Let's Hear it for my Boy

This post is to link up with the M.O.B. Society's "Let's Here it for the Boys" series.

Today I will brag on my oldest child, Brian. I almost said "oldest boy", but at 15 years of age, he is more of a young man.

As my twenties came and went and there was no man in my life, my dream of children seemed to be fading. I told myself that if there was no one on the horizon by the time I was 35, I would investigate artificial insemination. (Sorry if that's TMI.) So, imagine my happiness when I looked at the little stick at 34 years and dwindling months that we were expecting!

The first thing my husband did was to call his mother. When she answered the phone, he greeted her, "Hi, Grandma!" She 'fell out' on the other end of the phone, 1900 miles away. I could hear her.

I remember when I first saw my son in person, the day after he was born and they wheeled his little bassinet into my hospital room. Here was this little baby, for whom I had waited some 35 years, and for whom I had spent the previous 9 months in intense preparation. I approached cautiously, peered over the side of the bassinet and thought to myself, "What do I do now?"

He has always been "advanced". At seven months of age, he crawled across the phone on the floor. We hung the phone up and several moments later, the phone rang. My husband answered and it was the 911 Emergency Services, calling to see if everything was ok! "We heard an infant..." Brian had somehow not only knocked the phone off the hook, but managed to dial 9-1-1 in the process!

At some point within the next 6 months or so, after he was standing, but before he had a firm grasp on walking, Brian batted at a computer keyboard on a shelf above his line of sight. Danged if he didn't DELETE WINDOWS from the computer! (Luckily hubs is a computer whiz, so no major damage was done.)

Fast forward 6 years, to the birth of his little sister, who was born 2 months early, weighing a smidge over 3 pounds. At the time, if Brian was still for 5 minutes at a time, it was cause for celebration in our household. After seeing us hold his sister, Brian also wanted to hold her. DH came up with the idea to prop him up with pillows on one of the couches in NICU and lay little sis in his arms. He was absolutely still, save for gently stroking her head and cooing at her like a pro.

Through the years, he's had the usual exasperation with his younger siblings' actions at times, but Brian is intensely loyal to his brother and sister.

And, as a bonus, at 15 years old, he will still hug his Mom in public!

Blog Dare 7 - Daily Needs

There are several things I "need" every day:

Coffee - My sleep is rather irregular, so I need that little extra jolt of caffeine to get my motor running.

Cigarettes - I did not start smoking until about 5 years ago. I was working at a residential/teaching facility for adults with MR/DD (mental retardation and developmental disabilities). Yes, dealing with the residents could sometimes be stressful. I went to the hospital at least once every 6 months or so, and was injured twice in 2010, resulting in 15 months total of Workers' Compensation time off work. But the real issue was the administration, obscenely ridiculous working demands and conditions, and double standards. It was either start smoking or put my fist through a wall. And this comes from a woman who dislikes violence. I am partially using e-cigarettes now, which come flavored and have nicotine but not tar. My hope for this year is to stop smoking altogether...for my health.

Cymbalta - This is my anti-depressant medication. I have had depression since my teens (at least) and I am now 50. I have been on (at different times) Zoloft and Effexor. I don't like having to take medication for something that I've been told just needs an attitude adjustment (yeah, that's what I think too), but without it I'm bitchy and just want to lie in bed all day with the covers over my head. Not good for a homeschooling mother. At first, I was worried about what people at my work (then) would think, but then I found out that most of the staff was on anti-depression or -anxiety meds anyway. Somewhere along the line, I stopped being ashamed of it. Everybody's got some kind of problem ... and some kinds of strengths.

And it's coincidence that they all begin with the letter "C".

Blog Dare 6 - My Happy Place

Ok, so actually the prompt was: "My "special" place. {Where do you go for quiet/alone or regrouping time}". But the last time I heard "special place" was in reference to a porn movie and I really didn't want to attract an audience who might make that mistake about my blog.

So, my happy place, my refuge is now our front porch. It's got more character than the back porch/patio, which has, on occasion served as a carport. And it does have the problem of putting me on display for the drivers-by. Especially at night. And it looks like a tornado picked up a sandstorm, and a major metropolitan newspaper printer, ripped it to shreds and dumped it all on my front porch.

When DS1 (dear son), age 15, approaches me with the 15th rendition of "guess what I just read in a fan faction", or when DD (dear daughter), age 8, adds that last "hmph" of tween indignation when things don't go head out to the front porch.

Don't give me too much grief, please, about the cigarettes. I know it's unhealthy. I could go into a whole story about how and why I started, but ... that's a post for another day. And semi-often, I take the e-cig that DH (dear husband) got for me, that has nicotine, but no tar, and comes in different strengths.

You can see my tendency to veer off-topic, and I've always said of myself, I'll never say in 10 words what I can say in 100.

I'm hoping to get some plants, maybe a small herb garden out there in spring/summer, maybe one of those wicker chair with ridiculously huge cushions and a wicker and/or glass table to put my books, papers, drinks, etc, etc, etc on. Of course, there is a chance that we could be looking at buying a house later in the year, so then I'll make sure to stake out a comfort zone from the get go!

So where do you go for you?

Blog Dare First Five Days

Yeah, I know, I'm playing catch-up. Whatever.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

My social media goals for 2012.

My numbers are still relatively small, making a bold statement such as "double the number of followers I have on GFC and FB" is not really that huge of an achievevement. Doubling the number would put me in the 250 range.

I would like to engage in hosting and writing more guest posts. Maybe guest-writing a post one month, then having a guest post on my blog the next, and so on.

Monday, January 2, 2012

A look back at 2011.

I blogged and wrote more in 2011 than I have before, but was still not very disciplined in my practice. I started NaNoWriMo, but did not finish...but that's better than in years past.

My mother passed away in late March at the age of 87. We bought a 2nd vehicle, because it was getting harder and harder to stuff two teenage boys and their tween sister into the back seat of a 2-door Ford Escort. My oldest child turned 15. I turned 50. And now that I got my hair cut from waist-length to shoulder-length, my gray hairs really show through. About the only other thing of note was having an operation on my left knee after getting kicked in the knee at work in 2010.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Bucket List Update

I don't think I've accomplished anything on my list yet, so I'll just recap a few of my favorites, in no particular order:

1. Visit Scotland.

2. Act in a Shakespeare play.

3. Drive a Jaguar XJ-S (owning one would be nice, but I could dine out on driving a friend's Jag one time. )

4. Own a home for my family.

5. Read every major religious text.

Wednesday, January4, 2012

What I should have bought this holiday season.

A new laptop would have been nice. The keyboard on this one is possessed. I can't count the pages of material I've lost because the cursor jumps and all of a sudden 5 lines are gone. This post has taken me at least an hour, two drafts saved (I remember only 1) and an accidental posting of partially-finished writing. Ugh.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Something lost...

I'd like to say my sanity...but that is hardly news. Unfortunately, I have the dubious talent of being able to have things disappear 5 seconds after I put them down. But it gives me an idea for a book..."14,000 Things I Have Lost".