Cerina
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Posts posted by Cerina
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On 10/2/2023 at 11:28 AM, Hobbes said:
Based on the scenery, you must have been way out there if you were near Alamosa! If you were where I think you are--that part is scary to me...hardly any cars, no towns, no cell service. I had to drive through that area in a blizzard at night and it was probably the most scared I had ever been...if I had an accident I probably would died in one fashion or another.
Were you near the sand dunes?
I wasn't there. They actually didn't allow parents. It was just the kids, one teacher per group, and their expedition guide. They actually had some seminars up there where the teacher guided them on group discussions about their experience and some poetry they introduced.
It was very remote though. No cell service. No running water even. They had to treat their own water from natural springs and streams.
Noah did say something about passing a sign that said something about Rio Grande Trail (or Pass or Something). -
Ender, Alamosa. Or nearish there. At least that's the weather they told us to look up!
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10 hours ago, Hobbes said:
What are your thoughts on the autism diagnosis--I am interested in your feelings? Just curious, when you say diagnose, do you mean the psychologist qualified Luke for an IEP under autism? That is awesome both boys are finding success at school--aren't they in a charter? I never heard the term ARD before--I had to look it up
Where in Colorado were you? Nice pictures, but all the trees here being killed by the pine bark beetle are depressing. Fucking global warming....
Yeah, sorry. Not a diagnosis diagnosis. I’ve been explaining this to a lot of family lately, so I’ve had to shorthand and appropriate some verbiage that they relate to. Forgot I was going to be addressing some pros on here
Here’s what I wrote on FB.
QuoteWe got Luke's test results this week. He had a full individual evaluation earlier this summer with the school's psychologist and speech therapist, so his report was something like 65 pages long. It was a lot for this momma to slug through, and despite the fact that it didn't contain any information or insights I didn't already know or suspect, it was still very hard to see in black and white print.
Luke meets the markers for mild to moderate autistic traits. He also has a speech disability affecting his expressive, receptive, and pragmatic language.
They didn't find any evidence of an intellectual or cognitive disability, but his subtest scores on these tests were disheartening. He's "in the typical" range for a child his age, but most subtests were scored average to below average. However, the psychologist and I agree that his anxiety, autism, and speech impairments most likely greatly affected these scores negatively.
This is rough, y'all. I mean, none of it is shocking. He's my kid. I live with him. I already knew all of this. I know he can't answer some questions appropriately. I know he gets immense anxiety in new situations and especially when pushed socially. I know he shuts down. I know that most times you have to give instructions or explanations to him in a certain way for him to understand. I know he needs extra reminders and prodding. I know he doesn't have behavioral issues which is what generally flags children for testing and services, so I know many people don't see him as a child with special needs. I already know all of this, and I know that he's a great kid and his needs are far below some of his peers, but I'm still heartbroken over it. I know many of you also understand where I'm at perfectly.
The hardest part was seeing the subtest scores in the ability tests, not gonna lie. The only other scores I’ve read through are Noah’s and my own. Noah’s scores were all well above average except in areas where he displays more of a disability challenge - working memory, processing speed, etc. My lowest standardized test score ever was in the 94th percentile (don’t recall the subtest). Seeing scores this “low” was painful. There’s a lot to unpack there I’m aware. And in a similar vein, the entire 2nd grade gets screened for the gifted program in the next month, and I’m not sure exactly how I feel about that either.
Luke is in the local public school so he can take full advantage of their special needs programs and supports. Noah’s at a public classical charter. It’s good for him, but would be too strict for Luke.
I think they were near Alamosa? Near Rio Grande, but not THE Rio Grande (which confused a lot of those Texas kids).
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So for those of you who didn't see my post last month on FB, Luke officially got his autism diagnosis from the district's psychologist. I had a lot of feelings about it.
We actually had his ARD last week with the whole gang. Everyone agreed that he's just the sweetest kid, which is good since he can be quite a pill at home most days. He's going well academically, but he's still a bit behind his peers in reading and writing, which isn't a great shock considering that his expressive and receptive speech is his #1 issue. So he gets one-on-one help during those times in class. But I question this a bit because apparently he's been "reading" Captain Underpants books during their DARE (drop everything and read) time, and CU is waaaaay above his reading level. We have a parent-teacher conference tomorrow, so we'll probably bring that up. Pleasure reading doesn't seem that effective if he's not actually reading.
The big kiddo is doing well at school still. He's currently making straight-As, and 4/5 of his 7 classes are technically honors classes since ALL the core classes are honors classes. (And I say 4/5 because they have one 2 period class they call the integrated humanities program that serves as their language arts and social studies credits, but it's one grade on the reports.) He's also taking biology, Spanish, and geometry/Euclid's Elements as honors classes.
He also spent a week in Colorado 2 weeks ago on a 5 day backpacking trip with a small group of boys from his class. Way cooler than anything I ever got to do in school. Pics attached. Mine's the one with the hair. He's also bringing up the rear in the pic where they're actually hiking. His backpack doesn't match because he was the only kid on the trip who actually supplied his own gear as opposed to borrowing it from the expedition company that the school used, and as such, he came home less sore than everyone else, despite his feet problems, probably because his backpack has been properly fitted and he's received more than 15 minutes of instruction on how to pack it.
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On 9/19/2023 at 12:17 AM, Destiny Skywalker said:
I think she was in the World Between Worlds because Jacen heard the lightsabers.
I think it was in her head and that's how Jacen heard the lightsabers...
Noah and I have been having this argument for over a week now. No resolution in sight. -
Finally saw this on Friday! My husband and I really enjoyed it. I laughed and cried.
I can see why so many people are taking offense to it, and I'm eating that up. I thought it was cleverly subtle while being completely IN YOUR FACE with its messaging. -
Jesus. H. Christ. Some people...
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My kiddos start back on the 14th and 16th. And since Noah's at a charter school, even a public one, his school is on a completely different holiday schedule than Luke's.
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Holy shit, jacob. did you even open the calendar??
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OH crap. Thanks for the reminder. I was prescribed Ozempic since I'm pre-diabetic, but the pharmacy needed the doctor to approve something. I need to follow up.
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Not sure exactly. I think they're looking at staying close~ish to Denver. We'll probably work out more of these details in the coming years.
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We've been talking about moving out of Texas. We're not going anywhere as long as my grandparents are all still alive, so we've got a few years yet. My sister and BIL are looking at buying a large tract of land in Colorado, and we might do something like build on a small part of it.
If that doesn't happen, we've talked about heading to the NW. -
Yes. It's only fair.
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hotels.com
You don't have to stick to a particular chain.
Our only hall pass is Britney.
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HYPOTHETICALLY...my spouse would be laughing his ass off while I tried to politely faked a stomach bug.
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I know I've said this before, but I still just love how hanging out with all of you is soo easy. It's amazing what 20ish years of online friendships can give you, even with people you still haven't actually "met" in person.
I'm probably more comfortable and more of myself on these Zooms than I am with most people in real life. -
14 hours ago, Darth Krawlie said:
So far it's been a saga of RUA trying to figure out how to use Zoom while me and Reese laugh and wait for someone to join the game
Ahh. Good times. Good times.
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I was shocked by the death! I know they haven't done much lately, but they're always just like a comfort character showing up randomly. Just nice knowing that there's someone out there fighting the good fight completely behind the scenes.
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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5168117350
Something funky was going on with the other link. Use this one.
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How do I join the game?
Zoom is open btw
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Do NOT show this to my teenager. OMG.
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My heart truly breaks for the families of those men, and especially for the 19 year-old kid that was with them. But the absolute hubris and privilege on display from all of this is just...I don't know if there's a word tbh. It's anger inducing for sure.
Moving, mortgages, and renovations
in The Mos Eisley Cantina
Posted
Story time!!
We moved out of that house back in April. The taxes completely priced us out at the time (since then Trevor's started a different job that came with a significant increase in pay), but it was mostly dealing with my MIL and her brother that led us to leave. So we said "screw it all!" and moved into a 3 bedroom apartment - not having to deal with maintenance was the clincher in the house vs apartment rental debate.
Since we'd already put so much work into that house, my MIL and her brother agreed to let us sell it for them in exchange for 20% of the profit. We'd be splitting the money 40/40/20, and they'd be getting more than they would have at the price they agreed to sell it to us for. So I contacted a realtor/investor I know, and she and her husband/flipper agreed to buy it. We got all parties to sign the contract and all was well. Until...
One of the women from the title company asked who I was and why I was being included in all of the transaction correspondence, and I responded "I'm Diana's daughter-in-law. Neither she nor Greg have bought or sold real estate in Texas, and I work in the industry. I'm just here to assist when needed."
My MIL cancelled the sale the next day.
I waited until Trevor came home that day to call her and ask "WTF WOMAN". The only things she would say were various of "I don't have to explain myself to you", "I can't help how you feel", "I'm the parent, I don't have to explain myself to my child", and everybody's favorite "y'all are just mad because you're not in control anymore!".
I fucking LOST IT. This woman had been making our lives difficult for over a year. Her anger was/is out of control. You can refresh yourself with this thread. There was also an incident where I had to stop working in the middle of the day to come downstairs and send Trevor inside the house because they were on our back porch SCREAMING AT EACH OTHER. My MIL just kept saying "GO TO HELL!!" and Trevor kept replying "OH MY GOD! DO YOU EVER HEAR YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!?!" I then spent EIGHT AND A HALF HOURS downstairs listening to this woman rant and rave about absolutely everything she now hates about her kids and about how she doesn't need grief therapy and about how she can't drop her shitty friends because then she'd have no friends and how she's the "Don of the Family now!!" and how we're keeping her from having a relationship with her formerly estranged son and how we're only mad at her because she was grieving and couldn't do anything with the house and so so much more. But anyway, she cancelled the sale without giving anyone a head's up or a reason.
Shit went downhill from there. We stopped talking to her. My sister-in-law tried to reason with her, but she's going full narcissist refusing to acknowledge any wrongdoing on her part and doubling down on all the previous bullshit.