8:20am - dropped Sam off for his third and final day of a three day trial at a new school we are looking into
8:40am - getting a bagel and coffee while driving back across town to pick up all my camera equipment
8:50am - return a text message saying I am good on coffee and don't need anyone to pick some up for me before filming
9:29am - called someone to grab me a grande mild in a venti cup with non-fat milk to the top because i had the feeling i would need more
9:47am - production meeting started and reviewed a number of important business issues with a lead of one of our companies
10:00am - the day gets turned upside down
- sam has missed one math problem and the perfectionist inside him can't let go...he is in meltdown
- call into kent from angie...get over to the school, sam is under the headmasters desk screaming
- just happen to be filming one of Sam's therapists and one of the consultants to the school
- for the past four years, sam has had these horrific breakdowns and wildly erratic behaviors at the end of march
- angie and I are thinking....here we go again
- cristina and I drive to school
- i begin to recall the events of a year ago....great school, over promised, unprepared, couldn't deliver, and ended with "we just love him but what can we really do for him?"
10-11:00am - cristina goes in first and i stay in the car with angie on the phone.
- cristina handles the situation beautifully, i get to talk with one of the sweetest teachers i have ever met, and visit with a few of the great kids in the class and hear about how they are worried about sam.
- this school has their act together and this staff....they exemplify how to handle a tough situation with a child who is visiting and very anxious
11:20ish - sam is out from under the headmaster's desk and sitting on a couch getting ready to go back to class
11:30am - sam is back in class and i never have to get involved...the pros were at work and all was handled as it should have been
note: I will devote a specific blog on the details that every person working in the education field should know from this situation. There are many good points to note and they will be lost in this wave of juicy activity.
12:00pm - i call angie and say all is well, cristina and i sit in the parking lot to make sure their is no secondary fall out. we look over and see sam running around on the playground with all the kids. all is well....and the craziness of the day is just starting
12:30pm - go eat and have difficulty getting anything down, nerves are shot and ready for bed
1:00pm - we start filming
2:00pm wrap filming because angie and I have a meeting with that very school to talk about whether sam is a good fit and whether the school is a good fit for his needs
2:28pm - on phone with angie and approaching school when text messages come zinging in
2:29pm - text reads "you are being interviewed by NBC in 10 minutes"
2:29:30pm - start to get out of car and cell phone from cristina is shoved at my ear...it's a reporter with NBC who is extremely nice and informs me she will be interviewing me in 5 minutes, they are almost there.
2:30pm - this school must think we are nuts.....NBC pulls up in the big van with a giant dish, and i begin preparing angie that she needs to be the one interviewed
2:31pm - angie informs me that this may be my last day on earth and i had better hope she can't get her hands on something sharp at this moment
2:32pm - a wonderful woman named Susy walks up and immediately makes the craziness slow down, we talk about Autism, we talk about AutismSpot...they were in immediate need of someone to interview and were sent to us without knowing they we also happened to have started one of the fastest growing community sites in the world for Autism....Susy was fantastic and we look forward to connecting with her again
2:45pm - angie gets interviewed, sam comes out for a little family shot and off the NBC crew goes to finish their segment
3:00pm - kent, angie, and crisitina all meet with the school leaders and the meeting goes wonderfully well......we are fully impressed by how they handled the day, their understanding of sam's needs, and how they work with families
3:40pm - cristina takes sam to kroger to try some social things and test his recent need to go pee every 30 minutes
4:00pm - i leave my car behind ad join angie as we cross town to pick up luke from Ms. D who is hanging out with her sweet daughter emma and keeping tabs on luke
4:50pm - we have luke and heading back home so i can take sam to karate
6:15pm - get home from karate and we get around the TV to watch the NBC segment and angie's contribution (you go girl!...you did great!)
7:30pm - kent, angie and cristina review sam's schedule and options for starting up school now to finish out the year at this new place
8:00pm - i start sam's shower and pass him on to ang
8:05pm - kent and luke get a lift from cristina to pick up my car from earlier in the day
9:10pm - kent calls cristina who is finally getting to go home......MY BATTERY IS DEAD!!!!
9:12pm - cristina goes to get jumper cables
9:13pm - luke and i get the soccer ball out and enjoy having a parking lot to ourselves....we get some great bonding in playing soccer way past his bedtime in an empty parking lot in the pitch black....this rocked
9:40pm - luke gets some tasty McD's and a "chocolate chip COOkie for dessert" as he likes to put it
9:55pm - i drop luke in the front of the house and ang comes out to get him
9:58pm - i go to pick up dinner for me and ang
10:15pm - sam's asleep in his bed and the three of us are hanging on the couch under some soft blankets realizing we survived another day
11:10pm - i get to work on some new videos we have been working on
2:04am - the next morning, i'm still working and writing this blog

the end