Invitation for Christmas Tea

Nothing would be so warming as to enjoy a Christmas tea with friends! Just think, tea can benefit your brain as can great intellectual or even relaxing conversations after a taxing day at the office! You'd see some sliced apples, thin bits of cheese and plump grapes as other goodies to enjoy. Let our tea begin...

Loa, the GF/CF Dog

Today, a gorgeous sunny day with a bit of a breeze going, Pamela, David, and I met up with the entire Jamberry and Habeeb crew (Sly, Jman, SB3). The only one missing in action was Steve, who was helping out Tammy's brother with a favor. The next time, Jamberry and her boys--all four--will stay with us so that we can talk without Pamela and Jman looking for an escape hatch from the chatty mommas (actually, they were both VERY patient). I loved holding SB3 and got to see the gamut of his emotions: placid, sleepy, hungry, poopy, and giggly. Yep, I saw him laugh, and he was sooooo cute.

I enjoyed talking to Jamberry and Habeeb, fellow boat schoolers. How often can you talk about the Dark Ages, going over the wall, getting fried, Storm Brother's ice cream, Annapolis' version of the Ho Chi Minh trail, women's glee club, itchy wool uniforms, peacoats, overcoats, and reefers? See what I mean! You don't have a clue what any of that means. Not even Steve, the 16-week wonder, knows what some of it means.



Before moving onto my dog, I wanted to address Penny's comment from Monday's post, asking if Bob's Red Mill withdrew their oats a few months back because of gluten contamination. I was not too worried because Pamela showed no signs of a reaction to the cookies or eating an entire bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. I emailed the company and, within 24 hours, they replied,

Our Gluten Free Oat products were withdrawn from the market for a few months because of a bad flavor and odor profile caused by the way they were processed. Our supplier has since updated their processing procedures and we now have a limited supply of Gluten-Free Steel Cut Oats.

Now, onto Loa, the GF/CF dog (the fawn colored one on the right) . . . ever since we moved to Carolina, we have struggled off and on with major skin problems. The first thing we treated was fleas, something unknown to her when we lived in Colorado, Alaska, and Minnesota. We got the fleas under control, but she continued to have unpredictable breakouts, which we thought might have been fleas. We got very aggressive with weekly flea shampoos and bimonthly treatments, but no change. The only thing that ever cleared her up were antibiotics and steroid shots, unhealthy for her in the long run. We even did the protocol recommended by the vet: Omega 3 oil, Benadryl, weekly baths with a special creme rinse, hot spray for new open sores, and dog food for sensitive skin. Even our most dedicated efforts failed. He finally told u$ Loa may re$pond to low-allergenic pre$cription diet.

Fortunately, what I learned with Pamela helped. At first, we tried Hills Prescription Diet canned z/d dog food. The vet prescribed antibiotics, but no steroids, so we could see the effect of the food sooner. She did very well for a week, so we bought more of the same plus Royal Canin's Potato and Duck dry dogfood. For two days, I caught Loa gnawing on rawhide and she had another breakout. Rawhide may cause allergic reactions, so we only let the healthy-as-a-horse dog chew them.

We started alternating between the two foods as a hedge against further food allergies. She got better and finished off the antibiotics. Last weekend, we ran out of Benadryl, and she had another breakout. I began to suspect the canned stuff, mainly because it had corn starch. I bought more Benadryl, so now we are doing the med and the corn-free potato and duck dogfood. If she stays clear for a week, then I test her with the canned dogfood with the corn starch for a test. I could go on and on with the variations I will have to do to isolate the culprit. Most of you know the process because you have done it with your autistic children. Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Sweet Moment in the Parking Lot of Walmart

After we checked out, Pamela and I were in the parking lot, walking to the car. We bumped into an acquaintance of mine and her little three-year-old boy. He attends my very short, in-the-spirit-of-Charlotte Mason music lesson for preschoolers every Sunday. He loves the drum and plays with a very steady rhythm. I told him that I missed him last Sunday, and his mother told me he had a stomach virus. Then, the coolest thing happened:

Pamela overheard the conversation and said rather stridently, "You're not sick!"

In my typical declarative response, I pointed to the boy and said, "He was sick on Sunday. But, you're not sick."

We reached their car and were winding up our conversation. Then, Pamela turned to me, pointed to him, and asked, "How does the boy feel?"

I told her, "I don't know. You could ask him a 'How do' question?" I scaffolded her syntax because I wanted her to succeed in this interaction with a total stranger (she has never met this little boy).

She looked at him, pointed, and asked, "How do you feel?"

Then, he looked up at her and said, "Fine!"

Then, his mom prompted him to say thanks, so Pamela thanked him. LOL. But, then when he waved good-bye to her, she waved back and said, "Bye!"

Isn't that sweet?

Recognizing Friends - My Social Media Heroes

One of my heroes in successful blogging, Liz Strauss, named me as her social media hero along with two others in a recent article... Liz quoted from Time Magazine (2006) to say, we're "just getting started, as millions of minds that would otherwise have drowned in obscurity get backhauled into the global intellectual economy.”

Wow - that was out of the blue and unexpected! I'm glowing and humbled simultaneously. But I couldn't leave it there... When Liz asked who we'd suggust as two of our social media heroes, I found it impossible to narrow that to just two. So...

All folks who take part in the wonderful discussions here on Brain Based Biz are my heroes! Social networking helps build new friendships and alliances.

Friends' comments make a difference... They provide fresh ideas, stir another perspective or an insight based on personal experience... a fresh new way to build interpersonal intelligence.

Here's appreciation for friends at Brain Based Biz, my heroes, who noodle ideas and take time to comment...

Jeanne Dininni at Writers Notes 23

Brad Shorr at Word Sell 16

Karen Swim at Words for Hire 14

Joanna Young at Confident Writing 12

Axe City at Design Interval 10

Geology Joe at SlingShot Thought 8

Anna at My Only Photo 7

Ellen Weber at Brain Leaders and Learners 6

Alina Popescu at Words of a Broken Mirror 6

Chris Morgan at Learn2Develop 5

JD Walton at Black in Business 5

Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings 5

Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business 5

GL Hoffman at What Would Dad Say? 4

Amy Jessel at Shaping Youth 3

Craig at Better Projects 3

Drew McLellan at Drew's Marketing Minute 3

Lisa Gates at 360 Alliance 3

Bob Brucker at Ahern & Brucker Fine Jewelry 2

Jeffrey Carruthers at Strike a Chord 2

Mel Kaye at Monday Morning Power 2

Robin at Survive the Journey 2

Scott McArthur at McArthur's Rant 2

Steve Roesler at All Things Workplace 2

Anna Famery at The Engaging Brand 1

Benjamin at RedCatCo 1

Beth Robinson at Inventing Elephants 1

Billah at Blog e Billah 1

Cam Beck at Chaos Scenario 1

Dana Suazo at Business Growth Blog 1

Dennis at Retail Smart 1

Eric Peterson at Leadership and Other Ramblings

Gavin Heaton at Servant of Chaos 1

Isadore Biffin at Article Thirty-Nine: Concert 1

Jeremy at Campus Ministry for Dummies 1

Karen Hanrahan at Best of Mother Earth 1

Karen Putz at A Deaf Mom Shares Her World 1

Laura Hecht at Laura 4 Literacy 1

LillieAmmann at A Writer's Words, An Editor's Eye 1

Liz Strauss at Successful and Outstanding Bloggers 1

Mark David Gerson at The Voice of Your Muse 1

Mike Wagner at Own Your Brand 1 Welcome back, Mike!

Mrs. Durff at Mrs. Durff's Blog 1

Shama at After the Launch 1

Tinu at Increase Your Website Traffic 1

I say "Thank you for the music"... the songs I'm singing...

Thanks for all the joy they're bringing...

Who can live without it... I ask in all honesty...

Without a song or dance what would life be?

So I say, "Thank you for the music"... for giving it to me..."

Excerpt from "Thank You for the Music" by Abba...

Who are your social media heroes? To name just two who would they be?

What I Learned from Friends

Ellen Weber asked me to give her a hand as she launched Brain Leaders and Learners, a new Word Press blog. I love a creative challenge so I created a header and attempted to help with tech components. Guess what! The whole process nearly floored me... and here's where friends influenced the process...

Many friends recently moved blog sites from TypePad and Blogger to Word Press. Word Press has many professional options and allows much more contrul over the blog. And, after the attempt to help Ellen, I respect your courage to make this move...

Your new blogs look fresh and inviting. Congrats for pulling it off...

Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
Brad Shorr at Word Sell
Chris Brown at Branding and Marketing
Joanna Young at Confident Writing
Karen Swim at Words for Hire
Terry Starbucker at Ramblings from a Glass Half Full

I asked Brad Shorr if did this kind of work since he creates brilliant cartoons. He does not, but he kindly pointed me to an associate, Lara, at Anubis Marketing. Believe me, I know wisdom when I hear it. I contacted Lara and she came to the rescue.

Lara's expertise changed everything. She recommended that Ellen choose a unique design so that the blog did not resemble everyone else's. Not only that, she took the original header, added her touches and created a subtle, professional quality that connects well to the MITA Brain Based Center.

Ellen wrote initial posts and I suggested that she add some of the plug-in's Joanna Young recommended to encourage comments... such as Comment Luv and gravatars to make conversation more friendly since you can actually see people who take part in discussions. All was great until I attempted to add these. You may think it easy if you're technically gifted... but I found it a challenge.

Trouble flared at this point. Here's Lara's description: "You nearly blocked all of us out of the site entirely, and could've gone so far as to block anyone from even being able to view the site from the outside at all."

All is well now, but I'm a fix-it person and a problem solver first... especially if directions lack clarity... and, I'm still learning the hard way...

When two or more brains tackle problems, results look o-o-o-o-o-ooh so different.

I value the social community of friends I've found in the blogosphere. I learn from friends each time I read ideas they present on blogs or they comment on what I write. They inspire and they take the lead in many areas in which I'm still learning. I truly enjoy the conversations with them. You know and enjoy a variety of personalities. What a pleasure... and you can keep gathering new friends as you discover new blogs that intrigue you.

One way to meet new folks is to participate in Robert Hruzek's "What I Learned from My Friends" writing project this month.

Do drop by to see Ellen's new blog, too.

Conference? What Conference?

Skip to the end if you want to know more about this flashback to the '70s!

You may be wondering how the Charlotte Mason Conference went because I have remained absolutely silent. It was FANTASTIC but I have had so little downtime I have not been able to blog about it. I will blog it as soon as I find time to process and reflect!

Why so busy? I returned Saturday night (June 14) and got up for church Sunday morning. I spent the rest of the day relaxing and catching up with David and Pamela.

While we Steve and I were gone, David was man of the house and took care of watering the yard, plants, ferns, and trees and feeding the pets. Pamela stayed with my parents who live across the street and furnished delicious meals for David. Where was Steve? He was supposed to leave for Ecuador on a business trip the same day I left for the conference (June 10). His flight was canceled, and he ended up attending the meeting via video conference. Rather than confuse Pamela with a last minute change of plans, they never told her that he was still home. Confused yet? He flew to Guatemala on Friday (June 13) for a niece's wedding (June 14) while I was still in Boiling Springs.

Both of my parents observed how much better Pamela processes what they say and how well she participates in back and forth exchanges. My mother shared a wonderful story about Pamela that spotlights the power of episodic memory. As you already know, she does not like changes in schedule and will fuss (hence the reason for staying mum on Steve's change of plans). If I promise to take her to the store and have to change the plan to another day, she sometimes fusses and tells me, "You broke a promise." My mother went to the dentist and had promised to take Pamela to Wal-Mart. The dentist visit turned out to be more draining than Mom had anticipated. Mom came home with a poochie cheek and mouth full of gauze. She told Pamela that they would go to Wal-Mart the next day.

Normally, Pamela would cry and become flustered in a situation like that. However, she did not fuss; she did not complain; she did not talk back; she remained absolutely calm about this sudden and abrupt change of plans. I really think she reflected back to how miserable she was when she had her wisdom teeth removed a few years ago. Pamela took three weeks to get back to herself because she found it so traumatic. She still talks about the misery of it from time to time. I think she had sympathy for how my mother felt and let her desire to shop go without a peep.

So back to my crazy week! Sunday night (June 14), I wrote one lesson plan for VBS and spent three hours at church on Monday. I unpacked and managed a week's worth of laundry for the three of us for the rest of Monday. On Tuesday, the day Steve was supposed to come home, I spent only twenty minutes at jury duty because the defendants never appeared at traffic court. Steve called and alerted me to a sudden change of plans to fly to Chile for an important business meeting. He had no time to drive home and back, so I packed winter business clothes for him and Pamela and I drove the three hour round trip to the airport and watched Steve repack at baggage claim. Exciting, huh?

Tuesday night, a friend of a friend called to ask me about RDI (and I am happy to help any family get started on that journey) so I did not tackle Wednesday's VBS lesson plan until 10:30 Tuesday night. I apent another three hours at VBS and thoroughly enjoyed teaching the children on Wednesday then unpacked Steve's bags and did a week's worth of his laundry! I spent Thursday cleaning the house and meeting with the friend of a friend interested in RDI.

The kids and I finally got around to doing some academics on Friday when one of David's out-of-town friends came over to visit. Before I knew it, they sprung an impromptu sleepover on me, but I was fine with that. The next morning, I woke up at zero dark thirty to drive three hours one-way to a meeting with Dr. Gutstein, our consultant and other families--yes, it was worth the drive. Steve came home while I was out and, when I arrived home, I finally saw him after nearly two weeks apart! The next morning I woke up early to attend both services because our trio was singing Beautiful Savior. We relaxed but did squeeze in one of the RDI E-learning modules. Monday, we did some more academics, and I unpacked Steve's bag and cycled through more laundry (it is starting to sound monotonous).

Is this week any less busy? No, but I have great reasons why . . . my best friend from high school and her husband and 15 month-old daughter are vacationing in Charleston. We got together for typical touristy things like Fort Sumter and Cypress Gardens. I will blog more on that later . . . oh, yeah, and I am writing an article for ChildLightUSA's The Review due July 1 in between engagements.

P.S. Speaking of engagements, Pamela and I are going dress shopping for my niece's wedding. She wants all of her female cousins to play a role in the wedding, primarily bride's maids. As that would be too much for Pamela, she lovingly thought of a part for Pamela: hand out little brochures that explain the history of the beautiful, old chapel where the ceremony will take place. That way, Pamela can participate at a level that does not overwhelm her. She has not worn dresses in years so buying what I am calling a "Princess dress" is going to be quite an experience.

The Tam-Pam-Tallman-Jamberry-J-man-Sly Show

One reason why I love the Internet is the opportunity to meet kindred spirits. When you live in a town with a population just over 4,000, you find it hard to meet homeschoolers doing RDI, the association method, and living books with an autistic child, much less one who graduated from the boat school and married a naval officer. Today, the kids (Pam and Tallman) and I had the pleasure of meeting Jamberry and her crew (J-man and Sly). We met them at Swan Lake and spent a leisurely lunch at Burger King. As I have not clue if my camera has a timer, much less how to use it, I took a short video clip of the crew.


The map of the lake covered in rainwater fascinated Pamela. She kept running her finger through it and talking about floods. Sly discovered where the muscovy ducks hide from the tourists (under a very ancient magnolia tree). We also laughed at the disco duck, shaking his bootie for the camera.

We all had a great time. In typical fashion, Pamela and J-man quietly did their own thing. Jamberry and I talked non-stop when we weren't redirecting kids! Sly who has no older brother to rough house and Tallman who has always wanted a younger brother packed in male bonding in a few hours. I enjoyed being with someone who can order a gf/cf meal!

J-man fascinated me because he reminded me of Pamela at that age! Many times, when I meet children in the spectrum, they are very different from Pamela. J-man had that very sweet, gentle spirit--quiet, yet alert and watchful to everything happening around him. He flashed that warm-hearted smile several times and had a couple of giggle fests (Pamela giggled too when she was thinking of her favorite You-Tube videos). I did see one major difference: he communicated with his face, which Jamberry attributed to RDI (I believe her based upon our lone-ranger RDI experience). Many times, I could get an idea of his thoughts based upon his facial expressions.

Seven Bloggers and It!

That is the afghan I am crocheting for Steve. Eighteen skeins down and fourteen to go! The blanket should measure 75 inches by 90 inches when complete, and I have the scars to prove it (I keep my yarn tension tight). By the way, the afghan represents It for all you Five Children and It fans.

Rats! Mady tagged me because she tagged the first seven people to comment on her blog after she had decided to choose those unwilling and unknowing victims. I thought commenting was good netiquette . . . Here is my mission should I choose to accept it:

1) Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself.
3) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4) Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Seven Facts You Don't Already Know about Me
1. I was born on an island (Japan) and have lived fourteen years of my life on islands in the Pacific and Atlantic. Maybe that is why I enjoy books like The Brendan Voyage and Kon-Tiki.

2. I am a Navy brat and former naval officer. The last time I counted I have moved at least thirty-three times.

3. I was THE top twenty-five percent of my graduating class (we had four seniors that year). We were the last senior class ever to graduate from that school.

4. I was the only person in my family to start and end my education at the same school: A. L. Bristol School at Argentia, Newfoundland, Canada. I attended Kindergarten for three months and promptly dropped out because of a move. I graduated in 1980.

5. Speaking of seven . . . my parents had seven children, a yours-mine-and-ours family. It was my flesh and blood sister who dumped a bowl of oatmeal on my head, not my step brothers.

6. Seven historical incidents I would have like to have seen in action: (1) a meeting of the Inklings, (2) a lesson for Helen Keller by Annie Sullivan, (3) Charlotte Mason delivering her homeschooling lectures, (4) Theodore Roosevelt romping with his kids in the White House, (5) William Wilberforce and William Pitt discussing politics, (6) Pa Ingalls telling the story of the pig and the sled, and (7) the performance of Handel's Messiah in which the King stood (just so I could find out why and preserve that tidbit for history).

7. Seven is an important number spiritually speaking. I am a spiritual mutt: my great, great grandparents were booted from a Holiness Pentecostal church for growing tobacco and taking their children to the county fair. My dad grew up Methodist; my mom, Lutheran (Missouri Synod). I was baptized by water immersion in a Baptist church, confirmed in the Lutheran church, and am married to a Roman Catholic. The bottom line for me is that I have accepted Jesus as my personal savior and He guides my life (when I let go of the reins).

My victims are fellow bloggers, both cloaked and uncloaked, who have helped me figure out RDI for Pamela. See what happens when you are nice to someone: Mary, Sonya, Nifferco, Queen Mum, Chef Penny, and my three cloaked amigas Poohder, Jamberry, and Kathy.

Yes, I can count! I tagged eight people because I could not in good conscience leave one of them out! So, what are you going to do, force me to live on an isolated island in the Aleutians? Too late! I've already been there, done that--TWICE!

Has Social Networking Changed the Face of Your Friendships?

Is Social Networking Changing the Nature of Friendship? That's a good question... Though I never thought that I'd add new friends to my life when I began a blog, that soon changed. Is that your experience, too?

Since folks can pop in on delightful conversations with others around the globe, when it's convenient, Web 2.0 opens doors to new kinds of friendships. I enjoy the ability to meet and converse with people because it opens windows to worlds of ideas. Did you find that to be true as well? Consider this...

The brain is not challenged by conversations about the weather, and yet when folks are face to face where they work and socialize, the weather's often the main topic of conversation... The fact that the brain steps up to challenges and intellectual ideas draws people to deeper issues. Social networks open new windows to meaningful topics with those who share similar interests and professions. Here's some facts gleaned from recent research.

Findings on how social networking is changing the face of friendship are fascinating...

Online users have the same number of friends in real-life, but even more counterparts online

Myspace and Facebook is changing the number of friends people have

The average person has a social network of around 150 friends, ranging from close friends to casual acquaintances

90% of online friends rated as 'close' have met face to face

People choose friends in person and online based on their 'quality'... in person facial and bodily cues help, but online it's harder to spot dishonest signals

Social networks aid communication and may bring about a change in the size and structure of real-life social networks in the future

Here's just a few examples of professionals and others who network...

Maria Palma is likely to talk to Tom Vanderwell because they're interested in Customer Service.

Mike Wagner discusses branding with others in the field, Anna Farmery, Chris Brown, Drew McClellan, Martin Jelsema, Patrick Schaber, Cord Silverstein Jonathan Phillips, and many more...

Liz Strauss, Darren Rowse, Mike Sansone, Yaro Starak, Phil Gerbyshak, Rob Watts, Ben Yoskovitz, Dawud Miracle, MarkK and many other folks enjoy the art and science of blogging and share tools and strategies to exchange ideas and conversations that enhance our experiences

Some bloggers enjoy conversations and sharing their experiences and ideas. They never cease to amaze you with new thoughts and ventures... Bob Glaza, Terry Starbucker, Hsien Lei, Robert Hruzek, Chris Cree, and perhaps you...

I'll be adding more categories in the next couple of days...

And today's news adds another perspective to consider... Do pets fill the friendship niche for some folks?... number of pet owners is on the rise... There're more than 70 million pet owners in this country, and that's up over 7 percent, from just last year... So what does this say?

We'll keep track of where social networks online lead, but consider this...

Social networks change us and we change social networks!

Thoughts...

Two RDI Incidents to Share

Jennifer's most righteous and spot-on rant would have made me spew on my beautiful new laptop screen had coffee been in my mouth. If you have a child with autism and had never had a close encounter of the worst kind with a complete stranger who supposedly knows more than you, consider yourself blessed. When Pamela was younger, I had my share of embarassing meltdown moments (like the time Pamela did the Indy 500 around the altar at church ten minutes before the service was to start). Today, we get odd looks and occasional knowing smiles because Pamela is much more comfortable in her skin and I am better at not placing her in extremis.

Jennifer reminded me of a recent incident at Wal-Mart. We were at the self-checkout again where we practice our RDI objectives and the clerk told me, "Wow! Your daughter has really made progress. I remember when you first started teaching her how to scan at the self-checkout." Can you believe a positive experience with a complete stranger?

Also, a few weeks ago our neighbors joyfully shared another incident. They are wonderful people and very encouraging of our efforts to homeschool our teens. The neighbor told me that Pamela was sitting on the back porch rocking. Pamela waved, greeted him, and said, "I'm waiting for my mom to go to Wal-Mart." Can you believe it? She *wanted* to engage in a brief conversation without any prompting. She just had to share that tidbit with the neighbor. Pamela is not one of those chatty kids who opens up to anyone. Six months ago, I would have had to pry that out of her in front of a neighbor.