Suzanne & "The Fam".

Well, how do you start a blog? I have no idea. But since we're leaving for Turkey in only 6 weeks, I'd like to blog our trip a bit so I figure 'why not start before we go?' Also, there are some things that I want to improve and change in my life, so maybe if I blog it, I will be forced to look forward to seeing my own progress... whether or not anybody else sees it.

Anyways, my profile pretty much says it - I'm Suzanne, a mom of one boy, Mehmed (pronounced Memet, like Dr. Oz on Oprah). He's 5 & 1/2, he has an official diagnosis of PDD-NOS, which places him on the Autistic Spectrum, but not fully autistic. Some days I doubt the diagnosis because he's perfectly fine, but then there are other days... He can be so stubborn and difficult to deal with sometimes, and other times he is just cute & funny.
My goal is to become a mom who's more organized so that we can plan our days with positive activities & to quit yelling. Sometimes yelling is the only way to get through to him, but I think that even yelling at him once a day makes him think that yelling is an acceptible way for him to communicate. If I don't want it to be ok for him, then I really shouldn't make it ok for me. My motivational picture for this one is the TV Character Alison Dubois, on Medium (played by Patricia Arquette). I love her soft voice & calm way. Even when she's mad she seems calm.

"The Fam" is me & my son (Mehmed, A.K.A. Memo) & my DH Orhan - pronounced exactly the way you read it - Or - Han. I've been married for 10 years, and we only have the one child because I have blocked tubes - a ruptured appendix when I was 11 scarred my insides pretty badly. Orhan is a carpet installer & works pretty hard. I've been staying at home for about 3 years now. I love that his job brings in enough for me to stay home since I don't deal very well with stress, especially since Mehmed was born.

The old ruptured appendix caused a lot of abdominal adhesions, the reason for my present infertility issues, but they are starting to haunt my body in other ways now too. No need to mention now because it would probably be TMI. I'm looking for other homeopathic & other natural remedies so hopefully I won't need another surgery. So my other goal is to get my body to a healthier place - and not just because of my abdominal adhesions, which I can't really do much about. I want to get healthier because I've been overweight since I had my son & I don't want to wind up with the same health problems as my mom. She struggles so hard because of her weight, diabetes, arthritis & angina. She's so frustrated with the problems her body gives her. I am genetically pre-disposed to all those problems, so I have to start fighting now to prevent them, God-willing, from causing me a lot of grief in my life too.

I'm also a Muslim, a convert, since January 1999. I do love it. It's a beautiful religion - but human beings are weak and I have not been a perfect Muslim. I'm working on it. The key of course is the prayer. Staying connected with God makes everything else run smoothly. I want to be a better Muslim, wife, mother & a healthier person. I'm trying to work hard on all of these things, & hopefully I can start to see some progress if I blog it. I'm also really looking forward to Turkey!