Our little rocker!
(Can’t you just hear Right Said Fred in the background??)
Compare this to the shots below… they really do grow *so* fast! I’m nuts about my fun and adorable kid, but what happened to my tiny baby?
Gwen’s a Mommy!
She’s here! Her name is Clare and she is perfectly precious!! You can read her stats on Gwen’s blog. Gwen had a great delivery with Clare coming fast (two pushes!!) Awesome job to both Mom and baby girl! I can’t wait to give her tons of kisses, introduce her to Will, and tell her about all the amazing things her Aunt Holly will teach her! Hooray and congratulations to Gwen and Mario!
Remembering Will’s first moments…
Now I am feeling nostalgic. This was the first time I held my baby! I remember when everyone in the room gasped at his red hair… this was the last thing to come out and surprised everyone!
Sicker and Sicker
Our tax dollars… support for the wealthy friends of Dubya!
– We continue to pay for the salary of the treasonous Rove.
– Worthless, resume-inflating, Brown gets “moved” (rather than canned.)
– And subsiaries of Cheney’s Halliburton get the money for post-Katrina cleanup. Jeez, what a great idea, Dubya! Particularly since Halliburton-affiliated companies have done a great job in sucking billions from U.S. taxpayers — with no accountability!
No need to take the news from me, take it from someone who work(ed) there.
Day Care Decisions… are connected to religion?
Day Care One: A Montessori program. Located not far from the house, set over three mobile classroom units. Okay facilities, okay cleanliness, friendly staff. Ages 2 and younger in one room — which means toddlers and infants being looked after by same folks. (A problem.) 8:30-11:30, $75/week, registration and first week waived due to our “circumstances.” (Very nice and giving offer.)
Day Care Two: Baptist Church. Located very far from the house, through traffic, inconvenient. Super friendly and attentive staff. Nicely sized play-spaces. Snacks, drinks, and hot lunch provided. Pick up by noon, $15/day, unknown registration fee. No mention of church attendance, bible themes, or affliation. (We liked this place best.)
Day Care Three: Christ United Methodist. (Paul’s first comment: “An unfortunate acronym.”) Most impressive center. Very close to house and cafes with free internet (where I could work while Will is there.) Over several beautiful brick buildings, many classrooms, tons of toys, beautiful play-yards. Fall theme: “You, me, and Jesus.” 9-1, M-W-F, $130/month. $120 activities and registration fee. (This is the one we went with.)
Yes. We’ve enrolled our child in a very Christian day care! Not that I have anything wrong with Christianity or the Methodist Church. I believe in the power of faith and have great respect for every person’s system of belief. Heck, I’m ordained. However, hard-core Southern Christianity gives me the heebie-jeebies. Where is the line between this stuff and say, Pat Robertson? The “You, me, and Jesus” thing was a bit of a bump for me. It really just put it all out there… these folks are serious about this stuff. In addition to the “theme”, they also do Bible Stories (I think this is fine, I love the Old Testament). Although when we learned that they do the ABC’s based on bible stories (ie: “A is for Adam and Eve”) I had to bite my tongue to prevent asking “And is G for Gomorrah and W for the Whore of Babylon??”
Anyway, uncertainity aside, I liked the center a lot and quite liked the staff. And the number one plus: location, location, location. But signing Will up for this made me take some time to reflect… how do I deal with my feelings about this church and it’s teachings to my child? While it doesn’t bother me in a general sense, I have hesitation.
I am always fascinated with those who have such incredible faith and commitment to their belief system when it seems (to me at least) to beg so many questions. (Immaculate conception? Water into wine? I’m all for miracles, but let’s think realistically.) That kind of unquestioning belief is what I simultaneously find the most frustrating — and the most fascinating and compelling — about faith. My bottom line: expanding Will’s world is a good thing. But I think I will have to complement his Bible teachings with other stories from a range of religions and mythologies… Greek and Roman Mythology, the Holy Qur’an, the Sikh Holy Book, Norse Legend, the Ramayana… and whatever else I can find. This is the sort of mish-mosh of religious exposure I got growing up and I believe it helped to give me an appreciation for difference at a young age. It’s important to me that Will approaches the world’s religions together. I hope that this kind of unbiased exposure will help him one day find a home somewhere in faith, on his own terms and in his own time.
Insurance will drive me mad
One of the inconveniences of being among the “displaced”: insurance.
So we’ve found out that our insurance (Humana) only applies to a small number of providers in and around New Orleans. Out of network? Cough up a heafty deductible ($100-500 per person) and pay 30-50% of your services… *if* Humana thinks that services are something they’d like to pay.
(Anyone who thinks privatization of social services is ever a good idea is terribly, terribly wrong. There is a reason that the civilized, healthy, and “developed” countries in the world have Universal health care systems. Why we do not is a question we all should be asking our government on a regular basis.)
Not wanting to be seen as unmerciful, our money-hungry, for-profit, “health” insurer reminded me that we have 30 days where we can see out-of-network providers on their tab. So, I called around and begged to get Will a pediatrician appointment before the end of September. Some challenges: the receptionist who couldn’t comprehend why I wasn’t able to answer whether Will would be seeing the doctor more than once, the nurse who wouldn’t take my word for word for what shots Will had received, and the many staff who couldn’t quite understand why I couldn’t have his records “transfered to their office.” Isn’t anyone watching the news?!
So, Will has an appointment with unknown Doc Castor, Wednesday at 1:30. Wish us luck.
Headlines
Great headlines from the most recent issue of The Onion:
God Outdoes Terrorists Yet Again
Louisiana National Guard Offers Help By Phone From Iraq
Government Relief Workers Mosey In To Help
White Foragers Report Threat Of Black Looters
Bush Urges Victims To Gnaw On Bootstraps For Sustenance
Officials Uncertain Whether To Save Or Shoot Victims
Nation’s Politicians Applaud Great Job They’re Doing
Bush: ‘It Has Been Brought To My Attendtion That There Was Recently A Bad Storm’
Moments with Will
When visiting my parents, they enjoy dressing him after his bath. My Mom gives him a soothing massage while she and my Dad sing to him. He loves it.
Tonight, he laid so still and quiet, listening to them sing (song selections include “Red Red Robin”, “Roses of Success”, “Toot Sweets”, “Be My Echo”, “High Hopes” and many more). When they were done and about to lay him to bed, he quietly said, “Moe”. (Will speak for “more”.)
So they laid him back down and sang another song to his smiling face.
Good news!
Our neighbor, Walt, was kind enough to flash his doctor-ID and check out our place! His report: no catastrophic damage! In fact, aside from the huge mess we left in our packing haste, no real mess to report. Even our fridge (which he kindly cleaned out) was without rank odor. (A surprise perk of vegetarianism.) He noticed some yard damage (neighbor’s fence down) and other little things, but on the whole, a very, very good report.
It is too unbelieveable to think that we got through this relatively unscathed. There are a few known issues that require additional investigation that we want to check out once we can get back (the slow leak in the back addition roof, water blow into the eaves, wet insulation in the attic, etc.) But the bottom line is: we have a house, it has a solid roof, and there is no obvious damage preventing us from living there, eventually.
Can you hear our huge sigh of relief?
