a lesson in parenting

I have written many times about Logan, his speech and sensory issues, and how challenging life with him can be at times. Logan, someday when you're reading this I know we'll have a good laugh about how you turned our hair gray and caused us a few heart attacks in your short first two and a half years. I love you buddy, but you can be a tough pill to swallow sometimes.

Its been about a year since we started noticing Logan's behavior had some real quirks. We began seeking advice, help and ultimately some therapies to help him. Its been an emotional roller coaster, a learning experience and a time we've both had to dig deep and come to the realization that parenting is, by far, the hardest job on the face of the planet.

Throughout this past year, we've met many doctors and therapists, and bent many a friends' and families' ear on the trials and tribulations of life with Logan. We're lucky to have all of these people in our lives to help us become better parents and to help give us the knowledge and strength we need to do the right thing for both of our children.

A friend of ours, who is a therapist, came over this morning and spent 2 1/2 hours with us and Logan, giving us tons of new ideas to try and books to read. We're so lucky to have her as a resource. As we've learned, so many kids with speech issues also have sensory issues and often need help in both areas. The theory is until kids have a mature and functional sensory system, their language development can become stuck in a bit of a holding pattern.

On what we feel is a related note, Logan has always been a very poor sleeper, and a very picky eater. Both of these, we believe, are major influences on behavior as well. We've tried every type of environmental and behavioral approach known to man to help his sleeping issues, and we've gotten no where. With some guidance and research, we're starting a couple of homeopathic things to help supplement his diet and help his sleeping. The theory with kids with sensory issues like Logan is that they are living all day at full throttle, so come night, its hard for their bodies to settle down. They don't produce enough melatonin naturally to help them sleep all night. We're trying 3 mg of melatonin crushed up his almond milk he gets before bedtime. I don't know if it was coincidence but he slept great last night. We'll see over time. It can't hurt him, there are no negative side effects or chemicals. This won't be forever, but if its a way to help train his body to have a regular sleep pattern, we have to try.

The other thing we're going to try is a fish liver oil supplement. There is a homeopathic pharmacy near us and they sell it in liquid form, its strawberry flavored and has a combined 1,000 mg of DHA and EPA with good fat to help brain development. Many parents who have kids with autism, ADHD, and sensory issues use this supplement and see a difference in behavior. In fact, teachers who have kids diagnosed with ADHD have reported a noticeable different in behavior if they children skip even one dose. Again, if its hogwash, it certainly can't hurt him by taking it, its all natural. We're going to give to Dylan too. Neither of the kids eat fish at all and the health benefits are proven.

We've learned that kids with disorganized sensory systems need deep pressure massage when they losing control and having meltdowns. Its a total calming mechanism that not only distracts them from the downward spiral, it helps them organize their bodies and feel in control again. Our friend showed us how to make this fun and make a "Logan pizza" or a "Logan taco" or a "Logan carwash" between two pillows. He has to squirm to set himself free, and all along, he's getting massage therapy and doesn't even know it. She had us buy some 2 lbs pilates balls to use for massaging him, or putting them in his backpack for him to carry around. We got him an electric toothbrush to stimulate his mouth and a mini-trampoline so he can jump when he's craving that deep pressure in his joints. Again, he doesn't know this is what his body needs (someday he will be able to verbalize this) but for now, he just knows what feels good to him. He thinks all of this is a game, but really it's all ways to give him the stimulation he is seeking and doesn't even realize. Logan is a sensory seeker. He will jump off the bed and hit the floor as hard as he can, because his body is seeking stimulation to organize itself. He will eat garlic croutons and drink grapefuit juice because he craves strong flavors. He does everything with 200% effort and ends up hurting himself half the time because he craves that high level of stimulation.

What we have to do is provide him ways of coping - whether its massage, whether its an electric toothbrush, swinging, whatever it is that can help calm him down when things start to feel out of control to him. Eventually he will mature out of this. I'm just so glad we caught on so early that something was off and we have found so many people to help us help him.

I think everyone has sensory issues to some extent. Whether we like to be hot or cold, whether we like sour foods or salty, whether we like lots of blankets when we sleep or nothing on us, etc. Andrew cannot have his feet covered when his sleeps. I cannot drink room temperature drinks, they have to be ice cold. So many things in our lives are driven by our senses and what we prefer. Logan just has some really extra specific needs when it comes to his preferences and what feels good to him. I am completely and utterly fascinated by all of this, and I'm reading everything I can get my hands on to better understand it all.

It isn't always easy. As parents, we have to just dig deep and change our parenting style a little bit. Logan isn't being difficult out of spite or on purpose. Something doesn't feel right to him and we do things to help him feel better and learn what those things are. This is not to say we need to walk on eggshells or bend the rules or make special exceptions for him. He will abide by the same rules we have set for Dylan in our house. But putting Logan in 500 time outs a day isn't the way to go. We have to learn to recognize what is setting him off and offset his tantrums by addressing his behavior with some sensory input before he spirals out of control.

They say you learn as much, if not more, from your kids as they learn from you. I am learning so much from having Logan in my life. And Dylan teaches us so many different things too. There certainly isn't just one way to parent, or a right way, and you can't parent two kids exactly the same way.

This is the time of year we reflect on what we're thankful for. I am thankful for so many things. But I am especially thankful for the gift I've been given to help raise these two beautiful, amazing children and to do it with a man who is my partner and the love of my life. It isn't always easy. It isn't always fun. Parenting is, by far, the hardest job on the face of the planet. But the rewards are beyond measure.

Dylan's Thanksgiving Play

My first video uploads to the blog. Let's hope this works!

For anyone logging in to watch, you can leave comments even if you don't have a Google account. Just click on comments, log in with your regular email address and password, it should allow you to leave a comment.

We're heading to catch our flight to Florida Sunday morning at 5 a.m. I can't promise I will post again before we leave, lots to do between now and then. In case I don't, Happy Turkey Day to you all! We'll be back November 30th.

Five Fat Turkeys

Turkey Song

Thanksgiving Wishes To All!

Thanksgiving Play and a Logan Update

Dylan had his Thanksgiving play at school this afternoon. Andrew worked from home so Logan could have his normal nap, so I was at the school manning both the video camera and digital camera. I only got a couple of photos, I was too busy taking video.

The words to one of the songs they sang (to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star):

Turkey, turkey, look at you
please be careful what you do
Thanksgiving Day is almost here
We eat turkey every year
Go and hide out in the woods
We'll eat pizza as we should.

Tonight Andrew will try to help me download the video and post it (or part of it) onto the blog. I have not mastered that technology yet! But until then, here are a couple of photos. The kids were so cute and they practiced their songs so hard leading up to this day. Adorable!

In Logan news, I never know exactly where to begin. He continues to recieve speech and occupational therapy services through our counties' early intervention program. We are now looking into the possibility of him attending preschool thru the county school system next fall after he turns three. Its quite a process of paperwork to see if he's eligible, and we won't know for several months. He has always tested borderline for speech delay, so its always a struggle to obtain services for him. It takes a lot of convincing those involved that his behavior and sensory issues seem to delay his ability to progress in his speech.

There's really so much more to it than this, but its an exhausting and ongoing series of therapies, discussions, research and more therapies. We've backed off taking him to Kennedy Krieger for the time being. And instead, we're focusing on sensory integration and occupational therapy OT). A friend of ours has put us in touch with a private OT (as I've mentioned, OT is not often covered by insurance companies for early intervention with young children) and we have just set up some appointments with her and Logan. We'll have to pay completely out of pocket, but if it can make a difference in his overall behavior and ability to self-regulate, it will be worth every penny. He currently only receives the county OT services 2 times per month and speech therapy 2 times per month - that is all he qualifies for according to them. Their resources are spread very thin across many kids in the county. We thought pursuing private OT for him more frequently (i.e. at least one a week) might progress him more quickly. So, we're taking him to see the private OT this Friday morning. I'll report back on that.. She came highly recommended and we have high hopes this might be a really good thing for him. The sensory integration stuff is fascinating to me, and I've been reading so many books and learning more and more. I think everyone has some sensory issues to some degree. Logan's are just a bit more out of whack, and we need to help him mature those areas.

He does continue to make progress in some areas of speech and behavior, its just coming very slowly. We'd love to see him get completely up to speed and be able to attend regular preschool next fall alongside all the other kids his age. However, if special education preschool is an option and seems to make sense for him 8 months from now, we'll certainly want to consider it.

We had another interesting development with him this week. We learned his frenulum (the flap of skin between his upper lip and gum line) is very low. At first we thought this might be affecting his pronunciation of some sounds. I took him to three pediatric dentists and an oral surgeon. They all agree (as does his speech therapist) that peforming a frenectomy (when they snip the skin) on a child his age is best done only in every extreme cases. He'd have to put under anesthesia because he'd have to remain perfectly still. And of course there are always risks with anesthesia. So at this point, the specialists are recommending we just hold off. This condition might correct itself as he gets older. Its not causing discomfort or any health issues. So I think we'll just leave it be unless something changes and we have to address it. So many kids have this condition, we're learning its actually very common and most often left untreated.

Logan sure does keep life interesting around here. Dylan had many, many ear infections and ultimately, ear tubes, when he was a baby. Those days seem so long ago and so easy compared to what Logan has going on in his little world. But he will get through all of this, we will get through all of this, and someday it will be a distant memory. They grow up so fast.

cousin time!

There's nothing like a visit from cousins to cheer up a dreary rainy and chilly Saturday. Yesterday Uncle Chris, Aunt Jessica, Josh and Maya came over for the day . Its been a couple of months since we've all been together, and you realize how quickly all the kids change in such a short time.

Maya is obsessed with Dylan, and wanted to follow him everywhere, sit on his lap, and imitate every single thing he did. Logan, in turn, is obsessed with Maya and does whatever she does. And Josh spent his time divided between putting our Home Depot power tools to use 'fixing' everything in the house (should have put him to work in the bathroom), and Mr. Rock Star putting on concerts with all our various musical instruments. Maya and Josh will both be future contestants of American Idol as they were both obsessed with singing into all of our microphones. Maya's imagination and language blows my mind. And Josh has gotten so many words since we last saw him!

Its so much fun getting the kids all together now. The sharing is so much better than it was even a few months ago. There were lots of hugs and kisses, lots of interaction and laps around the middle floor of our house running like wild dogs. Yes, when they get a little older we're going to have to hide the beer and poker chips.


feeding the baby together...



Maya with her Billy Idol sneer..

trouble times four...

attention local moms

I'm always on the look out for fun family activities. As a family, we like to stay busy and there are so many excursion choices each week. I also plan activities for my local MOMS Club and have to come up with lots of inexpensive and fun kid activites every month. I recently came across this local blog and she does an awesome job gathering information on local events (which can sometimes be pretty overwhelming) and paring it down to a reasonable list. The events she lists are all over Northern Virginia. She lists them by location, and even has a current list of all events Santa-related for these weeks leading up to the holidays. I'll be on her blog often to get ideas and thought I'd share with you all! Thanks SuperNova Mom!

Obama-McCain Dance Off!

For your viewing pleasure, click here.

Its not dirty, but there's language so beware of little ears!

will it blend?

Its a busy week ahead with just regular life stuff. And I have taken no photos since Halloween. So in leiu of an update on us and what we did this past weekend, I thought I'd share one of my very favorite websites. I forget how I even found this site, but I love it. Hilarious. I laugh out loud every time I visit.

They take random things and see if they can blend them in the BlendTec Blender. The guy who does the blending just cracks me up.

Be sure to check out "Man Cave", "Glow Sticks", and "2 Dancing Princesses".

When I first saw this sight, I thought it was a joke. But they are totally, for real, trying to sell these blenders. And I really think I just might have to add this to my Christmas list this year! Imagine the cocktail possibilities....

bipartisan hygiene

Dylan learned a lot about voting and the election process at school the weeks leading up to Election Day. He brought home lots of worksheets and coloring projects with donkeys and elephants in blue and red. His school held a mock election, as most schools do, and Obama won the election at their school. He also proceeded to tell every stranger we encountered on Election Day who I voted for. I wanted to take him to vote with me, but I rose at 5 a.m and just didn't have the heart to wake him up that early.

Every night at our house around 7:30, we head upstairs for the bedtime routine. And its become a part of the drill to ask the boys "bath or shower?". Dylan always prefers a shower, Logan always prefers a bath. We switch back and forth on different nights, since the boys bathe together, and then they both get their way.

So last night, as usual, the question of 'bath or shower' was presented. Dylan chanted "shower shower shower" while Logan retorted "bath bath bath". Then Dylan exclaimed "Everyone loves the shower! The shower is like the donkey! Bath is the elephant".

It took us a couple of seconds to draw the parallel, and then Andrew proudly observed "like father, like son."

hope.

I have tried to steer pretty clear of political discussion here on the blog. But what has happened this week is just too important to not make mention here.

My family always votes Republican, we always vote Democrat. Andrew and my Dad have had many a political debate over the last months and we just agree to disagree on many political views and what needs to happen to get the country going in the right direction and give our kids a better future. Andrew lovingly refers to my Dad as a "right winger nut job", while my Dad calls us both 'bleeding heart liberals." I'm glad we can have a good healthy political debate in our family and no hurt feelings. It isn't easy when people on both sides feel so strongly.

Andrew first called my attention to Barack Obama when he was a keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic Convention. Since that time we have both read his books, and educated ourselves on his strategies to address the issues our country faces. After months and months of following his campaign closely, receiving hundreds of campaign emails and phone calls, Obama came to our town a few weeks ago. Andrew had the once in a lifetime chance to join 30,000 people at the rally. His word to describe being a part of that night - electric.

What I find amazing about Obama, even more than his plans, his history, his dedication to his family and his ability to envoke change in communities, is the hope he's created. Watching over 100,000 people celebrate with him Tuesday night, I felt lucky to be alive and be a part of what's to come. I felt lucky for my kids, who will grow up living in a world where all things are truly possible.

We saved the Wednesday edition of the Washington Post, with the headline "Obama Makes History.". The Post sold out all copies of the newspaper by 11 a.m. yesterday, and have since issued two reprints of hundreds of thousands of copies. At the store today, I saw multiple people buying huge stacks of these newspapers. I don't remember a time in my life people were clamoring for newspapers, trying to preserve a little piece of history. I have friends who work in DC hotels, where rooms are already sold out for the Inauguration.

Maybe its my imagination, but even in just the past two days, I've noticed people are smiling again. I know a lot of people don't think he has the experience needed to do the job. I hope they will give him a chance with an open mind. I know he's just one person and its going to take a lot of work and years to get things where they need to be. He will not be a perfect president. But I believe when spirits are lifted, and people feel inspired, people feel hopeful again. And that is a pretty good start.

18 days til sunshine

We fly to sunny Florida in 18 short days, where we'll spend Thanksgiving with Grandpa Joe and Grandma Bobbie. My parents live on a canal, and their pool overlooks the water. Its a perfect spot for margaritas and music.

We have a few adventures planned while we're there, other than enjoying turkey by the pool. We hope to boat to Captiva Island one day for optimum seashell collecting and dolphin watching. We hope to go to the beach, and I'm sure we'll do some fishing.

But most of all, we just look forward to spending time poolside and enjoying the sunshine. Grandpa Joe, being the kid he is at heart, decided to build a slide into the pool for the boys to enjoy that week.

Here's the handyman hard at work:

And the final result.

Grandpa Joe pretty much rocks AND he celebrated a birthday this week too. Happy Birthday Grandpa Joe! Dylan will be ready for a good Dutch Rub as soon as we arrive!

lots of good stuff

Dylan has not had school for the past two days, and we've been staying very busy. Anything to keep us moving and away from these giant bowls of candy on top of the refridgerator.

Yesterday, we all attended Logan's gym class at Pump it Up, then we joined MOMS Club for a private tour of Harris Teeter. After nap, we drove to a local park and hiked through the fall foilage to the riverfront. The kids were muddy and Logan had a birds eye view from the framed backpack carrier. The leaves are just amazing right now. I wished I had taken the camera but I knew I could only handle so much, and carrying Logan's 30 lbs on my back was more than enough.

This morning, we met my Mom at the mall and saw our favorite kids band, Rocknoceros, play. Those guys are so great. Their music is catchy and educational. It kinds of reminds me of the old School House Rock stuff. Afterwards, we grabbed some lunch before heading home for Logan's nap. Eating out with Logan is usually about as fun as getting electricuted. Today he kept himself busy making a soup out of his lemonade by adding lots of sugar, salt and pepper. He ate about three bites of mac n cheese, then started squishing it in his fists like Playdough. Our table looked like it needed to just thrown away by the time we left. Dylan was fabulous so at least there was that.

Other things happening in our world right now include:

• logging on more hours with my part time marketing job
• researching some preschool options for Logan for next year (another post on this soon)
• Andrew is car shopping since his is getting high in miles and has been in the shop quite a bit
• putting the bathroom project on hold after getting sticker shock from contractor bids
• anticipating our Florida trip Thanksgiving week and planning for that
• Election Day! Andrew voted on Saturday so we both didn't have to go today. I got up at 5 am today so I could be there at 5:30. When I arrived there were maybe 200 people in front of me. I was out by 6:30 or so. But when I left there were probably 1,200 people in line. I'm sure its thinned out a bit but will probably pick up again this evening. It will be an evening of CNN at our house.

Last but not least, I want to give a big thank you to my Mom. She and I spent the day together Sunday for my annual birthday shopping spree. No kids, just us, power shopping, having lunch and talking. There's nothing like a full day of uninterrupted conversations, trying on whatever tickles our fancies, shopping somewhere other than Target (Target, you know I love you but there are other stores! Without toy departments!) and not having to rush home for anyone's nap. And, as a special bonus, my Mom also has great suggestions about what to buy and what looks nice. I'm not so great in that area, and she has expanded my fashion horizons. Hooray for Mom!

Thanks to Andrew for staying home with the boys and letting me have some quality time with my Mom. I will turn 27 this Thursday (ha, just kidding, 37!), and my life would not be complete without my three boys. You all are my world and I'm just pretty darn lucky all the way around.

twick tweet

It was a spooktacular trick or treat night, and we have the gigantic bowls of candy to prove it.

As you can see, Dylan took the duty of being a Jedi very seriously. The Force of Impending Candy was upon him.

I took the boys around house to house, and Andrew handed out about 20 lbs of candy.

Dylan soon grew tired of carrying his loot, so I carried it for him. I told Logan I’d carry his too, but he wouldn’t let me touch it. You could read his mind, “Woman, you can't be serious. This is the best day of my life, I have a giant sack of candy and NO ONE is coming near it!”.

Logan even mustered up a ‘twick tweet’ at each door and ‘tank’ (thank you). People would tell him "oooh my, aren't you a cute fuzzy little bear?!" and he would eagerly reply "yes yes yes" (translation, "whatever mister, just keep forking over those candy bars. I am particularly fond of Kit Kats and Twix. Don't forget some Tootsie Pops too.").

When we got back to the house, Logan started rolling around in the yard in his bear suit in a sugar-induced frenzy, and Dylan got down to business sorting thru his stash.

I hope everyone had a fun night, and the sugar hangovers aren't too bad today.

halloween pasts

Lopresti Halloween History:

Dylan's first Halloweeen (6 months old):

And these are Dylan's first friends (we moms met at the hospital new mom group and we ventured into mommyhood together). The kids are all about six months old here, and now they are all five:

Dylan 2004 (18 months) Fuzzy Bear:

Dylan and Daddy 2005 (two years old) - The Punk Rock Years:



Dylan 2006 (3 years) - most definitely the coolest costume of all time:

Logan's first Halloween 2003 (I'm three months old, why can't they just let me bee??) :

2007 (Dylan 5, Logan 15 months) Mario and his monkey sidekick:

2008 - Dylan the Jedi, and the Bear Returns.

Happy Tricks and Treats To All.

More photos this weekend..

Happy Birthday Jorge

Today, Andrew's Dad turns 70. Happy Birthday Jorge! We miss you, the kids miss you and we all hope to see you soon. We hope you enjoy the home movies we sent. All our love.

getting the job done

Yesterday, the boys and I found the bargain of the month - $3.99 gigantic pumpkins at Harris Teeter. We put two in our cart and could barely fit any other groceries around them. Last night was carving night. And everyone got in on the action. We quickly realized gigantic pumpkins also mean giganticly thick 2 1/2" rinds to cut thru. So it took some work and some sweating. And some bent knives. And finally, some power tools on the screen porch, in the freezing cold 40 MPH wind gusts. What a Daddy.

Fall Football Fest 2008

Yesterday we drove to Maryland to the annual Fall Football Fest in Croom. Its a party held every fall by my dear high school friends (some I've known since elementary school). The party has sure changed in the 8 or 9 years we've been gathering for it. Many of us are married with kids, and we're all older. Its not as much about partying now as it is just catching up and having some laughs while the kids play. We go to this party every year, and I never get any pictures. This year I took just a few, so I thought I'd put them here. It wasn't a super big turnout this year because rain cancelled the party for Saturday and moved it to Sunday. But it was really great to see my old friends.

Thanks for hosting the party again Ronda!

Shannon and Julie with babies Todd and Lukas.

Jay (Julie's husband) and Miss Liza (and Mairin in the background, Julie and Jay's daughter)

Sean and Andrew

Dylan

and Logan

We are family.

We have a big family. BIG. We're lucky to have three families - Andrew's, my Mom and Stepdad and that whole side, and my Dad and Stepmom and that whole side. The biggest side of the family award goes to my Stepdad. There are almost 50 of us, and everyone lives within 1 1/2 hours of each other. You should attend the annual Christmas celebration!

Last Saturday night, we got together with my Stepdad's family to celebrate my stepgrandmother's 70th birthday. In all, there are two grandparents with seven adult children. And those seven children have kids of their own, and some of those children have children. When we all get together, we need a mighty big space and a whole lot of food.

This is the entire family - all 47 of us. With two more on the way in the next couple of months.

And this is John and Martha with all of their grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Everytime we get together, we seem to multiply like gremlins, minus the fur and sharp teeth.

how 'bout them apples?

Halloween and Thanksgiving, I love you both. But there are so many other reasons I love fall.



1. The color of the sky. Its never as blue as it is during these crisp autumn days. No humidity, chill in the air, blue skies and white puffy clouds, ahhhhhhhhh.


2. Sweaters. I love sweaters. Its like wearing a blankie all day. And I love to put the boys in sweaters. Cuteness!


3. I love that I can run errands, leave my bottled water in the car, come back and its still cold. Its a small detail in life, I know. But so convenient!


4. Soup. Any kind. Seriously, is there anything better than a hot bowl of soup and some crusty bread? I need to expand my soup recipe collection.


5. Apples. Especially green ones. The more sour, the better. I love them plain, dipped in caramel, baked into a crisp, and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.


Dylan got a time out at school yesterday. I'm not sure I got the whole story. From what I could decipher, the kids were taking turns saying what kind of apples they like. When it was his turn, he said "I like green apples!!!" in a loud monster voice, and the teacher didn't like that one bit. He said he wanted to make everyone laugh. So into time out he went. He told me about it as soon as he got off the bus, but it took a while of him trying to explain what happened. At least he seems disturbed about getting in trouble at school. There was a part of me that wanted to laugh when he told me the story, but of course I couldn't do that. It could have been worse, I guess. At least he didn't make fun of someone or disobey the teacher. I think his teacher runs a tight ship and good for her. I simply can't imagine wrangling a herd of kindergarteners twice a day!

number two

Dylan lost his second tooth last night. Now he has a gaping hole in the front bottom of his mouth. He could probably pass a Cheerio through it. When he smiles, you can't really see the hole. However, when those top ones start falling out, it will be a whole different story.

Again, it happened while he was eating something. This time he was having mac n cheese and it just fell out. I knew it was just hanging by a thread. In fact, I thought he might lose it at school yesterday.

The tooth fairy left a little something to add to his Leapster game fund. He needs to lose a few more to have enough cash for his purchase!

Do you hear that sucking sound?

Its the sound of every last cent being drained from our bank account. Seriously, 2008 has not been a stellar year for finances here at the Lopresti household. Andrew's car is in the shop again this week. At 94,000 miles, we can probably still milk it a little bit before having to buy a new car. No car payment is nice, but what's not so nice is the frequency in car repair bills this year. And already, on both cars combined, we've spent about $2500 since the beginning of the year. Not including the new bill this week.

However, that's small potatoes compared to the next issue. You know its probably time to call a contractor when you have mushrooms growing out of your bathroom floor. Yes indeedy. We have a mushroom farm in our master bathroom. Our house is only about 12 years old, but due to shoddy builder construction, there has been a leak over the years from the shower into the floor. The crappy linoleum flooring has been discolored and we've suspected for a long time water was getting in there. We figured we'd do the bathroom sooner or later, when we won the lottery or something. Then about two weeks ago, we noticed a small water stain on the family room ceiling below where our shower sits. Then the mushrooms started sprouting out of the grout by the shower basin. So that project has been swiftly moved to the front burner. On the bright side, I've always wanted a pretty bathroom floor and a nice little seat in the shower to make leg shaving easier.

We are meeting with contractors all of this week to see what we're looking at. I only hope I don't fall over and/or vomit when we get the estimates. But what can we do? If we don't do the repairs, we could end up showering one morning and falling through the ceiling right into our family room. And that would be no way to start the day.

So maybe we can get Andrew's car fixed up right to last until sometime later next year. And hopefully we can get the bathroom torn out, replaced, fixed and all pretty by the end of this year.

And maybe, just maybe, 2009 won't suck (the money) quite as much.