Good holidays

So far, Christmas holidays has been a good one for us.

We ended up going to visit our cleaning and her family on Christmas Eve, and then when we got home, hubby and I had finished the last of our wrapping and went off to bed. I'm pretty sure neither of the boys were really ready to go to bed at the time, but they knew they would have to go to 'sleep' in order for the gifts to all get put under the tree.

I must say, both boys did very well with the limited number of gifts that had their names on them under the tree. Boy, were they ever surprised and happy when they found the note in the tree left by 'Santa'! After all the gift opening, we went over and visited with Hubby's family. My nephews are so cute and excited about Christmas. I really miss that with our kids.

S still really wants to believe, and I think he still does to a degree, but the pre-Christmas excitement just isn't quite the same as when they were younger. He did leave out cookies and milk, though, before he went to bed. ;o)

We are visiting my brother and his family right now. It's amazing how fast a couple of days can go by... I'm really happy that my parents were able to stay for the second night. They had debated about going home this morning, but we've been able to play board games, watch the kids using some of their new games, and just have some general together time. It's been a very good Christmas all the way around. We will be heading home tomorrow... that makes me sad.

Okay, off to try my luck at the American Idol for the Wii...

Busy time of year

Wow - Hubby was ticked when I told him about S's in-school suspension. He had gone to the school on Wednesday to pick up S and when he got there, he had told S that he wasn't in trouble, he just needed to come home.
He doesn't feel that S should have been given any form of 'punishment' the next day. After I explained my rationale about not calling the Principal that day, he understood, but I am pretty sure he will want to make sure additional follow up happens in the New Year.

We took the boys Christmas shopping on Saturday. Not my ideal time to be hitting a mall - hate malls at the best of times, never mind on the weekend before Christmas - but we had to finish our shopping, and the boys hadn't done any of theirs, either.
When we arrived at the mall, we established a meeting place, then went our separate ways. I was thinking that I had so much to finish, but in the long run, I didn't really take that much time to get what was needed. The line ups were pretty long sometimes, but the actually stores we not as busy as I had feared.
I had just finished up, and was planning on grabbing some lunch when I got a text from the A-man telling me that he and S were finished, so I asked them to come and meet me for lunch. As I was replying to the A-man, I got a text from Hubby telling me he was almost done, too. We all had lunch, picked up one final gift for my niece, and then headed home. Total time away from home was about 2 and a half hours.

I now have all presents wrapped except those that will go in stockings - it's a tradition that Hubby and I always do on the 23... wrap the stockings, take an inventory of what we have/need, then use the 24th to pick up anything that might have been forgotten. Most times there isn't anything that we 'need' to get, but it's just a nice way to spend a night together before Christmas hits.

This year we don't have anywhere we have to be for Christmas Eve. This is not normal for us. I am planning on making a nice ham dinner and then we are going to spend some time playing pool together and then watch a Christmas movie or two before bed. Christmas day will be busy as we will be visiting with Hubby's family in the afternoon and then heading to my parent's for dinner. This is the first in many years that I haven't been preparing the traditional Christmas dinner. (I am okay with that!)

We will be going to the large family function on Boxing Day, then the four of us will be heading up to visit my brother and his family for a few days. We should be home a couple of days before the New Year celebrations. We were originally supposed to spend New Year's Eve with my brother, but that didn't appear to be a viable plan, so this is next best thing. I am just happy that he is home, and safe. I wish he didn't have to go back.

I don't think I will have much of an opportunity to blog over the next week or so.

Have a wonderful Christmas, everyone.

Cuz, I will talk to you on Christmas morning, I am sure, but if not, have a great time with everyone. I am still anxious to hear about the gift the R-man purchased...

Day to Day

I have an unexpected day off today.

Just as S was heading out the door for his van, my phone rang and it was Boss asking me if I wanted to forgo coming in today in exchange for a day over the holidays. I asked why, and he told me that it was storming pretty good in his area, and since he'd been watching the weather network, he thought today might just be a good day to stay home.

I hadn't really planned on working any time between Christmas and New Years, but I suspected that I might have found myself going in for a least one day as Boss is finalizing a budget for a new client, and there are usually a few things that I am required to do when presenting a budget for the first time. So, needless to say, I took the opportunity to stay home!

I have a ton of laundry that I need to work on, and now I can take the day to work on my Dad's album. Granddad's is finished, but I didn't make his as 'fancy' as I am my Dad's. Oh - final family count - 9 kids, 25 grand kids, 21 great grand kids. I have photos of everyone - including spouses - in the album except for 2. Given the sheer size of the family, I think that is a pretty good ratio.

~~~~

I believe I mentioned that S had to come home early on Wednesday due to a problem in the school yard at lunch. Well, when I got home from work yesterday, I had a little black storm cloud sitting in the living room. He was very upset that our Internet was down (we have it through satellite) and was to the point of almost hyperventilating.
I was pretty sure he was upset about more than just not having Internet, and it turned out my suspicions were correct. S was very upset because he had been given an in-school suspension yesterday, which meant he was required to spend the entire day in the office. No recesses - nothing. Having to sit for an entire day is torture for this boy.

I'm sort of torn about this. On one hand, I can understand that he needed to suffer the consequences of his actions, but on the other hand, it has been duly documented that taking away recess is not to be used as a form of punishment for S. Quite simply, he needs some down time to be able to run away and work off excess energy.
Part of me wants to phone the Principal and explain that he should have been given at least 10 minutes in the gym a couple times throughout the day, but another part says "Hey, he's going to be in high school next year and won't have recess anymore." Plus, it is the last day before Christmas break - the entire school will be in chaos.
Do you see the dilema?

I think I will leave it alone for today. I think what I will do is contact the Principal in the New Year and talk to her about the series of events and my concerns about the lack of 'free time' handed to S. If I give myself a bit of time, I won't appear an emotional, crazy person, and perhaps she will be more open to suggestions. See, I still don't really know this lady - I haven't had many dealings with her - fortunately!

Oh - and an A-man story to share.
On Wednesday, when I got home from work, I started dinner and while it was doing it's 20 minute simmer, the A-man and I went to have a hot tub. While we were in the tub, he asked if I would be able to take him to buy a Christmas present either that night or the next.
I asked if he could just wait until the weekend, when we had planned on taking the boys so that we could all finish up, and he told me that he had to have it for Friday because it was a gift for R - the girl he was supposed to have a date with.

Well, of course I couldn't say no to that, so I took him shopping last night. His original plan had been to buy her the newest Narnia movie, but when they only had that available in BluRay, he picked up a copy of Momma Mia - the movie he had planned on taking her to see.
I suggested that perhaps maybe a gift of a movie wasn't really all that personal, and maybe he should look around the store a little bit more to see if something else struck him. As we wandered the store, I pointed out a few things that were in his price range. We were heading back to the front of store when he told me that he thought she would really like the watch/bracelet thing I had pointed at, and that he would put the movie back and get her that instead.

On the way home, I asked if R knew that he was going to give her a present - my intention was to coach him on the way to react when giving a gift to someone that wasn't expecting it. He truly surprised me when he answered with "Oh, yeah, she knows. I asked her if she wanted one."

WHAT?!?

I laughed and made the comment that she was a girl after my own heart, because let's face it, if someone gives you the option of them getting you a gift, aren't you going to take it? Well, if you were 15??
From what I have been able to gather from the A-man, he is now 'unoffically' her boyfriend since she isn't allowed to date. He likes her, she likes him, but they can't go out together on dates. They never talk on the phone...I think this just means they hang out together at school and have acknowledged that they like each other.

Whatever it is, it's kind of cute to watch him entering this next phase of his life. I asked him why he didn't at least phone her sometimes, and his responding question reminded me so much of Hubby... "Well, if I phoned her, what would we talk about? I see her at school everyday."
He is such a guy.

Anyway, she will be opening a pretty little silver watch with a matching bracelet today. I hope she likes them.

S took my 'now famous' (his quote, not mine) cookie pizza to the school today and my karaoke machine. I hope he has a good day at the class party this morning and the dance this afternoon.

Hopefully the buses will be able to make it home after school.

Small school issue

Got a phone call around 1pm today. Seems S did not have a very good lunch recess. He had become extremely agitated, and tried to climb the fence that borders the school. Big no-no.

Since he is a flight risk, and we have a safe plan in effect, the Principal had to phone me and ask that someone come to pick him up. This was the first incident that S had this year. The Principal actually commented that the school has been very chaotic the last few days - always is just before Christmas break - and she appreciated that S is the type of child that doesn't do well when normal routine is interrupted. She just felt it would be more to S's benefit if he had time at home to take it easy and then she would discuss the events with him in the morning. Hubby wasn't far from the school and was able to pick him up pretty quickly.

I called home a little while ago and he seemed very calm and was able to talk to me about the events of the afternoon. I guess I will have to hope he remains calm when he realizes the Principal and I agreed that he shouldn't 'help' backstage this evening for the Christmas concert.

Given the time of year, and S's history, I really should have been expecting a call this week. Granted, this year has not been a traditional one for him, but the pre-Christmas excitement is starting to mount. One more week until Christmas Eve.

I'm very grateful that the entire situation was dealt with in such a smooth manner. Hopefully the follow up will be just as clean, clean and concise.

This and that

I was very tired yesterday. For some reason, I was wide awake yesterday morning shortly after 6am. I don’t normally ‘do’ mornings very well, and the fact that I was awake and up before 7 on the morning after a party is pretty much unheard of.

By the time Hubby got up and was ready to have some coffee, I had all the dishes washed up from the night before and was working on the final floor sweep up. He was amazed.

I worked on my grandfather’s album for the full morning, and then in the early afternoon I went to lay down for a nap. I was not able to see straight, so I figured a nap was probably a good idea. I had just got up and moving again when my parents stopped in for a quick visit.

After they left and we had dinner, I spent some time wrapping Christmas presents. The A-man was busy tormenting the bejeezus out of his brother, so after a while I sent S to have a shower and the A-man to have some alone time in his room.

After I finished with some of the boxes I had been wrapping, I went in to talk to the A-man about his behaviour from the day. He was just sitting there smirking at me while I was talking to him. He seemed to find it very amusing that he was able to agitate his brother to the state he was in. The smirk was not the best face to put on when I was already upset with him. Weekend breaks from medication are no longer to be considered – he is just a total goof ball on his ‘off’ days.

I’m going to pick up a few more Christmas gifts today on my lunch break, then I am going to a funeral of a friend’s mom. She passed away very suddenly on Friday. It is never a good time to lose a parent, but this time of year just makes it that much worse. I feel for him.

I’m hoping the boys will help me with a bit of Christmas baking this week, too. We shall see what the week brings…

Family Tree Album

The house is now duly decorated for Christmas. In fact, we had a Christmas Open House yesterday and I actually had a couple people comment that they wished I would come and decorate their houses for them!
Yes, the house pretty much exploded Christmas on both floors.

I've been working on putting together a family tree album for my Grandparents as a gift. I decided this is what I would do about a week and a half ago. I'm also going to make one for my father. I've been able to track down most of the information for the family, but it has been quite difficult to get in touch with two family members. No one seems to know how to reach them. I'm going to start putting the photos in place today, and my hope is that I will be able to track down the telephone numbers I need in the next few days, and then I will be able to get the final details in place and actually finish the "tree" part of the album.

My Dad's family is way too big; he's the oldest of 9. Can you imagine having 9 children? I have an Aunt that is 5 months younger than me, and an Uncle that is 6 years younger than I am. There is 36 years between the oldest grandchild (me) and the youngest one. Anyway, it has been quite the adventure gathering all the photos, making sure I had everyone covered off, and also making sure that one particular group of family members wasn't more pronounced than any others...

Truly, it has been a labour of love, and I am going to be so happy with it when it is done. Should keep me busy for the next little bit, anyway. You know, in case the whole "week before Christmas" isn't usually enough to keep me hopping!

This and that

You know, I have been very proud of S in the last little while. He has been VERY good at getting his homework done and making sure that he completes all of it every night.

See, a few weeks back we got his report card and learned that S has not been doing a very thorough job with respect to homework. He and I made a bit of a deal – he would be required to have the EA sign his agenda on the days that he DIDN’T have homework. This would entitle Mr. S to a total of $0.25 Mom Bucks every single day. Pretty simple way to make some $$, in my opinion. If he has homework and writes down and brings the required information home, also worth $0.25. So, for simply doing something he is supposed to be doing anyway, he is ‘earning’ an extra $1.25 each week.

Let me tell you, S is a Mom Bucks hoarder. Oh, he doesn’t want the actual money any time soon – he simply loves to play with the collection of chips that he has been gathering. Once he has the money, he just spends it and then all incentive is gone, you see, but the chips…well, that is a whole other story in his mind.

Whatever it takes.

My thought is that if he gets in to this habit for the remainder of this Grade 8 year, it will just make things that much simpler for him next year when he enters high school. I don’t care if it’s a bribe – it’s working and he is getting his homework done!

~~

Having dinner tonight with the people I was on a jury with about 4 years ago. This has been an annual affair since the year we sat on the jury. We have a shared lottery purchase, too. Will be really nice to see everyone again.

Also having a Christmas open house this Saturday. No, I am not ready for it and the decorations are almost there, but not quite finished. Nothing like making time be the ever deciding factor!

Made for TV movie

Last night, the A-man and I watched a made-for-TV movie called “Front of the Class.” It was a Hallmark presentation and was an amazing (true) story about a teacher from the US named Brad Cohen. The actual movie was based on a book of the same name. The reason we made a point of watching this movie was because in addition to being an incredibly talented and dedicated teacher, Brad Cohen has Tourette Syndrome.

I will admit it – the movie brought tears to my eyes. As a parent of a child with TS, I could empathize with the mother of this remarkable man, and I could also appreciate the frustrations that he must have experienced while growing up.

It was amazing how they were able to portray the actions/reactions of the teachers and students as he was growing up, and even more how everyone tried to remain politically correct while he was going through the interview process as a young adult. The actors did an incredible job of portraying the verbal ticks that Brad lives with – both the child and adult actors were amazing at carrying on life in a ‘normal’ manner while making odd noises and moving in jerking motions.

As we watched the movie, the A-man kept repeating how he was so grateful that he doesn’t have the verbal ticks that were shown in this movie. The A-man has a head-shake tick, and has recently begun an eye-lift tick. (His eye brows rise up as if he were surprised about something.) The stutter that developed when he was between Grades 7 & 8 has never really dissipated, but we do see times when it is both really pronounced and really relaxed. While we watched the movie, I did have the chance to explain to him that it is possible that a more vocal tick could happen in the future. He was very aware of that, and I must say, he seems to have a very positive outlook on it too. I don’t know if he will remain as positive should it happen, but at least he is prepared and I think his view on life is very remarkable for a teenager of 15.

Actually, one thing that he said that made me laugh was that he has friends in school that don’t even realize that he has TS. Some of the new friends have noticed he does the head-shake during exams – high stress times – but he told me that they just assumed that he was working through the answers in his head, and was saying “No” to himself before writing the answer. I hope that by watching the movie he learned some very positive ways to discuss Tourettes.

My biggest hope, though, is that he never experiences the negative reactions that Brad Cohen had to face; the Principal that said he would hire him if he promised to not make the noises while teaching, the people in the bars that continually turn and stare/glare while he is having a relaxing time with friends. I hope he always has friends – and girlfriends - that are able to ignore the ticks and see the real person that is behind the odd facial expressions.

As a young man, Brad Cohen was very fortunate to have the Principal that recognized that he truly could not help the noises and made a point of educating the entire school about it and not allowing the bullying and rude behavior of both adults and students. Once he was ready to look for full time work, it took a long time for him to find school staff members that were able to embrace him and welcome him into the teaching profession, but his perseverance was remarkable. The most ironic part of Brad Cohen’s story? The students (Grade 2) never had a problem with seeing past the noises; it was always the adults that couldn’t cope. He even had one student pulled from his first class because the father didn’t think he would be able to “properly” teach his child while ticking!

My biggest hope though, after watching this movie, is that a number of people were educated about the neurological disorder that is Tourettes. I hope that there are less jokes about the swearing, and more people willing to learn – and accept – that not everyone can be the same. What a boring world we would live in if that were true.

I’m so proud of the A-man. Like Brad Cohen, he is very aware of his own self worth and I pray that he is able to succeed in a similar manner.

“Front of the Class” – if you have a chance, watch the movie. I’m going to be looking for the book very soon.

Unprepared "professional"

I am normally very willing to give teachers the benefit of the doubt with many things, but I am getting really frustrated with the A-man's Tourism & Hospitality teacher.

Back before Thanksgiving, she had the students sell apple pies to family members. The A-man actually sold quite a few - both before and after Thanksgiving. The idea was that as the student brought the money in to school for the pie, they would then use the next day's class time to prepare the pie.
My mom didn't get her pie for over a month because the teacher 'forgot' that the A-man still had to make a few more.

Now on to more current events. About a month ago, this teacher assigned and ISU to the class. After two weeks, the A-man and his partner had not done anything on the assignment, and I informed the teacher that he was going to work on it by himself. Fine.
The written portion of the assignment was due last Friday. On Thursday afternoon, the teacher informed the students that she was going to be away on Friday, so they were given an extension - the written portion of the assignment was now due Monday.
Great - extra time for those that needed it.
The A-man turned in his written assignment on Monday - apparently only half the class was finished, and the A-man was relieved that I had told him he needed to do the assignment alone because he previous 'partner' was not done her project.

The A-man's presentation portion of the project was to be done on Wednesday. On Tuesday afternoon, I got a text from him telling me that I didn't need to pick up the various ingredients as his presentation had been moved to Thursday. I picked up the ingredients as planned, and told him that he should make the dish as planned because Hubby was having company on Wednesday and the kitchen wouldn't be free. He made the dish, and after it was cooled, we put it in the fridge.
The presentation had been postponed because the teacher didn't realize the class was going to be watching a play that afternoon.

Yesterday, I drove the A-man to school with the kugelis and sour cream - much easier than trying to manage on the bus. I sent him a text after school asking how he did, and was then informed that he didn't get to present because the teacher had 'forgot' to reserve the projector for those that had prepared PowerPoint presentations. So, rather than having 3 presentations, the class got to see one, and then basically just sat around for the rest of the class.

This person is a "professional" that is teaching my child! Grades are diminished for unpreparedness when a student doesn't have something done on time.

Am I allowed to send a final grade to the school for the TEACHER at the end of this semester?

No decorations yet...

I have had the best of intentions to haul my Christmas decorations out of the crawl space, but the nights just seem to pass too quickly!

Monday night was the first time I had been to my fitness class in a couple of weeks. I was very pleased to see that I could get back in to the 'swing' of things fairly quickly, too. By the time I got home from that, the last thing I wanted to do was to start pulling out boxes.

Last night I got home from work about half an hour later than usual to find that just the A-man was home. Hubby and S had gone over to help a friend install their TV satellite dish. After a fairly quick dinner, the A-man and I got to work. He on making another kugelis dish, and I on contacting family members to pull together a family tree album I want to make for a Christmas gift.

This idea just popped in to my head yesterday, and I am now determined to make it happen. The only problem is that it's for my Dad's family - he is the oldest of 9 and a few of the family members are sort of estranged from others. It's very complicated to say the least.
Anyway, through the wonderful world of Facebook, I have been able to get quite a bit of information already, and I know I will be able to pull photos that way, too. I'm hoping to be able to turn this in to a gift for both my grandparents and my Dad. I did a similar thing a number of years ago for my Mom and my Dad was very touched by it, so I'm sure it would be appreciated.

My Dad is the oldest of 9 children. I am the oldest grandchild - there are 24 grandchildren now and about 36 years between me and the youngest. I have counted 17 great grandchildren, but I have 2 cousins that I am sure have children and I am waiting for details about that from my Aunt.
The A-man is not the oldest Great Grandchild, but he is the oldest Great Grandson. (One girl born about a year and a half before him...) Yes, a very large family tree, and that does not include any of the children that have come into the family as step-children; like my eldest niece!

As I was on the phone with my cousin getting information, I could see the A-man peeling potatoes, chopping onions, and gathering all the items he needed. He eventually interrupted me to see if I could assist with the chopping. We finished putting together the dish and popping it in the oven just as Hubby and S returned.

S got to work on his homework, then the two boys played a game of chess before bed. (I will admit - this no electronics on a school night is quite lovely.) S tried to tell us that he only had Math homework, but his brother had shared with me that he also had some French homework that he didn't want to complete. I "checked" his agenda - which he is going to keep updated daily to earn more Mom Bucks - and then asked him about French. He gave a groan, pulled out the binder and finished the work in about 10 minutes. What a guy.

Turned out Hubby was sent home from work yesterday at his lunch time due to a machine malfunction. Both plants were sent home for the remainder of yesterday and all of today. He didn't mind the chance to sleep in this morning, and was actually looking forward to getting some computer jobs finished up today. It was nice to have some time together last night after the boys went to bed. (Hubby usually goes to bed around the same time as the A-man...)

I am going to be attending a Grade 8 information session tonight at the highschool. Not sure how long it will be, but I'm pretty sure I won't have a chance to haul out Christmas decorations tonight, either. Sigh.

Day to day living...

After my voyage in to the ditch on Wednesday morning, I was very grateful that the car didn’t cost me lots of money to repair. I was also very grateful that neither the A-man nor I were injured during the slide. Nothing like the “thunk” of a ditch and snow bank to make you see what is truly important.

Thursday was a fairly typical day. When I got home from work I lay down on the couch and only woke up when the A-man gave my shoulder a wee shake to tell me he had made dinner. Gourmet feast of pork chops and mac’n cheese, but I was thrilled that he had taken the initiative to make something when it was so obvious I wouldn’t be doing so any time soon. I was surprised that I had fallen asleep – that is not like me at all.

S had a PA day on Friday; I think he liked having his special alone time with Daddy before he went to work, to be honest. The boys and I had a fairly casual Friday evening and enjoyed sitting on the couch munching on some pizza! I will never see the draw to the television shows they enjoy, but S sure does like to share them with me on Fridays.

On Saturday, I told the boys some of our plans for Sunday and asked that both of them consider completing their homework that afternoon so that there wouldn’t be any issues on Sunday. In the early afternoon, the boys went outside to shovel off the deck. I was so happy to see them doing that; until I realized they weren’t really doing the task at hand. They were throwing snowballs, and eating the snow…but not really doing anything else.
When I called them in for lunch, I explained to them that I didn’t mind them going out and playing, but if they are going to start one task, it needed to be completed before they started another. I also reminded them that we had company coming in the evening, and some tasks needed to be done BEFORE they arrived.

The A-man got to working on his project for Tourism. I had helped him start the PowerPoint presentation, and left notes on the slides with respect to the order he would have to transfer data from the written portion of his project. After reading over the assignment requirements, I also made notes to suggest he find some other photos to put into the presentation.

S was doing some of his Religion homework and History homework during this time. For whatever reason, S has decided he doesn’t need to bring home his laptop – I guess he thinks I will believe he doesn’t have any homework that way.
When I got his report card last week, it indicated that S has been very lacking in completing the homework in the first term of school. I thought he’d had it pretty light, but when you don’t see an agenda, or the agenda isn’t completed, it’s pretty hard to know what he is doing and not doing.

Anyway, I found out from the A-man that S did have homework for the weekend, and made sure he did all that was required. He became very upset with me when I told him he would have to do it on the computer and I didn’t care if it took him longer. Had he brought his laptop home, he would have had the voice to text technology, but, since he decided he didn’t ‘need’ it, he had to do it the hard way; by typing it out. Once he was done the homework, I could tell he was very pleased with it. The starting of the task is always the worst thing in the world for S; once he is done, you can almost SEE the pride coming off him.

Just before dinner, the A-man started to get together the various items he needed to make for his Tourism dish. The A-man had decided to do his project on the capital city of Lithuania – Vilnius – and prepare one of his favourite Lithuanian dishes – Kugelis. (We are not of Lithuanian decent, but our good friends are, and both boys have enjoyed traditional Lithuanian cooking on occasion.) This is a baked potato pie that uses 5 pounds of finely grated potatoes and a full pound of bacon – with all the fat from the bacon. Not a diet dish.
After supper, the A-man finished preparing the dish and I took pictures of each step. We had time for me to show him how to transfer the photos onto the laptop and then on to both the written report and the PowerPoint. He was just finishing with the last photo when our company arrived. What a pleased boy he was when he was able to offer our company a plate of warm, filling kugelis. I think the A-man ate half the dish himself.

He will be making the dish again tomorrow night to take to school on Wednesday. Wednesday is when he will have to do his half hour presentation. He planned on using class time today to practice what he was going to say, and then asked if I would let him practice with me as his audience again tomorrow night. He’s done a good job. The written report was 10 pages long, and the slide show is over 20 slides long. I will be curious to see how he presents the information he has gathers.

Went out with my Mom yesterday and got quite a bit of Christmas shopping done. I am hoping to get the boxes all pulled out this week for decorating. It's so dark and dreary now; the lights should help make the nights feel better, anyway.

Tired

The damage to my vehicle wasn't very much. Just a linkage had seized.

I had a vehicle for Wednesday night, but due to the weather, the meeting was cancelled. I was glad.
For the past two nights, I have done nothing but sit on the couch and watch TV. This is a very rare turn of events for me. Hubby will be shocked when he hears this.

I have no energy, no ambition. I want to curl up and just sleep, sleep, sleep.

Ugh!

Today has not been the best of days for me.

Last night I went grocery shopping and this morning I realized that my sons ate ALL of the bananas I had purchased, over half of the package of lunch meat that was meant for this week’s lunches and about half of the package of social cookies. This was all done within a two hour time frame when I had company – I had also provided the boys with a snack of their own.

I was not happy with either of them about the large intake of unnecessary food, but what really ticked me off was that neither of them completed the one and only task I had given them last night; getting the garbage and recycling outside and to the curb for this morning’s pick up. I woke both of them up a bit earlier than normal to ensure that this particular task was completed prior to either of them getting on the their busses.

The A-man was just getting out of the shower this morning when his bus arrived. It was early, but needless to say, he didn’t make the bus. As I was driving the A-man in to school, I went in to a skid coming off a bridge, and ended up in a ditch. I was stuck pretty darn good, too.

After calling the *OPP number to request assistance, I then explained to the A-man that is was for reasons such as this that I always want him to bring a coat and hat/mitts. We ended up waiting for about half an hour before a tow truck arrived. Turned out it had not been dispatched for me; he was just driving by. After pulling us from the ditch, I realized that we were about a car’s length away from a gas line. Thank heavens we went in to the ditch where we did.

After paying for the tow, and contacting the OPP to let them know I no longer required assistance, I started to pull away from the accident scene. This is when I realized that I was not able to put my car into second gear. Went a little bit further and realized I couldn’t get in to fourth gear, either. We drove straight to the Honda dealership. I still haven’t heard anything from the diagnostic report. I am really hoping it is a case of lodged ice or a loose clutch cable or something. As luck would have it today, I'm thinking probably not.

I got to work about an hour and half later than normal this morning; had not gone in yesterday as I was just far too tired after the weekend at the show. What a start to the day.

Afternoon has been going better…

Have a AGM tonight for the ADHD group – I just hope I have a way of getting there. I don’t like not having a car…

Yes - Christmas gifts have been purchased!

I was able to find an area here in the city not far from my hotel where I was able to do a bit of shopping on Friday before the show. I was actually able to pick up some gifts for 2 of my nieces, something for both Boss and Hubby at the book store, and a gift for the A-man.
Today, on our way to the trade show, I stopped at a place, and was able to pick up the main thing I will give to one nephew, and a small part of a gift for our second nephew. Guess I can honestly claim to be started on the Christmas shopping for this year.

Much later than I normally start shopping, but that is okay. At least now I am on the right track. I have most of my Christmas cards written and I will be able to mail them on December 1st as I like to do each year.

Trade show went well. Very busy, and some really long days, but I think it went well for both the client we were representing and our company website we were trying to promote. The biggest draw to the client booth? Fried Green Tomatoes. The minute I started serving them up, the booth was crazy busy with people.
I got a phone call on my cell on Friday afternoon (around 3:30 or 4) telling me that our ad had been resized and uploaded, and that made me breathe a HUGE sigh of relief.

Spoke with Hubby this morning - sounds like we have lots more snow to head back to. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that...

Off to bed now - Boss will be giving us about a half hour notice before we have to leave the hotel... gonna be a short sleep again, I guess.

The light is dawning

On Monday night, I asked the A-man if he project partner had been able to establish some work together time. Apparently not.
I then informed the A-man that he was going to have to do this project on his own, and I also asked that he pick a place and get started on the information as soon as possible as two weeks had already passed, and the report would be due before he knew it.

That night, he spent quite a bit of time doing research. He had decided to do his Tourism report on the capital of Lithuania. We had been invited over for a traditional Lithuanian meal on Saturday night in honour of our friend's father. (He'd passed away last week.) The A-man was thrilled to hear what we would be eating - it involves a lot of potatoes and bacon.
Since that meal was fresh in his mind, and we had seen these friends twice over the weekend (they took pity on us for not having power and fed us again on Sunday night...), I guess he just thought it would make sense to learn more about their culture. I love this kid.

On Tuesday morning, I woke up early because I was stewing about some work issues. After I dealt with the issues at hand, I took a look at the information provided by the A-man's teacher, and formulated a sheet that he would be able to utilize for information gathering. After I had completed this, I showed it to him, and explained that by putting all of the information directly into a Word document, he would then be able to do some cut and paste of the information and create both his hand in report and his PowerPoint presentation that he is required to do.
I'm not totally certain he understood what I meant, but when he realized this was the format I often follow at work for large presentations, he seemed to think it wasn't too bad an idea.
As he has been doing his research this week, and putting the information in to the document, I can see that he is understanding what I meant more and more.

I am away at a trade show this weekend, but have encouraged the A-man to complete all of the research this weekend, and then I will help him arrange the information for the written portion during the coming week. The written portion is required by Friday and then he will present to the class on December 3.
The presentation portion is required to be 30 minutes long, and this is where the PowerPoint will come in to play. He is also going to have to prepare this Lithuanian dish at least once this week so that we can take pictures of him making it. These will be used in the written information AND the PowerPoint portion. He will then also have to make the dish the night before his presentation because he will have to serve it to the class.
There is a lot of work to be done, and I think he is starting to understand why I was becoming concerned. I'm sure he will do great on the final information gathering - he's been very interested in the country since he started the research and has been very intent on telling me what he has learned.

I have a few things going on this week, and my hope is that he will be able to complete the written portion with very little assistance, and then next weekend I can help him with his slide show details.

S has been really good at working on his homework every single night, this week. Since I have taken the television from them on school nights, I have been amazed at how quickly he is willing to do whatever chores are asked of him when they are asked. He's not as resistant to doing his homework, either, and now starting to realize that on occassion, I will relax the rule and let them take in one show after all the other things are done.
Got an IM from my mother in law this morning telling me that she had a great night with S last night and that he left for school in great spirits. Always like to hear that.

Been doing some work here in the hotel room. Found out yesterday (as I was trying to do hotel check in) that some advertising material was required today for some ads I placed for a client. Great. Have been trying to get in touch with the magazine people to confirm ad size, and also with our graphics department to confirm information can be uploaded today. Have not had success as quickly as I had hoped for, but I think I might be getting there, now. Need to get out of here so housekeeping can do their job...

Also hoping to be able to get in an hour or two of Christmas shopping before I have to be at the show!

Power-less weekend

When we got home Saturday night, we discovered that our power was out. It was strange - we were getting wet snow, but mostly rain, and we couldn't quite understand what would make the power be out.
Sometime around 11, the power came back on. I reset the clock in the bedroom, blew out the candles and went to sleep.
Sometime in the night, our power went out again.
This is what I awoke to on Sunday morning:

(from bedroom window)

(from bathroom window)

During the course of Sunday, the snow sort of started to melt, but not really. I went to town to get my hair done, and was surprised that there wasn't anything near as much snow as at my place. The power continued to stay out, and the estimate was really odd.

Eventually, the hydro company told us (via electronic message) that we likely wouldn't have power until 4pm on Monday afternoon.

It snowed heavily on Sunday night.

Power was finally restored around 2pm today. Thankfully we do have that propane fireplace in the basement, but unfortunately, when we have no power, we also have no running water.
It was not a happy household this morning.

So relaxing

This is the first weekend since the end of September that I haven't had stuff going on. Now don't get me wrong - many of the past weekends have been a lot of fun. We got to see friends and family that we don't see very often, and we did some new things, but it just felt like we were go-go-go all the time.

Approaching this weekend, I declared "I don't care who invites us, or for what, we are doing NOTHING all weekend long."

That didn't last very long. I am so weak.

My mom's boss invited her to a Pampered Chef party this afternoon and Mom has asked me to join her. I thought, "Oh, it's a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon. I can do that. That is not a big deal."

Thursday, I got a text from a friend inviting us over for drinks on Friday night. Her hubby's birthday was on Thursday, so we knew the reason for the invite. It was a very enjoyable evening.

Also on Thursday, Jazzy's mom sent me a text asking if we could get together on Saturday night. I thought she had indicated they were coming to OUR house, and although I said that would be great, in my heart I was thinking, "Man, I don't wanna have to clean for company..." Found out last night that I mis-read the text. We are going to their house.
Whew... get to take my time on the housework this weekend!

Apparently Hubby didn't take my "We aren't doing anything" declaration to heart, either. He is off doing a computer job this morning, and is apparently helping a friend install a new window this afternoon.

*I* am sitting here, at 10:12 in the morning, still in my jammies, enjoying a leisurely coffee and quite happy to look (and feel) like a lazy slug for the next little while. Sloth may be a deadly sin, but oh, how great it can be sometimes!

The boys both have homework this weekend. The A-man was assigned an ISU (individual study unit) in his hospitality course a couple of weeks ago. They were told to work in groups of two, and given one full month to complete the assignment. To date, he and his partner have done nothing other than pick the country they are doing the assignment on. The A-man has requested he and his partner get together to work on this assignment a few times, but she has always been 'too busy' to do so. Yesterday she told him she 'might' have time after school on Monday, but she would let him know Monday morning if she was busy or not.
This is ridiculous. There is NO WAY he is going to do this entire assignment by himself and then have this girl take credit for his work. I know he hasn't done anything ON the assignment as of yet, but I am going to make sure that changes this weekend. Then, if she doesn't have time on Monday, I will be calling the teacher on Tuesday and letting her know that the A-man will be doing the ISU alone. It is called an "Individual" unit after all.

S didn't go to school yesterday - he went to a Volleyball tournament instead. I was a little hesitant about him missing a day of school for that, considering he doesn't actually play, but then when I thought about it and realized that all of the boys on the team are from his class, I also realized the class wouldn't really be doing a whole lot of 'new' stuff. He had a lot of fun at the tournament.
It's funny how an Asperger child can get so pumped about the slightest thing. He was so excited to tell me about every single person he saw that he knew at the highschool. I suddenly started hearing the names of every single student that had been in Grade 8 last year... and those that were in the same class as the A-man. I honestly don't think he realized where they all went when they left his school.

The other reason that I thought it would be good for him to go to the tournament was because it was being held at the school S will attend next year. Although he hasn't mentioned anything, I'm sure he is anxious about going to a new, larger school, and having spent some time there yesterday will have given him another opportunity to get more familiar with the school's layout and procedures. My hope it that this familiarity will help ease some of that transitional anxiety.
I think that was another factor in his excitement last night, too. He started to realize that the school really isn't as big as he was thinking.

Yesterday at work it came to light that I made a big boo boo when shipping some promotional items for my boss' conference in Spain. Apparently the items to shipped to Sapin, not Spain. I felt sick. I still feel sick when I think about it.

I called boss' partner to confess my error. He laughed and told me that he just wished his errors only cost the company $500, then suggested a stop-gag measure that will hopefully allow boss to have some of the materials by Monday. I was so relieved that he took it so well, but I still haven't talked to boss about what happened. I hope he takes it as well as his partner did.

On another work note, we are participating in a trade show next weekend. Actually working it for OUR business and for one of our clients. As I mentioned, Boss is in Spain so it will fall primarily on my shoulders to make sure all of the items we will require for the show - for both booths - make it to the city. No pressure here. I spent a lot of time yesterday coordinating the shipment/delivery of various marketing materials between the multiple areas they currently are, and making sure this, this and THAT, get picked up and delivered when and where we need it.
I'm sure it will all work out in the end; I've done this before, just never been the most experienced one in the office. My assistant and the sales rep will be there to help me, but both will be relying on me to make the final decisions on quantities, etc.
I will admit it - I'm a little freaked.

Okay... I've been a sloth for long enough now. It's almost 11... time to get motivated so do SOMETHING...

Now I understand why tigers eat their young... ;o)

I don’t know what has been going on with the A-man lately. He is just so grouchy all the time, and for the last couple of days, he seems to be set off at the smallest thing. I don’t know how many times I have heard, “I’m so tired” from him, yet when I suggest he goes to bed earlier, he doesn’t go.
This morning he was up early – almost a full hour before his bus was set to arrive – yet, again this morning he was ‘rushed’ at the last minute and wasn’t ready. I reminded about half an hour before the bus was to arrive that he needed to shower. He grunted and went in to his bedroom. 15 minutes later, I open the door to his room to see what he is doing; he’s lying in bed. Now, with only 15 minutes until the bus arrives, I tell him he is going to be pressed to both shower and dress in time, and I get yelled at because he still “needs to go to the washroom!”
He went to the washroom and was back in his room with plenty of time to dress, yet I was calling him to tell him the bus was approaching the house. He did not have his shower. For the second day in a row.

I was just alerted by a text message – it was the A-man asking S to do something that he forgot, I guess. I replied that it was being done, and that I was not very impressed with him this morning. Will be interesting to see if (or how) he responds.

He responded with “I’m sorry Mom. I will do better from now on.”

I don’t want him to feel guilty, but at this point in his life, I want him take a bit more responsibility for his own personal hygiene and self care! Will have to try and explain all of this to him tonight, I guess. Hopefully I catch him in the right frame of mind, and if not, it will have to wait.

I called S’s school yesterday to talk to the principal about my participation in the Grade 8 end of year trip. S has told us the first installment for the trip is due tomorrow, yet I haven’t been told if I (as a chaperone) will receive a discounted rate. S has expressed a few times that he doesn’t want me to go – he thinks it will be embarrassing to be the only student to have his mom there.
I can understand his point, but given his history, I can also see why the school feels that it is important I attend. Anyway, when I was talking to the principal, I told her how nice it has been to not be in constant contact with the school and how S has been having such a great year. (touching wood, now) The Principal then told me that she had been approached by S’s EA and that the EA didn’t think it would right to have me on the trip.
Now, I’m not sure if I should be insulted or not. This is the same women that wouldn’t allow S to go on the bike trip at the end of last school year unless I could attend, and yet she now doesn’t want me to go with them to Ottawa? This is a three day trip, and is more than 5 hours from home!
Hopefully she is requesting this because S has been having such a good year that she doesn’t think its necessary, but still, I don’t think that as his EA that should be her call. The decision must be that of mine and the principal. Period. The Principal and I left it that I would submit payment for S’s portion of the trip, and we would simply address my participation as the time got closer and we would then have a better feeling of S’s state of mind, etc. I would like for him to not have to have me there – it would be great for him – but I am going to have to keep that option open, just in case.

Remembrance Day

As a child, we got this day off school. It was to allow us the opportunity to go and watch the veterans in Remembrance Day parades. It gave us the chance to remember, and show our support to those that fought for the freedom we have.
This is no longer a day off - unless you work for banks or government. THEY still get the day off, but the 'normal' working joes do not. When I go to the cenotaph this morning, I highly doubt I will see many government/bank employees there paying their respects.

11 am - on the 11th day of the 11th month. It's only 2 minutes out of your day... please remember those that fought, and say a prayer for those that currently are. Regardless of your thoughts on the wars, or our country's involvement in said wars, support our troops - they are Canandians, and they are fighting to ensure our freedom continues.

My sister in law has an incredible bumper sticker that I would like to get. It says, "If you don't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them!"
AMEN.

General "stuff"

I haven't been blogging much as of late - just been go-go-go lately.

I had a few other 'general' items that I wanted to post the other day, but after the severity of the post about the young man that passed away, I thought it best to just comment on that. Turns out they feel he became disoriented in the bush, and eventually feel asleep due to exhaustion and passed away as a result of hypothermia. I am so very grateful that he wasn't harmed in any way, but my heart just breaks when I imagine how scared and upset he must have been in the hours before he fell asleep. His parents and sisters will never get over this tragic loss, but I hope their faith gives them some peace after they lay him to rest. So tragic.

Hubby surprised me yesterday by coming home a day early from the Hunt Camp. I wasn't home when he arrived - was on the go all day yesterday - but it was nice having some together time this morning before I have to rush off again.

OH!! The A-man brought home a very nice certificate a while back - it's congratulating him for making the Honour Roll! I told him we would get a frame to put it in. He was very proud of that paper, I must say.
We will be getting his mid-term marks soon. I gather he has been able to improve his Science mark since I met with the teacher, and I know he will be doing all that he can to ensure this increase continues.

S (knocking wood here) has been having a pretty good time at school as of late.
The other night he and I sat at the kitchen table working on his math homework. At first he told me that he didn't need help, but when I wandered in to the kitchen to get a cup of tea, I could tell that he was really not sure what he was supposed to do, or simply just didn't understand the assignment. He actually had two work sheets - one on square roots another on lowest common denominators.
I had him explain what he knew about these 2 concepts so that I could assess what he "got" from the day's lesson. The thing is, he knows this stuff, and he can SEE the answer, but he can't explain how he knows the answer. Sometimes the question requires the work to be shown... Very frustrating for him because when I ask him, "How do you know that?" he gets upset and says, "Well, isn't that the answer? Why do I have to explain it?!"
He's right - when was the last time someone in your job asked you to explain how you knew that any number between 25 and 36 would have a square root between 5 and 6?
Regardless, I was very proud of him when he took more than an hour to complete the homework and he didn't complain one single time. He was actually very proud of himself when he finally 'got' what the sheet was asking for.
I love seeing that "A-HA" moment on his wee face! It's very exciting for me to see that I can explain it in such a way that he then knows what is being asked of him.

I'm off again today. Going to a fundraiser event for a friend's precision skating team. Should be a nice day out with a group of ladies.

Sad, sad news

On Monday October 13th, a 15 year old boy had a fight with his parents about his excessive playing of video games. The boy became angry with his parents, packed his backpack and left the house. That’s the last time his family saw him.
For almost three weeks, police and volunteers have been searching the areas where a lady had seen him about 2 hours after he left home. About a week after he left, his bicycle was found. Again, no trace of this young man.
Microsoft broke its privacy code to assist the police in finding this young man. They provided the police with details of the other gamers he often connected with and even offered reward money to anyone that could help find him.
His school held prayer vigils, the community held candlelight services to show the family support, more than 20,000 people joined the Facebook group established to help bring this young person back safely to his family. Daily, his mother made pleas on the news; she wanted him to know that he wasn’t in trouble – they just wanted to know he was safe.
Yesterday, hunters made a grisly discovery, and yesterday afternoon it was confirmed that police felt the body that was found was that of this young man. All of this has been happening about 20 minutes from where we live. Foul play is not suspected at this time, but should be known very soon.
My son is 15; he attends Catholic school, and has very similar features to that of this young man. Sadly, I have often had arguments with my son about his time spent on games and/or the Internet. This tragic event could have very well happened to me or to many other parents with children this age. The entire surrounding communities have been shook to the core as this event has been going on.
Last night, the boys and I watched the news to learn more on the discovery. After the story aired, all three of us sat in silence. After a few minutes, the A-man leaned over and gave me a very long, big hug. I kissed his head and told him I loved him. We sat that way for a very long time.

My heart goes out to this family. There is just no way anyone can fully understand what they are going through. I am grateful that they will have an opportunity for closure; I think the “not knowing” would be sheer torture. The end result is so very tragic.

Weekend Update

Our household had a pretty good weekend.

Friday night was Halloween, and the A-man opted to stay home and hand out candy to those that came to our house. (We had 11 kids come by – not quite our record of 15, but pretty close!) S went trick-or-treating with Bear’s son. They had a fun time, and were loaded up with more candy than I like to even consider… When they called to say they were on the other side of town and wanted us to come and get them, my friend and I laughed. When we got there, we saw why they had made their way over to this one area. The people that lived there had created a Haunted Corn maze-type thing in their front lawn that I even went through! It was complete with crazy man chasing us with a chain saw, weird things that flew out at us and people that came out of nowhere to give a startling scream. I can understand why they get more than 500 kids each year.

Hubby was up before me on Saturday – I love getting up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee – and was doing about 15 different things in order to get ready for his week away at the hunt camp. He actually got away quite a bit later than normal this year, but I know he had a number of computer jobs he wanted to complete before he left for so long.

I spent the day doing a major cleaning overhaul in the main bedroom. I cleaned out bed side table drawers that probably haven’t been cleaned out in years. I found dust bunnies that had actually started to form an army; they were not victorious. Every now and then I would ask the boys to do a chore or two, and both were very good to do whatever I asked, as soon as I asked.
Saturday night S stood the A-man and I up from our annual ‘date’ he opted to attend a Halloween party he had been invited to. The A-man and I kept up with our annual “dad’s gone to the hunt camp” Saturday ritual; we went out for dinner then went to a movie. We saw “Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist.” It was a pretty good movie. Not one that I would want to watch over and over again, but it was an entertaining hour and a half. After the movie, we headed back over to where S was. The A-man went in to party head quarters to gather S, and after a while, I was afraid that I was going to have to enter the teenage zone, but they did make it back out before I had to send a search party.

Sunday was a bit of a lazy morning for me; did some reading, wrote a few letters… made sure both boys were working diligently on their homework assignments, that sort of thing.
I did become very upset with S, though, as the homework detail panned out. Yet again, he did not bring home his laptop for doing his work. On Wednesday (and Thursday) he told me that he couldn’t finish the Geography homework because it required a lot of reading and it needed to be scanned into the laptop. Friday he comes home from school – no laptop. Geography is due on Monday. Do you see where I am going with this?

Fine, he doesn’t have the laptop, but he has the question sheets, so I tell him that he will have to do it the hard way – by hand. I also inform him that this needs to be done BEFORE he can go over to hang out with his friend for the day. Oh, the tears and carrying on that I had to cope with. What really ticked me off the most, though, was when I realized he hadn’t brought home all of the information sheets. He was trying to answer the questions based on his memory of what the sheet had said! Yeah – the kid with the short working memory is going to complete his homework based on what he remembers! Good thinking, child.

I will admit, S did put in a good effort. He was required to type the answers, whereas had he brought home the laptop he could have simply spoken his answers and the computer would have done the work. Yes, I did point this out to him on more than one occasion. I am hoping that he finally GETS it. I want that laptop home every-single-night-even-if-there-is-no-homework. I have tried to explain that he can work on the system and continue to train it. Maybe someday I will get through to him…

After a while, I told S that he would be able to go over to his friend’s house and he could do the final parts of the homework assignment after supper. I dropped him at his friend’s house – turns out this boy also has Aspergers! – and then went grocery shopping.

My mom came over and then she and I took the A-man off to the city to meet with my niece and her boyfriend for lunch. We haven’t seen this niece for over a year, and she will be moving to the area as her mother and step father are going to be posted to the military base near us. Had a nice afternoon and I actually made a date to see them again on Tuesday.

Picked S up a little later than I had planned, then we had a pretty quiet night. Both boys finished their homework then were very happy to go down and watch some television before bed.
We have also implemented a “no TV/video games” rule for school nights based on S’s lack of homework completion the other night.
This will be an interesting experiment.

Homework supervision

I've been sitting here, quietly, listening to S completing his homework.
He has been at it for well over an hour now, and there has not be one single iota of complaints coming from a (normally) vocal boy. I think he realizes that he crossed that line last night.

I was very upset with him this morning when I realized the homework had not be completed. Then, to top it off, after he left for school, I found the bag that holds his laptop - he had forgotten to take it to school with him.
I dropped the bag off at school for S on my way to work. As I handed the bag to his EA, she said to me, "Good morning, how are you?" I told her that I was NOT very pleased with my son and she agreed that she was also upset with him. I gather he had already told her that the homework did not get done.
After I got to work, I started thinking and wondered if S had actually taken the time to get his house key from where ever it is that he stores it. I highly doubted it. I have noticed more and more that he just does not seem to be thinking things through lately. It is drving me crazy.

Guess what? I was right. When I got home from work, S was standing outside the house and very glad to see me. I'm still not sure why he wasn't wearing his winter jacket; I've given up asking about the "logic" that runs through his head.
Normally on the days that S doesn't take his key to school, the A-man is able to 'rescue' S by letting him in to the house. Today, however, the A-man didn't come home from school. The A-man had planned to remain in town because he wanted to go to the school dance tonight. (He is going to stay overnight at my parents to save me the hour-long round trip.) S wasn't paying attention to the conversation this morning, obviously, or he would have known all of this.

Anyway, the homework is now all done and S has been VERY good to do anything/everything that I have requested tonight.

My final decision regarding the television and other electronic devices - no longer permitted on a school night. Period. Some time on some of the games will be granted on occassion, but for the most part, there will be none from Sunday night to Thursday night.
I told S that this would be the case until he started to improve on his ability to help around the house and do the jobs/tasks that are required of a boy his age. Once I see a marked improvement I will readdress the question. Until then, nadda.

~~~

Here is a really good Math Website that will help kids of all ages with many types of math issues. S was very pleased to introduce me to it. Apparently they use this website every morning to limber up their minds. Since it is for JK to Grade 12, I figure all can benefit from it. Enjoy.

So annoyed

I am greatly annoyed with S this morning. Last night I had an ADHD session and then ended up talking with the board members for a while. When I got home, I noticed that S had not finished emptying his portion of the dishwasher.
S was in bed when I got home, but was awake. He told me that he didn't have time because he had been doing his homework.
This morning I asked to see his completed homework - none of it was done. I discovered that he had a Science test today; so I used the sheets he was to study from and quizzed him on "all the studying" he had done. He knew nothing from those sheets.
I am so angry at him right now. I can't even put rational thoughts together at the moment.

I am also annoyed about the amount of unassisted reading he was expected to do for the studying of this test. It should have been scanned on to the laptop, I think. I'm going to have to think about this for a bit and then I will contact the SERT.

Oh, and for the record, all electronic devices have been suspended for S for tonight, at the least. I was so upset with him that I figured it best to give myself time to think before I reacted.

Never ending chores

I sure hope Hubby appreciates what I do for him.

Tonight I took the boys to find their costumes for Halloween. I thought we didn't have to 'do' Halloween anymore, but apparently I was mistaken. The A-man is planning on going to the school dance on Thursday night, but prior to the dance, the town hall is hosting a "night of the living dead" walk. The A-man wants to be a "Zombie Elvis" so we had to find something that would resemble that.
Of course, while we were looking for the A-man's costume, S started to get in to the items that were there. Now I will have two zombies in residence on Friday. One an Elvis zombie, the other a pajama-wearing zombie with "a really cool mask that totally looks like a real zombie". (Yeah, I didn't go there...)

After picking up the costume items, I stopped by the store to pick up a few items that would allow me to make the food requested by Hubby for his week away. Nothing like starting to make a couple of lasagnas and a pot of chili at 8:30 at night after working all day...

But, it is done. I have two lovely lasagna pans in the freezer, and a pot of chili in the slow cooker. I will leave a note for Hubby to turn off the slow cooker and put the chili in the container on the table, and he can stick that in the freezer so that it is ready to go with him on Saturday.
I had been planning on making all of this on Friday night but was informed that they have no freezers, so I had to make these items earlier in the week so that they had time to freeze solid and not thaw in the coolers too quickly.

Sheesh, the things I do for this man!! You'd think I loved him or something, wouldn't you??

Number 300

This is post number 300 on my blog. I've been blogging for about a year and a half now, and I'm amazed at how therapeutic I find it.

Maybe therapeutic isn't the right word...

I like having a way of recording the day to day happenings of our lives. It becomes especially helpful when trying to track a possible pattern with respect to S. Life with an Auspie (aka Auspergers) child is never predictable, but when you really keep track of things, it is incredible how patterns will emerge.

I started writing this blog on Saturday, and here it is Monday night as I am finishing it. I have written the whole thing once, and then when I went to publish the post, I got an error and lost it all! Arrggh.
I know what I will write now will probably be totally different from that of just a few minutes ago. It's amazing how I will just sit down at the computer, thinking I will blog about subject A, and the next thing I know, I've gone off to talk about B and C and just lightly touched on A. Kind of like how I have a conversation with a close friend - I'm just everywhere at one time.

On Saturday morning, as I was starting to type this post, we had some people stop by. Shortly after they left, Hubby and I got ready to head to the city for Cuz's Halloween/Birthday party for G. We left the city in pretty good time on Sunday, but on the way home we stopped by the pool place for some final close up details, etc. We got to my parent's (where the boys were staying) around mid-afternoon, and Mom and I went grocery shopping together. She invited us to stay for dinner, so that meant I went a whole weekend without having to prepare a single meal.
I couldn't have done better if I had tried!!

I always find it interesting to see which friends of mine will comment on things I have mentioned on this blog. I have a link to it on my Facebook page and yet I don't think very many people actually come over from there to see what I blog about.
I wish more of my friends blogged; it's a great way to keep current on their lives.

Sometimes I wish I had more people leave comments on my blog. I'm not really sure WHY I want to know when people are reading this; maybe I just want to know if it's only friends/family that are reading, or if someone looking for information about tourettes, aspergers or ADHD have actually found some information that is useful. Guess it doesn't really matter one way or the other.

Here is to Post #300. Thanks to all that read it; regardless of it you ever leave a comment or not. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy lives to read about our lives.

Is it over?

Apparently when you don't turn in assignments, your final mark suffers. Huh - what a concept.

I was able to get a little face time with the A-man's Science teacher yesterday and discovered that an assignment hasn't been turned in, and many of the assignments that HAVE been turned in haven't been in the best conditions. It would appear the A-man has fallen back in to the old habits of rushing and not taking care of the finished product.
The assignment he didn't turn in? Yeah, he's completed it, he just doesn't know where it is. (!!) I've asked him to bring home all of his binders this weekend and we are going to do a big of organization with them. He knows that he isn't supposed to have loose papers everywhere, but apparently he doesn't "like to organize." I showed him his current marks in Science and explained to him that "THIS" is what happens when you don't take the time to organize stuff.

The A-man is supposed to be dam-busting today with the outdoors club, but he told me he was going to take time before leaving the school to find his teacher and talk about what he can do to bring up his mark. It may be too late for the missed assignment, but the teacher has assured me that he can do a replacement assignment. Funny enough - the test scores were all really good. This shows that he knows what he is doing; he just doesn't take the necessary time when doing his homework. The A-man is going to start using the computer again for assignments; that forces him to slow down and take his time, plus it also ensures that the writing is neat and legible.

S wasn't allowed to remain at school yesterday afternoon for the volleyball game. He wasn't behaving as he should, and was given a warning by his EA. He continued to misbehave and the privilege of staying for the game was removed. He didn't seem too upset by it all by the time I got home from work, but he certainly was upset about it when he had to call me from school.
I guess the honeymoon phase is over...

Dirty, rotten, nasty.....

ssss---sss---snow!!!! Yes, it is on the ground this morning! Ahhhhhh..... it is WAY to soon for snow!

Didn't do too bad in getting myself moving for work yesterday, and I think I even funtioned as was necessary, which is always a good thing. Took it fairly easy again last night; played on the computer and watched TV with the boys. Today I am back feeling totally normal - well, except for the nasty white stuff that is looking back at me every time I look out the window.

The A-man was a little upset this morning to see that we had received a letter of concern from his Science teacher. The sheet had "assignment completion" and "organization" and "work habits" checked off as concerns he would like to discuss at our parent-teacher interviews. None of the other teachers indicated any concern for discussion. The A-man was 'sick' yesterday and didn't go in to school, so I am hoping I am still able to get a fairly good interview time with this teacher.
After I saw that letter, I also realized that I have not yet received the A-man's IEP in the mail; I've asked him to follow up with his guidance councillor about that today, too.

Actually, I haven't even read S's IEP yet - it arrived in my hands on Thursday morning just as S was getting ready to head off to school. I sent the SERT a quick email in the morning telling her that I would review it when I got back home. Hmm.... guess I'd better try and find that, huh? lol - oh look, here it is!!

The A-man is going to set up an appointment for me with his teacher. Hopefully all of the 'good' times haven't been taken and I'm stuck with something dreadful like 8:30 at night.

Back to reality

Thursday's meeting with Boss went well. Pay structure that was offered was right within the amounts I was hoping it would be, plus there was an added bonus structure that I hadn't expected. Always nice.
I was also given a promotion with respect to the shows we run. Again, very cool; but not surprising. Flattering for sure, though.

Las Vegas was a total blast. I took so many pictures, and I can't wait to go through them on a bigger screen to find the best ones. I might even get Hubby to show me how to put together a little running video stream with the photos, subtitles and sound effects. (Hubby has the most interesting programs...)

Apparently S didn't do as well with my leaving as he had indicated at home; in S's agenda on Thursday afternoon was a note indicating that he had been acting up in school, and the EA asked if my trip was coming up. I couldn't answer because I was on my trip. He had a Science worksheet assigned on Thursday night and it was due today. S lied (or rather didn't offer) about having homework and didn't get it completed. I have had work on some it when he first got home and then he will finish the balance of it after supper tonight.
The A-man fared much better with respect to my going away, but he has never had the same concerns about my trips as S does.

Poor Hubby got a grouchy, tired wife coming in the door this afternoon. Our garbage and green bins didn't get picked up on Thursday as they were supposed to be, and when I pulled in to the driveway this afternoon and saw the bins and the garbage STILL sitting there, well, I was annoyed with both Hubby and the garbage man for not dealing with it. I'm pretty sure the person at the county office didn't like my phone call this afternoon. (It will be really bad if they don't pick it up tomorrow as they indicated they would.)

I did have a pretty good, solid sleep for the afternoon - red-eye flights are never good - and I'm happy to say that I think the boys will have a somewhat coherent, pleasant Mom for the evening. Dinner is baking in the oven and I'm going to just take it easy for the night.

Off again...

Boss and I have a lunch 'date' today. Review time... I sure hope I am able to get the raise amount that I have calculated. He knows I've been very patient with this, so hopefully he will make it worthy, you know?

The boys had a PA day last Friday, which gave them a four day weekend. The A-man was greatly annoyed that he had been assigned both History and Science homework "over a holiday." I told him to get used to it - that's life. I also suggested that he consider the Friday as a special work day, and if he got the homework all done that day, technically he wouldn't have homework on the holiday weekend. He didn't buy that.
By supper time on Monday, though, the A-man was finished all of him homework. I did ask him about it once over the weekend, but after that, I decided it was time to just let him schedule himself, and see where the chips fell. I'm proud of him - he did it.
Actually, it would appear he did it pretty well. Got an 84% on the History report, and hasn't yet received the Science back. I would think he did okay; he's a natural at Science.

S has become the General Manager of the boys' volleyball team at school. I guess his EA is a team coach, and in order to still coach the team during lunch and still do her job with S, she had to give him something to do to justify him being there. He's thrilled. The other day I gave him his money for a team shirt, and was so proud to come home and show it to all of us. It even has "GM" on the back where others would have a number. He'll be traveling to away games with the team, and I have reminded him that proper behaviour is a must at ALL events.
The first game is next Tuesday - a home game. I can tell that for S, having a 'special' job is such an esteem booster. He's such a great kid... I just wish other kids his age would be able to accept his quirkiness. Perhaps in time the Aspergers would be quite so pronounced and he will be better accepted by peers. Maturity - of both S and his peers - should also help...

I am all packed a ready to go on my birthday get-away with friends. My bags are packed and Sammy will be here around 4 this afternoon to head to the airport. The others will be meeting us there. Just checked the weather in Vegas, and it is supposed to be in the high 80's every day we are there. Nights a bit cooler (high 50's, low 60's), but I think we will be able to handle that. Certainly no frost to contend with!

Hubby and the boys will be participating in a trout derby this weekend. It's the big fund-raiser for the Fishing Club we belong to; the A-man will also be earning some volunteer hours over the weekend.

Holiday Weekend/Work stuff

This morning I feel like Captain Prickard of Starspace command. I knew the change was coming, and I thought I was prepared for it, but it turns out I am still quite adverse to change. (Gee, I wonder where the boys get it from….)

My work station has been changed all around. I can live with the actual desk-layout change – it was changed at my suggestion, actually, to accommodate the other changes.
What I am finding most difficult to adjust to are the two screens – large, 20” flat screens – on my desk. Two screens! Why on earth does a person need two screens at their work station?!?
Then, to throw more chaos in to the mix, my telephones (yes, I have two of those, but that isn’t new) have been switched from the right hand side to the left hand side of my work area. I keep reaching in to the wrong direction every time one of the blasted lines beeps at me!
I had to poke around the front of my computer to even figure out how to turn the thing on. Felt like a total novice…

New assistant is working out well. It has been SO nice to be able to get so many of the little things done and taken care of. None of the tasks are difficult - they just take up time. It’s almost strange to have this little extra breathing space in my day now. I’m unnerved by this – I haven’t felt this is such a long time in the office. It sort of freaks me out.
She is a very serious girl… Boss and I are not quite sure how to take her. I guess it will take working at a trade show with her at the end of November to really be able to get a true feeling for her. It’s amazing how much a person can change/adjust their personalities when on display at a trade show; her first one will be at the end of November. She is a nice enough girl – and yes, she is still a girl in my opinion – she is just so darn quiet. We are not used to quiet…

We had a great holiday weekend. With weather like that, it would have been hard to not have one; sunny, warm days… not something we often experience in the middle of October. Saturday was a day of grocery shopping and cleaning up. We had Jazzy’s folks over for our wine-tasting event. It turns out California really isn’t all that great at making Savignion Blanc, but they do make a yummy Cabernet Savignion! I served all goat’s cheese with the white wine and then all sheep’s-milk cheese with the reds. Found some pretty good cheeses that way, too. Also learned that just because it’s called an ‘artisan’ cheese, and costs WAY more than all the others, doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the best tasting.
Sunday was ‘turkey’ day. I woke up bright and early and started getting things ready for baking. I’d made the dough the night before, so I just had to warm them enough for rolling. Then I was chopping, slicing, dicing, and preparing for a dinner for 10 people. I had the table all set, the kitchen all cleaned, the serving dishes and utensils all ready and the turkey was in the oven with lots of time to spare. Hubby and I even got a chance to sit and talk for about half an hour before our guest arrived. Dinner was great – but not enough turkey left over for my liking.
Yesterday was beautiful weather, and Dar called me and invited me out on her sail boat for the afternoon. I had planned on doing laundry and cleaning up my bedroom area, but the lure of the wind, sun and time on the water was far too strong for me… off I went. What a perfect way to end the busy weekend. I was so relaxed when I drove home yesterday afternoon; my neck and shoulders aren’t used to being so relaxed! Hubby took advantage of the sunshine and got the grass cut and then he and boys did all the yard-work preparation for winter. All deck items are stored, planters are away, etc.
I am so glad I was sailing instead of doing that!!

Today is Election Day here in Canada – make sure you get out and vote! I brought my election form with me this morning and will be voting on my way home tonight.

Pre-holiday and holiday bakes

Here is my little man starting his first batch of muffins...

All done!

Mini zucchini loaves at the back, banana chocolate chip muffins on the left and carrot spice on the right...

And the biggest seller of the bake sale...

COOKIE PIZZA!!

~~~~~~~~~

My Thanksgiving baking consisted of an apple tart...

A cherry pie...

And a pumpkin pie!

The Bake-a-thon

The A-man 'forgot' about our baking date on Tuesday evening, so we had a major marathon last night. He actually did most of the work himself, and I think he did very well, too.
He started by making mini-zucchini loafs and while they were in the oven, moved on to making banana-chocolate chip muffins. After that, he made up the batter for carrot-spice muffins (which is when I realized we were missing a couple of ingredients and I had to run to the store.) Hate it when that happens!

Once we finally got the carrot muffins in to the oven, it was on to the cookie pizza. Now, I have made this cookie pizza for about 8 years or so. As a rule, I only make this once or twice a year, and only for special occasions at the school - when the boys ask me to make it. This thing is a butter-based cookie dough, topped with sweetened condensed milk, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips and smarties. It is NOT the type of item you would give to your ADHD child very often, let me tell you. (I'm sure the teachers would curse me when I sent this concoction to the school...)
The A-man was positive it would do well at the school bake sale. In the elementary school, slices of this pizza was always sold out very quickly when taken in for a bake sale. I sure hope for the A-man's sake that it was as popular in highschool as in elementary...

By the time we finished baking, I was beat. Actually, I didn't even do the majority of the work, either. I did the grating/chopping/mashing and added a few ingredients along the way, but for the most part, the A-man did it all. S was very pleased that he was able to be the A-man's sous chef. He had even brough his apron and chef's hat home from school for the event.

The thing that made me laugh the most, though, was when the A-man was giving S a very serious lecture on the proper procedure for hand-washing prior to cooking/baking. The lesson was complete with, "You need to lather for a full 20-seconds" and then when S used his hand to turn off the tap, the A-man told him he just contaminted his hands and made S do it again. While S was re-washing his hands, the A-man explained that a paper towel needed to be used when turning off the tap, etc. What surprised me the most, though, was that S actually did what the A-man requested, and never once, argued or gave a hard time. (This is huge, trust me.)

My babies are growing up. I took some pictures last night and will post them when I have a chance.

Upcoming events...

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. Hubby has been on the afternoon shift, and I have been busy every single night of the week and each weekend. The next couple of weeks, with events planned only for weekends is going to be a nice change of pace.

Last weekend I was in Montreal. Although it is a very long drive (about 7 hours with breaks), it was a great weekend, and a lot of fun. Always good to have fun when you are working, I think; makes the job easier.

This week I have only fitness classes on my calendar. Well, that and a baking night tonight with The A-man. He has joined the Green Club at the school and they are having a fund-raising bake sale on Thursday, so tonight we are going to make apple muffins and cookie pizza. I might try and squeeze in a couple of pies for Thanksgiving weekend, too.

This coming weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving; both boys have yet another PA day on the Friday.

Saturday night we are hosting a blind wine-tasting event. Jazzy’s parents and another couple will be coming over. Each couple is responsible for bringing a bottle of white and a bottle of red from a certain region. We will cover the bottles so that no one know which wine we are tasting, then we will make our tasting notes and decide which wine is the winner. My choice for this event is wine from California – the white will be a Sauvignon Blanc and the red will be Cabernet Sauvignon.
Now, none of us are particularly wine-savvy, but it should be a fun night. I’m going to visit the local cheese monger on Friday and put together some nice cheese plates to accompany the wines.

Sunday afternoon will be the day we celebrate Thanksgiving with Hubby’s family. My brother in law’s family will be attending, as will Hubby’s parents. I don’t think we will get to see my sister in law this time around, but I am sure we will see her soon. My brother (obviously) isn’t able to attend Thanksgiving this year, and I think his wife and kids are going to visit her family for the weekend. I’m not sure if my parents will be around or not; they had talked of closing the cottage this weekend.

Next weekend; Vegas! The four ladies from the “40 & Fabulous” post are going to be leaving for Vegas on Thursday night. We are scheduled to arrive around 11pm Vegas-time on Thursday. For the Friday evening we have booked tickets to see Le Cage au Folle. The Saturday will be a bit busier – we are going to The Price is Right – Live on Saturday afternoon then in the evening, Mr. Las Vegas himself; Wayne Newton! I also have requested that we have either dessert or high tea at the Bellagio, and I want to take a gondola ride and see the dolphins. I don’t think we are going to have enough time to do all that I want to do. Either that or I won’t be sleeping much. We leave Vegas on the Sunday night at 11pm and have a brief stopover in Winnipeg. I won’t be working on the Monday.

Another reason to be nice

Today I learned that it is very beneficial to be friendly with all people. (Well, I’ve always known this, and I am usually very friendly to all, but today it really did pay off.)

We live about half an hour from where I work. From work to where S goes to school is just over 10 minutes away. From home to the school is just over 15 minutes… This morning I was about 3 minutes from the office when I got a phone call from Boss telling me that S had called and he had forgotten to take his medication this morning and I needed to bring it to him. Again, I am now about 30 minutes’ drive from home.

When I got to the office, I called the school and asked the secretary to let S know that he would have to try and manage the day without his medication. I asked that she reassure him that it wasn’t a problem to miss a day because I didn’t want him stressing over having not taken it.
Shortly before 10:30 I got a phone call from the new Principal. For other reasons, she had been observing in S’s French class this morning and noticed that S was acting quite agitated. Apparently she even commented about his actions to the teacher and this is when she discovered that S hadn’t taken his meds. The principal then called me to let me know that she felt it was important that he take his pills just to ensure that he continues to have successful days.

Great.

So, here is where I get to the point in the story where I explain my opening statement. The idea of driving half an hour to go home and get a pill, then drive to the school and then BACK to work was not high on my list of things to do today. (Now, don’t get me wrong, I would have done it if I had no other option - which I thought it might come to – but I wanted to find a way to get him the medication in the fastest way possible and still not be out of the office for almost an hour and a half.)

I don’t know what made me think of it, but I called the pharmacist to see if there was a possibility of getting just one of each medication. Since this lady knows me, she was willing to do me this big favour! In fact, she even offered to have someone deliver the medication to the school for me. I told her that would be great, but there was a time constraint, so I went and got the ‘emergency supply’ for S.

When I got to the school, I asked S how his day was going. Asked him if he’d been having a good one, etc., etc. From the way he answered me, I really don’t think that he realized he was acting any different than normal. He has told me that he feels different when he has his meds – it just surprises me when others can see the difference.

So, moral of the story – be nice to everyone you meet. Someday you may just need them to help you out with something and if you aren’t nice, they aren’t going to be as willing to do so.