The Holidays

We first had serious enough questions about Doug's balance at Christmas time. Seeing him playing with all the other kids his age is what made us first seriously wonder if something was wrong. This year, we are reminded of those questions with every family get together. It was at a family gathering that we were encouraged to "trust our instincts" and book him an appointment.

It has been a mixture of emotions this holiday season with the "ups" of the season, and the "downs" of remembering.

I'm not looking forward to February. I fly out on a buisness trips for 3 weeks. I leave on Feb 3rd - the "first anniversary" of the day our world turned completely upside down. It is going to be a very difficult time emotionally - particularly for Allison. Pray for strength and encouragement for her.

It all comes back to me now...

What a rough week.

We had an appointment on Thursday with Medical Genetics at Children's Hospital. We didn't know what the appointment was for. I guess we've gotten into the habit of taking the appointments without asking too many questions.

Anyhow - we figured that with it being genetics, it wasn't likely to be "new" news, so we didn't worry too much. Or so we thought. It turns out that just the fact that we are going to Children's Hospital for an appointment means that all of the old wounds that we have managed to heal up over the summer have just been ripped open again. Our illusion of normality is shattered. My world is once again in turmoil, and I am finding myself without solid footing, being swept along in a sea of emotions. And I'm the designated "strong one". I can only imagine what Allison is feeling.

I don't like what it has done to me this week. I've booked my calander full to overflowing, and my time management skills are taking a beating. Plus I'm grumpy. I've got a short fuse, and the kids seem to be taking the brunt of it. It's not their fault. But I'm not sure I realized why this was happening until I started thinking about blogging it. I figured I was just too busy, or too tired. Both of those make me grumpy, but not like this. I think I was lashing out in the same way a drowning person flails looking for something to grab onto - not caring who they step on, or drag under in their quest for solid ground.

I need to recognize this. I can't do it on my own. I shouldn't even try. How quickly I forget life's lessons and am forced to relearn them.

Oh yeah. The tiles are finished. The playset is all assembled. I didn't make it before my business trip, but I finished it now. Major load off my mind. Thanks again to everyone who helped/prayed.

Thanks!

Thanks to all of you who pitched in!

The tiles are all installed (except the last 2 custom cuts). I need to put the slide back on, and hook the swing up, and bolt the monkey bars on. So, 2 bolts, 4 nuts, and 2 tiles.

I might even get this done before my buisness trip tomorrow. I really hope so.

Today's been a rough day. Server problems again have put me in a down mood that is susceptible to Doug downturns. Pray for the cloud to be lifted from my mood so I can enjoy the kids before I fly off...

Calling all cars, Calling all cars...

I just looked downstairs, and there, sitting in my garage, is a HUGE pile of play tiles.

They are HERE!

Now, I need to get them in, and I'm going to be calling more than a couple people to help me. Please watch your inbox for details, or better yet - call me if you want to pitch in. This is what the plan is so far.. [[edit - plan web site removed]]

Fear not, all of the gory details WILL be featured in a big blog entry - or maybe even a WEB PAGE. [[edit - didn't happen]]

The Tiles are coming, the Tiles are coming!!!

Wow. What a season of up and downs. I've been trying to get a set of balance friendly playground tiles for Doug for several months now. There's been a company willing to help, and me willing to install it. But there has been roadblock after roadblock after roadblock. First, every single agency that wanted to help in terms of sorting out the charitable status of things hit a Revenue Canada wall. Then, once that was surmounted, there was the shipping costs. Several hopeful leads led to nothing. Finally, a shipper has stepped up and offered to help out. I don't even know who they are yet, but they've offered to ship the entire pallet for only $200. And thanks to some of my other shipping quests, I even have a spot to ship them too with a forklift!

Door after door after door have been slamming in our faces on this since we began. It seems, however, that everytime one closes, eventually another opens. I don't know if I'm being taught patience or persistence. The tiles are loaded on a pallet at the factory, and just waiting for the shipper to pick them up. They could be here as early as the end of next week. This is an answer to many a prayer.

I'm getting a little freaked out over the job of installing them now. It has always been at the bottom of the list. First priority was to get them here. Then I was going to worry about how the heck I was going to get them in. I'm starting to worry. :)

I'm going to do what any computer geek would do in a case like this. I'm going to build a website listing all the things that need to happen. I'll publish a link to it as soon as I'm done. Watch this space. If you feel like you want to help let me know.