Elton John

On Tuesday I went to see Elton John! A friend of my sister got 8 tickets so it was her, 4 of her friends, my mom, my roommate and me. My roommate and I went down to Lethbridge in the afternoon and then we went out for dinner. The concert was at 8. It was all him, no one opened up for him. He played for 2 and a half hours right on the piano. We sat on the top right so it was very good seats but the seats were close together and there was no leg space. He put on a excellent show! And then Laura and I drove home after the show. The show was over at 10:30 and we got out there and stopped at McDonalds for a drink. It was a big mistake doing the drive through. Big mistake! It took 45 min before we ordered! And even longer for our food and to eat. So we got on the road at 11:45 and got home at 2. It was a wonderful night. 

My thoughts and feelings!!

After doing the blog on Dr. Phil, I found a video about this young lady who has a disability and she is a twin too.

She finally talked to her family through a typing on a computer. Her life was difficult for her and her family. Check out this video about her: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNZVV4Ciccg&sns=fb

When I watched the video it hit very close to home and it got me thinking about my life. In a way it was like watching myself in the video. This girl who never talked to her family and at age 13 she talked with help a computer. She wrote a book on having a disability and has a blog.

People who have disabilities, we have goals and dreams like everyone else. 

Dr. Phil

Hey does anyone watch Dr. Phil? Sometimes I watch him. I watched Dr. Phil on Friday; it was about a mother who has two grown children with disabilities. The two children are in their 40’s and they have a disorder called Sanfilippo syndrome. It is a genetic disorder but doesn't show up until you're a few years old.

They live in an institution and their mother doesn’t see them often. She says that when she goes to visit her children, she believes that they do not know she’s there. She has no way to communicate with her children and for them to share what feelings they have.

So she goes to visit them every 2 months and she wants the right to euthanize her severely disabled children. They require feeding tubes to eat and the mother believes that this is the only thing keeping them alive. There was another mother on the show who has a special needs child. This mother says that euthanizing people is taking their lives away from them.

Here are my thoughts on the subject. It is hard topic to think about because I live with disability. I know what it is like to live with a disability.  Sometimes I wish I didn’t have a disability but my disability isn’t as bad as other people.

If I had a severe form of a disability and if I had no idea about what is going on around me, then yes I hope my parents would do the right thing by my family and me.

In that case, if my parents wanted to put me in an institution, that would be okay with me. It probably wouldn’t make a difference to me. But, I know in my heart that when my family comes to visit, I will sense their presence. But I don't know if I want to live like a vegetable and have no quality of life. It would be up to my parents to keep me alive or not. If something happened to me and I lost my quality of life, I would want my parents to let me go. I know my family loves me and would want to do the right thing for me. 

I understand the pain of what she is going through and I get what she is dealing with and I hope people understand that it’s not easy for her. She needs to do the right thing for her and her family and people should not judge. At the same time, just because someone has a disability, it doesn’t mean they don’t have a good quality of life. It all depends on the person and the disability. 

Easter

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter with your family. I had a wonderful time with my sister and her family and my mom. In Airdrie the city held an Easter egg hunt for everybody so we went to that. They had it for all ages, from babies to teenagers. They split it into 4 hunts so kids were all about the same age. They had a lot of stuff going on like face painting and a pancake breakfast. It was so much fun and I got to see people from school and that was great. It was so nice to see people that I went to school with, catching up on who’s married and has a family and how much their kids have grown. My sister made Easter dinner and it was a wonderful supper. This was my best Easter that I spent with my mom and my sister and her family.

ATM

Westsphere Systems (where I work) they are involved in ATM transactions and have their own ATM machines. They asked me if I would make up some logos to put on the ATM screen. So I designed 4 logos for them to pick from if they want to use any of my designs. They chose to use all 4 of my logos and now they want me to come up with signs to put on the ATM. The sign depends on the company, they want an image of the business and the business logo like a little advertisement for the business. So that's what I'm working on at work now. I have to wait until I have all the information for what work wants on the design. 

Work work work

Well I am writing a book on my life about living with C.P. I started writing my life story over 11 years ago. I love my life! I have achieved a lot. I went back to school and got a diploma in Web Design and now I am working at a company. It was E-Debit Global Corp and then the name changed to Westsphere Systems Inc. I am a Junior Web Developer. I am helping two guys with making a better website for the company.

I am also a freelance Web Designer; I did websites for my twin sister, my brother-in-law, and a lady. But I am still working on my brother-in-law’s website, it’s not finished yet. After, I will have another website for a lady who I’ve known for a long time. When I was a kid I went to school with her son and she also worked in the school.

So my freelance work is picking up one day at a time. I know it will take me time to get more clients. I am planning on making my web design work into a business and my business name is Spinning Wheels Web Design. I am redoing my web portfolio and am putting up the work that I did in school. It also has the two websites that I’ve done. I fixed up my resume. I took out what I did in the past and added in what I do now. I don't like to change my resume; it’s no fun! haha But I think it’s a good idea for me to update my resume and have it on hand. 

iPad

It’s been 9 months since I moved out of the group home and in with my good friend Laura. It does not feel like I am living there, it feels like I am staying with her for a while. All my stuff is over at her place but it still feels like I am living at the group home. But I love living with Laura! I got back my independence and I go out with friends whenever I want to go and whoever I want to go with. That is the best part! It feels like I am a normal girl who has her life back and it feels wonderful.

I have more money to do more stuff and buy more stuff. I have a Mac Book laptop; I got the laptop while I was still in school and still living at the group home. I also have an iPod that I use for music. I was looking at iPads because when I get home I have to take out and set up my laptop. I don’t always feel like taking it all out and setting it up because it’s with me everyday and I’m on it all day at work. I wanted the iPad to keep at home and use in the evenings and not need all the software that I use at work. A month ago I finally got an iPad! I love having an iPad because I don't have to take out my laptop and put it back in my wheelchair bag. I use my laptop for work and my web design stuff and sometimes I use my laptop for writing. During the day I use my iPod to listen to music and write blog entries. When I’m home I use my iPad for email, Facebook, and sometimes I watch shows on it.