Busy, Busy...

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed today - there seems to be too many things to do on my "to do" list and I'm not making as much progress as I'd like. I suppose, sitting here thinking the day over, I really have accomplished plenty, and it's not quite lunch time yet - so I'm doing pretty well - it just doesn't seem like it because there's still so much to do! :) I'm trying to take advantage of a "stronger" day - one where my muscles are working better than "normal" - but, sadly, using them makes them begin to weaken, so I'm starting to get droopy now. Perhaps I'm actually feeling "overwhelmed" because there are two things on my "to do" list today that I'm really dreading...

a phone call
and haircuts for the boys
Both of these things are extremely stressful - and having to do them both in one day just feels like a lot for me. I know, I know - they both seem pretty innocuous - definitely not things that should leave me feeling incapable of doing anything because I have them hanging over my head - but here again my life is not like everyone else's. Take hair cuts for the boys for instance - I might have mentioned them in the past. This is an entire production - one that leaves us all on edge. Sensory issues are a HUGE problem when it comes to having hair cut - I don't know of any child who's brain doesn't process sensory information like everyone else that handles hair cuts well. I can't even explain how traumatic this can be - and they've never even had to go in to a "professional" - I learned to cut hair pretty quickly because no one else can get that "close" to them. With The Professor, when he was little, the only way I could cut his hair was when he was sleeping -- thankfully, he didn't need his first haircut until he was about two. Then we "graduated" to cutting hair while he watched one of the videos he was obsessed with (VeggieTales)... :) Now, at eleven, it really isn't any better - but some days it isn't a disaster -- I just have to pick a "good" day and then be flexible if it starts to go downhill. I have to admit, this is the only time I wish we had a handheld game of some sort - at my mom's we use one and it makes things so much easier because the boys have something else to focus on rather than their discomfort. Hopefully it will go fine today -- some days I have to drag The Professor out from behind or inside whatever he is hiding in and try to hold him down while I cut his hair - which isn't simple now that he's almost as big as I am! So far, we're not having an exceptionally "autistic" day, so I'm optimistic, and yet still definitely feeling overwhelmed knowing it has to be done --- my hubby refuses to have them looking like "ragamuffins"... :)

Okay, now the phone call... This is something I will probably fully intend to do, and then conveniently forget about until it's too late to call - and then I'll just have to do it tomorrow - or the next day.... or the next. No, really, I do have to make this call -- I'm just really uncomfortable talking to strangers on the phone - I'm not even that comfortable talking to friends and family on the phone - but people I don't know, particularly people I need answers from, that's hard. Mostly the problem is that I have a hard time understanding people if I can't see their mouth when they're talking -- a lot of times the words just kind of run together into sound, and I have to say, "what" a lot - which is frustrating for both parties. I end up feeling like an idiot, and people on the other end tend to treat me like one. *sigh* I do have to make this call though, because I'm tired of being ignored by my neurologist. Is it every doctor who has a superiority complex, or only the ones I've been in contact with? *sigh* I suppose this is a problem because it hurts my "pride" - and that's not necessarily a bad thing, being humbled can only make me more like Christ -- there isn't anything more humble than being the Creator of the Universe and then becoming a baby and growing up in poverty. I suppose I'll survive been "talked down to" -- I guess I should go do that now, while I have my courage up...