VOTE

OK fellow bloggers we must VOTE this Tuesday.

VOTE because it is a privilege.
VOTE because you really like what your candidate stands for.
VOTE because you can't stand one of them so you pick the other.
VOTE because my webmail is starting to freak out with all the political mail I get now.
VOTE because if you are stuck in a waiting room you can't give the ads the DVR Fast Forward.

Camping with the Blind ...

Last weekend I participated in a conference for Blind children and their parents to deal with their children transistioning from the high school level into college or the work force.

WOW what a weekend.

The conference took place at a camp for folks with special needs. This camp was originally opened for the Blind but now takes other groups with special needs as well.

Do you remember the camp from the movie "Dirty Dancing" ?

That was the set up.

Cabin and dorm type sleeping arrangements. A large dining hall where everyone met for meals family style. NO TV'S 0_0

Various wooden buildings scattered amongst the grounds .. Activity room, Canteen, large living room with a real woodburning fireplace where you could play board games or cards.

It was a real throwback to the 50's with the exeception of more modern plumbing in most rooms.

I was first assigned a dorm style room which has 6 hospital type beds in it with 1 bathroom.

My supervisor and I were both assigned to this room with 4 other women from other parts of the state we had never met before.

I am not that much of a "sharer".

For one I know I sleep really lousy when I am in a strange room/place. I will talk in my sleep and roll around all night and while I don't mind annoying my boss doing that I didn't want to get voted out of the dorm by all the other women that were in there.

So we asked (begged) the guy running the program to switch us to a 2 person room. We were on it early and quick and were able to snag one.

That room wasn't bad .. I did have my husbands XM boom box along with me so I was able to listen to music and the presidential debate when I had the antenna turned JUST right to catch a signal in the mountains. It reminded me of walking around the living room when I was a kid with the Rabbit ears to grab a good signal while watching TV.

YES I am old enough to remember that.

The kids at the camp were awesome and inspiring. I hope I can participate again next year !

Out of Pocket vs. Deductible .. HUH ???

Today was the day ... YES I will do it today.

I will take a morning off from work to call the Insurance companies and the Doctors billing office to find out just what these bills mean.

Would someone just tell me in PLAIN english who I owe what and to whom I may owe it.

After compiling the statements for testing done on son #1 and an xray that I had done (referencing toe vs. ottoman in earlier blog post) plus #1 sons ER visit I am literally swamped with pages of bills and "Explanation of Benefits" statements.

Where to begin to make sense of it all.

I call the one that seems the most alarming first. The Emergency room bill.
This came as the Explanation of Benefits statement that declares #1 son is not a member of their health care plan therefore we get to eat that little visit.
0_0
Woahhh back up the bus, how could he be the only member of the family that we decided not to insure ?!?!?
Ehhhh kid you are 17 you take care of it now, we are tired of carrying you ! (insert sarcasm here)

I call the BC/BS people that sent me this explanation.
Apparantly the hospital opted to bill my husbands former employers health insurance instead of his current one.
Oh heck it's only been 2 1/2 years since he has worked for them .. I just can't understand why they wouldn't foot the bill this one time !!

Sooo this morning I call the hospital billing to fix that mess.
I talk with Cathy and explain to her what has happened. I also informed her that the new insurance card was given to the ER when I took my son in and they scanned it so I am not sure how they could have billed the former insurance company.
After some clicking away on her computer she SIGHS loudly.

"Yes indeed you did give them the new card .. I can see it was scanned and entered.
I have no idea why they billed the former company, sometimes I don't know what they are doing over there but I will let you know that I have taken care of it now. Please disregard the 1100 dollar bill that will probably show up in your mailbox today"

Ty Cathy. 0_0

Onto the Doctors group billing and our now current Health Insurance plan.

Apparantly we have these Deductibles and Out of Pocket expenses.
They are listed separately and they show different amounts per person and per family.
One says we have met the family deductible while another line says we have not yet met the individual deductible for #1 son, but yet we still have thousands to go to meet the out of pocket expenses per individual and per family .. confused yet ???
So was I.

I call the insurance company and talked with a woman and requested that she go very slowly .. baby steps .. and walk me through this nightmare.
After repeating back to her several times what she said to me for clarity sake .. I think I get it now.
It is not as bad as I originally thought it was going to be, but we still owe a hefty chunk in deductibles. We took the most expensive health plan through my husbands job .. you know the one that touts the best coverage for a higher employee copay .. but even the best coverage doesn't come without your share of the bill anymore.

Onto the Doctors billing office and we realize there are still some charges that have not been billed yet because they haven't heard back from our insurance company.
Rest assured they will come , but at least now I THINK I am prepared for them.

So just when I get #1 son's billing straight in my head .. the husband goes in for testing of his own this week.

Ahh but this time I am armed with information.. ready to take it on full throttle.

I think !!!!!!

School and Fall are in the air ....

8:12 am and all is quiet in my house.
It's a tad bit cooler outside this morning so this must mean the unoffical start of Fall and .....

They are GONE !!

All the males in my house have departed for work or school and I have found peace at 8 am in the morning.

Most parents do the happy dance for a few days after school starts.
While the peace is nice it comes with a price.

HOMEWORK ... ughhhhhh.
The kids think they hate homework ???
Although I can't express it to them I do believe I hate it more.

For the next 6 hours I will not think about that but rather enjoy the fact that I can get to work on time without having to juggle who's watching who and what to make for lunch.

Happy Fall/School everyone !!

Happy Birthday #1 Son !

Today my oldest son is 17 !!

I think he was hoping to see a car with a ribbon around it sitting in the driveway. Ummm NOT !

Yikes it's going fast, he will be a junior this year .. working on getting his license ( I will admit to slowing that process down as much as possible) and looking for a part time job to help fufill his dream of a car and to pay for his insurance.

Am I a mean Mom by requiring those two things ?

So many of the kids he goes to school with are not required to pay for their privilage to drive.
I on the other hand think it's important for them to do so, he on the other hand probably thinks those other parents are wayyyyyyy cooler than I am.

Chin up kid , it will all be worth it in the end :) (at least that's what my father told me)

In the meantime we have purchased him a ticket for a bus trip on August 31st to go with friends (along with us, his parents, but minus little bro) to one of the last NY Yankees games at their current stadium.
They are building a new one ?? Obviously I am clueless when it comes to sports drama.
He is a huge Yankees fan and he is really looking forward to going.

Happy Birthday to my #1 Son !

Vacay 2008 !

Check out the video from our family vacation.

Pause my song player before you start because this one comes loaded with a tune of its own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJSk5Amdaq8

Teens and Up ....

Tomorrow my "baby" turns 13.

Our home now consists of folks all over the age for kids meals in restaurants and discounts at the movies. :(

It also means I have 2 boys that are teens at the same time, lets bow our heads shall we ??

Happy Birthday Nick !

"The appeal of the Appellant is Sustained"

THUD !

When I first opened the letter and saw the "Order" by the Administrative law judge I couldn't help but think to myself ..

This is a good thing right ?!?!?

I had to go over it in my head.
Sustained .. good
Overruled .. bad


Flashing back to my days of watching Perry Mason in the 60's this must mean since I was the appellant ....

"I won" ! (Perry would be proud)

My gut tells me I will be appealing again in the near future but for now we celebrate that we can start off another school year with the right supports in place.

Someone pass me a Miller Lite and the Doritos !!

.7

.7

Not exactly a number that knocks your socks off huh ?

It's a little number .5 short of a whole inch.

BUT .. if you only 4' 5" tall at the age of ALMOST 13 and you suddenly jump to 4' 5.7" its HUGE !

It was his first follow up since starting the twice daily injections of Increlex and I was praying that he would see some success for all he has tolerated so well.

When the nurse first measured him today I wasn't sure if .7 was a good thing.
I must admit I wasn't overly impressed .. MAN I was hoping for at least one whole inch. I knew a whole inch would really rock his world :)

Once again he fools me. He was over the moon at seeing he had grown .7

The Doctor too was very pleased as well.
She calculated that if the growth continues at this rate he could hit that 3-4 inchs of growth at the one year mark that has been touted as possible.

So today was a good day for the little man.
It sure will make the daily injections easier to live with now, and that my friends is a good thing !

Finding the right mix ....

This is Nicks first summer "home".

Since he was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 3 he has been "schooled" in one way or the other year round.

We have done Autism pre-school programs ... in house therapy ... speech therapy ... summer day camps etc.

Once he started public school he would generally have one week off and then right back into a summer program of some sort.

This year we have scaled back to just 15 hrs a week of Mr. John coming to work with him on community type activities to help build social skills, other than that the boy is home.

He LOVES it .. he truly enjoys not having the rules of a summer program.

He will be 13 in less than a month and he figured out a few years ago that most day camp programs stop at the age of 13. Even though I technically could have gotten one more summer of camp for him , since the end of last summer he had convinced himself he was done. I just couldn't do it to him.

When a child with Autism can say .. "Well how come I always have to go and no one else does ? I just want to stay home like everyone else !" it makes you rethink the situation and realize that you have to acknowledge that is a "normal, typical" thing to ask and say. It's a good thing right ?

There are positives for me too. I so far haven't missed having to drag him out of bed in his really grumpy morning state to head to a still chilly camp in the mountains in the early morning.
He is very pleased to be able to stay up later and sleep in longer in the mornings , that too is a typical teen.

BUT ..... I have discovered in a short time that even with his proclaimed need for independence and being "like everyone else" he still has Autism. Autism and a puberty, need I say more ?

Nick still needs rules and routine.
Without them he starts to take forget that no means no .. that just because you don't HAVE to get up early doesn't really mean you can stay up til WHENEVER you want and do WHATEVER you want too.

His attitude changed within the last week. Mouthy and harder to reign in when I need him too.
If I heard "HOLD ON" one more time when I called the child I was gonna scream.
Week 2 of "freedom" became a tad to0 much for the child.

So the hammer came down yesterday.
Shut off timers had to be set on the Xbox. The computer had to be password protected again so he couldn't sneak on when the mood struck him.
Bedtimes had to be set and enforced once again and I will be "waking" him up today so that he doesn't sleep half the day away making it really tough to get him to bed at night.

This made for one unpleasent child yesterday.
Nick quote:
"Why do you have to ruin my life ? "

Because my child at the present time .. that is my job.

Geeze maybe he really is just a "typical teen" !

Squeaky Wheel ?? Does it really get the grease ?

We are preparing for our second battle with the state to provide services to our son which will take place next week.

This is proving to be much more the bureaucratic nightmare than at times I have the stamina for, I have come VERY close 2 times in the last week to throwing in the towel.

I spent a few days this week navigating the system for just one answer ... Who is the boss of the Doctor who is making these descisions?

Should be simple right ??
Life has taught me that EVERYONE has to answer to SOMEONE .

This has proven to be one of my harder missions yet.
Over the years I have been able to locate people in places I wish I hadn't found them, but because of my need to get to the bottom of something I have started, I succeeded.

For this mission though .. I started with my state senators office.

Even they didn't know who the boss was but they agreed to try to find out for me.

I placed some more phone calls directly to the capital office. That was interesting to say they least because they too didn't know who the boss was.
Eventually I stirred enough pots that I started getting phone calls back from people I hadn't even called in the first place.

The return phone calls often resulted in .. "Oh thats not our division" but thankfully I had one man that offered to check it out and get back to me with the info I was looking for.
Get this folks .. HE DID !

So now I had the boss lady's number and all I had to do was make the call.
I sat on the number for a few hours trying to decide if I could go through the story ONE more TIME.

After a few cans of Coke to rev me up for the call I dialed the number.

She picks up first ring ... THUD !
I had to regain my composure quickly.

I then went through my concerns and requested that another Doctor review his case.
Ultimately I would have liked to have asked that the former Doc be removed all together. I wanted to also ask how I can file a complaint so that she will never be able to access my sons records again .. but I had to keep reminding myself that that may make me look like the "crazy indenial parent" that I know the first Doc has painted me to be.

The boss lady agreed to try to get another Doc to review the records before next weeks hearing.
I am not sure if I will be told the results of that review or if the status of the hearing will change because of it.
Will Doc number 1 be removed from the case ? No clue.
Will Doc number 2 agree with Doc number 1 ? I guess thats a possibility, the state is looking to cut across the board , but it was a chance I had to take.
What if Doc number 2 doesn't agree with Doc number 1 .. then will it all be dropped ?

I have been tested this week.
Keeping myself together , remaining calm yet firm on the phone through the jungle of redirected calls, is not one of my best qualities.

I'm am waiting the outcome of this week .... SIGH .
PATIENCE, Breathe in 123, Breathe out 123.

Knoebels .. Staycation Fun !!

Knoebels

Amusement

Park

Elysburg, PA

(Ka-no-bulls)

http://www.knoebels.com/index.asp

This is one of our favorite Staycation things to do.

Knoebels is a family run amusement park about 1 hr from our home set literally surrounded by mountains on all sides.

It's a beautiful family park with rides for all age groups to keep everyone happy.

The best part is that it is still a parking free ... admission free park.

This means all of us parents and the grandparents don't have to pay to watch the kiddos enjoy their day. They even had a family style restaurant in addition to the regular amusement park fare.

You can even bring the family dog if you want too !

It's very clean .. very friendly and a heck of alot cooler due to the trees that are in the park rather than acres of blacktop that most amusement parks are parked upon.

We have already spent one day there this year and are going again next Friday.

If you are in the area, for a change of pace ... skip Hershey Park and Dorney Park and give Knoebels a try !

Gravity sucks ....

Lousy blurry picture I know .. but I think you get the idea.

Priceless ...

5 hr ride at 4 bucks a gallon

Breaking a toe on your foot by defying gravity with heavy objects

Hotels that TAKE reservations but just can't HOLD the reservation

Spending quality time with your teenage son and nephew ......

Priceless

News Flash !

Clay Aiken fathered a child.

Angelina Jolie is still pregnant.

School ends in 2 1/2 days !!!!

VENT ! Ok now Breathe in 1 2 3 ... Breathe out 1 2 3

For those of you that have the wonderful and blessed opportunity to "chat" with me on a regular basis you are aware of some of the "drama's" that have been occuring here over the last year concerning my youngest son.

Today I want to say ............

I HATE SCHOOL !

Seriously I am starting to think it's wayyyyyy overrated !

Ok Ok .. Now I will Breathe In , Out , In , Out ... Better now TY !

Of course education is important .. vital even.

It's the GETTING one that is not always as easy as one in this great country of ours is led to believe.

I had the sad experience of reading and listening to a story about a teacher in FL who had her kindergarten class "Vote" as to whether they should keep a student in their class.
5 and 6 yr olds. What the hell was she thinking ???

According to the Mother the teacher also encouraged the other classmates to give reasons "why" this student should be cast out. Even with their limited vocabulary they were able to come up with some very hurtful adjectives.

Not surprisingly this child has recently been tested for Autism or more specifically Aspergers disorder.
Aspergers is on the Autism spectrum. In laymans terms at the high functioning end.
I am not going to go into what it is or how it presents itself as most of my blogger friends that read this already know.

Thats amazing too as they have taken the time to educate themselves on it. Not because all of them had too personally but because they are our friends and family and have taken the time to try to understand our child.
I do need to note that "High Functioning" doesn't mean "less affected" it just means affected in a different way than others may be on the Autism Spectrum.

I am dealing with this myself as the parent of a "A child with Autism on the High Functioning" end of the Spectrum.

Fortunately for us with the exception of a few, we have had wonderful teachers.
Kind, caring teachers who listen to your concerns and try to address them.

That said it is my experience that the school districts themselves would rather spend tons of the districts tax dollars ducking and dodging the services these kids need instead of addressing them before it gets to that point.
They seem to forget that WE TOO are taxpayers in the district and are only asking for an appropriate education for our children by qualified teachers.
I can't even count how many times I have had to "educate" some of the professionals within the school district on just what Autism is.

Sorry crazy teacher lady in FL these kids are here to stay.
Deal with it and if you can't, then you need to find a new profession.
Preferably one that doesn't involve empathy for another human being.

FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education) is a right granted to EVERY child not just the ones that you find "less annoying".
The services that should have been provided to that child in FL are now going to be on the front burner.
Sadly at the expense of the child and his family.

As I type we are still in that process ourselves. Trying to get an IEP together that works for my son and can and will be implemented as well.
It is frustrating beyond words but we continue to march on ... we have too, My son's future is depending on it.

Memorial Day

To the Max !

So today we finally reach the Max/Maintainence dose of Nicks Increlex treatment.

It has taken 3 weeks with 15 cc incremental increases each week to get to this point.

He now gets 46 cc of Increlex 2 times a day via injection. So far we have not seen any huge side effects, the occasional headache but that can be helped quickly with a shot of Orange Juice or a fruit roll up and sometimes a Tylenol.

Now one would think that after 3 weeks of doing this I would be comfortable giving him the injections by now.

Not so much 0_0

So I had read of a device called "Inject-Ease" on a IGF-1 message board ( yes there are message boards about EVERYTHING on the net ! ) and thought I WANT ONE .

Anything with the word "Ease" in it is MINE !!

It's a device that looks like a bloated pen that you drop the syringe into which then gets locked into place.

The good part of this device is that the "needle" itself is hidden from view so that everyone is less anxious waiting for the initial injection.

After placing it on the skin and giving it a few twists around to add pressure you hit the button to release the needle into the skin.

You still have to slowly push the plunger down to get the meds into the injection site but at least the needle is always delivered at the same depth and rate of speed each and every time.

The first time we tried it last night Nick was not impressed with the looks of it.

I think he was thinking the whole device was the shot and he wasn't having it.

After convincing him that it would be "better" this way he let me try it out.

It was almost as nerve wracking as the first shot I had to give him but in the end he was really shocked that it did seem to hurt less.

What I loved about it is that the amount of Meds in the syringe is also no longer visible to him.

This was starting to become an issue because he knew there was one more increase coming and he wasn't looking forward to it. (the med does sting some when going in)

So this morning with the first max dose cocked and loaded I gave him his shot and he never knew that the increase had taken place and I have no plans on telling him that either ;)

We haven't measured him yet to see if he has grown any. I really don't want to make him overly anxious having him anticipating "growing" everyday or week.

Not to mention everyone's height chart is just a tad different.

Normally this wouldn't be a huge deal for a child that is growing normally , but for a kid like Nick 1/4 inch is a huge deal to be off by.

He goes back the first week of July for a recheck and I told him we may wait til then to check on the doctors height chart so that we definitely know if its working by then he will have been on the meds for about 2 months.

...NOW if only they could make an "IEP-EASE" my world would be complete.

That is a whole other blog post in itself. 0_0

Leaving these wheels behind ....

Yes .. tomorrow I do believe I will take him for his learners permit.

I know doing this will put that skateboard on a shelf in the garage where it will now collect dust.

He is 16 1/2 and I have held him off as long as I could but it's time.

I must admit for somewhat selfish reasons too.

Hey I need some milk .. go get some.

Pick up your brother from school.

Do the Mickey D's drive thru run for me tonight.

AHHH to have another driver in the house besides myself during the week.

There are benefits YES but all the same ...

I know I will miss the skateboarding days.

ps .. thanks Mm for the picture posting tips !

Superman lives !

We have an ending to a previous drama.

My son's meds were approved by the insurance company !

Wooo Hoo !!

He can now begin "growing" again.

Thats the good thing ... the iffy part for him is just how that growing gets done and who is responsible for making that happen.

Me .. I am the one that "makes it happen".

Me, coming at him with the meds to make it happen which involves ultra fine needle injections 2 x a day.

It's not the kind of growth med that the athletes are using to improve their bodies and their game. If you are an adult and have already stopped growing, this will do nothing for you. Due to that there is only a limited number of years, depending on your childs age and development, that this therapy can be used and be effective. It will only work in children that have been diagnosed with Severe Primary IGF-1.

He has been prepped for this for months. We have talked at length about having to "get a shot" 2 times a day so that he knew there would be no delusions when and if it started. He is totally onboard for it because he realizes this is the only way to help him catch up in his height and be able to meet eye to eye with "Joe" at school.

Joe the kid that has come up with all kinds of descriptive monikers (insert sarcasm here) for his height.

The starter kit of medications arrived last week. It was shipped overnight in a HUGE box with all kinds of goodies in it from alcohol pads to needles to the actual medication.

Yesterday afternoon we went for our "shot training".

I was quite nervous, afterall I am not the RN here my sister is. Why isn't she here ????

The instructor for this class was wonderful, young gal in her 20's.

She is an insulin dependent diabetic and is comfortable with the drill and very at ease with showing others how to do it.

She showed me how to prepare the injection. This took a few practice runs because the first 2 times I bent the needle. SIGH I guess I was more nervous than I thought.

My son's confidence was waning while he watched me screw that up 0_0

Finally after practicing the actual injecting into a rubber pad that is supposed to resemble the feel of something human I was ready for the real thing.

My son was nervously wiggling all over the exam table as I approached him with the needle.

With the instructors help on how to pinch the skin to prepare the area my son began saying ..... OHHH NO THIS IS GONNA HURT !

We counted to 3 and then I went for it.

His eyes were as big as saucers as I know mine were too while I waited for his reaction.

After finishing injecting the medication and removing the needle he said "Thats it ? "

He kept looking at his arm trying to find the spot where he had just been injected and said

"Wow that hardly even hurt !"

That is as close to a WAY TO GO MOM as I was going to get.

I felt the weight of the world being lifted at that point as the instructor said I had done a great job.

After leaving the office and watching him for possible side effects I felt more confidant that I could do this .. heck I have to do this, I am just glad it wasn't as traumatic for my son as I feared.

This morning as I was preparing his injection my husband was just about to walk out the door on his way to work.

I said .. You know , you have to learn how to do this too.

He responded by saying "Yeah I know, I will" but I could tell this was not something that was on his list of things to do right away.

I have a feeling he wants to see that our son will really be OK with me giving the shots before he has to do it.

I have a few other caregivers that will have to know how to do it too in the event that I am not able too some days. I know they are nervous as well but trust me folks if I can do this ..... anyone can !
Or ..... Call my sister !

Fabulous and the Pea Coat

After a whirlwind year of dramas, my husband and I along with "Mr and Mrs Mormon", finally got to jump on the Celebrity Century and cruise to somewhere FABULOUS which we had planned almost fully a year ahead of time.

Fabulous for me is somewhere where turtlenecks are foreign clothing. Something people snicker at while they are pointing you out to their friends on the street.

In this case Fabulous was going to be Key West, FL and Georgetown, Grand Cayman.

Those who know me well know that getting on an airplane is a big deal for me.

While I appreciate that they can get me there in a fraction of the time it would take me to drive there we still have not bonded.

I like to drive ... if anything I am a control freak when it comes to transportation. The pilots on these flights would benefit greatly from my assistance but they have yet to take me up on my offer. Whatever !

Philadelphia airport is our first step toward fabulous. Checked bags get checked and then on my way to Security for a screening.

Once again I am pulled over by a member of security who is holding up my large green monogrammed tote bag and asking if it belongs to me. "Yes, that's mine."

"Please put your shoes back on and join me over here."

Geeeezzzz what now ????

50% of the time I have flown I am pulled aside for a secondary screening of some sort. Me, 5'3", 40 something, Me.

Maybe it's the look on my face when I am standing in line to go through security. Perhaps I should clear that up. It's not the look of a potentially dangerous individual .. it's just the look of fear. The look on my face is really that of " I can't believe I am going to get on that thing again, and that I actually paid THEM for the opportunity to do so".

I had meticulously gone through that bag to make sure there were no WMD in there before I went to the airport to avoid just this moment.

No nail files .. no fingernail clippers.. no lighters.. nothing that might be used as a weapon against my husband when he falls asleep on the plane and starts snoring ignoring my obvious panic while sitting in a tin can 30,000 feet above the ground ... NOTHING.

Mr. Security starts to pull things one at a time out of my tote bag.

People magazine ... Enquirer ... Ohh and Time magazine which was featuring a story of Barak Obama's Mother on the cover. While some may consider the Enquirer a WMD I find it a wonderful form of distraction while flying. Beyonce had a beautiful wedding and Britney's hair is growing back. :)

My big faux paux at the Philly airport this time ..... Sunblock.

A brand new, never been opened, #15 Sunblock in a tube that was OVER the allowed 3 oz max.

That's what I get for trying to be a responsible Irish heritage sun worshipper.

Mr. Security holds it up and says .. "This is the problem" and quickly tosses it over his shoulder into a bin holding lots of unopened sunblock tubes and hands me back my tote bag.

I was a tad ticked. I am not ticked at the security guys for doing their job, but I am ticked at the folks that are responsible for these "New rules" in the first place.

Thats a whole different blog post I suppose but I hope the security guys at least benefit from all these tossed sunblock tubes and are not just throwing them away.

I envision a security locker room sunblock swap at the end of each shift....

"Hey I got some #15 over here."

"I'll trade a 30 for that and throw in a tube of after sun Aloe !"

Soooo we finally get through the airport, on the plane, take flight and land safely in Miami.

We meet our Celebrity cruise line transfer rep and are shown where to go to meet the bus that will take us to Fabulous.

Before we board the bus we add locks to all of our suitcases because they will now be in the hands of mystery people for hours before they land outside cabin #1246 on the ship.

I should add Mr. Drama added locks to all of them but 1 small rolling suitcase.

It was the bag with all of our toiletries. When I asked him why he didn't lock that one he sighed ... "Really who wants our deodorant and shampoo ?"

Hmmmm Not sure but someone DID want my #15 Sunblock didn't they ?

Wooo hoooo ! We have made it through all of the ships security points and we are now on the SHIP !

We are greeted with a glass of champagne and start to wander the decks of the ship trying to soak in the scenery and keeping an eye out for Mr and Mrs Mormon to get onboard.

After a few hours of wandering, meeting up with the Mormons and surviving Muster Drill we go back to our cabin and sitting beside our door in the hallway stacked up on one another are all our our luggage bags.

Great we can finally unpack and get Fabulous started.

I hang the hangables ... put away the drawables and then grab the bag full of toiletries to load the bathroom up.

When I unzip the top of the bag a black wool like poof of material pops out.

I was stunned for a minute .. geez maybe I have someone else's bag ?!?

This black wool thing has been jammed in my bag, barely allowing the zipper to close.

Underneath it are all of my things so yes indeed this is my bag.

When I pull it out I realize it's a black Pea Coat. Upon further inspection I can see it's a size 22.

From the rips and tears scattered around on it I can see that it has been a rather heavily used Pea Coat at that.

I ask my husband ... "Is this yours ? "

Now I already know the answer to that but it's one of those situations where you have to ask anyway just because you HAVE too.

He replies .. NO.. where did that come from ?

Me : It was in the toiletries bag.

How thee heck did it get in there ???

Somewhere between the Philly airport and the cruise ship I have picked up a tattered size 22 Pea Coat.

MARVELOUS ! So much for all the super duper security systems I was just put through.

Now folks I ask you what does one do with a tattered size 22 black wool Pea Coat on a cruise ship headed for the Caribbean ??

You torture your next door cabin mates who just HAPPEN to be your Mormon friends with it.. thats what you do ;)

Mr. Drama tosses the Pea Coat over the wall that divides our balcony from theirs and says nothing. Sooner or later one of them will find it.

Sure enough ... Mr. Mormon discovers the Pea Coat laying on his balcony.

He shows it to Mrs. Mormon who has no clue where it came from and she in turn asks us about it.

We laughed about it and told her the story of how it came to be.

We all leave for dinner and more deck perusing and when we return to our cabin there on our balcony is the Pea Coat with a note attached.

"Let there be PEAS on Earth and let it begin with me"

Ohhhhh No what has that MamaMormon started now.

There is no way that Mr. Drama is going to let that one go unanswered.

The Pea Coat has now become a one upping tool.

For the next few days it gets tossed back and forth from balcony to balcony with new notes attached to it each time.

Notes from white note paper .. notes from the backs of discarded receipts ... dry cleaning request forms, pretty much anything that could be written on.

Each note was added to a new spot on the coat with the previous notes remaining where they were.

The one Mr. Drama was most proud of is when he added some artwork to it as well.

He took my Dark Pinkish Nail polish and painted a blood stain on the coat in the area that would cover the heart and wrote:

"Shot through the heart and your to blame, this coat gives outerwear a bad name"

Damn these two were on a roll and it was hysterical.

Mr Mormon and I just sat back and observed .. on that we megged.

Let these 2 crazies go at it.

Seriously a battered Pea Coat , Who knew what power it had ?

About the 4th day in Mr. Drama tosses the Pea Coat down to Mrs. Mormon while she is eating breakfast on the deck below us.

She gives it a spot at the table with her and Mr. Mormon by placing it on the back of a chair at their table.

There it hung.

For 2 full days no one else sat at that table because they thought it was taken due to the Pea Coat hanging on the back of one of the chairs.

In a way it was great for us. We always had a table to sit at when we went to that deck.

We were the only ones brave enough to sit at the table with the Coat.

Because our balconys were right above this table we could observe our Pea Coat anytime we wanted too and laughed when the rest of the tables were full .. but that one was empty.

The last morning of the cruise we had to be up early .. 6 am to get ready to disembark.

I went out to sit on the balcony one last time and at first I didn't see the Pea Coat.

I thought, well finally someone threw it out.

After a few minutes of taking in the view I see two Ship officers inspecting the deck below us.

Thats when it happens. One of them yells something over to the other one in their native language ( I have no idea what it was but it wasn't English) and he is holding up the PEA COAT.

The other officer walks over and they both begin trying to read the notes that are attached to it while holding it up in the air like they might just catch something from it.

I begin to summon Mr. Drama from bed to get out here NOW. He is not happy that I am making him get up in such a hurry, especially after his last late night at the bar with Boris and Eric the previous evening but when I say HURRY UP as loud as one can say under your breath he comes out on the balcony.

When I point down he starts laughing and steps back so he can't be seen.

There are 2800 passengers on this ship and there is no way these officers can know we are responsible for this wayward Pea Coat but still I am feeling pangs of guilt as they are trying to figure out what it is and what happened to it.

Then with no ceremony at all .. they throw it away.

Poof .. just like that it's gone.

Had they no idea what source of entertainment that beat up Pea Coat could be ?

It was FABULOUS !

Tagged .. Who's next ?

I got tagged by Mamamormon.

The rules of the game go like so:
1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages long.)
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence.
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog.
5. Tag 5 friends to do the same!

Her sentence went like this:

"He was a good king, his mother be damned."

From the book :

A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories of History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors by Michael Farquhar

Ok my sentence is ......

"The State had a coroner's office and the coroner had a medical examiner available to him."

From the book:
Girls of a Tender Age by Mary-Ann Tirone Smith

Interesting Mama !

Ok I am tagging:
Marksmom
Jimbolions
MomiJ
Terkot
IrishAunt

Turning the tables

Why is it just when things are swimming along swimmingly in life BAM it happens .. your world gets turned upside down.

In my life this year someone keeps throwing dams up in front of me while forcing me to swim upstream so that statement does not apply to me right now. My Bam started last August and keeps on going.

... But a good friend of mine is experiencing that this week.
Her Mother went from a perfectly healthy 55 yr old woman one day to being on a ventilator the next.

This makes me take stock of the issues I have had to deal with this year and to put them in perspective. None of them have put me at a hospital bedside praying for a recovery.

My heart truly breaks for my friend.
I can relate to the anxiety of watching your parent lie helpless while you too feel helpless in your need to want to make them better.

When you see your parent gravely ill you realize that on the turn of a dime the tables have turned. You are now the protector, provider and the one that calls the shots in their care.
And just like your parents did for you .. you pray that you are making all the right choices.

My friend is dealing with those serious issues as I type. While I wish I could give her some awesome words of wisdom to make this all better I know that I can't.
I also know my friend will take control of the situation as much as she can and make all the right choices for her Mom.
She is a woman of wisdom beyond her years. She is the "yungin" I have turned too many times for guidance myself.
She is a giver ... a "doer" ... strong willed and compassionate. With those qualities her Mom couldn't be in better hands.

Even with that said .. I pray that the tables will turn back the other way soon so she can go back to swimming along swimmingly again.

Legal Closure

FINALLY !!

I am seeing a light at the end of the legal hellish tunnel.

We were notified that the appeal with the state for my son's services will be held on April 1st.
I found that very appropriate somehow ;)

Our lawyer for the case we have against the school district called yesterday and I have to go sign the settlement papers for that on Monday.

The only issue now left hanging in the wind is if our insurance company will cover the IGF-1 medications that my son will need for growth.

The company that produces the medication is willing to send us a starter kit until we get that descision but I think we will hold off for a few reasons.

1. We will be going away for a cruise and a 3 day jaunt to New York City in April and I don't want to have to subject my sil or anyone else for that matter to having to inject him.

2. The possible side effects worry me and I want to be here to watch him closely if they should occur .. again it wouldn't be fair to ask someone else to take on that worry as well.

3. What if we start the medication with the "free starter kit" and then find out the insurances won't cover it ?
Now we have started something that financially we very likely would have to stop.

DAMN I hate that in this country even WITH insurance we still have to decide between mortgages and food or medications.

As a parent it SUCKS to have to potentially say to your child that you understand he wants to be taller and there is medication that can make that happen but you just may not be able to provide that.

After talking to "Michelle" from the company that produces the medication and discussing my concerns about starting the meds now when we know we will be away in a few weeks, she informed me that if we do wait until we get back that we may also have a descision from the insurance companies on coverage.

So now the dilemma is should we just wait for that word ? Or if they have to appeal it and it takes longer for an answer do we go ahead and start him on the "free starter kit" when we return ??

Tough choices and we are struggling with them.

Click .... click click click ...

We are playing whats that sound ?!?!

While I'm not sure if my Mormon friends will understand how unsettling that sound can be on a night when the temperatures took a dive in the month of March but I'm betting my Minnesota and PA friends can relate to it.

Think .. cold ... morning .. starting your car .

Click .. click click click .....

Thank God I never let that AAA membership expire.

Off to replace what needs replacing.

Have you guessed it yet ?

Aerosmith for my sis

I have added some of my favorite Aerosmith songs for my sister.

I sent her the link to this blog today and I will be shocked if she shows up , reads it and then actually posts a reply on it.

If she does show I thought I would give her some music that may keep here long enough to read the blog.
She is sooo not the message board/blog type.

Sooooo will she post a reply ??

Edited to add .... I had to start off with the "Garth" song first. The song seems to have been written for her and she will understand why it's here ;)

The ups and downs

Lately my life is just an up and down mix of dramas.

Down Dramas :

1. I totally misunderstood my youngest sons test results concerning the Growth Hormone Stimulation test. While he overly produces Growth Hormone he does not produce IGF-1 which gives him a diagnosis of Primary IGFD.( it's googleable )

OK .. now that you read that I'm sure you can relate to my misunderstanding.

The "cure" itself may be considered by most folks worse than being of "short stature" but so far it means more to my son to be taller and if it's important to him then we owe it to him to see if it's possible.

2 injections a day for years isn't a pretty thought but the only solution at the moment that exists.

His Autism diagnosis already presents challenges for him that the rest of us don't have to live with ... hopefully this diagnosis won't add to that in the long run.

Time will tell, the Doctor has started the battle of the insurance company and I am thankful that for now that fell in her lap.
One more legal battle for me this year was not on my agenda so I really really hope she can handle this one.

2. Battling my School district and the Medical Access Doctors to provide the services my son needs has been drama filled for sure.
Taking on 2 legal battles at the same time is mentally draining.
Personally I want them both to just end but apparantly I am the only one in a hurry.

3. Random crazy people over the last year have added to the dramas.
Well some were not so random but their acts and the consequences of them have been.
The Domino effect has been intersting to observe.
What shakes me more than anything is that I am not confidant that the drama those acts created is over. Why do I always feel the random crazy person still wants the last word ?
Perhaps because they are indeed crazy and can't ever be trusted 100% again.

Up Dramas:

1. None of the above down dramas are or have been fatal or terminal. For that I am EXTREMELY Thankful.
2.Husband is comfortable in his job now and doing well.
3. Going cruising with some good friends.
4. Hearing the song Jack and Diane in the middle of the day at work and knowing that I have to call another good friend and bust her butt about it.
5. Having a teenager that seems happy with himself and not into the dramas many teenagers seem to get into. Sure he has his struggles, school work this year has not been a picnic but I am proud that he is a respectful kid that avoids getting into trouble. AMEN ! Yesterday he declared he is considering studying Criminal Justice.
Ok now that scares me but it's nice to see he's thinking beyond his latest Xbox score.

I appreciate the fact that everyone has dramas in their life. Some way worse than mine, but the saying what doesn't kill us makes us stronger .. has never had more meaning to me than it has this year !

That said .. it's been the friends and family that have seen me through all of them and that my fellow bloggers is a definitely an UP !

Kicking Asthma's Butt !

Good news from the Asthma Doc today :)

My youngest has not had an Asthma attack since last August.

In September of last year we were finally able to get him into a pediatric pulmonologist after getting the results from his RAST allergy testing which showed he was at the highest end of the chart for a Cat allergy.

We said buh bye to the Cat (we found her a great home) and the pulmonologist started him on Flovent .. 2 puffs twice a day.
Within days of starting the Flovent he was breathing MUCH easier.
I was no longer hearing at least 3 times a day "Mom I need a puffer".
His rescue inhaler became obsolete, in the past 6 months he has had 2 puffs total from his albuterol rescue inhaler and not one visit to the ER or family Doc because of Asthma. He has even had 2 colds this winter that have not led to Asthma kicking up.

THAT is amazing to me !

He has also been on Singulair for over 2 years now to help control the triggers that may have been setting off the Asthma.

The Doc today was so pleased with the control of his Asthma that when he sees him again in 6 months if he has not had any symptoms he will stop the Singulair.
If that goes well the visit after that he will start taking him off the Flovent too.

He said he needs to see at least a year of controlled Asthma before he removes a daily Asthma controller med.

If he comes off them sucessfully then all we will need to do then is to keep an Albuterol rescue inhaler on hand just in case he should flare up for some reason. (if there is a cat in someones home that might flare him up again etc...)

Otherwise he will just need to be aware that even as an adult it could come back from time to time and to be prepared if it does.

YEA for us !!!

But I can't go to school today.

Yesterday my youngest starts with the sniffles.

Sure enough within a few hours his eyes look all puffy .. something we haven't seen since we had to bid our overweight cat goodbye when the same child was shown to be highly allergic to her.

It seems to be a run of the mill cold .. but time will tell if we need to head to the Doctors office, no fever just feeling blah.

So now I may have to drag his puffy eyed , stuffy nosed little self into work with me just long enough to finish up my time sheet for the previous 2 weeks or there will be no paycheck on Wednesday.
I can put him in a chair in my office and tell him not to breathe on anyone while I get that accomplished and I'm sure one look at him and they will know why I can't stay for the day and avoid the cute lil thing like the plague.

We also had an appointment for him tomorrow for a re check on his Asthma but between said cold and freezing rain predictions for tomorrow I think that may be off too. That Doc is located 65 miles away across some roads in PA that are notoriously bad when that shat hits.

Oh well .. roll with it right ?
Chicken Soup anyone ??

Striking out .....

Every Saturday night from August til April my husband and I go bowling.

Yes ... Bowling.

What has the reputation as being the middle class form of a good night out.

After years of him being on the road from Monday morning to Friday evening the company decides to "eliminate his position". Ok so that was tough, 28 years with a company that he was loyal too just shows him the door.
In the end it works out OK because he lands another job relatively quickly and we are back on track.
The job he lands consists of a 160 mile round trip jaunt everyday.
This means he leaves at 6:30 am and gets home around 7:00 in the evening.(and I'm being nice when I say 7:00)

So in a sense he is still "on the road" from Monday to Friday.
Not at all what I envisioned when he took this new job.
I thought after 5 years of being a "single" Mom during the week I would finally have the help of another parent to raise the two yungins that live here,turns out not so much, but the man does bust his butt working so it is what it is.

Due to those crazy hours I came to the conclusion that we needed to get out of the house at least once a week to have "us" time.
Sooo I came up with an activity I hadn't done since I was pregnant with my now 12 yr old and had to quit the season early because my stomach would no longer allow me to see the ball I wanted to throw.
While my husband and I enjoy each others company we can also be classified as "social butterflies" we like hanging out with friends and family too.

I called the local bowling alley and asked if they had any openings on their mixed Saturday night league.
To my surprise "Mark" was still working the desk and remembered me and said the league had just started the previous week but it wasn't too late to come on down and start this season.
My husband and I do not make up a "team" ourselves so we ask my friend Denise if she wants to get in on the league.
The 3 of us show up and start bowling.
We realize that we are still 2 players short of a team but Mark assures us that there will be folks hanging around looking to join a team... Stragglers like us who do not have enough players to form a whole team either.
Sure enough the first night we bowl Alita is sitting behind us in one of the booths watching her sisters team destroy our team.
Her sister asks if we need a bowler and looking like a rag tag team of 3 that we are, we assure her that we do and ta da .... Alita is now on our team, and the girl can BOWL GOOD ! Lucky us !
Then Alitas nephew joins us the next week and we are FINALLY a team of 5.

The team has changed some since the first year .. Matt the 19 yr old nephew left us to pursue college and sigh GIRLS .. and we have picked up another Mom of 3 to take his spot.

The name of our first team was JAM'D ... an acronym of all of our first initials. Thankfully 2 of us had the same first initial and we thought it fit since we were all sorta jammed together on this team.

Losing Matt however did put our team name in a Jam because the new gal "Ruby" didn't make our team name work anymore.
It was time to find a new name.
We threw quite a few around and used something lame for a week when Alita comes in the next week and announces that she has it.
The new name is:

4 Queens and a Jack !

Yes my poor husband is stuck with 4 Queens on his team and sadly he doesn't even get to be the King. The "Queens" love the name and think it's a riot, my husband just accepts it as he is outnumbered.

My sister also is on the league although on a different team.
My brother and sil joined the league this year as well, and I convinced my oldest nephew to jump on their team to help them out. He may not have been real thrilled with it but being the good kid he is he jumped on board and it's been great getting to know him better as he gets older.

So now folks we have a few teams of "O's" on the league and we really seem to enjoy hanging with each other on Saturday nights ... yes drinking some beers and hanging out in the still allowed in PA smoky bowling alley.
Middle class 60's throwbacks ? Yeah I suppose but who else can say they hang out with their husband, brothers, sister and nephew every Saturday night and have fun doing it ?

With the exception of 1 brother who lives out of state all of us "O" siblings are together under one roof for 3-4 hours each week.
Fun sibling rivalry at it's best.
My team kicked my brothers teams butt last night 3 outta 4 but, but who's counting right ? It's all for fun and bonding ;)

The owner of the bowling alley is also someone I graduated with.
George is the person who keeps me up on everyone in our class: who's working where, who married who, who is now divorced, who got arrested, who died etc.
Some of the memories we laugh over some we shake our head at because we can't believe how they "turned" out.

So my blog friends I suggest that while bowling may not be your "thing" get out there and join something. Bond with folks as a team, enjoy each others company with some friendly competition. Then when you are dragging your butt around on Sunday morning cursing yourself for not coming home earlier the night before, remember that you had a good time and you can't wait to do it again next week :)

School the third time around ....

Yippeeee the kids have a long 4 day weekend to observe Presidents Day.

I don't know about anyone else but to me this ALWAYS means some in depth project that they will be assigned by their teachers.

With one child being in 6th grade and one in 10th I just couldn't wait for the fun of it all !

The 6th grader gets not one .. not 2 .. but 3 "projects" to complete over the long weekend.

1. Make a 2 or 3 dimensional model of a plant or animal cell.
2. Choose a book that you want to read for an upcoming book report. Said book must be at least 100 pages long. It could be fiction, non fiction whatever just so you have it by Tuesday to be approved.
3. List 10 facts about President William McKinley.

The 10th grader has to complete a project which entails ripping apart a Emily Dickinson poem to discover it's meaning.
Ohhh and he must also make a poster to depict it.

Soo I take the 6th grade work on first.
Now keep in mind this is the child who has Autism sooooo none of these assignments exactly excite him, nor for the most part does he understand exactly what it is he is supposed to do.

I decided it's only fair that the DH gets to enjoy this as much as I do since he will be home on the weekend to help out, and I just KNOW he wouldn't want to miss out.
So Hubby and I head off to find the materials for the "Cell Project" first.
I always laugh when the teachers say "Use materials you have at home to complete your project". Yes I will check my pantry for excess Styrofoam poster display boards.
$16.99 later we figure we have everything we need and head over to Barnes and Noble to attack finding the book for the book report.
Amazingly hubby zero's right in on a book that is 104 pages long and seems to be something our son may be able to grasp once we have broken it down for him.
This of course means I must read the book first as well so that I know what the heck its about too.
I love to read so thats not a big deal for me, afterall I have totally dumped Math on my husband.

Yes we do have an understanding where that is concerned.

Me = Reading, Science, Social Studies, English and other various subjects like Health and Band as they pop up on occasion.
Hubby = Math

Seems fair right ?? 0_0

After those relatively quick shopping adventures I suggest that while I have him out and shopping my husband should purchase some clothes for work that he has been saying he needs.
He walks into Eddie Bauer and bam within 15 minutes has 2 pairs of work pants a pair of jeans and some long sleeve t's for around the house.

HOW DO THEY DO THAT ????

He is still in a pretty even keeled "lets git her done" mode when I sneak in that I really need some things at Wal-Mart.
I didn't dare look at him because I KNOW he HATES to go to Wal-Mart but he drove on and we arrived within 5 minutes of the Eddie Bauer store.

The shopping at Wal-Mart went quickly too .. the checking out of Wal-Mart was a complete nightmare.
No lie when I tell you it took 45 minutes to check out of the store.
It was MADNESS.
I started to go off when after 20 of these minutes the girl shuts her light off, points back to me and my husband and says the line is closed now.

I looked up at her and said:
OHH I think not, I am not moving and you will check us out.
Hubby gets the 0_0 look and she then says .. Well after you the line is closed so tell anyone after you that it is closed.
WHATT ??????
Hubby took on the role of doing that because I refused too. I don't work for Wal-Mart, let a manager stand here and tick people off.
I thought by now he would just walk away from the cart and say forget it we don't need the stuff that badly but yet instead he remained calm this time while I ranted.
Thats the ying and the yang of marriage :)

When we finally got out of the store I said ....
May you never ask me "What took you so long at the store", he replied .. "Nope I never will".

Ok so 2 down 1 to go.
I have now been googling "10 facts about William McKinley" and have been trying to engage my son on what an interesting man he is, while all he is really concerned about is if McDonalds is open for chicken nuggets yet. So yes still working on that one although overall it's the easy one.

Last night the 10th grader hits me with his poem project.
He is not finding the symbolism in a Emily Dickinson poem that he has to have done by Tuesday as well.
I am not a fan of poetry. I really don't get into figuring out what someone is trying to say with lines full of what looks to me to be gibberish.
Just SAY it already in plain ole spoken North American English !

So what does one do when they are in poetry hell .. they channel their Mormon friend to bail them out.

Thanks MamaMormon, may your heart soon let your mind forget my badgering ;)

So while this is my 3rd time around in 6th grade and my 2nd time around in 10th I am finding myself doing much better in both grades.
I think I have made the honor roll !
Wheres my prize ???

Just some music updates

Today I decided that I would address my music player.

First off .. when you create one of these things if you hit random play you cannot go back and correct that.
Once the code is set it's a done deal ... unless of course you are a code geek and know how to go in and fix that part of the code, naturally I am not one of those.

So I created a new one and decided to start it off with a sappy one in hopes that the message of the song can flow into my life and things will from this point forward go smoothly. (who remembers my first song being at the end of "Little Darlings" starring Kristy McNichol, Tatum O'Neil and Matt Dillon in the 70's ?)

More updates on the lastest dramas are coming as soon as all the loose ends of said dramas are tied up.

Later folks .. have a great day !

ps .. King of the Road remains on the list because afterall this is MY blog :)

Slap a Shamrock on him and call it a day

Luck of the Irish !

Well the good news is the GH Stim test showed that he is producing Growth Hormones at this time !

The bad news according to my son is that he is still a shrimp. SIGH

They will follow up with him in 4 months to see if he is growing .. even at a slower rate than most.

The Doc hopes that once puberty kicks in he will take off, and since he will be 13 in July that may be sooner than I would like 0_0

We should all be so brave

My son's medical testing was today.

He did soooo well !

It was a Growth Hormone Stimulation test which involved getting an IV inserted and after some medications having several blood draws done through that IV.

They started to give him the IV but right as she started he said "Mom you know I have to sit on your lap for blood tests".
Awwwww sure buddy ! I know that won't happen for much longer but it's still nice to know he needs his Mom from time to time. :)

The one med made him sick to his stomach for a few minutes but that quickly passed and he was in heaven playing the Playstation in the Peds play room barely glancing at the nurse when she came to take the blood draws every 15 minutes.

About halfway through the test they had him take Clonindine, a med that lowers your blood pressure, but can also make you sleepy.
The med can stimulate the Growth Hormone to according to the nurse.

Within 20 minutes he was zonked and snoring and continued to do so after we got home til about 5 pm tonight.

I asked the nurse if she could possibly sneak me a few for my purse but she declined .. SIGH

That test from start to finish was 3 hrs long but he took it like a trooper.
Ya just never can predict how these kids are going to react to something but I dare you to try !!

He also had his bone age xray done today and I'm not sure what he said to them while he was in there but the Xray techs came out rofl but no one would share with me what he had said 0_0

The nurse said some of the blood work has to be sent away but they should have the results within a few days and if I don't hear anything from the Doc within a week to call her.

Overall ... a good day !!

Stop the madness ! My DH fixed the stove !

As I reported a few days ago my stove died.

I ordered the 150 dollar part and had it shipped here.

My DH will admit openly that he is NOT a handyman but offered to see if he could fix it before I called a repairman to come and install it.
They wanted 80 bucks to walk in the front door. I'm still in shock but ....

HE DID IT !
IT WORKS !

AMAZING !!

Can't wait to get BIG !

Tomorrow morning we have to take our youngest son to the hospital for some short stay testing.

As if being granted Autism wasn't enough for this kid he has also been graced with Asthma , severe pet allergies , glasses and now .....

Short Stature.

Our Irish heritage doesn't exactly lend itself to "Tall" family members but now he has even fallen below the expected norm of an Irishman.

It is now starting to become apparant to him as well.
Which from the Autism point of view is great ... he is recognizing his "differences" more and more. Many times now he can also see outside his own little box and how is actions DO affect others.
Just this one time though it would be fine with me if it didn't bother him.

Alas the World of Autism is no exact science.

So bright and early on Jan 31st we go to the hospital for a Growth Hormone Stimulation Test.

What concerns me though is that he thinks he will "magically" be taller by the time he arrives back home.
While I have explained that he will need an IV to have medicine put into it to see if has enough Growing cells in his blood , I'm afraid he thinks they are putting something IN to make him shoot up 3 inches by the time we leave.

At 12 1/2 and 53 inches I get that he wants to be taller. All the kids in Middle School are now flying past him, and at times teasing him because he is so small.

So by the end of tomorrow I believe I will have A TON of explaining to do, if I can just find the right words to make him understand.

OHHH I know .. I need to channel my Mormon friend.

What would the Mormon do ???

Happy Birthday Sista !!

Happy Birthday !!!!!!!

After yesterday's events I hope you have a great day and after last years event a much better year !!

(that was her kids collarbone, she had her car hit and the family pet hamster was belly up in the cage yesterday)

Don't Call us, We'll call you ........

My Nephew fell while snowboarding last week, and my sister suspected he had broken his collarbone.

After hours in an ER the nurses came in and said the Doctor didn’t see anything but the radiologist would call within 24 hrs if he saw anything.

Days later and still in pain my sister requested a copy of the Xrays.

I know you may not be a Doctor, afterall that takes YEARS of training … but can you see anything ????


Yeah it REALLY happened !

Free Day !

Tomorrow I get the house to MYSELF 6.5 hours !

Both kids should make it to school .. hubby off to work and I have the day off !!

This has not happened since before the holidays and then every spare day was spent shopping or wrapping or doing some other holiday madness.

It's sad when you get excited about staying home to catch up on laundry.

Maybe there will be more drama posting time then :)

Skillet Living

My oven died today.

Not the oven itself but the control panel that turns it on so yes my oven died today.

Most days this wouldn't upset me too much because unlike many of my friends and family I'm not a huge fan of cooking in the first place, but the other people in my house do enjoy food.

SIGH

After a quick google session I call the local Maytag parts store only to find out that this control panel costs $131.00.
Great ... with tax and shipping it is now $150.00.

Perfect that is just the amount I thought I gained back from the IRS for dependent care expenses for Summer Camp when doing a guesstimate on my taxes today.

They will have it shipped to me and it will arrive on Tuesday.
The tricky part is who will INSTALL it.

For those that know my DH this will come as no surprise but he is NOT the handyman around the house.

He said he will attempt it .. see how difficult it looks ... then decide if he will do it.

I however have bookmarked the Maytag repairmans site.

Family Drama

It is taking me some time to figure out where to start on the Family drama stories.

Do I start out by telling you about some of the dramas in our childhood ?

Like the time my youngest brother stuck his foot down a drainpipe and the fire department had to be called to get his foot out.
This wouldn't have been as hard to do if my Mother wasn't in the background going .. I just got him those shoes TODAY ! Do you really have to cut it off ??

Heck 5 kids in the 60's with a father still working his way up the ladder this was a BIG deal.

Or do I recall the time we left the same brother at age 4, on the sidewalk as we all drove away to go visit my grandmother a few hours away ?
Returning to find him in the same spot we left him on the sidewalk SCREAMING his head off with the neighbors surrounding him because he refused to move.
Look the rest of us TRIED to tell our parents he was AWOL but they just told us to "shut up back there" as they crammed us all (along with a few tagalong friends) in the way back of a station wagon. Seat belts and car seats are you KIDDING ?? If they could shut the back gate without slamming a leg in the gate we were good to go.
Finally we get the attention of one of our parents and we returned for him.
Maybe this is how we develop "issues" in adulthood.

Like I said earlier I'm still trying to figure out the order of dramas .. because believe me adulthood brings some doozies !

Teenage Drama

My older son is now old enough to get his permit.

He has been actually for a few months now.

Because of his "couldn't give a shat attitude" that hit when his hormones took off I made a proclamation that he will not get desired permit until his grades improve.

I also removed the part time job from his schedule .. after MUCHO warnings about the grades improving.( Yes his MOM made him QUIT)

So .... halfway through a new school year and I'm still not seeing much improvement.
This leads me to think that maybe I have approached this all wrong.

Should I allow him to get that golden permit .. ya know let him get all cozy and comfy behind the wheel. Allow him to think he has won the battle only to snatch it away if the grades still don't improve ?

I have been thinking it's hard to miss something that you never had in the first place, but a 16 yr old that has had his foot on an accelerator and then loses that ...

Hmmmmm points to ponder.

Square head

I go to pick my son with Autism up from school yesterday and he has that visibly upset look on his face.

Me: What happened ?
Son: I hit a kid with my folder .. .but only on his back.
Me: Why would you do that ? You know we don't hit.
Son: He called me a square head and he was making fun of you too Mom.
Me: Carry On.

(ok before anyone thinks I really said that I did not but SOOOO wanted too, ya just don't diss someones Mama !)

Autism

The word Autism is Drama.

I don't mean it's all bad Drama but if you know or care for someone with Autism you can relate.

Searching for Doctors to help you help your child.
Finding the "Right" programs and therapists.
Running through the maze or better put by a fellow Auttie friend Mom of mine "Jumping through the hoops" to secure services for your child in the school and community setting.
These are just some of the daily issues that come along with Autism.

For me it's just plain frustrating.

There are constant roadblocks for Autistic children and their parents.

Autism is a lifelong disability.

I can't change that fact .. nor can anyone else at this time.
It is what it is.

This is where the "hoops" come in.

The Drama of late has not come from my Autistic child it has come from the very agencys which claim to be "helping" him and providing those services.

Mention lifelong disability to any state agency and the first reaction they will have is "How can we dump this kid off on somebody else".

Autism costs money. LOTS of money.
Services and therapies are not cheap.
That said I am a firm believer in pay now or pay later.

If the state agencies holding the purse strings would realize that supporting these kids and their parents now would actually save them money later, one would think they would embrace the spending.

Many Autistic kids have the ability to be job holding, tax paying, independent members of society if given the skills to be. Some supports may always be needed, there is no magic bullet here, but they could be minimal in comparison to full time support.
If not given the chance or the skills to be independent the state and government agencys will support that child for the rest of his life through SSI.

This is not to say that it is possible for every Autistic child, there is a wide spectrum out there, but I do believe many kids are going to be forced into those situations later in life on the principal of saving a few bucks now.

Many of my Drama blogs will deal with the frustrations that Autistic parents and their children deal with on a daily basis, but it will also deal with the accomplishments and the fun things about Autism that you rarely get to hear about.

In the meantime we will just keep Jumping !

(ps .. I reserve the right to include typo's in all of my posts ! )

What the heck ?

The drama blogging will begin as soon as I figure out how to operate this page so it appears the way I want it too.

When did I become so old that I need to recruit the help of my teenager ??

Drama ... never underrated

Ahhh Drama

Embrace it .. live it .. be it ..

I am guilty of all of the above.

Perhaps that is why I love to type in BOLD font, afterall it's dramatic itself.
(Not to mention suddenly it's just sooo much easier to read)

For those of you reading along, I hope it makes it easier for you to read as well because I will be using it all the time.
(so much easier to just state things than to ask for opinions don't ya think? )

Ok back to the Drama.

I decided to open this blog for 2 reasons ..
1. Mamamormon and Marksmom have one.
2. I've been told that the Drama in my family's life could not even be depicted in a really GOOD Lifetime movie.

When I say "My Family" I am not just limiting this to the ones who share the use of my washing machine, but my extended family as well.
Actually my extended family is the source of most of the drama.

Good Times .. Good Times.

Coming from an Irish Catholic background with 4 siblings, most of us born in the 60's, should in itself explain some of the drama.

That aside even though we are all adults now it continues to be there .. a constant that seems to follow not just one of us but all of us at one time or another.

For whatever reason that is I have come to the conclusion that it's better to embrace it. After all we have THEEEE best stories to retell time and time again when we gather for the holidays.

Some of the Dramas have been outright hysterical.
Most are a comedy of errors.
Some are embarassing to a member of the family. (those we especially like to retell !)
More recently the Dramas have become deeper, more intense and life changing.

Look ,I make no claims to be a "writer". I will proudly give that title to my oldest brother because he has actually earned it.

Instead .. I am considering blogging some of the "Drama O's" to preserve them so we can not only tell the stories again, but in some cases learn from them too.