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Musings from my mind |
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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I'd kept a paper journal for years, so I thought I'd try this out and see how it works. I must say, I'm rather liking it!! Here's some background stuff. I'm in my 40's, doing the single mom thing with a 10 yo son. My son has ADHD, ODD and was also diagnosed with high functioning autism. He can be a challenge, but he can also be pure joy. This is my safe place. I come here to vent my frustrations, celebrate my victories, share a recipe or two and make new friends. I like it here. I hope you do too. Thanks for stopping by, Curls |
| Wow! I can't believe it. I got an email from Joe's dad, confirming that he can take Joe for the first week or so while I recover from my surgery. I don't know how to act. No argument, no grief, no guilt trips...just, "sure, no problem." This is cool. More evidence of prayer warriors at work. I also have received confirmation from a friend who will be with me on the day of the surgery to transport me to and from the surgery center. Having plans like this in place already gives me great peace of mind. Plans are my security. I'm kinda wiped out today. I guess it's because of the stress from yesterday. The neighborlady who was taken to the hospital yesterday was eventually sent home, medication was adjusted and she's doing better. Thank you again to those who sent prayers and kind thoughts her way. I've read quite a few blogs and it seems like so many people had rough times yesterday. It's also refreshing to see so many folks jump in ready with words of encouragement and e-hugs. It just goes to show the caliber of people we have here in the WDC community. Good people. Kind people. Keep the love going, Curls |
| Well, I had my appt with my surgeon today. My surgery date is 8/24/07. Relief is in sight!!! Since my mom is not available to come down and help me with Joe, I emailed Joe's dad and told him that I was going to need his help. If he will agree, Joe will stay with him until Sept 2 in order to give me time to recover. I hope he will agree. If he doesn't then I'll need to tap on some friends to help with Joe. I won't be able to drive for at least the first week. While I was at the surgery center doing the pre-op registration, I got a phone call from the lady who's watching Joe for the rest of the summer. He was also helping her neighborlady who has been having health issues. Let me tell you, she's got a heart of gold! Anyway, my daycare lady called me, and said that she was enroute to the emergency room. Evidently her neighborlady was having major pain problems and needed immediate attention. So Joe and her two girls, her and her neighborlady went to the hospital. All the children were upset, naturally. I told her that as soon as my pre-op was done, I would go directly to the hospital to pick up all 3 kids and bring them to my house. At the hospital, both girls were very upset. Joe was just looking around, not sure what to do with everyone crying. So, I gather all the kids and walk out to my SUV. The girls were crying even harder. I declared a group hug, and prayed with them for healing and peace. The comfort that gave the girls was more than evident. On the way home, I decided that we'd bake a "mental health" cake. They all wanted to help. Some stirred, some broke the eggs. It's in the oven now. Joe gets to help frost it. I just got a call from my daycare lady, who reported that the sick neighborlady's husband has arrived at the hospital, so she was going to head out and let her husband take over there. She has to run some errands and when she's done, she'll come over to pick up her daughters. We'll have some mental health cake before she leaves. This just goes to show that we really can't "do life" alone. We all need someone at one time or another. I needed her to watch Joe. She needed me to come get her children and keep them for a while. I need Joe's dad to take care of him while I recover. I know she'll be checking on me after my surgery. This isn't just friendship, this is love. We can each take a turn to stand in the gap, or cover someone else, because one day, we're gonna need someone to stand in the gap or cover for us. Are you standing in the gap for someone else today or is someone standing in the gap for you? If neither is true, are you prepared to be available to do so when called upon, or are you gonna run and hide and say, "It's not my problem" ? I understand that this isn't my normal "what happened to me today" kind of blog. I didn't mean to get on my soapbox here. I just really feel that someone needs to read this and take to heart the message that is here. I pray that it is received in the same spirit of kindness that it is given with. I also think about folks like hoosiermomma2   . This wonderful woman deals with stuff like this on a virtual daily basis. Yet, she never whines or complains. Sure, she vents her frustrations like anyone else does, but she never asks "why" or "why me". She just rolls with it, knowing that there are folks who will stand in the gap for her, just like she does for her beloved, her children, and others she loves. This woman is an inspiration to me. I admire her and respect her, even on her most overwhelmed days. Today I have experienced compassion, and have been given the opportunity to show that love to others. Life is just too short to withhold goodness from others. If you love someone, let them know....TODAY!!!! Thanks for stopping by, Curls |
| Early morning blog entry here. Joe's slowly getting better. He got coughing in the middle of the night last night. What happens when kids get coughing? Ick happens! So at 3 am I was cleaning up a mess. Ugh! Such is the life of being a mom. I've got a busy day today. I am doing more training today at work, which I'm excited about. I enjoy training. The more I do it, the better I'll get at it. It's really nice to have a boss who believes in me and my potential. Tomorrow I go see the hand surgeon. The bone graft with the cadaver bone has failed and my arm is not healing. He wants to take a piece of bone from my elbow and use that as a graft. I'm not excited about having another surgery, but I'd rather have another one than be in this much pain for the rest of my life. Gotta go now to get the boy up and get my shower and get this day started. My quote for today is from the Bible: I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength. Thanks for coming by, Curls |
| Most of you know that I have a very high maintenance son. The saga continues.... Yesterday, I had made plans to drive to St Augustine to the flea market there. It's over an hour away from me, but they had this picture there that really spoke to me. I had seen it a few weeks ago and was really on the fence if I should buy it or not. It's a picture of a seashore with a lighthouse and a small cottage. When I looked at it, I was THERE! So, after a few weeks of deliberation, I decided that I really did want it. But, what are my chances that it's still there? Would it be worth driving all that way to find out? I finally decided to make a day of it, take Joe with me and then after the flea market, go to the beach for a while and pick up seashells with Joe. For the past few days, he's been complaining of a sore throat. I'd check regularly and there were no white spots, he's had no fever or any other indication that medical attention was necessary. Yesterday morning, he was in great pain and made no attempt to hide it. So, I decided to take him in to the doc to get him checked just in case. As I thought, it's not strep. He does have a swollen gland, but it's nothing that a prescription can help with. He just needs to tough it out. So, off we went to St. Augustine. Would you believe, the picture was still there??? I was thrilled!! So we got the picture, walked around a bit, I got him a few Pokemon videos and I also found the video set for The Sound of Music. I love musicals! Then we went off to the beach. Yes, he whined and complained almost the entire time. He wouldn't take Tylenol or any other pain reliever because it hurt to swallow. He wouldn't gargle with salt water because he "didn't like it" and wouldn't drink ice water to numb his throat because "it hurt". So, he won't do anything to make it better, but insists on complaining. It made for a really long day. Last night, we had a thunderstorm. He was up to full throttle with whining and complaining. I finally went out, in the storm, and got some cloroseptic throat spray and some cecopal throat drops.....I was willing to try ANYTHING to get his throat pain to stop to get his whining to stop. The cloroseptic helped, but he pitched a huge fit because of how it tasted. He was up and down throughout the night. At 1 am he decided he wanted to take a shower. So I said, ok, take the shower. At 3 am he actually WANTED me to spray his throat with chloroseptic. Then around 4 am he crawled into bed with me. It's not fun to share a bed with Joe. We're both bed hogs. We fight for the same spot on the mattress. So, I didn't really sleep well last night. It was more like a series of naps. Not restful at all. So this morning, I'm cranky, tired and running low on patience. Not a good recipe for a wonderful day. As this morning continues, it isn't getting any better. The whining continued. I finally had enough. I told him to suck it up. That I hurt on a daily basis because of my arms and he didn't hear me whining and complaining all the time. I told him it was time for him to man up about it. Yes, it sucks to suffer, but whining is even worse! He was surprised that I took that stance, instead of being soothing, babying and comforting to him. I have a higher tolerance level than most, but even I had had enough! He's now in his room, pouting because I'm no longer real sympathetic about him hurting. Hopefully he'll be able to dig down deep enough and find the intestinal fortitude to quit the damn whining!!! I was really looking forward to going to the library today. I had reserved some books and I would love to go get them. I can't take him if he's whining constantly. I hope that after some time to himself in his room he'll turn it around. Hopefully, after another cup of coffee, I'll be less irritable too. Have I mentioned that I really HATE whining???? I need a hug. Somebody hug me, please!! Curls |
| This is a funny Joseph story. Joe and I were in the car, and he was playing with his stack of Pokemon cards. He said, "I can't wait to show my cousin my big fat deck!" SCREEECH......... go the air brakes in my brain. I didn't hear the word "deck" I heard a completely different word!!! "Joseph!!!!" I say with that strong Mommy-type correctional tone. He looks at me innocently and says "What?" I could tell there was some kind of miscommunication happening. I said, "WHAT did you say?" He repeated, "I can't wait to show my cousin my big fat deck" Once again, I didn't hear "deck". I told him I couldn't believe he said that, or would even consider doing such a thing. I went on and on about how a person's private parts are called private parts for a reason, and he doesn't need to be showing his private parts to anyone but his doctor, etc.... All of a sudden, he holds up the deck of cards and says "DECK, Mom DECK!!!" The light comes on. I was so terribly embarrassed!! We both started laughing like crazy. When we finally regained control of ourselves, he looked at me and shook his head and said, "That's just gross, mom!" oops!  |
| Thank God and all things holy, I finally have a cell phone that works when and where I need it to!!! Many thanks also for the responses and advice I've received about this. I'm so glad that this has been resolved. It's been a great weekend. I didn't do anything wild or outstanding, but it was great nonetheless. I think I'm a fairly boring person, so I don't need lots of wild and adventurous expeditions. Here's a recap. Saturday I did laundry and drained and cleaned my fish tank. Whoop te doo!!! Today I did more laundry and decided to exchange the locations of my piano and my computer desk. It was quite a PIA, but I got it done. The advantage of doing that is now when my son walks past me when I'm on the computer, there's enough space around us that he doesn't bump the back of my computer chair and constantly give me whiplash!! That was a real irritant to me, so....problem solved!!! Then, I watched the race, went to food shopping, and just relaxed. Not very glamorous, but it was an enjoyable wonderful weekend anyway. No huge drama, no meltdowns, no arguing, just.....being. I have to say, I really like to just "be". I hope all ya'll got a chance to just be this weekend too! Thanks for stopping by, Curls |
| I've been in cell phone hell lately. I had a dinky little prepaid phone, but the service was real spotty....lots of dead zones. Not real effective when I have to go out in the field for my job. So I tried Nextel. Got a good signal in my office at work, and when I was in the field, but no signal at home unless I wanted to go outside. I live in an older mobile home, and the metal in the home blocked the signal. So, I sent that one back and tried Alltel. No signal at work, barely a signal at home. Worse yet, their customer service sucked. They all talk a bazillion miles a minute, and even after requesting that they speak slower, they kept talking too fast to understand what they were saying. Then, the directions that was sent for setting up the phone was incomplete. I had to call them several times for assistance, each time holding up to 15 minutes to speak with a real person. I got fed up with that and decided today that I'll terminate my contract with them since I"m still in the 30 day window. Tomorrow I'll be going to AT&T, formerly Cingular. The person at the local retail store was very kind, directing me to the best phone for picking up signals and helping me pick my plan. I really hope that this one will allow me to get a signal at both work and at home. I can't help but think that it shouldn't be this hard to get a fricken phone that works when and where I need it to. I have enough other far more important things to deal with, the last thing I need is frustration from something that should be so simple. Things like this just makes me want to throw a shoe across a room. I really hope that this one works....if not, I may just send up smoke signals instead. ARRGH!!!! ok....I'm done griping now. Wow! I feel much better now!!! |
| It's been a wonderful weekend!!! Joe's here, and I just love the sound of him playing with his toys! I've missed that so much. We've played rummy, which he's just learned how to play, and he's great at it! I mowed most of the lawn this morning before it got too hot outside, took a nap, made hamburgers and mac & cheese for dinner, and just enjoyed the role of being mom again. I tried to wake Joe up early this morning to help him to get used to waking up earlier than what he's been used to. He's accustomed to sleeping in until about 10ish at his dad's. At 7:30, I opened his door so the light and sound of the Tv would start waking him up. At 8, I started talking to him, and put the light on in his room. I gave him several warnings, but he didn't wake up. The last warning was the "cold washcloth" warning. At 9am, I employed said cold washcloth. He didn't like it much, but it was effective. Hopefully, I won't have to employ the cold washcloth technique tomorrow morning, but if necessary I will. He will soon learn to take heed to the cold washcloth warning or he will experience such undesired sensation again. Consistency is the key, as with all parenting techniques. He's done real well today, very little backtalk and for the most part, respectful. I noted that he needs some assistance with bathroom protocol, so I put up some visual aids to help remind him of the habits he needs to be using. Lift the lid, flush, lower the lid, wash hands, etc. Hopefully with the visual aids, and tons of encouragement and consistent reminding, this practice will become the norm soon. He's taking his shower now, and maybe after that I'll play him a few more rounds of rummy. I'm so thankful that he's back home with me. It really has been a wonderful weekend. I am so very blessed!!! Thanks for stopping by, Curls |
| Hi all! I've been so very busy lately, you would not believe. It's real nice to have a few minutes to sit down and write a few sentences. I'm so excited that tomorrow I'll be going to pick up Joe and I'll have him with me for the rest of the summer. I sure missed that little booger. I think that's part of the reason that I've felt so out of sorts. So much of who I am is "MOM" that when that huge part of me isn't there it really throws me off. I did spend a few hours with Joe on Thursday. I picked him up to take him to his Occupational Therapy appointment and to an orthodontic evaluation after that. I was disappointed to see that Joe hadn't had a haircut, and looked like an orphan. Then, when I found out that his dad, the donkey hadn't picked up his ADHD prescription at the pharmacy because he didn't have the money to pay for it, I got really pissed. Instead of contacting me and telling me so I could make sure Joe got the meds he needed, he simply let the kid go unmedicated. I was furious. It took me a while to calm down from that one. But, I noted it, and am forming my plan to make sure that doesn't happen again. That means another court date, but I'll fight to the death for my son, so it doesn't matter. I'll go back to court a million times if I have to. He's most worth it. I've had a couple other frustrations that I won't mention here, but I think that they are in the process of ironing themselves out as well. Thank God and all that's holy!!! I'm ready for smooth sailing and sunny skies again. Work is going well, and I'm keeping very busy there. I'm not writing near as much as I'd like to, but hopefully that will change soon too. I don't have much to speak of in creative juices right now. Some days I can pound out poem after poem, but right now I'm in kind of a dry spell. I feel the dark clouds that have been hanging over me are starting to lighten and that sure makes a big difference. I hope to get around to reading all my bud's blogs soon. Ya'll know who ya're. I miss ya and love ya. Thanks for stopping by, Curls |
| I know, it's been a while since I've been on. I hope to get caught back up reading everyone's blogs soon. I've been very busy. I'm not feeling well today, so I'm home from work and thought I'd pop in here before I went and laid down for a while. I'm doing well, just slammed lately. Please take care ya'll and I'll be back with ya soon. Curls |
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