Fic, costumes, black belts, neurology. Talk about random!
Recent achievements: not much. :-P Still having trouble being motivated to catch up on stuff that's been waiting since summer. I really need to limit my time online - that would help a lot; I've been roaming aimlessly on Yahoo, and also (re)reading copperbadge's Steve/Tony Avengers fics and re-re-reading favorite bits from A Cure For Boredom. Didn't help that my FIL spent Sunday night here and was still in a chatty mood on Monday; he didn't leave until after 11am so it's not like I could do anything else until then. I did manage to make Two's Halloween costume today - consisting of an extremely simple red-plush cloak. She has an Angry Birds hat, the cloak for "wings" and will wear red and black clothing underneath. All set. So, that's something, at least.
Speaking of costumes, I'm feeling rather stymied by MiniPlu's choice. After dithering around with several ideas, MiniPlu decided she wanted to be Sandra Day O'Connor (first female Supreme Court Justice), despite not being able to correctly remember her name. Okay, I can make judge's robes (yet another trip to the fabric store, sigh), but finding a SDO-like wig is pretty much impossible, and MiniPlu's hair is the wrong length to curl/spray/temporarily dye to the right approximation. The irony is that last year, when she was Marilyn Monroe, we couldn't find a MM wig, but this year we can. :-P
Knowing that MiniPlu had to explain repeatedly who she was to her peers last year "Marilyn who?", I asked if she wouldn't rather be someone more obviously recognizable this year, but, nope - she says she LIKES picking people/costumes people don't know. I admit, I don't get it, but I don't want to protest too much since she's chosen something admirable. "No dear, you can't dress up as an awesome role model; here, be a pop star, instead." (She did ask if she could still wear makeup as SDO - this being her primary concern for Halloween. :-P)
Tuesdays are long days for the girls from here on out. MiniPlu has band for half an hour BEFORE school, which means she has to be there by 7:30am. I pick up the girls, as usual, in the afternoon, then we go straight to Huntington (which, admittedly, may only last a few more weeks - not sure yet) to drop off Two, and from there I take MiniPlu directly to her clarinet lesson. Will picks up Two and brings her home. It means MiniPlu is out of the house for 10 straight hours, and Two for 9. I went to TKD, myself, tonight, but can't bring the girls because they'll be pinched enough for homework time as it is.
I found out a number of things, regarding the upcoming black belt test, which MiniPlu is on the short list of candidates for. Test is now tentatively set for Dec 1, and costs EIGHT times as much as a regular belt test. Ow! This is partly because anyone who reaches black belt status gets certified by Korea and placed on file there - and then they literally become card-carrying members. Should a black belt ever move and want to start training elsewhere, s/he has actual proof that s/he earned his/her black belt. So, anyway, Mrs. K is kind enough to warn everyone of the upcoming expense well in advance. Master K will also soon be putting together black-belt preparation classes (separate from his father's regular black-belt classes) specifically for those students who are on the short list, so everyone is being asked their preference as to what days will be better or worse than others. Not sure when he intends to start those.
Btw, speaking of black-belt class - several more of MiniPlu's peers (in fact, a smidge younger than she is - one of whom is Grandmaster K's grandson/Master K's son) just earned their cho-dan-bo belts, which means she'll have even MORE company at class this Friday. This has cheered her greatly - so much so that she told me last weekend, "I don't want to go to black belt class because it's hard, but it's not really so scary anymore." We'll see what she thinks when Friday actually rolls around, but I was ecstatic to even hear her THINK such a thing. Major progress!
First off, Monday afternoon I had my own neurology appointment, as recommended by my eye specialist two months ago. The appointment was for 2:30pm, but I couldn't find my intake paperwork. When I called to warn them, they said new patients should arrive half an hour early, so I planned to arrive at 2pm. The neurology center is at a hospital (one of their outlying buildings) a good 20-25 mins away. When I arrived, however, I was told that the doctor was at the OTHER neurology office at one of the hospitals this hospital bought out years ago ... the one that's five minutes from my house. Also, that my actual appointment was at 3pm, and the 2:30pm assignment WAS the "new patients arrive half an hour early" thing, so I was even *earlier* than that. ARGH!! The problem here was that my husband answered the phone when they made their reminder call last week, and probably didn't realize there was more than one office when they specified the one in our hometown, so I can't really blame him, but it's how I was less-than-ideally informed.
So, back I went, arriving at the original 2:30pm time. (I'd had to make arrangements for the girls for after school, given the timing.) Anyway, as I'd forecast months ago, the appointment was mostly pointless. The only thing I really got out of it was that it is - alas - incredibly common for people to recover 98% of their vision. But not 100%. And that's pretty much where I am - it's blurry and dimmer, but not impeding function. And while I can certainly live with my eyesight the way it is, it's still annoying, especially as we still have no idea what caused it. The neurologist (nice guy, at least) was boggled at the extensive bloodwork the eye specialist ran on me last May, but admitted that he'd pretty much left no stone unturned and that there was pretty much nothing else he could do. One nice thing about modern technology - because I'd had my MRI done by the same health network, he could pull up the results of that and look at it on the spot. And it was, as he noted, pristine. (I thought about making a snarky remark about dirty thoughts in my pristine brain, but couldn't think how to word it. :-D)
His other recommendation was that I get a repeat MRI in a year, just to make sure everything continues to be clear. Everyone's concerned that my sudden vision loss is a marker of impending MS, although having a negative MRI brings my risk of MS down to about 10%, compared to over 50% risk (possibly 80%? Can't remember) for people who have noticeable lesions on the brain already.
So, that was my neuro appointment. Meanwhile, I got a call from a local pediatric neurology unit (same location as where I'd mistakenly gone yesterday), saying that the ENT had referred Two, and wanted to set up an appointment - so I guess the ENT did hear back from the neurologist and that's what was recommended, sigh. Two's appointment is Oct 24, less than a week before the ENT follow-up appointment; not sure what could be learned in such a short span but it's the best they could do. Color me frustrated. I also called the Philly hospital and left yet another message cancelling the appointment Two was originally supposed to have this Monday. Wonder if they'll bother listening to it, since they seem so disinclined to listen to any other messages I've left. :-P
In other, totally random news, MiniPlu a) is being trained as an altar server and b) has managed to misplace BOTH her uniform sweatshirts, which can be worn on gym day. WTF??
I have been introduced to the hilarious world of DogShaming. I hate the name of the website, but it's so much fun to read about all the antics other people's dogs have gotten into. Fun when it isn't MY dog, that is! Gosh, our begging, bolting and storm-incontinent dogs seem like perfect angels compared to some of these canines. If you need a laugh, go check it out - and keep coming back, because it gets updated frequently.
I'm sure there was other stuff I meant to post about, but I'm too sleepy to think properly. For those of you who are celebrating Yom Kippur tomorrow - may your fast be easy. ♥ (Two gets the day off from school. Definitely not getting much done tomorrow!)
Speaking of costumes, I'm feeling rather stymied by MiniPlu's choice. After dithering around with several ideas, MiniPlu decided she wanted to be Sandra Day O'Connor (first female Supreme Court Justice), despite not being able to correctly remember her name. Okay, I can make judge's robes (yet another trip to the fabric store, sigh), but finding a SDO-like wig is pretty much impossible, and MiniPlu's hair is the wrong length to curl/spray/temporarily dye to the right approximation. The irony is that last year, when she was Marilyn Monroe, we couldn't find a MM wig, but this year we can. :-P
Knowing that MiniPlu had to explain repeatedly who she was to her peers last year "Marilyn who?", I asked if she wouldn't rather be someone more obviously recognizable this year, but, nope - she says she LIKES picking people/costumes people don't know. I admit, I don't get it, but I don't want to protest too much since she's chosen something admirable. "No dear, you can't dress up as an awesome role model; here, be a pop star, instead." (She did ask if she could still wear makeup as SDO - this being her primary concern for Halloween. :-P)
Tuesdays are long days for the girls from here on out. MiniPlu has band for half an hour BEFORE school, which means she has to be there by 7:30am. I pick up the girls, as usual, in the afternoon, then we go straight to Huntington (which, admittedly, may only last a few more weeks - not sure yet) to drop off Two, and from there I take MiniPlu directly to her clarinet lesson. Will picks up Two and brings her home. It means MiniPlu is out of the house for 10 straight hours, and Two for 9. I went to TKD, myself, tonight, but can't bring the girls because they'll be pinched enough for homework time as it is.
I found out a number of things, regarding the upcoming black belt test, which MiniPlu is on the short list of candidates for. Test is now tentatively set for Dec 1, and costs EIGHT times as much as a regular belt test. Ow! This is partly because anyone who reaches black belt status gets certified by Korea and placed on file there - and then they literally become card-carrying members. Should a black belt ever move and want to start training elsewhere, s/he has actual proof that s/he earned his/her black belt. So, anyway, Mrs. K is kind enough to warn everyone of the upcoming expense well in advance. Master K will also soon be putting together black-belt preparation classes (separate from his father's regular black-belt classes) specifically for those students who are on the short list, so everyone is being asked their preference as to what days will be better or worse than others. Not sure when he intends to start those.
Btw, speaking of black-belt class - several more of MiniPlu's peers (in fact, a smidge younger than she is - one of whom is Grandmaster K's grandson/Master K's son) just earned their cho-dan-bo belts, which means she'll have even MORE company at class this Friday. This has cheered her greatly - so much so that she told me last weekend, "I don't want to go to black belt class because it's hard, but it's not really so scary anymore." We'll see what she thinks when Friday actually rolls around, but I was ecstatic to even hear her THINK such a thing. Major progress!
First off, Monday afternoon I had my own neurology appointment, as recommended by my eye specialist two months ago. The appointment was for 2:30pm, but I couldn't find my intake paperwork. When I called to warn them, they said new patients should arrive half an hour early, so I planned to arrive at 2pm. The neurology center is at a hospital (one of their outlying buildings) a good 20-25 mins away. When I arrived, however, I was told that the doctor was at the OTHER neurology office at one of the hospitals this hospital bought out years ago ... the one that's five minutes from my house. Also, that my actual appointment was at 3pm, and the 2:30pm assignment WAS the "new patients arrive half an hour early" thing, so I was even *earlier* than that. ARGH!! The problem here was that my husband answered the phone when they made their reminder call last week, and probably didn't realize there was more than one office when they specified the one in our hometown, so I can't really blame him, but it's how I was less-than-ideally informed.
So, back I went, arriving at the original 2:30pm time. (I'd had to make arrangements for the girls for after school, given the timing.) Anyway, as I'd forecast months ago, the appointment was mostly pointless. The only thing I really got out of it was that it is - alas - incredibly common for people to recover 98% of their vision. But not 100%. And that's pretty much where I am - it's blurry and dimmer, but not impeding function. And while I can certainly live with my eyesight the way it is, it's still annoying, especially as we still have no idea what caused it. The neurologist (nice guy, at least) was boggled at the extensive bloodwork the eye specialist ran on me last May, but admitted that he'd pretty much left no stone unturned and that there was pretty much nothing else he could do. One nice thing about modern technology - because I'd had my MRI done by the same health network, he could pull up the results of that and look at it on the spot. And it was, as he noted, pristine. (I thought about making a snarky remark about dirty thoughts in my pristine brain, but couldn't think how to word it. :-D)
His other recommendation was that I get a repeat MRI in a year, just to make sure everything continues to be clear. Everyone's concerned that my sudden vision loss is a marker of impending MS, although having a negative MRI brings my risk of MS down to about 10%, compared to over 50% risk (possibly 80%? Can't remember) for people who have noticeable lesions on the brain already.
So, that was my neuro appointment. Meanwhile, I got a call from a local pediatric neurology unit (same location as where I'd mistakenly gone yesterday), saying that the ENT had referred Two, and wanted to set up an appointment - so I guess the ENT did hear back from the neurologist and that's what was recommended, sigh. Two's appointment is Oct 24, less than a week before the ENT follow-up appointment; not sure what could be learned in such a short span but it's the best they could do. Color me frustrated. I also called the Philly hospital and left yet another message cancelling the appointment Two was originally supposed to have this Monday. Wonder if they'll bother listening to it, since they seem so disinclined to listen to any other messages I've left. :-P
In other, totally random news, MiniPlu a) is being trained as an altar server and b) has managed to misplace BOTH her uniform sweatshirts, which can be worn on gym day. WTF??
I have been introduced to the hilarious world of DogShaming. I hate the name of the website, but it's so much fun to read about all the antics other people's dogs have gotten into. Fun when it isn't MY dog, that is! Gosh, our begging, bolting and storm-incontinent dogs seem like perfect angels compared to some of these canines. If you need a laugh, go check it out - and keep coming back, because it gets updated frequently.
I'm sure there was other stuff I meant to post about, but I'm too sleepy to think properly. For those of you who are celebrating Yom Kippur tomorrow - may your fast be easy. ♥ (Two gets the day off from school. Definitely not getting much done tomorrow!)