In memory of…..

 My biggest accomplishment today was dropping off 11.9 pounds of soda tabs to the Tucson Ronald McDonald House. They took up most of the back of my car.  They will go to pay the utilities and the leftover money will help the families.  I do this to remember both my dad and Eric.  I know that their memories will always be a blessing. 

Please feel free to drop off your tabs at your local Ronald McDonald House in memory of a loved one so that they may be remembered with fondness..

Goodbye

 On Friday we said goodbye to our much loved son and brother, Eric. Eric was diagnosed with ML4 at a very young age, but we never let a diagnosis define our son or our family.  Instead we choose to teach Eric and his older sister Teri to embrace life and live it to the fullest.

Living life to the fullest for us meant exploring and enjoying the world, no matter what. And it meant finding things we all could enjoy as a family. It meant exploring museums where Eric could roll around freely without limits. And while he couldn’t always make out the details, Eric always loved being surrounded by the rich colors and sounds.

It meant family trips to Disneyland where Eric loved celebrating his Birthday. Eric loved birthdays so much. But above all else, at Disneyland we could be like any other family and enjoy the rides and deserts together.  Eric especially loved the rides where he could roll right on in his wheelchair. 

Eric also loved food, particularly pancakes.  Eric and his grandpa Al loved going to IHOP for their pancakes.  Grandpa Al would hand us his cane and take charge of Eric’s wheelchair so that they could get the perfect pancake table.

Eric’s favorite place by far though was in the pool, particularly the Hilton hotel in Phoenix because of the pancakes and the lazy river. In the pool Eric could move freely. The warm water always felt good to him, and he always disliked getting out. Actually that was true for both of our children, and John and I had quite the job wrangling both kids unhappily out of the pool. 

However, as hard as we tried, over the years Eric’s world became smaller, and he lost the ability to do more and more things. But he never lost his incredible smile or his innate ability to make the other around him feel better. He even collected tabs for Ronald McDonald house to help out other kids who were sick. We will continue to collect tabs in his memory because he had not yet reached his goal of collecting a million tabs. Tabs can also be dropped off at 2155 East Allen Road in Eric's name. And he was always there for his friends to hold their hands and help them.

Eric was an incredible son and brother, and we all feel so lucky to have had him in our lives. 

If you would like to do something in Eric’s memory, we ask that you consider donating to the ML4 Foundation, the Taglit Special Needs Program at the Tucson JCC or the Ronald MacDonald House. If you can’t donate, please consider just doing something nice for someone else.

It’s Official

This afternoon I found out that Eric will be home for another week.  The site where he goes for his day program is under going major repairs to its gym. Air quality is the issue for Eric.  So Eric and I have planned some activities for next week.

So to make this happen for Eric, I will be making dog pillows, with help on the stuffing stage.  Then sewing them up.  These will go to the Humane Society.  I will also go through my knitting bags to find all the tabs I can. We are going to drop them off at the local Ronald McDonald House to help the kids. The tabs pay for the utilities here in Tucson with any leftover money going to help the families. This is Eric’s favorite charity project.

So if I am cranky next week, please forgive me. I also am apologizing in advance.  Now I am going back to knitting.

Another Milestone

Today we reached another milestone with Eric, he turned 27 today. Eric has taken us on quite a roller coaster ride since he was born. He has taken the entire family on the road less traveled and I have very few regrets. We have gone places we would have never gone. We have meet loads of incredible people along the way, some who thought that we were an extraordinary family for living and exploring as a family. In my very humble opinion they could have done the same thing as it surprisingly requires no experience to become a parent.

Eric has all that he needs in life. If however you would like to honor Eric on his special day please consider giving a donation to your local food bank or pantry, because Eric has always been a great fan of food. Perhaps collect tabs for your local Ronald McDonald house, one of Eric's favorite activities is collecting tabs and bring them to the Tucson House.  The last place that would make a huge difference in Eric's life is a donation to the Tucson JCC , go to the pull down menu select the "Taglit Program". As many of you know this is where Eric likes to spend time with his friends.

I do not know where our life with Eric is going, but the journey continues.

An Amazing Haircut

Today I took Eric in for a long over do haircut. Yes depending on where the hair was cut, 2 to 3 inches came off. He looks all nice and handsome.  I have to admit that this was a pretty ordinary haircut. What happened while I was putting Eric's wheelchair back together was extraordinary.

A gentleman went up to the cashier and paid for Eric's haircut and tip. He asked for Eric's name and wished us a Merry Christmas.  We as a family are extreamly greatful for this random act of kindness. As a family we would like to ask you to help us pay this forward.  This can be done at your convince. 

Eric's main charity that he likes to help is the Ronald McDonald Hospility House, which is a lot like the Children's Inn at NIH which we were a frequent visitor when Eric was in elementary school. Eric currently collects tabs for the  Tucson Ronald McDonald house. If you are in Tucson you can give the tabs to me or drop them off at the Tucson JCC for Eric to drop off. You can even drop them off yourself. If you are not in Tucson you can drop your tabs off at your local Ronald McDonald House.  The tabs are sold for scrap metal and go to pay for the utilities with excess funds helping out families. If that is not possible you can drop a few coins in the collection box at your local McDonalds. 

If you are in the Besthda,Maryland area you can drop off can food items, new toys, toiletries or a check to the Children's Inn at NIH. The Children's Inn is a godsend to the families that have to travel across country for treatment. 

Another charity that Eric likes to help is our Community Food Bank.  If you can give a can of food to the food bank or your Temple or church pantry, that would be another great way to pay it forward.  We would like to thank you in advance for all your help. Working together we can make the world an awesome place.  

In No Order

In no particular order the following got done over the past few days.

1.  Eric brought in 27 pounds of tabs to the Tucson Ronald McDonald House.  Our goal for the year was 20 pounds. Eric now stands 37 pounds. Way to go Eric.  If you are in Tucson you can drop your tabs off at the Tucson JCC.  If you see me on a regular basis I will still take them. 

I just cast on hat #15 out of 30.  I am going through yarn much faster than I thought I would. A big thank you goes out to Barbara M. For her wonderful pattern. 

Eric has gotten into waking up at 5 am. So I am a bit tired by the evening.  

A lot of projects got finished in the craft room including positioning pillows for Eric's day program. 

If fiber is a _______ to spin, then it is equally bad to ply.  

If you are wearing my hand me downs that I shrunk out of, you have no right to call me fat.  It's a shame that the person who made the comment does not read this blog. 

If you want me to teach you to knit, you have to let me have time to show you how and explain things. In other words stop talking long enough for me to say something.  

I am the luckiest woman alive.  I have Great kids.  A wonderful husband.  The best friends a person could ever ask for.  With that my ramblings will stop for the evening. 

Exploding Soda Cans and More

Well I was going to write about spinning and the Tour de Fleece tonight after all I did have a very good day of spinning. After some cleaning this morning I managed to spin for most of the day. No, I was very good and did not spin or knit while I was in Eric's ISP. I spun and plied new yarn until my hands were to tired to spin.  I was going to post a few pictures. Maybe even comment about how yarn drys faster when the outside temperature is 110f with a humidity level of 7 percent verses 102f with a humidity level of 24 percent.

That all changed when I was about to rotate the soda in the pantry tonight. Lets just start out by saying I did take the soda out of the pantry but none went in. I had 1 case of Serria Mist that had managed to leak. One can even had no visible signs of leakage or holes but was empty anyway. By the way when the soda gets to that point it smells yucky.  The mess on the floor was like someone had poured simple syrup on the floor and walked away. With 409 I did manage to clean up some of the mess. I check the other  case in the pantry and it seemed to be going bad too. So I drained all 24 cans, yes I did save the tabs for Eric to take to the Ronald McDonald house.  Then I went about dragging everything out of the dining room, kitchen and most of the laundry room floor. I then locked Scooba in the pantry for a few minutes and he is now busy cleaning the freshly mopped floor again today.

So my game plan for tomorrow is to completely empty the pantry floor. I was not about to start that project at 10pm after a busy day. I will clean or toss everything that is removed.  I will again lock Scooba in the pantry and let him do his thing. After all that is done I plan on finding a different place for everything on the pantry floor. If I can move after all of that then and only then will I spin some yarn tomorrow.

The lesson that I am taking away from this is not to store soda on the pantry floor if the pantry is too hot to put things like chocolate in it in the summer. Also don't buy so much soda at once even if it is on sale. And for goodness sake keep track of the expiration dates. Don't assume that just because you did not open the case yet that every thing is good.

I am now inclined to let Scooba go about his business and call it a night. I will deal with the mess in the morning.

Hump Day

After a long night with Eric, I decided to take it slow today. Actually my body did not give me much of a choice. Even fully caffeinated Eric and I managed to take a couple of naps today. To clarify I had the caffeine and not Eric, I am not that brave to try and give him caffeine.

More napping than knitting got done. On Eric's 3rd nap of the day I did manage to do some finishing work. If the nurse does not show tomorrow I will spend the morning taking pictures with Eric. I have incorporated some of my own hand spun in 2 of the hats.

When the mail came today Eric decided that he wanted the t-shirt that I had won as a prize from Pepsi. So I told him if he really wanted it he would have to take it out of my hands. He  really surprised me by reaching over with both hands and really giving it a tug. So now I would like to thank Pepsi for the new t-shirt for Eric from the Pepsi Refresh Project. As a reminder for everyone. Eric is still collecting tabs for the Ronald McDonald House here in Tucson for his charity work. He Just loves it when you send tabs his way.

I know the blog is rambling tonight so I guess this means it is time to go to sleep. Night all.