Neverending Pumpkins - Wordful Wednesday

Do you have your pumpkins yet? 

We have quite a few mini pumpkins now, but no big ones yet (to be remedied this week!).  Wee girl's whole world gets brighter every time she sees one.  She takes detours in a store, cranes her neck to see the pumpkin patch when we drive by while on one of our country drives, and spends most of the year asking me when Halloween is.

And mini pumpkins are so worth the buck!  They last forever....and ever and ever and ever.  I threw the last one from 2009 into the yard waste bin (which also takes compost materials) in August.  Yes, August, 2010.  And there was a whole lotta nothing wrong with it!

Wonder how long this year's batch o' mini pumpkins will last??

So, do you have your pumpkins yet?  Do you celebrate Halloween, carve pumpkins, roast their seeds, cook up pumpkin goodness, climb hay bales, wander through corn mazes?  Do tell!  I love the tales that fall spins. :>

I'm linking up:
Parenting by Dummies
A Beautiful Mess
Live and Love...Out Loud
5 Minutes for Mom
Angry Julie Monday

Autism will not shut down on November 1st, so I'll still be here too!

On November 1st, there is to be a communication shutdown on social media to raise money & awareness for autism.  Thousands of people and organizations are participating globally. While I think its fantastic that this is a world wide effort and I support increasing awareness, support understanding, support raising funds for research and families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), I will not be participating.

I have found a great community of other families living with autism on message boards, Twitter, and Facebook.  Social media has not only become an outlet & avenue of support, but also a great source of information. 

I can understand the link between the communication shutdown of social media and the challenge of social communication for people with autism (and their families).

However, on November 1st, autism will still be here and so will I.

November 1st is a Monday, which means its a school day for us, where we have found numerous challenges to work through.  Verbal or nonverbal, communication is a far harder ballgame than I ever realized, before autism became a part of my family's daily lives.  Verbal language, social language, body language, tone, facial expressions, slang, sarcasm, reciprocal conversation, they all create challenges that require patience, ingenuity, resources, work, and more patience.

So, while I understand the link that is being drawn by shutting down social media communication & autism, I don't understand how that truly spreads the word, information, awareness & understanding.  Everyone else will go on updating their status on Facebook, tweeting, and posting away.  And instead of drawing attention to autism, there will be silence.  And yes, many people with autism live in silence, but to me, that only means we need to speak louder.....not join the silence.

Support your local autism resources.  Personally, I have received encouragement & a great deal of information from both my local chapter of TACA and Matrix Parent Network.  I urge you to seek yours out and learn what you can do to help this growing population of people & families living with autism.

From a Lizard to Done to The Bridge

When evening arrived today, I was done. 

What?  What's that you say?  I still needed to get the kidlets dinner, finish encouraging, teaching, and cheering on a kidlet who was finishing up homework, showers, chase down a lizard that decided to appear in my living room today (well over a decade here & there has never been a lizard inside my house, I rarely even see them outside...definitely stripped me of my zen) and did I mention that before any of this, I was already 'done'?  Done. 

But, I kicked in the Mama gear and ticked off the required activities of the evening.  And even though I was looking forward to watching Monday Night Football with my family, I needed a Mama break.  And thankfully, Hubby recognized that need.  (As I headed out, I realized that it has been over a year and a half since I've made this little solo escape!)

And off I went.  Where to?  Everywhere.  Nowhere.  Out.

Country drives are uber peaceful for me.  And I love this one lane bridge....when no one is behind you or in front, waiting to cross, if you pause in the middle, with only the water & setting sun's movement, everything stops, I breathe and my mind begins to quiet. 

On the occasions that I can't escape on my own (which is most of the time), when I've got that 'done' feeling, we listen to music, find quiet activities (coloring, painting, collaging, reading, etc.), or even head out together for a drive (I'm not the only one in this house who responds to a country drive! :>).

Always on the lookout for more deal with the 'done' mode methods, I'd love to know what you do to relax. 

What do you consciously do to dial down your day, when your day is not yet over?

Edited to add:  Mama did it!  Wee girl casually mentioned she sees the lizard. I caught it with a kidlet's Seahawks snack bowl that was sitting out.  Turned the bowl over & trapped it.  When I tried to move it, the little lizard escaped. I moved fast like him (her?? how to tell??!) and caught him/her again.  With wee girl's help, we got it outside & let it go. Phew.  Happy lizard.....OUTside.  Happy Mama.

Wanna Play? What do You see?

Initially, I was going to use an Autumnal photo that I took today, but when I hit the photo files, I was surprised to find a picture that I took a few days ago that caught my eye.  So, I'm running with a summer send off (its been warm here)!

Tell me what you see! :>  (Its more fun if you don't scroll down all at once.)

I kept magnifying this particular pic and was mesmerized by the shapes in its interior.  Like this one:

I kept thinking those spokes look like little Empire State Buildings in a cloud.  Do you know what it is?

What if I give ya a little more to look at?  Empire State Buildings & corn husks & cotton & fireworks...that's what I see, even knowing what it is.  What do you see?

See?!  A last bit of summer has popped its way up between two pavers and just before my Princess went to pick it to spread seeds for even more (please don't, baby girl...love my dandelion bouquets you bring me, but it would be nice to have lush green lawn too!), I snapped the shutter.

Do you still see summer where you live?  Have all the remnants of summer gone for you now?  What does the land look like where you live this October?

Linking up with Wordful Wednesday!

Also linking up with:

Mom of 3 Girls

A Beautiful Mess

Live and Love...Out Loud

Aspire

Supermom

Worth the Click: Get in the {Pink}

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but you knew that already, right??  My grandmother is a breast cancer survivor.  So, I should know that, right?  Come here, I'll let you in on a little secret.  Come close now.  I didn't realize it was Breast Cancer Awareness Month until yesterday.  Tsk, tsk on me.  But, since it was only the third day of the month, I think I'll forgive myself. 

So, you want to know what blazing pink ribbon reminded me??  Why did I realize it on Sunday?  Can you say FOOTBALL?!  As in the NFL teaming up with the American Cancer Society!!  All the players & even the referees were wearing pink somewhere on them from pink cleats to pink wristbands to pink hand towels.  And it was a pretty cool thing to see!

There's someone I would like you to meet.  Lisa, of Takin' Life One Day at a Time, is a mother, a blogger, and through blogging, has become a friend.  She is fun, witty, comedic, loves life & her grown kids.  And after being recently diagnosed with breast cancer, she is currently undergoing treatment.  Lisa shares her story in her own words here and here.  And this morning, even had a funny story to share, Mom, Is That Mastectomy With An "M"?

Ironically, Lisa held a Squeeze Your Melons giveaway last October, for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and guess who won?!  Yup, I did.  She sent me a pack of the most gorgeous & fun variety of papercrafting goodness (aka paper, trim, flowers, accents, oh my!).  And now, its my turn to ask you to squeeze your melons and perform your own breast self exams and if you haven't before, you can go here for a simple five step set of instructions!

Please do go meet Lisa , say hello, and show her some of that famous blogland love and encouragement!! 

She is oh so Worth the Click! :>

Time Crafted Featured on 504 Main!

A quick post & hello to share that Holly at 504 Main says that I'm Tickled Pink!! :>

She has featured Time Crafted and my post on Grandma & her boyfriend, Jerry Rice today on her blog and a couple weeks ago (in her Tickled Pink No. 20, August 26th post) she put this blog & my post on my brother's trek up to the Mt. Everest Base Camp in her Tickled Pink Spotlight.

Too cool, right?!  I'm excited!  I found Holly's blog towards the end of  August and I have so enjoyed her enthusiasm, creativity & DIY projects, and love of blogland.

Holly's blog at 504 Main is an exciting place to be & you don't want to miss it!  Please go visit, she's Oh So Worth the Click, and tell her I said hey there! :>

And because this equates Friday Fabulousness to me, I'm linking up with Dial M for Minky Moo & you should too!