Last night, I posted the following tweet: ''Watching my daughter have a 'Facebook Birthday Party' is one of the most fascinating anthropological activities I've ever engaged in.'' This tweet inspired a flurry of replies, most of them along the lines of ''What exactly is a 'Facebook Birthday Party' anyway?'' Well, let me explain. A Facebook ...

Yesterday, there was a gas leak at A.'s school, and the entire place had to be evacuated. A.'s daycare is also on school property, so everyone took refuge in a church next door as the problem was fixed. As you can imagine, this is exactly the sort of situation that sets A. off. Fortunately, she didn't completely melt down -- she got a little ...

Today, A. and I attended another East Tennessee Chapter of Autism Society of America Friendship Club Event. However, this story doesn't begin with the events of the day. It actually begins the night before with my awesome fiance, Thomas, and how he was able to step in yet again when I was frustrated and at wit's end. Last night, I was prepping A. ...

Last week, I posted about an especially good day during Spring Break, where not only did A. come to work with me and do a fantastic job of being my office-mate for half a day, but she also went with me to a local volunteer shelter to help serve lunch to homeless people and did an amazing job at that, too. I have still only described half of the ...

Before heading to bed last night, A. took a minute to tell me that yesterday was the Best Day Ever. It goes without saying, of course, that Little Miss Drama Queen has a tendency to label every other day the Best Day Ever or Worst Day Ever, but I had to agree with her on yesterday -- it was a pretty amazing day.This week has been A.'s spring break ...

On Friday, I brought A. her favorite McDonald's lunch, and sat and had lunch with her in the school cafeteria. This was a long-planned reward for her continued work on memorizing her multiplication tables -- at the end of her quiz periods, she'd have a ''mixed test'' she'd have to complete, and if she did, I would bring her McDonald's and come and ...

My mother always told me I was a very emotional girl. She told me this, however, from the lens of someone who had spent her entire life feeling ashamed of emotions, in general. Generations of women in my family have seen blatant expressions of emotion -- sadness, in particular -- as signs of weakness and insecurity, and such expression has been ...

I think I may be fighting some sort of impending illness. Several people (including my direct manager) are sick at work, and I'm feeling rather under-the-weather tonight. I have several things that I want to write about, including a Long And Intricate Post About Christmas, but I think I'm going to table that for an evening I feel more up to ...

A. and I don't really agree as far as our opinions of her day care center establishment are concerned. I see them as extremely organized, amazing individuals, willing to work on the hard issues that matter with A. on a daily basis -- in short, I love them. A., on the other hand, really can't stand to go there, and will often try to think of ...

This is probably the longest break I've taken in the history of writing this blog, so my most humble apologies. This has not been due to the fact that December has been a boring and uneventful month -- quite far from it, in fact. Rather, life, work, weather, family, and holidays have demanded my time and attention, and this is the first day I've ...