Gabriel lost his first tooth!

Gabriel lost his first tooth last night as he bit into a nectarine. He was very excited. He had it in his head that the Tooth Fairy brought a "lollipop". I explained to him that the Tooth Fairy was a lot like the dentist: he wanted you to take care of your teeth. He said "A penny?" I said that I was certain it would be something like that. We stuck his tiny tooth in a sandwich bag and put it under his pillow. The Tooth Fairy took the tooth and deposited 4 quarters in the bag. He proudly showed me his bag of loot this morning.

The Job Summit, Adventures with a Babysitter, and Hell in a Dentist's Chair

Can you believe all of this happened in one day? Well, two of the stories are related. The boys had a babysitter because I was going to the 1st annual MNSRA Job Summit at the Mall of America.

First: my fun. I parked in the parking ramp and managed to find my way back to the van at the end of it, but that just means I was smart enough to right down minute details of where I was parked. I got into the mall and had trouble figuring out where I was supposed to go. I figured, what the heck, at least I know it is on the 4th floor. I got on the elevator and pressed 4. Lucky for me, it was such a big to-do that I didn't have trouble figuring it out from there. I went over and wrote my name on a nametag that wouldn't stick to my polyester suit jacket, picked up a pack of stuff, and made my way over to the booth of only temp agency that was handing out plastic bags. I got their info and handed them my resume (lot of good it will do me) and shook hands. I made my way to another booth. All of these booths, except 2, were temp/temp-to-hire/direct-hire agencies that found work for clerical, customer service, technology, light industrial, and some banking and management positions. Maybe I have a shot if they don't require experience for light industrial or I prove that I'm knowledgable enough in Microsoft Office. Too bad I'm not Doug.

I went into one of the first presentations. It was on what employers are looking for on a resume and in an interview. It is a good thing I sat for that, because I didn't make into the LONG list of those getting a resume review. I liked the interview tips, but I can't get that far, so I need help in a different way. During the break, I found a booth of a company called Gradstaff. They place recent grads in entry-level positions. I asked if they would place a not-so-recent social work grad in an entry-level position. They said they would do that, so I gave them my resume. I am feeling slightly hopeful about that, because they obviously are not looking for experience.

They referred me to their presentation, which I didn't make it to because I couldn't figure out exactly where it was. I got caught in another one that was starting. It was kind of a happy accident, though. I ended up in a presentation by a motivational speaker for a company called FISH. This guy wasn't the founder, but he might as well have been. His passion came across to the entire audience. I know...that's his job...but he really did believe the principles. The principles of this company were based on behavior observed at the Seattle fish market, and were meant for helping companies succeed, but he applied them to jobseekers. It was really fun and uplifting. I even scored a stuffed toy fish for laughing at the guy's jokes. I laughed the loudest once. Afterwards, I even got a nice compliment from a guy. He said I had a wonderfully contagious laugh. Every time he heard me giggle, he laughed. :-) I'm glad I made someone happy. I also got some laughs from the people surrounding me when I told an old guy walking over, looking for a seat with a little uncertainty as to where to go, that I didn't bite.

During another break, I walked over to a table that caught my eye simply because of the word "community" on the brochure. I started talking to the employee running the booth. I asked what they do. She was telling me about the programs and I told her what attracted me and why. She said she is there to talk about their men's program but handed me her business card and told me to email her. I felt like I scored as much from that one as the Gradstaff booth. I hope she can help me.

When I got home, the children were sitting outside on the chairs with DeAnn, the babysitter. They seemed to have had fun, and that was confirmed when I heard about them going out for a walk, discovering the cemetery, talking about the crosses on the headstones, conning car salesmen out of balloons filled with helium, and bringing me back some fake flowers found blowing in the cemetery. DeAnn was really cool with them. They hugged her when she left. I'm sure I'll contact her again, especially since she is the closest babysitter I have met so far.

It was about 1 p.m. when I got back. Doug left his office for his dental appointment around 2:30. He told me the work was only supposed to take 45 minutes so he thought he would be home by 5 p.m.. I was waiting. By the time 6 p.m. came around and I didn't hear from him, I started to worry. However, I figured that the dentist's office had my phone number. I would have heard something if there was really an emergency. I finally got a message from him at 6:30 p.m. that he was done and coming home. He arrived in the doorway swallowing blood, swollen, and in major pain. I had to go to the pharmacy near his office to get some prescription pain killers and amoxicillin. (The darn insurance will only let us get medicine at CVS now.) I left right away because I saw the pain. He told me he didn't like being "a learning experience". Though the doctor was not new, Doug was special. The dentist had his assistant. After some struggling, they brought in the dental assistant of an oral surgeon who was a friend of the dentist. When she couldn't help, they brought in the oral surgeon himself. Eleven shots of Novocaine and two shots of some other "-caine" later, Doug was finally done. He was allowed to take a ton of pain killer, was restricted from many foods and any brushing for awhile, and had to chomp on gauze and ice his cheek. That was hell and I know that without even having gone through it. Poor Dougie.

What Comes Next? Longevity of Power Assured

So what is next? Universal voter registration. Before summer is out, this will be proposed and quite possibly will be the law. This will automatically register people to vote, using DMV records, income tax returns, welfare rolls, unemployment lists and government databases, and the CENSUS (counting citizens AND non-citizens). Why? To ensure the controlling party in 2010 remains in control in perpetuity. No ID? No problem!

Jericho picks out his own clothes

Gabriel has been picking out his clothes for ages. That is why he frequently goes places and doesn't match. Gabriel started helping Jericho get dressed in the morning not that long ago. He was even helping him go to the bathroom. Jericho has been getting more and more independent. About a week ago he started getting his own clothes and randomly going to the bathroom by himself. It is funny watching him struggle to get his pants and pull-up or diaper down and then getting on the toilet. He sits backwards so he can watch the pee hit the toilet and maybe aim it right to get lucky enough and make bubbles. When I say random, it really is random. We definitely don't have the potty-training thing down pat. I've decided to try and bribe him with M&Ms now. We'll see if it works.

Lola plays fetch

We took Lola out of her cage to play with her. Gabriel always wants her, but Lola always flies back to me. So I patiently stood in the kitchen with Lola on my shoulder so Gabriel could play with her. He took a clip out of her cage that I use to hang up sprigs of millet. He held it out for her to grab and she took it. The thing is rather chunky and metal and has a tiny whole in the middle of the parts you grab and squeeze to open the grabbing part. She grabbed that and then dropped it. Gabriel thought that was fun and gave it to her again. About the fourth time of doing it, she actually flung it. You could tell. We weren't sure before that if it was just accidental, but that really made it obvious that she was intentionally dropping it. Gabriel rolled with laughter. He said he was training her. On the inside I was laughing. I let him think what he wanted, but I knew the truth: the bird was training him. Our Sun Conure really is smart. I can't wait to do it again. I've never seen her actually do a trick. I usually put on music for her, but I think I'm going to have to put on those training CDs and see if she ever says a phrase. I'm still laughing that the bird trained my son to play fetch.

Jericho says his name?

The kids were outside sledding on the last bit of snow. It really is nice out. They disappeared around the side of the hill and I didn't know where they were. When I called out to them, Gabriel reappeared first and said that they made a friend. He also said that Jericho said his name. I've never once heard Jericho say his name. Many people have asked him, and he always sits there in stony silence. So I didn't personally hear him, but I guess I'm inclined to believe Gabriel. I just wish I could have heard what it sounded like. Maybe I'll hear it some time in the future when someone else asks him his name.