So this past week...

SUCKED!!! Like a big one. Plain and simple.

Last weekend was rough, so we were all exhausted to begin with. And it was mostly downhill from there.

My week revolved around:

• bodily excretions in all their nasty permutations (especially Salamander hasn't been doing too good) - the labs I typically use for the boyos' tests are not going to love me this week,
  
• challenging work projects that needed a lot of attention and energy (and as my batteries were running quite low, keeping things moving along was a challenge),
  
• a stupid lawn company who, despite my explicit orders, sprayed my yard with corn gluten (Potatey is very, very sensitive to corn.... and as you would have guessed, we are dealing with belly issues right now..),
  
• issues at Salamander's school that definitely could be interpreted as bullying (still need to get to a resolution with school on those), and
  
• worrying about a friend who's struggling with awfully familiar crap revolving the impact a child with challenges can have on family dynamics (and I am specifically referring to how the 'adult' male in the family is handling the impact of the challenges).
  I have so much that I would like to say on this particular subject, but I'll hold my tongue. Let's just end this with saying that the selfishness and utter disregard for another person's feelings that some 'men' display toward their offspring (and then to watch them come up with a lengthy list of 'justifications' why what they're doing is OK..) makes me so mad that I could literally vomit up anger...

However, every cloud HAS a silver lining. The weather predictions for today were awful, but surprise, surprise, it's actually beautiful outside!!!

The boyos allowed me to take some pictures. Here goes: