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Tuesday August 1, 2000 …I
got up and took a walk this morning, I am going to try to do that every other
day for a week or two and then every day, I have to drive about a quarter mile
from the house so the dogs won’t follow me… I made it for an hour, and feel ok.
Christy had her tooth pulled, they have to knock her out so I have to be there
to drive her home. I took all the kids to William S Hart Park in Newhall, http://www.caohwy.com/w/wmhartcp.htm
It’s a fascinating place, most
people who go there have no idea who he was http://www.nwlink.com/~erick/silentera/hart/WHart.html
It was a working ranch when he owned it, some of the deer and Bison are
descendants of animals he brought there 70 years ago. It is a beautiful home…
anyway, I walked up the road to the house and back down again, I really paid
for the walk I had taken in the morning. The
Dental Surgeon’s office called and I went to get Christy, she was pretty groggy
but looked a lot better than she did the last time she had a tooth pulled,
about 10 years ago. Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved. -Victor Hugo- poet, novelist, and dramatist (1802-1885) Wednesday August 2, 2000 …Autumn
and I went to the new therapists, she has two now… Melbourne and Maude a PT and
an OT respectively. They are young and enthusiastic and seem to like Autumn so
I’m happy. They will be able to work together and team up on Autie… that’s a
good thing. The PT can concentrate on moving and stretching Autumn, while the
OT distracts her with teaching her some fine motor skills, eating, dressing,
etc. I
took Mike and his buddy Austin down to FunLand, I went out to CostCo and did
some grocery shopping. I
listened to some of the Republican Convention today… I miss the old days before
Primaries took all the suspense out of them. It’s just a long boring
commercial, a love-fest where they pat themselves on the back and do whatever
it takes not to make any waves. About the only interesting thing I heard was
Colin Powell saying he could work for whoever is in the Oval Office… He is a
class act… I wish he had run for office. I
heard an interesting description of G. Dubyah by a reporter that has known him
for a long time. He said that GW is a smart guy, well educated and a real
charmer when he wants to be. He can also be very aloof and cranky. He has
perfected the art of asking questions. The reporter said that George W. has
learned that the fastest way to convince someone he is smart is to take them
aside and ask them questions because everyone believes that only a
really smart person would ask them for advice. It’s true isn’t it… that’s a
pretty shrewd observation. He
also said that George is not introspective, he calls that sort of exercise a
waste of time, “psychobabble”. He has no interest in holding things up to the
light and examining them from all angles. He makes decisions and moves on. That
bothers me a lot. Having the ability to make decisions and accept
responsibility for them is an asset for a Quarterback or a Triage Nurse but I
want a President that can set his ego aside and make decisions and considering
all the facts, listening to advisors that know the subject, having advisors
that aren’t yes-men. I
don’t like Gush or Bore for president, I think that the only difference between
them is the color of their power ties, here’s an original site… http://www.billionairesforbushorgore.com/
I
found a series of errors in my genealogy database and stayed up till the wee hours
fixing it, I had done a merge with another database and it really messed things
up. Thursday August 3, 2000
…Christy
is finally feeling better today, I got a late start taking the kids out to get
their soccer gear, the stuff isn’t expensive but when your buying soccer shoes,
soccer socks soccer shin guards and soccer balls for three kids, (I’ll take
Mike out tomorrow) it gets a little pricey. We have to get school cloths pretty
soon too. We had lunch at Arby’s and made it home in time to turn around and
take Calie to soccer practice. Today just seemed to get away from me, I was
playing catch-up with myself all day. I
have to get some sleep, tomorrow will be twice as tedious. Friday August 4,
2000 Calie
Autumn and I went to Albertson’s to order Calie’s Birthday cake. She picked out
a Snickers cake… they are taste sorta bland but they look pretty… oh well, it’s
her birthday. Calie
and I took Autumn to PT/OT in Lancaster, the two young women working with her
are really cute, they have Autumn pretty convinced that she is just playing…
it’s fun to watch them work.
 Picture is of Aut and Melborne I
had set up a meeting with the Lisa. Lisa is in charge of managing treatment for
"B" and the rest of the kids in the Miramar Dorm (I think) she is very nice
and is very high on "B". Lisa added Kelly Meyer, "B"’s therapist to the
meeting, I had met her at one of the IEP’s. I also met Jan, his new teacher,
she mad a big deal about telling me how well "B" is doing in her class. We
made it clear that we are all on the same wavelength and that Christy and I are
part of the team that is trying to help him. We got “Target sheets” that we are
supposed to mark to record his behavior. When the meeting was over we went back
to the dorm and picked up his medicine and packed him some clothes. The
drive home was uneventful, another traffic jam in that stupid bottleneck called
Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara used to be a lovely town thirty years ago, now it
is a sprawling monster. The Freeway has three lanes going in and three lanes
going out but two, twisting, tree lined potholed lanes going through town The
freeway needs to be widened and resurfaced and the bushes need to be removed so
you can see more than 50 yards ahead. The highway is, if anything worse than it
was when I first saw it 38 years ago. Well, they did take out the stop-lights.
I imagine that the hardcore Ludites who make decisions in that bastion of
pretentious old regressionist has fought CalTrans tooth and nail to preserve
their historical heritage. We
got "B" Home for the weekend, we went to watch the boys practice soccer and
went home for Calie’s birthday party. By the time the boys were through with
practice it was too late to go to Chuck E. Cheese’s so we ordered Pizza and had
the party at home. I
went to bed early (for me) I was exhausted. Saturday August 5,
2000 …I
took Calie shopping because her birthday sort of got away from us… We bought
some toys and she picked out some clothes at Kids R Us… she is a happy camper.
At 1600 we took all the kids to Chuck E. Cheeses for a couple hours… I made it
home in time to see my first Pre season game on ESPN. It was a pretty good game
till the last quarter. We
have been adopted by a red headed woodpecker. (See above) The kids thought it
was trying to attack us but all it wants to do is land on out shoulders or on
our heads. He acts as though he has been tamed so I am a little fearful for his
longevity. He is really cute, he could develop into a pest eventually, but for
now he is sort of fun to have around, I hope the cats don’t get him. I read on
the Internet that they are an endangered species, http://dep.state.ct.us/burnatr/wildlife/factshts/rhwood.htm
at least they are endangered in Connecticut. Sunday August 6,
2000 …I took all the kids down for ice-cream at the 76 Station…at 1300 I took off with "B" to Golita… I got there at about 1520 and dropped off "B"… I turned around and crawled through Santa Barbara at about 5 MPH… I got home at 1945… I will not do that again… that is the worst traffic I have been in since I was in the Navy. "B" did very good on his visit. I was very pleased with his behavior, so was Christy. We had to remind him to shine Cindy on twice and other than that there were no other incidents. He and Christian and Mike played together without fighting they even slept out on the trampoline on Friday night… Saturday "B" slept on the floor in his room with the puppy … (Yes, he has a bed, he wanted to sleep on the floor) To give
pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer. -Mahatma
Gandhi
(1869-1948)
Monday, August 7 2000… I
took Autumn to therapy and Calie & Mike to Soccer Practice (That’s soccer
from 1515 to 1900… that’s a long time…I did a crossword puzzle and took a nap…
it’s a rough life) Other than that it was another laid-back day. Mike seems to be enjoying soccer, that’s a relief, I was concerned that he was going to wimp out. I am constantly looking for signs that he is going to slip into that teenage never-never land teenagers seem to gravitate to… Boys that have a positive ‘place’ (Self image, Identity… ?) in teenage society seem to get through it all with a lot less trauma. Those that fall into the angst trap and spend 5 years acting out some:
Melodrama
in their confused little minds have a
rough time snapping out of it. Those attitudes become an intellectual cop-out
route to alienation and drugs and other aberrant behaviors. I worry about a lot
of things, drugs, alcohol, sex, you name it. I hope I’m not going to go through
much of that crap with these kids. I’m too old to be put through that emotional
wringer again. I’m
tempted to get maudlin here… bad plan. Tuesday August 8,
2000 …Christy
had a Dentist appointment at 0900 so they could remove the stitches … Mokie had
soccer at 0930, Christian Soccer at 1530, Calie Dance at 1600, Cindy Dance at
1700, Christian’s soccer ends at 1730 and Calie gets out at 1800. Looks like
Tuesdays are going to be a little tiresome… Wednesday August 9, 2000 …I
took myself to Kaiser for Physical Therapy. We (The therapist and I) decided I
hadn’t torn up any of the surgery, that’s a relief, I had just strained some
muscles, she gave me some more exercises to do and sent me on my merry way… We
child-proofed our home 3 years ago but they're still getting in! Thursday August 10,
2000 …
Mokie had soccer in the morning. It was nice down there, no shade but it was
still cool enough to be comfortable. Calie had her soccer in the afternoon, it
was a lot hotter but there is plenty of shade from the trees that time of day.
I dropped Calie off at home. I
cleaned up a bit and went down to the ROF.
I was alone until 1800 when Jim Somsul came… We talked for quite a
while, I had never sat and talked to him before. We had never actually worked
together but our paths had crossed many times. He’s an interesting guy and we
talked for about an hour but when it became obvious that we were the only ones
that were going to make it we left… I heard from Jerri Posner that she showed
up at about 2020… sorry I missed her. Friday August
11, 2000 …
Christy took Autumn to therapy, we tried to find a special spoon for her but
had no luck. I
took the kids to the library when she got back. Cindy is still picking up
toddler books, she is old enough to read and understand books of a higher
caliber but they don’t interest her. I am very concerned about Cindy still… she
copes with the world by ignoring it. When she is rejected by her peers she just
doesn’t acknowledge it, she cries for a minute and then makes an excuse for
their behavior… “Their mom won’t let them come over”… “They have homework to do”…
I don’t really blame the kids, they are doing what I would do when I was 11 I
suppose… Cindy is difficult to deal with on almost every level… Saturday August 12,
2000 …I
woke up to help Christy get the kids ready for Church. Then I cleaned up as good
as I’m able and took off for Brinks Bash in Oceanside, normally I would go
around the back way through the Devore cut-off and head South but I heard on
the radio that there was a jack-knifed truck on Highway 138 blocking the whole
road so I took The Santa Ana Freeway… How bad could it be I said to my stupid
self. Real bad… It took almost four hours to go 148 miles. Four accidents, more
beach traffic, two construction sites. I was pretty wrung out by the time I got
there. On the way back I took Highway 138… 136 miles and it only took 2 hours
and 21 minutes. Well
Brinks Housewarming party was real nice, there were about 16 people, about what
I had expected, fewer than I had hoped for, but it is brutal drive and a few of
the folks who had committed earlier called because of complications. His house
is beautiful, the view is spectacular, the weather was cooler than here but
still quite warm. Sunday August
13, 2000 …Pretty
laid back day, yesterday was fun but it was a chore and I’m tired today. I took
the kids down for hamburgers and picked up Lumpy over at his friend Sean’s. Christy
went to the Kaiser because he leg hurts so bad she can barely hobble around, it
kept her up all night too. We were afraid of blood clots again. The Doc said
“Not yet, you have Inflammation of the veins. She got some pain pills and some
other stuff to relieve the inflammation. It
appears these Journal entries are getting shorter and shorter, I suspect that
it’s just that it’s summer vacation and the kids are home and staying up later…
It seems it is harder for me to concentrate and I am rambling more than usual.
I hope it’s just me being tired, I’d hate to think I am running out of things
to write about… There is a very fine line between "hobby" and
"mental illness."
Monday, August 14 2000 … I
took Autumn to Therapy, only half an hour today. When Christy told me it was
only a half an hour I assumed that it was because the therapist had prior
commitments. When I got there I just dropped Autumn off, when I picked her up I
discovered that it was because they felt that a full hour was beyond her
capabilities, she was uncooperative and cranky… I think that is a bunch of
crap. She had a few bad days at therapy west but most times I had to force her
to leave. The therapists a Therapy west were able to coerce her into a full
hours work, why not at CCS? When Autumn was cranky they changed activities or
just played with her, it happened on maybe 2 visits out of 8. Autumn is not
capable of motivating herself to work at Physical Therapy, she has to rely on
the therapist to provide the motivation. If she is totally uncooperative just
blow bubbles for her or push her on a swing… damn… I am beginning to wonder
what CCS feels their role in Autumn’s progress is. I think we need to have a
meeting with them to make sure we are all on the same wavelength. Tuesday August 15, 2000 …Christy
took autumn to a specialist in Pediatric Dentistry, they couldn’t do anything
for her because Autumn was totally uncooperative (They couldn’t even x-ray
her). The dentist was great, she said she has treated kids with Asthma,
Seizures and CP but never one with all three. The dentist is afraid that if
Autumn had a problem while she was under anesthetic it would be too long a wait
to get her help. She said that she needs to be treated at Children’s Hospital
where they can knock her out and do all the work at once… I am not looking
forward to that… her teeth need to be fixed ASAP or she will lose them… Christy
will be burning up the phone lines today. I
sent out an e-mail yesterday to a list of folks I used to work with telling
them about the housewarming party I went to on Saturday, I got several e-mails today
saying they couldn’t access the site where I had posted the pictures. I didn’t
realize they needed a password. So I hurriedly sent out an e-mail with the
password, but I sent it to the wrong list so a bunch of people are now looking
at a bunch of pictures of people they don’t know wondering why in the hell I
sent them that e-mail… what a Ditz… you
can tell a freshman, by
his silly, eager look. you
can tell a sophomore 'cause
he carries one less book. you
can tell a junior by
his fancy airs, and such. and you can tell a senior... but you can't tell him much! Wednesday August 16, 2000 …I
took Autumn to therapy, I had a long talk with Melbourne (Autumn’s O.T) and we
decided we could try to work Autumn for an hour… Autie was a trooper and did
about 50 minutes before she decided it was time to go on a “playtime” strike.
We took her out to the swing and let her play for a few minutes… Thursday August 17,
2000 … I
got a call from Maude (Autumn’s PT). She still thinks we need to work Autumn
less, I think she is wrong. Autumn has a pretty short attention span but she is
an enthusiastic player. The therapists at Therapy West had a series of
activities lined up for her and they were prepared to stop and just let her
explore. This is going to be a pain, I can’t afford to alienate them but I
can’t afford not to do battle either. I will try to convince them that it is
not incumbent on Autumn to make their jobs easier. Autumn has absolutely no
motivation to do anything but what she wants to do, they have to make that work
to their advantage… somehow. The way I see it, their job is to work with Autumn
for 1 hour twice a week… 2 hours out of 168… If it were up to me she would be
getting an hour a day 7 days a week. If Autumn isn’t provided an opportunity to
grow she will just regress. She needs to be pushed, cajoled, prodded and
pressed to do more. We have to challenge her and get her moving toward
inclusion into society… I feel an urgency that no one else seems to share
though. Friday August 18,
2000 …
It’s out Anniversary, we both forgot again…this is the third time… damn. Well,
it’s official; Christy has Phlebitis, Oh happy Day. She will be laid up for at
least a week. We heard from the State, they will be out to inspect the house
next Friday… Rats, Just what I need… We aren’t Fostering any Children but we
are still Foster Parents and to keep the license we need to get inspected… We
don’t need our license except that Christy likes to teach and she needs to be a
Licensed Foster Parent to qualify… as though the license somehow qualifies her.
I suppose it is expedient for them to make a few bureaucratic pointless rules
to make these decisions, lord forbid they would actually have to evaluate an
applicant to see if they were actually competent. Nope, “Are you an ambulatory
Foster Parent? OK, you have the job.” Mike
volunteered for Referee training on Monday and he has to go to be trained
tomorrow, 6 hours and same again on Sunday, going to cost me $35.00 but he said
he would pay me back. Saturday August 19,
2000 …I
got Mike to the Acton Community Center at 0800, he was supposed to be there
with some water, a pen, and a pad of paper. I handed him a pad of paper and a
pen before we left but he forgot it on the couch, I was going to got to the
Acton Market to get him a bottle of water anyway so I picked him up another pad
of paper and another pen, when I got back to the Community Center he came out
and said he wanted to go home……… I am about as disappointed as I have ever
been…… I can’t help but think this is a precursor of things to come… Apparently
he got in the room with all the other students, ranging from gray haired adults
to kids his age and got intimidated by them I guess. He has a hard time reading
and can’t write very well at all and I think he just panicked. I am not
disappointed by him, I am disappointed that I let myself get blindsided by my
expectations again. I am old enough to know better … I should be encouraged
that he even considered it. Just
after writing the previous paragraph Mikes coach called and said he should go
back because hardly anyone showed up. I talked to Mike and he went back down, I
checked on him at noon and he was doing well. I will pick him up ant 1700. The
Neighbor kids came over after I brought Mike home, I am not especially fond of
them, one in particular is a real smart-ass, he is only nine but he acts much
older, I suspect that he ia very intelligent. Mike
is dyslexic (for lack of a better word) he can read with difficulty and has a real
problem spelling he is very concerned about passing the test though… I will
have to do some motivating to have him go back tomorrow. I told him that I
couldn’t care less if he fails the test but I would care a whole lot if he
didn’t try. Sunday August 20,
2000 … I
forgot about Mikes Soccer Referee Certification Course today, Christy told me
“It’s almost eight o-clock” I was in bed watching Sunday Morning, waiting for
Dave Berry to come on, it was 0745 and Mike had to be in Agua Dulce at 0800… I
got him up and got dressed and flew the 10 or 12 miles to the Women’s Club in
Downtown Agua Dulce He got there at 0806… amazing what you can do when you’re
really upset with yourself. Christy went over there at noon to see if he was OK
but she couldn’t find him. I went back at about 1315 and he was OK, he appeared
to be sleeping at the front table. So I left… I went back to pick him up at
1700, and he was waiting… he took the test by himself and passed with one of
the higher scores… he was almost as proud of himself as I am. Speaking of proud Papa’s I imagine Tiger Woods dad is about to burst. I don’t usually watch golf but for the past three years I’ve been hooked on Tiger, that kid has more class and character than I have ever seen. I tried golf when I was a kid and discovered early on I don’t have the willpower to be consistent or the temperament to focus on the mechanics… I was never able to enjoy playing it. The PGA Championship was the most exciting round of golf I have ever seen. It sounds strange to say “exciting” and “golf” in the same sentence but Bob May and Tiger Woods had the most intense battle I have ever seen, like Ali and Frasier or Unser and Andretti or Agassi and Sampras… In the he last three holes of the tie-breaker they were like two boxers going out to the middle of the ring to settle a draw. It was the worst golf and the most intense drama I have ever seen. They had used up everything they had on the 18th hole and fought to a draw and had to go one more round… I hope you all saw it, it was an awesome test of talent, concentration, will and desire I have seen in a long time. It’s a shame one of them had to some in second. All I want to know is where the hell did Bob May come from. I heard some golf pundit on the radio say that Bob May is a “one hit wonder”… I don’t think so. He has a lot of poise and can fight back from adversity… In order to form an immaculate member of
a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep. Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Monday, August 21 2000… I
went out and bought a bunk bed for Cindy’s room so we can put Monica back in
there… sleeping in Calie’s room didn’t work out… I worked in Cindy’s room for
about 3 hours it was a wreck, Christy and I worked on her room off and on all
day, it still looks pretty bad but If you had seen how it looked when we
started you would be impressed …Calie
had soccer at 1500 and Mike had soccer at 1700 I got home at 1930… Tuesday August 22,
2000 …Soccer
(Mokie), Dance (Calie), Soccer (Christian), Dance (Cindy)… trying to get the
house cleaned with all these interruptions is a losing battle. I did manage to
get Calie and Autumn’s room in fair shape but trashed the living room in the
process. I will have to work outside tomorrow and Thursday I have to pick up
"B". Christy is teaching again starting tomorrow so our ability to get this
house shipshape before Friday when the inspector comes id hugely diminished… I
have screens to replace, safety locks to install…. The list seems endless,
every year we go through this and every year we go through hell and get it
done… it’s the silly stuff that gets me, like trashcans need lids, that makes
me crazy… if a kid has been injured in any way anywhere in California or the
world what ever was implicated as the cause of the accident will become part of
the inspection process… I
got a call from Adrienne Hinkle today, I have never met her but I talked to her
once before on the telephone when I called her to find out what was the status
of Sharon Ross. I had received a message that Sharon had been hospitalized for
some unknown ailment and her name had been given as a point of contact. The
call from Adrienne was to inform me that Sharon had died this morning I think her exact words were “We lost Sharon
this morning” … poignantly stated… I know I need to be prepared to hear this
sort of news more and more often, and I suppose I am. Sharon is younger than I,
her daughter Ann just graduated from High School. I think Ann is very close to
her grandparents, so she will be well cared for. I lost touch with Sharon for
years when he job moved to Alhambra and mine moved to LA… I met her again two
years ago and tried to get her to one of the ROF get-togethers but she never
made it to one. I wrote to her but she never responded, she retired rather
unexpectedly last year… Heard rumors of cancer… that was confirmed today. There is one incident that
stands out. When I was Com-Tech working
in Sherman Oaks Sharon was a 1st Level on the "Dial" side of the
office. One day she came to work in a yellowish beige gingham dress, it had a
high collar with lacey bodice, a long skirt, and puffy sleeves (Or at least
that's how I remember it) I said to the person I was working with "Looks
like Sharon has come to teach school, she is dressed like a Schoolmarm.."
I didn't think I had said it loud enough for her to hear but she did. She did a
slow turn and glared at me She started walking toward me like I was about to
breath my last breath and said icily, "What did you say!" I said
"I said, 'Looks like Sharon has come to teach school, she is dressed like
a Schoolmarm.' (and thinking fast) I added "...but you should know I meant
that as a compliment, some of my most erotic fantasies have been about school
teachers." She stopped in mid step looked at me sort of quizzically for a
second or two and then she had to hold on to a desk, she was laughing so hard. We became good friends after that… I will
miss her. Wednesday August 23, 2000 …Christy
and I got up at the crack of dawn and tried to get some work don before we had
to leave… Christy to teach at AV College and me to take the kids with me to
Autumn’s Therapy… I dropped Autumn off and took the kids to the park up the
street from the school… We made it home and started work on the house… the
outside is pretty much done and the kids rooms look OK… I will be gone all day
tomorrow to Santa Barbara, Soccer Practice and Sharon Ross’s Memorial Service…
I suspect there will be a crowd Thursday August 24,
2000 …I
got all the kids dressed and drove to Golita to pick up "B". When we got
there all the kids jumped out of the van and ran to get him, he was all ready to
go and very pleased that the other kids in his dorm could see all his brothers
and sisters… I
left Mike home by himself because he wanted to stay home, I gave him a list of
things to do to help get the house cleaned… Christy got home from teaching at
about 1300 and I got home about 1345. Mike had done everything on the list I
gave him… I
turned around and took Calie to soccer then came back to get myself cleaned up
to go to Sharon’s Funeral. I
wrote this for the ROF Page: Sam, AKA, Sharon Ross died this week, she was only fifty. Many of
you know her far better than I. I worked with her for several years in the
Sherman Oaks Switching Control Center and we had stayed in touch sporadically
over the years. I remember Sharon as a person very passionate about everything
she did. My memories of her are of her wilting glare when she was angry, nobody
messed with Sam when she was pissed, and of her sense of humor and laughter
when she wasn’t. I remember her as an honest and loyal friend. Working with
someone and considering them a friend is fine as far as it goes. I was
embarrassed at the extent of my ignorance about her life There was a Memorial Service for her at a Roman Catholic Church in
Simi Valley last night (August 24th). There were quite a few people
from the phone company in attendance, (I even recognized some of them) but the
majority were Sharon’s friends and family. The gathering (service) was very
ritualized and relatively meaningless to this old Episcopalian and after about
a half hour of people singing songs I didn’t know and repeating back passages
from the Bible I wasn’t familiar with, I had resigned myself to saying good-bye
to Sharon in my own way in my own time. I had hoped that I would gain some
insight about her personal life at the service and I had all but given up when
Amy, Sharon’s daughter, got up to say a few words about her Mom. Well folks, if you were ever in doubt about Sharon’s qualifications
as a single parent put them to rest, Sharon Ross’s “Little Amy” has grown up to
be one absolutely beautiful, and very poised and confident remarkable young
woman. She will be going off to college next week and I have no reservations
about her ability to thrive and grow on her own. She had prepared a few words
and had them written down, (remind you of anyone) she told some stories about
her life with her Mom and it was very touching and she made it almost all the
way through without breaking up. When she started talking about her future
without her Mom the whole audience was affected, as near as I could tell there
wasn’t a dry eye in the house. We have all lost someone close to us and we
could all empathize with her contemplation of the prospect of continuing on
without the one person in the world who had always been there for her. The wave
of love, compassion and sympathy that went out to her from the people gathered
there was palpable. When she was done, I found myself thinking of “The Prophet” by
Kahlil Gibran and his comments on children, Sharon was an inspired archer… http://www.thedeskof.com/thoughts/theprophet/children.htm Friday August 25,
2000 …Christy
stayed home to meet with the licensing inspector while I took the kids to
Autumn’s therapy. I
am really having a hard time getting enthused about these therapists… I think
that they have a hard time with the concept of challenging their patients. They
keep coming up with ways of accommodating her disabilities and protecting her
from her environment. My instincts are to assist her to deal with her
surroundings and showing her ways to adapt to her environment. For instance,
Autumn prefers to walk without her walker, but she falls a lot, the therapists
want us to “encourage” her to use the walker so she won’t hurt herself. I am
sure that in the PC world that they reside that is an easy stance to defend,
but in the nitty gritty world that I live in it is very short-sighted, even
counterproductive. We will not always be there to insulate her, we have to let
her learn how to fall and not be hurt, we need to teach her how to use the
utensils that are available not ones that are specially made for her. I want
her trained to live in the real world not an institutionalized one designed to
protect her. My goal is for Autumn to be self sufficient, I will deem
‘unacceptable’ anything less than total autonomy. I
took Mike to soccer practice, and then drove Calie and Cindy to the children’s
library in Palmdale…It was just closing so we dropped the books off and I took
the girls home I just dropped them off and went back and watched Mike play
soccer… he is less than impressed with his coach. I suspect he is a little over
focused on the Lombardi style of coaching and so is Calie’s for that matter.
Again, I am just not with the mainstream… I approve of toughness, and no
nonsense coaching but there comes a point where sportsmanship needs to
supercede the will to win or the entire point of sport is missed. I will
reserve my judgment till the season gets underway. Saturday August 26, 2000
…Tired,
Christy wasn’t feeling good, having a hard time walking, I was considering
taking the kids to the Antelope Valley Fair but that’s out… I’m not taking 7
kids to the fair all by myself… I can’t even get them all to the dinner table
for ice-cream. Sunday August 27,
2000 …I
stared in reverent silence watching Tiger Woods devour another bunch of pros…
he is truly amazing. One of the announcers was jabbering away and stopped
talking while Tiger made a 22 foot putt, he just giggled. He said after a few
seconds; “Well folks, that’s what it’s come to, I have run out of superlatives
for this man, all I can do is giggle” "B"
is miffed about the fair… it was really stupid of me to bring it up at all, I
will never learn I guess. "Opportunity
is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like
work." --Thomas Edison--Monday, August 28 2000… I
took Mokie down for Soccer but there was no one there. I got back home after
picking up the mail and waded into a big argument between Mike, Christian and
"B" over Pokémon Cards. It was real convoluted, about Christian trading cards
to "B" and "B" not giving the cards to Christian but trading them to Austin
who spent last night with us. Damn… Christy finally got it squared away and I
drove off to Golita with "B" about 1030… I got home about 1530. Calie
didn’t get to soccer practice but I got Mike to his about 20 minutes late… Tuesday August 29,
2000 …Christian
refused to go to Soccer Practice and Cindy refused to go to Dance practice… It
is one of the few things that gets my goat… they know it too… Christian likes
soccer and Cindy loves dance… but they get mad and there is nothing that you
can do… I
got Calie to her dance though and let Mike skateboard in the parking lot for an
hour… Wednesday August 30, 2000 Autumn’s
Therapy today, since Christy is teaching I took all the kids and we played in
the park up the street from CCS Therapy until Autumn was done… I went home and
picked up the mail then got the kids their medicine and gathered them up again
and went to the bank. I took the kids to get Hot dogs then we went to the park… Thursday August 31,
2000 …Christy
teaches again today… this will go on till the 27th… I took Calie to
soccer practice… I went to the Special Request Impromptu ROF (Retired Old
Farts) at Shakey’s Pretty good turnout… I had a good time… it was nice to see
Sue Chambers again.
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