Grateful Day

Since I do a gratitude list every day I am just focusing on what I am grateful for on this very day. There is so much to be grateful for....lunch with my family, putting up the tree, dear friends, a roof over my head, trading the yuckies for the grumpies, a pot of black beans on the stove, and the list could go on and on.

Thanksgiving traditions in our family are eating at Papa's & Monya's, putting up the tree then going to see the lights in our city park. We live in a very small town but they do a really great Christmas light show that's free. So every year we go to see the lights in our jammies. And this year...same as last...I didn't plan well and had to get gas on the way home. Last year Chrissi volunteered to get out and get gas. God bless her! This year...no Chrissi...so I had to get out....in public...in a small town.... and get gas.... in my jammies. The horror! Thankfully I didn't see anyone I know. Whew! Chrissi, I really missed you tonight. Not that I don't every day but I REALLY missed you tonight!

Traditions are really important but I think especially for a radilicious kid. When they start remembering the traditions from year to year it's a really big deal. We have weekly and monthly traditions and of course J remembers those but tonight she remembered Christmas light jammie fest. I was so proud! Plus during the trip she was recounting memories from last year's excursion which was also cool. Chrissi, you were specifically named in a couple of the memories. Do you remember what she remembered?

J's homework from the AT was to start keeping a journal. I've had one waiting to give her so she started writing last night. She was quiet as a mouse for about 30 minutes. Concentration was in full force too. I've given her an outline for the journal and wrote it in the front of the book so that she has a "cheat sheet". Her outline is:

Day and date (to practice spelling days and months)
Dear God,
Today I felt sad when:
Today I felt mad when:
Today I felt glad when:
Today I felt scared when:

The things I like about myself are: (working on self-esteem and positive inner dialogue)
1.
2.
3.

Today I am grateful for:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

(It will actually only be 4 things to be grateful for since she can always put me on the list.) We do this list every night at the dinner table so it will be great that she can do this on her own.

I thought she would have a hard time with the salutation because she has been punished repeatedly in the name of religion by a particular family so I considered suggesting Dear Diary. Finally I decided to give her 3 choices and she chose Dear God. He is starting to become much less scary to her and it makes me so happy. She has completed two days without a complaint and seems to be enjoying it.

Thanks to every one of you who welcomed and congratulated Tracey. It is greatly appreciated! I am so honored that she allowed me to announce the great news. She is going to be a great mom!

Hoping all of you had a day of peace, love and light. Those of you out shopping tomorrow....may the force be with you! ;-) So glad it's you and not me!

Tracey Said....

I was afraid some of you wouldn't see the comment from Tracey so I'm posting it here:


Tracee said...
Aw, you guys are so great! Thank you all for your good wishes. My life is definitely changing but I feel ready for it. And if I can do even half of the amazing things for S that Lisa has done for J... well, she'll be one lucky kid.

I've read and enjoyed many of your blogs. You've given me the courage to attempt this and a nice dose of reality too. I hope to join you in the blogging world soon. Lisa swears it will be necessary for my sanity!

Thanks again for your comments. I meet S next weekend. It's starting to actually seem real!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

My dear friend, Tracey, of Tracee with the cigar smokin, gun toting, puppy avatar (over there on the right) is going to be a MOM!!! She starts visitation with S (11) the first weekend in December and hopefully placed by the first of January. Tracey will be a single mom living in a radical world like so many of us.

I am so happy for her and proud of her decision. She is going to be an awesome mom! Tracey hasn't started her blogging journal yet so please leave her a comment as I've told her that y'all will leave her comments here. She'll read them and feel the blogging love. Hopefully she'll include all of us in her private blog when her journey begins. Tracey has become a really good friend of mine through the joy of the internet and I can't wait to walk through the journey with her and her with new daughter.

Congratulations Tracey and S!!!!!!!!!!

Now it's your turn to show her some love folks.....

P.S. Tracey is going into this with her eyes wide open and using all of us as a resource (among other things of course...). How I wish I'd had known all of you before J came home!

Moving right along

Things are progressing quite well considering. J's doing really well in school. I'm still working at living like in the depression era and doing pretty well at it I might add. Sunday night I refried the beans without frying them. In other words I just pureed them. We had bean burritos for dinner and they were better than any I've ever had at a Mexican restaurant. Seriously. And I am a connoisseur of Mexican food. J agreed and ate 2! Where that girl puts her food is beyond me. She has told me she has a tube that runs down into the ground and I'm starting to believe her! I'm just glad my girl loves spicy food.

I decided it wasn't enough to unplug everything so every night I'm cutting off the power at the electrical panel on every extra room in the house except the fridge, freezer and J's room. Along with saving power I'm also adding the extra exercise of running up and down the steps. Win/win. Of course J is terrified of the dark but now we're able to walk up and down the steps to the basement without a light. This is a huge feat since this is the darkest part of the house. I am proud of her.

This morning I tested her on Study Island which is an online program I signed up for last August. It helps them test for the CRCT and helps me stay informed as to where she is and where she needs to be when she returns to public school. She is exceeding at all math levels so far, as well as, on reading and L/A until she got to syllables. Compound words, counting money, making change, measurements, fractions, contractions, irregular vowels, controlled vowels, blends, digraphs, diphthongs, plurals and possessives are no problem. We haven't gotten to multiplication and geometry yet but it starts next week. WTH! When did kids start doing geometry in the 2nd grade???? It's interesting how well she does at math considering she detests it.

So much to be grateful for. I'll bore you with my list later. k?

Evening Out

Last night was my evening out with Cindy. Twilight.... The scenery was breathtakingly stunning. The characters were good. The jawline on the love scenes with Edward... Oh My Goodness.... Stopping the van with his bare hands....yummy. ♥♥♥♥

I am glad I didn't re-read the book right before the movie. That helped to not interfere with the movie in my head. Now I have both. I think it's necessary to read the book before seeing the movie so that you don't miss anything. Trying to squeeze a 498 page book into 2 hours is almost impossible but they did a pretty good job.

I was a little disappointed with the excess of white makeup and lipstick at the beginning of the movie, but that seemed to either get better in the movie or maybe I tuned some of it out and got used to it. Not sure which.

It would have really helped if the really loud lady, 2 rows behind us, could have toned down some of her laughing. She was REALLY loud and obnxious which made it hard to concentrate.

One reason I loved the book is that I love the tall, strong, silent and unbelievably controlled type. Edward delivers.... Sorry Kristina....;-) ...I'll be waiting on the snarky comments. ♥

Lauri did a much better review.

Very nice to have a brief escape from a radical world. Time with Cindy... Priceless! ♥ Best present ever!

Can you tell I learned a new trick.... Thanks to Trying To Be Calm....

P.S. J did excellent at Papa's & Monya's. She had a great time and it was one more instance of her knowing that I did indeed come back for her.

Astounded!

Y'all have given such great suggestions! I am impressed but better than that I am going to actually DO them. Never even thought about power strips or unplugging my computer. I have run around the house all evening double-checking everything and trying to implement everything I can. I've been in love with CFL's for several years and certainly worth the money. The kitchen and breakfast room are the only rooms to go because the ceiling is 15ft and the canned lights are just a little out of my reach. Need another adult around to help change those out.

Coupon suzy dot com is a new friend. Going to call the electric company in the morning. Change of plans on dinner tonight. Bodie Beans (pinto beans) and cornbread. Huge pot of pintos with garlic, onion and habanero pepper. My stars! They rocked the house! Later there will probably be a literal rocking of the house but they were so worth it! Especially since J had 3 bowls! Thanks Cindy! I cleaned the coils under the fridge and freezer so that should help some too. It was scary under there!

We are really doing well here considering. Keep the ideas coming because they are being put to good use. J is doing really well in school. She's moved through 77 lessons in math in 2 weeks. Hoping I can keep up!

Tomorrow I have a date with my other daughter, Cindy. She's taking me to dinner and a movie as a Christmas present. I am so excited for the opportunity to spend time with her. She's a blast! J is going to go stay with my mom and actually sleep there for a bit. I'll get home after her bedtime so we're doing a tester to see how it goes. This will be the first time sleeping at my parent's. I've promised her that she will wake up in her bed. She's excited to go to Monya's but wanted to make sure that she would be at home with me when she wakes up Saturday morning.

Queen K, I am with Torina, never read anything by you until you have an empty mouth and bladder. Of course, Torina is just about as dangerous. Gerri's private emails are lethal. I'll be on my deathbed remembering white pants and W*lmart. :-)

Please keep my friend, Gerri, on your list. She can use all the positive thoughts she can get right now.

P.S. I stink at commenting lately. Sorry about that. I'll get my act together shortly. Still trying to figure out scheduling, school time, me time, mom time, etc.

Settling In

Things are improving and we're getting on a schedule. J worked hard in therapy yesterday and showed a lot of self-restraint and self-regulating. The AT & I were very impressed.

Thanks to everyone for your emails & comments of concern and suggestions. We are finding many ways to save and going back to many things that my grandmother taught me that she learned during the Depression. It is really turning out to be quite the adventure and we are looking at it as an adventure rather than a punishment. It's all in the attitude.

It is a little scary to think about no insurance but a single mom with no income equals no insurance. It's amazing how dependent I've become on that security blanket but truth be told there's probably more people uninsured today rather than insured and they're getting by and so will we. The comforting thing is that we won't be out of the house more than one day a week so that will drastically reduce the chances of getting a cold or flu.

Some of our cost cutting adventures have included:

1. Reading bedtime stories by candlelight. I highly recommend it!

2. Incorporating more board games played by candlelight are extra special. Fun!

3. Reusing coffee grounds.

4. Baths by candlelight (who wouldn't love this?!)

5. Soup beans (a/k/a Great Northern) and cornbread (dinner for less than $1.00) Bringing back wonderful memories of my grandmother.

Tonight...cornmeal gravy. Yummy!

Do you have and favorite/fun ways to save????

New Career - Revised

I no longer have a job so starting today I am officially a SAHM, home educator, OT, speech therapist and domestic diva. We'll see how it goes. At the moment I'm putting school on the back burner until I can get all my possessions listed on eb*y. If anybody has any tips for using eb*ay I would be so grateful if you would share. I am totally lost.

I've cut my blogger reader down to 49 *gasp* feeds. Thinking I'm about to start hyperventilating. Trying to figure out how to manage time and a manageable schedule. Still going to get up at 5:45 to start my day and get J up at the usual time. Before school we're going to take a power walk. Going to have to be more diligent with exercise since I won't have health insurance and will need to keep my blood pressure down without meds.

I've cut off every single thing that I possibly can. We've come up with a plan to cut down utilities by cutting water usage (you don't want to know), going vegetarian, not using lights unless it is absolutely dark, no all night Mozart or night lights for J. One trip to town a week for therapy, grocery shopping, bill paying, etc. will cut my gas bill down considerably. Lowered the heat from 68 to 62 and added more blankets and clothes. The land line is turned off. J's insurance has been cancelled too. Managed to get some house/car insurance lowered. We have very little trash so the trash man has been discontinued. Not sure what I'm going to do with the little bit of trash that we do have but it might involve camouflage. Aren't you glad you don't live close to me???

I am scared and excited at the same time. Hoping my name doesn't become Loose Lisa. Torina that is a much better suggestion than mine. ;-0

Hmmmm...

Just in case you think you're going to be bored without all the drama, I'll let you in on a little secret. J has been "ill". I don't know about in other parts of the country but in the south that means sick sometimes and at other times it means grumpy. For J it is the latter. Not really RAD stuff just cantankerous. Like a little old woman. She seems to be really tired. A lot. She's had a nap almost every day because she wants one. This afternoon she had a nap and was ready to go to bed at 6:15.

She's not running a fever or complaining about anything. She's just really sleepy. She told me today that getting rid of the yuckies made her really tired. We'll see what tomorrow brings.....

I'm on a roll now...

Dang Sheri! You are a stinker! ;-)



THE RULES:

Post your list of the seven best albums, the seven bloggers you will tag, a copy of these rules, and a link back to this page.
Each person tagged will put a URL to their Blogger Album Project post along with a list of the seven best albums in the comment section HERE.
Feel free to post the “I Contributed to the Blogger Album Project” Award Graphic on your sidebar, along with a link back to this page.
Post a link back to the blogger who tagged you

My seven (or so):
1. Allman Brothers - Where It All Begins
2. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (25 years later & I still think he's hot.)
3. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
4. Aerosmith - (Any & all)
5. Lenny Kravitz - 5
6. Mary Chapin-Carpenter - Come On Come On
7. Tom Petty - Anthology

I know you're supposed to stop at 7. Rule breaker yet again.
8. U2 - Achtung Baby
9. Lynrd Skynrd (I am from the south folks - I don't want to get kicked out. ;-)
10. Alison Kraus - A Hundred Miles or More
11. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brickroad
12. Usher - Here I Stand

Attached at the Hip

Another great day down. J has been a little antsy since it's raining outside but otherwise has done great. She's been very tired though and took a nap this afternoon. We are attached at the hip. She's goes e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. I go. She seems to be responding well to this and hasn't tried to push me away in over a week now. No fits. No meltdowns. Regular little kid stuff but not much RAD stuff going on. Oh how I love regular little kid stuff!!!!

Her announcement to me this morning, "mom, I don't need the yuckies anymore." I decided to change and I changed." Hmmmm.....

When J was cleaning out her toy box yesterday she found some unused glow sticks. (I am shocked.) So I am going to try the glow stick in the bath tub trick that I learned about from a commenter on Jillene's blog. (Just cut off the lights and throw the charged glow stick in the tub.)J's not scared of taking a bath but I thought it'd be really cool and I always love to be the "cool" mom. Heck! It sounds like enough fun that I might even try it!

We made a huge pot of mashed potatoes and put 15 packages in the freezer. So for dinner we had mashed potatoes, butter peas, creamed spinach and Old Bay sauteed shrimp. Strange combination but yum it was good! Tomorrow we're making a mushroom and sausage breakfast casserole to freeze.

Tagged

I am "it". I have never been "it" before in the blogging world. Hmmmmm.....Faerie Mama tagged me.
Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules.
2. Share seven random or weird facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post with their links.
4. Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I usually not a rule follower. I'm the girl that pushes the rules but I promise to follow these.

1. I, like The Pioneer Woman, pick my toenails. I am so glad she admitted that because that was my closet secret. Now, since I am in such good company, I step out without shame. (Well...maybe a little.)

2. I suck at romantic relationships. Yet another reason I won't marry him. If G didn't have the patience of a saint we would have ended years ago. I do have great, meaningful friendships and wonderful relationships with my family. (Remember this bit of information for when you get to #5)

3. I want to be a SAHM. So much. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would REALLY want to do this. I know it would be much better for J but I am still trying to figure out the financial end.

4. I give Reiki to plants, trees and Puddin. (For those that don't know...Reiki is not a type of religion nor does it have a dogma.)

5. I have RAD. (Remember there's a spectrum folks.)

6. I still pick up stray animals, fix them up and find them homes. Don't go to lunch with me because we will likely have a critter dining with us that I have picked up on the way to lunch.

7. I want to adopt again.

Ok...here's the lucky folks I have tagged:

I would tag Tudu but she's a little busy at the moment so I'll let her off the hook.

1. Brenda, cause she's always has it so together. Brenda, do you have any secrets?

2. Gerri because she's been hanging out with me for a really long time (pre-blog) and she's stuck with me through thick and thin. She's a fabulous mom and she cracks me up.

3. Kelly because she is always so supportive and I have so enjoyed watching her journey of becoming a foster mom.

4. Karissa because she is so honest and genuine.

5. Mary (a/k/a Squeaker). She, like Gerri, has been with me a long time and knows all the in's and out's of the ups and downs. Stuck with me like glue and I am very grateful for her.

6. Linda B - The things she manages is just astonishing to me.

7. Sasha - She's interesting and funny.

8. Sheri - Scared she might leave me now that I've tagged her but I've been stalking her for a while. She cracks me up and makes me think. Yes...I know it's supposed to be 7 but I warned you that I'm a rule breaker. ;-)

More positives

We did very little school today. J & I cleaned house, lazed around, played and in general had a great time. She has been soooo much fun to be around! This morning I gave her a sheet of adjectives and asked her to circle each one that she thought described herself. There was an assortment of words. She chose: Thoughtful, kind, respectful, loving, hopeful, sweet, fun, smart, focused, peaceful, relaxed and safe.

Tonight she fell asleep in my arms. Y'all this has only happened once before. Huge!

Major Changes

We've had a monumental change in our home. I can't go into details so you'll just have to trust me, but something major has happened and things are really improving here.

What a joy it has been parenting Jordan today!!! She is a totally different kid. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. She is much softer, able to be redirected, more loving, kinder, and her facial features and expressions are totally different.

Have I mentioned it has been so much fun to be a parent today!!!!???? I am staying at home this week to help her recover and we've been doing school. In 2 days she has done over 40 lessons of math, 16 Language Arts and 4 History lessons!!!!! Not a complaint or whine in sight. She has been very enthusiastic about learning!

Puddin snuggled up in bed with her tonight (I was there too) and we all
snuggled for 10-15 minutes or so. She has treated Puddin like a china doll all day.
She was a little sad about the yuckies leaving and we talked about it. I have a lot of onyx in her room to help with grief. Ashley asked me if I have amethyst in her room. Yes I do, plus some others, carnelian, citrine, etc. (Ashley, I tried to check out your blog and I can't get in. *Whine*) We talked about what was different in her life now that the yuckies had left, what was the same, etc.

After Jordan went to sleep I went in to do Reiki. Puddin decided to join me. Puddin stayed on the bed while I was working on J. Afterwards I couldn't get Puddin to come out of J's bedroom. She has never stayed in the same room alone with J! Finally I gave up and let her stay for about an hour and went back to get her. She still wouldn't come out of her room! I had to pick her up and carry her out.

Yeah for all of us! It's a monumental day!!!!

This morning I asked her what was the word she would use to describe herself and she said, "kind". Woo hoo for J!

It's not just me that has noticed this major change. This is a note from her AT:

"It was a joy to work with Jordan today. What a difference! She was so focused and ready to
face her issues. Having the big yucky leave is HUGE for her and all of
us who know and love her. Looking forward to next week."

She also said if this major change continues, she sees J being able to come off meds by our 12/1/08 psychiatrist appt.

My cup is running over with gratitude! Thanks to Chris and Kristy for hanging in there with us even though it was really scary sometimes.

Playing Hooky

J had an appt. with her psychiatrist this morning. This is an all day event as it 1 1/2 hours each way, plus the time in the waiting room, etc. Since I had only started J on the Abilify last Friday night there was no sense in going to the appointment. I had already scheduled the time off from work so I played hooky and stayed at home with J.

8 days of math lessons, 3 history lessons and 4 days of Language Arts were accomplished. 5 assessments that were all graded at 100%. No power struggles, meltdowns or bad attitudes. Yeah! It might never happen again but I sure did enjoy today.

Any ideas how a single mom can make a living at home?

Really nice days

It was so great to be a accepted as a loving, caring mom. I reveled in every blessed moment. The great thing is J did too. She did great over the weekend. Saturday she was still sick and slept most of the day.

Saturday night the birthday fairy flew into her room and delivered balloons, chocolate and a birthday card. This morning we kept it really low key no big birthday party but she had chocolate brownies for breakfast, opened her Air Kicks and started practicing with them. Brunch at the Dillard House. J didn't eat a lot as her stomach still wasn't feeling 100%. She wouldn't admit to still feeling bad until I promised her she could still go up to the farm zoo and pet the alpacas, miniature goats, horses and such.

We stopped on the way home to see Big Mama (G's mother) for about 10 minutes then home where she opened her baby doll, crib and bottles. She was over the moon! While she was playing in her room she took a nap much to the surprise of both of us.

A great weekend was had by all!

Quick update

Short and sweet post:

Great news! J is sick. The first time that I have known that she is sick. Honestly. If she has ever been sick it would've had to have been something I wouldn't notice. I've always heard that most radical kids don't get sick much for some strange reason. I'm taking this as a strong sign that she is healing emotionally. #1 She trusted me enough to tell me and #2 Her defenses were down enough to allow a germ in.

So my sweet baby has a sore throat, fever, stuffy nose, achy muscles, nauseous, headache, etc. And I'm having the best time showing her lots of extra TLC, homemade chicken soup, etc. She's allowing it to happen, accepting and responsive to it. Yeah for my kid!!!

Bless her sweet little heart...

Vote

I am tired of politics and refrain from posting about them here. I went to vote last Friday. Actually I went last Monday too but the line was 1 1/2 hours long so I decided to try another day.

Then yesterday I read this post on FaerieMama's blog. Doesn't matter which side you're voting for it's a great read. I love reading about hope.

Which ever side you're on...just remember to go vote.