It Actually Is A Happy Halloween
It Actually Is A Happy Halloween
Yes, even with everything going on.
A few days ago I found myself on the sidewalk moving apace with a sweet, awkward gaggle of young people. Were they 14? 18? I don’t know how old anyone is anymore but one was explaining “otter theory” to the others as the phenomenon of watching a movie and being able to tell pretty much right away who directed it.
“What’s it called again?” one of them asked him.
“Otter theory,” he said.
I chimed in, friendly. “It’s pronounced AW-TERR.”
He looked at me with surprise, maybe a tinge of embarrassment. “It is?”
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s French, for author.”
And he said “auteur” and his friends all said “auteur” and I drifted off my separate way, a new skip in my step, listening to them all pronounce it correctly for one another.
“Thank you!” he called out, as I was about ten feet peeled off.
It’s fun to be some nice lady on the street. This is my plan for the coming years if next week goes poorly: To keep being human in real life in the place where I live with the other humans I find there.
Lizzie’s Letter officially endorses Kamala Harris for president, in case any one has been wondering.
Calmez Vous
Do you guys know about Tara Brach? She’s my go to when I need to listen to a spiritual lecture that will eventually put me to sleep. Not because she’s boring. She just slips into my head and then turns a bunch of lights off and I fall asleep. Some of you need some Tara this week and most of you need a nap.
Top Soup
On Sunday Eric made a perfect butternut squash soup. Sweet. So creamy. Nicely filling. And nutritious. And that color. He actually made two, one with sausage meat and one vegetarian cause he knows how I feel about sausage (inflaming!). He doesn’t follow recipes so I can’t share his but I’ll tell you what you learn by googling “butternut squash soup recipe”: there are, like, a hundred of recipes for butternut squash soup and they all have a zillion five stars and this is because butternut squash is one of the great, easy soups in the soupasphere. People make it, they remember how good it is, they want to evangelize. This recipe is vegan if you just want me to pick one for you .
Resource Alert
It was recommended by my youngest’s kindergarten teachers that she get a neuropsych evaluation to gain clarity on some learning delays they were observing and when I set out to do so I found that they cost around $8000 and providers do not take insurance. This is obviously prohibitively expensive for most families, including ours.
A school mom shared with me that her child had participated in a study run in partnership with the Child Mind Institute called the Healthy Brain Network - her child received the neuropsych evaluation for free and had a positive experience and the insight the clinicians shared were valuable and communicated well. I applied for my daughter yesterday and was accepted - the wait time is long, 9-12 months, but in our case that is fine as she will continue to grow and we will have more information and context to share.
If someone you know is being directed to get a neuropsych evaluation I hope you will share this path with them as one of the choices they consider. The program addresses a wide range of issues including ADHD, mental illness and autism.
All right everybody I love you. Be nice out there.
And I will leave you with this gem.
xo Lizzie
Lovely today, Lizzie. Hugs.
Good advice on how to get by. No matter who wins but especially if.......