Mission: Operation Home Front

Assignment: Special Needs Agent ACEStrikeTeam

Terrain: Potentially Hostile

Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous

Details of mission are as follows:

1.  Complete workweek assignment of 40 + hours at Forward Work base, code name “Engine Shop”.

2.  Proceed to Government Education Installation.

3.  Retrieve Underling Unit 1.0 + Underling Unit 2.0

4.  Take possession of said entities and deliver them safely to Second Stage Family Member of Advanced Age Installation, code name “Over the River & Thru the Woods”.

5.  Return to Headquarters

6.  Collect Supreme Commander, call sign “Lady Boss”.

7.  Engage in tense negotiation with an attempt to extract pertinent data as to location of sustenance re-supply checkpoint, code name “Restaurant”.

8.  Proceed with guarded optimism with an attempt to de-code the encrypted message that states “fine, whatever you want”.

9.  Field call from OTRATTW, apparently Underling Unit 2.0 has sprung a leak from her tear duct. I advise Second Stage Family Member of Advanced Age Commanding Officer, call sign “Granny” that only fix to administer chocolate and follow with copious amounts of Sprite ASAP.

10.         Return to task at hand and maneuver Mobile Command Unit, Cargo Class, code name “Big Daddy Truck” through obstacles both large and small.

11.         Field call from Second Stage Family Member of Advanced Age, Maternal Section, call sign “Nana”. Attempt to explain direness of current situation concerning check points, half price sushi time allotments and movie show times. Nana is unfazed and continues transmitted data at a now rapid rate.

12.         Field call from Second Stage Family Member, Maternal Section, Sibling Group, call sign “Tia Lori”. Rely transmitted data collected from Nana.

13.         Field call from Second Stage Family Member, Maternal Section, Paternal Group, call sign “Papi”. Rely transmitted data collected from Nana and Tia Lori.

14.         Field call from Nana. Rely transmitted data collected from Papi and Tia Lori.

15.         Proceed to chow hall.

16.         In rapid succession place order for chow, consume two pitchers water, iced and ask for payment ticket in span of seven minutes. A few tics off current mark.

17.         Field call from Nana, content of message unknown due to muffled whsiper.

18.         Field call from Granny, Underling 1.0 advised not to place video capturing device on edge of tub while attempting to bathe baby dolls. Hell hath no smell than that of green slime to collects in baby doll necks when submerged under water for extended period of time.

19.         Enter Large Screen Entertainment Bunker, code name “Movie Theater”.

20.         Miss previews.

21.         Contents of movie unknown due to prolonged Worker Unit 1.0 blackout.

22.         Field call from Nana, see above.

23.         Arrive back at base camp.

24.         Unable to continue due to extreme exhaustion, refer to line 21.

25.         Lastly, end verbal communication with Nana, over and out.

Thus concludes Date Night. No wonder they only happen about twice a year.

 

In Days of Olde

In days of olde

When kids where bold

And rode bikes without helmets

Un-worried Moms

Felt not alarmed

For they were not yet invented

They drank straight from the hose

Threw rocks and skipped stones

Not once took time to record it

Barefoot - cut off attire

Were all that was aspired

To separate them from the pavement

Television was two five and eleven

Be home for dinner at seven

Lest your Father come a lookin’

Those days are long gone

Paved over and forlorn

To make way for a new way of thinkin’

Now be ye not sad

For days lost and past due

You can always look it all up on YouTube

A Regular Blog

A Regular Blog

My name is Timothy Peterson. I live with my wife Erin and my two great kids Victoria and Ann at 104 Acorn Street. A regular house, on a regular street, in a regular neighborhood. Ann attends Beternard Elementary, home of the Bears. She is assigned to Ms. Wise’s class. Ann loves American Girl, brown-skinned people (doubly so if they have an afro or dreads), Arthur, Pizza and Apple Juice. She dislikes Guacamole, ex-boyfriends, zombies, vultures and anything that flies and/or  stings.

Pay us no attention, we are completely normal, regular and mainstreamed. There is nothing to see here. Move along back to your homes and places of business. We got this. Save your worry, pity and efforts for those truly in need these days, like Investment Bankers.

Often times persons who have suffered through a devastating event will choose to bury the details and memory deep inside themselves. They create a parallel story or alternate existence to allow them to cope or make sense of what happened to them. My daughter Maggie was born nero-typical and acquired autism through her vaccinations (not possible say the experts, no studies show a link, bovine fertilizer says I). Maggie is mostly recovered and lacks only a few social challenges (persons cannot recover from autism, no known cause, no known cure. See above for response). That being said she is still coming to grips with what happened to her and needs much love and support to finally put it behind her. Until that day comes I will continue to fight for her, nurture her to grow and love Margaret, Ann, Lizzy, Sara, Penelope, Scarbrough-Peterson with all my might.

Thanks for reading, peace.

“Protection or Perfection?”

Welcome to your bi-monthly autism wake-up call. There is a decision that must be made nearly every year after _____________ (insert your non-denominational holiday of choice into the un-biased blank provided to you on the left). A decision that must not be ignored, circumvented or made in haste. Conventional wisdom states that, not only is this decision subjective, but is also guaranteed to be highly scrutinized if the end result is epic failure. Many have pondered their fate and wondered aloud if the pundits should be pacified or if one should stay true to mission at all costs. Our beloved Green Bay Packers are the latest institution to face this challenge. Do we sit our superstars and play for protection or stacked the field and fight for perfection? Well, thanks to the Kansas City Chiefs we may never know. Still, the dilemma remains, sit your starters and play is safe or maintain mission and go for broke?

Now before you sit staring at the screen trying to figure out what in the holy holly I am talking about I will tell you. In a minute that is. First I want to see a show of hands. Protection or Perfection? You must make a choice, no middle ground here. Once you have it write it down. I am anxious to see if your decision holds up through the remainder of my message.

Many of you have been with my families’ struggle with autism since day one. Some have recently learned of our journey, and a few could care less. That’s cool; no matter I hope this message finds you well regardless. You see, I write not only for your enjoyment, amusement and sometimes annoyance but for mine as well. Many times I start a piece heading in a certain direction and close it in a completely different mindset that I began. Doing this allows me to vent, process and think about life in general out loud.

Back on task now, my wife Lisa and I are now challenged with the decision to play it safe with our daughter or stretch out and keep growing her beyond what society dictates as “normal”. When we began her recovery our options very limited. Now they are limitless. It would be very easy to put Maggie’s education on cruise control and let the Fayette Co BoE deal with her. But that is not how this family was built. Many kids fall through the cracks, all the while wearing the label of a “good kid”. Check the glossary, good kid = quiet kid. When it comes time to lay out her path, we will make decisions based on Maggie’s best interest, period. That means more questions, more meetings, more un-comfortable interactions and hopefully more success. We are playing for perfection, in fact we are betting the farm on it.

I wish time and the censors would allow me to elaborate further, however that is another post for another day. If you want to know more check out the attached link.

http://celebratecalm.com/adhd-kids-confidence/

Get it, sit down, shut up and hang on. This is going to be one wild ride. Thanks for reading, peace.

Rickey Scarbrough

ACEStrikeTeam: Special Needs Operative

To Give or Not to Give - That is the question

Recently I did a little purging of the Stash of Rick. The Stash of Rick is a small (emphasis on small) corner of our attic that has been set aside for things that are no longer worthy of space on the main floor. Truth be told, they never had a chance of being acknowledged, much less displayed. In fact many of these timeless treasures were saved in the eleventh hour from becoming land-fill donations. Who cannot see the beauty in a t-shirt from Don Quixote in Roto Spain. This particular establishment was a “gathering place” for sailors and local men to congregate after a long day at sea. Yep, a bar.

This tale is not about Spain, attics, bars or even Christmas. This tale is the culmination of a grand design that has failed miserably. I called it “The Grandiose Magnificent State of the Art Can't Miss Big Bucks Deal of the Millennium”. The shorted acronym for that is “Sell Stuff on eBay”. First up was a coffee table book and DVD written for, about and by Brett Favre aka “The Diva of the Delta”. He is from Mississippi. Work with me on this. Purchase price in pre-Packer meltdown was $35.00 + shipping. It was back ordered for over a year. Days after its arrival Ole Number 4 calls a press conference, cries, retires, wants back in, retires again, more crying, a fancy jet plane ride and ends with a trade to the New York Jets. Whew. This thing ought to fly off the shelf.

Brett Favre book, listed for a dollar, sold for a dollar. Make it up on freight and slap 'em with 9 bucks. Buyer was from California. It cost 13 dollars to ship it via US Postal snail mail. Man alive, I am going to have to sell a ton of books to make a profit at this rate. Any double-swap mortgage types want to show me how to do this? Hello? Bueller?

Our tragic tale does have a happy ending. The Real Life Center http://www.reallifecenter.org in Tyrone Georgia is a wonderful facility that will give you one stop shopping to “re-assign” your treasure for the greater good. You even get a nifty receipt to show your tax man after he poo-pooed your business expense of the X-Box. Hand eye coordination to gain skill in paper filing in the office not-with-standing.

What does this have to do with our kids? Well I am so happy you asked. My kids are next. No, I do not plan to re-assign them (I get a bigger deduction keeping them). I speak of their choice to gather old toys and clothes for a trip to Tyrone. Oh, I have yet to let them know they chose that, please do not spoil my surprise.

Spend some time with others less fortunate, donate money, bake a pie and take it to a shut-in. Trust me, you think you got troubles? Someone else has it worse. Guaranteed.

Now who's feeling lucky? Can I get a sawbuck to start the bidding on my college Bud-Light bottle opener / key chain?

Peace.