Travels With The Boy

I managed to get the day off with minimum trouble today. Not what I expected. It will cause trouble for someone else but I can't feel bad about that, my son comes first. DS has been having a good day so far. Made himself breakfast and took his medicine (he takes a bunch unfortunately) on his own,without help. This is a very big deal for him and a major step in the right direction. Today we went shopping for the last few things we need for the holiday, and went to a few of the old haunts we had when DS was on homebound instruction. We went to the bowling alley that we used to visit every Tuesday. Everyone was happy to see him and marveled on how much he has grown. DS has not been back there since he went away to school so it was nice to see these folks who had really been part of his life for a while. Being a real creature of habit, as most autistic people are, we also had to go to Taco Bell as we always did after bowling in days past. He ordered the same things he always used to. I just had to smile. At least he's gotten neater about how he eats now :). (oh in case you're interested 2 Bean Burrito Especials, one Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes without green onions and a large drink) Then it was to the library to get some videos, even though we went to the video store last night (another old haunt where the clerk somehow contrived to get us out the door with free rentals she was so happy to see him). Whenever DS comes in he has to do this, so we did. The head children's librarian was in and we stopped by for a chat. She has known DS since he was 5 and knows what we went through with him. Seeing him as he was, so calm and so tall and well spoken she started to cry. She's one of the good people we've had put in our path over the years. The library has been a real haven for us. Never has DS been excluded due to his behavior or disabilities. They always found a way to include him. If he got to be too much. Someone took him for a walk and took him back in the room. He was always expected to be part of the group. More than I can say for my school district.

I've not heard anything from the new job yet but don't expect to till after the holiday, sometime next week most likely. But they did say they needed someone in place by the second week of December so who knows. Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me. I really want this. If it doesn't work out I will be OK about it but I really hope it does. DH and I talked about my quitting my job without something to go to if I don't get this new one. He feels we really need the second income and that I have to try and find something first. But on the other hand does understand that the job is not working out for me. I know one thing, I'm not sticking with this past January.

We don't really have many traditions for Thanksgiving. We order the stuff from a local deli/restaurant. This started two years ago when DS was in the hospital and I had been through the ringer and just wasn't up to cooking. It was so good and so easy that we all agreed that we would do it like this from now on. We cook a couple of side dishes ( this year it's DS's parsnips and potatoes) and cranberry sauce (usually one cooked and one uncooked). One "interesting" thing the family tends to do is mix horseradish into cranberry sauce and eat it together that way. It's really not too bad once you get used to it. Of course we have turkey, we also have sweet potatoes, just plain roasted ones, and this year green beans and kasha. Should be a nice meal. I will ignore the pies that we plan to buy for dessert.