Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Hearing Aids, Detours, Quilts, and This Thing

Monday was wet.  Rainy, cloudy, and wet.  And this is a week we're not doing any school.  Though I nearly changed my mind about that, as the boybarians were very restless and irritable.  I suspect they were still unwinding from a busy weekend.

And they were doing this thing which drives me nuts! They hover around me like frantic buzzing bees, absolutely vibrating with tension.  One will ask a question, or initiate a discussion about something.  The next boy will interpret any lull in the conversation - you know, like when you pause between words to breathe - as an appropriate time to interject his own question or issue of choice.  And then the next boy will do the same thing.  And it's all, from their perspective, terribly, exceedingly urgent.

Bzzzzz, bzzzzz, bzzzzzz.

One.  At.  A.  Time.  Please.

Probably didn't help that I was on a self-imposed quilting marathon to finish the vintage tumbler quilt.

Which I did.  Yay, me!  No pics yet.  Coming soon.  I like it.  I really like it.  It's happy.


So today we made another trek to Children's Hospital, this time accompanied by Grampa Grasshopper.  Can I just say again how awesome Grampa and Gramma Grasshopper are?  Why yes, I think I will.  Because, really, I'm a big girl, and I can drive into the city all by myself.  But I'm a little worried about something.

It's the van.  We've nicknamed it Pahoehoe, which is that hot, red lava that flows quickly and smoothly.  But lately I've been calling it Dory.  Because it does this thing.  Actually...
 
I think it speaks whale...

(If you haven't seen Finding Nemo, just move along.)  It moans sometimes.  And it's probably the power steering, (which still works), but every once in awhile it doesn't go into reverse when I want it to.  And I really don't want to have issues with it, far from home without another adult present.

So hurray for Grampa Grasshopper!

Which also worked out well since they're doing road work along my normal this-is-so-easy route from I-5 directly to Children's, and it was nice to have a driver and a navigator, because I saw places I'd never seen before.

And what a good thing we did make the trek to Children's.  Remember Tate's little drama with his HA and the tomato soup? 

He swore his HA was working just fine after that, but we were all noticing a lot more, "Huh?" and "Whaaaaat?" and missed communication.  Either he had a very coincidentally timed drop in hearing, or the soup did more damage than we initially thought.

Tate was not happy with me for even suggesting such a thing, knowing that sending his HA in for repair means wearing his old aid, and the difference in sound quality is very noticeable to him.  So he kept insisting everything was fine.

Yah.  His Audie hooked the HA up to her computer and it was clearly not functioning properly.  And surprisingly, when it came right down to it Tate was great about it.  Total attitude turn around.  Thank you, Lord.  She (the Audie) did reprogram his old aid - optimized it as much as possible.  And given the malfunction of his good aid, the adjustment probably wasn't so bad after all.  I think the sound is just really different

Should have the "new" one back in a couple of weeks.

Hallelujah.

In other news, I had planned on putting all my sewing stuff away as soon as I finished that quilt.  But then I remembered, I still have to bind the Christmas quilt when it comes back from the quilter.  So, meanwhile, I'm puttering away at little sewing projects.  Like bibs.  Made from scraps.  Kind of fun.  I may need an intervention.

11 comments:

Cutzi said...

Well, just never mind about the red since I see you've already finished it. Hooray!

(and don't me like me and second guess your color choice - I'm sure it looks awesome)

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Actually, Cutzi, I loved your idea of green. I could picture just what I wanted.

But I couldn't find it at Joann's. A bazillion bolts of fabric, but not the right one.

So I pulled some blue out of my cupboard, and it works :D

Red would've looked great!

leah said...

I love your posts- thanks for the chuckle! A van that speaks whale, lol.

I'm glad it was Tate's hearing aid and not his actual hearing that needed a tune-up! Hopefully it will be back in a jiffy. I've heard that kids don't like to switch hearing aids, because of the difference in sound. Fortunately, we still have a while before Nolan's aids will get too old (unless he loses more low frequency hearing- his aids are almost maxed out in that range).

I can't wait to see the pic of the finished quilt!

Anonymous said...

I'm bi-modal (cochlear implant one ear, hearing aid in the other). I ALWAYS have my "old" hearing aid, for tomato-soup mishaps such as what Tate experienced! You just never know! I don't like it nearly as well, but it has sure come in handy when I needed a repair!

Can't wait to see the pictures. "Someday" I'm going to quilt too. First have to get a machine... then sign up for some quilting classes at the local craft store. It's in my "someday" column of anticipatory goals!

melanie said...

I don't know what size your van is, but I had the delight (ha) of driving our full size Ford the day the power steering went out. Built some muscles that day! and got really choosy about which turns I wanted to make (not) on the way to find my DH to take over... I really hope you don't have to experience that. Hurray for G&G Grasshopper & Tate's great attitude =)

Looking forward to seeing the finished quiltS!

The dB family said...

You have "bee" children too? I actually call mine mosquitoes because there is usually a little whining that goes with that.

Hooray for visits that go well with children who are happy to comply. I hope Tate gets his "new" hearing aid back sooner than later!

Blessings!
Deborah

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Thanks, you all!

Tate is amazingly adaptable, and I'm sure the time will pass quickly. And - hallelujah! - yes, I'm very glad it was a hearing AID problem, and not a HEARING problem. Because that did cross my mind.

When he lost the residual hearing in his left ear it was abrupt and unrelated to any triggers - no fever, infection, head injury, etc.

I'm very thankful his hearing has been stable for about two years now :D

amber waves of grain said...

Do you use a pattern for bibs, or do you just do them free-hand?

Glad that your son's hearing aid can be fixed-- hopefully soon!

Herding Grasshoppers said...

I traced a couple of our old bibs onto tag-board to make a simple pattern, because I had one I really liked. It was wider where the bib went over the shoulder, so really protected the boys' shirts. Messy eaters, my boys ;D

But you could probably just eyeball one.

Kristen@nosmallthing said...

You are always so joyful. Even when you're quasi complaining. Not that I would accuse you of complaining, ever. You know what I mean, right?

You have a wonderful life, lady. You know that, don't you?

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Life is good :D

I don't mean, exactly, to complain.

But I do, sometimes.

And other times... well... I just have to shrug my shoulders and laugh.