Celebrating Fat Tuesday...

"You can bake a cat in the oven but it will never be a biscuit" - Uncle John

Mercy. My mother has some interesting siblings. She's number six out of seven kids... all are still living... Al, Bill, David, John, Ginger, Norma and Linda... sprinkle in a couple dozen cousins and second cousins and first cousins once removed and we're a huge family. A huge... and very colorful family...Four of the elders are on Facebook and a bunch of cousins so I get to keep up with their various adventures. We didn't really spend much time with the brothers and their families when I was growing up so I don't know them as well as I do the children of my mom's sisters... with whom we spend most holidays.

I am even less familiar with my dad's family... he's the middle child... older brother, younger sister... Bruce, Jim, Claire... I've got three first cousins on that side of the family and about a dozen second cousins. I'm connected with a few of them through facebook.

Anyways... it's Tuesday. Monday was physically difficult but emotionally very peaceful. I had a couple of instances where I couldn't stand up using just my legs to support me... I had to brace myself with a hand on my desk and a hand on my window sill ... and push. It's a matter of time. Getting out of the car has been difficult lately too... I have to completely swing my body around so that both feet are on the ground and brace against the sides of the door to stand up. It's not pretty. There is definitely a "degenerative" aspect of this thing.

But today... Laissez les bons temps rouler! It's Fat Tuesday! Let the good times roll! I'm taking a vacation day today to take me and Austin to the dentist (something we have both neglected for the past three years....) we're getting him registered to vote... and I'm trying to move my doctors appointment that is scheduled for Thursday morning to this afternoon so that it's out of the way and I can go ahead and get any new prescriptions filled, etc.

I'm also hoping to get him motivated to do some job applications. I don't know how we'll manage transportation but I know we'll manage. One kid on his bus works at the new Western Sizzlin and the bus drops him off there after school. I'm hoping we'll be able to work out something like that. If nothing else, I'm just hoping to get him familiar with the process of completing an application, dressing appropriately for an interview, etc. Some of this will also be coming from his vocational rehab program.

Austin has set in his mind that he's going to college or technical school right after high school but the truth is... he hasn't taken the SAT or ACT... his GPA is barely passing... he doesn't have a lot of the absolutely necessary skills for further education... and he is in absolutely no way prepared to live apart from adult supervision. And he thinks that he won't have to work while he's going to college... I tried to make him understand, "whatever post high school education you receive... you will ALWAYS have to work... there's no way for me to support you for the next four years".

Sometimes the hardest thing about raising a kid with Asperger's is trying to change their perceptions of things to match the reality of the situation. Once he gets something in his head... he's violently stubborn. We had a blow up Sunday that was out of his misunderstanding of the order in which we were doing things. I try to give him as much information as I can so that he can understand why we do what we do... things like... "we're just picking up necessary items today because we only have X dollars in our checking account". So that he doesn't get upset every time I tell him "no" when he tries to put stuff in the cart. I also try to make sure he understands my physical limitations... which was a big part of the problem on Sunday. We had wet, cold weather which makes my back hurt so much worse.

Anyways... I don't know where I was going with all of this. I mean... when you start with the quote I used... what kind of sense can you make? So ... y'all have a great Mardi Gras... tomorrow we'll talk about Ash Wednesday and what we should give up for Lent... but today... have a great day! Love and hugs, y'all.