Life in progress


38 Comments

#SoCS – Dreaming

Ow, ow, ow, it hurts! Do you ever wake up and say that? Happened to me this morning – my head, all my joints, my stomach… I felt like someone had beaten me up in my sleep. It was probably due to the fact that I actually slept for about six hours in a row and then another one. I’m not used to laying down that long. But you gotta wonder if you are getting beaten up, you know? Especially after a dream like the one I had yesterday. I wrote about it on my Facebook page yesterday. When I’m finished this post I’ll copy and paste it here:

I just had a dream in which my son’s white cat (who never comes near me) came in from outside covered in snow. While I was drying him off, he turned into an East Indian man who wouldn’t leave the bathroom while I was trying to pee, then he turned the bathroom into the setting of a music video complete with a full band. They played a song and he sang – in the song he was trying to talk me into killing myself. Then I woke up. This is why I don’t do naps during the day.

Or maybe it was like a Friday the 13th hangover. I didn’t have a lot of bad luck yesterday – just a bit. I was worried for a while last night after I spilled 10mg of Alex’s heart meds on the floor and the dog licked it up. It’s meant to slow down Alex’s heart rate. Luckily the puppy doesn’t seem to have had any ill effects. He’s happily chewing a rawhide bone by my side. But back to Friday the 13th. I used to view it with fear. Now, not so much. It’s just a number, right? Why should Saturday the 14th be any better or worse? Except the hangover thing – possibly caused by the ultimate relaxation that comes from being tense all day the day before? Have you ever experienced such a thing? It’d be interesting to study the phenomenon…

I think my Tylenol is wearing off. Time for another couple. Ta ta.

SoCS badge 2015

This post is part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link and see how you, too, can join in! https://lindaghill.com/2016/05/13/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-1416/


29 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – Watch Out!

I’m about to take you into a dark place: My mind. Ready?

Momastrophe – A catastrophe of a decaffeinated nature, in which Mom doesn’t get her coffee in the morning. Momastrophe.

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Anyone who would like to participate, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do,
you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our new, very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com


25 Comments

#SoCS – Zoos

I’ve been to quite a few zoos in my time. The ones I can remember off the top of my head are the London Zoo, the Toronto Zoo, and the African Lion Safari. The link for the latter one is here: http://www.lionsafari.com/ Just looking at their site makes me want to go back. I think I might do that this summer with the kids.

Strangely enough, the thing I remember most about the Toronto Zoo is that, when I went there with my friends when we were in high school, there was a McDonald’s in the park but they didn’t allow straws. Nor did they allow plastic cutlery. I assume it was because people would throw them into the animal enclosures and the animals would choke on them. (Stupid people.) But do you have any idea how hard it is to drink a McDonald’s milkshake without a straw… or a spoon?

Why do stupid people ruin things for everyone else? Do you ever wonder? We just accept the restrictions we have on ourselves – restrictions which we know are in place to protect stupid people and the things stupid people affect. For the life of me, I can’t think of another example, but you know what I mean. If you can think of one, mention it in the comments, would you? Thanks.

What if we had zoos full of stupid people? We could stare at them behind glass enclosures and laugh at the things they do. Maybe they could share the monkey exhibits… We could throw them straws and watch them stick them up their noses. Give them hot coffee to pour on themselves… oh wait. There are warnings on cups.

Actually, we already do this, in a way. We have America’s Funniest Videos.

I’d better stop before I get myself into trouble.

Have you ever noticed that this stream of consciousness thing is kind of like being drunk? You say whatever comes to mind…

SoCS badge 2015This post is part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link and see how you, too, can join in! https://lindaghill.com/2016/04/29/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-3016/

 


24 Comments

Windows – #AtoZ Challenge

Windows are wonderful, aren’t they? They keep us warm (or cool, depending on the season), and allow us at the same time to gaze upon the scenery outside. Through them we can watch our kids play… But windows are not that great when we want to say something through them, like, “Stop squirming already and come in for a pee!” Unless we know sign language!

I remember once driving up to a stop sign and seeing, half way up the street, my eldest son walking in the freezing cold.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“The mall,” he replied.

“Want a ride?”

“Sure, thanks.”

All from outside of yelling distance, and I didn’t have to roll the window down. Same thing when the kids had a play date in one of those huge indoor playgrounds. It didn’t matter that they were climbing through a kid-sized tube high above the floor and I was waiting for them to come down.

As soon as they looked at me, I signed, “Come down in 10 minutes for lunch.”

“What are we having?”

“Pizza.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Amazing, eh?

Problem was, it became a habit for me. One time that was particularly embarrassing, was when the father of one of my kids’ friends brought my son home. The dad didn’t get out of the car, he just let my son out and waved. Being the polite person I am, I signed “thank you.” He never spoke to me again. To this day I believe he thought I was blowing him a kiss.

Conclusion: sign language is a fantastic way to communicate, as long as everyone knows what you’re doing.


36 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – It was a mispronunciation

I went out a couple of weeks ago and left Alex alone with my best friend, John. Apparently while I was out, Alex let the puppy outside and back in numerous times, giving the dog a biscuit every time he came in. Eventually, John explained (in sign language) to Alex that if he keeps giving Winston cookies, he’ll get fat.

When John recounted the conversation, he signed it to me the way he’d signed it to Alex, and told me that Alex had laughed and laughed… It was actually fun, in a wicked sort of way, to explain to John that he’d inadvertently told Alex that if he kept giving Winston cookies, he’d get pregnant.

Rubbing it in

Rubbing it in

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#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com

Anyone who would like to participate, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do,
you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our new, very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!


7 Comments

Thank you, WordPress!

I’m writing this short post to extend my warmest thank you to the people at WordPress who got our pingbacks working again after just twelve short days. In fact, I’d like to thank everyone, from the volunteers, to the Happiness Engineers, and all the way up to the developers! I mean honestly, what can be happier than a Happiness Engineer?

Won’t you join me in thanking them? After all, I’m certain that if all of us express our gratitude they’ll hear our collective voice and not change any more of our controls. Maybe they’ll even give us back some of the features they’ve already taken away to “help make our blogging experience better”!

Here’s to the great people at WordPress!!

P.S. Seriously, thanks for the pingbacks. Blogging prompts without them was annoying.


10 Comments

Vibration – #AtoZ Challenge

Apart from heightened visual observational skills, my Deaf son, Alex, is extremely sensitive to vibration. Often, when I’m trying to get his attention I’ll stomp on the floor. Even across the room whilst wearing shoes, he can feel my attention-grabbing technique – unless he’s trying to ignore me, which leaves me jumping up and down in frustration like a mad-woman. I swear, if I had a camera in my house… Of course this only works on a wooden floor. If we’re on concrete or outside I have to make sure he can see me.

This sensitivity also accounts for his terror of thunderstorms. He doesn’t need to hear the crash, he can feel it. Coupled with the flash of lightning, it’s rare for him to sleep while there’s a storm going on.

I couldn’t find the interview that Ellen did with Marlee Matlin when she was on “Dancing With The Stars,” but here’s the interview with Nyle DiMarco and his partner, where Ellen mentions how Ms. Matlin danced by feel.

https://widgets.ellentube.com/videos/0-mylh1u42/

My A to Z theme concerns the joys and challenges of being the hearing mother of my Deaf son, Alex. To learn more about his beginnings in life, click here to go to my first A to Z entry.


17 Comments

Understanding – #AtoZ Challenge

You know when your toddler learned a new word a few days ago and then tries to say it again, but can’t quite pronounce it? Even though you ask him or her to repeat it, a lot of the time you still can’t figure out what he or she is trying to say, right? It’s like that for me every single day.

The Deaf school that my son, Alex, attends is a godsend in many ways. But he comes home with a heightened vocabulary that I just can’t comprehend. And it’s not as though I can look it up. I can find words I want to sign because I know how they are spelt. But finding a sign in the dictionary when you don’t know what the sign is, is like trying to figure out what written Chinese means.

So Alex dumbs it down for me. For instance, he was trying to explain to me the other day that his friend had invited him over to his place to play. But I didn’t know the sign “invited.” I got the friend’s name, (which is a task all on its own, because names are invented by Deaf people on a person to person basis) and I got the sign for “go” and “house.” While I was trying to tell Alex he couldn’t go, he was signing, “I was invited.” Seeing that Mom wasn’t understanding him, yet again, he went the long way around.

Alex: [Friend’s] mom talked to [friend], told me fine, [friend] asked me to go to his house.

Me: [Friend’s] mom said okay you go?

Alex: Yes.

It’s like living with a game of charades.

My A to Z theme concerns the joys and challenges of being the hearing mother of my Deaf son, Alex. To learn more about his beginnings in life, click here to go to my first A to Z entry.


10 Comments

The Trickster – #AtoZ Challenge

My Deaf son, Alex, loves to play jokes on people. Seeing surprised expressions is one of his joys in life – it’s why he loves watching “The Price Is Right” and “Just for Laughs Gags” so much. One of his favourite things to do is hide from us, and then pop out to scare us. Except he doesn’t realize that he needs to be quiet. So it’s not uncommon to walk into a room and hear Alex either giggling his head off or screaming with excitement, knowing he’s about to frighten someone. Of course we all play along, shading our eyes and dramatically looking around while signing, “Where’s Alex?”

It’s the same when he and his friends play hide and seek. There’s no such thing as sneaking around quietly – as long as they can’t see each other, they’re golden.

It just makes me laugh. 🙂

You can watch the video with the sound off – the audio is just music and a laugh track. Worth the watch.

My A to Z theme concerns the joys and challenges of being the hearing mother of my Deaf son, Alex. To learn more about his beginnings in life, click here to go to my first A to Z entry.

 

 


22 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – Quite the Impression

It seems the cat has made an impression on the dog.

CAM01447

Do you see it?

CAM01447 cat

How about now?

I noticed the silhouette of the cat’s head on the dog’s side two days ago, while they were having a nap together.

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Good news! The pingbacks were working yesterday. So go ahead and give it a try, but make sure you check a minute or two after you post to make sure your pingback is in the comments.

Anyone who would like to participate, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do,
you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our new, very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

 

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com