Going to the Wolf Den

I'm stumbling around this morning, slurping cup after cup of coffee in a desperate hope for energy on this Monday back-to-school-and-work morning. So far it is 9 a.m. and I still feel like I just got up even though that time is long past.

My usual morning activities are a bit more frenetic than usual due to our impending departure tonight for SLC and Wolf's birthday visit. It's always so interesting packing for a visit to this kid; for besides the usual stuff for me, I always have extras to make our time together well spent.

Since Wolf still has not reached the privileged level where outings are permitted and encouraged, we will yet again be spending time inside the halls of CHYC. After my first visit over a year ago when I did not come prepared, I now fill my duffel bag with activities, magazines, and games that hopefully will encourage discussion and facilitate easier quality time with Mom, and in this case, Yukon as well (although Yukon historically does better at this than I, for the record).

This is the first occasion Yukon and I have had to visit Wolf together as the Team, since one of us usually remains behind to care for Bear and keep his schedule as normal as possible on the home front. Wolf asked for both of us, however, for his birthday, and since he asked with no material goods attached, we figured this would be an intrinsically positive gift to give.

Since this decision was made back in November, however, issues concerning Wolf's current and future care have taken center stage and our tandem visit has taken on an additional degree of difficulty. It's going to be conference calls and meetings and lots of discussion to get everyone on the same page and more of the same when we return to Alaska.

That Wolf Den is going to be very crowded for a while.