bountifulplate

I am one of those people that likes to have things planned out way in advance. I was already bugging the salespeople at OfficeMax during the summer when the 2014 big wall calendars would be available to buy! Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I ended up doing all of my Christmas shopping for my husband, Lauren and Dominic on December 23rd and 24th this year.  I don't remember doing it that late, EVER.  I am not a big shopper. One time, when my stepson was younger and he was visiting us, he told me he wanted to go to our local mall.  I was like, "why, did you forget something?"  He said he just wanted to walk around and not necessarily buy anything.  It kind of blew my mind. I only go shopping if I specifically need something, other than that, I don't really go out shopping unless it's for groceries.  On December 24th, I only had a few hours alone to myself to finish the shopping that didn't get done on the 23rd.  I decided to go to the Meijer, where...

If you asked Dominic what one of his favorite things to eat is, I can tell you with almost 100% certainty that pizza is at or near the top of his list.  Earlier last week, we ordered a couple of pizzas from our local pizza place.  After Dominic ate four pieces, we told him that was enough.  He refused to listen to us and ended up eating six pieces! That was the same as what Lauren and I ate together!  I had a feeling he would probably be paying the price later.  Well, sure enough he woke up about 11:15 p.m. and was whimpering.  He was in a bit of belly pain, not surprising given that he had eaten so much pizza for dinner.  I won't go into too much detail, but let's just say he felt better after he used the bathroom.  Thank goodness,  he was able to fall back asleep and was up raring to go the next morning.  I asked him a few times if he felt better and he said, "all better."  I called his teacher after he got on the bus and gave him...

The hubby and I were at a dinner party last week with three other couples, when the conversation turned to cell phones.  The host of the party was saying how you could get so much information off your cell phone, like checking messages, looking at Facebook, etc.  The hubby and I kind of looked at each other, because he doesn't even know how to text!  He'll receive texts once in a while, but he has no idea how to respond back.  I only text a few people and neither my phone or my husbands has the capability to do much more than making and receiving calls and texts.  During the whole conversation about cell phones, we just kind of sat there not contributing much. We were kind of like, "fish out of water." I was SO glad when all the couples starting talking about old television shows, which I know a bit more about.  When we were all trying to remember the name of the dog that was on the show, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir , one of the other women at this dinner party...

I went to a large department store in my local mall last Saturday to pick up a few items for the holidays.  As I was heading in towards the double doors, I saw three people deep in conversation coming out at the same time.  I was thinking with the double doors, maybe they would all single file out through the door on their right, so it would leave the door on my right free and clear so I could go inside the store.  Well, much to my amazement, all three of them barreled through, almost knocking me down and both doors promptly slammed in my face!  There was never a break in their conversation.  It got me to thinking, during the holidays does common courtesy fall by the wayside??  If someone tries to barge in front of you at the store and pay first, even though you've been waiting longer, do you say something to them? or do you just let it slide?  When I was at the grocery store a few days ago, an older lady and I were both heading to the express lane to ...

While the holidays are happy and joyful for most of us, it can also be painful and hard, especially if you have lost a loved one recently. My husband has lost both of his parents and has no siblings.  This time of the year is difficult for him. Dominic was just a baby when my father-in-law passed away, but he did get to know my mother-in-law pretty well.  This past Saturday, Dominic said several times, "Grandma in heaven."  It was SO HARD not to start crying.  What's interesting is that this is around the time she became very ill three years ago.  He's a very intuitive little guy.  My mother-in-law spent about two weeks in the hospital, before being transferred to hospice where she passed away less than a week later.  Dominic and Lauren both spent almost everyday visiting her during that time frame.  I asked Dominic on Saturday, "do you still miss her?" He said, "yes." Grief has no timetable, you can't say to yourself, "okay, now I...

Most of us spend a lot of time in our cars, going to work, taking the kids different places, etc. The following are things that I have observed the most that people do in their cars:  read a book/newspaper, smoke, put on make-up, eat, drink, talk on the phone, sleep, pick and/or blow their nose, change a dirty diaper and text.  The most unusual thing I have ever seen someone do in their car was in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart.  I watched a lady sit in the driver's seat, with the door open, brush her teeth, take a swig of water and then spit that water into the parking lot. It was kind of disgusting and someone else saw her do it and starting yelling at her. Since she was only parked about 50 feet from the main entrance, I couldn't figure out why she didn't just go and use the restroom inside the store.  My dad had an ironclad rule about no eating or drinking in the car growing up. Sometimes I wish I had that rule, especially when we bought our van over 12 years ago....

Earlier this year, the hubby showed me an article that he had read stating that there was a link between older fathers and their children having Autism.  My husband was genuinely upset and sad when he read this. He said something to me like, "I'm sorry if I caused Dominic's Autism." If you Google "causes of Autism" there are many things that will pop up such as genetic, environmental, and maternal age, just to name a few.  For many years, Autism was said to be blamed on "refrigerator moms."  The thinking was that if the mom was "cold" like a refrigerator, and lacked maternal "warmth," then that's why her child had Autism.  So sad for all of those moms that thought that. When you have a child with special needs it just doesn't affect the child, it affects everyone in the family.  Parents sometimes blame each other for their child's special needs.  I read something that said parents of special needs children have a hig...

From year to year, I tend to make the same cookies over and over every holiday season.  Guess you call that a cookie "rut."  I wanted to be different this year and "test" out some new cookie recipes.  Every year, the hubby has a cookie exchange at work right before Christmas and he always "volunteers" me to bake a few dozen. Some of the cookies that he brings back home from the cookie exchange are pretty darn amazing and unique. Since butter has been on sale, I decided to make shortbread.  My first attempt last week was okay, but not quite right.  I made some adjustments and tried again. I baked three dozen shortbread stick cookies right before Dominic came home from school this afternoon and the little stinker ate a bunch when my back was turned!! He's pretty sneaky :) There certainly is no shortage of taste testers in this house!!  I found a good recipe for chocolate pinwheels Monday night in the pile of old recipes that belonged to my mother-in-la...

How many times have you heard that saying, "beauty is only skin deep?" What exactly does that mean?  I watched the most amazing video that a friend had posted on her Facebook page back in June. It was about a fashion photographer who decided 15 years ago that he would start taking pictures of children and adults with genetic disorders. How many of us pass by someone that looks "different" from us and either look down, turn away or stare?  I asked Lauren recently to name a celebrity that she considered beautiful.  She said Jennifer Lawrence. She is an actress who is secure in herself and mature, both at the same time.  Who decides what makes someone beautiful, attractive or pretty? the media? Hollywood???  Many times, those pictures in magazines, on the Internet or in newspapers have been airbrushed or altered to barely resemble the original person.  Unfortunately, I have personally known more than one person that has struggled with anorexia and bulimia....

Last night, Lauren and I went for the fifth year in a row to see The Nutcracker .  It is put on by a local ballet company and since they change things from year to year, it's never the same.  I was remarking to her that next year hopefully we would be able to go together, but it's a possibly she might be spending Thanksgiving of 2014 with new friends from college.  Especially, since the furthest school she has been accepted to is over five hours away :)  I told her something like, "I have you now, so let's enjoy it." I spend time (more than I should) worrying about what the future holds. The realization that I have finally came to at the ripe old age of 50, is that when I do that, I kind of lose that precious time of  "living in the moment."  After multiple eye tests over the past few months, it's been pretty much determined that I have glaucoma.  That type of eye disease is a sneaky one, you basically don't know that you have it until you have l...

The hubby and I were discussing the other day how special education students were treated back when he and I were in school.  He remarked to me that in his time, they were "hidden away" from the rest of the students.  When I was in elementary school, I can remember seeing the kids in those classrooms pass by us in the hallway.  I don't ever recall seeing them in the lunchroom or playground.  I'm so glad that times have changed.  Even though Dominic is in a "self-contained" special education classroom, he does get to go to the art, gym and music classrooms.  He also gets to eat lunch in the school cafeteria.  He loves hot lunch on Thursday - pizza!! Given Dominic's abilities, he is able to be "mainstreamed" into the general education classroom for small amounts of time.  Every moment he is able to do that gives me so much hope for his future.  I absolutely love what Dominic's current teacher is doing.  He has started a peer-to-peer progra...

Dominic spelled this out (with no prompting from me) with his magnetic letters the other day on our fridge: When I saw this sentence, it got me to thinking, how do you know if you're doing a good "job" at being a mom?  Motherhood is an unpaid job, you don't get $5.00 from your family every time you complete a load of laundry, or wash a bunch of dirty dishes, do you?? If you make a terrific dinner, does your family leave a "tip" on the table? Probably not!  When you are a mom, you're basically "on-call" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. When you work for monetary compensation, unless you're the big boss, you most likely have a performance appraisal at a minimum, once a year.  This is where you're told what areas you're doing well in and areas that you may need to improve on.  There are plenty of people out there that like to dispense their own "appraisal" on how you're doing as a mom,  lik...

Before Lauren left for school today, she handed me a permission slip I needed to fill out for a school-related trip she is going on shortly before Thanksgiving.  One of the "rules" is that no electronic devices (such as an i-Pod, i-Pad, cell phone, etc.) are allowed.  Lauren was telling me that she is "plugged" in from the time she wakes up until the time she goes to bed.  The hubby and I both like our television shows.  He loves watching sports, I could watch the Food Network all day.  Dominic plays educational games on the i-Pad.  It got me to wondering, is our family just a little too plugged in? Could we actually go an entire day without using the computer? a cell phone? the television? other electronic devices??  I think social media is especially hard on today's tweens and teens.  If you're not tweeting, texting or posting your status updates, you feel like you're out of the "loop."  I like Twitter, but I mostly read other people's ...

Are you getting tired yet of looking at all the Halloween candy your kids got when they went out trick or treating?? Are you looking for a way to "recycle" it?? Well, look no further! The only thing additional you need to make this delicious chocolate candy bark is a bag of milk chocolate morsels to use as the base.  Yep, that's it! This was super duper easy to make. Here is all you have to do.  Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan with aluminum foil and lightly spray with non-stick spray.  Set aside.  Using whatever "snack" size candy bars you have on hand, chop into small pieces with a sharp knife on a cutting board or plate.  I used nine snack sized candy bars, plus a couple handfuls of mini M&M's I happened to have in my pantry.  Feel free to use as many or as few candy bars as you want. Set aside the chopped candy.  Melt a 11.5 ounce package of milk chocolate morsels (any brand) either in a small bowl in the microwave or in a ...

When you have a child that has special needs, even the smallest amount of progress they make can seem monumental.  On Sunday morning, Dominic put this message on our fridge. The money I invested in these plastic magnetic letters have more than paid for themselves many, many times.  I told Dominic the "menu" options and he decided he wanted two waffles.  I told him where they were and he got himself his own breakfast, even pouring the syrup!  Dominic literally was eating the entire day - he must be going through a growth spurt. He goes to religious education class on Sunday nights and as we were heading out the door, he said, "thirsty." I knew it would be a while until he could get a drink, so we turned around and he drank a quick glass of water.  We were a few minutes late to his class, but his teacher is very understanding, so it wasn't an issue.  Dominic has a favorite pair of pajamas that he wanted to wear to bed Sunday night.  As I...

Lauren just completed her first quarter of her senior year of high school.  She has known from a young age that she has wanted to go to college.  At one time, she wanted to go to a school in California, but has since decided that she doesn't want to be more than five hours away (one-way) from us.  Narrowing down the schools she wanted to apply to took a while. Once Lauren came up with her three top schools, then it was time to start working on the applications.  There is an application called "The Common Application" (Common App for short) that is used by several hundred colleges and universities.  Basically, you fill out all the information once and it is used in addition to the individual college's requirements. Two of the colleges Lauren wanted to apply to didn't use the Common App, but the third school did. When it came time to start filling out the applications, we did the easiest application first and went ahead and sent it to the school. We found out abou...

Even though Dominic is over nine years old, he just recently got 100% potty trained. What a long, difficult and stressful road that was for all of us in this house.  How many of you out there with typically developing children had a difficult time with the potty training? Did it take a few days, weeks, months? When you have a child with Autism, it can be a totally different experience and may take much, much longer. Dominic doesn't have any physical disabilities that would prevent him from being trained, so we knew he was capable of it.  In the past, whenever I would ask Dominic about using the potty, his response was always a resounding, "no!"   He was perfectly content to be sitting in a soiled diaper or a Pull-Up for hours.  Believe me, I got out tons of books from the library, spent hours on the computer researching the subject and asked parents of special needs children how they accomplished the toileting - nothing was helping.  I knew that him be...

One thing that I have tried to do with all three "kids" is to have them cook with me.  It's been a great way to connect with them individually and make something delicious at the same time!  Take a look at this old picture I found of my stepson and I making stuffed shells at my parent's house back in 1992! I'm surprised no feathers from the parakeet landed in our food :) Lauren is the master decorator for cakes - she decorated this yummy cake back in 2010: Dominic is a big help, especially now that he can read me the list of ingredients! I love the look of concentration on his face. My stepson came for a visit last weekend and since the hubby's birthday is coming up in early November, we decided to celebrate a little early. I asked the "kids" if they wanted to make a cake for their dad. All three of them said yes. When I told the hubby of our cake making plans, he remarked a few times, "oh, they don't have to!"  ...

At the very beginning of September, I gave myself and the rest of our family the challenge of becoming more "green." I'm happy to report that all members of our household are on board as far as recycling more.  We now fill the recycling container up to the top!  The hubby takes a yogurt every day to work and he now rinses out the container and brings it back home.  Instead of throwing out my "junk" mail that we get, I use the back of the envelopes to write my grocery shopping list.  Lauren used to take a bottled water in her lunch every day and even though we recycled the plastic, I knew there had to be an easier and more "green" way.  I bought a re-usable plastic cup on sale around the time she started school and she now fills that up with water here at home before she goes to school every morning. At Old Navy, of all places, I found the best re-usable salad container.  It was less than $5.00, and it has more than paid for itself, since Lauren likes t...

When you become a mom, don't you think it would be a great idea if you could also strap on a suit of armour to help you fight the Mommy "Wars?"  You know the "Wars" I'm talking about, the working moms vs. stay-at-home moms, the breastfeeding moms vs. the bottlefeeding moms.  A popular parenting magazine ( Parents ) put a question on their Facebook page this past Saturday asking for advice for a mom who had recently become a stay-at-home mom.  She was asking how stay-at-home moms get everything done. There were over 400 comments posted and while I didn't read every single one, I read enough to know there is still a very sharp divide between the two groups of women.  Several of the comments were pretty downright nasty and judgmental (on both sides).  In my over 17 years of being a stay-at-home mom, I've known working moms that would rather be home and stay-at-home moms that would rather be working!  As far as the breastfeeding vs. bottlefeeding debate,...

This was Lauren's first set of "wheels." I'm pretty sure it was a birthday present for her when she turned one.  If you can believe it, it is still almost good as new and Dominic now enjoys riding it!!  Wish I could say the road to Lauren getting her license to drive a different set of "wheels" was a smooth "ride."  Lauren got her learner's license pretty much as soon as she could where we live.  It took her over another two years to acquire her driver's license. I admit, about 90% of that had to do with me.  I was a bundle of anxiety right from the get go and I think I really stressed her out. I don't think she liked me gripping the side of the car or barking at her that she was too close to the curb.  Who would??  Early on, the hubby started taking her out and practicing with her. Some parents want their teens to get their driver's license, so they can help with getting their siblings around or getting themselves to school, et...

Fall is definitely my favorite season of the year where we live here in the Midwest.  It's not too cool and not too warm. You don't have to use the "air" either in the car or in the house and you don't have to worry about shoveling snow.  My favorite grocery store currently has their canned pumpkin on sale, so I'm stocking up, since I make my pumpkin muffins, year round (it's still Lauren's #1 favorite)! Last night at Dominic's music therapy session, I gave his teacher a few pumpkin muffins.  Later on, she told me they were "delicious" - I think she liked them :)  Maybe they'll become her favorite kind of muffin too! Fall also signals the beginning of apple picking season.  Apples are such a versatile fruit.  You can eat it as is, make into cobblers, pies, cakes, caramel apples - the ideas are endless.  Hmm, caramel apples ..... They are good, but boy are they messy!  How about if you took some caramels and some apples and baked ...

Before Dominic was ever diagnosed with Autism, the movie Rainman was one of my favorites. I found it fascinating that Dustin Hoffman's character (Raymond) had superior math and memory skills.  There is a scene in the movie Rainman when Tom Cruise's character (Charlie)  takes Dustin Hoffman's character (Raymond)  to see a doctor. When the nurse comes out she says, "he's artistic?"  Charlie says no, "he's Autistic."  When they go in to see the doctor he asks Raymond a bunch of questions, one of which is to solve some very complicated math problems.  He is able to answer them very easily. He then asks him how much a candy bar costs.  Raymond says $100.00. The doctor then asks him how much a car costs and he says $100.00.  One of the last questions the doctor asks Raymond is if he thinks he has Autism. He says, "I don't think so, definitely not!"  I watch Rainman from time-to-time and some of the behaviors that Raymond possesses Domi...

My hubby recently told me about a story he saw on his favorite morning news show.  It was about how paper coupons will become a thing of the past.  Excuse me??  I definitely 100% disagree with that!!  First of all, not everyone in this world wants to do digital coupons! I'm what you would call, ahem, STUBBORN , and I have unwillingly had to start doing some digital coupons, just because sometimes the deals are so good. Especially like these three items I got today at Kroger (they were Friday only downloads)! If I had to pay full price it would have cost me $8.08.  I have never bought these three items before, but since they were free, I'm giving them a "test" run!   Second of all, take a look at the coupons below that I got recently in the mail.  The first two coupons I got because I found a small peanut shell in a jar of peanut butter and I called the company to tell them about it.  Just taking a few minutes on the phone with the company yie...

This past Thursday afternoon, I was at a local restaurant with a close friend of mine.  We were kind of standing off to the side trying to look at the menu and decide what we wanted to order.  I was talking to my friend and rattling off some sandwiches that sounded good.  As I mentioned one in particular, a sourdough melt, I had a guy walk right past us and say something like, "that one is really good!"  I said, "okay, thanks!"  I then said to my friend, "I guess I must have been talking kind of loud, if that guy commented!"  I did end up ordering that sandwich and it was really good, so I guess that dude was right!  It got me to thinking, how many times have I overheard a person's conversation and felt the need to comment? Probably more times than I should have!  About three weeks ago, I was in my favorite grocery store and I overheard an older woman (I'm assuming she was the grandma) talking to the two little kids that she was pushing in the car...

I have written posts about library etiquette, parking lot etiquette and manners in general, but I feel that a post about shopping cart "etiquette" is something that also needs to be discussed!  Hold on tight, I'm hopping on top of the old soapbox.  First of all, if you take a shopping cart out of the store and into the parking lot, please return the cart to either the store or to the cart "corral." When you leave the cart in the parking lot, it creates havoc for others trying to park their cars in the lot, especially on a windy day, when the carts start having a mind of their own! If that is not possible, then please try and put it somewhere out of the way.  Second, if carts are at a premium, please don't take one that has a stroller attached.  There are lots of moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, etc. that bring children with them when they shop and they should get top priority for those type of carts.  Third, when you are shopping, especially in a grocery stor...

Back in late August, I heard of a story involving a child with special needs. It was about an anonymous note that was sent from "one pissed off mother" to a family who has a child with Autism.  The letter was filled with words that were offensive, hurtful and just plain mean.  Parts of it read, "I HATE people like you who believe, just because you have a special needs kid, you are entitled to special treatment!"  Another line, "go live in a trailer in the woods or something with your wild animal kid."  Wow, when I read that, it made me really sad, first of all that a mom could have that much disdain for a child (and his family) and secondly, to take the time to write all that nasty stuff down and then send it?  I find it even more sad to think that this is what the "pissed off mother" is teaching her own children - that it's okay to not have tolerance for others just because they look or act different. Well, I have a news flash f...

Earlier this week I was at my favorite grocery store going up and down the aisles, looking for good deals, and getting the items on my list. The time I usually go shopping is in the morning, during the week, so most of the other customers are stay-at-home moms like myself or senior citizens.  Well, this particular time, I noticed an elderly man in a motorized wheelchair trying to reach for something on a high shelf.  I went over and said, "sir, do you want me to get something off the shelf for you?"  He said, "no, I just had bariatric surgery and I have to do it myself!" Hmm, I don't know if I wanted to know quite that much about him, considering I had never met him before. I remember hesitating about 10 seconds and then I think I said, "cool!"  Looking back, maybe that wasn't the best response.   I almost was going to ask him how much weight he lost, but that didn't seem to be appropriate.  Maybe I should have said, "good for you or good ...

A few weeks before Easter of this year, I asked Lauren if she wanted a basket from the Easter Bunny.  She said that she did.  Even though I know she doesn't believe in him anymore, I think she likes getting the candy :)  When Dominic has lost teeth at school, his teacher sends them home in a baggie. I have never started the Tooth Fairy thing with him and probably won't at this point, given that he has already lost a bunch of teeth.  I read an article in the newspaper recently that said the average amount a kid gets for a lost tooth is $3.70!  If you can believe it, there is even a Tooth Fairy Calculator "app" that will give you an idea how much to give your child based on your age, income bracket and education level.  I find that fascinating.  Back in my day of losing teeth, I seem to recall getting a quarter or two.  My hubby told me that back when he was in second grade, one of the teachers told the entire class that there was no such thing as S...

If you have a child with Autism, you most likely have heard of the term "echolalia." For those of you who don't know the meaning of that word, according to the Autism Speaks website, it is the "repetition of words, phrases and intonations, or sounds of the speech of others."  Out of the many, many Autism websites out there, I have found theirs to be one of the best. Here is the link:  http://www.autismspeaks.org/ . When Dominic was just learning to talk he was the "king" of echolalia.  If we asked him a question like, "what do you want to drink - water or milk?" he would either repeat back part of the sentence or the last word in the sentence.  That is called "immediate echolalia."  Dominic has a remarkable memory.  He can recite entire passages of a book, movie or video that he has seen in it's entirety.  That is called "delayed echolalia" or "scripting" because he is repeating back something that...

Shortly before school started for Lauren, she and I spent an entire weekend doing a "deep" clean of her bedroom.  By the time we were done, we had filled up six bags to throw away.  Yikes!! I thought we were pretty good at recycling and not throwing so much trash away, but I guess I was wrong!!! The hubby even asked me yesterday as I was bagging up our kitchen trash, "didn't we just empty that recently??" I told him yes :(  My challenge for the month of September is to make our family  more "green."  Lauren is taking an art class this semester and if she donates some art items she'll get extra credit points.  To me that's a win-win.  A local charity comes through our neighborhood about once a month or so. They are scheduled to be in our neighborhood tomorrow, so I am spending the better part of today going through the kid's clothes and getting some boxes ready to donate.  If we have clothes that are full of holes and...

Back when I was a teenager, I had a major crush on the actor Parker Stevenson.  I had pictures of him all over my bedroom wall. I'm guessing that most of my pictures were clipped out of Tiger Beat!! Is that magazine even around anymore???  I can even remember writing a fan letter to Parker Stevenson and hoping so much that he would write me back or better yet show up at my house!  I think I must have watched that Brady Bunch episode too many times where Davy Jones of the Monkees showed up unannounced to see Marcia!!! These days so many celebrities have Twitter.  Some have over a million followers.  When I first got Twitter a few years back, I didn't understand how it worked, so I de-activated my account.  I re-activated my account a few weeks ago and figured it was time to give it another try, given that several people close to me think it's the best thing since sliced bread.  Three words - I LOVE TWITTER!!!!!!!!!  I really feel like I have...

I like to think of our household as our "nest." I have a tendency though, to want to be the "bird" in charge.  I have been working very hard, this summer in particular, in giving both of my baby "birds" more independence. For about the past week, I have been standing at the top of our driveway and letting Dominic go down and pick up the mail out of the mailbox.  It might not seem like a huge deal, but it is.  There was a time when he was younger, that he would run into the street full blast and not think anything of it! Yikes, that is certainly something I don't miss. Today, Dominic was telling me that he wanted to stay in his pajamas all day.  I told him I didn't think that was an option.  His "favorite" red shirt was in our bedroom with the rest of the clean laundry, so I told him to go up and find it.  I figured he would come down with the red shirt on, but pajama bottoms on the bottom.  Nope, he had found a pair of black shorts that a...

Bonnie was an older woman that I was friends with back when I lived on the East Coast. She had some eating disorders and was very, very thin.  Many of the other neighbors on our street really didn't talk to her because of the way she looked and acted.  She was extremely introverted. Bonnie didn't have a husband/significant other or any children. She had few friends on our street, basically myself and a neighbor I'll call "T."  Bonnie and I used to walk at a park near our neighborhood.  We walked for a few years and got to know each other pretty well and shared quite a bit.  One day when we were supposed to be getting together, she didn't show up.  I noticed that the windows were open at her house and given that she was so private, I decided to ask her through her window if everything was okay. She answered back that she was fine, so I took her at her word.  When another day or two went by and I still hadn't seen or heard from her, I alerted her neighbo...

While Dominic goes to his music therapy class there is an area where you can wait that has a few tables and chairs and is where I hang out.  A few weeks ago, I noticed there were four small children by themselves in that area.  At first, I thought they were with an older woman who was also sitting in that area.  Nope, they weren't with her.  The kids were pretty well behaved for a while and then they starting getting really loud.  When the littlest one fell on the ground and started crying, I asked the oldest child (she looked about Dominic's age, like 9 or so) where their parents were.  She said, "oh, my mom is upstairs."   The older woman and I were kind of watching this little girl take care of her three siblings.  She was entertaining them, taking them to the potty, etc.  The entire time that I was there, I never once saw a mom or dad come down to check on them.  I was thinking that it would probably be okay if she was watching ...

Two different "what would you have done" moments happened this week.  The first was while I was in the produce section of my favorite grocery store this past Tuesday.  I heard a man tell one of the clerks, "hey, I made a mess that needs to be cleaned up!"  Being the "Curious Georgette" that I am, I had to go investigate.  An older gentleman had spilled about 50 grape tomatoes all over the floor, covering about 6-8 feet in all directions.  The clerk looked over and said, "okay, I'll take care of it."  The man kept waiting for the clerk to come over and clean it up. When the clerk didn't immediately come over, he then squatted down and started picking up the tomatoes himself.  I think maybe he was afraid someone might step and/or slip on them.  I watched the man start picking them up and at first I wasn't going to do anything. I went over and said, "uh-oh" which I don't think he found very helpful. Then, I thought, if I sp...