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Day 1125: A little topsy-turvy
Jun. 22nd, 2014 11:40 amThis week was kind of a crazy one. Apparently one of my kids tried to kill himself over the weekend (or rather, he cut his wrist, but no one really thought he was suicidal), and nobody told me. I love how that happens. I show up to a meeting, I think things are fine, and then...bam! Things are not fine. Sometimes people hold meetings without me, or they double-book meetings, or they schedule meetings without me, and I have to triage - which case needs more attention? (It's a sad fact that the kids worse off get more attention, whereas the kids doing well see us more rarely.) And I thought...I will show up to the meeting, stick around, then head off to another rockier case. Nope. Plans blown. (And sometimes both cases are crazy, and then what do I do? Depends on who I saw more recently. This time management thing is a monster.) Also, it makes me worry about my kids, because it means decisions are being made without my input; it's not an ego thing if decisions are made that way. The caseworker and I have different priorities. Mine is the kid. The caseworker needs to factor in parents as well. Sometimes the parent gets helped at the kid's expense. (I was watching an episode of House the other night while I did chores, and a woman had to choose between her life and her baby's, and everyone thought it was insane, the way she chose her baby, and House was all, "Nope, it's Darwinian. For the survival of the species, the health of the next generation overrides the health of the current generation." I have never heard that before.) Maybe it's just because it's my job, but I put the kids first, if only because I hope that they won't turn into their own parents.
Went to a henna party, which was super awesome. The lady who hosted it is the mother of my two belly dance instructors. She is an Armenian immigrant and is just delightful. She is a widow but has a lovely home, and she gave us the grand tour. She made lots of traditional food, and she told us how her grandmother survived the slaughter the Turks were raining down on her country, how she survived an orphanage and how her husband hid her in caves and smuggled her across the border to Armenia. She was super proud about how Armenia was the first officially Christian state, and she showed us a copy of the Lord's prayer written in Armenian (which is apparently a direct descendant of Aramaic). We did henna tattoos for each other (apparently I am better at henna than I remember) and we hung around chatting and drinking Rooh Afza and having fun.
This week I discovered rose syrup which, when mixed with milk, tastes like Turkish Delight (the English kind, not the Turkish kind with the nuts), and is delicious. It is impossible to find English Turkish Delight without chocolate, so after I discovered rose-flavored ice cream I was determined to make some of my own. I looked around online for a rose ice cream recipe, discovered the existence of Rooh Afza, and with the power of Facebook, found an awesome little Indian market, and now I am hooked. The stuff is delicious.
We danced at the market this weekend. I didn't stay for the whole show, but it was good times. In hanging around the girls at the party and at the show, I discovered waaaaay more of them than I thought were LDS, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since people are usually surprised at my dance hobbies too. My dancing sisters are super sweet, and we had a great time. My parents got to watch me dance for the first time, which was awesome, and then we went to lunch with my girl BenTen and her husband to discuss our epic plans for Europe. Afterwards Cody had to go to the lab, Dad went to visit his other kids, and Mom and I attempted to hang curtains. She bought some lovely lace in France, and I grew up with little lace curtains all over the house, so we went for it (my sister didn't want any of the lace). I had shown Cody the lace and we'd talked about it, but in all our conversations he was either distracted or indifferent, but I thought he knew about the curtains. When he got home from the lab and Dad got back from visiting his kids, the dudes set about with their power tools to help us hang curtains and install fans, and Cody blew up at Mom and made her cry, which was super unacceptable.
We went out to dinner with Mom and Dad, ostensibly for a belated birthday and Father's Day celebration, and Cody and Mom hashed it out, and I think a truce was declared, and I hope it works out. Cody and I talked about it, and he said he feels imposed on when Mom and Dad come and help us with the house. I pointed out that his parents do the same (his mom bought clippers and insisted I learn how to cut Cody's hair, she rearranged all my cupboards, she bought some cleaning cloths because she likes to use them and thinks I should too) and he never feels imposed upon. I pointed out that I am just better at accepting his mother's assistance gracefully, even if sometimes it's not how I prefer to do things. (She has a particular way of cleaning things, my mother has a particular way of cleaning things, I tend to do things my mother's way because I grew up doing them that way and, between my mother-in-law and my mother, my mother is the superior housekeeper; in my mother-in-law's defense, she works full time.) So I think Cody and I have come to a better understanding of how to deal with in-laws (politely, all the time, no matter what).
Our neighbor's wife passed away. They are elderly, and she had heart problems, and then she had some surgery, and they thought she was getting better, and then she...died. Dingo had escaped from the yard, and as I was toting him home my neighbor stepped out onto the front porch to tell me. I hugged him, dressed in full belly dance regalia and with a wriggling puppy in one hand, and asked if there was anything I could do. Cars were parked outside our houses all day because his kids and grandkids came to see him. I won't be able to make it to either the viewing or the funeral because I already have plans in place, but I will keep an eye on the poor guy. He and his wife were nice to us from the very day we moved in.
Cody is headed for Germany tomorrow, and I need to coordinate with my girl Angela for two weeks of girl fun. I am going to miss him, though. I've been on business trips before, but never longer for a week. We'll see how all this goes.
Went to a henna party, which was super awesome. The lady who hosted it is the mother of my two belly dance instructors. She is an Armenian immigrant and is just delightful. She is a widow but has a lovely home, and she gave us the grand tour. She made lots of traditional food, and she told us how her grandmother survived the slaughter the Turks were raining down on her country, how she survived an orphanage and how her husband hid her in caves and smuggled her across the border to Armenia. She was super proud about how Armenia was the first officially Christian state, and she showed us a copy of the Lord's prayer written in Armenian (which is apparently a direct descendant of Aramaic). We did henna tattoos for each other (apparently I am better at henna than I remember) and we hung around chatting and drinking Rooh Afza and having fun.
This week I discovered rose syrup which, when mixed with milk, tastes like Turkish Delight (the English kind, not the Turkish kind with the nuts), and is delicious. It is impossible to find English Turkish Delight without chocolate, so after I discovered rose-flavored ice cream I was determined to make some of my own. I looked around online for a rose ice cream recipe, discovered the existence of Rooh Afza, and with the power of Facebook, found an awesome little Indian market, and now I am hooked. The stuff is delicious.
We danced at the market this weekend. I didn't stay for the whole show, but it was good times. In hanging around the girls at the party and at the show, I discovered waaaaay more of them than I thought were LDS, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since people are usually surprised at my dance hobbies too. My dancing sisters are super sweet, and we had a great time. My parents got to watch me dance for the first time, which was awesome, and then we went to lunch with my girl BenTen and her husband to discuss our epic plans for Europe. Afterwards Cody had to go to the lab, Dad went to visit his other kids, and Mom and I attempted to hang curtains. She bought some lovely lace in France, and I grew up with little lace curtains all over the house, so we went for it (my sister didn't want any of the lace). I had shown Cody the lace and we'd talked about it, but in all our conversations he was either distracted or indifferent, but I thought he knew about the curtains. When he got home from the lab and Dad got back from visiting his kids, the dudes set about with their power tools to help us hang curtains and install fans, and Cody blew up at Mom and made her cry, which was super unacceptable.
We went out to dinner with Mom and Dad, ostensibly for a belated birthday and Father's Day celebration, and Cody and Mom hashed it out, and I think a truce was declared, and I hope it works out. Cody and I talked about it, and he said he feels imposed on when Mom and Dad come and help us with the house. I pointed out that his parents do the same (his mom bought clippers and insisted I learn how to cut Cody's hair, she rearranged all my cupboards, she bought some cleaning cloths because she likes to use them and thinks I should too) and he never feels imposed upon. I pointed out that I am just better at accepting his mother's assistance gracefully, even if sometimes it's not how I prefer to do things. (She has a particular way of cleaning things, my mother has a particular way of cleaning things, I tend to do things my mother's way because I grew up doing them that way and, between my mother-in-law and my mother, my mother is the superior housekeeper; in my mother-in-law's defense, she works full time.) So I think Cody and I have come to a better understanding of how to deal with in-laws (politely, all the time, no matter what).
Our neighbor's wife passed away. They are elderly, and she had heart problems, and then she had some surgery, and they thought she was getting better, and then she...died. Dingo had escaped from the yard, and as I was toting him home my neighbor stepped out onto the front porch to tell me. I hugged him, dressed in full belly dance regalia and with a wriggling puppy in one hand, and asked if there was anything I could do. Cars were parked outside our houses all day because his kids and grandkids came to see him. I won't be able to make it to either the viewing or the funeral because I already have plans in place, but I will keep an eye on the poor guy. He and his wife were nice to us from the very day we moved in.
Cody is headed for Germany tomorrow, and I need to coordinate with my girl Angela for two weeks of girl fun. I am going to miss him, though. I've been on business trips before, but never longer for a week. We'll see how all this goes.
