Platelets are 37 and CMV negative for the 3rd time. So....when platelets reach 50, I can get my central line taken out! Woo-hoo! My next Dallas appointment isn't until December 16.
Still having troubles with my eyes. I tested 20/20, but my vision feels blurry when reading, and my eyes are swollen and super dry. Very annoying. I just started a new prescription today. It's all due to the silly GVHD.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
%!@#!*!!!!
We're working on expletives in our house. Every family has its parameters, and ours includes honoring God and people with our words. So even minor words like "gosh" aren't supposed to be uttered as well as "butt", "stupid", etc. The eldest child is trying to navigate the nuances of first grade, and we are trying to find some replacement words in his insistance. The middle child has happily settled into "Oh my cows!" Our baby has decided to get in on the action as well. During a diaper change, I let her know that I would be using medicine on her bottom because she had a diaper rash, and she said, "Dang it!" My grandmother taught me that if people used curse words (worse than these I suppose!)it was because they weren't smart enough to have a varied vocabulary. That stuck with me. In other words, she was saying they were STUPID. (hee-hee, get it?)
We traveled and had a ton of great family time over the thanksgiving break, and we even went out to the Homestead Heritage craft fair on Saturday. I ate a funnel cake for the first time in 20? years, and it didn't let me down. We enjoyed the Mission Waco toy drive at church with the Christian motor cycle group on Sunday. That is a highlight each year. Because I was having sleep issues anyway, I tackled JoAnn Fabric, ToysRUs, Walgreens and Mardel bookstore on Black Friday. That was actually very pleasant and fun. Waco people are nice. Because McDonald's didn't have their hot chocolate cranking, I had to settle for Starbucks ("at a lower temperature, please")and probably negated any savings from the sales! Totally kidding. It was worth every penny. I got back to the house a few minutes after everyone woke up with a specially-chosen donut for everyone and a coffee in hand for my husband. It was nice being the hero for a whole 5 minutes! Today, I'm in Dallas for hopefully my last drug infusion for CMV. I've had two negative test results, and I expect the same today. I've had to have fewer platelet transfusions over the last couple of weeks, and my PA is thinking that two week Dallas check-ups and one week Waco lab draws should suffice. Platelets seem to be holding steady at 37 today. Yea!
With Cade in school, timing can be tricky for Van's required medical conferences. This year it is a bit easier because we are stickin' to Texas (no lugging carseats onto airplanes!!!), and taking it easy. He'll be on the River Walk in San Antonio for 3 days learning about feet. Feet. Yep, feet. Because we only want Cade to miss one day of school, and because we don't want to have two vehicles, Van will be traveling by Greyhound. The bus, not the dog. He said they may even have wifi on the bus (the dog wasn't equipped). We'll see how that goes. We're planning on doing something with the kiddos on Friday afternoon with the kids in San Antonio (probably either the zoo or squeezing in one more trip to Sea World before our pass expires) and then handing them to grandparents so Van and I can have some River Walk fun. (I'll have Saturday morning to myself in a nice hotel--SWEET! I wonder if I should take my sewing machine?) Then, we'll all be in Utopia for a night when his conference winds down. That's a good plan. He's been tying flies in anticipation of a fishing venture--a nymph larvae--what in the world--but it doesn't look like it is the right time for that particular river and that particular trout. I'm learning way more about fishing than I thought I ever would!
Our house plans are coming along nicely. Van and I are going to look over a spec sheet with the builder while kiddos are at parent's day out on Tuesday. We're in a hard decision making stage about what is important to keep and what is not to keep costs reasonable. I've been praying for wisdom about this because I want to "have in mind the things of God, not the things of men." We hope to start building in January. Wow, January is coming up soon. We'd better get crackin'.
We traveled and had a ton of great family time over the thanksgiving break, and we even went out to the Homestead Heritage craft fair on Saturday. I ate a funnel cake for the first time in 20? years, and it didn't let me down. We enjoyed the Mission Waco toy drive at church with the Christian motor cycle group on Sunday. That is a highlight each year. Because I was having sleep issues anyway, I tackled JoAnn Fabric, ToysRUs, Walgreens and Mardel bookstore on Black Friday. That was actually very pleasant and fun. Waco people are nice. Because McDonald's didn't have their hot chocolate cranking, I had to settle for Starbucks ("at a lower temperature, please")and probably negated any savings from the sales! Totally kidding. It was worth every penny. I got back to the house a few minutes after everyone woke up with a specially-chosen donut for everyone and a coffee in hand for my husband. It was nice being the hero for a whole 5 minutes! Today, I'm in Dallas for hopefully my last drug infusion for CMV. I've had two negative test results, and I expect the same today. I've had to have fewer platelet transfusions over the last couple of weeks, and my PA is thinking that two week Dallas check-ups and one week Waco lab draws should suffice. Platelets seem to be holding steady at 37 today. Yea!
With Cade in school, timing can be tricky for Van's required medical conferences. This year it is a bit easier because we are stickin' to Texas (no lugging carseats onto airplanes!!!), and taking it easy. He'll be on the River Walk in San Antonio for 3 days learning about feet. Feet. Yep, feet. Because we only want Cade to miss one day of school, and because we don't want to have two vehicles, Van will be traveling by Greyhound. The bus, not the dog. He said they may even have wifi on the bus (the dog wasn't equipped). We'll see how that goes. We're planning on doing something with the kiddos on Friday afternoon with the kids in San Antonio (probably either the zoo or squeezing in one more trip to Sea World before our pass expires) and then handing them to grandparents so Van and I can have some River Walk fun. (I'll have Saturday morning to myself in a nice hotel--SWEET! I wonder if I should take my sewing machine?) Then, we'll all be in Utopia for a night when his conference winds down. That's a good plan. He's been tying flies in anticipation of a fishing venture--a nymph larvae--what in the world--but it doesn't look like it is the right time for that particular river and that particular trout. I'm learning way more about fishing than I thought I ever would!
Our house plans are coming along nicely. Van and I are going to look over a spec sheet with the builder while kiddos are at parent's day out on Tuesday. We're in a hard decision making stage about what is important to keep and what is not to keep costs reasonable. I've been praying for wisdom about this because I want to "have in mind the things of God, not the things of men." We hope to start building in January. Wow, January is coming up soon. We'd better get crackin'.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Good and okay
Platelet count today was up to 28-32 depending on how you want to count 'em. Yea! This was my first "day 4" in several weeks that I haven't had to borrow someone else's platelets. Praise God.
Zane, Avi and I picked up big brother from the school nurse about 2:30 with a headache and low-grade temp. He had his birthday cupcake in hand, and tried to milk the situation for all it was worth. Post Sonic happy hour, a movie from Redbox and birthday gifts from the 4 of us, he was doing well. Van thinks that he'll be able to be at school in the morning. Lord, please be with that sweet boy. He received a neat-o keen "Happy Birthday, Cade!" book from his class with encouragements and drawings. It was really heartwarming to read through it with him. What a great idea to make the day special and to make his little heart full. "I like you because you.... are allweshappe." Always Happy. Pretty cute.
Zane, Avi and I picked up big brother from the school nurse about 2:30 with a headache and low-grade temp. He had his birthday cupcake in hand, and tried to milk the situation for all it was worth. Post Sonic happy hour, a movie from Redbox and birthday gifts from the 4 of us, he was doing well. Van thinks that he'll be able to be at school in the morning. Lord, please be with that sweet boy. He received a neat-o keen "Happy Birthday, Cade!" book from his class with encouragements and drawings. It was really heartwarming to read through it with him. What a great idea to make the day special and to make his little heart full. "I like you because you.... are allweshappe." Always Happy. Pretty cute.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Blessed and overflowing
What a great weekend. My brother-in-law traveled to worked from "home" in Waco so Tricia could take care of my children for my Dallas trip. Cade had school, but my little ones and Trish's homeschoolers went to the zoo. Oh, and they broiled, yes broiled, the cupcakes for me. Ha!
My trip on Friday went well, but I sure was tired and sick to my stomach after all that was done to help me. The CMV is down to 1 positive cell, and platelets were at 20, which is better than last week's 19 if you squint your eyes. I came home and happily crashed while the other 3 adults took care of me and the 6 precious kids. After putting them in bed, my sis and I finished assembling the Lego cupcakes, Lego man water bottles and treat bags. This kind of stuff is my manna with the highlight of talking with my sis at the same time, so it was great. The next day, I didn't feel much better, but I was so excited to throw everyone in the car with the cupcakes and party favors to head back to I35 and LEGOLAND. Van drove, I slept, and the kids played and watched a DVD. We met up with Van's mom, her husband, Van's sister and son, Tye. It had been about 7 years since Tye (Amy's 11-yr-old) and Daniel (12-yr-old) had seen each other, and Legoland was a good time for both of them. It was so good to have just about all of Cade's cousins together in one place. We partied hard, grabbed some grub in the food court, and with our ears and eyes ringing with overload, moved the party to a park. We froze our tails off in the wind, but the kids could have cared less, rolling down the hill and watching airplanes. Gil and Trish took most of the kids that time in their van while Avi and I slept in the other car. We made it back home for me to again crash while others filled in the gaps. Sweet Van took the clearance glow-in-the-dark silly string out for a battle between the cousins. Somehow, we need at least one good organized fight each time we get together!
Right now, I'm finishing this up to watch mass on tv, and I'll see if our church's ustream is up and going later. My stomach isn't normal, but I'm hoping the effects of Friday's treatments will be done in the next couple of hours. Van took our little ones to Sunday school, and I'm hoping he'll feel rest, too, today. The Lord is good. He provides for us in our need, and blesses us on top of that with sweet family.
My trip on Friday went well, but I sure was tired and sick to my stomach after all that was done to help me. The CMV is down to 1 positive cell, and platelets were at 20, which is better than last week's 19 if you squint your eyes. I came home and happily crashed while the other 3 adults took care of me and the 6 precious kids. After putting them in bed, my sis and I finished assembling the Lego cupcakes, Lego man water bottles and treat bags. This kind of stuff is my manna with the highlight of talking with my sis at the same time, so it was great. The next day, I didn't feel much better, but I was so excited to throw everyone in the car with the cupcakes and party favors to head back to I35 and LEGOLAND. Van drove, I slept, and the kids played and watched a DVD. We met up with Van's mom, her husband, Van's sister and son, Tye. It had been about 7 years since Tye (Amy's 11-yr-old) and Daniel (12-yr-old) had seen each other, and Legoland was a good time for both of them. It was so good to have just about all of Cade's cousins together in one place. We partied hard, grabbed some grub in the food court, and with our ears and eyes ringing with overload, moved the party to a park. We froze our tails off in the wind, but the kids could have cared less, rolling down the hill and watching airplanes. Gil and Trish took most of the kids that time in their van while Avi and I slept in the other car. We made it back home for me to again crash while others filled in the gaps. Sweet Van took the clearance glow-in-the-dark silly string out for a battle between the cousins. Somehow, we need at least one good organized fight each time we get together!
Right now, I'm finishing this up to watch mass on tv, and I'll see if our church's ustream is up and going later. My stomach isn't normal, but I'm hoping the effects of Friday's treatments will be done in the next couple of hours. Van took our little ones to Sunday school, and I'm hoping he'll feel rest, too, today. The Lord is good. He provides for us in our need, and blesses us on top of that with sweet family.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Funderful Week
Our microwave may never recover, but the house itself is decent. I may have to learn how to use the stove top again. :P
Saturday was great. Zane was honored with the "best attitude" award for soccer and his coaches said that he has a genuine joy and friendliness. Amen and amen. Cade scored twice in his game, and really showed his hard work throughout the year. Many thanks to their encouraging coaches. Little sister played in the dirt with the other siblings and was pretty cute. We went out to the World Hunger Relief Farm to pet goats, turkeys, rabbits and watched a goat being milked. We saw pictures of children doing chores of carrying water jugs on their heads and showed what kind of shoes that many children around the world have if they have any at all. Good reminders. We bought rootbeer in glass bottles (Wow!) and went across to Homestead Heritage to see Grandmom during her woodworking class. How much fun can you fit in a day?
Our family tries to focus on the pumpkin and dress-up part of the fall festivities. We have had a great time this week. Cade was a ninja, Zane was a fire fighter, and Avi was an octopus. They were adorable. I think Zane's and Avi's costumes are on facebook. I was able to go to go to Cade's school to help the kiddos carve pumpkins and do math activities, and that was an extra-special treat for me. Cade REALLY likes Van and I to visit his school or substitute for a Sunday school teacher--fills up his little love cup. Our church had the best fall festival ever, and I really enjoyed getting to see community folk mingle in. Good times. Well played, Dayna, Jack, Emily, Scott's crew and everyone else who made the night wonderful. God is good.
This week was good. We have learned how to receive platelets from a local hospital (and the nurse is quick, sweet, and professional!), so my trips to Dallas are back down to once a week. Because my platelets have been so low for so long, it seems less of an emergency and I can schedule Parent's Day Out mornings to take care of it. Sooooooooo thankful to donors. Biopsy today to help diagnose why platelets are low (could be some type of auto-immune thingy) and 2 very long infusions. My platelets are 20 which is the cut-off number, so I'm going to re-fuel today as well. Bless my sweet nurse.
Van celebrated his 35th birthday on Halloween. Van said that day he kept writing 10-31-76 on prescriptions and got a couple phone calls from Walgreens. The nurses got a kick out of it. We trick-or-treated at a few special houses (not that are not special! We just had a couple of invites and had PLENTY of candy from the night before), and I had his dinner ready except for grilling the steaks. He's just better at that part--I am a nervous wreck with the kids and a grill, and his steaks are muy bueno. The kids were so proud to have the dining room decorated with balloons taped on the windows in a stair-step pattern.
We'd been so busy that I neglected to buy the kiddos a pumpkin to carve like I promised. I had passed them by at the grocery store because it is hard to fit a pumpkin, children and groceries in a cart. It can be done, but there were so many "pumpkin patches" at the churches around town (and it is fun to contribute to a church), I figured I'd just take them to pick out a pumpkin each, snap some photos and load the whole sha-bang into the trusty minivan. Well, now it was November 2, and my children had not forgotten that I had not fulfilled a promise. We stopped at Waco Baptist Academy, and I asked a fellow in scrubs if the pumpkins were still for sale. He said that the principal had told him that they were free!!! I like that word. Let's say it again---FREE! There were still a motherload of pumpkins, so I let the kids pick out one each and did a psychoanalysis on their choices. Cade immediately went the biggest, longest, oddest-shaped green pumpkin I'd ever seen. He called it "Baby Boo" which I think relates back to when he voted on his favorite of the kindergarten class pumpkins? He hauled it by himself to the back of the van and threw it in as I cringed. Zane picked a perfectly round, HEAVY orange one, but took his sweet time choosing it, sitting on many of them. Cade was happy to carry it, but I interveaned, not knowing how old this pumpkin was and if it could handle the crash that Baby Boo endured. Avi took her time carefully examining each miniature orange pumpkin. Cade tried with all his might to get her to choose a giant one, so she settled on the biggest of the small ones. Interesting. They reluctantly endured photos from my cheap cell phone. We drove off as I defended to my eldest that we did not "steal" the pumpkins, but received a sweet gift from the generous people at Waco Baptist Academy.
Cade is about to turn 7. It is so hard to believe. I remember carrying that 4lb. 11oz. bitty thing around for hours on end and being exhausted, but never really wanting to put him down. What a little miracle. God has blessed us with a beautiful family. That seemed impossible until I was actually holding him in my arms. With God all things are possible. He's always been a little man with big ideas, wonderful ideas with a touch of danger. I decided that he and Zane might not be the best pilots yesterday when they were playing with airplanes. Cade said, "I'm going in for a crash landing!" Zane said, "Landing for take-off!" Cade can be a spit-fire, but he is a defender of justice and lives up to the meaning of his name "battler" if someone messes with his brother or sister. We're celebrating with family this weekend at Legoland in Dallas. (Legos might be the best invention ever. Well, maybe a label-maker is, but for now we'll say Legos.) He is super-excited, and we are very happy to celebrate that little guy.
Hobby Lobby is one of my favorite stores. It is the worst place to take children. However, preparing for Cade's party this weekend, I NEEDED (I'll take a look at my perspective at some point) a giant circle hole punch that I once had in my possession, but could not find to save my neck. So, we loaded up. Of course, I couldn't just get the one item in that glorious store, so I meandered through all the breakables to the photo frames. I phoned Van. "Frames are 50% off. Do you want to frame the kids rainbow pictures for your patient rooms?" Yes. I grabbed 3 frames, delighted that my husband is that kind of daddy, and put them in the cart. Cade said, "Mom! Don't buy these picture frames! We don't know ANY of these people!" I got so tickled that I could barely breathe. Meanwhile, I'm in the middle of a ton of breakables with three small (and active!) children. Then, Cade grabbed a small frame and started moving the protective sheet on it with the price tag covering up a lady's face. "Now she has a moustache, now she doesn't. Now she has a moustache, now she doesn't." Funny kid.
I'm in a crafty, project mode. Dangerous. It is hard to do dishes and projects and remember to brush your child's teeth. So...we mix it up a bit and do them all together but not put soap on the child's toothbrush. A couple of weeks ago, Mom helped me pick out a small buffet to re-do to put baskets in to seperate "soccer" from "clothes to wear tomorrow" from "stuff I need to return to people". We don't have a coat closet, so it will need to accommodate that, too. Basically, it will be a mud room contained in a piece of furniture. Zane and I took off the doors, and I ripped off the back that was a bit broken. I took a deep breath and Zane, Avi and I slathered on teal paint. I followed them catching as many drips as I could, and you know what? It turned out pretty well for a first coat. (Behr with primer--awesome paint) They had a blast. They were COVERED in mostly accidental paint, so they had to stay outside until they dried. I asked Zane to take his foam brush to the trash can (by our car--What was I thinking????) and later noticed that there was a bit of extra artwork. Teal paint on a black van. It came off with water. Praise you, Jesus. Cade painted the drawers when he got home from school. He had many ideas about how it should be done, but we got through it and had a good time. I put on the last coat while they were at school/PDO the next day while watching the Duggars. Luxurious. It is functional now with baskets for the different categories, but I'll finish it out with some knobs on the side to hang jackets and some batik fabric on the back because teal just isn't quite enough. :)
My goal for this week is to practice the discipline of meditation/silence/solitude and to give my husband a chance to do the same. I'm great at silence and solitude, but while working on something-ha! I've never gotten the hang of this one, so here goes.
Saturday was great. Zane was honored with the "best attitude" award for soccer and his coaches said that he has a genuine joy and friendliness. Amen and amen. Cade scored twice in his game, and really showed his hard work throughout the year. Many thanks to their encouraging coaches. Little sister played in the dirt with the other siblings and was pretty cute. We went out to the World Hunger Relief Farm to pet goats, turkeys, rabbits and watched a goat being milked. We saw pictures of children doing chores of carrying water jugs on their heads and showed what kind of shoes that many children around the world have if they have any at all. Good reminders. We bought rootbeer in glass bottles (Wow!) and went across to Homestead Heritage to see Grandmom during her woodworking class. How much fun can you fit in a day?
Our family tries to focus on the pumpkin and dress-up part of the fall festivities. We have had a great time this week. Cade was a ninja, Zane was a fire fighter, and Avi was an octopus. They were adorable. I think Zane's and Avi's costumes are on facebook. I was able to go to go to Cade's school to help the kiddos carve pumpkins and do math activities, and that was an extra-special treat for me. Cade REALLY likes Van and I to visit his school or substitute for a Sunday school teacher--fills up his little love cup. Our church had the best fall festival ever, and I really enjoyed getting to see community folk mingle in. Good times. Well played, Dayna, Jack, Emily, Scott's crew and everyone else who made the night wonderful. God is good.
This week was good. We have learned how to receive platelets from a local hospital (and the nurse is quick, sweet, and professional!), so my trips to Dallas are back down to once a week. Because my platelets have been so low for so long, it seems less of an emergency and I can schedule Parent's Day Out mornings to take care of it. Sooooooooo thankful to donors. Biopsy today to help diagnose why platelets are low (could be some type of auto-immune thingy) and 2 very long infusions. My platelets are 20 which is the cut-off number, so I'm going to re-fuel today as well. Bless my sweet nurse.
Van celebrated his 35th birthday on Halloween. Van said that day he kept writing 10-31-76 on prescriptions and got a couple phone calls from Walgreens. The nurses got a kick out of it. We trick-or-treated at a few special houses (not that are not special! We just had a couple of invites and had PLENTY of candy from the night before), and I had his dinner ready except for grilling the steaks. He's just better at that part--I am a nervous wreck with the kids and a grill, and his steaks are muy bueno. The kids were so proud to have the dining room decorated with balloons taped on the windows in a stair-step pattern.
We'd been so busy that I neglected to buy the kiddos a pumpkin to carve like I promised. I had passed them by at the grocery store because it is hard to fit a pumpkin, children and groceries in a cart. It can be done, but there were so many "pumpkin patches" at the churches around town (and it is fun to contribute to a church), I figured I'd just take them to pick out a pumpkin each, snap some photos and load the whole sha-bang into the trusty minivan. Well, now it was November 2, and my children had not forgotten that I had not fulfilled a promise. We stopped at Waco Baptist Academy, and I asked a fellow in scrubs if the pumpkins were still for sale. He said that the principal had told him that they were free!!! I like that word. Let's say it again---FREE! There were still a motherload of pumpkins, so I let the kids pick out one each and did a psychoanalysis on their choices. Cade immediately went the biggest, longest, oddest-shaped green pumpkin I'd ever seen. He called it "Baby Boo" which I think relates back to when he voted on his favorite of the kindergarten class pumpkins? He hauled it by himself to the back of the van and threw it in as I cringed. Zane picked a perfectly round, HEAVY orange one, but took his sweet time choosing it, sitting on many of them. Cade was happy to carry it, but I interveaned, not knowing how old this pumpkin was and if it could handle the crash that Baby Boo endured. Avi took her time carefully examining each miniature orange pumpkin. Cade tried with all his might to get her to choose a giant one, so she settled on the biggest of the small ones. Interesting. They reluctantly endured photos from my cheap cell phone. We drove off as I defended to my eldest that we did not "steal" the pumpkins, but received a sweet gift from the generous people at Waco Baptist Academy.
Cade is about to turn 7. It is so hard to believe. I remember carrying that 4lb. 11oz. bitty thing around for hours on end and being exhausted, but never really wanting to put him down. What a little miracle. God has blessed us with a beautiful family. That seemed impossible until I was actually holding him in my arms. With God all things are possible. He's always been a little man with big ideas, wonderful ideas with a touch of danger. I decided that he and Zane might not be the best pilots yesterday when they were playing with airplanes. Cade said, "I'm going in for a crash landing!" Zane said, "Landing for take-off!" Cade can be a spit-fire, but he is a defender of justice and lives up to the meaning of his name "battler" if someone messes with his brother or sister. We're celebrating with family this weekend at Legoland in Dallas. (Legos might be the best invention ever. Well, maybe a label-maker is, but for now we'll say Legos.) He is super-excited, and we are very happy to celebrate that little guy.
Hobby Lobby is one of my favorite stores. It is the worst place to take children. However, preparing for Cade's party this weekend, I NEEDED (I'll take a look at my perspective at some point) a giant circle hole punch that I once had in my possession, but could not find to save my neck. So, we loaded up. Of course, I couldn't just get the one item in that glorious store, so I meandered through all the breakables to the photo frames. I phoned Van. "Frames are 50% off. Do you want to frame the kids rainbow pictures for your patient rooms?" Yes. I grabbed 3 frames, delighted that my husband is that kind of daddy, and put them in the cart. Cade said, "Mom! Don't buy these picture frames! We don't know ANY of these people!" I got so tickled that I could barely breathe. Meanwhile, I'm in the middle of a ton of breakables with three small (and active!) children. Then, Cade grabbed a small frame and started moving the protective sheet on it with the price tag covering up a lady's face. "Now she has a moustache, now she doesn't. Now she has a moustache, now she doesn't." Funny kid.
I'm in a crafty, project mode. Dangerous. It is hard to do dishes and projects and remember to brush your child's teeth. So...we mix it up a bit and do them all together but not put soap on the child's toothbrush. A couple of weeks ago, Mom helped me pick out a small buffet to re-do to put baskets in to seperate "soccer" from "clothes to wear tomorrow" from "stuff I need to return to people". We don't have a coat closet, so it will need to accommodate that, too. Basically, it will be a mud room contained in a piece of furniture. Zane and I took off the doors, and I ripped off the back that was a bit broken. I took a deep breath and Zane, Avi and I slathered on teal paint. I followed them catching as many drips as I could, and you know what? It turned out pretty well for a first coat. (Behr with primer--awesome paint) They had a blast. They were COVERED in mostly accidental paint, so they had to stay outside until they dried. I asked Zane to take his foam brush to the trash can (by our car--What was I thinking????) and later noticed that there was a bit of extra artwork. Teal paint on a black van. It came off with water. Praise you, Jesus. Cade painted the drawers when he got home from school. He had many ideas about how it should be done, but we got through it and had a good time. I put on the last coat while they were at school/PDO the next day while watching the Duggars. Luxurious. It is functional now with baskets for the different categories, but I'll finish it out with some knobs on the side to hang jackets and some batik fabric on the back because teal just isn't quite enough. :)
My goal for this week is to practice the discipline of meditation/silence/solitude and to give my husband a chance to do the same. I'm great at silence and solitude, but while working on something-ha! I've never gotten the hang of this one, so here goes.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Fighting Fires
A little boy and a little girl went to the zoo with their mama and sweet friends. It was so fun. They were perfect angels and even picked out a birthday present for their big brother at the gift shop and had grilled cheese sandwiches. The little girl then decided she was cranky and needed a nap. The mama turned on cartoons for the little boy while rocking the little cranky girl. The little boy was still hungry. He asked the mama for a snack. "Yes, you may get one out of the drawer." No, the little boy purposed. I must climb onto the countertop, retrieve microwave popcorn, peel off the packaging, place in the microwave and press random numbers. The little girl was falling asleep. The mama did not here the microwave and was rather irritated that the little boy interrupted the rocking with his stories of explosions from the "refrigerator". "PLEASE go watch TV." Finally, the little boy's descriptions of smoke made the mama send the children outside, stop the seared microwave, open doors and windows and vacate the house. The top layer of the house was completely filled with smoke. Zane was then cranky because I think he "got it" and felt very sorry. I felt sorry, too, for not listening and acting sooner. We drove to Sonic, Avi fell asleep, and I parked in the handicapped parking so I could safely watch Zane play on the playground while being with sleeping beauty. I'm still debating the ethics of this, but I was pretty desperate by then and feeling a bit disabled myself. The sundae fixed most everything. Ironically, he will be wearing a fire fighter costume for fall festival.
The previous week, Cade's homework was to check all our fire alarms and make sure that we had a plan of escape, fire extinguishers, etc. None of the alarms went off. ??? Our house stinks like crazy, but is slowly recovering. Mom arrived just about the time that all of this finished up. She is wonderfully here to ease things up for us. She has or will drop off various children in various locations today wearing various uniforms, and I hear that chicken tortilla soup is in the works. Van is on his final night of passing out soccer snacks. Bless that man. I'm in Dallas receiving THREE infusions today. Two anti-virals and one bag 'o platelets. I think that is my record for an office visit. I brought some coupons to clip and some digital photos to organize.
Tonight, I'm going up our church community center. Our community center is used for a lot of community activities from scout troops to exercise classes. Tonight, a team from Bethel Church from Northern California will be there ministering, and I'll ask for prayer. This team is from the same church that I took a trip when first diagnosed almost exactly two years ago (learning more and seeking healing from the Lord), and they are in Waco tonight! It is really touching to me that I didn't even know about this opportunity two days ago and a "random" email sent my way reminded me of God's provision. He's still there. Yep. Been there since before the beginning. Oh, yeah.
A good song:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full into His wonderful face
And the things of this world will go strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
The previous week, Cade's homework was to check all our fire alarms and make sure that we had a plan of escape, fire extinguishers, etc. None of the alarms went off. ??? Our house stinks like crazy, but is slowly recovering. Mom arrived just about the time that all of this finished up. She is wonderfully here to ease things up for us. She has or will drop off various children in various locations today wearing various uniforms, and I hear that chicken tortilla soup is in the works. Van is on his final night of passing out soccer snacks. Bless that man. I'm in Dallas receiving THREE infusions today. Two anti-virals and one bag 'o platelets. I think that is my record for an office visit. I brought some coupons to clip and some digital photos to organize.
Tonight, I'm going up our church community center. Our community center is used for a lot of community activities from scout troops to exercise classes. Tonight, a team from Bethel Church from Northern California will be there ministering, and I'll ask for prayer. This team is from the same church that I took a trip when first diagnosed almost exactly two years ago (learning more and seeking healing from the Lord), and they are in Waco tonight! It is really touching to me that I didn't even know about this opportunity two days ago and a "random" email sent my way reminded me of God's provision. He's still there. Yep. Been there since before the beginning. Oh, yeah.
A good song:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full into His wonderful face
And the things of this world will go strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Disappointment
I thought today would be a check-up, but my platelets were low. I got another transfusion. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, donor. Thank you to my mother-in-law who played with the grandbabies for a full day instead of a couple of hours like I thought it would be. Thank you, Jamie for having a happy place for Cade to be. Thank you, husband, for keeping your chin up.
I'm reminding myself that this is just another hurdle and that a month or whatever ago we were dealing with CMV, a blood clot and aches and pains. Although the PA and doc are not sure why the platelets are not rebounding, they suspect GVHD (Graft vs. Host Disease) which is not unusual. They are cautious, however, and will do another biopsy soon to triple-check. I got a biopsy maybe a month ago? and it looked good. GVHD is managed with steroids. I just got back from HEB with fresh veggies for soup so I won't blow up like a fish wanting to eat my hand off in the middle of the night.
Sigh.
Tomorrow is Saturday. That is good. Home, soccer, Aggie football, friends...happy kiddos.
I'm reminding myself that this is just another hurdle and that a month or whatever ago we were dealing with CMV, a blood clot and aches and pains. Although the PA and doc are not sure why the platelets are not rebounding, they suspect GVHD (Graft vs. Host Disease) which is not unusual. They are cautious, however, and will do another biopsy soon to triple-check. I got a biopsy maybe a month ago? and it looked good. GVHD is managed with steroids. I just got back from HEB with fresh veggies for soup so I won't blow up like a fish wanting to eat my hand off in the middle of the night.
Sigh.
Tomorrow is Saturday. That is good. Home, soccer, Aggie football, friends...happy kiddos.
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