Filed under: Scouting
Not my first backpacking trip, but Boxman’s and Buster’s first. I had prior commitments so I couldn’t go with them last weekend. My first, and only, backpacking trip was 20-something years ago when I went with my brother’s Boy Scout troop on the Appalachian Trail. Boxman and Buster were attempting an 11.2 mile trek in Oklahoma with Buster’s new Boy Scout troop. I was pretty nervous about letting them go without me. Buster wasn’t really prepared for it and Boxman had no idea what he might be getting himself into. The fact that he overpacked just added to my nervousness. They were to leave last Saturday morning but only had decided on Thursday that they were going for sure. Fortunately, the troop had a child-sized backpack that Buster could borrow for the trip and we had several packs that my dad had given us once for Boxman to choose from.
The troop also had tents for the boys to use, but parents had to provide their own.
Boxman had splurged on a nice backpacking tent a few weeks ago when he heard about this trip, so he was excited to get to use it.
They both had hiking boots although Buster’s were hardly broken in. I went and bought some hiking socks for him and sock liners for both of them. Boxman didn’t know he needed sock liners but he was glad he had them.
I also bought them Mountain House freeze dried food, and plenty of other good snacks. Of course when dinner time came and they were making their freeze dried macaroni and cheese, nobody seemed to know how many ounces were in a cup. The directions said to use 2 cups of water and they used 32 ounces! See, I knew they needed me to come along. But they did survive without me and both of them had a great time.
It helped that they cut the hike a little short due to some “issues” one boy had.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I was stopped at a stop sign behind an F-150 with the big off-road tires. It had one plain bumper sticker on the tailgate that said, “I am not wearing pants.” I couldn’t help but snicker over it. As I turned to go the same direction that he was, I started wondering what type of person would have a bumper sticker like that. I passed him slowly while trying to inconspicously look his way. He wasn’t wearing a shirt either!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Yes, it’s time for yet another martial arts tournament. And once again, I can’t decide whether I’m going to compete or not. I’m sure this discussion is getting old since I do go through it everytime there is a tournament. I guess the only reason I’m considering it is because it is a national championship tournament and a first place win includes a national champion patch to put on my uniform. I really could care less about the trophy as my closet is already overflowing. The kids aren’t competing this time because Buster has an all day troop meeting for his Boy Scout jamboree contingent and Doodles has a piano competition. I will be at tournament to help judge whether I compete or not. However, it does cost $5o to enter. So, should I do it or not?
Filed under: Scouting
Saturday night we lost a Cub Scout and gained a Boy Scout. While I’m still trying to figure out where the past 4 1/2 years have gone, Buster keeps reminding me that he is indeed a big boy. The evening started with the Arrow of Light ceremony including the boys shooting flaming arrows. The Scoutmaster then took over for the crossover ceremony. I had always thought it would be hard when we got to this point of his Scouting career but instead, I found that we were all ready to move on and up.
Buster is very excited to be in Boy Scouts. He had his first troop meeting last night. He was proud that the boys voted for his suggestion of flaming arrow for their new patrol. He is also ready to have a Scoutmaster’s conference for his Scout rank already. I hope he keeps up the enthusiasm.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Today was a big day for me. I was put under for the first time in my life. I was scared to death. The procedure was a pretty minor one – just an upper GI endoscopy where they stick a tube down your throat, into your stomach to take a look at things. I didn’t see why I needed to be put under for it.
Since they were putting me under, Boxman had to drive me there because they don’t allow you to drive afterwards. We arrived the 45 minutes early that they requested. After a bit, I was escorted back to a very small room where a nurse asked me a few medical questions that I had answered before. She then left me sitting there alone with my anxiety while she went to see if there was a room available for me. It seemed like an eternity while I worried more and more about getting put under. Finally she came back and took me to another small room with a bed. I stood there unsure of what I should be doing and knowing that I didn’t want to do whatever it was. She left me again, only to come back and encourage me to lie down on the bed. She didn’t stay long before leaving me again. I was about ready to cry at this point – I did not want to be put under. Another nurse came in and started an iv. Once again, I was left alone. Eventually a doctor came in and I was puzzled to start with as it was not the good looking gastroenterologist I had seen a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t want this doctor scoping out my inner parts. Ah, he was just the anesthesiologist on duty. Apparently one of the nurses told him how uptight I was about it as he seemed to be trying to get my mind off of things. It wasn’t working. I didn’t like him. Another man came in and wheeled my bed to the procedure room. He had a bit more personality and did a better job of calming me down. Once in the room, another man joined us, the nurse anesthetist. The two of them were the best medicine possible – as they were hooking me up to the monitors and preparing to put me under, they joked around making me feel much more at ease. About 20 minutes after my appointment time, the good looking gastroenterologist appeared. The nurse put what looked like a big pacifier with a hole in the middle of it on my mouth to keep it open so the doctor could put the scope through the hole. They started the medicine, asking how I was doing a couple of times. I told them things were starting to get blurry and then I was out. The next thing I knew, I was in a recovery room, they were waking me up and fetching Boxman. It was over just like that. The cute doctor came in after I was a bit more aware of things and explained that he found an ulcer, lots of inflammation, and a little polyp that he wasn’t concerned about at all. While he was in there, he took a biopsy, is testing for h. pylori, and he was going to have them draw some blood to test for celiac disease and a wheat allergy. He gave me a prescription for something to help heal the ulcer.
I must admit the whole ordeal was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I’m almost looking forward to going back for another one in 3 months. Getting put under was not a big deal despite my anxiety about it. I do wonder what they were saying while I was under though. Were they commenting on my pretty curls or discussing how big my butt was? Eh, maybe they were just focusing on their jobs. Did they think I had the ugliest esophagus ever?
Filed under: Uncategorized
I don’t really have much to say, but don’t want to let my 2 loyal readers down by not writing for too long.
I had to take Doodles to the doctor today. She has an ear infection. After the doctor noticed the acne on her back, he gave us a prescription for it too. I’m hoping it helps clear it up on her back and face.
I had the joy of going to the doctor yesterday. I finally went to a gastroenterologist since my meds weren’t helping my reflux anymore. I will experience even more joy in a couple of weeks when I go for the upper g.i. endoscopy. At least the doctor was cute, but quite young.
We got a new dvd recorder with a 160 gb hard drive and digital tuner. Buster will be happy to be able to record some shows he likes which are only on a digital channel.
I’m up to 50 friends on Facebook. This amazes me. I was very excited when I got up to 10 friends. Sure many of them are family members but I have found it a great way to keep in touch with cousins that I seldom see. I feel like I know them much better. I have also found some old schoolmates. The kids were laughing hysterically the other day when I was chatting with one of them who now lives in Australia. The first thing he said to me was along the lines of “Hi, hot momma.” I tried to explain to them that it was just the way he was. They called me that for the rest of the night.
Buster has only 2 more weeks in Cub Scouts. I had my very last Pack Committee meeting last night. The new advancements chair is all trained and taking over.
Boxman got to go to Massachusetts for work last week. I don’t think it was fair that he went without me. He loved it and suggested that maybe we could move there because they loved him at the plant there. I went to realtor.com and found only 2 houses listed for sale there – both around $300k and way too small. I might like to go visit sometime though.
We have another martial arts tournament coming up. Buster can’t compete because he has a Boy Scout National Jamboree training day. Doodles says she doesn’t want to compete. I thought I had retired from tournaments, but everytime we approach another one, I can’t help but reconsider. Maybe.
I’m researching accounting software for our TKD school. The current program costs over $200/month and we don’t even need most of the features. Perhaps if I find a new one and get it up and running, he could actually pay me $200/month…. eh, probably not.
Doodles has been grounded the past couple of weeks. This has meant no computer outside of school work, no cell phone, and no ipod. I have been asked why I didn’t take away video games. She didn’t play video games much prior to losing the computer, but I have found that the video games aren’t nearly as bad because we tend to play them together. Having the interaction with her made it better than letting her hide in her room by herself.
I want to go to Disney World again.
Filed under: homeschool
A couple of weeks ago, Doodles had a science fair for her Classical Conversations group. She had started working on her project back in December and I made sure she had it done before Christmas break was over so she wouldn’t be trying to cram it all in on the weekend before the fair. She chose a rather simple project to do – how color affects the absorbtion of heat. I figured she didn’t stand a chance with something so easy and it didn’t seem like she put that much effort into it.
Can you tell that she just got her braces on that morning?
Having done a science fair before and winning 1st in the homeschool group and 2nd in the regional science fair, she had some experience that most of the others didn’t have. She knew to talk about the scientific method, where things could have (or did) go wrong, how the information gained in the experiment is useful in the real world, and where she could go next with the project.
Apparently this experience helped her in her presentation because she placed 1st again. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t affiliated with the regional fair, so she can’t move onto it this time, but she is proud of the trophy she won.
Filed under: Scouting
Since Buster is moving into Boy Scouts next month, last weekends Pinewood Derby was his last one. From his first year as a Tiger Cub, the derby has been a big deal at our house. Buster has designed the car every year, carefully choosing paint colors, and helping with every cosmetic detail. The first year, that was about all he did with regards to it. The next year, he did a little more of the work and started to get interested in what was necessary to make a fast car. He remembered those little details and applied them the following year, taking over more and more on the entire car building process. He spent time on the internet researching designs and tips that might make his car go faster. Each year, he won a trophy for his rank and most years overall for the pack. This year, his heart wasn’t quite in it – he already had all those trophies and he was looking forward to moving on to Boy Scouts. Boxman decided that he was going to make the fastest car ever run on our track just for fun and started it way ahead of time. Three weeks before the derby, Boxman was trying to get Buster to work on his car. He wasn’t interested. Two weeks to go and he had figured out the design in his head but had no interest in actually starting to build the car. Boxman’s car was looking pretty good. At one week before, Boxman was just sure that Buster wasn’t going to be doing a car this year or at best would be racing a block of wood. But alas, he couldn’t let his last opportunity to race pass by without having a car in it. He drew his design on the wood and Boxman helped him hollow it out with the power tools. Buster sanded it. He was starting to get into it all and the next thing we knew, he was once again on the internet trying to figure out what he needed to do to make it into a fast car. Things progressed with Buster doing more of the work on it himself than in past years. I overheard him telling Boxman exactly what he needed him to help him with. It was a beautiful thing. Now despite trying to make it fast, his main concern was that it was a cool car. It was definitely more *his* car than previous years. In the meantime, Doodles decided on Thursday night that she wanted to make a car for the siblings race on that Saturday. Boxman thought it would be close to impossible to get a car done that quickly but he would do what he could to help her. Of course he was still very focused on finishing up his ultimate car before the race.
For the few weeks before the race, this is what my kitchen looked like….
I was glad to have it cleaned up after the big race day.
So the day of the race arrived too quickly for some, but the cars were done for the most part. They had to fine tune the weights on them after weighing them in for the race.
This is Buster’s car. I can’t find pictures handy of the other two cars.
So, the first heat had Buster’s car skipping the track (due to too much of the weight being too far back in the car). Rather than risk getting disqualified, they started racing his car backwards. Not a good way to go with all that weight that was so far back in the car now so far forwards. He still ended up beating about a third of the cars. And best of all, he had fun and was proud of himself for making that car so much on his own – in less than a week. Not winning another trophy to add to his collection didn’t seem to matter much to him.
And what about those other two cars? Boxman, who spent weeks working on his very cool car, didn’t do so well. His car had a similar problem with the weights too far back. Doodle’s car, which had the fewest man hours invested in it and was whipped together in 1 day, was not only the fastest of our 3 cars, but also was faster than the car that won for the pack. I think a lesson was learned by Boxman….
Filed under: family
Today was the big day. Doodles was up and ready to go first thing this morning to the orthodontist. When they called her back, she went without me. I sat and talked to our old next door neighbor who was there with his daughter for awhile. I couldn’t stand it for long though and ventured back to check on her. She told me to leave. I refused until I got this picture of her.
I went and got a Starbucks then. When I got back, she was ready to go with her pink and purple bands on them. I just had to set up her next appointment when they’ll get her started wearing rubberbands. She decided on a Sonic grilled cheese and shake for lunch. It was fun watching her eat it.
