Here is our house so far. Notice the patch of red that I tried on the door. Just to note, do not put latex paint over oil-based paint. I will be spending part of this weekend stripping that latex paint off the door. I wish I had known that beforehand! Aargh!



Oh, and see how much greener the lawn is after last's week week of rain.

TGIF

Nanny is coming today. Her M-Th job ended yesterday and she is in a panic because she does not yet have another job and she needs the money. She was hoping to have a job in the Vancouver-area already but no job offers have come her way. She really wants to move to Canada since her children have moved there (her ex-dh was Canadian). Not sure exactly what I will do with my time although Macy's has a sale today and they had some lovely wine glasses on sale. Hmmm...

Yesterday was a long day for Cars. After preschool, I brought him home, stuffed a sandwich in him then carted him off to the club while I worked out. He was in the daycare center there for hour and a half. After the club, when we went to pick the older boys up at the park, Cars played in the "woods" for an hour with Jax, Dex, Gav, et al. So it seems like I barely saw him at all yesterday!

Yesterday in the newspaper, I read that Mickey Rooney's son died of a disease called derma to myos itis. Now normally, I would not have taken any notice of that except that is the disease that our friend E, has. I had no idea that you could die from it! E has had a lot of problems with his lungs from this disease, especially lately. Very scary!

Almost there...

Painter was here today and painted the trim and it looks good. The cream colour I chose is still a little too WHITE so I will go and get a creamier colour for the second coat of paint. My lights *finally* came in at (friggin) Lowe's. I bought a new doorbell button today and it looks great too (who could imagine that a door bell button could make a difference?).

We need to repair a couple of our gutters. We probably should replace them but you know how that goe$.

Cars' last swimming lesson went as expected. *sigh*

I woke up this morning with a wicked sinus headache. My throat is sore too. I just feel crummy all around. blah...

Because of Cars' food allergies, I have been sending in an individual snack for him each day rather than let him eat whatever is brought in by the other parents each day (different people sign up to bring in food each day). Anyway, the teachers told me today that Cars was quite upset the other day because he could not eat what the others were eating (it is for his safety so I can live with his disappointment). Oh, and apparently I am not giving him enough food in their opinion. Ok, I give fill up a little snack-sized ziploc bag with Wheat Thins and that is not enough food?! That is plenty for a snack. He is only there for 2.5 hours. It is not lunch! Anyway, I will sending in some grapes or 1/2 a pear along with the crackers next time. I also did give them permission to give him fruit or juice that is brought in. But nothing else. While his milk allergy is mild, I don't want them thinking it is ok then to give him milk or yogurt or cheese. And, we are avoiding peanuts until he is 5, even though he is not allergic according to his skin prick test.

I spoke to my friend, M. today. She has decided not to have the t-shirts say "Please do not kill my friend with your peanut butter sandwich" but something more along the line of "Be A Hero" and stay away from peanut butter at school. She hopes to have them ready by Wednesday at the PTSA meeting.

BTW, still no word from the school district on the "new" procedures and letter to go home. This is ridiculous!

The rain has stopped again so we are hoping that Painter can finish the house this week. We still do not have outside lights because Lowes' has screwed up my order and who knows WHEN we will get them. I will have to go in this week and cancel my order and get my money back then try to find more lights that I like at another store. *sigh*

Both Cars and I are feeling better today, thankfully.

I had a funny story about him. He was at preschool on Thursday and I asked him how he liked it. He said it was fun. I then asked him who he played with and he said "Nobody!". Oh? I asked him why he did not play with anyone and he said "Nobody wants to play Star Wars!" LOL It seems that most of the kids, and especially the boys, are first children so no doubt that at the tender age of three, they have not yet been exposed to Star Wars. The kids are all into Thomas the Tank Engine, someone Cars could not care less about (although he is strangely attached to a Thomas backpack).

Today when we were in Safeway, Jax was wearing his heelies and hanging off the cart. It was bugging me because 1) it made the cart hard to push and 2) it was hard for people to pass us in the aisle. So I told him not to touch the cart. Ten minutes later, I needed to step down a different aisle so I said to him, "Take the cart and follow your dad". He looked at me and said "You said not to touch the cart" and he wheeled away. O.M.G. Did I ever see red! So I took him aside and told him he was being rude and sassy to me and when we got home he could go to his room and think about how he spoke to me.

When we got home, he went upstairs and wrote me a note:

Dear Mom,

I'm sorry I was rude to you.
I'm sorry I was sassy.
I would do it again.

Love Jax

Did I read that right? "I would do it again?!" I burst out laughing and could not be angry anymore. He was upset that he made a mistake in his note and begged me not to show Stephen (I did anyway and he had a good chuckle too).

Cars and I were sick today so we just hung out on the couch and watched Star Wars Episode II (his current favourite). I hope we feel better tomorrow.

A little bit of everything

Tonight was curriculum night. Stephen did stand up and thank the parents for continuing to do everything to help protect Jax against his life-threatening peanut allergy. Then I handed out the letter to as everyone left. I may have missed a couple of parents and there were about 2 or 3 who were not there. The teacher was very gracious considering we just sprang this on her. I gave her a copy of the note in case she felt she needed to show the principal.

We are still awaiting the letter from the school district with the "new procedures".

After curriculum night, I met some friends from my mom's club at the local Mexican restaurant to watch "Grey's Anatomy" at 9pm. It was a lot of fun.

Oh, and this moring, I burnt a breakfast casserole that I was to take to my mom's club meeting. I also burnt that little pad that goes between the meat and the meat tray when I browned my pot roast before I put it in the crockpot. I cannot believe I seared it right to the pan (and to the roast). I scraped it off the roast and hope it does not contain any carcinogens.

Wake Me Up When September/Swimming Ends

Today at swimming lessons, Cars cried non-stop to get out of the pool. Actually, he usually cries at every swim lesson but today it was especially bad. There were a lot of kids away today so I could not hide behind some of the other moms like I usually do so he kept an eye on me the whole time, calling out "Mom! I need to tell you something! I don't want swimmin' lessons!" over and over again. It was so pathetic. Then he continued crying the whole way home. Thankfully, there are just two more lessons for this session then we will break until March (and no doubt start the crying all over again then!).

Jax's first day of eating lunch in the classroom was a success. He was happy not to have to leave and said he noticed no pb/peanuts in class. Yeah.

The school nurse will not send a note home directly address peanuts in the classroom so we are composing our own to be handed out tomorrow night at curriculum night. She did tell me that the nursing supervisor and health supervisor were writing a note that will go home to families of children with life threatening allergies throughout the district. I wonder what it will say. Some legalese to tell us that they cannot guarantee the safety of our children, no doubt. If nothing else, I have helped the district face the issue. Even if the resolution is not to my liking.

Cars did well yesterday in his first full day (well full half day) of preschool. He looked so grown up walking in the class with his backpack on. Where did my baby go?!
~sniff~

Do I look slimmer? Lighter? More compact? I am writing my blahg tonight on my brand-spanking new laptop! It is great, although getting used to the keyboard will be a challenge since I have used a split keyboard for over 6 years and going back is tricky.

Tomorrow will be the first day that Jax gets to eat in his classroom. He is very excited about that. We are working on a letter to pass out to all parents on curriculum night since the school apparently will not do it for us. I will continue to push this issue though. But we cannot let it be put off much longer.

(ok, off to install MS Office and Skype).

Tomorrow, Jax has permission to carry his epi pen with him. I have it packed in a Safety Sack inside of a fanny pack placed in his backpack. We are still waiting for the nurse to update the Health Plan and send out a letter. Hopefully tomorrow will be the last day that Jax has to be taken out of the class at lunch.

I am so looking forward to this being settled. It has really been an emotionally grueling two weeks.

End of the Rainbow

We had crazy weather today and the result was this (click for bigger):


(ignore the dormant lawn - it will green up again once the rainy season starts next month)

So, you can see the Tate Olive house. The trim still needs to be painted off-white so it looks odd still all green. And the door is still deep blue. Oh, and no outdoor lights yet.

I love that the rainbow ends right at my house! :)

Green!

The house colour is done! The trim still needs to be done but rain is in the forecast for the next several days so it will probably be next weekend when the trim gets done. I am so excited about it!

Seems so strange to get so excited about a house colour, eh? Well, I think it is because it is something that finally seems to be going right these past couple of weeks. The whole peanuts at school is a complete joke. I have done nothing the past couple of days about it (calling and pushing for resolution) because, quite frankly, it is just easier to avoid it and continue to take Jax out at lunch. Stephen has been crazy busy with work and not nearly involved enough with it. I need his help at this point and more than just "tell them this" or "be sure to mention that" or, worst yet "Why didn't you tell them blah-dee-blah-dee". For frig sakes!

~Deep Breath~

Ok, so, now you can see partly why I haven't been talking about the peanut problem we are having at school. The other reason is partly due to the fact that we may have to contact either a lawyer or the office of civil rights to get this resolved (and that makes me sick to my stomach, seriously). And because blogger shows up on google searches, I am trying to keep a lot of the details off this blahg.

Anyway...

Cars starts his first day of preschool tomorrow. He just goes for an hour tomorrow then starts his Tues/Thurs mornings next week. I am so excited for him. He is such a big boy. My baby!

Good News

I received the official letter in the mail today in regards to my mammogram and it said "there is no indication of cancer". Much better than "almost certainly benign". :)

Painter finished the main colour on the house. It was threatening to rain today and was misting a little this morning but then the rain held off and he got it done. He probably will not get to the trim work until next week because it is supposed to rain for the next several days (my lawn needs it!). Stephen and I are going to fold all of his drop cloths and save myself 2+ hours of work that he would otherwise charge us. Stephen doesn't know it yet though. :) I think I will also have Stephen paint the door to save us even more money. These two things should save us some of the cost of the extra scraping that was needed to be done.

Now, off to finish making dinner and then watch the kids play their new video game: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.

The first coat of paint is up on part of the house and it looks great! I love the colour that I chose! The only problem at this point is that all of the windows are covered with plastic so it is very steamy in the house this evening. Oh, and there are tarps over the dryer vent (it vents to the roof) so I could not use the dryer today either. I must remind Painter to remove the tarp when he is done tomorrow evening so I can do laundry.

Dex cried when I brought the kids home from school today because he wants the grey house back! Poor boy. He doesn't do well with change sometimes.

Peanut issue is still not settled. Jax is getting sick of eating lunch with Cars and I at the park.

A Whole Lot of Nothing

We did not do much this weekend. Just cleaned/reorganized. I went out looking for new lights for outside but of course I could not decide which ones to buy so I made a typical Pez decision and decided not to make a decision. I am good at that. I am torn between buying what I really, really want which is pricy vs being practical and thrifty. Or spending extra to get some that are energy efficient and will save us money in the long run. Hmmm...decisions, decisions...

Peanut-Free Post

I will not discuss peanuts or peanut-free classrooms or anything. I promise! I am so weary of it all ...

Cars is completely potty trained. Well, he still needs assistance getting out of his pants and putting them back on. He has had one 1 accident in the past 4 weeks. If he stays dry tonight, it will mark 14 days in a row and he gets to wear underwear to bed. He is very excited about that prospect.

The house painting is a disaster. Basically, the house was never primed when it was built - only painted. So when Painter scrapes the paint, it comes off in looooong strips right to the bare wood. So instead of scraping here and there, he is scraping all of the trim to the bare wood. And he isn't meaning (or wanting to!). So, this is adding co$t and time to the prep work. Bugger! BTW, he is a neighbour whom I completely trust. Plus, he had originally told me that he did not have time to paint the house but then figured out a way to squeeze it in. I think he is regretting that decision! Anyway, primer goes on tomorrow as long as it does not rain. Oh, and I did go with the Tate Olive with an off-white trim. The front door will probably be black. I haven't decided yet. We are going to replace the outside lights too and new numbers on the house. And a new door mat, of course. I will post pictures when it is all done.

3rd Day of School

Still no resolution on the peanut thing. I am waiting for the Head Nurse of Health Services for the school district to call me back. In the meantime, I have requested a letter from Jax's doctor authorizing him to carry his epi pen. It is just a formality because it is State Law allows him to do so. He is still *very* concerned and thinks that because kids can eat peanut butter in his class that he is the only one at school who cares about his safety. It really is heartbreaking.

Anyway, I did meet with the principal today and hopefully she will help move things along a little faster with the health plan. I am resolved to the fact that we will not get a "safe" classroom. Once this is settled, I will probably write about all the shit that has been happening. But not while it is unresolved and the blahg shows up in google searches.

One of the parents at the park where we meet the kids after-school joked that I get five t-shirts for Jax that say "Please do not kill me with your peanut butter sandwich" and they will get similar t-shirts for their kids that say "Please do not kill my friend with your peanut butter sandwich". Teeheehee If Stephen would agree, I would do it. Well, maybe 5 shirts is overkill but at least 1 that he can wear every now and then. Although, Jax is so stressed it really would not be a good idea.

And I can certainly tell he is stressed.

Today, while we were walking out from the school at lunch, we saw a big, fat caterpillar and Cars, Jax and I stopped to look at it. I suggested that perhaps we move it from the walkway back to the garden area. Jax said that I should just leave it. We walked away and then a mom, her toddler and her son passed us as they headed into the school. Jax turned around and stopped while I kept walking. Then I heard a little cry from him and he said "She stepped on it!" We ran back and sure enough, the caterpillar was oozing on one end where it had been smooshed. Jax got all teary saying, "It is all my fault! I told you not to move it!" I assured him that it was still alive and I picked up the fat, oozing thing and carried it over to the garden area. We proceeded to the park to eat lunch. Jax kept talking about how it was his fault that the caterpillar was squished and dead. Poor kid! I kept reassuring him but he was so upset.

And let me tell you, he really does not think a lot animals and creatures and their welfare, so this was extremely unusual.

When we returned, the caterpillar was gone. "See?! He was ok!" I reassured Jax. "He's crawled away!". Jax thought was certain that the body had rotted away already. I didn't tell him that I really believed that a bird had a nice, juicy lunch.

2nd Day of School

Peanut issue still not resolved. I have a call into the head nurse for the school district to find out exact wording of their policy. In the meantime, *8* classes in the school (all k and 1st grade) at "Peanut Free". I also am waiting to hear back from the principal with an explanation as to why these classes are Peanut Free when Jax's is not.

We have taken Jax out of school for the last two days at lunch. We will continue until next week or until the health plan is in place AND the principal has explained the policy to us.

I took Cars for swimming lessons. He hasn't been for lessons with her since last September. Anyway, he shouted the whole way there "I DON'T WANT TO GO TO SWIMMIN' LESSONS!" and he fought with me at poolside when I tried to take off his shirt. I had to hold him down to get the swim belt on him. All the while he is yelling that he doesn't want to go swimming. I handed him to the swim nazi and he swam well with her (all kids swim for her - they are afraid NOT to!) in the pool but all the while telling her that he did not want to be there.

Now, he is not afraid of the water. He was just trying to exercise some control. He did the same thing twice last week at Superclips when we tried to get his hair cut (I am afraid he won!) But, swimming lessons are not negotiable. Oh, and Ash cut his hair yesterday while I was having my mammogram so we are all happy about that. Three year olds are so fun and predictable, aren't they?! ~eye roll~

And congrats to Kross-Eyed Kitty on the purchase of her new home!

1st Day Of School

Jax and Dex went to school today. Peanut issue is far from resolved but we have some precautions in place. Jax will not eat lunch at school until everything is implemented. It has been a very emotional tumultuous few days.

Looks like we are getting our house painted this weekend, after all! Neighbour Painter is coming to power-wash the house tonight. I will buy the paint on Friday and he will start painting on Saturday. He told me I had to cut my Rhodies back. Normally I would say NO WAY because it is not the right time of year to trim them but I cut them at the beginning of July which was too late in the season at that point and they are not doing well. In fact, I think I may not be able to save them. I know they will not bloom next May now so if they do not bloom the following year, they will have to be ripped out.

I am all set for the mammogram this afternoon. I have on my pink bra and underwear plus my magenta t-shirt. GO PINK! And fingers crossed for no new calcification spots.

Edited at 1:50pm to add: Hurray! Mammogram films were good so I am back on a yearly schedule. Must have been my lucky pink underwear! ;)

Lucky Number 13

I guess this is a tradition now. Posting this photo every year. Anyway, thirteen long years. Wow!

Next month will mark the *20th* anniversary of our first date.

Today it is humid and icky. I am on the verge of a migraine. Blecch.

We are going to Ash's house for dinner tonight. Should be fun.

Our Neighbour, the House Painter, who was supposed to paint our house this summer, asked me how mad I would be if he did not get to it until the spring. I said as long as he paints the trim that was fixed by New Handyman, I did not have a problem although honestly I am very disappointed. Our house on the southwest side looks horrible (this is the side that the chimney with the bad trim is on). And that is the side that is on the corner so there is no house on that side helping to hide the peeling paint. Looks like I will not get my Tate Olive house until next May.

I won!

Squee!

Summer O'Fun 2006 Last Day of Summer

Well except there is Labo(u)r Day weekend but that doesn't really count.

Ok, so the peanut issue is not settled. It is too draining to talk about. Seriously. Needless to say, Jax will not be eating lunch in the classroom anytime soon. Stephen will take him out on Tuesday because I have a mammogram (which hopefully will result in another almost certainly benign result). I'll take him out after that until this is resolved. We may be fighting a losing battle but if so, we will do everything in our power to make it as safe as possible, which, at this point, it is not.

One more thing I will add though about the peanut issue is that the mom of a 2nd grader at the school with a peanut allergy called me today. I don't know her but she got my name from the mom of one of Jax's schoolmates. Anyway, she is reeling from the no peanut-free rooms in school this year. Last year, her son had the same teacher as Jax did in 1st and that teacher was EXCELLENT about keeping peanuts out of her classroom, sending home reminder notes, etc. Her son has had anaphylaxis several times and once was from an open jar of peanut butter (done in the allergist's office). I gave her some links to some great resources for 504 Plans (she is going to push for one now - she has a meeting with the principal and nurse on Tuesday) and I sent her a copy of the "draft" of Jax's Health Care Plan that they are going to put in place so she will know what to expect at her meeting.

Anyway, so I wasn't going to talk about peanuts and now I have... but I will stop now.

Today for the last day of Summer O'Fun 2006, we went to the beach with some friends. The day was very nice. The kids had so much fun and we topped it off with popsicles from the food stand at the beach (it is not opened on Tuesdays - the day we usually go).

Overall, I think we had a great summer. We did a lot. The weather was (mostly) good although it was cooler than usual. I hope we made some fabulous memories.