Monday and the weather is fine...wonderful actually!

Today is Monday and things are grand. Greyson said he had a bad day but only because he did not get a turn in batting at PE. Hopefully that was all he had issues with. He keeps everything so secret I never know. I figure Suzy will tell me if there is ever anything that needs attention right away or that may be life altering. Otherwise I try not to worry about his silence and tight lipped ways. :) Today I picked him up and he was hanging out the window yelling goodbye to Ms Suzy. Lord what a difference a year can make. A new and wonderful teacher, a great school, and a whole new outlook on things. Hooray for that once again. You all probably get sick of my saying these things over and over but you have no idea just how thankful we are for all of these things. Another year like last year could have brought me to the edge...but I do not have that worry. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Those two words seem so inadequate to me when I say them to Suzy, Susan, Cymantha, Maureen, Kristy, Sloan, Eileen or any of the others that make things so much better for Greyson. But just know...we are feeling much better about things as far as Greyson's life, emotional & psychological well being and education. I still have a real struggle on my hands when it comes to working on his reading, writing and math at home. But we plug along. I always feel we should be doing more while teetering on the edge of am I pushing him further away by trying to push him some. there is that damn fine line again and I worry. Am I pushing him enough? Too much at times? Is he going to be able to do the things he needs to do to succeed in school and continue on with his grade level. I always worry and then I think...it is what it is....He will do what he can when he can with the help of his moms, teachers, therapists, and all the others involved in his world. It will come when he is ready. He has been that way since he was very little and I feel it will always be that with him. We sit with him time and time again and think he isn't getting something and then, poof...he is doing it on his own. If you think this makes me crazier than I normally am you are correct. I think I will walk around and continue to feel like there should be more we could do. I may never get past thinking that way. So there you have it. As far as now, in this moment...I am listening to our president speak...and I still trust in his abilities to make change come about. I know there are people who think there should be no stimulus package thinking it is bailing out the very people who put us in this mess...but I still believe in this man and trust that he will not do anything without thinking it through. So good night my friends...I have a date with a sweet and kind hearted boy to watch Bee Movie. No popcorn though...he claims it smells bad. Sensory overload at it's best! One short note...you should have seen his face the other day when we walked into Starbucks to get a hot tea...he ran out with his shirt over his face screaming, "Oh my Lord!" hahahaaaaa Poor guy...and I don't always think about these things in advance obviously so we live and learn. Everyday we live and learn!

Gardening Day at CCS...Feb 8th...& the DOD E Truck

Momom worked today so Greyson and I hung out here until time to go help with the friendship garden at CCS...his school this year. WE had a truck load of compost to deliver and spread along with helping spread some mulch that had been delivered. Well...we were driving the "beater truck" over there. For those of you who do not know it...this truck is UGLY! I mean the tailgate doesn't even say DODGE anymore...it's DOD E... (Is that pronounced dooo deee?) The tail gate fell off on I-77 one day and thank God...it hit nothing as it skidded across 4 lanes of traffic onto the shoulder. Michele pulled over and played "Frogger" on I-77 to retrieve it. It now has extreme road rash from its sleigh ride on the pavement. It handles quite poorly in my eyes so I was nervous. I am not positive, but I think we floated to CCS. I do not think the tires ever touched the pavement. I have no idea how many lanes I occupied on the way over either....who cares...just stay the hell out of my way in that thing. You turn the wheel and it may respond...at some point it does but you have to give yourself alot of "wiggle room". It's one of those trucks that when you see it on the road you stay back or hurry past to ensure...nothing falls off of it and hits you...it doesn't hit you...etc etc. Nothing can hurt it...it is like a tank. No one challenges a tank huh? hahahaaaaa Anyway...we made it via back roads and delivered the goods. I helped while Greyson played with his buddies. They ended up playing in the leaky hose and were soaked before it was over. I thought he was about to melt down but he got through it. He wanted to go home since he had gotten wet but managed to make it through until I was done. Hooray Greyson! I have to thank his buddies as well because I think they managed to help keep his mind off of the fact that he was drenched...but so were they. I moved some mulch with a tarp...spread some around...turned the ground in the plots...moved some compost and now I am feeling a little on the pre-paralyzed side of things. I will not be moving much come the am....I will have to force myself to walk/run on the treadmill just so I don't lock up for good! We had a great time though with all the volunteers. I so love that school, it's parents, teachers and everything about it. What a wonderful place we found. Love & hugs to all...I am going to try to find some dinner for my sweet family. Hooray for CCS! What a blessing that Friendship Garden will be to all. Good night...sleep tight....and remember to share your smiles, love & hugs! Someone out there needs them more than you know.

Fun, fun Saturday! Lots of friends old and new!

Yesterday we decided to give Susan & Megan a call and try to go to Jetton Park at Lake Norman. I talked to Susan and we met up there around 10:30 for the kids to play. we had a great time just talking about Greyson & Meg and catching up a little. I always so enjoy talking with her because she definitely understands all to well alot of what we deal with. We trade off information at times and talk about what great kids Megan & Greyson are. We wouldn't trade them for anything even if things are somewhat tough at times. Greyson has been so attached to Megan since kindergarten. A kinda of little boy 's crush if you will. He was funny yesterday chasing her all around. the both of them laughed and laughed, running playing and swinging. It was great and I loved watching them. Greyson shocked me because we had not been to a play ground for a while. He hopped onto a swing and was pumping his feet and swinging himself before I even realized it. I am soooo used to him screaming for me to come push him but he finally has gotten that trick down! It took a while but hooray for him! He was really going high too. He also hung around on the rings some. His upper body strength is getting better and better. Still not great but it is definitely better than it has been. Little by little we see signs all the time that hi OT, therapy, extra activities like Karate and swimming are paying off. He still isn't the most coordinated guy but we shall see how it develops. He is quite a dancer though. he loves to mimic scenes from movies doing the dancing, voices, lines...whatever. Our lives are filled with responses that come straight from TV shows and movies. We normally have to ask where he heard something and we can always tell when it is a line from somewhere else...well usually anyway. hahahaa After playing with Megan we headed to the Starbucks and had some tea, milk, juice...whatever the pick was.... Megan and Greyson played a little more and then we all headed home. It was great fun and we hope to meet up more with Spring coming on. Greyson and I headed tot he house to meet momom. We ate lunch and then headed back out with her to go get some compost for the school's Friendship Garden. We met Leslie & Zoe and Leslie's dad and headed off to the compost. Michele, dad, Leslie and I shoveled compost into the truck until we had what we thought was enough while Greyson and Zoe played. Greyson loves playing with Zoe too. So he had a very fun day and it wasn't over yet. We drove the compost back home and hung out at our house for a few hours. I washed the Jeep because it was looking really bad while momom made some pigs in a blanket for dinner. Greyson hasn't seen Campbell his buddy from his first school in a while so Campbell and his mom and dad came to the house later after dinner to let the boys play. We all,(the parents), played some games while the kids played. It was fun and I think Greyson was really worn out by the end of the night. He had an extremely exciting day and saw alot of his friends old and new. he is up and ready to go again today. We are going to his school to work on the garden around 1pm but we will probably go to the park or somewhere before we do that. It's too nice not to get out and about today so we will be doing that. Hopefully with Spring coming on we will be able to get several of our friends together for some fun int he park. Yay! Have a great day everyone and a wonderful week. Hugs...Lynn, Michele & of course Greyson. :)

It's Friday and last night was rough...

Greyson is home with me today due to a night of nightmares and being awake most of it watching more Bee Movie in the early hours. Not sure what caused them or what they were about as he will not discuss it with us. we prompt him to so that maybe they will go away but he will have no part of it. His theory is if he talks about it they will stay in his head. Therefore...no discussion allowed. Soooooooo...that said....Michele ad I are also lacking sleep today. We made the executive decision to keep him home knowing he would possibly be more of a handful today since he would be extremely tired. His regular teachers were not going to be there and I wasn't sure it would be any fun for someone who wasn't used to his eccentric and sometimes annoying ways. Don't take that the wrong way...those of us who love him still know he can be annoying but we also know why and that alot of it he cannot help. Can a kid be afflicted with anything more fun? and yes....I am very sarcastic most of the time. Me being tired today is not helping. hahahaaa So...today will be hang out, play, maybe hit the library, and on and on. He is about to pee himself because Madagascar 2 Escape to Africa is released today. You see one of his "things" is that he knows release dates for any movie that is near and dear to his heart and he WILL NOT let you forget it. By no means will he allow you to let that day slip by. My sister being the sweetie that she is bought him the movie in advance and it should be coming here...I just don;t know when. He seems to think if the USPS does not deliver it in 10 hours we will have to go buy one ourselves. I have news for him! That will not be happening since Cham was kind enough to save me the $$ and the trouble I shall patiently await its arrival. If you see me next week and I am bald...you know it hasn't come timely enough! :) Thank you Aunt Cham for your nice gift. Well...I better get going. I did help him make his Star Wars LEGO Movie last night so that is a plus...he has been worrying about that for days. You see...once something gets in his head, no matter what it is, he cannot let it go. It can be a thought, a comment, an idea, anything....he will burst until he gets it out, done or completed. Seriously he will burst! A friend described it like this, "It's like it starts at the tips of his toes, building momentum as it comes forth and nothing is going to stop it from coming out of him." He gets so excited and passionate about these things that he can hardly contain himself...and usually can't at all. He explodes in excitement screaming about whatever thought, idea or comment he has. If we can teach him to channel that passion into the right places and let it out at the right times he will be capable of amazing things I am sure of it. He is like our little volcano of "Greyson stuff". We just need to help him focus his energies into the proper places and we will be good. Whew....good luck to us! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and safe travels if you are headed somewhere other than here. Love & hugs to all of our extended family and friends. We so appreciate you all.

Funny Thing We Learned Today...Feb 4th...

To give you some background...Michele and I have always been annoyed by the feeling you get from some people...even family at times, when you are gay. Somehow, most people cannot come to terms with our sexuality, either due to their religious convictions and upbringing, or prejudice or whatever. When I say "our" I am speaking in broad terms as in all gay people. Homosexuality in general if you will. She and I have deep conversations about how annoying it is that some people tolerate us. That, at times, it is even worse than the ones who blatantly speak out against our sexuality because "the tolerators" do not agree with it and/or do not feel comfortable around us. They just keep quiet about it. Unfortunately their body language normally speaks volumes. They just try to fake it as best they can until the next time/encounter. hahahaaaaaa That being said, we were watching cartoons with Greyson this am and his cartoon Barnyard came on. One of the characters is a ferret who is a vegetarian. Well...ferrets eat meat normally. The ferret, Freddie was having a birthday so his parents decided to come for a surprise visit. None of his barnyard buddies knew his secret about being a "meat eater" or coming from a "meat eating" family. Freddie's best friend is "Peck" the chicken, which would normally be Freddie's meal of choice if he were not a vegetarian. His parents come, grab Peck, when no one is looking, and start cooking him up for Freddie's birthday dinner. Freddie finally tells his other buddies "the secret", (his parents are chicken eaters and they think he still is too). In a panic they all go to find Peck. Once they find him this happens... they grab Peck out of the stemming pot of stew and Freddie yells, "Mom, Dad...I have a confession! I am a vegetarian and if you cannot deal with that then Goodbye! The father screams..."Get over here right now...........and give me a hug!" Freddie says, "You mean you aren't ashamed of me?" They say, "Well of course we are ashamed. We are also disgraced, humiliated and we will probably have to change our names. Not to mention the neighbors will probably judge us and we may have to move, but as long as you're happy dear, I GUESS we can learn to live with it!" Michele burst out laughing and said, "That's how our families probably feel and the other people who tolerate us!" I died laughing as well because....I was thinking...how true! Oh my God....it was soooo funny! Well to us it was....and it probably will be to those of you who truly get it. I can think of several of our followers who will get a good laugh from this. Enjoy guys...we love you and we love the fact that you love us, our family as is, and life in general. Remember..."Time is much too short to be living somebody else's life." Deseree'

Tuesday Feb, 3rd...with dyed hands

Today was a good day. We got up and Greyson headed off to school with momom. I had to go to the office for a short trip to deliver the new newsletter and then I headed back home. I went to pick Greyson up around 2pm so we could head off to see Mike, one of his therapist's. When I got there Suzy his teacher came out which worried me a little at first. Not much though since I have come to realize things are much different this year and I do not need to be quite so skittish when it comes to that. Anyway...I digress...She told me he had had a frustrating day and began to tell me of some of his issues. He had trouble in drama because he didn't get to do the story he wanted which caused him much frustration. He has been dong much better along these lines but still struggles at times when things do not go his way or the way he has envisioned they should. He also had some trouble with art doing Batik where he thought his elephant he had done wasn't quite up to par so Suzy helped him through that crisis. Thank goodness she gets him because he is definitely a piece of work. Ms Suzy...have I told you lately...you are truly loved by Greyson and us! :) I love him more than life though...he is our piece of work. :) There aren't too many folks that get him and his quirky eccentric ways. Poor guy...he is soooo sensitive, overly sensitive most of the time, so he gets his feelings hurt very easily. In art the teacher had warned them not to get their hands into the dye as it will not wash off for 3 days. Well...guess who has bluish green hands now. He can;t let go of the 3 days either...poor Ms Lisa, (the art teacher), if this stuff isn't completely gone in 3 days because he is also very literal. hahahahaaaaa Michele tried to help him get some of it off with some of her miracle hand cleaner she uses in the business. Oh well....blue green is a great color. I have always been partial to the cooler colors. When I picked him up though Suzy told me he was worried about me being mad. I found that strange as I have never really gotten angry about such things. I wasn't mad at all. I tried to tell him that in the car and he started balling. Then the truth came out. He was really embarrassed more than anything. I think he had not really understood the seriousness of it not washing off. Once he realized it was there permanent he was really embarrassed and said he did not want to go to school the next day. You would have thought he was the only boy with dye on his hands. There were others with some he said...I just don't think they were quite as covered as he was. Oh well...we worked through it and he should be back tomorrow....alien hands and all. I love him and I do not always understand why he is so hard on himself or soooo extremely sensitive. Some of it I am sure stems from his year last year and I hate that. I do feel somewhat responsible since I trusted the school and left him in their care even after feeling not so good about what was happening. I am too overprotective I am sure of it...even more now after his diagnosis. My over protectiveness also is partially related to last year. I so worry about him, about how people are perceiving him and how they are reacting to him. I worry about him making friends and growing and learning alongside his peers and being able to keep up. I so want to protect him from all harm and anything hurtful. But I do know that realistically I cannot protect him from it all. The best gift we can give him is the strength to learn how to protect himself, be strong, and weather the storms that may come his way. It's hard and I am learning each day about being a mother. I can only hope that one day he will say he had 2 wonderful mothers who loved him dearly and did everything they could to prepare him for life. Lately he has expressed at times he wished he had a father. We do not have many men in our lives so I know that is hard. We knew this would come up so we are not totally caught off guard. We have made an effort to involve him in some activities which involve men as mentors, coaches, teachers to help fill some of that need. Eventually we hope to find others to do things here and there with him. Boys just need their man time I suppose. I am not worried either way since I know he has 2 mommies who love him tons and support all he does through thick and thin. So...that said...we are moving forward. Mike knows of Greyson's wishes so I can at least get advice as what to do next when I feel like we are floundering. :) We explained to Greyson how and why he ended up with 2 mommies...try telling that to an 8 year old with Aspergers. Sorry guys...I did not tape it for you...I will tell you that it was rather funny. Maybe some of you are thinking...that's not funny...how could that be funny....if you think that...you do not know Greyson very well. Between him and me...anything can become funny. I've been accused of not being serious enough or not acting my age....oh well....who cares. when I need to be serious I can but I find that in most any situation you can find some humor. Look for it....laughter IS the best medicine. Well it's time for bed...we have a great movie tonight....Bee Movie! Ask me about it...I can tell you the whole damn thing start to finish! Love & hugs....thank you all for caring about us and Greyson!

Supa Bowl weekend

We had a good weekend this weekend. Greyson and I went Friday and ran some errands and I let him get the Open Season 2 movie. He was really excited so we watched it and ordered pizza Friday night. Saturday we were on our own since momom had to work. We went over to Monkey Joe's and he jumped around for a couple of hours. He was concerned that he didn't have any friends there but he got over it and played with some kids that were already there. He gets a little anxious like that when he doesn't know anyone, but I try to talk him through it. Lately he has been doing pretty good at just finding someone to play with but he never does ask their name. He mostly chases after them and plays. We came home and he was really tired. We just hung out with momom and he ate leftover pizza...which he loves. We ordered Thai food, which we LOVE! :) Sunday we got up and spent the day being lazy for a while. Later Greyson went with Michele to an estimate. It was for some girls we know who also have kids so he went to play. Greyson had a great time and Michele said he did great there. Once they got home she and I got ready to go to our friends 50th surprise party/supa bowl party. Ms Heidi came over to watch Greyson while we went to play. We had a good time and came home before half time. Greyson had a long weekend and was tired so I gave him a shower and put him to bed...with Bee Movie. I laid down with him because he was being extremely sappy and crying. He gets me really worried when he gets like that. It's usually because he is way tired though and last night was no exception. We are going to try to go to the beach for a weekend in March with some friends but I am worried to leave him for that long with anyone. He stayed with mom last year so we shall see. I am a worrier and I so worry that no one quite gets him. (Family included) That scares me at times since he can be a handful and I worry about leaving him with anyone who isn't accustomed to dealing with it. He did OK with mom last year although he was very ready for us to come home after one day and made it known to all. She still had most of her hair when we returned though. I know it is hard because of some comments she makes concerning him at times lets me know he wears on her. It is hard to convince people that alot of what they experience is related to his Aspergers and yes...it can wear on you. It's just that he cannot help it so you cannot hold it against him. You just have to be able to help him learn better ways to express himself and/or better choices. You have to learn alot of patience and learn how to roll with it at times. I read and read and read and still come up short time and time again. It is a learning process that will never end for us or anyone else involved in his life. Ironically I found out today that the Observer ran an article on Sunday, Feb 1st about a friend of mine from the Postal Service. His name is Delmar Williams and he is one of the most eccentric and talented people I have ever met in my life. Well...he was diagnosed with Aspergers at age 45 and is just now telling his story. You can read about him, if interested in learning more about Aspergers and how it effects those who have it, in this article. His story is amazing and because I know him well I can attest to everything in there. He is an extremely amazing human and his story reflects that. Here is the link - http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/story/501708.html

Enjoy the story...have a great week and remember...everyone has a story, it's up to us to stay open minded and if curious enough, find it out. Hugs