update on Beastie's eye exam, ASA Blog & Stitches East...

Beastie went to see Dr. Aristimuno again yesterday. Overall she is happy with the improvements we see with the glasses compared to without them. She says that the cupless optic disc is probably a birth defect and there isn't anything different we should be doing. We will probably never know if it impacts his vision, but it's just his version of "normal". The MRI shows no swelling or tumor in the brain that could be causing the optic nerve bundle to be so compacted, so there isn't really anything else to do for it. We discussed his lack of peripheral vision & again, there probably isn't anything we can do about it and it is probably another thing he was just born with, or without as the case may be. We also talked about vision therapy and I got her views on it, more to have a more informed answer. She doubts that it will help Beastie, given the fact that he already gets so much "table time" work that forces him to work with his eyes. She is unsure about his resistance to crossing mid-line, although she reports that she has heard that before with kids with autism.

We go back again the first week of June for another complete exam. Until then we just keep doing what we are doing but let her know if he seems to have any changes or difficulty seeing even with his glasses because it could mean that he is having a degradation in vision.

It is SO freakin' frustrating that he can't tell us what he experiences, what he sees, what the world looks like to him & if the glasses are helping. I mean isn't it bad enough that he has autism, sensory processing issues, tummy issues, etc, etc? Do we have to have vision complications too? I'm not one who usually stomps my feet & says, "that's not fair!" but just for the moment I feel I might be entitled to a little whining. That I get to yell, "Hey God, enough already!"

But whining doesn't help & it sure as hell doesn't fix things or move us forward. So, time to suck it up and deal with it, right? It could be worse, he could be blind or need surgery or have a brain tumor or whatever. I just have to keep reminding myself, it could always be worse.

On a happier note, Autism York has a new blog! Check it out, subscribe if you're interested & please feel free to give me feedback.

I leave tomorrow morning for Stitches East. I'll be there Friday & Saturday, working at the Uncommon Threads booth. If your there, be sure to stop by and say HI!!!

election day & the most edible nephew ever

I don't often talk about politics, especially online. But I do feel passionately about the right we have as Americans to vote. I truly don't care who you vote for, just please, please, tell me you voted.

Okay, on to our regularly scheduled blogging...

We have a baby!!!

No, not me, but my brother & his wife. If you remember I shared a 4-D ultrasound photo a few months ago. Now we get to see the results...
Introducing Nathan Ryan; born on September 24, 2008. Isn't he the most beautiful baby?


And more of the gorgeous; proud pappa and my amazing brother Matt with our new little bundle of love.

Oh and this one? The teens swear that Nathan is throwing gang signs. Too funny not to share.

Now I'm off to get my allergy shot, hit Uncommon Threads for a little bit and then off to vote. I hope you all make it to the polls as well.

Why can't it be the year 2023?

So still more catching up to do. Remember how I said I have committed to moving to Mexico as soon as feasible? We have fallen in love with the northern Yucatan peninsula. The amazing city of Merida is close enough to the coast that we can have modern amenities and yet we can still have that dream house on the beach. And oh my goodness, I've found the house I want. It's not crazy expensive and is actually doable in our budget. Of course, it's not practical at the moment, but it has given me something to dream about.

But, enough about the dream world, let's get back to the present.

We just celebrated Halloween. Although celebrated would be a misnomer. Beastie has no interest in trick-or-treating, so I dressed him up & took pictures and just gave him treats here instead. But he did look awfully cute.The other bummer is that we don't get trick-or-treaters where I live. It's back a private lane, next to a longhorn steer ranch. You don't get much of anything around here, let alone little kids knocking on doors. But I had fun hanging with the Beastie & playing with the photos and lord knows, we don't need all that extra candy laying around here.


So in more spinning news, my last swap partner sent me the most decadent batt from loop that I had been secretly coveting for quite some time.
It's called Chocolate Chip Mint and it was 3 ounces of delicious bamboo in chocolate, vanilla & mint. I slurped it all up and spun it into a to-die-for single:


I'm not 100% sure what I am going to do with it yet, although simply sitting it next to me and petting it has been working out pretty good so far.

I mentioned I'm selling my PT Cruiser. What I don't think I told you is that I bought a new car. A spiffy mom-mobile, the Kia Rondo. I LOVE it!!!

It's loaded with leather everywhere, heated seats, a "basement" in the back with loads of storage cubbies, a 10 speaker Infinity six-disc CD changer & best of all, Beastie's wheelchair fits in the back perfectly. It's got 8 air bags, so I don't mind letting the teen drive it (he loves the 'pick-up' of the V6 engine) and when I drove it out of the showroom it had 6 miles on the odometer. My first new car! Squee!!!

Maybe tomorrow I'll hit you with some knitting news but for right now I've got to dash & take the teen to the doctor. Happy Monday!!!

as promised...

See, there has been spinning. This is a mixture of about twenty different fibers, all put into a big bin and then pulled out in bits & carded on hand carders for a more deliberate placement of colors. I love this skein quite a lot. It will be available for purchase on Material Whirled soon.

Noro Ruffle scarf -- wonderful ravelers have come to my rescue and are sending me some bits of their leftover noro kuryeon sock yarn in this colorway so that I can finish this scarf.


It is loosely based on the Cascade Ruffle scarf pattern, but "amplified" with more rufflies to make the noro have a bit more life. I think I am going to wash & maybe even throw it in the dryer a bit when it is finished to see if I can fluff it up & soften it a bit.


Next up, my plurkswap goodies. I was totally and completely spoiled by MsKnottyKnits. She sent me fiber (which you will get to see in an upcoming post) and chocolate and a lotion bar and a sock monkey and, and, and, and... let's just go straight to the pic:


Oh, and see those post-it notes, the ones on the cute little notebook? They are the coolest post-its EVAH! There are 3 little packs of flaggie post-its and they say "Look" "Like" and "Love". How perfect is that for the knitterly girl? Damn perfect.

Okay, I don't want to spoil you guys with picture overload, so next post you will get to see pics of the little people, including the new nephew who is so stinkin' cute will be hard pressed not to nuzzle your computer screen, I promise.

wow, two months? really?

I know I hadn't blogged in a while, but I cannot fathom that it has been two months. There is entirely too much to even begin to do a catch up, but I'll hit you with the highlights.

* there has been much knitting
* Beastie is happy in his new classroom
* there has been spinning
* I am going to be working at stitches next weekend
* medium played varsity golf
* my PT Cruiser is up for sale
* Penn State is undefeated
* Red Lion beat Dallastown
* My nephew was born (happy, healthy & gorgeous)
* medium got his driver's license
* Beastie has adjusted well to his meds and we are seeing improvements
* I started getting allergy shots weekly
* I still plurk constantly
* I started a garden at Molehill Empire
* I went to the Big City Reunion
* medium got a bass guitar
* sparky still works too much, but it has gotten a little better
* I am seriously committed to buying a house on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico when we retire
* I have read the entire "twilight" saga, save for "breaking dawn" which I am 2/3 finished
* I'm not sure if I'm going to my 20th high school reunion or not

Okay, that's all I can think of at the moment. Right now I've got either a seriously bad 3 day long allergy attack or a cold, I'm not sure which, but either way, I'm off to bed soon. I've missed you, blog land -- pics with the next post.