I HAVE RETURNED

WELL - I AM BACK......

It's been a more than a years since I have written and posted.  I have decided to come back to writing this blog for a number of reasons, which will get into as a rewrite this post for the third time.  #worstcriticofmywork

So where have I been for the last three years........

I took on certain altruistic commitments and volunteering grew greater importance in my non-E awake hours.  This volunteer commitment only increased when we moved closer to E's school as an hour of commuting to school was taking its toll on E.  

We decided that by moving closer to school would provide more opportunities for socialization and therapy, both of which turned out to be true.  Over the last three years, Sandi has started and finished her Master's in Nursing Degree as well as taken her boards and passed.  She is done with school and is enjoying her new role as health care provider and consultant.  Working towards her Master’s took her out of a lot of the day-to-day E-stuff.  Her weekdays over the last three years went like this:  Wake up, Drive to Work, Work, Drive Home, Shower (got to get rid of the MRSA), Eat, Study, Sleep, Repeat.  Her weekend days were Wake Up, Study, Eat, Study, Eat, Study, Eat, Study, Sleep, Repeat.  My primary job was to make sure that E's needs did not topple into her academia/professional world.  It worked for the most part.  An unintended secondary job was proofreading papers, making quiz cards and becoming more familiar with pharmacology, anatomy, nursing theory, pathophysiology et al than I care to be.

I balanced my time while E was at school and Sandi was at work between working for a Foundation in a variety of roles and being a member of various committees.  This volunteer work took up a great deal of my time and also contributed to my lapse in writing.  

When E was not at school, we traveled as usual.  E and I also went on trips to California, Nevada, Florida, New York, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.  We of course had our usual fun at various theme parks.  

I also went to Texas to see my bud, Adam.  We ate and drank.  We worked on the ranch/farm.  I shot a 9mm handgun, an AR-15 and hit a 6" target from 200 yards with a sniper rifle.   I had great fun in Texas and am leaving in two days to visit again.

Sandi and I also were fortunate to have a getaway without E.  A long weekend in Vegas with my bud, Adam, his wife, Aliina, A.A. and her friend and, of course, pop-ins by my mom, my brother and his wife.

After four years at the school in Naperville, and seeing certain aspects of the school move in a direction that would not necessary service E’s needs, we decided to move E to a new school.  Being on the “inside” of how a foundation works was enlightening, I guess enlightening is a good word for it.  While I am glad I had the opportunity, I doubt that I will ever put as much time and energy into a foundation again.  Why?  Well, to put it bluntly, foundation work is a full contact sport.

I have transitioned myself from this volunteer work and decided to shift the focus of my part-time law practice to special needs advocacy and limited transactional work.  Basically, only what I can reasonably take on in the six hours E is at school.  When I am not practicing, I will be writing and taking care of the business of E.  And business will only continue to get more complicated as he gets closer to aging out of the school system.

So life got in the way of me being able to write this blog.  I decided to get back to it because, well, I guess I have more to say now given all of the experiences of the last four plus years.

Some of the forthcoming posts will be funny (at least I think they will be), insightful (again, at least I think they will be), thought-provoking (ehhhhhh, maybe), educational (probably), personal (always).

Thanks for hopeful joining me again in reading.

Thanks for reading; more to come.