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Awalkabout's Weblog

  • Confessions of a nerd

    Number of comments: 2
    Let me be up front about this: I’m more likely a Trekker than a Warsie. That being said, we experienced a little bit of heaven this week as we first got to bring home the latest incarnation of Star Trek, a movie that goes back, long ago, to a galaxy…no wait. [...]
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    Posted: December 01, 2009, 1:47pm EST
    by awalkabout

  • Winner! 75,437 words, baby!

    Number of comments: 3
    Posted in life, writing Tagged: NaNoWriMo, novel, publish, writer [...]
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    Posted: November 27, 2009, 5:44pm EST
    by awalkabout

  • Justice: by the law or by the heart?

    Number of comments: 3
    When you have brought up kids, there are memories you store directly in your tear ducts. .. Robert Brault I’ve debated how to write this post for several days, and it’s been difficult.  My role as attorney at law is to uphold the law. Most of the time, that also means [...]
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    Posted: November 22, 2009, 4:45pm EST
    by awalkabout

  • Oh THAT kind of Friday the 13th…

    Number of comments: 3
    Yesterday was a wild day. I had no clients, no court scheduled, and planned to spend the time working on my crazy November goals. 2,000 words at least. Maybe 3,000. Move the girl right through the funeral home scene where she discovers the truth behind– Then I got the call about 9 [...]
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    Posted: November 14, 2009, 9:36am EST
    by awalkabout

  • They told me so

    Number of comments: 3
    When I announced I was doing NaNoWriMo this year, one of my dear writer friends asked me whether I’d still keep up with the blog. Blithely I replied, “Of course!” More the fool I. In addition to my 15,000-plus words, however, I have kept up with life, which involved: several court hearings, [...]
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    Posted: November 08, 2009, 11:16am EST
    by awalkabout

  • Off and running!

    Number of comments: 5
    Of all the corpses I’d seen in six years as a news reporter, Lily Kimball’s hit me the hardest. This is the opening line of my 2009 NaNovel–like it? Yes, National Novel Writing Month is ON! Sign-ups are still being taken on site, so if you’ve got a novel in you that [...]
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    Posted: November 02, 2009, 7:52am EST
    by awalkabout

  • Two moms on the road of life

    Number of comments: 8
    This was a weekend of women. I drove, with my younger sister M, to see K and her girlfriends in Asheville. We stayed at their new apartment with their new Labrador and their old cat, and their cupboard that contained rice and microwave popcorn. Two chefs. Rice. Microwave popcorn. Unreal. The first [...]
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    Posted: October 27, 2009, 2:41pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • And Pinocchio arrives

    Number of comments: 6
    Yesterday we had a first: Little Miss invited a friend to come play for the day. For those of you out there with the average 10-year-old girl, this is probably not a big thing. For those of us with a language-inhibited autistic child, it’s monumental. We watched over every part of [...]
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    Posted: October 19, 2009, 9:45am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Moving ahead, pen/keyboard in hand

    Number of comments: 6
    Halfway through October, and I’ve finished a first draft of my newest novel manuscript, a women’s fiction story about a downsized lawyer who meets a younger man dying of cancer and how they change each other’s lives. It’s about the longest first draft I’ve ever had at more than 75,000 [...]
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    Posted: October 16, 2009, 2:29pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • So why is it…?

    Number of comments: 5
    Why is is that all the chain groceries and other stores are posting signs all over their front windows boasting “LOWER PRICES!” and “20% lower prices!” and “Storewide lower prices” ?  We know for a fact that employee costs have gone up, with the raise in minimum wage and insurance, [...]
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    Posted: October 10, 2009, 9:59am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • While we’re on the subject

    Number of comments: 1
    I remembered this week why I quit going to most of my outside groups:  I can’t stop talking about autism. It’s not intentional. I don’t go to these meetings with the purpose of proselytizing, spreading the Word about the subject. It just happens. For example, last week I went to a continuing [...]
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    Posted: October 07, 2009, 10:51am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Whatever works; or the nature of possessions

    Number of comments: 3
    What difference does it make how much you have? What you do not have amounts to much more. — Seneca The battle of the wills continues with some improvements. The Captain has duly been given the prescription flavor of the week for ADD. The doctor didn’t even bother to look at all [...]
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    Posted: September 30, 2009, 11:37am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Back off track..as usual

    Number of comments: 6
    I spent some time reviewing this blog the other day, and it reminded me that we started out talking about autism. A couple of years ago, the topic was a huge part of our daily lives, with all the therapies and educational issues and…so much. So many questions. So many [...]
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    Posted: September 22, 2009, 12:57pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Ten things I don’t care if I ever hear about again

    Number of comments: 7
    As I’ve said before, I’m kind of a news hound. I update my world on CNN.com and other quickie sources several times a day, just to stay on top of things. When you do that, you get a lot of “popular” news, i.e., what people are searching for–mostly gossip. One result [...]
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    Posted: September 15, 2009, 10:44am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • I’d have a tea party, but i can’t afford the pot

    Number of comments: 10
    So it’s been a week since my last post. One might hypothesize that I’ve been relaxing in the glow of my writer’s indulgences, and I sure wish that had been it. Instead, I’ve been working. For nothing. But I’m not alone in that.  All across the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania people are [...]
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    Posted: September 09, 2009, 6:51pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Writers aren’t old dogs

    Number of comments: 2
    Learning is about more than simply acquiring new knowledge and insights; it is also crucial to unlearn old knowledge that has outlived its relevance. Thus, forgetting is probably at least as important as learning. –Gary Ryan Blair ( Mind Munchies: A Delicious Assortment of Brain Snacks!) I spent the weekend at Context [...]
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    Posted: September 01, 2009, 12:37pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Nirvana: different strokes for different folks

    Number of comments: 5
    The end of the week spelled happiness for our household, but in such a variety of ways: The Captain got to stare at cartoons for a whole morning when I was in court and couldn’t monitor. The Cabana Boy continued work on a freelance project for another law office in town, creating [...]
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    Posted: August 28, 2009, 10:46am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • The last few days of summer

    Number of comments: 5
    The back-to-school countdown is on. More so on our parts than on the children, sadly. Isn’t it time for school yet???!! It’s also Fair Week, which is the biggest event of the calendar year here. Thanks to my clients, I learned a lot about what it takes to enter and maintain cattle [...]
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    Posted: August 24, 2009, 12:02pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Can I get fries with that?

    Number of comments: 7
    I recently caught a look at a local car dealer’s commercial on late night television, and I could hardly believe my eyes: “Buy a car and we’ll give you a gun.” Is there a health care town hall scheduled in our town and I didn’t know about it? I thought maybe I’d [...]
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    Posted: August 19, 2009, 10:45am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • The next day

    Number of comments: 7
    Most often tragedies come as an event, a moment, after which things are never the same. In my work life, I deal with these events all the time. Families that were once happy, functioning organisms come to a point where they no longer work. While the buildup may have taken days, [...]
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    Posted: August 15, 2009, 10:33am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • When a parent’s not a parent

    Number of comments: 10
    There may be some doubt as to who are the best people to have charge of children, but there can be no doubt that parents are the worst. ~George Bernard Shaw This month I’ve got a whole run of cases where a parent’s rights may be involuntarily terminated. The purpose of [...]
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    Posted: August 08, 2009, 11:33am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • The sunshine of life

    Number of comments: 6
    But you got to have friends The feeling’s oh so strong You got to have friends To make that day last long… This weekend we hosted the Navy Girls Reunion Tour as my daughter M, three of her former Navy galpals, and their six children all descended on the house. Six adults and eight [...]
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    Posted: August 03, 2009, 7:45am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • It’s the year for change, right?

    Number of comments: 5
    Before you go–yes, you’re in the right place. I just changed the decor a bit. After 18 months, I felt that it was time to be a little crisper, a little clearer, and so I sought out a new theme. It’s the season of green around our territory at the moment, so [...]
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    Posted: July 28, 2009, 9:46pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • All the news that (gives us) fits

    Number of comments: 5
    Before I went to law school, I was a newswoman. Print media. Since then, I’ve been kind of a news fanatic. I’d devour the Miami Herald or the Cleveland Plain Dealer or a NYT, if I could get my hands on one. The Today Show was a must, and occasionally [...]
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    Posted: July 24, 2009, 2:18pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Saying yes

    Number of comments: 9
    I’ve had quite a bit of conversation in recent days about my travels, and the extent of my potential insanity for making them. The subject came up again when my two sisters and I got together for the purpose of wishing one of them hail and farewell as she heads [...]
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    Posted: July 18, 2009, 11:22pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • The road goes ever on and on

    Number of comments: 8
    I’m not a person for living in big cities. I often regret missing the opportunities and options for activities and cultural events, especially where the children are concerned. But we can go visit those if we choose, like our visit to Roboworld in Pittsburgh just before we went west. (Being able [...]
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    Posted: July 12, 2009, 11:07am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Independence day

    Number of comments: 5
    To celebrate independence this year, we decided to take a trip. What? you say? Didn’t you just get BACK from a trip? Well, yes. But this trip was to celebrate K’s independence and her externship at the Biltmore in Asheville, NC.  We’d never been there before, and it gave us an excuse [...]
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    Posted: July 04, 2009, 11:28pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Back to life, back to reality…

    Number of comments: 8
    It may be a catchy phrase in the musical world, but it’s kinda sad in real life. It has taken several days to find the top of my desk and get re-organized, back to the life of helping people get what they need. But the final legs of the trip had [...]
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    Posted: July 01, 2009, 11:19am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Why o Why Wyoming?

    Number of comments: 3
    After the stunning day at Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, we continued the magic, as we pressed east into Wyoming’s Bighorn National Forest. The land was every bit as diverse as the website says: Then we also saw this interesting pyramid-looking rock called Copman’s Tomb: No wonder the guy wanted [...]
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    Posted: June 30, 2009, 2:58pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Letting go

    Number of comments: 6
    Today I had a plan. We were going to get up, get to point A, continue to point B, and be ready for several other events at yet a third location. But I’ve taken on two other adults for this trip, and I’ve decided I must let go of my Nazi [...]
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    Posted: June 24, 2009, 1:34am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Wildlife conservation

    Number of comments: 1
    Our California mini-visit was so special I’ll be adding a page above, probably after we get home later this week. But this couple of days has been on environmental education, as we’ve come to the Lake Tahoe/Reno area to see B. We finally get a tour of the camp where Sierra [...]
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    Posted: June 23, 2009, 2:48am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • California, here I come!

    Number of comments: 2
    The last push west brought some interesting scenery and some personal revelations. I’d particularly wanted to make some time to travel US 50, the Nevada portion dubbed by Life magazine, “The Loneliest Road in America.”  They’re not kidding. More on this in a subsequent post. Part of a story I wrote [...]
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    Posted: June 20, 2009, 3:10am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • From vacation to relocation?

    Number of comments: 2
    I could live in Missoula again. Almost. The city is now sufficiently cosmopolitan to meet my needs:  there’s a Wal-Mart and a Target. But I do prefer the north side to the south side. The storefronts and intimate settings suit me better than the big strip centers. I think it would take me [...]
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    Posted: June 19, 2009, 2:41am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Montana musings

    Number of comments: 6
    Although we’d originally intended to hit Missoula Sunday night, after all the fun and frivolity (shame on us!)of yesterday it didn’t happen.  So we limped into Billings about midnight and took up the road again on Monday. Little Miss oohed and aahed about the Rocky Mountains, as did we all.  Surrounded [...]
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    Posted: June 17, 2009, 10:52pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Onward and…onward

    Number of comments: 5
    People who have traveled with me know I can be a travel Nazi very efficient guide. We get where we need to be. Even if everyone hates me by the time we’re there. After we logged 1400 miles in two days, however, I decided the kids needed a break. We took [...]
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    Posted: June 16, 2009, 7:34pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • This is my country–pimples and all

    Number of comments: 5
    The first several days of this trip were geared for speed and efficiency, not fun. So we zoomed across the first several states–or tried to, until we hit Illinois, the State of Highway Renewal. For a 200-mile stretch of highway, there was a work area about every 15 minutes, and we [...]
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    Posted: June 14, 2009, 7:41pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Can a story make a difference?

    Number of comments: 2
    This week my second Cup of Comfort story came out in the book A Cup of Comfort for the Adoptive Family. In the story, I share the reason I finally went ahead and adopted the Cabana Boy’s three small children, knowing then that they had lifetime issues. Reading through some of [...]
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    Posted: June 13, 2009, 9:07pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • On the road again

    Number of comments: 7
    The older I get, traveling seems to be one of my favorite occupations. Not that I get to do it that much. But each summer we seem to try to fit in more and more places to see. This summer we’ve agreed that the Captain needs some time away from us [...]
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    Posted: June 09, 2009, 10:42am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Screaming in a crowd, and no one hears

    Number of comments: 4
    For a small community, ours has a great autism support program in the elementary schools, spearheaded by a psychologist who has held this issue near and dear to her heart for 10 years. We also have an active autism support group for parents, and a dozen wraparound agencies to service [...]
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    Posted: June 02, 2009, 9:52pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • ‘Attach’ed at the hip

    Number of comments: 8
    So who remembers “Blossom” from back in the day?  The trendy little teen with all her hats? It seems that Mayim Bialik, the actress who played her, recently needed a makeover,  and will be unveiling her new look on What Not to Wear tonight. What struck me about the brief interview [...]
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    Posted: May 29, 2009, 11:17am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • The wide, wide world of sports

    Number of comments: 10
    One of the suggestions we got from the autism whisperers back in the early days was to see if we could get the Captain involved with sports. You know, the theory being that if he was really good at baseball, then the other boys would let some of the other [...]
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    Posted: May 26, 2009, 7:35pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • It’s a small world

    Number of comments: 10
    Back when I had my first round of children, I had great dreams for them. I just knew they’d be concert pianists or famous actresses or….who knew what? The days and weeks and months and years passed and they did many wonderful things–got awards, graduated from college, produced healthy children. These [...]
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    Posted: May 20, 2009, 7:01pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • As time goes by

    Number of comments: 10
    And so you and I, We watch our years go by We watch our sweet dreams fly, Far away but maybe someday… I don’t know when, but we will dream again And we’ll be happy then Till our time just drifts away  (Harry Chapin, Dreams Go By) It’s a good thing humans celebrate their [...]
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    Posted: May 16, 2009, 11:37am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Speak up!

    Number of comments: 6
    Commitment is a wonderful thing. Whether you’re talking about marriage, a job, a faith, parenthood, any cause–the willingness to commit openly and faithfully is admirable. Especially if it’s unpopular or out of the norm. I applaud those who continue to speak out against vaccines for their children with autism, those who [...]
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    Posted: May 08, 2009, 4:24pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Graduation daze

    Number of comments: 9
    Watch out, Mr. Ramsay! This week the culinary world receives a new chef:  K. Graduation, as always, is a bittersweet time. I know she’s worried and excited at the same time about starting her new life in the culinary world.  She’ll be doing her hard-won externship at the Biltmore in Asheville, [...]
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    Posted: April 28, 2009, 2:07pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • IEPs for U and ME

    Number of comments: 7
    Is it spring again already?! Man.  Either someone’s speeding up the clock or I’m getting old WAY too fast… We got the call for Little Miss’s Individual Education Program (IEP) meeting, and had that meeting this past week. No big surprises academically, as we have slowly seen that her fourth-grade work [...]
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    Posted: April 24, 2009, 2:57pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • That headache time of year

    Number of comments: 6
    No, I don’t mean allergy season, though that certainly would apply. I mean summer, and its attendant crisis-level situations about what to do when you have two working parents, special needs children, and services to arrange around family demands. We’re all busy. Even without the challenges I know a lot of [...]
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    Posted: April 21, 2009, 6:03pm EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Veni, vidi, wiki

    Number of comments: 5
    I have wikied. In broad daylight, once. But mostly under cover of night. My new skill for the week *insert fanfare of trumpets here* is that I have become one of the thousands–nay, MILLIONS– of authors of Wikipedia. A few posts ago, I referenced Maquis Universal, a science fiction RPG of which [...]
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    Posted: April 16, 2009, 10:11am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Vaccine? Not routine

    Number of comments: 9
    Over the past several weeks, Little Miss has been having little twitchy-stretchy movements of her neck, arms and legs. I first noticed it at Disney, when she was holding her ears a lot, and I thought the unusual movement might be troubling her. But her classroom teacher noticed it too, [...]
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    Posted: April 08, 2009, 10:53am EDT
    by awalkabout

  • Space: the mentoring frontier

    Number of comments: 6
    I’ve mentioned before that the Cabana Boy and I met at an online sci-fi RPG. For the uninitiated, that’s a “Role Playing Game.” Although some prefer LARP or groups like the Society for Creative Anachronism (of which I was a member back in college), this online group suited me fine. Maquis [...]
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    Posted: April 04, 2009, 12:58pm EDT
    by awalkabout
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