O Resourceful Mothertalkers, I need your expertise!

We are in need of a neurosurgeon for DH.  He has some significant problems throughout his spine but the main focus at the moment is way up in the cervical spine -- C3, C4 area.  He should probably have surgery within the month.  So the question:  How to find the best doctor?

I wasn't sure if this rant was diary-worthy or not, and then wondered if other parents have experienced anything like what we just went through.

We recently discovered we have black mold in our house -- specifically in DS's bedroom, which shares a wall with the kitchen.  We had heard all the drama stories about mold and decided we would not become hysterical and burn down our house, but instead just carefully remove the crud, repair the damage, and move on with our lives.

That plan worked quite well for a month or so, as we got rid of the first "mold remediators" whose idea of remediation was to set up very loud dehumidifers in our house and not answer their phones for a week of so.

Last year I was at an intense conference for a few days.  Most evenings, I just wanted to go back to my hotel room and veg while I processed a lot of new information.  One night, I had PBS on TV while I puttered around, and I found myself getting really absorbed in a show about prenatal hormone exposure (testosterone and estrogen).  I know, party down, right?

The show had several male-female couples doing different activities (racing go-carts, solving spatial puzzles by operating heavy equipment to move things around, changing a baby's diaper), and after each activity the participants were placed on a visible continuum from "most masculine" to "most feminine."  Naturally, there wasn't a clear divide on that continuum between men and women.  A woman "won" the spatial task, and the man who was believed to have the most prenatal testosterone exposure lost the go-cart race, because his hormone levels skyrocketed during the race and he became quite reckless (and angry).  The winner was a man whose hormones sharply increased (to a peak performance range), and then leveled off -- so he was "up" but also able to keep his head.
 

I'm planning a trip for my small family to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.  We're going to fly into Seattle and rent a car, then spend several days exploring this amazing rainforest.  We'll end the trip by staying with friends in Seattle for a couple of days and seeing some sights there.  National Geographic offers this fantastic itinerary, with lots of useful info.  But I'd love to hear from people who've been to these places, if possible.  (Have I mentioned lately how much I love the internet?!!)

Hello MTers!  I need your help today because, yes, I am lame when it comes to costumes.  And this one doesn't even require a glue gun.  Worse, I am lame when it comes to shopping.  So, although we have a million stores around here, I'm at a loss as to where to go.

DS is in a musical revue this weekend and he needs a black dress shirt, black pants, and a white tie.  

Yesterday DH took him to Ross, where they took turns asking other customers whether the shirts they were holding up were black or blue.  Apparently DS has inherited DH's color-blindness.  But they struck out. So it's my turn, and I would love your suggestions!

 

Round peg inna square hole's diary about Rory's haircut got me thinking about my own DS's relationship with his grandparents.  It's hardly "The Waltons" around here (and yes, I'm dating myself with that reference -- maybe because I saw Richard Thomas this weekend).  We don't have problems with grandparental interference, but that's mostly because we don't have grandparents, at least not in a functional sense.

On his dad's side, DS has no living grandfather (though he's a namesake) and a 96 year old grandmother.  She lives nearby and is in daily contact with DH.  DS sees her about once a week, usually for a meal at her senior living facility.  She is preoccupied with her own issues most of the time and although she loves him and occasionally seems to notice when he's around, I wouldn't say there's a lot of give and take there.  She does complain about his long, messy hair, but then so do I :-)

My 13 year old son was invited to a sleepover with one other child on Friday night.  We know the kids and parents.  The plan was for the kids to hang out together after school, walk up the bookstore and browse for a while, then get picked up by the mom and spend the evening at their house.

I admit, sometimes my coping skills are stronger than other times.  Tomorrow I am facing a difficult meeting and I can already feel myself tensing up, worrying, and feeling vulnerable.  I am trying to marshall my resources -- talking to friends, exercising, eating well, getting enough sleep (I don't have a young child anymore!), collecting my talismans to keep near me during the meeting, preparing to take my homeopathic "stress" remedy (arnica montana), and calling in positive intentions.