Watch it, Watch it! August 2021

“WATCH IT, WATCH IT!”

THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER FOR AUTISTIC INTERPRETATIONS®

Welcome! I am Val. My adult daughter Jess and I live together and have a loving and fun relationship. We share our daily adventures, travels, struggles, and the strong loving village that surrounds us.

What words would you use to sum up your July? If I had to choose 10 words to describe July they would be: pooldays, poodles, zucchini, birthdays, anxiety, camping, family, laughter, “stredding”, and Q&A.

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED IN JULY

Pooldays

Jess has basically loved being in running water forever.  Check out these adorable photos of baby Jess playing in the water circa 1989. Pooldays are a summertime favorite and this year is no exception. Independence Day we hosted our family for a poolday barbecue and enjoyed sharing it with many of you through a YouTube livestream. 

One of the things Jess likes most about the pool is listening to the running water.  While Jess prefers the hose on, she is also quite content to sort through her many pool toys.  The fish are quite a hit this year!

Poodles

Zoe and Daryl have brought more joy than we could have imagined.  Jess continues to amaze us at overcoming her tactile defensiveness.  She is not quite as confident with Daryl yet, but we are working on it.  And for those who just do neeeeed it, Hannah’s Instagram account (@HannahBroooks) is a reliable source for poodle love.

Zucchini

My vegetable garden is really coming along and we had plenty of zucchinis to work with in July!  Let’s just say it was hit and miss.  Given Jessica’s love of hash browns we were excited to try zucchini hash browns.  If you’ve watched the bideo you’ll know Jessica’s reaction went from a polite “I liked it” to “it was horrible”.  The reaction to zucchini pineapple bread was much more enthusiastic.

Our zucchini extravaganza continued with “Squash” casserole.  BadDaddy came over to help and the “squash” (AKA zucchini) was, according to Jessica, “good”.  You can find the recipe in the video description.

Birthdays!

We celebrated two family birthdays this month: Jessica and my nephew (Jessica and Hanna’s cousin) Graeme.    Jessica turned 34 and Graeme turned 7.  

We so appreciate the affection and appreciation shown by our #goodones followers.  Thank you so very much for your kind words and thoughtfulness in helping celebrate Jess.  We recorded a special birthday livestream with our Club Crispy supporter group.

Anxiety

Anxiety is always present in our reality.  A lifetime with Jess has made us better at handling her anxiety. Getting the right medication mix is also key.  A while back Hannah actually wrote a terrific blog entry on Jessica’s anxiety.

Keeping it real, we shared a recent glimpse into one of the tougher days.  

Camping

This year our annual camping trip to the mountains fell on Jessica’s birthday.  I wasn’t sure how she would react to the idea of spending her birthday in a tent, but she handled the news well.  It doesn’t hurt that tubing is one of Jessica’s very favorite activities! 

We’ve gone camping for years and this was the first year that Jess really took an interest to ‘keep that fire going‘.

Family

We are a close extended family.  Whether it’s a long weekend, camping, or celebrating birthdays, our family enjoys spending time together. 

Nonnie had knee surgery earlier this year and the recovery has been longer than any of us would have liked.  By late July Nonnie was feeling better and what a treat it was for Jess to spend the night with Nonnie and Granddad.  It was the first time in over a year!

Stredding (Shredding)

Shredding made a bit of a comeback in July.  Jess enjoys shredding.  Over the years we’ve gone through three shredding machines already.  Shredding was on the agenda several times in July.  Literally. 

I experimented with creating a bit of a daily to-do list for Jessica using an agenda, or ‘nagenda’ as Jess calls it.  I haven’t decided if we will stick with the agenda, but at least we made some progress on the shredding in July!

Laughter

They say laughter is the best medicine, and we certainly live by that in our family.  #GoodOne – #BadOne teasing is a surefire way to bring out Jessica’s dimples.  Dirty garbage rap in the morning is also a pretty good indication we are in for some laughs.  And, you can be pretty sure that when Marlow and Jessica head out, there’s going to be laughter.

Q&A

I am committed to creating a variety of content and managed to add a couple more Q&A bideos to the playlist.  Topics covered this month include one of my most difficult ones yet to address Jessica’s daily living skills.

For those who are interested in some more perspective on travelling with Jess, I recommend you check out  “How do we accommodate Jessica’s needs when we travel?“.  In the other July Q&A I addressed how I decide when to tell Jess things, and when not to tell (or delay) telling her.

If you have any questions you’d like me to answer, please put them in the comments below. 

HERE’S THE PLAN

August

Hannah finishes her move back home
A New School Year – Hannah Starts Back to Work
More Vegetables from the Garden

September

Kick start fall with 30 days of …

October

More adventures

FAQ

DO WE HAVE A YOUTUBE CHANNEL?
WHAT DOES JESSICA SEE?
HAS JESS ALWAYS TALKED?
WHY DID WE START CLUB CRISPY?

FOR YOUR CALENDAR

• AUG 01 – Friendship Day
• AUG 04 – National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day
• AUG 08 – Sneak Some Zucchini on Your Neighbor’s Porch Day
• AUG 08 – Middle Child’s Day
• AUG 13 – Left Hander’s Day
• AUG 19 – National Potato Day
• AUG 20 – World Mosquito Day
• AUG 26 – National Dog Day
• AUG 31 – National Eat Outside Day

Thanks from the bottom of our hearts for following along in our journey! We enjoy sharing our joyful life with you all, and love knowing all of the various ways our story and videos help others.

If you like what we are doing at Autistic Interpretations and would like to help us continue to make videos, please check out https://autisticinterpretations.com/join-club-crispy/.