Asthmagirl- Is my cape fluttering

Friday

Jul302010

Digging Deep

Friday, July 30, 2010 at 7:08AM

Today I am digging deep, using up all my inner resources...

Today K3 and I are off to our second visit with the neurologist, who appears to really know his stuff, to get the official diagnosis on her disability. Gah.

For those not in the know, TOG and I got pretty defensive in her K-12 years after multiple contentious discussions with her school district. The labeling game sucks but you must allow a label in order to get special education services. However, it must be the right label, which gets her services but doesn't allow the school to move her out of acedemics and into "living skills." In jr. high, we finally took her to a childrens neurologist and asked for a diagnosis that the school could not dispute that we could use until graduation. I can't remember what it was, but it served us well. No more icky meetings about her destiny, just mostly appropriate services every year by well meaning special ed teachers (bless their hearts).

Now, after The Accident, in order to be granted guardianship, we must show that K3 has a significant impairment, defined by an adult diagnosis. Further, that impairment may entitle her to some level of state services over the next year or two at least.... something I never thought she would be eligble for given our state's budgetary constraints. But our state has made additional dollars available to students graduating in 2009/2010 and a good diagnosis will make her eligible. This would be a huge move, taking her out of school services for the first time in her life, but services through independent vendors who must show progress are of higher quality than the school district who is not required to do anything but keep her busy until she ages out at 21.

Sorry to be so long winded... I'm just stressy. I'm taking the time off today to go to the neurologist. Time that is pretty scarce as I have a grant due at 5:00pm today (mostly written) and another due on Monday (half written). Did I mention that I hate writing logic models for grants. It is my least favorite part of grant writing!

So... thanks for letting me dump. If you can take a moment to send some good vibes our way... so appreciated.

Yours in stress, tension and anxiety...

Asthmagirl |

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Thursday

Jul292010

Through the eyes of The Engineer

Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 6:55AM

This is The Engineer. Many of my long time readers will know him as TOG, The Old Goat. The Engineer is the love of my life, father of K1 through K3 and has more chest hair than any other man on the planet. While no scientific studies have been done in support of this claim, I stand by it, whole heartedly and unreservedly. The standing joke for K1 through K3 is to see their dad without a shirt and utter the comment "Nice sweater, Dad!" Bah dum bum! Get's 'em every time.

Other little known facts about The Engineer are the things he sees on his job. Things like this:

Or this...

Is it any wonder when The Engineer said "come see what I see at work" that I dilly dallyed? While the Engineer in TOG thrills to the sight of conduit in a parking garage or roof-top cooling units or hospital beds (he knows the model numbers, lifespan and everything), these are not the things that make Asthmagirl's goofy heart beat faster. No, it's not the chest hair either, that's just a bonus!

These are the things the Engineer knew I would want to see...

Puget sound with Maury Island jutting out in the middle...

And of course... my favorite subject!

So thanks TOG/Engineering dude! I'm saying this publically so there's no denying it...

You were right!

AG out!

PS ~ This is not a solicitation for you to send me pictoral proof of men with chest hair. Seriously. If I want to see that, I'll look at TOG!

Namaste!

Asthmagirl |

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Wednesday

Jul282010

Conversations in Virginia

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 6:34AM

This shot was taken on a very hot day when I was out on Noe Noe and Cdub's boat with ,MPM, Bayman and AM.

On a sizzling hot day out on the water, these chairs were a luscious bit of whimsy. Inviting, unique... I could just see them full of "blisters" (blog sisters) with ice cold beverages and the conversations and laughter flowing!

Now that I'm back in Washington (state), I have a slightly different view of The Chairs. I can still visualize a fun Blister afternoon on the water, but the conversations we would have while sitting in those beautiful chairs were conversations we did have; navigating Virginia in SUVs, sitting in the sand, perched on beach chairs with gritty, sandy butts, across a table with bloody marys, bouncing across the water in boats, lolling on a shanty porch during a storm, floating in Bud's Bay and walking on lawn covered in goose poop.

In other words, we didn't need a perfect setting to do some of our best work; talking and laughing. We did it wherever we were. Although, to be honest, the beautiful scenery didn't hurt my eyes.

Conversely, one of the loveliest conversations I had in Virginia was a silent one... other than the clinking of ice in our water glasses. Sitting with a new blister in a lovely bistro, cooling off from a sweltering walk, the quietness was serene, graceful and communication unto itself.

And that, more than chairs on a dock, is the beauty of BlogFest. No matter which Blister you sit next to, there is no awkwardness, no right thing to say, no forced conversation. Just another opportunity to chat, laugh, hug, mug for the camera or sit and enjoy each other.

But I do love those chairs!

AG out!

Asthmagirl |

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Tuesday

Jul272010

Full Moon Rising

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 7:08AM

From the roof of the hopital, on my knees, camera balanced on roof edge while TOG ran for the tripod. Taken at 20 second intervals... The lights at the bottom of each shot are runway lights for Seatac Airport.

No moons were harmed in the taking of these photos!

AG out!

Asthmagirl |

10 Comments |

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Monday

Jul262010

Up on the Roof - Part Deux

Monday, July 26, 2010 at 6:51AM

One of the benefits (among many!) of being married to an engineer is that occasionally, very occasionally you get to go up on the roof of the hospital.... where you see things from a whole new perspective!

Last night, TOG took me up on the roof to capture the moon rise. It was an opportunity not to be missed!

While on the roof with my camera, tripod and engineer, I took the opportunity to shoot one of my favorite subjects, Mt. Rainier. And yes, that's a plane flying in front of it. The hospital is quite near the airport. So while I waited for moonrise, I took shots like this:

The mountains in the background are the cascades, where Rainier, Adams, Baker and St Helens all hang out!

I'm still working on the moon shots. They're amazing!

Stay tuned!

AG out!

PS ~ Yes, I have more BlogFest shots to share as well! I'm drowning in shots that need editing!

Asthmagirl |

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Friday

Jul232010

The White Dog Inn

Friday, July 23, 2010 at 7:20AM

One of the highlights of our time in Mathews was the White Dog Inn. Calling itself a bisto/b&b/coffee house is a little misleading... What it is, is fabulous!

The ambiance is impeccable!

(ship chandelier in main dining room)

Perhaps a little frivilous...

Zebra carpet on stairs? To die for!

Let's continue up, shall we? These are the upstairs rooms!

The sitting room, an open shared area which can be used by either the King or Queen room. I love the quail painting!

The beautiful King room!

The charming and airy Queen room....

...complete with stairs to ascend to your comfortable bed!

And now a quick trip downstairs to the dining room...

Possibly the best chicken salad EVAH! I heard wonderful things about the fried green tomatoes but did not partake. There are no pictures of the macaroni and cheese (with ham shreadies) although I have dreamed about it twice since I came home. It was gone so fast, there was no time to get a picture... There is also no photographic evidence of the bananas foster or the chocolate bread pudding. Again, these dishes were with us for mere moments before they ceased to be!

I sincerely hope I make it back to Mathews, Virginia. This would be one of my first stops! Everything about the White Dog is so well done. They had a group of 40 seated before us for lunch and the service continued to be smooth and effortless, the food was still perfectly done, and the waiter (Hi Eric!) was still graceful and humorous with our energetic group of bloggers!

Thanks White Dog Inn, for such a lovely experience!

AG out!

Asthmagirl |

9 Comments |

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Thursday

Jul222010

Bookends

Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 6:56AM

I did not edit any pictures last night or this morning. So I thought I would show you the very beginning and the very end of Blogfest, courtesy of United Airlines who, yes Binky, wanted an arm and a frickin leg to fly Madeline to Blogfest.

Anyway... the picture above is what woke me up as we flew east from Seattle to DC. After taking the pill that had me slipping into a coma, I neglected to close the blind on the window. Thus, in the AM, it wasn't just a sunrise, but seemingly a lake of molton lava outside the window that had my eyelids flying open in self defense so they didn't become welded to my corneas. I was not even awake 5 seconds before thinking "must grab camera". I belive my fumbling around was what woke Shelley up.

Now below... we have the sight flying home...

...which I have carefully labled for you. From left to right, Mt. Hood (in Oregon), Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier. (I knew these would be hard to see when I shrunk this picture down small enough for my blog. I may put the original on flickr and post a link to it...)

(due to Asthmagirl's angst at leaving Blogfest, she has also carefully labled the wing, the engine and the lovely 65 degree sky)

Yes, St. Helens is missing it's top.

I blame Gustov.... or Jill...

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming which currently includes snoring chihuahuas, cold legs and three very important grants that are due in a week. (Unfortunately, they carpeted some of the offices while I was gone so I am working remotely from the Den of Madness Brute Squad Central until the dang carpet quits off-gassing and I can return to the mothership.

Yours in not enough time in the day to do "This" and edit pictures...

AG out!

Asthmagirl |

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Wednesday

Jul212010

Journeys

Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 7:11AM

I'm still processing images... still processing all the emotions that go with Blog Fest.

The amazing thing to me is that no matter why we decided/needed/wanted to start blogging, no one I spoke to had the intent of someday meeting the folks that commented on their blog and having a wonderful/hysterical/heartwarming getaway with them somewhere down the line.

And yet, that's exactly what we did.