Not A Germophobe

Sherry — Mon, 30 May 2011 22:43:08 +0000

Sickophobia

I just realized that I’m not really a germophobe. That’s what people have called me and what I’ve called myself for a long time. But I’m not scared of germs. I just don’t like getting sick. I’d call myself more of a “germ avoider” or “germ eschewer.”

I know my immune system will not let me die if I get some nasty germs in my system. But the way it protects me from dying is to propel the germs out of my body, possibly urgently, out either one end or the other. And I just can’t think of any time that is a “good time” to get sick and be either projectilely vomiting or having explosive diarrhea. Not to mention a major desire simply not to go through that.

So it’s not so much that I fear germs, it’s more that I fear losing time and going through unpleasantness by being sick. I’m a “sickophobe.”

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Working From Starbucks

Sherry — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 00:30:15 +0000

I’ve taken to working from Starbucks most afternoons. I finally found qualified child care for Charlie in the afternoons after school so that I can work. It’s too distracting for him and me to have me working from home, though, so I usually work on my laptop elsewhere.

He was finally, officially diagnosed with autism at the end of last year, and has been seeing a psych who is doing meds management. It’s not helping much, though, and has these increasingly violent tantrums. Today he hurt a student and a teacher at school and has been suspended from school next Monday. He loves school and will be very upset (I haven’t told him yet) – especially because it’s Valentine’s Day, and he will miss the party. I understand their doing it, though. He needs to understand the gravity of his actions – he really upset the other student and his speech therapist.

In other news – there isn’t much. I just work and try to hold down the fort at home. I’ve been trying to learn a new Italian word per day via an app on my iPhone. It’s kind of difficult without the context, though. I’m thinking of seeing if I can take a class. I’m hoping to be able to go to Italy (finally) in about 5 years.

Oh, the San Francisco Word Camp is in August this year, and I’m going to try to make that! Two big challenges though – raising the money – and getting someone to watch Charlie for about 4 days. I’m not sure it can be done given his challenges/problems, but I’m going to give it a shot!

Well, I should probably get back to work. Have about 45 minutes left before I have to leave and relieve child care. Just thought I’d take a break and give my poor, neglected blog some attention!

~Sherry

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Bellevue Biddies

Sherry — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:56:56 +0000

I swear, the next octogenarian who drives 23 mph down 164th ahead of me is going to be called in as drunk, unsafe, erratic or other. If you seriously can’t handle your vehicle at the speed limit, you should leave it at home in the driveway.

Seriously.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Happy New Year

Sherry — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 02:00:20 +0000

I love this year – 2010. It just looks so new and fresh and promising.

Today I got some money I’ve been expecting, so now I can move out of this rat-hole we’ve been living in for the last 6 months. The Palisades in Bellevue Washington. Without exception, the worst place I’ve ever lived. I’ll make a separate blog post about it, because I don’t want to drag down this one.

I didn’t do much today for a change. I’ve been working constantly – just launched a huge project, plus keeping all my other regular clients happy. I have new potential clients I’m discussing details with, so business is not just holding but improving.

Charlie is still having trouble at school, but he’s doing better than he ever has. And for the first time he is in a program/place with people who truly understand his problems and seem to know how to handle them. His teacher claims to really love him in class, despite the challenges he brings. She’s probably only the 2nd special ed teacher he’s ever had who not only understands and cares but has what it takes to reach him.

That being said, even though I detest living in Bellevue, I’m going to make sure we stay in Bellevue when we move so that he can stay in his current school/class/situation. That actually shows how much I think of the teacher/program he has now – because I seriously want out of Bellevue. Fortunately we can move to right up to the Redmond/Kirkland side and still have his school as the home school. Then I can just shop and do errands in Redmond and Kirkland and avoid Bellevue for the most part.

I’ve really enjoyed Facebook lately. I don’t like its interface as much as other platforms. But for some reason it’s really popular, and I’ve been able to connect and really re-acquaint myself with a large number of my graduating high school class. I’m sure a reunion in person would be great – a whole other element to see each other face to face. But this adds so much more. I get a glimplse into their daily lives, pics of them and their families, a daily feed of what is important in their lives, what they do for a living, etc. It’s interesting to see how people have grown and what they’ve done with their lives in the nearly 25 years since we’ve graduated.

I guess that is enough spewing via the keyboard for one day. I have to go check Facebook…

© admin for , 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: catching up, Charlie, Facebook, Palisades, work

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

He’s Ba-a-a-a-ack…

Sherry — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 08:35:40 +0000

Timmy 2-$ has returned with his special dose of insanity – and I fear life will never be the same!

I’m posting this in the category “Weird Shit You Never Saw Coming” – cause hey, that’s what it is….

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Autumn Post Card

Sherry — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:47:55 +0000

Really beautiful fall colors in Kirkland, WA. This is heading toward the Kirkland Marina from Juanita. I’ve been taking pictures of the changing leaves all Autumn, but this is the first one that has really captured the vibrancy of the colors. This was taken with my iPhone, surprisingly!

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Too Many Thoughts In My Head

Sherry — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:21:02 +0000

I swear, I need a brain catheter. I have so much in my head that I need to get out, but I don’t have time to blog it all. So I usually wind up not blogging at all, and it all gets mashed up in an internal traffic jam.

I guess I’ll do one big update today, then just commit to blogging in bits here and there as the mood strikes me. That’s what I used to do on Diary-X, but for some reason having an actual blog, in this format, makes me feel like I have to write little essays and keep it formal and limited.

But hey, it’s *my* blog, right? What I really want is to be able to do little silly, simple updates whenever I want, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’m also going to change the layout & format a bit in the near future. But I digress. Here is my big update!

CHARLIE

First and foremost on my mind lately is Charlie. He is 7 (and a few months)-years-old now and in the second grade. He is in a program called “Cascade,” which is a “special education” program for kids with severe behavior and emotional problems due to developmentaly disability, health impairment or other issues. He was recently re-evaluated, and his official diagnosis has changed from “Developmentally Disabled” to “Health Impaired.”

Actually, I’m not even going to go into it much about Charlie. It’s too hard/emotional and there is too much to explain. He has problems that are organic and he is still undergoing testing. He will be evaluated again at Children’s Hospital early next year, and I expect their diadnosis of ADHD and ODD with possible Autism to change to Autism with ADHD & ODD. (ODD is Oppositional Definace Disorder)

He is really good at reading & writing, which I suspected he would be, even though his speech cognition (how well he understands what is said to him) is only 16th percentile (to be average would be 50th percentile). This is something that happens sometimes with autistic people, even in extreme cases. They can’t communicate verbally, but they can write like a college professor. Charlie, fortunately, only has the verbal impairment to a smaller degree. And I have it a bit myself. I definitely communicate better in e-mail than I do on the phone or in person. I’m really not surprised he is doing so well with reading.

Anyway, he is getting tall and is a bit lanky, as his meds surpress his appetite quite a bit. He loves to draw and build elaborate cities with his GeoTrax sets and really likes Wheel Of Fortune. I’ll post some pics in the next day or two and maybe a video or two. He chose the costume of fighter pilot for Halloween so he could be a Blue Angel.

WORK

Work is great when I can do it, but Charlie is only in school 28 hours per week, and it is really hard to work when he is home. I try to work after he goes to bed, but I am usually so exhausted by then that I make stupid mistakes and it’s not usually a good idea!

My plan was to turn Blog Solace into an actual business with a registered business name and everything, but it turns out it is better to stay individual. So I am turning Blog Solace into an overall blog help site while still offering my services on that site and SherryDedman.com as an independent contractor/individual. I keep improving my skills and getting more development jobs, so my rates keep going up, which is good. I just wish I could devote more time to it.

I would definitely be a work-a-holic if I didn’t have Charlie to look after. I really love what I do and plan to expand on it as soon as I can, teaching classes and possibly writing an e-book or two, if not an actual book for publication. I like the idea of the e-book, though, because it can be updated regularly – tech books get out-of-date really quickly.

LIFE

Life lately is pretty much just Charlie and Work. I’m not dating (I haven’t got the energy or emotional reserve for it right now, not to mention the time). I’ve fallen behind in my exercise habits, so I cancelled Netflix and got a monthly membership to 24-Hour Fitness for the same price and plan to start catching up on that. I have no travel plans and wow, I guess life is pretty boring, recreationally-speaking.

I guess a lot of what is on my mind is plans for Charlie, plans for my site/blogs, travelling I’d like to do, some development plans I have, etc. Oh, and I would love to work on my novel durning NaNoWriMo – I got a good start on it last year! At this rate, I’ll have it done in 2015. LOL

© admin for , 2009. | Permalink | Comment On This Article | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Autism, Charlie, exercise, update, WordPress, writing

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Charlie Party

Sherry — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:44:21 +0000

I’m on my way to a small party for Charlie in his classroom at his school. He gets a party for moving up a level in the Cascade special ed program.

He also had his 3 year evaluation, and his diagnosis has changed from “Developmentally Disabled” to “Health Impaired.” I have no idea what the difference is – can anyone clue me in?

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Vista Print E-Mail This Morning

Sherry — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:39:14 +0000

I woke up to my usual Vista Print e-mail this morning, but it was a little bit different. Usually it’s some coupon for a bevy of free items or free shipping of mouse pads or something, but not today.

Today the subject line read, “Stuck Up For A Buck!” I’m not really sure what that means exactly, but I’m pretty sure they meant “Stock Up For A Buck.” A little proofreading goes a long way!

I like Vista Print, actually. I got magnets for my car doors with my business name and URL on them. And of course business cards, etc. Here is a pic of the car door magnet on my car:

Blog Solace

Just not sure about this latest offer… LOL

© admin for , 2009. | Permalink | Comment On This Article | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blog help, blog solace, vista print

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Health Challenge

Sherry — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:01:10 +0000

I joined the John P. Health Challenge today! It’s been started by @JohnPoz (if you Twitter). It goes for 12 weeks and has a sensible but strict prescription!

I plan to log my participation (and hopefully progress) by writing in my blog here, in the category “Health Challenge.” You can find it by going to http://sherryness.com/category/health-challenge/ if you want to follow just my progress.

Today was my first day. I walked 40 minutes and followed the food guidelines. So far so good!

My personal goals are to:

Double my exercise (includes starting strength training and walking every day, not just 3-4 times per week)
Improving what I eat, as prescribed by the challenge
Cutting my portions by 40%-50% as prescribed by the plan
Drinking only water and coffee (sweetened with Splenda instead of my usual raw sugar) - no sodas, slurpees, etc (liquid sugar calories)
Snack only on nuts and fruits
Lose 25 pounds in 12 weeks

So far, so good. My first short-term goal is to lose my first 10 pounds by April 23rd, so I’ll be looking good for the Leonard Cohen concert! So I’m pushing especially hard right now.

If you Twitter, you can follow me, I’m @sherryness . And go to http://search.twitter.com and search on #HealthChallenge to follow others who are participating and join in the fun/work.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh