Christmas 2005
This year has gone by so fast that it really has taken me awhile to figure out what all has happened. Plus, I suspect I am just getting old enough now that my memory isn’t as good as it used to be. Then again, maybe it isn’t age as much as the fatigue from being a parent. I don’t know. I just know that 2005 has held a huge variety of events for us. And while I won’t hit them all, I am sure I can provide enough details to properly lull you to sleep so don’t attempt to read the rest of this while driving or operating heavy machinery.
In January, we started the long process of trying to obtain an insulin pump for Grayson. For the uninitiated, this is a relatively small device (about the size of a regular cell phone) that is used to deliver insulin through an injection site (which is changed at least as often as every three days). Contrary to what you might think, it isn’t very automatic about keeping his bloog sugar right, but it does represent a significant advantage (so we hear) in terms of flexibility of dosages and accuracy. Due to insurance issues and a whole host of other problems, we didn’t end up getting him a pump until October. Currently we’re still at war with the pump. When we start getting the good results we’ve been expecting, we’ll be sure to let everyone know. Until then, if you wonder why we are grumpy or tired or don’t answer your letters or emails, it’s because we’ve been up all night dealing with out of control blood sugar numbers.
Aside from the pump adventures (and a trip to the hospital because of a serious stomach bug), Grayson has been doing well. He’s enjoying preschool still, and continues to be very social. If there aren’t other kids involved, he probably doesn’t want to have anything to do with it. In the fall, we signed him up for One Goal Soccer and although he missed several games due to illness he did really well. He did especially well considering he was the youngest player on the team. Once he realized that he wasn’t supposed to tackle members of the “bad” team, goalies can touch the ball, and that he should just concentrate on kicking the ball toward the correct goal, he did much better. Throughout his games he made some excellent defensive plays (he enjoys kicking the ball away from people trying to score) and he played tough against kids that were taller, bigger and faster. Now he’s asking when he’ll get to play baseball and football. For baseball, we’re hoping he’ll get to play tee-ball this spring, but as for football, that might be a long, long time (if ever).
Grayson’s other main interest right now is playing games on the computer. He plays all sorts of online games as well as plenty of time playing “The Car Game” (a driving game complete with a steering wheel). It’s amazing how much reading, typing and computer skills he already has at age 4 thanks to playing games on the computer. I think the first words he learned to read were “Play”, “Restart” and “Cancel”. The only major problem we’ve had is that he now thinks that we’re always racing all the real cars on the road (and that it’s okay to bump the other cars). He’s even asked us to press the “reset” button.
We’ve continued our relationship with one of Grayson’s former teachers (Miss Ellen) and her family (the Maxwell’s). This summer we ended up going to both American Adventures and Whitewater (water park) with them. It’s funny to hear Emily, Julia, and Lauren claim him as their brother. At times they’ve been so adamant about it that they really had folks convinced he was their little brother. Also thanks to the Maxwell’s we’ve added another member to our family Sam the goldfish. Sam is managing to survive despite some rough bowl cleanings and a few attempts by Grayson to pet him.
We have also continued to be involved with our church and our small group. December 18th the church will be having the first services in our own building instead of a school gym. Our small group has grown so much that we half-jokingly point out that we have more people in our group than some small churches. We have really forged some great relationships with folks in the group and getting together with them is always a high-point for us.
My parents came and stayed with us twice with a significant amount of their time dedicated to working on our basement. Thanks to their Herculean efforts, we now have a finished office in our basement. This has really made working at home much more feasible and enjoyable and it has (hopefully) added value to our home. For me, though, the highlight of it all was the time I got to spend with my dad and the knowledge I gained (some in the area of “things not to try again”) from the project.
Becky’s grandfather (Pat’s father) passed away at the end of last year. It was obviously a difficult time for everyone in the family. For me personally, I’ll certainly miss him and the common bond we had with our love of the Gators and the Braves. Becky’s grandmother is now living with Becky’s parents. Dan has been busy dealing with hurricane damage as well as shrimping and substitute teaching. A highlight for all of us this year was going to Pensacola (and Dauphin Island) to celebrate Pat’s 60th birthday.
My mom continues to do well and has had good checkups since ending her chemotherapy. My parents stay busy with plenty of activities including my mom working part time, my dad going back to work as a contractor for BellSouth and all their different church activities. We spent Thanksgiving in Gainesville, Florida, with my family and then went to Disney World with my parents for a few days. It was Grayson’s first trip and he really had a good time (despite some really bad blood sugar issues). It had been at least 15 years since I had been to Disney so it was fun to relive some of it, experience some new things and also to watch Grayson see it for the first time.
We almost didn’t get to go to Disney, though. Becky broke her foot for the 12th time in her life. Okay, I’m exaggerating it was only the 11th time. As a total answer to prayer, she was able to stop using the walking boot after only three weeks. She survived trekking all over Disney and is now feeling almost 100%.
I guess our biggest news (aside from now having a pet goldfish) is that we are moving to Tennessee. As of September 1st of this year, I am now an employee of LifeWay Christian Resources. Why? Because that’s where we felt God wanted us to be. I used to think I knew more about why but I have since decided that I don’t. Our hope is that this move will be a positive thing for us in the long run. I had been with JDA for over 8 years and my work situation had essentially dictated that I spend one week a month in Arizona or take a job back in consulting with an unknown amount of travel (in March I had switched to the internal IT group within JDA). The LifeWay move also meant getting insurance that would pay for more of the cost of getting Grayson’s insulin pump.
I would be dishonest if I didn’t tell you we were grieving still about this move. In these last few years we have gotten really close to so many folks here. Georgia, and in particular, Acworth, has really become our home (we’ve been in Georgia now for over 8 and half years). Another part of it is that we’re sad to have to move again. The hope is that working for LifeWay will allow us to really sink our roots in somewhere for the long term.
I’ll save all the “Tennesee is different” stories for next year’s letter so you can look forward to that. The current plan is for us to move into a house in Spring Hill, TN (about 30 miles south of Nashville) around the end of May. I’d say more about it, but honestly we don’t know how it’s all going to play out.
I have promised myself this year, that I will keep the web-site (www.wilcoxzone.com) much more up-to-date. So keep checking there as we post the progress of our move. May God bless you this Christmas and throughout the new year.