Chaos
Blogging may be slow here for a while. Something’s gotta give, and this is one of the few things in my life that can be cut back.
1) First week of every-day preschool for D. We’re all adjusting to the new routine, especially the need to take bedtimes seriously.
2) We’re having the carpet in the two second floor rooms replaced with hardwood (bamboo actually). The carpet is about 16 years old, and totally scuzzy, but we’d been saying that we needed to wait until the boys were both potty-trained to replace it. But after D’s asthma attack last winter, we had him tested for allergies, and found out that dust mites were the only thing he was allergic to. So, we started thinking that it probably didn’t make sense to put in more carpeting — and once we decided to go with wood, there wasn’t any reason to put up with the skanky carpet for another couple of years. They’re coming tomorrow, so we had to get all the furniture and everything out of those rooms. At least the bookshelves are built-in, so we didn’t have to empty them.
3) I’ve started training to be a CASA volunteer. It’s a great program, and I’m excited to be doing it (if more than a little nervous as well), but the training is 2 nights a week from now until the end of October. I’m glad that they’re not going to send us out without preparation, but it eats up a big chunk of my time for the next couple of months.
September 14th, 2005 at 9:19 pm
I vaguely think I posted on this here before, once – but we have put in a whole-house vacuum and it puts all the dust which a regular vacuum cleaner reentrains into your house outside. And our 3 kids have had no asthma troubles.
Ever vacuumed in a room with sunlight coming in a window, and seen all the dust glowing in the air? That dust could be in your lungs…
We got this through some dealer in Alexandria – but there are, I think, a lot of whole house system dealers around.
September 14th, 2005 at 10:05 pm
Good luck with everything! I’m so impressed that you’re training to be a CASA volunteer while working AND with two small children. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.
My husband says he’s going to start taking the preschool bedtime seriously. Right. That’s why he’s out getting ice cream with the kids at 10pm…
September 14th, 2005 at 11:37 pm
I am a CASA too. I love that org, though some of the people in it are, well, misguided at best. Some bad experiences.
September 14th, 2005 at 11:43 pm
Good luck with it all. I’ve often wondered how you fit in such thoughtful blog posts with a full time job, and all the running you do (and the book a week you read for the blog posts).
September 15th, 2005 at 9:00 am
Excellent developments — we prefer hardwood floors to carpeting, actually. And the CASA thing is just terrific.
September 15th, 2005 at 2:03 pm
I trained to become a CASA volunteer last Spring. I hope you like it as much as I do.
September 16th, 2005 at 11:49 am
We are finally at the point where we’re ready to get rid of the last of our carpets–it’s on the stairs & upstairs hallway, and I wanted to wait until my son was learned to go up and down stairs before we ripped it out. But I can’t wait to get them refinished–it’s just so much nicer.
September 16th, 2005 at 12:15 pm
That’s wonderful you are doing the CASA training. I was a CASA volunteer for two years (I had to quit when I delivered my second child and had a new baby to care for while working full time). I found it to be a life-changing experience, in a good way. All the folks I worked with were well-intentioned, effective, and hard working. Most of the parents were …. well … appalling. I hope you have a good experience with it.
September 17th, 2005 at 6:21 pm
Good luck with everything you are doing!