The silence is almost deafening!!!

I now know what that means. Today is the first time that I have been alone in almost 3 weeks! If you remember my Mom arrived for Christmas about 3 weeks ago and the girls have been off for 2 weeks. And yes it has been wonderful but now I feel like I need to get moving and get a bunch of neglected things done or as my Mom pointed out to me this morning when I spoke her, I could do what I wanted to do and not what anyone else wanted! But my house is so very quiet.

I will not really be posting anything food related today as I have nothing really to post. I have been sick for what feels like a while now (since New Year's Eve...hard to beleive that was only a week ago!) and the girls lunches have been either frozen hamburgers or fruit salad and I already used that one and then last night we went out for dinner.

Last night we went to Carrabba's for dinner. Now we always avoid the chains. Very rarely do we ever eat at any of them other than Moe's Southwest Grill (if you have one near you and you haven't tried it go on in! It is fast food, build it yourself with fresh ingredients concept...we love Moe's) Tony hates Carrabba's but it was close and we were tired and hungry so in we went and it was very pleasantly, surprisingly good! I had a penne pasta special with alfredo sauce, peas, prosciutto, and mushrooms. Loved it. Tony had a pizza which he liked and the girls had spaghetti and meatballs and chicken fingers. All around a good meal.

I hope that I am going to be better soon so I can get on with my life and blog about it!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

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Autism and ABA - Conor Is Eager To Get Back to School and ... ABA

Today was the first day back to school after Christmas vacation in our school district. For Conor that meant return to his Teacher Aides, his structure and routine and ... his Applied Behavior Analysis, (Discrete Trial Training version). And he couldn't wait to get back to school this morning. Conor was dressed, had his back pack in hand, and was on the step eager to get to school ... a good 20 minutes before it was time to leave.

There are some very high functioning autistic adults who claim that ABA violates the human rights of autistic persons and deprives them of their personalities. Some of those who make the claim are very intelligent and articulate adults who were not even diagnosed as autistic until their late teen and adult years; some had no involvement with ABA. These anti-ABA activists, by virtue of their excellent communication skills, do not share the same realities of life as Conor. Conor is echolalic, with limited understanding and command of language, without ABA we would have had no effective way to communicate with and teach him to adapt to the world, to the best of his ability, as we all must do.

The anti-ABA activists do not speak for Conor. He speaks for himself when he waits eagerly for his ABA therapist to arrive at home. Conor speaks for himself when he dresses for school 20-30 minutes early; eager to get back to school to his Teacher Aides, his routines ... and his ABA (DTT) based education.

ABA is a violation of Conor's human rights? A theft of his personality?

Conor's happy face says otherwise.

autism

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Stock the Freezer!

Winter has set in and after the holiday chaos, I don't want to put in too much effort cooking in the kitchen. To help make things easier during these cold months, I'm stocking my freezer with meals Ive prepared in advance. Spending a whole day cooking preparing several meals is also referred to OAMC/OAWC (once a month/week cooking).

Today I hosted an event dedicated to OAMC/OAWC. I had about 23 attendees come join me in the kitchen where we:
- prepped several meals to store
- learned grocery shopping tricks to stretch your money
- learned how to properly store foods in your freezer
- learned how to thaw and cook these prepped meals safely
- And everyone took home 5 prepped meals (serves 2) to enjoy!

A great freezer cooking resource I found extremely helpful can be viewed here.

Here are pics of the meals we prepped:

Firecracker Salmon

Garlic & Herb Cheese Stuffed ChickenHoney Mustard Pork ChopsThai Beef StirfryFour Cheese Vegetable Lasagna

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Conor Counting and Stimming

autism

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Autism Speaks Tackles Autism Crisis in South Florida Mar 24 - 28

Donald Trump, Bob Wright, Suzanne Wright, Melania Trump
Photo: TOWN-CRIER Online

Autism Speaks is continuing to show outstanding leadership in tackling the Autism Crisis in the US and around the world. Co-founders Bob and Suzanne Wright have joined with Donald and Melania Trump, local parents and autism advocates in organizing a South Florida autism awareness and fundraising initiative to take place during the last week in March. Autism Speaks Week, March 24-30, will include a number of activities including a Television News Series on the autism crisis of escalating rates of autism diagnoses, March 24 to 28 on NBC stations in the area, an on-line auction, ING Direct Ride Now South Florida motorcycle ride, Saturday, March 29, a telethon and broadcast of 'Autism Every Day', and a concert for Autism Speaks, headlined by Lionel Ritchie, Sunday March 20.

As stated by Bob and Suzanne Wright in TOWN-CRIER Online:

“Autism is a national health crisis that is affecting families in every corner of this country, from Florida to Alaska,” Bob Wright said. “Autism Speaks Week will shine a spotlight on the struggles of South Florida families and inform people about what they can do to improve the lives of individuals with autism in their community.” “Our hope is that this series of events will increase the level of understanding and acceptance,” Suzanne Wright added. “The money we raise will help Autism Speaks fund autism research and support community organizations here in South Florida and across the United States that provide critical services to children and adults with autism.”

The ability of Autism Speaks to generate public awareness of autism, raise funds for autism research is amazing. And now Autism Speaks is turning its considerable abilities to assisting local autism support organizations. Not content to engage in endless peurile debates over the appropriate metaphors to use in describing autism or whether to say "autistic person" or "person with autism" Autism Speaks is actually doing something constructive, in a big way, in addressing the Autism Crisis.

autism

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It sure looks like summer!

This picture makes me think of the hot, dog days of summer. Lucky for us though it was taken today. We went to our local farmer's market this morning and got some really wonderful looking stuff. Florida Strawberries are ripe now as are our tomatoes. I hope not too much was hurt by the freeze we had last week! We got home and all the girl's wanted for lunch was fruit salad and who could blame them. Fresh strawberries, blueberries (unfortunately imported) and local carambola. Sure made for a pretty picture!

Also don't forget to vote for my entry in the Royal Foodie Joust. Voting only goes until the 7th!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

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Υγεία να υπάρχει !

Το βίντεο έχει ανεβάσει στο you Tube ο Γιώργος Γαλίτης,παιζοντας έξοχα ο ίδιος νεαρός ταλαντούχος ηθοποιός ένα επιθεωρησιακό Νούμερο του , από το "Πατρις εξαμαρτείν" καλοκαίρι 2007.

Τον Σωτήρη Μουστάκα που του μοιάζει θα τον θυμόμαστε σαν Τσιτσιάνο στο φίλμ του Σμαραγδή El Greco και από τον Ταρτούφο του περσινού χειμώνα που έπαιζε με τους Καρακατσάνη, Κωνσταντίνου κλπ.

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