Montana Thanksgiving

This past Saturday I celebrated my first Thanksgiving in Montana. Theresa, Dustin, and I went to visit Dustin's relatives near Superior which is west of Missoula about 50 miles. Dustin's relatives have been great and they made me feel very welcome in their home. I look forward to the next time we can get together.

My parents and sister celebrated Thanksgiving with my grandparents down at their place. My grandpa has been recovering from a recent hip replacement surgery and is doing very well. It has been great to be in touch with all my family by phone since moving here.

All 3 of us went to the Southgate mall for a little shopping on Black Friday. Was fun to check out all the different stores and the deals they were offering. After shopping, we met some friends and went out for mexican.

The rest of this week looks pretty quiet except for the Griz playoff game on Saturday. Our first blast of really cold weather has hit and it sure feels good to be inside with the pugs.

Until next week, stay warm and take care.

Mark

Coeur d'Alene

Last Friday, Theresa, Dustin, and I traveled over to Coeur d'Alene Idaho to visit our friend Moe who was visiting from England. We had a 3 hour trip and the mountains were absolutely gorgeous as we made our way across western Montana & northern Idaho. We met at Red Lobster and had a great evening together. It was great meeting Moe and he is a very nice guy. Hopefully we will get to have the opportunity to see him again soon.

We will be celebrating Thanksgiving with Dustin's family over in Superior on Saturday. I look forward to be spending the holidays with Theresa and Dustin. I'll surely miss my family very much during this season but my new found freedom is reason for us all to be very thankful. I'll try to post some Thanksgiving pictures next week.

I have had a few minor trach issues lately and last week I went to see Dr. Haller who is an ENT. He is a great doc and I'm definitely in very capable hands. He ran a scope down my trach to get a good view of what's going on. After scoping we decided on doing a trach dilation procedure and possibly lasering some of the scar tissue inside my trach site. It's a very simple outpatient surgery and I'm scheduled to have it done December 19th. A nice early Christmas present :-)

I want to wish everyone a very safe and happy Thanksgiving! I'll be back with another post next week.

Peace,

Mark

My new look

Tuesday night was hopefully a turning point in the direction that our country is going. It's been great to see the Democrats take back control of the House & Senate after a hard fought election season. The President got a well deserved defeat and the Executive branch will now need to be more accountable to the American public. Hopefully the Iraq mess can be straightened out fairly soon and we can pay more attention to matters here at home.

On Tuesday, Theresa, Dustin, and I went to our neighborhood polling place to volunteer. We were there to help keep track of the registered voters who came in to vote.

I got to the polling place to vote before we started our shift and found out that I wasn't listed in the voter roster. The election judge called the courthouse and it turned out there was a mixup with the mail and my registration form arrived late. To vote I had to go downtown to the courthouse to register and then I could vote at the same time. After our adventure at the courthouse, we went back to the polling place and finished our shift. Was a great feeling to participate in this election and the turn out of voters was really good as well. I'm hoping to help out again in future elections.

My uncle Randy stopped on Wednesday night on his way through Missoula on business. Sure is great to see some family stopping through Missoula to visit. My uncle gets to Missoula about once a month and I look forward to his next trip to town.

As promised, I've included a picture of my new look and my two buddies Harley and Ugga. I thought if I'm going to live in the mountains, I might as well look the part :-) The beard may come in handy this weekend as we are expecting to receive our first snowfall of the season.

That's all for this week's post. I'll be back next week with another update. Take care until then.

Mark

Back Online

This past week has brought the first real taste of chilly weather to western Montana. The lows at night have been pretty cool but a warming trend has brought milder temperatures this weekend.

I've finally gotten my computer set up and connected to the Internet. I'm very happy to have this done and I'll be online much more than I have been in recent weeks. I can be reached by e-mail at nodakwheeler@yahoo.com and on Yahoo Messenger under the ID jamestownndak

Yesterday I was given a new mouse to trial from MonTech. It's called a SmartNav mouse and I must say it's already transformed how I access my computer. It uses a sensor placed on my computer screen in conjunction with a tiny metallic sticker worn on my nose. All I do to move the cursor is to very slightly move my head and to click I use a easy touch button held in my hand. It's working great so far and once the trial is over, I'll be able to get some funding assistance to purchase it. Technology these days is truly amazing and the opportunities for people with disabilities is ever expanding all the time.

This Tuesday will finally mark the end of a very contentious and hard fought election season. I've gotten registered and look forward to casting my vote. I'm hoping the Democrats can take back the Congress and House and get this country back on the right track. Theresa, Dustin, and I will also be volunteering at our local polling place and I'm sure it will be a good experience. Tuesday night will be filled with intense interest as we watch all the results come in.

That's it for this week and Sunday will be mark two months that I've been in Missoula. Next week I'll return with another update and a picture of my new look.

Peace,

Mark