Still around

Wow! Fall break is over and back to school is BUSY! I've barely had any time to get on the computer. When I have had a second to get online, I've checked on Annika quickly and then gotten off to deal with real life. Nothing's wrong here...I'm just tired and busy.

Fall break gives me time to fall into bad habits. I love staying up late and then sleeping in. Many mornings, I (and Elvis) slept until almost 10:00 A.M. To add to my sleep-deprivation, Elvis (who missed school and was really excited to go back) decided to get up at 2:30 AM for the day. I swear he was saying "school." (He kept repeating what sounded like coo-el. I think it was Elvis for school.) So, I faced my first day back at work with less than 2 hours of sleep the night before. Monday went fairly well but Tuesday morning I felt like I'd been run over. Today was better. Elvis and I are going to bed really early, trying to catch up. I was asleep by 9:15 last night. That's possibly a record for me.

We did do something fun this week. The girls have a bio cousin who they are still close to. She was a positive part of their lives and we stay in contact. Her husband is in the National Guard and he's being deployed for the second time. I think he's still in the states for training right now but he's far from home. The girls and I packed a box of Halloween junk and sent to the cousin and her two little girls. They got it today and we got this text message: "The girls just opened their box and they are both so excited. Thanks. (7 year old) says ya'll are the best cousins ever. (2 year old) said "Wow, mama. Look at this!" So, we've spread a little joy to them. It's my plan to send them a box every month. I hope we can keep up with it. It is fun to shop for the boxes.

Alli and Boy Wonder are still doing nothing. I get bored just watching them. I can't imagine how bad it is to actually live like that. As much as I enjoy an occasional day off school, I like having that structure in my life. Getting up every day with nothing to do would make me nuts. BW reportedly has a lead on a job. Alli has an interview next week at a temporary staffing company. We'll see what happens next.

Beth is back in the swing of school. She's still madly in love with Spider-Pig. (tee hee) She's half-way looking for a job. I haven't been really pushing that. She's not driving so a job for her means more work for me. I also don't think she can keep up with school and hold a job. After Christmas, I'll push her harder to find work.

Elvis has been practicing trick-or-treating at school using his communication device. I was coming back from lunch yesterday and ran into him and his speech therapist. He was wearing a mask and I saw new icons on his board. She handed me a piece of candy and told him to tell me trick-or-treat. It took a few seconds but he hit the correct button and the therapist's recorded voice said, "Trick or treat!" I put the candy in his bucket and (with a little prompting) he hit the button for "thank you." Next, she told him to tell me what he was dressed as. He hit the button that said, "Devil." Not only did he hit it once, he hit it over and over again(devil....devil.....devil....devil) so the whole area heard he was a devil. I laughed...a lot. So much that the therapist sent the mask home with him so I could continue to enjoy it. He's getting better at the whole trick or treating thing. Guess we'll have to take him out on Halloween so he can do it in the real world.

I have a PTA meeting tomorrow night at school. I usually dread these but am looking forward to this one. There's been some kind of drama between the PTA board and the school administration as well as some drama among the PTA itself. We also have on parent who comes to these meetings just to stir things up. Rumor has it the cops may come to the meeting. I wouldn't miss it for the world. I spend all my time and energy avoiding drama that involves me but I'll all excited about watching it when I'm not directly involved!