The Heymann Family Journal

http://www.photoshow.com/watch/vr5bE3Wg This is the sculpture Nicole and I saw today.

I got Jessica out of the house. We went shopping. I feel very tired but happy for this victory. Thank you for your prayers.

Jess slept the whole night and now all morning. It's 10:30am and she still doesn't want to get up. I'm still hoping to get her dressed and out side to shop. Then I'll give her ,her computer back. The weather has gotten better. It's windy but sunny. Someone asked me why Jessica is depressed. She is a non verbal autistic person. We can only guess it's the stress of being in a different place. And the roads in Italy are small. The trucks drive very close to you. I think Jess is afraid of the trucks. I bought a screen to put on the window by her car seat. That should help. But so far she will not get back in the car. Apart from the fact we can not go on any tours for the next 10 days, we need to drive 14 hours to get home. The hard part for me isn't the burses on my arms (Jessica pinched me black and blue yesterday). The hard thing is seeing her stuck in this fear and depression. She could be enjoying her vacation. But fear keeps her from doing...

I was going to go out with Nicole today. But first I needed to pull Jessica out of her dark bedroom just to go shopping. Well, it is the late afternoon, and Jessica still refuses to leave her room. I started this fight, and I feel like I need to finish it. We opened her window shutters to let the light in. We unplugged her computer. We took away her blanket. She is at least getting sunshine. But I'm waiting for her to get dressed and come with me shopping. Juergen and I are both worried about her. As you know, she is autistic. And she is at the moment falling into a deep depression. She does not want to eat, and wants to sleep allot. She gets more and more ridged. So I feel I must win this battle today. And even if she has to sleep tonight with out her blanket, I will not give in. She needs to get dressed and go shopping with me. I have a headache. This isn't allot of fun. I hate autism, but I love Jessica. This is what is best for her. Please, please, plea...

We read San Gimignano has the worlds best chocolate ice cream. Nicole and I hope to test that claim tomorrow.

It was suppose to rain all day, so we drove almost 3 hours South to the Saturnia Hot Springs. We went there once before about 3 or 4 years ago. It really is in the middle of know where. People have traveled to this spot for thousands of years. You have to drive through very curvy roads. The drive was stressful for everyone, especially Jessica. And I hoped we could get Jessica to soak in these mineral pools. But she would not get out of the car. So Juergen and I took turns in the water, and watching Jess. Our friends also enjoyed the time (I hope). My skin feels amazing, and I know I will sleep well tonight.

The weather has been pretty bad where we are. I think we will travel 2 hours South tomorrow to this spa. We have been here once before. We all felt so wonderful after we spent a few hours in this water.

I took a walk with our friends and Sarah. We got caught in a down poor but found a place to wait out the rain. Juergen spent hours teaching Thomas how to program computers. Nicole painted. And Jessica is feeling better. Philip read his book. It's his 4th novel in a series. He is already asking for the 5th book. And I'm so proud he is finally reading. I also shopped with Philip and Sarah. An Italian food store is a dangerous place for me to be. I love their fresh and good ingredients. I could fill our entire car with enough food for the rest of the year. But we don't have that kind of space. So We need to finish the food I've already bought. Juergen and I both can not get enough of the good olive oil, fresh basil, tomatoes and fresh cheese. Oh, the lemons, the peaches, and the beans!!!! It is a good food paradise. And I bought the kids a hot wheel track that has a car that runs on batteries. My brother had a set like that when he was little. I admit h...

We had a restful day. The kids played soccer and swam. We eat good food. I took a long nap. Jessica finally eat some watermelon. I was getting worried. But She is finally looking and sounding better. I'll get out and take pictures tomorrow.

The road is always longer then you think, but we are here. I guess when you have 7 people in the car there are going to be a few potty breaks. But the vacation house in Austria was very nice. So much nicer then I expected. We booked it for the return trip. My camera ran out of batteries, so I didn't get allot of pictures. But the alps were amazingly beautiful. And I'll try to take more photo's when we return. The kids were not such a great joy to travel with. Sarah (age 10) was especially hard to deal with. She would complain a great deal about how we would never get there. And Thomas didn't help. He would say yes, we will all die in the car. Nicole said no...that will not happen. And Thomas said, it could happen if we got in a car accident. Thank you son for the good thoughts. Sarah was not comforted by the conversation! But when we finally got to the house in Italy, everyone worked very well together to unpack and put everything away. They made me pr...

I handed the keys off to the house sitter. I moped the floors. I've packed myself. Now I need to pack Jessica. I checked the weather, and it looks like rain. Rain here in Heidelberg and in Tuscany. At least my garden will be happy. But the kids may not get to play in the pool. Oh well! It will probably mean more work for Juergen and I because they will be bored. I hope the weather report is wrong.

I have to admit getting ready for a 2 week vacation has gotten easier over time. The kids are old enough to wash all their own cloths, and pack them selves. I only check to make sure they are bringing the right stuff. It's raining in Italy, so they need to bring long pants and sweaters. Sarah packed 6 pairs of shorts...I guess she was expecting 2 weeks of sunshine. So I only need to pack myself and Jessica. I pack gluten free food for Nicole and I. I also pack the board games and arts and crafts stuff. I have people to take care of the house when we are gone. I walk them through the house today. The greenhouse needs to be watered, and the fish have to be fed. Nicole takes Mickey to the doggie hotel today. So I only need to finish planting plants, and do a little more cleaning. That's so much easier then in past years. And I'm finally getting over the jet lag. It's allot easier to get things done when you are awake. Juergen was so cheerful this morning as...

I still have jet lag. Again I wanted to sleep in, but Juergen had to drop the car off to be serviced. So I had to get up at 8am to get Jessica ready for school. I am basically not being given any time to get over this jet lag. It feels like I need to sink or swim! And of course I feel like I'm going to die because I'm so tired. But I got some more plants in the ground. Our green house is full of starts. They either need to be transplanted into bigger pots, or placed in the garden. And if we don't do this work before we go to Italy, these plants will most likely die. So I'm transplanting what I can into the yard. It's raining enough to keep them happy. And Nicole has also been transplanting plants too. And I'm doing laundry. And I'm packing all sorts of stuff, and making lists, and also cleaning. We leave on Friday. I need to finalize everything with the house sitter. And Mickey gets dropped off at the doggie hotel on Thursday night. But I d...

The bad news is Juergen and I had a meeting at the Autism Center this morning for Jessica at 8:30am. I have Jet Lag so bad I feel sick. The good news is they have agreed to fund all of Jessica’s therapy, her teacher, and her workshop for at least the next 6 months. So it was worth getting up. We have found a very good path for Jessica. It took time to find the right path, but I'm so happy she is with the right teacher. Her teacher is a gift from God! Jessica has had such good teachers over the years. Each one so special. We all worry about our kids. And some times it takes time to find the right way for them. But it’s worth fighting for the right way.

I feel really awful. I can feel the jet lag big time. Our plane landed at 5:30am. I am so tired. But I guess I'm going to try to stay up until 7pm. We leave for Italy on Friday. Oh boy! I am sure I will have allot to say about our trip to America when I can actually think. But I'm pretty dead at the moment. It's so sweet to be home!

Today went by very fast. We slept until 10am. I would have liked to stay even longer in bed, but Oh well! Then we picked Cindy up from her dad's house. We put her stuff into a storage unit. Then we met old friends for lunch at a great Cambodian place. It was a sweet reunion! Then we went to the Mall of America. What a zoo! I didn't like it because it was so loud. Then we went to Target. Finally we had a nice talk with Cindy's dad. And we went out to dinner. The bags are packed, and we have a 17 hour trip home. Happy mothers day to my mom. I love you! And a good day to Philip. I need to sleep. Pray for our trip home. It has been an amazing week. I'll write more when I get home.