i was asked

last night who shared my birthday. now, you have to understand, i probably have the world's worst birthday, beyond halloween or christmas. here's what i found. otto von bismarck? gordon jump? abraham maslow?!?!? interesting company, indeed!

sigh

ya know, i think 5 days off for liam is too much. he's grounded from video games because of his grades. he lost tv for 2 days because he didn't bring any homework home, even though he knew he'd have a 4 day weekend (the 5th day is because the kids ended up with no school because it's SEVEN FREAKING BELOW ZERO!)

so, i'm on a quest to get off my ever-spreading ass. i bought sean dance dance revolution for his birthday last year, and the kids enjoy playing it. i had him bring it out, and he and i played (and i broke a sweat, yippee!) liam got to watch, mostly because itwas in the living room, and i'm trying toget him to come downstairs more. so, when sean had had enough, and i was sweating heavily, we quit playing. sean went back into the spare bedroom to play a different game. liam asked if he could watch sean play, and i told him no. he got mad. he said it didn't make sense to not let him watch sean in the spare bedroom. he said "i never get to spend any time with my brother (sean just earned his games back yesterday)." then, finally "IT'S NOT FAIR!"

drama queen

hey!

Tonya, were you my #3 on my Pay It Forward thing? I can't remember, and I've lost your new email! ack!

funny man!

we decided to have breakfast for supper tonight (since neither mark or i were motivated enough to get up and make breakfast this morning, lol). i was in the kitchen working on the eggs and pancakes (my brother and SIL gave me an extra large electric griddle, so now i can make FIVE decently sized pancakes all at the same time (i'm so excited, lol!)). I had just taken the bacon out of the oven, and had put the sausage back in to brown a bit. because i do bacon on waxed paper, sometimes it smokes a little bit, especially with the bacon/sausage grease tossed in. I had just pulled the sausage out when i heard a fire truck run by the house, blowing it's horn for all it was worth. (we live on a semi-busy street).

Mark yelled from the living room "They know you're cooking!"

sigh

i'm at it again!

I've been making easter eggs. No, not the kind that turn into egg salad.

These:

Do you know how hard it is to get good pictures with 6 inches of snow on the ground? the eggs aren't quite THIS bright, but they are pretty. go, check them out! the link is over there----->

is it random wednesday . . .

if there's a theme, even if each thing on it's own is random?

anyway:

1. i would like to cancel the rest of winter, please. Mother Nature, please note that you've ruined way too many yarn experiences (meetings at the new Personal Threads, cancelling S&B, etc) this season, and it really needs to stop.

2. What logic is there in dashing in front of a moving vehicle that has already started its turn, on a snow-packed street? Seriously. I was turning onto Dodge St downtown, and some young idiot (male, of course, they all think they're bullet proof), decided that, even though i had already started turning onto dodge, and was just mere inches from the crosswalk, that he needed to come running out of the parking garage, and dash in front of me. thank god i was able to stop in time. i don't understand. 175# man versus 4000# vehicle. sigh.

3. I was in Starbucks fetching life juice for eliza, and they were playing "too darn hot." irony, much?

4. Explain to me this logic. Liam was sick last night, to the point of barely eating dinner (and he can absolutely pack it away), and sleeping all afternoon, and night. when he got up to go to the bathroom around 1030, he could barely speak. this morning? eager as a beaver, ready to roll, and telling me he'll throw anybody who tries to stop him from going to school in a snow bank. in the next breath? griping about someone at school who jinxed them getting a snow day. huh? (again, young male logic)(is it testosterone poisoning?)

sensing the theme here? we got about 4" of snow, and i'm sick of it.

Silent Poetry Reading

Ok, this is a slight cheat. it's the lyrics to one of my favorite songs. but those start out as poetry, don't they?

A long time ago when the Earth was green
There were more kinds of animals than you've ever seen
They'd run around free while the Earth was being born
But the loveliest of them all was the unicorn
There were...
{Refrain}
Green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty-backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born
The loveliest of all was the unicorn

Now the Lord saw some sinning, and it gave him pain
And he said, "Stand back, I'm gonna make it rain"
He said, "Hey, brother Noah, I'll tell you what to do
Build me a floating zoo

And take some of them...
{Refrain}
...Don't you forget my unicorn

Old Noah was there to answer the call
He finished up making the ark just as the rain started to fall
He marched in the animals two by two
And he called out as they went through

"Hey Lord, I got your"...
{Refrain}
...But Lord, I'm so forlorn / I just can't see no unicorns

Then Noah looked out through the driving rain
The unicorns were hiding, playing silly games
Kicking and splashing while the rain was pouring
Oh them silly unicorns

There were green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty-backed camels and some chimpanzees

Noah cried, "Close the door, for the rain is pouring
And we just can't wait for no unicorns"
And then the ark started moving, it drifted with the tide
The unicorns looked up from the rocks and they cried
And the waters came down and started floating them away
That's why you've never seen a unicorn to this day

You'll see...
{Refrain}
...You're never gonna see no unicorns

(i've got me irish up)

a new program

if you click here, it will clean the inside of your screen

Tips for ladies in year 2008

1. Aspire to be Barbie: that bitch has everything.
2. If the shoe fits, buy one in every color.
3. Take life with a pinch of salt, a wedge of lime, and a shot of tequila
4. In need of a support group? Cocktail hour with the girls!
5. Go on the 30 day diet. (I'm on it and so far I've lost 15 days).
6. When life gets you down, just put on your big girl panties and deal with it.
7. Let your greatest fear be that there is no PMS and this is just my personality.
8. I know I'm in my own little world, but it's OK. They know me here.
9. Lead me not into temptation; I can find it myself.
10. Don't get your knickers in a knot; it solves nothing; and makes you walk funny.
11. When life gives you lemons, turn it into lemonade then mix it with vodka.
12. Now smile and send to any girl wasting time at work, suffering from a hangover (or just suffering from work) who might need a reason to smile.

there are days

i don't feel good. i hadn't planned on doing anything more strenuous than going to the post office to mail some packages, and buying stuff to make rice krispies, because i'm a good band parent.

steph's roommate just called, and asked if i could bring her some gas. and she's just outside of fort calhoun, so that's a 15 minute ride. if that's what's wrong with her car. she doesn't remember when she last changed the oil. damn.

this is the same girl who has randomly tossed my stuff around my house, because it's in her way. i'd say she's got some gall about her, except i'm not sure she's smart enough to realize it. sigh.

ETA: it was gas. i put $5 in, and after a few minutes, it did start. however, when i checked her oil, it was below minimum. so i chewed her out for not paying attention to it (an oil change at walmart is only $18, and even as much as she drives, it's 3 paychecks at $6 a paycheck to pay for the damned thing!), and told her to buy a quart of oil as soon as she got to civilization, and to borrow some money from my daughter and go get her oil changed tomorrow morning! damned kid. (apparently, the state patrol didn't think she'd pulled far enough over (even though she was past the white line) and gave her a warning ticket! good grief. about as sharp as a sack of wet mice, i swear!)

commercial

i'm finally watching the sarah connor chronicles, that i'd dvr'ed from 2 weeks ago. i usually speed through the commercials, but happened upon this one:

Man steps around the corner, with a phone in his hand, and says "the domino's lady says we have 30 minutes." he has a lascivious grin on his face.

the woman, holding a coffee cup, looks at him, and sees him in one of those sexy silky short robes (red, of course) and says "what are we going to do with the other 28 minutes?"

snort!

I was gonna . . .

post 2 days ago. but mark got up and wanted me for something, so i shut it down, postless.

a couple of things. last thursday was my 3rd blogiversary! so i'm having a contest. sooooo, here goes. tell me a joke. a good joke. a CLEAN joke. here's the kicker. you have to base it on one of my pics from the last 3 years. the best one wins. i don't know what yet, but you win!

hard to believe i've been blogging for 3 years. good times AND bad. oy.

there's a meme running about wher eyou post the first sentence from each month from last year (feels odd to say that). dunno where i've seen it, but here goes!

Jan: if you came here looking for three stooges, you thought wrong (although i did give liam 3 stooges pj bottoms for christmas, lol!)

Feb: I had entered a contest over at the Loopy Ewe.

Mar: i've been extremely laggardly about posting.

Apr: this is the incredibly fast post.

May: i am slated to get an afternoon to myself, and i have to forgo it because mark has to work late.

June: ok, for those of you who intend on reading the book, or watching the movie for the first time: the book is "The Friday Night Knitting Club" (anybody know the html to put in underlines?)

July: it's been pointed out to me by certain, ahem, people, that i haven't posted in 2 weeks. sorry!

Aug: apparently, somebody's got their heads up their asses.

Sept: Today, while a blow for freedom of speech has been struck, a deeper, more heartfelt blow has been struck for prejudice, and inequality.

Oct: I'm feeling odd today

Nov: Three men - a Canadian farmer, Osama bin Laden and a Texan are all working together one day

Dec: this post is gonna be picture heavy.

actually, quite funny to read these out of context. of course, there are people who would say they're quite funny in context, as well, lol.

how's about some pics?

This was the coldest day we experienced while we were in Georgia. It never got above 50. lovely day for sight-seeing, eh? anyway, i could not resist taking this pic. my brother's name? Bob. (although he goes by bubba at work, roflmao!)

Yes, these stairs are as steep as they seem. River Street actually runs right next to the river, with limited access by vehicles. you can also park in parking garages farther away and walk (which is what we did, after driving around for half an hour trying to find a place to park! we even drove past the square where they filmed forest gump. unfortunately, the bench he sat on had to be moved to a museum, because people were taking hunks of it for souvenirs!) I have a picture of my mom with these stairs as well, but she's so tiny, she makes everything look huge. these stairs actually led up to a palmistry shop (although i didn't indulge).

This is what really amazed me: people actually live in apartments above river street! i, personally, would love it, but mark is too much of a hermit.

We had decided to go visit Ft. Morris, which is an earthworks fort from Revolutionary times. This is what we saw on a good part of the trip there (about 1/2 hour from bob's house). i could swear i heard dueling banjos . . .

First stop for my mom once we got to Ft. Morris was the bathroom. apparently, fast food doesn't agree with her, even if it's salads. anyway, i saw this while she was "busy," and had to snap a shot. what is it? a MOSQUITO! on december 27th! i think it dropped below freezing ONCE while we were there. (considering the high here today was 19, and was actually warmer than it had been since last thursday, mark laughed when i asked if we could try to convince his parents and my mom to move to georgia).

This was a floor loom from the 1800's, in the museum. I was amazed at how big it was.

There were live oaks everywhere, and every single one had spanish moss hanging in it. i was completely fascinated by this.

Here's mark & the boys at the sign just outside the museum. you can't read it, but it tells some interesting things about the fort.

Sean, at Tybee Island. This is the picture i was talking about. Just a simple boy, enjoying the surf and the sun, with nothing more on his mind than what he's going to have for lunch. You can hear the rush of the surf, and cries of the gulls. (and otis redding in the background, lol)

ok, the fingers are getting tired (and cold!), so i'll save the rest for another time.

Well

Something happened Monday that i've been trying to do for 4 years.

When Sean first left my brother's, and went to foster care in douglas county, he was placed in agency-based foster care. (basically, the agency finds him a home, rather than the state) his case worker through the agency asked me shortly after he was placed, if i had ever had him tested for Asperger's. i told her no, as i had no idea what it was. all i knew was that sean was socially awkward, and, at that time, very troubled and depressed.

so i went to the internet. did a ton of research. went to relatively reputable sites like webmd and different college-based sites. and discovered the truth. half the symptoms they were describing fit sean to a t. ADHD, depression, ODD, OCD, the inability to figure out social cues, and body language, a disconnection with humanity in general. all of it. wow. now i knew!

the trouble, then, was convincing anyone else of this. his first psychiatrist said there was no point to a diagnosis, as there is no cure for it. all they can do is treat the symptoms, and the meds he was on did that already. we eventually switched psychiatrists (not because of this, because the first one had been situated for sean's first foster mom, way the hell and gone from me.), and while he agreed with me, that sean did have several of the symptoms, that, again, it was being controlled by meds.

until the firecracker incident last fall. i can't recall right off hand if i told y'all about that or not. sean found a firecracker on school grounds, and rather than turn it in, put it in his pocket. it just didn't occur to him. he was found with it later in the day, and gave it up when asked for it. however, according to OPS policy, this is considered a weapon. he was suspended for 5 days (the lightest they could give him, because they could directly attribute his behavior to the reason why he is in the resource room to begin with), and we had a meeting. i asked both his resource teacher, and her supervisor, and everyone else there, about their thoughts of him having Aspergers. They all agreed, and, something i did not know, have a different treatment plan (educational plan, what have you) for "autistic" kids. yes, asperger's is a high-functioning form of autism. so we agreed to have him re-evaluated for school, and since i was going to be taking sean to see his psychiatrist for a med check, i was going to talk to him again about having sean tested.

it took the school getting involved to finally get the push for testing. so we did. we finally got the results on monday, and yes, sean has aspergers. i was stoked. finally, vindication of what i'd been saying and thinking and feeling for 4 years! and, some good news, as well. while sean is socially awkward in public, he has learned to read the family's social cues. he knows how to react to me, and mark, and liam, and even steph (even though she hasn't lived with him for 2 years). the evaluating psychiatrist says this is a good sign, that now we have to teach sean to read people he doesn't know as well, or at all.

now we can get him some real help.

but i've been doing more reading. most insurance companies won't pay for the intensive therapy, and the help that he needs. luckily enough, the psychiatrist sean sees is on the short list of doctors covered by our insurance, so that isn't such a financial burden. however, the list of therapists is amazingly short (my therapist had been trying to get on it for 10 years!), and while i haven't explored it yet, i'm sure they've all got hideous waiting lists.

he's 13. they say autism is best dealt with with early intervention. they usually like to start with preschoolers. i know that sean will always be different, but i want him to be able to get along in life. i know he will probably never shop in a mall, and always avoid large crowds. if he can live with that, so can i. however, if he HAS to, i want him to be able to cope with the situation. he barely can now, and only if he's with mark or me. we won't be here forever. i'm just afraid that this will be too little too late.

kick me

i swear, some day i'm gonna put up my vacation pics! don't worry, you won't get them all, just the really good ones (there's one of sean that is almost artist quality, and i'm gonna get that one printed and put it up, it's that good).

you will note on the sidebar thingie, one of my favorite innerwebs t hings:

Knit Wars. because of this, there isn't a single day that i don't pick up SOMETHING and work on it. i'm trying really hard, as you can see. i'm in 2nd place, and i CAN'T CATCH THAT WOMAN! vacation killed me. i did log my points, but even with the 2 19-hour trips, i still didn't get as much done as normal. something about sleeping in there, so that i could take over for da hubbie when he got too tired. and, believe it or not, i get less done on the weekends than i do during the week. something about the kids and hubbie, and all that stuff.

i promise, a craft related post eventually, as well. and don't worry ladies, those of you who i have promised pressies (that PIF thing). i'm thinking about what to make you. Ina, i think i know what i'm going to make for you, and you'll love it! Stacey, can ya help a girl out? i'm running clueless at this point. Contestant #3? apparently, i've seemed to have deleted your email, and i can't remember who you were! ACK! leave me a comment, an email, a kick in the pants? Thanks!

and on that note, i must flee and fly, 530 comes awfully early!

ok, still not

a real post.

that's ok, i've been doing it again. somebody put up a link to a youtube video, and i've spent the last 2 hours listening to a hugely eclectic mix of stuff. right now? linkin park, in the end.

what got me started? dan fogelberg, auld lang syne.

does this cement the "god woman, you are totally insane" ideas?

*giggle*

i've listened to dan, then kansas, then sarah brightman, then celtic woman, then josh brogan, then christmas music (mary, d id you know, my all time favorite one), then seal, and now, LP.

my oh my

and since i've been extremely dilatory about this:

What I've been Reading

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (book tape in house)
Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (what's the big deal? i'm over 100 pgs into this, and i still can't figure out why the ayatollah decided that this man needed to die in the worst way possible?)
The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose. recommended by Crazy Aunt Purl. woman has taste, i'll tell ya that!
History of Hand Knitting by Richard Rutt (book tape in the car.) but wait, you say? it's not out yet? the joys of having someone near and dear who gets preview copies! wheeeee!

i've also started keeping a book list on google documents, cuz i end up reading the same stuff, and i wanna know what i've read. (also want to know how long it takes me, because if it take s along time? not gonna go for it again, fer sure!)

TTFN!

yeah, yeah, i know

i still owe y'all a real post.

however, some good news. i requested the new Cat Bordhi book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters, from the library. They're going to buy it! woohoo! sooooooooooooo, go request it, if you have an omaha public library card!

a bit of fun

ok, ok, i have not fallen off the face of the earth. we were on vacation from dec 22 to dec 30, and i've been running like a maniac ever since.

to distract you from this bloggers lack in posting skills, here's a little game.

just so ya know, my record is 316.6!

the day the music died

A lot of people ridiculed Dan Fogelberg, but I adored his music. In an era between the death of disco and the Amazing Hair Bands! he was a breath of fresh air. He will be missed.

Serendipity

ok, for all you firefly fanatics, move on. there's nothing to see here.

Christmas shopping sucks. Big rocks. Nasty, grime covered, slimy rocks. I hate it. I delayed this year though, so I'm in trouble.

I stopped at Game Stop to find a couple games for my sons. They had one, but the other one was at Oak View Mall. Oak View Mall is 144th & Center (like 3000 South block). i live around 8000 north block, and much further east than that. it's a huge trek. but they couldn't send it to a closer Game Stop, so i sacrificed. The really bad part? Neither guy at this store knew where the other one was in the mall. So i was gonna have to hunt.

Have I told y'all how much i hate malls? (and after last Wednesday, i'm particularly creeped out). I hate trying to park at them, i hate walking around in them, i hate the noise, and they're usually situated in inconvenient places for me. blech. But i went, cuz i love my sons, and this is what they wanted for Christmas. I parked by Dillards, walked through, and found a directory. I gotta go down stairs. Oy!

so i find an escalator, and as i'm going down, i realize it ends directly in front of a Bath & Body Works, which is my SIL's favorite store of all times (she loves malls!). I had planned on getting a GC for her for her birthday, which comes shortly after christmas (doesn't htat suck?), so i figured, hey, this is fortuitous! I go in, and buy the GC, and discover that they're giving away sample bottles of a new scent of lotion! too cool! my mom is travelling by air next week, and needs to carry lotion with her, so this is a good thing! i'll just give it to her to use.

I walk out of the store, look directly in front of me, and there's Game Stop, directly across the hall.

Is that good, or what?

struck

i've been renting the earlier seasons of Grey's Anatomy, just so i know some of the back stories a little better.

inevitably, every single episode makes me think, and possibly tear up a bit.

tonight, it made me sob.

a woman was accidentally put on life support, due to missing paperwork. the daughter showed up, and signed the paperwork to have her taken off. just before they shut off the machines, the daughter kissed her on the cheek and said, "good-bye mommy." i immediately lost it.

when my dad died 6 1/2 years ago, i never got to say good-bye. i hadn't even been to the hospital that day. i've regretted it ever since. i should have been there. i should have said i love you more.

God, i miss him.