More News than We Need

Listening to Helen Thomas. Interesting how the world really has changed when it comes to news. Technology has progressed to the point where the demand for info is so great that the filler has really dropped in quality and even truthfulness. Reporting rumors before checking the accuracy and the speed with which misinformation can spread.

New technology allows us more outlets to say things, but do we all have that much more to say? Sometimes i feel like it's just about filling in blank spaces. The big blank Facebook status staring back at me waiting for something. Anything. "Kinda blue today, but filling the voids with superficiallity."

I remember in college I talked to my parents once or twice a week. Now with texting and email I've heard parents and kids talk several times a day. Parents text their teens when they are out at night. It's hard for me to even imagine, but i don't have any teen yet so my mind probably will change in the future.

So maybe my generation is the last to sit down with their morning coffee and an actual newspaper. Or our grandchildren will give us that blank look when we tell them about magazines or having a paper route. It's the same look when i try to explain records to my kids. Or that when i was young we didn't have texting or even cell phones. Technology changes for sure, that's an inevitability, but does it really mean we have more interesting things to say? Or have our standards for what is interesting been greatly lowered?

Eight Years Ago Today

I remember it vividly. We were living in Oakland and I was in my first trimester of pregnancy with Walker. It was a warm Indian summer day and we were getting ready for work at the old ILM facility in San Rafael. Always had Katie and Matt on as we'd get ready in the morning. They had just gotten some news about a plane or something in one of the Twin Towers. I think we all thought it was something like a news copter or small plane that had crashed. It was all very confusing and vague. Then all of a sudden a second plane crashed and we all know the rest of the events.



We drove into work numb except with the very strange feeling that our innocence as a nation was lost. Talk radio in the background. Air Force jets overhead as we crossed the Richmond Bridge. We talked about the fear that something else was next. The Golden Gate Bridge a possible target. There was chaos all around us. The government was in chaos. The media was in chaos. But at the same time there was this closeness to our fellow Americans. We were all in the midst of the chaos together.


The Star Wars 1 trailer was filled with numb zombies glued to talk radio and CNN updates. We didn't have internet access at work then. We would share updates as we got them from friends and family on the outside. Names of victims - friends of friends. We couldn't get enough info. I think it was the way we tried to gain control about what happened by finding out the littlest details about the 3 crash sites. Someone would get a rumor and shout it out to the whole office. The whole company was getting together for a moment of silence. We all stood in the courtyard and the president said a few words and we all held hands and stood silently for 5 minutes. Most of us cried. I remember thinking "What kind of world is my son going to enter?" The strange thing is I didn't medically find out months later that he was a boy. But in my heart I knew on
Sept. 11th.

Today I revisited the heroes and heroics of that day. I never want to forget or become indifferent nor do i want my children to be. I like the idea of it becoming a day of national service, but i also do not want it glossed over what happened. The horrors of terrorism. The destruction coming from hatred. Sept. 11th should stand not just for pride in out country but resiliency and strength. And gratitude for all the many heroes of that day.

Travelin' By Train

If you find yourself in need to really slow it down - take a train trip. You cannot be in a hurry on a train (for example they just announced "Grand Junction next stop in 3 to 4 hours"). So much of our lives is about speed but does it really need be? Train travel can also be looked upon as an opportunity to address your inner MacGuyver. The unpredictable happens. The A/C could go out 500 miles from the next major station (happened). The toilets in your car could stop working for 1/2 the day (again happened). During this time your 15 month old could have the world's record largest diaper blowout (unfortunately happened as well) while being deathly afraid of the train shower. But you have the time to figure out ways of dealing with this using what you've packed and what you have available to you. Sort of like the pioneers coming across in their wagons.

No one is stressed out on a train either (except maybe me during the diaper blow out). A type "A " personality expecting type A service will go crazy. It's not the Fours Seasons, it's barely a Holiday Inn, but it is somewhat clean and more comfortable than a sleeping bag on the ground. Older people love it - they can read, nap, do the crosswords and talk to strangers. Kids love it because they get their parents complete undivided attention, can run around and just love the whole concept of trains thanks in part to Thomas. It is also a great time for kids to play in a totaly unstructured way - for instance Eliza, Alden and i created a game that went on for days with papercups, plastic spoons, crayons and a pug beanie baby.

But for all the time it takes to travel by train I never found myself bored. When the girls were entertaining themselves I loved just staring out the window. I had planned on doing so much over my 6000 miles on the train. I was going to blog every day. Read the type of magazines i never have time to read: The Economist, The Atlantic, Scientific American. Plus several novels and a blank journal to be filled with my 5 year plan.

But instead I have found myself just daydreaming in my free moments. I realized i haven't done that in quite a while and it's an important thing to do every once in a while.

Amtrak is not perfect, nor is it horrific. In fact I already have a couple of ideas for our next train trip - next time with the whole family. It's a great opportunity to step off the the speed coaster of daily life and really reconnect with yourself, your spouse or you kids. Just expect the unexpected and go with the flow (or no flow in the case of our sleeping car toilets.) Choo Choo.

Love in the air at the NDSC Conference

One of my favorite things about the NDSC conference was all the romancing going on. Everywhere you turned you'd see couples walking hand in hand back to their hotel room, or giving each other nose kisses or simply just flirting and exchanging cell phone numbers. Three years ago it was headline news when Carrie and Sujeet tied the knot. I don't think they were the first couple with Ds to get married, but they were the first that really made the news. And it brought to the forefront the right of developmentally and intellectually disabled people to fall in love, have sex and get married.

Since then numerous couples with Ds have taken the plunge or are about to. And it truly is a family affair. There is a lot of planning which both sets of parents need to be involved. The conference had classes about sexuality in adults with Ds as well as teaching your kids practical relationship skills. Talk about liking the in-laws it seems quite necessary in this arrangement. One father at the conference was telling me that his son went to live with his girl friend. Problem is she lives in Texas and his family lives in California. Though he's happy with his job and living situation he is very homesick. I could see this happening with E. I don't know if this is a Ds personality trait or not but E is very attached and proud of her family, room and home. She loves it when we are all together at home and will make us do big family hugs as she exclaims "I wuv my fam-mil - lee!!!!". After one night away from home (no matter how much fun she's having) she'll ask when she can come home. So to make matters easier she better fall in love with someone local or at least willing to move here!

RIP Archie

A psychic once told me that in everyone of my past lives Archie was with me as my dog. He' s always been a dog, different breed, shape and sizes always by my side.

As Janney pointed out - in the end he was like The Giving Tree. He could barely walk much less fetch a ball or play tug o'war with a frisbee as he did with WT. For Ly-Z he was part therapy dog, supporting her as she learned to sit, crawl and walk. For the twins he couldn't give much, but he gave what he could.

We love you Archie. Thank you for 13.5 wonderful years!

Back to it.

I haven't blogged in quite awhile and even before that I was hardly blogging. Some excuses- 1) A broken "a" key - broken by my late pug Lulu. 2) A lack of time - which hasn't changed, but i now have a netbook so i can steal away more time here and there and 3) No real sense of purpose in my blogging.

Now the purpose still is kind of fuzzy. But the desire has emerged. Perhaps a creative outlet beyond one with crayons and finger paints. I also am setting a goal of losing some weight and getting in shape - more on that later but this blog will hopefully keep me in check there.

I've also got some potentially interesting events coming up to blog about: the NDSC conference, a x-country train ride with my girls, and a Family reunion and 70th birthday celebration with the in-Laws (the threat of me blogging about something will hopefully keep everyone in check :-).

Besides that it's the daily happenings of the Brewin six-pac. Who include: Me (Liz) - the stay-at-home mommy, chauffer, sometime smarty-pants, pseudo-wine expert, Janney - the working - a- stressful job mommy, puts up with my idiosyncracies, and a great partner and parent, Walkie Talkie (WT) - our oldest son, funny, fun - loving, caring and a great all around kid, Ly-Z - our little firecracker with 47 chromosomes who keeps us all laughing (most of the time), AJ - our wise old soul daughter with a smile that could melt an iceberg, and last but not least The Nobster - our baby, big flirt, sensitive but strong little guy.

Lulu's Heart

"It was as if the Governor called a minute before execution" was how our vet put it. I likened it to doing an ultrasound before an abortion and then changing your mind upon seeing that little heartbeat. Whatever we compare it too, our 9 year old pug Lulu is living on borrowed time and she knows it.

Lulu was having heart failure and we were told that the lasix was not clearing her lungs. Basically she was drowning. Neither Janet nor I had ever had to put a dog "to sleep" so we were both emotional wrecks. The vet was supposed to come in after a 5 min or so good-bye, but when 15mins, then 20 then 45 minutes passed, we noticed that Lulu was breathing okay. She wasn't panting or anything and was just looking deeply into our eyes (guilt!).

The vet comes in with the syringe. We ask her if this is the right thing to do cause Lulu looks better. She does, the vet agrees. She'll support us in whatever our decision, but the medicine may finally be working! We decide to give Lulu one more night, no oxygen and a DNR order should she start to go downhill again.

Next morning and Lulu is doing really well. Morning after that she can actually go home!!! Vet bill? No comment.

They suggest a visit with an animal cardiologist. She is in her thirties. Therefore younger than I, now that i am in my forties as of two months ago. This always seems wierd to me. But on this day I just want to get out of there as i am also a victim of the widespread Salmonella poisoning having had fish tacos with Jalepeno cream the day before. You get the picture. I basically want Lulu to get fixed and get out of there.

But Lulu's heart is broken. Mitral valve stenosis. Congentital. The cardiologist was quite surprised she has made it this far without any problems. There is a risky surgery we could do at UC Davis or heart meds which will give her 6-12 months of quality life. Lasix, Enalapril, and Atenolol every day for the rest of her life until they don't work anymore.