11/1/11 Tech Shop

Today I got to visit a most interesting place: The TechShop in San Jose. It's a new business, subscription-based, that gives crafty-techy types all sorts of resources and tools to let their imaginations go wild. It has a fully-stocked woodshop, metal shop, electronics lab, industrial sewing area with a full-size quilting machine, 3-D scanners, autocad machines, laser-cutters and some enormous water-cutter that can turn a piece of glass into a gear. Clients include people who are building robots, fabricating parts to restore cars, enscripting detailed plates with intricate details on any sort of material...it's really really impressive. Since they are a new business, they've enlisted my new employer's help for their in-store network and wireless access, including their cool little card-readers by each tool that let each client turn on the machine and verify that they're trained on it.

Anyway, today we had a meeting there, which I tagged along with, and was awed by the array of tools and things there, as well as how very competent and thorough my main new coworker is. I was hired to help relieve her load, but I'm suffering a serious crisis of confidence -- she's just so so much more experienced and capable than I am -- how soon will they find me out?! On the other hand, I have to remind myself that I wasn't hired for what I know, but what I can learn, so I'm trying to do that. Still, I'm keenly aware of how lost I'd be without my coworker and how much I have to learn. The good news is, I'm really happy to be learning it, including things I never expected I'd be interested in, primarily wireless networks.

And I get to go see cool places like The Tech Shop! (Unfortunately for us, but wise for them, their minimum age for membership and using their tools is age 12.)

And bonus: I sure am having fun chatting with Gabriel about RF (radio frequency) and channels and stuff though. It's mostly a terminology toss-around, since neither of us know much about it, though he's a lot better at throwing buzzwords around with confidence than I am! I sure hope I take after my mother more than my father when it comes to intellectual longevity...she could talk about this stuff with him now, and I'm barely sure I can at all.

OK, back to work!!

11/1/11 (cool date!)

10/31/11 Halloween school night

Nothing like having Halloween coincide with a Staff Learning Day, so kids had no school. This left time for the more important things in life! Like carving jack-o-lanterns with Aunt Laura and Uncle Ryan.

And putting up house decorations (complete with a moon in the background!).

And, of course, trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.

Laura and Ryan go home tomorrow, and it's always too soon!

10/31/11

10/30/11 In-law visit!

How did this happen, I'm behind for days now!

Friday I attended Katrina's and Julian's Halloween parades (the 4th-graders don't parade).

Saturday Laura and Ryan arrived! The kids are thrilled, they had a lot of game-playing and of course we had a huge dinner.

Today, Sunday, lots of lazing around. Dave and Laura and Ryan took the kids to Benihana's, and I went to a wedding-reception-dinner for a former coworker.

Tomorrow I'm the only one with a normal day -- Laura and Ryan and Dave will be home with the kids -- even though it is Halloween!

10/30/2011

10/27/11 Learning

So, I'm almost done with the 4th week at my new job --enough to feel like I should know what I'm doing, but not enough to know what I'm doing!! Fortunately my new boss is a terrific guy who starts off our meetings with, "So, are you getting all the training you're needing?" (instead of, like my last boss, "...I hired you.....you remember that, right? I HIRED you.... (implying that I must therefore be loyal...))

Anyway, I've been taking online training classes in wireless networks, to which my surprise, I'm finding really interesting. I don't know the first thing about RF and have no physics background to speak of, but I'm liking this. And incredibly, I'm expected to learn it -- really?? I'm flabbergasted. How on earth did I hit -- let alone deserve (especially given my far worthier colleagues?/?) this jackpot???

Tonight I attempted to lament to my family about how out-of-my-element I am. 'I just realized," I said, "I don't even know what a 'frequency' really is!" I said. Gabriel piped up, "It's a number of pulses per cycle in a second." Then he added, "For instance, one giga-hertz means one billion cycles per second." OMG. I know what a "giga" is, I thought, but couldn't do the math while I was cutting up steak to question him.

Another thing, I announced, I didn't realize I didn't understand, what really is an antenna? Is just one antenna for send and another for receive? Gabriel answered easliy, "An antenna converts electrical energy into electro-magnetic radiation -- sort of like a form of light." UHHHH, OK, that's SO not what I meant, but OK!!!

I know there's a point in a parent's life when you realize your kid is smarter than you (though my own mother has never experienced this), but is it supposed to happen when they're 9? Wasn't I supposed to have just a few more years?

This is a GREAT thing, by the way -- I'm really surprised by how interesting I find wireless networks and all the radio-frequency-spectrum stuff around it (for which I have NO physics background or aptitude, heaven help me) -- but I wasn't ready for my 9yo to rattle off to me the technical definition of an antenna. I must face reality (and a good one) not only is he faster and stronger than I am (almost), but smarter. Or at least, more knowledgeable.

World, take hope. And brace yourself! Here they come!!

10/27/11

10/25/11 Science day

Today's headline in the San Jose Mercury News: Schools Flunk Science

With a photo of some 4th-graders dissecting owl pellets.

Gabriel came home with a "special project" from his teacher -- a windmill that would power a small motor. It's for something Gabriel's teacher wants to demonstrate, so he asked Gabriel to take it home and assemble it for him. Gabriel took this very seriously and was VERY proud of it!

Funny that, according to that article, all across the state, schools are pushing out science, but our 4th grade is getting the best dose of it I could imagine. Gabriel's teacher really loves science and nature, so his enthusiasm and energy shows, especially in Gabriel's reaction to it. After all, Gabriel happily went home and immediately tackled an extra project the teacher had given him! It's a shame that some schools can't focus on science, but it's not even clear ours can either. In the end, the quality of teaching matters the most, and that's why Gabriel's getting such a good dose of science, because of his teacher.

Gabriel also spent a lot of time making an electromagnetic with his electronics lab kit and some paper clips. His having a quiet hour and a half at home after school, plus a good refreshing half-hour walk outdoor to get there, is SO good for him!

10/25/11

10/24/2011 The Poet

Look what came in the mail yesterday! A book of poetry. I'd forgotten about this, but Gabriel's 3rd-grade teacher submitted one of his poems (I'm sure that he had to write, under duress), for publication. If I recall, it was a selective process, and his was picked.

Gabriel's is in the lower right.

I don't know if this is brilliant poetry or not, but I take it as a personal accomplishment that he mentions both skiing and camping! Yay!

10/24/2011

10/22/11 Pumpkin Patch!

Halloween iks big business these days! I haven't taken the kids on any outings lately, so I figured today I'd take them to a "pumpkin patch" (really more like a farm-based entertainment center) about 40 minutes away.

The boys' top priority was the "Pumpkin Blaster" activity, which I thought meant that they would shoot at pumpkins. Instead, they shot mini-pumpkins at target with a pretty high-powered large heavy gun! Katrina didn't approve of the sound, so I used her ticket attempting to hit things too (I missed).

Top priority for Katrina: pony ride! Gabriel is now too cool for ponies, but Julian isn't.

High priority for everyone: train ride. I'd bought a park pass for all 3 kids, foolishly forgetting myself, so I had to pass on the train ride. Instead, Gabriel made sure Katrina was strapped in and accounted for.

We also did two separate "hayrides," which mostly went to the same places -- roads carved out in a cornfield -- but one was shorter. Hayrides are popular and we had lots of time for silly pictures while waiting on lines.

Finally, the "hayride." For one, we sat on a bench; for the other, we did sit on bales of hay.

We went by a genuine pumpkin-growing field, and showed us some so-called "Cinderella" pumpkins, the variety which are said to have been the inspiration for the carriage in the Cinderella fairy tail.

Both hayrides featured a beautiful marigold-field.

After our tickets for rides ran out (I hid my relief), we went to the actual pumpkin patch part of this pumpkin patch, and each kid picked out a pumpkin for carving.

They all had a great time -- and despite my serious aversion to crowds, lines, traffic and campy kids' activities, I had a great time too!

10/22/11

10/21/11 Dinner Out

I was burnt and in no mood to cook, or eat, tonight -- so Dave took the kids out to eat! I actually had an hour at home alone. I didn't know what to do with myself and pretty much squandered it, but I guess that has to happen sometimes.

I had a good, but demanding day at work -- I guess I'm past the honeymoon period and am being asked to do "real" work, but I still have very little idea how to do things and am not entirely set up yet. As an experienced professional, though, there are no excuses. Earlier in my career I'd have said "I don't have an account with Cisco and so don't have access to their configurator" but at this stage in my career I have to say "OK I'll get that configuration for you!" -- (somehow!!). So it's a big scramble. I've done this before though, and I know it'll be a few months before I'm really ramped up and there's a certain amount of stumbling around and mistake-making that just has to happen. It excites me while wiping me out at the same time.

I went to the school fund-raiser "Fall Festival" this afternoon, where Julian and Katrina were with the CDC at their face-painting booth. I signed them out and then took them around to a few booths, and entered silent auctions for the boys' classooms. There I met a mom who volunteers in Julian's classroom, and I had an experience I've had many times but never failed to be surprised by: the volunteering mom gushes over what a sweet boy I have. "Really?" I always ask, "he's a constant discipline problem!" This applies to both boys. Maybe it's courtesy, many consolation, but the volunteer-mom always tells me how bright the boy is and that they really enjoy working with him. This mom today went on at length at what a strong reader Julian is (and he always has been) and she seemed to genuinely like him.

Thinking about it, I wonder if the reason I get such glowing reports about the boys from other moms is because the moms see them in smaller, more personal situations and the boys respond well to that. See, I'm always able to find a working-mom-guilt angle. I looked around at the busy festival, and saw how many parents were manning booths and tables and helping out. Would I be part of that community if I weren't working -- or am I working partly because that just wouldn't be enough for me? Will I regret that someday? Funny, I'm not sure I'd regret missing out on more of the babyhood. My regrets, or fear of them, increase as they get older. Even now, I feel more stabs about missing out on Gabriel's 9-year-old-ness than Katrina's 5-year-old-ness.

Well, I guess this is academic, because I'm going to be working for quite a while, and that's overwhelmingly a good thing, guilt notwithstanding.

10/21/11

10/20/11 3's a charm?

That subject can apply to lots of things, but most certainly not our children. There's always ONE who wins the "biggest Pain In the Rear" award for the day. Lately that's been going to Julian (TWICE to the principal's office this week -- so far!), but tonight, Katrina definitely wins. Massive fusses and screeching tantrums because....well, I don't know why exactly, something crossed her.

But no, 3's a charm this time because I knew it'd take 3 weeks to get over the shock of a new job. Tomorrow rounds out my 3rd week, and I'm not really over the shock yet, but I think I might have been slightly useful today instead of just a total leech. First, I embarrassed myself by asking a dumb question in front of LOTS of people who knew better, but kicked off a good discussion. Then, I embarrassed myself again by attempting to answer a question in email that involved actually knowing something that I don't at all ("we need XYZ, what equipment does that"), but inserting my usual extras ("there's none that does exactly XYZ, but here are a few alternatives, and make sure you have ABC types of cables too.") Compared to my previous professional life in which my uselessness was deliberate on my horrible management's part, this is a huge step forward.

My mother would probably say she doesn't remember if I had shrieking call-the-cops-now sorts of tantrums when I was 5 as Katrina has, but if I did, maybe there's hope for her yet.

10/20/11

10/19/11 Shoe blowout

Today is Dave's birthday and somehow I got no photos in all the hullaballoo of making a nice dinner, gifts, video-phone-calls (Facetime!!), and of course, CAKE.

In case anyone thinks I'm too soft a parent, Julian was not able to have birthday cake because of his visit to the principal's office on Monday -- no dessert for a week, and sorry, no pass for Dad's birthday. I've warned him that Halloween is coming up, this is no time to mess around. So what happens? He gets sent to The Office again today. That extends his dessert detention (and various others) for another week.

I did get a few photos yesterday though. Since Gabriel has been walking home from school, he's been (mostly) keeping up with his homework and has time to do other things when we all get home. Yesterday he wanted to -- wanted to! help with dinner.

So I talked him through making macaroni-n-cheese (he's getting much better at that, almost on his own), and then cutting up broccoli. Amusing, Julian is quite a bit better at this given his experience. But he did fine and was proud when I trusted him with a real knife (only because Julian was well out of reach).

Just before bed, for some reason I noticed Gabriel's shoes. Oh brother. Shredded again! I got caught unawares. I really do try to replace their shoes before they get to this point, but sometimes I just miss it, or it happens too quickly.

We had a great laugh throwing them away, then pulling out the next new pair.

Until this morning, when it was time to get in the car and we discovered that the brand-new pair I'd given him was too small. Fortunately I had another pair, a half-size larger, waiting, but if not, we'd have been in trouble.

Now I have no shoe buffer for Gabriel, so I have barely a few weeks to build up a stash of shoes again. Going to the shoe store every time they need shoes is unthinkable -- I'd be going to the mall every month for one or the other boy, and occasionally, the girl. Since I'm apparently so poor at pre-emption, I really need a closetful of new shoes ready and waiting. Thank you zappos! Please all, make sure I rob Zappos of 8 pairs of boys' shoes before November or I'm certain to get into trouble again!

10/19/11

10/18/11 Aaron

I haven't posted about this because it's been new, but of course it's ongoing too.

One of my oldest, dearest friends, Andrea, has a son Aaron who is a year older than Katrina. Andrea and I were pals in high school from the gymnastics team, and went to the same college too (in fact I probably went to U of R because of her), and we've stayed close for over 30 years. She married young (I was her Maid of Honor), had two girls young, divorced, remarried, and had another baby when she was just shy of age 43. Naturally, she was the first person I called when I realized I too would be a super-geriatric Mom! In addition to being one of my closest friends she also has numerous degrees in psychology and is just really understanding and funny and a really great person to talk to.

In 2009, Andrea and her teenage daughter and then-4yo-son Aaron visited us. Katrina made friends with Aaron easily and talked about him for weeks after they left. They really hit it off -- and not because of my grumpy semi-social daughter, but because Aaron was a really nice, easygoing kid. The boys don't remember him, but they played a lot with him too.

July 2009

Anyway, NO, not the worst thing possible that could happen to a child has happened, but the second-worst thing possible -- Aaron has leukemia.

Fortunately his cancer is a treatable kind with a high cure rate, but still, for Christ's sake, it's leukemia. He's only 5 years old, and will be 6 in November. I read daily updates from Andrea (she lives in New Jersey) or her sister, and so far the news is good. But still, God help us, it's still leukemia.

I think the only time I've felt this bad or frightened was when my dear sister-in-law had a stroke. Nothing is more serious than a loved one being gravely ill, and perhaps the younger the person, the less fair it seems. (My Dad's Alzheimer's was different...much slower, without the same shock factor...no less unfair or painful of course but of a different sort. Alzheimer's, for all its injustice, isn't a crisis.)

So while I bop through my day apparently cheerful, my dear friend's son's major health challenge weighs heavily on m and my helplessness grinds a hole in my conscience. Friends geographically closer are giving blood to help the hospital. (Actually, I can't even do that locally to help symbolically because my chronic G.I. trouble has kept my weight below eligible levels for blood donation, or I would. Blood donation seems to be the top request from doctors.)

If there's a bright spot anywhere, it's that few moms are as tough or determined or as willing to be an advocate -- and experienced at navigating the medical system -- as my friend Andrea. If you want anyone by your side as you're fighting a serious illness, it's her. Thank heavens for Aaron that he has her.

10/18/2011

10/17/2011 The Notes

Julian got sent to the principal's office AGAIN today! Here's the note the principal sent us:

Mr. and Mrs. Doudna, Julian was sent to the office this morning because of a discipline problem. A student reported to his teacher that he had hit her in the face. I spoke with both students individually and it turns out that Julian was poking at her and poked the folder that the student was reading, causing it to hit her face. I reminded Julian of our rule to keep hands and feet to himself. To help him remember this, I had Julian sit in the office for recess and lunch today.

GOOD GRIEF! Does it never end?

We had an unusually calm discussion with him, in which he was informed of all the consequences. He ended with wanting to talk to me in private, which I told him would have to wait until tomorrow because he hinted it was about "the family."

Later we found these notes, one on our bedroom door and one on the floor.

Mostly it seems he wants to complain about Gabriel. I guess I'm supposed to listen!

10/17/2011

10/16/2011 "Bug Frame"

Not quite sure why this is called a "bug frame," but Katrina spent the better part of the afternoon drawing, cutting out, and taping together bugs.

This is a butterfly, bumblebee, ant, ladybug, grasshopper and spider. She was so proud of it that she actually let me take that picture. Partly because she was wearing this adorable Flamenco outfit that was red and black, so sort of lady-bug-ish.

I did something unprecedented today: I didn't get hopelessly behind on Halloween costumes. I took all 3 to a store today and bought them (well, Katrina already had hers but she needed black tights). The boys tried them on, they're happy with them, and overall the whole experience was less painful -- shorter and I daresay cheaper -- than the usual online shopping/bidding angst. Let's hear it for bricks and mortar!

Speaking of bugs, Katrina is going to be a ladybug again. I don't think she'll remember from when she was barely 13 months old.

(October 2007)

10/16/2011

10/13/11 Barf!!

What timing...poor Katrina, tonight at dinner complaining that her tummy hurt. Sometimes she's a little dramatic, but my instinct generally is that she's not blessed with the acting gene. Tonight it seemed sincere. About 20 minutes later, it really was -- right into the toilet, poor thing.

Dave's leaving for the weekend tomorrow late morning, which means I get to stay home with a sick child in the afternoon of my 2nd week of a new job!! I think everyone will be quite understanding, especially since I'm not particularly important at work yet. At work, I'm still in shock, feeling a little like I'm in the midst of "The Truman Show," like it's all too good and perfect and squeaky-clean to be true. I keep hearing it's going to hit hard soon, and I believe it. Meantime, this week has flown by, even while last week seemed to take a full year.

Though I had grand plans to work on staking my claim tomorrow and trying to actually contribute at work, looks like I get to spend the afternoon at home with my tummy-aching little girl, who will likely be quite well and spend the whole day working on one of her little craft or writing projects, while I plow through some online classes. Then her brother will come home around 2pm (they're getting out early this week for conferences) -- Gabriel walking home after school is overall working out very well this week. This is all good!

10/13/11

10/11/2011 Teacher Time

Friday was teacher conferences. Urgh.

First, Gabriel's teacher. This time, Gabriel joined us. The teacher did most of the talking, and clearly wasn't concerned about Gabriel's ability, but did talk a lot about his transitions and planning. Indeed, Gabriel is often cramming his work into the last few minutes. Just like me -- works better under pressure.

Friday in particular was strange because the night before, I discovered that Gabriel was way, way, way behind on his week's homework, and had a report due that he'd had for 2 weeks. Thursday night was a serious struggle, with Gabriel gridlocked and refusing to do anything because he could see he couldn't get it all done and was overwhelmed. Clearly we need to keep closer tabs on his work during the week.

Julian's conference was quite different. We spent maybe 3 minutes on how he's doing in school -- not much to say about that, it's clear he's completely capable. Most of the conversation was about his behavior and keeping him focused and not disrupting the class. Ironically, since Friday, Julian has kicked into "angel" mode and he's been pretty good!

But Sunday was horrendous. Gabriel had to catch up on all that work he was behind on, and I'd let him go to Katrina's party on Saturday with the promise he'd catch up Sunday. So after breakfast and some reading, at 10am I told him to go into his room and get to work. All he did was procrastinate and complain and delay. It was a day of constant conflict. I'd written a list of the work he had to do, which at one point he tore up into tiny pieces and I had to insist he pick up all the pieces. By 6pm he hadn't done any work at all, and I'd taken away just about everything he had in the room. Finally, he overheard that Julian and Katrina were going to watch a movie if they got all the rooms picked up, and he kicked into gear. It took an hour and a half, but he pulled it off.

During this colossal struggle, I was upstairs all day myself, finishing up my closet project. I'm thrilled that I got rid of a lot of clothes! Can't tell from the photo, but these bags filled the back of my car.

Tonight I insisted Gabriel do some work on his weekly work due Friday, another major struggle. But I'm too traumatized from last Thursday night's struggle, Friday's teacher conference and Sunday's all-day-long conflict to let that go. I won, he wrote the 5 definitions I insisted on.

Dave was out to dinner tonight, I got everyone's homework done and everyone to bed, in my second week of a new job, and got all outstanding laundry done. Seems I work better under pressure too!

10/11/11

10/9/2011 Jumpy party

Katrina's birthday party was on Saturday, at a nearby trampoline place. They have entire areas with trampoline "floors," plus foam pits and a dodgeball court.

One of these areas is for kids 8-and-under. A few of Katrina's friends, and Katrina herself, were hesitant at first about the jumping, but they all got over it fast.

Gabriel joined us to "help," though he spent most of the time jumping in the big-kid areas, especially since he wasn't allowed to really jump in the kids' area. He came back sweaty and exhausted, it was great! He did help, too, like taking one boy to the bathroom once, something I appreciated!

They have party tables and serve pizza (and pizza only, no outside food at all), simplifying matters quite a bit.

I really liked this place, much better than the noisy inflatable-slide place that is very popular for birthday parties here. I wasn't crazy about all the rules they had in the kids' zone -- no chasing games, no holding hands and jumping -- but we worked around it. In fact, I ended up jumping and playing with Katrina's partymates longer than she did! I feel it in my back today, but I had a great time jumping around myself. I never made it to the foam pit though.

A great kickoff to Birthday Season!

10/9/11

10/7/11 First Friday

Well, I hope I don't have to do that again for a long long time. I survived my first week at a new job!!

But I'm saying I "hope I don't do that again for a long time" only because any new job means a lot of familiarization and change and getting up to speed -- and because I hope I stay at this job for a long time. Starting anew is stressful but expected, and it went far better than anyone could ever dream for. My new job, new office, new coworkers, new boss, new commute, are all great. I keep wondering what's wrong with this picture, because it all seems too picture-perfect to be real. Sometimes it feels like I'm in the movie "The Truman Show" because everything is so neat and clean. I know that's a good thing, I'm just not used to that!

If I had to have any concern at all, it'd be wondering if I'll miss the challenges of wide-area service-provider networks (traffic management, failure detection, redundancy, costs, point-to-point service delivery) that wide-area service-provider networks live with, over the enterprise-level data-center-type network I'll be working with -- now I have to get close to the world of "IT"! This, for a network engineer, is a good dilemma to have. No matter where my work falls, it will improve me.

Another nice change: I'm looking forward to Monday!

10/7/2011

10/6/2011 Caught the creep

They caught the guy -- actually, shot and killed him this morning. We heard the sirens and helicopters around 7:40am, and heard the news barely minutes later. It's more of a relief than I expected.

Many things are unexplained, such as why he came to this neighborhood at all, but it's more than a little freaky that he abandoned his car less than a minute's walk away, then walked farther from our house to attempt to carjack someone else's car in the HP parking lot. He could just as easily have come to our block.

Lorne Way in Sunnyvalewhere he was caught is now famous as the short street where he hid out, and ultimately was shot, but we know it as the site of a birthday party Julian attended in 2008 -- in fact on the same block section. Julian's friend Alex (and his father, my friend George who shares my interest in WWII-era planes and invited us to the tour of the tank museum we took last summer) were renting there and have since moved, thank heavens. They've had been in the center of the action -- and terror.

Actually, best as I can tell, this house is 5 doors down from the one where he was shot. It'd take barely a few minutes to walk there from here -- and even less time to walk to our house from where the gunman abandoned his car.

But it's over, and we can be grateful our schools rehearsed "code blues" and shocked that it ever had to be executed.

Bigger problems tonight though....we discovered that newly-responsible Gabriel is way, way, WAY behind on his week's worth of homework, and a 2-week-long project due tomorrow. We've just been far too distracted with all the issues Julian has been giving us -- it's exhausting keeping after him for absolutely everything.

And I'm still in something between shock and panic about starting a new job. Starting a new job is always a big deal, but maybe that's harder as we get older and more settled into our comfort zones. Then again, I've always had a love-hate relationship with comfort zones. I think I do my best inbetween them, striving to find them.

It's been 4 days and already I've learned so much and realized how much more there is to learn. I keep looking for something "wrong" with this situation, but the more I look at it, even though it looks so different than what I identify with, the less I can find anything wrong with it. Am I kidding myself? I think I'm going to do very well here. The only true anxiety I can find is not having much opportunity to delve into the detailed protocol analysis I used to do and loved (give me a testset and a protocol analyzer and I'm home!) -- this is much less academic, and closer to "just get it done and don't worry about the ins and outs of why." I'm the closest to "IT" as I've ever been in my career as a network engineer.

Now, can I balance an incredibly badly-behaved son and an incredibly putzy or poor-planning son and work??? Can we handle this while I work? SO frustrating finding out how much homework Gabriel has that he's had all week to do!!

This is one Friday I am SOOOO ready for!

10/6/11

10/5/11 Code Blue

A most remarkable day. It should have been ALL about Katrina's birthday. She's FIVE!!! We did have a cake and a little singing, and a lovely call from grandparents.

But today was also marred by a horrendous incident in our neighborhood that isn't entirely over. We were awakened this morning with numerous sirens and helicopters, and discovered after we'd dropped kids off at school and gotten to work that a shooting had occurred a few miles away, then an other non-fatal shooting and failed carjacking very closeby. I spent the whole day tracking Live News Coverage of the incident.

Our schools were on "lockdown," which the kids know as "Code Blue," which meant, no one outdoors, only groups going outside the classrooms (where the bathrooms are), kids released only to adults (no walking home from school). Many parents pulled their kids out of school, and I was tempted, but the truth is : our house is much closer to the action than the school is, so the kids were safer at school. Police and SWAT teams were doing house-to-house searches for the gunman -- still at large as I type -- and the odds were very low he'd make it all the way to the school.

Then after work when I went to pick up the kids, I heard on the radio just as I was parking that Steve Jobs died today. Oh. My. God. That's incredible. Not surprising, he'd been ill for some time, but Oh. My. God. Cancer is awful to take away such a bright light, such a world-changer. It's awful to take anyone of course, but it's just so hard to believe of someone who was such a force.

I thought hard about that driving home, with my children squabbling in the backseat, and counting the helicopters still flying over my neighborhood on my daughter's 5th birthday. The most remarkable thing about today should have been my 3rd day at a new job, not this -- all this.

10/5/11

10/4/2011 Breaking the Rules

Gabriel is determined to "create energy," and wrote this report today about how.

I love the last sentence: "The loop of motion and magentism will keep it going forever, therefore breaking the law of Conservation of Energy. Cool, huh?" I love his brashness and confidence.

Julian, on the other hand, is determined to break every rule in the school handbook. This is the message we received from the principal today.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. and Mrs. Doudna, Julian was sent to the office today for a discipline problem. The incident occurred during today's PE session. I asked Julian what happened and he told me: "I punched someone because I was thinking about motorcycle gangs, the bad guys that wear black suits. You have to punch them, so I punched someone. The second time I tried, I missed."

I'm writing to inform you that I have warned Julian that if he hurts a student again, he will be suspended from school for 2 days. I am not allowing him back for PE today. He will join his class when PE has finished. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Julian's teacher also had some choice words about how he refused to write a letter of apology to the child he'd hit. She's really really frustrated with him, he causes trouble every day and often makes it worse during his consequences.

This is so not what I need in my first week of a new job, and not what Dave needs getting pulled out of work to deal with this stuff. Gabriel's been great, and overall Katrina is too, but it only takes one at a time to cause no end of trouble. And this is where I really can't turn to other parents -- what do you do if your kid is suspended for 2 days?! We work full-time!! And being at home is a reward to him, and being home with him all day to punish him would be dreadful. Suspension will REALLY suck!

10/4/11