I also captured a moment of Jordan trotting with her horse, Thunder this past week. It was freezing outside, but Jordan didn’t complain. She did a really good job staying upright and centered on the saddle. It makes a Momma proud.

In other news, I’m wondering if there’s something the online community can do. The Shriners Hospital system isn’t able to raise money like it used to… And some of its hospitals are closing. It’s possible others will close soon. I learned about it from the Chaos and Mayhem blog. It looks like Shriners hospitals in Erie, PA, Galveston, TX, Greenville, SC, Shreveport, LA, Spokane, WA and Springfield, MA will close. According to Modern Healthcare, Shriners lost $3 billion due to the weak economy. Operations in the rest of the hospitals need to be trimmed by 20 to 30 percent. There are petitions out there to keep these hospitals running… But what will make that happen is money. I have only visited Shriners once, but it’s amazing what these hospitals do. I’m hoping to work with them to meet more families and children for Jordan to meet. Our closest hospital is two hours away… but some families have to travel across states to get there. Shriners are one of the few sources of inexpensive and free care for kids with all kinds of physical challenges. They do wonderful things and I’ve been lucky to work with them. If you’re able to give anything, here’s a link to donate to Shriners.

I joined a gym last week and I’ve been really focused on getting healthy. If you have followed me long enough you may have noticed I went through a better eating phase, but I haven’t really added a commitment to exercise in a very long time. I had a membership to a different gym, but this one is very nice and you want to be there. The kids want to be there too.

From Vox Magazine, 2006, Photo by ALYCIA LEWIS

There’s a really cool play area for kids where they have a netted climbing area with a really slick slide. When I saw it at first, I was certain Jordan couldn’t climb it. It kind of looks like this photo — but it isn’t as large. Jordan has to climb straight up to get pretty darn high and go down the slide. I made sure Cameron wouldn’t pressure her to go down it. What I didn’t expect is she wanted to climb and she DID!  And she’s climbed it many, many times. The folks who watch the kids there are so amazed by her. Especially since her climbing style is very original. We’re making sure she has the bouncy arm on to give her more leverage… She uses both “hands” to pull up while Jordan throws her left leg up to add in that pulling up action. She’s amazingly flexible.

She’s having a ball there. She’s officially named the gym’s kid play area/daycare as the “Slide School.” She actually got upset earlier this week when I took her to her real school. Jordan had set her sights on that big, tall slide. She got over it though. She really loves her new school. (Which is so awesome)

As for me — This health thing has me thinking about running a 5K next month. I ran two miles straight on a treadmill today. I’m wondering if I can do that again outside… And move that towards three miles. That way I don’t look really silly when I get to the race and become the last person to cross the finish line! I know two and three miles are no big deal… But to me this is HUGE!