Pressing Puzzles

I agree in many cases that " The love of Money is the root of all evil ". I'm not a big fan of money, of course I'm not rich, but believe it or not...it doesn't really matter. I didn't come into this world with money and when I leave...it's not going with me! The only irony in all of this is that my favorite color is green. It has been since I was a kid. ( But, it wasn't because of money .) I believe the issue I have the most about money is trying to keep everything organized as to bills that needed to be paid versus trying to purchase items that might be needed for the family. To be honest, my wife JaimeeAsperger's, I might miss or forget important details that could be critical to our budget. I did make an open observation that slapped me right in the face when I was given a credit card for me to use because we have to be careful about our funds at the current time. Little did I know that I ended up 'nickel and diming' myself right th...

When it comes to setting my priorities, you would think this would be a "No Brainer", but with my Asperger's ( and my wif e); that's not always the case. My problem is "the situation", not the guy from Jersey Shore, I mean when anything like my job or my family comes into a conflict for me ( hinds the situation ); I actually find it difficult to make to proper decision. Why I say my wife, is because she feels there are many times when I do something for work, where as I should’ve been something else I needed to do for the family – ahead of the job. I think the main problem with priorities is that I tend to be a "do it now" person. Sometimes, it is a good idea to get things done right away, but there are times when I should put certain things off because of some more pressing matter. With my memory issues, I tend to forget a task if I don't address it right away, it rarely gets taken care of. As Shakespeare would say, therein lays the rub, if...

"In God We Trust." Or so it says on all of our currency, but what does that mean to you and me? As an adult with Asperger's, trust is one thing I try to open myself up for a little more, but it sometimes comes back to get me in the end. With my view on trust, it seems like I have two extremes; I either put my full faith into someone or something, or not at all. I generally don't tend to be an "all or nothing" person, but with trust, that seems to be the case. I'll never forget as a father and looking at my daughters when they were babies; I'd often think to myself how much they trust and depend on me. If they didn't trust me as their dad, they might be dead now because they are completely vulnerable, being so young. One time I remember when Megan and I were going into a fast food restaurant and we were going in between some cars. We were about ready to cross through the drive-thru when I spotted an on-coming car. Megan was too little to see o...

I would like warn everyone right now that my wife could easily write the rest of this blog. ( It wouldn't surprise me if her comment is longer than my blog !) There are two things everyone needs to understand about listening, 1.) It's not the same as 'hearing'. Hearing is one of your 5 senses, it helps you with the listening, but they are different. 2.) Listening is work. I have told my speech and drama classes that for years and each time they look at me like I'm nuts. ( Depending on your definition !) To actually listen, it takes a lot of effort and energy. Eye contact and acknowledgment of the speaker is mandatory. As adult with Asperger's, the toughest of those has to be the eye contact. My wife is a very beautiful woman, but even with her good looks, I still have a hard time looking in the eyes for a long period of time...especially when she's mad at me! I've been married for over 20 years and the one thing that makes a differences beginning able ...

If there was anyone that can smell out something odd about you...it would be a bully. They all had this uncanny knack of being able to zero in on anyone that might be a little off from the rest of the pack.  ThePostGame.com   had this to say about bullies: "Experts say that more than 150,000 children miss school every day because they are afraid of being bullied. More than half of all schoolchildren have witnessed a bullying incident and three of every four students say bullying is a problem at their school." I'm a teacher and even that surprised me! I knew it has aways been an issue, but I think this is the first time experts have actually studied this problem. The report did go on to say: "The bulk of bullying occurs from the fourth through the eighth grades, although it can continue through high school and even in the workplace. Bullying is intimidation or domination toward someone perceived as weaker, a way to establish superiority through coercion or ...

If there was one program I was truly grateful for my parents signing me up in, it was the Boy Scouts of America. I'm sure the next question you're thinking is did I earn the final badge that is given...Eagle? The answer is...heck yeah! I'm very proud to say that I'm an Eagle Scout, since 1986! ( Man, I'm gettin' old !) The other cool thing is that my brother is one as well! They were able to provide so many experiences and interesting times. One thing I wished I knew was how many times my wife and I had crossed paths as we were growing up. There is one thing I can say though; every year our local mall ( Metro North ) would host the Boy Scouts exhibition. My troop, 314 ( Sponsored by the Platte Woods United Methodist Church – My old church ), would do the Indian dancing in the middle of the mall for literally, everyone to see. Jaimee remembers the times when she would watch us dance and make funny comments about the outfits...or there the lack of! It was more f...

Anger is a learned behavior. When we come into this world, we comprehend how to react to things by watching others. One of my many...many weaknesses has always been my anger. As you can tell I enjoy writing and whenever I've written in my characters for a story, at least one would have an anger issue. The story I'm currently writing now called Horizon, the main character Miko has problems with her rage. It's something she'll have to deal with throughout the entire story. I guess in many ways it's a reflection on how I've had to handle it. Early in our marriage, I had warned my wife that I would need her help in making sure I wouldn’t let the anger get ahold of me, for the main reason...the kids. I love my girls way too much for them to pick up the same bad habit. Yes, I obviously understand that we all get angry from time to time. ( Even Jesus got angry when merchants were selling their items in the temple .) I'm talking about an extreme anger when in many ...