by Sarah | Nov 3, 2011 | All About Me
[flickr id=”6248354420″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’…
into the future…
~Steve Miller Band
A week ago time was flying by. Christmas was getting close far too fast. The weeks passed by with a rapidity that baffled me. Where did 2011 go?
Now?
Well, hell…now I’ve added a few hours a day at a job to my list of craziness and tasks to get done. I signed up for NaBloPoMo without thinking too hard about it. Between the family, my job, trying to get my photography prompts handled, and my writing I’m expecting myself to fit in blogging too. Wouldn’t be a problem if I had 30 days of topics in my head.
Still I’m going to try. To pull myself away from the craziness and pressures I’ve put on myself and have as a normal course to come here and relax. Blogging shouldn’t be a pressure. So I won’t look at NaBlo as pressure – but as my daily escape from insanity.
by Sarah | Nov 2, 2011 | Photography, Random
SOOC. Sunrise.
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by Sarah | Nov 1, 2011 | All About Molly, Autism
[flickr id=”5314105434″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]For a few brief shining weeks we had sunlight. Behaviors were eased, we were in the high-functioning range of life. There were smiles and lots of conversation and boy did we pig out.
The past few weeks we’ve been in a downward spiral.
There have been meltdowns. There have been smart mouths and pouting and stomping and periods of long angry silence.
We have been ignored in favor of ticks and quirks.
We have been witness to behavior uncontrollable enough that we’ve been asked by 2 doctors if we’ve been considering medication for her.
There has been a refusal to eat. Just about ANYthing.
We hold out hope that the worst will pass. That some modifications to schedule and school will result in an evening out. That medication will not be needed.
In the mean time we go forward. Facing each new challenging moment as it comes.
Wait for the light to return.
Hope that she can be happy. Without reservation.
by Sarah | Oct 30, 2011 | Paper Heart Camera, Photography, Scavenger Hunt Sunday, Show & Tell, Simple Things, Weekly Winners
All taken w/ Canon Rebel XS.
A couple selections might be a stretch. I was swamped this week & didn’t get as many pictures as maybe I could have. Also, it got COLD this week. It didn’t make me excited to get out. Then again – at least it didn’t snow here!
1. Macro/Close-up
Green little vaulter, in the sunny grass, Catching your heart up at the feel of June, Sole noise that’s heard amidst the lazy noon, When ev’n the bees lag at the summoning brass.
~Leigh Hunt
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2. Found Texture
A hair in the head is worth two in the brush. ~William Hazlitt
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I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, then be crowded on a velvet cushion. ~Henry David Thoreau
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3. Home
The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family. ~Thomas Jefferson
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4. Cover
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Tell: It’s what we use to cover our little imperfections. Makeup. I wanted to do something different than a dead on shot – enter my trusty mirror & the reflection. Ordinary objects take on new life.
5. The Tree
For a tree to become tall it must grow tough roots among the rocks. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
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Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees. ~Faith Baldwin
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Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree. ~Emily Bronte
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Autumn is like a second spring where every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus
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A Simple Thing:
One of our prompts this week was “The Tree.” It was the one above all the others that spoke to me. I love getting trees caught in the lens of my camera. Every shot is different in so many ways. Today’s simple thing is a shot of our tree in the front yard that has some moss growing on it’s north face. I got a good close up shot of the bark. Textural, abstract.
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You can find more pictures over at my flickr account.
Scavenger Hunt Sunday is run by the beautiful Ashley. Head on over to see more Hunters.
by Sarah | Oct 28, 2011 | All About Me, Random
[flickr id=”5420056414″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]Five years ago I had a 6 month old and an 18 month old at home. I was working part time as a waitress at Bob Evans. Riley’s autism was making itself more clearly known. Both girls were in Early Intervention therapies.
Life was hectic crazy.
So when I ended up needing an emergency hysterectomy and I was off work for a couple of weeks I decided to stay off work permanently.
Today I rejoined the work force.
In a sort of ‘dream’ job for the avid reader and aspiring writer – I’ll be working in a one of our local libraries. I had my interview today and got the call just a few hours later.
Right now I’m nervous about finding a babysitter for the very short time I’ll need one…and about whether I will earn enough to make it work. I believe and hope that it will work itself out.
I’m excited. I’m trepidatious.
I know it’s the right time. Part of me hoped I’d never have to go back, but I know I need to.
Wednesday I start.
The next chapter.
by Sarah | Oct 26, 2011 | All About Learning, All About Molly, Autism, Crap, IEP, WTF?
[flickr id=”5885702438″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]School started two months ago. After the gains made last year, and the IEP already in place, we started this year with more hope than last year.
At meet-the-teacher night Archie and I both started to get uneasy.
When we waited after the session to speak to the teacher. We asked about her behavior, to which she replied that it was still too early in the year to say anything. That she doesn’t really pay heaps of attention to behavior – in her class it’s about learning.
That was the first red flag.
Then I mentioned the IEP and her teacher last year, and the response was…
“Well, I don’t look at the past. What happened last year is last year. I give the children a clean slate.”
Alarm bells sounded, dinging loud in our ears. The IEP HAS to be looked at. It’s there for a reason!!!
Still, we sat back. We gave it a chance. We had our IEP meeting for the new year. We thought everything was established and set in it. Everything was put into place. In black and white. The plan was set.
And then it came time for Parent-Teacher conferences.
During the meeting first of the year test scores were discussed. How low Riley’s results were and what they meant. And then it happened. The teacher said:
“It may have had something to do with how she handles tests. But tests are a part of life, we can’t change that and we can’t change how they are given. She just has to learn how to adjust.”
Both Archie & I were stunned into almost total silence. We wrapped up the meeting and got in the car and both said, “What the hell was THAT?”
We have an IEP that states tests are to be given in accordance with her needs. Tests CAN and WILL be changed.
We have decided to switch teachers. There are more reasons than just those two statements, but those alone are enough.
A teacher that doesn’t refer to or care about IEP’s are not what is needed. At all.
