%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
A continuation of my original blog, "Surviving Motherhood". |
|
Welcome to my world of middle school, high school, and motherhood. The life of a mom is never easy, especially as children grow, and especially when you have a special needs child. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| We were all gifted a wonderful surprise when we found out that Don's aunt could help us travel down to Florida after Christmas to come spend time with her and Don's brother. This is the first time we've ever had a car that would be able to make the trip without any issues, so we took Sadie and drove her down to Florida to stay for a little while. At first we were going to leave Dixon with a friend, but I worried that, because he's so smart, he might decide to take any opportunity they accidentally give him to run out the door and try to find us. (I know it sounds ridiculous, but he's a very smart cat, and I wouldn't put it past him.) We made an audible and decided to bring him with us instead. I really believe that Dixon was taken in and out of a shelter his first year of life, so when we try to put him in a carrier, he struggles and cries, scratches and tries to escape. He got Don real good when we were leaving our house to head out. Thanks to this trip though, he's become more tolerant of his carrier, harness and leash. We stopped in North Carolina for the night, and Dixon was thrilled about our hotel room! He took to it quite well, almost as if he thought that we were going to be living there from then on out. It was very cute! We were stuck in traffic for most of South Carolina and also into Jacksonville, so Dixon was kind of trapped in his carrier for awhile, but he was a real trooper and did quite well. We would stop at rest areas to try and get him to use his litter box, drink some water or eat some food, so we could give him a little breathing room and a chance to stretch his legs. I know he wouldn't really partake in any of the offerings, but it was good to get him out of his carrier so at least he wasn't trapped in there for hours at a time. The kids did fantastic as well! We thought we would be into Florida by 6:30 pm, we ended up not getting there until almost 11 pm. It was quite frustrating, but there wasn't really anything we could do about it. I'm just happy we made it all in one piece! So far, we've seen Don's brother and his wife, got to see their cat at their place, which is really nice, and swim in their pool. It was pretty surreal to be swimming outside in 70 degree weather at the end of December. Only in Florida! It was a lot of fun though. I love being able to swim, so I enjoyed it. We haven't done much else at this time, but really, the trip is about seeing Don's aunt and brother, so spending time with them is more important than going or doing anything else. Today I'm supposed to make a turkey dinner. Hopefully there's enough for everyone! Don's aunt seems to be inviting everyone she can think of. I hope there's enough room for everyone! Dixon has been taking to the surroundings quite well since we got here. At first he was living on the guest bed like an island, and now he's wandering the house, keeping wary of the dogs. There haven't been any fights or physical attacks thank goodness, but there has been some growling and hissing. The dogs are quite small in stature, but they're very curious as to who Dixon is, and where he came from. I wonder what they'll do when we leave tomorrow? Hopefully we have a safe trip back tomorrow. Don says he'd rather not stop at a hotel room if we can help it, and I don't blame him. Money is kind of tight at this point, so if we can get by just by stopping to stretch, eat, and get gas, we should be okay. All in all, I've enjoyed this little impromptu trip! Maybe sometime soon we can make it again. |
| This year has been somewhat hard for us financially, and I'm not quite sure why. I know that we've had a lot more things to pay for this year, such as a full year of SMYOC, and band and chorus fees now that Ryan's in high school, as well as some uniform fees, and tuning up his clarinet. I never thought it would affect Christmas though the way it has. We are very lucky that we can get assistance when asked. I applied for gift cards to help us out, as well as other places, where I could get some wishes of the kids granted for Christmas. All three wishes the kids asked for were answered, and I couldn't be happier, as those are mainly their Christmas gifts this year. My family ordered a few things for the kids, like the video games that they asked for, that I was just unable to afford at this time. Thank god for Papa and Nana and Uncle Jason. Thanks to the magic of gift cards, I was able to afford the other video game that Journey asked for this year. This has never happened before. Usually I'm able to spend our money on these things, and call it done. I've never really NEEDED assistance before. If someone offered and wouldn't take no for an answer before, sure, I'd let them, but it wouldn't be such a big deal if they couldn't. This year, I need all the help I can get. I feel terrible that it's come to this, and I don't even really know how it has, but it has, and all I can do is be grateful every day that it has, so the kids have something to open and look forward to on Christmas day. They're good kids, they don't ask for much. They know the truth about Santa, and they understand we don't have all the money in the world. I'd rather not tell them how far we had to go this year. All that matters is that they got the things they asked for most. There are a few things going on in the background right now, such as Don's aunt trying to put it together that we go to Florida for just a few days to visit. I'm not entirely sure it's going to happen, but if it doesn't, it doesn't, and if it does, then it'll be great to see her. I'm not too put out either way. I'm just used to things falling through is all, I'm not trying to be cynical about this per se, just life in general is all about things falling through and how you respond to them. The best thing to happen to us this year has been Sadie. Thank god for her. We would be so screwed without a car. She means the world! |
| There seems to be some things going on with me that I'm not quite fully comprehending. Last week was a little more foul than usual, only because it was supposed to be the week the hormone fairy visited. However, she hasn't been anywhere to be seen. I am now currently running 10 days late. The chances of me being pregnant are pretty slim, so I'm not TOO freaked out about it, but it bothers me that I still get the symptoms but not the course itself. In a way though, I don't mind. Not having to use feminine sanitary things makes me breathe a sigh of relief. I've always said, if I'm through having kids, I wish I was through having everything else. I've got a tubal ligation, they burned them to make sure nothing else passes through. That should be the end of all of this. The usual act itself though, is what leads me to realize why I'm currently down in the dumps. Because it never showed up, I kind of had to realize the time of the month and match it up myself. Not that that's a bad thing, but...I dunno. Just odd, at least I thought. Weight is currently influx still, blood sugar is less influx, but still influx. Still haven't seemed to find the magic dinner number or bedtime number. Not sure what else I need to do. I would call my endo, but she's currently on maternity leave, so I'm not really going to get any answers at this point. I did drop my a1c from 12.8 to a 7.5. If I could drop it another .6-.8, I'd be in the controlled diabetic range. I fight for that range every day. It's definitely an adjustment. Nothing I haven't been through before, but I do have to admit, I've never been in this range at this weight before. It's foreign to me, and I don't like it much. I don't like this weight range much either to be honest. Walking used to be my jam, and now it hurts so bad it makes me cry. How did I get to this point?? Don and I were talking about getting me a stationary bike at tax time probably, so that way I can hang out and exercise on it constantly, maybe shed some of this weight and start to be able to walk again. That would be great. The season is in the air, and I'm only barely feeling it. This is the first year that I haven't had anything already bought before December. I kinda hate that I have to guess if everything is going to still be there by the time we can afford to get it or not. I'm just lucky that my kids are too old for toys now, and they don't require the latest and greatest. I don't know what the hell an "LOL ball" is, but I'm certainly glad it doesn't hold Journey's interest. Likewise, I'm glad Ryan's not one of those teenagers that requires a new Apple product every gift giving season. In fact, Ryan fried his laptop in a moment of boneheadedness, and has been having to make due with his old tablet until we're able to purchase him another laptop. Rest assured, it's not going to be an expensive one, and he'd better take more care of this one than he did his last one. (Between you and me though, it was actually a blessing in disguise. He was becoming borderline obsessed with Rocket League, so him frying his laptop means that he can't play Rocket League, which means he's less likely to slack off and more likely to do his homework...now if only I could find a way to put a lock on the Discord forum.....hmmmmmmmmm.) Slowly but surely, things are trickling in, here and there. A friend of mine said that technically, we HAVE been giving them Christmas presents since before December-in the gifts of doing things like SMYOC, and Girl Scouts, and admission into the AVPA, upkeeping his clarinet, etc. I mean, maybe to the kids, these are normal things that just get done for all kinds of kids, but to be honest, they're expensive experiences that most kids in our income bracket don't get. To afford a portion of tuition for the year for SMYOC is no small feat, but I know how much he loves playing for them, and I know how much they love having him, it's an organization that feels at home to him and having him there feels at home to them. He gets to shine his talent for all to see, and it's an amazing experience for him, so I do what I can to make sure that it's covered, so that he can play there. Not everyone gets in when they audition, and even if you do get in when you audition, it still costs tuition to play. This is, I feel, one of the best gifts I could give him for his talent of clarinet. Hopefully soon, we'll be able to afford private lessons from his former middle school band teacher, who specializes in clarinet. That's another gift to him that I want to give to help him along his way. He's an amazing clarinetist, he could go really far if he tries, and I want to help aid him in that area. If he asks for me to, I'm going to try and find a way to do it. If it means less physical things under a Christmas tree, so be it. Same thing for Girl Scouts-the skills and opportunities she gains as we go through the year is a pretty amazing wide range. Girl Scouts is honestly hands down the best thing I could have ever signed Journey up for. I guess because we've been able to do it before, the kids kind of take it for granted and figure it's an all the time thing. I wish I could help them understand that it's not. $35 fees add up, uniforms and such add up. Being able to afford that, as well as some other things under the tree, I'm going to call that a win. Cookie season is underway. I'm gearing up for it. It's not as hard as it is fast pace, no breaks, try to catch your breath. Sometimes it's a little overwhelming, but I think it only is for me because I'm basically the TCM of ALL the TCMs. I have some very brave ladies who decided to take on the task of being TCM to two troops. I wish them all the good luck! Because I mostly just oversee everyone's accounts and make sure everything's okay, they're actually working on two separate troops, and trying to keep those two troops separate and working well is going to be hard. I give them all the credit in the world though. I believe in them! |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
