The Lights of Courage #WordlessWednesday

The Lights of Courage
(at the Victoria Dragon Boat Festival)

honours those who have been diagnosed with cancer.

I'm Back......but only until Friday!

YIKES!!!

Yes you read that right. My last regatta of the season is this coming weekend. Out of town. TWO weekends in a row! How often does that happen?  While some might be thinking "What's the big deal?!?" and some might be thinking "You get to go away ALONE!!!"...it is true that at 19, Riley is better able to cope with me being away. Yet there still is a certain amount of ummm stress for the three of us.

For Riley the processing of information starts as soon as he finds out I am going away. This involves updating his visual schedule and talking himself through it.

Last week R updated his schedule because I was stalling before I was able to.

For G it is having to listen to R recite the same script over and over and over for the entire time I am away while at the same time trying to convince R that I have not indeed died. Oish.

For me there is that fine line of when to tell him. “You will be gone. You are not coming back.”  It is so hard for me to hear every…single…time R sees me before I leave. Do I feel guilty leaving R at home with G?? Hell no! It just drives me bat sh*t crazy!!!   :)

One thing that has worked so well with Riley has been his visual schedule. If it is on the schedule...it is concrete for him and therefore will be happening. He can see what/when and for how long the activity/event will occur and/or whether it is a desirable one (therefore can stay up on his schedule) or well ummmm...not (will be removed ASAP - see photo below). 

R removed all evidence that I was ever away (with the exception of McD's).

My only saving grace is that after this weekend, the next time "we" put up going away on R's schedule it will be for a family trip. While R keeps asking/hoping to be going on "the big airplane"...it will unfortunately be a "long drive" (13 hours) kind of vacation. A VERY loooong drive indeed. Not sure who is more disappointed about the long drive...me or R?!?  

Although G, R and I all survived the weekend my one and only live plant...well let's just say has seen better days.

Gee...it actually looks rather healthy this picture.  :)  

  Have yourself a great weekend!!!

I'm Leaving......for the weekend!

This morning when I came downstairs I noticed this...

Riley obviously was tired of waiting for me to update his visual schedule. Was I stalling?  Hell yes!!!

While it has not always been this easy to slip away…looks like I am good to go this time. Of course I will be surprising him with McDonald's when I come home.  :)

See you next week!

Riley World meets "Survivor"

via Wikimedia Commons

As I sat at the sewing machine yesterday trying to piece together sleeves that were literally hanging by a thread 

and side seams picked apart to fashion a poncho of years gone by…

OK so this was a little more drastic...

Ummmm...that would be the back panel on the right.

I thought to myself how Riley World was much like the TV series “Survivor”.

Was this R’s way of telling me he did not “like” a particular shirt?? OR

Maybe it was something sensory (itchy, scratchy, clingy)??  OR

MAYBE he had heard of the campaign to boycott Abercrombie & Fitch and to show his support decided to also boycott his Hollister (a division of A&F) t-shirts too?!?

To think that Riley could be interested in current events and further more support a boycott of the fashion retailer...I only had to look a few shirts further into the pile of destruction to discover t-shirts by American Eagle, Aeropostale and Quiksilver. Riley, it appeared, was unbiased and would not discriminate. No retailer was safe.

Whatever his reasons he left me dazed and confused. OUTWIT me???  Indeed he did.

However after 15 seasons of Survivor: Riley World Edition…I would persevere. Having almost failed the sewing portion of Home Economics in Grade 8, I needed to come up with a game plan.

I could throw out all the t-shirts and go buy new ones but that was hardly practical especially since some were almost brand new.

I could take them to a seamstress and have them sew together the pieces but this would be rather costly and again impractical.

Being the “practical” person that I am I decided I would thread the needle and repair the shirts myself. I know. WTH was I thinking?!?!

First I would need a sewing machine. Do you know how expensive sewing machines can be? I had no idea. Instead I found this handy, dandy, handheld model. Surely this would do the trick.

Again...WTH was I thinking!!!

Heck I could pull out the "stitching" made by this gizmo with my big toe alone!

Thankfully my sister had a machine hanging around her house for those little mending jobs and she offered to let us store use it. It now resides on the corner of our dining room table.

The "Brother" has been no match for R...so far.  Eeep!

OUTPLAY?  Think this one goes to me. 

For those of you who are questioning WHY???  Why indeed. But if history repeats itself (and I am pretty sure it will) with all things Riley World as long as it is not a safety issue…this too shall pass. In the meantime I will keep mending the t-shirt puzzle pieces together with the exception of ones like this…

I...I...have no words. Yes that is the collar in the middle.

OUTLAST??  I am almost 53 years old and do not care anymore  have pretty much given up  have discovered inner peace and serenity now. You better believe I got this one!

"Impractical" Things... #Monday Listicles

Amanda who blogs at Lilahbility suggested this week’s topic “10 Things that are Completely Impractical.” I was very a little confused because I would never, EVER buy anything that was impractical!

Not one to give up I decided to scour the house to see if there was anything, anything at all that could possibly meet the criteria. Sadly…it turns out that everything in our house is useful/necessary.

For example…

1.      8 Golf Bags. 

Apparently we have 9. I missed one. R and I do not own our own bag; J2 has one; we are storing J1’s which leaves ummmmm 7 for G. I am told golf bags are like underwear…you need a different one for each day of the week.

2.      8 Guitars. 

According to J2 all were necessary. Who knew you could play more than one guitar at a time?!?

3.      Picture frames. 

I am prepared for just about any size and shape with the exception of the photos that I want framed. The coloured ones? There are 2 more in the closet. I bought them when the boys were in preschool. Yes they are still in the wrapper. I am still trying to decide on my favourite pics to put in them.

4.      Baseball hats. 

Riley and G are the only ones who always wear baseball hats. I will own up to the pink one and about 3 others in that pile. I could not be bothered to count. There were still more on the top shelf of the closet. For once I am happy I am short.

5.      Seasonal dishes. 

I bought these beauties after Christmas one year for 50% off. It was during my Martha Stewart wannabe stage. Even though they only hold 1 cracker at a time they look amazing in the drawer of the china cabinet.

6.      Candles. 

I like options. I have tealights that burn for 2 hours or 4 hours; votives; tapers; heck…I even have battery operated candles. I am earthquake prepared.

As our hostess Stasha wrote “I struggled to find one in 6 days” which made me feel a whole lot better. Wait. Maybe not. Since I am struggling I will stop at 6 as in 6 things in 1 day. It is summer after all.

Be sure to check out what Stasha’s husband came up with for her list. It is awesome and almost made me go back and start over…almost. 

Have a great week!