Women be shoppin’

I ventured out into the black friday mess at about 8:30 am.  This is a very late time for most of these people, but I only needed to go to JoAnns.  I needed to purchase some fabric for a special project.  I saved $35, but I had to spend an hour in line.  I was surrounded by ladies that were buying way too much flannel for their own good. 

My brave sister decided to visit Target at 6:00 am followed by ShopKo.  She said that despite the crowds, she had the enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. She witness a lady ”rush” the doors , having to be tackled by the security guard. It seems that everyone’s getting into the Christmas spirit.

piece of pie

I learned how to make pies from my mom.  She always made perfect pies and I always try to make them as perfect as hers were.  I think I did pretty good this year.  I made three kinds:  pumpkin (of course), lemon meringe, and pecan.  They were pretty, and pretty tasty, if I do say so myself.

More Strange and Unusual Behavior

I settled down to read a little more Twilight,  (I’m on the 2nd book) when I heard some unusual noises coming from the kitchen.  I called to Joe Joe and asked, “what are you doing in there?”  He muttered something that sounded like “cleaning the fridge”.  I cannot recall a time in our marriage that Joe Joe has done such a thing, so I assumed that I heard him incorrectly.  After I finished reading and napping, I decided to check on that fridge thing.  Much to my amazement, Joe Joe really had cleaned the fridge.  I am reading and Joe Joe is cleaning.  Have you seen any pigs flying?

break FEAST

Because we wouldn’t be eating our Thanksgiving feast until later in the day, I decided to cook a good break FEAST for brunch.  We had eggs, hashbrowns, sausages, and pancakes.  Nate and Tessa  both REALLY like breakfast foods, so they were happy. 

Princess

We attended a birthday party for Ali, daughter of some friends of ours.  It had a princess theme.  I was quite amused to notice that not one of the girls at the party wanted to where the princess hats, but both boys were wearing them proudly the entire night.  Little Nater and Braidan playing “detective” in their princess hats.  It was very cute.

Nater was saddened later that night when I had to remove the hat so that he could put on his pajamas.  I told him he could wear in again in the morning.  Luckily, he had forgotten about his princess hat the next morning.

weakling

We had a Best Buddies “thanksgiving” on Friday.  After the potluck, everyone enjoyed themselves with a little karaoke.  I was chillin with a few of the parents when I heard them call my name.  They were challenging me to an arm wrestle.  The student they wanted me to arm wrestle seemed skinny and scrawny enough, so I agreed. After all, I had been lifting weights.  Surely I’d be able to waste him.  I’d go easy on him, I thought,  make it look like a struggle at least.  I wouldn’t want to embarrass the poor boy. 

Well, turns out that I didn’t have to “act” like it was a struggle because it WAS a struggle.  I was able to keep it up for a little bit, but he finally slammed my arm down.  I shrugged it off and told everyone that I let him win.

Ouch Man!

I started working with people with disabilities (Joe Joe calls them “my people”) back in 1995 after I got sick of working at Albertsons.  I worked in a group home with adolescents with severe autism.  It was a life changing experience.  In working there, I had my hair pulled many many times.  I learned how to deal with such attacks very well. 

And now, thirteen years later, I teach others how to manage people with difficult behavior.  Here’s a shot of me demonstrating the hair pull release.  Look how mean Scott looks!  I think he’s got it out for me.

Strange and Unusual Behavior

Anyone that knows me fairly well knows that I don’t like to read unless I have to.  It’s just not an enjoyable thing for me, mostly because you have to concentrate and sit in one place.  Watching a movie is much easier, in my opinion. 

Occasionally, a book will come my way that catches my attention.  Usually these books are not fictional, but historical or biographical.  This time, however it’s fictional and about vampires.  I’m so embarrassed to admit it, but I have hopped on the “Twilight” band wagon.  I have to admit, this book is very interesting and has held my attention for 197 pages so far.  Joe Joe was so stunned to see me reading before bedtime, that he snapped this photo and told me that it was definitely blog material.

Sleep like a baby

I love my kids, but I REALLY love them when they are asleep.  They look like little angels.  Joe Joe and I “peek” in their bedrooms at night quite often, almost ritualistically.  I watch them as they sleep and feel guilty for getting so frustrated with them during the day.  I know that you probably won’t believe this…..but,  I “yell” at my kids sometimes.  Shocking, I know. 

Keeping this in mind, I have a new goal:  Think of sleeping children when getting upset.  Why wait until new years?  I’ll start now. 

KennyBum

My brother Ken was here all last week for work.  He moved to Boston last July so that his boyfriend, Scott, could get his Master’s Degree.   And because KennyBum is my favorite brother, I’ve decided to write a bit about him. 

KennyBum is paralegal/computer guy for a law firm.  They must really like him because they let him work from Boston.  A computer nerd at heart, he enjoys the mac a little too much for his own good and owns at least five of them. He has a terrific sense of humor as evident by his amazing blog which inspired me to start blogging.  Although I used to torture KennyBum as a child, he has since forgiven me and  we have long meaningful conversations about just any topic you could imagine.  I miss those talks.  Move back to Utah, KennyBum!!

cutting it up

Because Nater’s hair was growing out of control, we decided to get it cut!  I had a coupon (of course I did) for a place called “Cookie Cutters” in Bountiful.  It’s a salon for kids.  It was really cute.  They had little cars and planes for the kids to sit in while getting their hair cut, little tvs with fun movies playing, and a fire engine to lay down in while washing their hair.  They even had a little playground in the waiting area and a tiny toilet in the bathroom.  Nater enjoys his haircuts very much anywhere he goes, but he really enjoyed this place.

 

T-dog also had a great time climbing in and out of the cars and posing for mommy to take pictures.  It was a fun enough place, but the prices were a little to high for a cheapy like me.  So, thumbs up if you have a coupon, if not, go to Fantastic Sams.

After the haircut was complete, we checked out a sweet new Gelato place.  Yummy!

kind of like flying?

They have installed new hand blowers in the restrooms at Viewmont High.  They are VERY powerful blowers and they creat “ripples” in my hands as I dry them.  I thought it might be interesting to stick my face under there so that I could simulate skydiving.  Mostly, it just made me drool.

Hot buys

 

When I get home from grocery shopping, I like to spread out all of the groceries onto the table or countertop.  I  point out all of the name brands and items to Joe Joe.   I make him guess how much it cost at “normal” prices.  Then, I tell him how much I paid for ALL of it and watch for the shocked look on his face.  Normally, he’s not really that impressed with it and I’m pretty sure he finds this ritual to be annoying, but it is OH so much fun for me. 

There were some really HOT buys last night!  Everything in the picture here cost me $50.  Let me say it again….$50!!!  In case you can’t see some of the items, it included a DVD, lotion, shampoo, Motrin, Tylenol, laundry detergent, and many other higher priced items.  I was high all night.

Diaper-Rama

Working in a special education program for students with profound disabilities, we change a lot of diapers.  The diapers have become overwhelming this year, however.  To combat the diapers with a little humor, we decided to have “Diaper-Rama”.  We kept track of how many diapers we changed in one month and then got to spin the Diaper-Rama Wheel to get a prize.  Some of the spaces included, candy/pop coupon, prize basket, steal a prize, give a prize, poopy prize, and diaper royalty.  If you landed on diaper royalty, you had to wear a diaper on your head until the someone else landed on it.

I realize that this game may seem strange to outsiders, but it was fun for us.  You HAVE to have a sense of humor about these things.   We mean no disrespect to those that wear diapers. Special educators just wanna have fun.  They just wanna.

Best Buddies

I’m the advisor for Best Buddies at Viewmont High.  Best Buddies, for those that don’t know, is an organization much like Special Olympics whose goal is to provide people with intellectual disabilities with one to one friendships with “typical” peers.  It’s a great organization for teenagers to be a part of.  I love seeing these “typical” teenagers grow and learn from their disabled counterparts and seeing my special ed students make and keep friends that they not have had otherwise.

Each month we have an activity in which all of the “buddy pairs” get together and do something fun.  I take my kids with me most of the time. They look forward to the activities and  have watched and learned a lot already.  Whenever we see someone with a disability in the community, NTPP will say, “Look mom, it’s a best buddy”.  I am proud that my kids are aware of these people and consider them to be “buddies”.  I hope that they’ll spread the word to others as they get older.

And the shrine grows on…

Just a little update on my shrine.  It has become quite the place to worship.  I’m not sure whether to feel complimented or insulted.  In case you cannot see the intricate details in the photo, RF has plastered the ceiling of his box with the Sistine Chapel painting, installed several crowns, one flickering candle, two Sarah Palin paper dolls, columns, and lots of people praying.  On the side door, he’s made a collection box and a folder for all of the “hyms to her”.  The song they will be singing is “Praise to her”. 

Trick or Treat

Halloween is by far my favorite holiday.  I thought I better display our awesome costumes.  T-dog dressed up as “Jo Jo” from “Jo Jo’s Circus” and NTPP was “Goliath”…jo jo’s pet lion.

Joe Joe dressed up as “Dwight” from “The Office”.  He is holding his plate of jello, complete with his embedded stapler.  His co-worker, Lindsay went as “Pam”.  Pretty cute, I must say…

I went as a goat this year.  It is a repeat costume that I wore a few years ago.  I spent a lot of time on that costume, I thought it should get some more use.

Birthday Boy

It was my husband Joe Joe’s birthday on Halloween.  Because I’m such a good wife, I spent a lot of the day planning, cooking, and decorating for a birthday/halloween party.  It’s kind of become a tradition to have people over on Halloween.  When we first got married, our friends and family members were mostly single or newlyweds as well.  There were no children at our parties.  It is quite a different scene nowadays. Plenty of kids this year. 

It is clear that in our marriage, Joe Joe is the best gift giver.  This is mostly true because I CANNOT keep a secret to save my life.  I am terrible.  This year, however, I kept the secret very well.  I was very proud.  I saved money and went in with a few family members to get Joey a new HD tv for our living room.  He’s been wanting one of these tvs for a while and I have be “disapproving” of that purchase.  At one point, Joe Joe had agreed to exercise to earn the tv.  It did not pan out.  Well, I didn’t want to just have the tv sitting out, and I didn’t want to wrap that big box, so I decided to create a scavenger hunt.  In omage to my students who have been learning how to rhyme, I made all of the clues like little poems. Just as he was about to open the shed, NTPP (my 4 year old) screamed out, “It’s a TV!”  I was still proud of him for holding it in that long.