I'm Starting Early

Can you tell from the graphic what I did today? Yes, I'm starting early. I bought the first Christmas present for the upcoming holiday. Well, that isn't exactly true. I bought a couple of things just after Christmas last year.

I always like to start my Christmas shopping early. Why? Because after the end of September it seems that prices escalate quite a bit. Another reason is that I dislike crowds and all the Christmas hype that goes with them. Usually I have to pick up a few last minute things and that is enough for me.

Keep in mind that Christmas is only 16 weeks and one day from today. Most of the year is over. Summer has gone by in a flash and fall is in the air. Before we know it, it will be December 1st and the Christmas rush will be on.

Enjoy the autumn scents and colors as they come on later this month. I enjoy autumn but am not looking forward to winter. I guess I'm getting old.

Blessings, ~Mary~

Harvest Time

Harvest time if one of my favorite times of the year. It is the time when all of the fresh produce is being sold at roadside stands. I enjoy sweet corn and though it can be purchased from the grocery store all year 'round, we only eat it when it is in season.

This afternoon I had a craving for sweet corn, so hubby and I took a drive to a farmer's roadside stand not far from here. It is about a ten minute drive. We bought sweet corn, cucumbers, green peppers, beefsteak tomatoes and a basket of freshly dug potatoes.

Here is a plate of fresh veggies that I cut up for us to enjoy. If you have never tasted a beefsteak tomato, you've never had a really delicious one. These are the kind of tomatoes that my parents and grandparents grew when I was a kid. This year the boys and I planted 3 plants but the tomatoes on them aren't quite ripe yet. I'm looking forward to the day when we can pick one to eat. In the meantime, hubby and I enjoyed these.

Hubby grilled pork chops on the BBQ. He always puts BBQ sauce on them and lets it cook into them well.
The sweet corn was perfect. Here is what I cooked. Two cobs each and we ate every last kernel. The entire meal was delicious. We didn't bother with potatoes. The veggies, corn and pork chops were great and we have pork chops left over to warm up for tomorrow night's supper.

The photo below is of Brandon and Jordan making the Lego Bionicles that Pea gave them when we met last week. They loved them and want me to thank Pea on my blog. I told them I would. So Pea, Brandon and Jordan thank you for the gifts of one of their favorite Lego projects. They have collected Bionicles for years and didn't have any of the latest ones. They had a lot of fun building them.

The Autism Puzzle

Did anyone watch The Autism Puzzle on television on Sunday night? I found the show very interesting. It touched on different aspects of the autism spectrum. Some children are low functioning autistic, which means that it can take them years to learn basic lessons that other children know instinctively, such as a few simple words. The show also touched on high functioning autism, which means no one knows the person has autism by looking at them, but do know that he acts differently.

People who suffer from any type of autism do not see things the same as we see them. The show touched on a study at Yale University where they tested children with and without autism. The researchers showed the children images of people on a television screen and monitored their eye movements. Children with autism didn't look at the upper part of people's faces. More often they concentrated on the area around the mouth. This is typical of those who have autism. They have no eye contact and if the autism is severe, they may not even be able to tell the difference between people and objects.

One in every 150 people suffer from autism. As my regular readers will know, one of these people is my grandson, Brandon. The chances are that you also know someone on the autism spectrum, even though they've never been formally diagnosed with the disorder. Many adults who have struggled all of their life have autism, yet no diagnosis has ever been made.

Today, 1 in 150 children are being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. That sounds like a lot. Could it be because there are more cases of autism or just that it was never diagnosed in previous years?

There is no cure for autism but with autism research, children can be taught many things that will help them live a happy and fulfilling life. Please help to raise autism awareness.

Winner of the Harvest Giveaway

Thanks to Everyone who participated in my Harvest Giveaway. I used the Random Number Generator to choose the winner. Here are the results:
16
Timestamp: 2008-08-31 15:37:53 UTC


The winner is Kathleen Marie from the Open Window. Congratulations Kathleen. I will need your snail mail address. Please send it to me as soon as possible so I can get your parcel out in the mail.