Mom of two's ramblings

First Shots

2010-11-10T14:33:00.002-06:00

I took my first shots with the camera Monday. I can't wait to finish the roll and post some of the pics.

New Favorite Song

2010-11-08T00:14:00.001-06:00

I have liked this song for quite a while, but the more I hear it the more I fall in love with it.

"All Of Creation"

Separated
Until the veil was torn
The moment that hope was born
And guilt was pardoned, once and for all

And captivated
But no longer bound by chains
Left at an empty grave
The sinner and the sacred resolved

And all of creation, sing with me now
Lift up your voice and lay your burden down
And all of creation, sing with me now
Fill up the heavens, let his glory resound

And time is fadin'
And we see him face to face
Every doubt erased
Forever, we will worship the king

And all of creation, sing with me now
Lift up your voice and lay your burden down
[ MercyMe Lyrics are found on www.songlyrics.com ]
And all of creation, sing with me now
Fill up the heavens, let his glory resound

The reason we breathe
Is to sing of his glory
And for all he has done, praise the father
Praise the son and the spirit in one

And all of creation, sing with me now
Lift up your voice and lay your burden down
And all of creation, sing with me now
Fill up the heavens, let his glory resound

And all of creation, sing with me now
Lift up your voice and lay your burden down
And all of creation, sing with me now
Fill up the heavens, let his glory resound

And every knee will bow
Oh, and every tongue, praise the father
Praise the son and the spirit in one

New Hobby

2010-11-06T17:05:00.001-05:00

I recently came across a camera that has been in the family for over 70 years. It is in excellent condition and in working order. I went to the photo supply store today and got film for it. I plan to go around to local landmarks and shoot photos and will post the outcome. I can't wait to see how they turn out. When I googled the camera, the photos on the sites had amazing detail for a camera that is 70 years old and made of mostly paperboard and cardboard.

God is so good!

2009-09-28T21:22:00.002-05:00

With the recent changes in my life, He has seen to it that every need is met. I don't know why I continue to worry when things get hard, He always pulls me through and puts the right people in my life at the right time. Thank you Lord for being so good to me and helping me get through this mess I'm going through.

Update on my soldier!

2009-04-24T12:24:00.002-05:00

I got a text from my soldier son yesterday. He's getting promoted to Private First Class next Friday! He also made soldier of the month. He is doing so amazing. I truly believe this is what he was meant to do. He is flourishing. He is doing pretty good in school too, they are letting him take college courses in the evenings at the local university where he's stationed. I'm so proud of him!!

Updates

2009-04-24T12:22:00.003-05:00

Well, the foot ended up in a cast that next Monday! My nerves couldn't take the falling and unsteadiness of the boot. He has fallen six times since he broke it and this past Monday hurt his other foot and has been unable to walk on it much. We go back to the doctor on Monday. Pray it's healing and he can start putting some weight on it!

Owwww!!

2009-04-10T19:53:00.004-05:00

It hurts me to even look at it. He swears it does not bother him. I promise it did not look this bad even two days after his accident. Last Friday, my young aspie fell off the bus when he got to school. The nurse tried to get me but I was at the doctor all day so she got my husband instead. It was not even bruised that day. I did not see it until the next morning, I had stayed all night at the hospital with a sick aunt, another story for another time. When I saw it, it was swollen, but I didn't not see the bruise right away.

I had my f-i-l, who is a physician, come wrap it and we put it in the boot that we had from where he broke his foot last spring. He was getting around fine, swearing it didn't hurt all weekend.

Sunday he went to a friends house in the boot and fell again. He skinned his knee pretty bad. I looked at his foot that night and I saw the black bruise under his ankle, along with some swelling. This is what it looked like then,

I kept the boot on and just figured it was sprained. He still promises it does not hurt. Wednesday night I look at it closely again and the first pic is what I saw. Of course I am a worrisome mother, but please, black toes.... We had to go get an x-ray Thursday morning first thing.

Probably needless to say, but the doctor was not happy with me. The dern thing is broken very bad. I had to beg him not to cast it. It is hard enough for him to get around in a boot. We had to rent a knee-walker, which is very cool by the way, and he cannot put an ounce on it until we go back at the end of the month or he will cast it, and he is not coordinated enough for crutches.

There are several bright sides to this though. First, he's not active anyway, so it's not going to change a lot. Second, it does not bother him at all, although the doctor seems to think it will. I didn't bother picking up his pain meds. The school is picking up the scooter rental since he broke it at school and insurance won't cover it. The best thing of all is that the Occupational Therapist had recommend we get him a scooter, although not to this extreme, that it would be the first step in him learning to ride a bike. He's learning to maneuver around the house pretty good and actually got out to go to lunch with us today;)

Here We Go Again!

2009-01-11T23:34:00.003-06:00

Well, I have another IEP meeting scheduled in the morning. If it goes as I expect it to, I will be handing them a letter of my intent to file for a due process hearing. Wish me luck!

100 Things

2009-01-04T15:31:00.003-06:00

Okay, so Argon One had posted a list of 100 things asked if had ever been done. I decided to copy and put my own answers on my blog. Turns out I'm pretty boring. I guess have a lot to do to catch up!!!

01. Start your own blog -- Yes
02. Sleep under the stars -- No
03. Play in a band -- No
04. Visit Hawaii -- No
05. Watch a meteor shower -- No
06. Give more than you can afford to charity -- Yes
07. Go to Disneyworld – Yes, a few times
08. Climb a mountain -- No
09. Hold a praying mantis -- No
10. Sing a solo – Yes, when I was very young
11. Bungee jump -- No
12. Visit Paris – No, but would love to!
13. Watch a lightning storm at sea – No (unless you count on tv ;
14. Teach yourself an art technique -- No
15. Adopt a child -- No
16. Eat sushi -- No
17. Walk to the top of the Statue of Liberty -- No
18. Grow your own vegetables -- No
19. See the Mona Lisa in France -- No
20. Sleep on an overnight train -- No
21. Have a pillow fight -- No
22. Hitch hike -- No
23. Look at the rings of Saturn through a telescope -- No
24. Build a snow fort – No, just a snowman
25. Hold a lamb – No, but my son has
26. Climb to the top of a lighthouse -- No
27. Run a Marathon -- No
28. Ride in a gondola in Venice -- No
29. See a total eclipse -- Yes [both solar and lunar]
30. Watch a sunrise or sunset – Yes
31. Hit a home run -- No
32. Go on a cruise -– Almost, had a death in the family the day b4 we were supposed to go.
33. See Niagara Falls in person -- No
34. Visit the birthplace of your ancestors -- Yes
35. Visit an Amish community -- No
36. Teach yourself a new language -- No
37. Have enough money to be truly satisfied -- No
38. See the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person -- No
39. Go rock climbing -- No
40. See Michelangelo's David -- No
41. Sing karaoke in public -- No
42. See Old Faithful geyser erupt in person -- No
43. Buy a stranger a meal at a restaurant -- No
44. Visit Africa -- No
45. Walk on a beach by moonlight -- No
46. Ride in a helicopter -- No
47. Have your portrait painted – Yes, by my grandmother
48. Go deep sea fishing -- No
49. See the Sistine Chapel in person -- No
50. Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris -- No
51. Go scuba diving or snorkeling -- No
52. Kiss in the rain -- No
53. Play in the mud -- No
54. Watch a movie at a drive-in theater -- Yes
55. Be in a movie -- No
56. Visit the Great Wall of China -- No
57. Start a business -- No
58. Take a martial arts class -- No
59. Visit Russia -- No
60. Serve meals at a soup kitchen -- No
61. Sell Girl Scout cookies -- Yes
62. Go whale watching -- No
63. Get or send flowers for no reason -- Yes
64. Donate blood, platelets or plasma -- No
65. Go sky diving -- No
66. Visit a Nazi Concentration Camp -- No
67. Adopt a pet from a rescue shelter -- Yes
68. Pilot an airplane -- No
69. Save a favorite childhood toy –- Yes
70. Visit the Lincoln Memorial -- No
71. Eat Caviar -- No
72. Make a quilt – Tried to
73. Stand in Times Square -- Yes
74. Tour the Everglades -- No
75. Visit the Viet Nam Memorial -- No
76. See the Changing of the Guard in London -- No
77. Drive a race car -- No
78. Ride on a speeding motorcycle -- No
79. See the Grand Canyon in person -- No
80. Publish a book -- No
81. Visit the Vatican -- No
82. Buy a brand new car – No
83. Walk in Jerusalem -- No
84. Have your picture in the newspaper -- No
85. Read the entire Bible -- No
86. Visit the White House -- No
87. Kill and prepare an animal for eating -- No
88. Hike the Appalachian Trail -- No
89. Save someone's life -- No
90. Sit on a jury – Yes, was the foreperson!
91. Meet someone famous -- Yes
92. Join a book club --No
93. Own an iPod -- Yes
94. Have a Facebook page -- Yes
95. See the Alamo in person -- No
96. Swim in the Great Salt Lake – No, but saw it
97. Cross country snow ski -- No
98. Hold a snake -- No
99. See DaVinci’s Starry Night in person -- No
100. Read an entire book in one day – Yes, quite often actually

To the Police!

2008-10-15T18:57:00.003-05:00

I understand that we live in a city that is rated one of the top two in the nation. I also understand that you see this stuff everyday and that you really don't care. However, you could at least give us the courtesy of pretending that it does.

To the Crooks!

2008-10-15T18:53:00.003-05:00

I find it very pathetic that you would kick in the door to someone's house, scare the dog half to death and take things that do not belong to you. But the one thing I find most deplorable is that you would take a child's video game system that was just bought one week ago and leave him totally devastated.

Two Calls Today!!

2008-09-28T22:53:00.001-05:00

My son called me twice this morning from Bootcamp. The first time I had just turned the ringer on my cell phone up thank goodness. He said they were up all night doing night shooting until the sun came up. He was exhausted. He did make expert marksman this week, woo hoo,

He said that today was a free day and he could do whatever he wanted so he was probably going to sleep and go to Taco Bell. He said the whole platoon got into trouble this week and had to go back to red phase for a few days. They were supposed to be cleaning and when the DS came upstairs every single one of them were asleep. He said they are doing grenade training this week. 31 Days to go

Letters

2008-09-04T21:23:00.003-05:00

I got my first letter from my son today! I am sooo excited. He actually wrote it. I was expecting a form letter from the drill sargent but this was an actual letter from my son. He wrote it before I got my phone call last week, so it wasn't anything I didn't already know, but just the fact that he did write to me and did tell me that he loves me..... only a mother knows :)

He Called!!! :)

2008-08-23T22:17:00.002-05:00

It's been five whole days since I got to talk to my son. My phone has not left my side the whole time. Last night he sent me a text that he had "stole" his phone back. He told me he is bald, had gotten five shots and was very bored. He got to call today. They are letting them use their phones until they go to their actual BCT unit next Wednesday. He said there are 1000 of them there and only 16 pay phones. He told me once he starts training he will only be able to call maybe once. It's going to be a long nine weeks.

In the Army Now

2008-08-18T15:54:00.003-05:00

Well it's official. I am now the mother of a soldier. There is such a mixture of emotions that goes along with this, pride and depression seem to be the dominant two. Pride for the man he is becoming, depression because he is grown and leaving me. We were allowed to stay with him and watch the final swearing in and eat lunch with him. It's amazing to me that out of thirteen recruits, only four had families there and my husband was the only dad.

Now begins the waiting game. Waiting for the mail and the phone calls.

Life is just not fair.....

2007-09-26T21:33:00.000-05:00

Life is not fair. We learn that early in life. However, when life is not fair for a child who has a disability and will have a difficult enough life, it makes it especially hard. Why is it that the people who are supposed to be educators and care about each child individually are the one's who want to take the easiest way out without giving the rough patches a chance to work themselves out? Let me explain....

My aspie son was put back into a regular classroom for this fifth grade year. He has essentially gone from having no homework and very little classwork for the past three years in special education, to having a full load along with changing classes with twenty other children. Because his aggression seems to finally have become under control the IEP team decided last May to put him in the regular classroom this year full-time. This is a child who will only give you as much as you require out of him on the front end, never more.

The school feels that because they have been punishing his behaviors daily, behaviors which are typical of an aspie child when placed in a stressful social situation, they have been accomodating and are wanting to have him placed back into the special ed classroom. The new behavior analyst assigned to my son has not had a chance to complete his report and give them his recommendations, although he did tell me that he does not think "they get it". The teachers have not made any effort to shorten assignments nor help him deal with the social situations that cause so much stress for him and for which he has never had any training even though it has been requested NUMEROUS times.

In short my opinion is this, when they punish a child who has Asperger's for things like making noises in class, or even making threats to other children (who were probably picking on him in the first place), then it would not be any different than punishing a child in a wheelchair because he or she cannot walk. When social skills are the main manifestation of this disability and then those skills are never taught, how can they possibly think it is just bad behavior and punish him accordingly??? Why does it have to be a daily battle? Why do they put our children in typical classrooms but not require the teachers to have any training on how to deal with them so that a lot of these things can be avoided???

Those are my thoughts for the day.

8 Things About Me

2007-09-10T14:06:00.000-05:00

Here are the rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their 8 things) and post these rules. (If you don't have a blog email me.)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged and to read your blog.

********************Random things about me**************************

1. I'm not a morning or a late night person.
2. I love italian food.
3. I am a chocoholic.
4. I love to read.
5. I don't like grumpy people (including kids and teens) .
6. I love my new job!
7. I am a couch potato
8. I can no longer be a couch potato because of my back.

I won't tag anyone, since I don't have 8 people who read my blog, but if you do decide to post please leave me a comment and let me know :)

Recent Happenings

2007-05-24T15:39:00.000-05:00

Boy has it been crazy for the past month around our house, which by the way has still not sold after almost 300 days, but the good news is two people are looking at it today.

The IEP team has decided our little one is ready to go back to a regular fifth grade full-time next year. He has matured so much and come such a long way socially and behaviorally. I am finding the more independant I make him, the more he wants to be independant. The little bugger told me last week that he could do his own bath all along, it's just that I "always get in there first so he let's me do it." He will be going to six flags next weekend with a friend of his and their parent's and he can't wait!

My oldest is now a Junior in high school :(. In less than a year and a half he will officially be an adult. I just put him on a plane alone to go visit a girl and her family that we met last summer on our vacation (they have been in contact daily ever since). I totally trust her family and I hope we are not wrong about that. The security would not let me walk him back to the gate since he is already sixteen, but I thought that it was not fair, it should at least be eighteen when you have to let them go......(of course he was happy about it). I've been totally useless all day tracking his flight to NC, but he just landed twenty minutes ago so I might be able to breathe again until Tuesday when he gets back on a plane.

My Baby Turns 10 today!!

2007-05-03T11:46:00.000-05:00

My little one is officially in the double digits now. Wasn't it just yesterday we were bringing him home for the first time ?!? Where does the time go. From a 20-1/2 inches bundle of joy to a 5 foot precocious boy. He has matured a lot over the past year too. He told me the other night that he really doesn't care about presents this year, he only wants his friends to come to his party to play.

I am sooo Bummed out!

2007-04-12T11:43:00.000-05:00

I have been really really busy lately and have not been able to post, but I just have to get my frustrations out.

I have discovered that Goodwill has an auction site, can you believe that?!? I have found so many great deals and bought many wonderful, some brand new things for practically nothing. Well, yesterday afternoon in those last few minutes before the workday ends, when it's too late to start working on something, but too early to go ahead and leave, I was browsing the website. What do I find you might ask? Well, I found a 43 pieced set of my great-grandmother's china for $9.95. I am missing several pieces of the set, so this would be perfect to complete it. Granted the shipping was $40, which is a little steep, but for that much antique china it would have been a steal.

Well I put my bid in with a max of $15, with only two hours to go and no bids already. I left work and went home where the power had been out since early that afternoon. I didn't think anything of it because no one was bidding on the china, so I thought I was a shoo in. The power did not come back on until 4:30 a.m. this morning, so I did not get to look at it anymore last night.

When I got in this morning and checked, I had lost the set by $1. Can you believe that????? One lousy dollar. This totally depresses me because now I have looked at what the pieces are going for seperately and it will cost a small fortune to complete the set piece by piece.

On the bright side though, this is the third time I've seen the set, once at an antique shop, once at my local Goodwill, and now online, so hopefully it will turn up again :)

Up Up and Away!

2007-03-02T10:35:00.000-06:00

This week I flew to New Jersey on business. This was the first time I've flown in over ten years, so things have changed a lot. The first thing of course was going through security with my shoes off. Now, first thing in the morning I can see where that would be okay, but late in the day when people have had them on for a while I imagine it gets a little bit smelly. Next thing I noticed was how quiet everything was. Gone are the days when family and friends can see you off or wait for you at the gate. Only passengers with tickets are allowed past security so I had no trouble getting a seat in the waiting area.

This was also my first time up north in about twenty years. It is very different up there. Since I was only there for an overnight trip I'm sure there is a lot more that I would find interesting, but the one thing that I could get used to that we do not have here in the South would be not having to pump my own gas. They have state employees that do that in New Jersey. You pull up and they take your payment and take care of everything right there.

Another thing they have up there that I have never seen down here in the South are Cheese Doodles. We have Cheese Puffs down here but they are no where near as good as the doodles. My favorite author writes about these in her books and I had no idea it was not a ficticious name until I got there. The morning before I flew out I saw them in the machine and I just had to try them, after all Janet Evanovich wrote a whole book around them. So that's what I had for breakfast that day. Next time I go up I will have to try the Tastykakes she is always referring to in all her books. I can see me telling my boss she has to send me back up there so I can try them.

Oh well, back to reality and trying to get fit and healthy with all my blogger friends. Gotta get some work done now :)

Oh My Valentine!

2007-02-16T10:58:00.000-06:00

My Aspie son has his first crush, although he doesn't actually know he has a crush yet. Let me explain...

There is a young girl in his classroom that has taken a liking to him. The first few weeks of school she would tell everyone that she was going to marry him. He would grin but say he hated her. Several people have teased him about her to the point of him declaring he "hates ugly so and so". He has been picking on her every chance he gets since then.

I dropped him off one day and was talking to his teacher. As soon as he put his things away he went right over to where she was and sat down. I mentioned this to the teacher and he said it was like this all day long, either him going over to her, or her going over to him.

Well, last Tuesday I was filling out his Valentines and I kept asking him to come and help me. He said he was not giving one to her. I told him if he did not come and help me then I would write her a card that says he loves her. Well that got his goat. He stomped over and plopped on the couch. I suggested we find the least "loveable" card to give her. That seemed to pacify him. We went through what each one said and go to one that said "I hope you have an Enchanted day" or something like that. He asked me what that meant and for lack of a definition on the spot I said it was sort of like falling in love or something. He said good, he would put on there that it was so she could fall in love with someone other than him (the little stink).

Well, he called me that next day and he had gotten in trouble at school and had to stand in the corner. When I asked him what for he said it was because he tried to hit the girl. Mom was in the background telling him to tell me why he did that and he said it was because she tried to kiss him. Of course I explained to him that we never ever hit girls under any circumstances. He said he would do it again if she tried to kiss him again.

Ahh young love!!!

On the older love drama, my oldest son came home with a hickie. He said "we just did it to see if you would get mad about it". Well let's just say he found out the answer to that and I don't think he'll be seen within a mile of her dad anytime soon.

Till next time :)

I've Been Tagged (I think)

2006-12-15T13:49:00.000-06:00

Okay, so Mom's Baggage (see link to the side) has tagged me, I think. I've never done this before so I am unsure how to go about it. It's supposed to be a MeMe post of Thursday Thirteens (although I am a day late), so here goes.

I am: Very happy I got an A on my final
I want: Lunch, I skipped it to go get a manicure
I have: a wonderful family, even though they are very irritable today
I wish: My house would sell soon.
I hate: When people are moody all the time
I miss: having our own house.
I hear: Typing and muffled talking (I work in an office)
I wonder: what my kids will grow up to be
I regret: not going to college right after high school
I am not: as organized as I would like
I dance: very badly.
I sing: in the car, mostly when I'm alone.
I am not always: neat
I make with my hands: meals and desserts when I can.
I journal: By blogging and Scrapbooking
I confuse: my husband
I need: a vacation
I should: be working right now :)
I start: any thing that interests me.
I finish: just about everything, it just may take me forever.

I'll tag three of the blogs I read regularly, which are Hick's, Mike's and Cathy's.

Daily Report

2006-11-30T09:13:00.000-06:00

Teacher's comment on my Aspie son's daily report:

"Mr. 'I love mornings' ended up having a good day"

:)

Happenings

2006-11-10T10:50:00.000-06:00

Whew it's been a whorlwind year. My oldest son got his driver's license. This is both good and bad. It's good because I don't have to do near as much running around. It's bad because I worry and because he's growing up too fast :(. He went to a dance at school last weekend and drove his girlfriend in his uncle's camero. My youngest asked me if they were dating. When I told him yes he replied "I thought they were just going to a dance" :).

My youngest son just tested for his green belt in Taekwondo. He will be so pround when he finds out how he did next week. The school has sent me a letter about a meeting next week. They want us to consider counseling for him. I'm not sure that is such a great idea. I'm scared to let them send him to their therapist who I know nothing about. At least if I turn them down, I can choose my own (if necessary) who will have experience with Asperger's. He has been doing so well this year that I'm afraid to mess it up in any way.

On a good note, I get to go Christmas shopping next weekend with my cousin and I will actually have a little bit of money. I got their big presents out of the way too so that is a big load off my mind.

Fall

2006-09-20T09:30:00.000-05:00

I just love this time of year. Fall is definitely my favorite season. It is so nice not to have a 120 degree heat index everyday, and I love the trees when they start changing their colors and the leaves start falling. We are staying at our in-law's while we are in the process of selling our house and looking for a new one. She has a wrap around porch with a swing on it. It is so nice to sit out there every night. I've decided my next house will definitely have to have a porch with a swing on it.

We have been so busy lately. It gets this way every fall and every year I say I am going to tone it down some, but it never happens. In addition to working and going to school (me), my oldest is working, going to school, and playing football. That means two games a week because he is on the JV and the varsity teams. Six more weeks and he will be driving. I don't know if that will be a good thing or a bad thing. I won't be stressed out from all the running around as much, but I will be stressed from all the worrying about him being on the road.

My youngest is doing Taekwondo so that's another two days a week of activities. We have finally got our house on the market. No bites yet but I'm hoping it will sell pretty quick so we can start saving for a new home.

I have an exam and an essay due at the same time this Friday so I have been cramming like crazy. I guess it keeps me on my toes, but I will have to do something fun and relaxing this weekend after this week is over. It is the beginning of hunting season here so my husband and oldest son will be gone. That should make it a little more peaceful.

Summer

2006-08-22T11:48:00.000-05:00

Boy this has been a crazy, busy summer. My younger Aspie son went to Taekwondo camp for a week. That was interesting because it was the first time he has ever been away from home.

The week after that we all went to Disneyworld and took my neice with us. We had a blast. My teenager fell in "love" for the first time (in a while anyway). Lucky for us she lives in a different state :) My Aspie son summed up the rides at Disneyworld. He rode his first roller coaster and loved it. He told his grandmother he really did not like the "It's a Small World" ride. When she asked him why he said "It's a lot of nice little people doing the same thing over and over again; they will definitely go to heaven."

My oldest son has been playing football again which takes up most of our time now. When I have a few minutes maybe I can catch up some more...

Real Life Conversation

2006-06-02T16:25:00.000-05:00

This is a real life conversation riding in the car with my aspie son in a traffic jam:

son: "Where are all these people coming from anyway?"

me: "Well, there are a lot of people that live in our city."

son: "How many people?"

me: "Well, I'm not sure exactly how many."

son: "Well, why don't you know, they do that thing every few years where they count all the people in the world."

Busy Busy Busy

2006-06-02T15:56:00.000-05:00

Whew it's been crazy at my house lately and it's only going to get worse from here. School starts back for me Monday so I can add that to the confusion we already have. And here I thought summers are supposed to be boring. In addition to working full time I am now in the middle of moving, starting back to school, teaching a teenager to drive, and teaching my aspie son to wash his own hair so that he can do that for himself while at summer camp in less than two weeks.

Our teenager is driving us crazy learning to drive. He was a perfect driver BEFORE getting the permit, now that he has it he has turned into a road monster. It's like ha ha ha, I passed I can do what I want, I know what I'm doing, and don't try to tell me something I already know. The first day he had his permit I decided to let him drive me around the city for a while. For the first half hour he did very well. He had both hands on the wheel, elbows out, sitting up straight and totally focused on the road. The second half hour however was a different story. He had one hand on the wheel, slouched back in the seat and totally paying attention to how many girls were paying attention to him. If I live through this it will be a miracle. My hubby came storming home with him last night and very firmly announced, "That boy is not to get behind the wheel again, ever." After the typical "he tried to kill me" and my personal favorite "he said it's everyone else's fault but his" I very calmly tried to explain to my husband that our son will never learn to drive correctly without killing anyone until we teach him how to do it. Of course, getting a teenager to believe that mom and dad do know a little bit about driving, and that maybe they don't quite know everything yet, is a whole other ballgame I don't want to get into yet.

My aspie son only has nine days to go before camp starts. I've tried to prepare the counseler as much as possible what to expect. Now I'm working on preparing my son. He is having to learn to wash his own hair because for some reason, the camp counselers don't want him to wait six days until I can do it for him :) This week he started day camp and the Y and has started testing it to see how he can get sent home so he won't have to go back. I had already prepared the director of the camp before my son started. So when my son announced the other day that he didn't know why he was acting up, that "his brain just made him do it", and that if he just got wrote up three times he could go home, the director looked at him and said "uh uh, I ain't writing you up, you ain't leaving". I think he's met his match.

Happy Mother's Day

2006-05-11T23:20:00.000-05:00

It is almost Mother's Day so for all you other mother's out there I hope you have a very special Mother's Day. I love that we have this day to recognize our mothers and to be recognized ourselves for all that we do.

I was sitting here tonight playing Spider Solitaire thinking of when my youngest son was first diagnosed with autism six and a half years ago, only a parent who has been through it knows the grief you must first go through before you can move forward. I was having some work done on my office PC and the technician working on it had been to my cube several times before. I knew he was a christian, but I really did not know him at all that well. I mentioned that my son had just been diagnosed and I will never forget his words to me that day; He paused what he was doing as if searching for his words and he said, "God must have thought you were a special person". I will never forget that moment and when times start getting rough I think back on his words to me and it always helped me through.

I know that God spoke through him that day to me to let me know that he is there with us on this journey. To all of you other "special" mothers, and to all mothers and want to be mothers have a wonderful Mother's Day and God Bless You and your families.

Pins & Needles

2006-05-01T14:13:00.000-05:00

Everything that ever happens to me seems to come in droves. It is impossible for things to happen individually for me. That would be too easy.

Last week I noticed a position open at work that I am interested in. I have been in my current position for six years and I am ready for a change. I applied for it in the middle of the week. They called me the very next day and wanted me to interview that day. Of course I was not dressed for an interview that day, so I rushed home at lunch to change clothes. The interview went really well and now I am on pins and needles awaiting their decision.

I have also decided to go back to school this summer. I had taken a year off because my son was having problems in school. While I was appyling for the position online, I was on the phone with the college to get re-enrolled. I went to meet with an advisor Friday and she was very rude. She asked me if I was on the twenty year plan, this was after I told her I have a full time job, a husband, two kids (one of which is Asperger's), and so on. I wanted to have some sarcastic retort, but I was not sure who she was in the department so I did not want to step on any toes that I may need to carry me later. I am so glad I kept my mouth shut because, as it turns out, she was a professor in the department and in charge of one of the areas I may need. I became so indignant at her statement that I registered for a full course in the fall. I may back out closer to time, but she really got under my skin.

So, that was how my week went last week. I have been sitting and waiting for the phone to ring and debating whether I can handle school and a new job with everything else I have going on in my life. I guess we shall see. Just when I think I have enough to handle I got a letter stating I have been selected for Jury Duty. When it rains it pours........

Summer Camp

2006-04-10T08:31:00.000-05:00

My young Aspie son started Taekwondo two weeks ago. He's doing very well at it and getting some much needed exercise. They announced last Thursday that there is a summer camp coming up that is a week long. My son really wants to go. His instructor is supposed to get with me about him going.

I don't know what I will do for a whole week without my son. I've never been without him more than a day or two while he was at Grandma's. He wants to go so badly that he has started learning to shower himself and wash his own hair, which he has never done before. My baby is growing up.

When he first realized it was a week long without me I thought he would not want to go. His reply when he found out was "Cool! A whole week without the bad luck charm" (in other words without me).

My Garden

2006-03-17T13:32:00.000-06:00

I have been such a slacker lately with everything. The house, work, the car, etc.... Last week I decided I would start the garden that I have been intending to start for the past six or seven years. I bought all the seeds, a shovel, a cute pair of garden gloves and I even got two window herb gardens for my kitchen. So last night, in a spurt of energy, I went ahead and planted the window garden. I planted basil, parsley, chives, oregano, thyme and lavender (in two seperate garden boxes). The directions said to use only five seeds of each but they were so tiny I just let them all fall in, so we'll see what happens.

This weekend I plan to start a vegetable garden. I will have to go get some chicken wire to put around it to keep my dogs out of it (hopefully). Of course I do not have a green thumb at all so I am not even sure this is going to work, but it will give me a hobby for a while and if it does work maybe we can get a few meals out of the fruits(vegetables) of my labor. I got corn, squash, watermelon, and some other seeds that I cannot recall at the moment, but I know they will be consumed if they do grow. I will post again and let you know how it goes (of course I'm talking to the computer since no one reads my blogs :)

It Seems to be Coming Together

2006-03-06T10:06:00.000-06:00

Well we have had an eventful year so far. My Aspie son starting having problems in school and the school was not following his behavior plan so it got to the point where they were sending him home everyday. Then we had a meeting and they proposed sending him to a school that had no permanent teacher and would be closing at the end of this year. I refused their offer and they could not come up with another option so we ended up filing for due process to settle this in court (I proposed a private placement which they refused to pay for). I had my prayer team going and I was feeling good about our decision.

I had been warned that their attorney likes to intimidate people and that that is the reason he wins so often. We did not hear from him right away after filing so I was hoping maybe it would be a different attorney. No such luck. He had just been on vacation.

We had a resolution meeting last Thursday with the head of special education for our district, their compliance monitor (who knew us well from working with us in the past) and their attorney. They listened to our allegations and what we were proposing and then they left us for forty-five minutes while they decided what they could offer us.

They offered us an excellent school in my neighborhood that is one of the top ten in the state. I also found out from people outside the district that this school has dealt with issues like ours and worked with the kids and got them into regular mainstream classes within the same year. I toured the school that same day and was very impressed with the school and the staff. I called my attorney and we accepted their offer.

I took my son to tour it Friday and he loved it. That is the first time in years he has liked a school and been excited about it. I was a little worried that it might take some time to prepare him, but he wanted to start immediately. We had had issues before when they were going to try to change his school and I took him to tour it and we could not even get him in the door. He loved everything about the school and some of the boys in his class had asked if he could stay and play, which really made him feel good.

The school had already been advised of the situation with my son and things they would need to do in order to make this transition successful. By Friday morning, his teacher had already been trained by the behavior specialist. I took him over the weekend to get a few new school shirts and a new backpack since the zipper on his old one was busted.

Today is his first day at his new school and he went grinning from ear to ear. I'm so excited for him and I hope it goes well for him.

Kid's Say The Sweetest Things

2006-02-22T09:26:00.000-06:00

Sometimes kids can say the sweetest things. I am going through a very difficult time right now. I am in the middle of a very heated Due Process hearing with our local school system. In order to keep my sanity I try to find the humor in things. This past Sunday we had a lot of ice where we live and our heater broke at our house, so our kids spent the night with their grandparents and rode to church with them. Later that day my Aspie son and I were riding in the car together and he said to me that there was a "weird man at church today."

I asked: "What do you mean "weird?""

He said: "He had a big nose."

I said: "I hope you didn't say this to the man."

He said: "No, I did not embarrass him. Nobody is perfect."

He then looked at me with those sweet eyes and said to me, "I think you are perfect though."

Now I went all day thinking how sweet my child was and that I was perfect in his eyes. I brought the subject up again before bed that night because I wanted to let him know that I thought he was perfect too. Here's how that went.

Me: "Do you remember when you said I was perfect earlier?"

Son: "Yeah, but I forgot about that birthmark on your arm."

Well, that's an aspie for you. At least they are honest....

Meanest Mom in America!

2006-01-27T16:37:00.000-06:00

I am the "meanest mom in America" according to my youngest son. This is actually a step up from the "meanest mom in the world" that my oldest son used to inform me I was. I said so this morning to my youngest after he gave me my new title. He was not as amused as I was about it. I have "ruined his life."

What did I do? you might ask.

Well we are implementing a point system at home that coincides with the point system at school to deal with behavior. He basically will have to earn points for priveleges. He is thoroughly testing this with me. So far, "it's embarrassing", it "is stupid", it "won't work anyway", and my personal favorite...he "can't wait to get to heaven because he bets God doesn't use a point system in heaven." To which I noted that he doesn't know that for sure, that maybe God does use a point system in heaven.

Ah the trials and tribulations of being a parent. Isn't it fun?!? There's never a dull moment that's for sure and it keeps you on your toes.

Three Doctors and a Roll of Duct Tape

2006-01-20T11:29:00.000-06:00

Well the stomach bug that just wouldn't go away finally met it's match, three doctors and a roll of duct tape. Let me explain....

Over the weekend my youngest DS with the bug was feeling better so I decided he was well enough to go to school. So I get him up Monday morning knowing he was going to be grumpy and try to get out of it anyway after missing basically a month of school with the winter break and having been sick. He woke up saying he felt like he was going to throw up. I made him get dressed anyway with him gagging a little bit in the process. He was still pale, but I just chalked that up to him being so sick for so long. He didn't want breakfast, which was definitely unusual for him.

We dropped my older DS off at school and then went on to his school. As soon as I parked he said he felt like he was going to throw up again. I was again thinking he just wanted to get out of going to school. As soon as I opened his door and he stood up on the sidewalk he proved me wrong. Again. And again. And again. So I sat him back down in the car and we went back home to bed. He slept a good three hours and was still sick when he woke up.

Meanwhile the doctor was trying to get him into a pediatric GI doctor but no one could see him this week. Finally at four they told me to go ahead and take him to the ER because he had been sick for so long and lost so much weight we needed to find out what it is. Well we decided to go to the ER in the local suburb around here instead of one of the several larger ones we have. Ours are typically known for their overcrowding and 6-7 hour waits. Well, we arrived at 6:30p.m. and I have to say this is the best ER I have ever seen and with two active boys, I've seen most of the one's our city has on numerous occasions. The wait was about five minutes total to get to a room. Immediately the doctor came in, it was wonderful.

Well after they took his urine they were going to have to draw blood. I expected this. I also expected an IV but was hopeful it would not come to that. It did of course. The phlebotomist came into the room and tried to reason with my son, who is unreasonable on a good day let alone when something bad is about to happen to him. She was very nice about the whole thing and was trying to reason for a good twenty minutes. Of course if she had never said "it will sting for just a minute" he might have been okay, maybe not. Me, I'm all for lying through your teeth. I would have said "it won't hurt a bit, you won't even feel a thing" and deal with the consequences later. I guess that too many people have sued for lying to patients because they never say that anymore.

After a few minutes more of trying to reason with him she left and said she would give him a few minutes. Well next thing we know this doctor comes into the room followed by two more doctors and a nurse. He said they were going to get this thing done so my mother-in-law and I answered meekly that we would wait outside. There were blinds on the window to his room and there was a tiny crack in them toward the bottom, so there I was, out in the hall peeking through the crack trying to determine what was happening by the movement of the doctor's thighs since that was all the crack allowed me to see. It was awfully quiet in there and I told my mother-in-law that the thighs didn't seem to be close enough to be holding him down. She suggested I quit torturing myself so I stood back and tried to look like I wasn't worried he was being tortured. About that time we heard a loud "owww" and then a nurse came out and said they were about done and were discussing Star Wars now.

So we ventured back into the room to see the doctor's laughing and talking about Star Wars with my DS while they were unwrapping tape from his legs and chest. That is why they weren't holding him, they taped him up so he couldn't move (wish I'd thought of that when he fights me over medicine, it might have saved me a few bruises). I'm sure it was some kind of sterile surgical something or other tape, but my mother-in-law said it took three doctors and a roll of duct tape to get the IV in. They also splinted both elbows so he could not mess with the line and of course when you cannot bend your elbows most assuredly your nose is going to pick that time to itch. Poor thing looked so pitiful trying to get his finger around to scratch his nose with his elbows stuck out straight. Well we finally found out it was a bug he picked up from tap water and they gave us antibiotics for him and sent us on our way after only three hours in the ER. This place was wonderful. I was expecting to be there at least four more hours.

Teenagers AARRRGGHHH!!!

2006-01-13T14:32:00.000-06:00

I have decided the only reason teenagers are put on this earth is to drive their parents insane. Here's an example:

Today, being the nice, caring mother I should be, I called my teenage son who is home sick today with his little brother who is also sick. It was eleven a.m. and I was about to take my lunch. Here is our conversation:

He was asleep and answered groggily, "What?"
Me: "What would you like me to get you for lunch?"
Teenage Son: "I dunno, nothin."
Me: "Do you want Taco Bell." (His absolute favorite resteraunt that he would eat four times daily if I let him).
Teenage Son: "Nah, nothin."
Me: "What would your brother like?" (I knew the answer but asked anyway for the heck of it)
Teenage Son: "McDonald's."
Me: "Do you want something from McDonald's?"
Teenage Son: "Nah, nothin."
Me: "I could get you a fruit salad..." (Except for the Taco Bell he's a health nut).
Teenage Son: "I don't want nothin."

We hung up and I leave work to stop at an atm and get money and then get them some lunch. He calls me back in the middle of this and we have basically the same conversation. I go ahead and get him the fruit salad anyway and go home. I put it in his room where he is playing with his brother. I ask him again if he's sure he doesn't want me to get him anything else and he says no. Ordinarily I would not go to this much trouble but he is sick. I leave and go through and get my lunch to take back to work to me. As soon as I walk through the door to my building my cell phone rings...

Teenage Son: "I'm hungry and we don't have anything to eat."

I'm expecting the men in the white jackets to show up anytime for me.....

Invaded by the flu

2006-01-05T17:07:00.000-06:00

The stomach flu invaded my house last Friday. My little one lost six pounds this week. Poor thing. It's made him grumpy too. He does not like bland diets, let me tell you. We had to visit the nurse practitioner on Tuesday and I could tell she was apprehensive about asking for a urine sample after the last visit. Here is the reason why...

About a month ago he had to go for a sinus infection. While he was there I mentioned that he seemed to drink a lot more than other kids. The nurse wanted his urine checked. The medical assistant handed him a cup. He looked at her like she was crazy and she said: "I need you to to pee in the cup." My son sat back and looked at her and said: "I refuse." She looked shocked (as I'm sure I did) and said "why." He said. "That's just gross." She told him he wasn't old enough to refuse yet. I took him into the bathroom to do his business and he tried to tell me the same thing. I told him that I had the grossest part because I had to hold the cup. This made him happy so he went about his business without even a mess.

Things did not go so well this time. I had to beg, plead and then threaten to have them use a catheter on him. This time was messy.

Ah the life of a parent. Never dull.

New Year's Resolutions

2005-12-29T10:14:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm gonna do it. I say the same thing every year, but this year is going to be different. Maybe if I word it differently it will be easier to accomplish. Hmmmm.... okay here goes,

1) I will read my bible everyday.
2) I will become a highly organized individual at home, work, and in my car.
3) I will not rob Peter to pay Paul anymore.
4) I will get fit.

Okay, that does it for me. Hopefully since it's so short it will be attainable. Since I'm doing so good maybe I should do them for my kids to save them some time :)

Teenager
1) I will learn that "no" is a complete sentence.
2) I will not ask "Why can't I drive" when I failed the driver's test two times in a week becauseI didn't study so I don't have my permit yet.
3) I will not complain about being late to work or activities because I have to wait on mom to do her other five hundred errands.

Aspie 8 year old
1) I will learn to pick up after myself.
2) I will brush my teeth everyday without being reminded.
3) I will not play Playstation 2, or PSP every waking hour I am able.

Okay I'm on a roll. Now for the DH.
1) I will not complain when I have no socks because when I do laundry it doesn't get folded or put up and ends back on the floor which makes them dirty again.
2) I will not hog the covers.
3) I will at least one day this year ask my wife if she needs me to do anything for her and mean it.
4) I will no longer tell my wife she is a clutter bug. She knows she's a clutter bug and I know she will not give me the satisfaction of admitting that fact to me, ever.

Well that's it for now. I'm sure I could think of a thousand more for each of us but less is more (that's my new organizational motto!).

Have a Great New Year!

Real Life Conversation

2005-12-28T08:50:00.000-06:00

As I said earlier I would write alot about Asperger's as time goes on. Also about teenagers but that will be saved for another day. One characteristic of Aspie's is that they don't follow vague directions. For example, yesterday my son's babysitter said for him to clean up the play room. You can't get much vaguer (is that a word) than that. Later she found him in the hall playing with a ball.

Babysitter: "I thought I told you to clean up the playroom."

Aspie: "I did."

Babysitter: "No, you didn't. You are in here playing with the ball."

Aspie: "But I picked it up."

Another example is at school last week we were working on stopping the new spitting behavior he had just learned. Every morning before I school I would say "Don't spit today or you cannot play your PSP tonight." He had a few good days like this. After a few days I was called to the school to pick him up because he hit a teacher. As soon as I walked to the office my son looked at me and said "At least I didn't spit."

Christmas

2005-12-27T09:12:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. Mine was great. Santa was very good to me this year :) My kids got a lot of nice things. I think we are going to have to work on being more appreciative with the younger one. I know some of it is the Asperger's, but some is also the spoiled rotten coming out. It was great being off work for four days straight. I need to take vacations more.

I tried to do some cleaning yesterday but for some reason the house looks worse after I start cleaning than before. I did get two closets done and most of the laundry put up. I HATE putting up laundry. I just have no room. I keep throwing out clothes but I still can't fit everything into my closet. And of course I never have anything to wear. Sheesh. I'm going to have to work on it some more this week.

I want to shop some more too. I just can't seem to stop. I usually don't do a lot of shopping during the year outside of the usual grocery and Wal-Mart shopping. I go nuts at Christmas. That's when I start finding all this stuff I want and need. I bought my husband and me a lot of presents and put them under the tree. He looked at me funny when he saw the tags that read "to mom and dad from mom and dad".

I shopped just about everyday in December and then all day yesterday I shopped for the stuff that I didn't get that we needed. I only had to return one thing this year out of all the presents I bought. Somehow I managed to buy two of exactly the same game for my oldest son so we had to exchange one of them. I just looked at my bank account so I guess I'm done shopping until next year :) (except for birthday's of course). There's a song on a CD my son has called "maxing out our credit once again". It's on the Bubba Claus CD. That is so true.

Our aspie son had a meltdown on Christmas Eve. He does every year. Poor thing. You get him all excited all month and then by the time Christmas is here he's so anxious and overwhelmed he just can't handle it. Next year we need to do it differently but I'm not sure how I'm going to do that yet. Oh well, I have a whole year to think on it.

A little about me

2005-12-22T11:05:00.000-06:00

Hi there! This is my first blog. I thought I would start with a little bit about me. I am a thirty-something year old mom with two boys. The oldest is a teenager and thinks he knows it all (what teen doesn't). The younger son is a grade schooler and an Aspie, for those who don't know what that means, he has Asperger's Syndrome which is an Autistic Spectrum disorder. I will be rambling a lot about this subject later on. I am married to my high school sweetheart. We've been together over half our lives (sheesh I feel old). We have three dogs, one lab and two lab mixes) and live in the southeast. I enjoy writing and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to do just that. I hope to post at least once a week if not more.