bountifulplate

On our car trip back from the East Coast this summer, we stopped at a handful of gas stations to "fill up."  At one of the stations that we stopped at, as the hubby was getting ready to hop out and pump the gas, we heard something that sounded like someone was yelling at us.  I thought maybe it was somebody saying we cut them off at the pump :(  As it turned out, it was an attendant at the gas station asking us what kind of gas we wanted!  It was a full-service gas station :)  Wow, I don't even know the last time I saw one of those!!  Back in the day (I was born in 1963), that's they way all gas stations were, now most are self-serve. They remodeled the gas station that I frequent the most in town.  A few weeks ago when I was pumping gas into our van I took a look at the pump.  It had a screen attached to the pump with advertisements for the various products you could buy inside the gas station going across the screen. Pretty clever marketing - yo...

We went to the beach over the weekend.  When we told Dominic we were planning on going to the beach, he thought we were going to Jamaica.  That is where we went at Spring Break and I had to explain to him that we didn't need to go all the way down  there just to go to a beach :)  As soon as we put all of our stuff down on our beach blanket, he couldn't wait to take off his shoes, etc. and run right into the water.   The waves were relatively tame and Dominic had a great time body "surfing."  He got wiped out once, but quickly recovered.  A few times I tried to lift him up before a big wave came and he got kind of mad at me because he wanted  to ride the "wave."  Lauren, Dominic and I are big water "babies."  I grew up going to the beaches of the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  Near a beach or the water is still where I am the happiest.  Even now, that is my favorite kind of vacation.  This summer has most definitely been ...

This week was Lauren's first week of her junior year of high school.  She had to get her school pictures done on Monday.  I was thinking school pictures have come a pretty long way from the days when I would get my picture taken.  Usually it was one and done! Take one picture and the photographer would say, "next!"  Below is my senior picture.  As you can tell,  I was a big fan of perms. I really wish a friend would have handed me a comb and mirror before I got this picture taken. The only thing I see whenever I look at this picture is my bald spot right in the middle of my forehead. That, and my shiny lip gloss! Now, you can add all kinds of features when you're getting your pictures taken.  The most expensive package Lauren's school was offering was $58.  That doesn't include "extras" like a premium retouch for an additional $12 :)  You can even get the pictures on a CD! When Dominic first started school he had his pictures taken....

I got a "reminder" recently of how far Dominic has come and yet how far he has to go as far as communicating.  Last Thursday was his last day of summer school.  When he got off his bus in the early afternoon, he seemed okay, but as the afternoon wore on, he became extremely disoriented.  I could not get him to look at me when I called his name and when I asked him to turn on the microwave, even though I was telling him where the start button was he kept reaching above the button.  He has turned on the microwave numerous times, so the fact he couldn't do it on top of him being really disoriented really freaked me out.  I was thinking maybe he was having a mini-stroke. Yes, it was that scary :( The only other time he acted like this was on a Saturday morning a few years ago.  He woke up normally, but late morning, he started staggering around, collapsed and we called 911 and had an ambulance come because I thought he was having a seizure.  After some ...

Before I moved to the Midwest, I had never seen wasps build a nest in the ground.  About two or three years ago, the wasps built a nest in the ground of our front yard.  I needed to mow our lawn, so I figured running the mower over it would suck them all up or the noise would keep them in the ground until after I was done mowing.  Little did I know!! As soon as I got near it with the mower, a bunch of them flew out of the nest and started chasing me around the yard!!  I got stung about six times :(  This year, they decided to mess with me a little and build a nest in our backyard.  See the picture below. On Friday night, I squirted some wasp and hornet spray into the hole, thinking it would take care of the problem.  Well, no such luck.  I think the wasps invited all their buddies from neighboring yards to come visit the hole in our backyard on Saturday morning, on into the afternoon.  Mid-afternoon on Saturday, the kids and I were han...

This past Sunday, Dominic came up to me while I was sitting in the family room and said for the first time, "mommy, I love you!" followed by a hug.  It took everything in me not to start crying like a baby :)   Sure, he's been giving me tons of kisses lately, but him telling me he loved me, spontaneously, without me prompting him was a MAJOR milestone. Some parents of children with autism wait a lifetime to hear those words, some never hear those words.  I feel blessed I only had to wait eight years :)  I remember a friend of mine telling me that she had to "teach" her autistic daughter to hug.  Wow, Dominic for a long time has been a pretty affectionate type of guy.  I consider myself lucky that he does like to hug and kiss.  I think my heart would break in half  if he didn't want me to hug or kiss him. Dominic is still small enough to sit on my lap and cuddle. I know that won't last forever, and believe me, I am savoring every moment of tho...

I was thinking the other day about an old friend of Lauren's that she used to have frequent play dates with.  This little girl would run full blast through the rooms of our house.  When she would visit, I would have to gently remind her no running was allowed inside our house.  It was one of our "rules."  Maybe she was allowed to run at her own house and thought it was okay here.  Different house, different rules.  When you're a guest in another family's home, you follow that family's rules. In some families there is no set bedtime, others have very strict bedtimes. I think having a set bedtime for the school year is a good rule, kids crave routine. Some families only eat their meals at the kitchen table, others eat wherever!  A major rule when I was growing up was no television or radio could be on during mealtimes.  The hubby grew up in a household where the television or radio was always on!!  That took some getting used to when we would v...

Dominic started walking around saying, "shut up" to us a week or so ago.  We don't use that kind of language around here, so I was racking my brain trying to figure out where he would have heard it.  After listening to him read his favorite Thomas the Tank Engine book, I realized he got that phrase from one of the stories!!  Since he gets a reaction every time he says it, he thinks it's funny to say it.  He'll go around saying, "shut up" to all of us, smirk and then laugh.  I decided since he can read the Thomas book to himself, I better do something about it.  So, I took a pencil, crossed out "shut up" and put "be quiet." Lauren used to love the "Junie B. Jones" series of books when she was in elementary school.  It was written the way an elementary school girl spoke (not proper English).  I kept wanting to say the sentence the right way, but I guess that was the charm of the book.  I'm glad the hubby was the one that u...

It will be back to school soon for the kids.  Lauren goes back in about two weeks, Dominic's school starts up after Labor Day.   That means packing school lunches!! Just for fun, I started looking through the 1927 version of "Good Meals and How to Prepare Them, A Guide to Meal Planning, Cooking and Serving."  This page caught my eye: I especially like the first suggestion as a dessert for a high schooler.  What the heck is "Date Blanc-Mange in Cup???" I've never heard of that in my life!  Looking at the lunches for a child in elementary school,  Dominic would not be too impressed if I gave him a egg and celery sandwich or an egg and lettuce sandwich.  I'm guessing that would come back in his lunch uneaten. He is actually easy to pack for.  He likes any kind of leftover meat, cold, like chicken, pork, meatloaf, etc.  Lauren likes yogurt or a sandwich.  They both have their favorite "hot" lunches at their respective schools :) Gr...

Who remembers Julia Child?  I used to watch her on PBS (Public Television) and be amazed by some of the food she could make.  She would accidentally drop food on the floor and say something like, "I'll just pick it up later!!"  That would just crack me up :)  She was a trained chef, but had a wonderful sense of humor!  This month she would have turned 100 (she passed away in 2004).  I have loved to bake and cook from a young age and I think that's why I used to like watching her cooking shows when I was little.  She showed you didn't have to be a perfectionist and serious in the kitchen, but could still be a fantastic cook.  I read recently in the paper that her longtime publisher of her cookbooks, Alfred A. Knopf, is putting all kinds of social media information on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr.  The social media keyword is JC100, it stands for Julia Child's 100th :) I wonder what she would think of all the cooking shows on the Foo...

I started this blog a little over a year ago.  A few days ago, the page views hit 5000! Wow, I would have been ecstatic if one person looked at it and got some kind of comfort, a good chuckle or the feeling of, "oh, yeah, I've had that happen to me too!" Thank goodness for Lauren and her computer and photography expertise.  I didn't even know how to turn the camera on and take pictures before she showed me :)  Yes, that's how much I knew about operating our camera.  I love that I can write about whatever is on my mind.  Sometimes it's quite a bit!!  I try to keep things in perspective and not hop on my "soapbox" too much. Whether this is the first time reading my blog or if you have been following for awhile, I am sincerely grateful.  We all lead such busy lives, I appreciate that you have taken the time to spend a few minutes with me.  What I have come to realize at the ripe age of 49, is that nobody's life is perfect.  I try to see the glas...