Typical Coach Mentality

Son was playing Fall Soccer. This was his first season and he was really enjoying it. Then school started and he started having problems keeping up with his school work. And his attitude at school was less than stellar.

So I grounded Son. No TV, video games or anything fun. I didn't ground him from soccer though. I really wanted Son to make soccer work.

But the school work kept getting worse. The fights to get it done got worse. The attitude of Son at school, worse. So there really was only one more thing to take away. Yep. Soccer.

I really did give my decision LOTS of thought. Son was enjoying the game itself, his teammates and he also was getting exercise. He seemed to make progress with being a team player and other social skills that sometimes eludes Aspergers Kids. All pluses in my book.

And at practices, I would get to visit with my best friend while her kids practiced with their team. Another plus! Other than the smacks she would give me while she tried to say that she was saving me from another bug trying to eat me alive.

Was all the pluses enough to out weigh the negative of the school work? Could I stand all the fighting with Son to get the school work done? Did I have the patience to deal with this till Thanksgiving? Could I stand the bugs and the cold that was to come?

The final straw was when Son came home from school missing more of his homework than he actually brought home, as well as a couple of F's in the folder. I'm DONE. I cannot allow my son's school career, not to mention his friendships at school, to be put in jeopardy for soccer. There just weren't enough pluses in my book.

So on Friday, I called the coach and let him know what was up so he could plan on Son not playing on Sunday. On Sunday, we took Jacob's uniform to the coach. Here is the conversation, sort of:

Me: Sorry that I am pulling Jacob but school is more important.
Coach: This must have been a hard decision.
Me: NO. School comes FIRST.
Coach: (looking shocked that something could be more important than soccer) Oh. Well, maybe if he gets things together at school, he can come back.
Me: (in my head) What makes you think he will be able to handle this next week when nothing will have changed? Its obvious to ME that Son doesn't have the ability to get make the grades at school AND do an after school activity! YET. Someday, I hope he will!

But I digress: Since when is SOCCER more important than SCHOOL in the minds of coaches? Humph. What happened to needing good grades to continue playing on the sports teams?

Either way, I don't think Coach liked me very much.

Sick and Tired, Tired of Being Sick

Yes, I am still sick. With the same cold that knocked my on my BUTT when we got home from Vacation at the beginning of September. I have been to the Drs and he recommended 3 different decongestants and cough medicines. And I am still sick.

This week, I will advocate for myself with the same zeal I use when I am fighting for Jacob's rights with the Drs and the schools.

In the meantime, I am going to crawl into bed and beg someone to bring me chicken noodle soup!

Peacful Morning

This morning was so lovely. The quiet and calm broken only by the screech of a bird and the upstairs neighbor fire pagers. Son still in bed. OH! Son still in bed! Gotta get him up so there is no repeat of yesterday! Anyway, here are pictures of my peaceful morning.

The sky

Looking south from my yard

Looking North from my yard

Happy Morning!

Manic Monday

I should have known that today was going to be crazy when Son missed the bus. I had a hard time waking him up but that is not unusual for a Monday when he has been at his Dads'. But next thing I know, its 7:50 and he still doesn't have shoes on. And the bus was early. I dropped him off at a different bus stop and he got to school on time.

Work was uneventful, thank goodness! And I left at noon because Son had an appointment with an ear specialist. We went to the appointment and registered. He went with the Audiologist for his hearing test. When they came back out, she told me that his hearing was much worse than it was 6 weeks ago. Wonderful. She couldn't get his either of his ear drums to move and they were curved inward still. Ok. So we have to see what the Dr says to do to fix this.

Get in to see the Dr and he is concerned because there is fluid in there that is keeping the ear drums from moving. But there is no infection! Woo ho. Dr. thinks that the best way to fix this is to put tubes in. Again. For the THIRD time.

Dr is booked into November but he thinks this needs to be taken care of as soon as possible. So he thinks we need to have one of the partners take care of this in October. Ok. You are the head of ENT at one of the best children's hospitals around. I will do as you recommend. Now I have to tell Son's father.

Then after we leave the Drs, we sit in traffic getting home. Wilmington at that time of day is horrible to try and move through. Son was scheduled for soccer pictures at 6:30. No time for dinner or homework. Son has enough time to get changed into his uniform and jump back in the car.

On the way home, we stop at Hudocks Custard Stand for take out. Son got a bellybuster and to console myself after the stress of the day, I got a hot fudge sundae!! A pretty good end to a stressful day.

Reading

I love to read. If I didn't have to work, I would spend my days reading. I will read almost genre. Right now I am reading a smut book that will take about 2 days to finish. Next on deck will be Dan Brown's newest release, The Lost Symbol. I have read quite a few of his novels and loved each one.

Today, Son had his second soccer game which they won. He was so excited and did very well. His father brought him to the game because it was his weekend with Son. He and the latest girlfriend stood by a fence farthest from the field and didn't show an interest in the game. Meanwhile, I am in the stands with the other mothers from the team, yelling and cheering our boys on. When the game was over, Son grabbed his bag from his father and I brought him home.

We are waiting for the neighbors to bring back dinner and watching the ships go by. Over all, a pretty nice weekend.

The Week in Review

Well, so much for keeping up on the blog! and the exercise! and everything in general. Oh well, another week starts soon and I can try again.

There was some drama in my life this week. My boss, who also was the executive director of the agency where I work, was fired on Wednesday. I came back from lunch to find that I couldn't get into my computer, tried calling the IT guys to see what was wrong and was told I had to talk to someone in the company to get permission. I panicked thinking that I was going to get fired. That was before I knew about my boss. Then when I found out about my boss, I REALLY panicked!

So far, I am still employed. I have a new supervisor so we will see how that will work out. I am supposed to get "help" to do my job but to me that means that I will train someone to do my job and then they will let me go.

I have applied for a job in a local school system doing grant work and am just waiting for an interview. I am actively looking for a new job. I can't stay here for much longer but can't afford to leave without some thing lined up to take its place.

Thursday, Neicy and I went to an Expo, where companies from South Jersey gathered to hawk their wares and services. One restaurant was giving away gift certificates and Neicy won one! Woo Ho.

She and I were planning to go out to dinner to celebrate our birthdays (hers is February and mine is April, We are a little late!) so we changed the restaurant to this one. While at the expo, we also were given $10 gift cards for this place and I had gift cards from last years expo. Total we had $100 in gift cards. It would be a cheap dinner!

Friday, I went over Denise's for a great girls night in. We try to do that as often as possible and I always enjoy my time with her. I love her kids too! We watched the Da Vinci Code, which I LOVE the movie and the book. She had some issues with how they changed some of the religious aspects but she also realized it was just a movie. There were lots of people who didn't like the changes made for the story.

Today, I went shopping for the first time since before Disney and spent WAY too much money. But Jacob has a new book bag as well as a new winter coat, both of which he needed. I slept late and took a nap.

Dinner tonight was at Cafe Aldo Lamberti www.lambertis.com in Cherry Hill. It was SCRUMPTIOUS! Neicy and I loved everything that we ate and plan to go back again sometime. I was going to take a picture with my cell phone of my food but she threatened to dunk my brand new phone in my wine glass if I did! So, I didn't. The bill was a little more than the gift cards, the price of wine was outrageous, and there was a problem with the largest gift card not being activated but overall it was a WONDERFUL Dinner. They fixed the gift card and we both put up $25 to cover the rest of the bill and tip. Can't beat that!

Tomorrow is Jacob's first home Soccer game and his father is actually taking him! YAY! I will be there for the game as well and will bring Jacob home after the game.

Now that my belly is full and I am relaxed from a nice evening with Neicy, all I want to do is curl up in bed. So I will! G-nite

New Leaf

I have been a total slacker lately. Yes, I can make excuses all day long, vacation, being sick, the list can go on for DAYS.

I am back from vacation, school is back in session, and I am getting better. Its time to get my butt back on the bike or start some form of exercise. Its time to start cooking regular meals, doing homework and school work, and eating right.

Starting tomorrow, all these things will start happening. I will exercise in someway, I will make plans for regular meals in this house, and will make sure that his school work is done and signed.

This is the plan at least until the next crisis comes up that changes the schedule! Wish me luck!

It's FRIDAY!

I love Disney Movies. And if they have Hayley Mills in them, all the better. One of my favorites is Pollyanna

Let's play the Glad Game today. This is where Pollyanna finds things to be happy about in all situations. An example from the moive is when she received a pair of crutches instead of a doll. She was glad that she didn't need the crutches.

Today I am glad that my ears are a little more unplugged than they have been the past few days.

Today I am glad that Jacob's sores are healing nicely.

Today I am glad that I have family and friends who love me. Of course, I am glad for this everyday. ;)

Today I am glad that's FRIDAY!

What are you glad of today?

My 1st Post

Well, technically, my second. But we won't get technical. I don't know exactly where this blog will take me yet. Its a work in progress. I have plans of sharing my life, the ups and downs, and the challenges of being a single mom, who is contemplating getting back in the dating game. eeek!

Today was my first day back at work from a nice long vacation. Son and I went to Disney and had a wonderful time. Of course, we both came back sick. Me with a head cold, Son with a head cold AND impetigo.

I will admit that he went to Disney with the impetigo, he came home from his FATHER's with it. And instead of me insisting that he go to the clinic BEFORE we leave, we just leave. I was going to treat the sores with antibiotic ointment in Disney but that never happened. Now Son has sore on his FACE, poor guy!

What a way to start 5th grade!

Anyway, with today being my first day at work in about 11, I have bunches of emails to sort through, probably have some voicemails but I will check them tomorrow. I did get good news, I will be moving to the Salem office starting tomorrow! YAY! I will be 2 minutes from home and right up the street from my best friend, Neicy. OH! And within lunch time with my other best friend Denise!

At least being in town made getting Son to the Doctors easier. I only had to take a 2 hour lunch to get him from school, to the Doctors, to Wal-mart to try and get the prescriptions and then dump him off to my Dad.

We couldn't get the prescriptions because the Doctor wrote it for liquid instead of pills. Son won't take liquids but does take pills without a fight! YAY. After calling the pharmacy and the Doctors office all afternoon, they finally got the correct information necessary to give Son pills. We go to dinner and THEN back to the pharmacy thinking that they would have had plenty of time to process the script. WRONGO! The Pharmacist was HOLDING the script to VERIFY with ME that he could take PILLS. WHAT??!!?!!? Why do you think I ASKED for pills? DUH. Ok. They need another 10 minutes. FINE. What choice do I have.

Ok. Enough of a complaint session. I don't want this blog to be all complaints. I hope to have happiness and humor also.

So, we have the presciptions, Son took the meds and we put the cream on and covered in bandaids. He has 8 bandaids on! OMG! What kind of a mother am I that I didn't take him BEFORE vacation. Oh well. I took my cold meds and am going to go to bed and rest.

Tomorrow is a long day at work of snail mail, packing and at home soccer practice and washing all the bedding Son has been in contact with recently.

New Blogger Site

Here is my new blogger site. A fresh start! A New Day. A new look.