I have not posted for about two years now. I have missed it.
The last few years have been full of a lot of ups and downs. Life doesn't always turn out the way that we plan, but sometimes God has a new plan for us. We have to be resilient and meet the challenges of life head on.
I feel like I am in a place to blog again, but I feel a fresh start is needed. My new blog is I Am Brave, I Am Me.
Thoughts & reflections of a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, & a friend
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Friday, October 19, 2018
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
The Boot of Doom Saga
It has been a while, but I'm back! We have upgraded our internet service to another provider, so posting is a lot easier. Hooray!
The Boot of Doom Saga:
I have posted a bit about the boot of doom, but to simplify things here is the whole story.
I damaged the ligaments in my ankle in early December. I had the dubious honor of wearing the "boot of doom" for 4-1/2 weeks (December - April). After 4 months of the boot, the first podiatrist gave up on me. It is pretty depressing to have a doctor actually give up on you. But thankfully the next podiatrist had me out of the boot within 2 weeks. I did have an MRI after 2 months in the boot and managed to avoid surgery.
Once I graduated from the boot, I had 6 weeks of physical therapy. I had an amazing therapist. I learned that: It can be fun to write the ABCs with your toes. Walking on your tip toes can be a challenge, until you build up your strength. And, prolonged use of a walking boot also weakens your calf muscles.
Unfortunately, I sprained it again in mid-July and went back into the boot for another 2 weeks as a precautionary measure, for a grand total of 5 months in the boot of doom. I still have swelling in my ankle, but I have been boot free for almost a month now. Hip hip hooray!
Unfortunately the first round of uneven walking caused twisting of my spine, so I am now seeing a chiropractor. I have been going for a month so far. The chiropractor is pretty amazing and she has a very sweet office dog. Good new is that I can get out of bed now without squeaking in pain and it is getting easier to bend over to wash my hands in the bathroom sink. I have been very fortunate to find some really good medical professionals this year.
I have learned a few things from this experience:
1) There is a device called Evenup that you attach to your good foot/shoe, it helps to balance you out so one leg is not taller than the other. The chiropractor told me about it, so I had it for the last 1-1/2 weeks of the boot. I wish that I would have known about it back in December though.
2) Avoid hickory nut husks at all times. We need to keep the driveway between the house and garage either swept or scooped of hickory nuts and sweet gum balls at all times.
3) Always wear an ankle brace when on uneven surfaces, although my last two injuries were on a paved surface.
4) Produce bags from the grocery store are awesome way to protect the soft part of the walking boot and your foot from snow and rain.
5) Safety pins and felt shapes are a fun way to decorate a walking boot.
This experience has taught me quite a bit:
~ I have more empathy for those with mobility issues. I also pay better attention to how close I park to others in parking lots. I never had a handicap placard and there were a few times, I had to wait for another person to return to their car before I could attempt to get into my vehicle.
~ I have had to learn to rely more on others and to ask for help more often.
~ My children have become more helpful. Pumpkin is now my laundry buddy; the washer and dryer are in the basement. Princess is my dishwasher buddy, helping me to bend over to get items.
~ A bar stool is a wonderful item to own and it was very helpful for cooking without standing in the kitchen.
It is my sincere goal to never wear the boot of doom again. ;-)
The Boot of Doom Saga:
I have posted a bit about the boot of doom, but to simplify things here is the whole story.
I damaged the ligaments in my ankle in early December. I had the dubious honor of wearing the "boot of doom" for 4-1/2 weeks (December - April). After 4 months of the boot, the first podiatrist gave up on me. It is pretty depressing to have a doctor actually give up on you. But thankfully the next podiatrist had me out of the boot within 2 weeks. I did have an MRI after 2 months in the boot and managed to avoid surgery.
Once I graduated from the boot, I had 6 weeks of physical therapy. I had an amazing therapist. I learned that: It can be fun to write the ABCs with your toes. Walking on your tip toes can be a challenge, until you build up your strength. And, prolonged use of a walking boot also weakens your calf muscles.
Unfortunately, I sprained it again in mid-July and went back into the boot for another 2 weeks as a precautionary measure, for a grand total of 5 months in the boot of doom. I still have swelling in my ankle, but I have been boot free for almost a month now. Hip hip hooray!
Unfortunately the first round of uneven walking caused twisting of my spine, so I am now seeing a chiropractor. I have been going for a month so far. The chiropractor is pretty amazing and she has a very sweet office dog. Good new is that I can get out of bed now without squeaking in pain and it is getting easier to bend over to wash my hands in the bathroom sink. I have been very fortunate to find some really good medical professionals this year.
I have learned a few things from this experience:
1) There is a device called Evenup that you attach to your good foot/shoe, it helps to balance you out so one leg is not taller than the other. The chiropractor told me about it, so I had it for the last 1-1/2 weeks of the boot. I wish that I would have known about it back in December though.
2) Avoid hickory nut husks at all times. We need to keep the driveway between the house and garage either swept or scooped of hickory nuts and sweet gum balls at all times.
3) Always wear an ankle brace when on uneven surfaces, although my last two injuries were on a paved surface.
4) Produce bags from the grocery store are awesome way to protect the soft part of the walking boot and your foot from snow and rain.
5) Safety pins and felt shapes are a fun way to decorate a walking boot.
This experience has taught me quite a bit:
~ I have more empathy for those with mobility issues. I also pay better attention to how close I park to others in parking lots. I never had a handicap placard and there were a few times, I had to wait for another person to return to their car before I could attempt to get into my vehicle.
~ I have had to learn to rely more on others and to ask for help more often.
~ My children have become more helpful. Pumpkin is now my laundry buddy; the washer and dryer are in the basement. Princess is my dishwasher buddy, helping me to bend over to get items.
~ A bar stool is a wonderful item to own and it was very helpful for cooking without standing in the kitchen.
It is my sincere goal to never wear the boot of doom again. ;-)
Saturday, April 2, 2016
April Goals
Whew! What a day! Here's a break down:
1) It's World Autism Awareness Day! I'm wearing the blue!
2) I went to eye doctor for a glasses recheck. The verdict: they kept my new glasses and I am getting new lenses. I was smart and took my old glasses with me, thank goodness. My old prescription was -3.75 both eyes with 0.25 prisms. The new ones that I had for the last week were -3.25 both eyes with no prisms. As of today, the new ones will be -3.75 right eye, -3.50 left eye with 0.50 prisms. We will see how this goes. I'm like a bad penny that keeps coming back. Ha ha ha ha!
3) We have had a lot of wind today. Besides knocking over and relocating the garbage and recycle bins multiple times, we have a 40+ foot tree top (aka: widow maker) hanging horizontally over our yard from a neighboring property. We are going to give it a few days to see what happens before contacting them. Right now it is lodged on four scrawny trees. Oh joy!
4) We went with the kiddos to a friend's How to Train Your Dragon birthday party this afternoon. It was crazy, but fun.
5) I got to go shopping solo at a club store. I went for toilet paper and eyeglass wipes. I also came home with avocados, plums, tiny potatoes (oh, so cute!), frozen lasagna, canned fruit, kaiser buns, cranberry juice, and Pringles for the kids lunches. I had a plum and homemade chicken salad on a kaiser bun for lunch. Yum! I think we are going to have the tiny potatoes for dinner. I just need to figure out what to fix with them.
We are going to kick back and relax the rest of the day. Before I go, here are my April Goals:
Health Goals
- Eat more fruits and veggies
- Since I am limited in the exercise department, attempt to strengthen and tone my arms
House Goal
- Finish cleaning and organizing Pumpkin's room
- Organize and de-clutter at least two cabinets in the kitchen
Family Goal
- Go on a family adventure
- Have the kids each plan and help make a family meal
Self Goals
- Find a productive way to keep my sanity. ;-)
- Have a least one girls day adventure
I leave you with a picture that I took of our pond earlier in the week. It was sunrise and the mist was rising from the water's surface. It was breathtaking!
1) It's World Autism Awareness Day! I'm wearing the blue!
2) I went to eye doctor for a glasses recheck. The verdict: they kept my new glasses and I am getting new lenses. I was smart and took my old glasses with me, thank goodness. My old prescription was -3.75 both eyes with 0.25 prisms. The new ones that I had for the last week were -3.25 both eyes with no prisms. As of today, the new ones will be -3.75 right eye, -3.50 left eye with 0.50 prisms. We will see how this goes. I'm like a bad penny that keeps coming back. Ha ha ha ha!
3) We have had a lot of wind today. Besides knocking over and relocating the garbage and recycle bins multiple times, we have a 40+ foot tree top (aka: widow maker) hanging horizontally over our yard from a neighboring property. We are going to give it a few days to see what happens before contacting them. Right now it is lodged on four scrawny trees. Oh joy!
4) We went with the kiddos to a friend's How to Train Your Dragon birthday party this afternoon. It was crazy, but fun.
5) I got to go shopping solo at a club store. I went for toilet paper and eyeglass wipes. I also came home with avocados, plums, tiny potatoes (oh, so cute!), frozen lasagna, canned fruit, kaiser buns, cranberry juice, and Pringles for the kids lunches. I had a plum and homemade chicken salad on a kaiser bun for lunch. Yum! I think we are going to have the tiny potatoes for dinner. I just need to figure out what to fix with them.
We are going to kick back and relax the rest of the day. Before I go, here are my April Goals:
Health Goals
- Eat more fruits and veggies
- Since I am limited in the exercise department, attempt to strengthen and tone my arms
House Goal
- Finish cleaning and organizing Pumpkin's room
- Organize and de-clutter at least two cabinets in the kitchen
Family Goal
- Go on a family adventure
- Have the kids each plan and help make a family meal
Self Goals
- Find a productive way to keep my sanity. ;-)
- Have a least one girls day adventure
I leave you with a picture that I took of our pond earlier in the week. It was sunrise and the mist was rising from the water's surface. It was breathtaking!
Out Like A Lion
March was rough, but I have hope that April will be better.
I did not accomplish as much
on my goals as I had hoped. My allergies kicked in and knocked me down for
about a week, darn pine pollen. I am still rocking the boot of doom. Sixteen
weeks (four months) so far. I see the doctor on Monday.
We had some serious
technology problems in March. I spent over fourteen hours with tech support of
three different companies. I think that the root of our problem is our internet
provider and the extremely slow snail paced speed, so I am working on
researching viable options. The new modem and new router that I purchased brand
new is doing much better than the refurbished piece of junk that our internet
provider sold us in August. My kindle is finally working again, after I had to
deregister, reregister, restore factory setting (system wipe), and reregister
with a tech support person because it was not able to download readable books.
Finally, I thought that the laptop had been fixed, but discovered last night
that Microsoft Updates is frozen at 0% again. Oh joy, more time with tech
support in my future!
A positive for March . . . .
. I got new glasses. My prescription has been reduced, although I am heading to
the eye doc in a bit to have them retweaked. The new prescription isn’t quite
right and I am having issues with my long distance vision. But I like my new
frames. My previous frames I got in 2011. I try to use them through at least
two doctor visits before updating them.
Goals Update
Health Goals 1) Get more sleep- I did better with the sleep
before the time change. After the time change and during the days spent with
tech support, I did not do so well. I was online with HP tech support until
1:30 am one morning. Ugh! When I contacted them at 9:30 pm, I thought this will
only take an hour. Famous last words! Ha ha ha ha! The past few days have
finally evened out in the sleep department. 2) Strengthen my ankle- Since I am
still rocking the boot of doom, strengthening my ankle was not in the cards.
House Goal 1) Clean and organize the kids’ rooms. Well. . . .
this one is an epic fail. We did manage a path to Princess’s dresser. Pumpkin
and I got 1/3 of his room cleaned and it has remained cleaned. We still have
2/3 to tackle. The only time we have to clean the rooms is on the weekends
(none homework nights), so we have been a bit limited with the Easter holiday
and when I could barely walk. We will need to continue during the month of
April.
Family Goal 1) Encourage everyone to clean-up after themselves
in the sunroom- We have good days and bad days with this. The “Bunny” got the
kids Legos, so we have a Lego explosion right now. I have given them both
gallon sized baggies to pick up their Legos before bedtime each night. Then
remind them if I step on a Lego with the boot, it might break. So there is
another one good plus to the boot of doom, it definitely encourages the kids to
clean up more. Ha ha ha ha ha!
Self Goals 1) Take the time to capture some nature photography-
I have gotten a few good shots during March. I have been a bit more limited,
since it is difficult to leave paved areas. 2) Have a least one girls day
adventure- Aw, man! Another month goes by without getting a chance to do
something with a friend or two. Parenthood is not all it is cracked up to be at
times. I will have to work harder on this one. But if texting friends to keep
up counts, I have definitely rocked that one with a couple friends.
Well off to have a few
adventures before write my April Goals post.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Leaping Forward
Today only happens once every four years. It is Leap Day! Today would be a great day for a Random Act of Kindness. I have a few ideas up my sleeves. Shhh!
We have been busy this month. We had three birthdays in February, one snow day, and a visit from out of state family.
Since it is the last day of
the month, it is time for a goals update:
- Health Goals- Drinking more water and eating more veggies. I am doing so-so on drinking more water. I always forget to hydrate on a regular basis, especially when at work. I have eaten a bit more veggies in the latter half of the month, but not as much as I had hoped.
- House Goal- Continuing cleaning and organizing the great room. Unfortunately, I have not made any more progress in the great room. But the good news is that I have managed to keep the areas that I cleaned in January clear of clutter. That is definitely a step in the right direction. Yay!
- Family Goal- Reminding the family to conserve electricity. I definitely slacked on this one, and ended up turning lights off and unplugged chargers as I passed by. I will have to try this one again soon.
- Self Goals- Cooking a few new recipes & writing a letter. SUCCESS!!!!!! I have cooked four new dishes this month. I also wrote a letter to one my of husband’s relations earlier this month, then enclosed hand written thank you notes from the kiddos for unexpected birthday treats.
Enjoy your Leap Day!
Monday, February 1, 2016
February Goals
I have not pondered my February Goals as much as I should. I have a feeling that it is going to be a LONG month. So it may be best to go simple. In my last post I reviewed my progress on my January goals. I am hoping to be more successful this month.
Health Goals
- Drink more water.
- Eat more veggies.
House Goal
- Continue working on cleaning and organizing the south end of the the great room.
Family Goal
- Encourage the family to turn lights off when they leave a room and unplug chargers for electronics when not being used.
Self Goals
- Cook a new dish that sounds good to me.
- Write a letter or two.
Other things on the agenda for this month- three birthdays, maybe a movie, hopefully the library, lots of homework, hot chocolate, and hopefully more healing.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Win Some, Lose Some
I have not accomplished as much as I had intended for the month of January.
I have done the best with my "House Goal." My goal was to cleaning and organize the south end of the great room. It was more challenging that I had anticipated and the southeast side got the most attention. There was stuff on the desk dating back to 2013. In a few of the boxes, I found stuff from 2010 when the world seemed to crash around me. As I was going through stuff- filing, shredding, recycling, and saving- I realized why I never finished each time I started. It was hard, really hard at times. I did find some good memories, but I also found some stuff that I would have preferred hidden. The itemized bill from mom's funeral, the memorial print-out from grandpa and mom's funerals, the bill from mom and grandpa's gravestones (purchased on the same day), the booklet from grandpa's funeral, and more sympathy cards that apparently were not with the ones that I stumbled upon back in November. Even 5-1/2 years later it still is hard to process at times.
My "Health Goals" basically crashed and burned, but it is not too surprising since I am still rocking the walking boot. I messed the tendons up eight weeks ago today. The boot and I have been friends for the last seven weeks. I have no idea when I might graduate. I check back with the doctor on Friday, if it still is not any better they will schedule an MRI to check for torn tendons. So needless to say, I have not met my five pound goal and I have not had the chance to strengthen or stretch my injured ankle.
My "Family Goal" has been come and go- reading more. I have done quite a bit of reading on the Kindle, but nothing notable enough to really mention. Princess and I read Piper Green and The Fairy Tree. It was a really cute story! We are looking forward to reading the second one. Pumpkin has been burying himself in Minecraft books lately.
The last goal was "Self Goal"- having a girls day adventure. Once again the boot and weather deterred me. We have had some snow, which makes it very difficult to walk with the darn boot (especially when you cannot see what is beneath the snow). The boot has made me more of a home body than normal.
Well, I will need to mull over my February goals for a bit. Have you accomplished any goals that you set for the new year?
I have done the best with my "House Goal." My goal was to cleaning and organize the south end of the great room. It was more challenging that I had anticipated and the southeast side got the most attention. There was stuff on the desk dating back to 2013. In a few of the boxes, I found stuff from 2010 when the world seemed to crash around me. As I was going through stuff- filing, shredding, recycling, and saving- I realized why I never finished each time I started. It was hard, really hard at times. I did find some good memories, but I also found some stuff that I would have preferred hidden. The itemized bill from mom's funeral, the memorial print-out from grandpa and mom's funerals, the bill from mom and grandpa's gravestones (purchased on the same day), the booklet from grandpa's funeral, and more sympathy cards that apparently were not with the ones that I stumbled upon back in November. Even 5-1/2 years later it still is hard to process at times.
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| Southeast corner- January 31 |
 |
| Southeast corner- January 1 |
My "Health Goals" basically crashed and burned, but it is not too surprising since I am still rocking the walking boot. I messed the tendons up eight weeks ago today. The boot and I have been friends for the last seven weeks. I have no idea when I might graduate. I check back with the doctor on Friday, if it still is not any better they will schedule an MRI to check for torn tendons. So needless to say, I have not met my five pound goal and I have not had the chance to strengthen or stretch my injured ankle.
My "Family Goal" has been come and go- reading more. I have done quite a bit of reading on the Kindle, but nothing notable enough to really mention. Princess and I read Piper Green and The Fairy Tree. It was a really cute story! We are looking forward to reading the second one. Pumpkin has been burying himself in Minecraft books lately.
The last goal was "Self Goal"- having a girls day adventure. Once again the boot and weather deterred me. We have had some snow, which makes it very difficult to walk with the darn boot (especially when you cannot see what is beneath the snow). The boot has made me more of a home body than normal.
Well, I will need to mull over my February goals for a bit. Have you accomplished any goals that you set for the new year?
Friday, January 1, 2016
January Goals
I didn't do so well last year, but I am willing to try again. Each month I intend to set a few goals for myself.
I gave up on New Year's Resolutions quite a few years ago. I find that smaller chunks are more attainable to reach.
So here are my January goals:
Health
Home
Family
Self
I gave up on New Year's Resolutions quite a few years ago. I find that smaller chunks are more attainable to reach.
So here are my January goals:
Health
- Strengthen and stretch my hurt ankle/foot
- Lose five pounds and maintain
Home
- Tackle cleaning and organizing the south end of the great room
Family
- Read more to the kids
Self
- Have a least one girls day adventure
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Goodbye 2015
2015 has had its ups and downs. I hope that 2016 has more ups.
Challenges
Blessings
What we are looking forward to
Well, gotta go! We are having a Hobbit movie marathon this evening. Currently, we are in the midst of watching the second movie. The third movie may need to wait until tomorrow.
Challenges
- Last school year we had a lot of homework battles. Often we were not finishing up homework until 9 or 10 o'clock at night.
- I was sick off and on from April through August. My collapsed gallbladder was removed in August, I have felt much better.
- I messed up a tendon in my foot earlier this month, so I have been in a walking boot for the last three weeks. I don't recommend stepping on a hickory nut husk.
- We live in the black hole of crappy internet service. We have the fastest service in our area, that is reminiscent of dial up speeds. Faster internet service is in our area, but unfortunately has not made it to our neighborhood. I might just have to start calling once a month to inquire if they have gotten around to our neighborhood yet. They are going to LOVE me.
Blessings
- Pumpkin is in 3rd grade and Princess is in 1st grade. Time sure does fly!
- Princess had a good report at the eye doctor last January. We only have to go once a year instead of every three to six months. Yay!
- Pumpkin has a wonderful teacher this school year. She has been able to cut down on the tattling in the classroom, which has resulted in better behavior on his part.
- The kids favorite movie this year is Minions.
- Pumpkin finally passed his first spelling test of the year this month. The teacher has reassured us that he will not be held back next school year in regards to spelling.
- In the spring, I celebrated 15 years at my work place.
- A local autism support group was started in our community. It is good to be able to talk with other parents and educators that understand.
- Princess also has a great teacher. I volunteered to help with gingerbread house decorating a few weeks ago. I really enjoyed myself, which is rare when volunteering at school. Most parents shun me when they figure out who my son is because they just don't understand and we don't advertise that he has ADHD, ASD, and SPD. They just figure that we are terrible parents that don't care because of the behaviors they see or hear about from their children.
- I cut back my hours at work to be able to pick the kids up from school. Homework battles have decreased and we are finishing our homework faster. Yay!!!!!!
- We were able to save some money back to purchase a new laptop. Our desktop that we still use is ten years old. Now more than one family member can use the computer at a time. Which is a good thing since we use SpellingCity, MobyMax, Multiplication.com and Quizlet to do homework and study.
- Pumpkin learned to ride a bike without training wheels!
- We survived the school Christmas concert without incident.
- Pumpkin was able to attend a specialized camp over the summer that focused on social skills and utilized ABA therapy. We have noticed a difference this school year. Two thumbs up!
- Princess enjoys helping great grandma make pancakes in the mornings before school.
- We went and saw our first ever Christmas Day movie. We saw the newest Star Wars movie as a family. It was good, but I am not giving anything away for those who have not seen it yet.
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| Hubby and the kids with cut-outs from the Star Wars movies. |
- Hubby and I are looking forward to the last season of Downton Abbey.
- I am hoping that the kids take on more chores and household responsibilities this coming year. Our biggest challenge is keeping our rooms clean.
- We are going to be an aunt and uncle again. So far we have eight nieces and nephews.
- I hope to conquer some of the clutter in the house. I may have to enlist some help.
Well, gotta go! We are having a Hobbit movie marathon this evening. Currently, we are in the midst of watching the second movie. The third movie may need to wait until tomorrow.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe
Darn. . . the frustration over posting to this little old blog is not the ancient computer, but the internet connection.
I broke into savings last month (three days before I found out that I would need to have an unexpected surgery- collapsed gallbladder) and got a laptop on sale. The purpose was to ensure that the kids could get their school assignments done and us parents could get our stuff done too. So we now have our 9 year old Windows XP desktop and a new Windows 10 laptop. Since Microsoft just debuted its newest operating system, I was able to upgrade the laptop from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 for free. This feat unfortunately was not possible at home, instead I had to go to my husband's workplace (with permission) to use their wifi connection. I still need to save up some money to buy a Windows Office license for the laptop. The desktop has Office 2007, but I don't think that I want to install it on the laptop. Oh . . . . the best part about our new technology, I password protected it. The kids cannot use it unless hubby or I log them on. Score!!!!!!
Back to our internet woes. I called the phone company and we have the fastest internet connection in our area, which is the lowest level of service that they offer. The router has been replaced, but yet service is still dicey and sometimes non-existent. I just replaced the office power strip/ surge protector. I thought that it might be possible that the old one which the phone line ran through may have gone bad. So far we have yet to lose service, but it is still running slower than dirt. Next options will be either to re-run a phone line to the outside phone box or have our phone company visit us. Re-running the line would probably be the cheapest option, but it is definitely a pain to do. If only our house had modern phone lines instead of twisted rusting pre-WWII phone cables which are over 1/4" in diameter. The current line to the outdoor box is about 9 years old. I may have to ask hubby to scale the yew bushes and rouge poison ivy to check the outside portion of the line.
Hopefully we can figure it out soon, it is hard to explain to Pumpkin why the internet will not work. To him it is supposed to be like water from a faucet, it should always there when you need it. Sometimes it is hard to get a few steps ahead of his literal mind. On the bright side, not as many behavior notes are coming home this school year. And he has only been to the principal's office once to have a chat after an incident with another child. The school was fair and handled the situation efficiently. The other child had to apologize to Pumpkin and both boys have some new directions to follow.
Anyone else have an older house with similar internet issues? What have you done for internet service?
I broke into savings last month (three days before I found out that I would need to have an unexpected surgery- collapsed gallbladder) and got a laptop on sale. The purpose was to ensure that the kids could get their school assignments done and us parents could get our stuff done too. So we now have our 9 year old Windows XP desktop and a new Windows 10 laptop. Since Microsoft just debuted its newest operating system, I was able to upgrade the laptop from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 for free. This feat unfortunately was not possible at home, instead I had to go to my husband's workplace (with permission) to use their wifi connection. I still need to save up some money to buy a Windows Office license for the laptop. The desktop has Office 2007, but I don't think that I want to install it on the laptop. Oh . . . . the best part about our new technology, I password protected it. The kids cannot use it unless hubby or I log them on. Score!!!!!!
Back to our internet woes. I called the phone company and we have the fastest internet connection in our area, which is the lowest level of service that they offer. The router has been replaced, but yet service is still dicey and sometimes non-existent. I just replaced the office power strip/ surge protector. I thought that it might be possible that the old one which the phone line ran through may have gone bad. So far we have yet to lose service, but it is still running slower than dirt. Next options will be either to re-run a phone line to the outside phone box or have our phone company visit us. Re-running the line would probably be the cheapest option, but it is definitely a pain to do. If only our house had modern phone lines instead of twisted rusting pre-WWII phone cables which are over 1/4" in diameter. The current line to the outdoor box is about 9 years old. I may have to ask hubby to scale the yew bushes and rouge poison ivy to check the outside portion of the line.
Hopefully we can figure it out soon, it is hard to explain to Pumpkin why the internet will not work. To him it is supposed to be like water from a faucet, it should always there when you need it. Sometimes it is hard to get a few steps ahead of his literal mind. On the bright side, not as many behavior notes are coming home this school year. And he has only been to the principal's office once to have a chat after an incident with another child. The school was fair and handled the situation efficiently. The other child had to apologize to Pumpkin and both boys have some new directions to follow.
Anyone else have an older house with similar internet issues? What have you done for internet service?
Monday, July 6, 2015
Where Does Time Fly
Five month. . . Wow! I had no idea. It has been crazy around here.
Being a parent at times is quite the chore and sometimes does not leave any extra time to unwind or blog.
I am glad that the summer is here, but not looking forward to the upcoming school year. Homework was my nemesis last school year! I loved school growing up, but having a child that fights doing homework every step of the way is quite stressful. Maybe this coming year, it will get easier. At least a girl can dream!
Part of the reason, I have not blogged lately is we sorely need to update our computer. We bought it before Pumpkin was born, so I am sure that it is considered a dinosaur by this point. Windows XP is no longer support. Eventually we need to break down and update our dinosaur. I do have to say that it is much better than my first computer which was the dreaded Windows Me (purchased during grad school).
Well since I am under the weather, I need to catch a few zzz's. Hope to post some pictures soon.
Being a parent at times is quite the chore and sometimes does not leave any extra time to unwind or blog.
I am glad that the summer is here, but not looking forward to the upcoming school year. Homework was my nemesis last school year! I loved school growing up, but having a child that fights doing homework every step of the way is quite stressful. Maybe this coming year, it will get easier. At least a girl can dream!
Part of the reason, I have not blogged lately is we sorely need to update our computer. We bought it before Pumpkin was born, so I am sure that it is considered a dinosaur by this point. Windows XP is no longer support. Eventually we need to break down and update our dinosaur. I do have to say that it is much better than my first computer which was the dreaded Windows Me (purchased during grad school).
Well since I am under the weather, I need to catch a few zzz's. Hope to post some pictures soon.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Project Time
I cannot believe that we are already ten days into the new year. Time sure does seem to fly around here.
The kids started back to school on Monday. Pumpkin's class is starting to learn cursive handwriting. Princess's class is doing more challenging read activities. Both of their report cards came home yesterday. We need to work on handwriting with both children. Princess needs to work on count to 100 by 5s and Pumpkin needs to work on his spelling skills.
I have been doing good on some of my January goals and falling a bit behind on other. Ha ha! Good thing goals can be changed and modified as needed.
We had a glitch with our kitchen plumbing starting on New Year's Day. I did take a laundry basket full of dishes to grandma's house last weekend. We hand washed the dirty dishes and had a nice conversation. Hubby attempted to clean out the p trap last weekend to no avail, so we called a plumber. The plumber replaced some pipes and attempted to clean out the line to no avail, so we called the sewer service. The sewer service got the issue resolved on Wednesday. Thank goodness! It is sort of hard to cook when you cannot use your sink. It is also kind of hard to work on eating more healthy if you have to grab a few meals out. But, I have managed to lose two and a half pounds.
My greatest accomplishment so far has been the southwest quadrant of the great room. I used Christmas money to purchase a small cube unit to help organize the room better. It is so cute! Below are before and after pictures. My next project is the northwest quadrant, it will probably be more time consuming since Hubby has to help me with some parts of it. That is the same area that I would like to set up the reading nook in.
We did test out the proposed reading nook area today. We have a green swivel rocking chair that I had moved from the southwest quadrant. Right now it is temporarily in front of the mantel. Both kids brought home flyers from school this week that they were excited about. It is a reading challenge of 360 minutes by February 23 to earn tickets to a fun amusement park. I figure that if we read 30 minutes every Saturday and Sunday, we will met the challenge in time. Princess and I worked together and read Blue Hat, Green Hat and Put me in the Zoo for 30 minutes. Pumpkin read me the first 4 chapters of Roscoe Riley Rules #1: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs for 30 minutes.
Well off to conquer the northwest quadrant! What are your plans this weekend?
The kids started back to school on Monday. Pumpkin's class is starting to learn cursive handwriting. Princess's class is doing more challenging read activities. Both of their report cards came home yesterday. We need to work on handwriting with both children. Princess needs to work on count to 100 by 5s and Pumpkin needs to work on his spelling skills.
I have been doing good on some of my January goals and falling a bit behind on other. Ha ha! Good thing goals can be changed and modified as needed.
We had a glitch with our kitchen plumbing starting on New Year's Day. I did take a laundry basket full of dishes to grandma's house last weekend. We hand washed the dirty dishes and had a nice conversation. Hubby attempted to clean out the p trap last weekend to no avail, so we called a plumber. The plumber replaced some pipes and attempted to clean out the line to no avail, so we called the sewer service. The sewer service got the issue resolved on Wednesday. Thank goodness! It is sort of hard to cook when you cannot use your sink. It is also kind of hard to work on eating more healthy if you have to grab a few meals out. But, I have managed to lose two and a half pounds.
My greatest accomplishment so far has been the southwest quadrant of the great room. I used Christmas money to purchase a small cube unit to help organize the room better. It is so cute! Below are before and after pictures. My next project is the northwest quadrant, it will probably be more time consuming since Hubby has to help me with some parts of it. That is the same area that I would like to set up the reading nook in.
We did test out the proposed reading nook area today. We have a green swivel rocking chair that I had moved from the southwest quadrant. Right now it is temporarily in front of the mantel. Both kids brought home flyers from school this week that they were excited about. It is a reading challenge of 360 minutes by February 23 to earn tickets to a fun amusement park. I figure that if we read 30 minutes every Saturday and Sunday, we will met the challenge in time. Princess and I worked together and read Blue Hat, Green Hat and Put me in the Zoo for 30 minutes. Pumpkin read me the first 4 chapters of Roscoe Riley Rules #1: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs for 30 minutes.
Well off to conquer the northwest quadrant! What are your plans this weekend?
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Friday, December 19, 2014
The Spirit
Sorry to be gone so long.
It has been a rocky year for us. It has been a rocky year for a lot of people that I know.
Unfortunately I am not really into the Christmas Spirit this year. I need to pep talk myself into a better mood. This year everything seems rushed. If it can go wrong, it has gone wrong. I have realized when you have an injury, you are less likely to be perky about the holidays. I kind of feel like Cindy Lou Who in the song Where Are You Christmas?
It has been a rocky year for us. It has been a rocky year for a lot of people that I know.
Unfortunately I am not really into the Christmas Spirit this year. I need to pep talk myself into a better mood. This year everything seems rushed. If it can go wrong, it has gone wrong. I have realized when you have an injury, you are less likely to be perky about the holidays. I kind of feel like Cindy Lou Who in the song Where Are You Christmas?
"It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."
~ Dr. Suess- How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Changes
This time of the year is all about changes.
Changes in season: Fall has finally brought the first hard frost of the year. Good-bye bugs!
Changes in temperature: It is like a yo-yo around here. One day up, one day down. Time to break out the blankets!
Changes in clothing: Hello fall and winter clothes. Good-bye spring and winter clothes.
Changes in time: Woohoo! We fell back an hour = an extra hour to sleep in this morning!
Environmental changes are good. They give us a chance to slow down and reflect on physical, emotional, and spiritual changes too. What changes are we expecting in the next few months? What changes do we want to make in the coming months? What changes will happen that will take our breath away?
Changes are everywhere. If we do not change, we cannot grow and we cannot thrive. We are continually adapting to the changes in our lives. Some changes are small and some are huge. Some are planned and some are unexpected. Some changes are good and other are heart breaking. Changes are like a roller coaster with ups and downs. The only thing we can control is how we react to each change. Will we take it in stride? Will we roar like a lion? Will we retreat and lick our wounds? Will we crumble and fall? Will we be an example to others? Changes.
I am not sure what the next few months will bring. The last twelve months has been a roller coaster of ups and downs. I hope that life will get easier, but I know there are many more bumps to navigate.
Changes that I would like to see:
- The kids helping more with keeping the house clean.
- Figuring out how to effectively relay information to my son.
- Slowing down, breathing, and eating healthier.
- Remembering to ask God for help more often.
- Figuring out how to lessen stress in our lives.
- Taking time to give more hugs and more kisses even when the kids are driving me up the wall.
What changes are happening in your life? What changes would you like to see?
Changes in season: Fall has finally brought the first hard frost of the year. Good-bye bugs!
Changes in temperature: It is like a yo-yo around here. One day up, one day down. Time to break out the blankets!
Changes in clothing: Hello fall and winter clothes. Good-bye spring and winter clothes.
Changes in time: Woohoo! We fell back an hour = an extra hour to sleep in this morning!
Environmental changes are good. They give us a chance to slow down and reflect on physical, emotional, and spiritual changes too. What changes are we expecting in the next few months? What changes do we want to make in the coming months? What changes will happen that will take our breath away?
Changes are everywhere. If we do not change, we cannot grow and we cannot thrive. We are continually adapting to the changes in our lives. Some changes are small and some are huge. Some are planned and some are unexpected. Some changes are good and other are heart breaking. Changes are like a roller coaster with ups and downs. The only thing we can control is how we react to each change. Will we take it in stride? Will we roar like a lion? Will we retreat and lick our wounds? Will we crumble and fall? Will we be an example to others? Changes.
I am not sure what the next few months will bring. The last twelve months has been a roller coaster of ups and downs. I hope that life will get easier, but I know there are many more bumps to navigate.
Changes that I would like to see:
- The kids helping more with keeping the house clean.
- Figuring out how to effectively relay information to my son.
- Slowing down, breathing, and eating healthier.
- Remembering to ask God for help more often.
- Figuring out how to lessen stress in our lives.
- Taking time to give more hugs and more kisses even when the kids are driving me up the wall.
What changes are happening in your life? What changes would you like to see?
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Run For It
I meet myself coming and going quite a bit. I get myself turned around. I find myself upside down. Quite often I am overwhelmed. Life will get easier, right?
My sister got the front door painted lightening bug yellow a few weeks ago. She gave me a new wreath for my birthday, too. Isn't the combination pretty?
The kids have been playing in the leaves this weekend. Princess even sorted the leaves by color.
Last weekend, I carved the family's pumpkin. Somehow a deer bone is now sticking out from its mouth.
I won a free book a few weeks ago. It arrived last weekend: The Stress Cure: Praying Your Way to Personal Peace by Linda Evans Shepherd. Thank you Baker Publishing and Proverbs31. The book is fascinating and a down-to-earth. It centers on managing stress through prayer and scripture. I have only made it through three chapters so far, but I do enjoy the fact that information is related in easy to understand examples. Chapter Two was about being overwhelmed. That me, OVERWHELMED!
I have been taking some nature photography.
I have wrangled with the health insurance company about Pumpkin's specialist. Turns out that I was right and she is in-network. So the insurance company has five visits over the last year to correct. A sixty dollar co-pay is a big difference when it is a two hundred dollar (3) or five hundred dollar (2) per visit bill.
I had the opportunity to attend an ADHD & Special Needs training last week. I have gleaned some information that I can use with Pumpkin. I need to find the time to really sit down and read over all of the handouts. The speaker was very nice, informative, and engaging.
A few weeks ago we took Princess to a neuro-opthomologist in a neighboring town. We were sent by our eye doctor for a second opinion. Good news! Her eyes are healthy and there are no underlying causes for her atypically vision problems. Her glasses are within the acceptable range for what she needs right now. We were referred back to our eye doctor for a 6-month January check-up.
Pumpkin went grocery shopping with me this afternoon. He decided to ride in the cart. Then he strategically stacked and built structures with the groceries as they went into the cart. Gotta love the quirks of autism at times.
I hope that everyone has a great weekend! Don't forget Spotlight Sunday is tomorrow!
My sister got the front door painted lightening bug yellow a few weeks ago. She gave me a new wreath for my birthday, too. Isn't the combination pretty?
The kids have been playing in the leaves this weekend. Princess even sorted the leaves by color.
Last weekend, I carved the family's pumpkin. Somehow a deer bone is now sticking out from its mouth.
I won a free book a few weeks ago. It arrived last weekend: The Stress Cure: Praying Your Way to Personal Peace by Linda Evans Shepherd. Thank you Baker Publishing and Proverbs31. The book is fascinating and a down-to-earth. It centers on managing stress through prayer and scripture. I have only made it through three chapters so far, but I do enjoy the fact that information is related in easy to understand examples. Chapter Two was about being overwhelmed. That me, OVERWHELMED!
I have been taking some nature photography.
I have wrangled with the health insurance company about Pumpkin's specialist. Turns out that I was right and she is in-network. So the insurance company has five visits over the last year to correct. A sixty dollar co-pay is a big difference when it is a two hundred dollar (3) or five hundred dollar (2) per visit bill.
I had the opportunity to attend an ADHD & Special Needs training last week. I have gleaned some information that I can use with Pumpkin. I need to find the time to really sit down and read over all of the handouts. The speaker was very nice, informative, and engaging.
A few weeks ago we took Princess to a neuro-opthomologist in a neighboring town. We were sent by our eye doctor for a second opinion. Good news! Her eyes are healthy and there are no underlying causes for her atypically vision problems. Her glasses are within the acceptable range for what she needs right now. We were referred back to our eye doctor for a 6-month January check-up.
Pumpkin went grocery shopping with me this afternoon. He decided to ride in the cart. Then he strategically stacked and built structures with the groceries as they went into the cart. Gotta love the quirks of autism at times.
I hope that everyone has a great weekend! Don't forget Spotlight Sunday is tomorrow!
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Saturdays
I like Saturdays. Saturdays are laid back. Saturdays are typically the day of the week with the least amount of stress. A day to sleep-in, to relax a bit, and best of all NO homework.
Instead of sleeping in this morning, Pumpkin was up at the crack of dawn. He definitely did not have a volume control. I may need to take him to the doctor and make sure that his ear are okay. He has always been our stealth infection child in the past. Pumpkin kept himself busy exploring the kitchen cabinets and pulling out materials for some unknown creation. I found straws, duct tape, and a toilet paper tube abandoned on the great room floor.
I did not tackle any laundry today. Darn the luck! But Grandma, the kids, and I went to a few stores and grab some groceries. I cooked the kids macaroni and cheese for lunch by request. We used the last box of Phineas & Ferb macaroni and cheese, so we will have to use trial and error from this point on. Pumpkin can tell if it is not to his liking and will remember for the next time, shunning it forever. The joys of sensory processing disorder. I have learned the hard way when I attempt to switch the butter to another brand- his smell, taste, and sight are very fine tuned.
Princess decided to do my hair this afternoon. She placed twelve hair clips in my hair. Six in rainbow order on one side of my head and another six in rainbow order on the opposite side. Then she decorated her hair with nine hair clips. Little girls are quite interesting at this age.
I cooked a hot dinner for the first time since last weekend. It is hard to cook during the week with our homework hurtles. We either have leftovers, grab something out, or daddy makes cheese toasties. Pumpkin needs someone with him the entire time while working on homework. The homework table that I designated in the kitchen lasted for about a month. Right now his preferred place to do homework is in the sun room. We need to figure out the key to unlocking the autism for dummies handbook soon before I lose my mind. Earlier this week Pumpkin flipped out when Uncle B, a close friend, dropped by to visit for a few minutes. Pumpkin jumped up and closed the curtains and was screaming that the Uncle B could not come into the house. So hubby and I chatted with Uncle B outside. When I asked Pumpkin about it later, he said that he did not want Uncle B seeing him doing his homework. Ack! It has to get better, right?
Anyway, this evening I baked a whole chicken in the guardian service seasoned with real butter and a fresh lemon. I also cooked frozen peas and made egg noddles with jarred alfredo sauce. We had sliced French bread, then I made grandma's sugar pies for dessert.
It will be my turn for family dinner night this week. I am going to make cheese soup. It is always better the next day, so I will make a batch up tomorrow to cure in the refrigerator. I will figured out the rest of the meal later. Well better get moving on to the next thing on my to-do list.
Instead of sleeping in this morning, Pumpkin was up at the crack of dawn. He definitely did not have a volume control. I may need to take him to the doctor and make sure that his ear are okay. He has always been our stealth infection child in the past. Pumpkin kept himself busy exploring the kitchen cabinets and pulling out materials for some unknown creation. I found straws, duct tape, and a toilet paper tube abandoned on the great room floor.
I did not tackle any laundry today. Darn the luck! But Grandma, the kids, and I went to a few stores and grab some groceries. I cooked the kids macaroni and cheese for lunch by request. We used the last box of Phineas & Ferb macaroni and cheese, so we will have to use trial and error from this point on. Pumpkin can tell if it is not to his liking and will remember for the next time, shunning it forever. The joys of sensory processing disorder. I have learned the hard way when I attempt to switch the butter to another brand- his smell, taste, and sight are very fine tuned.
Princess decided to do my hair this afternoon. She placed twelve hair clips in my hair. Six in rainbow order on one side of my head and another six in rainbow order on the opposite side. Then she decorated her hair with nine hair clips. Little girls are quite interesting at this age.
I cooked a hot dinner for the first time since last weekend. It is hard to cook during the week with our homework hurtles. We either have leftovers, grab something out, or daddy makes cheese toasties. Pumpkin needs someone with him the entire time while working on homework. The homework table that I designated in the kitchen lasted for about a month. Right now his preferred place to do homework is in the sun room. We need to figure out the key to unlocking the autism for dummies handbook soon before I lose my mind. Earlier this week Pumpkin flipped out when Uncle B, a close friend, dropped by to visit for a few minutes. Pumpkin jumped up and closed the curtains and was screaming that the Uncle B could not come into the house. So hubby and I chatted with Uncle B outside. When I asked Pumpkin about it later, he said that he did not want Uncle B seeing him doing his homework. Ack! It has to get better, right?
Anyway, this evening I baked a whole chicken in the guardian service seasoned with real butter and a fresh lemon. I also cooked frozen peas and made egg noddles with jarred alfredo sauce. We had sliced French bread, then I made grandma's sugar pies for dessert.
It will be my turn for family dinner night this week. I am going to make cheese soup. It is always better the next day, so I will make a batch up tomorrow to cure in the refrigerator. I will figured out the rest of the meal later. Well better get moving on to the next thing on my to-do list.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Yes!
One day last week I had the day off work and the kids were in school, so I decided to treat myself with a Redbox movie. I rarely ever get to watch a movie without the kids at least until it is after they go to bed. Just after 8 am, I had made several important phone calls and was waiting for the return calls. I was hesitant about leaving homing to grab a movie. Finally at 11 am, I decided to brave it and made a fast run.
When I returned, I thought maybe I should unload the freshly cleaned dishes from the dishwasher and reload before starting my movie. Then my sister arrived to paint the trim around the sunroom windows, if only I did not have allergies to the paint. Since my sister was rocking it out to her iPhone, I decided to replace the latch on the storm door that broke over the summer. I was very happy that the screw holes matched, but the inside part was too long. I searched for the hacksaw. Sigh, I could not find the hacksaw so I called grandma and she brought a hacksaw over. Grandma, my sister and I hung out, talked, and worked. I had been talking about repainting the front door because the paint was peeling off the metal. When I got the paint for the trim I grabbed a few paint samples. Sis and I looked through the samples and decided on a color- lightening bug. Hubby might be a touch surprised, but he said that I could paint it any color. Wink, wink!
Looking at the clock it was 1pm, too late to watch a movie before getting the kids. Instead sis and I ran to the hardware store and got some paint rollers and the paint for the front door (this week's project). Then off to school I went to grab the kids. On the drive home I talked them into watching a movie in our bedroom so I could watch my movie on the sunroom tv. I popped a Halloween Scooby Doo in for the kids and Moms' Night Out in for me. It only took me 3 1/2 hours to finish watching the movie. It got paused quite a few times for the telephone, a drop by visitor, and the kids.
I am in love with the movie. Wow! Amazing! I could relate to quite a few of the characters.
Allyson is zany and overwhelmed. I so get that and relate to the hiding from the kids in the closet scene. Life just gets so overwhelming at times and there needs to be a way to vent that build-up. I would love to have a girls night away from the kids. A night to forget homework woos, to forget autism, to forget sibling bickering, to forget chores, to forget cooking, and so much more. My luck, it would probably mirror parts of the movie. Ha ha ha ha!
Sondra is prim, proper, and always feels like everyone else is judging her in the role of a minister's wife. She rarely is given an invitation to just go out and have fun. I feel her too. I have had quite a few people tell me that I am prim and proper especially when they met my dad, who has Harley biker written all over in one glance. I do not see it, but I am more of an introvert. I like to be behind the scenes instead of out in the front. I rarely get invited to do fun things, except for parties where acquaintances are selling things.
Izzy is struggling with the stress of parenting her twins. Her husband is terrified of being alone with the kids. I am very thankful that my hubby helps out, but there times when he will not do something because he does not know how. My response is let me show you how to do it for the next time. I am positive that he will not break Princess's glasses if he cleans them from time to time. He has learned that elastic bands in the hair of little girls are really not that scary either, just don't use the scissors.
Anway, what an amazing movie! I may have to splurge and add it to the home collection. I think it has made it to my top five list. Wink, wink!
Last but not least, enjoy this picture of yesterday's sunrise. A beautiful gift on the four year anniversary of mom's passing. I love you and miss you mom!
When I returned, I thought maybe I should unload the freshly cleaned dishes from the dishwasher and reload before starting my movie. Then my sister arrived to paint the trim around the sunroom windows, if only I did not have allergies to the paint. Since my sister was rocking it out to her iPhone, I decided to replace the latch on the storm door that broke over the summer. I was very happy that the screw holes matched, but the inside part was too long. I searched for the hacksaw. Sigh, I could not find the hacksaw so I called grandma and she brought a hacksaw over. Grandma, my sister and I hung out, talked, and worked. I had been talking about repainting the front door because the paint was peeling off the metal. When I got the paint for the trim I grabbed a few paint samples. Sis and I looked through the samples and decided on a color- lightening bug. Hubby might be a touch surprised, but he said that I could paint it any color. Wink, wink!
Looking at the clock it was 1pm, too late to watch a movie before getting the kids. Instead sis and I ran to the hardware store and got some paint rollers and the paint for the front door (this week's project). Then off to school I went to grab the kids. On the drive home I talked them into watching a movie in our bedroom so I could watch my movie on the sunroom tv. I popped a Halloween Scooby Doo in for the kids and Moms' Night Out in for me. It only took me 3 1/2 hours to finish watching the movie. It got paused quite a few times for the telephone, a drop by visitor, and the kids.
I am in love with the movie. Wow! Amazing! I could relate to quite a few of the characters.
Allyson is zany and overwhelmed. I so get that and relate to the hiding from the kids in the closet scene. Life just gets so overwhelming at times and there needs to be a way to vent that build-up. I would love to have a girls night away from the kids. A night to forget homework woos, to forget autism, to forget sibling bickering, to forget chores, to forget cooking, and so much more. My luck, it would probably mirror parts of the movie. Ha ha ha ha!
Sondra is prim, proper, and always feels like everyone else is judging her in the role of a minister's wife. She rarely is given an invitation to just go out and have fun. I feel her too. I have had quite a few people tell me that I am prim and proper especially when they met my dad, who has Harley biker written all over in one glance. I do not see it, but I am more of an introvert. I like to be behind the scenes instead of out in the front. I rarely get invited to do fun things, except for parties where acquaintances are selling things.
Izzy is struggling with the stress of parenting her twins. Her husband is terrified of being alone with the kids. I am very thankful that my hubby helps out, but there times when he will not do something because he does not know how. My response is let me show you how to do it for the next time. I am positive that he will not break Princess's glasses if he cleans them from time to time. He has learned that elastic bands in the hair of little girls are really not that scary either, just don't use the scissors.
Anway, what an amazing movie! I may have to splurge and add it to the home collection. I think it has made it to my top five list. Wink, wink!
Last but not least, enjoy this picture of yesterday's sunrise. A beautiful gift on the four year anniversary of mom's passing. I love you and miss you mom!
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
101 Things
There is always 101 things that need to be done. It can be overwhelming at times. Sometimes I cannot tell the difference between up and down.
Now that school has started, we have the homework battle with Pumpkin each night. We are trying to discover techniques that may help us proceed in a faster manner. I search the internet for ideas in the evenings. I dropped by the library and check out books for ideas. We did a change out with our kitchen table to help with our homework battle. Another post will be dedicated to that soon. Friday morning I am heading up north to a parent training session to see if I can glean ideas in general that will help us to help Pumpkin. We have met with his teacher and principal twice so far this school year and we are just starting the third week of school. We do have a great teacher this year and we are working with her on Pumpkin's social hurtles and quirks. Next week we go back to the childhood behavioral pediatrician to explore the possibly of medication to help manage the ADHD, so we can work on teaching the needed skills for the ASD. I am so glad for the weekends which give us a short break of the homework battle.
Housework has turned into a formidable mountain around here. Between being sick all summer, having an injured foot, and now homework it has been a challenge to get even the basics done. I have attempted to train the kids, but more often than not they are more of the problem than the solution. Laundry is getting washed, but unfortunately it has been hanging out unfolded in the laundry baskets until they are empty or reclaimed for another load of clean laundry. Surfaces are piled high with clutter, papers, STUFF. Dishes are hit and miss. I think that I need to have a cleaning party, one room at a time of course. Any friends up for the challenge?
We did have a friend come by this past weekend. He fixed the leak under our kitchen sink and removed our garbage disposal for us. I know, a lot of people love their garbage disposals. But, I did not have one until we moved into our current home. I really am not fond of them. Why would someone would want to send stuff down their drains and into their pipes to risk having a blockage thereby having to call a plumber? We have an older model house and I know that we have some tile collapsing in the front yard, so why take the risk of causing more harm than good. I am happy though that I can now return all of the stuff that was under the sink, back underneath the sink. The under the sink supplies have been sitting in a tub in my kitchen for the past three months.
I am attempting to relearn how to type. Ugh! Apparently the rules for composing with a computer have changed. Instead of two spaces after a period (which is what I was taught by a teacher in high school that threated detentions for not following directions), the new rule is one space after a period. I guess this is because in this fast paced world, they want to save as much room and space as they can. Apparently the two space rule was created to help separate sentences when using a typewriter (which once again, I learned how to type on) and is not necessary with a computer since the spacing is more uniform. Up until last week at work, I had never heard of it before. I looked it up on the internet and quite a few well-known sites did talk about this change. So I am attempting with much error to reteach myself how to type. This is a quite a challenge, since it has been ingrained into my brain since my freshman year of high school. Try it for yourself to see how hard it is to conform.
Well, I guess that I should think about hitting the sack. Tomorrow will be another long day. I just have to remember: One day at a time. One breath at a time. This too shall pass. Before I know it life will get easier instead of more challenging. At least I hope (wink, wink).
Now that school has started, we have the homework battle with Pumpkin each night. We are trying to discover techniques that may help us proceed in a faster manner. I search the internet for ideas in the evenings. I dropped by the library and check out books for ideas. We did a change out with our kitchen table to help with our homework battle. Another post will be dedicated to that soon. Friday morning I am heading up north to a parent training session to see if I can glean ideas in general that will help us to help Pumpkin. We have met with his teacher and principal twice so far this school year and we are just starting the third week of school. We do have a great teacher this year and we are working with her on Pumpkin's social hurtles and quirks. Next week we go back to the childhood behavioral pediatrician to explore the possibly of medication to help manage the ADHD, so we can work on teaching the needed skills for the ASD. I am so glad for the weekends which give us a short break of the homework battle.
Housework has turned into a formidable mountain around here. Between being sick all summer, having an injured foot, and now homework it has been a challenge to get even the basics done. I have attempted to train the kids, but more often than not they are more of the problem than the solution. Laundry is getting washed, but unfortunately it has been hanging out unfolded in the laundry baskets until they are empty or reclaimed for another load of clean laundry. Surfaces are piled high with clutter, papers, STUFF. Dishes are hit and miss. I think that I need to have a cleaning party, one room at a time of course. Any friends up for the challenge?
We did have a friend come by this past weekend. He fixed the leak under our kitchen sink and removed our garbage disposal for us. I know, a lot of people love their garbage disposals. But, I did not have one until we moved into our current home. I really am not fond of them. Why would someone would want to send stuff down their drains and into their pipes to risk having a blockage thereby having to call a plumber? We have an older model house and I know that we have some tile collapsing in the front yard, so why take the risk of causing more harm than good. I am happy though that I can now return all of the stuff that was under the sink, back underneath the sink. The under the sink supplies have been sitting in a tub in my kitchen for the past three months.
I am attempting to relearn how to type. Ugh! Apparently the rules for composing with a computer have changed. Instead of two spaces after a period (which is what I was taught by a teacher in high school that threated detentions for not following directions), the new rule is one space after a period. I guess this is because in this fast paced world, they want to save as much room and space as they can. Apparently the two space rule was created to help separate sentences when using a typewriter (which once again, I learned how to type on) and is not necessary with a computer since the spacing is more uniform. Up until last week at work, I had never heard of it before. I looked it up on the internet and quite a few well-known sites did talk about this change. So I am attempting with much error to reteach myself how to type. This is a quite a challenge, since it has been ingrained into my brain since my freshman year of high school. Try it for yourself to see how hard it is to conform.
Well, I guess that I should think about hitting the sack. Tomorrow will be another long day. I just have to remember: One day at a time. One breath at a time. This too shall pass. Before I know it life will get easier instead of more challenging. At least I hope (wink, wink).
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Summer Is Almost Over
Summer is almost over! School is just around the corner.
We have the kids school supplies. We had separate shopping trips for each child. I have a laundry basket that is overfilled with all of their goodies. Pumpkin was the easy one this year and we zipped through three stores pretty fast. Princess on the other hand took at least 20 minutes to decide on each item that was on her school supply list. I thought that the shopping trip would NEVER end. Ha ha ha!
Pumpkin will be going into the second grade and Princess will be starting kindergarten. Thankful that both kids will be at the same location! We get to met the teachers with the kids this coming week, then school starts on August 18. I think that they are both excited. Hubby and I got a chance to met with the principal and Pumpkin's teacher to get game plan started. We have a really good feeling about this school year and are so thankful that the staff is supportive and flexible.
We finished our summer care Friday. It was truly a blessing! The kids got to play outside most of the summer. They even got the opportunity to take swim lessons. Pumpkin got extra help strengthening his math and reading skills. This coming week the kids get to hang out with me at home.
Pumpkin lost his first two teeth ever on July 14. We have yet to have a visit from the tooth fairy. He is refusing to part with his teeth, since they contain his "memories." So they are hidden away in his room so the tooth fairy cannot find them. He got that train of thought from the movie "Rise of the Guardians." His two "shark" teeth were almost fully in right behind the ones that fell out. They are starting to shift forward now.
I am still hanging in there. Life certainly has been rough this year, but I am still smiling. I got released from my multiple doctors two Monday's ago. Ten long weeks of uncertainty and just not feeling good at all. So thankful that all of the testing and illness is gone. Thanks be to God! Unfortunately, I cannot say that it is the end of my health saga. The next day I ended up with a stress fracture to my right foot. I initially thought that it was a really bad foot cramp, but since the pain did not subside I saw the podiatrist. So, I have a lovely black surgical shoe that I get to wear until I go back for another visit. I think that the culprit might have been my house shoes. I have been wearing them for about six years now. I know, I know! Shoes are not meant to be worn daily for that long. I just could not bear to give them up. I find that I have trouble getting rid of things that have sentimental value. I bought them a few months before I had Princess and wore them in the hospital during our maternal stay.
For the upcoming week, we had planned to go to the state fair, have a garage sale, and take a few local day trips. But since I injured my driving foot, we are going to have to stay local unless someone else does the driving and I cannot be standing for hours at a time. I probably should not be lugging stuff over to grandma's house for a garage sale either. I have decided that I will use my heavy duty walking boot (from my plantar fasciitis stint in 2009), when it comes to going to school for registration day. The last thing I need is for someone to step on my injured hoof. Funny thing is that I can move faster in the boot, than in the shoe. Ha ha ha!
Well life is never boring around here! Hopefully I stay a little more up to date with this little blog as we venture into the fall.
We have the kids school supplies. We had separate shopping trips for each child. I have a laundry basket that is overfilled with all of their goodies. Pumpkin was the easy one this year and we zipped through three stores pretty fast. Princess on the other hand took at least 20 minutes to decide on each item that was on her school supply list. I thought that the shopping trip would NEVER end. Ha ha ha!
Pumpkin will be going into the second grade and Princess will be starting kindergarten. Thankful that both kids will be at the same location! We get to met the teachers with the kids this coming week, then school starts on August 18. I think that they are both excited. Hubby and I got a chance to met with the principal and Pumpkin's teacher to get game plan started. We have a really good feeling about this school year and are so thankful that the staff is supportive and flexible.
We finished our summer care Friday. It was truly a blessing! The kids got to play outside most of the summer. They even got the opportunity to take swim lessons. Pumpkin got extra help strengthening his math and reading skills. This coming week the kids get to hang out with me at home.
Pumpkin lost his first two teeth ever on July 14. We have yet to have a visit from the tooth fairy. He is refusing to part with his teeth, since they contain his "memories." So they are hidden away in his room so the tooth fairy cannot find them. He got that train of thought from the movie "Rise of the Guardians." His two "shark" teeth were almost fully in right behind the ones that fell out. They are starting to shift forward now.
I am still hanging in there. Life certainly has been rough this year, but I am still smiling. I got released from my multiple doctors two Monday's ago. Ten long weeks of uncertainty and just not feeling good at all. So thankful that all of the testing and illness is gone. Thanks be to God! Unfortunately, I cannot say that it is the end of my health saga. The next day I ended up with a stress fracture to my right foot. I initially thought that it was a really bad foot cramp, but since the pain did not subside I saw the podiatrist. So, I have a lovely black surgical shoe that I get to wear until I go back for another visit. I think that the culprit might have been my house shoes. I have been wearing them for about six years now. I know, I know! Shoes are not meant to be worn daily for that long. I just could not bear to give them up. I find that I have trouble getting rid of things that have sentimental value. I bought them a few months before I had Princess and wore them in the hospital during our maternal stay.
For the upcoming week, we had planned to go to the state fair, have a garage sale, and take a few local day trips. But since I injured my driving foot, we are going to have to stay local unless someone else does the driving and I cannot be standing for hours at a time. I probably should not be lugging stuff over to grandma's house for a garage sale either. I have decided that I will use my heavy duty walking boot (from my plantar fasciitis stint in 2009), when it comes to going to school for registration day. The last thing I need is for someone to step on my injured hoof. Funny thing is that I can move faster in the boot, than in the shoe. Ha ha ha!
Well life is never boring around here! Hopefully I stay a little more up to date with this little blog as we venture into the fall.
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