Missed you guys! (long)

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone!

Well, yesterday was my first day back to school. We had in-

services all day. They were all about Blood Borne Pathogins, Major

Unusual Incidents (MUIs) and ready for this??? ... The proper

writing of IEPs!!!! Woopie! I know they're important and these

topics are all mandated, but the first day of school???? Couldn't

they have offered something more exciting like " Summer Movie

Reviews " or " Planning your Retirement on your own Exotic

Island " ????? Anything that doesn't involve kids.... " IVE HAD ENOUGH

KIDS " !!!!!!! Then maybe they could have followed up with a Staff

Appreciation Golf Outing.... Hmmmmm.... Doesn't hurt to

daydream.....!!!! Well, truth of the matter is, I am looking forward

to seeing the kids in our class on Monday. They are so medically

fragile and so physically involved, but they all love being at

school and they are such neat kids... *This is very sad, but just

last week, a young lady from our class, who just graduated from

Broadmoor, passed away. She had been ill since early September. She

spent so much time going back and forth to the hospital. The last

few months, her wonderful family cared for her at home and she died

peacefully with them at her side. She was really one of my

favorites...feisty??? Whew!!! We will all miss her....

******************

Well, I survived the summer with my brood of grandkids. I yearned

for ONE day without at least ONE!!! Didn't happen. We went to the

Ohio State Fair and I have to say that it was fun!

Remember I told you that I measure Noah's progress by his behvior at

the Fair? Well,this year was even better than last!!! He had a few

problems when I took him and MacKenzie to the Junior rides. Kept

saying he wanted to go back with Mommy, Abbey, and Jordan. Of

course, I think most of it was because he was able to go on some of

the big rides this year. He loved the " Himalaya " and the Wild

Mouse..so did Kenzie...whew she's brave! But there weren't too many

other big rides he was allowed on. They kept going into the Fun

Houses, but after awhile, they got old...real old!!! As expected,

they all loved the Giant Super Slide. 107 steps to the top and he

went by himself, burlap sack in arms....at least 15 times! Kenzie

needed help carrying her sack up, but she loved it all the same!

After a full day of rides, I decided to try our luck with the

petting zoo. Noah still really doesn't like the animals, and I

couldn't get him to feed them carrots this year. He took one and

sort of tossed it into the pen and said " OK, I'm done...let's go! " .

Kenzie on the other hand... She got so close to them that Noah kept

yelling out " Kenzie No!...MacKenzie,NO!!! When he saw that she was

alright, he giggled hysterically when they ate out of her hand.

However, and I have this on video.... at one point, he was concerned

because a very large, horned goat kept sticking his head out,

following her every move. I heard Noah trying to warn her... all of

a sudden, you see the goat grabbing her by the hair, pulling her

against the fence, backwards. At the time, I was unaware of this,

and I put my camera on Noah. It shows his eyes getting wide as he

takes a few steps back. You hear this cry...I put the camera back on

Kenzie and there she is with her head being yanked up by the goat as

he was feasting on her blonde locks!!! I'm sure it hurt a little,

but you should have heard them laugh when they watched the video the

next day!

The day after the Fair, Deb & Abbey went home as she had to work,

and Ab had Singing Angels practice. Besides, Abbey had already been

with me in Dublin the whole week before! I kept , Noah,

MacKenzie and of course, Jordan... forget the fact that she lives

right around the corner from us, I had her too! One day, I took them

all to the City pool. With no rec cards, it cost me $27.00 +

another $10.00 in concessions. It was a hot day and it was worth it.

I had Noah and MacKenzie in the 4 foot water when I somehow faintly

thought I heard my name. I looked up and there was (7) waving

at me from the 10 ft diving board! My heart was in my throat as I

watched him hurl himself into the air in a twisting motion. He

landed feet first and swam just fine to the side! So, there he

stayed in the 9 ft water the remainder of the swim session. The big

thing that happened involved...yes, dear little Miss MacKenzie.

Remember I told you that at my condo pool I looked over in time to

see her DIVING into the 2 1/2 foot water??? That's when I went out

and bought her a floaty suit so that I could throw her into the deep

water. Well, at one point, we were in the kiddie area. I took her

floatie off and told her NOT to go into the deeper water. Well, her

stubborn 3 yo personality just wouldn't listen. At one point, I

decided to watch her as she ventured deeper. I let her struggle for

a few seconds to let her see what it felt like to be in trouble when

she went in too deep. I was just about to grab her when I heard the

whistle blowwwwwwwwwwwwww....uh oh... before I could wave at her to

let her know that there really wasn't a problem, the lifeguard had

Kenzie around the waist and out of the water!!! Talk about being

embarrassed! Everybody was looking at us as they had to clear out of

the pool for 10 minutes while I filled out a report! The REAL

embarrassing thing was that this young couple with 2 little kids had

just commented to me about the number of kids I had with me, and how

well behaved they all were. Well, burst my bubble, why don't

you????

Well, with lots of walks to the park and the kids riding bikes in

the cul de sac with their neighborhood friends, some tree climbing

and a trip to the " Bunny Hill " with the water fountains, we made it

through the extended visit. All supplements given to Noah and NO

infringements on his diet! Naturally, Noah with his gut problems

made me have to deal with constipation problems...and that's another

stoty!!!

We had 2 family gatherings that weekend. I was careful to bring

Noah's own food. On Sunday, there happened to be a birthday cake.

He watched as the other kids helped themselves and he knew he

couldn't have any. With big tears in his eyes, he looked at me and

said " Pleeease Mimi.... I want some birthday cake...pleeeease???

Well, with everyone in tears (I'm talking about the adults) I asked

my niece where " Wild Oats " was. She said it wasn't far from campus

and she would take me. OK, I said to give him a small piece while I

went out to buy some enzymes. I figured if I culd get them into him

within 30 minutes, he would be fine. So, off we went. Noah got his

cake and I got back within 20 minutes with my $28.00 bottle of

enzymes, only to find out that he put a tiny piece of frosting up to

his mouth and never ate it anyway!!! Now do you understand why I

say I hate kids??????

OK, dh and I brought them back to Euclid where they spent most of

the week-end at our teeney condo, so they could use the pool. We

went back home that Tuesday and I was determined that I was going to

spend the last 8 days with no one under the age of 40!!Jordan

babysat for the kids next door, so naturally, they all popped in

from time to time, just to say " hi " and to grab a popcycle! Fri.,

was my birthday. Joe had to work and my (grown up ) family

wanted to take me out that night to the Winking Lizzard. Fine, but I

had the whole day to lay around and relax in the sun, right? Oh

Nooooo, not so easy...my car had to be brought into Saturn. They

PROMISED me that they would take it at 2:30 and I would be out of

there in an hour. When I got there, they said it'll be ready by

4:30! WHAT???? Arrrrrgh. I said, " Fine, then bring me to Target. " I

figured I could at least amble around the store without anyone

hanging on me and I could enjoy the time alone!!! Did I tell you it

was my birthday??? Nobody believes in dropping a quick e-mail or in

sending a cheap card and letting it go at that... 13 freakin phone

calls with off tune " Happy Birthday " songs WHILE I'M IN THE MIDDLE

OF TARGET!!!!

Saturday was my niece's Luau party at her new house. Sun and Mon.

DH and I drove back in so I could attend the funeral and he had an

appt. The kids were around to fill in the spaces! Tuesday, back in

Dublin, I decided to sit outside by myself...no kids

around...ahhh... and out of nowhere, this 13 yo boy, whom I never

met before came up to me and introduced himself. OK, what did he

want? Nothing! He said he was bored and just wanted to talk...why

me????? Didn't take me long to figure out that he's Aspergers...how

do they find me???? Now that I have this figured out, there's no way

I could say " Nice meeting you, now go home! " So, an hour and a half

later, after talking exclusively about this gadget that he brought

with him, I really did say that I had to go to the bank. So I had to

get in MY car and leave MY house so I could try to get an hour to

MYself! Wed, I spent cleaning the house and packing my stuff to

return to Euclid. School was starting on Fri and I was going out

WITH BIG PEOPLE on Wed. night. Went to Champs with 2 of my Sisters-

in-Law, and saw " The Devil Wears Prada " . Thursday was it....one last

chance to sneak in a day to myself ..... um, until the phone

rang... " Mimi? Could you pick me up at the High School at 11:30? I'm

at orientation and my mom is in a meeting at work. She said I would

have to wait for over an hour. " Sooo, after I waited in the car for

45 minutes, Jordan emerged from the building, climbed in, looked at

me with those baby blues.... and said, " Mimi, it's your last day,

and because the kids were all over, and then I had to babysit, we

haven't spent any time together!!! " So, I said, " where to? Panini's

and the Mall???? " . We got home in time for me to pack up the car,

say good-bye to Joe and make it to a meeting that another autism

group (OhioBiomed) was holing that night. The group was just

formed last month, by and Angie Shoemaker. Their son was

recovered under the care of Dr. DeMio and they started this group.

Anyway, I got a meeting notification and the topic was on vaccines

and exemptions. I hadn't even had time to post to that group until

just that day. The meeting was very informative and I didn't leave

there until they kicked us out of the building at 9:30 pm. After

chatting with a couple of moms, I still didn't leave for Euclid

until almost 10:00. I got back here at 12:30am and had to be at work

at 8:00!

Today was my day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I stayed here, holed up in my little condo ALL BY MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!!

And I did absolutely nothing!!! So what did I do? Write to all of

you!!!

Well, it's good to be back. Looking forward to being a part of

all of you again. I missed you!

-Trish