ohbladioblahblog

It’s said that children with autism lack imagination. I think that isn’t true. Sure, they tend to be more literal but I think there is imagination lurking inside them. They just don’t know how to let it come out in ways that we are used to and accept.

For years, I only saw Andy reproduce stories he read while playing with the Thomas trains. He could only use the character trains in the way that he saw them in the book or in the video. Lately, I have been seeing him use his stuffed animals to play the characters in his stories. True, he is still using stories he has read or heard, but he can imagine Nemo standing in for Arthur and Cat standing in for Buster.

The boys started school today. Ryan had wanted to take the bus but I convinced him to let me drive him. Not that I wanted to go out but I know the bus is usually late on the first day. Being late makes him made and I do what I can to avoid that. Too bad I couldn’t have known how late they would be after school. They are usually home by 4 pm. By 4:30, I was getting a little anxious and called transportation. They seemed unsympathetic and said that 30 to 45 minutes late was typical for the first 3 days. The boys have been riding the bus since 2001 and it’s never been like this. They finally got home at 4:40 pm and seemed OK.

Then again, Ryan was just holding it together until I got into the house. Poor guy, he hates feeling out of control. And to make matters worse, Faye is coming so there is no school tomorrow. He hates to miss school and doesn’t want to go back ever again.

Today was meet the teacher day. Both boys have new teachers. Ryan likes having new teachers. I wonder if he thinks that means he is growing up. This year, he has his first male teacher, Mr Moss. He seemed nice enough if a bit young. (I feel so old!) His room was neat and spare of frills. Ryan got to pick out his desk and even brought his school supplies. He loved being first that way. I didn’t notice until we were ready to leave that he had left his hat at home and took off his watch because those are “privileges” and he hasn’t earned them back. He is too cute. He did let me take his picture with his new teacher and another with Ms Kato the inclusion specialist. Unfortunately, the pictures look like crap. (I hate flash.)

The pods all got new names this year as well. In the past, they were all birds now they are all sea life. Ryan is in with the sharks. Andy is in with the sea turtles. Andy has only had a few teachers in the 7 years he has been going to school. The last one, he had for 3 years in a row. She was nice enough but a scatter-brain and not aggressive for laid back Andy. Now Andy has Ms Krause. How do you describe your son to a stranger? I was at a loss.

It was after 8 pm and there was a loud knocking at the door. It was almost dusk and I almost didn’t answer it. It was the sheriff. Crap! What did we do? (Yes, I always feel guilty that my son did something odd and/or wrong.) But it wasn’t up. The neighbor’s cars were broken into and did we hear or see anything? No, but is that a horse? Yes. Do you know how hard it is to my job with that around? Huh? Oh it was just a coincidence that the sheriff’s office came by with 2 horses while this guy came about the cars.

I took Andy out in his robe. (Oh please let him keep it closed!) and we checked out the horses. Sampson was big dappled grey, 17 1/2 hands! Andy was a prettier roan and 11 years old just like my Andy. Andy thought the horses were from the zoo. Nope, they were handing out cards with Sheriff Bob White’s photo. It is an election year.

No, pics. The light was not good and they weren’t sticking around long. Then Ryan came out to make sure I wasn’t late for his bedtime. sigh

I realized today that I have fallen into a funk. Could it be from being cooped up most of the summer with the boys? It’s too hot to do much of anything but swim and do errands. School starts in one week and I think we will all be a bit happier then. Though Ryan said I should sell the wii since he won’t have time to play it during the week.

I know Andy will be happier when he can go out and ride his bike. I told him he could ride during the summer, but he has never asked and, well, I’m not going to ask him if I can sit outside and sweat while he rides for 5 minutes then goes into the house and cool off for 10.

I did finally suck out the water clogging the condensation drain for the a/c. It’s been 78.4 degrees inside and at times feel a bitty chilly. OK, that is only since we had days when the indoor temp would reach 83+ before enough water would evaporate/drain and the a/c would start again.

I have been good about making a card or layout every day this month. I much prefer the cards.

I let myself get very far behind on my cards. I hadn’t made any since April. There were lots of birthdays in May and June and I pretty much ignored them all. But the guilt weighs heavily. I guess I could have gone and purchased store cards and sent them, but I know too many people would have been disappointed. Better to have them disappointed in not receiving a card than one that cost way too much money.

So I going to do ONE a DAY in August. I thought about layouts but decided to do the cards first. If I feel like moving to layouts once I am “caught up,” I will. I am still debating whether or not I will do the cards for the birthdays I missed. Some people still appreciate the effort even if it is late so I will probably do those.

So far, I am 3 for 3. I went to scan my first 2 cards yesterday and realized I need to upgrade and reinstall my scanner software since the leopard fiasco back in May. The problem is that I can’t get my serial number to work since it is so old. The company is German, so I have to wait until tomorrow to hopefully get an answer.

I talked to Nancy for a bot this morning. She and almost everyone else is at dad’s for waffles & sausage. I didn’t realize she was going up so early for the wedding. I asked Ryan if he wanted to go to Michigan but he said no. We wouldn’t have gone if he said yes. Money is too tight and gas is too expensive.