Medieval Times - Eli Amazes Me

Elijah had an AWESOME time at WCBVI - Fairy Tales and Fantasy Camp. He went bowling, threw an axe and knives, went to a Renaissance Fair, went fishing, and so much more. They definitely kept the kids busy. We have tons of craft project that he made. He enjoys Art so much.

I was so excited to pick him up on Fri. It felt like I hadn’t seen him for 20 years. He has been filling my brain with educational information from the medieval times. It’s crazy how much he learnt. Did you know that if someone was being accused of a crime, they would place their hand in boiling water and if the hand did not blister they were found innocent. Gee, betcha alot of people were guilty!

The teachers all enjoyed working with him. They stated he was very well liked and they loved his enthusiasm.

He was even interviewed for their local newspaper. He most definitely was super-duper excited about that.

Elijah and I are thinking that the school has spooks in it. HA! He left his shower gel in the shower and went back to get it right away and it was gone. He left a bracelet in one room and went back to get it and it was gone. He also left his white cane in a room, went back to get that and that was gone. None of these items have shown up. Our only explanation is…there are friendly spooks that enjoy taking things to confuse the students. - He got a brand new cane out of the deal! His other one was stuck together and couldn’t be folded up, so we were pretty happy!

Update: Just spoke with the DPI dude that I had dinner with a few months back (Yeah we still talk, he was in town so he stopped to visit PooWee and I) Well, I told him about the spooks. He said we weren’t the first to say that and he believes the school is haunted. He said he wouldn’t want to sleep there. Sounds like they are friendly spooks though, they just hide your stuff!

I took him off to the Lion’s Camp yesterday. He saw some of his friends from the WCBVI. I told him I think he going to find out that he will spend much of his summers with the same kids. We called them his summer family. Its so great that he spend time with kids like him. He’s got friends that are younger than him up to 1 years old. One boy at WCBVI is 17 and Eli and him really connected. How great is it that he has someone like him to look up to.

I also find it so heart warming to see Eli assisting kids that have more of a vision loss than him. You will often see him guiding them as they walk. When it comes to these camps, Elijah is actually more fortunate in his vision than so man of the other kids. Last year at Lion’s Camp he was nominated for “Future Camp Counselor” because he assisted so many of the other kids.

I am just overwhelmed how far Elijah has come to terms with his blindness. Yeah we had our spout of depression close to a year ago. He picked up the pieces well and has moved on. I think the future will bring ups and downs for him. I know when it comes to his sports, like soccer, there may be a time that he just won’t beable to play on a team because it get more competitive. I’ve already warned him of this, but gave him the thought that he could manage the team and play during practices and such. He understands what I’m saying. I just hope at that time he will accept it.

Andrew came with to drop Elijah off at the Lion’s Camp too. Andrew too has come along way in excepting Elijah’s vision. At first I don’t think he believed Elijah was blind. Oh the arguments that went on because Elijah was too close to the computer screen, or Andrew couldn’t see a corner of the TV. I think it’s hard because Elijah’s disability isn’t visual to the rest of us. As I learnt about it I tried to teach Andrew. Once I found the color test with a number hidden in the circle on the computer and had Elijah tell Andrew the number. Because of his color blindness he couldn’t do it. I think this was an eye opener for him. He’s more respectful as to allowing Elijah to take something for a few moments and hold it close to his face to where he can actually see it.

It’s hard to envision Elijah’s way of seeing. Imagine only using your peripheral vision, mess up the colors some and then have some block out areas. Too much for me to figure out. When I lay in bed and watch TV at night I look at the wall and try to figure out what is on the screen. It’s not too easy. When I walk down the long quiet hospital halls I look off to the side and try to find my way. I don’t live this way every minute of my days, my son has to. I want to give him my eyes and take his. I can’t. But I can try to encourage him to continue to live life to it’s fullest and not let his vision bring him down.

I’m so happy he has these camps, because they allow him to be with others kids like him. He loves the camps and has made so many friends. I love that he is with a wide age group too. He has some very good influences to look up to.

I thank all the volunteers and those that drop their change into the blind camp donation box at the check out. You are the ones that make it possible for my child to feel “normal” even if it is only for a week or two out of the year.

One Year!

I stayed up way too late last night playing on the computer. My head is killing me this morning because of it. I feel like I have a hang over, but I didn’t even have a drop of alcohol.

While scooping out the blog some, reading old posts and all I realized I’ve been blogging for ONE YEAR! I was kind of excited. (YEAH, it doesn’t take much.)

I was super excited too because there is another mommy that same on the forum and announced her daughter was in foster care for the past week, she has an adoption plan, but since the moment her daughter was born she fell total in love with her. All of a sudden all of her reasons for the adoption didn’t matter anymore, she wanted to parent her daughter. (Don’t I know that one.)

Of course I replied screaming, GO GET YOUR DAUGHTER!!! I also PMed her and she replied back that she was going to talk with her councellor today and was 100% sure she would be getting her daughter. YAY!! I hope she lets us know how it went.

Elijah called me at work on Saturday from camp. He is having so much fun, however there was a sadness in his voice. There were people in the background so he was also speaking very softly, he doesn’t like others listening to him talk on the phone.

He’s been busy with craft projects. I guess he made a really big castle out of cardboard and is worried he won’t get it home. Anybody got a truck I can borrow? I told him I would leave the stroller at home so maybe there will be enough room in the trunk. He been playing a lot of chess, but is frustrated because he hasn’t won any games. They have have gone bowling and he won 2 games. He’s learning how to cook and said he’s going to make us some almond pudding and gingerbread cookies when he gets home. MMMMMM!

He expressed how badly he was dieing for a soda, but didn’t have 50 cents. I reminded him of the 10 dollar bill in his sunglasses case. He said he knew, but nobody had change. I asked him if he asked one of the adult. “NO! Why would I ask THEM?” was his reply. I had to laugh, guess he figures adults NEVER have any money. He went to the Renaissance Fair on Sunday, so now he has change.

Yeah-he called on Sunday too. This time he had an opportunity where nobody was around and he confessed, “I want to come home!” My heart broke, I want to just hop in the car and go get him, but I knew that he would have fun this week and he could hold out. We talked about all the fun he was having. His attitude got a bit negative, everything was “stupid and boring”. YEAH RIGHT! When he had to get off the phone I promised to call him Monday night.

Talked with him last night and he is fine. Yes, he’s homesick, but he had another fun day and was happy he stayed. He stated it was getting hard to wait to see me and PooWee though. He’s just so excited to see us he can’t wait much longer. He also had his first soda and said it was, “GOOOOOOOD!!”

I have strict orders to call him again tonight at 6:30. I sure do miss him! PooWee and I are trying to keep busy. Last Thurs. evening I didn’t know what to do, so PooWee and I headed to Elijah’s soccer game that he is missing. The coach had to chuckle at me for showing up and my son wasn’t even there. Hey! I’m BORED, and PooWee loved watching the kids play.

I got back downtown yesterday morning to finish shooting the rest of the chalk drawings. I was excited it didn’t rain. I wanted really bad to get a better shot of PooWee on Aaron’s work too. We got down there and the drawings were washed out! I was so disappointed. Mom and I debated back and forth if it did rain, she thought some kids may have gone down there and destroyed them, or that possible the morning dew had washed them out. Then a lady answered our question. Here someone forgot to shut of the timer for the sprinkling system. Yep-someone got in trouble at work yesterday! It’s a real bummer too, because so many people come down to look at them. Betcha this won’t happen again.

Aaron is coming over tomorrow to hang with PooWee and I. It’s been awhile since he’s come over during the week. Usually he picks him up from the sitters on Sundays for a few hours. I guess he has off and seeing he was doing the chalkfest this past Sunday he didn’t get PooWee. I’m thinking I’m going to take advantage of Aaron being here and take a shower when he’s here. WOW! I’m excited, I will get a shower without a lil guy pulling open the curtain and throwing toys in by me! YAY!

Bruce is growing…well…like a weed. I have to laugh, I just can’t pull him out. Bruce has become apart of our family. PooWee truly is proud of him. He walks up to Bruce and says, “WOW” and give him a kiss.

Today I have to do laundry, clean up the apartment and wash PooWee’s pool. I was lazy and never ran to get a tarp to cover the pool and there lots of debry and bugs that found their way in. So we drained it last night and today we will wipe it out and put new water in. Yes, I bought a tarp yesterday.

Andrew’s dad ended up in the hospital yesterday. I took him up there for awhile. Mike was in super bad pain, I believe he had a bowel obstruction. They were waiting to see they results of the CT Scan were and if he would need surgery or not. Of course I had to make sure he had a good doctor and care. His doc is top of the line awesome, so he had my approval to continue on with him. Right after we left Mike got rushed off to surgery. I called Andrew at 11 last night he hadn’t heard anything yet. This morning I got Andrew out of bed at 10:30 and he didn’t know anything yet. I told him to get up and find out! Still hasn’t called back.

Well, I guess I better get going on my chores for the day or they will never get done!

Happy day to all!!

Meet Bruce…and lots of pics!

Bruce is a huge weed that grows in our driveway. In the past years Bruce has been unable to thrive due to us constantly pulling him out. He was always determined to win and constantly grew back. This year Bruce has a friend, PooWee. PooWee loves Bruce and takes good care of him. I believe Bruce may have even gotten a few kisses now and then.

It all started with me watering our berry bushes,

  

or the flowers that grow behind our garage. It’s somewhat sad they hide behind the garage by the alley where no one sees them.

  

PooWee then needs his turn to play with the garden hose.

And as you can see, he waters what I neglect. The weeds truly love him! I’ve pulled them out only to get “yelled” at by him. He truly scolds me for doing so. I have left them alone and he takes care of them.

Bruce…Bruce is his favorite. I think Bruce is a very happy weed this year, thanks to PooWee!

Moving on…

We are missing Elijah. Took him to Janesville on Sun. Here’s a picture of his bed for the next two weeks. It’s the only picture I took when we dropped him off.   

 

 

There’s four beds to a room, however only one other boy in with him. His group that he will be with actually only has three kids. One is a girl, poor thing having to deal with two boys for 13 days!

He took his journal along in hopes to write in it each night. OH-I hope he does, I can’t wait to hear what he all has been up to! When I checked him in I had to sign a permission slip for him to learn how to throw knives and an axe! (Yes, you read that correctly!) Being the theme of the camp in Medieval Times he gets to learn these “skills”. He thought that was just awesome! I however am, worried he’ll want to practice at home!

Bought PooWee a pool. Seeing Elijah’s gone I’m not going to spend $5 to go to the local pool for a few hours.

And let me tell you…PooWee OWES me BIG TIME! He will be 16 years old and I will remind him of the day I pumped up his pool…

WITH a LITTLE FOOT PUMP!! I should have timed myself. Let’s just say, I started in the living room at night when he was sleeping, carried downstairs and finished the following afternoon.

HE LOVES IT THOUGH! Anything and everything he finds has been thrown into it. He’s tried to throw rocks in, was successful twice and then learnt, NO ROCKS IN THE POOL!

See that yellow foot pump on the right? YEP! That’s what I used.

Grandma went strawberry picking. She brought some over for the Poo-meister and he LOVES ‘em!

He ate so many, she gave us another bowl full for him. Don’t tell, but I snuck some too! THANKS GRANDMA!

One of PooWee’s favorite games is hiding within the clothes hanging on the line. Isn’t he just so adorable?!

Andrew popped in the other night. He ended up spending the night.

Teddy Bear made himself comfortable. Teddy must have gotten a call on Andrew’s cell and PooWee was gracious enough to hold the phone for him. Sure hope he didn’t rake up the bill on me!

Well, I guess that’s enough for today. It is Thursday, so I want to finish up on this weeks chores and get ready for the weekend, before PooWee wakes up from his nap. Once he wakes up, I promised him a bike ride to the park.

Hope everyone is having as much fun this summer as we are!

Ahhhh Summer

We are having the time of our lives…just enjoying summer. I love summer, I love being outside and I find my boys are the same.

Andrew just returned from a biking (pedal) trip with his dad and stepmom. (He whined and whined about going. I told him he could stay home with the boys and I would go.) They went to Michigan and biked about 35 miles a day and then camped for the night. Overall he pedalled 250 miles. He still says it was boring, but he’s enjoying his tan legs. I passed down my wonderful genes of being either white or red. I DO NOT tan. Now he knows the secret to being tan…bike all day for a week.

Elijah had his sports camp and loved it. He earned a medal at the track meet. His favorite part was sneeking out of his dorm room at night to knock on his friends’ doors and was all excited that he didn’t get caught. Next year he plans on doing it BOTH nights. Oh, why does he tell me this stuff.

He learnt how to flip someone as he was taught some Judo. So far nobody has volunteered to let him show us. ANYONE…SOMEONE…PLEASE - I’d really like to see him do it! (Obviously, I haven’t volunteered either.)

We only have this week left to goof around and then he’s off to his two week camp in Janesville. I take him down on Sunday. The theme is Fairy Tale, Fantasy and Medieval Times. Should be fun. They may even make it to the Renaissance Fair.

PooWee LOVES being outside. He throws a fit whenever we need to go in the house or in the car. He’s learning his boundaries. I should say HE KNOWS his boundaries and LOVES to test me. He walks right up to the neighbor’s yard and watches me, if I turn he’s takes a mad dash for their cool pond with a waterfall.

He is so into balls. I think he has 100 of them. Andrew is turning him into a lacrosse player. PooWee walks around constantly with a lacrosse stick in his hand.

Swimming is pretty cool to him too. We’ve spend many days at the pool. He’s made new friends. His favorite is to stand out of the pool and throw his balls in the water. Then other kids will retrieve them for him and he gets to throw them in again.

Me…I haven’t used the dryer once since the weather has been nice. I love hanging clothes out. Especially bedding, ahhh that fresh air smell as I fall off to dreamland.

I enjoy cutting the grass as well. Infact, the girl downstairs wants me to give her a chance to mow. HA HA HA I’m home more than she is and I get at it first. Although I ran our of gas yesterday and the front yard is only half done.

I’ve been knitting a new purse for myself. My current purse is getting quite rugged looking. I’ll have to take a few pics and post it. I think it’s going to nice. I don’t get too many chances to work on it, but it is coming along. I usually get the most work time during tubby time. PooWee plays and I knit. HHHMMMM-wonder how many baths I can get him to take in one day?

Well, Elijah is harassing me to get ready for swimming. He’s got some friends meeting him at the pool at 1:00. I better go, I’ve got so much to get ready yet.

 

 

Where does the time go?

What a busy summer we will be having. I’m so EXCITED, we are going to have so much fun.

The sad part is…it will be Andrew’s last summer with us. Well, his last one before he becomes an ADULT! WOW…my first baby is going to be off to college next summer. I am feeling sad. I can’t believe how fast it’s gone.

This next year we have so much planning to do for him. He took his SATS this weekend. We’ll be applying for colleges, senior pics are due by September. Before I know it, he’ll be graduating! I have his graduation present planned. I’d LOVE to get him a laptop. I think this next winter (Oh, I hate that word) I’ll try to pick up extra hours at work to accomplish getting him one.

I’m happy to say he is thinking about staying here in Wausau at the UWMC, for his Associates degree and then head to UW Madison, UW Milwaukee, or UW Plattville to finish off his degree. He’s going to go into Civil Engineering.

Like most teens, he wants out of the house right away. He plans on getting an apartment with three of his friends. I wish he would just stay at home, but I completely understanding wanting to experience life on his own. I like that he will be in Wausau for two years. I told him this will give him the experience of life, yet Mom and Dad (his dad has moved back to Wausau) are right here to lean on if he needs us. I suppose we will become his laundry mat, and a place to grab some food. We talked and I will start to buy him stuff on his birthday, and Christmas for his “new” home. Things like dishes and towels, you know…all the things he never wanted before.

Andrew has turned into an AWESOME young man. He is a GREAT friend, a SWEET boyfriend and the BEST BIG brother a kid could ask for. As mother and son, we have grown so much throughout these past years. Oh YEAH we can fight. If there is one thing he is good at and that is arguing. I use to tell him he needed to become a lawyer or go into arbitration. He is one of those people that will argue that the sky is green.

I’m proud to say, that even though we fight, he knows he can come to me with ANYTHING. He can share his thoughts and I will not judge him. At times I tell him he is sharing TOO much with me. I tell him, he’s not suppose to tell me these things for another 10 years. He’ll laugh and make me promise not to tell his dad.

He’s set in his ways. When he was younger and I would tie his shoes, he insisted that his bunny ears and tails being the exact same lengths. To this day he measures them out. Man, am I happy I no longer tie his shoes! He takes longer than I do to get dressed and groomed. He VERY picky about his socks as well. I can’t even begin to count how many packages of socks I’ve bought him and he didn’t like. We literally have ran all around town looking for the perfect socks for him. The last time I bought him some I actually bought women’s socks and HE LIKED THEM!!!

This morning he headed off to his last summer Cross Country Camp. Along with him he took Elijah, for his first Cross Country Camp. The high school cross country team sponsors it for the new and upcoming runners. As much as an older brother can not stand a younger brother “copying” him at times, I think Andrew left with some pride that Elijah wanted to “be like him”…a runner. I find Andrew noticing that Elijah looks up to him so much more lately.

During LaCrosse season, Elijah got a team t-shirt. He wanted Andrew’s name and number put on the back, BEFORE he would even wear it. Andrew had a little smile when Elijah asked him if he could get his number put on his shirt. Andrew asked me why Elijah would want that. My reply…”Because he looks up to you. He’s proud to have you ashis brother.” The message, after all these years is starting to sink in.

PooWee…WOW does he adore Andrew. Andrew…OH YEAH, he adores PooWee. They have their special moments. Andrew has the “tickle hands”, he just has to show them and PooWee knows it’s coming. Night nights is a the traditional hug and kiss along with some tickles in the neck. PooWee runns up to Andrew for his night night kissies and tickles. Andrew has also learnt that PooWee makes you feel guilty for leaving without him. Andrew has often opened the door again for another bye-bye hug. If only I could get him to change just ONE diaper!

   This is my Andrew! He rocks my world. He rocks many worlds!  

 

Monday Morning Thoughts

This weekend I was once again targeted by someone needing to remind me that J & P have adopted twin boys. There was an email sent out by C inviting people to a “Finalization” party this past Thurs. Someone decided to place a copy of this email in my mailbox and highlight a few sentences. Those highlighted were meant to hurt me….I guess!

- It is to celebrate the finalization of the adoption of the most beautiful boys…

-Its been a long hard journey…

MOVE ON PEOPLE!!!!

If I were given the chance to reply to this particular person I would probable inform them that I already knew about this party. I may live in a city with about 40,000 people, but it’s still a small world. J & P and I know many of the same people. I could get sarcastic and tell them some of the things I have heard about this party.

1- “We are so sick of hearing about the adoption. It’s crazy! First there was a Welcome Home Party then there was the Adoption Party then the boys turned 2 years old and now a FINALIZATION party.”

2-”I’m not going….I bought them enough stuff.”

I believe C is organizing all these things. People are starting to feel that she is going overboard. Knowing J, my gut reaction would be that J would feel the same. She often talked to me about C making issues much bigger than they are. I’m sure C is just so happy and excited for J & P, but it’s starting to get a negative response from others.

I didn’t have any emotional issues this time. I simple took the email and made a copy, put a sticky note on it that said, “FYI Found in my mailbox this weekend.” and put the copy in my director’s mailbox. Haven’t heard from my director yet.

The person who put this in my mailbox could be anyone. I guess C had copies all over the unit this past Mon. Our shift leader took them all down saying they will only bring trouble. Well, I guess she was right. Someone took it upon themselves to share with me.

What I don’t understand is why this person feels I need to know this stuff. Does she/he think it will tear me apart? Do they just like shoving the adoption in my face? Are they doing it to make me react? Why would they do this? I really don’t understand. J & P have obviously gone on with their lives, why can’t this person. J & P are happy, I am happy, why isn’t this person happy unless they involve me in things I don’t need to be involved in?

Moving on…..

Karen (VI teacher) emailed me Fri. Got more to add to that WONDERFUL IEP! Here. Eli will be transported to and from school. The bus will pick him up right at our front door. Yes-you heard me I don’t have to take him or pick him up from school anymore. This means, I don’t have to wake PooWee up, I don’t have to get dress, and best of all, I don’t have to go out in below zero weather! I’m feeling guilty, I am fully capable of transporting him. But, K told me to think of it as a form of independence for Eli.

PooWee has an ear appt today. It’s his check up from the tube placement. Since the tubes he has had an ear infection. Actually ended us up in the Emergency room one late Friday night with a 14.7 fever that wasn’t going down. So, I still worry about more ear infections.

Andrew’s Lacrosse team has their last game in the semifinals tonight. If they win they will be off to state. It looks like rain out there, I hope it doesn’t. This will be the last game I will be able to make. The state championships are on the weekend. His team is currently rated 3rd in the state. They team has actually only been around for four years too. They have come along way.

Chad has given one of his jobs his two week notice. He’s going to take a short break from working so much, but will be trying to find another one. He really couldn’t stand the job he quite, so he’shappy to be leaving. He’s still goneall the time. Either working, school or by Ella. Truthfully, I kinda miss him. I usually know he was home to shower because of his clothes on the bathroom floor.

He called one night to see if I had any formula they could use for Ella. Here they ran out, it was late and no one really felt like running all the way to the store. I unfortunately did not, but I did offer some frozen breastmilk. He declined and ran off to the store.

I finally got a new camera! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!! Got a 12X zoom, and sound on the video! (My last camera didn’t have sound and that bummed me out.) I’ve been taking pictures like crazy. Guess maybe I’m making up for the four months that I was camera-less.

I’ve got a 10 minute video of PooWee playing in his sandbox. He loves watching it. He eventually wonders out of the sandbox and attempts to walk towards the road. I even got him throwing his fit, because I won’t allow him to go. He gets a real confusing look on his face when he watches himself cry and throw himself to the ground.

I wish I could share some of my pictures with you, however…my computer is still not fixed. We are using Andrew’s and he’s pretty stubborn when it comes to downloading onto his computer. I’m begging him everyday though. PPPLLLLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEE Andrew!

 

 

I’m Tempted…

to disconnect the internet for the summer. Not only the internet, but unplug the TVs.

We live for summer around here. It’s not that we waste alot of time on these things, it’s just that sometimes it’s easier to watch a video in the evening than sit outside under the stars.

I’d like to take the money I’d save and go camping, take a day trip, whatever we feel like doing.

Andrew’s by his father for majority of the summer. He comes home 1 week a month. He doesn’t like the idea, because he wants the internet when he is here.

Elijah, well we all know how busy he is. He actually stated, “I don’t care, I’m not going to be here anyways.”

PooWee, I don’t think he’ll notice too much. Although, Andrew did find him Fisher Price Infant Online Games. Which he does love. He is rather cute playing them too. He’s quite insistent when it comes to “his turn” on the computer. But overall, I think he will survive any serious withdrawals.

Then there’s me…I’ll miss checking up on all you. I’ll miss writing my post and checking for new comments. And then there’s my email. I’ll lose my account with my internet server, but could set up a free account elsewhere. I’d have to change over alot of my bills. I could check in now and then from work. Oh, all the good stuff I’ll miss. BUT it’s only for 3-4 months!

PLUS-my internet company is always offering a deal…basic cable, internet and phone for only $9.00 more than what I pay for just internet. I’ve called and can’t get the deal because I am an EXISTING customer. WHATEVER…but I was told if I leave and come back then I can.

This is a bonus for us because Andrew and I have cell phones, but no home phone. We do only get 1 channel. Well, actually 2, but the second one is so fuzzy we don’t watch it. And when winter rolls around again and we are home bodies, we have more options on TV.

HHHMMM what to do…

Monday morning

Mondays for me are like most peoples’ Saturdays. I’m done with my work week and so happy to have off. Normally I get the kids off to school and then PooWee and I get breakfast and start the cleaning. Well, I clean he makes a mess.

Andrew and Chad do not have school today, so their both sleeping yet. Elijah was hacking up his lungs as he got ready for school. He’s not feeling so well so he crawled on the couch and is watching a movie. I let PooWee sleep, so he’s still out like a light.

I’ve already put my phone call in to Dr. B to see what she wants me to do about my lil stone friend. Originally the plan was for a CT Scan today if I didn’t pass it. Well, I haven’t passed it, but I’ve had a CT Scan already.

At work on Fri I was having severe pain. My friend, Vic*din, not so friendly anymore, it wasn’t touching the pain. I had a phone call into my doctor to see if I could take more Vic*din than she prescribed. I was talking with Dr. B’s nurse and she asked me to rate my pain. I did and then stated I just wanted to cry. And that was it, I started bawling. I went to the breakroom and laid on the couch. My supervisor came in, she suggested I go to the Emergency Room. I declined and said I would just wait for Dr. B to call back. I figured I’d be going to Radiology for a CT Scan. I really wanted to stay away from the ER bill. Eventually, she insisted I go to ER for pain control. She got a wheelchair and I was off.

Got to ER, they threw an IV in and gave me some M*rphine. Didn’t touch the pain. Then I got a dose of Dil*udid, this atleast made the pain tolerable. Plus, I was able to take a little snooze, well until they took me to CT Scan.

My stone is sitting right by the entrance of my bladder. It’s 5mm and it has lodged itself into a nice cozy spot. I was sent home with some Oxyc*done and told to follow up with a Urologist.

Oh yeah, this whole time my mom has had Elijah at the Walk-In clinic because he hurt his knee at daycare. Turns out he is OK, probably just twisted it.

My mom is with me and my friend, Ann(abanana) when the nurse is discharging me. Thank goodness Ann was there because there was NO WAY I wold have been able to figure out how to run the “drug vending machine”, I could barely stand straight. And Mom, she would have been way overwhelmed with all the instructions.

So…today I have called Dr B’s nurse to find out what I should do. I’m so hapy to say that I am comfortable. I really don’t have anymore pain. I am sick of peeing in a strainer though. This stone is becoming  an annoyance that’s for sure. It definitely is stubborn. If one more person tells me to drink lots of water and/or cranberry juice I may just be forced to shove a sock in their mouth. I’m a walking water/cranberry juice balloon!

PooWee has his ear appointment with Dr. S today. There is NO WAY I will cancel that to accommodate this stone. Plus, I think his ears are bugging him again, he’s got his fingers in them constantly. PooWee’s needs will come before mine.  Oh that was such a “mom statement.”

Elijah will need his baby-in as he is feeling ill. We’ll blame this one on G-ma. She’s had a sore throat and cough for about 2 weeks. Elijah is good at sucking in the “sick-lovins.” He’s got the look and tone of voice down perrrrrfectly. “Moooom, can yoooou get me a new mooooovie, pppllllleeeaaasssee!”

I can’t wait for Andrew and Chad to wake up and find out we are all home to irritate them on their day off. Or that he may need to do some babysitting for me while I go to PooWee’s appointment or an appointment for myself.

It’s going to be a WONDERFUL Monday!

Summer Can’t Come Soon Enough

Is summer really coming? I can’t wait for some sunshine and toasty weather!

Elijah’s summer is getting all planned out. Summer program forms are being sent home from school ever Friday these past few weeks. He seems to want to join everything from Invention camps to tackle football camps.

So far he’ll be going to the Wisconsin Lions Camp from July 20th to 25th. I want to go too, it is SO BEAUTIFUL there! He went there last summer for the first time and LOVED it! He only had one complaint. His group didn’t get to jump into the mud pit because the girls didn’t want to. (Those darn girls!) Elijah was actually nominated as a future camp counselor, because he helped out so much with the other campers. At camp Eli is “Top Dog”, he can actually sees better then majority of the kids. I was so happy he learnt to assist the others and was such a helpful young man. The theme of last years camp was crafting and my boy even got the Camp Crafter award! He got a patch and we put it onto his camp sweatshirt. He’s excited to go back.

He just turned in his registration form for a Camp Inventions at his school. That will be the week after Lions Camp. He is really excited about this too. One of his friends were in it last summer and told Eli all about it. He gets to take a VCR apart and other electronic items. He’ll turn into my Little fix-it boy after this camp!

Then there are two other camps he was really interested in. These camps are held by the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Unfortunately the one he really would like to attend is during his Lions Camp week. This one is Touch the Stars, he loves his telescope and looking into the sky. We are getting information on the Folk Art Fables and Fantasy camp. This is a two week camp based on medieval times. Should be fun. However, he’s (and myself) are concerned that he’d be gone for two weeks, come home for three days and then head off to Lions Camp for a week. That’s alot of time away from his mommy!

Yes- all those donation boxes you see at the checkout for sending blind and visually impaired children to camp really do work! Eli attends all these camps FREE OF CHARGE! THANK YOU to all that donate! It doesn’t matter if I made $100,000,000 or $1,000 a year, he goes FREE! We always put our change in. Infact, last time I got $37.87 back as change and Eli was SUPER EXCITED to put so much in. (Even though we all know $37.87 really isn’t THAT much!)

KS-Eli’s VisuallyImpaired teacher just told me about a sports camp too. She not sure of the dates or if the deadline has gone past already, but she’ll be getting me more information. KS is looking into other activities for him as well.

To add to all that, we need to get him into his swim lessons, gymnastics camp and anything else he’s interested in. Soccer season is an all time favorite too. Unfortunately, he’ll miss three weeks of it due to the camps I mentioned above.

I’m excited to say Andrew will be around more for the summer this year. He will technically be with his father, but his father has now moved back to Wausau. So, this allows Andrew to join his Cross Country camp and run all summer in the summer running club. He is also planning on joining LaCrosse camp.  He enjoys his time with his father, but he didn’t like being two hours away all summer long. He would come home for one week a month, but was still unable to join summer programs with his friends.

Then there’s the PooWee man! HE GETS TO GO BIKING THIS SUMMER! I AM SO EXCITED TO JUMP ON THE GOOD ‘OL BIKE!! It has been two summers since I got to go out and bike my lil butt off. (First I was pregnant and the next PooWee was too small.) I’ve missed it terrible!

I have a bike trailer from when Eli was my little guy. It’s nice, but I’m really looking into a bike seat too. Now they have bike seats that go in the front of you. Anybody use one of these? I kinda like the thought of them. HOWEVER, how many times do you think PooWee will throw his head back and smack me in the face? OUCH!!!

I like the trailer for picnics and lugging extra stuff with us. The one I have seats two kids. There are just times that I didn’t like having it behind me. Plus, I did tip Eli in it once. I rounded a corner too fast. OOPPSS! He was fine and actually laughed and told me to do it again!

Eli also thinks PooWee needs to join Toddler Tumblers class at the YMCA. He wants PooWee to follow in his footsteps as a gymnast. I’m thinking about it. Eli has gymnastics tonight, so we may just check it out. PooWee sure would love his chance to get out and play on the mats just lie his big brother. My mom has been watching him lately during gymnastics because he’s just too hard to handle. He wants out by big brother, to jump and roll and run around on the mats. The parallel bars are quite intriguing to him as well. 

Summer, I can’t wait for it to come. I LOVE the heat! I love the sun shining in my eyes! I don’t even mind cutting the grass. I get to hang my clothes out to dry and then they smell so fresh! (And don’t forget the savings on the electric bill!) MMM, I can’t wait to grill fresh veggies on the grill. We are outside from morning to night in the summer. I just can’t wait to get out of this house and have some fun!

Andrew’s First Sick Call to Work

Andrew became ill yesterday afternoon. Oh- I know what he’s got! It’s not going to be a fun road for him!

He called me at work and said he just started feeling really ill. I told him to take some meds and go lay down. I would call his work and let them know. He offered to call, but I said, “No, I will, you just go lay down.”

Here’s the conversation with the manager on duty.

ME- “This is Andrew’s mother. He is not feeling well. And just to warn you, we have had influenza in the house. I’m still feeling crappy on week 2.”

Manager-”OK, who’s going to make the calls?”

ME-”Calls? What do you mean?”

MNGR-”Our policy is if you call in you need to find someone to work for you.”

ME-”WHAT? That is just ridiculous! I’m not going to make Andrew make a bunch of phone calls when he’s not feeling well, so I guess I will.”

The manager then gave me 2 numbers of boys that do the same job as Andrew. One being one of Andrew’s best friends and the other boy I do not know.

I expressed my concern with the fact that she just gave me confidential information on her employees. She told me that they sign a form saying they can give their phone numbers out for this very reason.

OK-Help me with this one! MINORS sign a form saying it’s OK to give out a phone number that is in their PARENT’S NAME. Plus, I’m not an employee there, they just gave numbers out to a complete stranger. I could be very disrespectful with these numbers! (Though of course I won’t, BUT they don’t now that!)

ME-”So, what happens if I can’t find someone to work  his shift?”

MNGR-”We would need a doctors excuse.”

ME-”I can tell you right now that clinics are telling people that call in with flu like symptoms to STAY HOME! They don’t want them. I’m not taking him to the doctor unless I feel it is appropriate!” (Also lets mention it’s 1ish Sun afternoon, that would be an ER visit!)

MNGR-”Being his first time we would probably just forget it then, but if it happens again, further action would be taken.”

ME-”If he does have influenza, he will be out for awhile.”

MNGR-”We need to follow our policies.”

ME-”REALLY! Then you tell me WHY when Andrew was the first one in at 3 during our last snowstorm, you called off the 4:30 person and the 5:30 person and had Andrew close. You NEVER asked him if he was willing to stay. According to your policy, being slow business he would have been asked to leave at 4:30 when the next boy came in. So…you DON”T ALWAYS follow policy!”

MNGR”I appreciate your comment.”

I called Andrew’s friend first. Turns out he was already working, he made a switch with someone. I vented my frustration with him. I can’t BELIEVE this! He said it was really stupid, even if they get sick at work they need to call and have someone come in and work for them or they would have to stay. This is a RESTAURANT, do you want SICK people serving you your food?

I called the other kid. Introduced myself and asked if he would be able to work. Turned out he couldn’t because he was coming back from Minnesota. I then expressed to him that he should mention to his manager how inappropriate it was that they gave ME a NON-EMPLOYEE his number.

I’m making all these calls from work myself. Co-workers around me are as astound as I am. They couldn’t BELIEVE it. One co-worker said when her daughters were teenagers they had to do the same thing at the place they worked.

Now, I can understand if someone has called in alot. BUT THE FIRST TIME! Are there alot of places like this? Do they think people don’t get sick!

Had to call his work back. This time they gave me to the owner. He went on to tell me their policy. He stated that they actually require you to call in 4 hour before you work. (I called shortly after 1 and Andrew worked at 3. - Just shy of 2hrs beforehand.) He went on to say that this teaches the teenagers responsibility. I’m thinking it would make me second guess staying home sick and just coming to work.

Me-”Andrew felt fine earlier. He just started feeling really bad. I can tell you that’s how it is, all of a sudden you feel like crap. Can you explain to me the reasoning for this?”

OWNER-”If we didn’t have this policy, we would have all our teens calling in every Saturday night.”

ME-”If you have a repeat offender it’s understandable, but to ask someone that feels really ill to call for a replacement just seems irrational to me. OK, so now what happens that I could not find anyone to work for Andrew?”

OWNER-”We take it into consideration that you made good faith in finding someone to work.”

ME-”And if it happens again, from what I understand he may be canned.”

OWNER-”My manager NEVER said he would get canned. Plus, this is the first time I’ve ever had a parent call in for their child.”

ME-”I never said she said that directly, but that’s what I took from her saying further action would be take. Andrew offered to call in, I told him to REST and not worry about it. If you would like him to call, I can have him.”

OWNER-”No, Andrew does not need to call. Of course we don’t want someone working that is sick and could be spreading germs to our customers and other workers.”

ME-”I must say this. I work at the hospital and your sick call policy is 50 times worse than what we have. My co-workers here CAN’T believe what you are requiring.”

OWNER-”Are you saying my business is not important?”

ME-”I NEVER said your business is not important. You serve food, we save lifes and we can still do that with someone not being here due to being sick.”

OWNER-”Thank you for trying to find someone to work. I will mark Andrew down as being sick for his shift.

ME-”That’s fine, but please make sure you don’t take my issues out on Andrew.”

OWNER-”Good-bye”

Do companies really expect this? What if Andrew was puking his brains out. He would have to worry about finding someone to go in for him! Feeling dizzy, light headed and very weak, do you want to make phone calls?

Andrew is a very good employee for them. He has won the most “incentive contests” that they have out of everyone that works there. He has stayed late, came in when called and worked many extra shifts. He really doesn’t like the job, but knows the importants of doing a good job.

I was kinda freaked to call Andrew and tell him I had it out with his manager and owner. When I told him I apologized. I told him I just couldn’t believe it. HE DIDN’T CARE!!! He actually told me to call them back and get him fired.  I told him he didn’t want that, but he could quit with notice. I told Andrew to make sure the don’t treat him ANY different because of me. And that I want a copy of  this supposed slip giving permission to hand out numbers.

I always though that the hospital was kinda bad on their sick policy. We are allowed 3 sick days a year, and it’s a floating year too. So a sick day doesn’t fall off until you get to that day the following year. We take care of SICK PEOPLE!!! We are going to be catch some of the germs! However, my supervisor and manager haven’t put anyone into disciplinary action unless for good reasons. Like me…they take into consideration that I am a single mommy of 3 and I will be calling in for the kids too. We have many many teenagers that work by us, whether as CNAs, in the kitchen, housekeeping or even volunteering, the hospital doesn’t make them find someone to work for them. Assuming teenagers are going to take advantage of calling in sick isn’t teaching them responsibility. It more like being charged as GUILTY and needing to prove your INNOCENCE!

What really irks me the most is not ONCE, NOT ONCE did the manager of owner express they we’re sorry Andrew wasn’t feeling well. Or even ask, “Oh no, how is he doing?” They could have cared less that my son was sick, they only worried about who was going to bus their tables. This implies to me that if Andrew would happen to break a dish and cut himself on accident. They would be more worried about their darn dish than the cut my son may receive.

I truly believe the main issue here is that the manager or owner may just have to “stoop down” and bus some tables. How inappropriate for these top notch people to pick up dirty dishes. GRRRR-just ticks me off.