December 28th, 2008

Well, I had a few minutes so I thought I'd post to the blog.

Calvin's doing OK the past couple days... he woke up early, so he and I walked over to the outdoor market which is up and running before dawn, I think. It's on a tiny street that wraps around a supermarket, much to small to hold all the vegetable and meat sellers... I bought some millet and fruit, and four bottles of fresh squeezed orange juice from a man who was selling orange juice, grapefruit juice, and pigs hooves at his stall. It's an interesting life...

So, I spent some of the afternoon with Rhiannon making stewed tomatoes in vinegar.

It's become a staple for us, especially in tomato season. In winter, it can be made with cans of tomatoes (I work near a restaurant supply store, and we can get them there), but fresh is better. I buy up as many discounted packs of cherry tomatoes as I can find over a week, this time I had about five or six dozen of the things... Rhiannon and I sliced them in half (to make peeling easier after cooking), put them in a pot with about half a cup of oil, a cup of vinegar, salt, pepper, Italian spices, and paprika. Cook that all together for a couple hours in a 190 degree Celcius oven. Meanwhile, mince one or two onions, and cook that for a few minutes in a little oil and a little vinegar on a stove.

When the tomatoes are delicious, take them out of the oven and peel them. It's quite messy... From there you can do two things with them. Add the onions plus a little minced garlic and put them over pasta. Or take the tomatoes plus the onions plus a can of tomatoes (to cut down that acidity) and blend them in a blender. The kids really like it, and the vinegar takes on a wonderful flavor after being baked in the oven. This sauce has been evolving over a year to this current version. I also use the larger tomatoes, quartered, but they're harder to find on sale here...

So, we have that over pasta plus some capers. Calvin, we found out tonight, loves eating capers. Eli spent the afternoon building one of his Christmas presents, a Lego car, while Rhiannon copied numbers from the calendar and practiced writing them. She also made some popcorn chains for the Christmas tree while watching some Christmas stuff on the computer.

We're letting the candles on the Advent Wreath burn slowly down, and added 12 tea lights to the center, and light a new one each day of Christmas. We're planning to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, and it's been nice marking the days of the season, not letting it be just one day of presents madness.

Anyway, just posting for the sake of posting.

Much Love.

December 25th, 2008

Well, we were hoping we'd be able to spring for a camera and I could get the blog up and running again, but it looks like that'll be after Chinese New Year. Hopefully for Easter.

But even without the camera, I thought I'd write a little about what's going on over here this Christmas Day.

The new job's going pretty well, I've been there a while now and I've pretty well settled in. No place is perfect, but I'm happy there and feel like I can contribute.

Gosia goes to therapy in the city and at the hospital three times a week (once at the hospital, twice at the alternative center).

The winter months are tough for Calvin. They were last year, and they year before, but he's much better than last year. So far, he's kept up his eating and has not been vomiting. His spastic muscle problem has gotten worse, though -- one side is stronger and the other weaker. This affects his swallowing and facial control, but I hope it'll pass after the Winter is over. I almost wish we could move to somewhere with a more stable climate for him. Even the moderate change here (the winter is like a cold Autumn) still has a considerable affect on him, and he loses weeks of learning, and even backslides. He can't use a straw right now, but like I said, I hope it'll pass.

He went back and forth between screaming and whining and temper tantruming for about two weeks straight... He barely slept at night, was miserable all day, didn't nap... after almost two weeks we took him to the hospital (a 5 am ER run, which I've gotten very good at) and got him X-rayed. He was extremely constapated, with the stools pressing against his spine... we've been giving him an enema a night (the brand we use here is "Atomic Enema", and it's true to it's name) and that's helped.

But I don't think that was the root cause of his misery. Supposedly, changes in seasons can really affect these kids. So, we keep chugging along, trying to keep him happy in his head. Gosia does an amazing job at home with him, cooks him four complete meals a day, gives him therapy and does so much with Eli and Rhiannon, too. She's really amazing, even when exhausted.

Eli and Rhiannonare doing well. Life with a screaming, brain-injured kid isn't easy, but we work really hard to balance their lives inside and outside of the house so that it doesn't overwhelm them. I'm able to take them to my job whenever I need to, and besides that, they take classes there twice a week in the evening -- so they're out of the house all evening till 10 pm on those nights. Plus, Eli goes to afternoon home-work school four days a week, and there's a chance Rhiannon may start that after she turns six.

Eli chugs along with his education, and Rhiannon's slowly atarting to pick up some reading. Eli's up to book eight of A Series of Unfortunate Events... he reads about a chapter or more a day, which is nice to see. A while ago we got into the home-schooling theory that you buy these books and things for the kids, and some day, not when you expect it of course, they'll get interested in them. We keep track of where he should be, more or less, and keep him on track with math and stuff like that, but he's way ahead of where he should be in science and grammar, and he gets a lot of spelling done in his classes with me. And beyond all that, he's interested in learning, which we consider the most important thing.

Anyway, these are the things that move and shake the secular side of out lives. These days anyway... Every day is different, each day brings new challenges and moods... so, on we go.

I enjoyed this chance to write a little, to spend Christmas with you. I'm not going to start this thing up again until the camera arrives, but I hope to put out another for New Year's and then again at Chinese New Year.

Much love, and Happy New Year!

Sunday, September 21st

So, things have been going at a decent pace this week... I've been sick (again) due to the typhoons... the weather has been hot and cold, which is awful, plus the kid germs I'm constantly around... But it's part of the hazards of the job.

Eli started AnchingBan this week. It's sort of an after-school school that most kids go to here. They get homework help, snacks, a nap, etcetera... He has some friends in this one, too, so that's nice for him. He needed to get out of the house a little, and he's really enjoying it. He goes every afternoon from about 1 - 5pm, and a little later on Thursdays and Fridays because of Math Class.

Rhiannon wants to start going too, but we'll see in a month or so. She actually takes a nap, though, when Eli's not there for stimulus.

So, I work in the mornings and evenings, so I'm not home as much, but it's a lot less stressful than the other place, so I don't mind... A couple of kids from my old school gravitated over to my new school to follow me, so it's nice to have them around too. And I've been focusing on corriculum and writing tests and things of that nature... getting to know my students... I have, all in all, about 160 students, now. But teaching here is a lifestyle. Or it should be. I don't exactly have any real days off anymore, but it keeps me busy. I teach Monday to Friday, later on Fridays for some older kids... I only have one class of older kids on Wednesdays, the rest of the time, like on Saturdays, is for office work and marking homework. Sundays are my earliest days, for Mass and the class afterwards. It's an interesting life...

Gosia took Eli, Rhiannon and Calvin to an air show on Saturday. She and the other brain injured kid families went over to the Tainan Air Force Base to view Taiwan's newest purchases from Amarica's military industrial complex. There were plane fly-overs and schoolchildren drumming. Plus ice cream. Eli got a model airplane, one of those with the rubberband so you can wind up the propeller. Nice morning...

Well, the webcast morning Mass from Fordham University is wrapping up, so I'll be getting off the computer soon.

Much love!

Monday, September 15th

Well, we're back. Sort of. Last night I got the inclination to start writing here again, so here I am, writing here again.

The posts will still be sparse until we get a new camera (ehem, Christmas present?) but I'd like to at least start it going again.

Things are going pretty well here, all things considered. Calvin has new abilities and tricks, and he's hopefully in the last leg of his teething.

Eli and Rhiannon are both doing well... We has a barbecue on the balcony over the weekend (for Moon Festival), even though there was a Typhoon on. So, they made grilled cheese sandwiches and corn and got to smoke out the neighborhood. We ran low on charcoal, so we used whatever various wooden objects we had laying around. Driftwood and bamboo and the like. So, we had a nice roaring fire going up on the balcony for a while while the neighbors lit fireworks and firecrackers down below while a Typhoon swept through. God bless Taiwan.

It didn't really rain until Sunday, though. Gosia and the kids went to church in the car, but I made the trip on my scooter. Every Sunday after Mass I teach an English Bible study/reading class, so I have to stay an hour and a half later. Driving back was thrilling. The rain feels like needles going even 30 kph... But I get to drive along the freeway's side road which skirts the rice fields and countryside, so it's really beautiful during a Typhoon.

Teaching has been going well. I teach 9:30 - 11:30 in the mornings, and then 4pm till after 9:30 in the evenings. Plus Saturday mornings for three hours. I'm a full time teacher now, so not all of those are teaching hours. I help around the school, grade papers and homework, things of that nature. Over the last year, I'd forgotten what it was like to look forward to going to work. It's a very different school, more human and less sterile. Lots of plants and paintings. I'm getting to know my kids and I have a lot of control over my classes. I'm on "go" from when I get there till when I leave, but I don't mind. I know what they want from me, they know me... Even as no school is perfect, it's going pretty well. We'll see where things are in a year, but for now, it's going well.

Well, that's all for now. As the posts will be sporadic, I'll put up alerts on Facebook whenever there's something new up.

Ad astra per aspera,

Sean

the beginning of September

clearing the cobwebs...

first week of August

Well, things are going pretty good here... looking forward to the end-of-August post.... getting settled into my new school, things of that nature...

We're being hit by a series of typhoons and tropical storms, so the humidity is terrible....

Just so people know, I'm up on Facebook... I do most of my communicating there these camera-less days... I'm aiming for camera by the beginning of Fall...

here for me: Sean V Cleary
if your on Facebook, you can search "pages" for Swamp Rabbit Press, where I put up my updates and pieces of artwork...

Rhiannon, Calvin and myself all got hair-cuts. Calvin looks really cute. He's doing better and better at sitting, too...

Well, just wanted to leave a mark on the blog.

I'll put something up from time to time so it doesn't gather cobwebs, but the next real post is August 31st.

Wednesday, July 23rd

This is quite a week... there's a huge typhoon moving across our area. Internet service isn't reliable, so I'm not even going to try and do anything here today...

This means I have to postpone my trip to the Immigration Office... the banks are closed, all government buildings are closed, but the 7-11s are all open...

Defunct

Well, it finally happened...


the Cur family camera has died...

For the past month the lens wouldn't open and close properly, and now the on/off button won't work. So, I think I have enough material for the coming Wednesday blog, but I always envisioned this as a visual blog...

I'll have to see where this leaves the blog... probably in silent running for a few months until we can muster up a new camera. The Cur family car also died last week, after a few weeks of trouble, so we need to see if that's salvageable before we move onto photographics... It's been a good camera, but we've given it a lot of use.

Check in tomorrow for the Wednesday post...

All the best...

Monday, July 21st

Just a quick movie this post-weekend post... more of Calvin doing his exercises -- he's on my lap as I type this. He and the other two are doing pretty well... there was a tropical storm through here last week, so that always drains us.

So, not much really... enjoy the movies!

Thursday, July 16th

So, Gosia went to the nephrologist yesterday, and Calvin's kidneys have gotten worse. His creatinine level went up from 1.1 - 1.2 in the past three months.

He's "safe" until it gets to 3 or 4, and then the doctor says the level just shoots up.

At 7, dialysis becomes urgently necessary.

So, there are all these factors to take into account, blah, blah, blah, but it seems like that will be in four years from now.

Plus he's started growing!! He's outgrowing his clothes! This is really great, considering his battle with nutrition, but his growth ironically places a greater strain on his kidneys.. I suggested a diet of coffee and cigarettes once, but it didn't fly with the nutritionist. They're always opposed to homeopathic remedies...

So, four years is a long way away, etc, etc, etc, but it doesn't seem that way. I've been feeling for a while that this whole thing is entering a new phase. I can't explain why I feel that way, maybe it's just emotional, maybe it's because he has grown a good bit recently and really isn't a baby anymore -- he's going through what must be near his last round of teething right now, too.

But I'm very optimistic about this new place, which is where this week's pictures are from. They say he's already made some improvement towards sitting, so we'll see where this goes too. Getting him sitting-creeping-crawling is very important for his respiratory system. He still doesn't breathe correctly -- he breaths from the chest, not the stomach. Lack of respritory strength leaves him succeptable to a variety of illnesses that he wouldn't have the breathing strength to recover from, so that's another reason it's so important to get him on this path.

I think that's all for this mid-week post. Movie down below, first in a series!
See you Sunday.

Sunday, July 13th

Well, On Saturday we had a group meeting of families of brain injured kids in Tainan.

Very informal... there was a small kitchen fire right before we arrived, and the place didn't even have a kitchen! It was one of the parent's massage-acupuncture business... it was after hours, so they set up a folding table, set up a portable camping stove, and cooked a hot pot. We brought pesto. Taiwan is awesome for these things...

They had a matted area for the kids, so we hung out, talked, played and ate. Very nice. Calvin had a wonderful time... he really liked being around the kids and had a great time playing with some of their toys. Eli and Rhiannon had a really good time, too.

Eli's made friends with the siblings of the brain injured kids, and he knows so much about the brain and brain injuries now. He was able to figure out what symptoms the kids had and why they have them really easily. Every once in a while, it's a shock to me just how much he understands about the human brain because of Calvin.

Anyway, I'm going to spend this post on Calvin and his list of ailments and treatments! It's like Sunday at the nursing home, but way cuter.

As I said, we've gotten closer to some of the other parents, and one of them suggested to Gosia a new therapy place. The place has about 40 families right now, and they're very clear and up front about what problems the child has, what he or she would need, and how serious it is.

I'm not going to start railing on the hospital, but it's not as intense as Calvin needs and it doesn't promote independence on his part. Plus, they want to work on his walking. Gosia and I believe he needs to 1. creep, 2. crawl, then 3. walk. This is in line with what we learned at the Institutes when we went there before coming back to Taiwan, and it's in line with this new place.

So, Gosia's going to start going there two days a week...

Second is acupuncture. Calvin gets that at the hospital once a week, and many parents have said that this has an affect on their children. One of the parents in our little group said that he thinks it helped his child, so that's good enough for me. It's a long term thing, though.

Third is the Saint Theresa Center. It's about an hour's bus ride in the morning out into the countryside. These are the pictures I have up in this post. Gosia took them when she went out there this week.

The place is a center for the brain injured, and has some good resources like the stimulus room. Lots of lights and things. They're going to help us with some home therapy for Calvin, so that'll start up soon. Very good people, very generous. They're trying to get the home therapy for Calvin covered by one of their doners, and they told Gosia she can come and use their facilities without charge. Plus, they have a wheelchair accessable treehouse...

Plus, Gosia will be going to the hospital's rehab center as usual, minus one day (for the new place) ... and then there's the normal array of tests, and doctors visits that pop up around the month.

The other day Gosia went to the nephrologist, to see about Calvin's kidneys. They have gotten a bit worse, but they've also grown a bit. There are more bumpy calcium deposits and dead material around them, so we need to talk to the doctor (this week, I think) to see what that means. Eventually, I assume, it means dialasis will rear it's head, but that's hopefully still a while away. The kidney situation, even with best outcomes, has already halved his life... so we'll see where that goes.

But for now, it's nutrition and getting him mobile. Gosia has a very full week, plus all the therapy she does with him at home... and with me changing jobs, it's been a bit stressful.
But that's life..

On Wednesday I'll have pictures up from the new place... I'm sure the place has a name.... The woman who heads it is called Mrs. Chung... for now it's "New Place"...!

See you then!

Sunday, July 6th

Just some pictures of the kids at the park this weekend.

The weather has been humid, so my head is all stuffed up. Quick post this weekend

You can see how much Eli loves the camera...

He stiffens up for every picture, and then gets mad at me because he looks funny in the pictures...