Slippers....

A little shot of all my boys and their new toasty footwear. A local "Santa" supplied these ones and they just love them!!!!! The boys are also wearing the sweaters and sweatshirts they received. They loved them!! We opened our gifts on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. I really liked the gifts I bought myself! I got just what I wanted! CDs! I got the new Chris Tomlin (Hello Love), Third Day (Revelation), Passion(The Best So Far...with lots of Christ Tomlin, David Crowder Band(I love David Crowder Band!!!!), and Matt Redman....), and Tenth Avenue North(Over and Underneath...SO good!!!!).

We all had a lovely Christmas Day here and went to Chatham to have turkey and open stockings. And everyone fell asleep in the car on the way home. Happy, content, and oh...so full. I got a 500pc puzzle which I put together on Boxing Day. So relaxing.

Almost all our snow is gone. Neat how all of Canada had a white Christmas. We got quite a bit on Christmas Eve but it promptly rained away. Everyone in the neighbourhood was helping one another shovel out on that morning. Our boys went across the street to help one neighbour shovel a big load the snowplow dumped on the end of his driveway, it was too deep and wet for his snowblower and our 3 boys and another neighbour had it cleared away in about 20 minutes. And now....we can see the grass again. It was 10 degrees last night and Joe cleaned the windows at church in his t shirt, well actually he was just wearing jeans and showing off his stellar torso since his shirt got wet!! The park below our house is covered with water!!!... well it's only the park when it is dry, when the snow melts it is the flood plain. The teeter totters are totally submerged...and the geese are having a hey day. It feels like the water is REALLY close to the road when you drive by. So far so good......

My foot is doing really well. I think I can almost post a picture here and not offend even the most sensitive viewers. It is looking really good. There is skin growing on the entire area and now the biggest challenge is to keep the new skin hydrated. It is very brittle when it dries out. I am still keeping it wrapped with gauze bandage since tape doesn't adhere to the no stick pads. Go figure! This type of pad also doesn't absorb ALL the moisturizer. In the near future we can just switch to gauze squares to protect against rubbing. I have graduated to wearing socks which has greatly reduced the amount of sympathy I get, and I can wear my slides. They have a closed toe and look like shoes when I wear long pants. People really notice my progress and it is so neat how excited and celebratory they are along with me. I am back to doing all my regular work and am amazed that we've been able to clean up after all the holiday bookings!! I didn't think I would have healed so quickly. Even though it felt like it went so slow in the first week.

Kevin went away for a week to visit with a friend. A family wanted to see how their family dynamic would change with the introduction of a Korean boy. They have hosted a Korean girl before so they're not new to the Keystone concept. It is rather quiet here and low key. Low key is really good!!! We don't have an evening service tonight and are staying in to watch a movie.

Moving Right Along.....

I'm so excited to inform you that my progress is ....well....progressing! I had my dressing changed this morning and everyone was very pleased. When I say everyone, I mean...EVERYONE!!! All the doctors at the office from the regular doctor, to the residents, the nurse, AND the medical student have played a role in seeing me through the healing of my burn, except my own doctor who is on holidays. This morning they all came in to see how it was looking, after the nurse took the dressing off. It looks very clean, healthy, pink, and I am growing new epithelials!! So then a discussion arose regarding dressing changes and the holiday schedule and it was decided that I would do a trial run this weekend at home. The nurse made up this nice little package with all the things I will need, and on Tuesday they'll see how I have fared. Tape, bactigras, sterile wound wash, bandage and tape(that sticks!!) All in a neat little DYI wound care package for home. Almost as good as a treat bag, well, it's a treat for me anyway.

For the past two days I have been on the mend and I think things are improving quite a bit. Must be all that good food that people have been bringing. Think... comfort food. I have ditched my crutches and am untethered and free. Although two nights ago I was in agony, stranded in the hallway, 15 feet away from my crutches which were by the patio door, and I was very discouraged. The difference a day can make..... the sun DOES shine again, and that's a good reminder.

Yesterday I attended the Christmas program with Ray's mom, and in the evening Ray took Craig and the boys to school for the second showing. It was such a nice program and the music was great. Joe sang with his usual amount of gusto, through a slit sized opening between his lips. And Kevin sang his little heart out, although he was a little bit self conscious with Ray sitting mere feet away from him. Kevin and the other 5th grade students performed a light show in the darkened gym while the senior choir sang, "Go Light Your World" by Chris Rice. The entire program was accompanied by a CD track, which can be really tricky because there was a lot of reading and that all had to be timed and qued. It was lovely.

Ray's Mom also took me out to lunch at Timmy's...such a treat. We were running a little late and miraculously there was hardly anyone at Timmy's. Everyone must be out shopping before the big storm hits!! I guess there is some snow on the way?!? I should check out the weather channel. I think I better set up a handsome wage schedule for the men folk in this house, since I can't go out there and do my share of the shoveling at this time. Things are definitely improving but I'm not ready for footwear yet. An open shoe....maybe...but nothing tied or binding....basically all I can do is be on stand-by with the hot chocolate in my hot pink crocs.

So there ya have it. Tomorrow is the last day of school and then the holidays will be upon us. Our candlelight service is Sunday night and we look forward to that...and on Christmas Day we will be going to Chatham. It is fun to hear of all your Christmas preparations too. We hope you all have a blessed Christmas and savour the time spent with your families. Love you!

A Brief Update

Well....I finished Ben-Hur. Talk about drama. I have some time now and think it might be the season to get the movie from the library, all 210 minutes of it. I have about that much laundry to fold so...it would be a good mix.

I spend part of the morning downstairs so I can correspond, do laundry and look around my studio. But I prefer not to go and down too much, that's hard with crutches. I use one crutch most of the time but do shuffle around without at times. Depends on the pain.


!!!!Warning: Graphic description of wound may be disturbing for sensitive readers..accompanying image may be disturbing for the fashion sensitive !!!! Just wanted you to know that I decided to tone down the garish display that would have been my winter foot wear. So I'm trying to down play the extent of my fashion faux pas for those of you who would be concerned about such things..... :)

I don't have too much pain and try to move my ankle to different positions so the skin doesn't seize... Speaking of skin. There is less of me today than there was yesterday. This morning's visit to have my dressings changed and have the doctor see me, ended up with the burn being debrided. Which means they took the old folded skin away. It lifted clean away without pulling and was relatively painless. They have special tweezers and scissors for that.... Wow a tool for every job....just like in scrapbooking and cardmaking. So...the last blister came off too and now it is all open. This is quite uncomfortable and they poured a lovely cleansing solution over it before the new dressings were put on. This really stung and added to the discomfort. But...it is getting better all the time. Someone brought bon-bons and that really, really helps. Very medicinal. I was supposed to see a resident but one of the regular doctor's was there, got down right on the floor and got busy with the scissors. Then the resident was called to come in and have a look and make some commentary and learn. I'm a good patient and they didn't need the extra man power to restrain me. I'm all for teaching and all that, but today.....I was happy to be in experienced hands.

I have to go back tomorrow to have the dressing changed and then they will leave it on for 72 hours. Monday morning is my next appointment.

So that's about it for today. Someone gives me a ride to the doctor's office everyday. Someone is bringing supper everyday. I'm so blessed and well cared for. But...I do hope to be on my feet again soon.

This morning I read, "The Shack". Has anyone else read it? How do you feel about it?

There is a Time To Sit and a Time to.....

...keep your feet up.

Just thought I'd give the world a little update regarding my current condition. I am going to be laid up for a few days and have to keep my feet up...I know... tough times. Yesterday I spilled a perc full of hot water on my ankle and suffered second degree burns. The kitchen was full of ladies and gentlemen doing dishes when there arose such a clatter of urns and percs falling to the floor. Hope I didn't swear.... I peeled my sock off right away and with it came all the skin. I know....yucky. (I think you will be glad that I am not posting a picture, although I know how meaningful it would be to Randall.....) Into a sink full of freezing cold water for 10 or 15 minutes and then, off to emerg where they wheeled me right through to be taken care of. I think we were home in an hour. Ray's Aunt Anne and Uncle Henry insisted on driving me to the hospital and stayed til I was released. Then they took me to their house to pick up some crutches and drove me home to the couch. (They're the BEST!!!) Within hours, meals began to arrive....and offers to help with the work that still has to be done at church. My first thought was. "I don't have time for this. THis is sooo inconvenient. There is so much to do!!" But everything is under control. I love my church family, always have , always will. And I really feel like they love me too.

It looks like I'm going to have some time to read those books that I was piling up to return to the library unread. I have a stack of Christmas cards ready to address and send off, which I was going to skip because it was such a busy season here. I was wishing that things might slow down for a while....be careful what you wish for. I hadn't anticipated that they would grind to a complete halt.

That's where I'm at....I'm getting ready to go to the doctor now. I have to find a shoe of some sort, I think a croc will work best. One hot pink croc and my periwinkle winter boots. What a sight that will be. I think I should take a picture of that...but first....time for a piece of cranberry raisin bread that arrived yesterday...

You Know It's Christmas When....

...Kellogg's comes out with the Holiday Rice Krispies edition. Red and green krispies everywhere, and it was high time to introduce Kevin the wonderful Canadian delight called, Rice Krispy ...em...shapes. Our box had the "house" mold in it. It causes me much shame to admit that it took me two tries to make these little nuggets but I blame it on the marshmallows. I had a few left from campfire days....and just for your benefit, a tip: don't try to melt large ones and small ones at the same time. The melting point is different. Let's just leave it at that, and see for yourself that our second attempt was successful. Good thing, because we are out of marshmallows. A bowl of dry krispies just isn't the same without the gooey stuff, then it's called brekkie.

I am so excited to say that I made some Christmas cards today. I decided up until now that I wasn't going to make any. No pressure... ...but today I got an idea and had some time. I don't always have those two items at the same time these days. Some of you out there will be so pleased!! You know exactly who you are!!!

We put our Christmas tree up this morning after breakfast. I thought it might be onteresting to find out from Kevin what they do in Korea. Well, they have an artficial tree, just like we do, hang lights and garland on it, just like we do, and hang ornaments in it, just like we do. We did find out that his family has a conservatory type room where they have all kinds of plants, which came out of the comment that some people in Canada and other countries, have real evergreen trees in their homes at Christmas time. They open their presents on Christmas eve, which is what our family does too sometimes, depending on where the holiday falls in the week. We haven't really decided on that little detail yet. He is very excitedly expecting a parcel from his mom and dad, which is due to arrive on Monday, we'll have to see how expedient international parcel delivery is. I don't sense a lot of homesickness in that lad. He really likes it here in Canada. He likes the food. He enjoys school and playing with his friends. He is challenging himself in the reading program at school. THe kids take quizes on the classroom computer to test their reading comprehension and there are books at every reading level. He saw that his friend was reading at a higher grade level than he was so he took one of the books out on Library day and lo and behold, he got 10 out of 10! He was so pleased. You earn rewards as you advance in readinglevel and that is JUST his cup of tea. You also receive award certificates at the awards assemblies as you advance.

Today we outfitted him for hockey equipment. He skates fairly well so we decided to enroll him in hockey practise with the school team. Anyone in Grade 5-8 may come out to practise on TUesdays at 7am, starting in the new year. He is soooooooooooooo excited. Not too excited about dressing and undressing in the dressing room, and not even mentioning that EVERYONE is in their underwear would change his feelings on that subject. So....we said he could wear his long johns, and that seemed to make him feel better. For some reason we still have some TINY equipment laying around, as you may have seen, his stature is quite small. (See the picture beside Craig in the next post.) We are only missing a few pieces and there might be some in the school equipment room. Good thing we never got rid of that stuff!!!!

As for my secret project. No...I can't tell anyone about it here. Such a shame:):) It turned out really well. But it feels nice to be finished. I wasn't allowing myself the fun of making Christmas cards until that was all done. The time will come when I can tell all, just not yet.

I Have Returned

Good thing Ray was sharing his Wabikimi adventure over the last few weeks or my blog would have been a virtual wasteland. It has been very busy, and the other day I realized that when I don't have time to blog, I fall out of the loop of other people's lives too. Not good.

Winter has arrived in Ontario and with that comes the shovelling. I usually enjoy doing that part of my work which surprises a lot of people. It only becomes a problem when all my jobs collide. Good thing I can be flexible, but you can still only be in one place at one time. Joe and Kevin had a PD Day and Craig got a bonafide snow day when the white stuff arrived. So....I had lots of help. Ray stayed home that day as well, since London can be a real mess when it snows like this. We have had to outfit Kevin properly for Canadian winter since ankle boots just aren't going cut it. We went to TSC and took care of business.

I can't say exactly what has made life so busy. There have been school meetings, fundraising events, worship visuals to plan, create, and carry out....There have been many obligations but also many things that are a privilege to be a part of. Doing the visuals is always a wonderful visit with my friend Winnie. I'm in a great Bible/book study on forgiveness. The mother of Craig's friend Tristan died last week and we went to the funeral, Craig's whole class came on buses sent by the school (Did I mention that I love London District Christian Secondary School!!!!!) I've also had a lot on my mind and sometimes when you are pre-occupied everything gets to be a bit too much. You feel like you go-go-go from the minute your feet hit the floor in the morning until you drop into bed at night. The last two days have been really nice, and today is shaping up that way too. The rest of the month will be busy so I'll take advantage of these days while I have them.

My top secret projects are finished and I'm so excited. It's fun to have something up your sleeve!!! I also finished Christmas shopping for myself. Ray and I had chatted about what to get each other and he came home from his conference in Toronto with a half a suitcase of camping gear which he is going to wrap and put under the Christmas tree. I mentioned that I really only want some CD's and he said....oh, just go and get them and put them under the tree. Hey, that's all the permission I need. I opened one though.....has anyone heard of a band called "33 Miles"? They're a country-ish band.....I know....who'd have thought.... and they're sooo good. Anyone who is a fan of the Gaithers and their friends will love this CD! I love it because it is so upbeat and I really needed that these past few weeks.

I got my hair cut a couple of weeks ago and my shortest layers are just past my chin. I added some colour too and the blond highlights are gone. And I have bangs. It is great to straighten it, and have it hold its shape....it's just the right length. I think I got 6-8 inches taken off. It takes no time at all to my hair now since I only have half of what there used to be! It is quite wavy and unruly now that so much of the weight is gone.

Things with Kevin are still going really well. He is very excited about Christmas and the parcel his mom is sending from Korea. He told us everything that his mom is sending. That boy couldn't keep a secret if his life depended on it. :):) I should mention to him how much I LOVE surprises. But anyway!!! He is doing really well in school and works really hard. He loves to sleep in during the week but come Saturday morning he is the first one to bound out of bed and head for the PS2 to play a little Guitar Hero. He loves "Slow Ride" and "Hit Me With Your Best Shot".... He had a really good report card.

Joe was SO proud of his report card that he wanted to pin it up on the wall. I loved seeing him that excited. He is really maturing in his outlook on life lately. In some ways I am not ready for him to grow up, but it is wonderful to see him grow in independence and develop a good head on his shoulders.... But it comes in spurts. I still love it that he heads out the door in big boots and snow pants so he can build forts all recess long. His fort has a la-Z-boy and a big flat screen tv.

Tonight Craig's whole school is going Scrooging . That's canvassing for the foodbank in London neighbourhoods. Afterwards they are have pizza together and go bowling. I think that is one of the highlights of their week. I love how the school makes these kinds of opportunities available to the kids. In the same way they encouraged Tristan's class mates to go to his Mom's funeral. I've met his mom a few times and I went too. It was so neat how when the service was beginning the kids just started streaming in, filling up pew after pew, after pew, until they had filled 1/3 of the church. Tristan came and stood by them for a minute before his family was walked in. It was just so cool. Every once in a while you are criticized for choosing private Christian education....but days like that remind me of the privilege I have and of the freedom to choose.

I'm glad you have enjoyed Ray's adventure and getting a glimpse of his "wild" side. It's so much a part of who he is...how could I NOT let him go?

Well...I have remained within earshot of the laundry facilities all this while and I have been "working", doing the laundry. Time for the next shift...