Progress

Even though my mom has been really busy and stressed this week, she continues to practice her piano. She encourages me to play the piano and I can now play "O Canada, our home and native land" with some assistance from her. I have listened to my mom play this song so many times that I have the melody in my head. When I played some random notes, my mom could identify that I was playing bits and pieces of O Canada. I also had fun playing my favorite CDE EDC CCC. I laugh every time I play and say CCC.

I played on and off for about half an hour before I was willing to get off so that my mom could brush my teeth. This was the first time I played for so long. My mom was not sure if I really wanted to play the piano or I was trying to avoid the teeth-brushing. When my mom tried to take me back next door to the Beraka Residence, I rushed over to the piano. I played for a short time and stopped. When my mom tried to persuade me to go home, I played a little more. This time it was obvious that I was using the piano as a delay tactic.

Quality of Life

My mom was reading a PDD (Persons with Developmental Disability) brochure on Quality of Life. She was particularly interested in the following statement:

"The biggest problem is transportation, because it affects so much of what you do."

I totally agree with this statement. PDD provides funding to pay my caregivers and a small amount of funds for other costs, such as transportation. Our caregiver is only allowed to claim 15 km. per day to take me and my 2 roommates on community outings.

I understand that we are using public funds and we need to be accountable. What I cannot understand is that not everybody needs to be held accountable. The rules apply to Family Managed Supports, but not to agencies. I know of an individual who is also supported by PDD and she resides in a home managed by an agency. This person recently went out of the province for a vacation and her caregiver can claim mileage. I am not saying my caregiver should also take me out of town and claim mileage. I only want to illustrate the double standard.

Show

The new staff my mom hired earlier this month did not show up for work. When my mom was talking about no show, I caught the word "show". I know that word! I turned to her and said, "show?" with my eyes wide open visualizing dancing, singing and music.

I love any kind of show, including "no show". When the staff did not show up, I got to spend more time with my mom. She took me out for a walk and she started teaching me how to play "O Canada".

Walk for Jesus

My mom woke me up early in the morning and told me about going to the mall. I got up as I was excited about going shopping. I didn't know I was only going there to walk. My mom wanted me to be there before the stores open so that I would not be distracted. To her surprise, Sears and Bay opened early. I kept wanting to go in, but my mom hung onto me really tight and told me, "Later."

We arrived at Southgate Shopping Mall at 8 am. and we were there till past 11 am. The other Bara team members arrived at different times and I walked with all of them round and round inside the mall. I cannot tell you how many rounds we made. I don't know how to count and my mom lost track of how many times we walked around the mall.

I behave amazingly well for my mom today. After the stores opened, I really wanted to go into some of the stores we passed by. My mom pulled me away from those stores and prompted me to continue walking. Somehow, I didn't resist. I am stronger than my mom. There is no way she can pull me away if I don't let her.

I have raised a total of $4,200.00 for Chinese Outreach.

River Valley Trail

It was warm and sunny today. We are not going to have too many balmy days like this. It would have been a waste not to go out.

My mom took me down to the river valley trail this morning. I don't like going there because of dogs. She brought my red airplane kite along, so I reluctantly went with her. Whenever we came to an open area, my mom tried to get the kite up. The wind came in spurts, so the kite was up and down like a yo-yo.

Sometimes, my mom ran with the kite to keep it up in the air. I ran after her and tried to catch her. We had fun and we had our exercise too.

Bara Fundraising Team

The Walk for Jesus day is fast approaching. It is going to be next Saturday (September 22) at the Southgate Mall. I have raised a total of $3,550.00 for Chinese Outreach.

My mom's plan is to take me there at 8 am. to start the walk before the stores open. She knows I am easily distracted and I will never complete the walk if I happen to see a fan or a stereo system.

The Bara Fundraising team has 4 members. One of the team members will come and join me for the walk at 8 am. The other two want to sleep in and will start their walk at 10 am. Being the organizer of the event, my mom and I will stay in the mall to wait for them to come. I will be joining them to go for my second round of walk for as long as I am willing to go along. I know my mom will be trying her best to block my view to any item that may be of interest to me. "Good luck, mom!"

My Hidden Artistic Talent

Each Sunday, I sit with my mom during the Cantonese service. Then I stay in the sanctuary to wait for my sister to arrive. I sit with her during the English service. I behave differently each Sunday. Some days I feel like standing, while other days I don't. If the sermon is too long, I get hungry and cranky. My sister does not like it when I get agitated. She likes it when I am an angel. Get the pun? I am in church and I am an angel!

At church I am always good for my mom, but sometimes I bully my sister. This past Sunday, I was in my best behavior for my sister. I saw her holding the bulletin and a pen. I took them from her and I tried to convince her to help me draw. She drew a family of stick people on the bulletin. I continued to bug her to draw some more. After she helped me with writing "TIM" a few times, she decided to ignore me. I proceeded to entertain myself by drawing hands for the stick people. At the end of the service, I handed the bulletin back to my sister. She must be impressed by my work because she showed it to my mom and suggested posting it on my blog.

My Red Airplane Kite

I have some Kite Festival pictures to show you. You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

My mom and I tried hard to get my red airplane kite air borne. It did stay up temporarily each time we got it up in the air.

Loss of freedom

My mom's freedom is short-lived. She went to IGA and picked up some Dollar Day specials. Then she went to Superstore to fill up her gas tank before going inside to do more grocery shopping. She never got to go inside because the van broke down again and it had to be towed back to the garage.

My mom is not upset at the mechanic because he is a trusted friend. He always helps us out. Yesterday, he tried his best to get our van fixed so that we could have it back for the weekend. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out.

While waiting for the tow truck, the sky turned dark and it started to pour. Then it hailed. My mom was wishing that the tow truck would not arrive so soon. She got her wish because it stopped raining by the time the tow truck arrived.

Freedom

My mom got her freedom back because our van is now fixed. This past week, she managed reasonably well using the public transportation to get around. We are on a good bus route, but she cannot afford the increased traveling time. You should see how happy she was when she went to pick up the van.

My mom shops for produce twice a week so that we will have fresh fruits and vegetables. She couldn't go grocery shopping by bus. So, our fridge has been unusually empty for a week. You are going to see her in grocery stores this weekend. She visits different stores to pick up their weekly specials in order to cut down on our grocery cost. My roommates and I are on AISH (Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped). My mom wants to help us in stretching our dollars as much as possible. For the amount we pay, we get exceptionally high quality foods. We are fed really well - so well that I gained 4 lbs. when I weighed in this month. I'd better work harder on my "step, step, step" routines.

Kite

Yesterday was nice and sunny in the afternoon. My mom planned to take me out for a bike ride after supper. She was disappointed when it suddenly started to rain. Today, she decided to beat the rain and she succeeded. She took me out before supper and we came home just as the sky was turning dark. It was raining by supper time.

When we went out, it was still sunny. It was quite windy and my mom said to me, "We should go fly your kite." I surprised my mom by starting to search the sky for kites. She didn't know I have learned a new word at the kite festival.

Tow Truck

We were returning home from the airport. Shortly after we got back to Edmonton, we heard a fairly loud sound. Mom thought she hit something on the road, and yet she was certain there wasn't anything on the road. When we made a left turn heading towards the Whitemud Drive, my mom noticed that the steering wheel was really tight. She knew something was wrong. Instead of proceeding to the freeway, she changed lanes and pulled over when it was safe to do so. There was no way we could drive home, so mom called AMA to tow the van to the garage. Thank God the van did not break down when we were on our way to the airport otherwise our friend would have missed the plane.

We were fortunate that we were already in the city making it easier to call for help. We made a couple of phone calls and managed to get hold of a friend to come and give us a ride home.

Kite Festival

My sister took me to the Kite Festival yesterday. There were so many colorful kites flying in the sky that I was able to notice them as we were approaching the park. We brought two colorful packages along. At that moment, I suddenly knew what they were. Once we arrived the park, I was more attracted by the music than what we were there for - go fly a kite. Apparently, that is not a very nice thing to say to someone.

My sister assembled the first kite - a red airplane. We tried to get it air borne, but the wind was not strong enough. Even though my mom persevered, it only stayed up for brief periods each time. Despite being somewhat disappointed, she had fun. I took the line a few times when the kite was up. I lost interest when the kite came tumbling down.

My sister assembled the second kite - another plane. This one is more colorful and has a long tri-color tail. My mom ran with it to get it up in the air for as long as she ran. When she stopped, it came down. By that time, most of the other kites were down too. Only a few managed to continue flying. We decided to call it a day.

Walk for Jesus update - I have raised $3,500.00. The event is coming up soon - September 22.