Midyear Updates

About myself: I successfully completed my internship, and I graduated with a Master of Arts in Teaching Elementary Education.  I have also been hired at a local elementary school.  However, I have been hired to a temporary position that may end in December.  I'm holding out hope that a permanent position will open before the beginning of the school year.  ::fingers crossed::

About my husband: No updates on the van front.  We will buy one if I get a permanent position at work.  Otherwise, we may be waiting until next year.

About my children:  My older daughter has completed ninth grade and begins tenth grade next month.  My younger daughter has completed sixth grade and begins seventh grade next month.  She will start the year as first chair clarinet in her school's Symphonic Band.

About the pets:  We lost Arlo in January to a massive stroke at the ripe old age of 18 (almost).  However, a new dog came to live with us this spring.  She is an Australian Shepherd named Nana.  I'll tell you more about her later.  Audrey, our only female cat, still has yet to be spayed.  She is proving to be more of a challenge than I had originally thought.

About the extended family:  I lost my Grandpa in January.  He was 89.  I miss him more than I think I will miss any of my other grandparents, although I'm not really sure why.  This will require some thought.

Bits and Pieces

Here are some random thoughts:

1. It's really cold here.

2. I am awfully busy for a newly-unemployed person. I have a lot of errands to run, including getting my female cat spayed.

3. My mom is flying here from Los Angeles on Thursday. She is bringing her project with her: she and my aunt are putting a biography of my maternal grandfather together. Mom wants to share it with me. I'm so excited!

4. I want to share the current state of my genealogical findings with her.

5. Speaking of genealogy, I am trying to organize my genealogical files into something resembling a coherent system.

6. My grandfather on my father's side is dying.

7. My grandmother on my father's side is using the funeral to control the actions and plans of the whole family. I also suspect she is manipulating the funeral to exclude my brother. I think this is to punish my brother for something, but I don't know what.

8. I am knitting a baby blanket. It takes the edge off when I think about my grandmother.

9. I would like to be able to get through this week in one piece.

Looking Back and Looking Forward

Well, the Christmas season is coming to a close, and a new year will soon begin. I'm not a big fan of resolutions. Sure, I'll say that I will diet, exercise, and get organized this year, and some of that may actually happen. However, I don't call those resolutions. They're just really good ideas. I'm more interested in looking back over the past year, learning lessons from the past that I can apply to the future, and in looking forward at the year to come.

This year, I have more than a year to evaluate. I have a whole decade. The 00's are coming to a close. What a decade it has been!

2000: I started the decade as a 26-year-old stay-at-home mother to a toddler and a preschooler and a part-time student at St. Petersburg Junior College. My older daughter, Beth, started kindergarten in August. My grandfather had a debilitating stroke in November, followed by two life-saving surgeries. He's still living, but he would never be the same again. I feel like I lost him then.

2001: I graduated from St. Pete Junior College and moved on to the University of South Florida to work on my bachelor's degree. Beth started first grade. I was in class when USF closed its Tampa campus at noon the day the World Trade Center was destroyed. I was later relieved to find out that my brother-in-law was not at the Pentagon, as he was originally supposed to be. He got leave to attend a family funeral in Kentucky.

2002: I continued my studies and my poor attempts at cleaning house. My younger daughter, Callie, was finally potty-trained at the age of almost 4. Both daughters were in school. They were in second grade and pre-kindergarten, respectively.

2003: My perspective on the world and my place in it began to change drastically. I turned 30 on the day the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded. I decided that being 30 wasn't the worst thing that could have happened to me. I took the most influential class of my college career, Medieval History I. I decided that I wanted to be a history professor specializing in the early middle ages. I still have a passion for that period. I also met my best friend, Roy, in that class. The girls began third grade and kindergarten. No more preschoolers for me!

2004: This watershed year witnessed some monumental changes in my life. I graduated with my bachelor's degree and began a master's degree in Religious Studies. My first marriage finally fell completely apart, and we divorced. The children began fourth grade and first grade. Life continues.

2005: Roy and I married and moved to his house in Antioch. I, who had never been a pet owner before, suddenly found myself the proud mother of three dogs: Waldo (lab/chow mix), Arlo (lab/beagle mix), and Hijack (Belgian sheep dog). The girls started fifth grade and second grade.

2006: I graduated with my master's degree, but decided against pursuing a Ph.D. immediately. I began working as a staff member at the University of South Florida. Our family adopted a puppy, whom Beth named Friskie (lab/something mix). The girls started sixth grade and third grade. Beth started middle school! The teenage years arrived.

2007: I decided to start working on a Ph.D. in Philosophy, however I only took one class. It was not for me! I decided to follow my childhood dream of teaching elementary school and transferred degree programs. My great-grandmother passed away at the age of 102. The girls started seventh grade and fourth grade. Beth finally grew taller than me.

2008: I began a second master's degree in elementary education. We lost Hijack to kidney failure on Memorial Day. Beth underwent open-heart surgery to close a hole in her heart. It was wildly successful. My aunt was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. She has survived and is thriving. We gained Yoda (chihuahua/mini bull terrier mix) when he wandered into our yard one day. The girls started eighth grade and fifth grade. Our family and our country stood on the precipice of tremendous change.

2009: At the end of this decade, I am a 36-year-old working woman preparing for a new career. My girls are in ninth grade and sixth grade, and they are both teenagers now. We rescued three kittens: Tigger, Ludwig, and Audrey. Arlo, our oldest dog, was diagnosed with cancer. He has been receiving treatments with a new drug, and the cancer is in remission. I look forward to the future and all that it holds.

For me: I am quitting my job at USF to pursue my internship. I hope to begin teaching in August.

For my husband: I hope we can buy the van that he wants and begin seeing the country within the next couple of years.

For my children: They will be graduating from high school during this decade and beginning their own lives in earnest. I hope they find and follow their dreams. I wish the same for my sister, who will also be graduating high school during the coming decade.

For my brother: I wish him the gift of parenthood. I don't mean the physical state. I mean the mental and emotional changes that occur in parents as they watch their child grow from a newborn into an adult.

For my father and step-mother: I hope they learn to forgive. My sister may need it.

For my mother: I hope she has found happiness with her new partner and has smooth sailing (both literally and figuratively) in the years ahead.

For my grandparents: All of my grandparents are still living, even the grandfather that had the stroke, but they now range in age from 83-89 years old. I hope they have as many joy-filled years as possible ahead of them.

I look forward to the years to come.

Staycation, Day 9

I finally felt emotionally stable enough to fix the gaping hole in my grandmother's shawl. I now present... the Super Secret Knitting Project!

My younger daughter, Callie, is modeling it.

This is the Shetland Tea Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. It is done in KnitPicks' Alpaca Cloud laceweight yarn in the Iris Heather colorway. This is my first lace project. It took me three times to get it right, but I did it. Yay me!

I also spent some time today decorating my newly-designated knitting space. It contains an antique rocking chair, an antique hall stand (to which I have attached my ball winder and yarn swift), and an Ott-Lite floor lamp that I purchased during our shopping spree yesterday. The only thing that I would like to add to my corner is a yarn basket for holding the yarn I am currently working.

Rain!

It's raining!

My Granny always called May "the month of clouds with no rain," and she was right until recently. Florida's weather has always seemed unpredictable to the untrained eye, but it actually followed a regular pattern for about a century. My Granny has lived through most of that century, and she could almost always predict the weather for any given period of time. Florida's weather rarely varied from its set pattern.

Now, though, thanks to climate change, Florida's weather has changed drastically and become quite unpredictable. We have been living in drought conditions for over five years, so rain is more than welcome, even if it is unusually early.

I hope this means that our rainy season has come early.

Interesting Times

All I can say is: Oy vey!

This could be the busiest week I have had in a long time. That's saying a lot, since I work full time, go to school full time, and have a family.

Monday: My family gets news that our oldest dog, Arlo, has cancer. He has a tumor that on his neck that extends into the lymph nodes. He is 17 years old, so we are hopeful that the tumor is slow-growing and will not greatly affect his natural life span.

Tuesday: The eye of the storm. I even have the day off from work. We run errands.

Wednesday: Our water tank dies. We have well water, so we have a contraption that pumps the water from the ground into a water tank, where it waits to be used in the house and/or yard. The pump is fine, so we have water available, but we have to use buckets to bring it into the house. It's kind of like living in Little House on the Prairie.

Thursday: Roy goes outside to look for pipes with which to fix the water tank and discovers two kittens in the leaves beside the pipes. We take the kittens with us when we take Arlo to the vet for news about his tumor and options for treatment. It turns out that the kittens are almost 6 weeks old males who are not yet weaned. We decide to keep the kittens. Arlo's tumor is slow-growing, and we agree with the vet that Arlo will receive injections to further retard the tumor's growth. He gets his first injection. This should allow him to live out the rest of his life without diminishing his quality of life. He is 17 years old, so that may not be a long time, even if he didn't have cancer.

Friday: Roy is supposed to purchase and install a new water tank. (Did I mention today is Roy's birthday?) I am faxing resumes before I pick up the children, pick up dinner, and help wean the kittens.

The weekend lies ahead of us. All I can say is: Bring it on!

Important Decision

I have come to an important decision. When I am done with the super secret knitting project, I will make something special for my aunt. She was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, and it was at stage 3A. Not good. I made hats of various colors for her to wear when she lost her hair. It felt really good to press my skills into such practical service.

Now, I would like to make her something that will make her feel beautiful while simultaneously sending the message that my aunt is a survivor. All I need is a few items, like yarn, needles, and notions. Actually, I need everything. My stash is not really equipped to handle spontaneous lace knitting.

Fortunately, the super secret knitting project is starting to slow down as it gets bigger. This gives me time to order the necessary supplies for this next great project.

I apologize for the secrecy. Both items are gifts, and the recipients probably read this blog. All will be revealed in due time. However, you can follow my progress on the super secret knitting project in Ravelry.

Family

I spent yesterday with family that I haven't seen in a while. In many ways, I was reminded of why I don't see them often.

I actually went to visit my grandfather, who has been in a nursing home for over 8 years following a stroke. He was not doing well, despite my father telling me that my grandfather was doing better yesterday than he had been the day before. I really went to tell my grandfather goodbye. This was really to provide me with closure more than anything else. He is not cognizant enough to really notice that I was there. I'm glad I went. The next time I go up there will probably be for a funeral.

My grandmother (aka Granny) was happy to see me, and I was just as happy to see her again. She is a lot of fun, most of the time. That is, she is a lot of fun when she isn't busy trying to beat you over the head with Jesus. Most of our time was spent talking about family and touring our hometown of Sanford. The tour was mostly for my husband Roy's benefit, because he had been to Sanford in the past but had never taken a guided tour of it. We went downtown, past Lake Monroe, through the old Swedish neighborhood, and to the cemetery where our family is buried. We also saw the house where Granny was born, an old bungalow built in 1922. That was nice. I want to visit Granny again soon.

We visited my great uncle Sonny. He is now in a nursing home, but he is there because needs help taking care of himself. He is not in the same nearly-vegetative state as my grandfather. He actually seems to enjoy living there. All he needs is some music, he prefers the old crooners, and his Oz books.

My father is a different story. He is a very angry man, and he was less than pleased to see me. I will be spending as little time with him as possible in the future. Actually, I feel really bad for him. He was a teacher for over 30 years, but he never learned to be happy with himself. Now, he has aged much too fast, and he looks older than my 71-year-old husband does. Sad.

I guess other people have normal families. I have this one.

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my birthday.  I am 36 years old.  Unlike many people my age, I still like my birthday.  My Mom called me to wish me a Happy Birthday, and several people have posted greetings to me in Facebook.  I am spending the day at home trying not to do much school work and doing some work on my newest creation.

Speaking of my newest creation, I have decided to revamp my genealogy page.  I have had this page for some time, but the information on it is old.  I am updating the information and refreshing the page, complete with new background and a brand spanking new css file.  I have discovered the joy and convenience of the css file, and I intend to make it work for my website.

I have also decided to create a blog just for my genealogical findings.  At present, this makes sense to me.  We shall see how much sense it makes after I have set up the blog and played with it for a while.

I'll keep you posted.

Heart Surgery FAQ

My older daughter, Beth, is having open heart surgery on June 10. Here are answers to commonly asked questions about this surgery:

Q. Why does Beth need this surgery?
A. Beth was born with a congenital heart defect called an atrial septal defect. That means she has a hole between the two upper chambers of the heart. If it is not repaired, it will eventually cause her heart to enlarge, and she will experience congestive heart failure in her late 30's. The surgery will repair the defect.

Q. How old was she when this defect was discovered?
A. Beth was 8 years old when her pediatrician told me she had a heart murmur and referred her to a pediatric cardiologist. We, including the cardiologist, did not discover that the cause of the murmur was a hole in her heart until June 2007.

Q. Why didn't the cardiologist find the hole sooner?
A. Different kinds of heart murmurs have different kinds of sounds. The sound of Beth's heart murmur mimicked the sound of an innocent or harmless murmur that many people have. However, the cardiologist could not see the cause of Beth's heart murmur through regular ultrasound. She had to undergo a diagnostic procedure called a transesophageal echocardiogram, which revealed a hole in her heart. The hole was not visible in a regular ultrasound because it was located behind the spot where two major bloodvessels cross.

Q. How long will it take her to recover?
A. If all goes well, Beth will be in the hospital for 4-5 days. Full recovery should take about 4 weeks.

Q. How can I help?
A. Donate to our Start! HeartWalk team here.