I went to an autism seminar today

So I went to an autism seminar today.  As you may know, my eldest son has been diagnosed with something on the autism spectrum.  What has he been diagnosed with you ask?  Some call it P.D.D.N.O.S. (pervasive develop disorder not otherwise specified - helpful no?), others call it an autism spectrum disorder.  I say he sees the world differently then me.
Nothing all that earth shattering as far as straight up learning goes, but our speaker guy had a great way of putting things in context for us.  It's often good to be reminded of things you already know by someone you don't know.  Good to hear things phrased a different way and in another context.

We continue the journey.

vacation 2010 part 1

So we went on big trip this summer.  Our biggest (this does not include the several months we lived out of our tent trailer, as that was just us in between jobs and places to live) to date.  We drove from Dryden to White Rock with lots of stops in between.

We got to see family and some friends along the way and it made it quite nice.  We drove in a car that was loaned to us by a nice gentleman in our church (thanks again Bill!!), we took advantage of his offer as it cost us some $30-40 to fill the tank in his car, and well, our 1996 GMC Safari has a much bigger tank, and doesn't get that much farther per tank.  I digress.  

A trip like that give you time to think, or just be, or gain some perspective.  For me, it did a little bit of two of those and lots of the other.  I got to "just be" most of the time.  I think one of the best parts of the holidays for me was just being with my family with far less distractions.  I enjoyed the extended times with the kids.  We were all a little more comfortable, I think.  


As for perspective, I think the biggest thing I've been *trying* to work on is my attitude towards the kids; especially when I'm distracted and frustrated.  There's room for improvement, and as I reflected some on the type of person I want to model and become for my family - well, it was a good 'gut' check.


I am by no means done going through my photos, but here's a slideshow of a few images that I have gone through thus far, I will be adding to this gallery over the next little while (or long while as the case may be).