Does Anyone Out There Remember the 60's?

Dinner Theater is coming. Next week is the big fund raiser for the youth choir. Each year they put on a dinner theater complete with orchestra, comedy skits and amazing costumes! Beth joined the choir last year right before the dinner theater so she only stood at the door to take tickets.

This year however, she is singing in the first number, the last number and also handing out paperwork to those attending the silent auction. It's all about England during the 60's: Mary Poppins, The Beatles, etc. We bought her a 60's shirt covered in leather circles (the size of a quarter) and a mini skirt and I was gonna get some leggings to go under it but I'm considering putting her in some brightly colored jeans instead.

Guess what we're gonna do tomorrow night? We're going to experiment with hair dos! I'm planning to trim her hair so hopfully it holds the shape better. Too long and it gets weighted down. She has the wide head band already (think Hairspray) so I'm gonna tease the heck out of her hair and soak it in hair spray! This is gonna be fun!

Guess Who's Coming to Visit?!

Next weekend, Steve, Becca and Samantha from The Bates Motel are coming for a visit! I'm so excited, I've been thinking about them almost every day. I can't wait to meet Sammi. And I can't wait for Beth to meet Sammi!

We haven't heard anything yet about Beth's job interview at Marshalls. It sounded like it went well, but since we haven't heard anything.....

Beth called me at work yesterday. She over slept and missed her bus to job class. She was crying and quite upset. I told her it would be okay. She called WVS (Washington Vocational Services) and told them she wouldn't be in. She hates to stay home. She'd rather be out shopping or doing anything. Mondays are her 'days off' and Sunday nights she'll always ask me, "What am I gonna do?" Usually when she's home she'll do chores for me, empty the dishwasher, vacuum or clean the bathroom. She also loves to do 'paperwork' as she calls it. Math papers, spelling, writing. She loves to be doing something.

On a little different subject, Diana is doing well. Right now she's in London. Started in Florida, then spent a few days in Dublin, Ireland and now London. She absolutely loves London. I think it's her favorite city in the world. This Wednesday is the premiere of The Hunger Games and she really wants to be one of the 200 that get to see the movie that night! I guess they go in with the stars of the movie and they all watch it together. She is beyond excited! 

Taking Care of Business

We got a notice in the mail saying Beth's jury duty has been extended until April. We have one month to get a letter from her doctor confirming her diagnosis of Down Syndrome. Well we got the letter and yesterday Beth and I took it to the court house.

Unfortunately, we went to the local court house and she's been summoned to the Superior Court in a city about a half hour from our house. So we'll be mailing the letter.

After the court house we stopped at the library. We had to update her card but it only took a few seconds. She found a movie she wanted and I found one called The Big Comfy Couch. I don't know how many of you watched that show but our girls used to watch it when they were little! We loved that show! It was Loonette and her doll Molly. Anyway I got it to watch it with Allie.

After that we stopped by Fred Meyer and she bought a movie. That girl loves her DVDs. Then it was home for dinner.

We hope you all had a great day too! 

Sweet Dreams

I feel like I've been neglecting this poor blog. Sorry, I'll try to do better! There's been a lot happening, I just haven't been posting. Between (some say they're minor but they haven't been minor to me!) health issues and being busier than usual, I just haven't done much on the computer.

With that said, guess what came in the mail?! Beth got a package the other day.

I told her it was from one of the moms who read our blog. What could it be?!?

Pillow cases!! From Kristen's mom Polly!! They're so beautiful! High School Musical and Hannah Montana, they're perfect!

Thank you so much. What a sweet reminder of you and your beautiful angel Kristen.

Really??

At our all night prayer meeting last Friday, we'd pray for an hour, then break for 30 minutes, then pray for an hour. Each pastor took one hour and would focus on a certain topic like families, government or our community. Microphones were set up so we could pray out loud if we wanted to and everyone could hear and agree with us in prayer.

Around the 3:00 hour one lady got up to pray and she was articulate and the inflection in her voice was amazing. I could have listened to L pray all night! During the break I got bold and went up to her and introduced myself. Something I rarely do.

I asked her if she had any kids and she said yes. She has a son with cerebral palsy.

Really??

L asked if I volunteered anywhere at church and I told her I taught a class for kids with special needs.

Really??

L told me that she's a single mom. She told me about when her son was diagnosed.

She asked if I had any kids and I told her my oldest has Down Syndrome.

Really??

Then her eyes got wide, "You understand!! You u-n-d-e-r-s-t-a-n-d!!"

We were definitely bonded by now. Then I told her about my second daughter Sharaya. L said she knew Sharaya.

Really??

L is good friends with Ryan's mom and they spent July 4th with L and her family.



Really?? (Sharaya showed us their July 4 pictures.)

Then L's eyes got wide again. "Beth is Sharaya's sister!!! Sharaya has talked about special needs and written about it on her blog but I never made the connection!"



I hope I've been able to portray the moment. It was just one of those meetings. Those 'chance' meetings that change your life. At the end of the prayer meeting, they served us breakfast and we sat with L and her mom. I've been thinking about L a lot. We're now friends on facebook and are talking about when we can get together again. She's such an amazing lady and I can't wait to get to know her better.

An Extra Day of Disney

Diana leaves tomorrow. Her plane takes off in just 10 hours. I can't believe this day is here already. She's been talking about it for quite a while now. She's planning to be gone for a couple weeks, or a couple months, she hasn't decided yet. She is however, spending the first 4 days in Florida, at Disney World.

For the first time in it's history, the Magic Kingdom will be open for 24 hours. And Diana plans to be there for every single one of them!! It's Leap Day and they're promoting it as an 'extra day of Disney to make all your dreams come true!'

I'm so jealous. Four glorious days at Disney World. Not to mention the heat and humidity of Florida. We were all there back in 2004 and we actually loved it. Not sure I'd like living in the humidity but for a week, it was heaven.

We have to be up at 3:00 AM so I should publish this post and get ready for bed! I'll keep you updated on her travels. I'd tell you about them now, but even she doesn't know. This is the first time she hasn't made reservations any where. On day 4 she'll wake up in Florida, then decide where she's going next!

I am going to miss her SO much! It's definitely not going to be the same around here without her. She really is the life of this house.

Thirty Eight

Our church held a week of prayer and fasting this week. It began Monday and ended this morning. Chuck fasted food for the week but I didn't know what I was going to fast until Monday morning. I had the day off and was walking to the computer when I felt impressed that I was to fast the internet.

No blogging, no facebook, no pinterest, no ancestery.com. For a week! I didn't realize just how many hours I spent on the internet each week.... until I stopped. It's been rather eye opening.

Last night our church ended the week with an all night prayer meeting. It began at 9 PM and ended at 6:00 this morning. We'd pray for an hour, then take a 30 minute break. They served juice, coffee, tea and water in the Commons (our gym), then it was back to the Sanctuary for prayer. At 6:00 we had breakfast, then headed home.

Most Saturdays are quiet for us, but today -
Chuck's Bible study at 9AM
Beth's choir rehearsal at 10:00
Bible study ended at 11:00
Chuck's doctor appt at 11:30
Choir rehearsal ended at 12:00


As long as I stayed busy today I was fine. But the minute I sat down, to eat or watch TV or get on the internet, I'd start to doze off. As of this writing, I've been awake for 38 hours. Staying awake all night gets harder as I get older!

I have so much to tell you:
Beth's job interview update
Visitors next month!
Fun packages in the mail!
A new friend I met today

But I can barely keep my eyes open so I'm going to bed. Of all the things I gave up this week, I missed all of you the most. I kept thinking about you and your kids and the milestones and hospital visits and broken hearts and I really had a hard time not logging on to find out how you were all doing.

I've missed you.

Retired at 27

Beth had a working job interview on Thursday. I asked her how it went and she said, "Okay."

Now, I've read some of your blogs where you talk about your kids giving speeches or acting in plays. Beth is not like that at all. There are many days when she rarely speaks. When it comes to true conversation, it's difficult for her. You really have to coax it out of her, ask the right questions and be very patient for the answer.

So with an answer like 'okay', I began to ask her questions. We've also learned that Beth will answer with the last thing she heard. She's done this her entire life. I remember when she was really small and we'd ask her what she wanted to drink, milk or juice, "Juice." Juice or milk, "Milk." Just to be sure I once asked her if she wanted to go to the moon or go shopping, "Shopping." Shopping or the moon, "Moon."

So we have to be careful not to 'lead the witness' as they say. I asked her if she'd want to work at Marshalls and she said, "Maybe." If I ask her why, she just shrugs her shoulders. If I suggest something, like, did you like the person who trained you, she'll automatically say yes. I have to phrase the question in a way that forces her to think of an answer on her own. So the conversation went like this:

"Beth what was it about the store that makes you not want to work there?"

She thinks for a few minutes. "The people."

I think for a minute. "The people you worked with or the people who were shopping?"

"Shopping."

"What didn't you like about the people who were shopping?"

After a while of this, I finally learned that she doesn't want to work at Marshalls because the shoppers get in the way of her doing her job. Okaaay. Hmm. Then she said she wants to work with books and music. I told her that she wouldn't be able to read the books or listen to the music, she'd have to orgainze them and clean them and work. She said that was okay.

She's been out of work for almost a year and actually seems to be doing okay. She stays busy during the week, her SSI each month covers her expenses, she probably doesn't need to work. I certainly wish I was in her shoes!!

But she says she wants to work. I think I'll talk to her job coach about the library. It has books and music!

Milestones

You might think that once your child becomes an adult and graduates from high school that the days of reaching milestones are over.

Nope.

Recently Beth has mastered walking down stairs without holding on to the handrail. And not just 3 or 4 stairs at a time. I'm talkin' an entire flight of stairs, no hands.

I don't know when she started practicing this but I've noticed recently she'll pause at the top of the stairs. She instinctively raises her elbows for balance and away she goes!

Thump, thump, thump, thump all the way down! My heart races cause she gets faster and faster toward the bottom. I remind her to 'hang on' but she won't. You can tell she's proud of herself for this major accomplishment too! Scares me half to death!

Oh, and something else she recently started doing. When she laughs? She snorts. :)

Cha Cha Cha Changes

I'm still having blogger issues as you can see. One day it will all come together. One day.

Diana leaves in about 2 weeks. She's going to Disney World for 4 days and then.... who knows? She's saved a good chunk of money, quit both of her jobs and is gonna travel. Maybe London, maybe Thailand, perhaps Africa.... she hasn't made up her mind yet. I'm just a little nervous not knowing where she'll be. She said she'll text me when she decides. :) She's so much more determined than I ever was. She says she gets nervous, but just faces it and achieves her goals. Amazing.

Sharaya and Ryan bought a new car. Their old car was on it's last legs and they were desperate for something better. This car is an automatic so now Sharaya can drive it. Ryan has been the sole driver for more than a year because their car was a stick shift and Sharaya didn't want to learn on such a poor vehicle. She could have burned the clutch pretty quickly. Their new car is a Ford Explorer.

Beth has a working interview on Thursday at Marshalls. Instead of sitting down to a traditional interview and answering questions about yourself (something Beth wouldn't be good at) she'll actually perform the duties and depending on how well she does, she'll be hired. Her interview is at 10:30 PST so if any of you are thinking about her around that time, please pray for her. She really wants to work.

Chuck filled out the Jury form telling them that she wouldn't be able to serve due to her having Down Syndrome. We received a post card in the mail today telling us that they have postponed her jury service date to give us time to get a note from her doctor.  Then we'll mail the docs to the courthouse. I may also include a copy of her WA State ID card.

Our church is going through some restructuring. Some of our departments are being eliminated and the work loads will be decreased. We're moving from a programmatic system to groups. We'll be creating multigenerational groups that build relationships and help disciple people into the church body. Right now we have about 2000 people on a Sunday and it's hard to make friends in a setting like that. With the groups, we'll become closer and be able to assist each other when the need arises. If someone in my group is moving, we'll be more likely to help rather than someone randomly calling the church office and asking if there is anyone willing to help.

I'm excited about the changes but that also means my job description will be changing. This week my boss asked me for a list of my duties and how long it takes me to do each task. Then he sent me an email saying not to worry, he just needs to know how much time I would have to work on the new database. If I haven't mentioned it before, we're getting a new database. Our 4th one in 6 years. To be honest I'm kind of excited. I absolutely love working with the database. I'm not skilled at creating new databases or reading a manual and figuring it out on my own, but when someone teaches me the basics, I can usually figure out the rest. I just love it.

Then Chuck sent me an email yesterday. He had just gotten out of a meeting where they were told they were going through a restructuring! There will be 47 jobs eliminated. Thank goodness his is not one of them. But it was close. There are about 200 employees in his group. Out of the 47 being eliminated, starting from the newest person hired and going up by seniority, he is number 53. And he's been there almost 17 years!

MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meets at our church. One of the leaders stopped me the other day and said she was looking for speakers for one of the MOPS events. My name came to mind. Would I be willing to speak to the moms about special needs? She couldn't give me a topic or any ideas, she just felt I was to speak. I'm only aware of one MOPS mom that has a child with special needs. Never done anything like this before. I said yes. Gulp. I have until April to figure out what I'm going to talk about. I figure I'll open with Beth's birth. And then...... ?

Someone came into the church office yesterday and gave our receptionist a postcard. It's in invitation to a one day conference for people who want to start a ministry for people with special needs. Uh, yea! I'm just at the beginning stages but it consumes my thoughts. It's being hosted by Young Life. On the postcard was a picture of a large group of adults, some with special needs! I did some research and Young Life has a group called Capernaum. It's a Young Life group for, what looks like adults with special needs!! If it is (Young Life is usually just high school) I plan to talk to them when I go to the conference this week. This could be an answer to prayer for us. They meet just a mile from our house and it's biblically based. We love the group Beth is involved with now and she'll probably continue with them, but this will open an opportunity for her to make more friends both with special needs and those without, all worshiping the Lord and doing His work! I'm so excited about this and am hoping and praying it's for 'older' adults.