I missed posting on my 3 year “Blogiversary”, which was earlier this month…I think on July 3rd.  Happy Blogiversary to me.

So have you ever been on that carnival ride called the Himalaya?  You know…the one that spins you around really fast and has sirens and strobe lights and blasts obnoxious 80′s music while a scary carnie DJ yells into a microphone imploring you to scream as loud as you can so you will go faster?

Yeah…I used to ride that kind of thing all the time too.  I loved it.

From April 6th to mid-June, I felt like I was back on one.  Non-stop action and thrills…one thing to the next.

Then, about mid-June, that crazy ride shot me right out of the seat and on to solid and rock-steady ground.

ahhhhhh….

quiet.

still.

it’s not moving.  no more non-stop insanity.

I’m home.

It’s taken me a few weeks to kinda get my bearings again (just a wee bit dizzy from the madness) and I’m settling in to our new life in our new home.  I’m eight weeks post hysterectomy, and with the exception of a few setbacks, I’m healing nicely and getting back to normal…I’ve even started to run a bit again.

So here are a few random and rather disjointed musings about life in the Teel home right now…

• Our new home rocks.  Especially the back yard.  It is completely shaded and the boys are enjoying their swing set…even in the middle of 95 degree plus weather.  We’ve still got lots of work to do, but there’s no rush to get to it all.  The novelty of being seven minutes away from church has yet to wear off and I’m still rather giddy when I think about it.  I have NO idea how we did the 45 minute commute for all those years.
• Noah finished summer school last week and has five weeks off before school starts again.  His teacher is working on a new reading program with him.  That program will continue next year, when Noah gets a new teacher in the classroom.  Noah’s teacher for the past four years is moving to a front office position, but will still work with Noah every day in a reading group.  I’m a bit in mourning, but I completely trust that the school has hired well…Noah’s current teacher did all of the interviewing with the principal (22 candidates!) and chose the teacher to be hired.  Noah will still have his same paraprofessionals, who we love, love, love.  All of his VBA/ABA, Speech and OT will remain the same.  He will be in good hands.
• Isaac will start kindergarten at a private school this fall.  He will be in class with one of his good friends from church and he is getting really excited.  My baby is growing up.
• Doug has a special gift for ruining perfectly good songs for me.  Like how he turned Journey’s “Open Arms” into “Broken Arms”.  (Although it does work both ways and he can make horrible songs even worse, which actually makes me like them because now I have a way to mock them.)  So on our ride home from Atlanta post-hysterectomy, I was snockered on too many Advil and bloated up like I was 6 months pregnant, riding in the front seat of my parents’ van with a pillow on my belly.  Any sudden jarring or motion HURT and I was trying to just stay still and quiet.  Doug went on a tear with a few radio tunes and I cannot even tell you how hard I was laughing and how hard it was to laugh.  I can’t remember any of his revised lyrics, so I can’t let you in on it all, but it was just WRONG.  I was lucid the other day, however, when he transformed that perfectly wretched “God Blessed the Broken Road” song’s closing line to “God poked my open sore and made me think of you.”
• see?
• So far, the only casualty of our move is our camera’s battery charger.  This annoys me.  I know that I saw it at some point in this house, but I have no idea where it is now.  Our camera battery has been dead for three weeks now, and if I don’t find the charger thingy soon, I will be shopping for a new camera.
• Speaking of cameras, I’ve got some wicked adorable pictures of Isaac to share.  My Dad took him to Strasburg, PA last week for a three day train holiday.  Isaac had the time of his life riding trains and touring train museums and staying at a caboose motel.  He has not stopped talking about it since he got back.  When I get the files from my Dad, I’ll post some of the pictures.

Well…that’s about all I can think of for now.

I hope that you all are having a lazy and relaxing summer…

So we got in from Texas last night after a fabulous week at the Halo Clinic.

Noah worked diligently and happily…he was all grins all the time.

My Mom and I gained some valuable insight into some of the difficulties that we have been having with getting Noah to spell.  Erika was able to troubleshoot and gave us some new strategies to use during Noah’s lessons.  I tried some of them this afternoon with Noah and I can already tell a difference.  I’ve got a lot of hope that we’ll be able to move him on to the next level.

Besides our sessions at Halo, we did a lot of sightseeing.  The weather was incredible…sunny and crisp with highs in the 60s and low 70s.  The wildflowers were in full bloom and I couldn’t believe how green everything was.

Here’s some pictures from our trip…

Noah at the front door of Halo…

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center…hiking one of the trails with my Mom…

Love those Texas Bluebonnets…

Natural Bridge Caverns…

The “Natural Bridge” that sits over the Cavern entrance…

Noah in a field of Bluebonnets (boy, did I need my Neti Pot later)…

I took these pictures in a neighborhood park that was about a mile from our hotel…

So that’s it for our week.  It was a huge blessing…thank you for praying for us.

When I get a chance, I’ll write about our unforgettable flight on Sunday and how I learned that airline barf bags are not nearly large enough.

And about some other random things as well.

Ya’ll have a blessed evening…

So my Mom, Noah and I leave early in the morning to fly to Texas for Noah’s “camp week” at the Halo Clinic.

Noah will have two sessions a day Monday through Thursday.  We fly home Thursday evening.

We’re planning on doing some sightseeing while we are there.  We have a list of things we wanted to see last summer, but just didn’t get to them.  This time we’ll visit the Texas Capitol, the Lady Bird Wildflower Center and the Natural Bridge Caverns outside of San Antonio.  If there is time, I would like to go to the LBJ Presidential Library.  The weather forecast is perfect…much cooler than the 105 degree days we had while we were there last July.

Noah is so excited about our trip.  I hope that he remembers that he’s got some work to do while we are there.

Please pray that Noah’s sessions will go well and that he will have even greater breakthroughs than he had last time.

In other “catch up” news…

2 weeks on the market.  6 showings.  0 offers.

Next subject…

The surgeon in Atlanta called me back and told me to send him my records.  (This is a different practice than the one I originally contacted last year.  After I sent my records to the first practice, I discovered that the pioneer of the surgery that I want to have…a Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy…is right there in Atlanta as well and he actually trained the surgeon that I originally sent my records to.  Hmmm….I said to myself…Why go to Obi Wan when I can just as easily go to Yoda? )  I’m hoping to hear something back next week.

Isaac loves to make Miis on the Wii.  He’s made all of his family and friends and some really random folks as well.

He’s made me 6 times.

Should I be offended that every single one of those Mommy Miis has a great deal of junk in her trunk?

Well, I’ve got an early morning ahead of me, so I’d better head for bed.

Ya’ll have a wonderful week and thank you for praying for our Noah…

So this past week, I’ve been knocking on some doors.

Some have remained shut.

Some have cracked open…just a wee bit.

Not one of the doors has swung open wide, screaming to me, “come on in!”…

…so I keep knocking.

We’re trying…once again…to sell our house.  We are using a fabulous real estate broker and have priced our house to compete head on with the foreclosures in our area.  Since going on the market 10 days ago, we’ve had 4 showings.  Feedback is positive…everyone “loves” our house…but so far, no offers.  While I’m quite pleased that they’re lovin’ on us, somebody needs to show us the money.  I’m just sayin’.

I keep waiting.  And knocking.  And thanking God every day for my beautiful Bissell steam mop which makes keeping my house clean and shiny ever so much easier.

I knocked on a door of possibility for Noah on Monday morning.  I visited a private autism school, looking to see if it would be a possible placement for Noah for next year.  While I was really impressed with the school’s director, the size of the facility (way too small for a school) and the lack of inclusion opportunities quickly told me that it would not be appropriate for Noah’s educational needs.

So I keep knocking.  And waiting.

On Tuesday, Doug and I began to knock on a door of possibility for Isaac’s schooling for next year.  We visited a private Christian school in the Mt. Dora area and absolutely fell in love with the school’s principal.  Her heart for the children and vision for the school is amazing and we instantly felt at home there.  So that door cracked open for us, and we will continue to knock and together pursue what God wants for Isaac for next year.

After a miserable weekend (and week) on the endometriosis front, I’ve again started knocking on the door of the marvelous possibility of getting all of that messed up junk…most importantly, my uterus…RIPPED OUT OF MY BODY.  I called the specialist’s office in Atlanta that is now (praise God) covered by my brand spanking new insurance policy and asked what I need to do to get on up there and get this thing done.  They gave me the email address of the surgeon and told me to contact him directly.  I sent that email out yesterday afternoon and I’m waiting for a response.

I hope that that door opens quickly.  I’m beyond over it.

I’ve got other doors before me…some big…some small.  I’m knocking on those too.  More on all of that later.

So that’s what’s going on around here.

Oh, before I forget…in the interest of recording some comments from the Isaac gallery…

On Sunday, I taught Isaac’s class at church.  The lesson was about the prophet Elisha, and included discussion about angels and how they are all around us…protecting us…even though we can’t see them.

While the children’s comments and questions swirled around me (one of them wanted to go “hug” the angels in the room), Isaac raised his hand with this little observation about angels, confidently stating that,

“When you lose a tooth, they bring you money.”

oh. my.

pastor’s kid.

Ya’ll have a great weekend…

…and other miscellaneous updates…

So Noah’s teacher talked a hair stylist friend of hers to come in to the school this week to attempt to cut some of her students’ hair.

Since Noah and I have a long history of nightmare hair cutting sessions and their disastrous results, I couldn’t get my child signed up fast enough.

The temporary beauty parlor was set up in Noah’s classroom on Wednesday.

Noah’s teacher and staff reported that he sat there like a perfect little gentleman…like nothing at all unusual was happening.  No struggling…no crying…no fussing.

You have GOT to be kidding me.

anywho…

Here’s his new ‘do…which he is quite proud of, by the way…

I have officially retired from my hair cutting career.  Thank God.

In other news and miscellany…

Our house went back on the market Wednesday morning.  We had a showing last night, and another request for a showing came in this morning.  I’m hoping that it’s a good sign that we’re getting such a quick response to our listing.

I volunteered at Noah’s school yesterday.  This was an unusual assignment…I was a proctor for a class of fourth graders who were taking the FCAT.  It was a hoot to watch the kids take the test.  I sat in the back corner of the room, where I could scan everyone constantly, but do so without distracting the little busy bees while they worked.  It was fun to watch the different test-taking styles.  There were the studious little girls who answered each question with intensity…the confident math-wizard boys who believed that they were in a race against the clock to finish…and my favorite…the Christmas Tree King…who I watched randomly bubble his answers in over a period of about 5 minutes.  (so. not. kidding.)  For the first time in a long time I missed being in the classroom.  It’s fun to see a group of students at work.

How much does this season of “24″ rot?

I have an appointment on Monday to check out a private autism school.  I have no idea what to expect, but I’m going with an open mind…hoping to get a sense of direction for Noah for next year.  I’ll keep you posted…

Well…I’m out.

I hope that you all have a great weekend…