Life

...has been busy!  After the ice storm mess was gone and work resumed it seemed like life was just hectic.  LJ was acting out really bad in the mornings and I was stressed to the max.  Today was better, but I realized that I haven't been writing so I thought I'd update.

Joe and I decided that he would give LJ his meds before he left for work so that they would be in his system before it was time to start getting ready.  I'm going to really try to wake up earlier (I'm so not a morning person) so that I can go ahead and give his meds.  I purchased a set of routine cards to try.  Chrissy recommended a morning routine chart.  I've tried that before, but it was more stressful trying to get him to look at the chart and mark off what he's done on top of actually doing the stuff.  So, I am going to try putting the cards on a keyring and then on a lanyard.  That way he's got it right there with him and it'll be easy for him to flip to the next card after he finishes something.  I pray this works. 

Bella started a couple days before the ice storm with accidents.  She'd pee in her crate and just sit in it.  She'd pee in her bean bag and just sit.  And even just standing in place, she'd pee and not squat.  I knew something was wrong.  The next day I was going to take her in during the lunch hour, but when I went home to check on her she seemed fine so I didn't take her.  Then the ice storm happened and we couldn't take her in.  She didn't have as many accidents over the next week but I made Joe take her to the vet yesterday to find out what was wrong.  $115 later we found out she's got a UTI.  They gave her two meds (The same Rx but different doses).  She takes 1 in the morning and the other at night with her food.  I hope this clears up.  This is the second time she's been on antibiotics.  Once this clears, she'll be scheduled for spaying.  I DO NOT want to deal with a dog in heat.

LJ has been having a hard time with spelling and that is one of his strong points.  I just can't seem to get through to him on the words.  I need to try to come up with a different routine for him to learn the words.  Last week it was OU words and this week OI.  I'm getting frustrated and that's not going to help anyone.

Alyssa had her first soccer game last week.  They played Columbia Middle.  It was a great game.  Thomson won 3-2 in a shoot off.  The game was scored 2-2. The first five girls went up for a shoot off and the game remained tied.  The coach sent five more girls out and the first person to kick won us the game!  The girls were ecstatic!  This is the first time TMMS has been Columbia County.  Alyssa talked about it all night long.  I'm so proud of her.  And her math grade had gone way down due to her not doing well on some homework assignments and quizzes, but her teacher gave her the chance to re-do them for a better grade.  She went from a 45 to a 74.  The away game at GMC was cancelled for today so she was able to stay after and re-do her bad quizzes.  Hopefully she can get it up to a B before report cards.

I took the kids out for dinner tonight after scouts to Zaxby's.  They enjoyed it and it was nice to not have to cook.  I've made myself a "household binder" to hopefully stay more organized.  I'm going to make myself sit down and make a meal plan for each week.  When I did this before, I didn't have such a hard time cooking.  And I've moved the chest freezer out to the storage building so now I have tons of room in the laundry room.  And Bella now resides in LJ's room.  Now I just need to pick up some more shelf pieces for the laundry room wall and get my house back in order.

This is hard

Confession:  Raising an autistic, defiant son is hard.  Every weekday morning, when I wake up, I get myself a cup of hot coffee.  I make it just right and sit on the couch enjoying each sip.  I constantly watch the clock.  I know I have to wake LJ up by 6:30 in order to start the daily battle of getting him ready for school.  I dread this.  Every weekday morning; I dread this.  I've tried waking him calmly and slowly.  I've tried waking him quickly and standing him on his feet before he can realize I'm waking him.  I've tried being sweet.  I've tried being forceful.  I've tried schedules and rewards.  I've tried everything.  No matter what, the mornings are the same.  If I don't dress him, then he walks around with his pajamas on all morning.  He's only interested in eating.  I try to help him get dressed and all the while he's yelling, jumping around, pulling the covers back over him in an attempt to go back to sleep.  Most days I finally get him dressed and then make him take his meds.  This morning, I gave up.  He's got his jeans on and one sock.  I walked into the bathroom, slipped to the floor and cried.  I can't take it anymore.  And the tears came knowing it didn't matter if I wanted to give up; I couldn't.  I know I have to do this all over again tomorrow.  And the next day and the next.

It's now 6:56.  The only thing he's accomplished is getting his jeans and one sock on, eating a pop-tart and taking his meds.  We leave in 25 minutes and it'll take all of that to finish getting myself ready, pack a lunch, finish getting him dressed and ready to go and getting out the door.

ETA: I was going to go back and edit this before posting, but I decided to just post as is.  I figure going back and reading exactly what I was feeling at the time would be better for me.

And another...

Apparently around 3:30 this afternoon another earthquake shook the ground. I didn't feel or hear this one. Kind of wish I had. This one wasn't as bad but its crazy that we keep experiencing this bizarre stuff in this area. I'm scared to see what the summer holds for us. 

What a winter!!

Snow storms, ice storms, earthquakes!  Yes an earthquake!  Seriously crazy!  

The kids and I were sitting in the living room watching a movie when I heard a rumbling and them all of a sudden the entire house shook. It only lasted a few seconds but it had my heart racing. 

This winter has really been one to remember. 

Schlanskers visited

I was holding Piper today and she fell asleep. When she woke up I moved her off my shoulder and then LJ and I had this conversation:

LJ: Why is her hair like that?

Me: Like what?

LJ:  So nappy?

Hehe!  You never know what that kids is gonna say. 

Caroline thought LJ was a girl because he had long hair. She seemed flabbergasted when Marie told her that LJ was a boy with long hair. 

And Mr. Howie Man kept losing his pants. Poor guy has such a skinny waist that his pants won't stay up. 

I was so glad to finally see Marie and the kids. I was beginning to think the visit would never happen. 

I didn't get any pics of Caroline and Howie on my phone but LJ took some on the camera so I need to upload them. 

ICE

Well the weathermen were right again. 

Ice everywhere and it's still coming down. Really praying we don't lose lower but Aiken, SC already has something like 4,000 people without power. 

Adding some more pics. Joe and I took off down the road on the 4 wheeler to check out the ice conditions. It's pretty thick slush on the road.  Tonight all of that will freeze and it's going to be a dangerous icey mess. 

Update: 7:40 pm. Power went out about 7:00 so joe got the generator going and plugged in a lamp. We have a space heater for later if we need it. Somewhere behind us there was a flashing light. Joe said it was a transformer. He just left to run a call for the same reason. About 5 minutes after he left he called to tell me he watched a tree fall right in front of him. I'm officially scared. We have trees all around us and a power pole and transformer right next to the house. I'm so worried something bad is going to happen. The rain/ice is still falling and the temps are dropping. The wind is blowing pretty strong. It's going to be a long and stressful night. Praying for Joe and all the other emergency workers out in these dangerous conditions. 

10:30 pm:  It's getting worse and I'm scared. Joe is out and I just heard him call dispatch to say he needs someone from road crew to get a tree out of the road on Salem Rd.  He called and said a power line was down at the sharp curve to the left of us and then the tree down on Salem. He said he was going to try to at least get one lane open. He's got his chainsaw. He sent this pic:

And earlier he came back from cutting up a fallen tree just up the street at Salem church with this:

The ice on those pine needles is at least 1/2 inch thick. This is crazy. 

Wow

They're predicting more bad weather. We are supposed to have ice starting around midnight and continuing through tomorrow. Then a possibility of either more ice or snow on Thursday. It's crazy that we are experiencing this much snow/ice in one season. 

They've cancelled schools for tomorrow and I'm expecting that Thursday will be cancelled too. I'm looking forward to relaxing at home with the family. 

Purple for Piper

I'm still going strong on my knitting spree. I had knit Piper an off white newborn sweater but then got worried that it wouldn't fit her since I still haven't seen her and she's 8 weeks old. So, I knit another one. This one in a beautiful light purple. Trinity helped me decide on the darker purple buttons to complete it. I can't wait to see her and Caroline and Howie and Marie. 

Scout Sunday

The scouts of Troop 125 had Scout Sunday today at First United Methodist Church in Thomson. I was very anxious about going because the last time I went I left in tears. I got a very ugly look from a lady in the congregation because LJ was not being quiet in church. 

He got all dressed up in his Class A uniform and we headed out. My anxiety was all for nothing. He did GREAT this morning. He was very well behaved and quiet. I'm so proud of my little Wolf. 

My turn at the doctor

I was at work Thursday and as I was walking out of the room to get more instruments, my right ankle hit the door frame.  HARD.  It was quite painful.  During the morning I had experienced some slight dizzy spells.  These have been happening like this over the past week or two.  I went on about my day on my hurt ankle.  Around 3:00 we had a break in patients, so I was setting up the room for the next procedure when I suddenly felt much dizzier.  I decided I better go up front and sit for a bit.  As I was walking up the hall, the dizziness got worse.  I felt drunk and honestly thought I was about to pass out.  It was really scary.  I walked a little faster and sat down.  I took some deep breaths and rested for about 10 minutes.  The dizziness passed and I felt fine the rest of the day.  I told Joe about it and he said I should see the doctor, so he called and scheduled me an appointment.

I told Dr. Patel what I had experienced and she suggested I see an ENT.  I'd been to see Dr. P a few times for sinus/allergy/ear ache issues and she thinks there may be a connection with the dizziness.  I'm waiting on Augusta ENT to call me and set up an appointment.  While I was there I had her look at my ankle and she suggested icing it, keeping it elevated and compression.  She said it would be a couple weeks before it was fully healed.  So I've got it in a compression ankle brace and trying to stay off of it.  It's not as painful as it was Thursday but I can barely touch it without it hurting.  I'm so afraid someone is going to hit it. 

I had another dizzy spell while sitting in my car waiting in line to pick up Trinity.  I was looking down at my phone and when I looked up I experienced it.  Also, Fred took us out to dinner last night to Bob's Cafe.  When we got there we sat at our table and the waitress brought out our drinks.  After a few sips of my drink I started feeling dizzy.  Thought it was pass quickly like they usually do but it lasted a bit longer.  I decided to take one of the pills the Dr. prescribed.  It passed after a minute or two.

8 year check up

LJ had his check up today. He did great. He was so proud of himself for not crying during the finger prick. He liked the pink camo bandaid they gave him. He told the nurse it was like Duck Dynasty. 

Dr. Cannady said LJ was in the 50th percentile for weight but he's only 25th percentile for height. I always thought he was tall but lately I've been noticing that he seems short. Guess I was right. Doc said in a couple years he should hit a growth spurt and catch up. 

Soccer Mom

Alyssa made the TMMS soccer team!  So proud of my baby girl. 

Finished more knitting

Sweater for Baylee. Just need to find 2 buttons. 

Lj's vest he wouldn't stand still for a good picture. 

Baby hat. 

Basket weave washcloth. I love trying new stitch designs. 

I've found a love for DPNs. I enjoyed using them on the sleeves of Baylee's sweater.