Blessings:
We had a WONDERFUL weekend!!!
The weather was just gorgeous this weekend, and we took full opportunity of it and got a lot of things done, as well as took time to enjoy ourselves. Saturday I did a bunch of things around the house that needed to be done and also did my usual weekend cleaning. It was so great to bustle about cleaning with the windows open and the radio on. The fresh spring air blowing in just made everything smell so clean and good. Matt did his morning workout routine with his dad then spent the afternoon relaxing in his recliner…watching TV, reading his magazines, and snoozing.
Sunday, we ventured out into the garage! It was the first time we’ve spent any time out there since last September. The TA’s battery had died, so I pulled the Grand Am up in the garage and Matt helped me hook up battery cables and we jumped it. He could reach the engine throttle on the Grand Am from his chair and revved it up while I tried to start the Trans Am. It took a few tries and we were about to give up when I repositioned the cables one last time. (This is not something I really enjoyed…being that close to batteries and running vehicles, especially when Matt told me it was too close to the edge of the car and warned me of the BIG sparks that could fly if it touched.) I got back in the TA, whispered ‘Come on baby…do it for Matt’, tried the ignition…and she fired! I was so excited! Matt wheeled himself over to the car and just sat listening to the roar of the car and watching the engine run. I know how badly he wanted to jump in and take it for a spin…I can’t wait until he can do it. I revved it up a few more times and pulled it out into the driveway. We spent the next few hours puttering around the garage, putting things away and cleaning up. His parents came down and his dad got the lawn mower all ready for the new season, and mowed the yard for us while his mom hung out with us in the garage. Matt told me where to put things and watched as I cleaned up his garage.
The four of us ate lunch together on the patio and enjoyed some time together. Later, his grandparents came by and together his dad and grandfather fixed up the fence in the back yard. We moved the grill back over by the patio (it was keeping the dogs from jumping over the fence where the tree branch had smashed it this winter). I did some weeding of my flower beds and we all just visited and enjoyed the afternoon out on the patio. It was so good to get out of the house and enjoy the weather…and it was wonderful to get Matt out in the garage. I know he doesn’t want to make a big deal about it…he never does…but it was good for us all to have Matt out there with us. Sometimes Matt wants to avoid doing things that he once used to enjoy. He feels like he can’t enjoy things now, because of his current condition. I try to tell him, that while it’s not the same, it doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy parts of them. I know it’s hard for him to be in the garage and not be able to work on the car or rearrange his ‘décor’ himself…but I do think he realized it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. In fact, he is now talking about having a few friends come and help him put his new exhaust on the car and other projects. So, I think he’s feeling better about asking for help and taking more of a ‘supervisory’ position right now. He also acknowledges that while things are harder to enjoy right now, he is optimistic that eventually he will get back to a place of more normal enjoyment. As long as he keeps his eyes focused on the future, I am ok with missing out on a few things right now. I will keep challenging him though, to try things he might not be inclined to right now…and we’ll see how things go. Generally, I can get him to try…and once he tries, he usually discovers that it wasn’t so bad. So, we keep on keeping on.
We had a WONDERFUL weekend!!!
The weather was just gorgeous this weekend, and we took full opportunity of it and got a lot of things done, as well as took time to enjoy ourselves. Saturday I did a bunch of things around the house that needed to be done and also did my usual weekend cleaning. It was so great to bustle about cleaning with the windows open and the radio on. The fresh spring air blowing in just made everything smell so clean and good. Matt did his morning workout routine with his dad then spent the afternoon relaxing in his recliner…watching TV, reading his magazines, and snoozing.
Sunday, we ventured out into the garage! It was the first time we’ve spent any time out there since last September. The TA’s battery had died, so I pulled the Grand Am up in the garage and Matt helped me hook up battery cables and we jumped it. He could reach the engine throttle on the Grand Am from his chair and revved it up while I tried to start the Trans Am. It took a few tries and we were about to give up when I repositioned the cables one last time. (This is not something I really enjoyed…being that close to batteries and running vehicles, especially when Matt told me it was too close to the edge of the car and warned me of the BIG sparks that could fly if it touched.) I got back in the TA, whispered ‘Come on baby…do it for Matt’, tried the ignition…and she fired! I was so excited! Matt wheeled himself over to the car and just sat listening to the roar of the car and watching the engine run. I know how badly he wanted to jump in and take it for a spin…I can’t wait until he can do it. I revved it up a few more times and pulled it out into the driveway. We spent the next few hours puttering around the garage, putting things away and cleaning up. His parents came down and his dad got the lawn mower all ready for the new season, and mowed the yard for us while his mom hung out with us in the garage. Matt told me where to put things and watched as I cleaned up his garage.
The four of us ate lunch together on the patio and enjoyed some time together. Later, his grandparents came by and together his dad and grandfather fixed up the fence in the back yard. We moved the grill back over by the patio (it was keeping the dogs from jumping over the fence where the tree branch had smashed it this winter). I did some weeding of my flower beds and we all just visited and enjoyed the afternoon out on the patio. It was so good to get out of the house and enjoy the weather…and it was wonderful to get Matt out in the garage. I know he doesn’t want to make a big deal about it…he never does…but it was good for us all to have Matt out there with us. Sometimes Matt wants to avoid doing things that he once used to enjoy. He feels like he can’t enjoy things now, because of his current condition. I try to tell him, that while it’s not the same, it doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy parts of them. I know it’s hard for him to be in the garage and not be able to work on the car or rearrange his ‘décor’ himself…but I do think he realized it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. In fact, he is now talking about having a few friends come and help him put his new exhaust on the car and other projects. So, I think he’s feeling better about asking for help and taking more of a ‘supervisory’ position right now. He also acknowledges that while things are harder to enjoy right now, he is optimistic that eventually he will get back to a place of more normal enjoyment. As long as he keeps his eyes focused on the future, I am ok with missing out on a few things right now. I will keep challenging him though, to try things he might not be inclined to right now…and we’ll see how things go. Generally, I can get him to try…and once he tries, he usually discovers that it wasn’t so bad. So, we keep on keeping on.
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