There is much rejoicing here!

Not only has spring sprung, but there’s great news. While spring had a bit of a setback today (it’s cold and dreary), our hearts are lighter. My friend’s son has been sick for the past 6 weeks, and I have written about him before. We were really, really worried about him.

Today I found out that he has a diagnosis, and it is just an infection that will pass. He (like me) has unusual symptoms when he gets sick, so they were going from one specialist to another. It’s wonderful to have not only an answer, but an answer that means he will get back to “normal” relatively soon. Phew!

I guess I need to switch to worrying about us again, now.

After a Tuesday that should be struck from all record books, our week is now improving! Tuesday included Jack’s vet visit and the 1 year anniversary of the birth & death of our friend’s baby. I’m happy we got through it reasonably sane.

The good news is that Jack has a bad UTI, but nothing that needs surgery. That doesn’t mean that he didn’t have a giant vet bill, though. Ugh. He’s on antibiotics, and he’ll make a full recovery. In fact, he’s catching balls, barking at strangers, and following me around everywhere already. Me with my red & blue shadows.

Yesterday we went to the beach! We forgot buckets and the camera was left at home, but we had fun. We brought one of the girls’ friends, and Jack & Ra. (Harley is too old for the walk back up the hill). We came home sandy, tired, and I came home sunburned.

Today is another pretty day, and there’s been a lot of park time already. Now we’ll have to deal with whatever comes next! There are a bunch of new pictures over at flickr for your viewing pleasure. It’s so much fun to take pictures of kiddos at the park! It makes me so glad I’m using a digital camera, though - there’s a definite trick to taking swinging pictures!

We are continuing our reviews on Social Skills DVDs (check out our previous review of Skill Builder Buddies) in partnership with the Parent Bloggers Network in recognition of April as Autism Awareness Month. Our oldest daughter lives with Sensory Integration Disorder and other related issues, so we have spent many years focusing on social skills awareness, and scripting how situations will play out. Leave a comment on the Parent Bloggers Network Blog for a chance to win both DVDs!

Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse vol. 1 Expressing Yourself is a DVD from NoteAbilities, which is aimed at children ages 2-7 with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and other associated issues. If you’ve struggled with helping your child understand how others are feeling, you might need more tools to help your child recognize emotions in others and cope with their own emotions. Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse is a great way to add tools to your toolbox and to your child’s toolbox in a fun way with catchy songs.

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Read the rest of the review

Mrs. Perfect is Jane Porter’s newest novel. If you read Odd Mom Out when it was released last fall, you will recognize several of the characters, as Mrs. Perfect is also set in a well-off Seattle neighborhood. If you didn’t have a chance to read it, the storyline in Odd Mom Out focused on Marta Zinsser, a newcomer who moved into the area as a single, working mother when the other moms in the area are well-dressed, wealthy, at-home moms with nannies. Taylor Young, the main character in Mrs. Perfect, is one of those “perfect” moms from Odd Mom Out, but now we learn the rest of the story - sometimes life isn’t as perfect as it looks. While both books can be read as stand-alone novels, I highly recommend reading both, and not just because Jane Porter’s novels are addicting; they are great reads.

Jane Porter has written more than 20 romance novels for Harlequin, and has written several wonderful chick lit novels for 5-Spot as well. Jane has taken incidents in her own life, and spun them into fiction that captures your attention and imagination, pulling you along for a fabulous ride. Jane’s writing skills help blur the line between romance and chick lit - her characters in her romance novels come alive just as much as her chick lit characters, and while she uses her memories of time spent traveling in her romances, she seems to put more of her self in her books for 5-Spot. Jane was nice enough to chat with us about the lines between fact and fiction in books today.
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April is Autism awareness month! Parent Bloggeers Network is hosting two concurrent blog tours about edutainment DVDs for children with special needs, especially children with speech/language or autistic spectrum disorders. You can win a copy of the DVDs by commenting over at PBN.

Skill Building Buddies is a DVD by Mazzarella Media aimed at kids ages 5-12 with language or autistic spectrum disorders. Even if you have a child without any labels, you’ll want to read on to learn more about the positive coping strategies in Skill Building Buddies!

Read the rest of the review

Or, y’know, not. Or maybe it should be me who is sedated, to cope with everything…

Yesterday we noticed that Jack had some blood in his urine. Oh joy. As the day went on, he started acting a bit lethargic, not his usual, energetic self. (Earlier in the day he was fine, as he was in the pic at right) This morning he wasn’t even interested in giving kisses. The blood thing kept happening, and just like a human with a UTI, it happened frequently, and was the first time he ever had an accident in the house, and then it happened several times.

So, after we went to coop, I came back and we took Jack to the vet. He isn’t running a temp, but from what we described, he thinks Jack is passing bladder stones. So, he needs to do bloodwork and then sedate him for an ultrasound to see how serious the problem is. It felt very wrong to leave Jack with the vet.

I know he’s a dog, not a human. But I just can’t cope with much more. So everybody please think good thoughts and send “you’re OK” vibes to Jack? We really love him, and he’s our ball-fetching, loud snuggle bug.

My brain is continuing to be fried. So, here are some links to things that aren’t here:

1. You can win a contest for a lavish trip to London if you’re over 40

2. One of the books I reviewed, Blood Moon is a part of a charity auction, the hardcover includes a quote from my review, so go vote!
3. My shirt.woot! entry this week has more votes than any of the previous ones! I also tend to think it’s more well done than the earlier ones, too.
4. We just ordered BG’s 10th birthday invitations from Tiny Prints, and are really looking forward to them! She’s having a party at the Roller Palace!

That’s all I’ve got. Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

My brain is fried. I don’t know what hit me, but I’m feeling down. I haven’t been up to reading some of my books for review, I need lite, fun books. Yes, even lighter than what I usually read.

It felt good to help my friend on Friday, running her errands so she could be with her sick son. It also allowed her to stay home this weekend rather than running all over town, which meant she could hang out with her son and her (not sick, but still needing mom) daughter.

That said, it was hard emotionally to see such a strong person I admire needing help. It was also hard to see her son still sick.

Saturday B had to work, and today I’ve been feeling headachy and dizzy. Tomorrow B has to be at work at 8, which is always a joy. The week needs to get better from here! OK, on Tuesday we’re “celebrating” the 1 year anniversary of a friend’s daughter’s birth, and honoring her short life of only a few hours. It’s good to support friends in their times of need, but it probably won’t be an easy time.

In lieu of a regular post, here are this week’s Unconscious Mutterings

1. Questioning :: Authority
2. Immunity :: Witness Protection
3. Online dating :: match.com ads
4. Calcium :: vitamin D
5. Dressing :: herself (ie: daughters)
6. Bucket :: there’s a hole in the …
7. Stain :: Oxyclean
8. Advanced :: material
9. Dramatic :: actress
10. Self-medication :: Woodchuck Hard Cider

• your medical scooter stopped working at the bottom of the hill the day before

• you woke up to day 3 of a headache
• your microwave broke, so you can’t make quick sandwiches on corn tortillas
• your website was taken down for possibly spreading spam
• you are accused of being like a “drug mule” by a (bad) support person
• you have to do some major screening of your daughter’s comments on her shirt.woot! entry.
• you had to do a full grocery shop without having had enough caffeine or food

What do you all say to a nice nap?

Hey - it’s therapy night tonight! Yay!

No, not the camp kind of gimp, the Gnu Image Manipulation Program - the poor person’s Photoshop.

It’s very cool.

BG created her first shirt.woot derby entry!

I also created another shirt.woot! derby entry.

If you have a moment, and you’ve bought something from any woot.com, please drop us a vote and/or a comment!

We also love this faked moon landing shirt, so please drop a vote for that one - wouldn’t it be fun to wear that shirt to go out for lunch with some scientists?

Bad headache is back. Perhaps I’ll have a real blog post soon.