When did that happen?

Happy Birthday

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:23:48 GMT

Happy Birthday, Nicola Tesla. Google has a tesla coil in it's logo today.

Pulled Pork

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:06:04 GMT

Made pulled pork for dinner, except I don't know how to make pulled pork. So I faked it-- did a dry rub with brown sugar, kosher salt, chili powder, cumin, lots of fresh cracked pepper. Rubbed the pork roast, put it in the oven for 7 hours at 250 degrees. Then I used the fat separator to degrease the sauce , shredded the pork, then poured the degreased sauce back in. Served on hamburger buns. Very yummy.

Long day

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:41:42 GMT

It was well over 80 today. Spent a goodly chunk of the day in the dentist office for the boys. P had a serious issue and will probably end up with braces in the long run, and possibly a root canal before he's 16.

It was hot and sticky and yucky, so came home, threw a mexican lasagna* together and wrapped it up and took it to Hancock beach. Met up with Katie and family and guest and played with Jax while everyone else swam. Jax does NOT like the big, cold, bathtub, thank you very much. Got picts, will post at some point.

*Mexican Lasagna
Layer a 9x13 cake pan with tortillas (overlapping and up the sides)
cover with a small can of refried beans
cover that with a layer of shredded cheddar cheese
Brown a pound of hamburger, add taco seasoning and a can of diced tomatoes
layer over cheese
layer about 1/2 to 2/3 bag of frozen corn over that.
another layer of cheese, cover with another layer of tortillas
then cover all with cheese and bake for 25 minutes in 375 degree oven.

Serve with shredded lettuce, sour cream, diced fresh tomatoes, or whatever you like on your tacos

I got the idea for this from the lady at the pharmacy with whom I was discussing the usual Copper Country topics (weather and food, not necessarily in that order :)

P's LD testing

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:13:47 GMT

Got the verbal results of P's LD testing in Marquette.

1st ) (And my big worry) Not bipolar, but with the family history we should 'keep an eye on this'. Instead he thinks it's a Mood Disorder NOF or MOF (phone call was sometimes very unclear). I need to figure out what this is, but he was happy I didn't think psychotropic drugs were the answer and thought that it was possibly liked to hypoglycemia or gluten allergies and that trying to control this with diet is the better option at this point.

2) Definately a reading SLD (Specific Learning Disorder) with possibly dyslexic tendencies, but there are questions about what exactly the writing disorder is, as P managed to write coherent paragraphs, altho it's obvious that he's seriously delayed in spelling and physically writing. Also his tests indicate a Math LD though we have no evidence of that at all. We'll keep an eye on that. (But P said it had multiplication and decimals on it-- things he hasn't dealt with yet).

3) Some short term and long term memory imparement, but this is possibly linked to the sleeping issues and hypoglycemia. We need to get the sleep patterns fixed. The endochronologist thought that might be linked to a vitamen D deficiency, but his vit. D levels are near normal now and we've seen no improvement. Next?

So recommendations? I'll have more concrete info when I get the written report in 10 days but thus far:
1) more speech therapy-- 2 30 minute sessions a week (which I've been nagging for and not getting) and a summer session.
2) Special Ed (which we already have an IEP for, especially for a reading and writing SLD)
3) Tutoring over the summer (no idea how this is going to happen. It's not like there's anything organized thru the school or a private facility available).
4) Therapy with the local psychologist for anger management and social skills (except local therapist has a waiting list until next summer. We're on it, and on the cancellation list, but there just isn't enough pediatric psychologists here. Dammit.) (Dale? I have a name and phone number for AE. If she could come up 1 week a month, the hospital is desperate.)
5) Evaluation by an OT to further refine the handwriting issue.

Other things-- P refused to do the visual memory test-- he started answering randomly and was goofing around. And he has some audio processing memory issues, but that's normal with his hearing history.

The plan: We have time to deal with accomodations we can get thru the ISD (like speech therapy and any other recommended accomodations for his IEP). I'm going to call the ISD, Americore, and the teaching departments at Tech and Finlandia to see if there's any kind of formal tutoring available. Calling mental health to see if there's any other pediatric psychologists available in the 4 county area (tho the hospital doesn't know of any). And talk to the doctor about more testing about the hypoglycemia and sleeping issues.

Time to find the headphones for the phone... or put more money on Skype.

Oh, and one of the issues with diagnosing learning disabilites this late? I walked thru the door and he looked at me apprehensively. I said "Well, you're smart. But we knew that." and he relaxed visibly. By age 8, kids have figured out socially and in their own heads who the "smart kids" are and who the "dumb kids" are. He thinks he's dumb. And no amount of us telling him he just learns differently can compensate for that. Dammit dammit dammit.

By the way, 3rd grade is when most LD's are diagnosed. It's too late. Kids should get this kind of testing before they start school. And again if they display problems later. It's as vital as immunization and a physical.

Name Dropping in odd places.

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:22:08 GMT

So I was talking to one of the nice old ladies who volunteer at St. Vincent de Paul store. I mentioned that they have the wrong pope on the wall (they still have John Paul II) and the lady says "Yeah, we don't have a new picture yet. That's ok, St. John Paul was my favorite. Oh, wait, he's not officially a saint yet." I said "I have a friend who lived in the pope's summer palace until a couple of weeks ago."

REALLY?

I was an instant celebrity. :) She and all the ladies she called over to meet me were very impressed. I told them that the only time brotherguy had actually met the pope, he'd said "Bless you and your meteors." Holy cow! I knew someone *PERSONALLY* who had actually SPOKEN to the pope.

They almost forgot to charge me :)

Duckon babies?

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:17:38 GMT

This is mostly for Ang, but anyone else who knits might be interested.

Duck Booties.
Other stuff too, but Ducks and Duckon tend to go together.

Well HELL!

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:42:10 GMT

Didn't get the part time job I interviewed for on Friday. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Today

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:42:41 GMT

So I'm looking for new slipcovers for the sofas (because now they look old and worn next to the nice clean walls). Is it odd that I'm looking for ones that match the dog? He's not *supposed* to be on the furniture, but ... well... he's old and arthritic... and I mostly look the other way as long as he's not obvious about it.

They also have to be cheap. Not cheap looking, but I surely can't afford $120 each again... (Altho these lasted ... humm... must be 10 years or so).

Summer to do list

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 13:40:24 GMT

Paint living room-- CHECK!

Two days to finish painting the living room-- P and I started on Friday morning, pulling pictures down, filling nail holes, sanding rough spots, filling divots and pulling the woodwork away from the wall. Got out the Wagner Wonder Roller (not it's real name) and the two cans of Manilla paint * I'd picked up earlier in the week and I was off. M helped me paint a bit of the built in shelves and decided that painting was boring and he was off. P helped cut in about 3 feet and decided painting was boring and he was off. Andy came in and said "I think I'll do laundry and mow the lawn" and he escaped. So I painted a 15 x 22 foot room (with 12 foot ceilings) on my own. It looks good... (well, except for the corner behind my desk, which is a little sloppy, but it was the last section and I couldn't get the shelf with computers on it out very far from the wall, but really, who's going to notice but me?)

Now I get to spend the next 3 days cleaning up the mess left from painting-- hanging pictures, cleaning up the paint splatters, washing windows (because now they look dirty) and staining and polying the window trim, which is what started this whole "paint the living room" odessy. (The new woodwork made the old walls look bad.) And, well, now the floors look kind of crappy. I'm going to get the buffer from my mother's house and polish them (no, I am NOT refinishing the floors. Once in a lifetime is enough). Shovelling out the mess from moving all the furniture out... maybe it'll be 4 or 5 days...

Two more rooms to paint this summer-- both boys bedrooms. Our's needs to be painted, too, but ours is more of a pain than it's worth at this point. To paint our room, we need to drain a king-sized waterbed, and pull out the old, dirty, stained carpet and see what condition the hardwood is in. and strip the woodwork, rehang a door, and take a door out.

We pulled the carpet out of the boys rooms last summer. All we have to do in there is pull the furniture out and take their pictures down... well, and clean, but that's going to be done anyway.

But today is the fishing derby-- sort of a start-of-summer-town-picnic with fishing poles, 10 cent raffles, and brats. It's a fundraiser for the Sportsmen's club, and funds the deer feeding all winter.

*Beige with a red undertone. Looks like a 1 shot latte in a big glass.

Very Cool

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:07:47 GMT

This is very cool I'm glad AE didn't see it before her wedding. I suspect if she had, she'd know how to knit, however :)

What day is it and where am I supposed to be?

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:23:54 GMT

Monday P and I went to Marquette, Tuesday he was tested for what specific learning disability he has. We also went to see UP, which is excellent. And to Menards, where we got odd, misc. things like 2x4's and lettuce seed tape.

Very odd little trickles of money flowing in... which is good. I got a check for attending a class that I would have paid to attend... and went to fix a retired physics professor's computer which was being held hostage by SpyWareBlaster. Have to run and get Jax this afternoon... I also have an interview for a part time job on Friday. It pays about the same as I was making on unemployment, so nothing spectacular, but better than nothing.

In the TMI Catagory...

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:08:33 GMT

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatia...

Dammit

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:57:56 GMT

Next time I say something nice about the copper country weather, someone please remind me about being out in FRICKING JUNE putting plastic on my garden because of frost warnings. IN THE WIND. Hopefully the wind doesn't rip it all off before the sun comes up tomorrow morning.

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:52:34 GMT

The boys and I were crabby on Saturday, so we drove down to our farm and hiked up to the Douglas Houghton falls (which are no longer open to the public, but our property borders them). It put all of us in a better mood. We didn't run into any little bears (a worry since the mama bear took up residence around the farm) or even any little squirrels, just some birds. Of course we were making quite a bit of noise. The falls are running good.

drsulak came over for dinner and for a break from wiring TOCH.

We had to bring all the plants in for a freeze warning on Saturday, so my living room (which did hold all the plants on a plant rack which is now on the porch) looks like a warehouse. Plants on the tables, plants on the bookshelves, plants on the floor. And we have freeze warnings for the next 2 days. Then it's supposed to be in the 70's on Wednesday. Garden is supposed to go in this weekend (along with amillion other things) but if it doesn't stay above 45 at night, I think I'm going to plant the tomatoes in pots so I can bring them in and out. I have enough, maybe I'll do both.

Letter for my sister

Fri, 29 May 2009 18:29:00 GMT

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about a letter of recommendation for my sister and how I had to get over being angry. It's taken me a couple of weeks.

To whom it may concern:
Lynett Cruickshank has spent her life caring for children and for other people. She has worked since she was 14 years old and for the last 20 years has worked in home health care and in a nursing home taking care of senior citizens. Lynett’s dedication to children is well known, “Aunty Nett” is a favorite of nieces, nephews, cousins and any child she comes in contact with. She is also the port-in-a-storm in her neighborhood for the senior citizens. Her neighbors rely on her for everything from shoveling them out to calling an ambulance in the middle of the night. She is well respected around town for her caring nature and her friendship.

Lynett was inspired to be a foster parent by her friends who foster and adopt severely handicapped children. She saw what they were doing and thought that she and her children could help other kids who just needed a loving home. She discussed the options with her children before applying for her license.

Lynett has been a foster parent for 7 years, and has had about a dozen foster children from 6 weeks old to her current kids. She has had biological parents threaten her, pour sugar in the gas tank of her just-purchased car, call at all hours of the day and night in various states of sobriety, leave for months at a time -- leaving Lynett to deal with the freaked out kid who wonders where mom or dad went to. She’s had children put back into the situations that threatened them in the first place, only to get them back in the middle of the night a short time later. She’s fallen in love with the babies and kids she’s taken care of and seen them go on to good, loving homes as well. She has also, on occasion, had parents thank her for taking care of their children—for taking the time and effort and having the love to take strangers children into her home. With all of the trouble, she remains a foster parent because she loves the kids... there is no amount of money that can compensate for the heartache and trouble she’s had to deal with.

As mentioned above, Lynett has a job, which was enough to support her and her children before she became a foster parent. She certainly spends more on the foster kids clothes, food, transportation, sports, than she receives; and yet manages to make basketball games, track meets, and every parent teacher conference (and with some of her children, there have been a lot of parent teacher conferences). She's managed to find creative financing for things she really wants or needs-- for instance, the down payment on her house (which she's owned for 9 years) was earned by pet-sitting for 2 years for someone who was leaving the area temporarily and couldn't take her pets. Lynett’s self reliance has taught her children, ALL of her children whether biological or foster or adopted, that “you don’t get something for nothing”, but if you really want it, you can figure out a way to get it.

Lynett is an outstanding example of overcoming circumstances. She’s taken what others use for excuses to fail (grew up poor, single parent, learning disability) and turned them into positive experiences in her life. And she teaches her children, whether biological, foster or adopted, how to “make lemons out of lemonaide”. All in all, I’m proud to call her my friend… and my sister.

Mary Cruickshank-Peed

Please let me know about any spelling, or grammar errors.

Ok

Fri, 29 May 2009 12:26:36 GMT

Got a reply from Congressman Stupak about the email I sent him on the hearing aid tax credit.

Dear Mrs Cruickshank-Peed:

Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 1646, the Hearing Aid Tax Credit Act. I appreciated hearing from you on this important issue.

On March 19, 2009, Representative Carolyn McCarthy introduced H.R. 1646. This legislation would provide a tax credit of $500 per hearing aid every five years for seniors 55 and older and for dependents of taxpayers. Ten million older Americans have age-related hearing loss. A study by the National Council on Aging shows that, left untreated, hearing loss often results in distorted communication, isolation, withdrawal, depression, anger, and severely reduced overall psychological health, in addition to an average loss of income per household of up to $12,000 per year.

H.R. 1646 has been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. Should this legislation come before the House for a vote, I will certainly keep your views in mind.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future regarding issues of importance to you.

Sincerely,

BART STUPAK
Member of Congress

Dear Congressman Stupak,
I already know what the law is about, which is why I sent you email on it, thanks.

The reason this has become an issue with me is because my little goddaughter, 8 years old, is deaf. Her father has been laid off, their insurance doesn't cover the hearing aids and her 5 year old aids are falling apart. It's a disgrace that insurance and the federal government in the form of Medicare would classify hearing aids as cosmetic rather than prosthetic. This law is fine, as far as it goes. It would be much better if the aids were classified correctly. What idiot classifies hearing as cosmetic?

Sincerly,
Mary Cruickshank-Peed

Believe it or not, I don't know Bart Stupak personally. I'm sure I could remedy that situation, the area being what it is, but I've just never taken the time :)

Outrageous

Fri, 29 May 2009 11:42:58 GMT

He didn't ask, he didn't tell, he was outed. And now he's on his way out.

Come on, Obama, FIX this.

Where is Harry Truman when you need him?

Interesting take on climate change

Thu, 28 May 2009 18:35:11 GMT

http://securityandclimate.cna.org/report/ I've started reading it, but had to deal with a 4yo who needs some action, so instead of reading about climate change, I'm going outside to plant onions and carrots. I'll finish it later.

Gay marriage

Thu, 28 May 2009 15:26:52 GMT

SCOTUS Blog is reporting a filing in federal court asking that the right to gay marriages be recognized under the federal constitution. Morality aside, it's an interesting move to have Prop 8 in California overturned. The argument is that gay couples are being denied due process and to legal equity. While that's true, it doesn't mean it's legal. The privacy rights for gay people, as far as I can tell, are being based on Lawrence v. Texas and that specifically doesn't "allow" gay marriage. It'll be interesting to watch. It's going to happen eventually... the question is how.

Happy Birthday

Wed, 27 May 2009 15:44:13 GMT

Happy birthday, Sam, many more! In honor of your bday, no nag this week :)

Stupid

Wed, 27 May 2009 12:50:27 GMT

reanastormblade is asking people to go here and send a letter to your congresscritters asking to give a tax credit on hearing aids. As many of you know, her youngest daughter is deaf and requires the aids to function in a "normal" world. For some stupid reason, insurance companies and the feds have decided that hearing aids are cosmetic and they aren't covered under most insurances or medicare.

I have a rant, but I'm too tired to type it. And a $500 tax credit isn't the best way to handle this-- hearing aids cost something like $1500. But it's better than nothing.

Reana is working on finding ways to afford new aids for her 8 year old, who has had the aids since she was 3. They're falling apart. She spent a goodly chunk of the day, yesterday, being passed from one flunky to another at 2 different insurance companies. Then she spent the rest of the day practicing her googlefu trying to find organizations who might help them pay for the aids.

What is the argument against government health insurance again? (btw, Medicaid DOES cover aids.)

Happy Birthday

Tue, 26 May 2009 15:24:26 GMT

Happy Birthday to jim_landis , many more!

Well, SHOOT!

Fri, 22 May 2009 23:32:12 GMT

The beautiful sweater I've been working on the past few months for myself turns out to be the wrong color and style and a smidge too small for me. Thus, it turns out, it is not my sweater, as I thought all these months. It's Andy. Who is very happy to have another, very nice, wool sweater that looks really good on him.

Grumble.

OTOH, I have more yarn and can make myself another one. A better one. Not yoked. In better colors. Yeah. That's the ticket.

But maybe I'll knit some socks first.

Er trip

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:56:58 GMT

It's going to be one of *those* summers.
Quick trip to the ER last night. M had been outside rolling around with D. Apparently his pollen combination asthma trigger has occurred. He had a neblizer treatment and steriods for the next 5 days. It was fast, considering they were packed. Less than an hour.

Point...

Thu, 21 May 2009 21:00:46 GMT

Paul Krugman has a point about Waxman-Markey. It's not perfect, "but it’s action we can take now. And the planet won’t wait"

When did *that* happen?

Happy Birthday

Pulled Pork

Long day

P's LD testing

Name Dropping in odd places.

Duckon babies?

Well HELL!

Today

Summer to do list

Very Cool

What day is it and where am I supposed to be?

In the TMI Catagory...

Dammit

Next time I say something nice about the copper country weather, someone please remind me about being out in FRICKING JUNE putting plastic on my garden because of frost warnings. IN THE WIND. Hopefully the wind doesn't rip it all off before the sun comes up tomorrow morning.

Letter for my sister

Ok

Outrageous

Interesting take on climate change

Gay marriage

Happy Birthday

Stupid

Happy Birthday

Well, SHOOT!

Er trip

Point...

When did that happen?