Cowboys and Amanda

Ok, I haven't had a beer this year, so I'm watching a Cowboys game and drinking red wine. It is a little different, but I'm managing. i really don't miss the beer and I physically feel better. I swear, some days I feel like Allan Harper from 2 1/2 Men. At least I can move my half of a 150 pound outdoor fireplace.

Amanda is back in the playroom with Tina and she is going on about something. She gets pretty worked up this time of night. She always has actually. She was very late to baby babble, but when she did it was always this time of evening. She was quiet for a big part of her life, but now she is like Donkey from Shrek, it is getting her to shut up that is the trick. It is very nice to hear.

Years ago I remember talking with a child psychologist about Amanda. She asked, "What do you want from this child?" I answered, "I just want a conversation." Well, I have that and it really is enough.

BTW: Cowboys just scored, they have a good backup with Kitna. He doesn't have the weak arm like Wilson did.

My new toy

I have a new laptop, a Dell inspiron mini. This is a nice little machine with long battery life and a hard drive as large as my desktop, all for $4oo. That last part I find amazing. My first laptop cost as much as my last three and it was less powerful than my Blackberry.

But more importantly, I gave Amanda my old Dell Latitude 400. She will never turn it on, just mimic the actual use of a laptop. At this moment she is "blogging." She thinks I hung the moon.

The tie that binds

Today was one of those rare occasions when I needed to wear a tie. So this morning I put on my black suit, with my blue shirt. I didn't put on my tie at home because my meeting wasn't for three hours and the longer I can avoid putting a leash around my neck the better. When I got to work I did some review for my meeting and then went to put on my tie. Try as I might, I couldn't get my top button done. A long time friend and coworker tried to do button me up and finally said, "I think you need to go up to a 17 1/2 inch neck."

Here in lies the problem, this was an 18 1/2" neck shirt. I get the athletic cut shirts because I have a 46" chest and 35" waist but my shoulders go right into my neck. One of my friends says that I have a neck like a Rottweiler. So I went home and found another large necked shirt. The collar is cut a little different and it fit well enough, but it looks like I will be adding 19" shirts to the wardrobe.

She is too modest, so I have have to say it

The other night Tina and I are watching TV and an ad for E Harmony comes on. The ad emphasized that selections were based on like intelligence and values. Well let me say this, I am so glad I didn't go that route. It was very necessary for me to find someone who is smarter than I am who possesses a moral compass. It would have been very easy for me to have dropped out of school and wound up selling stolen car parts out of a friend's garage.

Tina has inspired me, guided me, coached me, and corrected me. I wouldn't be me without her.

USMC

It's the first week of school, which means I can get back to my pre-summer routine. After I take Amanda to school, I go to the gym more days than not. This winter and spring I was able to get back into my pre GI illness shape. I dropped 20 pounds and bulked my arms and chest back up. This summer I maintained my strength, but I only got to the gym a half dozen times. In my defense, I did play a lot of golf and worked in the yard. I also mad a point to float in the pool as often as possible.

I've made it the last three days, the first two emphasizing cardio. I didn't want to to shock my body by hitting the weights the first day. It might not take it well and rebel. Today I was able to do both. The Offspring on my I-pod nano were made for weight lifting.

But what I thought was cool was this. There were two young guys working out hard and heavy. Both were about 24 years old, lean, a few tatoos and Marine Corp Reserve. Halfway through their workout they went outside to smoke. Then they came back in and did decline push ups until their arms gave out. I doubt either one of these guys had more than 10% body fat. Put them on t he Nicotine Patch and they could fight all day.

Small class and a small victory

Amanda is back in school and loving it. She is in a much smaller class this year and Ms. Debbie has returned as an aide. Her class has emphasis on life skills and is set up like a house, complete with kitchen and laundry room. When I describe this class to most people their response is usually, "I wish my kid could take that class." Well, home economics is offered in high school, but then again it is harder to teach normal teenagers the basics of life than it is younger students with developmental delays.

Amanda is very proud that she earns a smiley face for her behavior for the day. She is making a point to show it to me. She prides herself on cooperation and has learned to stay much calmer when things go a rye.

Amanda's big accomplishment has come in the past two weeks. She now goes to sleep by herself. For many years she was terrified to fall asleep in her bed by herself. Either Tina or I would have to lay in bed with her until she was asleep. If we tried to leave before she would succumb to sleep she would follow us out of the room, call out, scream, cry, or worse. Those of you with a special needs child like Amanda know what I'm talking about when I say, "or worse."

But now, after I read her a story or tell her about my day, she simply says, "Bye, close the door." Within fifteen minutes she is asleep.

I think this came on do to a flight delay two weeks ago. My brother and I flew into DFW after a quick trip to LA. We were scheduled to get in at DFW around 8 pm, instead it was closer to 11 because of a late arrival at LAX and then a broken toilet. Amanda had decided to stay up until I got home. Had it been the original 11 pm arrival at home she would have made. But there was no way she was going to make it until 2 AM. She pitched a pretty serious fit, but Tina held her ground and told her she could just lay down on the movie sack until I got home. Tina said Amanda talked to herself for about half an hour about how mad she was and then fell asleep. About 1 AM Tina her call out, "Hey Tina! My back hurts, want my bed." Tina walked her to her room and said Amanda was asleep as soon as her hed hit the pillow. Ever since then she has been going to sleep by herself.

She told me, she thinks about stuff before she falls asleep now. This has become a serious victory in our house. School wears her out and she is asleep by 8:30, or at least kicking me out of her room, and now Tina and I have an extra hour and half together in the evening.

A new day, a new chair

I'm getting used to my new office chair. My last chair was a great chair until the bolts that held the seat to the frame stripped out and left me to face gravity by myself. Now, if you think about it, the only reason for the bolts to strip and fall out is because I was leaning back in my chair, which I was. This was bad enough, but I was on the phone at the time, wearing a headset instead of using the handset, so yes, the person I was talking to at the time heard everything. Gravity is one of the few things I really fear, other things are: tornadoes, giant sharks, spicy food, an NFL players lock out, cancer, and a coffee blight.

So, when I was surprisingly confronted by one of my great fears, I naturally tried to save myself with a four letter word which really didn't cushion my fall. The person on the phone was a bit concerned that I was mad at him, but I explained the situation quickly, omitting my fear of giant sharks. I assume most everyone is afraid of giant sharks and didn't want to waste my breath on the subject.

All that being said, I now have a new chair that is every bit as comfortable as the last one, now that I know how to adjust the arms, and the bottom bolts are tight. So I'm good to go.