Sentry (at least the one in Bay View) no longer accepts Internet coupons, rendering many popular sites useless. I'm told they were burned on a Velveeta forgery (snort). So, for the sake of a lost 40 cents here and there, they have turned the clock back to 1963 and pushed more biz to the Evil Empire that is Pic 'n Save. Nice.
Published writer, compulsive reader, Old School Whovian, Match Game enthusiast, NKOTB fan, data hoarder, and - surprisingly, given that list - married with four kids. Welcome to my take on life, fatherhood, entertainment, and whatever strikes my fancy. Enjoy!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Shame on Them
My niece's 2nd grade teacher (she's in 3rd now) was fired today. She'd begun to show signs of mental illness, writing things like "20+20+10" on the board and saying it equaled 30. Other teachers started to shun her. On the way to a staff outing she went back to her rm for her purse & returned to find everyone had left w/out her. I guess there's so little pain in the world they felt they had to add to it. A*holes
Thursday, February 25, 2010
American Idol, Rupaul's Drag Race, and Match Game!
AI was dull & unimpressive, and I'm really not liking the dynamic between the judges. Kara remains an awkward fit; too ADD, too much makeup, too unable to define her role on the panel. Although he was bad, they were waaaay too hard on Tim Urban, especially when they let equally sucky performers off the hook. Kudos to Ellen for (gently) calling Kara and Randy out for how they acted during Casey James' performance.
A great surprise on our DVR tonight: On Rupaul's Drag Race they (gasp! applause) did a full-out recreation of The Match Game, cleverly re-titled "The S*atch Game". Sure everyone was in drag and impersonating a celebrity, and they had too many people on each tier for a traditionalist like myself - but Gene Rayburn & Co. would've had a blast. Plus Tatianna won, so it was a great hour of TV all around.
A Full House
Crowded house. All the kids are home now, plus Lisa's watching Jess & Jason's newborn and a 3 yr old while they move. My my. Good thing (for me) that I'm leaving for work soon.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
My Thoughts
Lousy kids r rguing @the table over whether or not YaYa is actually swallowing her grilled cheese or just 'faking', & about who can upchuck into their mouth w/out spitting it out.
Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.
Here's what non-breeders and the 'bred because it was expected' fail to comprehend: you can hate 17.5% of any given day with all ur heart & still not regret any of it. It'd be like hating pizza because 1 slice was crap.
There is Beauty in It
The snow is falling here in beautiful, gigantic snowflakes that look like they were shipped right off a Hollywood soundstage.
Lost
This weeks episode told u everything you need to know about Lost: It's all about Jack. Past, present(s), and future - the island, and the show, is all about Jack Shephard.
Smiley's IEP
A few weeks ago I promised I'd follow up on Smiley's IEP (Individualized Education Program) from his school. Here goes.
First: Smiley appears to enjoy coming to school and interacting with his peers. He follows all classroom rules and routines independently. Smiley is eager to help and to learn. He completes his work and art projects independently.
Then: Dad continues to have concerns regarding his speech production and Smiley knowing his letters and numbers.
Here's the pertinent part: Smiley's speech is approx. 50% intelligible during spontaneous speech to known listeners in known contexts. He often requires cues and/or reminders to slow his rate of speech and to use all hsi sounds. Smiley has difficulty producing the following sounds consistently and/or spontaneously: s, s blends, z, sh, ch, k, g, and th. He produces "s" and "s" blends at the word level w/ minimal verbal and or visual reminders. Smiley requires cues to use correct vowel production at the word level during spontaneous and imitative speech production. Smiley uses 3-4 word sentences to spontaneously to communicate. He uses correct prepositions during structured and unstructured language tasks. He continues to require cues to use articles and correct pronouns. He follows directions independently, answers "wh" questions with 75-100% accuracy and labels vocabulary w/ 80-100% accuracy. Smiley labels 9/9 colors and 8/8 shapes. He counts to eight, then skips to 10. He labels 4/20 numbers and 2/26 letters.
Then: Smiley's speech and language delays negatively impact his communication w/ peers and teachers and his ability to express wants, needs, and thoughts in an age appropriate manner.
Whew. Heavy stuff. Here it is in English. He still doesn't talk very well, but talks 1000% better than he would have if Lisa hadn't pushed to enroll him in therapy two years ago. If you know the boy, and have some idea about the subject that he's discussing, you have a 50/50 chance of comprehending him. I'd say it's closer to 60-70% for family.
The thing I find remarkable is that it really truly doesn't seem to wear him down. He just keeps plugging away. Oh, he gets happy when you understand him, and sometimes seems shocked when you do, but even when you don't he'll a) patiently repeat it until either you get it or b) he finds another way to communicate his needs. The only time I've seen him get annoyed is when a clerk at a store failed to understand him. After a few tries Smiley waved him off and said "nebber min'".
There's some drawbacks to his newfound intelligiblity. We discovered he's been 'secretly' sassing us, saying "shut up" and whatnot in Smiley talk. The first time we comprehended what he was saying we naturally scolded him. He was flabbergasted; he'd been saying it so long without a reaction I think he believed it to be a perfectly appropriate comment.
Forgetting that stuff, here's some famous Smiley quotes: "Di-ah-wee-ah!", said as often as possible in every context.
"Knock 'ock"
"Who's There?"
"Mommy"
"Mommy Who"
"Di-ah-wee-ah!"
He also very frequently asks "Is he weal?" of various characters in TV, movies, and in picture books. I think this is a developmental stage, but I don't recall it with the older girls. I think he's trying to sort out the real from the impossible, and fiction from reality. It's cute, but it's also fascinating to see his mind churn over the possiblities.
Anyhow, I've rambled on long enough. Have a good day.
First: Smiley appears to enjoy coming to school and interacting with his peers. He follows all classroom rules and routines independently. Smiley is eager to help and to learn. He completes his work and art projects independently.
Then: Dad continues to have concerns regarding his speech production and Smiley knowing his letters and numbers.
Here's the pertinent part: Smiley's speech is approx. 50% intelligible during spontaneous speech to known listeners in known contexts. He often requires cues and/or reminders to slow his rate of speech and to use all hsi sounds. Smiley has difficulty producing the following sounds consistently and/or spontaneously: s, s blends, z, sh, ch, k, g, and th. He produces "s" and "s" blends at the word level w/ minimal verbal and or visual reminders. Smiley requires cues to use correct vowel production at the word level during spontaneous and imitative speech production. Smiley uses 3-4 word sentences to spontaneously to communicate. He uses correct prepositions during structured and unstructured language tasks. He continues to require cues to use articles and correct pronouns. He follows directions independently, answers "wh" questions with 75-100% accuracy and labels vocabulary w/ 80-100% accuracy. Smiley labels 9/9 colors and 8/8 shapes. He counts to eight, then skips to 10. He labels 4/20 numbers and 2/26 letters.
Then: Smiley's speech and language delays negatively impact his communication w/ peers and teachers and his ability to express wants, needs, and thoughts in an age appropriate manner.
Whew. Heavy stuff. Here it is in English. He still doesn't talk very well, but talks 1000% better than he would have if Lisa hadn't pushed to enroll him in therapy two years ago. If you know the boy, and have some idea about the subject that he's discussing, you have a 50/50 chance of comprehending him. I'd say it's closer to 60-70% for family.
The thing I find remarkable is that it really truly doesn't seem to wear him down. He just keeps plugging away. Oh, he gets happy when you understand him, and sometimes seems shocked when you do, but even when you don't he'll a) patiently repeat it until either you get it or b) he finds another way to communicate his needs. The only time I've seen him get annoyed is when a clerk at a store failed to understand him. After a few tries Smiley waved him off and said "nebber min'".
There's some drawbacks to his newfound intelligiblity. We discovered he's been 'secretly' sassing us, saying "shut up" and whatnot in Smiley talk. The first time we comprehended what he was saying we naturally scolded him. He was flabbergasted; he'd been saying it so long without a reaction I think he believed it to be a perfectly appropriate comment.
Forgetting that stuff, here's some famous Smiley quotes: "Di-ah-wee-ah!", said as often as possible in every context.
"Knock 'ock"
"Who's There?"
"Mommy"
"Mommy Who"
"Di-ah-wee-ah!"
He also very frequently asks "Is he weal?" of various characters in TV, movies, and in picture books. I think this is a developmental stage, but I don't recall it with the older girls. I think he's trying to sort out the real from the impossible, and fiction from reality. It's cute, but it's also fascinating to see his mind churn over the possiblities.
Anyhow, I've rambled on long enough. Have a good day.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Anne Frank, yams, and American Idol
Busy day. Topped off fluids on the car, took the kids to school & Junie to playgroup, (Smiley's bus never showed) had my crucifix fixed, cleaned fish & turtle tanks & kitty litter in btwn writing. Now Park and I r making a turkey, stuffing (w/ walnuts), rolls & yams for our Tues Family Nt. Then a game & we'll end by reading from Anne Frank's diary. Not 'fun' per se, but they seem woefully ignorant of the Holocaust.
Dinner was A1. Got the kids to eat yams by saying they were carrots. But L & the girls were late bcuz she left the lts on and needed a jump-start, so we xnay'd the game. I did read Anne Frank's 1st 2 entries to the girls. They liked her snarky & somewhat judgemental take on her classmates. Based on her bday gifts, they decided she was much richer than us 
We'll try reading a few pgs each nt.
I was going to go all in-depth on tonight's American Idol, but I think I can sum it up nicely: disappointing, boring, and almost enough to convince you the talk about this group being 'strong' is all smoke and mirrors. However, Katelyn and Crystal did well, Lily was @ least interesting, and Michelle was as good as Ellen said. My picks to go home: Janell and Haeley (sp?).
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