Easter Sunday, 2014

I had a great weekend with the family. Rachel was off all weekend, except Friday night; attended a Tailgate party on Saturday at Oakland Arena, didn't attend the game since my entire family couldn't come...told them I had to leave early for the bangin' Filipina Teen Birthday party that night, and lo and behold, three of the folks at the tailgate party were there (they attended the same high school of the birthday girls) crazy coincidence. TOTALLY AWESOME AMERICAN FOOD!!! Not a lot of Filipino or Asian food this time. So delicious!!!! DJ was "so so." Got to see my daughter "behave" like a little lady, and she made a new friend AND talked to her!!!! Son was enjoying the music in a totally new way, then I've seen him do before.

Never been much of an Easter or New Year's eve celebrator; Grandma always too busy with her own life and my wife has inconsistent days off, so frustrating to always plan around it; had as much "unplanned" fun as we could; no eggs, no chocolate, just good food and lots of love....

I bought some awesome used vinyl: Paul McCartney and Wings: Back to the Egg...hmmm, on Easter, just thought about that....very interesting. (Major coincidence!)

Huey Lewis and the News: Fore

Foreigner: inside information

Have a great day everyone!

My daughter and son have always been very quiet. My son was very quiet and rarely talked outside of our family until about Kindergarten. My daughter is now eight.

She has never spoken to anybody outside of her family, her entire life. Until today....


For the first time, she spoke directly to her best friend and our next door neighbor's daughter, about 30 minutes ago. She suffers from something called "Selective Mutism." Selective Mutism is a complex childhood anxiety disorder characterized by a child's inability to speak and communicate effectively in select social settings, such as school. These children are able to speak and communicate in settings where they are comfortable, secure, and relaxed.

This was an incredible moment and day for my wife (I listened over the phone, but not the same as being right there) and me. My wife cried.

Fortunately, her Selective Mutism is not accompanied with any other Social Phobias, such as Social Anxieties. This has always been the bright side; she's the most outgoing little girl who never speaks I've ever met. Ohh, and to clarify, she does speak in public, but only around strangers, and in open areas. Never in closed offices or at school. As long as they don't know her, she feels comfortable to speak. The moment a familiar face comes into the picture, she zips up.

And she has little to no difficulty making videos, so if you've seen her talk on a video I've posted up, that's why.

But, I think today was a turning point. Today was special.

This is a day, I'm not gonna forget.

My Totally Awesome New Blog: New Column for the Alamedan

My Totally Awesome New Blog: New Column for the Alamedan: I have started a new job, as Freelance Writer, for the Alamedan. I will start working on writing on local interest topics, and my first pi...

New Column for the Alamedan

I have started a new job, as Freelance Writer, for the Alamedan. I will start working on writing on local interest topics, and my first pitch to the editor was on the local Little League Baseball scene, here in Alameda, CA, I had a son on a team for six seasons, and it was quite an experience. It is a wonderful community outreach business and service, that employs several folks, but relies on 100's of parent volunteers to make it successful. There are currently over 1,000 players.  I was an Assistant Coach all six years, and it was a very rewarding experience.

My plan is to follow one team, coached by a superstar Manager that was my son's coach for one year.  I'll introduce the "characters" in the column, but for now, just wanted to check in and let all my readers know what was up.

If anyone has any ideas or tips, about what you'd like to hear, let me know.  I am also looking for "freelance" opportunities. So please give me your tips.  Thanks everyone!

Bill

My Very First Post

Hello.  My name is Bill.  I am a man living in Northern California. As I type this, I don't know what my exact audience, will be, so I'll fill in details later.  However, I've decided to  make this blog, keep it professional, and perhaps put in details that are humorous about day to day life. But absolutely no discussion of non-professional topics.