We All Need Somebody to Lean on
by Lynn Daniels on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 10:37 am
Children's Alopecia Project
National Alopecia Areata Foundation
Until this year.
Just as Alopecia’s onset is often inexplicable and without warning, the reason behind this year’s escalation is also a mystery. This year, we’ve reached a point that LittleDude’s condition is impossible to hide. I would guesstimate he’s lost over 40% of the hair on his scalp. Additionally, his eyebrows are nearly gone, as are the eyelashes at the bottom of his right eye.
Although there’s not much we can do (Alopecia Areata has no cure), we’re not sitting back and doing nothing. We’re seeing a dermatologist again, who’s trying a couple of different treatments. I honestly don’t hold out much hope, as many of the various treatments had no effect when we tried them the first time around when he was four years old. So we’re laying groundwork — we’ve started talking to LittleDude about possibly shaving his head. Later this afternoon I have an appointment with his school to get a plan in place so he can wear a hat to school when he feels the need to do so. We’re doing everything we can to get him ready. Prepare him. And we’re all trying to keep a brave face. Easier said than done.
Hopelessness and helplessness are not good feelings. They’re horrible states of mind. And if those feelings are weighing me down and keeping me up at night, I can’t even imagine what LittleDude might be going through. He doesn’t show much, and that could be because he doesn’t remember not having to deal with Alopecia. It’s just the way things have always been. Still, we got him a counselor…just in case.
Me, I’ve had to find other support.
Which is why I’m so thankful for the internet. Without it, I might never have found the National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF), the Children’s Alopecia Project (CAP) and Alopecia World. I’ve contacted both NAAF and CAP for literature and other information about Alopecia, and Alopecia World has shown me that we’re not alone in our struggle. Through all three sites/organizations I’ve been able to see how others have dealt with their situation. I’ve found links to other sites that might be able to help with wigs, eyebrows, camouflage. I’ve got names of books. Examples of ways to help educate the school and students in order to cut down the teasing LittleDude is certain to endure. Advice. Comfort.
I may not feel much less helpless. I might not have a whole lot more hope. But at least now I know we’re not alone.
Mi Vida Loca
by Lynn Daniels on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 3:08 pm
~*~
I know school is out for the summer almost everywhere else, but here in my little county in Georgia, we’re in the middle of our final week. My kids are going nuts, I’m going nuts; we’re all just ready for it to be over.
This morning, I got up like I always do. I hit the bathroom light, hit the foyer light, hit MiniMe’s light, then dragged LittleDude out of bed (literally!). I got LittleDude to his feet, walked him to the bathroom, then went back into his room and laid his clothes out for the day. When he finished brushing his teeth, I left him in his room and went back to MiniMe’s room to let her know the bathroom was free so she could start to get ready.
It’s a daily routine. I’ve done it every weekday since last August, with the exception of Fall Break, Christmas Break, Spring Break, and various holidays. But what happened next made this morning different from all other mornings.
I went back into LittleDude’s room, and there he sat. He wasn’t doing anything, just sitting there. Looking at me. At least, I think he was looking at me. Let’s just say he was looking in my direction. I say that because I couldn’t see his eyes. I couldn’t see his eyes because he had his underwear on his head.
Yes, you read that right. My son had his underwear on his head. Pulled all the way down to where the waistband was on his chin. And he was just sitting there. Patiently.
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Called MiniMe over. “I think you’re brother’s having a little trouble this morning,” I said.
After she came over and laughed appropriately, I went into LittleDude’s room, told him to get his underwear off his head and get dressed, then settled in to read my book. That last part was a return to my routine. But LittleDude wasn’t ready to give in. He put his arms through the leg holes and wore his underwear like a dysfunctional halter top.
Lucky for me, he did finally get dressed and off to school. And he had a really good day.
Coming Soon
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Big night tonight; LittleDude drove in his first race at the dirt track. He placed third in a field of six or seven go karts. SoundGuy and I are extremely proud. More details — including possible video — will be coming soon.
In the meantime, I had intended to finally return to posting to my blog with an all new Saturday shot. Unfortunately, time got away from me in preparing for the race. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow. Saturday Shot will be posted one day late, and I’ll even give you a bonus picture!
Hope you’re having a great weekend, and I’ll “see” you tomorrow.
The Hodge and the Podge
by Lynn Daniels on Monday, March 9, 2009 at 5:49 pm
~*~
While my Chicken Cacciatore is simmering (tonight’s dinner), I thought I’d hop online and post a quick update while I had the chance. So, here’s what’s been happening here:
LittleDude had his first sleepover with a friend from school. He’s slept away from home before, but it was always with neighbors who were really good family friends. This time, LittleDude spent the night at the home of a boy he calls his “very best friend”.
It was a little tough for me — I didn’t get my usual Sunday morning LittleDude wakeup, but I didn’t fall apart. And he had a wonderful time, so I guess that all worked out. Unfortunately, they didn’t sleep much, and it was the night of the time change. He was still excited last night, so he couldn’t get to sleep. You know what that meant? Yup, we were miserable this morning. SoudGuy and I finally gave in the the “upset stomach” and let him stay home. But he wasn’t allowed to play video games. So there.
I hit the Publix Buy One Get One Free sale today. Between coupons and sales prices, I paid $87, and saved $100. WOO HOO!
I got some writing done today, which is very exciting for me. I finally figured out the secret to fitting it in. I add writing to my To Do list.
My FlyLady To Do list is comprised of Post-It notes stuck to the front of one of my kitchen cabinets. It’s a system that works well for me; as something is completed, the Post-It is removed from the cabinet and thrown away — that way, I can see my progress.
Everything on the cabinet is allocated 15 minutes. Today I added writing and coupon clipping, and actually got to both things! So from now on, writing and coupon clipping go up on my FlyLady To Do list cabinet.
I actually got to write twice today, so it was doubly good. I snuck some George Randy time in while waiting for the end of MiniMe’s soccer practice. Unfortunately, that’s also when I got my BIG SCARE. You see, I had done my timed 15 minutes of writing earlier, then put George Randy back in his case. When I took George Randy out at the fields, I turned him on and was faced with a readout filled with EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. I think there might have been a stray SSSS in there, too, but mostly it was all EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. That, and a 1/2 sentence.
I quickly hit the “home” key to back to the beginning of the file, hoping the EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSEEEEEEEEEEE was just tacked onto the end and I didn’t lose anything. I might have sworn out loud when I saw the beginning of the document was solid EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. I panicked. Switched files.
George Randy has the ability to hold eight separate files, so I checked each one. I’m only using three of the others, and those all looked fine. No EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. So I went back to “file 2″, the file holding Chester and Rube. You know what I saw?
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
Eventually, I decided to try hitting the “end” key to take me to the end of the file. You know what I saw? My file! Apparently the EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSEEEEEEEEEEEEE was tacked on to the beginning of the file, not the end.Chester and Rube are safe. Whew!
This may make people in colder climes upset, but I had to turn on my air conditioning today. I didn’t want to. I held back. I prayed the temperature would drop again before I had to hit the switch. It didn’t happen. I finally went to SoundGuy about an hour ago and told him I was going to have to break down and do it. He laughed at me. Nothing new there.
The high temperature’s hovered around 82 here today, and it wasn’t much cooler indoors. It supposed to stay pretty much the same for the next couple days. But come Thursday we’re back to the upper 60s, and my air condition goes back off. I just wish I could open the windows, but it being springtime with LittleDude’s allergies… that ain’t gonna happen.
There you go. The hodgepodge that is my life. And the timer for my Cacciatore just went off. Talk about timing! Gotta go uncover it. Have a great week!
Bad medicine. Bad!
by Lynn Daniels on Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 12:00 pm
~*~
It’s another good news / bad news morning for me, but I think the good far outweighs the bad.
Bad news: The nighttime cold meds I’d been taking weren’t putting me out all night. I was waking up in the middle of the night, and having trouble getting back to sleep. That’s bad enough when I’m well; when I’m sick, I need sleep. So last night, I switched back to my good ol’ standby.
The good news: I slept through the night! 
The bad news: the dreams. AARGH! The dreams! You know, one of the good things about cold meds (for me, anyway) is the dreams I have. They’re more interesting, more vivid, and yes, sometimes they’re even scarier. But they’re still better. But last night’s dream? Yeah, I guess it was more vivid, but gaaaaaah.
In this dream, I had gained so much weight I no longer had elbows. I mean rolls of fat everywhere. I had managed to gain this weight without even realizing it. One day I looked in the mirror and what I saw was equal to four of me now.
Let me say this before I go on: I know there are people out there for whom this is a reality, and I apologize if I offend anybody.
Anyway, I spent the entire dream running. Exercising. I suppose a good thing about the dream is the fact that despite the extra girth, I had the endurance to run the entire time. But still. Run, run, run. That’s all I did the entire dream. I woke up exhausted.
Yet, despite that, this was the first morning in a while I didn’t feel the need to go back to sleep after my family left for the day. So that’s a bit more good news. It would appear I’m finally on the mend.
More good news: this morning I took care of an account that had been hanging over me for almost a year. A dispute. It’s still in dispute, but the only unpaid portion is the portion I continue to dispute. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with that, but I refuse to pay for somebody else’s mistake. And that’s all I’ll say about that. Except to say I’m glad it’s taken care of.
My final bit of good news, and it’s of the proud momma variety: LittleDude earned his TKD red belt this weekend, and we found out Friday that MiniMe made the high school junior varsity soccer team.
Now I’m off to find something to eat. 
Edited at 12:11pm to add: I’ve had to disable my acronym plugin — the new version wasn’t playing nice with my WordPress install. Once it’s fixed, I’ll enable it again. Until then — no explanations for the acronyms. Sorry.
Are You a Little Teapot?
by Lynn Daniels on Friday, November 21, 2008 at 5:55 pm
.
NaNoWriMo Day 21
LittleDude stayed home from school yesterday with a tummy ache. And since he didn’t go to school, he didn’t go to TKD, either. And since he didn’t go to TKD, I didn’t get my during TKD writing time. I did manage to squeeze a little writing last night — Garry Goat was very distracted by dandelions, so Billy Bullfrog was the one to warn Chester and Rube of Centipig’s evil plan.
Remember the Hokey Pokey thing I posted about yesterday? Chester wasn’t allowed to Hokey Pokey in Rube’s arms any more. Well, after Rube feared Chester had died, Chester is now allowed to Hokey Pokey, be a little teapot, or do whatever else he might wish to do in Rube’s arms. See? I did get a little bit written.
Today I picked my mother up from the airport and she’s in for the holiday. Since she arrived, she’s kept the kids busy and I’ve managed to squeeze in a little writing. That’s a good thing. I’ve discovered that Chester the duck with the smart blue felt fedora is not a doctor, and Rube the dinosaur’s ankle was purple not because of broken blood vessels but because Rube himself is purple. Whooda thunk?
I’ve also learned of a cool tool through a couple of different sources: somebody (can’t remember who — sorry) tweeted it first, then I saw something about it on the NaNoWriMo forums. It’s Write or Die: Dr. Wicked’s Writing Lab, and I’ve added it under Writers Resources on my Links page.
From the Write or Die page:
Write or Die is a web application that encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing. Start typing in the box. As long as you keep typing, you’re fine, but once you stop typing, you have a grace period of a certain number of seconds and then there are consequences.
Many people find themselves unable to write consistently. I believe that this is because their reason to write is intangible. For instance, I want to write and finish a book because I want to be published and make a living as a writer. That goal is a long way away so I often find it difficult to sit down to the task of writing.
If you haven’t played with it yet, give it a try! Last night I used it to write 530 words in 11 minutes. I might have to go back and use the word count feature next time instead of the timer. Gotta up that word count!
Doin’ the Hokey Pokey
by Lynn Daniels on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 7:41 am
.
NaNoWriMo Day 20
Making progress. Proudly. WOO HOO!
Although LittleDude missed his TKD lesson because of an appointment with his allergy doctor, Master let him take class with MiniMe. With my iPod on, I got 45 minutes of uninterrupted writing time while they kicked and punched and blocked. Not as good as the 1-1/2 hours I normally get on Wednesdays, but certainly better than nothing. It was enough time to introduce Garry Goat and Billy Bullfrog, who have started to warn Chester and Rube about Centipig amassing his pigapede army. And I managed to work in Beverly Hillbillies and Star Wars references, to boot.That reminds me; do goats eat dandelions?
I’m currently in frenzied cleaning mode. It started yesterday and will last until tomorrow morning; my mother is flying tomorrow afternoon for the holiday. I’m not quite sure why I’m cleaning. Check that. I know why I’m cleaning; I just don’t know why I’m frenzied. Regardless of how well I clean, my mother will always re-clean. It’s what she does. One of these days, I’ll learn my lesson and just leave it for her. One of these days.
But not today.
Before signing off, I’ll leave you with this: imagine if you will a small white duck with orange polka dots on his belly and pointy green ears, wearing a blue felt fedora, trying to do the Hokey Pokey while being carried through a forest by a giant purple dinosaur. Got it? Congrats, you’ve just met Chester and Rube.
You put your right foot in
you put your right foot out
you put your right foot in and you shake it all about…
P.S. Happy 14th wedding anniversary to SoundGuy and me!
Evil Plot Revealed
by Lynn Daniels on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 1:56 pm
.
NaNoWriMo Day Twelve
Didn’t make much progress over the weekend, but I didn’t expect to. The good news is MiniMe’s soccer team finished the season in second place after a lovely end of season party on Saturday. Soccer games and parties don’t leave much time for writing, though, so although I didn’t produce a big ol’ goose egg number of words, my weekend total was pathetic.
More good news, yesterday was a great writing day between LittleDude’s TKD lesson and MiniMe’s soccer practice (she’s playing a tournament this weekend and then we’re done!). I anticipate another good writing day today — LittleDude’s got a doctor appointment so he won’t make it to TKD, but MiniMe will be going to her lesson. And Wednesday’s usually a light day, so chances are LittleDude will get to take the lesson with her. So tonight, Chester and Rube will finally make it to Cranky Canyon on their way to the Land of the Joes. I’m thinking that while in Cranky Canyon, they’ll learn of the evil Centipig’s plot to take over Feckerson Forest.
This story has been fun to write and fun to plot, and MiniMe’s been a tremendous help with it. Bouncing plot ideas off her has been enlightening; she’s got a great mind for fiction.
And now it’s time to prepare for LittleDude’s arrival, after which I’ll whisk him away to the doctor.
Have a great day!
The Saga of Huey, Dewey & Louie
by Lynn Daniels on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 7:20 am
.
NaNoWriMo Day Five
Yesterday was the big shopping trip. Converse for LittleDude. Of course, all the places that had good prices were out of his size. Some had every size but his. How does that happen?I did finally manage to find him a pair. When we looked in on him last night, they were in the bed next to him, resting comfortably on his pillow and tucked snugly under the covers.
My front yard has three trees. Every year– Maybe I shouldn’t put it that way, since we’ve only been in this house a couple years. Rephrasing that to: The past couple years SoundGuy has insisted on waiting until they’ve dropped all their leaves before going out to pick them up. Unfortunately, while every other tree in the neighborhood drops its leaves early, those three trees insist on clinging to theirs until sometime in March. This frustrates SoundGuy to no end.They don’t hold on to all their leaves, they drop just enough to make our yard look like it needs a good raking. They hold on to enough to make you certain that the moment you clear the yard of leaves, those trees will fill it right back up again. And they usually do. This year, I’ve decided to have a little fun with it.
Sometime during the first week of every month, I’m going to take a picture of my front yard and the leaves. I thought it might be a kick to see how those trees (to be known henceforth as Huey, Dewey, & Louie) and my yard progress throughout the season. Especially since SoundGuy has sworn that this year he won’t wait to clear the leaves. We’ll see. And we’ll have pictorial evidence.
I’m still making progress with Chester and Rube, and I’m still having a lot of fun. Unfortunately, yesterday’s shopping trip precluded the TKD lessons, which means I didn’t get my alone writing time. Both kids, however, will absolutely go to TKD today. Word count boost, here I come!I’ve learned that since I’m not worried about my NaNoWriMo project being published, I’m not above a little word padding. Word padding is fun! In my story, Chester is most frequently referred to as Chester the duck with the smart blue felt fedora, and his new found friend Rube (yes, I did get that scene written yesterday!), until his name was revealed, was referred to as the giant purple not sporgled bloonk.
Trust me, it makes sense in context.
Today’s scenes will have to chronicle the growing relationship between Chester and Rube before they’re thrown into the fire and forced to save Feckerson Forest from the evil Centipig and his army of pigipede minions. We’ll also begin taming Rube and maturing Chester (the duck with the smart blue felt fedora), who’s still often distracted by shiny objects. And ants. And butterflies. And mud puddles…
Mud Bubbles
by Lynn Daniels on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at 10:08 am
.
NaNoWriMo Day Four
Whooda thunk writing could be so much fun? I certainly haven’t reached prolific status, but I’m sure making progress. And I attribute it all to letting myself go.
Wow. 
That just sounded wrong. But you know what I mean, right? Writing a totally different kind of story, in a totally different style, without regard for plot or rules or whether or not it makes sense. My only requirement is that it be fun. And fun it has been. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of writing a scene about a duck blowing bubbles in the mud. What’s more fun than that?
And I’m happy to report that Chester the duck with the smart blue felt fedora escaped the Red Trees and made it to the Orange Tall Grass without being attacked by sporgled bloonks.
(See what I mean? PAR-TAY!)
In other news, we’re fast approaching the end of soccer season. Three more practices, one more season game, and three more tournament games and I get my Monday nights back! Although I must admit, this season has been great for MiniMe. Playing with the older girls has forced her to step up her game, and she’s accomplished it with flying colors. She even scored a goal and a sweet assist in Sunday’s game.
If I’m reading the stats correctly, her team will finish second in their division. Not too shabby!
The kids are out of school today, so it looks like I’m taking LittleDude shoe shopping. He’s got his little heart set on a pair of Converse, so tomorrow continues the quest. At least I’ll get to spend their TKD lessons playing with Chester. Maybe I’ll finally get to write the scene where he meets Rube, the pompous purple dinosaur.
Random Photo
Twittering
NaNoWriMo
