stilll...kicking....

Just stopping in to let you know we're all still alive! Things have beena little busy here, to say the least. But my belly and back are aching from standing at the sink to do dishes, so thought I'd do something productive with my recovery time. I definitely don't have the stamina I used to. I'm so glad we're living in a bungalow! No more four storeys of stairs to climb. I get winded just climbing the hill to the driveway most days. It's pretty sad. Being sick doesn't help, though. I have a bad cold that I just can't shake. It's starting to ease off now, but it sucks not being able to breathe, and being so tired.

Kids are doing awesome. Joan's physio is going great. Our next appointment is Thursday, and I can't wait to show off her progress. We've been following the instructions, and doing all our stretches, and it's really paid off. Her hamstrings are much, much better now. They were so shortened, they were giving her bad posture, but now she can sit right up straight, and sit with her legs straight out in front without crying. She only balks at one of the stretches now - it's twisting her arm so her palms face up. That muscle is still very, very stiff, which is to be expected - it was the most severely affected by the stroke. I feel like it hasn't progressed at all in the last week or so. But with the rest, she's doing great.

John's doing well, too. He's very eager to start preschool! He keeps trying to convince me that the leaves are turning colour, because it's fall and time to start school! We found one offered by the city that I think we're going to go with. It's preschool mixed with games, held at one of the rec centres. So they take them skating and swimming in the building, and give them open gym time, as well as all the usual circle time and singing and stuff. Mike thinks that would be really fun for him, and we can suplement it with these little short-term academic-type ones, they offer, if we see the need. But really, he's doing so well. He's become obsessed with letters, and he's learning them so quickly! I don't think he'll be reading by four, but I think he'll have most of the building blocks in place. he's working on letters and their sounds, and from there, reading is just a matter of stringing them together. He's also very big on anatomy as well - probably because we've spent so much time in doctor's offices lately. He loves to pour over their little models and diagrams. He knows an aweful lot! The doctors love it - they've all been great about taking the time to explain everything he sees, and answer all his questions. I think he learned more about the thyroid than he'll ever need to know, the last time we were at the OB. They just opened an anatomy display for little kids at the science centre, so I'm hoping if Mike ever gets a day off, we can take him - apparently, it talks about all the organs and where they are and what they do, and how they all work together, all told with Sesame Street Characters, so it's all age appropriate. Not sure I want to see Big Bird's innards, but I think he'd like it. Though it may be a little below him. He's so smart. I find we don't have to explain things to him very much at all - he just gets it with a quick explanation, so we try to be as frank and scientific as possible when he asks us questions, (and the doctor have all done the same, which is great - they never talk down to him.) The exception are his "soldiers", which are white blood cells. We invented that analogy so that he would eat and drink during a really big flu a while back, to give his soldiers the energy to fight the germs. it worked like a charm. Now when he's sick, he's not eating because he wants to, but because he needs to take care of his soldiers. It plays right into his uber-compassionate side. Though, sometimes, he gets things a little mixed up. He has this theory that beer, which he calls "beard" is in fact what gives dad his beard, because only dad drinks it, and only dad has a beard. He also has this theory that in place of brains, we have a set of gears, because that's what he saw one night in a chocolate bar commercial.

Mike's doing well, but I'm not sure how long he can keep up this pace. He's definitely feeling the effects of contractor favourtism. It's long hours, but awesome pay. So far, his pay works out to about $50/hour, which is nearly double what he was making as an employee. Not that we'll see any of it - most will sit in the business until Mike goes to school. It's completely insane. It's a good thing, though. We've had a lot of unexpected expenses, like the car, and we really didn't realize until we left Hamilton what a huge, huge hole we'd dug ourselves into financially. So big, we're STILL digging our way out! So more money is a good thing, to meet his university savings goals. But he works very hard for what he makes now. He comes home wiped every night, and he isn't expecting a day off in all of June. He wants to take a week off in July, because he knows he's really going to need it. But he's a little blue about it, because it means giving up $3,000 or so in pay, which is a hard loss to swallow. But going contract was definitely the right choice for us, financially. And for those of us who still think we're nuts for going limited instead of sole proprieter, in the end we actually didn't have a choice - it was a requirement of the contract. Yet despite these insane wages, they can't hire enough techs! They've been on a hiring spree for months, but it's hard to convince people to move for a job. They're getting so desparate, they're starting to take people without experience, and training them. The shortage is probably due to a renewed hiring spree in the oil sands. Apparently, they're trying to grow at a rediculous rate while oil costs are high, but they can't find people fast enough - and that's where the super-crazy money is. All this on the verge of a houseing price crash, because they've been building at such a frantic pace, there's now finally a surplus - at least in Calgary. So there's going to be cheaper housing...and crazy wages. The economy out here is just...goofy. And yet they can't find a couple billion to start JK in time for September, which really frosts me off! It's definitely a whole other world out here. I don't regret moving one bit - it's definitely been an adventure. But I know Mike is looking forward to getting back to school, so he can finally get a normal job. Like, one with time off!