2012 A New Adventure?

Happy New Year Ladies, here's wishing it is good to all of us. We aren't sorry to see the end of 2011, with all its surprises and challenges. I have decided to keep my chin up and my eyes on the prize in 2012. Things will happen, good and bad, but I determine how I respond to them. At times during the past year, I have forgotten this and  felt beaten by all the bad things happening in our lives. This year I will remember to look closely at the good things going on with us. Stephen King is here, Mackenzie is getting the life-saving transplant, Mom has recovered from her injury and continues to be in good physical health, We are all still alive and kicking. We have been given the chance to live and love and learn from our happiness and suffering. God has Blessed us with His Grace.
Mackenzie will have another transfusion tomorrow at Riley, her hgb is down to 5 this week and her breathing is ragged. A refill of RBC (red blood cells) will carry her through till the tranplant in a few weeks. So far all signs point to a Jan/Feb Big Day for our girl. She is home today under protest, resting for tomorrow trip and fill-up. She is working on scholarship applications while resting. Our county foundation offers the Lily Scholarship and Kenzie is one of the Paoli seniors who qualifies because of grades and test scores. Hopefully, she will pass the first round and become one of the finalists for the award. This prestigious scholarship offers a full ride to any Indiana school. I'm so proud of her for qualifying inspite of her health issues.
Stephen King has a c-scan scheduled for Friday to check on the chemo's progress. We will get the results at Wednesday's treatment, but both of us feel sure that there has been shrinkage of the spine tumors, as his back pain has just about disappeared. We are choosing to keep positive thoughts about his adventure with cancer. We cannot change that he has this disease, but we can choose how we react to it. We choose to do everything possibly to beat it and that includes keeping our spirits light and raising our eyes up to God.
Cold weather moved in this week, snow and wild wind blew thru the Valley, but our family in Paoli had ice. We were blessed by our good neighbors, Ben and Benton brought out their snowblowers and cleared our drive and Edith sent down a persimmon pudding warm from the oven. I love our small towns, just like a big, loving family.
My sister came over last evening for a great visit. We only live 10 miles apart but only see each other in passing these last few months. She is at Mom's daily during the week, making sure everything is running smoothly. She does the grocery shopping, banking and bill paying for Mom. We couldn't manage without her. Her husband retired last week and is on a mission trip to eastern Ky this week rehabbing a home for a ministerial student. These two are givers in a big way. We love them and are so blessed to have them in our lives. It was nice to get an opportunity to just sit and visit with Deb, Stephen King and I were excited to have company, esp. her! We have spent an enormous amount of time together in the last few months and have enjoyed the chance to do so, but it is nice to hear from othes occasionally. We can get pretty boring day after day without seeing anyone but each other. Playing musical chairs can only be entertaining for so long... we tend to go from one chair to the next trying to find the most comfortable. Once in awhile someone will hit the couch for a little snooze. Lupus and cancer do not allow for athletic endeavors on most days. We will often quarrel over who is the weakest and should not be washing dishes. My 1950s upbringing won't allow me to sit while my cancer ridden hubby cleans the kitchen after meals and he remembers last year when he had to carry my soup to our bed for me to eat .
He doesn't want a relay of that and encourages (nags) me to rest. Of course, I am much, much better now and can manage preparing a meal and cleaning up after. God sees to it that one of us is strong enough to take care of the other in this partnership. We always have and always will.
Steve has decided to go check on our nephew (the 3rd son) and his house building adventure today. He is two weeks out from his last treatment and feels the best he has since last month. This means if he sits down and rests for 15 minutes after getting dressed he can drive 5 miles to Ians! The weakness from the chemo is the only side effect which will not go way it seems. He has always been big and strong and is having difficulty dealing with this. I feel the need to drive him myself but he refuses that offer. I just remind him to use his head and not exhaust himself. After dealing with lupus for 20 years, I've finally learned this lesson.
Since I have a few hours to myself, I think I may take down Christmas and return the parlor to my sewing room. The 4 quilt tops are still patiently waiting to be finished. I think I may just play grab-bag and work on which ever I come upon first.
I had a great chat with Alison about her awesome new (old) mantle piece this week. I'd love to hear from the rest of my girls. Love you all. Talk to me, Hedy