Last 2007 Blog

Whew, what a busy holiday season! If you love, love, love the Christmas season, you are likely not married to a pastor. Ha ha!! I love it, although it has become quite the juggling act with church related events and services. Throw in a coupla of funerals and a wedding and well, you'll just never see your pastor husband anywhere near the homestead. I love Christmas, but it's always a relief when its over and life returns to normal.

This blurb is intended just to be a quick update on where Ben is at. Ben has constant support win the form of a behavioural therapist, tutor, skills trainer and autism specialist. To date, Ben has been able to return to school (during the Christmas break with no students present) and fulfill a 4 hour day. Next week, we will work him up to a 6 hour school day so that hopefully, he'll be ready to resume to some regular classes Jan. 14, 2008 when the rest of the students return from break. It's definitely a miracle that helped him get to where he is now. He still faces daily struggles and continues to deal with compulsive behaviour, though less frequently than in the past. What can I say but, God is good.

A very Happy New Year to everyone of you!

ps. Special "Alohas" go out to the Makarusa bunch...we can't wait 'til the next conference! I met Amy N. on Saturday.

Catching Up

Well Ben has been home for almost a month now, the 10 lbs. lost regained and generally walks around with a smile on his face. A welcome relief from the anguish he had earlier from losing control of his thoughts. Life is slowly returning to normal. A home bound program has been initiated to return Ben to normal life as a student, complete with homework. The ultimate goal is to return him to the school setting....baby steps are being taken in that direction. The Christmas school break usually means freedom and travel for most kids; for Ben it means daily schooling and continued work at transitioning back into grade 7. Ambitious...it seems to me...but the transition team says he is ready.

The tree is up and decorated, the gingerbread house candied up and the presents are wrapped. All that is missing is the lovely layer of fresh sparkly, fluffy snow. We have had precipitation though, and quite regularly I might add. We've enjoyed one sunny day since about November 26. The rains are torrential and our town has had numerous flash flood warnings. Not to worry though, our home is on a hill and we are sitting pretty high and dry.

As the housing market continues to soften, we are once again keeping our eyes peeled for a starter home. Even with the market the way it is and low interest rates, it seems inconceivable how we could ever make this happen for our family. Home ownership seems increasingly elusive and has provided hours of frustration to our tired little family. In faith we remind ourselves that God will provide a healthy and relaxing home for the pastor and his family.

Alyson continues to do well and has 100% record of completing homework. She has won several awards for continued good work. Next week she heads out to the movies with a few other classroom "smarties". Last reward was dinner out with the teacher and frog catching at his taro patch, a classic reward passed down from generations (okay maybe not generations) and eagerly anticipated by anyone lucky enough to end up in Mr. Hashimoto's class.

Ed continues to burn the candle at both ends. Work for him right now is non-stop and family life including him is also elusive. With Christmas hot on the tail of Thanksgiving, he won't be breathing until the new year. Pray for continued health for him. Stress and pressure of the season (and regular church life work) certainly takes its toll on the diabetic part of his body.

Laurie is struggling to regain a sense of self following 2 months in Honolulu. My childcare stint complete with tiny income with baby Kyan was cut short by the recent "vacation" to Queen's Hospital. Unable to work and tired of cleaning only to turn around and find a giant mess created by the menehune in my home. Funny how nobody ever claims responsibility for all the stuff laying around. I am however, excited to say that following our income tax filing last year, (we haven't actually received our refund yet...oh well, maybe next year) I received an ITIN number. I was finally able to take that number to the bank and no, not actually get an account.... but become a joint account holder with Ed!!! A year and a half later. I got my name on official bank account paper. Up until now, they would not issue me anything...no debit cards, no check cashing cards, no bank cards whatsoever because I didn't exist. And now with the ITIN number, I'm a real person. A real live person. I am so happy that I'm alive now... because before I wasn't...I guess. But hey, I am getting a debit card in the mail soon. That should take about a month. Nothing happens fast here.