I just reread my last FOG. The last thing I wrote was "and let's hope the next update is way less eventful, shall we?". In some ways things really have settled down and in some ways it is just as chaotic as ever. But honestly - what else is new!

My dad is officially home from the hospital!!! I could probably use about 100 more exclamation points but I think you probably get the gist. He is getting better slowly over time. But boy it seems like forever! He says he gauges it by how long the hair on the back of his head is taking to grow in. There is a patch that has worn itself bald from all the "lying around" over the summer. It's heartening to start to see him get to do some of the things I remember him doing but I also understand what a long haul it is back to full health. He can do just about everything he did before, he's just not as strong and he can't do it for the same amount of time. For now, I'm totally satisfied. I have to admit that it took me a while to get back from "the edge" where I didn't know from day to day if he was going to make it. But I do feel like he's on the mend now. The strange part was realizing how little time we used to spend together and how much extra time I scheduled to spend with him over the summer. And then how that completely disappeared when he came home. I decided that I liked it better the summer way, so Dad and I are making time to watch the newest season of Survivor together. It's been a fun way to get to spend a little time, just the two of us, every week. Unless you hear from me, the dad news from now on will probably be "getting better slowly over time". Thanks to all of you for your support as we have made our way through this difficult time.

It's always entertaining for me to look back over the calendar to review all the fun things that have happened between updates. Ethan and I had such a great summer of fun in Crystal Lake, enjoying the beach, free movies, mini-golfing, tandem bike rides. It was just one of those summers I would bottle if I could and save for him to be able to pull out and savor later. It sounds a little weird writing that since we spent so much of the time at the hospital. But the good parts of the summer were just so good. We also made it to Legoland with Grandma Glore and that was a lot of fun. We got to spend time with our niece/cousin and I got to babysit little Larissa for the first time. Little cutie! Every Labor Day weekend for the past (at least five??) years, friends of mine have hosted a family oriented game conference in the hills of Cuba, NM. And every year, I have found care for Ethan and have gone for a relaxing weekend of gaming. I decided that Ethan was finally old enough to attend the Fandango this year, so we packed up and headed out to the mountains. We had such a great time! Obviously, the experience of going alone is very different than going with a 6 year old boy but he was very well behaved and I got in plenty time with him and with the gamers. If he's up for it (and I have no doubt that he will be) I fully intend on taking him next year. Lastly, I attended my 20th high school reunion in early October. What a blast! I almost didn't go since I don't keep in touch with very many people from the "old days". And I'm so glad that I changed my mind. More than anything, I think it helped me get over all the pigeonholing that I did with people in HS and realize that we're all just normal (or mostly normal!) people making our way in the world. I had great conversations with people I wouldn't have expected to even talk to and I laughed my butt off. I was out later that I have been in YEARS two nights in a row and spent most of Sunday recovering. I highly recommend it for those of you with reunions coming up.

There is a ton of stuff happening in Ethan's world. He started first grade in September and is doing extremely well. He is still getting some extra support in the form of a weekly social group, but other than that he's completely mainstreamed. He started the first day of school in the classroom like all the other kids and I think that has helped quell some of the confusion he had last year about which class was his "real" class. He has a fabulous teacher who really likes and gets Ethan and that makes all the difference. Ethan also continues to study Karate and has now achieved his blue belt white stripe. Since he started quite young, he is one of the more advanced students in his class now and often gets to demonstrate for the less advanced students. **PLEASE NOTE: Ethan is not in pain in the picture shown here. He tends to be a little dramatic and just couldn't BEAR the sunlight in his eyes.

I think the biggest news for Ethan is that his father decided to take a job in Boston and moved away in early September. For a couple of years now, Daddy has lived about an hour away and has taken Ethan for visitation every other weekend. It's been great for everyone - Matt and Ethan have gotten to spend a lot of time together and had really started to develop a father/son bond. And I've gotten scheduled and much needed respite from being a single parent 24/7. The move came as a fairly big shock to Ethan and me and we're still adjusting some. Although it's hard to tell what will happen, Matt indicates that he plans to be away for at least a year and probably longer. Ethan seems to be dealing with it OK. He has times when he starts to realize what it means to have Daddy gone - things Matt will miss or how they don't get to play together anymore - and then he's gets really sad. But overall I think he's dealing with it pretty well. I've just decided that my job is to continue to do what I've always done: love him with all my heart, be consistent with him in what I say and what I do, and put Ethan and my well being first when important decisions need to be made. That being said, there is a lot of this that is out of my control and I don't do extremely well with that. In the end, I take solace in knowing that Ethan is a very resilient boy who is still surrounded by people who love him.

In other news, my world of dating has taken an interesting turn. Pete, that I mentioned in the last update, decided that things just weren't going the way he wanted soon after I send the last F-O-G and he dumped me but in the nicest way possible. "I think you're great, it's me not you", etc. It is probably actually all for the best - I'm not sure I saw that we had a future together - but that didn't make it any easier or any more fun. However, it was not too long after that another interesting man showed up in my OKCupid mailbox and we've been seeing each other ever since. His name is Royce

and I find him utterly fascinating. He works as a real estate lobbyist - a world I know nothing about and has run for political office - another world that baffles and confused me. Still, we find plenty of things to talk about and I am really enjoying getting to know him. Plus I think he's just so darn cute! We attended our first big hoop-te-doo this weekend and had a great time together. I have to keep catching myself from wanting to know how it's all going to turn out and just enjoy the time we spend together. Ethan's the worst - he asked me after our first (and second and third and fourth) dates if I loved Royce and was going marry him. Slow down, boy-o, slow down. Anywho, it's really been fun to be out and about with someone whose company I really enjoy. And who knows what the next F-O-G will bring?

Until next time...