Eh

Still never found my stupid keys. Well, that's all good. It forced me to fix the other car, which I did with the help of some of my neighbors. I live in a really nice neighborhood. In fact, I'd say in general that El Paso is a friendly city. Texas is a friendly state, too.

The most friendly state I ever went to is Arkansas. My husband and I were married in Arkansas and we could not believe how incredibly nice everyone was. It was almost twilight zone-ish, they were so nice. I grew up in Ohio and people are less friendly there, so it was a shock to me.

I've been listening to podcasts while I'm drawing. I really like AudioMartini and Geek Nights with Rym and Scott. They're fun to listen to.

My son hasn't been feeling too hot. I think he's getting some back teeth in. He's really picky: he only likes peanut butter, crackers, yogurt and assorted fruits. That's it. Sometimes he'll eat chicken. Of course he loves milk. ;) He can feed himself with a spoon now and climb onto the furniture.

My daughter is saying more "stock phrases," like thank you, you're welcome, I can't... stuff like that. But it's a good step. :)

!@&#$* keys!

Still can't find my keys. I have 2 cars here. One is mine, the other is my husband's. One car has a dead battery, the other has no keys. So I had to get keys made.

I walked 5 1/2 miles to the dealership yesterday. I made a key, but the catch is, it might not work because my car *might* have an anti theft chip. In which case, I would have to tow the car to the dealership and have the key made that way... grrrr.... So, I get the key made and on the way back, it starts to rain. I have Ian with me and thankfully, an umbrella. I decide to take the bus back.

It takes an hour for the bus to show up! We get rained on. Then we have to transfer buses. The bus never shows up. Turns out, it got stuck in some flash flooding. It's nearly time for my daughter to come home from school... she takes a bus. I'm about an hour away, walking... and there's lightning and thunder now, and some flash flooding... Fortunately a nice fireman gave us a ride home. I got Rei off her bus OK and try the new key. It's a no-go. But at least I can lock my car now.

I can't belive all of this has happened. Maybe I can get my other car jumped now that I can at least turn my one car on, even if I can't drive it.

Aaaaaargh!

:P

Lost keys=lost mind?

I think I have lost my keys. On Friday, I took Rei and Ian to the video store and we rented some movies. Then we got pizza. Getting home, I was juggling pizza, movies, Ian and Rei, just trying to get them into the house without dropping the pizza. I think I lost my keys somewhere at this time. I've turned my house upside down and I can't find them. I have a terrible feeling I may have thrown them away. I've tried to remain positive about this, but really, it sucks. This is the second set of keys I've lost in 5 months. I do think I've lost my mind. >.<

bleh

Wheels spinning!

Great quote I found: "I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs. " Frederick Douglass

I like that quote a lot, especially right now. It's about prayer and how it doesn't work. But to me, it also shows how anything that has to be done just must be done.

All day, I've been trying to get motivated to do.... anything. The most I've accomplished is making a pot of coffee, fooling around with CSS templates and trying not to fall asleep. I'm soooooo tired!

Yesterday was really hard after my daughter, Rei, came home. Some days, her autism affects us more than other days. It's so hard for me to get her to listen and do as she is supposed to. When she got home, I was thinking we would have a good afternoon. I had been painting and she liked my painting of fish. She was really excited. Then I told her we had to go shopping. She likes to shop and ride in the car. But when we got to the store, she broke down. She didn't want to hold my hand, she wanted to run around and when she saw a zebra statuette, freaked out because I wouldn't buy it for her. Typical kid stuff, huh? I guess the difference with an autistic kid is that everything is jacked up several levels. She was on the floor screaming or in the cart screaming and this made my son, Ian, scream, too. He loves Rei and does what she does.

At home, I tried to get her to sit down and color, do something constructive. This was a battle, too. All she wanted to do was watch TV. By this time, my nerves were hell-a frayed. I was so upset: with Rei and even more, with myself. I don't blame Rei for the trouble that we have. She's a little girl and no matter what, it's my job to help her grow into an adult. If she's having behavior problems, then I am not doing something right.

I'm not sure how to handle things sometimes. All she wants to do is watch TV and have her way. Explaining things, reward systems, time-outs.... these have little effect at home.

At school, I know that she listens, works quietly at her desk, follows instructions... ect. But at home, it's a battle. It's hard to have this kind of pressure. It's really, really hard.

Then, last night, my son couldn't sleep. So I was up and down all night with him. So I'm tired.

But I need to get my legs moving. I can't spin my wheels. There are answers and I must find them.

Hi!

Time keeps on a-keepin' on. Everything moves so fast! It's been a very long time since I updated. I'm doing OK. I'm pretty busy with my kids since I'm the only one here taking care of them. My husband is in Korea and our nearest family is 12 hours away by car. So it's just me, myself and I.

But I guess I'm doing pretty well. I'm keeping the house clean, keeping my daughter on a schedule, and Ian has learned to walk! My daughter, Rei, is showing more signs of speaking, not just one or two words, but sentences. This is very good! Yesterday, very clearly, she said to me "I want more." We were having cereal for breakfast. It was so clearly spoken that I almost didn't believe it. I've had dreams where she's talked to me for real, in a clear voice. This was just like that. I thought I was dreaming. I'm glad I wasn't.

Still getting caught up with work. I enjoy drawing, but I was really burned out. Now I'm doing a lot better and getting back into the swing of things. Unfortunately, I work very slowly sometimes, especially when things are disorganzed as my work load is right now. But I will finish, eventually!

Tchuss!
Ayame