Friday, December 31, 2010

It's gonna be a late night

Well, it might be. Theresa took a nap late today because she was rather cranky after she managed to hit her face on my headboard. Poor baby has a bruise on her cheek. She's awake now but she doesn't want to get up just yet. Oh well, if she wants to rest longer she can but I think she's about ready to get up. Well I guess she's ready to get up.

She's in a better mood than when she went to bed. Now to figure out what time you put a four year old to bed when she's taken a nap half the afternoon. Hubby cooked lunch for tomorrow already, a roast and we have one pork chop left from lunch today.

I bought a loaf of 12 grain bread for $1 today. It's good, I've got to shop at WRC more often. They have some pretty good prices on some things. I managed to get us most of what we'll need for the month for $30. I was happy with that, I'm not sure I'm happy with the shampoo that I bought though. OK I'll be going now I've got one more blog to update and I want to search Amazon.com to see what I'm using the next gift cards I get for.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

It's Thursday and starting to feel like Monday

It feels like Monday. I should of just kicked the freaking yankee out at Halloween and left him kicked out. The bank account he over drew closed today and now he's having a tantrum over the way I fry food. Idiotic moron. I do wish I'd never married either of my children's fathers. They're way to much trouble to raise.

On the other hand Theresa is doing great. She's the bright spot of my days, it's too bad I kept her father though. OK this is turning into a rant so I'll be going.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

The appointment that wasn't

Yesterday morning I got up at 5:30 to give myself time to have a cup of coffee, etc before I got Theresa up. Well, there wasn't any running water and a cat let himself in through the vent. I thought the pipes were frozen and hoped nothing would bust. Wrong. The pump had cut itself off in the night, nice and expensive to repair or replace since I have no idea how to do either. Well of course the morning went on, Theresa got up and dressed, pretended to eat breakfast etc.

Well, when we went to leave I realized I didn't have time to defrost the windows. So I'm out side in the cold without a coat while Theresa sits in the back seat as the truck warms up waiting on me to scrap the ice off my windows. I didn't do a very good job and I noticed that my windshield had a crack all the way across in front of the lower half on the drivers side now instead of just a little chip from where the rock flew up and hit it. Fast forward we leave and I get down the road a bit before I decide that I have to stop and clean the windshield some more because I can't see.

Well, windshield is clean and we're on our way. Until I start to smell something and realize smoke is coming in through the gear shift. So we pull into a parking lot and call home. Hubby calls the office we're going to and leaves a message with the answering service. About 15 minutes after we're supposed to be there the same office calls to see if we're on our way because they didn't see the message yet. Work that out and wait on hubby with feet freezing. He locks himself out of the house before he can come check on us. Lovely.

Finally we get home go and go through rescheduling before discovering that the woman we were supposed to see decides she can use someone else's results to draw her conclusions so we don't have to wait so long for the results. Now I'm trying to get rid of things that no longer fit, are broken and I just don't want to have less to do and save some money.

OK I've got articles in my head so I'm going to be going for now but I'll be back to update the other two blogs later today. Some antifreeze would have saved me a lot of headache, remember to check yours! 

Sunday, December 26, 2010

My little family is almost enough

I say almost because my oldest and his oldest don't live with us. It is just the two of us and Theresa, her sisters (one is almost grown) would complete the picture. I know both of them are miserable where they are. Well, not miserable but not as happy as they could be and that hurts.

I would love to move the three of us far away but that creates a problem. There is no way for us to be half way between the oldest two and visit either one of them we can't afford it. We live off less than $15,000 a year yet I don't understand reality according to those around me.

I'm still figuring out how to copy pages from Theresa's workbooks. I have to make my schedule for the New Year so that I spend as much time working as possible without taking time away from her. Well, I have one more blog to update so I'll be going for now.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Christmas survived


Just a short post let everyone know how the holiday I dread the most is going so far. Well, there haven’t been any fatalities in the home so that’s a plus. Yes we’ve all survived this far. Theresa opened her gifts from us this morning, Christmas and birthday since she’ll have a total of at least three days opening presents tomorrow.

She loves the little dry erase/chalk board that Nanna got her and the one that stands up that we got her. Both are reusable and one travels for lessons or just occupying her on the road. She’s not ready to use the roll of paper just yet but that’s fine too that’ll give me time to figure out where to find another roll to replace it with. I think I’ll take the time to buy one or two rolls of wrapping paper on sale after the holidays even though I have three rolls left. I may just use gift bags next year, I have plenty of them.

She got two wooden puzzles with the pictures under them when she gets done I’m gonna preserve them and use them to decorate her room with. Or I may just use the tray the puzzle goes in and hang it up as a picture in her room. I know I want a jigsaw puzzle to preserve and hang as a picture as soon as I have somewhere to hang pictures again. Repairs have to be done first.

We’ll be starting the next year with a full therapy schedule and hopefully once in a while a day off for me. I plan to sit down and eat meals together at some point in 2011. I can’t focus so I’m going to odds and ends so that I can let my mind wander around.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

I've Almost Survived the Christmas Season!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve which means that the Christmas season is almost over and once again I have survived it! The rush for last minute presents for the spoiled,  precious children I have. The panic over not being sure what's age appropriate for my children that are far from typical. The 18th I did all my Christmas shopping and stood in nice long lines to spend money I didn't want to part with. Next year I vote that I have it all delivered to the house. My goal for this? I use Swagbucks.com to earn Swagbucks that I intend to use for gift cards to use at Amazon.com where I plan to order things that they need  want around the first of November 2011 to give me time to wrap them.

I think I'll make a list of therapy supplies toys through the year for Theresa so I can keep up with what I'm buying her next year. My first purchase next month is going to be an ink refill kit for my printer though. That way I can make copies of the workbook pages that she got this year so that she actually gets to use the pages.

We'll let Theresa open her Christmas presents in the morning and she'll open her presents from my mother Christmas Day. One present will be set aside for her to open on her birthday. You know Theresa doesn't seem to notice if she has a birthday party or not and I can't manage to organize one anymore so I think I'll wait until next year when I've had time to plan and brace myself. She had a first and second birthday party, just no third or fourth. She had a Christmas party at school and she'll have a Valentine's day party in February. I have to get something for the kids and the teacher this time. I didn't realize when the Christmas party was until the week of it.

OK Christmas is survived! I'm gone.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Interesting Day

Well, the day was interesting sort of. I did laundry, dishes, some vacuuming and felt awful all day. Theresa on the other hand felt great. She's just as hyper as she can be playing with all the things that nanna bought her for Christmas. She's only asked for a couple of shows today.

I've been so obsessed with figuring out work that I forgot my other half gets paid tomorrow. That'll help a little bit, figuring out when he gets paid again since they have two weeks off will help too. We have therapy this week and a re-evaluation next week which is rather irritating. We missed out Christmas party because we didn't feel well but we can't miss these appointments no matter how badly we feel.

I have to get the house straightened back up but I think that it's a losing battle.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Almost done with the Christmas shopping

Yesterday afternoon Theresa went to the clinic where she gets therapy from 1pm until 5pm so we could do the Christmas shopping. We got Theresa and my oldest their presents, the oldest of all three we have no idea what we are to get her. Theresa's birthday present was gotten too. Now to figure out what's for her birthday and what's Christmas. My oldest got a card for her birthday and we managed to find one thing so far we can give her for Christmas. She's rather difficult to buy for.

I'm worried she won't like it. She's always polite but I always get the feeling that she's not satisfied with her gifts. Without tags I'm trying to make sure I wrap her gift last so I can keep it away from Theresa's and grab it quickly when we go to take it to her. I managed to get all but Theresa's bubbles wrapped and I can't find a box to put them in. I could have sworn I had a bunch of boxes, I guess they'll go in a bag for her birthday along with the largest puzzle I bought her.

I have to vacuum the floor but I'm tired and it has to be cleaned up first. This is getting old. I made another bucket of laundry soap this morning with two bars of soap and it'll be ready tomorrow morning or the next day at the latest. I have a load of jeans to wash in the morning and dishes to wash now. OK I'm going to figure out what work I need to be doing.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

An afternoon off

It's almost 10:30 and I drop Theresa off at the clinic at 1 p.m. She'll be staying there until 5 at the latest. I may go get her earlier if I manage to get out of the crowded store with my few purchases in a short amount of time. Against my better judgement I'm taking my other half to the store since he's keeping my in-laws away from my house for the holidays. I'm not being hateful, they just have a tendency to irritate me butting in and offering advice when things are none of their business and they don't pay the bills.

I'm a bit irritated that I wasn't asked about my child leaving the house during the holiday. I'm so ill at this moment I do believe I'm going to make the rest of the year a living h*ll for everyone but me and my little angel.

Now my head hurts at the thought of my other half trying to get his parents not to do something that could undo the past year of therapy. Theresa is smarter than they are. I'm not being ugly, it's true she actually is. OK  this is turning into a rant so I'm going away now.

Monday, December 13, 2010

It's Monday Alright.

I can tell that it's Monday for sure. This morning started out easily enough as you know if you read odds and ends. I got my little one home from school when I picked her up early and she noticed the Christmas tree. Long story short, one bath, lunch and a few cartoons later she was nice and hyper.

I just realized a few minutes ago that I haven't put the blanket under her bed yet. I put a think sheet like blanket under it for the time being. It helps to keep it from being as cold in her room where she sleeps. Tomorrow at some point I need to move her crib closer to the heating vent, rearrange the rest of her furniture and make sure that I drag the carpet out of the back bedroom closet.

OK that got me to thinking that I needed to go pull that carpet out since she's been sick and it's cold as well a frozen over you know where. Sure enough the carpet has stuff piled on top of it, not sure why and the closet is freezing......like you could store meat in it. Well, I noticed a comforter on the top shelf in there. I pulled the comforter down, it was freezing cold too and folded it up then shoved it under the end of her bed she was sleeping on. Now watch when I go to move her bed closer to the heating vent and the warmer part of the house it'll need tightening again. I have to leave the bathroom door open at night so that the heat is evenly distributed. If you leave the door closed you suffocate in there.

I had a cat in the duct work this morning so I went to hunt down a screwdriver and let him out. By the time I got the blame vent cover off the cat was no where to be found. I did notice however that I felt a nice little draft from that vent. Well........DUH! There was a cat in it, it had to be down somewhere for him to get into it. I'm looking into alternatives to heating and cooling, hopefully they don't include having someone come run new duct work. We can't afford to have the skirting put back up to keep things out from under this place.

OK that's about it so I'm going away now. Ron White is on and he's making me forget what I'm thinking about.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

I thought the weekends were for resting

Yes in all my naivety I once thought that the weekends were for resting. Boy was I wrong. My weekends are filled with working and trying to clean the house. I say trying to clean because well my youngest turns 4 the 27th of this month and she's a little disaster area all her own. Never mind the fact that she throws away random papers and other items as she sees fits for puts the dirty clothes in the basket. She's a kid which means that unless she's sure she's tired of a toy it's in the middle of the floor instead of in the toy box which means that before the vacuum can be run there is an hour of picking up toys and tiny cards from the floor.

The laundry never feels as if it's caught up during the winter. The dryer doesn't work and it's too cold to stand outside and hope the tiny bit of sun we get will dry them. So a load at a time hung out in the back until I can find some line to hang a second line. The shirts are easy, they can go on hangers in the shower we don't use and on the door knobs to dry. The jeans get thrown over the futon frame as do the towels. Lighter items get put on my line or own clip hangers.

I think sometimes I fall behind because I'm determined to make a living from home. It's strange as my bills keep increasing while my income keeps falling. Lately I'm being help hostage by cartoons which is a bit aggravating but at least the kid is talking.

This post has taken a turn so that I no longer remember what the point is so I'll call it a day.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Held hostage by cartoons

Other than my morning trip to pick up a few groceries I was held hostage by cartoons the majority of the day thanks to my 3 soon to be 4 year old. We spent the first three years of her life in virtual silence except for the screams and tantrums that she developed so now when she asked for something it's rather difficult to tell her no.

The result? I often spend my days with Scooby Doo, Caillou, Dora and Arthur. She's learned how to give me the remote and make me push the button to bring up the "On Demand" menu. I just with there was some way to get that menu without having to pay for the rest of the channels that get neglected the majority of the time.

I have approximately $30 more than I thought I would for the upcoming holiday! I wasn't expecting to make enough to request the payout for the 15th but I've gotten it in ad revenue. That's good because I've manged one article since all the stress began. I managed to do a load of laundry and put another one in soak in addition to doing the dishes today. I also found all but one of the income proofs I need. I have a copy of my 2009 tax return, she asked for 2010 but unless she's got a time machine I can't get those to her before 2011 since they haven't been filed yet. I found the last two check stubs for hubby and he picked up the letter detailing this pay stub so I can send it where his check stubs normally go. Now to find the address and phone number for the Crawford County D.A. so they can call and get them to fax what they need because I have no clue what in the world they're talking about. I think it's a letter but it's not the letter they think they need as it doesn't exist due to circumstances.

I managed to get some of the baby's crumpled papers out of the floor. Unfortunately it's still not clear enough to vacuum and my back hurts. On the other side of my day, I had yet another fight with hubby for pointing out that his father is a jackass' ass. I'm sorry but I have a tendency to point out the obvious.

Well, insults and rants aren't supposed to be the point here so I'm calling it a night.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

End of the week came early!

Well, it's Thursday night and we're done with therapy for the week! The speech therapist has to go for CEU's tomorrow. That half hour is the only appointment we would have had so instead we're going to the grocery store in the morning to stock up through the weekend. It'll be the first of next week before we go to the grocery store for the month.

Theresa felt better today, still not a hundred percent but she was hyper and talkative. She had a tummy issue today that seems to have fixed itself. That's a good thing. She was happy as could be with her chocolate goldfish, cheeseburger and french fries. Now she's in bed without an argument since she's was tired.

At the moment I'm watching the "Dukes of Hazzard" since my regular shows at this time aren't coming on this week. I just realized that I have never seen the one where Coy and Vance come to Hazzard county. Oh, well.

I've got to do some dishes, one more blog posting and find a few things to make copies of in the morning. I also have to make a phone call to get a copy of the letter where child support was in arrears. OK time to go to work.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Fluid on the Ear

Well Theresa got a bath when she got up this morning because her pull-up leaked in the night. She fussed before she got in the bath and wasn't very active before school. I sent her to school anyway thinking that she may have been a bit sleepy. Then about an hour before school let out I got a surprise. I was on FB and one of my friends that was at a hospital across town put up that it was snowing in her status. I was thinking I was crazy or drunk one but no she definitely said snowing.

I got up to look out my windows just in time to see the first flakes begin to fall lightly, then harder until it gave the appearance of rain looking out through the windows. It got heavy enough that I called to cancel our regular speech session out of fear that it would continue to melt then refreeze as it hit the ground. I'm Southern, I don't do cold weather and I really don't do snow. Eventually the snow stopped but it was still getting colder and colder. So I made the right choice just not for the reason that I thought.

Theresa didn't feel any better when she got off of the school bus; it was late dropping her off by the time we got in the house it would have been time to leave. She still wasn't as hyper as usual and she was a bit whiny. So I waited until the doctor's office reopened for lunch and called to see if Dr. Ashley had an appointment open today or if we would have to do walk-in. He had one at 3:15, we still have to wait a while because he was behind. Well, there was nothing to indicate she was sick except her behavior so he checked her throat and her ears. One ear had fluid on it that could develop into an infection. So he wrote her an antibiotic prescription.

I dropped her off at home picked up her antibiotic and got her juice that her daddy forgot to buy. Well, that's about it. She's watching cartoons until bedtime now because she doesn't feel like herself just yet and I said she could. She's being good and there's nothing wrong with catering to them when they're sick. OK I'm going, I'm going I can feel the shoves so I'll take a hint.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Jumping on the furniture

This morning Theresa was so hyper that she was standing on top of her little Clifford table and jumping off of it to the couch. It didn't help that she was excited about her cartoons. Every time they did something she tried to do it too. She's something else I'm telling you. She had a stubborn moment before we left therapy and tried to stay in the office grabbing whatever she wanted.

I didn't get any work done today but she did make an awful lot of request for her shows by name. We had a $5 pepperoni pizza from Little Caesars for supper. Theresa knew what it was and said "ummmmmmmm pizza" which for her is incredible in the expressive speech department. She did great during therapy though. They used connect four and she worked to get the checkers to put into it.

She wasn't feeling well today. I think her little stomach hurt but she can't express it. She can only pout and lay down quietly when she feels bad. That's how we now. Tomorrow is a school day so she'll act like she feels good even if she doesn't. That's the highlight of her day two days a week.

OK not much else to say so I'll be going for now.

Monday, December 6, 2010

I need a nap

While I would love to lay down and go to sleep for the night Theresa is acting as if she just had a pot of coffee. She's a bit hyper still and it's been a few hours since our afternoon therapy session. She's also been wearing the crown she found in a box of toys donated to the clinic since her session. The therapist didn't want to take it away from her so she asked if Theresa could just keep it. That was nice of her, she doesn't like upsetting Theresa if she can avoid it.

Of course the child has been walking around like a princess long before she ever found the crown. I once had a trained therapist tell me that Theresa's looks were going to get her way to far in life. Those big blue eyes are kind of hard to resist I must admit. The child didn't talk for the first three years of her life so she's a bit spoiled and used to getting what she wants without saying a word because of it.

Of course this afternoon she's been a bit talkative. She's been counting, pretending to read, doing the hokie pokie (however you spell that) and asking for Caillou. Once she asked for "Scooby Doo" today and I was glad for the break from Caillou even though I've seen all those episodes a few hundred times. Today was a school day so her cartoons were limited to one before school, one after school and a couple after therapy. She wanted to run around the clinic today but she actually said "Spectrum" when we pulled up today.

I waited what seemed like forever (3 years to be exact) for her to talk and now they're days when I wonder if I shouldn't have been more careful what I wished for. Her expressive speech is still massively delayed and she has trouble finding the words at times but she'll 4 the 27th and she's come so far I can hardly believe it.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Pancakes and Santa Claus

Today's Saturday which is usually one of those lazy days spent catching up on housework once everyone finally decides to get up. Not this morning though. My alarm was set for 5:30 this morning. Why? We were going to O'Charley's for a Pancake Breakfast and to have pictures with Santa Claus.

I did a few things like drink my coffee, check facebook and my earnings before we left. We managed to get there a few minutes ahead of time and waited with the others. Then they told us that we could sit in the little waiting area until they were ready. The tickets are normally $15 a person because it benefits the local Autism center. They had three that were donated and we got those those. I was hesitant about taking them but now I'm glad that we did.

We had pancakes, sausage, and coffee. Pink lemonaide for the little one. She ate most of the three pancakes and all of her sausage. Before we ever got our plates I took her down to see if she'd sit in Santa's lap. She wasn't sure about it but my little angel did it and looked adorable while the pictures were taken.

Friday, December 3, 2010

weekend started already

This morning we had our first Friday with just one half hour speech session! Theresa was with the group for a few minutes but she wasn't really participating. She did however answer a question in the playroom and she even worked on pronouncing my oldest daughter's name. She was inserting a K into the middle that doesn't exist when you say Jasmine.

Well, I'm exhausted because of work issues so I'll end this now. Tomorrow afternoon I hope to be able to tell everyone what a good time we had at Pancake Breakfast benefit for the local clinic.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

What did I do today?

Well, I wrote an article and included the picture you see here. It's a bar of laundry soap that I happen to like a great deal. It's about a dollar and works to wash dishes, wall, the stove top, hand wash delicates and it just smells good. I also included a picture of some laundry in front of the washing machine for the purpose of the article that I wrote. Yes, the soap is in a plastic container. That's how it's stored to keep it from getting wet, I cut slivers off of it when I use it. I also uploaded some pictures of clouds to sidetick.
This picture was taken through the window and there are a few more but this is the one that's easiest to see just how bright it was for such a cloudy, cold and rainy day. I uploaded this set of cloud pictures to Sidetick so that I could earn from the views to the album. Lately when I get bored I just snap pictures of anything and everything. I'd love more pictures of the baby but she refuses to stand still and I end up with a nice blur to show off. Well, it's time to update the rest of the blogs so I'll be going.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Going back to life

Well, it’s Monday and the first day back to school after the Thanksgiving holiday. I’m not sure what to do with myself this morning. I wrote a blog actually two blog postings at Sidetick this morning. I’ve done a load of laundry this morning and hung it up. The jeans that I washed yesterday are sitting in the clothes basket waiting to be hung in the closet.

I have no idea what to write today. I did one article that I began last night and I have a few sentences into another article written and I’m stuck. I was supposed to call and reschedule two of Theresa appointments today but I can’t figure out when to reschedule them for. I think I have to cancel one of her speech appointments to make room to take her to one of them and then I can try for a Friday on the other one.

Well, I have an article and two more blog postings waiting to get done and only 21/2 hours to get them done in. I also have to pack up everything I need for therapy this afternoon in order to get some work done while we’re waiting for our ride so I’ll end this now.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Housekeeping on my last day to rest

Well, I did a little bit of work today, played a game or two and did some housekeeping. The housekeeping is still way behind but that's fine too. I can always get a large garbage can and get rid of everything. It's rather difficult to clean around a toddler and a husband but as long as I don't toss the husband with the garbage I've done my good deed for the day.

OK there's a lot to clean from my time off and a lot more work to do so I'm going back to it.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Recovering from Thanksgiving

Theresa and I went to my mothers for Thanksgiving. It was rather interesting, I drank a few wine coolers, smirnoff ice to be exact and some crown royal. The alcohol was good but I don't really remember the food except for the desert I should have skipped until the next day. Alcohol and chocolate don't mix well.

Theresa had fun with Matthew and Colby. She was just as hyperactive and loud as they were. We had to put a barrier up in front of the television so that she couldn't touch it though. She likes to hit the screens and that's not good especially with the new lighter television sets. They seem to be rather breakable with small hands involved.

Well, I slept Friday most of the day like I was promised that I could. Now it's Saturday and I'm exhausted still. I wanted to rest all weekend long but I have a nice destroyed house to clean. So far this morning I've hung up a load of laundry that I had to rewash in the back bedroom. I didn't feel like going outside since there is a bit of a chill in the air.

Wednesday when hubby got paid he got $45 and I got $45 I still have mine. He used his to buy a few things we need for the house, very few and he should have more money left than he does but of course he bought a couple things that he wanted that were not in the budget at all. Now I have to get gas in the car and the rest of what we need out of my $45. It's not going to last until he gets paid again. I'm hoping one day he'll understand that the bills are more than we're making at the moment. The holidays reduce his hours and this part still hasn't sunk into him.

Sadly enough at this point I'm just hoping my tax returns are enough to last a couple months. He won't have a paycheck through the summer. They draw unemployment and that won't be a whole lot. My main source of ad revenue is at just over $74 for the month so far. That's a good thing but it's not enough and I didn't have much in upfront payments. I'll figure out the girls Christmas though.

I've decided that from now on my Swagbucks are going for $5 Amazon gift cards. As long as I'm careful and leave them there I can probably get enough of them to fund next years Christmas and birthdays. That doesn't do much good this year but I can also get a few things we need if I'm careful with them during the year. I have to buy cat food Monday, then I'll have to buy another bag in two weeks. Two cats outside need twice the food as when they were inside. We have a Opossum eating the cat food.

Looks like what I thought was the simple task of getting Theresa's father to put together the car seat is yet another task I have to do. I wonder now just how many times he's done this in the last four years. Oh well, I'll eventually do it. On the bright side 33 gallons of tea is only $2.00 plus the sugar if we switch brands. Back to work I have two more blogs to update today and I actually intend to do it this time.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Gotta Love the Kids Shows

OK so kids shows are great when you want them to learn something or just keep them occupied while you take care of daily task. That I'll admit but there comes a point when they can get to be a bit annoying. How many times have you found yourself watching the same cartoon a hundred times over just because your child is being good? Too many to count unless like my friend Annie you have gotten rid of the television and found the more peaceful side of life.

I folded one load of laundry and washed two today. I hung one outside to dry and just brought it in a little while ago. I have yet to fold it and put it away, I still don't feel well. The other load is in the back bedroom waiting to dry. I'll have a load of Theresa's cloth training pants to wash in the tomorrow night. I'll actually have all of them in the wash at once so she'll be in a pull-up for a little while. I plan to buy her some more plastic pants and cloth training pants as soon as I get enough Amazon gift cards. That way I can have enough to keep her in them most of the week, they help with getting her to sit on the potty and I don't forget as much as when she's in a disposable pull-up. The dirty ones soak in a five gallon bucket until I dump them into the washing machine and spin out the water. What? I rinse them before I soak them, then I spin them out and let them soak in the washing machine before washing them in hot water.

Thursday is thanksgiving so she may or may not be in Marianna. Her grandparents were taking her father out to eat but now they're going to spend the holiday with family. Someone else is cooking so they're going out there. That's a bit of a long way and will leave me without a way to go since I have no brakes on my truck and hubby wants to leave when he gets ready. Although I'm a bit confused since he plans to leave his car at his father's house. I took a drive down there with them once, I'll never do it again. I can not stomach listening to instrumentals for so many miles again.

Well, today was rather uneventful except for learning that I didn't put a high enough soap concentration in my laundry soap when I made it. I used one bar instead of two, that would explain why I've had to use two to three cups to get the wash clean. Well, it's time to work now so I'll call it a day.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Thanksgiving Week

I was reading this post about Thanksgiving this morning and I started thinking. The problem in the post is a bit different from mine though. I rarely get to spend Thanksgiving with my oldest daughter although the last few years have been spent with the youngest. No one has celebrated with traditional Thanksgivings in a while here. This year my husband and youngest daughter are going out to eat with his parents. I will be staying home and enjoying time alone.

Why? Well, after five years of telling him that I don't like to go out to eat I'm a little irritated. It never occurred to him to tell them I prefer home cooked meals especially on holidays. Of course they'd never think of actually taking the time to cook something; it's much easier to spend money than to put thought into something for them it seems.

The highlight of my day is that an article about Christmas Gifts made it to Helium's homepage today. It's my best holiday article as far as performance goes so far.

Watching $40 a Day is kind of interesting at the moment. I think I'd have to aim for $10 a day or less if I were out traveling around. Well, I have two more blogs left to update today and I still haven't finished the reviews I was working on to get a bit of extra money so I'm calling it a day now.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Finally!

Finally Theresa has decided she's happy to eat what is put in front of her. Lately she has been wanting to eat nothing but sweets and bread. It's usually when we don't have either of those things on hand. This morning I made her an egg and some crackers. She finished her plate! I was so happy and a bit surprised that I got so distracted I didn't even notice that she'd eaten the entire plate.



I went to check the on demand listings and she said "I want watch Scooby Doo" so I let her watch one episode. I've got to find her some more episodes online to watch. The same 6 or 7 episodes have been on demand for what seems like forever now. At the moment since she's been so good she's watching an episode of "Bobby's World" since she's never really seen the show. I'm thinking of getting her a few of the movies since she picks them out using the boxes.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Thank heavens it's Friday

Well, it's Friday and I'm incredibly thankful! At least that the week is ending and we don't have to worry with transportation issues until Monday. This morning hubby will be home in time to transfer the car seat to his car so that Theresa and I can take it to therapy this morning, we'll be back in plenty of time to stop and get cat food for those two pesky critters. $1 will get a small box to last until Wednesday when he gets paid.

Out of his paycheck we have to get a few things taken care of. The first is a money order for $55 so that his child support is paid for one week. Then I have to add arrears to the $610 so that I keep up with it. I have no idea how much my back brakes are going to be I just know I can't get them for a while. This means that Monday's my husband has to drop us off at therapy and pick up up. He may have to start going with us the rest of the week except for Fridays.

I was enjoying reading Wife No. 19 at my leisure as I worked, now I'll be reading one or two pages a day and moving on. I'm a hundred or so pages into it and it's a rather interesting read so far. Well that's it for today. You can see for yourself if you'd like to read about this woman's rather interesting life.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

First Day with the New Speech Schedule

Today was Theresa's first day having speech at 1:30 in the afternoon instead of 10 in the morning. She handled the change fairly well. We focused on potty training this morning, it didn't go as well as I would have liked but it went OK. She can't tell you she has to go, her communication isn't that advanced yet. The change to the schedule means that someone is now home at all times!! There isn't any need to worry about anything at all.

I didn't get much work done with the change today but I did get the laundry folded and Theresa had a hot lunch. When we got home I managed to wash a load of clothes and hang them in the spare bedroom. I saw a tiny washing machine the other day it was cute but wouldn't work for my purposes unless in an emergency.

I'm looking at the mess Theresa made in the floor as I worked today. I have to pick it all up before the vacuum can see it to keep from tearing it up. Theresa will be taking some chips and Scooby snacks to school with her in the morning.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Sunday at Home

Theresa and I spend the day at home while her father went to the store. Tomorrow Theresa and I will stop after therapy to pick up enough groceries to get through the week. Her dad used most of his gas to find something that I had asked for. I should have told him that it'd be fine if he couldn't find it. It's that little things like that which make it easy to reconsider divorcing him. He loves me so maybe we'll try again.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Nice Maybe too nice??

Well in the last week my husband for the moment has been rather nice maybe a bit too nice. He seems to be taking everything in stride and is being more considerate than before I ever told him I wanted a divorce. Sadly enough it's making me wonder if I should continue searching for the format of the divorce papers so we only have to pay the filing fees or call the whole thing off.

I have yet to make my decision but whatever it is I"m not telling him or he'll start acting like he was when I asked for the divorce. I think I'll just wait it out so that I can see what's going on here. I'm tired so maybe that's affecting my thinking process.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Not as Long of a Day as I thought it would be

Today wasn't as long as I thought it would be. Originally we were to be gone from noon until about 5:30 today. Occupational Therapy was from 12:30 to 1:14pm as planned, then we had speech from 1:00 to 1:30. While the little one was in speech I ran across to the nearest Winn Dixie to grab her a bag of pretzels and get myself a coke and a couple of candy bars since there was an hour between the speech and final appointment.

This time I even remembered to get cash back so that I could get her complete powder. The bottle will last a month. Theresa had a good speech session and was happy to play for the hour between sessions. Then Sara came out looking not so well and told me she'd hold out as long as she could. Well, she took Theresa to the potty and a few minutes later Theresa and Kara were coming out. Sara got sick and had to go home.

We'll just have an extra ABA session one week to make up for this one. Theresa's appointments are rescheduled if the therapist is sick, all but speech because she's seen five days a week and her insurance only pays for one session a day.

Tomorrow we only have a half hour of speech then we can begin the weekend.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Thinking about the Decision I've made

As you know I recently decided to get a divorce which do to finances will be a little while in getting filed and finalized. The decision may have shocked some of those around me but it was anything but a surprise to me. I’m still thinking about everything that led up to this decision and I know that it’s the right one.



The reasons I made the decision and the reasons that he thinks I made the decision are completely different. I feel guilty to an extent wondering if maybe I shouldn’t give it one last chance for our daughter’s sake but truth be known I didn’t actually want to marry him. I just had this nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that I should.



I’m not sure what took so long to get to the point of actually calmly and rationally asking for the divorce. There have been a few arguments over the years that ended with me yelling while throwing him and his things out the door. Those fights usually ended with him coming back and us agreeing to give it one more try. Each time the feelings faded a bit more.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

taking everything too well

Well, my soon to be ex-husband is taking things rather well. Apparently he's taking it too well he just went for a drive. He's never done that before and he's talking about stopping his direct deposit. That'll make it take a heck of a lot longer to pay off the debt at the bank.

I'll be single again so maybe the name of this blog no longer applies and I should begin a new one. Well, after all is said and done maybe I'll start a new one.

He says he's moving out this weekend whether he can afford to or not. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, he has no where to go and keep his job really. I did not force him to move out. I am being civil, I just don't love him any more.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Taking things a bit too well?

Well, I finally made it clear what I wanted without arguing, yelling or throwing anything. It was the hardest thing I've done in a while. Amazingly he's taking it rather well, or maybe he's in shock. He looked as if I'd hit him dead in the gut as he sat with a blank look while I rushed to get everything out before I lost the ability or the nerve.

We are getting along fine now. He even told me it's not my fault. Maybe I wouldn't feel guilty if he didn't love me but I know that he does. He loves me more than anything or anyone with the exception of his children. That makes it all the more difficult as I watch him trying to let go of us without showing how much it has to be hurting him.

I feel like a mega bitch and for once it's not a title I wear proudly.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Good morning everyone

good morning everyone. after a lot of soul searching it's very clear what I'm going to be doing. I just have to wait about six months to do it. I have really come a long way. I just have to rest up and bide my time then it's all over and I'm a free woman! I love it.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Sick Baby

Theresa is sick today. Poor thing must have been exhausted too because she's actually asleep right now. There wasn't any arguing about napping either. She was supposed to go to the National Peanut Festival for the first time ever tomorrow. It's special citizens day and with Autism she qualifies.

The weather forecast calls for a chance of rain. That means that if it's raining when it's time to go in the morning she doesn't get to. She's been sick today but she's sleeping good now. Maybe it's from being so tired. I'm sick but I think exhaustion caused it.

OK I don't feel so good so I'm going to see if I can get a little bit of work done. Only thirty more minutes before I can take a nap.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Single Mom Again

Well, marriage number three is over. I’m on the way to being a single mom once again. This time to an Autistic toddler that needs extensive therapy and constant supervision. To think I was in such a good mood yesterday. The day was going great then something changed and I got tired of always having my plans ruined.

The last few years have been difficult somehow we always managed to make it through. You’d think that surviving an Autism diagnosis for your child, two years of unemployment and various ups and downs as income decreased and bills increased would make you stronger. When you think that things can’t get any worse they do.

Even the best of intentions can cause pain when things are done without paying attention to what’s going on. Sometimes the things that you consider to be helpful are the most harmful when you haven’t been listening. The worse part is that it all could have been avoided with a little attention to detail. I know I’m self absorbed but I do pay attention to what other people say. I don’t require a lot of attention but I do require you to listen to important matters such as how we keep a roof over our heads and food on our table.

Little things can upset the budget and throw you out of wack when it comes to having a budget so tight you’re lucky to have money left half way through the month. I have enough to occupy my time without worrying that the lights will be cut off because of stupidity.

Once again this is going to be continued later because it’s getting way too long. That and I’m tired of listening to my own thoughts run around in my head. Guess, I need a new blog since the name here doesn't really fit anymore.

Friday, October 29, 2010

To Be Continued

I have been up since just before six this morning. Right now I have three windows open to write in and one open to blog in. I was reading an article on how to write multiple articles in a short amount of time and that was one of the tips mentioned. I’ve always managed to write numerous articles when I had no choice but to write multiple articles at one time that was a foreign matter all together. Anyway I decided to give it a try. 


Well, I got a blog post written at Sidetick about working and wanting to work than ever lately. I was reading an article by Lyn Lomasi on writing multiple articles in a short time span and thought I’d try some of the things she suggested. So far the tips are working well enough I’ll be referring back to that specific article repeatedly. Right now I’m wishing that I had more than one computer to work on because my screen isn’t big enough and my memory won’ t allow me to use more than four windows at once without locking up my computer.



I did the blog post until I was finished because I was actually into it. Now I’m working on this which will be posted on my blog when I’m done while I write a review of a website and take notes on an article that I outlined. So far this is a rather productive morning. I updated my checkbook in the middle of all this and paid hubby’s phone bill so his phone wouldn’t shut off! I even figured out that he can get a hair cut today. Now to figure out the child support he owes.



I have a feeling that I’m not going to like the answer since we’ve barely been covering the bills the last few months. The good news is that it can be caught up, his ex-wife is rather understanding about it because she knows that she’ll get it eventually. I think it’ll be the 1st before we can even pay a week, I know it’ll be the first before I can replace the bottle of Complete Formula that Theresa needs. It’s only $35 and I don’t have it because we had extra bills last month. I have to figure out how to come up with it and at least a 4oz bottle of fish oil for her.



Theresa diet is getting cheaper but I need to make an appointment to go over her diet again. Lately she’s been getting things she’s not supposed to have without behavioral issues (at least not extreme issues) so I’m wondering if her gut is healing or if she’s just on so many supplements that it’s not affecting her as much.



Since it’s Halloween I decided to let her have whatever she wants this weekend. We’ll see how it goes.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Rainy and dreary

It's rainy and dreary out. My alarm didn't go off this morning. I checked to see why and somehow I'd managed to set it for tonight. Good thing I don't work the night shift anymore or I wouldn't have woken up in time to realize that it hadn't gone off.

Theresa is being rather good this morning even though I bought her the wrong milk. Oh well, it's all I have so she used it this morning. She got her B-12 shot yesterday. Last night I finally realized why that needle never looked right, it should be much smaller and not long enough to go into the muscle. Of course for the pharmacy to give me the right needle I'd have to be somewhere that had progressed into the time we're in now.

I'm really hoping that it doesn't rain the day of the special citizens day at the fair. If the weather is bad she won't get to go. We have to be at the gate at 8:15 that morning. I hope I don't oversleep that morning or I'll have a mad toddler on my hands. I still don't know what I'm going to do about lunch that they because she can't have what they're going to serve. I have to send her food to school because she can't have so many things.

I'm going to enjoy going to therapy in the rain, the buildings are always colder when it rains and these people drive like maniacs. Oh well, back to work now so I can earn money to go buy Theresa the ice cream she's asking herself for. She's entirely too social now, she keeps walking up to strange boys and kissing them.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Way too early in the morning

It's way too early in the morning. It's barely 6 a.m. and I've been up for an hour already. It's hot as it can be in here, my thermostat says that it's 75 degrees. I'm wondering what happened to those nights bordering on cold and when they're coming back. I'm really glad I'm not to the West or North there's a horrible looking storm moving through and it's not done moving across country.

Theresa was up a minute ago I don't hear her now so I guess she decided to roll over and put the covers over her head. I had to give her the B-12 shot yesterday. Kelly had to go get her youngest and she wasn't back by the time we finished therapy. So Kara and Jennifer held Theresa so she didn't knock the needle out and I gave her the shot in her leg. I did good considering I was as nervous as could be after the last incident with the needle when she knocked it out and got cut with it. The shot is temporary though, over the Thanksgiving holidays I'm going to have to get the nasal spray because I won't have anyone to hold her down so she can get her shot.

The nasal spray doesn't get the same results as the shot but I won't have to listen to horror stories. Share my pain, mother is a nurse. Last night she came to check on hubby and once again she's concerned about Theresa's medications and supplements. Well it seems when she first started nursing that she had a patient that had been stuck so much she had an infection. She drew back the plunger on the needle to see if blood came back so she'd know if she hit a vain and she got puss. Gross! If that wasn't enough she reminded me that there are nerve endings in the leg, well the whole body has nerve endings. The point being if I were to miss and hit a nerve Theresa could become paralyzed.

The B-12 shots are temporary to bring up her language and help with her memory. The alternatives don't work as well it has something to do with them being absorbed that it's too early in the day for me to remember now. I did look at the alternatives before I decided to put her on the shot.

I have to remember to get her lab results today, I forgot yesterday. I was so caught up in giving her the shot that I didn't even think about the results of the labs when Kelly stopped to ask if I needed her for the shot. I hope she's there today, I think she's going to be at the doctor's office today but I'm not sure.

OK enough rambling I have some work to do before we go to therapy today. On the way home I have to stop at the clinic and the grocery store to pick up something for us to eat for the rest of the week. Hubby is going back on his diet, I'll be doing all the shopping for him now. He's not going to be happy, Theresa's diet would eliminate a large part of his problem if he'd eat it without complaining which he won't. Well, I'll be back soon.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Just another weekend

It's just another weekend here and it's almost over. I sometimes which that we had three and four day weekends more often. I get so tired during the week taking Theresa to therapy, working around therapy and trying to work in enough time with her so she doesn't end up pulling at me to get my attention in the middle of work. She's so smart that it's scary.

I did manage to write one new article and get some editing done. Budgets are much fun, I think I figured out how many plastic training pants Theresa needs. Two packs should take care of it, then I have to buy one more pack of plastic pants and a pack of training pants and she'll have enough to take care of two to three days.

Friday I realized that one of her therapist can't tell the difference between a question and a statement when she's in a hurry. It's also kind of annoying when you make a statement and someone answers a question. It's almost the holiday season so I'll be putting up with that a lot. In-laws make the best annoyances when they like to make decisions they have no business making.

OK off to edit the second article of the weekend and try to write one more. I'll edit it tomorrow. I'm going to work on my resume tomorrow too. Hopefully I can find the template since I can't remember how to put one together. I'm hoping next weekend will give us an opportunity to do something fun. The 3rd we go to the fair so that Theresa gets to experience it for the first time.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Long Week

It's been a bit of a long week here with everyone getting back into their routines. Theresa has had the easiest time since she thrives on routines. We managed to get to therapy on time without incident this week; we even managed to go to a parent teacher conference. Theresa answered questions using pictures and got them all correct. She refused to talk because they were trying to show me how well she does with them.

Today we have to stop at the pharmacy and pick up one of her prescriptions when we get out of therapy. She'll hopefully get a B-12 shot today. She's not happy getting them but the results are great. I feel guilty about her getting stuck so often but she's making great progress and I have to make sure all of her levels are monitored to ensure she's not having any negative effects.

The food diary I started for her needs some serious work. I keep forgetting to fill it in. I guess I'm just going to have to make a sign for the "helpful" grandparents informing them that the "helpful grand-parenting" isn't appreciated; especially when they're refusing to respect my beliefs the way they usually do.

OK it's time to go to therapy so I'll be going for now. The weekend is here!! I get to work through it once again but that's OK too.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Just a Boring Sunday

Once again I didn't manage to leave the house today which is kind of relaxing for me. I started an article, updated my working blog and decided to start two more. Theresa was a little angel today, she even took a nap while I listened to music and online shows as I wrote. I also did a few Internet searches for odds and ends that I didn't find.

Most of the day was spent without heat or air conditioning turned on since the day was kind of comfortable for the most part. I actually like it when I can open the windows and have fresh air I'm just not that big on going out side anymore. I'm not sure I think Dove season is the biggest pain in the butt ever; I really prefer to sit outside and inside for that matter without hearing gun shots.

I've got too many ideas going around in my head. There are a million things I want like a new house, it doesn't have to be big it just has to be in one piece. I want a fenced in yard (front and back) except for the driveway into the garage. I don't particularly want to pay a mortgage, home owners insurance and my own repair bills but I'd love to have a small plot that didn't take that long to take care of. I need the fence so that Theresa can play outside without having to chase her every four seconds.

OK now it's time to go finish my day. I got a few hours and in about two I'm going to go soak in a nice hot bubble bath to relax and have uninterrupted me time. IF it's interrupted for any reason other than my child needs something I'll be hiring armed guards for the next time.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Managed not to leave the house for once

It's Saturday which for most people means resting but for me it usually means catching up with errands and housekeeping. Today I managed not to leave the house at all! That's a step up, the only thing that I did today was take the tiny load of laundry drying in the spare bedroom down and finish an article I started yesterday.

I watched some old videos online and played mindless games such as Mafia Wars. I even took a nap today. I'm beginning to wonder why I have a t.v. It takes forever to find something I actually want to watch and when I do it's a rerun of something I've seen a thousand times. I can go online and find a specific episode of whatever I want to watch. I wouldn't mind having a few of the shows on DVD or whatever is replacing them or will replace that in about two years.

Theresa was fairly good today, she even waited until I left the room to take the bread from her daddy. They both know she's not supposed to have it but it's their little secret, or so they think. Well, I'm still tired the nap I took didn't last nearly long enough so now I'm calling it a night. Well, after I play a little Mafia Wars.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Almost a normal Friday

Today was almost a normal Friday. We had ABA after all. Theresa got her B-12 shot while we were there. Poor thing is too smart. When they went into the office with the couch to give her the shot she started looking around and got rather irritated. Luckily this did not have a negative impact on her session.

Theresa was rather good today, we managed to get all of her supplements in her (once I got all of them). This morning she was without three in the morning she'll only miss one. Tonight she got all of them. A lack of a nap today made it easier than usual to get them into her.

I'd love to know who the idiot that came up with the sizes for children's clothing is. I put there pairs of pants on Theresa before I found one that fit. The shirt I put on her was a 5T, it fit perfectly and was so cute with the different colored stripes. I tried to put the matching green pants on her but the 5T was a little too long and way to big in the waste. Next came the 2T pants that were about an inch too short. Last were the 24 month pants that fit just right. Now who's the donkey that came up with this measuring system?

She's been rather talkative today and was still trying to force me into singing kids's songs before she got too tired. Well, today was rather uneventful so I'm going to play a mindless game, do some searches and work on my next article.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Thursday again??

Hard to believe that it's Thursday again. My days run together because of all the appointments that we have each week. We didn't have any until today and hubby took Theresa. When he got home I had to call about the rescheduling of next week that they did. They were going to move her to 11a.m. which would have ended the appointment at 11:45 meaning that I would have to find something to do with her until her 1:30 speech or bring her all the way home to turn around and leave again. Getting out at 11:45 would put us home at 12:15 and we'd have to leave again at 1:00 to avoid being late. That's two trips across town which I can't afford. Well, they couldn't find another day that would work so it was changed back to the 12:30 so it'll let out at 1:15. That leaves me fifteen minutes to get her to her next appointment.

Tomorrow we only have ABA which starts at 10am and ends at 11:45 so the therapist can organize her data. Last week I had to go twice in the morning for speech and then back in the afternoon. I'm wondering if the people that rearrange appointments ever think of the finances of those that they're changing appointments for.

I'm beginning to hate children's songs. I'm glad that Theresa is learning the words to the songs but I do wish she didn't like them so much. She's been singing "Row Row Row your boat" repeatedly. At the moment I'd be eating a bowl of chili with half done beans because Hubby refused to start them before he put everything else in. I think I'm going to pour it in the crock pot so it'll be done in the morning. I'm starving so I'll eat it anyway. Well, it's time to go search for jobs and try to start an article again.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Interesting Day

Well, the morning started without turning on my computer but I did turn on the coffee pot. The city was doing upgrades and the power outages for 15 streets were supposed to begin at 8a.m. I got up before 6 this morning and turned the coffee pot on. I even ran my bath water so I'd be able to get into the tub before they turned the power off. We made two pitchers of tea last night to prepare since there was wouldn't be anything to drink if we didn't.

Well, I turned my surge protectors off so that there wasn't any power to the items plugged into them, turned the air conditioning off and opened a few windows to prepare. I drank most of my pot of coffee and took my bath. I left the water that I had ran in the tub. The reason? I have a well so without power I'm without water to do things like flush the toilet. I ran some water in two of my sinks so I could wash my hands and made sure that my teeth were brushed.

Well, I sat patiently waiting for the power to go off. At about 8 this morning my power went off for all of five minutes. Oh well, I got a lot of writing done before I tried to go to work and this was one of the most relaxing days I've had in a while. I finally turned the television on for the baby, my computer on for me and watched as the little one decided to go in the other room to pick out her own cartoons. Oh well, she's three and she likes cartoons that teach.

What I did not do was let the water out of the tub, it still got used to flush the toilet until just a few minutes ago. There was still enough to flush it a few more times when I let it out of the tub but I don't think I can tote it in the middle of the night to keep the bucket full that I had to sit in the other tub. You see through some joke of the universe between the two bathrooms in the house I have one that's fully functional. Nice huh? One day I'll get around to fixing the cracked bathtub so that it supports people and replacing the commode that doesn't work.....just as soon as I can afford an actual plumber because I can't life a toilet or bathtub.

Well, we spent the morning with power although the air stayed off most of the day until it reached almost 90 degrees in the house. About mid morning there was a nice surprise the cable went out which means I lost my Internet. So we tried to find something to do. Theresa was hyper and wore herself out so I put her down for a nap. I rolled some pennies while hubby played a video game. Then I took a nap. Well, that's about as boring as the day gets but it was rather restful. Goodnight all.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Sleepy Tuesday?

It's Tuesday and it's been a sleepy day. Theresa is out of school this week so I didn't have to get up early yesterday and won't have to in the morning. She doesn't have therapy until Thursday afternoon. She has occupational therapy at 12:30 that afternoon so we should be home around 2 in the afternoon. Friday we have applied behavioral analysis at 10am. We should be home from that about 12:30, then we have the weekend to rest. I'm really confused as to why there isn't any school next Wednesday.

Today I haven't felt like doing much of anything. Theresa began the day informing me that she wasn't going to eat her grits. She started in with "I want 'Donalds" as she calls McDonalds because she can't say it. When I informed her I wasn't going she put in for "cookies." Well, I told her we didn't have any and she started pulling out the stuff to bake them with. So I baked a few dozen peanut butter cookies for her from scratch without real butter, real milk or eggs. I'm proud of me.

We've spent most of the day just sitting around. Theresa talked and watched cartoons, hubby did dishes, I did a small load of laundry to hang in the back because I didn't feel like going outside and wasn't sure about the weather. Hubby went through a couple of boxes of my oldest daughter's clothes that she'd outgrown to get out some that fit Theresa now. Most of them still have the tags on them. I'm resisting the urge to make a display out of them for the most annoying person I know that keeps trying to buy the child clothes but doesn't have any better taste than to wear a moo-moo to renew her vows in.

I just put on some black-eyed peas to go with the leftover chicken, lima beans and green beans that will making up supper tonight. I figured out that Theresa just ran out of about $80 worth of supplements I can't replace for a few days and missed her shot last night. I don't feel like going anywhere and I don't have the strength to argue to get it in her so she's just going to have to get it later. OK time to go pretend to do some more work later.

Monday, October 11, 2010

A little tumble

Today started fine, all I had to do was stay home and rest. I had to give Theresa her B-12 shot, well she won't be getting her shot today. I'm to stiff and sore to give it to her. The morning was fine I did a load of laundry and hung it out to dry, did some of the dishes and got all of Theresa's morning supplements fixed and in her without too much of a fight.

Theresa watched t.v. with her daddy while I did all this, then she came in the living room to watch Scooby Doo movies. She was being so good. I decided to go check the mail and that's when my day got kind of bad. I'm not even sure how it happened. I was getting ready to go down the front steps and fell out into the yard face first. I landed kind of roughly and had to call for my darling hubby. Of course when he heard his name he just yelled "what"?, Theresa was already looking out the door and said "come here". He had to come help me off the ground. So now I have a bruise on one leg, a skinned knee and a couple of sore toes.

I think my couch is the safest place for me to be the rest of the week. Well, until Thursday we have therapy that afternoon and the next morning. That is if I don't give into the urge to show my dear hubby just how bad he's annoying me at this moment.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Peaceful Sunday

Today was rather peaceful. I wrote six articles made the Helium homepage with an article about Manatees which makes for a rather productive day. I even went to the store to get a few things to last up until Friday and a couple that will last until the end of the month.

I made a large batch of laundry detergent today. The five gallon bucket that I made is setting now and should last until this time next month at least. I still have everything to make the next batch except for the soap that I prefer to use. A bar of Colgate is 55 cents, or I can get a couple bars of Zote to use. Of course they say you can use bath soap. The batch today had half a bar of Zote, 3/4 a bar of Colgate and a couple scraps of irish spring. I love the way Irish Spring smells.

While I was out I saw the finger paints I want to get Theresa for Christmas because she loves to paint. I also saw a craft desk with crayons, paints, sponges and paper. She'll adore it. I bought a pack of pull ups with 58 in it for $17.97, I'm not sure but I think that I could have bought two packs cheaper. I have noticed these work better and fit better than other brands so the dollar is one I'll eat.

All and all this was a peaceful Sunday. I even wasted a little time playing games.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

The kid is hyper today

Theresa was fine this morning as I fixed her breakfast and did two loads of laundry. I even managed to write a total of thirteen articles today while she watched cartoons. She loves it when she gets to watch her cartoons back to back and she actually tries to talk about them. She was a bit hyper today because of foods she's not supposed to have that she got too much of but that would be my fault because I haven't been to the grocery store.

I was so tired when she took her nap I took one or tried to it lasted less than an hour. We watched "Sixteen Candles" together when she got up from her nap. She was really into slapping when she got up. She thinks it's funny when you say "ouch" so I think I really have to stop doing that but it's kind of difficult when she hits you directly in the eye.

I'm proud that she actually got all of her supplements today. Well she got all of the ones that she has. She's out of zinc and fish oil. I don't have the empty fish oil bottle to remind me to order it so I forget a lot. I'm order the larger bottle next time so it actually last her all month and maybe a little into the next month. The 4oz bottle has 24 - 1tsp servings, she's on 3/4th tsp once a day so it last a little bit longer than 24 days but not much. Or maybe I'm just not that good at measuring. I forgot to get the right needle to give her shot with so she's stuck with the one I have until I can go get the 3ml. Good thing she doesn't need the shot until Monday.

There is a store less than 10 minutes from me and I pass right by it every time because I forget that it's there. I have to make some more laundry detergent soon, I may just do some laundry in the sink since I wear the same few shirts over and over. It doesn't take as long to wash one item and I won't have a lot to put away. I have to get Theresa more training pants and the plastic covers. She has training pants without the covers and I think that she may have two days of cloth training pants. Who's bright idea was it to sell them in such small packages at such an outrageous price?

Well, I wanted to get a little bit more work in so I'm going to stop rambling now.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Theresa's schedule change

This morning we had speech as usual and of course Theresa did great. After speech we usually have ABA but her therapist wasn't there today. Instead of going directly to ABA we went to the doctor's office. Theresa needed a B-12 shot and she's gotten to where she fights so much when I try to give them to her that I was ready to give up. The last one was given at the clinic where she gets therapy to make sure she got it; today the lady that gave it to her was on vacation so to the doctor's office we went.

Theresa doesn't like the doctor's office especially when she's already seen the needle since I took one with me. My sweet little girl had a panic tantrum. She actually opened the door and went outside to escape. She tried about three times to actually leave the office without me to keep from getting the shot. When we went into the room to wait for the nurse to draw up the shot she went to fussing. She knows what needles are and she fought the entire time I was trying to expose her little leg for the nurse to stick her.

Funny thing is that she fought the entire time I tried to get a hold of her hands and lay her down for the shot but she never cried. Actually as soon as I got her in position the nurse was done with the shot. Theresa didn't even cry afterward. I asked how she managed that and she told me that she changed the needle. Instead of using the 1ml needle the pharmacy gave me she used a 3ml so it took less time to get the B-12 into Theresa.

Well, we came home and Theresa ate an egg with barbecue sauce on it. Then she cleaned up after herself by throwing my bowl in the garbage instead of putting it in the sink like she usually does. Once that was all done we went back to the clinic to have her ABA session with Danielle. She's never had therapy with Danielle but she knows who she is. Theresa did great she didn't try to swat at her when she made her follow through with a task or when she kept on until Theresa said the word or phrase that they were trying to get her to say.

Theresa also got to stay up an hour past her bedtime putting pennies in a piggy bank because she told me "I want help." It's so hard to believe that a year ago she was virtually mute. I'm so proud of her that I'll never be able to make it clear enough.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Next week is going to be all screwy

The kids are out of school next week and Theresa only has two therapy appointment. Thursday she has OT from 12:30 to 1:15 and Friday she has ABA from 10am until noon unless they cancel it. This should be fun trying to get her through the week without her regular schedule to keep her calm. Well, I won't need as much gas to get her to those two as I would to get her to all five.

I cancelled my appointment with the eye doctor because my eye feels fine. Now I have a freaking tooth that's bothering me. I really don't want to go to the dentist. I hate going to the dentist, I do want an electric toothbrush with rotating bristles. No idea where that came from.

I was reading about Google TV earlier. Really wondering why if you've got the Internet on the Television and you can watch about a million shows online would you need cable too? Oh well, I don't really see buying a new television set just to have Internet in it.

OK now I have no idea what I'm thinking or talking about anymore. I think I need a new blog just to rant, some woman was talking to me while I was trying to listen to Theresa in therapy today.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Increasing Supplements Again

Theresa had preschool this morning and speech this afternoon. She also got her B-12 shot while we were at the clinic. Kelly volunteered to give it to her today since I'm having trouble getting it lately, Friday I'll take her by the pediatricians office to get it done. She's making great progress so we're not quite ready to stop it yet. I may switch her to the nasal spray when the prescription is empty though. It's $32 and it doesn't work as well as the shot but it does have benefits. The biggest benefit is that she can't cause herself an injury with the nasal spray. I'm not sure if her insurance will cover it or not but it's worth it.

We added two new supplements today to help her progress to the next level. That makes a total of two prescriptions and eleven over the counter supplements for a total thirteen. I spent two hours figuring the costs of all of them, the total and the average that they cost each month. The only thing I figured out is that the supplements are over $200 now. I also spent an hour trying to figure out my new schedule. What I figured out is that I have to do even more work while I watch the therapy sessions.

Friday she'll have ABA in the afternoon with Danielle because Sara isn't going to be there at all. So instead of cancelling they moved it to keep her from missing it. I asked them to see if they could rearrange her speech that day so that the appointments would still be together. If they can't we get to go to speech from 9:30 to 10 and then go to ABA from 1:30 to 3:30 that afternoon. It's going to be interesting to see if Theresa actually cooperates for that schedule change. She was really mad last week when she missed her therapy.

We have occupational therapy tomorrow and I still can't find her scissors. I have no idea where they went but the $15 or so I paid for them is screaming at me to find them as soon as possible.

I'm working on an article about her progress but so far it's going slowly because I'm having trouble finding the information about the supplements she's on to put in it. Theresa got her little hands on the notes that I made while I was talking to Kelly and the pediatrician about the reasons for each. She even took the paper with the risks and benefits.

The 19th of this month we go back to see Dr. Cotter for a re-evaluation of her diagnosis. It's really hard to believe that it's been a year. The 3rd of November I'm taking her to meet her preschool class at the peanut festival for special citizens day. She's never been so this should be rather interesting.

A year ago I wouldn't have even tried to take her to the peanut festival. Of course a year ago she didn't do anything but spin, line things up and echo commercials. It's amazing how much difference a year can make, she even notices that there are people around her now. Well, it's almost time to call it a night.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

This family is getting expensive

Well, tomorrow Theresa gets her B-12 shot. I had a talk with the Kelly today about the fact that she's getting increasingly violent trying not to get the shot and she told me we could cut back to once a week with it since I don't want her off of it yet. She's making fast progress with it. Kelly told me there is a nasal spray that doesn't work as well and is a lot more expensive. I'll have to wait a bit to change her over. Tomorrow we add two new supplements to help her progress; approximately $13. I still haven't gotten the $8 bottle of zinc or the $38 bottle of fish oil replaced. Nice timing huh?

Hubby's blood pressure was sky high last night. I've got to get his stubborn ass back to the doctor but it's a waste of money when he won't do what he's supposed to. He quit drinking so his medicine is more effective when he takes it correctly. I was looking for something on his counter last night and found a prescription from 2007 that's still half full.

I have an appointment to follow up on my eye the 12th at 7:40 in the morning. The doctor told me I could cancel it if my eye felt back to normal. So far it's not quite there, my vision is blurry I"m hoping it's just my bad vision and the fact that I'm wearing the wrong prescription. I think I'll get myself new glasses and brakes for my birthday. I've needed brakes on my truck for a while but my darling hubby doesn't know any better when it comes to being able to stop. He thinks it's supposed to take forever.

I did a load of towels today when we got back from morning therapy. I hand wash the shirt I want to wear tomorrow and a couple of Theresa's night gowns because she needs them and there isn't enough laundry to justify doing another load. I still need to buy her some more plastic pants to cover her training pants and keep her from getting accidents on the floor. Somehow I have ten pair with plastic pants. Why don't they just sell them together? The stupid packs aren't even when you buy them separately.

I can make my dish detergent or use a few slivers of Zote. I like the Zote but it's a delicate wash and to use it for stain removal you have to soften the bar and let it sit on the stain. That's a pain in the butt, the Colgate soap makes me nauseas but you can rub it directly on the stain before you put it in the wash. I can't find Fels Napa or Washing Soda here. The PH increaser is rather expensive and oxi-clean causes foaming.

Now I'm rambling and can't remember what I was saying. I just know that I'm taking back over the baby's shopping. Of course today she kept insisting on a cookie but we didn't have any. She didn't actually want a cookie, she calls rice cakes cookies. Theresa actually likes plain rice cakes, she'll be a lot healthier than I am now in another thirty years.

Good night all.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Exhausted

Yes, I'm exhausted and it's just Monday. I have no idea why I'm so tired the only thing I did today was go follow up with the eye doctor and take Theresa to speech. I spent most of the weekend on the couch watching television because I felt nauseas from the eye drops. I actually tasted them (no I didn't drink them) and it was rather nasty. The few times I actually when to put something in my mouth after I used them whatever it was tasted awful.

I made a meatloaf that turned to mush sort of but it had a nice barbecue flavor thanks to the darkening (burning) hubby did to it. He roasted some potatoes to go with it. The meatloaf or whatever it actually turned out to be took forever. I remember hearing hubby complaining because he'd took it out to rest and it wasn't done. Well of course this irritated the daylights out of me since I hadn't asked him to butt in in the first place.

The doctor finished with me in time today so that I could call and get Theresa back into her speech appointment. That was a good thing because she was mad that she didn't get therapy on Friday. I need to get up and begin to work again. I haven't done much this month and I have the feeling that I'm going to have to play catch up. I have the feeling that I'll be spending a few weekends working all night long to make up for the time I took off and the extra bills that I ended up with this month.

Theresa brought home permission slips for the special citizens day at the fair today. I'm not sure if I should take her or not. She'd enjoy it but I don't know if she'd stay calm enough to see everything. I'll do some thinking and then decide I have until the 18th to get the papers back to school.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Restful weekend with a talkative child

Well, part of the weekend was peaceful. Thursday morning I had a rather painful injury to my eye that just got worse as I took Theresa to her appointments that just happened to be scheduled for that bright and sunny afternoon. My eye got increasingly painful so I cancelled the next days appointments went home and made hubby call to get me a doctor's appointment.

Hubby called into work so he could take me to my 9 a.m. appointment and ended up calling in for the afternoon to take care of me. We went to leave and Theresa pushed her daddy back into the house saying "Bye-bye see you later" and closed the door in his face to go out with me. She didn't protest to get in the car instead of the truck but she was confused when her daddy got into drive. As we headed out and stopped at the store so he could get me some sunglasses and have his back she looked even more confused.

Theresa was being her usual adorable self at the eye doctor, she charmed a group of older ladies in less than five minutes. I of course was filling out paper work half blind while she did this and her father pretended to watch her so well that I had to run her down after she went out the automatic doors. $50 upfront for new patients without insurance. I got my eyes numbed to check the pressure, an eye test without my glasses in the dark and waited forever for the doctor to shine a light in my eye. My cornea was scratched. I got an antibiotic and they called in a prescription that the pharmacy didn't have and I figured that since the doctor said I didn't need it I'd do without it. The end of the visit found me giving them nearly $45 more and scheduling a follow up for tomorrow.

Well, hubby took us home and went to get us lunch, took him forever and he had to go back out to get my prescription. Next time I'll call first to make sure it's there. The first time he was gone Theresa was a little angel, then she turned into a toddler. She was fairly good most of the weekend although there was a short time that she made me wonder whose bright idea toddlers were.

Theresa loves to hear people say "ouch" so she hits and says "ouch' hoping you'll echo it. It might be cute if her favorite place to hit people wasn't directly in the eye. Of course since she's tiny and cute her aim is perfect and you never suspect until she's already nailed you. It's painful enough on a good day but try it with an injury.

In spite of her hyperactivity this weekend she's been talking up a storm using complete sentences for requesting. Well, I'll take that and I'm kind of glad she can aim although I prefer she not kick me in the eye again. OK it's time to hang the laundry out. Yes I know it's the middle of the night but my dryer doesn't work and I forgot my towels were soaking I don't want them to disappear.

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