Good news!

Psalm 81:10 skip a few 16
"I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it...he would have fed them with the finest of wheat; And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you." (Read: I opened my mouth wide, and God filled me up with good stuff!)

Did I ever tell you how much I love my home IV pole? And, yes, I am really growing attached to the extra 4 hour IV twice a week in the doc office. Today, I did both again, wondering if it was the last time. Neither had made my virus counts budge in the last month++, so both the PA, the doc, the ID doc and I made a Plan D to start a new, harder, more side effects/risks IV tomorrow. Problem was, there was a shortage of the Plan D medicine, so it would have to be done either in the hospital or at the doc office (no home health), and they were having a hard time getting through the red tape. We've been toying with that part for at least a week. (This virus is one that everyone carries around, but it is just a problem with me because I have a low immunity, sort of.)

Today, I went in about 8am, finished at noon and literally waited until 4:30 until my viral counts came back because the docs and I knew it needed to be a face-to-face conversation (and they might have kidnapped me for another infusion or something). For the first time in weeks, the counts were much lower- less than half! Plan D is cancelled until further notice, and I "get" to keep my IV pole and my twice a week doc IV! Ye-haw! Who says desperate, "please, please, please" prayers don't work and that God only cares about the "big" stuff? Cade reminded me that God can fix things instantly, and I am a believer after today.

(What does one do for a full day waiting in a doctor's office? I previewed some children's literature for gifts and for my own kids, downloaded some audio books, uploaded some photos, emailed my mom twenty times, started a perpetual birthday list, ate my sack lunch-I've learned to ALWAYS leave home with food!, etc. Pretty much the life of luxury if it just weren't in a plastic chair with beeping all around.)

Knock out skin problems Step 1. Lower steroids Step 2. Knock out virus Step 3. We're moving along! These are all in progress, but they are all actually progressing rapidly at this point! The problems and medicines play off of each other, too, so as one gets better, they all get better, praise the Lord. I even got my first break this week from the blood treatment machine. Bliss. I'm taking Van's truck in for an oil change instead--where do you get an oil change in Dallas? Surely they do that here.

Enough of that. Cade was adorable at his kinder graduation on Friday, and I was so thankful to be there. I was so proud of all the graduates and how much they have grown over the last year. I was also thankful for his caring and capable teacher and all of the staff that makes his school a super place to be. It really feels like a good decision for our children to be raised in that environment. His favorite part was shaking the principal's hand. My favorite part was seeing him sing and dance like a little go-getter in the music program. Cute, cute.

Van and I took advantage of the extra grandparent time and talked to a builder. We also looked at a couple of new homes to get an idea of what we would like to build. It was really wonderful and overwhelming at the same time. During the weekend Cade went to 3! wonderful birthday parties (one boot camp and two swimming), and Mom and Dad took Zane and Avi to splash parks and even a kiddie amusement park that I have never managed to get to. Grandparents are the coolest. I cleaned out the children's winter clothes and bagged them, so needless to say, by Saturday night I was grumpy and pooped, and Cade went on a funny social buzz for a few and then was ready for bed. This weekend I pledge to not do all that! One of my favorite times was playing Candy Land with the kiddos. Van dished out the cards, and I kept hands off the board. The one with the most self-control was Avi who moved her Dora two purples at a time until she won the blasted game. When she was napping and grandparents were at a movie & Van was swimming at the Y, Cade & Zane & I fixed peanut butter cookies. Here's the recipe we used. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Whole-Wheat-Peanut-Butter-Cookies/Detail.aspx I just dropped the goopy dough, and it worked just fine. Also, I should have waited until it cooled to try to eat it, because it just fell apart. Doesn't everyone eat cookies with a spoon, though? Crazy busy weekend.

Van is on call this week, and his mom is taking care of all 3 all day now that Cade is finished with school. Also, I scheduled swimming lessons for both boys this week. Wasn't that kind of me?

We should all settle down pretty soon, and I should feel better soon! Thank you, Jesus.