the summer passes

Birch being his usual silly self at Scott's birthday celebration last week.

It seems impossible that it is almost the end of July! Thursday is Veda's birthday, then the party Saturday night, then the following weekend me and the kids go to Boston for Daryl's wedding. Every day is a mix of laid back and crazy. Birch is doing skateboard camp right now, then next week cartooning camp. And of course these endless therapy sessions. Right now he goes at least 4 times a week!



I'm just realizing how completely drained I am from all these therapy sessions. I can only imagine how he feels. But we have to do it. Thanks to the sorry state of our nation's healthcare non-system at the moment, I only can afford therapy for him through the medicaid I get because of my status as a "single" mom right now. My income qualifies me and the kids. However, once Scott and I get married in September, I won't be a "single" parent anymore and his income, although inadequate to pay for insurance for me and the kids, will bump us out of the medicaid qualifying range.



So. In September, my kids and I will lose our medicaid, Birch will no longer be able to do therapy, and we must squeeze it all in over the summer. One summer for a 9 year old to learn how to pronounce sounds and deal with physical maneuvers he's never been able to do! I wish we'd found out about his challenges sooner. Ah...how a mother can torture herself. BUT, the wonderful thing is how Birch has stepped up and dealt with all this...he is learning his "R" sounds!!! He is writing in cursive!!! It's truly amazing. Miraculous.

now i'm cooking with gas!

Today I got a stove. It's white and clean and perfect...and it cooks with GAS! Yes, I am a huge gas stove nerd. I've wanted this freakin' stove for like 20 years, and now thanks to the convenience of craigslist and a my willingness to take advantage of a down-on-her-luck woman forced to thin her belongings in order to buy food, I am now the proud owner of an almost-new, pristine, snow-white gas range.

I swoon over gas ranges solely because of the year I lived in that old apartment building owned by the old Bulgarians in St. Pete, FL. Our particular apartment had been inhabited by the owners for quite a long time, and the appliances were vintage, to say the least. There were lots of other perks like a very cool ironing board that folded up into the wall and a large selection of choice, used leopard-print furniture available for free in the storage room below us. But the coolest thing was the huge, ancient gas stove that sat like a tired elephant against the wall of our kitchen.

It had a ton of big, clunky dials on the front and it was really about as big as a VW Bug. You had to light it with matches and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't pass any modern safety inspections. When you had the oven on, the kitchen heated up so much you could have fired pottery on the kitchen table. I loved it. Despite its oldness and the danger factor, it was the most perfect cooking device I had ever used. Gas burners allow you to be detailed and precise about how you cook your food. I was spoiled. And ever after I have pined for the blue flame of gas.