Creating my future, one miracle at a time

Well, it was exhausting!  We spent most of it in the car.  —The rental car.  Shelby was already here, there were transportation problems, so we brought him home with us last night.  So he was here for breakfast, which he thought I was going to cook for him (ha).  But he found food and ate.

We took Thomas to class, and then Shelby and I went to look at a 1980 Cutlass Supreme.  It was grand!  Back when cars were still cars.  You could have put 4 people in the back seat, and they wouldn't have had to touch each other.  Bench seats in the front, gears on the column, it was just fabulous.  Shelby really  really wants me to buy it, but I'm not sure.  It's cool, and I just want it to drive when I don't have any other car, but I remember how hard it was to park my 1975 Chevrolet Caprice Classic, (I had it in college, early 80's) and in those days parking spaces were bigger than now.   We stopped at a gas station to get Coke and Dr. Pepper, and Shelby got peanuts and put them in the coke bottle.  It was a flashback to my past.  My dad did that too.

We dashed home to pick up Thomas's best friend, Matt R.  He's bowled with us before, and everybody just loves him.  By then it was time to pick Thomas up and get over to the bowling alley.  Shelby just fit right in with Thomas's Asperger's group.  It was a big group this time.  12 of the young adults, and 5 of us parents.  Then Cheeburger, Cheeburger, for heartattack on a plate burgers.  Thomas got his food early, and he and I had to leave while everyone else was waiting for food.  Leaving Matt & Shelby with the group,  Back to the restaurant, to take Matt home in time.  Back to UAH to get Thomas.  Finally home for a rest.  Or not.  Shelby was still keyed up and talkative.  He's high energy, that kid.

Saturday we tried to catch our breath from Friday.  Then Shelby wanted to go out for chinese buffet food.  I agreed, because I can actually afford to feed two giant teenage boys there.  My vet was there, and he knew about Shelby and came over and introduced himself and shook hands with him and Thomas.

After lunch we went to the thrift store to drop things over and Shelby found an old reel to reel projector from the 60's - 70's.

We also went to the KIA dealer to check out this buy a minivan get a Rio free.  Well, the van is grossly overpriced, and the little car has no airconditioning and no radio!  I told the sales boy that I was sure it was illegal to sell a car in AL without air.  Besides that, the boys couldn't even get IN the back seat!  Thomas squeezed into the driver's seat, but his legs were crunched up to the steering wheel.  He has to have legroom.  He's so tall that when he crashed the Versa, the airbag didn't even touch him, he was so far back.

I fed them spagetti for supper, and met Shelby's emergency foster mom to give him back.

I NEEDED Sunday to recover.  This is one unbelieveably high energy kid!  Really sweet, and eager to please, but horribly immature, and not well educated.  I'll comment on him more later.

My darling was gone for all of this, he left Friday AM to go to North Carolina to hang off of a cliff.

The Manic: 

1.    7 hours and 18 minutes until I get to watch Blood Price I on TV.  I like that I bought the iTunes versions, but they really only look good on the computer screen.  Going up to my TV size makes them not quite right. And there's that whole lack of closed captioning thing  And I will capture it on a DVD.

Manic 2.  Thomas retook the ACT today and finished the Math section! (his lowest score before because he ran out of time).  Now as long as he stayed the same or close in other subjects, his overall score should go up. One more point could mean thousands of dollars of scholarship money.  He's already been awarded UAH's second highest scholarship, and was one point away from the full tuition one.  Crossed fingers.

The Depressive:
I'm past the PMS.  Sounds like that should be above, no?  No.  The "M" is definitely worse than the Pre-M. 

At least I do NOT have a Migraine.  Maybe I shouldn't mention it...

The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed a standard citizenry, to put down dissent and originality.

And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or thinks anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformity up to the highest possible point.

A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are still young and tender; therein they are pressed into certain standard shapes and covered from head to heels with official rubber-stamps.

– H. L. Mencken

I don't want to start back to school. I want summer vacation to go on for another couple of months. Of course, weather-wise I'm about ready for fall (Summer and winter both have their charms, but spring and fall are my favorites). One of the trees in my backyard agrees. It is starting to let loose of a few of its leaves and let them 'fall'. We (the tree and I) would like it to be just a bit cooler, with a light breeze, and MUCH less humidity, but still vacation.

I've finally learned to appreciate the joy and "healthfulness" of just sitting under a tree. Not reading or writing or knitting (altho all of those things are also more pleasant done in the shade of a tree) but just sitting -- sometimes not even thinking -- just Being. I guess some would call it meditation; -- I'm not sure I'm that 'organized' about it. But is sure does help the day go better to take these little time-outs.