Never Fails

I think of something great to tell you all, but then my age steps in and kicks the thought right out of my head.
One thing I did want to share is that my husband declares that he hates the cats but what does he do?? We were at church last night and when we got home, Vernon had the camera in his hand and was showing off the "great" pictures he got of the two cats and how disappointed he was that he wasn't able to get one of the big dog and the cats all sleeping on the sofa. Apparently, he went to get the camera and when he turned the camera on from the other room the big dog heard it and hightailed it upstairs out of shooting range. Vernon still got several pictures of the cats and I'll try to post them tonight. As much as he states he hates the cats, I think he does enjoy them a little bit. Loki, the white one, even likes to sit on Vernon's legs when he is watching TV. Amazing , huh?

Christmas Summary

We survived Christmas with little craziness. Christmas Day, Amy and Colt served the 9 am mass, then home to open presents. It is a little less magical with no visits from Santa to our house. But the kids had great fun with their presents. We then had turkey dinner with Vernon's dad. Friday, I got to take my car in for it's 60,000 mile service, now I'm good for another 3,000 miles. The best part about getting your car serviced is the time spent reading because their is nothing else to do. I got to finish The Alchemyst, the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, by Micheal Scott. Now, I've got to locate book 2 in the series. I also got to finish Salvation In Death by J.D. Robb. Yes, I do usually read 2-3 books at a time.
Saturday, we went over to my Mom's for a Kurzy Christmas. It was so great to see my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews. I guess I am getting more sentimental as I get older, but these times spent with family mean so much to me. I find myself getting emotional about the smallest things. My sister, Mary, is going to be moving to England, and when we hugged, she held on so tight! then one of us, and I'm claiming Mary, let loose one of those quick breaths to keep from crying. That let me do my own quick gasp and them Mary says, "Hey, don't start." I had to laugh because I knew it was her who gasped first, so I had to say, "You started it!" Even now I tear up just thinking how much I am going to miss her. (yes, I know you all are tearing up, too, sorry) Now years ago, this wouldn't have bothered me. I think as my mortality comes more into view, I find myself so grateful and awed by the family and love that I have in my life. It is not that I am afraid to die, but that I realize how blessed my life has been despite any ups ( my loving husband) and downs (Amy's birth). I will truly miss earthly life when it is my time to move to the next dimension.

On a less morbid note, Vernon and I got this turntable you can connect to the computer to transfer LPs to digital recording and then burn them to CDs. I'm still trying to figure out how to manage that feat. Any requests?

May I have some more, please?

My husband was in heaven yesterday. Despite having his groin shaved and needles stuck in him, he felt wonderful due to the drug Versed. The truth serum allowed my children to have the most fun with him asking all kinds of questions that he might not normally answer. Amy and Colt were rolling on the floor with laughter at the hospital while their Dad was recovering from the procedure. I don't think he remembers much of the Q & A session, but the kids will for a long time. When it was time to go home, Vernon kept asking for a goodie bag of Versed for home use, needless to say they turned him down.
Thnigs are back to normal today with me at work and the school people off on Winter Break, supposed to be cleaning the house. Although, more than likely, they are goofing off. Gotta' love 'em - They are my darlings!

What is it with waiting rooms?

We took Mr. Vernon for his heart catherization today. Had to be at the hospital at 6:30 AM. Both of the kids wanted to go so we were all up at 5AM and left the house at 6:15 am. Got to the hospital okay but then couldn't find the entrance to the cath lab. Once we got there we got whisked in right away. Vernon got his clothes taken away and the lovely "Look at my butt" gown and then got his IV started. They asked us to leave to shave the groin area so we went to the waiting room.
The waiting room was a row of chairs across from a major entrance to the hospital. In and Out go people no fewer than 1 every 2-3 minutes. Now, don't get me wrong but it was FREEZING this morning!! Really, 31 degrees and a frigid Arctic wind. I was ready to die of frostbite, while waiting for them to come out and get us back into his room. After 45 minutes, I told the kids screw this, we are going down to the main lobby. We warmed up there fro 15 minutes and went back to check on Vernon to find him finished and back in his room, high on the Versed and morphine/fentanyl cocktail. Good news, no blockage but definite narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis) from all the years of smoking. So now we made it back home, Vernon is sacked out in his recliner. AND - it is still FREEZING. Yep, 30 degrees out there.
And what is my point to all this??
Why would a hospital put a WAITING ROOM across from an entrance?? In the summer it has to be hotter than hell here in Houston.
Really, people, make a new waiting room!!

An Off Day

Today, I took a TOWP (time off with pay) day to kinda' ease back and prepare for the next week. The kids and Vernon are in school. Tried to donate blood but my hematocrit was only 36 so I got deferred. Then I hit the stores, to get my Mom presents and one of our name draws a present. I went ahead and got something for me, too.
Now I am home and getting ready to update the will as Vernon is going to have a heart cath on Monday. Nothing serious, we hope, but a baseline on the recommendation of the MD who can't really tell us what is happening to Vernon's heart. We got a call from one of Vernon's brothers whom we haven't seen since his mom's funeral 3 years ago. He was checking in to, I guess, say good luck or something, having been told by Vernon's Dad that Open Heart surgery was going to happen Monday. It was a WOW- random call.
Well, onward to the will re-write and the a Junior High semi-formal dance to night at the church - Won't that be fun!!

Phones and glasses and cats

Despite our best efforts the stolen cell phone has not shown up. So we have decided to activate one of our old phones and give that one to Amy. Apparently, three other students had their phones stolen also.
Amy got her contacts back after a week long punishment. And during the week without contact her behavior was so sincere and heartfelt. She made all attempts to gain back our trust. She was somewhat successful. Now she just needs to maintain that inspiring behavior.
Her cats, Loki and Esmeralda are growing like weeds and have intergrated themselves into our lives. We are using SoftClaws to keep them from stratching on every surface. We had quite a time putting them on, White tips on Esmeralda and black tips on Loki. This makes it easier to spot if one fell off. Then they walk around for the next day trying to shake off the caps. It has really made a difference to Amy's arms. No one a s school thinks she is EMO anymore. This is a good thing.

Perimenopausal

I hate Periods!! I have entered Perimenopause. That means that I can have a period at any time and any length and any flow. So I am going anywhere from 18 days to 37 days between cycles. Shorter is good, it is lighter. But the longer ones are like OMG!! How frequently can you change a pad?? And having to be careful because you could mess up not only clothes but other things too. Sorry if this is TMI, but you have to vent. I'll be glad when the whole menstrual thing is done and gone.

Lost Phones

Joy, oh Joy! Amy called yesterday afternoon to tell me someone stole her cell phone. She had it yesterday morning and when she went to get it out of her messenger bag after school it was gone. The only time she left it alone was when they had practice for the concert last night. Questions abound - truth or lie? Was it taken away because she was using it during school? Did it fall out? Was it really stolen? (See what a little lie gets you - remember the toothbrushing lie?) By the time she called me the school had already closed. I called T-Mobile and had the account suspended for both text and all calls. But now where is the phone? It will cost me minimum $60 to get a replacement phone and if I do not reactivate the number within 30 days I have to pay a major contract early termination fee. So I will obviously replace it but I'm not sure I'll give it to her. I may give her Vernon's crappola phone that need to be replaced anyway.
The next part is to teach my child where to store her phone. The outer pocket of a messenger bag is not the place for either a phone or her wallet(which only contains her student ID). How do you teach a child common sense??

SNOW in Houston

Can you believe it? It is actually SNOWING in Houston. No one seems to know what to do, smile or scream in terror. Nothing is sticking, the ground is too warm after a 78 degree high yesterday. BUT it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Cold Noodles for Lunch?

Where did my son come from? He swears that I served him noodles in ranch dressing at some point in his life. I do not EVER recall giving him noodles with ranch dressing. So Yesterday, he asks me at 7AM, "Mom, can you make me some noodles to take in my lunch?" Me - "No, it is too late to make noodles that won't cook the rest of your lunch. Remind me tonight and I'll make some." He forgot, I forgot. This morning her hit me up at 6:50 am for some noodles. I had him put water in a pot and set it on a burner at high. I looked in the pan and the water was up to the top, I'm not sure how he got the pan to the stove without spilling. I then emptied out 1/2 the water and set it back on the stove. The noodles got cooked in @12 minutes then were drained and rinsed in cool water. My strange son then scooped noodles into bowls and topped each bowl with ranch dressing, all the while licking his lips saying "Oooh, it looks so good!" He packed it in his lunch kit and off he went, happy as a clam, while I was grimacing and saying "gross".

It's a Male Thing

I hate to stereotype but over the years of caring for men women and children I have come to the conclusion that stereotypes are there because they tend to be true.
Are men terrible at being sick. By and large, I believe yes, they are wimpy when ill. My husband thinks that when he is sick, like flu, fevers, etc., the world should come to him. He becomes incapable of common sense. "Do you think I should drink something?" "What should I take for this fever?" I really wonder how he survived for the 10 years between wife 2 and 3(me).
I have many male patients who come into the office and just are like a 3 year old, whiny and dependant. I tell them eat and they look at me like "eat" is a foreign word. I tell them "do not lie in bed all day" and they tell me "I don't feel good" I then tell them that if they want to lose muscle mass, become constipated, and/ or develop blood clots/pneumonia they better get up out of bed. I have to tell them to shower and brush their teeth. Then remind them to move around. I feel like I have more children. I expect this behavior from my son, not from a grown adult. I am guilty of taking my frustration with this behavior out on my husband. When he asks me the same question for the third time, I just lose it and screech out "I've told you this before." and he replies "I'm old, I don't remember." I take a deep breath and remind myself he is not the problem and then pray he doesn't get sick anytime soon.
There are some male patients who are strong determined people, unfortunately the strong women outnumber them when they get ill. Maybe it is because when women are ill/pregnant/menstrual we just get on with it and learn to live with the minor inconvenience of being sick/feeling bad. And the fact that if we don't care for our families when we are sick we might risk their lives also.

Lying

Why do kids lie? I should know the answer to this and I kinda' do. I used to lie because 1. it was an adventure or 2. it got me out of doing stuff (i was lazy). And my kids know that I used to lie and how much I hate lying. So what do I have? The typical lying - "Did you brush your teeth?" "yes" "why is your toothbrush bone dry" Man, Oh Man, why can't they admit that - no they did not brush their teeth? Here I stand wondering, if they lie to me about the small things then are they telling the truth about the big things? Don't they realize that I can't trust them on ANYTING if they don't tell the truth. I have told them that they may get punished for doing something stupid, but it will be ten times worse if they lie.
And I know that they don't want to listen to their dad lecture them about whatever it is, but when they lie to escape the inquistion it makes the situation much longer and louder. Truth is always better!!
Here's hoping for a better tomorrow.

7th Grade SAT

Colt is getting ready to take the SAT tomorrow as part of the 7th grade Duke Talent Identification Program or TIP. We have reviewed and practiced. He thinks he is ready and then we looked at the use of a graphing/scientific calculator thet the are able to bring. Uh-Oh, Houston, we may have a problem here. I'm not sure what the expectation for the Duke TIP is, but Colt will have at least participated and felt good about himself Taking the test in 7th grade. I have been really impressed with his grasp of the writing essay portion. I'm not sure I was close to where he is intelectually in 7th grade.

Passive-Agressive Part II

So yesterday I was glad to have the attitude leave and like the nice person I am, I covered the area and worked the machine with some phone assistance from the director. I tried to do all that I could to assure I didn't mess up anything. This morning the attitude person comes in and I apologize if I made any messes and asked what I needed to do better if there is a next time. Her reply really chapped my ass, She said, "Oh, I don't know. I just threw it all out this morning and put your name on everything." WHAT!! "But did I need to do anything different."" Her - "Don't know, I didn't even look at it." Okay, I'm pretty tolerant but this along with the fact that she was going in and out last week with the fire department and SMOKE in the suite(she is also the safety officer), caps it all off. I am going to send it up to the managers and tell them this is not acceptable.
Why do people have to be such butts?

Passive -Agressive

I hate it when people hide their emotions and yet you know they're pissed. I had to tell a co-worker that due to illnesses people had called in sick and that she would need to go to another office after our first patient. She gets up and stomps around. I apologize that she is being pulled to another office and in a generic voice she says, "Why? It's not your fault" I said "But I feel bad you have to go" Her generic reply is "Well, that just the way it is" as she continues to slam things around.
Hey, you're angry and irritated, I get it! You're not fooling anyone and we are going to have to deal with your behavior until you leave then the other office gets to have your bad attitude. It just sets a bad tone for everyone.
Me, I'd just vent and get it out and get over it.

Ms. Burnham, I Object!

CCE class again. I stand corrected. We were reading about devotion to the Virgin Mary and one of the students raised his hand to tell me "1. I'm hungry and 2. Why would Mary get her job changed?" Huh? Her job changed?
"Yeah, you said she got demoted" No, No, No, We are DEVOTED to Mary.
Then we got into the discussion of who did Cain and Abel have children with if Eve was the only woman? Minds gathered that piece of information and we had the unison "EEWWW" and a clarification that biblically we can only say that they were "fruitful and multiplied". I passed on the scientific and clinical explanations, I'll leave that for their parents.
I have to go say my Rosary for my Marian 'demotion' Have a great Tuesday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone got to sleep in, Amy is still snoozing away at 8AM. Colt has been up and at the computer for a while.
I had just a Phenomenal day yesteday. I had an explosion in my office! Yep, it was in the chemo mixing room just as I was about to go in to get a flush, the ceiling EXPLODED and sparks flew as the ceiling burst out. The entire building lost power. Then the smoke started flowing out of the newly created hole. I quickly got my flush and discontinued my patient's port, grabbed my stuff and skedaddled out of there. We got to see 7, that's right, SEVEN fire trucks arrive and tear out the rest of the ceiling in the mixing room. Then when the all clear came, I got to go back into a stinky, smoky office to clear out all my chemo drugs from the mixing room. No injuries. I started my holiday weekend with a bang!

Mi Padre tiene PMS

I'm in Spanish III. The title means my father has PMS. AND IT'S TRUE!! This evening he got home all happy and "yeah, holiday!". The next thing I know, he's hovering over me, obviously not pleased that I got an 84 on my Mitosis test in biology. Then he's interrogating Mom about why she spent $20 on a gift. Then he's sorta angry that I asked him what he has to do for school. I know this sounds wierd, but I also had a science teacher that had the worst case of "man period". Every time we did a lab, he was happy when we walked in and then "DON'T TOUCH THAT!" when someone tried to mess with the experiment. I hope this Thanksgiving isn't going to be filled with random mood swings and (I know this is asking a lot) no negative comments. Oh, well.
(BTW(by the way) this is AMY.)

Cleanliness

Will it get done? My house is looking like a tornado hit it. Not the exterior, the interior. Is it possible to have a tornado inside? This last week has found us running around in the last week of the second 6 weeks at school, last minute school projects, finalizing grading and planning for the next 6 weeks. A lot of heavy thinking as to whether or not teaching is going to be viable for Vernon. In the meantime, the housework has slipped, or maybe it never was there. But as Thanksgiving approaches, I find my self "nesting" so to speak as I want my house clean, spic and span, less cluttered and essentially with no junk lying around.
I fear we are becoming Vernon's parents, Pack rats extraordinaire. The collections of books, magazines, papers from the children, animal toys, blankets, junk mail, catalogs, storage boxes, shoe boxes and school books(they were free) is filling our house. I can't seem to get rid of enough to make a dent in the cluttered feeling. How do people do it? Just chuck it all in the trash?
I am planning to pull my children into the conspiracy to rid my house of junk. Tomorrow, I will leave a list of things to be be done while I am at work. Maybe it will be futile attempt to control my environment at my husband's expense. I'll report back on their progress with it all next week.

Men and Driving

I have the typical husband who is directionally challenged. We drove out ot Magnolia yesterday with Vernon's Dad to Vernon's brother Bruce's for a holiday dinner. I got the directions online TO the house and just figured we could reverse them to get back home. Vernon's dad has been out to Magnolia but he couldn't remember the way, so he got to our house and rode with us. I had Vernnon drive his CRV because 5 of us fit in better. We got there fine but on the way back home we are going down country (read narrow winding 2 lane) roads with my loving spouse driving like a bat out of hell. It must be the challenge of driving fast down a curving road that thrills a guy. We missed the first turn out of the neighboorhood. So the husband tears around a cul-de-sac and requests that the next time I print reverse directions. I then said can you slow down it is not a race to get out of here. And I get told that there was no sign, did you see a sign? Of course not, I'm sitting in the back seat and you're tearing down these streets so fast I can't see anything but trees. We then hit another cul-de-sac and now he is deteremined that we are lost. We can't be lost, just slow down and lets see if we can find a street. We do find a street and get out fine. My son is looking at me with this look of "Oh My GAWD! He really thinks we are lost?" Lucky for us all, Colt refrained from verbally and audibly expressing these thoughts.
I really should have known better since if I take a back street around our usual stomping grounds it send Vernon into a "Where are you going?" and then"I'll never remember this route". Oh to be directionally challenged is tantamount to being disabled - especially in Houston!
Maybe this is why I drive all the time.

Am I OCD?

I am a planner. I need to know what I'm supposed to do a head of time. I don't do well with spur of the moment in my personal life. At work, I have learned to roll with the punches with drug reactions and acutely ill patients but my personal life I have a firm grip on the "what I'm doing today".
I make my menus out a month in advance and my weekly grocery shopping list for the month. I know what I'm eating each week. I do change up what night I make something but by and large I know what I'm cooking each night. My grocery list just needs updates for the weekly bread, milk, eggs count but all in all I know what I need and how much a head of time. My menus are made with some guiding priciples; 1) vary the meat each night 2) have super quick meals for nights when other things are happening and 3) if I'm not home - make something ahead to cook in the oven or plan pizza, which Amy and Colt can handle.
I don't have to worry about what am I doing for dinner. I don't have to wonder if I have the ingredients at home. And other than looking at the menu in the morning to pull out what meat I need from the freezer, I'm ready to go when I get home at night.
I work that way with the housework, too. I know the weekend is my time for laundry, grovery shopping, and cleaning my house. I tend to let things go during the week when we all are rushing home from work and school, doing homework and taking care of the four-legged children. Of course, if it is critical for something to get done, it does get done.
I'm the same way about my education or continuing education. I know I have to get 20 hours every 2 years for my license and another 150 hours for my certifications. So I try to do at least one correspondance course of 40-50 hours yearly.
I need something done for CCE or ONS, I try to schedule it on my calendar with a due date so I'm not rushing at the last minute.
Am I spontaneous? Yes, within limits. If I have the day dedicated to something like visiting family, then I try to stay clear for things like going to the movies or going shopping or out to eat.
I know I am a sick person, but I know what I'm eating for dinner to night, do you?

My life in the comics

This is an event that we hope will not repeat in our house. But as my husband is a procrasinator of the elite, I do fear this day will come again. By the way, it would be Vernon on the wall, screaming!
I bow to the genius of Zits!
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20081120&name=Zits

This is Amy. I had the weirdest week last week! My best friend, Emily, has been dating this boy, Kyle, ever since Homecoming(three months ago). Don't get me wrong, I love her, but sometimes I swear she's a total drama queen. She was complaining to my friend, Ashley, and I about how Kyle is such a wimp because he hasn't kissed her yet. WHAT?! Since when was that such a major thing?! Yeah, I know she's never kissed another boy besides someone in her family, but JEEZ! I couldn't help but agree with her and nod when she told us this horror. Finally, Ashley decided to have a little conversation with Kyle during Biology. I decided to leave the lovebirds and go to orchestra. When Emily walked in a minute before the bell rang(as usual), she had a lovely grin on her face. I asked her what she was so happy about and she proclaimed that they had made out. THANK YOU FOR THAT IMAGE!!! Not only did that incident occur, but Ashley just broke up with a boy named Dylan. Probably Tuesday she looked down the hall and then wipped around and started rampaging down the hall. Kim, her BFF, and I started chasing after her asking what was wrong. She said she had just seen a girl she knows kiss him on the cheek. OK, I don't know about you, but when you break up with someone, aren't you supposed to be happy if they move on? Apparently not. Kim and I followed Ashley out to the bus while she blabbered on and on about the rudeness of this girl.
I guess I just don't have a grip on this sort of thing. OH, WELL!

Boys and Bathing

What is is about water that repels boys? Colt last took a shower Sunday. We require the boy to bathe at least every other day, with the notice that we reserve the right to increase the frequency to daily when hormones hit or the smell, whichever comes first. So on Monday I throw out the , "You need to bathe tomorrow." "Yeah, Mom, got it." Tuesday morning I wake him gently to remind him, "Are you showering today?" and get "I'll do it after school." I go to bed last night and remember that I didn't see any wet hair. Therefore, no shower has taken place.
Now Colt rationalizes that he swims at school every day so that should count for something. "Yeah", says Vernon, "it counts that you were swimming in a giant urinal, all the more reason to shower!" So this morning, I had to wake him up and tell him , "you are showering this morning!" And then once in the shower he stands there motionless like the water has turned him to stone. My job then is to keep reminding him - "Move", "Rub soap on your body" "Don't forget to wash your hair".
Colt has also picked up habits of his father such as the Art of Standing in Front of the Blow Dryer, and the Flip Your Hair in the Shower to See How Much Water You Can Get Outside the Shower.
I guess I should be thankful that the homones haven't hit yet and that by and large even when he doesn't shower often, he doesn't reek. I know I'll miss these days when his odor hits me like a dump truck someday.

6th graders

Last night, we were talking about how sacred scripture and tradition guides us today and how the Old Testament prepared us for Jesus. One of my brilliant students asked who wrote the Old Testament. And one of my other dazzling students blurted out, "Duh!! Jesus wrote it!"
It begs asking what are they thinking when they just throw comments out like that. When I pointed out that Jesus was not alive when the Old Testament was written, the response was "Oh, I meant the New Testament". We then had to discuss that the Old Testament AND the New Testament were not written by Jesus but by people who were inspired by God to write God's story. AND that a lot of the New Testament was actual letters from Saint Paul. One girl then said, "I just love Saint Paul. He was so cool!" WHAT?! Now I'm starting to wonder what these kids have been eating before they come to class.

Old Traditions Made New

Our new church is gorgeous. Lots of things reminescent of the old churches I grew up in, stained glass windows, gold filigree tabernacle, elaborate stations of the cross. And Colt's "favorite" a return to black cassocks and white chausibles for the altar servers. Remember Mike wearing the one at Saint Mary's? Red for feast days and holidays under the white chausible. Amy loves it. Colt is acting like the world came to an end and he has to clean it all up. Colt asked Amy, "How do you get it on with all the buttons?" She told him "It's like a dress, unbutton the first few buttons and then pull it over your head or step into it." He turned away in total disgust. Then proceeded to lecture Amy and I on the way home about how dumb it was to have those replace the old albs. As ever, my son the expert on all things expounding upon his theories to the masses. And to top it all off, Amy and I ignored his rantings. SO then Vernon got to hear it all when we got home.
Tonight is my CCE class and we are going to be talking about the People of God. I learn more everytime I teach this class. I've got a book, All you wanted to know about Catholics, and it answers doctrine and dogma questions in a very real way not just pulling out all the Scripture and Pope So-and-So said this in 1013. I'm sure I'll get questions this week about what is the difference between Laity and religious and monks/brothers/priests. We have already tackled the "Jesus was Jewish" issue. THe entire class is all "What!" , "No Way!", "No , Ms. Burnham, he was Christian". The sixth graders have a definite penchant for the outrageous comment.

Texas Reniassance Festival

We had so much fun today. Gorgeous COLD weather, almost a little too breezy, but lots of sun and music. We watched Tartanic and Wine and Alchemy. Great performers. And we found a doppleganger for Uncle Tom, not an exact duplicate but kinda resemblance. We have added some photos for all to peruse.

The joust was really cheesy and lame. Just guys on horses knocking stuff off stands and into bales of hay. We got Vernon a Chanter to learn how to play the Highland Bagpipes. That ought to be fun! (yes, I'm being facetious, and I love you, Honey) Colt got a great hat that keeps him warm, it reminds us all of the kids in A Christmas Story. It is a knitted cap with sides that come down and end in pockets for his hands to go into like square mittens. It also flattens his hair so it is not so fluffy, he likes flat hair.
Amy got 2 sparkly stone pendant necklaces - of course in dark blue with a black cord to hang on. We found a really neat jeweler who had some wonderful pieces. We then ate some fish N chips, then Colt got Polish food and Vernon and Amy had turkey legs. We wandered some more - we have now seen every shop - and settled to watch the two groups mentioned earlier. We have their CDs and love the bagpies and drums in Tartanic. Wine and Alchemy has a wonderful sitar/bazouka player and uses a violinist and a harmonia player. We heard them play Cashmere before and we keep hoping to hear it again, no luck today.

Once we got home we left the kids to work on laundry and Vernon and I went to do grocery shopping. It has been a busy but fun day.
Tomorrow our new church gets dedicated and Amy serves at the 5 pm mass in the New church. We have to be there at 4 PM for the 5 PM mass.

COLD WEATHER!

I am so excited that is is going to be COLD Cold Cold this weekend. I have this eczema thing going on and the warmer it is the more miserable and itching I am. BUT the colder it is the less I itch and the happier I am. So on to the Reniassance Festival - Highland Fling - on Saturday with jackets in tow for some fun in the COLD!!
Tonight I am chaparoning the Junior High church dance. It is always a wonderful way to see what they love to dance and sing along to and for me to try and decipher what the words are to the song that is playing. I also get to play the heavy and tell kids, "We don't dance like that here." "No, no touching, it's not MTV." "Too close". I'm a real Big Brother. Vernon is going to try to go too. Amy will be working concessions to get her service hours for CCE.
It would be really cool if it SNOWED! (highly unlikely, but cool).

Funny Words

Colt asked me this morning if he could get on the todawber. And that brought to mind the interesting word forms we have created within our home.
"Todawber" a 2 years old's word for computer, it took my forever to figure out what he wanted. This came from a child who had no problems using words at age 2 like fantastic, exactly, and exciting.
"computerber" as pronounced by his sister for same computer,
"frigifer" the refrigerator
"alice" a little dyslexic pronunciation of lettuce
"eldabow" an old elbow on a small child's body

I know there are more and this is a challenge to my children to remember and add to this post all they can remember on behalf of their forgetful mom and dad.

Happy Birthday to Grandma Sharon!

Happy Birthday to Grandma!! We hope you have had a wonderful day and that this is the start of a stupendous YEAR!! We love you - Joanie, Vernon, Amy, Colt, Minnie, Kane, Esmeralda and Loki.

Upgrade

After having my old computer begin to fall on its knees for the THIRD time this year, we decided it was time to go for something a bit more modern. Especially with internet use and the kids increasing use of the internet for school. We were lucky to find a great deal at Best Buy. I find I'm not so fond of the widescreen aspect but the rest is fantastic. I think Colt may have to tutor the old folks in how to run around the keyboard. And so now we are up to the speed of normal. The rest of our lives may not be to normal for awhile, but after all what is "normal"?

People Who Work Too Hard

Used to be that Vernon would get upset with the amount of time I would spend at work caring for sick people. He could never understand why I couldn't just walk out at 5 pm. Oh How the times have changed. God Bless my husband! Now that he is a school teacher he spends inordinate amounts of time grading and sorting and preparing for classes. The special efforts he goes to are nothing short of amazing. If only one of these kids knew what work he puts into each and every class it would be astounding. Our roles have kind of reversed, now I'm the one leaving work at 5 PM. Vernon was working until 8Pm to night. School lets out at 2:45 PM. If we factor in what he makes on an hourly basis, he gets less than minimum wage.
I sure wish I made enough for him to stay at home and be my house elf!

I Hate Eczema!

I have had a sore throat with a white patch for 2 weeks. So I wnt the toeh ENT last week for him to tell me "you're paranoid. It's nothing, but let me give you 3 days of steroids and then We'll talk again in 4 weeks." I took 2 days of prednisone and woke up Sunday morning with the lovely eczema rash starting across my stomach andon the interiors of my arms. No itching yet but the hot patchy red. I took my last day of steroids and this morning the rash to the old places has faded and all the rest of me looks like a cooked lobster. The itching has begun. I'm doped out on benadryl and topical menthol. I smell like an old arthritic woman trying to catch the best of the geezers. I'm sleeping on the bed covers to keep as cool as possible. Hopefully, if all goes as before I'll be back to normal in 2-3 weeks. Now the eternal questions arises. What causes eczema? Maybe later I will expand upon my theories. I thank Heaven today for the cooler weather, that almost always helps as does a cold office.

And More Homework

Here it is almost 10 pm and I just finished helping Amy with her homework. My daughter has been working on school stuff since she got home at 3PM. Colt just managed to finish at 8:30PM. I'm ready to send nasty email to the teachers. I sincerely hope they have NO homework for the weekend, They have earned it!

Bad Homework

I don't remember having the immense amount of homework that Amy and Colt have now. Maybe it is just selective memory loss, but Colt had a 500 word essay assigned Monday in Advisory on "How Violence Has Affected Your Life". My kids are pretty well sheltered when it come to violence. They know it can happen but I'm not sure they have actually ever witnessed anything other than what is in the media and TV/Movies. It was supposed to be due today but the teacher gave them a one day extension. The paper has to be double spaced, at least 500 words but no more than 1000 words, An intro paragragh and closing paragraph and three body paragraphs to define specific points. This was assigned by the school district's superintendant to get participants in a statewide competition. It shouldn't be mandatory on top of all the other homework they have to do. It should be optional and a choice for the student to do if desired. As it stands, Colt was up til 9PM (normal bedtime is 8:30 pm) which means he actually got to bed @9:30. He was up again at 5:45 AM and working on this paper.
Amy and Colt both stayed afterschool yesterday for studying and Science Olympiad so they got home at @5:00 PM and then spent the rest of their night on homework. They eat their dinner while doing their homework. Too much!!
However, I must say thet Vernon and I are no examples of the come home and do nothing mantra. Both of us bring work home and spend time doing work even on the weekend. Especially the teacher, who has to grade papers and assemble statistics on pass/fail and modifications for students. Someday we'll find time to do nothing and that will probably be the day we die. And on that happy note, I wish you a Autumny Thursday.

Should be Interesting

Warning!! I have given Amy and Colt permission to post their thoughts on this blog. Amy is not really the concern it is the free thought random issue son, Colt. I am prepared to be amazed and stupified. He will probably start stuff tonight.

This so starts the Kurzy-Burnham blog. To keep my family and friends up to date on the happenings of Vernon Burnham and Joan Kurzy Burnham Family. Vernon is still an 8th grade math teacher in a Cy-Fair Middle School and I am still an Oncology Nurse for Texas Oncology in the Willowbrook office. We have two children, Amy, a 9th grader, and Colt, a 7th grader.
Amy is in orchestra and an altar server at our church, she loves to read and she has two sibling cats, Esmeralda (a little black girl cat) and Loki (a mischevious white cat). Amy also loves to write. Amy is supposed to be working on a paper on Stem Cells and current issues for Biology today while she has a day off of school.
Colt is in orchestra and a member of the Science Olympiad and a Navigator (all honors classes). He is also an altar server. Colt loves anything LEGO and watching mythology movies. Colt is supposed to be working on a essay for "How violence has effected my life".
I am the membership chairman for the local Oncology Nursing Society - WOW West Houston ONS Chapter. I also teach 6th grade CCE at our church and serve as chaparone for several youth activities.
Vernon is occupied often with school work and in his scant spare time we go the the Texas Reniassance Festival, Aeros games, NASA, Houston ZOO and watch TV shows.
We also have two dogs, Kane, a gentle bulemic pit bull and Minnie, our little black border collie mix. Minnie is the boss of the animals in the house.
Tonight I have ONS meeting and No school today due to the elections. Vernon is out running around on his off day, voting, dogs to the vet, Vernon to the Cardiologist, Car to the dealer for oil change and whatever else he can fit in.
I hope to keep this up to date, but I fear I'm not going to be as creative as others doing this out there.