Spring Cleaning
Here is a long over due update on all things Casa du Nord.
We have just finished a week long, 150 band, musical celebration called Home Grown Duluth. We saw only a small percentage of the groups, but it was a chance to get out and listen to new music and see old friends.
In between music and celebrations (and the results of celebrating), we have been trying to get ready for our first annual spring junk sale. All of the garages are full with our stuff that we have decided to recycle into the greater community. All of the cars are sad, sitting out in the cold Duluth weather.
Speaking of weather, we had the usual Duluth bait-n-switch scam run on us this year (as we do every year) where we get a string of really nice days that make us put the summer tires on our cars, plant all kinds of seedlings for an indoor start, and start pulling those summer clothes out of storage. Oh cruel fate. Our wishes and prayers were dashed when the temps plummeted again into the twenties, several inches of snow fell last weekend, and the morning glories have climbed eight feet up their strings and are taking over the living room ceiling.
It's also end of the school year around here and that means proms, honors banquets, parties, and those pesky checks to the graduates to help them on their way into the entitlement economy. Joe is finishing up his junior year, but because so many of his friends are seniors, it's just like going through a practice run. I keep raising the subject of college but so far the fire does not appear to have been lit. He did take the ACT test and got a decent score, but he says he wants to do it again and do better. I take that as a positive sign.
I leave this Friday to pick up Kate in Madison. She appears to have had a successful year. Because she has reached the age of emancipation, the college does not give me access to her grades, preferring that she share that info with me directly. And, even though I have not heard from her on that subject, I have great confidence in her.
I did get a call from her last week where she broke the news that she had been elected Chief Justice of the student judiciary for next year. The is a huge honor for her and even carries a financial stipend that will allow her to cover most of her room and board as well. Congrats to her.
And for me - well, I haven't been feeling well to be honest. It's not the kind of "ill" that I associate with the return of NHL, but rather like having a low-grade flu all the time. As I have reported before, the experimental drug I am taking through the Mayo study has proven successful at driving my NHL into remission, but at a secondary cost. I have a chronic lung and sinus condition that keeps me supporting the Kleenex industry single handedly. All of this has me just this side of a serious infection - similar to the one that put me in the hospital nearly a year ago. I don't want to repeat that, but I also don't want to stop taking the drug. It's a quandary.
I am scheduled to go down to the Mayo next week for my quarterly checkup and we will see what they say.
Well, that's about it and even though the world appears to be going to hell in a hand basket, I remain hopeful that we can bring a little peace and calm to this little piece of the planet.
TTFN
We have just finished a week long, 150 band, musical celebration called Home Grown Duluth. We saw only a small percentage of the groups, but it was a chance to get out and listen to new music and see old friends.
In between music and celebrations (and the results of celebrating), we have been trying to get ready for our first annual spring junk sale. All of the garages are full with our stuff that we have decided to recycle into the greater community. All of the cars are sad, sitting out in the cold Duluth weather.
Speaking of weather, we had the usual Duluth bait-n-switch scam run on us this year (as we do every year) where we get a string of really nice days that make us put the summer tires on our cars, plant all kinds of seedlings for an indoor start, and start pulling those summer clothes out of storage. Oh cruel fate. Our wishes and prayers were dashed when the temps plummeted again into the twenties, several inches of snow fell last weekend, and the morning glories have climbed eight feet up their strings and are taking over the living room ceiling.
It's also end of the school year around here and that means proms, honors banquets, parties, and those pesky checks to the graduates to help them on their way into the entitlement economy. Joe is finishing up his junior year, but because so many of his friends are seniors, it's just like going through a practice run. I keep raising the subject of college but so far the fire does not appear to have been lit. He did take the ACT test and got a decent score, but he says he wants to do it again and do better. I take that as a positive sign.
I leave this Friday to pick up Kate in Madison. She appears to have had a successful year. Because she has reached the age of emancipation, the college does not give me access to her grades, preferring that she share that info with me directly. And, even though I have not heard from her on that subject, I have great confidence in her.
I did get a call from her last week where she broke the news that she had been elected Chief Justice of the student judiciary for next year. The is a huge honor for her and even carries a financial stipend that will allow her to cover most of her room and board as well. Congrats to her.
And for me - well, I haven't been feeling well to be honest. It's not the kind of "ill" that I associate with the return of NHL, but rather like having a low-grade flu all the time. As I have reported before, the experimental drug I am taking through the Mayo study has proven successful at driving my NHL into remission, but at a secondary cost. I have a chronic lung and sinus condition that keeps me supporting the Kleenex industry single handedly. All of this has me just this side of a serious infection - similar to the one that put me in the hospital nearly a year ago. I don't want to repeat that, but I also don't want to stop taking the drug. It's a quandary.
I am scheduled to go down to the Mayo next week for my quarterly checkup and we will see what they say.
Well, that's about it and even though the world appears to be going to hell in a hand basket, I remain hopeful that we can bring a little peace and calm to this little piece of the planet.
TTFN
Copyright ©2003-2007 Phaedrous
posted by Phaedrous at 12:20 PM
1 Comments:
busy spring there by the sounds of it. congrats to the daughter unit for her achievement and the financial relief it provides.
pas gets the same fake out weather pattern and it's always a pain but at least ours doesn't come with snow, though it did require sweaters and heat.
will be anxious to hear the verdict on the lung crud dilemma.
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