HSVLocals

amyqmc: @arianesays I posted your amigurumi shrimp link in my private account, @domesticat. That's all!

amyqmc: @eaton "The only safe code is no code"? rm -rf docroot #challengeaccepted

amyqmc: I mean, I understand an accidental pregnancy, but an accidental code release? #whatcouldpossiblygowrong

I don’t know who among you reading this will be shocked and who will stand up and yell ABOUT DAMN TIME, WOMAN.

I’ve been facing this decision for some time, and through a multitude of tiny steps I inched my way toward it, nailing it down by unofficial degrees, but never being brave enough to take a step that would commit me fully and financially. I seeded the ground earlier this week, not explaining to my friends what was going on but saying “if I don’t commit by the weekend, beat me senseless.”

I committed. I stared at this screen for several minutes first, though, willing myself to choose. Most of our actions have unintended consequences. This one would be laden with intended consequences.

I cried when I got to this point, for lots of reasons:

I am thirty-five years old. I have survived the shittiest eighteen months of my life, and as a result, the entire trajectory of my life has changed. I have never known what my future would hold, but if the past year and a half has taught me anything, it has taught me that if I stop acting like I have a future, I won’t have one.

I write those words as much for myself as for you, the reader, because the past eighteen months have beaten me up on the inside, on the tender and hidden parts of the soul that only one’s closest friends see. They’ve ravaged enough that it’s taken me months to acknowledge this: the only thing that scares me more than doing this trip … is the thought of who I will become if I’m NOT the kind of person who would make this trip.

I’ve chosen.

I choose life list item #7: finally take that decades-delayed trip to London.

I choose life list item item #16: Successfully order beer. In German. In Germany.

I choose to make travel part of my life again. I choose to put my camera gear into my backpack again, and get lost in a strange city. I choose to trust that the world still has amazing experiences for me, if I can be brave enough to go out and find them.

I choose to go to Europe for a month. I’ll start in Munich. If I’m lucky, I’ll arrange for crashspace in northern Germany and eastern France with co-workers. Somewhere in that month, I’ll end up in London. What happens in the space between is yet to be determined, but it is an intended consequence of tonight’s actions.

I fear what people will say. I fear the talk and the gossip of I-can’t-believe-Jeff-isn’t-going and the can-you-believe-she-left-him-at-home. I fear I will be judged a bad wife and a poor caregiver for Jeff. I can’t control the opinions of others, and the fear of those opinions has become my constant companion.

I’m going anyway. Andy Dufresne had a point.

Get busy living, or get busy dying.

Choose.

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I've tried several times in my life to make a trip like this happen, but it's never worked out. Seeing my name in conjunction with these cities was momentarily overwhelming.

I stared for a long time at this screen. It took several minutes to click "Continue booking."

1. The Police (9) 
2. Death Cab For Cutie (8) 
3. Bloc Party (7) 
4. Marvin Gaye (4) 
5. Miami Horror (1) 

Imported from

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While listening to the Freakonomics podcast the other day, I ran across the episode entitled “Lottery Loopholes and Deadly Doctors”. The episode put forth a problem: how can you increase the savings rate, especially for the poorest people? Stephen Dubner states that, even though the poorest do not have enough money in the bank to help counter the smallest of emergencies, many are still willing to put a few dollars a week into the lottery in the hopes of winning big. His argument is that the poorest believe that a few dollars a week will not hurt them, will never get them out of their financial mess, but winning the lottery big would make their problems go away even though the chances of winning are very, very small.

As a possible solution, Dubner describes something called Prize-Linked Savings (PLS) accounts. Basically, it is a special savings account where you get slightly less interest than normal. Periodically, maybe once a month or once a quarter, one winner is chosen from those that contributed (likely proportional to their contributions) for a big prize that is composed of the reduced interest on all of the contributions. That way, it is revenue-neutral for the banks offering the product and it plays on the needs of people to gamble on the “big win” to get them to save. Even better, if you don’t win, you still get to keep the money in the savings account, plus the interest that it accrued. Nobody loses.

Well, that isn’t quite true. You see, even though no one is actually risking any money, the States still consider it gambling and in competition with their own, State-run lotteries. The States argue that they would lose revenue for things like education if people were not participating in their lotteries. So, it is actually illegal to have the PLS accounts in most States. Personally, I think that the PLS accounts are a great idea. If the States see revenue fall from a lack of people playing the lottery, then the programs that revenue stream supports should be re-evaluated for necessity. If the programs are necessary, taxes should be raised according so everyone shares the burden of the necessary programs. That would reveal more about the true costs to each citizen of government and open the door to programs like the PLS accounts that might actually get people to save money for emergencies.

Every quilter needs a grumpy, geriatric tabby to keep tabs (or paws) on her work. Tenzing is exhausted after overseeing the installation of new shelving in the sewing room.

Shipped on 05/12/12.

Over the course of a tumultuous year, contented medical counselor Gerri (Ruth Sheen) and her geologist husband, Tom (Jim Broadbent), see their friends and relations through a series of happy events and heartbreaks -- including a birth and a death. Imelda Staunton and Oliver Maltman co-star in this character-driven ensemble dramedy from writer-director Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky, Vera Drake, Secrets & Lies).

Book info

Author / creator: 

Christopher Priest

ISBN: 

0575079061

Link: 

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2226108?utm_medium=api&utm_source=rss

Synopsis: 

The Washington Post called this "a dizzying magic show of a novel, chock-a-block with all the props of Victorian sensation fiction: seances, multiple narrators, a family curse, doubles, a lost notebook, wraiths, and disembodied spirits; a haunted house, awesome mad-doctor machinery, a mausoleum, and ghoulish horrors; a misunderstood scientist, impossible disappearances; the sins of the fathers visited upon their descendants." Winner of the 1996 World Fantasy Award, The Prestige is even better than that, because unlike many Victorians, Priest writes crisp, unencumbered prose. And anyone who's ever thrilled to the arcing electricity in the "It's alive!" scene in Frankenstein will relish the "special effects" by none other than Nikola Tesla.

596531

Book image: small: 

http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176140551s/596531.jpg

Book image: medium: 

http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176140551m/596531.jpg

Book image: large: 

http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176140551l/596531.jpg

Publication date: 

1995

Review info

Rating: 

3.00

Well ... she did start it, and this tag marks some of her work.

Sometimes moms need extra hands for their work to be finished. This quilt waited a long time for a second set of hands. See domesticat.net/quilts/mitzvah for the story. I suggest having tissues ready.

I could get used to having a way to hang quilts for photography! So much simpler!

This is Mitzvah. See domesticat.net/quilts/mitzvah for the story.

Mitzvah is done. This quilt contains my handiwork, but is not mine; the pattern, fabric choice, and intention were all Jennifer's mother's.

All I did was finish it, and in some ways ... set a little piece of the universe right. See domesticat.net/quilts/mitzvah for the story. Suggestion: have tissues.

I can't put down batting without SOMEONE showing up to help.

I am repeatedly exasperated by this, but I do adore this cat.

It's easiest to look for blown seams by coming from underneath, like this, with the quilt top held between you and the light source. Blown seams will jump out at you this way.

All of my quilts get this, whether I want them to or not.

1. Toad The Wet Sprocket (47) 
2. Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers (24) 
3. Girl Talk (19) 
4. David Gray (13) 
5. Stephen Ke
   

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Jeff and Edmund are 'observing' me today

As the anniversary of a high school shooting approaches, a young woman flashes back to a time when she dreamed of leaving her small town behind for bigger things. Drifting between past and present, she wonders whether she can live with her choice.

I’ve been looking for a reason to use the Chopsticks design for some time, and am finally making the time to try it out here. The original pattern shows this design in neutrals, so my version differs mightily from the original. I’m following Alex’s color request: the colors of the German flag.

I threw in orange for good measure. If I’m going to have yellow, red, and black — why not slide in orange, too?

Yes, I know they look like fluorescent traffic signs.

I’ve even slid in a bit of the Australian fabric that esmerel found:

No new fabrics for this quilt; I raided the reds that Jake sent me, plus my stash — I had enough of these strong colors to make it work.

I’m still mulling over the back. I have a recycled 1970s Star Wars flat sheet coming my way, but I’m not sure if it’s the right choice because the sheet has a white background and lots of blue.

I’m not sure what pattern this quilt needs for a back, but I know it needs to be almost explosively nerdy, and I need to decide soon. This quilt’s going to finish quickly, and I need to get my decisions in place now.

Forgive the crappy writeup; I’m not in the mood to write, but I needed to get this quilt at least on the list.

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Scarlet was a short-timer, a quilt top nabbed for a song, given a few quick repairs, and finished up. I make no secret that I keep an eye on the auctions for used quilt tops; mostly I look to see what’s out there, and very very rarely I’m moved to pick one up.

She — and this quilt top was a ‘she’ from the start — just delighted me from the start. It was lovely, imperfect, and utterly without pretense; it was a hand-sewn quilt top in the log cabin variation known as “straight furrows.”

The description:

Vintage Log Cabin Quilt Top. Not sure of age. From an Estate of lady who was over 100 yrs. old.

About 70-74” wide and 80-84” long. All hand pieced, slight musty odor from storage. A few minor stains, showed a couple in last two pictures. They are not very noticeable.

Great old colors, blues, browns, reds, peach, pink, black, gray and others.

Cost? $35 before shipping, $43 after. When I opened up the box, I was delighted by what I saw. The squares weren’t perfectly square, but the end result was pleasing and the overall appearance was spot-on. My reaction was that it was exactly what I hoped it would be: the kind of simple, clean, charming quilt that will wear well, serve as an instant faux heirloom, and see love and use.

I wrote the seller and confirmed a little more information; she bought the quilt top at an estate sale in Terre Haute, Illinois — very near Burlington, Iowa. 

Since several of the prints were 1930s-era, I picked up a 1930s repro fabric of little red dots on a white background, ran a simple quilting pattern of sketched flowers in lines following each of the furrows — white thread on the lighter sections and red on the darker sections — and sent Scarlet on her way.

I wish there was more to say, here, but the truth is that Tenzing barely even had time to sit on the quilt before it left the house.

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Friends sent me fabric from Australia. Obviously, no fabric is too precious to cut into.

It's starting to come together, one triangle at a time. Even if they do remind me of hazard lights.

I started joining some triangles together just so I could see some real progress.

In the near future, a biotech company saves mankind with synthetic replacements for failed organs. But those who default on their new liver or heart are subject to repossession. Shilo (Alexa Vega) navigates this dystopia while searching for a cure for her rare illness. Her odyssey is set to a number of catchy songs in this tongue-in-cheek opera. Paris Hilton, Paul Sorvino, Anthony Head and Sarah Brightman round out the deliciously diverse cast.

amyqmc: 6:46pm, Acquia Support: Girl Talk and a load test.

amyqmc: Today's Support dept wisdom: In the end, truly gifted bash scripting is indistinguishable from a cat butt on a keyboard.

1. American Public Media (4) 
2. NPR (3) 
3. Trust Inc.
   

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Shipped on 05/02/12.

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Shipped on 05/02/12.

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France's position as the world's top wine producer went unchallenged until 1976, when the Montelena Winery put California wines on the map -- a story delightfully told in this full-bodied tale about the heady early days of Napa Valley's success.

This Emmy-winning series from the Travel Channel tags along with outspoken celebrity chef, best-selling author and culinary adventurer Anthony Bourdain as he scours the globe in search of all the edible treasures the world has to offer. Despite his irascible nature, Bourdain plunges with gusto into each new exotic dining experience, tasting regional treats from far-flung destinations and savoring local culture along the way.

amyqmc: @drupalgotcha I think you're looking for this account; @domesticat is Amy-Personal and this one is Amy-Work.

amyqmc: @blazindrop I think you're looking for this account; @domesticat is Amy Personal, and this account is Amy Work.

Aidan's second ever therapy session was today. He got to talk to the therapist about the incident on Thursday with the fighting, the meltdown Friday and desire to kill himself, and everything else that's been going on lately. When he was done the therapist of course had me come back so we could talk about everything that they discussed and make some plans to help Aidan out.

After talking to Aidan, the therapist concluded that Aidan's biggest frustration and cause of meltdowns is the feeling of being out of control. It can be when he's playing a game, or if he doesn't agree with rules, or if his expectations were one way and something else happened, or overstimulation, or any other form of losing control. We all have issues with this, and it causes some level of frustration for everyone. Aidan's problem is managing those emotions when they happen. The therapist said that emotional regulation is a major weak point for Aidan and so he came up with some things that might help.

First of all, Aidan needs to learn to recognize and label his emotions. Is he angry? Sad? Frustrated? Scared? We're going to try to come up with a chart that he can point to the face he's feeling when he can't think of the name of what he's feeling. Secondly, once he recognizes what he's feeling he has to be able to take the next step which is to calm down until that emotion passes rather than letting it take control and causing a meltdown or aggression toward someone or something. Aidan and the therapist came up with a few options which included a time out, watching TV, playing with the dog, or getting a back rub. We're going to talk about some others later (he's a bit exhausted now after talking to the therapist for an hour). Eventually he's going to have to learn that he can't be in control of everything, especially rules and other people, much less any outward environment or other peoples' actions. Hopefully we can teach him this soon.

01. Set up a lot of tickler reminders in OmniFocus, which is quickly becoming the only way I remember to do anything.
02. Read a lot of Pride and Prejudice. My distractibility made my progress smaller than the time I allotted should have shown.
03. I started off the day with a good night of sleep that didn’t drag on past 0900. This is so rare with my night owl tendencies.
04. A nice glass of Scotch warmed conversation with Stephen and Misty.
05. I got an extension on a project¹ and didn’t have to skip my prob/stats class.
06. I had a nice phone interview with a local company that has a distributed team—hence the call.
07. Lazy Saturday, but I fired out a bunch of cover letters and got to hang out with Andrew for a while. Grand!
08. My Easter sucked, but at least I got this stupid program done.
09. Talked to Joel and Daniel about how best to handle this chargerhockeyheroes.com deal.
10. Got back a good grade in the class I’m ace-ing and figured out what the grades probably will be in the class that I’m not.
11. Got the truth from a friend.
12. Boston Bruins Playoff Hockey!
13. Bought some land and watched some hockey.
14. Lenny’s with Andrew for the second Saturday in a row.
15. Wrote about hockey, and I’m reasonably satisfied with what I wrote.
16. I found out just how much my doctor trusts me², and the Bruins won in regulation, keeping me from the stress of playoff overtime for the first time this series.
17. Celebrated the semester being so close to ending.
18. Hadn’t been to the hockey office in a while. Good times.
19. My friend Emily offered to circulate my résumé.
20. Hockey banquet!
21. Sold the truck; it was time. Lenny’s with Andrew. A couple good phone conversations with Mom.
22. Bruins force Game Seven!
23. Lots of caffeine, a good programming session, and talks with good people.
24. Classes are over! Just finals left.
25. My dad survived his heart attack.
26. My CS exam was easy, and I’m done with that wretched class.
27. Listened to a good podcast by Nick Flora about Andrew Osenga’s next album while driving to come to West Tennessee.
28. Got the chair lift locking mechanism fixed after it broke.
29. Got to say some (hopefully) supportive words to someone who needs some.
30. Between selling the truck and my tax refunds, my car loan balance is just under $1100. It will be paid off this summer!

1. Because our instructor hadn’t returned the email sent on the 3rd asking for help.
2. a lot

amyqmc: Remember, the Campsite Rule applies not only to teenagers, but version control repositories. #themoreyouknow

amyqmc: @braintree_ It's a standard way of saying "our security officers need to verify our website is secure, so we're going to run hack attempts"

amyqmc: Someday, there will be a day where discussing "penetration tests" at work won't make my inner teenager giggle. Today's not that day.

Seven years ago today, I bought a townhouse I still live in. It’s been a place to lay my head, watch TV (mainly hockey), read, and think. It’s not perfect. It’s not well-kept. It’s mine, though.

If I live here another ten months, I’ll have lived in that house longer than anywhere else; the current title-holder is a two-story in a 1970s-era subdivision in a little place called Beavercreek, Ohio. If I make it to mid-August, I’ll have called the metropolitan Huntsville area home for fifteen years; this is the longest I’ve lived anywhere in my entire life. If I somehow make it to 2015, I’ll have lived half my life in Huntsville, but I hope to not be in this house by then, for I hope to be married (yes, finally) and have sold my house. I want to have the next house be “our house”. This is “my house” for as long as I can stay here.

Needless to say, the unsettled state of my last two years has all of this in doubt. There are some glimmers of hope to stay here, and I work every day to remain a Huntsvillian. I am not guaranteed this, though, and so I wanted to write of my little mile marker today. In a period of extreme uneasiness, it’s a welcome sight every time I pull in the driveway.

A recipe for making your own potstickers at home.

I should have guessed that having Game Day and an assembly at school instead of the normal routine would throw off Aidan's whole day. He was apparently really good all day, but then at the end of the day ran in the hall and when a teacher stopped him and told him to come back and walk he refused to look at her or talk to her. He was cranky in the car about buckling up. Then when he got home I asked him to feed the dogs before he got snack. With lots of griping (as per usual) he got them food, got Muffin the old dog the WRONG Food even though he knows that she ALWAYS eats the same food as Harley the young dog, and then because of his attitude he picked up when corrected for getting the wrong food, he slammed Harley's bowl on the floor and made all the food fly out. I fussed at him and told him to clean it up. At this point the meltdown began.

Normally Aidan's meltdowns involve him lashing out at the environment around him, especially me or Daddy or whomever else is around. Today it was different. He screamed repeatedly that he wanted to kill himself and starting punching himself HARD in the head. I had to hold his hands and try to calm him down for about 15 minutes before he stopped trying to hurt himself. He cried for a while after that, and screamed he hated me several times, but he seems mostly okay now. Well, except that he's still mad at me and wants to pack up his bags and Harley and live in the middle of nowhere and doesn't care if he starves to death as long as he's away from me.... When did I get a teenager?

Anyways, I'm obviously really concerned about the self-harm during the meltdown today. Every so often he will get frustrated and hit himself, although rarely in meltdown mode. Today was so different and I just didn't know how to react. What should I do? He thankfully has a therapy appointment next week.

Shipped on 04/27/12.

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So I think there may have been some bullying at school today - I've emailed the teacher and she's going to talk to everyone involved. Here's what I know: I know Aidan got sent to the principal's office today for throwing mulch at TJ. The reason I'm writing is because of something he said happened in PE today that other students prevented him from telling the coach.

Aidan says that: Boy 1, while they were playing football, was "not playing fair" and when Aidan said something to him about it, Boy 1 "flipped" him onto the ground (he says this happened twice). When Boy 2 tried to defend Aidan from Boy 1 hurting him again, Boy 2 got pushed down. Aidan was going to tell coach, who wasn't available, then Boy 1 got him to the ground again and when Aidan was trying to get up, Boy 1 held him down, and Boy 3 "slid past" Aidan and Boy 2 kicked Boy 3 in the neck. Aidan left the situation at this point which ended the whole thing.

This is what Aidan told me, and granted he can be hard to understand, and I'm not sure if this all happened today or if this was split up over different times, or how much was exaggerated. And honestly, Aidan could have left out any hitting, pushing, etc that he did. Aidan didn't want to tell the teacher because he was afraid that he would get in trouble with the boys for telling (or maybe because he thought he would also get in trouble with the teacher?).

What's your take?

Shipped on 04/25/12.

John Le Carre's classic thriller of Cold War espionage follows an English spy as he returns to MI-6 under a cloud of suspicion. In the years since he was sacked by the agency, some suspect he's become an operative for the Soviet Union.

The binding's half done, but the top is no longer too fragile to hold upright.

1. MakTub (19) 
2. Toad The Wet Sprocket (14) 
3. Girl Talk (14) 
4. Beirut (12) 
5. Marvin Gaye (12) 

Imported from

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1. Beirut (10) 
2. Death Cab for Cutie (8) 
3. Trust Inc.
   

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I posted this on my Facebook page back a couple years ago, but I don't think I ever posted it here. Here's the story of Aidan's autism:

In August 2008, my son Aidan was diagnosed with a disability known as autism. Officially he has what is called PDD-NOS or Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, which means he has atypical autism. He hadn't even turned five years old yet. In some ways it was a relief - it was good to finally know why my beautiful, smart, smiley, talkative, almost potty trained little boy had suddenly stopped talking, potty training, and began having regular meltdowns with little or no warning or reason. I faced a lot of that horror by myself - my husband at the time was away with the military, and then we moved to Texas and he was busy otherwise. I had no idea what I had lost my baby to - they said he had good hearing so it wasn't that, but no good reason could be given for his regression. Finally, a year after leaving my husband and moving back to Alabama, Aidan's pediatrician referred him to the TRIAD clinic at Vanderbilt University, which specializes in diagnosing, researching, and assisting with helping to recover from autism. Dr. Warren spent 4 hours with Aidan, playing with him and talking to him, all part of a battery of tests that helped him finally determine what we had feared - Aidan was autistic.

When someone gives you news like that, even when you have your family there with you, it's completely overwhelming. Like getting caught in an undertow. And there is so much information they give you about what autism is and why it might have happened and how you can maybe reverse some of the symptoms. You start trying to get in touch with all these people to get help for your child, and in so many cases they don't help or can't help or won't help. I struggled with the schools and got turned down by the Social Security Administration and wondered why speech therapy and occupational therapy and behavioral therapy weren't covered by insurance. I began investigating whether I should start refusing to allow my son to be vaccinated, whether I should change his diet to one without gluten or casein or sugar or strawberries or blueberries...

And no matter how much you explain to people that your child is autistic, and what that means, they really don't seem to get it. When he has a meltdown in the middle of the floor because you told him no, people just assume you have spoiled your child and are letting him manipulate you. What they don't realize is that the reason your child is so out of control is because on top of being in an environment where every sound, every light, every touch is more than he can handle, you've just changed something on him without properly setting an expectation and his brain, the way it works (or doesn't work) can't handle it. He literally can't maintain control of his own behavior. And it isn't always easy to know what will trigger him, because even though he's five years old, he doesn't talk well enough to tell me what's going through his little head or that he's feeling completely overwhelmed.

When you choose to quit your job to stay home with your little boy because you feel that's the best way for him to continue making progress, it's a bit of a slap in the face when people look askance at your choice. I'm doing what I know is best for my son. I can't afford to pay a professional to give him speech and behavioral therapy, and once a week or an hour every other night before bedtime won't do him a bit of good. I don't know what I'm doing of course, so I have to research and learn to be a speech therapist and teach my child how to read faces and non-verbal social cues. I have no idea if changing what he eats will help him, or if it's a good idea to possibly make him vulnerable to deadly diseases in order to prevent him any further regression from a vaccination.

It's SOOO frustrating to try to help your child when even DOCTORS haven't a clue what causes autism, what triggers it, how to treat it or whether a child can ever totally recover from it. I'm trying to be brave and take it one day at a time. And I literally have people who will tell me that I am a bad mother because my child sometimes talks back or throws fits or doesn't eat the healthiest food. They don't understand that an autistic child doesn't always understand that when he echoes a phrase he's heard another child use or when he uses the tone he's heard an adult take with another adult that it is socially unacceptable. They don't get that I don't LET my child throw fits, I just can't always stop one once it's in motion. They don't see that there are days when if I want my child to eat anything, I let him eat whatever he's willing to put into his body and hope that I can balance it out with something else later in the day or week.

And yes, sometimes I need a break from Aidan. And yes, sometimes I am angry that my child is autistic. And yes, some days I question my decision to have a child (which wasn't planned, but every woman has alternatives when she finds herself pregnant). But know this and NEVER question it: I love my little boy with ALL my heart. I would not give him away. He is an amazing little boy who has worked VERY hard to recover from his disability and has made such great progress. He is so smart and wants so bad to make those around him happy. He has bad days, but he also has very good days which more and more often outnumber the bad days.

Thanks to all of you who have supported me as I raise Aidan and we defeat autism together. Especially Jeremy and my mom who have provided so much help and love that I am forever in their debt.

For more information about autism go to www.autism-society.org

Shipped on 04/18/12.

This disc includes the following episodes:"Wildfire" and "TS-19."

Shipped on 04/18/12.

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So we started Aidan in Cub Scouts this year. We are a long line of Scouts in my family, including my Grandpa and my Dad. The den really seems to adapt to Aidan's oddities, although he's still trying to find his place in the group, and they sometimes bounce him around so they can sit next to their more familiar friends, but that's just little boys I suppose (the whines of "he took my chair..." get old regardless of the boy).  Aidan has already accomplished his Bobcat badge, is working hard on his Wolf badge, has earned the physical fitness and science belt loops and bridged with his Den last night over to Bear Cub.

Apparently Aidan LOVES Cub Scouts. Other than talking about Storm Chasing I've never really heard him plan for the future before (and this included Storm Chasing too). He told me on the way home that when he grows up he wants to have 2 sons and he will be a Scout leader in between storm chasing, and that he wants to give his son his wolf neckerchief and hat one day.

This summer they'll have camp outs and summer camp and it will be interesting to see him react to all of those. He's also having to learn to be less bossy, less competitive, and to work as a team and cooperate, all of which are skills he desperately needs to learn. So far I'm really glad we've put him into Scouts, especially after our conversation about the distant future today.

Anwyn has claimed under our bed for her den. Liza visits her there in the mornings for some one on one snuggle time.

Morgan pointed out that we’re probably the last generation who will pretend to be typewriters while eating corn on the cob.

• My husband – When I met my husband, Aidan hadn't been diagnosed yet. He was a crazy child who wasn't potty trained, wasn't verbal, had meltdowns, and left me ragged and slightly insane. I'm not sure why or how he managed to stick around through Aidan's severe autism at the time and my untreated bipolar disorder, but somehow it happened. He stuck around through the poop-tastrophes and violent screaming fits, and supported me as I finally took Aidan to Vanderbilt to find out if our worries that he had autism were true. When the diagnosis was PDD-NOS (or high-functioning autism/atypical autism, as Dr. Warren explained it to us), Jeremy took it in stride, supporting me, helping me find the right place and treatment for Aidan in the aftermath of the diagnosis. He eventually allowed my son and I to move into his house with him, in spite of Aidan's penchant for destruction. When I decided that it would be best for Aidan if I quit my job so I could spend more time with him after school, Jeremy supported that decision and never looked back (or maybe he did, but he never really said anything). He's been beat up, kicked, scratched, screamed at, and even spent 2 sleepless nights at the hospital with Aidan and I when Aidan busted his head. Last November we were married. Jeremy still amazes me at how willing he is to be Aidan's daddy and how much he loves the kid and actually takes the time and effort to help Aidan grow and blossom into the best he can be. I know lots of autism moms who are nowhere near as lucky when it comes to their spouses. I'm glad I'm not one of them.

• My parents – I'm one of those people who grew up with two sets of parents thanks to divorce. It was complicated and not always easy, but in the long run it was a great thing for Aidan because he gets more grandparents. My mom and stepdad are amazing with Aidan, keep him when they can, and are super supportive. Mom and Daddy went with me to Vanderbilt when we had Aidan diagnosed, and Mom has come with me to IEP meetings, doctor appointments, and who knows what else. My Dad and stepmom, Holly, come down as often as they can to spend time with Aidan – Dad even came down for Aidan's first Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet to see him get his Bobcat badge! None of them have ever questioned the choices I make for my son; they share new autism studies I might not have seen; they treat Aidan like he's just a normal little boy but accommodate his often frustrating needs without so much as a blink of an eye.

• Aidan's autism unit teacher – Annie is amazing. Seriously. She took a kid who spent more days in the principal's office than in the actual classroom, and taught him how to be a student, how to learn in spite of his limitations, how to interact with his peers. Now he's able to spend all day in a mainstream classroom with no aid! It's so helpful to have a teacher who is in constant contact with me, and dreams just as big as I do for my child. With all the horror stories of people who've had to go into battle with their child's teachers at each IEP meeting, I'm grateful that we've only once had to do that.

• Aidan's babysitter – We don't always get along. She may not always agree with how I handle Aidan's issues. But when it comes down to, Wendy has a gift. She was his babysitter for quite some time while I was still working, and even now keeps him pretty regularly. Somehow she just has a certain touch that makes Aidan want to act right and enjoy the world around him. She's not professionally trained to work with kids with special needs, but Aidan isn't the only special needs kid she's taken care of and she has a special touch with all of them. I'm grateful, even when she drives me crazy, that she loves my kid and helps him to be his best.

• My best friend – How many times has this girl listened to me whine and moan and get all pissed off at whichever facet of the world has gone up against me or my son. She never judges, and she defends my choices and reminds me that I am, in fact, a good mom. Sometimes I need just that. And sometimes I just need to go get my nails done and get a drink – she's good for that too.

• Aidan's pediatrician – Dr. Denny. He answers my questions honestly, doesn't look at me like I'm crazy when I ask questions about Aidan's weirdness, and has always made sure I was referred to the right place and people to get the right help for Aidan. He's the one who helped us get him speech therapy, the one who sent us up to Vanderbilt for Aidan's diagnosis. He makes sure he sets aside extra time for Aidan every time we have an appointment and asks lots of questions to make sure he understands everything about Aidan's progress or issues. He keeps himself educated and informed about the latest science and breakthroughs in the autism community. I hope everyone is as lucky to have a great doctor on their side.

• The autism community – You guys are amazing!! I don't know what I'd do without my fellow autism moms and dads who commiserate, yell, cry, laugh, and question with me at all hours of the night and day. It's such a relief to be able to ask a question and have an answer from a dozen fellow parents. It inspires me to offer the same support and love to people in my position – because I know how it felt when Aidan first got diagnosed and I didn't know ANYONE who had a child on the spectrum and so I had no idea what was normal or what to do. I hope I can be the same support for all of you as you are for me.

He wasn't interested in hearing that I'd be giving the quilt away the next day. They're all his, after all.

Turdcat.

A message from one orange tabby to another...

(For those of you who don't know, the quilt was for Dave and Jenny, and Rodney is their orange tabby. @TheBrothersFang and @rodney_the_cat follow each other on Twitter.)