The Big Bertha

Sunday was a "girls day". Alyssa had asked for me to help her clean her room. She wanted to get rid of some stuff that she didn't use anymore and she wanted help in organizing her room better. She has a very small room and if everything does not have a home............Let's just say DISASTER! So we bought a bookcase for Alyssa's room that would give her a little more room for storage. Jeff assembled the bookcase and then bolted it to the wall. Anyone with a RAD child understands the necessity of that! So, that done it was just me and Alyssa for the rest of the day. The plan for the day was to start out with braiding. Oh, did I mention that I also promised Alyssa that I would braid her hair and put beads in for the 4th of July? So, we start at about 1:00 and I get Alyssa's hair all parted and ready to begin. I start braiding and get about 4 braids in when Alyssa is asking if we can take a break. Now, I know my daughter. I planned the room organizing to be done during hair breaks! But, come on, 4 braids and she is ready for a break? Let me sum up the day by saying that Alyssa's hair looks awesome! It is not finished, but what is done looks great! Alyssa's room is not done either! The bookcase is in, and about 1/4 of the room is done. Neither project we started is finished and we worked until 10:00pm! Yes, that's right, 9 hours and not one finished task! I'll try to take a picture of the work in progress. You can definitely tell what part of the room is done, and which isn't. I will also try to take a picture of Alyssa when I get her hair completely finished. The plan is to finish it on Tuesday because tonight we see Paulette(therapist).

We go on vacation next week-actually our vacation officially starts at 4:30pm on Thursday! Last year, Alyssa had a very emotional week. I still don't know if it was the fireworks that triggered something for her or just the holiday itself. But we need to be very careful with her and watch and see if we can pinpoint any particular event that sets her off. Paulette will address a lot of our concerns tonight. I would love it if we could have a quiet, uneventful vacation.

We bought a new inner tube for the boat. "The Big Bertha" is a tube that holds up to 4 people. It's inside diameter is so huge that when Alyssa sits inside it, just her head pokes over the top! She can't wait to try it because she says now she won't have to worry about tipping over. I can't wait to try it either-now maybe I can go tubing without getting my butt caught in the hole!