As of today, I no longer have 'children'...

...I have TEENAGERS!

Yes, my daughter turned 13 today.

Actually, 2009 is a significant year for me in the parenting realm - this year, one turns 13, one turns 16...

(Yeesh. How am I this old? :) )

My kid's gonna be in a hurricane!

But safely, in Austin, where they're expecting rain and wind, but nothing else.

Unlike the poor folks in Houston/Galveston, who it looks like are going to get hit HARD.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1082&tstamp=200809

But, he did get a half-day off school today, because thousands of the evacuees are heading towards Austin and they're trying to keep the kids from getting caught in the evacuation traffic. (And freeing up schools to serve as shelters...)

You know, I'd wondered why they had make-up days on his school calendar. I'm used to having them because of snow, but that's obviously not an issue in Austin. :)

Now I know... to make up for 'hurricane days'!

What a belated 15th birthday present for him, huh.

(How is it possible that I am the mother of a 15-year-old now???)

Ooh, music...

I'm now in love with imeem.com - especially since some kind soul has uploaded the entirety of my favorite album of all time*, which I have made into a playlist for those of you who would like to share:

Spock's Beard's "Snow" on imeem.com

This is a concept album - the "story" it's telling, and the lyrics to the songs, are here:

http://www.spocksbeard.com/discography/snow.html

In other news, my daughter is doing well in 7th (!!) grade [in Indy], my son started high school today (!!!!!) [in Austin], and I'm now working out of our new office on the west side, which is pretty darned cool. Since it's only 4 of us, and we all know each other, it's still not a formal 'workplace' but definitely makes it easier to communicate.

Besides which, I got to help with the layout and design of the office space, so it feels more personal to me, I guess. :)

* Note: Great Big Sea is still my favorite band of all time (and you can use that link to hear some of my favorite songs by them). However, Spock's Beard wins my personal award for putting together the best album. :)

My boy has moved!

I lost the bet; I cried at the airport. :)

Kids are off on their usual summer jaunt to their Dad's... but only my daughter will return; my son has decided to move in with his dad and become a Texan! Since he's starting high school this year (can you IMAGINE???) it was a logical year to make the transition if he was going to do it.

And, because I'm me and therefore incapable of feeling without analyzing :) I noticed a difference between feeling sad and being upset. I'm not upset about his moving. I don't tell myself any negative stories about it ('he doesn't love me, I'm being abandoned, etc.') I know he loves me; I'm fortunate in that I don't ever question that from my kids. And, I understand that a teenage guy really needs a DAD around as he's growing up, and that the ADHD probably will do better in the more structured household that isn't being run by a grown-up ADHDer. :) I'm excited that he has the opportunity, because he's going to get to go to a very good high school, one of the best in the country; and I'm proud of him for having the courage to take what is a big leap into the unknown for an almost-15-year-old.

And, even though I am not upset about his move, I am sad that I won't see him very often (yearly visits, like his dad gets now), and won't see the day-to-day changes, and be there when he comes home from his first date, and when he gets his license (OK, maybe I won't be sad about missing THAT part. I have enough grey hairs already, thanks! :) ) and all that. Little stuff, like not being with him on his birthday.

Ah, change. You'd think that since it's constant, we'd all get more used to it, but no one really seems to, do they?

What a night...

I have spent way too much time with doctors this winter with my kids. I don't think I remembered to blog that my daughter fractured her middle finger in January. Was in a splint for 6 weeks (and couldn't play the viola all that time!), but all is well with her now.

Well, tonight I just got home from the ER. My son has not been able to hold down food since Monday, and has been off school all week. So tonight I took him to the urgent care center ('cause regular doctor office hours suck when you're a working single parent). Urgent care doctor found tenderness in the lower right abdominal quadrant. Said it was still quite possible that it was a virus... but given the location of the worst tenderness, appendicitis was enough of a possibility that he wanted me to take him in to the ER to get checked. Tonight.

So I went home and got my daughter, 'cause she doesn't like being at home alone at night (understandably).

And we were there until 1 freaking 30 am. To find that, of course (but thank heavens) it was NOT appendicitis.

Fun things from the evening: My son's veins SUCK. They couldn't get the IV in the left hand. Couldn't get it in the right. Finally got a blood draw out of the right, but then the vein moved and they couldn't keep that in. Eventually they called someone with mucho experience who could find veins that are a) buried too deep in b) way too thick skin (inherits from his father) and c) tried to slide around when finally found. And finally got it in. This in a kid who has the (what at least I've found is a) typical guy response to needles. At least he didn't faint.

Then, he couldn't give them a urine sample for ages, 'cause, well, he hasn't been holding stuff down, so as much as I've tried to keep him hydrated, he probably wasn't very much so, and, he has 'bashful bladder' when he tries to do things like that anyway. FINALLY got that part taken care of.

Then got the CT scan, after two hours of waiting (apparently, it takes that long for whatever fun concoction they make you drink to get through your system. Plus, they were very, very busy there tonight).

Found after all that that that it -wasn't- appendicitis, or at least, the CT scan looked normal and the white blood cell count was normal... they did warn me to keep an eye on him 'cause apparently appendicitis doesn't always present 'by the book'. Got a script for an anti nauseant (suppository. They asked if *I* was going to insert them. He's 14 1/2 and 5'10". Heck no I'm not going to; he can poke on his own butt!!! :) )

Then they took the IV (well, the heparin lock) out, to his great delight, and I left the room so he could change... and heard a 'MOM!!!' through the door. And rushed back in... and found that where they had taken the IV out was bleeding. A LOT.

So I grabbed paper towels, elevated, applied pressure, and yelled for my daughter to grab a nurse RIGHT NOW.

The nurses got there, put on gloves, and added more pressure (since I'd grabbed it originally, at least I was the one with the blood all over my hands - and when it's my kid, it's NOT a biohazard, unlike what the nurses would have had to deal with) and then it finally stopped, and was fine. Assuming it was just a last-minute gift of the ol' heparin.

So now I'm finally home, and the load of laundry that desperately needed to be done is now done, and I am going to BED.

What a night.

SO glad I was not born with a "Y" chromosome...

...Because when someone bets me 10 bucks to eat a combination of mayonaise, applesauce, ketchup, and chocolate milk, I don't feel the need to accept the bet.

And then I don't spend the afternoon throwing up so that my mom has to pick me up from school.

Unlike my son.

Sigh.

And to finalize the punishment that Mother Nature began, I told him, "Hey. 10 bucks will just about cover the gas money to get to school, and having to pay a second time to park (the joys of working downtown). I think that's mine now!"

I also suggested that when he's feeling better, he might want to look up the word emetic... :)