It's official! Remember back in November when I said we were writing a book? It's out now, available in stores, on Amazon, and even on Audible!! (WHAT???) We still can hardly believe it. THANK YOU to everybody who already pre-ordered - your early sales helped our publisher, Tiller Press at Simon and Schuster, sell more copies to area distributors! If you haven't had a chance yet, you can now pick up your copy today! This book has been over a year in the making, and represents

One of my most frequent memories of childhood and adolescence - and even into young adulthood and still sometimes to this day - are the seemingly random, sudden, and all-encompassing epiphanies I experience (rarely now, but still) when it comes to words and concepts we use in every day life. A "crosswalk" is called a "crosswalk" because people use it to "walk" a"cross" the street. *mic drop* 0_O Mind blowing, right? Or get this one: We refer to car engines having a certain am

When I was growing up, there was one descriptor that followed me around everywhere - at home, at school, visiting family - everyone seemed to key in on this one part of my personality and turn it into a reason for praise. Or at least, a reason to take notice. This one phrase became so ubiquitous that it fused into my self-identity: "She is so meticulous." Meticulousness was a specialty of mine. It still is, though I have learned to turn it down, because you simply cannot be a

My mother helped me with a great many life lessons growing up. Some on purpose, some by accident - all from a place of love and as the result of accumulated wisdom from her own life experiences, which were so many and varied. I could cite many lessons which I still carry with me today, and which I hope to pass on to my children. One in particular has come in highly useful more than once - especially given my tendency to over-analyze, to over-think, to nearly paralyze myself s

You know the kind. That’s right - good old fashioned Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, in the royal blue box, complete with cheese packet and “just add milk“ instructions. A common staple in the diet of many kids across the US, and indeed - for some - the only staple! While I definitely loved Kraft Mac&Cheese as a kid, I was a special case. (No surprise.) I had discovered the existence of Kraft Mac&Cheese with character-shaped noodles. This particular discovery led to trouble one af

In my last memory post, I shared one of only two things that ever caused significant strife in my teenage relationship with my parents: the fact that I insisted on keeping my bedroom window open through all weathers and seasons. Now, I want to share the other source of strife, because I have realized, as an adult, that both had very much to do with my autism. When I was very young, I experienced none of the developmental delays that often can mark autism in young children - I

Occasionally on this blog I will share a personal experience from my childhood or college years, which has taken on new light with the recent discovery of my ASD. For this first one I naturally gravitated to a memory that is particularly strong, because it was one of only two things that ever caused anything close to the stereotypical parent-teenage strife in my adolescence. Both of the two things, now that I look back, had very much to do with my individual manifestations of