Cold Spaghetti

We had a great visit with Nana Nancy. Before she left, we tried to take photos on the porch swing to compare to older porch-swing-with-kids photos… have I mentioned that group photography is a challenge?
See the full set (with all the kids’ collective crazies) on the updated Shutterfly page.

Tornadoes, three in current estimates, roared through New Orleans last night. We slept through the storm (or at least I did) but neighbors tell us the wind and rain were fierce. The kind of night where the kids climb into Mom and Dad’s bed to feel safe. We are fine. Huge portions of the city are without power — including the Carrollton area, which was heavily hit by tornadoes. Abeona House is in Carrollton on the Riverbend. Although tornadoes touched down all around it, the school is fine. But they took out the area power grid, the school is closed, and we have no idea when power will be restored and kids will be back in school.

It’s sort of a snow day?

And a tragic one. Family and neighbors pulled a body of an 86-year old woman from the destroyed remains of her FEMA trailer. Over a year and a half later and an 86-year old woman is still living in a FEMA trailer.

Busy time tonight! Freecycling, putting on new linens (mini splurge on clearance Overstock duvet and PB duvet cover/quilt from ebay), prepping pot roast, cleaning house, planning for Mardi Gras activities, gathering stuff for meetings, outreach phone calls, and more. Paul’s Mom arrives tomorrow… a day earlier than put on our family calendar. Not that it’s a big deal, we have a full open door policy. It is just a very busy week.

We’ve got so many balls in the air that we decided to let Kate feed herself tonight. Kate’s first table food! It’s potatoes from our Mexicali Stew (a wonderful recipe with beans, potatoes, tomatoes, and corn and seasoned with cocoa and chili). However, her bananas, plums, and rice made the biggest mess. I particularly liked how she used her food as a hair styling agent. Genius.

Yesterday, we had the A/C on. It was working hard to keep the house somewhere between 72-73 degrees.

We turned the heat back on last night, knowing it was going to get chilly. It did! Having an hour or more this morning without power did not help us keep the house toasty warm. But we got everyone warmly dressed, the power came back, and the temp outside is 42 — with a “feels like” temp of 35! Yowza! Here’s our super little man, just a little while ago…And his sister, flying to the door to watch her brother off to school! (Only 2 more weeks until Kate starts full-time at Abeona, too!!)

Remember all those posts about the pocket doors we’ve been restoring on and off since before Katrina? There’s been another development to the saga.

Paul was set to finish them last summer while I was in Mobile awaiting Kate’s arrival. He took apart the wall, repaired the brackets, and hung the doors (after having them all dipped to remove the paint that coated them). Once hung, it was obvious that one of the doors was seriously warped… so much so that the wall would have had to open a foot or more to accommodate the curve in that 100-year old beautifully carved 9′ cypress giant. Progress on the doors came to a halt.

We tried several months of pressure with water cooler bottles (10 or more for a good 8 weeks), nothing. It was clear that the door would need to be steam pressed, a process where the wood is soaked, bent, and dried into an appropriate shape. Unfortunately, the place that used to do that kind of delicate and difficult work does not exist post-Katrina. So…. we hung the door and have let it sit while we looked into other options.

Out of nowhere, I found a post on Craigslist about a local woodworker who mentioned specializing in old doors and facades. I emailed him and Bingo! He can do it! Ready for the price? $650 — includes stain and poly. A bargain considering that the estimate to rebuild a similar door was $2,025.

Paul is: recovering.

Will is: recovering.

Kate is: recovering.

Cat is: recovering.

I am: grading.

Bed has: 4th set of sheets in 2 days.

Christmas gifts: will be late.

Christmas cards: will be late.

It was a close shave, but we have survived the madness of the past two weeks. We did it only because we’ve had wonderful HELP. First, my Mom came and stayed with us for a few days (two days longer than initially planned because we threw ourselves to the floor begging). While it was a very busy visit with Paul working around the clock and me lecturing, assistant teaching, holding office hours, translating, and volunteering, I did get to take my Mom and Kate out to lunch.
I found Jim’s Yard Service via Craigslist and decided to give them a call. Our yard was a mess and we had no time to fix it… without decent strides, there would be no pirate birthday for Will. Jim and his brother, Curtis, did a tremendous job. They moved the bricks on the dirt pile (center) and cleaned up the yard. They offered to plant and maintain anything we bought for $5…
….so I went to the The Green Parrot and bought the plants on the right (hibiscus, trained into a tree; two camellia sasquana bushes; and lantana, trained into a tree). The nursery, located right around the corner and filled with great neighborhood folk, sold them with a 25% discount and delivered them for free.Then, I posted to craigslist looking for someone to help remove the brick stairs from the back of the house… the first step in starting to renovate the back of the house. (Note: no stairs off the house!) A local contractor called us, or actually, his secretary did. Turns out, he’s a local: licensed, insured, BBB registered, etc… but his english is poor and he uses an office staff to arrange work. He found out that we are conversational in spanish and things really took off. Bottom line: we’ve got a great, experienced contractor willing to work under the radar and piece-by-peace as we figure out each step and have the funds to pay for it. Paul is hoping to pour a new foundation within the next week.Then, Paul’s Mom arrived! She’s been here almost a week. Will has been in Grandmother heaven… presents, attention, kisses, and constant playtime. Nancy spent a morning at Abeona with the kids and was there to offer extra help during my volunteer hours on Friday. She has watched Will in the afternoon, allowing me to do fun things like … get my hair cut for the first time in over 8 months! She also brought cool aprons (see above) so that I don’t have to keep washing paint out of Will’s clothes.
Saturday, we all went to the Children’s Museum. They were having a special Native American celebration: we listened to storytelling time and Will made a beaded bracelet.
Saturday night, our favorite babysitter Michelle came over and we took Nancy out to Jacque-Imos for dinner. Like Paul and I, Nancy has been adding more meat into her diet. They both seriously impressed me by sharing in one of Jacque-Imo’s signature dishes: shrimp and alligator cheesecake. This morning, Paul was invited to go to the Saints-Bengals game with our neighbors, who ended up with an extra ticket. (Note: This is a REALLY BIG DEAL.) Nancy and I took the kids to Music Together, where Kate was actively involved until we turned UP the music for dancing… and she promptly fell asleep. This afternoon, we’re going to have a little birthday party for Will so that he can open his presents from Nana, Aunt Amy, Uncle Kevin, and cousin Brayden.
We’re very sad that Nana Nancy has to leave tomorrow. But we are excited that our help is not stopping with her departure… we have a CLEANING SERVICE cleaning the house for the first time tomorrow morning!! It’s like Christmas!!

— Two Saturday afternoon teaching sessions of “Biostats & Epid 101: The Very Basics” for the handful of students without prior coursework. Why those classes aren’t pre-reqs I have no idea!

— A part-time freelance writing gig. Writing text book assignments for a technical writing course. Pay is okay, not enough for a career change but twice the slave-labor rate of being a teaching assistant.

— Mr. Strongbad, our household spider, is perhaps Mrs. Strongbad. Baby Strongbad has made a web right in front of Mommy or Daddy. Teeny-weeny-itty-bitty crab-like spider!

— Two guest lectures this week for INHL 712: Measurement and Evaluation of Maternal and Child Health Programs in Developing Countries. I’m lecturing on newborn health and developing/measuring indicators for newborn health programs.

— In-home translation during home-nurse visits for a spanish-speaking mother of twin preemies. She and her husband are desperate for english classes… I’m contemplating giving free weekly lessons, if I can figure out when.

— Twice weekly volunteer sessions at Abeona. The Reggio-Emilia philosophy (with which I agree) calls for parental volunteerism. Personally, I think that parental involvement should be a precursor for being at Abeona, but maybe that’s something to work towards as the school continues to define itself.

Status:
1. The Pediculus were a false alarm. No child in Will’s class had them. (There was a scare with an older sybling, but it was caught early and treated by a very concerned and proactive parent and did not spread.)
2. Will does not and did not have any bugs in his hair.
3. Even though we are quite clear on this fact, Will is now completely onboard with “washing buggies out of his hair” and shampoo’ed his head four times in tonight’s shower.

Things I’ve learned:
1. I over reacted. Understandable, but still, an over-reaction.
2. Next time, I’m trying the Whole Foods and homeopathic remedies first.
3. Lice isn’t as big a deal as I thought and I will probably have to deal with it in my house at least once as my kids get older.

This is a really great study regarding head lice; it helped me to take a step back and think.

Joining our friend, Mr. Strongbad the spider, we now have a stinging caterpillar camped out on our front door. Unlike our web-clinging resident, this guy IS poisonous and, in the words of a wise Will, “gives big ouchies.”We’re not exactly sure what kind of caterpillar he is… buckmoth, perhaps?? Should you be the knowledgable one who can figure it out, please let us know!! We’d like to find photographs of him in his soon-in-coming butterfly stage and continue building on this impromtu educational experience.