A Post a Day

So, it's Down Syndrome Awareness month (that's Down, not Down's, but whatever), and there are a group of bloggers who are trying to post at least once a day for the entire month. It was started by a Tricia, who has a daughter with DS, and got to me by way of Cate.

I haven't been blogging lately, for a lot of reasons. Work is really busy and the last thing I want to do is sit in front of the computer at home after I do it all day. My eyes get really tired and my brain is burned out. I've been stressed about the house sale, dating (yes, that's not fun - well, it is, but the waiting, the waiting for the calls. That sucks.), my weight, keeping my house clean, and work (job interviews, getting turned down, turning jobs down, and now, taking a break and realizing that I am actually happy where I am. In work, in home, and eventually I'll be happy with my shape. It's something that I can control, I just have to put my mind to actually doing more than 2 days of exercise a week. And the crappy eating has got to stop.

So, as a way to get myself to write more posts, transfer more photos from the camera to the computer, and actually take more pictures, and to raise awareness of Down Syndrome (also called T-21, or Trisomy 21, because of the presence of an extra 21st chromosome. I'm going to draw an analogy which is going to seem possibly disrespectful, but I'm doing it anyway. Before I bought my Saab (my first official car - the wagon doesn't count), I never saw any other Saabs on the road. The only one I had ever seen was the one my friend Jim had. Then, once I got one, I saw them everywhere. It was like, I'd never noticed them until I was aware of them. Before Abby was born, the only time I encountered people with DS was at work, when I worked at a pharmacy and there was a residence in the neighborhood where developmentally disabled adults. Now, it seems like I see more babies or people with DS, I hear of more people having children with DS, and I'm basically just more aware. I know that being aware of it doesn't mean I can do anything to prevent it or make people who are concerned about it feel better but I do know that Abby's just another baby and I hope that being around people with DS helps me not treat them any differently than other kids, or people. It's not exactly like speaking loudly to people who don't speak your language, but I definitely hope I don't talk down to people with disabilities.

I listened to this show last weekend. One of the stories was about a news program called How's Your News about a team of developmentally disabled people who travel across the country doing man-on-the-street interviews. I thought the comment about how people take the news team more seriously when they have microphones was sort of sad. The story was actually really funny and worth the $0.95 download if you didn't happen to get it free off iTunes.

So, anyway, this post isn't especially insightful or thoughtful, but it's a post. Check out the Get It Down: 31 for 21 at the button below.

One of the suggestions made was to share 21 things about yourself. I might do that, but right now, I have to go do something else I've been neglecting. The laundry.