I wonder who'd play Stringer Bell?

Both my kids are starting Speech Therapy, though for different reasons. I am torn about how much to talk about it here -- it's not my story to tell, and I'm not even 100% sure what T's underlying issues are, but that's what been eating up a lot of my mental energy that's not related to the unbloggable stuff.

We are super fortunate because one of my friends from University is an SLP, now lives in the area, and has just started taking patients again after having 3 kids. Julie is AMAZING, loves working with preschoolers, and is excited to be working with my guys. Teddy will be getting assessed next week, and Veronica had her first session today. It went really well.

I'm not sure if it's our encouragement, or the fact that she's 23 months today, but Veronica has recently embraced the word "No" with such enthusiasm it defies description. She busts it out in hilarious ways, but this afternoon took the cake. While I was doing dinner prep, she sat in her brother's chair, played with books and toys, and -- I kid you not -- had a 4 minute chirpy conversation only using the word 'no' in as may possible ways as possible.


It was like something out of "The Wire", only G-rated.

July is flying by...

Summer's a scorcher around here. In the five years we've lived in this house, it has never been this dry. Our yard is shady, but any non-shaded grass anywhere is yellow and dead. It's over 40 C with humidex today (so over 100 F) and wow! I'm very thankful to have air conditioning.

So - hello! Time is flying, flying, flying. But four weeks from today, I will be back at my full-time job. I am incredibly fortunate to still have a job to go back to after two years, especially in light of all the government cuts happening (my job is unaffected). If I stayed off on unpaid leave, though, they'd be able to back-fill my position and with so many people whose jobs have been eliminated, this is not a great time to be searching. So, back to work for me.

My return is tied to something potentially awesome, something as-yet-unbloggable, which is eating up all spare time and causing lengthy absences from stuff Twitter. I'll be able to talk about it eventually, but for right now, it's keeping us hopping.

My plan is to try to post SOMETHING every day over the next 4 weeks, because I won't be able to do much once I'm back at work. It'll likely be a lot of stuff about the kids, but there you go.

I hope that you're all well!

Greg

Three years ago today, our friend Greg took his life. He was the husband of my dear friend Jen, but a good friend of ours in his own right. Even now, I find it hard to believe that he's gone. He had turned 31 mere days before his death.

At his funeral, the minister's sermon reflected on the exact same passage I'd read at my beloved Aunt Floriana's funeral 3 months earlier. And wouldn't you know it -- it was in my 'read the whole bible in a year' project - it was today's New Testament Passage as well. I am not sure I'll ever read Romans 8 without crying about loved ones dying too soon, but it contains such a message of hope:

"What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? As it is written: “For your sake we are being slain all the day; we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8, 35-39.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon him. May he rest in peace.