Thursday, December 20, 2007

This is me, doing a happy dance.

I started the process a little ways back of trying to qualify for a weightloss study. It is a really unique study, as it is a clinical, university sponsored study, but it is being backed by Jenny Craig. The studdy will unltimately involve 440 women over 4 states, some using Jenny, some with a nutritionist.
I just got the call letting me know that I am in!!!
I am so excited.
I will be in the group that does Jenny Craig with an actual advisor, in person, instead of over the phone.
TWO FREE YEARS of Jenny Craig for doing this study.
YAY!!!!!
Wish my luck. I will have a clinical every 6 months at the U, and I am going to have Hubby take some baseline before pics for me tonight, then I will have them done after every clinical. The pics are just fo my use, but I'm a very visual person, so for me, will better represent my change over pounds on the scale.
WOOT!!!!

This is me, doing a happy dance.

I started the process a little ways back of trying to qualify for a weightloss study. It is a really unique study, as it is a clinical, university sponsored study, but it is being backed by Jenny Craig. The studdy will unltimately involve 440 women over 4 states, some using Jenny, some with a nutritionist.
I just got the call letting me know that I am in!!!
I am so excited.
I will be in the group that does Jenny Craig with an actual advisor, in person, instead of over the phone.
TWO FREE YEARS of Jenny Craig for doing this study.
YAY!!!!!
Wish my luck. I will have a clinical every 6 months at the U, and I am going to have Hubby take some baseline before pics for me tonight, then I will have them done after every clinical. The pics are just fo my use, but I'm a very visual person, so for me, will better represent my change over pounds on the scale.
WOOT!!!!

Monday, December 10, 2007

This is me, not writing a paper

I have a paper due tomorrow in medical law and ethics. I have it roughed out, but I still need to write it. I cannot do that properly until I have my APA manual from the future SIL, in a few hours. I thought I would just write it, using my previous paper as a ghuide on what, and what not, to do, formatting and citation and reference wise. My professor did an awesome job of marking it up for me, and explained why I got the grade I did. (Queck aside, the difference between Hubby and I thinking wise-he thinks that a 89.64% is an awesome grade for my first ethics paper, I am pissed that I didn't do better.) All of this was before she put word out to the class that she graded our first papers leniently.
Yeah, she'll be grading this one harsher, and now panic has set in. I need to be perfect, damnit!
I am at a 96% or better in both of my classes right now, and I just feel that I can be doing soooo much better. Hubby teases me that I am not living up to my full potential by less than four per cent. He is only teasing, I need to make that clear. He is trying to point out how rediculous my need to be perfect is.

The worst part about this paper is that I know full well I could get an extensuion on it if I wished, since my MIL is having surgery tody. Instead, I will stay up late, working on it today, and proofing it tomorrow, so it can get turned in on time.

I am totally rediculous. I don't have this problem in my other class, just this one.

Also, I turned 29 yesterday...woohoo!

Monday, December 03, 2007

Frightening conclusion:

Either I am much smarter than I give myself credit for, or a cast majority of the populace is painfully stupid.
If I am actually smarter than I give myself credit for, okay...I can deal with this. It will probably make my schooling easier, and maybe I will find that, after a few years on the job, Iwant to further my education in the medical field. I don't want to work with actual patients, but there are a ton of jobs that deal with medical records, all of which I think would be interesting. There are also the opportunities, even in medical transcription, for research, to be published in journals, etc.
If, on the otherhand, other people are as stupid as it appears, by looking at my classes, and random discussions, I fear for society. I am thankful to have smart kids, to hopefully counteract the vast wave of stupidity that is trying to drag us down.

Is it so hard to come up with answers to people that are not "I agree/Disagree", or "You are wrong/right"? Why do you think that way. how do you know this, could you share your information with me?
Politics, don't just bitch, get involved. Don't like a referendum, get out there and find out why, how to change it, and vote against it...don't just sit and whine.
Cannot figure out why tort reform is a good thing? Have you actually looked into what needs to be proven or disproven to sue a doctor? Do you realize that it is virtually impossible to hold a medical assistant responsible for their actions, but instead, you can sue the doctor?

I am in an age bracket, and in a lifestyle bracket( stay-at-home, late twenty-something female, with kids) where it seems like the majority of my peers are more concerned about what others will think about their beliefs, actions, reactions than what their beliefs/reactions/actions actually mean. If I hear one more woman say that she is supporting or going to vote for ____ because that is what her husband says to do, I am going to scream. Don't do what your husband says is right, do what you think is right! Do your research. You tell me that Universal Healthcare is bad, why? Have you looked into what it means for you, your children, or are you just parrotting your man and your parents.

I am going to make a point of raising my kids to question things, to learn, to try and chnge things they think are wrong. We have been doing this since day one. We are not raising Anarchists, but maybe we are raising Revolutionairies!!!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

why are all the stupid people in my classes?

Academic strategies-we are discussing critical thinking. The Prof asks us to define crtitical thinking without using the following words- thought, thinking, wondering, critical.
The first person to respond stated: Thinking about things all the way though.
Can we find the issue with that statement?

In Medical Law, Ethics and Bioethics, it took twenty minutes to explain to someone the difference between a summons and a subpeona. What so hard to understand about " A summons demands someone presence in front of a judge to stand as a defendant in a criminal or misdemeanor case. Failure to replyu will result in a default judgement against the defendant. A subpeona commands the presence of a person or document in front of a judge or grand jury in order to provide information in a case in order to support a claim made by the defendant or plaintiff. failure to appear could result in being fined, and held in contempt of court." They are different-Summons means you've been bad, subpeana means you have information. AAARRRGGHHH.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Well, that was certainly an adult way to present your case...not!!!!

We were having a very civil discussion on a board I frequent. The discussion was about children on the autism spectrum and church services.
Thor, as you all know, lives somewhere near the happy, somewhat normal, end of the spectrum. Just odd enough to be on the spectrum, just normal enough to not be considered autistic by parents with severely, like Rhett's syndrome, autistic children.
This civil conversation is where a parent of a severely autistic boy decided to anounce that she felt that autism was the new "fad" diagnoses, like ADD was in the 90's. She also went on to say that the issues with high functioning kids, like mine and many other parents involved in the discussion, were sufferring from bad parents who wanted to lable their kids instead of own up to being lazy.

Oh yes, she went there.

I am the first to admit my laziness. I am the first to question my parenting skills. I have also spent litterally hundreds of hours sitting in various and sundry doctors offices while they tested Thor, watching them try and tell me that it could very well get worse as he gets older, that we do not know what is wrong, that he is freakishly strong, so many of the techniques for calming and coping won't work.
I am the one who went with him to class twice a week for 4 months, trying to make him socialize.
I am the one who is always wondering if he is getting better, getting worse, if it's my fault, etc.

I fully understadn that she has it harder than I do, in the behaviour from a special needs kid department, but just because I have it 'easier' does not mean that there isn't a problem, does not mean that it ismy fault, and does not mean that her words didn't hurt like effing hell.

Thor is doing awesome, by the way. He is talking more daily, and almost playing with other kids that are not related to him. Unfortunately, as this is happenning, we are getting more meltdowns, less eye contact, and more stimming and hand flapping. No one ccan tell me what, if anythign this means, and all I can do is hope for the best.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

conferences

We had Hermes' conference this morning. It went rather well. His teacher gave us the bad-he needs to work on fine motor skills, he needs to talk less out of turn- both of which we already knew. She requested that we work with him more on his responding in Mandarin in classroom discussions. We will talk to him about it, and remind him that it is OK to get words wrong, that his teachers will help him. We know he has an exceptional understanding of the language, and his pronounciation is spot on.

The one thing she really wanted to realy was that he is smart. Very smart. Smart smart.
In her broken english she explained that Hermes is a good student to build on, education wise. He aced his "hard all in chinese math test", and she is excited to teach him. She also said that he would probably go on to get his PH.D no problem.
Yay, smart kid. We know what to work with him on, and where to encourage him, and he loves science!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

doin' fine

Well, peoples, I am three weeks into my school, and currently holding up pretty well.
I am holding a perfect score in my Med law and bioethics class, and one point shy of perfect in my Accademic strategies for the medical professional class. I lost a friggen point to formatting in discussion posts =(

I plan on doing my most to keep my grades as high as possible, throughout my schooling career. I figure as long as I am smart about time management, and starting in on essays with enough time to have them proofed before they are turned in, I'm all good. Luckilly my future sister in law is a TA for a writing class, and has had to do all of her 4 years of papers in the APA format. She will proof my work for me, if I ask, and be brutally honest, wich I need.

The weight is slowly coming off, and I might be in a UofM weightloss study, which would be pretty awesome. I have almost finished shaking the resp. infection, and shouldn't need another round of antibiotics. After the new year, when we are under the new insurance plan for huuby's job, I am also going to bo looking into braces, for me...the new dental policy covers a large chunk of adult orthodontia, rending two refferrals, and I have had random dentists tell me I need braces, so that shouldn't be a problem. I'll probably wait till the spring, when Hubby will have tons o' overtime again, so it won't hit our current budget.

The Pantheon is doing awesome, and we have sonferences for Hermes in the morning...I'll keep you loyal readers posted.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

blatant overachiever when it comes to multitasking.

I have been busting my butt for the last few weeks to get the house as clean as possible before I start school. I have been juggling dishes, laundry, and kids like it were an olympic medal event.
Multitasking fears me.
Since I have multitasking down to an artform, it makes sense it would spill into the rest of my life.
I just got back from the doctor. I woke up feeling like crap after being perfect for a while on sunday.
I have the killer combo of an upper respiratory, and a sinus infection, all rolled into one!
Luckilly, they take the same antibiotic and OTCs to cure, but man. On the plus side? No strep!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

hourglass figure

So, I was taking measurements earlier today. As I lose weight, I plan on making some more of my own clothing, so it fits right, as I am oddly proportioned. People will argue that with me, but I am. I have really wide shoulders, really wide hips, a really high, and oddly small for my size, natural waist, and i big ol' ribcage.
After taking my measurements, though, I realized that the ratio is really rather 1940's Vargas Girl, hourglassy.
I have determined that I have the hourglass figure, it just holds a wee bit more sand is all!

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Awesome!

We ordered some books for Hermes through the scholastic orderforms. These things have been sent home with students since the dawn of time, I swear.
Anyways, since Hubby and I had the money, we ordered a couple of things. We held off on the Shel Silverstien, as we think those are going to be 'gift' books, books for christmas, or birthdays, We did, however, get a twelve pack of Magic Schoolbus books, a four pack of Flat Stanley books, 1001 pirate things to spot, the SuperHero ABCs, When A Pig Eats A Pancake, a hotwheels story, and Transformers: Optimus Prime Versus Megatron (early readers edition). All these books came to less than fifty dollars. all these books came home today. All these books, with the exception of the Transformers, are currently sitting nicely on Hermes desk. The transformers is currently being read, from cover to cover, by Hermes, who is on the couch. I had to give him a pass on homework until after dinner, instead of right when we got home, because he is so happy, reading.
Awesome!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Grrr...'Alternate plans" *Updated already*

Hermes school offers an extensive enrichment program after school. One of the things they offer is Kung Fu, one day a week, beginners level. This year they decided to split it, so that kindergarteners and 1st graders were in a class on wed, and 2nd & 3rd grade in a class on thursday.
I just got an e-mail from the enrichment coordinator letting me know that the wed class was full, mostly of Kinders. They are trying to move the first graders to thurs, as the thurs class does not have enough kids.
I told her, frankly, that I don't care how it happens, my boy wants to do this, and if that means working with older kids, so be it. I cannot see the instructor deciding to drop a class for not enough kids when the other class has too many. Common sense would dictate that the first graders will work with the bigger kids. They will not be sparring, and since it is a new instructor this year, everyone is at a beginer level, this was ade very clear in the materials they sent home.
I should know by the end of the day...I really do not want to tell Hermes he cannot do this, as it's the first after school program we've signed him up for, and it is too late now to sign up for anyhting else until the next tri.
Sigh...why can't anything ever be easy.

UPDATE
Immediately after posting this, I got an e-mail from Enrichment lady saying that she was able to transfer Hermes into the Thursday class no problem. Mr Sensai, who is also their gym instructor, feels that it will be better for Hermes anyways, because the older kids have better focus, so there will be less distraction and more learning.
This cracked me up. It amazes me that Hermes is so good at maintaining focus and self moderating at school, but at home it's all "Hermes gone wild, after school edition"
I swear the boy isn't even in the house for five minutes before we've lost the pants.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Oh, the joys of motherhood

Hermes was out of school last week in it's entirety. He had Norwalk Virus, a nasty gestroentiritus virus. Achy, poopy, and generally a pleasure to be around. He is back at school now, and has been feeling better since friday. Monday was off for a teacher devolopment day.
Sunday, Thor started showing some early symptoms, and by monday, he, too, was chock full of poop. Thor is also dealing with his allergy issues. When his sinuses drain, they gointo his tummy. This in turn gives us an amazing horkage factor. Vomit everywhere!!! He did manahe to get a spiffy new haircut last nght, though, with few ill effects.
Buddha is the latest to hop on the Norwalk train. He started with the massively impressive displays of shitting ability this morning. Namely, right as I was lifting him out of the crib. As I was stripping his bedding down to be washed, I noticed some holes in the incredibly soiled, fittif, crib sheet. When I removed the sheet, I realized he has jumped his mattress to it's untimely demise. The holes in the sheet are from the springs poking through the matress. I patched it with duct tape to carry through until I can get it replaced tonight.
Thor has four more days of this, with tomorrow starting the achy painy portion of the virus, and we are looking at about 6 days with Buddha, three till the achy painies.
Joy.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Surprisingly tasty!

Zatarain's, maker of boxed and premade cajunesque food now has instant rice pouches. You know the type, you just open the corner of the pouch, pop 'em in the nuker, and Voila-a rice side or meal.
Generally, I am leary of totally instant, add nothing, rice pouches, but I saqw that they have a red beans and rice WITH sausage added, and figured I would try it.
I'll be honest-it smells a little weird, and it ain't all that pretty. The sausage resembles peperonis past their prime, and the overall color is muddy. Tastewise, though, it is surprisingly good. There is moe rice than if I were to make it myself, but for a 60 second microwave gig, it's really not all that bad. It will definately sate the craving for red beans and rice till I'm up to making it from scratch, and with a little salsa or hotsauce sprinkled in, it even has enough kick!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

obsessed

OK people, I now that someone out there in internet land can help me. Does any one, any where, including Eddie Vedder know what all the lyrics to "Yellow Ledbetter" are? The only definable lyrics that seem to be in any version of it he plase are "Leave it alone" "Leave it there" and "In a box or a bag" which many people interprate as "In a boxer a bag" for some reason. This is driving me nuts. It's almost as bad as trying to figure out the very middle of the 'spoken' part of Soul to Squeaze, until I saw a few different recording where I realized that Keidis doesn't actually say anything intelligable.

Yellow Ledbetter, people, work on it, I'll figure out a prize or something to the people who can some up with the most reasonable suggestions.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Dinner

We did a family dinner at a restaurant last night. I am really pleased with how well the kids behaved. No meltdowns, no tantrums, no random screaming/shrieking. It gives me hope that we can actually go out more often with the kids.
Thor is doing alot better about learning how to keep himself calm. Every now and then throughout dinner he would do a little dance in his chair, it was part of how he kept himself in the here and now. He did fabulously until he hit some hot mustard, but calmed down as soon as he drank some milk and got cuddled.
Buddha was Buddha, and Hermes was just plain cute.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Wet

Hubby, myself, and a few friends went to Fest yeasterday. We left half an hour before the closed it down for the weekend. The weather was deamed so bad, they closed fest. This happens maybe once every ten years or so. They've kept it open through tornado warnings, lighning strikes, and most all other weather...What is the weather that closed site then? Flash flood high warning. Fest is smack dab in the middle of a flood zone, and that's something they won't mess with. The powers that be even evacuated the campgrounds and buildings, making sure the circiut people had safe places to be.
We only spent a few hours out there, but thanks to a BIL who traded in all of his promo points for comp tickits, we will be able to head out at least two more times, if not three, depending on who all comes with, and if they charge for Hermes or not.

Now posting that we will be looking for people to take some kids coming up here soon!

Friday, August 10, 2007

they are amazing

School is starting soon. This has Hermes all sorts of excited. He knows we are going shopping in a while (read: after payday) to get all knew things! We need a new backpack for him, as last years barely survived through the last day of school, new supplies-which lists for were conveniently mailed out, maybe some new uniform clothes, but I won't know that till I go through all of his old uniforms, to see what still fits, and pre-shrink his new uniform pants to see if they can be worn yet, even with a belt, or if they have to wait. Hermes is surprisingly short, but he is also lean, and has long legs. This gives him the illusion of being tall. This also makes buying pants and jeans a bitch. I will be soooo happy when he is finally big enough to go by waist and leg as opposed to the mystery sizes of 5, 6, slim, long, tall, boys XS and the like.
He has been practicing his Chinese daily, and as school gets closer, is working in his workbook regularly. I am unsure if this is because he wants to learn, or if it's because he wants an award and his name mentioned at the fall assembly.

Buddha is once again living up to his name. Not that those horrid teeth all have at least a corner through, he is once again all serene and gigantic smiles. He loves to sit cross-legged on the couch and just beam at you. Something about it seriously wants to make you rub his belly, and give him exotic gifts. There are days where I am certain he is actually a secret evil overlord, but most days, he is just an eerily, studiously normal, 16 month old.

Thor is talking more and more every day. On top of that, he is using his words correctly. He also overpronounces them in the most endearing of manners. There are times when we can tell that it is hard for him to talk-he will turn his head in a manner to block out as much noise as possible, shut his eyes, wrap himself up tightly in a blanket, and then get four, very determined, words out. Then there are times when he is just Chatty Cathy.
Now that he is moving farther off the autism spectrum,, the Sensory Integration Dysfunction is becoming much more obvious. Thankfully, this should be our biggest challenge, and through the right "sensory diet" it will be controllable. This may mean that he wears heavy bracelets, shoes, and necklaces. Or that we squish him into a little ball every now and then. We still do the gentle deep pressure massages, but they are becoming less effective. I will be making him a new weighted vest soon. One of his favorite things is being roughly toweled down. Give him a bath or a shower, and when he is down, dry him off with a soft towel, but using the amount of pressure you would to...oh...sand granite? Something about that feeling just brings him to the here and now, and gives him something to focus on that seems to last.

The more that Buddha does, the more that Thor does, and th more that Hermes either helps, or whines.
All said and done, they are fairly amazing.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

when good ankles go bad!

I have tendonitis. I have been dealing with it for a good twelve years now. It's the Achilles tendon, to be precise, and it has it's good friend Plantar Fasciitis running around with it. They are both chrinic conditions, which means the chances of them deciding to go away are slim to none. Normally, they are well behaved, only one acts up at a time, and it's generally not bad, but every now and then, I will get an acute flair up. Acute means sharp, sudden, out of the blue, hurts like hell.
Once again, though, they generally decide that only one of them needs to be bad at any given time. Generally, I live with a constant low, dull, easily ignorable pain.
For some inexplicable reason, they ganged up on me. i guess they were conspiring against me when I was taking walks in sandals instead of my good tennis shoes, and not wearing any of my ankle braces, which I should be doing most of the time. The tendon decided it would swell, and constrict, the facii decided it would tense up. The end result is a rather unique, rather painful, pain.
I am gleefully counting down the time till my next big ol round of ibuprofin, and Hubby is out finding an ankle brace that will not pinch with the swelling.
Tennis shoes are my friend. My braces are my friend.
My foot right now? not so much my friend.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Butter tastes good.

that is all, carry on.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Thor intensive post.

Generally, I try very hard to mention at least something small about all of the Pantheon in each post. This isn't going to be like that, this is going to be a very Thor intensive post.

Sometime in the last week or so, a part of Thor's brain unlocked itself, or came out of hibernation, or woke up, or whatever you want to call it. We have been getting new words, in context, left and right, we have been getting appropriate, pretend play, unprompted, and we have been getting helping/showing/doing behaviour.

Normally, a breakthrough like this can be traced to something, a change in diet, schedule, routine, or medication. There haven't been many changes in Thor's world, so we are all at a loss.

Last night, when I told him it was bed time, he grabbed a blanket, climbed into my lap, and pretended to sleep, complete with fake snoring noises. I didn't tell him it was play sleep time, he did it on his own, completely unprompted. You could have heard a pin drop in the room, if not for the "kwaagh-shooo" noise Thor decided was snoring. Whn I have asked him to hand Buddha a sippy cup, he does, making a HUGE production out of it, but the cup gets directly to Buddha. If I ask Thor to go get Hermes for me, he does. Thor will try to say Hermes name, and if that doesn't work, he grabs his hand and says 'come'. He has also been telling us good job, calling us by names or titles, playing nice with the WonderDog, and letting me know that Butter is 'sure good, yep". Thor likes to try and eat sticks of butter-he likes the flavor and the texture, I guess.

Parts of me are thrilled, parts aprehensive, and parts scared. I am thrilled that all of a sudden, something is happening. He still isn't on par with other kids his age yet for speech and reactive listening, but it is getting closer. It is happening in leaps and bounds, almost all at once, a little overwhelming.
The aprehensive part is worried I will toss too much at him at once, and that he will shut down.
The scared part understands that, statistically, this won't last. He might not progress further, but then he might.
Autism spectrum disorders are one of the few disorders that people can sometimes 'snap out of'. It doesn't happen often, but every now and then, the affected person will just...well...be mostly normal. They still have to catch up from where they were, but they no longer have stimming, repetition, and are no longer vacant.
Thor was only two when he was diagnosed. This gave us a much larger 'what if' zone than if he were diagnosed at three. We never really knew where he was on the spectrum, other than at the higher end. We know he has sensory integration issues, and will probably have them his whole life, but as he gets older, we and he will learn more coping techniques. It may be as easy as tinted glasses, and heavy, thick bracelets-He may be forced to be trandy-Oh noes!!!!1 We know he is PDD/NOS-Pervasive developmental disorder-this is because, frankly, he has developed in the wrong order-and is continueing to do so. Things he should have been doing a year ago, he is just starting, heck, somethings that should have happened 18-24 months ago are just starting, but at the same time, his fine motor skills are off the charts, always have been, and when he uses is, his orginazation and labeling skill are off the charts. PDD will eventually even itself out, with a few really awkward periods. It's the NOS part that has always niggled at us. Not Otherwise Specified. They know he is different, they don't know why. He isn't autistic enough to be have autism, but he is to autistic to not have autism.
The doctors have always been honest with me-it could get better, or it could get worse-with his age it wouldn't be stable. I must be ever vigilant for signs of depression, bipolar disorder, and even schizophrenia as he gets older, as no one knows how his brain will protect itself from the sensory issues, and being trapped in itself until the speech develops.
I was cationed, time and again, to not hope for him to get better, because if e didn't, it could be crushing. And even if it is getting better, to look for 'lost' words and activities. If he is gaining at the loss of things he already possesed, it isn't any better.

It seems, right now, that it is getting better. He is starting to seem more and more like a 'normal' kid every day. It'll take time, and lots of work, and we will need to get him into a physical activity-probably gymnastics and martial arts-so he realizes he is stronger than most, and hyper flexible, but also learn control and restraint.
There is a chance that he may lead a somewhat normal life, and I can let myself honestly embrace that hope now.

Monday, July 09, 2007

I know it will get old fast, but...

One of the bain of any parent-of-a-toddler's life is the word 'No!' or the expression 'No! Mine!'
for the last,mmmm, just about year now, I have been praying for those words. Personal pronouns are very important, and many kids on the autism spectrum do not have them. Thor did not have them, recently they would flit in and out of his vocabulary, but never anything concrete, and we never knew that he realized that mine and me meant that this belongs to me, and me is the person who is talking.
In the last few days, no has become a part of the vocabulary, even the crowning phrase, no mine! followed by grabbing the contested item, and holding it to one's chest.
I verified today that Thor understands that no is not affermative, that it is the oppisite of yes, a word he understands, and says, well. We tested this when I was getting Buddha a sippy cup. I asked Thor is he wanted one, and he gayly stomped around the kitchen singing "No nonono No" So I told him I was putting the milk away. He said NO! I asked if he did want a sippy to drink, and he said yes, brought me the sippy, and the lid. I asked if I should give the Sippy to Hermes, he said no, and I asked if Thor wanted it, he held out his hands and said yes.

This exchange is huge. We were on one topic for over a minute. He only used to words, but he had the appropriate actions to go with them. He responded when asked something, and when he didn't have the words he needed, he showed me, and brought me, what he wanted.
We are working on 'Please' and 'Thank you' as well. Thank you is pretty good. It comes out more like sank uu, but it is good. We are realizing, though, that by having him say please. apple. plant, and pineapple and pan and pot that Thor has an issue with the "PL" sound. He can do the 'puh' p noise fine, but the 'pl' feels wrong in his mouth. As much as I don't want him to say the words wrong, I am debating teaching him words the wrong way, and working on the pl combination after he has more practice. He is pleased to say pease for please and be understood. He is frustrated to go pl pl pl, and not be understood.

As happy as I am for new words, I am certain that in about two weeks, I will be sick of No! and Mine!, but for now, they are pure heavenly music.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Cereal in the washer.

As any parent of small children know, odd things will appear in random areas, and no one knows how they got there. Sandwich under the bed? Must be the monsters are hungry again. Spiderman in the toilet? His web must have broke. Hotwheels in the kitchen sink? They must need to be washed. Anything whatsoever in the vacuum? Just wanted to see what it would and wouldn't eat.
No one knows how this happens. Apparently, there are imps whose sole purpose in life are to put things where they don't belong.
Knowing this, I should have checked the washing machine this morning before I put in laundry. I figured, at worse, a toy would be tunbled with the towels and kids clothes. It could be worse, really. Kix cereal has this amazing ability to disintegrate, then reform into some type of super cement. Kix cereal in the washer, with clothes, that I had sincerely hoped would come out cleaner than they went in? Forget it. The clothes and towels are now on their third pass through. I am fairly certain that all the sloppy, wet, the spin dried ceral has been removed, and that this might be the pass it takes for the clothes to get clean. Otherwise, I will have to dry, then shave, everything.

Note to self-always check the washer.

Friday, June 29, 2007

The somewhat spiffy slowly shrinking woman

I have been on my "eating plan" for two and a half weeks, now. I haven't weighed myself yet, so I don't know how much weight, if any I've lost. What I do know, however, is that I own a fabulous broen summer top, a top that I bought at a sale for plus-sized woman, that didn't quite fit right. I am wearing the shirt now, and am looking fabulous! WOOT. I am wearing smaller jeans, belting things, and just feeling better! YAY ME!!!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

excitement

Today, when I went out to bring the garbage can to the curb, I almost tripped over a box that was stratigically placed right inside my fron porch door. I was rahter upset, because, honestly, who in their right mind would place a box right inside the front door! Why, the UPS man, of course! Hermes summer activity book arived today! YAY!!! I've looked through it, and my innitial thoughts on the book were correct. Unless I ration the pages and science activities to him, he will have it completed in near record time. It is a good refresher of what he learned in Kindergarten, and more importantly, it will hemmer home some english reading and writing skills. I figure we will start in on Monday. Monday we will also start at the Better Chinese website, so he will have daily review of his Mandarin...cannot send him back to school rusty now, can we?

We will be waiting until Monday to start, because we have much activity and excitement in the house right now. On friday, Hermes leaves for a two night camping trip with the FIL. Getting ready to go camping is taking much time and energy. We must pack just the right clothing for any possible weather conditions, swim trunks, fishing clothes-and how those differ from jeans and a t-shirt is beyond me. Light weight pyjammies, heavier weight pajammers-just in case it's cool out, you know. And yes, Hermes does differentiate between pyjammies and pajammers-I have no clue the difference, again.

Depending on the weather, and since Hermes is doing something fun, the MIL, myself, Hubby, and our friend NavyBoy might take our combined kids to Como or the Children's Museum. Frankly, I would be content to just sit around the house and watch the Toddler Death Match Royale, but, no...if one is doing something fun, they all must do something fun...damn fairness.
Possibly, a trip to the drive-in might happen. With Hermes gone, it will leave us with just the younger kids...the kids who don't need to use the potty every fifteen minutes if the movie gets a little scary, the kids who wil be asleep shortly after the movie starts, if not before. Devious, quite possibly, the only way I get to see movies, affordably, without rangling child-care? Most definitely.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Behold, information from the Palace of Learning.

We recieved Hermes report card late last week. No surprises there, he's smart. I am hoping we will be sent out a copy of his test results, but i won't frest it if they don't. He is doing well enough that they felt the need to tell us he is doing very well.
In the mail today, we recieved a CD of all the songs he learned in kindergarten, so he can review them over the summer. They also let s know that they set up a "homeowrk" account with "Better Chinese Books"-one of the best litteral translations of a company name...EVAH! This will allow us to access the 32 'first words' books, online, that he did over the school year. It will also allow us access to the "beginner story library". I am really excited about this. The program has chinese stories, read in Mandarin, with the words in the caligraphy characters, as well as english, so I can actually know what is going on.
They also suggested that we get the "Summer Bridges Activities" workbook. It is designed to give schoolkids something to do over summerbreak, to remind them of what they already learned, and introduce them to concepts they will be learning. Any student who completes all of their summer "homework" will be given a little award and recognition at the fall assembly. The k-1 bridge book is 150 pages, so if I'm lucky and smart about how I give him the work, I might maybe get a full months worht of work out of him. If I give it to him all at once, it'll be done in no time. I am rather pleased that the book is in english, as it's geared towards any student, not just those in a chinese immersion school, and there appear to be workbooks from the preschool level on up.

I would just like to take a moment to state that I ordered the book today from Amazon.com
How did I do that, you may ask?
I went to www.jazzpolice.com and clicked on their link to Amazon. Why did I do it that way, you may ask? Because when anyone clicks to Amazon or itunes through Jazzpolice, CoolJazzDad'a business makes a wee, tiny bit more money, and I'm all for that!

I should have Hermes workbook mud-next week. I figure I'll wat till July 1 to start on anything, being that's when we'll have access to the Better Chinese Books site, as well.
Thankfully, I now have a plan on what to do with Hermes, other than tie him to the tree in the backyard.

whole-wheat cinnamon rolls

so, yeah.
Whole wheat cinnamon rolls, though tasty, just are not a fitting substiture for 'standard' cinnamon rolls. Then again, I wouldprobably like them more if I could frost them, but that would ad an entire net carb to the works...this sucks.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

subjectivity

Serving sizes must have been figured out by the densest person on earth!
They are entirely subjective. A serving of small, easy to measure croutons? 2 tablespoons. A serving of large, hard to measure croutons? 2tablespoons.
Rice, pasta, and the like is roughly 1/3 of a cup. A serving of popcorn is 3 cups popped. Everyone keeps telling me, rather cheerilly, that 3 cups of popcorn is a lot...no...it isn't.
A serving of salad greens/babyspinach/and the like is TADAAA 3cups. People keep trying to tell me that even though 3 cups of popcorn is a lot, that three cups of greens isn't a lot. WRONG!!! Three cups of baby spring lattuces and baby spinach is a shite-ton of food!!!

Friday, June 15, 2007

borderline

Last thursday, that would be eight days ago, I went in for the first "yearly" physical I have had in quite sometime. Having multiple kids in a relatively short timeframe can really mess up your timeframes, especially with all the tests that are run before, during, and after a pregnancy.
My Dr pulled a rediculous amount of blood, to run a rediculous number of labs. She knew I was concerned about three things in particular, my weight, diabetes, and thyroid issues. We also scheduled an appointment with the clinics dietician. My results were not in when I saw the dietician on wed, but she put me on the same plan as she would is I were diabetic, overweight, had a thyroid issue, or was just trying to be preventative.
I am now in the land of counting carbs and fat, and measuring my food. I really had no concept of portion size-period, I need to eat ergularly, and I need to journal my food. I am not to be weighed any more than once every other week, which is fine, since I don't own a scale. I figure one weighing a month will be at the clinic, for the other one, I will go to the in-laws an use their awesomely accurate digital scale. My first goal is 7 percent of my body weight. That will drastically reduce anyones chances of becoming diabetic, or pre-diabetic.

I am sooo glad that this was my goal, and that this was my diet, being my test results came back yesterday. A fasting blood glucose between 110 and 125 is prediabetic, anything over 125 is diabetic. I was at a 109. Yep one-oh-nine. I am right on the borderline for pre-diabetes. As long as I follow my eating plan, excersize, and lose weight-I should be okay. We seem to have cought me just at the edge of the precipice. I am sooooo totally motivated right now, and being my co-pay is only 20 per visit, and I see her once a month, my dietician is ultimately cheaper that WW or any other programs.
On the plus side, my choloesterol is awesome, my thyroid hormone is lower-normal, but good, and I posess a ludicrous number of platelets...I am the QUEEN of clotting!!!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

2 days till utter and total chaos.

If anyone has any ideas of things I can do with multiple children, aged 6 and under, over the course of two and a half months, please, let me know. Hermes' last day of school is tuesday, and I am at a loss for how to keep everyone occupied. Tv, computer, naptime and running in the yard only go so far. HEEEELLLLPPPP!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Momma pride!

Hermes' school director let me know this morning that he scored "Rediculously high" on the reading test they gave him yesterday. I am very pleased. We have been reading to and with him from the hospital when he was born, and always tried to read books to him that he was interested in, but were above his intended reading level. Yay for Hubby and I doing something right!!

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

2 weeks post surgery

It's been two weeks and a day since Thor had his tonsils and adnoids yanked. At this point, he is recovered nicely, getting used to sleeping less and feeling better. He is also talking more, but at the same time, less. He jams a little less than he used to. He is more aware that words have a distinct noise to them, and that he isn't making that noise. He becomes very frustrated when I cannot tell if he is saying Cheerios or Cereal, though the two are interchangeable for him, and he doesn't understand why I am soooo giddy when he says either (cereal has a softer start, and a not quite 'o' sound where the L should be, cheerios has a harder start sound, and an exagerated OOO at the end, btw). A month ago, if he wanted cereal, he would hunt down the box, and dump it on the floor. He can say good, now, and Doggie and Cocoa. Generall in a string of Hi Cocoa, Good doggie! Some personal pronouns are slipping, but they are still here. In the fall he will be in a 20 hour a week program, with other kids on the spectrum. 4 hours a weekday, not counting travel time. It will be the longest that he has regularly been away from me, and I worry.
I sometimes think that I pinned a false sense of hope on the surgery magically fixing everything. It is helping some, but making other areas all the more apparent. He is young, yet, and because of this no one can tell me if he's stabil, spectrum wise, if he'll move up and off, or if he;ll backslide.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

feel so grown-up

Hubbyand I now officially own a home, and a puppy. Married, three kids, property...man, I feel like an adult.
We are going out sometime in the next two weeks to set up an house account. We will set it up to direct deposit mortgage and major bill money directly into-out of sight, out of mind, at least until I write and send out the checks.
No more renting, no more landlords, no more stupid maintenance men-but we have to do our own maintenance now. I just came infrom mowing and weed whipping the yard. I love yard work, and am lookinf forward with a mix of excitement and dread to having to rake all of the leaves our giant friggen tree in our back yard drops.
Hubby's at manards with the FIL right now, being all manly and getting some replacement boards for the deck, and some various tools we didn't already posess.
I am HOME!

Monday, May 21, 2007

*whew*

Thor is doing well, recovering nicely, you wouldn't even know he had surgery last tuesday. We are waiting for the 7th day crash. The body is off antibiotics by then, and is tired from healing, so generally wipes out for a day or two about then.
We managed to move, just fine, our water pressure is picking up nicely, everything is slowly finding a home, thow some is in the trash, and we might be closing as early as this friday. Finance guy wants it to be no later than next tuesday, but as long as it's before next thursday, it's all good. We are waiting on the underwriter to approve one little thing, then we are good to go!
tired and hectic, write more later.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Ohhhh Yeah!!!!

We just got the conditional approval on our mortgage, all the conditions we can meet, on monday, our finance guy is calling the closers to schedule CLOSING!!!!!!!

Monday, May 07, 2007

T&A

Ah yes, T&A, not what you are thinking, I bet.
Thor goes in tuesday of next week for a tonsilectomy & adenoidectomy. Fairly routine, will make his life much easier, and is causing no end to the mommy nerves.
I know he will be fine, but I do feel a little guilty that he will be in enforced couch potato mode for the first week or two of having his own big ol' private back yard to run in.
The official wait to here from the underwriter's on the mortgage started one hour ago. Realistically we will have an answer in the next three days on approval, approval with conditions to close, or denial. Wish us luck!

Friday, May 04, 2007

did I mention it was wee tiny?

So our information for the potential mortgage is starting to be sent to the real live underwriters. It is nervewracking. We were approved by the electrinic underwriting at Fannie Mae in almost record time (and I understand how FannieMae works now, after my nifty first-time-homebuyers class, a class I strongly recomend anyone looking at buying a house,ever! to take, and soon. $35 per household, three nights, it was awesome, I learned so much!). At this point, we get to hope that the general percentages work for us. 98-99% of people who were approved by electonic underwriting are approved by the actual flesh and blood underwriters. Hubby and I were incredibally honest with FinanceGuy about all of our financial stuff because A) who would want to risk being forclosed on almost immediately or not getting approved because you fibbed about what you make and can afford, and B) it never dawned on us to be anything but.
This is in our favor, because if we can get FannieMae saying we are a good risk, and the will comealong in their secondary capacity to buy up our mortgage and invest it to make more money for more mortgages to buy, as they are want to do, the Lender knows that someone thinks we are worthwhile.
I am in the midst of packing and cleaning and getting rid of stuff so we can fit on our wee tiny house, that will be ours, even if we don't get financing now. The owner set it up with us that we will do a 12 month lease to own if our financing falls through, and our finance guy already gave us a list of things to do if we are approved to biuld credit(me), and clean up credit (Hubby) Finance guy said if we are not approved this time(for some nutty reason), doing these things will pretty much approve us next time, six months to a year down the line, as long as Hubby's job is secure, which it sooo is!

On the side of things that are not wee-tiny
Thor has whopping big tonsils and adnoids, and is having them removed on the 15th of this month. They think it mights help his speech greatly, and at the least, he will sleep less, and have more restful sleep, and breath quieter, and not snore.
I know it is fairly routine, the recovery is gonna suck for me, and all, but I am glad to get it out of the way now, while at the same time worried it will be too much for him.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Moving on up....to the eastside....

It looks like Hubby and I will be the proud owners of a teeny tiny house. We looked at it orginaly as a lease-to-own, and discussed all the things we could do to turn it into the perfect home. It will take time, blood, sweat and tears, but we were willing to put that in.
The person selling the house asked if we mined him having a finance person get in touch with us, just to see, and we said sure, but we doubted anything could be done.
Finance Dude looked at our info, and doubted anything could be done, but got the required stuff together to run it and see-as he said, his job is to try, and he don't make money by keeping people out of homes. Surprisingly enough, we qualify for a FannieMae Flex100-which, btw is not sub prime-it is all on the up and up, and all things looking like the lender will approve us, and we'll be homeowners.
Honestly, the house is ultry tiny-it is a wee little home, but addinf dormers in the upstairs bedroom will open the space up alot, redoing the bathroom setup will help alot, and eventually, we could biuld up a full second level, and even about ten to fifteen feet out into the HUGE back yard. Yeah, that's right, a big ass fenced in back yard!!
So, faithful readership of family and maybe three other folks, watch here for updates on the homeownership!

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

patience is a virtue....

...that I do not readily posess.
We are looking at new places to live. We have a place we're looking at on Saturday, but to have that place, we would be living with Hubby's Uncle, and having three more kids around on occasion, Granted, it is a remodeled duplex, with six bedrooms, two baths, two kitchens, 2 livingrooms, porches and whatnot, it's still iffy if it's gonna happen. Soooo, I keep looking, I am waiting for a call back from a guy about three different properties-he manages all three, all three are three bedroom houses, all three are much (like 150 or moree) less than we are paying now, all three have their own yards...and I'm waiting and waiting and waiting. I know that it has been less than two hours since I called, he manages a lot of property in St Paul, and feasibly, at least on of the three or four I want will still be available, but I want him to call now!!(insert childish whining and foot stomping here)

I've never quite been this excited about having to move before. Part of it is that a lot of the single family rentals in St Paul and WestStPaul are rather easy to buy, after you've proven you're a good renter, maybe it's because Bloomington has lost it's charm, maybe it's the weather...I don't know, but I'm getting really impatient, I'm starting to think I drank waaaayyyyy too much coffee this morning, and I'm bored!
GGAARRGGHHH!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Playdates and summer break...Oh my!!

I just got off the phone with J__, the mother of Hermes' absolute and possitive bestest friend from school!!! Sh has noticed, as have I, that our sons spend a considerable amount of time talking about each other, and play together almost every school day. She was calling to set up a play-date for next weekend, and so we could figure out some sort of summer schedule with the boys, so they can play regularly.
This will be tons easier since we will be moving soon, to St paul. We are still on the HRA list for Bloomington, but, at the same time, are keeping our options open. Hubby and I realized that his Uncle is still looking for a place-granted, his uncle also has three kids, but once he is no longer living at my in-laws, will only have them every other weekend, and once a week for an evening. We are looking at renting a large, 6 bedroom, house, roughly in-between where my in-laws live, and where my BIL and his fiance live. It would end up being cheaper than where we are now, after rent is split. We will have plenty of space for everyone, and it has a fenced in yard!
So much going on, I'll catch up later.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

saturday saturday saturday nigh-igh-ight

This saturday, Buddha, my babiest of babies, turns one year old, and officially enters the age of toddlerhood.
Thor is speaking more and more daily.
Hermes is awesome, and really, very smart. He'll tell you so-often.
When Buddha turns the age that Hermes is now, Hermes will be going on ten...that's DOUBLE DIGITS PEOPLE!!!!
I cannot believe it has been a year, already. I can hardly believe that at this exact moment, one year ago, I was crying on the phone to Hubby, because they were going to make me wait two more whole days before they'd induce.
You still have your Yoda ears, and every now and then, I wonder if you'll for stilted, slightly awkward sentances when speaking you start doing...yes.
I am going to start working on the weekends soon, and wonder if somehow you'll know I was home more with your brothers at this age, and resent me. Then I tell myself it's all hogwash.
Happy first, Buddha, may you remain healthy, happy and strong, and hopefully go basck to being peacefull and serene again. I would much prefer that over the excited shrieking at four in the morning becase Ohmygod!! You're standing, and drinking...at.the.same.time!!!

Thursday, March 29, 2007

morning

It's 7:30. The older two are sitting at the table, eating cereal. Hermes is ready to go to the Palace of Learning and Knowledge-rather excited that it's just today and tomorrow, then spring break. He wonders if he'll get extra homeowrk, since he'll be out of school for a week. I assure him that if he runs out of work, I'll be able to find something for him.
Thor is being very quiet right now. He is picking up more understandable words every day, and slowing down when he talks-the combination os stunning. He still asks "Can you hear me?", every now and again. A friend of mine who has an adult son who is much like Thor said that her boy could never quite tell if he was thinking, speaking aloud, or yelling-might be something to look into with Thor. He is doing amazing at eating cereal with milk and not spilling...we can also see that he is this close to finally mastering drinking rom a standard cup.
Buddha is being rather serene at the moment. His moments of serenity are far and few these days-as he is learning and discovering new skills, he wants o try them. He gets frustrated that his meager words cannot describe everything, he is excited by the food he is getting now, and the mobility! If he had the skills, he would write an ode to walking, standing, and jumping. He is also trying to not sleep, unless he is in the crib, so no more convenient for me naps in the playpen, but now I can do things in the main floor while he's napping, without fear of waking him.

Me? I'm good. I put in an application to waitress on the weekend, bring in a little extra cash, get me in a little better shape, all in one fell swoop. Hubby thinks it's great-as it will also force alone time for him and the pantheon. All three boys are at an age where Poppa is the center of their universe, and he wants to milk it for all it's worth, as he knows it wont last long. Granted, it will come back again, but to have all three want him at the same time, though frustrating, is noce, for both uf us.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

numbers and personal pronouns!

Thor has finally decided to open up his big bag o' tricks and pull out the numbers up to ten, personal pronouns, and some verbs! It's not consistant yet, he still get quite with transitions, but words are a-comin!
Speaking with his main SHEILD therapist, we know that the sensory integration/seeking issues are going to be a lifelong battle-he'll learn ways to cope, but will never quite process everything the way you and I might, but with words to help us...it will be easier, and in this case, the easier way is the better way!

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Happy spring, and other things

7:07 pm-vernal equinox. Happy Spring, everyone. If the weathermen can be trusted, we might actually warm up a bit, mid fifties and rain in just a few days! Granted, there's a;ways the 'Easter Squall' to watch for, as my grandma would put it.
All of the kids are doing fairly well. We are pretty sure that Thor has started saying 'No', and 'I'mmmmm' both of wich are majorly huge breakthroughs. We'll see if the loquaciosnous carries on. Buddha is becoming more and more self-sufficient every day. More mobile, more stable, more gabby. We have conferences for the oh so modest (I'm very smart, you know!) Hermes on wednesday...Hubby and I are really looking forward to it!
I'm in the process of drinking rediculous quantities of water for an ultrasound I am having in just shy of an hour. They want to check for polyps, cysts, and fibroids...on the thirtieth I go in and get the US results, as well as results from the rediculous quatities of blood they took a week and a half ago---hopefully, it will be an issue with my Thyroid-that would wrap everything up in an easily treated package that explains everything. Otherwise, it's more testing...woohoo!

Saturday, March 10, 2007

what can, and cannot, be flushed

Thor is at the age where, like most kids, he is discovering what can, and cannot, be flushed down the toilet. So far, he has discovered that plastic cups, himself, shampoo bottles, toothpaste tubes, himself, large toys, towels, himself, washrags, and hairbrushed cannot be flushed...did I mention himself? For some reason, he seems rather keen on trying to flush himself down the toilet, and always seems rather sad that it doesn't work. I do not know where, how, or why he picked up the need to try this, but at least once a week, he will have sopping wet jammies or socks and pants, because he STOOD IN THE TOILET trying to flush himself. Maybe he thinks it will be a fun ride.
He has discovered that toilet paper flushes really well, both if you put in one sheet at a time, and if you put in a large portion of the mega-roll at a time. He has also realized that you can put just the end of the roll into the toilet, flush, and watch the paper go flying off the roll, at high speed, down the drain. I remember doing this last one, myself, as a kid. It was rather entertaining.

It is suggested, by the expert, that the interest in flushing things is one sign of petty training readiness. This might be so, but when you have a child who cannot tolerate the way his bare butt feels on the potty, training is alittle harder.
Some autism experts feel that they like the spiral motion objects make while being flushed. This, too, makes sense, but does not bring us any closer to having Thor out of daipers.

Hermes was not fully potty trained until right after he turned four. He could use the potty, and would, but it took a little bit for him to grasp that he was supposed to, regularly, even if he was having fun playing. For the most part, he was three and a half when he had it down good, but if the legos, magnetix, or trains were out, we would have to remind him, regularly, to use the potty, and to make sure that he was all the way done before we got off the toilet.
I will be pleased when Hermes finally decides to use the potty. We have so far tried letting him run around naked, supossedly this is supposed to be a fool proof method. What we have found, when trying this, is that he will just find a corner in which to pee. Not my idea of a good time cleaning.

Sometimes I worry that Buddha will be trained before Thor, but I understand that it will be more dificult to train Thor than a standard kid. I have to make it routine, easy, not scary. I might have to start parking the potty seat in the living room to start, so he has easy access. I don't want to transition him out of pull-ups and into training pants until we have the basic concept down, but maybe that is what he needs to get the concept.

Either way, he is still shy of two and a half, we have plenty of time to work on this.

Hopeefully, he won't try to flush his brothers.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Momma can fix ANYTHING!!

Hubby and I discussed, at great lengths, the double-standard of adults being sick, in our home. When he is ill, I try to make a quiet space for him, encourage the kids to leave him be, and generally get him better as fast as I can. When I am ill, well, they try, they honestly do, but it just doesn't quite work that way. I am Momma, and apparently, Momma means that I am the glue that holds everyhting together, and the wheels that keep it all moving, all rolled into one giant life giving package. When I am ill, the only way to keep the kids from bothering me is to have them somewhere else-they know that when Momma cuddles them, they feel better, so shouldn't it work the other way? I still generally end up cooking, cause that's what I do, and I still drive everyone araound. Hermes looked at me last night, as I was tucking him into bed, and after thanking me for tucking him up, asked why I wasn't better ye? I tried to explain that sometimes it takes longer to get better, but he wouldn't buy it. Hermes insisted that I am Momma, and I can fix anyhting, make anything better, make it all be good.

I love that he has such faith in my abilities, but I also know that the day when I am hated for ruining everything cannot be terribly far off.

Thor knows that something isn't right, he keeps trying to cuddle, to rub my back and hair..once again, the things I do for him, but he cannot sit still long enough, and he forgets to let go of my hair before he walks away.

Buddha will sit quietly and cuddle if I hold him, but he and I are at oppisite ends of the virus lifespan, and I don't want to start his over, being it's mutated between us...

Ah Well...time to bring Hermes to the Palace of Learning and Knowledge, now with tai chi!

Sunday, March 04, 2007

it figures

you'd think, that after a virus that came into the house, most likely through me, has run it's course through everyone in the house, that it would go away. No. The virus mutated juuuust enough, while being passed from me to hubby to Hermes(who mixed it with soemthing from school), to Thor (who had it worst), to buddha, that it would be gone. No. It has decided to take up a malingering residence in me. Not as bad as before, but somehow worse for it. It used to have a definitive schedule of suckiness, whereas now, even thoughit is not so severe in it's intensity, it is not leaving. I am truely miserable, but at the same time, I have periods of feeling fabulous, just to be shot down all dizzy and clammy like twenty minutes later.
Ghrrrr

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

gesundheit!

Thor has learned how to fake sneeze. This came about a little while ago, when we were at the in-laws, he sneezed, and MIL told him 'Gesundheit!", the next time he sneezed, I said 'Bless you". He gave me a look, then walked around making sneezing noises until someone said gesundheit again. Something about the word he likes, so he makes his sneezy noises to hear it. This is actually a really good thing, devolopmentally, as he is learning that certain sounds get certain responses...a prequel to speaking, if you will.
I am finding myself speaking to adults the way I speak to Thor, when someone gets something I request, I reply with "That was good listening. That was good doing. Great job! Thank you!", and get a strange look. We have to break down everything he does into catagories, and when he does good, praise him. If he follows a request to its logical conclusion, he is praised for every step.

Hermes was home ill yesterday. I had him off the computer, and in his room, to rest. He came down at one point to ask to play, and I said no...he replied, "But that's not faaaiiiir!" I was so shocked to hear this, my baby's growing up!

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

well, he's stopped.

I called the Dr about Thor's issues. Dr asked that I document for a week or two, then call back and give a rundown/schedule and appointment. Of course, as soon as I try to document it, the vomiting stops. This is fabulous, but means that if it starts up again, we are back at square one.

Thor has also decided, out of the blue, that butterred bread is an acceptabvle texture again. Pleasing to eat, and tasty, too.

Buddha is becoming more and more mobile daily. Good, yet frieghtening. It is much easier to keep track of the wee ones when they cannot run or walk, even if it is only about four steps.

Hermes is still doing awesome at school, I cannot wait until mid-late march, for his conferences.

I still need to get more sleep, but maybe after my next Dr appointment, we canfigure out why I have been so tired.

Friday, February 16, 2007

probably don't want to read this before, or right after, dinner

Thor's been vomiting, semi-regularly, for a while now. Only once per day, and generally only two or three times a week, but for the last few months, a pattern has emerged. For a while, we thought naybe it was dogs, as there was often a dog around when it happened, then maybe dairy, then maybe being sick, then who knows what. I realized, though, that there is a fairly definate pattern to the occurances that happen when he is not obviously sick.
Did you know that there was a link between vomiting and autism? Yeah.. me neither. I knew that kids with autism were more likely to have digestional issues, but never kenned to the vomiting. It can be treated, it can go away, sometimes it's fairly permanent. I'm going to schedule a Dr's appt for him for monday to rule out any illnesses or allergies, but it might be symptomatic of the autism. Fun.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Finally!

Finally, something we need is going to be on sale when we actually have the moneys to pay for it!! Our stzate return showed up in our bank this morning, still waiting on the fed (Mom, you will get your check as soon asthe fed shows up, should be less than two weeks.) Menards is having a slae starting tomorrow with shelving units. Units the right size and material to modify in order to make the critter condo! Yay! This will make my life much easier, my house much easier to clean, and much safer for the wee Buddha to crawl around and practice walking in, and in general be a good thing!

Thor is doing amazing! He is starting to use some words regularly again, and is trying to help Buddha with saying things like 'Momma' and 'Poppa' and 'Bottle'. Car rides right now sound like this-
Thor "Mommmmmmmaaaa, pooooppppppaaaa, booootttllllle"
Buddha " Momamomamomamomamoma, pabapabapabapabapaba, bababababababa.phhhbbbllllltttt!"
Thor "Phphphllllbbtt!"
Buddha "Momma!"
Thor "Mommmaaa, gud baayyyybee! Liammmmmmmmm!"
repeat as needed to fill the drive.

Hermes is awesome. I am so pleased with my little man. He had his math placement test at the Palace of Learning last week or the week before, I cannot recall, and out of all the questions on two pages only got 1 wrong. The only one he didn't know how to do! I cannot wait until conferences so we can discuss which classroom he will be doing math in, and with wich teacher. His handwriting is improving daily, as is his motor control with writing and coloring implements. The only concern right now-according to the person who did the vision and hearing checks at school, Hermes might have weak eye muscles, so when I schedule my next exan, which will be as soon as I get the vision card, if I don't decide to go sooner and make the ins. company reimburse me, I need to get him in too. The optometrist needs to check him out, fill out a form for school stating wether or not their is a problem, and wether or not it is correctable/can affect his learning/he'll grow out of it/whatever. It sounds like if there is an issue, it is easily correctable, so no worries!

Friday, February 02, 2007

Unholy cold!

For the last few years, the Winter Carnival had issues with the weather being too warm...people grumbled. How are you supposed to have a winter carnival when the ice is melting?? Well, people are starting to grumble again this year, but for the oppisite reason. It is so cold, that they might have to cancel some events this weekend. It is not going to be above zero at all tomorrow, probably not again until tuesday. Wicked cold, bitter cold, call it what you will, it's just COLD.

Hermes is being picked up from the palace of learning by his Gramma today. Last weekend he was able to spend time with Grammy, this weekend it's Gramma and Dad-dad. They decided to take Hermes overnight tonight, and pick up Thor tomorrow, and take them to the children's museum once again. Behold the power of the Yearly Pass in all it's splendor. An adult might become bored with the display of the season, but not children. Two little boys running around the Bob The Builder display, all the other hands on stuff...they'll be in heaven! The main reason they are going is the unholy cold. Little kids need to burn off energy, or they ddrive everyone around them nuts! Grammy takes Hermes through the skyway, his favorite thing to do with her next to going to the park or a jazz event. Gramma takes them to the museum, his favorite thing next to the park or camping/hiking/fishing to do with them.
We are very lucky to have two sets of awesome grandparents who love their grandkids, and spend time with them having fun.
Buddha is going to have some peacefull time tomorrow, time to crawl/saunter around and explore the house without fear of being run down by an older kid. He will also be having a nice, warm, uninterupted bath, something he rarely gets. The norm for him is to be washed down as quickly as possible, so his brothers don't annoy him/jump in the tub.steal his towel.

Wicked cold outside, but nice inside.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

when advertising attacks!!

A couple of twentysomething dudes were arrested in Boston, MA for "Purpetrating a hoax to induce terror". Their "crime", if one wanted to call it such, was placing "bomblike devices" in strategic, high traffic areas. The devices were basicallly flat light-brights. Little boards with diods and batteries and wires which when illuminated outlined a monnenite flipping the bird. If the boston officals had taken the time to ask ohhh.....any nineteen year old male, they would have ventured forth immidiately with the answer..."OMG..It's from Aqua teen hunger force!!" The glowing mooninites are part of a TEN CITY ad campaign by Turner broadcasting, who owns cartoon network, and therefor Adult Swim. LA, Portland Oregon, New York, Texas, none of the other nine cities had any issues, but Boston is trying to press terrorism suits against the two men, Turner, the ad agency who came up with the idea, and any body else...Why? Because they are to stubborn to admit they overreacted. The Boston officials claim that in a post 9/11 society, we need to be more aware of how our actions affect others...I agree...and the officials need to be aware that THEIR overreaction and subsequent pressing of lawsuits is making them look rediculous. Their actions are going to needlessly frighten free-thinking, free-speaking individuals more than a couple of mooninites.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

w00t!!!!!!!!111

I just got off the phone with the woman who runs the HRA rental housing list. We have been accepted to program. She will be sending me out a letter next week detailing everything more. The down side, we could be looking at a year or so, but I can live with that. If we find ourselves in a situation where we no longer need it before it's available, no big loss. Also, she said it;s looking like some people will be rolling off the list soon due to failure to report a move out of city and what not.
Either way, it's a good thing. I know that I will want to find a place with six month lease increments, and that it will only be temporary. Life is getting good.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

waiting....

I have now entered the month of "waiting". This is a little known month that falls from midway through January, to midway of February. Waiting for the w-2's to file tax returns, waiting for my anniversary, conveniently placed the day before valentines day, so we also celebrate a little early or a little late, but never forget, waiting for the cold that I always seem to have this time of year to go away. This year, I have added a nifty game of Catch to Waiting. This entails me almost losing the cold, and then Thor catching it, when it's about out of his system, it magically re-appears with me. Hermes and Buddha and Hubby all seem to be exempt from this game-not to say they don't have/haven't had colds recently, but they are different. Thor seems to realize that the cold is something special to just him and me, and seems pleased to share something so important with Momma.

Tonight Hubby and I have a meeting with Thor's team, to go over all the gleaned info again, and sign the paperwork for Toddler Group and HomeVisit. I am hoping that these help Thor, but I am also hoping that it will give an outside party a chance to see how splendid he is. I also worry, though, that they will see his improvements in some areas are marked by slides in others, and that it isn't just in my head. None of his backslides are really devopmentally related, but more along the lines of stimming and other activites normally seen with autism. Thor is a very interesting case study, being how everything presents, his age, and that to most knowledge, there isn't a history of anyhting like this in the families. Of course, half of Hubby's family is mystery.

Hermes has started doing simple math at school, something he is quite pleased with. Even though he already knows how to do most, if not all, of what they are working on, it is Math, and he knows you need math to be a train engineer, and astronaut, and about seven other things he wants to be when he grows up. He is finally starting to try and milk "But I don't feel good!" to stay home from school, but I have found the way to cure that. I know which days are Art days, Gym days, so on and so forth, if I can tell him one definitave thing he will be doing, he always feels better. That kid loves learning. i will have to speak with his teacher come the next conferences, if not earlier, to let her know that at much as he likes school, he is starting to get a little bored, and he needs to be challenged--hopefully this will take care of itself, however, as they will be doing math placement tests soon, and he will be getting harder work.

Buddha is so excited in his newfound ability to stand and take one to three steps before falling down, that he has quit napping! Yay!!! Otherwise, he is perfectly healthy.


Oh, and am I the only parent who has had to tell their child that we don't put chapstick on with our feet when it's bedtime?

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

comfort level

It was pretty cold last night. The house was fairly warm in the morning, by about two in the afternoon, I, she who likes bare feet, voluntarily put on socks. At about 7:30, it was cool in the house, even by the computers and couch, all of which are situated near vents. I trekked down stairs, and lo and behold-the pilot light on the furnace had gone out! We have a gas furnase with an electric ignition, so after shutting off gas and power to the heater for five minutes, we powered it back up and FWOOSH!, there was heat. We have space heaters upstairs in the bedrooms, being our heat is lazy, and doesn't so much rise as let itself get pushed around, so at least the bedrooms were toasty. I have been listening for the blowers to kick in, a sure sign the furnace is working.

Mr. Guy, a friend of ours, watched the younger two while I picked Hermes up from the palace of learning, and while he was here, litterally shoveled out the livingroom, making a nice pile of things for me to go through. He figured it was the easiest way to make space for Buddha and Thor to play nicely together, which for him, they did. Thor is very at ease around Mr. Guy, which is good to know, being Mr. Guy lives six doors down, and is our emergency go to guy. He watched Hermes and Buddha when I picked up Hubby, Thor came with. 4:30 is his normal car ride time, and he was not going to let me leave without him. As much as I say he doesn't have a set in stone routine, that is changing as he gets older.

The weather was interesting to Thor, he really isn't to familiar with snow, was too young last year to play in it, and was dealing with the ear infections, but this morning, after dropping Hermes off at the palace of learning, Thor decided that maybe, the mittens he loves so much serve a purpose other than having Curious George on his hands, maybe, the kep his hands safe and warm for a reason. He bent down, and picked up some snow...he threw the snow, he was pleased. Winter seems to be in his comfort zone! He likes the way fall looks, but not feels or sounds. It is really an abrasive season for him, all sharp and rough and crackly noises and feelings, but winter, it is quiet, and pretty, and smooth, and crunchy. I cannot explain the difference between a crackly noise and a crunchy noise, but it exists, and he has a preference. I am really excited that he enjoys snow, and am looking forward to see how he deals with sledding.

Personally, I am becoming more comfortable daily with having a child who is on the autism spectrum. I am no longer feeling the need to quantify him as being high functioning, or barely on the spectrum, or what have you. It is more apparent, as he gets older daily, that he will have some tendancies for a long hall, but at the same time, he is so charismatic, and happy, and loving, and funny, and well, he's just him. Labeling him doean't make him any less Thor, heck, it even helps to understand some of what he does that makes him Thor. Hermes is trying very hard to act as an interpreter, however, it is hard to believe him sometimes, as I doubt that Thor is always trying to do things in Hermes interests over his own. Few two year olds will relinquish a cookie.

Buddha took two unassisted steps in the playpen the other day! I need to let him on the floor more now that it is clean, and I cannot let Thor's accomplishments overshadow Buddha's developmental milestones, or Hermes amazing progress at school. More and more I am becoming more comfortable with the idea that I can do this.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

dreaded evaluation

On thursday, we have another eval for Thor, it was supposed to be last thurs, but with Hermes being home with the mega-cold we had to reschedule. This will be on of the rare out of the house appointments. They want to observe him outside of his 'normal environment'. Sometimes I feel like he is a forign animal. Behold, Thor, in all his splendor, climbing the furniture and stalking the all allusive peanut butter cracker! Not the shunnung of bread...but wait..He'll eat the bread if it has sloppy joe on it? Behold, The Thor, in all it's glory!
Sometimes, I thik they are doing all of these 'pre-treatment' evals, not to study him, but to study me. I get the mental image of the therapy team sitting around at a coffeeshop or bar going, "Yeah...Did you see HW2K trying to come up with a way to describe his speech patterns? How great was that! Or what about when he started talking to the toy, but ignored her completely? And remember how hopeful she seemed when we all pretended to understand him? What a hoot!!!"
I know this isn't what really goes on, but sometimes it feels that way. He is signing more, and talking to other people and things moer, but talking to me less. He gets angry when I feed him the wrong foods, but will not tell me what the right foods are, then when Hubby gets home, will show him immediately what he wanted. A good day for us is one with at least ive clearly communicated concepts. Five times of not guessing, asking, trial and error, five definatives...more, hungry, sleep, all done, monkey. If I get at least these five things, back and forth, it's fine.

Hermes starting to get bored at school. Sistah-girl was instrumental this morning on getting him ready, as for me I would just get the "I'm sick, I'm staying home!". In the car this morning we talked about the testing that is coming up. They are finally getting around to the math placement, and chinese language assesments they were going to be doing pre christmas. Hermes is happy to know that they really truely want to see how smart he is, that they really truely will let him do more math if he does math at a higher level than the other kindergateners, that htey will be very pleased with how much of the language he has learned and they truely want to know. Hermes is starting to realize he's smarter than many, and it's starting to affect his moods towards school a bit.

Buddha is starting to stand on his own, and take one or two daring unassisted steps. I must finish cleaning, I need the space for him.

I would do about anything for ten guilt free minutes alone sometimes, but I wouldn't trade any of this for the world.

Friday, January 12, 2007

quiet

It's damn cold out this morning. The wind came down from the north, making everything all frosty and needing to be warmed up. Since Sistah-girl is home, we left the older two boys, like we almost always do when she is here, but Hubby and I also left Buddha. Buddha woke up at about four thirty to have a bottle and a daiper change, so, after much debate, and after I went out to start the car warming up, we decided to leave Buddha at home, where hopefully he would stay sleeping, and not wake up screaming, this panicking everyone. I came home to absolute silence. It is close enought to the time that the boys are up on weekdays to where their bodies are naturally starting to slowly wake. Sleeping still, they are not as deep in as they were an hour ago, so if I stand by them, all I hear is the gentle intake and output of breath-no snoring, no fits and stops of dreams, no turning in the bed like a demon is after them, just quiet, peaceful sleep.

Hubby is on winter hours for at least another month and a half. Up till this point, his mondays off have either fallen on a government holiday, or on a day when I've been sick. After this monday, they'll just be another day, a day in which he can go out and get his permit, from which he will eventually get his liscence.

The silence is nnow broken-Buddha is awake and presumably unhappy at the prospect.
The quiet was nice while it lasted.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Even if there were no computer or television

Thor was supposed to have another eval today. I am rescheduling it.
Hermes woke up this morning rather warm, but I didn't think much of it at first; he is generally pretty warm first thing-he and his brothers and their poppa are all little blast furnaces when asleep. Then he told me his tummy hurt, and I was still kind of leary. After I had him come downstaris, drink some cold water, and he was still warm and achy, I still thought that maybe...just maaaaaybe, he was fine. However, when Hermes informed me that he fealt so icky that he wanted to stay home even if " we didn't have any computer or internets or television or cables or anything fun like that" I knew he was staying home. Hermes loves school, and often times will fib about feeling better than he does just to go, but after realizing that if he threw up at school he had to miss the rest of the day and the ENTIRE next day, he isbetter about telling me when he is ill. I don't yet have the same mommy radar for him being sick as I do the two other boys. With the exception of the occasional cold that would not die-Hermes has always been pretty healthy. About once a year he will come down with something that looks "Just like (insert common ailment here)", but after the Drs do a culture,take some blood, poke and prod him, etc...he is always fine....it just LOOKS like something bad. Since he's started school we have had more vomit, fevers, diarreah, colds, chills, and general aches and pains than ever before in his five years of life. Part of it is being exposed to other kids daily, especially in such a small school. The school tries to notify us of flu, strep, what have you, but when a parent just calls in junior 'sick' it makes it harder. I always give them a fairly graphic rundown of Hermes' symptoms, so if any other kid presents the same, we can alert people.
Well, it's gonna be an interesting day today, and hopefully he will be better tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

it's working

We have a morning routine, it's somewhat convoluted, somewhat malleable depending on the circumstances, but it's something all the boys know. If Sistah-girl is home, Hubby and myself wake up about fifteen minutes later than if she were gone, I through on something resembling clothes, Hubby gets dressed for work, we bundle up Buddha, I bring Hubby to work, come home, give Buddha a bottle, put him in the baby box, crash for half an hour on the couch, wake up Thor and Hermes, get Hermes dressed for school, get Thor into whatever he will let me, shuttle Hermes off to the palace of knowledge, and come home. If Sistah-girl is gone, which will also be our routine after she moves out-Hubby and I wake up 15 minutes early, toss a bottle in Buddha, get our respective selves dressed, pray that Hermes and Thor are still in their jammies, if not put them in some, bundle all into the car, bring Hubby to work, go home, trek into the house, Buddha in bok,Hermes on short couch, Thor on big couch with me, crash for half an hour, get Hermes dresses and to Palace of learning, and get home. This part of the morning, though long, is sound. The system has worked since Hermes started school. Where the issue used to arise was once we got home after dropping off Hermes. Normally, Buddha will resist sleep for a few, then crash out for a long morning nap. Thor, on the other hand, needed to figure out how to let me know if he was hungry, tired, wanted to play, wanted to play but really wanted to sleep more, etc... This morning, when we got home, I asked him, with my hero-speach accompanied by ASL- if he was hungry, or wanted to play, or wanted to sleep. He looked at me and signed sleep. I asked again, this time making sure he knew how to do the sign for hungry, and he insisted sleep. Up to his room we went, where he promptly got into bed, grabbed George The Monkey from Mexico, covered up with Nemo, and signed Thank You.

I am ecstatically pleased that my two year old can actually tell me some of his wants and needs now. Normally, at this time of the morning, I would be wildly guessing at what he wanted-was he not eating because he was tired, wanted to play, didn't want the cerial or fruit I gave him...What!!!! Now, he is starting to let me know, and it is grand!

Buddha is starting to wave now, which is sooo precious. I forgot in between Hermes and now how sweet it was to have a child do 'normal' child things. He is also starting to make the 'kissy face' which Thor is thouroughly entertained by, and they will sit for about half an hour makeing smoochy lips at each other, playing like two little kids without a care in the world.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

learning process/learning style

I have been trying to teach Thor ASL. Signlanguage would give him a reliable, non-verbal way to communicate with me, or snub me, depending on his mood. I was becoming very frustrated because it didn't seem to be 'taking'. Also, as bad as this sounds, during the hours I would be trying to get him to make the sign for 'more' I would be staring at my messy messy house thinking the time could be used to clean. I feel really bad for thinking it, but better for admitting it. Sunday, as always, was bath day. In the tub, communicating with Thor is near impossible. He is happy in the tub, genuinely happy, he likes to splash, he likes to fill up the water cup and dump it back out, he likes to squeeze the spunges. The bath is a highly textile, but safe, environment for him. Oftentimes we don't know when he is done until he tries to bolt out of the tub, we still don't know how he hasn't fallen. About halfway into his normal tub-time, I asked if he wanted more, or was all-done-using the signs for both. He watched me intently, then took my hands IN his, and made me make the 'more'sign. I was pleased. We did this about every three minutes, untill he made me sign 'all-done'.
I was very pleased, but still frustrated. It is great that he will make me sign, but still not HIM signing.
Last night we are eating dinner. He starts to fuss when there are only three noddles (an odd number) left on his plate, so I ask, while signing, "All-done or more?" and HE SIGNED BACK!!! He looked at me and signed 'more' I was so pleased! I would have liked more, please, but I'll take more on it's own!!
This morning, it was nearing naptime, and I asked if he was ready for bed (with sign), no response, so I went to him and asked if he was ready to NAP(with sign-slightly different than bed), or if he wanted 'more' awake time, and used his hands (mine covering his) to make the signs. I could see the light click. He looked at me, made the sign for 'nap', grabbed his cup, and lifted his arms for up! Once again I was so pleased, as was he!

It's looking like I will save alot of time and energy on both our parts if I say something, sign it, let him 'feel' me sign it, and then 'help' him sign it. That seems to be how he gets it. I cannot wait to tell his therapists on thursday! Maybe we have something here!

Friday, January 05, 2007

Scorn for sandwiches

I have been trying to get Thor to eat meat between two slices of bread-aka a sandwich- for the last few weeks. Hasn't been happening. He used to have no problems with sandwiches, he would only eat the crust or the center bread, but he would eat them. I made him a sandwich for lunch today, and he wouldn't eat it, he pulled out the meat and cheese and ate that. I was eatin a sandwich and after he was done with his, he came over looking for a bite of mine. He took a alrge chunk, made a face, opened his mouth, removed the two, now soggy peices of bread, and deposited them squarely in the middle of my lap. He then joyfully chewed the meat and cheese, and toddled off on his merry way. Apparently, he now has a thing against bread if it has anything on it. I took some meat and folded in a dry peice of brea and he ate it, I put a little mayo on it, right out, a little butter, spit on the floor, a little mustard-spat across the room. I don't know why he now won't eat bread that is anything but dry, but then again, I don't really know why he does anything.
Since he doesn't yet become violent, angry, or inconsolable when given a spread on bread I'll keep trying. He won't do jelly, jam, or preserves anymore either. Peanut butter has a pass for now, so as long as I don't give PB to him on a spoon or celery, that should be fine.

On thursday, we meet with the SHIELD team again, to go over more stuff as we figure out what might help him, I will bring up his new aversion to moist bread, as well as his newfound attachment to his blanket. He has always had a thing for bedding, but now he will walk around the house half-hiding under the Nemo blanket. He also is starting to through himself around more when we hold him. If he crawls into our laps, it's fine, but if we pick him up unprompted, he almost gets violent, his attempt to free himself is so aggressive. I keep trying to tell myself that he will get better, and in some ways he is, but in other ways, it's deffinately getting worse.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

flat bread

I've been baking. First I made cinamon rolls, which well tasty, were not rolled tight enough, so the bottoms had scorched cin-sugar on them-though tasy, not appealing to the eye. Today I made two loaves of bread, bread that rose well outside of the oven, but didn't rise in the oven, they expanded to fill the pan. They are dense, but should be tasty. I am making a second batch of rolls right now. They are turning out beautifully. I used a french pin to roll the dough, and rolled them back up nice and tight. They are currently on their second rise before the oven, but should come out perfect. Most of them are going to work with Hubby, like the last ones did. I am getting quite the rep as a good baker!

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

The Cold That Would Not Die

So I have this cold, or at least I think it's a cold, it comes and goes a little, but has been with me for about two weeks or so now. I honestly thought I was getting better, the sinuses were draining, The coughing was not only lessening, but when I did they were productive, and all was fairly well. Cue to this morning. I don't know if it's because of multiple nights poor sleep, the weather changes, or if I am the switching tracks for this thing before it meanders on to my kids, Hubby, SistahGirl, the rest of the world, and it just keeps coming back because I'm so mutch fun, or what. I woke up this morning, coughing, hurting throat, nose that was running so much and so fast it was a sprinting nose, and oddly, even though I hadn't drank at all yesterday, even though I drank tons of water, and only two sodas, I am dehydrated. I am drinking water now-I put it in my thermal travel mug, I figure I'll do some tea later, but I need to get thouroughly hydrated if there's any chance of my body beating this--I also need to rest...yeah...right!