I got this Autism Society Philippines invitation to the Angels Walk for Autism on the 27th of this month. I missed last year’s walk and I am determined to be part of this year’s autism advocacy programs. The next quest: designing a “walk for…” t-shirt with Alphonse in mind.

I was in hurry to take a bath last night. I’d forgotten that A and I had a date to pick up some items from the store. I was writing an article when he called to say that he’d be home in less than 20 minutes. And was I ready?

I jumped from the bed, grabbed my towels, and made for the bath. I tossed my eyeglasses on the sink counter while my other hand made a lather with the shampoo. Between my poor eyesight and the bubbles in my hair, I could hardly see anything. I dunked my head in the tub of water a few times. On the last dunk, I caught something in my mouth.

It was squishy, mushy, and soaking wet. It crumbled in my lips and my tongue made an instinctive motion to flick it off, revulsion rising in my throat. As I cleared my eyes of shampoo, I saw it… them… lying at the bottom of the tub.

Nuggets.

Chicken nuggets.

Or more precisely, Alphonse’s chicken nuggets.

My revulsion turned to laughter.

I pieced together the mystery of the Bath Nuggets later. Apparently, Alphonse threw, or rather “buried,” his uneaten nuggets in the tub of water as he tried to evade his nanny’s repeated attempts to have him finish his snack. Teacher J had been leaving big portions of Alphonse’s morning snacks untouched and Alphonse was feeling the pressure to finish them off. Alphonse has a quirk when it comes to food: he cannot stand seeing leftovers; either he finishes them all (even the garnishings) or he throws them away. Anything for a clean container.

After his morning class, he quickly and deftly eluded his “surveillance team” (aka nanny), apparently made a quick dash to bathroom, and went back to his nanny a few seconds after she noticed he was missing from her side. He was also sporting a big grin. Nanny, sensing that Alphonse did or was going to do mischief, asked him: “Have you been a bad boy?”

He shook his head to say No, and laughed out loud.

Oh, well. If I had known the nuggets were there, I would have added some barbecue sauce.

~o~

I took Alphonse aside after the incident and tried to explain that what he did was wrong. This was our conversation.

Kittymama: Alphonse, please do not throw food into the bath water. Do you understand Mama?

Alphonse nods his head to say Yes.

Kittymama: Are you a bad boy?

He shakes his head to say No.

Kittymama: Will you throw food in the bath water again?

Alphonse pauses, thinks for a while, smiles sweetly, and nods Yes.

Kids.  Gotta love them.

My son brought home an A+ from his English poetry class yesterday and my heart swelled with pride and joy. I am glad that he loves the written word as much as his parents do, and even gladder that Ms. SLT (his English Teacher, whose name I will only disclose at the end of the school year) finds a way to inspire Alex and tap into his love for prose and poetry every single day.

By Alexander *

Two warriors do stand
On that barren hill
One protects, upholds
One slaughters and kills

Two warriors remain
Stalwart, unbroken
Silence complete
Words unspoken

Opposites they were
Opposites they are
Different from each other
Like moons and stars

One, Light,
Is good, kind
His kin, the Dark
A Shadow that Binds

Their armies are formed
Women and men
Weapons at ready
The Chaos descends

The battle echoes
Cries uneven
Sounding like that
Of Hell and Heaven

As they clash, fight
Duel, struggle
The ground breaks
The dirt buckles

Retainers, soldiers
Witches fall
Yet two men remain,
Standing tall.

Light and Dark
Destined to fight
Forever, an accursed
Blight

When Light falls, he
Must stand once more
And resist Sleep’s
Eternal call

Dark must not let up
Let the balance shake
Lest he be crushed
‘neath Light’s mighty wake

So two champions,
Light and dark
Fight still, forevermore
Solid and stark

On air that cries
Without a sound
On ground that weeps
With terror abound

Alphonse woke up unusually early this morning. At a little past five, he was rubbing his eyes off of sleep and raring to go out and play. I kept him with me till around seven; we watched a little television, chatted up a bit (well, I talked; he merely smiled and nodded occasionally), and cuddled in my fleece blanket. When he got his PECS card for “play,” I knew I had to give in to his polite requests before a meltdown ensues. I called his nanny for reinforcement while I downed a cup of the blackest coffee I could tolerate. At seven, I was still bleary eyed and unfit to face the world.

Blame the late nights I keep. Most of the time, I get started on housework or personal stuff after he turns in for the  night (which on really good nights is no later than half past nine). On occasion, however, when he’s had a really exciting day, he finds it hard to calm down and sleep. Three nights ago, he was up till midnight, setting my own clock later than usual. And today, he was up before the sun was!

We’ve never had a lot of problems with his sleep, unlike many parents of children with autism.  A friend whose son is also on the autism spectrum complains that her son survives on three to four hours of sleep every night. And because both our kids tend to wander when awake, she’s up with him till he catches those few hours of Zzzs.  To our good fortune, Alphonse has always been a good sleeper because his body clock is so regimented. He turns in relatively early every night and puts in a good 10 to 12 hours of sleep - like clockwork. I get to do more when he’s asleep so I tend to stay up late and try to finish whatever needs to be done. And while I do get things accomplished in those hours, it throws my body clock off-kilter. Then, I have to deal with insomnia, which, of course, I battle with a lot of late-night reading. Oh, I hope that last night’s interrupted sleep is not a portent of things to come. (Cross your fingers!) 

It’s quite ironic that I write about sleep today, when I was reading Neil Gaiman’s ”The Sandman (volumes 1 and 2)” till I dozed off really late last night. (I’m not a big graphic novels fan but my husband is. Me thinks he’s trying to turn me on the craze by introducing me to those he knows I’d enjoy, like ”30 Days of Night” and “The Sandman.”) With my bad eyesight, it’s hard enough to make out the words written in small print, much more look at all the swirly colors and fine details. But the storyline is really good and I am almost ready to forgive my husband for his indulgence in pricey “komics” (I can almost hear him say ”Graphic novels, honey, not comic books”). I am actually looking forward to the rest of the series tonight when he comes home.

Till then, I think I’ll make good on “The Sandman” and catch a few more real Zzzs.

Zzzzzzzzzz. *Snork*. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…    

I decided to make my own shelf after trying different ways of inserting my Shelfari bookshelf into my blog and miserably failing. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I’d be forever grateful.

Seeing how almost half of my Christmas stash came in the form of books (the other half made up of Hello Kitty stuff in various shapes, forms, and functions), I wanted to share my reading list and at the same time see what others have in their shelves that are good to read.   

My current reading list as of January 8, 2007

 And of course, what is life without your favorite books? I’ve read these over and over again, and they’re not likely to leave the bookshelf any time soon.

Enjoy reading!                   

I joined over the weekend and I got hooked! I love the bookshelf! I positively adore the the way it displays my favorite books! (Notice all the exclamation points!!!)

It’s going to take a while before I am able to create a virtual library to represent the real one I have at home, but I want one that rivals the bookshelf of Satyarth of the UAE (48400 books) or Orchid of India (20221 books). Do textbooks count? Hehe.

And while I go gaga over Shelfari, the bad news is that Wordpress does not allow the Shelfari widget AND I don’t know how to use the flash widget on the My Widgets page. (Anyone, help, please?) So the next best thing I could think of is to create my own bookshelf and post it. I will start with the books I am currently reading, then maybe go on to a list of my favorite books, and regularly update from there. I would appreciate it a lot if anyone has book recommendations, so if you’ve read something recently that merits a good hour or two of reading time, please drop by the comments page. I’ll be sure to look it up on my next bookstore jaunt.  

Mood:  

Yesterday marked the official end of the holiday season. School has started again, work has resumed its normal pace, and finally, with almost everyone out of the house, I have my mornings clear and free to catch up on housework, write my articles, or even simply bum around when the mood hits me.  

I should have started packing away the Christmas decorations last weekend, but since the weather these last few days has been quite glorious (cold evenings, even colder mornings), it was hard to resist the temptation to snuggle in bed a few extra hours, laze around, watch movies, or read books. Even Guitar Hero had to take a backseat. These days, I am definitely more inclined to recline, as Alex teased me last night.

 LAZY DAY!!!

But, as I awoke bright and early to dreams of vampires - blame the Twilight series of Stephenie Meyer and 30 Days of Night graphic novels and books written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Ben Templesmith - I realized that some things could no longer be postponed. Housework has been piling up since I started to get lazy and getting back to sleep was next to impossible (my dreams have a tendency to continue along the same plot lines, so I expect more vampire dreams for a few days, at least). Thus, I started with the chores and got them back down to a manageable level.

And while I was still awake, I thought to get back to my blog and write this. It’s back to regular programming, folks.    

New Year
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

MORTAL:
“The night is cold, the hour is late, the world is bleak and drear;
Who is it knocking at my door?”

THE NEW YEAR:
“I am Good Cheer.”

MORTAL:
“Your voice is strange; I know you not; in shadows dark I grope.
What seek you here?”

THE NEW YEAR:
“Friend, let me in; my name is Hope.”

MORTAL:
“And mine is Failure; you but mock the life you seek to bless. Pass on.”

THE NEW YEAR:
“Nay, open wide the door; I am Success.”

MORTAL:
“But I am ill and spent with pain; too late has come your wealth. I cannot use it.”

THE NEW YEAR:
“Listen, friend; I am Good Health.”

MORTAL:
“Now, wide I fling my door. Come in, and your fair statements prove.”

THE NEW YEAR:
“But you must open, too, your heart, for I am Love.”