It's accountability time. At the beginning of summer I created a to do list of all the things I wanted to accomplish before the end of the season. With tomorrow being our first offical day of Autum, today was my deadline. 
Let's see how I did:




To Do List:

1)  Finish my presentation for the Delta Lake Writer's Gathering on July 5th - I am proud to say that not only did I complete my presentation ahead of schedule but the day went by flawlessly. I was more excited than nervous to speak to my fellow writers and look forward to having another opportunity in the future.

2)  Complete my part of the work that my friend Hope Martson needs in order to publish her next     book - Another achievement! Not only did I finish the formatting for Hope's Sacket's Harbor Powder Monkey book, it has since been published.  Look for it at Amazon.Com

3) Take a deep breath, lay in the hammock and stare at the clouds to see what pictures they
make - Thanks to a wonderful summer program that my daughter attended I was able to take more deep breaths than anticipated. The relaxation was much needed. How soon is next summer?

4) Mutter through the 5 doctor's appointments we have this week, and go shopping after each one as a reward! - This one was a struggle. We did get through our appointments but not without being stressed over the tight schedule. The shopping however was fun.

5) Open my notes that my Beta readers have given me from my proof book and start implementing
changes - I have received all but one of my Beta books back and the feedback I received was taken into consideration. However the manuscript has taken a major overhaul since and I wished I hadn't shared my "sloppy copy" with so many people!

6) Wash my daughter's dance costume well in advance before her next competition date (well in advance may be a stretch, at least by the night before!) - Costume cleaned, dance shoes washed and we were ready to go ahead of schedule. Her dance competion advanced from the county fair to state fair and I couldn't be more proud of her !!!

7) Work more on my novel - WORK, WORK, AND MORE WORK. This I did dillegently. As I mentioned earlier big changes were made to the book. My first five chapters are now in the hands of a professional editor ! More on that to come soon....

8) Go camping, eat s'mores, and sing by the fire (if you are nearby, please insert your ear plugs
accordingly) - I did get to go camping, but unfortunataly only once. There was just too much to do. But that didn't stop me from endulging into the s'mores. No, I did not sing. My husband is grateful for that.

9) On the first sign of rain drops, quickly grab the broom and start cleaning the house that has been ignored since summer started - Well there weren't too many rainy days now were there? Enough said.

10) Send the revisions on my novel back to the Beta readers for a 2nd look, eat some ice cream, and then back to the book - Partly accomplished. The ice cream eating was of course done so with gusto, and while I did work on my book I did not send my revisions to the Beta readers.

11) Visit the zoo, water park, and maybe even a musem - Can you believe my daughter did these without me? She was one busy beaver.

12) Meet with my writing partner - Lisa and I did meet up on a few occasions, but not as much as I had hoped. With both of our goals to get our books out in the next year we had to adhear to our own tight schedules first.

13) Repeat goal # 3, 5, 8, and 10 - Finsished, Reapeated, and Finished once more.

14) Start thinking about back to school. Hmm...maybe some more shopping??? - This I did not do, nor was I even compelled to. For the first time ever I put off school shopping until the day before.

15) Finally learn how to get the pin it button to work on Pinterest - I did it!! Have you checked out my page? http://pinterest.com/windingroadbook/

16) If all goes well, update my query letter, send it off to an agent, and then wait with baited
breath - This one got put on hold but is not forgotten. I decided it is best to wait until my final revisions are done before persuing this.

17) Pick a day to do absolutely nothing! - Who was I kidding? I can never sit still.

18) Dig out some of my old writing and submit them to magazines - I am going to check this one off as done. I may not have submitted my writing into magazines, but I did get mentined in the Parenting Special Needs Magazine for my work on Somtimes The Wind Blows Sideways: Our Lives With a Special Needs Child.

19) Go on a date with my husband - YES! We found time to reconnect with one another. Alone time is always nice.

20) On the first week in September: scramble to finish everything on this list that didn't get done, find things that should have been on my list and make a mental note to put them on next
year's list. - I was actually realistic the first week of September. Whatever didn't get accomplished I didn't sweat over because I knew that I worked really hard all summer on the most important things.

Overall I think I had a very productive summer! I will continue to work throughout the fall on some of the things that did not get done over vacation. Only 167 more school days until I am off again :)

This morning while trying to multi-task by blow drying my hair and trying to surf the internet I came across an article that immediately caught my attention. Straining my neck to get closer to the computer screen without pulling the blow dryer cord out of the wall my eyes scanned the words that hit so close to home. "We didn't run away."

Now I don't normally repost other people's work on my website but I felt that this one needed to be passed on. A woman named Amy Julie Becker wrote about her feelings after she found out her child had a disability. Feelings that I'm sure every parents in similar situations have felt as well. I must let you know that I did look over the article to see if there was a caveat about not re-posting the work and I did not see one, but just in case I will apologize in advance for sharing this wonderful article without the direct permission from the author.


Amy Julia Becker
Author, 'A Good and Perfect Gift: Faith,
Expectations and a Little Girl Named Penny'

WE DIDN'T RUN AWAY

My husband and I found out that our daughter Penny had Down syndrome
two hours after she was born, and we shared the same instinct. We wanted to run
away. Within minutes, I had the route planned out from the hospital room to my
grandparents' summer cottage, three hours north, at the end of a secluded dirt
road that would be abandoned in the wintertime. No matter that the cottage had
no insulation against the December cold. It represented a familiar and safe
place that would take me far away from everyone else, and I wanted to get there
as quickly as possible.


For years, the memory of that desire haunted me, until I finally realized
that every time I had envisioned our escape, I envisioned us as a new family of
three. In other words, I wanted, desperately, to run away from the doctors who
were predicting a life of difficulty and hardship, from the nurses who I
imagined whispering about our situation, and even from friends and family who, I
suspected, just wouldn't know what to say or how to think about us as anymore. I
didn't want to run away from Penny. I wanted to run away from everyone else.



And I wanted to run away from the future. I was scared of the labels that had
all of a sudden been added to our family. I was scared of therapy and
specialists and perhaps most of all, special education. I was scared that Penny
wouldn't learn, wouldn't make friends, that school would be a source of stress
rather than a community in which she could flourish.


We didn't run away. Looking back on it, there were some reasons to fear.
People still use words about kids with disabilities as jokes and slurs. In
Penny's short lifetime, that list includes everyone from high government
officials to TIME magazine to high school kids walking past me on the street.
And plenty of people still see Down syndrome as a source of suffering or assume
that Penny's life will be impoverished as a result of her extra chromosome.


But I've also found a host of people who want to see Penny succeed, and if
there is any place that she has been accepted and supported it has been at
school. 


It is six and a half years later, and we just moved to a new town. A few days
back, Penny and I visited her new school. She stuck out her hand to introduce
herself to the women who work in the front office. We noted the fresh green and
blue paint on the walls. And we met Penny's two teachers, one of whom has
training specifically to support students with special needs. If first grade is
anything like kindergarten, Penny will thrive. She will make friends and read
chapter books out loud and squirm her way through art class and yearn to grow
tall enough and strong enough to do the monkey bars all by herself.


Forty years ago, Penny might have been denied access to a free public
education. Forty years ago, we might have been advised to institutionalize her
upon birth. But in recent years, parents, teachers, and legislators have worked
to ensure a place for kids like Penny in our nation's classrooms. It isn't
always easy or pretty. Plenty of kids still suffer the injustice of unequal
resources, abusive classroom aides, the social ostracism that can come from
peers and teachers as a result of their disabilities. But the doors are open to
them, at least in legal terms. And countless families can attest to the value of
including kids with special needs in our classrooms, both for the kids
themselves and for their peers.


This morning, our whole family walked down our new street to wait for the
bus. We stood alongside four other kids from our neighborhood, and when the bus
finally arrived, Penny raced to board it, hand in hand with a third-grader who
volunteered to be her buddy.


Six years ago, I wanted to run away with my little girl bundled up in her
receiving blanket to keep her protected from the world of Individualized
Education Plans and reading assessments and behavioral modifications. Today,
with gratitude, I watched my little girl run away from me.

I walked down the halls with baited breath. Turning the corner to my room I remembered just how much I missed being here. Two months is a long time to be gone. I resisted returning, but now that I am here I find myself excited about the upcoming year.

The bell rings and a slew of students rush past me. Some with smiles, other with tears. A little one tugs on my shirt and asks if I could help her find her teacher. A smile evokes upon my face as I take her hand and show her the way to her classroom. The senerio repeats about four more times before I am able to make my way to where I need to be. Another school year has begun. New beginnings, new friendships, new knowledge to uncover. It's a great time to be a teacher.

Across town there is another person starting a fresh path in life. Now that she is an upperclsasman, my daughter has exciting opportunities waiting for her. This past week she started her first job! It's so hard to believe that she is grown enough to be out in the working world, yet I am so proud that she is. Each morning she is eager to start her day and looks forward to giving her best. 

Has life found you headed in a different direction? Do you drag your heels and resist it, or open your arms to embrace what you don't know? As much as sometimes we wish it would, nothing ever remains the same. Change is good. That is something I learned when I was in school.

 Opening their home to host a BBQ for all of the caregivers that have stayed at David's Refuge, Warren and Brenda Pfohl have once again outdid themselves. Families were welcomed with a yard full of activities to entertain the children, while the adults had time to connect with one another and make new friends. Little ones worked off their energy in the bounce houses then tried their hands at some carnival games.  A colorful parachute waved in the air as kids ran under and over it whi
Toby was a hit with both the kids and adults!

The tent provided shelter from the sun while we dined on delicious foods. Volunteers made sure that each guest was well taken care of. We were given a chance to sit back and simply enjoy the day with our children. I could easily get used to being papered like that on a daily basis !

For those who needed some quite time away, they could escape to the santurary of nature. The grounds offer a stunning view that is bound to let all your stress slip away.

Are you a caregiver of a child with a disability or life threatening disease and could use a getaway? David's Refuge is a nonprofit organization dedicated to caring for the caregiver. Visit their website to learn about their mission and book your free stay at their beautiful Bed & Breakfast. http://davidsrefuge.org/