Wednesday, June 22, 2011

I'll Be Back

We have family visiting this week from San Diego. They all drove up and surprised me for my birthday! We've been busy laughing and talking and shopping.....

I'll be back to writing soon. Pictures too!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Fun Photo Friday - Ugh


I wasn't gonna write about this but it seems bigger than I thought it would be.

Fifty

The Big 5-0

Half a Century

When did this happen? When did I go from a 2 1/2 year old riding my bike up and down the street, to a 50 year old woman? When I say those words, I have an image in my mind of what a 50 year old woman looks like, acts like, and has accomplished in life. And that image certainly isn't me! I am happy though. Happy with who I am and happy with who God is creating me to be.

I always thought I'd have it all together by now.

Nope. Not even close. :)

Saturday, June 11, 2011

The Word of the Day

Chuck is at a Bible study, Diana's at work and Beth is still asleep. I'm sitting here with my hot tea, thinking about all of you and wondering what I should write about today.

Did I ever tell you that I'm a tea drinker? Hot tea when it's cold out and iced tea when it's not!

Thank you for your comments about my problems with Blogger. I took your advice and changed a few things with Comments and Settings. I also found the problem with my New Post page. I was in the Edit HTML tab and not the Compose tab. Ooops.

Beth told me this week that she wanted her hair cut. It was down to the middle of her back again and she didn't like it. So, it's now to her shoulders and she struts around like she's the Queen of England! No, really! Walking to the car, into the grocery store, she walked out in front of me (she seldom walks in front) and was strutting, tossin' her hair back and forth! Such a goon.

I took her to work on Thursday and she met her job coach there. They both went in and she gave them her official resignation. That's been the word of the week, "Beth do you know what resignation means?" "Beth! I need you to come sign your resignation!" "Okay, when I come home for lunch, I'll take you to work so you can hand in your resignation." I'm not sure how she feels about the whole thing. She hasn't said much about it, but also hasn't been sad either.

She went to her first Job Class. In Washington State, when your child reaches 21, you choose a vocational service to assist them with finding a job. We are with Washington Vocational Services and if their clients are unemployed between jobs they offer a job class. They all get together and talk about what jobs they'd like to have, do worksheets, talk about job etiquette, etc. It basically keeps their 'clients' active while the job coach looks for the job. Then the coach takes the client to the job site, is with them during the interview, then trains them for the job. It removes you and me from the process which I like. It's good for Beth to get out and work with others. She doesn't like to take orders from me anyway!

She brought home a long list of Job Class Rules. 'Arrive on time. Participate in class. Only ONE cup of coffee or tea or hot chocolate.' I guess Beth isn't the only one who likes to enjoy life in excess! Whether it's toothpaste, or granola bars or shampoo, her cup definitely overfloweth! "Beth you only need one yogurt a day. Only ONE."

She has choir rehearsal in the Sanctuary tomorrow, as opposed to the choir room downstairs. They are singing again on Father's Day and she is so excited! She's been asking me for two weeks, "Do I sing tomorrow?"

I tried to get some pictures of her the last few weeks; She was dancing in the livingroom but quickly stopped when she saw me stand up! Her and Allison were sitting on the floor together playing with my electric keyboard. I got the camera and as I got into position, Beth got up and walked away! "Wha?! Elizabeth Meigan!! I just want a picture of you and Allison!?" She just smiled.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Are my problems with IE 9 or Blogger?

We upgraded to Internet Explorer 9 the other day and now Blogger is different. It's been difficult to leave comments. I have to try numerous times before it finally accepts it.

The font that shows in my New Post field is very basic, almost like code. And when I try to change the font, it's not available, like some of my new post options, Underline, Text, ect. are not visible.

Is anyone else having problems? Is it Blogger... or IE 9?

I just hit Publish Post and it's telling me, "An error occurred while saving!! Grrrrr!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Flashback Friday

This idea was suggested to me by Jenny at Our Little Chilli Tribe. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since she suggested it. It has been interesting for me to look back at the time Beth was born. I kept journals myself growing up and into adulthood, plus wrote journals for my girls as they were growing up. Friends they had, when they first learned to ride their bikes, schools they attended, favorite teachers, pets, etc. I've gone back through those and honestly, I'm shocked at the way I thought about things. The way I viewed Down Syndrome. Please keep in mind the "R" word was widely accepted back in the early '80s' I don't use it in anger. In some ways, it's heartbreaking that 'that' word does in fact describe my precious daughter.


March 30, 1985
Beth was 5 months old

When I write or say those two words, Down Syndrome, it's like I'm in a fog. They don't mean that much to me. I mean, it's like it hasn't really hit me yet. See, everyone keeps telling me that I'm handling it so well. I think maybe the reason is because I block out 'mentally retarded' and substitute 'Down Syndrome'. Down Syndrome is nothing big; so she'll be slower when it comes to sitting up. We're all not good at something.

When I tell people she has Down Syndrome, I think of her being physically slow but mentally normal. She'll be exactly like you and me, just take longer to tie her shoes. She'll graduate from high school, just one year behind. I don't think about her drooling or throwing her food or screaming; I can't picture her not understanding me when I say, "We're crossing the street, take my hand." 

I don't know, maybe she won't be severely retarded. One thing I do know is that I just don't think about it. She's not 'retarded' she's 'Downs'. She's not going to embarrass us in public, she'll just look a little different. Other kids won't tease her, she won't be stubborn. She'll be absolutely normal only she'll have this label cause of the shape of her eyes. Like someone who is left handed, Beth is Downs.


so remember feeling that way! Looking back now my guess is I just had no clue what to expect. We didn't know anyone who had Ds. At 5 months old, Beth was just a baby! My baby! My love for her was undescribable. To imagine what she would be like in 10, 15, or 20 years was way beyond my imagination. It's easier to handle one day at a time. Thank goodness because that's the way life happens. Beth isn't 'absolutely normal'. Other kids have teased her. She doesn't throw her food because as a toddler, she got in trouble when she did. But each of these happened one day at a time and we handled them one day, one thing at a time.

Remember when I wrote about the family we saw at the mall? Their daughter was 23 months old and running, jumping and going crazy! It wasn't until the next day I remembered Beth didn't learn to walk until 24 months and certainly wasn't running and jumping for a couple months after that. I had a fleeting thought about Ackleesia walking sooner than Beth. That was it! Then I turned to wash the dishes or take out the trash or whatever. Turned to live my life. It does get easier. Those expectations, those time tables the world puts on us (or do we put them on ourselves?) eventually fade away to the joys and sorrows of life.

Oh and to let you know, Beth does embarrass us in public. I hate it when it happens. When she spills food on her shirt, or puts her hand down her skirt to remove a wedgy. (How do you spell wedgy? Is that a word?) Anyway, it happens. I used to think it happened because she has Down Syndrome. Wrong! It happens to all of us! It happens because she's a person! So we wipe her shirt or tell her to wipe her shirt. I frown and whisper to her to 'get your hand out!!' Then we head to the music store or Penneys or wherever. Secretly I'm wishing we could ALL just pull out that wedgie when it happens!! Better than doin' that wedgie strut thinking no one notices!! :)

But ya know, if I could talk to that scared mom all those years ago, I'd tell her not to sweat it. Your daughter is your daughter, period. Every parent is embarrassed by their children at some point! Not everything happens because of the Down Syndrome. Most of the time it's just because she's a kid. The important thing is don't take things so seriously. Lighten up, relax.

It's going to be okay. 

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Put Your Chin Right Here

Beth broke her glasses over the weekend. Yep, the long, three day weekend. She was cleaning them and they just snapped. Chuck taped them back together but they're driving her crazy.



We got into the opthamologist yesterday and he didn't have the part. Beth was due for an eye exam anyway so he got her right in. Her vision hasn't changed a whole lot but he said something that made me a little angry. Beth's right eye has always crossed to the center. Like she's looking cross-eyed at something. It's just always done it, even as a little girl. This opthomologist tells me that it's caused by severe far sightedness and can be corrected with a certain type of lens. He said they usually catch it when they're small and then adjust their perscription over time so it corrects it.

What??? Beth has worn glasses her whole life! I think she got her first pair when she was about 6. No one had ever mentioned that to us before! Her eye has crossed her entire life and I'd always wondered why. Grrrr. To know that it could have been corrected?! Are you serious?!? 

As I'm writing this... and trying not to be so negative (I've been trying to work on my attitude) maybe they didn't have the technology when Beth was 6. Maybe they didn't know how to correct it when she was growing up. Maybe. 

Well anyway, I was kinda bummed when we left. He'll call me when the part comes in. He asked if we could leave the glasses for 24 hours; you should have seen the look on Beth's face!! I just politely said, "Probably not." :)