Sunday Post with Berls | Week of July 10th, 2022

Week of July 10th, 2022

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kim @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

News at Home

I’m going to try doing a one sentence summary of each day moving forward… I realize some of you enjoy my lenghty posts but I imagine some of you would like to be able to just get a quick version. Initially I was going to put the quick version first but it feels like a spoiler for those that do want to read the whole thing LOL! So I’m moved it to the end of each day.

Sunday

Today was about getting ready for the week ahead, which is full of so many changes. I think I did okay. After breakfast — where Dante refused pretty much everything I made again, but then proceeded to eat his dad’s eggs, go figure — I did grocery pickup and I got myself Starbucks because it’s going to be a day, right? Also car wash and gas. Then I came home, prepped Dante’s food for the week (to an extent, I’m trying to do as much fresh for him as I can), followed by my food for the week. Then we had our readalong chat – it was just 3 of us this time, but it was still so fun! Then Dante was fussy and really wanted to go outside. Look, I love the heat but 115 degrees really isn’t go for a walk weather. But I tried. We did one loop and I very quickly regretted taking Buffy along because the pavement was too hot for her feet. So I was pushing Dante’s tricycle and carrying Buffy. But Dante still wanted to be outside so when we got to the end of the loop I told him we needed to take Buffy upstairs. He threw a fit but at least I got Buffy inside and didn’t have to carry her anymore. Then I walked with him some more, but I just went back and forth on this part that is super shaded. Honestly it wasn’t bad but I didn’t want him out too long — thankfully he was sucking down the water. And when we came back in he lay down and took a nap – score! I took care of some blogging and laundry. Before I knew it Dante was awake and I was putting his clothes away. Kiko made dinner for him and Dante and then it was time to call it a day! I managed to get everything done but I’m beat and just super anxious about tomorrow!

The quick version: Today I got ready for the week and was crazy enough to go for a walk in this heat!

Monday

I was so nervous about today, but things went mostly smoothly. I let myself sleep in a bit — I’m giving myself grace this week and not trying to do ALL the things. So I woke up at 7am (rather than 6:30) and skipped the workout. I did the rest of my morning routine, took my shower, did some blog visiting (not as much as I had wanted but I was anxious about how long things would take me) and then got Dante’s breakfast ready and packed up along with his lunch. He was still asleep (score!) and I finally woke him at about 8:20 to get out the door by 8:40. He was happy, took his antibiotic with minimal fuss, and we were out the door right on schedule. When we got to the center we did have a little trouble because Dante first wanted to run away from the building instead of in it — he sat down and cried — but then got up and walked with me. And then he wanted to go left when the clinic was to the right. He again sat down and cried. But we made it in the door and once we were there Dante stopped crying and ran to start exploring lol! They were so happy to see him and greeted him with smiles and some puzzles (they knew he’d love them). I was able to leave with no tears… and run across the hall to the cafe. Dante’s day begins at 9am, so I dropped him at 8:58 so that I could hop onto my (daily) 9am meeting in the cafe. I was logged in right on time, so relief – that will work. I feel like I need to buy something if I’ll be there every morning, so I was going to buy a bottled water but they don’t let you use card with less than $5 and I didnt’ want to spend that much. So I’m bringing cash tomorrow. I can spend $1 a day but $5 is too much. Our meeting was over at 9:15 – as it normally is – and I headed home, making it just in time for our 9:30 Monday Engineer’s meeting. That went well too and I got my breakfast (smoothie) and then got to work. I had a couple calls to help me with my tasks and things went okay. But I didn’t get enough done for sure before I had to leave for Dante’s 2:30 treatment plan meeting. Kiko came with me, which I was thankful for since he hasn’t actually been to the center yet or met them. It was good to have him see it and feel as comfortable as I do with the location and team. Oh and they sent us some pictures throughout the day – Dante was doing great and so happy! And they restated that at our meeting – he loved Jordan, the RBT he worked with in the morning. In the afternoon he worked with Blossom and we saw him having fun with her. He will also work with two other RBTs tomorrow and that’s his whole care team. All-in-all he did great. Before we left, I showed Kiko where Dante will be going for his Speech Therapy on Thursdays and Fridays – it’s upstairs in the same building. Then we headed home and Dante started playing and I did some work until 3:45 when he had his Social Skills therapy session (that’s the session he’s had for 1 hour a week since August/September). That went well and I felt like we mainly caught up on his skills and how we’ll start working with things now that he has this new schedule and therapies. Then I tried to see if Dante would nap — he would not. And I tried to work but it ws 4:30 and things weren’t working right. When Kiko got home and showered I tried to do some more work but I was hitting some errors and I sent a message to a team member for help, but he was of course already logged off. So I’ll have to work on it tomorrow. Tomorrow I should have uninterrupted work time from when I get home around 9:30 until I leave to pick him up at 2:45 so hopefully that will go better. And MAYBE he’ll nap without the SST therapy, if I get him down right when we get home. Besides that the evening was dinner, prepping Dante’s meals for tomorrow, cleaning up and bedtime! It’s 10pm now and I’m hoping to be in bed in the next 30 minutes !

The quick version: Dante’s first day of ABA went really well for him. I need to figure out how I’m going to juggle all the therapies and my job, but I’ll get it. I hope.

Tuesday

Today was rough – for me, not Dante. Dante woke up just before 8am and he snacked a played a bit before I took him to ABA at 9am. And then it all fell apart… my hotspot wouldn’t work well enough for me to get on my 9am meeting so I quickly shifted to take it from my phone app instead. And since my iPhone doesn’t have a place to plug in headphones like my computer does I left the cafe and went to the car to finish the meeting. I got home at 9:30 and started work and just… struggled. And I felt the weight off all the THINGS bearing down on me. It’s like I’m trying to juggle so much and there’s not a ball I can afford to drop. Any one drops and the family – Dante specifically – doesn’t have what’s needed. I tried really hard with work but did not finish the task I had hoped to complete. I made progress but I don’t know if it’s adequate progress. I left at 2:45 to pick up Dante and learned he had another great day. YAY!!! When we got home I tried to put him down for a nap so I could work… and he was not having it. So I got him up, he wanted a snack and then to play. I tried having him play while I work, but this job requires a lot more focus from me right now. So I gave up.

After a phone call with my friend Melissa where I talked through the problem I came to the decision that I have to get in the 2 hours of work I’m missing when I pick up Dante at 3 somewhere else. And the best option is the morning before everyone is awake. So I’ll be getting up at 5am moving forward — that gives me 1 hour for my miracle morning routine (including workout that I haven’t been getting in lately), followed by 2 hours of work. At 8am I will shift gears to getting myself and Dante ready for the day and dropping him off at center at 9am. Then I’m just going to plan on taking my call in the car on my phone, because the other way is causing stress. I shouldn’t NEED to be on my computer for the daily call. Then I’ll work until 2:45, pick up Dante and spend time playing with him when we get home. I’ll leave my work computer on and open, should someone need me but that seems unlikely. I am losing my morning blogging time, but I’m thinking I can do some visiting while playing with Dante in the afternoon. And I have to go to bed when we put Dante to bed now, so I’ll be using that afternoon time, in addition to blog visiting, to do a lot of the the things I normally do in the evening after Dante goes to bed. That said, it’s time to put Dante (and me) to bed!

The quick version: Today was rough and I had to really revaluate how I’m going to make this schedule work. My new plan is to work 2 hours in the morning before Dante wakes up.

Wednesday

I think the new plan is going to work. I woke up at 5am without feeling exhausted actually. I got in my miracle morning – I skipped the workout to spend some time sketching out my routine in my BUJO. I know this is ridiculously Type A of me but I know myself, thinking through it helps me find peace with my decisions. By 6am I was ready to work and I got in almost 2 solid hours for uninterrupted work and made really good progress. I think I can safely say I am a morning person and my brain works best in the morning. Dante woke up just before 8 – around 7:50. He came out to play and I hopped in the shower. Our plan has been that I would pack breakfast, lunch and snacks. But at 8:30 he hopped up into his chair and was clearly hungry — which makes sense, he ate at 8:30 at his daycare. So I decided to go ahead and give him the breakfast I was in the middle of packing. We still got out the door on time and then I did my meeting on the phone in the car at 9am.

My work day was okay. I had one meeting that was nearly 2 hours long and really killed my productivity, but I also made pretty good progress on one of my tasks. I am nervous about being able to finish it in time though… I may need to ask for some help tomorrow. Which I hate to do, but I also would hate to not finish. As a good reminder to not be too hard on myself, I had a new hire meeting today where they congratulated us on 1 month with Walmart. So yeah, I’m only 1 month in, I’m not supposed to know all the things.

I picked Dante up at 3 – he’s still not eating well at the center but at least he ate breakfast and came home and snacked well. He also did do some snacking with them. And he did okay at dinner. Tonight he’s very fussy and we’re having a hard time putting him down — he really wanted to keep playing with his puzzles and worked himself up. I have a feeling if he could talk he’d be telling me that he doesn’t want to go to bed and I’d be saying you’re clearly exhausted so you’re going LOL. I’m off to bed – so I can get solid sleep again and try this routine again tomorrow… perhaps with a workout!

The quick version: The new routine seems like it could work. I’m nervous about my work but feel better about the progress I made today. Dante is fussy tonight but I think it’s because he’s tired!

Thursday

Today was definitely the best day this week thus far. I woke up at 4:45 and just lay there a bit and then got up – fully rested and my fitbit says I got more than 7 hours of sleep! This is the best I’ve done in a long time. Partly thanks to the earlier bedtime and partly because I started wearing a face mask. I got it in my swag bag from Book Bonanza and decided to give it a try – fully expecting to pull it off in the middle of the night. So color me surprised when it improved my sleep! I got in my workout this morning, did my miracle morning and got to work at 6am. I accomplished a lot before Dante woke up at 7:50. Got him breakfast setup and hopped in the shower, got dressed for the day. By then he was done eating and playing. Went ahead and did his medicine, got him dressed and was out the door before 8:40. I had a call at 8:30 this morning, but I told them I was going to have to take it from my phone and that worked fine. Drop off went great — Dante actually ran in to his therapist like he used to at daycare! So he’s adapting really well <3.

This morning I had decided to message a coworker for some help and we met for about 15 minutes around 10. Turned out I was super close on one problem and had stumbled onto a bug that someone else will need to fix on the other — I thought I was doing it wrong, and couldn’t figure out why, but it wasn’t me! By the end of work today I had basically finished one of my tasks and I think I will have it fully finished before 9am scrum tomorrow. And I’ve made great progress on another and the third is finished I think. So I think I’ll be successful in finishing tasks for this sprint. Yay!

Dante had speech today, so I didn’t pick him up until 4… which turned out to be wrong. Apparently his speech sessions are only 30 minutes. Whoops! She wasn’t upset at all and realized it was something she had failed to communicate. So I need to make that adjustment to my schedule. But it’s fine. Dante is still not eating well at lunch and I’m a little worried that he’s still tugging on his ear even though he’s only got one day left of his antibiotics. Hoping we don’t have to go back to the doctor.

Dante and I went for a walk when we came home and then we had dinner, watched some TV, I did some blogging, played Fall Guys with fill and Zach and then cleaned up. After this post it’s bedtime for Dante and I 🙂

The quick version: Things are going much better as of today! Dante is adjusting mostly well and this work schedule is working out. Plus I’m actually making progress on my tasks! Phew!

Friday

Today things went well for Dante, frustrating for mommy (only at work really). I woke up at 4:45 again and hopped out of bed to work out. Got in a great workout, did my miracle morning and got to work by 6am. I managed to finish one of my tasks by 7:45, which was a relief – this leaves me with one to finish by end of day Tuesday and I’ve already made good progress on it. BUT I did not make further good progress today. I kept getting stumped. I am THIS close to being done but am hitting little problems. I can’t seem to apply any style to my bottom sheet. I can’t get navigation.pop() to work. And either my simulator doesn’t show the onscreen keyboard or it’s not working… I really hope it’s just doesn’t show it for some reason because I have NO CLUE why it wouldn’t be working. So that’s the frustrating. Hoping the weekend away will clear my mind of some cobwebs and Monday morning I’ll get at least one of those issues solved. Otherwise, I’ll be asking for help again as I need to finish by end of day Tuesday to make this sprint.

Dante had a good day at center. I had a quick talk with the owner and BCBA about the fall today and she suggested we give it until at least 6 months in ABA before adding preK to Dante’s schedule. And I have to say, I agree. I’m still going to meet with the school district and do all the things we have to do so that when we’re ready we can enroll him. But yeah, I don’t think we’re ready to upset our schedule again too soon. And he needs some solid time in ABA to make progress. He had a really good week and transitioned really well though, so I’m very thankful for that.

We had a laid back evening and I am actually up a little late. But planning to get to bed soon as, if I know myself, I will probably wake up close to 6 based on the fact that I’ve been waking up at 4:45 with no problem (my alarm is set for 5).

The quick version: Dante is doing really well in both ABA and Speech and transitioned really well this week. I’m doing well with the new schedule, though I am a little stumped on some of my work projects right now.

Saturday

Today was a super busy day and we got home around 1am, so keeping this super brief with no blog updates this week. Dante woke up at 7:15…. every time he goes to bed late he wakes up earlier 🙁 Very nervous about how early he’ll wake up tomorrow morning. We had a 3 year old birthday party to attend this morning – Dante had a great time playing at the park and even played with the kids a little. Although he did have a hard time sharing and got ready to fight a couple times. I told him “no pushing” and he stopped but then had a little meltdown. 2 years old or autism? IDK.

Then we came home and played a bit and I did a little blogging. Then we headed out to Campbell to see Franky — and ended up staying until midnight when we have an hour drive home. We had a really nice time and honestly Kiko probably would have liked to stay longer if it weren’t for the drive. Dante fell asleep on the way home but I was shocked he was still awake when we left. Like I said, nervous about tomorrow.

I’m exhausted and headed to bed with a lot to do tomorrow.

The quick version: We had a birthday party this morning and then went to see Franky in the afternoon and didn’t leave until midnight, meaning home at 1am. Yikes!

Blog News

Last week on Because Reading

• [11 Jul] Desert Devil by Colleen Helme ★★★★
• [12 Jul] Tell Me Something Tuesday: Graphic Novels?
• [14 Jul] One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost ★★★★★
• [17 Jul] Sunday Post with Berls | Week of July 10th, 2022

How was your week? What are you Reading?

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