Dear Comcast,

While it’s tempting just to write “You Suck” and end, that’s too easy. Your customer service deserves SO. MUCH. MORE.

Here’s an idea. When a customer calls in and makes it through your labyrinth of button-pushing (”Push 1 for English”?? REALLY?!? Am I NOT in America?) in order to talk to an actual human being, you might want to try this novel, experimental idea. Listen to what they’re saying. Don’t nod and smile on your end of the line while just punching in random computer keys like a chicken playing a game. Because while many customers may be calling in for reason A, it’s possible that a customer needs reason B, C or X, and your non-listening will muck things up for everybody involved and waste an entire day.

What’s that you ask? “What’s ‘listening’?” That means that you stop talking long enough to hear what the other person is saying. Note the bolding on the word “hear”. Because it’s not enough just to wait for the other person to stop talking and then go, “uh-huh”. It means hearing and understanding what they’re asking or telling you they need.

Another thing. When you go on and on and on to the customer about “you’ll receive 2 phone calls regarding this appointment…” and then continue with some sort of apocalyptic scenario that will happen if you miss one of these calls, you might want to make sure those calls actually happen. Because, honestly? The Apocalypse goes both ways, baby.

Now. You have these people you’ve hired to call customers to confirm appointments and such. Here’s a thought. Train these people in the correct way to use a phone and how to talk to a customer. And, maybe, make sure they know how your company works, mmmmkay? Because when Snippy McUnprofessional called me today to confirm the appointment I did have for the service I didn’t need, (Just needed a cableCard for my TiVo – that’s it) and I tried to correct the mistake, Missy almost got a beatdown. Here’s the conversation I had:

Me: I’m sorry, no, it isn’t that my cableCard isn’t working, I actually just need the cableCard installed.

Snippy McSnottypants: Oh. Well….oh, okay. That’s not what it says here.

Me: Okay. Well….that’s what I told them when I called for the appointment.

Little Miss Can’tBeBothered: <sigh> Okay. Well, that’ll be an additional $1.99 per month charge.

Me: Um, no. That’s not what it says on your website. It says that ONE card is free as part of the outlet charge, but more than one has a fee.

Pissy von RollyEyes: No – there is a $1.99 per month charge. There is.

Me: I’m sorry, but no. On your website……

Ms. I’mTooGoodForThisJob: <INTERRUPTS ME AND TRIES TO TALK OVER ME>

Me: …it says… CAN I FINISH PLEASE?? Thank  you. I’m reading what’s on your website where it says that the first cableCard is free. That’s what it says.

Attitude O’Rudely: <begins her sentence talking over me AGAIN> Do you want to talk to my supervisor?

Me: Oh, yes. Yes, I do.

Impolite McBrusque: It won’t make any difference, but all right.

Me: ….. o_O <makes a snorty laughing sound of disbelief>

Churlish O’Snappish: LAUGHS AT ME.

SHE LAUGHED AT ME AND PUT ME ON HOLD.

I sit, listening to their ridiculous music on hold for about 2 minutes. I hear a click as if someone picked up, then back on hold. Then, suddenly, I’m back at the main menu as if I had called them myself. So I get to start all over with someone new. This representative, however, was not horrible. I told her what I had been discussing with that other person. When I mention the $1.99 charge, she says, “Oh, no, there’s no additional charge for the card.”

VICTORY IS MINE. I informed her of my interaction with the other human and how she laughed at me. She said, “Wow, that’s totally unacceptable. I’d be mad, too.” She said there would be a record of who that person was and she’d make a note of the poor service – which, who knows if she will. But vindication was MINE.

Anyway, dear Comcast, back to business. Your service tech arrived 30 minutes after the given window had closed (10am-1pm) and was completely misinformed as to what he needed to do. Not only did he not know, he did not HAVE any cableCards and he did not know HOW to do it anyway. After trying to get a hold of someone who could help him, he finally told me that someone would bring him a card.

ONE HOUR LATER, said card arrived and the tech attempted to figure out how to do the installation. Again, no one seemed to be able to help him and, of course, everytime you power down TiVo, it takes about 10 minutes to power back up. So he’s getting more and more peeved as the minutes tick by. He finally gets done what he’s told needs to be done and takes his leave. 1 hour and 45 minutes after his arrival. For a job that only should have taken minutes. Because he didn’t have the proper information, training or support.

The capper? I received my bill today. You know…the one where you sneakily attempted to keep charging me for the cable box I returned to you at the beginning of October? I bet a lot of your customers don’t notice stuff like that. Where you try to rip them off with little charges here and there that we’re all too busy to notice or check out. So, again, I get to sit on hold to speak to someone named “Penny” somewhere south of Amritsar. Who cannot, for the life of her, understand that I have returned both the regular digital box and the HD box, but have kept the HD DVR. But, she promised a credit for the charge and that the next bill would show the return of box #2. How much you wanna bet I gotta call again??

So, Comcast. This love letter became a little long, I know. But your delightful customer service and trustworthy business practices filled with honesty and sparkly rainbows make it difficult to be brief. My love for you is pointy and sharp and I hope I don’t accidentally pierce your skull with it. Keep up the fantastical, magerrific, splendiferous, craptastic work. I’m sure everyone who deals with you does not want to punch you in the neck.

Me.

It’s not quite that dire, but I am another year older! Thursday was my birthday and I had such a great day. My birthday has been rough on me in the past. I usually get depressed and cranky a day or so before, lasting through the day after. When I’ve tried to analyze what goes on in the past, I come up with this. I feel like I desperately want someone to make a big deal out of my birthday, but I don’t want to have to ask. I want to feel that I’m important enough to someone to want to go, BAM!, but I hate myself for wanting that. Then, when nobody makes a big deal about it, I get all pissy & sad that no one cared enough, and then I beat myself up for feeling that way. Pretty psychotic, huh?

This year it was different. I don’t know what made the difference, but I woke up on Thursday in a very good mood. I knew I got to spend the day (until 2:30) with my mom, which is something I absolutely love. My mom is totally my best friend. I talk to her about nearly everything, I enjoy being with her and, while she doesn’t always understand what I’m talking about, she accepts it as me. So, after I took the kids to school, I went to her house & picked her up. We grabbed some coffee and headed to Crystal Lake. First we went to Hobby Lobby. She had some prints to get framed and I wanted to get a couple frames for both some art prints I bought and for some pictures I’ve printed for Steven’s room. And WHOOP-WHOOP, wall decor was all 50% off! I came across this gorgeous piece that’s like a canvas in a mottled burgundy. It’s got a decorative cross and says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”. Loooooved it. Can’t figure out where I’m going to put it yet, but it’s going up somewhere. Found the frames for my artwork so I finally have something in my bedroom that I love. I love Gustav Klimt and have always loved his “The Kiss”. I saw another one that portrays motherhood to me, so I ordered those 2 and here’s how they look:

Yes. There’s a crack in the glass. Happened as I brought the frame into the bedroom. So, I’m going to have to go get another one, but I still wanted to get it up for now.

I absolutely adore this. The full print has mommy bre@st in it which I didn’t really want in my bedroom, so I found a cropped version that still conveys the feeling without all the breasteses. I just love looking at it and the feeling of motherly love and devotion it has. Yum.

After the Lobby, we went over to the hair salon so I could get a cut. I can’t believe how quickly time flies between my salon visits. It’s been about a year or so since I’ve had a cut, so my hair was out of control. I actually let the stylist have carte blanche and just do whatever she thought would look best. And it turned out pretty cute.

Normally, I don’t like my hair straight. I have a really, really long face and, right now with my weight the way it is, I feel like my head looks a little too much like the kid from Mask. Like, 3 feet long with a foot of it between my lower lip & chin. Straight hair really accentuates the length of my face, so I’ve usually gone with curly hair or big hair. Plus, no matter how hard I try, I fail at blowing my hair out with a round brush. I simply cannot do it. I do like the way it curves around my neck, though. I probably won’t wear it like this much, as I have a sensory thing about my hair being in my face. When it’s loose, it’s constantly in my face, sticking to my mouth and tickling me. I hate it.

After hair came the bookstore! Man, I adore a bookstore. Even if I can’t buy anything, I love walking around  making notes about what books I’d like to get from the library. But my mom bought me some books and I honestly am having trouble deciding what to read first – I started 3 of them! Here’s what I got:

So…why did you get these, you’re asking. Let’s see.

I got the first one because it’s a humorous look at strange subcultures on the Internet. I find that kind of thing fascinating. This book is funny as all get-out. All I can say is the line, “You eat like a monster” had me laughing nonstop for 5 full minutes.

Mentally Incontinent I got because it’s written by a Peacock. No, not related to the ones I know, I don’t think, but I’m hoping it’ll be super funny. Looks good so far.

World War Z I got for one reason. The subtitle. “An oral history of the zombie war”. I don’t know if the book came before the script for True Blood or vice versa, but that quote from Jason is amazingly awesome. Any book that has that on the cover has to be great.

Cake Wrecks? Because it’s CAKE WRECKS, y’all. ‘Nuff said.

The Erma Bombeck books are CLASSIC. My mom had a couple of her books and a record album of her comedy when I was growing up. I thought she was hysterical and now, as an blogger, I strive to someday get to her level of awesome hilarity in my writing.

Then we went to lunch at Chili’s and it was time to come home & get the kids. For dinner, Steve brought home Portillo’s (YAY!!!) and my gift – a TiVo! Rock on!
I’d like to write more, but William’s fussing, so I have to sign off. I’m 41. And I’m okay!

Because my lunch date yesterday proves it. Beyond a shadow of a doubt.

I got to have lunch with my BFF, Camille, yesterday. She invited me out to talk about blogging and we met at our local Starbucks. No matter how long it’s been between “dates”, when we get together, it’s like we’ve never been apart. We got caught up and she shared with me all about this amazing project she’s involved with. She’s been a worship leader at a local mega-church for over 10 years and now, she and 3 others she’s served with have formed a band called NoBlurr. Soon after they formed, they got involved with community projects like the local food pantry. They recently got contacted by this charity called Soles4Souls. Now NoBlurr and Soles4Souls are working together to raise awareness and bring shoes to people around the world. It’s an amazing project and an unbelievable opportunity to spread the Gospel message. To bring the light of Christ to people around the world with the simple idea of giving shoes to people who don’t have them. How AMAZING is that?? NoBlurr is now doing concerts where the funds and shoes brought by attendees will be added to the shipments made to 125 countries around the world. And my best friend is being used by God to be a part of this. I’m so amazed & excited for her!!

Unfortunately, as so often happens when God marks someone to do His work, Satan is doing his best to mess with it. She just found out that her thyroid is completely dead and that she has a goiter on it that needs to be removed. This is, of course, totally messing with her physically and emotionally, making it difficult for her to have the enthusiam and ability to do what needs to be done for this mission. Since hypothyroidism can be so detrimental to a person’s stability (severe depression, irritability, memory loss, weight gain being some of the symptoms), this has to be addressed and dealt with. I think she just feels terribly overwhelmed with dealing with this surprise health issue and the pressures of embarking on something of this caliber. I remember that before Steve’s dad was diagnosed with dementia, it was discovered that his thyroid was dead and had been for some time, which caused a lot of his problems. I can only imagine the stress & pressure she’s under – on top of being a mom of 2 little girls and a wife.

But, as we’re talking, I’m overcome. I just stopped her and launched into this unexpected thing that I wasn’t prepared for. All of a sudden, I’m unable to stop myself from telling her, “Is God going to give you all this stuff to do for Him and not enable you to do it? Does the God we serve put us in a position to do His work and then sit back to watch us fail? You are in a position to make a difference GLOBALLY with the gifts He’s given you (which are substantial, by the way) and He’s going to be there every step of the way.” And all sorts of stuff like that. I went on for about 5 minutes like this before it all just stopped. I just breathed for a minute and then said, “I don’t know where all that came from….” Honestly, it was like God just decided to talk through me to say what she needed to hear. At least I hope so. I hope I wasn’t just vomiting all over her, but actually encouraging and lifting her up.

I just love this woman. God brought her into my life in 1990 and there’s no friend I’ve known longer. I have acquaintances, but she’s the friend I’ve had the longest. We were estranged for a period of time due to my stubbornness before I found Christ, but God in His mercy brought us back together with forgiveness, love and so much growth. My only regret is that I let the estrangement happen. We missed each other’s weddings because of it, and I wish she’d been there for mine. She’s Aunt Camille to my kids and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m so incredibly proud of her grace, her obedience to God, her talents and abilities. She’s constantly trying to seek God and her walk challenges and edifies me. That’s all. Oh, except for the fact that’s she’s so incredibly beautiful. Unfortunately, the shot I got of her with William is pathetic, but I’m gonna show it anyway.

So…this is one reason why you can’t tell me God ain’t real. Camille is just one of my reasons. Love you, girl!

Believe it or not, I forgot to share this with y’all! A couple of weeks ago, I got an unsolicited email from someone at BlogHer.com. For those of you who don’t know, BlogHer is pretty much the preeminant place online for women bloggers. I read stuff over there occasionally, but I was absolutely SHOCKED to get this email. Apparently, they were looking for someone to write an article about Down Syndrome. They were thinking that, with the release of the movie “Precious” and its portrayal of Down Syndrome, they wanted somebody to give a real-life viewpoint for those who might have seen the movie/read the book and be looking for resources about Down Syndrome.

To say I was flabbergasted would be an understatement. I could not believe that someone had recommended me and that they chose me to do it after becoming familiar with my work on my blog. Not that my blog is awful or anything, but it was just so surprising. And that they came to me – just….whoa. Since I had already written quite a bit on this subject, I decided to cobble that stuff together because I didn’t think I could say any of it any better than I already had. And it got posted here. If you’re a regular reader here, you’ve probably read it all before, but if you haven’t, I encourage you to go and read it. It is such an important topic and it’s my quest to get people to understand Down Syndrome and what it really means – not what the media and hearsay would have you believe.

In other news, here are some funnies for today. Apparently, people just don’t understand the Gospel message. Trust me, nowhere in the Bible does it talk about “low prices” or “receiving bacon”. In fact, I really don’t want a Messiah who only died for low prices.

I mean, I LOVE bacon. Seriously LOOOOOVE bacon. But even bacon wouldn’t be tempting enough….

I know, I know. “Christy!!! You changed your theme AGAIN?? Can’t you focus on anything for more than 10 seconds?!?” No. No, I can’t. I am a gnat on crystal meth.

See, this weekend is Internation Digital Scrapbook Day. (Yes, I know. A ‘weekend’ cannot be a ‘day’. However, the celebration of a day can last a weekend. Trust me.) With this holiday comes a boatload of sales at nearly every online digital scrapbook store in the universe. And I did a little shopping. I was visiting ScrapbookGraphics.com and one of my favorite designers, Flergs, and saw she has blogwear that works in Wordpress. And I said YIPPIE! Because most designers who do blogwear only do it for Blogger and I can’t use it. Plus, she used my new favorite kit of hers to make it, so I had to buy it. I love the black/yellow/green/white combination. It’s so crisp and clean and friendly. Reminds me a bit of my grandmother (don’t ask me why – I cannot explain how my subconscious works), so it was a must have. Love the touches of glitter and I think the flowers are stunning. I’m having a little trouble keeping the white background there – it seems to flicker on & off with each refresh & I’m not sure why. Going to have to fix that because I can’t expect y’all to read my blatherings off a dotted swiss background.

I haven’t actually done any actual scrapbooking yet this weekend, but I sure have taken advantage of the sales. Wanna see what I bought?? Oh, I’ll  link up the pictures, too, in case you see something you’d like to buy yourself.

At Scrapbook Graphics, I bought:

.

Then, at Digital Design Essentials, I got these great things:

Aren’t those just the coolest alphas ever?? And they were (and still are) only $1!!! I love them and can’t wait to use them.

Finally, I got all these layered templates from Digichick:

By the way, I LOVE layered templates. Truthfully, I use them with almost every single layout I do. See, I can come up with my own layout, but it takes me a while to get it laid out nicely and it’s never quite as good as I envisioned. With the templates, not only can I count on the fact that it will look AMAZING, I can also get layouts down much more quickly. For me, it’s about getting the memories down, so I don’t mind not being so much of an “artist”. Anyway, I can change it up if I want to, as well, so I’m not stuck to what’s there. I love it. Some of my favorite templates are by Kitty Designs (hers are called “The Sketch”), TaylorMade (called “TaylorSketch”), Ali Edwards, Katie Pertiet, and Tiffany Tillman. They rock, they’re inexpensive and they’re a great jumping-off point. <end recommendation>

And discussing my scrapbook purchases made me realize I haven’t shown off my layouts in a while. So, here’s what’s new!

Dear Victoria’s Secret,

For many years now, you’ve been a ubiquitous part of the culture here in America. Like it or not, your stores are in every mall & your ads are on every TV. I understand that. I don’t like it, but I get it.

Here’s where my problem begins. I got this ad in the  mail with a coupon promoting your new ridiculous boobilicious show-off pulley system. Now, even if I WAS interested in your overpriced underpants, I’d be out of luck because YOU DON’T SELL BRAS IN MY SIZE. Which means I don’t now, nor have I ever in the past 20 years, bought anything from your store. Ever. And, building on that fact, I certainly, by no stretch of the imagination, would have any need or desire to make myself 2 cup sizes bigger. Because that would not only be horrific, unattractive and not safe for brains, it would probably blind me.

It’s bad enough that I have to look at the breasts of your models every 30 minutes on my television and see your in-store ad sheets blown up to 300% life size, screaming, “OMGBOOBS!!!!!!!!” at the top of their lungs every time I’m in the mall. I do not look like your models. I will never look like your models. I do not want to have this fact smacking me in the face any more than it already does. Just as I’d be peeved if I was receiving catalogs for Lamborghini or yachts or big huge diamonds or mansions or anything else that I couldn’t possibly buy. Leave me alone and stop shoving all your boobs in my face. All the time. Put on a sweater.

I wish nothing bad on anyone who works for you who’s a human being. But your stores, your corporate offices and all of your inventory? Can die in a fire.

All my love,

Christy

Okay. It’s time for parental true confessions. I’m warning you – I’m going to be brutally honest here. Because I have to vent somewhere. <deep breath>

Lately, I don’t like my middle sons very much.

Does that make me an awful person? Probably, to some people out there. I just have to be honest. I think we probably all go through this to one extent or another – when your child is going through a stage, creating behavior that you just. don’t. like.

I have to admit – I’m there right now. Let’s explore it. First, there’s Steven. I honestly don’t know what’s going on with him, but he is driving me BONKERS. Every day, he’s just expressing this unpleasant, gross greediness that makes me want to be away from him. It is nearly constant begging for stuff or trying to bargain for cash. And it comes out of nowhere – he doesn’t GET a bunch of stuff normally and he doesn’t get money other than his allowance. It is the most annoying thing ever. I’m telling him, over and over again to stop it. Just stop it. You’re not getting anything, I’m not buying you anything, you’re not getting any money. I must have told him this 800 times over the past couple of days, but he WILL. NOT. GIVE. UP.

On top of that, he’s melting down over his ridiculous DS games. I try to intervene and encourage him to take a break if it’s frustrating him, but he just screams at me. I tell him not to scream at me and his frustration goes through the roof. Then, when I finally have to punish him because of the way he’s talking to me, or because he’s thrown something in anger, he screams that I’m torturing him. “Why are you DOING THIS TO ME???’ And no matter how I try to explain it or get him to understand, it just keeps happening and happening.

I’m so incredibly sick of it. So sick of every day starting like this. So sick of picking him up from school and it starts in again. “Did I get anything in mail?” “No.” “AUUUUGH!!! THE MAIL IS SO STUPID!!!”  What? I NEVER got anything in the mail when I was 8. EVER. I certainly never expected to get something (even though I didn’t do anything to get it) and never melted down when nothing came. It’s so frustrating, because it makes me not want to be around him at all. I don’t want to talk to him or listen to him talk – especially because it always turns around to something he wants or the piles of cash he desires.

Then there’s Henry. How lame is it that I’m confessing that I don’t  like my son who has Down Syndrome?? But, right now, I don’t. I cannot stand constantly being hit by him. I cannot stand the constant throwing. And I really, really, really cannot stand the horrifying noise he makes when something isn’t going his way. Which is about 80% of the time. At home when the TV isn’t showing something he wants. In the car when someone’s talking. Or when he doesn’t like the song playing. Or, especially when we go through a drive thu. Imagine, if you will, being trapped in the car with THIS constantly sounding,  like a drill invading your brain:

Henry’s Default Noise

I HATE it. I cannot fully express in words the depth of my hatred for that noise. I try to get him to use his words, but he just screams again. I want to die when it starts. Seriously. Again, it makes me not want to be around him. Which then makes me feel like a horrible, evil mother. I mean, what mom doesn’t want to be around her kids? But, I just want some peace. Some quiet. Not to have to figuratively bang my head against the wall every single day.

This, too, shall pass. Right? Gosh I hope so. And soon.

Since I’m not designing anymore, I thought I might offer up some of my old stuff as freebies here on a monthly basis. No biggie – just a kit or something that people might like to have. I mean, it’s made and is just sitting on my hard drive – maybe somebody would like it, y’know?

So, since it’s November, I’m gonna give up November Frost. I loved this one with its feeling of the end of fall with the leaves off the trees, the temperatures dropping and first frosts hitting us. I hope you enjoy it! Click the photos to download.

Thought I’d share my pictures. Due to the cold weather, we decided not to take Henry & William out, since neither one really cares one way or another. I took Maggie & Steven down to the square to trick or treat there. MAN, was it freezing!! Steven insisted he didn’t need a coat, so I decided to let him suffer the consquences of his knowing better than me. Within the first leg of the square, he was begging for a coat. Silly boy. After going around the first corner, we ducked into Starbucks for some hot cocoa & a Chai for me. Which helped exponentially! And here is Queen Cleopatra waiting for her coffee:

and Anakin Skywalker annoyed with the wait.

Oh, yeah. Steven was supposed to be a Bionicle for Halloween, but at the last minute, he decided to don his old Anakin one.  Sorry, Mom.

We continued around the square, seeing some people I used to do shows with doing a “Dr. Frankenstein & the Monster” live tableau in a window. Which was cool. And saw this awesome pumpkin.

We made it around one more leg of the square before the kids decided they were too cold and this was foolishness. So, cut through the square and head back to the car. Which meant I was just in time to spot Henry’s OT rocking this amazing getup:

Is that cool or what?? Awesome idea and excellent execution!

We went back home and got ready to go around the neighborhood. Again, the cold made me decide to leave Henry & William home with Daddy – especially since Daddy was doing a good job helping William with some pooping trouble he’s had. He’s good at knowing where & how to palpate to make it easier for him. So, I take the kids trick-or-treating & Daddy helps the boy poop. The kids wanted to go by Great-Grandma’s house, so we planned our route & set out. Steven, ready for battle…

…and Maggie walking like an Egyptian.

Lots & lots of good costumes out there and lots of kids who were SERIOUS about their task. Literally RUNNING from house to house. Steven was trying to move fast, but Maggie wouldn’t, so we kept at a pretty slow pace.

We got halfway around our little neighborhood when we came across a werewolf passing out candy from the back of his truck. Which was funny. Mr. Werewolf was having trouble seeing and working his paws, to which I said, “Ah…the troubles of lycanthropy…” Mr. Werewolf stands up straight, looks right at me and says, “Christy *My Maiden Name*???” Whoa. Whoa. “Yeah…..” I said. He reveals himself as a guy I went to high school with. How funny is that??

Went by Great-Grandma’s and she either wasn’t home or wasn’t passing out candy, so that didn’t work out. Stopped at the house of my friend Tim’s parents (they live basically right behind us) & got to see them. Then back home to pass out candy. Steven took that job with much happiness, calling each group of kids his “customers”. Unfortunately, we missed most of the kids due to being out ourselves, so that stunk. That’s my favorite part – seeing the little kids in their costumes and how cute they are.

It was a pretty low-key Halloween. I didn’t get to dress up & show off Will & Henry, but it was probably for the best. I think I will put them in their costumes to get a couple pictures. Because when you see William in his, you will fall into a diabetic coma and never come out. From the cute, y’know.

I am SO CRAFTY, y’all. :hee:

You remember those decor pieces I made for Steven & Henry’s room? Maggie was very interested in them & wanted me to make something for her room, too. We went through some options and we came up with some good ideas. She decided on the quote she wanted and I searched the internet for pictures/dingbats that would work with them. Placed it all on a scrapbook paper, added a little grunge and printed.

This is a Pooh Bear quote: “Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. ‘Pooh,’ he whispered. ‘Yes, Piglet?’ ‘Nothing,’ said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. ‘I just wanted to be sure of you.’” Paper is from Doris Castle’s contribution to The Daily Digi’s The DigiFiles 2 set.

Background paper on this is from Nicole Seitler’s Chilled Wine kit. Found the picture on the internet & ran filters on it.

This is a quote from Into the Woods: “Sometimes people leave you halfway through the wood. Do not let it grieve you; no one leaves for good. You are not alone. No one is alone.” This paper is also from Nicole Seitler’s Chilled Wine kit. The image was from the net, too.

This one, from Sweeney Todd, hasn’t been framed yet. Song lyric is: “No one’s gonna hurt you, no one’s gonna dare. Others can desert you, not to worry, whistle I’ll be there. Demons’ll charm you with a smile, for a while, but in time…nothing can harm you. Not while I’m around.”  This paper is from Libby Weifenbach’s Apples on a Stick kit. Swirly grunge frame was by Sophia Sarducci. Pic of Helena Bonham Carter was run through a bunch of filters.

This is how they look in her room so far:

I like it so far. Maggie LOVES it so much – honestly, I cannot remember the last time I saw her that happy. So glad that something I’m able to create can make her so happy.

I got this cute picture of William yesterday. I love this little rock star onesie & hat and he wore it yesterday, so I snapped some pics. I got one that looked like he really was pulling some screaming rock tenor, so enjoy:

Also – check over in the sidebar. See the “Me A-Z” and “My Playlists” icons? I got the idea from Stacy Julian’s new stacyjulian.com site and I thought it was clever and fun. I’ve only got one playlist up there now, but I’ve got 2 more I want to do. I think the A-Z one is super fun and a good way to get inside my head a little bit. Not that you’d want to be there or anything, but….

William’s fussing AGAIN, so I need to close. Happy Halloween & I’ll see you soon with pictures!

Do you ever have days like this? Where everything sucks and everybody’s piling on you?  That was my day. Made of suck.

First, Henry had late start at school which I always, always hate. It is totally inconvenient. Maggie & Steven never have this, so they have to be at school at 8:00 or so. Usually, Henry starts at 8:30, so I can just go to his school and wait. On late start days, I have to go back home and wait so I can get him there at 9:30. Inevitably, I’ll get working on something and end up being late. As it was today. I couldn’t find my phone before I left, so I had to go back home and get it after taking Henry to school before Steve & I ran an errand. Oh,  yeah, Steve took the day off because Henry’s IEP was this afternoon and he wanted to be there.

We run back home & I get my phone (after calling it from the land line because I couldn’t find it) and we head out. We had to go back down near where we used to live so Steve could pick up this office chair he had repaired. Off we go to do that and when we get there, I wait in the car for FORTY-FIVE MINUTES waiting for Steve to get the chair. Now it’s nearly noon and we have to GO to get to Henry’s IEP on time. I greatly dislike having to rush – almost as much as I hate being late.

On the way home, we start discussing our washer/dryer debacle. When we moved into this house, we bought a new washer/dryer because the ones that were here were broken. I went to do the first load and the washer flooded the room. We got the Duet sport models because that’s what we could afford. They were 3.3 cubic feet and 6.7 cubic feet, respectively. They worked great but lately, it’s been a trial and half. It was taking 2-3 cycles to dry anything and, since they seemed smaller, I couldn’t wash enough at a time. Seriously – 3 towels were all I could wash at a time and it would take at LEAST 2 cycles to dry them. I had talked about it with Steve to see what solutions there might be and the things he said were either things that didn’t make sense to me or I had already done. But, it boiled down to the fact that I was only getting maybe 3 loads/day done and, with a family of 6, I was constantly behind and getting nagged about people needing clothes. But I couldn’t do the laundry any faster.

I thought perhaps the problem was that the appliances were not big enough to handle our laundry load. I talked with my mom about it and, since they were already buying my brother a washer/dryer for his birthday, they offered to do the same for me. So, after some shopping and bargain hunting, I decided on the 4.5 cubic foot Samsung steam washer and 7.4 cubic foot Samsung steam dryer. I found them on sale at Sears and we ordered them. And I was much anticipating the end to my laundry woes. They were delivered on Friday and installed with no problems. I delightedly started my first load and did a dance of housekeeping bliss. Then I came downstairs and realized that the clothes WERE. NOT. DRY. Thus began my dance of wailing and gnashing of teeth. Because I realized that the problem probably was (and had been) a blockage in the venting somewhere.

Since I know less than nothing about all this, I called Sears back and set up an appointment for a repair dude to come out and check out the problem. On Monday. Lo and behold, there’s nothing wrong with the dryer. Nay, the problem, as he informed me with a big fistful of lint and hair, lies in the dryer ductwork. Apparently, the entire venting ductwork is PACKED with lint. Like, it isn’t even REACHING the outside. Apparently, he pulled off the duct going into the back and just reached in and pulled out a big clump right there. And….yeah. I reached up as far as I could reach and pulled out 5 complete fistfuls. And that’s only the first 2-3′ of ductwork. So I called a service to come out and clean them out.Then fell into a depression because I gave up my birthday and Christmas to get a washer & dryer that I didn’t really need. I mean, they’re nice and it’ll be great to be able to do big loads or wash coats, pillows and comforters; but I didn’t NEED it like I thought I did.

So, Steve & I were talking about this and he shares that he thought this was the problem,  but he didn’t push it because, apparently, I can’t be talked to. He was convinced that I had my mind set on new appliances and didn’t want to hear anything further. Which isn’t true. I simply didn’t understand what he was talking about because I don’t know anything about this stuff. When he mentioned the “lint trap”, I thought he meant the one in the dryer itself, which I clean after (and sometimes during) each load. Since there was not any buildup or anything around the vent to the outside, I assumed it was clear. So, not only did I fail at good household management, but apparently I’m also impossible to talk to.

Then we had Henry’s meeting and, while it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, much of the focus was about his behavior problems (throwing, hitting, scratching, kicking) and the fact that he doesn’t know how to play with toys. And we’ve missed the “window” where it’s easier to teach them these things. Because I didn’t do enough with him when he was 2, 3, 4 years old. And, because I’m the stay at home parent, that means I fail at parenting a special needs child. So, now I need to work in time every day to give him sensory play, do flashcards and teach him how to play with his toys. On top of all the housework I’m trying to keep on top of, regular day-to-day life and caring for a nearly 3 month old. Because William will totally understand why I can’t feed him because I’m doing flashcards. So – there’s my Fail #2.

After I pick up the kids, I run to Walmart to get a couple of things and see if they have some things I can use for Henry. Steven wants to go in with me because he has $2 and he has to spend it RIGHT NOW. We get what I need and I talk him into not spending his money until we get to the checkout and he has to have cotton candy in a plastic bucket. I get a couple sandwiches from Subway for our dinner and forget to order a Slushee for Steven. He asks about it as we’re walking out and I apologize and say I forgot. He gets all attitudinal and starts telling me how disappointed he is in me because all I do is forget. Since I won’t go back and get it, he’s totally peeved at  me and lays into me, verbally. I spend the next 5 minutes rebuking him for talking to me that way and tell him he needs to get over it. But, I’ve been told. Fail #3.

I got a sandwich for Maggie, but apparently it isn’t what she wants. She hates sub sandwiches and I “should have asked her before I got that”. Which means I should have come out to the car, asked her if Subway was okay with her and then GONE BACK IN to get it. Cue moody, sulky, annoyed teenage girl who hates me because I thought she’d like a ham sandwich. I even told her that she didn’t have to eat it, she could have something else, like tortollini, at home, but she was appalled that I wouldn’t check with her before buying dinner. Mom, you FAIL #4

As we drive home, William starts screaming because his schedule is off and he hasn’t eaten for over 3 hours. He’s furious and is going to make sure we all know it. Fail #5.

So…today, everyone in my family made sure I knew how very, very much I suck and fail at life in their eyes. Needless to say, on the way home, I cried. I’m tired and frustrated and busting my hump trying to keep it all together and do my jobs right & well and everyone thinks I’m a fail. So, today has gone completely pear-shaped.

Tomorrow is bound to be better. Right? RIGHT?!?

Been so long! I’m sorry! I’ve actually been spending less time on the computer because I’m either napping or cleaning or creating something, so I just haven’t been online much. No excuse. I’m sorry.

Okay – first I have to share something that literally APPALLED me this morning. Seriously – jaw on the floor, eyes bugging out, calling out “scumbag!” at the TV. Because I couldn’t believe this happened. I’m watching TV and, you know those Direct TV commercials where there’s a famous person recreating a scene from something they’ve done in the past? Like this:

At first, I didn’t realize it was a Direct TV commercial – the one I was watching. I thought it was just a clip from Tommy Boy. You know, the scene with Chris Farley & David Spade in a hotel room and Farley tries on Spade’s coat and sings, “Fat guuuuy in a little coooat“? Hysterical scene, actually.

Suddenly, present day Spade is “in scene” and he’s giving the Direct TV pitch. By PIMPING THE WORK OF HIS DEAD FRIEND. Supposed friend, anyway. I could not believe he sank that low. I’ve always thought Spade was a bit of a scumbag – riding Farley’s coattails and just letting him self-destruct because there was money to be made off him – but this was REPULSIVE. Using his friend who’s dead from coke to make money off a commercial. David Spade? You should be ashamed of yourself. This commercial is terrible and I can’t believe someone who’d call Chris Farley a friend would use him in this way. You utterly and completely fail at LIFE.

The other thing I’ve been working on are some cool decorating ideas for my boys’ room. I read the blog Write. Click. Scrapbook. every day and this past week, Cheryl Overton has been doing the blogging, sharing cool home decor ideas that blew my mind with their coolness & simplicity. The first day, she shared what she’d done for a skater theme room. Basically, she’s made all these projects with fonts and scrapbooking paper/elements that she’s printed out, framed and hung. Which sounds stupid when you put it like that, but it’s not, y’all. It’s SO COOL. I especially liked this one, but I don’t have boys who are into skateboarding, so I didn’t know how to alter the idea for my boys. The next day, however, she showed off her Star Wars theme and I went, “AHHHHHHH!”. This I can copy!! I showed it to Steven and he liked it, but he asked me to do a Bionicle thing instead. I couldn’t find a Bionicle dingbat font, but I found a font of the Mata Nui language, so we worked from that. We searched for pictures of a couple of his favorite Bionicle and I ran some filters on them and slapped them on one of my background papers. Steven gave me a quote, I typed it on and changed the font and added a grunge overlay. And got this:

Printed it out 8×10″, framed it and screwed it into the wall so it won’t be removable/fall off the wall. He loved it! And, since I didn’t want to just do one, I then did one with a Star Wars theme. Using the Forced Reentry font for the picture and Rub This font for the words, I made this and hung it below the Bionicle one.

Then I had to make something for Henry’s side, too. And his, of course, had to be farm animal themed. So, I found this LCR On the Farm dingbat font and using the Rub This font for the words, my scrapbook papers and some grunge overlays I had, I made 3 for over Henry’s bed.

From the left: the cow says moo, the horse says neigh and the sheep says baa. Above that is a picture from The Pioneer Woman’s Photography site that is okay for download & print. I printed that out at 13×19″ and just taped it to the wall because I don’t have a frame that size. I also printed out her Charging Colts picture at the same size and hung it over the changing table. Needless to say, Henry LOVES these pictures and is always talking to/about them.

Now, admittedly, what I’ve done here is not nearly as cool as what Cheryl’s done with decor in the rooms she shows, but it’s certainly a start. And unique. And wicked cheap. Each frame was $3.99 at Target and I probably used about $1 worth of ink & paper for each piece. Plus they took me about 10 minutes to make and print out and then another 15 to hang. I LOVE it. I think I might do a 3 piece set of like “Live” “Laugh” and “Love” to hang over our bed. We’ve got nothing there and I think 3 12×12″ framed pieces would be prominent enough to work over a king-sized bed. I’ll see what I can come up with. I love the idea of creating original design pieces for the home that speak to each individual person. Plus, since it’s inexpensive, I can switch them out as they grow and their tastes/interests change. Oh, I also totally love her ideas for decor in the bathroom (scroll down) and the link she gave for cool embroidery hoop decor. You could totally do that with your favorite scrapbook paper or even a layout! She says she just cut the paper about 1/2″ larger than the hoop and then made little cuts all the way around so the edges would fold back and be hidden by the outer hoop. You could even decorate around the outside of the hoop with ribbon or maribou or something cool so you can’t tell it’s a hoop if you wanted! Plus?? REALLY, REALLY CHEAP TO MAKE!

I hope something I posted here today will inspire you like it did me. This is the kind of cool stuff you can see in a Pottery Barn-type catalog, but since we can’t afford to spend $150-300 on something to hang on the wall, we just sit there filled with object lust and covetousness. Could it BE any easier to buy a sheet of cool paper, cut it in a circle, place it in a hoop and hang it on a wall? I think not.

Not really, but I had to share this little exchange between me & Maggie in the car this afternoon.

Happy Birthday

It’s here. He’s 6. I cannot believe it. Somehow, someway, six years have flown by and I’m still a little disbelieving of it. See, technically, Henry almost was never here. A few small changes and he wouldn’t be.

When I was newly pregnant with him – about 8-9 weeks along – I had some spotting. Which wasn’t unusual for my pregnancies, but since I’d had 2 miscarriages in the past, I was vigilant about it. I went in, had blood drawn and had a quick ultrasound. And was informed by the doctor that he couldn’t find anything. Nothing. No baby. Just an empty sac. Very often what happens in these cases was just that you go in and have a D&C to eliminate everything. In fact, my first pregnancy ended just that way.

This doctor, however, hesitated. He actually said that he wanted to wait a few days and see what happened and he’d probably schedule a D&C then. But he didn’t want to do it yet. So, I went back home to wait. And wait. And wait. 5 days later, I went back and had another blood test. Surprisingly, my HCg levels went UP. Which made the doctor go, “Hmmm.” So, another ultrasound. This time? They found him. There he was. Measuring right on schedule. I don’t know where he was hiding previously, but I do know that I thank God all the time for that doctor. My first OB would have aborted Henry without knowing that he was fine. I wonder if that’s actually what happened with my first pregnancy. But…dwelling on it won’t change the past. All I know is that I’m very, very thankful that Henry’s doctor hesitated. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here.

Happy birthday, buddy. I don’t know what the future holds for you, but I pray that God will equip your father and me to help you achieve it. I pray that your skills will develop so you can live your life to the fullest – whatever that means for you, specifically. I pray that you will learn to eat and enjoy something other than baby food. I pray that you’ll grow out of your constant screaming when something is amiss in your world. I pray that you will grow to discover things that bring you great joy and happiness. Maybe you can someday own your own cow. But, most of all, I pray that you will grow to learn about Jesus and how very much He loves you. That you will put your faith in Him and trust Him with your life. Because, after all, that’s all that really matters. We love you, Henry. So very, very much.

So, overbusy. That’s me. Doctor’s appointments, birthday parties, grocery shopping, running hither & yon. Isn’t that the life of a mom? Thursday was William’s 2 month well check – even though he was 2 months & 2 weeks old. He is growing SO FAST, y’all. He’s now 12 pounds, 4 ounces (a full 3# gain from birth), 24″ long with a 15.75″ head circumference. He’s in the 50th percentile for weight, 75th percentile for height and 30th percentile for head circ. Doctor proclaimed him in perfect health and growing well, so that’s awesome.

I forgot to make an appointment for Henry to get his stitches out on Friday. The big problem for him has been his skin’s reaction to the bandages we’ve used. I think he’s allergic to something in the band aids, because when I removed the first one, the skin underneath was all red and spotty and even bleeding a bit. Seriously, the skin where the sticky part was looks way worse than the stitched area. See:

But the doctor said just to use some Vitamin E on it, so hopefully that’ll help.

Saturday we went back to our old stompin’ grounds so Steven could attend his BFF’s birthday party. I tell ya, it’s very cool when your best friend’s kid becomes best friends with YOUR kid. Love it. They had a cool party at their local Lifetime Fitness complete with rock climbing wall, bouncy house & scooters on top of the requisite cake & presents. Steven had never done anything like rock climbing before and I was so proud that he gave it a try. I was a little worried that he’d be wigged out by it, but he ran right over, strapped on his harness thing and gave it a go. It was difficult, but he said he really liked it. They had some pizza & cupcakes and opened presents. I had fed William, so I was able to take a bunch of pictures. Being me, I had to focus on the kids’ faces. There was one little girl – I wish I could show you her picture, but since she’s not my kid, I really can’t – with the most unbelievable eyes I’ve ever seen. This intense blue with a dark rim around the iris and lashlines that looked as if they’d been tattooed with permanent eyeliner. I found my camera kept drifting over in her direction, trying to get her in the pictures just so I could play with her face in Photoshop. I was NOT disappointed, y’all. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any really good shots of the birthday boy or Steven, but I got a couple good ones of the birthday boy’s younger brother and a couple of the other kids – plus some fun ones of everybody playing with the scooters. Of the 81 photos I shot, I got 37 that were good enough to process and post for my friend, so that’s not a bad ratio at all. I did get really good one of the BB – and it was even in motion as I captured it!

He’s so cute & having such a good time! And this is my favorite one of the BB’s younger brother:

Totally exhausted after the party. Drove back home and, while I wanted to sleep, that wasn’t gonna happen. However, I did get a bunch of new layouts done! Hurrah! I gave up my designing gig, but I was asked to join the NDISB CT, so I’ve started my first CT gig, which is quite fun. They assign different CT members to the different designers for each month and it’s really a challenge to use stuff that maybe is a different style than what I normally use or to find a photo to go with each designer’s newest stuff. Oh, wow. I just realized it’s been a long time since I’ve posted layouts, so there are a lot to post. Well, here’s what I’ve done and, as always, click on the photos to see them bigger and to read the journaling/credits.

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I wanted to share about the time we almost lost Henry. It was the most horrible week of my life. In March of 2004, Henry was 4.5 months old and he got sick. At first, we just thought it was a cold. but he got worse. On Tuesday night, the 2nd, he ran of fever of 102.9. The next morning, I took him to the doctor. He looked awful – lethargic and extra-floppy, labored breathing, hot, coughing – the whole 9 yards. All I got from the doctor was that I needed to get my hands on some breast milk and give it to him. I KNEW he was wrong. I KNEW it was worse than that. He was about to send me home with a phone number for La Leche League, when I realized that he was very, very sick. I said, “y’know, he’s just not right. He’s SO lethargic and with the high fever last night…”

The fever finally registered with the doctor and he said I should take to Children’s Memorial downtown right away. By the time we got him down there, his fever was 104. In front of my eyes, the ER went into overdrive with him – his oxygen sats were in the 60s and they rushed him back to get him on oxygen, take blood and all that stuff. They were in a panic to get him into a room – I remember the doctor going on and on about it and asking over & over if the room was ready. Finally, it was & they rushed him upstairs to the PICU. he was in an isolation unit at the end of the hall with his own nurse. His tiny, floppy body was all naked with tubes and monitors on him & a big, huge, cast-like thing on his arm with the IVs to keep them from pulling out. He kept biffing himself in the head with it.

They then put him on a BiPAP machine so he could breathe.  It was so big & he was so small that it wouldn’t stay on properly. He’d let out these little mewling kitten cries from inside that were all muffled and pitiful. We were able to get his pacifier in under the BiPAP, which helped, but due to all the tubes & wires, I couldn’t hold or comfort him at all. I could only stroke him & talk to him from his cribside. I can now admit that I was terrified. Even with the BiPAP, his oxygen sats weren’t going up at all. They kept saying, “We’ll keep trying, but we may have to intubate.” which scared me so much.

On night 3, as I was sleep on a cot in the waiting room, I was awakened at 4 am by, “Mrs. Sturm, you need to come…” I SHOT out of bed, jammed on my clogs and ran behind the nurse, trying to clear my head. She tried to calm me by saying it wasn’t an emergency, but in my befuddled mind, you don’t wake somebody up at 4am unless it’s an emergency.

When we got through all the automatic doors & down to his room, the doctor explained that he was just working WAY to hard to breathe & was so tired that they’d decided to intubate him so he could rest & get the oxygen he needed. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be there with him while they did it, so I had to wait in the hall. It all caught up there. I started sobbing. Thankfully, an amazing aide stopped to talk to me about it all – explaining that it didn’t mean he was getting worse, but just that this would help do the work for him so he could rest. She took a good 20 minutes to talk me down & I’ll always remember that. Once he was done, I could go in & see him. He was SO tiny & helpless, I just wanted to hold him & make it all go away.

He stayed like that for several more days & I just walked through the days; reading, watching TV, and going down to the cafeteria. He was sedated through all of it, so there wasn’t anything I could do for him. Just waiting. Finally, on the 8th, he was doing well enough that they could take him off the BiPAP & we could start feeding him the next day. I finally got to hold him again. My Squishy. I was so thankful.

During all of this, one song kept going through my head. I had woken up one morning and started singing, “You give and take away…You give and take away….” over and over. When I realized what I was singing, I started crying. It was as if God was saying to me, “You have to be prepared to accept whatever I’m going to give you here…” I immediately got angry, but the song continued to reverberate in my head. I needed to accept that God was wonderful – no matter what the outcome. I needed to bless Him even in my desert places, when I’m possibly going to lose my son. I just repeated these lyrics over and over – reminding myself that how I responded to this was a CHOICE. So…I chose to bless Him, even as I faced the worst possible scenario. I sang that song to myself so many times that week. Wonderfully, everything turned out okay. Henry recovered and is almost 6 now. But I’ll never forget how we almost lost him.

Today’s entry is a more all-encompassing one, rather than focusing on Henry. I thought this press release from the National Down Syndrome Society after Sarah Palin’s nomination I think is important for us all to learn how people with Down Syndrome prefer to be referred.

Below are tips for the proper use of language for ‘Down syndrome’. The National Down Syndrome Society and the National Down Syndrome Congress encourages all media to use the below language:

• Down vs. Down’s. NDSS and NDSC use the preferred spelling, Down syndrome, rather than Down’s syndrome. While Down syndrome is listed in many dictionaries with both popular spellings (with or without an apostrophe s), the preferred usage in the United States is Down syndrome. This is because an “apostrophe s” connotes ownership or possession. Down syndrome is named for the English physician John Langdon Down, who characterized the condition, but did not have it. The AP Stylebook recommends using “Down syndrome” as well.

• People with Down syndrome should always be referred to as people first. Instead of “a Down syndrome child,” it should be “a child with Down syndrome.” Also avoid “Down’s child” and describing the condition as “Down’s,” as in, “He has Down’s.”

• Down syndrome is a condition or a syndrome, not a disease.

• People “have” Down syndrome, they do not “suffer from” it and are not “afflicted by” it.

• It is clinically acceptable to say “mental retardation,” but you may want to use the more socially acceptable “cognitive disability” or “cognitive impairment.”

Down Syndrome Myths and Truths

Myth: Down syndrome is a rare genetic disorder.

Truth: Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring genetic condition. One in every 733 live births is a child with Down syndrome, representing approximately 5,000 births per year in the United States alone. Today, more than 400,000 people in the United States have Down syndrome.

Myth: People with Down syndrome have a short life span.

Truth: Life expectancy for individuals with Down syndrome has increased dramatically in recent years, with the average life expectancy approaching that of peers without Down syndrome.

Myth: Most children with Down syndrome are born to older parents.

Truth: Most children with Down syndrome are born to women younger than 35-years-old simply because younger women have more children. However, the incidence of births of children with Down syndrome increases with the age of the mother.

Myth: People with Down syndrome are severely “retarded.”

Truth: Most people with Down syndrome have IQs that fall in the mild to moderate range of intellectual disability (formerly known as “retardation”). Children with Down syndrome fully participate in public and private educational programs. Educators and researchers are still discovering the full educational potential of people with Down syndrome.

Myth: Most people with Down syndrome are institutionalized.

Truth: Today people with Down syndrome live at home with their families and are active participants in the educational, vocational, social, and recreational activities of the community. They are integrated into the regular education system and take part in sports, camping, music, art programs and all the other activities of their communities. People with Down syndrome are valued members of their families and their communities, contributing to society in a variety of ways.

Myth: Parents will not find community support in bringing up their child with Down syndrome.

Truth: In almost every community of the United States there are parent support groups and other community organizations directly involved in providing services to families of individuals with Down syndrome.

Myth: Children with Down syndrome must be placed in segregated special education programs.

Truth: Children with Down syndrome have been included in regular academic classrooms in schools across the country. In some instances they are integrated into specific courses, while in other situations students are fully included in the regular classroom for all subjects. The current trend in education is for full inclusion in the social and educational life of the community. Increasingly, individuals with Down syndrome graduate from high school with regular diplomas, participate in post-secondary academic and college experiences and, in some cases, receive college degrees.

Myth: Adults with Down syndrome are unemployable.

Truth: Businesses are seeking young adults with Down syndrome for a variety of positions. They are being employed in small- and medium-sized offices: by banks, corporations, nursing homes, hotels and restaurants. They work in the music and entertainment industry, in clerical positions, childcare, the sports field and in the computer industry. People with Down syndrome bring to their jobs enthusiasm, reliability and dedication.

Myth: People with Down syndrome are always happy.

Truth: People with Down syndrome have feelings just like everyone else in the population. They experience the full range of emotions. They respond to positive expressions of friendship and they are hurt and upset by inconsiderate behavior.

Myth: Adults with Down syndrome are unable to form close interpersonal relationships leading to marriage.

Truth: People with Down syndrome date, socialize, form ongoing relationships and marry.

Myth: Down syndrome can never be cured.

Truth: Research on Down syndrome is making great strides in identifying the genes on chromosome 21 that cause the characteristics of Down syndrome. Scientists now feel strongly that it will be possible to improve, correct or prevent many of the problems associated with Down syndrome in the future.

For more information visit: www.ndss.org or www.ndsccenter.org

I just have to say and share how much y’all and your comments are encouraging me during this 31 for 21. I’m so thrilled to hear what y’all have to tell me. Hearing about people you know with Down Syndrome and how much you’re enjoying getting to know Henry and even people saying that they’re learning more about Down Syndrome from what I’m sharing.

THIS is the beauty of this month’s goals. Not that we who are parents of kids with DS can shove our kids down your throats or make you feel guilty for the things that you’ve thought or said or even trying to make enough noise so that bigwigs will earmark more money for our causes. No. It’s the beauty of sharing and learning and combating ignorance on all fronts. Our country has slowly moved away from ignorance and prejudice in so many areas – racism, sexism, sexual preference – but it’s seemed for quite a while that it’s still okay to look down upon those that don’t “measure up” with developmental or IQ milestones. But that’s what’s encouraging me. People like those who have commented saying they’re learning. They’re growing.

See, ALL of our children are beautiful. ALL of them deserve respect and love and choruses of “Aww…how cute!!” Not some of the responses I received after having Henry – people who didn’t even acknowledge him as I held him and gave me pitying comments. Even saying things like, “I’ll pray that God will heal your son.” Which would have been lovely if he was sick. But he wasn’t. But because that person simply was ignorant about Down Syndrome, they didn’t know how off the mark it was. Lovely sentiment, totally off-the-mark. That’s all I want to put forth here in my little blog. That my child and all the other children, teenagers, young adults and adults with Down Syndrome are EXACTLY THE SAME as you or me. They have friends. They have stuff they like. They have stuff they can’t stand. They love music and movies and good food and vacations and reading and learning and having fun JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. Yes, there are some things they can’t do. But those things are getting fewer are farther between as they are getting more and more of the help and training they need from an early age. But they’re not catching. You’re not going to CATCH Down Syndrome if you touch somebody. (Though I think some people could use a little bit of that extra chromosome).

Listen, my goal is simple. Come to know someone with Down Syndrome. Put aside your fears and your uncertainties and get to know them. Maybe it’s a small child of someone you know. Maybe it’s a young man or woman bagging groceries or being a greeter at a local store. Maybe it’s someone in your neighborhood or at your church or something like that. It’s a very easy first step. Smile at them. Say “hi”. Do just that a couple of times. Then, once you’ve made contact, ask how they’re doing. Ask if they’re having a good day. Ask if they’re enjoying the weather. Ask if they saw a movie that just came out. Ask if they have a favorite book, movie, song, tv show. And talk to them just like you would talk to the cashier or the bus driver or an acquaintance at church or the mailperson.

And if that fails you, just keep checking in here. Watch Henry’s videos, read his stories, look at his pictures. Ask me questions if you have them. Scroll down and click on the “31 for 21″ picture and go find some other blogs by parents with Down Syndrome. Get to know us and our kids. You will totally be like us – better for the journey!

I just wanted to share some of Henry’s early pictures. There aren’t a lot here, but you can see what a little chub-chub he was, how TINY he was early on and that, even at an early age, he was playing with things, interacting with things and enjoying life.

Another misconception people have about those with Down Syndrome is that they’re dull. They don’t have a sense of humor and they just sit there with their mouths hanging open and their tongues hanging out. They don’t really *respond* to people – just kind of dopily flop around being completely passive and….well….dull.

I’m here to say that’s a load of crap. Let me show you the responsiveness of a 21 month old with DS. Tell me this is a “dull” child.

Untitled from Christy Sturm on Vimeo.

Isn’t that the cutest thing? Now, let me explain something. You see him doing a lot of licking – his hands and his pacifier strap. Understand why this is – it’s due to sensory issues. Because he has a very high need for sensory input, coupled with being practically blind without his glasses, he uses his mouth a lot to learn about the world and his place in it. If he’s not getting enough stimulation (like skin pressure, spinning, and stuff like that), he tends to lick his hands or his pacifier strap. At the point of this video, we weren’t yet aware of his serious sensory issue problems. But it’s not because he’s DULL or something. It’s because it provides something he needs. People with Down Syndrome tend to have their tongues hanging out sometimes. We see it as “dull” or “slow”. That’s not it at all. It’s because people with DS tend to have smaller mouths and their tongues are too big. Plus, very low muscle tone in the oral area is very typical. Combine those things and unless they’re really concentrating on it, it can simply be difficult to do.

See how it’s all about perception? If you don’t ask the questions in order to understand, you assume the worst. “If he/she wasn’t so dumb, they’d be able to keep their tongues in their mouths – means they’re all stupid.” Wrong. There’s a REASON. Often it can be improved. If not, don’t assume it’s because they’re too dim-witted to know to keep their mouths closed.