bountifulplate

A snow day when you're a kid means something much different when you become a parent. When you are little, a snow day means staying in your pajamas later than normal, playing board games, building a snowman, relaxing and drinking hot chocolate. Back when I was growing up in Maryland, an inch or two of snow would either shut the schools down or delay the opening of school by an hour or two.  I can distinctly remember when I missed an entire week of school because of a big snowstorm :)  When I first moved to the Midwest over 11 years ago, it took me a little time to adjust to the fact that things don't come to a grinding halt with the first flake of snow. Yesterday, both Dominic's elementary school and Lauren's high school were both closed because of the snow and ice.  Lauren and I both had morning appointments scheduled (orthodontist for her, cardiologist for me) and the hubby was taking our minivan in to the shop to get the oil changed and then was going to work....

I thought I was so cool when I finally learned to text with some confidence.  Now, the "in" thing seems to be Twitter. I read in my local paper recently about a company that is hiring people based solely on how they respond to Twitter "tweets." Instead of a traditional face-to-face interview, it's called a "Twitterview."  Pinterest and Instagram are pretty popular too.  Digital cameras make it so easy to take pictures and see it instantly. I'm sure many of my friends around my age can remember taking the film out of a camera and having to mail it away in an envelope and then having to wait at least one week for the pictures to come back.  I thought I had mastered our digital camera, but a few months ago Lauren said, "do you know you have the setting on wide angle?" Social media has definitely changed the way we communicate with each other.  Back when I was Lauren's age, I called my friends on the telephone. I used to envy friends that...

Last Tuesday started out like a relatively normal day, with the exception of having Lauren home from school recovering from a stomach bug.  I had several errands to run and told Lauren I would have my cell phone on in case she needed me for any reason.  My first errand was going to the library.  I needed to run to the restroom quickly while I was there because I had four other errands to run before going back home.  I entered the restroom and I'm pretty sure there was a little kid next to me in the stall.  Just as I got into my stall and locked the door, they ran out of the restroom and turned off the lights! The restroom was pitch black and even though I knew where the exit door was, I couldn't seem to find the handle or the light switch.  After about 30 seconds, I was able to find the door.  I get claustrophobic sometimes, so those 30 seconds felt like 30 hours.  I pulled myself together and checked out some books and left.  My next three e...

A common characteristic among autistic children and adults is impaired social interaction.  Back in August of last year, I wrote about Dominic saying "I love you" to me for the first time ever.  It has taken him this long to say it again.  This past weekend, he wrote this:   An hour or so later he said, "I love mommy!"  Wow, it was all I could do to stop myself from crying tears of joy.  Some autistic children and adults never talk, much less show such affection.  We are still so happy for every new word and/or sentence that he says.  Dominic is an affectionate guy - he loves to give hugs and kisses. No one is a stranger to Dominic!  There was a little girl in his class for a few years that has since moved away.  He STILL talks about her.  I think she was Dominic's first "girlfriend."  I asked him if he was talking and thinking about her more because it was close to Valentine's Day and he said, "yes."  I guess they sh...

I am a big "rule" person, always have been.  I feel that rules are there for a reason.  Back when I would pick up Lauren at her elementary school, I would watch the same mom pull past everyone else (including me) and park about two feet from the stop sign that was right in front of the entrance to the school.  I would always just kind of scratch my head and wonder why she didn't think the rules applied to her. Everyone else waited along the curb in the line of cars, why shouldn't she?? For some reason, did she feel "entitled" to getting that parking spot? To me, I just thought it was rude!! While watching Lance Armstrong admit to taking certain drugs to help him be a better cyclist, it made me think about that mom at Lauren's school.  They both kind of felt that the rules didn't apply to them. How about when people park in a handicapped parking spot, just because it's closer to a building? and they are not disabled? I personally believe that lear...

When we were cleaning out the in-laws house in Cleveland several years ago, we came across a lot of food in their basement.  They didn't have a lot of storage room in their kitchen, so a corner of their basement was the surplus area for food.  My father-in-law called it the "fruit bin." The hubby and I are of two different minds about food and expiration dates.  He thought since there were no expiration dates on a lot of the cans and boxes of food that it was fine.  I tried explaining to him that if it didn't have expiration dates, then it's because it was made so long ago they didn't put a date on!!  To make him happy, I called a few of the manufacturers and gave them the codes on the cans or boxes.  Most of the customer service reps I talked to said something like, "we don't suggest you eat that."  That was after they kind of giggled at me!!  I recently read an article in Cook's Illustrated magazine about canned food's "real" ...

Since February is National Heart Month, this particular post seems appropriate. For the most part (about 95%), I have accepted the fact that I have a heart condition. Five percent is still in denial.  In early December of 2012, I started experiencing some chest pain, shortness of breath and extreme fatigue.  This went on for about a week before I decided I better call the cardiologist's office and get advice. When I did finally make the call, they gave me an appointment within a few hours and also ordered an echocardiogram.  The doctor adjusted one of my medications permanently and another one temporarily. Once he did that, I lost ten pounds in one day - that's how much extra fluid I had in my system!! Yikes, no wonder I didn't feel well. It was a wake up call on several levels.  First of all, if something doesn't feel quite right, I need to call my doctor right away (not wait an entire week).  The cardiologist's nurse strongly recommended I do that in the futur...