Why Don't I Blog Anymore?

Tessi breaks her 3-week old glasses after, "I did not nothing.  They fell off my face"  Glasses have to sent off and welded together again.

Connor begs to have new little girl from school over after school.  New girl picks fights with Connor's BFF from preschool and with older neighbor girl.  Very, very long afternoon.

Teddy has to have clarinet tutor.  Everyone around us booked out.  Have to hire guy 35 minutes away.  Start to panic but manage to find someone 3 streets away!  Whew!

Speaking of Band, Teddy now has to be at school an hour early on Monday's for band practice.  First morning, Teddy sits and stares at his Nutella Toast without eating for 5 mintues before I caought on and asked why he wasn't eating.  Wasn't what he wanted that morning.  Ate the same thing ever day for 3 months but I should have known THAT morning he wanted Milo cereal.  Had a minor meltdown...me, not him.

Ted has spent the last 3 months gone an incredible amount.  Reward?  He gets to go to the States for a week and work even harder.

Week before he leaves I come down with Strep Throat.  Hardly able to move.  Beg for help from friends.

Friday Ted leaves, he trims the tree blocking the new place the tv satelittle receiver has to go.  I help move branches.  Start to feel sore in elbow, blame arthritus and swear about wrongly being considered old.

Drive Ted to airport.  Elbow really hurting bad.  Notice red patch on leg.  Think it's allergic reaction.  Teddy spends night at friends house and handle angry girls at bed time.  Both very, very angry that Daddy is gone.  So am I.

Get up early and pretend to read that Connor's cricket game is cancelled.  Take girls to indoor play place and get swallowed in noise.  Meet up with Teddy at birthday party friend has taken him to and race him to last cricket game...for which he complains that he's late.  Suddenly notice that sun is out and it's hot.  Damn hot.  Texas hot.  No sun screen excellent.  Proceed to roast to death for 2 hours.  Fortunately have Dora on my iPod for Tessi.  Connor is still at playplace with one of her friends.

Go home make some dinner and go to park to have end of season cricket party.  take kids home.  Wow..arm, really hurts and can't straighten it but still not sure if I'm just a wuss.  Leg still looks bad, spend time looking up Australian trees to see if any are deadly.  Don't laugh.  Wouldn't shock me if they were.

Muddle through Sunday.  Go to shops.  Yell at kids.  Yadda, yadda, yadda.  Hmmm.  Leg mark is now the size of my open hand, purple, burning up, ankle is swollen and it hurts to walk.  Also have strep throat reaccuring and what's that?  Is that a sinus infection brewing?  Ok.

Monday begins early and I have Tessi.  Too sick to go to swim lessons, I cancell all 3 for the day.  Good thing as I get phone call to get Teddy from school.  Seems he's sick.  He comes home and we all sit and wait for Foxtel.  The company that runs the tv.  He never shows.  Hours later and after I have a friend walk Connor down from school I find note in mailbox saying sorry he missed me.  Um missed me?  How the Hell did I miss Sasha barking her head off at a stranger at the door?  Oh that's right, I DIDN'T.  He wasn't there.  I called bellowing and regp basically calls me a liar, saying tech doesn't get paid unless he shows - so they always show.  then he reads me the notes of the tech describing my house.  Excellent discription too....of my NEIGHBORS house.  Too bad, so sad.  Tech is gone now and he can't come back.  I can be inconvenienced all day, but not the tech.  I'm too angry to reschedule.  I know I'm cutting my nose off to spite my face but I don't care.  Damn, my leg really hurts.  Call dr and make appoint for next day.  Also elbow is spasming and can't grip anything.

Go to drs after drop off and WHOOPS.  Not an allergic reaction.  I have a staph infection on the skin of my leg.  A pretty good one considering that I've been on 500 mg of Keflex for 10 days.  Have to return to dr's tomorrow to make sure leg is still attached (it is) and that I don't have to be hospitaliezed (I don't)  Later that day I go to my friend the physiotherapist.  Apparently my elbow felt like it had rice crispies in it.  Not news I want to hear.  She proceedes to manipulate my elbow into positions that most yoga masters would scoff at.  Arm does improve but DAMN!  That hurt!  Now she wants me to give arm a rest and try not to re-aggravate it.  I try not to giggle in her face.  Rest, she says, ah, that's a good one.  But she really did help my arm so I am grateful.  I take this as a sign that I am to never, ever do yard work again.  Ever.

That afternoon I have Connor's gymnastics and then Teddy has a clarinet lesson.  A girlfriend takes pity on me and cooks dinner for us all.  Bless her.  Today? A haircut!!  Ceramics class 'cause I'm finally starting to feel a little better.  Then after schol AFL practice and then I managed to offend and upset yet another friend!  Whoo hoo.  On a roll.  Pretty soon we'll be needing Ted to make friends for the family 'cause I keep driving everyone away.

Tomorrow, Teddy has AFL again. Friday another sleepover here.  Saturday Connor has cricket again and then Sunday Ted comes home.

Why don't I blog that much anymore?  It's a mystery.

Autism Discussions

I've been talking on FB about the Autism article and I've even just had someone post a comment here...someone I don't even know!  A first for me.

In the end, I can not believe that all of us...parents, people living with Autism, strangers who see Autistics, governments who are being foreced to doll out money do not have the same goal.  Fundamentally we all want to live the lives we choose; not the one we have to settle for.  Why does this concept have to some sort of Uptopian ideal?  I'm not asking for chocolate covered strawberries to grown on the wall...I just want my daughters to be happy.  Hell, I want my son to be happy too.  I just want to know that when there is a problem there is a way to deal with it.

Please don't confuse this as some rant crying for everyone to come help me.  I don't need your charity; neither do my girls.  But if millions of dollars can be poured into a pill to help cure low libidos why can't that same amount go into helping my children; ALL CHILDREN be able to live a normal, happy life.  One that let's them contribute to society.

So much time, money and effort has been wasted, just WASTED on this fighting amongst ourselves.  It's the vaccines!  It's wheat!  Gluten!  It's Mommy not wanting baby - yes, I was asked that for Connor's first evaluation.  It's Mommy taking Zoloft during pregnancy.  It's an excess of peanut butter! 

No more.  Please.  No more fighting.  Here it is.  I'm sorry, it wasn't vaccines, I wish it was...it would have been great to have some tangible to blame.  Something concrete to hold accountable...but this wasn't it.  And now there's so mcuch dischord that we're all arguing with each other and the pool is being diluted.

That's it you know.  The pool of resources has been diluted so much that it wouldn't shock me to find out there's a government grant to study Jimmy Hoffa's role in the Autism plot to tamper with drinking water. 

Enough.   There has to be a singular source of educated people...people who do more than study at the University of Google to sit down and really cut down the list of what we're looking at and parents, caregivers....we have to come together and support it.  So scientists, researchers, doctors - give us something concrete to believe in.  Our childrens lives are on the line. 

Well, well, well

So the study that came out and said that Autism was links to MMR immunization shots was done under flawed conditions.  The paper that printed it, The Lancet, had to retract it.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/02/lancet.retraction.autism/index.html?hpt=T1

My, my, my.  So Autim isn't caused by the shots.  I'm going to refrain from my usual tirades and just say this, "NOW CAN WE ALL STOP FIGHTING WITH EACH OTHER AND FIND OUT WHAT DOES CAUSE IT?!

It would be nice if ONCE, just ONCE I could enjoy my daughters without having to scrutinize their every action and wonder how I need to teach them to do things the "right way"  I do this so they can survive childhood and not be traumatized by other children for being different.  I would LOVE to only have to explain something one time because even at 5 1/2  Connor needs constant repetition for even the simplest of concepts to sink in.

So please, now can we all just get along?  Let's fight the problem; not each other.

Good Good its Hot!

Let me repeat...this is why I LEFT Texas.  I HATE the heat.  HATE it!  Almost 36 today, 40 tomorrow and then well over 40 on Sat.  W.o.n.d.e.r.f.u.l.  Just soooo not what I need.

Here in Australia we hear a lot about gloabl warming and them impact of running the a/c on the environment.  I DON'T CARE!  I'M RUNNING IT ALL DAY  HA!!!

Sorry, going a be crazy from the heat.  And it's only 9am.  Sigh....ice blocks for dinner again.

Good news for me is that I do get to stay inside for most of the day.  Teddy, poor kid has cricket camp until 1pm today and tomorrow.  Will be stopping for emergency gatorade and ice blocks afterwards.  Think it's time to start looking at the weather in Anchorage and day dreaming.