Swim fun

So on Saturday, we wanted to try something novel, something we hadn't done before. What we didn't count on, however, is that almost ALL locals here in Minnesota have the "indoor fun for when the temps are in the single digits" already mapped out and ready-to-go. We definitely were not alone in our idea to head over to the Shoreview Community Center and use the indoor waterpark. It was pretty crowded, but we managed to get Sarah into a swim suit (no minor feat) and actually into the water! Well, not for long, but she did get wet, and she didn't throw up. That's a win-win in my book.

Normally, she gets so upset that she starts gagging and throwing up. I think she's fearful that we will force her to go down one of the big slides - something that has happened to her in the past (but not by us). There's such a fine line when it comes to kids with autism - if you don't ever push them, they'll never break out of their routine and try new things. But you don't want to push too hard and have a disaster on your hands. Always a balancing act, and today, it worked out fine.

Pizza for dinner afterward helped, too!

As expected, Madilyn had a wonderful time - it was her idea to go, and we actually did it. That plus the skiing made it an A+ day in her book!

Did I ever mention...

One thing that I need to document on this blog is the spectacular comment from my brother-in-law when he first visited my blog almost a year ago. I'd sent a link, so he didn't need to type in the address, and upon glancing at the blog, thought it was entitled "Life Without Gary".

That would be harsh, especially since Gary's still alive and we're still married, but the irony of my brother-in-law's misread is amusing...

Gary now uses this as a way to remember my chosen spelling of "gray" (rather than "grey") as just a mixed up version of his own name. *grin*

Madi on skis!

Well, after much pestering on her part, I finally took Madilyn out cross country skiing for the first time. We rented skis and skiied at Tamarack, which is less than a mile from our house. Madilyn was a trooper, and did the 1K practice loop twice. Not bad for someone who has never skiied before!

She pleaded to ski the same trail that I normally ski, but at her pace, it would be dark long before we got done. When she gets faster, it will definitely be fun to do together.

By the end of our (almost 2 hour!) ski session, my hands were so painfully frozen that I am now convinced that I need to buy stock in the company that makes those hand warmer packets. The last two times that I was out, I stuck one of those warmers in each of my ski gloves, and had no problems with my hands. Unfortunately, I had used the last packets earlier in the week, and didn't have any for my hands today. OUCH!! I'm definitely stocking up on those amazing little packets of warmth before my next outing...

Here's looking forward to future Madilyn/Mom ski adventures!

Two days in a row!

Amazing. A miracle.

It's Wednesday, and everyone is healthy. I got to go to class!! It was great. Not as intellectually stimulating as I would have hoped, but there weren't too many people there. Made some great doodles in my notebook, and pondered quite a bit on my own life. Won't bore you with those musings, though.

But even better - I went skiing today! And I skiied yesterday, too! This is a significant accomplishment, especially given that my friend and ski buddy, Kate is out of town, so I ended up going solo.

There's a peace in skiing solo, but, truth be told, it's more fun with a friend. Anyway, the park up the street (Tamarack) is reasonably safe - lots of people around, not in a remote location - so I worry less about meeting unsavory characters when I'm on my own. And, there's cell reception, so I could call if I got in trouble. (Most of the state parks don't have cell coverage).

Back to the skiing - yesterday was beautiful - the sun was shining, temps in the low teens. The trails were OK; icy in spots, but I'm not complaining. I ended up skiing without tracks for part of the route; the only people who had skiied since the last storm took the expert loop, and I wasn't going for that! So, I set the trail for the portion where the easy separates from the expert. I apologize to all who came after me for the erratic spacing, but hey...

Today was not as warm, and not as sunny, and the trails were more hacked up, but still not too bad. The tracks that I set actually didn't seem that bad, especially after quite a few more skiers had passed through. Best part of the day? I actually passed someone! I didn't see anyone when I started out, but a quarter mile in, I passed an older lady. The competitive side in me really liked that I was actually faster than someone else, even if she was probably in her 60's, and possibly recovering from a hip replacement (I don't actually know any of that...)

Below is a shot from today's ski adventure. So different from out west, where there's mountains, and evergreens... here we just have open prairie. The wind can really build up out there! Today I wore my balaclava, and if I had been wearing a backpack, could have been mistaken for a bank robber. Fashion parade, this is not!

All in all, a great day.

oh, and another thing

Another lesson that I learned today (much less profound, but important none the less) - never place a lit candle directly below the smoke detector. Amazing the things we do without thinking! Thank heaven that the rabbit didn't die of a heart attack. I would have had a hard time explaining that one to Madilyn.

Lesson learned

It was a typical Monday morning... couldn't find the will to get out of bed at 5 to exercise, so instead hit the snooze until 6:15. I tried to get Sarah up, but she, too, was bed-glued. After rushing around and finally getting her out the door at 7:30, I tried to talk Madilyn into walking to school with me this morning. I figured I could count that as a workout, right? No go.

So, I jumped on the Nordic Track and gave it my all for 20 minutes, quickly checked in with Wii Fit, then proceeded to try to get Madilyn moving. Although ultimately successful, I wasn't able to change or shower before driving her to school. Since I was already behind the wheel, I decided to head to the post office to buy the stamps that June Schmidt needed to mail the Relief Society birthday cards. I had promised to get them to her that day.

I called June from the post office, and told her I was on my way over to drop off the stamps. The roads were starting to get slippery, and all I wanted to do was get home, eat breakfast, and take a shower...

June was waiting near the door when I arrived, and invited me in. I declined, saying that I had to get going. "Why?" she asked.

"Oh, I have lots of things I need to get done, " I replied.

"Like what?" she asked. Now, for those of you who don't know June - she's an imposing woman in her mid 80's, an elder in her Indian tribe, twice widowed, hunts deer from a tree stand every fall, knows more about living life than I care to imagine, and basically doesn't take crap from anybody. I love her to death. Anyway, I had no good answer to her question, because "going home and taking a shower" seemed like a pretty lame response.

"Well, I haven't showered yet..." I began.

"I don't care about that. Come on in," she replied, firmly.

So, I came in, took off my snowy boots and padded upstairs in my bare feet (since I was in too much of a hurry to find socks before I left). She took the stamps from me, then proceeded to show me the afghan she was crocheting for one of her grandsons. We sat and chatted a bit, and she talked of many things, glad, I think, for a fresh set of ears. And it dawned on me that she didn't care that I was stinky and unwashed, wearing a stained t-shirt, no makeup in sight, with my hair pulled into a messy, greasy ponytail.

I ended up leaving sooner than probably either of us would have liked, because my car was blocking the driveway, and the missionaries (who live with her) needed to leave for an appointment. As I headed for the door, she grabbed me in a big, hard, hug and told me how glad she was that I came.

Tears came to my eyes as I realized that I too, was glad I had come, and had made the choice to come inside.

We embraced once more at the door, with promises made to stop by again soon. As I got in my car and pulled away, I realized that, as the Lord had told me before, June was often lonely. Just as I too, often felt earth-shakingly lonely. And I realized that, in order to solve our own problems, sometimes the Lord just needs us to get up and do His work, and it doesn't matter one bit if you're a stinky, hungry, scary-looking mess. Because He can work with that. And almost always, when you're done, you find that your problems don't look quite the same as they did when you started.

Apple-ized

I really want a MacBook. I'm just sayin, 'case anyone's got a spare $2K they're not usin'.