Sports Tape

I've been nursing a shin splint in my right leg the last week and a half. I've never had one before and I must say that it's a nuisance. I want to run. I can't run. It's a real bummer, let me tell you.

Just to be good, I have been riding the bike at the gym, just to keep up with some kind of cardio. I am going to have to get back into the running slowly, so I need something else to keep me from falling too far behind the level I want to be.

It's my own fault this happened. I started to run too far, too fast, in a short space of time. Most mornings I am running on snowy, icy, uneven pavement. What should I expect? In reality, I don't run fast. I should say, so what? I've decided I am going to learn my lesson. Yes, I think I will learn my lesson.

Sean and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary last week. My hubby, my medic, was kind enough to spoil me with a box of band aids, a tensor bandage, and a box of sports tape. I know. I know. It's too romantic for life. It was the best gift ever!!!! Mind you, I didn't know what to say about the band aids.....like he is anticipating I will fall and scrape my knee.

But it's amazing how great sports tape is. I think it is my new best friend. I love my sports tape. I love how sporty I feel just saying I own AND use sports tape.

....and then there were three. At least for one night.

James is winter camping. James is not a camping kinda guy. He's a stay where it's warm and play my guitar and play video games kinda guy. He's an if I have to go do something outdoorsy then I am going to whine and complain about going until the bitter end kinda guy.

I'm a get your gear together and get a good night's rest kinda mom. I'm a don't hurt yourself when we push you and your gear out of the van in the morning at the meeting place because we may not actually come to a full stop kinda mom. I'm a I am fairly certain you won't freeze to death so suck it up kinda mom.

I am also a probably would never go winter camping unless I was forced to kinda mom. Which also makes me a yes I would force my children to do things I would never do kinda mom. And an I don't care if that makes me a hypocrite kinda mom because it's my job to open you up to character building experiences.

I hope his character is built up a smidgen on this overnight winter camp.....and that he doesn't actually freeze to death.

I'm still an I will make you do things whether you like it or not and silently worry about you until you get home kinda mom.

Professional Changes and Exploration

I want to blog regularly. I really do. I'm really trying. But with no more renos and kids in mental wards and no more flooding and life going relatively smoothly, what is there to blog about????? The boys rarely say anything cute anymore. It's more on the sassy side.

It dawned on me that I may have neglected to blog about my new line of work. I've been in banking for almost 19 years and have wanted to try something different for a long time. So in December I resigned, agreeing to remain as a casual employee and started working for the school district here as a substitute educational assistant.

I don't have schooling for it, but I figured that 9 years of raising an undiagnosed autistic child and three other rambunctious boys and volunteering at schools and working with children at church gave me more practical experience than most edumacated folk. I applied last summer and got an interview in the fall. Now I am subbing and at some point I hope to get a permanent position somewhere.

It's been an interesting experience thus far. I can say that some kids break my heart. They get no support from anyone and you can almost see the writing on the wall for them if things don't change drastically. Some kids amaze me. Some teachers disappoint me and some impress me.

Quote of the week: Preschool boy - "When I grow up I want to be a human being."

We should all aspire to that.

I worked at a preschool last week for a day. I guess I made a good impression. They are filling a position there and asked if I was interested. I doubt I will take that one, but it was nice to be asked.

So we shall see where this takes me. Perhaps back to school for a special ed. program. Who knows. It's been nice to be able to pick up my own children from school and participate in their activities again. I missed that while at the bank.

The days I don't get a call in are hard. I never know what to do with myself. I am so used to being out of the house. I am sure that will resolve itself. There's lots to do around here.....just don't want to do it!!

Year of the Run - Not on the Chinese Zodiac

I don't make new year resolutions. I don't like them. I think they are an open invitation to failure. My philosophy is simple.......why do I have to set a start date on a resolution or goal? If I don't start the day I decide to follow through on something, then I doubt I will start it at all.

I already started on my goal. Running. I am not a runner. I was never particularly athletic as a child. So why now?

I'm turning 40 this year. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't do drugs. I have a thing for tattoos, but I'm not getting one. So I thought to myself, how can I celebrate this milestone and still put my body through the ringer? Running. So this past fall I started to run.

Actually it was this past spring when I started considering it. Jared was training for his kid's marathon and participating in the running club at school. I was running with him and coaching him so he wouldn't fall apart. I started thinking that this was something I could maybe do and I had friends who were regular runners. There was a support system.

This fall I started running with a group. They get up early. We run and get home before the rest of our families are up. My routine usually includes watching the majority of the group disappear in front of me, but I have some great running buddies who stay with me and we carry on.

I've set some goals for this year; the big one being running a half marathon in the fall. I know it's something I can do if I train. I'm not writing it in stone, though. If I can run a 10k this year then I am happy.

There has been a therapeutic aspect to this running business too. So far I have not experienced injury and it's probably because I don't push myself too hard.....just hard enough to go a little further from time to time. I have some control in this activity. I can choose to overdo it or not. I can choose to get up to run or not. My improvements are dependent on me. If I fail to accomplish what I am setting out to do it will be on my shoulders for the most part.

The last few years I have often felt like life was out of my control. I don't like that. It goes against my nature. I can't control the fact that Jared has an ASD and all that goes with it. I can't change it or make it better. I can't control the fact that all my boys are growing up and getting more independent and sometimes lippy. I can't control what others around me choose to do when I so often think I have good suggestions and no one cares to listen or just disregards me.

Yes, I know I have control over my attitude. I don't need that lecture from anyone.

Running has made me feel like I have control over something and I'm not inflicting my control issues over anyone but myself. It's felt good. And this year I am turning 40......can't control aging either, but I do embrace this.

So this year I run. I will even pay money to run. Here's my money. Let me inflict some pain on myself!!!!!

The Challenges in Family Picture Taking

TAKE 1

TAKE 2

TAKE 3

TAKE 4

GRACIE FIRED

Christmas 2009

We were anticipating a small family Christmas this year. Then my parents bought a house and moved out here and Diane came to spend

Christmas with all of us. So we were all together. This time in two separate houses and more than enough bathrooms available.

WE STILL MISSED YOU CHRIS, JEN, AND ETHAN!!

We opened gifts in two houses. Ate dinner at my parents. I still fulfilled my goal to wear my pajamas all day. I just didn't have to cook a turkey at the same time. Thanks, Mom.

It wasn't a total my side of the family celebration. Sean's brother Scott spent the day with us, so Sean's family did represent.

The boys were spoiled rotten by everyone

but their parents. Sean and I scaled back this year not only to save on cash, but because we found some things the boys got last year that were never touched!!!!!! We really focused on things they needed this year mingled with a fun item or two.

So there were still DSIs, and a cool

guitar pedal system that would make a 14 year old boy pee his pants, and a lefty bass guitar that left a Jared squealing like a little girl. Thank heaven for Auntie Dianes.

And at the end of the day, what kid wouldn't crash with a bag of candy in his hands.

Time for Snow

It finally snowed for real end of November/early December. I can't remember anymore. We had a cold October and a warm November. It's seemed as though the snow would never come. Probably about 2 feet of snow fell, though it was more like 2 1/2 feet in front of our drive way. We spent the Saturday shoveling not only our driveway, but the road in front of our house too. We could not get out otherwise.

By the evening we were able to get out and buy some groceries just for the fun of it and it's been fine ever since. The snow is still around, but we've hardly had any snowfall since.

We love how Gracie does her best not to actually sit on the cold ground when we tell her to sit. It's more of a squat.

Excuses and Apples

My laptop died. There you have it. Dead. Gonzo. Kaput. Bit the dust.

It was my blogging lifeline. Sixteen months after I bought it, the thing up and fails me. I just couldn't get myself blogging on our desktop computer. I don't know why. It just wasn't working for me.

Then along comes my lovely sister, Diane. She's here for Christmas all the way from Boston and brought a truck load of treats with her. She loves Apple products. I'm pretty sure she buys the latest model of anything Apple as soon as it comes out. She is also a lover of the earth, so recycling has been the theme this Christmas.

Our household has been the recipient of all things ipod and an ibook just for fun. Each of the boys claimed an ipod for their very own, thus replacing the Shuffles they currently use. I am learning how to use the ibook and now can go back to blogging.

My only obstacle seems to be actually getting this thing away from the boys. They've been playing around with Garage Band and making their own music. I'm totally on board with that, but it means I have to share and sometimes sharing means hardly using the thing yourself.

Over the next couple of days I will try to get caught up with December and post some pictures.

A New Blog

Just a note to you that I have started another blog that will be devoted to the experiences we have in this household with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

It's been a huge year for us and it is reflected in my posts. What it obvious is that Jared's challenges and triumphs and their documentation overshadow all the great things the other boys do and I am trying to find more balance in our family blog.

If you want to follow that blog you can find it through my profile or www.ourasdjourney.blogspot.com . If you would like email notifications of new posts on that blog I will add you but not unless you request it.

From time to time Jared's ASD will appear in our family blog. It is a part of our lives and cannot be avoided, but from now on I will focus more on our family life as a whole and give the other boys more "air time".