Too Little Time, Too Many Things to Do

Isn’t that the way it always goes.

Austin has recovered from his injury (broken humerus) nicely, at this time we don’t have any more monthly appointments, next follow-up is in August 2015.  Sadly, I think he’ll feel the weather changes in his arm from this point on but there is not much I can do about that other than to teach him that if it bothers him he needs to tell someone and maybe a little Tylenol or Motrin will help.

He started school off about a week late, was doing well but than our seasonal behavior crept in.  Last year because of his illness and low blood counts behavior wasn’t an issue even though it was his first fall off of our study med STX209.  This year he decided to make up for that and oh how I miss STX209.  The good news is on the autism front they are reviving the study. I still hope that one day, this med, which is based on Baclofen (on the market since 1920 with a very good safety record) will be available to all. The FDA approval process truly needs to be revamped, but it is what it is.

After a couple very serious behavior incidents at school in October I pulled him, reached out to our psych for a medication change and set an appointment to see our favorite Fragile X expert (so I can seek her advice and recommendations – which she would give freely – knowing that she’ll see Austin at least once a year.) As typical when dealing with experts a next day appointment is just not an option. We are set to make the trek to Chicago at the end of February, plenty of time for me to work out the insurance issues. Hopefully they will cover the office visit and I’ll just have to cover the travel.  We will go no matter what.

For the most part, in the home, he is doing well.  The home environment is a little quieter, a little more stable than the school environment. I’m better able to detect the onset of hyperarousal and redirect Austin  If that doesn’t work I have the simple ability to walk away, give him space, let him cycle through it and then have a teaching moment.  After the holidays I’ll determine if this will be Austin’s new routine, home with mom, from this point on.  

His staff and his school has been great, honestly I couldn’t ask for a better support team but in the end, no matter what anyone thinks, I need to do what’s best for Austin, not what others (experts or not) think he should be doing.  What is important is that he is happy, he knows he is loved and his self-esteem.  Self-esteem is something many often miss, some of our leakage from the school behavior problems to home were the result of the remorse he felt after an event. It is as crippling as his anxiety at times and no matter how many times I tell him he is still loved, no one is angry it still creeps in creating a hyperarousal event which only complicates things.

I have still encountered those Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde moments which are much easier to detect and control in the home environment, which I fear in the school environment would only result in full meltdowns so right now I’m leaning towards home being the best fit for Austin.

I’ve got a very good reason for being an absent blogger of late, good old fashioned hard work. Although I said I wasn’t going to do it I jumped into painting the basement (honestly there are days I feel too old for this stuff), the most neglected area of the entire house.

I had a little fun with colors. Who wants a boring gray floor when today there are so many other options available? The Laundry Room area the color was truly picked based on the name “Mysterious” isn’t that fitting of an area in which socks seem to mysteriously disappear. While I was waiting for different sections of the floor to dry I felt like painting so I tackled the side door entry/landing which leads into the kitchen and basement.  I knew I wanted to neutralize the colors (the old was a fun blue and burgundy, with a little added details with stenciling). The main color pick was once again solely based on a name “Salem Tan” warm memories of a couple of trips out east with Genevieve for hockey.Still did a little detail and went with a blue for a trim (the color I went for turned out to be a little different from that silly little sample card but it’s still something I can live with). 

I have a major pet peeve with paints, just another mystery.  Why is it that two quarts of paint cost more than a gallon?

When I branched out of the laundry room, to the sitting/folding area I knew I was going to go with some sort of a tan (to pick-up the little bit of tan in the area rug and to blend with the side door entry/landing I went with “Santa Fe Trail” another tan, another name based on a place I’ve visited – a trip with fond memories, '98 the last trip without children (well Gen was on the way). 

I would have loved it if Jerry would have jumped in to do his work room, a handyman’s cave, but I’ve never seen that man paint anything (inside the house) during the years we’ve been together.  I was very tempted to use a wild color, “Fancy Pants Purple” or “Tickle me Pink” were the top two choices but knowing I'd have to live with the final choice I just continued on with “Santa Fe Trail”.  In the handyman’s cave though I’ve left all the moving of the heavy equipment up to him, I still have one little section to finish.

We’ve also jumped in to our Kitchen update.  About 23 years ago when we removed the upper paneling on the walls I was distraught over the condition of the walls under the paneling (did you know way, way back hot water tanks were in the kitchen, I have evidence with a big old exhaust hole for the tank in the kitchen wall, my home was built in 1925) so we just did full paneling in a faux wallpaper.  It worked for years but I wanted to restore the walls.  The faux wallpaper was actually done twice, Jerry did it once and once it was done by a contractor when silly me forgot I was sterilizing nipples in a small pan on the stove – you wouldn’t believe how much smoke damage six little nipples created.  The bad part is both times construction adhesive was used – that created a lot more damage to my wet plaster walls.  Now we’re going to use a great wet wall plaster expert to repair the walls, it’s gonna cost a little but I will be so happy when they are back to their natural state. 

At least in this project we are thinking ahead.  Our fridge size has been limited by an arch in the fridge cubbyhole (lots of dead space above) so I put my handyman (aka Jerry) to work, he busted out the arch while I was his tool time and cleanup girl. New fridge will be delivered in about a week. We are also bringing in an electrician to bring some of the electrical outlets up to code (they need to be GFI), adding two outlets and moving (slightly) two outlets before the walls are refinished.  Electrical work will start in about a week, should be done well before Christmas but it’s looking like the walls will have to wait until after Christmas. I’ll have them done when it’s just me and Austin who are home, possibly getting Austin out of the house when most of the work is done – it would be just too much chaos if we were all home or between the holidays.  

The last couple of steps will be the flooring and I’m going to update the kitchen chairs.  I thought about doing the table as well but my table is truly in excellent condition (even though it’s older than Austin) so I think I’m just going to refinish the base/legs.

And, in reality, the work won’t stop in the kitchen, with kid’s schedules and expenses there’s been a lot of neglect over the last ten years so my list, my honey do and hire out list is huge J. Maybe a more accurate title would have been “Too Little Time, Too Many Things to Do and Not Enough Money”.Part of that is due to Jerry, I really can't complain too much (although I do swear that I think my husband was raised during the depression - even though he's eight years younger than me and far off that era). But at this point the house is paid for, the girls secondary education is paid for, retirement has a nice nest egg and I'm already thinking about spending my children's inheritence :-). 

I have to say I’ve been really awesome about keeping some of my impulses in check.  The living room furniture really, REALLY, needs to be replaced but I won’t buy new until the kitchen is done and the living room is painted-then I won’t worry about how dirty it could get.  Don’t think I’m going with leather this time, Austin at one time had a habit of sitting on the couch and scratching the arm rests, no longer a pretty sight.. 

Although I must say I have been tempted to buy what I would call “New Disposable Furniture” not anything really expensive and then when all the kids leave the nest I’ll update with something I really like.  Now I sound like my mother, except her schedule wasn’t based on when the kids left, it was based on when the dog died J, poor little Puffy – but she lived a pampered and long life.  She didn’t scratch the arm rests, she licked them, nice and stiff in the end.

Life is good!