Hungry to Help

There is a kid in our church whose eyes make me cry inside.

Two years ago this kid was interested in all the events going on- now this teen is so often obviously bored with anyone of another age or background.

Slouched, popping gum, looking only at the other teens in group situations and looking for friendship to the teen who breaks rules most consistently at home and around other people.

Hasn’t done anything terrible- not stolen, cheated, nor lied. Just not interested in doing anything truly good anymore. Not hopeful in producing something that benefits others.
Disconnected from the rest of us, sunken in.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Books, Lovely Books

(Thx, Rootie!)
I got British versions on DVD of “Jane Eyre” and of “Persuasion” for Christmas. I had never seen either one, and now I’ve seen both in 2 days. Mind-blowing. Dark and light, but both trying to be moral.

Reminds me of the 2 guys, dearest friends, that led me to Christ. One Dark and one Light, in physique and in character, but both leading me to Truth.

Anyway, we have time to watch movies over the holidays, and it only takes a little convincing to pry the kiddos away from the First Season of the Muppet Show on DVD.

Mr W and I are both enjoying a variety of books, too. In my 20’s thru early 30’s, I read within 1 or 2 genres. Thanks to the Wonderful Librarians, I’ve learned to expand my enjoyment.

The New Library puts bundles of 3 together, you may remember. This time I picked up “Food”: a Cuban cookbook, a history of ice cream (it was actually pretty boring: 4 chapters of explaining that nobody really knows who invented ice cream), and “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”, which Mr W is having a love-hate relationship with between bouts at the wood shop.

“A, V, M” is about a family of 4 who decided to eat only what was grown/raised within a hundred miles or so of their home. Mr W says there are several rants re: evolution amidst the family’s story, but otherwise he’s fascinated.

It’s nice to get kudos for picking a good book for him. I also tend to feel a bit of sympathy vs. the rants (as in the ice cream history). However, he has begun talking about raising goats again, so there may be cause for concern…

Maybe I should slip him a book on the tourist spots in Turkey, since I’d like to visit there, or a map of Kentucky, since I’m trying to convince him to take us up for Spring Break….

It was noted over Christmas that I am on the sly side. Is there a pretty Christian way to put that? ‘Cause I’m not sure I want to give it up…

Post-Christmas

Christmas was wonderful. Good friends and family times, GREAT gifts, wonderful food.

New Year will be Dutch Dinner (God willing) with the friends from Home Group. (DearSister and Rootie (and anybody else!), there’s room at the table if you can get here by 12:30 January 1!)

No AWANA or Upward this week, but we are plowing through some schoolwork (including writing lesson plans!) and trying to clean up the house a bit…. I’m practicing patience with the Christmas decorations, and thinking they can come down January 4 or so.

Mr W is trying to finish the entertainment center and get a chicken coop together before he goes back to work.

#1 and I have the Horrid Cough again. Sounds bad, but not debilitating in any way. (We do have sympathy-seeking moments, of course!)

Blink! Christmas 2008 is over!

When a Door Closes…

18 months ago, Mr W was looking for a teaching job. We like overseas, so we applied overseas.
We made it past the first “cut” several times. China. Honduras. Puerto Rico. But nothing solidified.

So we applied closer to home, and made it past the first cut several times. Huntsville, AL. Tyler, TX. Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Again, nothing panned out. Obviously, God was saying, “You’re not moving.”

Being out of work so often in the last 5 years, however, hasn’t been easy on our finances. We don’t starve, or lose electricity, but it’s not easy (and I’ll bet it’s not easy at your house, either!)

So, sometimes we look for help. The kids are on Peachcare, but when Mr W and I applied for state health insurance, the answer was “not eligible”.

Last summer, we got to the point where we applied for food stamps. “Not eligible”: as I posted then, we make $45 dollars per month too much.

This week Mr W called Consumer Credit Counselling Service. Sometimes they are able to get companies to lower interest rates.

We’re not eligible, though.

The deal is like this: CCCS teaches you how to cut “luxuries” down or out of your budget until you have an “extra” $300 a month. Then you pay them $300 a month and they negotiate with your loan companies for you.

After 2 hours of going over our expenses with a CCCS counselor, Mr W was told “You don’t have $300 a month to cut back on. There’s nothing we can do for you.”

These experiences. They are teaching me patience.

We’re not angry or scared; but it is frustrating to do the paperwork, sit through the meetings, and be told “not eligible” by a “few” dollars.

May your New Year be Joyful!

Christmas

Mr W got paid Friday, but it’s been a packed weekend, so we got on Amazon and did our Christmas shopping this morning at 7 a.m.

Amazon will wrap, ship, and track delivery of gifts to our family in 4 different states; guaranteed delivery by December 24.

I love Amazon at Christmas, don’t you?

Friday’s Coming!

If you don’t hear from me for the next few days, don’t worry. If you don’t hear from me in a week, send the Search & Rescue Team, please…

We’re having a sleepover for Friday Night Scream.

The 2 youngest daughters of my Crazy Food Co-op friend are sleeping over.
Our new friends’ daughter remarked that she misses my daughters, so she is invited, too. (Whenever someone says, “I miss your kids” I immediately start listening with both ears.)

That makes 5 girls between the ages of 8 and 11 in the house!

I got pushy and asked our new friends if my son could sleepover at their place- they have a son #3’s age. They agreed.

What will Mr W say?

Sad

Went to the AWANA party last night for JV/Varsity. Yeah, I know they’re called “Trek” and “24/7″ now.

How the leaders get guys and gals ages 12-18 to do those wacky games is astounding. Watching the games is hilarious!

It was disappointing, however, to see the leaders catch 3 kids cheating at the games over the course of the evening.

It’s not as if there is some big prize awarded, or any sort of pressure to win- everyone does the white elephant afterward, and everyone gets snacks at the end of the night…

Mr W says the amount of cheating that goes on in kids’ lives is mind-boggling to folks of our generation. Seems young people don’t think twice about it; their values are set with complete egocentricism.

I’m sad for this generation -cheating truly doesn’t work in the long run- and a bit concerned about living through the next 40 years.

Will I be examined by a doctor who cheated on his/her med exams someday? Crash on a bridge designed by an engineer who cheated his way through college, or by a construction team that ignores the safety specs? Will my loved ones lost money on a home built by a company whose management cheated on insulating materials?

Who am I hurting by my selfishness?

Overheard

Mr Wonderful is teaching his Middle School French class French culture and history this week. Nicer than a semester final, eh?

They were watching the 1954 version of “Cyrano de Bergerac”. (Although I’m a big Gerard Depardieu fan, Jose Ferrer does a great job as Cyrano, too, BTW.)

One girl missed the focus, however, and asked, “Why is this in black and white? Weren’t the 1600’s way before that?”

Hitchcock 4, Scorsese 0

They remade this as “Flightplan” with Jodi Foster.
Thrilling in either adaptation; of course “Flightplan” is rated “R” (for good reason), whereas “The Lady Vanishes” is unrated, and includes tons more humor.
(“The Lady Vanishes” was Hitchcock’s last film made in the UK. His later, Hollywood-produced movies, got more press.)
Available from Netflix.

#3

Mr W has consulted with a Special Ed person, who has given us some pointers about dealing with #3’s Asperger’s behaviors.

If I could change/modify any of his behaviors, BTW, it would be his lack of initiative. Something about following consecutive directions or moving to the next action when he’s finished with the current action escapes him.

It tends to make the day long, since it affects so many areas. Once he’s done with a meal, he needs reminding to put the plate in the sink and do a chore, tackle another school subject, or whatever. Homeschooling, as you can imagine, needs heavy supervision, since he stops if he hits a roadblock or unknown of any kind. (And what is school but hour after hour of unknowns being learned?)

(Thankfully, his attitude is so consistently cheery that it infuses the day with patience rather than with defeat…)

Anyway, this month he seems to be changing how much he comprehends, and funny things are popping out of his mouth, considering he’s an 8-year-old American boy…

(Whilst studying Florida) “DISNEYWORLD is in Florida? WOW!

(Looking over a math problem that asks him to make a fraction of the vowels/total letters in his teacher’s last name) “Mom, I have no earthly idea what your last name is…

(Realizing during a list of Christmas songs that includes “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” that Mr Wonderful goes to gigs dressed as Santa) “Hahahahahaha!”

One of the intangible (and if I can’t grasp it and control it, I don’t like it, BTW) things about Asperger’s is that every kid has it differently. #3 has a love of puns, whilst other Asperger’s kids encounter only frustration at words with 2 meanings.

Recently the girls and I watched a stop-action made by Asperger’s kids, and the scene with the cello reminded me that it can be torture for AS folks to try to focus on 1 sound in the cacophany of daily life.

A car passes outside the room where I’m typing about every 4 seconds, but I’ve been tuning out the sound. #2 is awake and yawning on the chair next to me- but I would’ve tuned that out except I’m focussing on background noises.

#3 hears it all, all the time, at equal volume to whatever I’m saying to him at the time, or what his basketball coach is yelling during a game, or what his sisters are asking him to help with around the house.

The gym where #3 plays basketball each winter is just a big cave of sounds on Saturdays during the games. If I had to filter that much noise, I’d quit b-ball in a heartbeat. #3 never complains, he just waits for understanding.

Wow.