Welcome to Holland

A sea of yellow cards...

2006-06-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

What was up with that Netherlands-Ivory Coast game?? Did the ref think he got paid by the card?

My friend had an emergency appointment scheduled to remove a tooth that had abscessed. When she realized the time conflicted with the Brazil game, she re-scheduled....Went with her to the appointment this morning and now she is beside me on the couch, muttering "That's crazy" through teeth that are clenched over the gauze in her jaw.

If the refs aren't any better in the Mexico-Angola game, I will have to borrow some of her Darvocet to deal with the pain!!

My Ruthie got a good report at the neurologist yesterday. We have "graduated"--don't have to go back for three months as long as seizures are controlled well. Her caseworker from MHMR came over to meet with me today...Ruthie was charming while she was here and is now sound asleep.

Watching the game...

2006-06-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I was watching the much-hyped match today between Brazil and Croatia. Brazil is becoming known as the "Harlem Globetrotters of Soccer" because they are just that good and flashy. I was watching it with my girlfriend, who is Panamanian and homesick since people here in the states do NOT go crazy over the World Cup like the rest of the world does...should we re-name it the "World-Except-For-USA-Cup"? But I digress. Anyway, we agreed to watch it in Spanish, which meant that I would get about every fifth word. I was crawling around and found http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2006/liveblog-brazil-croatia.html, and had entirely too much fun "watching" the game with a Croatian living in Delaware, someone from India, someone very happy in a British pub with wi-fi, and all manner of other folks. It is just cool to me how our world is shrinking...When I was learning BASIC on those Apple IIe's back in high school, who would have guessed where it would all end up...

More like Beirut than Holland

2006-06-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

I read a great essay a few years ago, describing the author's feelings about the essay "Welcome to Holland", describing what it's like being the parent of a child with disabilities. I am sure all of you have been given that article by some well-meaning soul...Anyway, this other essay which I will try to find said that it is actually more like being welcomed to Beirut...you never know what is going to come flying out and hit ya.

My beautiful daughter Ruthie is the youngest of my three girls. She has a rare metabolic disorder, galactosemia, as well as mild cerebral palsy, mild mental retardation, and now, the latest addition, epilepsy. After being transported via ambulance from school three times between November and January, she had "the big one" at home in February and we spent 9 days in the hospital, 3 of them in ICU with her on a ventilator. Made reading labels for her metabolic disorder seem remarkably simple by comparison!!

Ruthie is brave and funny and playful. She can be obstinate at times (can't we all?) and is just so loving. Since our scare in February, she sleeps with me and always finds a way to cuddle up directly behind me.

I am beginning to ramble and thus, will close.