I have one last blog to post for 2007. I thought I’d scour back through my end-of-the-year postings for 2006 (our year of infamy) to enable myself to reflect on what’s different and what’s the same.

Well, I’d like to report that 2007 was incredibly easier than 2006…but that’s not necessarily true. In 2006, I wrote a three-part blog on the Good, the Bad and the Utterly Ridiculous events of the year. This year, they can be condensed into one blog…so maybe things are getting better.

The Good

1. Kay and her great grades. One of the highlights around here has been how Kay, now 16 and driving, and preparing to visit colleges in the spring, has taken total responsibility for her studying and grades. After a rough year of applying herself last year, she has really matured. I’m so proud of all the hard work she’s done!
2. New Pastor. In case you can’t tell from my posts, I love our new pastor. And because we are so close to our church family, this change has meant a great deal to our family.
3. SB10 Bill. I was so excited to get a chance to participate in lobbying for a cause and being successful with the passage of Senate Bill 10, which created vouchers for children who receive special education in the state of Georgia.
4. Kay is a “star”. Another highlight of 2007 was watching Kay in the lead role of her high school’s fall performance. She was magnificent (and that’s not just her biased mom’s opinion.)

The Bad

1. My mother’s heart attack and bypass surgery. While we were visiting there in August, my mother had a heart attack. When the doctors discovered quite a bit of blockage, the answer was quadruple bypass surgery. The good part is she’s recovered nicely.
2. LuLu was hospitalized twice in November. Despite our best efforts to untangle the mess of hormones, physical symptoms and increase behavioral outbursts, we found it necessary to hospitalize her in a private psych hospital twice in November. In hindsight, this was more about getting a break and coming up with a better game plan than it was about helping LuLu, as the hospital itself did not change a thing. It was a bad idea…but perhaps good things will come from it.

The Ugly

1. Federal Court Loss. November was a rotten month. While LuLu was in the hospital, we got word that the Federal judge had sided with our school district and the state, and had awarded them attorney fees, saying our attorney had filed a “frivolous” case. The insanity continues. I couldn’t write fiction crazier than this. So, it’s off to federal appeal and then on to the Supreme Court if necessary. Looks like the ugliness of 2006 permeated over into 2007, 2008…who knows how long it takes to get justice.
2. Blood in stool. In March we had the first round of this very disturbing occurrence and headed to the emergency room. Since then, these episodes have stopped, but persistent stomach pains started in November. So we did a complete GI scope and the doctor found h pylori. We’re treating it, and hoping for overall changes in her GI health.
3. Puberty also took its toll on LuLu this year, as we sought to stop her menstrual cycles for much of the year (since they occurred every 2-3 weeks). I’m happy to report that it’s been 29 days since her last period…woo hoo! Maybe we’ve found the right stuff!


The things I’m still unsure of.

There are a couple major events in my life in 2007 that I can’t categorize into Good, Bad or Ugly…the jury’s still out.

1. Partners in Policymaking. I was accepted into the 2007-2008 class of this program and have learned A LOT! While in the long run, I’ll be happy to have completed this program and have this education, the timing has been awful. I probably should have waited until another year, because of all the crises around here. But if I had waited, I wouldn’t have made the incredible friendships I have with so many of my classmates. The other not-so-good thing from learning about how to advocate for disabled people is learning how much advocacy is needed in Georgia. It’s depressing really, to know how backward this state is. I’m still grabbling with my emotions about that.
2. Georgia Virtual Academy. I was thrilled to find that there would be a public virtual school this year. I was not so thrilled that it took us over three months to get in and get started. So we’re way behind; and LuLu was already behind a couple of grade levels. The curriculum is great; the teachers are sweet; and LuLu is learning. I’m trying not to let the rest of it stress me out. I anticipate major problems during standardized testing (because she is so behind). And I’m still a bit perturbed that my only choice for getting her the education she needs is to basically do it myself…with great materials. So, we’ll see how things shape up in 2008.




Last Year's Reflections

The Good

The Bad

The Utterly Ridiculous

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