Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Pop Rocks and Joseph
Few words describe a part non verbal exchange. Spirit exchange
The staff at Joseph's group home arranged a candy hunt. I helped him find all the wrapped up shapes (ghosts, spiders, pumpkins) with his name tags. All the kiddos joined at the dining room table to tally their caches.
In Joseph's cache were four small packages of pop rocks. When I saw them, the devil came out in me. Joseph can be the king of sensory "what the f*(#?" And since he is like my little toy, always experiencing things in a new light and with a ready audience of staff and peers, I opened up a package.
"Joseph, these are Pop Rocks.. open up your hand and Ill give you some"
out came the hand, he licked them up.
I expected the face of a lifetime and the need to shake them off. Instead, he kept opening and closing his mouth, listening to how they sounded mouth opened, mouth closed. he listened to them in his hand. He put his mouth up to my ear so I could hear them.
Joseph picked up another package and slid his pointing finger along some writing on the package.
"This" Joseph said (meaning please read this)
"Taste the explosion" I read
He repeated with inflection and had me open another package.
All four packages were experienced with glee and excitement, many times exclaiming "Taste the Explosion" and letting me experiencing the popping by having me listen.
I don't know who had more fun between him, myself, staff and peers. Truly Joseph shows us all a new way of being truly alive.
The staff at Joseph's group home arranged a candy hunt. I helped him find all the wrapped up shapes (ghosts, spiders, pumpkins) with his name tags. All the kiddos joined at the dining room table to tally their caches.
In Joseph's cache were four small packages of pop rocks. When I saw them, the devil came out in me. Joseph can be the king of sensory "what the f*(#?" And since he is like my little toy, always experiencing things in a new light and with a ready audience of staff and peers, I opened up a package.
"Joseph, these are Pop Rocks.. open up your hand and Ill give you some"
out came the hand, he licked them up.
I expected the face of a lifetime and the need to shake them off. Instead, he kept opening and closing his mouth, listening to how they sounded mouth opened, mouth closed. he listened to them in his hand. He put his mouth up to my ear so I could hear them.
Joseph picked up another package and slid his pointing finger along some writing on the package.
"This" Joseph said (meaning please read this)
"Taste the explosion" I read
He repeated with inflection and had me open another package.
All four packages were experienced with glee and excitement, many times exclaiming "Taste the Explosion" and letting me experiencing the popping by having me listen.
I don't know who had more fun between him, myself, staff and peers. Truly Joseph shows us all a new way of being truly alive.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Newest Pic
Outside is complete! Alright, we need some soil, landscaping and plants. But I like it just fine for now. Not sure we could be itchier to get into our new home than we are. It looks like still another couple of weeks.
The time of day I took this photo is about 5pm. A nice time of day to cool off the place when the breeze can flow through open windows. SIGH.. I want it now.
Theres more to life than building a home
Hello to all.. With the help of Josephs group home he and I went to the beach on Saturday. I think Joseph couldnt have been better behaved. Even WITH the ducks (a particular source of excitement - normally he cannot help himself but to chase them into unsafe areas) He followed directions, didnt push limits. He and I discussed making a scrapbook and how we were "buddies in adventure". Of course this discussion amounts me talking and Joseph answering "yes" or "no". But I could tell when I hit something he liked. He enjoys any outing with his mom. And we like hanging out together. How wonderful to have a buddy. Sorry about the sideways cliffs. Ill fix that when I have my own computer back. Goodbye for now
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Is Bigger Better????
Life is complicated. Organizing is complicated. For one artist/special needs mom/gardening/yoga growing woman.. life is downright impossible to handle. Maybe Im not supposed to "handle" life. My feeble attempts had me carrying the large organizer to the right. It makes sense. Its not too small. You can fold papers in half from your own printer, punch holes, and you can take it with you. But its heavy.... it doesnt fit well into bags.
I bought a new one. a tiny one. I LOVE how light it is. How easy it is to fit into things.
Now I need a new 6 hole puncher to put papers in my new organizer. The address pages are so small, I can barely fit peoples addresses in them. I dont even know how I will manage to fit things into it that just folding a piece of paper in half. It fits pages only 3x6 inches!!!! WTF???
Maybe Im complaining too much. Maybe this is no big deal but I want the best of both worlds, just as I want in the rest of my life. The best of both worlds. Sigh.. Ill just keep writing addresses in my new little book. See you soon, Love Jeanette
The house has arrived
Hi Folks
The top pic is from the driveway, the bottom is the front of the house taken from the road. Hopefully the workers will get in tomorrow to finish the wooden shingles on the gables. As you can imagine, we are ready to move back in. But the house is not complete. No electricity, water, furnace, appliances.
Its coming along nicely. check the http://www.garden-path.blogspot.com/ for new pics on the garden.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Further adventures in the road to a new house
Here is the promised story of what happened to my mobile home after someone wanted it from FREECYCLE:
I wrote this sometime near July 28, edited Aug 14
The foundation and septic will be finished in the next couple of weeks. The house is supposed to arrive Aug 11.. then another 6 weeks of putting it together and right. Our biggest obstacle so far was getting that huge mobile home off the lot. I finally realized I could put it on freecycle, an internet forum for giving stuff away. It would have cost us $3000. to have it dismantled. And now that I see how much room is left on the property after digging the hole, the dirt piles, the rock piles the boulder piles, I definitely had to get it off the property. As apposed to leaving it and dismantling it ourselves.. (which of course never would happen with Jons motivation for home improvement).
So, last minute, a girl comes and sees the place, tells me she is using her stimulus check to have it moved. Its all the money she has. Jon and I have to pay for a welder come to the house to weld on the tongue to tow it with. $575.00 for that. Then the day of moving, the transporter needs a form from the town office saying our taxes are up to date. Go to the town office.. the state says that "up to date" means paid up until June 09!!! Another $700.00.
Apparently, AFTER she hired and paid him, she went to his office with the form from my town. He was then to take it to the Dept of Motor Vehicles for some sort of permit to transport it. On the walls of the office Patty saw tickets, and summons to court. She said it looked like he and his wife lived out of the office. It was full of crap. She immediately regretted going with the cheapest guy in the area. He said he would arrive at the site after a "transaction" went through on his bank and his trip to the DMV. She waited from 9am until 4pm when he finally showed up. We speculate he was using her money to get some previous inequity solved before he could even start legally hauling again.
The guy is a real looser.. she didnt know, I didnt know. He was cheap, she paid him in advance. A professional would hire flaggers to stop traffic when pulling out on 1A. A professional would have someone driving in front and behind to assure everything was ok.
Jon just happened to be driving back from the biggest tourist spot in our area (driving his big ol' UPS truck) at the time the home was hooked up. He pulled around the block and sat with the neighbor to say goodbye to our old home as it pulled away into the sunset. Nothing prepared him for what happened next.
Well, the hauler knocked out part of our fence, didnt pull wide enough on the major road and hit two boulders hiding behind brush, took off the end wall, and a sizeable corner of the house. Luckily a cop showed up and made him responsible for the accident and the damage. What a loser. Then he left the mobile home in the breakdown lane up the road along with the back wall and house corner on our road for a week. Patty is beside herself as that was the only money she had. Jon was worried about this coming back to get us, making us somehow responsible.
I wrote this sometime near July 28, edited Aug 14
The foundation and septic will be finished in the next couple of weeks. The house is supposed to arrive Aug 11.. then another 6 weeks of putting it together and right. Our biggest obstacle so far was getting that huge mobile home off the lot. I finally realized I could put it on freecycle, an internet forum for giving stuff away. It would have cost us $3000. to have it dismantled. And now that I see how much room is left on the property after digging the hole, the dirt piles, the rock piles the boulder piles, I definitely had to get it off the property. As apposed to leaving it and dismantling it ourselves.. (which of course never would happen with Jons motivation for home improvement).
So, last minute, a girl comes and sees the place, tells me she is using her stimulus check to have it moved. Its all the money she has. Jon and I have to pay for a welder come to the house to weld on the tongue to tow it with. $575.00 for that. Then the day of moving, the transporter needs a form from the town office saying our taxes are up to date. Go to the town office.. the state says that "up to date" means paid up until June 09!!! Another $700.00.
Apparently, AFTER she hired and paid him, she went to his office with the form from my town. He was then to take it to the Dept of Motor Vehicles for some sort of permit to transport it. On the walls of the office Patty saw tickets, and summons to court. She said it looked like he and his wife lived out of the office. It was full of crap. She immediately regretted going with the cheapest guy in the area. He said he would arrive at the site after a "transaction" went through on his bank and his trip to the DMV. She waited from 9am until 4pm when he finally showed up. We speculate he was using her money to get some previous inequity solved before he could even start legally hauling again.
The guy is a real looser.. she didnt know, I didnt know. He was cheap, she paid him in advance. A professional would hire flaggers to stop traffic when pulling out on 1A. A professional would have someone driving in front and behind to assure everything was ok.
Jon just happened to be driving back from the biggest tourist spot in our area (driving his big ol' UPS truck) at the time the home was hooked up. He pulled around the block and sat with the neighbor to say goodbye to our old home as it pulled away into the sunset. Nothing prepared him for what happened next.
Well, the hauler knocked out part of our fence, didnt pull wide enough on the major road and hit two boulders hiding behind brush, took off the end wall, and a sizeable corner of the house. Luckily a cop showed up and made him responsible for the accident and the damage. What a loser. Then he left the mobile home in the breakdown lane up the road along with the back wall and house corner on our road for a week. Patty is beside herself as that was the only money she had. Jon was worried about this coming back to get us, making us somehow responsible.
Further Note: It is August 17, and still the mobile home is in the breakdown lane on a busy hwy. Id like to know when DOT is going to make this man responsible for his accident.
Friday, June 27, 2008
This Home Free for the Taking
1988 14X78 Mobile Home. 3 Bedroom, 2 Bath. Needs some work, but great deal for someone starting out or need a workshop or something. You will need to move. Available July 12
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
The New Homestead
As it stands now, we may be placing an order for our modular home the 2nd week of June. It takes 6 weeks to build it at the factory. During that time, the contractors will be pouring our crawl space and building our septic system. More info to come!!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Its time to go to Mom's House - Joe's Artwork
Yesterday, Joseph was eating lunch at CAP (his group home) waiting for me to pick him up. This is what he drew on a napkin. The staff gave it to me as a keepsake. I think its just great.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
My otherworldly boy. He is a ghost. Sees the unseen, dances to music unheard, creates worlds in his mind which I cannot fathom.
He is me, and yet he is snatched away from me. I know the culprit and I refuse to make peace. But the pain of this turmoil blankets with a sluggish goo. I wallow in it unable to free my fragile wings to escape.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
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