All Things Plato

On Grey's Anatomy and Reliving Traumatic Experiences

2012-01-07T21:52:00.000-06:00

One of my general rules of life has been: Face it. In life, there are shitty things that happen. Avoidance does not make them go away. Facing gives them less power. But I think my theory has its holes.

When I was younger, and I was sure the Winter Warlock or Bigfoot was outside my window waiting to snatch me up (second story window in the city...talk about irrational), my way of "facing" that was to close my eyes tight until I fell asleep. If my eyes were closed, whatever was out there could not touch me. Or at least that was my logic. And it worked. Morning came. I was safe.

However, there are bigger things in life that happen, and deeper wounds that I really think, rather than "facing" them to become calloused to the pain, I might need to start avoiding.

I think I should have turned this week's Grey's Anatomy off when I saw what was coming, but I figured "facing it" would be healthier. For the last few seasons, Grey's has been fairly jolting and heavily sad. There was an episode where a newly pregnant Meredith watched a gunman shoot her husband and then had a subsequent miscarriage. This gunman had gone on a frightening rampage through the hospital. I was pretty shaken by that episode. Being in a profession that has "intruder plans," the idea of people going on shooting rampages is, alas, part of what could be any teacher's reality. So, that episode was brutal on my emotions.

In this week's episode, a family was in an accident. All of the adults in the car passed away. One after the other. First the grandmother, then the mother, then the dad, leaving the three children orphaned. The oldest child was celebrating her 18th birthday. She watched each of these persons in her life die. Her father was on life support and his organs were slowly shutting down. She had to decide to take him off life support. It was at that point that I COMPLETELY lost it. From the decision to her watching her father take his last breaths without a respirator, I was a mess. It was not a "therapeutic" feeling. It reopened a wound, and it felt awful. So, my theory of facing things that are difficult really did not work out too well in this situation.

I know in life I cannot avoid stories that involve the ends of people's lives, and not every "death" scenario makes me have this type of reaction. However, I am not sure intentionally exposing myself to storylines that take me down an emotional road that caused me decades to deal with is entirely necessary. Live and learn.

Winter Break, Day 12

2012-01-02T22:35:00.003-06:00

What a weird day, weather-wise.

Got up and worked on some Move More Eat Well printouts. Realized that my printer software and I need to come to terms. Lots of wasted cardstock. Ugh! The good news is that I got in my 100 sit ups/push ups while the printer wasted my (Bazzill white orange peel) cardstock.
Did Zumba on the Wii with Kim.
Went out into the elements. We actually had snow showers today. Max looked outside and thought it was foggy. Snow was blowing around, the temperature dropped, and everything got slick.
While out in the elements, I was in major pain. My foot was a hot mess, and there was no stretching that could get me out of this one. Finally, I came home, ate lunch, and lay on the bed with a heating pad wrapped around it for about an hour. That actually was just what the doctor ordered.
I wrote out my Christmas thank you cards and dropped them off in the mail.
We had The Fresh Market chicken, twice baked potatoes, and (I had) corn souffle. I started tracking my food intake on Lose It (online and app) just to get an idea of what I was shoveling in my mouth and to keep me accountable (or more than I was, which was not at all). We shall see. I did NOT like the scale's reading this morning. I sure am physically active, so gaining a bit more control of my food intake will be good. Also, mixing up my workouts will help.
We watched Pawn Stars and American Pickers. Love those guys!
Now, I will be working a bit on my One Little Word project. I took this photo, which I will be using for the first part of the scrapbook. I need to put on the overlay (a slight frame that goes with the rest of the design) and then it shall be done. I also took a photo of Max and I (posted below the one of me). Love it. Used my iPhone and Camera+ actions, hence the grain.

Winter Break, Day 11 - Welcome 2012!

2012-01-01T22:02:00.000-06:00

Today:

The boys and I went to see The Muppets. So glad we saw it before it was out of the theaters. They really seemed to enjoy it. I enjoy that, with the exception of one bathroom visit, Max now sits through entire movies without much of an issue. We have come a long way since Up! :)

After a delightful Wendy's lunch (Ignatius' favorite), I took a bit of a nap. Scott decided to play Mike Holmes and start ripping apart our basement. What? you say? But JoLynn, your basement was not completely finished. Indeed, you are correct. After almost 20 years of marriage, I realized that one of the golden rules of marital bliss is sometimes you ask questions, and sometimes questions will not help one understand any better.
I also watched my first video for my MMEW scrapbook journey. Really good stuff.
Upon waking and inspecting the lack of walls in my basement, I did an hour of Wii Zumba, did my 100s (push ups and sit ups) that I re-committed to, and de-Christmased, to a degree. The tree is still up, but that is the job of Destructo-Man.

Pondering the putting away of Christmas, I have to say that taking down the tree on New Year's Day is quite symbolic. I looked at the ornaments from the many years, thought about those years and events that occurred in them, and packed them away yet again. Some of them were good memories, and some of them stunk. But they all shaped our history and living through them shapes our future. That's all I have to say about that.

New Year's Eve - Winter Break, Day 10

2011-12-31T23:24:00.032-06:00

Ten glorious days off. How fantastically awesome. For whatever reason, I am thoroughly enjoying this break. Perhaps documenting the days is proof that they really are not "flying" by--that every day has the same 24 hours? Who knows? But I'll take it.
Today:

Got up. Cleaned the basement a bit after McDonalds oatmeal and an English Muffin.
Used my Zumba Fitness 2 for the Wii for the first time with Kim. I really liked it. I like "real" classes better, but when "real" classes are not an option, this is a viable alternative.
Cleaned up and headed to Meijer, what I will label as a "zoo." We were there Tuesday morning and it was dead. Man I wish I could work from home, so leisurely Tuesday morning Meijer visits were in the realm of doable. There's always my "breaks."
Took some photos for our new "adventure," Move More Eat Well 2012. I also printed out some of the things we needed for the album. We needed a photo of the shoes that would be "moving us," and of, well, us. Here were the money shots:

We attended church, where, for whatever reason, I kept getting choked up. It happens every now and again. Songs usually. We sang lots of Mary songs, including Hail Mary, Gentle Woman and What Child Is This? Heck, even Father Luke got teared up during the Eucharistic Prayer. Don't know what happened, but he's had quite a year of changes and loss, so I can only imagine which emotion took over. He's such a good guy. We are blessed to have him with us.
We had some homemade pizzas when we returned. I will confess, that's my favorite kind of pizza. However, a bit of cheese fell to the bottom of the oven--enough to cause a puff of smoke--then causing a cranky Scott (he felt I should have gotten the cheese off the 425 degree one bottom, despite it's immediate melting--and, eventually, causing the smoke detectors to go off (thus amplifying Scott's discomfort with the whole situation). The pizza still tasted great, however. :)
Ignatius was invited to see the new Mission Impossible movie at 8:30, so he was dropped off at the theater to meet his friends and a set of parents. And thus, an Asperger's/teenager moment. So many things to pack into one social story, as, typically, he goes to the movies with one of us. How to pay for the ticket? Do not forget that the money needs to go toward Steak N Shake afterwards. When at Steak N Shake, you will have to tip. Here's how you figure that out. So there I sat, watching my "prepared" son go in to the theater without buying a ticket. As I exited my car to help, I saw he came back out to the ticket booth, so I did not enter. I know he has to figure all of this out by himself...I could at age 14 with little dilemmas. I was not Ignatius. He survived and enjoyed the evening. they decided not to go to Steak N Shake, so that portion of the preparation was unneeded. Next time we're out somewhere, he will be determining the tip.
Watched the ball drop in NYC at 11 after sharing a bottle of Spumante with the man and watching some marathon on BBC America. Max was sound asleep in his martial pajamas. It was kind of nice.

On to 2012! And more Winter Break!

Winter Break - Day 9

2011-12-30T21:50:00.000-06:00

A rainy Friday...the last Friday of 2011! On today's docket:

Lunched and crafted with my pal, Ann. Check out our creations!
Had some dinner from Noodles & Co. with the boys.
Caught up on blogging, Facebook, and doing the pre-class assignments for the scrapbook projects coming up.
Watched American Pickers with Scott.
Played a multitude of Words with Friends and Hanging with Friends.

Can't believe tomorrow is the last day of 2011. This year went by really quickly!

Winter Break - Day 8

2011-12-29T21:48:00.001-06:00

The sun was out and the weather mild. Still, I could not convince Max to leave the house. He adores being home. I think the pace of the first semester just about wore the kid out. His vacation is just being home. I gotta respect that.

As you can see, I was busy piling things on to my plate. I should not say it so negatively. I am setting up projects for myself that I will enjoy completing and will keep the creative side of my brain from dying out completely. So, two scrapbook projects, in addition to ones already in motion. That's what 2012 will bring.

It was interesting, because the first part of the Move More, Eat Well project involved Scott and I coming up with 5 things that we are good at. This was terribly hard for my hubby, which made me realize that he honestly believes the things he can list are things "anyone" can do if they just try. Now, one would think he was just being irritatingly humble, but, in truth, this was a very challenging task for him. We had--I guess it was a "discussion"-- about this for quite some time. I did not want to give him the answers. I wanted them to come intrinsically, as that is what the true spirit of the exercise included. I had to be a very creative interrogator. Eventually, I think five things came to the forefront. More on this as the project unfolds.

I attempted to work on science grades today. It'll get there. I swear.

Did some Zumba. Great class. I plan to try out my new Wii game on Saturday. I think we will also be de-Christmasing the house on Saturday.

Scott is currently watching The Big Bang Theory on TBS. Laughing his behind off. Made me come see Sheldon/Ignatius.

I am still pining for snow. I think I am out of luck. Will this be one of those years where we get snow in April? Because that will tick me off.

An Instragram Metaphor

2011-12-29T15:13:00.001-06:00

Head on over to my crafty blog to read of my pursuits with Cathy Zielske's 2012 Move More, Eat Well scrapbook/life class.

So, I shot this photo with my iPhone before I ate lunch today, as it looked so tasty.

If you have used the Instagram app, you know that, once you snap the shot, you have an abundance of action choices, which is what is nice about the app. Some of these actions would take either forever to come up with on Photoshop (if you are an amateur like myself), or forever to search for and try out via wonderful people who post them (and at times charge for them) on the web. Instagram puts it all there, and you can browse through what its different actions do to your picture.

My mind went a little overboard with this today. Some of the actions made the food look downright revolting, others washed out the brilliance of the colors, and still others found that right balance to make this look as appealing as it looked to me. And, isn't that life? Sometimes, we sabotage our abilities to eat well with the "actions" that go on in our own minds. We say, "Ugh, I have to eat a salad today for lunch." This salad was made with Butter Bliss lettuce (I love this stuff a little too much), baked ham from Christmas, a sprinkling of shredded cheddar, and my own dressing (a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, a tablespoon of olive oil, 1/4 packet of Truvia, a bit of oregano, and a bit of garlic powder). I also had a banana and some water with a bit of lemon juice. Everything tasted delightful, yet my attitude could have harmed its taste. It's all the perspective through which I look at this.

Move More, Eat Well will, I think, be a continuation for me, not a beginning. That helps, too. I am not starting up some crazy January 1 thing, only to be pissed by January 9. It's a documentation of what is already true, and an accountability to myself. Plus Scott's doing it with me. Which is awesome. More later. Gotta go to Zumba. :)

Winter Break, Days 6 and 7

2011-12-28T16:35:00.000-06:00

OK, so yesterday apparently flew by in a blur. Here's what I know to be true of the past two days:

Ignatius completed a Cross Country running workshop over the last two mornings, held by Lake Run Club. Today he ran a mile in under 7 minutes. He seemed to actually enjoy himself.
I went to Zumba yesterday AND got Zumba 2 for the Wii. Good times.
Max is getting harder and harder to get out of the house. He likes lounging and pretty much being a hermit. I am beginning to understand the attraction.
I have been trying to keep up with water drinking. I feel like my insides are floating, but it's flushed out the ookies.
We got a wee sprinkling of snow, nothing major.
Pizza night on Monday. Hot diggety. I love Pizza Hut.
I watched a stupid show about Sasquatch on History Channel. I also watched a series of American Pickers and Pawn Stars episodes that balanced out that stupidity.
I signed up for an Ali Edwards scrapbooking class focusing on my "One Little Word" for 2012: Strength.

Winter Break - Day 5

2011-12-26T20:22:00.006-06:00

Today consisted of:

Post-Christmas chillaxing. Max played with his car wash and crayon maker. He won't mix colors with the crayon maker, which cracks me up. He will only melt the same color and make the same color, rather than creating a rainbow type of effect. We go with his flow.
I ran (jogged) 3.1 today. It started out sunny and nice and ended up cloudy and chilly in the course of my 41 minutes of running. We did some exercises when I came home as well.
I worked on a wee bit of school stuff today. I have been adding some audio to my website for students to follow along as they read. That takes some time!
My brother, George, called, and we chatted for some time.
We all enjoyed down time, as no one had to be anywhere in particular today. It was pleasant.
The night ended with some snow. Not much, but a nice dusting to break the grayness.

A Very Merry Christmas - Winter Break, Day 4

2011-12-25T21:02:00.000-06:00

Does this about sum it up? We had Max getting his beloved car wash plus lots of other fun things, like a Slinky and blocks and a crayon maker. Oh, and sour Gumi Worms. Yum-mo!

Ignatius hit the jackpot, too.

Yes, I know you heard the heavens open and choirs of angels singing. And you thought it was all about the Lord? He acquired a new Dell Inspiron laptop with animation software and a Bamboo pad. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. I am so excited for him...if we can get the blue screen of death to stop popping up.

What about mom and dad? No complaints. Santa left mom some cold hard cash and a variety of gift cards (woo hoo! I really do like gift cards a whole lot), not to mention a snazzy pair of gloves from the Coach outlet. Dad got an aluma-wallet (not sure if he's keeping it, not big enough for all of his wallet needs) and various gift cards. We all got good health and the finances to be able to have a nice Christmas.

We spent our traditional evening with the Nicoson family. We exchange gifts and just chill to a delightful dinner and good friends. In all, I am feeling pretty blessed, though I do miss seeing my PA contingency.

Winter Break, Day 3 - Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T21:03:00.000-06:00

Today:

Slept in again. This time until 10. My family is spoiling me a bit too much. I won't be able to go back to work!
Went for a run and then did some other toning exercises with Ignatius. It was rough. I have let myself get pretty "untoned."
Went out and about. I love Christmas Eve. All the Black Friday suckers do not know what they are missing. It's such a calm afternoon. Returned Scott's broken gift with one that works.
Had the best ribs for dinner. Because of the unseasonable warm weather, Scott was able to use the Kamodo Joe. Yum-mo.
Ignatius continued his quest for world latch hook domination.
Got all dressed up for church. Snapped this pic of the family.

Attended Mass. Max was wondering what happened to the candles (Advent wreath). He loved the addition of the trees and all the lights.
Came home and popped open a bottle of Asti.
Max is now in his jammies watching The Polar Express. Love his reaction to it! Perfect Christmas Eve movie.

Merry Christmas to All!

Seize the Break, Day 2

2011-12-23T23:55:00.003-06:00

Today's highlights:

Slept "in" again until around 9. Much needed. Woke up to sunshine.
Took some pictures of the boys in hopes of getting a holiday card completed. We'll see. Here's one I have been toying with.

Let's not forget my little diva and his love of the camera.

Finally got my box sent to the PA contingency. A Christmas miracle!
Went out into the world of shopping. Found a few additional items. I think I am "done," but who knows? One of the things I got for Scott does not work, so I must return it (maybe tomorrow if I feel brave).
Took an afternoon nap after the sun hid back behind the clouds.
Spent some of the evening wrapping gifts and helping Ignatius with the latch hook project. He is really going to town on it. Good purchase!
Worked a few minutes on a scholarship essay. Less than 500 words = torture JoLynn. I'll do anything for a thousand bucks, though.
Spent some time on Facebook. Became irritated hearing how WalMart employees must say "Happy Holidays," and are forbidden to say, "Merry Christmas." Wondering where the ACLU is when it comes to these types of freedom of religion violations.

And now, we enter Jesus' Birthday Weekend! Woot!

Flashback

2011-12-22T23:00:00.016-06:00

Over the summer, a few of my pals and I dubbed ourselves the "Pinky Swear" ladies. We are all teachers, and we were all bemoaning the scurrying summer months as we sat by a good friend's pool. We reflected on the fact that this stretch of time each summer is a wonderful gift which very few professions have. I remember pondering, about two weeks before school began, as we let "we only have two more weeks" slip through our lips, that the two weeks of Winter Break seem like a blessed gift from God, and we should try to make the last two weeks of summer "feel" like the two weeks of Winter Break.

Here we are, months later, at the start of the coveted two weeks of Winter Break. The first half of our school year is over. Report cards for second quarter will be completed over this break. Plans for serious ISAT prep will happen as we return. But, for now, these fourteen days are precious and it feels great to have a break. My goal is to document, at least here if not in scrapbook form, how we spend our days.

Today was my first day of "break." Here's a run down of the day:

For whatever reason, I was able to sleep until about 9:45 AM. What a blessing!
A friend called me a little after 10 to tell me she was engaged. That was very good news. I have constantly called her guy a "keeper." He is incredibly thoughtful of her. I continually asked, after every trip or special evening, if a ring was involved, and this time, it was!
I traveled out to get my teeth taken care of at the Foehr Group. Three teeth drilled, two temporary crowns, lots of novacaine. I had already broken one of the teeth, so it was a much needed visit. I found out that Dr. Foehr, my previous dentist who recently retired, has ALS, which is manifesting itself first in his throat. He is unable to speak, communicating through his iPad. He recently had a feeding tube put in. Dr. Foehr is a great guy, and I hate that this is happening to him.
I went to Lincoln Leisure and, still quite numb in the mouth, shook my boom boom at Zumba. Good times were had by all.
We had a lovely dinner of carry out Olive Garden, sponsored partially by a gift card from one of my students. Where I teach, those types of gift cards are few and far between, so I was really touched by the thoughtfulness of this parent.
Ignatius and I ventured out to Hobby Lobby. I needed adhesive for the "Holiday Cards" that might eventually get made by me before 2012. We bought some latch hook kits, inspired by a conversation I had with some younger colleagues regarding latch hook (and their blank stares as I mentioned it). I figured it would be nice for him to learn something crafty from his old ma, and for him to have something non-electronic for passing the time. He took to it pretty nicely. Max was VERY interested in it as well, and wanted to help in any way he could.

As the night wound down, and the children finally went to bed, I began wrapping the gifts that have been needing attention. I packed a box that will finally be heading to PA (hopefully FedEx tomorrow). Truly, I only have a few other odds and ends to get together, and then I think we're set.

Now, it's really Friday, but I am backdating this. Friday will have a narrative all its own. To bed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T20:45:00.000-06:00

Hope everyone had a great day!

Grad classes...

2011-11-20T19:30:00.002-06:00

...exhaust me. Bleh. That is all.

In Which There's a Little Self Pity

2011-09-22T23:48:00.000-05:00

I go about my day-to-day in a day-to-day manner. There are ups, there are downs. Yin meets yang. And so it goes.

Sometimes, the most unexpected thing, however, can stop me in my tracks. Like a simple video. I just watched a video of a scrapbooker's nine month old twins. Adorable! Yet, there it came creeping back. That feeling of being robbed. The two were acting completely developmentally appropriately. They were starting the babblings of a typical child of their age. And in the cuteness of it all, I just felt robbed.

Now, mind you, Ignatius hit fairly regular milestones...surpassed some of them. He was able to show much of what I had seen in that video. It was Maximilian who was robbed of these critical milestones. I am not just wallowing in the past. We are dealing with that in the present.

He is so proud of himself this year. He is a "big boy." A first grader. He has been in the gen ed room pretty exclusively, with the help of an aide. The homework comes home, and it is BRUTAL. Writing and reading. Reading and writing. I have never seen a child try so hard to read and write. I know I should seize the day...he's on his way. But I can tell that, to Max, being with the other kids in his first grade class is critically important. However, I also know as a teacher that he is behind where they are. As his mother, I truly do not care. He will get to his destination when he gets there.

What I care about is that I think he will care as the gap becomes more apparent. What happens when he gets just a wee older and differences are pointed out to him with shocking bluntness that only 4th graders can deliver? I try to stay in the now, but living with ASD means you rarely get to do that. You are constantly thinking one step ahead...what might trigger a bad situation? How might this trip, perhaps your 100th, to the grocery store end in sure and certain disaster? Once you get him in to Chuck E. Cheese, and he has dealt with that overstimulation, what's your plan to get him out? What education plan is best for him? What might be detrimental? When has damage been done...when did you wait too long? Did you hover too much? Did you not advocate enough?

Every parent of a child on the spectrum will tell you that s/he loves his/her child. But they would be lying if they said there are not days when you just ask why they couldn't be like every other kid their age, at least academically. Why must they struggle this much?

And then, after your pity party, you wipe off the tears and move back into reality.

A fitting "Re-Blog"

2011-09-11T19:46:00.001-05:00

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2008

We Remember

We remember...
...the firefighters
...the police officers
...the veterans
...the civilians
...the innocent victims
...the sadness
...the horror
...the strength
...the American spirit to overcome
...September 11, 2001

Autism Run 2011

2011-09-10T17:30:00.008-05:00

Today, 9-10-11, I participated in my 4th Autism Walk/Run. The key difference this year? I was a runner, not a walker.

And run I did. I ran 3.1 miles in 38 minutes and 41 seconds. It's been a long time since I have been able to finish 3.1 in under 40 minutes. It was epic (for me, at least)! I think it was also epic for my friend, Sally, who was running her first 5K and was running in honor of her daughter who passed away. We all do Zumba, and we all feel its positive effects on our mental health, so our group was called the Zumbalicious Runners.

And of course, there was the cause: Autism Society of McLean County. I am grateful for its outreach to the community and all the services it provides.

This week was also major for me because I hit the 50 lbs lost. So it's time to look at where I have been and where I am:

Sally and Karen wrapping it up

June 12:

Chest (sports bra on) 39 7/8"
Right arm 14 1/2"
Left arm 14 1/4"
Waist 33 7/8"
Hips 42 1/2"
Right Thigh 27 1/4"
Left Thigh 27"
Weight: 194.6 lbs

July 10:

Chest 39 1/4"

Right arm 13 1/4"

Left arm 14"

Waist 33"

Hips 42 1/2"

Right Thigh 26 1/2"

Triumphant (and sweaty) at the finish

Left Thigh 26 1/2"

Weight: 195.6 lbs

September 10:
Chest 38 1/2"

Right arm 13 1/2"

Left arm 14"

Waist 32 1/2"

Hips 42 1/2"

Right Thigh 25 1/2"

Left Thigh 25 1/2"

Weight: 188.8 lbs

In other Plato news, Ignatius participated in the Woodruff Invitational in Peoria today, which is why he could not run with me. He ran 3 miles in 22 minutes, 50 seconds--a personal record for him. He keeps shaving off time! So proud of his efforts!

105th finish

In all, a fine day for the family.

The Next Phase

2011-08-16T20:38:00.000-05:00

Hear that? That's the sound of life speeding by...

That little Kindergartner is now a high school freshman.

When OCD and Depression Collide

2011-07-22T18:36:00.001-05:00

In the decade of the 1990s and early 2000s, I was the sole reason that manila folder companies like Mead were living high on the hog. I filed everything. In December (or February depending on the year), the year's files went from our file cabinet into a box, lovingly numbered with the year. Alphabetized files? Yes. Everything one could possibly want to save? Yes. An organized hoarder? Yes.

In 2007, when the rubber hit the road and depression knocked me on my ass, I really think the depression was having a bitch-slap festival with my self-diagnosed OCD. I have filed NOTHING since then. I have a stack in my basement that is waiting to be filed. Important papers have been placed in various baskets. However, if we needed a paper, my former self would have known which box and file to look in to locate it in 20 seconds flat. Now, there's a pile somewhere.

Do the math. I was married in 1992...when this file frenzy began. I did this until 2007. That's about FIFTEEN boxes. They are now stacked in my garage, awaiting being hauled away by a shredding company. Enter depression again. It's much easier to sit down and stare at a computer screen (and I mean stare) than to go through these boxes to remove anything vital (yes, Mother, I found your living will!). So, I realized I needed help. I asked Scott to bring just one box in at a time to let me go through. So far, three boxes have been gone through. Here are some snippets of conversation:

"Did you ever transfer your 401K from KARMAK?"

"I don't know."

"What is this life insurance policy? Is it still active?"

"I don't know."

The list goes on and on.

And in the time that I have taken to write this? Another box bit the dust.

So, I guess my message is sometimes, depression has to be looked square in the eye and told to f-off or pay rent.

May this year be the year that I start scanning stuff and getting rid of paper copies of what I do not need. Maybe. Or maybe I should just celebrate getting through these boxes.

It is what it is

2011-07-10T18:17:00.000-05:00

May 6, 2011

July 10, 2011

I have not run for quite some time because my foot has been murderously hurting and I wanted to save it for my first love, Zumba. My beloved Zumba goddess, Karen, has been at the Zumba Convention in Orlando. The last Zumba class I attended was Wednesday night. I have been doing a sit up/push up challenege (100 of each every day), but my cardio has been slacking. She has been getting her groove on and will return, I am sure, ready to work out butts off. So tonight, when the sun goes down a bit more, Ignatius and I will do a 2-mile jog. I took some pics of me as of today and have included my pic right before Race for the Cure. Here's the latest measurement update:

June 12:

Chest (sports bra on) 39 7/8"
Right arm 14 1/2"
Left arm 14 1/4"
Waist 33 7/8"
Hips 42 1/2"
Right Thigh 27 1/4"
Left Thigh 27"
Weight: 194.6 lbs (yeah, I posted it)

July 10:

Chest 39 1/4"

Right arm 13 1/4"

Left arm 14"

Waist 33"

Hips 42 1/2"

Right Thigh 26 1/2"

Left Thigh 26 1/2"

Weight: 195.6 lbs

So, my weight has hovered, which makes total sense, as my eating habits are not great, and I have not been tracking. But my measurements have changed, except for my hips, which includes my lovely butt/butt area. I can definitely feel a change in my arms and thighs. The push ups have assisted with that immensely. With the situps, I am hoping to work my lower ab area as well as upper.

For the next month, I will try less crap, more good: veggies, fruits etc. more than (not instead of) candy and such. I will not be "giving up" things, just expanding my circle of eating to include more of what it should. I have been good about water intake, which is usually the case in the summer months for me.

I also want to find workouts that will target my lower ab/hip/butt areas as well as the part of the back right behind the arms and in the bra area. It seems everything around these parts is toning, but these parts are not, so I am missing something for sure. Probably where the weight is that won't shake off.

I should return to 10-Minute Trainer. I left it when I had some severe foot pain and I had to pare down. It was a great set of workouts. This week, I will add it back in.

Until August!

Kindergarten Documented

2011-07-07T09:41:00.000-05:00

Did some digital scrapbooking of Kindergarten. Click on each for a larger view. I left out some of the things that have already been scrapbooked and blogged. More on my digi-process here.

Horton Hears a Holla!

2011-06-19T22:21:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe a week has gone by since I have invested 14 minutes a day to 10 Minute Trainer. I have to say, I appreciate how short it is. That is what got me doing anything tonight. Apparently, today, there was not enough refined sugar ON THE PLANET to assuage my binge. Hot fudge sundae... check. Lemonheads...check. Peanut butter toast...check. (No, not the, "I-love-Mother-Nature-organic" crap...Jif, baby!) So, at around 9:45 tonight, I had talked myself in to and out of working out. Then, I came to the realization: How lame would it be, JoLynn, if you cannot even do 10 minutes of something? And so, I sit here, waiting for my sweat factor to die down before I can try to go to bed.

Sweat? (you say incredulously) How can you possibly be sweating? Well, you have to recall two things: (1) I am a walking hormone. I have had issues with body temperature since my early 30s, thanks to a lovely little condition called PCOS. So, putting on socks makes me sweat. (2) It's Tony Horton. Have you done any of his workouts? The man does not mess.

To summarize this week:
Monday: Warm up---Cardio---Cool Down (14 minutes)
Tuesday: Warm up---Total Body---Cool Down (14 minutes); Zumba (60 minutes)
Wednesday: Zumba (60 minutes); Fine Toning Express (30 minutes); No Tony Horton...are ya kidding me? Why did I need it?
Thursday: Zumba (60 minutes); fatigue setting in; no 10 Minute Trainer
Friday: Warm up---Yoga Flex (12 minutes)
Saturday: Warm up---Total Body---Cool Down (14 minutes)
Sunday: Warm up---Cardio---Cool Down (14 minutes)

Foodwise, I have hovered between the same two-pound range. Depends on the day. If I had eaten and not worked out, I would have definitely gained. No question. Too much convenience eating. At least when I was in school, I was in control of lunch (which was usually an Uncrustable). This week was sad for me AND my kids. We will be correcting that next week. My complexion and my attitude will thank me. But that sundae was awfully good. :)

Let's be careful, Generation X

2011-06-18T10:29:00.000-05:00

Today, I am waxing philosophical about my generation of parents. We have the opportunity to open up a world for our children that is beyond anything we could have imagined when we were younger. With opportunities come responsibilities.

Portable electronic devices
We can now have access to our children anywhere there is cell phone service, and that is just about anywhere. What a blessing! They can grab information anywhere they need it from small handheld devices with network capabilities. The world is literally at their fingertips.

But they don't need them at dinner. And they don't need them at church. And they don't need them to avoid a conversation. It's so easy to make the iPad the new babysitter. I came face to face with this on Thursday night. There was an Open House for Autism Camp in my son's school district. This is an extended school year program specifically for students on the spectrum. It is to bridge both academics and social skills for the students. Many parents brought their kids to the Open House, but I am still wondering why. Many of them sat with their Samsung Galaxy or their iPad or what have you... totally ignoring the speakers. Now, granted, Max did not last long, either, but that was due to the fact that it was a large crowd in a school cafeteria with horrible acoustics. Scott walked around with him and let him explore the school rather than let him sit there and ignore the world as he delved into a game.

Being at everything
I am still fuzzy on how this started. It was somewhere between when I was a kid and when I became a parent. I am reading a book right now about teaching literacy in the classroom. One of the core parts of this method goes well with my philosophy of teaching: stay out of the way. There is a LOT being said right now about teachers getting students to be "college ready." The US Congress is discussing re-authorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), lovingly dubbed "No Child Left Behind," as it will sunset in 2012... a school generation after its ill-advised conception in 2000. The reauthorization, we are told, will be tweaked to stress college readiness skills.

My question is: What are college readiness skills in 2012? It isn't your parents college readiness, that's for sure. I went to college with a typewriter, and graduated 4 years later in 1991 using 5 1/4' floppies and the earliest version of Word Perfect (black screen, green font...holla!). Within 10 years, I had e-mail and the Internet at my disposal. I had graduated with an online Master's degree. Times are a-changing rapidly.

As parents, we can provide our children with laptops, cell phones, iPads, and, oh yeah, money...whatever the college believes is needed for an education. But we MUST provide them with skills of independence. How are we doing that by micromanaging? Do we really need to be at everything? I am not talking about the big things, like games and graduations, and such. I am talking about practices. I am talking about being at every game. I am talking about interfering with the coaches and what they are trying to teach the children (that is not our generation of parenting, but it's becoming way too commonplace). I am talking about constantly contacting teachers and fighting children's battles for them.

Remember the chant, "Let them play!" It rang in my head as I took Ignatius to the park when he was younger. Full sized adults on playground equipment. An anachronism to the highest degree. There's a reason we don't fit down the slide anymore. It's because the intent is for the children to play and potentially socialize with other children.

When I send my son to college (or whatever school he needs for animation) in 4 short years from now, my goal is to give him the gift of independently making decisions that are in his own best interest. I hope to send him with the ability to problem solve, to work with other people, to be known as the dependable group member and not the slacker. I hope to send him with the skills to advocate for himself, to respectfully disagree, and to always be polite to others. At the same time, I want him to be able to stand up for himself and let a bully know that his parents will support him giving a good ass kicking when called for (sorry folks, with boys, sometimes, it's called for). I also want him to acquire the gut instinct when the odds are stacked against him, when things are not safe, and when he needs to remove himself from a situation. Those are some heavy duty goals.

I know, I know. If we're not at everything, our kid might miss out on something. Yes, the ability to listen for important information and relay it to the people who need to hear it. That's what they miss out on.

Jacks of all trades, masters of none
I was involved in an incredible amount of activities when I was younger. I was not pushed into any of it. I wanted to do it all. That meant going to school on the bus at 7, having track practice after school until 5, walking to Wendy's for some dinner, returning to a 6:30 - 10:00 PM play practice, and waking up the next day to do it again. That meant spending Saturdays at volleyball tournaments without my parents because I did not need them to be there as I sat through a bye and chatted with my friends. (They did come for some of the games though.) It meant one parent taking and another parent picking up from weekend basketball games when I was cheering (called "carpooling"). It was all commonplace. I did not feel rejected. No therapy needed. I could care for myself. That was the underlying theme.

Why do we believe that our children must be involved in 10,000 activities at our urging? Why are we unable to just give kids time to play... to chill out... to (gasp!) do nothing... to self-entertain... to possibly play a (non-electronic) game with a sibling?

Don't get me wrong
I sound as though I am beyond reproach. I am not. We all get sucked in. I love all things electronic. I am typing on my laptop right now. I enjoy the socialization of social media (Facebook especially) and playing Words with Friends. Ignatius just got off the Wii (he has a 1 hour time limit) and Max just got off the iPad. What's going on now? Ignatius is helping his dad in the yard (oh yeah, there's reluctance, but one day he'll realize the value of what his dad is teaching him... and I mean being able to do something instead of paying someone else to do it), and Max is "making money" from paper and making his own wallet out of paper. Am I directing any of this? Nope. Do my children feel unloved? I challenge you to prove that one.

10 Minute Trainer Day 2

2011-06-13T22:41:00.000-05:00

Max and I worked hard for 10 minutes this afternoon. We participated in the Total Body workout. Holy smokes. This is no joke.

Tony Horton Abridged

2011-06-12T21:29:00.000-05:00

The same information gurus who snagged me into buying P90X have succeeded again. They succeeded mainly because I love Tony Horton. I loved P90X, and, if I did nothing related to working or raising kids, I would have no problem doing P90X. It just fatigued me after 45 days to the point of being nonfunctioning.

So, having consistently completed Zumba for a couple years and inconsistently running for the past 6 months, I decided to indulge in Tony's newest endeavor: 10 Minute Trainer. Here are the tiers, according to JoLynn:

Tier 1: Complete a 2-minute warm up, a 10-minute activity, and a 2-minute cool down every day.
Tier 1.1: Complete a 2-minute warm up, 2 or 3 10-minute activities, and a 2-minute cool down every day.
Tier 2: Tier 1 plus Tony's eating suggestions (which include Shakeology...which literally made me sick to my stomach...)
Tier 3: Tier 2 plus add another 10-minute workout or two

Many things come with the program, but I will warn you: the salespeople on the phone are barracudas. They try to sell you everything under the sun. I hung up one time (and they called me back!) because they were so pushy. I was nice and said I was hanging up, but she was ruthless, this gal. Well trained at the art of the Beachbody sell. But no means no, man.

With the informercial's offer, you get:

Cardio
Yoga Flex
Total Body
Lower Body
Abs
a tape measure
an exercise band (I got the 20 lb one as I have many varieties of lighter bands at home)
a cardio belt door set-up
the 2-day jump start (Shakeology recommended... expensive and really gross...sorry Tony)
a 4-week workout schedule
Rapid Results Guide Book
Measurement Tracker
the Lean Jean plan (lose 1 jean size in 10 days claimed; eating plan + 2 workouts a day)
Tony Horton's 10-Minute meals

Since I am still doing Zumba 3 to 4 times a week, I am starting with just a 10-Minute workout a day with warm up and cool down. After the first 4 weeks, I will add another workout, if I feel it's necessary.

On Day 1, Tony recommends taking some photos. I did, and they are locked in Al Capone's vault. He also suggests measurements. So, here goes blogland--->
Chest (sports bra on) 39 7/8"
Right arm 14 1/2"
Left arm 14 1/4"
Waist 33 7/8"
Hips 42 1/2"
Right Thigh 27 1/4"
Left Thigh 27"
Weight: 194.6 lbs (yeah, I posted it)

Tonight I did the Cardio workout with the Cardio Band. Whew. I was definitely sweating. Is was not too hard or too easy. And it really was just 10 minutes. He has you do moves that work more than 1 muscle group at once, so you are maximizing the workout you are doing. Could definitely feel Zumba helping with this one. I felt pretty good about my ability to do the exercises.

I might try some of the recipes he offers, but food plan wise, I think I will just stick to what seems to work for me: a modified version of Weight Watchers.

Onward!

Switch

2011-05-06T21:24:00.000-05:00

Due to the bravery of one Cathy Zielske, I decided to go ahead and take a self-shot in the mirror. She does this regularly as part of her Move More Eat Less regimen. Though I was not brave enough to do a true "before" shot (I have some a la my P90X period, but I am not about to have those go viral, thank you), here is a "during" shot before my run this morning.

Throwing all other caution out the window, and brainwashed by the seductive sunshine, I decided to be just plain CRAZY. I changed my route AND I allowed my iPod to shuffle through my Top 25 Most Played playlist. Yes, I had seemingly lost my mind.

You know what? It was the best set of decisions ever. I did not realize how Pavlovian my running had become. I had certain cadences that went with my running playlist, even though I changed it up a couple times. I knew that when "Lose Yourself" came on, that was my hardest stretch... between miles 2 and 3. I knew that, in a typical 5K, "Where the Streets Have No Name" was my last stretch of the run, even though, when using just my iPod and Nike+, 3.1 came a bit before that. Visually, I knew how far I had gone in my run by where in Tipton Park I was, and how much farther I needed to go. Sometimes, I slowed to a crawl because of that.

The result of throwing caution to the wind: I clocked my fastest mile at 10'46". I was not even trying to run faster or slower than usual, but the songs that flowed got me running just the right pace. So, not worried about song order or where I was on my typical run, I thought about the music choices and how each one had a reason for being among my Most Played.

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
I never thought to run to this song until my first Lake Run, when they had this blaring at the start of the race. It was awesome, and perfect on that chilly may morning. It still gets me running.

Fake It by Seether
The rhythm of the song is great for running, but it's the words of the song that give me what I need to trudge on. Usually, I think of someone with whom I am particularly disgusted, and, sadly, that gives me the energy I need to get through the song. Anger as a motivator.

My Hero by Foo Fighters
The first time I ran to this, I could not believe my pace. For whatever reason, I pick it up for this song. I've always dug the lyrics.

Switch by Will Smith
How appropriate for today. "It ain't really that hard to do and..." That's what I'm talkin' 'bout, too, Will.

Club Can't Handle Me by FloRida
I like how this song builds. It gives me a little break to slow it down, and then forces me to not stay there long.

Let's Get It Started by The Black Eyed Peas
This was my very first song, and it was crazy how my body responded to it in the middle of the run (again, cue Pavlov). I started becoming super conscious of my breathing, like I am when I first start out. I do LOVE this song, though.

Only Girl (In the World) by Rhianna
Again, my body was reacting to our Zumba routine to this, which was a cardio-bitch, if I may say so. My breathing is always a little labored, but it's such a great song!

Raise Your Glass by P!nk
'Nuff said.

Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor) by Pitbull
Great pace. Love this song. Something about Mr. Worldwide and T-Pain...makes this a great running song.

Lose Yourself by Eminem
I would have been the last person on Mother Earth to have an Eminem song on my iPod. For a long time, I could not stand him. I thought he was Vanilla Ice shaken and stirred for another generation. However, this song has stood the test of time. His little preface, "If you only had one shot... one opportunity...." is actually really motivating when I am jogging.

Where the Streets Have No Name by U2
Not sure I like keeping this one in the run. It slows me WAY down, but I love the song.

OMG (featuring will.i.am) by Usher
"Honey got a booty like pow pow pow..." That part of the song CRACKS me up. The rest has a beat that is just awesome.

So there you have it. I survived the Amazing Mix-up. Tomorrow, I will be run/jogging Race for the Cure in Peoria, probably in the rain from what is predicted. Always a moving run for a good cause. But way too early in the AM!

Well allrighty then

2011-04-12T20:35:00.001-05:00

This was the photo that made tonight's run happen:

Taken at the tail end of the CCHS 5K, when I was pushing myself beyond what I believed I had in me, I noticed something about my stride/stance. I don't know if it's a common thing, but I was leaning way forward. WAY forward. For tonight's run, I tried to stay conscious of that, and when I felt the pull, I had a little chat with my core and my legs. Core muscles tight, use the leg span and get the legs a bit forward. Lo and behold! I could have probably kept running...dare I say to the 10K level...this evening. That's crazy, as I felt nauseous and migraine-ish off and on today. The weather was perfect, the sun was setting, and I finally figured out how to keep myself from feeling like someone was trying to pull my lungs up through my throat. Here's the exciting news from Nike (click on image for a larger view):

What About Your Friends?

2011-04-03T15:18:00.000-05:00

Today, my friends and I ran a 5K. It is 78 degrees and the winds are being clocked at 30 mph. But we looked good, as we all had on our Zumbalicious Runners shirts that we had done some fancy craftwork to.

The additional cool part was that it was a fundraiser for Ignatius' future high school, Bloomington Central Catholic. Much love to all of my Zumba pals for running with me. I did not run the entire thing as I had planned, but I ran more than I ever had before. The wind was quite a contender to my breathing. :)

Pretending

2011-03-27T16:37:00.000-05:00

As a child of the 70s, I did a great deal of pretending. Even though many people judged TV as the harbinger of doom that would forever change our generation into a bunch of coach potatoes, most of my friends and I played outside or at each other's houses. What did we do? Pretend.

We were Luke, Han Solo, and Lea fighting Darth Vader. We were the Hardy Boys solving a mystery. We were the Pink Ladies. We made snow angels and chad snow ball battles. Recent WWF moves were re-enacted (most of the time with me as the guinea pig, but I digress).

No, this is not a walk down memory lane or an intro to a lecture about the evils of technology. It is a reflection on something VERY challenging for children on the autsim spectrum: pretend play.

Ignatius would often be seen having many worlds going on inside his head. He would walk down a store aisle with me as his fingers were going a mile a minute making some bizarre gestures. He understood what he was doing. In his pre-school years, I recall a chat with one of his teachers who presented this concern, "JoLynn, he just goes over to the corner and reads." At the time, I chalked it up to yet another characteristic of introversion, and saw nothing atypical about it. He was just making different choices than other kids. That was allowable.

Max made similar choices for play. He preferred repetitive things, like his ball table or spinning the wheels on a car, or lining up pieces of a puzzle. He was not interested in engaging in pretend play. I had been down this road before. Although he pretended to be at his favorite thing---a car wash---his play was repetitive. He often wants to do these things alone.

I have to add, this was one area in which I felt a little cheated. I LOVED pretending as a child, I LOVE to act on a stage, and I believe I became a teacher because I LOVED playing make-believe with kids. The incentive for many of these things were my own... not requiring adult micro-management.

This week, finally, after six years, Max gave me a little gift. He typically plays with the little rubber edges to our workout mats (they become part of the car wash repetition). This week, they became magic wands! We turned his dad into a stone (that was particularly fun for me). He has also had patches of make-believe here and there that I am sure have been building through his socialization at school.

So, what's the big deal? My personal opinion is that pretending gets us ready for the big game. I have watched both of my kids struggle to make social connections with others... to engage in play or show they did not wish to engage in play with others. Pretending is practicing for the multiple social mergers we all do in life. It's a risk-free time to try out conversation and see if we can get another to play along with the scenario we are creating.

Those with kids on the spectrum are not always given this opportunity. I appreciate the blessing. Carpe diem!

Spring has Sprung!

2011-03-20T18:59:00.000-05:00

I just realized that the blizzard was the last thing I blogged about. What a difference a month and a half makes! Today was warm, windy, and a bit delightful here in Central IL.

It is finally Spring Break, much needed for all of the Plato family. Yesterday and today, Ignatius and I ran/walked together. Yesterday, we were outside. Today, we went to 4 Seasons 1. I ran the track, he walked the elliptical and treadmill.

The exciting part was that I REALLY ran. I walked the first 5 minutes or so as a warm up (through the song, Dancing Queen), then I ran/jogged the rest through to the distance of a 5K (well, I stopped running at 3.2 miles). It felt pretty good, I have to say. I had been doing a run/walk for a while to save my foot, but I found today that just slowing my running pace was an OK thing as well.

The kids are great. We had Max's IEP annual review. That seemed to go well. It's very difficult to plan goals when he changes so much within a year. They are always willing to revisit his plan, which is nice. I have to start gearing up for continuing his education throughout the summer months. He's not always as receptive to mom wanting to do "academic" things with him. He will be attending "Autism Camp" for 5 weeks. That will work on social-emotional goals and maintaining social gains (I hope) that he has made this year.

Ignatius registered for high school at Central Catholic. He is really excited. I find it hard to believe he is of age, but it's coming. It hit me when we did not have to register for Holy Trinity for the first time in 9 years.

I am still crossing my fingers that the ministry at St. Pat's will catch on. We had a meeting during "Blizzard Week," where myself and Ellen were the two participants. We are trying again on April 9, this time offering child care and a bit lengthier blurb in the bulletin. If that doesn't work, this just might not be the time. But I can't say we didn't try.

So glad spring is here!

Jack Frost Bites Hard

2011-02-06T13:44:00.004-06:00

This week, we were visited by one of the biggest storms... ever. See!

Now, do not get me wrong. I love snow. Truly. You can't live in Illinois and hate it. But when there's wind and ice, and snow, and subzero temps, my love is tested.

Without further adieu, here is a video compilation of the storm from here in Bloomington. Enjoy the music, sit back with some cocoa, and be as glad as I am that it's part of history.

Bathwater

2011-01-22T20:23:00.000-06:00

Whenever I fill my tub for a bath, I follow pretty much the same pattern. I clean out the tub, then I start the water, double-checking for just a moment that I got all the stray hair and dust out. If not, I stop the water and do one last sweep. Then I start the tub with what I think feels like an appropriate temperature. If something leads my attention away, I can end up with a scalding hot bath or a lukewarm one. It's happened once or twice. Since we have a large tub, there have even been times when the hot water was depleted and icy cold water was undoing any warmth the bath once had.

My school dealings with Max are a lot like this. I worked like crazy to get him ready for Kindergarten, including therapy, early childhood, and lots and lots of social stories. I hoped and prayed I was making the right decision putting him in when I was not 100% sure he was developmentally ready. The tub was cleaned, I believed.

School started and some things were still floating in the bathwater. So, we turned off the water for one more sweep. We had an IEP meeting and tweaked some areas of concern. Water resumed.

His return to school since winter break has been tumultuous. He has said to me more often than not that he does not want to go to school. He wants to stay home. He has been refusing to do things at school, mainly in the gen. ed. classroom I fought to get him to be a part of. Lying down on the floor. Saying no. And, on Friday, kicking and hitting his PE teacher. Temperature of the water is a bit too hot.

So here we are, with a child who is cognitively able to handle the content of Kindergarten. Has a bunch of sight words under his belt. Recognizes and writes his name and various other words. Can play a problem solving game on a laptop PC using its touchpad. Simultaneously, he is showing the behaviors that I know will make it quite difficult to convince people of where he should be placed. It's not that I have anything against the special education room. [Ringing in my ears, Seinfeld's, "Not that there's anything wrong with that!"] I just know that being in a gen. ed. room will get him the exposure he needs to continue his content attainment. A separate space does not guarantee that same level.

So, I'll put my hand in the water and give it a swirl. I'll give it some time for nature to run its course and for the water to cool. Sometimes I do not do that. Sometimes I get in the tub and regret it, as my skin turns a bright red and I actually sweat in its heat. I am wondering if I did that... pushed for him to be in too much gen. ed. Assumed that the gen. ed. situation is a strong fit. As a teacher who teaches students with similar schedules, sometimes they are in my room, sometimes not, I know the effort it takes to make everyone feel like they "belong." The magic does not occur without a great deal of comfort and commitment. We decided to have a meeting in January to check the changes in his IEP on the day we made them. So, we shall be meeting soon to determine how to get his bathwater temperature to be better.

Ironically, this week, we got the class composite for class pictures. His class? The special ed. class. Now, you must understand that this is the very thing Scott said last year that he did not want... the yearbook picture of him in a special ed. class. This is the very reason my husband did not want him on "the short bus." No, he's not in denial. I think he is being somewhat realistic. Just one more way for peers to note his differences, and one more time (I know there will be lots more) for us to be smacked in the face with the fact that our child is different. In that sense we step in to the tub after the water turned ice cold.

Well, that went well!

2011-01-04T13:41:00.000-06:00

My meeting at my parish this morning went really well. The outcome is that we will be doing an "all call" for parents in the parish who wish to meet about a new ministry to parents of children with special needs. We will be meeting on February 5 at 10 AM at St. Patrick's of Merna.

I met with Fr. Jerry, Becky, and Sr. Rita, and the things I was praying for last night truly did occur. I learned that there are options with our parish school of religion for students with special needs, and that there is a SPEC program at Holy Trinity Church. I spent some time relating different things that occur with the boys that stray from the typical (I mentioned about Ignatius' serving experiences and anxiety and his anxiety relating to Confirmation). We discussed some things regarding Max's needs and how some of the parish outreach (like Vacation Bible School and Kid Spot) can be somewhat overstimulating because of the sheer number of children involved. From several of the comments made. I really felt as though they would be very helpful in helping Scott and me decide how to proceed with Max's schooling in the Catholic faith. Fr. Jerry was appreciative of my wanting to share these things, and it seemed to really open his eyes to the need for outreach to parents.

So, onward I go. I am creating a bulletin announcement for the next couple of weeks, and touching base with some of the persons suggested to me regarding the direction we take with this. Prayers are still welcome!

What Seek Ye?

2011-01-03T22:48:00.000-06:00

A few years before Max was born, I participated in a Bible study with a group of ladies in my parish. One of the first things we were asked to do was to write a "What Seek Ye?" letter to the Lord. This was to guide our study of the book of John, the Lord's beloved disciple. We used Beth Moore's Beloved Disciple as our guide. Here's what I wrote, painfully unedited:

"What am I seeking? It depends on the day. Right now, today, 1/13/04, I seek knowledge that my decisions to NOT do certain things for the church are grounded. I'm trying to place family first, while sacrificing things I could do. Yet I add on more with my career without too much thought. Still struggling workaholism, balanced with perfectionism. I seek another child. Just ONE more. I seek to know why Jesus allows people who fail at child rearing to have children (and lots of them), yet Scott and I are left yearning, pining for more. Does God know I can't handle more? Is he trying to tell me that? If so, how do I fill the hole in my heart? I'm seeking to control my eating habits. God has already placed Kim in my life to keep work outs consistent (thank you!). Now how do I work to eat the way I know I should?

I seek to realize and reciprocate how much Scott and Ignatius love me. How do I show them how much I love them? I seek wise words. I have leadership abilities. How am I using them? Do I exude positivity or bring others down? I seek to listen, to not make everything about me. To balance, be 'understood as to understand.' To NOT sound like a know-it-all. To let others arrive at their own conclusions. I seek to bury old wounds. Let go past bad experiences. Open myself up to the new, yet have learned from the old. I seek to see each of my students' unique situations and bring them Christ when I can, though I cannot do so overtly in my job. I suppose that'll do for now. :) "

I like to journal thoughts, especially my prayers, because I think the best part of the experience is going back and allowing the Holy Spirit to show how God answers prayers. The human mind has the tendency to forget at times the most desperate of prayers. Within that next year, I was pregnant with Max, though very close to giving up all hopes of having another child so that I could move on to other paths in my life. I was feeling tremendous guilt over not being as active in my church as I had been accustomed to. I was at that point feeling the burden of the many hats I was wearing, unsure of which ones God wanted on me, and not wanting to toss aside "the one."

Well, here I am again, seven years later, with that same question, "What seek ye?" I am at the verge of asking our church to embark on a ministry. I am willing, yet feeling inadequate, to lead this ministry. I am seeking assurance from God that I have been hearing his calling correctly and am here to do his will. I have not been "knee deep" in church activities for a decade, as the closer I got to the workings of the church, the more its humanity got in the way. I preferred the unflawed version, which meant not being in the "inner sanctum." I dropped RCIA, Ladies Auxiliary, Habitat for Humanity, Youth Ministry, lectoring, and eucharistic ministering. My focus was to raise my child(ren) without other "things" taking up my precious time and without gossip destroying my faith. Now, I stand on the threshold of breaking that... of asking for a ministry and being involved with its inception. Is that REALLY what I am seeking? Isn't it enough to try to raise my special needs sons?

I have felt this voice for some time now. It seems to be saying that there's more need out there than just my own. The spirit moved me to persistent action, but it was not just for my benefit. People are in need. Parents need to know how to take a non-traditional path to forming their children's spirituality in a church steeped in tradition.

What do I seek in my meeting tomorrow?
-Understanding: making my point known without becoming overly emotional (and thus losing credibility, in my opinion); having the people with whom I am meeting validate my perspective that a need exists
-Fortitude: to say what needs to be said, yet not alienate or place blame
-Wisdom: the ability to take what I know and "pull it out" when I need it, keeping the aforementioned "know-it-all" at bay

I want to leave the meeting with a feeling like real change can occur, that I am creating an opportunity, not a burden. And I hope I can come away with an idea of what my part needs to be in all of this.

Color Me Excited!

2011-01-01T18:36:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year to all!

My first week of 2011 will include a meeting with my pastor regarding the needs of special needs children and their parents in our church. In doing a quick web search of what's out there, I "found" (as if it was hiding?) the National Apostolate for Inclusion Ministry. JACK-POT! Imagine that... others in the Catholic Church who recognize that we need to individualize cathechesis to meet the needs of those who stray from the "norm." Oh happy day!

A Timely Piece

2010-12-30T14:26:00.002-06:00

From the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/nyregion/04religion.html

For a mere moment, I forgot

2010-12-26T22:24:00.000-06:00

I know this will sound like I am a bit of a nutcase, but I'll say it anyway. Sometimes I forget that Ignatius has Asperger's. Here's today's story.

We were at church, right around the Gloria, when I realized there were absolutely no altar servers. So, I turn to my altar-serving son and say, "Go put on a cassock. They need at least one server." He looks at me with sheer panic on his face. You see, with Asperger's comes a challenge, dare I say an inability, to think on one's feet. When he serves... when he is there on time and as scheduled... he has very little problem (finally) with the ins and outs of altar serving. However, I was demanding for him to do many things that he was unaccustomed to. After about 5 minutes in the pew, I decided I needed to also climb over our pewmates and check on him to be sure he knew what was expected.

There he was, in the room with the cassocks, with tears filling his eyes. As soon as he saw me, he said, "This is really freaking me out." My response, "I know, that's why I came back. You can do this. You will do this. I'll help you through."

His biggest concern was that people would think he was the scheduled server and he showed up super late. I stressed to him that this was not what people would think at all. He was also concerned about how to unobtrusively get to the front of the church without making a big scene. I showed him that he could walk along the side to get to the altar server pew. Neither of these things were "common sense" to him, but both were enough to paralyze him with fear and anxiety.

So, all during Mass today, my mind kept coming back to social stories needed for altar servers with special needs. I did not hear a word of the homily, as I was too busy wondering if Fr. Jerry would take time to be photographed with an altar server in the different roles needed throughout Mass. A simple laminated card in the pew for those kids for whom multi-step directions are difficult to follow. Perhaps a "what if" story with scenarios that could cause anxiety: "What if I drop the water cruet and the crystal shatters everywhere?" "What if I trip on the altar?" "What if I forget what to do?" And, of course, I was trying to determine when I would pull all of this together.

That little voice again. The same one that e-mailed Fr. Jerry about reaching out to special needs kids in our parish, but did not get a response. The one that creeps up every time something like today happens. What if there are kids out there who COULD serve, but whose parents don't think they can do it because of certain challenges they face? There are such easy things that could be done, and yet are not being done. I do not say this judgmentally. Until about 4 years ago, I didn't know what a social story was, because I didn't have to know. I do not expect others, especially those with neurotypical kids of their own, to know what one is. Yes, you should be able to lean over and say to your son, "Hey, they don't have any servers. Go pinch hit." But, alas, it just isn't that easy for some.

The good news...after Ignatius, another boy showed up to help serve. I would like to think it was because Ignatius stepped up... that my putting him through that made another parent realize that we need to instill an instinct for service in our children. It makes me feel better thinking of it that way, rather than thinking of it as the day I forgot about Asperger's.

Merry Christmas to All!

2010-12-25T11:28:00.000-06:00

Hoping your Christmas morning was as white and happy as ours! Merry Christmas!

Taking pause

2010-12-11T22:14:00.000-06:00

In the midst of the day-to-day, there are many things that can be overlooked. A blessing of having a child with special needs is the ability to rejoice in things that others (or myself with my older child) may take for granted.

Suddenly, the magic of reading has entered Max's life. He has started to recognize sight words. He is able to determine beginning consonant sounds of words. He makes requests. He speaks in sentences. He is having "emerging" conversations. The threat of "Santa's watching" works as behavior modification. He can write capital and lower case letters. He can count objects. He imitates tones of voice for requests. He understands that, because it is cold, he needs to wear a coat.

Let's not forget son #1...who knows in the equation y= mx + b which term refers to the slope and which refers to the y-intercept. Who has achieved an A in high school algebra as an eighth grader with minimal to no help from his mother or father. Who completed a science fair project with only minimal adult help. Who gets As and Bs with minimal effort.

This weekend I am most grateful for being able to see what I have been given rather than what I am missing.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2010-12-03T20:33:00.000-06:00

We have our first snowfall today! It started in the evening, and as I came home from work, I knew I had to get back outside with the camera. I know... I am a bit odd. I love this shot because it shows the snow falling. This next shot, however, is AWESOME because, in the midst of all the snow, the camera captured just the house. I wish I could recall the setting I used. I LOVE MY NIKON D60!

Waiting for "Superman"

2010-11-05T21:07:00.005-05:00

Sometimes you just have to let something settle. Chew on it mentally. Process.

On Wednesday, Jessie and I went to see Waiting for "Superman." If you are not familiar with this movie, please read this synopsis. If you want to see it, and do not wish to hear any spoilers, stop reading this post at this point. Let's start with the trailer:

I remember my days at Blackburn when we discussed "inner city" schools, and I wanted to be a part of teaching in an urban setting. I felt a strong calling to do so.

I have been a teacher for 20 years. My career started in a city, went affluent and private for a few years, came to a school that had both extremes, and has recently alighted upon a school with a large number of students who have what is called "low socio-economic status" in an urban setting. I have served Catholic and public school systems. I have worked with and without union protection. I have pulled "all-nighters" grading student papers. I have worked through weekends and over most summers. I have earned a Master's degree and National Board Certification and re-certification. I was one of the only twenty-somethings who worked (alas, unsuccessfully) toward building a teacher's association in the Catholic diocese in which I worked. I believed it was necessary because much was expected of us, while little was paid. I have served as a building representative and as a negotiator for my local teacher's union after moving to the public sector. I make contact with each of my parents/guardians, whether they welcome my correspondence or not. I want students to feel like graduating from high school and educating themselves beyond that is not only something I believe they can do, it's something I expect them to do.

It is through these eyes that I watch this movie.

The trailer upset me, as I assumed teachers would, again, take a public bashing. Because, as you know, everyone has gone to school, and therefore, everyone is an expert at education. Right? Right. I can take it, though. I have thick skin. What was more troubling was watching students sit in a public lottery that was deciding their educational fate. I knew that some parts of that movie would require some tissues.

However, my good and wise friends made the point...If we are going to have an opinion about the movie, we need to see it for ourselves. Seen it I have. It inspired the following thoughts to anyone who sees it who is outside of education:

PLEASE KNOW that most of the education professionals I know contact parents on a regular basis, especially when the parent contacts them first.
PLEASE KNOW that most of the education professionals I know care deeply about the students they teach and wish for them to succeed.
PLEASE KNOW that most of the education professionals I know are judged solely on one state test that happens once a year on which they can offer no support or assistance for their students to succeed. In Illinois, we are not even permitted to look at the student booklets when they take the state tests.
PLEASE KNOW that most of the education professionals I know use several points of data to make decisions about the achievement levels of their students.
PLEASE KNOW that most of the education professionals I know NEED the protection of a union because not all administrators in the school setting make just, or even logical, decisions.
PLEASE KNOW that most of the education professionals I know try to touch base with the parents of each student they have, even when they have over a hundred students on their caseloads.
PLEASE KNOW that most of the education professionals I know have been stood up by parents who have scheduled meetings with them. Recently, a colleague shared with me that she had 1 out of 6 scheduled parents show up for conference times on an evening when she spent a great deal of time after school waiting for them.
PLEASE KNOW that most of the education professionals I know would LOVE to have the parents documented in the movie, as well as the kids. Those kids will be successful BECAUSE of their parents.
PLEASE KNOW that most of the education professionals I know who are tenured continue teaching with the same fervor as they did when they were probationary.
PLEASE KNOW that most of the education professionals I know have never, ever had the chance to even sit at their desks much less fall asleep or read a book at them while class goes on (I do know some who have pulled this crap, though).
PLEASE KNOW that most of the education professionals I know communicate regularly with students about their achievement in their classes.
PLEASE KNOW that most of the education professionals I know have had a parent tell them that their after school lives are too busy for their children to complete homework.
PLEASE KNOW that most of the education professionals I know could, indeed, do things that tenure cannot protect. There are tenured teachers who have been fired. It depends on how good of a job the administrator does at observing, evaluating, and documenting his experiences with the employee.

With that said,
YES, sometimes unions can lose sight of their purpose and get in the way of education reform.
YES, unions are largely involved in politics, as the money schools get comes from budgets created by legislators.
YES, larger metropolitan areas have a hard time maintaining buildings and hiring and keeping good faculty. Please consider the working conditions and ask yourself if you are willing to commit to that before assigning judgment.
YES, some charter schools are successful. The data on charter schools over all was not mentioned in this movie. The "education system" was painted with a wide brush, but charter schools were looked at standing on individual merit.
YES, union contracts level teachers too much. I believe in merit pay, but I don't have a solid idea of how to create a "just" way of implementing a plan that will not compromise teacher integrity and is not based solely on the opinion of one administrator.
YES, I agree that using a traditional tracking system for students is not best practice. However, students do have to be grouped at some points of their day according to instructional needs. We call it "differentiating."
YES, some teachers should never, ever have entered the profession. Some should be let go. Some children should not have to suffer through apathetic teachers.
YES, the times are a-changin'. We HAVE to teach children in preparation for a world in which "blue collar" jobs are becoming non-existent. For some, it will require showing them an existence far different from the one in which they currently live. We need to stop fighting the world they live in, and learn to teach them not only to survive, but to thrive.

I appreciated that the film acknowledged that there are hard-working, good teachers in America. I believe the basic point of the film was that each child deserves to have one. I agree 100%.

Communication Shut-Down

2010-11-01T00:00:00.019-05:00

https://communicationshutdown.org/?view=home

See ya November 2!

Where are we now?

2010-10-31T17:45:00.000-05:00

Several months have gone by since the first days of school and the havoc that was described. There is much good news to share.

Max has made some nice gains. We have met multiple times with his teachers, most recently to open his IEP to make it align more closely to his needs. He will presently be "pushed in" the general Kindergarten for calendar time, science, journals, and centers. They were already having him go in for calendar/Heggerty time even though it was not on his IEP. The teachers suggested that he participate in gen. ed. science and journal time in addition to what he was already doing.

They have also gotten the ball rolling for the observations necessary to determine the level of support he needs in a gen. ed. classroom (aka, a teacher's aide). His behavior is not an issue. The issue is that someone needs to keep him on-task. He will sit there, but will not necessarily do anything or say anything. Very unlike the Max we see at home.

So, there we have it. For now.

Halloween, the Tooth Fairy, and other whimsy

2010-10-28T21:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's news... Max lost his first tooth!

The Tooth Fairy brought him a bag full of pennies. He took them to Menards to help pay for a US flag. Backstory: Our neighbors have various flags that they hang for various sports teams and whatnot. He wanted a flag for our porch.

And in other news, the car wash costume is complete! Check it out at my craft blog. Hope he wears it!

Doing OK until...

2010-09-26T22:12:00.000-05:00

Life does move on. Every now and then, the wind gets knocked out of my day-to-day.

I was simply adding things to my calendar. Sending Outlook "invitations" for various dates. In my list of invitations for Ignatius' Confirmation, it hits me that Marita would have been on that list. Wham!

I think Scott thinks I am nuts. One minute OK, the next minute, melting down. Yeesh!

I know she'll "be there," but it's so difficult thinking of this being the first sacrament for my kids where she will be absent. It's particularly hard because she so loved Ignatius.

Different, not less

2010-09-19T14:20:00.004-05:00

I finally got Temple Grandin from Netflix this week, and I courageously watched it last night. I had heard so many great things about it. I must say, it was well-done. Claire Danes, one of my favorite actresses, proved herself to be in the class of Dustin Hoffman and Cuba Gooding, Jr., in playing an individual with social-emotional challenges.

The performance that spoke to me most, mainly through tears, was that of Julia Ormond, who plays Temple's mother, Eustacia. Alas, Temple was diagnosed with autism at a time when the most popular recommendation for children was institutionalization. It was also the theory of the time that children who had autism had mothers who, at a crucial time of their development, in some way denied their children of the affection they needed. Her fight as represented in the movie epitomizes the fight of all parents of children on the spectrum, regardless of the extreme of the diagnosis. Still, in 2010, parents must advocate for their school districts to "do right" by their children. More of the law is on the side of the parent than was true in the 1950s through the 1970s. If more parents only knew their true power in an IEP meeting, no one would miss one. My favorite line was when she emphasized that Temple was "different, not less." That small line is the core of the battle for parents... to convince others to act on this belief. At Max's IEP meeting last spring, my statement was that I wanted his teachers to, "believe he can rather than assume he can't." That is a goal that continues to challenge us as he gets his education in a public school.

What was also inspiring to me was the role that David Strathairn portrayed as Temple's high school science teacher. It takes a teacher or two to believe in the ability and potential of those who learn differently from the "norm." Many times, these children have a lot to bring to the academic world, but alas a large portion of teachers see themselves as teachers to the "neurotypical," forgetting that children learn differently. I have been guilty of this myself as a teacher, but the critical difference is I have changed my outlook and my practice. The question I ask myself each day is, "For whom are you here to teach?" It is also critically important for us to create accepting cultures in our classrooms. When I saw the kids tormenting and making fun of Temple, openly laughing at her as she stood in front of her French class, I thought of the role of a teacher to create a community of support and not ridicule for students who have differences. We can make our classrooms as tolerant or intolerant as we so choose. May my children have at least one or two Professor Carlock's in their lives. He observed Temple. He listened to her. He tried to convince colleagues of her brilliance and how she learned... and that she COULD learn. He planned his lessons with her visual strengths in mind.

It was a tough movie to watch when you are in the midst of raising children on the spectrum. Temple's experiences with not being able to understand people's faces and emotions, much less express her own emotions appropriately, reminded me of our constant reinforcement of societal "norms" with Ignatius. Her mother's constant reminders of how you introduce yourself to others hit very close to home. Also, when her mother took her to boarding school and saw her daughter in stark contrast to the other, "neurotypical," students there, and began a spiral of panic that she was making a mistake with Temple, that was spot on.

It was most definitely inspiring, as is the entire life of Dr. Temple Grandin. I thank her and her family for their perseverance which laid the groundwork for my own children being able to reach their potentials.

One week later

2010-08-30T00:29:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe a week has gone by since the boys kicked into high gear with school. Ignatius is having what seems like his best school year yet. Eighth grade suits him very nicely. He is taking Eighth Grade Algebra at Bloomington CCHS, and he is really on top of his studies so far. He will receive Confirmation in November. Today he finally learned to ride a bike. His friends helped him out at a weekend sleepover.

Max began his formal schooling this week, as you might recall from my previous post. Scott is making intermittent visits to his school to see him in action and get a grasp of his day. He has met with the principal as well as the teacher, and we have asked for a meeting to re-evaluate his IEP. We met with his PLAY consultant this week, and she offered data that helped us with the decision to push for more time in the gen ed classroom. The principal told Scott they would do whatever we wanted. It's their first year with the program, so I think he's fairly flexible with seeing how things run.

I am typing this at midnight, as I lie here with a racing mind that needs to just sleep! I have worked on school stuff (my own) pretty much all weekend. Still lots to do before my week is fully ready, but I have somewhat of a grasp on things. Or so I think! Here's to the possibilities a new week brings.

Max Begins a New School - A Diary of Sorts

2010-08-23T20:05:00.000-05:00

Thursday, August 19: I attend an Open House. I speak briefly to the general education Kindergarten teacher assigned to my son. She explains that another teacher, his special education teacher, is a person with whom I should speak. I do so, relaying that I am quite nervous about this experience. She answers a good deal of my questions, and I go to the general education room, believing that it is there where I will receive both pertinent and important information about my son's experience with what I thought would be Kindergarten.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday: I check and recheck, much in Walter Paul OCD fashion, the school website. Students and parents in Kindergarten are to attend the first day of school for an hour. Last names A-M come from 8:30 - 9:30. Last names N-Z come from 10:00-11:00. Sunday night: Generic voicemail from principal says Kindergarteners should come at 8:30, causing a small heart attack when I listen to it Monday morning.

Monday, August 23: Max has a restless sleep, and wakes up with the rash he had for a while blazing across his trunk. Doctor is called. I call school (a little frantic) in response to the voicemail from last night and am reassured that he is to come at 10:00.

I take Max to get his favorite breakfast and take some photos. He's a happy little dude. We get to school. We have our first day of school cards ready to give to the teachers. We see the general education teacher. The special education room's door is closed and the room appears empty, but we are early, so no worries. The general education teacher, along with the other Kindergarten teachers, are welcoming their classes and parents with various activities. Max and I sit in the common area watching. A kind teacher, not any of Max's, gives us some books to read while we wait.

At around 9:55, I am brazen enough to open the door to the special education classroom. No one is in there, but there are traces that a class has been here. At 10:00 I go to the office. At this point, I am getting visibly upset, as all of the other parents and kids have started their happy little scavenger hunts throughout the school. The office assures me that the teacher will be there. I assist Max in upacking his box of supplies in a manner that it seems like others in the room have done. My mind wonders why, exactly he, too could not have been doing a scavenger hunt with me.

At 10:10, I go back to the office, this time, unable to hold back tears. The principal takes me to find my son's teacher and class on the playground for recess. They had expected us at 8:30, and "wondered where we were," but the office told them we would be there at 10. (Yes, when we were told to be there. You are following.) I later wonder why one of the aides did not stay back in the room and wait for Max, since they were told he would be there at 10. We re-enter the room, where we are given a card and told he needs to put his name on it and decorate it for a magnet. I speak briefly with the teacher and a bit more with the aides. I await direction. None is provided. It appears that students are playing with different games and blocks, so Max and I follow suit. I am told that he is cute and is "so dressed up" for school.

At 11:00, students line up at the door as if they have been doing this for quite some time. We leave for Max's doctor appointment.

And this was the experience of my son's first day of Kindergarten. I left out the crying I did almost all day, feeling majorly robbed of what should have been a welcoming, organized, fun morning. I did not expect for it to be perfect. I know better. But I did expect for it to be MUCH different.

You see, Unit 5 keeps talking about "inclusion." I am wondering what their operating definition is of that term. Mine is that the students are with a general education teacher until and unless they have severe needs that make that impossible. Their version seems to be that his general education experience will be rendered to PE, music, art, and lunch, with some centers with the other students as the teachers see fit.

Mind you, I am wounded, but not broken. Once I can get through my feelings of sheer disappointment, we will have clarity about how this year will go in the LEAST restrictive environment for my son.

What I did not mention was the stress of the last week with getting my own room together and getting ready for my own students as well as getting my own children ready for their new experiences. But that's a whole other story.

On an up note, Max was diagnosed with hives and is taking an antihistamine, which seems to be giving him some relief. A friend shared that her son had pityriasis rosea, and, when she saw Max's photo, she thought it looked familiar to what her son had. When she described it, the symptoms sounded REALLY familiar. Either way, he looks a little less like a leper! Yeah! And, when all is said and done, he did not know that his experience with his first day of Kindergarten should have been any different than what it was. I sure did, though.

Tomorrow is his first full day without me. There was a darling little boy named Caden in his room. Caden likes foraging for acorns at recess. He's a pretty cool little dude, and quite chatty. He enjoyed my rendition of If You Take a Mouse to School. I think he and Max will be great friends. :) And now, I must wrap my brain around what, exactly, tomorrow will look like in my own classroom.

On a very high note, much earlier than expected, my student teacher got to be in charge of the room today. She did a great job planning, and I can't wait to hear more about how everything flowed. I am SO grateful to have her!!

Same difference

2010-08-13T23:01:00.000-05:00

When Max was just six weeks old, I remember looking at him the night before going back to work and just crying. It was too soon. I had no control over the fact that he had to go somewhere before he was truly ready. Now, five years later, I am looking at my five year old, not so sure he's ready for what's about to start. Again, this is what we can do right now. I don't want to hold him back, I just hope I am not sending him in to "school" before he's really ready. I guess I'll find out soon enough!

Doctors and such

2010-08-03T21:54:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday, we met with April from the P.L.A.Y. Project, and we have more goals to build upon with Max:

1. In his play, increase the interactive range of affects and emotions when problem solving (like bad acting).
2. Use pretend play and drama. Use the stuffed animals for fighting. Make sure ideas are guiding the play. Enter Max's ideas through his make believe world as a character in his drama using words and actions together.
3. Play tag. Freeze tag. Simple motor play. Simple rules.

We also received a write up of all the pre-assessments they had done prior to accepting us into the program. They will compare this baseline information with re-assessment at the end of our time together.

All of these goals build upon things we do a little of, but we need to step things up a bit. There was a lot April talked about that we can do in play that will prepare him for how to handle peer interactions in school.

Yesterday, Max had his Kindergarten physical. Silly me, I thought, for the first time with either of our kids, that I would let Scott take him. I was still scarred from holding him down when they tried to find a vein for his bloodwork, I figured I had earned a time off just this once. I tried my best to prep Scott, but he did let his guard down in between rounds of shots. Max actually bent a needle in his leg when he slapped it about. Also, Scott and Dr. Farinas had some conversation regarding vaccinations, and Max came home WITHOUT having been given his MMR.

{pause to let that sink in}

Let me give you more of the story. I was at Zumba and Scott called from the Dr.s office and suddenly told me he wasn't sure about the vaccines. To which I replied, "Just get the vaccines. The vaccines did not cause the autism. Plus he HAS autism!" So, I call back an hour later to hear about the bent needle and the chat he and the good doctor had. Apparently Dr. F. wasn't that big of a fan of giving so many vaccines at one time. That did not help the situation. So now we have this form stating we knew about the vaccines but we opted out of one of them. Eventually, I am sending someone's A$$ back to the doctor's office for the MMR.

I am not an irrational person. Had we discussed this prior to the eleventh hour, and decided it together, it may have turned out the same way. It's just that, when I relinquish control to someone else, and this happens, it sets me back on the whole delegation thing. Plus, if he gets measles, mumps, or reubella, someone better be ready to bail me out of jail. Enough said?

So today's appointment was seeing the eye doctor for Kindergarten. Amazing, isn't it? Dentist, physician, optometrist...all before Kindergarten. I believed, again, that others had control of this, and I would take a back seat to the professionals. I didn't need to control the situation.

{pause to let that sink in}

Well, I should have known when the assistant pulled up a string of letters and asked Max what letters he could see that I was in for trouble. Or when they had him look at a picture of a clown and several other things and asked him what he saw... yes, again, I needed to step in and instruct. The doctor herself was not bad. Just a few cues from me, and she got it. Have my son, whose expressive language is a year delayed, POINT to a PICTURE of what he sees. Voila! 20/20. It was a rocky start, though.

So, now Max is set for Kindergarten, as far as the medical/paperwork requirements are concerned. Just one, big roller coaster ride. Lots of hills. I need to scream at the top of my lungs more, though. I think that's what's missing...

The Commencement of Learning

2010-08-03T09:58:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year. Shown below is Ignatius' pile of clothes for school that no longer fit him... all purchased within the 2009-2010 school year, mind you.

We shall be doing some shopping soon.

Another pic is of Max's school social story. This was sent to us from Northpoint Elementary earlier in the summer. He loves having it read over and over. During the summer, he was not interested in even hearing the word "school." We changed our wording to "Kindergarten," and now he is VERY excited. We shall see what happens when the first day rolls around. Hopefully, he will not sense my own nervousness. I shall practice.

A "Disney" World, No Tab Aftertaste

2010-07-16T18:34:00.002-05:00

When Ignatius was 5, we went on our first family trip to DisneyWorld in Orlando. It was such a good time. Every person with whom we had contact had the same demeanor: it was ALL about the customer. The customer was, truly, always right.

We came to find that we were being charged mini-bar charges for our room, yet we were not using the mini-bar. We went to the consierge and explained the situation. He did not have to believe us. The person who checked the mini-bar each day could have been called and questioned to be sure we were on the up-and-up.

His response was, "I am so sorry, ma'am. We will take these charges off your bill immediately." From that point on, for the last 8 years, we have shared this story. Talk about handling things well on the business end.

Now I know that Disney is a large enough company that they can take the hit for dishonest customers. And I know people might be able to share some, not so fuzzy, stories about Disney. But, firsthand, I witnessed what it felt like to be on the other end of great customer service.

For many years, I had jobs where I was trained along the "company line" in customer service. Never was I trained to deflect the issue back onto the customer. Even when I had customers who "bought" expensive dresses, wore them for an occasion, and returned them, I was trained to take the items back and make the customer happy. I did as I was trained. The customer is always right.

So, there are those who might be wondering why this iPhone4 issue is working my last nerve. Yes, there are pitfalls to all cell phones. I am an AT&T customer, I get that. And yes, the iPhone4 is a delightful, smart phone. The display is crystal clear. It takes wonderful photos and video. I appreciate having 3G. Face Time is cool (with my husband), though I don't see me using it too regularly. It's amazing technology.

A big thing was amiss, however. When presented with this big thing, the 3 million people who bought the phone were not greeted with, "I'm sorry, ma'am. We will fix the issue right away." We were made to believe that:
-we were holding the phone "incorrectly"
-we needed a software upgrade
-calls weren't REALLY dropping; we just were not aware of our reception at the time
-there is a fix, but it will cost you $29
-there's not a problem
-if there is an issue, put some tape over the antenna--that will solve the non-problem

Then, finally, 4 weeks later, in an orchestrated "press" conference I hear:
-Apple's not the only one; all cell phones have antenna issues (oh, now there's an antenna issue?)
-less than 1% of the buyers called to complain (that amounts to about 15,000 complaints; I did not call to complain, as I figured I would be greeted with the same party line that the company mouthpiece was giving the press)
-but, my goodness, data shows that calls ARE dropping
-OK, we don't really believe there's an issue (we're victims of "Antenna-gate"; feel sorry for us), but we just want our customers happy (to shut up)
-so, everyone is getting a case

My issue is not with my iPhone. No way. Too many people went in to making a really great idea. I daresay, my problem isn't even really with "Apple."

Yes, Steve Jobs, my problem is with you. This entire thing could have been diffused by you. You would have looked like a superhero by simply saying, "Woe, there's an issue here. Let's do right by our customers." In fact, I would have lauded you from this lowly blog for doing just that.

Instead, you acted like a tired parent, so weary from his toddler's persistent whining, that he gives in. Your customers are some of the smartest people in the world, sir. Don't treat us like village idiots.

Thanks for the case. I appreciate that the company is making good. It's kind of like the experience of drinking a Tab, though. At first, bubbly and seemingly sweet and familiar, but leaves a terrible after taste.

Now I am sure some devout Apple-lover is going to argue with me about Tab, right? Bring it.

Cross-reference

2010-07-11T11:46:00.000-05:00

Check out the craft blog for pics of the "new" furniture.

7/4

2010-07-04T18:22:00.011-05:00

July 4th is awesome. Our country celebrates its birthday and its freedom. It's mid-summer--some is behind us, some is in front of us. Usually it's warm weather. I love the 4th of July.

This weekend has been filled with quite a few interesting happenings.

On Thursday, we visited with Miss April from PLAY Project. We watched some interesting video from our last visit, she did some modeling, and we set up some additional suggestions for the month:
1. Play dumb. Make him show you or tell you what he wants. Make him work to show you what he wants. Use playful obstruction in play. This is a goal that I find interesting, as we have become so accustomed to "reading" Max that we really haven't done too much in allowing him to tell us what he wants.
2. Use rewarding/reinforcement. When he initiates a response (called "opening a circle"), reward him with a tickle, rub, or rough housing. Give immediate reward or sensory motor play. April pointed out the proprioceptive need he has relating to pounding his feet. After we PLAYed a great deal, he did a lot of jumping on the concrete (made me cringe) over and over, fulfilling a sensory need for pressure on his feet.
3. Use simple pretend play. Give things feelings or personalities (talk through the toys). Use slapstick humor. Use theme and variation in play. This was interesting, as during her visit he started to play on the PC. I thought for sure he was "done--" focused on his game and the rest of the world was shut off. She initiated play with a stuffed animal, as if it was playing the game, too. He engaged in this play. I guess I underestimated how much he could be drawn from his game time.

On Thursday, I also made a trip to the dentist, as, while flossing, I broke off part of my tooth. A crown will come on Monday, alas.

On Friday, after Zumba, I finally went to the podiatrist. I needed to be fitted for custom orthodics for my feet. No fracture. But the way I walk messes with the tendons on my feet (I have now messed with tendons on both of my feet due to exercise), and he felt the orthodics were necessary so I could avoid tearing a tendon, which would require surgery to fix (no thanks).

After that appointment, we headed to Rochelle, IL, to the Rochelle Railroad Park. This is a crossroads for many railroad tracks and is one of the busiest crossings in the country. Man, was it noisy, too! We then stayed in a hotel (Hilton Garden) with a very cool pool in Rockford. On Saturday, we visited the Illinois Railroad Museum in Union, IL. Great time, although way too much for Max in one 24-hour period.

Today, we started the day off with church. The whole family went, and Max was extremely well-behaved. He knew we planned to head to the car wash, one of his favorite things in the world at the moment, and that brings out the inner angel in him for sure. After the car wash, we had a series of storms, and I completely sacked out. What else do you do when it rains, right? We barbecued some tasty marinated pork chops, had some couscous, and corn on the cob, and the all-American strawberry shortcake desert. Now, we are patiently awaiting heading to the fireworks (yeah, I forgot to get sparklers this year... bummer). It's all good. :)

There are many other photos and videos on Facebook, for the ever-so-curious. My personal favorite is the car wash video... a must see!

Every dad has his challenges

2010-06-20T10:24:00.012-05:00

Autism is a marriage-ender. That's what I have read. The overwhelming amount of divorces occur because there is little to no time to work on the couple that started it all. Individuals in the marriage miss the needed attention to some part of the couple's relationship that had to take a backseat to the 24/7 micromanaging of autism. If what is missed is missed acutely enough, the marriage dissolves.

These realities cause me to write today with gratitude about my husband, who also happens to be the father of my children, both of whom have ASD. I can't imagine trying to raise the boys on my own, but I also can't imagine a better choice for a dad than theirs. Granted, we both have moments of sheer and utter despair. Moments when Max screams directly into his ear and he can't hear for about 10 minutes. Moments when, because something wasn't put exactly where it needed to be put on the table, we need to hold the contents of the table, and all of its chairs, while the meltdown ensues. Moments when all we want to do is make a "quick" run to pick something up at the store, but cannot just go in and out without making plans similar to military combat tactics. Moments when we ask Ignatius to follow multi-step directions only to be met with his confused face. Moments when our 13 year old is frustrated to tears as to why he cannot handle stress the way some of his peers can, and why they think it's funny when he has a meltdown.

However, despite what is difficult in our parenting, my husband loves our children. It is evident to me on a daily basis. He helps them when they need help. He muddles through his frustrations to work with their issues. The boys adore him, quite literally. And when they draw something that is amazingly creative, or say something particularly profound, or finally reach a developmental milestone on which we have been working for what seems like forever, or simply when we watch them sleep in a peaceful slumber, his face shows how much he adores them in return.

Is he perfect? No. But neither am I, and it's never been my expectation that he would/should be perfect. He does the best he can with what he has each day. I think that's true of ALL good fathers. They do the best they can with what they have each day. So, to all fathers out there doing the same, I applaud you and say, "Happy Father's Day!" Your children (and their children) are the true beneficiaries of a strong and loving dad.

Is there some sort of spray for that?

2010-06-08T15:00:00.004-05:00

Yes, I know it sounds bizarre. And yes, I know it has some variables, as it is dealing with the human condition, which is neither stable nor completely predictable. Still, after months of considering this, I have finally purchased and started using a bodybugg. The idea behind the bodybugg
is that, during your waking hours, you wear an armband. This armband has sensors that detect, in essence:

motion
heat flux (release)
electric current on skin surface
skin temperature

Using these four main components, the bodybugg records your caloric output--the amount of calories you burn. It includes the stuff of being alive and upright--getting dressed, doing things around the house, sleeping, and the like. When I awoke, it estimated that, between 12 AM and 7:30 AM, I expended about 640 calories. From the time I put the band on until now (about 8 hours), just doing "stuff," it has recorded a 1000 calorie expenditure. I have not formally "worked out," other than doing a set of 20 sit ups for a Facebook challenge (which expended less than 100 calories).

Along with the band, I also purchased a display which can be worn as a clip or a watch. Without the display, I would have to hook the bodybugg up via USB to my laptop and gather this information. The display refreshes every 60 seconds, and tells you calories burned, steps taken, activity, and the like (I wish it did heart rate) for today or yesterday (when I have worn it more than one day). It's synced to the armband. You don't need the watch, but it's nice to have the info right there.

At the end of my day today, I will sync the armband with the website. Throughout the day, I have entered calories consumed on the site. Data will be transferred to determine a calorie deficit. The science behind this is, if you have a 500 calorie deficit per day, you will be setting yourself up for a 1-lb per week weight loss. It's a measuring device to help you track what was not so easy to track before... how many calories you were actually burning.

So, we shall see. Having the bodybugg does not make weight come off. It's a way to keep yourself accountable. I have been doing activity for months, but I have not been keeping myself accountable about what I am eating as much as I could. This is the next step. I'll keep you posted!

Summertime!

2010-05-30T20:05:00.007-05:00

Summer is upon us at the Plato household. Memorial Day is Monday, and Ignatius has two more school days this week before he is officially sprung. Max and I are both done with our obligations of school... Max finished up ECE at Colene Hoose on May 21, and his last day at Little Jewels was Thursday. I completed my tenth year in District 87 and my nineteenth year of teaching in total. Feels weird typing that!

On Friday, Max and I spent our afternoon in the backyard at our friend, Krystal's, house. She just got an in-ground pool installed this spring, and the kids were loving it (OK, the adults were loving it as well). Here is a photo of Max exploring one of the many areas on the side of the pool.

We also met with April, our PLAY consultant, on Thursday. This session consisted of "meeting" Max where he was in play and using techniques from the program to get more out of his communication experiences. Our previous goals remain the same, and now we will be building on them:
1. use "taffy pulling:" stretch the interactions and keep them going by gently teasing or making funny sounds; this engages him and makes fertile ground for his use of language to fulfill his needs
2. use affect in voice in play; continue with simple words, no more than three words at a time; no questioning; use voice intonation to "create" a question
3. use a sense of humor, suspense, and surprise; find ways to make him laugh (pretend you are sleeping and wake suddenly when he gets close; use slapstick humor)

It really requires conscious effort to remember to incorporate this, but there are many times throughout his day that lend themselves nicely to these. Some of these are things that many parents use with much younger children. When he was "of age" for the crazy affect in voice (akin to when you play peek-a-boo with an infant), he was not engaging. So, to a degree, we are backtracking to meet him where he is and guide him forward.

The idea of using only a few words has proven very powerful, and, to those who know me, this is the MOST difficult part for me. :) I have been finding that the most frustrating times involve those moments when I am using way too many words.

April videotaped parts of my interactions with Max and will be sending me the DVD and transcript. She also gave me a DVD of our "baseline" play-based interactions from the first session. She also indicated that, from the looks of how he was engaging in problem solving, she was seeing definite cognitive strength, and she thought he might not have a struggle with the academic part of school based on what she was seeing. That was unexpected, and quite frankly, a relief. We shall see how that transpires over the next few years. She was really impressed with his problem solving ability. We spent a great deal of time at our gate in the back yard. We did "taffy pulling" to get him to express what he wanted (help with opening the gate). When we were not being particularly helpful to him, he found a nearby stick in the yard to help him in his goal. While he didn't completely open the gate by himself, he showed a LOT of efforts in trying to communicate his needs without a whole lot of screaming going on.

I realized that I was getting really good at Max's "language." However, responding to him based on what I knew he was conveying is not enough. I will not always be there to interpret for him, and he must start using words more to assist in allowing others to know his needs. As a family, we have become enablers to a degree... I think that was based on survival.

So, onward we go with our many summertime pursuits. We will be starting the summer reading program at the local library this week. I have plenty of things to keep the boys (and me) very busy!

"You think this is hard?!"

2010-05-27T09:28:00.003-05:00

I love the show Glee. It cracks me up on many levels. One of my favorite characters is that of Sue Sylvester. Sue has a series of lines which begin with, "You think this is hard?..." One of my favorites: "You think this is hard? I'm passing a gallstone as we speak. That is hard!"

So, why this little burst of random thought? I just filled out what feels like the thousandth questionnaire relating to autism for Max. As mentioned before, we are participating in a grant-based study called the PLAY Project. Today is our monthly meeting with April, our consultant. I had started to fill out the questionnaires, then figured I had a while to do them, then realized I hadn't finished them... thank God school was over. Truth be known, it takes a lot out of us as parents to fill out these particular questionnaires.

Anyway, it made me think of persons who believe that autism spectrum disorders are overdiagnosed, akin to ADD/ADHD. Since I have been involved with both types of diagnoses, I can say, with certainty, that autism diagnoses are not gotten easily. For ADD/ADHD, as a teacher, I have filled out what seems to be the most popular form for pediatricians: the Vanderbilt. There's also a Conners' rating scale that is used, but that is typically a psychologist's tool. The Vanderbilt is a 1-1/2 page scale with several different statements for a teacher to rate. I believe a parent rates the child as well. I had a student go to a pediatrician one day and come back the next day with an ADHD diagnosis and a prescription.

With ASD, as a parent, I have filled out booklet after booklet assessing both Max and Ignatius. Today's three booklets were the CARS2-QPC, the REEL-3, and the Greenspan Social-Emotional Growth Chart. Before diagnosis, I filled out booklet after booklet. Teachers filled out booklets for Ignatius as well. Then the developmental pediatrician spent over an hour with Max and over an hour with Ignatius. With Ignatius, we went to The Autism Program for an entire day of tests, in addition to filling out their booklets. The diagnoses took close to a year. Am I sure my kids are on the spectrum? Why, yes, I am. Am I sure some of my students who are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD have been adequately diagnosed? Mmm, somewhat.

My blood pressure elevates a bit when I turn on the radio or TV and am assaulted by opinions of persons who think they/claim to know what they are talking about. Anyone that you hear on TV who thinks ASD are being overdiagnosed has done little to no homework on the issue. Parents don't go around saying, "Hmmm, how can I get my child diagnosed with autism?" And the statements on the questionnaires just remind you, again, how neurologically atypical your child is. Every. Single. Time. I get to look at a list of developmental descriptors for my son, and I get to see how he differs from what's considered normal growth.

Yes, since it is a day-to-day thing we live with, one might say, after a while, I'll get tougher skin about the "facts" of my life. Truth be known, my skin is pretty damn tough right now. Until my kids are together with their biological-age peers, or even kids younger than they. Then the skin gets a little thinner. And things seem pretty unfair. I think any parent with a child that has a developmental struggle...be it a physical issue or a social-emotional issue... knows what I am talking about. Field day at the end of the school year, for example. The typical student goes off to school and has a great time. The atypical student might have a physical setback that makes that day extraordinarily difficult, not to mention exhausting, or might have an issue with overstimulation that makes a major meltdown inevitable.

My inner Sue Sylvester wants to scream, "You think this is hard? I'm raising two children with autism. That's hard!"

Max's Graduation

2010-05-23T11:28:00.006-05:00

On May 20, Max graduated from preschool. Here is a movie of photos and video from the big night.

Thirteen Mother's Days

2010-05-09T20:45:00.004-05:00

In celebrating Mother's Day this year, I reflect upon the gift of being a mother. It can be viewed that being the mother of children with special needs is burdensome. I agree that at times, I wallow in my, "This is not fair," conversation with the Lord. However, what keeps me grounded is the belief that each mother is given her motherhood road to travel.

I think of a friend who recently relayed a story to me about his brother's wife. They found out that she, at 5 months along on her pregnancy, was carrying a child with a birth defect. There was 0% chance of survival for the baby, and the longer the pregnancy went on, the more her life would be in danger. They are devoutly Christian, and strongly pro-life, and now had to enter what I call the "shades of gray" decision about aborting the baby. Her Mother's Day this year had to have been quite a trial.

Or, there's my friend, Julia, who is FINALLY celebrating her first Mother's Day. She has waited almost two decades for this to happen, and has finally adopted her son. Her Mother's Day this year had to have been euphoric.

Our Mass this morning focused a lot on Mary. I kept thinking about how old she would have been when Jesus' public life began... mid forties. And then he was killed before she was 50, most likely. I thought of the struggles that came with her pregnancy and the raising of Jesus.

There's such a wide spectrum of reaction from women who are mothers, who fulfill the role of mother, and who want to be mothers as far as Mother's Day is concerned. Where you are in your journey has a great deal to do with the savoring of the day. So the question is, where am I?

I am truly grateful for each and every day, even the days when I was told my sons were on the autism spectrum. Sure, I would love to change the financial hurdles we have had, or the depression, or the social challenges my children face in an unaccepting society, or even (trivially) the weight gain that all of these years has seen. I won't be naive enough to say there weren't parts that sucked. However, each and every part added a learning element to my life. I think each mother faces challenges, no matter what her child is like. The greatest blessing that I have is to "change the things I can, accept the things I cannot change, and be wise enough to know the difference."

Yard Sale Madness

2010-05-01T10:58:00.004-05:00

Apparently, I need to send my husband to garage/yard sales with a chaperone. The good thing is that Max and he have made this somewhat of a Saturday tradition. They go out and about in the neighborhood trolling for deals. Typically, Max comes back with some sort of booty. Last week, they got a light saber for $1 (which is a good deal). Today, Max got this very cool little basketball game. However, he also got Elefun (you may note that he got Elefun for Christmas). And his father bought this wooden shutter thing. Conversation went like so:
~For where?
~For the patio.
~For the patio?
~Yeah, to block the sun.
~Isn't that what the big umbrella is supposed to do?
~Well, where do you want to put it?

Now, granted, he paid $10 for it. He's so proud of himself. But we have no use for it whatsoever. I'm trying to think of something crafty to do with it. I am open to suggestions. I know it can separate spaces in rooms, but I'm a little perplexed.

No more unmonitored yard sales for him.

IEA and Private Education

2010-04-21T17:39:00.005-05:00

Today, I was fortunate to take part in a rally in our state capital. I joined about 15 thousand people as we marched to bring attention to the plight of public education funding in the State of Illinois. Our state is looking at 20,000 teachers without jobs next year. That equates to a huge effect on the children of our state. There are many things at work...priorities, a true lack of revenue, politics... it reads like a novel.

Two State Representatives took time to speak with IEA Region 14 participants. Representative Keith Sommers and Representative Dan Brady both represent the areas our schools encompass. There were several talking points that supported IEA's stances, and it sounded like the bills for these issues were not going too far at present. Our state legislature has decided to slow itself to almost a halt until we see who the Governor will be in November.

While in Representative Brady's office, a topic came up that makes my blood pressure rise: school vouchers. Now, please understand I oppose school vouchers, but not for the reasons IEA opposes them. I oppose them because with money comes the idea of control. The more state money is involved, the more the state will try to micromanage private schools like they have public education. I know the money would be great, but at what price?

The topic came up as to whether Dan was opposed to a voucher system. The question was obviously planned, as the askers knew that Dan is in the same situation I am in: we chose Catholic school for our older children, but we could not choose it for our younger children, who are diagnosed on the autism spectrum. So, we have one foot in the "private" sector, and one foot in the "public" sector. Dan indicated that he was not interested in the bill on vouchers as it was affecting schools in Chicago. But the question persisted, even though the same answer was given. THEN the floodgates seemed to open and I had a really hard time keeping my mouth shut.

The main points that seemed to be surfacing were that, if private schools wanted public money, then "shouldn't they have to adhere to the same high certification standards that public school teachers do?" Shouldn't they have to be "highly qualified?" "They" always seem to need the public schools for special services, so aren't "they" already getting "benefits" of public education? Now, my IEA camrades, here is where we part ideology.

I pay taxes. And I chose to pay tuition for my son to go to a Catholic school. That is my right, the exercise of my religion, the choice to educate my son in whatever way I see fit. I want my son in an environment that allows for him to talk about God and things of God with the adults that work there. I want each subject he is taught to have the opportunity for a discussion of faith and what we believe as a family to be right or wrong, as opposed to the moral relativism that runs rampant in our society.

My son's school had already gotten some money from the State of Illinois: it is part of the Textbook Loan Program; we received reimbursement for having to transport him to and from school each day; we are able to claim the tuition on our state taxes; the list goes on. So Catholic schools "getting" money from the government is not new. But now, it has all been cut, just like everyone else's state funding.

My older son is on the autism spectrum. He has Asperger's. Although his school does not, in the opinion of some of my colleagues today, have special services, they do what they can. They had speakers come in to discuss accommodations for students on the spectrum. He was not diagnosed until 6th grade, but his previous teachers were caring and concerned professionals. His current teachers are open to working with us to help him in any way we can.

Teaching in the public sector and being "highly qualified" means little, and I am speaking as a person who does that and is, indeed, "highly qualified." I know plenty of teachers who look great on paper, but should not be in the classroom. They make it hard for us to maintain a positive image to the community from whom we are asking for more money. In fact, some of the greatest practices I learned in teaching happened during my first seven years of teaching, at which time I taught in a Catholic school, while making next to nothing on a pathetic salary schedule. I learned them from a teacher who had no state certification. She could teach circles around some people with whom I have taught. "Those" teachers in Catholic schools make a pittance for a salary AND if you think public school pensions look somber, you do not want to know about their pensions, or lack thereof. Since I wasn't vested after 7 years of teaching, I will get nothing for those seven years when I retire... not even the social security I paid in to. Makes it even more incredible that Catholic school teachers accomplish what they do. The argument that they "don't deal with" the same kids as the public sector is partial truth, but they have challenges none the less. Belittling a job to justify an unjust salary is a pathetic tactic. But, that's a whole 'nother story.

For my younger son, I cannot choose a Catholic school. His autism needs are greater than his brother's. I wonder if my IEA colleagues understand how hard that decision was for us as a family? I wonder if they care, or do they just want to throw a tone of voice at me (and Dan, and any others like us) as if I am in some way "milking" the system? My son gets services he deserves, and we worked tirelessly to get in place. He needs specialists that, yes, the Catholic school cannot provide, but MY tax dollars have helped pay for. So, after 8 years of investing in public education with my tax dollars and paying for other education for my sons with my own dollars, we need to rely on the public school system in our town for help. Scratch that, we are getting the help we deserve as citizens of the State of Illinois.

One last item. I am a product of Catholic schools (1st through 12th grades). I teach in a public school. I can introduce you to my friend Julia... product of Catholic schools and a public school teacher. Or how about my niece, Jennifer... product of Catholic schools and a public school teacher. And my sister-in-law, Patty... product of Catholic schools and a public school teacher. And yes, we all also taught in Catholic schools for part of our careers as well. So, would you say public education is benefiting from Catholic education?

P.L.A.Y. Project

2010-04-16T18:55:00.004-05:00

We are fortunate to be participating in a research study of the P.L.A.Y. Project. Our local Easter Seals is partnering with the University of Michigan to research the effectiveness of the program, developed and directed by Dr. Richard Solomon.

P.L.A.Y. stands for Play and Language for Autistic Youngsters. According to the media information provided on the project's websit e, the mission of the P.L.A.Y. Project includes:

~Promote early identification and early intervention
~Educate community regarding National Academy of Sciences recommendations:
~~Begin interventions early (18 months to 5 years)
~~Use intensive intervention 25 hours per week
~~Have a teacher/play partner to child ratio of 1:1 or 1:2
~~Use interventions that are engaging
~~Have a strategic direction (e.g. social skills, language, etc.)
~Use community based approaches to promulgate Developmental, Individualized and Relationship-based interventions (DIR®)
~Support families in a parent-professional partnership
~Scientifically evaluate effectiveness of program

We are participating in the final part of the mission: the scientific evaluation of its effectiveness.

Our journey began a few months ago when the Autism Society of McLean C ounty sent an e-mail on behalf of our local Easter Seals. They were looking for families with children under age 5 to participate in the study of the P.L.A.Y. Project. I was first contacted by Jim Runyon at Easter Seals for a phone interview. He sent me some information about the different areas of the study and asked many questions about Max. Over the past few months, I have completed instruments that have assessed me as his primary caregiver (one parent has to be selected for that) and Max. We both went to Easter Seals for some baseline information gathering.

This week, a P.L.A.Y. Project consultant came to our home and did some baseline videotaping of Max engaging in play from a box full of materials. April, the consultant, will be working with us for the next two years as we implement the facets of the project. She will leave us with three goal areas to work on for the month. From her observations in her first visit, she left us with these three P.L.A.Y. suggestions about engaging in play with Max:
1. Be with him. (power of the pause...no words needed)
2. Keep language simple - no more than 2 word sentences
3. Mirror his actions in play

During the day, we are to find 2 hours to engage in play with Max. This time can be broken up throughout the day. During these times, we are to be mindful of her three suggestions. She noticed that in the videotape, I used a great deal of verbal with Max when we play, but he shuts me out after two or three words. He's done. That's where suggestion #2 came from. Now, for those who know me, you know that will be the most difficult part of the month... :)

Mirroring his actions in play is actually really interesting. Tonight, Ignatius and I both mirrored him taking a chopstick and pretending he was in a car wash (the photo is of Ignatius playing with his brother). We laid down on the floor beside him and copied what he was doing, sound effects and all. It was fascinating how much he engaged. For about an hour (half with me and half with Ignatius) he repetitively played, re-enacting one of his favorite activities. The chopstick was the water pipe that sprays water and cleaning fluids on your car during the wash.

He was completely engaged while we were playing with him, and that's a tough thing to say about Max, especially about that duration of time. We were meeting him where he was, allowing the control of the play to be his, almost being "permitted" to enter his world of play. It was completely different from the play we usually try to force on him. I am really interested to see where this goes, and I am very glad that he was chosen to be in the intervention group, rather than the control group. More to come!

Hello, Xanax.

2010-03-27T22:05:00.002-05:00

Out of the blue and totally unprepared for... Boom! Anxiety attack today. I haven't had one in months, and I was definitely not expecting this one.

I believe the trigger was the writing I was doing. I have to work on my National Board recertification in the next several weeks, and I was trying to crank out quite a bit today. I have procrastinated with this for quite some time... dragging my feet on every part of it, but getting what I need together. I have to say, what I wrote today was awesome. But, it must have dragged me back to the last time I had to write that intensely about my profession. Boom, indeed!

I am OK now, and apparently, I can expect this feeling over the next month while I get some things together. I have a few presentations this month as well as this lovely thing needing to be postmarked by the 30th. Glad I still have some Xanax.

Max the Artist

2010-03-27T12:29:00.003-05:00

Max has taken a liking to coloring on styrofoam. Here is his latest work of art.

A Week of Mealmaking

2010-03-22T20:17:00.002-05:00

For Spring Break, I thought maybe I would shock my family and actually cook. I decided to blog this historical event.

Today, I cooked the recipe found here.

It was delicious. Cooking the chicken in the Crock Pot all day definitely got the house smelling delightful. I would change two things: 1. Too much pepper! I would cut it in half. 2. I overcooked the bacon. I used Becky's advice to cook it in the oven, but I need to decrease the time allowed.

It still tasted fantastic. Scott wants me to marinade some ribs in the Lawry's marinade for Tuesday. He is now a fan of that. I never would have tried it without a recommendation from someone else. Two thumbs up!

Arrogance

2010-03-13T20:43:00.002-06:00

Just been reading some articles on autism spectrum disorders, particularly the "causes" and the "cures." Two words kept sifting through my mind, "desperation" and "arrogance."

Autism is not AIDS, and autism is not cancer. Autism is something that individuals must live with. It is a neurological disorder. It is not a disease to be cured by those so desperate to have control over "fixing" everything. There are many who are trying---desperately--- to fix their kids whom they believe are broken. Can children with autism make developmental gains? Absolutely. My sons are living and breathing proof of that. I know others who have gained as well. It was typically because of the tireless efforts of their parents to set things in place for their success. And when I say tireless, that's an understatement. But I have not rubbed crazy creams all over them to "detoxify" their systems, nor have I loaded their systems with experimental drugs. I would try a special diet if my son actually ate more than 4 things.

So, let's move to arrogance. Arrogance is putting so much effort into figuring out why your child has autism that you have no energy to put toward the child. Arrogance is believing that everything has a human fix. Arrogance is blaming the world...vaccines...food...environment...parenting... rather than just DEALING with the realities of the situation. Suing people whom you think should be blamed. What solace is supposed to come from that? Will a law suit change the child's condition? How about the arrogance of saying you are right and, no matter what, others are wrong? The courts? Biased. Scientific evidence? Paid for by the vaccine and insurance companies. Seriously? How does that help our kids?

And again, I move back to the basics. Who cares? I still have kids with mountains to climb that other, "neurotypical," kids do not have. I still have kids growing up in a world that is slow to accommodate their differences. I still have a five year old starting Kindergarten with the speech of an emerging 4 year old. I still have sons with autism.

Doctor visit

2010-02-15T20:35:00.002-06:00

Just to be safe, Ignatius and I were checked out by an orthopedic doctor today. We both got great reviews. Ignatius is in no pain anymore, and I had what he considered "tissue pain," but the Xrays looked good. He indicated that it could either get better or worse... at which point, for the second time this week, I wondered, "Why didn't I go to med school, again?"

Grumble, grumble, mumble...

2010-02-14T21:52:00.002-06:00

"Mom, I need clay."

"For what?"

"I need to make a model of Mt. McKinley for math class."

"Well, how much clay?"

"I don't know."

This turned into hours of screaming, throwing things, and, well, I am not even getting to how Ignatius reacted...

Yes, this project is due on Tuesday. (No, it was not assigned on Friday.) Yes... he had to determine the % increase and % decrease between the object and the original. And yes, he himself chose Mt. {freaking} McKinley when he could have done this project on, oh, say, a FORK.

I love my son... and that is why he is still breathing right now.

Photos of the Wreck

2010-02-14T21:42:00.003-06:00

For those who didn't catch this on Facebook:

His car:

My car:

This is ridiculous

2010-02-13T09:23:00.002-06:00

So, I was so excited about the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. There I sat in my overly cozy basement, watching the athletes process across the screen... and I didn't even make it to the US... I was zonked! The bad part of that was that I have shoulder and hip/back soreness from the accident, so, when I was finally awakened by a screaming Max (his father was attempting to put Children's Tylenol in his feverish body), I was a wreck!

Had a lot of weird dreams last night/this morning. Alarm went off at 6:45, as Ignatius has a Scholastic Bowl tournament today at Metcalf. I stumble into the bathroom, look in the mirror and am greeted by a blazing red eye. Isn't that special?

So, Max and I toddle off to McDonalds for his Saturday morning biscuits and "gravies," which he has yet to touch two hours later, and to pick up cash for the tournament goers (now Ignatius and Scott) so they can purchase lunch. A half an hour into my time with Max, he has diarrhea. And it wasn't in the toilet, if you catch my meaning.

Seriously, if you can reboot a day, I would make it this one. And, well, maybe Thursday also.

Crash, bam, boom

2010-02-11T19:15:00.003-06:00

It started off as a seemingly innocent Thursday. I was on my way to drop Ignatius off at school and then head off to pick up pal, Nancy Miller, who was attending a meeting with me for Max. Stopped in the left hand lane heading westbound on Route 9... crunch! Slammed into from behind.

I guess the good thing is we didn't see it coming. I suppose that we would be in worse shape had we "braced" for it. Ignatius and I were both a little brain jumbled, if you will. My knee and my lower back are acting weird, but that may be from working out, too. I'm pretty sure the knee thing is new, though.

Scott took the van in for an estimate. Looks like between $8K and $10K on my car. I'm sure his little Altima is much worse. When Scott went to the body shop, it happened to be the same one that the other car was towed to. So, Scott took some pics of both autos, which I will be posting shortly. The guys at the auto place were wondering what "the other car" looked like. To the casual observer (me), my car looked a lot better than I thought it would based on the sound of the crash. However, when people who know cars looked at it... it's not in the greatest condition. So now, we wait for insurance companies to chat. The dude in front of me, into whom I was shoved, had probably the least amount of problems.

So, I am saying a prayer of gratitude tonight that Max was not in the car, as his booster seat was thrown to the front, Ignatius' glasses were thrown off of his head, my iPhone was thrown out of its holster in my console, and an old Mountain Dew can was spewed across the middle seat. I am also grateful that it was a Nissan Altima and not a tractor trailer.

A few pics for the week

2010-01-30T18:34:00.004-06:00

In addition to being downright freezing, this week had its firsts. Ignatius had his first Scholastic Bowl match against Metcalf. HTJH lost, but put up an admirable amount of competition. Ignatius got a toss up right, as did a couple of his friends. It was fun to see them in a different environment than last week's birthday party. The match was on Ignatius' 13th birthday, so another first was he entered the world of teenager.

Still another first was that I changed my own windshield wipers. I had an issue with the driver's side wiper coming off from the blade. This is not the weather for that. So, I purchased some blades at Wal-Mart, believing my husband would help me. It didn't make it to his list of priorities, but seeing out of my windshield during a storm was right up there on mine. So, I found a video from Monkeysee.com, and I changed them myself. And they still remain on my car!

And so it goes... and so it goes

2010-01-23T13:53:00.002-06:00

This song seems to linger in my head. Just finished with Ignatius' birthday sleepover. In five days, he will be thirteen. A teenager. Quite surreal. What I noted while he was among his friends is that he's a really good kid. Truly, I am lucky. So many changes will happen while he is a "teenager." Junior high, high school, college... all in a seven year span. Crazy. I used to think 7 years was a long time, but it really is not. Just a blip.

Celebrate good times, come on!

2010-01-22T22:27:00.003-06:00

As I type, I have five 13 year olds in my house for Ignatius' birthday sleepover. First, I shall count my blessings:

-My son has friends.
-My son has good friends.
-My son's friends are funny in a crazy, geeky way.
-My son is one of the calmest (if not THE calmest) in his group of friends.

Now, my annoyances:

-Man-children have no sense of the time-space continuum.
-Man-children can be really loud and sometimes obnoxious.
-Some man-children are far from clean.

They are now playing in the basement. Thank you, Lord, for the Wii, PS2, and Nintendo DS. They are my earthly salvation.

What is Pilates Reformer?

2010-01-07T19:28:00.003-06:00

I have signed up for a session of Pilates Reformer classes at 4 Seasons. I have done a few Pilates classes, sprinkled with a bit of yoga here and there. However, Pilates Reformer uses a Reformer machine, and, from what I can tell from two sessions, that makes all the difference.

My first class was Tuesday, and, despite the lights being out and everyone being seemingly calm, I was sweating and shaking a-plenty. By Wednesday night, I was seriously sore in places that I am certain haven't been worked in years. Today, we had a snowstorm, and I was worried that my class would be canceled, as I knew I needed it... my legs were hurting. To my happiness, we had class, and I was the only one there, so I had a trainer to myself (for $8!). That was kind of cool.

If you would like to know more, or even see what exactly people do on this machine, this is a good link. Basically, it's supposed to strengthen your core, which is, in turn, supposed to support your back and joints. I am hopeful! I definitely can tell I shall be more limber.

Snow Day!

2010-01-07T10:16:00.001-06:00

Yahoo!

Back at School

2010-01-06T09:13:00.003-06:00

I am letting the children socialize right now... very important since they have not been with each other for two weeks. So, I decided to socialize, too.

I got my Project Life kit yesterday. Today, I started taking photos of the "ordinary" in my morning. Pretty fun, though I think I was driving Ignatius crazy. Anyway, that's something to look forward to when I get home.

It's cccccold and we are supposed to get a bunch of snow tonight. We shall see what tomorrow brings. Perhaps tonight I need to buy some boots?

Having the students here has definitely improved my attitude. They are why I do what I do. but, when 3:30 comes, I'm outta here. This was one of the first breaks where I really "unfocused" on school, and that was a great idea on my part.

Ah, well... socialize time is over. Onward! Those who wish to keep up with my Project Life scrapbook, be sure to click on my craft blog http://platoseizestheday.blogspot.com.

Carpe Diem!

Even more decluttered!

2010-01-03T20:36:00.002-06:00

Who would have thought more could be done than the Christmas decor today? I also cleared out Max's drawers of sizes that were too small (I still had baby socks in there!), and I put in sizes that were just right that were lovingly placed on his closet floor by the man of the house.

Now I am recalling that there is a new Brothers & Sisters and Keeping Up with the Kardashians that should soon be on my DVR. Yeah!

Decluttering Christmas

2010-01-03T12:26:00.003-06:00

Almost everything Christmas is down, except the tree. The decorations are off of the tree, but, I kind of like having it up with just the lights. It goes with the starkness of the living room right now.

Max was NOT happy that I was de-Christmasing. Scott took him to work with him in hopes that it would go a little better with him away. Or at least that's what I thought. Maybe he was just trying to get out of having to put anything away. Ignatius was a huge help in that area. So, here's my stark wintry scene. I still need to make something wintry for the mantle, but otherwise, this is how it shall be for now.

2010

2010-01-01T18:56:00.003-06:00

In this year, my buddy, Karen, and I are working on a scrapbook that encourages continual entries. It's a really simple scrapbook package by Becky Higgins called Project Life, and it was my Christmas gift to Karen.

This blog will, hopefully, help me remember the things for my entries until I can actually sit down and get 'er done. Right now, I have no choice, as it is in transit and is not even going to be in my hands until January 5 (or so says FedEx).

Today is, of course, the first day of a new year and a new decade: 2010. After watching and chuckling to The Hangover, Ignatius (did NOT watch The Hangover, thank you very much), Scott, and I watched the ball drop on Times Square at 11 last night, and then Ignatius and I kept ourselves awake until midnight in Illinois. We were all warm and cozy in our home, and that's the way we liked it. I read a bit of Breaking Dawn (again). It's my favorite of the four Twilight books.

Today, my husband gave me the best New Year gift ever: I slept until 11 AM. Not one bad dream. Not one scream of a child. Or at least, I was not conscious of any of that. He even watched Paranormal Activity, the movie, in the bedroom, and I did not awake (thank God... I hate that crap).

I worked out a bit with my friend, Kim, as we tortured our chests, backs, and triceps with Tony Horton and P90X, and then I braved the cold and the crazies at WalMart.

Alas, I missed all Masses at my own church for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Theotokos), so this evening I braved the cold, crossed town, and attended the ice box known as Holy Trinity Church for 5:30 PM Mass. I guess it would have been a good Mass if my teeth were not chattering quite so loudly. I know, I know. Mary dealt with much more... It's interesting how so many of my friends have posted that their decorations are down and all is back to "normal" at their house. Truly, "Christmas" is not over. This is its octave, or eighth day.

And now, I await the cooling of a skillet cookie, last year's Christmas gift from Karen, still used on nights like this where the Plato house is stocked with all that is needed to create the delightful dessert.

Oh happy day!

So, how's the clutter thing coming along?

2009-12-30T12:27:00.002-06:00

Okay, I have to keep myself accountable.

On Monday, I decluttered my craft table.

On Tuesday, I decluttered my kitchen counter and more of my craft room.

Today, I decluttered the kids toy room enough to vacuum the mat so that Kim and I can workout together. It is far from done, but one can actually tell that it has a workout purpose. Very exciting.

On the docket: getting clothes out of Max's room that do not fit; decluttering where I keep my bills (and maybe paying some, too!); decluttering my brain by getting report cards done...

365 Days of Decluttering Challenge

2009-12-28T10:01:00.003-06:00

This is a very cool idea. I accept the challenge!

Today, December 28, 2009, I shall begin to declutter. One thing each day... physical or mental clutter.

Merry Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T12:46:00.001-06:00

I went to Mass at 10 PM last night. Max was still awake when I got home, but not because Scott wasn't trying. He finally went to sleep soon after, as did I. I awoke to the wind at 2 AM... thank goodness!

The house awakened at about 7:30 AM. That's when these photos were taken. The big gifts were, for Max, Elefun, and for Ignatius, Super Mario Brothers for Wii. There were other gifts, but these, by far, were the highlights. Scott has been longing for a Presto Burger, the burger machine of his youth, for a few years. It was that you could only find them on eBay or somewhere similar. Now, Presto has re-released them (in an updated version).

Santa brought me some money which will be used on a new phone, since mine will not charge. Woo hoo! IPhone with video, here I come...

Merry Christmas to all! Hope Santa was good to you!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T20:09:00.004-06:00

Eclipse Counter

2009-12-21T22:21:00.002-06:00

Yes, it's true. I'm a Twilight junkie. Just to prove that, look to your left on our blog home page and you will see a countdown for Eclipse, which is a little more than half a year away from release. Yep... running from reality yet again.

Yeah, but...

2009-12-08T22:27:00.004-06:00

Every now and then, as the parent of a student with an IEP, I receive a progress report that shows Max's goals and how he is doing with them. A little report card.

One would think, being the data queen that I am, that this information would make me happy. And logically, it should. However, it is also a stark smack in the face with the reality stick. He is functioning at the 36 month level. He is 56 months old.

Now, I KNOW he has had the same span of deficit since we started intervention. And I also know that, without intervention, he would have had, perhaps, a larger gap. But it doesn't make it any easier to look at. As I looked through Ignatius' childhood records, he was always above where he needed to be... no worries, except how to challenge him. I know... apples and oranges...

So, it is still somewhat of a mystery to me as to whether or not Kindergarten will happen next fall. His teacher seemed to think it was in the realm of possibility. But he will probably be a year behind academically/socially... so how do you know?

Deep thoughts... back to grading for me!

Goodbye, Internet Explorer!

2009-11-29T09:37:00.003-06:00

Been a PC/Windows fan for as long as I have had a PC. Tried Macs and actually have an iPhone, but the platform just doesn't feel like home. Moving on up to Windows 7 here in a few days. Alas, Mr. Gates, I am dumping Internet Explorer. I poo-pooed people who told me to venture to different browsers... thougts of AOL buried deep in my psyche. But when a simple Image Uploader was blocked for no reason the other day, I realized that I was in a bad relationship. IE8 and I needed to part ways. Locking up, shutting down, taking forever to load... I blamed it all on my poor little laptop. Well, no longer. I am now with Firefox by Mozilla. I am pretty crazy happy with it, particularly the spell check setting that will give me suggestions not matter where I am (blog commenting and the like). The install was easy, transferred my bookmarks, favorites, home tabs, etc. No crazy toolbars every 5 seconds. And it's free. Yes, I will still be a Windows user... PC all the way, baby. Just not Internet Explorer. Sigh.

Faking out my stomach, Installment #1

2009-11-26T12:16:00.003-06:00

Rather than denying my body what it craves, I am trying to find ways to fake it out. When I find successful ways, I'll post them here.

Installment #1: Yes, it is apple cobbler.

Cut an apple into 8ths (use your typical apple cutter).
Wrap it in aluminum foil with the pieces together, leaving a cylinder in the middle where the core was.
In the center, place a few Craisins, a Tbsp of Splenda brown sugar, a sprinkling of cinnamon. Sprinkle oatmeal on top.
Bake for about 20 minutes... 350 works well.
Take out carefully. Sprinkle with Splenda sugar (not the brown sugar).
Enjoy.

Weight Watchers

2009-11-25T16:48:00.006-06:00

The journey begins again! A few weeks back, I had some bloodwork done. Why? Well, I had gained a lot of weight in a little time period (without the womanly assistance of being pregnant), I was depressed (clinically, not just feeling sad), and I was fatigued to the point that getting out of bed was a Herculean activity. I went to see my doctor, fearing a "chronic fatigue syndrome" type of discussion. After bloodwork, I learned that my cholesterol is way out of whack, as are my triglycerides. The doctor prescribed medication, stating that just diet and exercise don't typically lower cholesterol when it is over 100 points higher than recommended.

It's good to know at this point that I HATE taking pills. I have a sucky gag reflex, and even the smallest pill is a chore, as opposed to my husband, who can swallow a mouthful of vitamins without water. The prospect of having to take a pill every day was, apparently, enough for me to take a GOOD, HARD look at what I was (and wasn't) eating, and what I was (and wasn't) doing. So, two weeks ago, I joined Weight Watchers Online... again.

Weight Watchers is a system I have used three times prior to this. It really does make sense, and when you do what you are supposed to do, you really do lose weight. It is the most realistic system I have used to manage my weight. Some may say, "Yeah, but look how many times you have started and stopped..." Well, there are some solid reasons about me that have very little to do with Weight Watchers that need to be taken in to account. So, I will not badmouth the program.

I have motivation issues as far as weight loss is concerned. I know what it takes. I have done it many times in my 40 years o' life, even when I clearly didn't need to be worrying about my weight... like when I was 12 for goodness sake. I typically see results, and then I slip. What is key with any program is that one needs to embrace a long journey, and it needs to be about behavior management/changes. Weight Watchers allows me to eat like a real human, as everything has a point value, even if it is 15 points a serving (BTW, that's a really high point value for those that may not know). It also accounts for days when you will eat more points than allotted (35 points a week are there for flexing), and it rewards activity efforts (activity points can be earned and used as flex points as well). WW has also recently started its Momentum program, which allows you to see and choose foods that may be more filling. That's where I liked Jenny Craig's program and the idea of Volumetrics... if you are eating a lot at a sitting, your body can convince your mind and stomach that you do not need to eat a lot of garbage. Anyway, the Momentum program relies on this principle as well.

I started taking a multivitamin with some trepidation. They have a tendency to upset my stomach. Without a whole lot of overthinking, I found One-A-Day Women's Active Mind and Body... and the difference was almost instantaneous. I have energy. The fatigue and lethargy is practically gone. I haven't taken my antidepressants in almost two weeks, and I have had NO physical setbacks from that at all. I attribute this in a large part to this vitamin. Yes, it has caffeine, but it's also loaded with B vitamins, as well as other vitamins. I will gladly take something like this every day, despite the gagging that may ensue.

I have also been trying to incorporate exercise into my week. I would be lying if I said I work out every day. However, I have been trying to not let two days go by without some type of formal exercise. I have taken to very much liking Zumba. It's a great time, and is based mainly on dancing... but you don't have to be a "dancer." You just go with the intention of having fun. It's typically a great cardio workout, and a good time to boot. I also try to incorporate some muscle-building in my week, as it can't be all about cardio. I mix in some Slim in 6 when I want to work out at home. When I am in a little better shape, I would like to incorporate P90X again, because I LOVED that workout for strength building. You cannot jump in to that program lightly, however, and I do not want to fatigue myself the way I did last spring when I tried following it to a T.

So there you have it! Counting points, trying to balance my week, and having energy that I did not have before. That's my story. In January, I have my bloodwork again. If changing all of this does not lower my cholesterol, then I will take the meds. Until then, let's try the old-fashioned way...

DC Concert: Rock on!

2009-11-20T12:50:00.011-06:00

Previous David Cook blog postings: David Cook, Eating Crow, Obsessive escape from reality, On this blog (I actually tagged these!)

And now, the latest...

Last night, I went to the Peoria Civic Center with Karen to celebrate my birthday. We began with a delightful Ruby Tuesday dinner. Then, with two ISU students in tow, we traveled to Peoria.

Upon arrival, Karen found out what a rip-off Ticketmaster truly is. Lesson learned: do not pay for a preferred parking pass, as it was $5 more than it would have been had we just paid there. Mmm hmmm.

When we entered the Civic Center, we immediately saw the "Concert Memorabilia" area. I got a David Cook concert shirt (thanks, Jessie and Karen!), and we kept seeing this stuff for a band called The Script. We even texted them to see if we could win a chance to meet them after the show. We had NO idea who they were. They had some cute concert shirts, however, and Karen was tempted to just buy an adorable hoodie, none the less.

As we entered the concert area, we noted that there really was no bad seat in the house. It was much smaller than I thought it would be, which was a huge advantage. We were in aisle U, but we were DEAD center... terrific view.

A band called Green River Ordinance was playing, which completely confused us. Was The Script the name of their album or something? They were pretty good, and they seemed to have a little groupie following there. After the show, the band was outside selling their CDs, which I, for one, thought was pretty cool... I bought 2 CDs just because I was impressed with their work ethic. :)

We got all pumped up thinking they were the opening act, and the crowd was getting ready for David... or so we thought. Out comes The Script. {Insert confused faces here} Well, holy crap. It was The Little Band from Ireland That Could! They rocked, and we all ended up being groupies. Another CD and Tour Booklet purchased. Karen is busy deciding how to incorporate a song or two into her Zumba repertoire. Can't wait!

Finally, a bit after 9 (we got there at 7:30), the main act hit the stage. I was euphoric... truly. David put on the show I imagined he would. He opened with Heroes, one of my favs. OK, so I like all of his songs... good point!

He was so real... very down to Earth. He found Peoria's reaction to him worth a few laughs... perhaps he didn't expect a bunch of Midwestern 20-50 somethings to get into his performance this much? Dunno. He also singled out an eight0year-old boy in the audience and climbed over seats and people to talk with him. That definitely was endearing, but who brings an eight year old to a concert on a Thursday night? Or to a concert that will leave his eardrums humming for days? At that point, Karen and I were both thinking, "If only we had brought Max and Maddie... who knows what might have occurred?" Nah, let's get real.

The bad came on for two encores, one being Bar-Ba-Sol (yeah, baby). Can't recall what the last song was, but I know I left with a GREAT feeling. We stopped at the Steak-n-Shake in Morton for a much needed way to cap off the night (I got fries and a Cherry Coke... yeah, my WW points went through the roof!).

In all, a very memorable night! More photos and video on Facebook!

Pumpkin Carving at the Platos

2009-10-25T19:37:00.002-05:00

A fun night! Max was so excited. Each of us carved his/her own jack-o-lantern. Pretty cool.

Some photo teasers

2009-10-17T16:23:00.002-05:00

More of these photos are uploaded to Facebook, but I thought I would put out some "Blog teasers."

I am puzzled...

2009-10-09T21:18:00.003-05:00

In the 20 years of my teaching career, I have seen a trend in student motivation. Students definitely seem to believe that they should be rewarded, regardless of the work they put in. If they lose at a game, they believe they, too, should earn a prize. They believe there should be prizes for getting homework done. Without extrinsic motivators, we have a generation of students who have, quite frankly, little to no motivation. I have tried to believe that they will not be ready for the "real world" with this attitude. Today, I was proven wrong.

The Nobel Foundation awarded its "peace prize" to President Barack Obama. The nominations were filed last September, before he was elected President. The awards were determined in February, two weeks after his inauguration. The foundation awarded him the prize based on "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." When did this occur? What countries did they ask? On what is this based?

From what I can find, the committee is awarding the prize to encourage Obama, and it is not based on what he has done, but for what he wants to do. This boggles my mind. The people who were also up for the award this year included people who were risking their lives for human rights. They HAD walked the walk, not just talked the talk.

There are many things with which the President and I agree. I would love to live in a world free of the threat of nuclear war. I would love if we all just "got along." But we don't. Iran is not going to listen to him. Neither are the Middle Eastern extremists. These are people who are out to cause some serious bloodshed. Being told what to do will only make them more hell bent on pissing people off.

I wish the President luck, but I wish he would have done the right thing and declined this award. It diminishes the meaning of it. Elie Wiesel. Desmond Tutu. MLK. Our President does not (yet) deserve to be in their ranks. He said that, but it's hard to believe that he means it if he didn't let someone more deserving have the award.

Hmmmm

2009-09-27T10:50:00.003-05:00

Well, I was hemming and hawing this morning about going to church. I wasn't feeling my best, but I have felt worse. So, I decided to go. Here is my series of unfortunate events:

-I decide to sit in a pew where the sun is beaming through the large stained glass window right into my face. The glare didn't bother me, but the additional reason to sweat (besides my usual hormonal reasons) was unwelcome.
-Parents in front of me with two small children. One child, less than a year old, has snot pouring out of his nose. He throws things about the pew, like his Thomas train and dad's cell phone. At no one time do these parents think about taking this child to our rather large vestibule or to the staffed nursery.
-Speaking of cell phones, person next to me has a cell phone that goes off not once, but twice, during Mass.
-Father starts talking about "the Catholic" perspective on health care, all should have health care, which makes me think, a. When did Catholic hospitals start being free? Who knew? and b. Are you going to pull this in to today's readings at all? (Answer: not really)

So, I kind of, sort of, physically attended Mass today.

Coming Around Again

2009-08-31T20:35:00.003-05:00

It's time for the Autism Walk again! If you wish to sponsor us through prayer... thanks! If you wish to sponsor us through a donation, even better!

Click here for our site.

Click here to see last year's walk.

Ignatius Starts Seventh Grade

2009-08-20T21:57:00.002-05:00

Today, Ignatius hesitantly entered his second year of junior high. He is growing like a weed, currently in size 16 shorts and 18 shirt. He had a great day overall, loves his teacher, and is exhausted.

Perpetual Vows

2009-08-15T22:12:00.002-05:00

Here are pics from my sister's Perpetual Vows. More to follow when I am not quite so sleepy.

The Plato Family Trip East

2009-07-31T20:52:00.004-05:00

Stay tuned to the blog for posts along our journey. Here's a brief itinerary:

Monday, August 3: On the road
Tuesday, August 4: Arrive in Lee, MA
Thursday, August 6: I turn 40. I think it was on Nostradamus' list for Armageddon, so, if there is a next day, we'll still be in Lee.
Monday, August 10: Head to Reading, PA
Tuesday, August 11: Girls' Night with some old friends
Friday, August 14: Head to NJ
Saturday, August 15: AM's Perpetual Vows Ceremony and Reception; start to head west that evening
Sunday, August 16: Home again, home again, jiggedy jig
Monday, August 17.... wait, that's not vacation anymore... it will be avoided until then