violetismycolor

anyone got a cheap hotel?

Still no word from either Bonnie or Adam.  We wait.

I have spent the entire evening looking at websites for hotels/b&b's in the St. Andrew's area and in the area around Loch Lomond. The Colquhoun's (the way our family name was spelled in Scotland) come from the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.  The prices are all *alot*, especially if you take into account the exchange rate.  This is an exercise in anxiety and frustration.  I have sent numerous e-mails to numerous hotels/b&b's and now am just waiting...

I seem to be doing a lot of that lately.

mysterious medical ailments, road trips, and life...

Bonnie is feeling so much better.  She continued to have nausea on Thursday, then her symptoms subsided altogether on Friday.  She is worried that it could all come back but we told her to just live her life as usual.  So, she went on a planned road trip to Washinton, DC with 3 friends.  She got there last night and called to let me know (though I hadn't asked her to; I DO appreciate it...).  So now, we just wait and see.

Adam, on the other hand, wanted to go down to see my friend, Judith, in Wiltshire but he had to first wait to speak to an advisor, and then his ear started going wanky on him.  Now, he has to wait till Tuesday when he will see a doctor (God bless the British medical system, we don't have to pay those exorbitant American medical rates!)  He is still hoping to get down to Judith's next week. Her daughter, Sarah, is his age and she goes to University of Reading, not too far away.  He is hoping she will take a couple of days and hang out with him.   He is off school till February 9th.  St. Andrew's has the weirdest schedule...

John and I have just been hanging around today, doing pretty much nothing.  We are going to see "A Very Long Engagement" with Audrey Tatou, tonight.  He doesn't really want to see it, but I have been begging for weeks and tonight is the night.  Hope it's good, so I don't have to hear his disappointment....

photo friday...youth...

***you know the drill...click on photos for a better look***

The topic today is youth and, of course, the youth I chose are my own kids.  These photos were taken in 1999 on a trip to the East Coast. Adam and Bonnie hanging out next to the Connecticut River, at the Dartmouth College Boathouse, is a favorite memory of this trip.  Ross and John had gone out canoeing. In the second photo, we were with friends in Warren, Vermont...swimming in a neighbor's pond, when Ross came across this salamander.  This is the first time Ross had seen a salamander up close and it was a big moment for him.  Anyone who knows Ross, knows that he loves animals, bugs, and amphibians more than just about anything else.  So yes, a big deal.  He also saw his first fireflies on this trip, and that was also magical for him and for us.

illustration friday...gluttony...

***Click on Illo for a better view***  The first thing I thought of was how babies are often offered and happily eat an entire cake for their first birthday.  THIS is how gluttony begins...

Ironically, it is my 17 year-old, skinny son's birthday today!

Bonnie update...

Having a child 3,000 miles away and in need of medical care is a bad, bad thing.

Bonnie's bloodwork was inconclusive, then they did a pelvic exam which sent her back into pain spasms, though they didn't find anything wrong with her pelvis. Then, they did a urine test. They finally sent her home at 230 am (her time) and she called me (which was 1130 pm, my time). They still didn't know what was wrong with her, but they told her to take 2 Advil every 4 hours (they couldn't even give her a couple there? no, she had to do it when she got back to her dorm...). And then they wanted her to call a Dr. Walker in the morning.

Her pain is now gone, and she called Dr. Walker but he said they would have to wait till the pain came back and she'd probably have to have a CT scan then. Why can't they do it now?

My friend, Susan, who is a naturopathic physician, upon hearing her story this morning, said, "Appendix. If not that, Ovarian Cyst." She thinks most probably it's appendix, which can cause pain on and off for months before being resolved. She thought they should have done an ultrasound or a CT scan last night.

Now Bonnie is afraid the pain will come back and she will be stuck, again, with huge wait times. And she is supposed to go to Washington DC this weekend, but now she is afraid to.

I just hate being a long-distance mom...

scary mommy moment...

I got a call from Bonnie at about 4:30 this afternoon and she was crying, hard.  Seems she is having severe pain in her right abdomen (a 9 out of 10 on the pain scale).  It had been bothering her, on and off, since last night

Yes, she had gone to the health center at Colgate.  No, they couldn't figure out what was wrong with her and sent her home.  It was 7:30 pm her time, and the health center was now closed.

Of course, I insisted that she go to the hospital.  She must have argued with me, crying, for about 10 minutes.  She didn't want to inconvenience anyone (?) and what if it was nothing (it's a 9 out of 10 and it could be nothing?).  And she had a lot of homework to do, but of course couldn't concentrate and do it. 

She finally called Campus Security on her room phone while I held on, on the cell phone.  They said that they would come and get her and take her to the hospital.

She has now been waiting about 2 hours.  I have talked to her several times, finally convincing her to call a friend to come sit with her.  Her friend has just arrived and that makes her feel more comfortable. 

Now, I just wait...

Update:  Bonnie finally called a friend to sit with her.  She waited about 3 hours to be called in for her exam.  She has had some blood taken...I'm guessing they're screening her for an internal infection.   And she's on an IV for her nausea. 

headline...Mom more computer literate than son!...

How is it possible that my 17-years-old-tomorrow son doesn't know how to download his printer's driver and then install it?  I thought all teenaged boys inherently had this skill.  It isn't that he doesn't spend every possible extra minute on his computer; he does.  AND he is taking this class in school that is supposed to teach him all sorts of software stuff, and yet he has learned nothing.  Apparently.

So Mom (read 'I') had to come to the rescue this morning when a crucial assignment could not be printed out.  I have to say that I was pretty darn impressed with myself that I had more computer smarts than Ross.  And then, I started to worry about all these basic things that I obviously still have to teach him...

pieces fall into place...

We realized last night, all of a sudden, that we would need to find someone to dog-sit for us when we go to Scotland.  This is going to be 2 weeks, so we can't just leave Barley (our Sheltie) home and have someone come in three times a day to walk him.  He would be too lonely.  And we can't put him in a kennel for 2 weeks.   He would go into his trying-to-knaw-his-foot-off routine.  And with 2 whole weeks, would probably succeed this time. 

So, I had a bit of a panic attack about what we could do with him.  But this morning, on my morning Starbucks run, I asked a couple of the baristas if they knew anyone who might be interested. One of them, a sweet 23 yr-old named Katie, said that she would like to.  I have spent quite a bit of time talking with Katie in the past and she seems to be a very sweet and honest person.  I am thrilled that she wants to do it and she is thrilled to be both closer to work and able to earn a little extra cash. 

So, yay!  One more item off my list. 

trip plans..

Yay, we have finally pinned down our trip to visit Adam in Scotland.  I was practically sick yesterday (raging headache, grouchy tummy) from going over all the possibilities for the trip...how many days here and there, with friends, on our own, how does one cross the channel, and for how much money, ferry, hydrofoil, Chunnel Train, who will be home to receive us, how could I forget that it will be Easter weekend and all the reservations are gone, and so much more.

We booked it for 2 weeks.  Yes, we will take Ross along, so we have to notify the school.  Now I have to square dates with friends, who we are counting on to take us in so we don't have to pay for hotels.  And John is still fretting about the money.  But it will work; I know it will. 

I know that it all sounds exotic and fun, but planning this kind of thing is a bitch.  I am expected to plan every detail and my family just goes along for the ride.  We had one trip, when the kids were really little, that I had to plan and by the time we were on the trip, I was horribly sick and lost 15 pounds over the course of time we were gone.  I got something akin to a bleeding ulcer.  The funny thing was that I didn't FEEL stressed but apparently I was.  So, yesterday's bout of travel-planning-sickness was truly a warning for me. 

illustration friday...the seasons...

***click on the pic for a better look***

Okay, so who hasn't been here??? Fall is at its' height, you are eating to stay warm and putting on a few pounds, and boom...you remember that you someday want to fit into your swimsuit again.  You are wishing for summer, and yet, you know that it's gonna hurt once you get there...

Ross has done it...

With exactly one week to go till his 17th birthday, Ross had finally gotten his permit.  AND he had to be pushed to do it.  Amazing.  His brother and sister insisted on heading straight for the DMV when they had their 15th birthdays, but Ross has resisted for so long.  Okay, now I have to sign him up for Driver's Ed...

crocus uprising...

***You know the drill...click on the photo for a really good look...*** I have to say that it is pretty shocking to go outside and see the crocus blooming, in droves, around my mailbox...just a couple of days after freezing our buns off in that ice storm.  The daytime high today was 66 degrees at my house, balmy for an Oregon winter.  I took this photo so that the disbelieving could see what I say is true.

In other news, I have started a mixed media art class and I clearly don't know what the hell I am doing.  But then, no one else seems to either, so that's okay.  Having never worked with most of these media in the past, we are all stuggling to figure it all out.  But that IS the purpose of going to class...

can't wait...

I am working on my new banner, which will be up on January 21, the beginning of the new astrological period.  I am going to try to do something a little more elaborate than the simple banners of the past, but I am not quite sure that I am capable of achieving what I want.  We shall see.

Bonnie is freezing her tush off at college.  It is -1 degree (feels like -11) right now in Hamilton.  Her 'warmer than average' winter just went out the window.  On the other hand, it was above 60 here in Portland today, downright balmy.  On my daily walk today, I was wearing a long sleeve knit shirt and was way too warm.  Got all hot and sweaty...interesting how a few weeks of 30's weather changed my perspective.

I am having a lot of fun with this week's Illustration Friday theme "Seasons".  I am trying to be somewhat original.  Watch this space...

Adam got a call from the Post Office today, saying that he had a package and that he owed 30 pounds (roughly 60 dollars) in customs/duty.  He was confused.  I had sent him his digital camera, which had been repaired while he was home over Christmas and wasn't done till he left.  Now, he has to bring in his receipt from the purchase last August to prove it is not a new camera.  What a pain!

comments?

The comments section was somehow 'closed' on my last post...don't even know how THAT happened...Thanks, Margaret, for pointing it out...I just thought nobody out there was reading me....

BTW, the wrist is improving and the ice is GONE!!!  Yay....  And Bonnie got safely back to college, where it was snowing gently.  Finally got a hold of Adam and heard about his week in Paris.  He crashed a friend of ours' 3 Kings party, but that seemed to be allright for everyone.  He saw everything major except the Louvre (closed, Sunday).  Now, he is talking about going to Sweden and Ireland when his exams are done next week, since there are no classes till Feb 9th.  Life is rough!

ice and ouch...

Portland is in the grip of an ice storm.  Bonnie had to get to the airport.  These two facts intersected today and what they produced was trauma. 

Our house is in the West Hills of Portland.  Hills and ice are a very bad combination.  We wouldn't have tried at all, except that United insisted that if Bonnie didn't go today, she couldn't get out before Tuesday.  Add/drop is tomorrow (Sunday) and Monday school starts...she didn't think she could wait till Wednesday to start school. 

So, we devised a plan.  We would walk/slide down the street to the main highway (about a quarter mile all downhill, covered with ice), then wait for a bus...take the bus downtown then take the Light Rail to the airport.  We all managed to fall at least once on the way down the hill.  Then, we waited about 45 minutes for the bus, which never came.  Three cars were piled up, awaiting tow trucks, in front of the bus shelter. 

We actually got an empty cab to stop for us and we just took it all the way to the airport...we also took a cab back.  Bonnie caught her plane and should get to school tonight at midnight. 

John has a huge bruise on his back, and has gone to bed.  My right wrist is sprained and I am typing. gingerly. with my left hand mostly (right wrist is totally gone from the fall) and now I am going to sit on my sofa, not move my right wrist, and watch 'Shakespeare in Love'.

Photo Friday...signs...

***click on the image for a larger picture***

This was taken at a post office in The Dordogne in France a few years ago.  I took the picture specifically because I loved the sign so much.  Of course, the beautiful golden stone of the region, mixed with the ever-present flowers all through the towns, didn't hurt, either.

Illustration Friday...balance...

***click on this image for a better view!!!***

Here is my take on IF...love or money? Which is more important to you?

panhandlers...

I saw the very weirdest thing today.  A 20'ish woman was standing on the streetcorner, holding a sign that said "Every little bit helps.  God bless". 

The guy in front of me, some dude in a company van, very dirty and banged up (the van, not the guy) opens his window and holds out a prescription bottle.  Seriously!  She takes it, reads the label, then walks back up to the guy and they say something to each other.  She opens the bottle and shakes a handful out and gives the guy back the bottle.  She shoves the pills into her pocket and picks her sign up again, and the light changes. 

Okay, this was the most bizarre thing I have seen happen in some time...what was this guy thinking?  Apparently, cut to the chase...give the girl drugs INSTEAD of money to buy drugs.  Good thinking...cuts down on the work she has to do...

And this was in broad daylight!

favorite things...

There's nothing I love more than sitting on my sofa, wearing comfy sweatpants and my favorite Scottish wool sweater, watching Navy CIS and reading (and commenting on) my favorite blogs.  Does life get any better than this?

BTW, I am now on Lemony Snicket #5 and I am still having fun with it!

I've been googled, and I don't like it...

You may or may not know that at Typepad sites, like mine, one can check their "stats and referrers"...what that means is that I can see how many times my blog has been accessed in the last 24 hours and where that access came from (if you hit a link on someone else's page, say, but not if you type it in directly).  I can also see how many times I have been googled and look at the google page to see what someone was looking for.  I am INTENSELY DISTURBED that, since I posted my new header with explanation, I have seen so many google hits when someone typed in "N****d Boy".  If you are one of those folks out there looking for n****d boys...ya ain't gonna find one here so just MOVE ON...and, get help...

I somehow am the #1 site for the query "sexiest man on earth"...How did I get to be the most popular site for that?  Not sure.  Other hits for me today were for "olliebollen" (little dutch donuts), "Finding Neverland Bloopers"," Lemony Snicket Pen Name"  (again, I am the #1 hit), and "picture of a thinking bubble".

Besides people trying to find kids and p**n (don't want to use the word, or who knows who will come to visit me...the most disturbing query that found my blog was when last week someone typed in the name of my ex-boyfriend (who I had mentioned in the Sexiest man on earth post).  Now I am wondering WHO was trying to google him and I sure hope that it wasn't him...I should, clearly, be more careful...