Thursday, March 20, 2014

Etc: Could it be, Spring?

On my four mile walk today, I saw and heard many signs of Spring. Birds chirping, peepers and frogs chatting, crocus nearly bursting in full color glory, grass turning green, and most importantly, the sun shone bright with few clouds in the sky. Thank goodness, because it sure has been a long, cold winter! I think people today with their instant gratification lifestyles expect Mother Nature to just roll over and give into our desire for warmth and sunshine. Well I think we deserve it even though the 12 or so snow storms in total dropped far less snow on us than the Snowmageddon winter of 2009-2010. It is amazing how my mood is positively impacted by the sun. There is something truly medicinal about it, especially when you feel like you have been without it for so long. So my plan today is to soak it all in and be thankful that yes, it could in fact be spring!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Family: Tweaking

So, you can imagine my response to Timothy's doctor when he said, "let's tweak his medication for the next two weeks to see what happens."  The reason for this tweak phase is because we are concerned that the medicine may not be doing what it is supposed to.  It is supposed to help him focus, lessen anxiety so he can learn and grow.  It is amazing - in just two days of tweaking, we have seen two positive changes - he is sleeping better and eating more.  A year ago, Timothy was really long and almost too lean.  Often times, stimulants can decrease appetite and disrupt sleep.  So the tweaking impact has helped in these two areas while at the same time, we are still not ready to judge if his behavior, focus and overall-functionality has changed for the better or worse.  I think it is safe to say that it takes a few days for the extended release medications to vacate the bloodstream and he still is taking two non-stimulant medications for ADHD and anxiety.  Maybe these two medicines alone could be enough?  Wouldn't that be amazing if we could actually lower the amount of medication that he takes?  So often parents want to pack on the meds, add on and inadvertently or unintentionally over-medicate to a certain degree.  And at times, we have been almost game for that too.  But thanks to the experience and guidance of Timothy's doctor, we actually have lessened the medication as least for now.  So why does this all really matter?  Well it is spring break for Timothy so the impact on him and us was a concern.  In hindsight even though we are only on day three it has not been too bad.  Despite the tweaking we have visited the Aquarium, we went to the park for the first run around on the playground for 2014, we went swimming at the Y and today and tomorrow our goals are to start a garden inside to be transplanted outside when it warms up and to go skiing. Fun times for sure.  Stay tuned for further tweaks to the tweaking.

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Family and Filanthropy: Be Good

Last fall, my sister and I began to talk about whether we had the skill set as professionals and siblings to join forces in some formal capacity.  Growing up, our grandparents articulated regularly the mantra to Be Good.  So, that is what we have tried to do throughout our lives, be good.  I had free time to think a lot last fall about our bond as sisters, our common goal to be good and how we could serve others.  Hence, Sisters4Good was born.  Several months later, the concept is still somewhat fluid and uncertain.  Many questions remain - do we incorporate? Do we become a 501 c 3? Do we want to withstand the test of co-working siblings for just the original year's time discussed last fall or do we want to extend the partnership?  Hmm…Our first test, San Diego's Biggest Sports Play Date on February 1 was very successful.  We married four sports: tennis, soccer, baseball and football into a fun play date event at a world class sports venue, Petco Park, home to the Padres of MLB.  Kids, volunteers and families were treated to a wonderful opportunity to see world class tennis, Davis Cup USA vs. Great Britain and the youngest possibly future athletes for USA got to be active, meet new people and have fun.  Our next step is to see if this type of event has staying power and the traction to be replicated in other parts of the country.  Stay tuned to find out and in the meantime, Be Good.


Bill Walton (Basketball Legend) signs a ball for a future sports legend (at right)?