Growing

Why is it that they seem to grow overnight?  I was standing next to Son today and it seemed like I didn't have to look as far DOWN to his face.  More like I looked straight OVER to his face.  But what a sweet face it was!

Happy Friday.

Theme Thursday - Halloween

Halloween is the one holiday I do not like.  I don't like to be scared, spooked or to see blood and gore.  And you don't even get a day off of work or school!

So my tribute to Halloween will be Son's costumes through the years. 

He was Elmo one year  

Eeyore

One year, I got ambitious and made him into Thomas the Tank 

BOY was he the envy of all the kids at day care!

Blues Clues

His first costume was BatBoy. 

Pathetic, I know but dressing an 8 month old up for Halloween

was more for my Dad than anything else!

This year, he will be Darth Vader.  Its a costume my stepmother found at a

yard sale and Son wore it LAST year too.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

If you want to see more Halloween Theme visit Theme Thursday!

Weekend Recap and Halloween Fun

Friday night, after Son went to dinner with his dad, I went on a Ghost Tour of my local town with my step mother and a neighbor friend. We dressed up for the tour and had a wonderful time! After the tour, we stopped off for a drinkie winkie and some dinner. Of course, Grandpop was at home waiting for Son to get home for me! I love my Daddy!

Here is a picture of the three of us. Can you guess which is me?

Saturday, I spent the rainy day reading and trying to put my desktop back together. I LOVE viruses!

Sunday

We have a little village here that puts on a HUGE Halloween parade every year. This year Son was invited to ride on the float for his school and since he was with me, I let him. The parade was supposed to be on Saturday but because of the rain they postponed it to Sunday.

So, we showed up in the parking lot and they looked at Son and said "You look like you'd be a good convict! How would you like to go to jail?" Son of course was THRILLED. So they proceeded to stripe him up.

Here is Son in position for the parade

It was a cold night but there were loads of people who were lining the parade route, partying and enjoying the parade and themselves.

Today was a typical Manic Monday. I had to run to work this morning but had the afternoon off for Son's hearing test and post-op check-up. He passed the hearing test with flying colors! YAY! Now we just have to wait for the tubes to do their thing and fall out when they are done.

How was your weekend?

Read A Thon Wrap Up

Hello. I have finally emerged from my bed! :) As per my last post, I was going to take a nap and then finish out the night reading. I woke back up around 2 AM and read Dr. Seuss and some of the blogs I am following. I must have fallen asleep again because I woke up at 5:30 AM. oops

So. I made a quick trip to the potty and went back to bed. I didn't read as much as I had hoped but I did enjoy what I did read. AND I plan to do it again in April! I also plan to do better book reviews later this week.

Thank you for all the cheering and support! HUGS!

Now, I have to fix lunch for Son and then rest my eyes.

Read A Thon Hour Sometime Past the Halfway Mark

I have been reading since about 9 am. Its now 11:50 with still 5 more hours of the Read A Thon to go. But with my sinus headache and the fact that the words are blurring on the page, I am going to take a nap! The alarm is set for 12:30 and hopefully, I will be able to open my eyes and read another book! It might be Dr. Suess but that counts!

I just finished reading The Sound of Sleighbells by Cindy Woodsmall and Loved IT! I didn't want to put it down, even when I drifted off to sleep while reading it. Luckily, Son woke me up to remind me that I needed to snore quieter and wasn't I supposed to be spending the day reading? HA!

I love reading about the Amish and I admire their ability to live their WAY. I know that I could not live without my laptop!

This book is about a woman who looses love and with the help of her family, finds her way back. Which is not unlike my life a while back. I was newly divorced and severely mentally beaten by my ex. I sold my house and moved into the apartment below my parents. With their love as well as others in the complex, I have been learning to love myself. With love of self, comes love of life and eventually (I hope!) the ability to share that love with a partner.

Thank you to all the cheerleaders who have stopped by the Nest! I love seeing the messages left to encourage me onward!

Read a Thon

Hello everyone! Thank you for the cheering! I really appreciate your stopping by to encourage me today!

While I got off to a slow start (life intruded! Computer issues, laundry and friends stopping over!) I have just finished The Shack. What an awesome book!

This book is about a man who looses his way from God and over the course of a weekend with God is reminded how to love him again.

This book evoked many profound thoughts about my relationship with God but that is for another post. For now, I am moving onto another book on my list!

My Reading List for the Read A Thon

I am taking part in the Dewey 24 Hour Read A Thon on Saturday! YAY! I can't wait. Then I have an excuse to sit around reading and doing NOTHING!

Woo ho!

Here are some books on my reading list. It is not a long list but since I can't dedicate the entire 24 hours to this thing, it doesn't have to be a long list.

The Shack by Wm. Paul Young

The Poisonwood Bible bu Barbara Kingsoliver

The Sound of Sleighbells by Cindy Woodsmall

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

Rouge Stallion by Diana Palmer

I also plan to read some stories with Son, such as some Disney favorites:

Davy Crockett

Johnny Appleseed

The Shaggy Dog

When Son is in the Halloween Parade, I will have my MP3 player loaded with Harry Potters Deathy Hollows.

If I need some easier to read stuff, I have several Harlequin Romance books I can breeze through.

I don't know how often I will post about my reading adventures but please check in on me occasionally and cheer me on! Happy reading!

Theme Thursday - Traffic

This is my first Theme Thursday! I hope you enjoy.........

We have lots of traffic around. Not a lot of this traffic:

Lots of this traffic:

And this traffic:

As I came around the turn in this picture, I almost had me a deer with antlers!

We get this traffic:

We get detoured traffic:

We get ship traffic, LOTS of ship traffic:

And we have Dead End Traffic:

Check out other Theme Thursdays!

I'm A Reject

Well, I personally don’t feel like one but eHarmony apparently thinks I am. I signed up for a 3 month stint with them and I am in month #2. BUT I have gotten very few matches and the ones that I HAVE gotten are what they call “flexible” matches. Meaning, they sort of match with you. HA.

I am a 37 yr old single white female who lives in the middle of almost no-where. In my match settings I asked for 35 to 43 yr old while males who lives within 30 miles of me. Now, 30 miles can cover a lot of territory, even another STATE! Thirty miles would be about 45 minutes or so from where I live. Not too bad of a drive and it only takes about 30 minutes to get to civilization.

I thought I was pretty generous on the age range, I don’t really want someone who might be old enough to be my father or who is just graduating from high school.

Well, eHarm seems to think that they have leeway in my matching. Oh, she only marked her age range as a 7 so we can match her with a 52 yr old who lives 2 HOURS from her town.

Come ON! Really, eHarm?

Of course when I saw what eHarm was going to send me, I stopped being so picky and tried to start conversations with the 45 yr old who only lived a hour from me. Of course, he closed the match because he didn’t want to travel so far into East BubbleNuck. I don’t blame him.

Then, there was the guy who was my age and lived about 30 minutes from me. Cool. AND he responded to my inquiries. Until I allowed him to see my picture. Then all of a sudden he was “pursuing a relationship”. Nice. Timing.

I don’t think I am horrible to look at, I mean I’m not a zombie or anything. Unless I have been up all night fixing my computer that has a virus and spyware. But I would never post a picture of THAT. Ewww. I know I'm not Mrs. America or anything but I have all my teeth and an awesome personality!

So this experience from the past 2 months has not been a real ego booster and it makes me want to re-think my choice to get back in the dating scene. I still have another month on my subscription with eHarm but I am not very optimistic that anything will come through. I hope I am proven wrong!

UPDATE: I did NOT plan on the eHarmony ads on the side! Talk about irony~~~

Halloween Parade

Son's school is making a float for a local Halloween Parade and grades 3 through 8 get to ride on the float in the parade. Last year, Son wasn't able to because he was with his father for visitation and his father wouldn't allow him to participate. Jerk. Ooops. lol

This year, Son is with ME for the parade! YAY for Son! I get to chauffeur Son to and from the parade meeting grounds, which is small with little parking, and either wait in said area or I can walk the parade route while Son rides on the float. Well, walking and seeing the sites of the parade sounds like a lot more fun!

Son gets to dress up for the float and I guess I can too. Hummmm. Should start getting some ideas for a costume! Any suggestions?

Some background on this parade: The Village has put on this parade for 41 years. This is a small village of 2,700 people, give or take a couple. They shut down the village for the parade and everyone parties the afternoon/night away. I remember going to a party when I was pregnant and it was SO much fun! Don't worry, I was the designated driver of the group I was with!

Anywho, the whole thing should be loads of fun for us and a chance to get out and see the freaks who live around us! I can't wait!

Books, Books and Even More Books!

I love books. I love reading. I love being transported to another world, another time and place. Son doesn't like to read. He doesn't understand how you can be taken to another world when you are sitting right here. humph. We'll have to work on that.

Anywho, back to books. I love to read and I am very fortunate to have a friend and neighbor who also loves books! In the past year, Denise has shared ever so many books and I am SO grateful. Without Denise, I would not have read Abraham's Daughter series, the Twilight books or The Shack. I am not finished with The Shack yet. I'm going to read another chapter or two when I am done here.

So, Denise at Sunflowers, Chocolate and Little Boys (yes, same friend and neighbor) was having a book give away! COOL! Enter me! PLEASE! Denise was giving away The Sound of Sleigh Bells by Cindy Woodsmall. I LOVE the Amish books! Now I just have to find time to stop over and pick it up. And I need to do that before Saturday. Why you ask?

I have signed up for Dewey's Read-A-Thon.

For 24 hours, we read books, post to our blogs about our reading, and visit other readers’ blogs. We also participate in mini-challenges throughout the day. It happens twice a year, in April and in October.

Now, I don't know how much time I will actually be reading, I already have things scheduled for the evening with Son that I cannot change at this time. Of course, since Audio Books count, maybe I will load up my MP3 player and listen while I walk beside his parade float. Great Idea!

I also have to work on my reading list. I have several eBooks that I want to read, some classics as well as some books that I can read to Son. Maybe I can get him to participate with me as well! Later this week I share my reading list with you.

Please, check back often on Saturday as I plan on posting as I finish books or at least every few hours or so, just to take a break from reading a book!

Its Sunday already?!?!?

WOW. Where does the weekend go? Its Sunday already and I will have to go back to work tomorrow. ugh. Yesterday, I spent most of the day on the couch. I did get out of jammies to go to dinner with my parents. But was right back in them once home again!

Today, I had to go to the store, Son seems to want to eat when he comes home from his dads. grumble. The weather here seems to be getting better and actually, I am surprised that these Nor'easters haven't been worse. Here is a picture I took at High Tide today:

These are the steps leading to the beach (we have beach at low tide). We have had white caps out there all weekend.

Here is a shot of the fury of the River. This is a picture taken by my step mother on a different day. Its a bit blurry because the window she was taking it through was covered in River Spray.

We don't worry about the river over-flowing its banks. My parents have lived here for 7 years and have only been flooded once and that was from the meadow behind our house. Seen here:

Again, this is an old picture, we didn't have any flooding this weekend from the storms.

I hope your weekend has been a safe, warm and dry one! I still have time to color my hair and get a nap in before Son comes home! Yay me!

An Award!

I received an AWARD! GO me! And thank you to Denise from Sunflowers, Chocolate and Little Boys! You're the best to think of me!

This award states:Neno's Award - Rules & Regulations:

1.As a dedication for those who love blogging and love to encourage friendships through blogging.

2.To seek the reasons why we all love blogging.

3.Put the award in one post as soon as you receive it.

4.Don't forget to mention the person who gives you the award.

5.Answer the awards question by writing the reason why you love blogging.

6.Tag and distribute the award to as many people as you like.

7.Don't forget to notify the award receivers and put their links in your post.

I am going to take the lazy way out and not tag anyone for this award. But I will let you know why I love Blogging. I love blogging because it is FREE therapy and I get lots of feedback on what ever silliness I post. I also love reading blogs because it makes the world seem smaller and I get to experience others lives and thoughts.

Thank you again Denise! Love you! I am going back to my couch with a hot tea to rest some more this weekend.

Friday Lesson and Bragging

THIS IS A LONG POST!!

My son has Aspergers Syndrome, which is a form of Autism. I have known about this since 2006 and have done everything I could to help him. Weekly therapy appointments, specialized services in school, even planning selling my house and not moving until it was a good time for him. His father on the other hand, doesn't believe in the diagnosis and doesn't apply any of the interventions that help him. Here is some info on Aspergers Syndrome (AS) and some of Son's symptoms:

Characteristics of Asperger Syndrome:
Each person is different. An individual might have all or only some of the described behaviors to have a diagnosis of AS.

These behaviors include the following:

• Marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as: eye gaze, facial expression, body posture, and gestures to regulate social interaction.
• Extreme difficulty in developing age-appropriate peer relationships. (e.g. AS children may be more comfortable with adults than with other children).

Son doesn't have a "best" friend but he does play with kids in the neighborhood pretty well. They are younger than him. If you get him with his classmates, things don't go as well. But the school is working on this with him.

• Inflexible adherence to routines and perseveration.

Son is getting better with changing the schedule around but it used to be that I could not change ANYTHING without him loosing it. He just could not change things in his mind and feel secure with things.

• Fascination with maps, globes, and routes.

When he was 2, he would give me directions to the babysitters every morning. I thought it was cute that he could do that. He also loved the map of the US that was in his room. He spent hours staring at it and memorizing it.

• Superior rote memory.

He can recite almost anything back to you. AND he can remember details of almost every outing we have been on. SCARY!

• Preoccupation with a particular subject to the exclusion of all others. Amasses many related facts.

AS kids seem to have a particular fascination with trains, cars and making lines of things. Son has been in love with trains since he was tiny and still is. He loves Thomas but is getting away from that a bit. He loves the big trains and can give you details about how they are different from each other and how to drive them. He also has every Matchbox and Hot Wheels car ever made and loves to line them up all over the house.

• Difficulty judging personal space, motor clumsiness.

Son was always too close to people and definitely will not be a ballerina. :) He is getting better about judging the personal space and no longer has a special gym class to help with his clumsiness.

• Sensitivity to the environment, loud noises, clothing and food textures, and odors.

This is a big one. Son doesn't mind the fire engine sirens but when the nuclear siren would do their test, he would FREAK. I used to think it was because of his ear problems but apparently its from AS. He will not wear jeans, prefers elastic pants or sweats. His food cannot be too hot or too cold and NO GREEN! And it cannot be to hard to chew. This is the most frustrating for me because I want him to eat well and because I LOVE food and know what wonderful things he is missing out on!

• Speech and language skills impaired in the area of semantics, pragmatics, and prosody (volume, intonation, inflection, and rhythm).

Son is LOUD. The teachers at school think its because of his ear problems but I disagree. When his ears are normal, he is still loud. He also tends to talk fairly monotone, this has gotten better and he is learning to put feeling into his stories.

• Difficulty understanding others' feelings.

Son had NO empathy for anyone or anything. One of the goals for his therapy was to teach him empathy. Now, there are times that I think he is too sensitive. But at least he is considering other peoples feelings.

• Pedantic, formal style of speaking; often called "little professor," verbose.

Again, he uses BIG words (I thought it was because I didn't talk "baby" to him) and enjoys lecturing people on his favorite subjects.

• Extreme difficulty reading and/or interpreting social cues.

Son still has difficulty with this. There are times when he will burst out laughing when it is TOTALLY inappropriate. This will take time for him to learn and with all the different situations that could happen, may never be perfect.

• Socially and emotionally inappropriate responses.

Son has trouble with this. He still has meltdowns over little things. But he is working on this as well.

• Literal interpretation of language. difficulty comprehending implied meanings.

Son still has trouble recognizing sarcasm. And I like sarcasm so he gets a workout with me!

• Extensive vocabulary. Reading commences at an early age (hyperlexia).

Son didn't start reading at an early age but he does have a good vocabulary, thanks to Mom!

• Stereotyped or repetitive motor mannerisms.

Thankfully, he doesn't have any of theses that I have recognized.

• Difficulty with "give and take" of conversation.

He definitely monopolizes the conversations and interrupts with his own thoughts. We are working on this.

So the reason for this lesson on AS and my son? Next week I have a meeting with the child study team to determine his services for the remainder of the school year. I was reviewing the current plan as well as the website http://www.aspennj.org/index.asp for ideas of interventions that might benefit him.

Also, I wanted to brag about him. I received a WONDERFUL email yesterday from one of his teachers and wanted to share. The AS lesson was background to try and help you to realize that I am not only PROUD of my child, I am floating on a cloud because of the words from the teacher. Email:

Hi Amy,

I wanted to let you know that Jacob's behavior this year has been outstanding!!! He is polite, well mannered, and has an excellent attitude. He has been completing all work when asked. It is amazing how much he has improved since he started in 4th grade last fall!

Tammy

My son may have a disability but he is willing to work on his problems to fit in and succeed! His disability doesn't stop him from doing much and when it does, we work together to find a way to work around that.

Not Much Happening

This week has been pretty quiet so far, with not much happening. I guess that's a good thing! I have been moving into my new bloggy space. You can see some of the changes I have made and I will be working on more.

Son is already getting excited that he is going to his dad's this weekend and to be honest, so am I! It took a while but I have come to look at his weekends away as a chance to re-charge ME and helps me to be a better mom to him.

I am looking forward to a quiet, rainy, windy weekend that will give me NO excuse but to park my sick butt on the couch and rest. Yes, I have been sick since the beginning of September, twice now the Dr has told me I am not really sick because colds don't stay around for this long. DUH! He has also offered nothing to help me get better, UGH. So a weekend of rest, chicken noodle soup and hot tea, along with a bunch of movies should help!

Thank you to my new followers! Welcome and I hope that you enjoy my bloggy mind! I have also won an award that I will post about later today!

Yesterday in Pictures

Yesterday was a wonderful day. Son and I went on a nature walk in the morning and completely enjoyed ourselves! He had gone to this nature preserve last week with a school field trip and wanted to share his knowledge with me. We took a net to catch grass shrimp and I took my camera. I also took my phone but it was useless WAY out there.

We started the walk out with Butterflies. I have a special place in my heart for butterflies.

We are close to this. No, we don't glow but our cancer and austim rates are almost the highest in my state.

This is a tributary that leads to the River.

Just MILES and MILES of marsh.

But isn't that sky just brilliant?

More Marsh Pictures

The boardwalk we were on to get to the tributary in the picture above.

This was on the way back. Son was leading me home. Thanks, Son!

After communing with nature, we visited with a friend and I made dinner for my family. Over all, a pretty nice Sunday!

How was yours?

random thoughts mostly cause I had too much to drink with dinner

I missed my cruise ship at sunset yesterday.

This ship goes past my house every couple to threee days at sunset. One day I will ride ON the ship.

We walked with nature today...... and OOOPS I forgot to download the pictures from the camera. Tomorrow. LOL

I miss Disney. or at least being on vacation.

I have has too much to drink tonight. But I enjoyed the company AND..........

.. Nite :)

Celebration

I have been divorced for 3 years today! And I have never been happier. But I wish someone had told me THIS story when I was a little princess.

Once Upon a Time in a Land Far Away, a beautiful, independent, self-assured princess happened upon a frog as she sat contemplating ecological issues on the shores of an unpolluted pond in a verdant meadow near her castle.

The frog hopped into the princess' lap and said

"Elegant Lady, I was once a handsome prince, until an evil witch cast a spell upon me. One kiss from you, however, and I will turn back into the dapper, young price that I am, and the, my sweet, we can marry, and set up housekeeping in your castle, with my mother, where you can prepare my meals, clean my clothes, bear my children, and forever feel grateful and happy doing so."

That night, as the princess dined sumptuously on lightly sauteed frog legs, seasoned in a white wine and cream sauce, she chuckled and thought to herself:

I don't fucking think so!

And today, I celebrate my independence and happiness! Celebrate with me!

Hospital

I have to say that we were in the best hospital! Our arrival time was at 8:20 am. They took us right back to get the pre-op stuff taken care of. Once that was done, they put him in a bed and gave him "giggle juice". Almost immediately, he was blinking and complaining about seeing "things floating". psychedelic dude! lol

The Dr Hotty (more on him later!) came and talked with me, signed some papers and away Son went! I didn't even cry. The nurses showed me where the PACU waiting was and I had just enough time to send one email telling family that he was in surgery and it would be about 30 minutes before I heard anything else. I looked up from that email and here comes Dr Hotty to tell me that everything is done, looks good and I can see Son in about 20 minutes or so. WOW!

So I send another email telling everyone that he's done! And of course, call my father who didn't have email today! Eventually, they are coming to get me to sit with him while he wakes up. He always has woken up easily. No fussing, puking or crying. He drank some juice and watched some TV while things floated by still. And then whined when they said it was time to get dressed. Of course because a good show came on the TV. Typical!

Our nurse got pulled away to tend a smaller patient who wasn't waking up nicely from the giggle juice. She wasn't even with us when the wheel chair came to get us. But we were cleared to leave!

We got home at 11:10 am. I can't remember a quicker trip to the hospital for surgery! They ROCK!

Son has been vegging on the couch since we got home. I am working Saturday chores so I have Saturday free. Always a good thing when there are TONS of things to do this time of year!

Now, Dr. Hotty. yum. He is not Son's regular ENT but he had time free in his OR schedule for Son. WOW. Had I known he was HOTTY, I would have switched! And would be happier that Son has ear problems cause it would be more chances to flirt/drool! Oh well. My prince is out there.

Have a happy weekend. I know I will!

Pins and Needles

I have been through this 4 other times but experience doesn't always help with the anxiety. Son's surgery is tomorrow sometime. But I am still worried about tomorrow. I guess it doesn't matter how many times you have been through this before, you still worry about what these people are going to do to your baby. Even if the baby is 10! lol

I have instructions from the hospital to attach my phone to me today while waiting for them to call with our arrival time. Its in my pocket as I type.

This will be the first surgery he has had that I am not taking "support" with me to the hospital. I have convinced myself that since we have been through this before and I am in a MUCH better place mentally, I can do this on my own. Plus the hospital has free internet so I can still keep in touch with my "support" cybernetically.

So, positive thinking: Everything will be fine for Son. Actually, he will be better because when he comes out, he will be able to hear! YAY! I will be fine because I am strong and healthy.

And I can't wait to get him home and watch movies all afternoon!

Facebook

Everyone I know has a MySpace page. Not me. I even mocked people with MySpace pages. pfft! What do you need THAT for? HA.

Then my friend said that she was on Facebook. And that I should see ALL the people we went to school with who were on there! It was COOL to be on Facebook, or so she said.

So I signed up and made friends with her. Yes, there were lots of people I knew and/or went to school with. But I didn't "hang" with these people in school. Why would they want to be friends with me now? So I wasn't and still am not very proactive about being your friend on Facebook. I am choosy about who I am friends with. So if I am friends with you on Facebook, I really like you!

Until Denise of Sunflowers, Chocolate and Little Boys, sent a friend request to me. She and I weren't really friends in high school, we certainly didn't "hang" together. I dated her brother for a while but when that fizzled, I moved off in a different direction from Denise. Don't get me wrong, I liked her but she was just my boyfriends little sister. lol

So the day that Denise friended me, I was feeling particularly lonely so I accepted. From that day forward, she always commented on my status, eventually we were emailing through facebook, then exchanged home emails and phone numbers. OH! And when we figured out that we lived around the corner from each other, that was the deal sealer! We were destined to be best friends!

I don't want to say that she cyber stalked me but............ I am glad that she did!

Its been just over a year since she and I reconnected on Facebook and we have had MANY Girls Nights In and Out (with more to come!), our kids get along very well, and her husband likes me too, always a plus!

After I had a particularly trying day and whining to Denise that I wished my therapist hadn't discharged me, she introduced me to blogging. "It's therapy without the car ride, the wait and its FREE!" Free? I'm there! So I started a blog, which I have since closed down do to a stalker. And she was right. Free therapy!

Then she would talk about all the blogs she was "following" and she showed me how to do that. Now I spend HOURS reading and commenting on other peoples lives. And I am not as lonely.

So, Facebook, Thank you for bringing me new/old friends!

Denise, thank you for introducing me to free therapy and for cyber stalking me! Love you!

An F Bomb Kinda Day

Have you ever had a F-Bomb kinda day? Well that was my day today. Here's some background leading to the F-Bomb.

Son has a retainer on the top only. It is PRE treatment, getting things started before they put braces on the top and bottom. He needs teeth pulled on the bottom before they can put braces on. Son has had a terrible time remembering to wear the thing. He has left it at 2 restaurants and we were very lucky they found it for us.

After Son got out of the shower tonight I told him to brush his teeth and put his retainer back in. After he tried to say he couldn't FIND it, we finally determined that he did indeed wear it to school this morning and he threw it away at lunchtime. At SCHOOL.

There's the first F-bomb. The second one came when I looked at the price of the one in the trash that I am STILL PAYING ON.

The third F-bomb came when my best friend called to say that she thinks she is having some medical problems. She is still recovering from a major surgery and thinks this might be a complication from the surgery. Big time F-bomb! Even bigger than my retainer fiasco.

So did you have an F-bomb kinda day? Please tell me about it!

Blessings

I am blessed. I know this but there are days that I am reminded of this. Today is such a day.

Son had pre-admission testing for his ear surgery next week so we spent the morning at the hospital. Now, this is not your ordinary hospital that caters to all ages, this is one of the top children’s hospital in the area. Just walking through the lobby is enough to break you heart.

My son has a disability as well as ear problems that make him special. He has worked very hard with the therapists and other specialist in his life to learn to cope with his Aspergers Syndrome. It helps him that I have advocated and pushed for every intervention he has had since the 2006 diagnosis. To me, Son is special, even without the diagnosis. With the diagnosis, he is special to a lot of other people, mainly the school district and the therapists that work with him.

But when you go to the children’s hospital, you can see that Son is normal in comparison to a lot of the kids there. We were on our way out when I saw a mother walking down the hall with her son and daughter. The daughter looked to be about 5 and the son, well it was hard to tell. He was in a wheel chair, a fancy electric one that seems to recline. The mother was also pushing an IV pole with bags of stuff and an oxygen tank. She was good at driving the wheel chair and guiding the pole at the same time. My heart broke for that family.

There were other kids there with various physical disabilities, lack of hair as a result of chemo, and of course their parents there to support and encourage them.

Going to this hospital is a good reminder for me to hug my child close and to say a prayer of thanks for my blessings. When you count your blessings the next time, ask God to keep all the families with special children close to his heart.

I did.

I Want

Well, that could be a LONG list! There is so much that I want from life. Some material things and some non-material things. I just have to figure out what is priority to me. The material things are not important to me, I can work my way to getting those things.

The non-material thing that I think I want to work for is love. I have the love of my son, my parents and my friends. What I don't have is the love of a man in my life. Oh, I had it at one time; son was the result. :) The death of that love and the relationship was hard. The growth and getting to know myself that came from that love and relationship was well worth it. Of course, at the time, I didn't think so but I do now. That to me is one of many signs that I am ready to give love a shot, again.

So, I live in a rural farming community where the best place to meet guys is a bar and this bar has the same people in it that were there when I was in college and partying there. yuck. Maybe I am being a snob but I don't think so.

I have posted myself on several matching sites on the Internet. I hope I am successful. Of course, I welcome your input and suggestions for putting myself out there.