GIDDYUP!

OK so Miduk has this new (annoying) habit of clicking his tongue when he likes something or when he's trying to get my attention.  He clicks his tongue as if he is summoning a horse!  Constantly! Except that horse is ME!  If he sees a cool car, click-click.
If the car has cool tires, click-click.  If he likes the song on the radio, click-click-click!  It is like his stamp of approval.  I am half expecting to hear him yell "Giddyup!"  :)

Another new thing that he has picked up in the last several weeks is to sigh and say "ANYWAYS....."  We might say something to him and if he doesn't want to respond or wants to change the subject, or is just basically bored, he will look away and say "Anyways......".   I can almost feel his eyes rolling back (yes I have teenagers and I am quite familiar with the eye-rolling technique!)

How are we handling it you might ask?  Well we click at him and say "anyways" and finally he says "Enough! Enough!" and starts laughing because he knows exactly what we are doing.  He really does have a good sense of humor!  :)

Had a wasp fly into my car this week as Miduk and I were pulling into Whataburger (he ate an entire double meat/double cheese burger plus fries!) and we BOTH were freaking out and couldn't get parked fast enough!  I think he may be allergic to bee stings b/c he told me he has been stung before and showed me how his hand had swollen up.  However, he is a spider's best friend.  I was about to kill a spider in the house this week and Miduk came to the spider's rescue, picking it up WITH HIS BARE HANDS and carrying it outside.  He is a big nature lover and always points out bird nests too.

Remember that American Express gift card that Miduk found on our walk a couple months ago?  Well I gave him cash in exchange for the card ($62.62).  He has been hanging onto it and not spent a single penny until recently.  He bought a game for his Nintendo DS, and plans to set aside $40 to buy a new bike when he returns to his village.  We've been discussing what he might want to take home to his family and his friend Donna.  I think he's gonna need another suitcase!

Lots of people comment on Miduk using a crutch.  Strangers who don't know why he is walking with a crutch (he uses only one crutch) will try to strike up a conversation by asking him what happened.  Miduk never answers them and always looks at me to explain his situation.  I think people are simply curious and just trying to be nice, but I can tell it makes him uneasy. I usually say that he is here from Indonesia for medical treatment at Scottish Rite Hospital, without giving a lot of details.  This week at Blockbuster the cashier guy said "Oh man, what happened?  Did your mom smack you down?  How long do you have to use a crutch?  Crutches are the WORST!" and on and on and on.  Miduk looked at me as he always does, but this time he looked mad.  I looked at the man and said "No, actually, crutches aren't the worst.  Crutches are a good thing for him and he is happy to have them."  Miduk walked away and I told the guy that Miduk has traveled halfway around the world to come to Dallas for medical treatment, and that his crutches sure are an improvement over the hand-carved stick he used to hop around with back home.  Oh, and that was after basically lying in bed for several years.  I'm sure the guy didn't realize how insensitive he was being. He was just making conversation.  On the way home I was thinking, what seems like a negative thing to us (using crutches) is actually a positive thing for Miduk.  It just depends on how you look at it - glass half empty, "Bummer, he HAS to use crutches" or glass half full, "Thankfully, he GETS to use crutches".  All I know is that I will be careful in what I say to people and how I say it, because YOU JUST NEVER KNOW!!!