The closet organizer

We finally managed to install Sheela's closet organizer. We bought all of the pieces on Saturday and gutted the space only to realize that our drill is spending some quality time at someone else's job site. So Sheela has hardly been able to enter her room for four days. But its done now and Sheela's room is looking mighty sharp. She even has drawers in there that are still empty and shelves she hasn't used yet.

Ear Drum Blisters

Sunil's diagnosis... ear drum blisters, yet another form of ear infection this one had an actual name that sounded suspisiously like "Blech". I should have had Dr. Kelley write it down for me.

Anyhow we have some numbing drops and an oral antibiotic (Sunil asked for banana flavoring, he already regrets that choice). Aside from the fact that we didn't see the Dr until lunch and didn't get the Rxs filled until midafternoon we had a decent day. I kept him home all day and we went for a short bike ride, watered the lawn ('tis the season for pre-emergent weed control) and played computer games. He is asleep on the couch and I'm getting ready to go for a walk on this lovely, Spring-like evening.

Low key weekend

Sunil felt fine by Friday night so we did manage to go to music class. It was pouring rain (yeah!) so soccer was cancelled. I went to a Southern Living At Home party and on Sunday Sunil went to a friend's birthday party. That was pretty much it. We did go look at some property that Sid is interested in buying down in Dallas. I'll tell you more about that if his bid is accepted.

The big drawback to the weekend is that I let myself get sucked into watching "Miss Congeniality 2" on TV last night. That's two hours of my life I will never get back and it didn't start until 10PM. That becomes more significant when Sunil's ear infection kicked in at 4AM. Sleep is overrated anyway.

The doctor's office opens in 45 minutes. We will be waiting on their doorstep. I wasn't feeling too badly about going in late until I found out that my boss is coming in late too (his dog was mauled by a coyote.) Our department is already running pretty light.

Casual Friday and Jasmine Tea

Two of my favorite things have come together again. Friday is the king of the work days not because we have an eye on the approaching weekend but because we get to wear jeans to work. I am so much happier when I'm wearing jeans. I don't spend as much time as I used to crawling around, on and under equipment but doing that in a dress was never fun. Clearing off my desk is less daunting when I wear jeans, meetings are more comfortable, cooperation is greater. In my opinion a manufacturing site that handles greater than 99% or our public interface over the phone shouldn't have to dress up ever. Of course, I can see from my view of the coffee station why, as a whole, our company can't be trusted to dress down. It's a shame. I'm just glad I don't have to wear some of those clothes.

I picked up a packet of Jasmine tea at the store last night. I get a lot of grocery shopping done while Sheela is at soccer practice. I love Jasmine tea and rarely think to buy it for myself. It's going to be a good day.

Hot Head

When Sunil gets sick you can feel it in his head first. He has a perfect coconut sized head and when freshly shaved down it just begs to have you rest your hands upon his head. This is why I discovered the fever burning up his head long before his body temperature actually came up. He's home today, the fever hit 102 F this morning (early). He's thrilled to get to play with Grandpa all day and when the Motrin has the fever pinned down he's pretty good company. I hope they have a good day. I'm hoping a fever spike in the early afternoon will get him to take a nap so that Grandpa and Grandma can get their nap in too. They are still trying to readjust to our time zone.

Beat Up

Its not often that I get beat up by work but today was one of those days. It actually started yesterday when we found out that I screwed up some international labeling over Christmas. I didn't realize that I was given only one of the two label artworks that I needed to do a job so I used it for both products. Opps! The FDA (and our European counterparts) hate labeling errors.

The reason that the error wasn't caught in-house is that I'm just too darned trust-worthy. Since it was my stuff it wasn't read as closely. That's rather a left-handed compliment but it certainly isn't making me feel any better.

In order to prevent this situation in the future I need to create a standard label (we were deviating from our norm) but the software I use has degraded to the point of insanity. It took me all day to create one of the four labels that I need and its still not as clean as it should be.

In discussion with the software technical support department I was notified that "yeah, that version was famous for these kinds of problems" and "its too old for us to even pretend to help you". "Please buy an upgrade and then we'll talk." An upgrade is typically $2K, today they want $6K. I have $0 in the budget for a software upgrade this year.

They released a brand new version (today) so its a two level upgrade. I can buy the one level but they will only support it for another 18 months (based on their track record that isn't long enough). I don't really want to be the first customer using a new release either, especially not in a manufacturing operation where all the labels print from that software and we just fired the only other person that really understood the program. No pressure.

Cousins

and here is a picture of Seema, Sheela, Sunil and Nita together.

Dhoti

Here is a picture of Sunil wearing his new (pre-wrapped) dhoti.

"Wow! What a weekend!"

Sorry, that's the title of a radio bit on our local station -- but it was a great weekend. Since the kids went home from school with friends and Sid had to do a wine tasting at the last minute, I managed to go to happy hour with some friends. I was too hungry to just drink margaritas so I went ahead and ordered a steak. It was wonderful be to be out.

We managed to gut and paint the closet and pick Sunil up before it got too late. The nieces stayed downtown with Sushama Friday night. Sid was already up before Sunil woke up on Saturday. So the two of them went to pick up Seema and Nita. Then they stopped at IHOP for breakfast. I slept until 9 AM (possibly the weekend highlight)!

Then Sunil and I started his next session of Kindermusik. About this time we figured out that he has pink eye. But its okay because Aunt Ban is a doctor. So she called in a scrip and he's better already (from his point of view). I took all of the kids to the park during Sheela's practice. The kids went to bed at a reasonable hour and the Sharma's plane was only a few hours late. I stayed up until midnight, just long enough to say "welcome home!"

Sheela and I went to her last soccer game of the season this morning. They went out on a high note. We won this one 7-0. Its not official until mid-day tomorrow but we finished 4th out of 5 teams.

The birthday celebration was lunch at Macaroni Grill followed by gift opening at the house and sleeping in front of football. Life is good.

I almost forgot, it started to rain early this morning and hasn't stopped yet. The ground is actually squishy. We really needed this.

In-laws in T-37 hours

Here is the game plan.

Today - Work all day. Go to the grocery store. Clear out the Sharma's closet. Take down all the shelves and supports. Touch up the paint. Go to Home Depot and buy two four foot shelves, a four foot rod, a two foot rod, one four foot header rail, three long support rails, two shelf supports, and six wall anchors. Go home. Hang header rail. Add support rails, rods and shelves. Rehang clothes. Empty drawer unit in my closet (all goodwill stuff). Move it downstairs into their closet.

Sid comes home from tonight's wine tasting. Liquid nail in quarter round trim along wood to tile transition step in family room. But tile to wood flat transition pieces and apply to trench. Find an HVAC guy to come identify and correct the leak in the mini-split unit and recharge the system so that we have temperature control.

Pick Sunil up from Travis' house. Cook and eat dinner. Set up guest room for Seema and Nita (due to arrive around 9PM).

Saturday morning - Pick up Sheela from Claire's house (B-day party overnight). Come home. Trade Sheela for Sunil. Take Sunil to Music class. Come back pick up Sheela, Seema and Nita. Take them all to Sheela's soccer practice (at least there is a really good playground) while Sid details the Taurus and finishes up any closet or familyroom work. Come home bake a birthday cake to be shared by Seema, Nita and Dr. Sharma. Cook dinner. By then Sushama should be back (she is spending the night downtown and going to a medical conference all day). Put the kids to bed. Sid goes to the airport to pick up his folks -- they wont be home until midnight.

Sunday morning - wake up early and take Sheela to her last soccer game of the Winter season. Go back to the house to welcome the Sharmas home. Have a birthday party and then see all the goodies from India. Somewhere in there I need to do some laundry and wrap some gifts.

Conflict resolved.....

I'm of two minds on the house cleaning issue. I think that it is very important for children to know that they have a direct impact on their environment. If they don't pick up after themselves they have chaos. If they clean/straighten as they go its easier to clean up later. They need to know how to clean a bathroom, a kitchen, a bedroom. It is a fundamental truth, "these things don't just magically take care of themselves." On the other hand, there are few things more wonderful than having these things magically take care of themselves. To that end, Yolanda is starting today. She will come and do magic at our house every other week. I've decided that the kids will have to clean twice as much on the off week to keep the lessons fresh in their minds. Hey, bonus for me.

Map of the US of A

Sunil has completed his map of the states. In typical Montessori fashion, each state was traced on to construction paper using a template. The shape is then "cut" out using s straight pin to punch holes around the perimeter until the shape drops free. The shape is then glued in the appropriate spot within the outline of the US which they have traced on to a large piece of paper. The individual state names are then cut out of a list and glued into their correct spots. Sunil can now identify more than 20 states without having to search for/read the names (he can also read the names). The finished product looks pretty sharp.

CogAT Results

The cognitive abilities test results are in.... drum roll please.... Sheela scored better than 99% of her classmates nationwide. I always knew that my child was brilliant (just like all good parents).

Later this week she will be taking the TPRI reading and comprehension test again. Its given three times a year. In the Fall she was pegged at a sixth grade reading level. I don't think that will change much.

Beer Bands available in more than one style.....

All beers are created equal, or so it seems when you're trying to find yours at a party. So just stretch BEER BANDS around your bottle or can and separate yourself from the pack! These stretchy, reusable, durable bands are packed twelve per pack perfect for pool parties or just lounging around the rumpus room. With four varieties to choose from and twelve sayings each, choose the one that says it best for YOU.

Bombed Etc - bombed, ripped, blitzed, tanked, loaded, wasted, polluted, pickled, wrecked, trashed, sauced, hammered

Designated Driver - driver, driver, drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk

Personalities - anti-social, bed wetter, control freak, desperate, egomaniac, high maintenance, sex addict, slut, snob, tease, total bitch, wimp

Mine - mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine

Tulane University

Tulane is opening its doors today for the Spring semester. They had to pare down quite a bit but the core is still there. I wish them well.

Car Accidents

Last night another one of my friends was broadsided and flipped. The car is a total loss but she is fine. It was good that she was alone in the car a passenger would not have fared so well. I'm averaging about one friend a year. All of them have been fine (or are again now). That's a pretty good testament to engineering... oh and they were almost all hit by someone running a red light... which is a testament to stupidity and lack of attention.

On a related subject a truck ran a red light last night, hit the DART light rail forcing it off the track and injuring 15-20 people. Most of the injuries were minor. The accident was cleaned up and the track approved for use before the rush hour push this morning. This is not really a testament to much of anything it just caught me attention because we have so few light rail incidents that they rarely make the news. Different from streetcar accidents in New Orleans which were so common that they never made the news.

After Holidaze Bash

Saturday was Beckie and Lee's annual after-the-holidays holiday party. We were able to see many friends that we have been missing and had a great time. The "regift" gift exchange was a little more tame than in years gone by, but the hideous "fry-daddy" potato peeler was back for its seventh consecuetive year. It was the very last gift opened -- we thought the curse had been broken only to be surprised at the very end. We got rather lucky this year. Sid opened a package of chocolates combined with a talking flyswatter. The lure of the chocolate was enough to get someone to steal the whole set. He ended up with a six pack of Shiner Bock Beer and a set of 12 "beer bands". The bands resemble the "Livestrong" bracelets but are sized to fit a beer can or bottle and come in 12 not very attractive colors. Each one is emblazoned with a synonym for drunk: blitzed, bombed, smashed, hammered, etc. I ended up with a set of five makeup bags in a silver and black paisley print.

Breathing Treatments

Sunil went to the doctor after our sleepless Friday night. He started to wheeze around dawn. He took a breathing treatment at the doctor's office and we brought the nebulizer home again. We will keep it at least a month this time. The breathing trouble is what was causing the coughing (which in turn causes both the sore throat and the throwing up). I gave him one more treatment between music class and soccer practice. It perks him right up and gets him back to his normal playful self. He also has a five day course of steroids to help relax his airways. Its rare for kids to develop asthma after they turn four but he's not much past that milestone and its not impossible. We will see where it goes from here.

Bad start to a busy weekend.....

Once again I've over scheduled. After work on Friday I picked up both kids switched cars and took the Taurus in to drop it off at the shop. Sid worked late and then swung by to pick us up. We went to Red Lobster for dinner. Sid and I both had inferior steaks and excellent lobster dinners. Sheela and Sunil ordered chicken. Sheela ate hers. Sunil just looked at his.

By the time we left there Sunil was complaining of a stomach ache and a sore throat. Everyone's allergies are raging. In addition to our normal winter allergens we have all the smoke and debris in the air from the grass fires (and an increasing number of structure fires). By the time we got home he was coughing to hard to fall asleep. Medication helped a little bit (after he threw up) but by midnight he was back up to throw up (on Sid) in the guest room. He took a bath and went back to sleep. Its almost 6:00AM now. He's been back up since 2:00AM. Sid hasn't slept at all.

We are supposed to go to Kindermusik this morning. Sid has some landlord type duties to deal with today so I get both kids all day. Right after music class we go to Sheela's soccer practice where I've agreed to watch Travis. Then Claire and Travis are supposed to come back to our house for the afternoon. (Both of their parents got called in to work). Once we get them moved back out we are due at Beckie and Lee's annual After Holidaze Party. This is one of the few events where we get to see a large number of our friends and their kids all at the same time. We usually stay quite late and let the kids run amok.

Sunday Sheela has a soccer game after which we are due to spend the afternoon watching football with some other friends at their house. I haven't even worked in time for me to buy and install the closet organizer for the Sharmas... and they come home in just a week.

Somewhere along the line I need to find a time for Sunil, Sid and I to take a nap (or two or three). Or we may have to forgo some of my plans.

Multicultural Day

Today Anderson Elementary School is celebrating Multicultural Day. Typically the parents of the children in the classes come in and talk a little bit about their cultural heritage. Neither Sid or I are able to attend today and the Sharmas aren't back from India yet. Instead Sheela is taking a picture of her from her bharatnatyum recital a few years back. She is also takin gin a punjabi dress and all of her dance jewlery and bells to share with the class. In keeping with the theme she asked me to decorate her hands and feet again as we did for the recital. her is a picture of our "handi"work. This isn't the actual picture she is taking but it is the one I keep on my desk at work.

Annual review

I love review time. There are never really any surprises because my boss is very good at keeping me in the loop on stuff. I like filling out my self-evaluation. When else can you get away with describing yourself as "god-like"? Okay, I don't usually go that far but I've always enjoyed taking the time to figure out what I think that I do well and then getting the chance to harp on it. I enjoy the little pat's on the head for doing something well. The raise doesn't hurt but the positive feedback is what really keeps me motivated. This year the "pat" was that people made a specific point of telling my boss that they always wanted to work with me on projects. I just eat that up.

Number 6

I finally managed to get a picture of Sheela in her new uniform. The Winter season has only two more games to go. Then she has two weekend tournaments before starting the Spring season.

From Suduko to Kakuro

As Grammylyn has gotten nearly the entire family addicted to doing Suduko my Suduko book is frequently unavailable to me (Sunil will work the simpler puzzles but needs quite a bit of hand holding -- he can walk away from an unfinshed board with no qualms). So I succumbed to an impulse buy of a Kakuro book at the store. I'm moving Sheela over slowly to this new addiction in order to free up my Suduko book. With Kakuro you aren't working with a full 9x9 grid, but you are still restricted to using each digit only once in any given row or column. This time though the sum of the digits used must equal the numeric clue.

Drought

We ended 2005 more than a foot behind on our rainfall. Large portions of TX keep going up in flames. The freeways keep getting shut down due to grass fires along the edges (stupid smokers). The grass didn't just turn brown this winter -- it broke off right at the ground. Yesterday it felt like rain clouds building in the afternoon. We didn't get any actual precipitation but we woke up to a beautiful, cool fog. Here is a picture taken from the window of the car on my way to work. Hidden behind the fog are row upon row of closely packed homes.

Another sunny Saturday

We are definitely back into our normal groove. Sheela and I took Sunil to his Kindermusik class while Sid was off playing landlord. Then Sunil and I took Sheela to her soccer practice. As it's Saturday the practice was right around the corner next to the fabulous playground. I expected to spend the two hours chasing Sunil and the other younger siblings around the towers. However, as a special treat (for me) Sunil was whisked away with another parent to play at their house. All I had to do was drive Claire home and exchange her for Sunil after practice. I spent nearly the whole two hours walking around the perimeter of the park (down by the ponds and through the trees). I watched part of a cricket match and a very nifty dragon kite flying overhead. I watched a few model rocket launches and spent some time chatting with the other parents. All in all a good use of a beautiful afternoon. By the time we got back home Sushama and her girls had arrived. I took them all to our park to play just to get a few more hours in outside. I'll have to remember this day when we hit the Summer heat. Today Texas doesn't seem so bad.

The damage was minor....

but the scare was memorable. Sheela took a tumble off of Sunil's loft bed last night. Even though she swears that she wasn't leaning over the edge, I know differently. The only way to fall is to lean. She was blowing bubbles down on to Sunil. She thinks that she did a flip but she landed shoulder first so I don't think so. I'm sure it really hurt and I know that it scared her (me too). The screaming pretty well scared Sunil as well but it was mostly to call me to come up from downstairs. Its not broken, its not sprained, it didn't swell and its hardly bruised -- but she can still feel it.

Keeper Practice

Last night was the first time Sheela attended Super Blue's weekly Keeper practice. There were six girls there. It ranges from 2-12 any given week. There was one girl her age but she didn't know her and four girls older. It lasted about an hour and a half.

What a difference an hour makes.

Both the kids went to a friend's house for an hour last night. During that hour Sid and I cleaned, and cleaned and cleaned. The living room and dining room look wonderful! We can hardly walk up or down the stairs but that will be tonight's project. The kitchen is mostly cleared of clutter again but we didn't actually clean it yet. The kids helped me take down all of the Christmas stuff on Monday. Sid and Sheela wrestled it all up in to the attic yesterday. We got to put all of the furniture back and sweep and mop underneath all of the couches, tables and chairs. We are almost ready for the next round of family.

Back to the grind

Actually, I'm quite pleased to be back at work. I get a little bit antsy when I spend too many days in a row with the children if there isn't a specific activity taking up the bulk of our time. I didn't want to plan an actual event everyday during the break. I figure the kids need some unstructured time to let them direct themselves. Unfortunately, their usual direction either involves tormenting each other or tormenting me. It may not have been really that bad, but I'm still glad to be back at work.

The Off-season

Sheela's soccer off-season is getting to be pretty busy. It started out as two practices a week, then it was two practices and one game, they picked up a Saturday practice since some of the players weren't able to make it all the way to the practice field in the evenings. Now they are adding an extra practice for the keepers. We are now looking at five days of soccer each week.

Tox Box

Sheela tells me its a toy box but I know the difference between "X' and "y". She decorated a Tox Box. If you look closely you can see her legs tucked in to both of the boxes. She's reading "Black Beauty" (a Christmas gift).

So far in the book a pack of hunting dogs savaged a rabbit, one of the hunters fell off of his horse, broke his neck and died plus the horse broke his leg and had to be shot. Sheela seems to be enjoying it though its hard for me to remember why it is so good.

Happy New Year one and all!!

We spent a quiet night at home last night (after eating ourselves practically comatose at our favorite Seafood Buffet). Sheela stayed up until midnight with us, but we failed to see the ball drop. We missed it by a few seconds, twice, once for New York and once for us. There is always next year.