I've had a rough couple of days. I'd like to blame it all on the heat, but really, the heat is only the melting icing on the cake. First up, I'm late on getting my Sockapalooza4 socks out to my pal. I've participated in every round, and this is the first time I'm late. Its embarrassing.

I'm so close. But damn, have you ever tried to knit wool when its 100 degrees in the shade? And why does this particular sock feel like its never going to end? Just when I think I've hit my groove, I pull out my ruler and I find that I've made so little progress. The silver lining in this is that since its crossing the border and needs to be dropped at a postal counter, I wouldn't have been able to ship until Saturday anyway. I have made post office trips with all four kids in tow before.. and I don't plan to do it again on purpose, any time soon.

Thing the second. Car repair guys. So we take the van in earlier this week to get some work done prior to state inspection. And they do said work, which might I add, was not cheap, then neglect to tell us that we also had a broken tie rod (!!!!) That not so small repair had to be done at the other place where I took it to be inspected. Now this wouldn't normally piss me off so much except that I expected to only have to entertain the kids for an hour. And that turned into a three hour adventure.. in the hades hot heat. Luckily the kid's school is only 6 blocks away so we set off on our walk (in the hades hot heat) to spend some time on their awesome playground. Did I mention the heat? Full sun, burning hot slide, scorching swing seats. Oh, and Dylan got stung by a bee just as we were leaving.

So anyway, van done, but I still need to call the first place because their idiot technician didn't put our hub caps back on properly and we lost one. We'd have lost two if Richard didn't notice the driver's side one halfway off.

Thing the third. Mommy patience. Where on earth do I get more? I swear, Connor has been pushing every button I have lately. Its really hard because I know his sensory integration issues make him intense in all ways.. physically and emotionally. Transitions are incredibly hard, but so is a trip to the market, a diaper change, or even just sitting down for a meal. His special education teacher now comes twice a week until pre-school starts. Shes fabulous, and has loaded me up with all sorts of techniques to use in situations where Connor's SID starts to show. I'm not sure what I'd do without her. I know there's no real advice out there for this, and I'm not asking for sympathy.. I'm just venting. That and I'm just exhausted. But there is some good I can report, Connor is talking a lot. Theres still some jargon thrown in that we can't decipher sometimes, but for the most part we can fully address his wants and needs based on spoken language vs sign language or the process of elimination!

Thing the fourth. The fabulous teacher I just mentioned above? She called earlier this week to let us know that she was ill and inadvertently exposed us to Hand Foot Mouth disease. Cassidy and Dylan have both had this, the rest of us, not. I've been feeling like crap all week, but blamed it on the heat. But this morning I woke up with a sore spot on the roof of my mouth. No rash or anything, and no signs of illness in anyone else. Keeping my fingers crossed that I just scratched the roof of my mouth last night on a crouton.

Oh, and have I mentioned the heat?

Around a year ago on this day..

• Nope, no pics yet - 2005