Koopman Kraziness

1 in 88 children is diagnosed as being somewhere on the autism spectrum Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton, Ludwig von Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - all were on the spectrum Autism doesn't mean that someone is incapable of communication.  It can be associated with intellectual disability, difficulties in motor coordination and attention and even physical issues such as sleep and gastrointestinal disturbances. Sometimes persons with Austism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) excel in math, sciences and the arts. The most obvious signs of autism show themselves between 2 and 3 years of age. 1 in 54 boys and 1 out of 252 girls are diagnosed with ASD There is no "definite cause" of autism.  Most cases appear to be caused by a combination of autism risk genes and environmental factors influencing early brain development. About 40% of persons on the autism spectrum have above average intellectual abilities. Only 25% of persons on the autism spectrum are ...

We have been snowed in for the last two days.  In 24 hours, our part of Texas got 19 inches of snow.  It's not unusual to get SOME snow, but this has just been INSANE. Classes at the college were cancelled and MANY local businesses decided to close as well.  Apparently we even made international news as a wonderful friend of mine in the UK sent me a note that he was seeing our weather on his news station.

There has been so much happen in a short amount of time that I think the best way to do this is going to be to break it down by family member. Jeff had knee surgery on January 28th and has been home since.  What they thought would be a relatively simple scope procedure turned into a 6-inch cut over the top of the knee and a week in the hospital.  Officially the diagnosis was synovial chondromatosis.  In Tara terms?  He had cartilage that looked like little fish eggs in his knee that was growing onto the part of the knee that lubricates the joint, and it hurt.  A LOT.  He's making good progress with his physical therapy and hopes to be released to go back to work next week sometime.  He's taking one class at the community college this semester and then is only one class away from double degrees in Photography and General studies.  He's 6 days away from his 15 year anniversary with the United States Army and should be able to retire in 5 years unl...

There are a handful of people who know most or all of these things about me, but I know that many of you don't.  I also know that you can be perceived one way due to how you write and the way you come across, so I thought I'd share a few "You might not know" facts with you. You might not know: I'm an only child. I'm terrified of clowns. I have a slight phobia of needles. I am diabetic. I have 5 tattoos. I am the youngest cousin on both sides of my family. I seem to be quite extroverted, but in reality I'm very introverted and prefer one on one or alone time over being with many people for long. I don't get mad easily. It's hard for me to show emotion. When I get mad, I deep clean.  Seriously...come get your car detailed. I can't concentrate on any one thing for long.  If I'm not busy enough, nothing gets done well. I hate having to talk on the phone.  H-A-T-E it. I'm terrified to succeed at certain things and terrified ...

I haven't written a "how I feel" post in so long that I'm not entirely sure how it is going to turn out or if I should even post it when I finish...  I guess we'll see. Kaidi would be just over 19 months now.  Most days I go through the day without thinking about it much, but Kamden has started asking a lot of questions about her. During his therapy session last week, we discovered that he thinks that Kaidi stays at the doctor's office and that is why he's always been so terrified of going there.  In front of his therapist, for the first time ever, I uttered the words, "No, Bubba.  Kaidi doesn't live anywhere.  She died."  I felt like my heart was being ripped apart all over again.  In fact, writing it now feels just as hard as saying it did that day.  Since then, he will approach me at random times and ask me, "Why did baby Sissy died?"  I can't just tell him anymore that she 'was sick' because he has now decided th...

You know how you make plans to do things when either you are on break from school or your kids are to get great things done?  Yeah well, I have a week until school starts and I didn't get my main goal done.  LOL  More on that later. For me, post holiday recovery includes a number of things.  I'm going to use this list as a double for my "to do" list for the week as well, so forgive the format, but I'll also try to throw in as many details as I can so that this comes across as an actual blog post. Donate clothing and toys/downsize in other ways - Even if you don't receive and excess amount of either as Christmas gifts, the holiday season is always a time for me to rethink the fact that I actually live my life quite excessively in comparison to those less fortunate.  I may feel the economic "pinch" in some areas, but when I look at the number of clothes that I own that I rarely if ever wear, the multiple bottles of different perfumes, lotions, sh...