Max

Max has 2 days off in a row.  That is kind of amazing.  It it the first time this summer and may not happen again other than the days he requested to take a mini-class.  Like any teenager, or human being for that matter, he enjoys spending his days off doing a whole lot of nothing.  Today was not different, but he was good enough to humor me.  First, he joined us for lunch when he really wanted to stay home and play the Wii.  He helped with Sam today.  He even asked Sam what he wanted to do and offered to get him a snack.  When I told all 3 kids that somebody who wasn't me needed to do the dinner dishes, he volunteered.  Then tonight he showed me some YouTube video that kind of funny, but not nearly as funny as watching him crack up over the video. 

Max, thank you for helping around the house today without complaint and thank you for sharing your funny video.

CARE Center lady who answered the phone

Ever see the movie "Elf"?  You know that part where he keeps eating the cotton balls like they are marshmallows?  That is how Stella is with socks.  Look at her.  Does it really surprise you that she would eat them like candy?  I can kind of see why she ended up being a rescue dog.

She started obedience classes this week.  Stella is actually a pretty smart little dog.  Barring that whole sock eating thing.  When she first joined our house, she ran into Sam's room and grabbed his squeaky shark and stuffed dog.  I'm sure they resembled her toys in her last abode.  I took them away.  After a few times of me throwing them and saying, "No!" when she went for them, she totally got that those things were off limit.  She has left them alone ever since.  Obviously, that has not worked with socks.

Usually we figure it out after the fact that she has made a snack out of our footwear when she has thrown them up.  Yesterday, we witnessed her snatching them up and swallowing them like liver treats before we could stop her.  I heard from a dog training friend that the cost of having socks removed from a dog's intestines is roughly $2000 dollars.  I figured that with my luck, this would be the pair that made it to her colon and got stuck.  I called the CARE center and the very nice woman I spoke to told me the home remedy for puppy epicac.  Cost me all of $2.69.  I gave it to Stella, waited 15 minutes and the socks magically reappeared!  Okay, it wasn't magical.  It was actually kind of gross, but it still only cots me $2.69 which may have been the real magic.

CARE Center lady, thank you for giving me the recipe for doggy regurgitation.  It's nice to know that you are more interested in the health of my pet than making a quick buck.  No wonder I trust you with my service dog too!

Victoria

The greater Cincinnati area has one major flaw....no Tim Horton's.  I love their doughnuts.  The chocolate icing is just a little more chocolatey than any of the bakeries here.  And they have the really good ice.  The kind Frisch's use to have.  Hospitals still have it, but to be honest, giving birth again just isn't worth it.

Today I was in Xenia where there are Tim Horton's a'plenty.  Because I am an awesome, health consious mom, I dubbed it "doughnuts for dinner day."  I always struggle with my doughnut order though because I can't remember if they are called chocolate glazed or chocolate iced.  It turns out, they are called neither of those.  They are called chocolate dipped.  That took me 5 minutes to figure out at the drive through.  The fact that it's cheaper to buy 6 than five took me another 2 minutes....and of course we changed our minds one more time in the 3 seconds it took to drive from the microphone where we ordered to the window for pick up.  After all of that, you would expect to be met by a justifiably irritated associate.  Instead, we were met with a great big smile ans a "No problem!"

Thank you Victoria for being so nice.

Kelly

It is so good to have someone to be me when I am stretched tobthin or too worn out to be me all by myself.

Kelly, thank you for hanging with Sam so I could run with nothing but my iPod and only have my pink haired girls at training.

Charlie

As you can imagine, I have been going through stamps and note cards like CRAZY.  I ran out three days ago.  Today was stamp buying day.  Typically I purchase my stamps at the self serve kiosk because the lines are too long to talk to an actual person.  They are not cute stamps at the kiosk.  They are not even patriotic American flag stamps.  They are forever stamps that are large with a 1950's postman that look funny on my envelopes because they are too big.  The fact that they are the wrong size really bothers me. 

Right now you are thinking, "Sorry, Jenny McCarthy.  At the moment, my money is on genetics causing autism."  That's okay.  I'm not ashamed of my stamp fixation.

When I arrived at the post office, there was no line at all so I skipped the kiosk and went for the good stuff.  I told the gentleman behind the desk that I needed stamps.  Fancy stamps.  "Do you have any fancy stamps?"    I remember the old days when postal workers were cranky and that kind of question would have been met with a snarky response.  Not today.  The gentleman opened his drawer and pulled out all kinds of fancy stamps.  He showed me the flowered ones first, which were pretty.  I have had each kind growing in a garden at some point in my adult life.    Then he said he had muscle car stamps, which he didn't think I would like.  He didn't realize that when all of my kids are finally out of the house and I have snow white hair, I'm going to trade my mom mobile for a muscle car and a Vespa.  He also had some Johnny Cash stamps and...well, he's the man in black.  I bought some of each because I am a flower growin', muscle car wantin', Johnny Cash lovin' kind of girl. 

Charlie, thanks for pulling them all out so my envelopes can be on their way with the perfect stamp.

Mary and Justin

Okay, class; it's time for an autism lesson.

One of the many, many things that can go along with a diagnosis of autism is "poor motor planning."  This can mean anything from being clumsy, to the inability to cross the sagittal or the transverse planes.  The sagittal plane, or mid-line, is the imaginary line that divides the left and right sides of the body.  When you walk, you alternate left and right feet.  When you cut your food, you coordinate left and right hands.  Difficulty in crossing mid-line makes anything that requires coordination of opposite limbs difficult.  The transverse plane is the imaginary line that goes from top to bottom.  This effects anything that requires you to coordinate top and bottom like jumping jacks or even just bending over.  Now think about the shower you took today.  Bet you held the shampoo bottle in one hand while you poured the shampoo in the other.  Then you rubbed them together and scrubbed your hair.  You effortlessly moved the washcloth or luffa from hand to hand alternating sides of the body until you were clean.  If you can't cross sagittal or transverse planes, you have poor motor planning to even know where to start, and you have difficulty initiating actions, showering is a major undertaking.


I once had a parent say to me that her daughter with down syndrome "wore her disability on her face."  When people encounter someone with paralysis, they recognize that daily living skills may be difficult.  Sam isn't paralyzed.  It's hard for people to understand that for him, showering is almost impossible.  It has made finding someone who could help me teach Sam how to shower almost impossible.

FYI, independence in daily living skills = nicer living arrangements as an adult.   That is what makes this such a big deal to me.

I started my search when Sam was maybe six.  He turned 15 in May.  There was zero success between those two points.  It's not like I hadn't asked!  Last summer, I specifically made an appointment with the occupational therapy department at our local hospital.  I had to keep redirecting them from "sensory diet" back to "acts of daily living" during the assessment.  At the end of the evaluation, they informed me they didn't have any appointments to provide therapy available until the Fall, when I was back to work and couldn't bring him which is why I had brought him in May.  Guess how happy I was to hear that after getting up at 7 am the first day of my summer break?  So I went to my back up plan.

Years ago, an organization known as CITE (which is an acronym I can't recall) taught me how to teach Sam to use pictures to communicate.  I am not exaggerating in the least when I say it was a life changing experience.  Sam's behavior changed dramatically and it ignited his academic journey.  It was also my first step on a path that would lead me to become a speech language pathologist.  Naturally, after the hospital failed me, I called CITE to ask for help.  The team assigned to Sam is Mary and Justin.  Last week was our planning session.  Today was our trial run. 

I love CITE because they always use data.  I know a lot of people think that's a drag because it takes extra time, but I love it because it is proof positive you are making progress.  Or that you are not making progress and should change to something better without wasting a lot of time.  The baseline data was that Sam spent 30-45 minutes in the shower with me using maximum prompts (repetition of directions, modeling the actions, or just giving up and doing it for him) to complete the routine.  BTW, Sam takes a shower every day, so my water bill is OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!  Today, with the introduction of a social story, Sam completed his shower, head to toe, in 10 minutes with moderate (referencing picture cues) prompts.  That is pretty amazing when you consider it was our first try.  Best of all, I could tell he liked doing it on his own.  He is fifteen for goodness sakes.  He is so over mom being....you know, a MOM!

Thank you Mary and Justin for helping Sam achieve greater independence and making more progress in a week than we have made in the last nine years. 

Trei

Today was a movie day.  Or as Sam likes to say "cinema."  Any movie with Sam is an automatic double feature.  There is the movie on the screen that cost almost 10 bucks that he is unfamiliar with and therefore only mildly interested in watching.  Then there is the movie loaded on his iPod that he knows and helps him maintain attention when the popcorn runs out.  I know that sounds weird, but that is how we roll.

We all overslept today.  By the time we rolled out of bed, we had little time to spare to get our booties to the theater in time.  Unfortunately, we had to make a quick Target run because Sam pulled the foam covers off his headset and Stella chewed them up.  Truly, it's better when they avoid each other.

We found some skull candy earbuds.  Sam can now tolerate those, so we grabbed them and headed o the front where Trei waited on us.  We were in full autism regalia, communication device, service dog, the whole enchilada.  I asked Trei for some scissors so I could get the earbuds out of the packaging.  He said he didn't have any, but managed to rip the plastic packaging apart.  Earbuds were ready and we managed to make our movie on time which Sam enjoyed all because of his new earbuds.

Thanks for getting them open for us Trei.

Kirk

 

When I started this little project, I did it because I was in a bit of a funk.  I recognized a need to focus my attention on the things in life that are most important.  Family, friends, health and faith.  I especially felt that I needed to make a concerted effort each day to recognize the kindness that others show when they reach out to me.  Life is made richer thanks to the people who surround us.  I felt I needed to turn these little moments over at the end of the day and acknowledge to myself how each person touched my life  on a deeper level in a spiritual way.

Today's thank you isn't deep like that all.  Today's thank you is more shallow than a puddle in the Mojave desert during the dry season.  And you know what....I don't care because I'm 43!

Saturday was my 25th high school reunion.  I had not been to one reunion since Greg Games and I giggled through the graduation ceremony in June of 1988.  My five, ten and fifteen all slipped by without notice for a variety of reasons I don't care to mention here.  Quite frankly I was okay missing those because at five, I felt like, "Didn't we just see each other at graduation?"  Ten and fifteen didn't seem like a lot of time had passed either.  Twenty....now THAT was a big one.  However, at that time I was in the process of getting divorced.  I had to move out of my 3600 square foot 4 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath home into my parents' basement where I could touch either side of my bedroom by stretching my arms out wide.  If you are a ten year old boy with a magic wand at 123 Privet Dr, it's totally cool to be living under the stairs in a relative's house.  If you are a 38 year old, unemployed, divorced mom of 3, one with severe autism, living in a relative's basement...you are a little pathetic.  Since I knew I would not be able to perform the Cruciatus Curse on anybody who might say that to me, I opted to stay home for Reunion 20.  But things are different now.....

I went back to grad school to get a title that makes me sound smarter and more important than I actually am.  I have a job.  I am engaged to a man who is not only nice looking, but kind of amazing in a million ways (like pushing to change service dog laws in his state.)  And best of all....I have my own house with a bedroom on the first floor.  That's right.  I went from Harry Potter to George Jefferson and moved on up.  So of COURSE I wanted to go my 25th reunion.  

It was a nice event.  Kirk arranged a lot of it and here is the very shallow, thank you part which, as far as I'm concerned, made the entire evening worth it.

Kirk wanted to take pictures of various people.  I love nothing more than having my picture taken with Matt because you don't have to ask me twice to put my arms around him or have his around me.  After Kirk took the above picture, he said to Matt, "You know what I remember most about Carol from high school?" and then launched into this story.

Back in the day, we could take gym classes in the summer.  Not because we failed, but because we didn't want to take them during the school year.  I mean, after you paid for your spiral perm and used a can of hairspray.....would you really want to have to take a shower first bell and walk around with wet flat hair all day?  AS IF!!!!!  Kirk and I took a class called "Outdoor Recreation."  It was archery and target shooting, because, you know, in predominantly white collar suburbs we spend a lot of time hunting wild game.  We also played frisbee golf, or at least walked around complaining about the heat and asking when we could go home.  The entire class culminated in a canoeing/camping trip.  Let me remind you all, that these were the days when our school still had a smoking lounge for students.  As a parent myself, the entire thing was poorly supervised and really just an all around bad idea.  As a teenager....it was so way fun!

Anyway, the class was mostly boys and then like 3 girls.  Ashley, Stephanie and me.  Stephanie was a gorgeous blond with beautiful blue eyes.  She was the typical teenage smoking hot girl.  I remembered her as not too bright, mostly because of the time she was pulled over for drunk driving when she had, in fact, not been drinking at all.  She was just that ditzy.  Kirk reminded me that she was actually in smart kid classes.  Something I would not have known since those were NOT the classes I took (and I'm still gainfully employed and have a degree.  Go figure.)  Since she didn't get a ticket or even a warning for her driving...EVER...I suspect she was not only book smart, she obviously had the wisdom that goes along with being a young, hot, blond girl.  Stephanie was also sweet as pie and oodles of fun, so we were canoe and tent buddies.  

Stephanie and I happily paddled our canoe along.  Well, we paddled some and then batted eyelashes and begged to hook our canoe to whichever boy canoe we could to save ourselves from actually, you know, exerting effort.  Oh, shut up.  We were teenage girls!  I have a chainsaw and can fix drywall now.  Don't judge!  

It was during one of those actually paddling moments that Kirk's story took place.  He and his buddy were in the canoe paddling kind of equal to us.  He said they were swim dorks.  I don't remember him being any more of a dork than I was, but the story is so much more flattering told his way....who I am to argue?  So me and hot blond are paddling in one canoe, and dork swimmers are paddling in another near us when Stephanie and I decided it was very hot.  So we did what teenage girls do.  We took off our t-shirts to sun ourselves in our bathing suit tops.  The boy in Kirk's canoe did what teenage boys do and imagined in his heart of hearts that our bathing suit tops were actually bras, that we were getting naked and that he was the luckiest man-child on the face of Earth to be able to bare witness.  (Kirk said it was a bra too, but for the record, I know they were swimsuits because I was in high school.  Had it been college...well....let's not go there.)   

The poor boy was so enthralled watching us, that he completely missed the fact that a branch from a low hanging tree had caught him.  Kirk kept paddling, somewhat oblivious.  The tree kept it's hold, bending, bending, bending until...........BOING!!!! (That was a tree boing, I'm pretty sure the boy boing had happened several minutes prior) the tree had reached full tension and thrown the boy clear out of the canoe.  The funny thing is, I remember the kid going flying, but had no idea that I was partly responsible.  Until Saturday night.  And it made my entire night.  Because I am as shallow as a puddle in the Mojave desert during the dry season.  

Kirk, thank you for sharing that story.  Twenty-SEVEN years, three babies and many wrinkles later, my girls have migrated south.  It was nice to be reminded that once upon a time, they had the power to perform the Petrificus Spell. 

Gale

For my birthday, my sister gave an evening of childcare...which at this point is really teenage care, for Sam.  This allowed my to attend my 25th high school reunion which was a bit of a hoot!

Gale, thank you for being the responsible adult

Karen

Some months ago I adopted a little brat of a dog that we have all grown to love.  All but Sam that is.  When I took her home, it was suggested that I take her to obedience class SOON.  I was unable to because of work.  I just signed Stella up. Like all kids going o school,he doctor needed to fill out a medical form.  Turns out, Stella needed a booster.  Karen said I could bring her up and just pay for the shot, not the visit.  Saved me $90 bucks which I currently could use for other tax/legal fees I have going on.  I'm sure she was motivated by the fear hat I would return that fluffy, yappy little dog!  Either way....

Karen, thanks for the deal on the vaccine.

Mom

Yesterday was a good day.  Dunkin Donuts with Sam in the morning, thanks to my mom, I got to hang at the pool with my girl Jojo.

Mom, thanks for hanging with Sam so I could spend some time focused on Josey.

Dunkin Donuts Management

Today, I decided to work out before the kids got up.  Then I had the bright idea to walk to Dunkin Donuts with Sam.  I was very good about hydrating during my workout.  Water + 43 year old woman who had 3 babies + teenage boy with autism who a walks at a glacier pace = mom in desperate need of a potty break by the time we FINALLY made our destination.  This was much easier to finagle when Sam was a baby and could be strapped in the stroller and faced at an angle that allows for privacy.  He is too big for that, but I'm not quite sure he can be totally trusted to sit alone. Fortunately, there was a Dunkin Donut managerial powwow going on when we arrived and they were kind enough to assist.

Thank you Dunkin Donuts for going above and beyond.  No wonder you are Sam's favorite breakfast place.

Heather

Because I am a wildly ambitious, deep thinking person, I made a list of lofty goals to achieve by age 45.  One of these was to grow my hair to pony tail length.

What do you want from me....world peace?

Anyway, my hair had reached the awkward stage.  I needed to do something that wouldn't interfere with my momentum of long locks but would keep me from looking too frumpy or shaggy.  One of my little young friends from grad school went from short to long hair looking cute and stylish the entire time.  I messaged her for suggestions on what to do with my hair.  She suggested I take it to Heather.  I did and I like it.

Josey just came into my room, patted me on the head and said, "I love your new haircut."  Unsolicited compliment from a 13 year old girl?  Heather, you are a MIRACLE worker!!!!  Thank you.

Gale

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive....more accurate than a traffic helicopter .....it's.......MY SISTER!!!


She was good enough to warn me about an accident on the highway so I didn't get stuck in traffic onmy way to pick up a kid.  Good to know she's watching out for me.

Rene

In about a 2 week period I have turned 43, will have my 25th  high school reunion, and undergone a few major "things" unnamed here.  And today we celebrated Father's day by spending it with my dad and brother in law.  Darn good time to wallow in my long list of regrets, mostly revolving around my kids.  My intention was that my kids would grow up in one house with a married mom and dad who would dote on them and set an excellent example of what a healthy marriage looks like.  I was....not even close.  In this two week period, I could easily be lost in the fact that I missed the target by a mile.

Today I sent out a big fat Facebook Happy Father's Day wish to all my friends, including my girl Kelee who is an amazing single mom, not to mention the original Spider Woman.  Kel returned the sentiment.  Then, underneath Kelee's comment, Rene wrote the following about me, "I don't know where you get your energy or endurance from but I admire it."  Just like that, I went from regrets to thinking about all the reasons I have to be thankful.  Which just happens to be the very purpose of my New Year's resolution. 

I listened to Josey comment twice today that she loves this house more than any of the others we have had.  Sam and I had a lovely lunch out at Noodles.  He commented, asked questions, and followed directions in ways that I would never have thought possible 8 years ago.  Max likes his job.  All three of the kids are very excited that Mr. L/Matt is in Ohio and we will be seeing he and his kids several times over the next two weeks.  Report cards came....not unhappy about what I saw there either. 

Rene, thanks for reminding me that over all, I'm doing a pretty good job being a mom.  It may have been a quick Facebook comment to you, but it made my entire day! It also made me very glad that I picked this as my resolution.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sheryl

Years and years ago I was interviewed by Sheryl to be a mentor family in the LEND (Leadership Education in Neuro-Developmental Disabilities) program.  It is a training program funded through federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau that provides graduate level training of professionals for leadership roles in the provision of health and related care, continuing education, technical assistance, research and consultation.  Basically, it makes SLPs, OTs, MDs, social workers, AuDs, PTs, and Psychs learn what each other do.  It also has each professional follow a family for a year so that they learn what it is really like to raise a child with a disability. 

I started out as a mentor.  I also sat on the autism parent panel where I shared my experiences raising a child with autism.  Then I became the first parent trainee in our hospital's LEND program.  I trained alongside the professionals.  When I first showed up, I could tell they thought it was cute that a parent was there.  By the end of the year, they realized just how much a parent actually understood about disability and what an asset we could be to the team.  Two things really stick out for me from that year.  One, the PT saying that after following a family for a year, she will rethink her recommendations to families.  She finally understood that what she thought would be very easy, was sometimes too much for a family feeling overwhelmed.  Two, the social worker started to come to me for resources.  I actually developed a handout that I know was used for years afterwards.  That experience was also a huge boost to my grad school application. 

I am still a mentor and enjoyed doing it this year because I truly believe it is a hugely beneficial program for both professionals and families.  I would totally do it for free.  Except this year, it turned out I was given a Target gift card.  I would have been happy with $5, but it was more than that! 

Sheryl, thanks for the surprise in the mail.  My popcorn loving family is thrilled!

Sam

There was a time when the words "Summer Break" sent fear through my bones.  It meant I had 3 months of Sam terrorizing my home with periodic breaks for chasing him down when he had bolted.  I am about to embark on week 3 of break, and it's a totally different ball game.  Sam still needs constant supervision, but he is more agreeable to the plan at hand.

Sam, thank you for hanging out with me today and sharing your chalk with the little boys next door.  I know you didn't want to which is what makes it extra nice that you did it.

Blockbuster guys

Our Blockbuster us the best EVER!  I would never trade them for a Red Box.  First of all, somebody around here who shall remain nameless but is a girl under the age of 13 living in my house, consistently forgets to put the DVD back in the case when we return it.  Today was no different and the guys were totally cool.  Second, I make everyone pay for their own (for the most part) because that is why they get allowance.  Sam needs the extra practice using next dollar to pay and interact.  Surprise, surprise, it makes everything take longer, which they are very nice about.

Tonight was no exception.  Thanks Blockbuster guys.

Maleya @ Coney Refreshments

Today was an amusement park kind of day.  The park has a deal where they charge you a ridiculous amount of money for a refill cup/bucket one time so that you can pay a more reasonable amount the rest of the season.  I told the kids that I would cover the ridiculous cost, but they would need to cover the rest of the season. 

Last Tuesday (June 4th), I bought Sam his cup and popcorn bucket.  He is serious about his popcorn.  When we headed to the park last Tuesday, he was very concerned about whether or not he would be getting his favorite snack.  Popcorn really is better at movie theaters, Target, and amusement parks than it is at home.  You know it.  I know it. Sam really, really knows it.  I held off until after 9pm.  The problem with that idea was that by that time, the buckets were sold out.  (Insert dramatic music here.  Maybe something from a horror movie genre.) 

The girl behind the counter at Coney Refresments (whose name I didn't think to get) said I could go to one of the other locations.  Another girl offered to call to make sure they had it before I left when I said "Nooooooooooo!!!"  I just couldn't face dragging Sam to another popcorn location that late.  The nameless girl (with very long brown hair) saved the day by offering a "broken" bucket.  I asked how broken?  It was missing it's handle.  That was it!  I said, "Good enough for us....hand it over!!!!"  Day saved.  Thank you Coney Girl from Tuesday for resolving the issue.

Today, we went back to the park.  It was over 91 degrees with a heat index over 100.  When it is that hot and I am traveling with autism and teenagers, there is always drama, drama, drama.  I was trying to get everyone to agree to a plan that would maximize the drink deal.  No luck.  Since I could not get everybody on board with my plan, I changed my order 3 times.  Let me rephrase that, Maleya had to change my order three times.  Which she was very nice about.  Quite honestly, my brain quits working when the heat index gets over 90.  I finally got my act together and got the drinks. 

Towards the end of the day, we circled back for a refill and popcorn.  Maleya remembered us (HA!  Like she could forget) and noticed that our previously purchased popcorn bucket was missing it's handle.  She asked if it broke.  I told her we got it broken because it was the only one left....she offered to trade it out.  Wasn't that nice?  Especially since we had already proven ourselves to be annoyingly high maintenance. 

Thank you Coney Refreshment Girl from Tuesday and Maleya from today.  I am very sorry to say that you guys were so nice, we will probably seek out your snack spot specifically the rest of the season!

Guys with the bulldozer from the Service Department Center

I know...but I didn't think to ask their names until they were gone!

I have designated this as my summer of the great outdoors.  Not as in camping.  If you thought that, then you obviously don't know me at all because I'm as likely to camp as I am to set myself on fire. Which I have been known to do while cooking....but only accidentally.  Any-hoo......

My yard is a big hot mess.  It was only a hot mess last summer when I moved into my house, but I was too preoccupied with the inside issues to deal with the outside.  Now that the inside is beautiful (if you ignore the tumbleweed sized fur balls blowing across the hardwood) I am tackling the outside.  I started by taking a chainsaw to the bushes out front.  Nothing screams "I am woman, hear me roar" like gunning your chainsaw.  It also startles the neighbors.  Quite a bit.  Until they see you with a level building a retaining wall the right way.  Then they know you are legit and relax a little.  Especially when you don't leave dead landscaping carcasses all over the place.

I am lucky enough that I live in a little city that will come get your yard-waste for if you just drag it out to the curb.  The last place I lived had all these rules about cutting it down and binding, only putting it out on certain days between certain hours....it was actually very stressful in a lame suburban kind of way.  I spent more time wrapping my dead branches than I did wrapping Christmas presents.  That is just wrong.  It was nice to call and have a batch picked up with no fuss.

In the midst of my landscaping renovation project, Mom came over and took the pruning shears to a bush in the back.  I started out with a big bush and a little pile of brush.  By the time she was finished, I had a little bush and big pile of brush.  It was very Gene Zion.  I meant to call the city to set up another brush pick up time, but my birthday happened and I just forgot.  Today, I was outside planting my birthday presents when I noticed big yellow trucks.  It was the service department doing their brush pick up.  I flagged down one of the guys and he was nice enough to let me grab my big pile for immediate pick up instead of making me call and wait another week.  Bonus:  they had a bulldozer.  What boy, autism or not, doesn't love to watch that?!?!?!?  The birdman from several posts ago came out with his little boys.  He pretended it was for them, but we all know...big boys love bulldozers as much as little boys.

Thank you service department workers for letting me grab my brush for an impromptu pick up as well as providing entertainment for Sam.  I apologize for not thinking to get your names so I could thank you specifically!

Skyline Megan

Another birthday thank you...

We have been going to the same skyline after church for MANY years.  Sam has grown to rely on that as our Sunday afternoon routine.  It was actually where we went to celebrate Sam's first communion. This Sunday was a change.  We grilled out in the afternoon instead.  I had to promise Sam we could go for dinner to get him through church.  When we arrived, Megan asked where the rest of the crowd was and why we were so late.  I explained that we had celebrated my birthday that afternoon so we had to shake it up a little.  She wished me a happy birthday and then gave me a little extra treat.  Gotta love a girl who knows when we hit the door, we want diet cokes in to go cups.

Megan, thank you for helping me have a happy birthday!

Another Matt

Today is my birthday.  The next few days may be thank yous related to that.  Yesterday was my Matt.  Today is my brother in law Matt.  His birthday gift to me was that he brought over his power washer and cleaned 50 years of yuck off the stone work, bricks, and sidewalk around my house.  I did warn Gail she needed to stop him when he got to the street.  That would have been a little much. 

Thank you for my birthday gift Matt.  I love it!!!

Matt

Thank you for a wonderful pre-birthday day.  I love you.

J.J.

Thank you for making me laugh tonight. 

And don't the rest of you just wish you knew what she said?  Well, you don't.  And it was really, really, REALLY funny!!!!

Maggie

We all know (or at least think) that our kids are really wonderful, the best thing is when another parent says it.  Especially if they have a nice kid too.

Maggie, thank you for taking the time to call me and compliment Josey.  It really made my day!

Mom/Grandma

Grandma's house:  Just like Waffle House, it's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Thanks mom....I know you prefer the 9 to 5 gig.

Matt B

I have started my summer projects with fervor.  One, is landscaping.  I built this little retaining wall all by myself.  You will notice, there is an unfortunate little gap between my wall and the stair.  Fortunately, I have an awesome brother in law who has all kinds of tools for all kinds of problem.  Including the little doo hicky that breaks the retaining wall brick in half so my wall is complete! 

Thank you Matt.

Tim

Today was a confusing day for Sam.  On the last day, I opened up his backpack and found......an iPad.  I texted his teacher to find out if Sam swiped it or if she just gives the best end of year gifts EVER!!!  Turns out there was a substitute paraprofessional in the room and she didn't know it wasn't Sam's.  First thing this morning we took it back to school.  When we got there, Sam was ready to do his morning routine and (surprisingly) was not happy when I said we weren't staying.  I bribed him with diet coke to get out of there.  I don't typically do that, but in all honesty, I love a morning McDonald's diet coke myself.  Especially now that they are only a dollar.  The next thing on the agenda was a trip to Jungle Jim's with Grandma.  Grandma also loves a morning McDonald's diet coke and brought one for each of us.  This is why we had to make a stop at the bathroom the second we hit the store.

Here is the thing.  Sam is not yet able to protect himself enough to go into the men's bathroom alone.  Yet, he is WAY too old to use the ladies room like a pre-schooler.  This is no big deal in new buildings that have "family" restrooms.  Jungle Jim's was built in the 1970's.  The have not caught onto the "family" restroom trend.  I saw the Miller beer guy and asked if he knew where a store employee was so that I could get the bathroom cleared for Sam.  He said, don't worry about it, he would stand watch.  And he did.  Which I'm pretty sure was in no way shape or form part of his job.  That is what made it extra especially nice!

Thank you Miller Brewing company Tim for manning the door.  I hope your company knows what a great employee they have!

Sam (antha)

My grass is a hot mess.  The dogs love it and have taken to grazing like cows.  I am not so in love with it.  First because it just looks bad.  Second because it's so weedy, it's attracting critters of every shape and size  I don't want visiting my yard and home.  Matt (Gale's, not mine) said I needed to weed and feed.  Off to Home Depot went Sam and I where I wandered aimlessly not knowing where anything was.  Luckily, Sam (antha) helped the two of us.  She was very sweet, even though I know she found it distracting every time I said, "Sam, come one.  Hurry up. This way Sam."  Although it was totally unnecessary, she apologized that I had to walk around to find the spreader for the weed and feed.

Sam, thanks for the great customer service. 

Stephanie

I graduated two years ago this June, bright eyed and ready to start helping children improve their communication skills.  I was lucky enough to be hired by Stephanie right out of college.

There are all kinds of bosses in this world.  There are the kind that crack a whip while they sit on their butt.  There are the kind that bluster and yell, but actually have no idea what they are doing so they never follow through on the mountain of threats and insults they hurl.  There are the kind that are all sunshine and happiness who want everyone to talk feelings and sing Cumbaya at the end of each staff meeting but never resolve anything.  Stephanie is none of these people. 

Stephanie is the supervisor of our speech language pathology department.  Or at least she was until yesterday.  Most people who have a position overseeing that many people supervise and that's it.  Not Stephanie.  She supervised and had a caseload.  A caseload that was supposed to be "x" number of students but I'm pretty sure was actually "x, y, AND z."  I wouldn't say she cracked a whip, but she did expect you to do your job and not whine.  She expected you to work as hard as she did...and she worked hard.  Not to say that work is all there was to Stephanie. 

I work for a crazy big district.  I vowed to avoid being snarky on this blog, so I will not expand on the term "crazy" here.  I will say that the bigger the organization, the more intriguing the personalities.  What made me appreciate Stephanie most was that she always supported us when we needed and deserved it.  Sometimes that was just the voice of reason to say, "You can't save everyone, just do your best and let it go" without wasting further time focusing on things that could not be changed.  Sometimes it was helping finagle and finesse a challenging situation.  Once or twice, it was a heads up to allow me to avoid a landmine altogether.   

But don't think that she doesn't have her softer  side too.  After the horrific shooting in Newtown, Stephanie sent out an all staff e-mail.  Several staff members, including her, had suffered some kind of loss around that same time.  She reminded us all to stop, count our blessings, hug our children and really just be where we were for a moment appreciating what we had and thinking of those who were struggling.  That is an important lesson to remember in a huge urban district where children experience things few of us could even imagine. 

Stephanie, thank you for hiring me two years ago.  Thank you for your support my CFY year.  Thank you for telling me time and time again to worry less and relax.  I did actually listen.  I am a better speech language pathologist having worked for your.  Good luck, best wishes in your new position.