Week of July 31st 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
Sunday
Spent the morning taking care of things around the house – laundry, meal prep, etc – then took Dante to the pool in the afternoon. We had a great time and he noticed the writing on the walls. So we spent all our time with him pointing across the pool to go to where another depth was written. And then he would point as I read of “4” “F” “T” and he’d have me lift him out of the pool so he could do the same with the writing on the floor. This is so huge! Pointing is one of the skills he’s not had and is an early indicator of speech/communication skills. It was great to see him doing it.
We also gave Dante a haircut! It’s always hard — I thought he hated the feel of the hair so I invested in a barber cape, only to have him hate it even more than the feeling of the hair lol. But it turned out cute and now he won’t be too hot for a bit.
The quick version: Did some pool time with Dante – who was pointing!! – and gave Dante a haircut.
Monday
I woke up at 4:45 this morning, despite the fact I struggled to go to sleep last night and didn’t fall asleep before midnight. So I’m very tired today. I had set my alarm for 5:45 thinking I would skip my morning routine but since I woke up I went ahead and did my normal Monday morning routine, setting up my bujo and goals for the week. Work was extremely light today – I had my 9am meeting, and I did some trainings that popped up on my learning plan (sexual harassment and stack overflow). Besides that I didn’t actually have WORK to do. I spent some time also trying to get my android simulator up and running – unsuccessfully.
My afternoon was spent at the doctor. I had a 1pm appointment that ended up finishing at 2:55. I was shocked it took so long and it resulted in my being 5 minutes late picking up Dante (I’m supposed to get him at 3). I sent them a text and they were fine about it, but still I felt so bad. I just never dreamed it would take that long! Thank goodness they are located very close. The appointment went well though. I’m starting a new medicine to help with weight loss. I’m hopeful as I can’t continue gaining weight and I’ve been struggling for the past couple years really, but especially since May. Phil has been seeing the same doctor and has lost 85 lbs since February. He’s on a different medicine, but still. Hope.
Dante had a great day and is continuing to show lots of improvement. We’re having a great evening, full of waving and laughter and pointing. I’m refocusing on my sleep goal — the doctor made a big deal about how bad for my health my current sleep patterns are, not to mention weight loss. She even put sleep disorder on the paperwork LOL! So I guess I need to do better than my current 5 hours average huh?
The quick version: I was tired today, but it was a good day. Went to the doctor and got put on some meds to hopefully help with weight loss.
Tuesday – Thursday
I don’t know where the week went. I did get 8 hours of sleep Monday night! But the rest of the week has been such a blur. Tuesday we went to see Phil and Zach when I picked Dante up from school. Wednesday when I picked Dante up the car wouldn’t start – the battery was dead. So Dante and I went back inside and he played a bit while Kiko drove over to jump the car. He bought a new battery after work – thankfully only $90 – so not too bad.
Today was an okay day too. We started a new sprint yesterday and I’m making okay progress with my tasks. Dante is continuing to make great progress, saying more and more words, waving and pointing and just reaching so many great goals. After school today we played a bit and then we had to take Kiko to an appointment — he’s still working on getting a couple neck tattoos removed and had the next laser appointment.
I’m trying really hard to stick to some new goals to improve my sleep. So no screens after 8pm. No eating after 7:30pm. Meditation before bed. And then I’m waking up at 5:30 instead of 5, cutting my workout to just 15 minutes. Not really sure what my 15 minute workout needs to look like quite yet, but I’ll figure it out.
Friday – Saturday
Friday had its ups and downs. On the up – Dante continues to do great at his therapy and is growing by leaps and bounds. I sat in on a collaboration meeting with his BCBA and his speech therapist as they collaborate on his therapy plans. I also had another parent education meeting with his BCBA. Both meetings were very helpful in determining how to best support Dante’s growth. On the down – Work. Ugh, I made a mistake. At the end of the day I don’t think it’s turning out to be a big deal. And it would be hard to explain what happened without getting super technical, so I’ll just sum it up with Git is complicated and I thought I understood something I didn’t. And it resulted in my lead having to very carefully compare hundreds of lines of code. I was told that everyone has done way worse but no one likes to screw up right?
Saturday was great. Dante and I woke up around 7:45 and made breakfast for Dante. We were out the door for a play / support group at a local gym for kids on the spectrum. I’ve been part of the Ausome Moms Facebook group since late April, but this was the first chance we had to go and meet in person. Dante had a blast playing at the gym — he’s been before, so I knew he’d like it, but I think he liked it even more with the other kids there. And bonus, it was free for the hour. And I really enjoyed meeting other moms and being able to chat a bit about our kids therapies, struggles, progress, etc. When we left there it was just before 10, so I decided to take Dante to the park by house before it got to hot. He had a great time playing and when we did the swings I have this routine I do with him where I say “Ready, Set….. GO!” and on Go I release the swing. I pause for a long time, in hopes that he’ll fill in the go – but he never has, until today! He did it over and over and over again! We were there until almost 11 and when we got home Kiko was just waking up. So he made himself some breakfast… and Dante second breakfast/lunch. I joined in and had my first breakfast too. I picked up groceries at 1:30 and when I got home and started unpacking realized I really needed to clean up the pantry. So I did that. While I was doing that Franky stopped by unexpectedly with his girlfriend Helena. We had a nice visit (I kept working while we talked) and Dante showed off his new skills – waving and saying words – to the amazement of his big brother. This evening my brother connected me with a developer friend of his who was able to talk me through what happened at work so I can understand what my mistake was and some tips/tools to keep it from happening again. Then we had dinner and played a bit. Just now I was reading Dante his bedtime story and he was saying so many words – numbers, momma, daddy, baby – and I’m just blown away. They aren’t 100% clear but he’s actually trying to talk and making the right sounds. I’m so thrilled!
Blog News
Please vote on my TBR List for what Michelle and I will be reading this month! You can vote below or head over to the post for full details.
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Last week on Because Reading
- [1 Aug] Turn Autism Around: An Action Guide for Parents of Young Children with Early Signs of Autism by Mary Lynch Barbera, Temple Grandin ★★★★
- [2 Aug] Tell Me Something Tuesday: Favorite posts
- [3 Aug] The It Girl by Ruth Ware ★★★★½
- [4 Aug] Majesty by Katharine McGee ★★★★
- [4 Aug] Rivals by Katharine McGee ★★★★
- [5 Aug] Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost ★★★½
- [6 Aug] #MyTBRL Choices and Linky: August 2022
- [7 Aug] Sunday Post with Berls | Week of July 31st 2022
Challenge update
This week I finished:
I’m participating in 7 Challenges, plus the Goodreads Challenge, this year. Here’s how I’m doing.
- COYER Seasons & COYER Community 2022 –
- Bookish Resolutions – This was a challenge that Michelle used to do without me and she took last year off. This year we’re bringing it back together. Details on post, but basically I’m setting 5 “bookish” goals for the year: Here are my goals:
- Blog ahead at least 1 week. I plan to write posts for this week today.
- Keep a blogging planner. Honestly not even trying anymore 🙁
- Visit & comment on 7 posts a week. I did make it to 7 posts but just Sunday and Monday. I really want to get to where I can visit daily.
- Reply to comments each week. ugh sorry, no.
- Review books before starting a new book/on the same
dayweek – with my revision of writing reviews weekly I’m doing okay, assuming I get Once and Future Witches review written today.
- The Backlist Reader Challenge – 35/50 books
- 2022 Audiobook Challenge – 62/75 books
- 2022 Library Love Challenge – 26/24 books
- 2022 Finishing the Series Challenge – My goal is 5 series.
- In Progress:
- Mine by Cynthia Eden- read book 4 & 5 this year, still need to read 6.
- Completed:
- The Ivy Chronicles by Sophie Jordan – read books 2 and 3 this year, finishing the series.
- Amos Decker by David Bald Baldacci – read books 2-6 (#7 expected later this year)
- Witchless in Seattle by Dakota Cassidy – read books 8-13 this year
- Georgina Kincaid by Richelle Mead – read books 3-6 this year (thanks to Anne for realizing I could coutn this one!)
- In Progress:
FitReaders (hosted by Jen @ That’s What I’m Talking About & Felicia The Geeky Blogger)
My big goal for 2022 is to lose weight every month. I’m not setting a specific number goal; I just need to make sure I’m going the right direction (down) every month. I will weigh in on the last (or first) day of each month only (so I don’t get too attached to the scale).
I’m really hoping starting these meds will make a positive difference. I’m on the lowest dosage right now, tomorrow my dose goes up. Also still on the sample, don’t know with 100% certainty that insurance is going to cover the medicine. I do think it’s starting to help though… maybe it’s the placebo effect, just belief that I have help?
Weight gain/loss for the year so far:
- +3.9 pounds Feb 1.
- -3.0 pounds March 1 (for the year, so total loss for Feb was 6.9 lbs!)
- -3.0 pounds April 1 (for the year, so no new loss in March, but no gain)
- -7.0 pounds April 30 (for the year, down 4 pounds in April)
- -3.4 pounds July 1 (for the year, up 3.6 pounds in June)
- +4.4 pounds August 1 (for the year, up 7.8 pounds in July)
I thought about asking my doctor about some of the new weight loss medications. But I’m worried about the side effects and I’m already on several medications.
Wow Dante is really doing well now. He just needed the right situation and it’s been a short time too. It’s early days in you new career so that is going to add some stress not to mention changes for Dante, so I’m not surprised by the weight issues. You just keep working to find solutions and improve things. Some will work and some won’t but give your self credit for how hard you work at everything.
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
Sounds like a big week of successes for Dante! His progress sounds amazing. That sucks about the work issue but it happens. It’s hard when you’re the new(ish) person, though, as don’t have the same comfort level as a more seasoned employee. That’s great that you could talk it through with a developer to understand the problem better. Great to have those connections! Hope you’re enjoying your Sunday!