Seasons of Change

Autumn was never my favorite season. To me it meant that summer was over and school would start, bringing with it cooler temperatures, shorter days and stomach viruses. But somehow this year, like the seasons, my mind is changing. Although I am extremely fond of summer, I have taken a new liking to fall. I won't go so far as to say autumn is my new favorite season, but I am seriously contemplating it. Here are a few of my reasons...

Gorgeous Fall Foliage

Caramel Apples

Hoodies

Pumpkin Farms




Winter Squash...Yum!



Blue Jeans 
Coca-Cola tag bonus : )

Images from Flickr. Click on photos for original source.

"97X. BAM. The Future of Rock and Roll."

The Price is Right airs at a new time. After all the years of coming on at 9:00 a.m., CBS has decided to move the game show to 11:00 and for the record, I am not one bit happy about the change.

If you have ever watched the movie Rain Man, you probably recall when Raymond and Charlie Babbitt were on the road and 5 o' clock began to approach. Charlie realized if he didn't find someone that would let his brother watch People's Court on their television, Raymond was going to throw a fit. After all, Ray followed a rigid schedule and had to watch certain programs at the same time every day, no matter what.

Cody is like that with The Price is Right and Survivor.

If you haven't seen Rain Man, I would recommend that you do so. It really is a good film and very educational for those who know little about autism.

I found the following clip on YouTube. I must forewarn that the F word is thrown around a couple of times, so view at your own discretion.

No Wonder Coca-Cola is SO Enjoyable...

I saw the following article on MSN's homepage today:

"Major soda brands are known for having their fair share of strange ingredients, but one that could come as a surprise to many consumers is alcohol. According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, a French magazine called 60 Million Consumers recently published research that found trace amounts of alcohol in 19 major soda brands worldwide. The sodas included Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, and Pepsi.

The actual amount of alcohol present was minuscule, reaching about 0.001 percent per liter, so soda drinkers don't have to worry about getting drunk from consuming a few cans of pop. The Huffington Post reports that Coca-Cola France's scientific director, Michel Pepin, proposed one theory for the presence of alcohol: natural fruit fermenting that could take place during the secret drink-making process.

Coca-Cola isn't hiding the alcohol in its soda. In fact, a disclaimer is posted on the company website. It reads, "Trace levels of alcohol can occur naturally in many foods and beverages. Government and religious organizations have recognized that such minute levels are considered acceptable in nonalcoholic foods and beverages."

Despite the statement explaining that traces of alcohol are really no big deal, Coca-Cola has announced that it will change the recipe for its sodas, but only in the United States.

Are you bothered by the knowledge that there are trace amounts of alcohol in major soda brands? Or is it no big deal?"

Here is my answer...No, I am not bothered that there are trace amounts of alcohol in Coca-Cola. However, I am bothered that Coca-Cola thinks it needs to change the recipe for the United States. Boo!

What are your thoughts?

To read the article in its entirety, go to www.delish.com .

Hostess, Please Keep Making Twinkies

As I was clocking in at school Friday, John, a fellow staff member, said to me “Did you hear? Hostess is going out of business.” I know John wasn’t expecting my reaction upon hearing his news. I asked him if he was sure, then I went on to explain the sheer panic on my face. You see, Tuesday is Twinkie day according to Cody (autistic) and Hostess makes Twinkies.


Immediately the wheels in my head started spinning and I began devising a plan:

I will have to buy a years supply of Twinkies, at least, because it will probably take me that long to help Cody cope with the fact that Twinkies will no longer exist. There are 10 Twinkies in a box and 52 weeks in a year, so in order for Cody to have 1 Twinkie a week (on Tuesdays, mind you), I will have to make room in my freezer for at least 6 boxes and maybe a few more for good measure.

Having a little time to kill this morning before going to work, I decided to get online and see what articles I could find regarding Hostess going out of business. As you can imagine, there are all kinds of stories floating around the internet, but the one I take comfort in is on CNNMoney. It says…

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)-- Rest easy, Twinkie lovers: Hostess Brands, the storied American manufacturer of snack cakes, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday, but said it will continue to churn out Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and other iconic products.

"Throughout the proceeding, we're going to operate business as normal," said Hostess spokesman Erik Halvorson. "They'll keep making Twinkies."

I am hoping, if worse comes to worst, that another big company will buy Hostess out and continue making their products as insinuated in the following paragraph of the same article…

Published reports indicated that Hostess sought potential buyers, including Oreo-cookie maker Kraft Foods (KFT, Fortune 500) and Campbell Soup (CPB, Fortune 500)'s Pepperidge Farm.

Regardless, I am going to purchase those aforementioned boxes. It’s better to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, right?!

BINGO Should be Fun, Right?

Tuesday is BINGO day at Cody's Day Program. It has been for years and for years, Cody has played with the same BINGO card.

Yesterday, while meeting with the program's coordinator concerning Cody's behavior, we realized that he is getting upset on Tuesdays because they switched his BINGO card. A very well meaning employee worked hard at making new cards in braille so Cody won't always have to play with the same one. The problem is, and I'll bet those of you with ASD children have already guessed, Cody has been playing with that same card for a long time. He is use to it. He wants to play with it and he wants it back.

Because I'm worried about the employees finding Cody's original card and think somebody may need to make him a new one, I asked Cody to give me the numbers. This is what he said:

B- 13, 3, 11, 10, 6

I- 25, 22, 19, 29, 16

N- 34, 37, free, 39, 42

G- 56, 50, 46, 58, 51

O- 61, 72, 65, 69, 71

Let's hope, for the sake of everyone's sanity, Cody's BINGO card is found before Tuesday rolls around again.

10 Reasons I Should Be Happy She Wants to Leave Home

Katelyn is my forth child and only daughter. She is nineteen years old, finishing her freshman year at college, and wants to move out for the summer. Here's the thing. Although I know it's inevitable,  I'm not fond of letting her go. I had to wait a good, long time to finally conceive a girl.

Because Cody will be turning the big THREE ZERO in July (just writing it makes me feel sick), I'm already dreading summer 2011. Katelyn deciding to move out is just adding to my grief, so instead of wallowing in my pain, I decided to come up with at least ten reasons why I should be happy to see her go.

1) No more tripping over shoes kicked off near the front door.
2) Less laundry (quite a bit less laundry, actually).
3) Cody gets a bathroom to himself.
4) Less water bottles to wash and refill.
5) The grocery bill will go down.
6) Her bedroom becomes my workout/scrapbook room.
7) No more school books, scarves and/or hand bags cluttering up the kitchen island.
8) Less dirty dishes left in the sink.
9) I'll be the only female in the house dealing with mood swings (I think this will be more of a plus for Don).
10) I give her two weeks before she misses me and appreciates how good she had it living at home!

Even with that said, I still don't feel better  :(

Cody's Shout Out for The Price is Right

Cody came home this afternoon and informed me that his Day Program won't be going to the track on Thursday. When I asked him "Why?", he replied, "Because we're having a Price is Right party for Danette instead." 

Normally, Cody would be a little upset about a change in routine, but he loves to watch The Price is Right. He often tells me, "I wish I could afford to get on." Call me mean, but that's not ever going to happen unless someone else wants to volunteer to take him. His excitement over the noise and commotion would cause such rapid arm flapping that he'd probably beat the crap out of anyone sitting near him.

Imagine, for a second, that Cody actually did go to the studio and the announcer called him to "come on down". Cody has no concept of money. To prove my point, I asked Cody what he thought Danette would bid on the following items. Here are his answers:

Me- How much do you think Danette would bid on a new car?
Cody- forteen ninety-five

Me- What about a new refrigerator?
Cody- two fifty

Me- What would she bid on a new boat? 
Cody- one dollar

Me- How about a new bedroom set?
Cody-nineteen dollars and ninety-five cents

Me- Let's see...What else do they bid on at The Price is Right?
Cody- a dinette set

Me- Okay. What would Danette bid on a dinette set?
Cody- one dollar

Me- How about a trip to Europe in the showcase showdown?
Cody- six fifty

Let's face it. Cody would have to have luck on his side to make it very far with some of those bids (unless everyone else overbid each time, then...maybe?).

I hope if you find yourself watching The Price is Right this coming Thursday and see Danette, you'll remember that she is a friend of Cody's and he is giving up track to party in her behalf.

Good Luck, Danette!

The New Year Shuffle

Each December we have to rearrange our living room in order to put up the Christmas tree. We don't move furniture around very often due to the fact that Cody is blind and it really throws him off. He did fine with the changes this year but instead of telling us he wanted the furniture moved back, he said "On New Year's Day, we have to turn the house around."

I realize the picture is about the upside down housing market, but Cody's statement is kinda fitting to the cartoon. Don't you think?

Happy New Year Everyone!