Week of Random Events

This week has been a crazy week. Today is the first time I've had an opportunity to sit and write. And it feels good to be here by the fire with a cup of coffee. And yes, my golden retriever is sleeping at my feet. Sort of a Norman Rockwell moment. If Norman had a laptop and wireless, broadband internet access! Anyway, this is just sort of a ramble about my week, so fasten your seatbelts and put your tray tables in their upright and locked position.

At the beginning of the week, the 'check engine' light in my wife's car started flashing. Now I know nothing about cars. This seemed ominous. So I called the garage and they said bring it in. We did. They got about three dozen error messages when they hooked it up to the computer, but only found one little problem. One cable that had shorted or something. So they replaced it. And it was inexpensive. Good deal. Until yesterday. My wife called me while I was at work to report that her car was sitting in the driveway, all alone, with the lights flashing and the horn blowing. Started all by itself. I appreciated the report, but there was little I could do. And since I know so much about cars, little that I could suggest for her to do! But while we were talking, it stopped. Well that means the car fixed itself, right? LOL Nope. It did that little series of events once again about 15 minutes later. So my wife hopped in the car and drove it to the garage. And that silly little 'check engine' light came on again while she was driving. The garage boys started it, drove it, scratched their heads, double-checked to make sure that we really did not even have an alarm system on the car, and suggested we make an appointment to bring it in for more work. Ya think? But my wife has a theory. The car only seems possessed if we lock the doors. So far....her theory is sound! No locking...no more beeping and flashing. Maybe that will get us through until the garage spends another day with it.

The next big event of the week....Son16 took his CAPT tests this week. This is a standardized test that you must pass in order to graduate from high school in our state. And you take them in the tenth grade. That way, if you don't pass, you get two more years to try again. And the test is so long that they break it up into parts. He has had five parts with one more part to go. So every day this week, he arrived at school and headed into a testing room where he would take two parts of the test. This lasted about 2 and a half hours. Then he would follow his regular schedule for that day, except every class was condensed to only about 25 minutes. Now I've not written much about my son's disabilities. I guess I should at some point. But a key component of asperger's syndrome is difficulty with 'executive functions'. That's the part of the brain that deals with organization and structure. Son16 needs routine. Structure. Predictability. His schedule is very, very important. Very. So for this CAPT testing, every aspect of his day has been different. The testing block in the morning. Classes squeezed into short bursts. It has been that aspect of the whole testing ordeal that has created huge amounts of anxiety. And it forces him to check a million times a day to find out what happens next, what time will something be, will it be just like this tomorrow, etc, etc. A very long week for him. And a long week for us.

My friend Mike is back at work. They have identified some irregular heartbeat but not exactly sure what causes it yet. He did go in for a couple of more tests this week. And they have him wearing one of those little gizmos that monitors his heart rate and records it. And every time he goes above 85 beats per minute, it beeps like crazy (sort of like my wife's car!) and he has to call in and play the recording over the phone. Really, 85 beats a minute is not that high. Can you just imagine how tempting it is at work to set that little bugger off! We can just get him laughing really hard and he sounds off the warning. Oh...it is cruel to have fun at the expense of a sick man. Cruel. And yet....

Son16 was scheduled for a big lock-in this weekend at our church with all the other high school youth. He is not a very social kid, but he did attend the fall lock-in and really loved it. We were thrilled it went well and happy he wanted to go again. Really wanted to go. Has been talking about the games they play, all the snack food, etc, etc. And it got canceled yesterday due to illness among some of the adult sponsors. A last minute cancellation. Have I mentioned.... Son16 needs a predictable schedule and consistency???? Not anyone's fault. But just one more layer of stress in his life.

Yesterday was my second visit (out of a series of four) to the periodontist. I'm going through a process caused scaling and root planing. Just the name should tip you off here. I mean, it isn't good to do things to the ROOT of your tooth, right? That hurts. And they are doing stuff to the root of EVERY tooth! With merely a topical anesthetic. So go ahead...imagine how you think that would feel. Then take two steps deeper into hell. And you've got it. Mashed potatoes and pudding are my friends.

Okay, that's my ramble for the week. Now I'm gonna go read your stuff...cause I'm sure it will be way more interesting!