25 Random Things, Revisited

Well, I stand by my original 25 things because they are true and most heartfelt. However, I feel like I need to have a list of whacky, simple things about myself as well. So, I am trying again. The first list got more serious than I really intended, so here I go again...

1. My favorite color is red and has been for years.

2. I love dishes, and would have multiple sets of dishes if I had the room to store them all.

3. I would rather have something sweet than something salty, and cookies or ice cream are the best of all.

4. My son makes me laugh - hard. He loves to be silly, and his humor is really funny (to me, at least).

5. I don't like to drive; I didn't even go for my driver's license until I was almost 17 years old because I didn't even like to drive then.

6. I used to play the piano. I still fiddle around with it, but I used to be much better than I am now.

7. I wish I could play the guitar, but I lack the time or resources to devote learning this new skill at the moment. Maybe in a few years?

8. I keep a cross-stich project that I take to "craft days" with other women. I don't really like to craft, but I do like the fellowship. This project gives me a reason to go, with respect.

9. I love to do in-depth studies of Scripture, but I don't have an in-depth study going all the time. My time permits me to read the Bible more devotionally at the present.

10. I like my in-laws...yes, really. I'm lucky to have in-laws that like me, too!

11. My son wants to be a firefighter when he grows up, and I hope that he will grow out of this phase.

12. I like both coffee and tea -- hot and cold coffee, but only hot tea.

13. I love to cook, and I sometimes love to bake. I don't really like to use measuring cups and spoons or recipes, so baking only happens when I am willing to measure and follow the directions.

14. I am presently cold -- in my house -- with a jacket on. I think that is crazy, but I don't want to pay for the heat if I turn up the thermostat (It is 9 degrees outside presently, which is warm compared to the last couple of weeks!)

15. I would wear blue jeans every day if I could.

16. I don't like to fold socks or iron. Thankfully, my husband is willing to do his own ironing.

17. I know how to (and enjoy to!) pack a car as well as my engineer dad (and better than my husband!)

18. I love to organize things (not parties, but drawers, closets, etc.)

19. Sometime I let things get messy just so I can re-organize it later.

20. I enjoy having my closet organized and everything hung by category (pants, shirts, etc) and by color within each category. My husband thinks that is strange; we are both thankful that we are not sharing a closet.

21. I have never been good at sports, but I have always enjoyed being active.

22. It bugs me that at 35 years old, I am beginning to get wrinkles, and I still have occasional break outs. Ugh.

23. The sound of Rob singing while he plays is one of my favorite sounds.

24. I love fresh fruits and vegetables (fresh, not canned or frozen, are my favorite), and I struggle with meats (including chicken, beef, and pork). I have tried for years to learn to like meat, and I still really don't. I don't know why. I see my son being this way as well.

25. I still find it hilarious that I am even doing this blog. Still don't know why I am, but I do find it strangely fun.

25 Random Things

I was tagged on Facebook (five times) before I finally sat down and did this list. I thought I would also post my FB note here, just for fun. My sister-in-law pointed out to me that I have two #4's and two #5's. I was writing my list with R wandering in and out of the kitchen asking questions and telling stories. Obviously, I wasn't paying attention to what number I was on!! So, the following is actually 27 things...

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are suppose to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. (So, blog readers/writers...ahem...Ann-marie, Sherry, Jess, Susie, Cheri, Seaton, Tonya...consider yourself tagged.)

I'm going to do my best at this, but I'm truthfully a little nervous. 25 things seems like alot!

1. I grew up in Knoxville, TN, and my family never moved until I graduated from highschool. (My parents moved to Chattanooga, TN the summer after I graduated from highschool.)

2. In the last ten years, David and I have moved six times. Most moves I say (sort of kidding)..."I'm not moving again!" I haven't said that this last move. (See #5)

3. I didn't even know where Wisconsin was until my husband asked "What do you think about Wisconsin?" when he was job hunting. Honestly, I had never thought about Wisconsin, and I had to get out a map to determine where it was!

4. I loved, loved, loved living in Madison, WI where we lived from 2004-2007. God provided us such a community of friends that it felt like home in just weeks after moving there. I felt loved and supported during one of the darkest seasons of my life in a way I did not know possible. (See #6 ) The MCF group at our church was just fabulous, and I miss it still.

5. Our move to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area has not been so seamless or effortless; I honestly have struggled here in a way I didn't know possible. I'm grateful for the friends I have made, but I am craving a more cohesive community.

4. I love my husband, David. He is fun, funny, and a great listener. He makes me laugh, even when I don't want to. He keeps me grounded. He keeps me from taking my life too seriously (as I have a tendency to). He chose me when I wasn't even looking, and I am so grateful. I will gladly continue moving every few years with him, if necessary, as long as he enjoys what he is doing.

5. We struggled to get pregnant (and stay pregnant), and I am so thankful for our son, Robert. Motherhood is a role I longed for, and it is even more fun and challenging than I anticipated.

6. My heart broke the day Rob was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, and re-broke each time he had to go back in for surgery. I am so grateful that he has been healthy these last 23 months (but, who's counting!), but I really fear that he will need surgery again at some point in the future.

7. Everytime Rob was in the hospital (12 times), I gained about 5 pounds. (Please, don't do the math.) Believe me, I am working on it and paying for my stressful blunders now.

8. I don't know how people live through their child being sick except for the grace of God. I couldn't have made it (with any sanity at all) without my relationship with God. I am thankful that I had a relationship with God prior to Rob's diagnosis, because that is what got me through. Well, that and ice cream at the nurses station (see #7).

9. The last four years have changed me. I cry more easily. I feel more deeply. I am more sympathetic to others going through hard times. I pray more. I read my Bible more. I long for deeper relationships and less chit-chat. Again, I need my husband because he keeps me from taking life too seriously. I am easily too serious about things.

10. I like to read all sorts of things and am thankful for my bookclub (both now and in Madison). There is very little that I won't read except slutty romance.

11. I enjoy doing Sudoku puzzles to relax and unwind - the hard ones. My brain just thinks that way.

12. I love summer; I love hot and humid. I don't like cold and snowy.

13. My grandma (my dad's mom) died my senior year of highschool. I still miss her and think about her just about every day. I think if she were still living, she would be my best friend. I still wish I could just call her to chat.

14. I keep a blog that I started months ago. I've only told one person (Tonya) about my blog, and a few others have found it by accident. I don't really know why I do it, but writing is somewhat therapeutic for me at times. I kept an account of what was going on with Rob's health with a email newsletter of sorts called "Rob Updates", and I found myself missing the writing after I quit sending out the updates.

15. My husband and I tend to buy homes that need "fixing up" in some way. I don't know why we do this, but we do. We both say we won't do it again, but we probably will.

16. I really, really enjoy my job as a product trainer for a company that makes insulin pumps and continuous glucose sensors. I love teaching people how to use these products, and I love that it seems to make a difference in their quality of life. I also like the fact that I can work around Rob's schedule and work while he is at pre-school or when David can be home with him.

17. I had never played a video game until David's parents gave us the Wii for Christmas. I am enjoying it much more than I thought I would because it is both active and interactive.

18. I make a to-do list almost daily.

19. I thought I would be a mom to many, many children. I get the question (almost daily) about having more. I'm happy to talk about this, but the answer is not easy or short. I tend to avoid bringing up this topic because I honestly don't know if someone REALLY wants to know the answer because it is not a short, simple answer. I also tend to cry when I talk about it. That is okay; it is who I am now. (See #9)

20. I miss the South, terribly. There are certain ways and cultures in the mid-west that I find a little strange. I know people here find me strange, too, and I am okay with that. Again, I love hot and humid. January, February, and March are hard for me in Wisconsin.

21. I worry that I am not a good wife or mom. I pray about this alot, and I work very hard at both roles. I know for a fact that they both deserve better, but they are kind and gracious to be happy with me.

22. I don't really like to paint my fingernails, but I almost always have my toenails painted.

23. I love flip-flops and sandals, and I wish that I could wear them all year.

24. I love things that are old and have some history, especially things that were my grandma's (furniture, dishes, books, Christmas ornaments, quilts, etc). My dad gave me my grandma's wedding scrapbook for Christmas, and I cried. It cracked me up that she really never finished it because I haven't ever really finished a scrap book either.

25. I enjoy exercise, once I am doing it. I find it hardest to just get going...just like this list! I had a hard time getting going, but found it easier than I thought it would be once I started.

Whew! Done!

Did I Mention?

By the way, I forgot to mention...

R was re-assessed last Thursday for OT (Occupational Therapy). (Yes, it was the coldest day of the year with wind chills in the -25 to -40 degree range, but that is beside the point.) We have been on a maintenance program with Donna, our OT for the last several months. It was sort of a test balloon of sorts to see how he would do checking in every month but not doing weekly therapy. Well, after six months of monthly check-ins, Donna decided it was time to re-evaluate.

He IMPROVED his score from six months ago! Yes, I said IMPROVED!! Six months ago, he was testing at about the 50th percentile for fine motor skills, and last week he tested at almost the 75th percentile.

We don't go back to OT for a re-check for a year. (applause...cheers!) Yes, I did say a year. You can get back off the floor and into your chair again!

R has been in intensive weekly or even twice weekly OT since he turned one year old, and now, after almost four years, we get a year off. I can hardly believe it!

No OT for a year, no PT till spring...God is so good.

This gives me hope that we will one day graduate from the other therapies.

Thank you, God, for using therapy to do so much good for R. Thank you for his progress. Thank you that we get a break because I think that we were both needing it. Thank you for showing me that no phase lasts forever, even if I feel that it might!

Facebook Reunion

I feel like I am living in a slow, strange reunion of sorts. In the past few weeks, old pictures from middle school, high school, and college have been showing up on Facebook. Some of them are of me and others of friends. It is truly strange. I don't know whether to laugh, cry, celebrate, or run screaming from my computer because who knows how many people have been reminded just how scary my awkward phase was.

My old pictures were living in a shoe box at the back of a cabinet until the overwhelming compulsion to look through them overtook me! I thought I would share one that I found...the dance team at Bearden High School in 1989-1990. I am choosing NOT to share my middle school cheerleader picture (because it is MUCH scarrier)... just in case you haven't yet seen it on facebook! Who needs reunion only once every 10 years when you can have your past and present crash into each other on a daily basis on Facebook?!?! It is crazy that I am getting notes on any given day from friends from Kindergarten (at a small Christian school in Knoxville, TN) and friends from MOPS (here in WI). I am reconnecting with people I thought I would never see or hear from again on this earth.

The problem with Facebook (for me!) is that while it is a fun walk down memory lane and an easy way to stay "connected" (if you call it that)...you don't REALLY connect. You chat. You keep things light and airy. You go about as deep as you do during sorority rush, and that, my friends, was my issue with rush to begin with. So, as I watch my friend count go up, I wish that I could have a lunch date or coffee with each person to really, truly connect.

Loving our Wii

Okay, I am not a video game person -- at all! When all my friends were playing Atari games at home, I preferred reading books. When they were playing Packman or Donkey Kong at Mr. Gatti's pizza, I much preferred watching, flirting, or talking. I've never quite understood the attraction, and I've never had the skills necessary to work the joy stick or the controller. Well, let me tell you...all that has changed...

David's parents gave us a Wii for Christmas, and we are all three having so much fun. R is enjoying bowling with David and I. David and I are particularly enjoying a spirited game of tennis after R goes to bed!

But...the real story is Maya, our Personal Training Coach.

Now, this is not the Wii fit, nor does this game (if you call it a game) require or use the Wii fit. I think that is a good thing because the Wii fit is much more expensive than the $29 "My Fitness Coach" game. This game is an interactive exercise game that adjusts the workouts based on what you want to work on both long term (and that day) and how long you are wanting to work. It uses your own personal exercise equiptment, such as hand weights, step, and stability ball. Maya, the animated trainer, pulls from over 450 exercises so that there is new variety daily. She also changes her clothes, music, and location to keep things interesting. As you progress through the game, additional exercises, music, and locations are unlocked.

For some reason, I am finding this game much more interesting and fun than the drawer full of exercise videos I have purchased over the years. I am oddly fascinated with unlocking more and more locations, music types, and exercises. I am consistently exercising...for the first time in, well, that's for me to know...

So, for those of you Wii owners. Try it! I think you'll enjoy it as much as I do! This has been fun enough for me that I actually look forward to my daily time with Maya -- David and R do, too! It's been three weeks, and we are not even close to getting bored or frustrated.

50%, officially average

As most of you know, R has hydrocephalus. His "hydro" caused a secondary condition of hypotonia -- or, low muscle tone, in normal people speak. As a result, since R was about 12 months old, he has received weekly PT and OT and he has received speech therapy off and on. Well, R was re-assessed yesterday, and his gross motor skills have improved to the 50th percentile! That means that he is officially average.

Average is not what most people are looking for in their children, but considering that R started this climb 3 1/2 years ago at the 20th percentile...we are thrilled beyond words with average!! This was cause for huge celebration at our house. This also means that R doesn't have to go back to PT until March of this new year...10 weeks with no PT! What will we do with our time?!?!

We are hoping to continue this trend when he gets reassessed for OT this month. It would be great to only have speech on the agenda right now. He has been given the gift of cutting back from 2 speech appointments a week to only one a week, so that was cause for smiles regardless.

I, as mom/chauffer/cheerleader feel like a huge weight has been removed from my chest and shoulders. Praying that his development continues...

Yippee! Yippee! We now have Monday and Wednesday afternoons FREE!!! Anyone for a playdate?