Let's See If I Can Stay on Track Again

Last time I made myself an outline I stayed, relatively, on track. Think I can do it again? Hmmm...I want to tell you about so many things that have been going on, that I think I should make THE LIST again. Darn, my snowman's not moving. Well, you get the idea. Ok, let's see - what do I need to tell you about?
Scouts and the camping trip
SmallBoy & school (OY)
Christmas chaos
House...GRRRR
Cookie Day
EXHALE!!
I think that's it! Let's start at the top - and I don't know that these are in order at all:

SCOUTS & CAMPING
The first weekend of the month, PC & ET took SmallBoy on a campout with the scouts. The Boy Scout troop invited all of the boys in SmallBoy's age bracket (Weeblos I & II) to join them on a camping weekend. They planned on doing many activities to help the boys earn badges - and lots of them. From our den, only three other boys/dads went on the trip, as it was RIDICULOUSLY cold - my guys were brave! From the Weeblos II den, a few other father/son teams went along, including the man who, until last year, used to be the Scout Master of the whole pack and his son.

When my guys finally arrived up north in Woodstock, IL, they were ecstatic to be alive. The snow had hit two days before, but up in the rural country of the campgrounds, the roads were barely passable and they thought the certain death was imminent. As they exited the snuggly warmth of our little Honda, they were slapped across the face with the cold biting winter wind reminding them that, indeed, they were roughing it for the next 24hrs. My guys were prepared, dressed in layers and "toughness." They schlepped their gear to their cabin, geared up for the day, and headed out to meet the boy scouts of our troop. Their journey into the "arctic," as it seemed, came to a temporary screeching halt as a troop of boy scouts pulled up to the cabin, also to unload. These scouts had previously given up their reservations due to the weather and now, apparently, had changed their minds. Good, caring gentlemen that our troop are, offered to share the cabin, which had two separate floors, and plenty of room. The other troop was thrilled, and began to unpack their cars, from which they carried in at least 10 television sets, multiple video gaming systems, stereos and mp3 players - all contraband in the eyes of the scouts. Clearly this troop had no intention, whatsoever, of "scouting" for the weekend.

Giving it only a second thought, my guys continued on with their days. There wasn't much going on in the way of earning badges, but the boys were outside having fun. They did, however, hone their hunting/seeking/retrieval skills through a 3-Man Slingshot challenge. PC, ET, and another dad took frozen oranges and shot them out of a 3-Man slingshot into the deep deep snow. They scouts were instructed to follow the orange by sight, and then to listen for the thud when it hit the snow. Then, they were sent to retrieve it. Not an easy job in 2ft of snow out in the country, but they had fun. Sled hills, snow, boys - yeah, lots of fun, minimal badgework.

Unfortunately, SmallBoy got targeted by Former ScoutMaster (who is NOT a very nice man, thinks he's a drill seargent), AND Son of Former ScoutMaster. The son is a year or two older than SmallBoy, and they go to school together. This child has a reputation for harrassing other kids, pushing them around, and just being a general pain in the behind. This child also has an underlying learning disability, so, being the open minded person that I am, and not his parent, always turned a semi-blind eye to the behavior (shame on me). That is, I always turned one until now. The boys were down at the bottom of the sled hill when one scout came back up and told PC that SmallBoy was crying and he thought that SmallBoy was hurt. As it happened, this was the scout's way of indirectly ratting out Son of Former ScoutMaster who had SmallBoy face down on the ground grinding his face into the ground. PC didn't even hear him screaming until Son of Former ScoutMaster lifted his head up for a brief, oh so brief second, so that he could breath, and then promptly smushed him back into the snow. Where, oh where was Former ScoutMaster? In the cabin playing cards with some of the other fathers. Another lovely incident was when the boys were actually outside working on a badge project. SmallBoy told PC that he needed to use the bathroom. PC told him that he had to go to, and that he'd go with him. Well, Former ScoutMaster, abusing his former power and his "power" as the only leader there from our Pack, told my SmallBoy, "You're not going anywhere. You PISS IN YOUR PANTS!" First of all, NO. Second of all, NO. Thirdly, NO! You don't tell a child, especially one that doesn't belong to you, to PISS IN HIS PANTS. You don't tell MY child, with or without an accompanying adult, to PISS IN HIS PANTS. You don't tell YELL at a child on the spectrum, you don't SWEAR in front of all the other boys, you don't humiliate MY son, nor do you outrank my husban who is with my child and knows exactly how to take care of him.

The next incident was at dinner. The boys were all neatly lined in 2 lines waiting, believe it or not, quietly, for their food. Mr. Former ScoutMaster decided that he did not like this arrangement, made the executive decision to make it a single file line, then grabbed MY SON and another young boy by the scruff of the neck and told them that they had to go to the end of the line. Again, a child on the spectrum who is at the beginning of the line AND being patient and quiet is a very wonderful sight to behold. YOU DON'T MOVE HIM. Also, you don't GRAB a child, particularly a young one, and one who is behaving, by the scruff of the neck and yank him out of line. It's been a couple of weeks since this incident and I'm STILL FUMING. Later, Son of Former ScoutMaster told ET that he didn't like SmallBoy because he was stupid and an idiot. Honestly, I don't know HOW ET held himself together and didn't just go off on this kid - perhaps because, being a phenomenal father himself, ET is smart enough to know that know matter how much of a jerk someone is, particularly a child, you don't go off on them. I can't remember exactly how he responded to this boy, but it was completely in defense of SmallBoy along with a "don't you ever...."

OH, I almost forgot about the other troop with the televisions and video games. Loud boys upstairs. They stayed up, well after our troops had lights out, and played video games, loud music, furniture rearranging, jumping, you name it, until 3am. When the guys arrived home the next day and relayed the goings on to me, I was LIVID. I am not one to put up a stink to a higher-up, but this time it involved my child. That's going over the line. I got on the phone with the current fantastic ScoutMaster who has a son in SmallBoy's class, has different issues, but uses the same OT as SmallBoy, ScoutMaster who understands SmallBoy and treats him with equality, but with the little differences - and respect, that he deserves. He was livid. ET wrote an email to the Boy Scouts of America who assured us that this would be looke into. Boy do I feel like I opened a nasty can of worms. We get to spend two of the nights this week at scout outings with Former ScoutMaster and Son. Should be interesting.

SmallBoy & School
Meltdown city. Oh LORD! School's been incredibly trying these last couple of weeks. I have spoken more in the last two weeks to SmallBoy's teachers than I did all of last year. My poor guy has just been having such a difficult time. He's not been wanting to do the work, he's been complaining that it's either too easy or too hard, he's not been wanting to do the assignment as given, but his own way. He's been exploding in class and the kids, who have been SO incredible with him, are now all afraid to even speak to him for fear that he may blow up again for reasons unclear to them - and even to SmallBoy.

We all know that with a spectrum child, meltdowns can come on out of the blue, or over the smallest little thing. We also know that, odds are, it isn't the smallest little thing that causes the melt down, it just happens to be the spark on the powder keg that's been waiting to go off, filling more and more with powder - enough to fuel a HUGE explosion. I've been at my wits end, trying to hold it together and not burst into tears at the office after talking to Mrs. M. I've broken at home, only for a bit, to let a little bit out, whild trying to remain "SUPERMOM". I've lost it at home, melting on my own - venting at everyone in my house for stupid stupid things - things like, "Mom, I need posterboard tomorrow," (oh crap, she really does), things like, "Geez, will you look at the calendar?! How are we supposed to be in all of these places that require us to be there all at the same time? And HOW, if we're supposed to be in those places, are we supposed to get our holiday shopping done? Our laundry done? Our house clean? My flat tire changed? Homework done? Lunches made? Spend time as a family?" Oh my head hurts.

My poor guy has been having his own struggles and meltdowns and, without realizing what I was doing, he's been stressing out worrying about ME. My Not-So-SmallBoy has been worrying about ME. Love him to pieces. He's worrying about himself, about making friends - he's feeling the "excommunication" from the group, he's associating that with what Ex is doing to him, he's struggling with reading comprehension at school, and now he's worrying about me. What a schmuck I am. Totally unthinking sometimes, but I am so grateful to have a family that will help me see what I'm doing and where I'm going.

SmallBoy and I increased our intensity on our reading program that we're doing at home. I'm not sure if I posted on exactly what we're doing, but we're using one of the programs that we do at our center at work, and helping him learn to visualize and make pictures for everything that he's reading. This will help him to build comprehension skills in order to understand what he's reading, and to build an even greater vocabulary. We were doing it just a little bit, which, I should know better, isn't nearly enough. Now we're working on our own little deal: He works really hard and gets x amount of stars. If, by the end of the week he has earned 50stars, he gets to teach me one of his video games. This works out well for both of us because I'm teaching him, and then he'll get to teach me. It's just really really been breaking my heart to see him hurting like this.

Christmas Chaos
This should be a little shorter of a blurb. Are YOU done yet? Religious affiliation aside, everyone celebrates SOMETHING this time of year - Solstice, Hannukah, Christmas, Kwaanza - all of which involve preparation of something, joining with loved ones, sharing of something, usually, some kinds of formal ceremonies - be they at church, temple, home, etc....This year, we have Christmas parties, Christmas baking, elongated Christmas celebration, transportation of the children ON Christmas, deciding who will have them when and how they will get where on Christmas when we're not even certain what time we'll be where on Christmas. And that's just Christmas DAY! Christmas Eve, SmallBoy will sing with the youth choir at mass and I'll be the cantor, so we'll be singing together. Then we'll be having some family over and beginning a new tradition. Christmas Day, we'll do our thing in the morning, Meem & FIL's for food and gifts, then to my aunt's for more food & gifts, then home to collapse. Day AFTER Christmas, we'll spend at Dad's with KR and then bring KR home with us for 2days!!! WHOOT WHOOT!

If I live that long, I have a feeling I'll enjoy it. I haven't finished my shopping, and I still haven't shopped for my mother, my sisters, my father, my father's wife, ET - and I think I still have some stuffers to get for the stockings - OH GOD! I haven't found the stockings yet! And I have NO time this week. Tonight - Scouts/Basketball Game/Reading with SmallBoy/Passing out. Tomorrow night - basketball/Reading with SmallBoy/promoting Code West's gig for Saturday night/passing out. Wed night - Basketball, something else...you get the idea. Somewhere in the spare moments between all of these activities and the important things like sleeping, eating, bathing, and just plain dropping dead, I can find time to do all of the rest of the stuff that still has to get done - oh yeah! And I have to color my hair and find time for haircuts too! EGADS!

Dear Santa:
All I want for Christmas are a few more hours in the day and an extra day on the weekend that are reserved soley for me, that cannot be taken up by obligations for OTHER PEOPLE, other things, work, or anything that I do not care to do. I have been a very good girl this year. This gift does not involve spending any money or creating a brand new toy or video game. I would say this is a relatively simple request. Thank you for taking the time to carefully consider my Christmas wish.
Yours truly,
Me

HOUSE...GRRRRR
Saturday, in the mail, I get a letter from my mortgage company telling me that because I had a nasty little spell with paying for my house, that my escrow is so far down, they are now DOUBLING my mortgage payment, effective Feb. 1. First of all, this house is so NOT worth that amount of money each month. Secondly, if I really and truly could afford to spend that much money on my house each month, I'd live on the richy rich side of town...or at least in a larger house in the comfortable side of town. Can you say REFI????? Seriously, do mortgage companies actually think people will settle for this and just pay it? No. But I've got to do it fast, cuz Feb 1 will come up soon. I don't make that much money in a month. Seriously, I need to sell my house, but it's not ready to be sold, plus stupid Ex will put up such a stink that it would be unbearable if I tried to leave this town of "wide lawns and narrow minds," (E. Hemingway on this town in which I live).

Electrician is coming tomorrow to see what he can do to fix this awful thing. Our house is still on the original fuses and is totally stupid. Our house is sinking on one side, my stairs are falling apart, my garage is falling apart, my insurance company changed my policy and now, get this, they no longer cover any damages to the house caused by the weather - so if a tree falls on my house - nope, if we have a tornado and my house blows to Oz - nope, if we get so much snow that my roof collapses -nope. Can they DO that?????????

Cookie Day
We made scads and scads of cookies, I took scads of pictures. We baked from 10:45 until 6, propped the TV up so that we could roll and decorate cookies while watching the Bears almost blow it against Tampa. We made Grandma Rosie cookies (secret family recipe, roll out dough), butter cookies, gingerbread cookies, butternut snowballs, peanut butter kiss cookies, apricot delights, almond crescents. There were about 21-25 of us (and we were missing several people), and we rolled and decorated and spritzed and baked. I tried desperately to post a slide show of the pics, but they moved my entire blog around.

Cookie day was at my mother's house this year, we rotate every year. My mother lives across the street from a forest preserve. As we were walking up to her house, we noticed a few deer at the edge of the forest. Surprisingly, they stuck around all day. We all walked down there at one point or another over the course of the day and looked at and admired them. I believe there were five total - 2 bucks, 2 does, and a fawn. Amazingly, the bucks were not fighting. (I know, could have cropped a little better, but forgot). We arrived at around 11:15 and the last time we saw the deer outside - you could see them just by looking out of the window, was just before it got dark. I'm impressed, and surprised that they hung out that long.

These are just a smattering of our end result. We baked. A lot. Of Cookies. Somewhere in my spare time, I will bake some more, when, though, I'm not certain. To more pics from cookie day, either peek over at the sidebar, or, to see them larger, head over to my myspace blog, where the slide show is considerable larger in both height & width. I think I'm finally done with this post now. I stopped in the middle of the Christmas Chaos part, went home from work, snarfed down some food, did some reading work with SmallBoy, went to scouts, came home. It's now 10:00. I think that I may just go crack a beer (another beer) and go color my hair. Of course that means, no sleep until at least midnight, but then at least I will have THAT done! EEEEEK. Ta Ta my Friends. Sleep tight.

Test Post

Is it me, is it blogger, or was it because I was trying to put the fabulous cookie day slide show into the post. (check the sidebar to see it - or go to my myspace blog to see it bigger!). I'll blog some more in a bit...trying to work this bug out and, believe it or not, I'm actually busy at work. YIKES

Short , for Me, and Probably Missing LOTS of Important Stuff

I made it, somehow to the weekend. I think I have the flu, SmallBoy's just been having the most awful week, life is insane, and tomorrow's cookie day...oh, wait, this morning my alarm went off at my weekday wakeup time, entirely too early, I was convinced it was Friday until PC told me it wasn't, and then, I couldn't get back to sleep. WRONG.

I'll post tomorrow or Monday about my Not-So-SmallBoy, but I'll just suffice it to say that the hyperlexia - weakness in reading comprehension - is REALLY getting to him. When that's added onto his already overful plate, full of stress, social struggles, Ex being an asshole issues, lack of time to do what HE wants to do (video games), it just makes things incredibly difficult for him. So today, in the few hours that I didn't feel like total and complete crap, just partial, incomplete crap, SmallBoy and I made a couple batches of cookie dough for our big giant family Cookie Day - which I'm pretty sure I mentioned in the post below. That kept him focused and happy for a while. He's just been SO sad and pained lately, so it was nice to see him genuinely interested in doing something and being happy about it.

Girl's Christmas program was Thursday night and I never got pics up from it, so here are a few:





She had a basketball game today, well, two, but only played in one of them. Thankfully I was still feeling somewhat ok - tired cuz I couldn't go back to sleep this morning, but relatively ok. Took some pics there, too...can you tell I don't feel like writing, but want to post SOMETHING?





She made it, we won - of course. Low scoring game, but we won, and that's what mattered. Second pic was from the half time shoot-around.

OH....DUH....Meem is in the process of publishing a children's book about Princess & ET, it's called "Daddy's House." PC built her a myspace to help promote. There are no pics or blurbs up about the book yet, but it's going to be wonderful. The book is a story about a little girl who lives with her mom, but visits her daddy every weekend. It tells about all of the fun things they do when they're together, their adventures, and their love for each other. Obviously, I'll keep promoting it here, too, but hop over there and check it out - say hi, whatever. Don't worry, I'll let you know as soon as we know when it's going to hit the shelves!

Alright, Loves, it's almost midnight, I feel like crap and we've got a busy day tomorrow! Smoochies. Good night, sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite!

Is This Week Over Yet?

Lord, what a stressful week it's been! No basketball to be running around for, but just a whole bunch of stuff piling up at one time creating tension beyond belief. The posts below (yesterday, Wednesday) describe the stress the whole Santa thing has placed, not only on SmallBoy, but on the rest of us...and here, I thought I was doing a GOOD, POSITIVE thing. My computer at home decided to, quite literally, take a dump. Just shuts down, all my memory is taken up...YO! JH! I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!! Thankfully, I managed to save all - most - of my pictures before that happened. I didn't get them cleared out of the computer to see if it was memory thing, but at least I have them saved this time.

To add on to that, we're trying to get all of the Christmas things going, purchased, wrapped, YIKES - craziness all in its own right. Then there are all of the things that go along with the holidays: school programs, parties for this group, that group, and the other group, secret santa, our own family traditions - Cookie Day. You know, of course that trying to cram all of these activities into just a few short weeks, on top of all of the OTHER things that are already on the schedule, creates massive havoc and more stress. (Kyra, I really think your solstice idea is a great one. Too much with Christmas. I can't find the link to the post, but if you want to read Kyra's solstice post, click on her link, then go look in Nov. 2006 for the "Lanterns" post).

Last night was the school's annual Christmas program. The 1st-3rd graders sing, the orchestras (varying age groups 1 - 8) play. SmallBoy was not in the concert this year since he's in 4th grade and does not, YET, play an instrument (viola or violin for Christmas), but Girl played her last Christmas program (Hopefully I'll be able to post some pics for you later - or tomorrow). It was lovely. We had no OT yesterday since J the Fabulous OT was sick, so I was quite relieved when SmallBoy said he wanted to stay home and have some "brother time" with LargeBoy (I know, that sounds awful, but I know you all understand). Tonight we run to get a Secret Santa gift for Girl's Girl Scout Christmas Party, which is tonight, because we haven't been free to do it any OTHER time. Tomorrow, I THINK, all we have is Girl's game and taking LargeBoy shopping and driving. Sunday, though...is insane.

Sunday - our annual Cookie Day. This has been a tradition in my family for, probably 25-30 years. As many of us are available, and we are a LARGE family on my mother's side, get together for a day of baking, decorating, and eating cookie dough (yes, we're bad). Everyone brings a batch or two of their favorite cookie dough and we make gobs and gobs of cookies - all day! I made it a point to not be singing at mass this weekend so that I can get there early and maximize cookie baking & decorating. This will be the first weekend in about 7 that I haven't had to cantor mass. Well, as it turns out, Girl's string quartet is playing at a breakfast for the parish that morning. Granted, it's only 45minutes, but she won't be done and ready to roll until about 11:00, but then we don't get to mom's and in the swing of things til 11:15/11:30.

In the middle of all of this, SmallBoy has a scout meeting. 2:00. Smack in the middle of the day. Sunday meetings usually run about 2 hours. I thought about having him miss the meeting since he's been looking so forward to cookie day, but after talking to his den leader, who knows SmallBoy very well, we decided that it would be best if SmallBoy goes to the meeting. The boys will be earning a badge, practicing a skit that they'll be performing at the Scout Christmas party on Thursday night, having a uniform inspection (guess what I'm doing tonight - sewing badges, UGH! Laura, how fast can you do this for me - LOL), and doing something else that requires his presence. Cookie day can be a bit overwhelming, though, so it's probably a good thing for SmallBoy to take a break in the middle of the day and go hang out at Scouts with PC, more bonding time for them, too. I just worry that SmallBoy will be spending the entire time at scouts thinking about what he might possibly be missing at Cookie Day - will all the good cookies be decorated already? will all the good decorations be used up already? will somebody take home (or worse, eat) the cookie that I decorated especially for me? JUST a little much for me. I suppose, though, that if I dwell on it, he probably will, too. So, I won't. I'll just trust that I'm making the right decision.

After all of that is said and done, we go back home, take showers, make lunches, pack backpacks, go to bed and start the next week all over again. I think I need a glass of wine (or a cup of coffee) now.

How Do You Spell Oy Vay?

The keeping of the Great Secret of Santa has proven to be an extremely, unbelievably difficult task for my Not-So-SmallBoy. I wrote yesterday about how we had given him something to keep in his pocket to help him keep his lip zipped whenever he felt the urge to share the news. At the time, I thought that was a BRILLIANT idea - and it was. What wasn't a good idea, was re-stressing the importance of not telling. My poor little guy had a REALLY awful day yesterday because of it - or at least, that's my theory.

About 3:15 yesterday, I got a call from Mrs. M, SmallBoy's teacher. She had started writing this in his communication notebook, but as she hit two pages (and she writes small), she figured that calling me was the better idea. The trouble started in social studies class, which he has with a different teacher, Ms. R. Ms. R is a wonderful teacher and is cued into all things SmallBoy also. PC and I went in to her classroom last week and presented the book and Asperger's to the class. As we did the first time, we were well received and the students were glad to have a "reason" that SmallBoy is the way he is and acts the way he acts. Kids are still kids, though, and, unfortunately, in social studies class, Ms. R. had them work in pairs, pairing SmallBoy with someone who likes him, but doesn't "get" him. They had a difference of opinion about which page the assignment started on, and SmallBoy melted - BIG TIME. Crying, yelling, your basic SmallBoy-having-a-really-shitty-day meltdown.

After class, Ms. R spoke with Mrs. M who suggested that she always, always, always pair SmallBoy with his best friend, his rock at school, PQ. PQ is such a wonderful boy and somehow, just knows how to read SmallBoy. I spoke with SmallBoy last night and questioned him, gently, about what he should do if he and his partner disagree on something - ask for help from another classmate or a teacher. He said, yes, he agreed this was the right solution.

That was just the first time. Once they were back in Mrs. M's class, they were starting Language Arts. In preparation for the next part of the lesson, she told the class to take out their practice books and put them on their desks, but not to start working in them until she gave the assignment. Yep, you guessed it - SmallBoy started working in the book - he knew the assignment, it was on the board. Mrs. M was fine with that, saw that he had started working and turned a blind eye - she's good with him that way. One of the other students, however, saw that SmallBoy had begun to work in the practice book and ratted him out. Of course, Mrs. M had to say something then, she couldn't just ignore it. Well, now the attention was drawn to him and he got upset. He got loud, yelled, didn't understand WHY he couldn't work in his book if he wanted to. Mrs. M explained that because she had given the directive NOT to work in the books until she said to, that the class, as a whole, including SmallBoy, had to wait.

He wasn't satisfied with that answer and laid down on the floor next to his desk - and continued working in his book. Mind you, he's not disturbing anyone, but he's not following the directions. Again, though, Mrs. M was willing to let SmallBoy be, as he was now quiet. A second student ratted him out this time. And that was that. Nuclear Meltdown.

He screamed. He cried. He yelled. He went under a desk in the back of the room - the quiet desk - still working in his practice book. Mrs. M told him that it would be just fine if he wanted to work there and cool out there, but that he had to end the yelling and crying. She asked if he'd rather lie on the floor in the hallway, but he wanted desperately to be in the classroom. All of a sudden he let out a yelp and started crying again. It turns out that he burned himself on one of the pipes in the classroom. The classes have radiator heat on that side, and Mrs. M always makes certain that once the students are in the room, the radiator is off. Unfortunately, the pipes that lead to it are still holding heat and steam. It wasn't a bad burn, just a little one, like if you brush your hand across the cookie sheet, but sensory issues plus already being in a "bad place" with his meltdown and his day, he was just lost then. I dont' remember how she finally got him to cool off, because by the time we had gotten to that part of the conversation, I was somewhere else in my head. I did manage to formulate a thought that perhaps, the behavior issues yesterday were linked somehow with SmallBoy focusing ALL of his energy and strength on NOT spilling the Santa secret. Mrs. M concurred, as did PC, that it's a very likely theory. He used everything he had to contain that, and just couldn't hold himself together any longer.

SmallBoy has been talking about how he's having a very difficult time with making/keeping friends at school and Mrs. M confirmed that yesterday. She said it seems as though the other students are keeping him at a distance because they never know if/when he's going to explode and what is going to set him off. I wish that I could be there with him so that I can head these off. I see them, I know how to handle them and bring them down, sometimes before they start. Nope. Gotta work. That sucks. I mean, I know he has to learn these things on his own, or he won't learn them for later in life. My heart just ripped in half, and I think my legs were wobbly until about 8:00 last night. We have OT tonight, so I'll mention it to J the Fabulous OT and see what suggestions she has.

Update: J the Fabulous OT just called- she's deathly ill. No OT tonight. CRAP! Not sure what to do. SmallBoy needs it desperately. I really do need to find somewhere in my house to put an OT studio - or to at least convert his bedroom into one.
<br>We also have the school Christmas program tonight, so it's going to be rush rush rush from one activity to another - but we've had a quiet week, so that's just fine. This year, will be our last year. We've had one child or another in the program for the last 10yrs or so. The children in grades 1 -3 do a little concert, and the three different orchestras play. The whole thing lasts maybe an hour, but it's a BIG DEAL. SmallBoy won't be in it this year, since he's in 4th grade, but Girl is playing with the orcestra. As an 8th grader, this is her last Christmas program. Hopefully we can get there in time to get good seats. This is SUCH a big deal, that the front 2 or 3 rows of center pews in the church are auctioned off for this program at our annual school auction - and they go for upwards of $800 - $1000 - THAT's how desperately people want good seats. The kids are adorable, though. Usually the entire first grade is missing teeth.

I'll bring my camera and hopefully get good pics of Girl playing. My new camera has a setting that lets you take good pics even in places you need a flash but aren't allowed to use one. I can't wait to show off all of the pictures that I'll be taking - once I learn all of the fun stuff. I'm not one to sit down and study manuals, but this camera has SO many cool features, that I would definitely be wasting my time and my money by not learning how to use everything. Posting my pics, however, proves incredibly difficult since I NEVER get to use my own computer. MOST of my posting is done at work because my computer is constantly in use by other people. I usually have to wait until midnight or later to get on. Last night, I fell asleep on the couch waiting for my turn. PC took this hysterical pic of me sleeping, and one of the OCFs all snuggled up next to me. Hopefully, someday, I'll be able to get another computer - one I can use - JUST for me. I bought this laptop so that I could write my book. Now there's about a smidgeon of memory left, creepy things that pop up, in, my "d" key sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, and out of my computer, the lap top mouse doesn't work, so I had to use one of my USB ports to plug in a mouse, and the other port is almost always in use charging someone's iPod. EEEK - and the damn thing's not even paid off yet!

Boy, I'm getting way too stressed, and it's barely 9am!

New Band & Stuff

Last night we met, again, with JG and another gentleman to work on forming ANOTHER band, to supplement what we're doing with Code West. We're looking to play a LOT and a similar, yet different form of music. Hoping a lot of good will come out of this. Tonight, we're going to start recording one or two things and get them sent out and ready to be put up on North Country's myspace. We'll be doing some bluesy rock, a little bit of jazz-ish kinda stuff, and, well, having a grand old time doing it. What I really like is that everyone is willing to do what we have to in order to get moving and start out from the gate running! It seems that everyone has the same ideas on how and what we want to do, and three of our 5 already have some originals written!!!

Oh, I should plug: If you're around on December 23, Code West will be playing at the Pioneer Tap in Forest Park. Click on our myspace for more info. I know, I know, it's the night before The Night Before Christmas. Hopefully by then, you'll have everything done and will be ready to go out and relax before the holiday chaos. Or, if you're like me, you'll need a break from the fact that you're STILL not done. SO, if you're around, come on out! It'll be a blast.

Kids - yes, kids! I'm feeling particularly old today. Girl went to school with LargeBoy today for a shadow day. For those of you not familiar (and I certainly wasn't until very recently), the shadowing day is a day when 8th graders can visit the high school and follow a student around to get a feel for the school, the classes, the structure, the enormity of the school compared to the school they came from. She is shadowing her step-sister, not LargeBoy, because neither of them thought that would be "cool."

I think this is a wonderful process. I have no idea if this was around when I was going into high school, oh so many years ago. If it was, it certainly wasn't something that was brought to everyone's attention as it is now. So, this morning, on our runs, we dropped of TWO children at the high school. THAT was our "shadowing" - getting a feel for how it's going to be with two high school children. EEEEEK!

SmallBoy will be the last one at his school - from our family, that is. I thought he might be worried about not having his sister there anymore, but he was totally gung-ho about the idea. I believe he said something along the lines of, "Yes! Girl won't be there anymore!" It was kind of funny.

What's nice about that, though, is that it's giving us a good feel for how HE feels about his independence. This year began the walking home alone in preparation for next year. I didn't think he's be ready to be on his own next year, but apparently, that's not going to be an issue.

He IS having difficulty, though, with the revelation about Santa. I got a note yesterday in his communication book from his teacher saying that he had had a great day overall, but that he's having a very hard time not sharing his "Santa Secret," and could we please discuss this with him. I was surprised, yet not surprised. I thought that, being in 4th grade, he would be one of the last kids to know. I found out in 1st grade. So I was very surprised when the teacher's note came in. I'm not nearly as surprised, however, that he feels this need to share his new found knowledge with everyone he can. It gives him a feeling of confidence that he knows something that not necessarily everyone else does.

We expressed to him how incredibly important it was to keep this secret to himself, because there are many kids older, his age, and younger, who don't know yet. We told him that it was up to their parents to determine when was the right time to let them in on the secret. To help remind him, and deter him from blurting it out, we gave him a little something from our dishwasher project (something else he's fascinated with) to keep in his pocket during the school day. We told him that whenever he felt like telling someone about Santa, that he could reach in his pocket and hold this bolt-y thing or that he could take out the bolt-y thing and talk to the kids about THAT instead of about Santa. He laughed. He thought we were totally silly, but at least this way, he won't be perseverating on the fact that, "I can't tell I can't tell I can't...oh I GOTTA TELL!"

If anyone has any other wonderful ideas on how to dissuade the sharing of the secret identity of the Jolly Red One, I'd LOVE to hear them!

CAN WALK 2007

I missed it last year because I had to work, I think it was our spring open house - probably will be again this year. NOT missing it this year. This year, in Chicago, the Walk will take place on May 20...I believe, at Soldier's Field. If you'd like to support Cure Autism Now, you can make a donation either directly to Cure Autism Now, or by joining Team SmallBoy - as a member of our walking team, by making a donation, or both.

When you click on the link, it should, in theory, bring you to a page with a pic of SmallBoy in a tree. From there, you can make a donation directly, or click on the link to join our team - where you can join the team and make a donation at the same time.

Please spread the word to people you know, people in YOUR state, people who, like me, didn't know about the walk last year until it was too late and may still not know that they can help support such a great cause. I know, still a short post today, but worth it all the way.

Sunday Sunday Sunday

I've made the switch over to beta, figured out what I'm doing and am finding this new format to be pretty cool so far. I discovered the "label" feature and am in the process of going back and labeling all 409 posts. As I went through the month of November, to mark them all as NaBloPoMo, I discovered that somehow or other, I MISSED November 4th - two posts on 11/3, but nothing on the 4th. I was SOOOOOOOOOO diligent about getting them in. I threw my children off of the computer, "GET OFF! I NEED TO POST!" I can blame it on I thought I was posting after midnight and apparently didn't. I can blame it on a different time zone (but I wasn't in one), or I could just suck it up and say I didn't get the post in for some reason, and just never realized it. AAAAAAARRRGGHHH!!!!! Well, next year. Unless you guys, Laura & Kyra, really want to try and get a NaBloJanMo going - even if it is only the three of us.

This weekend went by entirely to quickly. Anyone agree? Ex had Girl and LargeBoy, of course NOT SmallBoy, for the weekend. Friday night we stayed in and made some music. We are in the process of forming another band (in addition to, not instead of Code West). So, ET came over, as did JG, who will be our other guitar player. We hung out, made music (and merry), and had a blast. SmallBoy hung out with me while the guys did their thing with their guitars and bongos. He taught me a couple more games and played just with me for a while. It was very nice for both of us, I think, especially since it was a weekend when he had been, once again, excluded from visiting his father.

Saturday was a very busy day from start to finish, yet it didn't seem overly crazy, like it usually does on the weekends. We had promised LargeBoy that we would take him out driving to log in some more behind-the-wheel time. Ex refuses to do this with him (Why? I'll never know.), so PC took him out for a couple of hours first thing in the morning, when traffic was relatively light. He's really doing a wonderful job. I'm still terrified, and I'm sure I will be for the rest of my life when I know he's behind the will (right, Mom?), but I'm much more comfortable with him driving than I was in September. New element in the equation now, the snow, but he's got to learn somehow.

GR had called and asked if SmallBoy would like to spend the night. She likes to have GR and SmallBoy nights when she knows that Ex has the other two. SmallBoy was THRILLED and had his bag packed within seconds. I told him that it would probably be mid to late afternoon before GR picked him up, because she had things to do, and we had Girl's play to attend. He was quite fine with that, as he was ecstatic that he was going to GR's and that he was going to see his sister's play.

The play was fantastic. The drama club performed a play based on children's books including Courduroy, The Grouchy LadyBug, Horton Hatches an Egg, Lon Po Po, Pierre, The Rough Faced Girl, and a couple others that I can't remember. The play began with a group of kids in the library talking about just how TOTALLY LAME it is to read. "Boring!" "Reading? Um, no." With that, one of the girls knocked over the table where the books are displayed and out rolled the Grouchy Ladybug. The librarian told the girls that to make up for losing the ladybug, they would have to read all of the stories until they found the one in which she belonged, and returned her to her story. The performances were wonderful. The play was written to have a narrator reading the story and then the story book character reciting their "lines." Girl was in 3 or 4 of the stories. In this pic, she was the wolf in Lon Po Po - a story similar to the mother goat and her three kids. Mother goes to visit grandma and tells the kids not to let anyone in no matter what. Big Bad Wolf (Girl) poses as Grandma and enters into the house, the kids finally discover her identity and then set about getting rid of the wolf. In Horton Hatches the Egg, she was the Ringmaster at the circus. Now, the costumes are never too elaborate, it's junior high play in a Catholic School, so you know that it's all volunteers, but the kids always manage to pull them off. She came out in a "ringmaster" jacket and a hat and looked fantastic. She already had her nose and eyebrows on for her Lon Po Po character, so she looked extra adorable. She came out and with all of the confidence in the world, like she owned this role, like she was meant to be a ringmaster. She was graceful, elegant, and Seuss-ian. PC and I were terribly proud of her. I really want to put more pics in this post, but I'll add them to the slide show in the sidebar instead. In the Grouchy LadyBug, Snood played the ladybug and Girl played one of the animals that the ladybug kept challenging to fight, in Girl's case, the rhinoceros. I tried to get a good pic of the two of them on the stage together, but when I finally got into position, Girl was the one and only character that came out stage left. Go figure.

After the play, GR came and picked up SmallBoy. PC and I were home alone with nothing to do - at least for an hour or so before we headed out to Girl's basketball game. It was against the rich snooty kids from the next village over. They had all been "myspace-ing" each other all week and trash talking each other. Our girls were pumped. It was the other school's Pack-the-Place, the school spirit game - the BIG rivalry. Sadly, our girls did NOT win, but their record for the season, so far is 15-3, so we're not complaining. Between the coaching, the shots just NOT falling, bad defense, bad calls & non-calls, it was not a pretty game, but they fought hard. They've got a great record and we're all proud of them. After the game, PC and I had SUCH a craving for sub sandwiches that we stopped at one of the best joints in town, SubTender (or SubT, for short), grabbed some subs and headed home - to our empty house. Gee, what should an exhausted couple that hardly ever gets alone time do with a house to themselves - no kids, no obligations - do for the evening? What any couple would do in this situation; we plopped ourselves on the sofa with our sandwiches and popped in the first disc of the second season of The Office. I nodded off by about episode 4, PC was out by episode 6. We were in bed, asleep by midnight.

That actually served me well, as I had to sing 7:30 mass at church this morning. I so had hopes to go back to bed when I got home, but by 8:45, I was awake. PC got out of bed, we made some coffee, and discussed our game plan. We both had a craving for biscuits and gravy for breakfast, so we headed to our favorite breakfast restaurant - Page's, in Hinsdale (GO THERE!!!!). We pigged out. Out to GR's we went to pick up SmallBoy and go to Cub Scouts. We were doing an outdoor 3 mile hike today, so we knew we'd walk off breakfast. The weather was relatively decent (for Chicago in December), especially compared to the great freeze we had last week. PC ad SmallBoy, fresh from the frozen camp out last weekend, were well prepared with their layers of clothing. I did pretty ok, too, but by about 5 minutes into the walk I was wearing both my hat and PC's hat (which technically IS mine anyway). The boys goofed around, explored, got off task, on task, followed, passed, lagged behind, but had a great time. Every so often our den leader, Mr. G, would stop the guys and have them massage their feet to warm them, take a hydration break and, believe it or not, cool off. We got pretty cozy warm while hiking. SmallBoy got so warm that he wanted to take off his hat (especially since some of the other scouts had). I, not thinking in ASD mode, ended up arguing with him about keeping his hat on. DUH - after going back an forth for about 45 seconds, I told him that he could take it off for 2minutes but then had to put it back on. After 2 minutes, he put it back on - no arguements, whatsoever. LIGHT BULB! I told him then that, absolutely, when he got too hot, he could take his hat off for 2 minutes to cool down. Bam! He put it back on each time!

The boys hiked along doing 1.5miles out and 1.5 miles back. They were fortunate enough, on the way back to spot a fawn - then an 8-point buck and the doe (can you find him in here?). We were considerably closer than this picture represents. It was really fun watching the boys saying, "COOL! Deer!" and knowing that the deer were probably thinking, "COOL! People!" We stood and stared at each other for about 2 or 3 minutes before we moved on. The deer, surprisingly, never bolted - I expected them to take off at the noise and sudden movements that the boys made, but they stayed, and we moved on.

Our long, cold afternoon came to an end as we dropped SmallBoy off for a whole whopping hour at his father's. He insisted on having SmallBoy for a little bit of time this weekend, even after I explained his incredibly busy schedule for the day. Had I known HOW little time he would have him, I would have just said no. Literally, it was an hour, and then he came bounding through my door again. I asked him if he had a good time at his father's and he told me about what he and LargeBoy did for the hour - worked on a Lego toy he has there.

Now, we're all home - except Girl, she's at a softball tournament (don't worry, it's indoors). Snat and a friend are over trying get our dishwasher to work, the boys are watching a combination of The Simpsons and football. LargeBoy is DESPERATELY waiting for his turn on the computer. He's got some CDs to burn into iTunes, so I should be a nice mama and let him have it. Perhaps later I'll get the rest of the pics from the play and the scout outing loaded into the slide show for your entertainment.

Ok - Switching Now

Somehow, I managed to make the switch to beta. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get all of my cool stuff back - you know my slide shows, my links, all that jazz. In the meantime, bear with me. The kids are at their dad's this weekend, so I only have to work around everything else we're doing today in order to get computer time.

Stick around. I'll figure it all out soon!

She's at it Again!

I am still receiving congratulations from parents at school on Girl's award. I am still bragging and saying, "Yes, we are terribly proud of her. She truly IS such a wonderful Girl." Everyone asks how she does it? What is it about her that makes her so wonderful? Well, obviously she gets that from me, and I got that from my mother (you're welcome, Mom). In this pic, she's gathering the food that they collected during a food drive at school and getting it ready for delivery to the local food pantry. How DOES she do it? She's in 8th grade and already more overextended than I...ok, she can't be MORE overextended since most of my overextension goes hand in hand with her crazy schedule, but for a 14yr old girl, she is overextended. Tell me if this doesn't make you want to collapse (and this is just a normal week):

Drama Club after school 1 - 2 days/wk, orchestra at lunch 2 - 3 days/wk, student council (I have NO idea when THEY meet), yearbook committee 1/mo at 7:00am, Girl Scouts 1 -2 x/mo, more at the holidays, basketball practice/game 6 out of 7 days/wk, softball practice/tournament 1-2x/week, babysitting - standing 1/wk after school gig...and seriously, the list goes on.

With all of this, she still manages to find time to achieve High Honors at school, to be a force of nature in life, on the court, field, diamond or whatever sports venue she's playing, be a phenomenal friend, an amazing daughter, and an absolutely supportive sister. She is sandwiched by her brothers, and keeps up with them both. She "gets" SmallBoy. She knows how to work with him, anticipate situations, handle meltdowns. She takes what LargeBoy, as the older brother, dishes out - and gives right back.

She's a strong girl. She's gone through this horrible crap with Ex - through the divorce, through her father's coniption fit about my remarriage, through all of the crap Ex is pulling about SmallBoy, through the crap he's pulling now about taxes. She's seen the ugly side of life, the real, the unfortunate, the underprivileged, those who make us look wealthy (and we are SOOOOOO not). She appreciates what we have, even if it's not as much as we'd like. She has compassion. She stands up for a cause and for her beliefs.

An example of that would be the viewpoint/opinion blurb that was printed in one of our local newspapers on Wednesday. I can't link it for you because it's been removed from their website. Our village is up in arms over playing night games on the football field at the high school. Various reasons include the proximity of the residents to the blaring lights, their concern over people "lingering", parking issues (which, are a joke in this town to begin with), and the race/achievement gap that seems to be ever present. This particular viewpoint was posted along with a picture of the students of our high school marching in support of lighting the football stadium. The students shown marching in this picture were of mixed races - black, white, yellow, purple, green, whatever - it shouldn't matter. One African-American student, representing the football team, in his school jersey, was walking to the right of the student carrying the a sign in support of lighting the stadium. This student was making the peace sign across his body with his right hand at the sign. The viewpoint/opinion blurb that was written by one of the residents in our village accused this student of flashing gang signs in the picture, thus pointing out that we shouldn't light the stadium, because it will attract gangs. He also stated that this photo confirms that our high school has a gang problem. Not only that, but he, through that, accused this student, who he does not know, of being a gang banger. Well, you can imagine the uproar and outrage from the school community, the residents of the village, and the student's family.

This accusation affected not only the school, but the student and is family directly. Regardless of the outcome or anyone's opinion, my point is about my daughter. She, being the wonderful person that she is, listened to LargeBoy explain the whole situation clearly, listened to LargeBoy's letter to the editor (the whole school is writing letters - LargeBoy's is amazing and extremely well written, btw, and, if I find a copy, I will post it for you), and then immediately went online and responded to the paper directly with her own letter of disgust, disappointment, and apology, as a resident of our village, to the football player's family. This from an 8th grader. I'm so proud. She fights for what she believes in.

She's always doing something for someone. She's totally selfless - ok, not totally, she IS a teenager, but you get the idea. I'm so proud of my children. They are amazing. What a wonderful gift I was given.

Lord, Help Me Make the Switch!

THIS is how I'm feeling right now. I've been trying to make "the switch" to blogger beta, since, whether we want to or not, we all will ultimately have to either make the switch to blogger beta or to another host. Simple enough process, I figured, since Blogger pretty much walks you through everything. It's geared towards severely technologically impaired people like me who either like to do things simply, without worrying about formats, codes, and all that stuff or those, me included, who just don't get all the mumbo jumbo with html and blah blah blah. Sure, I'll make the switch tonight, and tomorrow I'll have this great new blog.

Not so, my dear friends. It keeps asking me to create a user id and password...which do. Then it tells me that my password is incorrect (not that it's too short or doesn't meet their specifications for a password). Ok, fine. I created a different password. Then it tells me that my email address is missing the @somewhere.something part. Ok, fine! Since it didn't tell me what to put as the @somewhere.something part, I just used my regular email address (because it said it had to be an existing email address). Nope. Not good enough. Guess why. Come on, I dare ya. "That email is already in use by another user." Yeah! ME!

I'm stressed. I'll try again tomorrow. Sadly, though, this has totally blown my post for today...and it was a good one, too, though I don't remember what about. GRRRRRR - oh, yeah, that's right -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!!!!!! TE AMO!!!

'Tis the Season for Dispelling THE Myth

I finally had THE talk with SmallBoy. You know, the one about the jolly old guy with the white beard. The guy who wears a red suit and stays out all night flying high as a kite, going into people's homes and eating all of their cookies, and then leaving gifts in return. Yeah, that's the guy. The big S.C. I wasn't too certain how the conversation was going to go or be understood. Granted, he's 10years old and in 4th grade, and I'm surprised he hasn't found out from peers or from spoil sports wanting to ruin the fun, but it was the Asperger's reaction that I was concerned with. I wasn't certain how knowing this reality was going to affect his trust in us.

Let me start at the beginning, though, and tell you how all of this came into play. On Monday, I had put up several posts, which, for me, is unusual, but I was having fun. In one of the posts, I had put up a funny "music" video that I had seen on Bloggg's site. It was the cast of the Christmas Charlie Brown video doing the dance that they do, only it was set to the song, "Heya". The whole family watched this video and rolled on the floor in hysterics (go check it out, you'll pee in your pants). As I was addressing Christmas cards last night, SmallBoy hopped onto the computer and checked into my site to watch the video again. I don't usually let him read my site without my knowledge, because I don't always say very nice things about how his father treats him or his other two children or me, for that matter. This time, though, SmallBoy was sitting right next to me. and I knew what he would be looking at. Perfectly harmless, or so I thought.

All of a sudden, I hear him say,

"You got me MOON BOOTS?"

OOPS! I knew exactly what had happened. When he was watching the video, he had scrolled far enough that the beginning of the previous post was showing. Guess what that one was about. God! You're smart! Yep, I had posted about what would be great Christmas gifts for SmallBoy - things that would help his sensory issues, his spatial awareness issues, and would also give him a way to use up a lot of his energy to help when his engine is too high or when he's feeling particularly upset or stressed. At the VERY beginning of the post, though, I mentioned that I had bought him some moon boots for Christmas. There's a story behind that for another post, but for now the door was open for the Santa conversation. How to begin?

I took a moment to argue with myself about whether or not I should just leave well enough alone. Certainly I could say that, yes, indeed, the moon boots were from PC and me. We give gifts from Santa and gifts from us anyway, so it wouldn't have been an issue. I could have simply let the proverbial sleeping dragon lie. Nope. I knew that if I did not seize the moment, it would be lost for another year or, at least, until someone spilled the beans. I inhaled to prepare my words and, moreso, to prepare myself for the fact that my youngest child, my baby, was about to lose the last shred of childhood innocence - the fantasy that we've been playing out for the last 16 years, since LargeBoy was a small boy was about to come to its fruition. And within the long 5 second inhale, I readied myself for that reality also.

I exhaled and said to him,

"Hey, SmallBoy - how do you think I knew that you were getting moon boots for Christmas? Remember that conversation we had about my secret identity (tooth fair myth disepelled), well, I've got another one. Can you guess who?"

"No way! You're Santa, too?"

"Yep." (LONG pause to gauge reaction) "So, what do you think about that?"

"Sooooooo, you're Santa?"

"Yep. Is that ok with you?"

"Yeah. Soooooo can I still believe in Santa?"

Ahhhh, the Christmas spirit is not broken, nor lost. Face it, we all still have that Santa thing, right? I went on to explain how it's wonderful, he can still believe as long as he knows that it is the grown ups who bring the presents. He can still believe, but knowing this new secret, it's his responsibility to play along with those who don't yet know their parents' secrect identities. He was cool with that. I'm so happy. It could have been MUCH MUCH worse. Now, my biggest problem is finding him something DIFFERENT for Christmas. Anyone have any more ideas?

A Night Off - and KR's Coming to Town!

We, as a family, have nothing to do tonight. Yep. That's right. NOTHING to do. No basketball, softball, driver's ed (although I should take LargeBoy out), no OT, no scouts, no dinner engagements, no rehearsals, no conferences, no NOTHIN'! I'm not quite sure what to do.

Dinner as a family sounds good, although we do try to make it a point to do that as much as possible. Sitting on our butts watching a movie sounds good, but then, what to watch - 2 movies? One that's SmallBoy appropriate until bedtime and then one that's more oriented for the rest of us after bedtime? Laundry? Cleaning? Holiday Shopping? I'm at a loss. Does anyone have any suggestions?

On another note, my littlest Sister is coming to town! I haven't seen her since the summer, and this time, we get to kidnap her for an overnight. She lives with her mom in Kentucky, so we don't get to see her as much as we'd like, but try desperately to see her as much as we can when she's in town. Given our crazy schedule, that's next to impossible. As it turns out, however, I took the week off between Christmas and New Year's to relax with the kids, go to some of Girl's basketball tournament games and to, perhaps, steal my sister. Mission accomplished! I've only got her one night, but that's better than just a few hours.

Last time KR was here, it was blistering hot outside and we taught her SmallBoy's game of Hose Limbo. Hopefully the weather won't be too much in the opposite extreme and we'll be able to take her to the sled hill down the street from our house. Perhaps we can find a new variation of limbo. I'd also like to get down to the park in the city and go skating. I haven't been skating in YEARS. KR - bring your skates! I'll let you drive! I'm certain there are a great deal of things that we can do when she's in town. I am just happy that I'll get to have her all to myself for a while - ok, well, I'll have to share her with PC and my kids, but still....I am looking SO forward to having her here! I miss her terribly.

SmallBoy's been having an ok time at school lately. The communication notebook has proven a very effective tool. Tomorrow afternoon, PC and I will be going to school to present "the book" to the other 4th grade class. After the wonderful response we got from SmallBoy's class, the other teacher asked if we'd come to her class, too!

Remind me to blog about that scouting trip. It's been on my mind, and then I forget because something else comes up.

If you haven't yet, scroll down to yesterday's posts. Yesterday was my day to check out everyone else's blogs and share their funnies & wisdom with you! Maybe in my "free" time tonight, I'll manage to get the scout trip blog posted. Enjoy your day!

While I'm on a roll -

One more!

Make a snowflake online... the site sponsors are donating up to $5000 dollars to the Salvation Army based on the number of snowflakes made using their little applet.

Click Here To Create Your Own Snowflake

DO IT. :D

Stole From Bloggg

Today must just be my day for thievery. I was catching up, saw this at Bloggg, and I swear, we all sat around the computer and peed our collective pants! Posting on my myspace, too! If you have wireless, I would suggest taking your laptop to the bathroom with you so you're not sitting in peed pants - because you will!

I Stole from Mamaroo

I was reading Mamaroo's post about ideas for Roo for Christmas, and became inspired. I ordered moon shoes for him (oh my god, he's going to love them!). I have a feeling, however, that there may be a couple, two, three, of you who may still need ideas for him, so I will present them to you here:

Jumparoo Anti-Gravity Pogo Stick

OR

Gigaball (this is WAY too cool, and now that we have a dog/poop-less yard, he can do this!)

OR

Moon Bounce (we used to call them Hippety Hops).

I could also use one of THESE for him too - no, seriously, I could. It would be fabulous for him. Yes, Dad & FIL, I can hear you both loud and clear - Liability Liability Liability. However, it's also good for SmallBoy. If not, he could use a swingset...from which we could hang various pieces of OT equipment for him.

Games would be good, too, or fun things that he can do indoors while waiting to pass the time til the snow melts, although, THIS could be GREAT fun for winter!.

I wanted to post today about the guys' trip to scout camp on the freezing cold, snow-laden Saturday, but I've been so busy at work today trying to catch up from OUR snowday, that it's not 2:45 and I've been writing this post on and off since 7:30 this morning. EEEEEEEEEEK! Basketball game and potential confrontation with ex tonight, but I'll have my PC with me to protect me.

Ok, back to work I go. Chat with ya later!

Normal Life, Again.

The boys are home from their trip, I'll post some more about that tomorrow. The trip was given mixed reviews. Right now, all that matters is that they're home, safe & warm. PC is exhausted and is taking a nap. I know it's late, but he needed the sleep. I won't let him sleep much longer, though, or he won't be able to sleep tonight.

Heading out in the cold, in PC's nice warm car that doesn't have a terminally flat tire or a whine in the engine, to take Girl off to softball practice at the high school - gotta love softball in the freezing cold of winter - oh! NO! it's STILL autumn! GEEZ O PETES! Kyra, when's Solstice again? The 20th? 21st?

SmallBoy is in the living room using up his stars on some video games, LargeBoy's in the shower, and Girl's getting ready for softball. Thought I'd take this opportunity to SEIZE the computer before I lose it to the powers that be - no, that would be my kids.

Well, off I go. Slugging my coffee and finding my snow boots! Chat with you tomorrow! Happy Sunday. OH, wait...look what I found on this site. I found lots of great things and ordered a TON of stuff, but THIS one struck me. Perhaps I'll put it on SmallBoy's coat if his father ever sees him again. I LOVE it! I think it might, at the very least make a statement. Might not necessarily be effective in sending the message that it intends, because Ex is too pigheaded to understand, but it will get the message to others! Ok, really now, going to put on my snow boots and coat. Layers are the key here! Lots and lots of layers!

What a Weird Day

...oh, btw, if you notice that a word is missing a "d", it's because my "d" key is being stupid. I'm convinced that it's either the result of teenagers eating at the keyboard, although I've done the turn over and pound on the back thing, or that they've just plain damaged that key. I'm going to start charging them a fee to use this computer. I still don't have it paid off and they've managed to trash it. I suppose, though, that is the way with teenagers.

Back to the post. Today has been a rather interesting day. PC, ET, and SmallBoy left this morning to go camping with the scouts. The town where their campsite is located is up north, near the Wisconsin border and got SOCKED with snow the other day. They WILL be staying indoors, but their cabin is heated only by a wood burning stove. Being scouts, you just know that they will have been outdoors from the moment the exited the comfort and luxury of the nice, snuggly warm car.

They went prepared, though. They had a very explicit packing list and directions on dressing in layers - and bringing tons of socks. Long underwear, layers, coats, boots, hats, gloves in tow, the guys hit the road. They haven't come home, so that's a good sign. I was worried that they might end up returning home this evening if the cold got to be too much for SmallBoy - because once he wraps his mind around the fact that he's cold, he stays cold and perseverates on that to NO end. I bet they're having a blast, though.

PC is so wonderful for going on this trip with our Not-so-SmallBoy. He's never really had this much time alone with SmallBoy without ME, so this will be a great opporutnity for the two of them to form an even greater bond than they already share. I'm missing them desperately, but I know how good this is for me. (This "d" thing is really starting to piss me off.) I feel so comfortable in the knowledge that my bug is in such good, loving, hands. He is with someone who knows him like he knows himself, sometimes I think PC has a better handle on SmallBoy than I. He'll know what to do if a meltdown is imminent. He'll know what to do to avert a meltdown. He'll know what to do to continually encourage SmallBoy.

ET brought to the trip, not only his experience as an Outward Bound alum, but his love for SmallBoy. He, too, in the short time that he's known my son, has grown to love him - also unconditionally. He knows what to do, how to handle situations that might arise. He also, on this trip, will have the opportunity to use his expertise with Outward Bound to help explain to SmallBoy WHY so many rules have to be enforced when camping, why this, why that...simple things that most of us would take for granted. I am SO glad that both of these wonderful guys are with my son today.

Which means - it's me, LargeBoy, and Girl. Weird. PC and I will have been married for all of 2yrs come New Year's Eve, but it feels like forever since it's just been me and the kids, not to mention how long it's been since I've been with just Girl and LargeBoy witOUT SmallBoy. Very, very strange.

This morning, Girl had placement exams for math & science for high school, and wrapping gifts for underprivileged kids with an order of nuns today. I went with Meem, FIL, and Punkie to the auction where Meem's art was on the block. Talk about exciting. It was an amazing experience and, I must say that we left there celebrating! It was truly exhilirating. I don't know how we didn't squeal with delight every time the bids were raised, and how we didn't just leap with joy out of our seats when the gavel fell. Oh! It was WONDERFULLY exciting. We followed the auction with a celebratory lunch (thanx, Meem & FIL!), and then went to our respective homes to enjoy the rest of the day.

When I arrived home, LargeBoy was up, and Girl was still out. I had grand plans for this afternoon. Laundry, intense cleaning, sweeping up all of the remaining globs of dog hair, washing everyone's bed linens, FINDING my bedroom...you know, all the fun stuff. The stuff that I have absolutely NO time to do on any other day because there are always too many oter things that MUST be done.

I sat on the sofa, LargeBoy in the comfy blue chair, and he asked me if I wanted to play one of his video games with him. I SUCK at today's advanced technology. If I can't just move a joystick and hit the red fire button, or roll the ball to get my blaster to blow up a centipede, an asteroid, or a space invader, it's just entirely too much for me an I can't do it. Well, LargeBoy convinced me that I could, in fact, o this. It only involved MOST of the controller, instead of ALL of the controller. I said ok, and I loved it. I still suck at it, but I had great fun. It's not often that I get to play with him anymore. Seriously, how many 16yr olds sit down and acutally PLAY with their mothers?

After my ass-whooping at the game, I decided that it was finally time to do some of those things that I never get to do when we have a house full of other places to be and places to go...and then I nodded off for about two hours on the couch. I was able to justify this, however, because it IS something that I never get to do, unless it's the end of the night and we're watching a movie.

Tonight, LargeBoy is out with his friends, and we're having a girls' night. Girl is having Snood and her friend TR stay over night. We've decided that we'll probably watch a movie and play a board game later, and that I'll hide the computer so they're not messaging all of their other friends all night long. We've already been bad and ordered really greasy, cheesey pizza, and now the girls are in Girl's room decorating her doors. I'll have to remember to send you pics. She puts quotes all over her bedroom doors. It's really quite cool. If we ever move, I'll have to be sure we take the doors with.

Yesterday was pretty chaotic given that it was a snow day. PC and ET were out gathering all of the stuff that they needed for the trip, Girl was at the sled hill with the rest of the school, and SmallBoy went out in the snow to play. He wanted to build a snowman, but was convinced that it was entirely too difficult and that someone should do it FOR him. Well, you know THAT didn't happen. But he ended up having a blast anyway. The picture was taken during the brief 15seconds that the sun chose to come out and blind us with its glare off of the snow.

I sang last night at the house walk. Kristina, Laura, thank you for your fabulous ideas. It went very well. The house was decorated beautifully and I think I only had to repeat one or two songs. It was a lovely evening. When I got home, after freezing on the way back to my car, we stayed up for another couple of hours. PC, ET, LargeBoy and I played a game of dominoes while waiting for SNat to come over to hang for a bit. Exhausted (and out of beer) we crashed at around 2 or so.

Tonight, we will crash MUCH earlier, or at least I will. I know that Becky's friend, TR has to boogie out relatively early in the morning, and I have to cantor 11:00 mass. SmallBoy was supposed to be singing with the choirsters tomorrow morning, which is how I coordinated the mass I was going to sing, but he won't be back from camping by then, and if he is, I'll bet he'll be wanting to shower and sleep.

Well, the girls are getting loud, so I should probably go do the "mom thing".

Snow Day

Happy Friday! I am HOME today! After waking up at an ungodly hour and assessing the threat of the inclement weather (ok, CRAPPY weather), and the sleet and rain and yuck this morning, topped with the winter storm warning and a couple of the schools in the area closing (ones that NEVER close), my regional director and I made the decision to close the office today. So, I get a snow day.

To my surprise, the Archdiocese of Chicago closed all of the parochial schools - grammar and high schools, but our local public school district followed the lead of the Chicago Public Schools and did NOT close. What did this mean for OUR family? It meant that Girl, SmallBoy, PC, and I got a very rare snow day, and that LargeBoy had to go to school. Currently, Girl is out doing the sled hill thing with all of her friends. Our house is situated less than half a block from the hill, so, therefore, the MommyGuilt Ski Lodge is open for business. PC is out stocking up on warm clothing and accessories for the overnight with the scouts tomorrow night, so right now, I'm enjoying having my SmallBoy all to myself.

This morning, PC drove LargeBoy to school so that he didn't have to walk 2miles in the snow and biting sleety/snowy wind. Me? I went back to sleep. Yeah, right. I made coffee, and snuggled up back on the sofa to watch MORE coverage of the storm. We had thunder and lightning with this stuff - VERY bizarre. Girl woke up shortly thereafter and we watched the morning news together - something usually reserved for PC, since I'm always gone by the time the news comes on. It was a nice little time with my Girl. Apparently, I drifted back to sleep on the sofa and woke up shortly after 9. From then on, our day has been non stop - although I did JUST now (it's after 12N) get dressed and straighten my hair.

PC will be back soon with warm camping stuff in tow, and with ET. I was hired to sing carols at a Holiday House Walk this evening (3hrs - I don't think I know 3hrs worth of carols...gonna have to do every verse in English & Latin (Kristina, how many Christmas songs can you translate by 6:00 CST? Kidding.), so while I'm out, the boy reign supreme. Girl will be at a friend's house tonight and I will be the only estrogen vessel to pass through the house. Hopefully, she'll sleep well - high school placement exams in the morning.

The guys leave in the morning and I will be hanging out with Meem and a couple of her friends as we go and watch an auction in which she has a piece of artwork on the block. To see it, click here, scroll down to the picture of the football player. Click on the pic to find out it's info and to, potentially, bid if you're so inclined.

I gotta say, I'm missing NaBloPoMo. I know I won't be feeling the pressure to post every day, but I can tell you that I'll at least feel the URGE to post every day. Well, SmallBoy is snuggled up in front of a movie, the house is still just him and me, so I will end here and go hang with my bug.

Finally - Girl's Award

I know that I had promised to write yesterday about my fabulous dauther and her fabulous award, but I needed to write about the dog and get that out of my system. Thanks, everyone, for all of your kind words. If you haven't had a chance, go and check out SmallBoy's comments. They're so dear. He definitely understood, and felt sadness, yet compassion.

Compassion for others - that was one of the qualities listed about Girl when she was being presented with her award. Let me pull the quote from the school's website (of course, I wrote the text and she's MORTIFIED by the pic I sent the school - so I'll give you a different one.):

On November 28, Girl was the recipient of the Optimist Award, which is presented by the Optimist Club of [Our Village]. Mr. S represented [Girl's] School and presented her with the award at the Optimist Luncheon.

Girl was recognized for her pleasant outlook, her loyalty to her friends, her team spirit, and her compassion towards others. The Award also commends school and community service. Girl participates in Girl Scouts, is an altar server and currently serves as Student Council Activities Director. Congratulations, Girl!

I'm SO proud! She deserves it. Her character speaks for itself, and if you've ever met her, you'll agree. She's hardworking, she's giving - to the point of overextension, sometimes, she's compassionate, she's generous and selfless. I am SO glad to have her as my daughter. I am so blessed.



Great job, m'ija. Te amo!

Oh, wow! I just realized it's the last day of NaBloPoMo. That went fast. I'll miss my little yoda. Maybe I'll figure out how to get him permanently in my side bar so I don't miss him til next year. Kyra, Laura, did I see you two chatting about NaDecWriMo? Give me dish - especially since it's November 30! Is this something REAL? Do I dare? I've been kinda having fun making sure I write (it's my reason to "get" the computer from the rest of my family!)