My freakin' awesome trip!!

I should be sharing these kinds of pictures with you this week: (Do I have some awesome Photoshop skills or what?!?!?)

In case you can't tell that's me at an archeological dig in the Honduras,

cave tubing in Belize, peeking out at you from a Mayan Ruin in Mexico,

and lounging on a hammock on the beach in Cozumel

But, alas, cancer had another idea for us. I’m telling you though that as soon as CarGuy is better he will be making up this trip! I joke that I’m going to haul him to every Amish quilt shop and tea house between here and New York! But, really, he most assuredly will have to endure a few things that I’ve really wanted to do. I’m not above using guilt to get my way...let me assure you of that! So…in the future be prepared to hear about the wonderful weekend we spent at that adorable bed and breakfast in the Swiss Alps, the absolutely priceless time we had backpacking with Llamas in Tibet (do they have Llamas in Tibet?), our latest archeological find (and subsequent run from the authorities) in Egypt, how I nearly drowned while snorkeling off the coast of Belize (please, there’s no way I could do all these things without causing some sort of self injury or destruction along the way!), and our search for a summer home in Monaco. (hehehe…wait until I tell CarGuy about this stuff I’m planning – that’ll make him agree to the Amish field trip even faster and will also ensure that he will pretend to actually enjoy himself!!)

Ok…so back in the real world we are getting closer and closer to the hubster’s transplant and things are starting to get exciting! He has lots of procedures this week. We will be at the hospital and the cancer center nearly all day on Thursday and Friday. They will be testing all his bodily functions so they can tell him how absolutely healthy he is. They need to get baseline functioning on all his organs so if anything starts to act up during transplant, they will know if it’s being caused by some part of the treatment or was a pre-existing condition. I just know that once they tell him how perfect he is there will be no living with him! I’ll have to remind him that he’s not quite so perfect – that little bone marrow issue, you know? Oh, but wait, they are going to kill that off and put new in. Oh, man, he really is going to be hard to live with! ;-) Nothing like having medical evidence that you are a pristine example of God’s handiwork – ugh!

Tiny Theater Thursday

Something about this is just kind of creepy but intriguing at the same time! I'm not exactly sure that's how our bodies are supposed to move. I sure know mine doesn't even come close!!

Tiny Theater Thursday

Special new year's edition -- everyone have a great 2009! We are hoping for a cure this year and if I happen to lose 20 or 60 pounds, well...I'll take that too!!

Tiny Theater Thursday --- Special Christmas Edition!

Here's a special Christmas Edition of TTT!!

Another Hubby Update

Hi all! Well things on the cancer front are going pretty well. They started CarGuy on a new chemo and he's done great on it. We are still waiting for the final donor to be identified but it shouldn't be too much longer until we have a date set for the transplant. I think it will really be a stress reliever to have everything set up to go. Isn't there a song about the waiting is the hardest part? I'm pretty sure they weren't talking about the cancer road but it still fits.

Yesterday CarGuy had a temp of 101.0 so I had to call the doc. He didn't feel icky just feverish. So....we got to entertain the ER folks for a few hours yesterday. He has what they are calling an "unknown origin fever". I wonder if it bugs them that they spent all those years in school just to end up calling something "unknown"? Anyway...while he was waiting for this earth shattering diagnosis, CarGuy was getting kind of ancy so he nearly escaped the ER before they could release him. It took all my strength to strap him to that bed and keep him in place! I can only imagine what it's going to be like once we are down at the transplant hospital...eek!

So...now he's on a mega antibiotic until the "unknown" grows into something "known" and they decide the best way to treat it. In the meantime he has permission to take tylenol if the fever bothers him. He didn't take any tylenol last night other than what they gave him at the ER. He had chemo this morning so he had to take tylenol as one of his pre-meds for the chemo but knowing him he wouldn't have taken it willingly. He did however ensure that I needed to wash sheets tonight...ugh! I probably shouldn't complain since sweating all night is probably way worse than me having to break a little sweat stripping the bed and throwing them down the stairs and pushing them into the washer and transferring them into the dryer and lugging them back upstairs and wrestling them back on the bed -- oh, wait, that really does sound like a lot of work! I think I need one more cherry cordial for strength!! ;-) Ahhhh...much better now! I'm off to tackle the bed...anyone want to come over and do it for me?

Comfortable?

I was able to snap this picture of Perdy laying on the stairs (her head popped up the second she heard the camera power up but originally her head was hanging over the stair with her nose crunched into the carpet) -- she looks absolutely uncomfortable:
I figured Peanut must be more comfortable than she is so I went on the search for him and this is what I found:
Now I'm just not sure who is the more uncomfortable! Although CarGuy looks very comfortable!!

What a slacker!!

I've really been slacking on this blog lately! I think I've just gotten so busy that I haven't taken the time to sit down and write about all the stuff making me so busy. Ever felt that way? So here ya go....

I've been trying to get the decorations up around the house. Half of the Christmas village is done and so far Peanut hasn't massacred anyone yet. I'm fully expecting at least one massacre within just a few days of the final touches being placed. I'll be sure to photograph the evidence for all to see. Peanut is now 2 years old so he's supposed to be out of that puppy stage but I think he's holding on to his childhood as long as he can. I don't think we are going to put up our outside lights. We will have enough going on in January without having to deal with taking those down.

Speaking of January...we are getting closer and closer to CarGuy's transplant. Next week he will be getting a new chemo regimen to try and get those nasty leukemia cells to vacate those premises. Steve the spleen is still causing problems but the docs haven't been able to agree amongst themselves what to do about it. I think the local onc is getting exasperated with everything. We saw a little of his temper flare at our appt last week. Can you can uncomfortable? I think I'll be glad when we are under the care of just one doc. CarGuy is doing pretty good and still working part time. With the new chemo next week he will have to take the whole week off. We're hoping that he does great on it but there are some side effects that might happen. He will have to go in everyday next week for IV fluids and the new drug which will be administered in his tummy with a shot. He's really not too hot about the needle in the stomach but they assure us that it's a really small shot.

SwimBoy's new job is going well. It's at a GMC/Buick/Pontiac dealership so we're watching the whole money from the government thing really close. I try not to discuss political stuff since I really don't feel like I know as much as I should but I will say there are a lot of jobs at stake so I sure hope something can be worked out.

I also realize I've missed a few Tiny Theater Thursdays so here's a make up one. Our church is taking part in this wonderful mission to provide a clean water well in Africa.