News

Saturday, Aaron and I played D&D with my adult group. Then, I went to the mall with IL3 to meet J18. We talked about the armed forces, and he decided he wanted to be an electrician in the Air Force or Navy. IL3 and I drove around on an angry bird motorcycle at the mall. He actually drove it himself, and got the hang of it pretty quickly.

Sunday was really productive! I got lots of cleaning, reading, and writing done. I also cooked a roast and some stuffing.

Monday, I took M10 in to the doctor to check his weight. He’s maintaining!

I totally rocked Tuesday. I even worked out for an hour on the treadmill! I would like to add weight lifting to that eventually – 1 day a week for each lower body, core, and upper body. But for now, I’ll start with the treadmill. D12 had an appointment in the morning, and M10 an appointment in the afternoon, and of course I voted. I am hoping things come out ok. 😱

Wednesday was another great day, with a few hitches. 45 minutes into my treadmill exercise, the daycare called me to say IL3 had missed his bus to special education. I had to drop everything and take him. I don’t know what they said to him, but he apologized over and over for missing the bus. ☹️ I told him it wasn’t his fault. When I picked him up, I took him to occupational therapy, which he loved.

In the evening M10 had his last baseball lesson, so I signed him up for a baseball clinic since he liked it so much. Go figure. He’s always hated sports. 🤷‍♀️ I wanted to sign IL3 up for T-ball, but, alas, there’s no T-ball league around here. Instead, I signed him up for wrestling, which he’ll start tomorrow. Hopefully he likes it.

Thursday was a low motivation day. My client had had a tough night, so I hadn’t gotten enough sleep and was coming up with excuses not to exercise. At first, I told myself that dad needed out of the house, so I took him on a bunch of errands. They were definitely things that needed to be done, but they were not in my plan for the day. Then I ran out of excuses, so I went on the treadmill for an hour. Then, I sat through a 2 hour appointment with D12 while Aaron and M10 took IL3 to wrestling. Which IL3 decided he didn’t like. ☹️

Wrote

• 2 letters Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
• 2 letters Virginia Department of Corrections
• 1 letter Pennsylvania
• 1 letter Tennessee
• 1 letter Mississippi Department of Corrections
• 1 letter Florida
• 1 letter Texas
• 1 letter Washington
• 1 letter Massachusetts
• 1 letter Virginia

Week’s Photos

Media Partaken In

News

Tuesday I was busy with appointments and IL3’s swim lessons.

Wednesday, I had 6 appointments! IL3 started his occupational therapy, and we had 3 parent teacher conferences for two kids. M10 was grounded for the first time ever – he keeps taking his school iPad downstairs and staying up all night, and we’re having trouble remembering to confiscate it before bed. So Wednesday, he was grounded. He’s SO angry. On top of that, he slapped a kid at school Tuesday, and lied about it when he got home. I told him I wouldn’t punish him for the slap, but if I came home from conferences convinced he did it, his punishment would be worse. I am now convinced. 🤷‍♀️ He’s grounded until a week from Friday.

Thursday, I took IL3 in for his autism assessment. I was more worried about him at the time I made the appointment 6 months ago, now it was just a formality as his speech and social skills have exploded recently. Later, I took M10 to meet our state representative. M10 needed to meet with a government official and discuss an issue of community importance in order to meet a requirement for the Arrow of Light award in Cub Scouts. They had a good long talk about many things, most notably the representative told M10 that although he is a Democrat, he finds it important to consider the wellbeing and needs of Republicans whenever he votes.   Another important issue discussed was that (the representative said) in the US, he could grow up to be President, but that wasn’t true of many countries.

Totally bombed Friday. I had a crazy anxiety attack starting 10pm on Thursday and lasted till about 5pm Friday, when I was able to get hold of my psychiatrist who gave me excellent advice that calmed me down within 30 minutes.

On top of that, I had the Wordle down to the last 4 letters, which were incredibly distinctive, and still couldn’t get it because of my anxiety.

Also, I told M10 if he finished the book that he hadn’t started yet I would unground him for the day. He read for five and a half hours and finished the entire book in one day. He’s super motivated to not be grounded.

On top of that, I did some research trying to get my homeless nephew J18 a recruited to the military. He wants to be a sniper and “in on the action,” or “make bank” by being an electrician or mechanic. So far, I have contacted the Marines and the Air Force.

Wrote

• 1 letter Canada
• 1 letter North Dakota
• 1 letter Michigan
• 1 letter Maryland Department of Corrections
• 1 letter Djibouti (Any Marine)

Week’s Photos

Media Partaken In

Games Played

News

Saturday D12, IL3, Aaron and I went to the park for an hour. There was an incident where I lost my balance (through no fault of my own) and fell on top of IL3. I ended up with a nasty bruise and IL3 cried, but was fine.

After that, we watched a couple episodes of X-files and a couple episodes of Supernatural.

Sunday I went to a LGBTQ church with my friend Todd. It was a lovely service with a nice message about how loving oneself makes it easier to love others. Afterwards, Todd and I had lunch . Later that day, Aaron and I went to a friend’s house for a mini-party.

Monday, I took IL3 to his dentist appointment. He agreed to sit in the chair, which looks like a phlebotomist chair to him. Afterwards, I took a 3 hour nap, wrote two letters, and relaxed a bit. So…lazy day.

Tuesday was a hard day. M10 discovered some head lice. That meant we had to keep IL3 home from school, but the older kids could go because they’re less likely to touch heads with people. I looked at Loki, and he didn’t have any visible, so I’m sending him to school Wednesday and treating him tonight. (I couldn’t treat him alone because he needs to be vice gripped by two people to get his hair washed, and Aaron and Malcolm were at a party in the evening.)

On top of all that, I was let go from one of my jobs. My client wouldn’t let me work whenever I have a minor cold or the kids have head lice, which has been a lot lately. Guess she just got sick of telling me I couldn’t work. 🤷‍♀️ Now I have 36 weekly work hours to replace. But I can’t find another overnight asleep job, so the hours will subtract from family time. ☹️

Wednesday, I was feeling the unemployment blues. I applied to several jobs, went to the dentist, and dealt with an electrician.

Also on Wednesday, I came home with a skeletal frog decoration, and IL3 reached into the bag, picked it up, looked at it, yelled “ahhh!” And dropped it. 😂🤣

So…when my client laid me on Tuesday, she made the point in telling me that I was better off with another client because they could offer me more reliable hours. I didn’t bother telling her that she was saying that to make herself feel better, not me.

Thursday, she sent me a suuuuper long text stating her carefully thought out reasons for laying me off, and that she had no hard feelings. Maybe I would stay on the payroll to pick up if someone is sick? The text obviously made her feel better, but was supremely unhelpful to me. So I sent her this:

“First of all, there really aren’t that many overnight asleep jobs out there, (in fact, none as far as I can tell) so I’m going to have to take a day job and take the kids out of psychological therapy, feeding therapy, and speech therapy. So I really am not better off for having no job.

Second, I am applying for unemployment, though I’m skeptical I’ll get much since I still work for S—. I don’t know if I need to be off payroll to apply. 🤷‍♀️ So I guess we should probably take me off just in case?”

It felt mean, because I know she wanted to hear “It’s ok! No hard feelings!” And for the most part, there aren’t. But I honestly don’t want to listen to her console herself for what is my problem and not hers.

Friday, there was a trunk or treat at IL3’s preschool. All 3 kids and I attended.

Over the weekend, we carved pumpkins.

Monday, I chaperoned a Junior Achievement field trip. The kids had been preparing for weeks…learning about debit cards, checks, and jobs. JA has a mock town, where the kids held jobs and got paid and got to be consumers. I was working for Delta Airlines, where our poor CFO was overworked. M10 worked in City Hall, as the town treasurer.

After that, we all went trick or treating. We were out for about an hour, and IL3 was SO excited.

Lost 19lbs total!

Wrote

• 1 letter Virginia Department of Corrections
• 1 letter Maine
• 1 letter Maryland
• 1 letter Oklahoma
• 1 letter Pennsylvania Department of Corrections

Week’s Photos

Books Read

Movies / shows watched

News

Saturday I spent 4 hours playing D&D while simultaneously watching IL3. M10 and Aaron were camping, and D12 was at her mom’s. Dad, IL3, and I went out to Olive Garden for dinner. Good day!

Monday and Tuesday weren’t high motivation days. I was distracted by several things, including a cold, and the worrisome health of the kid’s grandfather. Also, IL3 refused to go to school. He struggled so much that we were unable to get him dressed. The first day, we thought it was a one off. Tuesday, I asked him what was bothering him, and he said that a monster had jumped out at him, and he was scared. With much negotiation, I managed to get him dressed and to the school. He couldn’t point out what was upsetting him, but he was clearly upset, even though I’d told him I wouldn’t leave him there.

Wednesday, I took him to school again with much negotiation, and he agreed to stay there for two hours. I was very proud of him, and he dealt well with his time there.

Thursday, IL3 refused to go to school again. I couldn’t get him there at all because they didn’t want me to take him in the afternoon, and I was too busy in the morning. I took hom to the park for 3 hours, and then played D&D with the kids for a couple of hours.

Friday, after speech therapy, I managed to convince him to stay at school all day if I took him back to the park on Saturday. Then Aaron, D12, IL3, and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate.

Wrote

• 1 letter North Carolina
• 1 letter Massachusetts
• 1 letter Minnesota
• 1 letter Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
• 1 letter Ohio
• 1 letter Louisiana
• 1 letter Pennsylvania Department of Corrections

Week’s Photos

Media Partaken in

New Books

Movies / shows watched

News

Saturday was a busier day than usual. My client’s other PCA has COVID, so I picked up a few extra shifts this week. That meant I spent a good chunk of the day working rather than playing D&D as I usually do. Apparently Aaron almost killed my character.

Sunday, I had bookclub lunch with my friend. We discussed Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas. Then Aaron, the kids, and I had a fire and s’mores, followed by another shift I’d picked up.

Monday, IL3 was sick with a 102F fever and a cough (negative for COVID, but I owe him ice cream because he let me swab his nose). Luckily, Aaron was home half the day, so I got to leave IL3 with Aaron, while I had a nice lunch with my friend Todd.

Tuesday, IL3 still had a fever, and I spent some relaxing time with him during the day. Based on my productivity stats, which quantify the number of “life,” “body,” “spirit,” and “mind” tasks I complete per day, it was my most productive day in a long time. So maybe I didn’t relax as much as I thought, lol.

Wednesday, I was again home with IL3, but I was drowsy and decided I didn’t need two productive days in a row. I did some reading. And I finally got that stupid heart monitor off, so I got to have a real bath for the first time in two weeks.

Thursday M10 had an appointment with his feeding therapist. He chose 3 foods to try next time: cheddar cheese on hard shell taco, vanilla ice cream, and processed American cheese product. To earn his reward, he needs to take 3 bites of each. D12 got her bivalent booster.

Friday, I found out IL3, who is still learning to speak, knows the name of a triceratops and a velociraptor, but thinks a brachiosaurus is a giraffe.

Wrote

• 1 letter Texas
• 1 letter Mexico
• 1 letter France
• 1 letter Washington
• 1 letter Ohio Department of Corrections

Week’s Photos

Media In Progress

Posts

The Glow Show, Susi Schaefer

Quarterly goals

New books

Health and Fitness

• Achieve the 20lb weight loss goal
  • Current count = 10lbs
• Reduce caffeine to zero by year end
• Drink gallon of water in a day 60 times
  • Current count = 1
• Work out 40 times
  • Current count = 0

Environment

• Deep clean Loki’s room, Basement, bedroom
• Maintain cars, bathrooms, kitchen, livingroom, and laundry

Education and Reading

• Read Uncle Tom’s Cabin
• Read Ancillary Justice
• Complete Ranger’s Apprentice books
• Catch up on NetGalley
• Read Invisible Kingdom
• Read HG Well omnibus
• Read Mother’s Reckoning
• Finish 20 books
  • Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas

Hobbies

• Organize old pictures
• Catch up on letters

For My Soul

• Attend 10 religious services
  • Current count = 0
• Complete 40 episodes of Bible in a Year podcast
  • Current count = 1

Life

• Finish work courses

In this adorable little book, Glow the squid enjoys impressing everyone with his bioluminescence. But he soon finds that having friends is better than impressing people.

The Glow Show, by Susie Schaefer, has fantastic, cute, colorful pictures. There are very few words per page, usually with a sentence description and some speech bubbles. I would say it’s appropriate to be read to kids with short attention spans for wordy books, as well as those that enjoy cute pictures. It’s also a good book for kids learning to read.

4*

News

It’s been a pause again, but here I am, back!

Sunday, we went to Olive Garden as a family.

Monday, M10 had his doctor appointment where we found that he’s been maintaining his weight at the minimum weight goal, which is nice. We’ll keep doing what we’re doing. We also went as a family to the Jack’o’lantern Spectacular at the Minnesota Zoo. It was quite amazing, and everyone loved it.

Tuesday, M10 treated me to a movie – we saw Avatar in 3D. I had seen it before, though not in 3D. M10 was amazed and awed. He loved the movie. During the day, IL3 had his occupational therapy intake. He was not qualified for fine motor skills, which he was in special education, but he qualified for feeding therapy. He doesn’t really eat a lot of solid food at home and wants the main portion of his calories to be from apple juice right now. He eats very little at daycare too.

Wednesday, D12 fainted in school, and we spent 3 hours in Urgent Care to be told there’s nothing wrong. Then we went out to dinner.

Thursday, I had a little extra time on my hands. D12 was supposed to have a procedure, but she ate something in the morning – we forgot to tell her not to. Now she has to wait till December! I’d like to say I accomplished a lot during my newfound free-time, but I relaxed. Which, I suppose, is an accomplishment in itself. The daycare teacher asked us to send IL3 in undies on Monday. That’s kind of her, because he purposely pees in corners at our house.

Friday was another calm day. I took a nap, then worked in the evening.

Wrote

• 1 letter Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
• 1 letter California Department of Corrections
• 1 letter to Belgium
• 1 letter to New Mexico
• 1 letter to Austria
• 1 letter to Virginia
• 1 letter Massachusetts

Week’s Photos

Books Read

New Books on my Shelf

Reviews Written

Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas

Movies / shows watched

In Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas, Yadriel struggles to prove his identity as a trans boy to his “conservative” family. Meanwhile, he calls up the ghost of Julian and tries to find his murderer. This had a fantastic premise, though I felt the action slowed considerably several times as Yadriel explored his identity. In short, I would like to give 4 stars for premise, but 3 stars for action. So I’ll settle on 3.5

News

Thursday, M10 got some bad news. He dropped 1.5 pounds! So he’s not at his goal weight after all. ☹️

Friday, I met with my dietician and got to tell her I’ve been losing weight. Yay! She was very affirming. Unlike my physical therapist! My dietician asked me how physical therapy was going and I explained how the PT told me to workout 5-7 times a week, and that working out longer on other days didn’t replace lost days, and she knows how I feel pressed for time, but I simply have to make time. It made me feel so unmotivated not to be congratulated for getting up to 3-4 times a week, and so I stopped working out altogether. I mean 0 to 3-4 is a huge improvement! That deserves a little happy dance.

The dietician told me that if 3-4 days a week is what I could honestly handle right now, just maintain that, and increase when I can (which I said will probably be when the kids start school). That made me feel so much better. I think I will quit bariatric PT, or switch to a different therapist. I guess I just need more positive, affirming guidance than that one is willing to give.

D12 got back from horse camp Friday, which she noncommittally enjoyed and maybe would do again. She apparently had a lot of anxiety attacks, as well as a girl she didn’t get along with. She had two counselors, and one of them railed into her on the comment sheet.

There was a huge space for good comments and a tiny space for room for problems. She wrote one vague comment in huge print in the good section. Then she wrote a whole bunch of criticisms in small print in the problems section. The other counselor (we’ll call her B) softened the blow a bit. So I say to D12, “wow, you got along with B better than A, didn’t you?” D12 said “Actually, it was the other way around.”

So. Seriously…Counselor A apparently really didn’t like D12. But D12 had no clue. She was a bit floored when I showed her what had been written. I told D12 that if this woman is not going to clearly set boundaries with D12 and tell her that she disapproved of D12’s behavior, then it was her problem and not D12’s.

I’m not usually a “the problem is with them and not us” sort of person. (At least, I don’t think I am.) I like to see how our own actions impact a situation. But. How does counselor A expect us to address issues that D12 doesn’t remember? She needs to tell D12 that she’s misbehaving in order to expect correction of behavior. 🤷‍♀️

Also on Friday, D12, M10, and I made our characters for D&D. (Yes, I now have 3 D&D campaigns going on. I guess I’m an all-in sort of person right now. D12 is a butterfly fairy, M10 is a dragonborn, and I am a water genesai.

Saturday, M10 had his play – Robin Hood. He did a great job. I really like this theater company.

Also on Saturday, Aaron and I had our first adult D&D session with our new group. It lasted 5.5 hours 😱, but otherwise was pretty amazing. The DM homebrewed it all up for us, and we went out and fought some ogres.

Week’s Photos

Movies / shows watched