Live from Tormville!

Brothers

Photo taken and then Mark laughed: Hey Al - I just photobombed your picture. 

And then. Laughing from both of them the whole way: 

Week in the Life - Photos and Words

Monday 

I contemplated sharing one day at a time of my Week in the Life photos - but, well - I know myself well enough (and the current dying state of my laptop) that at this time of the year - I have to do all or nothing. So. Photo Heavy post. I'll do my best to keep my words to a minimum and share more of those when I put the book together.  My WITL was from 5/6 - 5/12.

I think the biggest challenge this year was 1 - the busy schedule and 2 - pulling together photos from over four sources: my phone, my two cameras, Greg and Wendy. Now to go about printing some at home and ordering the others. 

Above: We have our weighted hula hoop in an easy to grab location. It gets used A LOT. Mostly by Mark, and then me. Some days we have competitions. Wendy is the current house record holder at over 20 minutes. 

I can see the bus from the upstairs bedroom window. On this day, I was leaning out of the window with my zoom lens. About two minutes later - the doorbell rang. !!! All I could think was, oh shoot - HOW am I going to explain this one, and - my boys are going to be so, "MOM!!"  But it was the neighbor girl wondering if she missed the bus

Yes. Yes we are counting. 

Things are getting real! Cap and Gown pickup for the high school senior.

Soccer tonight. Mark decided that the soccer bucket was long overdue for a good purging. Mom agrees. 

While Mark is at soccer practice, I'm walking laps with my Monday evening walking partner. 

Nothing like finishing a lap and finding the coach and another mom tending to my kid. He had cut his knee a week plus ago and it was that borderline kind where he probably could have gotten a stitch or two if we'd hauled him in. He was playing hard and it reopened. 

After chores and homework are over - they get their evening computer turn. 

I headed out to the garage to catch up with my husband, and inadvertently walked in on my Mother's Day carving. love 

Tuesday

It's pretty rare that I get stopped by the train on the way to work, but it does happen. 

This day was election day, and my shift was different than normal. My duties on this day was to monitor the door that led to the voting room. I had a few moments to walk down the hallway a bit and enjoy the music. 

My mom volunteers on Tuesday, but I missed getting a picture of her when I did a lap of the building on my break. 

Tuesdays are my busy night - but I left school quickly in order to get my own vote in at another precinct. 

Tuesdays are fiddle lessons. 

We go straight from fiddle to archery. Brian usually walks over to the library while we are at fiddle lessons, and we skate into archery just in time. This was the last practice before Nationals, so there was a conversation about what to expect, what to bring, that sort of thing. 

It was so lovely out, I ended up taking a walk to the library. I often time my walk to hitch a ride home with Wendy, but on this day - it was so nice - I just said hi and then walked back home. 

My mom lives in town, and my path often takes me directly by her place. I decided to run up the steps and see if she was home. I didn't stay long - lots to do this week. 

Wednesday

I decided to play with my timer today. It's a very rare day that I don't make our bed. 

I have several job titles. One of them is a general aide in charge of morning transfer buses. Each day I greet all five buses and get the kids into the building and lock the doors. 

The next part of my schedule is as a special needs aide. We do a lot of teamwork in art. 

I only worked until 2:15 on this day, and decided to peek into the Science Alive assembly before I left. Lucky timing! 

 

Dentist. Blah. 
I had canceled my last appointment due to my pneumonia, and when I called to schedule a fix-it appointment for Wendy last week, they suckered me into coming as well. 

I've been going to this dentist since 1982. We have an understanding. 

Thursday

On this day, Greg and Brian woke up super early and got going to Kentucky for Nationals. 
I laced up my tennies. My schedule is always different. If I'm mainly a special needs aide, I often wear tennies, pants that I can clip my walkie too, and cardigan or shirt that has an easy spot to clip my microphone to.

Mark is testing out his new umbrella - a good quality one that he can keep in his backpack. 
We've already lost it. We've = me. 

He finished another book, so we headed to the library. We would have walked, but we had a tight schedule. 

As we were leaving the library, I got a text from Wendy: You didn't even say hi! 
We went back in and said hi. 

Thursday night = endurance training. 
I keep meaning to tell Greg that Mark wants some of these for home. 

Greg sent pictures from Kentucky. I'll include scores and more details in the album journaling. 

Friday

Friday morning, I laid out my clothes for after school. 
Allan had texted the night before and said that instead of the doors opening at 6 for his banquet, they were now opening at 5:30. Preparedness was key! 

Yellow day = Gym. 
The first inning we were third basemen. One line drive went whizzing right by A's ear.  Me: Whoa! That was close. We you nervous? Could you feel it? A: I COULD feel it! And I LIKED it! 

I insisted we go to the outfield for the next inning. 

The last day of staff appreciation week. It's a five pound gain week, but fun! I'll include more details in my album's journaling. 

Never underestimate the post-it reminder. I totally would have forgotten my charger if I hadn't put this on my door. 

Wendy had a field trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts today with her art class. 

We all got home at nearly the same time - changed, threw our bags in the van, picked up grandma and headed to Big Rapids. Wendy slept most of the way. 

We drove straight to the banquet - got there right on time. 

Banquet done, bellies full, we went a couple miles down the road and checked into our motel for the night. A text from Greg let us know that he and Brian would be leaving Kentucky at 4am to get to the graduation ceremony on time. 

Saturday

Mark and I - up before everyone else (normal), we got dressed and went down to take part in the continental breakfast. Grandma showed up before we had finished eating. Lots of other graduate families eating as well. 

We took a few moments to work off the breakfast pastry on our way back to our room. We didn't have to be at our ceremony until 11 - we had time to kill. 

Greg and Brian made it up before the doors opened. 

He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice. 

Grandma was trying to get him to redo the high school graduation photo that I captured of him kissing her on the cheek. 

Bill and Jennifer, where Allan has lived these last 4-1/2 years, invited us over for pizza and cake. Words cannot convey how thankful we are and all they have done for Allan. (and us) Like my mom told them, "I know a lot of kind people, but I don't know many people that would do what you did for us"  

He's still staying there for a bit until he figures out where to go from here. His academy brags a 96% placement rating, so there isn't any doubt that he'll land somewhere, he only has to figure out where. 

Allan took his siblings to the park while we visited. Wendy texted me these photos before they got back. Note Mark in the background (I've been on this - it's pretty steep) 

Note Mark now. We're having serious pant issues this month. I texted for them to come back soon, because now we had to fit in a Kohl's run before Sunday School the next morning. We got home just before 8pm and went straight to Kohls. 

Sunday - Mother's Day

Mother's Day. 
I normally wake up earlier than everyone else, but not sleeping well lately - I was forcing myself to stay in bed. Breakfast in bed was nowhere on my radar, and I'm rarely caught off guard/surprised. All Mark. And all my favorites. He even remembered that I use Cashew Milk, not regular milk. 

The boys hadn't even left for Sunday School yet when a car pulled in the driveway. We couldn't imagine WHO it could be. 
MATT! My other son. Bringing me flowers and a card on Mother's Day!  (Matt is Bill and Jennifer's son, and lives at home, with Allan, in Big Rapids - but had been in Howell this weekend and wasn't at graduation) 

Church. 
Church began with the hymn, Come Thou Fount, my longtime favorite. 

After church, I decided I better get gas. After going to Big Rapids and back - I was riding on fumes. 

Home from church - the kids were eating pizza, our typical Sunday meal, but told me that dad ran back out.  
He came home with a salad and breadsticks from Gus's for me. I loved this Mother's Day. 

I took a walk to go visit my own mother.
She has a couple chairs right by her windows and large windowsills. I thought she'd have fun entertaining grandkids (and herself) with a kaleidoscope (from an Etsy shop, Roy's Kaleidoscopes)  I had the new umbrella on this walk - but no idea where I put it afterwards. 

Our rhubarb is abundant this year. We had hot rhubarb crisp this evening with vanilla ice cream on top. 

Sunday afternoon inspiration. 

I was spoiled this Mother's Day by Matt, my kids and by Greg. This was one of my gifts from Greg - a hand carved (for anyone new to my world - my husband is a woodcarver. It's a rare day that he's not carving to wind down his day)  When I opened it, I mentioned that I felt compelled to just hold it. He said, perfect - it's a comfort bird. It's what it's for. 

Fiddle practice. 
Throughout the week we have fiddle, saxophone and trumpet practice. The boys often practice before I get home from work. At least, they tell me they do.  ;)  

The last thing I do each week is wipe off the board. Sometimes I let it sit blank for a few hours before I write out the new one.  It's a color coded calendar - red means must going on - be fun to try and do, blue is for thing we should try to get to, but aren't mandatory. Green is for fun. 
The calendar fills up in red every week. 

And that's that. 

---------

Meanwhile - my computer is dying. It's five years old and has seen a lot of wear. We're doing battle daily now.  I saved this post multiple times before posting - fearing that I would lose all my work if I didn't do so. And, sure enough - my computer went down, but this post wasn't where it should have been. It took some time to find it.  

I'm hoping to hit up a good Memorial Day sale. 

be good! 

What May brings.

photo from 4/29/17 - we're a little behind this year

I think I'm pretty consistent about making a blog post on May 1st that goes on about what a busy month May is. It just is. On our whiteboard in my room at school, we've created a countdown calendar, and it instills both excitement for summer - and just a little bit of panic. There is just so much to be done before school gets out - at home, with my kids and their school stuff, and at work. 

So. May - 

• Happening: Allan graduates from Ferris. 
• Happening: Brian competes in NASP Nationals in Kentucky
• Happening: Wendy finishes her high school career. 
• Happening: Wendy's graduation party
• Hope: To get Wendy's announcements mailed out in a timely fashion (on my weekend to do list) 
• Hope: To bike to work. Twice. The trick is to get the weather and my after-school schedule to align. 
• Goal: Inventory and repack my backpack. We're hitting the ground running this year - first packing trip set for right after school gets out. 
• Goal: Sit down with the summer calendar and sketch out a few more goals and getaways. 
• Happening: Soccer and Fiddle
• Happening: Spring Concert
• Goal: Document a Week in the Life
• Goal: Get in more than 160 miles. (I'm not off to a very impressive start - low step count today)
• Goal: Clean out the spice cupboard. 
• Hope: Update the resume (just seeing if you're paying attention) 
• Hope: Keep up.
• Goal: Do another lap around Kensington
• Goal: Dust off the elliptical. 
• Hope: Ballooning. We're getting a late start this year. 
• Hope: Kayaking. I didn't get out at all last year due to the shoulder. I'm itching to toss the kayak in the lake and just go. 
• Goal: Attend the 5th Grade Broadway Performance. (I'm a HUGE sap) 
• Happening: The yearbook is coming! The yearbook is coming! 
• Happening: Divide all those yearbooks up into classes
• Goal: Enjoy the lilacs

Hey Mom....

This was how Mark and I's Tuesday evening chat started. 

It was the way he said those two words that had my heart and soul immediately clenched for the worst. I was certain that this was going to be a conversation that was going to keep me up all night long. Whatever he had to say, was going to make everything hurt at a time of day that was hardest to act upon it. 

Mark: Hey mom. 
Me, hesitantly: Yeah? (Because I'm eloquent like that)
Mark: I always mix up Luxembourg and Liechtenstein when I'm working with the European map. 

-----

As it was, I didn't sleep much last night. Prednisone does that to me. I was fine all weekend, but was sent to Redicare first thing Monday morning. Yes. Sent. I was diagnosed with a severe sinus infection and then slept 20 of the next 24 hours. 

Now my medicine cocktail has me sweating like crazy (and optimistic that it'll show at least a 1-2 pound weight loss by the week's end) and dreaming vividly. Last night's dreams had me saving my entire family from a frothing at the mouth grizzly bear. I woke up just as I was sitting up in my bed, jerking the back hatch of the van shut. It's amazing that my husband slept through my antics. My dreams had me seeing every hour of the clock. 

------------

Random: I took a video last evening (the same that was posted to facebook) of Mark on his fiddle. His instructor works hard to get him to learn how to develop his ear and put his songs to memory. He's ready to share one of the tunes he's memorized: Click here

Happy Wednesday! 

 

 

Sunshine, Easter Eggs and a Walk in the Park

I miss Easter being a part of spring break, but even with just the three days, we did manage to fit everything in. 
On Thursday night, Brian had archery and Wendy was working. so grandma brought Mark to the Easter egg hunt and egg painting party at my brother's home. I ran to archery and then got a few things prepared for the busy weekend. 

We had Friday off school, but Greg worked. Friday evening church, Saturday egg coloring, Saturday evening church and Sunday afternoon church. We chose to do afternoon church rather than morning this year, allowing for someone else to have a parking spot. They fed 1600, just 50 below the record.  It would have been 1605 had we decided to go there in time to eat, but Greg had picked up a small ham at Meijer on Friday and the boys enjoyed ham sandwiches. Greg is not a crowd fan. It's few and far between the number of times he has eaten at church during Easter or Fall Services. Anyway...

I got the kids to pose for a quick snap before we left for the 2 o'clock service. 

It was just two days ago that I had mentioned on facebook how critters and school kids are more cooperative than my kids. All the proof in this one blog post. 

We enjoyed some pie and visiting after church, then back home. The weather was SO nice, especially following two days of cold wind and rain, that I was chomping at the bit to get out to enjoy it. I couldn't convince any of the kids to join me, not even Mark, but Greg was game. Just the two of us headed out, and we joined the hoards of others who had the same idea as us. We got there as the crowd was thinning out, but we did bump into a lot of people while walking around the small lake at the Nature Center. 

I am by no means a nature photographer. I do have a good lens and camera, but nothing compared to what the real nature shutterbugs use. My nice lens is but a wannabe when we walk at Kensington. I pointed to several lenses during our walk and suggested several possible Mother's Day options, but not really. We still have kids to raise and mouths to feed. 

I just enjoy having fun with what I got. Critters are a different kind of challenge than camera hungry second graders. 

This one made me chuckle. He was practically digging under our boots for food, while just twenty paces behind us was a family begging for anything to come and eat their seeds. 

This one had me wishing that I had my monopod attached to my camera rather than swinging freely in my hand. (more proof that I'm not a wildlife photographer) By the time I got it attached and ready, he flew away. Of course. 

I'm thinking of getting this on printed. 

Oh! And hey! 

So. Get this. Just a couple days ago, there was an article in the local paper with a photo of this deer crossing the street at Kensington, stating that a Brighton man caught an image of the albino deer. 

The Facebook link to the story has 157 comments, a multitude of which have their own photos of the same deer. This deer is quite popular. A little research will also inform that it's not actually an albino, as a true albino would have pink eyes. This one has a pink nose, but blue-ish eyes. It's less rare than a true albino.  Anyway, I'm resisting the urge to post my own photo and commenting that, oh yeah - well I got a picture of the deer doing its business!! 

My humor is admittedly a bit warped at (most) times. 

Anyway - I was tickled to see it today, and that Greg was driving and I had my camera, unlike last time. I had even told my husband as we were leaving the park to slow down, that this deer is often spotted crossing right at the deer crossing sign, and sure enough - that is exactly where we spotted it. We never left the vehicle. I love my 300mm. 

Oh. And, for the record, the kids did cooperate for one quick snap. 

Allan didn't make it home this year - he's in the final crunch. Graduation just a couple weeks away! May is gonna be happenin'. 

But. First we got a bit more April to get through. On deck for this week: Another appointment for me. If anyone ever wonders, yes - it's true - rotator cuff surgery really can be a 6 month recovery. Soccer, a wedding shower, haircut, archery x 3, distracted driving course, and more. Time for me to go get the schedule for the week posted on the fridge. 

Be good. 

Just another day in paradise

I've never had a smoke, and I've never had an alcoholic drink. Well, except for that one drink that one time BY ACCIDENT. If I can make it through the end of this day without succumbing to those vices - I should be able to go the long haul.

This morning, I was certain that I was going to spend the day at a hospital while Mark had his appendix removed. He was in such extreme pain - I texted apologies to the bosses, called him in, poked and prodded him for about ten minutes, then quick took a shower before the other kids left so he wouldn't be left alone.

By the time I got out of the shower and back downstairs - he was feeling better. He was laying down. Appendix will do that sometimes - so I ran him through more exercises, prodding and poking we discussed our options. 
1. We could both stay home.
2. He could go to work with me, I'd put him helping in some classroom, but he'd be close if he started hurting again.
3. He could go to school, and I'd email everyone to watch him like a Hawk. (grin. That's their mascot. See what I did there?)
or 4. He could go to grandma's apartment.

He chose to spend the morning at grandmas by saying, "I don't like to take chances, unless it's with baking, so I'll go to grandma's." I went to work. In my casual Friday aka hospital all day clothes, because after that morning, I wasn't changing again. 

But that's not all. There was work. We'll just sum it up by calling it a steady climb to the full moon on the 19th. A day that had me wondering WHY I didn't encourage option 1. 

But that ain't it either!

At 3:30 today, while at work, I got a call on my cell phone. Because I have four kids, two of whom still don't have their own phones - yes, I do answer local unknown calls.

I got chewed a new one. Obscenities up, down, left, right, wondering why I was calling HIM. I very gently responded that I have not called him (didn't bother trying to explain that spam calls are quite frequently routed through everyday people's numbers) and I was interrupted with more obscenities. I hung up and blocked the number.

Turns out that blocked numbers can still leave voice mails, so I now have an obscenity laced documentation to back up the first call.

But that's not all!

THEN. Wendy calls, and says, mom - there's some guy following me around our sub, and he's hollering out the window at people. And I'm scared. And I don't want him to know where I live, and he keeps following me. I said Wendy. Hang up and call 911 and tell them exactly what is happening. They will be more help than me in that situation.

And she did. And she waited outside of our sub while I called the boys and told them to stay put and not open the door for anyone.

When I got home I asked her how it went with the cop. She responded that they asked what kind of car it was, and she told them it was white, with a stripe, and she told them about my coincidentally timed phone call as well, and then they escorted her home. The guy was long gone. She then told me that as she got out of her car, the neighbor asked her if she saw the guy in the white car driving around hollering, looking for his dog.

Chocolate. 
Chocolate is my vice of choice. Writing is my therapy. 

Mark is seemingly fine. 

Know me, know my love for stats.

The archery qualifying season ended on Saturday with a home tournament. 

All season long, Brian has been within reach of bringing home a medal. If there were five medals - he'd place 6th or 7th. If there were 10 medals, he'd place 11th or 12th. It became a family joke. The eight year old Brian would NOT have handled this season and the family teasing well at all. There would have been talk of quitting, self-loathing and door slamming. But this fourteen year old Brian? As his mother, I feel relief, thankfulness, gratefulness and yes, pride. While some of that maturity comes automatically with age, for this kid, I am appreciative that he had a continuum of teachings by way of four years of karate, black belt camp, Leadership class and Reaching Higher, all of which taught goal setting strategies and increased self-confidence and self esteem. To me, this medal is about SO much more than his score on the 3D targets; it's about growth. And that smile. Brian is the typical stoic Finn. That smile is HUGE. 

----------

As for ME. Here is how Saturday went down. Brian shot 3D at 9am and Bullseye at 11am. The competition ran through 4pm, with the last heat taking the line at 3. It was a few hours before I even checked Brian's score on the 3D, and when I did, I was a little bit HEY! New personal best! And it was a sizeable point jump from his previous best on 3D. 

He quickly fell out of the medal running on bullseye, but he was maintaining his standing on 3D, so I was hitting the refresh button all afternoon. Being the end of the season, Brian knew to ask if Parker or Hartland had shot yet, because both hold some pretty regular podium archers. The good news - they had already shot, and Brian was still in the running. At this point, we were at home for a bit before heading back to medals, and this is about where my love for stats comes in to play. 

I pulled up which school still had left to shoot. Unfortunately, it was Lakers. At 3pm, so the results wouldn't be posted until we were back at the tournament for awards. Lakers also has a very strong team. I warned Brian that they had already shot bullseye, and five of their male middle school archers had scores slightly higher than him. I then looked up each of those five archers individually to see what their top score on 3D was. I told Brian not to get his hopes up, but he had all but one of them beat for previous high scores. He kept it in check, but he was definitely getting excited. The final scoring fell the way that the stats lined up, and Brian was bumped down to 8th after Lakers shot. 

When we got home, we reviewed the final roster. Brian tied a Hartland archer with his 269, but took the higher placement because he shot more 10's. Four boys shot a 267, two of them on that last flight. 

It was close. Next stop is Nationals, where his school's team has qualified to shoot both bullseye and 3D targets. 

----------------

Other stuffs:

• Mark starts soccer again next week. 
• Tonight we have our Title I event at the elementary, wherein there will be medals given for the best pies brought in by our elementary students. 
  Mark, drumming his fingers together:  Ooooh,  pie baking contest? I just noticed that the rhubarb is coming up! 
• Wendy came home talking about how one of her teachers is now subbing at the library. 
  Wendy: Mom, he was the teacher that had us watch The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
  Mark: What is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas?     
  Me: Oh. You would totally cry. It's sad. 
  Mark: Of course I would cry. I cried when watching Hoarders. (Duh) 
• Mark, after the first day of the 4th quarter (new classes): Hey Brian, what does, 'a man a plan a canal panama' spell backwards?
  Brian: Mark. I have the same teacher. (Duh) 
• Yearbook has been officially submitted, 821 copies ordered. I can no longer use that as a way to avoid doing the taxes. 
• I didn't get to everything on my hoped for list this past weekend, but I did enjoy a spontaneous visit with friends. It's been a long time since I've stayed up visiting until 12:30. I'm not the night owl that I used to be. 
• I need to go get ready for work - all for now. 

Happy Wednesday! 

be good. 

Late night thoughts

It's not unusual for Mark and I to have a few moments to ourselves each evening, in which we enjoy sharing thoughts on the day. 

Last night's conversation went something like this: 

Mark: I'm both nervous and excited for Monday. 

Me: And....what is Monday that has you nervous and excited? 

Mark: It's the first day of the fourth quarter. 

Me:  And........? 

Mark: We get new seats in math and social studies, I'll have Spanish, and we start getting our music for the last concert. 

Momma bear, honing in: And why is changing your seats so exciting? Are you sitting in a bad spot now?

Mark: Well. (as in, let....me....tell.....you) In social studies I am at a table with FIVE women (yes. he said women), and NO other boys. 

Me: Hmmm. Sounds dreadful. But how bad is it, really? 

Mark, with the sigh of a guy who knows more about women than he cares to at the young age of 12: Well. One forgets everything, one talks all the time, and another is super smart and is always telling us to study study study. 

Sounds positively dreadful. 

Me: Wow. And how do you deal with all that. 

Mark: I just keep my head down, stay quiet and do my work. 

You're a wise man Mark. School teaches SO much more than academics.

--------------

As for this weekend....

• archery tournament
• fantastic weather
• yearbook COMPLETE. I just may treat myself to fish tacos. 
• laundry, bills, blah blah blah
• I should really do those taxes
• And the week brought a new niece that I'd love to go snuggle

A young friend's honesty. Honestly.

This share requires a little bit of background. 

To know where I live, is to know I live in town. In fact, I live within the district of the elementary that I work at, which means that when I go for a walk, it's not unusual for me to bump into many of my young friends. 

Like last week, when I was walking to my haircut and I saw one of my young kindergarten friends playing up at our old elementary school. 

Hey! He called, What are you doing here? 

I explained that I lived near here, and that I was walking to my haircut appointment. This venture was during our spring break, so he exclaimed that he missed me, gave me a hug, and I continued walking. Because I'm not rookie when it comes to bumping into friends about town, I knew that this encounter has now destined me to several years of "Hey! I saw you at the park!" 

I heard that first on Tuesday, our second day back to school, when I was walking to my van after work and he was on the playground.  HEY! HEY!  I saw you at the park!!  

This morning, Wednesday, had me delivering a message to his classroom at the start of the day.

HEY! I heard, as I entered the room. I saw you at the Park!!  

Yep. 

Nice haircut, he added. Okay - that one got me. 

And then, a hug, along with - again, I missed you. Released from the hug, he paused and added, You're sqwoooshy like my mom. Complete with a little pinch of my arm for emphasis. 

He just may end up with his own page in my school journal. Right next to the friend who saw me at Walgreens. 

Otters and Autism

This morning is a rush of sorts. 

It's one of those mornings that had me utilizing my brother's wise trick of using the dryer for an iron. As I ran downstairs in my bathrobe, towel still wrapped about my head, I mentioned something about having to wear blue for Autism Awareness Day today as I yanked my bottom of the drawer cardigan out of the still tumbling dryer.

As I was rushing back up the stairs (this having to be at work an hour early for M-STEP Proctor training AND not having the forethought to lay out some blue choices last night is throwing off my morning routine. Just a bit) I overheard Mark say: Well, I don't care about that. 

I thought, huh. That doesn't sound at all like our empathetic, sensitive youngest. I made a mental note to touch base with him later. 

And then I overheard Brian: Mark!!  She said Autism! Not Otters! 

Mark:  OOooooooh!! That makes more sense.

Brian, muttering: Otter Awareness Day? Seriously, Mark. 

Happy Tuesday!