You may be wondering where I slipped off to. My v/blog has been collecting cobwebs for a while. Well, I’m still here and here’s the scoop:
After a well-earned, late-summer, deaf-focused vacation and family bonding time, I returned “full-steam-ahead” to work, got my son started back to school, have purged my home of unwanted “stuff” to sell at a garage sale, and put on a “super-cali-fraga-listic…”
for my 11 year old son and 9 of his closest friends. After the girl guests went home at 11pm, 6 of the remaining boys stayed over and were up till the wee hours of the morning. Not a problem for a deafie like me, but my poor hearing husband sure wished he was deaf that night!
Yet, it was me he kicked out of bed 4 times to go upstairs to the playroom where they were sprawled out wall-to-wall, and tell them to “Go to sleep!”
Oy! What was I thinking?!
It wasn’t until there were tears, after one of the older boys told a scary story about dolls in a playroom coming to life, that the boys finally settled down, huddled together in their sleeping bags on the floor, listening to my soft, deaf voice and reassuring words.
Even though I felt like Captain Hook, wanting to hollar out: “Now, go to sleep or I’ll cut off the doll’s leg and hit you with the bloody end of it!”, I settled for Wendy and sat with The Lost Boys, telling them in my best Motherease there was nothing to fear, and that they were safe and loved here in Neverland.
To my surprise, it did the trick. Either that, or my husband drifted off to Neverland from sheer exhaustion, temporarily becoming deaf like me to the horsing around that might have continued upstairs.
As challenging as that was, the party was a big hit, and my son’s golden words: “Mom, that was the best birthday party ever!!!” made the droopy sleep-deprived eyes and buzzing head the next day, worthwhile.
I’ve had lots of projects going on, projects that got put off over the year because of my addiction to v/blogging and to DeafRead. It was time for the balance to shift.
As hard as it has been to clean out the junk and prep for the garage sale this weekend, it needed to be done — years ago! It’s been an accomplishment. Though my garage is packed with oldies, but goodies, I now feel lighter and less encumbered with stuff we don’t need — stuff that has no place in our home or in our lives. It’s freeing. Jenny, from Mountain Mama would have a ball at our sale. (Wish you were here in the Bay Area, Jenny.)
It has been hectic to readjust to the whirlwind of battling for the last remaining school supplies, setting the alarm clock to wake up an hour earlier, the “on-your-marks, get-set, go!” rush of school mornings, back-to-school nights, and the march to the loud drumbeat and rhythm of the Fall season return to work.
Why does everything happen in the Fall? School, Deaf Awareness Week, Deaf Expos, Fundraisers, Outreach, In-service Training, holiday preparations, etc., etc. Needless to say, it’s a very busy time of year! On the bright side, the return to a structured routine has at least offered a solution to the unstructured, “I’m-bored-there’s-nothin’-to-do!” days. Whew!
However, as a result of all the prepping, planning, purging, readjusting and “doing,” my immune system took a nose-dive (Literally - my nose dived and fell off the face of the earth!). I’ve picked up a whopping sinus and head cold that has kept me home from work for several days. Ugh!
My nose is so red and puffy, I look like Rudolph! My eyes are so leaky, I could water the yard with them. My trash cans overflow with kleenex and slime, and my nostrils and lips are so chapped, I look like I have a Kool-Aid mustache tattooed under my schnoz. Sigh… So I won’t be vlogging until I look like myself again.
But, I’m still here. I’m watching and reading you all. Keep in touch!
PS: If you missed my last post, the one that appears just below this one called: Choices, you might want to check out the video. It is embedded from another sight, but unfortunately, it was skipped on DeafRead, probably because the server didn’t recognize the code and thought it found javascript or was malicious. That’s the protective system of DeafRead, and I understand that. Still, there is nothing “malicious” or infected about this video. It certainly stirs the soul! Take a look.
Thankyou! We are glad that you are surviving!
You have one kid, I had five.
Which reminds me of the last days of single motherhood while working at the residential school. We had no summer pay, no unemployment, nothing. So, in the Fall when my youngest had to return to school, and me to work, we had to dig for pennies to cover school supplies, replace outgrown clothing and the numerous surprises that pop up when everyone goes back to school. Sigh, those were some tough times! BUT WE SURVIVED!
Hugs to LaRonda and happy healing!
Lantana
Left by Lantana on September 18th, 2007
I love the pictures that you use in your blog posts, but I must tell you that I especially LOVE that photo of the sick kitten doll. (I’m a Hello Kitty fanatic and it looks like a cute neko!!)
Left by Hana on September 24th, 2007
Hope you feel better soon!
Left by Karen Putz on September 24th, 2007