“Don’t you cry no more” #Supernatural

Earlier this month we attended Rhode Island Comic-Con in Providence. It was an experience to say the least.

(I have a lot to say about our visit to the Rhode Island Comic-Con. Some good; some not so much. Everyone we met was very nice. Now I understand that they are supposed to be, but we all know that it isn’t always the case. There were a few people who were just extraordinarily wonderful to DC, so I want to be sure I mention all of them. Because I have so much to say about the entire event; Autism-related and not, I have decided to split the story up into a few parts, by category rather than in order by the day)

Let me first say that I am a huge fan of Jim Beaver. I have been since his time on Deadwood. Jim Beaver was one of the reasons I became a fan of Supernatural – yes, Sam was Dean on The Gilmore Girls so I may have been leaning in that direction anyway, but Jim Beaver gave me the push I needed. DC is also very aware of the show, but other than Sam and Dean (who were not there), Jim Beaver (aka Bobby) is really the only other cast member that I knew for sure he would recognize. Why is DC familiar with Supernatural (or the “Don’t you cry no more” show) you ask?

Well DC loves music, but his musical choices do not usually come from what he hears on the radio unless it is a Disney song or a song from a movie he has seen. There are only a handful of songs that I can think of that he knows specifically from the radio – Carry On Wayward Son, just happens to be one of them. He zoned right in on the “Don’t you cry no more” line and it has been a favorite of his since.

For those of you who may not be fans of the show, Carry On Wayward Son opens the last episode of almost every season. DC picked up on that right away and as everything is related, he began watching the show.

We didn’t have a lot pre-scheduled for Friday night at Comic-Con. One op I had scheduled was Brent Spiner who had cancelled his appearance a few weeks earlier (“From this moment on, you are my mortal enemy!”) so I thought we would use Friday night to just go and get the lay of the land before Saturday when I was sure it would just be mobbed. We really did not expect to see many people or do very much that night, I just really wanted to figure out where everything and everybody was going to be. As it turned out, Friday was the best day of the event for us. It was not crowded at all and we got to do and see an awful lot.

As we were walking and looking around I noticed that there were no lines at many of the autograph tables. Then we came upon the “Don’t you cry no more” room. The first table belonged to none other than Jim Beaver (be still my heart) – he was not there but the tablecloth was not turned up covering the photos for sale as others were so I assumed that he would be right back. We did have a photo op scheduled with him on Saturday, but photo ops are usually very hurried, so I thought this would be a good opportunity for DC to see him and not feel so overwhelmed and rushed. When we went over to stand at his table and wait, a boy who looked to be about 12 came over to us and asked us if we were in line. DC, who seldom initiates a conversation or a greeting, took one look at this boy, who looked just like a younger version of his friend *Ron from Camp and excitedly in his high-pitched squeaky DC voice squealed “Hello there! My name is DC Last Name. How are you? It is nice to meet you!”. He grabbed his hand and shook it so hard the boy’s entire body was shaking. The boy was so very nice. He was not taken aback by DC’s squealing and excitement. The smile never left his face. He answered him, let him shake his hand again and told him his name (which unfortunately I do not remember). He then went back to stand with his mother just outside the room.

While we were standing there, I noticed Samantha Ferris at the next table. I asked DC if he wanted to go over there while we were waiting. He said No – he didn’t want to get out of line – even though we were the only ones in said line; we were in line and in DC’s mind, that was all there was to it. I told him that we would not miss Jim if we went to the next table for a minute. Samantha is a pretty woman with long hair so I knew he wanted to go over there if not for anything else but the long hair but…. he was in line. I finally convinced him that we could go and come back to Jim’s line afterward. He finally agreed.

Once there, he did get very excited. He told her his name and told her where he lived. Again, he was more conversational than usual. She was wonderful with him. She asked me questions but she also directed some questions to DC (which we know does not always happen). She asked how he became a fan and I explained the song connection. She sang a few bars of ‘Carry On’ for him – which just thrilled him to death. She asked him if the show ever frightened him. He said “No”. I began to explain to her how we talk about the fact that the show is only…. – DC piped in with – “Make-believe”. We talked about one of the loves of his life, Felicia Day (a recurring character) who he had the opportunity to meet a few years ago at NY Comic-Con. Samantha certainly added a new fan to her list that night!

DC and Samantha Ferris

As soon as we were finished there, DC immediately wanted to go “back to the line” (there was still no line) and Jim had not returned. Samantha told us he would be right back, so back to the “line” we went. DC started getting a little bit anxious while waiting but fortunately not too over the top. Someone ran by us and said “We’ll let him know someone is waiting” and before I had the chance to finish telling them that it was not necessary to rush him, they were gone.

Eventually when he did come out, he looked a bit out of sorts; not the “I don’t want to be here” out of sorts – he looked as if something was wrong or something had happened. I felt bad and hoped that the powers that be did not make him come out just for us. He apologized and said there had been a slight emergency, which I absolutely believe due to the almost shaken look on his face. Now I felt even worse. Of course the first thing out of DC’s mouth was “I have been looking all everywhere for you”. Then for some reason, probably because he was zoning out a bit at this point , he called him “Jake” instead of Jim or Bobby. He got his “DC picture” as he called it, so he was happy.

We turned to leave and there was the boy from earlier. DC again very excitedly , shook his hand, gave him a hug and told him he loved him (the asking permission before hugging anyone rule went completely out the window that weekend) – the boy, as before, went along with all of it thankfully. What an extraordinary child! I wish I could send him many gifts!

During the course of the weekend we ventured back in to the Supernatural room many times.

On Saturday he met Curtis Armstrong (Metatron – aka “The worst angel ever”), Mitch Pileggi (Samuel)

DC and Curtis Armstrong

DC and Mitch Pileggi

and Alona Tal (Jo). There was no explanation of character necessary for DC here – she is a pretty blonde and that was all he needed to know!

Dc and Alona Tal

Supernatural room = Success!

Saturday was even more crowded than I expected.

We had three photo ops scheduled on Saturday. I purchased Jim Beaver way back in July and the others at later dates. The only information listed when purchasing a photo op on-line was the day; Friday, Saturday or Sunday. When they did finally post the scheduled times I discovered that Jim Beaver and another were listed at the same time. I have to imagine that this happened to many other people as well.

On our way to the most unorganized photo op room I have ever seen, DC announced that he needed to “Flap his Wings”. It was just too crowded for him to flap where we were at the time but we did manage to find a corner almost under the bleachers for him to flap. I had him jump up and down a bit too while we had the space, just to try to get it all out. Then we headed to the area where the photos were to be taken. Jim Beaver was scheduled for 12:45 – 1:15 and the other was scheduled for 12:45 – 1:30. We we decided to get Jim Beaver done first. Explaining the conflict to a volunteer in order to find out how early we could get in line for Jim Beaver, I took out my printed ticket with bar code that clearly stated: You must present this ticket with the Bar Code and your e-mail address to double check the time I had written on the ticket. She looked at it and told us we could probably get in line at about 12:30. We walked around a bit and revisited the “jump and flap” area for one final go. Then we went back to get in line at the time she had given us. I gave the same volunteer my ticket and she said “Oh no, we can’t take those paper tickets. You have to get in that line over there and trade them in for cards.”

What?!?

I followed the direction of her pointing finger to the mob scene, she referred to as a line, and questioned the ticketing process. This was supposed to be our ticket. “I don’t know, I’m just a volunteer, but don’t worry; he’s not here yet”. Firstly, I can not tell you how many times I heard “I don’t know, I am just a volunteer” that day and secondly, the issue was not whether he was there or not, it was about trying to get closer to the front due to our time conflict. We went over and got at the end of the “card” line. While waiting and out of the blue, DC decided to hug the man dressed as Mr. Spock who was in front of us in the card line. Fortunately again, Spock had no problem with this random hug from a stranger. He explained that he has three children on the spectrum, so he was not fazed by it at all. We talked special needs programs for a bit until it was our turn to trade in our tickets. We finally made it out of that line with our “cards” but by the time we got back to the photo line the entire fenced in area was full and our place in line was outside of the roped in area. The volunteer saw us and yelled. “Don’t worry, he’s not in there yet” – again, not the point!

(I will revisit these paper tickets and photo op lines again in another post)

Doug, who unlike me can usually put up with just about anything, went ahead and spoke to a volunteer at the head of the line. Shortly thereafter a different volunteer came and moved us to the front of the line. I have written before that I do not generally look for accommodations for DC and I did not here. I always want him to try. I did purchase VIP tickets because of DC but this is not Comic-Con or the convention center making accommodations for my son, that is me paying more money to accommodate my child on my own. We did what we were supposed to do. We discovered the scheduling conflict. We planned ahead to get in line early, not earlier than anyone else would be allowed to, but as early as was allowed. We had the proper tickets, only to be told that we didn’t. So for anyone that might be wondering or is waiting to pounce; we were not moved to the front due to DC’s autism – we were moved to the front due to the total unorganized way that this event was run (there is more, trust me).

After all of this, it was finally our turn to see Jim Beaver. DC did attend one photo op on Friday night (paper tickets were accepted then and there was no mention of a card ticket). Because of the Friday op, DC was expecting Jim Beaver to be standing on the same side of the room as the person was the night before. He wasn’t – he was on the side of the room closest to the curtain where we entered. DC walked into the room, and headed straight to the other side never noticing Jim Beaver standing right there. DC was looking around very confused so I turned him around and brought him back to Jim, who was looking rather confused himself and probably wondering what was going on.

The photographer took one picture and asked if he would take off his glasses for another. DC, who does not like to part with his glasses immediately said “No”, but he did give in and give them to me. Now he was wearing his crabby face. As soon as they pointed that camera at him, DC being DC, immediately put on his big photo smile. One of the assistants commented about just how quickly he was able to turn on that smile. Yes, sir. That’s my boy – always the ham. One can not point a camera at or around him and not get that smile. As soon as the picture was taken DC’s only concern was getting his glasses back. He started walking out without even saying good-bye or thank you, he just wanted the glasses. He did remember his manners after being reminded. I do not usually have to remind him but I know that all that he was thinking at this point was getting out of there before anyone tried to take his glasses again.

DC (always the actor – wiping his forehead) “Phew, I did it!”

He had his picture, he had his autograph, both of which will be added to his wall of fame at home and he got his glasses back. Even with the all of the confusion and chaos (there was more), my boy really did a great job of it. We will put the Supernatural portion of our weekend in the win column!

****

Coming soon: The Walking Dead, Dr. Who and his most favorite experience of the Con…

(Our internet has been sporadic this entire week. This post was written partially on my phone and partially on my tablet – typing is difficult enough for me on either of these devices but editing is next to impossible – my apologies for any and everything I may have missed or made worse by trying to edit on my phone)

Journals

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

Below is an article that was published in the October issue of APM. I did share the entire issue when it was first published, but was asked not to share the article itself on my blog (something to do with Google and Searches) until it appeared on their blog. Since it has not appeared on their blog so far and I still am trying to blog from my phone due to our internet issues, I thought that inserting photos rather than trying to type with one finger on my phone seems to be the easiest route to publishing a new post. I decided I would share it under a different title as not to go back on my word and confuse Google.

This story was originally posted here with the title of “What Did You Do Today?”

It was published in the October Issue of Autism Parenting Magazine – Take a minute to read the full issue.

Hope to be back on-line very soon!

Keep on Tryin’

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

Semi-typical morning….

DC: “Mom I need help! Something is wrong!”

I run upstairs – due to his recent-ish development of seizures, I run a little bit faster with a bit more panic than I used to.

Me: “What’s wrong?”

DC (angrily) : “Nothing wrong!”

Me: “Bud, you called me and said something was wrong and you needed help. You have to try to tell me what is wrong.”

DC: “Nothing wrong!”

Me: “If you try to tell me I can help you”

DC: “Nothing wrong!”

At this point he is beginning to clench his jaw and arms to the point where his whole body is shaking. I go through the list of everything that would normally set him off in the morning:

Did he find a pin hole in his sock?
Did he get a drop of water on his shirt?
Does he not like the shirt?
Is there a tag I didn’t remove?
Did I move something in his room?

“NO! NOTHING WRONG!”

Me: “Okay do you want me to leave?”

DC (getting more angry): “YES!”

I take all of two steps towards my room to get ready for work when I hear “Mom, come here. I need your help!” I turn around and am right in front of the door when he decides to slam it in my face.

Me: “DC, that was very rude. You called me to help you and you slammed the door.”

DC: “I’m sorry, Mom ‘for rude’. I will never be rude again!” and he opens the door.

Me: “Okay, Please try to tell me what is bothering you and I can try to help you.”

DC (still clenching) “NOTHING BOTHERING YOU!”

I went though the list of every aliment I could think of; headache, stomach ache, etc…..

DC: “NO! Nothing wrong!”

This whole back and forth continued for another 15 minutes (one might wonder why I either just make it or am late for work every day). He wanted me there but then he didn’t, so I decided to just sit there with him without asking him any questions at all. After a while he calmed down and was back to his happy, smiling self. Whatever was bothering him was not bothering him anymore. After 24 years of trying to figure out every little thing, I had to chalk this one up to not ever knowing what the problem was. Morning issues seem to end up in the unsolved column more often than ‘other time of the day’ issues.

Ready and waiting for his transportation to arrive he said, “You are the best Mom I ever was” – something I never tire of hearing; exactly the way he says it.

But then….

“Mom, I try so hard”

Whether this was:

one of those random phrases that he tends to throw out that does not mean what he thinks it means but often is shockingly appropriate to the matter at hand
or mixing up his pronouns meaning I was trying hard to figure out what was bothering him
or he knew exactly what he was saying and was saying exactly what he meant…..

I opted for number 3. The fact of the matter is that he does always try very hard. As much as I have the need to figure it all out all of the time there will always be days when I can’t. As much as he would probably like to be able to tell me, there will always be those days when he can’t ~ and that’s all right. We will both keep on trying.

In place of the rant scheduled for today; I give you – “I told you so”

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

Yesterday I was off on a pretty good rant. I had read a few things in the last few weeks that made me angry and listened to a few more that added to that anger. Let’s just say that the ‘ranty/venty’ post that I wrote earlier was really not ‘fit or human consumption’. I did save it in hopes that I can make it a little less hostile – hopefully I will, one day.

In lieu of the scheduled post is a post I wrote a few years ago about the trials, tribulations and battle for speech therapy for DC, which just so happens to be a small piece of the scheduled rant…..

I don’t want to give away the ending but there may just be an “I told you so” in the mix.

Sometimes “I told you so” is just good for the soul

DC played baseball with the *Challengers League from the time he was 5 until he aged out last year at 21.

The “official” Challengers field in town is located in front of the school he attended for Birth to 3, Early Intervention and Kindergarten. Needless to say he was in this building and with many of the same teachers for a good 4 or 5 years.

I’ve had my battles with the school system over the years, but none so on-going as the need for speech therapy. This battle began in Early Intervention and continued on straight into High School.

Sign Language, I believed was absolutely necessary thanks to my sister in-law, Lisa who convinced me that sign would not prevent him from speaking if he had the capability to eventually speak. It might lessen his frustration level at not being able to communicate (it did). But sign was not, in my mind ‘Speech Therapy” and should not be considered as part of the Speech Therapy hours listed in his IEP. Speech Therapy in a group setting also should not be counted as his speech therapy. Yes, he did need to learn to be able to focus in a group setting, but focusing in a group setting is not speech therapy, it is learning to focus in a group setting.

I can’t tell you how many of these teachers told me he would never speak. One speech therapist, Barbara, actually told me that I was obsessed with DC speaking and “You know, if he isn’t talking by now, he probably isn’t going to”. He was 4 or 5 at the time.

They went so far as to schedule and pay for an evaluation at a well known Medical Center to have him evaluated for a **“Talking Board”. I went to this evaluation, never intending for him to use a Talking Board, but to use the evaluation as proof he was capable of speech. As it turns out, this is exactly what the Doctor doing the evaluating said; he did not recommend the Talking Board and noted this in his report.

I didn’t give up on my battle with the school system, but I also didn’t want to waste any more time getting him the speech therapy he needed, I went out and got other speech evaluations and hired a private speech therapist. Liza was wonderful and made a great deal of progress with him. She was with him for many years. Armed with the evaluations and his progress, I was finally able to prove this to school system – Quite the Catch 22, he had to speak before they would agree to one on one speech therapy! Unfortunately it took a few years to get to this point with them; years that would have been wasted if he were not receiving the private speech therapy.

But back to baseball…….

Our league used a PA system and we always had a volunteer to announce the games. Each game was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

When I was President of the league, I decided that every player should have a chance to be in the spotlight. Each week two players were assigned as team captains and another player was assigned to do whatever they were capable of doing on the microphone.

Some led the pledge; some sang a patriotic song or just yelled “Play Ball!” If they were not verbal, they stood at attention at the Flag or threw out the first pitch.

Our games were played on Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings. DC was about 10 years old and on this particular Wednesday when he was scheduled to be in the spotlight. Coincidently all of the teachers from the Early Intervention Program had been attending a meeting at the school after hours and decided to come down to watch the game before heading home. Most of the players had been their students at one time or another.

Many of them had not seen DC in about 4 years. Just imagine the feeling I had to see DC to go to the mic and sing “America the Beautiful” as clear as a bell with all of those “professionals” who years earlier told me he would never speak, sitting right there in the stands! I could not have PLANNED this if I tried!

Sometimes an “I told you so” is just good for the soul, even if you don’t have to

actually say it out loud.

A VERSION OF THIS POST WAS PUBLISHED ON THE MIGHTY – “They Told Me He’d Never Speak. Then They Heard Him Sing”

So… what’s next?

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

DC tends to get very excited about many things. I hear about whatever he is so excited about all day, every day until it happens. It is always funny and a little bit predictable that when we finally get there, he loves it, he’s having fun, but then 3/4 of the way through, he begins to obsess about “What is next”.

October 31st was a triple whammy for him. After trick or treating we were sitting at the table at his friend’s house having juice and snacks ……… okay so maybe the adults were obsessing about the next Walking Dead episode for a while too (I spend far too much time thinking about that).. I saw that concerned look on his face. He had just realized that it was the last day of the month.

He wore his costume
He had a party with his friends
He had fun
He got his candy
Halloween is over

He began obsessing about changing the calendars. I told him we would be going home soon and he could change all of the calendars then.

Calendars are extremely important to DC. They must always reflect the proper month. Fortunately because my desk at work is such a mess, he can not see that the big desk calendar is still on June or he’d have me pulling everything apart to change it.

There was one time when Mrs. H took him to his favorite wing place. She said he was standing at the counter having a conversation with the counter girl. She thought this was odd because DC does not have conversations in the true sense of the word. You ask a question and he will answer it, you ask another question and he will answer that too and so on. She asked the counter girl what she and DC had been talking about. There was a calendar on the wall behind the counter and he felt the need to point out to her that it had not been changed to the current month – he wouldn’t stop until she promised to change it.

I was and still am to some extent, involved and/or on boards for a few organizations and served 3 terms on a town committee. DC, many times had to attend many of these meeting with me. He has been attending with me for years and is usually pretty good about it. He brings his books, sits ‘relatively’ quietly and he knows not to touch anything that does not belong to him in the meeting rooms. One day he got up, went to the bulletin board, took down the calendar and changed it to the proper month. It must have been bothering him throughout the entire meeting. He knew he was not supposed to touch anything but he just could not control himself.

Not only was he in his “What’s next” and “end of the month calendar changing” mindset but…..but we had to move the clocks back too – all on the same day.

Knowing what this would lead to, I had to explain to him that it would be getting dark very early now and there was nothing to get nervous about. This explanation was in anticipation of him noticing later in the day how early it was getting dark and to hopefully keep him from running to the door every 5 minutes to look outside thinking that a storm was approaching. This never works – but still I try. It happens every year and it goes on for days and days until he is finally used to it.

Halloween is over
The calendars have been changed
The clocks have been changed and explained

so the first thing out of DC’s mouth in the morning ….

“Mom, Thanksgiving is coming soon!”

That’s next so we’re moving on………….

“Fezzes are cool”

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

(The last Halloween post for 2015 – I promise. It’s a Halloween wrap, one could say. This post is not as long as it appears to be – there are a good number of pictures because, you know…. it’s Halloween and I have no restraint)

As costumes go, this year was really not all that difficult.

He chose costumes that actually existed.
We were able to find all of his requests in his size.
The two that I did have to buy in pieces to make up the costumes were not all that difficult to put together because the pieces actually exist.

It was a relatively easy year.

Yes, we had the whole “Jim Dear” bump in the road but luckily and unexpectedly it worked out so – Jim Dear will be counted and included in his “costume parade” this year and of course included in his annual Halloween book that he receives for Christmas each year.

– We do take this holiday very seriously.

We may be a little bit over the top, but he loves it and I am perfectly happy to encourage and go with it!

Onward….. his ~~first~~ second choice – the costume that he wore to his Work/Day Program Halloween Dance and the reason (well partially the reason) he was so excited when I brought out that nightmarish pair of glass slippers….

Prince Charming – the REAL Costume this time.

He even had the opportunity to escort a real princess to the dance. We were not allowed to call her a princess, she is the “Zombie Prom QUEEN!” But to DC, she was a princess – just don’t tell *Salli. Her costume must and should always be identified properly using the official name. Never a Princess!

A few days later we were going to the Haunted Miniature Golf Course to work at a table to support DC’s summer camp. Wearing a costume was not something I had thought about, believe it or not. When I realized the day before I ventured into my costume closet to see if there was something in there for him to wear at the last minute.

The Costume Closet: Let’s talk about the costume closet. DC and I live in a very small duplex. There is no storage and really nowhere to put anything, but still I have an entire closet devoted to Halloween Costumes (Priorities, people!). This closet is beyond ridiculous. I really can not find anything. I don’t even know everything that is in there at this point, but I was hopeful. The other issue with pulling out an old costume is that many of them will not fit him any longer. DC is a big boy.

I saw something with a black cape. I was able to get at it without the rest of the closet caving in on me. It was a Jack the Ripper costume. The only reason that I can think of for having a Jack the Ripper costume is that I must have thought I could use all or part of it for one of DC’s requests for a costume that did not exist. I don’t recall ever using it though. It had a black vest, a black cape and a top hat. It was trimmed in red. I showed it to him and asked if he would like to wear it to the golf course. I got an emphatic “Yes”. The boy just loves a cape. We tried it on. I was worried about the vest but it fit – PHEW. He went to look at himself in the mirror.

I asked: “DC who are you?”

“Captain Von Trapp”

????!!!!?????

I have no idea why he thought he looked like Captain Von Trapp unless there is some obscure scene in the Sound of Music where either Christopher Plummer or Stephen Moyer is wearing a cape. If DC thinks so, then there probably is.

Only because I was still a bit confused about the Captain Von Trapp thing, I asked him again who he thought he looked like. This time the answer was “Doc Terminus” (Jim Dale from Pete’s Dragon for those of you that have not seen every Disney movie ever made). That actually made perfect sense. He did look like him, more than he looked like Captain Von Trapp, anyway.

Of course we did have a mustache on hand to complete the look.

We were scheduled to man the table a second day and fortunately I did not have to venture into the dreaded closet again. I remembered his Grease garb from a Grease Sing-A-Long that we attended a few years ago that was hanging in his own closet – SCORE! It had a jacket which was perfect as it can get mighty cold out there and there is nothing worse than having to wear a coat or jacket over one’s Halloween costume.

Nothing… Seriously… Look it up..it is just not done!

The second best part was that it was easy and recognizable……

except that everyone called him “Elvis” – everyone.

His camp party came just two days after the golf course. His choice……. “Hook” but not the Disney Captain Hook (yay!)- Captain Hook from the television show “Once Upon a Time” (yay, again). I was happy with this choice. It is a popular character on a current TV show. Other than the Big Bang Theory last year, he really never chooses or has any interest in anything current, so usually No One Knows What He Is Supposed To Be.

He even ran into another pirate at the party.

Fortunately no swords were drawn – it was all very amicable.

Moving on to my very favorite costume of the season! This one for the Best Buddies Halloween party.

Dr. Who – the 10th Dr.! (DC’s favorite DR (mine as well) and the greatest challenge of the season – David Tennant’s hair.

Two ruined wigs
DC loosing his stuff over the hair clippings – everywhere.
DC loosing his stuff over the hair glue (extra strength mouse, but I really think it IS glue) everywhere.

I finally had to give it up or the costume that he was so excited about would turn into something he did not want to wear or hear about – ever again. I think we still made the point even with the rather ridiculous hairdo.

One could truly say the was “The Madman with a box.”

DC and his Best Buddy

Traveling in his “Big” (very, very big) Blue Box through space and time to somewhere in New England – coordinates set for October 31, 2015 and regeneration complete…….

comes…….The 11th Doctor.

Although David Tennant, the 10th Dr. is DC’s favorite – He would not pass up the opportunity to wear a FEZ.

But seriously……Who could??

“Fezzes are cool”

Happy Halloween!

Gorn? No…… October reruns #TBT

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

So we’ve come to the end of the line – the last Halloween/Spooky/TBT/FBF post for October 2015. Never fear, there will be just one more Halloween post in early November – I know you were worried 🙂

Recently, after writing “Leave the Shoe; take the chocolate” I commented to the only two people that “got it” that this was usually the case – I am sitting here just cracking myself up…… alone.

The last costume in the following post is another one of those times when I just thought I was being so clever and hilarious and no one got it. Part of the reason that no one “got it” was because there was actually a Star Trek species called Gorn, lizard-like aliens that I did not even remember until people brought it up. (My bad – Defeated again)

So here’s some hints for the very last costume:

Big Bang
Game
Stones – document – cutting instrument – reptile – Leonard Nimoy…

Trust me….. it’s hilarious (but you do have my permission to just humor me)

but….. no one will know what you are supposed to be

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

In the event that it still isn’t apparent to everyone…….. I LOVE HALLOWEEN, and I couldn’t be happier that DC loves it as much as I do!

“But, no one will know what you are supposed to be”, is something I have been told quite often on Halloween over the years. I sometimes have a very odd sense of what is funny or what, I’m sure other people will get. They don’t always ‘get it’ but I am cracking myself up so no one else needs to join in.

DC and I begin planning Halloween in August. He must have a costume for every event he attends and me, being me, just LOVES this!

As I can always come up with the odd costume, again, thinking I am just totally hilarious, more often DC will come up with a costume that is not a costume at all, just a character wearing regular clothes or worse, a costume that does not exist or that no one has ever heard of except for DC – who is watching very old or obscure musicals or Disney movies.

There was the year that he wanted nothing more than to be “Charlie Bucket” for Halloween……..

Basically, Charlie Bucket is a boy with blonde hair.

Alrighty, then…….

In my mind Charlie’s birthday scarf was red – it wasn’t, but I think I duplicated the jacket (doesn’t show up well in the photo, but it was very close), the hair and hat as closely as I could. I added a Golden Ticket to his trick-or-treat bag, for added recognize-ability and I think I came pretty close to turning DC into “Charlie Bucket”.

and ……on a side note, the bag must always match the costume….

Even with the addition of Willy Wonka and an Ooompa Loompa , people who did not know DC personally had no idea he was in a costume..

Then there was the year that DC wanted to be “Daddy Warbucks” from one of his favorite musicals, Annie. I had planned to dress as Annie, but I broke my toe – the first in a very long line of toe-breaking incidents – so I could not walk around the neighborhood with him. Still, I assumed that most people would know who Daddy Warbucks was even without Annie by his side………They didn’t.

Even with the addition of Sandy the dog to his trick-trick-or-treat bag, most people thought he was Mr. Six.

(Mr. Six was one of his choices a few years later and yes, everyone “got it”)

I always do try to embrace his costume requests especially when he does come up with a character from a TV show or movie that is more age-appropriate than his usual choices. Generally when he does actually choose something or someone from a television show, it is usually a show that has not been on the air for years. He tends to discover favorite TV shows long after they are out of the public eye, but progress is progress and I will take it.

This year, he surprised me.

DC’s first costume of the 2014 Halloween season was “The Doppler Effect” (Sheldon – The Big Bang Theory) – He loves the Big Bang Theory and as I said, I will go out of my way to encourage anything he might like that is more age-appropriate than the TV shows and movies he normally gravitates to. Obviously, he did not say “I want to be the ‘Dopper Inact’ (DC-speak)” but he did want to be Sheldon, which would have been easy to do, as he has worn his Bazinga shirt to death, so we went for the Doppler Effect.

No, not everyone knew who he was “supposed to be”, but he didn’t know or care. It was funny to the people that did “get it” and that is good enough for me.

Our next party costume was one that, not only did I think no one would have any idea about, but it was really difficult to find a photo on-line to copy from – The Timekeeper from “Spy Kids, All the Time in the World” – and yes, we are required to say the full title of the movie every time it is mentioned.

Fortunately, I found some “Bag O’ Gears” on Amazon along with goggles that looked close enough even before gluing said gears all over them. The costume, of course was not exact, it really wasn’t even close, but gears were added, a pocket watch and a flask with a compass, looking close enough to a clock to fit the theme. I thought it made the point and more importantly, DC loved it. As it turned out a few people other than DC had actually seen this movie and knew right away who he “was supposed to be”.

The Timekeeper, the challenge of our Halloween season, “nailed”, according to a few reviews, we moved on to our final party before Halloween night.
The Beast…. because of course, there must be at least one Disney animated character in the mix.
This was not DC’s first Halloween as the Beast, but years ago, it was much more difficult to find a Beast costume, so again, we had to go “makeshift” and put random pieces together to get the effect. A friend of mine happened to have a mask, so that really helped.

This year, he had the real thing, straight from the Beast’s wardrobe – because, as you know, the Beast is no longer a Beast, he is a handsome Prince, he has no need of this outfit anymore.

The one costume that continues to make the list from the time DC was very young and still to this day is “Jim Dear” from Lady and the Tramp.

(sigh….) A man in a suit…..

Not my idea of a Halloween costume, but – this is not about me….

……not ALL about be, anyway.

This year, while purchasing a 40’s style hat for DC to wear to an event we attended, I came across and purchased a derby type hat as well.
Next year I will give in to his request for a “Jim Dear” costume. I suppose I will be shopping for a stuffed Lady and Tramp, and whatever else I can come up with to make “Jim Dear” recognizable. I have 10 months to think about it.

I began writing this post almost two weeks ago after DC attended his first party of the season, holding off publishing until the last costume of our season ‘dropped’ – on Halloween night.

The following is a combination of my encouragement of DC’s affection for something popular, age appropriate, something he actually thinks is funny, and me thinking myself quite hilarious.

Alright already…….. Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock – come on… that’s funny (you’re humoring me, remember?)

and even more Short Stories

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

or…. Short Stories; the Threequel… (or… “Fluff” because it’s been a busy month)

Below are some “short stories” (statuses) that have been posted on my own and my public Facebook pages (Instagram too) – too short to qualify for a blog post, although many have turned out to be the inspiration for an official blog post. You may have seen a few of these before, probably not all though.

Should have landed home at 12:35 pm Thursday. 13 Hours later, we made it! “There’s no place like home”.

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Just watched DC trying to get on the bus w/out smashing 5 bouquets of flowers for his teachers – we’ll see if they make it…….not one of my better ideas.
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Even though we were in the blazing sun – he couldn’t get past those dark clouds – we didn’t get very far….

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BB and DC testing the Bertie Bot flavors on the way home from Salem.

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Taking DC to NY tomorrow to see “Bye Bye Birdie” (one of his favs) and the bonus…….. “Uncle Jessie” (John Stamos from another of his favorites, Full House) is in it. He is very excited! Doug, on the other hand, is attending under protest; already practicing and perfecting the eye rolling, heavy sighs…….

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Just lost another 10 years of my life; DC fell off the horse. He’s okay, I may never be.

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DC had a great time “Ghost Hunting” at the “shemitury” (DC speak) with BB tonight (both in full TAPS gear)

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Lost power at 4am (Mr. “No Storm Today” knew the instant it went off), it just came back. Long morning driving him around until it came back on – Before resorting to driving him around I did try for a couple of hours to get him back to sleep but who can sleep with “Waiting!” being yelled at you continuously. When I told him to please stop yelling, he moved on to spelling it. When that didn’t work he moved on to sign language (yes, it is quieter, but of course he had to poke me each time so I could see him signing)!

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Yes, it’s June but DC has already picked his Halloween Costume and it is on order. A little ahead of schedule this year, we usually wait until August 🙂 . We LOVE Halloween, in case that isn’t apparent to you all.

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“Pretty Maids All In A Row”

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Because no is allowed to sit in his chair in the kitchen (even if he is not in it) or his “spot” on the couch, I thought we’d make it official #BigBang

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STOP THE PRESSES! DC is at an Arc activity with his “Arc Friends” and he is eating Lasagna!

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Sitting in the waiting room for DC’s scheduled DR. Appointment this morning and watching Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Club House to be exact. We were called in before the dreaded “Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog” song came on and yet it is still stuck in my head…… Now it’s stuck in yours. You are welcome.

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Waitress: how do you want your burger?
DC: Good!

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Poor deprived boy, they don’t have wings. He’ll have to settle for ribs…. Sigh

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After losing his computer/DVD privileges last weekend, he is preparing his list for this Friday. “Movie Adventures” is what he is calling his upcoming Friday night (yes, I am still sick and sound like a man)

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Still trying to get to watch the first episode of The Walking Dead, but I have it on good authority that Rick and DC may share the same Band-aide obsession.

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Robin Hood found himself a princess. He was excited….. for awhile. She dragged him around the dance floor for quite some time. DC apparently not wanting to hurt her feelings (or needing Mom to fight his battles) yelled to me “Mom! My arm is bothering you” (translation – She is holding my arm and it is bothering me) each time they passed by. I guess having a princess on one’s arm can get old, even for DC.

And forever my favorite……..

“Mom, I look ‘Dora-bull’ ” -(no lack of confidence there)

October reruns – “Scary Stuff”

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

This week’s installment of my October/Halloween/Spooky/#TBT (or #FBF) theme – Not to worry, October will be over soon – is a story from 2 years ago about a vacation we took to Lake George quite a few years ago when DC was little. There was a debacle every step of the way but it all worked out well in the end…..

I may be confused about the name of a park and the train may have been at an entirely different park – my memory is not all that it used to be, but it all happened…..

Cinderella, Santa, Haunted Houses and other “Scary Stuff” (or: Vacation debacles that worked out somehow)

A few years back…. well, probably more than just a few, we took a trip to Lake George. I remember going there as a kid. I remember Story Town, which we discovered when we arrived was now just a small part of The Great Escape Amusement Park. I remembered the North Pole that was quite a drive from Lake George, but worth the trip. Specifically I remembered that in Story Town there was a Cinderella’s Pumpkin Carriage ride. My son was a Cinderella fanatic. He was obsessed, still is at 22. “Citronelle” was one of his very first words.

We arrived at the Great Escape and at the entrance was a sign listing all of the rides that were not operating that day. You guessed it…. Cinderella’s Carriage was on the list! Well, he got to SEE the carriage anyway and since there was also a castle (sort of, it was just a Prop) he got over the carriage ride a little more easily that I thought he would.

We had a good time at the park anyway. I think I was more disappointed than DC was. I was just so looking forward to him being able to ride in the carriage. He would have been thrilled.

The next day we were heading to the North Pole. This would definitely make up for the missed carriage ride! I checked the local paper the day before and found an ad that stated it was open daily and listed the hours of operation. It took quite a long time to get there – about an hour and a half, if I remember correctly. When we arrived at the park we found it “Closed for Construction” for the next few MONTHS! Now I had to explain to him that the park was closed and we would not be seeing Santa today. That went well…………..(not!)

On the way back to Lake George, we happened upon another very small park called “The Magic Forest”. The park was small, cute but very run down and old. DC didn’t care. He made me walk through a dusty, beat up “Princess House (cave)” 20 times or more. The Princess ~~house~~ cave was filled with dirty mannequins with peeling paint with cobwebs everywhere, but he LOVED it!

We took a ride on the train that got stuck on the way up a hill and the employees had to get out and push, but he still loved it.

There was also a SANTA! So the second day of our trip was saved!

The next day we decided to walk though the town. I remembered a pretty cool wax museum which, surprisingly was still there. We also came upon a Haunted House. DC loves all things Halloween and loves Haunted Houses; always did, even when he was very young.

He wanted to go in. After only two minutes inside, I began to realize that this was a mistake. He was terrified. He put both arms around my waist and I had to keep both of my arms around his neck/head; and this was the way we walked through the rest of the house, with DC walking sideways facing my side, with both arms around me and both my arms around his neck. All the way thorough, all I could think was “What have I done? This child is terrified! I’ve scarred him for life”. I felt so bad that he was so frightened. I kept telling him that he was okay and it was all make-believe. We finally made it out and he seemed all right, but I still felt awful. It WAS really, really scary.

We continued down the street. I continued to ask him if he was okay and told him to remember that it was all just make believe. He seemed fine.

As we were walking DC stopped, pointed and said “Go In”. I looked over and he was pointing at another haunted house. I tried to explain to him that this was a “Scary House” just like the last one and I really didn’t think he wanted to go in. DC kept pointing and saying “Go in” and was now dragging me toward the line. All the while I was trying to explain that this is scary just like the last one. He got me to the line that I had no intention of getting in, and he proceeded to wrap both arms around my waist and had me put my arms around his neck/head and got “into position” to “Go in”.

Apparently, he did understand that this was another haunted house and as much as I thought he was terrified, he wasn’t – he loved it and he was “Going in!”

So, no…… Not scarred for life at all.

DC did get to ride in Cinderella’s Carriage a few years later at another park in New Hampshire.

He still loves Haunted Houses, but you would never know this as he’s going though them.

Leave the shoe; take the chocolate…..

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

I am sure at this point it is very clear to everyone that DC is a big fan of Halloween as am I. How great is it that he loves something that I do just as much as I do? How often does that happen?

When he was young, he’d wear his costume and we would drive to the houses of family members and friends, only time for 4 or 5 stops, but it was enough for him. When he was a little bit older we added Trick-Or-Treating at a few houses close by to our evening. He always had a hard time trying to figure out why we were going to the door and ringing the doorbell but we weren’t going inside. I had to stop him at every door from trying to walk right into people’s houses.

When he got older still, we stopped driving to friends and family because that could take all night and just began trick-or-treating around our own neighborhood. He did finally get passed trying to walk in to every house.

DC loves Halloween, he loves wearing a costume and of course he loves getting the candy – he just really didn’t want to have to walk for it. So our trick-or-treating around the neighborhood usually consisted of 3 or four houses willingly and then I would push him to do just a few more.

He was not very old at all when he realized that my costume ideas were always in theme (yes, I know, I am really hard to put up with at Halloween). When he was old enough to make the costume decisions himself, he always chose his, mine and Doug’s (this was before Doug decided he’d had enough of Halloween – BOO!)

With DC at the helm, the costumes as one would imagine were almost always from Disney. I have dressed as quite a few Disney characters, very many of them princesses. I did have to put my foot down at Princess Ariel, but otherwise we were usually able to pull off the theme. DC is very particular about his princesses. He had to make sure I wore lipstick (the one and only day of the year that I would) and he always had to approve the shoes. I could not get away with anything but the proper princess shoes. In most cases I was able to find those glittery shoe covers that went with the costume, so heels or pumps were not always required – PHEW!

Then came the year that he decided that we had to be Cinderella and Prince Charming. I really wondered what took him so long to pick that pair. I really thought that Cinderella, being his all-time favorite princess would have been his request much earlier on.

Under DC’s watchful eye, I was able to find a blue Cinderella ball gown and of course a blonde Cinderella wig. Although we had a hard time finding a “Prince Charming” costume back then – we were able to find a “Handsome Prince”. It was not the same but it would do.

Of course I must have glass slippers. I knew I was not going to get away with shoe covers this time around; this was CINDERELLA – this was serious! It is really a good thing that we make our Halloween costume selections in August every year because these slippers were not easy to find. I did finally find a pair. They were THE most uncomfortable shoes I have ever worn but I figured that it would be fine because he would only make me walk to 4 or 5 houses, tops.

<insert buzzer here> I was wrong, so very wrong……

Whether it was just the fact that it finally kicked in that the more houses he went to, the more candy he would get or just the over the top excitement for the glass slippers or both – he did not walk, but ran from house to house. The only time he stopped or slowed down was to check my feet for the shoes or randomly grab my dress and lift it up to show people my shoes.

I don’t think he cared that he did not look like Prince Charming at all. I had a crown for him to wear but he insisted on wearing the hat that came with the costume – a more casual Prince, we’ll call it. This Halloween was all about the shoes. We did our street and then some. Afterwards I limped home with DC grabbing at my gown the whole way.

I do believe he had these shoes on display in his room for quite some time before I put them away. He got awfully excited when I took them out last week to take a photo of them. He did not realize that I still had them. The excitement was due to one of the costumes he had chosen for this Halloween Season – I think he may have thought I was going to pull out the gown again.

No way! Not happening!

I am now quite sure that Cinderella did not leave her shoe behind accidentally. Given the chance to do it all over again, I am positive she would have left the shoes (both of them) and just opted for some chocolate.