Kirst Afloat

Getting Ready for Camp

Claire's off to camp for the first time.  This Sunday we'll be dropping her off at the Bethel Camp for the Arts in Maine.  She is SO excited and not at all nervous.  (Go figure---she's freaking out about changing schools but two weeks at camp is not a problem.)

The fact that the camp is non-competitive is a huge selling point for Claire.  She's going to be doing a ton of activities including acting, hip-hop dancing, tennis, podcasting, writing and baking. 

We've been trying to pack everything that she'll need which has been a big job.  We have a list of items to buy in Massachusetts (like a fan and toiletries) and we still need to go pick up a pair of jeans from a thrift store today.  (Claire will be making something new out of them in her vintage fashion design class.) 

I need to mail a card to her ASAP so that it gets there close to the start of camp.  (We can also email her and she'll receive a printed copy that next day.)

Flying up to Boston tomorrow.  We're in pretty good shape although I need to pack my stuff.  (Trying not to take too much as I'll be buying a lot of clothes for work.  Framingham is a shopping mecca but a zoning nightmare.)

Ch-Ch-Changes

I should have known (and did suspect) that we would be changing our tickets a third time this summer. 

The first was changing our flights back to Hong Kong so that the kids would be able to attend new student orientation (and the first day of classes) once they were accepted at HKIS.

The second time was to move our flight to the US up so that we could leave earlier because all primary schools were suspended due to H1N1.

The third time was to change all of our flights (again) back to Hong Kong so that I could report to work on August 3rd!  (One option was for me to fly back alone and to have to kids stay in the US with Tom.  However, the kids decided that they wanted us to all go back to HK as a family.)

I have yet to receive my contract (should be here today? maybe?) but the Head of School has approved my hire.  It will be a bit of a homecoming of sorts, teaching Language Arts and Social Studies back at the Middle School.  It will also be very different as what we teach, how we teach it and the assessment of student learning has all changed.  Change is good, though. 

As you may imagine, with all of the changes in the air, emotions have been running high in our household.  The latest was Claire crying until after midnight, stressing (not over camp which she arrives at in Maine on Sunday) about changing schools.  She's nervous about everything.  The physical lay-out of the building, how a non-Montessori school is organized, the kids in her class, finding her way around, etc.  We went through a lot of Kleenex.  She wants to know who her teacher will be, whether she'll be in a straight grade 4 class or a grade 3/4 combination.  She just wants school to beginso that she's not worried about it.  Claire can't understand this nervousness as she says that she's never been nervous about school before.  Not even when we received news the day we were flying back to HK that her campus had moved (and we had no idea where to).  (Talk about a fun drive the morning after we arrived back---jet lagged and following a friend's texted directions...but we made it.)

Strange fascination, fascinating me
Changes are taking the pace
I'm going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the stranger)
Ch-ch-Changes
Oh, look out you rock 'n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the stranger)
Ch-ch-Changes
Pretty soon you're gonna get
a little older
Time may change me
But I can't trace time

(David Bowie, Changes)

Oh, and did I mention that not only are the kids changing schools and I'm going back to work, but we're also moving (hopefully soon) to the Stanley area (or at least somewhere near the Southside).  I wonder how many points that puts us at on the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale?

"Are you tolerating this?"

That's the question that my dentist kept repeating this morning.  And the answer probably would have been "Not well".  I'm definitely a bit dentist-phobic.  After a great drive over Blood Mountain in my Jeep, I arrived at the dentist pretty much on time.  The cleaning went well but then it was time for a crown and a filling.  Which rapidly turned into two crowns and no filling.  Even with nitrous, it was no fun.  And painful.  And there were way too many impressions done.  Yuck.  And  I still have the follow up appointment at the end of the month to have the permanent crowns placed as well as that original filling redone.  (All of the dental work that I've had done as an adult has been a result of replacing old, worn out fillings from when I was a kid.)

Channelling my Inner Cathy Muldowney

Cathy, you know this is "your pose"!  James took this photo with his brand new (to him) camera.

Think Twice

before signing your under-ten up for their own gmail account.

On Friday, I left the boat early (7:15-ish) and went to the gym, a Parent Volunteer Appreciated Breakfast at the American Club (Exchange Square), Toys R Us (to pick up a birthday present) and then briefly met a friend to hand over some Webkinz (which are nearly impossible to buy in Hong Kong).

I then raced home and made Claire lunch and got James ready for a pool party.

James and I then went back into the city for said pool party and didn't make it home until 6:59 pm.

Over the course of the day, Claire sent me a total of 13 emails.  Some had no text in the body.

from: Claire to: Mom

Jun 19, 2009 at 10:57 am

what time are you geting home ?
to mom
 
what time are you gteting home  ?
I would like to know to see if I should
wait for you  ( for lunch ) 
please reply befor 11:30
 
from claire

from: Claire to: Mom

Jun 19, 2009 at 11:09 AM
subjectRe: what time are you geting home ?

p.s. sory but we are aredy having lunch

 

from: Claire to:Mom

date: Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 11:55 AM
subject Re: what time are you geting home ?

p.s.     p.s. I have not had lunch yet I'v been whating for you
 
xoxoxoxoxoxo claire

I emailed her back several times but when I arrived home, she still had not eaten.

The next set of emails are from the afternoon/evening:

from: Claire to: Mom

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 2:54 PM
subject: what time are YOU home from the party ?
mailed-bygmail.com

(Note: James and I left around 1:45.  The party was from 2:30-5:30 which Claire already knew.)

from: Claire to:Mom

dateFri, Jun 19, 2009 at 5:03 PM
subject Re: what time are YOU home from the party ?

TO MOM would it be ok if I had one of those energy bars

I didn't even look at my phone until about 5pm.  It was a pool party and I was carefully watching James who is a novice swimmer (although improving every time we swim).  He jumped off the diving board (a first) and swam all over the place underwater.  Several times I thought I would need to jump in and rescue him but James did it all on his own.  When I checked my phone, I emailed Claire the time I thought we'd be home (around 6:30).  Then I received this email.

from: Claire to: Kirsten

dateFri, Jun 19, 2009 at 5:16 PM
subject Re: what time are YOU home from the party ?
mailed-bygmail.com

but what about the proteen bar yes or no

I emailed Claire and told her that she, of course, could have one of the bars.

from: Claire to: Mom

date Fri, June 19, 2009 at 5:20 PM

subject Re: what time are YOU home from the party ?

thank you ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
much

from: Claire to: Mom

date Fri, June 19, 2009 at 5:41 PM

subject Re: what time are YOU home from the party ?

so you'll be home at 6:30 right?

from: Claire to: Mom

date Fri, June 19, 2009 at 5:43

subject: will you be home at 6:30 ?

(no message in the body)

I emailed back and told her that we were waiting for Jaydan (the birthday boy) to open James' present.

from: Claire to: Mom

date Fri, June 19, 2009 at 5:47

subject: will you be home at 6:30 ?

uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
so what time will you get home

from: Claire to: Mom

date Fri, June 19, 2009 at 5:59

subject: will you be home at 6:30 ?

CAN'T YOU GO HOME NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
PLEASE

(Note:  This is followed by 7 sets of double exclamation marks, 5 single exclamation marks, 5 crying face emoticons and one angry face emoticon.)

I then email Claire at 6:00 pm that I'm leaving.  The last email I receive:

from: Claire to: Mom

date Fri, June 19, 2009 at 6:03

subject: will you be home at 6:30 ?

SO YOU'LL GET HOME BY 7:00

And it's Friday night in Hong Kong. I hit some traffic in a few places and am very relieved when I walk through the door at 6:59 pm. 

Whew!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Laid Plans...

On Thursday, our plan was to go to AMC, Pacific Place to watch Hannah Montana: The Movie (which just opened in Hong Kong).  I was organized and bought tickets to the very first showing  (11:30 am) when we were in the city Tuesday night (to watch Ava's Faust Festival performance).  Unfortunately we never made it to the movie (although we left the boat with time to spare).

We spent 90 minutes in the StepWgn at a virtual standstill on Clearwater Bay Road.  (The only progress we made was when other vehicles gave up and turned around, leaving the LONG line of traffic.)  Evidently there was a head-on collision with one death and one serious injury.  (This photo is from the Hong Kong Standard.  No photographer was listed so I cannot give credit to him/her.  The story (according to The Standard): `Depressed' woman killed in horror head-on smash .

Claire and James were excellent in the car, even though it was frustrating.  Especially the part about not knowing when we would move.  James played with his DS Lite the entire time.  Claire just sat there.  I didn't realize that her books were in the front seat.  She didn't mention that fact until later.

We missed the movie.  It was after 12 noon by the time we started moving.  And during the 90 minutes we spent sitting in the car, I received an email back from HKIS about a Grade 6 LA/SS position that I am interested in.  I could interview for it.  Today!  Aiii-yaaa!  I was unprepared, had both kids with me and wearing what I was wearing (which actually was not bad---fortunately I was NOT dressed in my work-out clothes AND I did have make-up in my gym bag).

Have I mentioned that we're flexible?  Thus the kids and I headed to Stanley where they ate McDonald's for lunch (their choice) and picked out two books each at Book Buddy (which is a very good place to buy children's books).  I also picked up a couple of pens and notebooks for Claire.  We then drove to the middle school in Tai Tam (and I was able to see some of the lovely cleaning ladies/O&M workers who still remembered me after 9 years).  Both Claire and James were well behaved during the 55 minutes that I interviewed.  (Poor kids---they sat around all day.)  The interview went well and I should know if I have the job (or not) but next Friday.

Then we raced to Polyvision at Hopewell Centre for eye check-ups.  Claire's eyes are basically unchanged (the astigmatism in her left eye is marginally worse) and James has perfect vision, much to his chagrin.  He desperately wants glasses like his big sister.  It's a good thing that I stayed with him during the exam as he tried to fake out the optometrist.  He deliberately called out different letters during the exam with hopes of "needing" glasses.  He stopped when I mentioned that Miss Jennifer would be very disappointed if people believed he didn't know his letters.  Cheeky son of mine!

Bribery and corruption followed.  Both kids had McFlurry's (Claire, Smarties and James, Oreo).  Driving home we were stuck in traffic two MORE times.  Not sure if there was some sort of bad traffic Feng Shui on Thursday...weird.

I decided that we should do something fun.  We went back to the boat and got all of our swim things (as well as items for Tom).  I imagined relaxing at the pool in the early evening (it was now 6 pm) and then having dinner.  Well that was not meant to be.  What greeted us was organized chaos.  There were six or seven (swim?) instructors (many of whom were shouting) overseeing swimming exams of many, many cub scouts.  ???  Very strange activity for our country club.  Tom arrived a bit later (from China) and we did get our swim.  The cub scouts finally left and we were able to enjoy the pool for the last 45 minutes or so before closing (at 8). 

It was quite a day (just not the one I had envisioned).

Playing with Photoshop Elements

I have owned this software for several years but typically have only used options in Quick Fix.  Today I played around with the Standard Edit (mainly to remove annoying background objects from my photos of James biking).

Here's an example:

 

Cycling on the Breakwater

Yesterday, James had a lot of fun riding his bike.  It will most likely be the last time that he uses his training wheels. I pulled them off last night.  I intended to teach him how to ride his bike the "old school" way---basically how I learned.  The parent runs behind the child to steady him.  However after some quick research online, it appears that there is a better way.  Now I just need to figure out HOW to remove the pedals.  Just need to Google that (or Bing---my step-daughter works for Microsoft in Search so I should mention that Bing is interesting---its search results do differ from Google, a nice complement.)

Sheldon Brown: Teaching Kids to Ride

I'll let you know how it goes.  Probably won't bike today---heading into the city later.

Schools Closed in Hong Kong due to H1N1

I'm at home with James today who claimed his tummy hurt this morning.  He seems fine now (happily playing with our newly replaced Wii) but he's adamant that his stomach really DID hurt this morning.

A friend called this morning and said that schools might be closing for the next two weeks (which basically brings us through the end of the school year).  Will they really reopen for the last day of school?

No news (as of yet) on the Education Bureau website but I checked on the RTHK website and found this:

Junior Schools to Close Amid Flu Alert

The government has announced that all nurseries, kindergartens and primary schools in Hong Kong will be closed for two weeks from tomorrow because of a swine flu outbreak. This comes after 12 pupils at St Paul's Convent school in Causeway Bay were confirmed to have been infected with the HINI virus in the first local cluster of cases. The Chief Executive, Donald Tsang, said that closing schools would slow the spread of the disease. He said there was no need to panic, but urged people to remain alert to help combat the virus. The suspension will affect some 1,800 primary schools, kindergartens and nurseries. The government will make an assessment in a week's time whether to resume classes on June 26. The Secretary for Education, Michael Suen, says that if classes cannot restart by July 10, all schools will go into summer recess. But he said special arrangements might have to made for primary five pupils who have yet to be assessed for secondary school allocation.

Aii-yaa!!!  Not sure what effect this will have on the spreading of potential flu cases.  I can't see everyone keeping their kids inside for the next two weeks (although we certainly did do this during SARS---well, not inside but outside here in the marina and on the boat---we took Claire nowhere during this time).  It's also kind of sad for my two as they won't be able to say good-bye to their friends at IMS.

Related articles:

Wall Street Journal

USA Today

Pondering the Big C

Someone close to me was recently diagnosed with melanoma.  When I heard the news last Friday, it knocked me for a loop.  This is the first cancer diagnosis for someone I love that is around my age.  (I have acquaintances that have had cancer or older family/friends.)  (Receiving this news on Friday was disconcerting as I had just finished reading The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan the night before.)

On Friday, I kept thinking about "X has cancer".  All the time---it kept popping into my thoughts.  And I the whole range of emotions from hope to despair to "What are my chances of developing melanoma?" (I was a sun-worshipper as well growing up) to the terrible fleeting thought that would pop in and out of my mind---"Not me!  Glad it's not me!" 

Probably the worst part of all of this is the not knowing.  We don't have a lot of information about the cancer.  I don't know the staging yet.  Nor the prognosis.  X had in-office surgery to remove a suspicious growth on his back (the most common spot for melanoma in men, by the way).  The doctor cut a lot more than expected and closed him up with 16 stitches.  Then the biopsy came back positive for melanoma (the most deadly skin cancer although detected and treated at the earliest staging (IA) the 5 year survival rate is 99% and the 10 year survival rate is 97%).  I do know that X will have further surgery on June 23rd to remove additional tissue and margins.  The surgeon believes that she will need go down 5 mm to get it all.  I'm assuming that X will also have a sentinel lymph node biopsy done at the same time as his surgery although he hasn't been told that yet.

I'm in a much better place emotionally than I was last Friday.  X is positive and sounds like himself again. 

A few melanoma resources that I've found informative/useful:

Melanoma.com  A great place to start.  The section about questions to ask your doctor is very helpful. 

Melanoma Home Page : National Cancer Institute 

Melanoma: The Skin Cancer Foundation 

Melanoma: Watch Your Back