I haven't been around here much lately-just not in a writing mood, I guess. I have 5 posts started but have not felt like finishing them. Oh well. It will pass-or I will just force myself to start again. Spring (and daylight savings time) is coming-and my mood will lighten with warmer weather and daylight. Guaranteed.
But here's the short version of what's new:
1) We are supposedly certified to foster. It has been a month and still no letter confirming that, despite several emails on my part.
2) Our profile was sent away for consideration for a toddler in need of a family. We never heard anything back-and that's the way it works. If you don't hear anything-they chose someone else. No polite kiss off letter-you just wait and wonder.
3) We inquired on another toddler posted on our state's adoption listings. The children there are typically "hard to place" for various reasons-age, race, large sibling group, medical and cognitive conditions. I know this-and can read between the lines about some of the problems not actually stated. What I knew about this child's "issue" probably meant several surgery and therapies- but would lead a typical kid life.. However, once we got more info we ended up "passing" on this little one. Sadly, what wasn't stated was a very serious medical condition that is just too far out of our comfort zone. Sigh. I knew it couldn't be "that" easy.
4) I started a partial "envelope system" to help us budget more carefully. I was always so pissed when I paid the bills to see just how much we spent using debit cards-the money just melts away without you realizing it. So I pay the bills and withdraw the next two weeks worth of food, house stuff and miscellaneous money. The debit card is only gas and prescriptions. The first 2 weeks went well, with only a little bit of overage spending on the debit card. The next 2 weeks will be a little rougher-since the bills are higher the 1st of the month-but I really feel we are on the right path here. With some thought I think I can balance everything-and stop nickel and dime-ing the savings account to cover our overspending.
That's the highlights....in the winter, I basically hibernate-so not much to say.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
A key...
What do you do in a data-driven special ed world to show that a child with autism understands basic skills so you can declare a goal mastered? So you can "prove" to those that "want to know" that this child is super smart. Has so much potential if only the key could be found to unlock his world.
A 4 year old child that screams rather than tells you an answer.
Recites rote phrases and entire songs.
Can't answer a "simple" question like "what is this?"
You KNOW he knows the answers. You have goals that you need to show progress on. You KNOW he knows it-but can't prove it.
You search and search for the key....and, if you are lucky, it comes to you one day, perhaps accidentally when that 4 year old cute-as a-button child reads aloud a word on a paper. You write more words. He reads them aloud. You write a sentence- let's say, "No Screaming"-and show it to him when he screams--and he immediately stops. Then says. "No screaming" and walks away quietly.
I have a key...maybe not the key to his entire world-but its a key.
So I made these:
Match the function of objects to the picture:
Match the action to the picture:
And he matches them. It holds his interest for an entire session.
AND
he is beginning to verbalize the answers, too!
This is opening up a whole new world of how to teach him and how to find out what he knows.
A 4 year old child that screams rather than tells you an answer.
Recites rote phrases and entire songs.
Can't answer a "simple" question like "what is this?"
You KNOW he knows the answers. You have goals that you need to show progress on. You KNOW he knows it-but can't prove it.
You search and search for the key....and, if you are lucky, it comes to you one day, perhaps accidentally when that 4 year old cute-as a-button child reads aloud a word on a paper. You write more words. He reads them aloud. You write a sentence- let's say, "No Screaming"-and show it to him when he screams--and he immediately stops. Then says. "No screaming" and walks away quietly.
I have a key...maybe not the key to his entire world-but its a key.
So I made these:
Match the function of objects to the picture:
Match the action to the picture:
And he matches them. It holds his interest for an entire session.
AND
he is beginning to verbalize the answers, too!
This is opening up a whole new world of how to teach him and how to find out what he knows.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Books of 2011
I did a really nice list last year. But my books this year don't really fit those questions for some reason.
This year I will just post a few highlights and lowlights.
First, I am on Goodreads...so if you are too-look me up here. I am always looking for new book friends.
Secondly, I discovered audio books this year. Makes the commute to work so much better and I found out that some books are just better listened to.
5 star books of the year:
Printed books:
Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
This was one I read for my book club and it has become one of my favorite books ever. I even asked for (and received) a copy for Christmas (I check 99% of my books out from the library.) It is 6 stories, loosely connected and told in a nesting doll format (you get 1/2 of each story until the 6th one, which you read whole, then get the 2nd half of each story....weird, but it works!) I never would have picked this up on my own-I am so glad that I read it!
Speak, Lauri Halse Anderson-This book is hard to describe. A teen rape victim who doesn't speak anymore- is ostracized from her friends-no one really notices she doesn't speak-or why. But it is so much more than that.
Still Alice, Lisa Genova-it's about a woman's decline into Altzheimer's disease, told from her perspective.
And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson This is a children's book. It is based on the true story of 2 male penguins who on their own became partners and, when given an egg, raised it as their child. It is listed on the banned books list.
Audiobooks:
To Kill a Mockingbird, 50th anniversary narrated by Sissy Spacek. Sissy Spacek is phenomenal as the narrator. My husband loved it too, and he isn't the reader I am.
Every Last One, Anna Quindlan The first half of this book is about a typical family. You get to know them and their ordinary, every day lives. The second half is about overcoming a tragedy to the family. There were lots of descriptions and slower parts that would have had me skimming had I read the book. In audio format it was magical.
The Bonesetter's Daughter, Amy Tan What made this audio book so good is that it was read by two women who spoke English and Chinese. They used authentic accents (as far as I know) and pronunciations of words.
Outlander, Diana Gabaldon. This is one of my favorite books, one I have read over and over. I decided to listen to it-all 28 discs. It was very good. It took me a little to adjust to understanding the Scottish brogue (which you read with the accent in the book) but by disc 2 I was enthralled again.
I read some other books that, while not 5 star books, they are worth mentioning:
Room, Emma Dongahue The main character is a little boy who has lived in "room" his whole life-his mother was kidnapped as a teen and held in this room, a shack.
The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell This is another hard to describe book and I read it for my Book club. Again, I never would have read it and i am very happy I did. Several people, including a Jesuit priest, travel to another planet in search of life. Very Interesting.
Before I fall, Lauren Oliver In this book, the main character dies, and gets several chances to make things right. A nice take on this "Groundhog Day" kind of book.
And one that I couldn't rate:
Beyond Reach, Karin Slaughter I loved this series. (Grant County). This book was really good. But the ending....was....anger inducing. I hated it. I have tried to read another series of hers...and I'm still angry at her...But, at the same time....It took guts to write it that way. Enough said. Read the series...just not the last chapter of book 6.
On to 2012:
I don't usually set goals for my reading but I do two a few simple ones. Last year I set a goal to read 75 books and I did that exactly. This year I want to read at least 80-but with audio books I might actually reach 100. I also want to read more books about Cherokee Indians since I have ancestors that were Chiefs in the tribe.
Have you read any of my favorites? What did you think?
What are your favorite books? I would love to add them to my To-Be-Read List!
This year I will just post a few highlights and lowlights.
First, I am on Goodreads...so if you are too-look me up here. I am always looking for new book friends.
Secondly, I discovered audio books this year. Makes the commute to work so much better and I found out that some books are just better listened to.
5 star books of the year:
Printed books:
Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
This was one I read for my book club and it has become one of my favorite books ever. I even asked for (and received) a copy for Christmas (I check 99% of my books out from the library.) It is 6 stories, loosely connected and told in a nesting doll format (you get 1/2 of each story until the 6th one, which you read whole, then get the 2nd half of each story....weird, but it works!) I never would have picked this up on my own-I am so glad that I read it!
Speak, Lauri Halse Anderson-This book is hard to describe. A teen rape victim who doesn't speak anymore- is ostracized from her friends-no one really notices she doesn't speak-or why. But it is so much more than that.
Still Alice, Lisa Genova-it's about a woman's decline into Altzheimer's disease, told from her perspective.
And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson This is a children's book. It is based on the true story of 2 male penguins who on their own became partners and, when given an egg, raised it as their child. It is listed on the banned books list.
Audiobooks:
To Kill a Mockingbird, 50th anniversary narrated by Sissy Spacek. Sissy Spacek is phenomenal as the narrator. My husband loved it too, and he isn't the reader I am.
Every Last One, Anna Quindlan The first half of this book is about a typical family. You get to know them and their ordinary, every day lives. The second half is about overcoming a tragedy to the family. There were lots of descriptions and slower parts that would have had me skimming had I read the book. In audio format it was magical.
The Bonesetter's Daughter, Amy Tan What made this audio book so good is that it was read by two women who spoke English and Chinese. They used authentic accents (as far as I know) and pronunciations of words.
Outlander, Diana Gabaldon. This is one of my favorite books, one I have read over and over. I decided to listen to it-all 28 discs. It was very good. It took me a little to adjust to understanding the Scottish brogue (which you read with the accent in the book) but by disc 2 I was enthralled again.
I read some other books that, while not 5 star books, they are worth mentioning:
Room, Emma Dongahue The main character is a little boy who has lived in "room" his whole life-his mother was kidnapped as a teen and held in this room, a shack.
The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell This is another hard to describe book and I read it for my Book club. Again, I never would have read it and i am very happy I did. Several people, including a Jesuit priest, travel to another planet in search of life. Very Interesting.
Before I fall, Lauren Oliver In this book, the main character dies, and gets several chances to make things right. A nice take on this "Groundhog Day" kind of book.
And one that I couldn't rate:
Beyond Reach, Karin Slaughter I loved this series. (Grant County). This book was really good. But the ending....was....anger inducing. I hated it. I have tried to read another series of hers...and I'm still angry at her...But, at the same time....It took guts to write it that way. Enough said. Read the series...just not the last chapter of book 6.
On to 2012:
I don't usually set goals for my reading but I do two a few simple ones. Last year I set a goal to read 75 books and I did that exactly. This year I want to read at least 80-but with audio books I might actually reach 100. I also want to read more books about Cherokee Indians since I have ancestors that were Chiefs in the tribe.
Have you read any of my favorites? What did you think?
What are your favorite books? I would love to add them to my To-Be-Read List!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year 2012
Happy New Year.
I welcome 2012 with all my heart.
No resolutions. No predictions.
Nothing other than: This year HAS to be better than last year.
Please
I welcome 2012 with all my heart.
No resolutions. No predictions.
Nothing other than: This year HAS to be better than last year.
Please
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Goodbye 2011 and Good Riddance
I'm not doing a summary my year-other than:
It sucked.
It wasn't what I expected 1 year ago. In any area.
I am not sorry to see it go.
2011 can kiss my ass
It sucked.
It wasn't what I expected 1 year ago. In any area.
I am not sorry to see it go.
2011 can kiss my ass
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
I love chocolate covered pretzels. For co-worker gifts this year I decided to make some.
omg-they are SO easy. If I knew how easy I would have made them looooong ago.
You need:
A bag of chocolate chips (your choice, milk chocolate or semi-sweet--or both)
Pretzels
decorations (optional)
That's it.
Microwave the chips in a bowl...I put them in for 45 seconds, stirred, the in 30 second increments stirring until smooth. Took maybe 2 minutes.
Then take the pretzels and dip. i used stick pretzels so I spooned the chocolate up high...swirled until it went all the way down.
Put on wax paper...sprinkle with decorations. I used colored sugar, sprinkles and peanut butter chips.
Let cool. When they were cool, I slipped into gift bags.
Done. And it took 30 minutes at the most!
I think used 2 full bags of chips and 1 full bag of pretzels (I may or may not have eaten a handful or 2.
These pictures are not great-since the husband took them with his phone. Also, what you see in these pictures is the entire amount of counter space I have....so I couldn't get them all on one counter (and some are even on the table)
omg-they are SO easy. If I knew how easy I would have made them looooong ago.
You need:
A bag of chocolate chips (your choice, milk chocolate or semi-sweet--or both)
Pretzels
decorations (optional)
That's it.
Microwave the chips in a bowl...I put them in for 45 seconds, stirred, the in 30 second increments stirring until smooth. Took maybe 2 minutes.
Then take the pretzels and dip. i used stick pretzels so I spooned the chocolate up high...swirled until it went all the way down.
Put on wax paper...sprinkle with decorations. I used colored sugar, sprinkles and peanut butter chips.
Let cool. When they were cool, I slipped into gift bags.
Done. And it took 30 minutes at the most!
I think used 2 full bags of chips and 1 full bag of pretzels (I may or may not have eaten a handful or 2.
These pictures are not great-since the husband took them with his phone. Also, what you see in these pictures is the entire amount of counter space I have....so I couldn't get them all on one counter (and some are even on the table)
Sunday, December 25, 2011
More December ramblings
I found one of my favorite Christmas movies from childhood on you-tube. The Christmas that Almost Wasn't. I loved this movie as a kid-and our local (now fox) station played it every year. It's a cross between A Christmas Carol and a musical. It is amazing how many of the songs/scenes are familiar-when I have not seen it in a very long time. decades. plural. The movie is older than I am...but I still love it. Nostalgia and all that.
We went on our annual Christmas Eve night pilgrimage to find driveways and streets lined with Luminaries. I love luminaries. The ones made from lunch bags. (There are no pictures because I drove. The husband waswhining miserable from a Man-Cold and didn't think to take a picture.)
We found some-but not as many as my childhood, where entire neighborhoods would be lined.
We also looked at lights. Christmas fact: If you find a house or street with amazing lights at 11:45pm on Christmas Eve-someone in a hurry pulls up behind you and doesn't care that you are looking at the lights. Without fail, if I turned one way-so did whatever car was behind me at the time, turned that way, too. I pulled over, put flashers on...it didn't matter. Cars always found a way to come up an insist I move.
It is 5pm on Christmas day and the Husband is still in bed with the aforementioned Man Cold. He must really feel bad. He slept through football yesterday and we didn't go to his family. *It should be noted that *I* had this cold last week and took a 4 hour nap after our foster class and maybe 2 sinus pills. The end.
The husband got a train for Christmas. He has been wanting one-so I picked up a cheap one-not the Lionel set of his dreams. He played with it, man-cold and all, for an hour last night-until we both could'nt stand it any more. The cheap train sounded like a weed-eater. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz SO LOUD that we couldn't hear the train noises-or the music it played-or the TV for that matter. Guess who will be in line returning it tomorrow. I can't get it out of the house fast enough. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
We went on our annual Christmas Eve night pilgrimage to find driveways and streets lined with Luminaries. I love luminaries. The ones made from lunch bags. (There are no pictures because I drove. The husband was
We found some-but not as many as my childhood, where entire neighborhoods would be lined.
We also looked at lights. Christmas fact: If you find a house or street with amazing lights at 11:45pm on Christmas Eve-someone in a hurry pulls up behind you and doesn't care that you are looking at the lights. Without fail, if I turned one way-so did whatever car was behind me at the time, turned that way, too. I pulled over, put flashers on...it didn't matter. Cars always found a way to come up an insist I move.
It is 5pm on Christmas day and the Husband is still in bed with the aforementioned Man Cold. He must really feel bad. He slept through football yesterday and we didn't go to his family. *It should be noted that *I* had this cold last week and took a 4 hour nap after our foster class and maybe 2 sinus pills. The end.
The husband got a train for Christmas. He has been wanting one-so I picked up a cheap one-not the Lionel set of his dreams. He played with it, man-cold and all, for an hour last night-until we both could'nt stand it any more. The cheap train sounded like a weed-eater. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz SO LOUD that we couldn't hear the train noises-or the music it played-or the TV for that matter. Guess who will be in line returning it tomorrow. I can't get it out of the house fast enough. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
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