The things that matter to me today.

Today I'm going to post about things that I am really enjoying, or really upset about, etc. I have a post coming about Amtrak and my husband's adventures with them, but that will get written tomorrow. Today is about other things.

I have a family member with Down Syndrome. I have known many people with various disabilities all my life.  That's why I use people first language and I don't use the word retard, hereafter know as the R-word. The movie The Change-up has a passage where one of the characters uses the R-word and "downsy" to describe a child. This really upset me, but Rob at Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords said it better than me.

To get more information about what you can do to end the use of the R-word as a insult, punchline or to describe something as lesser than, check out Spread the Word to End the Word

This is their PSA.

Jen from Cakewrecks and Epbot usually makes me laugh. This post that she posted about her grandfather made me cry. And if you knew how much I hate to cry you would know why that's  a big deal. Go read it. Even if you hate to cry. You will be glad that you did.


I love to read. That's why I got myself a Nook for my birthday. I love to read mysteries and books with strong female characters. The Mary Russell books, written by Laurie R. King meet both of those criteria. There is a blog and Twitter, @mary_russell, that are "written" by the character.  The premise of the series is that Mary Russell meets Sherlock Holmes when she is a girl of 15 and he is in his 50s (I think it is). He takes her in as an apprentice, and they eventually marry. The books take place in the early 1900s, from the time of WWI, and into the 20s. There's a new one coming out soon, and a Twitter tea party. Check them out.

These are a few of the things that matter to me today. There are a lot of political things, but I'm done ranting today. Feel free to continue to visit me and share some things that matter to you. If you like me, let me know. I love validation. If you don't then just lie to me.

You can follow me on Twitter if you want, I'm occasionally witty there. @tetisheri1972

Oh wow! I have had 32 hits in the past day. That's the most I have ever had in a 24 hours period. I'm guessing that it's because I've commented on some blogs and a few other things lately. Well, hello to all you people. I hope that you stay, which of course means that I need to get back into the habit of posting more than once a month or two.

I'm just going to blame it on summer break. The Boy has been home since June. School starts back again in a couple weeks. I'm just thrilled about it. I love having him home, but the last couple weeks of summer are just stressful. We all start picking at each other. I joke around that I love my son more when school in session. It's kind of a joke, and kind of night. Getting space from each other helps The Boy and me breathe for a minute or two. We are too much  alike, right down to our primary diagnoses.

In other news, we're driving down to Boston today to pick up DH at the train station. I sent him back to Indiana for a couple of weeks vacation. I am too smart to visit IN in August, and frankly I have no desire to visit his friends. Anyone I would have wanted to see doesn't live in that section of the state anyway. So, I stayed home. I got a break from him, which was nice.

I hate driving in Boston. I hate driving *to* Boston. I've managed to avoid it for 8 years up until 2 weeks ago, and here I am doing it 2x in 1 month. Sigh. Oh well. He's ready to come home, and I'm ready to see him. He had to get on the bus at 1 am. He will pull into Boston at 9 pm.

The Boy and I are going to drive down. I'll take my music, he'll use my laptop and watch movies all the way down and back. That will make the whole trip so much easier.

So, I'll work on remembering to post more often. Hopefully some of you people will stay around, and read my blog. If you like me let me know. I love validation. If you don't like me, lie. :)