Back to school!

It's official, I have a 1st grader!  We are now into the second week of school and so far, so good.  Drew and I both are adjusting to the routine that the school year brings.  It's funny how fast you get out of that routine during summer.

We also had some surprise company during his first week.  My dad and aunt came down for the week.  It was great having them here.  Dad cooked and Aunt Barbara cleaned.  I was totally spoiled and I loved every minute of it.  Drew was able to ride the bus home from school, since papa was here and he thought that was awesome.  He's still asking to ride the bus home and he's not happy that he's going to have to wait a while for that! :-)

In about a month we're going to be having Drew tested for Dyslexia.  At the end of the year last year, his teacher (remember, this was her second year to have Drew in her class) and I suspected that there was something else going on with Drew and we suspected Dyslexia (his birth father has Dyslexia).  In Texas, they don't test for that until they are at least 7, so we couldn't do anything until now anyway.  I'm so grateful to his school and all the amazing people that work there.  I know that he'll get the help he needs and that he'll succeed no matter what challenges may come his way.  

As for me, well work is going well.  It's busy, but it makes the day go by faster.  I'm also really getting into the training for my 5K in October.  I've actually run a mile...without stopping!  That is world stopping for me! LOL  You can ask any of my friends, I really don't like running. Of course, a 5K is 3.1 miles, so I need to start adding miles.  Ughhhh......

Hugs,
Paulette

Ups & Challenges

Drew is home!  I'm thrilled and we are having a blast!  I feel like we've been going non-stop since he got back and I'm thinking I need to go back to work to rest. That being said, I wouldn't trade these days with him for anything in the world. 

It's been amazing having him back.  I love listening to him talk a mile a minute (and yes, he is my kiddo), telling me that I'm wrong about something (ok, maybe not so much that part, but it's funny listening to him come up with his reasoning), or telling me what we should do next.  We've played games, gone to a splash pool and today, we had the amazing experience of sitting and WAITING for my car to be fixed.

Yeah, this afternoon might not have been the best day, but hey, at least we were together.  That being said, I do have to share the car story.  Trust me, you're not going to believe this!

There is a TON of  back story, but I'm just going to give you the highlights...

1) Purchased the car in May, it's a 2009 Hyundai Accent

2) Starting having problems with it in June.

3) In July, had to have the transmission replaced (yep, you read that correctly)

(This is the cliff notes of the cliff notes...but I'll share that story another time)

Today I take Drew to Burger King for lunch.  It's hot outside (nothing new here) and he can play inside for a while.  Pretty smart thinking on my part!  Well, we go to leave and the car doesn't start.  It doesn't even turn over.  I call my handy dandy roadside service people and the tow truck arrives 30 minutes later (thank goodness we can wait inside in the AC).  The gentleman hooks up the batter tester and it shows that the battery is fine and he tells me that it's probably the alternator.  I start freaking out until he tells me that it should be covered under the warranty.  Ok, that makes me feel a little bit better.  Well, off to the Hyundai dealership we go. 

On the way there, his truck starts overheating...NOT KIDDING!  We make it to the dealership and then we start waiting.  Well, the poor tow truck driver...yeah, his truck is smoking!  He's pouring water on it and it's not moving.  He has to call a tow truck for his tow truck.  Watching them load the first tow truck unto the second tow truck was interesting.  Everyone in the waiting room started freaking out when the second tow truck starts rising in the air when it's lifting the first tow truck.  Of course, my precious little boy thought it was hysterical!

Well, the service guy at the dealership gets my car running and I end up taking it to another place because I don't have the $130 that they are going to charge me for a battery.  I get a new battery and the car is running fine...at least right now. It turns out that the machine the tow truck driver used is not working properly and that the problem really is the battery, not the alternator. See...I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to.!

So, as I mentioned on facebook, I am officially too hot for cars!  I break them down. :-)

While all this was going on, I wanted to cry, I mean seriously, enough if enough with this crazy car.  But then one of my wonderful friends, Karen, reminded me, it could be worse and she's right.  I've been reading about the famine in Somalia and how hundreds of children have been dying.  That is any parent's worst nightmare. I might not be able to buy Drew everything he wants, but I can feed him.  In a world where there are so many parents that are not able to do that, then I know the problems I'm dealing with right now are nothing more than temporary inconveniences.

So, the bills will get paid, eventually.

The car will be completely fixed, eventually.

Having a healthy and happy child that I'm able to play with, priceless!

Everything is going to work out.  God has a plan and I'm so glad He's in charge and not me.  Of course, I just have to keep reminding myself of that.

Hugs!

Paulette

7 Days & Counting!

Drew is going to be back in 7 days!  I'm so ready for that little boy to be home.  That being said, he has had a FANTASTIC time with his daddy, his cousins, grandparents and birth family and I'm so thrilled for him.  I know he is always going to remember this trip and all the adventures he's had.

He has been to Wyoming, and visited with his birth family.  He's been in Montana to see his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  He's been or Oregon to see his great grandma, more aunts, uncles and cousins.  He's been to the coast, he's camped out, he's gone hiking and the list goes on and on. 

I think one of the highlights of the trip was the fact that his cousin gave him a BB gun.  :-)

While he was at his grandparent's house, he discovered a dirt bike in the shed.  Thankfully, it didn't run or I could just imagine him begging his daddy to let him ride that! 

I've never gone this long without being with Drew and it's been a challenge; however, this was a trip he needed to make and I wanted him to make it.  So, I've tried to use the time wisely and get some projects accomplished around the house.  Moderately successful on that! :-p

Take care everyone!!!

Adventures of a Single Mom

I had the opportunity to go to Burlington, VT and then to Boston & Cape Cod.  The Boston & Cape Cod part of the trip was my vacation and I hung out with my friend, Shelley.  She is originally from Cape Cod; thus she knows all the cool places to go & see.

I'm sharing a few pics!  Enjoy!

Shelley and I with some real live Boston Firefighters.  The guy in the red shirt had the BEST Boston accent.  I loved listening to him talk.

 Entering the historic section of Boston.  I loved it!

 Boston...it's GREEN!!!!  I had forgotten what that looked like! :-)

ChinaTown!  Very cool

Paul Revere's House. 

Some of my CASE buddies!  That was the best conference and I had a blast meeting all of them. 

Infertility

It's been on my mind for a while to write a blog post on infertility and my thoughts on it.  For some reason, I've been avoiding it.  I'll think about, heck a time or two I've even started it and then I just delete the whole thing.  I'm guessing I wasn't ready.  Something is telling me to write and post that blog today (maybe I won't chicken out this time and finally publish it!). 

According to the medical dictionary, Infertility is defined as "incapable of or unsuccessful in achieving pregnancy over a considerable period of time (as a year)."  That doesn't cover the emotions that infertility brings, at least for me.  The feelings of not being a "whole" woman, or having done something wrong, or simply being a failure.  I know logically that that isn't the case, but emotions are rarely, if ever, logical.


My infertility journey had many ups & downs.  One of the biggest (but NOT the biggest) up was on Mother's Day, 2002.  I woke up sick and feeling horrible that day.  Finally, around 11:00, I looked at Dan and said that I thought I needed to go to the ER.  I wasn't even able to keep water down.  I was shaky and dizzy.  So, off we went.  The dr. ran the usual tests and then, he walked in and told me I was pregnant.  I come flying up off the bed and I demanded to see the paperwork.  I also asked if he was was sure it was me, did he have the right patient.  I'm not kidding when I tell you I questioned that poor guy for 10 minutes.  Finally, Dan just looked at me and said, "It's you!"  I thought I was dreaming.  (I even asked Dan if I was dreaming...haha)  Nope, it was true, I was pregnant.  Finding that out on Mother's Day was pretty cool.


Flash forward a week...I started spotting.  I was terrified.  I wanted this SO bad!  I went for the usual blood test on the next Monday and the HCG levels were not rising like they should be.  At that point, we new something was probably wrong.  Tuesday night, I started hurting!  I had another appt. Wednesday morning, so I thought I would just wait it out and if it got worse, we would go ahead and go to the ER.  Well, just about the time I was about to break down, it was time to go to the appt.  The Dr. did the sonogram and we saw the pregnancy, in the fallopian tube.  I was having an ectopic pregnancy.  I went from his office upstairs, to the Day Surgery clinic downstairs.  


I was lucky.  The Dr. caught it early and he was able to save the tube.  However, I never again was able to get pregnant, even when things looked really good.


Then, the biggest "up" happened, my miracle...my little Drew!  Drew and his birth parents came into our lives so fast and with the circumstances surrounding their introduction into our lives, you not only knew God had a plan, you could see Him working on that plan.  


Do I still grieve for that pregnancy...at times.  Do I still grieve for not being able to experience pregnancy...at times. But, there are things I've been blessed to experience that other people don't.  I've not only adopted a child, I've also adopted an entire family.  My "pregnancy experience" aka...the waiting period was 7 WEEKS!!!  I know why God made the usual pregnancy 9 months...you need that time to prepare! (But like so many of my friends tell me, I don't do anything normal!)  I have experienced being amazing at how a child who is genetically not related to me, is me all over!  It's amazing!

Hugs!