Sunday, October 25, 2009

Indigo Children


I have a friend named Mi. We try to get together at least every other month. For about a year now she has been asking questions about autism. Mi's nephew has been acting very strange. He goes into these screaming fits. He sits in the corner by himself, he does not want to be touched. He will not look you in the eye or when he does it is as if his eyes are blank. Mi said she had a pinata on her daughters birthday. When the the kids broke the pinata her nephew ran and grabbed the candy that had golden wrappers. He did not want any candy but the kind with gold wrappers. He took his loot back to a place where he was by himself and perfectly lined the candy up on the floor. He does not seem to interact with others. He hasvery little language, Everyone in Mi's family is thinking something is really wrong with this kid. Different people in the family tried to approach Mi's brother in law and sister in law. The in laws response was "he'll grow out of it"

In September Mi's nephew started Kindngrraden. The minute he got into the classroom he started screaming. And he wouldn't stop screaming. The staff did everything in their power to stop the kid from his tantrum. Finally they gave up and called his mom to come and get him.. The problem is so bad with this kid, the mom drops him off at school then she waits in the hallway to find out if he is going to settle down or not. The mom said she was really embarrassed that her child was acting that way. The school told the parents the kid is going to the school shrink and told the parents they need to go to a shrink too. Mi thought finally the school would tell the family the child was autistic and the family was going to come to terms with the child's disability.

Mi's sister in law went home and called some kind of emergency hot line . They put her in contact with a Dr. in Berkeley. My heart dropped when Mi said Berkeley. Don't get me wrong I love Berkeley as much as the next aging hippy. I guessed by Mi's demeanor she was getting ready to tell me something unsettling

Dr. Shrink told Mi sister in law and her husband that their child was an "indigo child." Their son (like other indigo children) are the "next step in evolution". Their child was of higher intelligence that is why he goes into screaming fits. He is smarter then everyone else therefor, he gets very frustrated when placed in a room full of kindergartner's. Dr. Shrink told the parents not to discipline the boy. He already knows what he wants and you have to give it to him, you do not want to insult a prodigy. Dr. Shrink said "indigo children are put on this earth to teach us something." My question is - aren't all children put on this earth to teach us something? As Mi is telling me this she is getting more and more upset. Her sister in law is buying into the theory.

I told Mi that her sister in law looks around and sees everyone else in the family has typical children. She wants her child to be at the very least typical if not better. I can't imagine how hard it would be to realize your child is not the same as the other children.

The in laws have divorced themselves from the family. They will not talk to anyone about anything.

Mi is fearful that the boy will not get the help he needs. I get really angry that there are very cruel people in this world who take advantage of those who are hurting.

I will let you know how Mi's nephew when I hear something.



Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Rat and the Car - WARNING: GRAPHIC Photos


My sweet friend called me on Monday morning and asked if I could take her son to school. She said she was going to church on sunday, when she got on the freeway (not to far from her house) and her power steering went out. She had to have her car towed to the shop. Monday afternoon she called to ask if I could go with her to pick up her car.

When we got to the auto shop the mechanic said you will not believe this, what caused your power steering to go out. What happened we said with anticipation. The young blond haired, blue eyed cutie pie mechanic with a Cheshire cat smile said A RAT!

What??? A RAT?? He goes on to say it was the biggest rat anyone at the auto shop had ever seen. His smile was so big I though he was going to bust out in laughter. Guys seem to think really gross things are funny. The grosser it is, the funnier it is. His eyes where twinkling like he had just won the lottery. Their was glee all over his face. Apparently, cars with rat problems are more common then you would think. He said sometimes the rat will chew the wiring and cause thousands of dollars worth of damage. The blue eyed wonder said they have seen cats and possums killed by a car engine too. But my sweet friend had a rat. The granddaddy of all rats. It was so big the mechanics took photos of it. One guy was showing other patrons the prize winning dead rat photos. He said it was a "fruit rat." Luckily for my sweet friend it only cost $300.00 to get the car fixed. (get the rat removed) Really my sweet friend does not have $300.00 to fix a car. Somehow she got the money together.

Below are photos of the dead rat. They are graphic photos and make me want to scream. If you are tender and don't like to see dead animasl- don't look. The rat is caught between the belt and the pulley. (What ever that is)






Large view of the rat in the car belt.


Shushed Rat



Rat head.




I have so much to tell you


But I don't have time right now. Here are the things I want to write about.

1. The Rat and the Car.
2. Indigo Children.
3. My Rain Gear.
4. The students and Mr. Gullible.
5.. The hatchet men/woman are coming.
6. Making meals for a month
7. Mr. F. Graduation from Boot camp.


My dad went to the Dr. yesterday. If the cancer does not come by the end of December he can stop chemo. Some of the Dr. told us before it is not if it comes back but when. I am worried about my dad getting the swine flu. As you know he loves to eat at buffets. All the kids and sick people touching the serving spoons, coughing and sneezing into the food. Yuck. He went to one the other night all by himself. He said it was not as much fun going all by yourself. Not only that they raised the price to &12.50 for seniors. He was disappointed the food was not that good. He is going to stick to the Chinese one from now on.



Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Recycle


Tomorrow Student 1 is suppose to start riding the bus with the joker again. I am sure they are going to be friends now. Right.

When I got to the classroom this morning, my teacher and student 1 were doing target practice on the Wii. Brilliant! Lets teach student #1 how to have a better aim.

My dear friend donated 8 bags of plastic bottles to our classroom today. We make $52.00 !!! Thank you dear friend (even though she does not read my blog)
There is some real interesting people at the recycling place. The smell at this recycling yard is rancid.
A man pulled up in a 1976 Winnebago with fake wood siding while we where standing in lane to recycle our bottles. He opened the door and a few bagels fell out, he says to us standing in line Do they pay good here? I said better then some of the others, he picked up a cheese bagel off the floor of his motor-home took a bite and said , thank you. He took out 6 two liter soda bottles and got in line.
I always wonder about the lady who works there. Like how old is she? I bet she is 25 but she looks 40. She had a beautiful smile. I wonder what her life story is? Why does she work there? She has worked at the recycle place for over 10 years now. Who knows maybe it is her business. You can see by her leather tan skin she has had a hard life. She has one pierced ear from top to bottom. Today she had on diamonds. I guess diamonds are a girls best friend even if the girl works at the recycling yard. How can she stand the smell of stale beer, soda and whatever else? I wonder if she is afraid of the rats that run around that nasty place. Is she a drug addict? Today I looked at her arms to see if I could see any tracks but they where covered with long sleeve a blue dickie work shirt. She had green dickie work pants and work boots on. Her black hair was tied back into a pony tail. How does she put up with people like the guy in the Winnebago or worse? I wonder about her childhood.

Tonight I took my dad grocery shopping. He looks so frail. His clothes are hanging off of him. My Idaho friend called my dad today. That made him happy. My dad had made her a gift. I am lucky to have good friends even when they live so far away.

I will let you know how tomorrow goes with Student 1 and the Joker.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Am I Waterproof?

Here are my new waterproof boots. I will let you know if they work because I will be standing and walking in the rain for the first part of the day. They are made by Keen. Yes, I am still whining.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

A Story with a Moral at the Manor


The Manor is where we had our meetings and ate our meals. There was a paved lighted path from the Stable where I was staying to the Manor. How symbolic.

The Manor had two dining rooms. One large dining hall and a breakfast nook. The breakfast nook was also used for a dining room. The nook had a table for 8. So it was like a private room for having a meal with your friends. It was first come first serve in both rooms. So on Saturday night I got up to the Manor early so I could save a spot in the private dining room for my dear friend and I.

Martha and Jackie were sitting across from me and my dear friend. Jackie kept worrying about my little fishy who lives here at home. She wondered who was feeding the fishy. Jackie thought that maybe I was being neglectful to the fishy, because he was not going to be fed for 1 day and a half. I have to admit I felt guilty. I told her in the wild fish do not eat for weeks and they are still ok. I am glad I am not a fish. Anyways I am off on a tangent.

Martha told us a story during dinner. Martha said all her life she would have nightmares about critters being in the toilet. The nightmares started when she was little. So Martha has made a point to look in the toilet bowl before she sits down on any toilet. Martha said in the middle of the night she ALWAYS turns on the light and looks before she sits down. One night a few years ago she was so tired from a hectic day of work and kids. She went to bed and was in a deep sleep when darn it, she had to get up to go the the bathroom. She decided she was going to be brave because she was just to tired to turn on the light and to look into the bowl. She sat down ...... she felt something poking her butt. At first she thought she was still sleeping. But something was poking her. She got up to turn on the lighted to look into the toilet bowl, low and behold there was a baby possum swimming around. She screamed EEEEKKKKK and ran out of the bathroom. She thought she was going to have a heart attack. Her X jumped out of bed to see what was going on. Martha could hardly spit out the words to tell him her biggest fear had come true. There was a critter in the toilet. Martha did not only tell the story she acted it out. I was laughing so hard I thought my side was going to split. Anyways her X "took care" of the baby possum. Martha was not sure what he did to get rid of it. She didn't care. The moral of the story, is always ALWAYS look before you sit.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Retreat The Manor


I want to tell you about our retreat on Merlot Lane in the town of Wisteria. As you drive down this heavily wooded lane, huge homes that look like castles pop up in the mist of the trees. My first thought is always how do you keep a house that big clean? From what I hear many women think bigger is better (no pun intended.) Not me. I would love to live in the forest. I would want a small house. Two bedrooms and a wrap around porch. I would have a rocking chair on the front porch. I could set outside and their would be peace. Ok ok, I need to come back to reality. At the end of Merlot lane sits an old victorian Manor.

Wow. This place is very cool I thought as we drove into the parking lot. We go to the veranda where check in was. They tell my dear friend and I that we will be staying in the "lodge" down the hill. Not in the Manor. My dear friend and I looked at each other in a confused state, ok we will drive down the hill. When we arrived, we see this green building. Come to find out the "lodge" was a converted horse stable. A paddock to be more precise. The "lodge" held a total of 20 people. My dear friend and I were in stall 2...I mean room 2. Our room had a half door. Over the door there was some old dark blue dusty curtains that had straight pins holding them together so you had some privacy. Our stall had two twin beds with bedspreads that had cowboy hats on them, an old whiteish dusty fan, one old brown bedside table with a drawer, and a lamp that you could extend from the wall towards one bed or the other. The room had a dowel on one wall with some wire hangers if you wanted to hang your stuff up. The window was the slider kind. Ours went up and down. The screen to the window was on a roller. Our stall was in the middle of the down stairs "lodge" rooms. On our left had side was the tack room to our right was another stall. Each room had 2 beds. I like the tack room because it had a full door on it.

A cross from our stall there was a sitting area with a tv and some old beat up sofas with southwestern print on them. So if I was standing in my stall and I looked across the sitting area I could see the bathrooms. We had 2 bathrooms for downstairs. They came complete with a sink, a toilet, and a shower. The paddock had a kitchen. It had a sink, coffee makers and a refrigerator stocked with soda. Next to the kitchen was a large room with a ping pong table in it. Upstairs the ceilings where low and people kept bumping their heads. The 4 rooms upstairs had 14 beds and 2 bathrooms. I was as happy as a little lark. Some of the other ladies were not as happy as I was to be staying in a stable.

Maybe those women forgot that Jesus laid in the manger. A manger is a troff. A troff is usually by a stable. Therefore, Jesus liked us who stayed in the stable better then those staying in the frilly Manor. JUST KIDDING.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Retreat Questions


This weekend I went to a "retreat" with the women of my former church. It was so much fun. Some of my Christian sisters found out about my blog so if any of you are reading this - Hi Sister, welcome to my blog.

Question 1
One sister asked "why would anyone care about what you write about?" You know the more I thought about it, the more I realized she was right. Why would you care? I was not insulted or hurt by that comment. I thought it was a good question. Because I like to write. I don't care if you don't want to read my blog, you don't have to. Many Christians (and maybe non Christians) like to journal. The only difference is my journal is public. I went on to tell my sister that I like to write because writing is my therapy. I don't have to pay $100.oo every time I want to get something off my chest. Some of you must be thinking well why don't you and the Lord just work things out? Why tell the whole world? If I want to keep a secret I don't write it on my blog.

Question #2
Why do "they" (whoever "they" is) call it a Retreat? Our "retreat" was in an upscales suburban
setting. What is the definition of retreat? To move back or withdrawal. Humm. Yes we were at the back of a road lined with multi million dollar houses. We went into withdrawals when we had to leave the beautiful neighborhood of Merlot Lane. Heck, I went to Starbucks while I was on this retreat. I won the taste challenge. Many people went shopping. The town of Wisteria is about 20 minutes from where I live if traffic is moving. You can go to Wisteria and go shopping anytime. Maybe some people never thought about driving all the way to Wisteria to go shopping. I thought you were suppose to withdraw from everyday life and spend some time with your friends and God when you were at a retreat. I have to say I did see some women actually reading their bible or hanging out with their sisters or both. Just not me. The truth is I wanted to stay in bed and relax all day. Do you think I could really do that? No way. It didn't happen.

Question 3
Why is it that some women don't like to flush?

That is all the questions I have for now. I have a huge amount of things to say about the retreat. I will tell you more this coming week. Now I am going to bed.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Mountain Momma Birthday

Happy Birthday day to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Mountain Momma,
YOUR 40, Happy Birthday to you!

I hope you and your Mt. Man have a great party this weekend!!

Don't forget to post some of the good stuff on YouTube!

I hope that teen age kid of yours wins the game for you!

Someday I will get to the Mountains. I will really.