I'm ready for some new beginnings

Life, you guys. It's been happening in spades around here. I kept thinking SURELY things would settle down and then I could tell you all about it, you know, once it was OVER. Once things were calm and settled. But hey, we'll all grow old waiting for that to happen.

Big changes are happening for my boy C. (In case you don't know us and landed here via a search engine: C has Asperger Syndrome, misophonia, OCD, severe anxiety and depression, and mild Tourette Syndrome.) A couple of weeks ago it became obvious that his current school situation, whereby a Homebound Education teacher from his high school comes to our house for two hours twice a week to instruct him, was not working anymore. His misophonia and anxiety level were such that he could not be in the room with her for the two hours she was here, even if she wrote everything down instead of speaking. So, long story short, we are withdrawing him from school. Ostensibly we'll be homeschooling him but really he's going to do this credit-by-exam thing and just graduate early (he is a junior in high school this year). This could potentially be a done deal within a matter of weeks.

We're also adding a new med, starting tomorrow. C is already on Lexapro and has had success with it. It does seem to take the edge off his anxiety somewhat and allows him to go out in public occasionally as long as he's careful about protecting his ears. But lately he's been having more depression and OCD-type stuff going on -- more the obsessive thoughts than the compulsive behaviors -- and also some rage issues that aren't caused by misophonia triggers. His doctor thought he could benefit from a mood stabilizer that works in concert with the Lexapro, so tomorrow morning we'll add Abilify to the mix (stepping him up slowly) and see how he does.

Let's not talk about how terrified I am to have my kid on both SSRIs and anti-psychotics and instead focus on how these drugs, when properly prescribed, save lives, shall we? And can we also not talk about the swirl of emotions I feel over him graduating early and in this manner when his education has been both my full-time job and my single biggest source of stress for the past 12 years? Please? Can we? Okay. Thank you.

Moving right along, I have been plagued by a series of maladies since I got back from my grandfather's funeral last month, one right after another, and long story short (again) I'm taking Cipro now. So we're ALL on the scary drugs up in here. But mine is temporary, I hope, thank goodness. I just want to be able to kill the pain with bourbon healthy again.

One good thing: C and I have made a point, at least once a week, of getting out in nature for a few hours. My Series of Neverending Maladies has made this somewhat difficult, but by God, we are persevering over here. It helps us both so much, just hiking and exploring and getting fresh air. C never really played outdoors much as a kid; he had a crippling fear of flying insects for years. So much like he finally learned to ride a bicycle without training wheels when he was 10, he's learning how to wade through creeks and jump from rock to rock and dig interesting stones out of the dirt at almost 17. Better late than never, I say!

Also: the weather has been gorgeous here. Our plum tree had a gazillion buds on it this year, the elm trees along our back fence are leafing out, the daffodils are up, and best of all daylight saving time has arrived! Woo! Now I don't have to grill in the dark.

I am ready for Spring and all it represents. BRING IT.