Ten Minutes Worth of Stuff! Go go go!

I have exactly ten minutes before I need to hop in the shower, (writer's group tonight! Yay!) so here we go!

1. My parents came down, and it was absolutely lovely. We had a really, really good time. The kids just reveled in the attention.

2. I actually won something! Seriously, you guys know my awful luck, so this was extra sweet. I won a super cute ring from Jasmin at Frog Princess Designs. It's so adorable, and it really made my day. You can see her stuff at http://frogprincessdesigns.blogspot.com/. There's a lot of whimsy there.

3. I think that Niko has autism, along with Williams Syndrome. It's an idea that has been niggling at me for a while, but I was reading a newspaper article a few days ago that hit me like a cement truck. It talked about how Autism is often characterised by losing the sounds that they used to make. Niko's babbling? His "Grudge" sound? Mamama, bababa, it's all gone. Nothing. He cries, and sometimes says "Ah," but not like he used to, not at all. I maybe hear something out of him five times a day. It's heartbreaking. So I'm switching pediatricians from The Children's Doctor From Hell to somebody that my friend recommends, and we'll do some more testing. Or it could be after effects from his abusive teacher, I don't know. Anyway, wish us luck.

4. I have a new poem up at http://www.abrokenlaptop.wordpress.com/. Remember months ago when I withdrew some poems from a magazine that I thought was defunct, and they wrote me saying, "Why did you do that?" The answer was "Because I'm so green at this, auuughhhh!" and they forgave me and wanted to run my poem anyway. So go see it, if you want to! :)

5. I am having the best time making some things for the crafting meme. I had a few horror writers comment, and it's especially fun to make them gifts. They have a little more....bite. >:)

Later!