I love House

Despite the large, looming TVs scattered throughout our house, those who know us well realize that Jeff and I are not big TV watchers. We love our football and other sports. Only one show carried over to this season ...The Office. I record The Biggest Loser and So You Think You Can Dance and watch those occasionally, too. Those are new.

When Jeff and the kids were away for the two week period while I was launching the new Census Collection for Ancestry in June, I found myself home no earlier than 9 or 10pm, eating my leftover pizza or crackers/hummus nightly dinner . . . and watching House reruns at 11pm every night with my computer on my lap, finishing up work for the day.

And, now I'm addicted. I love it. AND . . . wait for it . . . Jeff loves it, too!

I joke with Jeff that the reason he likes the show is that he identifies himself with the main character - known for being brutally honest, arrogant, and unforgiving of 'stupid people' (that's Jeff's quote - not House's). Of course, House is totally intriguing and brilliant and amazing . . .as is my man. For those who know Jeff . . . and those who have watched the show . . . you'll get what I mean.

Last night's episode was intense. I think I have a crush on Chase. I have a soft spot for any man that adores his wife. And, he's certainly not harsh on the eyes.

A Horse is the Answer!

Autumn: I was really trying hard to be good - but, I just forgot.

Mom: Autumn, what can Mommy and Daddy do to help you remember to be the best you can be all the time?

Autumn: Get me a horse.

Being Karen

Work: Thursday morning I was at the office before 8am for a staff call with the UK, German, Chinese and US team leads. I had scheduled calls with our legal counsel and our PR Director, finished a creative brief for our upcoming Remembrance Day promotion, re-forecasted the H2 budget, provided feedback on the second round of TV ad concepts, submitted tickets to update several product features on my website, created a statistical model to analyze our Free Trial landing page test and a few other things at the office.

Bloorview/Spina Bifida Group: I pulled into our driveway at home at 1pm and hopped directly into Jeff's truck, where the kids were waiting and buckled. We all drove to the Bloorview Rehabilitation Centre for Gavin's Spina Bifida Baby Group. I ate some crackers and tuna on the way that Jeff brought for me. He checked Gavin in while I dropped Autumn at the Ronald McDonald Playroom so she could play during his appointment . . . begged and pleaded for her to remove herself from my leg and then had to have the woman in charge rip her off so I could run upstairs to meet with Jeff and Gavin.

We met with his physiotherapist, nurse practitioner, speech therapist and set up an appointment with his occupational therapist (who was sick) to help us find the right material to sew in some pants to protect his poor protruding tailbone from continuing to rub sores on his bum. Then we went to a class on Learning and Development at 2:15pm with one of the psychologists specializing in Spina Bifida . . . where we proceeded to try to sit patiently while the one other parent in the room (who Jeff calls the psycho mom) dominated the entire conversation wondering why her 2-yr-old was acting like a 2-yr-old. Jeff spent another 10 minutes convincing the physiotherapist that he had already attempted to use plungers (at her insistence) instead of the quad canes for Gavin . . . and that now we would like to please order the quad canes. We went upstairs to the orthotics group to meet with Crista, who had replaced the straps on Gavin's AFOs. Then, we ran down to pick up Autumn. I answered emails on my Blackberry until we arrived home, right before 5pm, and then had one more call with my Marketing Ops Manager in the US.

Cooking/Dinner: In honor of opening night for hockey season, I made two cakes (with Autumn's help) and decorated one for the Toronto Maple Leafs and one for the Montreal Canadiens . . . for Jeff's party. We made three lasagnas (Jeff was super helpful) - froze two and had one ready for Friday night. Jeff grilled hamburgers - and I ate bites in the kitchen during the cooking extravaganza.

Curriculum Night: I was at Autumn's school by 6:40pm for my first ever parent/school night. We met the principal (who I had already met since I had to beg and plead our way into the morning session so it wouldn't conflict with Gavin's therapy home visits) and then went to the classroom for a presentation by the kindergarten teachers. I sat with Lisa, Alita's mom (who is Autumn's closest friend - and now bus partner - from preschool) and met one other mom, who happened to be the mother of Elias, who Autumn announced on the third day of school as her "boyfriend" (although I do think she means 'friend that is a boy').

Hockey Party: I was home by 8:45pm to eat some chips and salsa and tell Jeff all about the Elkhorn Elementary Curriculum.

Bedtime: Then, I excused myself from the hockey party by 9:30pm to head upstairs to read and pass out.

The crazy thing is . . . despite it being such a hectic, busy and long day . . . I actually really enjoyed it. Because I felt like a real mom for a change.

Trike Maniac

Gavin is getting stronger and stronger . . . and loving his trike.



Ignore the grumpy face in this picture. He's happy - I promise. He's always happy riding his trike.

Palmyra #1 - Hill Cumorah Pageant

I'm pretty desperate to get all of my pictures off my memory cards, onto a computer and uploaded to my blog. The beloved, yet cursed, Mac is still giving us trouble. We're counting down the days until an IT guy from corporate comes to the Toronto office. I'm bringing him home, too, before I go completely nuts. Having 10s of thousands of pictures on our 5 year old Mac is apparently a no-no. Anyway . . . we've had an eventful summer of 2009 . . . so, I'll do my best to document as much as I can. It will be a bit out of order and a bit random. But, I'm dedicated. If not for everyone else . . . at least for me!

 

Florida Rewind . . . Marco Island Memories

Florida was truly one of my all-time favorite vacations . . . in fact, it was our first family vacation. I was pregnant with Gavin when we visited Maui - and that was our last vacation alone as a family.

The timing was perfect in Florida. Vacations tend to be just a week long in the US - and 'holidays' in the international world are typically two weeks. I know I'm just an American in a Canadian world - but, I'll take two-week vacations any day. At least I'll shoot for a 10-day minimum.

The first six days were in Disney World and we spent the remaining six days in Marco Island, Florida. Because it's a 'Snow Bird' destination, peak season is in the winter. So, we were able to rent a three bedroom house with a huge private pool for a great deal. Disney was so much fun. I think I was the saddest when we drove away! But, having a few days of complete relaxation after the frenzy of Disney was fabulous.

Autumn was as wild as usual and wanted to live in the pool all week.


Gavin was happy to chill on the side of the pool.

One of the best (and only) family photos was a lucky shot at a seafood restaurant.

We built card houses . . . and then knocked them over.

I taught Autumn some cheering stunts.

And, we enjoyed the beautiful beach.

Gavin's 'Baby and Learn' Class

Gavin was able to attend a preschool program created through the Bloorview Rehabilitation Center, where he goes for Spina Bifida clinic, therapy and swim classes (both Gavin and Autumn). The class was once a week for a parent and child . Jeff was among only a few 'parents' that attended. The other adults were mostly nannies and one grandma. They try to maintain a 50/50 ratio between children with disabilities and able-bodied kids. One little girl was fairly severe - diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy among several other things. Another beautiful little girl was born without part of her arm. Otherwise, Gavin showed the most visible disability since all other children were able to walk. Of course, it didn't slow him down at all. After a few classes, he became a bit less shy and then was diving head-first down the slides.

Autumn and I both attended the last class with Gavin and Jeff. I was able to finally meet the mother with the shockingly foul mouth in front of the kids (confirmed within the first 30 seconds of talking to her). I was able to see for one morning what it might be like to be a stay-at-home mom. I chatted with the women there about doctors we should know, sales at local stores on children's shoes and school registration . . . all the topics that women tend to cover in groups . . . and, all conversations that don't come as naturally for Jeff with the other moms.

They played with toys and ate snacks.

The super soft, fully padded colorful gym was by far Gavin's (and Jeff's) favorite part of the day.

Wayne, the Music Man, was the highlight. He came in every week to the gym and taught the kids some cute songs that we still sing regularly - and now I use in Nursery, too. Since it was the last day of class, they took the kids to the outside playground instead.

Because Autumn will be in Junior Kindergarten for half the day and Gavin's preschool is so far away because of traffic (should be 15 when it usually takes 50 min), Gavin will be attending Autumn's nearby preschool instead this fall for only a few days a week. It makes my stomach turn to think of him being with someone else for even a few hours a week alone - especially given he has only been left alone a couple of times with sitters, other than Becky and Jeff's parents, in his 2 1/2 years. I'm his Nursery leader at Church - so, he's with me even then. I'm sure it will be good for him. But, it makes me so anxious . . . what happens when they take the kids outside to the playground? What if they have balloons in the classroom? What if they try to feed the kids kiwis?

As if being a normal paranoid mom wasn't enough . . .