Stef's Random Thoughts

• Dude, it totally snowed yesterday! Finally. We haven't had snow since the first week of December - even when the rest of the U.S. was snowed in. Just enough on the ground this morning to make everything look a little prettier, a little brighter, and enough to make the commute interesting. 
• I am actively making an effort to leave the office by 6 pm every night. I did last night, and was rewarded with this gorgeous sunset on the snowy foothills:

 

• Last night I finally sat down and filled out the 15 page assessment called a SIB-R (Scales of Independent Behavior-Revised) for Jamie. The purpose of the SIB-R is to assess adaptive and maladaptive behavior to determine need for assistance. The school psychologist will provide his own assessment and, from those and the diagnoses we have received from doctors, we will officially change Jamie's status from developmentally delayed to Autistic & ADHD. This could potentially change the amount of resources he receives from the school district, and it has an influence on his ability to be included in various other state & federal programs for "disabled" kids. (I hate that label). The challenge for these types of assessments is to grade your own child as bad as you possibly can. Don't give them the benefit of the doubt that they can do something on their own. If you think they may struggle doing something for themselves then you must grade them low. It goes against everything that we, as parents, hope for our children - they they CAN do things and that if they did it once they can do it again. It's not fun to spend an hour thinking of your child in this derogatory context. 
• On a more cheerful note - tonight I start packing for a trip! This trip will be good because I'm combining work AND pleasure. First, bright and early Saturday I'm flying to Boston to spend 3 nights with my BFF. We are spending the first night in Boston at a hotel and going out with friends. Woo-hoo! Then going to her house in New Hampshire until Tuesday morning when I fly down to Washington, D.C. My company has a office just outside of Washington that I travel to a couple times a year. While there I have plans to get together with two more friends and hang out with the co-workers at that office. Fun stuff! I'll be exhausted on the flight home but it should be a busy & fun week.
• The day after I get home is my husband's birthday. What to do, what to do. I know I need to take him shopping for his gift (he has requested sunglasses) but I should think of something else. He likes a big to-do. Hmmm. I'll probably make cake balls, at least.
• Is it too early to start looking forward to our annual summer vacation in July??