Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Progress

I am making progress. I am walking twice a day (usually) and eating healthy. It is really hard some days, not to fall back into old habit. Sometimes, I'm ready to make a recipe, and the veggies are spoiled. In frustration, it would be so easy to just grab something quick, but I don't. I think it through and patiently work out the problem. Today's Asian Noodle Soup didn't have scallions. I used dried, and they were so not the same, but it worked.

Right now, I have an over abundance of cookies, because I baked yesterday. I get two small cookies a day. And I am not cheating. I know that with all I made, even if my family eats cookies all day, there will still be a couple left tomorrow. I am not binging (I think its been like 3 weeks!) I am rarely starving, because during the day, I eat about every 3 hours. At night, I kinda fast. I stop eating around 6 or 7 PM. Guess what! No heartburn that way! And, no late night snacking. That was a hurdle that I had to get through. Giving it up was quite challenging, but so worth it.

My size 20-22 pants are very loose. I am going to retire a couple pair. I'm almost into my 18/20 pants. I can hardly wait, probably 2-3 more weeks max. I am ridding myself of these huge things and moving forward. I love it!

At therapy, I'm finding out that I am being a lot more assertive lately. I'm making my needs a priority. It can be done! Some nights I go to bed with a huge mess, but, I get my walk on the treadmill, and I really enjoy it once I am about 5 minutes into the walk. There will always be housework, laundry, dirty dishes. But, I don't have to always be huge.

My engagement ring fits again! (not the wedding band yet). I've lost over 12 lbs! Hooray!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Totally Good News!

Yesterday, while my daughter was at school for Occupational Therapy and Speech/Language therapy, the OT approached me about my daughter's report card. She has an IEP (Individual Education Plan), for Autism Spectrum Disorder. It seems that my daughter has met all her goals. Usually, at this point, we meet to write up new goals. Only this time, she is at grade level. She might not need anymore Occupational Therapy. This is wonderful news! But, it gets better.

I am told that the Speech and Language Therapist will talk to me as well, when her appointment with my daughter is over. It seems she has met her goals for Speech and Language too. And yes, she is at grade level for Speech and Language. Pending an evaluation of reports and tests compiled, she might not need anymore Speech and Language. If you don't have a child with ASD, you might not expect the next thing I was told.

If this happens, she will no longer need an IEP. She will no longer be eligible for Special Ed. services for Autism Spectrum Disorder, because she will no longer meet the criterion for Autism Spectrum Disorder! Since I homeschool, all this didn't sound off the wall to me. My husband and I have been thinking this for a while. But, I want her to be dismissed from services. I want the file to be closed. I would take too long to explain why this is so important to me, but it is very important to me.

I think I finally wrote about this because no one talks about recovery. Kids do recover from autism. My daughter is getting closer to NT (neuro-typical) every day. One day, I know autism will come up and I will be able to say, "Yah, when you were young, you had autism, but you worked very hard and overcame it." And, she did work very hard (still does). For two years, we did Applied Behavior Analysis sessions (ABA) for a couple hours every day. I always worried about not doing enough. She went to a special ed. preschool. Then, I shadowed her at a church preschool. She learned to socialize. She learned not to bite, scratch, give black eyes, hit and scream. She learned to follow routines and be a good student. She worked her butt off, and so did I (and my spouse, and other teachers, of course). My husband always expects 120% from her.

I know ABA works. I thank the Lord that He placed me in the right jobs to learn ABA before she was born. I don't know why some kids don't recover. And, of course, there will still be related struggles. But, today is my day to celebrate, and I am rejoicing to the fullest!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Still Calm

The dog is still wearing a collar from being neutered last week. I can't remember if I even mentioned that the surgery finally took place, if I didn't, well now you know that it did. He chewed through the medical tape on the plastic cone he wears around his head. It is too prevent him from licking and chewing his incision. I have re-taped this cone a few times. Last night, hubby reinforced it with duct tape. Yes, he chewed through it. The cone also broke, due to constantly banging into stuff, and had to be duct taped. In boredom, Scotty chewed a hole in the kitchen rug. He tries to jump on us constantly, because he is so lonely. Jumping means he must go in the crate, so as to not hurt himself. Poor naughty doggie. We have a few more days of restricted activity, and then a few more than that till the cone comes off. I had no idea it was such a big process!

With all this said, I am still calm. I half glass of wine in the afternoon is doing wonders! (Apologies to my Methodist relatives). But, seriously, I am walking twice a day on the treadmill. My hubby gave me his old i-pod, isn't he wonderful! It makes a world of difference. I am planning meals and cooking great recipes. I am eating healthy and when I've planned to snack or have a meal, instead of whenever I get stressed out. I have cut out diet coke, and seriously may never go back. This is causing me to drink water :)

My aunt sent me a wonderful email, about scheduling exercise as an appointment, and giving it priority in my life, like REAL appointments. She has an friend who does this. So, I'm doing it. It was a great idea! Thanks Aunt NeeNee. Your email really made me feel good and motivated me.

I should write about homeschooling sometime. I suppose it is in the title of my blog, but right now, lets just say its going so well that I'm comfortable being the teacher and my anxiety about my abilities to teach are very low. I am doing a good job, and my daughter is learning.

She is a smart cookie. She knows all her continents, she knows about a dozen different countries around the world. She know a fair bit about our USA. She is great at math. And today, she read a phonics "Hello Kitty" book to her brother. She knows over 100 sight words. I introduced Science this week, formally, and she is loving it! Oh, and she can write the entire alphabet legibly (except K and Y) in capitals. This time last year, she could make about 5 letters. I would say with friends, she is kinda bossy, but she does pretty well. She is our little dancer, and this week starts swimming lessons with her friends. I can't wait to start homeschooling her brother this summer. Its a wonderful blessing!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Taking care of myself

Well, the life style changes began today. After two months of therapy for emotional eating, anxiety, depression, etc, I have started working on my weight again. This time it will be with counseling as a support and accountablitity. Yah, its a diet, a dirty word, but being conscious of what food you put into your body isn't a bad thing. I'm doing 1,800 - 2,000 calories a day and a walk in the AM and PM. It will work. It must work. I can't wear my wedding rings anymore. I guess that was the motivator. I iced my finger (I noticed it was turning bluish) and buttered it up with, well butter. I worked it off my finger. There were a few second there that it was stuck on the knuckle, and I wondered if I'd end up in the ER having it cut off (the ring, not my finger!). So, now I have to wear it around my neck. It makes me sad, but I call it a motivator, not an eye opener. I mean, you know when you've gained weight and end up in clothes made for an elephant. Kinda like Babar the elephant. Except, they dressed tastefully for elephants. I am wearing the cheapest things that fit, because I stopped spending money on "nice" clothes about 3 sizes ago.

I am reading a weight loss book/recipe book by Pam Anderson (not the Baywatch Pamela, Pam the chef) Don't worry about it, I found it in Border's bookstore, and I have no idea who she is either. But, its not "diet" food. The recipes are stuff my husband will eat, and filled with whole grains, veggies, fruit and stuff like that. I walked on the treadmill twice today, totaling 40 minutes. I am going to get up 30 minutes before my daughter and then walk again right after the kids go to bed. I know that this will work. It felt really good to start walking again. My husband thinks that I'm hilarious walking in my K-mart "Cow" pajamas. They have cow spots on them. What was I thinking?

So tonight we ate baked foil pockets- they had a barbacue sauce, bell peppers and jumbo shrimp. It was delicious! My husband added rice on the side. I even got milk and cookies (homemade from the recipe book) for dessert. At 7 PM, I'm done eating till the morning. I've done this before (after my son was born), but this time I don't have to search for recipes, and I'm not gaining weight due to antidepressants.

So, please cheer me on- the late 30's are tough! I want to be as active as my handsome young husband (he is 6 years younger!) so I can do some of the neat stuff outdoor with the family that he loves, and currently I can't physically handle. I want to wear clothes that don't say Plus.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

A New Year

1. I am going to throw away/give away at least one garbage bag of junk a week, besides my normal trash. This house will be decluttered!

2. The house will be fixed up:

Son's bedroom - wallpaper removed, painted, baseboards

Daughter's bedroom - boarder removed, painted, new rug, baseboards

Kid's bathroom - boarder removed, sink and toilet replaced, painted, stick on vinyl floor tiles, baseboards

Master bedroom - painted, pictures (purchased almost a year ago) framed and hung, new carpet, baseboards

Master bathroom - ceiling fan, shelving, baseboards

Living room - remove wallpaper, paint, baseboards

Hallway, Dining room and kitchen - paint, new flooring (not the hallway), new stove, baseboards

Outside- paint doors, stain deck, tear down rotted shed, plant shrubs, seed lawn.


All this by summer (hmmmmm) because we have to put the house up for sale!!!

3. Keep a daily planner- by the half hour. Every day. To keep my sanity!