Atropa Belladonna~ Raven (a.k.a. Nightshade)'s Weblog ~
These are the ARCHIVES of July 2004. For more archives, visit the Archives page. For the current Weblog entries, check the Main page.
Atropa Belladonna| Fri, July 30, 2004 (3:05pm) An apricot. It was an apricot. (This message brought to you by the Society for the Befuddlement of All Mankind.) |
| Fri, July 30, 2004 (9:05am) I'm sick. Kids are sick. Shades is sick. Went off to work anyways, brave lad that he is. Or perhaps he felt that anything was better than being stuck in a house with sick kids and grumpy sick wife. Personally, that's how I feel right now. I don't want to be left alone in a room with me. BTW - Friday eve gaming at our house is cancelled this week. Dunno if I'll make it out to the Purgatory game, either. Sorry Cam. Sorry Dave. But believe me, you don't want me sharing my viri with you. Stupid viri. |
| Thurs, July 29, 2004 (2:45pm) The Connor Report This morning, Connor was being annoying, getting underfoot in the kitchen, and generally making a nuisance of himself. I finally asked him, "What do you want, kid? Do you want 'Up'? Do you need some love? Are you hungry? You want some food to eat? NumNum?" Connor looked up at me (making excellent eye contact) and nodded his head emphatically. He stuck his fingers in his mouth (our sign for 'food') and repeated "UmNum! UmNum!" And I picked him up with great glee and made him a bowl of cereal. Yup - we had communication. Good, informative, result-producing communication. Things are looking good. |
| Tues, July 27, 2004 (6:20pm, with minor edits at 10:30pm) The Intrepid Shapiro and the Carseat Conundrum As our story opens, we find our protagonist, the Intrepid Shapiro, and all her minions (Autistic Lad, Banshee Babe, and Kid Attitude) in the Intrepid-mobile en route to the swirling vortex of infinity which is MillWoods. Dodging dumptrucks, slogging through construction zones, and narrowly avoiding a slow-moving semi-trailer, the adventurous entourage arrives at its destination: The Starling's Nest. Starling, a heroine whose genius borders on insanity, has The back seat of the Intrepid-mobile has seating for three, currently occupied by 2 carseats. The middle seat has room for 2, one space is currently occupied by a baby carrier. The front two buckets are meant for adults - one for the driver, and one for a passenger. But not just any passenger - it must be an adult passenger. There is an airbag, you see, and children under the age of something are not allowed to sit there. Although it should be easy to put two extra carseats in - one in the back, and one in the middle, in practice it's quite difficult. Three carseats do not fit across the back seat. They are too wide. Plus, there's only anchor-bolts for two forward facing carseats in that location. Simple - we'll put the baby carrier into the back, and put two carseats onto the middle bench. Alas, the baby carrier will not fit in the back seat either. Perhaps we can put an adult in the back seat, and the baby carrier in the front passenger seat? Nope - that's the airbag location. We simply have too many carseats. But wait! The Intrepid-mobile is equipped with emergency fold-down carseats! We'll put Aria in one of those, put the baby next to her, and the put 'Sana in the back. Hrm.. but 'Sana's carseat won't fit in the back. Put the baby in the back? No - we tried that. Didn't work. Put Aria in the back? No - the fold down seats are only in the middle bench. I know, we can put the Intrepid Shapiro in the back, and Aria can drive!! Uh... no, I guess not. The only way to do this (without putting a child in the dangerous airbag location) is to make a third carseat fit on the back bench. But there's still no anchor bolt. Ah - but that's okay in Aria's case, because her carseat functions as a booster seat! If we can make it fit, we can sit her in it and use the van's built in seatbelts. And thus, Starling and the Intrepid Shapiro set out to prove that their will is stronger than machine-molded plastic. They pit their combined muscles against a contraption which is meant to withstand the stresses of a head-on collision, and manage (with feet and knees and fists, and an excellent understanding of body-mechanics) to force the bloody thing in. Victory is ours!!! Except now the van's built-in seatbelt is trapped behind and under the carseat. Drat. Pop it out, and do it again. This time, we succeed in making the carseat (now booster-seat) securable, and all the minions are loaded into their appropriate locations. We're off to Sherwood Park! Upon arriving at Intrepid's HQ, the multitudinous minions are unloaded. Starling offers to provide Autistic Lad with his hour of instruction in the basement today, while the Intrepid Shapiro herds the rest of the minions upstairs (offering Kid Attitude advice along the way about what to do with her wet pants and panties. Banshee babe is placed in the PlayDome of Doom, where toys dangle above his head, tantalizing him with the promise of playtime pleasures, and yet secured just out of reach. He is transfixed. The girls scurry about with the sort of excited energy only minions can summon when promised that they can have a turn tormenting some poor victim. Alas, today the victim is to be the Intrepid Shapiro herself. She has Alas, there are not enough wedding veils to go around. We have three potential brides, and only one functional veil. Could it be that the Intrepid Shapiro will escape the fate of multiple wives? But no - our protagonist has recently had experience sewing all sorts of silky materials together in short order. In fact, Kid Attitude's wedding dress was made just last weekend, in under 2 hours, while Autistic Lad was distracted by his paternal guardian. Surely a veil or two can't be that difficult! Barely 10 minutes later, The Intrepid Shapiro produces not one, but two, beautiful veils from the depths of the sewing room. These are used to adorn our would-be Princesses, a velvet cloak is draped across Intrepid's shoulders (signalling the transition to Princehood) and the festivities begin. A mere 7 weddings, 11 dances, 218 kisses, and 3 tea-parties later, Starling emerges to rescue the Intrepid Shapiro from serving double duty as bridegroom and tea-party host. Autistic Lad is freed to bounce merrily on the couch, and the girls are divested of their bridal accoutrements. Shapiro contemplates the life of a hermit. But first, there is lunch to be served, toddlers to put down for naps, and Starling & her brood to thank for their assistance. Still when it is all said and done, the day has been worthwhile. Autistic Lad is seen to actively nod his head 'Yes' in response to the question of whether he would like a bouncing game. (That's really quite impressive. It means he was paying attention to what was being said, understood the words, realized that they were directed at him, figured out that yes he did want what was being offered, and communicated his decision appropriately.) Now, The Intrepid Shapiro shall see whether her minions can be persuaded to enjoy a short video while she wrestles some supper into existance. After all that wrestling practice with the car seat, it shouldn't be too hard. |
| Mon, July 26, 2004 (2:50pm) Jasen is 5 months old today. He's been weaned for roughly 1 month, and I am no longer a slave to my maternal hormones. He sleeps through the night most of the time, and when he doesn't, Shades is a sweetie and gets him a bottle (As he says, I did the 3 am feedings for 4 months. Now it's his turn.) so I am no longer a slave to sleep deprivation either. The world is a good place. - - - Oh, this is cute. Look what just landed in my inbox (slipping past my rabid junk-mail filter, somehow). Dear user of shades-of-night.com, (Attatched was a 31.3 KB zip file) Yeah. Right. Even if I wasn't suspicious about an email which contained an unsolicited attatchment, the fact that it came from "The shades-of-night.com support team" kinda gives it away as some sorta scam. Shades-of-Night isn't my provider. It's my virtual domain... and the shades-of-night support team is me! Not to mention that the file attatched isn't a text file, but a zip. What do ya think the odds are that it might, say, try to set up some sort of a hidden proxy server on my system, hm? |
| Sat, July 24, 2004 (5:10pm) Dave had this Public comment, re: the weblog entry of July 21, 2004: That's it. - - - So..... Raven: Do you remember the evil man, Kalen? The one from the weblogs? Kalen: Yeah. He's evil. Raven: Very evil. What if he came over here someday and threatened to put you into the oven? Kalen (looking shocked): I'd jump out of the oven! And then I'd push him for being mean. And I'd kick him. And step on him. And I'd shove him in the oven! And I'd cook him, and then I'd eat him! I'd eat his evil head! And I'd eat his evil eyes, too! And then I'd say "MMmmmmmmMMMmmmmm!" - - - Yep. Nightmares all around, folks. |
| Fri, July 23, 2004 (9:30am) We wants it, Preciousssss.... I want a lightsaber from ThinkGeek. Specifically, I want the light-side lightsaber, which is no longer being made (so it's, like, collectible! Which is not why I want it, but why I should buy it soon if I want one, before it's gone). I've always wanted a lightsaber (who hasn't?) and this model comes with cool sound FX and everything. I wants, I wants, I wants. (Checks bank balance) I can even afford it! Sort of. As long as Shades doesn't need to buy any Lego in the near future, and we don't buy a piano, and Shades doesn't remind me that I just spent an entire paycheque on anime. So... um... anyone wanna get me a lightsaber? Or maybe a cool binary clock, like Corin is getting (which happens to be why I was looking at stuff on ThinkGeek). I'd love a binary clock. But I could afford one of those myself, really. And since I was planning on buying the MegaTokyo Volume II (now available on ThinkGeek), I could just order a clock at the same time. And maybe a lightsaber. (whimper). |
| Thurs, July 22, 2004 (3:40pm) I want to play a SuperHero again. Or maybe even a SuperVillian. Yeah. Supervillians are good. Well, not in that "Good" sense of the word "good", but good in an evil way. I wanna be someone's Arch-Nemesis! Why? Because I was reading Gaider's blog and he mentioned the old Marvel SuperHeros game. Aaahhh... the gamer-nostalgia-rush! That was one of the first games I played in (the very first being the Red Box Set D&D, and second being Top Secret S.I.) and I remember all the Super-Heroey-goodness as if it was still in my veins. (They say the craving never goes away. You just learn to deal with the fact that you'll be an addict for the rest of your life. Such is the way with Sovereign, too.) And then I got to thinking.... What would my life be life if I was a SuperHero (/ Arch Villian) instead of a Stay-at-Home Mom who has nothing to do all day? I could be... Super Mom!!!! Uh. No, not really. 'Cuz Super-Moms are those weird people who have adorable kids that never fight, and their hair is always perfectly combed, their houses are immaculate (even the children's play area, which includes play-doh and fingerpaints) and they have home-cooked dinner on the table at 5:30pm sharp, with made-from-scratch pie for desert. No. I'm not a SuperMom. Not 'Super' anything, really... that's too over-used. And I'm not 'Amazing-Mom' or 'Incredible Girl' or 'Ultra-Lady' or anything like that either. Why? Because they're such flippin' gender-specific names. When I roleplay characters, they tend to be male.. 'cuz my self image (3 pregnancies aside) is predominantly male. Still, I can't be 'SuperMan' (that's taken) or 'Ultra Boy' (which implies an extreme degree of boy-hood, and that's just not a pretty thought) or Heroic Lad (lame) either. Perhaps I'll steal one of my favorite names out of a favorite childhood book. I can be: The Intrepid Shapiro! Yeah, that's good. It doesn't imply a specific gender, or a Hero versus a Villian. It's multi-purpose. And I'd get to run around with a bath-towel for a cape! So.... IF I was The Intrepid Shapiro.. what would my weblog entries be like? In today's Thrilling Adventure, The Intrepid Shapiro ventures bravely into the depths of Sherwood Park to face the perils of Early Intervention PlayGroup with Autistic Lad! Hrm. Not too bad, I hope. Not a hot-seller, I'm sure, but better than reading the drivel I occasionally post here. And at least it's not, "The Adventures of Tart Man and Butter Boy". |
| Wed, July 21, 2004 (9:00am) Kalen: Mommy, why is that man Evil? Raven: Wha - evil? Who is evil? Kalen: The man in the picture, from the blogs. Raven: I don't think any of the people in these weblogs are evil Kalen. Okay, maybe some are misguided, or fiendish, or even deviant... but not evil. Which picture were you talking about, anyway? Kalen: No, Mommy! He is evil! There - that man! See, his hand are folded evilily. And he has evil eyes. He's an evil, evil man. Raven: Sweetie, that's just a picture of Gaider. He's... uh... he's... Hrm. ...(Insert pause for thinking) ...Okay, you're right. He is evil. |
| Mon, July 19, 2004 (9:00pm) I meant to post this last week, but didn't get around to it.. so here it is now: - - - The Connor Report (Month 2 in Review) It has been a very busy month, Even with Kalen going to a Day Home 3 days per week, and having my Aunt and my Mom over to babysit on a couple days, finding time to work with Connor is difficult. There's always housework piling up, the baby wanting feeding, and yardwork which we promised ourselves we'd do this summer. Because of that, I haven't been able to keep up my original intention to work with him for an hour every single day, but we do get Connor-Time in on most days, and spend a lot more time interacting with him throughout any given day. That last point is one of the biggest changes this month. Connor has gone from a kid who avoids social contact to one who'll get underfoot in the kitchen, push people into his room to play with him, and request to be picked up right while you're in the middle of making supper. He doesn't do this constantly but he is doing it pretty regularly. Here's some other things I've noticed: - Eye contact is still not on par with your average toddler, but he makes eye contact quite often with people he knows, and had even made occassional eye contact with visitors and strangers. - He continues to request hugs and to be picked up, and not just when he's sad. - Much better at recognizing other human beings in his vicinity. He doesn't act like the baby is just a toy, and sometimes I even catch him watching Jase out of the corner of his eye. With Kalen, his interaction is much better - from time to time they'll play chasing games, or hide in a fort together. - He still scraches his face, but seems to recognize, "No! No scratching!" when shouted at him, and will often stop. - Rarely shakes his head for no or nods for yes, but it still happens from time to time. - Holds up his hands for 'Up' and has a couple of times reached down for 'Down'. Has on rare occasions pointed to things (once or twice a week). - Has tried mimicking adult behavior at least a couple times per week. - Will say 2 - 6 words per day. Signing a lot less now. - Sometimes tries to say brand new words spontaneously, or repeat new sounds which he's just heard. - Responds to his name about 1 time out of three (he doesn't come to you when called, but will recognize his name and turn to face you, or stop what he's doing for a moment) - Sleeping much better at night (despite hot spells and thunderstorms). I think we've only had to comfort him once this month in the middle of the night (except when at the cabin, but that's different). - He's definitely more fun and sociable. Near the end of month 2, I started Connor on a dairy free diet, and we've since been moving towards a gluten-free/gluten-reduced diet. I can't tell for sure if there's much change, but it certainly hasn't done any harm, and I think it may be helping. |
| Sun, July 18, 2004 (3:25pm) I want to live on Komarr. Okay, so it's a fictional place... but the allure of huge, climate-controlled domes enclosing every city on the planet, that's hard to pass up on a day like today. I'd even be willing to put up with Barrayarran government, Cetagandan spies, and invading Sylvani just for the chance to live in an air-conditioned city. Meanwhile... melt. melt. Melt. |
| Sat, July 17, 2004 (4:50pm) Animethon today! Yay! I had originally planned to take Kalen with me, and have some good mother/daughter bonding time hanging out at the Con together. Ya know... watching cartoons, snickering at the sillier Cosplay oufits, flipping through Manga while Kale asks me, "Why is that lady stabbing the man in the heart?" "Why does the bad guy have dragon claws on his shoulders?" "Is that lady getting married, Mommy?" "What's this thing? Oh, wait, it's a tentacle. Look Mommy! Tentacles!" Shades had agreed to let us go out together while he stayed home to watch Jase and the Con Man. As we were getting ready to go, however, it was mentioned that GMCC was air-conditioned. Our house is not. So he asked if we'd be willing to wait a couple minutes while he got the boys ready, and let them all come along. So yeah, Kalen and I decided we'd let them come. Mother and daughter bonding turned into a family outing at the Anime Convention. It actually went pretty well. Connor sat (relatively) still through nearly an hour of anime, Kalen only got really hyper near the end, and Jasen was a total sweetie the entire time (he didn't make so much as a peep during the anime screenings). Shades showed remarkable child-wrangling skills the entire time. I didn't get the chance to watch all the stuff I wanted to, alas, but then I never do. Perhaps I'll see if I've got the energy to go back again this evening, if Shades is willing to put the kids to bed himself. Hrm... but I was already out Thursday and Friday evening... not sure I've got the credit saved up for another outing. Shall have to see. Accomplishment of the Day: Scratched several titles off our 'DVD's To Buy' list. Today, we acquired: Akira, Cowboy BeBop (the Movie), Cowboy BeBop (the Series), Spriggan, Heroic Legend of Arslan (the Series), and my fantastic find of the day... a Masamune Shirow Collection including Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, Dominion Tank Police, Gundress, and Black Magic M-66. Woohoo! Maybe I won't go out after all. I could stay home and watch anime all night. |
| Fri, July 16, 2004 (1:50pm) Got back from the cabin late Wednesday. Thursday was a rather long day, with still-sleepy kids and a lot of post-camping mess to deal with. When Shades came home, I grabbed the opportunity and bolted out the door. Went to swordfighting practice, went to BP's after. Hung out, chatted Purgatory, celebrated Anna's safe return to Canada, and generally enjoyed myself. Today's excitement has been: booking Hotel Reservations for GenCon. We supposedly had friends booking a room for us, but Shades got in contact with them a couple days ago to discover that the accomodations they booked are not actually near the Con, and require a commute to the site. Call me elitist if you must, but when I'm going to a gamer con, I want accomodations that are within easy walking distance of the Con itself. Preferably in the same hotel, or immediately connected via PedWays. I don't want to be checking my watch to say, "Sorry guys, it's been great roleplaying/watching anime/chatting with ya, but I've gotta catch the 11:05pm bus or I won't make it back to my hotel tonight." Not to mention that Shades and I have booked this rare week-away-from-kids a full year in advance, and I want to spend every possible minute of it immersed in geeky gamerness. Anyway, I logged onto the GenCon site to book hotel rooms, because tomorrow is the deadline for doing so. (Hey - I know I procrastinate, but this time it wasn't my fault. I only found out we needed our own room this week.) And guess what?? Pretty much everything is SOLD OUT already. The only thing open for the dates we wanted was a pair of hotels about 5 miles away from the Con. Grrrrrrrr. So I checked into a couple of the hotels we had wanted (The Hyatt Regency, and the Marriott) specifically, to discover that the Hyatt might have a room if we were only booking from Thurs on (but our plane arrives on Wed. We'd need a different hotel for one night) and the Marriott had exactly what we wanted available. Wha? I went back to the availability page, punched in our desired dates again, and the same two hotels (5 miles away) came up, PLUS the Marriott. Just like that. Maybe someone cancelled their reservation while I was searching for accomodations or something?? Who cares - I grabbed it. We've got a hotel now. Scratch that off of today's To Do list. Yay! Can't wait 'til the Con! I'm all a-twitter. - - - The Connor Report Coonor had a great time out at the Cabin. He was being very alert, and excited about pretty much everything. He did a lot of babbling and it's sounding more and more like human speech. I also caught him repeating sounds I'd made on several occasions ("Connor, this is a Trivet. It's for putting hot things on, like a kettle of tea. Trivet. T, T, Trivet." and then Connor would mutter "Ti-et. Tet. Te, Te, et."). He wasn't trying to say the word to me me, or anyone specific, but he was definitely trying it. Yesterday's Connor-Time was a bit of a bust. He was just too exhausted from being out at the cabin and getting to bed so late. It was like trying to inspire enthusiasm from a platicine figure which had been left in the sun: he was all droopy and wilting, and poking his tummy didn't make him giggle, it made him crumple. Today was much better. We played in the sandbox together, and I showed him how to bury his hand in the sand. He wasn't too keen on it at first, but when I showed him we could dig tiny holes in the sand to find his hidden limb, and then tickle it, he thought it was hilarious. We buried his hands, arms, and feet at different times, and had great fun excavating them, or just lifting the limb and sending sand flying everywhere. Immediately after came bathtime. I got out the bubble-bath for a change, and we played pretty much the same games by hiding his hands or feet under mountains of bubbles. He caught on to it very quickly, and the bathroom was dripping wet by the time we were done (throwing water and bubbles everywhere is even more fun than sand, apparently). No new words appeared during our play session, nor did he choose to bring back any of the words he knows but rarely uses (juice, stay, up, down, etc.) but we definitely had fun, and he was making eye contact regularly. Looking forward to the weekend, and seeing if Shades has some good Connor-Time with the boy. |
| Tues, July 13, 2004 (9:30am) The Connor Report This has been a very good morning for the Con-Man. Mornings are typically pretty good for him, since he's fresh from a restful sleep, interested in the world, and I am moving too slowly yet to think beyond the level of your average toddler. This morning, however, he was exteremly interactive on the change table: great eye contact, lots of smiles, and wiggling his fingers around like he was trying to make signs. When we were done changing him, I sat him up and did the usual routine of pointing the floor, saying "Down! It's time to get down. Shall we sign 'Down' together?" and showed him how to make our sign for 'Down' (both arms aimed at the floor). But he fought against making the sign with me, ans instead lifted his arms up, saying "Uh!" "Oh? You want to come UP and not down? Sure come into my arms - " and he lunged into my waiting arms, squirming and giggling with glee. Being able to communicate makes him so happy, and I'd have to say that I'm pretty fond of the concept myself. So off we went to the bathroom to toss his old diaper in the garbage (I let him do the actual tossing, to practice his hand-eye co-ordination, and to help teach him about cleaning up his own things. And, I guess, because every time he successfully tosses out his diaper, I have an excuse to praise him and bounce him up and down and say 'Yay! Great job!' and I get the biggest grins in return). Since he was still in my arms, he could see his reflection in the mirror while we did our happy 'I just threw out my dirty diaper' dance. And hen he made eye contact with his own reflection. It's something he's done before, but he rarely keeps the eye contact for long. This time, he held it for a bit, and smiled. I pointed out, "Hey, that guy in the mirror is you! It's my Connor-Man!" and Connor pointed to his reflection, and then to himself, and giggled. And things dissolved into a bouncy, happy, giggly mess for a while after that. He's just so great when he can make these connections, ya know? And immediately after that, he wandered off thorugh the house, shaking his head and muttering his little autistic mantras and ignored me completely for several minutes. I wonder if sometimes he has to retreat into his mental cave for a bit after doing something social and 'normal' just so he has time to recover from the excitement, or integrate the experience, or something. - - - Quick note to anyone interested: the kids and I are headed out to the cabin this afternoon (with Grandma & Grandpa). We hope to be back tomorrow evening. |
| Mon, July 12, 2004 (11:05am) While I'm on the topic of Purgatory, I just wanted to mention that I hate submitting Purgatory turns. It's not that they're too complicated, nor that I can't figure out what I want my character to do, nor even that I have trouble finding time to do them. It's that the moment I submit my turn, the moment mind you, I start wanting my turn results back. I submit my turn via email, and the moment it leaves my inbox I'm hitting the 'Get Mail' icon to see if the turn results are done yet. It makes no sense, because I know Dave hasn't had time to read my turn, let alone process it. It'll be weeks before Laz & Dave can collect, print, and process everyone's turns, and then they still have to type up the results, news, city events, etc. to mail out. I have to endure half a month of incessant email-checking, just on the off chance that they might have processed turns early, this time 'round. At least it's not as bad as it was with Sovereign. One time, I caught myself checking my email for turn results, and then I remembered that I hadn't even sent in my turn submission. They weren't due for another week, yet. |
| Mon, July 12, 2004 (1:05am) David has this public comment: Comments : "And... um... anyone else want my undying gratitude while we're at it?" Ah, but of course! How could I possibly have neglected to mention Dave?!? Without his heroic efforts to provide me with entertainment in the form of the Purgatory game, I would have withered into a mere husk over the course of that weekend. Thoughts of vampiric politics danced through my head, my heart burned with excitement, and the desperate desire to attend the next Purgatory Live Game sustained me when all other hopes had failed. It's remarkable what Dave puts himself through for me, you know. The hours of mental anguish he pours into his plotting, the players he forces himself to deal with on a regular basis, the way he puts his nose to the grindstone and churns through all those Turns when he'd rather be out partying with his swingin' circle of friends... it's all for me. He still feels guilty about abandonning Sovereign Plus, and putting on Purgatory is how he does his penance. Sure, he lets other people think he's doing it for all his players, but I know the truth. Hrm... I s'pose I should acknowledge Lazarus' valiant efforts, too. He's not doing Purgatory because he feels bad about Sovereign, tho - he's just doing it because his entire life revolves around making me happy. Yep. All mankind was put on this earth to serve me. Me and my squalling children. And I'm thankful, of course, so I shall show my undying gratitude by allowing you all to fulfil your destinies and continue serving my every whim. |
| Sun, July 11, 2004 (1:05pm) Kat had this public comment: Hey! I fed Jase a couple of times and watched the little beasties too! Yes, yes you did. Thanks for that. And Verdandi helped too, so thanks in her direction as well. Oh - and Uncle Hjalti helped by letting the kids bounce on his air mattresss. And... um... anyone else want my undying gratitude while we're at it? (smirk) |
| Sat, July 10, 2004 (11:05pm) Eyoddi had this Public comment: Comments : AHEM!.... "Of course, that was due in part to Shades' willingness to drive back to Edmonton to get them after our little miscommunication... but it all worked out."... Mea Culpa, Mea Cupla. Sorry dear sister, I have been grossly negligent. I should have at least mentioned the part you played in getting Shades safely to and from Edmonton. Of course, I did say 'due in part...' - there were other parts implied, though not mentioned. And Shades' willingness was the most important bit, you see. I certainly wouldn't have deprived you of socializing time if Shades had not also been willing to give up socializing time. You did spend 6 hrs on the road... Shades spent 11+... I figured I'd better give him top billing. And then, foolish me, I forgot to give any other credit where it was due. Thank you. Many, many thanks. Thanks also to Coryn, who assisted me in my extended single-parent-hood at the cabin. I would have been running in circles taking care of three kids if she hadn't been willing to lend a hand. Thanks to Dirk, too, for giving a hand with boiling water for the bottles. And for bringing me food, too (food which Coryn cooked. Thanks again, Coryn!) Thank you to Brother Hamish for his patience, and the time he spent commiserating. Thank you to Tyrnon, and to any others who were forced to endure the tales of my woe. Thank you to Jay and others who helped (or volunteered to help) unload the van so Shades could get out again, faster. And thank you, kids, for not being totally awful little beasts. You were unexpectedly good about going to sleep at bedtime, so Mommy didn't have to play musical-beds-with-whiney-infants. In fact, you were wonderful. It almost makes me want to take you guys camping again. But next time, we won't forget our gear, so it'll go much easier, right? - - - BTW - Shades is back from Vancouver, and so are his eyes (minus a thin layer of corneal tissue). He claims that all went well. He backs up these claims by wandering around the house without glasses, and being able to see things (instead of stumbling around like a blind man, which he would have done had he attempted this trick before laser eye surgery). Nor has he volunteered any sordid tales of torrid love affairs in distant cities... so either he had a quiet weekend away from me, or he got drunk enough that he can't remember having an affair. Hrm... I wonder if wanton sex is on the 'not do' list post eye-surgery, like hot-tubbing and using table saws. |
| Thurs, July 8, 2004 (4:50pm) Bits & Pieces Just in case I didn't mention it before, it was muddy last weekend at QUAD War. You know all this rain we're getting right now? Imagine the same stuff being dumped on a farmer's field in Saskatchewan, with no heat, plumbing, or electricity to mitigate the hardships of your camping experience. (Actually, we cheated on the heat by bringing a space heater. Yay for owning a cabin which we can set up a space heater in, without worrying about lighting the residence on fire. It would have sucked to be in a tent.) Oh, and then imagine that the roads aren't paved, but merely lightly gravelled paths in the mud. Or clay. Nice slippery clay. Vehicles coming in Friday during the rains were being hauled out of the ditch or up the hills by people in 4 x 4's. People trying to get out on Sunday during the worst of the weather were either being hauled or told that they shouldn't even bother 'til the weather cleared. It did clear, eventually, and then everyone was encouraged to (a) wait an hour to give the roads time to drain and (b) then get the heck outta Dodge, as fast as they could, before the rains came back. It was wet, and dismal, and damp. And excellent weather for selling cloaks. - - - Jasen sprouted his first tooth last weekend! His lower left primary incisor came in sometime overnight from July 1st to the 2nd. And guess what? the lower right one just came in last night! We have left behind the toothless baby grin, and are plunging rapidly into the toothsome stage. And in related news, Jasen has been weaned. Ouch. - - - Shades is off for laser eye surgery, as of this morning. Best of luck, m'love - I hope you return with 20/20 vision... or at least vision sufficient for making the baby's bottle up in the middle of the night without having to search for your glasses first. - - - Ah... we have lake-front property again. The entire field out back has been flooded, to half-way up the goal-posts. Our creek is 10 times as wide as it usually is. If we had a dingy or a rowboat, we could go out on the water, and sail halfway to our local 7-11. - - - Note to a certain someone who reads my weblog: Hey, Babe! Shades is out of town 'til the weekend... wanna come over and have some fun? You could even pick up the clothes you left here (I cleaned 'em for ya). - - - Lazarus has, at his request, been removed from my list of 'LollyBlogger' links. And, well, 'cuz he posted - twice in one day, even. But can he keep it up?? We shall have to see. At one time, Laz's blog was among my favorites to read. He's been posting less (because of work pressures) and about less interesting topics ('cuz of work pressures) but it's still worthwhile reading when he does post. So don't let yourself slipp into LollyBloggerHood again, eh Laz?? - - - The Connor Report I took Connor to his first Early Intervention play group, today. The Robin Hood Association runs the E.I. program out here in Sherwood Park, but it's only in full swing during the school year. During the summer months the Moms get together with their kids and hang out, and let the kids play together. It was interesting. There were several kids there - a couple Down's Syndrome babies, some toddlers who were screamingly ADHD or F.A.S. (and I do mean 'screamingly'), and a couple kids who looked like your average toddlers (but I guess they had some special needs, since they were in the program). There was also one other 'autistic' kid. His Mom was quick to point out that he hadn't been diagnosed as autistic yet, but that he seemed to exhibit most of the symptoms. And yeah, he did: he was about Connor's age, and didn't talk, didn't play with the other kids, didn't socialize with the adults, just ran around the room most of the time babbling to himself and shaking his head a lot. Connor actually coped susprisingly well with the noisy roomful of kids. He went down the little slide, bounced on the excercise ball, played with toy trains (well, mostly he threw them), and was fascinated by a plastic 'hair salon' toy along one wall. He kept picking up what was supposedly the 'sprayer' attatchment over the fake sink, and holding it up to his ear. Then he babbled into it like it was a phone... he even said 'NaMa!' once, which is the word he has occasionally used for 'Grandma'. To me, this is quite cool. He's either engaging in imaginary play (which autistic kids frequently have a hard time with) or he actually expected the toy to be a real phone and was imitating the behaviour of adults using the phone. Either way, he's making connections in that little over-sensory-stimulated brain of his. Speaking of connections, he also surprised me yesterday by showing me Jasen's bottle (half filled with milk) and saying "Juice!" He was able to tell that the bottle was filled with a liquid meant for drinking, and generalized this with the word which he knew applied to drinkables. Plus, he said "juice" without any prompting. And he was definitely trying to draw my attention to the bottle - he wanted to tell someone about his discovery. This is all very positive stuff for him. Some days I get discouraged because he functions at the level of a 1-yr old, but other days I look at what he's doing and say, "Hey - he's come a long way in the last couple months. He used to be fuctioning below the level of a 1-yr old." Other recent accomplishments of Connor's: Pointing to a picture of a castle on the Quad War brochure. Saying 'Up' when he wanted to be picked up. Saying 'Up' unprompted when I was lifting him up into his car seat. Saying his name, while we were out at the cabin: "Con-Man!" (Well, it's what we call him more often than not). Saying "nn-ti Tisti" for his Auntie Kristy. Realizing, as we put his jacket on after the play group ended, that it was time to go home, and saying, "Bye-bye!" as he spontaneously headed for the door. |
| Mon, July 5, 2004 (8:40pm) QUADing in the Mud (excerpt from a conversation Thursday evening) Raven: Okay, I've finished all the packing. The stuff to go into my van is in my parking spot in the garage. The stuff to go into your van is in your parking spot. Shades: Okay. Raven: I'm gonna start loading stuff into my van now. Shades: Kay. (and later than evening...) Shades: Is there anything more that needs to be packed? Raven: No... just remember to take your stuff. You packed your own garb and your pillow and stuff, right? Shades: Yep. Raven: Okay... then we're ready to go, first thing in the morning. Drive carefully on your trip to the Prentiss plant. I'll drive carefully to the site, and seeya there in the afternoon. (A conversation at the Quad Site, Friday evening) Customer: Do you have any good warm cloaks for sale? I don't see any in your shop. Dexter (aka Raven): Yes, I have a lot more cloaks. Alas, they're in miLord's van. He had to work today, but he should be arriving soon with the rest of our gear. Quite a few people have been coming by the shop looking for warm cloaks with this miserable weather we're having, so I hope he gets here soon. Especially because he's got all of our garb in the van, too. Look at me, I'm running around 'naked'! Brother Hamish: Yes, he's got my tent, too.. and I'm not looking forward to setting it up in the dark, or the rain. I'm hoping it won't be too long. Dexter: It shouldn't be. He was planning to come here directly from Prentiss. No sense in him driving two hours towards red Deer, then two hours home, and then 3 hours out here, when he can drive directly from Prentiss to the site in less than three hours. (and another conversation, shortly afterward...) Dexter: Iolar! I'm glad you made it safely, my Lord! Iolar (aka Shades): Yeah, the weather's not too great. The road through the field is getting pretty muddy. They wouldn't even let me bring my van directly onto the site to unload because the path has been torn into a mudpit by all the cars and trucks unloading gear. Dexter: Sucks. Well, do you want help bringing things in from the parking lot, then? I'd really like to get my tubs of cloaks so I can set the shop up properly. We've got lots of potential customers. Iolar: What tubs? Dexter: Ya know - the big green ones. Iolar: Uh... I don't have any big green tubs. Dexter: They didn't get left behind, did they? They couldn't have! I put them in the garage, right with all the other stuff for your van. You couldn't have missed them when you loaded all the stuff. Iolar: Loaded stuff? I thought you said you were loading stuff. I asked if there was anything for me to pack, and you just said to bring my stuff. So I've got my garb, plus the coutertop we loaded earlier Thursday, and the jug of fresh water. There's nothing else in my van. Dexter, going blank: Nothing... else...? You didn't bring the stuff from the garage? Iolar: I was supposed to? I asked, and you said you'd packed everything already. so this morning I just got into the van and headed out to Prentiss. I didn't even go into the garage! Dexter: Oh.... shit. Iolar: Well, I'm here now, and not inclined to go back. There wasn't anything important, was there? Dexter: Uh, Yes. All the stuff to sell at our shop. All my garb. All the KIDS' garb and clothes and pajamas, and stuff. Hamish's tent, and all his gear. The shelves,the lantern holders, the lanterns I bought just so we'd have the extra light, all the stuff we'd put aside to bring to the cabin. I only brought the bare essentials with me - a spare change of clohes, the diapers, the bedding, the babyfood, and snacks for the kids. Oh, and my meds. So, I guess we could survive without the gear, but it makes the event kinda pointless. Shades - I spent money and time and effort making all those cloaks, there are people here who want to buy them. How can I be a merchant without any wares? And I want my garb! I'm not gonna run around naked all weekend. Please, please can we go back and get that stuff. Iolar: By 'we', you mean 'me' right? Dexter: Mmm, yes? Unless you want to mind the kids for 6 hours while I go? Iolar, sighing deeply: Okay... I'll go. Ug, this is gonna be a long day. - - - Our weekend at Quad War went well. Better than many people's weekends, in fact. It was cold, it was rainy, there was mud everywhere, and we were warm, and our cabin was dry, and cloak sales went well. Extremely well. By the end of the weekend, we'd sold every fleece-lined cloak in the shop, and many others besides. I made more sales in the first 2 hours of Saturday than I had during the prior two events. Of course, that was due in part to Shades' willingness to drive back to Edmonton to get them after our little miscommunication... but it all worked out. Now I've just got to sew another dozen cloaks so I'll have some stock again for next event. |
| Thurs, July 1st, 2004 (2:00pm) 10 Reasons Why I Love This Country - A Canada Day Special. 1. We don't have The Draft. 2. While our Health Care system has many faults, it's nice to know that if you're ever found bleeding and unconscious, without any ID to prove you have coverage or cash, you will still be able to get ambulance service and medical attention from any Emergency ward in the country. They'll help you first, and ask where to send the bill(s) later. 3. I grew up without worrying about drive-by shootings. I played in the River Valley as a young teenager and didn't wonder who might be hiding in the woods. I don't lock my cardoors when I drive downtown. I sleep with the front door of my house unlocked. 4. There are ways to get corrupt politicians out of office, which don't involve civil war. 5. I voted on Monday. 6. There has never been any doubt in my mind that women have equal rights with men. 7. My son is going into a government funded special needs education program this Fall. 8. I have never seen kids starving on the streets, here. 9. My friends got married in this country, even though they are the same gender. 10. I can go to Church. and 11. I can say whatever I want about the country and the people who run it and their foreign policy and religion and politics and I will not need to worry that they will censor my weblog, or block my site from being accessed by people anywhere in this country. Celebrate Canada Day! |