'Tis the Season for Frost Heaves

I love frost heaves.

Frost heaves are the offspring of a marriage between dry cold spells and warmer melty spells. This type of weather-veerage creates issues with the roadbed under the asphalt and big ass bumps are thus temporarily born. It has something to do with the cycle of melting and freezing, the moisture keeps increasing due to the melting and the ice builds up due to the freezing and before you know it, you have a frost heave of wondrous proportions. Either it’s the dips which make your stomach drop into your pelvic region or it’s the rollercoaster variety bump where if you are going fast enough will make everything in your car levitate momentarily and your heart leap into your throat. My all-time favorite is going over several (of both types) in a row with a Dukes of Hazzard-like hill at the end and I know just the place.

I know frost heaves are not the best exercise for your car, but I cannot keep away from them. My job has me travel a lot and I’m always choosing the route that has the most heaves. The older roads are better, especially when the frost heave has been years in the making. It starts out relatively small the first year and if the road hasn’t been repaired or updated, by year three, that heave is huge when this time of year comes ‘round.

Don’t get me wrong, heaves are only temporary, which means they subside once the cold weather goes away. But the potential is always there. And once a frost heave has been started, it doesn’t go away unless it’s been eradicated by the foot-dragging Department of Transportation (the same department that likes to fill in potholes with fresh asphalt the day before it rains thus ensuring the potholes vomit up the asphalt, becoming bigger and deeper as a result).

Once I found this road that was entirely frost heaved from start to finish. God, what fun! But then after about the 3nd year, the community raised enough of a ruckus and it was scraped and re-paved. Bummer.

Each town posts little fluorescent signs that say “FROST HEAVE” on wooden stakes a couple hundred feet before the larger ones (the ones that have the potential to damage vehicles if speed is too fast) or clusters as a friendly warning. It’s also almost time for those signs that limit vehicle weights to start appearing. Apparently if heavy trucks drive over the heaves continually, it makes them worse.

Better! in my opinion.

Sunday: Farting Around - er - Experimenting with the DigCamera Again

I was playing with my digcamera again and out of numerous blurry and unsatisfactory shots, I did manage a few (see below) awesome ones that "just happened".

I love this one. It's got the sky (so blue), branches, trees, snow on roof, wires to house, sunshine, and my knuckle. So cool.

Saturday: Slumming with an Icicle

I brought an icicle in the house on Saturday and the only cat interested was Moomin. As you can tell, he had to take a bite out of it.

Don't you just love those paws? My be-mittened kitten!

If I Only Had a Brain... Oh, But I DO!

… and I have proof. Here it is!


Friday I went to get my MRIs done in the wonderful traileresque addition to the hospital. Before sliding me into the machine, they put the plastic tube in my arm in preparation for the IV and contrast part of the MRI (coz they weren’t injecting me right away) and taped the shit out of my arm so the tube would stay in place. Apparently I “have good veins”. Once in the machine, I almost froze my ass off (that would have been nice), so when they slid me out to inject me, I asked to be covered up because I was starting to shiver and one MUST. LAY. STILL. They were nice enough to do so and I spent the rest of the MRI time warm and worrying if I was going to be one of those people who experience the severe side effects of a radioactive injection. I guess not as I am not hospitalized and mobile. I did have a headache coz I didn’t have any breakfast before the procedure and the noise/vibrations on an empty stomach accompanied by a bundle of nerves created a humdinger that only went away once I had two Aleve and a Shamrock Shake from McD’s on my way to my friend J2’s house.

I played with TJ, my pseudonephew, until his naptime, basically it consisted of me picking him up and traveling around the house with him. So nice despite his boogery state, he had a cold he just came down with that night. He asked me to read him his bedtime stories and snuggled up in my lap and turned the pages chattering away in toddler gibberish in response to what I read. Awesome feeling, kids just know how to make one feel really loved. After he fell asleep, J2 and I made nachos for lunch and just maxed and relaxed. Here’s a picture of our feet. Mine are shoed and hers are socked.

Hi, my name is Ima Trainer, and you are?

Well, it's officially over for now.

I gave my 1.5 hour training on Autism 101 today.

Boy did the room get WARM and I was one schweatty girl when it was over.

I would have liked more ping-pong action, you know, more interaction from the people I was training. That helps me deliver my spiel in a more meaningful and humorous manner, but we work with what we get. I did make them laugh a couple times and some conversation on stereotypical behaviors was generated. Good stuff.

I hope they go back to their supervisor and request more time on the topics of Stereotypical Behaviors, Reinforcement, Communication, and Visual Strategies. That would be fun and way more rewarding for me as I would be "teaching" instead of "imparting".

So far the feedback was positive. And one constructive criticism was spot on and will be taken under serious advisement. You never know what's going to happen when you intro a new thing!

So now I'm free to get all worked up and nervous about tomorrow. MRIs and IV. Whoo Hoo! Sharp needles, veins, passing out, oh my! I'll try to remember my digcamera and see if they'll let me take a pic of the MRI of MY brain on the computer screen.

I won't be back so have a great weekend!

Pool Rules

Okay, I know I am a person who doesn’t have children so I haven’t had that “life changing” experience and “I don’t know how hard it is to be a parent in today’s world”.

True, but my background, training, experience, and “career” all involves working with children. True, I don’t go home from work to a “family and kids”, but I have worked and do work with them while the parents are at work.

And interacting with kiddos with Autism is a lot like “Super Nanny” boot camp only far more stringent.

Things I’ve learned:

Consistency is key. If you tell a child the consequence for their behavior, then you better be able to deliver that consequence no matter how ridiculous it is. And you’d better follow thru with it until it is complete. This teaches them that you mean what you say and they can trust the fact that you will follow thru with your words no matter what.

Say it once. If they don’t do it, then physically guide/prompt them to do it. Your words and voice are valuable tools and shouldn’t be over-used until you sound like the adults in Charlie Brown cartoons. This teaches them to LISTEN to you the first time and not keep plugging away to see when they’ll eventually get their way.

Offer choices, two of them. The choices may not be the things the children necessarily want to do, but they will learn to evaluate the choices in order to determine the least desirable choice and avoid it. This technique also gives children some “power” but it’s adult-directed power.

Immediacy is key as well. If the child is doing something inappropriate, stop the behavior immediately. The longer they engage in that behavior, the longer it will take them to “unlearn” it. If this means leaving the store before you’ve finished grocery shopping, so be it even if it’s a major inconvenience. Go later sans child or have the significant other do it on their way home.

Being proactive is a major component. If you know certain things or situations trigger a meltdown or inappropriate behaviors, tweak the environment to remove the triggers and the behaviors won’t occur or just don’t go there. Out of sight out of mind. Also, don’t offer what you can’t give or don’t have.

Tell them what you want them to do. If you keep saying "don't, stop, no, etc" then you are not letting them know what it is you want to them to do or how to behave or what your expectations are. Don't phrase directions as questions, then the child thinks they have a choice and they'll choose not to.

These are all things I’ve done with children with Autism (and believe me, typical children have nothing on their meltdowns, tantrums, aggressions, and extreme behavior) and these techniques work.

I’ve even taught my cats to sit when I say “sit”. And cats are like autistic children only with four feet, fur, and tails. They perseverate, have communication and social deficits, and repetitive limited interests.

Can you tell I'm training a bunch of people tomorrow on this very topic?

You! Out of the Gene Pool - NOW!

I was reading my mother’s blog, Wednesday’s Child (see side for links), where she was talking about child-directed child-rearing and how frustrating it is to see it in action.

I’m a teacher and I am firmly in the “adult-directed/teacher-directed” camp. Yes, children need to learn autonomy, independence, problem-solving, and how to rely on themselves, but their growing up time CANNOT consist of them being in charge. Guidance is good.

I channel surf and catch shows like “Wife Swap” and “Super Nanny” and end up circling back like a vulture because the train wreck is too mesmerizing to stay away from. The children’s aggressions and extreme behavior are hard to watch. Watching the parents is even harder because they have let the situation become out of control.

I moonlighted as an employee in a pottery painting place. I loved helping the adults but God help me when a parent came in with small children. I knew it was going to be a nightmare – fragile breakables, non-edible paint, water, and pointy-ended paintbrushes were the makings of disasters.

One day a woman sauntered in with her 2 year old ringletted girl and a 5ish year old English prep school looking boy. His name was Ethan. I know this because she said his name 50 million times in half an hour. I don’t know the girl’s name because she was ignored until the very end of the fiasco of an outing. Ethan was asking his mother if he could do “????” repeatedly and she repeatedly said “Ethan, no/Ethan, I said no/No, Ethan/Ethan, Mommy said no” in a soft weak voice.

All the while Ethan had occupied his mother with his inappropriate behavior and perseverative requests for “????”, the 2 year old was calmly painting her fingers, hands, wrists, and forearms with red glaze, the color that is definitely not the one to ingest. She did an amazingly thorough job; there wasn’t an ounce of pink skin showing.

Finally the mother, after 20 or so minutes (yes, the girl had been painting the table, the dish, and herself for 20 minutes), “Well, all right” in a breathy tone of voice to Ethan.

What did Ethan learn? He learned if he just keeps plugging away, he’ll eventually get his way. Sooner or later, he’s going to put two and two together and learn aggressions are an effective short cut. He also learned “women are weak”.

Then the woman noticed the 2 year old (what did the girl learn? that she could basically do anything coz no one was paying the least amount of attention to her). Unholy chaos ensued and I gave her directions and the key to the downstairs bathroom upon request. She left the boy upstairs with me.

With me.

No asking me and no saying anything to him about being “good while I’m gone”.

He looked at me and I promptly gave him the “stare” which not only immobilized him like a snake does their small furry prey until his mother and sister came back but also let him know that I don't put up with that shit. They left.

I had been working with children with Autism for a year by then (pottery painting = 2nd job) and I just watched horrified as the mother did everything my training said you were not to do if you wanted to decrease or eliminate inappropriate behaviors.

Also, my seven years of preschool experience taught me the value of a well-placed firm “no” accompanied by the “stare”. Loss of privileges works too.

This woman had no clue she was creating two monsters. Did she not have parenting skills, couldn't she see what she was doing, was it “easier” for her to just give way, were they just trophy children for oblivious yuppies, or was she just plain stupid? I have no idea. My gut tells me she was one of those parents who believe “you must let a child be a child, set no limits, they will find them themselves”.

Yeah, right.

Why didn’t I step in?
1) I was a stranger.
2) I didn’t have the right.
3) I couldn’t say anything or WAY too much would have come out thus getting me fired.

I like my current job, I can say stuff coz they ask me for it.

Quick Brain Update.

I went to see the doctor this AM as he needed further documentation in order for the MRIs to go thru. They've been approved. They? you ask. Yes, I am going to get a non-contrast and a contrast MRI in the same appointment. Yes, this involves an IV, for the whole procedure, 45 minutes or so. I am not thrilled by any means. Oh, and what they want to look at... is an "abnormality, an abnormal resonance", in the middle of my brain by the base of the skull. No further details than that and that was translated into layman's terms by the doctor. So I'm scheduled to go this Friday AM, first thing.

Oh, I also brought my "headache log stardate something or other" and the doctor asked me, after reviewing it and finding that 4-6 of them a month is the average, if I wanted to take a pill a day to prevent any headaches from happening. I said I was leery of that only because Aleve makes them go away. If the Aleve didn't do that, then I might consider a headache prevention pill.

I'll let you know how Friday goes. I'll even bring the digcamera and take a pic if they will let me.

What I Did for Valentine's Day

1) Woke up late.

2) Stayed in my PJs all day.

3) Finished a book and started a new one.

4) Napped with the cats around lunchtime.

5) Had a late lunch of favorite food.

6) Read some more.

7) Watched TV.

8) Made my parents' Valentines while watching said TV.

9) Debated shoveling after LOST.

10) Put off shoveling and went to bed.

This morning I spent 2.5 hours digging my way out. At the end of the driveway, the plowed snow was up to my boobies. Talk about a good time. Now I'm exhausted and have a killer headache, but I made it to work!

The two pictures are views of my library from the Chair of Death.

Buttons, Stampin', and Tags! Oh My!

So this is what I made my friends and parents for Valentine's Day. Once I got started, I couldn't stop and I stayed up way too late Monday nite finishing these up. I had a lot of fun figuring out the detailing, especially on my parents'. Theirs are the last two in the series. The lighting sucks coz I didn't take them in the daylight.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Headlines

… for today's edition:

Crafty Valentine Gifts: Get Hooked, Stay Up Late, Frustrate Cats in Search of Laps. Details to Come

New Windows Helping Ease Fuel Bill Creates Much Excitement in BudgetLand Ltd.

Getting Out of Bed is Not Getting Any Easier

Productive Activities Found and Implemented During Feline Breakfast Result in Getting to Work on Time

Pajama Bottoms: Can They Be Worn to Work and Pass as Regular Pants? Real-Life Studies Show They Can

Wind Chill Factor Plays Havoc on Recess; Kids Confined Inside Wreak Their Own

Monetary Bonus Received Acknowledging Professional Working Standards Did Not Slip During 3 Consecutive Maternity Leaves

Assorted Munchkins Arrive Unexpectedly and Provide Much Needed Sustenance at Staff Meeting


… for tomorrow's edition:

Maine Meteorologists Predict Major Snowstorm; Take With Grain of Salt

People Crawl Out of Woodwork to Stock Up on Basics

Who Will You “Donner Party”? Know Your Emergency Plan!

Peep-Hole Drivers Advised to Stay Off the Roads; Keep Your Stupidity At Home Where It Belongs

Romantics May Have to Delay Their Conspicuous Consumption and Sickening Public Love Fests

Quiz: Guess What Slambo is Going to Do if There’s No Getting to Work? (Hint: It Won’t Take You Three!)

Brainless Beginning To The Week

I really wanted to start the week off by writing something witty and interesting but all I seem to come up with is drivel. I’ve started three posts with different topics and ended up backspacing each one.

I guess this is a sign that I wouldn’t be one of those novelists that pump out best-sellers every year. I can’t even come up with a daily subject to write about. Well, I do come up with stuff but it’s either TMI or “unfinished”.

*****Lots of time passes…*****

Well, for your information, I just backspaced 3 more topics. Screw this. I’m going to read some news.

In the meantime, I’ll try to figure out a way to corral my writing so that I can have things to post and discourse about. At least I have a large vocabulary going for me…

And now I've been FORCED to transfer to the new Blogger! I've had some choice vocabulary words for this occurence!

Being Blissful on the Weekend!

Cats have THE life, don't they?

Sleepy Times on the Slambo Lap...

Or as it should be titled - Why Must You Constantly Take Pictures Of Us?




Coz I like to take and post gratuitous kitty pics! That's why, oh and it's good practice for me to learn how to use the digcamera.

Let Us Paws for Just a Moment...

sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY

As I am not a football watcher much less watcher of any sport other than channel surfing, I took the opportunity to spend my Sunday doing laundry which meant a slight cardio workout due to going up and down the stairs to load/unload and indulge in some OCD behavior by “checking” to make sure the washer water was actually going in the washer and not on my basement floor. Past experience of a blown water tube/pipe and water gushing into my basement for 45 minutes has me just a little post-traumatic and I feel compelled to “oversee” things in the basement as a result.

And overdosing on six straight hours of “The Closer”! Now that’s a good show. I love how quirky and eccentric the character of Brenda Johnson is and the fact that a hot FBI guy wants to spend time in her difficult company! The last show I watched had a comment that Brenda made that seemed to strike home. Brenda was explaining how her social skills go by the wayside when she is concentrating on being an excellent interrogator.

Made me think about myself. I’m a fun person to be around my friends tell me, but I’ve noticed my social skills are a bit lacking at times. Mostly when I’ve been by myself a lot and then I’m suddenly thrown into a social situation. I tend to make inappropriate comments, ask questions unrelated to the topic at hand, interrupt with my take coz if I don’t I will forget what I want to say by the time the other person has got around to making their point which I got 5 minutes ago, cracking jokes that are too complex or too 6yroldish or just on the cusp of being of being hurtful without meaning to be, engaging in body language that tells the other person I don’t want to finish listening to them, subtle multi-tasking, obvious multi-tasking, and get on a soapbox. Usually I try very hard to keep my mouth shut, but the “center of attention Leo” in me can get the best of me at the worst of times.

That’s not to say I’m rude and impolite out on my errands. If anything, I’m more socially appropriate with complete strangers in the grocery store than I am with my friends. I wait my turn, help the clueless little old lady out with reaching a product, answer questions, ask questions after saying “excuse me”, and just generally spreading random sunshine.

But I have the not-too-admirable trait of not turning the other cheek or “letting go”. I tend to give back what I get and in an even lower way. That means if someone is rude to me, they get it back in spades and sharper. If someone brings an annoying kid to the movies, they’re gonna know how I feel. If they cut in line, I will be the one to recommend that they go to the back of the line as it would be best for them to do so. If they are being unnecessarily high maintenance for a low maintenance issue, I do sigh out loud, tap the counter, and stare at them unblinkingly. I’m not proud of this and it’s something I’m working on. Although I don’t remember to count to ten very often.

This is why I am not working in public relations or retail. The customer is NOT always right and I can’t help but let them know this. I let a customer know she’d crossed the line after the 10th time she’d thrown the jeans out of the dressing room and slammed the door afterwards. Needless to say, I spent the afternoon in the stock room. I also did a stint at the public library behind the front desk. My mother got to witness my lack of tolerance for patrons who racked up fines because they couldn’t be bothered to bring books back and viewed it as some sort of mass accumulation game. Think of all the books other patrons couldn’t access because of them. Hhhmmph!

I do much better in a job where I am a teacherly person and can be creative. Kind of like my current job.

Of course, any social skills improvement I make can be tossed out the window in a blink of an eye during PMS.

Which is this week.

Third: What Farting Around With a DigCamera Can Accomplish!

If you look carefully, you can see my name!

This one has a cat-cut-out in it.



Beaded purse.

Mosaic candle cover.

Black and white cow pattern.

Marilyn Monroe flower. Isn't this just fabu!?

More Marilyn... mmmmmmmm...

Blue plate.

One of my grandmother's art seen way up close.

Crinkled up blue foil in a lamp base.

I think this is Sharpie Marker covers, all colors.

My stove top.

I spent two hours hunting around the house for things to look at thru my marble kaleidescope held up really close to my lens and the camera was set on Macro. I had an amazing blast and will be experimenting some more soon!!!

Second: Doodle Face Time

I don't show as many pics of Doodle as I do the other cats because the flash on the camera whites her completely out and she moves too much to take her pic without the flash, but last night on the kitchen table, she was very still and allowed me to snap her without the flash. Isn't she just adorable? I think so.

First Off: Top Design Mini Review

Top Design = No Go
Reasons: No oomph and it doesn’t draw me in. I only watched the entire show to see the rooms and to say I actually gave the show a chance. It’s missing that “put it together from absolute scratch” factor that Top Chef and Project Runway have. With clothes and food, you create a finished product with a variety of materials. This show has people working with already finished products to create something, and they have access to a carpenter and a seamstress that actually do the “making parts” of their projects. This show about a curtailed creative process and it’s not so interesting to watch.

Todd Oldham = Tranked up Muppet
Thoughts: I like him as a designer but really… he should be seen and not heard. I almost turned the show off because he sounded so sing-songy, “rehearsed”, and frankly, extremely annoying. At least Heidi is natural and spontaneous-sounding even when she may be reading a hidden cue card or saying the same spiel every show. And what’s with the not sticking around to join the judging and critiquing? All he did was schmooze around the designers’ rooms and give “good jobs” and back pats. Is this memorable “reality showbiz”? I think not.

Interior Designers = Where the “F!!!” do they find these people?

Thoughts: Totally unsympathetic characters that I have absolutely interest in watching win or lose.

First Challenge + Team design = Two designers go home
Thoughts: You know they did this to shorten the length this show will be on the air! Nothing like tossing two deadweights out in one shot!

Michael = Loser Extraordinaire!
Reasons: What designer doesn’t actually “do” anything?
“I’ve seen shows where they show you how to paint.” – What? Like Trading Spaces? Dude, so not the same as actually painting.
“I’m a top designer in New York” – What? For who? Newly landed aliens? Which he does resemble. To Roswell he needs to go…
“Who can argue with a narcissistic ass?” Exactly, who could as that is exactly what he is!

Final words = Just channel surf over it.