A Triumphant Week

Kaleb finally worked out the bugs on his website and his instructor sent him some code so he can password protect his old dog newspapers (so just his subscribers can see them), and now his weekly puppy website is finally a reality! (http://www.theweeklypuppy.com/) I couldn’t be more relieved. Kaleb was pretty proud too (see photo), and we were both doing the happy dance for a long time when we realized he was finally DONE with that process. Now to keep it maintained is another thing, but it won’t have nearly the same kind of pressure. Kaleb got an A on his final project (the website) and his instructor said it was one of the most interesting and entertaining sites he’s seen a student do. I thought that was a pretty good compliment for Kaleb, since this class is meant for junior high kids. They didn’t want him to take it because he’s so young, but he was determined and I begged them and they said OK. Overall he got a B+ in the class because he totally bombed his final exam with a C-. He didn’t study for it because he said he didn’t care about the grade, he just wanted to get his website up. I couldn’t argue with his logic, but because of it, he broke his straight A record with all the courses he’s taken so far with Johns Hopkins. What’s a mother to do. I’m still pretty proud.



As I was driving Kaleb home from his piano lesson this week I asked if there were any other things he’s been “sneaking” that he wants to confess, just so there are no more bad choices of his, waiting to be discovered. I told him there would be no consequences, I just wanted him to be honest with me so I can start to rebuild the trust between us. He fessed up to waking up in the night and playing his Nintendo for hours on end. I knew something must be up because a few weeks ago he insisted his bedroom door be closed when he went to bed. He also had been sleeping way more than usual and I told him he might need to have a blood test to see if he was anemic because he was so tired during the day. I really was concerned about his sleepiness, but apparently, it was his Nintendo addiction causing it. He said he stopped doing it when I was going to call the doctor, so apparently I solved the problem in an unsuspecting way. At least it’s out in the open and now he has a clear conscience.


I haven’t been as productive this week as I’d like, but I did purge one closet so that was my triumphant moment. I’ve been in “supporter” role all week helping Kaleb a little extra and doing way more cooking and cleaning than I like but I need to support Kory and all the household projects he’s now working on. He has the cement board down on the porch and he set some of the tiles on top to see how it all looks, and we are both more than pleased with our choice for the deck topping – so woo hoo for that.

I began the painful job of working on our 2009 taxes, which never seems like a good use of my time, so it’s hard to stay motivated. At least I have “Leave it to Beaver” to keep me company as I play the old episodes over my computer via the “watch instantly” feature on Netflix. It’s good background noise as I try to pick up a few parenting tips, but it seems Kaleb never quite gets himself into the same messes as “The Beav.”


We dog-sat a yellow lab over the weekend so tomorrow I have major cleaning to do as that was one messy dog. Friday we had friends here for dinner and they brought their two yellow labs along just for fun, so Kaleb was in heaven with three yellow labs in the house (his favorite dog breed). Kaleb had a friend here yesterday and was at another friend’s house today so he logged in quite a bit of social time this weekend, for which I am thankful. Otherwise, it gets pretty lonely up here on the ridge. The biggest thrill I’ve had lately is watching the daffodils in my yard begin to bloom. The ones in the fields will be popping any day now too, so my world will soon be filled with yellow! Woo hoo.