You may have noticed that I haven’t posted for awhile. At least, I hope you noticed. 🙂 Several things have hit the fan at once and I’ve been shoveling for the past couple of months. I know, I’ve been shoveling for the last couple of years, but this was more and I’ve had to shovel faster. I do have several posts I’ve been working on, so hopefully I will get back to regular posting now. We’ll see how that goes.
Last post I told you about the snowpocalypse and how I hadn’t crawled out yet. I didn’t really understand why until I talked to my therapist about it. She said that when you’ve been running on empty for awhile, even if you’ve begun to replenish your reserves, something like that can knock you flat on your ass into a deeper crater than you were before. So that happened. And then a bunch of other things, some good, some not so good…
Okay, see, like right now. I have allergies that seem to come on whenever the weather changes and I’ve started having occasional hot flashes. Those things seem unrelated, right? Except that my head is stuffy, my throat is so clogged that I can barely talk, and a few minutes ago I started sweating and now I’m shivering. Do I have the flu or is it just a hot flash on top of my allergies brought on by the crazy weather we’ve been having. I’m exhausted, but what else is new. So how am I supposed to figure it out? And then what am I supposed to do with that information?
The other things that have happened include:
- Firing our ABA consultants;
- Hiring a fabulous new ABA program manager and ABA home therapist;
- Fun toileting issues with BeBop that I won’t elaborate on;
- BeBop graduated from OT and started vision therapy at a new place;
- Vision therapy requires homework five days a week and BeBop is not thrilled with it;
- With all the changes going on, BeBop has had some behavior regression, including, but in no way limited to, gnawing on our coffee table;
- BamBam started speech therapy (at the same time/place as BeBop’s vision therapy, which helps me);
- BamBam is doing much better in school;
- BamBam, who used to enjoy the bus, is not pleased with the fact that his regular morning bus driver has been MIA for almost two months now and we’ve had at least three rotating substitutes – a very distressing fact for kids on the spectrum who insist on ROUTINE. He now begins screaming before we walk out of the house and continues until after the bus drives away (his teachers tell me he’s fine once he gets to school). Once on the bus, he runs to the back and throws himself on the floor by the window while the kid in the wheelchair stares at him and the girls in the back seats laugh at him. Good times.
- Setting up a group blog with some friends (whateverybettysaid.com)<–Gone after 2014
I’ve had a lot of fun working on the group blog and, in the process, decided to move this blog off of wordpress.com and onto my own domain. Since the domain name can be whatever I want, provided it’s available, I’m going to change that too. When I started this blog, it was about the weightloss, but since then it has morphed to encompass my broader life experience, so I think destination 140 is too narrow for it now. I thought about it a lot and finally settled on Life with the Quirky Boys. That name shows that the focus of my life right now is mainly on my quirky boys, including Sparky, but that it still starts with me. It’s still my life that I’m sharing with my wonderful, and wonderfully quirky, boys.
So it’s LifewiththeQuirkyBoys.com. I’m not sure yet when I’ll make the shift, but I’ll announce it here first.
Michelle…you are amazing and strong and funny and talented and caring and kind and did I mention strong?!!!
Hey there, Julie! Thanks for commenting and for saying such nice things. 🙂
Oh! and I forgot that I’ve had a bone spur in my right foot for about six weeks (doctor appt next week for that) and I’ve been working with the school district to get BeBop evaluated and set up with an IEP for kindergarten next fall. He did get in to the full-day kindergarten, so YAY!
Wow. That’s a lot. So what are you doing (or not doing) to rejuvenate? And as I write that for some reason I’m compelled to ask, is there laughter involved? Don’t know why that came up. I do know laughter is important. When my brother graduated from nursing school, he took me with him to a celebration of sorts where Dr. Bernie Siegel, who wrote Love, Medicine and Miracles, spoke. Dr Siegel referred to laughter as jogging for the heart. He had everyone take their pulse. Then he had his wife come to the podium and do a 5 minute hilarious comedy routine. Then we took our pulse again. Laughter settles you, somehow.
I completely agree. Laughter’s essential. It’s a defense mechanism that’s actually served me well over the years. I also count myself lucky that my boys don’t have the aversion to touch that so many people with autism have. Our family does a lot of tickling and zerberting (no idea how to spell that) and we diffuse a lot of situations that way.
Taking time for myself has helped, though I’m just now figuring out how to use it. Sparky gives me Sunday mornings for myself. I’m starting to get some mornings to myself while the boys are in school. Most of the time I’m trying to get stuff done during those hours – stuff I can’t manage when I have both boys with me. Though last Friday I went to the movies instead and I felt wonderful afterward. I had other stuff on my to-do list, but blew them off to do something completely for me with no one else in mind and I refused to let myself feel guilty about it. What a fabulous luxury!
I also use this blog to process and purge feelings I might otherwise repress. It’s very cathartic for me. One friend has even told me that I’m noticeably happier when I’m blogging regularly.
Once I get the bone spur in my foot taken care of, I plan to work up to running again. I think that will help, too, though I’m not looking forward to the early mornings. Blech.
very excited your spring has sprung (somewhat) in that you are blogging here again. Quirky boys is a great title and I am looking forward to it!
Deep breaths. Between whoops of laughter, because the laughter is truly key.
FYI – I have learned more than I wanted to about hardening WP installs to avoid being hacked. Still getting the process down, but I’ll be documenting it this week (so that my brain cell can forget it with impunity and yet I won’t have to panic) and I’ll send you the info.
Yes – deep breathing and laughter will get you through so very much. I hope you’re feeling better this week, too. 🙂
Sweet – I’d love to have your info about hardening WP installs. Thanks so much for offering to share!
New blog is very prettah. Look forward to hearing about quirky boys.
Outstanding! Mygawd that’s gorgeous. I’ll be waiting for the final move shout out. For now, I’ll be adding this one over at my place.
(Did you figure out if you were sick or not? Flu would be bad.)
Julie
It’s just allergies and hot flashes. I do sound like I’ve been smoking four packs a day for twenty years, though. 🙂
Sometimes, we can only do so much before we get knocked on our asses. But, then we get back up again! Because that is what we do, Awesome Mommy! I am your comrade in penii.
*SNORT*
You made me snort in the car when I was supposed to be listening to what my husband was saying to me. 🙂
will follow you anywhere (not in a creepy way).