Update! Has it been this long?

Well, well, well! Almost May already! My blogging has been lax, and I am sorry for this!

The chair has helped out so much! I still have some family that doesn't think the chair should be necessary. I really wish they were right~

On May 14th, I graduate from Spoon River College! I am getting an Associates of Arts in Teaching for Special Education, and another AAT for Early Childhood Education! I am planning on attending Western Illinois University in the fall. At graduation, however, only one side of the stage has a ramp. This is the side that everyone comes down from. I guess we are going to have my chair at the end of the stage waiting, and I am going to walk across the stage for graduation. I am extremely nervous about this, as I am so scared to fall, or throw something out, such as a hip, while going across the stage. I really want to do this, but I am just nervous. With the way the flow of the graduation is, my disability advisor at the college thought it would be the best, if possible, to try it this way. I also found out that I am the only one going through graduation with an AAT degree. Only one other person is graduating with this degree, and she is not going through the ceremony. I wish she was!

Still waiting to hear who is coming to watch the graduation. It is at a local high school gymnasium. I kinda laughed to hear that I have to go back to high school in order to graduate from college!

My daughter, that also has EDS, just had a tooth extracted last week. As usual, she is having problems healing. She was pretty sick last night and this morning. She is home from school, and it appears that I will be calling the doctor today. Pray that it isn't something serious!

My only other major issue right now is gas stations. Does any other EDSer have an issue with this? The gas stations offer handicapped fueling, and they tell you to honk twice, wait five minutes, and if no one comes out, honk again. I now honk twice, wait about 3 minutes, and then call inside. I have been collecting the phone numbers of all local gas stations. I had to leave one gas station, as the attendant refused to help because she was alone. She didn't want to be outside the building if anyone else showed up. I didn't have the phone number, so I sent my daughter inside to tell her we needed help. She told this to my daughter after waiting almost 15 minutes for her to come out and help. She, being the sassy 13-year-old she is, quipped to the attendant, "If you have a sign that says you provide handicap fueling, you should provide it, or take the sign down!" That's my Sami... I now do not go to that gas station. If at all possible, I get my husband to fill the tank for me. Gas prices being what they are, however, I am trying to stay away from as many of those stations as possible! I have a full size, 1991 Chevy G20 Sport Van. We still laugh at the "Sport" part of the name. We joke that it runs well, and passes everything... except a gas station. It has a wheelchair lift installed in it, so while it is short on looks and gas mileage, it sure is a help to have.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully will update again soon!