Alex's 10th Birthday

I made a big effort this year to make Alex's birthday special. I found a lot of things at target he liked (which is not hard to do!).


I went through the store looking for things Alex would want, not things I want him to want, or that I want him to have. There is a big difference between those two sets of things. It is hard for me to let Alex be Alex. I want him to be something he just isn't. I think I put more pressure on Alex because I know Joseph is Joseph, no matter what. I need to let Alex be Alex as well. Mommy lessons are hard.


Because I'm not working full time this summer (see previous blog entry) I was able to put together a birthday party for Alex. We invited both family and friends--10 kids and various adults-- I think it went well. Alex was pretty wound up, and had a few times when he had to run off to his room to have a short tantrum. But, all things considered, he did well. He was disappointed at the last minute when two of the neighbor boys couldn't come to the party, but as soon as other kids started to arrive he was fine. Dave arranged the big surprise of the day--a visit from Brutus Buckeye! Alex was very excited, as were most of the adults! I think the adults may have been even a bit more thrilled with the chance to meet Brutus than the kids. Even Grandma wanted her photo taken with Brutus.

The photos of grandma are too funny!




Everyone had a great time even though it was hot, humid, and rained on and off all day! We somehow managed the party between storms.

Monster!!!

Enough??

Five min after signing "I'm hungry," Joseph serves himself a small snack. I'm blogging from my phone. It is hard to write much, but easy to do from almost anywhere.

Ready for game

Joseph is looking good. I'm learning to send blog entries from my phone... Should help put more photos up here.

I'm back

Well--I loved my new administrative job for the first 10 months. Then the director resigned. I was the "Associate Director." The man they chose to replace the director as a two-year interim director is not a nice man. He gave me endless grief--He was condescending, distrustful, demanding, and downright deceitful. So, I resigned. So, now I'm back to my 9 month teaching position. Thank goodness for tenure. Looking forward to a year with no committee or service responsibilities. Trying to get geared up for some academic research after my brief hiatus in adminitrivia.

I suspect that my tolerance for BS has been lowered by my children. I suspect that ten years ago I might have tried to "tough it out" "make it work" "get through it." But today, given life at home, I don't have the patience for childish behavior in the workplace. I deal with enough of it at home.

I'm sad. Like I say, I loved that job. Dave summarized the situation very well. He says I'm task oriented. I get the job done. But, I'm not able to deal with home stress and do the work, if I have to put up with "people related work stress."

So, one thing I missed over the past year was my blog.

I'll try to start up my blogging habit again--perhaps that will make me less sad.

Catching up

Just in case anyone ever checks up on me anymore.

IEPs tomorrow at the new school. So far, so good. Same boys, basically even the same services. The difference is this school goes out of the way to make us feel as if we are doing okay. They are positive. They don't start every conversation with a list of the things that are wrong. If they do have a problem to tell us about, they tell us how they plan to address the problem.

Closing on the old house is Oct. 26th. I'm feeling pretty lucky that we found a buyer.

Last Friday did not count as a good day because I went to the ER. I fell at work and broke a small bone in my foot. Not terrible, just annoying. I'm tired of limping already, and it will be 5-7 more weeks.

My niece had a baby with a cleft lip. I find myself bothered by it more than I'd expect. (Our Joseph had a cleft lip and palate.) I guess I know too much--I know that it is hard to put a baby through surgery--I know it is hard to have people stare when you take your baby out. I know none of that is important, but it is still hard... I just wrote to my brother that although the important stuff is all okay, the unimportant stuff is still hard. Can't wait to see a picture! They said it was a small cleft--I hope so!

There are the cliff notes on our lives!

Yes, I'm busy

I just talked with my sister, and she says she has been checking my blog!!! I'm sorry she never finds any news.

The new job has a steep learning curve. I've not made any huge mistakes, yet. Well, one kinda big mistake, but others could fix it.

The boys start school tomorrow.

The new school hired an interpreter for Joseph. Seems their attitude is "let's assume he is capable, and give him what he needs to succeed." I'm terrified--nervous--anxious--but very hopeful--excited--pleased. All at the same time.

Alex's teacher is young and energetic. His new tutor seems great also.

I continue to think that if half of what looks great at this school turns out to be good, we will be WAY AHEAD of last year. The move will be worth it.

Speaking of worth and moves. We are still the proud owners of two homes. Luckily, we are too busy to do anything but give our money to the banks. If we had time for recreational activities that cost money, we might be feeling distresses. As it is, the news about the housing industry is not good. The realtor keeps telling us to update the cosmetics of the old house. Yea--I have trouble finding time to shower. I'm not going to find time to strip wallpaper. And there just isn't money in the budget to pay someone to do it. So... We will hang onto our real estate investment, hope the market improves, and be patient.