When losing feels like winning

Joe recently learned about betting.  Now he wants to bet us about everything.

"I'll bet you a quarter that our team wins tonight."
"I'll bet you a quarter that Diesel is sleeping on my chair again."

Thank goodness his favorite bet is a quarter!

Last Sunday after we dropped Alan off at camp, he says to me, "I'll bet you a quarter that Alan likes camp."  Oh man, you have no idea how much I wanted to lose this bet!

Drop off was ROUGH!

Dad stayed with Alan and I went to go sign him in and drop off medicines.  The medicine line was ridiculous.  150 special needs folks and only four nurses signing in medicines.  And they had to rewrite every single one.  We got there on the early end of drop off and I stood in line for at least 20 minutes and probably closer to 30.

Meanwhile Alan was crying like his heart was breaking.  He tried to get back in the car and DH locked him out of it.  Then they walked him over to look at the pool and when he expressed an interest in swimming, the counselor took him back to the cabin to put on trunks.  Then DH moves the car and hides.

Poor guy.  Later he told me that he had the harder job (I agree) but that it was just as well we split up like we did because he probably would have snapped and yelled at someone in the medicine line.

When we left Alan was only sniffling and there had been no headbutting or hitting.  His tears are killers though.  He just looks so freaking miserable.

Meanwhile all I can do is wonder what he is thinking.  Does he think we abandoned him?  Does he understand enough to know that we will come back and this isn't forever?

Monday night was so weird.  Joe was working.  DH gets home and says, "What do you want to do?  Go out for dinner?  See a movie?"  Wow.  No sitter required.  We almost had an empty nest.  We could get used to this.  Nope.  We won't.

Several times throughout the week we started and looked around frantically for Alan.  It was definitely weirdly quiet.  For a kid that is essentially non-verbal he is noisy!

It was a productive week.  I got Alan's room painted (I hate painting) and we took Joe out for steaks -- something he loves but of course Captain Picky won't touch.

Alan's one on one counselor was wonderful and communicated well with me -- we exchanged over 100 texts over the course of five days!  She even got him to shower (something we've been wanting for forever) and we were able to carry it over for the last two nights.  He still doesn't like them, but we are at least hopeful!

By Thursday, I was missing my Bug something fierce, though.

It turns out a good time was had by all.

After we got home last night, Joe comes in to see me.  "So did he have a good time at camp?"

Yes, he did and I was so happy to lose this bet that I paid him double!

TBT - Mischief Mode

Ha!  I found this post when I was looking for my TBT (Throwback Thursday) post and had to laugh.  This post originally ran during Spring Break of 2013.  Today is the start of "summer vacation" for Alan.  Of course, in reality he starts summer school next Monday so it is only a few days, but I could totally relate to this anyway.  We also have the fun of a haircut scheduled for tomorrow -- DH is taking a half day of vacation to help us break this rut.  Say a prayer that it will help.  Have a great weekend, readers!

Mischief mode

By the time Spring Break is over for the boys, I will probably weigh 300 pounds.

 
I'm a "stress" eater.  I've always known this.  When I am blissfully happy, I forget to eat.  For some unknown reason I haven't done that in years. 

This week is especially tough because all Alan wants to do is go out to eat lunch -- and we all know that fast food is sooooooooo good for you.
 
Meanwhile, Alan no longer likes to go to the zoo or the park or anything remotely like this.  So after taking him out to lunch, he climbs and gets into mischief and I eat.  And it is only Wednesday. 

DH was hoping to take a few days off work to help me out but he is having problems and vacation isn't a great thing at the moment.  We are still hopeful that will change tomorrow or Friday.

We had to get rid of all our home workout equipment because Alan liked to climb on it (that is a bit hard on an elliptical or a weight machine) and so I don't have any easy way to work out here at home.

I had some faint hopes before Spring Break that I could race up to the gym and do a fast workout and leave Joe in charge of Alan but unfortunately for that plan, Alan has been in mischief mode this week.

Alan knows what he is allowed to do outside.  Really, I think we are pretty darn lenient about that but we do draw a few lines.

We do not allow him to climb on the neighbors' swing set.  While he is unlikely to fall, 160 lb kid could easily break something.  And, if he does fall and hurt himself, I am sure they would come up with some way to sue us for that.

We also do not allow him to climb over our deck rails.  We have reinforced all the rails but still don't think that is a good thing.  We also don't allow him to climb the siding of our house.  And yes, he has tried to do all of these things especially when he gets in mischief mode.

He is actually sort of entertaining to watch when he gets into mischief mode.  He goes outside and looks over his shoulder to see if I am watching.  When he sees that I am, he happily walks over to the tree or the swing-set and climbs and plays.  Then he casually glances over his shoulder and studies the sliding glass door and any of the windows in which he has seen me watching him.  If he doesn't spot me he scampers off to one of the places he knows he's not allowed to climb and starts climbing.

Yesterday was a fairly pleasant day so I figured I would take my book and read outside while he climbed.  That worked for awhile and then I went inside and as soon as I went away from the windows to do something mundane like laundry or dishes, he struck!  I came back to find him hanging on the railing from the outside of our deck.  Grrrrrrrrr

After a time out, he wanted to go outside again so I followed him out with my trusty book.  I got a deck chair set up and ... he decided to go back inside.  I put away the deck chair and followed him and ... he decided to go back outside so I followed him and then he gave up and decided to play inside for a little while.  Thank goodness for small favors. 

Of course, being inside makes it easier for me to eat.  There is always a downside.

The inflamation that won't end ...

I have an eye condition called episcleritis.  My eye sclera gets inflamed and turns various shades of red.  It is not contagious.  I have not scratched it.  But it does hurt.  A lot!

I tend to get these pesky things when I'm under stress.  I got my first one when I was pregnant with Alan.  I have since gotten 3-4 a year on average -- this is a bit of guess, but I don't think I'm exaggerating.  Some go away in a couple of days.  Most hang around for a couple of weeks.  I have one now that has pretty much been here since the start of April.  Ugh.

I'm tired of people in my house.  Although for the most part the workers have all been polite, unobtrusive and good at their respective jobs, the revolving door involved with a major home remodel is stressful.

Then there are the financial implications of the kitchen.  It wasn't cheap.  We both agreed that we were going to do it "right" because we didn't want to be redoing this in 10 years, but it was expensive.  Certainly more than I initially thought it would be.

Then I got a letter today telling me that Joe didn't make it into the college program.  Truthfully this probably stresses DH and I way more than Joe.  We want more for him than working a couple of weekends a month and volunteering three mornings a week.

Both boyz are having medication issues.  Joe is experiencing severe anxiety about weird things.  A med change should help with that.  Alan's OCD is flaring again.  We are going to the doctor later this week.  Hopefully he can work a few of his usual medication miracles.

Then there are some family issues which I don't want to go into on the blog.  Some are health related.  Others are conflicts.  Each issue is another straw upon this proverbial camel.

But on the bright side, I think I like the new kitchen color!  It's a cheerful yellow.