Jacob has a very active social life. Between the birthday party, going to the rink and hanging with friends he had a good day. He was asked to do a sleep over but he said he couldn't because he doesn't want to miss picking up his Pop tomorrow. How sweet. I am so proud.
Jason and I had a moment today. The back of the truck has a roller system and it froze up due to it being 7 degrees yesterday and -26 last night. So I asked Jason to use his he-man strength to open it but the darn lock was frozen like a rock. The real problem was that it was warmer earlier today and I managed to get it open and put the groceries in there after shopping. But now we could not get them out. Jason didn't know what else he could do. I wanted him to fix it. I was tired of fixing problems, putting out fires. He was willing to leave it be. I am Type A, Jason is Type B. A + B = Problem. This equation sums up our marriage. Hmmmm for an anti-math person I have used alot of math in these few sentences. He must be rubbing off on me.
Things must be going back to "normal" - I gave up cursing for Lent (Jacob insisted I give up something, he gave up TV) or I would have cursed on him today and that would have been a "normal" activity for us.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Basketball Support
Jacob and his team from school played in a basketball tournament today at St. Thomas High School. It was fun to watch him in action. I had never seen him play basketball before. We watched 3 games and in the 4th game the coach decided to play her "power wall" all game and this did not include Jacob. So that took the steam out of his sails - he realized he was not one of the best players on the team. Thinking this and being told this are two different things and now he has no plans for playing next year. That one game has discourage him from trying out again. Isn't competitive game playing wonderful? What are we teaching our kids? I tried telling him that it wasn't right, that it wasn't the way elementary basketball should be played, it should be fair and rotate every kid so everyone plays and has fun. But Jacob is not a competitive soul and as soon as it turned into that it wasn't fun anymore. Now Jason is like is as well. Me, I am as competitve as one gets which is not a good thing. And I do not let Jacob see that side of me. I want him to have fun and not be trying to win all the time. I just want him to play his best which he did today so I was happy. He was happy too until that last game. Life is not about winning, it is about playing.
Jason and I had a good conversation last night about the Jason you all remember and the Jason that was born on June 23rd of last year. Their kind souls are the same. Their love of sarcasm is equal. But that mouthy Jason comes in short stints and more at home than out in public. I have seen bits of the personality I once knew shine through but it is an adjustment and will be for those who knew him before last June. We talked about that and Jason knows he is different in that way. Now he doesn't think he was personality plus like I think he was but that's ok because that part of Jason is the same - he will never toot his own horn. So I will toot for him! His intelligence has always blown me away and sometimes he doubts that it is there. But it is. I see it all the time. He has no idea how smart he is even though they told him after testing him at rehab. Just because he forgets how to cook something does not indicate lack of intelligence. I heard him explaining the metric system to Jacob the other day and I thought "Good, one less thing I have to answer!". ha
The conversations we have alone now are more in depth and interesting. I had missed those talks and I am so happy they are more frequent now. I missed that side of our lives and now that I see it coming back I know the possiblities for the future are endless. As I see Jason's brain make the reconnections I am even more interested in neurological science. Maybe a new job direction for me - who knows?
Jason and I had a good conversation last night about the Jason you all remember and the Jason that was born on June 23rd of last year. Their kind souls are the same. Their love of sarcasm is equal. But that mouthy Jason comes in short stints and more at home than out in public. I have seen bits of the personality I once knew shine through but it is an adjustment and will be for those who knew him before last June. We talked about that and Jason knows he is different in that way. Now he doesn't think he was personality plus like I think he was but that's ok because that part of Jason is the same - he will never toot his own horn. So I will toot for him! His intelligence has always blown me away and sometimes he doubts that it is there. But it is. I see it all the time. He has no idea how smart he is even though they told him after testing him at rehab. Just because he forgets how to cook something does not indicate lack of intelligence. I heard him explaining the metric system to Jacob the other day and I thought "Good, one less thing I have to answer!". ha
The conversations we have alone now are more in depth and interesting. I had missed those talks and I am so happy they are more frequent now. I missed that side of our lives and now that I see it coming back I know the possiblities for the future are endless. As I see Jason's brain make the reconnections I am even more interested in neurological science. Maybe a new job direction for me - who knows?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
You never know what your kid is going to say......
Rule #1 - I now cannot buy an appropriate birthday gift for Jacob's friends. He is going to a party on Saturday and I bought a few different things for him to choose from. But they were all a bust. He tells me that he wants to make the gift and gives me a list of things he needs and asks to go with me to pick them up. So that's what we did today. Of course ducking in and out of a few stores he tells me on the way back to the truck that he is about to ask me something and that I cannot repeat it to anyone. So he asks me his question which was about sex and sperm and what not and no I won't publish it here. It was a good question and my answer which I can publish because it is me (always a loophole) was "No, the sperm does not always reach the egg and fertilize it during sex. But usually when you think this will be the case, a sperm gets there and the girl get pregnant. So always "glove up!". Glove up Mom? "Yes, wear protection, wear a condom". Saying "Glove Up" gets me out of using the word condom.
Rule #2 - Always act casual when your kid asks you questions about sex. The questions will keep coming if you do so.
Rule #3 -Tell your kid you like his long hair so that he may think about cutting it.
Jason put down his book today in the truck. He has been doing that lately and yes it is news because usually I start driving and he starts reading. A good sign. The driving lady did ask him to pay attention while I am driving to see why I am making driving decisions and apparently he is taking her advice. He doesn't take mine so things are about normal in this area of our lives.
Rule #2 - Always act casual when your kid asks you questions about sex. The questions will keep coming if you do so.
Rule #3 -Tell your kid you like his long hair so that he may think about cutting it.
Jason put down his book today in the truck. He has been doing that lately and yes it is news because usually I start driving and he starts reading. A good sign. The driving lady did ask him to pay attention while I am driving to see why I am making driving decisions and apparently he is taking her advice. He doesn't take mine so things are about normal in this area of our lives.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Rehab Center Clinical Assessment a Success!
This morning Jason and I headed back to the Rehab Center. Man, we were there in January but it seems like a lifetime ago that he was in rehab. We run into our social worker Elly there and she was so happy to see us! Such good people there. We head upstairs and meet Lynn at the Driver Rehabilitation office. For the next two hours Jason undergoes a battery of tests. He starts by doing paper tests. Finding a bell (graphic) on a page of graphics, running his pencil from 1 - 2- 3 etc as fast as he can, then doing 1 -A - 2 - B etc (he actually did better on that second part and she had never seen that before), then he does some finding the difference stuff and then he answers questions about what he would do in certain traffic situations - he answered like he was a book. I was impressed. Then he moved on to the simulator where he did quite well of course. At one point Lynn asked why he was smiling and I said "because he is behind a wheel!".
When he was done she said he did well. A good score on her scale is 50% and he scored a 76%! So his road test is next Thursday with a driving instructor and Lynn will sit in the back and score him. He has to use their Chevy Impala (it has a dual brake) and he'll first drive in the residential area, then heavy traffic and then the highway. He is looking forward to it.
When we left he said at the doors of the rehab "I cannot wait to get to get behind the wheel!". He was so expressive and talkative after that. Of course then he went back to being his quiet self again (later) but it was so great to see him so happy. The other day we were talking over a coffee and he started to cry. Tears of happiness. He told me that I was beautiful and that he loved me so much. Of course me being so classy said "it's about time you finally admitted to appreciating me". That made him grin and then I told him it was wonderful to see tears of happiness, they are welcome at any time. Beauty comes forward even over coffee.
When he was done she said he did well. A good score on her scale is 50% and he scored a 76%! So his road test is next Thursday with a driving instructor and Lynn will sit in the back and score him. He has to use their Chevy Impala (it has a dual brake) and he'll first drive in the residential area, then heavy traffic and then the highway. He is looking forward to it.
When we left he said at the doors of the rehab "I cannot wait to get to get behind the wheel!". He was so expressive and talkative after that. Of course then he went back to being his quiet self again (later) but it was so great to see him so happy. The other day we were talking over a coffee and he started to cry. Tears of happiness. He told me that I was beautiful and that he loved me so much. Of course me being so classy said "it's about time you finally admitted to appreciating me". That made him grin and then I told him it was wonderful to see tears of happiness, they are welcome at any time. Beauty comes forward even over coffee.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Helmets and Slumdog
Jacob had a skating class today in Russell at the arena with his class and I had volunteered to go help. Jason was still sleeping when I had left for the arena, he needed it. The adults helped the kids get ready and some of the kids including Jacob asked "where are your helmets?" because every child has to wear one. I replied "They do not think our brains are as important as yours" meanwhile thinking I should have a helmet. For privacy reasons I won't go into what happened at the rink but I am wearing a helmet from now on. I will have to buy one before the next skating day and especially before the tubing day. And Jason will not be doing either activity this year, he can watch.
Jason got up around 2 pm and he looked alot better and felt better than he did. He told me he thought he had had a fever during the night but it had broke on its own. Tonight he was OK so I was OK.
My neighbour Kim called tonight and asked if I wanted to go see "Slumdog Millionaire" with her. I had read the book Q & A by Vikas Swarup so of course I was excited to see the movie. Different from the book but I loved both. The kids acting were amazing.
Tomorrow we head to the rehab center for Jason's clinical driving assessment and will hopefully get a booking for a future road test. Wish him luck!
Every time I get anxious or worried I hear another story that puts everything into perspective. I got that again today. Don't we all need perspective?
Goodnight,
Jason got up around 2 pm and he looked alot better and felt better than he did. He told me he thought he had had a fever during the night but it had broke on its own. Tonight he was OK so I was OK.
My neighbour Kim called tonight and asked if I wanted to go see "Slumdog Millionaire" with her. I had read the book Q & A by Vikas Swarup so of course I was excited to see the movie. Different from the book but I loved both. The kids acting were amazing.
Tomorrow we head to the rehab center for Jason's clinical driving assessment and will hopefully get a booking for a future road test. Wish him luck!
Every time I get anxious or worried I hear another story that puts everything into perspective. I got that again today. Don't we all need perspective?
Goodnight,
Jason's Recovery February 2009
Welcome to the new blog Your Life is For Rent. This is a true statement, not a pretty one but a true one. So you should live it. Live your life. This blog is more about Jason' recovery then about what happened last June. It is also about the silly goings on of life itself. We all have those stories. I hope this format works for everyone that has followed us through this past year and supported us every step of the way. I will be blogging again this evening to update you on Jason. Right now he is sleeping. He was up a bit off and on last night due to coughing so I am sure sleeping in will help.
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