Weekly Roll

 

I tell you what the help I am getting putting together this blog post is incredible. Picture above is Rhett helping me. I am typing this from Heather's Oasis.  

Linky Love

My Version of Spring Cleaning - Jen Hatmaker. This is excellent.  Read this!

Cousins by Blood - Totally sucked into this podcast and have been binge listening.

Got a chance to hear Jonathan Haidt speak to our book club. We read The Righteous Mind. It was toughie but interesting read. Book review to come. See pic below for my great zoom set up.

Classy paint can set up am I right?

Deep Thoughts

Annual State of Autism at Our House

April is Autism Acceptance Month. Here is my annual state of Autism at our house. My autistic son is an adult.  I write this his permission.

I have written a lot about autism awareness, but inclusiveness is what I seek not just for autistic people for all. Belonging shouldn't be some special club.  Human connection is important. When we remove barriers for disabled people, we are really removing barriers for all. 

We moved in the past year to New Mexico. This is a place low low on services for disabled people. We knew this before we moved. We live in quite a rural place.  The New Mexico model for disabled services relies on Natural Supports. I had never heard that phrase before I moved here. The people around you family is just supposed to support you and they provide very little in funding to help with that especially if you are at the higher end of functioning. All supports from the government come with many strings attached. I knew when we moved, I wanted to be less attached to government services because it demands a lot from caregivers and those receiving services in the form of red tape.  I like that their autism plate clearly states for autism month should be about - Acceptance, Understanding and Awareness.  

My son is doing well here.  He would like to work so that is a goal we will continue to work on. Meaningful work is important. He would also like to go back to school. My son has been teaching himself blender (3d modeling). He continues to receive SSI and has a case manager for his Medicaid that is pretty helpful and also named Heather. The weather here in New Mexico has been perfect for scootering more. He has route around our neighborhood that he does several times a day. We try to scooter one our local parks several times a week and once a week we take him to the local skatepark. 

Sunday Skate Park Church

 I have had this post written for a while now. In honor of Earth Day yesterday, I thought I would post.

The most unusual item we retrieved from 

the skate bowl.

I just call this church because it is something we do on Sunday.  We usually go to the skate park with my oldest son.  He does circles in the bowl and my husband, and I pick up trash. It started because there was trash in the bowl, and we needed to make it safe for my son.  It is also very boring to watch someone make circles in the skate bowl.  So, we expanded our area of clean up to the park.  We have TONGS!  There was a lady in my old neighborhood who would walk the whole hill with a trash bag and tongs.  She didn't do it for recognition. I think she wanted her walk to be productive.  I know us picking up the trash won't change the world. It just a small thing we can do.

One week we picked up SO many plastic caps. It was definitely over 30 caps.   I only comment on this because it seems like we go through phases where we pick up a certain item.  One week it was half full bottles or sauce packets.  

Janky Seed Set Up

Well I decided to do some seed starting. I am using Nonna's old folding clothes dryer for shelving and even some plastic cups to scale up the seedlings.  You don't need a fancy set up to start most seeds.

I am trying my dahlias in a pot. I have digging dogs so I thought a pot would be a better idea.

The Dahlia seeds are from floret. I planted some seeds and the pot and also have some seedlings I started earlier planted in the pot. 

Weekly Roll

Linky Love

Interview with Sun Flower Steve by Floret - I love Sunflower Steve. I hope to grow some sunflowers myself this growing season.

Street Librarian - I think I have posted about the radical street librarian in Baltimore. I follow her on Instagram Storybook Maze. I think what she is doing is amazing

 Inappropriate Thoughts

Blazer, Trail Blazers, that last game on Easter was a horrible rotten egg. It was like a tribute band without one original starter from the beginning of the season. What the heck!!  It is incredibly hard to be a Blazers fan. 

Deep Thoughts

The pecan trees just have started to bloom here. Jen Hatmaker's observation spoke to me.

What I read April

 I am linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy's Quick Lit.  Check out what everyone else is reading. It was a slow reading month for me. I am working on a fairly hard book club book but I am not ready to share yet. However, I did read one book all the way through.

The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch

I am a bit conflicted about this read. It was a quick read but at the beginning a bit confusing. The dolls are really creepy. She really describes these in detail so if dolls creep you out maybe not the book for you. I personally think the author could of have streamlined this story. There is a bit much going on - the fairy tales, the dolls, the characters in the past and present, the mystery, the revolution. However it was a quick read.

Oh, Happy Day!

Painting by Michele

Three of my favorite people have birthday's this week. They collectively are some of the most creative and talented people I know.  Legally I am prevented from showing photos of them - IYKYK 

Happy Happy Birthday

Beth, Michele, and Tyler!!!