Life is Good

"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us."----Joseph Campbell

I have been so busy! What a wonderful life! Sure, I get tired and I even had a few days "under the weather" last week, but I am so blessed to be alive! Last weekend Phillip came to stay Friday night. My friend Julia came over too and it was like a great slumber party! I slumbered, and Julia and Amy stayed up half the night talking! LOL! Phillip is always so happy to be here and Christopher is always so glad to have him here, even if they are a little like dynamite and fire! One thing it is NOT when Phillip is here is QUIET! Phillip is very happy and rotates "play areas" with Christopher throughout the visit.... Christopher's room, the living room, the kitchen, back to Christopher's room, etc. with Christopher alternating in whatever space is not currently in use. There is always either a children's TV program, Sandy Patty video, Gaither video or "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" blaring the entire visit... and usually two from the list...one for each of the boys! It is joyful mayhem. I do find that my hyperactive reflexes don't tolerate the chaos very well, and I spend the entire time in a state of hyperarousal verging on jitters. Oh well, it is great to see the "dudes" together!



This past weekend Christopher was doing "the worm" (his autistic, lay-on-the-floor-belly-down-wiggle-with-your-feet-in-the-air thing) and Phillip (big brother that he is) just HAD to reach down and push Christopher's face into the carpet The amazing part is no one was having a meltdown... just two "normal brothers" doing "brother stuff". Christopher had a rug burn on his nose to prove that "big bro" was here!!! LOL



Life is good. Love, Claudia
(PS... don't forget to spread the word about Christopher's Service Dog Project!!!)

We Were in the Newspaper!

Christopher with 4 Paws service dog in the "Wishes Lounge" at the Magic Kingdom

As you can tell if you've tried to visit http://www.claudiasfamily.com/, the site is still down. I am a rank amateur with Front Page and it shows!!! *big sigh* You can still visit this blog or Christopher's site (http://www.4paws4christopher.com/) to keep up to date....





The big news is that the Muncie Star Press ran our article about Christopher's service dog! To check it out, visit this LINK.





I am so excited at the prospect of having this furry friend for Christopher, and I know that God is going to take care of the fundraising and has already picked out the perfect dog for our family! Personally, I'm praying really hard for a GOLDEN RETRIEVER (hint, hint) but I have faith that whatever dog comes to us will be THE one!





Christopher got to meet a 4 Paws service dog when we were at Disney. That dog was a black lab, and I think that is what all dogs from 4 Paws look like! I can't help but think it was no "coincidence" that we met another 4 Paws family at Disney! The agency only placed 69 dogs last year... what are the odds?





Anyhow, things are good and I'm staying very busy....retirement is WORK! LOL.





Love, Claudia

Happy New Year...

Hi Friends,

I am about ready to pull my hair out, but I don't have the strength! My websites have been down, thanks to a ROYAL screw up by bizland.com (my FORMER server). They deleted my active account, thereby locking me out of their site builder and effectively shutting down my site production. Now, I know a LITTLE HTML, and I can tweak things pretty well, but building a site completely from scratch... well, let's just say "I'm not there yet". SO, for now my claudiasfamily.com site is down. I am scrambling to learn how to take what I create on FrontPage and manage to get it to appear when you enter my domain names. Now, everyone tells me "just use FTP" but so far it isn't working as advertised. I hate it when I cannot master something in 48 hours or less...and this is definitely one of those things. It is made all the worse by the fact that the claudiasfamily website is DOWN now.

I'm using a temporary site to try to keep people up to speed on what is going on, at least with our quest to get Christopher's service dog. The web address is http://www.4paws4christopher.com.

Thanks for caring. Love, Claudia

Make a postcard - it's easy!

Merry Christmas 2007

Back Row L-R: Phillip (20) and Catherine (22)

Front Row L-R: Mrs. Claus, Santa Claus, Claudia

Floor: Christopher (10)

Holidays have always been anything but ordinary in our house. Working in a 24/7/365 job, I've spent so many holidays in the ER, on the ambulance or on the helicopter that I've lost count. "Alternative" holiday celebrations have always been the norm for us. And even though I'm not working anymore, 2007 is no different.

First of all, no Christmas is complete without the "feeding frenzy" that describes the gift opening!! No sense telling autistic kids to "slow down"; not even 20-year-old ones! Packages and wrapping paper fly through the air like a tornado has descended into the living room.

Our Christmas tree is on the front porch, thanks to a very small living room and the need for an uncluttered environment.

Then there is the "Christmas Feast" which has consisted of everything from cheeseburgers re-warmed in the microwave (McDonalds even closes on Christmas Day), to gas station pizza (the kids were with "Dad" and Amy and I couldn't find anyplace else open!), to lasagne, chicken enchiladas and the occasional "traditional" meal.

This year we've been blessed again. Friday night (Dec. 22nd) a couple from our church who "play" Santa and Mrs. Claus paid a special visit to our house! It was so amazing.

I've sent out my Christmas cards. My gifts are bought and wrapped. I even uploaded the Disney photos and wrote a Christmas letter that I posted on my web site.

Life is good. I pray that each of you have a blessed, peaceful Christmas with the ones you love, and no matter what "Christmas" looks like at your house, that you remember the true Meaning of CHRISTmas.

Merry Christmas,

Claudia