randomly chaotic and frequently mundane

So Rob and I were talking about M*A*S*H while we were doing ceramics… I’m not sure how we got onto the subject, but I’m sure I’ve made no secret of the fact that it’s one of my all-time favorite shows.  I can watch the series over and over again, and not get tired of it.  Then we got onto talking about “what if they made a M*A*S*H version of Monopoly?”  There are lots of locations for properties…

The Swamp (that would HAVE to be boardwalk, I think), Margaret’s tent, Potter/Blake’s tent, Potter/Blake’s office, Radar/Clinger’s office, OR, post-op, the nurse’s tent, the nurse’s shower, the supply tent, the mess tent, the officer’s club, Rosie’s the motor pool the latrine… There’s also Seoul and Tokyo among other places frequently visited or referenced in the show (and/or movie, which I also love).  For the railroads, you could use different vehicles… chopper, ambulance, jeep, tank (hey, there were tanks in a few episodes).

The pieces could go two ways… they could be characters or things from around camp; a jeep or the signpost for example.

I amused myself thinking about what might go on a M*A*S*H Monopoly board.  I even got my mom thinking about it a little earlier today.

Gage was playing with a magnadoodle last night and started writing words.  I saw jet, met, pop, pig, fat, hat… it was AWESOME.  He draws faces in the letters, but it’s a start.  I’ve heard stories of Autistic children who’ve never communicated verbally or with sign or PECS starting to write or type messages to people.  Maybe writing will be Gage’s medium.  I can certainly live with that.  He HAS communicated verbally though, just not a whole lot.  Since he’s been in this school though, he’s done more repeating.  Not just a single word from a sentence, entire sentences.  I find it encouraging.  I’m thinking I might try taking Gage to Friendly’s this weekend, just the two of us.  I think it’d be cool, and I want to see how he does.  I can always get the food to go if it doesn’t go well.

I’m going to the Red Cross auto sales place tomorrow to look at cars.  Here’s hoping I’ll find something that I can afford that is in good enough condition.  My requirements are small.  It must run, have all of the necessary parts, seatbelts are required.  Heat is also required.  It also must be able to pass inspection.

the kids had McDonalds today, courtesy of Grammy.  It was really cool, especially since Gage took the McNuggets out of his box and ate all 4 of them before he touched his fries.  Usually he eats the fries and it takes some convincing to get him to eat more than a McNugget and a half.  Maybe I should invest in some chicken nuggets — he might actually eat them.  I might also attempt some fish nuggets, might get lucky or something.

Work was good today.  I had an amusing moment… one of the songs playing over the intercom was “Mr. Spaceman” by the Byrds.  I was dancing a bit and a customer commented that I couldn’t know the song… so I started to sing along.  She was surprised.  What can I say, I love all kinds of music, even if it’s from many years before I was born.  Just like the people who thought I was weird because I was singing along to Elvis.  Elvis is awesome… he’s the man… or was.  He still kicks serious ass, musically speaking.

Gage doesn’t have school tomorrow, so I’m home.  Maybe I’ll break out the ceramic eggs for painting.  He did some of the wooden shapes that Rob gave me, he LOVED it.  He painted them pretty cool, too.  A couple of stripey fish and some bunnies.  I need to pull out a bigger assortment for him next time.  Eggs should be interesting though, I got watercolors for them to be painted with, so they’ll probably turn out really pretty.

Is it weird that I really love working at the grocery store?  What can I say, I love the grocery store — always have.  I could wander a grocery store for hours and never get bored with it.  As a matter of fact, I HAVE done that.  Someone I used to hang out with and I would drive around late at night, and sometimes would go wander the 24 hour grocery stores for awhile.  It was fun.  If I could find a job that allowed me to do grocery shopping for other people, it would be the perfect job.  I know that it’s possible — stores that do home delivery or in store pick up have people who do the shopping for the orders.  My store doesn’t do that, once they start, I’ll have to ask about changing positions — it would just be too perfect, you know?

So, it’s Valentines Day.  Nothing special.  Did some ceramics and bought a few things at WalMart today.  Gave Gage a little  heart shaped box of chocolates, and since Michael and Madison are going to be here this weekend (along with Gage and Kalina), I got some ceramic eggs for the kids to paint.  Got water colors for them to paint with instead of regular acrylic paint — I figured it would be easier to clean up if it gets on the carpet.  It’ll also be nice and light and give a “dyed egg” look to the eggs.  They can keep their eggs or give them to Grammy to put into a basket for Easter decoration.

For Gage’s class, I got him some Pirates of the Caribbean valentines and special lolipops.  They’re Winnie the Pooh Saf-T-Pops, with letters and numbers on them.  I thought they’d be really cool for the class, especially since they’re made on dedicated equipment and so they’re not exposed to or made with peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs or wheat gluton.  Which basically means that they’re safe for any allergies in his class (there is a peanut allergy) and any special diets (dairy and/or gluton free). 

I’m working on putting together a small sensory kit for Gage.  Just so he can have some “sensory time” at home.  I’ve tried things like rolling him up in a blanket and stuff, he doesn’t seem to dig that.  I’d like to get him one of those body sox — I think he’d really enjoy it, but they run about $45.  Can’t afford that at the moment.  So I got him a special ball, a groan stick and a glitter wand to start.  I’m going to get some weighted stuffed animals and perhaps a small weighted blanket soon as well. 

Nothing else really going on for <3 day.  Although, mom did get me a little bear with a rose and some heart lolipops (she also got stuff for her grandkids), and one of my best friends got me a really cool omelet pan and spatula — the pan is square, so I can also do perfect eggs for fried egg sandwiches.  Color me bizarre, but I think that’s a really awesome gift.

Internet access is up and running again, woo hoo.  This is a good thing.

Work goes well.  What can I say, I enjoy the grocery store.  It’s cool to see all of the groovy things that people buy, and as weird as it may be, coupons make me happy.  Getting a discount is nice too.  Employees get a 5% discount.  It’s not much, but considering the really low markup on groceries, it’s damn generous of the company to offer it.  So it’s “only” $5 off of a $100 purchase, but it’s $5 in my pocket at the end of the day that wouldn’t have been in my pocket at the end of the day — at least that’s how I look at it.

Been getting some ceramic relaxation, too.  Now I understand why my mom has always been such a fan of painting ceramics.  It’s so relaxing to just sit and paint… to contemplate the color combinations, to mix unique colors for certain projects — just gotta remember to write down what you’re using for a particular piece, especially if it’s a custom mix.  You never know if you mixed enough of a particular color.  So far I’ve finished a turtle, a lighthouse and a fish.  I’m working on a faerie sitting on the moon (almost done).  I’m doing her in a mix of blues and purples, with lots of irridescent and metallics.  I’ve also got a really cute treehouse I’m working on and a shark in the wings.  When they’re done, I’m doing a goblet with a dragon on the stem.  The goblet I’m going to do with glaze, so it can be fired and, if I choose, drank from.  That one I probably won’t, because of the way it was poured.  But I might get one later from greenware and ask them to pour it differently.

I think when I’m done with what I’ve already got on my itinerary, I’m going to start doing some seasonal stuff.  The shop I go to has seasonal items (for all seasons) on display all year round.  So I could do some Halloween and Christmas stuff if I want, or I could do some stuff for upcoming holidays.  There’s a huge selection of really cool pieces for all the various holidays.  I can also get some ceramics that I’ve had in need of firing for several years fired soon.  That’ll be nice.  I can finally get them painted.  One of them is a Christmas tree and one of them is a ceramic Christmas card that I’d wanted to give to Carrie for Christmas.  When it’s painted, I’ll be sending it to her.  I have to take those out and clean them, actually.

I weighed myself the other day, and I’ve lost a couple more pounds since December.  My goal is to be down to 130 or so by May or June, and a little more toned.  I have no objection to walking or riding a bike to work, so that’ll be helpful towards that particular goal.  I think I’ll wait for slightly better weather though.  The cold would leave me hacking up a lung while I’m working, that wouldn’t be a good thing.

It’s been awhile… we’ve been having some ‘net issues.  They should be completely resolved by the end of next week.  Till then internet access is rather spotty.

Once the access is back, I’m going to start doing a series of computer courses, most of them web-based.  Then I’ll be getting various certifications.  Joe is helping me get into that.  In the meantime, I’ve found part time employment at my favorite store… the grocery store, he he.  No, I’m serious.  The grocery store is my favorite store.  I love the grocery store.  It’s money.  I’ve also started going to a local ceramic shop with Rob every now and then while Gage is at school.  It’s relaxing to just sit and paint and chill, Rob and his mom are great company, we have lots of laughs.  So far I’ve painted a turtle, a fish and a light house.  Gage claimed the turtle as soon as he saw it, the fish was for him, and the lighthouse was for mom.  I’m working on a faerie sitting on the moon, and I’m contemplating a tree house at some point.  It’ll be more detail than I’ve ever done, but I think I can do it… As I said, very relaxing.  Everyone should try it sometime.

Gage is doing really good in school.  He’s doing his lessons and picking up a lot of stuff.  He came home and announced “I am a boy.”  He’s been using this site online called Starfall.com.  His teacher mentioned it to me and I checked it out.  It’s really cool.  He’s doing the pre-reading lessons now, and he handles the mouse really well.  He clicks where he’s supposed to click and clicks and drags what he’s supposed to.  It’s pretty cool to watch him.

The new year has begun, most people make resolutions that they intend (conciously or sub-conciously) to break… I’ve done that before, myself.  Last year, I kept at least one of my resolutions… to lose weight.  I have to admit that I was a little surprised to find when I stepped on a scale a few weeks ago (for the first time since February) that I’d lost about 30 lbs last year.  So weight loss is one of my resolutions for this year…

• Lose 20 lbs (hopefully by May)
• Tone my physique a bit (again, hopefully by May)
• Try Gage on the glucose-free diet, with doctor’s support and the many glucose free alternatives to pasta and bread that the store sells (if it helps him, it would be well worth the expense, I think)
• Get some form of job training/marketable skill

There are other things I want to do, but those are the things that I’m bound and determined to do this year.  My list of resolutions.  Woo hoo.  Are you thrilled?  I knew that you would be, lol.  So what are your resolutions for this year?  I’d put “eat better” and “exercise more” but I think they kind of go hand in hand with “lose weight” and “get toned.”  No need to be redundant.  Yes, there will be more salads.  I’ll also be moving around more, since as of January 12, I’ll be a cashier at the grocery store up the road.

Gage has been doing pretty good in school, he’s enjoying going in and seems to like his teacher and his class.  I’ve talked to his teacher and she seems great.  The class focuses on the applied behavior analysis technique, which I’ve heard a lot of good things about.  As a matter of fact, I remember seeing a kid interviewed on The View earlier this year who had been treated using that technique and was living a very normal life.  I think it’ll help Gage quite a bit.  He’s already said a few more words and done more repeating — Joe asked him “how are you?” last night and he repeated it and when Joe said “I am good.” Gage said “Are you good?” followed by “I am good.”  It seems like there’s already been some progress, which is nice.  He’s sleeping good and seems to be getting accustomed to the new people.  He even stopped pushing Kalina, although Tammy was told by someone who works with Autistic kids that that’s often a way of acknowledging other peoples presence and showing affection.  But he does still pat her on the back and sit with her when they watch a movie together.

Joe is gonna help me get some computer stuff as far as job training goes.  Licensing certification and stuff like that, which he says I could quite easily do and make a good amount of money at.  Some other training, too, like share point and some other stuff that I forget the name of.

Gage has pink eye, so he didnt’ go to school today.  He watched Mulan and is playing with mom’s Christmas thingies.  It’s cold as hell outside.  Not snowing cold, but cold nonetheless.  I wrapped all of the stuff that still needed wrapped.  Finally finished the cross stitch project I was doing for Mimi and Mike last night, so I wrapped that.  Mom said to take my time with hers… good.  It’s going to take awhile.  It’s more complicated than anything I’ve ever done.  It should be interesting, to say the least.

I was playing with Lucky earlier.  He’s definitely slowed down a bit.  He’s gotten older… getting old I guess.  He’s about 12 years old these days.  Not sure what to make of Gage, either.  He seems to like him, but Gage scares him from time to time by trying to jump or sit on him.  It’s ok, Lucky will get used to it.  He loves to play, and once Gage starts playing with him the way he likes to play, he’ll adore him and put up with more stuffs.  Gage has to learn not to bother his feet, too.  Lucky is not fond of his feet being touched for some reason.  I noticed that yesterday, when it was wet, Lucky was limping around a little bit.  I guess he’s got a touch of the arthritis.  It’s sad to see, but I guess it happens.

Well, we got the tree up.  It’s pretty.  I did my tinsel-butt chicken walk.  I haven’t done it in years… but it’s always good for a laugh.  It started when we lived in California.  I started doing this chicken walk all around, with my butt sticking out.  Apparently, there was tinsel on my butt.  It cracked everyone up.  So I ceremoniously stick a bit of tinsel on my butt and did the walk.  It was fun.  Gage wasn’t interested in helping, but he does like looking at the tree now that it’s up.  Kalina helped put a few ornaments and added tinsel.  She kept calling it happy.  So we started calling it happy.  I got some on my feet and said “look, happy feet!”  I also tossed a bunch of tinsel on Sisser.  I was trying to make her happy.  It didn’t work, she’s still grouchy.

We also baked chocolate chip and lekvare cookies.  We need to get an extra extension chord so we can plug the record player back in.  The record player is necessary for playing the Elvis, Brenda Lee, Conway Twitty and Chipmunk Christmas albums.  They’re necessary.

It’s interesting seeing how Gage handles all the Christmas decorations.  Mom has quite a few things that light up, play music or dance around.  He’s figured out how to activate most of them.  There are a few that he hasn’t figured out and that he’s learning that he’s not allowed to touch — although he can look all he wants.  We bought the tree today, and we’ll probably decorate it tomorrow.  That’ll be interesting.  I wonder if Gage will take decorations off as fast as we can put them on… or maybe he’ll help out.  He’s never helped decorate a Christmas tree before.

The people across the street have lights in their yard.  it’s a pretty set up, although I’m not a big fan of mixing solid white and multicolored lights.  It doesn’t often look right.  This display isn’t too bad.  The mulitcolored lights could have been done better, that’s for sure.  Gage likes to sit on the couch and look out the window at them.  Sometime next week or next weekend, Sisser and I are going to get the kids in the car and take a drive around and look at the lights in the area.  Grammy (my mom) might come with us.  It’ll be lots of fun, that’s for sure.

Gage and Kalina seem to be getting along better.  They shared Stun Runner earlier.  They gave each other a hug or two.  Although Kalina bit Gage last night for some reason.  He might have been pushing her though, we didn’t see it.  There was just this sudden burst of crying.  No doubt Gage hit Kalina for biting him (can’t blame him there), because she cried right afterward, too. 

Looking into a web design program for training and all of that good stuff.  I figure I’ve got the basics, and I can do it from pretty much anywhere.  It’s something I’ve been thinking about for awhile, and Joe has looked into some programs for me already.  I’m guessing that he’d like me to do the website for their business.

I’ve been working on the cross stitch thing for my older sisters Christmas present.  I’m not gonna have mom’s finished before Christmas, but I’ll have it started.  I also had “built in” presents for Kalina and Madison — stuff from Noah’s Ark Animal Workshop that I already had on hand.  I just have to figure out something for Michael.  Sisser says she doesn’t want me to get her anything because she can’t afford to get me anything.  So really I’m just shopping for something for Michael and some stuff for Gage.  Woo hoo, and stuff.

or…

Unless they offer a REALLy good discount, I’ll never fly Frontier again.

So we get on the plane and everything is cool.  Gage sits in his seat and gets buckled in and everything is great.  It was a Frontier flight, and we were in the front row.  The flight attendants were aware that Gage is autistic and offered to swipe a card so that Gage could watch cartoons during the flight on the tv on the back of the seat in front of him.  I thought that was nice.  Then Gage freaks out.  Unbuckles his seat belt because, let’s face it, it doesn’t take much to figure out THOSE complex devices.  I’m trying to get Gage into his seat and buckled in; he’s kicking, screaming and punching at me.  The flight attendant throws ME and attitude and says “I don’t think that violence is called for here.”  What???? Ok, tell him then.  I’m putting him in his seat and buckling his seat belt.  HE’s the one behaving “violently,” I’m the recipient of the “violence” what the fuck are you telling ME that there’s no need for violence for????  Ok, so all this happens in about a minute.  While Gage was freaking out, they’ve closed the door to the plane.  Then the flight attendant tells me I have 1 minute to get him under control and in his seat or we’ll be removed from the flight.  I informed them that if they did, they would be making other arrangements for me and I would NOT be responsible for any additional costs.  We were removed from the Frontier flight, arrangements were made with US Airways.

During the hour and a half that we had to wait, I decided to get Gage something to eat and give him a dose of Tylenol, since it usually knocks him out.  We get some spaghetti, which he eats a little of.  I should have gone to the McDonalds and got him some fries — he ALWAYS eats those, but I was so frustrated I wasn’t thinking completely clearly.  I got the spaghetti, refilled his cup and dropped in 2 Tylenol meltaways (he won’t eat them for some reason).  The full dose for his age and weight is 3, so I figured I’d add the 3rd closer to the actual flight.  A little while before we have to board, I find one of those “news stand” places that are in just about every airport I’ve ever been in.  Gage immediately grabs a bag of pretzels and I grab him a bag of skittles (at this point, I also added the 3rd Tylenol to his drink).  He’s munching on pretzels as we board the plane.  I give him a little handful of skittles and he’s a happy camper.  He sits in his seat, looks out the window, munches away, sips his ”spiked” kool-aid and cuddles with Roo… before we even taxi out, he was asleep.  He was asleep during the emergency instructions and the de-icing process which took at least 10 minutes.  Slept through the takeoff (whew, we got off the ground) and he slept at least 20 minutes into the flight.  He woke up when they announced they’d be passing out headphones for the movie for $5 each.  When he woke up, he cuddled in my lap for awhile then noticed the clouds going by out the window.  So he sat in his seat and watched the clouds.

Eventually, it got dark, so he couldn’t see the clouds anymore.  At this point he had a total meltdown.  He was done, he wanted to get off the plane.  Seriously, he took me up the aisle in search of the door!  The flight attendants were very nice though.  The head flight attendant took us to the front galley (in front of first class) and offered Gage anything he wanted from that snack basket they offer the first class passengers (you know… all the good stuff that us coach passengers never get, LOL).  We sat in the flight attendants seat where it was a little cooler than the rest of the plane and he was nice and calm.  When we started making significant descent to land (I believe we were about 15 minutes from touchdown at that point), we went back to our seat, and after a few moments of freak out, I got him to notice the lights on the ground.  He was fascinated and watched out the window, calmly, until we landed.  He did freak a bit after we landed because he wanted to go as soon as possible.  I waited till most of the people were off the plane before getting up though.  Didn’t want to run anyone over.

So, Gage and I have moved to New Jersey.  At least for a little while.  I’m gonna get into school and get myself a marketable skill so that when we go back to Colorado there will be some employment options for me.  That would be a good thing.  I’m also gonna work on acquiring a vehicle.  Nothing perfect, but definitely something that would be able to handle the drive out there.  Preferably without blowouts or an emergency transmission rebuild.  Although that particular trip WAS an adventure, it’s not an adventure I’d be interested in re-living without the previous company.  It just wouldn’t be the same.  Especially if I have that kind of adventure with a small child along for the ride.

Being back in Jersey is rather surreal.  So much is different, and yet the same.  Apparently the grocery store has been 3 or 4 different stores since I was last here.  Now it’s a shoprite.  I dunno what all it was before that besides an IGA.  The Peking Wok is still there, so my favorite place for scallion pancakes is still about.  Excellent.  There used to be a chinese place near here in another strip mall that I go delivery from all the time.  They had no minimum order.  I actually ordered 1 egg roll once, just to see if they’d deliver it.  They did.  And it was SO good.  One of the best egg rolls I’ve ever had.  I haven’t called anyone local yet, but we’ve only been here since Saturday evening.  The flight was… interesting.  I’ll post about that later though.  Not in the mood to get into the details at the moment.