Prepare to be VERY Angry

CAN.THIS.REALLY.BE.HAPPENING???

I know we all have issues with society's acceptance of our children, but THIS - THIS???

As a community of parents who have children with disabilities, we must NOT accept this. We must mobilize - make calls - write letters - contact the press - WHATEVER IT TAKES!!! Here is the hospital's phone number: 215-590-1000.

No transplant because Amelia is mentally retarded

And here is a link to a petition to sign. Please do it today!

Ramp Care

I need some advice from those of you who have wheelchair ramps.

My ramp is built out of decking material - pressure treated wood. When it gets wet or cold and wet, or just covered in dew, it gets very slippery. Is there something I can put on it that would help?

And how do you handle snow and lots of it? Do you just shovel the ramp like you would a driveway, or do you put a tarp down before it snows, or something else that would make the job of clearing the ramp quicker and easier?

If things work out and Johnny gets to join our family, using the ramp will be a necessity and something we will not be able to do without. So, I guess I just need advice on the care and upkeep of our ramp.

Can you help?

My Prayer for the 5th Day After the Snow Storm

Dear God,

I have truly enjoyed the gift of snow You sent last weekend. Thirteen inches! Wow! And to think that we had fourteen inches just 6 weeks ago.

The kids and I really enjoyed Your gift – the beautiful fat flakes of snow falling from the sky – the way our yard and driveway resembled a fluffy down blanket – and the way the sunlight made it glisten like diamonds. When You send a gift, it truly is a magnificent gift!

You probably knew that we would enjoy making hot cocoa while watching movies and staying in our pajamas all day long. However, by the third day, our pajamas were getting a little smelly. And that hot cocoa – the chocolate scent still wafts from where it was spilled on my carpet.

At least the kids had plenty of time to play their video games – killing and maiming all the bad guys and zombies on their virtual planets. But we also had time to play all those board games that seldom come out of our closet – Clue, Monopoly, Fact or Crap, Things, etc. I never realized what little cheaters my children could be when bored though.

And all that food I stocked up on just before Your gift arrived – well, it’s all gone and the kids have resorted to eating their cereal with KoolAid and their toast with spaghetti sauce. Did You know that brownies made with bits of Captain Crunch in them are not all bad?

So, thank you again, God, but please could I ask just one more favor? My city could use some more snow plows and some more road salt. If they had that, perhaps the school buses could get into our neighborhoods and take all our little darlings back to school. And maybe, just maybe, I could have a little bit of hair left after pulling out most of it this past week.

You know all that “Give us this day, our daily bread” stuff? Forget the bread today, dear God, and send the school buses.

Thank you, Amen, Please……

Tell Me Your Secrets

I need to know your secrets – you parents who always have beautiful pictures of your children on your blogs. So many of you have cute pictures of your children looking into the camera, smiling, their hair just so, their clothes clean. How do you do it??

I must have thousands of pictures of Ashley taken over the last 12 years. The only really, really good ones are the ones taken by professionals. But you all post so many candid shots, shots which it appears you have taken in your home, in your yard, on vacation, etc.

And don’t even get me started on school pictures. I buy them every year because I would feel like a bad mother if I didn’t. But almost all of those pictures are ugly – really ugly. Now, Ashley is beautiful but somehow the school photographers turn her image into something not so beautiful.

I’m very grateful for the pictures my brother (a professional photographer) has taken over the years. I’m very grateful for the pictures taken by a friend of Amy’s (also a professional photographer). Two examples are shown below. And I’m very grateful for the pictures that Amy and my son, Chip, take of Ashley. Many of them have turned out well.



But then there are the ones I take, like this one....



Ashley is strangling the cat - the picture is blurry - and a random foot is at the top of the picture.

I really want to be able to create a lovely image of my lovely daughter. So tell me your secrets, please…

Today I am thankful for digital cameras. I can’t even imagine what it would cost to develop the hundreds of pictures I take just to get one or two passable ones.