Photo in a Wallet

It is easy to get attached to students who hold special places in my heart. The student ( "S") I referred to in my Dec./06 post is one such example. I worked with her for three years. I was sad when I found out I would not be working with her this year. She was sad too and wouldn't talk to me for a month:) Last week we took our special needs class to see the movie "Shrek the Third" along with all special needs classes in the Durham Region! Yes, it was an interesting experience, but quite enjoyable! "S" came with us! When we arrived at the theatre, "S" handed me her wallet to get her money out for popcorn. As I opened her wallet, I saw my picture! How sweet! I still hold a special place in her heart too!

Living in space: Victoria Day long weekend!

I treasure the moments where I have the privilege of sharing space with my friends in their community. Why?....

I get to ride the train instead of
driving on the 401...

Sharing in the daily life of raising their children opens my eyes to the raw, honest and joyous reality of parenthood... sharing in their faith community expands my Christian world view and exposes me to pure church community living...

laughing, drinking tea and sharing decadent desserts with their friends...

being silly modelling new "butt boosting" underwear while shopping at Walmart( why anyone would want to add more padding to their bottoms is beyond my understanding!!)...

freedom to let loose and burn off some stress...

exuberant amounts of laughter...

sharing quiet moments fills me up...

just being together...crying, sharing in the pain of the difficult moments at this stage in our lives...praying...holding each other close knowing it will all be okay...celebrating...kindred spirits...
thankfulness for the incredible community of friends that surround me as I continue on this journey of life touches me at the core of my being!

As you "live" in the space of those around you may you be ever mindful that we need community and need to be community to others.

Where is Dr. House when you need him?

May Sweeps...a new episode of "House," guest starring the Whalen family..mmm... sounds like it would boost ratings!! :) Unfortunately, Dr. Gregory House will not be paying a visit to Lakeridge Health Oshawa nor to star patient Wyman! For the past few weeks and most recently, the past two days, I have felt like my family is living out an episode of "House!" For those of you who have no idea who Dr. House is, let me introduce you to him....

"DR. GREGORY HOUSE (Hugh Laurie) is devoid of anything resembling bedside manner and wouldn’t even talk to his patients if he could get away with it. While his behavior can border on antisocial, House is a brilliant diagnostician whose unconventional thinking and flawless instincts afford him widespread respect.
An infectious disease specialist, House thrives on the challenge of solving medical puzzles in order to save lives. He has assembled an elite team of young experts to help him unravel these diagnostic mysteries: neurologist DR. ERIC FOREMAN (Omar Epps); immunologist DR. ALLISON CAMERON (Jennifer Morrison); and intensevist DR. ROBERT CHASE (Jesse Spencer). House has a good friend and confidant in oncology specialist DR. JAMES WILSON (Robert Sean Leonard), with whom he consults with on a regular basis. "

Here is an example of typical banter between House and his colleagues:

Cameron: "You're lucky he didn't die."

House: "I'm lucky? He's the one who didn't die."

I love the show and love the character of Dr. House! Why do I feel I am in an episode of House?

Well, the doctors involved in my dad's case are baffled as to what is causing my dad's symptoms. It turns out, he has something called, "Erythema Navosum," which is an imflammation of the fatty tissue and thus creating the tumours, redness, swelling and burning in his legs and arms. His family doctor wanted him admitted to hospital two days ago because this burning/redness and swelling spread to his head. So, mom and I spent many hours in the ER with dad and many cranky nurses, with no bedside manner. One of dad's "favourites" was a nurse he nicknamed, "the orange pumpkin rotweiller!!" Welcome to the world of my dad's humour...it can be embarassing at times!!:)

Finally, almost 24 hours later, the internist (another one with crazy bedside manner, but apparently she is the best) came to inspect dad!!! She feels the cause is a parasite and his head issues are viral, so she sent him home.

We were home for 2 hours when the gastro...( I'm not sure the correct name:)) doctor called and asked dad to come back into the ER ASAP! They found blood in his stool, and with all dad's other medical issues, the doctor needed to do a colonoscopy and gastroscopy immediately!! In typical Whalen fashion, this doctor called at the exact moment my mom was choking on her "Teddy's corned beef on rye," with dad doing the hymlec manoeuver on her!!!:) Always an adventure in the Whalen household!!! After mom was sorted, dad went back to the ER to be prepped for this procedure.

Dad is finally home and resting comfortably! Slowly, the pieces of this medical phenomenon puzzle( my dad!!:)) are being put together. I have a feeling Dr. House would have solved this mystery by now!! But, House affords the luxury of having all the doctors who are involved in the case, assembled in one room, writing possible causes on the flipchart and having test results back in minutes!!! In the real world of medicine, it is not that organized. I must say however, we have had amazing doctors dealing with dads case. I am grateful to his family doctor, dermatologist(she's amazing...she's the one who got the ball rolling on everything and her predicitons have been accurate), gastrologist, internist and respective secretaries. They have all been amazing in this medical adventure!

Dad's diagnosis as of today: he could have one of the following diseases, which most likely is causing the erythema navosum: chrone's disease, collitis, a parasite, or celiac disease! Take your pick! I wonder what Dr. House would say!

PS to Blind Dates and Babies!!

Gratefulness fills my heart for the children that are in my life. I am thankful I play a part in my friends' children's lives (and their extended family) and in the lives of my nieces, nephew and god-daughter! Even though I am not a mom, I can share a small part of " a day in the life of a mom," or rather, " a LONG YEAR in the life of a mom!" I am blessed to love and be loved by these precious gifts from God. (Yes, even those adolescents!!:)) I am and will always be "Aunt Skin" to this wonderful extended family! Here are a few of my favourite conversations with some of my "children"...

• When told by his mom that I would be moving back to Ontario (from Edmonton), C. asked, "can Karyne live with us until Jesus comes?"
• Every time I visit the Dallas home, T. asks, " can you call your mom and see if you can have a sleepover!"
• T. asked me who my best friend was...when I replied "your mother of course," she looked at me in disgust and said, "well mine is Jesus!"

My all time favourite conversation occurred when I lived in Edmonton. I was babysitting C. one evening and as I put him to bed in the bottom bunk, he started crying for his father. I tried everything to calm him down, but nothing worked. I eventually had a brainwave....I told him to think about something else! Without missing a beat, C. looked up at me with his big, blue eyes and said, " I'm thinking you look like a bat!"

Out of the mouth of babes!!

Blind Dates and Babies

Is my biological clock ticking? Why do I suddenly feel I want a baby when I thought I was okay with not having children? I remember back when I was 35, something strange was happening to my body. I thought I was going through menopause! It is hard to explain except to say physiologically my body and I wanted a baby! I was angry at God for not allowing me this privilege of being a parent. After all, I had done everything right - followed the rules, had great insides that followed the rules each month - but, no husband and no baby. I went through what I call a grieving process. Is that process going to start again? Why does 40 seem to be the magic number where I think that everything goes down hill from here? Didn't I just read that "40 is the new 30?" Isn't life suppose to begin at 40? What happened to my optimistic view about turning 40? Didn't I just say I am excited about the adventures that await way down yonder? Where are all the single guys that were to sweep me off my feet before I turned 40? My dad even promised to buy the ring if they provided the boat and motor! How could anyone turn down that proposal? Why do all of my blind dates end up as great blind date stories ready to be told around the campfire? May I digress just a wee bit and share my two favourite blind date one-liners... The first one occurred in the middle of dinner. My blind date leaned over and said, "Karyne, I just want to let you know I am horny....I was hoping we could go back to my place and burn some candles." No thanks, I burn enough candles of my own! The second one occurred at a Starbucks with a different guy. My blind date said to me, (remember I'm an EA who works all day with autistic children) " I think I am autistic." About 5 minutes after he said this to me I saw one of my autistic students walk by our table! I couldn't believe the timing! Needless to say we didn't go on a second date!! I'm finished digressing. Back to the point of this post.... Wasn't I just reflecting on how amazing I feel at this stage in my life? I feel more confident, more sexy, more beautiful, more settled at the core of my being, more certain with my God -given intuition, more content in acknowledging this is where God wants me right now and more free to be me than I did when I was 30. I feel I am aging well, thanks to good genes. So, why all the questioning? Why all the self - doubt? Why am I still concerned about what people say about my marital status? Why have I given up on the prospect of more blind date adventures and babies? Why does it seem like my desire to be married and have children will not be realized because I am turning 40 and feel all hope is gone? The good news is I am not angry with God and my biological clock is working just fine!

Ask me about the book I'm reading now!

One of my favourite things to do is to grab a Starbucks, "tall, non- fat, gingerbread latte, no whip, no sprinkles," ( Isn't crazy how specialized our coffee order can be!!) and browse the shelves of Chapters. Now, all the employees are sporting the above statement attached to their name tags. Usually, due to my cynical nature, I would ignore this missive, but decided to go ahead and ask each employee I descend upon, "what book are you reading now?" Not surprisingly, I seem to catch every employee off guard. After a few awkward minutes, they do manage to share about their latest adventures in reading, which almost convince me to purchase the book!!
Recently, I received a Chapters gift card, so I was eager to buy some new books and to see if I could catch any more employees off guard!! One book I purchased that day was, "Bono in conversation with Michka Assayas." I have wanted to read Bono's biography for a while now, so I was excited to begin. I absolutely am LOVING this book. More than anything, I am surprised and impressed by his deep love for Jesus and desire to put into action Jesus' teachings. I knew he was spiritual and was always interested in the debate it generated amongst the evangelicals. I had the privilege of going to U2's concert last year in Toronto. It was a "God moment" for me...I know it sounds crazy, but the Spirit of God was evident that night....I worshipped God at a U2 concert! (My protestant, Irish B-special grandfather may have rolled over in his grave at that notion!) It was very special! Anyways, I wanted to leave a bit of Bono's discussion of televangelists. ( He was talking about U2's first trip to America and what that was like) In my opinion, he couldn't have said it better than me who grew up in a somewhat - fundamental to Bono - fundamental Christian community! Food for thought:

" Who was the first telebangelist you saw on TV?"
"It was a preacher who was asking his audience in TV land to put their hand against the screen to be healed. So there were people, old ladies with bronchitis, old ladies with boken hips, and probably people with cancer, all over America, getting out of their armchairs and putting their hands on the TV. It broke my heart. But remember I was a believer. Though I understood the power of the Scriptures they were quoting from, and I did believe in the healing powers of faith, I was seeing it debased and demeaned. But unlike a lot of people, I understood the language. What's always bothered me about the fundamentalists is that they seem preoccupied with the most obvious sins. If those sins, sexual immorality and drug addiction, come out of unhappiness, then I'm sure God wants to set people free of that unhappiness. But, I couldn't figure out why the same people were never questionning the deepr, slyer problems of the human spirit like self-righteousness, judgmentalism, institutional greed, corporate greed. You only have to look to unfair trade agreements that keep the developing wolrd in the Dark Ages to see the hypocrisy I'm talking about. These people talk about the debasing of culture. What about the debasing of hundreds of thousands of real lives? "

"Right. These people go to church on Sunday. I guess they're very generous when the plate comes around. So were you angry with those fundamentalists?"
" We thought they were trampling all over the most precious thing of all: the concept that God is love. These televangelists, they were the traders inside the temple, that story where Jesus turned over their tables. They were putting people off God, especially young people who didn't want to admit to being Christians anymore. Because in clubs, on campuses, everywhere, people would say: "You're part of that. They're nuts!" So it was very interesting to be in America at that time. We were fans and critics, getting ready to tell them the best and the worst on The Joshua Tree."