i should have listened to my gut

Last Thursday while we were waiting for the bus, Andy was playing with his recorder. I thought about him losing it on the bus and showed him how to attach it to his backpack so it wouldn't slip out.

I looked at Ryan and thought about his watch. He can't wear it at school because it's a privilege which he has not earned so he takes it off when he is on the bus to school and put it back on when he is on his way home. I thought Ryan could attach his watch the same way Andy was securing his recorder. But I didn't think Ryan would take kindly to my suggestion and he has been good about kwwping track of it.

The bus comes that afternoon and as Ryan gets off the bus I can see he is upset. I see his arm and know the watch is missing. I ask the bus driver to keep and eye out for it and we go inside.

Before I can even say anything to Ryan, he explodes and screams. I sent him in for a time out to calm down. The problem is that Andy thinks he is in a time out as well.

Ryan calms down and we talk and I ask if he wants to go buy a new watch but of course that won't do. Nothing will help, it's the end of the world to him. I do ask for his backpack and find the watch inside. Then I show him how to attach the watch so he will know where it is. He is not happy with my suggestion and would have told me where to put it if he knew how. But he is much happier. Now I just need to spend time with Andy and calm him down.

almond butter or poop?

I kept reading about the benefits of almond butter and I love almonds so I thought I would try some. First off, it's not so easy to find and when you do find it, you are shocked by the price. :shock:

I finally opened it today to find it looking like diarrhea. Yes, I knew it would be separated but I couldn't get it really blend. There was still a lot of liquid and the rest was really sticky sludge.

I stuck in the fridge and may try again later. I will not be happy if I spent $10 for a small jar of poop.

school & home

I believe in separation of school and home. And so do the boys. Andy easts foods at school that he won't eat at home and vice versa. Ryan thinks that homework should be done at school. For a few years, that was possible as the work was easy enough and Ryan worked quickly enough to get it done. Last year, he had to start do homework at home. Mostly it was just spelling words that he could get done in 10-15 minutes and that was all the assignments for the week.

Fourth grade is a lot tougher. He has more assignments and they are longer. But getting him to understand that he should do a little each day just falls on deaf ears. I hate having to nag him. And I'm sure seeing Andy not doing any homework even though he is in the fifth grade doesn't help.

This week, he has forgotten his homework at school so he doesn't know what he is supposed to do. Next week, we will make a copy and leave it at home so he doesn't waste any days. At least he has remembered the vocabulary words (not called spelling words anymore) and we are practicing to spell them. Last week, I thought he knew the words and came home with a D on his test. (That is so hard to comprehend from someone who can only remember 2 Cs in all of her academic career.)

I know Ryan is smart but he doesn't care enough. And I hate to be a nag. My parents never asked or helped with homework. The only thing they had to signed were permission slips. I have to initial his planner even night so he can get a stamp. I think they went the other extreme as far as parental involvement. I already went to school and passed. Why do I feel like I am back? And why can't the schools seem to teach the kids what they need to learn?

I am already dreading February when I have to do another science fair project.

emotional

I remember when I first fell in love with Gail. I stopped crying. I used to cry way too easily; being teased, bad day, sad book or movie, hallmark commercials. But then those early days, my tears dried up. I could watch anything sad and never even felt my eyes get wet. I really liked feeling that. OK, I loved being in love.

These days, I am back to getting misty eyed at the weather report. OK, I am not that bad. And I don't cry at hallmark commercials only because I don't watch television. But give me a said book... I just finished reading Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons for the second time and had to wipe my eyes quite during the last third of the book.

And another thing! I don't remember the details of a book. So I can read the book and not have it spoiled though I tend to remember the major plot.

can't take a joke

Not that people with autism have no sense of humor, but unless they know it's a joke ahead of time, they think more literally.

Last night I was teasing Ryan. Somehow we got on the subject of him being "bad." I said he was going to grounded for 3 months. Then I amended it to being ground until 5 am and that he had to stay in bed. He started to get upset and I explained that being grounded or forced to do something you already do isn't a punishment. But he couldn't see it. I had to take back all my teasing before he would smile.

This makes me think back to when I was a child. I was ultra-sensitive to teasing. Did I not understand they were teasing? Of course, my family just thought I was a moody kid.

swizzle stick

This word just popped into my head this morning while waiting for the bus. I don't know why, I wasn't thinking about mixing a few drinks though a mimosa in the morning is always nice.

So I looked it up and found an entry in wikipedia. Is everything is wikipedia? Swizzle Stick was invented in 1933 as a way to get olives out of a martini without getting wet fingers. Necessity really is the mother of invention.

When most people think of swizzle sticks they probably have an image of those cheap plastic things most popular in the 60's and 70's. These days there are plenty of cool glass and acrylics ones and there is even a store called The Swizzle Stick Store. I know someone who would love those penguins but would never pay the price. (Hi Susan!) I think the mix sets would be more fun and might help people know whose glass belongs to whom. I have these fruit acrylic ones. I am not sure where I got them. Now I just need to have a party. (The set includes 12, 4 of each though I think I am missing one of the grapes.)

I should also note that I love google. When I googled swizzle stick, I found some cool sites, especially if you love drinking. Like this Giant Extremely Large Flask that holds 64 oz!

headaches

I have suffered headaches practically my whole life. The almost daily ones stopped when I moved down here. I thought it might have been that the weather is more consistent, practically sunny all the time. Though when tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes come around I get a nasty headache.

Lately, I've been getting afternoon headaches, around 4 or 5 pm. I mentioned it to my chiropractor and he said it might be low blood sugar if I haven't eaten in 3-4 hours. Hmm... maybe. Since I have been eating at home, lunch is filling and I don't need a snack. My chiropractor suggested nuts like almonds. I looked at the store the other day but didn't see any snack packs. (Though they were probably in another aisle like with the lunch stuff.) I felt one coming on today and went for some cheese and crackers figuring the cheese was good protein. My headache is still here.

Maybe I am getting headaches from listening to Ryan play mario videos on youtube over and over again? But I still get them when he is at school and it's nice and quiet. And it can't be the podcasts because I don't listen on the weekends but have a headache anyway.

Maybe it's just peri-menopause.

09.06.08

Egads! I think I have eaten more fruit and veggies this week than in the entire year! Though I didn't want to shock my body too much so we went to Wendy's last night for dinner.

I spent most of the day working on the new site. I think everything is here now. Still need to work on the front page with some loops. No, it won't be as nice as Pioneer Woman's but I am not paying hundreds of dollars either.

I can't believe Bonnie got a pony! Last week she got 2 parakeets after all, each child needs their own. I wonder when she will be getting the horses?

Why is it when I have a hangnail, I can't leave it alone? I have to poke and prod even though it hurts. Now my thumb is swollen and sore and probably infected. I must be a masochist.

Happy Birthday Tina!

composting

After Gail died, I got into gardening. I planned out the yards and planting some nice beds. I even got a composter. About that time, I was eating healthy ad produced quite a bit of food waste that could be used. I got these cool bags that I would set on the countertop and fill them up through the week.

Of course that didn't last and once I had all the plants I could use, I stopped gardening. Maintenance wasn't nearly as fun and planning and planting. I also stopped eating healthy so the compost just sat.

A few months ago, my neighbor mentioned composting and I told he could have mine. He took me up on the offer and dragged it away with some good compost in the barrel. Around this time, I was buying cut flowers to photograph. I remembered the bags I still had left and told him I would start saving them for his compost. This worked out well as I saw him or his wife most days after school.

During summer, we stopped going out after dinner as it was too hot (and Andy tended not to get dressed unless we went somewhere.) The bags filled up and they sometimes sat too long on the countertop. For the most part, it was OK as the flowers were mostly dry and did not leak through the bag.

Then school resumed and I decided to eat healthy again which meant lost of good stuff for the compost. But it's still too hot and we aren't going out so the bags are filling up quicker and sitting here. I finally put them in the garage but that only made it worse with the warmer temperatures. Yesterday, the bus came and picked up the kids so I decided to grab the bags and take them to the neighbors. But one of the bags leaked. Bad. I almost gagged with the smell.

So what should I do? I looked online for other solutions. I now see that getting the bags I have been using with be difficult at best. There are compost keepers and liners. But do I really want to invest more money? How does this benefit me? It makes me feel good when I can reduce waste and do things for the environment but is it worth it? And will these fruit flies ever go awa

09.03.08

The bus surprised us today by showing up "on time" just as we were getting into the car to leave. Of course Ryan was happy to go to the bus, Andy was a little upset with the change but would do what Ryan did. I hope they were not too late to get to school and that Ryan's day wasn't ruined.

Not I am not sure what do with myself. Getting into the car and getting them to school helped start my day. I thought about taking those compost bags to Paul but when I went to grab one, found it was leaking and smelled horribly! I had waited to long and it was gross! It even leaked through the plastic bag onto the seat of my car but mostly in the garage. I was starting to gag from the smell so I had to get a pitcher of water to splash on the mesh. I also found an unopened air freshener to stick in my car.

But noe it is after 11:00 and I have little to show for it except I set up yet another blog. Crazy, that.

I do have to go to Target to get some biscuits and wipes. Can I hold myself to just those 2 items. Maybe a candy bar? But then maybe I should look for the last birthday present for Ryan? Oh yes, this is turning into an unproductive day.

later that same day...

Dave the Schwan's guy showed up today! It's been years since I saw him. A few weeks ago, I decided to start eating better which means making lunch at home. Two of my favorite things to cook are salmon and chicken breasts, though not together. I looked at the grocery store but couldn't only find a bag of pre-seasoned chicken breasts and no salmon except "fresh" and smoked. So I went to Schwans and found my favorites, Alaskan salmon & unbreaded chicken breasts. There was a bit of confusion as they never contacted me about the delivery date. (I guess it was a good thing I was procrastinating about getting to Target.) But I love that the salmon and chicken are individually packaged. (The last 2 chicken breast I got from the store were fused together and I had to thaw them both then cook the both.) What I don't like is having Dave show up every 2 weeks. I feel bad if I don't order something. I think I might try some shrimp next time.

I did get to Target and I tried to stay on my list of 3 things: Mario Party DS (for Ryan's birthday), wipes & biscuits. But I went through toys and got Ryan 2 more gifts ($12 total!) and then got some clean shower. OK, I didn't go crazy but still the total was $77! And why can't I remember to take my bags into Target? Though it's OK as I use them for trash bags and therefore am saving a few cents.