I'm Goin' To Graceland, Graceland...

Last Saturday I had to go to Reedley to meet with my friends about some Charlie Brown costumes. They were working at the theatre that night and invited me to have dinner and see the show. An Elvis Impersonator show.
Now, I like Elvis as much as the next guy, but going to this kind of show has never been my kind of thing. I accepted because it was the most convenient way for our meeting to happen. I never anticipated actually enjoying myself.
The impersonator was a great entertainer. He never acted like he wanted you to think he was the real Elvis. He told some trivia about Elvis, and even talked about the year the post office put out the Elvis stamp (to date, the most purchased stamp in history) and how quite a few people mailed letters with the stamp to fictitious addresses just so they'd be marked "Return To Sender" and sent back. This guy has performed all over America, but he is actually from Reedley, so he had some funny local stories as well.
He sang well - The costume was fantastic - And the crowd was fun to watch - Needless to say, I had a great time.

His costumes are made by a company that has the original patterns used by Elvis, and the jumpsuits weigh between 20 - 40 lbs. when you factor in the belt.

Yes, I had to get a picture!

Spring Is In The Air

You Know It's Spring When...
Everyone is blogging about flowers and blossoms!

After much rain, and no attention to my yard for the last 6 - 8 weeks I am ecstatic that I am finally able to spend time outside. Yardwork is very cathartic for me. And last summer I had everything the way I wanted it. Then came the Hell-puppy. I know I will survive this time, and more importantly, my yard will survive, but... I've had to work out a system of keeping Spanky (puppy's name) away from my plants.
Another indicator of Spring is that the local SuperMarket starts putting plants out for sale. Plants don't do well in the florescent lights of a grocery store, so after they start looking bad everything goes on clearance.
Just look what I got!

I have no idea what this flower is - please someone, tell me so I can look up the care of it.
It was on clearance for $1.00!

I love this corner of my flower bed. It is right in front of my door. Don gave me the Margaret Hudson piece over 25 years ago - It was supposed to be Me, Michele and Jimmy - and I've always loved it.

Last year Michele gave me a bunch of Lily plants and I threw them in this pot and forgot about them. I actually got a flower!

These bromeliads were on sale at the grocery store also. Only $8.00 a piece! If you look at the first two pictures of these you can see the new growth on the top. I'm very excited about these.

These did not come from the grocery store. My friend Andrea has a very large Japanese Maple that produces many seedlings every year. She gave me one last year that was doing very well, that is until Spanky decided to chew on it. So she gave me these two, plus 4 other smaller seedlings that I'll guard very carefully.

I love this weather!

No Pictures for This

I can't believe it's already March 15. I've been very preoccupied at school with the autistic boy that I'm 1:1 with. Let's call him X.
A typical day in an autism classroom exposes one to yelling, grabbing, and the occasional kick or punch. It can get worse. These last couple of weeks X has been in rare form (the family is going through some stressful stuff.) I've been subjected to spitting, hair pulling, pinching, kicking, and punching. After several extremely brutal days, during which time two pairs of my glasses were broken, I'd finally reached my limit and told the teacher I needed to be away from X, and she readily provided me with another student to sit with. I sat down with E ( an autistic girl) who decided to windmill her arms in my direction.
Well... after taking care of my bloody nose I had to stop and really think about continuing - not just the day, but the job! The thing about autism is that bad behavior is rarely pre-meditated, nor is it very long lasting. In fact, even after X displays behavior I would never tolerate from one of my own children, and says he hates me and wants me to leave, he'll calm down, re-group, and come to me, wanting to hold my hand and have me play with him, or help him do work. The brain is a funny thing. I thank God every day that my children, and now my grandchildren don't have to deal with this kind of hardship.
I'm staying in my job. I won't get rich there, but I do feel needed.