Did you accomplish anything today?

[MooseMom]

Cariad, I bet your warning will make life a lot easier for this undergrad.  It's so easy to take things personally when you don't realize that the other person is just batsh*t crazy!  I hope she remembers her offer of tea because you deserve it!  That was a nice gesture.

I like hearing about your psych anthro class.  I'd love to take a class in genetic or linguistic anthropology.  Maybe if I get a tx and my energy level improves, I can think about such things.  Right now just the thought makes me tired!

[jbeany]

I survived my interview, and I think it might actually have went well.  It's hard to tell, since I prepped for a traditional interview with questions like "Tell me a little about yourself," and "What 3 adjectives would your friends use to describe you?"  Instead, it was a pop quiz on how much I had researched the program and their jobs, and if I had intelligent questions to ask about what they did for a living.  (I did.  I even had my questions written out.)  I'll know if I get the internship in a week. 

Had an interesting morning. Went to psychological anthro. Some days I am just so proud of myself for speaking in that class - the prof is great, but when you say something that does not catch his fancy, whoa can he (inadvertently, I assume) make you feel like an idiot.

Your prof must be related to mine.  Mine has 3 jobs - he's a law professor, a lawyer, and an actor on stage.  The acting part shows up at every class.  He stands and the front and emotes.  Loudly.  About what we did wrong on the assignments or how we aren't giving the proper answers to his class discussion questions.  As a result, no one wants to speak up in class, because even if you give the right answer, he's still bellowing on how it isn't the perfect answer!

One of our class assignments was doing an investigation plan for a woman with a sexual harassment claim against her employer.  He had us do a written memo on it, and gave us no other instructions than "Tell your boss what to do next."  The day we handed it in, he went over what we should have included in the plan. One of the most obvious things to do is have the woman request her employee file from HR.  Plenty of students had put that in their memo.  I was the only one in the class who had explained why I knew she could get it.There is a law in Michigan that gives you the right to get the file.  I stated during the class discussion that she had a right to it by law.  When he asked what law, all I could remember of the name was the first half.  "It's the Bullard-Pul-something that sounds Polish-eski Act, but I don't remember the second half of the name."  He blew up. (It's Bullard-Plawecki.) Heck, even now that I know it, I don't think I'm pronouncing it right.  But I was apparently an idiot for not having memorized the full name and pronunciation of something that took me less than 20 minutes to research and write up, out of a 10 hour assignment.

I don't know how inadvertent it is, though.  My prof has stated clearly that his goal in this class is to weed out those who aren't perfectly suited for this future career.  That was also his reason for giving us a 19 page take home exam that took some students as long as 25 hours to complete.

[cariad]

Ack, jbeany, your prof sounds horrific. My school cannot afford to have weed-out classes. They do not want to lose the tuition. In fact, there is some push to have people over 60 take courses, because on the first day there were all of these men with add forms, and it said '60+' across the top. I don't know the details. I think there is something slightly off about this particular professor. He is a nervous little guy, very blunt - will tell you 'I don't want to talk about that' which he does not seem to understand sounds rather abrupt and startling. I'll make a point and he'll say "that's old news" or similar. I'm convinced he means nothing by it, he is just socially awkward. 

I have actually thought that if we are forced to move, I may look into law school. Law school has been something I've considered all my life, and I'm rather surprised that I never went. My father was a lawyer and hated it though. I took the LSAT a few years ago, so my score (which I think was only OK) is still valid. As much as I love anthro, I don't want to start over in a new city or new country with it. Congrats on the interview! I would bet that most candidates will have been thrown by that style, and you probably will look exceptional in the comparison. Fingers crossed!

MM, I thought of you in anthro the other day. We are talking about schizophrenia, but we relate it to the way people with other conditions are treated or view their various disorders. The one analysis of schizophrenia that we were discussing reminded me of the article Don't Mourn For Us, by the man with autism who argued, compellingly, that what people with autism need is coping skills, not a cure. Since the course is grounded in the conception of the self, I mentioned it in class as similar to the argument with mental illness, that schizophrenics do not need medication, they need coping skills for their particular challenges. Anyway, I found myself wondering what you think of the autism article.  Cultural linguistics is a fun field, but one that you could probably suss out yourself with a good text. Genetics is tough but as a physical anthropologist, I obviously feel it is vital for all of us to understand on some level. 

Accomplishments today are near zero. Watched Liot's final soccer game of the year. Wound up talking to his coaches after the game for an hour (the female coach is a linguist who once considered law school, so I just had this conversation earlier today). Kids are at our friends' house for a bit. We were supposed to take them trick or treating, but all the parents were too tired so we convinced the kids to wait until tomorrow. Cleaning and helping Gwyn prep for his interview Monday.

[willowtreewren]

 

After reading what you gals are doing, my piddling attempt at Russian with Rosetta Stone seems rather puny!

 

We did take old "drugs" in to the Justice center for disposal this morning and followed that by going to the market to buy 25 pumpkins for my class to carve on Monday. That will be followed by a mock auction for the parents on Monday afternoon. The only problem with this scenario is that my right (dominant) arm is in a ling due to some rotator cuff problems. I always carve a huge pumpkin that is actually auctioned off. That is going to be a wee bit of a challenge this year.

 

After getting the pumpkins we swung by the grocery store for home and school groceries. During that little shopping spree I stopped in at the pharmacy and got my flu shot. Now I have two sore arms instead of just one! Duh! I always get a bit of pleasure at the grocery store watching some of my supplies go into a red Whole Foods bag from Milwaukee (You KNOW who you are!)

We were running a bit late by this time so dashed home for lunch and a 1:00 PM meeting with our insurance agent. We FINALLY have all our ducks in a row to switch our insurance away from the group plan we had at work to individual plans that will save us a whopping amount of $$$ each month. My rotator cuff issue almost put the nix on that change. Can you hear the huge sigh of relief? The new policies go into effect on Tuesday. 

I followed that meeting with three loads of laundry, a very brisk walk around our hilly neighborhood (the shoulder is keeping me out of the pool for my more strenuous exercise, but that is what caused the problem in the first place), and fixing a rather yummy dinner. The highlight of dinner was fresh corn on the cob. OMG! It was the best corn we had had all summer and it isn't even summer any more! I almost didn't buy it because the season for good corn on the cob is past! 

Somewhere in all this gadding about I finished two Russian lessons. I am really fortunate to have access to Rosetta Stone on-line through an offer by another Montessori school administrator who bought a huge package of spots for his school. He had more than he could use, so offered them to other schools for a fee of $20 a spot for the whole school year! I bought enough spots for my students and staff and I'm committed to reaping the full benefit of my year of Russian. 

So, the evening has enfolded us, wild berry muffins just came out of the oven, and I have ice on my shoulder. It has been a good day. No, a fabulous day. 

[MooseMom]

Cariad, I had not read Do Not Mourn for Us until just now.  I had always thought that I must have been at some disadvantage in not having had any experience with young children before having had my son.  I had no siblings, no young relatives, so my son was actually the first baby I had ever held, much less brought up.  So I didn't have "expectations" that resulted in any disappointments because of his autism, and maybe for this reason I was actually lucky.  I never found him unable to communicate because I was able to interpret all of the other ways in which he communicated.  He was not particularly verbal when he was young, and while it might have appeared to others that he was not engaged, I knew his little ways, and I could get him to communicate just fine.  I just had to learn his language.

I never once felt that I wanted a non-autistic kid because that would make my son someone that he was not, and I love my son just as he is.  My husband has a son who is 18, just two years younger than my son, and while my stepson is "neural normal", he is completely uncommunicative about his feelings, his fears, his wants and his needs.  He'll happily talk about politics or about his keen sense of justice, and in that way we can get a sense of the kind of person he is, but he is very closed lipped about himself.  He is easily embarrassed in talking about "feelings" or about doing anything at all that might suggest that he has feelings at all!  How "normal" is that!!  Very!  But it is frustrating.

My son, on the other hand, will call me most days and discuss his feelings about everything.  While he was in college, if there was something that he saw or did that disturbed him, my phone would ring.  If there is a girl he likes, he calls me to tell me all about it.  I have a deeper understanding of my autistic child than my husband will ever have of his "normal" child.

My main concern is how other people will treat my son as he gets older.  Will he get a girlfriend?  Will he marry?  Will he find someone to love?  Who will love him when I am dead?  Will he die alone? 

To be fair, my son is on the more highly functioning end of the spectrum.  I've seen children who are much more "classically autistic" and present much greater challenges, and I have seen families destroyed before the spectre of autism.  My experiences with other parents of special needs/autistic kids have taught me that it is NOT true that God gives us only as much as we can endure.  I've seen too many people crack under the pressure, especially when their own families blame them or ignore them, or both. 

I rarely feel offense, but I do recall once feeling offended by calls to "cure autism".  My son does not need to be cured.  A "cure" for autism would deprive us of the Temple Grandins of the world.  But to be fair, if my child was severely autistic and ran screaming from me at the slightest hint of physical affection, I might desperately want a "cure".  My son didn't say "I love you" until he was 4 years old.  That was a great day.

[jbeany]

I'm having one of those days where I've accomplished a lot - but I've got so much to do that it doesn't feel like I've done a darn thing!  I've edited and researched a legal brief for my senior law student for a clinic client.  I've done all my ironing, mending and laundry, including the sheets on the bed, and remade the bed.  I've paid and filed all my bills.  I've wrapped a birthday present, inventoried my craft supplies for my next craft workshop, called a friend and discussed the interview tips and job search ideas I just learned so she could use them for her upcoming interview, and called another friend to wish her a happy birthday.  I cleaned the kitchen so I could see the bottom of the sink again.  I finally caught up on sleep - about 11 hours worth.  Maybe that's where the day went - I slept half the day away to make up for not having time to sleep most of last week.  Great idea, except I still have a list with 12 more things to do on it, some of which (mostly homework!) are going to take many, many hours!

Hmmm....I think I'm too brain-dead to do more homework right now.  It's 10 pm - too late at night to vacuum without driving my neighbors crazy.  I think I'll go shopping and get that done.  It's only a 5 minute drive to the store and it's open 24/7.  If shopping doesn't take too long, I can make the fudge and toffee I need for the 3 places I'm supposed to be taking treats next week.

[cariad]

MM, that's a beautiful tribute to your son you've just written there. I hope you've shared these feelings with him. Thanks for such a thorough response, your perspective on this is fascinating to me.

I think every parent is concerned about how their children will be treated by the world at large. I always went into Aidan's schools saying 'I know he's smart, I don't care so much about his grades, I want him to have a happy social life here.' Teachers have thought it bizarre that I was worried about Aidan making friends, because everywhere he's gone kids have latched onto him. He is such a great kid, and I hope that he always finds it so easy to make friends, but I still have my moments where I worry about both them. Liot seems to inhabit his own world. There is an obnoxious child on his soccer team, and he has said some pretty stupid things to Liot and it is like it does not even get through to Liots' brain - he just ignores him.

I know I once told you that I was concerned that Liot was autistic. I know there is something unusual about him, but all of the child development specialists who work at his afterschool program have told me that I am just flat out wrong that he could ever be diagnosed autistic. He had frightening tantrums as a toddler, and I was really ill for a year or two, so I did not have the energy to fight him. It was a sad time in some ways. We were once walking out of the market in California where the check out person had taken an interest in the boys and wanted to give them both balloons. Great, thank you, they would love that. Then walking out of the store Elliot accidentally let his balloon go. Of course, it was dangerous enough walking him to the car on a good day, but he completely melted down when the balloon flew away. My only way to deal with this was to impose upon Aidan, something I HATED doing. I grabbed Aidan and said "If you give your balloon to your brother I will buy you any balloon you want next time we are at the shops." He gave him the balloon, and even though we were really hurting for money, I did buy Aidan one of those mylar balloons. Liot is much better now - Gwyn and I just had to make the decision that no matter how much energy it took, we were not going to cave into him anymore.

I don't think Liot said 'I love you' until he was probably close to four, and even then, he seemed to LOATHE it. He would mutter it, begrudgingly, and it was like it was physically hurting him. I don't know what changed for him. For a while, he liked making it into a contest. I would say 'I love you' he would say 'I love you more' and we would go back and forth. He came up with some truly strange statements trying to one-up me. The one I remember most is "I love you more than anything on the side of god." Uh, OK. Thanks, sweetie. I bought him this Kimochi Cat, a Japanese soft toy that has all of these feelings he can put in the front pocket of the cat. He likes it, he named the cat and everything, but he will not EVER and I mean NEVER allow anyone to put a negative feeling into that cat. When he would have a little meltdown at school or home, I used to bring out Kitty Boo and tell him that the cat could feel what he was feeling, and ask him to help me pick out the proper emotions. There are feelings representing 'embarrassed' and 'hurt' and 'sad' but he will never admit to feeling them. 'Weird' is the only one he ever says for unhappy feelings, and we don't have an emotion for that (though we could make our own I suppose). Anyhow, we have about 20 emotions for this cat, and the only ones he ever uses are 'friendly', 'loved' and 'sleepy' for bedtime. 

So, all this to say I can see why it would offend you to hear people talk about curing your son, because if there is ever a name put to Liot's personality, I would not want people to rally to 'cure' it either. I would want information that will help him be happier, but I don't want to change who he is. I think it's great that you also see both sides, because personally if Liot had never moved out of his meltdown phase and I was still afraid to be left alone with him, I might feel very differently. Thanks again for the insight!

Sorry for straying so far off topic, everyone.

[CebuShan]

I'm kind of bummed. Today was supposed to be the Halloween "party"for the T-Th-Sa group. The sign that was posted said,"Movies, Activities, and Snacks". They asked me to bring in a Halloween movie. I brought in Ghostbusters 1 & 2 on Thursday (so I wouldn't forget). Got there today and... Nothing! Absolutely nothing. Maybe they did something on a later shift. IDK. I guess I feel so disappointed because I was looking forward to having a little fun for once. Anything to make a crappy situation a little better!

[MooseMom]

Cariad, still straying off topic...(no one has to read this if they don't want!)...

When I was pregnant, I had visions of returning to work in the City as an oil and gas facultative reinsurance broker for Lloyd of London underwriters.  Sounds pretty impressive, eh?   I loved my job, and I enjoyed the intellectual stimulation provided by my colleagues.  I was the only woman, and the only American, on the broking floor, and it was way cool.  But once my son was born and I learned that I had fsgs and that another pregnancy would be too dangerous, I decided that if I was going to have only one kid, I'd do the whole stay at home mom thing, even if it meant that my brain might turn into porridge.  But being my kid's mom turned out to be the most intellectually fascinating thing I'd ever encounter.

I remember that he didn't know how to say "yes".  I'd ask him if he'd like chicken for dinner, and if he didn't, he'd say "no".  But if he did, instead of saying "yes", he'd just repeat the question.  So I dreamed up a game called "Mummy's Favorite Boy."  I'd go through all the names of the boys in his class, and I'd ask,

"Is Rory mommy's favorite boy?"

Son:  "No."

"Is Harry mommy's favorite boy?"

"No."

"Are YOU mommy's favorite boy?"  And I'd shout "YES!", and that's how he learned how to say "yes".

If I thought he wasn't listening to me (which was often), I'd tell him that I was going to make pizza for dinner and that it would have cheese and elephant toes.  He'd sure pay attention then!

Kids are weird at the best of times.  My son is very, very different than he was as a child, but he had the benefit of going to a top notch special school where they had to TEACH kids how to have a socially appropriate conversation.  My kid still has to think about what to the rest of us is socially innate behavior, but that's OK.  Having a conversation with him can be a challenge.  He wants to talk about what HE wants to talk about, and it is very hard to steer him away from a particular discussion until all of his concerns have been addressed or solved.  So, I am thinking that Liot will mature and do just fine.  That's a very, very interesting story about the Kimochi Cat.  Kids have a hard time defining and/or recognizing emotions in other people.  I've worked very hard to teach my son empathy (I know you and I have talked about "theory of mind"), and it is not something you can really teach.  To this day, I still talk to him about how someone else might have felt when my son spoke harshly.

I've worried a lot about my son's psychological health.  He feels a good amount of social anxiety because he knows he's autistic.  He is terrified of being seen as "weird" by his peers.  Of course, most young people have this fear, but my son has good reason to feel this way because I can certainly see that someone his age would think him odd.  Now that he is looking for a girlfriend, you can imagine how anxious he is!  He's so afraid that some girl will think he is stalking her, even if all he does is say, "Hello."  It is very very interesting to hear him describe his anxieties and his hopes to me.

I've asked him several times how it feels to be autistic, and he's said, "Oh, it's OK.  I don't notice it much.  I'm not very autistic, anyway."  Isn't that fascinating?  I think it is!  And it's true!  And it's kinda funny.

One last thing I find interesting.  I've always been interested in language, so it was rather enlightening to watch this autistic kid gain language and use it in a different way.  Social language is impaired in autistic people, more in some than in others, but my son's language abilities have surprised me.  He used to be able to effortly slip into and out of an American accent.  I used to beg him to speak in an American accent when he returned to school in the UK after spending the summer in Texas, but he wouldn't do it.  His SALT teacher would have been gobsmacked!  hahahaha!  Oh God, for a while, he started speaking in that awful south London accent, and I'd get all over his case about that.  "Nuffink" and all that.  Anyway, he took to "Facebook-ese" like a fish to water.  On Facebook, you'd never know he was on the autistic spectrum. 

But yes, cariad, you are right...every parent is concerned about how their child will be treated.  "Scared" better describes my feeling.  But despite his autism, my kid is the most sociable person I know, far more so than me, and that just amazes me.  He certainly has more friends than I do, and I find myself in the very peculiar position of sometimes envying him.  That must mean he will be OK.  And Liot will be, too.

[MooseMom]

I'm kind of bummed. Today was supposed to be the Halloween "party"for the T-Th-Sa group. The sign that was posted said,"Movies, Activities, and Snacks". They asked me to bring in a Halloween movie. I brought in Ghostbusters 1 & 2 on Thursday (so I wouldn't forget). Got there today and... Nothing! Absolutely nothing. Maybe they did something on a later shift. IDK. I guess I feel so disappointed because I was looking forward to having a little fun for once. Anything to make a crappy situation a little better!

I don't blame you for being bummed.  That's just unacceptable.  Boooo!

[cariad]

That's spectacular that your son is doing so well socially. The world of kids seems to be so much more difficult to navigate today than when we were kids, but maybe that is only because it is just so foreign to me now. Haven't you said that you are not sure your son IS truly autistic? I don't mean to pry, but I was just wondering if there was a reason that you suspect that he may have been misdiagnosed? I used to read a blog written by an aspie woman, and she is a wonderful writer. She was not diagnosed until she was in her 40s, and she talked about how difficult it was to live in a world where everyone else seemed to understand all of these rules that she couldn't grasp. It was fascinating reading.

OK, we survived trick or treating. We went out with another family, but first we popped by our neighbours who gave each of the boys a special little bag of treats, including Harry Potter Jelly Bellies. The boys were laughing uproariously in the car at the flavours. The other family then invited our kids over to their house for a few hours after it got too rainy to continue trick or treating. Gwyn and I went home and he packed the last of his things and is now on a plane to California. I collected the boys late afternoon, made dinner and then let them each pick six candies. They both chose their Harry Potter Jelly Bellies as one candy. I thought the gross flavours were a joke! Then Liot tried one and ran over to the bin to spit it out. Aidan then took it as a challenge and tried most of the disgusting ones. I have a photo of him trying vomit flavour. They have not seen any of the films or read any of the books, although Aidan did seem to know through the kid grapevine that these candies were trying to be authentic to the story. Wow, I really do not get the point of buying grotesque candies, but Aidan seemed to find it amusing.

I helped little Elliot shower (he had green makeup residue from his dinosaur costume), read him two stories, and they are both up in bed now. I received an email from my biostats prof, I am the very first person scheduled to do the grad presentation, and that means I must have a rough draft to him next week! Gah!!! He couldn't give me more notice? Oh well, it's only 15 minutes max, and he suggested that 12 PowerPoint slides should be our limit. I just hope I can make enough sense of this article to give a decent talk.

[MooseMom]

I didn't really accomplish much, but we had a wonderful day at the arboretum.  It was a fresh, grey and windy day, and the leaves were at the peak of their color.  A large portion of the western part of the arboretum is covered with sugar maples, and they were the brightest yellow.  The wind caused may leaves to fall, and it was like being in a yellow blizzard.  There were yellow leaves on the ground, on the trees and flying through the air, so we were engulfed in their brightness.  It was extraordinary.

Cariad, no, of course you are not prying.  I don't think he was misdiagnosed; I think he IS on the autistic spectrum, but I think he may be more high functioning than we all thought when he was a child.  He happens to be quite good at reading people, which is extremely rare in someone who is autistic because, well, that's what autism IS...the impairment of the recognition of these human cues.  Autism is so devastating because it strikes at what makes us uniquely human.

Sounds like your family is off to a great Halloween!  I suspect that kids throughout history have found amusement in "grossness".  Ha...there's another anthropological discussion we could have...what did children in 18th century Japan find gross, and did it amuse them?

[jbeany]

Universal kid gross-out.  Their parents kissing. 

Day 2 of this weekend spent doing things that all take twice as long as I think they will.  Who knew how much effort it takes just to write a thank you for an interview?!  Decisions, decisions - letter or card?  Handwritten or printed?  Formal or informal?  And then just finding a proper thank-you card took ages.  I have lovely blank medium sized cards with Escher cat prints on them.  Will that do?  Research online.  Well, maybe.  But they all show a card with a proper, formal "Thank you" on the front.  It's not a full-size card, like a standard birthday card, but it's not one of those little ones that come 50 to a pack for graduation thank you notes either.  My local store had none in the proper size or style.  Lots of blank spaces where they clearly had them, but not a one in the store.  $%#$%&.  Now what?  Everything that is simply a nice pic on the front and blank inside doesn't look any better than the cat note cards I already own.  Finally, inspiration strikes, and I scoot off to the craft section and buy a "Thank You" rubber stamp.  Second stamping attempt at home looks good enough that it might have been straight from the printer.
Peachy.  Now I just have to figure out what to write in it.  Google "interview thank you note sample."  Holy Schmoley.  Pages of results.  Templates, samples, guidelines for particular jobs, what to do if you were interviewed by more than one person....Accck!

Still have an assignment to finish for class tomorrow.  Guessing sleep is optional again.  Can we get a yawning icon?

[Henry P Snicklesnorter]

.

[CebuShan]

   
Same thing with my Vulcan cruiser, it's been sold, - no more motorcycles for me, (or bicycles, but who wants to ride a bicycle anyway?  ) I would fall over immediately.

   There is a place near me that makes "conversion" kits for motorcycles (making them more like a trike)

[jbeany]

I was accepted for my internship at the US Attorney's office!!!     

That's it - that's all I'm going to manage for the rest of the day.  Much too hyper now!

[cariad]

WOW!!!! What superb news! Congratulations!

jbeany, I usually try to avoid using words like 'deserve' because I think it's generally ridiculous to say who does and does not deserve anything, but.... YOU DESERVE THIS! The monumental effort you've put in to your schooling, the obstacles that you've vaulted over. If you don't deserve this payoff, then I really don't know who does.

Just imagine the stories that you're going to have after the first 2 minutes there. Shame you won't be able to share most of them with people like me....  Go, girl!

All luck to you in your new position! 

[CebuShan]

       Jim       Timo(the dog)      Tuula(the cat)      and ME are all doing a happy dance for you jbeany!

[MooseMom]

I was accepted for my internship at the US Attorney's office!!!     

That's it - that's all I'm going to manage for the rest of the day.  Much too hyper now!

Oh my, that's just spectactular!  How exciting!  What happens next?

[jbeany]

Oh my, that's just spectactular!  How exciting!  What happens next?

Now I fill out a huge bunch of paper work for the Federal Background check.  If I clear it - which I'm not particularly worried about, having not so much as a parking ticket to my name - then they fill out a few forms for me to take to my school.  I've also got a stack of forms that go directly from to the school - official applications for the internship class, etc.  Then we work out a work schedule for my 16 hours a week, and I begin in January at the start of the Winter semester.

 I will have opportunities to assist victims and witness with travel plans and payments for travel expenses (the fed system pays for over night stays and meals for its witnesses), escort them to the court, observe testimony, and hold hands as needed, although not as much of that until they get a good idea of how well I can cope with crying and hysteria, I'm sure.

 I also get to help plan and organize training sessions for state and tribal police, as well as education seminars on a variety of topics related to dealing with witnesses and victims to crimes, including how to get them the aid and counseling they need to deal with PTSD and other issues.

 I'll be helping design brochures and doing some computer work, since I'm familiar with both the computer programs they are currently using and the one they have just been mandated to change over to. 

I'll being doing a lot of paper work with the notification system that keeps all victims and witnesses updated on the progress of the case through court and tracks the convicted criminals through the penal system.  Victims receive notification of all parole hearings, prison transfers, etc.  This is LOTS of paperwork.  One fraud case alone that they are dealing with right now has over 20,000 victims! 

The same office also deals with establishing restitution payments to victims and press releases on current cases.

No wonder they need interns.  They need all the free help they can get!

[Riki]

Universal kid gross-out.  Their parents kissing. 

When I was 16 or 17, I went to a play put on by the other high school in town.  Charlottetown has 2 high schools, and they take turns putting on a play at the Confederation Centre of the Arts.  Anyway, I forget which play it was, but 2 of the characters in the play were to kiss.  There was a group of elementary school students down front, and when they did kiss, all you could hear through the whole theatre was the kids down front going 'ewww"  *LOL*

As for what I accomplished today, the cat woke me at 7:30 this morning, like he normally does when Mom is working.  I couldn't get back to sleep, so I started writing at 8:30 and have been writing on an off all day.  I took a break for Coronation Street, and to come on here. *G*

[willowtreewren]

Absolutely fabulous, jbeany!!!!!

 

In addition to teaching, I had a doctor appointment regarding my torn rotator cuff, went to a hearing to appeal property tax for the non-profit middle school and went for a mile walk.

Other than that, just normal stuff!

Aleta

[CebuShan]

I did something today that I've wanted to for a while       I pulled a joke on one of the newer techs. I was done dialyzing & was holding the site. I checked to make sure it had stopped them called her over. I told her I "thought" it was done. She very carefully was lifting the gauze when I jerked my arm (just a little) and said, quietly, "Surprise!" you should have seen her jump! Everyone cracked up! She was a good sport about it and laughed too. Sometimes opportunities are too good to pass up!   

[Henry P Snicklesnorter]

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[Joe]

   
Same thing with my Vulcan cruiser, it's been sold, - no more motorcycles for me, (or bicycles, but who wants to ride a bicycle anyway?  ) I would fall over immediately.

   There is a place near me that makes "conversion" kits for motorcycles (making them more like a trike)

The electrician we use builds trikes as a hobby, - VW or Subaru engines. Cost about $40,000

I sold my Harley Road Glide this past spring. Broke my heart. But I'm looking at the Harley Trike as a replacement...just have to convince Mom it would be ok