GIVEAWAY: "All I Can Handle" by Kim Stagliano

I don't read "autism books".  Having spent every day of the past five years dealing with autism, thinking about autism, living with autism, the last thing I want to do in my free time is read about autism.  However, as with everything in life, there are a few exceptions.  I do take the time to read medically based books if they come with strong recommendations from my fellow moms dealing with the A word.  The other exception is books with a sense of humor.  First and foremost among those was Jenny McCarthy's Louder than Words.  It blew me away and when I passed it on to my in-laws in completely changed our relationship.  They suddenly understood better what I was dealing with on a day to day basis.  The challenges and fears that accompany parenting  a child you can never begin to understand.

But then there are those people who I can't even begin to fathom what they have to deal with on a day to day basis.  Those that whenever I feel sorry for myself I say, "Hey, at least it's as bad as ___________"  Today, I want to introduce you to one of those amazing warrior moms who I fill in the blank with.  Kim Stagliano has not one, not two, but THREE kids with autism.  And three girls to boot.  Normally when someone tells me they have three daughters, me, mother of 3 sons, jokingly says, "I'm so sorry."  But can you imagine?  Three sets of raging girl hormones.  And autism to boot.  Good Lord!




Kim has shared her journey in a fantastic new book, All I Can Handle: I'm No Mother Teresa (A Life Raising Three Daughters With Autism).  I've often flirted with idea of doing a talk or presentation on "The Lighter Side of Autism" or something along those lines.  Kim does something similar in her new book.  You will laugh along as she describes her dirty little Howard Stern secret.  You will cringe as you travel the painful path with her of missed signs.  You will experience the frustration of "normal" test results, well-meaning but clueless friends & families, undertrained teachers and a myriad of other experiences.  


If you are an autism parent like me, a parent of 3 kids (also like me), someone who is dealing with job insecurities and relocations (yup, we are three for three) or just someone who enjoys a slice of life look at a life less typical, you are sure to enjoy All I Can Handle.


I just realized I keep calling Ms. Stagliano by her first name, Kim, but that's because after reading her book, her blog, her website and being facebook friends for the last few months I feel as if I know her.  Not only do I know her, but I like her too.  And apparently she likes me a bit as well.  Why?  Because she gave me a copy of her book to give away to one of you!


Just leave a comment to this post, be sure to give me a way to get in touch with you, and on November 13th (Sparky's 40th birthday!) I will announce a winner.  No special requirements, but I would love it if you would hit up one of Kim's sites and give her some love.  Because she is no Mother Teresa, but she is a fellow autism mom and we could all use a little more love in our lives.

Kakuro, Pear Butter & an attitude

I have a dirty little secret. 
I am obsessed with Kakuro.  For those of you who don't know, Kakuro is somewhat similar to Soduku, in that it is a Japanese logic puzzle involving numbers.  However it is much more math based, involving what combinations of numbers can be filled into a grid in order to make a complete puzzle.  I do Kakuro puzzles every night before I fall asleep.  I recently picked up a copy of The Little Book of Bathroom Kakuro: 200 Original Cross-Sums Puzzles for Brain-Sharpening Entertainment.  Kakuro puzzles are SO addictive.  Last night I was up until nearly 1:00am working on these little gems.

There are several websites devoted to the art of Kakuro, however I am a purist who much prefers to work with a pencil.  And an eraser; a BIG eraser.  If you like logic problems and enjoy making your brain do mental gymnastics in your down time, I highly recommend Kakuro.  Just don't blame me if you don't get enough sleep!








Remember the other day when I shared with you the bountiful harvest of pears that Miss Jural shared with us?  Well the pears have been well & truly buttered! And wow, is it amazing!!!


I cannot fathom that I MADE THIS.  And it was SO easy!!! Of course, in true Angela fashion I have no measurements, but I think this would actually be hard to screw up.  












SLOW COOKER PEAR BUTTER


Ingredients: 
Enough Juicy Pears to fill your slow cooker, cut into 1" chunks, with skin on. (If your pears aren't juicy, mix them with sugar in your slow cooker and allow to sit at room temp for 8-12 hours to bring out the juice)


approx. 2 cups sugar


approx. 1 T. ground ginger


approx. 1 T. ground cinnamon


Cooking:
Mix all ingredients together.  Cook on Low for 12-18 hours.
Allow to cool (this may not be necessary, but it's how I did it)
Puree in food processor or blender.


Serve & swoon!




And finally, we reach the "attitude" portion of this blog post.  And of course, it is in respect to the boo.  Boo had a fair morning this morning.  Not great, not bad, just average.  

And then we went outside to wait for the bus.

And some little boy decided that listening to mom was overrated.


And it would be much more fun to run around in the wet grass like a maniac.




And then roll around in the grass.





And get soaked.



As the van was pulling up.


Ah yes, Mother-Of-The-Year Award, here I come!

Slow Cooker Zucchini Stew, Book Review & more...

Wow, did yesterday's zucchini madness turn out yummy!  Recipe as follows:

SLOW COOKER ZUCCHINI STEW

1 large zucchini, cut into 1" cubes (approx 3 cups)
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables (I used peas, carrots, green beans)
3/4 cup yellow onion, diced
1 cup tomato sauce
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can cream of chicken soup (or cream of something else for vegetarian version)
fresh herbs OR 1 T. Italian blend seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
optional: butter, Parmesan cheese

Add all ingredients to slow cooker.  Cook over low for 6-8 hours.
Serve with butter & cheese as desired.

I don't even like zucchini and I LOVED this stew!  Would have been perfect with some small pasta added too, although I didn't have any on hand.  Wait, I did have elbows; oh well.  Maybe I will cook up elbows and fry some ground beef and mix it with the stew for leftovers.  Yum!  This also would have been better with fresh tomatoes, but again, I didn't have any on hand.  I think I will pick some up today to mix in with tonight's dinner.

My parents will be here for dinner tonight, so it will be nice to have a "real" homemade meal.

I only see my parents two or 3 times a year, so they deserve to be spoiled when they are here visiting.

I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo last night.  Stayed up past midnight reading.  I really enjoyed this book and I now understand what all of the 'buzz' was about.  I am looking forward to watching the movie & have moved it to the top of my Netflix queue, although I may watching it streaming.  I love the fact that I can watch loads of movies online via Netflix. 



I've also devised a plan where I watch the movie then give it to Sparky who can watch it while his is in Virginia & return it via post.  Then we can discuss either via Skype or when we are actually in the same room on the weekends.

So, onto the book review.  I am a fan of the mystery genre and this book satisfied my desire for a slightly intricate plot with a rich variety of characters.  While the subject matter was occasionally uncomfortable (violence perpetuated against women) the staging was never glamorized or sensationalized.  While it was certainly the underlying theme of the book, the writing didn't become distracted with the subject.  I craved to learn more of Lisbeth, the title character, and was initially annoyed with the complex back story; I wanted to get into the meat of the matter a bit more quickly than the author.  But the patience was worth it and ultimately I was satisfied when we got to the interaction between the two main characters.

The family tree at the beginning of the book was helpful, but I would have been much happier if there had been a map included.  I was constantly getting confused between the island and the mainland.  And I also feel that the author could have spent much less time explaining whose house was next to what and it would have been much easier for me to conceptualize throughout the story.

I have not decided if I will read The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest or not.  I will probably wait until I finish A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror.  But most likely I will finish the series.  And then be annoyed that it is over, as I usually am when a good series comes to it's conclusion.

Of course, is it better to have a series end on a high note or slowly fizzle out?  I have been disappointed with Janet Evonovich, Piers Anthony, Charlaine Harris and many others who have pushed their series well, well past the time when the characters should be put to pasture.

What is your opinion?

Finally, today's waiting for the bus photos.  Another beautiful, sunny morning in SouthCentral PA!

See that leaf? It really is turning over!

I just realized yesterday was my 100th Blog Post!  In a way, that's very exciting.  But in another way that's very lame when you consider exactly how old this blog is -- so old I don't even know.... let me research...

October 3, 2005.

Wow; I'm almost to my FIVE YEAR BLOG-A-VERSARY!

We will have to do something fun to celebrate.  Anyone have any suggestions?  A link party? A giveaway? Cake? (there should always be cake, in my opinion.)

Hit up the comments with your suggestions and we will see if we can come up with some sort of shindig.

At any rate, today was the boo's last day at summer camp.  Hooray!!!  No more spending 2 hours a day in the car driving back & forth and back & forth to Hanover.  No more putting 500 miles per week on my baby-car.  No more being on the road at 8am.  Hooray for school!!!!!!!

Yes, I am a little excited.

I also bought another book today.  That's TWO real live foldy page books now this summer.  My thought  process was this:  I've been wanting to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for quite some time.  And then I heard a comparison on NPR between Bella from the Twilight series and Lisbeth from the Millennium series.  And from that point I've been determined to start on Larsson's trilogy.  And the paperback was only $5.97.  That's a bit cheaper than on the kindle, so hence, the foldy page book.  Plus I think my oldest son may enjoy reading this one when I am finished.

However now I just want to go climb into bed and snuggle in and start reading.  It's one of those climb in bed with a good book slightly dreary days.  And the boo's new evening nurse has just taken him outside to play.  Hmmmmm; okay, the temptation is too great; I'll let you know how far I get into the book on the next post.