Things I’m doing to be ready for @VivintHome tomorrow

We've made some good progress on the house. We still have a ways to go but we should be ready in time for Vivint to arrive for our appointment tomorrow. There are a few things that we need to make sure are done, prior to the techs arrival. The biggest is that they have clear access to everything they need to work on. This means access to all monitored windows and doors. We need to make sure that the tech can get into the basement, as well as everywhere we have cameras, smoke alarms, CO2, flood and freeze detectors. One of the bigger things we were going to do was add the additional outdoor camera. Unfortunately, while Gavin and I were prepping the location, we stumbled across a hornet nest.…

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Why Gavin having his wish granted is heartbreaking for me as his Dad

By now most of you know that Gavin is having his wish granted by an amazing organization called Wishes Can Happen. He qualifies for this because he's living with life threatening health conditions. This opportunity is probably one of the biggest things to ever happen to my family and Gavin absolutely deserves this. Every time someone hears about this, their response is usually along the lines of that's so amazing or he's so lucky. I've even heard things like what a blessing and what a great opportunity. None of those things are wrong. It is an amazing opportunity and we do consider it a blessing that this has been made available to Gavin. I don't take offense to the well intentioned affirmations but I want to make clear that this…

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Weigh-in Wednesday: 9/20/2017 #healthiertogether

Okay, I'm really trying my best to keep making progress on this weight-loss journey. Stress is one of my biggest enemies when it comes to dieting and I'm not always doing as good of a job as I could be. With that said, while I've been met with temporary setbacks, I've also reaped some rewards for my efforts. I actually did okay today. I had pizza for dinner but was under my calorie count for the day, and I drank 128 ounces of water. I was about 40 ounces short of my goal but this is still major progress, especially considering that I wasn't drinking even a fraction of that amount until recently. Hydration is extremely important and I can feel a difference when I'm taking in enough water each…

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Why don’t we talk about #Depression?

There's so many things that we as a society talk about all the time. I can't turn on the TV or radio without being inundated with information. Every day, I hear people talk about the latest scandal in the White House, missiles in North Korea, what celebrity's marriage is falling apart or even debating the season finale of a popular TV show.. I'm not going to say that we shouldn't be talking about some of those things because we should be able to talk about anything. As a society, I'd like to think we've evolved enough, that there shouldn't be things we can't have serious conversations about, Depression being one of them. We're at the tail end of 2017, and it's still taboo to talk about getting help for depression,…

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I went to bed super early

I was so exhausted from the day of challenges I made it through that I fell asleep about 7:30 PM, while Lizze was putting the boys to bed for the night. It felt so good to go to bed that early, that is until I just woke up and can't go back to sleep. I think if I move around for a little while, and try again, let be able to fall asleep. Either way, I'm grateful that I was a able to get the extra sleep. ☺

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Never Give-up Hope

I finally got the kids home from school today, both had great days by the way. Let me begin with a very honest statement. While I was holding out hope that we would figure everything out for this trip, it wasn't easy, especially when it came to the issues with getting a car to make the drive with. I heard back from Wishes Can Happen and they were able to workout a deal with Hertz for the rental car. It's pretty straight forward but more expensive, and it requires my Dad's help. In case anyone else ever runs into something like this, here's what we figured out. My Dad is going to rent the van in his name, and add me as a secondary driver. He will be reimbursed for…

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Who would have thought it’d be this difficult

This whole getting ready for the potential journey to Florida, for Gavin's Wish trip, is unexpectedly stressful. Things are more complicated because we're driving and that complication comes in the form of the rental car. I say potential journey because if we don't figure out the rental car, the trip is canceled. Flying isn't an option, at least not a good one. I can't even imagine taking three prone to meltdowns, kids with Autism, who are terrified of heights, on a plane. When I say terrified of heights, I mean won't even go on the top bunk bed kind of terrified. I can't imagine a scenario where that would end well, for anyone. Even if that weren't a concern, Gavin's health is such that I have no idea how he…

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Sometimes I have to really push myself

It was a rough morning with before school meltdowns, that left me wishing I'd ignored the alarm and continued sleeping. Having said that, I want to make the best of what time I have in the day. Rather than giving into my desire to go straight home after dropping the boys off at school, climb back into bed and sleep away the stress, I chose a different path. I dropped Lizze off at her appointment, and went walking with my Mom. No part of me wanted to go walking, but if I don't push myself and continue working towards weight-loss, I have no one to blame but myself. We ended up walking almost four miles before I had to pick Lizze up after her appointment. I feel pretty awesome. I…

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