Miss L'Arche, sad day today!

I cannot believe that it has been more than a year since I came back to PA.  :( I miss L'Arche at pretty ridiculous levels, even though I am pretty content with my life here. I mean more than content, but OMIGOSH, do I miss the absolute LOVE I received there, and also the love I FELT there. Loving others is called Agape love, I think, so I guess you could call L'Arche agape love. See, the folks at L'arche are people with developmental disabilities, so I guess you could maybe say they were what Jesus called, "the least", not because HE thought they were, but because that is what the world thinks. I mean, they can't do everything everyone else can, they probably won't invent the next Apple product, some government officials don't think that people with DD deserve funding for work and life. EVEN though, holy crap I'm about to rant a bit, most of them CAN work. And do pretty well at it, if I might add.  Anyway, what I am saying is as I am far away from them, I don't even think about their disabilities. Alls I remember is how they made me feel, how I felt when I was with them. Sure we had issues (WHERE ARE YOUR SOCKS!!!!!), but man, how can you NOT feel special when you get home and get major hugs. Or you walk downstairs in your pajamas and someone tells you that you look beautiful today. Or you are just helping someone with an intimate task and you just wonder, HOW CAN THEY TRUST ME THIS MUCH??
So here is a list of things I LOVE about L'Arche:

1. All the moments that made me nearly pee myself with laughter.
2. Lingering over coffee, the newspaper and laughs pretty much every morning.
3. Being able to spend a LOT of time trying new things in the kitchen, and having people tell you they loved it or hated it, and you KNEW they were honest. 
4. Watching Little House on the Prairie every night.
5. People telling you were beautiful
6. Having about 6 nicknames.
7. Meeting all kinds of amazing wonderful amazing wonderful perfect lovely people.
8. being honored with taking care of people's needs, and having them return the favor.
9. feeling truly loved.

some great books, and a few funny stories

The other day I took Mr. DH to his light therapy. We had gotten there early, and just sat down when I noticed he wasn't wearing any socks. We trooped back downstairs, and back to the van because he ALWAYS has socks in his back-pack. He did today as well, a pair of black and white striped ones that were quite dirty. I asked him, "Where are the purple ones that I gave you this morning". He replied, "under the couch"!!! He proceeded to share that story with everyone we came across that afternoon!!!!

The very next day, he had another appointment. A few of the highlights:

1. Leading me over to the exam bed, asking me to sit down, then pushing the foot pedal that made the bed go up.

2. Telling me I had a pretty face while patting my face.

3. Talking about how he took Joel a peanut butter sandwich, and that Joel was a smelly Old man.

All of these occurred when the Doctor was in the room. He was perfectly behaved when it was just us waiting there!!

Later that afternoon, after eating some soup with veggies we made Mr. Butcher informed me, after passing gas, that there was "too much gas in the soup".

I read some fantastic books lately:

Forever by Judy Blume. Judy Blume is an awesome lady!!!! I can see why some people want her books banned. It's because they talk about real emotions, and raw honest truth. This book focused on young (and all) love and sex. It spoke of birth control, promiscuity, and teenage pregnancy. It was excellent. One of my favorite lines was, "That's not a bad word (fucking). . . hate and war are bad words but not fucking". Isn't that so true!! Why do some people freak out about words when there is so much hate and war in the world. If 'fucking" is used in hate or anger, then it is not cool, but when it is used as a term for sex, then who the hell cares??

I also read her book Summer Sisters this book was excellent as well. Her characters are so REAL. It was about two best friends who spent each summer of their pre-teen and teen years together, and illustrates how they change and grow, and also the various emotions regarding friendship, love, sexuality, jealousy etc.

The Dry Grass of August byAnna Jean Mayhew dealt excellently with issues of race, and of domestic violence. It was very beautifully written and a delicious read. I read it straight through, and completely lost track of time, and nearly missed my bus, and then did miss my bus stop.

Wishin' and Hopin by Wally Lamb is a fantastic story about a little boy in a Catholic elementary school. It was funny, real and a super read! I loved it and read it straight through!

Wally Lamb is a brilliant writer. Check out his other books as well!

L'OVE L'ARCHE and can you be a spiritual atheist??

Hello!

My dear co-assistant is very kindly installing a lock for my door. He tried, in vain, yesterday to install a new door knob with a lock, but it did not work (probably because my door is between 15,000-89,000 years old). Anyway, why a lock?? Well, because a very dear core member came to my room at 6:15 a.m. on my day away to have the following conversation with me:

CM: Yabbbbyyyy, wake up!

Me: What?? Oh, good morning. . .

CM: today saturday??

Me: No

CM: well please, i sleep in

Me: tomorrow buddy

CM: whyy

Me: because buddy, tomorrow is saturday.

CM: whyy

Me: because today is Friday, and Saturday comes after Friday

CM: Why?

Me: because thats how people designed it.

CM: What?

Me: because that's how people made it.

CM: WHAT?

Me: because that's how it is

CM: Whyy?

Me: I don't know buddy, thats how it is. Friday, than Saturday.

CM: Why?

and on an on.

Actually, I didn't mind that at all. What I am worried about is being in the midst of changing, and having the same thing occur..

I LOVE MY LIFE, for real!!!

A Credo for Support

Check this to hear the below credo read:

http://www.normemma.com/videos/credo.htm

A Credo for Support

Do Not see my disability as the problem.

Recognize that my disability is an attribute.

Do Not see my disability as a deficit.

It is you who see me as deviant and helpless.

Do Not try to fix me because I am not broken.

Support me. I can make my

contribution to the community in my own way.

Do Not see me as your client.

I am your fellow citizen.

See me as your neighbour.

Remember, none of us can be self-sufficient.

Do Not try to modify my behavior.

Be still & listen. What you define as

inappropriate may be my attempt to

communicate with you in the only way I can.

Do Not try to change me, you have no right.

Help me learn what I want to know.

Do Not hide your uncertainty behind "professional" distance.

Be a person who listens and does not take my struggle away from me by

trying to make it all better. Do Not use theories and strategies on me.

Be with me.

And when we struggle with each other, let that give use to self-reflection.

Do Not try to control me. I have a right to my power as a person.

What you call non-compliance or manipulation may actually be the only

way I can exert some control over my life.

Do Not teach me to be obedient, submissive and polite.

I need to feel entitled to say No if I am to protect myself.

Do Not be charitable towards me.

The last thing the world needs is another Jerry Lewis.

Do Not try to be my friend. I deserve more than that.

Get to know me, we may become friends.

Do Not help me, even if it does make you feel good.

Ask me if I need your help.

Let me show you how you can assist me.

Do Not admire me.

A desire to live a full life does not warrant adoration.

Respect me, for respect presumes equality.

Do not tell, correct, and lead.

Listen, support, and follow.

Do not work on me.

Work with me!

It's Saturday!!!

So I just finished reading a fantastic book. It is called Life After God by Douglas Coupland. The back of the book says the author's writing is similar to Jack Kerouac's writing. It is a true story!

It is a collection of beautifully, artistically and creatively written random glimpses and rememberances of the author's life. Much of the time he is on the road, like Mr. Jack. It is called life after God, because it is about a person raised in a family that did not practice any sort of religion, and he was of the first generation of families that commonly raised their children without a traditional religion.

CHECK IT OUT!

Monday/Tuesday say NO to TV

Today is technically Monday, but since I work Sunday-Thursday it is my Tuesday. I'm about to go get my drink on, but I just thought I would write some highlights of my day:

Waking up was NOT a highlight. Nope. I mean, I suppose its good that I woke up, but I was not cheerful.

Miss T: I just want to reflect on how HOLY it is to help someone with their getting ready for bed process. To hold some one's beautiful hands and feet to lotion them up is really sacred. I feel so connected to her, and inspired to always help support others.

One of my dear co-workers was telling me how weird I was. When I complained to Mr. D, he gave me a comforting hug and told me "No, you are not weird".

I spent a good hour with Mr. H today by myself. I love that he finds my stupid songs funny, and my ridiculous actions humorous.

I learned that having brownies for breakfast is pretty stupid.

One last thing:

Many conservatives feel like girls are being sexualized to early, and are too influenced by T.V. Many liberals feel EXACTLY the same way. And the thing is, the sexualization/sexism of women continues. Watch the TV for an hour. How many times is a man in a cooking commercial (besides cooking on the grill) NEVER. Those pop-tart commercials Always have a mom handing out pop-tarts. Women are always the focus of cleaning commercials, and of baby/kid stuff commercials. When girls are little, corporations push being girly and pretty on them. Later, its pushing "sexy" on them, and later still, its being a homemaker. Say WHAT???

I am certainly not saying being a homemaker is wrong . . it is not. It is a beautiful thing to do to support your family. Being a home-maker is not, however, the only choice for women. In some families, it might make more sense for the male figure to be the homemaker. If he is organized, likes to clean and cook, etc, and the woman has a job that she loves, well why not. Or, if both heads of the house, it makes sense for them to share in the homemaking based on their individual strengths.

Anyway, my point is, liberals and conservatives alike are worried because their young ladies are dressing like Britney when they are five, having sex way to soon (before they are ready, because the media makes them think they are ready), and are made to think from a young age that their role in the home is cleaning, cooking, and caring for the kids. We need to do something about this media and these companies that are imposing culture on us. SAY NO to TV!!

And speaking of cleaning stuff, you can clean your whole house with vinegar, baking soda, water and lemon juice.

Cheers :)

Hello!!

Today I went to a social justice fair. It was SO great to be around a bunch of liberals!! Plus, I learned ALOT!

Yes. So here is a short recap.

This really, really, REALLY made me very ANGRY. HOW the HELL did I not KNOW this. I mean, I knew things were bad, but I didn't know they were that bad. and I didn't realize how much of MY. YOURS. OUR. tax money was going to this HELLISH bullcrap horror:

We give Israel 7 million a day. They use it to build up their army and weaponry and to test those weapons on Palestinians. We only ever hear about when Palestinians kill Israelis, but Israelis kill the Palestinians 4 times as often. And most Palestinians are killed on their OWN land (99%), and about half of Israeli deaths occur on Palestinian land. Israelis make it hard for Palestinians to live by deliberately destroying their property, forcing them out of their homes, demolishing their homes, arresting and beating them up for no reason, ETC ETC. Basically it is some serious US supported apartheid.