MWNews 121

Hey look, two posts in one week. Don't get the idea that this is a trend just a lucky coincidence.  One thing I am finding is that I do not have a lot of pictures of Maeghan and William together, or I don't have a lot of them on this computer.  That is something I need to figure out.  I have pictures backed up to several different places.  I need something that will take all those pictures, compare them, and then store them all in the same place.  Right now, they are just everywhere. My phone, this computer, Juanita's computer and several online places.  I don't know which pictures are where.  I think we have over 10,000 pictures across all the different locations. Another one of those things I will eventually get around to.

I don't remember what it was I said I was going to talk about in the next post and I don't want to go back and read it to find out, so I will just jump in like I never said anything before this.  Probably repeat myself a lot and leave somethings hanging that I should explain, but hey, I am tired of writing this already.  Actually not tired of it but tired of the inability to type I seem to have developed.  Lots of going back and correcting misspelled words or erroneous characters.  It is really annoying.

William is getting a lot better at reading, not really proficient at it but he can sound out most words and read them.  He does it a lot lately so I am hoping that means he is trying and has not given up on it.  He gets discouraged a lot with not being able to do things but as long as he keeps trying, that is what I want for him.  It's a hard balance between helping him and criticizing him.  Not that we are criticizing but he sees it that way sometimes when we try to help and he just shuts down and stops trying.  With his total lack of patience with anything and his need to make sure he gets to say what he wants to say, his reactions to things are hard to judge and difficult to anticipate.  He has taken to yelling at people when they do not listen to or act the way he wants them to.  He has always talked loud and has to be told to not speak so loudly but lately, he does it when he is frustrated and feels he is being ignored.  Of course, he feels he is being ignored when you do not give him your full attention and are doing something else when he is talking to you.  It is just a difficult situation with his condition and his understanding of things around him.

I think it all comes down to his ability to read and understand and if he can master that, everything else will start to fall in place.  But it is hard and we keep working on it.  As I said, he seems to be getting better and better so maybe once he gets over that frustration, I can start to teach him how to deal with other people so they do not bug him so much.  He just wants to be friends with everyone and be part of what everyone else is doing all the time.  He is the best boy as far as manors and caring for others goes, he just has a hard time expressing it in a way that does not put others off or crowding into their space to try to be closer to others. Hard to explain without seeing him everyday and understanding what it is I mean by all this.  But I know we will get there.

Maeghan is getting closer to a time we need to make some decisions.  Decisions about what she is going to do with her life and what it is she can and may not be able to do.  She is typical in that she is interested in a lot of things but with her size and condition, there just might be things she will not be able to do.  Off hand, I can't think of any but we have to start thinking about it.

Thinking about it now, I just don't want to think about it now, so I am going to move on to something else.

Maeghan is doing really well in school.  Not great but better than most of her class, which is amazing since she misses so much school with doctors and things.  She does really well on tests and gets all her homework done on time, even when she misses most of the classes where they would explain things for her.  She just figures it out or helps her friends and they help her.

She is wanting to drive soon.  I am not sure how we are going to arrange that as she needs special modifications to any car she will drive.  I think she can get help from the government in modifying a car but I am not really sure how that will work.  If we can find out what needs to be done, I think her uncle Craig can modify a car to work for her.  Maybe my little Focus can be used, although I am not sure she likes that car and it is kind of old now.  But if we can, it would be good for her.  We still have a year and a half, when she turns 16, so we have some time to figure it out but she is hinting at it now.  I will probably have traded in the Focus by then so I might need to make sure the next car is capable of allowing her to drive it.  Again, we will see.

This entry has not had a lot of optimism about it or really good tidings for anything.  Just a reaction to how things are going lately, or for about the last year or more.  Just can't seem to get over the hump and allow us to start enjoying life again. Not that it has been bad but it has definitely not been great and there are very few times when we can say everything is going our way.  With my job, yes it is still an ongoing drama but if you can imagine it, it has gotten a thousand times worse.  The issues with Juanita's parents, the problems with Sydney leaving us and numerous other things I have not even mentioned, it has just not been a good time for us in a very long while.

Now we are dealing with Juanita losing her job and having to downsize, my greatly increased job situation and the need to spend more money on the kids as they get older, it just does not feel like we are approaching anything close to a stable situation.

But I tire of that and I am sure I do not need to put that in this blog.  So get behind me and leave me alone.

Some might ask how you can have chili on a diet but I am going to make the case for that right now.

As far as a diet goes, I am just trying to cut down on bread and I have eliminated as much sugar as I can from what I eat.  It means no pasta, no bread, no rice or anything like that.  We know how hard it is for me to give up pasta, I love my spaghetti, but I am doing ok so far.  Been about four weeks now.

On the case for chili, it is just meat, tomatoes, and chilies. Plus some spices and some meat broth.  If it wasn't for the tomatoes, which contain a lot of sugar, it would be perfect.  I add some greens on the side and I am all set.  And it is filling.  My biggest problem has always been how much I eat and not what I eat.  I generally eat healthy foods but I tend to eat a lot of them so they become unhealthy because of the volume.  I can eat a whole salad bowl of salad, which doesn't fill me up.  It just has always been a problem but I am getting old and I want to try to eliminate a lot of things that are making me feel uncomfortable and this is the biggest one.

I have been diagnosed with diabetes and I think losing weight will eliminate that, plus it will help with my heart and my sore joints and legs.  I think all of my problems stem from my weight so that is what I am trying to work on.  I'll let you know how that goes.

Again, I rolled into maudlin talk and have not entered anything upbeat and lively into this blog.  So I am going to end it now before I get into everything else that is wrong lately.  Sorry for the sad entry.  I will get better.  But that assumes I will type another entry soon and we all know how that goes.

Until next time

MWNews 120

I'm going to try this again, mainly because I am bored but mostly because I need to do something to get back into doing things I like to do. I'd like to start playing sports again but I am old and falling apart so that is probably not a good idea. Guess I'll talk about the kids because that is always fun and profitable. Or maybe profitable is the wrong word. Seems I should be able to get paid for this as I am doing it instead of working but I am not sure I can convince anyone to do that. Really just a matter of time but probably won't happen until I leave this as my legacy to the kids. Not that they will ever read it but now that they can actually get on the internet they might be interested. I could give them the link to these. Some of them are actually entertaining but making myself laugh is easy.

Ok, back to the kids. Long story that I might tell at some point but we no longer care for Sydney.  I feel sure I have mentioned her before but if not, then I guess you can skip that part. It's not a good story and does not end well for anyone but that is enough about that for now.

In case you have not heard, Maeghan is in high school now, or what they call secondary school here.  Guess they call it that over there too but they do not have high school here, only secondary.  Amazingly enough, she will graduate next year.  School only officially goes to 10th grade here.  You can go to 11 and 12 but there is no requirement to do so and most schools do not even offer 11 and 12th grade.  They go straight to UNI, which is what they call college over here.  It's not really what I would call college, more of a vocational school in that you learn a specific trade or course.  It does not really lead to a degree, just a certification in whatever you choose to apply for.  Not a bad system but to get what I would normally call a degree in something, you have to go to an actual college which I do not really understand how that works over here.  Maeghan can figure it out.

William is in sixth grade.  He still has a lot of trouble reading but has much improved in the past year.  He does a lot of things at school that he is praised for, like teaching the younger kids or reading them stories.  It not only helps them but he gets a chance to read so it is good for him also.  I don't know if he is still doing that or not.  I have a meeting to discuss him learning abilities soon and I will ask if that can be started again to help him.

William does not do sports.  Mostly my fault as I do not follow any of the Australian sports so I cannot teach him how to play or play with him.  I really regret that and I should get him doing something but I don't want to force him.  I think it would be good but he has to want to do it and that has always been an issue in the past.  He loses interest fairly quickly and is not willing to put in the work necessary to learn how to play and have fun at it. I say I will get around to it but I never seem to do it.  Another reason to start back into this as typing this out may motivate me to actually start doing something to help him.

In case it has not come up, Juanita and I still do not live together.  Not sure if that will ever happen again but I am going to put it in here that I really want it to at some point.  We basically live the same lives but just not in the same house.  Maybe it works out better that way.  I am not going to discuss it yet.  Just letting you know that situation has not changed.

Have to get back to work soon.  Juanita is coming over at some point to trade cars so she can take the parents somewhere.  I need to be finished so we can spend some time together without the kids. Not that I want that so much as I really enjoy all of us going out together but William is always restless and Maeghan is not doing well with her condition so it is sometimes good for just the two of us to get a little time together.

I will try to go into Maeghan and her physical issue at some point, assuming this is not just another failed attempt to get back into this blog, but not right now.  She is doing ok but is getting worse in that she cannot walk for long periods and gets tired a lot. I do not agree with the doctors or her physical therapy but I did not agree with it from the beginning and now we are seeing the results of those decisions that were made way back when. But, as I say, that will be another blog.\

Speaking of another blog, I did start a religious blog sometime ago but I stopped doing that almost as soon as I started it.  Not to get into it too much here but going back and reading some of those posts, they are badly written and I am not sure they get my point across but if you are interested, look it up.  If not, I will try not to mention it here again.  I am going to try to make that one better though as I am told I have a lot to say.

Enough for now.  Might be another six months or a year before I get back to this again and I left a lot of questions unanswered but I am tired of typing now.  Not that I am going to complain about my keyboard again but this is really hard to do, or I have lost the ability to type and it hurts my back to hunch over this and type.

I have also noticed that I have not said anything about food, which as we all know is the real reason for this blog.  I will say I have been on a diet for a while so not a lot of cooking involved but I have added homemade chili to my diet and I am trying to create one that is good and good for you at the same time.  Plus, it was really just an excuse to eat something different instead of what I am allowed to eat. I do have a beard and mustache now but that really has nothing to do with anything.  Only that it really needs to be trimmed and it is bothering me as I type.  And, I hate my hair cut but Maeghan says it looks good so I have kept it, but it goes next week as I can't stand it so long and getting in my eyes.

That's it.  I can't type anymore.  Have to get back to work.  I would end this but I can't remember how I always ended them.  Not that you will know about it but I need to save this and read how I do that before I actually end it.  You'll never know I did that.  For you, it will just end but in keeping with my random thinking when I do these, I thought you should know there was a pause.

Apparently it was just this.  Thought I had some cleaver line or ending for these but I don't see one.

Until next time