Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
You know you grew up in Hamilton if...
1. You remember The Parfait House on Rt.33.
2. At some point in high school, you worked somewhere on Rt. 33. Bonus points if it was at the Roy Rogers (now Applebee's).
3. You know the Big Tree in the middle of both lanes on Quakerbridge Road, and it doesn't impress you anymore.
4. You remember when they had a movie theatre at the Quakerbridge Mall across from Space Port.
5. You run into old teachers when you go drinking at Bill's Olde Tavern and it freaks you out every time.
6. You went on at least one date to the Golden Dawn.
7. You used to buy your school clothes at Clover and now it's some fancy gym that you can't really afford.
8. You went on a school trip to Safety Town by the Hamilton Police Station and you remember it like it was yesterday.
9. You know of at least five places to get a good porkroll sandwich, and you know at least five places where the porkroll sucks.
10. You still remember the school colors of all three high schools no matter which one you went to.
11. You remember the Electric Playground. Bonus points if you contracted Mono from someone there.
12. You still laugh at the various things that IROC (the car) stands for.
13. You left Hamilton to buy your WigWams at Trenton Joe's and bragged about it. "Yeah, I got these at Trenton Joe's."
14. You don't think you have a Jersey accent because you're not from North Jersey. But guess what? You do.
15. You've eaten some sort of pastry from Eet Gud Bakery. Bonus points if you remember that Eet Gud Bakery was located at the corner of Grayson Ave. and Nottingham Way before it burnt down.
16. You've gone to Midnight Bowling at Hamilton Lanes and liked it.
17. If you went to Nottingham, you thought you were upscale enough to go to Steinert, but you weren't. If you went to Steinert, you thought you were tough enough to go to West, but you weren't. If you went to West, you thought that you could beat up every kid at Nottingham and Steinert simultaneously with your hands tied behind your back...and you really could. Bonus points if you remember when Steinert was built.
18. It seems weird for you to call someone "Mayor" other than Jack Rafferty.
19. You were kind of proud when the Anthrax scare came from Hamilton because the town looked badass to the rest of the nation.
20. You wrote your term papers at the Hamilton Library when they still had the card catalogs. And the librarians actually looked like librarians. You also hated going upstairs to retrieve a book.
21. You've done some serious grocery shopping at a Wawa or 7-Eleven.
22. You played some sort of organized sport that was sponsored by a Hamilton body shop, pizza place, or printing company and you got your gear at Four Seasons. You also got your High School jacket from there.
23. You bought your shoes at Carella's shoe store. Bonus points if you remember the original shoe store was next door at the card store.
24. When giving directions in Hamilton, you will often use Five Points as a reference.
25. You've narrowly missed many accidents at Five Points. Bonus points if you remember Five Points didn't have traffic lights.
26. You remember Mercerville Fire Company blowing out for fires. Bonus points for remembering the volunteers driving their cars into the gas station (was it Exxon?, now Trent Jewelers), jumping out and dashing across Five Points to get on the trucks. Extra bonus points for remembering when volunteers stood on the back of the fire truck and waving to the kids as they went by.
27. You remember Mercerville Shopping Center having an Acme where Ace Hardware and Party Fair are now. Bonus Points if you remember A&P being where Hamilton Farm Market and the Carpet store are.
28. You remember when the Quakerbridge Mall had a kiddie play area that was carpeted and set deep into the floor.
29. You remember the Old Heidelberg Restaurant, now DeFranks Appliance Store.
30. You remember the old Donnelly Hospital that was used for TB patients. Bonus points if you remember it being used for Mercer County Vo Tech classes.
31. You still call Cost Cutters "Throat Cutters".
32. You know the urban legend of "The Cypress Lane Killer" and kind of believe it to be true.
33. Officer Friendly came to your school and you couldn't stop staring at his gun because you'd never see a real one before.
34. Your parents took you to Columbus and it seemed really far away.
35. You remember Charlie Brown's as Brother's Bar.
36. You'll probably take your kids for breakfast at the Golden Dawn after church or a soccer game and you'll smile.
2. At some point in high school, you worked somewhere on Rt. 33. Bonus points if it was at the Roy Rogers (now Applebee's).
3. You know the Big Tree in the middle of both lanes on Quakerbridge Road, and it doesn't impress you anymore.
4. You remember when they had a movie theatre at the Quakerbridge Mall across from Space Port.
5. You run into old teachers when you go drinking at Bill's Olde Tavern and it freaks you out every time.
6. You went on at least one date to the Golden Dawn.
7. You used to buy your school clothes at Clover and now it's some fancy gym that you can't really afford.
8. You went on a school trip to Safety Town by the Hamilton Police Station and you remember it like it was yesterday.
9. You know of at least five places to get a good porkroll sandwich, and you know at least five places where the porkroll sucks.
10. You still remember the school colors of all three high schools no matter which one you went to.
11. You remember the Electric Playground. Bonus points if you contracted Mono from someone there.
12. You still laugh at the various things that IROC (the car) stands for.
13. You left Hamilton to buy your WigWams at Trenton Joe's and bragged about it. "Yeah, I got these at Trenton Joe's."
14. You don't think you have a Jersey accent because you're not from North Jersey. But guess what? You do.
15. You've eaten some sort of pastry from Eet Gud Bakery. Bonus points if you remember that Eet Gud Bakery was located at the corner of Grayson Ave. and Nottingham Way before it burnt down.
16. You've gone to Midnight Bowling at Hamilton Lanes and liked it.
17. If you went to Nottingham, you thought you were upscale enough to go to Steinert, but you weren't. If you went to Steinert, you thought you were tough enough to go to West, but you weren't. If you went to West, you thought that you could beat up every kid at Nottingham and Steinert simultaneously with your hands tied behind your back...and you really could. Bonus points if you remember when Steinert was built.
18. It seems weird for you to call someone "Mayor" other than Jack Rafferty.
19. You were kind of proud when the Anthrax scare came from Hamilton because the town looked badass to the rest of the nation.
20. You wrote your term papers at the Hamilton Library when they still had the card catalogs. And the librarians actually looked like librarians. You also hated going upstairs to retrieve a book.
21. You've done some serious grocery shopping at a Wawa or 7-Eleven.
22. You played some sort of organized sport that was sponsored by a Hamilton body shop, pizza place, or printing company and you got your gear at Four Seasons. You also got your High School jacket from there.
23. You bought your shoes at Carella's shoe store. Bonus points if you remember the original shoe store was next door at the card store.
24. When giving directions in Hamilton, you will often use Five Points as a reference.
25. You've narrowly missed many accidents at Five Points. Bonus points if you remember Five Points didn't have traffic lights.
26. You remember Mercerville Fire Company blowing out for fires. Bonus points for remembering the volunteers driving their cars into the gas station (was it Exxon?, now Trent Jewelers), jumping out and dashing across Five Points to get on the trucks. Extra bonus points for remembering when volunteers stood on the back of the fire truck and waving to the kids as they went by.
27. You remember Mercerville Shopping Center having an Acme where Ace Hardware and Party Fair are now. Bonus Points if you remember A&P being where Hamilton Farm Market and the Carpet store are.
28. You remember when the Quakerbridge Mall had a kiddie play area that was carpeted and set deep into the floor.
29. You remember the Old Heidelberg Restaurant, now DeFranks Appliance Store.
30. You remember the old Donnelly Hospital that was used for TB patients. Bonus points if you remember it being used for Mercer County Vo Tech classes.
31. You still call Cost Cutters "Throat Cutters".
32. You know the urban legend of "The Cypress Lane Killer" and kind of believe it to be true.
33. Officer Friendly came to your school and you couldn't stop staring at his gun because you'd never see a real one before.
34. Your parents took you to Columbus and it seemed really far away.
35. You remember Charlie Brown's as Brother's Bar.
36. You'll probably take your kids for breakfast at the Golden Dawn after church or a soccer game and you'll smile.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
A New Park
We went to a new park in our area. It was very nice, although we did get rained out. Ian liked "driving" and running up and down the ramp. Note that he has stole my lens cap in the last picture (circle?). He does need a haircut, but I think he looks hella cute with the curls. After the park we went to Acme, which is Ian's new obsession. He had a blast and was probably more excited about that than the park!Running! Hop Hop!
Neither of these came out great... the kid and the bunny were too fast for me! But Ian had a blast chasing Sniffles around the living room. He kept screaming "running"! :)Tuesday, April 01, 2008
World Autism Day, April 2
Wednesday, April 2nd is World Autism Day. Today, 1 in 150 children will be diagnosed with autism. Some statistics indicate that 1 in 96 boys with be diagnosed with some form of autism. If you don't know someone that is affected by autism, you probably will in the near future.
Autism is a spectrum disease, with a wide range of disorders and severities. There is no typical child with autism. Autism comes under the umbrella of pervasive developmental disorders. Besides autism, there is Rhett's Syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, Asperger's Syndrome, and PDD-NOS (PDD not otherwise specified). For more detailed information about these disorders go to the wikipedia article on autism.
There are many different treatments for autism, which include therapy, special diets, and biomedical treatments. There are many theories on what causes autism, but no one knows for sure why so many children are being affected.
Early intervention is key for children suffering from an autism spectrum disorder. To learn the signs, visit the Autism Speaks web page. Their video glossary is excellent.
To get some more information about real families living with autism, you can visit some of the following blogs:
Zavier's Journey
Mathew's Journey
Wolf Pack Chronicles
If you are concerned that someone you love may be suffering from autism, there are two online assessments you can look at. The first is suitable for toddlers and is called the MCHAT. The directions for scoring it are here. Another screening tool which is suitable for slightly older children, is called the Childbrain PDD assessment.
If you think your child might have autism, or any other developmental delay you should seek intervention as soon as possible. If you child is from 0-3 years of age, contact your state's early intervention program. If your child is older than three, contact your local school district. If you request an evaluation, you MUST, under law, be given one for free.
If you take anything from my post, know that autism isn't just Rainman or the child sitting in the corner rocking back and forth. There is hope and help, and a million special things about about children with autism to celebrate.
Autism is a spectrum disease, with a wide range of disorders and severities. There is no typical child with autism. Autism comes under the umbrella of pervasive developmental disorders. Besides autism, there is Rhett's Syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, Asperger's Syndrome, and PDD-NOS (PDD not otherwise specified). For more detailed information about these disorders go to the wikipedia article on autism.
There are many different treatments for autism, which include therapy, special diets, and biomedical treatments. There are many theories on what causes autism, but no one knows for sure why so many children are being affected.
Early intervention is key for children suffering from an autism spectrum disorder. To learn the signs, visit the Autism Speaks web page. Their video glossary is excellent.
To get some more information about real families living with autism, you can visit some of the following blogs:
Zavier's Journey
Mathew's Journey
Wolf Pack Chronicles
If you are concerned that someone you love may be suffering from autism, there are two online assessments you can look at. The first is suitable for toddlers and is called the MCHAT. The directions for scoring it are here. Another screening tool which is suitable for slightly older children, is called the Childbrain PDD assessment.
If you think your child might have autism, or any other developmental delay you should seek intervention as soon as possible. If you child is from 0-3 years of age, contact your state's early intervention program. If your child is older than three, contact your local school district. If you request an evaluation, you MUST, under law, be given one for free.
If you take anything from my post, know that autism isn't just Rainman or the child sitting in the corner rocking back and forth. There is hope and help, and a million special things about about children with autism to celebrate.
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