Somewhere in there I bought a house, sold a house (never do it in this order, by the way...and when the Realtor tells you not to worry, that your old house will sell lickety-split now that all your crap is out of it, HE IS LYING), got a new dog, chopped off my hair after growing it out, and manufactured at least 27 new wrinkles. More than half of those appeared during this past Christmas season, when DH was to be deployed to a large sandy area that starts with the letter between "H" and "J." [Just playing along with the cloak-and-dagger routine of miltary secrecy.] In one of those crazy good news/bad news twists, he was returned home to us after only three weeks in Texas, with a diagnosis of diabetes and high blood pressure to sort out.
The boys are now 7 and 4, entering second grade and a final year of preschool, respectively. After several years of playing "Name That Diagnosis" to no avail, a bright soul finally told us that the elder boy was not hyper, oppositionally defiant, or any of the other crap we'd been told, but has Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism. Though a label doesn't change him, it does make it easier on the rest of the family as we learn how his (scarily intelligent) brain works. We have nicknamed him "Beaker," after the excitable lab assistant from The Muppet Show,
as he has a tendency when he is talking to reach a pitch that only dogs can hear. Lately I have taken to calling the younger one "Pigpen," from The Peanuts cartoon. Every time I look at him, he seems to be encrusted in dirt from no apparent source.
So I finally finished that hat for poor DH during our vacation and it just barely fits. He tried it on, despite the heat, and flashed some ridiculous gang hand gestures and said, "Word." I take it that means he likes it better than the socks I made him, one of which is substantially larger than the other (hey, it was my first pair, cut me some slack.)
And I splurged and got myself a set of Knitpicks Options. They arrived today and I cannot wait to start something new on them. But I am making myself get through this afghan square first, and then I really need to get cracking on a pair of baby socks or a hat for a pregnant friend due in October.
