Remember DQ? He is one of the foster kids of my friends, Wendy and Jim, who live in Kentucky, USA. He has Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy but it’s his wonderful spirit that makes him special!
He got his computer late last year, thanks to the generosity of many people who heard of his need!
He has had a very rough time. He had been hoping to start physical therapy to regain strength in his arms after his one year check up (he had a spinal fusion and rods put in his back last June) so he could gain back the 60-70% of upper body strength he has lost. He was so excited and was telling the other boys that they better get ready because he would be challenging them to another basketball game soon. (He beat them all before his surgery but now, he cannot raise his arms to throw the ball).
But at his check up they were told that with Muscular Dystrophy, “what is gone is gone forever”. There can be no physical therapy because to exert the muscles will cause muscle tissue break down and he will lose MORE than he’s already lost. His inaction and loss of muscle tissue this past year has also affected his heart and he has had to increase his heart meds.
Poor guy! His hopes were so high for this whole year. They were told that everything would have been like they had been told until the e-coli infection set in and he had to have 3 additional surgeries and had to spend 3 extra months in the hospital and then another 3 months in bed at home. That changed everything but no one thought to tell them that…
But there is GOOD NEWS! Make a Wish and the Lexington Dream Factory asked him to make a wish and he wanted to go to Disney World. They are leaving on the morning of July 8th and check in at Give Kids the World on the 9th. It is a wonderful place for kids who have handicaps and all the Blasdell foster kids get to go. A new handicapped van has been rented for them to get them from Kentucky to Florida. It won’t hold them all so Wendy (foster mom) will have to drive their van, too. They have tickets to Disney World, Sea World and Universal Studios! One day will be spent at the beach because none of the boys has seen the ocean – yet!
Wendy can see a spark of excitement in DQ’s eyes. They want to make this a wonderful memory for him. He is ‘trying’ to save his allowance for spending money and they make a point of bringing up the trip every day just to see him get excited.
It will be a hard trip but oh so worth it. They have been given some money in gas cards but that will only cover one van (there and back) so they are saving to have gas money for the other van and spending money for all of them. Such excitement as they all try to make a dream come true and give a trip that will never be forgotten to a child who deserves some fun and excitement!
(This was adapted from an email Wendy Blasdell wrote)
I sent DQ and the boys some spending money – many thanks to my wonderful Wednesday Bible Study ladies who gave! If you would like to be part of this amazing trip for DQ and the other special needs foster boys Jim and Wendy foster and bless them by contributing to their spending money or gas money, Wendy has a Paypal account:
wendyblasdell at yahoo dot com
or you could email me at wjcsydney at yahoo dot com for their mailing address.
I have been procrastinating (my favourite thing to do) about posting. I won a year’s free hosting at Theobloggers but I haven’t got my act together about getting a domain name set up and transferring my photos across.
But I liked the questions Joolz (whose blog I found at Kris’) and had to respond!
Joolz is having a giveaway to celebrate her 150th post. Go and have a look!
# 1 What’s for dinner tonight?
I’m making osso buco and saffron risotto for C. MissN has to try it (she has never had it before.) I’m not sure what I am making for me. I don’t eat meat. I had coffee with my church ladies on Tuesday in Cammeray and Rebecca recommended the butcher there, so I got some veal to treat C. He LOVES osso buco (despite once getting a shard of bone stuck in his throat and needing medical treatment to remove it. Luckily there was a medical centre right acroos the right from the cafe where we were lunching!)
# 2 What’s your favourite cute animal picture?
See above. Miss Dolce loves water. She will only drink from a running tap and loves lying in the bath. She just fits in the basin. She is a small cat – her legs are pretty short but she weighs 5.3kg!
# 3 Who does the dishes in your house?
I do. But C stacks (or restacks!) the dishwasher. He has superior spatial skills.
# 4 One a personal note, regarding toilet paper – Are you a Scruncher or a Folder… or a Fruncher/Scrolder, he he!
Does anyone need to know the answer to this?
# 5 What jar (brand) of (tomato based) Spaghetti sauce do you use for Spagetti Bol?
I don’t use jars of sauce when I cook. I have only made spag bol once (for C and MissN) in the years since I stopped eating meat (1985..) and I made it the old fashioned way.
# 6 Do your children make their own beds and put out their clothes or do … you?
MissN makes hers when I remind her to. She puts her own clothes away (needs some reminding at times but she is improving). Not sure what you mean by putting clothes out. Out for laundering? She does put hers in the laundry box outside her door.
# 8 My ironing board is permanently set up – do you labour over baskets of ironing or do you fold, put away then iron as you need…. like me?
I tend to iron for an hour or two at a time, with my music blaring, praise and worship usually.
# 9 Do you wear makeup each day or go Phhhffft! Stuff it! How often do you go to the hairdresser?
I wear make up each day. I feel naked without mascara at least(very blonde lashes), and look better with some mineral make up smoothing out my age induced blotches freckles. I usually get my hair cut every 7-8 weeks. I wear it short and grows out of style if I leave it for any longer (needs a cut now!)
# 10 What is your ultimate personal indulgence eg. relaxation/treat
A day in bed with a book and my family bringing me tea/coffee/meals/chocolate on demand.
Food from afar for people who need to be blessed with our love:
Trey Morgan (winner of the 1st TheoBloggers Christian Awards for Blogger of the Year) has a heart for making a difference for the very poorest people you could imagine. Could you forfeit a take away meal or a couple of lattes, donate the money and make a difference? I have. Details here. If you live outside the USA, you can send money to Trey’s paypal account treymorgan @ msn dot com) instead of sending a check (cheque lol).
The last couple of weeks have been a bit blah. I had a headache the day after we got back from Hong Kong. It lingered for almost a week. A virus, no doubt. Post holiday blahness prevailed. Blah blah blah…
What cheered me was two parcels that arrived in my PO box from different internet friends. I’m in a secret angel swap in my quilting list.
My gorgeous angel blessed me with a butterfly frame, a stitchery pattern, a beautiful “wallet” I am sure she made herself (please teach me how to sew see-through vinyl!) and a fat quarter.
I will have to decide what to use the wallet for. Perhaps earrings? Perhaps for embroidery-on-the-go?
The second pressie which arrived the next day was a CD of John’s Gospel narrated by Max McLean. I forget quite how I won this but it was a giveaway at Chris Gallagher’s blog. Thanks muchly, Chris, for mailing all the way across the Pacific! John’s Gospel is my favourite and the melliferous voice of Max McLean is wonderfully soothing and inspiring at the same time. What a way to drink of the living water!
Thanks angel and Chris! You brightened my week considerably.
22 April was the first anniversary of my blog. I missed it! We were in Shanghai and Hong Kong from 8-18 April, I’m still dealing with laundry/putting things away, and I have had a bad headache since we got back. I thought it was a migraine but now think it’s a virus. I am slowly feeling more “normal”. Whatever that is. From time to time my pc refuses to recognise my camera when I try to upload photos and this involves reloading drivers. Which is a palaver. It took me nearly 2 hours yesterday and 4 installs. But I now have about 850 photos I took in China which I can use. I didn’t want to blog before I could use some China photos. Yes, I am a bit of a perfectionist. I have no idea how many photos C and MissN took – not quite as many as I did. They have better cameras (C has a digital SLR) so they get better shots. I take more to compensate for my blurry ones or the “dreaded black spot” which appears on my shots from time to time. Yes, C, I SHOULD have let you buy me a new camera.
Anyway, I began my blog a year ago with a post about coffee and chocolate, so it seems appropriate to celebrate this blogaversary with a new header photo. Tea. The new coffee. My overseas shopping indulgence was tea. I won’t tell you how much I spent (but assure you it was much less than a camera would have cost).
We spent a lovely day in the Old Town of Shanghai on the Friday we were there. Late morning after battling the crowds at the Yuyuan Gardens we had a 40 minute very relaxing tea tasting (ie sales talk) at a shop in Old Street (Central Fangbang Road) and bought 100g of new season green tea – our new morning drink (other green tea tastes dusty by comparison now), 50g of fruit tea, 50g of ginseng powder, 250g of Tie Guan Yin oolong tea and 6 tea flowers. You can see an opened tea flower in the glass in the centre of the header photo. These are amazing – balls of tea which open to reveal a flower and they can be used up to 10 times each.
I bought myself a terracotta tea pot (for oolong tea – one uses different types of pots for different types of tea!) from the Dongtai Road Antique Market. It’s probably not antique but I like it. It is just big enough for one cup. MissN got herself a gorgeous noodle bowl.
I’m sipping oolong tea as I type (just one I bought at an Asian supermarket here in Sydney). And loving the exotic calmness it provides. I loved tea before we went to China. But I will remember Shanghai and our wonderful time there every time I drink Chinese tea for the rest of my life.
MissN drinking dragon well tea (tea of longing) in Tongli last Monday (but “tea in Tongli” is another post…)
MissN makes her acting debut tomorrow (April 3, 6.30pm at her school, tickets available at the door) , playing Mark, one of the main characters, in the stage adaptation of Jackie French’s novel Hitler’s Daughter.
It’s the Junior (years 7-10) production at her school. She is also studying drama as one of her electives and loving it.
Consider yourself invited to Hitler’s Daughter!
Break a leg, sweetie.
I’m feeding on the satisfying sweetness that my girl has found herself a niche – something she loves, excels at and can immerse herself in, something that allows her to express herself, gains her recognition with her peers and improves her self esteem. And of course, as an ex-English teacher, how can I NOT love that she loves Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde?
I’m feeling depleted emotionally, mentally, spiritually. I need to focus on what will uplift me and renew my resources. So let me share three sources of nourishment for me today.
A dear internet friend has This is a day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it Psalm 118:24 as her email signature. I received a couple of encouraging emails from her but what especially blessed me was the challenge in that Scripture to choose to rejoice in whatever circumstances my life presents to me, and to give thanks for the myriad blessings of each new day. And that reminds me of a song:
Sydney weather is glorious right now. If anyone out there is planning a trip to Sydney, plan it for late March. Sunny warm days and cool nights. It’s perfect. Want to see what our weather is doing? There is a harbour cam here. This cam is about 10kms further east than where we are (we live between the city and the Olympic site close to the harbour and about 15kms from the coast) but the weather is the same!
On Sunday night at my church, this song sung by Michael and Kirsty and accompanied by harp and flute, was part of the communion meditation. It was one of those services when the presence of God was so very powerful as to be almost palpable and I came away refreshed by streams of living water. The song “Until the Day” is from the Compassion Art CD. I think I will be buying the CD!
MissN discovered Twilight in 2006 when we were in London. We were looking for books to read while we were away and she bought it, not knowing anything about it or imagining it was going to be the next Harry Potter. No-one else had heard of it then. She read all 4 of the series (quite a few times!) before she tired of them (or grew out of them).
Here is a speech she recently gave ( a one minute persuasive speech) to her English class:
Today there is an epidemic in which teen girls are taken over and cannot be saved. This is called the ‘Twilight’ anomaly. In all likelihood there are some of the afflicted among us. I am speaking with sympathy today to those people, as there is but one cure: to realise that Twilight is not the meaning of life.
Let us look at how Stephenie Meyer foists questionable morals on young impressionable girls. She debases love into physical attraction, describes marriage as a means of having one’s selfish desires satisfied, encourages sexism, and makes abusive relationships seem the norm.
Over the whole book of Twilight, Edward’s beauty is mentioned 165 times and yet Edward’s personality as a means of attraction is only mentioned four times. A questionable ideal to be displaying.
Bella, not content with Edward promising to be with her for a lifetime, insists on being changed into a vampire and gets married to him only to ensure that immortality is in store for her. Her persistence in the matter of eternal life could equate her to Voldemort.
Sexism and inequality in relationships are displayed as the standard in this piece of immoral literature. Bella is displayed as “weak” and constantly needing male protection. Edward is constantly controlling Bella, and will not let her see certain friends of hers. This gives the two protagonists an uneven, abusive relationship. In addition, Jacob forcibly kisses her, causing Bella to believe that she is in love with him. This is a depiction of a weak female mind, which is a male chauvinistic belief.
So, despite the terrible plot, plastic characters, and the fact that there are very few original concepts in the series, there are the damaging effects that it has on the teen society. To the diseased with this horrible ailment, I seriously recommend a healthy dose of good literature.
Like Jane Austen…
Should we be discouraging our girls from immersing themselves in Twilight?
MissN discovered 
