In Which Connor Stays Home Again And I Become A Criminal

It's day ten of the Epic Sickness Saga we've been embarked upon around here.  I'm currently making black rice pudding with salted coconut as an afternoon snack and doing all of the laundry in the house.  Connor is amusing himself by watching The Pirates of Penzance and attempting to stick his finger aaaaaaaalll the way up his nose by way of commentary. 

He's gotten to that stage of his illness where he's still sick but really, really bored with sitting around.  Mostly he just wants to listen to "The Pirate King" and "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General" over and over again, and he pounds on his tambourine until he exhausts himself and signs "don't like" through the rest of it.  When he's not coughing up a lung, that is.  Or napping.  He's doing a lot of upright napping.  Being sick that long can tire a little body out.

So we're staying home today, except for the trip I had to make up to my favorite coffee shop, since I managed to walk out on my bill there.  Again.  See, I pretty much always pay at the register first, and so if I sit down and eat first my brain apparently short circuits and I forget that I owe them money.  I even joked with the waitress as I was sitting down to remind me to pay so I didn't walk out on them again, and then I totally did it anyway.  I blame extreme sleep deprivation.  Also I think my brain hates me or something.

To make it even worse, I wasn't the one who remembered the next morning that I hadn't paid.  Eden piped up during breakfast and said:

"Mommy, I know something you forget!"

Then she wanted me to guess.  As Connor had stayed up until three in the morning the night before, I was not in a guessing mood.

"Just tell me," I said.

"You forget to pay for food!"  Then she laughed at me and gave me a round of applause.

Clearly I am setting a stellar example for my children here in terms of fiscal responsibility and, you know, not doing stuff that's illegal.  Huzzah.

Luckily the coffee shop folks are very, very nice people and realize that I'm not doing this on purpose and that I will, in fact pay them once I realize I have stiffed them, but I'm sure that this is getting old.  And let me tell you, it was embarrassing enough the first time I did it-- let alone the second or third.  I gave them my phone number this time so they can call me if I do it again though, because this is getting ridiculous.  I am so not ready to start a new career in unintentional petty theft.

This is what parenting has evidently reduced me to-- I used to be able to write complex, nuanced fifteen-page papers on topics like the Order of the Garter's possible connection to "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," and now I can't even remember to close out my tab not even half an hour after I've joked with the barista about not closing out said tab.

Sigh.

~Jess

In Which It's Almost The Big Day

So today Eden and I went out shopping for a new snazzy outfit, because tomorrow is our adoption finalization!  It's so exciting to know that in just a few hours we'll be standing up in court and reaffirming our promise to care and love her as her parents forever.  We'll finally be a family not just in our hearts, but legally as well.  We're all a bit nervous, but really happy the day is here after such a long wait.

So I took Eden out and got her a whole new outfit for the big day.  The shopping trip was a lot of fun, with one exception.  We were almost finished and just looking for a really nice blouse or shell to go with the rest of her outfit, and we stopped in a store called Thorium at the local mall in Puyallup.  We'd been in a couple of times before and really liked a lot of their stuff.

Eden and I were not dressed up for the occasion, and we'd been shopping for an hour and a half or so at this point so we were looking a bit worse for wear.  One of the employees at the store walked up as we entered and asked us what we were looking for.  I showed her Eden's new blazer, told her we were looking for something to go underneath it, and told her a bit about Eden's style-- nothing frilly, girly, etc.

"What's your price range?" she asked, looking Eden up and down.  I told her the lower end of my budget, which I knew from past shopping trips in the store was within the range of what they had.  "Well, I might have a few things," she said in a dubious tone, "but we mostly carry designer clothes here.  Sorry."

Yeah.

So that's one store I will never be shopping in ever, ever again.  Too bad-- they had some cute shoes.  Evidently Eden doesn't look like the type of kid who would wear designer clothes.  She was really, really quiet on the way home.  Way to put a damper on the occasion, Thorium.

Other than that, the day went well.  We eventually found what we were looking for at another store, and so we're all ready for our big day tomorrow!  Connor only had one seizure and it was a pretty short one, and since the kids are missing school for court tomorrow they're now officially on Winter Break.  Christmas is coming up fast, and I can't think of a better way to spend it than as an official, legal family.  Best Christmas ever!

~Jess

In Which The Little Miss Shops Till I Drop

Today the kids and I went to the mall; Eden wanted to go shopping for me and her little brother.  So Connor and I were banished to the rest of the mall, while she shopped in Target.

For two hours.

I have no idea what she was doing in there; but I figure she probably spent at least half that time in the shoe aisle.  I have never met another human being who can window shop for shoes as long as this kid can.  I'm not a shopper, people, but I have a daughter that could happily live in the mall if they had pull-out beds in those park benches.  I spent about an hour walking around the extremely crowded mall, and the rest of the time on a bench, texting Jeremy to whine about how bored I was.

Connor spent the time carefully waving to every single person that walked by us, but after a while he got fed up with that and started yelling directly into my ear.  Someday my daughter will understand the depths of my love for her, because normally wild horses couldn't drag me out to the shopping mall on a Saturday, let alone the Saturday after the busiest shopping day of the year with Connor in tow.  Connor has a short attention span for shopping, and when he's finished he tends to let me know at top volume.

Anyway, I've informed Jer that next year, he gets to take Eden out Christmas shopping, because he loves shopping even more than I do.  And by loves, I mean hates with a fiery passion in the depths of his soul.  I figure it will give me time to do all of my own shopping, wrapping and decorating while they're out.  And if I'm feeling particularly evil that day, I'm going to tell her that what I really want for Christmas next year is shoes.  I'm not sure they'll ever come home.

~Jess

In Which I Try And Start Yet Another Project Because Evidently I Don't Have Enough To Do With My Time

So today after I dropped off the kids off at school, my mom and I took a trip up to Seattle to visit a huge architectural salvage place.  I was looking for a way to build a nice looking desk for my bedroom that would fit both computers (once Jer gets home we'll have two), and also have more room for files.  Currently I only have one nice, neat file drawer in my desk, and then a huge pile of file boxes stacked in the corner of the room with all the other various insurance and adoption and whatnot papers in them.  Since I don't think I'm going to find anything ready-made or custom built in my budget that will work, I need to make my own desk/work table.

It's a really long space-- 103 inches-- and I thought the salvage place might have a counter or a slab that would work well for the top of the desk.  We saw a few things that would have been really cool.  For example, they had a huge beautiful piece of hand-cut, inch-and-a-half thick tempered glass that was exactly the right size and was really reasonably priced, but it just wouldn't be practical in the space as it weighed something like 400 pounds.  Not only would I have serious trouble getting it into my house, but if I managed to drop it the thing would probably make a glorious hole straight through our floor.

So that was a no-go.  We browsed through long aisles of doors and iron gates, lingered on a scaffolding top for a while but determined it was too narrow to sit on top of a filing cabinet, and then finally ran out of time and had to go pick up the kids.

I didn't find anything today, but I'm not in a hurry.  Jer and I can make things work if we need to, so I've got time to find something that will really work in our space and isn't going to break my floor or empty my wallet.  I'll keep looking!

~Jess

In Which Connor Stays Awake And We Try Some Down Home Cooking

It's nearly one in the morning right now; looks like Connor's seriously considering pulling an all-nighter.  It doesn't happen as often as it used to anymore, but it does still happen.  Unfortunately it's the weekend for our night nurse too, so it looks like I may need quite a bit of coffee in the morning.

Connor spent some quality time with the grandparents today while Eden and I went out for a while.  We ate some lunch and then tooled around the mall for a couple of hours.  It was fun getting the chance to spend a little bit of time with my girl, even if we did have to go into every shoe store known to mankind.  This kid loves looking at shoes.

After that we swung by and picked up Connor.  After his quiet time, we piled back into the car and headed for the grocery store, where I picked up the ingredients for the jambalaya I planned on making tonight, as well as fixings for the pumpkin pie and the green beans I was making for tomorrow.  We're having a slightly early Thanksgiving celebration with my parents this year, which was nice because it meant I didn't have to fight my way down the aisles like I would have if I'd been doing this shopping the day before the real Thanksgiving.

Anyway, Eden and I cooked a big ol' pot of jambalaya together tonight.  She's really interested in cooking, but I think she was fed up with the whole mess after about fifteen minutes of stirring the pot.  Basically in jambalaya (at least the kind I make) you end up stirring everything for about half an hour total before you stick the pot in the oven and bake it.  "Why we not get the kind in the box?" she asked.  "It easy."  Luckily she changed her mind and decided it was worth all the stirring after she tried it.  She's developing quite a taste for Cajun and Creole food; I think it's all the seafood and spice that she appreciates.  Oh, and the sausage-- the kid is in love with andouille.  We've got plenty of leftovers (it's pretty impossible to make a small batch of jambalaya) so it's a good thing she likes it!

Connor spent the time we were cooking hanging out on his rocking horse.  He's borrowing a full-sized hobby horse from his therapy center-- one of the kind you don't see made any more because kids kept getting their fingers caught in the springs-- that's been modified to provide extra support.  Not only is it great practice in torso control for the little guy, but he also absolutely loves it.  It's difficult to find toys that will motivate him to work hard in physical therapy, so this is a sneaky but effective way to get him to do some work.  He seems to be feeling a lot better and was pretty perky today.

Now if I can just get him to go to sleep!

~Jess

In Which It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas Already, Which Is Kind of Nuts

Today Connor and I had a bit of a slow start; after I gave him his morning meds I went back to bed and we both slept in a while.  It felt really strange not needing to get up and get the day started!  I finally dragged myself out of bed and woke Connor up, and we puttered around the house a bit before heading over to my parents' house for lunch.  I love having them so close by now; it's great to be able to spend so much time with them!

Then my mom and I went out and did a bit of what turned into early Christmas shopping, which wasn't our original intent.  Christmas definitely sneaked up on me this year; it doesn't seem like we should be anywhere close to December yet!  I'm totally not ready and I hadn't even started thinking about presents or decorations, but from the way the stores were decked out you'd think the holiday was next week.  What the heck happened to Thanksgiving in the retail world, anyway?  I'm pretty sure that stuff was all on the shelves before Halloween.  The mall had the 50 foot tall Christmas trees up already, which Connor was excited by, though he didn't demand we get them as presents for all our relatives this year.  I guess the kid is growing up and he's too cool to demand giant Christmas trees as presents.  I kind of miss it-- can't believe how big he's getting.  Can you believe he'll be eight next year?  That's crazy talk, people.


Eden spent the whole day out at her retreat and didn't get back until around nine in the evening.  She told me "I had a good time, but I really really happy to see my bed!"  She was in her pajamas fifteen minutes after she got home, and in bed five minutes after that-- I've never seen the kid get ready for sleeping so quickly or enthusiastically.  Evidently the retreat was fun but also exhausting.  She said she'd definitely like to go back sometime, which was great to hear.  I think they do a summer camp as well, so that might be a really good option for her next year.

I'm so glad she enjoyed herself, and I'm really proud of her for handling being away from home so well.  Trusting that we'll still be here when she returns is a huge step for her, and I think a hallmark of growing maturity and understanding that our family is not a temporary stop for her, but a permanent home.  Hooray for our girl!

~Jess

In Which We Celebrate A Birthday

Ellen had a great birthday yesterday!

She slept in late yesterday morning, something I was probably way more excited about than she was.  This kid is a serious morning person-- as in the kind of ridiculously upbeat, cheery person in the mornings that I used to be before I had kids and could never sleep in again.  But she and Connor both slept in late, so I got to get back in bed after giving Connor his medication and lounge around until nearly eight o' clock.  Bliss!

Anyway, so after everyone got up and moving, we sang the happy birthday song and opened presents.  The child was relatively blasé about our gifts, which included a hat, pair of jeans and shirts in her required color scheme (black, white and black).  The clothes that her aunt and grandmother sent proved to be a much bigger hit, as they were not only black and white but also had skulls on them.  Basically what I have is a teenager who wants to look like she's in a death metal band, but has not figured out yet that it's uncool to hold her Mom's hand in public.  I do not have a problem with this.

Then we left Connor with the nurse and took off for Thai lessons.  It turned out the place was nearly deserted because of the Seahawks game, so we left after about half an hour as there was only one student there and no teachers.  Oh well!  We drove from there to the mall; Ellen had received a gift card to JC Penny's from her great grandparents and she wanted to see what she could find with it.

I think Ellen still finds department stores a bit overwhelming; there are a lot more choices than she's probably used to having in terms of clothing and accessories.  I'm pretty sure the kid's not used to having choices period, so we've come a long way in the past few weeks.  She found a pair of flipflops to wear at her swimming class that were shockingly not in black (probably because they didn't have any black) and then we went to look at jackets.  She hasn't quite adjusted to the 35 or so degree temperature difference between here and Thailand yet, so she's wearing her coat pretty much at all times.  I think she wanted another option besides her competition jacket from Thailand and the black hoodie we bought her before we came home. 

And she found one, after carefully perusing the store a couple of times.  It's a, to quote the tag, "black faux fur bomber jacket."  Basically it looks like they took a knit jacket, skinned several stuffed animal pumas and affixed them to the front and back of it in a sort of furry hooded vest, um, thing.  And as she happily tried it on my brain was having a little argument with itself.  Half of it was going "She's making choices!  This is a good thing!  And she's expressing a personal style!" and the other half was saying "Wait-- she's going to wear that in public?"

I guess this is probably the same thing just about any mom of a teenager goes through.  But it wasn't suggestive, offensive, or inappropriate for a kid her age-- it was just something that I would never, under any circumstances, be caught dead wearing.  Any hey, it was her gift card, and as long as what she wants to buy fits under the not offensive, inappropriate or suggestive rule, it's her money and she can spend it how she wants.  So she bought the jacket, and she happily wore it to school today.  And I say good for her-- she's dressing how she wants to dress and figuring out who she wants to be, and that's a pretty fantastic thing.

Anyway, so then we went out and found her strawberry cake.  Normally I would make one, but she'd absolutely fallen in love with a very pretty cake at the Asian grocery store the other day and I was doubtful that I would be able to recreate it at home.  So we bought a cake this year.  Next year I hope she'll know enough people to have a party and there will be more people to share it with, but in the meantime, more cake for me.

We came home, lounged around for a while as Connor had his quiet time and she showed me several more Youtube videos of herself on national television in Thailand.  I'm still rather stunned by the sheer number of times Ellen has been on TV.  She's been in a soap opera, done a fashion show, and a bunch of interviews with various celebrities who were raising money for her orphanage.  Seriously if I hadn't seen the proof with my own eyes I'd be tempted to think she was making up stories, but this kid has, for example, met the entire Liverpool soccer team (and been given an autographed ball by them) and hung out with more Thai pop stars than I can count.

We had no idea about any of this when we started the process to adopt her, but it helps explain why she's such an interesting mix of mature and naive, and also why she's so open to new experiences.  This is a kid who walked a runway in the Thai equivalent of American Idol when she was seven years old, but who had never seen a microwave before she started exploring our kitchen.

At any rate, whatever the reason behind why she is who she is, she's a pretty awesome kid.    

We went to dinner at her favorite Thai restaurant, where they served her some homemade coconut ice cream for her birthday.  And then we went home, lit the candles on her cake, sang happy birthday again and all ate a piece of what actually turned out to be raspberry and not strawberry cake but was still delicious.  Really, it's hard to go wrong with cake.  She declared it to be a "Good good birthday, Mom!  Yaaaay!" in that bubbly, enthusiastic way she throws herself at life in general, so I think she had a pretty great day.

That's my girl!

~Jess

In Which We Hang Out Together

Yesterday morning we went out and found Ellen a swimming bag and an extra swimming suit for her practices.  Then we went down to the Asian grocery store and bought ingredients for yesterday night's dinner and also a rice cooker, which I suspect I'll be getting significant use out of. 

Then we tried out the walk to school.  Ellen's going to be walking home for at least the first few days, as her school and Connor's get out very close together in time and it's going to take me a little time to set up bus service for him.  Obviously Connor can't walk home.  I'm discovering that coordinating everything for two kids is a whole new ballgame.

She's had her ups and downs; we're definitely parenting a teenager!  She's used to living in a place with a ton of other children to play with all the time, so being home with only one other kid around is pretty weird for her.  But I think being in school and making some friends among her peers will really help.

She and Connor are getting along really well; he demands multiple Love Butts (his version of a kiss) from her at bedtime and seems to really like watching her during the day.  She's very gentle with him and it's obvious they already have a bond.  I had a wonderful time with my siblings growing up and am still very close to them, so it's great for me to see that she and Connor might have that sort of relationship. 

Today we'll be back to a very busy schedule, and then Monday the real fun will start.  Hopefully I'll be able to get everyone where they need to go!

~Jess

In Which Jer Arrives And There Is Much Rejoicing

Jer is here!  Hooray!

Ellen instantly took to him-- no hesitation at all.  They compared scars from surgery (Ellen has had a double tendon release) and decided Jer was the winner.  From then on they've been thick as thieves.

We spent quite a bit of time at the hotel today, which is where she's most comfortable.  I don't think she'd spent a lot of time out in the city before this, so the streets of Bangkok are pretty overwhelming for her.  But now that Jer's here she seems a bit more confident about trying new things. 

So this morning while the two of them bonded over Ellen's ukulele (I told you this kid was awesome), I ventured out to try and do some laundry.  Bangkok has this permeating smell that gets into your clothes very quickly, and so you really can't wear things more than once.  And also I had several pairs of my underwear stolen out of my checked bag on the flight over, so I was running a bit low.  I didn't want to have the laundry done at the hotel room as it's extremely expensive there, so a friend found us a laundry mat within walking distance and I set off to try and navigate my first transaction almost completely in Thai.  It actually wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be; I was surprised at just how much I understood.

Ellen has been a big help in boosting my Thai vocabulary; she's able to correct my pronunciation and help me out with what I'm trying to say.  She thinks Jer's attempts at Thai are hilarious.  Since he's been in school or studying about 70 hours a week, he hasn't been able to learn more than a couple of phrases.  He can say "Hello," "Thank you," and sort of count to ten-- we're still working on that.  His attempts to learn more have prompted a whole lot of giggling.  It's really great to see them getting along so well!

Tomorrow we're hopefully going to have Ellen's passport, and we'll be getting her medical testing done for her visa.  Keep your fingers crossed that we'll be able to get the results back in time to have her visa before Christmas!

~Jess

In Which We Hang Out With Family And Skip A Holiday

It's holiday time, and that means it's time to get together with family!  We'll be seeing various relatives over the next couple of weeks, and are really looking forward to getting together with everyone and catching up.

My mom, sister and I all went out Christmas shopping together today, which was a lot of fun.  Normally I wait and get all my shopping done at the last minute, but that won't fly this year since we leave exactly three weeks for Thailand and won't get back until two days before Christmas, when it will be a bit late to mail everybody packages.  So I'm trying to get as much done as I can now while it's easy to hand presents off, and then we'll probably order the rest online. 

Connor put up with the shopping surprisingly well because all of the stores had up their Christmas displays, which seem to happening earlier and earlier each year.  Christmas is by far his favorite holiday, since it involves lots of sparkly things, lights and music.  The only part he doesn't really care for is the presents; having new stuff he's expected to touch is not exactly his idea of fun. 

Judging from the stores, Thanksgiving doesn't even exist anymore.  Apparently we're just skipping that holiday entirely now, or maybe blending it in with Halloween or something.  Thanksween.  Yes.

But anyway, about Christmas.  I'm having a hard time restraining myself from buying All The Things for Ellen before she gets here, but goodness knows the kid is going to have enough new things to get used to.  You know, new family, new country, new house, etc.  So I got both her and Connor a Christmas ornament today and otherwise we're holding ourselves back.  Since her birthday is only three weeks after Christmas, if we're not careful she's going to think that America is The Land of Presents.  That's not really an impression we'd like to give her.

Seriously though- three weeks!  Tomorrow I'll officially be able to count the number of days before the trip on my fingers and toes.  As we get closer and closer it's becoming more difficult for me to talk about anything else, so sorry if you talk to me and I start sounding like a broken record. 

But seriously, three weeks people.  That's soon!

~Jess

In Which Connor Feels Better And I Am Forced To Shop For Shoes

Connor was sounding well enough to return to school today, which was nice.  He apparently slept through a good portion of it though, and when he got home he absolutely crashed.  So I might have been better off keeping him home one more day.  Hindsight is 20/20, of course.

I spent the time he was at school catching up on errands (such as restocking my chocolate supply), getting some chores done and doing a bit of shopping for our upcoming trip.  I needed a good sturdy pair of shoes that were good for walking, relatively dressy and also easy to slip on and off.  In Thailand it's polite to take one's shoes off before entering many buildings, so it's a good idea to have shoes one doesn't need to untie.  I hate shoe shopping with a burning, fiery passion, so I basically pounced on the first set of shoes that fit the bill, threw some money down and got out of there as fast as I could. 

So, mission accomplished.  I found a comfortable pair of Mary Janes that I think will work well.  I was careful not to get shoes that are too expensive, though.  I have been warned about shoe thieves: apparently they will occasionally abscond with particularly nice brands if given the opportunity. 

Finding some good walking shoes for Jeremy might prove a bit more challenging; usually he wears sneakers these days if he's going to be going any distance, and those won't really work for this as we'll need to be dressed up for several meetings.  I'm sure we'll figure something out before we go!

~Jess

In Which We Toodle Around And Connor Is On Strike

This morning we dropped Connor off at school, ate some breakfast and then took a trip up to the Asian supermarket to pick up some supplies for dinner.  We found the biggest avocados I've ever seen in my life while we were there, so we had to buy one to try it out.  The consensus: it tastes like an avocado.  A really, really big avocado.  It was rather anticlimactic, but still delicious.

Anyway, then we hit the regular grocery store, stopped at a restaurant for lunch, and went to go pick up Connor from school.  The little guy still isn't sure what to make of our guests, but the cats have made their opinion abundantly clear.  At one point they were sitting on opposite ends of the mantle staring down at the baby with the same expression people usually reserve for gum on their shoes.  They are Not Amused. 

The baby is still delighted by them, however.  He's still certain they want to be his new best friends.  The cats are going to need a whole lot of convincing on that front.

Connor is protesting in a more subtle fashion; he's simply refusing to go to bed ever, ever again.  It's well past midnight now and he's still awake.  I think his strategy is to make it to where I'm completely unable to function tomorrow, so maybe our guests will get bored and go home. 

Oh well.  I'm having a blast with them, even if I'll need a lot of caffeine tomorrow!

~Jess

In Which Connor Is Doing Just Fine And We Have Cause To Celebrate

Today was a day for celebration!

It's officially been one month since Connor's had a seizure, which is the most time he's gone between seizures in a long, long while.  I think it's been about two years since he's had such a big break!  It's been so fantastic to not be on edge all the time, and to see Connor doing so well and actively engaging with his world.  He's become so much more social and willing to sign and interact with other people-- even strangers.  When we go shopping he now waves "hello" and "goodbye" to every person we pass on the way in and out of stores, he comments on the music we hear, he'll dance on command (he rocks from side to side on the beat-- it's adorable) and he's started making choices and asking to look at things on the shelves.  It's fantastic!

So I thought we needed to go spend the day doing things we would both enjoy.  The little guy rejected most of my suggestions-- he wasn't interested in the zoo or the aquarium today-- but he lit up when I mentioned the bookstore.  He's a kid after my own heart for sure!

So we drove up to the big bookstore and he picked out a new book, Goldilocks And The Three Dinosaurs, by Mo Willems.  It had the advantage of appealing to all of us: to Connor because it had dinosaurs in it, me because it was well written and had excellent illustrations, and Jer because it models proper predator-prey relationships. 

Then it was off to the mall, where Connor got to ride the carousel a couple of times and I picked up some chocolate and fizzy bath bombs for my own personal celebration later that evening after Connor was in bed, which would involve a lounging in a giant bubble bath for long enough to get all wrinkly, while reading a favorite novel, drinking tea and eating truffles. 

Finally we stopped by the fabric store, and we walked at a fast clip up and down the tulle aisle about ten times.  Connor loves going to the fabric store because it means he gets to visit the tulle aisle.  All the bolts are arranged by color, and there are glittery and sequiny and iridescent fabrics to admire, and the tulle sticks out into the aisle so it brushes up against his wheelchair whenever we go through.  I knelt down to see it from his perspective, and it actually looks really neat; it's probably the closest he can get to running through a rainbow. 

So we visited the tulle aisle, and then we took a break to go finger the velvet and the suede, and to stroke all of the fake fur.  Then it was back to the tulle aisle for round two of sparkly glory.  Connor never fails to show me a new way to appreciate things.

That's my boy!

~Jess

In Which I Play With Fire

This morning I dropped Connor off at school and then spent well over an hour listening to Katzenjammer while I singed all the edges of the fabric leaves on the bustled overskirt I'm making.    So readers take note: if you inhale synthetic fabric fumes for an hour while listening to weird Norwegian bands and then take a nap immediately afterwards, you will have really, really strange dreams.  Next time I think I'm burning polyester I'll do it outside, or at the very least do it while listening to music that doesn't involve a contrabass balalaika with a Cheshire Cat face painted on it.

Anyway, I actually went out and shopped for shoes today, as I discovered that my nicest pair of good dress shoes now has holes worn completely through the soles.  I'm not a huge fan of shoe shopping (or for that matter, shopping for myself in general) and I generally wear a pair until they literally fall apart, so it was way past time.  This is one of those errands that it is best not to take Connor on as he finds shoe shopping incredibly boring and usually degenerates into shrieking by the time I've tried on the second pair.  So it's nice to have him in school!

Luckily a lot of the stores were having one-day sales for whatever reason, so I picked up a nice pair at a price that won't sink my budget.  They're a nice little pair of sturdy ankle platform boots, and I should be able to wear them not only with my church dresses but also with my outfit in October, so they serve a dual purpose.  So I'm glad that's over with.  Hopefully I won't have to go shopping for another pair of shoes for a while.

Connor had a good day at school and seems to be settling in well.  Today was his first full day, and I think he came home pretty tired.  He actually went down and took a bit of a nap once he got home.  We're going to keep it kind of low-key this weekend, and then he'll be ready for another jam-packed week on Monday!

~Jess

In Which We Are Shipwrecked

We spent today out on the town! 

After sleeping in for a bit (Connor stayed up until two in the morning last night), we grabbed some lunch and then drove down to Olympia for some shopping and general tooling around.  Once we'd exhausted our shopping opportunities there, we headed towards home.  On the way, we popped into Shipwreck Beads, and by "popped in," I mean, "spent a couple of hours tooling up and down every single aisle of beads."  Shipwreck has a 22,000 square foot bead showroom, so that takes a while.

The bead store is completely overwhelming, and basically I end up grabbing a bunch beads that I have no idea how I'm going to use-- I just think they're pretty.  In a store with 30 some odd aisles worth of beads I have to be careful because I think a lot of things are pretty.  It's really easy to go overboard.

Mary and I bought many, many beads, and then we came home and spent the rest of the day pairing them with the 80 bajillion beads I already have (I used to live ten minutes from Shipwreck, so I accumulated a few beads) to make lots of jewelry. 

I now have six new pairs of earrings, a necklace and a bracelet to add to my wardrobe.  I think I'm going to experiment with making felt flowers to go on beaded necklaces in the future.  I might be able to come up with some fun pieces.

Yay for sister time!

~Jess

In Which Connor Is A Big Boy Now

We had a busy day today!

Connor and I got up bright and early in the morning and headed off to the barber shop, where the little guy got his hair cut.  He's gone to the same place for three or four years now, and unfortunately it doesn't have air conditioning.  So his hair was long enough for full ringlets because the summer has been so hot and we haven't been able to go.  This morning we got in before things heated up, and so now his hair is short again and as a result he looks six years old going on twenty.  I swear that kid grows in hair cuts.

He actually did extremely well this time around; normally cutting his hair is a two-person job because he wiggles so much.  He sits in my lap and I hold him still while our long suffering stylist does her best to cut his hair as quickly as possible so he won't jerk in the wrong direction and lose an ear.  Today there was no wiggling or flinging himself from side to side; he behaved just beautifully.  I shelled out copious praise and he agreed with me that yes, he was a very big boy.  He felt the need to point out that Daddy was also a big boy, and I agreed with him.  We talked about how Daddy holds still for haircuts too.  I neglected to mention to him that Daddy buzzes his own hair over the bathroom sink, because if thinking Daddy held still for haircuts was the motivating factor behind Connor's stellar behavior I wasn't going to screw that up. 

We drove straight to the hospital from the barber shop to pick up Connor's earmolds.  They're a pretty tight fit, so they should last us quite a while.  I was worried that Connor wouldn't leave them in since he's been sans hearing aids for nearly two months now, but once again he behaved beautifully and left them in all day.  I think he was pretty excited to have them back.

By the time we got out of the appointment the day was heating up, so we drove to Ikea, where we spent the next several hours until it was cool enough outside to return to the house.  We have the appointment for our air conditioner scheduled now, but it's not until the 21st, so we've still got a few more days of heat to get through.  I picked up a few sturdy cardboard boxes for my studio, which is starting to come together nicely, and a wall-mounted drying rack to use as an organizer for hanging pieces of work like Christmas stockings or sequined ornaments.  The space isn't finished yet, but I'm really starting to see what it will look like when it's done!

Connor conked out in the car on the way home and slept all the way back; I think all of the appointments plus the added stimulation of having his hearing aids in again tired him out.  I put him down when we got home and he took a good nap.  When he woke up he demanded snuggles, and we sat on the couch for a while as he happily buried his nose in my shirt and I read a book. 

It's nice to know that even though he's a big boy now, he still needs snuggles from Mommy!

~Jess

In Which Connor Hogs The Aisle

Well, you all know how Connor is.  Since he had such a fantastic day yesterday, he apparently felt the need to balance the week out.  So he had four seizures today: all of which were the get-really-cyanotic kind. 

He had the second one of the day in the middle of the grocery store's paper towel aisle.  I carry a blanket under Connor's wheelchair for just such occasions, and I spread it out and put him down on his side in the middle of the aisle to wait out the seizure.  He doesn't have any control over his facial muscles while he's having an episode, and if he stayed upright he could easily drown in his own bodily fluids because he can't swallow his saliva and so it would run into his lungs.  Not fun.  Hence the lying-on-his-side-in-the-middle-of-the-aisle thing. 

We had the aisle all to ourselves.  Out of the corner of my eye I watched a variety of people swing their carts to go down and pick up some toilet paper or light bulbs, take in the crazy mom who was apparently letting her kid take a nap in the middle of the aisle, and decide that they really should stop by the meat department first, or maybe grab something over in produce.  I'm sure if I'd been acting upset they would have come running to see if I needed help, but because I was acting like this wasn't out of the ordinary (and sadly, for us it isn't all that unusual) they probably just thought I was nuts. 

At any rate, that cut our grocery trip rather short.  Luckily I've learned to shop for the most essential things we need first so that if Connor does have some sort of crisis I'll at least be able to buy the most important stuff, even if I don't make it to the peanut butter aisle or whatever.  It's a strategy that's served us pretty well over the past few years.

Connor wasn't running a fever, it wasn't a hot day today, and he didn't seem to have any other symptoms, though he did get a glorious case of goosebumps and chills at one point.  So if he keeps this up tomorrow it will be time to call his neurologist and see about adjusting his medication.  I think the last adjustment he had was back in October, so it's been a while.  It might be that he's about due for a change.

We'll just have to see what tomorrow brings!

~Jess

In Which Connor And I Keep Our Cool

Today got hot enough that I left the house with Connor and took to the mall.  There's a huge mall up the highway from us that's a good air conditioned place to hang out.  We're still getting price quotes on having the AC installed in our house, but the sooner, the better!

After we spent some time circling the mall we ended up in Seafood City; the huge Asian supermarket near the foodcourt.  I picked up all the ingredients for som tam (green papaya salad), which I've made enough now that I don't need a recipe anymore.  And I picked up a large bunch of lemongrass too, which I'm going to try to make some sachets from.  I've discovered I really love the sweet citrus scent of lemongrass, and Connor doesn't seem to react to it.  I think using it to make my clothes smell good would be rather nice.

I bought a large package of Thai chili peppers too, but that was less because I think I'm going to be using that many in my cooking over the next week or two (one or two of those goes a long way) and more because you couldn't buy them individually.  I think I might have to get out the dehydrator and see whether or not I can dry them to store them longer.  If that doesn't work, then I can always pop them in the freezer.  With a few exceptions (like som tam) dried peppers should work fine in my recipes.

After our expedition to the mall, Connor and I dropped the groceries off and then headed to his physical therapy appointment.  We're doing some trouble shooting right now; the little guy needs a new TLSO (Torso Lumbar Sacral Orthotic-- basically a back brace) for his scoliosis, but we have to figure out a way to make one that isn't going to cause him to overheat-- a real danger in the summer time with this kid.  Hopefully we'll be able to figure something out that he can wear enough to help slow down the progression of his scoliosis.  We'd like to hold off on surgery for a few more years!

~Jess

In Which Connor Feels Better And I Shop For Winter Clothes

Connor continued to improve today-- he's in that recovery mode where he's looking and feeling much better except for the fact that he fell asleep on me about three times today.  He didn't have any seizures though, and surprisingly enough he didn't throw up either.  So maybe he doesn't have an issue with his g-tube after all; it would be pretty great if the antibiotics solved the problem!

So we emerged from the house for the first time in a while today; we went to the mall and did a bit of shopping for our Thailand travel.  It may seem a little strange to be shopping for Thailand when we're not likely to be traveling there until the end of the year, but keep in mind that December-- Thailand's coolest, driest month-- has an average low temperature of about 80 degrees.  It's still hot, hot hot!  So the fall or winter collections in the stores closer to our potential travel time will be way too warm for where we're going.

It's still a bit of a challenge to find clothes that will work though, because the Thai people are wonderfully modest and conservative dressers (something we could use a bit more around here, judging from some of the outfits I saw on the teens at the mall) and as a general rule don't wear sleeveless shirts, low-cut blouses, shorts, or skirts that fall above the knee. 

We want to be respectful and dress appropriately, so my usual summer attire of tank tops and worn capris is not going to cut it, and Jer's year-round casual wardrobe of shorts and old t-shirts really won't work.  It ended up being a successful shopping trip; I found a couple of nice shirts and light cardigans and a skirt that falls just below the knee. 

I still need to get a nice outfit for our appointment with the adoption board, as well as a couple more skirts or pairs of light pants, but it's a good start for me.  I didn't look for Jer; he usually buys his own clothes and he's been doing so much weight lifting that I'm not sure what size he is anymore!  I'll leave his wardrobe shopping up to him.

It's one more thing to cross of my list as we get closer to travel!

~Jess

In Which Gardening Stuff Goes On And Not Much Else

I took my weekly trip to the local farmer's market today to pick up a few groceries and take a look at the Japanese maples to see if they might have the variety I wanted.  Lo and behold, I found a lovely specimen of exactly the tree I was looking for (Olson's Frosted Strawberry-- it's gorgeous) at a price seventy dollars below what the nursery wanted for it.  I snatched it up, and then bought another one too (a Garnet, in case you were wondering) because hey, I really like Japanese maples.  I'll have five of various heights and colors in my yard once I get these two planted.

I also got some lovely henna done, went shopping and bought a couple of new summer outfits, and took a long bubble bath.  So it was a pretty great day.  How could a day that involved a long bubble bath not be fantastic?

Jer worked on the patio area for a while, but it was pretty hot out there today so we decided to hold off and finish up tomorrow.  That way I can get started on shoveling a ridiculous amount of rock next week.  Oh boy!

~Jess