A date, a schedule, a trim, a birthday

We got Ben's surgery date today written in ink: February 15th, as mentioned before. Sort of feels like there should be cannon blasts or the sound of trumpets blaring. I guess since we've been looking at it on the calendar in pencil it felt anti-climactic. But then...quite urgent all at the same time.


Now it’s time to get my a** in gear and make some arrangements.

Airline tickets.
Lodging.
Transport to and from airports.

And the biggie: a schedule for Harry and Toby while I’m gone that can be overseen by any variety of relatives and friends who’ll be caring for them. That’s the hardest one.

When you homeschool your kids the day to day stuff is the EVERYTHING about your life. If they went to school our schedule would at least have some basic givens every Monday thru Friday…pack a lunch and get them out the door by 8…breathe deeply…pick them up by 3…or something along those lines. With homeschooling we have 4H on Tuesdays and Spanish on Wednesdays and teen group on Monday nights and and and…and then there’s the routine at home that involves some books or an online course or something of that nature.

Plus the folks who will be caring for them also have lives. My mom will be doing the lion’s share. She’ll be transplanting herself from Oakland for about two weeks to cart Harry and Toby hither and yon, foregoing her Great Books discussion group, caring for our niece on Wednesdays, teaching folk dancing...You get the picture. She's no slouch.

Instead she gets to wear the House Nag hat at Three Boys Farm to get the boys to do their chores (let’s not forget that the animals will need food every morning and a cleaned out pasture by afternoon), and the Homeschool Matron hat when she's reminding Harry to work on his Photoshop tutorials and sitting with Toby to read. Not that that’s all bad. I mean, that’s the sugar of homeschooling…reading with Toby in a cozy chair in the living room.

But, I digress. There’s lots to do and none of it is as easy as it could be. For example, Ben needs to get some pre-op tests done. Shriners sent us a script for PFT (Pulmonary Function Test) and EKG (Electrocardiogram). We went to Sutter Hospital to do the tests. Twice. Last week we went in with Toby in tow. They sent us right back out. “No children admitted without an appointment.” Due to the H1N1. “They didn’t even ask if I was sick!” he said indignantly. This week we went in (left Toby with friends first) and took care of the PFT. Then were sent to another desk to register for the EKG. “Sorry, we don’t take test orders from out of state doctors.” “But, they just did at the other desk!?” “She’s new and didn’t know.” Sheesh. Does this mean they won’t send the results to Shriners? Who the heck knows! Had to call our local doctor and have her write up an order for the EKG. Taking Ben in again for that tomorrow or Thursday.

Anyhow, one thing that’s easy around here these days is getting our hairs-cut. As you can see we had some long locks up until 3 pm today. Penelope is our new hairstylist. Our former stylist moved to Florida (Hi, Coco! We miss you!) We’re happy to have found Penelope who is awesome at cutting hair AND comes to our house. Doesn’t everyone look lovely?

Tomorrow is Toby’s birthday…very hard to believe my little bugger is turning 9! Yowza. What an old guy! Luckily, he still likes to cuddle with me in a big chair, still has a soft heart and is sweet as the day is long.

(Sorry, having some trouble with the photos...will post more with our new 'do's soon.)