October 2009

1. Candy corn. :)
2. A sexual act that I was able to perform last night as a result of the physiotherapy I’ve been doing lately. I realize that’s already TMI for some of you, but YAY PHYSIO!!!
3. I am the proud owner of a UV-light toothbrush sanitizer. You may mock me, tell me it’s dumb, and I DO NOT CARE.
4. I have not yet killed the children.
5. Middle One has the COOLEST werewolf mask for his costume tonight.

(Second in a series of “Answers” to questions.. feel free to add more questions – this is seriously helping me blog!)

A few years ago – I don’t remember how many – I went off all of my ADD meds. I thought I was ready – not because the ADD had gone away, but because I had developed some awesome coping mechanisms after a lot of experimentation.

Then we adopted kids and I swear, I SWEAR, I lost every bit of organizational style I ever had. They messed me up BIG with the addition of their own schedules and routines and places-to-be AND all of their stuff. But I was staying at home, not working outside, so I was able to float along with things rather easily. The routine of “pick kid up at X time from Y place” was pretty easy for me because our schedules weren’t overwhelmingly busy.

After a few months I had to admit that I’m a great bosser-around-er, but not if there are five different things going on, distractions all over the place, conversations happening, injuries to tend, dogs to feed.. I was LOSING MY MIND. Lots of breakdowns on my part – either yelling at everyone, crying about my failure to accomplish something (or find it), or feeling really anxious because I was positive I was forgetting/missing something.

It sucked.

So we started getting the kids into routines – everything from mornings to evenings.

Chore charts go up every Saturday morning and are the reminder to everyone to brush teeth, do homework, pack lunches, shower, clean bedrooms – without me saying a word. Everything the kids need to do is accounted for – unless it’s a random thing. This isn’t a perfect thing – people ‘forget’ to do chores – but it’s way easier than ME trying to remember and remind everyone all day long.

We implemented some rules, too, like “don’t talk to Mom or Dad while they’re making dinner” because we’d end up distracted and either add four extra cups of flour, forget to turn something, or wander out of the kitchen altogether to investigate problems.

The kids are responsible for their own stuff – like putting away toys (so they know where to find them later) and folding and putting away their own laundry (same reason). Backpacks are kept in bedrooms. Homework and planners are packed up the night before school so there’s no last minute freak-out in the morning.

Each kid has two hooks in the basement for their coat(s) or splash pants or hoodie (depending on the season). They all have a specific place for boots/shoes. And they each have a bin for gloves, hats, mittens and extra shoes.

I realize this sounds like my house is a beautiful, serene place. It’s not. Right now, in fact, it’s a bit of a disaster of stuff and bins and crap that we’re organizing. An on-going project, too.

For my own school stuff, I’m really particular about how I handle it. My tendency is to leave my stuff everywhere – a trail of school supplies and papers and books. I do it, too, but I spend some time every weekend organizing it and filing it and punching holes in papers and the like. Every night I try to return things to some semblance of order, too, but I’m less uptight about it.

I only take things out of my backpack in my room/office (they’re joined) so if something goes missing, I have a smaller search area. This excludes food-related things like my lunch bag or water bottles, of course. I don’t study/work in any other rooms. I charge my laptop in the office now so I don’t forget it in the morning.

I pack my bag the night before school, right before bed, so I’m ready for the next day.

For the purpose of keeping track of due dates, I use a paper planner. Over the years I’ve tried digital (a Palm PDA), Google Calender (which I still use for some appointments and for keeping track of birthdays – since info is emailed to me) and my phone. I keep returning to this fairly generic “student planner” because I like paper best, I guess. I carry it around in my backpack and check it nightly. As soon as I get an assignment, I add it in. Then I highlight it so it won’t blend in with anything else I’ve written.

I also use Open Office to create monthly calendar templates for September, October, November and December – my entire first term. I write my big assignments and tests on those and have them propped up on my desk so I can see, at a glance, what’s coming up. (Because, really, sometimes I forget to look ahead in my planner beyond the current week.)

While I’m at school, I use my laptop as a coping mechanism. I function better on the attentiveness front if I’m able to do little off-topic things at the same time. So, while I’m in class, I often connect online and check my email or update a quick Facebook status — while taking my class notes. I alt-tab between screens very, very quickly. The little blips of inattentiveness are WAY better than losing myself completely by staring out the window at the pond..

For the most part, everything on the organizational front has gone smoothly. I haven’t missed any assignments or handed them in late, the kids are fully clothed when they leave the house, and Coffee is still able to find the bedroom because it’s not covered in papers. :)

But it’s a constant effort. Definitely.

1. The shimmy move that the recycling truck does when it needs to redistribute its contents. It’s like something from a Transformers movie – the “wet dog” shake in slow-motion. And the noise! I love love love that. THUNK-THUNK… THUNK-THUNK.. Awesome.
2. The weekend is approaching for everyone else, too!
3. That some aspects of my life are totally compartmentalized. This blog, for example, isn’t linked to certain sites. Other things link to this blog but not to other sites and.. it’s all good. :)
4. I’m a cheap date.
5. The sound of the rain on the solarium glass is very, very nice.

1. I ran a heap of errands today, made a tonne of phone calls, and tonight I’m going to kick back with a (or two) white russian(s) while wearing my jammas. SO THERE.
2. Tomorrow the plumber comes to fix our drippy shower faucet — by replacing it. The other one is too old to repair, sadly.
3. I have physiotherapy tomorrow.
4. I bought Christmas presents for the kids today. No, I am not feeling festive or anything – there was a big sale and I’ve been planning this for about a year now. :)
5. Even if I’m busy, it’s still nice to have a few days off from school..

(The first, in a blog series of “answers” to comments. :)

I think there’s a good chance I’ll take some photos and do a photo-style blog of what our day looks like with me in school, but for the moment I’ll give you the text-based rundown. There’s a bit of variance, of course, depending on the day of the week.

Here’s Monday, for example, broken into related chunks of time:

7:02 am – alarm goes off. I hit snooze.

7:12 am – alarm goes off. I hit snooze, roll over, and snuggle up to my dear husband.

7:22 am – alarm goes off. We get up.

7:30 am – Coffee is upstairs making coffee, waking up Oldest One. OO comes downstairs and eats breakfast. I’m downstairs getting dressed, checking email and the weather, feeding the fish, etc.

7:35 am – (approx) I emerge from the bedroom, fully clothed, carrying my backpack and school-related stuff.

7:36 am – I begin drinking my bubba keg of coffee while blinking slowly. Write the date and various messages on the whiteboard in our kitchen (e.g., “Monday October 26, 2009 – Have a great day! Be Nice! Mom will be home around 3:30!”).

7:40 am – Oldest One goes upstairs to brush his teeth; Coffee goes upstairs to wake up younger kids.

7:41 am – Maymo and Middle One are eating breakfast, followed by toothbrushing and any other morning chores.

8:00 am – Maymo and Middle One are making/packing their lunches.

8:05 am – Oldest One leaves for school

8:06 am – I pack my lunch (assuming I’m not going to be home before lunch time on that day)

8:10 am – I leave for school (some days I don’t have to leave ’til 9:10) I generally eat breakfast in the car – I’m not very hungry in the morning so I don’t eat anything heavy.

8:25 am – Coffee kicks the younger kids out the door and gets ready to leave a few minutes later (unless he’s working from home)

At Home:
8:30 am ’til 2:55 pm – Dogs destroy the house, ransack the garbage/recycling, shred kleenex, etc. Bark at random noises and then pass out.

At School:
9:00 am – I’m in my first class of the day.

12:00 pm – Lunch time!

1:00 pm – I’m in my first class of the afternoon.

3:00 pm – I’m (usually) finished my afternoon classes and running to the car. The school parking lot is insane at that time with cars trying to get off-campus. Some days I finish earlier or later.

At Home:
2:55 pm – Oldest One is home. Eats a snack, does his homework.

3:30 pm – I arrive home, chat with OO for a few minutes, unpack my stuff, head downstairs to start my homework/readings. This is where I change into my jammas, generally.

3:35 pm – Middle One and Maymo come home, eat a snack, start homework. I say hello, remind them of anything they need to do, and return to my room to study.

5:30 pm – I start dinner (unless Coffee is making it that night). Kids are, in theory, finished homework and chores and are playing. In theory. In actuality, this is where I start doing the “mom-yell” about homework and responsibilities and “you need to go sit down and GET THAT DONE, MISTER.” Feed dogs, clean kitchen, tidy up while I’m waiting for things to boil, cook, bake, etc.

6:10 pm – Coffee gets home from work. We eat dinner anywhere between 6:10 and 7pm, depending on whether we have Scouts/Cubs and what we’ve planned for dinner (i.e., how long it’ll take to make!)

7:00 pm to 7:30 pm – Clean up the kitchen. Kids brush teeth and get ready for bed (but don’t go to bed yet unless there’s a consequence in place!) Check homework, sign planners, remind kids to get chores done (like feeding the cat, showering, packing their backpacks up, etc.) If possible, I go back downstairs to study or read or do homework.

8:00 pm – Bedtime for Maymo! Possibly also bedtime for Middle One!

8:15 pm – I go back to studying if needed. If not, I spend time with Coffee – occasionally playing Tetris! Oldest One plays WoW or reads a book or does more homework or whatever.

9:00 pm – Oldest One heads upstairs to bed – but is allowed to read for an hour. He’s a lot like me in his reaction to not enough sleep, so we have an enforced “quiet reading time” before bedtime.

9:01 pm – I shower, every-other-night.

10:00 pm – lights out for Oldest One. I do more studying/reading or, if I don’t have anything specific, Coffee and I will try to catch up on some of the TV shows we like.

10:55 pm – I make sure all my school books are packed, my laptop is charged, and I try to tidy up my desk/workspace so it doesn’t look like something exploded.

11:00 pm – Coffee and I head off to bed. We’re usually asleep by midnight-ish.

Variances:

• we have Scouts/Cubs one night of the week that necessitates an earlier dinner time and then everyone getting out the door.
• my classes sometimes start at 8am and sometimes at 9am and sometimes in the middle of the afternoon.
• twice each week I have physio for a little over an hour (including driving time). It may be during the “I’d be studying” time or the time when I’d normally be making dinner.
• the kids’ bedtimes are dependent on behaviours and attitudes and weeping. Sometimes people need more sleep, y’know? (*ahem*) Maymo’s is pretty consistent at 8 pm, however.
• there is very little housework being done beyond cleaning up the messes we make at the time (like while making dinner) – I try to do some on my days off and on weekends whenever I have time/energy/motivation! Ditto for Coffee helping!
• in between all the times above, there are discussions with the kids about school stuff (or behavioural stuff or upcoming events or “how was your day?”, etc.) and snuggling with dogs and running loads of laundry and returning phone calls and talking to my classmates by phone/MSN about assignments.
• I update my blog at random times – either when I first get home from school (to give myself some down-time before studying) or after dinner or while making dinner (yay laptops and wifi!) or before bed… ditto for Facebook updates which I use as a break between studying concepts or writing or whatever (yay ADD!)

How’s that? Did I miss anything?

1. Realizing that I won’t have school on most Thursdays for the next while. AWESOME!
2. Finally deciding to ask for help with a social problem I’ve been having lately – and, after bracing myself for some “get over it”-style comments, discovering a wealth of awesome advice, commiseration and empathy.
3. Coffee’s car is coming home from the local garage tomorrow morning.
4. I love my purple hair (again). And yes, I will try to post a photo this weekend.
5. I’ve updated my OHIP, SIN and driver’s license with my new name. It’s a really neat feeling. :)

I like to play a little game with Maymo, sometimes, where I pretend not to know who he is – leading him to either pretend to be some other kid (often his “twin” named Layson), or to grow completely exasperated when I refuse to accept that his name is, in fact, Maymo.

When he came home from school today, we had the following conversation.

Me: Hey! It’s you! Hello, you!

Maymo: Hi Mom!

Me: I know you, don’t I?

Maymo: Yes. It’s me!

Me: I… wait.. what’s your name again? Marvin?

Maymo: No, I’m Maymo!

Me: Is it.. Martin? Margam? Marla?

Maymo: NO, IT’S MAYMO!

Me: Huh. Maymo? Maaaaymo? How do you spell that?

Maymo: M-A-Y-M-O

Me: Are you sure it’s not something like.. Matthew?

Maymo (firmly exasperated): I am Maymo. You know my name is Maymo because I can’t even SPELL Matthew!!!

This is totally getting out of control!

1. My marks have been good – excellent in some cases – and I’m feeling pretty confident about school lately.
2. The one test that I just wrote, on which I’m certain I didn’t do particularly well, taught me a good lesson.
3. I have purple hair again! Deeeeeeeep purple. Very seasonally appropriate!
4. Middle One was faking being sick this morning, so there are not huge quantities of dangerous germs floating around.
5. Coffee was able to stay home from work today so I didn’t have to miss school.
6. Tomorrow is Middle One’s IEP meeting in the morning.
7. Clementines. Mmmmm…
8. I feel good about the paper I just submitted, today, even though I may have made a big mistake in my formatting. Too late to worry though, so I’m (surprisingly) not worrying.
9. Having a good talk with a classmate about his experience as an immigrant. Very interesting perspectives on race, in particular.
10. Cold FX. I think I need to buy stocks in that company.
11. Purple highlighters. What’s not to like?
12. Fresh stationery and a fountain pen… I need to make time to write some letters!
13. Michelle brought me cookies a few days ago and they were REALLY good.
14. People seemed to like the Cinnamon Rolls. How could anyone NOT?
15. A new shirt in the mail today – my t-shirt collection is sloooowly being replenished. Yay!

Bonus: I can’t wait to write some of the entries you guys have suggested!!! Still open to other ideas, too!

89% on my “Intro to Helping” midterm. This gives me a mid-term total of 91% in that class.

100% participation mark for my “Group Process and Dynamics” classroom work and paper (will probably get the paper itself back tomorrow). That particular mark isn’t worth a lot in the grand scheme, but I really HAVE been working hard in that class, so it’s nice to get recognition of it.

Handed in my Conferencing paper. Won’t hear back for at least a week, if not more.

Am starting to prepare for a 45 minute presentation on “Confidentiality” that will happen on Tuesday morning (one week from today) but otherwise have a bit of room to breathe, finally!

Since my posts, lately, have been mostly GiST lists, I’m seeking some input from my readers and friends. Honestly, I’m pretty sure you aren’t particularly interested in hearing more about school.. and my brain is kind of dead lately for thinking up blog posts. (And yet, I am TOTALLY craving the whole “sit-n-blog” thing.. *sigh*)

SO! Dear friends!

Are there any stories I’ve alluded to that you’d like to hear?

Do you have any questions about things going on around here – on any subject?

Curious about something?

Leave a comment and I promise a post. I don’t care how embarrassing, silly, weird or flat-out awful your idea – I WILL BLOG IT.