Notes From My Corner

Two people, one body

2009-01-25T10:35:00.003-05:00

Most of you have read enough about Son18 to have a little insight into his disabilities. He is smart but very narrowly focused on his own agenda in life. He is funny and chatty but usually chooses not to talk to anyone. He has massive anxieties and compulsions. He is fun and interesting and frustrating and annoying - all at the same time.

But the most consistent thing I could point out would be his immaturity. He generally has been slow to reach developmental milestones. He still loves to play with his toys. He has routinely been far behind all his peers in everything from taking his first step to appreciating contemporary music.

Until now. Son18 has a girlfriend. I know...I'm even more surprised than you! But yes, between school and facebook and the phone, he has slowly developed a crush on a classmate. And apparently, she feels the same way about him.

This is simply stunning to us! He is suddenly showing us an entirely different person than what we've known for the last 18.5 years. The kid who just spent a large portion of his allowance to purchase custom pieces to add to his massive Lego collection is also asking questions about how to use cologne, wanted his own razor and shave cream, and actually seems to care what he is wearing.

Our heads are spinning. There is just a cognitive disconnect when your kid builds Lego creations while waiting for his girlfriend's mom to come pick him up for an afternoon of movie watching at her house. But that is exactly what took place yesterday.

We are happy for him that he has a girlfriend. We worry how his OCD will rear its ugly head when it comes to talking on the phone and sending messages. And we already dread the fallout when this crush is over. And let's face it, it will be over at some point. And what does that do to someone who has spent hours in tears thinking he will never have a friend?

Joy. Worry. Fear. All the emotions swirling in our heads.

But the biggest thing at the moment is just trying to get to know this new person who has shown up in Son18's body.

1 day, 2 evacuations - what are the odds?

2009-01-08T21:41:00.004-05:00

It started with one quick text message...

I'M GONNA DIE

I got that message about 11:15 this morning from Son18 at school. Being more curious about why he was breaking the rules and using his phone in school than about his melodramatic announcement, I sent a text back asking why he was writing me. He proceeded to text quickly that the school had been threatened and they were in a lock down. Making the assumption that he probably should not be texting from school, I assured him quickly that if he was in lock down, he was safe...so just sit tight.

Moments passed. And then one final text from Son18...

Well if I do die, I luv u

Sure...rip my heart out! Now I had to pay more attention. But before I could, wifey called and wanted to know if I knew anything about what might be going on at the high school. Daughter15 had called wifey to say they were being dismissed early but she had no idea when it might be.

Well, a dozen text messages and quick calls later confirmed that the school was dismissing students - some being evacuated to a nearby elementary school, some put on buses and sent home, and those who could get parents to come get them were being released to parents. And the kids - who had not seen or talked with each other during all the excitement - managed to talk to wifey, get her on the road to pick them up, and coordinate a pickup spot approved by the school during this evacuation.

Ultimately, everyone got home safely. And the news reports that there was a written bomb threat at the high school but all kids were sent home safely, the campus was closed and searched, and no explosive devices were found. So a lot of excitement, a flurry of communication, and all was well.

Tonight, after all that excitement plus the other events of our day, wifey and I decided to go out for dinner. Just as our drinks were served, the fire alarm went off in the restaurant and we had to evacuate. Now we were starting to feel cursed! Two evacuations in one day seemed almost unfair.

We drove to a nearby restaurant, managed to eat without being kicked out in the cold due to bombs, fire, locusts, or any other disaster...and it is now very nice to be sitting at home by the fire.

Tomorrow has got to be calmer, right?

Pardon me while I puff out my chest with pride

2009-01-06T12:35:00.005-05:00

In a recent post by molly_g over at Soapy Water, she discussed the difficulties she and many other families experience each year as holiday letters pour into our mailboxes with the obligatory shout-outs about the successes of their little munchkins. And like molly, I love our family and friends and feel good about their kids...but it is sometimes hard when our best news of the year might be "a better IEP meeting than last year".

And we get this same experience every Sunday at church. We have a time for sharing that often boils down to a series of parents standing up to mention their kid making honor roll or getting some scholarship to some awesome university. I feel good for them...but I also wonder about the successes we'll maybe share one day about Son18.

So I figure, when something good happens, I'm not holding back! And this is one of those times.

As part of his school program last year and this year, we've included a Community Work Experience class. This teaches the kids how to fill out job applications, write a basic resume, etc. But it also actually sets the kids up do to internships at different places in the community.

Last year, for about 12 weeks, Son18 did his first internship at one of the local elementary schools as an aide to the kindergarten teacher. It was basically a job where he would make copies, clean glue off tables, etc. For us, it was more about the opportunity to branch out socially and work around people that he didn't know.

He thrived. The teacher loved him. The kids loved him. And by the end of the year, not only was he sweeping up glitter after the craft activities, he was actually working with small groups of kids who needed extra help practicing their new reading words! It was a great experience for him.

So we get to this school year. This time his internship was going to be more tailored to what he likes. Son18 loves reading and writing so he was set up as an intern at the local newspaper. Again, the job was initially set up to include typing (do they still call it typing?) PR notices from local businesses that would go into the paper.

He loved it. He would inquire about all sorts of things he saw and heard in the newsroom. He progressed to typing articles. He learned to do phone interviews. He learned to operate the database software that archives every article in the history of the paper. He learned the basics of the software used to layout the paper.

At the end of his 9-week internship, his supervisor felt he was doing so well and learning so much, she asked if he could stay for an extra 9 weeks!

He did. And it was incredible. Not only did he continue to learn, he ended up with more than half a dozen bylines!

He finishes that job tomorrow. He will walk away with a portfolio of his writing, an evaluation that says he ended up doing the same work that they usually assign to the college interns, a letter of recommendation that the assistant editor insisted on writing, and encouragement by the newspaper staff for him to use the partnership between the high school and the local community college to begin taking college English courses at the college as part of his senior year in high school next year.

We are thrilled. Proud. And yes, I'm outright boasting! But when you have a kid with pretty complex special needs you gotta do it when you get the chance!

I wonder....is it too early to send next year's Christmas letter now???

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2009-01-03T20:19:00.003-05:00

This afternoon I made a quick trip to the grocery story. Daughter15 and Son21 went along with me. Son21 actually wanted to deposit a check in the bank inside the grocery store and Daughter15 just went along for the ride.

When we entered the store, Daughter15 and I ventured off to find something yummy for dinner while Son21 headed to the bank. But in just moments he was joining us in the produce section. Our first unfortunate event was that we arrived at the store at 4:05. But the bank had closed at 4:00. Oops. His entire reason for going had been thwarted and he was annoyed. Rather than tag along with us, he quickly became bored and impatient and went off on his own.

Daughter15 and I finished gathering things for dinner and headed to check out. We didn't have many items so we chose to go through one of the checkout lines where you scan and bag your own items. Well, who was right in front of us in line? Son21. He had decided to purchase one of those new vitamin water drinks as a way of pacifying his annoyance about the bank.

But moving in behind him in line led to the second unfortunate event. For it seems the woman in front of Son21 was the slowest person in the history of human existence. She had a cart full of groceries and had scanned them all and paid for them. Now they were piled up at the end of the belt waiting to be bagged. Son21 had scanned his one item and paid before she even got started.

Now be patient with me while I share just how she went about this. Cause we surely had to be patient! She opened one bag to hold her groceries. And rather than set the one bag on the end of the belt, she put it inside the cart...which was parked behind her. And then she proceeded to use one hand to slowly and methodically lift one item from the belt, turn, place it carefully in the bag inside her cart, then turn back to the belt for the next item. Never using BOTH hands cause she was holding her gloves in the other hand. So it was one item at a time.

So we waited. And waited. And I wanted to scream "put your gloves down and use both hands and let's move along here!!!". But being the patient person I am (ahem), I did not scream. But I did eventually start scanning our groceries and told Son21 to grab them halfway down the belt, bag them, and we could be on our way. So he did. He sat his vitamin water down, bagged our groceries, and we were ready to leave just as the slow poke in front of us was walking away.

And then we discovered unfortunate event number three. She had apparently bagged and walked away with Son21's vitamin water. He was flabbergasted. Stunned. Disbelieving. And he stood there for several moments repeating "she took my vitamin water...she took my vitamin water...". I had sympathy. I also had a lot of laughter just watching the disbelief on his face. How could someone bagging their groceries in such a slow and deliberate manner make a mistake and take something that wasn't hers??

But she had. And I finally stopped laughing long enough to offer to buy him another. But nope, he was totally fed up with this whole trip and he just wanted to go home. And we heard about his vitamin water all the way home!

And again at dinner.

And after dinner.

And I have the feeling we just might hear about it some more tomorrow. And the next time we go to the grocery store!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T09:59:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone had a super Christmas! We took off to visit my wife's family for a week. A very nice visit. Travel was pretty easy. The visit was fun. We had a nice Christmas, everyone got nice gifts, we ate awesome food for the week, and we came home feeling ready to kick back and relax for the rest of the holiday break.

Our family tradition for New Year's Eve (which may be a tradition for millions of people?) is appetizers. We just put out appetizers around dinner time. And we add more appetizers to the table as the evening goes on. We browse the table and eat all evening. Shrimp. Chips and dip. Little hot dogs in crescent rolls. Pizza bites. Meatballs. Chicken wings. It varies year to year...but always the appetizer spread. So I'm looking forward to some good eating later tonight. And the timing is perfect cause I'm actually pain free from the new braces for the first time! So bring on the food!!

I've got no words of wisdom or resolutions to share. I just hope you and your families and friends have a great New Year's and a fantastic 2009.

Christmas Gift List

2008-12-23T13:07:00.003-05:00

Well this is my final post before the big day so I figured I better let you guys know what I want. Or more precisely, what I need. One of the blogs that I really enjoy is Greg's General Store. And Greg (see how the name just fits!) did this fun thing where he Googled what he needed....as in "greg needs" and hit Enter. Well I did the same. And here are the top ten things I need. Or so Google says. And Google is very smart and powerful.

Em needs more love. Sure...I'm not gonna argue with that one. Fits right in with the spirit of the season. So bring on the love!
Em needs G.E., and right now G.E. needs Em. Wow, I had no idea I needed G.E. But if they need me, their people should get in touch with my people and we just might be able to arrange something for the new year.
Em needs more love. Again? Okay, who am I to complain? Let the love flow.
Em needs help. Always. With so many things. So anyone who wants to help, drop by the house. I'll put you to work.
Em needs enterprising minds with the attitude, products, skills, finances and business ideas that can change the world. You betcha! Give me that and we can probably forget about #4 on the list.
Em needs $3351-$7151. Yep. No doubt about that. And let's try to keep it closer to the big number if we can.
Em needs the approval of two-thirds of his neighbors. Absolutely. I love approval. It is great to be liked. And two-thirds seems to be a pretty reasonable benchmark.
Em needs assistance with obtaining the food and helping with setup and cleanup. Sounds like a party! Let's do it!!
Em need more timeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. And yep, that is an exact quote from Google. I told you they were smart. They really do know.
Em needs him. Hmmmm....wonder what my wife will say about that?

Perhaps you won't be able to give me any of my Needs According to Google. But that's okay. You go have yourself an awesome holiday! And I'm sure when I return from visiting the in-laws and celebrating Christmas, I'll have stories to tell.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Tooth Hygiene

2008-12-17T12:37:00.004-05:00

I'm a brusher, not a flosser. Much to the dismay of my dentist, I've never really enjoyed the flossing experience. But I brush on a regular basis just like everyone else.

But now with the braces, I'm supposed to brush even more. Morning and night isn't good enough. Now I've got instructions to brush four times a day. After each meal and then at bedtime. And I've even got myself some prescription toothpaste to do it with.

Mostly I don't mind. I hate the feeling of things being stuck in the braces. And when I try to lick/suck/tongue/work it out on my own, I look like a dog that just bit a big spoonful of peanut butter. So brushing helps avoid all those facial contortions.

However, I have to say, brushing my teeth at work is weird. I don't know why it strikes me as weird. But it does. I feel odd standing in the big staff bathroom and brushing while various folks wander in and out to take care of their .....ummm....needs. And somehow, in my head, that all seems just a bit awkward....me brushing and drooling and them peeing.

So I've taken to brushing in my office. I try to make sure I do it without any of the drooling. But then, I have to wander down one hall, turn the corner and head down another hall, just to get to the bathroom so I can spit and rinse. The walk is odd..meeting folks while my mouth is full of bubbles and paste and a toothbrush...

"Hi Em, how's it going?"

"Mmm mmm..mmmm."

I thought about going and spitting and rinsing at the water fountain. But would I want to get a drink after someone else just spit there? Nope. So out of consideration....I haven't.

Maybe it isn't too late to ask Santa for a spittoon for my office.

12 Days of Christmas

2008-12-16T11:12:00.002-05:00

Up to this point I've spent 1 hour cruising for parking places, 2 hours walking in the mall, 3 hours sitting in traffic, 4 hours shopping online, and 5 golden hours waiting in lines to check out. Will it be possible to survive the rest?

We have almost entirely given up on eating food that we prepared. Taco Bell, Wendy's, Chili's, Burger King...I should be able to earn something for being a frequent eater. I mean, I earn miles for being a frequent flyer....so I should at least get a free piece of bacon on my whopper next time I pass through the drive-in.

We've also almost given up on family time. The holidays really aren't about family anyway...that is just in the movies. We are too busy to really see each other. Unless you count Daughter15's band concert. We saw her. Sorta. From our seat way in the back. Too bad she was sitting behind that tall flute player. Why can't they let the alto sax players sit on the front row just once?

But there is something for which to be grateful. Gift bags. All sizes and shapes. Instant gift preparation...no wrapping, no tape, scissors. Just drop it in and cover it all with a big wad of tissue paper. Every year I silently send good wishes to the person who created that life saver!

My network has networks

2008-12-11T10:36:00.002-05:00

Is it just me or has it gotten really hard to manage an online presence? I know we are all busy with holiday stuff and kids and paying the bills and all that good stuff. It all takes time. And then we try to squeeze in time to read a few blogs, comment on a few, and update our own.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg! This blog is just one blog for me. I also have two that are part of my job. In addition, I help maintain numerous parts of a large website for our school. But even those big pages are just the beginning.

Let's talk blogs. How many do you read? My Google Reader tells me I'm subscribed to 162! Some are for fun. Some are for work. But it takes time to read them all. Google tells me I've read 1,193 items in the past 30 days. There were way more that I didn't get time to read. The problem is...I wanted to! I wanted to read them all. But there just wasn't time.

Then there is e-mail. At the moment I've got eight (yep...EIGHT) e-mail accounts. Many I don't have to check cause they are just associated with work things and all the e-mail gets routed to one inbox. But I do check four accounts several times a day and try to respond to all the mail I receive.

And Twitter. Do you tweet? Did you have to download and try Twitterific and Spaz and a variety of other desktop applications so you could easily read the stream of tweets?

Facebook? Yep...got a page...visit it about once a month. MySpace. Got a page...never go there.

And don't even get me started on things like Ning and delicious and bloglines and all the other social networking possibilities!

I guess what I'm saying is...how do you manage it all?? Do you even try? Or did you narrow things down to a simple e-mail and blog?

I want to be in touch. I love being in touch. I love the social networking phenomenon. But damn, it sometimes seems like a lot of work to have fun!

Braces. Yep, you heard me. Braces.

2008-12-03T08:03:00.004-05:00

I'm 52 years old...and yesterday I got braces. Two hours at the orthodontist and I've got a mouth full of metal and ceramic and I look sooooo handsome.

NOT.

That is not actually a photo of me...but it looks exactly like mine. Ceramic brackets on top with metal on the bottom. And one tooth without a bracket on the bottom. And my reasons for getting braces are just like this example...overcrowding on the bottom. So, like this person, the tooth without the bracket will be "excised" next Monday and will allow space for the teeth around it to close up and straighten.

Excise is a nice word, huh? Much better than pull....or yank. But that will be Step #2 next Monday.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying a lot of pudding and mashed potatoes and applesauce. The soreness is definitely there...but the biggest issue is that my top teeth can't close all the way against my bottom teeth. So even if things weren't sore, I still would not be able to chew. I've been reassured this is normal and will resolve itself. I hope that resolution happens soon!

So is the soreness and the lack of chewing the biggest problem? Nope. The biggest problem is that I'm 52 years old and yesterday I got braces! Some things you just think you left behind when you were a teenager. But nope, it is never too late.

And does my vanity kick in? Oh yes. I'm quite certain that my awesome natural good looks just won't hide the fact that I have braces. However, my wife did say I looked "adorable".

Of course, she was laughing a bit when she said it.

Twilight

2008-11-23T10:39:00.002-05:00

Just in case you've not been paying attention....or don't have a young adolescent girl in the family...Twilight is a book. Which became a series. Which became such a huge best-selling series that there have been many weeks when all four books in the series have been on the NY Times Top Ten list of bestsellers.

And now it is a movie. It premiered on Friday. And Daughter15 has been counting down the days for months! And her and her friends, being the smart little teens that they are, decided it would just be madness to try to attend the movie on opening day. Just too crowded. Sold out theaters. Why would anyone want to do that?!?!

So they waited. They waited all the way to the next day. They planned on seeing the movie on Saturday. Surely they would be able to get in then. After all, the local cinaplex was showing the movie on five different screens!

Well, not wanting to see the looks of disappointment on their faces as they were turned away, I went online ahead of time and purchased tickets for her and her friends to the 4:00 showing yesterday. And yes, they were a giggling bunch of thrilled-ness.

So off we go to drop her and her friends at the theater. However, since I purchased online, the folks in the theater want to see me and my credit card just to make sure the little piece of paper I printed at home matches. So I did have to park and go inside for a moment.

What a sight to behold! It was like walking into some odd tribal celebration. Packs of teen and pre-teen girls roaming the theater. Small groups of 3 or 4. Large groups of 8 0r 10. Small packs merging into larger packs. All there for one simple reason. To see Edward and Jacob and all the other characters as they struggle with their young romances and their vampireness. It was definitely an odd vision...and no place for a sane man to be! So I flashed my card and made a quick exit.

And when it was all over? I picked up my small pack of beaming, smiling, Twilight-thrilled girls. A good time was had by all.

The Day After

2008-11-05T13:48:00.003-05:00

I must admit, last night was a very satisfying night for me. And a somewhat emotional time. I am very happy Obama is our new president-elect.

There is no way, as a middle class white guy, that I can even imagine the feelings that many African-Americans must be feeling today. When I grew up in the south, I went to "the white school" in our town while the African-American kids went to "the black school". We finally brought the two together when I was in the seventh grade. We went home for Christmas break and returned to find half the kids from each school had swapped places. It was unsettling to be missing some friends, but I surely never understood why all our parents were so upset about it. I couldn't understand then - and I can't imagine now - how anyone thought it could be a bad thing for all the kids to be going to school together. But they did think that. I grew up with that.

And I grew up with places that had separate bathrooms and separate water fountains for "colored men" and "whites" and "colored women" and "whites".

I lived in Alabama, less than a hundred miles from Selma when they walked over that bridge. But at my young age, I didn't even know it was happening.

I lived in it. In racism and misunderstanding. And many still live in those places today.

Last night was an honor. I'm glad I saw the first African-American elected president. And I'm confident that my feelings are only a glimmer of what the African-American community must be feeling today. The relief and satisfaction of finally seeing our country make that choice. And the hope that this really can be a change for the better in our country.

Two Unrelated Thoughts

2008-11-01T09:22:00.003-04:00

I should preface this by saying it is not unusual for my thoughts to be unrelated to each other. In fact, it is not unusual for my thoughts to be unrelated to anything! Just ask my wife!! But that being said, here are two thought chosen especially for this moment...

Thought One...
Halloween has come and gone. Samhain has come. Candy has been passed out and eaten. Candles lit. Pumpkins carved. Etc. We had fun and I hope you had fun. But here are the things that were hard about Halloween this year...

My kids did not go trick-or-treating. This is their second time to stay home. Last year they just decided they were too old to go. Up until that time, I had walked the neighborhood with at least one kid for 18 years. I knew every house. I knew every decoration. I knew every uneven spot on the dark sidewalk. I had walked on warm nights, on cold nights, in sleet and snow and rain. And I gotta say, I miss it. I still feel melancholy about not going out. I had fun passing out candy to the witches and warriors and demons and angels that visited our home. But I miss going out.

The other thing hard about Halloween is that no one really wants us to have time to enjoy it. When we purchased the candy we were going to pass out, we had to walk among light-up reindeer and wreaths! The store already had Christmas decorations on the shelves with the Halloween stuff. Seriously?!?! Can't we just enjoy one holiday before we have to start spending money on the next one? I love Christmas. But let me have Halloween and Thanksgiving first. Then I'll jump into the deep end of the Christmas pool and have some fun there.

Thought two...
Mine is not a political blog. I just write stuff. But I try to avoid politics cause we hear enough of that on TV, radio, internet, etc. But for those of you who have been living on Mars the past 24 months or so, you might be interested to know we have sort of a big election coming up on Tuesday. I don't mind saying who I'm for..you can see it right over there to the right of the page...I'm voting for Obama. But this is not an attempt to get you to vote for Obama. This is just to say...please vote. It is astonishing to me how many people fail to go to the polls when we have elections. I know politics can turn some people off. But voting really isn't hard. And it is such a fundamental right and responsibility, I think. Our state is expecting nearly a 90% turnout on Tuesday. If that happens, it will be incredible. I just hope lots of states reach that mark! So no matter who you support, please go and vote on Tuesday. And if you live close to me, I'll see you in line!

Observations from the road

2008-10-25T08:32:00.004-04:00

One thing we saw a lot of this summer when we were driving around on vacation was other people driving around on vacation. And we couldn't pass that many vehicles on the road without starting to comment on favorites, least favorites and oddities. And along the way, we came to the conclusion that there are two popular colors for vehicles right now that we just could not understand.

The first color that confused us was rust. Oh I know, the car companies have carefully crafted names for their colors. And this is no doubt something like sunset orange or pumpkin metallic or some such thing. But really...the more we looked at it...we became convinced it was nothing more than shiny rust.

The thing that was difficult to understand was why someone would choose a car that looked like shiny rust. I mean, rust is generally something we do not want to see on our car bodies. So maybe this color is designed to hide the real rust when it starts to eat away at the car? Or maybe we are so easily swayed by product marketing that we'll buy most anything as long as it is shiny?

Ah, but shiny rust was not the most confusing color option on the road. It was lagging behind in second place on the list of Most Confusing Vehicle Color Choices. The #1 confusing color choice...yellow.

No, not pale yellow. Not pastel yellow. Not even bright yellow. We're talking about glow-in-the-dark-oh-my-god-it-hurts-my-eyes-yellow! And there were a lot of them out there!

One model where we saw a lot of of this color was on little Volkswagon bugs. A cute little car...which can pull off being in a cute little color. Somehow that just looked okay.

But then there were these.

Gigantic macho trucks in yellow. Lots of them. And always some big guy driving this screaming yellow truck. And we just could not figure out that choice. Was that the only color available when the guy went to buy a truck? Or perhaps, along with buying the largest truck he could find (compensating??) he also wanted a truck that could be seen from the International Space Station?

Maybe he just walked into the dealership and said he wanted a gigantic, gas guzzling truck with the comment...

I want the yella truck cause I look purty in yella.

I don't know what prompted it...but it was undoubtedly our choice for Most Confusing Vehicle Color Choice.

And to any of my readers who may, this very day, be driving a sunset pumpkin rust metallic car or a lemon yellow truck so bright it hurts to look at it, I still love ya. And I respect your right to drive the car of your choosing.

But please don't be offended if I never ask you to go shopping to help me pick out a nice sweater.

Well that was weird

2008-10-22T21:29:00.003-04:00

A surgical success! And yes, I know, it was just some minor skin cancers so it can hardly be called "surgery". Let's think of it as a procedure. A procedure where they scraped away three spots about the size of quarters on my back.

And did it hurt? Not really. I was pretty numbed up. But it was weird.

Scrape your finger over your skin. Go ahead...I'll wait.

And what did you hear? Not much, huh?

Now what does it sound like when you scrape cancer cells? Imagine the sound of someone eating rice krispies. That's it. That loud crunching sound. A little weird to hear that coming from your back.

And to put the cherry on top the doctor cauterized the spots. A little disconcerting to smell that burning smell coming coming from your own body.

And yet, none of that hurt.

Now...not so much of a hurt...but it really, really, really stings. A lot. And it does hurt to lean back on the couch. But other than that...which is mostly just my whining...it is all over and I don't have to go back for six months for a follow up visit.

Thanks for your good wishes!

You'll feel a little pinch

2008-10-22T11:01:00.002-04:00

That's what they always say right before they really hurt you. Well, today I'm having just a bit of outpatient surgery. Three minor basal cell spots removed. And the doctor has stressed "minor" so I'm not worried about the cancer. But I always worry about the other part. I mean, the biopsies hurt some...and they were tiny! These spots are not so tiny. So we'll see how I'm feeling later this evening!

Learning about technology

2008-10-21T19:38:00.002-04:00

I spent today at a very cool conference - the annual gathering of the Computer Educators of Connecticut. It is always a great opportunity to see the latest in tech stuff, to hear how other educators are using technology in their classrooms, and just to get a good pep talk about technology.

Today's keynote speaker was David Pogue, technology writer for the NY Times. In spite of his own technical difficulties (a problem with the equipment at the convention center, not anything of his own doing), he presented a very interesting and entertaining keynote address. He then followed it up with a presentation to a smaller group on Web 2.0 technologies. Both had a lot of great information. Both shared a lot of new things. And both were very funny.

The rest of the day was spent listening to other leaders in technology education as they shared about using blogs, podcasts, video, Google products, and other great resources in their class.

And I'll certainly get to take some of this back to work tomorrow and start applying it to what I do.

The only downside of the day was that there just wasn't anyone to share it with. If I talk about technology too much, my wife's eyes start to glaze over. I mean, she doesn't even have an e-mail account! (I know, I say that like it is the mark of satan! LOL) At work, since we work with kids with severe special needs, the integration of technology into our curriculum is challenging and limited. We utilize a lot of adaptive technology, but not a lot of what I saw today. So there just isn't anyone there to share it all with, either.

So yes, I'll take some of it back and share it and find other, unique ways for staff to utilize the technology for their own professional growth. But it sure would have been nice to have someone there to look at and say "did you see that?!?! I can't wait to try that tomorrow!"

Oh well, missing out on that certainly doesn't change how much I learned nor how much I enjoyed it.

The OBX

2008-10-19T09:48:00.003-04:00

The biggest event I missed writing about was our trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was our first real family vacation in 14 years...and it was fabulous. We spent 9 days on the road...flying into Norfolk, Va. for a night, then driving down to Nags Head for 7 days, then back to Norfolk for a final day to visit their aquarium and science center. It was all fantastic.

I could give you a day by day, activity by activity, meal by meal account of the trip...but I won't. It would take about 40 posts and involve overwhelming Blogger with hundreds of photos. But I will say we had the opportunity to enjoy swimming and playing in the ocean, going on dolphin watches, touring nesting sites of sea turtles, hiking, visiting the largest natural sand dunes in the eastern United States, flying kites on the beaches and the dunes, and so much more.

Yes, there were four of us with digital cameras so we really did come home with hundreds of photos. Son21 even documented his trip in food...taking a photo of his plate at every restaurant we visited. And I'm sure if you visited the Facebook pages of the kids, you would find more photos of our trip.

But I'll only show you a few here. If you want to see them all, drop by the house for a beer and a slide show.

We rented a house in Nag's Head for the week. It was a beautiful house with all the amenities - fully stocked kitchen, laundry service, heated pool, hot tub, five balconies, and nine (yes NINE) TV/DVD players. And each bedroom was a master suite so every kid had their own bedroom and bath. They felt quite pampered! LOL

The best part of it all was the location. Sitting in the family room or the dining room, we could look one direction and look out over the ocean...and in the other direction we could enjoy Albermarle Sound. And to walk to the beach...60 seconds. The photo above was the beach we visited nearly every day. It was perfect.

Not sure the photo really illustrates just how big and tall the dunes at Jockey's Ridge really are...but they were huge! It was definitely a workout to hike around the dunes. And Daughter15 and I returned to the dunes later in the week for some kite flying.

It seemed we could not get enough of the beautiful sunsets...whether on the beach, on our balcony, or here at the Sound.

There are a lot of famous lighthouses on the Outer Banks. This one, the Bodie Island Lighthouse, was closest to where we were.

It really was one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited. And even in a busy summer week, there were plenty of open spaces and serene locales.

It was a fun trip. And after the past ten months or so, it was quite restorative for our family.

It was twenty years ago today...

2008-10-17T13:13:00.005-04:00

Well, not really. In reality it was two years and nine days ago today that I started this adventure into blogging with the Shakespearean paraphrase To Blog or Not To Blog. And over the first year and a half or so I did pretty well. I wrote. I visited you. I commented. I got to know lots of blogger friends online.

And then a harsh reality intruded. Life dealt our little family a series of blows starting last December with the death of our 16-year-old niece in a sledding accident. That was followed less than two months later with the death of my mom. At about that same time, my mother-in-law was classified as no longer being in remission with her battle against leukemia and a variety of treatments were reintroduced. Shortly after all that, my favorite aunt - one who had played a very large part in raising me - passed away. In addition, my wife had emergency gall bladder surgery followed by a difficult recovery. And thanks to all the information gathered during that episode, she has since been diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes. And finally, I was diagnosed as having several mild basal cell carcinomas.

Fun, huh?

As all that took place, my writing and my visits to read your writing dwindled. It was sporadic at best...and non-existent the rest of the time. Finally, as I reached the end of summer school and left for our family vacation, I took a break from the blog. I had intended to take that break just for a couple of weeks while we traveled and relaxed. But upon returning home, the stress of the past year still weighed heavily. Several aspects of our life felt out of control as we had devoted so little time to things around the house. So I just decided the blog had to rest until things felt somewhat back to normal.

Now here I am! Normal? Not a chance, really. But much better. The beginning of the school year is behind and things feel much more settled than they have in a long time. We are still working to settle some things with my mom's estate. My MIL has completed some very successful courses of chemo and the doctors are hopeful that she will again be considered in remission. And my wife's health is doing just fine.

So I'm back! And no, you don't have to leave any sympathetic comments about all that happened. We all have bad times and so many of you have already left comments or e-mailed (or both!) just to check on me. And I gotta say, to get so many e-mails from folks who just wanted to say "hi"...to see how I was doing...and who said they missed reading the blog, that was awesome. Thank you!

Over the next few weeks I'll try to catch up on things that I've missed writing about...and get back in the swing of things. And I can't wait to wander around and see all that has been going on with everyone!

To Blog or Not To Blog? The answer is still a resounding YES!

I love to read!

2008-07-31T09:53:00.002-04:00

One thing I totally love about summer are the extra opportunities to read. Extra days off work allow for reading during the day. And it means I can stay up later at night and read. Days at the beach or the pool mean sitting in the sun and reading. Lots and lots of reading.

For the most part, I'm not reading anything of earth-shattering importance. I read a lot of journals and blogs that relate to my profession, but I'm not working my way through the non-fiction best seller list.

Of course there are some books to help plan our trip to North Carolina.

And I read a lot (a LOT!) of blogs just for fun.

But mostly I love the fiction. Murder mysteries. Horror stories. Creepy stuff. Funny stuff.

At the moment, I'm reading the second book in Dean Koontz's Frankenstein trilogy. Before that, I was reading a book about werewolves. The books in this photo are just a small portion of those I've worked my way through this summer. And I've still got about half a dozen sitting on my bedside table just waiting for me.

I love to read!

Where did he go?

2008-07-30T10:30:00.004-04:00

Camping! And more camping. And swimming and kayaking and basking in the sun. And don't forget sleeping late. And napping. And eating tons of good food off the grill. And reading. And a bit of mini golf.

And then I started over and did it all again!

The best photos definitely come from the lake. The early morning trips on the kayak when the lake and campground is quiet. There might be a few columns of smoke up in the trees from someone cooking breakfast over a morning fire. But other than that...peace and quiet on the lake in the early morning.

And when I go out later in the day, Daughter14 is always eager to
jump in the other kayak and go along for a paddle. The rest of the family prefers a more leisurely ride in the paddle boat.

So what's next on the schedule? Well I gotta come around and visit your blogs...see what has been going on.

And we've gotta do a little work around the house and a bit of back to school shopping. Which seems so wrong cause school has barely ended and now we are buying backpacks and new clothes for the upcoming year. Too fast!!

And then, in just ten days, we'll be leaving for our family vacation. Now what makes this one so special? Because we have not taken a real family vacation in fourteen years. Yep, 14. My work schedule wasn't conducive to it. And sometimes we just couldn't afford it. And the reality of a kid with special needs is that it can be very difficult to travel, stay in hotels, deal with unpredictable schedules, etc.

But this time, we are out of here! We'll be heading to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and all the kids are coming along and we can hardly wait!

But for now...home for a few days...and I'll be around to visit soon!

So what to do when it rains?

2008-07-06T12:26:00.003-04:00

That's right...the 60/80 conundrum yesterday left us wondering what to do for fun. And all the kids said bowling! Something we had not all done together in years. But we headed to the lanes and had a great time!

Son21...

Daughter14...

and Son17 all showed off their styles.

And they all thought they would kick dad's butt. They didn't! Na na na na na na! But trust me, my score was nothing to brag about. In fact, I have photos of the electronic score sheet. But its my blog and I see no reason to embarrass myself by posting that! :)

60 or 80?

2008-07-05T10:15:00.002-04:00

Does it even matter? Our plan for the three-day weekend was to head to our camper, enjoy playing in the lake, use the new kayaks, sit by the campfire, etc.

But it rained. And rained some more. It rained so much we didn't even go yesterday. Even when it wasn't raining, it looked like rain. It was cloudy and cool. Not great camping weather.

So we stayed home yesterday. Watched some good DVD's. Took a nap. Took the kids out for dinner. So not what we had planned but not a bad day.

But today we planned to get up and get right down there and make the best of the two days left in the long weekend.

When we woke up, it was raining. The weather channel says an 80% chance of rain and thundershowers today. Going online it says there is a 60% chance of rain and thunderstorms. Who is right? And does it matter? Do either of those numbers sound like the forecast that would beckon you to put on your thong and jump in the water? How about building a fire and roasting some marshmallows? Hard to keep a fire blazing in a downpour.

Do we go camping? Or do I break out that new book and spend an afternoon reading and relaxing? Either way will be fun. But seriously...can we have a bit of sun sometime this weekend!?!

__________________________________

Note: To relieve those chills you've been having since paragraph #5, I don't really wear a thong swimsuit. So you don't have to cover your eyes and keep the kids inside. I do have a new swimsuit with a very cool Hawaiian print, though. :)

In memory...

2008-06-30T11:51:00.001-04:00

A nod to Winston Rand at nobody asked.... Winston passed away on Saturday. He was a very good online friend - someone who encouraged me a lot in my efforts at blogging. And he was an excellent writer with a great outlook on life.

His voice will be missed.

Bird Stuff

2008-06-29T08:34:00.004-04:00

Mating dance? Territorial dispute? A bizarre and fascinating bird thing?

Yes...definitely the last one. Perhaps one of the others.

Yesterday, these two birds spent about 15 minutes doing their thing in our yard. They chose a stump from one of our recently removed trees as their stage. And they performed.

Sometimes one - or even both - would run off into the grass, but they never ventured far from the stump. And the ritual never ceased.

They sang. They danced. They bobbed and weaved.

There was lots of posturing and tail flaring.

And it was fascinating to watch.

I'm no avian expert. I have no idea what kind of birds they are. Perhaps a Ruby-Headed Grass Dancer. Or a Flair-Tailed Stump Hopper. Maybe some dear reader can identify our little friends. But if you have to look it up in Black-Throated Stump Dancers of Connecticut, Volume III, don't go pretending like you knew it all along.

Eventually, they both took off and the yard was quiet again.