Just relaxing

Trevor enjoying his singing and playing the guitar.

Ron's birthday party on August 23rd, 2009. Gord with Ron and Don - having a good time! This picture is totally out of place but I did the best I could. Still have not figured out downloading pictures to the blog.

Steven relaxing on the deck....

This weekend was a lot of fun with a visit from Stacy and grandson Daniel. On Sunday we had a visit also from Trevor who has been discharged for a couple of weeks from the Center. Even though he is living in Cochrane he fulfilled a promise he had made to take Steven from our Ferintosh house to take him on an outing one Sunday.This was "the Sunday". I am adding photos of that beautiful day that the boys spent here at the lake just eating, relaxing and being serenaded by Trevor on his guitar and playing the harmonica. He truly is talented and a joy to listen to. Steven had a big smile on his face all day. In the afternoon at "nap time" I set him up on a cot under the shade of the trees overlooking the lake. I think he liked it as he fell sound asleep. It sure feels good to be able to share our space and give someone a mini holiday after being cooped up for months on end at the Center.

Now for Gord news. Today is Monday and Gord was put through his paces in OT and PT. We are finding that with a longer time spent working on his right arm there is a slight response happening that had the therapists excited today. It really is a tiny bit at a time and Gord does not really seem to "get" the excitement. His spirits are good and he is really looking forward to our Winter travel plans. Neither of us know how easy or difficult it will be to negotiate airports and airplanes but we will figure it out.

Well, I am off to bed - really worn out these days it seems....could it be this wonderfully HOT weather we are having? OR the huge deck I am trying to paint!

Take care everyone...things really are getting better and better each day for us with all the help we are still receiving from so many lovely friends. Thank you so much!!!!

Lots of love
Sheila

New schedule coming up

Things are moving right along and we are getting out more and more and socializing. The wedding was the first big event and the second one was an overnight trip to Calgary for Ron Zimmerman's BIG birthday party - which was a surprise party - and an even bigger surprise for Ron to arrive home and find Gord resting in his bed! Lots of laughs and tears.
I will put some pictures on the blog in the next day or so. We are on a dead run every day to get to therapy. I am finding an hour or so here and there to slap paint on the deck at the cabin....and am getting kind of weary.
Anyway...all is good...lots of improvements to the properties which makes me feel like life is moving forward.
We are starting a new routine in September where we will have Wednesdays off during the week and on the Mon Tues Thurs Fri Gord will be in intense therapy. He will be tired...guaranteed!
I will get on the blog again very soon when I find some time.
Love to all
Sheila

Some pics

Hi Dad and Sheila and everyone!
Just thought that I would post some more pics of the wedding...ones that have Sheila in them!!!!
Thanks to everyone for the nice wishes...it was a great day.
Stacy

It's a very rainy Friday and we played hookey

We are beginning to feel like we are living on the west coast! Rain, rain, and more rain. Gord tried to do his 3 walks today but ended up getting driven back into the cabin to do his walking around the playroom, kitchen and living room! All the more reason we have to get out of here in the Winter!!!! Nothing like a good motivator.

Today, we had a visit from Colby and Catarina and I have enclosed a photo from the end of our day together. Colby helped me demolish the rest of deck in preparation for rebuilding to begin on Monday and Catarina played with me creating playdough cars, reading, puppet playing and watching Dad work. All in all it was a GREAT day.

Tomorrow Stacy is coming up with Daniel and her neice Pauola - the spelling is most likely incorrect, but I tried. Gord is looking forward to the visit and seeing the wedding pictures.

I am getting the feeling we have kind of plateaued (if that is a word) in our therapy and we are kind of going through a "funk" phase. I am hoping it will pass - soon - we have kind of lost incentive as the therapists are constantly cancelling programs and we just end up playing the waiting game. I am ok with that for a while but then it gets to me when I think of all the things I "could" be doing instead of wasting precious time. Maybe we are getting close to being done with all this therapy and it is time to change the pace and get somewhere we really want to be - like MAUI!!!!!!

Well, that's all I have for now.

Happy Summmer everyone!!!!!

Love
Sheila and Gord

OOOPS....8th Full Moon

I just counted and realized it is the 8th Full Moon......whoops.

7th Full Moon

I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to have a very full and very bright perfect full moon shining in the window. How beautiful. And of course it reminded me that this is the 7th Full Moon since Gord's stroke. With that thought comes the reminder of the amazing progress he has made since then. He has a hard time understanding that because his most distressing thing is his right arm. Just yesterday he worked so hard at his walking and talking and then got news that we are going to go on another tact for the arm. He is going to a "spasticity clinic" on Monday where the experts will look at his arm and try to figure out where to go next in his therapy, arm supports etc. Yes, things are really ramping up at the brain center and it looks like our exit date is the end of October.....BIG PARTY THEN....and our plan is to head south and west. As I mentioned before, staying here at the cabin is not an option. Too many opportunities for falls on ice and we don't need a broken hip to add to this formula.
Now that the nice weather has returned we are both feeling more optimistic about things. That dreary rainy weather really drags us down and thank heaven we have somewhere to go to in the daytime - it is always warm and cheerful at the center and always a great place to connect with people.
Our next event is a gathering of Maui friends here at the cabin in early September. We will eat, drink, visit, play games and just have a nice time. It will be great for Gord to have his friends around him for a few days and I am sure we both will gain some of our weight back!
I apologize for the huge gap in the blog posts ..... our internet got blown out in the hail storm we had and I just kind of got used to not having a computer.
I hope this writing finds everyone in good health and enjoying a lovely summer.
Til next time,
Aloha from Sheila and Gord
Picture is Gord waiting to get on the tennis court.