Presidential Actions

From Madilyn's school assignment entitled "If I Were President":

If I were President, the first thing I would do is play basketball.

If I were President, I would eat pizza.

If I were President, I would travel to the Antarctic.

If I were President, I would had a pet hamster named Harry.

If I were President, I would pass a law that no hurting penguins.

If I were President, I would help Africa.

Just a glimpse into the mind of a girl who, at the moment, seems intent on saving artic wildlife with the help of a hamster named Harry... while eating pizza and playing basketball. I have no idea about the African reference...

Valentine Bliss

My girls delivered my valentine's day gifts today...

A supersize Hershey bar.
A Dove chocolate bar.
A Cadbury chocolate bar.
A bag of Hershey "Bliss" squares... chocolate, of course.

Do they know their momma or what? I'm floating down the happy river of endorphins...

Sadly funny

Apparently my husband got some razzing from co-workers after they overheard the following 30 second conversation:

"Hi... this is Gary." - short pause - "When I was there last week, I forgot to make my reservation for next week." - slightly longer pause - "right. See you then. Bye."

The above conversation was with the hotel in Alexandria, where his current project is underway. Reasons that this is sadly funny:

1. The front desk staff recognize him by his first name ONLY. A reasonably common name, at that.
2. They know his schedule - note that he did NOT tell them when he was arriving or departing.
3. They don't need a credit card to confirm his reservation.

Apparently, a similar conversation occurs each week with Jose, at the rental car agency.

At our house, we thrive on predictability, but I really think this is getting a bit out of hand...

Say What??

Madilyn had Girl Scouts last Tuesday, with one of the other moms substituting for one of the normal troop leaders. Sarah and I were at the school also, putting up artwork in the front showcase. As usual, Sarah got away from me, and headed over to where the Girl Scouts were wrapping up their activity. When I caught up with her, she was at the refreshment table, looking for a handout (typical!).

I introduced myself to the substitute leader as Madilyn's mom. After some pleasantries, she asked "Does your daughter have an autism diagnosis?"

Surprised, I replied that yes, she did.

"I thought so," replied the woman. "I have a 14 year old son with high functioning autism (aka Aspergers), and I recognized a lot of Madilyn's behaviors during our activity."

What??? Stop the train! "No, Sarah has autism... not Madilyn," I replied.

"What? Really? Oh. Well. Are you sure about Madilyn?"

"Yes, I'm sure," I said, starting to doubt myself. "What behaviors did you see?"

She went on to say that Madilyn has definite ideas about how things need to be done and about right and wrong. She was very involved in making sure that the other girls did things correctly and followed the rules, and seemed overly grown-up in the way that she dealt with things. The leader then concluded with "things are very black and white for her. There's really no gray area."

We chatted some more, and I told her that I believed that Madilyn's behaviors were more a product of living with someone with moderate/severe autism than a reflection of her own state of mind. After all, that's all Madilyn's ever known, and her social skills have developed in that environment. In our house, there really isn't any gray. We don't joke or kid around much, because Sarah takes everything so literally and gets so upset about things.

I haven't been able to accurately recreate the conversation - it really was more conversational than confrontational... but it was eye-opening. After coming home and thinking about it, I realized two things. First, that Sarah has a much greater effect on the entire household than I had ever realized. I haven't yet decided if that merits intervention or not.

Second, the gut-wrenching feeling that I experienced at the thought of Madilyn having autism was directly tied to how I see the condition... someone who will never live independently, get married, have a family, etc. But that's only Sarah's version of autism, and autism is different for everyone.

Even if Madilyn did fit the criteria (and I don't think she does), it's not a big deal. She IS going to be independent, have relationships, and live a full life, and that's what's important. She might be quirky and slightly OCD... but she could have gotten that from her mother just as easily as from her sister!

Anyway, the above is just another confirmation that I did a great job of naming my blog. It's my life! Welcome to it.

A new calling

So today at church I was released as the 1st Counselor in the Young Womens (YW) organization. Mixed feelings about that - I will really miss the energy of being with the youth, but it was a pretty demanding calling. I didn't last long - only 7 months! Strange timing, too, with Sarah entering YW at the beginning of March. I was planning on keeping her in line during activities, etc. Maybe it's time for her to venture out more on her own. Don't know.

My new calling is as 1st Counselor in Relief Society, responsible for education. That means that I'll get to fill in for any absent teachers/last minute emergencies. That will keep me on my toes! Luckily, a the last few years of teaching seminary, sunday school, and young women have prepared me well. If I can handle the youth, well, hopefully I can handle the adults! I'm not sure which group asks the tougher questions, though. I'll also be leading a teacher development class, so I'll get the chance to brush up on my teaching skills. Hmmm...I'm not sure if or how that "If you can't do, then teach" expression applies to teaching teachers...

I do know that the Lord knows what he's doing with all of these callings, and eventually I'll see the plan. Time to go get book-smart!

A lesson in goal setting

So Madilyn joined Girl Scouts, which means, of course, that we now have an in-house supplier for cookies! Her troop is not super-motivated when it comes to cookie selling (good at her age). They didn't set a troop goal for sales, and each girl was left to her own to decide if she wanted to set a goal.

Madilyn came home and told me that her goal was to sell 70 boxes. I was a little concerned, since we'd never done this before, and frankly, I didn't want the pressure of having to "make up the difference". I asked her how she came up with her goal, and she said, "well, I'm 7, and I just added a zero to the end."

Thank heaven she didn't think to add seven zeros!

Anyway, turns out GS cookies are ridiculously easy to sell, and she exceeded her goal by almost 50 boxes. Good work, girl! Thank you to all who contributed!!

Truth is FUNNY

I read Confessions of a 40-something woman online today, and loved it. Although I don't agree 100 %, it made me laugh, especially the line:

"What doesn't kill me does not make me stronger. It makes me anxious, bitchy, and vulnerable...but nobody wants to see that embroidered on a pillow."

For the record, I don't read Oprah.com... I got to the link via CNN. That's my story.