Piece #80 - Happy Birthday?

If you've read any of my previous posts then you know that November 6th is my birthday. It is a little ironic that I write this on my birthday. The reason I'm writing this is because as an adult with Asperger's, birthdays used to be very special to me, not just the fact it reminded me how old I was, but I guess I liked it because it was all about me. In some small way, I saw my birthday as a more special time than Christmas when I was young. For some crazy reason, I can still remember a moment when I had turned 7, I was climbing a tree in the front yard and just thinking that it was my birthday and I knew what was going to happen. I do remember a few times when I was little older, getting to go to Showbiz Pizza Place (it's now known as Chuck E. Cheese) and boy did I have a blast! Lots of arcade games, games that you could win tickets to get free stuff and they had an animatronic show with all the mechanical animals singing like the ones you see at theme parks. As for the pizza, I guess it was okay, it really didn't matter to me. I can't remember which birthday it was, but probably my most favorite cake when I was younger was a Batman cake with plastic bats surrounding the cake and on top was a Batman figure who was ready to leap over a fence I believe. I just thought that was the coldest cake I had ever seen.

It's kind of funny that I really can't remember a lot of the gifts I had received over the years because I tend to get them confused with Christmas and Easter presents. I was always excited about the gifts because that was the biggest reward about having a birthday. Don't get me wrong, I did like having grandparents there or best friends to celebrate with, but hands down the presents were what I would tend to fixate on. (Love that OCD!) Of course, as I have gotten older, a lot of that has changed.

I know that most people still tend to really whoop it up when it's their birthday, but those are the kind of people who are big partiers. There is nothing wrong with older people like myself to go celebrate, but that's just not me because I just feel uncomfortable in those situations. There is a little part of me that is happy that it's my birthday, but it is nowhere near like it used to be. In a tiny way, I actually miss those times, not the fact that I was a lot younger, but the great times I had as a kid. I am a little disappointed that I can't remember all of my birthdays having autism, but I do remember some of them and pictures help with my bad memory. I know my wife would always like to do something special, but generally we would do too much...maybe dinner and/or a movie. Jaimee really does want to really celebrate, but when it comes to her birthday...not so much. I will say that one of my proudest times with Jaimee's birthday was that I actually through her a surprise party with all of our friends when we still lived in southern Missouri. Jaimee had turned 30 that year and I wanted to make it really special. I learned a valuable lesson from that experience...surprise parties are very hard to arrange!!!

In my perspective about birthdays is that you only get to be that age one time, for a year and then it's over. I really try to make each year mean something positive and reflect on what I might have done right and what I might have screwed up on. It is a passage of time that we never get back and do want to make the most of it. I would try to see the positive, but there have been too many times when I look back in frustration because something may not have turned out like I had hoped it would or I really missed an opportunity that I will never get again. I can truly say that my birthday has changed a great deal to me, but I still try to have a little fun.

{Election Day will fall on my birthday and we've elected several presidents on that day like Lincoln, Eisenhower and Obama. Daylight Savings Time has ended on my birthday. If today is your birthday too then we share it with Sally Fields, Rebecca Romijn, Emma Stone, Maria Shriver, Ethan Hawke, etc.}

Song of Inspiration (Check it out on iTunes or Android!):

Song: "Heart Attack"

Artist: Manafest

Album: Fighter

I simply picked this song because I love it and it is my birthday!!! It is an awesome song and here's the video...or a least a few pics with the song...sorry.

Sorry, I had to have Deadpool!

Piece #111 - First Impressions

"You already know that making a good first impression can go a long way. But forget all the advice you've received about dressing to impress or putting on a cheesy smile. Turns out, the true secret to building a lasting connection reaches much deeper than what you wear." "According to Amy Cuddy, a Harvard Business School professor who has researched first impressions for more than 15 years, everyone (consciously or subconsciously) asks two questions when they meeting someone new: Can I trust this person? And can I respect this person?" This quote comes from Reader's Digest and I actually found this rather compelling because I never really heard of this before. I've addressed this topic of first impressions in the past but, I have to admit that this idea is interesting. I guess since you hear a lot of things from a smile, the outfit or what you say make the difference; however these two questions have me a little perplexed. I think it depends on the ...

Piece #1 - The Beginning

I guess like embarking on any puzzle, it must always starts with the first piece. So to begin, I have Asperger's Syndrome, in other words I'm Autistic, and so this literature will be about my struggles with this disorder as an adult. I was first diagnosed back in the summer of 2004. If it wasn't for my twin daughters, I might not have ever known all the questions I have ever had in life; to them, I will always be in their debt. Growing up, you are never really aware of any differences until the judgment years...6th thru 12th grade of school. A time when one always tests their own humanity against others; meaning, how will I measure up against other students. In my eyes I seemed to be just like them; two arms and legs, ten fingers and toes, head and body...nothing unusual. Yet, for some reason, I was treated a little different than everyone else. That's one of those things that you can't quite put your finger on, but I observed on many occasions how kids would talk...

Broken Piece #2 - Susan Boyle

For those of you who are not sure who is Susan Boyle, she was the second place winner to the show "Britain's Got Talent" in 2009. She sang the famous song from Les Misérables "I Dreamed the Dream". Since the show, Susan had been making guest appearances on a variety of shows and recorded several albums. Susan's first album alone broke several chart-records and was very well received around the world. I believe why she had such incredible appeal was because she was a perfect representative of all the 'regular people' in the world. She didn't come in flashy or striking but, modest and humble. When a person like Susan is thrown into the whirlwind of concerts, parties, media, and money, it's very difficult to stay grounded and not having your own personal world torn apart. Sadly for Susan Boyle, her tiny universe is crumbling. First, she did have a health scare when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes that prompted her to lose weight. Se...

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