Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

As the year ends, we have been talking about all the adventures our family has experienced in 2009. We moved halfway across the country, bought a car, sold a house, started new schools, new jobs and met new friends. We've experienced our first tornado, our first true Fall season, our first snow and bought our first winter coats. It's been quite a year. To sum it up, we will call it the year of weather. We have been entertained and learned so much about weather since moving to Texas.



Today is no exception! Megan and I had a new experience when grocery shopping. First, we started out at Sprouts and bought lots of fruits and veggies. Then, we needed to go to Kroger's, but decided we were hungry first. So, we left the fruits/veggies in the car while we went out for a late lunch. We figured it was only 40 degrees outside, so being in the car was like being in the fridge. We even left the stuff in the car while we went to Kroger's after lunch.



As 2009 ends and 2010 begins, we are grateful for our loving family and good friends. We are hopeful that 2010 brings all the happiness and contentment that we look forward to.....for you and for us!



Whatever you do to bring in the new year, do it safely and have fun!



Love,

Fishgods

Home, Sweet Home

We are home safely. Well, most of us are home! Megan won't arrive until tomorrow. It will be great to have us all under the same roof again!

It's a snowy day here in Dallas. We are snuggling by a warm fire and have lasagna cooking in the oven. I think we will just stay close to home tonight!

Can't wait for Megs to be home tomorrow!

Betsy

Christmas in Arizona

We have been enjoying our time in Scottsdale. Grandma Jane has been very busy cooking constantly! She even got Megan involved in the preparations! Megan was very good at preparing the carrots!

While the ladies have been busy in the kitchen, Steven has been exploring the outside. The weather has been clear and cold, but warm enough for Steven to try out the old swingset from when they were little.

As you can see, he's outgrown it a bit!

Once the swing got old, he figured out how to unlock the door and get out to the swimming pool. The water is extremely cold, but he still was sure he had to get in all the way!

At this point, I convinced him he needed to get out of the pool before he froze to death!

We are excited to have Christmas with our families tomorrow, then will hit the road to come back to Texas early on Saturday morning. We've been watching the weather and saw the alert advising of 1-4 inches of snow at our house today! Wish we were there to see it!

But, the weather will still be there when we head home! The forecast shows that we will probably be driving in snow or sleet about 10 of the 18 hours of drive time!

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Love,

The Fishgods

We have arrived

We have arrived in Scottsdale. After a good night of sleep, we are ready to rock and roll this morning.

I hope the coffee kicks in soon.

B

Partying in Odessa, TX

We hit the road today and have come to Odessa, Texas. It's quite a happening spot! We hit the Whataburger drive thru and had greasy fries and sodas for dinner.

We are settled in at the Town Place Suites and are ever grateful to Anisa for her help in procuring great rooms! Troy is sound asleep next to me on the bed and Steven is roaming the room trying to convince me that we should leave.

Tomorrow we will finish the remaining 750 miles of the trip. Here's hoping we get a good night of sleep tonight!

B

Party at the Gym

We recently went to a holiday party for the special education PTA. The party was held at a place called Excite! Gym. They have classes for children of all ages and abilities.

The PTA rented out the place for a few hours and the kids had full run of the joint!

Here are a few photos. the first one is our family photo. we kept trying to get Steven to smile at the camera, but he was just in love with Mommy at the moment. The next picture is also the family shot, but we didn't all face the camera then either!
Towards the end of the party, Megan, Steven and Christina (our helper girl), found the foam pit! Steven loved it! Once he was in it, he could hardly get out!

We were able to get a few shots of Megan and Steven together in this round tube thing that Steven liked hanging out in!

Steven was also most impressed with the trampoline in this place! The rules were one child on the trampolines at a time. Steven didnt care about the rules and was more than happy to bounce another child off the trampoline when they got in his way!

All in all, it was a great day! The kids both got their pictures taken with Santa, but I don't have those yet. I'll post those when I get them!

Christmas in my eyes

As I have mentioned in the past, Texas likes to do things their own way. I like their ways.

For instance, there really isn't any separation between church and state. Megan commented at this back in October when we went to see the choir perform at her school.

At our Christmas Program (not winter program) the kids sang many songs that included Jesus. Santa will be visiting my school next week. Teachers are allowed (and encouraged) to have Christmas trees and decor in our classrooms. Heck, we even have lighted Christmas trees, complete with wrapped boxes, in several halls through out the school.

One of those beautiful trees is located right where my class lines up to leave school every day. Yesterday, one of my students caught me off guard when he said, "Mrs. G, I can see Christmas in your eyes!" It took me a second to realize he could see the reflection of the lights in my glasses. Too cute.

These kiddos come up with the funniest things! Here are a couple of examples from this week:

We read a book called "Courduroy" about a stuffed bear. When I was prompting for details in retelling the story, one litttle boy called the stuffed bear "Quarter boy".

Another little boy was tattling about another boy not being in line. I said, "Okay."

He replied, "You're supposed to say you've got it under control. That's what YOU say.....Mrs. G, DO you have this under control?"

Evidently, I say I have it under control too much. It's just a coping mechanism. It's my mantra. I didn't realize I say it out loud!

Finally, a little girl recently told me that she hopes I will be in her first grade class. I explained that I would stay in kindergarten when she goes into first grade. She told me that I, "am really smart." and I'll "probly be ready for first grade this time." She even hopes that we sit next to each other in first grade.

The things these kids say are priceless!

Have a great Friday everyone!
B

2/3 Done

Okay, I'm a little premature in this posting, but I'm really looking forward to it being true!

I'm taking state certification test 2 of 3 this morning at 8:30am. This test is more specific to Texas laws relating to English Language Learners. I know the strategies to teaching ESL students, but had to have a crash course in Texas acronyms.

Wish me luck!
B

Today's Forecast

This morning the temperature is 25 degrees. I checked the forecast and it says our high today will be 38 degrees....but the windchill will make it feel 9-14 degrees.

It's Wednesday. I have parent pick up duty after school. This involves standing outside and helping get kids into cars for about 20 minutes.

I believe I will need a Starbuck's this morning to help me stay warm!

But, I do want to know when it's considered cold enough to delay school start times or cancel school?

Oh, and I think I will stop on my way to school and get a hat. My sister commented that we will need a hat when it gets really cold. I think today qualifies.

Betsy

Troy's Retail Stroke

Tonight, we gave in and went to Kohl's to buy winter jackets. When the locals told us "wait until it gets really cold." we thought we could take it.

Wrong.

These are photos of our jackets. The fur lined one is Megan's. The grey one is Steven's. The black peacoat is mine. The really, really nice looking two in one coat is Troy's.

Now I should tell you that Troy hasn't really been much of a clothes shopper since we met 25 years ago. As time has gone on, I have become his personal shopper and that seems to work out okay for both of us. Tonight, I needed him there to try on jackets.

He found a jacket that he really liked.

Then he saw the price tag.

I think his blood pressure went up about 25 points! He kept saying, "But it's just a jacket!" I kept explaining that this jacket was worth every penny and he looked fabulous in it.

So, he tried on several other jackets. None of them were as comfortable as the one that gave him sticker shock. Still, he tried to put off buying a winter coat. He chose to do this on the night that our temperature should drop into the low 20s.

I did what any other wife would do. I lied to him. I told him I had a coupon and his coat was 50% off of what he thought the price was. That pacified him enough to allow me to buy it. That got us through the check out line.

He looks great in his new jacket. It kept him warm when we continued our errands tonight. But, he is still scowling two hours later.

Please be sure to comment on Troy's jacket if you see him in it or see photos of him wearing it!

Betsy

PS He has forgiven me for my little white lie about the coupon!

This just tickled me today!

Today's weather: "Mostly cloudy. Isolated flurries in the morning. Highs around 40. North winds 5 to 10 mph."

Isolated flurries means no one will be outside to keep the snow flurries company!!!

I am awake early and checking the news to see if we have "late start" or if school is cancelled today. I know Megan is hoping for cancelled, but she might get "late start"....they wouldn't start school until 10:30.

I know the constant weather updates might seem mundane to you all, but I continue to be amused by the variety of weather we experience here.

B

Let it snow!!!

Imagine our surprise when we woke up this morning to snow! The weather man had said it would be in the low 40s last night......

This picture is our back patio furniture.

Troy even got to write in the snow on his window!

This was the scene in our front yard about 7am.

It was a really beautiful sight!

The kids are both amused by the snow! It's a good thing, because tonight it is supposed to drop into the low 20s and we are expecting snow or ice tomorrow. My school even warned us that we may have a "snow day" tomorrow!

1/3 Done!

I passed the EC-12 Texas State Pedagogy and Professional Responsibility test with flying colors. The test was pretty hard, in my opinion. So, I was a little worried about passing.

But, I got the test results today and I got 282/300. I only needed 240 to pass!

I will be scheduling the next two tests between now and 12/21. It will feel good to have those out of the way!

Betsy

Thanksgiving 2009

Megan and Liliana before dinner!

Megan made her first pumpkin pies! They were awesome!

We had a great Thanksgiving! We ate yummy food, made new friends, played board games and had a nice time.

Nicole and her mom, Shannon.

Nicole's Dad, Tim.

Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays as much as we did!

Holiday Plans

Happy Thanksgiving all! We are planning to enjoy the day at home with David, Daniel, Kate and Marthy and some new friends! We are looking forward to a relaxing day cooking two different turkeys---traditional and fried.

We are planning to go to Phoenix for Christmas. We will just be in town a few days, so we'd like to coordinate some kind of gathering where we can see everyone without running around. We'll figure that out as it gets closer!

In the meantime, have a great Thanksgiving! We are very thankful for your love and hope you all have a blessed day.

B

YAY! Comments!

Thanks for posting comments out there ya'll! I really was starting to feel like I was posting to some random online diary.

I wish I had something more interesting to post for you today, but it's only 7:10 am and I'm just drinking coffee.

Oh, there is a dense fog advisory today. Is that newsworthy? Weatherbug thinks so because it sent me an alert to my desktop.

Betsy

Comments

For anyone having trouble with comments, I have changed the settings. Anyone should be able to post comments now:)

Betsy

Master's Frustration

I have recently resumed courses to finish my master's degree in curriculum and instruction. I have 15 classes to take and will be done in about 16 months. I'm taking the courses on line since I am addicted to my laptop!

I like that I can wake up and write a paper from 1am-4am. I like that I don't have to leave my house to learn. I like that they have supports in place to help students succeed should they run into any problems.

That being said, I'm in week 2 and I'm already frustrated with one aspect of the program. It's these mandatory "Learning Teams". This is a small group of people who have to communicate, prepare weekly team projects and submit them on time. These assignments comprise 40% of my grade.

We have assignments due on Monday. NOT ONE PERSON IN MY LEARNING TEAM has participated. I have already started the essay, the power point presentation and the learning team charter. I've contacted my instructor. She says she will move me to another group tomorrow if my group doesn't participate today.

Great. I can give up my Sunday doing other people's work that should have already been done.

I'm definitely NOT choosing to work with these people in the future. Unfortunately, this instructor assigned us our learning groups and I had no choice.

Also, if you are reading this, can you please post a comment once in a while? I won't continue posting if there's no one out there reading.

Thanks!
Betsy

Brrrr. It's cold!

The high today was 59 degrees. We have a freeze warning in effect through tomorrow at 9am. We have a fire raging in the fireplace, but the house is cold. Tomorrow the guy comes to check on the heater and connect the gas to it.

We're getting excited for Thanksgiving next week! We have Troy's Aunt, cousin, and cousin's teenage kids coming for dinner. We expect it to be a very mellow day and are looking forward to some time to chill as a family.

I guess chill is the right word, considering the temperature!

Brrr.

Betsy

A tale of two vehicles

Troy's truck is in the shop for some maintenance. We are down to one car since last night. I applaud families who can do with only one car.

Today requires so much driving, that Troy should wear a chauffer hat! We will be leaving this morning at 6:30am. A quick drive thru Sonic for my morning ice tea and Steven's "ice cream Friday" treat. A quick drive through QT for Troy's morning Rock Star (and I'll probably ask him to get some gas for my car:). Troy will then drop me off at work around 7am. He and Steven will return home to wake up Megan and get Steven on the bus by 7:20.

At 8:25, Troy will drive Megan to school.

At 10:00, he will go to the bank.

At 3:55, he will go pick up Megan. Then, he will come and pick me up. We will come home and pick up Steven. Then, we will all go get Troy's truck.

Fortunately, after all this running around, we get to go to the church respite night! Steven gets to see his girlfriend. Troy, Megan, Keren (her friend) and I will enjoy Nicoli's Italian dinner and a nice walk around Old Town Grapevine.

TGIF!

Betsy

Time.

As you can see by the changes on the blog, I have far too much time on my hands today! I'll do anything to avoid housework! Hope you like the changes!

Fall

This upcoming week in kindergarten, our focus will be on the letter "L" and our theme will be leaves. We have many activities planned that all revolve around leaves. The homework one day is a "leaf hunt". Classwork on various days includes experiments with leaves, graphing results of these experiments, creating art with leaf rubbing. I kept pondering where children would get the leaves we need for these activities. I just naturally planned on going to a craft store over the weekend to pick up some fake leaves.



Then, I looked in our backyard....this is what I saw.

Turns out, there really is the season of fall! In the desert, this time of year is known as "cooling off" or "less hot". Here is North Texas, it's really a season. After raking the backyard leaves, I wandered out to the front yard. I knew that our front yard tree wasn't losing leaves, but looked down the street and saw the beautiful fall colors all the way down. It was kind of cool!

B

Walking Pitre Dishes

I'm sick with the crud. I'm so giving that I even shared it with Troy and Steven. Whatever "it" is, "it" is going around school. One of the teachers went to the doctor yesterday. He told her that she should expect to get sick all the time since teachers spend our "...days with walking pitre dishes."

Wow. What a way to think of it.

Fortunately, my class has enough cute in them that I can't see the pitre dishes!

B

Where did the weekend go?

I don't know where it went. We even had an extra hour due to the time change.

It's Sunday night at 5:40 and we have spent the weekend doing things that needed done....Troy and I both even worked about 5 hours this weekend. Grocery shopping. Laundry. Put away Halloween decor. Whew.

We still have to mop the floor, but will wait until Steven is in bed for the evening.

I think I'll go to bed early tonight.

Betsy

Happy Halloween

We have had an exciting week! I started my new job and am really enjoying it. The entire school staff has been welcoming. My team is very nice. And, all 14 of my students are sweet! The days have flown by and I'm looking forward to getting into a routine!

Friday was my first day with students. I had spent the previous two days getting my classroom ready and finishing district paperwork and training. Surprisingly, I didn't feel stressed.....just excited.

On Friday about 2pm, my Principal and Assistant Principal both came into my room. My Principal, Ms. B, said they came to check my stress level. I assured them that I was fine and things were going very well. The students were happily painting their pumpkins and everything was going as planned. Then I noticed the post it note in her hand.

She says, "Well, your daughter's school called and she was injured in PE. They think she needs taken to the ER for x-rays of her foot. We are here to cover your class so you can do what you need to do."

Ummmm. My first day.

I grabbed my cell phone and called Troy, who was working at home. He said he would get Meg and get her x-rays. He thought I should finish the last hour of the day, then meet them at the ER. I'm so lucky to have such a supportive husband!

Troy took Megan and they were finishing up at the ER when I called to say I was ready to leave school. (Gotta love this fast ER!!!). Anyways, Megan has a sprain and is on crutches for a bit. Evidently, she was running in PE and tripped. We're glad nothing is broken!

We did the traditional pumpkin carving today. As you can see by the pictures, neither of the kids were too impressed with cleaning out the pumpkin itself.

We had many trick or treaters come to the door tonight. The weather has been very cool and there were lots of people in the streets.

It's hard to believe the holidays are upon us. We realized last night that we have lived here nearly 6 months already! October is already over. Tonight we will experience our first time change....only a one hour time difference now from Arizona? Maybe Steven will sleep in later?

Oh well, I'm off to bed!

Betsy

Oh yea.....I got a job!

Didn't want to include this in the post this morning until I had the official offer!

But, I have been offered a kindergarten full time teaching position. The school is about 3 miles from home and is very similar to the demographics of Navajo School (where I was very happy). Students wear uniforms, teachers stay for years and years and it's very structured.

I have my new hire orientation tomorrow and start at the school on Wednesday. I have to call my principal tomorrow to find out which day I get students and when I can set up my classroom.

I keep laughing because this district is so very, very different from where I most recently taught. Here, I will have 16 students and get paid 40% more than I did in Arizona.

I'm super, duper excited!!!

Betsy

This one is for Grandma Jane

We have had a busy week and I haven't posted.....but we are all doing great!

Megan had a great week at school last week and continues to earn straight A's. She has joined the Jr. High ministry program at church on Wednesday nights and seems to be enjoying it.

Steven also had a great week at school last week. His teacher asked if Steven likes males better than females. I told her that yes, he WORKS better with males, but LOVES females best as long as they don't try to make him work. He is using sign language more and more. He seems to enjoy the power of it and understands the cause and effect of signing. It's so cool to see him progress!

Troy is still plugging along with work. With all of the staffing reductions, he remains on call all the time. His cell phone is now his mistress....but at least she makes overtime! He has the week of Thanksgiving off (hoping that is still approved) and will get some much needed rest then.

I'm also doing well. I'm still subbing and really enjoying it. I got the pin removed from my finger last Wednesday. It feels so muh better! I met with a school counselor and will be starting my Master's degree on 11/17 through the University of Phoenix. I'm excited at the opportunities that this will open up for me. And, it should only take a year to finish!

The weather in Texas continues to amuse us. Someone told us this saying, "If you don't like the weather in Texas, wait 15 minutes and it will change." That is so true! In the past week, we have had two days with 4 inches of rain, then 3 sunny days, and now back to 2 more days of 4 inches of rain expected. I've officially put away the summer clothes and we are currently wearing OUR winter clohes. It's cold here. However, the locals continue to say, "Just wait until it gets cold." This worries me....you mean it's not cold yet? I think this weekend we will be buying more winter clothes.

Halloween is upon us this week. We are enjoying seeing the leaves change color and experiencing a true fall season. Everyone here decorates for Halloween. There are yard blow ups, pretend headstones, bats, pumpkins, ghosts and that yucky pretend cobweb stuff everywhere. I'm curious to see how many trick or treaters will ring our bell this Halloween!

We don't have any other exciting news to post, but I think that's a nice change for our family! No drama. Just enjoying life!

Hope everything is going well for everyone else.

B

Super Weekend

We've had such a nice weekend. I already posted about Friday night's events.

On Saturday, Megan and her friend, Karen, had fun together. I took the girls to the skate rink for a few hours, then Karen came over afterwards. The girls played board games until dinner time. After dinner, we invited Karen to sleep over. We went to Karen's to get her clothes, then picked up a movie at Blockbuster. The girls made cookies and stayed up late.

Today, we've had a lazy day watching football after doing a little bit of yardwork.

Troy and I are getting ready to enjoy our newfound respite. We are going to browse around at Bass Pro Shop for a few hours.

B

A Good Day

Today turned out better than I expected. The evaluation went as expected, but I was pleased to see that Steven's developmental age range has gotten higher. He still has obvious gaps in his skills, but his functional skills were improved from the last eval.

He also officially has autism per Texas. It's official. I guess we can be one of those parents who say, "My child wasn't diagnosed until he was 12." haha!

Tonight, we tried a church based respite program. The church is located in the historic district of Grapevine, Texas which is about 20 minutes from our house. The program runs from 6:30-9:00, one Friday night per month, and provides respite for caregivers of special needs children. It is held in the gym of the church, which has rooms around the perimeter of the gym. These rooms include a nursery, a quiet room, bathrooms, a kitchen, etc.

We were a little bit leery of trying a program that wasn't home based, but Steven rocked! He had a 1:1 attendant the entire time, and they rotated attendants about every 20-30 minutes. The consensus is that Steven is "a highly mobile and energetic little man." Steven played catch with the balls, participated FULLY in snack time, explored every room along the perimeter and laughed and laughed. The director, Joyce, told me that Steven is welcome to come back next month as long as they have the appropriate volunteer ratio to monitor him. As a sidenote, they also said they don't know how we keep up with him all the time!

While he was having fun at respite, Troy, Megan and I went to Old Town Grapevine. We wanted to be close by .... just in case. We found a great little Italian restaurant and the food was fabulous! Megan devoured a full plate of manicotti. I had enjoyed "Lisa's Pizza" with sausage, mushrooms and black olives. Troy munched on the mozzarella sticks and marinara. I think it's a new fave for our family!

When we went to pick Steven up at 8:10, he was happy to see us and was ready to come home. He said his goodbyes. AND WE MET HIS GIRLFRIEND!!! Yes, he's a ladies man! His girlfriend is Stacey. She is 13, blond hair and blue eyed. She appears to have autism and does some sign language as well.

Steven said, "Bye."

Stacey said, "Bye." and gave Steven a big hug.

Steven hugged her back and even stroked her hair !

So, yes, indeed, we will be going back next month!

A good day overall.

B

Ya think it's autism?

Today is the day that Steven and I head to the psychologist to determine if he does, indeed, have autism. Even though three separate doctors in Arizona have concurred, their diagnoses are not accepted in Texas. Only a Texas doctor may diagnose autism in order to qualify for specific state services.

So, today I will wreak havoc with Steven's schedule. I will pick him up at school early. We will drive 30 miles away to the "Texas Certified" doctor. There, we will rehash the last 12 years of interventions. We will also do my personal favorite-- go through the listing of developmental milestones that Steven has not yet reached. The doctor will get to point out all the areas in which Steven hasn't reached those milestones. Finally, we will get to determine which of the "autism checklist of behaviors" that Steven has. And, if we are lucky, two hours or so later, we will leave the office with a diagnosis we already have.

I hate these type of doctor visits. Truly, I do.

I believe we will stop at Sonic on our way home for some comfort ice cream!

B

Jeans vs. Shorts

Ahh, the age old question of what to wear. We're at the weird time of year when it's chilly in the mornings, but warm in the afternoon. So, we wear shorts and a jacket. We are ready for anything.

I told you the weatherman is a nimrod right? Well, today he really proved it. The forecast was for 92 and sunny. Instead, it is 61 and cloudy. I sent my dear son to school in shorts and a t-shirt. Jeans vs. Shorts. Mom vs. Weatherman. I think I could knock out the weatherman today.

B

Halloween

Halloween is nearly here! We have decorated our front yard with lighted ghosts that hang from the eaves, a giant,lighted, plastic pumpkin and small ghosts on stakes that line the driveway. We are planning to visit the pumpkin patch this weekend to get a few pumpkins to carve before the big day!

Today, Megan and I went to the store and she was in heaven. Her favorite holiday cookies are FINALLY in stock. Tonight, she made us a batch of the Pillsbury sugar cookies with the orange pumpkin in the middle.

The holidays are officially upon us!

B

A relaxing weekend

After such a busy week, we are enjoying a relaxing weekend. As of 3:37pm, we are all still in our jammies. There is a peaceful fire in the fireplace and we are eating warm, homemade chocolate chip cookies. This is the kind of day we all enjoy!

24 hours with the FishGods

Here's an exerpt of a typical 24 hours in our lives:

Tuesday
9am--Receive call from sitter. She is in the hospital with pneumonia. Rework the schedule for the day so I can be home in time to get Steven off the bus.

10am--Leave to drive to nursing home intake. Love using my drive time to catch up via cell phone with my sister!

11am-12pm --Complete intake paperwork at nursing home. Nurse there comments that my finger is really red and swollen. I tell her about having the pin in there and she suggests I contact my doctor. I, of course, being too busy, ignore her suggestion.

12pm-1pm--Drive home from nursing home....find a cool "short cut" that we will use tonight when we drive back.

1pm-2pm--Arrive home. Rotate laundry, mop floors, clean bathroom. Call doctor to make sure paperwork was faxed to the nursing home. Call case manager to ask a few clarifying questions.

2pm-4pm--Intake with nurse from respite agency. Decide to get a second opinion on the finger while I have an RN in the house--she confirms I need to see the doc.

4pm-6pm--Call my doctor to get appointment, make dinner, eat dinner, clean kitchen, etc.

6:30-9:15pm--Go with Megan to the choir concert at the high school. Very impressive program with the various middle schools and the high school.

9:15--head home. Remember need gas for tonight's drive to the nursing home. Get home at 9:30. Consider going to bed, but realized that I would need to be awake in an hour to leave again. Decide to have a pot of coffee.

10:15-10:30 Wake up the family and get everyone bundled in blankets in the car. Heading towards the nursing home. Looking forward to my short cut!

Troy and I agree that we both need some caffeine to get us through the next few hours. Stop at QT and get drinks while the kids sleep peacefully in the back seat.

On the way there, it started to rain. I grew up in Arizona. I'm not really that experienced driving in the rain. But I managed. Even when the windshield wipers had to be on high and I couldn't see the road. Even when the pea sized hail started hitting us. Even when the wind was blowing so hard I could barely stay on the road.

I missed the turn off, followed someone who was more lost than I was, took the scenic route through Prosper, Texas and finally ended up at the nursing home in time.

I was so stressed out and tired that I told Troy he could drive us home! Why is it that he got the easy turn? The wind, rain, and hail all blew over before we headed home, so he had an easy drive. Of course, he also followed the directions provided......whereas I tried to find a "short cut".

We made it home about 1:30am. Steven had developed a fever and a cough during the late afternoon yesterday. By the middle of the night, it was sounding really bad. The kids both went back to bed and slept great. Troy and I were too amped up to sleep and stayed up until about 2:30am.
Even then, I couldn't sleep because I was worried about Steven's cough and afraid I would oversleep my 8:30 doctor appointment.

7:00am --Finally get out of bed. More coffee. Shower and get ready. Wake Megan. Make lunches. Wake up Troy to watch Steven while I take Megan to school and go to my doctor appointment.

8:30--Doctor confirms finger is indeed infected. Two options.....1) remove pin, strong antibiotics, then start process all over again with surgery. 2) Deal with pain, take strong antibiotics and have pin removed on 10/21. I'll take option 2.....thank you very much.

In the meantime, I'm back splinted and tightly wrapped and cannot get finger wet. If it swells more, fever gets over 101, then call doc and we'll go with option 1.

9:30am--Troy and I take Steven to his doctor. He has bronchitis. Get prescriptions for me and Steven filled.

Come home and chill.

So, for those that wonder why I don't call too often (ANGELA), this is why!!!

We are looking forward to a mellow night at home.

Love you all!
Bets

It's Official!!

Today we got a call from the State of Texas Medically Dependent Children's Program. We've been going through their process of trying to get approved for respite. Normally it's a 3 year wait, but I have stalked the right people and we are officially approved!

Our case manager, Tammy, got Steven approved for 42 hours PER WEEK of respite, two weeks of camp, one weekend of camp, and medicaid. This will help us out soooooooo much!

We have had Sarah working for us about 6 weeks and she will become contracted with the agency. We also recently hired Christina and she will begin next week.

We have a few hoops left to jump through in the next 24 hours, but they are relatively easy. Today at 11:00am, I will drive to the nursing home to do a 2 hour intake session and provide medical history. Then, at 2:30, the nurse from the agency will come to do the 2 hour intake session their agency needs.

Our last hoop to jump through is a nursing home stay. The stay is normally 30 days. Yes, 30 days. Evidently, they cannot assess Steven's needs and behaviors in less time????? Tammy, the case manager, found a way for Steven to stay "24 hours or part of two calendar days" ......tonight we check in at 11:45pm and leave at 12:15am. That meets the "part of two calendar days" rule.

We are so excited at how this will help our family!

Mother Nature and I are gonna talk.....

It's date night. Sitter all lined up. Troy came home early. We were ready to go.

Sitting in the living room, waiting for the sitter, we notice the wind in the backyard trees. A look out the window and we see the storm brewing!

Turn on the TV and we see severe thunderstorm warning until 11pm. Go outside to take a look and hear the tornado sirens. Sitter calls to tell us traffic lights are out, tree branches falling into roads and raining so hard she can't even see the road.

A closer listen to the TV tells us the tornado watch is in effect, (means sighted when the sirens are blaring), 70 mph winds, hail and a really good storm. The Emergency Management system for our town even called with a recorded message to stay home, stay indoors, away from windows, blah, blah, blah.

Needless to say, date night cancelled for tonight. I'm gonna have a talk with Mother Nature....storms like this cannot happen on date night in the future!

We ended up having a nice evening at home anyways!

B

Working for a Living

I forgot how tiring this whole working thing can be! I really like subbing a couple days a week. In fact, 3 is perfect. But this week, I am working all 5 days. Next week 4 days already scheduled. I guess it's great that I'm getting my name out there, etc. Man, I'm tired.

I don't know how "regular people" do 40 hours a week, year round, have a family, keep a house and keep sane! I haven't done it since I had Megan. Wow!

Just realized, I was never sane. That's how I made it work back then!

Betsy

Troy is home!!!

Troy arrived home safe and sound today. He managed to stay awake all the way until 6pm tonight, hoping to offset the jetlag he will be feeling for a few days. After 48 hours awake, his eyes were puffy and his concentration skills were shot! As I type this, he is sound asleep....as soon as his head hit the pillow.



He brought home some neat souveniers, native jewlery, a stone sculpture, and local candy for the kids to try. He has fabulous pictures that I will post after he downloads them and I can share some of the funny stories he has already shared with us.



Overall, the trip was rough because of the work stress involved. But, he was able to secure a promotion because of his hard work and we are very proud of him.



The kids and I are thrilled to have him home. Megan has stayed very close to Daddy and Steven has instigated several wrestling matches!



It feels good to have us all under one roof again.



B

The answer is.....

Remember when I posted about flour and ended with, "What will he think of next?"

The answer is Garlic Powder. Not granules. The finely ground, very strong garlic POWDER.

It doesn't smell as good as the cinnamon did.

Betsy

Time Differences

South Africa is +7 hours from Texas time. When it is midnight here, it is 7 am there.

Whomever said that people with autism are rigid in their routines has been proven wrong. Evidently Troy and Steven have such a bond that Steven has adjusted his routine to match Troy's South Africa schedule.

I realized this last night when Steven woke up for the day, AGAIN, at 11:47pm. That's right folks. We have been awake for nearly 7 hours.

I try to see the positives in most situations.....fortunately, I have had nearly 7 hours to find the positive in this situation. When Troy comes home on Saturday, he and Steven will be on the same schedule. Thus, I can sleep normal people hours while the boys figure out their jetlag and join the rest of the family on Texas time!

In 2 short hours, both kids will be at school and I will be back in bed.......I need to catch at least a few hours of sleep before I try to tackle the day.

Betsy

Our adventure and some cleaning tips....

We have locks on everything. I mean EVERYTHING. The lock above is similar to the ones we have on every one of our kitchen cabinets. We kinda get a kick out of watching guests try to open a cabinet or the fridge with these locks. But, mostly, we keep them in place to avoid Steven getting into various items. We keep our kitchen knives locked in a cabinet. We keep medicine in the fridge. We are so used to it that we have become complacent. Steven, however, has been conspiring against us.

He has figured out that he can get the little spice bottles out of the cabinet if we don't pull the ties quite tight enough. We've gotten really good at keeping them closed tightly.

So, Steven figured it was time to train Mommy on a new adventure. We have very few things out and within reach so he knew he would have to be creative. He must have figured, "Why go to all the bother with these locks when she leaves the GIGANTIC containers of flour and sugar right there on the counter?"

That's right folks. I had a great opportunity to clean flour. Lots of it. Here's some helpful tips I found along the clean up that might make it easier if it happens in your house.

1. Vacuuming flour does not work. It just sucks it up, filters it and then releases it as an airborn pollutant to get caught up in the breeze of the fan and carried into other rooms of the house.

2. Wiping flour with a wet cloth only creates a great paper mache' paste. I believe I have enough paste to create some great pinatas as Christmas gifts. I may fill them with flour so you can all experience my joy when you beat your pinata open!

3. Do not allow children covered in flour to linger in a bathtub of warm water....even if it is the only way to keep them out of the way while you attempt to clean up said flour mess. The flour and the warm water makes into a gravy that is hard to go down the drain and even harder to clean off the porcelin.

Our flour and sugar canisters are now in the fridge. A few positives came out of this adventure. My kitchen looks tidy with only a can opener and coffee pot on them. I know we can possibly give pinatas or other paper mache items as holiday gifts. And, Steven made me clean the kitchen floor very well.

oy vey. What will he think up next?

Betsy

Autism Family Camp

We went to the autism camp this weekend to try a new adventure. We left on Friday about 3:00pm and arrived close to 6pm. The trip should have taken about 2 hours, but Meg and Sarah each had a case of carsickness. Fortunately, we got there just in time for dinner, so Steven was happy right away! He had some difficulty with the noise level in the dining hall, so he ate fast and I took him back to our cabin.

The cabins are duplexes, are very nice and sleep 12 people on each side of the duplex. They are very closely located to the lake....within 20 feet or so. The downstairs has bunkbeds or beds for 8 people, a kitchen, dining table and a double size bathroom. The upstairs loft has another 4 beds. We had one whole side of the duplex to ourselves. Our friends, The Turners, were on the other half of the duplex.

While Megan and Sarah finished eating, Steven and I headed to the cabin to let him acquaint himself with our space while I unloaded the car. BIG MISTAKE!!! As soon as I opened the car doors, Steven bolted for the lake! He didn't go to the lake right by our cabin. He ran across the courtyard, stripping while he ran and went straight into the lake in only his underwear. The crowd in the dining hall had a perfect view of this. The more I would try to cajole Steven to get out of the water, the deeper he would go. I caught up to him in waist high water....soaking my clothes. (cmon, visualize this....it's okay to laugh!)

We went back to the cabin, dried him off, got him a spare change of clothes and Megan and Sarah came back from the dining hall. They had seen Steven in the water and came running to help!

That evening, there was a bonfire and welcome ceremony. By then, Steven was tired....he's only been sleeping about 3 hours a night the past week. Again, Steven and I stayed in the cabin, snuggling and watching Barney until he fell asleep about 9. I couldn't fall asleep until about 11:30 as there were still many people driving in and the cabins don't have any curtains on the windows.

Imagine my dismay when Steven woke up at 1:00am. I tried to convince him he needed to go back to sleep. He wasn't having any of that. After an hour or so, I took him into the car so he could watch a video and wouldn't wake up the world. By 5:30am, I decided I was an idiot to even attempt camp. At 6:00am, I yelled upstairs to the girls to wake up and pack. We were leaving. By 6:10, we were on the road. After 20 minutes of silence, Sarah spoke up and said she would help more. Megan also really wanted to stay. I was soooo tired.

We developed a game plan and went back to the cabin. We unpacked for the second time. We went to the dining hall for breakfast. After breakfast, I took a 2 hour nap and the girls attempted to take Steven on the barge.

The barge is, of course, on the lake.

The same lake that Steven wanted to swim in.

While I was sleeping, Steven was biting, scratching and pinching the girls because they wouldn't let him jump into the water.

They brought him back to the cabin. I sent the girls back to ride the barge and I tried to calm him down. He did okay, but really really really wanted to go in the water.

I decided to let him go in the water.

The Camp Director came running over to remind me there was no swimming due to no lifeguards. I explained our situation, said I would be the lifeguard, etc. But, no go. She was adamant. I was adamant. Eventually, she won.

By lunchtime, I tried to convince Steven we should head to the dining hall to meet the girls. He wasn't having any part of that. I called the girls and asked them to bring us food back to the cabin. Then, I bribed them with Papa Johns pizza, videos, s'mores in the fireplace, sleeping in our own beds and Steven being calm in his own environment. I just wanted to come home.

They agreed. For the third time in 24 hours, we packed stuff back into the car. We made good time on the way home. Sarah is gone to a friend's house. Steven is calm. Megan is playing Sims and I am blogging away.

It's 5:28 and I expect us all to be asleep by 8pm. I don't even think the videos and s'mores sound good to any of us.

Overall, I would attempt camp again, as long as Troy could go and they allowed swimming. But, doing it alone, with an inexperienced nanny made it a long 24 hours. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight!

But, hey, at least we tried!!!

Betsy

Update from Us

Several people have called and emailed asking how we are all holding up with Troy out of town. Overall, we are doing well.

Megan has caught a cold that turned into a sinus infection and ear infection. I took her to the doc this morning and they gave antibiotics, so she should be feeling better soon.

I got my stitches out and will have the splint on for another 6 weeks, but at least I can get it wet. I thought I had caught Megan's cold, but turns out I have bronchitis. That figures since I went back into a school setting.

Steven is doing well, but misses Daddy. He's loving have Mommy all to himself and gives me lots of hugs and kisses!

Troy is suffering through his trip. They are working 12-15 hour days and having difficulty sleeping because he is still adjusting to the time change of +7 hours. He will probably get used to the time change in time to come back to the states....starting the process all over.

Megan and I have gotten hooked on the Showtime series, "Dexter", and have been spending all our evenings watching the DVDs we rented of previous seasons.

The kids and I will be heading to Autism Family Camp this weekend. It's a few hours away and we will stay for two nights. The cabins are large and can accomodate 12 people. Steven's sleep disorder has come in handy!!! Nobody wants to share a cabin with us, so we get the whole thing to ourselves!

Betsy

Look Out South Africa

The man has arrived! Troy called to let us know he arrived in Cape Town. It was 6pm our time and 1am their time. He said the flight was miserable and he hasn't slept since yesterday. He was going to catch a few hours of sleep before heading into the office by 8am their time.

He was too tired to tell us much about the trip itself or his initial impressions, but will let us know more after he sleeps!

A whole lotta rain....

It has been raining here since Friday. When I say raining, I mean REALLY raining.....not just sprinkling. The streets are flooded up to the sidewalks, puddles have formed in the yards and it just keeps coming down. We think it's neat. Other people are griping about it.

Today we were supposed to go to the water park with our church, but it has been cancelled. We've received 4 inches of rain in the past 24 hours and are expected to get another 2 inches today. There are flash flood warnings issued in our area.

Oh, and did you know they have lightning warning systems too? Evidently, when lightning is detected in the area, the siren sounds. All sports end. Everyone must go inside. This time, we didn't stand outside and take pictures while the alarm sounded. Our neighbors have chastised us about our irresponsible behavior during the tornado and we have been trained in the appropriate response to various weather emergencies.

I was planning on the water park being our adventure for today. The days are long on weekends and we usually need to have at least one outing planned each day to keep my sanity. We like to get in the car and just start driving and see new areas. We don't usually have a destination in mind, but just drive and look around. Not sure what we will do today because it's probably not wise to get in the car and go for a drive just to see a new area.

The rain sure is nice though!

A busy week

This was a busy few days. We celebrated Steven's 12th birthday! We can't believe he is already 12. He LOVED his cake and we had his favorite dinner of BBQ chicken, brocolli and garlic bread. Tomorrow we are heading to the water park for an afternoon of fun.

Last night, Megan had her first school dance. I volunteered as a parent chaperone and spent the evening handing out pizza at the concession stand. I was ordered "not to embarrass" her and was told I did good:) Megan looked beautiful all dressed up and it was such a pleasure to see her smiling face, interacting with her friends and enjoying the dance. I was equally pleased to meet other parents and realized just how clean cut the kids at her school are. It was so reassuring.

While we were at the dance, the boys stayed home and Troy finished packing for his trip. We just dropped him off at the airport and came home. He will be in Cape Town, South Africa for the next few weeks. The flight itself is a challenge....first he flies to Atlanta, then a direct, 16 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. From there, he gets another flight to Cape Town. All in all, his travel time is 24 hours in a plane.

The house just doesn't feel right without him here. The weather is even cold and rainy. I think tonight we will just watch the movies we rented, snuggle on the couch and check Troy's flight status through the night.

Betsy

Substituting

Today was my first day as a substitute teacher in the district. My first assignment......HIGH SCHOOL. Now, you know I prefer the littles. But, I decided to give it a try and I'm glad I did.

I taught ESL to high schoolers in small groups. The kids were very eager to learn and tried very hard. I was impressed with their determination to learn the English language.

Even more importantly, I remembered why I love to teach. My past few years of teaching have been challenging. I started wondering if maybe I had reached that early burnout that a large percentage of teachers get by year 3. I've taught for 6 years, so maybe that was it.

I was wrong. Today, I got to spend time actually TEACHING. Not just classroom management or putting out fires or wishing for enough textbooks or administrative support. I got to help a kid learn. I helped them turn on that light bulb in their head.

It went so well, they asked me to sub again tomorrow since the same teacher is still sick. And, if it is high school, I'm still excited to go back. I've missed that feeling of WANTING to go to school each day.

It feels good.

YAY!

Betsy

The Chain Letter

Somehow the chain letter idea worked! On Friday, I was sitting around relaxing, eating bon bons and watching soap operas. When the doorbell rang, I was highly irritated that I would have to put down the bon bon, pause the Tivo, and get my butt over to open the door. I was even more irritated when I looked through the peephole and saw no one.

I opened the door anyways. Maybe it was a little person. But, it was just a little box addressed to Stevie Carter!

Since he was at school and I couldn't wait for him to get home to open it.....I mean, I decided to help him by opening it, since I'm a loving mom.

A huge thank you to Kelly, Jimmy and Logan Nelson for the new flatware! It sure came in handy last night when we were searching for forks so everyone could eat the yummy key lime pie Marie Callendar.....I mean, Troy made for dessert.