The stuff you may not know about me.....

Hmmm. You've clicked on this page because maybe you want to know a little bit more about me. Well, I grew up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I am an only child but don't worry I have 5 older boy cousins who certainly fought amongst themselves and taught me to climb trees and BMX. I'm still emotionally scarred from the BMX-ing. Yes boys I was too small to try that jump.....just in case you were still wondering. No need to worry that I missed out as a singleton.

Me at the age of 3

I was married for a number of years but for so many reasons I can hardly count them I'm now a single parent. I have two awesome children who keep me very busy. My son Andrew has been diagnosed with ADHD, Tourette Syndrome, three learning disabilities, and a form of Autism called Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). My daughter Camryn has been seriously underachieving because her only diagnoses are Tourette Syndrome and ADHD (so far). I'm only kidding about the underachieving of course. Despite their challenges I wouldn't change a thing about them.

I grew up with cats but over the years have had fish and a hamster who was freakishly good at getting out of his cage. Let's just say I woke up more than once with something furry crawling around my feet. Adrenaline rush!! Now I have two cats named Chloe and Shadow as well as a dog named Augie (AKA Augustus).

I see myself as both very average and completely unconventional at the same time. Yah, it doesn't make sense to me either. Just go with it. I think I have a way of looking at things that makes others laugh. I know it makes me laugh. I would describe myself as an optimist but I'm also realistic. Let's just say I wouldn't have stood on the Titanic saying "Oh, I think everything will be okay". I would have been the one saying "I'm going to survive even if I have to push you out of the life boat to do it". Kidding....kind of. 

Recent photo of me taken by Camryn

Professionally I work in the field of Child Development. Currently I work with children who have a variety of medical and developmental concerns but primarily the kids on my caseload have Autism. And in case you were wondering I was in this field before I ever had my own children. However my real life experience with Autism has been invaluable for me. I've been in the trenches and it's given me a deeper understanding of what the families I see are going through everyday.

My life isn't always glamorous but it's real. I will share the highs and lows of it and hope that you get as many laughs at my expense as I do. Happy reading.

Colleen