Monday

I'm getting better!  The sore throat is almost gone, and that was the worst part.  Now if I could stop coughing up a lung every two seconds I'd really be cooking with gas.  Anyway, we're doing school today come hell or high water. (Actually, we're well into it already.  We only have the algebra review workbook and today's geometry lesson to go.)

Over the past several months Drew has transitioned out of his intense interest in heavy metal and into an obsession with jazz.  Between you and me, that's only a small improvement.

I found this picture on Baylee's Instagram account.  It's several of the kids at rehearsal the other day.  The really cute, young kid with red hair isn't a SoR student; he's somebody's little brother.  (Although the SoR does have a program for kids that young.  It's called Little Wing.)

Sunday

First things first:  Urinetown was actually really great!  It was a fun, interesting musical for one thing, and for another those kids did an outstanding job.  I told you it was put on by a community theater (Everett Village Theatre), but I didn't mention that it done by the "kid" branch of that, which is called Kidstage.  Even so, it was amazing.  Obviously, those kids had to audition, and only the best were chosen.  This time Baylee's friend, Lily, was a part of the chorus (She was one of the down-and-out rebels of Urinetown) and had no lines, but maybe one of these days, if she keeps auditioning for different plays, she'll get a speaking part and maybe a solo. It seems like the best parts went to older high school kids.

Anyway, I saw that play on Friday night, with the help of a lot of cold medicine, and since then I've done nothing but stay in bed.  Well, I took a couple showers, but that's it.  I've been so sick with a sore throat, headache, and cough.  Ugh.  Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow, because we REALLY need to do school.

Friday

The Good:  After being really sick for four days, Baylee started feeling significantly better yesterday.

The Bad:  Yesterday (actually the night before yesterday) I started to feel sick.  I had a fever and chills (and the horrible, dragging, kill-me-now feeling that goes along with that) for a whole day, but at least that's gone.  Now I'm just left with a really sore throat.

Sigh.  I feel like we're being punked, health-wise.  We haven't been able to do school at all this week, which is a bummer.  Also, Baylee and I are supposed to go see a play tonight.  Baylee's friend Lily got into a community theater in her town, and right now they're doing a musical called Urinetown.   Here's a synopsis:

In the not-so-distant future, a terrible water shortage and 20-year drought has led to a government ban on private toilets and a proliferation of paid public toilets, owned and operated by a single megalomaniac company: the Urine Good Company. If the poor don’t obey the strict laws prohibiting free urination, they’ll be sent to the dreaded and mysterious “Urinetown.” After too long under the heel of the malevolent Caldwell B. Cladwell, the poor stage a revolt, led by a brave young hero, fighting tooth and nail for the freedom to pee “wherever you like, whenever you like, for as long as you like, and with whomever you like.” A brilliant satire modeled off the plays of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, Urinetown is a wickedly funny, fast-paced, and surprisingly intelligent comedic romp. (source)

Mostly, the reason I don't want to miss it is that the tickets cost a fortune.  lol  Plus, Lily's family has come to so many of Drew and Baylee's SoR shows that we really need to return the favor.  I guess I'll load up on Advil and make it work.

Other than that, I just have these two pictures, which, it turns out, are kind of an unintentional set.

School Stuff

Man, this week has been a "fat mission" (as Baylee and Rachel would say.  It means something that's more trouble than it's worth.) as far as homeschooling.  Baylee has been so sick that there's been no way to get anything accomplished.  She has:

• a terrible headache
• a cough that brings up tons of disgusting, discolored gunk (Sorry!)
• fatigue
• no voice whatsoever

Yesterday I was worried enough that I took her to see the doctor, but he said that they don't like to prescribe antibiotics until somebody has been sick with a possible sinus infection for at least a couple weeks.  I get that, but it's a little frustrating.  In the meantime she's resting, hydrating, sleeping, and netipotting, and hopefully she'll be better soon.

Today it's pouring down rain, so I agreed to pick Drew up from school instead of making him take the metro.  When I pulled up to curb I happened to glance down the wide walkway between some of the buildings, and I was struck again by what a beautiful little campus Shoreline CC has.   I thought I'd look online to see if I could find any pictures to show you guys, and I found these:

Monday

Last week Drew's English professor told the class to divide into groups, then pick a controversial topic relating to feminism to present to the class.  Everyone immediately joined together in groups of between three and five people.  Drew thought about hooking up with one of them, but he didn't like the topics they chose, so he waited...too long.  Suddenly the only other person left ungrouped was a really anti-social jerkwad.  He was now Drew's partner in a group of two.

Long story short, this other guy didn't do one thing to help with their project...which was the wage gap in the workplace, by the way...even though Drew called him a couple times, texted him several times, and basically begged for input.  The guy just kept saying things like, "Yeah, whatever you do is fine."  Drew ended up spending the entire weekend researching the topic, putting together a PowerPoint presentation, and preparing to report on it to the class all by himself.  He didn't know what else to do.

It was due today, but only half the class got a chance to make their presentations, and Drew's group wasn't among them.  They're going to do theirs tomorrow.  Fine, right?  Except that tonight this kid that Drew is supposed to be working with suddenly texted him.  He said, "Hey, I want you to add [such-and-such] video to our presentation."

Drew texted back, "I don't think that's necessary, because it'll be redundant.  We're already covering everything in that video.  Besides, it might make our time up there too long.  We're already cutting it close."

"I want the video included.  Also, I need you to write me a script for tomorrow."

Drew was furious. Here this kid was perfectly happy to ride on coattails, and now he was going to start ordering him around, too?  Drew ranted and raved to anyone who would listen (me, Mike, and Zach) for awhile, then finally he had an idea.  He texted back, "I'll send you the link to the PowerPoint, and you can make whatever changes you want."

The other guy backed down instantly.  "Never mind,"  he said.  "We'll just go with what you already have."  His bluff had been called.

Mike told Drew that these group projects are good practice, because in the workplace you're sometimes asked to collaborate with people, and the bosses don't care who's pulling their weight and who's not contributing, just so long as the project gets done.  It's good to learn how to deal with it sooner rather than later.

What I had to say to Drew was much simpler:  "Next time don't wait so long to join a group, you dummy!  Jump into a good one immediately!"

In totally other news, Baylee is as sick as a dog.  She's been hacking up gross stuff, she's got a headache, and her voice is totally gone.  On the bright side, it made my day much easier!  I didn't have to do school or drive her to the SoR.  Instead I put time into making a really nice dinner:  pork roast with mashed potatoes and gravy.  It was delicious.

Zombie Prom

Zombie Prom was fun and the kids did a great job!  They had to wear a costume of some sort, so Baylee went with a skeleton face.  (One of the other house band moms used to be a professional make-up artist or something, and she did make-up for several of the kids.  She did a super job.)

I also got a chance to meet Jack's mom and dad.  They're both really nice, and they both have thick Australian accents.  They already know Baylee pretty well, because dating for Baylee and Jack consists of them eating dinner at Jack's house with his family (we're still waiting for our turn on that one), watching TV, and sometimes going on walks.  lol  It's nice and sheltered, which I like.

Saturday

I've been burned out on French since the end of the summer.  Awhile back I even told my friend Melissa that not only did I not feel like finishing my resolution, but I didn't understand why I ever wanted to learn the language in the first place.  It seemed very much like I'm never going to truly get it.  Then a couple weeks ago I decided that I would finish the resolution, but that I'd be done with it all after December 31st.

Today, though, I read one of those "Your Facebook Post in the Past" things, and it got me excited again.  See, exactly one year ago on this day I posted, "French speakers: What's the difference between 'va' and 'marche?' Does 'va' mean 'go' and 'marche' mean 'walk?'"  Reading that was like...you know how in TV shows they do that record-screeching-to-a-halt sound?  It was like that.  I can't believe what a basic question that is!  It goes to show how far I've come in only one year and makes me think that maybe this isn't impossible.

Zombie prom is tonight.  I feel guilt about it, because house band moms are the ones who ultimately put the whole thing together, and I didn't jump on the bandwagon with that.  I'm bringing a pie and my kid, and that's it.  You know what I think my problem is?  It's two-fold:

1. Baylee is my second kid to go through the SoR.  I've literally seen it ALL before.  Don't get me wrong:  I love to watch her play, but I'm waaaay over these extra parent-y things. 
2. Many of the parents around here only have one kid, so they're willing to pour all of their time and energy into stuff like this.  I ran out of energy years ago.

Sigh.  Still, I think I'd better step up for the next event, to make up for my extreme lameness in this one, or I might lose my "rocker mom" card.

Speaking of the Zombie Prom, the one thing I did like about it, doing Baylee's make-up and making her look like a zombie, is finally over.  Can you believe my sophomore-aged daughter doesn't want to attend this year with crusty, bloody scabs all over her face???   lol  And I was so good at that, too.

PS:  I might as well tell you:  probably the main reason she doesn't want to look disgusting is that she has a boyfriend now.  In fact, they've been dating for a couple months.  Remember when I wrote that post about the four boys at the SoR who were interested in her, and how she turned them all down, because she didn't want to date?  Well, the relationship started pretty much right after that, of course.  This boy (who was one of the four boys, but not the one who bought her pizza) is a junior named Jack, and he's from Australia, complete with accent.  He's a really nice, responsible, intelligent kid.  Let's see if I have a picture...

He's the guitar player in the background.

        

Friday

I've got some more weird French stuff to share with you:  When French people say words like "pneumonia" and psychiatrist," they actually pronounce the p.  So, for example, their word for "psychologist" is "psychologue," pronounced p-SEE-co-log.  (The p sound is very quick.)

Yesterday morning a friend of mine wrote on Facebook that she had potato cheese soup cooking in the crockpot, and I just couldn't get that out of my head.  It sounded delicious!  I decided to look up a recipe for it (but not a crockpot one, since I didn't have time), buy the ingredients, and make it for my family for supper.  I used a Taste of Home recipe that I found online, and, holy cow, it was amazing.  It might've been the best soup I've ever had.

Here's a link to it if you're interested.

[Edited to Add:  I posted the following paragraph, walked away for a couple minutes, then got the strong urge to come back and delete it, because, not gonna lie, it comes across as a pretty shameless mom brag.  Here's the thing, though:  Can it really be a brag if I don't take any of the credit for it?  I know it has nothing to do with me; I'm just a happy bystander.  Anyway, I guess I won't delete it.  If you don't like it, I offer you a sheepish apology.]  

I've got some fun news about Drew's piano class.  A few weeks back the teacher gave all the students a test, and based on that she split the class into two sections:  Group A (people moving along at a normal rate) and Group B (people who are able to move faster).  Drew was put into Group B.  Then yesterday the teacher announced that if any of Group B could play a certain waltz on a certain page of the piano book by the end of the class period, she'd move them up again.  Only Drew was able to do it.  In fact, after he played it for her, she said, "Okay, now do it backwards."  In other words, she was asking him to play the right-hand part down lower on the keyboard with his left hand, and the left-hand part up higher with his right hand.  He did that, too, so now he's in Group C all by himself, at least for the time being.

Thursday

We have a really nice mailman...a man of about 50 or so...and this afternoon I had an interesting conversation with him.  He told me that earlier today he was walking down a street a couple blocks away from ours, delivering the mail, when suddenly a bald eagle swooped down, grabbed a dead squirrel out of the road with its talons, and then flew away with it.  This happened only about six feet in front of Robin, our mailman!  He said that the eagle's wingspan was huge.  Isn't it weird that I live in a place where something like that could happen?  The only place to see bald eagles back where I'm from in Michigan is the zoo.

Wednesday

Drew got his glasses today.  He spent the entire drive home from the eye doctor staring out the window and exclaiming over all the little details in the world he can see now.  He even looked at himself in the rear view mirror and said, "Huh.  I guess I do need to shave."  (We tell him that on a regular basis, but he never believes us and only shaves every so often.)

I'm proud of Baylee today.  She had a really hard test in English in which she had to write, from memory, all the rules for using commas, quotation marks, and capital letters, and she did it perfectly!  It took her lots of work to learn all that.

Not to mention, there's another page on the back of the test dealing with the literature book she just finished.

I'm still working on my New Year's resolutions, and I've been especially  tackling French again lately.  I figured out that with some hard work, I can finish Assimil (which is extra and not even technically part of my resolution) in the next 3 weeks.  After that I'll finish off Learnables Advanced French, and then I'll have accomplished my goal for the year.

Today in Assimil I read a story about a man who goes into a bar and orders drinks for everyone, because his sister just had a baby and he's celebrating.  The bartender asks him if his sister had a boy or a girl, and the man says, "J'ai oublié de demander; je ne sais pas je suis oncle ou tante."  (That is, "I forgot to ask.  I don't know if I'm an uncle or aunt.")  So apparently the French have that stupid joke, too.

Rain Gear and Glasses

The French have much more fun words for rain gear than we do.  Their word for "umbrella" is "parapluie."  It's pronounced para-PLOO-ee.  And their word for "raincoat" is "imperméable," pronounced um-pear-may-AH-bluh.

Today Baylee and I were doing school, and I was annoyed with her lack of understanding of atoms, until she finally said, "Mom, I'm sorry, but your eyes are really pronounced with those reading glasses on.  It's hard to take you seriously."

"What do you mean?" I asked.  "Do they magnify my eyes?"

"Uhh...yeah.  And when you're staring at me and you're all serious and kinda mad, you look so hilarious!"

I wanted to be annoyed, because 1) How rude! and 2) I can't help it that I need these stupid things now! but I just couldn't.  Instead I laughed until I cried.  Then I felt sort of self-conscious through the rest of the lesson, because, you know, I still had the glasses on.

#DreamBig

Mike [calling on the phone]:  You mentioned that you don't have any cash.  Do you want me to get some out for you?

Me:  Sure.

Mike:  How much do you want?

Me:  A thousand dollars.

Mike:  How about forty?

Me:  Okay.

Weekend

Mike and I found ourselves alone for much of yesterday (Zach was at work, Drew was at Seattle University hanging out with friends, and Baylee went to a "storm party."  She and five or six other kids got together at one of their homes, played Monopoly, and ate junk food.)  so the two of us...wait for it...went grocery shopping together.  lol  It was fun!

Mike signed up for a special thing Boeing is doing, where it puts you into weight-loss accountability groups with other employees and gives support to everyone.  For instance, Boeing gave Mike a brand new, really cool scale that sends his weigh-in info to the whole group.  Also, I think they have a health coach assigned to them. Anyway, I think it'll be pretty motivating for him.

Drew tried practicing this morning, but was foiled by Gibbs...

And Baylee and Mike went to a wedding tonight for one of the youth group leaders.  I thought Baylee looked beautiful, so I snapped her pic.

The Storm of the Century

I could be speaking too soon, but so far this huge practically-a-typhoon that they've been talking about on the news for days has actually been one of these situations...

...at least in Seattle.  I mean, for crying out loud.  They got us all excited.

Thursday

I mentioned that Drew had a bad cold this past weekend while I was away, and now it's almost a week later and he still has it, only it seems worse.  I think he's gonna have to see a doctor, because it might've become a sinus infection.  It's not helping that he's continued to go to school every day and hasn't really given himself much of a break at all.

Oh, yeah, and speaking of doctors and Drew, he went to see an eye doctor for the first time in his life recently and found out he needs glasses.  (His eyes have been tested before, but just at our regular family doctor.)  The reason was because he came home from college one day and said that he can't see the white board at the front of the classroom.  He kept asking the professor if she'd up the font on the projector she uses to beam information onto the board, until finally she told him to have his eyes checked, because she could only fit ten words on the screen at that point.  When he was telling me this he added, "And I'm not one of those people who sits in the back, Mom.  I like to sit toward the front, because I like to be a part of class discussion."  lol  What a nerd.  Anyway, the glasses will be ready for pick-up next week.

PS:  Mike needed glasses for the first time at almost exactly the same age.  Apparently he didn't wear anything at all eye-wise the first semester that we dated, then he went home for Christmas break and came back with new glasses.  I have no memory of this, btw.  He reminded me of it the other day.

We're supposed to get really, really heavy rains here tonight, along with 50+ mph winds.  They've been talking about it on the news for days now, telling people to get ready.  I charged my phone and caught up on the laundry.  Readiness:  Check!  (Just kidding.  Maybe I'll buy some gallons of water, too.)

Edited to Add:  I was mistaken.  I guess the really big, bad storm isn't supposed to reach us until Saturday night.

Monday

I had a really nice time with my friends at the cabin this weekend!  Usually 4 or sometimes even 5 of us go, but this time only 3 of us could make it.  We talked, laughed, ate, did an adult coloring book (meaning it was made for adults, not that it had adult content.  *snicker*), and watched movies.

 Beth and Christie

I colored this.  I'm weirdly proud of it.

While I was gone Mike had his hands full here.  Let's see:

• He and Baylee went to a goodbye party for Zeke, the manager of the SoR, on Saturday night.  Zeke's moving on to other things, and we're all pretty sad about it.  He's wonderful.
• On Saturday during the day Mike deep cleaned all the carpets in the whole house!  (I know I said something about him doing that in my last post, but I truly wasn't expecting it.)  He also cleaned out a couple bathroom drains, which he said was a disgusting job.
• During the night on Saturday both Drew and Baylee got sick.  Drew's got a really bad cold with a hacking cough, and Baylee probably had food poisoning.  The especially bad part was she was spending the night at a friend's house when it started.  Poor thing.  That is not something you want to have to deal with away from home.  Anyway, Mike got her and took care of her.

One other thing happened while I was gone, and that's that we got a thank you card.  Remember how I said that we were at the orthodontist's office earlier in the week, and they took Baylee's braces off?  Well, they also made her secretly write us a thank you note, and then they sent it to us in the mail!  Wasn't that nice of them?  Baylee wrote:

Dear Mom and Dad,

Thank you for paying for me to have braces for almost two years.  I will now live life with straight teeth because of that.  Thank you!

Love,
Baylee

Friday

I worked my behind off today getting school done, the house cleaned, and myself packed, because I'm going on my annual girls' weekend up at my friend's cabin on the island!  I'm excited and ready.  It's been a long, tiring week.  See you on Sunday!

PS:  I'm so glad to have a husband who is willing and able to hold down the fort with ease.  In fact, he usually uses these times when I'm gone to do big home projects, like cleaning all the carpets.  (That wasn't a hint to him, by the way.  LOL)  I'm just lucky and thankful.

That's a Wrap

That's a wrap on braces in this family!  All three kids had to have them, and the last kid finally got them off.

What she looked like when she first got them put on a couple years ago...

What she looks like now...

Wednesday

This week is turning out to be...err...challenging.  I thought of another term for it last night, but Mike told me I shouldn't say that word.  Instead I should call it what they do at Boeing:  Charlie Foxtrot.

Here's how it went down:

•  Yesterday I told Drew I'd give him a ride to school, so early in the morning we got in the car to go.  The car wouldn't start.
• We rushed back into the house and I asked Zach if we could use his car.  He graciously agreed,  but said, "It's on E, though, so you'll need to put some gas in it."  Sigh.
• I quickly went to the gas station, put $5 worth in, and drove Drew to school.  He made it on time...barely.
• For the rest of the day I had no car (because Zach took his to work), but that was fine.  I figured Mike would jump start mine when he got home and the problem would be solved.
• Sure enough Mike did jump start it in the afternoon, and then he decided to take it on a little test drive to make sure it was okay.  It died in a car wash parking lot about a mile away.  Bummer.  He called a tow truck and waited.
• And waited.
• And waited.
• And waited.  PS:  It was pouring down rain.
• Finally the tow truck company called him back to let him know that the tow truck that had been coming to get him broke down.  I mean!  Are tow trucks even allowed to do that???  That means a tow truck had to come for another tow truck!  Anyway, Mike had to wait some more while they tried to get someone else out to him.  He waited.
• And waited.
• And waited.
• And waited.  Hours went by.  Finally around 8:30PM (Mind you, Mike got home from work at about 3:30) it was all taken care of.  The car was at the repair shop.

And that's where it still is.  We're hoping it just needs a new battery.  Fingers crossed.

In other news, Baylee got her braces off today!  She's not quite done yet, though, because she has two teeth (upper incisors) that never grew to normal adult size, so early tomorrow morning she's going to the dentist to have them "built up."  In other words, they're going to build onto the edges of the teeth until they're the size they should be.  It's supposed to take a couple hours.  Then from there we're going back to the orthodontist, where Baylee will be fitted for her retainer.  Then we're going back to the ortho again in the afternoon to pick the retainer up.  It's going to be a very long day.  I'll be sure to get a "Woo hoo!  Braces are off!" pic once she's all situated.

In the meantime, here's a picture of her with the cat:

Not This Again

Last night I woke up out of the blue and found myself in the beginning stages of anaphylaxis.  In case you don't know, anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that includes some or all of the following:

Red rash, with hives/welts, that is usually itchy
Swollen throat or swollen areas of the body
Wheezing
Passing out
Chest tightness
Trouble breathing
Hoarse voice
Trouble swallowing
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Stomach cramping
Pale or red color to the face and body
Feeling of impending doom

I've had a problem with it on and off pretty much my whole life.  I'll have a series of episodes, then it'll go away, sometimes for years, then it'll come back again without warning.  The two worst cases I ever had were once when I was 12 years old and once when I was 26.  Both times I was incredibly sick with throwing up, diarrhea (Sorry!  TMI!), intense abdominal pain, hives, swollen lips, and passing out when I tried to walk.  Both times ended in the ER, once by ambulance.  Long story short, I learned how to control it on my own by recognizing the feeling of it coming on and immediately taking a large dose of Benadryl.  (I also went to an allergist, but the most they were able to figure out was that it's an allergy to a food preservative.) I haven't had any problem with it for ages and ages, but last night I felt that old familiar sensation:   hives on my throat and chest, which were very itchy, and a sick feeling in my guts.  I took Benadryl right off the bat and that headed it off.  I sure hope it was a one-time thing, as I really don't feel like starting up with it again.

PS:  You know how one of the symptoms is "feeling of impending doom?"  That sounds a little ridiculous, I know, but it's the truth.  It comes from having a very low blood pressure.  It makes you feel like you're dying.