March Break Roundup

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Mike

I was shocked to realize today… that tomorrow is Thursday. The days are such a blur that I kicked myself to put down what’s been going on, just so I wouldn’t forget! So, here’s the roundup!

Fri Feb 26th, I picked up Melyssa who was staying with us as she does every year.

Sat Feb 27th, we all went to an Italian Piazza in Pte. Claire to celebrate Chantale’s birthday! My sweetheart is now 30 years young 🙂

Sun Feb 28th, outside of continuing to celebrate Chantale, we went to my in-laws for the big Olympic hockey showdown and then watched the wrap-up ceremonies at home

Mon Mar 1st, Dental checkup for Melyssa (I have to remember to call for a follow-up in April to get a few more sealants done!)

Tues Mar 2nd, is just a blur

Wed Mar 3rd, the family drove off to Ottawa to celebrate Melyssa’s 13th birthday! I seem to get her a book for every birthday (which she reads on the drive) and this year it was SMILE by Raina Telgemeier. The Science and Technology museum was a blast but as we got there later than every year – it was already overcrowded with a lot of other munchkins 🙂 Afterwards, Pizza Party and Pizza Hut! 🙂 At night, Casey went to her Vet for a follow-up acupuncture treatment. She reacts like she’s 100%

Thur Mar 4th, feels like another blur right now. However, I had a surprise for that night as I took Kyle to see his first movie in a theatre! Chantale and Melyssa came along as well (continued bday gifts 😉 ). The movie in question? How To Train Your Dragon in 3D! I thought I had 4 passes but it turned out to be 4 double passes! Yikes! And I couldn’t find anyone at the last minute to come with us. Still, it was an awesome movie and it was great seeing Johane Matte’s name up on the screen as the credits rolled 🙂 Yay Johane!

Fri Mar 5th, haircut time for Kyle and I! Again, the rest of the day was a blur.

Sat Mar 6th, We put the finishing electrical touches in the basement by completing the installation of the new outlets. I’m going to try to get some plastering done before my father-in-law gets back from vacation and we work on finishing the ceiling.

Sun Mar 7th, as part of the continued birthday celebrations, my mother-in-law took Melyssa, Chantale, Charlize, and Kyle to see Disney Princess on Ice – the first time for any of them. They all came back excited and enchanted 🙂 It was great 🙂 I stayed home and tried to rest/ read/ write. That night, I brought Melyssa back since school started again the next day.

Mon Mar 8th, vacation day. I didn’t realize until Friday afternoon that I had scheduled a day of vacation and decided I needed it. So, after the kids were at daycare and Chantale was at work, I stayed off-line and just took the time to… breathe. And watch X-Files, of course 🙂

*phew*. I think it was the busiest March Break we’ve gone through!! 🙂

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The Curse of Age

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Mike

I went to visit my parents yesterday morning. My dad’s last appointment with his eye doc last week did not go well at all. He’s lost even more of his vision and the surgery couldn’t correct it. There doesn’t seem to be anything left for them to do except to try to save the 35% peripheral he has in his left eye… And thus, with a detached cornea in his right eye, they are now grounded. My dad can no longer drive which means that the “freedom” he and my mother had in that regards is now over.

Needless to say, they were both extremely devastated.

It’s quite sad and at time heart-wrenching to think of all the work and effort one puts in to carving a life for yourself, keeping a roof over your head, raising a family… only to end up like this. It may need to be time to finally have them sell their house and move into a home… but the thought of being “stuck” in a small room without being able to even go out into their own yard is terrifying for them…

They’re not completely helpless and there are services they can call on, but with the news still so fresh it’s going to take some time to accept the reality of ‘now’ and move forward.

It’s such a harsh reality. You know that the “curse” of old age is going to come for you… but until it really does, you just can’t imagine what it means. I, for one, never thought I would ever see the day that my big, tough, bad-ass father would be broken by life to the point that I would have to be the one to console and counsel him…

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The Pain you feel is Real…

Posted on February 26, 2010 by Mike

Hey Mike, how does that migraine feel?
Would you really like to know? Imagine a flaming, pulsing, sword, jabbed between your eyes, on your brow or forehead, and exiting from the base of your skull. Now, if you can picture that sword embedded in your brain, pulsing, picture whoever it is holding it constantly jabbing you with it, the hilt of the sword banging up against your forehead over and over.

It feels like that. Only worse.

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Charlize’s Story

Posted on February 23, 2010 by Mike

Recently, folks who weren’t around during the time our family had to deal with Charlize’s health issues have been asking about more details. What happened, what did you do, etc, etc. Since everything we went through was detailed in both Chantale’s and my journals, we had already compiled them way back when and made the story available on the web. So, for those who want to read it now, the direct link is here: http://www.savageland.com/chantale/charlize/heart.html

Chantale’s main portal is still at: http://www.chantaleturgeon.com although it hasn’t been updated in a while 🙂

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No Surgery

Posted on February 18, 2010 by Mike

We took Charlize to an Opthamologist this week to see if we could finally get some answers in regards to her wandering right eye.

After 2+ years, it was a relief to finally hear a professional tell us that we weren’t crazy and there WAS a direct link between Charlize being weaned off her meds after her heart surgery and this situation. The doctor practices at the MCH and knows the Doctor who operated on Charlize – he was actually very enthusiastic about how great a heart surgeon he is 🙂

At any rate, it was also heartening to know that although Charlize’s eye does wander, it’s not severe enough to require surgery to correct it. So what we’ll do is just keep going back every 6 months for a checkup and hope it eventually corrects itself.

When you stop to consider just how much she’s gone through to survive her open heart surgery without requiring a pacemaker, keeping her valve, etc, etc. A little thing like a wandering eye when she’s extremely tired is so very very minor 🙂

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Roundup

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Mike

I can’t keep putting off the posting of messages, darnit! I said I would try to do it more often and I better do it! (kicking myself in the butt to keep going)

At the very least, I wanted to talk about the weekend.

Friday was an a day we’d been looking forward to for a while now: Opening Ceremonies of Vancouver 2010 Olympics! 🙂 Yes, some are blasé about it, but we’re not. Our family is a big fan of Olympic events so our plan was to enjoy it together. Melyssa was supposed to be with us that night but she forgot that she made plans to go to an open-cheer event with friends of hers. So, I picked her up on Saturday morning instead. As for the rest of us, come 830pm we were all ready to watch – even having taken out the kids’ pup tents so Kyle and Charlize could lie down in there and watch (hopefully fall asleep 🙂 ) with our flags properly displayed.

The event was great and I must admit to feeling flush with pride as Kyle stood there with his little hand (holding a Canadian flag that he built) over his heart during the national anthem 🙂

Saturday was a nice day of hanging about, enjoying a break from the every-weekend-construction of basement renovations. We played, watched the Olympics, and did some shopping.

On Sunday, well, it began with lots of hugs and kisses and valentine’s cards and chocolate hearts 🙂 I managed to suprise Chantale with tickets to see Paul Piché in concert in April :). Again, the morning was leisurely spent enjoying the Olympic coverage and features. I had wanted to suprise everyone with a pair of Olympic mittens but there was a mix-up on Friday and Purolater sent the package to the wrong house. We tried to get it back on Friday but the folks at that house (literally a couple of blocks from me) weren’t home. The Purolater driver was so upset with himself that he kept trying all weekend long. Sunday, just before noon, they called to let me know they had gone out of town and had just gotten back. I rushed over, retrieved my parcel, called the driver to let him know I got it, and then gave the family their red mittens 🙂

We had a quick lunch and then dressed warmly to head out to the community winter event 🙂 We walked around Pointe de Moulin and enjoyed all the attractions, spending some time looking at the ice fishing and all the fish they caught. We enjoyed some hot chocolate by a roaring fire and some maple “tire” from the mobile Sugar Shack. Chantale, Melyssa, and Charlize even went for a horse-drawn carriage ride while I waited in line with Kyle who really wanted to do some “trampoline bungy” (eurobungy.com). I couldn’t believe how he (when he finally got his turn!) went up, allowed himself to be strapped in place, and began jumping on the trampoline and rising up on the bungy cords. A few back and forths happened as he gained his balance but afterwards he was straight in the center bouncing up and down 🙂 Pride! 🙂

Finally, after being there for a couple of hours, we started making our way back when we saw the dog-sledding team. Melyssa, Kyle, and Charlize got on the sled and were pulled around for a turn 🙂 A very nice time was had by all 🙂

We headed home, tossed the kids in the bath, and Chantale made garlic bread and spinach-fettucinni-pasta with alfredo sauce and scallops while I ran to get 2 small platters of sushi to accompany it. It went down really well with the sparkling rosé wine 🙂

At bedtime, Kyle and Charlize went down really easily and were asleep by 8pm. Chantale, Melyssa, and I watched the Olympics as we’d been waiting for the Men’s Moguls all day long. What a breath-taking event! I’m suprised we didn’t wake the children with our shouts of joy and victory! 🙂 Canada winning gold was fantastic, but it being Alexandre Bilodeau made it all the more heart-warming (and if you saw the profile on him, you’d know why). As another bonus, I loved the fact that the first time Canada won Gold on its home soil, Melyssa was there with us to see it/ celebrate it. Had today NOT been a Ped day at school, I would not have had her with me last night and this would have been just another event she hadn’t shared in.

Go Canada!

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Time to grow…

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Mike

Today, we head out to register Kyle for Kindergarten.

I have to let that sentence “stand” on its own because it’s got such an impact I need to be able to look upon it without anything else around it.

My little boy, who’s been giving us nothing but feelings of pride and happiness as he’s gotten bigger and bigger over the years… is now big enough for school. And thus, it is with both heavy heart AND pride that we take this step and sign him up. Yes, there are still a number of months for the “reality” of it all to sink in, but come September, my little tyke will enter the school system.

Although he’s enrolled in an english school, it is an immersion program. That means he’ll be immersed 100% in french for the first 3 grades after which it switches to 50%. Of course, with school comes all the activities, field trips, fund raisers, etc, that come with it. And, knowing myself, I’ll probably get involved in the Parents Council like I did back with James and Melyssa.

The change in routine isn’t going to be too big as the school is only a few blocks from our current daycare. This means that the mornings will be: daycare to drop off Charlize (who I’m certain will growth-spurt herself the next few years), and then drop off Kyle. The evenings will be reversed with picking up Kyle from school, and Charlize from daycare. Who will do what in terms of scheduling will depend at the time 🙂

Sooo… my statement of 2010 being a year of change is certainly going to prove true!

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Feeling Edgy

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Mike

As you can imagine, there was a lot of headspace activity going on during the posting of yesterday’s message. It didn’t just end once I clicked the “post” button. It was still very much on my mind this morning.

I started working on an activity to put semblance of order to these various feelings and took a first step that will result in one of two things. Either a stabilization of the current situation, or a “reset” of sorts that could provide the respite I need.

It’s just about the end of the first month in the new year and already so much has happened that it’s been impossible to keep up on. With work, kids, renovations, family issues, legal issues, promotions, growth, etc etc…

I keep wondering when the “rest” period will start…

(ps- i know i’m being vague all over the place, but that’s for both your protection and mine 🙂 )

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Stuck in a Quandry

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Mike

I used to tell my buddy Marc – on a regular basis – that the day I could no longer update my blog regularly (back then it was daily, later every other day) that it would mean there’s a problem. Of course, I didn’t really mean problem-problem in the sense of illness, home issues, etc. More along the lines of: if I can’t update, then there’s been a loss of control in my life.

This really did hold true for the longest time and became impacted with the advent of FaceBook. FB became fun and the idea of interacting with so many friends on a regular basis was really cool. Until I realized that it was very much interfering with my blogging (and too many other activities). I pulled back from FB and it helped a little.

And then I actually got to thinking about how much I enjoyed some of those FB interactions, and realized how some of those status updates were about events that I would have loved to have kept somewhere more permanent. Like my blog. Sure, this may just be bits and bytes on the internet, but I use this blog offline as well, archiving it in a specific fashion. Using Twitter and the widget to post those tweets just wouldn’t work for me. It’s not enough to just fart out a status. I want a bit more than that – especially now with some of the things going on in my personal life (which would normally get posted privately).

That, of course, got me to update even less on FB but the underlying issue still remained. All the things I wanted to post about… I never had time to do so. Go back to paragraph 1. There is a problem. For me to not have time to sit back and reflect on certain items in my life is just wrong. To constantly be on-the-go rushing from deadline to deadline to appointment to appointment… does not a happy Mike make.

Plus, reflecting on things always allowed me to see and plan what I needed to do/ get to in order to feel like I was moving “forward” if not “ahead”. Forward in my plans, ahead in my progression (and to be clear, I’m not talking about day-job stuff. that gets taken care of IN the dayjob).

So where does this leave me? With plenty to say and very little time to say it in. What options do I have? That’s what I’m trying to look at. Is this somewhat similiar to the “move” off of private bases on Bulletin Board Systems (interacting) to blabbering on a blog (pushing)? Are we at the phasing-out of the blogging and moving onto the sound-biting? Well, we’re definitely in a big change, that’s for sure. And as with anything new, we’ll have to take it one experience at a time until we re-find our footing.

For me, I’m just going to have to properly commit my time so the important events I need to keep, I will.

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Quote

Posted on January 22, 2010 by Mike

“We, the willing, led by the unknowing, have accomplished the impossible for the ungrateful.

“We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

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