This n' that update
Rob Moves On
Our son has had an interesting summer, and it's ending much better than it began.
It began with his wife going underground with their two daughters, leaving their son with Rob. This pushed Rob into going to court, where he got a court order giving him temporary custody of all three children. He found his wife and the two girls, and the girls returned home with him.
There were two more trips to court in short order after that, to dispose of Cris' attempt to level some bogus charges at Rob, and to consolidate all legal matters under the judge who will decide custody, visitation, and the financial settlement. This judge decided to divide parenting time equally between Rob and Cris for the summer, with the kids alternating weeks between the parents. Rob was initially quite upset about this, but it turned out to work out pretty well. It's given the kids a chance to adjust to alternating life in both homes, and there has been a lot of flexibility according to kids' desires, sports schedules, vacations, and all the other things that happen during summer.
Meanwhile, Rob has fallen in love. This is an Internet romance that began after Cris left, and blossomed with face-to-face meetings this month. His new love is visiting right now, and he brought her to a Stringfolks gig this week, to my office, and to our house for supper last night. We like her! The kids like her, too. She's friendly, intelligent, funny, pleasure-loving, sensible, and she likes real food. It looks like she is moving north next weekend, and will be living with Rob.
When Rob told us about her, he said he has no regrets about his life with Cris, and firmly believes that they had a happy life together for many years. He said, though, that Cris was a taker, whereas Tami is a giver. He said that he thought two givers together could be a really good thing. I think he is on to something big there.
Progress on the House
We did not go to the boat this weekend. There were gigs on Friday and Sunday, so a trip to Clayton would have been rushed. Instead, we stained the new siding. We were able to do more than half the house in just two days. Staining goes WAY faster than painting.
All three of us keep pinching ourselves, not quite believing that we are actually doing this.
We are over half way done, and have a shot at getting it done by the end of the month. The Wagner Multi-Sprayer is the bomb. Robert is using it to get all the high areas.
How to Recover From a Shoulder Injury
I am recovering from a nasty fall. Three days ago, I slipped and fell off our front deck. I bent down to pick up my purse and my foot slid out in front of me on a patch of wet, slightly mossy pressure-treated lumber. All at once I was on top of a hosta in the flower bed, about a three-foot fall. I picked myself up, went inside, then went back out in a panic to look for my glasses. They were uninjured. The same could not be said of me. I had a nasty bruise on my right shin. As the day went on, I became aware that I had hurt my right shoulder as well.
The bruise is still with me, and still looks quite ugly. The shoulder is feeling better. I have shown it no mercy. I've dealt with frozen shoulder on both sides, and have learned that shoulders must not be cosseted. My prescription: a steady dose of veggie chopping, paintbrush wielding, backpack lifting and carrying, and Guitar Hero playing, with an occasional dose of ibuprofen.
I Begin to Succeed at Guitar Hero
Ana has her own copy of Guitar Hero now, thanks to birthday money and Amazon Used. She has been eager to unlock cooperative play, and have me play with her. A second "guitar" could be borrowed from Rob, so the logistics were possible. There was only one problem. I sucked.
So we put me on bass, on easy. And I still sucked. I had big problems hitting the correct buttons with the fingers of my left hand. Darn MS.
Suddenly Ana had a brainstorm. What if we did a lefty-flip, and had me play as if I was left-handed?
It works! I'm still on easy, but I can now "sight-read" a new tune more than adequately. We hardly ever fail a tune any more. YAY! This is fun!
A New Avatar
An Internet friend on another site has been kidding around about knitting superheroes. As the Sci Fi Knitter, my daughter decided to draw me a special avatar.
I figure that the cape is knit of kevlar yarn. My friend, BeautifulWolf, tells me that my slogan must be "To Knit-Finity and Beyond!"
Our son has had an interesting summer, and it's ending much better than it began.
It began with his wife going underground with their two daughters, leaving their son with Rob. This pushed Rob into going to court, where he got a court order giving him temporary custody of all three children. He found his wife and the two girls, and the girls returned home with him.
There were two more trips to court in short order after that, to dispose of Cris' attempt to level some bogus charges at Rob, and to consolidate all legal matters under the judge who will decide custody, visitation, and the financial settlement. This judge decided to divide parenting time equally between Rob and Cris for the summer, with the kids alternating weeks between the parents. Rob was initially quite upset about this, but it turned out to work out pretty well. It's given the kids a chance to adjust to alternating life in both homes, and there has been a lot of flexibility according to kids' desires, sports schedules, vacations, and all the other things that happen during summer.
Meanwhile, Rob has fallen in love. This is an Internet romance that began after Cris left, and blossomed with face-to-face meetings this month. His new love is visiting right now, and he brought her to a Stringfolks gig this week, to my office, and to our house for supper last night. We like her! The kids like her, too. She's friendly, intelligent, funny, pleasure-loving, sensible, and she likes real food. It looks like she is moving north next weekend, and will be living with Rob.
When Rob told us about her, he said he has no regrets about his life with Cris, and firmly believes that they had a happy life together for many years. He said, though, that Cris was a taker, whereas Tami is a giver. He said that he thought two givers together could be a really good thing. I think he is on to something big there.
Progress on the House
We did not go to the boat this weekend. There were gigs on Friday and Sunday, so a trip to Clayton would have been rushed. Instead, we stained the new siding. We were able to do more than half the house in just two days. Staining goes WAY faster than painting.
All three of us keep pinching ourselves, not quite believing that we are actually doing this.
We are over half way done, and have a shot at getting it done by the end of the month. The Wagner Multi-Sprayer is the bomb. Robert is using it to get all the high areas.
How to Recover From a Shoulder Injury
I am recovering from a nasty fall. Three days ago, I slipped and fell off our front deck. I bent down to pick up my purse and my foot slid out in front of me on a patch of wet, slightly mossy pressure-treated lumber. All at once I was on top of a hosta in the flower bed, about a three-foot fall. I picked myself up, went inside, then went back out in a panic to look for my glasses. They were uninjured. The same could not be said of me. I had a nasty bruise on my right shin. As the day went on, I became aware that I had hurt my right shoulder as well.
The bruise is still with me, and still looks quite ugly. The shoulder is feeling better. I have shown it no mercy. I've dealt with frozen shoulder on both sides, and have learned that shoulders must not be cosseted. My prescription: a steady dose of veggie chopping, paintbrush wielding, backpack lifting and carrying, and Guitar Hero playing, with an occasional dose of ibuprofen.
I Begin to Succeed at Guitar Hero
Ana has her own copy of Guitar Hero now, thanks to birthday money and Amazon Used. She has been eager to unlock cooperative play, and have me play with her. A second "guitar" could be borrowed from Rob, so the logistics were possible. There was only one problem. I sucked.
So we put me on bass, on easy. And I still sucked. I had big problems hitting the correct buttons with the fingers of my left hand. Darn MS.
Suddenly Ana had a brainstorm. What if we did a lefty-flip, and had me play as if I was left-handed?
It works! I'm still on easy, but I can now "sight-read" a new tune more than adequately. We hardly ever fail a tune any more. YAY! This is fun!
A New Avatar
An Internet friend on another site has been kidding around about knitting superheroes. As the Sci Fi Knitter, my daughter decided to draw me a special avatar.
I figure that the cape is knit of kevlar yarn. My friend, BeautifulWolf, tells me that my slogan must be "To Knit-Finity and Beyond!"
What wonderful things you have to say about me....**blushes, then steals some more salsa**!
ReplyDeleteI love you guys too. It's nice to meet real people and have a good time with them.
I can't wait for many years of fun times and eating out on the patio. Dad seemed to want that the other night, but we all outvoted him. We might be nice and allow him to have his way once and a while. :o)
Til later!
Tami