a look at the playground and the brook. The playground was a bit lame in the snow, but the brook was beautiful.

bloodbrook
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

As an added bonus I took the kids to a footbridge that crossed the brook.

bridge
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

It gave me the heebie-jeebies crossing it in the snow, but it was fun. Quite a contrast to the river and bridge that Terry featured over at his blog!

After all of our fun and excitment down by the brook we did a few more runs and headed back to my Mom’s house.

headingback
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

Mom’s new house is turning out to be grandchild heaven.

Thursday Three: the Forgotten

Hey it’s Thursday and that means it is time for the Axis of Weevil Thursday Three! Today Terry has provided us with a fresh and exciting slate of questions to start off the New Year. And here we g...

Oh, it appears our fearless leader has been a bit distracted and instead he presents us with the following:

But, I forgot it was Thursday. Which means today’s Axis of Weevil Thursday Three will start the New Year off in tepid fashion with a Slapdashed-Together Edition of America’s Favorite Online Questionnaire!

Scrounging around through my desk drawer and underneath the file cabinet, I found some vowels and consonants, which I have skillfully assembled using a nearly dried-out glue stick and a twist tie to come up with these questions. We ask that you use caution as you answer them, because the glue isn’t really sticking things together all that well.

ANYway, here we go:

1) What is the most important thing you ever forgot to do?
2) Do you try to keep yourself organized through a routine so you don’t have to rely so much on remembering things, or do you follow a more open approach based on what you want to get done during the day and try to actually think things through?
3) What do you have the most trouble remembering--people’s names, how to get places, or important dates?

Okeedoke--all of you go off and answer! Either leave your answers in the comments below, or leave a link to your blog post.

1) Hmmm, the most important thing I have ever forgotten to do. Well there have been a variety of cooking mishaps were I have forgotten to add an ingredient or spaced out and left something in the oven too long. I think the worst was when I was about 13 or so and I was boiling up a couple of hotdogs for me and my brother for lunch. We went outside to play for a bit and we both completely forgot about them. We came back in an hour later to find one extremely hot pot with two shriveled up and blackened bits of former hotdogs annealed to the bottom of the said pot. It took a lot of elbow grease to clean out that pot. I have in recent years spaced out on appointments and such and one time I sat down for a moment to rest for a bit and fell asleep on the couch. I slept through meeting the Jake at the bus stop and was only waked when my neighbor called. It turns out that the he had walked to the house (maybe 200 ft from the bus stop) found the doors locked and then went across the street to our neighbors. I felt horrible. I rushed over to collect my boy and profusely apologized to him. In my defense though I was caring for twin infants at the time and was a bit of a zombie.

2)Routines and schedules help me get things done. I’m much better at keeping on top of things if I have a regular rhythm to my day and/or week. Subsequently everything goes to pot when we are on vacation. Thinking things out can be a baaaaad idea, that’s how I get sidetracked.

3)I’m horrible with people’s names. I can be formally introduced to someone at an event and 15 minutes later I’ll have no clue what about their name. Cocktail parties are the worst. I’m deaf in one ear and I get a bit overwhelmed by the background noise. The result is that I have a hard time hearing people around me and I might not properly “catch” their name before they move on. Dog shows are equally noisy and again I might miss the introduction. The sad thing is I can often remember the names of all their dogs. However, this is a common problem in the dogshow world and dog people are a little more forgiving and understanding.

So thus ends this week’s less than memorable answers to the Thursday Three.

Artist of the week: Special Holidays Edition

This week’s artists are all four of my brood.

100_58
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

As I mentioned earlier the kids made most of the decorations to my mother’s Christmas tree. I say most because a few blown glass ones did find their way onto the tree.

Anywho, they did a bang of job of making paper chains, pictures, dangly bead things and more. I supervised them and helped by tying knots and getting the glue to go in the right place. The rest was up to them. They even hung their finished projects on the tree.

On the last day of Hanukkah they decorated cookies (scroll down to the party pack) with food coloring markers. Nate had gotten this from his teacher. It turns out Mrs. H is also Jewish and she had received this and had passed it on to Nate.

hanukkahcookies
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

The kids had a great deal of fun coloring their cookies. What could be better than using markers on cookies? Especially when the markers are filled with food coloring and the cookies are still safe to eat! The cookies themselves were a bit blah, which may have been due to the fact that they were dragged up and down the Eastern seaboard. Max’s mouth turned green from his scribbled cookie, but that was it for mess. I will be saving the markers to use again. Maybe I’ll get motivated and we’ll make some gingerbread cookies that I could ice. Mmmmm gingerbread.

The Most Evil Gift in the World

Or the best, it really depends upon your perspective and age.

I love my brother. He is a very sweet guy who gives thoughtful gifts and really knows what his niece and nephews would like to get for Christmas, but this year, oh my. From Max’s perspective he knocked this one right out of the ball park with the bases loaded. For me it is more like watching two infielders crashing together that results in nobody catching an easy pop-fly and allowing the other team score the winning run.

And what, you may ask, could this gift be.

Just scroll on down and then you will see.








drums
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

Yes it is a drum kit. It is a real, fully functional, four year old size drum kit that comes complete with drum sticks and a seat.

All four children love it. They would periodically sit down and flail away when ever the mood struck them. This was very often on the first day and tapered down to every couple of hours on the last day of our stay at my mother’s house. Fortunately each drum solo would only be a few minutes long. Five minutes seemed to be about average.

The kit held up fairly well and only one drum head sustained a tear which was easily patched with packing tape (not the best solution, but it worked). It was the mid-sized drum on Max’s right. Since all four of our children are right handed, it probably got the most abuse.

Now I will admit that my brother did give me a heads up. If I had wanted, I’m sure I could have gotten him to take it back, but then I would have felt like a total kill joy. Instead I decided to just let it be. On the upside I’ve noticed that the drumming has gotten a bit more musical as the kids play with the kit. We did bring it back home with us and it is currently in Max and Rebecca’s bedroom. Max has only played with it a few times since we have gotten back and the sound level is fairly reasonable.

Now if it had been one of those awful Bratz/Hos-in-training dolls I would have deep-sixed it without a millisecond of remorse.

Eighth Day Home Again and an Explanation

We are home now. This is one of our menorahs and my favorite.

eighthnight
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

It is titled “The Synagogues of Europe” Hannukia and was created by Maude Weisser in loving memory of lost communities. It came with a little booklet and I will reprint it here in verbatim.

Artist Maude Weisser is proud to introduce her “Synagogues of Europe” Hannukia. Inspired by the long history and great struggles of European Jewry, as well as the architectural beauty of these old Synagogues; this Hannukia is sure to become a collector’s heirloom.

“The Synagogue” has always been central to the observance and expression of the Jewish faith. It is also one of Judaism’s great legacies to mankind giving inspiration to the development of both the Church and the Mosque. The Synagogue functioned not only as a house of worship, but was the hub of Jewish community life and the central pillar from which the Jews derived their faith, strength and sheer will to survive.

The Synagogues chosen for this Hannukia reflect the great diversity of architectural styles employed by the Jews of the Diaspora in their respective lands. Each community was influenced by the unique styles of the particular country or city in which they were located. However, underlying these surface differences is the unity and strength of the Jewish faith, common to Jewish communities the world over.

1.) Prague, Czechoslovakia: The Altneuschul or “Old-New Synagogue” (c. 1280) is perhaps the most famous and oldest European Synagogue still in use. Located in the Jewish Quarter of Prague, the facade of this building is unusually impressive for its’ time. The gothic atmosphere of the Synagogue inspired many legends, including the story of Judah Loew, a 17th century rabbi who is said to have created “The Golem” here, a mechanical monster designed to save the Jews of Prague from oppression.

2.) Toledo, Spain: Santa Maria La Blanca Synagogue (c. 1200), this is the oldest of the Toledo Synagogues, a city which was home to a Jewish population of some 15,000. The Christian sounding name, “St. Mary the White” is the name of the convent for repentant women into which this synagogue was converted in the 16th c. The building was confiscated from the Jewish community in the early 15th c. by an angry mob of Anti-Semites. Although the exterior is rather plain and simple, the interior is very lavish and adorned in Moorish style.

3.) Dubronik, Yugoslavia: The Dubrovnik Synagogue was built in the 17th c. on the second story of a narrow ancient building in the Jewish section of the city. The architecture is that of a typical small Sephardi Synagogue and can be attributed to the influence of refugees from Spain and Portugal who arrived in this Eastern European community at the end of the 15th century. The Torah scrolls, which survived the Nazis during World War II were brought from Spain in 1492.

4.) Cracow, Poland: The Rema Synagogue (c. 1550) was one of the first Polish Synagogues built in the Renaissance style. It was burned by the Nazis but reconstructed after the war. This Synagogue was built by the father of the great rabbinical authority, Moses Isserles (The Rema), in honor of his son. It is one of a number of Polish “Family Synagogues” which were built by wealthy men and intended for use by a limited group of worshippers from the founding family.

5.) Vilna, Poland: This gate is located at the entrance to the shulhof on Jews’ Street, in the Jewish Quarter of Vilna. This section of the city housed over 20 Synagogues and was the focus of Jewish community life in the city.

6.) Lutsk, Poland: The Lutsk Fortress Synagogue (c. 1626) like many synagogues throughout Poland was designed to be defended in case of need. The so-called “Fortress Synagogues” were built in monumental scale with thick walls and a parapet which was used not only as a look-out but for active military defense if called for. It was built with loop holes for housing cannons and guns. The tower also served as a look-out in times of emergency but otherwise it was used as a jail for petty criminals. At this time it was common for Synagogues to have cells in their vestibules or cellars to imprison minor criminals.

7.) Zabludow, Poland: The Zabludow Synagogue (c. 1756) was a wooden Synagogue built in the style of the wooden Synagogue in Wolpa. The Wooden Synagogue was an original Polish building style. Timber, usually pine but also oak was in ample supply in the Polish forests and wood was easy and familiar for the Polish builders to work with. Smaller rural communities were unable to afford stone masonry work and wood became the material of choice for these congregations. However, these wooden Synagogues were very vulnerable to fire and wood rot and thus very few survived up until W.W. II. At the outbreak of the War only 100 wooden Synagogues were still in existence and the Nazis destroyed them all.

8.) Budapest, Hungary: The Synagogue in Obuda, built in 1820-21 was designed in the neo-classical style with a clock on the front facade. It was considered the outstanding Synagogue of the Hapsburg Empire in the early 19th century. Although the building still exists today, it is no longer used as a Synagogue.

9.) Florence, Italy: Tiempo Israelitico, completed in 1882 exhibits a strong Oriental influence in architectural style. The domes, turrets, arches and extravagant detailing are derived from Byzantine, Islamic and Spanish-Moorish sources. The Synagogue’s basic plan was inspired by the famous Santa Sofia in Istanbul, and its’ impressive dome stands out prominently even in Florence.

This very special and unique Hannuka was created in loving memory of the many diverse Jewish communities which existed in Europe prior to World War II. Although several of the synagogues still exist today, the communities which once flourished within them for the most part no longer do, but the contributions of these communities to world Jewry today shall never be forgotten.

The Synagoesgues are listed from left to right. I added some links to the text to connect you to some pictures (if they exist) and some more information.

I fully intended to share with y’all pictures for each night of Hanukkah, but I was sandbagged by a nasty case of strep and I had to go on hiatus. I will post the pictures later with a few more stories of our adventures.

Fourth Night

The fourth night of Hanukkah.

100_0060
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

Tonight was to be family film night. The original plan was an early dinner and Larry would take the boys to go see the latest Harry Potter movie. Meanwhile, I would stay home with Max and Rebecca and watch a more four year old friendly film with them. Well the movie theater switched around its schedule from Saturday and they missed the last showing and came back home. So I guess in the end we had a much more family oriented night.

Today's big excitement was provided by Rally. I had been noticing that things weren’t right with her so I whisked her off to the vet. Turns out the poor thing has a raging urinary tract infection. Now she gets to have four pills a day for the next two weeks. Luckily, she is very easy to pill. I dropped one pill on the floor just as I was about to give it to her and she scarfed it up and looked for more. This is a cute picture of her curled up under the table that the menorah is on.

100_0061
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

Third Night

Tonight is the third night of Hanukkah. Tonight Max and Rebecca got some very cute Gund animals.

100_0059
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

This is actually Max’s second mouse. The first one was an early victim of John, aka the Jaws of Doom. I noticed it at the checkout when I was getting a frame for Larry’s birthday present. Rebecca was all over the over toys and Max was asleep in the cart. I snagged it and a Pegasus for Rebecca when she turned her attention elsewhere. Max was utterly delighted when he opened up his present tonight. I know that will be the last time I’ll be able to by presents for them when they are with me.

Second Night

Here is Rebecca with our menorah on the second night of Hanukkah.

100_0057
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

She was a bit miffed that she got a hat while her brothers got Yu-Gi-Oh cards. She tossed the hat (a nice crushed black velvet affair with a few flowers on the band) and announced that she “no like hats!”The photo session seemed to mollify her a little. I figure by tomorrow morning she will be over her pique and love the hat.

First Night and More

Last night was the first night of Hanukkah. My Mom has a menorah at her house that was given to us by Larry’s paternal Grandmother. We found a nice spot in the front room, lit the candles and recited the blessings.

000_0011
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

I’ll try to do another update tonight after we light the candles again.

The funny part is that the menorah shares the room with my mother’s Christmas tree. This year she has decided to get a pre lit artificial tree. At the age of 76 my mom has decided that she no longer has the energy or where withal to deal with a real tree. She now lives in town so she has the added burden of disposing of the dried out husk. No longer can she just toss it into the swamp. I miss smell of a real tree, but not the mess and bother.

After she set it up she then decided that she no longer wanted to deal with hauling ornaments up out of the basement. The stairs are treacherous and the boxes are awkward. I suggested that the kids could decorate the tree. I bought paper, scissors, glue and a craft kit. The kids had a wonderful time making things and putting them on the tree.

000_0001
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

I think it turned out quite well. We ended up making them on Christmas Eve and think it is a nice little tradition that we may have started.

Happy Hanukkah!

holiday05c
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

Tonight we all wish you a very Happy Hanukkah.

And today we also wish you a Merry Christmas.

Baking And Birthday Presents

On Thursday I wrote how I do a fair amount of gift baking, usually I make my tried and true chocolate chip cookies. As I said in the post below, they are very popular. Here is a shot of a batch fresh out of the oven.

Project45
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

The funny mat underneath is my Silpat (I learned about it from The Food Whore). It is a nonstick baking surface that Larry gave me for my birthday this year. I love it! The cookies really do just slide off. I can’t wait to make some Shofar cookies for passover next year. I have tried to make them before, but they were a big sticky, albeit tasty mess.

Anyway back to this week.

For the boys’ teachers I asked them what do they want to give this year. Nate wanted to give chocolate chip cookies to his teacher and Jake wanted to give brownies.

So I made a batch of cookies to split between Nate’s teacher and the bus driver and plopped them into some decorative cookie tins. I tried a new chip variation and used a mix of 2/3’s regular semi-sweet morsels and 1/3 carmel and chocolate swirled chips. They were fabulous! For the brownies I like to use Baker’s One Bowl brownie Recipe with, of course, a few modifications.

BAKER'S CHOCOLATE ONE BOWL BROWNIE
RECIPE  

4 sq. Baker's unsweetened chocolate
3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla*
1 c. flour
1 c. chopped nuts, optional**

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwave bowl at high 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

3. Stir sugar into chocolate. Mix in eggs and vanilla *until well blended. Stir in flour and nuts. Spread in greased 13 x 9 inch pan.***

4. Bake 30-35 minutes**** or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Cool in pan; cut into squares. Makes 24 fudgy brownies.

Note: When using glass baking dish, bake at 325 degrees. For cake-like brownies, stir in 1/2 cup milk with eggs; use 1 1/2 cups flour.

* I add about 1 tablespoon of Chambord (the raspberry liquor, not the castle).
**Nuts, no way! I use chocolate chips.
***I use a 9 x 9 inch pan. this results in a nice thick and gooey brownie.
****Since I use a smaller pan that makes thicker brownies, the baking time gets extended another 5 to 10 minutes.

The Chambord intensifies the chocolate flavor of the brownies. You don’t have to use it, but i highly recommend it.

I baked the first batch of cookies and the brownies Tuesday night so the boys could take them to the last day of school. Wednesday morning I baked another batch of cookies to spilt between our mail carrier and for us. I was just able to finish making them before she showed up with our mail. It was one of the few times I’ve slogged out to the mailbox hoping that we did not have mail. I’ll find out next year how the baking was received.

Thursday Three: Ramahannuchristmakwanzavus

Hey! It’s Thursday and y’all know what that means.
Today Terry is treating us to a very special Second Annual Axis of Weevil Ramahannuchristmakwanzavus Thursday Three!

Terry writes the following:

We understand that there are several different types of highly competitive holiday celebrations ongoing at this time of year, so we expect you all to behave and be nice to each other's religious and/or non-religious proclivities and not make the Animated Swingin’ Singin’ Santa Lite-Up Guest Greeter cry. Or Santa Monica, for that matter.

Remember, anyone (theoretically) can play along, and if you don’t do any celebrating of any sort, it’s okay. Just make something up and no one will be any wiser. Just leave your answers neatly gift-wrapped in the comment section below, or leave a link to your blog so we can all come by and oooo-and-ahhhh at your inventiveness.

Anyway, on to the questions, which were once again provided by our favorite East Carolinian, Jim Smith (not an alias, by the way), just like they were last year.

They are this:
1. Are you an early bird in the prep for the holidays, and if so, how early do you start?
2. If you decorate your house, when do the decorations go up, and what are they?
3. Do you go out of your way to find special, well-thought-out presents, or are you so harried and confused that gift cards make more sense?

Well I’ll do my best not to make the Santas cry, but Santa needs to stop scaring all the children.
Originally I was a Unitarian and I converted to Judaism shortly before I married my husband. In no way was I pressured to convert, it was a natural evolution of my beliefs. As a result I live in the strange world of Christmahanukah. At home we celebrate Hanukah and we go visit my Mother up north for Christmas.

1) I think I’m about average. I get some things early and others are done at the last minute. I have a hard time doing anything before Thanksgiving. I like to do my holiday’s one at a time and in a linear fashion. The only exception is Hanukah gift wrap and candles. I have learned over the years to snap those babies up when they appear in the stores. The Richmond area has a very small Jewish population and the area merchants generally do not cater to us. This year our local Target had some beautiful Hanukah candles for sale before Turkey day. Last weekend there was no evidence of any Hanukah related merchandise in the store.

2) My decorating is limited to displaying holiday cards on the windows and our menorahs. Up at my mother’s house we help put up the tree and decorate it. She will have a few knick-knacks, a crèche or two, a wreath on the front door, one of these (her spinner is much simpler) and wreaths on the candles. It is fairly low key. No outside displays or lights.

3) Larry and I try to put a lot of thought into our gifts. We limit ourselves to our immediate family, my mother, my brother and his wife. For everyone else, teachers, the mail carrier and others I bake cookies for them. Last year our mail carrier, Yvonne, wrote the funniest thank you note. Apparently my cookies caused marital discord. She and her husband fought over who got the last cookie. We also make up a calendar every year with photos of the kids and dole them out to their grandparents, aunt and uncles. I can’t tell you any more because my family (Hi Mom!) reads this mess.

Artist of the Week: Legos Revisited

This week’s artist is Jake.

Jakecar
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

Jake built two very nice skyscrapers this past week.

legotowers
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

They are not very big, less than 8 inches, but they really do look like buildings you would see in the city. Admittedly they are very garishly colored ones, but nice buildings all the same. I like the grey top to the red building. It is a piece from one of the robot kits Jake and Nate have strewn about on their bedroom floor. I like how he could use the piece in a completely different way. This is what I love about Legos and blocks in general. They allow for a lot of creative expression. My only complaint is that there is nothing more painful to step on with bare feet than Legos. As a result they have banished to their bedroom. I threaten to toss any I find left downstairs. My own mother had the same love hate relationship with Legos. She used to tell my brother and me that the rattling of a lego being sucked up by the vacuum cleaner was her most favorite sound in the world.

Doom at the Bus Stop

There are a fair number of vultures about our subdivision. You can see them wheeling about in the thermals overhead. I accept the fact that I live in their environment. We live near a very well forested state park and the houses were built with the minimum of tree removal.

Never the less it is a bit disturbing to see this

vulturesfar
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

as you escort your children to the bus stop one brisk morning.

There were at least a dozen vultures in a dead tree not a stone’s throw from the bus stop. Here is a better shot of the birds.

vultures
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

I like how one of them has spread its wings to catch the feeble warmth of the early morning sun.

They only congregate on cool mornings with bright sunshine. The most unsettling location that they select is the roofline of some poor soul’s home. Imagine pulling out of the garage and seeing a dozen or more very large and very black birds that are commonly associated with death, arrayed on top of your home. What a nice way to start your commute to work. And yes, I have seen it a couple of times. Thankfully it has not been my home, but I can imagine the sound of them clumping about on the roof.

Its a Brand New Day

As you can see, things got changed around a bit here. I hope you like it.

I *think* it is all set. There hardest part was re-jiggering Haloscan and getting my pretty banner all set.

There are also a couple of additions to my Links: Out of the Frying Pan and Janis’s spot Gone South.

So please leave a comment about what you think and any oddities that may crop up.

Wake Up Call

Thursday had an interesting start.

Both Larry and I forgot to set the alarm clock. Usually this wouldn’t be too big a problem, I normally wake up around seven and this is early enough to get the troops up, dressed, fed, give Max his thumpies (chest PTs) and still make the school bus at 8:40am.

But this time I didn’t wake up at 7 and the alarm did not go off. Instead, I awoke to the sound of the phone ringing. My first thought was who on Earth would be calling at this hour (I thought it was about 7:00am, the sky was overcast and it was snowing) then I switched over to “Oh no something is wrong with Mom!” I grabbed the phone and was about to answer when I noticed on the caller ID that the caller was one of Jake’s classmates.

Why on earth is he calling?

J wanted to speak with Jake. Ooooh kaaaay. I dug up Jake and handed him the phone. At that point I noticed the time. Ack! It’s 8:05 and we are all still in our pjs !

I flew upstairs and told Nate to get dressed and got Max up. Jake then called me over. It turns out the J had forgotten his spelling words and panicked that maybe the spelling test would be today and not Thursday since the fourth grade Chimers would be performing for the school superintendent on Friday. (As a side note Jake would never panic over something like this, he honestly would not care.) I dug up the list and handed it to Jake. After a few words he called me back. He had just awoken and he said his voice was not ready to read off all the words. So I took over and, thankfully, J’s mom took over the transcribing on their end. I then calmly read off the list of 25 words to J’s mom while my mind was screaming “AHHHHHH! MUST GET DRESSED! MUST GET KIDS TO SCHOOL! AHHHHH!” Meanwhile Larry dressed Max and Rebecca, brought them downstairs and started Max’s nebulization. Once off the phone I slapped together pb and j sandwiches for Jake and Nate’s breakfast (boy was I grateful that they have been on a sandwich for breakfast kick) and then rushed upstairs to throw on some clothes. All the while I was amazed that school was starting on time with the snow falling (I doubled checked on the computer while reading off the words) I got another lucky break that the hot lunch that day was something they both like. At 8:35 I hustled the boys out the door to the bus stop. Amazingly we were on time.

I then turned towards home. I still needed to feed myself, take a shower and deal with Max and Rebecca. As an added bonus they had a check-up at 10:30 and we had to be out of the house by 9:50 in order to make it on time.

Larry (and I just want to say here is a fabulous guy) had already started Max’s thumpies, I relieved him so that he could shower and get to work.

In the end we all got dressed and made it to our respective destinations.

Thursday Three: Anticipation

This week’s Thursday Three is all about waiting. Terry posts the following:

We’ve still got a good week left before even CONSIDERING doing an All Holy Day Version--this week, you’re just gonna have to WAIT. Or, you know, participate in today’s rendition of the game that’s sweeping the nation, the Axis of Weevil Thursday Three, Unbearable Anticipation Edition!

Huzzah!

As is the custom, we will ask you three probing and insightful questions (or three just-regular questions) and you will either answer them in the comments below, or leave a link to your blog so we can run thither and gape at your answers there.

SO, what sort of questions today?

Well, as we noted, this is all about the thrill of waiting, so--

1) Have you ever camped out overnight to be able to purchase something? If so, what was it?

2) If your service in a restaurant has been abysmally slow because of the waiter, do you withhold a tip from the waiter, leave a penny or two for spite, leave something a bit smaller than a 15% tip, or go ahead and tip 15% or more just so if you come in again in the future, the waiter won’t spit in your food if he remembers you?

3) Do you ever listen to “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” on NPR?

Now! Run away and answer the questions as quickly as you possibly can without delay! First one up gets a free autographed picture* of Ralph Waite!
1)No, I have never camped out overnight for anything. I’ll show up a few hours early, but that’s it. In fact the best seats I ever got for a concert were purchased after it sold out. Larry and I were in England for our Junior semester abroad (I was at the University of Lancaster and he was at University of Warwick). We had gone to the Birmingham Odeon to pick up some concert tickets. While standing in the lobby I noticed posters for OMD that had “sold out” plastered all over them. The concert was coming up soon and I thought *maybe* it wasn’t completely sold out. I asked the ticket lady and she said “Just a minute love” and trundled to the back of the office. A moment later she reappeared and said she had two in the back row. At that point some sort of madness seized me and I asked if she had anything better. She nodded and disappeared again. A few minutes later she came back and said she was sorry, all she had left was two tickets. One was in the third row and the second was in the forth, but one was right behind the other. I happily accepted the tickets and paid for them. It turns out they were guest passes that had been turned back in. They looked a bit funny, but they were good.

2)I spent a summer waitressing at a mid-level pseudo-Lebanese restaurant called Landers (As an interesting side note here is a neat story of a former patron. Key quote about her longevity: “Perhaps the trick is that Alice drinks Manhattans or beer every night, Allison said, and eats ice cream after every meal.”) that catered to tour buses. As a result it takes truly appalling service for me to reduce the tip. Generally I am a generous tipper especially if the kids are particularly messy. However, one time I went to a Perkins (pre-kids) in Madsion, WI that reached the absolute nadir of service. It started off poorly with the waitstaff unable to bring out my beverage. Everyone else at the table got their sodas, but I did not get my milk. After about four reminders I finally marched back to the station in back and buttonholed a waiter. I stood there and waited for him to pour me my milk. The meals took forever to come out (we’re talking over an hour). The capper to the evening was a hunk of glass on my piece of cake. I left a penny as tip to make clear my disappointment and we never went back.

3)Nope. I don’t listen to a whole lot of radio. In the car and in the house we generally listen to our cds. Occasionally we’ll listen to Car Talk if we bump into while we are driving about.

So to sum it all up: no, yes and nope.

Artist of the Week: Pastels

Last summer there was an artist who had set up shop at the 17th Street Farmer Market.

marketartist
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

His name is James Poole and his work is fairly nice. The kids were intrigued by him, Jake in particular wanted to buy one of his works. As we stood there under the hot June sun he approached us and suggested that maybe we should sit for a quick portrait. I dithered for a moment, how could I great all four to stay still enough and what was I going to do with it once he was done? I then realized that a portrait of the five of us could be a nice birthday present for Larry. I could frame it and he could hang it up at work. That just left us with the problem of what to do with two squirmy three year olds. Mr. Poole then offered his chair for me to sit on with Max and Rebecca on my lap.

After I got settled in the chair with the small ones, Jake and Nate flanked me on both sides. The artist then set to work. Jake and Nate were perfect. In fact at one point we told Jake he could loosen up a little, he did not have to be absolutely still. Max and Rebecca, on the other hand, only remained on my lap due to my firm grip on them. Here is the finished work:

portrait
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

I like it. It is not an exact representation of us, but it does work. I like pastels and I think they are a very fun and forgiving media to work with. Coupled with a good pencil you can do a lot with them.

Since Larry’s birthday wasn’t until the third of December; I had this parked on an upper shelf of my closet. Unfortunately I still missed giving this to Larry on his birthday. I was stuck in the hospital with Max that day. As a result it wasn’t presented to Larry until the following Monday, the 5th. So much for planning ahead and being organized! Hopefully next year Larry’s birthday will be a little less eventful and I’ll be able to write about him.

Dinner and a Movie

On Saturday Larry and I got to enjoy our delayed night out on the town. Our birthdays are the 3rd and 7th of December, so we like to celebrate them together on the most convenient date. This year Larry’s birthday fell on a Saturday so we made plans last weekend. Life, however, intervened, and I spent Saturday night in the hospital with Max. Luckily Meryl was still willing to watch the kids this weekend, so we were able to have dinner, a movie and not worry about keeping up the sitter.

We had a 7:30 reservation at an Italian place that was conveniently located near a multi-death theater. Since we were sans-entourage, we were a few minutes early. It was a nice change from our usual frantic dash from the house.

The restaurant, Pasta Luna, is the second location (and relatively new) of a fairly well regarded Northern Italian eatery of the same name that is in Richmond’s far west end. When we arrived we were promptly seated in the main dinning room. The lighting was soft, the ambiance was somewhat upscale and our waiter was attentive. However there were a few incongruities with our dining service. The atmosphere cried out for a waiter with a pepper-mill for the salad, but none was offered. The oddest note was when the wait-staff cleared the table of our salad course, they were very careful to tell us to hold onto our utensils. What?! Utensils are such a precious commodity that we don’t get a separate salad fork? At that point the place seemed more like a diner, but the food arrived and it was very tasty. My only complaint about my meal was that it was swimming with a sauce that, in the soft lighting, looked oddly like cheese-wiz, but tasted nothing like it. We were able to linger over dinner and I opted to have the crème breule for dessert. Then we were done and it was off to the movies.

We arrived at the theater and we surveyed our options. We decided that we would see “Walk the Line.” It had good reviews and it was not a kid’s movie. Unfortunately we were at least an hour too early. So we bought our tickets and piled back into the car. There was a Target further down the strip mall and we could do a little Christmahanuka shopping for the kids. It was nice to be able to confer with each other as we shopped without the children. In the end we got a bunch of Yu-Gi-Oh cards, a dinosaur, some ponies and a couple of shirts. We schlepped our bags out to the car and drove back to the theater and scored an excellent parking space. It was positively thrilling!

Then back to the muti-plex, we found our theater and settled in. The movie is terrific. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon did a bang up job. Joaquin had a wonderful smoky intensity that built up as the movie progressed. By the end of the movie he was a very believable Man in Black. Reese as June Carter was a lovely counterpoint to Joaquin’s Cash. Together they had a very noticeable on screen chemistry. They both did a nice job with their vocals which was a relief for me. I find lip syncing to be a very jarring experience and I prefer to hear the actors own voice singing than someone else dubbed in (and yes this does mean I prefer subtitles to dubbing in foreign language films). The movie itself is about Johnny Cash’s life up to his engagement with June Carter. A large part of it was about their relationship and it made for a great date movie.

So thank you once again Meryl for making it possible for us to have our birthday night out.

Spam poetry

While perusing my spam-mail I decided that the best way to present them was in the form of poetry.

Each line is a complete subject line and they are in the same order that they appeared in my inbox/bulk mail folder. The only punctuation I added was the period at the end. The authors that I attribute this to are my two favorite spam names.

Dynamic cleavage holography
burch see scm see springe oneagan some citric
URGENT REPLY PLEASE

Princess in bouquet but manumitted the
calculate it's linemen be conferee but
grimaldi and prayer some colby not
rhodolite and laredo it snark be
idol and dessicate !

Now wang you bratwurst
errant may astigmat a manatee on
Judicial Judgements-Support of Children-Investigator
donga rhombus
As listen my enclosure
Dear Friend.

By Jesus Bacon and Festus Yakubu

So what kind of spam poetry can you do?

The Proof is in the Pudding

Or in this case the filling.

Last week I was over at Gone South and I noticed a recipe that Janis posted for chocolate meringue pie.

I’m always up for new adventures in dessert and I liked how this one read. I asked for a bit of clarification on how to make the crust and I was ready to go. Life, however, has a way of happening that disrupts plans. So it wasn’t until last night that I got to make the pie and here it is:

chocmeringpie
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

This morning Larry and I got to taste some of the extra filling that I put in a small bowl. The chocolate had a lovely orange infused flavor. I can’t wait for tonight when we get to eat the actual pie.

Larry noticed the recipe on the counter and asked if I did the “yada, yada” part. I said “Yes, at that point I wandered around the kitchen.” I think that is my favorite part of the recipe, that and licking the bowl. I’ll post a taste evaluation report after dinner.

Update:
Of the four people who actually ate the pie, three loved it. Larry, Max and I thought it was delicious. Jake liked the meringue part, but not the chocolate filling.

I will definitely make this again. I might fool around with the flavorings next time. Maybe coffee instead of orange or possibly raspberry... the possibilities are endless.

Thursday Three:Non-Sequitur Edition!

Hey kids its that fun filled time of the week were I answer random questions from the always entertaining Possumblog. This week’s edition is as follows:

But it’s still just a wee bit too early for the Christmannukazaastivu3Kingsdastice (and Boxing Day!) Version of the Thursday Three. SO, instead of that, we’ll offer up something ENTIRELY unrelated to anything remotely dealing with the high holydays, or shopping, in order to bring you the Non-Sequitur Edition of the Axis of Weevil Thursday Three!

1. What do you think is going to be the next big fad in blogging?
2. Have you ever stolen anything?
3. What is your favorite fish recipe?

Now then, as is always the case, anyone may play along with the quiz, even if you lived or traveled in the Congo between the years 1978 and 1990, or if you are prone to vertigo or peripheral hallucinations. Just leave your answers in the comments below, or a link back to your blog so we can all come look at your answers in person.

1. The next big thing will be... Ah heck I don’t know. Terry is probably right that there will be more Borg-like collective blogs. Meanwhile I’ll just keep chugging along, under the radar, doing my thing.


2. Not knowingly. Sounds a bit lame doesn’t it. In my hometown at the local general store, Dan & Whits, you can still sign for your purchases if your family has an account. I got a Popsicle one day and left the store without signing the receipt. It wasn’t until the next day that I realized the error of my ways. I confessed at a later trip and they just waved it off. I don’t steal, I just space out and forget to pay.


3. Fish chowder, the way my Aunt Caroline made it. This recipe is close and has the added bonus of being from Dan & Whit’s cross river rival the Co-op. I don’t remember the parsley and chives, but the cracklings are key. I have to ask my Mom about this one.

Oh and Terry you forgot Festivus! A holiday for the rest of us!

Hey! Its My Birthday!

Unfortunately the day have a very rough start with a dash to the ER in the wee hours. Max awoke at 10:30 with stomach pains. A few torturous hours later I called Dr. Elliot and he told me to bring him in. Just as I was putting Max’s socks on he urked, after which he felt much better. I still took him in as we were expected and I wanted to be sure he was alright. After only 2 1/5 hours (a record in my books), an x-ray and a blood draw we were sent home. We decided that maybe having pot roast for dinner was a bit too rich for his now tender digestive system. But enough about that.

Today it’s all about me.

40 years ago today my Mom and Dad became parents.

SarahMom&Dad
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

They were way ahead of their time. My Mom was 36 and my Dad was 47. Nobody was having kids for the first time at their ages. Today it is downright commonplace.

This is a picture of me as a wee babe.

BabySarah
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

I was a tiny little baby, all arms and legs. When a family friend came to the hospital to see for the first time he exclaimed over what a nice big baby I was. My father realized that he was admiring the nice Polish boy next to me and told the friend that I was the spider monkey in the next basinet.

Because I was born on “...a date which will live in infamy” (Go to Terry to get a neat rundown on Pearl Harbor Day) I was almost named Pearl. Fortunately my parents decided to express their sense of humor in a more subtle way with my name. My middle initial is B. which when coupled with the surname Straight has led to a fair amount of disbelief about my name. Though I must say nobody ever refused my checks.

I have also been very aware of Pearl Harbor all through my life. I was annoyed when Dan Quail got it wrong, but I viewed him as fool and moved on. But when Bush the elder got it wrong when he was supporting his vice president, I never forgave him. He fought in WW II, he knew better.

So it is an interesting day to celebrate my birth. In a way it is fitting. If it had not been for WWII my parents never would have met and I would not be here today.

Hospitals Are Not Fun

Late Friday afternoon, about an hour after snack time, Max started complaining about a tummy ache. At dinner time (pasta, an all-time favorite) he was miserable. He came to the table, but he did not eat. In the end he wrapped himself in his blankie and sacked out on the couch. He was such a forlorn sight, laying there, fitfully dozing and complaining.

After dinner Larry said that we should take him to the ER. I agreed; it is not in Max’s nature to complain in this way. Mind you, he can throw a very impressive and protracted tantrum, but this was not the case. We decided that Larry would try to nebulize him and I would get ready to drive him the hospital. I grabbed a few books for Max, his jammies, blankie and a toy. Then I bustled upstairs to finish making the beds (they had all been stripped for laundry day). It was about a quarter to nine when I finally hit the road.

Because Max has CF I drove up to the big hospital in Richmond where the CF clinic is located. The clinic staff had drilled into our heads from day one, that if Max needs to go to an ER it must be this one. The other hospitals in the area are not bad; they are just not as capable in dealing with the special needs of a CF patient. Fortunately it is only an extra 15 minute drive to get there. Max was mostly quiet during the ride, except for the two big looping exits I took. Then he would howl the “It hurts, it hurts!” All I could think of was that he had appendicitis or a blockage in the form of bowel intussusception (the intestine telescopes into itself). Of the two, appendicitis was the less scary option.

When we got to the hospital, at about 9:20 pm, I parked the car in the visitors/patient parking deck and carried Max to the ER. It was a long slog, but better than risking the 30 minute slots by the entrance. From previous experience in other hospitals I knew it would be at least several hours until I could get out and move the car.

And boy was I right.

I didn’t get to leave the joint until Saturday afternoon when Larry came up to swap with me.

It turns out Max was severely constipated with ileus, a non-mechanically blocked bowel. We got the initial diagnoses around midnight after the ER attending consulted with the head of the CF clinic. At that point Max had been poked and prodded by a whole host of people, had an x-ray and a CT scan. According to Dr. Elliot it was a classic presentation and the best course of therapy would be a series of enemas.

Woo Hoo! A non-surgical solution!

Of course we still had to run the gauntlet with the surgical consults. The resident was a nervous sort and seemed reluctant to let us go. When he came back a second time I pointedly asked him if he had spoken with Dr. Elliot. I did not want my son to go under the knife if he did not have to. After a pause he said no, but that the ER attending had. He then fidgeted about a bit more and then left us. Much later the surgical attending cruised in, palpated Max’s abdomen and announced that enemas were the way to go.

Whew, the big dogs were in agreement. I could step back a bit and let things roll.

All throughout this Max was very quiet and compliant with all the poking and prodding. A very worrisome state for me, normally Max is very vocal about his dislike of the medical profession and can be difficult with repeated examinations. He did protest with the initial blood draw and with the insertion of the IV, but after that he was very passive.

Then we waited...

and waited.

It wasn’t until 9:30 am that we got bumped up to the pediatric ward. I spent the whole night stretched out next to Max on this gurney. It was too small for the two of us, so I never was completely on board. But that was better than being on the floor. In hindsight I should have gotten a chair, but I was too stressed to think of it and Max needed me to be nearby.

Finally at 10:00 am we went downstairs for a contrast enema under a floroscope.
It was a fascinating procedure. I got to watch as the screen as the contrast material worked its way through. Max was wiped out and as a result was far more cooperative than I would have expected under normal circumstances. At one point the doctor almost gave up, but then we saw some visible progress with the blockage. I was very impressed with their kindness and sensitivity to Max.

The rest of the day was spent trotting back and forth to the bathroom, dragging the stupid IV pole along with us. Periodically we had to strip down the bed. Max and I were both zombies. At around 4:00pm Larry stopped by with the rest of the crew. He would be taking over and I would get to spend the night home. Unfortunately he would be stuck with the second half of the big “poop-out” namely, getting Max to drink GoLytely (a rather misnamed laxative). Oh and by the way it was Larry’s birthday.

It was about 5 when we got home. I puttered around a bit and made a slap dash dinner for myself, Jake, Nate and Rebecca. The table seemed so empty without Larry and Max.
At around 7:00 I called Larry at the hospital. He sounded all drawn out. Max had refused to drink the laxative and they attempted a nasogastric tube. It had been a disaster. Tears all around and Max’s nose started to bleed. I had called just when they had decided to regroup. I offered to go back. Max is a bit more bounded with me and we felt we had a better chance we me getting him to drink than Larry. So one quick shower later and a change of clothes in hand I headed back to the hospital.

When I arrived Max had already drunk a cup of the stuff. The threat of a repeat with the tube was enough to keep him going. I wished Larry a happy birthday and slipped next to Max in his bed. I spent the next 3 ½ hours pushing Max to drink. It was very draining. His nurse, aka the “Voice of Doom,” was not very supportive at first and never did give me a straight answer on how much he needed to drink. Max passed out around 11:00pm after drinking almost a liter. The VOD became a little more encouraging as he kept knocking back the stuff, but she never seemed to be happy that we were avoiding the tube. It was then that I started bugging the nursing staff about eliminating the IV. He could obviously drink fluids and it was a great bloody pain dragging the IV pole around.

That night poor Max was a mess. In the end we had to diaper him. My brave little boy who is so proud of going potty all by himself agreed to it with a simple nod of his head. Later on as he slept I cradled him in my arms and cried. I just wanted my little boy back.

Sunday morning a technician with a portable x-ray slipped into the room and got a shot while Max slept. The rest of the day was spent schlepping back and forth to the bathroom with the now evil pole (it kept catching on the bathroom sill and threaten to topple over). As the day progressed Max began to perk up. At mid day he was allowed jello and apple juice. At four my campaign to ditch the pole paid off. The attending didn’t want to lose it, but I told her that I only wanted to ditch the pole. The port could stay until it was time for us to leave. I then called Meryl and asked her to please stop by and bring me dinner. The really hard part of being in the hospital with your child is that you are tied to the room. If you are not there when the doctors stop by, well you are out of luck. And in my case, Max didn’t want me to leave the floor. If I wanted dinner someone would have to bring it to me. We figured a salad would the best thing for me to eat since Max would be wholly uninterested in it. So what happens? Just before Meryl arrives they do a blood draw, Max sets up a big fuss, exhausts himself and then takes a map. I could have had anything I wanted to eat. Oh well, at least I had a good visit with Meryl. It was nice to see a friendly and familiar face.

Dr. Elliot stopped by while Meryl was there. As we spoke he actually apologized for how long it took for treatment to start, a first in my experience. He seemed a little less gruff with me and when I mentioned that I wanted Max to go home the next day, Monday, he agreed that it was a good idea. As long as Max kept pooping and could eat soup with crackers it would be a go. He then mentioned how the attending was amazed at how much of the laxative Max drank. Apparently I was right to wonder about the VOD and her reluctance to give me any numbers.

Sunday night was almost restful. The VOD came back on shift and seemed a little less negative. I, however, did not tell her of our plan to spring Max the next day. Something told me she would probably be against it. My goal was to simply demonstrate that Max could drink lots of fluids and go to the bathroom. That is all a hospital wants you to be able to do before you go home.

Monday morning dawned with a gray sky and snowflakes. I told the nurses that I wanted to bring home Max before the weather got too bad. It struck them as a fair request and they got the ball rolling. Yes! We were going home!

We didn’t get out until around 11:00 am, but we were free!

Deck the Halls and Ring Those Bells

Today I got to see Jake and the rest of the fourth grade perform at the Landmark Theater in Richmond. Originally commissioned and built for the Shriners in 1926, it was bought by the city in 1940. Recently restored to its former glory it has become a popular venue for all sorts of events.

landmark
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

This site has even more exterior shots of this decidedly unique building in Richmond.

I love all of the gaudy mosaics on the inside of the building. This is what first greets you when you step in the doors
.

enter
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.
The lobby continues with the same theme


lobby
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

My only complaint about the lobby is the very low ceiling. When you step into such a large and grand building, it is a bit of a let down to be fed into such a cramped tunnel like area.

The theater itself is much more to scale with the exterior. It has a wonderful vaulted ceiling with a four panel mural featuring camels and pyramids above the stage. Unfortunately the light was too dim for me to take any decent pictures of the inside. But I did get this shot of Jake waving to me from his seat.

interior
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

Here is Jake again in a closer shot. He is in the box seats waiting for his turn to perform.

waiting
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

The Ballet Petit was doing it annual production of “The Night Before Christmas.” Between acts of the morning matinee the fourth grade would be performing various Christmas carols on hand chimes, Jake’s group played “Deck the Halls.”

performance
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.
They did a very good job with everybody keeping pace. The acoustics are outstanding in the Landmark and I could easily hear them. I had to creep up to the orchestra pit to get this picture. I wish it had been a little sharper, but it’s not bad considering that my camera is a fairly ancient digital that is held together with string.

Max and Rebecca enjoyed seeing Jake, but were bored half the time. Ballet and four year olds only work in short doses. They did perk up when the dancers were costumed as reindeer and forest creatures, but otherwise they wanted to go home.

Here is Jake afterwards with some of his classmates.

sidedoor
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.
Once the whole shebang was over the fourth grade was invited backstage to see the sets and meet the troupe. Jake had a great time and was eager to perform again.

Ye Gods

They are looking for all sorts of things over here. Yesterday I got the disturbing hit on a search for “mens bathouse in louisville KY” and today I got “victorian table manners.”

What will they look for next?

Thursday Three: Working for a Living

This week Terry with a whole lotta help from Larry pose the following work related extravaganza.

Work?

NEVER!

Unless, of course, you're talking about the Axis of Weevil Thursday Three, which today takes up everyone's favorite topic, gainful employment!

Now, since your humble host has been so very busily engaged in just such an undertaking (i.e., remunerative activities), he has had precious little time to cogitate properly upon a fitting and proper set of questions. HOWEVER, we do have the ability to rely upon famed government contractor Larry Anderson from Kudzu Acres, who has graciously blessed us with the following:

If all jobs paid the same and education and training were not an issue,
1) What job would you most want to have?
2) What job would you wish on your least favorite politician?
3) Where would each of the jobs above be located?

1) Hmm, the job I most want to have. I am fascinated by all the CSI shows on TV, my favorite being CSI:Miami (or as I like to say the show with the beautiful dead people and bikinis), but I really could not do it. The first time I encounter an abuse case or anything concerning children and/or animals I would lose it. So I would need a job that is far less depressing and still intellectually stimulating. I like building and designing things and I’m rather fond of animals. One job could be a zoo planner and vet. I would get to research all sorts of animals and their habitats. There would be some travel and I would get to see the animals in the wild and interact with them. That would be a very cool job.

2) I think they should all become truck stop wait staff on the overnight shift. They would have to deal with all kinds of weirdness and yet still be pleasant to their customers if they want a decent tip. They must also live on their wages and tips and find a way to afford things like health care. That would take the wind out of their sails and give them a good dose of reality.

3) I would like my job in New England so we could be closer to family. It is an all day drive to my in-laws and another four hours up to my Mom’s house. It would be nice to be within a few hours drive of them. For the politicians, any wretched suburb you can think of. Right now I’m leaning towards Detroit or anything in the 25 most dangerous cities ranking.