Birthday Week and Medical Issues

Tuesday was my birthday. The older three all had orthodontist appointments in the morning. Jack got his braces! I was expecting an uneventful visit and was surprised when the doctor called me into the consultation room. He said that Anna's treatment was not going as well as he had hoped. She has been in braces now for over a year, but the rubber bands are not working and her jaw is not aligning. Her overbite is still significant and after looking at her x-rays, he believes she is done growing and thus does not expect that it will get better. He said there are two options going forward: 1) he can remove two of her upper teeth to make the upper jaw smaller, however, this will further exacerbate the "balance" of her face. In other words, it will not look good. or 2) she can have surgery. They would break her jaw, extend her lower jaw and insert a metal plate. It caught me off guard and I have been bothered by the news ever since. 

The idea of jaw surgery is insane! She would have to spend nights in the hospital and wouldn't be able to eat solid food for 2 weeks. And then it would just be soft foods. It takes approximately 12 weeks to fully recover. I can't believe we would even consider such an option. I have done some research and it appears there could be medical issues, like TMJ and sleep apnea, associated with her overbite. But, we definitely need a lot more information and likely, a second opinion. We knew early on that all three of the older kids were going to need braces. We took them to their first orthodontics appointment at age 7. So, frankly, it also makes me mad. We have done everything anyone has asked us to do and spent a lot of time and money and the end result is we are still pretty much where we started. At least with Anna. Kara didn't have an overbite issue, she had a crossbite and so far her teeth appear to be aligning nicely. Jack has some of the same issues as Anna and now I am really worried. Also, I have no idea where this is coming from. Neither Thomas nor I had braces, no one in either family had these kind of severe issues. It is disheartening and I don't want to steer her in the wrong direction. We made an appointment to go back and discuss it next month so Thomas and Anna can be present. 

Back to the birthday. I decided a few months ago I wanted an ice cream cake from Menchi's (a yogurt place). I had a cookies and cream ice cream layer and a cake batter layer along with chocolate cake and whipped frosting. It was amazing! The only thing that would have made it better was buttercream. Thomas got me a special Harry Potter bookset and Kara wrote me a short story. Anna wrote a very sweet letter and Jack made a card. It was very nice. We stayed at the table for a long time and the kids asked me questions about my childhood. I felt loved.

Thursday was Thomas' birthday. We still had to work all day, but had his requested dinner of cheeseburger gnocchi. Then, we had his cake--Publix carrot cake with buttercream. We first had that combination at my bridal shower and now that we are back in the land of Publix, we had to try it again. I had a few gifts for him and the kids made gifts. Hopefully, he also felt loved.

In other medical news. I have to get a colonoscopy. I am dreading it. But, there are some issues and I did a less invasive test that didn't give me the "all-clear" I was hoping for. So, it has to be done. I have the consult on Wednesday and will hopefully get all the information then. I am a little worried because I have had issues for years. I can remember first going to the doctor when Thomas was in Hawaii, which means it was 9 years ago! So, if it does turn out to be cancer, the odds aren't going to be good. Fortunately, the odds that it is cancer, or something serious, are pretty small. But, it was another disappointing, lack of confidence in the medical field, moment this week.

I feel like my mood ebbs and flows. Sometimes, I am able to be positive and sometimes things just get me down. There is so much hard stuff happening right now. Florida is such a mess--I wish we had stayed in Maryland! The governor has mandated schools offer 5-day a week in person classes and we had to make decisions for our 4 kids. We decided the older three will do e-learning and Luke will go to school. We made this decision for a few reasons: 1) he doesn't ride a bus; 2) research said transmission rates are lower for his age bracket; 3) he won't have to switch classes and thus will come in contact with far fewer people and surfaces; and 4) we still have to work and can't supervise his schooling or entertain him for 6+ hours a day. There is no way he could successfully sit in front of a computer all day, he didn't manage well with the 30-minute sessions at the end of kindergarten. This also makes me feel like a crappy parent. 

Thomas is not feeling well today. He didn't sleep last night and was nauseous and has a sore throat. Obviously, the immediate fear is coronavirus. It is in the news so consistently that I can think of no other possibility. Hopefully, it is nothing and he wakes up feeling fine tomorrow.

To end on a happier note, here are two funny Luke conversations this week:

Luke: Mom, can I tell you all about Super Mario Brothers?

Me: Sorry, Luke, but not right now 

slight pause

Luke: One of the hardest moons...

Another day, we were in the car and Jack was commenting on how he doesn't want to get married or ever have kids. He just wants an apartment with video games and he will be happy. The other kids were incredulous. Luke told him if he did that, Luke would find out where he lives, go to his house, and look in the windows to see if he was hiding a wife and if he was, Luke would tell me! Jack promised that if he got married, he would make sure we were invited. For some reason, all of us found this hilarious. Maybe it was the thought that Jack would secretly get married and hide the location of his house and the identity of his spouse. But, never fear, Luke's inner sleuth would uncover the truth and tell Mom!

And, here is Jack and his braces.

Babysitting and Home Renovations

As I have mentioned, my work is surprisingly busy. I have been working on three large actions and the timing has put them all at critical phases at the same time. It has been tiring and difficult. The kids are really good about understanding we have to work, but sometimes Luke is just needy. He is only 6 and doesn't like to be by himself. Often, Thomas or I can take a break to give him some attention. But, for the next two weeks Thomas is in an online class and I am swamped. We contemplated sending him to the YMCA, but Florida is the new COVID hotspot and with the numbers rising, it didn't seem like a good idea. So, we decided to pay our older kids to babysit.

Normally, I want my kids to help because they should and it is part of being a contributing family member. But, in this case, we wanted them to take the job seriously. And, we were going to ask more than just entertaining him for a few minutes. We divided each day into two 3-hour shifts. During their shift they are responsible for Luke. They have all read the Babysitter's Club and Kara is looking forward to the day when she can be a neighborhood babysitter, so she was thrilled with the offer. Jack and Anna weren't as excited, but didn't want to lose out on the money. Over the two weeks, they can each earn $100! $300 is actually what we would pay to send him to camp, so we aren't saving anything. But, I am hoping they can learn some responsibility. We are on day 3 and so far it is working out well. Kara was the most prepared, she had a plan for activities and was able to keep him happily entertained. Anna had a rough first day. She had planned on swimming with Luke, then he decided he wasn't interested. He was cranky and she was frustrated--not a good combination. We were ready to fire her, but Luke felt bad for being difficult and apologized and we decided she could have another chance. Her second shift went much better. Jack has also done a good job. 

It is actually really nice for all of us. Luke is completely entertained. For example, today was Anna in the morning. They played pick-up sticks, she painted his nails and they programed Blocky (a kid's coding robot). Thomas and I took a break for lunch and then Jack took over. They read books, played several rounds of memory and talked about video games. Luke still comes in to the office to chat with me on occassion, but it is nothing like before we had the arrangement. And, someone is usually right behind him to shoo him into another activity. He looks forward to his time with his siblings and hasn't complained about being bored once. I am hoping the older kids are learning something about patience and responsibility. Each shift earns them around $15, which is a lot of money at their age (at least in my opinion). They are thinking about how to wisely spend their earnings. So, perhaps there are also lessons to be learned about budgeting or the value of money. We haven't been consistent with allowances, so this is nice for them.

In other news, we got a new toilet for one of the upstairs bathrooms. The toilet we had wouldn't stop running. Thomas would fix it and it would work better for a day or two and then start running again. We had been holding off on replacing it because I want to redo the bathrooms. But, we finally couldn't take it anymore, so we got a new one. We had someone come to install it and I gave him a list of all the home projects I am interested in. We won't be able to do them all, but hopefully we can get some of them (he is doing estimates). We want to replace the front door, redo the bathrooms, maybe the flooring in the entryway, install security cameras/lights outside, and fix a few other things. However, we also want to redo the pool area soon. 

Our house isn't really a fixer-upper, but nothing had been updated or changed since it was built in 2003. Obviously, that isn't an old house, but it's not new either. And, it is nice to make it a bit more our own. We did a lot of work in our first house, way back before the kids were born, but we haven't taken on any significant home projects in any of our houses since. We paint and Thomas changes out fans and light fixtures, but nothing like a bathroom remodel. When we did flooring in our first house, we did it ourselves. We even made a fancy tile pattern the entryway. But, we don't have the time or inclination to take all of this on ourselves. I just want someone to come, measure, send me a proposed design and do it. We will see how it goes!

Independence Day, Hamilton and other Broadway Musicals

Today is Independence Day. We were supposed to go to Marta's house, but with the COVID numbers rising in Florida we decided it was better to just stay home. We barbecued, swam and watched Back to the Future II (we watched the first one a week or so ago). It was fun to see their vision of 2015. Also, how on earth does the "future" take place in 2015?!?!? I am getting old! I also made our traditional poke hole cake. I make it pretty much every Memorial and Independence Day. I learned the recipe from one of college roommates, although I can't recall which one. It is very simple, just a white cake mix with a few changes. But, it is delicious and I have been making it for years. Well, decades now (feeling old again!). It is a white cake mix with bananas in place of eggs and applesauce instead of oil. Then, after it cooks, you poke holes and pour strawberry jello in the holes (mixed with just the hot water so it is not too diluted). Cool, preferably overnight, and then "frost" with cool whip and decorate with berries. Everyone in my family loves it.

This is actually from Memorial Day, I didn't take a picture today, but the berries were in a flag design. :)

I am grateful to be an American. I am not sure it is politically correct to feel that way right now, but I do. I love our country. There is a lot that is making me sad and I absolutely hate how divided we are, but overall, I know how fortunate I am to live here. I don't want to erase our history and vilify the Founding Fathers. But, I also think we should examine the past with a critical eye. Otherwise, how can we improve? I believe in the Black Lives Matter movement and recognize that racism is a problem in our country that we need to fix. I still support the police, but believe they should be help accountable. There is a lot more I could say, but frankly I am afraid of saying the wrong thing and being vilified myself. So, I will stick with my basic truths.

It was another quiet week. We had a problem with our pool and it began to turn green. It took a few days to get it back in order, which was sad to everyone. We frequently talk about how much more difficult the quarantine would be without the pool and maybe we jinxed ourselves. It was a long three days; Florida is hot!

In wildlife news, Kara rescued a small snake from our pool. I looked it up and it was a harmless ring neck. And, Thomas saved a big turtle. He was really big and heavy and Thomas got him out of the street and walked him toward the pond.

Thomas estimated he weighed 20-25 pounds.

Yesterday, the Hamilton movie came out on Disney+. We had been counting down the days. Kim and her family were going to come and watch it with us, but I canceled. We are bringing ourselves back to COVID Phase I for now. Maybe that is being overly cautious, but it's what we are comfortable with. Anyway, we had been looking forward to Hamilton since they announced the release. Thomas and I saw it in New York and then we took Jack and saw it again in DC. Kara loves the soundtrack and has been wanting to see it. Anna isn't really interested in anything we like right now, so she didn't watch. And, of course, Luke is too young. But, the rest of us loved it. We watched it all the way through and have watched some of our favorite numbers a couple more times. It got me thinking about all the shows I've seen. So, I made a list of the ones I could remember and then ranked everything as 1, 2, or 3.

The 1s:
-Hamilton: brilliant writing, choreography, historical value and truly innovative. It is the whole package!
-Les Mis: my first Broadway show. I saw it when I was in high school when my band went to NYC to march in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. I will never forget how I felt when the cast sang the first full harmonizing note. I've seen it several times.
-Jersey Boys: this one is just fun. The music was the soundtrack I jogged to back when I was a runner. We have seen it multiple times.

The 2s: (no particular order) All phenomenal, but didn't have the impact on me that the 1s did.
-Anastasia: loved it.
-Wicked: loved it.
-Avenue Q: loved it.
-Rent: loved it.

The 3s: (in order)
-The Temptations, Ain't to Proud to Beg: The second half was amazing, the first half was a little bogged down. It was almost a "2".
-Phantom of the Opera: this was also close to being a "2".  I liked it a lot, just not as much as the others.
-Chicago: not bad, but I didn't love it.
-Sound of Music: it was okay, but after seeing the movie so many times, the play was actually a bit boring.
-South Pacific: boring
-Waitress: my least favorite. I didn't like it at all.

Local Theater Shows:
-Kinky Boots (loved it!)
-Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (I don't recall much, would like to see again)
-Rock of Ages (cruise ship show, it was okay).

I would like to see many more shows. I was hoping we would get season tickets to the Broadway touring shows when we moved to Orlando. I put us on the waitlist, but I think everything is on pause with COVID. Also, the local theater here (at least based on Kinky Boots) is really good and WAY cheaper, so maybe we will just get tickets to the local theater. Either way, there are still many shows I want to see. I wish we still lived close enough to just drive up to NYC.