The Eve of the Challenge

So here we go with the challenge. I have to keep perspective that it is 30 days and at the end I will feel so much better!! You might have noticed that I won't be going to Yoga everyday but I will try and fit in 30 yoga sessions in the 30 days. When the 30 days is over we will be getting packed and ready to go to Arizona!!
Thanks to everyone on Facebook for joining in and for those who aren't on Facebook for your challenge submissions. On your mark get set, wake up tomorrow morning and GO FOR IT!! If you do anything for 30 days it will become a habit and it will change your life!!!

30 Day Challenge

Click on the calendar for a larger view, then join me at Bikram Yoga!

Some days . . .

Today was a busy day. A surprise appointment came up for Kourtney at Children's. We have taken Kourtney many times to the dentist at Children's but have only seen resident dentists. This time I wanted to see "The Dentist" for various reasons. Kourtney has had issues with her teeth (just one more thing) since she was 2 years old. Her mouth is small from all the scarring in her mouth from blisters so her teeth are very crowded, plus her teeth are discoloured because she is G-tube fed and her teeth don't get used so they develop calcification on them. We have been so many times to the dental clinic only for them to tell us, over and over again, her teeth are fine. Not a good enough answer to a 12 year old whose every second friend has braces. I had talked to Dr C. and told him about my dilemma. He thought there was nothing wrong with her teeth despite being crowded, but he said he would talk to Dr. Johnston, the dentist.

So in order for me to get to this appointment at 1:15 I had to jump through some hoops. I had to get the day off work, which can be a problem. I ended up working from 0730-1200, picked Kourtney up at school, headed into Vancouver, got to Children's on time, but could not find a parking spot.- $14.00 dollars a day for parking and not one stall to be found. Can you imagine how much money these people are making?? I found a free spot on the street but I had to parallel park. I think the last time I successfully performed this procedure was during my drivers test 24 years ago!! Picture this, downtown Vancouver, Oak Street, busy street, I have traffic stopped behind me as I am cranking the steering wheel of the van to prepare to park. To my utter amazement the van slid into the spot evenly, without hesitation. I was high fiving myself as Kourtney watched me and rolled her eyes.
Then Kourtney decided to "walk" into the hospital. It was quite a hike considering we usually get the good parking spots with the disabled sign on our van. She did very well and the more she walked the straighter she was. It was very neat to see. Seeing Kourtney walk today encouraged me even more to do the 30 day challenge. (Who is with me??)

The Dentist is an older guy; looks like he could be close to retirement. He talked to Kourtney and asked her what her concerns were. She told him about her crowded and discoloured teeth. He told her that because she asked he would do something about that. He cleaned her teeth very gently and also referred us to an orthodontist that specializes in "special needs" children. Kourtney and I both felt that we were listened to and were both light on our feet walking to the very nicely parked van (did I mention how well I parked it).

When we got home Kourtney was on cloud nine. Happy, witty, full of energy and she even played on the Wii. I felt the same way. Most of the times we walk away from an appointment feeling overwhelmed and tired and just want to go home. It emphasized to me today that doing the small things in life make such a difference. I deal with "patients" daily and it just reinforced to me how important it is to listen to them and focus in on them and respect them for who they are.

The 30 day challenge starts in a few days. I have friends signed up on facebook but for those who aren't signed up on facebook, leave a comment and join Kourtney and I. Do it for Kourtney!!!

My Countdown to 40!!

The other day one of my friend's at work, Lorraine, asked me if I wanted to go for a 10 km run. I said, "Sure." I had not run in over 4 months, but I have been doing my hot yoga 3-4 times a week. Lorraine ended up running the full 12.5 km and I stopped at about 10km and walked the rest. Not because my cardio gave out but because my legs hurt and I had to go to the bathroom - breakfast was making an entry if you know what I mean. The bathroom at 7 - 11 became my goal.

Although I was quite sore after that I was still satisfied that yoga is keeping me in half decent shape. I want to make it very clear that the kind of yoga I do does not involve the deep meditation but it involves stretching muscles and strengthening your body and learning to breath through it all. The psychologist that we see was impressed at the visible difference in my breathing and my facial expressions since I started yoga. The 90 minutes are uninterrupted; no talking, no cell phones, just time for me!

After watching the show Julie and Julia I was inspired to bring in my 40th birthday with some sort of accomplishment. There are a few things I would like to do and get started on.

The first one I want to do is a 30 day challenge. Starting February 1st I want to try and do my Yoga everyday. The days I work until 1930 will be challenging - some days I will have to double up. The reason I am so driven is because of Kourtney. She also has a goal to achieve. She will be meeting with the pain team in March and they will be reassessing her posture to see if she will need surgery. Kourtney and I will go head to head and challenge each other for the next month. I will also be giving up Coke Zero and shopping for the month also. I will try and blog every day during my thirty days.

After that I would like to run a half marathon June 26 th in Seattle with the young girls from work. I also would like to get started with on-line scrap booking (since I have my new laptop). Last, but not least, I want to perfect my bread making skills. I haven't baked for awhile but I want to make awesome homemade bread. My mom has the best homemade bread in the world and I want to bake the same as her!!

Sounds lofty??? I believe I can do it. I tell Kourtney everyday that she has to exercise although she is tired and wiped out from school. I need to challenge myself also. I cannot expect her to to do it if I am not doing it also.

Anyone want to join me on my 30 day challenge? It doesn't have to be exercise, it could be giving up chocolate or cleaning up a garage over 30 days. Join me for Kourtney's sake!!

ARIZONA HERE WE COME

Last year, when I was being counselled, one of the words that made sense of how I was feeling was resentment. No matter how much we fought Kourtney's skin disorder it still controlled our family and especially me. For way too many years I attempted to do everything on my own because I felt I was Kourtney's mom and had to do everything for her. I felt a sense of guilt when other people tried to help out or when we had to make special requests for our special family. I have always been very independent - I moved from Regina to Abbotsford when I was 22, knowing my cousin and one other friend! Trying to shoulder the load on my own landed me in the state I was in last year.

I learned that I was not responsible for anyone else but my family and the only way I could take care of them was if I looked after myself. I have taken huge strides in stepping back and looking after myself. I have been surrounded by many wonderful friends and family locally that are willing to help out and recognize that our whole family has special needs. I no longer feel resentment and I am beginning to reap the richness of life by taking the barrier down.

Which brings me to our trip planned for spring break. We are going to Arizona to visit Todd's family that lives there. When I was expecting Kourtney, and trying to pick out names, (what goes well with KUJAWA!!??) Todd's cousin was getting married and on the wedding invitation I saw the most beautiful name "Kourtney Kujawa" loved it and claimed it. I then met her and at the time her fiancee Jay, Kourtney is tall, delicate, blonde, beautiful, and soft gentle spirit. I knew that if we were having a girl that is what her name would be . . . as the story goes.

After Kourtney was born we met up with Kourtney and Jay on their visits to Vancouver. This summer though there was a "connection" to their family and that is when we started planning a trip to Arizona for spring break.

We were graciously offered an apartment owned by their family. As much as we wanted to stay there I began thinking about how much easier it is to manage dressing changes and Kourtney's special needs in a hotel room. I have found that hotel dressing changes are so much easier to manage when we are away because we can use towels and sheets from the hotel and believe me we go through a lot of them for a dressing change and hotels come with maids! We sometimes end up doing 2 loads of laundry a day and clean the tub out thoroughly before and after a dressing change. Todd and I both decided that although staying in hotel would be more expensive it would be way easier for us to manage and also give us access to a pool for Shaelyn to use while the dressings were being done. The old Janelle would have sucked it up and would have spent most of her holiday doing laundry, and cleaning the bathroom. The new and improved Janelle made a decision that would be the best for her with a ripple of effect to the rest of her family.

To make a long story short. Kourtney's husband Jay managed to have us stay at a 5 star resort in Tuscon for free. We were stunned by the graciousness that has been bestowed upon us once again. Thanks Jay and Kourtney for arranging this for us!! WE are so looking forward to connecting with you guys - and the rest of the extended Kujawa family.

I have to say that although we have faced despair in our lives we have also experienced richness that goes beyond what our minds can conceive. I would not trade my life or experience for a "normal" life. We live each day fully, we embrace what life has to offer and take each moment as it comes knowing that no matter what gets put in our paths we can overcome it.

NICE PICTURE EH?

I have to giggle when I see this picture, it turned better than expected,the best pictures are the ones that the least planning goes in to. This was taken at the Imagine Ministries banquet by Tamara Okoti. Imagine Ministries is a group established in our church for family's with special needs children.
I knew that there would be a professional photographer at the banquet. Shaelyn decided she didn't want to comb her hair just because she didn't want to and Kourtney had just finished crying because she didn't want to be there. The girls were upset because Lexi wasn't in the picture and protested having a picture taken without her. Todd and I dug our heels in and we apparently all "grinned and bore it" - for lack of a better term.

We survived Christmas and New Year's and were all looking forward to getting back into our regular routine. Shaelyn bought a new watch with Christmas money and demanded that Todd set it for 0640. Monday morning at 0640 Shaelyn was wide awake at our door telling us it was time to get out of bed. Todd and rolled over in bed and fell back to sleep until Shaelyn was out of the shower but there is no rest for the weary as Shaelyn told us it was 0700 am and that Todd only had half an hour to get ready. Blurry eyed, we stumbled out of bed and managed to get the princess her breakfast. Kourtney on the other hand wasn't quite as keen as Shae and not happy to be up. Once she saw Lexi though she brightened up. After school though Kourtney was being funny. Her one-liners are brilliant. I told her I was losing my mind and she said, "Don't worry mom it has been gone for a long time." How do you respond to that?

I have been off work since Saturday. Todd took me away for the night to "Mission"- yes Mission. We just needed to have a good sleep and time to ourselves. - too much information already . . . yep I thought so. Sunday I started taking down my Christmas decorations which usally ends in spring cleaning. It was wonderful to rearrange my furniture in my new kitchen and dining room. That is what inspired me to take the pictures, because it sure doesn't last for very long. The cleaning up dominoed into the garage cleanup. For those who know my husband's "handy man" skills are meticulous, perfectionistic and borderline anal, but not so much in his garage cleanup skills. Why clean up when another project is looming (new dining room table). So I have spent the last two days cleaning up the remnants of the kitchen reno sawdust and reorganizing the garage, storage room and shed. We left a pile of garbage outside out of our house for the dump and Mona told me it looked like Christmas threw up. ( She also said the best way to lose weight is to use superglue for lipgloss!!)

So here we are January 5th 2010. We made it to a new decade, intact and normal (that is a matter of opinion). What does 2010 have in store for us?

Spring break- A trip to Arizona to visit with the original Kourtney Kujawa and family (yes there are two)- Todd's cousin.
July - summer camp in Minnesota and hopefully Stillwood.`I am hoping to be a camp nurse at both camps.
We have also entered the wonderful world of skipping tournaments we have many to look forward to in the months to come.
Also weekly trips into Children's for physio and iron. Kourtney can now straighten herself up easily when told but really has a difficult time with her gait. She has to learn to walk again. She continues to do well and has more good days than bad and dressing changes are bearable.
Makes me tired just reading this . . . oh maybe that is because I am. Going to bed.

Check up the updated kitchen photos!!

The kitchen is almost finished. It got a good workout this Christmas.