Tag: life

life, organizing

Chris’ birthday

criscollrj

http://nablopomo.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=997435%3ABlogPost%3A120991

My regular criscollrj.com/Blog is down but having fun learning about nablopomo and posting there. SO many blogs, SO little time 🙂           (2020 – these sites are no longer there, but interesting!)

Yes, can’t believe my Chris will be 17 soon…

tired and busy as always… with two boys that will not go to sleep.

More about my day from my transcription board:

posting today as I thought you’d all be able to use a good belly laugh —

Here’s what I THOUGHT I was going to do today: (On my transcription vacation, DAY ONE!)

  • Do British QA at 5 a.m.
  • Take shower and do misc. things like eat breakfast after kids go to school and be ready to start cleaning by 9
  • 9-12 – clean all upstairs rooms and do some paperwork that’s been awaiting me (I did clean and organize office yesterday so it literally is organized and awaiting me)
  • 12-1 – clean kitchen thoroughly and wash the floor and start a crockpot dinner
  • 1-2 – clean basement and workshop and garage that Ryan thoroughly trashed over the weekend. Now you’ve never seen trashed like this. This is taking big gray storage bins and dumping them upside down, mixing up all the contents, of 10-12 bins and searching for flashcards in them. He did this quickly and silently and sneakily while I was up here yesterday cleaning the office. He also dumped containers of some kind of glassware that may have been here from the previous owners and it is now broken on the floor in the workshop in the corner – I pushed it over but need to get the broom and dustpan and get that thrown out. Yes, I thought I could clean ALL this in one hour.
  • 2-3:30 and also throughout all day – sort about 11-12 loads of laundry (much soaking wet from the boys repeatedly putting clean towels in the bathtub to purposely stop it up and then dumping the towels over the other dirty but dry clothes and making them wet.

Needless to say this did not happen.

Here’s what I did:

  • First of all British QA was not ready until 2. Therefore thinking I had no work I actually took a leisurely bath and wrote my friend this morning(instead of starting housework).
  • Somehow my breakfast and all that and finishing invoicing I didn’t finish Saturday, answering various work emails and researching different audio I had loaded and stuff for next week took me all the way until 12:00 How this happened I do not know. I also almost fell asleep in the tub….
  • At 12:00 I went downstairs and started cleaning basement and workshop, and sorted the laundry WHILE I watched Pretty in Pink movie — I really was diligent though – I did keep sorting and folding and putting in pause to change loads or bring more downstairs. I was a good girl.
  • Started dishes at 2 and then also went back down into workshop to clean more about 3:15.
  • Surprising got British QA at 2 – did 40 minutes.
  • Never started dinner – ended up making hot dogs and soup at 6
  • Still finishing dishes.
  • Never cleaned upstairs at all. It looks like there was a typhoon.
  • Left out various details about Ryan going No. 2 where he shouldn’t have — 

Ah well, tomorrow’s another day – with everything added above that I didn’t do today, plus grocery shopping for Thanksgiving, picking up the yard (I still have pool toys out there) (and moldy pumpkins carved for Halloween). I also planned to get my Christmas stuff down – at least 1/3 of it [including the tree]. Well, that’s on hold now until Friday—

And the bus driver this morning says, hang in there, only one more day of school. No —

 

children, health, life, NaBloPoMo, sleep

What I’ve been up to:

criscollrj

Directly from my post to my transcription board 🙂

I have had to take a bit of a posting break. I’ll probably try and get back to posting regularly after Thanksgiving.

What’s keeping me so busy:

* Everyone being sick, including me, going all the way back to early October. I’ve scheduled a drs. appt. in case this cough isn’t better by then and also plan a chiropractor visit for this afternoon.
* Because of all the sick days for the kids, I had gotten so behind on my work I could do nothing else, not even sleep. I got a serious sleep deprivation there and last night actually fell asleep at 8 and got to sleep until 5 (just getting up once with my son at 11 who was still up….) sleep finally! I’m just praying I don’t get a migraine from all the sleep schedule switching.
* I also need to file and finish cleaning my office. (I did clean the desks and switched desks with my daughter over the weekend and am now proud to say I have a resting shelf for my feet to transcribe on and can even easily switch feet – yay! I’m also the proud owner of new speakers with a headphone jack, as well as the aforementioned new ergo keyboard and the new external hard drive to store my hefty space-grabbing audio on…
* I’m going to take next week off of work (probably just do British QA in the early morning) and just focus on cleaning my house well for the Thanksgiving dinner we’re having here. Then I’ll be back hard at work the next week, though I MAY schedule another few days end of next week to finish Christmas shopping and start wrapping (lest you think I’m some kind of holiday guru, we have cut WAY back this year and are only shopping for the children – our children, our relatives, and a few close friends. That greatly cuts the list down.
* And I want to try and get more rest so I can focus on getting better.
* Prayers still appreciated for our family’s health in general and for Lisa specifically.
* I haven’t started this yet, but next week I need to sit down and do tons and tons of paperwork and stuff for the kids that I’m behind on.
o I have to schedule also two sedation appts. for the boys for hearing tests they do on the brain while they’re sleeping, and for my oldest to have his blood tests he needs for his meds, and for them both to have good teeth cleaning.
o I also need to schedule Ryan’s concluding genetic tests (They probably think I forgot about them, it’s been so long).
o I also need to fill out two autism scholarship forms as we’re considering possibly trying to have them attend this autism/deafness school in Florida if there’s any way we can arrange it (probably for next year) but it will take a lot of planning and research and special miracles from the Lord. (And possibly me moving down there just over the school year – sounds very complicated but if it’s what the Lord wants for the boys it will work out – I’ll post the site soon).

I hope we have a good family gathering here on Thanksgiving – that’s the first time I’ve ever tried to have one. I need to go shopping for my turkey, etc., and plan the meal.

I also plan over the next few weeks to update all my sites for the holidays – one of my favorite things to do!!

Blessings, dori

children, life, NaBloPoMo

Thoughts on sports and activities

criscollrj

In the late 90’s Colleen was 3 & 4, and we were very active at the Y, and she was in gymnastics, ballet, swimming, and art class. I taught at the Y – gym & swim, adventure center and babysitting room. I typed at home, too, AND in the middle for some months or so worked at a law firm. It was an insane two years or so. She had classes 2-3 days a week AND Chris had speech therapy and occupational therapy, and I also took him to the Y for play time that also really counted as therapy time for him, in the Y’s adventure center. (I’ll link to some pics of them when I’m more awake).

In about 2004 or so our schedule was insane before I almost had a heart attack (not literally, but of course who really knows?) [this was in most of the 04 year on and off after I quit “working” and thought I had to have the total soccer mom schedule AND have a better homes and gardens house (uh, yeah?)

Colleen: swimming, art, volleyball, trumpet lessons, counseling
Chris: on and off speech therapy, OT, and possibly another OT place part of that year (unless that was 05??)
Ryan: speech therapy, OT, toddler school therapy, gym and swim

Now – unfortunately we do “nothing.” I’m too tired from my life to do a thing, AND our scholarships expired for the Y. *I’ve not worked there since 01*, and now that we make more $ I cannot afford the down payments involved with the Y that they tack on to the scholarships at a higher income bracket.

BUT there’s a workout center right in our community that is free to us that I’m dying to check out (and probably “dying ” literally if I don’t).

Colleen is planning to play in the band next year – drums. I need to check out lessons. I know this will involve countless football games as a high school freshman! She was in choir last year, and band two years before that (since 5th grade). She played the trumpet.

When I was in high school I was in choir, played in the drama club events sometimes (guitar and sang), was guitar accompanyist for the choir, was in art club, on yearbook and newspaper staff, wrote books and poems, and took guitar lessons. In college I was in swing choir, took piano and voice, and just about quit writing altogether which was a shame. I then was in choir in church for about 10 years until 2001 and also played for the little kids. I started writing again in 1989.

Sports — I loved playing basketball but was never on a team. I also practiced gymnastics in my back yard, but again, never took a lesson or did anything (except participated in a cheerleading group in 6th grade for our school levy).

 

 

life, work

Akron Civic Theater memories

criscollrj

 

akron menus 004

 

Originally uploaded by

criscollrj

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We saw this theater walking today to get menus for Sunlark in Akron. Also took pictures of the Aeros stadium, etc. I should have gotten more pictures but forgot. We went today to work together for Sunlark but also to have a “date” to celebrate our 20-year anniversary (which was in June, but ahh well! ;D )

But boy, the memories here. I believe we saw Amy Grant/Michael W. Smith here in Concert in 1984. We also I believe saw Glass Harp there in about 1988 or so. What a beautiful theater.

We also saw the old Mr. Bilbo’s restaurant that we ate at in 84 and 93 (with our Mr. 2-year-old Christer when we toured Quaker Square and historic Akron – will have to post THOSE pics sometime!). It’s now known as the Lime Spider – here http://www.myspace.com/thelimespider It was closed or we would have looked inside. As dedicated Lord of the Rings fans we were very interested in that place….

We walked our legs off and got very good exercise and made some $ too…

It was nice to have a day out. We used a coupon we had and ate at Cracker Barrel with it – yummy free lunch! http://www.crackerbarrel.com/

Now, back to life, dirty dishes, laundry, and lining up transcription work for next week…

Kids are all back in school and doing okay. It’s nice to be back in a routine. though it gets a little tiring getting up at 5 every day!!! Next week will be the first week they all go to school every day so I plan to work 3 days. Only had gotten in 1-2 days per week the last few weeks.

life

14 years of memories

criscollrj

 

Kitchen – all new cabinets!

 

Originally uploaded by

criscollrj

.

Almost 2 years ago we moved out of this house. I’ll have to link to the old pictures later. But this is the house after our in-laws made superb renovations. They sold it just yesterday (closing date) and we had our last time in our house where we lived 12 1/2 years and boy what memories! Chris was 2 when we moved there, almost 15 when we moved, and now he’s going to be 17 in November. Colleen & Ryan were born there.

It was neat to see it all one more time and clean out the attic completely, etc. Saying goodbye, and all the blessings and luck to the new people going in it…

life

3-2-1 countdown

criscollrj

One newly-outfitted teen out the door, one to go. Colleen went off to 8th grade this morning to the high school, on the bus leaving at 6:35 a.m. Next comes Chris’s bus, and he’s standing at the door waiting for it now, at 7:09, and it’s due to come at 7:12.

Then Ryan will go to his bus at 7:30, and he just got up and ate. Then I have two appts. today.

The summer went JUST as fast as I thought it would. I’m glad I didn’t wish it away. I had one pool day, one beach day, and a lot of nice walks, including a few in the woods. I did work some, but not to excess.

I think the kids were VERY bored at the end.

Next entry will be pictures!

autism, life

bath bubble burst…

criscollrj

Chris has been staying up until 2-3-4-5 a.m. the last week. He always ends up falling asleep lately and gets up then about 10 (I have to force him up) – sometimes he sleeps until 11. I try earlier but it’s impossible.

So last night I wanted to take a bath, was trying to wait for him to go to sleep. He was still up at 3 so I gave up and went to sleep. Had aches and pains so had trouble going to sleep until 3:30 or so.

So TONIGHT was the night. I was definitely taking a bath (I haven’t had a chance to take one since May when all the kids were in school). At 10:30 I locked myself in the bathroom and ran the water all the way up. I heard Chris at the door but figured he’d just stand there like he always does when I just take a quick shower. Mind you, he can’t hear, so he wouldn’t know the water is on. And he’s never broke in before.

So I get in for ONE MINUTE. He UNLOCKS the door. He’s never done that before. Now RYAN has, which is why I never shower when he’s up (and he’s usually up at 6 so you can imagine how hard it is for me to shower when I maybe have this window from maybe 10 at night – well, now that Chris is opening the door, I don’t know WHEN I’ll shower, either.

I tried to hide thinking he wouldn’t see me (dark shower curtain) but I left the BUBBLE BATH out. So he’s grabbed the bottle, getting ready to get in, so I had to get out. I’m trying to push him out of the room, getter madder and madder (he is down from 230 down to 188 with his med change, but he’s still got me by 11 pounds). But I couldn’t win. I did grab my still pretty full bottle of bubbles and hid them in the bedroom.

So, no bath, and couldn’t even rinse the bubble bath off. I feel worse now. Sweaty and not rinsed. Blach. My plantar fascaiitis [sp] on my foot is acting up – I wanted to soak it for a while. Couldn’t do that either…

I’m just going to go to bed – he’s happily enjoying my raspberry creme bubble bath. I need a good night sleep – please pray he just goes to sleep on his own and doesn’t bother me….. 4 1/2 hours sleep last night wasn’t enough (I was very lucky Ryan slept until 8).

grump over.

 

life

picture testing–

criscollrj

Couldn’t get an actual entry to post from flickr, just the test thingy— hmmm.

Well, here’s the post:

I made a flickr page for this blog. It’s at http://www.flickr.com/photos/78584348@N00/ Just thought you guys would like some recent pictures to look at. (2020 – wow, had not idea I had another flickr ID besides the one at yahoo — )

I hope everyone is well – I’ve gotten extremely behind as I do every summer. We are preparing to send Colleen to camp tomorrow and she’s also finishing a boat camp she’s been attending in the evenings a few days a week.

But a beautiful summer day here and we’re enjoying it actually IN the house, not outside. Chris doesn’t seem interested in staying the pool.

Well, I’ll catch up more soon — dori

life

Two beating hearts stopped —

criscollrj

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Jessie_Davis

and right in our backyard — Cuyahoga Valley National Recreational area is one of our favorite areas to drive to on a beautiful summer day [or any time of year] to go to a gorgeous park for a hike. I shall never go without at least fleetingly thinking of Jessie Davis, now, and her precious daughter, now in heaven.