December Challenge: Day 1

THE CHALLENGE:
Spurred on by my dearest Walt, I am taking the month long challenge of posting a blog a day. Okay, okay. So Walt didn’t exactly challenge me, but he did it for the month of November and I thought I’d follow suit by doing the challenge for December. Because I am a sheep and I like to follow the herd. I also like to push myself when I am completely stressed and add more to my plate to make me bend even further.

TRAUMATIZING THE TODDLER:
Today was Bug’s first day of “school”. I wish I could have posted pictures of this magnanimous occasion, but you’ll see why I don’t have any here in a second. For those who don’t know, our sweet little Bug doesn’t talk. Yes, he’s three, but he doesn’t talk. Many people have said it’s because his brother says everything for him and he doesn’t need to talk. It’s true. Adrian talks enough for an army. But it concerned me for so long that we had him evaluated by speech therapists and the like to find out what’s going on. I didn’t want my little boy to be trapped in his head, I wanted the best of everything for him. While he’s been nattering on a little more and more every day lately, he’s still not where he needs to be. OFFICIALLY, he’s 18 months delayed with his speech. UNOFFICIALLY, he’s “just a three year old and will talk when he’s ready”.

For the last five months he’s been getting speech therapy once a month for 45 minutes and occupational therapy for 45 minutes twice a month. His occupational therapist tells me he wants to be a rodeo clown when he grows up, and this is fine by me. Cuz I love a good rodeo.
His speech therapy benefits through Easter Seals expired on his 3rd birthday on the 22nd of this month. From there, AISD (Austin Independent School District) picked up where Easter Seals left off. They also increased his speech therapy to 3 hours a day/ 5-days a week. So far I’ve not been completely thrilled with the communication with the school district.

For example: When we enrolled him I told them he wouldn’t be able to start until December 1st, because he was going to be out of town for the entire week after his birthday. Imagine my surprise as I was walking around the house in my lacy panties on the 24th of November when I heard the school bus outside. I ran out there (AFTER I threw some pants on, of course) and told the bus driver that he wasn’t supposed to start for another week. She left, angry I’m sure. I made a mental note of the time so I’d know when to have Bug ready for the bus. 0654. This morning I got up and made the kids waffles for breakfast. I wanted his first day to be special. I opened the blinds on the front of the house so I could see the bus when it pulled up; hopped in the shower; got mostly dressed; went into the kitchen to start making Bear’s lunch when I SAW THE BUS PULL UP IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE…AT 0640. Bug was still in his pajamas. I got the kid dressed faster than you’ve ever seen a kid get dressed in his life. What made me sad was I had this whole plan in my head that I’d get him dressed and tell him about his new school and the fun bus ride he was going to get to take. None of this happened. I basically hurried up and got him dressed, picked him up and ran outside and threw him on a bus with a bunch of strangers, strapped him in his seat and ran out the door while I heard him screaming, “DAAAADEEEEEEEEE”. I know he’s traumatized this morning. I feel horrible. I realize he’ll “bounce back”, but this is not how I wanted his first day of school to be. NOW I know that I have to have him ready “between 0630 and 0700” for the bus to pick him up. Thanks for that stellar communication.

DAAADEEEEEEEE School:
The last day of classes for me I think are on the 9th? I have an Algebra class tonight, my final English paper due tomorrow (which I haven’t started yet), an Algebra test on Wednesday, a History test on Thursday, my Algebra final next Monday, and my History final next Thursday. Needless to say, I’m ready for this semester to be over. I’ll get a good 4-weeks off before gearing up for the next semester (which I was SUPPOSED to register for 2 weeks ago). During which time I can do all my Christmas shopping, have a holiday or two, and reconnect with my family that I haven’t gotten to spend any time with for the last 3 months. PERHAPS, even, I can soothe Bug’s feather’s from his new schedule AND register for the next semester before it’s too late.

MADAGASCAR 2 v. BOLT
I took the boys to see both movies this weekend. Bolt was the clear winner. I enjoyed the original Madagascar and have been looking forward to the sequel since I saw the trailer this summer. I realize this next part is going to sound absolutely ridiculous, so I welcome the ridicule. Madagascar 2 just lacked any believability. Like, seriously, I understand its animation and it has talking animals and such. But there is a certain amount of believability with animated movies. Things just work. But there was so much in Madagascar 2 that was just so outside the realm of possibility that it just came off as a hurried sequel. BOLT, on the other hand, was completely believable AND AWESOME! It was so amazingly awesome that I will most definitely be taking the boys to see it again on Saturday.

AND FOR YOU COMIC BOOK NERDS:
You know who you are. My dear sweet boo kat (is going to kill me for this) is participating in his OWN December Challenge. I don’t know if any of you follow CBR (Comic Book Resources DOT COM!), but he is participating in the December D-List challenge where he and 3 other comic book nerds will be profiling their favorite D-List characters (one a day for the month of December). So if you’re “reality challenged” and are interested in seeing how Jed spends his waking hours, check out the CBR December D-List Challenge. Boo Kat writes under the name Jack Flash. I noticed quite a few nerds already checked in on the thread!