A wonderful Wednesday

Today was just a fantastic day. Here's why: (note, if you just want to read about Spencer's progress, skip to #6!)

1. I got up early and went running with my Sister-in-law, Melanie. She's getting ready for a 5K run in early June, and I'm working on getting my 5K time faster. We ran 3 miles. The first mile we did in 9:30. I ran the second mile around the track at the high school and finished it in 9:06 (phew!). Then we jogged home at a slower pace. It felt good to get closer to that 9 minute time (well, not while I was running, but when I got home to tell Paul about it, it felt good!) and I'm hoping to be able to the point where I can maintain that pace. Losing another 5-10 lbs should help with that!

2. Got the kids off to school without yelling at them! Then a gal came over to do our medical exams for some new life insurance we just applied for. I'm grateful for good health... it's a tremendous blessing that I intend not to take for granted. When she was done, I did a quick yoga video that wasn't too tough.

3. Went to get some Fro-Yo with Emily and her kids this afternoon. You never know what flavors they're going to have, so I ended up with a strawberry/mango twist. It was very delicious. I intend not to take frozen yogurt for granted either! Only hiccup with that event was Sammy having "an accident" all over the floor. I'm hoping next time we go in there, he's got a tip jar sitting out! He was very cool about not making us mop the floor, even though we offered! To say the least, I'm glad Charlie's not even close to wanting to potty train!

4. Our friends that we're going on the cruise with were in town for a nephew's wedding, so they stopped by to say hello this afternoon. We talked about the upcoming vacation and the excitement is just bubbling away inside me! I can't believe that we'll be leaving in just over a week! Hooray!

5. After making a less than glorious dinner, Paul and I loaded the kids in the car to go do some shopping for the trip. Since I didn't start losing weight until August last year, I have ZERO summer clothes that fit me. I barely have ANY clothes that fit me! So we went to Costco first to check out some sandals that Paul saw last week. We ended up getting Paul some sandals, a new swim suit, and 2 pair of shorts. Since they had some decent deals, I snagged 2 pair of capris, a pair of shorts, and a dual pack of my favorite t-shirts for myself. It's always scary buying clothes at Costco, not being able to try things on and all... so I grabbed size 10 in everything and was happy that everything fit. It looks like for now, any size 8 is a vanity-sizing fluke for me, but HEY... not complainin' bout being able to grab any random pair of size 10's and have them work! Other shopping endeavors included buying a new pair of swim bottoms that will make 2 current disfunctional swimsuits "doable," and we also both got a pair of cheap sunglasses. Mine are fancy!!! Check me out!

6. After getting the boys off to bed, I called my dad to check up on my Spencey. He had nothing but good news... which just about makes this day perfect! I haven't updated on Spencer in a few days and for those of you coming here for the sole purpose of getting news about him, I apologize. In a nutshell, Spencer is making some incredible progress. He has been getting some really good sleep this past 4 nights (averaging 8 hours per night), which is essential for his cognitive recovery. All the therapists have been working him really hard. In physical therapy, he is now working on walking with a cane. It's much more difficult than with a walker, but he's able to do it. He can also walk up and down a short flight of stairs. The speech therapists are working on some of the cognitive rehab, getting him to read and write a bunch. Spencer took an eye exam today and will be getting a current prescription for his glasses (this last one was 4 years old and apparently, it can fluctuate quite a bit over the years). This new lens will help him a TON with all his therapies. His speech is becoming less slurred, and he's improving on his ability to maintain a topic of conversation. Previously, he's been jumping from subject to subject, but this is getting better. His short-term memory is a little patchy, but everyday, this is also getting better. The occupational therapists are working on a variety of daily living tasks. Spencer got to play with some tools today and assembled truck from a kit they'd put together.

Tomorrow we're going to hear more about his eye and his wrist. He's taken all of his casts off and during moments of confusion/frustration, he's trying to break the one he's in now (a full arm cast up to his armpit) so he can take this one off too. We're hoping they don't need to do another surgery right now. I'd hate to see something slow down the progress he's making.

So, Spencer is doing well. He received another priesthood blessing on Sunday promising a full recovery and I believe with all my heart that a full recovery is exactly what he will achieve. We have been SO BLESSED!

Well, that sums up my happy Wednesday! The only thing that would have made it better is if my house would have magically cleaned itself. Maybe next Wednesday we'll figure out a way for that to happen!