Lights went out at Fry's...just as we hit the door

Tonight LeLe and I drove up to north Austin, to Fry's Electronics. We were looking for a MP3 player. Whew luckily they had one on a ladder, like divine intervention, then we zipped up to the register, checked out and then it was literally...LIGHTS OUT. Someone must have hit a transformer or something in the neighborhood. The whole store was in pitch black darkness. I'll never forget that. Poor LeLe is having to read an assigned novel in English that is a bit of a dry read, but required reading no less. I thought it might be easier to listen to it so we downloaded, clear and cool and must faster than reading at your own pace. A typical novel takes 3-4 hours when read by a narrator, this one even has sound effects. She says it makes it sound like a old time radio program. We had fun. It was a bit of an adventure.

Maybe I'm the one who is a bit Aspy

Somethings happened this week that helped me to see how I am more like my students with Autism and Asperger's than different. I realized that my greatest joy comes from spending time with the kids. I enjoy my co-workers so much, and we do a lot to solve problems and help teachers and kids. We tag team cases all the time. But sometimes when we are all together as a group, especially if I enter into a meeting or discussion that is already in progress, I end up being a "just me". For those of you who don't know what being a just me is visit Michelle Garcia-Winner's website, www.socialthinking.com, and you will soon learn all you ever wanted to know. Well I can say one thing, I think it is great that God gave me something that helps me understand my students better. I just hope that I can develop the other things I need to be part of a working group, and a friend to my office mates, something I've always wanted to be.

I had the most memorable and fun trip to Florida. I flew there with my brother Randy. We stayed with my parents. While we were there we got to visit with our little brother Rick, his wife and children. The weather was great. We hung out at home, went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, IHOP which we renamed I Hope. We rode to the shore of the bay. We visited the Do-Jang where our family practices Tae Kwon Do. We smelled orange blossoms that smelled like heaven, ate tons of tangerines off the trees, got licked by a black puppy and yes we drove everywhere in a PT Cruiser Convertible - the poor man's Toyota MR 2 Spider! Randy & Cynthia driving through the streets of Tampa in a convertible baby! Oh Yeah!
A lion fish swimming in colorful coral at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, FL.
Cynthia, Randy, Rick, daughter, son and Grandpa - my dad.
My niece, Randy, Grandmommy - my mom, Rick, little niece, and Grandpa.