great week except for the heat

Okay, acceptable temperature outside again. Mama & Larsy do NOT do well with heat. Terrible terrible. We melt. We whine. We cry. We complain bitterly. We are miserable & do a pretty good job of making people around us miserable, too.

In the middle of this & other dramas, I got the earthshakingly bright idea to stop taking the last of my post-hysterectomy estrogen. Because I really enjoy feeling homicidal & wiped out & powering major hot flashes in the middle of this outdoor earthly hot flash?? No, because money is tight & I didn't want to pay the $20 a month. Oy weh. Needless to say, the night before last I said to heck with that & drove to CVS. Waiting for it to kick in. TIck. Tick.

In other news, this morning Andey & I sang on Lars' "news from home" BIGmack switch:
Larsy you can drive my car
Yes I'm gonna be a star
Larsy you can drive my car
And baby I love you
Beep beep'm beep beep yeah

It travels back & forth to school with news from his day. He pushes the switch to activate the recording. He loves it.

Boys & I tried to go to a free concert yesterday afternoon. Got all dressed up & drove to Boston, directions in hand, but couldn't find it. So disappointing. Drove home. Lars & Andey went to Holliston after dinner to look at the piano. Wow! Possible some volunteers from Outdoor Explorations, the fabulous group we went camping with, are going to try to move the piano for us in their van. Amazing.

Gramma (Andey's mom) & Grandpa Terri (Andey's step father) are coming on Monday. Yeah! We're all excited.

follow-up

Back on Lars' 3rd birthday (3/8), we attended a fundraising concert for the Berklee music therapy student trip to Africa. Check out their blog of their trip, which includes video. Stunning! (For the chronological experience, go to May & read from the bottom up.)

busy week, now back to school

Had our own sweet bonfire on solstice, then Friday to Revels at the Children's Museum with Michelle, Kathleen, Sofia, Erika, & Molly. Enjoyed ourselves. Blitz museum visit after the show. Admission is only $1 Fridays 5-9, but since there was less than an hour left, we got in free.

I was at an all-day course @ umass on Saturday, and then took the boys camping in New Hampshire Saturday night w/o Andey. Met up with our old Perkins infant-toddler crew & had a marvelous time. Dinner with friends last night also fabulous.

Lars was adorably extra-excited to get on the school bus this morning, having been off last week. Should have heard him squealing when he heard the bus arrive. I thought he was going to jump right out of his chair. He'll go to summer school now through July 27th.

He's been feeling well, generally quite happy. He's been pretty mellow & easy to take care of (on 2,500 mg/day of neurontin). Stomach has been quite a challenge, with lots of throwing up & spitting up, and very little food by mouth.

We're working on getting approval for some PCA (personal care assistant) hours & it's looking good. We got some one-time funding already through the department of public health & have been blessed to have a former intern & student of mine who wants to work with Lars. She's amazing with kids in general & has fallen under the spell of Sir Larsalot already in the 3 days she's been with him. He's quite smitten himself, so I'd say they're a great match. the rock star & his agent

In other wonderful news, check this out: a pediatrician who works with Lars' pediatrician is giving--yes, giving--Lars her family's 1930s piano. How amazing is that? Photos she sent:
Picture Lars on top, listening & feeling, Lars at the keyboard with one of us, making music... Picture me actually playing the piano because I finally have one to play. Endless possibilities.

Midsummer: Summer Solstice

Why do Danes light bonfires with dolls of witches burning inside them every summer?

Danes have celebrated Midsummer since Odin and Thor's heydays. Around the 21st of June is summer solstice with the longest day of the year, and Danes always celebrate Midsummer Night, after which the days get shorter until we reach solstice in December.

In ancient times it was believed that nature was filled with a force, which it had absorbed from the sun on the longest days of the year. Midsummer is thus a celebration of joy. Women would collect many of the herbs they would need during the year to cure illnesses. One wonderful thing about Midsummer Night was the miraculous water in certain lakes that were considered holy. It was believed that on Midsummer Night it was transformed into medicine. Some drank from the water and others bathed in it.This tradition of drinking and bathing in holy water has practically disappeared - in contrast to the tradition of bonfires. People said that they burned the Sankt Hans flames or flames of joy. These bonfires were usually placed in a high spot so that the fire could be seen from far away. The light from the fires, often simply made out of bundles of straw put on stakes, helped to keep all evil away from Midsummer Night. Meanwhile, local minstrels would play and people sang and danced, and the children got to stay up late. Although it is said today that the Sankt Hans witch doll that is burned on the bonfire is “to remember the time when witches were persecuted in Denmark,” it can also be seen as a continuation of the belief that witches and evil powers are particularly dangerous during the eve Sankt Hans. This superstition had terrible consequences for many women (and men) all over Europe. In Denmark the first witches were burned on the stake in 1540, and the last official witch stake took place in 1693. However, as late as 1897 a so-called "witch" was lynched in Vensyssel, North Jutland. In Denmark alone several thousand people lost their lives in the flames. There are examples that even up until the Second World War people with the reputation of being "witches" were pursued in Denmark.

Anyone want to join Lars, Joa & me at the Revels tomorrow (Friday), 7:00 p.m., Children's Museum? From the Revels: Happy Summer Solstice from Revels Artistic Director, Patrick Swanson: The sun is the source of all human life. As it rises in the morning we begin our day, and as it sets at dusk, we return to hearth and home for rest. The cycle of human life centers around the sun, it creates all time and all life.

At 2:06pm EDT today (the 21st June 2007), towards the end of the longest day of the year, the sun will be at its zenith, at the peak of its power, and for the following two days Revels will celebrate this most ancient of holidays, the Summer Solstice. Over the years folk rituals developed – large bonfires, animals being driven through the flames, communal dancing and singing – all having the similar intention of driving away evil forces and encouraging the well-being of the sun in its course through the heavens. Linking ancient seasonal celebration to the present has become our passion at Revels, and our programs often include time-weathered songs, dances and drama that resonate with modern audiences. This year, for our annual Summer Revels, we introduce you to the Revels touring ensemble Circle of Song performing their program, A Celebration of the Sea, which evokes the Boston whalers and their families, and tells, in song and dance, their story and that of the great maritime heritage that so informs New England.

Join us tomorrow (Friday) at 7pm or Saturday at 4pm at the Boston Children's Museum as we celebrate the Solstice and the true arrival of summer at this year's free open-air Summer Revels performances along Boston's waterfront. Click here for details.

bed, bath & beyond

all in the last five minutes...

bed

bath

and beyond

YES!!!!!!!

Today I am PROUD to live in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Today the Massachusetts Legislature defeated by 5 votes (tally was 151 to 45; 50 votes would have put our civil rights on a public ballot), the discriminatory, anti-gay, anti-marriage constitutional amendment proposed. Massachusetts remains the only state in the U.S. in which lesbians & gay men can be legally married.

Congratulations to all of us. It's a major victory. -check it out-

Lars & Meredith,

one of the loves of his life.
You can see why.

catch the beat

Had fun @ Perkins last nigth at the Braille & Talking Book Library's summer reading party kick-off event called "catch the beat." Here's Lars with his friend Harriet.

cheerios just now

Great week at school. Here are the beginnings of his communication book entries for the week (this is a book that travels between school staff & moms every day; a voice output switch also travels with recorded daily news that Lars can push to play/say):

Monday: "Lars was VERY happy today."
Tuesday: "VERY HAPPY all day."
Wednesday: "Lars was a little sad this morning, but perked up by snack time." [9 a.m.]
Thursday: (entry was all about the AFO's he's outgrowing)
Friday: "Lars was very happy & giggly. We had a great field trip [to Drumlin Farm]. Made butter by shaking a jar & tasted it, touched a feather & egg in the chicken coop, & felt wool in the sheep barn."

Planning to go to pride today, but 90% chance of rain, including thunderstorms...hmmm- I'd surely do it without kids, but with? We'll see.

no news=good news

Lars is doing really well, in general. Been giggling and laughing a lot, really enjoying himself. People ask if we gave him a happy pill.

Some trouble with increased spit up, throw up & reflux; some trouble with possible increased seizure activity. Got a depakote level & doc wants to up the dose a bit, so hopefully that will take care of it. He's grown considerably, so it makes sense that it's time for an increase.

End of spring & beginning of summer semester at Lesley, teaching 2 classes in each, plus the end of the year at Mercy Centre, plus starting the summer grad course that I'm taking at UMass--have, in combination, been completely overwhelming for me. The first three days of teaching summer intensives have already happened. Whew!