Day 232, Friday, August 20th, 2021
Pineapple by the Pool
There is absolutely no reason for this pineapple to be poolside except that I thought it was pretty. LOL. Actually I had taken the pineapple outside to do some macro work in the sunshine and really liked the blue of the pool as a background.
Day 233, Saturday, August 21st, 2021
Testing Birthday Lens
We had my family birthday party on Saturday last weekend. Jenny was able to join us from Georgetown and my Aunt Beanie via Zoom. I was completely gobsmacked to receive a new lens from Beanie for my birthday… the 24-35mm f/2 Sigma ART lens! Wow! Of course I had to put it on my camera right away to test it. Curtis was a sweetheart to give me an actual nice smile! Mom then cautioned me not to get too excited because Amazon had shipped it in a soft paper envelope with no padding and the box was squished and damaged. Sure enough, I tested the focus next day and it was soft. So that lens got returned and will be replaced. Thank you soooo much, Beanie!
Day 234, Sunday, August 22nd, 2021
Last Summer Pool Day
There’s nothing like the last Sunday before a new school year starts. Typically our district’s first day is a Tuesday so Mondays are for laundry, gathering supplies, errands, and getting to bed early. Sunday was lazy, we swam all afternoon as a family and had a grand time. I got everyone to jump at the same time for me (well Anna jumped a little early!). We started her on a new medication for anxiety and OCD the day before and she wasn’t responding great yet. The OCD was definitely getting better but her anxiety seemed to be getting worse.
Day 235, Monday, August 23rd, 2021
Dominic is a Good Helper
I needed to do a medium sized grocery run on Monday and Anna was just too grumpy to come with me. I asked Dominic if he would like join me and to my absolute delight, he agreed. He was a huge help… getting the hard to reach items, pushing the cart, and unloading the groceries into the car. I really enjoy spending time with him and I’m acutely aware of how little time I have left before he’s off the college. Thank you for being my helper, Pickle.
Day 236, Tuesday, August 24th, 2021
First Day of 12th Grade
Dominic started his senior year of high school at Memorial Early College High School. He will graduate with his Associate’s Degree in May 2022 and hasn’t yet decided where he’s going to apply for college or what he wants to study. He’s 5’11” and driving independently. He has a solid core group of friends from middle school and high school but hasn’t dated anyone seriously yet. He loves video games, swimming, and cooking. Watching him grow into this funny, charismatic, caring young man has been an absolute joy.
Day 236, Tuesday, August 24th, 2021
First Day of Year 2 at Life Bridges
Anna started her second full year at the Life Bridges transitional program. She is now 20 years old and can stay in this program until she’s 22. Life Bridges teaches job skills, life skills, social skills as well as helps team members create a path to independence at home and in the community. She struggles with anxiety and OCD on top of her intellectual disability and autism which can lead to some negative behavior. We are slowly integrating her back into the real world. The pandemic and quarantine last year has led to her being afraid of more situations even with support. I am hopeful that she will go to job sites this year and start getting her confidence back. Seeing Anna struggle breaks my heart.
Day 237, Wednesday, August 25th, 2021
No photos today. It was a bad, bad second day of Life Bridges for Anna. She cried several times before the bus came then wouldn’t get on the bus. I offered to pick her up that afternoon as an incentive which worked (there is no worse pressure than having the bus waiting, stopping traffic, and having your kid refuse to move) but then once she arrived at LB, she wouldn’t get off the bus, go in the building, or participate at all at Life Bridges that morning. I got a call at 10:30 that morning that Anna had a 30-minute meltdown and broke her glasses (she broke 2 pair a couple of weeks ago). Sigh. She tore up papers and hit an aide too. I contacted her psychiatrist and decided to stop the new med immediately.
Day 238, Thursday, August 26th, 2021
Tiny Delight
Macro therapy always works to help relieve stress. This tiny center of a miniature daisy is just delightful to study. I love how nature’s patterns are so perfect. (Side note, Anna had a much better day… it was definitely the medicine causing the behavior problems.)
Thanks for looking!
