Little Man Can

My brother is in school to become an interpreter. I've had a little bit of experience with ASL and I remember when I was on my mission I was amazed by a little kid that was just barely learning to walk, so about 10-14 months old, who could communicate with his deaf parents already. He walked up to a door that he wanted to walk out of and made the sign for open. Amazing. Short of using some vocabulary software that would get plugged directly into their brains, this kind of communication is impossible to expect for a little person that can hardly form words much less assign meaning to the words and messages.

Andrew's most recent love is Yo Gabba Gabba. So he's made up his own sign for it so we know that's what he wants to watch. At the beginning of the show the host D.J. Lance Rock opens up his magic boom-box with his toys in it. Sparkles come out as he says the magic words "Yooooo gabba gabbaaa..". So Andrew says "Yo Dab Dab" as he opens his hands wide. It's pretty cute. The show kind of tripped me out the first few times I watched it. Like most kid shows, it's very spacey, but now after seeing the I'm So Happy I Can Dance video by the Salteens I've become more a fan, and don't mind sitting with him.

Doing pretty well, considering.

My family is not rich. None of us has much education, and that's got a lot to do with it. Even with that deficit, though, we are doing pretty well for ourselves. We have extended family who by comparison are far more educated than we are, but unemployed. The suggestion has been made more than once that it's a matter of feeling 'too good' for a job.

Luckily, we learned our personal finance skills from our mother. Growing up we worked paper routes, kept exchange students to the point that our home was busting at the seams, and we seldom if ever ate out. Everyone contributed in some way or another for as long as I can remember. Our strength has been in our numbers.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I had this idea a few months back. My brothers and I, while employed and supporting our families, aren't doing as well as we probably could be. All of us are mentally capable, we're a lot smarter than the McPrides give us credit for., but haven't made education a priority in our lives. The idea is that it would be really cool if we all pooled our resources to take care of one family, while the dad knocked out his education really quickly. Then, on down the line. Nothing crazy. Maybe $500/mo per brother, and live very meanly. Maybe at mom's house. And just go to Mesa College and do the maximum of classes to get degrees in the shortest amount of time. Then on to SDSU since it's close and easy to get into. I don't think any of us would take more than 2 years doing the fast track classes and going Summers.