So much happening...So Little Time...

Welcome to 2007. So much happening so little time!

Between work, corporate taxes (and more taxes and more taxes and even more taxes), the book I have been working on for the last few years. I received a response from an agent! Yes the book needs more work, yes I need to find a new editor, my full time job, preparing Mr. Frogman for Middle School or Junior High School. Starting all the meetings.

I'm not sure how much fight I have at the moment. This winter has taken its toll on myself, all of us in the house, my now lack of vacation time and needing a vacation away desparately...Some place warm, blue skies, beaches, HEAT...Okay that sounds good :)

Soon, very soon that is going to become a reality.

What brought the vacation idea on? Sitting at work today doing my normal daily mundane tasks, my computer, I have noticed every time I go into a particular screen runs particularly fast, hard and loud. It sounds almost like an airplane taking off. I was thinking of how many times Iwould have to go into and out of that screen for my computer to get me to Hawaii or Mexico. Which would it get me too faster? Then I got to researching the distance from Home to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico or Honolulu, Hawaii.

It has been almost 7 years since I was last in Hawaii in March of 2000. My ex's and my 10 year wedding anniversary. We spent 2 weeks in paradise. It was also the year my marriage started to fall apart. Amazing how you can go from wedded bliss to singleness. Amazing...Hindsight is definitely 20/20. Oh well, I am still thinking some place warm...

I have been thinking about an adult only get away to Disneyland! Taking a friend or two and just the adults heading out of town. Of course we will take the kids later. Mr. Frogman has been to Disneyland twice already and is going with his dad possibly again this summer.

But going to the Happiest place on Earth would be a great thing at this point after this pointedly cold and ugly winter. Although the snow (again) is beautiful its getting long and being forced to take vacation is not quite how I want to spend my vacation time.

I am going to research a bit more and see if there are any good deals I can find! I am sure they have a few out there that I can take advantage of....It will give me something to do when I am bored at work with nothing to do. It's amazing how much of doing nothing will zap your energy levels of wanting to do anything. It leaves me a lot of time to get stuff done for everything else, both on corporate taxes, personal taxes for all who request that I complete them for them, reading (I haven't had much time for that recently), writing, editing, and spending time with Friends and Family.

Mr. Frogman needs my attention so I will sign off for now. Have a great night!

Stupid Stories of the Week!

There have been 2 very stupid stories of the week. I can blame it on the full moon or I am just bored at work and let my mind have some momentary time off. I think my cohort in crime coworker Lady Leah at work had her moment here 2 weeks ago. Mine was more so stupid or they can be compared and both be equally stupid.

During the second day of our power outage at work (it was a Monday). I brought in fresh baked banana bread and real butter for us to enjoy as we sat at work not doing much of anything. As we sat and enjoyed a quiet breakfast, Lady Leah and myself, laughing and joking and spending time that we normally don't get to catch up on things. Finally we were sent home.

Day 2 of the power outage we again sat talking and serving banana bread. As we sat in our heavy coats and teeth chattering I started again to slice the banana bread, I opened the butter and looked, hemmed and hawed a bit and said, "Well, I don't think the butter is going to spread like it did yesterday. It's a bit cold." Lady Leah looked at me and non chalantly commented, "We can wait a bit until the butter reaches room temperature."

I dumbfoundedly looked at her as my teeth chattered and I held a cup of hot cocoa close to keep my hands warm and started to chuckle. I picked up the butter knife, tapped it on the cube of butter, looked at her and said, "Well, Lady Leah I think it is already at room temperature."

She and I started to laugh and her face turned red. She stated that she couldnt believe she had just said that. I couldn't either. We laughed about how she said her brain had gone on vacation a few hours early as she was headed out of town the same day.

We still get a good chuckle out of that now and then.

Today at work I sat bored the second half of my day. As I sat there wondering what to do next, work is light this month. I was a bit concerned I was only answering training questions, I know Lady Leah wasn't feeling well and was having a hard time focusing on remembering all the details of her job. I was a bit concerned when I went to call her I had my head set upside down and was concerned that she would be able to understand me if my headset wasn't the right direction. LOL I don't know what brought that on.

Time to turn the brain on and keep it working....**Sigh** I can't believe that I even had that type of thought. Onto the weekend where my brain can take a real break...

Happy New Year!!

Ok...Ok I am a few days late. Happy New Year Everyone!!

I made no resolutions this year at all. I have failed in the past so I figure why set myself up for failure. In stead I have set realistic goals for the next year and I am well on my way to accomplishing them. I will have to post my picture of the road of life for you here in the near future. I get many laughs from it and from people who like to think about it I get compliments.

I will have to redraw and scan it in here soon. I am not able to duplicate it like I did the first time. **Sigh** Oh well. I will add it to my blog soon.

Have a great night.

Storm Stories Coming Soon to a Blog Near You!!

I will have storm stories from the past week for you coming very soon.

We were very priveledged during this last storm to only lose power for an hour and a half before the storm began.

However there was a price to pay for this. My office has been out of power for 6 days. Without power I am unable to do my job. I have unfortunately not been able to work and have been forced to take time off.

I really enjoy the time off and able to spend time with family. The paycheck however will suffer greatly.

The price to pay. Many people complained about not having power at home and how they had to go to work to get warm. I had to leave a warm home to go to a job that was not available.

How backwards is that?

A few more days at home and then back to the work grind again. My office now has power. My "Monday" on Tuesday is going to be drastically busy. Without being able to do any work for a week I have to catch up on all my daily tasks. It will take me about 2 days to get caught up with all the everyday work I still have to do. Even with the holidays we are still very busy.

Enjoy the holidays, time with family and friends! 2006 is an excellent year.

2007 will be even better!!

'Twas...

'Twas 2 nights before Christmas and all through the place,
People were buzzing it looked like a race.

Stockings were hung on the bookshelves with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas wouldn't leave coal in there.

Kids were playing, arguing and such,
Mom and dad were in a rush, rush, rush.

Getting presents wrapped under the tree with care
Dad trying to keep mom from pulling out her hair.

While cooking dinner there was a loud cladder
I ran outside to see what was the matter.

There on the ground in the cold rain
laid dad on his back in terrible pain.

He fell down making a huge cladder
we found him on the ground next to the fallen ladder.

We rushed over to him to find out if he's okay
"No worries, no worries," we all heard him say.

As he limped across the yard pulling lights behind
We could hear him cry and we could hear him whine.

"These stinking lights, why, why, why?
Oh they need to go up or soon I will cry!"

Cookies and fudge were cooling in the kitchen,
Children were lurking and drooling hoping they were finger licking.

The house was clean the dishes done
Now the whole house was ready for fun!

What do you do 2 nights before christmas?
Unsure of this the boys were restless.

In hopes that Chistmas would come a day sooner
Or they would go crazy could they get any loonier?

Will Santa find us? Will he be here?
Of Course, of coures he will!

He won't forget you or me
Take a good look at our tree!

With everything ready, wrapped, packed and cooked
I settled back with no more time booked.

This holiday seemed busier than most
No longer the director, no longer the host.

After the weary day I layed down to rest
We know the kids all gave their best.

The kids were filled with worry and strife
wondering if they had done everything right.

Just about to doze all snug and warm
Dad tried to turn on the charm.

When I said, "No, I have a headache tonight."
He rolled on over and turned off the light.

"Merry Christmas," he grumbled,
"Merry Christmas, Yeah Right."

Storms, Storms and more storms...

First it was the snow...then it was the rain....finally it was the wind...

If you are from the Pacific Northwest you will know what the weather has been like. As I previously talked about it taking 7 hours to get home one night. Then the rain storms that came through that dumped a ton of rain in a very short time.

Finally last week it was the windstorms including the downpouring of rain. We had anywhere from 60-90 mph gusts depending on your location. As I stood looking out the kitchen window and watched the window bow under the pressure of the wind thinking, "Is it really safe to be standing here if the window should shatter?"

We lost power for about an hour and a half before any portion of the storm started and havent lost power since. We have been very fortunate.

The downfall to all of us being fortunate is that the workplace life is unfortunate. My office has been without power since Friday of last week. Up to this point in time we do not have power and without power I am completely unable to do my job. No one is sure as to when we will have power restored. We are being told before Friday, I hope so. I have used 1/3 of my vacation time to make up for lost hours this week. **What a challenge**

I get to work at 8am and then by 10:30 am with our teeth chattering they finally send us home, realizing the power isn't going to come on. We are asked to stay close (not sure where the whole area is out of power) or with in cell phone calling distance. If we don't hear from them by noon then to head home for the day. Of course each day we did not hear anything so we headed home by noon. Today it was 9:30 in the morning and we were sent home. I didn't hesitate, I was out the door and on my way home within 10 minutes of the announcement.

Wooohooo!! On my way home to clean the house! Kinda sad when that is my only thought...although the most of the house cleaning is done before the weekend and family coming into town.

Only 1 Day left....Until...

Mr. Frogman is going to be with his dad through the holidays. Another year getting through with smiles and telling everyone that things are okay when inside they really aren't. The one person I want to actually spend the holidays with won't be there.

It makes for a tough 2 weeks. We will have a heck of a christmas when he gets home. He and I both know this and it will be a sweet homecoming this year.

He leaves tomorrow. **Sigh** We are enjoying one more evening together.

6 Days and Counting!

Only 6 days and counting. It's a challenge keeping Monkey Dude Jr. in line. He keeps challenging Santa with his behavior...It's constant in the negative. We are trying to keep him on the up and up. We wrote him a Santa warning letter.

It's a wait and see game. I keep telling him that I hope that Santa wasn't looking when he did the things he did.

We are finding out the Monkey Dude Jr. is ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) he loves things in order and in a routine and schedule. Amazingly enough when tht happens we have bliss. Any changes, however, and we get bloody hell. **Sigh** Starting over again with child #2.

They are worth it though.

Mr.Frogmans Thought for the Day...

You have to keep the train moving forward or it won't continue working...

It's going to take me a bit to decipher what his meaning on this thought is or to find out what good laugh he has in store for me if I can't figure it out. :)

So Many Things So Little Time! (again)

There are many things happening all at once. Maybe it's self imposed stress, who knows. I am avoiding health issues at this time. I need to wait until after the Holidays when Mr. Frogman is at his dads and I will address it all at that time.

Taxes and business stuff is really weighting things down...Business equipment going down and out of commission when you least expect it.

Arguments with Mr. Frogmans dad. He is autistic and his dad does not believe there is anything wrong with him. A battle with ignorance. So many things so much misunderstanding. Between him and his fiancee having 5 kids between them, and they think there is nothing wrong with Mr. Frogman, as well as their 1st grader who does not know any of his letters or numbers or basic sounds and they keep pushing him onto the next grade. They tellNo me they are frustrated and they fight and push him to learn but he just isn't picking it up. So as I watch their lack of patience and his inability to make connections I am seeing a child being, in my opinion, set up for failure. Even if I stand up and say something it will fall on deaf ears.

Her kids can do no wrong and they don't believe Mr. Frogman should be in special ed. I laughed. Mr. Frogman is mainstreamed in school. He has some school services but not the special ed. If his dad was more involved in his life he would know this. If he were involved in the IEP meetings he would know what it is all about.

Just tonight they again told me I baby him...well, I don't believe a 7 year old needs to be treated like a teen ager or a young adult. I believe kids need to be kids. I know they need to learn independence and over time life skills. But I don't believe a 12 year old should be doing laundry for a family of 7. Maybe a load now and then but not for everyone all the time.

My final frustration of this is that Mr. Frogmans dad tries to punish Mr. Frogman at his dad's for his room being a mess at my house. How fair is that? I finally had to lay down the law tonight. I told his dad for the final time, I am no longer your wife, your girlfriend or anything else to you. If you want to control something control your woman, but you will not decide what will or will not be done in my home. I don't come in and do that to you. I expect the same. If you are unable to keep that separate then you will not be allowed in my home. He tried to explain that he had a right. I told him no the only right he had was to pick up his son every other weekend. He had no right to decide what, when, why, how for our son. That was my responsibility, he gave up most of everything when signing the final documents. Call this my frustration and anger speaking and this is not even the full extent...

Is stupidity a disease???

Cut backs...

My company like most in the 4th fiscal quarter of the year have been making cut backs since the beginning of the year. Cutting costs and saving where they can. Consolidating branches and resetting areas and job requirements. This is normal when the mortgage industry slows way down and interest rates rise.

Like any company they are looking to keep costs low and customer service and clientele up. There are many aspects to this as many of us know. It's late for me and I have to be up at 4:30am to get Wolfman on the bus. But as my office has gone through the many changes we joke about what is to be cut next.

The company used to purchase paper plates, plastic forks, spoons, knives and paper towels. As I get these notifications from the higher up powers that be, I notify my office accordingly so that no one can complain that I am not doing my job or not ordering the necessary supplies. Most recently they have stopped allowing us to order the paper plates, forks and spoons. I notified everyone via email and of course I received back all of the groans and grumbles via email.

As a joke one of my co-workers responded with the following question:

"When is our drying rack coming in?"

I had to email her back and ask her what the drying rack was for.

She emailed back replying, "To dry our used papertowels for re-use."
I chuckled when I saw the next email from my manager informing us of the following:

"Paper towel drying rack is on back order but should be expected to be put to full use within the next two weeks."

Another co worker proceeded to enlighten us with the next possible cut backs. They were going to make us work by candlelight and mirrors. I laughed at this and explained that mirrors would be too expensive, since we had such a seasoned staff that had so many awards hanging on office walls they would have to use the candle and refracted light making it reflect from medal tag on each award to metal tag to the location they needed light. If they wanted it brighter they would have to put a little more shine on those engraved plates.

If our corporate office knew what kind of thinkers we would have some issues.

Who knows what they will think of next to cut back....

My only serious worry about all of this is that they may cut back jobs. Not that I am concerned about finding work. I am not...But the hassle of looking for another job before I don't have one is not my preference. Yes I am trying to avoid using the dreaded unemployed word...

Especially at this time of year....I don't think they would at this time of year but to save money any company would do what they had to do...**Sigh** not something to think about at this time.

The Day Has Finally Arrived!

Yes! The day has finally arrived for Mr. Frogman to take off his splint and move to a wrist brace for his arm for another 2-3 weeks. He will get to take it off the week of Christmas. What a great present! To be able to have no hinderance in his day to day happenings. I am very excited for him!

Now he will be able to finally take out the garbage and recycling again as well as help with dishes. No more listening to how difficult it is for him to wash his hair in the shower without help. He gets very embarrassed if Mom even talks about helping him in the shower.

**Sigh** Back to the way things were...Finally....

Happy Birthday Mr. Frogman

I am a bit late in posting this...

Happy Birthday
Mr. Frogman!!

Mr. Frogmans birthday was on Thanksgiving day. I didn't forget I spent the time with him instead of posting. He reminded me that I hadn't wished him a happy birthday on my blog and it would make him feel special if I did.

So Mr. Frogman Just for you sir...
I love you!!

Should I add lots of hearts and hugs and kisses too?!

Another day of patience....

Three weeks ago Mr. Frogman fractured his left arm at a Boy Scout camp out. He came home telling me it was sprained. He had it checked out by a fire fighter. Okay, I thought if it still hurt in a day or two we would make a doctors appointment and have it checked.

He wasn't home from the camp out 2 hours when, while I was working in the yard, he walked out very angrily. He came up to me and stood on one of the large landscaping rocks that embodied one of the beds around a tree in the yard. As he dramatically and emotionally explained to me that Monkey Dude Jr had tackled him and knocked him down to the hard floor where he landed on his arm yet again and telling me how badly it hurt. As he was animatedly trying to tell me his arm motions caused him to lose his balance and fall head over heels onto the ground literally doing a summer sault and then landing face first in the grass.

As he stood up I couldn't help but laugh at the entire front of his body covered in freshly cut grass, leaves and dirt. Mr. Frogman is not a small child. He stands about 5'6" if not a bit taller for a now 12 year old. I couldn't hold back the laugh since I wasn't sure if he was spitting out leaves and dirt (he wasn't actually), he was making a disgusted face and brushing himself off amazingly even angrier. It probably didn't help that mom was laughing. I know laughing wasn't the right thing but it stopped the potential down fall of emotions that would have quickly followed.

Since he had yet again hurt his arm I had to take appropriate action, we iced it down again and of course wrapped it up so that he could keep it still. The next morning he informed me that he needed to go and see the doctor. I was certain his wrist was sprained. He kept telling me that it was broken. I went to work and scheduled a doctors appointment only to be told I would have to take him to get x-rays since our doctors office doesn't have an x-ray machine. Off we went to get x-rays. Scheduled a second appointment with the doctors office to go over the x-rays.

We got into the Dr.'s office at 5:00pm and waited and waited. 2 hours in I asked when we were going to be seen. They informed me that the late evening appointments were on a time basis they would fit us in. I was frustrated by this time having waited this long and having 2 boys becoming more and more rambunctious. I was under the impression that we had a scheduled appointment time. The boys hadn't had dinner and were getting very wiggly. Even our wiggle activities weren't working these boys were ready to run. I finally had to have Wolfman come and get Monkey Dude Jr and pick up some dinner. This brought some relief to the situation. With Monkey Dude Jr gone. Mr. Frogman and I sat down to wait a bit longer to find out the results of the x-rays.

Lo and behold not 5 minutes later we were led into a room to talk to the doctor. The doctor came in and tried to lighten the blow. After Mr. Frogman recounted his story 2-3 times again they finally came out and told me that he had again fractured his arm on the growth plate yet again. So there we sat again joking about it until the doctor walked in again to set his arm in a splint. She looked at me with a glare over Mr. Frogmans head after he was seated in a chair. I truly didn't care. Mr. Frogman was starting to get agitated as it bothered him that he had to be in a splint for 4-6 weeks.

The doctor walked out and asked me to join her in the hall way before she wrapped his arm. She was upset because she didn't feel that I was taking this seriously. I looked at her and suddenly the smile left my face. I looked at her and made it very clear that I took this very seriously. I understood the severity of what was going on. My one statement that shook her was that, "Obviously you know nothing of children with Aspergers and my son. You haven't read his file eigther or you would know that I have to keep him distracted since you didn't read his file. He gets perturbed and agitated under flourescent lighting. You have had him cooped up in 2 different rooms for almost an hour with only flourescent lighting. I have to keep him distracted with humor, since it's easy to make him smile and laugh, or he will start to panic and get angry. Which would you prefer? To wrap an arm of a child smiling or laughing? or to wrap an arm of a child who can't sit still for you? Now you have a choice, you can wrap his arm with our humor and ways of keeping him calm or I can leave you with him in a very serious tone and have you deal with a child who will soon be agitated." The doctor looked at me and then told me she would rather have the humor. I walked back into the room with my son and smiled and asked if he was ready...He asked me, "ready for what?" I looked at him and said they needed him in a body cast and we were going to leave his feet and arm pits exposed. He asked me why. I told him so we could tickle him anytime we wanted and he wouls have to live with it. "Awe Mom, they would never do that," he giggled. "Okay lets get this over with, let's get it wrapped up." He really regretted those words when the doctor told him he had to keep the splint on for 4-6 weeks.

Today Mr. Frogman is counting down the days until the day he can take the splint off and only wear a wrist brace. Tonight before bed he announced only 3 more days left to take this stinking splint off. I am not sure if he was being literal or if he was calling the splint stinking out of spite.

Only a few more days...

Happy Thanksgiving 2006!

Thanksgiving, a time to enjoy family and friends. Talk about a good day. Nothing like taking a half of a day off of work to make all the desserts for family. I cook desserts each year for my family. Everyone brings something. I bring many things. This year I cooked but yet I cheated a bit as well. I make all the pumpkin pies for my family, plus many other desserts. Ok I said that many times.

I made 6 pumpkin pies, bought one huge "death by chocolate" chocolate cake from Costco, and made tons of cookies. Ok so I cheated there a bit this year too...

I bought Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough and Wolfman did a great job baking them up this year since he had the patience to deal with an oven that wasn't working. I managed to bake pumpkin pies in the oven since you really can't mess them up unless you burn them.

I had planned for about 30 and we had several people no show this year. Without any kids for the holiday it made it only the adults. Mr. Frogman spent the holiday with his dad and returns on the Sunday following. Monkey Dude Junior spent the holiday weekend with his great grandparents in Portland. Leaving Little Sister, Wolfman and myself home with no one to take care of but ourselves. I finally got to get some sleep!! Some much needed long awaited only one night of 8 hours of continuous uninterrupted Sleep!

Thanksgiving consisted of all of my siblings, my grandmother, Wolfman and Little Sister, Sight See'r joined us this year as well. It was a small gathering but a good one.

Good Food, Good Company...It was all good!

**Update** Read All About It!

Mr. Frogman Survives!

He makes it out of the permeated, stench filled air with very little air left in his lungs and only a matter of seconds before he passes out from Wolfmans lack of ability or want to hold his natural gas. He felt Mr. Frogman deserved the punishment after all the times he has had to endure the joking and smells of the gasses that Mr. Frogman lets out on a whim.

Although it was a close call, Mr. Frogman and Wolfman are learning how to work out their differences without using violent or extreme measures. Our house is continuously filled with laughter and many times different fumes of gas depending on the nature of the event and what was served for dinner.

Since the Last Time...

Mr. Frogman came back from his overnight at Boy Scout Camp this weekend. He and Wolfman had a good time going up there doing the guy thing.

We had an unusually great day. No fights between the kids a great dinner time. After dinner Mr. Frogman decided to regale the whole group in our home with the following tale:

"It was a dark and stormy night. The rain patted steadily against the roof and windows. The wind blew the branches against the house causing noises. The shutters crashed back and forth (we don't have shutters). The lightening flashed.

As Mr. Frogman laid in bed he could hear the the door slowly creak open. Soft footsteps stepped acorss the carpeted floor. The fort curtains parted, RRRRIIIIIPPPP!!!

Wolfman comes in and rips a good one! Then runs like crazy leaving Mr. Frogman in the bed to attempt to hold his breathe long enough to get out of the room and away from the smell that will soon permeate and cause him to pass out. Does he make it? Stay tuned!!"

Can you imagine how much laughter ensued in our house after this? They are still laughing reading this over and over....

Have a great night!

The Start of a New Challenge!!

That time of year has come around again for me to go into the meetings with the school and set up Mr. Frogmans IEP for the up and coming year that will lead him into Junior High or Middle School as some would refer to it.

I got a good taste of others opinions on how to "treat" autism. It has been recommended to me to start Mr. Frogman on medication the reasoning being "My child responds real well to that." To what being doped up to conform to what society wants???

To hell with that. My child will be raised to have the best in life for him. NOT for what society wants. It leaves me angry that others, who have never met my child, "think" they know what is best for him.

Let me step back a moment as just the thought of a few of the conversations I had still make me angry. It is either ignorance or incompetence or alot of both.

I have researched autism, and the possible leads to "cures". Which in my opinion there is no cure. I have found in our home that we are not searching for a cure, we are searching to ensure our quality of life is positive and making Mr. Frogman more independent in his own life by providing him with the tools necessary at his own pace to make him a unique and independent individual.

Stepping back further. I recently went in to have the annual IEP meeting at his school. Mr. Frogman has anger issues. Not anger management and he doesn't lash out. When he goes over a situation that has made him angry a week later or a month or even in a case or two a year later he gets almost as upset as the day it happened. His hands ball into fists, his voice gets mean, his jaw clenches and he is internally angry. When we discuss it out he is fine and things are back to his regular business. If he were to tell the story again he again becomes angry with fists clenching and so on.

I am searching for resources to help him, social groups, play groups, even a child psychologist as someone to talk to to get his frustration out and help him let the anger go. Techniques that just aren't working for mom. As I started to make a few phone calls and research places that offer services to children with autism for anger and contacting the references they gave me or other parents to talk to in a support group, I found the world I didn't want to be involved in. Maybe I know now where Mr. Frogman gets it and it's not just him who needs to let go of the anger.

Incompetence and ignorance irritate me to no end. People who can't open their mind to even listen annoy me, usually this is only when they are one sided I don't bother taking the time to explain or give an opinion as by that point they are not worth the time.

The one thing that truly amazes me is the fact that, in my opinion there is a very special child in their life and they have them so drugged up they don't even know they exist. I know I am probably wrong here but that is the impression after speaking with 3 families in this program that has now got me so turned off that I don't want to have anything to do with it.

I posted on my support groups web site today and of course received what is in my opinion some wonderful feedback even from the parents that have taken a different course of working with their child and handling autism.

Ok so mom needs to let go of the anger a bit too. I have been dealing with his autism since he was diagnosed 6 years ago. I knew something was askew when he was an infant but no one would test him until he was 5. I knew I didn't have the perfect child and when diagnosed already had instinctively taken steps to keep things steady in his world. We didn't have to change much in our lives after his diagnosis but what we did have to change made a huge difference to the positive in our life.

The goals he faces and accomplishes after mainstream school are minor. Most parents of an 11 or 12 year old don't even think about this most of the time. Mr. Frogman has an issue with going to the bathroom. Not with actually going but using too much toilet paper, but then what kid didn't? Well, Mr. Frogman when he goes....he goes...so I have taught him when he is going to flush the toilet a time or two or three to ensure the toilet doesn't plug. Even after using paper.

Now he is headed into Junior High or Middle School depending on how it is referred to in your district. I have had to work at home and with his team at school on independence, responsibility, accountability and the bathroom issue. Which is what we have been working on for quite some time but really focusing on the final pieces now.

How quickly the emotions change from thinking of ignorance and stupidity to Mr. Frogman and how far he has come in the past few years. The joy he brings to everything around me and how much joy everything he does brings joy to him. How much each day I leave work in the thought that I am headed home to be with him and find out how his day was. To pester him about homework and have our quality time.

**Sigh** The huge joys of life.

Good Monday Morning!

Okay after a good yet short nights sleep I am up and ready. Only an hour to go and the work day commute begins. Time to get the kids up and running and making sure everyone is ready to wake up this morning.

I know I didn't want to get up and out of bed this morning. After a very long soak in the hot tub and watching the raccoons pillage through the yard for worms it was quite interesting. I was watching this animal not 10 feet from where I was sitting in the hot tub that was bigger than my last cat. Dog gone those animals get big!

I know we have wildlife here where we are from mice (not a preference of mine) to racoons, opossum, and an occassional coyote. I am sure when they start building houses in the large brush area across the street that we will have more critters come through but we will see what happens.

Okay on to start my day. Hopefully it won't be as long as some of the ones I have had recently. Wish me luck on no more overtime!!

Have a great day!!

Long Time Coming....

It's been a while since I last posted. My birthday to be exact. 3 weeks ago today. So many long hours at work. I had to give my manager an ultimatum. Hire someone or lose your final person. It takes 4 people to do what I do at work. I have been putting in 60+ hours at work per week for the last 8-12 weeks. I took time for Mr. Frogman and was at every Cross Country Meet. I was there for most Boy Scout Meetings. I became the committee chair for MonkeyDude Jr's cub scout pack, recruitment chair for Mr. Frogmans Troop. (Yes, there is a difference. Boy Scouts are Troops, Cub Scouts are packs). It is amazing the terminology difference. It's definitely an education.

I received recently top honor awards at work. Yes the overtime checks are fantastic and can be used at this time. But when you think about it, what does it really mean? Within the company you have a piece of paper that says you achieved more than the next person. When you leave the company what does it mean? Absolutely Nothing! The popular saying you hear is, "You never see a gravestone that says, I should have spent more time at work." As much as I can use the money as I am sure anyone can I don't need it. I don't need the loss of sleep. I don't need the stress. I don't need to lose any more time with Mr. Frogman.

When I approached my manager he looked at me and made a few comments and then went back to work. 3 days later a job offer was made to a part time assistant for my position. The down side is that she needed to give 2 weeks notice. I had 2 weeks left to work. She starts tomorrow!! After this week there is no more overtime. No more long hours. Cross Country for Mr. Frogman is now over so it is one more day I don't have to try to rearrange schedules and work split shifts. Although, no matter what happens I would bend over backwards to make sure he got to where he needed to go and do the things we have committed to.

The old 8-5 shift is something I am greatly looking forward to. Wish me luck in actually getting to it.