It Could Always Be Worse

Yeah, it could be us in the hospital instead of Bon and her sweet little Pearl. I stopped in the yesterday in the midst of errand running because heaven knows I KNOW how boring it is being in-patient with your kid. Little Pearl swallowed a sequin quite a while ago, unbeknownst to her parents and it wreaked havoc with her bitty and cute throat. Post surgery, PICC line and g-tubed, Pearl is on the road to recovery.Bon and I decided to add IV pole surfing to the Vile Olympics and Pearl with her little fountain hair was the cutest surfer ever. Stop by and show them some love, they could use it.

Tag, I'm It

I was recently tagged by Bored In Vernal for a meme done as an interview. If you wish to be tagged, drop me an email, Lakotajo2 at msn dot com and I will send you your questions.
1. Why did you decide to go into social work?
I guess I finally realized I had been "doing" social work for many years, so it kinda chose me. I wasn't terribly impressed with social workers we met in the course of fostering and adopting, and like many people thought that was all there was to social work. I started working with a group of really great social workers, working for change with the Native American children. I was deeply impressed with the kind of change that was possible through social work. When I went back to school a few years ago, I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up!
2. If you were really going to be in the Olympics, what sport would you choose, and why?
Oh a gymnast, hands down. I love watching them and always wished I had the coordination to do something like that. Unless they start a needle felting sport, I don't suppose I will ever be in the Olympics.
3. What do you think is the biggest issue facing Native Americans today?
Another really good question! I think being able to live in the world and succeeding in it, and yet being able to cling to all the strengths that come with being Native. Some feel they can't leave the reservation for fear of losing their heritage and others who feel they can't be Native and do well in the world. The only way for us to be ALL we can be, is to do it all, and KNOW we can do it all. My mom taught me that one.
4. What is your favorite feature?
I have tiny ankles and wrists and I am fairly vain about them.
5. Describe your favorite room in your house
My bedroom. Maroon, green and gold. A nice comforter, (finally!) TWO bookcases, my dresser, and my needle felting table and wool. I love having my favorite things around me, and my books and my wool are two big things in my life.
Thanks Bored! I hope other people enjoyed this meme too!

What a Week!

Since last we spoke, it has been an insanely crazy week here at Maison De Tangled. I will go in order, hopefully to inform more and confuse less.
On Monday, I was driving the Princess and her Pea to my house, and we were on the freeway. I saw a cop, I mean a very nice policeman, and looked at my speedometer. Great, I was going 70 in a 55 mph zone. I did what any self respecting and law abiding citizen does, I pushed on my brakes quickly and prayed deeply he wouldn't notice my speed or brake lights. Yeah, well I kept pushing and the car kept going and my eyes got bigger and bigger as I was saying to myself, naw, there isn't anything wrong with the brakes, the brakes always need to be pushed to the floor before the car slows down. I didn't do such a great job reassuring myself either. Thank goodness we were only a mile or so from the apartment and we got home safe and sound. I called Bald Man and he rushed home to figure out what happened.



See the round part to the left? The whole brake line is supposed to look like that. See the part to the right where it is rubbed flat with a slit in it? Yeah, that is the part that squirted my brake fluid all over the freeway as I was trying to slow down. We are all very, very grateful nothing bad happened. Bald Man fixed it and my brakes once again slow down without needing to be pushed to the floor.
Now you are caught up to Monday afternoon.
Monday evening? I went to a landscape needle felting class. Dang I had a good time! And here is my picture:



Sheepies and meadows. I guess I was all about the peacefulness after my close call with being squashed on the freeway.
Although, blood and carnage can be good things if they are connected to Peeps instead of people. Come check out what Eliza and Redzils and I did while hanging out in the grand town of Doolittleville. Peep Carnage! We weren't even drinking or anything. This is what happens when three nerds under terrific stress come up with as entertainment. Our insanity is your enjoyment.
Little Man's doctor had told us a long time ago that kids with his syndrome do better if they have animals in their lives. Since it looks like Utah is the place we are going to be for a while, we decided to give our boy something he has literally crying for.



Initially Little Man was calling this girl kitten Justin, but last night decided Fluffy would be a good name. Whew.



She is sooo sweet and doing really well. Little Man is all smiles and the vileness has been toned down to the reasonable level. This little ball of fur has already brought so much joy and so many smiles to our boy's face. Someone in our house is NOT amused about the new addition though.



The Cockatoo Princess is NOT amused. This is her all fluffed and insulted that we dare bring in any competition.
And there ya go. All caught up in the excitement and fun I call my life.

Whoot! It is Mountain Monday!

No complaints, but I sure hope some of you missed our regularly scheduled Mountain Mondays. It was COLD the last few days, there was even snow! Yeep! But today dawned warm and sunny and the mountains are wearing their spring finery, just to show off for you.





And as I was driving, I saw the essence of spring. Sheepies in the meadow, so I have to share.



My beloved Pea was over and eating ice cream, cause Grandma always says yes!



The world looks even better from this angle:



Ya'll know I do love my Mondays and today is no exception. Lunch and then housework, all done in the quietness of the Jo. Yay! Hoping all your weeks are getting off to as nice a start as mine.

More Wedding Pics!

We received a few of the professional photographer pics, and I made a slide show on photobucket. But of course I am way too cheap to upgrade my account, so there are not a lot. If you want the website address where you can see all the pics, drop me an email and I will send you the link. I just talked to Pygmy Child yesterday. She is busy getting ready for summer school at the University of Fun in Florida and is very happy with her new hubby. Their love is so brand new and shiny, it is just sweet to watch them growing together. Enjoy, we certainly are.

The Paper Chase

The school year is winding down and you would think it would be quieter time of year. Yay, you'd think. You'd think wrong. Things are just gearing up for much craziness. With the end of the school year, many things must be put in place. One is the school for next year. IF we are still here, Little Man will NOT be attending the same school. There is no way I can cope for another year with the neglect and meanness of those two teachers. I kept getting a form in his backpack and then follow-up phone calls about getting the form turned in. I finally called the school district and told them forget it, he will not be attending there next year and they better find another placement. ARGH! Paperwork.
Because school will be getting out, we need to decide what is going on with the boy about summer. He had such a lousy summer last year, I do not want to send him to the same summer program. It wasn't that it is a bad program, but they have no other kids his age and I think that was a large part of it. So that means more phone calls and guess what? Yes, paperwork, as we decide which program he will attend. We found a good one I think, and I am hoping he has an awesome summer this year.
And last, but not least at all, is how the visit went with his psychiatrist. She is recommending that he do an inpatient psych stay. I can't quite wrap my brain around it. He is still such a small child inside. But, she needs to tweak his meds and she would like to start a program to get his aggressive behaviors under control before he gets seriously dangerous. So we are considering it. After school lets out.
And.. we need to switch his health providers. The good news his psych would become his primary care doctor. Bad news is we would lose his precious, precious neurologist, Dr. Maverick. I have not been pleased with the neuro care Little Man received at the Sick Kids hospital in the Big City, and that is where we would be going back to. This could get ugly, but I am hoping it doesn't. More phonecalls. No paperwork for me to do with that one, someone else does it. Thank goodness, I have plenty to do over here.
Who ever thought it would be a good idea to increase the paperwork tenfold when you are already struggling to raise a special needs child should be taken out to a field and shot. Humph.

The Vile Olympics*

In Which Jo Neither Receives Nor Desires to Receive a Gold Medal.

Today's Events:
Shower Wrestling. Only one participant is naked, although the warm up exercises can include a thorough work out getting the main character undressed. Extra points given for drenching the judge.
Little Man's score for this event today: 9 on a scale of 10. He lost a point due to no throwing of formula because he refused to drink it! He is working on placing and winning this week.
100 Yard Bus Dash: Involved much hollering on the part of the judges, because the main participant was almost disqualified from this event by way of almost missing the bus. Points: 9 out of 10, because he had both parents yelling at him to HURRY UP, you are going to miss the bus, plus the added fun of trying to hurry a child who is yelling at you and trying to scratch you. An exciting event every day, but always leaves the judges worried that one of them is going to drop dead from either a heart attack or frustration.
The Telephone Relay: A required event for all parents. Points:5 out of 10. I only made 5 phone calls and only was requested to participate in one phone tree. Press 1 if you know which party you are calling. Press 2 if you are stupid. Press 3 if you wish to have a samurai warrior come to your house and lop off your head. I chose 3.
Other events are being covered by another reporter in the field.
Liza


*Unlike other sports, participation in the Vile Olympics is not voluntary. In fact a certain amount of hand wringing, bemoaning the fates and cursing your karma are a required part of your involuntary servitude.

Upcoming Attractions

The Vile Olympics.
Watch out for the THRILLS, SPILLS, the screams of defeat and the writhing and wretched moaning of the defeated.

The Peepage.
Oh the laughter, the bad fun, the pants peeing, and the very, very naughty peeps and the people behind the peeps!

The Agony and The Ecstasy.
Well okay, just the agony of Poor, Pitiful Jo's feet!

It is LOVE! It is blisters! It is BLOOD! It is SINFUL! It is geeks in the Big City. Are you looking for embarrassment? Sex? Lies? Whores of the Dino kind? Laughter? Sorrow and an excess of tears?

Coming Soon to a Blog near you!

Notes to Self

1. Be 20 years younger than the dominant age group if you are going on a walking tour of ANY large city.
2. Remind self the younger generation does not approve of public embarrassment in the form of saying loudly "Look at that guy, he's hot, Hi, how are you??" directly to aforementioned young man.
3.Bring wheelchair
4.Forget trying to convince the drinking members of the group they are entirely too chatty and silly after a couple of drinks. They will dismiss your teetotalling opinions and accuse you of being too straightlaced and horrified to have a valid opinion.
5.Objects bought early in the day become at least 10 times heavier by the end of the day once they have been toted all over town.
6.Never let Eliza convince you that going to the Washington Monument first is a great idea when the Museum of the American Indian lies not just in the opposite direction but approximately twice as far away as the distance from the earth to the moon.
7. Bring a net so when Eliza is bouncing happily around like a rabbit on amphetamines you can do something about it.
8.Remind yourself that when you were twenty something you too were slimmer and more energetic.
9.Rent wheelchair if you forgot to bring one.
10. Little people are infinitely darling when they are not your own
11.People who own no children might not enjoy you stopping and cooing at every cute baby you see on the mall in Washington D.C.
12.Giving the White House, i.e. Bush the finger is INCREDIBLY satisfying even if you are Mormon.
13.Laughter multiplied by three is the best laughs of all.

BTW? I love Eliza, enough to make her my second wife. BUT, the Patriarch is my new best friend. He left his laptop here so Eliza and I are not trying to be patient when the other one is on her puter.

Doolittleville

New York, at the least the airport part was great! The people were all very nice and very friendly. The best part? All the diversity! I loved seeing all different kinds of people. Utah can be rather a vanilla place to be. There was a small problem with me just a tad bit late for the connecting flight from NYC to Doolittleville, but the crew was gracious enough to open the door for me and let me in the plane. How embarrassing... I was tired from traveling all night, but so excited to meet Eliza and her animals. She was thinner and very pretty than the idea I had in my head. That doesn't sound right. It is not that I thought she was ugly, but she is just.. oh never mind. Skinny, pretty, let's leave it at that. She is just as snarky in real life as she is in the cyber world. We are just having fun hanging out with Redzils and Me and Liza. The Medium Animal has taken to calling me, "this one". 'I don't want you mommy, I want this one". Pointing at me. Liza smirks as I get off my butt and do the grandma thing with the Animal. Cute, very cute animals. Noisy, very, very noisy animals. Busy, busy, very, very busy animals. Kind of like my house, only there are more of them!
We haven't had any bad fun yet. Well the Smallest Animal had bad fun whilst I was supposed to be watching thon, but I was helping thon's sibling, and had my back turned. Yah. Bad fun. Liza mocked me for that one. The Animals are napping and the plan is after eating we will have bad fun.
All is well at home. JJ's medical state continues to be stable and he is actually pretty repentant about the stupidity that went with the seizure. Little Man? Out of sight, out of mind with that little guy. Bald Man seems to be doing a great job holding down the fort. Thanks sweetie.
That is all for now, but you can look forward to the Adventures of Jo and Eliza in the Big City! And the one about Redzils, Jo and Eliza and the Bad Fun Gang.
P.S. I left my digital camera at home! ARGH, I could kick myself. I will be buying a cheap one for the trip I guess. Drat.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane....

Hey Peeps! I am in NYC! Can you believe it? I have some hours to kill while awaiting my flight to Doolittleville. Kind of a weird round about way to get there, but hey! I flew with a service I had never used before. I was impressed. Direct TV! More leg room! Eye covers and ear plugs! Slept a bit, not enough, I am just hoping between the adrenlaline and caffeine ingested by way of Mountain Dew I will be exciting company for the Doolittle crew.
Last time I was in NY, I was five and we were flying home from a tour in Italy courtesy of the Army.
Love you all and Liza and I will keep you updated on all our bad fun.

Update

I am very, very tired. Didn't get to bed until after one last night and up again by seven to get Little Man off to school. I showered and went to the hospital to see how JJ was doing. He as awake, thank goodness and pretty lucid. He is still have some residual effects from the seizure, but overall not doing too bad. He is obviously in big trouble from being caught drunk, but we don't have to deal with that for a while. Because he is medically stable and not in the hospital anymore, I am not going to postpone my trip to visit Doolittleville. I guess I would feel a bit differently if it were purely medical, but because it is also him being a stupid teen, I don't want to give him the idea he can act up and make us just change our lives for him.
Thank you, thank you for your kind words. You have no idea how much better they made me feel. Less alone, less stupid, less of feeling like a bad parent. I needed all of it. Tonight, I am going to bed early! I need to be well rested for my teetotally kind of Bad Fun with Liza!

Suckitude

I am at the ER with JJ. Still waiting to talk to the doctor but the information we have is that he was DRINKING with his "friends" and had a seizure. He will need a CT or MRI to determine if the mass is still stable or not. We will go from there. Sometimes it seems like my little family can't catch a break. Keep us in your prayers/good thoughts. We need them.

Update: They had already done the scan. No change w/ the cyst. Seems as though my beloved child is just plain drunk and post ictial from the seizure. Now I can just be really angry and a little worried. Crap.

Tomorrows

Today, I was driving to get the Princess and the Pea, I saw a man, probably about 60, sitting on a small grassy hill with a partially unrolled sleeping bag, and a plastic box filled with things. He was sitting with his back towards me, rocking back and forth.
I cried for all the fear of tomorrow and my sweet boy. What will the future bring for him? How do people end up like that? Where is this man's family? Is his mama crying for him in heaven because she isn't there to take care of him anymore? I am crying again, my throat just hurts from the huge lump in it. Please God, tell me my boy will be okay and someone will always love him, I can't bear to think of anything else.
As he gets older and he gets physically bigger and harder to manage, my hugest fear is that there will come a time when he can't live with us anymore. And God forgive me, I have prayed that he would be taken before that day ever comes. I just don't think I could handle it.

Devils and Angels

Bald Man is at work, it is almost 12:30 here and I am, as of yet, unable to shower, so I am still in my jammies. Little Man is being incessant, so I must attend to every whim, lest there be a price higher than I am willing to pay foisted on me. A price that might include something high priced being broken, like say a DVD player, or the Playstation... or just messy, like the time he shredded a used diaper and it looked like a snowfall in his room. But instead of pretty white snowflakes, we got thousands of fingernail sized pieces of yellow, (yes YELLOW! I said it was used)shredded diaper insides scattered all over his room. Oh and don't forget the bad fun with paint. So being smelly in my nightgown seems like the road I would be happier choosing in the long run.
But that means you are stuck with me for now! The computer is right next to where he is playing the Playstation, (Spyro) so I can keep on eye on him.
As Liza alluded to yesterday, Little Man had an appointment with the lab at the Big City Children's Place for Sickos and I was assuming I had an appointment with the devil himself. Remember last summer? Remember the Lab visit from hell?? I am so traumatized from the whole thing I just drive myself crazy anticipating the very worst. Makes me think instead of giving Little Man his calm down drug, I should take it myself*. That way, no matter what happens, I wouldn't care.
Much to my surprise, Little Man was utterly perfect and completely well behaved. Not just well behaved for an autistic child with a very limited IQ, but well behaved for the brightest and easy going-est child ever. I have heard you can be possessed by demons, is it possible to be possessed by an angel? Whatever magic happened, I am forever grateful. Even the lab tech, who was a gem, went on and on about what a good kid he was and how she wished all the patients were that good!!! What???
I drove home, marvelling at whatever karma, planets lining up, prayers answered had happened. Pulled up into my parking spot and guess what? Little Man's regular self showed up. There was much screaming, name calling and throwing of objects. (HIM of course, not me!) He even nailed Bald Man with his shoe. And this behavior continued until he finally fell asleep. So whatever good spirits possessed my son's body for those three hours left. I hope they come back soon, I really enjoyed them.

*This is of course me joking, I would never take a medicine prescribed for my son, in case anyone is thinking anything else!

Yay!!!

Oh I am so excited I can't hardly think of anything else! Guess what I am going to be doing exactly a week from today? Nope, not that... nope, not that either.
Okay, I will help you out.
I am going to go visit our ever exciting and wonderful Ms.Doolittle in the wonderful town of Doolittleville. We are even planning a side trip to D.C. to see the Smithsonian! You have no idea how very much I have always, always wanted to see that place. I want to fall down and faint in an fit of ecstasy. Instead I will copy some nice autistic behaviors that have been modeled for me and hop from foot to foot while flapping my hands with joy. My mother tells me she will disown me if I don't visit this place, so I am sure Eliza will tolerate gladly being dragged accompany me for some flapping viewing of the exhibits.
Whoo hoo! Stay tuned for the Amazing Adventures in Bad Fun with Jo and Liza!

Mountain Monday!

Usually Mondays are my very favorite day of the week, and I fully expected today to be extraordinary since I had had Little Man home for the last week and half. Uh yeah, not so much. Princess had a job interview and didn't have her cell phone on her, so I ended up with the Pea from 10:30 until 4 this afternoon. So my Monday did not even come close to meeting any of my happy expectations. I am quickly posting this, because Little Man will be home in less than an hour and that will be the end of that. Don't forget to add the fact of my dryer giving up the ghost yesterday. Yah know, this week isn't looking so hot. I am really hoping tomorrow will be much better. I am still a bit tired, but not nearly as tired as I was on Sat.
First, the egg story and then I will leave you with the usual Monday fun pictures.
We had a formal luncheon after the wedding and they served us these spinach salads that had straw like mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and two hard boiled egg slices. Little Man is allergic to eggs. But that has never stopped his fascination for that which he is not allowed to have. We have to watch him, or he will be in the fridge breaking eggs whenever he gets a chance.
I scooped those eggs slices off his plate and ate them. He mournfully looked for his eggs under the spinach leaves, saying all the while, "you ate my beautiful eggs, I wanted those eggs, I like eggs, why did you eat my eggs, where did my eggs go?" I am not kidding you that he did not stop about the &$%# eggs for the ENTIRE lunch. I was ready to strangle the child, but sitting in the front at the table of honor meant I was being watched, so I just kept hissing at him through my teeth to BE QUIET or I was going to get very angry. Didn't help a bit, but it helped me let off a bit of steam. Eggs... humph!
And now, Mountain Monday!!!



A picture from opening presents on Saturday with the happy couple:



And a very cute picture of the Pea from Easter Sunday: Note the circled area. Cause? A nap!

The Wedding

I am sooooo tired. Yesterday was wonderful. No major problems and everyone* (with one exception) was wonderful. No dramas at all. We love our new son in law and his family is just super. So many friends and family came, that when we left, in spite of being very tired and sore, we felt completely wrapped in love and caring. Wow. It was just an incredible day. Beautiful bride, handsome groom, what more can I say? I will let this small slideshow give you an idea. More about the whole wedding when I am not too tired to breathe!

*The exception being Little Man of course, who was absolutely beside himself and was horrid, horrid, horrid. I tried so hard to be patient, but felt as though I failed miserably. Remind me to tell you about the eggs later....

Happy Birthday

to ME! It's my birthday and we are just too busy with the wedding to do much about it. Bald Man and I will do something next week when things have calmed down.
I will leave you with a picture of my cuteness when I was a young'un.

Thank you to my mom for giving me my birthday and for being such wonderful role model and honestly? She is my hero.

Mountain Monday with some Whine

Ahhh!!! Crazy, it is crazy here. Little Man meltdowns, me with a tummy bug on sat, grumpy older children, insane cleanng and to top it all off, Little Man has this week, (why this week of all weeks???) off for Spring Break. So here I am, on Monday trying to get some stuff done and being thwarted by a needy and messy kid. I was trying to finish up the steam cleaning on the carpet that had one more spot to get done, and whilst I did that, Little Man dismantled my vaccumm cleaner, got a hold of blue glue stick and spread it all over his room and the bathroom and PEED all over the clean toilet and floor. It is only noon here! I am not showered yet and I won't be until I can find some way to occupy the boy without him wreaking havoc on the apartment. His bedroom is beyond any amount of messy and has entered into a place of almost complete entropy. We will not be cleaning it until tonight. I still have a rat cage, the master bath to scrub and master bedroom. Makes me tired thinking about it.
Brown Boy arrives tomorrow, his side of the family the day after and I have still more wedding prep than I want to think about.
But in spite of all the insanity and the late snow, spring continues to bloom in my little corner of the world. The weather forecast for Friday is in the 70's and the Salt Lake Temple grounds are in full spring bloom. The view from my balcony continues to delight me on a daily basis and I think you will enjoy it too.









And a helping of my little Pea for the yummy topping:



I have no idea if I will have any time for blogging this week, so I will catch you when I can...