PBS Parents has redesigned its web site. Big news? I dunno. Just thought it was interesting. I am impressed by the orange; it woke me up this morning.
A couple of areas do appear to be interesting: 1. The Guide to Understanding and Raising Girls section (it’s grape!!!!), and 2. Talking with Kids (more grape!!!!), providing strategies for talking with kids.
The talking with kids section might be interesting as we begin to delve into Camille’s psyche as she turns 16 soon. At least in her mind she’s turning 16.
I picked up the girls after a play date at their friends’ house. Camille was particular upset about a cell phone of all things. She cried practically the whole way home.
But she managed to ask during the trip:
“Daddy, do you have to be rich to be home schooled?”
“No, darlin’. But you have to make quite a few sacrifices to do it,” I told her.
Pause.
“What made you ask about home schooling?” I asked her.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you want to be home schooled?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Honey, you’re going to miss your friends,” I said.
“I don’t care.”
“I don’t think so.”
She forgot all about it after ice cream.
Neither heat nor humidity nor rain nor gloom of night stays this family from the swift completion of their blogging rounds.
But having too much to do and not enough time to do it will.
We’re still kickin’ but not resting during the summer.
A couple of upcoming events:
- The kids and I are going to see my folks for a few days.
- Susan has a birthday milestone at the end of the month.
- Abby starts her final year of elementary school.
And stay tuned for a special announcement…
Watching Live Free or Die Hard this weekend, made me think that our blog was under cyber attack as it was a few days ago. But it turns out our web host has been having server problems.
JaguarPC has generally been reliable - we’ve been using them as hosts since 2005. But we haven’t been too happy with their performance and their communication (no posts anywhere on their site about the issues) this past weekend. I put in a support ticket on Saturday, which was resolved overnight. But I was unable to log in to their support site Sunday when the problems occurred again.
I’ll be watching them through our current contract and evaluate making a change then.
Sorry we’ve been away.
His name was Eddie Graham Vaughan Jr., but the family always called him Little Eddie to distinguish him from his dad, Eddie Sr. Of course, by the time he became a young man, that nickname was a major misnomer. He was tall, with an imposing physique — you could imagine him crushing a beer keg the way the rest of us crush a beer can. But he was one of sweetest natured boys I ever knew — a true gentle giant. He was my first cousin.
I went to his funeral Thursday, and though I’ve often heard funerals called “a celebration of life,” this is the first time I ever truly felt more joy than sorrow. Don’t get me wrong — we all felt enormous sorrow when we learned that Eddie had died in a motorcycle crash Monday night at the age of 38. It seems the cruelest possible loss, for someone so good and kind to die in such a sudden and violent way.
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For Susan, it was a bitter pill to swallow: The family lost a beautiful life. Eddie Vaughan, a master officer with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, was killed in a motorcycle accident Monday night [click for story via Hendersondispatch.com].
Just last year, WRAL had interviewed him in a report about low water levels at Kerr Lake [click for video].
I never had the pleasure, but from what I’ve read and what Susan has told me about her cousin, he was a wonderful guy.
A few people mentioned there were some issues with Ramblin’ Prose today such as the continue link wasn’t working, comments weren’t working, etc., and everything was going to 404 page.
After a little investigation, I noticed some additions in some of my template files that were not done by me. Also, my theme had broken.
So, after some blog work this evening in between the times I had to entertain the dog, I’ve finally managed to rid the Prose of the issues.
Just what I needed, another time suck.
With the girls out of town, Pippin and I have been able to take really long walks in the evening. Most have been uneventful but enjoyable. But you never know when you’re going to get blindsided. Last evening, I learned the hard way that you can never let down your guard.
Pippin and I were returning from a two-mile jaunt when a dog appeared from behind a house and dashed across the street toward us. It looked like he had gotten away from his owners. At first glance, he looked familiar.
The dog was obviously rushing toward us. When he finally stopped, he and Pippin stood nose to nose.
But the event quickly changed for the worse.
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Since she was 5, we’d take Abby to Delaware to stay with my parents for at least a week. It’s a great opportunity for her to decompress from the end of the school year. It gives my parents lots of quality time with her that they rarely get. And it gives us a break.
Camille started tagging along in the last two years.
We took them to Delaware the Friday after school ended. Of course, the morning of the trip, Abby awoke to a sore throat and ear ache. She slept for most of the drive up, a 10-hour ordeal, and didn’t eat much. We gave her some children’s Motrin and she seemed to feel better. By Sunday when we returned home, she had felt much better.
But over the next couple of days, she began to feel worse. My parents took her to a clinic. It turns out, she has strep throat. The doctor prescribed an antibiotic and after the first pill, my parents report that she’s back to her old self.
A few things I’ve learned from this:
- When Abby’s acting even somewhat abnormally, take it more seriously.
- My parents are awesome.
- Health care needs to be fixed in this country.
My mom called the clinic to see if they accepted our insurance. But when they got to the clinic, the story changed. My parents had to pay out of pocket for the visit, three times what our copay to an in-network doctor would have been and twice what a visit to an urgent care facility would have been.
One other note: My Mom told us that it was Camille who asked all the questions of the medical staff. The doctor said jokingly that Camille could be the grandmom and my Mom could be the little sister.
Camille’s second tooth is now in the hands of the Tooth Fairy. Susan yanked it out. I’d stepped out for a few, but I came back to a big toothy grin - she’d already started with the second set.
And school’s out. Temperatures are dropping. All good news for the summer ahead.
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