Word World

Autism is such a strange disease because no one knows for sure what causes it and no two children diagnosed with it are the same. There is also this whole spectrum to consider and a child can be considered high or low on the spectrum. We are pretty lucky. When Chase was diagnosed he was considered low on the spectrum because he is severely language delayed but had few of the other tendencies seen with autism. It could have been worse.

He does have a few other symptoms other than language delay. One of those is finding something he likes and becoming semi-obsessed with it. Luckily for us, the obsession changes every few months. His first one I can remember was Cars. He watched it over and over. We ended up buying 2 DVDs because he wore the first one out. I didn't think you could wear out a DVD but you can. He has every "Cars" character car there is:

That lasted a while. Then we moved on to Thomas. He has every train and DVD there is. He even learned how to pull it up on the Internet and watch it on You Tube all by himself.  

Then he moved on to Toy Story. I was excited when he started in on this one because I really like this movie.

And now we have moved on to Word World. Some of you may not have heard of Word World. It is a a show on PBS.

Chase LOVES this show. He watches it as soon as he gets up in the morning and as soon as he gets home from school. All the way home from school he says, "I want to watch Word World. I want to watch Word World. I want to watch Word World." The show basically teaches children how to spell because they put the words together and the words come alive. For a child that is language delayed he has started speaking A LOT because of this show. He wants to know what every thing says and how it is spelled. Chase doesn't just ask, he orders you to spell it like a drill sergeant. "Spell pizza!!!" and keeps it up till you spell it. He also has started spelling things constantly on paper, so much so that we have had to buy more copy paper:

I find these all over the house. I used to not even be able to get him to color, now I can't keep up with all the paper everywhere. He also mimics the characters and knows their lines. Chase shouts it out at random, "You broke my letter L!" Kind of catches you off guard sometimes. There is this one scene where Duck is vacuuming and is singing this song, "I don't need a mop, I don't need a broom, all I need is you vacuuuuuuuuuuum!" Here is Chase reenacting the scene:

I can't tell you how excited I am about this show and how grateful I am that he is learning so much. Hopefully he will stick with this show a while.

Who said television wasn't good for your kids?! 



People You Work With

Do you ever just stop and think about how much time you spend with the people at work? I was thinking about it tonight and I was a little startled to realize I spend just as much time with them as I do my family. Think about it. You spend 40 hours a week talking to, eating with, and making decisions with these people. You may go home and spend a good 3 to 4 hours with your family before you go to bed but basically the majority of your waking hours is with coworkers.

I think I deserve a little more sympathy because I work in a hospital nursery. The nursery is a locked unit and I work 12 hour shifts, so that is basically 12 hours in a locked room with a couple of other people.  I don’t get to pick who I work with so I am at the mercy of management as to who I spend those 12 hours with.

Lately tensions at work have been running high. Why? I’ll tell you. In a hospital, there is something called “low census.” This means that if there are not enough patients then they can tell staff to stay home. Hospitals are businesses and the hospital I work at is a very good hospital. In order for the doors to stay open they have to be smart with the budget. So if there aren’t enough patients to care for then some of the staff needs to stay home. This has been happening a lot and we have to take turns taking “low census”. As a result, my coworkers and I are losing money and nobody likes to lose money.

I usually just work 6 days a paycheck (72 hours every two weeks) but I requested to add a seventh day (84 hours) on a regular basis. Almost everyone in the nursery works 7 days a paycheck, so I requested to be 7 days too. This way I can get my regular paycheck even if I get low census. Many coworkers feel this is unfair and that it takes away even more from their schedules. They may be right but at what point does your relationship with your coworkers trump your way of life? If they were presented with the same dilemma, what would they do? On my list of priorities, these people are at the top of my list:

So what do you do when the people you spend the majority of your time with are unhappy? I can’t help but think that I need to be invested in these people as if they are family. Granted, I am not going to sacrifice my livelihood so they can be happy but I do need to care. If my family was unhappy, I would talk and fight it out. We would get to the bottom of it, find some common ground, and move on. So I explained my actions and pray they have the character to understand where I am coming from. I am going to continue to smile, go beyond my duties to help them with theirs, and try to get along with everyone because I like the hospital I work at. I love what I do, like my boss, and at the end of the day I like my coworkers.

I am sure everyone in the workforce has the same sort of problem. There is something to be said for trying to keep the peace. Nobody wants to live a life where the people they spend most of their time with are unhappy. It is easy to write off people that you work with but I don’t think it is good for your well-being. Yes, times are tough but I try to remember better times, a time when we had great conversations and laughed about crazy stuff.

Try to find the best in people because giving up on the people you spend most of your time with doesn’t seem smart. It is like my Granny quotes, “This too shall pass.”

Living Successfully......Who Does That?

The other day I saw this reality show about this couple who were in financial trouble and were seeing a finance counselor. The counselor was explaining that the couple in the show were living "paycheck-to-paycheck". He went on to state that in order for a person to be considered "living successfully", they must be able to save a third of their paycheck comfortably. They must do this on a regular basis. A third?! Really?!

I thought we were living successfully because we have electricity, water and have not had anything repossessed....yet. I guess I was wrong. I don't see how anyone does. For example, if a person made a $1000 a month, he is supposed to put $333.33 a month away in savings in order to be considered successful. He just puts it away cause he doesn't need it. What? I guarantee that person lives with his mom and spends the other $666.66 on Wii games and pizza.

I don't know about you, but I got bills. Who doesn't?  We pay the bills and are responsible about them but stuff happens and sometimes it can get tight. Just last week our garage door spring snapped and the door was stuck in the down position. My husband thinks it had something to do with the kids hanging off the door while it was trying to open the other day. The bill was over $200! Kids are expensive.

It seems like every time we save a little bit, something happens. You might be wondering about our retirement savings. Never fear! We have a plan! Have you seen that new reality show "BBQ Pitmasters"? It is my new favorite show and it is all about these people traveling across the country competing in barbeque contests.

 

I LOVE barbeque! I am especially crazy about ribs. I could eat ribs all day!

Around our house we don't use no skimpy napkins when we eat our BBQ, we use whole towels. If you don't get it all over you while you are eating it, you are eating it wrong. So anyway, I have been paying close attention to the heating times, dry rubs, cookers used, and general methods of cooking ribs on the show. When the time comes to retire, we are going to sell our house and travel the country cooking BBQ! I would consider that living successfully. 





First Day of School

I have seen a lot of posts on Facebook with people worried about their kids and missing them on their first day of school. There are even a few people crying right along with their kids. That used to be me once but not anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids but I was so glad to drop them off at school last week.

-One reason is that I work Sunday nights and staying up all day on Mondays to watch my kids gets old quite quickly. Yes, this picture is of me.

-The second reason is that my house is a wreck. My kids are the messiest people on the face of the earth. Sometimes I will walk into a room and think "What happened in here?!" or "I don't even know what that is hanging from the ceiling fan." Picture of my house.

- The third reason I am glad they are back at school is that I am awful at teaching them anything. I bought this 1st grade workbook for Macey at the beginning of summer. I counted out the 200 pages and divided that by 8 weeks. I had a plan to cover so many pages a day and by the end of summer we were going to ready for 1st grade!!! Well, don't judge me but we completed about a third of the book before I gave up. At one point, during my "teaching" her that vowels had long and short sounds, I was poking at the cute cartoon drawings on the worksheet of April the Ape and Anna the Alligator with such force that my finger almost went through April the Ape's head. I had explained the different vowel sounds at least 20 different ways and had resorted to semi-screaming as if my child were deaf not just confused. I decided that I needed to stop before I shattered her love of learning in one summer. I am glad my Macey is back in school because I know someone at that wonderful establishment has the magic words to help her understand (without the need for cartoon animal beheading).

-The last and final reason I am glad they are back in school is that I LOVE their school, it has the best teachers and therapists! Chase has been there since the age of 3 with Autism therapy and I am nearly brought to tears every time I think of all the help and love he has received. Macey is doing very well there too. I know they are in good hands.

So don't judge me the next time you see me racing out of the school parking lot. I got my reasons.

Jury Duty

When a citizen of the United States registers to vote, they are automatically placed into a lottery of sorts. Your name can be drawn at any time, once a year for jury duty. My name has been drawn three times. The first time, I had a scheduled vacation so I got out of it. The second time I went, swore in and watched the video, only to be told an hour later that the case had been dismissed. I really feel they could have told me that in the parking lot before I walked into the court house. The last time was recently, and the case was not dismissed. Not only was it not dismissed but I was picked as one of the 12 jurors.

This picture is not an actual picture of the jury I was on, just thought I would add a picture for those of you who like pictures in your stories. I will not tell you any names or the nature of the case but I will tell you a little about my experience. First of all, the process of jury selection is a little stressful. Lawyers stand up there and stare at you and your peers with a clip-board in hand. They shake their heads and make faces. You feel like you are the one on trial. The thoughts that ran through my mind were "Maybe I should have worn something a little nicer than jeans.", "Is he frowning at me?", and "Is the fact that I am reading Harry Potter while waiting make me look immature?"

Then they made you raise your right hand and swear to abide by the rules of Mississippi, be fair and generally take the whole thing seriously. I raised my left hand at first and quickly switched to my right. That made me look real good. :s

The lawyer made me stand up because they read under my occupation status that I was a nurse and started grilling me about my experience in certain areas of nursing....in front of 100 potential jurors. The lawyer phrased questions to me in legal terms, at one point I had no clue what he had asked and had to get him ask the question again. I felt like I was being interrogated and my voice was shaking because frankly I was a little scared.

Then the judge asked if  anyone had any reasons why they couldn't serve and half the room stood up. I couldn't think of a good reason, I didn't have to work and I had family to watch my kids. Then they called my number and I was picked. I won't lie, I felt like I had won something. Pretty cool to get picked out of a group of people.

The whole experience was very interesting and slightly boring. For example, to be qualified as an expert witness in a trial, all of the person's credentials have to be explained and that can get old quite quickly. Their was a large sum of money involved so there were about seven expert witnesses. Both lawyers put A LOT of work into the trial and by the end I was very sure how I felt.  

Jurors are not allowed to discuss the case until the end so I was worried about how the other jurors felt. I was scared I was the only one who felt the way I did and what if it came down to my vote. Nine out of twelve jurors have to agree for a verdict to be given. What if I was the one who held the whole process up?

In the end we all agreed on the same decision. It was crazy because we all agreed within 5 minutes on the same verdict. I mentioned that maybe we should sit there for a minutes to give the appearance of contemplating ALL the evidence but no one seemed inclined to do that. We had already been there 4 days contemplating all the evidence. The verdict was given and it was over. I enjoyed it and wouldn't mind doing it again. I also am going to get a check for $30 a day. Not quite as much as I usually make but better than nothing. I met some great people too.  

So the next time you get that jury duty summons, go on up there and try it! You might like it. 

The Golf Cart Ran into the Tree

We have been talking a while about camping and decided that it was now or never, since summer is rapidly passing us by. My friend Heather was very gracious to lend us her tent after I posted on Facebook begging for one.  We packed up the truck for two days of camping. You wouldn't think we would need that much for two days of camping but apparently you do. Here is the back of our Suburban:

So off we go to Yogi Bear Campgrounds in Pelahatchie and were surprised to learn that it isn't that far away, only about 70 miles. So we were there in no time. We checked in and I set up the tent and Charles built a fire. We unpacked the truck and I straightened and organized all the stuff.

Then we promptly made smores because that seemed like a campy thing to do.

They were very good, I think we ate a whole bag of marshmallows in one sitting. We then went swimming. Now, this place has an awesome little water park.

The kids loved this and I had to admit it was pretty awesome. After a couple hours of this we went back to the tent and I straightened and organized some more stuff. Come to think of it, I spent half the trip straightening and organizing stuff.

Then this guy drives into our site. He tells us that he has to leave early and they won't refund his money on the golf cart he rented for the next three days. He hands Charles the keys and tells us to turn it back in when we leave. What?! Heck yes! These golf carts are $50 a day to rent and we just got one for the next two days for free! I didn't even need a coupon!

 A friend at work told me they have geese at this campground that you can feed. I brought all of our old bread, crackers, and croutons out of the cabinets at home just in case. So we hop in our new golf cart and go riding around looking for them. They were easy to find.

The kids had a blast feeding them. I had to go over some geese feeding rules with Chase though. As soon as I stopped the cart he jumped off and barreled after them. They didn't seem to like that so much. Then he wouldn't feed them the bread I gave him. He just held it in his hand so the geese had to semi attack him to get the bread.

 

Here we are cornered on the pier. We should have thought out our exit strategy a little better for when the bread ran out. We saw Yogi and Boo-Boo but the kids wanted nothing to do with them.

They didn't seem to mind this Yogi though:

Did I mention our camp site was right next to the bathroom and showers? They were very nice! It was very convenient for when you have to pee at 3 in the morning. Chase didn't seem to need them though, we frequently caught him peeing in the woods. I guess peeing in the woods would be fun if you are a boy. Here is a picture of how close the bathrooms were.

We found out there is electric hook-ups, water, fire ring with grill, and picnic table at every site. Get this, there was even wi-fi! So does it still count as roughing-it with all that? So anyway, night came and we were all excited because we were sleeping in a tent. Let me tell you this, it was miserable. We had brought these cushions to put together to make a bed and they were not comfortable.....at all. The kids wouldn't go to bed probably because they were hyped up on 2 pounds of marshmallows. I think Chase finally went to bed at 1 in the morning. The tent kept the bugs out though....thank goodness.

The next day after much deliberation about our lack of sleep, we decided to stay the whole two days as planned. I took the kids swimming again while Charles took a nap. Then he and Chase got us some take-out at a local restaraunt while Macey and I took a nap. It was the best nap ever, the rain was falling on the tent and we slept like the dead. The tent kept us dry.

Later, Macey and I played candy bar bingo at the activity center because it was "Everything Chocolate" themed weekend. She won the first two games right away! It was crazy how lucky she was out of a room of 20 something people. The rest of the time we swam and rode in the free golf cart. 

 We really had a good time. There were only a few mishaps. Chase was sitting in the golfcart and accidently pushed the parking brake off. The cart slowly rolled down the hill into a tree. Poor Chase was screaming "Help, Help!" and something about needing a key. I yelled at my husband to help him and then yelled at Chase for playing around on the golf cart. In the end, nobody was hurt and the cart was fine. The whole thing was quite hilarious after it was over. The people across the road were watching the whole time. I am sure they got an eyeful. Here is Chase sitting on the cart later:

It rained half the time so there was mud everywhere but it wasn't hot. There did seem to be a lot of ants and something got into our garbage bag in the middle of the night. Also, the tent was set up on a sand platform so there was sand everywhere (in the tent, on our clothes, and I am still finding sand in my scalp.) The kids played in it constantly. Don't worry Heather, we cleaned up the tent when we got home. I think next time we will rent a cabin.

Overall, it was worth it. The kids had a blast and we made a lot of memories. 

@$%# smoke detector!

This morning at about 2 am I was sound asleep (with my sideways children) and I was awakened to the sound of a slow steady beep....beep.....beep. It was the sound of the smoke detector slowly dying and needing a new battery. So I got up and went to have a conversation with the stupid thing.
First I had to find a ladder as the detector is so inconveniently located on the ceiling. I get the step ladder set up and climb it, just to realize I am standing under the wrong smoke detector because a beep emits from the other side of the house, "@#$% !". So I  haul the step ladder, bumping into junk because it is dark, and I set it up under the right detector. The conversation went something like this, "Really?! I have been home ALL day, have not left the house for one minute, and you want to beep now? Do you know what time it is?!" The detector had nothing to say for itself except....beep.
Well, the ladder gets me to about four inches of reaching the thing.

So here I was dangerously jumping up and down on the ladder swatting at the traitor battery. I finally reach it and the 9 volt battery flies across the hallway.

We have no more 9 volt batteries so I guess I will have to buy another one. So the detector still looks like this:

I need to get another one very soon if I keep cooking like this:

I got distracted cooking the fries. My friend Karen asked me if I was playing Lego: Pirates of the Carribean when the fries burnt. No, I was not. I am not that irresponsible. I was looking at You Tube, trying to figure out how to play Lego: Pirates of the Carribean.......not the same thing.

On a side note, we are bored today.

Chase

 





  

We Stayed Up Until 2am Playing Video Games

Macey's First Grade teacher is probably going to ask everyone what they did this summer. Some kids will talk about vacations or camp. Others may talk of spending time with grandparents or swimming. Macey will tell them she did this:





This game is seriously fun. We rented it from the Redbox and LOVED it. We kept it for three days and decided that maybe we needed to buy it. We looked into how much Redbox would charge us if we never brought it back and decided it would be cheaper to buy it. Well, it came in the mail yesterday and we are hooked. Stayed up until 2am this morning playing it. Two people can play and the best part is ............ you never die! You can mess up and take forever to figure out a scene but it doesn't matter, you don't die. The background music is awesome and you can sword fight the enemies. Captain Jack even does his crazy wobbly run he does on the movie. It is hilarious.

Anyway, I have always been prone to get sucked into games. I remember when I was little, I would stay with Aunt Judy over the summer. She worked at Armadillo Video store in Texas and I would go to work with her. I have a lot of memories of that store. I remember watching OJ Simpson on the overhead TV going down the freeway in his white Bronco fleeing from the law. I remember that if you wanted a movie advertisement poster, all you had to do was write your name on the back of the poster and you could have it when it came time to take it down. I remember putting the movies away and the owner gave me $20 bucks at the end of the month for being such a big help. I remember there was a black book behind the counter that had all the nudey movie titles in it. If a customer asked for the black book, I was to go get my Aunt. I remember that black book fell on the floor once and all the title pictures scattered behind the counter. My Aunt Judy yelled and told me to "stay back!" like some sort of bomb was about to go off behind the counter. I also remember that if we closed the store that night we could take home any movie or game we wanted! We watched a ton of movies including all of the Jaws movies, I didn't even want to go into a swimming pool after that. We also played video games, every video game there was, we played it. Exciting stuff!

My fascination for video games has carried over into adulthood just in a different form. Some of you may recognize these games:

These are all Facebook games that I have spent MANY hours on. So I can see where Macey gets her inclination to stay up until 2am playing games. Spending those summers with my Aunt were the best times ever, I hope Macey remembers her summer the same way. 

We Lost the Fish

Macey has always wanted a pet, any kind will do. She is fascinated with animals of all kinds and knows a lot about them.

 About three years ago we got a cat (against my husband's wishes) from the Humane Society. We named her Lula Blu and I paid to get her fixed and declawed. This cat was something else. She refused to stay inside, as soon as someone opened a door she shot outside. Lula would barf up whole dead birds behind the recliner, how she caught them with no claws is any body's guess. Lula was also very mean. She would let you pet her for about a minute then she would bite you as hard as she could without warning. She died after two years, I found her on my back porch looking like she had been in an awful fight. I always have guilt over that because she obviously wanted to be an outside cat and I had her declawed. Anyway, here is her picture:

Very cute and cuddly looking, huh?

So after that experience we decided to get Macey some fish. We picked out two goldfish and she named them Lisa and Erma.

After a few months with Lisa and Erma, we decided to get an Algae eater named Emma. I got her because I am lazy and I was hoping she would keep the tank clean for me. I don't why Macey named these fish after family members but she did. Here is Emma:



Emma is no longer with us, in fact nobody seems to know where she went. The fish just disappeared. I didn't notice that she was missing for a few days because she likes to hang out in the castle. I cleaned out the entire tank, the filter system, and looked all around the tank. No fish. I interviewed all the potential suspects. My husband saids he had nothing to do with it. I believe him. Macey had no clue, I believe her because I grilled her sufficiently and I know when she is lying. I asked my son, Chase, if he had any ideas and he isn't copping to anything. I don't believe him.

Chase is autistic and doesn't say much anyway (except lately he has been saying "aww hell" and "holy crap"). That is another story. Anyway, my husband saids that he scolded him once for having his hand in the tank. So that places Chase at the scene of the crime. After asking Chase numerous times and revealing to him that we now had a witness to him being in the area, he finally said with a huge grin "caught the fish." Guilty.

So we have stressed the importance of how fragile a fish life can be and he has sworn to stay away from the tank.

Now, I wonder where the body is. 

It Is Their Own Fault

Anyone who knows me knows that I have jumped on the couponing bandwagon. I admit the reason that I started was because I had seen an episode of "Extreme Couponing" on TLC.

My intentions when I started back in March of this year was not to build a humongous stockpile but to save some money. We used to average at the grocery store weekly about $120 to $150 dollars. Now with couponing we keep that amount close to less than a hundred. You may think that may not be worth bragging about but I have started my own little stockpile in my home while saving money at the same time. Here are some pictures:

My cleaning supplies .............should the urge ever hit me.

My Bathroom supplies. Those boxes at the bottom are labeled and have razors, toothbrushes, etc.. I rearrange this stuff all the time.

I have plenty of food in my pantry and my freezer is full. As a matter of fact, it is too full. We are currently looking into getting a deep freeze.

We have plenty of pasta, condiments, and BBQ sauce as well.

All that being said, I have a few things to say since this is my blog and I can say whatever I want. I have noticed that stores are starting to change their policies regarding coupons. They are citing the increased use of coupons as a reason. Well, ....don't judge me for saying this but it is their own fault there is an increase in the use of coupons. These are the same stores that invited TLC into their building. The same stores that smile for the camera while gladly accepting every coupon presented. The manager in every single show helpfully calls corporate when the register finally gives up from shock. The cashiers smile and do the happy dance with the extreme couponer who has just paid $6 dollars for 5 buggies full of groceries. Then they all have a happy parade complete with buggies, cashiers, and bag boys into the parking lot to help the person fit it all in the car.

I don't feel sorry for the stores because what did they think would happen after America saw this?! The economy is awful, gas prices are through the roof, and people are in debt. Who wouldn't take this great information and run with it?

AND furthermore, to my knowledge the people who put out these coupons aren't making anymore coupons than they usually make. The only thing that has changed is that more people are using them. These stores are getting reimbursed for every coupon they take, so what is the problem?

I am not an idiot, I am aware there are people out there that steal papers, copy printable coupons, try to work around the policies and want their stockpile built tomorrow but the majority of us are following the rules. My friends and I cut out the coupons, follow the sales, and walk into these stores with our binders fully prepared to save our hard-earned money.

By the way, here is my binder:

So don't judge me next time you see me in Kroger with my binder. I like my money. Climbing off my soap box now. :)