My childcare provider - another victim of the economy

My son's daycare, the place I spent so much time and care researching during my pregnancy, is closing this spring. He has been there 3 years and this will be tough on all of us. The following article is from the Times Union, I added a comment to the Business Blog expressing my frustration & sadness. There are not many places that provide the kind of services he needs for his physical & developmental needs.

This picture shows him at the CloverPatch annual Halloween festival, holding hands with his favorite teacher, Joelle.

Center for Disability Services cuts jobs, services
January 20, 2009 at 10:00 am by Chris Churchill, Business writer

The Center for Disability Services, the Albany non-profit that primarily provides services for the disabled, is cutting its daycare and pre-school programs and eliminating about 50 jobs.

In a letter mailed to center employees, Alan Krafchin, the organization’s president and chief executive, said the cutbacks are a “response to the continuing economic uncertainty and mounting fiscal challenges facing the center.”

Krafchin adds that the daycare and pre-school programs have traditionally run a deficit, but that “the deficits we have supported in the past are now too great to overcome.”

“With shrinking government support and the slowing economy, we anticipate fewer funds being available to fund our deficits and keep these programs afloat,” he said.

On June 19, the center will close the Hudson Early Childhood Services site and Cobleskill Early Childhood Services site. Daycare facilities in Albany and Glenville will also close that day, the center said.

Glenville and Albany Early Childhood Services will continue operating only the specialized self-contained classrooms. The Fulton Montgomery Clover Patch services will also continue operating, the center said.

The Center for Disability Services, headquartered on South Manning Boulevard in Albany, has an annual budget of $101 million and, with 2,400 employees, calls itself the seventh largest private employer in the Capital Region.

It provides services to 15,000 people at 85 locations in nine upstate counties.

[link to article on Albany Times Union: http://blogs.timesunion.com/business/?s=center+for+disability&x=0&y=0]

Getting away from it all--in Vegas, Baby!

To my amazement, a romantic trip to Vegas did our moods and outlook on life a world of good.

Memories as we move on

Life has returned to normal again, at least a "new" normal now that I only have one parent-in-law. The calling hours & funeral were such a mix of sadness and joy and humor. The outpouring of visitors and their reminiscences of Arnold for 3 hours were so touching. I hadn't seen my brother Tom since his car accident in November, and there he was at the funeral home, hobbling in on his crutches after a several-hour drive. He & my sister said they just had to be there for us. Wow. That's when I finally started getting teary. And old grudges were put aside for the occasion as well, it wasn't the time or place for any silent treatments. My 3-yr-old son seemed to intuitively realize his role was to provide the distracting entertainment, if I had a dime for every time someone remarked to me how cute and charming and funny he was!
Here are some pictures of Arnold with his grandchildren, baby Alison ("Ali") on the bottom and baby Eric ("Ricky") on the top:

Vacation ennui

Now that my father-in-law has passed and the arrangements are set, all we have to do now is wait til it all takes place Monday night (calling hours) and Tuesday morning (funeral). I will be singing at the funeral mass with Pat Marthage, Mike's cousin, at the behest of my mother-in-law. I'm glad to do it, hope I don't hit too many off-key notes, I don't do this kind of thing very often anymore.

So the last few days of our Christmas break have been quiet and slow-moving, which is nice but I feel restlessness creeping in. I was compelled to vacuum and start putting away what's under the tree today. Mike wants to take it down this weekend though, which never fails each year to make me blue. Have to admit I'm a bit anxious for work and school and routine to resume, but the Monday-Tuesday funeral activities are delaying that usual return to normalcy. Starting 2009 in this unusual and sad way makes me nervous, I hope the rest of the year progresses in a regular fashion.

2009 begins

Was pondering last night about what kind of novel I'd like to write someday. Thought of a title, "Hurtling," since the incredibly fast passage of time, especially at the end of the year & the Holidays, is so much on my mind. Wouldn't it be cool to write about a researcher/non-fiction writer studying the perception of time and how to affect its speed (or perceived speed) and getting trapped by his or her findings? Could be a fun way to present scientific info wrapped in a fictional narrative. And somehow I also feel driven to investigate the ghost-story genre, got another book of ghost stories of NY state last week, am so compelled to keep buying & reading these. Edith Wharton and Henry James rule, though!