Wordless Wednesday - Let the Sun Shine In

Ice Cream Party!

A few months ago, I entered, and won, a contest I found on the internet from Edy's Ice Cream. The grand prize, of which there were 1,500, was a neighborhood ice cream party, including the ice cream, scoops, apron, table cloths, cups, spoons, signs, etc. (all the stuff you'd need). To enter the contest, I had to write a short essay explaining why I thought I and my neighborhood should win. I'm kicking myself right now for not having made a copy, since I had to enter through the company's website. They didn't send a copy back, either, although I may try to contact them for it. The gist of what I said, however, was that we'd recently moved to this neighborhood after purchasing our first house. We wanted to move somewhere safe and somewhere we felt our daughter with Down syndrome could grow up in a close, caring community where people would keep an eye out for her. I mentioned that while we thought we had found just such a place, I wanted the opportunity to show my gratitude and to meet more of the neighbors that we hadn't yet crossed paths with.

The day was absolutely beautiful. You couldn't really ask for more from the weather, and a decent-sized group of our neighbors (as well as my mother and step-father, pictured in the first two photos) turned out for the festivities and sugar-overload. I met a few for the first time, but for the most part, it was people we see at the other gatherings on the street. I do wish that some of the other folks had come out, but maybe one day they will. To me, a neighborhood is a place where everyone knows each other, where children play together. It's kind of funny that only half of the street seems to gather with any regularity, while the other half does its own thing. The street isn't very big--it's comprised of just 5 rows of townhouses (5-8 houses in each row). I live right on the border of the active and the inactive. Maybe this gives me a bit of an advantage and an opportunity to get to know both sides at some point.

I love that there are so many children on our street, and although most of them are considerably older than Samantha, there are still a few little ones that she'll get to know better as they get the chance to grow up together. I'm very happy about that.

Anyway, a BIG thanks to Edy's for the indulgence and a fun time had by all. Now I have to make sure I get back to the gym tomorrow morning to work off the daily dose of leftover ice cream (at least it's the Slow Churned, which is 1/2 the fat and 1/3 fewer calories than regular ice cream) I've been allowing myself every night before bed...

Wordless Wednesday: Ni-hao, Lulu!

Sammi & Lulu
Originally uploaded by sammi's mom

1st Day Back

1st Day Back
Originally uploaded by sammi's mom

Well, school started back up today, and for the first time we put Samantha on the bus. For the last two days, whenever I would mention taking the bus to school, Sammi would say, "yellow bus." So there were really no surprises when it arrived. She was fine getting settled into her seat, and Steve followed the bus to school so he could ensure she wasn't having any kind of meltdown (we weren't expecting one) and to drop off some school supplies that we couldn't very well send with her. He reported back that she looked a little dazed, but fine, when she got off the bus, and that she marched straight to her classroom and sat down with some books. Yeah, she'll be just fine! On a photographic note, the pics I took this morning mostly came out pretty bad. In addition to the ordinary lack of sunshine at that early hour, it was raining and completely dreary. Since I hate to use flash, I ended up with lots of blur. I posted a few usable ones on my flickr site, if any of you are interested.

Welcome Home, Mommy!

I just LOVE that this is what greeted me when I got home from work yesterday. Samantha's definitely all better after her little stomach bug that plagued her for more than a week, and not a moment too soon since school starts on Tuesday.

I'm sad that the summer's winding down, although I do love the weather at this time of year. I may have said this before, on the first day of school last year, but I remember when I was a kid the weather was always crisp and clear on the first day of school. I could never figure out why the change was so sudden and coincided so perfectly, but I loved that I could start to wear my new back-to-school clothes that my grandmother diligently took me shopping for every year. Many of the school systems in the area started back last Monday, when the weather was at its most surprisingly cool and crisp. I think this Tuesday, when our county returns, it'll be a bit warmer, but still lovely nonetheless.

Open house at Samantha's school was yesterday, so we were able to go and see some familiar faces and meet some new ones. Sammi's little buddy (okay, betrothed--hehehe), Matty, will be in her class this year, which is especially exciting! The teacher said she'll be one of the peer models this year as one of the older kids. Peer model? Really? How cool! And seeing her in the class with some of the other kids, I can see she's come such an amazingly long way (see my post from a month or two ago) since she started this school thing last year. She's no longer the youngest and least-able. She exhibits good behavior in class, and joins in with the activities. This will be an amazing year for her, I am certain. She'll also be taking the bus for the first time. The driver did a dry run last week, and Steve stopped to talk to him for a few minutes. She'll be picked up at approximately 7:22 for a 7:50 school start time. Could be worse. Although if we drive, she would leave at 7:40. We'll see how it works out timing-wise and play it by ear. When she starts Kindergarten she'll be able to walk out the back door and into her school. :-)

Two more picnics (yes, both on the same day, although they're staggered by a few hours and only a 1/2 mile between them) on Monday to cap off the summer and to see what autumn is like in our new house and new neighborhood. Anybody have any ideas for Sammi for Halloween? It can't be expensive and it can't be difficult to pull together. We're last-minute types, so any early planning is a bonus...

Please Join Our Team!

It's that time of year again, and I've finally gotten off my duff long enough to set up my Buddy Walk Team and donation pages. For those two or three of you that read this blog that are not parents of children with Down syndrome, the Buddy Walk is the largest fund and awareness raiser of the year for both the national and local Down syndrome associations. The Down Syndrome Association of Northern Virginia is holding our local Buddy Walk on October 24th at Bull Run Park. If you can come that day, we'd absolutely love to have you join our team--it's a lot of fun! If you can't come, I still ask (humbly) for any donation you may be able to give. Supporting the Down syndrome associations helps to provide opportunities for people with Down syndrome to reach their full potentials. I have high hopes for my daughter and her future, and I feel so fortunate for all of the support we have received in the last 3 years, and for all of the programs that make so much possible. Please click on the link in my sidebar to go to my Sweet Pea United team page and help out.

What if the Free Things Go Away?

We take an awful lot for granted. There are so many free services that we use every day that would seriously drop a little wrench in our lives if they suddenly went away. I’m not talking about big things, like things our lives or livelihoods rely on, but the things that allow us to stay in touch and feel connected. It was just a thought I had the other day when I caught a snippet on the radio that intimated that Yahoo wasn’t doing so well. I’ve had my Yahoo e-mail account for at least a decade, I think. I keep all of my personal incoming and outgoing messages to use as a record of my life in Yahoo’s online storage. I figure one day I’ll write a book and need all of that stuff to remind me of events or conversations since my brain seems to retain so little anymore. What if Yahoo suddenly went bust and closed all of its accounts? Would there be any time to back it all up? Is it even possible to back it all up? What about Facebook? How would I stay in touch with my friends, when a large portion of my messages back and forth with them are stored in my FB message box? I don’t even have e-mail addresses for many of them, so having their messages backed up alone would be irrelevant. And Blogger—my online diary. I kept written diaries for the first two decades of my life. I actually enjoy reading them from time to time, as they’re good for a laugh or even a painful reminder of teen angst. Although I don’t get too personal on my blog, it’s still a beautiful record of my beautiful daughter and her beautiful life as she grows up. I don’t keep any hard copy of my posts since I just compose them directly in Blogger. I’m cautious enough to back up my photographs with a double process, though—I load them onto my computer whenever I feel like it, then don’t delete them from my camera card until I’ve backed up what was on my computer onto cd. Just in case. Perhaps I should take such precautions with these other services, but is this little bit of paranoia enough to inspire me to take even more time out of my busy day to figure out how and to back up several years of data? Maybe it should, but I’m hopeful that if these entities were in imminent danger we’d either have time to prepare, or have the opportunity to pay for the services. Seriously, I would totally pay for these (not much, mind you, but if everyone had to pay maybe they’d be able to stick around). I know I have asked it before, but really, do any of you remember what we did before the internet? I guess we just didn’t know what we were missing and used landline phones and passed notes in the hall at school to stay in touch with each other. And wrote letters! Remember stationary? I still have a large box of old blank note cards going back to my childhood. Yes, ignorance is bliss—we never worried about telephones going away, or pencils or pens or paper! I’d love to know what you packrats do to protect your online lives!