It’s Been a Struggle – Update

Posted on November 22, 2016 by simpleijustdo

Hey, there, friends. Long time no write on my part. I’m sorry about that. Between the election, NaNoWriMo, and some other stuff going on in our lives, my head has been swimming. I did pre-write some posts and schedule them, but not as many as I would have liked, so I’m checking in with you all today.

I woke up at about 3am this morning with the weight of the world on my mind. This has happened a lot since November 9. As I said in my last post, I’m very worried about The Boy’s future, more than I have ever been. His medical coverage is at risk, and that would affect us emotionally and financially. I don’t expect any progress at the national level in terms of increased programs for adults on the spectrum, either. Maybe this do-nothing congress that has been virtually re-elected will surprise me, but I doubt it will be in a good way.
The Boy has been struggling with some violence during his meltdowns this year, and I am investigating how we can best help him through this. We may be switching doctor’s offices, we may be switching medications (big yikes), and we may be looking into some therapy for him. It depends on what his insurance will cover. But he needs some help dealing with his anger (thanks a lot, puberty), and I’m at the bottom of my toolbox with nothing left.
I get my first Thanksgiving mini-vacation this year since 2012. Every other year in between, I had to work on some portion of the days surrounding the holiday. Starting tomorrow at lunchtime, I am off until Monday, and man,will that feel weird. Good weird, though. 🙂
Then The Boy’s birthday is right around the corner. He’ll be 15. There goes my head, swimming again…
And the ex reached out post-election with an eloquent text saying he knew he had neglected his son and wanted to be a regular part in his life, promising to call every Sunday. That lasted exactly one Sunday, but I suppose his heart is in the right place. The Boy will be heading to his dad’s for Christmas, and I will miss him desperately.

So, my head continues to swim, which is better than sinking, I guess. I wanted to check in with you folks. It seems like it has been forever.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. ❤

Broken

Posted on November 9, 2016 by simpleijustdo

I woke up early today to get some more work done on my Nano novel, as I have been doing every day since November 1. But I can’t. No, I really can’t.

I stepped into my office and nearly retched. I saw one headline and began to sob. I knew the result in the wee hours, but the headline read, “What do we tell the children?”

My husband said I should stay home from work. He’s probably wishing I had stayed in bed so we could hold each other and put off starting this day a little longer.

But I didn’t. I got up, put my yoga pants on and came in my office to write. I took a quick detour to TheBoy’s room and held him tight for a moment, and now I’ve started my day.

I won’t miss work today, even thought we have suffered two sleepless nights and I still feel like I could vomit right here on the keyboard. I’ll get The Boy ready for school, and we will go about our normal routine. I will pull my loved ones around me like a cloak, and we will love each other, work hard, and play, just as we have.

I will also make phone calls and write letters until my local and state politicians know my name. Just because there is an R next to their name doesn’t mean they don’t work for me. And we have work to do.

Now that guy at the top? He doesn’t work for anybody. Don’t be fooled. Let’s just hope they gave him fake codes.

We have to sit tight and hunker down for three and a half years. And then we’ll have to make one hell of a noise if there’s anything left to fight for.

What do we tell the children? We tell them that sometimes even adults make mistakes, and that just like when you break a plate, saying you’re sorry doesn’t fix it, our country is broken right now. But when things get broken, we try to fix them first before throwing them away. And we’ll need their help to do that.

That’s what we tell them.

Musical Tastes & Control of the Radio

Posted on November 4, 2016 by simpleijustdo

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The Boy has been showing an increased interest in the music playing on the radio lately, which I think is pretty neat. When he was much younger, I put some tunes on an old iPod shuffle I had for him, and hadn’t given it much thought after that, as he seemed to lose interest and move on to other things.

Now, he actively participates while in the car, sometimes hurrying to change the channel if he hears a group that he knows one of us doesn’t like, or he knows there is a swear word in it (thankyouverymuch, Satellite Radio). He will even bop his head along in time to the music. I’ve had to talk to him a bit about the unspoken rule that the driver gets to decide what is on the radio, which he doesn’t entirely understand or agree with, but he’s fairly respectful about it, anyway.

There are days when he even hops into my car, pushes the “Aux” button and hooks his iPad up to my radio, pretending that the radio station is playing a pre-selected song of his choosing, usually something by Daughtry (it seems he really liked listening to that group on that old iPod shuffle – go figure). He will even pretend to be the voice of the DJ playing the song.

What’s even cooler is that he is really listening and starting to have some favorites. He enjoys U2 and Mumford & Sons the most, along with Green Day (because his school band played a tune of theirs in 7th grade), and Daughtry (ha!), and turns up the radio accordingly. Having favorites is kind of a big deal in and of itself, because he has tended to be so attached to inanimate objects and things, he rarely picks a favorite anything, afraid he’ll hurt the other thing’s feelings… And remember when I told you I suspected he had perfect pitch? Yep, he has amazing auditory skills.

And then yesterday, he blew me away. We were listening to one of his pre-selected tunes, “21 Guns” by Green Day, and immediately remarked that this song reminded him of a song called “Apartment 4” that we used to listen to when he was a child by They Might Be Giants, as well as “Beverly Hills” by Weezer. If you listen to those links I’ve added for you (be careful of the Weezer link – couldn’t find a link to the song without the video!), you will have to admit that he is a discerning listener, and I’m pretty proud of him for that.

All of this makes me wish he could use these skills someday, but that may not be in the cards for him. In fact, there are very few people who get to listen to music and analyze it for a living. Truth be told, if it turns into a hobby, it is a very cool one to have. If he starts collecting records and asks for a record player for Christmas, I’ll let you know 😉