October 26, 2008

My friend, Krista, took our family pictures this year. Now I have to decide on some to print. So hard to decide! She did an awesome job.

October 19, 2008

Got a Flickr account so I don't have to post each picture one by one. Family involved, if you want a copy of any of these, let me know soon. Some of them are still "big" in case you want them that way. Soon, they will all be resized small except the ones I want big. So, if you want one I don't necessarily want big, you better let me know. :)



We had a BALL this weekend. The homecoming was fabulous. Really awesome. Lil' Audra sang a solo for one verse of a French song (with English words, although not even the same song words; it was very cool) that the parents sang. She was so nervous, but she did a great job and was so proud of herself afterward. It was very cool to see my Aunt Ginger. She rocks! Anyway, it was a great weekend all around.


Click here for all the photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/audrajensen/sets/72157608190382816/



My favorites:




Heh heh. Battle injuries.


Cousins really don't get along. They're just pretending. :)


She gets her good hair from me.


Not much has changed in 18 months.

Dave Story...

From Dave...

So... For the most part, I get bored doing traffic stops. Most people get a warning because once I find out they don’t have warrants or aren’t at least suspended, I lose interest. I make traffic stops hoping to get someone off the street who needs to be in jail. I really don’t care about giving regular people tickets. But I still do stops compulsively hoping for that one good stop.

Tonight I made that 1 in 1,000 stop that results in a good pop. I was going through a four-way stop intersection. A black 1989 Honda 2-door was going the other way. It was dark, and it had its headlights on. I couldn't make out the occupants. I glanced in my mirror and saw the rear of the vehicle looked completely blacked out. No tail lights. I whipped my car around and followed to check it out.

As I caught up to the car it had all 3 brake lights illuminated. It had its headlights on still. Periodically, the brake lights would flicker off, revealing that the tail lights were not working unless the driver’s foot was on the brake. We got to a stop sign. As the car started to move again, the rear end went dark momentarily. The driver was clearly riding the brake pedal in an effort to prevent me from seeing the equipment defect. The car had 3 white males in it.

I put a stop on the car and went up to it. The driver was nervous and his dress/demeanor just screamed “prison.” He was wearing a light blue jersey with a matching cap that said “LA” on it. He had a silver chain with an “LA” pendant hanging from it. His numerous tattoos included a “310” area code (which can also mean “13” for the Mexican Mafia--Sureno) and a filled in tear-shaped tattoo under his eye.

The other 2 dudes were pretty sketchy too.

I had my driver exit the car, and I patted him down for weapons. He gave me a name (Willis) and said he was suspended. No ID or wallet with him, of course. He could not, for the life of him, give me an address where he is staying, or even a phone number. Right… I called him on the brake pedal thing. He initially denied it, but then admitted he was trying to keep the defect from showing.

My sarge showed up to cover me, and we started to sort them all out. One of the passengers said the car was his. We checked his name out, and he ended up having a BOLO (be-on-the-look-out) indicating probable cause to arrest him for a DV Protection Order violation. The other passenger had ID on him, and ended up with 4 warrants, 2 of them for felonies. That guy is quite busy with ID theft, meth, and robbery.

So, all 3 of these dudes get arrested. As I am about to take them all to jail, my driver, the big, fat liar head, admits he gave me a false name (which is felony since he used a real person). He gave me his real name, Thomas, and it turns out he was wanted for a felony as well. Two warrants for him.

When I took them to jail, it was like a happy family reunion; one of the custody officers looking up and saying “Thomas! Where ya been, dude?” So, in one traffic stop I made 2 felony arrests, 1 misdemeanor domestic violence arrest, with a total of 6 warrants and 2 new charges. I got 3 animals off the street with HUGE histories of arrest for auto prowls, auto theft, burglary, robbery, assault, and drug possession. Didn’t find any dope in the car though.

Then I got to write the report for 2 hours…

October 18, 2008

So, a couple of years ago, I was getting allergy shots. They make you wait a half hour after getting your shots in case you have a "systemic" reaction--AKA it hates you and makes you die. If they catch the reaction soon enough, they know what to do to prevent the full anaphylaxis (is that the right spelling?). Anyway, I had received my shot and all was well, and I went off to my class. It was something like 3-4 hours later, after I'd eaten some sushi rolls, when that nasty systemic reaction started to emerge. Started with a really flush and hot face, then a scratchy voice, then tightness in my chest. I figured it was a reaction, but didn't know if it was what I ate or the shots earlier. I didn't know how serious it could be, so I just drove myself to the ER after taking some Benedryl. On the way to the hospital, I remember it was starting to get a little hard to breathe. But, by the time they got me in, the Benedryl was kicking in, and it was all slowly subsiding. I got a nice (understatement of the year) lecture from my allergist that week about NOT DRIVING cuz if it had been worse, well, you know. Anyway, she wasn't sure if it was the food or the shot, either, because a systemic reaction usually shows up within 20 minutes of getting the shot, and this was 3-4 hours. She actually had me bring in the food I ate, ground it up in a blender, and shot it under my skin to see if I reacted to it. Nothing. So, she wasn't sure.

Fast forward 2 1/2 years to now. For the past month, I finally started getting shots again. Woohoo! This past allergy season was a BUGGER, and I am ready for it to get better again (my seasons were much better after I got the shots, even though I didn't finish the series, until this last year). I've been going in weekly, getting a bunch of shots, to get up to "maintenance" so I don't have to go so often. Last week was my last "big" week of lots of shots, and then I get to start coming in every 2 week and then every month. No big deal. Anyway, after the last shot last week, I was to wait 90 minutes before I could leave; still plenty of time from what they expect a reaction to start taking place. Well, at the 90 minute mark, the gal checking me over to send me home said, "Uh, you look kinda flushed. Do you feel alright?" Oh crap! Yup, it had begun. Same symptoms. Luckily, I was right there, so they loaded me with anti-histimine and watched my blood pressure (drop and then go up again as it subsided) and everything else. Took another hour. All was well, and I went home.

So, the first time it took 3-4 hours to start, this time it was 90 minutes.

Yesterday. First week on the same dose, but this time in the shot clinic (no doc around, just the shot nurses). Oh, you see where this is going, don't you? 20 minutes after the shots, I walk back into the area and say, "Um, I think something's happening." Yup. This time faster and more furious. Internal cramping, breathing difficult, drop in blood pressure. Eek! So, they pump me full of anti-histimine again, some inhaler thing, and then shoot me with Adrenaline! Have you ever had Adrenaline? Man, tripiest thing ever. It's like you just downed a 6-pack of Mountain Dew. And the darn shot hurt (and my arm ached so bad for the rest of the day). Oh, and it made me pass out. Anyway, cramps were really bad (felt like really horrible female cramps, ugh). Took about an hour to start to improve. Dave came and drove me home, and I crashed. They said that would happen--that the anti-histimine would want to make me relax and the Adrenaline would do the opposite, and it would make my body really exhausted.

I got a little cat nap and then headed up to Seattle. All's well now! It was a fun day.

So, I have to see the doc again before the shot nurses will "touch me" (their words; they were really funny).

Now, we're out in Sequim doing the family boogie (my parents' missin homecoming). Back to the grind on Monday!

Well worth the read...

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/13/war-weary-%e2%80%93-what-are-you-complaining-about/

Rebekah Sanderlin
"Operation Marriage"

If the American military went to war and America went shopping, then seven years later the war wages on but America is home from the shopping spree with her credit cards maxed out and her head aching from buyer's remorse.

The war didn't change and the fighting force didn't change, but the people back home are over it. War, it seems, went out of style in 2003.

In the military community we roll our eyes when we hear that Americans are war weary. Just what, we wonder, are you all weary of? Hearing about the war? Seeing stories in the news? Most Americans don't even know anyone in the military and won't have any direct contact with the war besides seeing uniformed soldiers in the airport. You all haven't been asked to do anything more to support this war than sit back and watch as your tax dollars are spent.

To us, civilian complaints about being war weary sound like the gripes of deadbeat dads: It's a bummer to hear that things are going badly and you're sick of being asked to pay for it, but you're not doing any of the real work yourselves. Many of you believe that fighting this war is optional. You seem to think our nation could make everything okay by just sitting this one out.
And, in a way, that reasoning makes sense. Most of you haven't been on the front lines or on the homefront. You haven't looked into the eyes of the enemy and the innocents and you haven't heard gunshots and mortar rounds in the background during a precious-but-short phone call. You haven't had villagers beg you to stay or to adopt their children. And you haven't heard your soulmate grapple with dueling guilt: Guilt that he's leaving his family for so long and guilt that he isn't deployed more frequently and for longer so that he could do more. You haven't seen or heard any of this, so how could you possibly understand?

It's not your fault. Nobody has asked you to do anything. Our leaders didn't think you would be willing to make real sacrifices, so they never bothered to ask. They let you all think that shopping yourselves into debt was patriotic, that spending yourselves into bankruptcy and foreclosure was enough to keep our nation safe.

You are war weary because futility breeds weariness. When you feel like something is for no good reason and getting nowhere, it's understandable that you'd be over it. But maybe you wouldn't be so war weary if you, personally, had a stake in what was happening "over there."
In the military community, the price tag for this war is much higher but the commitment level is much greater. Our country has not only asked for our tax dollars (and believe me, we're paying monetarily for this war, too) but for our blood, our family time, our futures, our children's happiness and our very lives. We have enlisted and reenlisted – and offered our support to our spouses who sign back up - because, soldier and spouse, we know the commitment level of the people who want to kill us and we know the desperate dependence of the people our nation has vowed to protect. We know that we have to be at least as committed as our enemy or our own children will be fighting this same war.

My husband has spent the bulk of our five-and-a-half-year marriage deployed. He's missed most of our son's life and our daughter has never even heard his voice – not even in utero. We won't know for years what the long-term effects of these deployments will be on him, on us and on our kids. Last year he suffered a serious head injury and he's lost most of the hearing in his right ear, the ear closest to his gun. We don't know what the long-term effects of his injuries will be, either. This year, on his third deployment to Afghanistan, he missed my father's death and funeral, our daughter's birth, our son learning to ride a bike and catching his first fish, and countless other precious moments that cannot be reclaimed. There is no predicting what events he'll miss in the future.

And we are the lucky ones.

My husband has lost more than 20 friends in this global war on terror and I have an ever-growing group of Army widow friends. They are young and beautiful and many have young children. They are also stunted. They hang around Army towns years after losing their soldiers because they say they don't fit in anywhere else. They say they can no longer relate to what they see and hear in the civilian world.

They can't reintegrate into the your world because there the people they meet don't know what it's like to sacrifice everything for something intangible. The widows say they don't feel like they fit in where people don't know how hard it is to break away from that last hug before a deployment. In the civilian world the widows, like all soldiers and military spouses these days, are treated as oddities, something to marvel or gawk at from a distance. People either fawn over us or try to ignore us. Our presence inspires either adulation or discomfort.

So we hunker down in our military towns, where regular pilgrimages to D.C. to visit loved ones at Arlington and Walter Reed are common. In military towns, we can laugh about all the dust and sand that comes into our homes after a deployment, carted thousands of miles from where it was picked up. We can complain about long lines at the post office during our weekly visits to send care packages. We can vent about news of another deployment, less than a year after the last one. If anyone in America should be war weary, it's us.

And make no mistake: We are tired. We are stretched thin. Our marriages and our families are collapsing. Our children are emotionally damaged. They act out at school and cry at home. Everyday we wonder if we have the strength for even another day of this. We're tired from the work, but we're not weary of the mission.

This war is far from over, that's something both candidates for the presidency have acknowledged. Whichever man finds himself in the Oval Office come January will be in a position to decide our fates in the military community in a way more personal and immediate than most Americans will experience. The next president will determine how much my husband and I will see each other for the next four years and whether or not he will have the tools and policies he needs when he is in harm's way. The next president will determine our odds of continuing to be the lucky ones.

This war is far from over – that is an obvious truth in military communities. But our reality seems so very different from yours. For the last seven years our elected officials haven't thought enough of you to ask you to pitch in. They haven't, so I will.

My husband and I know that this is not his last deployment and we know that his odds of returning home get worse with each trip. The only way our family and other military families will get a break is if more Americans sign up to join the fight. News reports these days are full of stories of lay-offs and the high cost of health care. Well, guess what? There are no pink slips in the military and our excellent health care system is free.

So sign up. We want you. Your nation wants you. And we in the military community need you. My family deserves a break.



Her blog is interesting. It's http://blogs.fayobserver.com/operationmarriage/

Dave

His driver's license circa 1985. Radical.

School Pictures

Tagged

Only cuz it was from Anna Marie...

9 Things that Happened Yesterday

1. Visited with my buddy Carla who I haven't seen in what feels like FOREVER on our way to Roloff farms.
2. Saw Matt and Zach Roloff.
3. Updated data notebook for one of my kiddos.
4. Planted about 75 flower bulbs.
5. Took a bath cuz my female parts were hurting me.
6. Took a shower cuz I was smelly from working in the yard.
7. Went on a date with hubby and ate authentic Indian food for the first time I can remember.
8. Saw a really stupid movie (don't know why I let him talk me into seeing An American Carol, ugh).
9. Fell asleep watching Food Network.

9 Things that I'm Looking Forward to

1. People to stop freaking out about the economy.
2. The elections to be OVER and to stop having to see all the stupid commercials and hear all the stupid vote-for-me double-talk.
3. Anything with chocolate.
4. My resurrected body with no acne or cottage cheese thighs.
5. Paying off debt.
6. Grandkids.
7. Going to Hawaii (ah, some day).
8. Dinner (Dave's making Tuna and stuffed mushrooms and rice pilaf).
9. Not the rainy season.

9 Things on My Wish List

1. A million bucks.
2. Paid off house.
3. Dog that didn't shed.
4. Husband home each evening.
5. Non-moody daughter.
6. Kids finding their perfect soul-mate that I like and Dave can tolerate that will give me pretty and perfect grandchildren.
7. Lush grass that I don't have to treat or trim.
8. No allergies.
9. Musical talent.

9 People to Tag

I won't curse anybody, but if you're so inclined, I'd love to read yours!

October 12, 2008

Let's see. Last weekend, we made a surprise trip out to Sequim to surprise my parents who just got back from their mission in the Caribbean. It was great fun! Ah, those two look just like I'm sure I did when I got back--a bit of deer-in-the-headlights look. You can't really explain to someone who hasn't gone on a mission the intense "weirdness" you feel when you come home. For 18 months or two year, you have spent every waking minute in the service of other people. You have studied, taught, served, in many cases lived life in a different language and culture. Every moment of your life is scheduled and busy. Even your "P-day" (day off) isn't a day off as you have to, in that one day, do all the day-to-day stuff you don't have a chance to do the rest of the week like laundry and cleaning and shopping. Oh, and most P-days you end up having real missionary work to do, too. There is no rest day! But, it's so full of fulfillment and purpose and you love it. Then, all of the sudden, you come home, and BAM! There's nothing. Oh, there's still plenty to do, but it's different. It feels... almost wrong. Like you're doing something you're not suppose to. It's an eery feeling. It goes away, and soon enough you're making all the dumb, selfish, and trivial mistakes you used to. It's actually suppose to be that way. That's really life--not mission life. But, it's still a real adjustment. Anyway, my parents are in the midst of it. It was *great* to see them, though! And we get to go back this coming weekend to be at their homecoming.

This week, I had my usually busy work week plus an extra Seattle trip for someone's IEP. I have one very challenging client that keeps me up at night, but for the most part, I love all my families and, of course, adore the kids I get to work with. It's a lot of work, but it's a labor of love. I really feel like I'm doing something meaningful and full of purpose. Kinda like the mission!

I've been getting allergy shots each week. It's a series of a ton of shots each week over 4 hours so I can get through the series sooner and not drag it out. I'm quite a ways into them now, and my arms are bruised and sore to show for it. This last one didn't like me so much, and I started to have a "systemic reaction" which I have had before when I got shots a few years ago. Long story short, I was glad they did make me stay that long period because they knew what to do to prevent a bad reaction, and I was just fine. But, that means they are going to have to slow down my injection plan a bit and go slower, so I will have to go in more often and for longer than I had wanted to by this time. Oh well. By next Spring it won't matter, and I'll pretty much be done either way, so it's fine.

Kids have fallen into a nice weekly pattern with school, piano lessons, lil' Audra's choir, Activity Days, and Swim Team and Isaak's chess club. I continue to hear good reports from school. Math teacher says he's been doing great (he has above a 100% grade right now) and has only shown his anger once. :) Isaak has become quite laid back and cooperative over the past few months. I'm sure it's a combination of the right medication and maturity, but whatever it is, it's wonderful! He's a piece of cake now! He went on a Scout campout this weekend solo and sounds like he did just fine other than some cold toes in the morning.

Yesterday, lil' Audra and I went with best buddies to the Matt Roloff farms to pick pumpkins. Have you seen that show on TLC "Little People, Big World?" Well, that family's farm is just over the border, so we went. LONG car line to get it, but we waited it out, and it was a ton of fun! We saw some of the guys from the show and the cameramen following them around. Lil' Audra thinks she's "famous" now because they were filming once when Matt was driving his little golf cart thing past us. It was really fun. Then, Audra and I came home and planted a bunch of Spring bulbs. We'll see how they turn out next Spring! It was a fun weekend.

September 24, 2008

Isaak got his first test in Pre-Cal back. He got 105%! It was a review chapter, I think, but it was still good to know he's got the foundation for the class and he's doing well. So glad this year is off to a good start!

September 22, 2008

Audra's comments at dinner (paraphrase):

"You wanna know something funny? (Dave interrupted her a bunch, so she was irritable, too.) Tammy, that friend of mine who stopped being my friend because her friends didn't like me, well, she made friends with another friend and only hangs out with her now. Her other friends (the ones who said they didn't like her) want to be my friend now."

I clarified and she said she already is just nice to everybody and isn't "like that."

Catty catty catty. I hope she continues to remain above it, but that's probably wishful thinking.

September 21, 2008 party II

Conversation just now:

Me: You can do what you want until 7:30

(at 7:21)
Me: Time to get ready for bed.
Audra: You said I could do what I want until 7:30.
Me: Fine, you have 9 minutes to do what you want.
Audra: I'm bored!

The end.


Isaak's note from church (his handwriting):

"Today, my friend Sean was supposed to come with me to chruch. I silently said a prayer asking Heavenly Father that Sean can come over. But when I got to his house to confirm, Sean couldn't. Alec, my other friend, couldn't either. But Mom was proud of me to just try to do it. It was just bad luck."

Aw.

September 21, 2008

I got an offer to publish! Yup, I'm working on a new book, and I'm really excited about it. I developed something in my social groups called The Book Chat where I use children's literature to teach social skills and "autism thinking" skills. Anyway, the international social skills training GURU wants to publish it which is perfect. It will get tons of exposure with the right target audience.

So, now I just have to get it written. Now that I have an offer, though, I feel much more motivated.

Kids have adjusted really well to school. Isaak is doing great! Only minor little "blips" so far, and very few of those. He's feeling confident and proud of himself. He loves his math class. He hasn't been in a math class in a couple of years (only individual work), so I think he's just eating it up. Audra seems to be adjusting better now. She still has her moments, but I think the hard adjustments are slowly passing. I know there will be more, but she'll bounce back. She's so positive about life. Great kids!

September 16, 2008

Audra was assigned the lesson for Family Home Evening last night. She was encouraged to do the whole thing herself. She did it on Tithing. I got a hold of her notes:

"Does anyone know what tithing is? What does the church do with the money. Who wants to read a scriptcher? (call, read) What does that mean? Who do you think is saying it. (If answer, say: "good.") (If no answer, say: "Well, I don't know ether, does anyone want to try again?") When do we pay? How much? (Testamony) in (tithing is special) In the name of Jesus Christ Amen."

I love her idea of what to do if no ones knows the answer about the scripture.

She did an AWESOME job. Very eloquent and thoughtful. Very proud of her. Guess she'll have to do it more often! :)

September 13, 2008

Confessions:

Sometimes I still have laundry yet to be put away by the time I have to start doing laundry again.

I rarely make the bed. Dave does, though.

I take a bath almost every night.

I hate dog hair, and yet we have a dog who has long, shed-y hair.

I still really like my high school music.

I only wash the sheets like once a month. I would more often, but I just don't think about it! If you visit me, though, you'll always have fresh sheets, I promise.

I have super hairy legs and if I weren't to shave, you'd think I was a man.

I hate to exercise and I like treats. It's amazing I don't weigh 300 pounds.

I love road trips.

My fingernails are thin and weak. They're always breaking (well, ripping, actually because they're not thick enough to break).

I'm short.

There's more, but that's all I felt like writing. :)

September 12, 2008

More Lil' Audra saga: After picking her up after choir yesterday, "I'm so happy because Tammy's other friends are not in choir with us so she can talk to me." Um, OK. Glad you're happy.

Question: Why is prostitution illegal and so condemned when adult pornography is so protected and accepted?

Question 2: I don't usually discuss politics since I think it's a very personal issue, but this one gets to me. Why is Gov. Palin so chastised for being inexperienced and ill-prepared to take over the presidency if necessary when no one in the mainstream media is making the same accusations to Obama?

It has begun

From lil' Audra today...

"I found out why Tammy (a friend of hers at school from last year) can't be friends with me anymore. She said that none of her other friends like me, so she can't be friends with me."

I really hate girls, sometimes. Such mean, catty little creatures we are.

I'm Back!

This is Isaak, finally back from summer to have a return to the blog! We're working on making a separate blog for me, so keep checking back for weekly updates!

The summer was quite fun. We went to Disneyland and saw our old cousins, Scout Day Camp, going to La Push beach (in honor of the Twilight Series obviously), Breaking Dawn release, and recently we went on the boating trip just yesterday! There was a bit of a Titanic moment when Audra was driving. But most important, school started, and I was a bit nervous, but I'm now having a good time!

Because of my talents, luck, and charisma, I won the hearts of older middle-schoolers, and even high-schoolers. I was placed in a 7-8th grade PE class by a dilemma in the schedule as I would call it. Not to mention from those older boys saw my charisma in humor. When a Chinese boy was called, I tried to be funny and said, "The Chinese are invading our country! First Chinatowns, and now foreign immigrants!" I was pleased to hear them laugh! By the way, about those high-schoolers in my precalculus class? Well, because of underage talents, they thought I was pretty cool. We didn't really work on real stuff yet, but we probably will starting tomorrow!

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, I was in a still new documentary! If you hadn't known this, I had the last part of the documentary (besides the credits) to myself! It featured me playing a solid piano piece, working out quadratic equations, and reading my essay to try out to do the first pitch in a Mariners Autism Awareness game! There are also some other "me" moments and my mom and my tutor, named Matt, who was one of the "real" stars in the documentary. In a beginning part of the documentary, I was talking about my math talent with the cameraman, named Jeff. Jeff said, "They're going to run out of math for you by the time you're in high school." I answered in a joke saying, "Sure! College math person, coming through!" When I was in the debut of this documentary, I heard some laughs!

Well, I'll see myself out! Be sure to check in next week for more school stuff and maybe even a Game Club moment this Friday!

August 7, 2008

Yesterday, we went sailing with a company that takes out kids with disabilities and their families to sail on the Columbia River. We had an amazing time! It was so relaxing and peaceful. The kids absolutely loved it. What a great experience.

Dave was quite comfortable on the boat.


Lil' Audra was a crazy driver. She thought she was all funny when she tried to make it swerve, but I didn't!


Ahhhh, peace at last!


Isaak was quite subdued the whole time. I think he was just taking it in. He said he loved it. I think the rock of the boat was very soothing to him.




We will definitely need to do it again.

Kids did great their first week of school. Isaak had perfect "reports" each day. He seems to be getting into the swing of things. I assume it's a honeymoon and he will have some issue pop up, but so far, knock on wood. He LOVES his Pre-Calc class. First day he said, "I think I charmed them with my charisma." Yeah, probably. So far, they're just reviewing; I'm sure it will challenge him a little. I looked through the book, and WOWSERS!, I can't remember any of it. Should be fun if he needs help! Lil' Audra is a little down. She's having friend "issues." She says she doesn't have any friends at school (her best friend goes to a different school), and her friends from last year (who she didn't really play with this summer) have sort of made other friends and aren't really including her. Well, normal girlie stuff. I told her to just give it some time. I told her that it took me quite a while to make friends in this ward, but now I have some of the greatest friends I've had. I just had to be patient and get to know people. I'm sure she'll be fine. She's just so dang social, and not having a ton of friends to be social WITH is hard for her.

Well, Isaak wants to blog today, do I should let him.

August 30, 2008

Got a major headache right now. Bad enough that I can't really work on anything for lack of concentration. Need to go veg in front of the TV. :)

Kids are ready to go to school. Or, I'm ready for them to go. It's been a very relaxing summer (for them) as we haven't placed a lot of demands on them, mainly due to our own crazy schedules. I'll be glad to get some structure back in their lives.

Isaak has made a group of buddies that come over almost daily to play. They're all a bit nerdy, themselves. It can get quite loud and obnoxious around here when they're here, but despite being complete dweebs, we're glad he's made some friends on his own. I suppose it's progress.

Lil' Audra is excited to go back to school ONLY because she wants to be with her school friends again. Isaak is nervous about middle school, but we've prepared him as best we can. He will meet his high school math teacher on Tuesday. I'm nervous about that class as, and I have NO idea who came up with this idea!, the high school has NO WALLS. That's right, classes are all in large wings with around 4 classes sharing a space, separated by portable dividers or file cabinets. They call it an "open learning environment." Huh? How is THAT suppose to contribue to the better learning of the students, ANY students, let alone students like Isaak. So, we'll see how that goes. There are no other options other than going back into individual lessons on a computer like he's done for the past year and a half. I'd really like to see him back in a classroom learning situation, so I hope this works out.

Anyway, that's about it. We have a new niece in the family who we are anxious to get up to Seattle to see soon. And my parents are due back on the continent (after a year and a half mission to the Caribbean; hard life, eh?) in the beginning of October. That will be fun!

Here's Isaak's baseball picture...

More good stuff!

On the Spectrum, a documentary just released, has me and Isaak participating in parts. It's an awesome little snippet about successes with high-functioning autism and Asperger's. Very neat. Here is a clip of Isaak's part.



You can get the movie from www.onthespectrummovie.com :) It's very well done.

Old voices

Blasts from the past...

Came across these old tape recordings of the kids. Awww. Of course, the quality's horrible, but it's something!

Here is Audra (Maggie then) at age 4. At the end, you can hear Isaak running away screaming saying, "I don't want to do it!"

This clip is a little longer. When Isaak was 4 (almost 5, I think), his speech therapist (and I) took him to a local radio station to work on asking social questions. He is in his "Millionaire" phase, so he's totally perseverating on it, but it's cute. The clip is about 4 minutes long.

Breaking Dawn or Breaking Down?

K, fellow Twilighters. Spoilers included here, so don't read if you don't want to be enlightened. If you have read and are ready to discuss, here are my thoughts and questions. Friends with whom I've already chatted with, please help me remember ones I forget here...

• To me, there are now two Bellas, and two sets of books, really. There's the set of the first 3 books. They all "feel" the same. Same Bella, same Edward, same mysticism. Breaking Dawn was like this whole other entity. The first half was just bizarre. It was like X-Files. Maybe she'd been writing The Host too much because it felt a lot like that. I didn't really like it. The second half of the book I enjoyed, especially the last few chapters. Still, it was like a different series, although the second half was more like the first three books, but the characters were different characters. Which brings me to...
• There were two sets of characters. First three books' characters and Breaking Dawn characters. Once Bella became a vampire, I did like the new Bella. I liked the old Bella and the new Bella, but they were not the same Bella. She was now strong and confident and determined and independent. Not the old Bella. Same with Edward although now he seemed less-confident and strong and pliable. I didn't like the new Edward as much as the old Edward. Even Charlie was different. Like he would have just accepted the weirdness of it all with a "don't ask, don't tell" attitude. That didn't fit with his 3-book character at all. He just accepted it? And where the heck was Renee? Which brings me to...
• Where were all the other characters from the 3-books? Hardly anything happened in Forks. I understand why and all, but just no explanation or interaction with or without Bella. Weird. They're all just... gone.
• Sorry, but the whole Nessie thing could have been done differently. She was like this monster alien child the way she was born, and then the stupid name (why didn't they use Carlie, her middle name; that's cute and not impossible to say?), the fast growing rate, the "elongated limbs" like a little adult. And imprinting on Jacob. Little creepy, have to say. I didn't find it as creepy as some of my friends, but still. Weird.
• I felt there were a bunch of things I expected to happen or be addressed that just never were. Like Bella's premonition dreams. Her ability to smell blood unlike other people could. There were other things. What were they?
• Alice's background was only briefly touched upon in the 3-books. I felt like that was really left hanging. I thought there would be more to clear that up. Nope.
• I LOVED the final climax scene and all the religious tones in it. I couldn't put the book down once I got there. However, I was sort of let down that the fight didn't happen. Felt like it needed it. Felt like, if you're not going to have them fight and just have them all walk away, then you need to keep writing the series 'cuz there's a whole lot that's still going to happen. Didn't feel like a series-ender even if the author said it is. Maybe she'll try to redeem herself by writing another with Jacob and Nessie older.
• Didn't like the wrap-up. No information about Renee and how that's going to work out, hardly any Charlie, hardly any about anyone. In fact, it must have been lame enough because I can't even remember what happened in the wrap-up. Big let-down.

I'll keep adding to this list as I remember them.

So, overall I hated the first half, liked the second half (even with flaws), loved the climax, but didn't like the wrap-up.

For me, the order of my favorites are:

1. Twilight
2. Eclipse
3. New Moon
4. Breaking Dawn

Yours?

July 30, 2008

We had planned on watching some friends' kids overnight last weekend since their mom was out of town. Twins Isaak's age and a boy Audra's age. Great friends of ours. Dad was bringing them over in the evening. Well, we get a call from him that night that they had to take their cat to the vet because it had gotten run over. They'd be late. Then, they called a couple hours later. Dad said they were on their way, but they had had to put the cat down. The kids still needed to come because Dad couldn't get out of work in the morning. It was so sad! I opened the door to three very sad kids who had just had to say good-bye to a beloved pet! The twins were the only ones to stay (Audra's friend stayed with dad), but I did my best to cheer them up and keep them busy.

It was a great opportunity, actually, for my kids to see grieving, talk about it, and be a part of that process. We had some good discussions before, during, and after. And, in the end, the kids perked up, and we had an awesome time together.

Taking lil' Audra to get allergy testing tomorrow. Sadly, I think she's got 'em! Didn't have much of a chance with the two parents of hers so pathetically blowing their nose half the year.

My favorite thing right now: Playing Halo with my family before bed. I'm the worst player in the family now. Yup, even the little one can beat me.

What I'm looking forward to the most right now: This Friday, the fourth book of the Twilight series comes out (http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/) and some friends and I are going to the late-night coming out party at Barnes and Noble. I can't wait! I'm totally addicted.

I love Edward.

July 24, 2008

This is how nerdy I am. I just got back from the theater re-presentation of "War Games"--the 25th anniversary. Man! That is a good movie. I'd forgotten most of it (being that I was probably a young teenager the last time I saw it). So nerdy.

I am now watching the season finale of last season's Gray's Anatomy. Mmmm. Love that show.

So, I have officially started my next book. I have started the outline and let MGW (the social skills guru people) know, and they seem very excited to see it and be a part of it. I think they'll publish it. If not, then I'll go with my old publishers. Anyway, I'm thinking maybe if I let people know I'm working on it, that people will keep me "honest" and will make me keep going!

I have to say, the kids have been doing really good this summer. I have "employed" them to work with certain kids with me and be helpers. Isaak, in particular, has really surprised me. He is a great model and help. It's pretty awesome. He does really good with the social group kids. I mean, he knows this stuff inside and out by now, and he has learned when to wait to give the right answer or be an example. He follows my cues and is patient with the kids that may be displaying "unexpected behavior." He's been awesome.

Wow. Gray's Anatomy has a LOT of commercials.

I gotta get my camera out and take some more pictures. My blog has GOT to be boring. I'm bored, myself. Going to bed now.

June 29, 2008

I'm going to TRY to get something posted each week. We'll see how long that lasts.

This was our first week home after our trip to California. We had an awesome time (in CA, not at home; although home was nice, too). I think the whole fam really enjoyed themselves. Let's see what I can recap in the few moments of peace I have right now. I'm sure Dave can remember more details than I can, but here's what I have in my brain...

Saturday (June 14): Wait for Dave and lil' Audra to get back from a Daddy-Daughter Activity Days thingy in the morning before we shot out the door. Gotta love that "frantically getting things ready" panic state. But, we did get out before noon. We drove and drove until we landed on my brother's doorstep in Berkeley, CA at about 10 that night. Only Earl was there (no fam, yet), so we enjoyed a short chat before shuffling everyone off to bed. We'd be back later that week!

Sunday: Up and out first thing in the morning. Headed down to Thousand Oaks, CA to meet up with my Awesome Auntie (and extended family) and my other brother, Daniel, and his family for a Sunday afternoon barbecue. Got stuck in some lovely CA traffic on the way and was a tad late, but they loved us, anyway! It was great to see them all! I have some of my fondest memories from CA trips to them when I was a kid. I told them that my most vivid vacation memory was when my cousin, Candi, was maybe 7 or 8, and she could swim, but she was going through a "freak-out" stage. Well, she wouldn't get in and swim or something, so my uncle picked her up and threw her in the middle of their pool. She screamed bloody murder and dog paddled and said she was drowning, and my other cousin (her older brother) who must have been 10-12 or so, jumped in and "saved" her, dragging her to the side of the pool. He was SO MAD at my uncle, especially when he turned around and picked Candi back up and threw her back into the middle. Hee hee. Ah, the sweet, sweet memories. :)

My Uncle Joe and Aunt Ginger

While we were at the Brandenburgs, we had an awesome little lesson by Isaak about the 10 talents, and then had each of the young kids (the cousins' kids) share one (or more) of their talents. It was so fun to see them all. I was very sad when it was time to check out again and keep driving. We finished the trip south in Long Beach, CA, (near Daniel and his family) late that night where we would be staying for the next few days.

Isaak's "Talents" Lesson

The Garrett's

The "Young" Brandenburg's

The Daniel Malmrose's

US

Monday: Um, I think we went to the beach with Susan and kids this day in Huntington Beach. What a cute little beach town! We loved the little stretch of shops down by the beach with all the little taco shops. We vowed we'd be back another day to check them out. The beach was fun. Kids happily got sand into their shorts for a few hours while I dozed on the pleasant-weather beach. Not too hot or too chilly. Just nice. We went back to the cousin's apartment after for a dip in the pool and some Rock Band play.

Yummy Hot Tub Bubbles

Daniel's kids are awesome. Nathaniel just graduated from high school and it something like 6 foot 2 inches. Crazy. Cat is almost 16, has a boyfriend, and is still this sweet, gentle, kind person that I remember (a lot like her mom was). Elijah is going into high school, has this rad long, red hair, is a talented musician, and is a lot like his dad.

Yummy Mexican Food!

Catherine and her boyfriend, Luis

Rock Band

Tuesday: Ah, Disneyland day. We decided to pack it light, so I didn't bring my camera. I should have! It would have been easy to cart around. We did the whole one-insane-day thing. We got there when they first opened and stayed until after the firewords show at 11 PM. It was crazy! Yes, it was hot and crowded, but I think because we had *expected* that it would be, it was tolerable. No surprise, that's for sure.

First thing we did was lil' Audra and I went to Space Mountain (the rollercoaster in the dark). Dave and Isaak were too chicken, so they went off to do something else. Well, we LOVED it! It was totally a blast. It's not a super-crazy coaster, so even the little one loved it. On our way out, we got Fast Passes to go back later knowing that we'd get the boys talked into it. Which we did! And believe it or not, they liked it, too! We did a bunch of other rides and stuff, but nothing much worth spending time on, other than the kiddie coaster we rode in Toon Town (or whatever it's called). We sat in line FOREVER and it was way hot and I think I was getting sick from the heat, but we stayed because lil' Audra really wanted to, and, well, this day was about them, so we did it. Woopie.

Oh, my absolute favorite part of the day was lunch. We were super starving and the crowds were insane, so we finally decided to just wait in a dumb line in the this restaurant-saloon thing. It was a horrible line and it was horrible finding a table, but we did do all that. Then, shortly after we started eating, a show started and we had awesome seats! They were these 4 hillbillies who were just hilarious. I haven't laughed so hard in my life. So, it was worth it.

A few years ago, when Isaak was 4 and Audra was 2, we went to Disneyland. Neither one really remembers it, except Audra remembers the Tiki Room (where there is a show with a bunch of talking puppet birds and stuff). That's because when we took her then, she was absolutely terrified and hysterical, and I had to take her out before the show was over. This time, we told her she had to "face her fears!" We dragged her back, kicking and screaming (not really, though, just in play), and made her go again. She survived, but still pretends to "shudder" whenever we mention the Tiki Room. I tried to give her the nickname "Tiki", but she doesn't like that too much.

Anyway, it was a long, but awesome day. We went in happy and skipping and came out exhausted zoombies. In fact, Dave says Disneyland's the "happiest place on earth" because they take all your happiness from you.

Wednesday: We did some more play with Daniel's family. Got to tour his snowboard shop (he's a mechanical genius, you know!), went to the pier at the surfer's beach, played in the pool, ate at In-N-Out Burger, and played some more games with the cuz'ins.

Daniel's Shop

At Huntington Beach

Daniel Playing Rocket with Audra

Thursday: We started the trip back north. We didn't rush this time. We meandered, spent some time in Castroville, the artichoke capital of the world. We are HUGE artichoke fans, so that was really fun. We also called Dave's sister, Anna Marie, while we were there and rubbed her nose in the fact that we were eating deep fried artichokes in the artichoke capital (she's a bigger lover than we are!). It was fun to see what our artichoke plants in our backyard will look like someday (fingers crossed). They're huge!

K, not usually THIS huge, but still big.

Yummy! Deep Fried Artichokes

By evening, we were back up near Earl's fam, and they had us meet at Benihana's restaurant in San Francisco. So awesome! I have very fond memories of Benihana's since my dad used to take me there every year on my birthday (once I turned 16 as my first "date"). I miss that! Dad, you owe me a Benihana trip when you get back! It was great to see the Earl family, too. They're growing up so much! Anna is just a riot. And Jake is just a little man. And Vincent and Kory and full-blown teenagers. Very weird. We stayed with them that night.

Earl and Kory blowing up our beds

Jake, Isaak, Kory, Audra

Audra and Anna

Friday: Our day to hang out with the Earl bunch. They took us to this huge rock near them that the kids loved climbing on. What a beautiful view of the whole San Fran valley! We went to a science museum at the collge which had the kids (especially Isaak) enthralled for most of the afternoon. We ate yummy chinese food (that was that night, right? I get the days mixed up in my head).

Earl's "work" (or is it play?)

The BIG Rock

Kory's Head at the Science Museum

Saturday: I went to my first day of the conference while Dave took the kids on excursions. They went to the Golden Gate Bridge and to this gnarly underground fort. I don't know the name of it. Sounds like they had a great time.

Dave took this one on the Bridge

The Fort

I enjoyed a full day of awesomeness, hearing other social skills training providers and their programs and getting ideas from them. It was great (but the next day was even better!).

I met back up with the fam and Earl's fam, and Dave and the big boys made artichokes to die for. We sat around eating salad and artichokes and fruit and cheese and then played Scum and Mao (card games) until we couldn't stay awake any longer. We headed back to the motel we were staying at near my conference location.

Oh, and the motel? Um, got it "on the fly" while we were driving around down there when we realized the conference was too far from Earl to make the commute possible. Well, it was BAD! So bad that Dave actually propped a chair in front of the door and had his gun easily accessible during the night. It smelled all funky, the blankets had cigarette stains, and there were SCARY people hanging around. Quite the adventure.

Sunday: I went back to my conference while Dave got packed and ready. I don't know what else they did that day, but I had a great day! The talks on this day were even more informative. And, I gave my presentation about using reading comprehension strategies to teach social thinking. It went over really well! I got lots of compliments and even had a line of people to talk to me on each of the rest of the breaks. Michelle Winner, the social thinking "guru" whose conference it was, gave me some great compliments and has even asked me if I want to contribute a chapter to an upcoming book she's getting ready to write. How awesome is that?!? I left the conference feeling very "satisfied."

The rest of the trip was traveling, first to our last hotel Sunday night in northern CA, then the rest of the way home Monday.

Well, that's all I can get out of myself for now. It was an awesome week, but also was followed by crazy getting-back-into-the-swing-of-things stuff. Maybe I'll write about that next week!

Audra

P.S. Special thanks to all our family who hosted us and hung out with us and put up with us during our trip. It was one of the best vacations we've ever enjoyed!