A tough day

This has not been one of my best days. It is likely that I have H1N1, Horse Girl and I were exposed at school last week. Horse Girl was sick over the weekend and she is pretty much better. Now Fly Guy and I are sick. It came on very fast like a ton of bricks at one moment we felt fine then we felt like we were hit by a dump truck. Fly Guy is very sick and I am not up to par. Earlier today I was worried that we might have to take me to the urgent care clinic because I was having a ton of problems breathing, but I am more or less ok now.

This morning before we felt bad we went to a Teacher conference for History Girl. She is failing Language Arts and she is getting a C+ in Social Studies. For a girl who loves History and loves reading this is not acceptable. Her other classes she is doing fine in. Those other teachers actually looked a bit shocked that she was doing so poorly in Language Arts and Social Studies.

We have a PET meeting with the teachers in the beginning of December. We will have her eval done by then. The PDD specialists who examined her want to meet with her again on Monday because they aren't quite sure what to make of somethings so they want to interact with History Girl again. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing or just a thing. I just want this report written so we can have something real to stand on for modifications and for special help History Girl needs.

So at this point I am just tired and want answers.

I really have enjoyed writing about Russia lately, but my brain is not functioning at 100%, so I hope to write more once I can think clearly again. :-P

Not dead yet....

I said in an earlier post that my Grandmother is likely going to die very soon. Every phone call from my parents now I expect it to be the call saying she passed away.

So to the best of my knowledge my Grandmother is not dead year. My Uncle has already book the church this Sunday for the Funeral. Has also arranged for a caterer for food post funeral at his house. He also has arranged for my cousin to fly back from China in time for the funeral on Sunday. A little reminder her folks...she isn't dead yet!!! Yes I expect her to die anytime now, but save this sort of planning until after she is really dead. What if she makes to Sunday.....sorry folks the funeral is postponed because she isn't dead yet. That just seems crazy to me. Is this normal and I am just not getting it?

Flu?

It seems that Horse Girl might have the flu....fever, sore throat, cough, tired...stuff like that. So I am not going to really post today so I can get some rest in hopes of not getting sick myself.

Looking for a ride

Today it has rained all day and rained hard. I am waiting for the Noah and his boat to come by and pick us up.


Today was not a great day and the rain has made it just that much worse. We went to take Horse Girl her riding lessons this morning. We pulled into the barn parking lot and there was a firetruck and an ambulance. Turns out one of Horse Girl's instructors were hit/kicked/stepped on by one of the horses. We got there just as she was being put into the ambulance. She looked like she was ok, she was totally strapped down which looked worse then I bet it was, but when it comes to being hurt by a horse you can never be to careful. So positive thoughts for her if you will.

Horse Girl has fallen off a horse twice in the 4 years she has ridden. Which might sounds like a lot, but she hasn't been hurt, she knows how to fall plus one time her instructor caught her in midair so she never hit the ground. *knock on wood that she is never hurt* Horse Girl when she is a teenager wants the job that the instructor who was hurt has now, she would be good at it. Seeing the instructor all strapped down has made nervous about her having this job in the future. It is one of those things that I just have to let it go.

Also to make this day not so great is my father went up to see his mom. It is looking like she will die very soon. The doctors don't think she will wake up again. She is on a morphine drip right now. She has not had all her senses for sometime so it is a good thing that her life is coming to an end. She has lived longer then she would have wanted to live if she had had control of it. This is my grandmother who married Fly Guy and myself. When he and I were planning our wedding we didn't go to church and we wanted to get married in a historic Puritan meeting house so my grandmother did all the paperwork she needed to be able to perform the ceremony. So even though I have already mourned my grandmother, the person who married us....the person who sang Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer with History Girl, it sad to see her go even though I know the time for her to go has long past.

I see Noah and his ark pulling up right now. So better get going.

A Quick Post to forfill NaBloPoMo :-)

I should have something deeper to post today, but I just don't have it. Thursdays are always my sort of crazy days. Horse Girl has gymnastics until 6:45pm so I don't get home until late. Luckily Fly Guy got home and made dinner. It is always better when he makes dinner because he is a much better cook than I am. I need a recipe and he doesn't. I think I need a recipe because having spent a good amount of my time growing up playing with a chemistry set and then in a chem lab in high school and college, I get nervous deviating from a prescribed recipe. If you change stuff in a chemisty experament bad things can happen so I just can't do it. Which might be the reason I am more of a baker then a cook. Baking is all about the chemistry while cooking is an art form that I just don't get. Well, I should get my swimming stuff together for my morning swim and I promise something deeper for tomorrow. Maybe more stuff about Russia...I have been enjoying looking at my photos from my trip when I was 17...maybe cover a bit about Leningrad. I have some great photos of The Alexander Column and the story of the creation of that monument is amazing. ;-)

Not feeling like writting

I am not feeling like writing so I scanned in a few photos from my trip to the USSR that I took in April of 1987 when I was 17.


Here of course is the big Moscow sign, what you see when you enter Moscow.




This is The Cathedral of Intercession of Theotokos on the Moat, better known as Cathedral of Basil the Blessed or even St. Basil's. There are a ton of photos of St. Basil's, but this is my personal photo I took myself. For years I had this photo blown up to poster size and hung in my bedroom.



This is main building of Moscow University. Stalin had it built to show the power of the Soviet Union he had 7 such buildings built, this was the largest. At the time it was built it was the largest building outside of New York City.

Stalin also wanted to build something called the Place of the Soviets which was going to dwarf this building, but he ended up not being able to do it mostly because of Germany invading during WWII, but in reality I don't think he would ever be able to get it done.



This is the US Embassy in Moscow. Now look closely at the guards out front....they are not US guards they are Soviet Military keeping Soviet citizens out of the Embassy.

That is it for now. I wish there was something I could use my vast knowledge of the Soviet Union for. But it is just gathering dust like many things in my life. :-P

Soviet Print

I have been busy today so I just remembered I needed to make my post for today if I am going to do Nablopomo I need to post something quickly.

We have been working on remodeling the upstairs bathroom for awhile now. Doing it DIY always takes forever.

I finally bought some frames for some prints that I want to put up of course I can't find one of the prints, now that I found the frame.

This image is the other print I am putting up in the bathroom. It is a 1921 USSR propaganda poster that says:

"May 1st, In good health on the holiday of the workers in all countries" or something like that. This has been one of my favorite prints for a long time because it is a classic combination of the traditional Russian celebrations and the then modern Soviet belief system. It reminds me of how they say that Jesus Christ was really born in the Spring, but Christmas was moved to the Winter Solstice in order to either a) avoid persecution of early Christians or b) gain more followers. Here they are combining the traditional Russia Spring celebration with the modern Soviet workers' holiday, in order to gain acceptance in the same sort of way. So any how now it is hanging in my bathroom. :-)

What we are watching

Over Somewhere in The Suburbs she talks about her love of her DVR, she talks about the shows she is watching and she asks what other people are watching.

First of all I thought I should share that just over a year ago we bought an Apple TV. When we did that we got rid of cable TV. When then created an iTunes account for our TV and we put an allowance on that account that is equal to what we were spending on cable and then we use that money to buy the shows we want to watch off of iTunes. It has worked really well.

First of all no comercals at all. Second of all, it has taught both girls a bit about budgeting. Horse Girl when we had cable would watch whatever was on the Disney Channel at the time and not think much about it. Now that she knows that she is paying money for an episode she has stopped watching trashy TV like Hanna Montana or the Suite Life. She now spends her TV time watching Mythbusters and How It's Made. So to me those two things are the best reason for making that change.

What I am watching this year....well still watching Bones...I love that show and so does History Girl...we have enough of those episodes bought that we watch one episode a night with History Girl and we really enjoy it.

I am trying out watching Three Rivers I am not sold on it, but it is the best of the three new medical drama out there. So I will watch it for a bit and see where it takes me.

We are also liking The Big Bang Theory a lot. Now this is were getting shows from iTunes is a problem. They are two seasons behind on The Big Bang Theory, so we watched season one from iTunes when the girls' doctor recomended it to History Girl and we loved it so much I bought season two on DVD. Don't ask me what we are going to do once we are done with season two. Don't have a plan there yet. :-)

Also I am still watching Numb3rs. I love having a show about a math guy helping the FBI.

Ok hmm....well if you look closely at what I watch it is all about geeks and nerds....hmmm...I wonder if that means something. :-)

Oh wait I am also watching the last season of Monk. I am really hoping he finds out who killed his wife by the end of this season.

So that is about all I watch, if a friend says they likes a show I will watch a few. For example I have tried out Glee which is ok, just a little odd for my tastes, but it I am in the mood I will watch it. I also watch things that iTunes offers for free to get you hooked, they normally offer one episode a week of something for example they offered The Good Wife and Modern Family which I downloaded both, but have watched neither figuring I will have something to watch if I am bored and don't feel like spending the money on something new. Who knows I might get hooked on one and then I can download the episodes as needed.

Honest Scrap Award

Over at the Trees and Flowers and Birds! she tagged all the August Moms with the Honest Scrap Award a bit a go in hopes of that some of the Moms who let their blogs get dusty would dust them off and do something.

“When you get the Honest Scrap award, you are meant to grace your readers with 10 honest things about yourself, and then pass on the award to other blog friends who write honestly and truly about themselves and events in their life."

1. I am an introvert. I even need to be away from Fly Guy once and awhile or I feel overwhelmed. This might be why I like swimming so much because it is like a sensory deprivation chamber I am with my own thoughts and I like that.

2. I rather have loud music, then caffeine to wake me up. I can't stand the early morning swimmers who have coffee on their breath it just makes my stomach flip.

3. I have to really trust someone to be able to share an opinion with them. I rather let someone think I have no opinion than have an argument over points of view. Yes I am very much a wimp when it comes to that.

4. I view myself as a Mainer before I view myself as a US citizen.

5. I don't like my life that much right now. I want a real paying 9 to 5 type job, but I am still needed to help the girls with their learning differences. I have all the time in the world to have that sort of job not much time left to make sure the girls have learned what they need to know about themselves and their differences before they head out in to the world.

6. When I retire I want to either work as a Ferry Boat pilot at Walt Disney World or one of their VIP trip planning people.

7. I am scared that I am going to live a long time like all the women in my family and not have anyone to live it with. Fly Guy's family tend to die young and since I am antisocial and an introvert I have trouble making friends.

8. I have found a bar in Maine I like. I love the older gay men that hang out there. There is one table I really like to sit at when I eat there. It is in the corner so I can see everything that is going on. I really like to people watch, maybe because if I watch people enough I can figure out how to be social. ;-)

9. I really really do not understand British comedy I really just don't get it....I don't laugh, I just look at it really really puzzled.

10. With all the good and bad stuff in my life, I wouldn't change a bit of it.

taking a leap of faith

I just called and had Horse Girl removed from the Dyslexia Learning Center, she has been there two years and hasn't really made the progress that we expected to see. We had a consultant meet with Horse Girl and watched how she learns and how things are being taught to her. One of the things suggested is to remove Horse Girl from the learning center so she can have a consistent method between reading, speech and stuff at home. So it isn't a bit here and something different there and something different over there. This consultant has figured out a plan that she wants us to try for Horse Girl. I am nervous because making that call and saying Horse Girl isn't continuing there is like taking a leap of faith that this consultant is really truly right. I am so nervous about it, but I think it is the right thing for Horse Girl.

The plan is that Horse Girl will have special reading plan in the special ed room 5 days a week for at least an hour a day. Then she will also have speech which will tie into what she is doing in her special reading plan. Then they are going to have us have a program for us to do with her at home for 30 minutes a day after school. When they showed me the plan I looked at it and it made 100% sense to me and I wished when I was in school struggling with my dyslexia they offered this, that is how clear it was to me when the showed it to me.

I know in my heart it is the right thing, but I am so nervous at the same time. I just want to cry.

When Love Doesn't Overcome All

When I was reading the aftermath of Vote No on One results in the Portland Press Herald I saw this photo taken by Gregory Rec, who takes wonderful photos for the Press Herald. I looked at this photo and it brought me to tears. Can you just imagine the whispers between this couple. The dreams that they had that aren't going to happen because Yes on One won. That people other then themselves have a say in their future. Can you imagine the disappointment and the heaviness in their hearts when it was announced that referendum one passed. It is just not fair.

History Girl whose two best friends are gay males, has decided that the next time this comes to a vote she will do all a teenager can do, because she doesn't think it is right that her best friends might not have a chance to marry when they are adults.

Horse Girl was worried this morning when she heard the outcome. She was worried about one of her classmate who has two moms, she was concerned that this outcome might mean that this classmate's moms couldn't live together and his family was going to be torn apart. We explained that isn't what is going to happen. Turns out when I talked to one of the moms today she said their youngest had the same worry.


There is a selfish reason I wanted No on One to pass, I rather Maine not be viewed as a backwards, backwoods, hick sort of state. I thought if No on One passed people would see the Maine I know and love. Well maybe next time, there will be a next and most likely sooner then later.

Teach Your Children Well

In the Tales From the Testosterone Zone she writes today about a quote from Tampa Mom.

"Why do we enable our children to mediocrity and/or coddle them into becoming emotional cripples? Our children are so smart and amazing, but so many times we’re caught up in our own emotions and make their challenges all about us instead of just handing them back and saying, “How are you going to handle this?”

We’d have a lot more motivated, capable young adults in this world if we didn’t solve our kids’ problems for them and instead gave them guidance to help them solve their own. That’s what I’m working on and it’s just awesome seeing exactly how capable and smart my kids are.

If you guide your children and allow them the freedom to make the choices, they learn from the good and the bad and are far more capable, decisive, sympathetic, and empathetic. Keeping them safe is one thing, keeping them smothered is something else entirely!"

I believe there are times to let children to have freedom to make choices and learn from the good and the bad. I let my girls have freedom to explore our town without my restraints and they have both learned a lot from it.

The problem I have with giving my girls the freedom to make their own choices when it comes to their education is having two kids with two very different learning differences, I need to teach both of them how to advocate for themselves and how to make sure they have the accommodations they need and stuff like that.

With Horse Girl it isn't a problem she has known she has a learning difference all her life. She didn't talk until she was three years old and with help of a speech therapist. So she is excepting and willing to learn what she needs to do so she can show what she knows. Horse Girl knows how to advocate for herself and the special services teachers and her regular teachers always tell me they have never seen a 9 year old advocate as well as Horse Girl does. I am very proud of that and I know I can step back and just guide her a bit at this point and help her where she needs help because of her learning differences.

History Girl on the other hand she is new to this whole learning differences thing. She goes between loving it and finding characters on TV that she looks up to or laugh with who have the same issues she has. Shelden from The Big Bang Theory, he makes her laugh often. Then there is Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan on Bones. History Girl is always amazed with Bones and sees herself in the character so much so she now doesn't know if she wants to be an Imagineer for Disney or an anthropologist.

She then goes to hating it. Not wanting the extra help, viewing the extra help as making her stupid some how. This makes me want to scream. I think I finally got her to realize that is not the case. I explained to her that my IQ is in the 95th percentile (well depending on the test 93rd to 97th, so 95th is in the middle and a good number to go with), which means I am smart, but there is no way in this world that I would have been able to do half of the stuff I have done in my life without the extra help that I have received. We all need extra help once and awhile and knowing to except it makes a big difference in quality of life. So History Girl is finally somewhat willing to except some help which has made a big difference.

I have to admit I find helping Horse Girl a lot easier because I can understand her and I have been there done that. With History Girl her needs are very different then mine ever have been and it frustrates me. I wish I could understand stand her needs as well as I do Horse Girl's but I don't and it causes fights and stress because I just don't get it as well as I should.

The biggest academic issue History Girl has is getting school work from point A to point B to point C and then passed in. I have tried to teacher her difference organizational styles and nothing works. I also don't understand needing to be taught organization, I created my own system in 7th grade and modified it as needed through high school and college. Luckily there is a person at History Girl's school who is working with her on this because this has cause too much stress between us. I don't understand how she can finish a project and not turn it in I just don't get it. Fly Guy points out the rest of the world don't get Horse Girl and my issues, so I guess this is the feeling he has when he looking in on Horse Girl working on her homework and stuff.

I guess what I am trying to say is as much as I would like to let this all go and let the girls make and learn from their own mistakes, this isn't the time for it, not yet. History Girl's Social Worker and I have talked. Our goal is that when History Girl starts her Junior year in High School I should be hands off, but since this is such a late diagnoses and at such a hard time in a girl's life because she is figuring out who she is and tossing this new thing in doesn't make it easy for her.
So this is just another way life is different for a parent with kids with learning differences. Not that I would change things for anything in the world, I see the amazing gifts that my girls have gotten from their learning differences so they are worth the difficultly. Just it means I can't parent the way I would like 100% of the time, I need to guide more because the school as good as it is can't do everything and it is my job to take care of it.

Activities

There is one thing that Fly Guy and I disagree about when it comes to parenting. It is extracurricular activities. I would like to see History Girl do some because I very it as an important part of growing up, Fly Guy doesn't think it is important. I guess I am frustrated with the fact that History Girl tries something for awhile and then gives up on it. I would like her to find something that will bring her some sort of happiness for the rest of her life. Yeah, yeah, I know that is asking for a lot, but you have to remember that I started swimming competitively when I was 10 years old and since then I have always viewed myself as a swimmer. Even when I was on a break from swimming for one reason or another I stilled viewed myself as a swimmer. I used Middle School and High School as a time to try new things, Fly Guy thinks it was because I wanted to be away from home. I think I just wanted to try new things. I enjoyed the year I had with the model airplane club, I loved my few years with the Outing Club. I also took part in track (threw shot put and discus and ran the mile), cross-country and I was one of the first members of my High School's girls' lacrosse team. I was a member of SADD. I was a member of the Math Club, I won an honorable mention for the state wide Math Fair in eighth grade. I took Russian after school. Went to the Soviet Union my junior year of High School. I enjoyed trying all these new things and feel that they all made me a more interesting and knowledgeable person.

Thinking about it even in college I did activities. I joined the Fencing club. Pledged a sorority. Joined the ACM. I was a member of the pagan students association and a Russian Language club.

I always have enjoyed trying new things and it really frustrates me that History Girl has no interests in activities. Fly Guy says he wasn't involved in much and he turned out relatively normal, so I guess History Girl will be ok also.

You might have noticed I haven't said a word about Horse Girl. Well that is because when she picks up an activity, she picks it up for life. The only thing she has ever dropped out of is Girl Scouts and I was happy when she did that because it meant I no longer had to be a leader. :-)
She takes part in gymnastics, horse back riding, 4-H, piano lessons, and drum lessons. She also has her twice a week tutoring so she can't fit anything else in. So I have no worries about her. :-)

During your school years did you take part in activities and to what extent?

Nablopomo

Well it is November and my last post was sometime in April. Yes I am still alive, but I have been very busy. I am going to try to do Nablopomo, I can't guaranty anything since I work at a toy fund this time of year so November and December are even more crazy time wise than normal, but I will give it a shot rather than fold up shop here.

Things are rolling along with Horse Girl, she has a specialist that is very well known in the area who has been checking her out. So we are hoping to have new ideas to help her with her reading. Over all things are going really well for her. She is in a class with 13 students. She has a great teacher who really wants Horse Girl to do her best and also not stand out because in 4th grade it starts to be hard to be different. So that is all very good.

History Girl just was given ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) and I really hope to get some answers that fit with our view of her. Teachers are realizing she learns different then other kids so they have changed things a bit for her. For example one teacher had a weekly word and the students had to do several little tasks with that word over the week. They got 10 points if they did all the things. Well History Girl doesn't deal with the minutia of educations and so she has a lot of problems getting a project from point A to point B to point C then handed in. So she was getting between 0 and 5 points on these words. The teacher decided to give the whole class a pretest on the words and if the student got an 95 or better they didn't have to do the word of the week at all. History Girl was one of two kids that got better than a 95 she got a 98. So that really helped that teacher realize that History Girl really did know her stuff just couldn't give it to her in the way the teacher was looking for.

Fly Guy is doing well. Nothing big going on there.

I am still doing the same stuff I have always been doing....trying to keep my family on track and that they all get what they need.

A challenge

A few weeks ago LSM issued me a challenge to state my "thoughts on the joys (or travails) of mothering."

Is it wrong that I had a lot of problems thinking up something to write about it? Then Fly Guy sent me a link to this blog. It is about postpartum depression.

I don't remember History Girl's newborn days that well. I remember wanting to hit my MIL after she asked me if I had bonded with History Girl and would I run in front of a bus to save her. I didn't say anything right away because it was such a far out question typical of my MIL. It just annoyed me. I am not sure when I bonded with History Girl, it didn't happen like it does on TV and in the movies when they hand you the baby and all you feel is love for that baby. I didn't have thoughts of hurting History Girl, just bonding didn't come quickly. I wrote it off as the fact that I had never been around babies. I never took care of babies. History Girl's diapers were the first diapers I ever changed. I never babysat, I made more money lifegaurding so babysitting never made sense to me. So I wrote bonding issues off as being very new to the baby thing and having problems breastfeeding. The bond was something that grew slowly. It was there sometime around the time History Girl was 13 months old when she broke her elbow.

Horse Girl was born when History Girl was 3.5 years old. I didn't expect the bonding to happen right away because it didn't with History Girl. I did expect breastfeeding to be a problem so I was ready for that. Breastfeeding was hard work and we had a lactation consultant come to the house to help and had a nurse come to the house to weigh Horse Girl every other day or so. It finally worked out and I thought since breastfeeding was working out I will bond quicker this time. Well that wasn't the case.

When Horse Girl was about a month or two old. I remember not being able to handle the girls any more. I was a failure as a mother and I had to get out of there. I left the house and went to the garage planning to leave the girls in the house a lone and run away. Once I got to the car I found I had a flat tire. So I couldn't go anywhere. When I look back at that situation, that is when I truly believe that there is some sort of higher power, because if there wasn't a flat tire who knows what I would have done, how long the girls would have been a lone, what I would have done to myself and stuff like that. I ended up going back inside and calling my OB/GYN and telling her what happened. She called in a prescription for an antidepressant. My father picked it up for me and brought it to me. Once I started taking the meds, I remember Horse Girl's smiles and how wonderful they were, I think I bonded with her with in a few weeks after starting the meds. I was on the medication for about 6 months to a year.

I rarely talk about the postpartum depression because that whole time of my life is so foggy to me that I just don't remember it. I think I suffered from postpartum depression on various levels from the time History Girl was born until I was on medication. I wish I had realized what was going on at the time. I feel like I missed History Girl's newborn and toddler years....I am glad I took a lot of photos and notes so I can look back on them.

I don't think this is what LSM was looking for when she issued the challenge, but this is my response. I hope that having another mother come out of the closet when it comes to PPD that it will make it easier for new mothers to realize it happens it is normal and get help.

OK, so I covered the travails, how about a few joys.

I love that at 9 years old Horse Girl still loves cuddles and she tells me that I am a good cuddler.
I love that History Girl feels she can share her private writing with me.
I love that History Girl's friends see me as a cool mom and like hanging out at our house.
I love watching both girls become more grown up every day and seeing glimpses of the adults they will be one day.

I know there are other things I love, but can't think of them right now. :-)

Tales of The Red Panda: The Crime Cabal

Awhile back I wrote about one of my favorite podcasts, The Red Panda Adventures by Decoder Ring Theatre. Gregg Taylor the writer and owner of The Red Panda came out with with a Red Panda book written in the tradition of the 1930's and 1940's pulp adventure magazines, titled Tales of The Red Panda: The Crime Cabal. I placed a pre-order for the book...well two copies of the book....sometime in August. It finally showed up last week. I read it in less then 24 hours....the only other time I have done that is with the Harry Potter books....with my learning differences reading takes a lot of effort and it tires me so it has to be a good book for me to read it that quickly and not notice getting tired from it.

The book covers the time between the first season and second season. It fills in some of the background that is hard to put in an audio show. It tells the story of how one of my favorite Agents of the Red Panda became an agent. Since it is written in a third person omniscient narrator style, we get a peek into the minds of the Red Panda and the Flying Squirrel, which was nice.

I can't write too much about the book, because all the people who placed a pre-order haven't gotten their books so I have to keep quiet about it. It was a book that was well worth the wait. Thank you Gregg for such a great treat and I hope there will be more to come.

Here is more info about "Tales of The Red Panda: The Crime Cabal."
Here is a link to Decoder Ring Theatre if you are going on a long car trip or something like that their podcasts are great to listen to then.

Facebook Meme

I stole this from Trees and flowers and birds!

Guidelines:
1. Put your iTunes or Windows Media Player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your next answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how outrageous it sounds!
4. Tag friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the note from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS, “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
“Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)” by The Doors I have no idea what that would mean. :-)


WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
“Sugar Magnolia” by Greateful Dead “She pays my ticket when I speed.” I could be like Sugar Magnolia, a good partner in a relationship paying speeding tickets, dancing a Cajan rhythm, and discovering the wonders of nature. I have no idea. :-)


WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
“Mack the Knife” by Ella Fitzgerald I know what that means....I like a person who can think on their feet and that really discribes Fly Guy. In this version Ella forgets the words to the song and like any good jazz singer she makes it up without losing a beat and that is why I love her as a singer. Fly Guy always is able to think on his feet in a way that I can and I admire him when it comes to that.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
“Five Feet High and Rising” by Johnny Cash Life’s Purpose....well maybe get out of a tough spot and help other people out. I have no idea...I am reaching. :-)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
“Sychronicity II” by The Police Well The Police have been my favorate band since about 1981 or 1982. But I do believe that there is a synchronicity and something just are ment to happen in they way the do. There is just a synchronicity in how and when events happen and you might now know why at the time but sooner or later it will all become clear and that it happened for a reason.

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
“Space Oddity” by David Bowie I am not sure how I feel about that ...either they think I am odd or that I am a depressed astronaut. hmmm...not sure how to take that :-)


WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN?
(“Darlin’) You Know I Love You” by Tina Turner I do think about Fly Guy often and he would be the only person in my life I would think about calling “Darlin’” and it is unlikely I would even call him that.


WHAT IS 2+2?
“Mama Kin” by Aerosmith If anyone has something to connect these please tell me.


WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
“The Figure 11” by The Mother Hips I have no idea with this one either.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LOVE?
“Beer for My Horses” by Willie Nelson Fly Guy has a stong sence of right and wrong and he will fight to the end to get what is right. The people that stand by him and support him he treats well giving Wiskey to his men and beer to their horses...well figurtivly I think Horse Girl would be upset if he gave horses beer.



WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
“Green Suede Shoes” by Black 47 I have no idea what this has to do with my life story except it is fun to play very loud and dance around the kitchen to. :-) The song is more or less about a Hard Irish Rock band making it through the US. ...that is the watered down version. :-)


WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
“Tempted” by Squeeze Hmmmm....I think I am going to just leave this one be.


WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LOVE?
“Come Together” by Peanut Butter Disco Hmmm...I will leave that one be also.



WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
“Sad and Deep As You” by Traffic Not even close to the song we danced to at our wedding, but we did listen to a lot of Traffic and Blind Faith (the two bands share two musicians) when we first were dating. We requested that “Can’t Find My Way Home” by Blind Fairth be played at our wedding, but they wouldn’t do it during the dancing part only the eating.


WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
“If I Ever Leave this World Alive” by Flogging Molly Accually I have always figured this is a song that will be played at Fly Guys wake. A lot Irish beer and wiskey flowing and some hard Irish Music.


WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
“Living in The Past” by Jethro Tull Well this is just too good. Being a person who loves reading History books...so in a way my hobby is living in the past.


WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
“What A Wonderful World” by Joey Romone That my friends make my life a wonderful world, but in order to be my friend they have to be a little different so that is why it is Joey Romone rather then Louis Armstong. :-)


WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
“Empty Bed Blues” by Beasie Smith Well that says a lot....something happening to Fly Guy and him not being around is one of the worst thing that could happen, but I won’t say it is the worst thing that could happen because the worst thing is always something you didn’t think of.


HOW WILL YOU DIE?
“House Burning Down” by The Jimi Hendrix Experince The last two have been too freaky.


WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
“The Big Race” by Mark Isham The fact I didn’t swim in enough big swim meets when I was growing up? Your guess is as good as mine.

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
“”Permanent Waves” by The Kinks Well the thought of my hair curly is a bit of a laugh plus the lyrics to many Kniks songs are so funny.

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
“Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel Well I guess in a way it does I once had a good friend who loved Peter Gabriel, so all Peter Gabriel’s songs remind me of her and the thought of a friendship dieing is sad.

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
“I’d Wait a Million Years” by The Grass Roots If I wasn’t already married this would be the perfect answer.

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
“Hot Rich Girls Dropped in a Grange (Gwen Stefani vs Snoop Dogg vs ZZ Top) by Torero (This is a mashup that is when someone takes a bunch of songs and take them apart and put them together in a new way that is suprisingly good a lot of times.)

If I knew how Hot Rich Girls are being dropped in a Grange it would scare me.


DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
“Beach Party Vietnam” by The Dead Milkmen Hmm...that is interesting I have a whole beach party that likes me.

What's your word

Your Word is "Peace"

You see life as precious, and you wish everyone was safe, happy, and taken care of. Social justice, human rights, and peace for all nations are all important to you. While you can't stop war, you try to be as calm and compassionate as possible in your everyday life. You promote harmony and cooperation. You're always willing to meet someone a little more than halfway.

What's Your Word?

Excited

History Girl has wanted to switch from French Horn to precusion for awhile now and today she had her try out to see if she could make the switch. The band director couldn't believe how far History Girl came in 3 months. History Girl is much happier on the drums then she was on the French Horn she plays the drums for fun, she played the French Horn because she was one of the few who could do it. So because she finds it fun, we are going to continue private drum lessons as well as lessons at school. If I can get her in we will try to send her to band camp again, she is excited about that because precussion had a lot more fun in her eyes then the brass secsion did.

Oh a quick update on the Asperger's...the school has already called in a person they use to get a clearer diagnous. We haven't even had the meeting and they are right on top of it.

History Girl

Well in the Fall we decided to have the school give History Girl a full battery of tests to see if we were missing something to cause her not to be able to preform to the level we know she should be doing.

Most of the academic tests came back saying that she was average, above average or well above average. We knew that and that is why we had the testing done because that is not how she is preforming at school.

Yesterday we got the psychological evaluation report back. Well we got that back and well there is where the problem lies. It seems she might have Asperger's or maybe high functioning autism, they want to do more testing to figure it out. We have a meeting on Friday.

Reading the report and knowing what I do about Asperger's it does fit. It actually fits really well, so well that I am feeling quite a bit of guilt for not picking it up earlier. I just thought she was quirky....she is a kid of two geeks, so quirky is normal, but knowing what we know about geeks and their tendency to Asperger's maybe I should have figured this out earlier.

I feel bad because with Horse Girl I could tell the signs right away. She was following in my footsteps with my learning differences, so I picked it up right away. She was in special services before she was 3 years old. I keep wondering what sort of dis-service did I do to History Girl for not being right on it like I was with Horse Girl.

Once again I love our school system. The school is already getting things in place for her. I have been exchanging emails with the Social Worker all week. We will be setting up an IEP on Friday. No arguing or fussing or demands or anything, they just do what is right, which is nice.

So that is what is going on right now and you most likely will be hearing from me again on Friday when I need

PS Before I got to post this the Social Worker at History Girl's school called me to make sure all is ok. She told me that she and History Girl had a great meeting this morning and things are on track. Isn't that just a wonderful thing for someone in the school system to do?

Have You Ever?

Have You Ever?

I stole this from Trees and flowers and birds!



1. Have you ever been on TV? Yes several times.

Once to talk about the pressure society puts on women to breastfeed. Since History Girl wasn’t able to breastfeed and even LLL members said there was a reason bottles were invented. Then Horse Girl breastfeed forever. I was viewed as a person who could see both sides.

Once about the importance of giving blood.

Once just before I did a polar bear dip on January 1st. They wanted to know what causes a seemingly normal person to jump in the ocean in the middle of a Maine Winter. The answer is it was there, it looked interesting and I am not one to back away from trying something just because it is odd.

2. Have you ever sung in public? Only when they made me in school.

3. Have you ever dyed your hair blond? A blond streak to make putting non-natural colors in my hair easier, but never 100% blond.

4. Have you ever eaten frogs’ legs? Nope never.

5. Have you ever received a present that you really hated? Yes. I had a friend who thought of herself as creative and she was in many different ways. She would make me gifts and well she was never able to made something in a style I liked. So every time she gave me a gift I was torn because I was pleased she cared about me enough to make me a gift, but it never seemed that she cared to make something I would like, just she was making that sort of thing at the time and she would just do one more and give it to me as a gift. After awhile the emotional struggle I had with every gift she made me just got so huge I hated all the gifts she made me. That might make me a bad person because I really disliked her handmade gifts....but anyone who knows me knows a pink batik of a cat framed in a acrylic box frame just isn’t me and she just didn’t care to get it.

6. Have you ever walked into a lamp post? No. Rode my bike in to a fence and flipped over the fence yes. :-)

7. Have you ever cooked a meal by yourself for more than 15 people? No, never by myself. Fly Guy is a much better cook then I am so I leave the big meals for him to do and I just help.

8. Have you ever fallen or stumbled in front of others? Does the day end in a y, if it does I most likely did it today.

9. Have you ever done volunteer work? Yes. Sexual Assault Response Services, Toy Fund, and in the girls school