autism, autism Ryan, children, chris, Christmas, colleen, deafness, dogs and cats, God, health, holidays, life, medications, Pans/Pandas, photos, Ryan, sleep, work, work at home, writing

2020 Christmas newsletter

Christmas newsletter

Just one of the 2020 pictures.  https://www.criscollrj.com/2020-monthly-picture-blog/   Click for our 2020 picture blog!!!

Verse I choose for Christmas cards


I wrote the following and printed as my first printed newsletter in 6 years! So much information, yet so much unsaid. I feel like the biggest lesson in this past year is to just grasp each moment and try and live to the fullest, and express gratitude for any good thing that happens. There is so much negativity right now, it is good to be positive as much as possible. And pray for your loved ones, and talk to them as much as you can even if you can’t see them.

Prayers to you all at the closure of this crazy strange year!  Do not believe I’ve sent paper Christmas newsletter since 2014.  I did do electronic newsletter in 2019 (published 12-31), and RIGHT after that my criscollrj.com site failed.  So whether many of you had an opportunity to read it I’m not sure!  I mentioned some dark scary times.  Faith in God is so important, and prayer of family and friends is paramount.  This post says a lot.  Please read if you can.  https://www.criscollrj.com/2011/04/11/the-powers-and-exponents-of-faith/, emphasizing Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” I read through entire blog this year and reviewed it and edited it in preparation of moving back into my soon to be revamped original blog site.  I’m glad I wrote so many of these entries years ago – I’d forgotten many of them.

Continue reading “2020 Christmas newsletter”

college, music

Music appreciation

scan choir 9thMe in choir in 9th grade in high school.  My love of music started way before that, though, when I learned the fundamentals of music from my Uncle Don when he taught me the accordion at Age 7 Smile  I picked up the guitar at 10 and never looked back.  I couldn’t wait to get into choir, and finally in high school was able to join for three years.  (Hard to forget the devastation in 12th grade when I had to drop choir for geometry).

Starting this class tomorrow:

 MUSC 1200 – Music Appreciation 

“This survey course provides an introduction to aesthetic and historic issues relating to musical works of major composers. The course emphasizes the art of listening to music. Topics include instruments of the orchestra as well as works and influences of composers. Students will study both instrumental and vocal works. This course requires no musical background or skills. (3 contact hours).”

Back to music after many years away – at least educationally.  With a change of classes proposed by Kent when I went there for my advisory meeting last week, I had to drop children’s literature (which was a choice for a humanities credit at Lakeland but not at Kent) and Health (which was needed at Lakeland but not at Kent for the degree I chose), I chose Music Appreciation out of the list of humanities choices that Kent gave me as the final humanities I needed for their degree.  So tomorrow I’m off to Music Appreciation, a course which I remember Roger being in when I first met him in 1983 Smile.  I took a course with this professor before, “Popular Music,” in approximately 1984.  He is a good teacher.  It will be strange to see him again with us both being 26 years older, probably in the same room where I took the course before.

That room brings back many memories.  At Lakeland, when you enter the building where the music rooms are, at first you go by the large art gallery. 

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These were some of the pictures that were in the Lakeland gallery last time I was there a few weeks ago.  They change the series of pictures every few months.  Back in the 80s I often did homework there in the gallery, ate snacks, and usually ended up meeting one or more friends that hung out with me, or me and Rog together, and it was the spot where we would often play guitar and sing together.  So the gallery is definitely a part of the whole music experience for me.  Since I went back this decade, I have probably sat in there 4 times doing algebra.  The ghosts of past times still are there, merging with the current scenes.

In the music room, in the main section, I had Lakeland Singers (a choir group that also had some dancing, which I was not so used to and made my awkward debut in Winter quarter, 1984), and I was in that class until the end of spring quarter, 1986.  This room served as practice room for the band and choral groups, and I also took my popular music class in that room.  Roger, who I met in a band practice in December 1983, was a student in that room as well for music appreciation and music theory (2 years of that!) and we often met there as I would find him after my secretarial classes, as well.  He also had a piano class in an adjacent room.  Then later in approximately summer of 85 or 86 I took piano and voice lessons and that was in the piano/organ practice rooms that are adjacent on the other side of the large teaching room.

Wish I had pictures of the Lakeland music room in the 80’s, but I’ll make up for it by taking some this week!  The picture above of me in high school was taken by my mom.  She is a bigger photo buff than me!  And I think my Uncle Don took the one below, another great amateur photographer!

Untitled

 

autism, college, deafness, writing

Revising and tagging, and studying

Of course in the middle of fall semester (perhaps exactly in the middle?) and that is keeping me very busy!!  I tend to do algebra at the beginning of the week mostly and biology at the end.  Then I tuck transcription in usually Wed/Thurs (job due today, so nothing different there).

In the few evening hours I’ve had and sometimes early morning I’ve been going through ALL my blog posts here, starting ins 2003.  They all needed tagged and categorized.  I don’t even really understand the difference between that so I’m doing both – tagging and categorizing, mostly the same titles.  Ha.  If that causes trouble I suppose I shall find out somehow- but at this point it seems fine.  Also adding the pictures back in where I can where they were ”lost” going from Livejournal to wordpress.org then to wordpress.com then to blogger then back to wordpress.org. 

My goal is to have this blog ready for real publication, where I post it on autism sites, etc., and really try and get some help and recognition for autism and deafness.  Chris needs a lot of help.  I DID get a comment https://criscollrj.com/2010/05/23/the-brick-wall/ from a person at the National Deaf Academy, who found my blog online, and I was thrilled about that.  If I can just get all the tags done and the blog totally organized, and then keep trying to add to it, perhaps it can get top recognition and the boys can really get some help.

So then, of course this with studying, working, and everything else I’m doing, challenging, but it should be SO worth it!

 

life, music, writing

The Fun List

I spend so much time making to-do lists and doing budgets and work checklists and homework checklists I need a break from that!!  So here’s a new kind of list I thought would be refreshing to make!

  • Play lots of Wii with RJ and Chris too – and if Colleen will agree to play she should come right along!  Ryan and I played for 1 hour last night and had a lot of fun!
  • Try and write on here once a week or so.
  • Proofread my posts going back to 03 and get everything categorized and tagged.
  • (2020 finally proofread all posts from 03 to now, it’s taken MONTHS.  Haven’t checked categories and tags AT all.  Need to read all comments also….)
  • Scan in my old pictures bit by bit and get them on Flickr (and renew Flickr for a year to the pro version!)
  • Plan what colors I want to paint all our rooms and post them on here.  I already have three!  I’ll post soon as they’re in my purse – it’s apricot or mint green for either kitchen or living room (not sure) and a slate blue for my bedroom.
  • Play guitar twice a week and do some Youtube videos for fun!
  • Do a wild and crazy Youtube video with Rog of us playing guitar with whatever brave children want to appear with us.
  • Plan to someday do a great long walk on a hiking trail with the family and maybe even have a picnic along the way sitting on a big rock by a forest 🙂
  • (2020 – having the boys from mid March to end of November, we hiked SO MUCH!  every season!  Can’t wait to get back to it as when we’re well we have them every weekend (we have been sick, you’ll hear about that soon enough).
  • Paint a picture!
  • Decide if I’m going to ever finish my book from 1981 or if I should just start a new one (maybe copying some of the great material from that one into the new one).
  • (2020 – ugh.  Boy would still love to do that.  I still have the book, and it’s online on my www.line-bright.com site — you have to ask me for password.  It’s still in same shape it was in the 90s but IS in html format!!!)
  • Sleep for many extra hours.

Ahhh, cathartic just to write – remains to be seen if I do most of it. 

 

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children, life, organizing, work, work at home, writing

Trivial and important often reside together

As a person who has always been not so good at multi-tasking, I have had to learn to become quite good at it!

The important things in my mind always are:

  • Taking care of our children and the family’s basic needs.
  • Roger and I getting our work done.
  • Us getting our schoolwork done when we’re in school (Rog from ‘99 to ‘01 and possibly going back next year, me since January of 10).
  • Colleen getting her homework done, trying to get some entertainment/learning activities for Chris, and supervising Ryan in his education pursuits (He’s rather like me where he’s obsessed with school items and loves his alphabet and learning to spell, so that helps – he creates his own educational hobbies!)
  • And just keeping enough clothes to wear to be clean and dishes washed to be sanitary!

So I would always try and do these things first – still am!

But it’s amazing how many other things pile up when you do this.  Things you feel you never have time for.  More dishes that you just can’t get to.  Filing (started that last week as far as cleaning out the file cabinet!).  Grass that needed cut that Rog had been too ill to do (he’s outside now finishing it, and our friends helped us with it last week (pictures coming). 

Then things arise like 500pp of printing needed printed out for various agencies.  Like in one week (happened to me in April).  That means you run out of ink, and have to buy it.  Then you have massive phone calls on this, that and the other.  Every day is full of interruptions.  Necessary interruptions, unnecessary ones, and sometimes annoying ones!  Sometimes pleasant ones!  Sometimes a spontaneous trip to the park is a tremendous treat (hopefully soon!)!

All in all, I’m trying to learn, that it’s not always the important all the time.  Sure, I’m working on getting out my deadlines of the week for work, and do my homework, and cook dinner.  But I don’t want to be a once a year or once every six month blogger any more.  And I want to be spontaneous.  Enjoy Chris today who’s at the house as he didn’t get to go back to school yet after his hospital stay.  Enjoy the trivial.

 

Blessings!

 

health, interests, TV

old favorites —

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I started crocheting again a few weeks ago — I’m making a table scarf for my computer table and plan to make another for the other table. I used to knit and crochet a lot when I was a young teen up until maybe 15 years ago. It’s really soothing to do it again.

Planned to watch the new episode of 90210 on the computer, but ended up watching

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My So Called Life instead (the final episode) instead, on Hulu, as last night’s 90210 is not on yet. I really loved My So Called Life, and can’t put into words how I sometimes can identify with Clare Danes’ character in that show – – -as well as Brian.

So, back to work tomorrow after busy day today running around town trying to reestablish Chris’s items such as bank accounts, SSI, etc. It’s amazing how long all that takes and how tiring it is. Now I have another large packet of papers again as his SSI recert for his medical need is due.

Still waiting for test results on Colleen – – posted on Facebook but not here that she’s been tested for anemia and mono for how tired and exhausted and weak she’s been on and off lately. Hopefully we’ll find out by tomorrow —

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autism, deafness, writing

Thinking of how to share most with this blog–

 

I know I need to update my resource pages and do more research on what could help people most on ideas for autism spectrum and deafness.

I think I may also type more of the kids’ histories in here and what happened at certain ages. I think also going back and proofing my posts may be good (sometimes in blog transfers you get strange font characters in the switchover, and I know I did see some at place). I also need to tag.  (2020 – glad I’m at least proofing finally every post!!)

I have really enjoyed sharing through blogging, now for 6 years, and would like to do it to its best purpose and to be a help to others.

 

chris, life, work, writing

Missing writing, missing an important part of me!

I need to take more time to write here. I do feel my life is kind of taking on a pace all of its own that half the time I feel I have no control over!!!

First of all, Chris is doing great — dsc00342 We went out to eat with him today and he was very happy. Ryan also had a plate of spaghetti dsc00343

Continue reading “Missing writing, missing an important part of me!”