Last
year, I blogged a total of 18 times. My last post was for Riley’s 21st Birthday. As a frame of reference, my first year I blogged 137 times.
I
noticed a lot of the bloggers who started around the same time as me seemed to
hit a “lull” last year. Some have written they hope to start writing more, some
appeared to have stopped altogether and some are using other forms of social
media.
I
had high hopes when 2015 started. There were some new and exciting things
happening in Riley World. One was the start of a new community program for
young adults that we (a group of 7 families) were starting up. I couldn’t wait
to share everything involved in getting this going. And then…the planning, organizing and start
of the new program in September and well…Youza…talk about overwhelming!
One
thing I have learned over the past 4 years is it is much easier to write about
things as they happen. This year I
am going to try and do that instead of putting things off.
I posted my first Friday’s
Fab Five over a year ago. It was going to be a weekly roundup of favourite
posts and bloggers that I had read and wanted to share. The weekly turned into
bi-weekly then monthly and now appears to be ummm annual. Eeep. I am going to
go with I was busy doing research…yea…lots and LOTS of research.
Just so you know I have
not been slacking off I am going to give you a bonus to my first Friday’s Fab
‘Autism’ Four edition and give you five! Cue
music.
“Bloggers…Come On
Down!!!”
First up is Amy who
blogs over at From the Mom Cave. I
first read Amy’s blog over a year ago and just recently connected with her on
Facebook. She has 2 boys on the spectrum and a warped great sense of
humour. :) In the past year she has moved on to waaaay
bigger things like being published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul “Raising
Kids on the Spectrum” edition. Way to go Amy!!!
Blogger number 2 is Bec
from Snagglebox. There is not a
single post of Bec’s that I can honestly say is my favourite. Okay…maybe this
one Real Parent Pinterest made me
laugh a little more but everything and I mean EVERYTHING is full of useful and
user-friendly information. If you haven’t friended, followed or whatever else
there is to do…go do it now. Wait! Maybe wait until you finish reading this
post. ;)
Karen blogs about life
with her two younger teenage sons over at Confessions
of an Asperger’s Mom. While our worlds are quite different…they are much the
same. What drew me to Karen was her sense of humour, no-nonsense parenting
style and of course her love for cocktails and wine her sons. We are the
same that way.
The final blogger is someone
I just read this past week. Tanya’s post “Why
My Son Moved to a Supported Living Home” read like an upcoming chapter in
Riley World. I know I will be going back to visit Tanya’s blog to read all
about where their new path leads.
I will close with the
same words as the last Autism edition because I am late the same words
ring true for these five bloggers.
Whether you know nothing about autism, know a little about autism or are
just an autism wannabe *wink*, I highly recommend any of these 5 blogs for
insight, experience and most of all…humour!
Check them out when you
have a chance and have a great weekend!
“Help control the pet population – have your pets spayed or neutered.”
Mondays usually mean it is time for Stasha’s
Monday Listicles. This week the topic was “10
Things in Your Closet”. Well since I have already revealed in a previous
Listicles “Clutter Sweet Clutter”
what a pack rat I can be I am not sure anything in my closest would come as a
surprise/shock to you so instead there is going to be "Something Different" today.
A fellow autism mommy blogger friend over at “Autism & Oughtisms” has passed
along the Liebster Award to little ol’ me. It is a VERY famous award and is full of information that takes an entire
weekend to make up…I…I…I mean…research and document. My faithful readers may
remember I was nominated once before for the Liebster…thank you. If you are so
inclined you can reread my riveting post here. I am once again going to tweak the
rules of the Liebster by capping any lists at 10 since that is what I am used
to doing on a Monday.
First the rules. If you are interested you can find
these at the bottom of this post. So sit back and make sure you have an hour or three...cuz this is gonna be a long one.
Next up is a list of “10 Things About Me”. The last time I only came up with 6 Random Facts About Me. I admit it. Back
then I was just not that interesting. Six months later I am still not that
interesting but will give it the old high school try. So here are 10 Fun
Facts About Me:
1.I like martinis.
2.I still like wine.
3.I ummmmm basically like all types of alcohol.
4.I now play Words with Friends on R’s iPad every
night before I go to bed. I find it is more social
than playing alone on my DS.
6.I love to cook for my family. Call me Martha
Stewart and well OK…it gives me an excuse to drink wine.
7.I live to eat. People who eat to live are liars.
8.I am not a fan of muffin top and back fat. I am,
however, less of a fan of diet and exercise.
9.I am much younger than I look. I will let you think
about that for another minute.
10.I have run out of patience and have basically given
up.
Next are the questions I was given to answer.
1.Why did you start blogging?
My sister
made me do it. She’s a bully.
2.What’s your favourite piece of art?
This family
portrait (over on the right) drawn by J2 when he was in Grade 1. I am thinking it is a good thing
he decided to pursue music as opposed to art.
3.What’s your favourite scent?
Fresh baked anything.
4.Who inspires you?
I am sure most
people would expect my answer to be Riley and/or J2. Would it surprise you if I
said it was G??? Me too! Baahaahaa. Just
kidding G.
5.Name one major event that shaped who you are today.
This is a tough one. I am actually thinking serious here. I am going to go with one challenging year we
had. It started on July 16, 2005 and ended just over a year later. My dad had
suffered a heart attack and after a week in the hospital passed away. For the
first time in my life I understood the meaning of a broken heart. I was devastated.
About 3 months later, my mom was diagnosed with colon cancer. She had surgery
followed by chemotherapy and remains cancer free to this day. During that time
I had discovered a lump in my left breast. After a multitude of tests I learned
I had breast cancer in early December. Less than 2 weeks later (on December 23rd) I had surgery (full
mastectomy) followed by 6 rounds of chemotherapy
and radiation. As a Mother’s Day present to my mom and me, my sister and G
surprised us with an Alaskan Cruise. We set sail at the end of July 2006 and
although it has not always been smooth sailing…still…this song pretty much sums it up.
6.What one super-power would you choose and why?
My very first
Monday Listicles topic was “My 10 Superpowers”. Nothing has changed since then
but if I had to narrow it down to just one, I think I would have to say number
4.
7.What pets do you have?
Do dust
bunnies count??? No…then no pets.
8.What’s your favourite plant?
Artificial.
The only time my thumb has ever been green was when I hit it with a hammer.
Over the past 5 years or so I have even started investing in artificial bedding
plants. I kid you not.
9.What event in nature takes your breath away?
Changing
poopy diapers.
10.What was your favourite subject at school?
Ancient
history…noooo…not the subject…I meant school
is ancient history to me.
11.What countries have you visited?
Pre-kids I used to like to think of myself as a traveller although I was
never the back-packing, hostel kinda gal. Cruising or planned tours were more
my cup of tea thank you very much. I cruised the Caribbean, practiced Spanish
in Mexico (dos cerveza por favor), spent one Christmas in the Orient with my
sister and honeymooned in Europe. Post-kids we have stuck to the North American
continent.
Since I am still buying green bananas…you too can
wait just a little longer before I reveal my victims nominees. Much the
same as the last time, I am going to make my questions deep and insightful. Do
not be afraid my dear nominees. I have faith in all of you. Here we go:
1.Coke or Sprite?
2.In school did you prefer Language Arts or
Math/Sciences?
3.Star Wars, Star Trek or Starbucks?
4.Least desirable mode of transportation: Sea, Land or Air?
5.New Country, Classical, or Rock & Roll music?
6.Drama, Comedy or Reality TV Shows? What show?
7.Cable TV or Satellite?
8.Carnivore, Vegetarian or Vegan?
9.Old fashioned books or e-reader?
10.What do you think is your best quality?
Last and certainly most important are my nominees. I was freaking out somewhat
relieved to see that this latest version of rules suggested nominating 3-5
blogs as opposed to 11. (Check out the rules below if you don’t believe me.)
Included in my list are bloggers that are new to me, new to blogging and
hopefully new to you.
1.Bipolar, Asperger’s and Margaritas
– Any blog title with alcohol in it is at the top of my list. Lisa is new to
the blogging and autism world. I related a lot to her story, her sense of
humour and her outlook on life had me subscribing to her blog…something I
suggest you do too.
2.Anybody Want a Peanut?Life with a side of Autism – If
you are not following/reading Jenni’s (we’re tight) blog then we just can’t be
friends. I will leave it at that. Off you go.
3.Teenage Whisperer
– I recently came across a post “Why I’m
A Daydream Believer” on this blog that reminded me of all the positives
that can happen when you dare to dream. This blog is “aimed at anyone who has an interest in helping challenging young
people in their day to day lives…” I
encourage you to pop over, read this post and if it does not pull at your heart
strings…you are the newly appointed “Ice Woman/Man”.
4.Gretchen Leary
– I first connected with Gretchen’s blog through Twitter. She writes poetry,
short stories and blogs about her experiences with Asperger’s. Twitter and I
have not been as tight lately so I
have missed out on a lot of Gretchen’s latest poems. One of my favourites was Bella Ballerina – A Poem.
Listen to the
music Gretchen writes to as you read the poem…it really sets the tone. One of
her most recent posts (at the time of writing) was “Can I Hug You?” So helpful for me living in Riley World.
5.Break It, Make It, or Bake It
– My Monday list would not be complete without a blogger from my Monday
link-up. Audrey is a regular over at Monday Listicles. We have a lot in
common…she has 2 little boys; I have 2 ummm boys…well…they used to be little
once upon a time. She blogs; I blog and finally she has a great sense of
humour; YES…I have a sense of humour too! Go check out her blog and see for yourself.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand......we are DONE! Thanks for reading and I hope you go check out my nominees. You won't be sorry. If you still feel like some light, fun reading...head over to Stasha's to see what everybody has hiding in their closets. Have a great week!
You
may have noticed that it has been somewhat quiet here in Riley World since the
holiday break. Before I go any further it is not what you think. I did,
however, make a conscious decision to take a much needed social media break over the holidays. I will admit I
did not go cold turkey.
What
started as a blog turned into Twitter, then Facebook and most recently
Pinterest. I should know better. I have a tendency to get obsessed and one of
the reasons why I have not gone the route of an iPhone…yet.
Drats…I
should have taken a picture of that!
I wonder
what’s happening with e-friend-A…did she go with the red or blue one?
No I don’t
have time to talk right now I need to make a status update/tweet/blog/pin something…it’s
been over an hour!
These
feelings reminded me of how I felt when I started out in Riley World…overwhelmed! Not to make light
of the many, MANY differences between Riley World and Social Media World; yet
the terminology, acronyms, political correctness…same game only the names have
been changed.
I
am sure this has something to do with aging. I used to be a pretty good
multi-tasker if I might say so myself. I could type a letter with carbon copies, file, and fax
with the best of them.
Yet
at this stage in my life my skill set has pretty much reached its max. Not to worry I have not given up and will
continue to plug away at my own pace and try not to let my FOMO (Fear of
Missing Out) get the better of me.
Trust
me; I make no resolutions as that, more than likely, will be a guarantee of
failure for me. Instead I hope you will come back on Monday for this week’s Listicles topic as chosen by my pal Stasha“10
Things I have NO Intention of Changing in 2013”. It is sure to be a good
one.
The
weather has turned but thanks to Robbie over at Fractured Family Tales I am
bathing in Sunshine! Yup, yup, yup…Robbie tagged me for a Sunshine Award.
The
conditions of this award are to answer the 8 questions below, then nominate some
of your favourite awesome bloggers so they can repeat the process! So put that
umbrella in a tall glass of cheer, put on your shades and have a listen to this
song by Katrina & The Waves while you’re reading.
1.What is your favorite Christmas/Holiday movie?
A Riley influenced answer: How the Grinch Stole
Christmas or Frosty the Snowman (the originals of course). He watches them year round and
in grade 8 recited from memory the entire script of How the Grinch Stole
Christmas in Drama class.
2.What is your favorite flower?
Gerbera daisies.
Did you see the flower in the award?
Coincidence??? I think not.
3.What is your favourite (non-alcoholic) beverage?
No comprende?!?
4.What is your passion?
If by “passion” you mean guilty pleasure…I’m going to go with wine, slot machines and potato
chips. Yes I wrote potato chips. No I did not mean chocolate. What can I say...I'm sweet enough. Baahaahaa!
5.What is your favorite time of year?
Fall. I love the crisp, cool air. Much more
conducive to hot flashes.
6.What is your favorite time of the day? That
moment when everything is done for the day and you have nothing else to do but
put on your “home clothes” and relax.
7.What is your favorite physical activity? See answer
to question 3.
8.What is your favorite vacation?
Going with question 4…I think I would have to say Viva
La$ Vega$ or the closest Seven Eleven!
Gee…that
was easy. Be sure to check out my sunshine picks. Thanks again Robbie!
I can’t believe it is almost September and some kids are already back at school. We still have just over a week before
Riley heads back for his final year of high school. Yup.
One.(Deep inhale)
More.(aaand…exhale)
Year. (Excuse me while I go lock myself in my cave.
*sigh*)
Okie-dokies.
Now that I have collected myself…shall we continue? Since my blogging seems to
have taken a bit of a backseat to summer fun and I seem to be struggling with
putting more than a couple of coherent sentences together, I thought I would
treat you to another spin-off of my “Friday’s
Fab Five Review” with this week’s “Back
to School Edition”.
In
the spotlight, a trio of mommy bloggers who I enjoy for their practical
and realistic outlook on life and who share their adventures with insight, experience and most of all…humour.
First up...Robbie. I have been following Robbie since blogging/tweeting began for me and even copied
paid tribute to her series “Saturday
Seven” via satellite. For the preschool bunch, Robbie over at “Fractured Family Tales” guest posted
over at “take2mommy” about “How
to Survive the First Day of Preschool”. Robbie works in the education
field and came up with ten very practical tips (I can personally vouch for
number 5 with J2) which I wish I had known when both our boys were
starting preschool.
Next up is Bridget. I came across Bridget's blog “Twinisms”
via Stasha’s Monday Listicles and keep going back for more. As soon as I read
she had a “high tolerance for wine”
in her bio, I knew we were destined to be virtual friends. Her husband is
in the Army and their family is currently stationed in Alaska. She has not one
but two sets of twins. Really.
Bridget
is nearing the end of school with her first set of twins and is at the beginning
of school with her second set. You gasped didn’t you? If you are just starting
out, you may or may not be able to relate to the first half of her post. Being almost
at the end of “our” school career I most definitely could yet even more…I
sympathized with Bridget over the next 13 years. *wink* “School is in Session” is
a quick read and you won’t be sorry.
An encore presentation from one
of my newer bloggy buddies Christina who blogs at “Riding the Crazy Train: diary of a Delirious Mom”. She also has a
set of twins. Only girls. She recently started back working out of the home as
a Special Education Assistant after attaining what I would consider her Masters
degree as Head Conductor of the Crazy Train. Her blast from the past post “Bullies: Inherently Mean or Morally
Uneducated?” is a topic which I think every parent thinks about these days.
I
am sure this year will supply me with much to blog about. I hope it is an
exciting year for Riley and I am quite sure it will be an even scarier one for
me and G. Wish us luck or even better…send alcohol…lots and lots of alcohol.
I’m not kidding. I hope you enjoyed some summer fun with family and friends. I know I did. =)
One thing I have noticed is how addicting and time-consuming social media can be. Of course that has nothing to do with my personality. ;P Maybe it's my age?? Nah. Whatever the reason I have enjoyed connecting with virtual strangers...some who I would even like to meet someday.
It has been a while since my last “Friday’s Fab Five” post. Like most people I tend to gravitate towards those
that I consider to be like-minded. Hopefully that last sentence won’t offend
any of my targets for this week’s instalment of “Friday’s Fab Four”. This week I am going back to the roots of my
blog… autism and am “showcasing” 4 blogs written by parents of autistic kids/young
adults. Kinda sounds like an episode of the Price is Right doesn’t it? So without further ado... “Bloggers…Come On Down!!!” *Could you not hear Johnny Olson (the announcer’s) voice in your mind just then?
My
first blogger is Cari from "Bubble Gum On My Shoe". She was one of the first bloggers/tweeters that I followed. I
immediately liked her sense of humour, "write-it-like-it-is" style all wrapped up
with a certain amount of sass. :)
Here is a line from her post that jumped out at me and why I keep reading her blog: “I have more respect for those
who are bold and follow their own educated path; even if our viewpoints
differ.”
My next blogger is Christina from "Riding
the Crazy Train: Diary of a Delirious Mom”. Christina just started blogging
in February 2012 and has already been published over at “Scary Mommy”by Jill Smokler author of the book“Confessions of a Scary Mom”. Woooo-hoooo!!!
Go Christina!!! When I “discovered” *wink* her
blog about a month ago it felt like we had so much in common. Ummmm…OK so she
has twin 7-year old girls and R’s an 18 year old male teenager. Work with me here.
Christina uses, in my mind, similar “techniques” with her girls as we did with
Riley.
Next
up is Jill from “Yeah. Good Times.”The
only way I can describe Jill is “what you read is what you get”. FYI Jill…that is meant as a compliment. :D Not
only does she do her own graphics, she is brutally honest and does not mince
words. Her tweets keep me glued to twitter (uhhhh that is NOT a good thing BTW).
She is also very, very clever in her writing as you can read here in her post“Field journal”.
My final blogger is “Elise” from “Raising
Asperger’s Kids”. This is not the first time I have mentioned Elise. I have
found trying to connect with parents of young adults with autism with whom you
share similar goals and parenting styles has not been easy. Elise is the mother
of 2 young men on the spectrum. Our stories are different yet I have found when
I read her blog I am constantly nodding in agreement. If you are just starting
out, I would recommend reading these two posts by Elise,“Raising Your Child –
Only Your Opinion Counts”and “The Politics of Autism – This is a Safe Blog”.
Whether
you know nothing about autism, know a little about autism, know a lot about
autism or are just an autism wannabe *wink*,
I highly recommend any of the above blogs for insight, experience and most of
all…humour! Check them out when you have
a chance.
"Help control the pet population—have your pets spayed or neutered." (Sign-off from the Price is Right show - sorry just couldn't help myself.)
The Liebster is not so much an award as it is a shout-out
or mention that acknowledges and supports up and coming or new bloggers who
have 200 followers or less. The old double thumbs up so-to-speak.
OK so maybe she was just being kind and tagging me
back for giving her the Fabulous Blog Ribbon. No…no…I am pretty sure that was
not the case. In fact she tagged me not just once but twice. Yup. TWICE people!!! She must like me. She must really REALLY like
me! Are you picturing Sally Field about now??
What can I say…I’m excited!
So
here’s the deal with the Liebster:
1.Post 11 random facts about yourself
2.Choose 11 deserving bloggers and tag them in your
post
3.Tell them you’ve tagged them
4.Answer 11 questions the tagger has asked you, and
give 11 questions to the people you tagged
5.NO tag backs.
I want to say that I am a rule follower by nature.
However at this point in my life I am also extremely forgetful and painfully
slow. I am feeling very guilty for not responding to this shout-out sooner. I
no longer feel worthy of the Liebster. Wait a minute…who am I kidding?!? If you
read my last post you would know I am just being melodramatic. But in the
interest of getting myself moving I am going to shorten my list by a “few”.
Please forgive me Christina.
Before you get started I suggest you go to the
bathroom, grab a few snacks or preferably a meal, and if it’s after 4pm, a
glass of wine to help you get through this epic post.
Random
Facts About Me:
1.I am a bit of a dare devil. I have jumped out of a
plane, river rafted and most recently cliff-jumped. OK so it was only about 20
feet…hey it scared the crap out of me.
2.I have always wanted to be a bartender or a dealer
at a Las Vegas casino. Gee I wonder why?!?
3.I play my Nintendo DS every night before I go to
sleep.
4.I am an extremely patient person although I am not
sure how much longer I will wait for you George (as in Clooney).
5.Did I ever mention I like wine???
6.Aaaaaand…that’s all I got.
Questions
from Christina and my answers:
1.What is your “secret stash” that you
hide from your kids or spouse? (eg. Dark chocolate)
Hmmmmm…can’t think of
anything specific. Guess I would have to go with some type of sweet treat too.
2.What are your feelings on the
“5-Second Rule”?
If it’s at home and as
long as nobody sees it drop…5-seconds, 5-minutes…pshaww. Thinking that should pretty
much deter future dinner guests.
3.What is the best compliment you have
ever received from one of your blog followers?
Blog followers?!?!?
4.What pushes your crazy-psycho
button?
Where do I begin? If I
had to pick just one I am going to remain neutral and go with bugs of any kind.
This also includes spiders, worms, anything that is creepy crawly. I am sure that is not what Christina meant by crazy-psycho but come on...I would have to be crazy-psycho to answer honestly.
5.Who inspires you the most on your
life journey?
Wow…this is a tough one.
I suppose this has changed over the years so I don't think I can narrow it down
to just one person.
6.What gets you through the day most
often: coffee, wine, or your sense of humour?
Definitely sense of
humour. Surprised? Bet everybody thought I was going to say wine. Am I right???
So as not to disappoint…wine and more wine is a very close second.
7.What’s your number one travelling
tip?
Passport and credit
card. Anything else can be bought unless of course you are heading into the
wilderness in which case I would have absolutely no idea what to take. Oh and
if you wear contacts, definitely those.
8.If you weren’t doing what you’re
doing today career-wise, what other life/career path would you be on?
These days I hardly workam semi-retired do contract work on occasion and I’m OK with
that. ;P
9.What are your goals for blogging?
I started blogging
because my sister made me (mostly true…tee hee). Seriously now that we are past
all the craziness that autism can bring during those early years; can take a
step back; can take that extra breath without feeling guilty; I hoped that by
blogging about some of our “adventures”, parents reading would be able to
relate and know that they are not alone.
10.Anything
on your bucket list you’d like to share?
I don’t have anything
written down per se. I love, LOVE this song by Tim McGraw. The message pretty
much says it all for me…
11.What is the craziest thing you have
ever done that you are willing to admit to doing?
Crazy or
embarrassing? Same thing right? I guess
singing in one of those recording glass booths at Expo86 with 2 friends.
Passerbyers were treated to our alcohol-infused rendition of “That’s What
Friends Are For”. Enough said.
