All of the things!
Gah, life has been so ridiculously crazy lately! To start with, since February, Mom and I have been taking care of Grandma 16 hours a day. Yes, that's right: sixteen hours a day. So hopefully you'll understand why I really haven't been around.
I want to say upfront, before some of you (who know who you are) jump down my throat, that I can now, for the first time, say with certainty that we are in the process of getting Grandma into a home. It actually wasn't the 16-hours-a-day thing that made the decision, but the fact that her latest cognitive slide seems to have tipped the balance between "worth it" and "not worth it" to keep her home. So that's now in the works, though I have no idea how long it may take.
Among the other things going on are:
Me riding my brand-new bike, while my
team-member Frankie keeps watch
For both mental and physical reasons, I never learned to ride a bike as a kid, or a teen, or...well, ever. However, this spring, I read on Ellen Seidman's special-needs blog "Love That Max" about the iCan Bike program, which teaches kids and adults with special needs how to ride bikes by using individualized instruction (seriously, my team was a 4:1...and I was the one!) and customized bikes. The specific program I went to was a "camp" held at C.W.Post for an hour and a quarter five days in a row. When I got there on Monday, I was riding at training-wheels level; I rode on my own for the first time ever on Wednesday, and successfully completed multiple cycles of start-->ride-->turn-->ride-->brake on Friday. I CAN RIDE A BIKE!
(I also won a bike, which was insanely cool, really boosted my self-esteem, and comes in a far, far second to the awesomeness of finally knowing how to ride it.)
And...that's about it. Next up on the agenda: finishing my paper, gearing up for fall semester (taking three classes: Intro to Ethics, Health Services and Policy, and Intro to Skin and SCUBA diving), working on getting back into writing (stay tuned for that one), watching as several of my friends take major (good!) life-steps, and--of course!--riding my new bike!
How about you guys?
Abyssinia,
Barrie
*When I say "we", I really do mean "we": along with the usual gang of misfits (RK, Silver_Chipmunk, wafflesMcDuff), I'd like to send a special shout-out to Silver_Chipmunk's almost-son-in-law, who barely knows us and yet has been working like a dog, AND helping me with my paper. Thank you, C!
I want to say upfront, before some of you (who know who you are) jump down my throat, that I can now, for the first time, say with certainty that we are in the process of getting Grandma into a home. It actually wasn't the 16-hours-a-day thing that made the decision, but the fact that her latest cognitive slide seems to have tipped the balance between "worth it" and "not worth it" to keep her home. So that's now in the works, though I have no idea how long it may take.
Among the other things going on are:
- I (mostly) finished my Spring semester, finishing with one B, one C+ (but in was in Bio, so that's okay), and one Incomplete (I still need to finish the final paper). I'm hoping for a final semester GPA somewhere in the B range.
- We* have done a TON of work in the house, even though doing so while Grandma is still here brings to mind the Phyllis Diller quote about cleaning house while your children are still growing (it's "like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing").
- I have been working on using available tools--psychological, physical, and technological--to try to compensate for some of my special needs. For example, I've been working on using iPhone apps to stay organized, and am looking into seeing whether or not I might be able to get the OT (occupational therapy; physical therapy that increases your ability to do day-to-day tasks) I should have gotten as a child.
- And, related to the above...I LEARNED HOW TO RIDE A BIKE!!!
Me riding my brand-new bike, while my
team-member Frankie keeps watch
For both mental and physical reasons, I never learned to ride a bike as a kid, or a teen, or...well, ever. However, this spring, I read on Ellen Seidman's special-needs blog "Love That Max" about the iCan Bike program, which teaches kids and adults with special needs how to ride bikes by using individualized instruction (seriously, my team was a 4:1...and I was the one!) and customized bikes. The specific program I went to was a "camp" held at C.W.Post for an hour and a quarter five days in a row. When I got there on Monday, I was riding at training-wheels level; I rode on my own for the first time ever on Wednesday, and successfully completed multiple cycles of start-->ride-->turn-->ride-->brake on Friday. I CAN RIDE A BIKE!
(I also won a bike, which was insanely cool, really boosted my self-esteem, and comes in a far, far second to the awesomeness of finally knowing how to ride it.)
And...that's about it. Next up on the agenda: finishing my paper, gearing up for fall semester (taking three classes: Intro to Ethics, Health Services and Policy, and Intro to Skin and SCUBA diving), working on getting back into writing (stay tuned for that one), watching as several of my friends take major (good!) life-steps, and--of course!--riding my new bike!
How about you guys?
Abyssinia,
Barrie
*When I say "we", I really do mean "we": along with the usual gang of misfits (RK, Silver_Chipmunk, wafflesMcDuff), I'd like to send a special shout-out to Silver_Chipmunk's almost-son-in-law, who barely knows us and yet has been working like a dog, AND helping me with my paper. Thank you, C!