30 years old...

I've got a lot more hair these days. But still the same big eyes. I was born at 4:23pm, on a Monday, during a full eclipse of the sun. My Daddy wanted to name me Tommy, after my uncle. And my Grandfather thought I was to be named Ronda, after my Dad. I'm glad Momma declined on both of those. I've always been quite fond of my name, and how I got it. Named after both of my parents.

I love my birthday story! I always have! I pulled it up from my mom's blog earlier and re-read it. My Daddy will call me later and say that I had the brightest biggest eyes he'd ever seen on a baby. And I was so beautiful. It's nice to hear that from your dad, even if it is predictable!

I've got fun things happening over the next couple of days. For my birthday weekend. Mom will be here to celebrate with me. And another dinner out tomorrow with Steve, and then dinner with friends Friday night.

Happy Birthday to meeeeeee!!!!
Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday...

Dear Momma!!!

Max's Haircut...

As you can see...


Mr. Max was long due for a good haircut. I last trimmed it up about three weeks ago. I combed, and snipped, and and got him looking quite handsome. Only to realize, the boy got his Daddy's hair, and it grows like magic overnight to twice it's length!

It doesn't help that Max's hair is THE strangest texture in the back. I would equate it to a terrier's hair. Thick and wiry, and curly! And since he lays his head back so much of the day, it tends to get really tangled. Then the top is straight as a stick, and thick, and goes every which direction when he sleeps. So I've tried to deal with his crazy long hair...but it was time.

I can see his eyes!


He still has a little hair in his ears...it must tickle.


Here is Max's "that feels good" face.

When I scratch his head, or his ear, or twist his g-tube button he always gives this same face. And it cracks us up!

He is too sweet...and getting so big!

My book...

I know I dangled the carrot out there about a book club...but something has happened.

Like so often before, I have been forcing myself to read a book for over a year now. I'll read a page or two at a time, then it goes back on the shelf for a couple of months, until I pick it up again and give it another go...until FINALLY I get sucked in and I can't put it down.

So, while I was ready to find a new book, I hit the corner with the book I am reading now and I have to finish it before I can start another.

Shantaram is the book I'm reading, and if anyone is interested, you can certainly join along. I don't know that it will be every one's cup of tea...but it has got me now so I'll stick with it until the end...all 940+ pages of it! You can follow the link to Amazon to read reviews and the synopsis.

One line I read today stuck out to me, and made me decide to continue on. It was spoken by the leader of the Mumbai Mafia, he said to the main character, Lin, who said he didn't believe in God. He said, 'There is no believing in God. We either know God, or we do not.'. I liked it...it struck me. His style of writing is very poetic, and therefore, hard to chew through at the beginning. But once you get into the rhythm of the book it takes you away. You can click here on Google Books to see a good preview of the book to get an idea of the writing style, to see if you might like it.

Now, I do still have other books to read if this isn't the one for you. And you can certainly chime in with one of your choices too, in comments. I'll let you know what I think of it once it's finished.

Today. . .

It's really hard to believe we were in the UK last year this time. I think back on that time and I remember how sick I got, and how miserable I felt. And also how many seizures Max was having. And the feelings of denial that they would just stop, and we would be able to stay. I miss our friends. I miss being able to have dinner, or walk to the store and get a basket full of groceries I had never heard of before. I miss meeting new friends, and watching new tv shows.

And I miss London too. London is like it's own country. I know so many people just can't understand the connection to that place...and maybe I can't even explain it well. It's just so strange to feel so "at home" in a foreign country, and know you can't live there. I feel the same way every time I see pictures of videos of India. I don't know how to explain it.

I guess I'm just feeling sentimental and the wishing some travel was on the horizon! Instead, there is laundry, and calls to insurance companies, and a grumpy little boy who can't be happy unless I am no less than 2 feet away from him today.

Ho-hum...

Chill Out Chair...

Today we went to the other side of Denver, what we lovingly refer to North Dallas, to pick up Max's new Chill-Out Chair!

For those of you who have been following along, this chair has been in the works since September! The vendor with Freedom Concepts came to Max's therapy clinic to show off the bikes they offer, and we went away with the obsession to get this chair!

We worked with Variety Colorado to get funding for the chair. They are an amazing group that's mission is

"Variety – The Children’s Charity’s mission is to provide life-saving and life-enriching assistance to children challenged by physical and mental disabilities, poverty, abuse and neglect."

We filled out all of the forms and finally got word after the New Year that it was approved, and we would be getting his chair within the next couple of months. I got the call last week that it was already here so we set up the time to come get it!

We went out to Kid's Mobility to pick up his new chair. Kid's Mobility is another incredible organization based in Denver that supplies children with gently used durable medical equipment. I've donated several of Max's pieces of equipment to them. They have a warehouse of DME that they pair up with the kids that need it and keep the cycle going.

I wished Max was feeling a little better today for his big reveal, but unfortunately, he's coming down with a little something. Here are a few pictures of him in his new chair once we got home. He does love it! He sat up in it until bedtime when he was nodding off and we finally brought him up to bed!

He's getting a little excited in these photos because he's singing opera!




And here he is eating...


And here, trying to see if he can get out of it...he can not!


There are a lot more pictures on flickr, and I'm sure this will be his new backdrop for most of his photos!

We are so thankful to Freedom Concepts for showing the chair to us, and getting us in touch with Variety Colorado, and also Kid's Mobility for their partnership too! We are definitely going to get every bit of use we can out of Max's new chair!!!

Book Club...

Well, that was fun! Now that we all agree that the first class I went to was an absolute nightmare, let's move on to something else!

My friend, Jenny, has this "Goodreads" badge on her blog, so like a monkey, I clicked on it to see what it was, and found a gem of a site!

Goodreads is a site that catalogs your books, allows you to write reviews, recommend books to your friends, make comments on your friends' book choices. I loaded my books into my list, and put my own badge on the side of my page here. So go ahead...click on it...you know you want to!

After you click on it...and look through my books, let me know if any of them look like something you'd like to read together. I want to do a sort of a book-club hosted on my blog. Maybe we can host it a month at a time on eachother's blog. If there is any interest, let me know in comments. I have a couple of ideas for a book choice, and of course, if you have any ideas you can comment those too.

I've never participated in a book club, so I don't really know how it all works. My best guess is we all read the same book, then comment on it. Seems easy enough. I know how to read, and have opinions on what I have read!

So, what about you?