powerless but fine

We survived Hurricane Irene! Our power lines, however, did not. We're still without power and it may not come back on for 2 more days. (I'm at Starbucks, in case you were wondering how I'm typing this.)

The biggest bummer about no power? I totally missed all The Weather Channel coverage of the hurricane.

It was a rather freaky storm. There are lots of trees down, including one on my neighbor's house (above), but everyone is ok. We slept in the living room which we decided was the 2nd Most Likely Not to Get Hit by a Tree. (The 1st Most Likely was also Most Likely to Flood. Fortunately that didn't happen either.)

I've learned a few things from this storm.

My living room floor is very hard.
Icy cold showers are not that fun.
Frozen fish sticks should be thrown out BEFORE a big storm.
Don't drink warmish milk.
Power outages and hurricanes can be added to the list of things that completely discombobulate a special needs child.

I haven't really minded being disconnected (other than the aforementioned icy showers and child who can't sleep). I could live without TV, lights, and maybe even the internet. (Because I just waded through 700 messages from my neighborhood listserve that consisted of: "My power just went out! Anyone else?" and "My power is back on! Yay!" (I kinda hate those people.)

I would miss you, village, but we could continue our love affair at a nearby Starbucks.

It took 2 days, but my kids finally stopped whining about the lack of power and started playing every game they could find or think of. (No more iCarly, thank you, Jesus!)

We go to bed by 9 because it's pitch dark and there's no complaining or delaying or wandering around for another glass of water. (Except Shout who can't sleep in the best conditions, but finally learned NOT to wander in the pitch dark when she fell down the steps. (She's fine. And sticking to her bed now.))

And today was the first day of school! Halle-freakin'-lujah. I had big plans to have a tailgate party in the parking lot after I dropped them off, but I couldn't buy any food ahead of time and getting ready this morning was even more of a challenge than usual due to a lack of unspoiled food.

I'm tailgating in my heart.

I've been going to the grocery store to shop for each meal, because even with a generator, our fridge has not been staying cold enough to keep the food fresh.

So you know what is AWESOME?

My grocery store is doing MAJOR remodeling.

So every time I go, things are in a different place.

Three times a day and each time, the cheese is moved. The milk. The produce.

FOR GOD'S SAKE PEOPLE.

But there's no tree on our roof, and for the last 2.5 hours, I have not had to get a drink or a snack or ANYTHING for ANYONE but myself.

I'm thankful.

conical

Code Pink! (????)

I don't know what we did to piss off Mother Nature, but we had an earthquake, an aftershock and now we are waiting for Hurricane Irene to come barrelling down on us. The last time there was a hurricane traveling on this same path, we lost power for a week. {sob}

One good thing this hurricane brings with it? My new favorite phrase: The Cone of Uncertainty. I think I'm a permanent resident of the Cone of Uncertainty. Or the Cone of Discontent. The Cone of Irritiation? It's like Cone of Shame, you really can't go wrong with it. "Cone" is apparently always funny.

I can tell you one thing, I don't care if I have to scale fallen trees and live power lines to get there, I AM DROPPING MY KIDS OFF FOR THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL ON TUESDAY.

Remember how I was trying to prevent my annual nervous breakdown? It's evidently not possible. Breakdown set in somewhere after lunch yesterday. We are ALL DONE with summer.

Someone remind me to send all the kids to sleepaway camp the last week of summer next year. Or to go on vacation. (But not on the eastern seaboard, because hello, hurricane season.) Or schedule elective surgery. There's got to be a body part someone could take out that I'm not using. I want to be in the Cone of Isolation.

I went to what I'm 99.9% sure was my LAST kindergarten orientation last night. I think it's going to be ok. I'm really hoping it's the Cone of Excellent Behavior.

Stay safe, East Coasters.

(I'm over at the NEW DC Moms with a more serious post. Come take a look!)

shaken, not stirred

School supply shopping is literally trying to kill me.

I had one measly item left that could apparently only be found at Staples. So this afternoon, I went to the Staples about a mile from my house to find the elusive zipper binder.

I scoped out all the options and then dialed my house to give Tide a run-down of available colors. While we were talking, I noticed the shelving in the store start to shake. I figured someone was restocking and hit the shelves with a ladder or something.

But then I saw that both sides of the aisle I was in were shaking.

Weird.

Right then, Tide said "The house is shaking."

I was moving toward the center of the store because things were falling off the shelves where I was. (Thank God I was in the Folder and Binder aisle and not the Scissors and Letter Openers aisle, right?)

Then Tide said "This is an earthquake!"

There was a man in the aisle with me. We looked at each other silently for a full 3 seconds or so, and then he took off in a run toward the front of the store.

I did the same as I lost the connection on my cell phone.

At the front of the store people were talking a mile a minute. We were right at a Metro station, so we all thought a bomb could have gone off. A plane hit a building. A truck.

This is Washington. We have terrorists, but not earthquakes. (Well, except for the one last summer.)

I hit Redial on my phone about 50 times but couldn't get through to my kids to make sure they were ok.

I opened up teh Twitter on my phone and my stream was lit up with "ZOMG! EARTHQUAKE!"

Whoa.

I desperately wanted to get home to my kids. I wasn't so much worried that they were not ok, I was worried that there would be another, bigger tremor.

On the other hand, I also REALLY did not want to come back to Staples.

So true disclosure, village. I got in the checkout line first and paid for the stupid binder that nearly killed me. (And turned in 10 toner cartridges. Because, $2!)

The whole time I was dialing my house. I finally got connected and Cheer answered. I told him we probably only had a few seconds before the connection was lost, but was everyone ok?

He launched into a long and in-depth story of the earthquake from his point of view. And a few seconds in, the phone went dead again.

After I checked out, I left the building and saw hundreds of government workers evacuated from their buildings. Subway riders had been evacuated from the station. Those checkout people at Staples never left their positions, God bless them!

My car was in a parking garage that is freaky on a good day, so I have to admit, my hands were shaking as I got in and got the heck out of there. It's one of those garages where after it collapsed on you, people would see it on the news and say "Yeah. What the heck was she thinking going in THERE after an earthquake?"

When all is said and done, we are fine. There are some damaged buildings. Public schools here are closed tomorrow to assess the buildings. Nothing in our house got broken. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever.

I'm suffering September 11 post-traumatic flashbacks. The eerie silence. The beautiful blue sky. Evacuated buildings. Breaking news reports. Jammed cell phone lines. Those are things that will always trigger panic in me.

But tonight, I am thankful. No one was hurt. Our house is still standing. As far as we know, school will still start next week. And my school supply shopping is DONE.

hopeful

You have to be very careful about making proclamations on the internet. Like the last time I mentioned that Shout was on a sleeping-throught-the-night streak that was her longest ever.

Not 12 hours later, that streak came to a screetching halt.

So I'm just going to whisper this into the wind, internet. Turn your heads and look the other way.

But we are seeing BIG CHANGES around here.

I think that occupational therapy has unlocked the little girl I used to know.

The one who has been hiding behind walls of anger and anxiety. And sassiness. And bizarre behavior. And tantrums. And occasional outbursts of violence. And... ok, you get the picture.

We're not issue-free. (Anyone who was at Famous Footwear this afternoon can attest to that.)

But, good Lord. I think we're going to be ok.

(Thank you to those of you who had a hand in convincing me to try this, helping me find a therapist and suggesting ways that we could finance it. You all know who you are. We wouldn't be here without our village.)

(Also, if you have a moment, visit my friend, Susan, who is fighting a valiant battle and is weary from it. Leave a comment, say a prayer, Village.)

homeher

The DC Moms and some other local bloggers got together last Saturday night at Jodi's to celebrate HomeHer. Our initial plan was to drown our sorrows over not being at BlogHer, but honestly, there was not much sorrow to be found. There was a lot of amazing food, wine, bellinis (thanks, Kristen!), a cute baby and, as you might imagine, a whole lot of chatter.

And there was also this


Photo by Karen Walrond

Well, without Jenny (The Bloggess) in it. Jenny sent the Traveling Red Dress to Susan and Susan wore it to the party and then we all took a turn experiencing its mystical powers. Honest to God that dress is magical... it looked fabulous on ALL OF US. All shapes and sizes. We rocked that dress. Each and every one. (Photos to come.)

I love that post by Jenny. I read it often. I don't know what my personal red dress is... but feeling the fabric and spirit of HER red dress makes me ever more ready to seek it out.

The summer is winding down. I'm sad because it wasn't the summer I had hoped it would be. But I'm also looking forward to starting a new chapter. No matter how many years I am out of school, I always feel renewal in September. That's when I make my resolutions.

My plan for this school year is to clean and organize every. single. inch of my house. That junk drawer that has been accumulating things for at least 10 years? On notice! My attic? Look out! That closet where I have been stuffing all the Fisher Price toys? Going!

I will miss sleeping in late and lazy afternoons at the pool. But I'm starting to crave schedule again, even a crazy one.

School starts August 30th at my house. What about yours?

six - a year of living optimistically

My baby is 6.

I can hardly believe it.

It's been a rocky year, this past one.

The tricky thing about having a child with special needs is that you need to have a split personality.

You have to be able to document and articulate every little thing they do that is not typical. Every milestone that is missed. Every delay. Every weird little quirk that might be nothing, but what are the odds of that? It's always something.

You have to be a scientist and observe your child's every move under a microscope.

I am great at that.

I can tell you what she can't do, what she should be doing and what other kids her age are doing. I figured out when she bleeds too much, when she pees too much. When she doesn't pee enough. I know what positions make her stomach hurt and what foods she needs to stay away from. I know exactly how long it's been since we've had to buy a larger size of clothing. What shoes make her fall down. What creams calm her itchy skin. I can give you a precise history of her hearing evaluations and every blood pressure reading she's had for over a year.

I can get her help that way.

I get doctors to listen to me because I take notes and make charts. Food diaries and sleep diaries. I have a thick pink binder of every medical and developmental evaluation she's had since she was born.

But then there is the other part...

The other part of being the parent of a child with special needs is hard for me.

The champion. The cheerleader. The optimist.

I'm not a "glass half empty" or a "glass half full" person.

I'm a "what do we have to do to get them to give us more water?" person.

And while I'm good at getting more water, sometimes I forget to stop and take a long, cold drink of however much is in that glass.

To celebrate each milestone and look right at my daughter. Not with a microscope, but with some rose-colored glasses. Life is not always easy for her. She needs all the help I can get her, but then she needs me to stand back and cheer her on.



Her milestones are not always the same as other kids her age. But they are her victories. Every. single. one.

Six will bring many changes and challenges into our lives. It won't be easy.

I am going to get my pom-poms out, slap a smile on my face and cheer her on.

Every step of the way.

weekend reads

I've been jealously watching the tweetstream from BlogHer today. Wishing I was there. Remembering last year. Gosh, San Diego is gorgeous.

Here are some good reads to enjoy with your morning coffee:

I love this post from Hannah Wept Sarah Laughed... memories brought to the surface upon learning of the death of Amy Winehouse. We all hold so many stories in our hearts.

This is a beautiful post by Stirrup Queens, also about memories, and the people who have drifted into and out of our lives. My life has been full of drifters that I often wonder about. Sometimes I feel like everyone in my life is destined to drift back out of it. (That's a post for another day.)

And finally, this, from Sarah and the Goon Squad. There's so much backstory to each of us, and sometimes it's the people who know us online who know more of it than anyone else. Oh yeah.

and the winners are...

The Blue Sky Home Series Organizing Kit winner is Janel!!

The Stonyfield Summer in a Box winner is Rheed!!

Congratulations, ladies! If you haven't already done it, email me your delivery addresses. (laundryforsix@gmail.com)

Thanks for playing, everyone!

hungry

On Sunday, we dropped off Tide at his first sleepaway camp.

It was gorgeous. I have to admit I was jealous. How can I sign myself up for sleepaway camp?

Views of the Chesapeake Bay in every direction. Beach. Climbing wall. Ropes course. Canoes. Catamarans. (Catamari?) Tennis and basketball courts. Bonfires. Hiking trails. A DINING HALL. (What mother couldn't use one of THOSE for a week?) (Or, let's be honest. FOREVER.)

I miss him, but I'm sure he's having fun - he's sharing a cabin with 3 other friends. He's the most self-sufficient of my crew, so it's not really an easier week here. In fact, so far, it's much harder.

I've lost my manny.

After over 13 years of always having to take at least one kid with me just to run a quick errand, I have been completely spoiled the last 4 months, being able to leave them all home while I run out to the grocery store, or CVS, or (hells yeah) Starbucks.

I pretty much never planned to drag a screaming kid through the grocery store aisles again.

Which is why we are starving this week.

I should have planned ahead better. We have no food in the house. I've got Shout with her Howard Hughes tendencies. (Except her fingernails are shorter. And as far as I can tell, she's not filthy rich. Just filthy? Sometimes, yes.) I can't get out WITH her, and I can't leave her home.

If I don't post again in 7 days, send in the marshalls to check on us. We may starve to death.

(* Yes, I am ordering groceries through Peapod. I just can't get everything we like that way. But I can most likely stave off starvation.)

(Also, to Jen, the blue bubble dress from my 4th of July photos is from Target (Cherokee brand). I hope you can still get one.