Pat's progress

Pat is doing truly amazing with his walking.  Here are some highlights:

- Bowling with the family.  He used a ramp for the first few frames and then he discovered that he was much better when he did it on his own. 

- Walking around the Emmett park part way (keep in mind it was about 100 degrees, so this was quite a feat).  Walking to the Labryinth at the new park in Meridian.  Next time he says he will actually try the Labryinth.  :)

- Swimming in the Emmett pool for a few hours.  Note to self, next time take more sunscreen, most of us were a little pink at the end and Pat was a lobster!

- Getting up and down the stairs in and out of Mom and Dad's house with minimal assistance

- A shopping trip to Costco where he walked around most of the store

And much, much more.  If only it would cool down a bit, he would accomplish even more.  But it has been so very hot, that he gets tired very quickly.  The weather people are predicting triple digit weather again this week. :(

He has only used the wheelchair one time at home, and to get around some stores while shopping.  He is doing really well, his pivoting and turning are improving.  There have been a few times when I have been walking pretty far (or in the other room but don't tell him) while he was walking and he is doing great. 

Hershey

Hershey survived the trip to Idaho just fine, although he sunburned his nose quite badly.  The first night we stopped at my Grandmother's home in eastern Idaho (she lives on a farm in the country).  We let him off the leash and took him for a few walks in the morning.  He loved just rolling and rolling and rolling in the wet grass. 

Now that we are at Melissa's parents in Emmett, he is adjusting well.  He really misses getting to be inside with all of the people though.  Anytime the door opens, he immediately jumps up to see if maybe this time he will get invited in.  And if someone gets into the car, he barks and barks to ask if he can get taken along as well. 

Probably the funniest thing is watching him wriggle his way under the deck, and then try to extract himself quickly when he realizes he is missing something fun.  He has also enjoyed seeing new wildlife, although he doesn't seem to know what to make of the neighbors horses, he just cocks his head and studies them trying to figure out what they are.

Goodbye Greeley

Well the bags and boxes as packed and all that is left is a quick wash for the dog (he smells like dog a little too much) and to pack the vans.  It's hard to believe that it is finally time to go.  I have wanted this for so long, but my wife was the last holdout.  Not because she doesn't want to go, but this was like home to her.  To both of us really. 

To all of my favorite places to eat.  I will miss you, but there is always another meal around the corner. 

To all of our great friends and most of our family here we will miss you all so much, you have been amazing.  (Those that we won't miss, I think you know who you are). 

Goodbye to Greeley for now, Emmett Here We Come.

How's Pat doing?

Pat is doing great actually.  He hasn't been walking quite as much as I would like, but we are building up to it.  :) I figured we would start by having him get up at 8 or 8:30ish every morning (he is not loving that).  But I am used to getting up early, so my day is halfway done before he starts to stir. 

This afternoon we went to the Discovery Bay Pool with some family friends.  For those of you who haven't been there, we highly recommend it.  There are a couple of really great waterslides, an awesome wading pool, a lazy river (although the current is much stronger than the current on the one at the FunPlex) and a nice regular pool that goes as high as 5 feet deep.  Pat did quite a bit of walking, he will be super sore tomorrow.  He was able to take a lot of steps on his own in the water and kept his balance very well, except for the Lazy River.  We think they should rename it the Rapid River, since the current kept pulling him away from me and then moving us both along much faster than we were comfortable with. 

If that wasn't enough walking for him, I got him to walk into a frozen yogurt place with me.  As a reward, a very sweet stranger bought both of us some frozen yogurt.  I don't know his name, but his kind words really touched me and I felt so blessed that someone we didn't even know would take the time to acknowledge what we are trying to do together.

Well enough of the fun stuff, now back to packing.  Groan.

Starting off right

Last evening Pat suprised me at work by joining my coworkers in a goodbye party for me.  The surprise was on him though when he couldn't get to the elevator to come up to the second floor because the way was blocked by a pallet of toilets.  But he rallied nicely and made the climb up the stairs in the fastest time I have ever seen him make.  Our sweet friend Bonnie volunteered to manuver around the toilets to bring the chair up the elevator as Pat set off.  He was about 3/4 of the way up the stairs when she got off the elevator.  The whole trip up the stairs took less than 5 minutes. 

And if that wasn't enough showing off, he continued to use his walker for the party and then to get back out to the car as well as again later that evening when we visited some friends.  At one point he had to turn the walker sideways to fit in the space between two desks, it was just a quarter of an inch too small for the walker to fit the regular way.  He did it like a pro and even volunteered to go that way on the way back, even though it meant walking sideways again. 

He did take the elevator back down to the first floor instead of taking the stairs, but he used the walker instead of the chair.  I do have to say that I really love watching the look on his face when he goes in an elevator standing up instead of sitting in the chair, it's priceless everytime. 

Pat's challenge should you choose to accept it...

Pat has set a goal for himself to be walking with the walker and no assistance from another person by Labor Day.  He would like to invite anyone else who would like to set their own personal goals to join him and use him as their pace setter (Mom - he wants you to join because he wants lots of candy bars).  Daniel, he would really like you to join him since you were his first pen pal, he might have said something about a target on your back, but I really didn't understand where he was going with it. 

To meet his goal, he will be working his tail off.  This looks like:
- Walking and not choosing to use the chair in the house for daily activities
- Not taking the easy road i.e. not letting someone do things for him that he can do himself
- Always getting up to try again

- Trying something new and challenging every day

• Mom - he says his goal is to learn to vaccum with the walker, so guess what our first hurdle will be :)
• Dad - he would like to learn to shoot your BB gun from a standing position so that he can kill some of those pesky birds for you
• Hershey - he would like to take you for a walk around Dad's property without you eating any of Dad's veg
• Melissa - he will learn to put his equipment (chair/walker) in the car and get it out again

To reward himself he will:
- Put a quarter into a savings jar to use on a celebratory trip to Big Jud's
- He will do a chore with his walker for someone to earn the quarter.  Melissa will donate the quarters if people will help find chores he can do.

To join his challenge is very simple.  Just make a goal for yourself and find a way to reward/motivate yourself.  If you mess up, figure out how/why you messed up and don't do it again the next time.  Easy right?

If you don't want to join Pat's challenge, you can still show your support by suggesting ways that he can do household chores with his walker or helping us find ways to get him more mobile.

A new speed record

Tonight Pat walked a whole lap (1/4 mile) at the track with only one rest break in under 30 minutes.  I don't think he has ever walked that fast before.  He says it was pretty simple (but he didn't ask if I wanted to do another lap when we were done).  We'll see how sore he is tomorrow.  I hope everyone in Idaho is ready to dust of their walking or running shoes because Pat is going to make sure you get good use out of them.  :)

Nerves of Steel or Steel full of nerves?

I thought I had nerves of steel.  Has anyone ever been so anxious for something they have wanted for so long and then it comes true? In about two weeks one of my dreams that I've been longing for will be coming true. But  let me tell you something else that mom and the wife thought I should let everyone know.  Just what I've been doing lately.

Thursday Melissa and I went to pick up our friend Julie. We went to Walmart. We went to the eye doctor's place, the automotive area, my wife want to do a little clothes shopping and then self check out and last I got got to carry the items to the van and you know what I did that all on my feet. I've never used the self check standing up and it was kind of hard to take the items with my left hand and scan them and then put them into the bag with my right hand but I did it.  I also got my wallet out of my pocket and paid with my debit card standing up too.  It was very tiring, but I was so proud of myself.

Then a little later, we went to King Soopers and got some groceries.  I walked into the store but used an electric cart because my legs were tired.  On the way out of the store I pushed the grocery cart to the car.  I got stuck a bit and had to get unstuck but I did it.  I didn't know how heavy 4 cases of pop were until now though.

Stay tuned...