Misc. updates...

I have a bunch of little random things today. No long stories, no pictures. Just a few updates and such!
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Friday Reimond had his echocardiogram at the St. Louis Children's hospital. Wow, what a complex that is! Reminds me of the maze of clinics that makes up the University of MN hospital system or the Mayo Clinic! It's a part of the Barnes Jewish Hospital system, which includes Washington University and so forth with multiple specialty clinics everywhere. I was quite impressed and the Children's hospital is beautiful, on a slightly larger scale than our own Children's hospital in Minneapolis. The tech who did the test was an older man who was quite entertaining (he kept threatening to shock Reimond) and it went very smoothly. My guess is the results are fine, but they will be read and sent to Rei's doctor on Monday. This was done as a final "rule-out" for the Marfan's Syndrome that he had seen the medical geneticist for back in July.
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Reimond got his first in-school suspension, which he needs to serve on Monday... He forgot to take his concerta before school, forgot he had some at school in the nurse's office, and he was "severely off task" in his tutorial. Apparently he was redirected, got done what he was supposed to do, and went looking in his binder for his book he was reading; when it wasn't there he said "damn!" Apparently that is grounds for in-school suspension ("Cursing"), and he was written up and sent to the principle's office... The assistant principle called me and told me about it; she said he was NOT being a behavior problem in class, but was off-task, and that they are very strict on their language policy. Because this was his first offense she was cutting him a little slack and rather than giving him 2 days ISS he would only need to serve one day. I did suggest that a part of his being really off task might be related to anxiety over the echocardiogram, which he had Friday after school, and she agreed it might be, and said he was a very neat kid, who was very polite with her in her office, and did a nice job of taking ownership for his behavior and brainstorming other options... Hopefully he'll learn from this!
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Aurora is marching today in a Band Competition; she had to be at the school by 5:30 this morning to get to whereever it is being held. She was having some mixed feelings about doing it, because of how early she had to be up primarily, but she got there in time, and we are waiting to hear how they do. She raced in Cross Country on Thursday and as it was at "home field" Brie, Cliff, Rei, and I were there to root her on (Patrick was too, with his team, but he was ineligible to run). She gave it her all, but came in 26th; Mascoutah had first place for the girls, and they came in 4th for the team standings for both boys and girls. In two previous races she missed medalling by one runner (came in 16th when they gave medals to the first 15) so she really is doing quite well. It was fun to be a part of it, and it was really nice seeing all the parents and grandparents that come out for these races.
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I just got off the phone with Jesse about my van... On Wednesday when I was out running errands I didn't like the way it was handling: there was a lot of play in the steering wheel, and at 65 mph it was really shimmying. Today when I went to start it to take the kids to bowling I heard a high pitched whine and grinding sound, over and above the roughness of the engine (I've needed exhaust work done on it for some time so it sounds like a race car), then a crunch, and silence. Not good, I was thinking, but the motor itself sounded normal, so I put it in reverse and started down the driveway... No steering! The steering wheel was basically locked up and really hard to turn! Jesse says I most likely blew the power steering pump and the belt, and that I will need to replace that. I have also been having trouble with the shifter and he said that has been going as well for over a year and a half (since before we went to Colorado), but that may need to be fixed too... I talked to Eric shortly after it happened, and now we need to make some decisions about what to do--do we put the money into fixing it? Or do we just look at getting something smaller and more economical (used, of course, at least for now)... Guess we need to start looking at what our options are. I am just glad if it had to go it went out in the driveway and not on the freeway or one of the county roads in the middle of nowhere! As an aside, we called the bowling Alley and our friend Jennifer came up and picked us up so the kids could bowl, and then ran us home again. I am so appreciative of that!
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On a very sad note, the kids were quite dismayed to learn that the neighbor's dog, a little pomeranian-chihuahua mix, was found dead in the woods behind the houses. Apparently "Copper" had gotten out the night before and when they looked for him yesterday they found him early afternoon, deceased. At this point they are wondering if he died of hypothermia, as it had gotten pretty cold the previous night, and it's pretty damp in the woods (marshy); he didn't have any marks on him that would suggest coyote or other predators... He was a cute little dog, and the kids will really miss him.
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I think that's it for today. We are finally having fall-like weather down here, the leaves are turning color, and it's getting colder. We have sunshine though and it's a gorgeous day, so I hope we can get a few things done outside later today, once Eric gets home from school... I am ready for fall!