This past week went fast, especially the weekend. I can't believe it's Monday already!

We had a bunch of labwork done on Friday. I didn't figure it would be that busy, but we got there about 5 minutes before they were officially open and there were probably already 6-8 people ahead of us. Unfortunately there was only one lady working reception and taking blood and people just kept coming. The lobby was standing room only, there were probably another 5-10 people milling about in the hall, calling their offices, letting people know they were gonna be late. It was 8:40 by the time she took her first patient back. The boy did fairly well, we ran home for a quick snack before I took him to school at 10.

He had to go back for the second half of a cortisol test at 4:00. I figured we might as well go as soon as he got off the bus cuz it may be another long wait. Fortunately, they had gotten some help and there were only a couple people ahead of us. They could've gotten us in right away but the test wasn't due 'til 4 so we still ended up waiting about 45 minutes. We had the boy's camera so we rode the elevator up and down and took a few videos.

Saturday we didn't do much of anything. Cleaned house, did some laundry... Hubby took the van back to the repair shop... On Wednesday, we had the front tires replaced, rotated them to the back. Apparently they didn't bother to balance the tires they moved to the front. It was a rough ride to Colorado Springs on Thursday. We saw the new doctor on Thursday and then rushed back for a birthday party at a theater in Highland's Ranch. We had the entire theatre to ourselves. I told the mother of the birthday girl we would be running a little late, so she said she would just have our tickets waiting for us at the box office. When we got there, there was another member of the party just arriving. The mom was waiting at the box office, we got our tickets and we all walked in together where the rest of the party was waiting. I guess they didn't see any point in starting the movie until everyone showed up. It was quite nice actually! We were able to move around and chat a little during the movie. All the kids had special needs and it was nice that we didn't have to worry about disturbing anyone. There wasn't a lot about the movie to hold the boy's interest but he did surprisingly well. Not too much moaning or rocking. He was just a little obsessed about a camera he had seen at Walmart the night before. He wanted to go back and "Open (the) purple camera!"

Sunday we attended the church we found in Highland's Ranch. Our second visit. I've never really been one to enjoy mega-churches. This one is absolutely huge. I'd say nearly as big as Rhema. Part of the building where Sunday school classes are held is also used for a private school. We sat in the balcony last week. I noticed a lot of the seats were really worn-looking. Some were broken and corded off. We sat near the wall so I didn't see the view out of the window below. This week we arrived much earlier to avoid traffic and get the boy situated in his classroom which is at the exact opposite end of the building, at least a football field away from the sanctuary. This time we sat on the lower level, on the opposite side of the sanctuary. The view out the window is spectacular, overlooking the foothills and snow-capped mountains. I mean, if you want to feel like you're really a part of God's creation, this is where you need to be.

The pastor preaching on the current series is obviously a historian. His sermons are incredibly factual, yet it's interesting how he ties together today's event's with characters, places and historical events from the bible, using Hebrew and Latin words for reference. What I took away from it was, "Be happy, everyone has a calling and should use the gifts they've been given to serve the Lord." Whether you're a CPA or a carpet-layer, you should take pride in what you do and do it as if you were trying to please God, not man... Don't view it as just a job or the means to getting paycheck. Oh, and I guess if your career or job doesn't make you happy, you should try and volunteer or find some sort of mission that does make you happy, as long as you're serving the Lord.

On one hand, I'm incredibly grateful to have found a church that provides care for the boy. There's no way he would sit quietly through a dry sermon after the music ministry has gone. On the other hand, for such a big church, it's not very moving... They have their schedule, we sing a couple of songs, no one gets very excited about it. At one point I wondered if I was the only one in the congregation who was singing. At first I couldn't even see anyone else's lips moving. But after awhile, I could see a few people swaying and clapping along.

I've been to a few churches where the "spirit" starts moving. People start jumping up and down and raising their hands and praising God and you begin to wonder if the music will ever end... In retrospect it has always made me a little uncomfortable and I began to wonder whether it was real or just part of an act or mob mentality. Generally when that would happen, hubby and I would just stand and wait it out... So far that hasn't happened here.

When the music is finished, the preacher or associate pastor opens with a prayer and begins his sermon. They end with an alter call and benediction and everyone leaves. Most churches I've been to, the organist or band plays, people sometimes sing as those who want to, walk up to the alter, kneel, pray and/or speak to someone at the alter. Here, they send you to a room and send everyone else on their way. Just so cut and dried. I'm not really sure what to make of it. I thought it was supposed to be a joyous occasion when someone decided to accept Jesus as their personal lord and savior. I guess perhaps there's less pressure or embarrassment when they don't put it on public display. I just don't understand the logic.

So, I'd like to get a little more involved, maybe find a small group I can get together with sometime during the week. They offer Celebrate Recovery here and I'm really interested in trying that. Just have to work out the logistics of whether or not the boy can go to the "Kid Zone" or whether I should leave him at home with dad. I feel like I could connect with people on a much deeper level in a group like that, where everyone discusses their failings as human beings and you don't have to put up or cut through so many facades. But until I become a little more familiar with the church and what is expected of me, I'm kinda terrified to commit to anything. So far, the only people we've had any sort of interaction with are the people who run the boy's sunday school class. Other than that, it's like any other mega church, just a huge faceless crowd and no one really takes the time to say "hello" or get to know you unless you're otherwise involved with that person somehow.

It's all a process. And for me and my equally socially akward husband, it's a somewhat difficult process. But at least with special needs childcare provided for us, maybe we can actually take the time to work through it.

Wrote a nice long entry yesterday and lost it when my connection to the internet failed while submitting. I hate it when that happens. Just didn't have the energy to try and rewrite and couldn't find where it might have saved it anywhere.

So here's the gist... Busy week with doctors' appointments, phone consultations and trying to get previous doctors to fax or mail medical records in a timely manner. Touring Joshua School for Autism today even though I doubt there's any way we could afford it. Just wanna see what we're missing out on and/or see if there's any private pay discounts or scholarships we would qualify for. Actually pretty pleased with current school but always keeping options open. Have begun search for new residence... I like our current residence very much but there are a few unpleasant things about living here that make me want to weigh other options. Mostly noise level, proximity to slamming doors, gates, barking dogs and the constant lack of sleep resulting from said noises.

The boy received his first official birthday party invitation. Going to see "Beauty and the Beast" with his "girlfriend" from therapy. Gotta try and find a birthday present today and then rush back from appointment in Colorado Springs tomorrow to make it to the party in time. That reminds me, probably ought to send a note and let teacher know the boy probably won't be at school tomorrow. Or that I'll be picking him up early at least. Depends on how lazy I feel...

Anyway, the results from the latest labwork we had done on the boy was pretty good. I guess his blood sugars are getting low at night which may be contributing to the nighttime sleeplessness. Of course his fungi and yeast levels are still high so probably some discomfort there too. Need to do a better job with the antifungals I guess. Picking up supplement powder we ordered from the compounding pharmacy last week. Takes 'em forever to make it... Of course now some of his dosages have changed, so I may need to supplement the supplements...  Just when I think I got it all figured out.

Time to get the boy ready for school now!

Woke up to a nice surprise in the bank this morning... I was hopeful, but since hubby's company had already fired one CAD guy a week before Christmas due to a lack of work, and hubby had endured multiple meetings with the boss encouraging everyone to finish up projects before the end of the year so they could get paid, I wasn't holding my breath on him getting a bonus this year. I think he got a bonus last year, but they weren't able to contribute to profit sharing. So again, I was thrilled to find the extra amount deposited this payday...

After taking the boy to OT, I came home and organized all the bills. We managed to pay off most of the doctor bills, paid annual maintenance fees on the timeshare, life insurance premiums and two small credit card balances! Even had enough left over to pay a little on our major credit card! I am beyond thrilled to be going into 2012 with a fairly clean slate.

We also paid the deposit to hold a place for the boy at Summer camp. This will be his first residential camp. Five whole days! We got a $25 discount for making deposit before the end of the year and will receive another $50 discount if we pay the balance in full by the end of March. The $800 camp fee will end up costing us $725 if we don't qualify for any sort of scholarships.

I'm a little anxious about strangers being responsible for him for that long but it sounds like they know what they're doing. I warned them about all his allergies, meds and eccentricities and they said they're used to dealing with all of that. They offer horseback riding, rafting, canoeing, alpine slide, outdoor concerts, campfires, barbeques, swimming, hiking, etc. Kinda wish I was going... Lots of volunteer opportunites though, so I may try and get my foot in the door with this group, even if for no other reason than to get a discount on the camp fees. I won't volunteer during his week though. Hubby and I really need some time to ourselves!

Anyway, the bonus took such a weight off my shoulders... Now if we can just avoid getting bogged down again.

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful man in the world, my husband! We be broke as usual so we aren't doing much to celebrate today. We had dinner to celebrate both of our birthdays at Texas Roadhouse last week and he was very sweet to buy donuts for my birthday on Saturday. He put a candle in one, served it warm and sang "Happy Birthday" to me... In return, for his birthday today, I packed him a big container of cheesy potato soup for lunch and I will make some steaks and baked potatoes for dinner tonite.

As usual, most of our budget has gone towards buying Christmas gifts for the kids. Sucks having a December birthday sometimes. But I think we've done a little better on gifts for the kids this year than we've been able to do in recent years. Of course we celebrated birthdays BIG last year. Took the boy to DisneyWorld for his 12th in November and took daughter and her boyfriend to Las Vegas for her 21st in February... Nothing huge and spectacular like that this year, but I think they will be pleased.

I know what daughter got for hubby and I'm sure he will be thrilled! Grandma and Grandpa were very pleased with their Omaha Steaks giftpack, even though they received it a little early. I've gotten the majority of my shopping done. It'll be a mad dash this Friday (payday) to get any last minute items before we head to Tulsa on Saturday.

The secret location of the Company Christmas Party has finally been revealed. I don't know why it was such a big secret. My daughter and I figured it had to be either the Aquarium or the Zoo since we had already done the Tulsa Air and Space Museum. The office secretary insisted all the little kids be there so we knew it would have to be something family friendly, and there really isn't much else to choose from in the Tulsa area. Our assumption about the Jenks Aquarium proved correct. I'm sure most of the kids will enjoy themselves. However, my experience with the boy has been that he's only interested in the bubbles from the air filters and the noise is a little overwhelming for him. Maybe it won't be so bad if we have the whole place to ourselves... I'm fairly certain we'll have the same boring, dry fajitas she has catered every year... I wish she'd come up with something different.

But I'm not complaining. Free food is free food after all. And this year the boss paid to fly all of us back to Tulsa since we have family there. He normally only flies the employees from Colorado. Extra family members are on their own. Needless to say, I don't think I've ever met any of the Colorado employees' wives or children. It's all hush, hush of course, and two of the CO employees have decided not to come this year. Boss normally put the employees up in a hotel too, but he didn't do that for us, again since he assumed we'd be staying with family. We could I suppose, but hubby's folks only have a stiff fold out futon in the front office and there's really no privacy. Daughter gets an employee discount at the Holiday Inn so I had her book us a couple nights there, as well as a room for her and her boyfriend so they wouldn't have to drive back and forth to Stillwater for company party and then family Christmas get-together the next day. She booked one close to the mall. The boy will enjoy the elevators and the swimming pool and maybe we'll have time to get a little more shopping done while we're there.

The boy has a doctors appointment in KC on Monday. We'll borrow the in-laws car and drive out on Monday. Supposed to have a little get-together with friends in BA when we return Monday evening. Then we'll return the car and fly home on Tuesday morning.

Speaking of the boy. His behaviors are slowly returning to normal. Became concerned about some vision issues and falling asleep in class which is highly unusual for the boy. So we made an appointment with a neurosurgeon to get his shunt checked out. CT scan was negative for hydrocephalus, thank God. but the neurosurgeon we went to wasn't licensed for pediatric surgery anyhow. He suggested we make an appointment with a pediatric neurosurgeon at the Children's Hospital in the next town just to have someone to go to if we were to have problems later on. The doctor we met was very friendly. He poked around on the boy and asked a few questions. I gave him neurosurgery medical records for the boy since birth and then we decided we'd come back in for a check up in about a year, assuming we have no problems before then. He also referred me to a couple of good pediatric opthmalogists in the outpatient center and I made an appointment with one of those as well. He's due for an eye exam and at his last appointment the doctor suggested we get him a stronger prescription. Appointment isn't til February so I'm sure he'll really need to increase the rx at that time.

Still don't have a clue what's got him so out of sorts lately. I put him back on the probiotics and he seems to be doing well enough with those. Only thing I can suppose is either it had something to do with the "balancing the cortices" exercises the OT began with him during Thanksgiving break, or possibly a change in the atmosphere since we've had snow and it's been so much colder this past couple of weeks. I know he would go a little haywire everytime it would rain in Oklahoma... Such an odd child. God love him!

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted. Things have been pretty crazy around here. I spent the better part of last week hunting frantically for Badge City vintage looking emergency vehicles, mostly firetrucks, to put on top of the cupcakes at the boy's Fireman's birthday party. I must have hit every Walmart and Toy's R Us on this side of the city. I finally found 8 that I liked...

Friday morning I got up and made 18 GFCF cupcakes for the boy's class. Teacher said there were 12 students but I wanted to make sure there were enough for the teachers and paras too. And since I decided to make it a class activity, I also made homemade icing, divided it up and dyed each one a different color so they could choose what color icing  and sprinkles they wanted to decorate with. It only made about 4 1/2 cups of icing and I didn't think that would be nearly enough for 12 cupcakes, much less 18... So I ran back to the market and grabbed another bag of icing mix. Came home and made four more 1/2 cups of icing.

Teacher had told me to bring the cupcakes to school at noon and they would decorate them later. So I showed up at noon... She thanked me and was basically dismissing me. I asked, "Can I not stay?" She said they were going to decorate after class so told me to come back at one. So apparently she wasn't expecting me to participate. Everyone was kind and complimentary when I returned. And the kids seemed to have a good time. But there were only 8 kids present and two of them couldn't have or didn't want a cupcake. So, out of the 18 cupcakes I dragged in, I went home with about 11 leftovers.

I wasn't thrilled with the way the chocolate cupcakes turned out, the primary colored baking cups became somewhat translucent and they weren't "pretty" with the chocolate inside, not to mention I'm not a big fan of chocolate anyway. So I went back to the market again and bought some GF Key Lime cake mix. They turned out MUCH better and were pretty tasty if I do say so myself. I made a dozen for the party on Saturday and decorated them with orange icing and orange cream flavored sprinkles which was a really nice flavor combo with the key lime cake. It was then I discovered the die-cast firetrucks were much too large and heavy to place on top of the cupcakes. I decided to place them in the goody bags instead.

The party was a success but it didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped... We started about half an hour late because only one family showed up. I forgot my phone so I didn't know for sure if anyone else was coming or if they were just running late. Unfortunately, the people that did show up had an appointment and would have to leave almost immediately. So we went ahead and sang Happy Birthday, blew out the candles and had some cake. It was about that time that the rest of our guests arrived. I served a couple more cupcakes, some soda and chips, opened gifts, and then everyone was ready for the museum tour. Hubby took 'em all dowstairs to meet with our tour guide. She gave an abbreviated history of the museum and fire safety lecture because most of the kids had special needs and weren't really getting anything out of it besides frustrated. So she proceeded to dress them up as fire chiefs and let them go play on the firetruck.

Hubby was in charge of taking some pictures while I cleaned up the party area. We switched off and I took pix while he hauled everything out to the car. The kids had a blast. I knew the boy would absolutely "LOVE" being able to climb up in a "real" firetruck. He steered and used the walkie-talkie and pushed every lever and button he could find. He was in hog heaven! And he just looked so darn cute doing it in that costume. All the kids were adorable...

And I just loved seeing him use his imagination. I remember a day when I never thought he would be able to engage in any sort of imaginative play. We had a little play workshop that someone had given us when he was little. It just took up space. He never touched it and I never bought any sort of dress-up or make-believe toys. He still doesn't really engage in make-believe activities with other kids, but he shared the space nicely in the firetruck. He has a set of car keys that he likes to pretend to use when he's in the car or in the elevator. He holds them up to the keyhole and seems to think he's really doing something. I try and let him unlock the front door of our apartment to improve some fine motor skills and work on increasing the strength in his hands.

Anyway, we ended up with a few leftover cupcakes from that party as well. And not very many people took the cups I filled as goody bags. They drank their sodas from the can and even though I let them each choose a die-cast vehicle to take home, no one seemed really interested in the candy-filled cups. I think they were just too excited to hurry downstairs and play. I packed 'em back up a returned them to the party store. They were about a buck each. That along with some othe small party favors and paper cups came to about $11 back in my pocket!!! I always seem to go overboard on these things, and I always worry about not having enough in case someone forgot to RSVP, so I always end up with extras.

We ended up with about 3 extra die-cast cars. Daddy chose his favorite and we returned the rest to Walmart. The boy got 2 Tonka Firetrucks as gifts so we returned one of those as well. I just put everything on a gift card and we'll let him use it to pick something out for himself some other time. Came to about $17 total. Should be enough to find something he likes with all the holiday sales goin on...

I'm not a big fan of shopping on Black Friday, and of course all the good stuff is wiped off the shelves after that, so I've tried to be a little more proactive this year. I've ordered one of daughter's gifts online, got her boyfriend a gift and got the boy his one big gift "from Santa." He's really been showing some interest in mommy's camera lately so I got a Fisher-Price one with reversable viewfinder so he can take photos and video clips of himself as well. Daddy's gonna have lots of fun uploading that stuff for him on the computer!

I guess I need to have my brother mail the drumset he's offered as well. We were hoping to see him at Christmas but since we're flying, I don't think it would be very easy to check on our flight.

Anyway, I got my turkey-bird today. Free-range, gluten-free, no antibiotics or hormones... Yadda, yadda, yadda. Gonna cook it in a roasting bag tomorrow and make all my favorite trimmings. We're having my famous cheeseball dip, greenbean casserole, gravy and mashed potatoes. I may have to cheat and go buy some Hawaiian rolls. They're my favorite too and Thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same without 'em.

We'll miss seeing my family for Thanksgiving this year. Goin' to Tulsa in between Thanksgiving, December birthdays and Christmas so we'll just celebrate everything at once with Hubby's folks. Maybe we can get together with my family again at our usual Easter gathering. My uncle posted on FB this morning that he finally found a new job, so I imagine he'll be staying where he's been for the past few years. That's usually where we meet...

That's about all for now. Everybody have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving Day!