The blur they called September

We thought August was busy, and it seemed that even more stuff piled on in September.  Both Adam and Parker went back to school (Adam to finish the Aviation Maintenance program at Canadore College, and Parker to begin the Paralegal program at Mohawk College).

We had planned to have our back yard ripped up and a new patio get installed, and that is what happened for most of the month of September.  Essentially, we had our 1964 original pink and green 2x2 patio stones removed and a new patio designed that would allow us access to the the new shed (which Adam finished last August) and be able to get to the front yard. We decided on 'exposed aggregate' rather than plain concrete, and added a permanent patio roof similar to what we had originally but needed to remove for our major upstairs renovation.

Here is what it looked like before the contractors started:

Faded pink and green... so lovely! We will miss the weeds.

Initially put in place to handle a stroller (Adam), but it never worked well. 

Used to have an awning above the patio door - we missed it more than we thought.

It has looked unfinished like this for over 20 years!

A few during photos:

Stones were the first to go!

A curving edge was our choice

Sono tubes for the awning/patio roof

The final finished back yard:

Awning will give shade and shelter all year round

Looks much more finished

Full width step for Maddy (and Eric)

Wie walkway to the driveway, through the gate

Translucent awning makes the back room very bright

A great place to sit/stand when it is raining and the dog is out on the grass

The final product!

In all of this construction mess, Ying and Fanfan got everything packed up and prepared to move back home to China after a whole year in our family.  We also had someone new move in!  Sally, a Ph.D. student at McMaster, moved in to our small guest room and planned to move to the larger guest room when Ying and Fanfan returned home.

We had some visits with the "Canadian cousins" (our great nieces and great nephew) so everyone could say their goodbye's.

Fanfan, Brynn, Elyse, and Laura

On the evening that they left for China, Wendy read a new book to Fanfan (which she brought home to read to her sister) and took a few pictures.

The last 'book time' in Canada for Fanfan

There were hugs and tears all around

We will miss our Chinese family.

We have had a few video calls between us and Ying and Fanfan, and it seems like things are settling back into a routine for them. Maddy was a bit sad after they left, and Wendy noticed how quiet it was - so much so, that we had to replace our loudly ticking wall clocks that we had not previously noticed were so loud.

Eric continued to wait for medical appointments and also still had his sore neck that appeared at the end of July. He also started noticing lumps on his neck that should not be there.  Our family doctor made many referrals, and the internal medicine clinic at McMaster was the winner of that race. The specialist decided they needed to get an urgent CT image of Eric's neck and arranged it within an hour (that is very unusual!). Even before the radiologist had read the image and reported the results, the specialist called Eric at home as urged him to go to the ER at the Hamilton General Hospital. Not knowing what it was we were dealing with, off we went. 

Here we go again!

Essentially, they found a very large tumour/mass (roughly 8cm x 6cm x 5cm) in his left thyroid that was pushing his trachea (windpipe) off to the opposite side of the neck. They were worried about his airway being blocked, but eventually settled on it not being quite so urgent. They made some calls and got connected to a surgeon who would see him a few days later at St. Joseph's hospital.  Eric continued to deal with the significant and relentless pain from the mass as best he could, and monitored for any drastic changes.

Somehow, this puts the August 'losing the licence nightmare' into a different light.... priorities completely changed once faced with this new problem.