It's a good day to have a good day.

We had a great Thanksgiving with a few good friends and this year, our family has more than ever to be thankful for. In fact, specifically, today, it (11:58pm to be exact) is the 8 month mark since E's traumatic brain injury. I can't believe it's ALREADY been 8 months. I can't believe it's ONLY been 8 months. What can I say other than, holy shit I am thankful. I am also ashamed that it something like a traumatic brain injury and my whole world to be turned upside down to really give thanks each and every day. Even if the day sucks. Even if the last 8 months have sort of sucked, I am more grateful now then ever. Thank you, friends and family, who have been with us every step of the way.
We have come a long way.....








E in ICU. March 2011




E after brain surgery (craniotomy) March 2011





Hudson and E, October 2011.







Thanksgiving card, 2011

Life is happening.

We've been rather busy. We went up to the mountains in Idyllwild, Ca (about 2 hours away) with some friends for a night this weekend (thanks Eric and Meg!) The weather was very "fallish" up there which felt awesome. I was so inspired by the good food and cold weather that I came home and have spent the last 2 days (on my "down" time) writing out all of our Thanksgiving/ holiday cards, planning our Thanksgiving meal and decking our halls with Christmas decor.
Eric is about to lose his mind already from the Frank Sinatra Holiday songs, pine scented candles and Yuletide "knick knacks" that keep appearing.

(Just for the record, it was the boys' job to put the stamps on our holiday cards. So if the stamp is sideways, upside down or just plain crooked.....it wasn't the wine.)



Looking for snow.




Out for a stroll.



Hud.



Hudson and E (as a ninja.) Playing in the tiny patch of snow.



Not palm trees.




Our Charlie Brown Christmas tree.




Elf on a shelf. He will be arriving tonight and is the "tool" (the magic) used to sweetly threaten my 4 year old that Christmas WILL be canceled if you piss him off too many times. The Elf is watching..........

Oh yeah, the brain injured guy..

Today I realized it’s been a while since I’ve given an update on Eric’s progress. He has been on a good trend the last few weeks (which we earned.)
He is no longer at brain camp and is working “full time.” (Full time but at a much slower pace, one job at a time.) He is fortunate as a web developer to have a job and partners which allow him to ease back into his role (or he would probably be fired.)

We are actively cutting down his medications as quickly (while still be safe and medically supervised) as possible. He is still on a TON of medication but I have seen vast improvements with the small adjustments we have made thus far. His personality is still a bit stifled by the meds. It is hard to know sometimes if he just doesn’t give a shit, or if the pills just don’t give a shit. I think it’s the latter. But we have to go slow in the waning process as he is still seizure prone in addition to the sensitive mind that we are still uncovering. The good news is, E has evolved and when things go wrong I simply ask:
Is this the brain injury? Is this a “man” thing? Or are you just being a dick?

(To be fair, he asks me the same 3 questions and I have a different answer every time. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus....right?)

I am starting to see the old E with slight modifications and I can live with that. Next week will be 8 months since his injury, almost a full pregnancy term. I definitely feel like I’ve given birth to something these past few weeks but I am still not sure what it was. A stress demon perhaps?

Bottom line, I (we) have been able to keep E from safe from hurting himself, I (we) have been able to keep ME from hurting E. Not only do I still love him, but I am starting to like him again. (Write that one down Hallmark.)














Our Thanksgiving card coming to a mail box near you.

























Hudson, just being rad.

Happy birthday (yesterday) grandma Julie!

Happy birthday to my momma!
Thank you for my wit, my warped sense of humor and the confidence to go anywhere and be anything.
We love you to the moon and back!

I workout....

Love that song (by LMFAO). It happened to be the song that came on my Pandora playlist while running the final mile of the half marathon on Saturday.

A fantastic weekend was had in Santa Barbara. My first weekend away from the boys in almost a year. I ate tasty food, drank rich wine, had gracious company and I "worked out."
13.1 miles to be exact.

What can I say, other than having good girlfriends in this life is a good thing. The best thing about girlfriends is you get to enjoy significant life experiences. I.e) grow up together, grow old together, experience kids together; even if it you don't experience it all at the exact same time. Yet, you do not have to wash their dirty laundry, listen to them snore or compromise on interior design. Seriously, what's not to like?

Hudson and E had a good time with Grandpa Dave and Grandma Dodie. I was told that Hudson even convinced them to let him paint their face and go out to breakfast. Wow. If I had his sales skills, I would be retired by now.



Pre-race dinner.




The ladies. REALLY getting in the zone.








My biggest fan. And, yes, I MIGHT have told him I won.

T.M.M.R.H.T.W.

Things making me really happy this week.

1. The time change. Because its easier to go to sleep at night and easier to get up in the morning and we are morning folk.

2. Clean sheets on our bed. One day, I will have freshly washed sheets every single day of the week.

3. Coffee already made by my husband every morning by the time I wake up. (Although, it may be him grinding the beans at 6 am that truly wakes me up. Why hasn't this been a Folgers commercial yet?)

4. Finishing my 8 week MBSR (Mindfulness based stress reduction) course. The golden nugget I took away?

"How you do anything, is how you do everything."

I don't know about you but that makes me want to brush my teeth that extra 30 seconds.

5. The Santa Barbara Half Marathon/Girls/Dave and Dodie coming to hang with the boys, weekend trip. I am so looking forward to some time with my lady friends and running the half marathon. (I am also looking forward to not feeling obligated to run during the week in preparation.)
Why Santa Barbara you ask? Well, if I am going to run 13.1 miles, there had better be a vineyard at the end of it.

6. Hudson. Who wears his dinosaur bath towel as a cape.

The weekend don't ya know?

We all had a very busy week with life.....




Hudson's art from school this week. When they say "kids say the darndest things," I think this is what they mean.




Yesterday we did some of this.




And this.




And this.... Out to lunch for 4 hours with friends. Then to dinner.

Then today, it did a lot of this.......





So we did a lot of this..




And this..




And this..







The (week) End.