Toothless Wonder

I went to unpack Brandon's backpack this morning and found a surprise. His class photo. It's a good one. Look Mom, no teeth.

Meeting with Advocate - Somewhat Disappointing

Today was the day I was supposed to meet with an Advocate for Lauren. I was supposed to meet her at my office before it opened. I got there early. Made copies of all the paperwork she wanted. And there I sat. . . and sat . . . . and sat. She never showed. I tried calling her cell phone and still haven't gotten a call back. Hopefully she will call back and we can reschedule. It did freak out her teacher, I think. I had taken Lauren's agenda book and told her to tell her teacher I had it. I got an email confirming that I "had it for a meeting". She also wanted to let me know about all Lauren's homework and about the test on Thursday. Funny, that's the first e-mail I have ever received from her. The frighting thing is that I also kept the communication book and have heard nothing from the special ed teacher. Maybe there will be something in her folder.

Thanksgiving - Normal Crazy

The last week was really crazy. Everyone was to meet at my brothers for dinner. We all have the things we always bring. Mine is the traditional rolls, cheesy twice baked potatoes and homemade applesauce. I stated cooking the weekend before. I finished the second batch of rolls early Thursday morning. The potatoes were made at Rick's. All together there were 21 of us. I think that's a new record. It was nice having Jim's Mom there. I hope my crazy family didn't scare the crap out of her. The teenagers are bringing their girlfriend/boyfriends. Scary how old that makes you feel. Arion spent more of his time at his Dad's. That was a little frustrating. I guess I'm the safe one. He knows I will always be there for him. Dad, well he has issues and Arion's security with him needs reassurance on a regular basis.

One bright point was that I got to spend some time with my good friend Shannon. She came up and spend Wednesday night and Saturday night with us. We would have gone shopping on Friday, but Danny, her youngest found someones pills and took one. Shannon and her spent the next 8-10 hours at the hospital. That was fun. Danny is fine now. Here are some pictures of some of the fun. Jim and I bought a new camera on Saturday. Yeah, I know. It's about time.

The Bath Room Is Done - Mostly

Here are some pictures of the bathroom. I borrowed the camera at work. The only thing left is the weins coat and chair rail. I think I posted after I got the fixtures in for the tub and shower. All I had to do was caulk. Well it sounded easy enough. I planned to do it at night after the kids were in bed. The first try went pretty good. I decided that I would do this right. That was my first mistake. I put down blue painters tape so I would have a clean line. I did that caulking and I looked great. Of course the phone rang just then and I got to talking and then forgot about the tape. You see, for those who don't know, you are supposed to pull the tape off before it dries. This leaves a clean line. The problem is if it dries than it does not come off when you remove the tape. I stays behind and kind of hangs in the wind. NOT PRETTY. The next morning I started removing it before I went to work. Later that night I finished removing it and grabbed another tub that I had around the house. I noticed it had a different consistency, but thought it was just a different brand. WRONG. The next morning it still hadn't dried. I spoke to one of my maintenance guys at work and he said that if the tube was ever frozen, it would do that. GREAT. That night (Friday night), after the kids were in bed, I began again. I used craft sticks to scrap out all the caulk and then got it all cleaned up. Then I caulked again. Thank God it worked. I had to pick up Nana on Saturday and I was determined that that bath room would be ready for her to use. Anyway. Enjoy the pictures.

Just so you remember, this was the before:

Then this after I gutted it.

Than this is with the new stuff.

This Week - Not What I Planned

When last we talked, I was trying to get ready for Nana. Well, I picked her up without a hitch and got her to our house. It was crazy but the house was ready, even though I had to caulk the tub 3 times, but more on that later. Jim got in around 9:30 pm exhausted from their 15 hour drive. The next morning things continued to go good. The truck was unloaded by lunch and we spent the rest of the day trying to get the apartment set up and some stuff unpacked. On Monday night I had parent teacher conference and Jim had a board meeting, so we didn't make it back to help. On Tuesday, we were SUPPOSED to go over after dinner to help some more but that's when things got off track. I got home first and started getting dinner ready. Jim called from the sitters and said to get ready, Lauren was throwing up all over the place. I got her bed ready, complete with bucket, and put her to bed as soon as she got home. She fell asleep before dinner was served and I started talking to Jim about which one of us would go to help set up the TV and then I broke my tooth. Not just broke, mind you, but half the tooth shattered into a hundred little tiny pieces. NICE. At that point it was decided that Jim would go. I had taken Wednesday off to show Nana around and help her out with some stuff, but that didn't really happen. I made her a doctors appointment, but wasn't able to get it for Wednesday. So, Wednesday morning Lauren was feeling a little better. I kept her home with me and we headed over to Nana's. I drove Nana around so she would know where the doctors was, the stores were, the closest banks, etc. We stopped for lunch and that set Lauren's stomach back off. At that point I took Nana back to our house and put Lauren back in bed. From our house we were able to make most of the phone calls that had to be made and then we all had dinner before I went to work. Thursday morning I took off sick, hit the grocery store and then went to the dentist. YES, ME. I went to the dentist. You see it's been 13 years since I have had a dentist work on my teeth. So I went and had a root canal. Not pleasant. Then I went to work. Today, my tooth hurts. I have had little sleep. The anti-biotic has my stomach doing the loop do loop, and I generally feel like crap.

Doom On You

Have you ever seen the movie "Ice Age"?? Do you know the scene when the Do Do's are preparing for the ice age. They say "If you didn't prepare for the Ice Age, then doom on you, doom on you." Of course they only had something like 3 melons. Well this phase was used over the past couple of days. Except we changed one part. You see Jim leaves today for Chicago. He will meet up with his Mom, pack her up and send her here on a plane as he and his brother drive all her stuff back here for her to live near us in PA. I on the other hand, I have been running around getting the house ready. She will need to spend the night with us for at least Saturday until we get her stuff moved into her apartment on Sunday. So here is the new saying . . . . "If you don't prepare for the Nana, then doom on you, doom on you." What do you think?? Too harsh??? By the way, I'm still cleaning up from the bathroom construction and the house is a general disaster from me not having enough time to clean while working two jobs. I guess that makes it "Doom on Me."

I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar

This statement has been said quite frequently over the years. Usually when I do something for the first time. These things are usually things that most women wouldn't be doing. I have always felt that I could just about anything if I just put my mind to it. Not that I haven't made mistakes over the years. But the important thing is that I recognize that I learn from my mistakes and not let the fear stop me. This was the case with the shower. I had the plumber put in the tub, but I did the tile and grout. It was then time to hook up the spout and leaver. This is not something I have done in the past. With the last bathroom I had the plumber come back and do it. This time I said that it was time for me to try. I spoke to one of my maintenance guys and then started the other night. I got the spout on no problem and then started on the faceplate and leaver. This was starting to give me some trouble and then Jim was calling me for help somewhere in the house and I gave up. This morning I tried again. I am happy to report that for the first time in 5 years we have 2 fully functioning bathrooms (that don't leak) in our house. I was like a kid at Christmas when I turned on the water and it came out and then the shower worked too. YES. By the way, the bathroom turned out great and when I get a new camera, I will post some pictures.

Sushi Man

Last night we went to Jim's favorite place - The Hibachi. He loves "all you can eat sushi night". Most of the time he goes alone or just takes the kids when I'm at work, but not so much with me. So last night I was off and we went as a family. Instead of going to the grill we went to the sushi bar and the kids wanted to sit at the counter so they could watch them make the sushi and talk to all the people. Things were going good. We have found that Lauren loves the shrimp and Brandon will eat the buttered noodles and sometime some steak. As they all know Jim real well, they just started making him sushi with out even asking what he wanted (they already knew). One of the first things they handed over was some Yellow Tail. Jim started eating and Brandon was really interested this time. All of the sudden Brandon said he wanted one. Jim gave him a piece and looked at me. You see Brandon is very picky when it comes to food and getting him to try something new is like pulling teeth. I remained quiet and calm, determined to see what he would do. He picked up the meat part and sniffed it and then took a little bite. Then he gave me the thumbs up sign. OH MY GOD, HE LIKED IT. Next he took a big bite and then he stuffed the whole thing in his mouth, rice and all. HOLY CRAP. Jim and I couldn't believe he did it. Without any prodding at all. At that point it was high fives all around.

Starting the Fight Again

Here I go again. And let's not mention that I almost feel bad for the school for me doing it. I do guilt well. I have made a phone call to try to get Lauren retested for a second opinion. I am going to have a meeting with the two teachers on Monday and following that I will be requesting an addendum for her IEP. Not that they follow it anyway. The special ed teacher has written in her communication book all of twice since the beginning of the year. Her IEP says daily. Every time I get a note home from Lauren's regular teacher it seems a bit snotty. I try to ask Lauren if the teacher read her the test that she took and she can't remember. How do I handle this???? If she can't remember and they don't do it then how do I get them to do it. The agenda book is a disaster. She can't read what's on the board to write down. Copying it from the board is hard because of the working memory problems. All she does is write down WS every day and hopes it right. When I question her about it she just cries. More guilt. I sent the school psychologist a e-mail to which there was no response. What do I do now. Well here it is. I will meet with the teachers and tell what is up. Change your ways or things are going to get hot. I have been trying to get an advocate to go with me when I go in for the IEP change. Hopefully someone they find scary. Get her retested and get the specialist input as to what should be in the IEP. Find a way to be sure they are doing what they are supposed to. Maybe the special ed teacher should initial the test to show she saw it. I don't know. We shall see.

Arion's Change of Heart

Last night I finally got a hold of Arion. He had been avoiding me and I knew something was up. I called on his dorm phone so he wouldn't know it was me. We talked about his account being all paid up (we had a problem with one of the loans going through) and that he could now schedule his classes. I asked if he had thought about what he wanted to take. At that point he started to tell me that he was going to switch his major from nursing to psychology. He seemed hesitant to tell me. Wanted me to know that he had discussed it with my brother and sister-in-law who are doctors and he really looks up to. He said he even discussed it with the professors. I told him it was fine. I also told him as long as it makes him happy, I don't care what he does. I just wish he would discuss it with me. I guess it is him just growing up and trying to be more independent. The one thing that I found cool is Arion used to like to take the easy way out. Now he seems to be picking something that will require even more work. I guess he really is becoming his own person. What happen to my little baby.

Halloween Day

Yesterday was really a wild ride. I went to wake up Brandon and he didn't want to get up till I said "It's Halloween". At that point he sat up and said "Oh my gosh, did I miss it". He then started bouncing off the walls and didn't stop till I tucked him back into bed. He went to school where they had a parade. At home he was so excited that he could hardly eat dinner. When it was time to start, he was like a jack Russell terrier running in circles. He ran from house to house and I kept having to tell him to slow down. Lauren was excited, but figured that ladies and angels stayed calm. Cute, huh. He costume was very cute. She had a big hoop dress in cream with a halo and wings (angel) and Brandon was Spiderman. Both had a great time and were really tired when it was time to go to bed. Thank God. I was beat.