[summer break in 80 days] day 6

Oh man! I am not sleeping well. I think I know what or who the probably is. But I don't know how to solve the problem. At least wuthout causing other problems.

I get super sleepy after breakfast. It could be my pills kicking in or could be that I am waking up every couple of hours at night when someone rolls into me. I asked Andy to let me doze until 9 am and then next thing I know it's 10 am. Oops.

The boys wanted to go out and ride their bikes. I was not in the mood to garden so I grabbed my camera instead. I got a new polarizing filter for my short zoom and put it on. It's hard to manipulate it with the lens hood on. I really don't like lens hoods. But they are a must on sunny days.

I tried taking some shots of the crape myrtle blooms with the sun behind. But the polarizer makes the sun flare spread to an ugly mess. I did one good shot with sun flare and a bee. You can see it here. Then Andy stood in front of the palm tree and I took some shoots with the high behind him. I prefer the backlighting to the sun flare. I want to try some silhouettes. But I know the boys will not cooperate. I may try the woodlings but they are very unstable and topple over with the slightest breeze. Professional photographers make it look much easier.



Grilled cheese for lunch. Yes, everyday we are home it's what we have. There was a time, years ago when they would peanut butter & jelly but no more.

Ryan is getting bored and bugging Andy more. I have to intervene then comes onto my lap to bug me. High need indeed.

I finally enrolled in a month of Kelby Training and I watched Rick Sammon go over digital cameras. It was really a beginner lesson but I did learn a few things about metering and I finally found my blinkies! I wish they had more classes on photography. I did find an Olympus class at BetterPhoto.com. But it's $198 for 8 weeks. Not bad but I just can't afford it right now. Rick's video were good but I find myself getting fidgety too soon.

Guess what the boys had for dinner? Yep, Tyson Southern Style Chicken
Nuggets. I had pizza and I think I had the oven up too high. It's been so long so I have made any that I couldn't remember if it was 425 or 450. I opted for 450. It was still yummy. Some of the cheese was a little too brown.

A pretty unproductive day. Oh well, 74 more to go.

[summer break in 80 days] day 5

I wonder when I can do repeats because our days our so predictable?

Today is Monday, our other swim day. The Monday & Thursday schedule started 3 years ago when I just had too much work to swim every weekday. I have the time now but Ryan does not want to alter the schedule.



Last year I did not swim. I was too uncomfortable in a swim suit. No, I am comfortable now but at least the suit fits me again. And swimming feels so good. Almost every ache and pain is gone in the water. The only bad part is getting out when your body feels twice as heavy as it did before the swim.



And because I wanted to come home to shower & get dressed, this really changed things. Andy seemed OK until we were home again. It will take some getting used to. One thing I knew not to change was lunch. First to Wendy's and then to Chick Fil A.

Our final destination was Target. I let the boys lead the way until we got to the groceries. They walked through books, video games and toys but asked for nothing. Yeah, I know I am lucky. Ryan continues to stress me with his grocery cart driving skills. It didn't help that he saw a young father jump on the back and go gliding through the parking lot.

Home is the typical, boys on the computers, boys playing with their cars, boys drinking too much milk (ryan) and juice (andy). Ryan tends to get on Andy's nerves. Andy doesn't know how to tell him to stop so he whines. Andy's whines get on my nerves. I am trying to teach Andy to say "leave me alone Ryan." But I also need to teach Ryan to listen. Andy is catching on quicker than Ryan.

The one really nice thing about swim days, the boys goes to bed quickly.

They announced the new iPhone today. I would love to have but don't need one. I asked Ryan if he ever earns an iPod would he want my iPod Touch. No, he wants an iPod Classic like Andy's. OK, Andy's does hold a lot more movies but the iPod Touch has a much bigger screen. And all of the fun apps. Weird kid. Maybe Andy would want the iPod Touch?

[summer break in 80 days] day 4

Seems my body is trying to catch up on sleep. After getting up out of bed, I dozed in the chair for another hour and a half. Why didn't I just stay in bed? Because the boys see this as an invitation to jump up and join me. Every bounce jostles me awake so no rest can be had.

Sundays is our day for waffles and sausage. Andy eats 2 waffles and 4 pieces of sausage. He used to eat more sausage but learned that he can them later in the week if he saves them.

I am getting caught up with the laundry but then is that even possible? It's like doing the dishes, there is only a short reprieve until the next batch.

Today is the Pocono 500. This means that the tv is on from 8 am until the race is over at about 6 pm. Coverage for the race starts about 1:30 pm but Ryan flips between ESPN and the other sports channels while he waits. I find that I can't concentrate to read with the TV on. Unfortunately there is no other comfy chair to read to I split my time between making cards, laundry & dozing.

I did make it outside briefly to take some shots of the clouds. This week's theme for photo of the day is backlighting/sun flare. You can see the shot I got here. I am not a big fan of sun flares. I don't care for all of the ghost dots. I guess it's something I need to work on.

It looks odd with no tree here, you can see all those weeds I need to clear out. But then I can see more great storm clouds which is a plus.

[summer break in 80 days] day 3

Storms rolled through about one am this morning lots of lightning and thunder but no rain. They were south of us and caused a bit of damaged. Ryan stirred but didn't wake.

Ryan asked to ride his bike this morning. He remembered that our typical storms come in the afternoon causing them to miss their riding. So I finally planted the jasmine. I got too much so I planted some around one of the crape myrtles and in front of the dwarf pampa grass.

Weeds continue to grow in the front beds.

Lunch at home is always the same, grilled cheese sandwiches. Ryan eats one quarter, no crusts and some Wavy potato chips. Andy waits until the sandwiches are cool before he eats.

The rest of the day is pretty ordinary. Ryan teases Andy, Andy whines. I try to tune it out but eventually I lose control. Only one "HEY!" and calm discussion helps things out for a while. Why must they play in my bedroom?

I did laundry and made some cards. Took some naps and read some.

I went in my studio bedroom to take some photos for photo of the day. The boys soon followed.

[summer break in 80 days] day 2

(boys on the last day of school not cooperating for a photo)

What did happen today? Ryan did sleep in some. It was 4:40 am when he started tossing and turning. I kicked him out at 4:50 am and fell asleep. In fact, I don't remember the 5:15 am alarm nor Andy coming in at 5:30 am. I must have been tired.

I had on my list to do some gardening. I need to plant the jasmine I purchased on Monday. But I neglected my linnecards.com work so I pulled orders instead. I know, not exciting but it had to be done. One benefit to this crappy economy is that there were few orders to pull and it completed quickly.

We had some storms roll in the afternoon. Before they even got here, we had some weird mini outages which only affected the washer and dryer. Just enough to make the PF come up on the panel. Then when the rain did it, it was over quickly. I was disappointed even though my backyard is a mucky mess.

Ryan went out in that mess and walked around. I guess he liked the feeling between his toes. I didn't realize what he was doing until he said he couldn't get his feet clean. I walked over to see him blackening a bath towel with muck. His feet were caked in mud. I told him to go in the bathtub and wash them and he didn't understand you can wash your feet without undressing. I showed him how then noticed the mud flakes all over the carpet. I told him he should vacuum it up and he said he couldn't. I showed him that he could. He doesn't like the loud noise but he made it through a couple of passes with the vacuum.

The rest of the day was pretty routine. Andy wanting to play by himself and Ryan forcing him to play his games. Ryan telling me the cookies were gone even though I asked him if he needed any just the day before at the grocery store and he said no. I offered to take him to the store or make him some but he said he would wait until Monday. Yes, he loves routines more than he loves his EL Fudge.

The only pictures I took were for Photo of the Day.

[summer break in 80 days] day 1

Apparently summer break is like Christmas because Ryan starts stirring at 3:40 am. He wakes me up but manages to back to sleep for an hour. I cannot sleep and know it's going to be a long day.

Rain threatens in the morning. Not a good start since Thursday is pool day. There are sprinkles as we left the garage but the boys want to go.

The pool locks are set on a timer. MPII is nuts with technology & security. There is a water aerobics group that meets Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday and there are several members waiting in their cars. The sprinkles continue but the sun was out too. Finally we see the lifeguard come out and ladies go in so we know the pool is open.





The MPII Newsletter mentioned free wifi at the pool. I look but only saw a secured network. It doesn't surprise me and I go to ask for the password. I am told that there should be an unsecured network but it doesn't show and no one knows how to check.

Last year, I brought magazines to read as it wasn't so easy to read my Palm in the glare. The iPod is better but I don't have anything good to read.







The boys play together for a while. Then the water aerobics group moved to a shallower part of the pool and Andy joins them. He loves to exercise.





Ryan finishes his swim after 45 minutes. Then he takes my camera and walked around shooting photos of signs. Anything with words or numbers. Once Ryan leaves to get dressed, Andy knows it's time to get out. Ryan & I take the stuff to the car and Andy comes out when he is dressed.

Next on our agenda is lunch followed by the chiropractor. We stop at Wendys for fries for Ryan. Andy gets small fries to hold him over for the 2 mile drive to Chick Fil A. I order a chargrill chicken deluxe for me and a #5 8-count for Andy. I don't get fries for myself so I take one of his before I pass them back.

We make it to the chiropractor with no time to spare. But they don't hold appointment times in stone. The boys want to wander around and check things out and I try to control them. Andy does NOT want an adjustment today.

Our last stop is Publix where shopping is a pleasure except when you have your kids with you and they want to go off in 2 different directions. Ryan pushes the grocery cart and I am tense the entire time because he thinks it is fun to crash into things and people. He does well this time, meaning nothing was hurt nor damaged, and we are done in 30 minutes.

Once we are home I have to remind them to help with the groceries. I can complete the job in less time by myself but they need to learn.

It rains on and off the rest of the day and the boys play with their computers and iPods and are good this first day.

79 more days to go.

fifth grade pomp & circumstance

Andy's career with elementary school is officially over. Wednesday was his Moving Up Ceremony.

I got to the school very early and had a hard time finding a parking spot. I sat in my car a while listening to podcasts rather than sit in the cafeteria and wait.

When I was walking in, I saw A's mom. We chatted and made our way to the cafeteria. Before we got there, we were met by Andy's teacher who said we were to walk in with the kids. Never got that memo. We walked in in frint of the rest of the fifth graders. I was too focused on Andy to notice all those parents staring at us. We got to sit in the front row with our kids.

We got no programs like the rest of the parents so I didn't know how things were going to go. The Principal spoke then Wesley Chapel's Honorary Mayor spoke. I may have been having a caffiene overload because I couldn't concentrate for more than few words at a time. I took photos and gave my iPod to Andy to keep him busy. (As I was edited the photos, I realized most are crap. I am not good with indoor photography.)

They started giving out awards and I was happily surprised when Andy received a Citizenship Award. S won an achievement award. Then the completion certificates were given. Andy did great and knew where to stand.





After, there was a video of the fifth graders through the year. I don't know if they showed our kids as we were too close too the screen to see it well. Finally, the kids sang a song and we, the parents, were dismissed. We made our way to the car loop to wait for the kids to go through the clap out.



Our students were leading the pack. We went into the classroom where they had pizza & cake. Again, I wasn't told about this and Andy just wanted to leave with me. We did stay long enough for Andy to gobble a slice and drink some juice. Miss Lisa was there to say good-bye through tears. She has been with this kids since they started. It's a big change. These four have been together for 6 to 8 years.

I took photos of Andy with his teacher and the other support staff. They are all crap. This is only the only somewhat decent photo. This is Andy with Miss Angie. She has been the teacher's aide for the past 3 years. I had an interesting chat with her while we were waiting for the kids in the clap out.



We left and went to Chick Fil A for lunch.

fifth grade trip

Monday was the 5th grade trip to Busch Gardens. Andy did not go. It was a tough decision, one I struggled with. I hope I made the right choice.

There were several pros:
• Andy would have enjoyed it;
• All the other 5th graders in his class went;
• he would have been well chaperoned.

But too many cons:
• it's expensive, $50 plus money for food and souvenirs;
• I could not afford tickets for both of us;
• it's a long day, 10 am to 6 pm;
• Andy has strayed and gotten lost plenty of times in the past. I would not be able to relax until I knew he was safe at home.

One of the problems is that the teachers spoke to the kids before I made my decision. So Andy knew about the trip and thought he was going. I had to tell him no. It turned out OK because he didn't remember going to Busch Gardens years ago so he didn't know what he was missing.

But I still felt bad for him. So I said he could stay home and we would do things together. He happily agreed. He said he wanted to do things on Dale Mabry. We made our agenda: Hollies, Lake Park and Chick Fil A.

On a normal school day, Andy gets dressed and ready after 8 am. Monday, he was dressed by 7 am. He hovered and bounced and buzzed until I finally got ready myself. On the way to Hollies, he sang along with Raffi with his ear buds in his ears. He sang so loudly that I couldn't hear my own music. lol

We haven't been to Hollie's in years. They have really cleaned up the place. The plants always looked good before but now they looked great and just seemed like there was more order to the place. I expected Andy to wander off like he used to when he was little. But he stayed pretty close. They no longer have the chickens wandering about which is probably a good thing where Andy is concerned. When we went into the new antiques shop, we were met by their dog. Andy was ready to leave but the owner let the dog out instead.



There were so many plants I wanted to buy. But I stuck with a flat of jasmine groundcover and 4 bags of FloriMulch. FloriMulch is an alternative to Cypress mulch. I admit I was a fan of Cypress mulch until I learned than they cut down trees more for the mulch than use the leftovers. FloriMulch is made from the Melaleuca Tree. This tree was brought into Florida last century to help dry up the swamps. It is non-native and aggressive. I feel better using mulch from a tree that is a nuisance rather than the cypress which does so much to help the Florida environment.

OK off my soapbox.



Next we went to Lake Park. It's nice that Andy can do what he wants without Ryan telling him what to do. But then Ryan isn't there to interact with him. The little kids see Andy as a giant and don't know what to think about him. Andy was happy until someone brought their dog. Even though the dog was leashed Andy was not happy.



We met a young woman named Betty. She said that Andy reminded her of someone. She has done some teaching in Hillsborough county but Andy has never been a student there. "May I ask what his challenge is?" I was taken back by the question. It was such a nice way to ask that question. Her son has hearing loss but you really couldn't tell as he is bi-lingual. Betty trains horses and does some work with special needs kids. I have been wanting to get Andy involved (maybe Ryan too?) but the facilities are too far. This farm is actually not too far and the cost doesn't seem bad, $25/half hour session. We didn't get to talk too long because Andy was really unhappy about that dog. And it was lunch time.

Next on our list was Chick Fil A. It was crowded but that doesn't bother Andy. Especially since can listen to his iPod. After playing and eating some of his lunch, we were ready to go home and wait for Ryan. I don't think Andy missed the 5th grade trip. He is just a happy kid.

bringing gardening back

After the tree fell, I went looking for photos of its progress over the years. I was struck by how nice my yard used to look.

When we moved in, we had a bare lawn in back. Only grass and 3 shrubs around the a/c unit. I wanted beds but Gail didn't. He liked the plain lawn since it was easier to mow. He was OK with the trees since he wanted shade too. Then I convinced him we need more trees in the other corner. After he died, I kept adding more beds to each corner and eliminating the thirsty lawn. I tried different plants but many could not survive 2 boys and a dog. The indian hawthorne did well. So did the cassias which did so well they had to be removed.


(summer 2002. crape myrtles, jasmine planted on the fence, maple tree in front that later died, mint planted in the back to keep the aphids away)

I found that I like planning and planting but not the maintenance. And once I started scrapbooking, I didn't going out in the back yard much. Then I opened my online store and I really didn't have time to garden. What didn't die, grew like mad. I am embarrassed how my yard looks and want to bring it back.

(spring 2009. jasmine has taken over, I think the crape myrtles are still in there somewhere)



I have decided that since I can't go walking while the boys are on break, I can work in the yard. I started this week when Andy was home sick. And I did some more over the holiday weekend. It's funny but now I've got weeding on my mind, if I see weeds anywhere and am tempted to go pull them.

It's going to be a slow process. Already, I see weeds I missed after I thought I got them all. Or are they springing up overnight? Well, we seemed to be getting an ark full of rain.

he is NOT an animal

Andy got his first haircut at Carnival Cuts in Michigan. At the time, it was a novel approach, distract the kids with video so they won't realize a stranger is coming at them with a sharp object. Andy did fine and we went back several times.

Gail thought Andy should be able to go to the local barber and I tried. He just didn't like waiting his turn and the barber was not a hot chick with boobs. We would rather spend 40 minutes on the car, one way, for a 5 minute haircut that walk around the corner. Even in my younger days of motherhood, I chose to easy way out. That is, the easier way on my nerves.

When we moved to Florida, I could find no kiddie haircut places. I decided to try SuperCuts. I took Andy and Ryan one morning during the week when I expected it to be quiet. It was, no one was in there. I had to sit Andy on my lap and even then he was not cooperative. Finally, the stylist said he could only use the clippers since he was concerned about slicing Andy's ear off with the scissors. I agreed and he turned them on.

Andy did not like the clippers. He struggled even more. I held on for all my might. It seemed to take about 3 days but probably only took 10 minutes and Andy's head was shaved short. I was exhausted and embarrassed by Andy's behavior. Meanwhile, the other stylist assured me she would watch Ryan but she was too taken in with Andy's behavior and let Ryan crawl on the floor. Lovely.

I think the charge was $7 and I gave him a $20 tip. I felt awful. As we left, I heard the stylist say, "That kid is an animal."

Here is the part you expect me to march back in and ream the guy a new hole. I didn't. I was too shocked, humiliated and defeated. I cried the whole way home. Why did my son behave this way?

All this happened months before we had even a vague diagnosis of PDD-NOS.

Both Andy and I have come along way since that spring 9 years ago. He longer cries and fights his haircuts, though he does tend to shrink his head into his shoulders. And I would never allow anyway to get away with calling my son an animal.