Monday check-in

Things are looking up here, slightly. We still have nits—Simon, Winston, and, now, me. Joy. Though I have to say, in an odd way, it’s a relief. The only way I could avoid getting them was to hold the boys at an arm’s length, which really isn’t working any longer. We’re all sort of starved for affection—especially Simon. Our pediatrician phoned in a prescription for the whole family, so we can start our treatment tonight. Thank you Dr. Susan, you’re the best!

We still have mountains of laundry, which have expanded exponentially with the addition of my bed linens, towels, clothes, coat, hat, and scarf. But, the dryer has held up for another week. Yay! The plumbing from the washer is just fine. The flooding was coming from a floor drain clogged with fifty years’ worth of lint. We paid the plumber handsomely to clear out the drain. Now we can run the washer with impunity!

I took a mental health day today to get caught up on some things and to be available to take Simon to his first orthodontist consult. This past summer, his dentist pulled a molar that was being crowded out of his bite. In just six months, the surrounding teeth have settled in such a way that the three permanent teeth that have yet to come in, now have no room. The next course of action is a full set of x-rays. When all four front teeth, upper and lower, are in, we’ll re-visit the orthodontist and talk about what we’ll have done next. We have a few choices—one is to pull a tooth, the other is to wear a space maintainer that looks positively sadistic. Fortunately, we have a year to wait this out.

I had a great weekend. On Saturday, I took Simon to Stillwater for a friend’s birthday party. While Simon was bowling and eating pizza and cake, I had two glorious hours to read. By the time we returned home, it was nearly time to go out again. John and I went to a curling party that a few friends hosted at the St. Paul Curling Club. What a strange sport. The part where you slide and release the 40-pound stone is elegant, but then there’s the part where you sweep, which looks positively stupid. What does sweeping get you anyway? In theory, sweeping melts the ice to keep the stone moving, but it can’t change the course of the stone. The evening was fun—we saw a lot of friends and acquaintances and drank a ton, including shots of an incredible, homemade horseradish vodka.

Simon helped me with grocery shopping on Sunday morning. We brought home bagels, cream cheese, and lox for brunch. When the sun came out, around one p.m., I took a restorative walk and listened to some righteous tunes. Music always helps me feel better.

Shuffle for a Sunday walk

Perfect Circle (REM)
Am I Right? (Erasure)
Up the Beach (Jane’s Addiction)
Acrobat (U2)
The Barry Williams Show (Peter Gabriel)
Electric Barbarella (Duran Duran)
Charlotte Sometimes (The Cure)
Superunknown (Soundgarden)