I promise that by the beginning of next week, I will be on top of posting every night again! Things have been rather crazy this week. It's been stressful lately and with all of the tragic stories in the news right now... I am in the mood for a feel good post. I want to write happy thoughts. What better way to celebrate happy thoughts than by talking about Vicki and her passion for cooking? I know I touched on the Cook with Me. Love, Vicki project that I started for her last May. Gosh, it's been almost a year ago already! But for those of you who don't know much about it or haven't followed her successes on the Facebook page, let me tell you a few things that Cook with Me. Love, Vicki has done for Vicki. Some things are things that I had hoped for when I started the project. Other things are just big ol' bonuses that I never would have thought of that make me so happy--- Like goose bump happy--- when I talk about them. :)
One of the things I had hoped for was that by opening a P.O. Box for Vicki's mail... was of course that Vicki would be going out into the community more, that she would be a more active participant in her community.. And, with the exception of a few bumps along the way, that's exactly what is happening. (One of the bumps... silly birds flying too close to the trees in the parking lot of the post office... kind of scared Vicki one day as she was getting out of the van, and she had a period where she wouldn't get out of the van because of those darn birds.) Some of the other little things that have happened with her trips to the post office: She has become a pro at opening a lock with a key. It took a little while to master that skill, but she has it down pat now. She continues to work on identifying and locating numbers... sometimes when Vicki gets a package (or treasure box as I call it), she finds a key with another box number on it... which she then has to locate and open that box. It's like a treasure hunt! Incidentally, this has been interesting with her OCD issues... when she gets a key inside of her p.o. box, the key turns differently than her regular one and with these keys, you have to leave the key in the key hole after you are done using it. That was hard for her to do at first. It's a more challenging lock to open, and it doesn't feel natural to her (or me!) to leave the key in the lock. But she does now without too much difficulty. Another thing going to the post office has done is taught her to be more patient and venture in a little farther to the post office. When she gets packages that are too big for the box size, she gets a little yellow slip of paper. The first time that happened, I had checked the p.o. box before hand and noticed it and went in myself and got the treasure box. I brought it home for her to open at the table. The next time she got a yellow slip of paper, she stood with her aide just outside the main glass door entrance and watched me go through the line and waved at me. She waited patiently there until I brought her treasure box out to her. The last time she got a yellow slip of paper, she walked right through the glass doors and stood with me while the postal worker got her treasure box. She even handed her the slip of paper and said thank you after she was done. ;)
Another thing is has forced her to work on is putting on her coat, or leaving her coat off, depending on the weather when she is getting out of the van. We are still working on this one. And finally, having a p. o. box has taught her a little about how to open a letter. She got her first paper cut while opening a note the other day and she said, 'ouch. boo boo.' She has been reading the notes and the recipes that are sent to her. She can't read all of the words, but every once in a while she can read an ENTIRE note that someone wrote! Without prompting!!!! Those are the happy goosebumps! AND, she is generalizing her reading skills because she is reading all different kids of fonts and styles of letters. Printed, handwritten, block.... The one thing I haven't done yet is have her go into the post office and come out without a letter. I know that's a skill she will have to learn. You may not get mail everyday... but it's something I haven't wanted to attempt yet.
I bet 'ch you didn't realize just how many life skills she has learned with just the act of going to the post office!! I didn't realize it either! Just wait until you hear about all of the other things that this project is helping Vicki with! Hopefully this post puts a little smile on your face, because going to the post office and receiving your letters and recipes... well, it definitely puts a smile on Vicki's face. Vicki's 12th birthday is coming up on May 12... her 'golden' birthday. Do you think you all could help me make it a little extra special for her? If you get a chance, could you drop Vicki a note and a special recipe for her birthday? I know it would make her day!
I can seriously find a zillion songs to match my posts everyday. ;) An oldie but a goodie and a new one that you just can't not clap along to. ;)
Oh yes, wait a minute Mister Postman
W-a-a-a-i-i-t-t- Mister Postman
Please Mister Postman, look and see
If there's a letter in your bag for me
I've been standin' here waitin' Mister Postman
So...oh...oh... patiently.....
AND... to start off your Friday humming and smiling....
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do
Receiving your letters and recipes makes Vicki so happy. Thank you for making this project all I ever dreamed about for Vicki and so much more. xoxo
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