Hair, Hair, Everywhere is Hair!

My current big project is to grow my hair long enough to donate 16" to Locks of Love & not be bald when I'm done. The minimum is 10" in length but, that is for a short wig. I would like to donate a much longer ponytail if I can.

My hair is now down to just below my waist and it's getting annoying to take care of. Due to the fact that it's curly, I can't cut if off above my shoulders or I'll end up looking like a big strawberry-blond poodle. Not a pretty picture. So, I keep it braided up and am trying to keep it for just a few more months before the big cut.

I'll have to post before & after pics. Wish me luck that I can keep it growing.

Spring Break

The aliens have spring break this week, mine is over so I'm in classes. Decided to let alien #1 sit for alien #2 for the day to see how it worked out. After my first class & a tough exam, I'm sitting in the computer lab with classmates studying for the second class of the day and another horrible exam when my cell phone rings. It's alien #2 & here's what my classmates hear:

Hi how are you?
Good. Did you eat breakfast?
NO. That is not breakfast. (pause)

Sorry, the chocolate from your Easter basket does NOT constitute breakfast. (pause)

No, jelly beans aren't breakfast either. (pause)

Did you almost lick it or did you lick it?
Did the cat lick it?
Did you drop in on the floor?
You're sure you didn't lick it?
Thank you for saving the pink jelly bean for me...... you're sure nobody licked it? Ok., thank you. I'll call you later. Love you bye.

My classmates were about to burst their seams laughing.

Conversations with my aliens are never dull.

Flatulence (aka farting)

Flatulence: The presence of a mixture of gasses in the digestive tract of mammals. Such a mixture of gases is know as flatus and is expelled from the rectum.
Causes: According to Alien #2, age 11 - caused by wearing underwear that is too tight. Wear boxers, avoid gas.

Title: Lost Christmas Cards or The story of what happened to your Christmas card Burfica

Around the middle of Jauary, I was helping my aliens try to reorganize backpacks for the 2nd semester of school. While cleaning out Alien #1's backpack, I find a stack of Christmas cards that never got mailed!

He was to drop them into the mailbox on his way to the bus six weeks earlier. He stuffed them in his backpack because he was running late & figured he'd mail them the next day, I'd be none the wiser & all would be well. However, when you have a memory 6 seconds long, are easily distracted, and lose everything you touch, waiting until tomorrow is a long time. It never comes. He forgot about the cards & they quickly got lost in the bottomless cavern that is his backpack.

Oh, well, there's always next year to mail out cards. :)

Thank you!!

I wanted to thank you for your prayers over the last month or so, it has meant so much to me.

I'm quickly discovering so many of the things in life that I previously thought were from being over-stressed, aren't. Much of it lies with the difficulties associated with ADHD. I have spent most of my life knowing I'm not stupid but my disorganization and sometimes "flakey" personality have caused many people in my life to think differently. Much time has been spent with me doing my best to prove to others I'm not a flake.

I've finally decided that if people don't like it, I don't care. For years I've just done my best and let others think what they want but have felt the hurt because they don't understand I'm not doing things to irritate them on purpose. Last August, I was diagnosed with ADHD. Did it just appear? No, I've had it my entire life which is the cause for many of the things I still struggle with. However, there is a difference now. I now understand that it is not my lack of knowledge or effort that cause me to become distracted, disorganized, or to hyper-focus, it is simply me being me.

Do I intend to give up trying? NO! I'm just not going to let it get to me quite so much. I think in doing this, I'll be putting less stress on myself and that alone will help me to do better. Hopefully, I can teach my children this lesson much earlier in life so that they don't put the undo stress upon themselves that I have done to myself.

I'm not using my ADHD as an excuse for anything, just an explanation of why I do things a little differently than most. It is also why my "aliens" are so alien to most people. Children with ADHD just do things differently. Our brains work differently, we are usually creative thinkers which sometimes is seen as being just plain weird.

As I look back on some of my previous posts about my aliens, I find even more humor in them than I did when I first posted them. One thing I can say, life in a house with ADHD is NEVER boring, always interesting, and often tiring. However, we love one another more than most families I know. For that I am forever thankful.

Have a great Wednesday.

Here we go again....

I called my mom this morning and asked if I could come home - and stay. Things are getting too crazy around here and I just don't feel safe anymore.

Yesterday late I found out there was a threat made regarding the high school in our school district. I didn't realize how serious the police took it until I dropped my 10-year-old alien off at school today. Every school in the district is on lock-down with police on every campus. The elementary children will not be allowed to go outside to play today. No child is allowed to leave the school without a teacher or other authorized adult (parent, guardian, etc.).

The middle school where alien #2 attends is also on lock-down, same rules. Teenage kids are being escorted to and from the buses not 50 feet from the front door of the school. No students are allowed outdoors unless escorted by school personnel, police or parent.

The high school is body-checking every student with metal detectors and pat-downs before allowing them into the school. No backpacks are being allowed into the school today. Once you are in the school, you stay until end of the day dismissal. Again, no student is allowed outdoors.

Where does this all end? Until February 14, 2008 the no one had heard of DeKalb, Illinois. This sleepy little university town was best know for being the hometown of the inventor of barbed wire. Now it's known as the site of the bloody Valentine's Day massacre that devistated so many around the world.

Now just 10 minutes from there, my town is being threated with violence. This time, it's my children. I'm not sure I'll be able to get Alien #2 to attend school after this. He is so sensitive to this kind of thing and is still having trouble dealing with the shootings at NIU. I can't blame him, I'm still dealing with it myself. It will take a long time for our community to recover from this. However, we are healing.

The love and prayers from people around the world can be felt. I believe it is the only thing that allows us to function. Students from Virginia Tech made a special trip up here at there own expense to offer support to us. Posters hang all over campus from colleges and universities around the country pledging prayers and support for us all. The outpouring of love and support has been, and continues to be amazing.

Please continue to pray for students on campuses everywhere, they need the support.

Hanging in there....

We're into our second week back on campus and things still seem a bit surreal but life is getting somewhat back to normal around campus.

There are still reminders everywhere of the February 14th tragedy that struck the NIU campus in DeKalb, Illinois.

I spent the better part of one of my first classes just jotting down random thoughts about being back at school. Maybe when my nerves calm down & aren't so shaken up over the shootings, I'll post it. I think it would be healing for me to be able to do that.

Otherwise, not much to report around here except our kitties have discovered "kitty T.V." aka the patio window which looks out on the bird feeder. After two months, lots of little Junco's & a pair of cardinals have decided we have some pretty good offerings at the feeder.

It's funny to watch the younger cat, Charlotte, take a running charge at the window & stop short of slamming into it head-on. One of these days she's going to skid-out on the wood floor and find out just how hard that glass is.

My best to everyone, hope you're all doing well. :)