I got to go to the Pumpkin patch yesterday with my brother, niece, nephew and great niece.  They also have an apple orchard which we visited first. I've never been to an apple orchard. It was fun :). I tried a granny Smith and a pink lady apple. Both tasted really fresh and flavorful. They were definitely the best apples I ever tasted. I also had a red raspberry lemonade. It was a little pricey but worth it. I forgot how hot Arizona is even at this time of year. It was so cute seeing my niece and nephew interact together. They are 13 years apart in age, so to outside observers it's difficult to tell if they are brother and sister or mother and son. My niece is good with kids. 

I got to hold my great niece and bond with her. She's almost 3, but she's still small so luckily she wasn't that difficult to carry. She and I were standing together and she was holding her lemonade up to me. I asked her if she wanted me to hold her lemonade or if she wanted me to hold her. She wanted me to hold her, but I had my lemonade and hers, so I wasn't sure how to finagle that. Thankfully a nice lady saw what was going on and she offered her assistance. She picked up my great niece and handed her to me.

At the Pumpkin Patch my brother was very sore with his sciatica so he sat that one out. The four of us walked next to the pumpkins and then over to the buildings. My right ankle rolled and I went sprawling. I ended up hurting my knees and cutting up my hand. I still had fun and I ended up buying my mom some squash and cucumbers. I also bought some stuff at the apple orchard gift store. I got something for Sadelina, and then some peach soap, a remedies book and some metal spoons that I think Thomas will like.

I was sooo exhausted yesterday when i got home that i lay in the recliner for four hours and slept. The good thing is, I discovered that the recliner is very good for sleeping so I slept in the recliner and got some good rest. I got some more stuff out of my car today. I'm going to tye dye shirts for everyone.

• I got to hang out with my nephew today while my brother ran errands.  He's such a sweet and considerate kid. Hes big for his age, around the same size I was at age 9. I cajoled him to do some of his homework. He hates handwriting like I do. We went for a walk and he told me he wants me to stay. I thought that was the sweetest thing. 

The white sands was beautiful!! I felt one with nature. I could hear the soft woosh in the air coming off the sands. I sat down and lay down in the sands and made Angel's. I didn't slide down the sand dunes because I got tired and my car couldn't get to the back.

I forgot I already had a blog! Well, for my toastmasters project I have to do a blog and post 8 times in it in a month. I am posting about my vacation in Arizona and New Mexico. For my first blog post, I left my house in Tulsa at 10:30 AM yesterday. After a series of stops, I arrived at my hotel in Alamogordo about 9:30 last night. I didnt go to sleep til after 1 am bc the beds were uncomfortable.

1 continued jr

Okay, I promise, S through Z and then enough of this get to know me crap.

Scrabble: Best play I ever did was playing REPEATS on the last turn. Not only did I score a bingo and get like 80 points, I won.

Terrific pizza: Either Papa Johns thin crust with half anchovies (although I don't agree with how this company treats their workers so I don't order from them as much) or dominos thin crust with bacon spinach and tomato. It pains me that they don't have anchovies though.

Under my bed: is everything that falls off my night table, plus all of my old music, magazines and various kleenexes. I need to clean it.

Velocity- I took physics in 11th, 12th, and in the first two years of college. Interesting stuff. Velocity is speed in a given direction. Took me a whole year to understand that.

Weight- way too much. I'm trying to lose weight so I don't have a heart attack at 52 like my dad. I don't care about my looks.

Worst Habits- smoking, sleeping in too late, lack of discipline and soda

Xrays- lungs, feet, teeth and sinuses

year 2016 in review - started mentoring a young woman with autism, switched departments, got promoted, sang in the opera, sang a lot at renegades,  did a lot of spirographs. I want to do more this year and create pretty things, in addition to losing weight and traveling.

Zebras- they are awesome. So are snakes. Another thing I want to do this year is go to the Zoo.

1 continued

I decided the title for this next entry would be "1 continued" because I am continuing from the last post with my about me list starting with the letter H:

Height: 5'10"

Interests: A lot of things, and it changes daily. Friendship Bracelets, Babysitters Club, Singing, Autism Advocacy, political causes...plus whatever is in my profile. That's accurate too.

Would I....

Join a table of Strangers? - Yes. I don't have an issue joining a table of strangers. It's when people know me that I get scared.

Kiss a movie star? Sure. Mariska Hargitay is my girl crush.

Love Bunny: Thomas Smith

Movie Faves: Deuce Bigalo Male Gigalo, Christmas Vacation, Badder Santa, This is Where I leave You, Oculus, Mama, The house at the end of the street (I love comedy and horror/suspense)

Never Going to Give Up: Trying to be liked by as many as possible, trying to be the best I can be, bagel bites, political causes.

On The Topic of the Women's March -  I support them. I understand why some may not, but the nasty comments and posts from women who don't know they are being oppressed and screwed over are getting old.

Perfect Day for me: Going to bed at a decent hour, getting enough rest, getting up and going to dinner with my husband, then going for a workout or a massage.

Question of the day: Why do people oppose abortion but not support free birth control for all? Are they wanting to punish women for having sex?

Recently I treated myself with: Acupuncture and Massage. I couldn't sleep one day so I looked up every massage place and they were closed, plus both of my chiropractors were closed. I ended up finding this place in midtown that did acupuncture and massage and could get me in. It was interesting but I sure felt better afterwords.


I will continue this list later.

1

This is my first post in my new blog. This blog will focus on my daily thoughts and feelings as I live my life with an autism spectrum disorder. For much of my life I have focused on being normal and fitting in. While that has helped me socially in a lot of ways, I realize that some of my bad habits (smoking and overeating to name two) are due to the stress of trying to fit in and adapt to a world that just isn't made for people like me.

I titled this Not an Inspiration because I truly believe Inspiration Porn exists in our society and it affects people with disabilities. It lowers the standards for us, and allows people to discriminate against us by not allowing us in all aspects of society. Even though I consider myself mildly affected by Asperger Syndrome because of how I present, inside I deal with stuff everyday. So, I consider myself part of the disability demographic.

Another thing I deal with is whether or not I should consider it a disability. Many autism advocates say it isn't a disability. I can agree with that. I feel that most of my issues stem from how I am treated or my perception of other's perceptions of me. There are some that relate to executive dysfunction and disorganization which have nothing to do with other people. But those don't cause me depression. My issues with people do cause me to feel depressed sometimes. Basically, I am still trying to figure out if this is a disability to me. I don't want to use ableist language and alienate individuals who present differently than I do, but I am still learning. If I say something that alienates or offends, please gently let me know so I can correct it, or at least have my eyes opened.

Here is a list of things about me:

Age: 33
Birthdate: 11/14/83
Core Type: Organizer Commander (Choleric Melancholy)
Dislikes: Hypocrisy, Inequality, Inspiration Porn, Onions, Mushrooms, Fiber cuts, unannounced maintenances
Excuses I use: Too tired, not feeling well, I forgot, I'm afraid to fail, that person pissed me off
Fears: Mice, Rats, Venemous Snakes, Losing my job, hurting someone, not being liked, being found out
Goals for the year: get down below 300 again, start and keep a 3x week workout routine, find a different job, get my CCNP, learn  how to use my MAC book, journal consistently, make a list for self-care and keep it up, go to China

H- Z will happen in a later post. I'm currently at work and we have a huge outage. It seems like another IT company that shall not be named decided to cut a bunch of cables and not tell us. Bastards.