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May 29, 2003
Getting to know you, getting to know all abouuuut yooooooou
Elenore (the new nanny), came over today to hang out with Seth and I so she can get to know us better. She is so sweet and conscientious! She is also coming over on Saturday when all of us are home. She is very concerned about doing things just the way we want her to. She is so serious, I am having a hard time helping her understand that we are very relaxed.
One thing she apologized for was that Seth had not had a bath before I got home yesterday - he had a small spot of food on his shirt. She thought I would be mad. In Italy, the children are kept very clean and their clothing always looks fresh from the store. I laughingly explained to her that my children definitely looked lovingly worn most of the time!
She also asked me if I wanted her to speak Italian or English to the boys. I told her that we were making an attempt at learning Italian and would appreciate any help she could give us. She said that she would say it in Italian first and then repeat in English if we didn't understand. Yeah! I hope we can at least pick up a passable understanding before we leave. It would really be cool to call ourselves bilingual though.
I had left her a note yesterday, detailing what to do during the day. I gave several suggestions for what Seth might eat for lunch. "You can make him a sandwich like peanut butter or lunchmeat or tunafish" was what the note said. She told me, "I made him a sandwich with peanut butter and lunchmeat but he wouldn't eat it". So then she opened the can of tuna and tried to feed it to him and said he wouldn't eat that either. I was dying laughing inside but she was so serious. Then she asked if it would be okay if she cooked her type of food for the boys for dinner. I told her that they love Sicilian food. She was concerned that they wouldn't like it so I told her my policy of tasting and then if they don't like it, they can make themselves a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She said "what is this - jelly?" So I showed her in the refridgerator and she suddenly realized what I had meant on the note and said "ohhhhhh!" She had thought that I was telling her to feed Seth all of that at once for lunch! At least she didn't put peanut butter, lunchmeat and tuna together on the sandwich.
The language barrier is going to be interesting if not entertaining. I really have to be more clear with what I mean.
Posted by DebC at 10:02 PM | Comments (3)
May 28, 2003
Good News!
I think I may have found a nanny. She started today. She is a 27 year old law student that lives with her family (common here in Italy). Apparently most university learning is done at home with regularly scheduled tests. She is really nice and great with Seth. She has already nannyed for an American family and so is not only familiar with Navy life but also speaks great English.
The only problem might come if she decides that it is interfering with her studies. I work 12 hour shifts which is much more than most Italians work in a day. They generally work 6 or 8 hours a day but for 6 days a week (even the school children do this). She seemed a bit overwhelmed, not about the children but at how long a day it was. I have her coming in tomorrow to just talk about our needs now that she has spent some time with the boys.
Posted by DebC at 11:41 PM | Comments (3)
May 22, 2003
And because he is such a dollbaby
Here is my big boy (almost 18 months!!!)
<a href="http://www.debcodding.com/seth21May03.JPG"><img src=http://www.debcodding.com/TN_seth21May03.JPG></a><br>
click on picture
Posted by DebC at 06:25 PM
Blah Blah Blah
I had to go in to work at 6am on my day off to have a uniform inspection. Not my idea of a good time but it is done now. It has been in the mid 80's temperature-wise lately but this morning it was no more than 50. Froze my butt-tocks. And another thing. All you people who wear high heels for the heck of it - A POX ON YOU. I cannot for the life of me figure out why on earth anyone would choose to wear them. My feet go numb no matter how well they fit.
<a href="http://www.debcodding.com/debinspection22may.JPG"><img src=http://www.debcodding.com/TN_TN_debinspection22may.JPG></a><br></a>
Click on picture to enlarge (please keep in mind that this was at 7am - I look like hell - a pox on morning people too).
Jake could not get a cast put on the other day because his hand was the size and firmness of an apple! So we had a fiberglass splint put on instead. He absolutely will not wear a sling. He is more comfortable with this splint though. They will try to put cast on next week sometime. By the time we get the cast on, it should be healed! He is doing okay painwise but requests the motrin almost exactly at the 6 hour mark so I know it still hurts.
Still looking for the ever elusive nanny. I would just like to make a Public Service Announcement: <b>I AM SICK AND TIRED OF BEING A SINGLE PARENT.</b> That is all. My nextdoor neighbor, who is a stay at home mom of three older kids has offered to watch Seth during the day until I find somebody. I wish I could convince her to take it up longterm! She is my ideal childcare provider. She absolutely dotes on Seth. Her youngest is a year older than Eli and they get along well. Bah humbug. You guys will probably be happy to hear it when I do find a nanny so I will shut the heck up already.
On a brighter note - 2.5 years to go until I retire from the Navy!!!
Posted by DebC at 06:21 PM
May 17, 2003
Well, three boys and eight years later and it finally happened.
I just returned from my very first emergency room visit.
Jake broke his arm. He was climbing on a fence in the neighbor boys backyard and the kid pulled him by his shirt. Jake fell and his arm caught on the fence and jerked. He says he didn't fall on it. It wasn't obviously broken or anything. He came in sobbing, saying he broke his arm. This is a kid that cries for about 5 minutes no matter how bad it is. He had a bad day all around. About an hour prior to the fence incident, he rode his bike into a parked car (he said he shut his eyes) and smacked his face on the car, bloodying his nose. Lovely.
On the way home, he tearfully listed all the summer fun he would not be having: swimming, swinging, monkey bars, skating, scootering, baseball. Ugh. I don't even want to face this. They said that it was a "buckle" fracture - a crack in the head of the radius where the wrist is. It is a compression fracture which means he DID put his hand out to stop himself. He has a temporary cast on right now and will go see the ortho on Tuesday for the one that will be on for 2 to 4 very long weeks. Give me strength.
Posted by DebC at 11:10 PM | Comments (3)
May 16, 2003
Another non update for you.
No nanny yet - I am borrowing my coworker's (who lives directly across the street) nanny. Seth already knows both her and the 19 month old boy so it works out really well. I almost wish it could be a permanent solution but that would mean she would have two 8 yo's, a 6 yo and two 1.5 yo's after June 16th when school lets out! I am sure something will turn up, I am digging deep now.
I did really well on my physical fitness test. I did 66 sit ups, 44 pushups and ran 1.5 miles in 14 minutes (okay, so I sucked at running). Not bad considering I have been a couch potato in the last 2 years. I decided that running in 90 degree dry heat on a blacktop at 3pm was a really bad idea. I will probably take off two minutes of the run just by doing it in the morning next time.
Also, I bought new living room furniture - a couch, love seat, coffee table and end table, that was delivered today. My house is really starting to shape up!
Vacation plans are shaping up too. I think I will take the boys camping in Greece the first week of July. I had planned two nights in Athens and then taking the ferry to <a href="http://www.united-hellas.com/tourism/naxos/plaka/index.htm">Naxos and camp on the beach</a>. Very beautiful. I may actually stay longer. I tried to find a travel guide on just Greece but nothing doing. There are guides devoted to almost every country in Europe EXCEPT Greece. Suspicious. I decided to buy Europe For Dummies and Camping in Europe. The first one says not to waste a whole lot of time on the Greek mainland because it is not very interesting beyond the usual tourist trappy stuff that you can see in a day. It said that you should, instead, spend as much time as possible in the islands. Perfecto.
Posted by DebC at 11:02 PM
May 08, 2003
No update at all
Nothing to report on the nanny front. Cheryl leaves tomorrow. I think we are all in denial about it. Jake was looking around yesterday for something of hers to keep "to remember Cheryl by". Poor guy. She is working towards enrolling in college here in August that will allow her to renew her military ID for another two years. We shall see. I am not holding out any hope of that so if it works out it will be a huge bonus. In the meantime, I will look for a full time nanny (that doesn't live with us). If Cheryl does come back, she will be in class several hours a day anyway. It would be nice to have her around for my night shifts though.
Oh and wish me luck, I am off to take my physical fitness test for the Navy. I have to do this every 6 months. I normally do very well but I have been a couch potato since the baby was born. Before I was pregnant, I worked out 4-5 times a week! The test consists of as many pushups and situps in two minutes (time separately of course LOL) and then a 1.5 mile run that has to be finished in at least 15:30. I normally do it in 12 min but 6 months ago, did it in 11:32. So we will see. I am getting too old to exercise twice a year. HAH!
Posted by DebC at 08:12 AM
May 02, 2003
Hot Summer
Oh it is gorgeous here! The days are clear blue sunny. The roads are lined with bright yellow daisies with bright red poppies mixed in. The drive is just breathtaking - like the colorized version of Wizard of Oz. The temperature has been in the mid 70's and has already spiked up to 90 (F).
The boys have been spending a fair amount of time in the kiddie pool. I took some really cute pictures of Seth and the neighbor baby, Blaise who is a couple months older. I really need to find my FrontPage CD so I can post new galleries!
The summer sleepovers have begun in earnest now and it is not unusual for me to find assorted extra boys at the breakfast table. I asked the boy from this morning "are you my kid?". He said "no, I am XXXX", very seriously like he thought I didn't know. hahahahahaha. Right now there are four boys (two mine) lined up on the living room rug - three 8 year olds and one six year old.
I am planning some sort of major trip for July. I think it might be either camping on the beach in Greece (Naxos) or hiking in Germany in the Ramstein AFB area. Not sure. Leaning more toward Greece. That has always been a fantasy destination of mine. But really, I am hoping to get in as much of Europe as possible. Have kids, will travel!
I don't have an update on the nanny situation unfortunately. I had to ask Cheryl to stay an extra two weeks to see me through my current night rotation. We do two months on and two months off. That will give me the next two months to break in a new nanny. Which I don't have yet. WAHHHHHHH, I am nervous but I know it will work out. I have several leads and one very serious one. I will update later.
Posted by DebC at 11:51 PM