Ode (or owed) to my friends

Right now what I have on my mind before the long weekend has nothing to do with Memorial Day or the plans I have for the weekend or myself for that matter. It has to do with some of the amazing people I'm friends with either in person or thru our blogs.



They are:

Jippy - http://jippyjabber.blogspot.com/ my BFF who is an amazing writer, artist, mother, friend, and always has something to say worth reading. She teaches me something new every day.

Just Joy - http://justajoy.blogspot.com/ a bright & passionate blogger friend w/a heart of gold

Richard - http://mediapython.com/blog/2007/05/25/small-breakthroughs a new blogger friend I just happened upon who shares an amazing breakthrough w/Ben

Chag - http://cynicaldad.blogspot.com/index.html he shares this interesting analogy about parents discovering their child has autism http://www.aboutautism.org.uk/holland.htm



The thing that brings these special people to mind today is their connection to Autism/Asperger's and what each of them is doing to contribute and deal with these disorders on a daily real basis.

• Jippy is a mother of an autistic son Zachery. She's done so much good work with her son since she discovered he was autistic. He is 13 now and is a great communicator because of her patience and diligence. Zachary told me he was sad the other day because he didn't get the 4 stuffed animals he wanted at the zoo. It was wonderful to hear him express his feelings. He's becoming an incredible young man!

• Just Joy is a young woman about to embark on college life in which she'll be using music as therapy for autistic children and adults. What a significant impact she'll have on our friends and family members w/Autism, and how lucky those will be who get to work with her. Such compassion and endurance as she's stood strong to get into a good school so she can follow her dreams to help others!

• Richard is a father figure to Ben who he's cared for and loved since he was born. Ben has Asperger's which I don't know much about at all but he's touched me with his love for Ben and his desire to always treat Ben with respect. He's teaching Ben new things, and because of that, Ben is conquering his disorder in big ways. He's an inspiration to me as a parent. Such a strong individual.

• Chag is a father of two who I began reading to get a man's perspective on fatherhood. He's a stay at home dad and has some really funny (in that sarcastic kinda way) stories about his kids, wife, and their life. He just found out that his little boy has autism. I'm more of a lurker on Chag's blog really, but I like reading his take on things, plus he lives in NC and I like being able to connect to there because I miss it. This is a tough time for Chag and although I don't have children w/autism or any other special needs or circumstances, I empathize with what he's going through. My thoughts are with him and his family.

Today my heart is filled with gratefulness for having these 4 awesome individuals in the world & in my life . It's filled me with something that I can't quite put my finger on... something that makes me feel in touch with the Grander, with a Greater presence, and something that makes it so clear to me that there are much more significant things going on in the world. Things that make me realize how trivial some of the worries I have are... And that's a good thing because anyone who knows me knows I worry over some pretty small stuff!



So here's to my 4 friends... (picture a large mug of beer being raised here, and me toasting you, and then all of us guzzling it down! :)



Hugs!

Evil?

My little one has started doing chores at our house. It's a great big help to me. Humongous! And she's doing them with cheer instead of gripes. It's been lovely:) And at the end of each week she gets 5 bucks allowance for all the work she's done.

Although this is new for her with us, she's had chores for some time now at her dad & step mom's. So the other night as she was comparing chores w/us vs. chores w/them she started going down the list of things she has to take care of over there. They are the following:

• make her bed
• set the table
• take out the trash
• change her sheets
• fold and put away the laundry
• clear the table
• scrub the toilet!
• I said! scrub the toilet!

I had chores growing up but never did I have to scrub the toilet! I even had to pick up the dog poop, which my little one also helps us with in the yard once a month, but never did I have to scrub the toilet. It's not that I don't think she needs to learn how, some day, but I think 9 is a little young to be forced to scrub the icky commode that three people use (one being a very large man who likes to eat chilly and things like hotdogburgers and giant 2 lb. burritos - you get the idea...) I don't think I liked scrubbing the pot after him when we were married and I was a grown-up/wife/mother who felt it was part of my role/responsibilities. But as the step mom who doles out the chores over there, you'd think she'd have a little voice that'd pipe up saying, "now go easy on scrubbing of the floors or scrubbing of the toilets because you don't want to come off as the evil stepmother who makes her new stepdaughter do ALL the dirty work. Give her chores to teach her responsibility and respect for her home, but take it easy on the little thing. It'll help you seem nice & not evil." Nope. Not the case apparently. The little voice did not speak up.

One reason why this worries me is because they are expecting. This will be my daughter's first sibling. They just found out that it's a girl. So when this new little adorable bundle shows up at the house (which my little one is absolutely thrilled about!) will she feel like she's being treated differently? Would Ms. Step Mom make her own little pipsqueak scrub the nasty ole' potty? I'm not so sure. She may have to make her bed or help set the table, but clean the commode? I don't know, I just don't know.

How many other kids have to do this? Is it just another chore or is it beyond chores? Did someone make you scrub the toilets growing up and if so did you get the feeling you were the house servant or did you feel it was just part of your duties?

I'm curious, and I hope I'll be proven wrong on this.

The Daily Grind, I mean Scoop.

This going to be one long month! I'm so slow at work, I've read every blog, every article about every celeb what-have-you, every bad celeb outfit vs. good celeb outfit critique I can handle. I even read the updates on American Idol which I hardly even watch and Dancing w/the Stars (Heather Mills just got booted apparently). I've run out of things to do. I'm getting paid $XX.00 an hour to sit here and BE. I guess I shouldn't complain but you know I have so much I could be doing at home or errands I could get done. Too bad I can't get paid to do that, then my evenings could actually be about spending time w/my daughter and my A. My boss just told me I'd be handling a couple new projects coming up at the end of May & beginning of June. So that's awaaaaaaaaaays away! In the meantime if you need the latest gossip on what shoes Cameron Diaz could die for.... just let me know. I've got all the scoop!