Slices of Heaven

Slice of Heaven #1

A couple of weeks ago, I was running to the store for a quick errand, with Finn buckled in the back seat.  As I drive to the store, I hear the sweet little voice say, "Me love you!".  Precious.  There was a time I never would have heard that and missed this little sweet moment of joy.  Without my cochlear implant, this little moment of joy is one I never would have heard.

Slice of Heaven #2

Today, Finn was hanging out with me downstairs.  He's my little shadow and always wants to "go downstairs with you".  We had to go upstairs, as his mother and siblings were getting ready to go spend the evening with his grandma (my sister).  As I gave him a hug goodbye, I heard, "I'll miss you."  Ahhhhh.....  So sweet and touching.  I wasn't even sure I heard right at first, until I saw his mom's expression.  She too was touched at his sweet pronouncement.  :)

And just because I adore him, I'll share some recent pictures.  I had a cute video I was going to post, but apparently, it doesn't work for some reason to upload it here (I tried 3 times).  Oh well.  I'll just share my pictures then!

The picture below is one of about 20 that Finn took by hitting the button on my iPad as he wanted a picture.

Speaking of slices of heaven, the next picture is the one I love! :)  He often snuggles next to me and lays his head on my shoulder.  It couldn't be any sweeter! :)

Sweet Joys

Tonight, after midnight, I got a text from upstairs.  Finnley kept saying to his mom, "My Ann, go see my Ann....."  She finally texted me to see if he could come see me.  Of course he could!  When his mom told him he could see me, he got so excited.  I went upstairs to get him, and he immediately hugged me and started snuggling.  Before I even sat down im my chair downstairs, yet still snuggling against me, he was out!  It's such sweet joy for me to have this little one in my life.  Everyone used to say, he has me wrapped around his little finger.  Once he got old enough to run, walk, and talk; it became clear that I have him wrapped around my little finger as well.  I obviously love it our little mutual admiration society! :)  The picture above is less than flattering of me, but I share it, after all, isn't that such a sweet little innocent face? :)

Can You Feel The Joy?

There's not a lot of words that are needed for this video. Just look at each face there and the joy they show. Here they are, the young and the old, living the miracle. At 2:43 into the film, you'll see me and my friends. Right after us, you see the engineer who designed my cochlear implant, followed by Dr. Graeme Clark who's dream of helping his deaf father lead him to creating the cochlear implant! This video brings back memories of the good times, as well as tears of joy and gratitude to my two heroes.

Cochlear Celebration

Ahhhh, Celebration....How do I love thee, let me count the ways! :)  Seriously though, Cochlear Celebrations are counted among the highlights of my life.  I'll give you a little mini taste of Cochlear Celebration.

                                            

The opening event of every even is the Opening Social on the first evening.  Here you have people from all over the country gathering together and getting to know each other.  You meet people for the first time (as my friends Diane and Debra are doing at this table), socialize and get to know a little about each other.  It's great fun to start to build connections to others who are living the miracle of sound.

 The opening session of every Cochlear Celebration I've attended is begun by Chris Smith, the CEO of Cochlear Celebration.  I do enjoy the chance to hear from those who lead this great company.

Here is Jim Patrick speaking in the opening session.  Jim is one of my three heroes from Australia.  The cochlear implant was created by Dr. Graeme Clark in Australia.  Jim was his first employee and the engineering genius who created this marvelous miraculous machine I wear behind my ears.  The last hero is Rod Saunders, who has passed away.  He is the first cochlear implantee who tested this device for Dr. Clark and Jim.  I love getting a chance to sit and chat with my hero Jim in both of the Celebrations I've attended.  He's truly a humble man for someone who has done such great things.

Here is a view of what we see when we first walk into the opening sessions.  For me, waiting for Chris to get up and officially open, looking at this view up front is positively electrifying and exciting!  Let the fun begin! :)



Here I am with two of my favorite men at Cochlear Celebration.  On my right is Mark , one of the upper level managers at Cochlear from Texas.  He was the person who trained me to be a volunteer some years ago (when they used to fly volunteers to Colorado for training).  He was also the first person to be implanted bilaterally.  To my left is David!  David has one of those spirits about him that he is genuinely loved by all.  He too works for Cochlear.  He works in their shipping department in Colorado.  It's always fun to me to order batteries, filters or other parts for my cochlear implant, and then see a little smiley face and a signature from David, saying "Hi" to me!  I always hope he's the one that sends me whatever parts I'm ordering.  David is also the kind of man that is loved by all.  The kids at that are at Cochlear are genuinely drawn to him.  He is known for giving the best hugs around.  All the employees at of Cochlear truly ROCK!

Cochlear tends to spend an evening having a special event of some sort for those that volunteer.  Here I am sitting between two Linda's at a special happy hour type of event for the volunteers.  Linda who traveled with me from Utah, is in the foreground, and then Linda Day, another awesome Cochlear employee, who is the Volunteer manager from California is sitting right next to me.  On the other side of the table are two volunteers from Washington. 



You can count on Cochlear Celebration to have a great keynote speaker at the opening session.  Here we were fortunate to hear from Tom Sullivan, a blind singer/actor/author.  He spoke and sang to us.  It was truly touching and reminded us of our own miracle as we listened to him tell us how truly jealous of us he was.  He would give anything in his life to be able to see his wife, just to be able to see.  And here we all are able to hear.  He was inspiring and touching.  At one point the lights dimmed and he asked us to close our eyes as he took us through a morning run with him.  Of course we all had our eyes open to read CART, but the lights were dim and we went on a morning run.  It was astounding to see the world through his ears.  Sounds became even more precious as we experienced it through him.

 During his talk, Tom made the statement that I quickly got my phone out and took a picture of before it disappeared from CART.  I realized the instant he said it, how truly profound it was.  If you can't read it, click on the picture and it will enlarge so you can.  It helped me realize how much I have to focus on the here and now, the joys and potential of the here, rather than dwell on the past.

There is always an evening at Disney or a local attraction.  Hollywood Studios was closed down early on Saturday night.  We ate dinner on the streets of Hollywood studio.  After dinner, we walked to where the giant Mickey Mouse hat was lit up.  We watched as fireworks erupted from it.  Then we were able to ride the roller coaster and the Tower of Terror as many times as we wanted.  On the "streets" of Hollywood, near these rides, there was music, a street dance and entertainment.  Truly and enjoyable evening just for us!

Before we know it, the closing session arrives.  Chris Smith CEO shows us the joy of our time here when he bounds onto the stage in a feather boa with Mickey Mouse hands! :)  After his speech, we get the opportunity to be introduced to and hear from this year's Graeme Clark Scholarship winners.  A friend of mine from Utah was awarded this scholarship three years ago.  I hope someday to see another young many from Utah up on the stage with a scholarship.  His name is Chance (a hint to his parents if they're reading this!) :)  After the scholarship winners speak, we all wait for THE ANNOUNCEMENT!  Where will the next Cochlear Celebration be.



 Whoo Hoo!  February 2013, I'll be there in San Diego, celebrating once again.  The minute this announcement popped up on the screen, I snapped a picture and texted and emailed it to a couple of friends on my PDA, telling them I want to see them there with us at the next one and to start saving!

Another Celebration ends, and my dreams for the next Celebration begin anew!  Cochlear Celebration 2013, here I come! :)

Florida Fun

Time has really flown by.  It is already almost two weeks since I got back from my trip to Florida.  I intended to start blogging again immediately after my return.  Instead, I hit the ground running, and I'm only just now pausing to reflect and post!  I decided the easiest way to talk about my Florida trip is to start by sharing pictures.  Alas, I discovered that on a scale of 1 to 10, I would probably rate at about a 3 in picking good pictures and opportunities to photograph.    Some pictures left me wondering why I took them in the first place.  Others I still enjoyed.!  Below are some of the pictures I enjoyed.

I spent the first three days of my trips visiting three of the parks.  I'm struggling to remember where I found this landscaping.  I believe it was Hollywood Studios, but I could be wrong.  Oh wait, I think it might have been Epcot.  One thing I know for sure?  It was in Florida! :)   I did take this picture as I liked the whimsy of the brooms, although Micky Mouse didn't quite fit into the theme being created by the broomsticks, in my opinion.

This is a tree in the Animal Park (Wild Animal Park?  I'm actually forgetting the exact name...some memory I have.  Like a steel trap, eh?)  I found this tree rather fascinating due to all the carving done along the tree trunk.  I have added another view, from another side of the tree further on down below.

It was quite a sight to see these trees and realize the sheer numbers of birds were in them.  I really need to get out a good bird book and figure out exactly what kind of bird they are.  While on the "African Safari" I heard the announcer talking about how these birds are native to the area.  However, I missed the name of them.  Of course I don't have a closeup, so I can ask  my readers if anyone knows.  Oh well.....a photographic wizard would've thought to get that one!   If you can't see the birds, click on the picture to get an enlarged view.

Here's a picture taken during the safari of my good friends Diane and Debra.  Or should I say Debra and Diane, since Debra is more in the foreground and Diane is in the background.  Sorry Diane, I know you should really be the star of the picture and be in the foreground!  (Yes, I do like to tease Diane on occasion).

When I saw this, I had to keep reminding myself that I was in Florida, not California.  I'd never been in Florida before, and I still have a hard time feeling that I've ever been to Florida.  Throughout the trip, both in climate, palm trees, and Disney World attractions, I was SURE I was in California!  

This plant landscaping from The Lady and The Tramp (if I have the title right) was quite cute.  So I snapped a little picture to share! :)

The funny thing about this picture, is I really wasn't sure who the "non-human" characters were!  The humans of course were my Utah friends that traveled to Florida for Cochlear Celebration with me.  You see me, Diane, Debra and Linda.  It wasn't until I got home and showed the picture to my little two year old that I knew for sure who I had posed with.  I was informed it was Pluto (not Goofy like I'd thought), and I was with Daffy Duck, not Scrooge Duck or some of the other Duck characters.  I think I flunk cartoons!  Of course what else would you expect from someone who grew up before captioning, and couldn't lipread cartoons?

Here we have my traveling companions posing with Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  I better go ask my 2 year old, Finn if it's Goofy or Pluto there.  He might know! :)

One thing I always wanted to do in Disneyland and never did, was ride the the riverboat.  I thoroughly enjoyed going for my first riverboat ride in Disney World.  Here's the top portion of the boat taken while on board.  OK, if I was a good sailor, I'd probably tell you this is the port or the bow or some such nautical term.  Sadly, I forget the difference between all the boat parts as soon as I hear them.  So, front portion of the riverboat works for me! :)

This was taken at Hollywood Studios.  Notice, in the background they have the unique Mickey Mouse water tower.  Then in the foreground they have the "landscaped" water tower.  I thought it was interesting!  Hence my choice of photographic subject.  (I'm still going through this internal dialogue in my head that's saying, OK your choice of material ranks you as a three on a scale of 1 to 10, and I catch myself defending taking the picture!)

In Hollywood Studios, I had the chance to engage myself fully in folly and grab a little Fred Astaire magic and dance in the rain.  Can you see my inner Fred spirit? :)

Here is a different attempt at taking a clear picture of the tree that fascinated me, which I showed several pictures above.  I realize a less tired blogger, might take the time to rearrange the order of photos so it's just below the other photo.  Enjoy scrolling way up above to find the other picture to compare it to! :)

Manna from heaven!  The only thing missing from this picture is the word Diet!  Being a diet coke addict, I had to take this picture! :)    

Probably one of the things I enjoyed amidst all the bustle of amusement parks, convention, friends and etc. was the still quiet morning breakfast outside by this lake at my hotel.  THAT was pleasure my friends!

After a pleasant and full week enjoying the 70 degree temperatures in Florida, I finally got on the airplane and flew back to winter.  Now, I just get to enjoy the memories! 

Motivation

LOOOOk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  When reading my niece's blog a few weeks ago, she shared that she had printed her blog and posted a picture of her book.  I checked out the Blog2Print website and found myself excited at the idea.  The best part, my tax money had just come in, so I felt like I could splurge.

My book came in the mail this week.  It's just like I designed it.  I chose the cover to be green, since that's my favorite color.  I chose pictures I wanted on the front of the book as well as the back of the book.

\  Here is the front of my book!  This is a picture I took when I went to Cochlear Celebration in 2009!  It represented a joyful time for me, so I chose it for the front.  On a side note, the day after tomorrow, I'm taking off for Cochlear Celebration 2011!  I'm so excited at the fun times I'm sure are ahead!

  Here's the back of my book.  I put a picture from a convention known as ALDAcon (Association of Late Deafened Adults Convention).  I'm not a late deafened person (very early deafened), but they accept me anyway! :)  Anyhow, this picture was snapped by someone at the beginning of an evening of Karaoke.  The party had not yet gotten into full swing, and I was almost the only person on the dance floor.  The DJ was singing as he waited for us to get into the spirit of things and for more people to arrive.  I was ready to party and just jumped on the dance floor and started dancing!  He ended up throwing me the boa, and then later the air guitar and pulled me onto the stage to join him.  Since the picture represented the joy of "living in the moment", I had to put it on the back of the book.  Also, notice, there's even a bar coded ISBN number for my book! :)

 I snapped a picture of the book standing up, so you could see that it's a hard bound book!  The quality is great.  My niece noted in her blog, how printing the blog gave them a book to record their family history.  I may not have a family, but it's a little awesome to have in my hands a tangible history from the previous two years.  My little ones at home were quite tickled to open up my book and see pictures of themselves.  I guess when I'm long gone, they might regard my book as a little of their history, since I lived with them and put pictures of them on my blog occasionally! :) 

Yesterday I went and got my hair cut and a pedicure, in preparation for my trip.  As I sat there being pampered, I started to read my book from the beginning.  I was surprised at how much pleasure I got from this.  I've had people tell me I'm funny, but I thought they were just easily amused.  I guess I'm in that category of easily amused.  I found myself laughing and giggling quite a bit as I was reading.  The pedicurist and hair stylist must have thought I was nuts, reading a book adorned with me and laughing all the while.  I guess I'm enjoying my new favorite author:  ME!! :)

Quite some time ago, I lost my motivation to blog.  Guess what?  I have it back!  I am just dying to print out another book from this little place on the internet that I inhabit!  Feel free to check back in frequently and comment.  If you like what I write, comment!  I found that the comments from others are a big motivator for me.  Come back often and throw some bread crumbs into the comment section! :) 

My Sweet Valentine

Valentine's Day is not on my list of holidays I pay any attention to.  I've spent my life as a single woman, watching with disdain.  What was it other than just another reminder that there wasn't anyone special in my life to treat me special and for me to treat special? 

Today, I realized something profound.  Valentine's Day is simply a day to care and show your love.  It doesn't matter who it is.  I came upstairs to do my laundry and found Dalia, age 5 and Mac age 4 busily involved in decorating cookies.  With big smiles, I was told "Don't look!"  at the other end of the table from where they were decorating.  I gave them big hugs and kisses and told them I definitely wouldn't look.  They were just jumping from excitement. 

After I left the laundry room, they jumped up and down with the biggest smiles and handed me the above plate.  They'd gotten these plates, taken the time to put everyone in the family's name on their own plate, and then decorated a cookie just for that person.  It wasn't the cookie and the decorated plate that was so special, but what it reminded me of.  Two little sweet ones, faces filled with pleasure and expectations to give me a gift from their heart.  Oh, what a sweet holiday Valentine's Day is!  This Valentine's Day, I'll be flying out to Florida for a wonderful vacation.  However, I'm hopeful that next Valentine's Day, I'll remember the lessons of today and take the time to think of something special I can do for those I love on this one day dedicated for showing our love.

Positivity

Yesterday I went grocery shopping, as I usually do on Friday.  This little trip turned into a little mini-lesson on positivity.  After I collected all my groceries, I went to stand in the check out line.  Just before time to move up to being the customer being checked out, a little elderly gentleman came and stood behind me in line.  With a twinkle in his eyes he  said, "Thanks for saving me this spot in line!".  He moved with much difficulty and was shopping with his wife, who was in a wheelchair.  She's so infirm that she couldn't even really hold her head up, it was resting on her shoulder.  I couldn't even seen her eyes.  Here's a man, obviously having difficulty getting around himself, coupled with a wife who's obviously unable to care for herself (translating to what a difficulty that must be for him to care for her in his limited condition), smiling with joy and engaging the stranger in front of him in a positive manner. 

That wasn't all of it.  The checker who was responsible for my line was quite a vivacious lady.  As I was moving to the counter and she waited for the customer before me to leave, so I could head for the counter, she was smiling and sang a short and sweet little ditty, "I'm in my happy spot!"  She was exuding joy rather than just doing her job.  What a positive line I'm in.  As she checked me out, the gentleman behind me talked about how lucky he was to be in her line.  She said to me, they always come to my line and I'm the luckiest person in the world to be able to check them out.  Talk about positivity and smiles abounding in an ordinary experience of checking out the groceries and paying.  The gentleman reached in his pocket and pulled out a well worn fake credit card looking document.  I don't remember what was on the other side that I saw as he put it away, but on the side I he showed me it said, "The happy smile checker".  It was obvious to me that he looks for and creates happy smiles. 

What a joy and what a little lesson to remember amidst the regular routines of our lives.  This gentleman gets around with much difficulty, obviously caring for a wife who is extremely limited.  His life has to be difficult.  Yet he is choosing to greeting it with positivity, engaging with people in his pathway with positivity and choosing joy.  The checker choosing to do her job with a sunny disposition, joy and even singing a song about being in her happy spot was also another lesson in choice.  There was less than 5 minutes there in that line with joy and happiness being radiated, positivity exuding.  What a heaven life would be like if the rest of us were choosing to focus and find positivity in our life in this way?  I felt transformed.  Ordinary checkers are just doing a job and getting through the day.  Ordinary old men with severely disabled spouse to care for and very limited mobility themselves are usually struggling and I viewed them as really being a case of people, "enduring to the end" and possibly hoping it comes sooner rather than later.  What I saw was an extraordinary lesson in the choosing our attitude and choosing to live in joy in the "now" no matter how difficult or tedious.

I've made lots of progress in learning to be happy and positive no matter what.  This little powerful little 5 minute or less mini-lesson is something I'm grateful to get.  I think things happen for a reason, and this might be teaching me more about how to expand, improve and carry on in positivity.  Can I bring smiles optimism in my chance encounters of all those who cross my path?  That is my next challenge.

What a Life! What a Job!

I've now got almost a full month under my belt, working in our Parent Infant Program with babies and toddlers from 0 to 3 and their parents.  I can't believe how I feel about this job, and how my life has led me to be able to even do this. 

If you see my "Before" picture on the side of this blog, you might have imagined this is a woman who couldn't sit on the floor, or at least couldn't do so easily.  Well, I'm so grateful I lost all that weight and changed my perspective.  If I hadn't undergone all this change, I don't think it would have been remotely possible for me to do this job.  At 387 lbs, falling on the floor was a nightmare.  I couldn't get up.  Fast forward 5 years, and here I am sittting on the floor playing with little babies and toddlers.  This job has been a little slow to ramp up, as I've had difficulty getting ahold of all the parents to schedule my visits.  However, my very first toddler is a little 2 1/2 year old cutie.  During my first visit where I worked with her, it was pure delight to be down on the floor laughing and playing with her.  At one point, I actually laughed and said, "I can't believe I get paid to do this!  What a job!".

Not only do I get to play with the kids, I get to sing with them too.  It's actually funner than I thought it would be.  What a way to teach.  This little toddler is way behind due to being recently adopted from another country where there were no hearing aids and and auditory stimulation AND being profoundly deaf.  I had a lot of trepidation because I don't know 0 to 3 age group yet.  However, much to my amazement, I actually know a lot more than I think.  Not only that, I could see what hasn't been happening that needed to happen.  The mother is "thirsty" for all the information I feed her and takes my suggestions and runs with it. 

Tonight, I sit and reflect on this child, with whom I'm starting my 3rd week of working with.  I'm all smiles as I reflect.  Why?  I can actually see progress!  I've made a difference.  Her mom and I kept being excited and celebrating today at the things that she was doing.  She's got a lot way to go, and needs that cochlear implant sooner rather than later.  However, how rewarding it is to be new in a job and feeling I have so much to learn, but at the same time seeing what I do makes a difference!  How exciting to have a mom who prior to my visit has felt alone without the support she needed, actually be excited at the progress her child has made in the last 3 weeks.

The coolest thing was at only my 2nd visit, the mom said to me, "I'm so sad that I'm going to lose you."  I was puzzled and confused.  I had JUST started working with this little child.  I'm not going anywhere.  I asked her what she meant, and she says, "She's turning 3 in February and you'll be gone when she goes to preschool".  I promised her that we could still be friends after her child leaves my caseload and enters preschool.  It's so rewarding to have such immediate feedback that I'm important to this family and to actually see a difference in this darling little girl. 

Five years ago, I couldn't have ever seen my  life the way it is today.  I decided to renovate my life, one step at a time, without a real clear picture of how to do that, other than to start losing weight.  All the other steps after that unfolded bit by bit.  I'm so grateful for the journey. 

Life's Little Joys (A Photo Essay)

All three came down to "spend time" with me.  Amazing they all three fit into one chair!  They're growing so fast, I don't think that will last for long!

"What ice cream?  I don't see any"  (Me thinks someone ate it all!)

This is how I spend HOURS of my time.  Pure bliss!  A slice of heaven!

"What?  Why wait to put on my swim trunks and take off my shoes!  The water was calling my name!"

"I'm no baby, I don't belong in the stroller you're pushing.  I'm a big boy and pushing my own stroller!  So there! "

"My mom says I can really 'Rock my speedo'.  Daddy seems to agree, but my big brother is too busy preparing to dive down and join Spongebob to care what I'm wearing!"

Three generations having a ball at the little 4th of July carnival!

The most AWESOME roommates in the world!  I couldn't get any luckier!