Welcome, Spring!

B and I stopped at a greenhouse yesterday to get a few broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage plants. Ummm, we did that, but I think we brought home more pansies than veggies! So today, even though it was only 50-some degrees, B put out the garden stuff, and we set the pansies out along the south side of the house. (A garden photo would have just showed a row of milk jugs covering the plants.)
T has been home this past week on spring break from her freshman year at junior college 5 hours west of here. She left today to visit some friends before going back. K's final college spring break begins today, but she won't be home until she and a friend do some visiting elsewhere first for a few days.
Almost two weeks ago, B, M and I went to visit my mom for a few days. I was tempted to post a photo of her looking in the refrigerator, from when she was trying to load us up with food for the trip home. I think she'll appreciate this one better!

Thanks for the good visit, Mom!

He's Lost It

Yep, B's lost it! But that's a good thing. What he doesn't have anymore is the wound V.A.C. They took it off yesterday, and today the UPS guy stopped by to take it back to Texas! The sore isn't completely healed, but is almost there and is so much better than when we started. Now I "get" to play nurse for the next week, changing the dressing as needed.

I think we had record high temps for March 5 here. It was in the 80s! Unbelievable. B planted peas in our garden today.

Happy Square Root Day!

Sure enough, today is 3-3-09.

(Thanks for the reminder, K! We'll have to celebrate again in, oh, how about seven years and a day?)

March 20 edit: I should have said, we'll celebrate again in seven years, one month, and a day!

Signs of Promise

No blooms yet like Wanda has in California, but we do have hope of spring!

I know Martha in New York really doesn't care much for these particular birds, but seeing them here headed north is a good sign for us.

The season we began yesterday is another sign of promise for us.

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Hebrews 10:22-24 (NIV)

Progress!

We're seeing some progress! We've gone in every other day since last Friday to have the dressing for the wound vac on B's thigh changed, and each time the wound is noticeably, measurably smaller! It's certainly not all closed up yet, but it sure seems like we're headed in the right direction now.

Point of information: vac on the machine is actually V.A.C., which stands for "vacuum assisted closure". We sure are grateful that God gave somebody the brains to figure out that this nifty little machine would be just the thing to invent!

Simply Superb!

Wanda assigned me the letter "S" for listing 10 things that I love.

In no particular order....

1. Sunshine
2. Siamese cats--Tang, Ting, Ling, Zing, and currently Ka-Ching!
3. Scotcheroos, Sopapilla cream cheese dessert, and other Sweets!
   
4. Singing to my Savior--"I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have being." Psalm 104:33
   
5. Sleep/Sweet Dreams--"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for thou alone, O LORD, makest me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8
6. Snowflakes--especially ones that are big, fat, and slow to float to the ground
7. Starry Skies, Sunrises, Sunsets--"When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast established, what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him?" Psalm 8:3-4
   
8. Sweetie, Son, and Sisters (That's B, M, K and T in case you couldn't guess!)
9. Silliness--there's nothing like getting those endorphins going with a can't stop, can't get my breath, here come the tears round of the giggles!
   
10. Sarah Sisters--That would be the ladies of the Sarah Circle I belong to at church. We are known to Study Seriously, as well as engage in much Silliness at our meetings.
    

If anyone else would like to make a list, just leave a comment and I will be glad to assign a random letter for you.

Man Purse?

The infection (the redness around a center area) on B's thigh is gone, but.... the center area itself, which had been just a darker area, actually got larger and necrotized (died off) so that it had to be surgically debrided twice this past week. After the last time, they put a "wound vac" on it. This machine totally seals the area, pulls out "stuff" that shouldn't stay there, helps with circulation, and just generally promotes healing of the wound. It stays on continuously, runs very quietly, and is in a portable bag. Imagine B. with a "man purse"! Maybe I can add a picture later. (added Feb. 12) We're told to expect some rapid improvement, though we'll still just take one day at a time.

As to what let the original infection get started, we will probably never know. It could have been a tiny scratch, a bug bite, a superficial blood clot, a tiny ruptured vessel, even an ingrown hair! B's being on Coumadin seems to be a possible factor in how things progressed to where they are now, but again, nothing is really certain right now.

Thank you for your continued prayers. They are much appreciated!

You Just Never Know

You just never know what the day will bring.

On Wednesday, the 21st, I went to school for a short day of substitute teaching. Soon after getting home, B showed me a small dark area with some redness around it on his thigh, plus he was having terrible chills. We're always cautious about the possibility of blood clots (he's been on coumadin since a clot in 2001), so we called and went to the clinic. The dark area kind of looked like a bruise. Well, our doctor had him admitted to our local hospital, put him on an antibiotic for what seemed to be a virus of some kind, and did a CT scan of his lungs, just to be certain no clot had traveled there. None had!

It became obvious that the area on his leg was an infection, and both the center area and the redness around it continued to grow, despite a change in antibiotics. So, on Sunday he was transferred (M and I drove him) to Lincoln to be treated by an infections specialist. They changed him to yet another antibiotic, and this one (along with tons of prayers from friends and family) seems to be taking care of it. He was able to come home the middle of this week, with a 10-day, 4 times a day, prescription.

The infection was deemed “cellulitis.” We definitely need those prayers to continue so that it gets all cleared up.

Because..... needing to do the CT scan of his lungs turned out to be a blessing. The lungs were fine, but part of his kidneys were also in the picture, and our doctor spotted a small, most likely cancerous, tumor on one of them. Otherwise it likely would not have been found until it was larger and causing trouble. As it is, B’s urologist was able to get a full scan done while he was up at Lincoln. The tumor is relatively small, only one, and appears to be contained. An appointment is scheduled in a couple of weeks, once this cellulitis business should be done, when we’ll talk with him more and see what course of action will be taken.

You just never know.

Pencil Sketch #1 of ???--Shoe

Priscilla decided to keep a sketch journal, and plans to use this list for inspiration. Sounds like a great idea! I make no promises as to keeping up, but here's a start anyway! And who knows, maybe I can get better at this.

Disclaimer: This and any subsequent sketches are done merely for my own enjoyment; not with any claims of being an artist!

A Couple of Recipes

This first recipe is similar to GMJ's cake mix cookies recipe. As with them, add whatever baking chips, etc. that you want. For Christmas, I found some red and green striped white chocolate chips to use.

Crackle Cool Whip Cookies
Mix 1 egg in 1 cup of Cool Whip. (Chill.) Then mix with 1 regular size cake mix, whatever flavor you want. With powdered sugar-covered hands, shape into round balls. Dip in powdered sugar. Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. Yield: 3 dozen.

Pringles and Peanuts Candy
Crush one can of Pringle's potato chips (or approx. 6 ounces of another brand).
Mix with 1 cup of unsalted nuts.
Melt 4-5 squares of white almond bark.
Coat the chips/nut mixture.
Either drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper, or spread out and crumble into pieces.