How I Spent My Summer Vacation - Part 2

Putting a new roof on the house! Actually I watched 8 hot, sweaty somewhat neanderthal men put the new roof on the house and I had the pleasure of writing a check for $13,000.

Apparently, while we were in the Cape my roofer called to verify that the roofers could begin on July 5th. Ian did not think this information was worthy of passing on to his mother so I was scrambling to confirm this date on the 4th of July....the day after we arrived home. The roofers started on the 5th at the butt crack of dawn and my week of hell began.

(Although I do have to admit the unsightly blue tarp covering really kept the house cool.)

People who crave order and cleanliness should take a vacation when having three layers of asphalt shingles and 1 layer of ancient cedar shakes removed. All the windows had to be closed and every inch of the yard (including flowers, grass and pool) was covered with a layer of cedar dust. The shakes come off in little pieces and create quite the mess. Every evening after they left I would hose off the concrete and plants.

I felt bad for these guys sweating and shirtless on my roof in the hot sun all day so I supplied a steady stream of lemonade and grape kool-aid and they ended the day with a swim in the pool. It was amusing to watch them strip to their shorts and dive in. Never has the pool been more appreciated.

Luckily, the roofers finished on Friday and were all cleaned up by 4:00. That left me almost 3 hours to clean the pool, yard and house before Hilary, Chuck and Joey arrived.

The roof was expensive and I don't really appreciate the new roof at all. All the neighbors stopped by at some point to talk to me and the roofers and I am told that the roofers did a professional job. I never really look at the roof...never...so unless there was water pouring into the bedrooms through the ceiling and a new roof stopped the waterfall...I just can't appreciate the craftsmanship. I think about the money and envision a trip to Prague to see Cyndy and Tom or a new Stickley dining room. Oh well.

Of course, the roof looks so damn good I want the old aluminum (.80 cents per pound) siding ripped off and new siding or repair and paint the clapboards and put in new windows. I have quotes but just how does one save $14,000 dollars?

How I Spent My Summer Vacation - Part 1

Mere days after school ended for the year, Rob and I traveled to Provincetown for Rob's opening at Alden Gallery. We lucked out and found a great place to stay on Commercial Street that was a healthy walk to the gallery, restaurants and P-Town events. Our room at the Watermark Inn was pretty reasonable, cheap even by Outer Cape standards and was right on the bay. Well, the Inn was on the bay but our suite was around 15 steps away. I could hear the bay, smell the bay and be in the bay in a moment's notice. Good enough. The season rates didn't start until July 1st so our suite cost less than the skanky hotel we normally use in P-Town. Next year, I want the suite overlooking the bay.

During the days, I read on the beach while Rob painted. Painting takes a lot of prep work, including adding gesso to the canvas. I guess this wasn't a vacation for Rob. But more paintings = suite upgrade.

One of the finished paintings drying in our room. I spent a fair amount of time coveting the house that was right next to the inn.......and their birdhouse....
and their deck and view. Our room was on the 1st floor just past the port cochere on the right. Rob was cleaning out his brushes at the back of the car one afternoon so the rear hatch was open. I stopped to get something from the car and immediately said, "Oh my god, you have to see this!" I wonder how many times I said those exact same words because Rob looked at me with the face of death. (I bet you didn't even know Rob had a face like that, did you?) I persisted, he relented and agreed that my excitement was warranted. This baby sparrow was hopping around the front seat. Of course, I had to get his picture before carrying him to safety. I always hoped I would get a seal while on the Cape but they never appear suddenly in my car.
Only 4 days. Always so short and so much fun.

Object Permanence

Did you know that everyone else was blogging while my blog was dormant? I just got caught up with my family. Who knew?

The holidays....

By now, you have either heard about Thanksgiving or were a part of the festivities. No sense rehashing that fun time and you have seen the pictures from the "day after."

Christmas Eve was lovely at Rich and Diane's house. The food was wonderful, as always, and I even drove home! So unusual....

The highlight was Ian's gift from Aunt Diane - dickies! Just like the type made famous by Cousin Eddie in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
Ian spent the remainder of his Christmas break wearing the dickies with a variety of sweaters and shirts. I have to say he looked great in them, when worn appropriately of course. But he still wont let me buy him turtlenecks...go figure. A moose mug, some white leather shoes and belt and Ian has next Halloween ready to go!

Rob and I went to our usual Christmas tree location -- Luchsinger's Farms in Lafayette. This is our 1st foray into tree selection without Ian. We spent more time checking out the cows than the trees. Although our tree was beautiful, Rob would rather have brought home a cow.

Tip- Do not let a cow lick you....ever! Their tongues are rougher than sandpaper...I needed lotion on my hand for weeks to regenerate the skin cells.

Christmas morning was almost Christmas afternoon once Ian was finally up and awake enough to open presents.

As always, Santa brings a lot of books. I wish I had been able to capture Rob and Ian in the same picture reading their Christmas presents.

I'm back......

Things happen and the routine gets a little out of whack and the next thing you know 4 months have gone by. I have the next 4 days off, 6 books to read for school, a mountain of cataloging for work and a 2 page to-do list. So I will do what I do best and procrastinate.

Where have I been? Good question. Allow me to set the stage for my November trauma and offer a slight excuse for my incommunicado.

November 9th started like a typical Tuesday. I was my usual stressed out, trying to find balance at work self. Around 9 am I gathered some ILL and copying to take to the office. Sitting at one of the tables was a special ed assistant, Kristen, and a 4th grade student. I offhandedly said, "you're in charge" and left the library. I went to the office, used the bathroom and stopped by to see Joe so we could discuss what happened at the previous night's union meeting. Joe's door was closed so I returned to the library.

Kristen was no longer seated at the table but on the floor - dead. Eyes were open, mouth was open and her body was in an awkward position. The student was no longer in the library. I called 911 and immediately hung up despite their suggestion to stay on the line and then called the school nurse. I hung up the phone and started chest compressions. When Corrine, the nurse, arrived she called for someone to get the AED and she started mouth to mouth. When the AED arrived Corrine shocked her twice....still no life and no ambulance or cops or fire department. (Say what you will about city living but I trust emergency personnel will arrive within 3 minutes at my house.) After an eternity, or about 10 - 12 minutes, the ambulance arrived and took over. They shocked Kristen with the big paddles and were able to get a heart beat but continued bagging her. They loaded her in the ambulance and left. Very surreal as I looked around the library at the waste and carnage left over from lifesaving. No problem...I still had 30 minutes until my 1st class.

I called Ian (who unlike Rob always has his phone on) and had my melt down. He assured me that I did the right thing but that people rarely live after CPR...or at least that's what they teach him in CPR classes...so I shouldn't get my hopes up. I spent the rest of the day teaching and waiting for word about Kristen.

The principal stayed in touch with her husband and let everyone know that they lost her several more times but her heart beat was finally steady and they were worried about brain damage from the amount of time she was without life. She was put in a drug induced cold storage coma for 24 hours to preserve brain function. (laugh Rich...this is the non-medical version.) I spent the evening putting myself into an alcohol induced coma.

Her husband Steve was in the next morning to talk and pick up her purse and coat. It turns out she had some previously diagnosed heart condition that she was being treated for and her heart wasn't damaged from this. She just had some misfire and her brain never gave the beat signal to her heart. He cried and laughed and thanked me profusely saying the only reason she had any chance at all was because I started compressions. Have I mentioned I don't know CPR? I thought I was doing compressions to make her heart start beating and her breathing to start. In the beginning I felt like a failure because I couldn't bring her back to life and now this guy is crediting me with her only chance at life. Of course, all I can think about is the length of time she was dead and how horrible it will be when he and their 3 young children have to make the decision to stop life support because she was a vegetable.

By the next week she had a pacemaker and was home. Some short term memory loss and a few weeks of OT/PT and by January 2nd she was back at work. Good as new.

However, I spent some time eating too much, drinking too much and trying to control even more and sobbing in my doctor's office trying to explain this whole episode and getting my antidepressant dosage increased. I feel back to normal and have no desire to ever have the opportunity to save a life again. For god's sake....I am just a librarian.

Happy Birthday Rob

In a rare moment of frugality, I decided to wrap all Rob's presents in old used wrapping paper turned inside out, remnants and tissue paper. It's the inside that counts...right?The cake, however, is from scratch using new, not previously digested ingredients.

Happy 52 Rob.

Halloween Party 2010

We had an absolute ball at the MonsterQuest Halloween party. An abundance of good food and drink was consumed by all...especially me. Rob drove home. My t-shirt was covered with white fuzz from numerous Yeti hugs but I loved our costumes. I explained my lack of pants by assuring people they were covered in blood from my quail hunting accident. Boxers are pretty comfortable to hang in all night....
There was an amazing array of costumes. Elementary teachers can be so creative with a theme.This dragon actually had 5 people when it first arrived...and a head.

And I think Rob had fun hanging out as a cowboy.

The t-shirt was the find of the day at the Salvation Army. Oddly enough, it was from Unaustralian Opinionated Apparel but perfect for my Cheney outfit. Anybody want it? I would never wear it without the Cheney mask.

Can't wait until next year. I will take more pictures...I missed about 20 costumed adults.