The New Normal: Day 1

Hello, is this thing on? Are blogs even A Thing anymore? Who knows. I still read Amy and Kim so I know they aren't officially dead...Yet.

So why today to dial up again? Well, life has taken a turn for the weird and somewhat unpleasant and I think perhaps this may be a good outlet for me. It's that or hard drugs, and since I have a kid home with me 24/7, the hard stuff isn't an option.

Yep, Fred now spends all of his time with me. He was essentially thrown out of school, but in the nicest way possible. For the near future, I am his end all be all. I was already most of the things, but now I get to be his teacher as well! Hopefully soon the school will be providing me with some curriculum, but until then my printer is pumping out worksheets by the dozen. At some point (hopefully this week but maybe next) we will meet with some therapeutic elementary school people and decide if that's a good place for him to land. Otherwise the next option is homeschooling with intensive outpatient therapy. In both cases, it's until he's deemed 'well enough' to return to a conventional classroom.

Why, you ask?

MENTAL ILLNESS

Yeah. It sucks enough for adults. Now multiply that amount of suck by at least 459,377,590 and we may possibly hit the range of suckitude when dealing with a mentally ill child. We don't have a definitive diagnosis because he's only 8, and most of the things he seems to be leaning towards are difficult to diagnose in children. Mood disorders and the like. He's awesome for a month, impulsive and violent for a month. Happy. Then not. And he's sizable for a boy of 8, so his impulsive behaviors are leading to more and more significant consequences. Sooooooo NO MORE (regular) SCHOOL FOR FRED.

Help?

Almost There...

Six more weeks to go

Y is for Yellow

We almost didn't make it this week! I took this Y photo back in March of 2009 and never named the file so I would be able to find it. After a long time of searching through lots of folders, and reliving lots of memories, I finally came across it this morning. This was actually the shot that gave me the initial idea to look for letters in nature. The shot that started it all, if you will.

Chrissie is visiting her sister, who has three adorable kids, and she used their arts and crafts time to capture this yellow crayon. She took a lot of shots, but I especially liked this one because of the English, Spanish, and French. Waaaaaaaaaay back in the day, Chrissie and I met in our college French class, so I often think of her when I see the written French word. Plus, she lived in Mexico for a time and is fluent in Spanish, so I also often think of her when I see Spanish text. So even though it sounds really weird, this shot of a yellow crayon reminds me of a lot of happy memories of our friendship.

Can you tell I'm pregnant and maybe a little hormonal?

For more Team Up Thursday, visit Megan, Melody and Flickr!

For Your Amusement

Here mom! I drew a picture of you!

See, I used orange paper because it's my favorite color. And I made your face purple because it's your favorite color. And I made your beard green because it's Lucy's favorite color.

What a sweet boy, no?

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As if you didn't see this one coming, here's the newest addition to the family. He/she will be making an appearance around St. Patrick's Day, 2011.