May 2012
May 6 (Note) "Blogger seems to want to run all my paragraphs together, so don't blame me. It even takes out the line spaces I insert, which is odd) Jack is in the bathtub, so I have a few minutes to write. He turned 9 on Friday and we had a birthday party for him Saturday at out house that turned out great. It was a laser-tag party, with Jack plus 11 friends. A guy came and set up the front yard with a blow up tank and a bunch of obstacles (see photos). Teams were selected, rounds played, teams re-formed and more rounds. Lots of yelling and fun. Did I mention lots of yelling? Pretty constant. Adults conversed happily inside while boys shouted and battled outside, though. I had little to do except order pizza and show people around the new upstairs addition . A great party. No drama, tears, fussing or pouting. Jack did tell me he didn’t want to wear “fancy” clothes when I told him he had to change for the party. Fair enough. My work actually began on Friday with a lengthy cleanup of construction debris. When the dumptruck was full, I began hauling away large clumps of stucco that had dropped while the crew were doing the second floor. What a mess. In some places it was 3 inches thick and almost like concrete. Using a wheelbarrow I dumped it all off the edge of the hill, thus helping to increase the size of my level pad on our hillside perch. I would have had the crew do the cleanup but they were working on drywall and I didn’t want to stop that process. Drywall is supposed to be done Monday, but that means Tuesday. Then it’s my turn to step up and start doing all the molding and trim work, tile, flooring, electrical fixtures, painting and a host of other things. I hope to get it all done in a few months, even if I have to hire people to help me. I’m ready for a permament home instead of a house with boxes everywhere and dust, dust, dust. Girlfriend Judy Caldeira will be moving in once things are ready. Can’t wait for that. She’s great to have around. Having had three kids, she isn't fazed by Jack's occasional truculence when he doesn't want to do something different than he's doing. Like stop playing a video game to go to Costco, or do anything different than what he's doing. If he's playing Legos, he wants to STAY playing Legos. Anyway, we currently have Judy Wednesday nights and weekends. I'm looking forward to having her with us full time. April 29 The weekend is drawing to a close, but it was mostly a pleasant one, with Judy C. here as usual. Got some work done on a bathroom and went vanity hunting at a new store in the Valley. Didn’t find what I wanted, alas. I know where I can find a good one, and at a discount, at that, but I’m always looking for a bargain. Unfortunately, bargains don’t come with matching cabinetry. Jack got a "Student of the Month" award at school on Friday. It wasn't an academic award, but any award is good in my book. I'd have a picture, except I'm having issues with an outdated USB cable. April 25, 2012 Jack is playing Super Mario with two friends tonight and I’m avoiding sorting through a large bin of electronic cables and a mishmash (hyphenated?) of other electronic stuff. Also avoiding putting away some dishes in the sink. At least they are clean. Where would I be without small triumphs? Where would I be without playing one chore against another? I have to say that all is reasonably well in the Brothers household. We have issues, but life is not dragging us down. Some of those issues include a never-ending stream of homework five days a week for Jack. Homework seems to take longer for him to do for whatever reason. I believe it took him a half-hour last night to write one long or two short sentences about what he feels about the book he is reading. And he likes the book! He’s just not great at putting feelings into words. I was pleased to see him reading past the proscribed half-hour a day a couple times. And he seems interested in the author’s other book, about a black family that happened to be traveling through Birmingam, Alabama in 1963. Of course I surreptitiously ordered a used copy of the book from Amazon 11 seconds after he mentioned that interest. We’re also getting through some sample state tests of reading comprehension and math. Jack got 18 of 20 questions right on a sample section last night--and a couple of those questions I may have missed myself. Those state tests start for real next week. Jack went on a class trip to Descanso Gardens last week. I told him there would be no dessert that night if he couldn’t name at least two flowers that he’d seen during the day. He passed. And mentioned that the tour was led by Dutch people. Interesting, I thought, but then had the nagging feeling that he might have made a mistake. Descanso is about as Dutch as the Alamo. “Dutch people?” I asked. “Well, their name starts with “D”” he said. “Maybe “docents” I asked. “Yeah”, he responded. “That’s it” Too bad. I kind of wanted there to have been actual Dutch people.