So much to do. So little time.

Allyson is sick.  She has a clinic appointment at 1:30.  Dane gets out of school at 3:25 and I am at work.  I get a page to come to the front desk.  Phonecall for me?  I receive the info on what's going on with Allyson.  She missed her clinic appointment by 5 minutes and they said she couldn't get treatment.  The receptionist tells my wife that we will have to take her to Urgent Care 25 minutes away.  Instead she got scheduled with the Mennonite doctor at 3:30.

I arrive home at 2:20 and decide I better get the oil changed in the truck.  I have time.  Afterwords I can pick up Dane, come home and get Allyson and take her to the Doc.

After the oil change at the Quick Lube station I pulled onto the highway.  Something wasn't right.  The oil light was on.  I had no power.  I pulled into the nearest gas station and checked the dip stick.  It's dry!  WTF!  Isn't the part of having an oil change to have oil in the vehicle when leaving?!  Oh sh*t.  Now what do I do?

I call the guy who just did the oil change and he said he put oil in it.  He came and towed me back to the center to look at it.  He said he seen a oil vapor on the highway as if something came loose.  I didn't see anything.  It would have been a big spill of oil and noticeable.  Anyway..I seen him tighten something under the vehicle.  The plug maybe?  Then 5 quarts of oil got dumped in and my truck seems to run fine.

I get home and call the wife who is on her way to the doctor with Allyson and Dane.  I have to now drive there to pay for the checkup.  Turns out Allyson was okay and not getting strep throat.  She sounds a little croupy and whatever she has is starting to loosen up a bit.

I take the kids to my dads who's last day of work was today.  I let my wife to home to get some rest from working  a 12 hour shift the night before.  Before she leaves she tells me about the snow build up on the house.

A couple hours later I get home and it's getting dark.  I take a shovel and a rake and try to lighten up the piles of snow and ice build up on my roof.  We got 5 more inches last night and their calling for another 13 by Monday!   This time last year it was in the upper 60's.  I am so sick of winter.

8:00 I get into the house and my wife takes the kids to the store to buy some cough syrup.  I get to take a shower and get out of my work clothes at last.  That was a long day.  I'm basically learning 4 different jobs at once at my job and to have vehicle problems and a sick kid.  It all worked out and thankful everything worked out.

New Job

I started training for a different position at work.  Today was day 4.  The first part of the day is hard but as the day goes on it gets easier.  It's a pretty fast paced forklift job and I'm always moving.  The good thing is that I am not so physically exhausted after working all day like I am on my usual job.  The bad thing is having a sore bum because of sitting all day doing circles around the plant.

It's nice to come home now and have energy left to do things around the house and play with the kids.  I tried to play Candyland with them the other night.  That was a lot of drama.  Allyson was way ahead of Dane and I.  Then she got a card that sent her way back to the beginning.  She cried that she hated this game and wanted to start over.  Dane wasn't taking the game too seriously and kept messing around not paying attention.  It got kind of nerve racking because they started fighting.  Dane likes to push Ally's buttons and make her cry.  He's been biting and hitting her lately over nothing.  I'm sick of it.  Time out's don't work with Dane.  When he's bad he gets disciplined.  Usually he gets something taken away or he doesn't go with to the store.  That's the only thing that seems to work making him understand that there are consequences for not listening and being naughty.

I'm tired of the disrespect from my kids.  I don't know where they learn to talk and act the way they do when they can't get what they want.  Dane has been a handful since he was an infant.  I am thankful he is high functioning but his attitude sucks some days.  I try to tell him something and he says he hates me.  One day he kept saying, "Hate you.  Hate you. Hate you."  WTF!  What did I do to deserve this kind of treatment from my 7 year old?  I guess it's better then him physically having meltdown's and uncontrollably thrashing my house and throwing things.  It still makes me feel bad.  I could have a great day and something like my kids disrespecting me can really jinx it.

This snow needs to go!  March 12 and we got another 10" last night.  I am getting cabin fever really bad.  Being couped up all winter with noting to do but watch my kids fight and not listen to me.  Things have gotten a lot better since the wife went to part time.  The family has been happier and we got a handle on our lives a bit.  She's happier with her job and we spend more time as a family. My new job that has been working out for me has me feeling better.  The factory situation still blows but it pays good and its benefits of working there.  Someday I will be free and have a good job that I truly love...I just have to figure that part out.

New Job

On Valentines Day, I was offered a back-up position at work driving forklift.  That was almost 2 weeks ago and I still haven't gotten my safety training pertaining to the job.  I am still stuck on my job with the same loose strings.  I want out bad.  All I know is that the job is offered and I got it!  9 years it took me to finally get into another spot.  I hope its better then what I do now.  I also hope I don't have to work with bunch of lazy old jag offs who don't amount to jack squat.  Just do your job and go home.  Don't just stand there and complain about others who aren't even in this department...dumbass!  Mind your own beeswax..shut up, do your job and go home.  Misery loves company they say so I just shrug my shoulders and look at the others in my work area, laugh and roll our eyes and go about our business.  Funny how it works.  If you don't let that person get to you yelling about God knows what it only makes them angrier. 

Around 7 pm I am totally drained from the day.  Now I have to watch my 2 little monsters.  They take turns being happy and crabby.  Now that they are both in school they usually both have short tempers.  For once Ally wanted to go to her room and lay in bed on her own.  Thumbs up. Dane also wanted to go to his room and lay by his heater.  Hey, whatever works to give me some tranquility kids.  By the way...Thank you Lord for the peace and quiet I deserve at this very moment.  No screaming and fighting.  This is nice.

I can't believe the math homework Dane brings home.  For first grade this is really hard.  No only is it hard for him but they do the math way different then I learned.  It takes practically half a page to show the work.  How stupid.  Just teach the kids how to add without all this extra pointless work.  By middle school all the kids will have calculators. 

Getting Dane just to do 2 problem solving questions was like pulling teeth.  His attention span is very bad especially when he's overtired.  How many more apple pies are then then cherry pies?  The answer was 3.  Trying to explain this and getting the answer is crazy.  Just write 3 down and go play.  Daddy's tired.  I have to expain that daddy is tired and cranky after work.  They ask "why?"  I just am...just listen to me when I tell you to do something and don't whine and please don't fight.

Hopefully tomorrow will be the day they pull me into my new job to train.  I am going to watch my now work area from afar and laugh when they are all swamped with too much work because they will be fighting over who does what.  You really have to be in my situation to find out how this would be funny but it is. 

Folic Acid / Dexterity

On the way to work a.k.a. "Satan's A**hole" I was listening on the radio and they were talking about a study with folic acid.  The study claimed that pregnat women should consume less of it to lower the risks of autism.  I like how study's always say..."May" reduce or "May" cause this and this and that.  How about science gives us a no doubt...less folic acid = lower risk of autism.  Hmm, that doesn't sit right with me.  Does it lower the risk?  Yes, great...but there is still a chance of ASD??  Apparently.

Let me dwell a bit.  Dane was born full term.  My wife didn't smoke, drink and stuck on a pretty healthy diet accordingly to her pregnancy books.  Coming at the age of 2, Dane didn't speak and screamed at everything.  He was fixated on fans and spinning spoons, saucers, matchbox tires and his favorite toys were sandbox toys that spun when sand or water went down the funnel.

Now, on the other hand.  I have relation, married into relatively speaking, who smoked cigarettes and marijuana their whole pregnancy and their children seem fine.  Well, to a point right now they appear like they will be okay.  What about 5 years from now?  Will they have learning disabilities?  Probably.  It just makes me sick to see people, especially family, not take care of themselves or their unborn child during the term of pregnancy.  Not only this but to hear about them bragging about how they smoked and their kid is so smart. 

How does this happen?  Do everything right and have a child with a disability.  Don't give a rats ass and to ignorant to give up bad habits for the health of a child and have a child born healthy..no signs of autism and is developing normally?  Really?  Why and how can this be possible?

Now, Dane is 7 years old.  He has overcome a lot of obstacles in his life so far.  His speech is growing and he is talking more.  He interacts more with children his age instead of sitting off in the corner by himself lining toy cars up.  We can take him into the store longer without a sensory overload.  A crying baby seems to set him off.  Checking out he hums and when he starts going into overload he bangs his head on me.

Accordingly to his latest report card from school he is doing good.  He has sensory breaks when he needs them.  He is making friends.  He sits in front of class on a bumpy cushion so he isn't so figgity.  He has prescription glasses he wears and knows to leave them in his desk so he doesn't break them.

His handwriting is bad and he can't button his pants or tie tie his shoes.  His fine motor skills are poor.  His gross motor skills are excellent.  He even learned to ride a bike last summer.

He is getting into video games.  He used to be obsessed with angry birds but now he's getting more into Sonic the Hedgehog.  I'm pretty sure he like all the spinning Sonic does and how fast he runs through the loops.  He also has been playing against his sister with Super Smash and the old school Mario games on the Super NES.  These games bring back a lot of memories and it's awesome teaching my kids how to play them.  These newer systems and their outstanding graphics and huge too many buttons on a controller game they need to teach me how to play.  My kids are growing like weeds and I could not imagine life without them.