"Joy To the World"

Do you remember the first concert you ever went to?? 

Mine was Three Dog Night.  Yes.  I'm THAT old.  

Joy to the World indeed.

I can’t remember how old I was (early teens?!?) but I do remember getting shoved and pushed and praying I wouldn’t get separated from my friends because the chances of ever running into them again…slim to none. There were no reserved seats. It was a free for all. Pot-smoking, cigarette-smoking and who knows what else people were smoking…were right out in the open. And by the time the concert was over, there was a smoke cloud from floor to ceiling. I can even remember the ringing in my ears afterwards…pretty sure I suffered some hearing loss too. Ahhhh…the good ol’ days.  :P

Now Riley can be very sensitive to sound. VERY sensitive.

When R first started school, he could not tolerate the noise of a school assembly. 300+ students/teachers in an echoey gym??  Nope. Wasn’t going to happen. 

So our Fairy Godmother had the daunting task of easing Riley into a cacophony of excitable children laughing, talking and settling into place. She knew how severe his sensitivity was to sound and came up with strategies that would enable Riley to gradually sit alongside his class mates.

One of her strategies was headphones. But because noise-cancelling headphones were not readily available…she improvised. I like to refer to those days as the “Princess Leia” era. 

She found a pair of over-sized headphones (imagine industrial size headphones) and cut off the cord. The first time I saw Riley walk into the gym…I was ummmm…perplexed. You see…I was still at the “I want my child to ‘blend’ in as much as possible stage” and those headphones??  Well…let’s just say R definitely did NOT blend in. But…with the prequel trilogy having been released around that time…"I" persevered. 

And here we are over 15 years later. Attempting a music concert of all things, in an arena large enough to hold 18,000 people!!  WTH was I thinking?????

This. This is what I was thinking…

Yup...that's R's bigger brother J1 playing the guitar. 

G recently bought a pair of noise-cancelling headphones so we decided what better time to give them a try with Riley. 

I think R may have even managed to look up from watching Madagascar on his iTouch to catch a glimpse of J1 on the big screen. He didn’t last much longer after the intermission but I’m still calling this a HUGE win!!!  

What was your first concert???  Help me out here...let's hear from the pre-2000 crowd at the very least.  

Living His Dream...#Ten Things of Thankful

thank·ful

adjective

feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative.

Why after 10 weeks did I decide to look up the definition of thankful??  Well I was trying to find a common thread between a number of feelings that I had this week.

On Wednesday night G, J2 and I went to a concert. Not just any concert. A concert where J1 was living his dream.

Not to sound cliché…but I will. To see the fruits of J1’s labours come to life…on stage…in front of thousands of people was…well…frankly…indescribable.

So for this week, my list…in pictures. 

Please excuse the blurriness…these were taken with G’s other stupid camera.  

They were one of the opening acts for this guy.  

Apparently he's one of the judges on American Idol.  :)

I Heart KU!!!

Your Hosts:

A Fly on our (Chicken Coop) Wall, Considerings, Finding Ninee, Getting Literal, 

I Want Backsies, Mother of Imperfection, Rewritten, Thankful Me, The Meaning of Me, The Wakefield Doctrine

Wrapping Up Christmas 2013

Finally! As of yesterday Christmas was officially over in our house. Granted Christmas was finished in Riley World on January 2^nd…hey undecorating the tree is just the tip of the iceberg.

Ummmmm....yah...thanks Ri.

So just to bring a little blog closure to 2013…here was how our December went down.

December 2^nd:  Tree decorating. First time EVER that Riley wanted to “participate” in decorating the tree…sorta. R did not want to touch or place any decorations on the tree. However he was a very good director and G was a very good placer. 

December 8^th:  My mom treated my sister, R and me to Odysseo by Cavalia. 

R slept through the entire first half. He woke up at intermission and was ready to leave. We didn’t. He proceeded to whine through most of the second half. The conversation on the way out:

R: That was fun!!
Gma: Did you enjoy that Riley?
R: Yes grandma. I enjoyed that.
Auntie S: Did you like it Riley?
R: Yes Auntie S...I liked it.

Oh really.  *smh* 

December 12-14^th:  Since we are on a “gap year” in Riley World we decided to take to the air/road. The three of us (J2 is not on a gap year therefore had to stay home and work…boo hoo) decided to head south for some sun and fun just before Christmas. First stop was Viva Las Vegas. It was National Rodeo week and J1 was playing so what better excuse than to go see him.

December 14-19^th:  We headed west to sunny and warmer Palm Springs for 5 nights. We have some very generous friends who let us stay at their home away from home. My cousin/husband joined us for the weekend and G got in 4 rounds of golf while R and I lazed around the pool. 

December 23^rd:  Riley got his first ride in an ambulance. That was fun. NOT! Since this is an entire blog post in itself…here are the Coles notes: he almost passed out; he has a history of seizures (although he has never had a grand mal); I was alone with him; I panicked; after 2-1/2 hours in emergency we came home and he slept for the next 15 hours. He was better by Christmas morning.
 

December 25^th:  Christmas dinner at my sister’s. A deeeeeelicious turkey dinner was enjoyed by all. Well. Almost all of us.   

Click here or on the pic to watch the video.

You know you want to.  :)

December 26^th:  A fatality in Riley World. After the discovery of R’s beloved Puppy’s remains and a day of shock and dismay (mine), we celebrated the life of Puppy. 

December 30^th:  Santa surprised G and sent him back with J1 to his new home in Nashville for 5 days. I'm not sure who was more excited about that...G or me?!?  I kid...I KID!!!  

2014 has already seen some changes in Riley World that I am excited to share with you. Here’s to more forward than backward steps and as always wine laughs, lots and lots of wine laughs.

Cheers!!!  Di

Best Caricature EVER!!! #Wordless Wednesday

A grad present that had even Riley looking twice!

www.stooart.com

Pinterest...Keeping it Real

Are you a Pinterest fanatic? Do you have umpteen boards on Pinterest?  OR…are you like me…have a Pinterest account because everybody else does but have no idea what you are doing over “there”. Yesch…yet another time-sucking social media temptation.

Last week Bec over at Snagglebox (she is the one I mentioned in a previous post as being really, REALLY smart because well…she just IS) wrote yet another awesome, witty post “Real Parent Pinterest”. If you have not read it you need to. Off you go. Here is the link again. Just be sure to come back.

Hello again.

Then Sharon from The Tumultuous Truth (another awesome blogger from Down Under) suggested the online autism bloggy world build on Bec’s idea and so “Pinterest Keeping it Real Week” was born. This topic was yelling whispering sweet nothings in my ear so of course I had to write a post.

My last Monday Listicles was 10 Things I could do in 30 minutes or less. One of them was plan, prep and cook a gourmet meal…in Riley World. Since Whacamole Mom wanted more details…more details she shall have.

Meals in Riley World are boring  bland  ummm…uninspiring to say the least. Take for instance one of the few “meat” products that R will eat. You have surely heard of Tube Steaks???  

Imagine James Bond doing the voice-over for this Pin:

“All Beef.  Boiled…not grilled.”

So...anybody interested in coming over for a gourmet meal???   :D

A Vacation in Riley World...#Monday Listicles

WOW…has it already been 2 weeks since I last blogged!?!? Eeep! Well I have an excuse…again. Last weekend our family took a trip to Viva Las Vegas to catch some of Country’s best artists at the ACM (Academy of Country Music) Experience, Fan Jam and Superstar Summer Night concerts. So much fun!!!

This week my good friend Terri (who happens to live in Las Vegas…coincidence…I think not) suggested this week’s Listicles topic "10 Chapters in a Book About Me."  What better topic for an author who has just finished her second soon-to-be released book “Dark Pretense”. Congratulations Terri!!!

Since my life is ummm nothing to write home about and I know you have been dying to read about our latest adventure…I decided to do a listicles on “10 Chapters about a Vacation in Riley World!”  Fasten your seat belts and away we goooo…

1.      Chapter 1:  Packing 

Any trip away from home in Riley World must include the usual cooking apparatus and depending on the destination…certain foods.

For this trip we only had to pack a small amount of food as some could be purchased.


Product “packaging” is always an obstacle so we packed soup mix and extra packets of seasoning for R’s noodles.

2.      Chapter 2:  Departure Check-in/Seat Assignment   

Note to self:  Check flight times BEFORE leaving home. We arrived an extra hour BEFORE the required 2 hr check-in and we all know how patient Riley is about waiting...NOT!  Surely things would get better once on board.

I decided to splurge the extra $5/seat and get seats closer to the front of the plane so we would not have to wait very long to deplane. Even better…the row right in front of the exit door. G & J2 boarded ahead of R & me. As we started down the aisle I noticed G & J2 looking at me wide-eyed and stone-faced. Our row? The one I paid extra for? Only had half a window! Seriously???

3.      Chapter 3:  Hotel Accommodations

See that really comfy looking bed on the far left? There were 2 of them. R preferred to sleep on the couch. The first night he used the supplied bathrobes as blankets. He looked cold in the morning. Not to worry...I got him a blanket the second night. 

4.      Chapter 4:  Live Entertainment

That's J1 and Katie Armiger playing at The ACM Experience at The Orleans on the Friday night. It was great to be able to see them play LIVE! She was GREAT!!!

5.      Chapter 5:  Bonus Activity

It doesn't get any better than this in Riley World! Thank goodness it was past most kids' bedtimes so R had this bouncy castle all to himself.  :D

6.      Chapter 6:  Relaxation

If it were up to Riley these days he would choose to spend the entire time in the hotel room so we decided to coax him out of the room with a day poolside in a cabana. Don't know about R but I sure enjoyed it.  ;P

7.      Chapter 7:  Extracurricular Activities

J2 and I took a ride on the NYNY Roller Coaster. Riley preferred the upper deck of The Deuce operated by RTC Transit. See...there is something for everyone in Vegas!

8.      Chapter 8:  Concert Highlights

Here is one of the many pics from the Tim McGraw Superstar Summer Night concert that J2 and I went to see. It will be airing on TV in May. This was the finale with Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, John Fogerty and Keith Urban *sigh*.

9.      Chapter 9:  Departure Check-in for the trip home

Remember how I said I was going to check flight times BEFORE leaving home??? Wellllll...I didn't. My excuse this time is that we were not at home...we were at a hotel. Hey...details are very important in Riley World. We found out the flight was delayed by 2 hours when we got to the airport. On the upside...Riley got two windows this time!

10.  Chapter 10:  “It’s Good to be Home Again…”

LEFT PIC:  McDonald's fries in Vegas. I found these in the garbage can. They came in a small white bag. I will admit that they do taste different than the ones at home. This has never been a problem...until this trip. This decreased his menu options down to 5...that is if you consider cheerios and S&V chips as menu items.

RIGHT PIC:  McDonald's fries picked up on the way home. Notice the small brown bag. Much better.

As Riley kept saying all.the.way.home..."It's good to be home again."

And just to keep me in good spirits for my return home...

Gotta love Duty Free!

Congratulations again to our even more famous hostess Stasha! Don't forget to pop over to read the chapters of everybody else's lives.

Bowling Playoffs...the Finale!

Riley’s first season of Special Olympics 5-Pin Bowling came to a close tonight and what a season it was. If you have a special needs child/teen/adult it is a wonderful organization to be a part of. I can not say enough good things about our experience.

When Riley was younger the idea of joining “team/organized” sports without a support person (or with me or G) was not in the cards. The stress was frankly more than any of us (ok...mostly G...I'm KIDDING...geeez) wanted to deal with at the time. Now-a-days, although at times still ummmm tense, Riley has enjoyed putting on his team bowling shirt and cheering on his team mates as well as fellow bowlers every Thursday night.

And thank goodness for volunteer coaches and scorekeepers…especially when they are young, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Fair Maidens. *wink*  Remember R is almost 19.  :)

Riley started the season being able to handle playing only 2 of the 3 games with scores of 90 and 40. Eeep…it was a little rough in the beginning. Even though it was stressful for him that first night his enthusiasm (as evidenced by his now famous spin-o-rama/happy dance after a strike) shone through.

He ended the season tonight bowling a 121, 166 and 163 with a season high score of 242 (which included 5 strikes IN.A.ROW) and one other game over 200. Not too shabby for his first season.

Next up…Special “O” Bocce Ball and Golf and Challengers Baseball. Looks like we may end up with an athlete in the family after all.  Foooooore!!!

Zumba & Me

Yesterday afternoon I went to another Zumba class with a girlfriend. OK. So it was only my second class in about ummm 3 years. In case you are not aware of all the hype around Zumba you can watch this YouTube video:

  

Yup. This video is what Zumba is all about…or at least that is what “THEY” want you to believe. Did you watch at least the first 30 seconds?  Buff bodacious bodies…on the beach…in a disco (or wherever people Zumba). 

I call  BULL SH*T!!!

Of course I will elaborate.

It all started the other day on Facebook with this picture on a friend’s wall. Of course I had to make some snarky comment and the next thing you know I was going.

We got to the gym and were waiting for the class to start. You know that feeling like you have met someone before? Well guess what? The instructor…her son and Riley went to Gymboree together. I know! Over 15 years later and our paths cross at a Zumba class of all places. 15 years later and she is still looking svelte, in amazing shape, perky as all heck and I…well…am…well…not…any. of. those. things. What the hell was I thinking introducing myself!?!? 

Now I like to think of myself as somewhat coordinated. After all I took tap dancing and baton as a kid, played musical instruments in elementary school, and even played sports in high school. So makes sense right???

Well according to G…not so much. Back when we were still all googly-eyed over each other (yes we actually once were) and practicing our “first dance” for our wedding, I remember the words “two left feet” and “dragging around a sack of potatoes” coming out of my soon-to-be husband’s mouth. What the hell was I thinking?!?!?  Baaahaaahaaa.

So in we went. The room had mirrors plastered all over one ENTIRE wall! We were facing THAT wall. THAT wall was NOT my friend. AT ALL! Those mirrors?  I am positive they bought them from going out of business Fun Houses because there is no way my leg was only going a (as in one) foot off the ground. It was at least up to my shoulders if not the top of my head!!!

Then came the combination salsa/samba/Bollywood and belly dance moves. Let me just say the “magnificent middle” body that I have acquired and Zumba will never be friends. This body is not made for gyrating hips, Gangnam-style galloping or graceful chasseing back and forth. I consider myself extremely lucky I did not trip over my two left feet or knock myself out with my flailing arms.

My fingers are starting to seize up and before I end up having to crawl to bed I will stop here. Believe it or not I will be going back. That is why they make you pay in advance.  Haha! 

Oh and just so you know...this is a more realistic picture of the Zumba class I went to. 

10 Movie Quotes from Riley World...#Monday Listicles

This week’s topic “10 Movie Quotes” was suggested by Ally who blogs over at Just a Normal Mom. Since Riley is the movie fanatic in this house, I decided to add a little Riley World twist to it. 

Did you know it is not uncommon for individuals with autism to exhibit echolalia in some form? Riley has used this "method" since he was young to help him communicate his wants and needs to us. As he got older, if he was sad/angry/happy he would recite a sad/angry/happy line from one of his videos with the same inflection and intonation as the character in the movie. While this was a positive step in his communication, when you are standing in line at a crowded store..."Shut up you stupid lady" would be a little ummm awkward.

Back to this week's Monday Listicles topic at hand. See if you can match who said what for these 10 movie quotes from Riley World that we have heard over...and over...AND over again:

1.      “Don’t bother me with details. Just GIVE ME THAT HAT!” 

2.      “Go away. I’m not home!!”

3.      “OK, grab shell, dude!”

4.       “Sarah Baker, off, now! Don’t make me come up there!”

5.      “Oh, my butt is itching up a storm and I can’t reach it in this monkey suit.”

6.      “Excuse me, you’re biting my butt!” 

7.      “Now, I’m warnin’ ya.”

8.      “I want the job done tonight!”

9.      “Ah, forget it. I think I’ll sleep in my own bed tonight!”

10.   “I set certain rules and I expect those rules to be obeyed.”

a.      Crush the Turtle – Finding Nemo (2003)

b.      Cruella De Vil – 101 Dalmations (1961)

c.       King Triton – The Little Mermaid (1989)

d.      Grumpy – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

e.      Professor Hinkle – Frosty the Snowman (1969)

f.       Alvin – Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009)

g.      Gru – Despicable Me (2010)

h.      Tom – Cheaper By the Dozen (2003)

i.        Shrek – Shrek the Third (2007)

j.       Marty the Zebra – Madagascar (2005)

I hope you will come back on Wednesday to see how you made out with your answers. Until then, pop on over to Stasha's to see if your favourite movie quotes made anybody else's list.