My baby boy...

My 6-year old son was diagnosed with Autism (PDD-NOS, specifically) almost 4 years ao. Thanks to countless hours of occupational therapy and a fabulous special-ed pre-school (which he attended between the ages of 2.5 - 5), he's doing very well. He has been completely mainstreamed into regular-ed and no longer receives any special services save for language therapy with a speech pathologist twice weekly. To be honest - his diagnosis is something I only occasionally think about anymore.

For the past few days, though, it's been on my mind a lot as he's been having a rough time with things. We've seen a number of these "rough spots" throughout the past 3+ years. They're always upsetting and cause us fear that we're going to lose him to some Autistic "funk". (We never have so I know the fear is un-founded - emotions are what they are, though.) We've noticed a fairly predictable pattern - the "rough spots" are almost always followed by a period of tremendous growth developmentally, physically and/or cognitively. It's kind of like a "two steps backwards, one step forward" thing. Even with that knowledge, though, it's easy to get discouraged when we see regression and wonder if maybe he might not pull out of it this time. It's so hard to see him, after months of doing so well, suddenly lose the very skills/abilities that he just worked so hard to gain, "get" and master. It's hard to see him struggle. He's such a special and incredible little guy who has had to fight/work so hard for things that come to "typical" children so easily...

(Reminding myself...) Patience, Mom - trust in the past and have faith...

Beta

Beta is officially a Tropical Storm now. I feel bad for Central America but, hopefully, this one won't affect Floridians or anyone else in the southeast United States...

News Today

There will be no announcement today in the CIA leak probe but newshounds will have no shortage of things to opine over with the withdrawal of Harriet Meiers' name for Supreme Court nomination...

There will be no opining from me, however - my Kindergardeners are having Halloween Parties tomorrow at school for which I ("Room Mom Extraordinaire") have to prepare!

Making BAIL

A week ago today, on my way home from the mall, I ran through a yellow light at an intersection that - I admit - turned red while I was still in it. Oops. I saw a bright flash go off and knew almost instantly that my picture had just been taken and that there was a good chance I'd be receiving a ticket in the mail...

Sure enough - Sunday morning, on his way back from Starbucks, my husband stopped at the mailbox and picked up Saturday's mail. He walked into the house with my Caramel Macchiato and a huge and silly smile on his face. He plunked the mail down on the counter and said "I think you have mail...". (We have had a 13-year "feud" about traffic violations. I have received 4 (well - 5 now) in the 14 years since we first met and he, despite driving much more and much faster than I do, has had NONE!) I opened the envelope with shaky hands and was mortified to see the ticket (with pictures of me at said intersection and everything!) and the word "bail" written all over it! Bail? Bail is for criminals! What have I done?

While I'm pouring over the "notice of violation" - trying to figure out how much it's going to cost us (him) and whether or not I (we) will have to go to court and actually appear infront of a judge - my darling husband is teaching our 5-year old that "Mommy got busted". Gotta love him. I'm sure I won't hear the end of this one for a long, long time.

I called Monday morning and found out that my "bail" amount is a whopping $381! Holy crap! I can take a driving class online (which must be something new - that wasn't an option when I got my last ticket 10 years ago) but will have to pay an additional $30-$75 for the class and then another $30 (administrative fee) in order for the court to request that the DMV remove the point from my record. Crap. Crap. Crap.

Remembering Reagan

I attended a fundraiser for a local State Senator last night. The theme of the dinner was a "Tribute to Ronald Reagan". John Herrington (former Secretary of Energy), who was here for the opening of Air Force One at the Reagan Presidential Library, was the keynote speaker. He shared wonderful personal stories and anecdotes from the three decades he worked with/for the former President. An enjoyable evening!

Wilma

Are we anywhere near the end of the hurricane season?!

If you are so inclined - follow Wilma at StormTrack.

Golfing with Raymond

My husband recently was invited to play in a fundraiser golf tournament for the American Film Institute. It was a celebrity-am (where 4 golfers are partnered with a celebrity) and he was paired with Ray Romano! I cannot tell you how many times (dozens!) he's been asked "Has anyone ever told you that he/you look (or sound) like Ray Romano?". What a wild coincidence that he was paired with him for the tournament! They had an excellent time - my husband enjoyed him so much and said that he was hysterically funny, down-to-earth and just an all-around great guy.

"FU H2!"

Here's the text of an anonymous note left on a piece of paper underneath the windshield wiper of my husband's Hummer H3 last week...

FU H2!

Your Hummer OFFENDS me!

Eloquent, isn't it?

Vino!

I recently discovered a very simple, yet efficient, way of cataloging the wines we have managed to collect (as purchases and as gifts) over the years. It's called Bottle Count and it's completely free - all you have to do is sign up with an e-mail address! It allows you to keep track of everything - number of bottles, winery name/location, value of bottle, rating, date purchased, wine notes... I've only entered a handful of bottles so far - I am really liking it, though!

There's N.O. pLA.ce like Home

An online friend of mine is back at her home in New Orleans after spending a few weeks out of the state post-Katrina. Her family (she has 2 boys and a husband who works seemingly tirelessly for the New Orleans Police Department) has been through a lot, to say the least, over the past 5 weeks. She's a lovely person and reading her blog (link above) has really helped me to better understand the unbelievable things some of the people in the area (those able to return) are going through.

Although not all outsiders may understand the strong desire New Orleanians have to "re-populate" an area that has been through what NOLA has - the spirit and determination of the people there has to be appreciated and respected!

A few other NOLA-related sites you might be interested in...

Renew New Orleans Foundation

New Orleans Police Foundation

Dine For America

I love this - what a great idea! 16,000+ restaurants are participating. Eat out on October 5th and help the Red Cross and Katrina victims! We're taking the kids and a friend to Chili's for dinner - they're donating 100% of proceeds from the night!