End of the school year fun....

This have been a little busy around here. I have used that and the heat as an excuse to not run or do much of anything. Since my last post we have.....

On 5/29/14 Bella's class had a field trip to San Diego. We went to the Scripts Birch Aquarium, a harbor boat tour, the Air and Space museum and old town San Diego. It was a very fast paced day since we had to fit in so much but it was fun. In old town we had a guided tour. The people were all in period costume. We were able to see the Black Smith in action, the original school house and homes. There was this one lady who was sitting in the courtyard of the big house embroidering and it made me think of how much I love hand crafts and how much longer hand made things last. I started working on my Ty blanket again.

When Ty was in the hospital, I thought I would crochet him a blanket he could use once he was out of the ICU. One morning on the way to the hospital, I stopped at Joannes and bought a gorgeous red and cream yarn. I spent the morning finishing another blanket while sitting in the waiting room so that way I would have room in my bag for Ty's yarn. Before I could start the blanket that day, we were told Ty had been declared brain dead. It took me awhile to decide to still make the blanket but keep it for myself. Some days it is easy to work on it than others, so it is still a WIP.

The weekend of May 30 my step mom and I went to a sports medicine conference in Rancho Mirage. The focus of this years conference was head trauma and mainly concussions. Mom was asked to be the opening speaker on Saturday morning and provide the mothers point of view when your child suffers and succumbs to a head injury. She did a beautiful job. Most of the attendees were athletic trainers, physical therapists, high school and college athletic staff. It was/is easy to get caught up in all of the clinical side of the speakers. Mom did a great job making a human connection. The conference was also dedicated to Ty.

When mom was not speaking, we were able to enjoy a great mother/daughter weekend get away. The conference gave us a 2 night stay at the Racho Las Palmas Resort. It was AMAZING!! We had a great time eating our, shopping and sitting on our balcony, drinking wine and listening to the bull frogs that come out of the little pond outside our room. It was a very emotional yet relaxing get away.

On Monday, Bella had her 5th grade end of the year party at Scandia. The park was closed to school groups only and is pretty small so the kids were able to run around in groups without an official parent chaperone. It was so fun to see them in this new found freedom (even though we had parents "stationed" everywhere. lol

Well, that covers all the fun "busy" stuff. Tomorrow is another field trip and then preparing for the last week of school.

We did get a run and swimming in today. Even though the heat about did me in, it felt so good to be active again....

Tyler Dean Lewellen

When I was 19 my dad started dating my step-mom. At that time, my dad and I were on rocky grounds (that's a story for another time) and I didn't put much stock in getting to know the new woman or her 2 kids. At that time she had a 4 year old boy an 8 month old boy. Not long after, I moved out of the house and didn't speak to my dad for about 3ish years.

My dad and said girlfriend dated on and off and pretty much kept my distance. I was still pretty hurt over past issues and didn't want to get to close because who knew how long they would be around. Fast forward to 2002. I had my daughter Bella and Dad was still dating Tina. Bella's arrival changed a lot and became close to my old and new family's. I finally allowed myself to have 2 little brothers named Marcus and Tyler.

Over the next few years, we saw each other on holidays, BBQ's and family vacations. From day 1, Tyler was my baby brother and Bella's uncle Tyler. We were never step-siblings. I was always just sis. Mom was never step-mom, she was just mom. Unfortunately, I allowed working full time, being a mom and living an hour away get in the way of spending much time and taking part in the day-to-day life of those two beautiful boys. Fast forward a few more years...Tyler is now in high school, Marcus has graduated. Tyler is playing football, running track and running a muck around town. Typical for a 16 year old. We have now become closer and share random late night text.

On August 22, 2013 my mom text that Tyler had suffered a head injury at a pre-season scrimmage football game and that he was taken to the hospital by ambulance, I could tell she was scared but trying to stay calm for my sake. By the time I got to the hospital, Tyler had gone through surgery to relieve the swelling on his brain and was in a coma in the ICU. Seeing my active, wise cracking little brother so silent and still was terrifying, but this was Tyler. He would wake up shortly.....or so we though. He fought for days, but every test kept getting worse and on August 27, 2014 we were advised Tyler was brain dead. Just like that, gone. As I type this, I know it happened. Most days, it is so raw and painful, its like August is never ending, yet I still go breathless when I really admit it. The gaping in me opens wide.

When Tyler was 15 he expressed his wish to be an organ donor when he passed. He was able to donate is heart, lung, kidneys, liver, soft tissues and bone marrow. He help so many people it's amazing but to be expected. Tyler was always looking out the the little guy, offering his help before being asked. He always new what to say to make you smile and laugh. He did not like people to be unhappy. He loved big and unapologetically. For 16 years, he lived. He went camping, hunting, fishing, shooting, played sports, excelled in school and just loved being a kid.

Today, Tyler would have been 17. I  miss him. I can't begin to described how much I miss him. There are no words. Happy Birthday baby brother.

Angels Weekend

 This weekend went by way too fast....but don't they always.

We started off Saturday morning with a run. We are now up to 6 minutes of running followed by 1 minute of walking. We ran the horse trails near our house and felt pretty good. Bella had her fastest pace on the last segment. I knew she had it in her the whole time, but she has been so anti running that she has been dragging her feet and running lazy this whole time. No more cutting her any slack.

Yesterday, David and I took Bella and her friend to the Angles game. He had bought a family 4-pack which included 4 tickets, 4 hotdogs and 4 small soda's for about $60. We felt it was a great deal, considering taking the girls to dinner and a movie would have cost us more than that. I have to admit, I was pretty excited to be eating a hot dog and soda after who knows how long. It was one yummy, cheap, over cooked hot dog.

 

The night started off perfect. Not much of a breeze, no sun directly in your face and for being cheap seats, the view was prudy good. In the 7th inning, the cold set in and even with sweaters and blankets, it was too much. We needed beanies and gloves. The Angeles tied up the game in the bottom of the 9th and went into extra innings. Saturday night was fireworks night and we let the girls decide if we stuck it out or left. They made it through the 10th inning and decided it was time to head home. On the way to the car, they got to see the fireworks from Disneyland, so at least they got a little bit of a show.

Today, to continue with the healthy eating, I made cinnamon roll waffles. They were good and I would prefer to have just made them into cinnamon rolls. After breakfast, the girls wanted to go to the park to ride scooters, so I took them to Bonelli. Of course, once we got out of the car, they went straight for a the playground. I love that, at 11 years old, they still get excited for the play ground.