I am addicted to reading and I LOVE IT!

As far back as I can remember, my all time favorite thing to do is to curl up with a good book. Even back in my own school days I can remember spending every spare minute in the school library or in some corner of the playground reading whatever I could get my hands on. My favorite school librarian loved me as I was one of those students who was always in the library, scanning the shelves for something new. She even got to know my tastes and would set aside certain books for me to try. I remember those school libraries fondly, especially the one at the school I attended for the upper elementary/junior high years.

I have had times when I've read a book so much that it starts falling to pieces. That would definately apply to my much loved set of The Little House on the Prairie books. They are all the ones that my parents originally bought me and I am so proud to see them on my daughter's bookshelf. Several of them no longer have covers and I have no idea what became of them, lol! I've thought about replacing them with copies in better condition but I just don't want to. It feels like a betrayal of an old friend to toss out the old and replace with newer and nicer. Plus I like seeing my name written in the clumsy signature of a kid just learning to write in cursive.

I have old favorites and new favorites, all friendly faces that I read over and over again. Lots of times I will no sooner have finished the last book in the series than I pick up the first one and start all over again. I get that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when I'm reading the last book, the feeling you get when that long awaited vacation to your favorite place is coming to a close and you aren't ready to go home just yet. Some of my favorite series are: The Little House series plus all the spin-off series (I'm in the middle of the Rose years now), Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Ramona Quimby. Then there are my favorite authors that I will read anything they've written: Jane Austen, Maeve Binchey, Frank Peretti, Bryan Davis (actually got to meet him in person, very sweet man!).

My tastes range all over and I'm not confined by one specific genre at all. I made a promise to myself a couple years ago to seek out classics and read at least one or two a year. My school years didn't involve reading as much as it did when my parents grew up and I felt I'd really missed out. Through that promise I met such characters at Natty Bumpo, Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, Tess Durbeyfield and many others. Although one advantage of discovering these characters and books in my adult years is I have an understanding of the stories that I could never have as a child or teenager.

My husband tends to tease me about my reading as I can get easily lost in a book. It's just a passion. To read, to expand my world to other places and times. I simply enjoy it. To know me is to know how much I love to read. Magazines and newspapers and internet forums and other publications have their place. But nothing is dearer to my heart than a beautifully written story.

I have followers!!!

It's kind of scary as I'm not a very outgoing person, lol! I welcome the new faces and hope you enjoy what I write. I don't get to write as often or as regularly as I'd like but I try to get in a new post every couple of days. I apologize ahead of time if I bore you or drive you nutty with my silliness. I do hope you enjoy my writing and hopefully find something helpful or entertaining or both. :)

Relaxing with a visit to the library

If there's one thing that makes us different from other homeschoolers it's that we don't visit the library as often as we probably should. We're so busy with work and church and just life in general, we don't schedule in library time as much as we should. I don't want to think how long it's been since our last visit, but I made a point of going today. I took Jay with me while Josh stayed home with the other two kiddos (Katie was napping and Joey wasn't interested in going). I don't always get an opportunity to do things with each of the kids so I snap up the opportunities.

Jay and I had a great time. I quickly got the books I was looking for so he would have more time to look for himself and not have to be bored waiting on mom. He had his heart set on finding a book he could read by himself and a book that would be "fun".  But, this trip to the library wasn't going too well, the poor kid was getting pretty frustrated and overwhelmed by the selection. He was already dissapointed that someone had already checked out all the Lego books and movies.

I suggested that we try to find something new we'd never heard of before. He wasn't too wild about that idea, he's pretty rigid about things (to be expected with a child with autism). I shared with him how I looked for new books when I was his age. That I would go through the rows, pick out a random book and try it out. I found many wonderful suprise favorites that way. So I did just that, grabbed up a random book and handed it to him. This particular book was one of a series of books, each about a different member of the Knights of the Round Table. Jay still wasn't too sure, especially that this particular one I picked up wasn't the first of the series. We found where the others were, the first one was checked out but the second one was on the shelf. I picked it up, handed it to Jay and suggested he sit down and look through it while I went to grab a book I needed that I forgot. He shrugged his shoulders and went to the reading area. My hope was that after he took a look at it he might get interested in it.

It worked! When I got back I asked him what he thought. He said "well, I like the pictures and it's not a really big book and I know some of the words". I asked him if he thought he'd like to try it and he said he would. I reminded him that if he didn't like it he simply had to bring it back and get something else. Then he said "I think I'll probably like it. I like knights and stuff." Good job kiddo!

I'm working on getting Jay to broaden his interests in books and not stick to the usual super heros and Lego themed choices. For one, there's not that many options in our library system for those and two, I really want him to see how large a world there is in books. Since he started working with the McGuffey readers, his reading has improved big time and he's becomming more confident and excited about reading. I want to cultivate that new found love of reading and open his eyes to just how fun and amazing reading can be, especially if you step away from the "safe zone" and explore something new. He made a first step today.

A good hearty laugh

Joey is the silliest kid and it is beyond impossible to not enjoy his outlook on life. When Joey gets to laughing you can't help but laugh along with him. Joey is always laughing, always smiling, always looking at each day as a brand new opportunity to laugh out loud.

Last night Joey was in my parents' basement watching a movie and all of a sudden we hear this loud belly laugh. Both my mom and I burst out laughing at the sound. Joey always puts a smile on my face. What's truly funny is that Joey will laugh loudest when everyone around him is laughing and joyful. It's so heartwarming to see that Joey's greatest joy is in seeing everyone around him happy and full of laughter.

I sometimes think Joey's purpose in life is to make people smile. I have yet to meet a person that has not been able to smile at Joey, a true smile not a polite smile. Joey has such a wonderful sense of happiness in everything in his life. It's contagious. His smile really does light up the room.

I do need to pay closer attention to Joey's attitude about things. Joey will always find a way to see the funny side of things. It's time for Mommy to start looking at life that way, too. Time to look for the reasons to smile and laugh and enjoy life as much as possible.

Yay, my blog is pretty now!

Thanks to another blog I read, I discovered some beautiful blog backgrounds at http://blo64rt.blogspot.com/

The backgrounds are so unique and wonderful, all kinds of styles and types. I found the perfect one and I love how my blog looks now. I was tired of it looking rather blah and not like "me". Someday I guess I should make the time to learn html and make my own. But until the time when the day can extend beyond 24 hours, that isn't going to happen. ;) I must rely on the expertise and talent of those that do such wonderful work.

Must be my lucky day. :P

I am not at all technically-inclined. I can operate technology, but that's the limit for me. If something goes haywire, it's time to put in a call to my brother (who is a computer tech) or my husband (who has a nack with fixing technology). I can search help forums and FAQS until I can't see straight anymore and I still won't be able to find a solution to the issue.

So it was with great suprise (and a little bit of pride) that I was able to figure out, all on my own, why I wasn't able to leave comments on other blogs.

Yes, folks, I am just a bit pathetic, lol!

My enemy...the snooze button

I read something tonight that made realize the snooze button is not my friend. I have experienced many a morning of running and racing through the house, desperately trying to get everyone out the door in time to be just late enough to the doctor's office to get "the look" but not quite late enough to be forced to reschedule the appointment.

I do not like the snooze button anymore. It has not been nice to me. It has led me to believe I can trust it to give me just a few extra minutes of rest in the morning before I get up. Instead, it has allowed me to fall back asleep, snoring right on through it's next little warning that time is running out quickly and I had better get up now.

In fact, I don't really like my clock. I had set it 20 minutes early so I would always be 20 minutes early for whatever I need to do and wherever I need to be. But that didn't happen, I would look at the clock see I still had 20 minutes till I HAD to get up, then doze back off.

So I changed things. I changed the time to be exact. I now only hit the snooze button once, if at all and make myself get up. If I can sleep in, I don't set the alarm I just sleep in. If I have to get up, I set the alarm knowing full well I have to get up and I have to get going. I have been late much less, have had less trouble getting up in the morning and I don't have that anxiety hanging over my head anymore.

Now if I only I could get myself to go to bed at a decent hour, things would be much better. :)

Something I hadn't expected

It's funny how much impact the little changes in life can make. While on our trip to California, I picked up a book that I had been researching for while in the hopes of working to be a better wife. I'll save more for another post for another category, but the short of it is that while I don't entirely agree with the author's beliefs, I have gleaned some important nugets of wisdom from her writing and noticed a major difference. Josh and I are getting along much better, the kids seem to be calmer and get along better and I don't feel nearly as much stress and anxiety that I had before.

In addition, I have taken some small steps in a sincere effort to get back on the weight loss journey. I have really cut out the heavy sweets and junk food, made myself stop eating past 9pm (except the odd occasions where it hasn't been possible to eat an earlier), really paying attention to what I'm eating and cutting back my portions. The result is that I have lost a couple pounds in a couple weeks and even went on the trip to California and came home without gaining a single pound. That alone is impressive to me. I have never managed to go on a trip without gaining weight. Very cool. :)

The funny thing is that I had made some of these changes without really realizing I had done them. Two things I atribute to this: one is that on the trip I had to spend a lot of time with company and I am a very timid eater in public, I worry a lot about what people think while I'm eating; two is the aforementioned book that I started reading on the trip. A happier marriage means a happier mommy means happier kids means happier mommy means happier woman means less emotional eating as there's less emotional upheavel to contend with. All that to say, if I am less stressed, I eat less and feel much better. I can see a difference in my face and my clothes are just loose enough to notice.

Now if I can just get my rear in gear and start exercising, imagine what the results just might be? LOL! My goal is to lose at least another 10-15 lbs by the end of the year. I do believe I can do it this year.

Need to remodel the blog

This sucker is looking a bit too plain for me. Time to enlist the help of my friend who is really good at this stuff. Me...not so good. But I probably ought to learn it, huh?

Leaning on a friend can sometimes lead to a slap in the face

Some comments made to me by a "friend" left me feeling frustrated and misunderstood. I don't even know what exactly to say to this person. One would think I was brand new to being a mom of special needs kids. But after starting to write about it several times and having no way to keep from sounding snarky, I realize she helped me to actually feel more certain about myself in the end.

I have had so many people in my life compliment me on handling parenting the boys and doing a wonderful job. I've never once had anyone give me reason to believe I wasn't doing a good job of coping and dealing. I've even had people comment to me that I act like parenting the boys is no big deal. Well, to me it just isn't a big deal. They are just our boys and that's that.

So, when I read the comment from the "friend" that I should seek out other parents and see how they do it (parenting special needs kids), it just kinda floored me. To say I was shocked is putting it mildly. I still have moments where it's hard to reconcile in my mind that this person actually thinks I'm not dealing with things well and need advice from others after so many people have asked my advice.

Which leads me to what seems to have prompted all this. I have posted a few times on Facebook over the last few weeks about the stresses of having a very ill grandmother, having my mom fly off to be with grandma with just a couple days notice, Jaysen's progressing behavior issues and Josh's job situation. I felt comfortable doing so as I felt I could no longer handle the stress alone and needed to "voice" my frustrations and stress to my friends and family. After all, they've all been there for me, a constant source of encouragment and support. Except, of course, for this one particular person. Her comments have left me feeling she believes I'm complaining too much and not counting my blessings enough. Funny how just a few sentances seem to have given her a lifetime of insight into my life and my feelings.

I firmly believe in making the time to "let it all out". We can't possibly hold it all in, we'd explode, lol! And in my case, my explosion would be me saying some pretty horrific and regretful things to my wonderful husband and precious children. That's why I posted, to just blow off some steam. Even in the number of times I've started to write things here only to erase them in the end, it just felt good to get it all out of my system. Putting pen to paper just to throw the paper in the trash sometimes is just the type of therapy I need to feel better. I think things through, resolve how I feel about things, and I'm able to move on and put it behind me.

In the end, her comments helped me to make sure that I am not so judgemental about someone else, especially to their face. She had the best intentions. I see that and I'm grateful she cared enough to offer her thoughts. I just wish she had taken a moment to reread what she had written and pray about it. Maybe she would have seen that she was coming across the wrong way, that her tone was rather judgemental. Maybe she would have stopped to think she was making some pretty broad assumptions she shouldn't make without more information.

I just know that a simple "hey, I know you are going through a rough time and if there is anything I can do for you, please let me know. I'm praying for you and love you." is much more thoughtful and helpful than inappropriate advice.

Icky weather!

I'm so not looking forward to this weekend. The icky weather is on it's way. We woke up to frozen rain and icy roads. Josh was calling me early to warn me to leave myself extra time to drive in the mess. Thankfully by the time I was ready to take Jaysen to school, the roads were beginning to clear up and it wasn't bad at all. But a good warm-up for winter driving. We may get as much as 8" of snow by Sunday then we are getting hit with an artic blast! Starting Sunday, highs in the teens, lows in the single digits and maybe even below zero. Not happy at all! I can handle snow, that's the easy stuff to drive in. The ice is what I can't stand, especially when the snow melts a little then refreezes mixed with ice, ugh!

I'm debating whether to keep the boys home from school on the worst days. One, I don't want to drive in that stuff which I will have to to get Jaysen to school. Two, I really don't like them being outside for even a couple minutes in that bitter cold. That's the kind of weather where you don't have to be out for very long and you're risking frostbite. I have to remember to get all the winter stuff out of the closets. It's also going to mean getting up earlier to have time to get everyone bundled up before leaving for school. At least I get to bust out Katie's cute little Winnie the Pooh snowsuit, mom's been waiting for the weather to turn so we can use it.

Well, I have 6 more windows to winterize (covering the glass with heavy plastic and duct tape) before the cold hits. I never knew before moving up here just how much the smell of duct tape reeks!! LOL!!

Here we go!

A new blog, yay! Look at it all blank there, just waiting for me to fill it up with my weird and twisted thoughts, lol. I like to blog, it helps me keep my thoughts from getting confused, kinda like the pensieve in Harry Potter. It's my sanity saver.

I guess I'll start with why I chose to title it Just Outside of Ordinary. Because I feel that's exactly what my life is. It's not extraordinary, but it's not just ordinary either. It's different, thanks to my kids and my husband.

First of all, my kids are unique. I guess all parents feel that way. My 8yo son has down syndrome and is the funniest, stubbornest kid you've ever met! My 7yo son has high-functioning autism and can be the neatest, most frustrating child. My 3mo daughter is a girl, nuff said, lol!

My husband is truly amazing. His ability to put up with sheer crap between his boss, me and the kids is just beyond understanding. He puts up with a lot, but he's still here and he's still pushing through. He works well over 60 hours/week and on top of that he's started back in to his ministry studies. He feels his calling is to be a youth pastor. Well, he's getting some practice as his job entails working with mostly teenagers. Infinite patience, that is the key I believe. With God's blessing, I will go from being a pizza wife to being a pastor's wife. He's also a very talented musician who has a passion for customizing guitars. He likes to tinker with his guitars as much as he likes to play them.

I love them all and despite all the challenges my family faces, I wouldn't trade it for anything. This is my life, I chose it and I've never regretted my decision. God led me down this road and I can't wait to see what's around the bend.