Jenny survived her first plane trip this week. We just returned from visiting where our new home will be in Austin. The actual time on the plane was no problem at all. As a matter of fact, I finally realized who they built the plane seats to accomidate. Jenny fit good in them and was well supported, so you can blame her for uncomfortable seating if my theory is correct. The other stuff was not so smooth (cancellations, rerouting, late arrivals, missed planes, blizzard conditions etc…). Several years ago, Jenny had her bags lost and she stated, “To have my bags lost is by biggest fear of anything.” A much wiser Jenny remarked a couple days ago, “After a stroke, most problems that occur seem small and are not worth worrying about.” The real difficult part of traveling was being without her assistive equiptment such as her power chair, accessible van, accomidated bathroom, and so on. She had a rental chair that tilted back and folded up (since her other chairs do not travel well). It turned out that the chair actually made her work so hard to stay up that it wore her out.

We did attend what would be our new ward. As it turns out, a few families (all with kids our kids’ ages) live on our short street, so our kids will know their neighbors better since they will get exposure at school, church, and the neighborhood. Jenny’s favorite part was that since it was a new building, there was a ramp that led to the podium. The members were just as nice as those in Indiana, but the building its self felt more accomidating. Overall, Jenny loves the area and would love to move there! that was a big relief for other family members and myself (mostly since we are starting construction there). The weather was wonderful. Jenny has a difficult time with the cold now, so being that Austin was in the 70’s and Indianapolis was having a blizzard, it proved to be a good place to go.

Jenny continues to do well with the power chair. I had to put her in her non-power chair because the other was caught in a sudden rain storm. It was an interesting experinece because we both realized how much better life was with the power chair. Jenny rides around on super slow speed. It was just this week that she was able to see how fast it could go. She picked Zach up at the bus stop and he drove back on her lap at full speed. She liked it, but is still too unsure to gun it. There are a couple marks on the wall (one by me), but they are easily fixed by a little paint. It is more difficult to use in crowded areas because Jenny is unable to clearly see people dart in and out. Sophia found out that we really were serious about not touching the attendent control as she backed it over her own toes. She is fine, but hopefully wiser.

Jenny is so excited about her new teaching position with me in church. We get to teach Zach’s class and she is glad to be back in Primary. What can a woman who can not move or speak do as a teacher? Well, she already has done it. As we read the first lesson together, as we planned for next week, she kept stopping me to tell me she has made visual aids for various points of the lesson- especially the parts where we are to sing songs. I will actually have visual aids and planning involved in my lessons. I just hope I have time to find or make everything she has planned.

Jenny has been feeding herself meals with her new arm support. It is incredible as she seemed to rapidly improve from meal to meal. I found out that I was not feeding her fast enough (based on how fast she is able to eat). Appearantly, I was not splashing it on her face enough either (also based on her self feeding). She is getting better and not as messy with each meal.

We are planning on two big plane trips back-to-back. We are going on a quick trip to Austin to let Jenny see the property we bought. A few days later, we will be in Florida. This will be her first time on a plane since her stroke, so I hope we work the bugs out by the second trip.