Doug's Blog

Today is June 14th and in the morning I leave for Edmonton, again, but this time it is to catch a plane to Guatemala. We fly out to Denver, on to LA, and finally to Guatemala. I will spend 10 days there building houses for the poor with Habitat for Humanity. I am not a carpenter or a mason, but they told me I would spend the entire day hauling cinder blocks up the side of a mountain, so skill was not really the issue.

I am looking forward to the trip and the experience which promises to be life altering. Why I am doing this is posted in one of my notes. I will be trying to find a computer regularly to post pictures and blogs to let you know, well, those of you interested, about how I am doing and what it is like. We will be, however, in a very remote location of the country and so I may not be able to keep you posted. In that case I will give a full, but brief report when I get back.

Wish me luck and Godspeed.

I am very sorry to everyone that I didn't make a post yesterday. Austin and I went downtown to help finish the projects and then I brought him back for a nap and did some work around the house to get ready for Sue coming home. God I missed her. Thought I was doing pretty good, but when I say her it was a little overwhelming.

When we got back to the house I was so overcome by a wave of absolute exhaustion. I almost fell asleep having supper. I didn't realize how much pressure I was actually undergoing and how truly exhausted I was. I wasn't exhausted from the work though, it was caused by not having Sue around and trying to be strong about it.

Austin went to bed early and Sue and I tried to have a glass of wine, but neither of us finished it. We fell asleep in each others arms almost immediately and so ended the night.

So ends the experience and experiment of a Week Without Women. It was worth the learning, but I am glad we are done.

Ok, it is day 6 into this Week the Women Went social experiment engineered by Paperny Films and financed by CBC. The girls are in Canmore still and will be back tomorrow sometime in the mid-afternoon. I am doing well I have to say.

Austin and I spent the morning outside doing all of the yard work that needed to get done and then for the afternoon we went down on mainstreet and worked on our 'pocket park' with Wayne, Robert, Brian and a lovely young lady of 9 years whose name I never got. We put up the fence and cut all the boards for all three pocket parks. We went over to Brian's and had beer and pizza and went back to work right away where Shawn joined us in finishing up the fence and planting all of the trees, shrubs and flowers.

Today marked the first day that I actually got to spend a lot of meaningful time out there working. Either Austin was ill, or when we had a two hour window between eating, napping or playing it was either too hot or too cold or no one was there.

We got back here about 8pm and Austin had a bath, played for about 10 minutes and went to bed. He was worn out from all of the running and playing and working. He wanted to help everywhere. He carried around my drill for me and help me dig holes for the trees. It was grand!

Sue will be sorry she was gone, but will understand what I go through now when I have to leave to go to work for a few days at a time. He is saying so many more words and is such a help around the house. He now brushes his teeth at the sink like I do . . . he even turns on the water, rinses his brush and tries to spit, though it is more like a little kissing sound than any real spit.

This week has been great for Austin and I to spend a lot, and I mean, a lot, of time together. The team is coming over tonight to do an 'exit' interview since the girls are coming back tomorrow. I am sure they are going to ask me if this has changed Sue's and my relationship any. The answer is no.

I couldn't love Sue more than I did before, we couldn't be closer now than before she left, and nothing really has changed except that I can now do her job with reasonable confidence, and we have a deeper appreciation for each other's circumstances. No, that isn't right. We always appreciated each other, we just have a more first hand understanding now.

So, I will post one more time tomorrow and than that will be it. It will be back to work for a few days and then off to Guatemala to build houses for some very deserving and worthy souls. Life is grand.

Ok, so Austin never did nap this afternoon. He sleep for about a half hour on the way to Wainwright for the interview about this project and that was it. He was tired and grumpy (well, actually, not too bad) and went to be and out like a light very quickly about 9pm.

I can't believe it is Thursday! Just two more days until me baby comes home to my baby and me. I am sooooo damn tired. I got sleep last night but I just feel drained to no end.

I left Austin with Grandma last night and by the time I got back from the 4-H sale he was already sound asleep and I didn't want to wake him, so we stayed in Coronation and came back this morning.

Did I mention it is just a couple more days until Sue comes home. I hope I make it that much farther. I am going to mow the grass tomorrow and then go work on the projects for the rest of the day, with Austin. He will get lots of fresh air and have fun and then sleep really well tomorrow night in anticipation of his 'momma' coming home.

It is noon on Thursday and Austin has gone to be without much of a fight. He is still awake, but he isn't crying. We stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's last night. By the time I was done at the 4-H sale it was late and when I got home Austin was already in bed and asleep, so we just stayed the night. Yes, Carm, I did by a calf, but you don't get any.

So I am really hoping the Austin gets a good nap in because we have to leave at 1pm to go to Wainwwright so I can, or rather WE (Austin and I) can do an interview on Key 83 radio about this social experiment. I think it will be good and don't forget that it will be a call in show so for those of you thinking of listening, you can participate as well.

Boy, when it rains it pours, literally it is about to start pouring rain here. So I was having trouble getting Austin to sleep the last two nights, which has made me pretty owly, but now on top of that he is sick. He woke up this morning after he slept in to 10, because he was up from 2 to 6am, and started sneezing. I woke up a bit stuffed up myself so I didn't think much of it, but after his nap he woke up stuffed up and sick as a dog.

I have been taking care of him alright, but now we had to spend the entire day inside (it was very windy and cool) and cut off from the others because I don't want to get all the other kids sick. So it is just me and Austin inside all day together. I think we both already have cabin fever.

He spent most of the day taking me by the hand and leading me around the house, up the stairs and down the stairs and back up the stairs all the while talking in gibberish to me and himself. I think he was looking for his mom.

He saw our wedding picture on the fridge this morning and insisted on having it. He walked about with it all day today and when I would say, 'where is mom?," he would show me the picture. We had to walk around to every picture in the house so he could point out his mom in the pictures. I am beginning to believe Austin misses her as much as I do.

Well, todays blog will be short because I still have to fold one more load of laundry and pick up Austin's toys in the basement before I can go to bed, and I am NOT working until late in the night again or anymore this week. I need my sleep or I can't do Austin justice. Night all.

1:30 today and Austin finally went down, just 2 hours later than usual. He went to sleep last night alright, but he woke up at 2 am and was awake until about 6am, and of course, I couldn't go back to sleep then. I am going to try to get some sleep while he is down, or I am not going to make it.

I think he knows his mom is gone for the week because everything is 'momma' and he just doesn't want to be alone, almost like he thinks I am going to leave too. I have to rock him to sleep every time. I am now behind on the yard work but the house is clean. I am having no trouble doing Sue's three jobs (taking care of me, Austin and the inside of the house) but I have no time for my work, namely the outside of the house and MLA business. Hopefully tonight he gets a good sleep so I can attend some MLA functions in the constituency tomorrow and the next day. For those interested I will be interviewed about this entire experiment on Thursday at 2pm on Key 83 (830 am). It will be a call in show.

The number for the call in show on Thursday at 2pm will be 780.842.4311.