The Mama

I'm Heather, the mama. I used to be a newspaper reporter, before I quit my job to have more time for the monsters. Now I'm a stay-at-home mom, who writes to stay sane. I have quite a few autistic tendencies, myself, and recognize that much of my childhood can be explained if I look at it through the lens of autism. I haven't been diagnosed, but I'd venture it would be a safe bet to say I'm an Aspie (Asperger's Syndrome - part of the autism spectrum of disorders [ASD], if you weren't clear).

Not only am I taking care of those two cuties, I'm trying to take care of myself and their daddy. I have been diagnosed with anxiety, Arnold Chiari Malformation, depression, fibromyalgia, migraines, and seizures (though I haven't had one since college). Basically, I live out my days in pain and grit my teeth and push through because, well, quite frankly I don't have a choice.

I studied writing/English in college, received my bachelor's degree, and moved back to my tiny hometown, where I thought I would spend a year or two working, saving up money and applying to law school. That turned into three years, which turned into 'Oh, hey, you're pregnant...with twins'.

After the twins were born I worked at Walmart for a little while, because you do what you gotta do, and then got a job with the local daily newspaper as a writer. I really enjoyed that job, but it was stressful and time-consuming and my kids deserved more of me than I could give them while trying to keep that job and my sanity.

Now I look for freelance work where I can get it, and I'm trying to start a photography side business to help bring in some extra income (http://www.gofundme.com/heathermeade) though without a camera it's kind of hard to get started, which is why I set up the GoFundMe that's not been doing so hot...

Basically, I'm just another autism mama, trying to make it in this crazy world, and hopefully one day we'll all be thriving, and things will be easier, but right now it's a struggle and we're just trying to survive one day at a time!