I dunno how I would feel about receiving a taxidermied mouse.

Rosie's insight on this issue is very wise, I think.

When I was little, my folks would just walk out into the part of the back yard that was all over grown and cut down some random tree. Sometimes if it was too tall, they would cut the top half off. And then, because apparently tree stands didn't work or something, they would have a wire attached to to two points on the wall on either side of the tree and looped around it so it wouldn't fall over. Needless to say, the trees were not perfectly shaped.

Yesterday, I took a 25 minute walk, followed by pattern practice and stretching. Today, I lifted some weights, with dh on hand to make sure my form is ok. We have a very busy weekend, with several extra activities for children, so that is all that is going to happen over the next two days.

Last night, I spent almost 40 minutes working on my pattern, lifting some weights, and stretching. I think maybe today, I will either walk for a bit, if it is still nice outside, or do some indoor cycling.

On Tuesday, I spent 30 minutes on my pattern, weights and stretching. I missed the group belt testing last week, so I was the only student who tested last night, and the whole dojo was watching me. This week also happens to be the last week a fourth degree black belt is here before he moves away. He has been with this dojo for decades. So he was in charge of my testing, and said I did my pattern very well. I'm sad he is going away because he's an excellent teacher. He also taught the class last night - he usually just observes from the back. So, my sore legs today are like his going away present. 😆 Dh asked me how I felt after testing, and I said I was more impressed with myself than I thought I would be. Today, my plan is to practice my pattern, lift some weights, and stretch.

I hope the little one recovers quickly!

TKD class last night. Maybe some weights today. Definitely need to practice pattern and hopefully some self-defense moves with dh, since I will be belt testing on Wednesday.

Yesterday I took a 20 minute walk, followed by 30 minutes of pattern practice and stretching. Today, it took almost all day to get a migraine under control, so I just did pattern practice and a shorter bit of stretching. But something is better than nothing.

Went to TKD class on Wednesday. We did some upper body work, and my shoulders are sore. I was planning on exercising last night, but dh had a meeting that went way over and I had to take kids to TKD. This afternoon, I intend to do some walking, followed by stretching.

It stinks that your gut instincts were brushed off. I can only imagine that having an earlier diagnosis would make life much easier. As for my example, it is 10 years since the initial diagnosis, and nothing else has been said about it all that time. This is also the mother, who when her toddler told a random person he hated them, it was because he got angry when he ate too much corn. 🤷‍♀️

I know someone who had her kid diagnosed as autistic because when he was 3yo, he liked to line up matchbox cars. It was more about making her kid a special snowflake and having an excuse for any undesirable behavior, so she wouldn't have to do anything as unpleasant as disciplining him. I have known some kids who were truly autistic, and this kid surely wasn't. You can always find somebody that will be willing to take your money to tell you what you want to hear.

There's a chapter in Roald Dahl's The Twits that goes into a bit of detail on this particular issue.

Hot tea.

Truth.

We have now entered the cold, wet part of autumn. I tried to use the indoor cycling trainer Saturday, but experienced 20min. of technical difficulties, so there went my exercise time. Today, it decided to play nicely, and I got 20 minutes in.

I went to TKD on Monday. Didn't do anything Tuesday, as I was preparing for a birthday dinner. Wednesday, I skipped TKD because I just crashed in the afternoon. Today, I did some weight lifting, and leave this evening to pick up dh and dd from the airport.

Hope you are able to rest and find rejuvenation on your break. Eleven days of R&R sounds lovely.

I love my rice cooker! Best $30 I ever spent.

We really like this recipe: https://www.food.com/recipe/hearty-and-quick-butternut-squash-soup-392850

Seriously, stilettoes with a Teletubby hoodie?

So nice to see another Evil Dead fan. What a great costume idea! Are you going to buy them from S-Mart?

For the child I mentioned previously, she had apparently done somersaults in utero. She was breach at 8 months, but then righted herself by the next check up. I was admitted to the hospital after directly after a check up because her heart beats weren't high enough? (my memory is bad right now) and they were afraid the cord was wrapped around her neck. I guess it was just wrapped around her whole body because the midwife said it was the longest cord she'd ever seen.

I dunno. Only to say with my last child, I pushed, but my body was not helping at all. The contractions weren't doing a thing in that regard. It's only because there was a bossy nurse who commanded me to push that a C-section was avoided. Dd was born through sheer will power, which is seemingly reflected in her personality.

I live with children who are home all day long. I am fearful of all the possibilities that could happen if I decided to put my phone in the microwave. In this scenario, I fear my children more than the government.