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lifeisart 
Have I mentioned that my sister and her 3 autistic kids are living with us? My poor mom--all three of us girls are living with her again, so that makes 4 adults, 3 children, and 7 cats under one roof. It's a good thing the house is huge! My niece & nephews (ages 7, 5, and 3) are all 3 high-functioning autistics, which makes life pretty interesting. And pretty loud. The kids are beautiful, though, and really creative. Emily, the 5-year-old, doesn't like toys much. She prefers to draw her own toys & cut them out. She even makes her own TV shows, with different scenes & characters! She tapes everything to the refrigerator or the back door, and then changes out the scenes every few minutes. She can barely speak intelligibly, but she has created an entire zoo for the kitchen cabinets. Sam (the 3-yr-old) loves to play the "peeno" (that's piano to all you non-autistics). It drives us nuts, but at least we know where he is most of the time. Joseph (age 7) is obsessed with anything Disney and is very mechanically inclined. He could change the belt in the vacuum cleaner by the time he was 3. He has a lot of anger, but he's a sweetie when you can get through to him. Like many autistics, he cannot understand abstractions like happy & sad. When he's upset, you have to comfort him in very visual, symbolic ways, like pretending to take his heart in your hands & singing to it (then he thinks he has a song in his heart). They're cute little farts.
What was all that about? I meant to write about Mark! I guess what I was thinking is that between the chaos with Mark & the chaos at home, I'm about ready to move to Mexico. Mark called this afternoon, and he sounded much better. He was calmer than last night. He didn't call tonight after work, though, which is not like him at all. I tried to call him, but he didn't pick up. That may be best, but it makes me worry about him. I can't go there tonight. I've got to get some sleep.
The house is so crowded that the only place I can talk on the phone at night is in the bathroom. Every room (including mine) is occupied. Mark kids me about my "potty time" with him on the phone. The only quiet time I have anymore is in the car to & from work.
But, you know? For all my whining, I have a great life! If my worst problems are that my friend who loves me is in crisis & that my family who loves me is a bit too loud, then I have the best life ever! It'd be nice to walk through the house once without getting Cheerios stuck between my toes, but it's worth it every morning when Sam wakes me up & says, "Hey, it's morningtime!" (Except he can't pronounce his r's.) Mark may be in a terrible mess right now, but he will get through it. It'll be worth all the pain & worry just to go kayaking with him again.
What was all that about? I meant to write about Mark! I guess what I was thinking is that between the chaos with Mark & the chaos at home, I'm about ready to move to Mexico. Mark called this afternoon, and he sounded much better. He was calmer than last night. He didn't call tonight after work, though, which is not like him at all. I tried to call him, but he didn't pick up. That may be best, but it makes me worry about him. I can't go there tonight. I've got to get some sleep.
The house is so crowded that the only place I can talk on the phone at night is in the bathroom. Every room (including mine) is occupied. Mark kids me about my "potty time" with him on the phone. The only quiet time I have anymore is in the car to & from work.
But, you know? For all my whining, I have a great life! If my worst problems are that my friend who loves me is in crisis & that my family who loves me is a bit too loud, then I have the best life ever! It'd be nice to walk through the house once without getting Cheerios stuck between my toes, but it's worth it every morning when Sam wakes me up & says, "Hey, it's morningtime!" (Except he can't pronounce his r's.) Mark may be in a terrible mess right now, but he will get through it. It'll be worth all the pain & worry just to go kayaking with him again.
