Just a quick update.
*Jessie is scheduled for surgery this Monday. Because of her age, she will be worked on bright and early! She is having tubes put in her ears again, and her adnoids taken out. Crossing my fingers this works and the tubes will last awhile. Her ears need to heal and dry up so she gets her full hearing back. Plus,we have great insurance, but it's still expensive. She told me today she wished she didn't have ear problems. This was before the blood draw.
*The BLOOD DRAW- None of my kids have ever had to have blood work done. Their pediatrician does all the kindergarten stuff in his office, and he does a finger prick for anemia, so no blood draws! However, Jessie needed one today for her surgery on Monday. The kids were sure to remind her that she was going to get a needle stuck in her and blood was going to come out- lots of it. (So helpful, those kids.) I told her if she didn't throw a baby fit, I'd go get her some ice cream. I'm okay with crying, but screaming, squirming, and general freak-outs are unacceptable. I had to hold her in my lap. The guy checked for veins (he said they were so little), stuck a needle in there, hooked it up to the collection vial, and she was done. She said, "That didn't even hurt!" I was relieved. The guy gave her pink tape to hold her cotton ball on (he went to the back to get it, without her asking), and then he pulled a dollar from his pocket and gave it to her "for being so tough." She was THRILLED. She went to the dollar store and bought a watering can.
*Easter was great. Gotta love the family and cousins. I did use my camera, and I took head shots (portraits?) of my kids to update my mom's collection from a couple of years ago. Kids grow so fast, it's obvious when the pictures aren't updated.
*Saw a car flipped on it's side on my way down the canyon today.
*There was a reporter at the school board meeting last night. She had a camera and a recorder. It was awful- like, my worst fears. I really hate my picture taken (especially because I'm out of shape) and I loathe most media, as I distrust them. I have observed various types of media to use quotes out of context, just to stir the pot, if you will. I better not show up in the paper- I'll be really embarrassed.
*The education system in California is falling apart. Just so you know. Not related to anything in particular, and some people will think this is totally awesome, but students are going to start their standardized testing on computers, and fourth grade on up will use ebooks (tablets) for their curriculum (in it's totality) by 2017. That's in four years. Has anyone used a tablets for research purposes? Any body read something on an e-reader, and then went back to find a certain part, but couldn't because you couldn't earmark the page or thumb through it? It's very likely I'm old fashioned in this respect, but it seems e-readers are best served for fiction. (I wonder if it'll be e-readers or tablets- because there is a difference, right? Tablet curriculum might be really interactive...until the equipment glitches, gets dropped, or runs out of juice.) I'm biased. I love the smell of books, the feel of books, the permanency of books. Oh well. If things keep going the way they are going, the kids are going to need computers to teach them because the class sizes will be so huge due to lack of funding. Again, thoughts about homeschooling.
*Day two of driving the kids back and forth to school: I don't like it. There are some good things, and I'm trying to focus on those.
*It rained and hailed today! It's cold!
*Tried a Clif bar for the first time. Not too shabby- I think I'll buy some more.