two years!

So much has been happening since the last time I've blogged. Where to begin? Justin and I have been working through some challenges to say the least. Justin broke his back in the summer of 2016, which through off his comeback to the Minnesota Ren. Festival.  His T4-T7 were fractured due to a a bumpy ride in the back bed of a pickup truck. It resulted in Justin having two grand mall seizures and 5 days in the hospital. That experience did test our relationship, to say the least.  He also had a bad reaction to the meds they gave him which, in my opinion still linger to this day. On the up side, this year was kind of a do over, he did get to play with the band The Leprechaun Pirates this past season. The sad news is one of the members had to leave do to a compromised immune system from the chemo she received from her diagnoses of breast cancer.    My son is now 19 years old.  Nineteen. Where has that time went? He has graduated to the next stage in life, no longer is he in high school. He has started the STAR program in Chaska MN.

They are working with him to see where he can be placed, possible out comes for job placement and workforce placement. This time we have not been needing to drive out to my parents house for him to be bused to school, he is being picked up from home.  This frees up time to work more on the house, an adjustment that Justin and I have been struggling with.  It's been 4 months and the schedule is still in flux.

Although today we did get some sort of a heading for what to do next for the house and how we want to organize our home.  I have been working on my knitting again, some crochet.

I haven't been back to playing with my dolls, even though I have gotten some new "kids" that need clothes and desperately need to be played with.  I haven't yet got my sewing room (still known as warehouse 13, because of all the "treasures" that are in there) 

Yesterday I spent the day with family and friends. My mom did her annual cookie decorating parties. It was entertaining to see Justin make a monster house, out of a gingerbread house that just wouldn't stay up right.

As for the nephews they seem to be growing up so fast, last few years it was all about how many sprinkles can fit onto one cookie, now they want to make them look pretty in other ways. Jerid didn't want anything to do with the process, he likes to be on YouTube and that is all he wanted to do.

I've come back here to not only update, but to also revisit what I have felt I have lost being a way. The City of Carver still exists, I still have the depression and fear ever time I have to hear about the plans for Steamboat days. Although lately they have been kind to us, by only putting the bounce houses in front of our home, they still block off our home six ways till Sunday, (literally until Sunday night) but the upside is we are not afraid of leaving our house, and not afraid to say in our house. Which has been the issue.  We will be ever diligent and not let our guard down so that what has happened in the past does not repeat it's self.  Now all we can do is try to live our life as best we can. Thanks for reading: Happy Holidays everyone!

As Time goes by.

As time goes by, life gets lived. Things you once thought of yourself gets put on a shelf and simply gets dusty. As you, yourself gets rusty and less agile. I love the spring it brings on the expectation of the new. Sun begins to shine the snow melts and the trees begin to bud, flowers bloom. Also for some (like me) almost a feeling of doom. The thoughts of what what hasn't happened yet start to creep in. I know the vale is thin in the spring, as much as it is in the fall. I experience this in the fall as well. Extreme feelings become evident. Spring brings on the wedding season. Justin and I tied the knot (literally a handfasting) this spring, it was a highlight of this year. Following it came the lows. Thoughts of why am I here, what is my purpose in life. Also the budget for Jerid's CDSC plan was today. He is doing better. Which to say is very bitter sweet. You see the way the county sees it, if a disabled person is doing well, they need less money to keep them on the right track. It is the same logic of a construction foreman looking at a tall building with a great foundation, and saying "Okay it looks good, lets take two beams off the bottom, because the top looks good." That frustration aside, it's great he's progressed. Somehow my writing on my blog stopped with the the frustrations of the City of Carver and their need to make us leave our home so they can have a drunken party in front of our home. Which makes me wonder if our family matters in the world at all. I know something needs to change. I just don't know how. We can not (should not have to) move. I'm very much feeling that I am damned if I do and damned if I don't at this point. Looking back I don't think I was ever meant to have the future I dreamed about in my younger years. I know I am so lucky to have Jerid and Justin in my life, to have a roof over my head, as shop in my house and food for my family. I just wished I deserved it. I just wish I had a purpose in life, a direction. Something to contribute to society that made me feel like I belonged in it.

An Autistic Child has to leave this home for this weekend's event.

This past weekend in the City of Carver had their annual event called Carver Steamboat days.  It is run by the City of Carver Lions club. Which is an event that takes up the city streets, with music, vendors and a parade. What they don't want people to know is that they had to displace an Autistic Child and his family, so they can block off their home to have a out door concert and beer vendors serve beer until 12 am. on Saturday night.

Ok, I have to admit.  Those who have read my blog before, know that it is our family.  So let me explain the stresses that come with this.  We have been trying to get the Carver Lions Club, and the City of Carver to move this event from in front of our home since we tried to move Justin's father (who was a disabled Vietnam vet. moved back to his home after an extensive stay in a rehabilitation center.)  The city did nothing.  When we explained that we have a disabled child who lives with us, so they should move the event else where, they just offered a hotel room.  We have admit we took it.  We felt we have no choice.  So leaving our home to a city who doesn't care about it's constituents, and a Lions club who obviously doesn't care about the displacement of a child with autism and his care givers. We had to leave our home.

This year we have gotten ourselves a lawyer.  Not much good it did us. (not that we are ungrateful for what our lawyer did for us. She was as awesome as she could be not being an expert of this section of law, she did move small mountains.)  We still had to leave our home.  The only up side was we got food added to their bill.  So at least we didn't have to scrape for food, which we had to do the last two years.

We also found out last year that The City of Carver has been shooting off fireworks within 200 yards from our house, in doing so on the weekend after labor day weekend 2007 (or 2008) they did in fact light our home on fire. We were told this after we had gotten a new roof.  This was at the time when Justin's father owned the house and was in the hospital. We also found out that they didn't have a permit for those years and not one mention to the family, from the City or from the Lion's club.  So when we did get the lawyer we were told by the city we had to evacuate our home so they can shoot off the fireworks. Our lawyer called the state fire marshal. We then found out that evacuation of a family home for fireworks  is 100% illegal and in contacting the state fire marshal our lawyer did get the fire works moved away from our house.

This was what was blocking us from our home.  Our lawyer told us we could go home by Sunday night we couldn't believe they only left us enough room for our Honda civic to get threw the rows of bleacher and garbage cans.  They moved them the next morning after we  made a comment on Facebook with a picture of what they considered clearing our drive way.  They said they would clean up around our yard, it took them two days and us contacting them on Facebook yet again to get them to do what they promised.  

After they  posted this video, we were confirmed in our concerns about what happens in our front walk and drive way.

 Yep this in front of our home. What would you do?

Out raged yet?  It gets better.  Since we have moved into this home which has been in Justin's family for 5 generations.  We have been accused of trying to shut down the whole event. We asked them to move it, they then ask us to find a more appropriate site for the concert.  When we point out that they have 4 parks large enough to host the event, without having to move people out of their home. They then say it wouldn't work, because people would complain.  (really?)  We have been asked by the City of Carver and the Lion's club why we moved there if we didn't like the event there.  (again really?)  We also have been asked why we are complaining, they don't offer a hotel to anyone else.  (what?)

We don't want to take away their event, we just want it to be moved. So we can enjoy the celebration and even participate, maybe make people aware of the autism community.

All we are asking for is the quiet serenity of our home, and access to it  100 % of the time.

Please help this post go viral!!! Let the City of Carver, and the Carver Lions Club know that they are wrong in displacing our family.

 Thank you for your support.  I would also like to thank our Lawyer, who did everything she could and the State of Minnesota's fire Marshal, that got the fire works a safe distance from our home.

It's that time of the year where I'm desperately trying to hold on to the positives in my life.

The court date for Justin's probate is next week and all that should be good.

It is for the most part. The down side is because Justin's father didn't have a Will, we will be paying down his fathers dept, that is if we want to keep the house that has been in his family for four generations.

Which is something we want. We want to keep it in the family,we want to live in it and we want to fix it up and do what his family did in it, which is raise a family and live our lives in it till we are old and grey. Then give to the the next Generation.

We don't mind taking up that burden we would except it. The down side is, we have to get the money. Although everyone we talk to believes in the cause and thinks it's only right that we do this, that is where it ends. No one is willing to co-sign for the loan that we would have to get to do it. Which is what is bringing me down. The total lack of faith in us.

So I'm forcing myself to think positive. Think about all of the good that has happened for us, all of the help, and good will we have had to obtain our goal thus far. To be thankful for the people in our life, they didn't have to do what they have already done, they did because they are good people. Also to be grateful for what we have. Family and friends.

I have to admit to be grateful, thankful and positive isn't easy for me, especially now. So this picture I'm posting is a white board with sentences that my son, Jerid, wrote this school year. He is in the Special Olympics swim team again this year and doing well. They think with training he could compete unassisted, which is a big leap from last time (assisted with life vest, to unassisted and no life vest) Every little and big milestone makes me smile. I have to trust that the universe has a plan for us, I just wish it co-excised with ours.

Thanks for reading.