Yellow Wallpaper

It's been nearly two weeks since the kids had their first day of school, but I'm finally getting around to writing about it now. So far things are going well for everyone. Little Dude is in second grade and has the same teacher S-Boogie had for third grade (she usually teaches second but S-Boogie was in a second/third split they did that year). S-Boogie is in fifth grade and has a teacher that I have heard good things about. They still both like school and are excited about going every day. P. Bibby is going to a neighbor's house during the morning and she loves playing with her friend there. A new school year means a new routine for all of us. During the summer it was easy for me to just get up, get ready for work, and leave when the babysitter got here. The kids were usually just barely awake when I left. The school year is more challenging because we all have to be ready to leave at the same time--the kids walk to school and I drop P. Bibby off at the babysitter before

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt I put this book on hold because it had an intriguing title.  The plot is fairly conventional in many of its devices (young teenager with somewhat absent parents learns about family secrets, messes things up, and becomes more mature in the end), but it was still a sweet story and I particularly liked the characters.  The Orchard by Krista Lynne Jensen I thought I'd go ahead and read a few books that are likely to be Whitney contenders early, and Jensen was one author that I liked enough last year to try another of her books this year. Like her last book ( Of Grace and Chocolate ) I thought this one had potential but ended up falling short. There were some really good parts to the story; I particularly liked the beginning scenes and the way the misunderstanding and reconciliation of the main characters were handled. The end felt rushed and odd though--I later read that the author loves the novel Persuasion and was trying to r

Last Friday morning S-Boogie got her tonsils and adenoids taken out. Her pediatrician had noted for a number of years that her tonsils were quite enlarged, and she was a very noisy sleeper, but since she didn't get sick that often I wasn't sure if it was worth it to get surgery. A few weeks ago I finally called and made an appointment with an ENT for a consultation, and sure enough he recommended that we get both her tonsils and adenoids removed. Thankfully we were able to fit the surgery in before the start of school (next Tuesday!). I had spent the last few weeks worrying about it and was glad that things went smoothly. We got to the hospital for same-day surgery at 9:30 in the morning, there was about an hour total of prep time while they did various things and we had to wait for our turn. Then they wheeled her back to the operating room and I sat out in the waiting room reading for an hour before they called to tell me she was waking up (the surgery was only half an hour bu

1. I picked up Tiger from the vet early Monday morning. She was definitely a lot happier and friskier than she had been the previous week. Because she was still recovering and had to eat special soft food for a few days, I shut her in the guest bedroom (with food, water and an extra litterbox) until Thursday. She wasn't very happy about that and complained a lot every time I checked on her, but she is now doing much better. I didn't realize how much her behavior changed last week until now that she is eating well again because the contrast is so great. 2. I am excited for it to finally be August. The kids go back to school in about two weeks; I think we have had a fun summer but are all ready to go back to our usual routines. That being said, August is going to be kind of stressful. S-Boogie is getting her tonsils and adenoids removed next Friday. She has had sleep apnea for a number of years and often complains of having a sore throat in the morning. We've considered hav