Stimming on Saturday!

For those unfamiliar with autistic lingo, "stims" are stimulating behaviors, which are a common feature of ASD.  These can manifest in many ways.

 

My younger son likes to line things up.  He can literally do that all day long.  He likes to open and close doors and cabinets, fridge, oven, dishwasher, as well as kick same and pound walls.  We have a big hole in our laundry room door and a hole in the drywall in every room.  One of the kitchen cabinets finally broke off.  I've been trying to think of a creative, crafty way to make it look half decent, since redoing the entire kitchen isn't an option right now.  Even if we could afford it, he would just destroy the kitchen again anyway, and that would really suck.  Murphy's law, it's never the thing on its last legs they break - it's the new thing, like my new stove. :)  The past few weeks, it's been water - turning the kitchen faucet on and off and on and off and eventually filling cups and bowls with water that is subsequently dumped on the floor.

 

 

Right now my older son is looping the preview that "Barney is coming up next."  I don't know what's more annoying, the Barney preview looping or the actual Barney show. :) My husband is thankfully at work.  If he was here, the repetition would drive him IN-SANE! I have a much higher tolerance for annoying sounds.  Anti-depressants are a beautiful thing. :) He also likes to loop You Tube videos, most recently videos of the show outside Cinderella's castle at Disney World.  He found video of the exact same show we saw this summer.  Watching him re-live it again and again is actually kind of charming. :) Brings a little tear to my eye to know how magical that trip to Disney truly was for him. The Disney music goes through my head all day at work, "find your dream, find your dream..." He also sings the same phrases over and over.  This changes daily.  It isn't so bad because he has a very nice singing voice.  Well, not bad for me.  That sends my husband over the edge, too.

 

 

My youngest brother, who does not have autism, used to love to repeatedly loop videos on the VCR when he was the same age.  He told me years later when he was taking film-making classes at Columbia College in Chicago that this came in handy for film editing.  In class, they had to repeatedly watch video loops and listen to sound loops to detect subtle differences when editing material.  Maybe he has a future in film production?

 

 

Anyway, back to our day...right now we're looping, "here on sproutonline.com..." nope, just switched, now we're watching Chica on Sprout do a finger painting over and over...definitely spending some time outside later!

Archie's Market

The link below is to the website of the mom of a classmate of my sons.  She has been selling unique autism items for years and has recently launched her new website!! We’re so happy for her and hope you will all visit the site soon! Congratulations !!!!!!! J

 

http://www.ArchiesMarket.com/ is FINALLY Launched. (many years...blood, sweat & tears). Check it out & please pass on to your contacts. We are offering a discount to celebrate the launch.. Use Coupon Code: WelcomeAboard & save 20% on your purchase. We also have a "local pick-up" option to save on shipping costs. We can deliver items to your school/business too (within 15 miles from Oak Lawn/Evergreen Park). Check in often, many new & unique products for the holidays & even more exciting is our upcoming FORUM. A place to discuss current issues, share information or simply escape. Thank You & God Bless, Michele (Shelly)

Peeks Through the Window

Todd's thing this morning was turning on the kitchen sink, pouring water into cups and bowls and subsequently dumping the water onto the counters and floor.  On the up side, the kitchen is now quite clean.  While I was mopping, I had Todd go to his room.  He was mad, so repeatedly kicked the door to show his displeasure.  This door and wall kicking is a constant source of the police being called. 

 

When I finished mopping, I went to Todd's room to try to redirect him to stop kicking the door.  I saw our neighbor across the courtyard hanging out her window, on the phone and pointing at Todd's bedroom window.  I think she fancies herself a neurology expert.  My husband calls her Peeping Paula because she looks like Paula Deen, no offense to Paula, who I understand is a lovely woman.

 

I really wish my neighbors calling the police would make my kids stop having autism.  Is that what they think?  The police have magical powers to stop repetitive behaviors and stimming?  I wish they did.  Oh no, that's right, they call the police simply because I'm a bad mother and I could easily stop the kids from being autistic at any given time.  I wish I had those magical powers!

 

In the meantime, Sean peed on my bed and two of my pillows, of course, my expensive memory foam pillow was the one most soaked. Sean is consequently suspended from computer privileges as a result.  So now instead, he is playing with his trains and making a high pitched train whistle sound over and over.  At least Todd is in his room being quiet.  I caved and gave Todd a chewable melatonin.  I try to dole those out conservatively because I don't want him to build up a tolerance.  The dose he gets is pediatrician-approved, 2 tabs to go to sleep, 1 tab as a chill pill.  I usually love Dr. Oz, but the hubs and I were annoyed by a recent episode about melatonin, how bad it is.  Just think relaxing thoughts and you'll go to sleep!  While perhaps and probably there are many people out there who take it too much and give their children too much, sorry, it's been a Godsend in this household.

I just took a shower a few hours ago, but now I feel slimy and sticky.  I woke up with a sinus headache, now I can barely see.  Thank God for coffee.  This season in the Midwest has been terrible for hay fever.  I haven't had sinus pain like this in decades.

 

Yesterday afternoon, I had an awful headache.  I started to doze on the couch.  My husband insisted I go into the bedroom, but Todd just cried outside the door the entire time I was in there.  I just gave up and went back to my day.  In the future, I hope he just lets me be on the couch.

 

We have rehearsal at 2 this afternoon for Music Man.  Theatre has proven to be very good for Sean.  He's very musical and the structure of being in a play really helps him as far as behavior, social skills, focus.  I feel bad about leaving Todd at home, but he can't handle it at this point.  I hope someday he can in some capacity.  Older autistic children of other theatre friends have helped backstage, helped with raffle baskets, tickets. Thank the Lord for Dr. Theatre!  Better than any prescription or therapy we could ask for! 

Caffe Baci

This a chain with several locations in the downtown Chicago area and has been one of my favorites for about 15 years.  There is a location in the building where I currently work and I could seriously eat both breakfast and lunch here every day if my wallet and waistline could afford it.

 

The breakfast menu has the usuals: omelettes, bacon, sausage, sweets.  My favorite is the veggie fusion: egg whites, veggies and low cal cheese.  You can substitute fruit salad for the side of potatoes if you’re feeling extra guilty (or not) that day.  The yogurt, granola and fruit parfait is a old standby or just fresh fruit salad in a cup.

 

For lunch, there are a ton of sides available.  You can order three sides as an entrée.  The side salads include fruit salad, tuna, chicken, couscous, pasta, vegetables and bean salads.  There are lettuce-based salads, too.  Their Caesar is a favorite of mine.  The sandwiches are some of the best in the city, in my opinion.  My two favorites are the JoJo Special and the Classico.  The JoJo Special has prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, artichokes, basil and tomatoes.  The Classico is filled with Italian meats: salami, mortadella, capicola with provolone, tomatoes and giardiniera.  All the sandwiches are excellent.  The individual pizzas are baked to order.

 

I’ve ordered catering from here for various office events in the past.  The food is always consistent with the vegetable lasagna as a stand-out.

 

There are daily specials.  The specials are not always Italian, but always good.  Sometimes there’s a Thai special, or Spanish or Mexican.  There’s also a pasta special, pizza special, two soups of the day (the pasta fagioli is my personal fave) and a ½ sandwich and soup option.  The soup and ½ sandwich special is worth every penny, as the soup is usually so filling, I eat the sandwich for another meal and get two meals for the price of one.

 

For dessert, there are cookies, tiramisu, dessert bars and the best lemon bars I have ever had.  There’s also gelato prepared in-house, usually about 4 or 5 different flavors available.  The coffee is very good, too, just the right combo of bitter and smooth.

 

Caffe Baci has been around for a long time.  The food and service have always been consistently high quality.  Once I wrote a review for a credit card points program and the only criticism I had was that the website didn’t state when they stop serving breakfast.  Within a day, I received a personal email from management telling me I was right and they would correct this.  That’s an example to me of how much they care about their business and a reflection of why they have survived all this time.

 

http://www.caffebaci.com/
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Ghosts at Circa 21 Dinner Playhouse

Circa 21 Dinner Playhouse is a dinner theatre in Rock Island, Illinois where I performed in a production of “Singin in the Rain” for about five months circa 1990.  The theatre is an old vaudeville house, beautiful, albeit somewhat rundown when I worked there.

 No sooner did the show open, I started hearing stories about the ghosts.  Years later, I tried to find information online to see if any of the said tragedies really happened, if these stories were local urban legends or rumors, etc.  I found absolutely nothing except one blurb from an Iowa paper mentioning the actors and waitstaff tell stories of ghosts.

 As a cast and crew, we experienced some “things.”  To this day, I can’t decide if these things were coincidence, our imagination or…?

This one is the story that most sounds like an urban legend.  Allegedly there was an engineer who worked in the building – the time frame was never mentioned to me.  Apparently he died in an explosion in the boiler room and his spirit is apparently angry about this.  Techies claimed to hear a voice in their ear telling them to “jump” when they were up on the catwalk or on ladders.  One evening, one of our leading ladies was complaining and complaining until suddenly a big blob of grease landed on her head.  Could have been a coincidence, but it shut her up and the rest of us found it quite funny.  I never personally experienced anything related to the creepy boiler room guy.

The female dancers’ dressing room was on the second floor and the costume shop was on the third floor, directly above us.  One night, I was lingering in the dressing room after everyone else left for the bar across the street.  I was almost at the end of a good book and wanted to finish it.  I heard the loveliest soprano voice singing upstairs.  I went up there to see who was singing.  Nobody was there, nor was there a recording or radio playing.  The next day, I talked to our costumer about what I had heard.  He said that legend had it that the costume shop used to be a dressing room in vaudeville days.  There was a fire and an actress/singer died up there.  He said he heard her all the time.  Were we both imagining that?  I don’t know, honestly.

The balcony of the theater was closed.  It wasn’t safe and at the time, the theater didn’t have the money to renovate it.  One night, while tapping in “Broadway Rhythm,” I looked up at the balcony and saw a woman in a long dress with a Gibson girl hairdo sitting in the balcony, smiling and enjoying the performance.  Several other dancers saw the same thing.  We were later told that was the third-floor soprano who died in the fire.  Were the locals playing a practical joke on us?  Maybe, but I don’t know.

 Ghost stories are fun to hear and tell.  I’m open to all possibilities while being skeptical at the same time.  The imagination is a powerful thing.  That said, I always had the creeps in that theater and I was relieved to not have to go  back there once the show closed. J

 

 

Bayside Market, Miami

We had some time between checkout time at our hotel (Madarin Oriental on Brickell Key, can't repeat enough how much I recommend that hotel) and our flight.  We drove around Miami, went past the Bayside Market and decided to kill some time there.  http://www.baysidemarketplace.com/  There's also a beautiful outdoor walkway with a lovely view of the Bay.

 

It is your typical big city mall with many of the shops you would find at any mall in a major city (i.e., Bath & Body Works, Claire's, Disney Store, Perfumania, you get the idea.)  There are also many Miami-themed shops.

 

We had a frozen adult beverage at Sharkey's.  You can sit in the bar or in the mall area.  The mall seating area has a beautiful view of Biscayne Bay.  The frozen drinks come in a souvenir plastic cup.

 

Before heading to the airport, we stopped for lunch at Bubba Gump's.  http://www.bubbagump.com/ This is a chain restaurant found in many cities, but we had never visited Bubba Gump's, even though we have a location in Chicago.  We got a seafood sampler.  It was so tasty and the seafood was very fresh.  It came with several dipping sauces.  It was the perfect light meal before traveling home.

 

A local mall is a good place to kill time when traveling and I definitely recommend this one. :)

Rachael Ray's Look & Cook

I'm a long-time fan of Rachael Ray and own several of her cookbooks.  When this one was released, I didn't really have an interest - I figured I had enough of her recipes in my repertoire and didn't really like the idea of the step by step instruction pictures.  I'm confident enough in my cooking that I thought I didn't need that.

 

I received this cookbook as a gift.  I was pleasantly surprised.  A lot of good stuff.  Many new recipes I hadn't tried that weren't just slight spins on previous recipes she's written, not to mention the fact that my husband likes these new recipes.  I've written before, he is a tough person to cook for - very picky and specific with his likes and the things he doesn't like. 

 

The majority of this cookbook is devoted to the new recipes along with the corresponding photo instructions.  There is also a 30-minute meal section, a section of sides and starters, desserts, simple sauces and one of my favorite features of her tv show - bottom of the jar sauces.  The bottom of the jar sauces are practical and perfect for someone like me who likes to get every penny's worth out of the things I buy.  For instance - peanut butter.  There's some left at the bottom of the jar, not enough for a sandwich, but the remaining peanut butter can be turned into a Thai peanut sauce or dressing.  (Except the time I made Thai peanut dressing, clearly relabeled the jar "Thai peanut sauce" and my husband inadvertently dumped it on toast, splashing it all over the kitchen.:)  There are ideas for bottom of the jam or marmalade jar, mustard, you get the idea. It's a fun concept to get creative with on your own.  (Fun to me, anyway:)

 

My mother taught me how to cook.  I have many happy memories from days shared with her in the kitchen.  She always encouraged me to be creative.  I remember once I made "fruit soup" for my dad.  I must have gone heavy on the lemon juice judging by the way his face scrunched up when he tasted it.  My mom said, "It's wonderful, he loved it!" and quickly whisked me back to the kitchen. Rachael Ray was just starting to become popular when my mom died.  My mom was a huge Food Network fan and I often wonder what she would have thought of the shows I follow on the network today.  I think she would have liked Rachael.  Rachael's ingredients are accessible, there's rarely an item you can't find at any grocery store, the recipes are easy, tasty and quick, and often she teaches you a method, not just a recipe.  Once you learn a method, your imagination can take over and create many more recipes.  That was definitely my mom's style.  My older son, who is on the autism spectrum, has developed an interest in food preparation and with these easy recipes, there are plenty of steps he can help me with.  My boys also stray from their addiction to chicken nuggets to eat some of these recipes-mostly those involving chicken, but hey, it's a change of pace!

 

In summation, this is a cookbook I had no intention to buy that was bought for me and is now my current favorite go-to cookbook for dinner.  It is available on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Rachael-Rays-Look-Cook-Ray/dp/030759050X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348342921&sr=1-3&keywords=rachael+ray

 

or at the Food Network online store:  http://www.amazon.com/Rachael-Rays-Look-Cook-Ray/dp/030759050X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348342921&sr=1-3&keywords=rachael+ray