Last evening we went to United Cerebral Palsy of Pittsburgh's 15th Annual Community Heroes Awards Dinner in downtown at the Westin. It was a good time...we got dressed up and I met Peter at his office and we drove in together. The dinner was really good but I wasn't a fan of the dessert. It was tiramisu and I'm just not a fan of tiramisu. The chicken and veggies and potatoes were yummy though! We watched as UCP of Pittsburgh recognized local folks/businesses that have done important things for people with disabilities. SHOUT (Peter's bosses are the founders/chairs of this company also) won the Community Hero Aware for their efforts in making alternative communication devices. It was really awesome to see some of the people there with CP to be using the devices and be able to speak and carry on conversations and even give an acceptance speech! It's hard to believe that not too long ago, most folks brushed people who had CP off as being "mentally retarded". Just because they couldn't speak...it's a real shame. I was touched to see the way these community heros have given the gift of language to people. Without these devices, they wouldn't be able to say "I love you" to their family and friends or even just discuss their feelings, hopes and dreams for their own lives. I was really turned off by Linda's(Peter's coworker) boyfriend though. He's middle-aged and made a huge deal of not sitting next to Christian(a device user because he's in a wheelchair and can't speak). Linda told Carolyn (another one of Peter's coworkers) that John(the boyfriend) was uncomfortable with it so make sure they had seats at the other end of the table. I could tell the whole night he was uncomfortable too by the way he looked around and made disgusted faces. It really made me want to punch him haha. Christian was actually a delight to meet and get to talk to a little bit. It was also nice to see Jutta (Chris's mom and Peter's german coworker) interact with him and see a bit of a softer side of her. I really feel bad for John because of his attitude. It's people like him that make prejudices still exist today. I mean, even if he was uncomfortable, why make a big deal of it? Just come in and sit not next to Christian and that be that. But to tell Carolyn and have her tell us and to go on about it? Come on, grow up!! He'll never get comfortable with it if he just writes it off without even giving it a chance. Peter and I had a good talk on the way home and I really enjoyed my evening. I'm glad that I took off and rested because I don't think I would have been up to it with being sick and having worked for 8 hours too. After we got home, I whipped out the crock pot and made BBQ ham over night and then made coleslaw this morning for our lunches. It was so yummy!
Tonight after work, we just came home and did a few things around the house. The toilet is officially fixed (we think/hope)! And now it's almost bedtime, geesh! Tomorrow we're going to my parents' house right after work and going to spend the weekend there. We have plans to go to dinner and see a movie on Saturday but can't decide which movie between "Michael Clayton" and "Rendition"....I think we'll see "Michael Clayton" but we'll see on Saturday.
Now it's time for cookies and milk!
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