Ethan’s Journey

Animals are so interesting on the behaviors they observe. Moe enjoys sitting on the porch. Moe can’t be left outside without supervision for long. I don’t allow him to do this unless I am either outside with him or he is on his tie out away from any delivery person that may show up. Moe has figured out when my phone calls are ending for work. As soon as I hang up from a call, he jumps up and is bugging me to go out. He doesn’t have to go to the bathroom. He just wants to sit on the porch. I can’t tell if it is the inflection in my voice or a key phrase I say, but he knows when the call is done. There is no noise that signals I have hung up.  Penny has learned that if she hears the life 360 noise, someone is coming in the house soon. It is really cool that they pick up on our behaviors and noises. When I shut my computer at the end of the day, all the dogs get excited. They turn into Velcro. During our team meeting my boss was presented with a quarterly team nominated award. Our tea...

​I drove up to camp after work today. Paul passed me on the expressway about an hour from camp. He was SPEEDING! I chose not to try and keep up with him because my luck would get a ticket. I listened to 2 dateline episodes. I find two get me door to door. Neither one was narrated by Keith Morrison, which was a let down. I coped with that though. The lake was smooth and beautiful. I caught a colorful sunset. Avery, Kendall and the Henchen family arrive tomorrow.  Yay!

​Paul was so helpful today. He picked up the test kid we needed for the re-draw of Ethan’s blood for the research study Ethan is in.  It saved me a trip that likely would have eaten up a good hour of my day at the very least.  I don’t ask for much as a wife and am very grateful when I do ask for help and Paul accepts the task without complaining. Even if he did complain….it still saved me time. Ethan can take this kit with him the next time he gets his labs drawn. Hopefully a “clerical issue” won’t happen again and they can test this sample. My day was busy full of talking to candidates for work. It drained my energy and I needed a recharge by 5:00 pm. A recharge consists of doing chores, thinking, spending time alone and not talking. Ideally…without noise.  Paul got home and his ankle is all swollen due to his fall. I had him elevate and ice it for a bit. It looks pretty nasty….enough to brag about. Ouch! Ethan is considering doing an apprenticeship to become an electric...

​Avery came over today to go through some things in her bedroom. She made some decisions about keeping things and donating things. She found a note I had hid…who knows how long ago.  It was a small business card size note with a pretty picture on it. It was an inspirational quote from Mom….just for that right moment. “When you are feeling like you are not good enough….just remember… at least you aren’t a crack whore.” We were cracking up. Wise words from Mom. That was totally planted a while ago to make her smile. I had clearly forgotten about it. It ended up making us both laugh. She pointed out that it was solid advice! I used to hide these all over her dorm room on move in day and she would find them the rest of the semester. Ethan had a dentist appointment. He had his cavity filled. He did great! Even despite his mouth sore. I spoke to the transplant team. If we discontinue the medication likely causing the mouth sore, insurance may not approve his other medication, the injecta...

My drive home was uneventful. I did start to get quite tired when I was about an hour from home. I thought about pulling over for a quick power nap but I was able to avoid that. The dogs were perfect. I took them on a walk prior to getting in the car. They slept the entire way home. I listened to a few Dateline episodes. I think Keith Morrison’s voice soothes them to sleep. Maybe that was why i was so tired. ​when I got home today and saw the progress that was made on Ethan’s barndominium. They have forms in for the sidewalk and things were prepped for the floor to be poured. I hope they do it soon! I did adult chores for the rest of the day. Boo! I have to be an adult sometimes I suppose.

We woke up late today. It was glorious to sleep past 8:00 am. Little Jiminy was snoring. His snores are of course adorable! ​today was great!  I was able to take the dogs on a walk, take two on a bike ride. We did about 4.5 miles. Each pup got a lake bath and new bedding. I don’t want stinky dogs. The weather was a wonderful temperature, the wind was blowing in the right direction and we were able to go all the way to “Walmart” Beach. Paul and I took our jet ski’s. The rest of the crew minus one were on the pontoon.  We met up with friends and enjoyed the hot sun. Diane and I were floating on the double tube, with a cooler inbetween us. After dinner, Paul and I went rock hunting. There is a spot in one of the islands that has unique rocks. There are a bunch of green ones, I found a shiny, white one too. We got back after the sun went down, and watched the moon. It was so pretty. We had lots of company at the campfire. We also had lots of laughing….until late. Paul’s shin looke...