Working on some new posts and debating whether to hit the publish button on some of the more controversial ones (religion! having a second baby! deep thoughts galore!).
In the mean time, I really could use your help. There was a PBR-themed art show and I was one of the artists who made something for it. Now everyone who made something for the show has been entered into a contest and the top three vote-getters win cash!
http://www.crowdtogether.com/HomeGrownDecaturPBaRtShow?sortby=1
Can you please go to the above link and vote for my bottle opener? It's the one with the silly pirate joke on it. Right now I'm in fourth place - I'm so close!
I'm saving up to take a Reiki class so I can help myself and my daughter, and the money will go directly to that. The class is in September and I'm really excited about it. She's responded very well to Reiki healing in the past and it would be wonderful if I could be the one to give it to her going forward.
Please and thank you!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Thrifted Jeans - July 20, 2012
As we get ready to head out for another step towards getting my daughter an AAC device (something I am over-the-moon excited about), I am writing this little update featuring the three pairs of jeans I thrifted on a quick run-in-and-out Goodwill trip with two friends.
This post, I'm trying something different by actually modeling the clothes rather than laying them out on the floor and snapping pictures. The good part of this exercise was that I learned that skinny jeans are cute rolled up and worn with heels...
All jeans at Goodwill are about $7 - a price that, honestly, makes me cringe now that I'm used to paying a lot less at independent thrift stores. However, the flipside to that is that Goodwill carries many many pairs of jeans. Racks upon racks. Styles, colors, and sizes galore. Often brand new or at least in superb condition. So for a larger selection of quality jeans, I guess I'm OK with paying a bit more. And the first pair below was actually the half-price color of the week, so these averaged out to closer to $6 each.
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| Half-price! These are So (Kohl's) - I have another pair of this brand's skinny jeans in my wardrobe already, but since they were half price I grabbed them. I rolled them up for the picture since they're on the long side and it turns out...I love this look! I plan to wear these often in the fall. |
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| New with tags Old Navy "Diva" jeans! These are also supposed to be skinny jeans but they're looser, obviously, than the above. And soft and comfy. They have some fake-distressing on them that I find silly but not distracting. |
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| Find of the day - possibly of the year, depending on how you look at it! These are PaperDenim&Cloth jeans, which apparently are higher-end designer jeans that also found their way to TJ Maxx at some point - so they were either $200 or $20 new, but either way I got a bargain. They are made in the USA, they're crazy crazy soft, and they're really just well made. The bottom edges were cut but I think that was done by the manufacturer on purpose, as they're not fraying. When I saw them, I wasn't sure if they'd fit but I was determined to try and...they were EXACTLY my size. And in a color that I never would have bought in the past. Breaking out of my clothing rut...that's me! (If you have a sharp eye, you'll notice a wee bit of clumsy Photoshop done in this picture...darn riding-up shirt...) |
Monday, July 16, 2012
Winners of the Purex Contest - July 16, 2012
Thanks for playing!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Weight Loss Update - July 13, 2012
On Friday, January 13, I wrote about my Weight Watchers/weight loss journey, and I promised an update in 6 months. Well hi, I didn't actually plan this, but it's EXACTLY 6 months later and I'm going to let you know how it's going.
In a nutshell, and to save you from having to read my blather if you don't have any interest in doing so, it is going extremely well.
This is a really long post that will be continued...after the jump!
In a nutshell, and to save you from having to read my blather if you don't have any interest in doing so, it is going extremely well.
This is a really long post that will be continued...after the jump!
Monday, July 9, 2012
CONTEST OVER: Win a free bottle of new Purex Triple Action detergent! - July 9, 2012
This contest is now closed. Thank you!
I love it when I get to offer my blog readers a contest - especially one that's as easy to win as this one.
THREE people will win a coupon for a free bottle of new Purex Triple Action detergent (a value of up to $6!).
It's super easy to enter - go to the Purex Let's Be Honest video page (http://www.purex.com/lets-be-honest) and watch the videos that are there. Then come back here and comment with which video is your favorite! (The videos are really cute. My favorite is Honest Moment #10 - Morning Person. Your response should look like that, with a number and a title.)
You can get one bonus entry (leave a separate comment) if you share the Let's Be Honest video page using the handy dandy buttons below each video (Like it, Tweet it, Pin it, whatever you want - you can do that once and then come here and tell me, with a link to it if possible).
Leave me a way to contact you in the comment if it's not going to be obvious to me how to do so.
I will choose the winners via random.org on July 16, 2012. You'll have 48 hours from when I email you saying you've won to send me your address - otherwise, I'll move on to another winner.
Easy peasy! Good luck!
Friday, July 6, 2012
Where does the time go? Let me tell you - July 6, 2012
My daughter turns five on Sunday. FIVE! That's a big one!
It's a common thing for people to say "Wow, where has the time gone?" when a child gets older, though.
"Wow, they grow up so fast!"
"Wow, just yesterday she was so little! They get so big, it's so sad."
And I hate that.
I'll tell you where the time has gone. It's gone to doctors and therapists and IEP meetings and pounds and pounds of paperwork.
When a kid turns five years old, most of the time there's a dramatic difference between how she acts now and how she was when she was five months old. In our case, that's not necessarily so. I mean, inside she's definitely the same as her five-year-old peers - there is no doubt about that. She reads, she understands, she communicates with us, she is quirky and funny and just so damn smart. But she can't walk, she can't talk. In some ways she's really not that much different - on the surface, it's definitely not that dramatic thing that other families may see.
I wish I could stop people from lamenting that she's getting older and start celebrating it. She's here! She's thriving! She makes progress every day! What will she be like at six? At ten? At 20? These things excite me!
Time does pass too quickly. I wish I could go back to when I didn't know my child had cerebral palsy and when I was just enjoying her babyhood, cheering on the milestones she was hitting (she hit them on time for months), and not worrying about whether the new specialist would be able to squeeze us in. But I am absolutely not sad about her turning five. I'm thrilled!
Let us all celebrate the children in our lives - the milestones they reach, the ages they turn - and enjoy every second, minute, hour we have with them, rather than looking back at how many of those have gone by, shall we?
It's a common thing for people to say "Wow, where has the time gone?" when a child gets older, though.
"Wow, they grow up so fast!"
"Wow, just yesterday she was so little! They get so big, it's so sad."
And I hate that.
I'll tell you where the time has gone. It's gone to doctors and therapists and IEP meetings and pounds and pounds of paperwork.
When a kid turns five years old, most of the time there's a dramatic difference between how she acts now and how she was when she was five months old. In our case, that's not necessarily so. I mean, inside she's definitely the same as her five-year-old peers - there is no doubt about that. She reads, she understands, she communicates with us, she is quirky and funny and just so damn smart. But she can't walk, she can't talk. In some ways she's really not that much different - on the surface, it's definitely not that dramatic thing that other families may see.
I wish I could stop people from lamenting that she's getting older and start celebrating it. She's here! She's thriving! She makes progress every day! What will she be like at six? At ten? At 20? These things excite me!
Time does pass too quickly. I wish I could go back to when I didn't know my child had cerebral palsy and when I was just enjoying her babyhood, cheering on the milestones she was hitting (she hit them on time for months), and not worrying about whether the new specialist would be able to squeeze us in. But I am absolutely not sad about her turning five. I'm thrilled!
Let us all celebrate the children in our lives - the milestones they reach, the ages they turn - and enjoy every second, minute, hour we have with them, rather than looking back at how many of those have gone by, shall we?
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Words have power - July 5, 2012
I used to read a website that was a collection of anecdotes of things medical professionals said to women. Negative, ignorant, inaccurate, or just plain unhelpful things. Within that website, there was a regular commenter who had an agenda and who pushed that agenda on every post, with every comment made, even if the post had nothing to do with that person's agenda.
So imagine my surprise when this person with such a passionate belief in something (a belief I do not share and that I find offensive, but we won't get into that part of it) turned around and used the R-word very casually in one of that person's thoughtful and amazing (ahem) comments.
I did what I do in this case - I link to http://www.r-word.org and I ask the offender to please rethink the use of that word, which I and many people I know find hurtful for various reasons that are, honestly, too obvious for me to even list. I figured that perhaps it was a safe place to make this request, as most people who read the website believe in rights and the importance of shared information and whatnot.
As the Internet goes, I did expect some backlash. I also didn't really mean to go back and see said backlash - I had already broken my "DON'T EVER READ THE COMMENTS" rule (the only way to get the backstory on the anecdotes posted is to read the comments, though, so I frequently read the comments on this site as it seemed different...) and my "NEVER EVER RESPOND TO STUPIDITY IN THE COMMENTS" rule (guilty). But I genuinely forgot and went looking for the backstory and...wow.
Let me assure you of a few things - words do, in fact, hurt. Words do, in fact, have power. I don't have to "let them" (implication: I'm a whiny crybaby) to know that some words are problematic. Racial slurs are problematic. Homophobic slurs are problematic. Anti-semitic slurs are problematic. And on and on and on. And I really don't care if someone you know with a developmental delay or other disability told you that it was totally fine to use whatever words you wished. That person does not speak for every person. That person does not speak for me. That argument is as flawed as any other "I have friends of [whatever persuasion] and therefore I am not racist, sexist, homophobic, and I am allowed to do what I want without offending anyone."
Interestingly, as my own comment was anonymous and pretty short and sweet, I left no indication of my reason for requesting that the offending word not be used. While you, blog reader, know that it hurts me because I have a child with a disability as well as friends with disabilities and friends with children with disabilities, anyone reading my comment would not know any of that. Those attacking me read that comment and seemed to assume that I myself was not disabled or even that I had no good reason to dislike the word other than to be a part of the ZOMG PC POLICE or whatever.
Happily, there were a few voices of reason that I saw before I stopped scrolling (I didn't read everything, I backed away and didn't go back again). I guess I just don't understand why one would be so proud to defend the use of a word that has taken on a derogatory meaning - whether it began that way or not, whether it is a proper medical term or not, whether some people don't mind it or not, whether you grew up saying it or not. Whatever. I politely requested that the user of the slur look into it further and reconsider its use. I was slammed for it.
So let me be clear. I grew up saying this word and other problematic words as slang. I slip up sometimes. I am learning every day. And I hope you will learn too. I hope that if someone asks you to be respectful of his or her beliefs, you will pause and instead of getting defensive, you will listen and you will think about it the next time you open your mouth.
I like the site "Yo, Is This Racist?" because the guy behind it is so funny and smart at the same time. Something he's noted over and over is that you have the RIGHT to say whatever words you want. Saying those words just makes you a racist. But go ahead and say them...I'll be over here, thinking about what you just said....
So imagine my surprise when this person with such a passionate belief in something (a belief I do not share and that I find offensive, but we won't get into that part of it) turned around and used the R-word very casually in one of that person's thoughtful and amazing (ahem) comments.
I did what I do in this case - I link to http://www.r-word.org and I ask the offender to please rethink the use of that word, which I and many people I know find hurtful for various reasons that are, honestly, too obvious for me to even list. I figured that perhaps it was a safe place to make this request, as most people who read the website believe in rights and the importance of shared information and whatnot.
As the Internet goes, I did expect some backlash. I also didn't really mean to go back and see said backlash - I had already broken my "DON'T EVER READ THE COMMENTS" rule (the only way to get the backstory on the anecdotes posted is to read the comments, though, so I frequently read the comments on this site as it seemed different...) and my "NEVER EVER RESPOND TO STUPIDITY IN THE COMMENTS" rule (guilty). But I genuinely forgot and went looking for the backstory and...wow.
Let me assure you of a few things - words do, in fact, hurt. Words do, in fact, have power. I don't have to "let them" (implication: I'm a whiny crybaby) to know that some words are problematic. Racial slurs are problematic. Homophobic slurs are problematic. Anti-semitic slurs are problematic. And on and on and on. And I really don't care if someone you know with a developmental delay or other disability told you that it was totally fine to use whatever words you wished. That person does not speak for every person. That person does not speak for me. That argument is as flawed as any other "I have friends of [whatever persuasion] and therefore I am not racist, sexist, homophobic, and I am allowed to do what I want without offending anyone."
Interestingly, as my own comment was anonymous and pretty short and sweet, I left no indication of my reason for requesting that the offending word not be used. While you, blog reader, know that it hurts me because I have a child with a disability as well as friends with disabilities and friends with children with disabilities, anyone reading my comment would not know any of that. Those attacking me read that comment and seemed to assume that I myself was not disabled or even that I had no good reason to dislike the word other than to be a part of the ZOMG PC POLICE or whatever.
Happily, there were a few voices of reason that I saw before I stopped scrolling (I didn't read everything, I backed away and didn't go back again). I guess I just don't understand why one would be so proud to defend the use of a word that has taken on a derogatory meaning - whether it began that way or not, whether it is a proper medical term or not, whether some people don't mind it or not, whether you grew up saying it or not. Whatever. I politely requested that the user of the slur look into it further and reconsider its use. I was slammed for it.
So let me be clear. I grew up saying this word and other problematic words as slang. I slip up sometimes. I am learning every day. And I hope you will learn too. I hope that if someone asks you to be respectful of his or her beliefs, you will pause and instead of getting defensive, you will listen and you will think about it the next time you open your mouth.
I like the site "Yo, Is This Racist?" because the guy behind it is so funny and smart at the same time. Something he's noted over and over is that you have the RIGHT to say whatever words you want. Saying those words just makes you a racist. But go ahead and say them...I'll be over here, thinking about what you just said....
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