Category: General News

Jan. 30: I just got a fun note from the directors of Joe’s Sri Lankan study abroad program.  Sounds like all is well.  They have updated the program’s website with photos of the student’s travel, arrival, Sinhala lessons, and meeting of host family.  We should get three more such updates over the course of the next four months.  You can see all the pictures on the ISLE website.
Also, if anyone wants to write to Joe, send him packages, or anonymous love letters, his snail mail address is below.

Joseph Babler
c/o ISLE Center
75 Dangolla Road
Kandy, Sri Lanka

Jan. 30: On Tuesday night I went to a great presentation at Andrew’s preschool on helping children understand and process their emotions.  The speaker was great.  She made me laugh a lot.  Apparently effective parents do what is called “emotion coaching.”  The first step is emotional awareness – that is your own emotional awareness. Therefore, I have been endeavoring to get more in touch with my own emotions.  And right now, I’m cranky.

I was out last night with friends until after 11pm.  When I came home, Sylvia had been up and unhappy for a bit.  Bryan wasn’t in the greatest mood because of having a miserable baby, so I calmed her and we both silently went to bed.  Then after doing (just) one night feeding, Sylvia woke up when my go-to-the-gym alarm rang at 5:55am.  She often wakes up at 5 or 6 but goes back to sleep until 6:30 or 7am.  Not today!  So I didn’t go to the gym and instead got up with her.  And she was mostly in a good mood, but I was so tired.  And then when Andrew got up he was cough, cough, coughing up a storm.  He was scheduled to celebrate his half-birthday at preschool today (this is the second re-schedule because the first two times it was scheduled school got canceled).  So I spent all morning trying to decide if I should send this very coughy kid to school.  And my metrics weren’t the most altruistic.

Pros of sending him to school: I made muffins for his birthday snack (again!), he’s excited about his birthday, I need some time alone today, he loves school and will be really sad if he doesn’t go, he keeps telling me how he’ll cough into his elbow so he doesn’t make other kids sick, he was coughy yesterday but didn’t seem to feel bad or have diminished energy
Cons of sending him to school: Might make other kids sick, might drive teachers crazy, might be better for him to stay indoors, keeping him home would probably be the more cautious, responsible thing to do

So I took him in, talked to his teachers, and ran home (literally) to put Sylvia down for her nap.  I’m hoping that an hour of quiet will restore my equilibrium!

Update: Moments after hitting post, the phone rang.  One of Andrew’s preschool teachers was on the phone to tell me that Andrew seemed really low on energy.  She asked him if he wanted to go home, and he said, “yes.”  So I asked my neighbor Sandi to come over and listen for Sylvia while I ran down the street to pick him up.  Thank heavens that I didn’t have to wake the baby!
Right now Andrew is watching Robin Hood.  And eating pretzels.  And I still get to have some down time.  So it’s all good:)

Jan. 25: We’re having a little family siesta time right now.  Sylvia is sleeping, Andrew is playing quietly, Bryan is reading a chess book with Spooky on him, and I’m on the laptop with Bowser on me.  A good Sunday afternoon moment of calm.
Last night, Michael and Lisa came over to watch the kids while Bryan and I went out to dinner at Samba Brazillian Grill for Bryan’s OpGen holiday party.  I’m a little embarrassed to say that this is only the second time that Bryan and I have gone out to dinner (sans kids) since Sylvia was born.  The other lovely evening was in August when we left the kids with Grace and Tim for Kacy’s wedding rehearsal dinner.

It felt so good to be out with Bryan without Sylvia.  What a treat!  Michael and Lisa did a great job.  Michael is pretty fearless about tending to a crying baby, and while it sounds like her bedtime involved around an hour of sadness, he prevailed in getting her to sleep.  They’ve offered to help us out with babysitting more regularly.  I love the idea, but I know that my young ones (mostly the youngest one) are kinda a challenge.  I’ll have to figure out how to take advantage of their offer without taking advantage of their generosity!
I’ve gotta say, I love the idea of getting out for evenings with my husband more often:)

Jan. 25: In a few hours, my little brother, Joe, is going to get on a plane to start his semester-long adventure in Sri Lanka.  I think he’s a little nervous:)
The ISLE program just put together a webpage with info on the seven students in the program.  It looks like they’ll be updating this webpage with info on the student’s travel experiences (and photos too!).  I’ve also continued to enjoy reading a blog written by a student in the fall ’08 program.  Here’s the link to her posts from the start of the program.
But I’m most interested in hearing about Joe’s experiences.  He’s done a couple pre-departure posts on his blog.  The latest one also included a video of him packing.  Makes me smile.
Bon Voyage, Joe!

Jan. 22: As I was driving last weekend, I happened across Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion radio show.  We’d just had a week with temperatures (here in Madison) hanging in the -10 degree region.  He was speaking to a Kentucky audience, and his News from Lake Woebegon made me laugh out loud.  Since everyone could use a good laugh, I’d encourage you to listen to this segment about living in the frozen north.  For those who live here, it’s nice to laugh at ourselves, for those of you in warmer climes, you can laugh at us!

Jan. 22: Before Christmas, I thought it would be fun to write up a list of my favorite music  to share as gift ideas.  Well, I’m a couple months late, but better late than never!  Since I got my iPod last fall, I have gone completely crazy about kids music.  I’ve been sampling a wide variety, and I have some favorites to share:

Althea’s Favorite Kids Music (I really enjoy listening to all these):

Renee & Jeremy It’s a big world
I love this one!  It makes me cry…I listened to it constantly for about four months after Sylvia was born.  A friend’s baby was born to this CD.  I’d describe it as lullabies in magical harmonies.  My favorite songs are “Night Mantra” and “Welcome to This World.”

The Nields All Together Singing in the Kitchen

Folksy songs with a lot of spirit.  Great lyrics.  Wonderful voices.  I love listening to this one.  This is a nice CD to play in the morning to get us all in good spirits.

Justin Roberts Meltdown

The sound here is more of a traditional “kids” CD.  They lyrics are hilarious.  I love singing them.  This is our go-to CD for our crazy-dance-around-the-livingroom-for-a-half-hour time.  My favorite tracks are “My brother did it” and “Our imaginary rhino”

Elizabeth Mitchell

Be still my heart.  I simply love Elizabeth Mitchell’s music.  We’ve had several of her CDs, and I love them all.  I could put them on and let them play all day long.  I think my favorite CD is You Are My Sunshine, but it could be You Are My Little Bird.   She’s described as acustic folk.

Frances England Family Tree

She reminds me of Elizabeth Mitchell.  Her song “Family Tree” is about adding a new child to the family – a new branch to the family tree.  There’s something very authentic about this music.  I love it.

Dan Zanes Family Dance

Dan Zanes is another regular choice for our crazy-dance-time.  He has at least seven out, and I’ve only checked out a couple of them.  “Jump Up” and “All Around the Kitchen” are probably my favorite tracks.  Fun stuff!

Peter, Paul, and Mary Peter, Paul, and Mommy

I grew up listening to this one.  It’s probably Andrew’s favorite CD.  He loves singing “Puff the Magic Dragon” and “The Marvelous Toy” and “It’s Raining.”  I sometimes listen to it when I’m alone in the car too.

I hope this introduces you to some new artists!  And now my question for you…what are/were your favorite songs to play with your kids?  I’d love to hear about to more new music!

Jan. 20: I just got good-ish news from Spooky’s vet.  Last week, after doing an ultrasound that showed a mass in his bladder, his vet sent a urine sample to a pathologist to look for cancer cells.  I just got the following email:

“Well, the result was non-diagnostic.  The pathologist did not see neoplastic cells but could not rule it out.”

They recommended sedating Spook to use a catheter to get another sample so they could re-test.

I’ve got to think about it.  So far he has no symptoms other than some weight loss.  But there’s that pesky mass that the vet saw on the ultrasound.  We’ve already spent close to $400 on diagnostic tests so far. And if he does have cancer, there’s really almost nothing more to do.  If he starts to experience pain, or if he has trouble with the litter box, we’d probably put him down.  But if it’s not cancer…it would be nice to know…

I’ve been giving him extra treats and more doses of love, and I’m trying hard not to think things like, “Gooood, sweet, [doomed] kitty.”  “I love you, you cuddly [doomed] cat.”  “I’m going to take a few photos of you, you pretty [doomed] Spooky-cat.”

But hey, maybe he’s not doomed.  I sure would like to have both of my sweet cats when they are 18 years old.  They’re only eight right now.  I’ve started to get more used to the idea of him being sick, but maybe…maybe…he’s not sick?!

So now I decide if it’s worth another $230 to try again for a diagnosis…

Jan. 16: It’s been a snowy January, and we’ve had some fun adventures in the snow.  If you check out the gallery, you’ll see some of the following:

• Sylvia climbing up on a chair
• Andrew’s pickle and cheese sandwich “It’s good to try new things, Mommy.  How do you know you won’t like it if you don’t try it!”
• Photos of my (now replaced) over-loved Mark Bittmann cookbook
• Chocolate faces
• Sled runs
• Bryan with his kids
• Snow angels
• Snowball-eating-Sylvie
• Sylvia in the sink – boy can that girl play with water for a long time!
• Snuggles with Uncle Joe

Jan. 16: After we lost our sweet pooch, April to bone cancer in 2006, I thought we’d had our dose of pets with cancer.  However, when I took Spooky back in to the vet today to have an ultrasound of his bladder, our vet found a mass.  Dr. Heide noted that she’s not a certified ultrasound tech, but there’s definitely something in his bladder.  And that’s consistent with the transitional cells found in his urinalysis.
So once again, I find myself reading articles that reference the staging of tumors, surgery and chemo options along with median survival times.  And once again, none of it is good.
Spooky’s diagnosis isn’t definitive yet.  Dr. Heide took a new urine sample and is sending it to a pathologist for a diagnosis.  We should hear back in a week.
So there’s still hope that he’s just lost some weight, has an unusual thing in his bladder, and is totally healthy.  But that’s not looking terribly likely.
Here’s a link to a study that my vet gave me.
Right now, Spook has no symptoms other than being a little on the skinny side (he’s 11.5 lbs down from about 14 lbs).  So I think I’ll just live in that place of happy kitty denial until forced to behave otherwise.

Jan 15: After six months of marriage, Maretta and Kyle have gone and gotten themselves…Kittens!
Lucius and Pullo (named for Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, the main characters from the HBO series Rome) are so adorable!  They are brothers.  Lucius is gray and white and Pullo is white with black spots.  I’ve posted the photos that Kyle sent…Maretta and Kyle, I need more photos.  Kitten sweetness!
Makes me think back on Bowser and Spooky when they were tiny!