Still Waiting!

It's been ten long days since my last post and WE STILL DON'T KNOW which dog is ours! I have tried to stay close to my computer and check emails dozens of times a day. I hear the "ding" that indicates I have new mail and run to see, only to find it's yet another email with the answer to enlarging certain body parts or shrinking others! I'm a little tired of junk mail but am not sure how to stop it.

In the meantime, I've searched for things to keep me busy AND close to my computer. I dusted, vacuumed and washed floors ... no Dog. I did laundry and actually put it all away ... no dog. I changed all the beds and done the necessary laundry ... no DOG. I've even cleaned the toilets (all three of them) and their adjoining bathrooms ... NO DOG. Today was total desperation day. I cleaned Ben and Matthew's shower! But NO DOG!! I ironed Ben's shirts (all of them) ... but still no dog!! My house is clean, my laundry's done, I've totally run out of corners to scrub and we still have no idea which dog we're getting! Cruel and unusual punishment as far as I'm concerned.

We've only got ten more days until we fly to Ohio, surely they should have told us something by now! When I emailed and asked, I was told that we'd know "soon". That was over a week ago.

The funny thing is, Dawsyn doesn't seem the least bit curious. She knows she'll meet her dog in April and is content as can be! I think there's a lesson there but I'm too busy fretting to learn it!

The Suspense is KILLING Me!

We know that within the next few days we should find out which of the 4Paws Dogs is destined to be ours. I check the 4 Paws Social Networking site and my emails a dozen times a day to see if the announcement has been made.

There is one dog on the "Dogs in Training" page that we've been watching from the beginning with the gut feeling that maybe, just maybe, he's ours. I'll keep watching and waiting and hopefully the news will come in before I drive myself totally off the Crazy Cliff!

Have I mentioned that I am really bad at this?

So, as a blogger, am I not supposed to actually sit down and write something once in a while? In the past, I was actually known as somewhat of a writer. A journal to record all the important little things in life, "morning pages" just to stay in the habit of writing, a poem to commemorate an occasion or a life. Those days are no more it would seem. Possibly I am too busy doing the mundane to write about the profound. Today I will recommit myself to the joy of writing ... right after I finish the laundry and run the vacuum over the family room.

It seems that not much has changed since my Christmas Chronicle. At least not the important things. We are all well. If growth is any indication, the children are exceedingly healthy! Matthew has grown since Christmas and, if his feet are any indication, is not showing any signs of slowing down. I think he may exceed his father's height before the growing is done! Dawsyn too is getting very tall. When she wraps her arms around me, I can comfortably rest my chin on her head. She too will look down on her mother before too long! Her health is as stable as it has been for the past four years. We experience a seizure or two most nights but have been blessed with the occasional stretch of up to a week seizure-free. The monthly intravenous immuno-globulin treatments continue to work for which we are grateful.

We took both kids out of school for two weeks for a trip to Mexico. The weather was wonderful (about 27 C most days), the water warm and the company enjoyable. Even two weeks does not seem long enough and we came home wishing for just another day on the beach!

Fortunately, we did not arrive home to a blizzard this year. The snow has melted and the days grown warmer. The bikes came out yesterday, tires got pumped up and we were off for our first ride of the season. It was a little chilly with the breeze but we did have a good time. Dawsyn LOVES to ride her bike, especially since we got the "Trail Gator" that attaches her bike to Daddy's. She can finally achieve the speed she loves without one of us having to jog behind!

Today is Matt and Dawsyn's first day back at school. They were excited to get back to see their friends and show off their tans. I am happy to be back into routine. We have only five weeks before our next trip.

On Monday, April 26 Ben, Dawsyn and I fly to Ohio to train with our newest family member! We are so excited to finally meet Dawsyn's Assistance Dog. 4 Paws has not yet told us which of the dogs in training is ours but we scan the Dogs in Training page ( www.4pawsdogs.org ) regularly and anxiously await news of which one will be ours. I will post pictures as soon as I know which dog is ours. My Mom and Dad will come to stay with Matt while we are in training.

2009 Christmas Blog

T’was weeks before Christmas

And all through the town

The snow was blowing in circles

Up streets and down!

The kids were all trapped

In the house with their Mom

Where she pulled out her hair

And prayed for the storm to be done!

She gave them all jobs

They would moan and complain

They’d rather do homework

Than shovel again!

The storm will be over

Soon, it is said

But will be replaced

By cold temps instead!

Despite winter weather

The family’s been well

Having enjoyed the past months

All feeling swell!

Dawsyn’s been healthy

As healthy can be

Only a handful of seizures

Every week. Yippee!

We do lots of running

Back and forth to the city

For appointments and treatments

Not for shopping … a pity!

Her new love this year

Is a Bay horse named Sunny

Therapeutic riding makes

Her smile so wide, it is funny!

In April next year,

We’re getting Dawsyn a dog

To help her to cope

He’ll tether, he’ll track

And warn of seizures, we hope.

Matthew has grown

From a boy to a man

At least that’s what it seems

As he looks down on his Mam!

Grade 7 is keeping

Him on his toes

But he’s growing so fast

We can’t keep him in clothes!

Youth Group is fun

But he ALWAYS needs money

For this trip or that

Or to spend on his Honey!

His musical talent is great

The piano still playing

And maybe guitar

For lessons we’re paying.

For Ben, work has been stressful

UFA has undergone a reduction

He’s now Engineering

Instead of Construction

He now drives to Calgary

Instead of Red Deer

It takes him much longer

That much is clear!

His camera’s been snapping

At this scene and that

We want to start framing

Or at least learn to matte.

In summer he golfs

And so does his wife

But seldom together

That’s best for long life!

Marvel continues to study

And share what she’s learned

With ladies who also like

To spend time in the Word

Marv, well she’s been busy

As busy can be

What she’s been doing

We’d all like to see!

Although she works

From light until dark

She may as well be spending

Her time in the park.

Nothing gets done

A house in distress

‘Til Nana comes over

And takes care of the mess!

As you have just read

It has been a good year

We are ending it off by

Sending good cheer

To you our good friends

And family all dear

Merry Christmas to you

And a Happy New Year!

Love from,

Ben, Marvel,

Matthew & Dawsyn

The Date is Set

I just got an email from 4 Paws for Ability and our dates for training have been set! The are April 27 to May 7. Dawsyn will have to miss nine days of school but I am sure it will be very very worth it! Now I can start shopping for seat sales!

New Banner

I must give credit where credit is due! My beautiful new banner was designed by my very talented second cousin, May-B. Apparently, with a wedding in two weeks, a very busy career and moving to a new home, May-B had too much time on her hands! Lucky for me, she decided to use said time to help her techno-inept cousin fancy up her blog. Thank you!!

Long-overdue Update

I had a very long post written and LOST IT! Maybe that is why I wait for months between posts, I’m just not that good at it!! I will begin again and try to remember everything I had written.

It’s been a busy summer. As I have posted, the June 12 fundraiser was a great success. I’m afraid however that I was a little like a bride on her wedding day … I had a great time but remember virtually nothing! I think I was in a total daze all evening. I obviously had no idea of how exhausted and run down I had become during the preparation but it all hit me in the week or two following! I could easily have slept for a week but the kids still had school and life continue on and I with it!

The kids finished up the school year and summer officially began. We had a busy fun summer. One weekend in early July was spent camping in Red Deer so that Matt and I could attend the Canadian Gospel Music Celebration with my parents. That’s always the highlight of the summer for me! For the last two weeks of July we pulled the trailer down to Southern Alberta.

We camped at Beauvais Lake for 10 days. Didsbury friends joined us for the first few days and we had a good time showing them our “old stomping grounds”. We took them to the Great Canadian Barn Dance, Waterton and Thunder in the Valley, a fireworks show in the Crowsnest Pass. Later in the week my friend Shelley came from her Waterton campsite to spend the day with us. She’s a wonderful wildlife photographer and we enjoyed taking her out in the fishing boat to photograph the birds at the far end of the lake. Another afternoon, our friends Stan and Lois from Lethbridge came out to do some fishing and have a BBQ.

For the last week of July, we moved the trailer to Lundreck Falls where Ben spent the last week of holidays while Matt attended camp at Southern Alberta Bible Camp and Dawsyn and I hung out with friends in Lethbridge. It was so good to spend time with my Aunties Irene and Ruth and with friends Glenda, Lois, Carolyn, Shelley and Pam. There were many more that I missed. There is just never quite enough time!

Camp ended the evening of July 30 and we returned to Didsbury to meet my sister, Shauna, and two of her children who had come for a short visit. We returned the favor a couple of weeks later when the kids and I drove to her place in Grenfell, SK, for a week on the farm.

When we weren’t on the road, we stayed very busy at home. Dawsyn worked hard on all her skills, physical and academic, with Emily. We are so fortunate to have Emily working with Dawsyn for the past two summers. She’s been such a blessing, not only to Dawsyn, but to the whole family. I would quite like to adopt her but her own family will have none of it!! Besides, she’s 18 years old now and off to college. Although she’s only in Red Deer, I will miss her very much.

School started on September 3 and the kids were very happy to go back … not as happy as their mother, but happy nonetheless! Matt is in Grade 7 this year and has officially moved to the high school. I can hardly believe it! He is bemoaning the loss of recesses but thinks he will enjoy the high school experience. I think he may be surprised at how much harder he has to work to keep his grades up.

Dawsyn is in Grade 3 and has a very good teacher. She also has the same two Educational Aides as she did last year. They have a good system in place and she learns well under their direction. We are very pleased with the progress she made over the last term of school and over the summer. Although there is a long road ahead, we keep working towards catching up to her peers in social behavior and academics.

There has not been a lot of news on the dog front. We submitted our monies and know that the dog is in training. We have to complete a video introducing our family and showing some of Dawsyn’s behaviors that the dog will have to be prepared for. Unfortunately, it is difficult to catch those moments on video because we’re too busy DEALING with them! However, we are slowly capturing what needs to be conveyed. Ben is working on editing the clips together and we will mail it to 4 Paws by the end of this month. We also have to send them an unwashed article of Dawsyn’s clothing so that the dog can learn her scent and be trained to track her when she runs away. We certainly could have used that skill a few times this summer!

We have been scheduled into the April/May training class. We will travel to Xenia, Ohio, for two weeks of training prior to bringing our new member of the family home. April still seems a long way away but I think the time will fly. We can hardly wait!

At http://www.4pawsdogs.org/in_training.htm you can see some of the dogs currently in training. We think that one of the Standard Poodles or poodle crosses is probably our dog! We particularly like Knobby, Frodo and Murdock. Guess we'll find out soon enough!