November Family Update 2001
Oh boy am I in for it. I know that I have not followed through with what I said I was going to do and that was to update everyone at least once a month, and here it is November already. Since it's been a couple of months, many things have happened so I will try to give you the highlights.
Lets start with Matthew. At my last update Matthew had just started his kindergarten class at Howell Elementary School. He had been going there during summer so he was familiar with everything. This year for him has been great, as he is making much more progress than we expected. So much so, that we have had to reevaluate his education goals. Matthew's social skills have improved dramatically to the point that he interacts with the other kids almost as if he was not autistic. The diet we have had him on for just about a year now has seemed to have made a big difference in most all areas of development. Another milestone that we have achieved is potty training. He is by all accounts potty trained. We continually remind him and have to make sure we get him up in the middle of the night to go potty but that's a lot better than changing diapers. Terri has worked very hard on helping him to achieve this goal and we reward Matthew by taking him to Chuck E. Cheese Pizza. To help Matthew continue to go potty, Terri made a sticker board that Matthew can place a Chuck E. Cheese sticker on each time he goes poopee. Once the sticker board is full we take a trip to Chuck E. Cheese and let Matthew play while we eat pizza. This occurs about once every other week. To make sure Matthew does not feel left out on the pizza eating, Terri makes a special pizza for Matthew and we take that with us. I can't tell how proud and excited we have been with Matthew's progress, it really has been much more than we expected. Be sure to check out the pictures of Matthew and his trip to the pumpkin patch.
Next up is Christopher. Chris has been doing what most teenagers do so there isn't a great deal to tell you about him. He is still working every weekend and McDonald's and has been saving money and buying his new toys, such as his DVD player and DVD's of course. So far he seems to be doing well in school and I don't see any big issues later in the year in that arena. His health has remained good as his iron count at last check was back to normal. Chris takes iron pill supplements daily and that seems to be working fine.
My wife has been quite the busy beaver as of late, no longer satisfied with staying at home and watching TV all day. Terri decided she wanted to work while Matthew was in school, so she got in to substitute teaching for the school district. She figured 2 or 3 days a week would not be that bad and got her first taste of this with the high school. Well these people have come to like her so much that they have been calling her in everyday, and thus bringing in extra income but no time to spend it. Terri finally had to tell them last week that she needed a day off just so she could clean up around the house and take a break from all of those wonderful teenagers. Keep in mind that while doing all of this teaching, Terri also has kept up the house and continued with Matthews food preparation and all of those other mother things she does.
During all of this Terri has been hinting to me that she would like to get another cat, while I have been saying that right now we have enough. So who do you think wears the pants in this family? Well let me answer that question with this little story. The Friday at the end of October (just before Halloween) Terri had gone to the pet store to pick up some items for Bailey (our dog) and Necee (our cat). I had come home and started looking through the shopping bags pulling out toys for Bailey and Necee as well as a new collar for each. But at the bottom of the bag was another collar, I of course asked what it was for and she smiled and said its just in case the one Necee has on now does not fit and of course just some wishful thinking. Ya right. So on Sunday I go to my computer and check my email, there I see a note my wife sent me. Hmmmm I wonder what this is about, and sure enough it is a picture of this cute little kitten in Lewisburg TN. that needs a home. Ok so I give in and say if it is still there you can go get him. (trying to show what a big and considerate man I am.) And you know darn well that she was going to get him anyway. So, that afternoon Terri comes home with our new kitten who's name is now Zazu, flees and all.
Yes now we not only have a new kitten but a flee infestation to boot. So we quarantine the cat, bathe him with the flee soap set up an appointment with the vet and prepare to steam clean the carpets. Also added to the list is of course flee repellant for the dog and the other cat. The dog never having dealt with flees before in his life is somewhat allergic to them and starts to break out on his belly. Suffice to say a couple of weeks later we are flee free and feeling great, and of course a couple hundred dollars poorer all because my wife wanted to hold another cute little kitty.
Then there is me, I have been doing pretty much the same thing. I have been working with Ryder of course and have been doing my computer business on the side as well. One of my customer's is Peter Jenkins. Peter is an author with numerous books to his credit. I have been helping him learn how to use FrontPage to update his Web Site for his latest book Looking For Alaska. Now I do not normally mention my customer's but I wanted to make you aware of this book. It's simply a really good book and I recommend that you go out and get yourself a copy. Short of that just go to Peter's Web Site Peter Jenkins.com and you can read and learn a little about this author. Other than that not much has changed for me with the exception of the incident with my car. If you have not already read the story from my homepage, just click on the link below and take a look. with that said I think I will sign off for this edition of the family update.
TTYL
Tim