Morning in repose...

So I'm sitting here, drinking a flavor of tea appropriately called "Zen," listening to my neighbors across the street casually curse at one another under the birdsongs and bus traffic. I could do without the cursing, but given that they're laughing at the same time, I'm tempted to claim it as part of their general vocabulary more than a sign of something being amiss.

My yard is mowed (thanks to my landlord and a weed eater/mower combo) and looks much better. I should still do something about the flowerbeds, but I have no idea what, combined with the fact that plants regrettably cost money. I could go and be relatively cheap and fill them with petunias or something, but I actually really hate petunias (sorry, Mom), though I suppose they're better than nothing. I now understand, though, why Mom always had petunias and marigolds in her flower beds -- they're hardy and cheap. Someday maybe I'll live somewhere with a real porch or a balcony and have a container garden, where I'm not fighting off invasive grass or dogs or whatever the whole time. Until then, though, it is what it is.

I have to start writing again soon. I also have to get back on my web page work today, as soon as I finish this last assignment. I'm taking a moment, though... lingering over tea, figuring out what the heck I'm going to wear today as I ponder what's actually in the dryer, etc. (it's a laundry day). Rosie's in the yard, filthy but happy. I've already given my landlord a rent check, sent an email regarding my financial aid status, and accepted an appointment to check out grad school at Ohio State while I'm there for Origins.

This morning is not for freaking out over the prospect of potential grad school relocations, though. This morning is to be calm and quiet.

And to realize that I'm double booked for this evening, despite having taken precautions about that a few days ago.

Fuck.

Well, I guess we know now what calm and quiet gets you. Sigh.

[diet] Day 13

Got some money today. So going to the grocery store (and the farmer's market, if I can swing it).

Breakfast: Standard: an egg, a slice of Canadian bacon, a piece of buttered toast, a can of V-8, a cup of tea.

Snack: None.

Lunch: A bento box from the Cutting Board in Georgetown. I have to say, that was some amazing food. Teriyaki chicken, teriyaki tofu, some sort of tempura type chicken, a tempura-type prawn, a mashed-potato patty (at least I think that's what it was), some veggie gyoza, three pieces of a California roll, and some salad. 1 12 oz. can of coke (my bad).

Snack: 1 SF Fudgesicle (the last one, yay!) A piece of string cheese.

Dinner: Potluck: Watermelon, salad, a small amount of pasta, a couple of homemade pork gyoza, 1 1/3 chocolate cookie, and a carrot cake cupcake. 1 small glass red wine. No soda (yay!)

Whaddya know. *grin*

Will's team won his game last night, so they'll be playing on Saturday in the championship game in his division. He's apparently shaping up to be a pretty good catcher, as his attention wanders far less when people are throwing things at him all the time. :) I'm very proud of him.

Also, it turns out that in Al's PEERS social skills group, a good 1/3 of the boys in attendance are all going to the same middle school he is next year. They all go to the same elementary now and are in the Special Ed program there. They all have Asperger's/autism, are all fairly high-functioning, and refer to themselves as "the A-Team." Alisdair has been adopted into this group whole-heartedly and has made at least one new best friend, a boy named Troy (who is just a bit older and at least a foot taller... that boy makes Al look short, which is really something if you've ever seen Al next to the rest of his classmates) or, as he is also known, "Big T." If you put the two of them together in a room, they gravitate to each other like magnets.

Last night after the skills group, the father of one of the boys in that group called me and invited me and Al and whoever else in the family would be interested to a potluck that the families at the A-Team's current elementary school were having tonight. When I told him, his whole face just lit up and he said, "I'm invited?!?!?"

I hadn't realized, I guess, how keenly he felt the differences between himself and some of the other kids. I know some of the parents of the boys' friends at Graham Hill remembered Alisdair's blowups from when he was younger, and there've definitely been times when Will's been invited to something and Alisdair not. They were scared of what he'd do, I guess, or that they wouldn't know how to handle him, so all in all they just preferred not to deal with it. I understand, but I guess I hadn't thought Alisdair had noticed that much. Seeing his face, though, and hearing his voice when he learned he'd been specifically included... God, that was worth so much.

Of course, the game of Will's that I thought was tonight is actually a practice, and I was expecting to be there because I thought it was a game, but apparently it's not. David is going to cover things with Will, though, and I'll evidently be taking an overjoyed Alisdair to meet more of his new classmates and hang out with the A-Team a bit more. :) I admit, I thought it was pretty nice to be invited to something too. I think that's the first time I've been invited to anything school-related by anyone.