Blizzard!

Don't know what the total accumulation is on this monster snowstorm, but I can tell you it's getting us a second day off from school tomorrow. Plenty of much-needed quality time with my ladies!

I think I might pass out from all the cuteness.

The driveway provides the perfect bunny slope.

Not sure who had more fun here.

Taking a break from all the fun.

Not even close to done.

Is it really 2011???

Yes, I'm somewhat embarrassed to say I haven't posted since last year. It's not like I've had a shortage of material to broadcast, either. What can I say? Basketball season is a grind, man. 13-hour days every weekday which feature the regular teaching day, practice prep, film breakdown, meetings and actual practice before eventually getting home to hang out with my two favorite ladies for about 90 minutes before crashing hard. Wash, rinse, repeat. But that's not what you're here for, is it? Listening to a grown man piss and moan about how hard his work day is? Seriously, is it? What is wrong with you? We'll get to that later.

Let's dip back to early December when Kate, Emily and Gram took Superhip week by storm, going from Connecticut to West Palm and back in just about 36 hours. They met up with the Petraske, Scott, Rodriguez and Tudor clans who have collectively dubbed themselves "The Lengthening Class of 2012." Children played. Stories were shared. Superhip shirts were worn. Hard to believe they avoided the paparazzi.

While it was a treat to finally get some face time with our people, that wasn't exactly the point of the visit. Dr. Paley needed to follow up on his craftsmanship from August and, ya know, he generally gets what he wants. With roughly a dozen doctors and therapists from around the world following his every move, he presented Emily's entire case and described her progress in a very positive manner. He was pleased enough that he told Kate he didn't need to see us until next summer and that would be the last time before her lengthening in May of 2012. While that seemed nice, Kate admits she didn't think much of it until a clearly surprised Caroline Eaton exclaimed that she's never seen Dr. Paley do that. He usually wants to see his kids every six months, minimum. Still not sure what he saw that makes him feel so confident. Not even sure I care. All I know is when people ask how Emily is, I always respond the same way. "Bulletproof."

Since then, time has moved with Flash-like speed. Ems continues to grow and develop at an alarming rate. She just looks so....old. She's very much a little girl. Yes, the seemingly ever-present binky makes her appear more toddler-like (we've now limited it to bedtime...it's like kicking heroin) but every once in a while Kate will get Emily dressed up with her hair in a ponytail and I'll just think...when did we get an 8-year old? I'm not a fan of this phenomenon.

Nevertheless, while she ages far too rapidly, it is wonderful to watch. She is an amazing child. She is beautiful and happy and curious and funny and demanding and easily the greatest thing I've ever been a part of. I'm just doing my best not to screw it up.

If I had a resolution in 2011, it would be to spend more time with Kate and Emily. With that, we're going out to play in the snow. Gotta take advantage of a day off in the middle of the week.

Mom and dad, otherwise engaged. Emily, constantly aware of the camera.

I love the smirk. You'd think someone just gave her socks.

Emily giving us "pensive."

Taking after her dad's casual approach.

Seriously, when did she get so old??

Awesome.

I believe most of you know these two handsome devils. Dr. Dror Paley on the left and Ms. Caroline Eaton on the right rocking Tredwell brand "superhip" shirts. When the man who makes miracles and the woman who helps the man make miracles are wearing your shirts, your fundraiser is a success.
Thanks for all you do! Keep up the good work!

Don't call it a comeback!

Ordinarily, this is where I'd slowly slink into the room, head down, tail between the legs, mumbling some pathetic excuse of an apology for the longest blog hiatus in the history of The Gray Area. But not this time. Oh, no campers...I'm done apologizing. I'm a man. Not much of one, but a man, nonetheless. A man with things to do. What things? Don't ask me questions like that! Sarah Palin taught me that direct questions are a violation of my first amendment rights. Shame on you! And so close to Veteran's Day, too...

Obviously, my absence has had no effect on my grasp of a ridiculously bizarre and completely unrelated rant. What can I say? I stay true to myself. But in all honesty, it's been a combination of things that's kept me post-free since September 23rd. First off, I've been keeping up with my man Carter who is ahead of Emily on this journey. He's a tough, good-looking kid and his mom does such a fabulous job with him and her family and her blog that, and I'm not ashamed to admit this, I was a little hesitant to get back to posting. Seriously, how can a rapidly-aging, barely-literate, middle school gym teacher hope to compete? Then, to send me further down my self-imposed shame spiral, I discovered this little slice of brilliance and, well, my literary insecurities ran wild.

But it wasn't all bad. I also managed to rope the wife into joining me for some real workouts a few days a week which, naturally, turned into a whole family event. The family that sweats together stays together! But then Daddy had to get all old and soft and tear his left pectoral muscle. Deep down, I think Kate is happy...not that I'm hurt...just that I won't be nagging her to come work out with me.

Ok. So...we're gonna just go ahead and put the brakes on the Tim Tredwell Pity Party and move on to the good stuff. Like, ya know...why we're here...that cool, kid Emily. Last time I checked, we were flashing pictures of that bionic hip and shoving her out into the wild to test it out. Let's see...cast off on a Thursday, taking tentative steps Saturday, wandering around Ikea unassisted by Monday. Seriously. People continually ask "how's Emily?" My response each and every time..."Bulletproof."

And it's not even about the mobility or the fact that a scar down her leg seems to be the only evidence anything was ever done to her. She's just such a nice kid. She's cute and smart and fun and talks all the time (not always a positive.) Wednesday night while Kate was out to dinner with friends, Ems and I were snuggled on the couch watching Lilo and Stitch. She looks at me and says excitedly, "Wanna make popcorn?" I know she's just past 27 months old now and it's not like she explained how to solve for X or anything...but it was just so darn cute. You could say I'm a fan.

Kate, Emily and Gram will be shuttling down to West Palm Beach in early December for a check-up with The Man. I will not be traveling this time as I prepare my other girls for their season. I'm sure the Tredwell Women will be taking Superhip Week by storm. Probably best for me to just stay out of the way.

I promise to be in touch before then. In the meantime, some pictures of the cutest girl we know.

Cast Away!!!

That, my friends, is the tiny piece of hardware placed in Emily's right femur and hip during her Superhip procedure six weeks ago. That x-ray was taken yesterday. Last night at about 10:50 PM, Dr. Paley e-mailed us the ok to remove her cast for good and begin weight-bearing and physical therapy. And there was much rejoicing. If I had more time, I would go into great detail about our plans for a nice retirement ceremony for this stupid, clam-shell, urine-stanked brace (think a large open field, safety goggles and three sticks of dynamite) but I don't. So, instead just think about our kid roaming free yet again. And smile a lot. Because we are.

It's go time!

To say the response has been tremendous would be a drastic understatement. Kate and I originally thought we'd order 50 shirts, try and sell them and maybe cover the cost of a cheap rental car while we're in West Palm Beach for Emily's three-month follow up. Wrong. People have been coming out of the woodwork wanting to help in anyway possible. This has been a most humbling experience.

But now it's time to go to work. For all of us. So many of you have come forward saying you want to get in on the latest "superhip" t-shirt trend. Can do. Here's what needs to happen next.

-E-mail me (timtredwell@yahoo.com) exactly how many shirts you want and their sizes. We'll have anything from youth XS to adult XXL. Some of you have already done this. Others have simply said "we're in" or "I'll buy a bunch." Encouraging, indeed...but we need hard numbers now. Even if you've already done so, please humor me and do it again. It's pretty easy to get swamped. Remember, I'm just a simple gym teacher.

-Please send a check, made out to Emily, Kate or Tim Tredwell (whichever one of us you like best.) Emily will have her first bank account starting with the receipt of the first payment. Even more incentive to get your order in soon!

If you're local (in Connecticut...or you're planning on being nearby at some point in the near future) it will be $10 per shirt. If you're in the continental U.S., please include an extra $5 for shipping. Checks can be mailed to:

49 Black Walnut Dr.

Middletown, CT. 06457.

I'd like to order the shirts by next week. The sooner payments come in, the sooner we can get you the shirts and the sooner everyone will know just how superhip you are.

I will never be able to thank you all enough. But I'll try.

Happy Birthday, Gray Area!

That's right, bubba. Two years ago today, a blog was born. We've shared a lot in that time. Together, we've experienced the highs, the lows, the laughs, the tears, the clever wit and the inability to formulate a coherent thought. We've done it all! If you listen closely, somewhere, a Hamden High School english teacher is weeping quietly to herself...

And after more than 100 posts and almost 9,500 hits from visitors stationed at every corner of the globe, I feel like we're just getting started. We've got at least another decade of this, so if you know any good fart jokes, it would really help us out if you could pass them along.

In the meantime, we've gotten a massive response to our fundraising query. While we've always been keenly aware that we're surrounded by some of the best people, sometimes it doesn't really take hold until three hours after a mass e-mail has been sent out and I've had requests for more than 60 t-shirts, offers of donations, tickets to auction (really, REALLY good tickets too) and so on. And that was just last night! Well, today the requests kept coming. To say we were overwhelmed would be painfully understated. You guys are phenomenal.

As a side note, many of you requested a t-shirt because you're generous, heaven-bound people who just wanted to help out. There was a part of me that thought, "that's awesome, but they DO get a pretty sweet shirt." It was then pointed out to me that, apparently, the funky, old school font I had hunted for, e-mailed to friends, posted on the blog and facebook was only showing up on MY computer. Everyone else was taking a gander at whatever standard "times new roman" default font their personal computer went with. Goody.

But thanks to Cousin Sarah, errors were corrected, images were salvaged and our shirt design has gone public...for real, this time. We're still taking requests, and should come up with a solid plan in the next couple days.

Thanks to everyone who's been there for us and continues to be.

More info!

Can you feel the excitement? Because it's in the air!

Ok, maybe there's no actual excitement in the air, but I feel like there could be. This morning, Kate and I were discussing the financial details of having a child with PFFD, and started to steer the conversation in the direction of fundraising. We are fortunate enough to have good jobs, insurance and supportive people in our circle. But even with that, frequent flights and extended stays in West Palm Beach will begin to take a toll. While we are truly blessed to be in such a position, I would feel dirty just trying to set up a fund for Emily without people getting something in return (we could auction off time to just hang out with her but that doesn't seem right...especially these days. GOD is she two.)

So this is what we're thinking....t-shirts! Everybody loves 'em. Everybody wears 'em. So let's sell some! The design would be a simple, white, short-sleeve tee with a light blue "superhip" (as seen below) printed across the chest.

For those of you who have been playing along this whole time, you know that "superhip" is the name of the surgery Emily just went through this past August. For the rest of you, it's just another good way to advertise to the rest of the world how groovy you really are. Everyone's a winner!

I'm thinking $10 a shirt. If we have to send it to you, we'll need to tack on a little extra to cover shipping, but we can cross that bridge when we get to it. I'm sorry for the jump in price, but shipping's expensive. Take it up with the Post Office.

Right now, we're just trying to gauge interest. If you like this idea, leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail at timtredwell@yahoo.com that says how many you want and the sizes. If enough people are on board, we'll make it happen.

That's all for now. Hope to hear from you really soon!

Stay tuned...more info to follow.

All home. Together. Finally.

I think the standard intro here is "what a long, strange trip it's been." But, frankly, that quote is overused by high school yearbooks and dirty hippies and I'm too tired for this nonsense.

The simple fact is we're all back home and I could not be happier.

It was a difficult and emotional two weeks capped off by Dad's 16+ hour drive through mostly monsoon-like conditions. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I dropped Kate and Emily off at the airport Friday night. Rightfully nervous, Kate took control of our precious cargo while I aimed the car north. Emily was merciful and slept the entire flight, landing in Hartford around 9:30 PM. I believe I was in northern Florida at that point.

Just being home seemed to lift Emily's spirits. She had her grandparents, her toys, a full fridge...and really, what else do you need?

Meanwhile, I took a slightly longer route. A brief stop in Columbia, SC allowed me to spend time with our friends Matthew and Melissa (and FINALLY meet their precious daughter, Olivia.) This allowed me to recharge a bit before the home stretch on Sunday.

But no matter how long it took, or what traffic I hit, or how hard it rained, or what detours I had to take (are you getting the picture or am I painting with too broad of a stroke? The drive sucked) NOTHING made it better than walking in the door and hearing Ems say "wanna go see Daddy?" I'm easy. I know.

And things have improved. Drastically. She is happier. More mobile. More like the kid we've always known. She is still capable of getting plain surly, but show me a two-year old in a lower body cast who DOESN'T act out periodically.

It's been about 26 hours since I walked in the door and I'm starting to feel almost normal. And if things are back to normal, that means I'll probably go on a month-long blog hiatus. If so, I apologize in advance. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures. And thank you all for helping us get this far.

That's the happy girl we know.

Piper taking care of her favorite patient.