Taking the Scenic Route

It is nice to be looking forward to the weekend instead of dreading it. When you are unemployed, the weekends stink because you have no hope of being called for an interview, and no money to do anything.

I am SO SO VERY ready for respite care to resume tonight. I really missed it over the holidays.

After a week of the kids being sick and grumpy, missing everything on our schedule from Sunday to some of the Thursday events, by Friday everybody was totally stir crazy and the kids were poking at each other. It had progressed to “witching hour” insanity by 3 in the afternoon and it was looking to get even worse. I knew there was a respite event tonight, but we hadn’t signed up for it. I called them to see if there was any chance of dropping the kids off, and they had space. THANK GOODNESS! Zane was so ready to go he started getting dressed when he overheard me asking, and both kids were totally dressed, on their own, within 10 minutes. Then I made them go outside to kill some time before we went. I don’t know that I have ever seen Zane so ready to get out of the house before.

Zach and I first went to Walmart to get some much needed windshield wipers, and decided we really needed to do something “nice”, needed a break so badly. We ended up going to Il Vicini’s, sitting in the window seat, sipping coffee. As we sat there it started snowing, which added a feeling of otherworldness to the evening. It was so nice and peaceful. Eventually they stopped bringing us coffee refills, so we went home and snuggled on the couch and talked. By the time we picked up the kids we were feeling better and the kids were happy and worn out. Zora went to sleep about half an hour after we got home, and Zane another hour later.

Respite care is such a God-send.

Linking to a video that ROCKO used at their recent fundraising event.  This organization has had a  major positive impact on our lives.  There are some weeks we feel like we are living for the upcoming respite event and the chance to spend time together with just the two of us.  The kids also look forward to it.

The family signing in at the very beginning is us (I am signing paperwork), and both of the kids are featured throughout.

While Zach and I sat in a comfy corner booth at the local IHOP, reading books and drinking coffee (something we used to do all the time before kids), the kids had fun at ROCKO.  The highlight was Bubble Man stopping by.

(photos taken by ROCKO people)

The kids had a spectacular time at the ROCKO olympic-themed event.  I have been waiting to post about it because I was hoping they would post pictures of the event on Facebook, but so far, they haven’t.  I wanted to show the cool stuff they got though, especially the medals.  Zora wears hers everywhere now and I am amazed at the effort that went into making them.  I lovc them.

They also liked their “laurel leaves” and showed me the certificates they had won.  (Zora for sock figure skating, and Zane for balloon tennis).  They kept them busy, entertained, and wore them out while Zach and I had a meandering, spontaneous, relaxing day around town.

We tried out “Jimmy’s Egg”  (quite yummy), and headed to the downtown library, found no parking because of the Garden (*achoo*) Show, so we decided to wander around the big “Gander Mountain” downtown since it is supposed to be a “destination attraction”.  Not sure what makes it all that fabulous though…it does have some cool stuff, but since we neither hunt nor fish, and that is 3/4 of the store, it was not someplace we will return to.  (although we did have fun making the fake ducks and turkeys talk to each other).  We also went to the China Market, found some Mustard, got creeped out and tried to leave and the guy left at the register didn’t speak English and we think he was trying to tell us to just take it and go.  We gave him some cash because we weren’t leaving without paying for it, and got our butts out of there as fast as we could go.  lol.  We finished by checking out “Chelmsford Tea” and getting an ounce of some Cammomile and an ounce of Green tea leaves to make at home later.  (also got a big ball that I can use for tea and herbs for soup that I have wanted for a long time).  It was fun, largely because it was spontaneous.

We all came home happy and relaxed.

The kids had a great time at ROCKO today.  We had a relaxing break.  Although we didn’t have the funds to go out, we did come back home and throw some steaks on the grill and Zach took a nap on the couch.  Right before we picked them up we stopped by the Hollywood video, where we had noticed a “going out of business” sign, in search of “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” or some games at decent prices.  We didn’t find anything, but we did run into Robert and Alex there, which was pretty funny.  (Robert was coming over later that night).  Zane had a good time, although he had a difficult time with some transistions and took a bit to warm up to the dancing, he did join in and enjoy himself.  He loved the “Uno Attack” game and it had me wishing that we had gotten it for him for Christmas.  (he asked for it, but we thought he just wanted “Uno”.  He was happy with “Uno”, but I guess he really wanted the other version of it more than we realized).  Zora, as usual, joined in and had a ball with everything.

The cookies and crafts they made:

Zane’s heart cookie

Zora’s goodies:

A perfect Halloween for Mario and Princess Peach. He kept saying he wanted to be a Jedi, AGAIN. However, about a week ago when I was looking at some costumes online, he saw a Mario costume and wanted that. As soon as he said he was going to be Mario, Zora wanted to be Princess Peach. I checked to make sure she wouldn’t rather be Luigi, showing her the costume, but she wanted to be the Princess. So, we went looking for a “Princess” costume that would work. Then we spent the next week being asked every 5 minutes if the mail was here yet and if the costumes would be there today. lol.

In the afternoon the kids went to ROCKO and had a ball doing crafts, playing, and enjoying themselves. (and had somebody else have to hear “is it time to trick or treat yet?” all afternoon) While they were entertained, we went out to “Il Vicino” and then to a toy store and bookstore. When we picked them up, they had put on their costumes and there was a “trunk or treat” right outside in the parking lot, so we were able to make good use of those costumes immediately.

We ran home for some costume adjustments, the mustache and inflatable tummy for Zane, body & hair glitter for Zora (which didn’t really show up on the pictures, but she was all sparkly in person), and the Umbrella that Zora insisted on because Princess Peach carried one, and a few pictures before we were surrounded with distractions. Zach made Zane’s Question Mark Block candy carrier. (It is from the game for the non-Mario players around)

Zane kept saying “It’s ME, Mario!” (like he says it in the game), but the problem is that he flattened out his mustache, effectively taping over his mouth, so it sounded more like “mmm MMM MmmMmmm”

And off to College Hill for the festivities. Our neighborhood has no real trick or treating and we have gone to this area before, but never to the heart of the celebration where they have the streets blocked off and police directing traffic. We went early, so it wasn’t crowded, it was parents with younger kids, nobody was drunk, and everybody was in a great mood.

Zane didn’t want the taped on mustache and we did one with make up. It was gradually wiped off with his white glove through the night though. We met one other Mario and a Luigi along the way. I suspect the Luigi was also Autistic because both were excited to see the other one, called out the other’s name, but mostly just stood there giggling about it. We also had a few comments on the candy box, and you could tell when people played the game or not as to whether they just called Zora a Princess, or “Look…Princess Peach too!”. lol.

At one point, a flock of birds flew overhead and Zane asked if they were birds or bats, and grinned when we said that we would pretend they were bats since it is halloween.

We ended up going the perfect amount for the kids. They were tired and dragging a bit, but not complaining (except that Zora wanted to be carried once in a while), and when I said there were four more houses until the car, they happily went to the houses, then to the car, with no complaints about being done at all. Zora zonked out in the car on the way home, but woke up to help consume the candy. It was a fun day.