I got the kids ready for school this morning and DH offered to take them in.  Nice.  I went back to bed and tried to sleep for a bit.  Deb (Kyle’s therapist) called about his schedule for this week and I told her I was concerned because he is not feeling all that great.  We were on the phone for an hour.  (Cutting into my sleep time).  I now had an hour I could rest.  I crawled in bed but never fell back to sleep.  I finally got up and got ready for the game. 

I packed a couple of winter Packer jackets, a couple Packer hats, gloves, rain slickers, etc.  I drove to Mom’s.  She wasn’t ready yet so we visited while she got ready.   We headed to Green Bay plenty early.  Mom likes to be there EARLY.  We’re driving on backroads, 20 minutes from home and she gets stomach cramps and thinks she is going to be sick.  I pull into the first public place I see and it’s a Subway.  I order a late lunch and she sits in the toilet.  We lingered at Subway quite awhile and finally she felt better.  We got Green Bay and got parked in our usual spot.  We visited with lots of people (strangers) and went up to our seats early.  At first we just carried the winter jackets in, but they put them on when we got into the stadium - it was cool with a bit of wind.  She was still feeling okay.

The 4 fighter jets that flew over were awesome.  Diamond Rio sang the National Anthem and it was beautiful.  The huge flag on the field….it was a really nice start.

The game started and the Packers looked like a 7th grade team.  There were so many penalties called it was ridiculous.  The first quarter took forever.  Finally Rogers hit Jennings on a long ball and that got the crowd into it.  It seemed like it was 2 steps forward, one step back - penalty.  It was a good game in that it was close, exciting and nerve-racking.    We never had it “in the bag” until the Bigby interception in the waning minutes.  The Packers had pulled it together somewhat and at least it was a win.     We pulled right out and got on the way home.  We stopped at Arby’s for a sandwich and  visited all the way home. 

It was fun game, a fun day.  I always enjoy going with my Mother.  She’s funny, we have a lot to talk about and laugh about.  We can make fun of each other and ourselves.  My Mom is really one of my best friends.

When I got home from work last night I had two emails from my mother.  I read the first one she sent at 6:30 p.m.  She had been down to the hospital to see her brother, Lew, who  had a stroke a few days ago.  Her report was not good.  She wrote that he was not going to recover, not going to get better and she hoped he would just go to sleep.  The second email came at 8:08 p.m. - Lew had passed away.

When I got up this morning I got some laundry going and organized the kids’ clothes for the week.  They have one of those cubbies in their closets with a shelf for each day of the week.  It sure makes getting ready for school much easier.  Erika came down to her room to help me choose her outfits.  Funny thing - she has just started being a Hannah Montana fan.  She has never seen the show because I don’t think it’s appropriate for a 7 year old, but other kids at school must talk about her being ‘cool’ so Erika likes her, too.  I bought her several HM outfits for school.  I don’t know if the girls in her class this year don’t like HM or what, but she doesn’t want to wear any of those clothes to school.  ?? Huh?  Anyway, I got their clothes ready and did the laundry.  I packed Kyle’s lunch for tomorrow and then my Mom called.

The arrangements are for Tuesday night and Wednesday.  Mom seemed okay.  She said after seeing Lew at the hospital she knew this was a blessing - that he didn’t linger for weeks or months.  He just went to sleep.  I am probably going to the wake alone and DH will stay home with the kids.  Wednesday he is going to go to work in the morning and then meet me for the funeral.  Then he will come home right after the funeral to get the kids off the bus and I will stay for the lunch.  Kyle was supposed to have therapy Wednesday but I will have to try to switch that.  I have a call in to Deb.  That’s the plan.

I made philly cheese steaks for a late lunch and we watched Brett Favre play for the Jets.  He looked awesome!  I sure hope he does well this year.  Today was a good start…

I got ready for work and kissed the kids good-bye. 

Work has been very slow.  I had laundry to do, but not much.  We have 4 rooms booked for tonight so it is quiet here.  I kind of like it this way - I can get paid to read a book, surf the net, shop on ebay.

Going to the Packer season opener tomorrow.  It will be late by the time I get home and I have to get up and get the kids ready for school on Tuesday, so I may not post tomorrow.  Go Pack Go!

This last week has been a rough one for me.  Let me go back…

Last weekend - Labor Day weekend - DH’s 2 older children came for a visit.  We don’t see them that often and I was looking forward to their visit.  The oldest, Sara, came with her long-time boyfriend (Andrew) and her daughter, Vanessa, who is 5.  Second daughter, Kristen, came with her boyfriend of about 9 months (Phil), whom I had never met.  The kids arrived on Saturday night and we stayed up late visiting.  Kyle was p at his usual time Sunday morning, so I got him some breakfast and put on a cartoon and snuggled with him on the couch a bit.  He wanted to play with Robotcha or on the computer and I had to keep reminding him that we had a bunch of people in the house and everyone was sleeping.  Soon Erika and Vanessa were up so I got them breakfast, too.  As the rest got up we had brunch and I had arranged a babysitter so the adults could go out to dinner.   Helen arrived at 3:15 and we first set out to our favorite watering hole for bloody mary’s - the kids like them, too.  After a few we went to our favorite restuarant - now the kids favorite restaurant, too.  We had great appetizers, good conversation and an exceptional meal.  We decided to head to a third place closer to home for an after-dinner drink.  When we were said and done it was 8:00 p.m.  We laughed that we were done for the night at 8 p.m. - but if we got hom by 8:15 we only  had to pay the sitter for 5 hours, so we shagged home.  After sitting for a bit, I got very tired, very fast.   I snuck down to Erika’s room at 9:30 and slept with her.  DH got up with the kids the next day.  Erika and Vanessa were in and out of her room a few times in the morning and I tried to sleep through it.  Finally, I got up - only to discover it was 9:30.  I showered and got ready for the day.  Everybody else got up and DH and the guys went and took the docks and boat lift out before lunch.  When they came back in we grilled out.  After visiting a few more hours, the kids packed up and left. 

That night - Monday night - I got very ill.  I’m not sure if I had the flu or a bad cold because I had symptoms of both.  At 4 a.m. I asked DH if he could take the kids to school for me.  He worked from the home office on Tuesday and took the kids to school and got them off the bus.  Kyle’s teacher emailed and called to report that he was having a good day….no major problems.  The second day, DH took the kids to school and picked them up from the bus.  I basically slept all day, got up long enough to try to eat something, watch a little TV, and back to bed so I could be up when the kids came home from school.  This went on all week.  By the 3rd day Kyle did not want to go to school.  No real reason….he just had already been to 1st grade twice - why did he need to go again?  It’s going to be a long year.  And Erika?  She is having such a hard time making friends in this group.  My heart aches for her because she “can’t find” a friend at school.  I don’t know if I should try to intervene or not. 

So - the kids survived the first week of school….and I think I am on the mend.  I still have a nasty cold, but it’s getting better.

I worked today and it was pretty quiet.  You can sure tell the tourist season is over here.  There will be a busy weekend or 2 yet this fall, but it is much quieter all over.

Oh, what a busy day today. DH was working from home today and went down to his office early this morning. I got up about 7 and made breakfast for the kids and then dozed off for an hour. At 8:30 I got the kids ready for the day and took my shower. DH came up from his office and we went to a Labor Day parade. The kids had never been to a parade before and they loved it - the bands, the floats, the fire truck and ambulance - they were excited by all of that. Not to mention that they got a bunch of candy. We weren’t prepared for that so Dad had to take his baseball hat off to use it as a bowl for the candy. Kyle had some difficulty waiting for the parade to start, and with the noise level, but he did really well.

When the parade was over we went to lunch and then stopped at a church garage sale. The kids each found something exciting. Erika got a dollhouse for $1 and Kyle found a robot for .75. When we got home I looked to see if there was a battery compartment on the robot. There was, but it was empty - that should have been my first clue. I put in new batteries and this robot has flashing lights and repeats some annoying phrase over and over. And it’s loud! At least there is an on/off button. Of course, Kyle loves the thing and named it Robotcha.

DH cut the grass and I got some cleaning done. When he got done we decided to go for a drink. We went to our favorite watering hole and I had a few bloody mary’s. It was quiet when we got there but got busy throughout the hour we were there. We then went to a second place a had a fish fry for supper. The kids got to play the bowling game and the beanbag toss game and then our food was ready. Kyle had a bit of a meltdown when it was time to go into the dining room to eat. He cried about playing another game. I told him if they ate well - maybe we would play one more. They did eat good so we played one more game of bowling before we left.

So between the parade, the candy, the rummage sale, and playing the games in the bar - they had a great day.

I’m so frustrated today.  I am broke out like a teen-ager and I’m 43.  When I was a kid I didn’t have bad skin, but as I got older - in my early 20’s - my skin was terrible.  I was in a bad marriage at that time, and I’m sure much of it was stress related.

But today?  I am looking forward to having company this weekend - DH’s older kids and grandkids are coming Saturday through Monday.  Our kids start school on Tuesday, so maybe I’m a little stressed about getting them settled into a new routine - I don’t know.

What’s the difference between a few blemishes and acne?  Do I need acne treatments?

I couldn’t sleep tonight so I got up and worked on drawing house plans.  IF and when we sell this house we are going to put up a modular home nearby.  We decided on a modular home because it can be put up fairly quickly - like in the amount of time we need to close on a house. 

Time is of the essence, as they say, as we can’t/don’t want to interrupt Kyle’s therapy program.  So - we have to have a location that allows for a place to do his therapy…and we don’t have months to wait while work gets completed.  We first decided on a 2300 square foot 3 bedroom home with a complete and finished basement.  I was really sure that was the house I wanted - until we went to a 2300 square foot house.  While it was a very, very nice house - it was huge!  I got to thinking about cleaning that, plus the same for a lower level and decided to re-think this.  I’ve been looking at books again and found a floor plan I like.  I had to rearrange the rooms some, and tweak it, but I think this will work out much better.  It’s a 1750 square foot house with 2 bedrooms.  We are still planning on having a completely finished lower level with 2 more bedrooms, an office, bathroom, kitchenette, family room, and storage.  It is still going to be a big house.

Now that I have chosen a new floor plan and can picture this house in my head, I wish we could sell ours and move on.  I love the house we are in, but there is something about designing exactly what you want and seeing it come to fruition that appeals to me.  I can envision my kitchen just the way I want it; the double ovens, the pantry, the whirlpool tub, the utility room, the walk-in closets, the storage.  We have also talked about a home theater in the lower level with proper  home theater lighting and speakers and everything. So many big plans….on hold until we sell the house.

I’m not suprised we haven’t sold the house yet, but it would have been nice. I’m okay with spending another Christmas here and putting it on the market again in the Spring. (Another thing I’m looking forward to: I can have a bigger tree in the new place).

DH is going to try to get a hold of our contractor tomorrow and set up a time next week when we can meet with him to go over the new plans.

Kyle came upstairs this morning just as DH was getting out of bed. Dad got him some breakfast and then got ready for work and left.

I stayed in bed until 9:00, although the kids took turns coming in the bedroom and asking for various things. At one point Erika asked if she could bring me breakfast in bed. She set up the “breakfast tray” and brought me a brown sugar cinnamon poptart and a bottle of water. She was so proud of herself, so I made a big deal about it. She can be so sweet.

I took my shower and got ready as I didn’t know what time Grandma and Grandpa J would get here. I checked email and was alarmed to find one from Kyle’s case manager about his school hours. The therapy compay was hoping to go to school with Kyle for the first 2 weeks - all day the first week and half days after that. According to the case manager we can’t do that - those hours are only acceptable the first year a child goes to school - or Kindergarten. So - I called Deb, Kyle’s senior therapist - because I thought we should try to have a plan B before we got to the meeting at school today at 1:00.

Deb made some calls and called me back. He can have a therapist at school for 25% of his therapy hours. So, basically that means 1 day a week. So - we thought maybe they could go to school alternating days for the first few weeks - just to see how he is in gym class, and art and music, particularly.

G & G came about 11:00. We visited for a while and then I made lunch. I left and went up to school. Deb was already there and we waited for the others to arrive. There were about 15 people in all and we had a good meeting. Deb and I started out talking about Kyle’s therapy this summer and how he’s doing. Then each person spoke about how Kyle did last year and some of this strengths and weaknesses. I was pleased that the physical therapist at school discharged him completely. And occupational therapy and speech therapy are on a consultative basis. Meaning - they don’t plan to see him on a regular basis, but if his teacher or I see any problems that we can ask for them to step in. And they want to pop in and observe him periodically just to see for themselves. I was happy about that, too. I spoke to the Guidance Counselor about some of the subjects she talks to the kids about not being appropriate for Kyle since he takes things so literally. She gave me her list of programs and they all seemed fine for this year - but she is aware of my concerns and will keep that in mind if anything comes up that I may want to know about. Kyle is going to be in a Social Skills class twice a week this year. I think that will be so good for him as most of his challenges are social. The class has 5-6 kids in it I’m told so I think he will do really well in it. I’m hoping.
Overall I think his IEP (individualized educational plan) went really well today. It lasted about and hour and a half.

Afterward I went and spoke with Erika’s teacher and we made an appointment to bring her to school tomorrow to bring in her school supplies and organize her desk, see her locker, visit with the teacher, etc.

Then I stopped by Kyle’s teacher and we spoke a few minutes about the IEP and the first week of school. She would like the therapists to refrain from coming the first week of school so Kyle has a chance to settle in. I’m SO worried about him that first day of school but I’m sure he will do fine. She encouraged me to bring him by tomorrow when I bring Erika in so he could bring his supplies in, and she promised to call me at the first recess the first day of school and let me know how he is doing.

I got home and visited with G & G again. Erika came up from playing and showed us that she finally lost her front tooth. She is now missing her two front teeth on top with 2 more on top loose.

G & G decided to take us out for supper. We went to a local drive in and had chicken strips and cheese curds. We came home and I got started sewing Erika’s pants for school. She is long legged, but in order to get pants to fit her I have to go with 8 slim, and them hem them. I have 25 pairs of pants here that have to be hemmed. She tried on all of them for me, and then climbed up on the kitchen table and let me pin them.

When we got done she and Kyle got ready for bed and had one show before Dad took them down.

I got two pairs hemmed tonight and will work on them over the next few days. I have to check on Kyle’s pants over the next few days, too. At least I know they have enough clothes to start the school year and I’ll have to work on them over the next few weeks.

DH and I took a hot tub and then the tooth fairy came. Ours leaves blue fairy dust every time she comes. (Blue glitter) I keep that and her teeth where she will never find them (I hope).

I have to remember to tell Grandpa J - my Mother mentioned today that she would like some Akoya pearls for their wedding anniversary which is coming up next month.

Kyle came and crawled in bed with us this morning as usual.  I have no idea what time it was.  He tried to rest, but tossed and turned.  Finally, he asked for breakfast and DH got up with him so I could sleep in.  I have no idea what time that was.

I woke up at 9:45.  I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep but I couldn’t so I got up and took a shower.  DH was asleep on the couch, Kyle was playing a Noggin game on the computer and Erika was downstairs playing with the fake food….restaurant or kitchen or something.  I ate breakfast and changed the channel from ESPN to something on Tivo.  You might know DH woke up when the channel changed.  (How do they do that?)  I watched a show that picks a year from the past and chronicles things that happened that year in politics, news, music, movies, etc.  I watched 1989 - it was good.  That was a new show I recorded on Tivo - I’ll have to see if I can find a Season Pass for the series as I liked it.

Our renters rang the doorbell and DH answered the door.  They gave us notice of their intent to move as of October 1.  We have mixed feelings on the whole thing.  These renters were in the guest house when we bought the property so we left them there.  The rent money was handy, of course.  But there have been drawbacks - they have 2 huge dogs and I have never liked that.  My neighbor was threatened by one of the dogs on his morning walk and called me right away so I keep a close eye on the kids.  I won’t miss those dogs.  The renters are in their 50’s but have terrible credit - everything with them is on a cash basis.  They have new checking accounts and cell phone contracts all the time.  Sometimes the rent has been late, but they  have always paid.  Whenever we have dropped by the house - even unexpectedly - it is immaculate.  She kept a very clean house - despite having the dogs.  The outside of the house always seemed to be junked up, though, and they didn’t keep up the yard very well.  They were always hauling something home from the dump that they were going to fix, etc.  So - while we will miss the steady income, it will give us a chance to clean the carpets, do any painting in the house to spruce it up, etc….especially with the place for sale.  We need to decide then if we are going to try to re-rent it for the Winter.  Probably.  Especially since we will take our house off the market if it doesn’t sell this Fall - and relist it in the Spring.  It would probably be best to have someone in there.

We watched a Law & Order and I made lunch.  I got ready for work and kissed the kids good-bye.  Erika wanted to come to work to swim, but Kyle didn’t - and Dad had a headache. 

It was a busy night at work.  We were booked solid - several community things going on this weekend, plus a big wedding.  Lots of people around.  It made my night go by fairly quickly.  Tomorrow I will be swamped with everyone checking out - plus our hotel is being inspected this week by the State.  I know there will be lots to do.

Kyle crawled in with us this morning at 6:00. He asked who was coming today and I told him Donna was coming for a little while. He was not happy. I told him he could go play computer or watch a cartoon until Donna got here. He left the room but came back in a minute when he couldn’t find a show. I got up and found the right channel for him and he was happy. I went back to bed for an hour. I got up at 7 and got ready for the day. The kids were both watching TV so I got them dressed and ready for the day and got them breakfast. Donna showed up at 7:30 - I wasn’t expecting her until 8:00 so it’s a good thing I was up and ready.

Kyle and Erika each picked out a book from the library for her to read so that got them in a cooperative mood. When she was finished reading Kyle went downstairs and they started working on goals.

I got started cleaning the house. The Roomba vacummed the living and dining rooms yesterday so today I had it do the hall and bedrooms. I took care of the dishes, took out the garbage, took care of the cat food/water/box. I mopped my kitchen and bathroom floors and did sinks and toilets. Erika dusted and did the patio doors with Windex - she was a big help today. I also managed to get a few loads of laundry done. It feels good to get that all done as I won’t be around much this weekend.

My mailbox is up by the road and we have a really long driveway. The mailman is such a nice guy he always delivers my packages to my door. I know he doesn’t have to. He could just put that post card in the box and I would have to run to the post office the next day for the package, but he doesn’t. Today he made me chuckle. As he was handing me the mail in the garage he motioned to my Green Bay Packers personalized plates and asked what my opinion was on the Brett Favre issue. We talked for a half hour about that - and we agreed to disagree - as we see totally opposite sides of the issue. I think he would have chit-chatted longer had I been willing to stand out there - but I was in the middle of my cleaning. He said he had been waiting for me to have a package so he could talk to me about the Packers.

On a somber note, he told me there was another accident at a dangerous intersection just west of my house. There is a major highway and a side road and people always pull out of the side road onto the highway - misjudging how fast people on the highway are going. We have had several fatalities out there. He said today’s accident was a semi who pulled out in front of another semi. One - or both - of them are going to need a good truck accident lawyer“>. The mailman said it was pretty nasty, but he didn’t think either had been killed.

Deb arrived at 11:30 and went down to work with Donna and Kyle. We finalized the September schedule and finalized points for Kyle’s IEP (individualized educational program) on Monday. They left and I made the kids a quick lunch.

The babysitter came and I went to my friend’s Ronda’s funeral. The one that committed suicide on Sunday. I learned when I got there that Ronda’s family blames her ex-boyfriend for everything so he was not allowed at the funeral. I thought that was very selfish of them. As I see it, the one person the most affected by this tragedy is her 12 year old son - and he could have used his Dad there today.

I heard Ronda left a note. I don’t know what it said. Maybe it implicated the ex-boyfriend….I don’t know. I do know no matter what it said, it is not his fault that she made this choice. SHE made this choice. Being angry at him and making the child choose between his Dad and his extended family on her side is a bad idea.

DH got home shortly after I did. We played with the kids and had supper. Kyle wanted to know if he could watch a TV show from our bed - and would Dad snuggle with him. Dad went and watched a show with him. Then he wanted to know if I would snuggle with him and watch a show. I had them brush their teeth and then I did. When the show was over I put them down.

DH and I are watching Packers pre-season football against Denver. Aaron Rodgers looked pretty good on the first drive. Too bad so many starters are still out tonight. It’s hard to see how the first team will gel without the whole first team.

I hope to take a hot tub at half time so I am signing off.

Amanda was here at 9 today. Kyle had a real meltdown as he was watching TV and didn’t want anything to do with therapy today. Amanda got him talking about the train ride and all the animals yesterday. She got him interested in going downstairs and drawing a picture of all the animals they saw. That got him down to therapy. Deb (Senior therapist) came about 10:30. We worked on September’s schedule and she observed Amanda working with Kyle.

School called to remind me of Kyle’s IEP next Monday. (Individualized Educational Program). After speaking with the special education director’s secretary, she put me through to Kyle’s teacher. I spoke with her about coming for a visit - and with both of us attending the funeral for Ronda tomorrow - we decided today would be best.

Amanda finished up with Kyle and I fed the kids a quick lunch. We all went to school. Deb came in for a few minutes just to introduce herself and meet the teacher. Amanda and I got a bit more in depth with the teacher about some specifics on Kyle. The kids played legos for about 45 minutes and it was time for us to go. Kyle did get to see where his desk is and where his locker is so that was good. And - two of his best friends from last year are in with him again this year - thanks to his Kindergarten teacher last year pushing for that.

We went to the beauty shop and Angie cut his hair. He did great. In the seat - 15 minutes - and he was done. We went and got a cone and then stopped for a few groceries.

When we got home the kids played and I did some vacuuming - well, my Roomba did. (Love that thing!) DH got done with work and we decided to go for a ride. We went to our favorite watering hole for a few bloody mary’s and then to te place we went last week. The kids were begging to go back where we were last week because they had a bean bag toss game in the bar.

It was busy there but we got a drink and the kids played 3 games of bowling on a machine - they had a great time. We had chicken strips and cheese curds and came home.

The kids got ready for bed and watched a show. I took a quick shower and sat down to watch a show with them. They both snuggled up to me and talked about how much they had with the bowling game. DH took them down to bed and read the story.

He left to go play Texas Hold Em with a group of guys and I checked my computer. My phone rang like crazy tonight. Sara called - DH’s daughter. Then my nephew, John, called. The DH’s daughter, Kristen, called. After that conversation I called Sara back. DH came home a few minutes later and I relayed all of these conversations to him. He called Sara and I went to bed….it’s 11:30.