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May 3, 2010

She’s Got A Good Eye For What’s Real

May 3, 2010 By

On Saturday we spent the day at the Columbus Zoo for the Family Days at the Zoo event. Despite the rain, we toured all of the booths, played games, and met lots of costumed characters.

Clifford was there, and while she thought he was shorter than in the books, she didn’t doubt it was him.

This guy? Cordy totally thought he was the best pizza slice she’s ever seen.

And the princesses? Cordy was thrilled to meet them and knew them all by name. She loved getting her photo taken with Snow White. (And Spiderman also.)

But then she tugged on Spiderman’s arm, and he crouched down beside her for one more photo. And as soon as Aaron took the photo, she leaned over and said to Spiderman:

“You’re not really Spiderman, you’re just a boy in a costume.”

Busted, Spidey. Better not let Buzz Lightyear find out you’re an impostor or he might just try to blast you with his laser.

PS – I later confirmed with her that Santa Claus? Still real. Whew.

Filed Under: Cordy, growing up, kid logic


Apr 26, 2010

You Take The Good, You Take The Bad, You Take Them Both and Then You Have…

April 26, 2010 By

…a lot of suck if you’re us.

(What? You were expecting Facts of Life?)

As usual, things were going far too well to last. I have a new job I love, Aaron really liked his job, and Cordy was on the list for three different schools we liked for kindergaten.

And then we got word early last week that in our school system’s lottery, Cordy didn’t get into any of the schools we wanted for her. None, including her current one. We were disappointed, but we also felt like we still had options. With both of us working, we could consider private school if we had to.

And then Aaron was told in the middle of the week that the volume of work was looking slow for his company, and while they’d love to keep him, there’s just not enough work to go around, and to consider himself laid off as of May 7. He was devastated. Not only about losing a job, but losing a job he really liked, one he planed to stay with for some time to come.

You could argue at this point that we’re cursed. The thought has crossed my mind from time to time. Or you could point out that disappointment is just a learning experience in life. In which case, I think I’ve now got my Bachelors in Life by now, and I’m really OK with not pursuing the PhD.

I was upset by all the bad news last week. It didn’t seem fair – we were making plans to pay off debt and finally get ahead for once. We were prepared to pay for private school to make sure Cordy could get the best education despite her autism. And now our plans have come to a halt again.

I’m not letting myself dwell in disappointment for too long. I don’t have time for that. Aaron will find another job, and hopefully he will enjoy it as much or more than his previous one. I’m a little worried about being without health insurance (again) – my job is a contract, and we had planned that he would get benefits by the end of May. That plan is no longer valid, so we’ll have to look into private plans, because $1700 for COBRA is, well, outrageous.

As for Cordy, I had a little talk with the school district and she will now be allowed to stay at her current school for next year. I had to pull out her IEP and argue on the basis of consistency to make sure her name was on the list, but it worked. (OK, I feel a little guilty at using her special needs to force a spot, but it’s for her good, so why not let it help us for once?)

And the debt we planned to pay off, the home improvements we planned to save for, etc.? It will all happen on a slower timeline now, or in some cases will be put on hold to wait for better times. I won’t dwell on the negative, because that gets us nowhere. Far better to focus my energy on finding new opportunities and plan for the next time the stars align in our favor again.

The facts of our life? Karma seems to enjoy teasing us, but I’ll continue to smile back in response.

Filed Under: Aaron, Cordy, daily life, fate laughing at me, me me me, school, the J-O-B


Apr 19, 2010

Zucchini Muffin Madness

April 19, 2010 By

Those who know me know I’m a lousy cook. Give me water and I can somehow set it on fire.

But baking? Baking I’m a little better at. Not good enough to be a regular for my daughter’s preschool bake sale, but I’ve managed to stumble upon success for a few foods, including my Zucchini Muffins.

I can send these muffins to school in Cordy’s lunchbag and Cordy thinks they’re a special dessert. She doesn’t care that they have whole wheat flour or zucchini in them – she just thinks they’re yummy. (Hey Jamie Oliver – your Food Revolution is starting a new chapter right here!)

I like that I can guarantee there’s no corn syrup, food dyes or other artificial food products in these muffins, which is way more than I can guarantee of the food served up at our local schools.  Also, I love that even though Cordy and Mira watch me make them, they don’t even realize they’re eating vegetables!

You’ll never see me sharing a lot of recipes here, but I will share this one, because I think it’s pretty damn tasty. Also, while I may call it “my” recipe, it’s actually a slightly modified version of a zucchini bread recipe on AllRecipes.com. But a few friends on Facebook asked for the recipe, so I figured it was easier to post it in one spot than to send out several e-mails.

Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour *
* change to 3 cups whole wheat flour if you prefer
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon*
* substitute nutmeg or other spice here if you have a cinnamon allergy (my girls have mostly outgrown their intolerance to it)
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup natural applesauce (no sugar added)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar *
* you can use all white sugar if you like, but I prefer the addition of brown – go with your preference
3 teaspoons vanilla extract (REAL vanilla ONLY)
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Grease two muffin pans. (I use cooking spray.) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Don’t have a sifter? A whisk works well enough.

3. Beat eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugars together in a large bowl. Add sifted dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour or spoon into greased muffin pans, filling each space only 2/3 to 3/4 full to allow for expansion.

4. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pan on racks for 20 minutes. Then remove muffins from pan and completely cool.

Cooling them while still in the pan is important. I found if I take them out of the pan too soon, they become hard on the outside.

If you’re going to keep these muffins around for more than a few days (good luck – they go fast here), store them in the fridge. A quick 5-10 sec. microwave zap will warm them up again.

Changes to the original recipe included cutting the oil in half and substituting applesauce for the other half, using whole wheat flour, cutting back on the amount of sugar and using half brown sugar. I’ve tried several variations on the recipe, including substituting 1/2 cup of ground flax seed for 1/2 cup of flour, and nearly every variation has still turned out well. It’s a great recipe to play with and make it your own.

Added bonus: after baking these, your entire house smells delicious for the next 12 hours!

There you go – my one and only attempt at ever sounding like a food blogger. If you make these, be sure to tell me how they turned out for you, and any changes you made to the recipe!

Filed Under: daily life, domestic zero


Apr 14, 2010

Baby Steps Forward

April 14, 2010 By

Part of the challenge of starting a new job has been childcare. I’m training on day shift for all of April, and while Mira’s preschool has flexible drop-off and pick-up times, Cordy’s school has a specific start and end. If someone isn’t home when her bus stops at our house, she isn’t let off. (And serious consequences happen at that point.) Right now, no one can be home at that time.

Last week was Spring Break, so we had a little time to find a contingency plan. The solution was latchkey, a program in the school designed to allow working parents to drop their children off early in the morning and/or stay late after school. Latchkey has teachers to provide activities, snacks and supervision for kids of all ages. There was an opening in her school’s latchkey, so with the (cautious) recommendation of her teacher, we signed her up, and her first day was Monday.

I was worried about how it would work out. When we met with the latchkey teacher, I explained Cordy’s issues and ways to work around her challenging behaviors. The teacher explained that as long as Cordy could follow the basic instructions and rules of latchkey, she would do fine. But that was my worry: sometimes the most basic rules are the hardest for her to follow.

Aaron reported that when he dropped her off Monday morning, she was a little resistant to going to the gymnasium and not her classroom. She didn’t want to put her backpack in the designated basket when she knew it belonged on her hook in her classroom across the hall. I hoped the afternoon wouldn’t bring a bad report and have us one step closer to looking for another childcare option.

That afternoon the teacher told us she did well. She had trouble in the afternoon during “homework time” and asked if we could bring in some activity books or coloring books to keep her occupied. No problem – Cordy will spend hours working on an activity book if allowed.

The second day is often harder than the first, but to our surprise Tuesday morning went smoothly. She put her backpack in the basket and didn’t complain at all. In the afternoon, the report was even better. The teacher said Cordy helped her set up the snack table for all of the kids, and was happy to work on her activity book during homework time. Her classroom teacher also said Cordy had a great day at school, too.

I think this might just work.

But school will be out for the summer in less than two months. So my thoughts have turned to summer camp. Trying to find a summer camp that is affordable and will accept Cordy isn’t an easy task. We could send her to the camp she attended last year, but it’s very expensive and the fast-paced schedule for her age group would likely be too much for her to handle. And let’s not even mention the daily swim lessons – I don’t want to relive that nightmare again.

I’m currently researching two summer camps for Cordy. One is a camp for children with varying levels of special needs (kids without special needs are welcome too), with therapists present to help with anything she might need. No worries about her being kicked out. The other is a mainstream Montessori that appears to be welcoming to children with special needs and could be a great way for us to evaluate a different curriculum method for her.

I’m so proud of how hard Cordy works to fit into the world around her. On a very basic level, she’s beginning to understand that she’s not like many kids, and I think it bothers her. Latchkey is just the beginning of introducing her to more mainstream opportunities, and it could be the next link in getting closer to Cordy being fully mainstreamed.

I hope this just might work.

And her sister will always make sure she doesn’t feel alone in being different.
Filed Under: Autism, Cordy, daily life, school, the J-O-B


Apr 12, 2010

Um, OK, I Suck

April 12, 2010 By

Tofuforyou reminded me the other day that it’s been awhile since I paid any attention to this new little project. I guess it was partially out of shame. You see, my weight hasn’t budged in over a month. On Feb 21, I weighed 187 pounds and today? I’m still exactly 187 pounds.

I’d be proud of my consistency if I wasn’t trying to actually lose weight, not maintain.

So yeah, still much of the same. What’s going wrong? Well, a lot of it is a lack of motivation on my part. Over the past month and a half, I’ve had the stress of being unhappy at my job, then searching for a new job, and then starting a new job. Throw in spring break for the kids, and exercise and eating right have kinda fallen to the side. I know, I know – it’s all excuses.

But I will say one good thing for myself: at least I haven’t gained any weight. Some of the changes I’ve made have stuck with me. I’m still eating smaller portions, still trying to look for ways to incorporate a little extra exercise into my daily life. I take the stairs more, park further away, etc.

I need to get back on track. But I don’t know how to get that motivation back. There’s a 5K being planned at BlogHer this July, and I’d like to run it. At the moment I’d probably collapse before the pack spread out. But I know I can get back to running again, if I can just find the time and the energy to get myself moving.

How do you motivate yourself? I’m open to ideas.

Filed Under: motivation Tagged With: