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Wednesday, November 28, 2007

He Is The Champion!

Jackson won the wrestling tournament...at least that's what he's telling all his friends! This is the latest sport he has added to his repertoire and frankly, he's pretty darn good!

Sunday was the first wrestling tournament of the season for the Spartans. Ten teams of kindergarten through 12 year olds, one gymnasium, hundreds of screaming parents..one giant headache! No joke - my head was pounding within a half hour of sitting and waiting for his three minute match; which finally happened an hour and a half later!

There are several things that make this the most annoying spectator sport, but perhaps the worst is not knowing when your child is actually on the mat, as they go by weight class. You wouldn't dare leave for a bathroom break - the entire match could be over before you even get in the stall!

I had no idea what to expect when Jackson faced his opponent. Given his Aspergers related ability to mimic what he has seen, I thought we could have WWF style moves - a clear violation of youth sports! Fortunately, his mimicking (or perhaps he really knows what he is doing...) took the form of what he had seen during Cameron's school matches last year.

So - he won both his matches and "won" the tournament! This was the cutest part...he came in the door (I couldn't survive staying and watching two matches) singing "we are the champion", displaying his match winner ribbons, and telling us "he" won the tournament.

Now let's see what happens when he loses...

Monday, November 26, 2007

Football and Christmas Trees

For the past five Christmas' we have had the joy of cutting down our own Christmas Tree. This was one of the biggest thrills for me when we moved to this part of the world as it was not an option in California, unless you wanted a Christmas Cactus. This year was especially joyful as my parents were able to join us on our hunt for the perfect tree.

I have come to place a great deal of significance on the quality of the tree we bring home as this tends to parallel what the following year will be like for our family. For example, our first tree four years ago was full and strong; signifying the hope and promise of our new start. The following two years were narrow with weak branches (and both of them fell over!); signifying how we were just getting by, trying to survive.

With the help of the master forest rangers from Canada (my Dad and Mum), this year's tree is absolutely brilliant! Very strong, straight trunk, full, lush branches - and it won't fall over (thanks to a clothes hanger and some string...). The promise of this next year - solid jobs, strength of family, and we won't fall over!

But the heading to this post also talked about football...how does football tie into the hunt for the perfect tree?! Please...this is SportsFamily...the boys brought a football with them into the bush and played catch while the adults did all the work!

The significance of the tree may have been lost on them - but the significance of playing a game of catch with your brothers wherever you happen to be will live with them forever...

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Turkey Day

We had turkey. It was good. Grandma and Grandpa came from Canada - not the one's from Daddy but the one's from Mummy. We see them more cause they come from Canada lots. Grandpa drove his really big, noisy truck this time because the weather was bad. They are staying until Monday. Grandma and Mummy are going to shop and I think we're getting our Christmas tree when they're here. That's all...

(As told by Caeden)

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The Turkey Bowl...Part Deux

The 2007 Turkey Bowl will go down in the annals of football lore as the day men became boys! Due to uptight parents and the history of broken bones, the "bring 'em down hard" tournament became...three hours of flag football.

Anti-climatic?! Perhaps...but to my son, it was the greatest sports day of his life!

The details emerged when I picked him up...As memory serves me, here is the conversation:

Cameron: Mom - you should have seen me. I ran for three touchdowns in the semi final game. Caught two interceptions. Pulled I don't know how many flags. We went to the championship. We lost but only because Chris knocked our guy out of the way for the final touchdown pass - a blatant rule violation but Zack's Dad (who was referee) was at the other end of the field and didn't see it. We got ripped off but I was so awesome!

Mom: Wow, Cameron. How did they pick the teams?

Cameron: By draft.

Mom: Well that's good. I hate when they pick kids by standing you all together and picking one by one. It's so hard for the last kids picked.

Cameron: Mom - that's how they did it. I was 6th from last or something close to it.

Mom: Oh - that's what you meant by draft. You must have been bummed.

Cameron: Yeah - I was pretty upset at the time. But then I played awesome. Zack told me I was his "touchdown guy" for the championship.

Mom: Well - by the sound of it, they won't pick you last again.

Cameron: Nope. I was the man.

There's nothing like a bit of rejection to fire up confidence in my son!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

The Turkey Bowl

(I am so far behind in my writing...I started this last Tuesday...expect several "catch up" posts to follow...)

Tomorrow is the annual Turkey Bowl and Cameron hasn't been invited yet. You can see he's anxious about it...it's the sporting event of the year!

Why? Because it's a no holds bar, clash of the titans, football extravaganza amongst hand picked 7th and 8th grade boys.

What parent wouldn't want their child to be one of the chosen few who get to play?! Well...me for one...You see, while every guy wants to play, inevitably there are a slew of injuries. Not just any injuries - broken bone injuries!

Last year, the school's number one athlete broke his leg. The year before that, I think another guy broke his arm.

For our own broken wrist reasons, we would be nuts to let him play. But here's the thing...Cameron is one of the quietest boys in 8th grade; hence, he doesn't hang out with many of the more popular kids; hence, he plays with his brothers a lot; hence, he needs to hang out with kids his own age so he'll stop tormenting his brothers!

(Cameron got his invite...read next post for the play by play of the game...)

Saturday, November 17, 2007

The Talker

I woke this morning to peace and quiet. Cameron was at a birthday sleepover. John and Jackson were up and out for wrestling practice. And Caeden was quietly playing downstairs...

I lay in bed for some time, simply because I could! Nowhere to go -- nothing until my nail appointment at 2! Bliss...

I came downstairs with the intent of making a lovely pot of chocolate fudge coffee (my new favorite flavor from Sam's Club), sitting here in my office and catching up on some of my favorite blogs!

I entered the kitchen to the smiley greeting of my youngest son, his mouth opened to talk...and he hasn't stopped since!!!

I have been asked about Black Widow spiders in Ohio; I've been told why he is not going to use his birthday money to buy something for Jackson at Target; I have seen everyone of his buddy penguins on Club Penguin; we have checked the weather on the The Weather Channel; we had a deep discussion about the merits of Lucky Charms; and I was told about his "jobs" on Club Penguin -- he's a miner, a lifeguard, and a tour guide (I told him he'd be great at this last job - think he missed the point).

The verbal diarrhea only ended when John called. When I mentioned how my peace had been shattered he laughed - he had thought about coming back home because he wasn't sure how Caeden would be without the usual Saturday morning cartoons with his brother's! Now we know...and I loved all 30 minutes of it...

Friday, November 16, 2007

Oh Happy Day.

It's a done deal...

John starts his new job on Monday December 3rd!

I can breathe again...:)

Let The Snow Bowl Begin!

We woke up to snow this morning, all over our football field! Granted, it was only a skiff but it's got the boy's pretty jazzed about a Thanksgiving Day tournament.

The boy's seem to think it's only real football if it's played in the snow or mud, or likely both! You can see that our backyard is a natural playing field for this type of action.

I suppose we can find an affinity with miserable playing conditions based on the boys favorite football teams. Jackson likes to say that you're only a REAL Chicago Bears fan if the icicles are forming on your nose and your fingers turn black. Cameron is a Denver Broncos fan. What can get more wintry than playing football in the mountains? And Caeden? For some reason he decided to align himself with the Philadelphia Eagles! -- The toughest crowd in sports; they actually threw snowballs at Santa Claus!

As for John?! Well there is no hope for my husband, it's not about bad weather - it's about a BAD team. He's a lifelong St. Louis Rams fan...for his sake, I won't say anymore (expect they never should have got rid of Kurt Warner!)

What about me? Well, I base my football allegiance to whatever team has the quarterback with the cutest butt. For years it was Joe Montana and the 49ers. I then jumped on Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers bandwagon. (great snow team!)

But, I must be getting old (or I feel creepy liking the butts of players old enough to be my son!) I have now switched to the Indianapolis Colts, and not because of Peyton Manning's butt -- though I'm sure it's fine! I like them simply because Manning is the best and funniest athlete/actor I have ever seen.

So, they can have the snow...I'll stay inside, warm and cosy while Peyton Manning makes me laugh...

Thursday, November 15, 2007

For All Those Keeping Score...

A quick update on the job front. We received an encouraging phone call today from the company that "conditionally" offered John the job in August and then pushed back the date to January.

The hiring manager said they don't want to lose him at the last minute and are making a place for him in their main office until the big project begins.

We expect a formal offer (in writing!) either tomorrow or early next week.

Happy Thanksgiving! :)))

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

They Come, They Feast...(and they give out some awards...)

Otherwise know as the middle school football banquet...as dutiful parents we trekked to the middle school cafeteria tonight to partake of the rubber chicken and the glowing accolades bestowed upon the children whose parents were stars at the same school 30 years ago (did I say that???)

Forty-five players made up this illustrious squad(Spartan Bowl Champions). Five were mentioned by name (because they accomplished the feat of pouring water on the coaches heads - oh yeah - and their parents were sports stars in this town 30 YEARS AGO...). Three were mentioned because they were small and got pummeled every practice and probably won't be back next year.

The rest of the evening were the forty-five names read off in order of their number. Cameron was #87 - third from last. By the time he went to collect his gym bag and letter (letters in middle school?!), the rest of the team were lined up in front and you couldn't find him behind the crowd. So much for a picture...

They did show a video at the end. Imagine seeing #8 and #20 and #9 and #33 and #57 oh, maybe 36 times! Then, the most impressive pic of the bunch, a kid laying a HUGE tackle on the opposing quarterback for the sack...and you can't read his number. I could though - it was a pic of my son from the very first game and the very first sack of the season! You Go #87!

Just a side note - as I have all boys and not really into the girl ga-ga thing - we have had people say he looks like Zac Efron from High School Musical. Anyone care to vote if you agree?!

Wordless Wednesday



My First Wordless Wednesday! My Baby Is Nine...

The Bad Mood

I'm not sure how other children on the autism spectrum handle sickness, but Jackson has a pattern of behavior he follows each and every time.

We have reached the bad mood phase, which means he's on the road to recovery.

Phase one is the pre-sickness. Generally he takes on the behavior that he used to have before successful interventions; hyperactivity, aggressiveness, defiance. We don't like this phase!

Phase two, he is sick, generally with a fever. He becomes extraordinarily quiet and glassy eyed, very polite when you speak to him, will do whatever I say. We love this phase, except that he's sick!

Phase three, the fever has broken but there are still some symptoms. He gets very talkative, extremely affectionate and sweet, very cooperative and attentive to others. A Stepford child for the most part - but you won't hear me complaining!

Phase four, he is simply pissed off! He has felt the effects of sickness one too many days, he doesn't want to talk, and he will growl at anyone who looks at him sideways. Wait a minute - I just described a teenager!

I guess we better prepare ourselves - in two more years we could live phase four EVERY DAY! I might need to up the meds - mine I mean!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Manipulation and Aspergers

I had to add an addendum to this morning's post...It is 2:00 pm...7th period is about to begin at Jackson's school. The school nurse just called and Jackson has again paid her a visit...his leg hurts! (I thought he had a cough?!)

Here's the thing people...can you not see that he is trying to get out of Math class?! I'm not sure if they are letting him get away with this because he's on an IEP and couldn't possibly be THAT manipulative.

A lesson in Aspergers 101. These children are VERY smart and EXTRAORDINARILY manipulative. If, for a second, he thinks he can get away with something, my dear, sweet boy will fully take advantage!

Note to school nurse - he's playing you like a fiddle. Note to Jackson - I'm onto you pal!

Cough...Cough...Cough

Our children have inherited good health genes. Both John and myself are very rarely sick; our immune systems seem to operate at full capacity. As a result, the boys tend to enjoy perfect attendance at school.

It is with this motivation that Jackson had a fever for the better part of the weekend but still managed to put in (almost) a full day at school yesterday. I say 'almost' as we did receive a note from the school nurse stating that he was with her during 7th and 8th periods; which happens to be Math and Science. How convenient that he would miss these not-so-favorite subjects?!

The lingering effects of the weekend fever appear to be an ugly, barking cough. And I mean BARKING! It fits somewhere in between the sound of our Golden Retriever and a Hound. I know this as I listened to it all night...

This morning I heard a similar cough but in a higher pitch - Caeden. His symptoms came quicker than Jackson's, in fact, I think he confused his emerging cough for growing pains as he asked for medicine on Sunday because his leg was sore! Don't worry, this association doesn't correlate with me either...

So we have two LOUD barkers in our house now. Not an issue during the day, but at night I hear them, because Mother's always hear their children when they're sick at night!

Isn't that the strangest thing about Mother's? How do we instinctively know that our children need us and we have to wake up?! I can sleep through every night of my husband coming to bed at 1am, but if I hear a sniffle from the other bedrooms, I'm awake!

I suppose some men also hear when their children wake up but choose not to act on it. That's not the case in our house. John is completely deaf in his left ear - he just rolls over on his right side and sleeps through the entire thing...

Monday, November 12, 2007

To Sleep, To Dream

As I write this it is 8:50 on a Monday morning - I've been up since seven; got the kids dressed, prepared breakfast, made lunches, and sent them out the door to catch the bus. It is 8:50 in the morning - my husband is still asleep...

Now I do have to say that since he has been out of work, he has been pretty fair about getting up on alternate mornings, or on mornings when I have a meeting, to get them off to school. Not that it helps me, as I usually get up too - once I'm awake, I'm awake - and they are incredibly noisy in the morning! But, even after he gets them off to school, he lies back down on the couch and sleeps for another hour or so...

Why is he so sleep deprived? Because he stays up and watches Sports Center until 1:00 in the morning!!!!

Frankly, I don't get it...as soon as the boys come downstairs in the morning they turn on ESPN and in the evening they catch up on the day with ESPN. Then, of course, whenever there is a game - weekend football, weeknight hockey - it is on our television.

He has seen virtually every game available to watch or caught up on the pre and post game shows, and yet, he still needs to watch Sports Center at midnight!!!

The only answer, the only way he will stop this madness?! HE NEEDS TO GET A JOB!!! Pray for me people...

By the way - it's now 9:10 and my husband is still asleep!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

A Teenager Lives Here

Cameron has had a realization of what it means to be a teenager!

In most respects he has developed like a typical teen, but there was one area I was greatly concerned about...his room. Cameron slept in his room and nothing more...until yesterday!

Cameron was bored. He and I started an innocent conversation about "when I was your age" and it evolved into, "When I was 13 I began spending all my time in my room, listening to music, playing guitar and rearranging my furniture to create "my space".

Cameron pointed out that if he had a t.v. in his room, he would spend more time there. (John and I had done a pretty good job of keeping t.v.'s out of their rooms - we just didn't like not having the control over what they watched). I jokingly mentioned that we had an old t.v. in our storage room that he could have...and that was it.

Now this t.v. is probably 30 years old - I bought it as a re-conditioned model around 1984. He didn't care - it was the catalyst for re-arranging his entire room.

The pictures are courtesy of Cameron - he wanted to document the evolution. He had a blast and is very proud of the results - frankly, so am I. It was really exciting to see him take ownership and have a passion over his space.


He doesn't even care that the t.v. doesn't have cable. He can get four channels - two of them carry NFL games, all of them carry NCAA games and one (Fox) carries Family Guy - a show we don't let his brother's watch. That in itself has made him feel more grown-up.

We might even get him cable in the new year, if he can show responsibility now! The biggest test...let's see if he keeps his new space clean! Who am I kidding...he's a teenager...

Back to Basics

Today I had a chance to re-read some of my posts. Jackson is sick with some sort of virus so I pulled the short straw to stay home from church - hence, I have time to read!

I realized that my writing has taken a not-so-entertaining path over the last few weeks; obviously a result of the job stress. I really didn't like what I read - I really didn't like the person who was writing it!

In an earlier post I had discussed the symptoms of PMS and how it affects my emotions. Obviously, with stress, these same symptoms carried over into the last few weeks. Granted, I have probably dealt with more stress in the last several years than most people handle in a lifetime - our job situation, being forced to move, virtually being a single parent for the better part of three years, and raising a child on the autism spectrum! In the grander scheme of things, this doesn't appear to be such an immense burden (thank God we've all had our health!), but living it takes its toll!

This most recent contract loss briefly put me over the edge...I think last weekend was my rock-bottom! However, over these last several days, I have started to feel normal again and want to get back to basics with this blog! You'll see - SportsMum is back...

Friday, November 9, 2007

The Silly Season

What does a sports family do when there are no sports to play? It's called the silly season in our home, and it's compounded this year by the fact that John is "between contracts" (that's our new venacular for saying he's out of work...)!

It's silly in every respect. Silly because Cameron just got out of his cast -- this time last year he had started wrestling and we were running him to practices at all hours. Silly because Jackson decided at the last minute that he wanted to try wrestling this year -- first match is November 25th. Silly because Caeden is doing nothing and we don't have any plans for him. And silly because we are again without work - for the seventh time in five years!

But silly is also good...we have time this weekend to spend as a family without running all over town. Time to just "be" and hang out because we have no money to do anything else!

And the silliness extends to the promise of a job -- it looks like he has an offer coming today for a year long contract, which will hopefully prompt the company that has guaranteed him a permanent position in January to bring him in early so they don't lose him! Oh yeah - and Ernst and Young called yesterday with another permanent position they want to discuss...

And me?! I had a GREAT week...two new contracts - my candidate won - and I had my first meeting last night as the Marketing and PR Chairperson for our baseball league.

Honestly 2008 will be a very good year. If we can just get through this silly season...

Thursday, November 8, 2007

We Won!

Several hundred posts ago (well maybe 20...) I mentioned that I was working on a political campaign. My candidate was running to become a Trustee for our township. This position would be equivalent to a council representative in a city, however, as we don't have a Mayor, three trustees "work together" to determine policy and budgets for our community.

Good news -- He WON! Bad news -- He WON!

I use the term "working together" very loosely as that seldom has happened in our town. For the past two years, we have had three women in power who have done more damage to the women's movement than Paris Hilton! Bickering, paranoia, and personal agendas have replaced decorum, restraint and professionalism in public office. Do you think I have an opinion about this??!!

So Larry won the election against two other gentlemen by just over 500 votes. Now he has to work with the two remaining women for two years to restore some confidence (our campaign slogan) in our community. I send him all my luck!

The real topic of this post is what happened the night of the election...

As any nervous candidate can attest, if you lose an election, the last place you want to be is in a public place. For this reason, we decided to hold Larry's election celebration in our home. It made even more sense when he would stress the non-partisan support he received throughout the campaign - his favorite campaign line "I have Republicans, Democrats, and Canadians!" Our house was neutral territory.

Shortly after the polls closed the house began to fill - mostly with his large Italian family (and the great food that goes along with that!) Within an hour there were probably 40 people.

Then he got the call he had won...Within minutes there were over 100 people in our home!

As one of our local television news trucks arrived (and parked illegally on the corner), I looked up our street to see a convoy of trucks...the firemen had arrived! (they endorsed Larry) They joined the fire chief, the township administrator, all the departments heads, the head of the local republican party, the newspaper editor, a variety of judges and attorneys, and eventually, one school board member!

When the smoke had cleared and five of us remained -- we realized that they drank all our beer but left most of the food!

The moral of this story?! If you want to hold public office, you're only useful if the beer fridge is stocked!

Monday, November 5, 2007

Going Through The Motions



Our baby turned nine yesterday. By all accounts the plans surrounding his birthday were a resounding success, but I have to admit that I was a terrific actress throughout the weekend. I am so frantically stressed about the job situation (or lack thereof..) that my body is literally falling apart.

For me, stress tends to show itself physically...The initial signs are quite obvious...constant headache that begins in the jaw area from clenching my teeth and permeates down into my neck etc...I've had this symptom for two weeks now. I know that it's moved to a different level when my heart starts racing uncontrollably and I have to take a deep breath in order not to pass out...I think that started happening on Friday.

This latest stress, I've moved to a whole new level of physical breakdown...my entire left side from my waist down to my toes has gone numb. Yes - the obvious thing would be to get to the doctor BUT, our insurance was cancelled the day John's contract was cancelled! Doctors aren't in the budget...

Onto happier thoughts...Caeden's birthday - somehow I managed to arrange for seven 8 and 9 year olds to come here for a sleepover and also managed to organize a VERY fun scavenger hunt on our street that culminated in a fire and s'mores galore! The biggest success by far was the fact that not one of the boys had to call their parents at 2 in the morning to go home! Even after all that sugar, we successfully exhausted them into deep, deep sleep.

Friday, November 2, 2007

The Cast Off...

We have a whole boy again. Cameron's cast came off yesterday and he got a big thumbs up from the doctor.
The fracture appears to have healed enough that he no longer needs the cast but he will need a brace during strenuous activity for a few weeks. I had to chuckle when Dr. S said he might want to wear it in the halls at school with all the horseplay between classes. These kids literally have four minutes to get from one class to the next; often needing to travel from the first to the third floor. The only chance of injury is the 100 yard dash he needs to make in order not to get a tardy.
You can't hold a good man down for long. I came home from an evening meeting to find Cameron running sprints in the backyard, wearing his brace! When he came inside, he disappeared into the basement. I found him using the hand-grips, or should I say over using the hand-grips. I know exactly where his head is, baseball...pitching...all-stars! The season is only five months away!
There is a silver lining to this injury. Last year Cameron wrestled on his school team. He had never wrestled before; we had never seen a match - ever! He didn't have a clue. During several matches, when his competitive spirit would overtake his common sense, he would literally turn into a pretzel to get out of being pinned. I would cringe, expecting something to snap.
This winter, the only thing that will snap is the rubber bands he will be using on his wrist for strength training...