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February 28, 2011

A Contest Question.

On the Coldest Canadian contest site, "maxtreadwell" asked "Are you drunk or crazy or just really desperate for a holiday in the sun?"

I assure you, maxtreadwell, although I went "into the drink" when I filmed my video, the drink was not in me.

I cannot comment my sanity.

A few people, however, have openly wondered why I'm so intent on winning Air New Zealand's "Coldest Canadian" contest. "Why don't you just buy a ticket and go?" they ask.

Oh, believe me, I would if things were a little different. You see, as many of my regular readers know, my eldest daughter has epilepsy. We control her seizures with a very strict diet called the ketogenic diet. The effects have been nothing short of miraculous, but it is an awful amount of work. I have long wanted to give my wife, Fawn, a little break from it all - but going on a holiday isn't quite so easy for us.

We would need to make sure that Jade is being cared for by someone who is thoroughly trained in the administration of the ketogenic diet, from preparing the meals to exacting standards, to making sure they're eaten properly, to knowing the vitamin regimen and getting her to eat the cursed K-Citra pills. And it would need to be someone who would be willing to do all that. And it would need to be someone with whom the kids would be happy spending a week or two. And it would need to be someone we trust. And there's no way would would burden someone with all of the ketogenic diet stuff and both of our kids. It would require a team approach.

It would require grandmothers.

So we would need to fly one grandmother to Whitehorse from across the country, and the other one in from across the Atlantic - which is expensive - and then we would still have to purchase the tickets for our vacation.  (Flying the kids out to one of the grandmothers would be even more expensive.)

So, why not just bring the kids with us? The ketogenic diet is so strict (Everything weighed to a tenth of a gram! No brand substitutions allowed!) and time-consuming (It takes at least 4 hours every day just to prepare and feed the meals, not including doing the dishes), the very idea of traveling with the kids across the country is mind-boggling. We've done it, but it's very, very hard. The idea of transporting a child with epilepsy several time zones away (big changes in sleep patterns are not good for brains susceptible to seizures) combined with administering the ketogenic diet in a different country for two weeks? Almost inconceivable.

I don't want to sound like I'm whining. I'm not. And I'm certainly not looking for pity. That's just the way it is. We accept that - there's no sense in complaining, but we can be realistic about it all.

So the reality is that if I can win the "Coldest Canadian" contest, then I can afford to take my wife on a vacation. Which she deserves, because she works very, very, hard and could use the break. And New Zealand is a place we've always wanted to go.

I know that being crowned the "Coldest Canadian" is a long shot - but one can't win unless one tries, right?

The votes are now closed and the crowning takes place on March 4th.




4 comments:

Justjanesinsaneblog@blogspot.com said...

March forth and be victorious!

Nemmy said...

Wish I could help you with your vacation needs... :(

Scientific Chick said...

So, how did this work? Did you have to be in the top 10 to move forward to the next step?

Meandering Michael said...

It was top ten by "Public Vote", but it wasn't clear if that was strictly the "thumbs up" votes or if it included comments, tweets, and facebook "likes".

They announced their top ten today. Looks like they went with the "thumbs up" only.

Ah, well! We've been blessed in a lot of other ways, but we can always dream!