This post is for those of you that can't understand I'm a busy woman. I haven't had a single spare minute since I lasted posted in October. Okay, even I can't make that believable.
Let me e'splain.... no, there is no time.
Let me sum up.
Halloween: Evie was Mulan. She won a costume contest at her dance studio. She's adorable. I'll post a picture here soon.
Thanksgiving: My older sister Rose flew up for a visit. We had a blast. Evie loves her Aunt Rose & I love my sis. We ate turkey.
December 18th: Last day at Compass Technology. Like the other rats, I left this sinking ship just in time.
Christmas: Found an excellent airfare, so Rose came back up for another visit. We had a blast. Evie loves her Aunt Rose & I love my sis. We ate ham.
December 31st: New Year's Eve we bowled & drank.
January 2nd: I started a new job with AHM Direct & so far, I'm liking it. Several of my friend rats from my old company are here. Good times with good friends.
mid-January: Join Gold's Gym. I go 3 times a week because I'm a glutton for punishment.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Evie update with a happy ending... no, happy beginning
Where to begin…. Well, I’m sure many of you have read my posts mentioning Evie’s lack of attention span and her inability to focus on a task. There have been occasions that Evie’s missed recess, music, etc. because she had to stay in class to finish her work. Luckily for us, she wasn’t disruptive to the class. She was only a distraction to herself. She’s cried so many times and said, “I guess I just can’t be good, Mom. I can’t do it. I must be a bad girl.” Of course, we reassured her that she wasn’t bad or stupid. We’ve helped her out whenever we could, short of giving her answers. At the end of last school year, we discussed ADD with her kindergarten teacher. We began the process in early August to have her tested & evaluated by professionals that specialize in this kind of thing, outside of the school system. We filled out lots of questionnaires that asked all sorts of specifics about her behavior, life, habits, medical history, family dynamics, social interactions, etc. Her first grade teacher answered lots of similar questions & submitted those to the doctor. They saw her several times and tested her on many different things.
Fast forward to the beginning of the school year. Evie is behaving in class, but isn’t completing her work. She isn’t even starting it. A full days worth of worksheets is coming home in a packet, stapled together. Kevin & I both spent 2 ½ to 3 hours each night for the first couple of weeks, just getting her to complete an assignment. Not a single time did we have to give her the answers to the questions. We just had to bring her back to the worksheet when her mind wandered. Some picture she had to write the first letter of reminded her of a movie she’d seen or something that happened at recess. She’d either want to as us about it or tell us about it. We’d have to tap the paper in front of her, “Evie, focus.” We were all getting exhausted & frustrated. On more than one occasion, I just broke down and cried. I was so afraid she was going to quickly learn to hate school and none of us wanted that. The last 2 weeks hadn’t been as bad. She still wasn’t doing more than half of her assigned work and was never, ever doing the self starting, self-directed work. The saving grace was that we’d fallen into a routine at home. After a snack, we headed straight to the kitchen with little argument. She completed her work in far less time and was only then allowed to play or watch a video. Of course, after the first month of school, incomplete work would start to count against her unless she did it in class.
This past Thursday, Kevin & I met with the psychologist to review her results & findings. Evie has moderate ADD, with no hyperactivity component. She scored average or above average on many of the things they test on regarding cognitive skills, imagination, understanding complex concepts, etc. It was obvious that she’s a bright, clever girl from most things. She showed well developed social skills & good impulse control. She showed none of the signs for aggressive behavior or acting out. The portions of the test centering on attention span and focus were below average, some well below. On parts of that test, Evie didn’t even show up on the graph but only because by the end of the 20 minutes, she’d totally checked out and was no longer paying attention at all. There weren’t even any false positive answers, which indicates she was focused everywhere but the test.
On Tuesday, Evie and I headed back to her pediatrician, who had already received the psychologists report. We discussed all our options and Dr. Barron wrote a prescription for a long acting Ritalin. She takes one dose in the morning before school and it last long enough to get her through the school day. She doesn’t need to take it on days she doesn’t go to school, (weekends, holidays, summer, etc.) She can take it on weekend days where we need her to focus and pay attention (like next Saturday when she’s in a wedding). I explained to Evie what her form of ADD is like. I highlighted all the things the doctors said her brain did really well. Then I pointed out what her brain does differently because of her ADD. I stressed that nothing is wrong with her, just different. I told her she’d be taking meds that would help her pay attention, focus, listen to and follow instructions.
Yesterday was her first day on the meds. Her teacher was well aware of the process we were going through, the diagnosis and where we were in the time line. I sent in a note to Ms. Fitzpatrick letting her know Evie had started the meds and asked her to 1) send me a progress report this week and 2) keep her eye out for a list of side effects.
I called Kevin on his cell phone yesterday afternoon to see if he was picking Evie up. She answered the phone for him and was just bubbling! She had a fabulous day. She finished every single bit of her work, even the self directed stuff. She completed her DOL, wrote all her sentences from the board with no help or interference. She completed her work in time to have free play before lunch. All of this is a first for us.
Ms. Fitzpatrick sent a note home with her and even read it to her at the end of the day explaining all of the above. She used the word “remarkable” to describe how well Evie did. Evie was over the moon proud of herself for doing the work and getting a good note home. Evie did use the phrase, “The medicine did it, Mom!” I was quick to point out that the medicine didn’t do it, SHE did. Medicine isn’t smart. Medicine doesn’t know the answers. Evie knows the answers and the medicine just helps her pay attention long enough to write them down. I wish you all could have seen how thrilled & amazed she was with herself and what she could accomplish, with just a little nudge.
It’s really validation for Kevin & me that we did the right thing. It’s proof that all along she was really bright enough to know the answers but just didn’t have the focus to finish (or sometimes even start) the work without someone hovering over her, keeping her on task. I realize one day doesn’t make a pattern, but it’s a DAMN fine start.
Fast forward to the beginning of the school year. Evie is behaving in class, but isn’t completing her work. She isn’t even starting it. A full days worth of worksheets is coming home in a packet, stapled together. Kevin & I both spent 2 ½ to 3 hours each night for the first couple of weeks, just getting her to complete an assignment. Not a single time did we have to give her the answers to the questions. We just had to bring her back to the worksheet when her mind wandered. Some picture she had to write the first letter of reminded her of a movie she’d seen or something that happened at recess. She’d either want to as us about it or tell us about it. We’d have to tap the paper in front of her, “Evie, focus.” We were all getting exhausted & frustrated. On more than one occasion, I just broke down and cried. I was so afraid she was going to quickly learn to hate school and none of us wanted that. The last 2 weeks hadn’t been as bad. She still wasn’t doing more than half of her assigned work and was never, ever doing the self starting, self-directed work. The saving grace was that we’d fallen into a routine at home. After a snack, we headed straight to the kitchen with little argument. She completed her work in far less time and was only then allowed to play or watch a video. Of course, after the first month of school, incomplete work would start to count against her unless she did it in class.
This past Thursday, Kevin & I met with the psychologist to review her results & findings. Evie has moderate ADD, with no hyperactivity component. She scored average or above average on many of the things they test on regarding cognitive skills, imagination, understanding complex concepts, etc. It was obvious that she’s a bright, clever girl from most things. She showed well developed social skills & good impulse control. She showed none of the signs for aggressive behavior or acting out. The portions of the test centering on attention span and focus were below average, some well below. On parts of that test, Evie didn’t even show up on the graph but only because by the end of the 20 minutes, she’d totally checked out and was no longer paying attention at all. There weren’t even any false positive answers, which indicates she was focused everywhere but the test.
On Tuesday, Evie and I headed back to her pediatrician, who had already received the psychologists report. We discussed all our options and Dr. Barron wrote a prescription for a long acting Ritalin. She takes one dose in the morning before school and it last long enough to get her through the school day. She doesn’t need to take it on days she doesn’t go to school, (weekends, holidays, summer, etc.) She can take it on weekend days where we need her to focus and pay attention (like next Saturday when she’s in a wedding). I explained to Evie what her form of ADD is like. I highlighted all the things the doctors said her brain did really well. Then I pointed out what her brain does differently because of her ADD. I stressed that nothing is wrong with her, just different. I told her she’d be taking meds that would help her pay attention, focus, listen to and follow instructions.
Yesterday was her first day on the meds. Her teacher was well aware of the process we were going through, the diagnosis and where we were in the time line. I sent in a note to Ms. Fitzpatrick letting her know Evie had started the meds and asked her to 1) send me a progress report this week and 2) keep her eye out for a list of side effects.
I called Kevin on his cell phone yesterday afternoon to see if he was picking Evie up. She answered the phone for him and was just bubbling! She had a fabulous day. She finished every single bit of her work, even the self directed stuff. She completed her DOL, wrote all her sentences from the board with no help or interference. She completed her work in time to have free play before lunch. All of this is a first for us.
Ms. Fitzpatrick sent a note home with her and even read it to her at the end of the day explaining all of the above. She used the word “remarkable” to describe how well Evie did. Evie was over the moon proud of herself for doing the work and getting a good note home. Evie did use the phrase, “The medicine did it, Mom!” I was quick to point out that the medicine didn’t do it, SHE did. Medicine isn’t smart. Medicine doesn’t know the answers. Evie knows the answers and the medicine just helps her pay attention long enough to write them down. I wish you all could have seen how thrilled & amazed she was with herself and what she could accomplish, with just a little nudge.
It’s really validation for Kevin & me that we did the right thing. It’s proof that all along she was really bright enough to know the answers but just didn’t have the focus to finish (or sometimes even start) the work without someone hovering over her, keeping her on task. I realize one day doesn’t make a pattern, but it’s a DAMN fine start.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Autumn arrived at 8:32PM, last night.....
Yes, it's a few days late, but I still feel it sneaked up on me. According to my calendar, it should have arrived on Sunday. I know it's here now because I was sitting in lawn chairs, having a beer with a few friends when it arrived. Yesterday was a warm day, around 81 degrees I think. It was certainly warm enough to sit around outside well after dark. There I was, laughing at something ridiculous Janet or Tiffany said when a chilly wind blows across us. Everyone shivered, joked about the temperature change and wished that Jody had gotten out the fire pit already. There is was, the death knell for summer. You don't need the fire pit in summer time. The kids starting back to school wasn't enough to convince me or even a few changing leaves. It took the need of a smoking external heat source to convince me that Autumn is here. Yea! I get to pull out my leather boots!!
My friend Maren has a lovely blog, Maren's Musings. If you haven't checked it out yet, there's a link over to the left somewhere. I read hers a day or so ago where she referenced Autumn. I had to laugh when I read her description of geese flying South in a V formation. All through my childhood, I waited to see that. I couldn't wait to see geese flying further south, to a warmer climate. It was in movies, in cartoons, all birds went South. I waited patiently for many years, for the birds to disappear when the weather got cold.
I didn't realize until I was a teenager and pondered it once more that I WAS the South. Geese didn't even fly as far south as Alabama. I saw my first Canadian Goose in Northern Virginia when I was almost 30 years old. It wasn't doing anything spectacular, just standing around near the edge of a field. I made my friend pull over to the side of the highway so I could get a better look. It looked like a goose I'd seen on TV. It wasn't quite the highlight I'd expected.
So now I see them flying in the V shape, year after year. They aren't going anywhere for there winter. They're arriving. I guess I had to move North, to be South for the winter.
My friend Maren has a lovely blog, Maren's Musings. If you haven't checked it out yet, there's a link over to the left somewhere. I read hers a day or so ago where she referenced Autumn. I had to laugh when I read her description of geese flying South in a V formation. All through my childhood, I waited to see that. I couldn't wait to see geese flying further south, to a warmer climate. It was in movies, in cartoons, all birds went South. I waited patiently for many years, for the birds to disappear when the weather got cold.
I didn't realize until I was a teenager and pondered it once more that I WAS the South. Geese didn't even fly as far south as Alabama. I saw my first Canadian Goose in Northern Virginia when I was almost 30 years old. It wasn't doing anything spectacular, just standing around near the edge of a field. I made my friend pull over to the side of the highway so I could get a better look. It looked like a goose I'd seen on TV. It wasn't quite the highlight I'd expected.
So now I see them flying in the V shape, year after year. They aren't going anywhere for there winter. They're arriving. I guess I had to move North, to be South for the winter.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Evie turns 6 years old with flair!
I don't think I've told you all of the party plans this year. She's currently infatuated with Angelina Ballerina. So, that's the theme. We had her party in one of the studios at her dance school. It was a combination ladies tea and ballet lesson. The invitations told the little girls to come prepared to dance, leotards welcome but not required.
Friday night, I set up the tables at one end of the classroom & covered them with pink tablecloths. I laid out the pink plates, flatware & cups. I draped pink & white streamers over the "dining area" and entrance to the room. Instead of cake, she's having cupcakes where the icing looks like pink & purple tutus, each will have an Angelina themed pick stuck in the top. I do still have to pick up all the pink & white balloons to place around the room. I made centerpieces from white, light pink & dark pink carnations for each table.
Saturday morning I made finger sandwiches, fruit & crudites'. Of course 6 year olds probably don't like cucumber or watercress sandwiches, so they have pb&j or cheese from which to choose. When I arrived to pick up the balloons she was only halfway finished with them. I'd arranged for them to be ready at 10:30. I finally walked out of the store at 11:10. It was so frustrating just standing there, waiting when I had so much to do.
The gift bags were all ready to go but thankfully not that big a deal. They have bags of candy with custom Evie & Angelina Ballerina packaging (too cute!), 18 Angelina Ballerina stickers, bendable ballerina toys, sidewalk chalk, bubble necklaces, big pink super bouncy balls, etc. We had a ballet slipper shaped pinata, but since we weren't sure where to secure it, we opted not to use it. Of course after the lesson, lunch, cake & gifts, the 2 hours was up and parents were arriving. She got some great gifts from her friends & family. She oohed & aahed for everything and remembered to tell them thank you without being reminded.
Evie was over the moon excited and I think I was too. I have the pictures from yesterday posted on flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mom2evie/sets/72157601066987447/
Friday night, I set up the tables at one end of the classroom & covered them with pink tablecloths. I laid out the pink plates, flatware & cups. I draped pink & white streamers over the "dining area" and entrance to the room. Instead of cake, she's having cupcakes where the icing looks like pink & purple tutus, each will have an Angelina themed pick stuck in the top. I do still have to pick up all the pink & white balloons to place around the room. I made centerpieces from white, light pink & dark pink carnations for each table.
Saturday morning I made finger sandwiches, fruit & crudites'. Of course 6 year olds probably don't like cucumber or watercress sandwiches, so they have pb&j or cheese from which to choose. When I arrived to pick up the balloons she was only halfway finished with them. I'd arranged for them to be ready at 10:30. I finally walked out of the store at 11:10. It was so frustrating just standing there, waiting when I had so much to do.
The gift bags were all ready to go but thankfully not that big a deal. They have bags of candy with custom Evie & Angelina Ballerina packaging (too cute!), 18 Angelina Ballerina stickers, bendable ballerina toys, sidewalk chalk, bubble necklaces, big pink super bouncy balls, etc. We had a ballet slipper shaped pinata, but since we weren't sure where to secure it, we opted not to use it. Of course after the lesson, lunch, cake & gifts, the 2 hours was up and parents were arriving. She got some great gifts from her friends & family. She oohed & aahed for everything and remembered to tell them thank you without being reminded.
Evie was over the moon excited and I think I was too. I have the pictures from yesterday posted on flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mom2evie/sets/72157601066987447/
Monday, June 11, 2007
Where to begin...
So, it's been a while since I last posted anything here. Life has just been running at 100 mph and I can't seem to get the conductor to let me off this train. I've been putting in some really long work weeks that include fielding calls and running processes at 1, 3 and 5am some mornings.
My best friend from college visited over Memorial Day weekend. We spent the weekend alternating between busy-fun things and nothing. Both were fun enough. The nothing often involved margaritas, beer or vodka Collins on my patio while Evie played in the backyard. Evie wept most of Memorial Day when Kandi had to fly home. The saving grace is that we're planning a trip to Disney together in September. I'd read about this great deal where rates were low and the dining plan was free. We booked the reservation and have now all booked our plane tickets as well. Guess that means we're really going. It's going to be a great, great time. I got reservations for lunch at Cinderella's castle, breakfast at the Crystal Palace, Dinner at Teppanyaki in Japan, Wolfgang Puck's Bistro in Downtown Disney and a surprise for Friday night. I'm sure Kandi is dying to know what it is, but I'm not silly enough to put it in my blog.
Kevin's band concert was a week and a half ago, so that stressed has passed. His concert band did a really good job. I really like the march they did and I hate marches. Specifically anything by Sousa, but Kevin, being a proud Jacksonville State University Marching Southerner Alumni wouldn't play Sousa.... would he? At least he didn't this year. Evie was better behaved than normal. Maybe that's getting better with age? I'm not holding my breath. She looked beautiful as always. You'll find pics at Yahoo!
Last week was the class picnic and field day at Evie's elementary school. On Wednesday, the picnic was held indoors to "keep the bugs off of me". At least that was Evie's explanation. I came by to help the teacher and the classroom had food on every flat surface: chips, pizza, doughnuts, cupcakes, candy goodie bags, pb crackers, fruit & veggie trays, soda, and juice. After they'd committed one of the seven deadly sins (gluttony), we headed outside. They played with all sorts of outside games: Frisbees, balls, badminton, wiffle balls, etc. They whacked a pinata and trust me when I tell you that the girls seemed to have some frustrations to work through with that aluminum baseball bat. They'd have made Tony Soprano proud. We ended the day with a big water balloon fight. I burst balloons on Evie's head & then upon request on the heads of several of her friends. Of course, I then got nailed right in the back by a girl named Gabrielle. Field day was Thursday. They ran three-legged races, potato sack races, kicked soccer balls played with the parachute we all loved in gym class as children and a variety of other fun activities. The best thing is they were racing each other or other classes. No one got upset when you weren't fast enough. They just did it for fun and all the kids cheered for every one. I'm not one of those parents that doesn't think you should keep score in a baseball game or that 3 outs doesn't mean anything because everybody gets a chance to bat. I just really loved the way this was run, fun for even the clumsiest of children. I'll be loading up pictures & videos soon.
We received the results of her PALS testing and she did excellent, of course. How Mrs. Gray got her to sit down and stay focused to do it is beyond me.
I've spent most of the last 3 days working on costumes & props for the dance studio. The recital is coming up the third weekend in June and each year, I donate a bulk of my time to it. Saturday was costume picture day. Evie looked adorable in her white stiff tutu for ballet and her pink panther costume for her tap class. I should have those scanned in soon enough.
Some new pics are in the 5.5 Years Old album at http://photos.yahoo.com/riebie
My best friend from college visited over Memorial Day weekend. We spent the weekend alternating between busy-fun things and nothing. Both were fun enough. The nothing often involved margaritas, beer or vodka Collins on my patio while Evie played in the backyard. Evie wept most of Memorial Day when Kandi had to fly home. The saving grace is that we're planning a trip to Disney together in September. I'd read about this great deal where rates were low and the dining plan was free. We booked the reservation and have now all booked our plane tickets as well. Guess that means we're really going. It's going to be a great, great time. I got reservations for lunch at Cinderella's castle, breakfast at the Crystal Palace, Dinner at Teppanyaki in Japan, Wolfgang Puck's Bistro in Downtown Disney and a surprise for Friday night. I'm sure Kandi is dying to know what it is, but I'm not silly enough to put it in my blog.
Kevin's band concert was a week and a half ago, so that stressed has passed. His concert band did a really good job. I really like the march they did and I hate marches. Specifically anything by Sousa, but Kevin, being a proud Jacksonville State University Marching Southerner Alumni wouldn't play Sousa.... would he? At least he didn't this year. Evie was better behaved than normal. Maybe that's getting better with age? I'm not holding my breath. She looked beautiful as always. You'll find pics at Yahoo!
Last week was the class picnic and field day at Evie's elementary school. On Wednesday, the picnic was held indoors to "keep the bugs off of me". At least that was Evie's explanation. I came by to help the teacher and the classroom had food on every flat surface: chips, pizza, doughnuts, cupcakes, candy goodie bags, pb crackers, fruit & veggie trays, soda, and juice. After they'd committed one of the seven deadly sins (gluttony), we headed outside. They played with all sorts of outside games: Frisbees, balls, badminton, wiffle balls, etc. They whacked a pinata and trust me when I tell you that the girls seemed to have some frustrations to work through with that aluminum baseball bat. They'd have made Tony Soprano proud. We ended the day with a big water balloon fight. I burst balloons on Evie's head & then upon request on the heads of several of her friends. Of course, I then got nailed right in the back by a girl named Gabrielle. Field day was Thursday. They ran three-legged races, potato sack races, kicked soccer balls played with the parachute we all loved in gym class as children and a variety of other fun activities. The best thing is they were racing each other or other classes. No one got upset when you weren't fast enough. They just did it for fun and all the kids cheered for every one. I'm not one of those parents that doesn't think you should keep score in a baseball game or that 3 outs doesn't mean anything because everybody gets a chance to bat. I just really loved the way this was run, fun for even the clumsiest of children. I'll be loading up pictures & videos soon.
We received the results of her PALS testing and she did excellent, of course. How Mrs. Gray got her to sit down and stay focused to do it is beyond me.
I've spent most of the last 3 days working on costumes & props for the dance studio. The recital is coming up the third weekend in June and each year, I donate a bulk of my time to it. Saturday was costume picture day. Evie looked adorable in her white stiff tutu for ballet and her pink panther costume for her tap class. I should have those scanned in soon enough.
Some new pics are in the 5.5 Years Old album at http://photos.yahoo.com/riebie
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
She sings... she dances
Evie's Spring choral concert was last night. Man, you gotta love 50 kindergarten students singing together. It melts your heart. You can see a few videos of Evie on YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=szVFRXICmDo She’s the second child in from the girl in the pink dress, front row. You can’t see her really well, but it’s too cute. The soloist is her best friend Victoria.
There’s another video on my list where she’s in the front, holding the “fake salad”. Did you bring that salad? Yes, I brought the salad! www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfQikgtk4KU
And my personal favorite, Evie just jamming and being Evie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSGUElEEfo4 Please note that she's actually dancing to music that none of us can hear. The sound track was added later.
There’s another video on my list where she’s in the front, holding the “fake salad”. Did you bring that salad? Yes, I brought the salad! www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfQikgtk4KU
And my personal favorite, Evie just jamming and being Evie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSGUElEEfo4 Please note that she's actually dancing to music that none of us can hear. The sound track was added later.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Spread this number 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
This number is incredibly expensive. Or at least it could be fot http://www.digg.com
It’s the HD DVD processing key that allows people to watch HD DVD content. With it you can watch HD content and decrypt it from it’s media, even though ‘The Industry’ doesn’t want you to. Oh, and apparently it’s copyrighted so under the DMCA my posting it here is illegal etc etc.
Digg.com is a web 2.0 site depending on users to act as contributors and editors. They are being sued by an anti-piracy group for posting this number, discovered by a hacker, as part of a story on their website. Originally, they took it down upon receiving a cease and desist letter but put it back up after protests from contributors. Company founder Kevin Rose said in an online statement, "You'd rather see Digg do down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won't delete stores or comments containing code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be."
This number is incredibly expensive. Or at least it could be fot http://www.digg.com
It’s the HD DVD processing key that allows people to watch HD DVD content. With it you can watch HD content and decrypt it from it’s media, even though ‘The Industry’ doesn’t want you to. Oh, and apparently it’s copyrighted so under the DMCA my posting it here is illegal etc etc.
Digg.com is a web 2.0 site depending on users to act as contributors and editors. They are being sued by an anti-piracy group for posting this number, discovered by a hacker, as part of a story on their website. Originally, they took it down upon receiving a cease and desist letter but put it back up after protests from contributors. Company founder Kevin Rose said in an online statement, "You'd rather see Digg do down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won't delete stores or comments containing code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be."
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