Another update...

Yes indeed, you are reading that thermometer correctly!  The last couple days have been frigid!  It has been so cold, in fact, that we had to turn our furnace on this morning - if you know us, you know that is REALLY COLD!  Brrrrr...  Ironic that the "sun" is only 3 degrees!  And that doesn't take into account the wind chill.

Sorry it has been so long since my last posting, but it seems this might be par for the course.  The new classes have started off very well and I am enjoying them, but they absorb a great deal of time.  Like I have an overabundance of that.  Right?  But the classes have been energizing so far and Cal U certainly does a very good job with their online program.  So, due to the new schedule, my goal is to write an entry at least once a week.  We'll see.

Emily is going back to Pittsburgh for the beginning of the bone marrow transplant process and all that goes along with that.  Her spirits are very high and she is approaching this challenge with a very positive attitude.  Later this week she will undergo both chemo and radiation treatments daily as they kill off all of her bone marrow and abnormal blood cells.  That leaves her immune system very vulnerable, so she has to remain quarantined as she goes through this process.  Once that has been accomplished she will receive the donor marrow through an IV.  As the new marrow cells make their way into her bones, if all goes well they will repopulate and restore her marrow with renewed healthy blood cell production.

All she knows about the donor is that the marrow is coming from a boy.  She struggled with that a little and said with a smile, "I didn't want a boy in me."  We all had a good laugh over that!  In the end though, this is the best match for her so she will make due.  [grin]

The biggest concern the doctor has with this whole process is for Emily's liver.  Because it was already acting erratically with the ammonia levels in her blood, he is worried that the combination of chemo and radiation might damage her liver to the point that she would need a liver transplant.  We, of course are praying that her liver will make it through the treatments just fine!

Their family had another big scare last week when Jim had to be taken to the emergency room when his tumor began unexpected bleeding!  They admitted him to the hospital and had to give him blood and fluids.  He has been very uncomfortable and dealing with a great deal of cramping due to the tumor.  They decided to begin some of his radiation treatments.  This week he will be taking chemo pills daily and two radiation treatments each day in hopes of shrinking the tumor to a size that can more easily be surgically removed.  He was released yesterday from the hospital and was in pretty good spirits, but was tired and still very uncomfortable.  He will be out of work for 6-10 weeks as he goes through the treatments and recovery.

Candy has been at her wits end wondering how much she can really take.  She is confident that the Lord will not give her more than she can handle, but that must mean that He feels that she is one tough lady!  She too, is very upbeat about all that is going on, "What else can I do?  I just have to take it one day at a time."  A very real concern for her is financial.  The transplant process for Emily will take about three months (6 weeks in the hospital and 6 weeks in the Ronald McDonald House) and Candy will be out of work for most of that time.  They will hold her job, but she has already used her sick time up with all of Emily's treatments through last fall and winter so her time off will be without pay.  She is confident that they will all get through this ordeal somehow and shows a great deal of faith that somehow the Lord will take care of them.

Leah and Tori continue to support their sister, step-dad and most certainly, their mother in every way they can - a couple of classy young ladies!

They are a special family who could really use your prayers.  Thank you for joining with us as we go through this challenging time together.

Call Me Crazy

If only we could shed the extra winter weight so easily.  Three weeks ago we were hammered with more than 24" of snow over a three day period.  Dawn's snowman was jolly and plump back then.  But in just three weeks, much of the snow has melted away which has trimmed the snowman down to nothing but skin and bones [if they had such things...  come on, work with me here].  He has lost most of his hair, his eyes aren't working any more, the well defined body now sags and perhaps most saddening is the fact that he no longer has that big ol' smile.

Actually, it is kind of like looking in a mirror these days.  Strange how time can take its toll on us and we hardly even notice it is happening.  I still believe that is because our eyes gradually go bad so we don't really see the aging effect until, of course, one day we get glasses and the vision becomes clear once again - that is when I saw my dad looking back at me in my mirror!  (But, honestly, that is fine with me because my dad is a great guy)  

But what about that smile?  Unlike the snowman, it doesn't matter how much time passes, the hardships and challenges of this life will not overcome the joy in my spirit.  My smile and laughter will remain.  Admittedly, they are not as prevalent as they once were - you know, back when I wore my thick rose colored glasses - but there is still much to be grateful and joyful for and I choose to focus on those elements in life.

Enough with the philosophizing.  I have begun my masters work at Cal U toward Principal Administrative Certification.  Many people think I'm crazy for wanting to move into an arena that is so demanding and thankless, one which is constantly changing and where you deal with so many problems, one which carries a great deal of pressure.  Sometimes I think they are right - I must be crazy.

But I know better than that.  It has always been part of my nature to help people.  As a student in high school, I would often stand up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves, I would stand in the gap for those who were being bullied, and I tried to enforce a sense of fairness in my little circle of influence.  Perfect?  No way!  But I tried.

Kind of like the job of a principal.  Bring as much fairness and equality into the educational environment, build a sense of family into the facility so everyone can feel safe to enjoy their stay, and stand in the gap for the staff, students and community.  Pie in the sky?  Absolutely.  But that is how I have lived my life so why change now?  The Lord has called me to serve and so, I serve.

Thanks to all of my friends and colleagues who have been an encouragement to me - and I must say, there have been many.  Crazy?  Probably.  But one part crazy is one of the ingredients that makes me, me.

Another Week

I am in the living room writing this entry and catching up on all that has gone on this week when from the kitchen Dawn cries out, "Oh no!  This is really bad!"  Now tell me, honestly, what would go through your mind?  I immediately began to think that she had cut herself and needed me to call an ambulance, or maybe a water pipe had burst and was spraying all over the kitchen, or even worse yet, something on the stove had spontaneously burst into flames and we needed to get out of the house fast and call the fire department! 

No.  None of the above.  She tried to pick up an open box of spaghetti and a bunch of it fell out into the cupboard.  As she was squeeling about that, her pitch became even more frenzied as the bottom unexpectedly opened and the rest of the spaghetti from the box fell out onto the floor!  When I entered the scene, it looked much more like she was bored and wanted to play a game of pick up sticks!  It was rather funny!  [Not the part about her being frustrated, but the way she reacted to it - even Jackie agreed!]

You can always tell when our lives get crazy; my entries get further apart.  This past week, my pep band played at two basketball games, I had two other rehearsals for the musical I'm playing in this weekend (The Music of Mamma Mia), and have four performances through this weekend (Friday, Saturday and two on Sunday).  And that is the way my schedule continues to look throughout the coming weeks.  After all, it is pep band and jazz band season, the next couple weeks will usher in our PMEA Festival season, and on top of all of that, starting Tuesday, I begin my work toward a Masters of Education, Administration degree for principal certification.  That will put a serious bind on my calendar for the next couple years.  But in the interim, I will continue to update you as much as I can on all that is going on in our lives as we continue to move through this journey we call "life".

Emily was feeling pretty good this week so they released her.  She is still weak and wonders why she should go home - after all, she can't do anything regardless of where she is.  Her bone marrow transplant has been tentatively set for mid-February and she will more than likely have one more chemo treatment before that.  Her next appointment is Tuesday morning.  It is so tough going from day to day not knowing how she'll be feeling at any given time, most of us have a really hard time just being sick for a couple days, so it is hard to try to imagine what it would be like to work through something as long term as Emily is facing.

Jim had his consultation last week and was marked for the radiation treatments (they have to mark the spots where they focus the radiation).  He will begin his treatments over the next couple weeks and we are hopeful that they will bring some relief to him.  With colon cancer there is a great deal of discomfort regardless of the position you try to sit in and he said that it is even painful and uncomfortable to lay down.

Mary is continuing to press ahead and meets each new day with fire.  She has her ups and downs but will always be quick to say, "I'm fine."  Regardless of how she really feels, that is her answer and she is sticking to it!  She never wanted to be a burden to anybody and has expressed often how she doesn't want to put Mel through this, but of course he is quick to tell her that he considers it a joy to help her regardless of what she needs.

Tonight brings our second performance - if you stop by, you will find me playing the tenor sax in the band.  The show starts at 7:30 in the Academy Theater, Meadville.  Tomorrows show begins at 2:00pm  (tomorrow evenings show is a private show, sorry).  You know, just in case you are looking for something to do...   =)

Play Catch-Up

Can you tell that we are back in school?  It seems that there is no time to keep everyone updated.  It has been a while that is for sure, so it is time to take care of that!

The weather?  Frigid!  Lots of snow, snow and more snow.  It is funny when we hear from friends in places like Nashville that tell us they had a dusting of snow and they closed everything for two days!  Now that is really funny!

Enjoyed a great school break with Jackie.  She just left to go back for classes which will start tomorrow.   Bear gets really sad and mopey when he sees us loading all of her luggage in the car and this time was no different.  It is still surreal trying to wrap my brain around the fact that in just 6 months, she and Will will be married.  Crazy.

We visited Dawn's mom, Mary,  yesterday.  When we got there she was doing really well - talking nice and clear, holding a bit of a conversation and breathing very relaxed.  Within ten minutes, she was exhausted then her PSP kicked in and she started repeating words over and over and over, kind of like a record that is skipping.  She is progressively worsening and it is sad to see her struggling so much.

Emily started running a fever a couple days ago and had to go back down to Children's hospital.  At first, they thought she would have to stay again for an extended period but after a couple days, she is looking much better.  They now feel that she will be able to spend some more time at home before returning for the bone marrow transplant.  She is actually doing well and her spirits are pretty high.

Jim was very frustrated on Thursday when he found out that, after taking a sick day to go to the cancer center for his first chemo treatment, his appointment was cancelled because the doctor didn't come in.  Unbelievable.  He has yet to have a treatment and they diagnosed his colon cancer five weeks ago!  Crazy!

I found out today that my nephew, Michael, made it home.  He has been serving in Iraq and we so much appreciate his service.  Welcome home Michael!  We will look forward to seeing you sometime soon!  Many prayers have been answered through your safe return!  Continue praying for all of our young men and women serving overseas in those troubled areas.

We were really blessed this morning in church.  The music, Sunday School, the sermon and the fellowship were sweet!  There is a continual reminder that God is good and He is looking out for us, only wanting the best for our lives.  He holds a precious gift in His hand for us to take, it is free and without strings and exceeds all the worldly wealth we could imagine.  We simply need to be willing to receive it.  Thank you Lord!

Winter Wonderland

After the holidays, have you ever felt a bit bloated from all the fantastic food?  Kind of like Dawn's snowman, after all that food our body shape changes a bit then we spend most of the new year trying to shed that unwanted side effect of the Christmas season!  By the way, that is the same snowman that I posted the last two days and you can see how much snow we have been pounded with - although it looks much shorter, I can assure you that it is just an optical illusion with the 28"+ of snow piled around it!

In fact, here is the same Nativity that I shared with you last week.  On Saturday, I pulled it all up out of the snow thinking that maybe Jesus was getting a bit chilly from the three inch blanket of snow he had covering him up.  Now they must be igloo dwellers because all they look like is a little bump in the snow!  Even the really tall wooden (plastic) soldiers in the background are up to their chests in the chilly white stuff!

Remember the 25" piece of cornerbead I put in the snow on this table?  All covered up by this morning when I took this picture, after which it continued to snow all day!  The mushroom top on the table is now smooth showing no sign of the cornerbead at all and the sides of the snow are now almost touching the snow piled up on the deck!

And here is Bear's mansion.  Of course, the doorway is under the left dormer totally covered in snow!  Guess he won't be using that any time soon!  I could dig it out, but truth be told, he is a baby and spends all of his time inside leaving hair all over the house and sucking up heat from the fireplace whenever he can.

This is the first time I can remember having to plow six times in three days since we moved here in 1992.  True, last year we had a ton of snow throughout the winter months, but we couldn't remember as much snow falling in such a short time as we have received from this storm.  CRAZY!  Hopefully they will let us go back to school tomorrow (they called off today)!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

It has been one of those weekends in Northwestern Pennsylvania when the crystalized H2O swirls and twirls, blows and accumulates in piles and drifts across the beautiful white blanketed landscape.  In other words, it has been snowing like crazy!  Nearly two feet in 48 hours and it is still falling like crazy!

In the next picture, you will notice our lawn table under 21" of that wonderful white stuff!  The drywall cornerbead is 25" long and you can see the leftover 4" sticking out of the snow.  When it all started, the table had just a couple inches on it - I know, crazy!!!!  But that is one reason why we have chosen to live in this area - there is a true sense of adventure when we have to try surviving the tundra!

Not only have we had piles of snow, but that means moving the snow from the driveways!  Four times I have plowed in two days.  Today a bit of my dad's luck hit - the winch cable broke in the middle of my neighbor's driveway so I had to run the repair in the middle of the snow bank.  Yes, there really is a driveway just beyond my 4-wheeler.  Crazy snow, eh?

It just happened that Dawn was nervous as all get out over the Steelers' game as they were once again trying to give it away in the 4th quarter.  When she gets nervous, she cannot stay in the room and watch so instead paces the house, plugs her ears, hums like there is no tomorrow and only checks in with the game when I cheer and tell her to come see the replay of a great play!

This time, since I was not there to let her know it was okay to watch, Dawn came out to see what was going on and her timing couldn't have been better.  She helped me fix the cable and kept me company while chattering on about how a 3rd string quarterback was going to turn another sure win  for the Steelers into a huge disappointment!

It didn't take long to fix the wheeler up and I was off and running again.  After finishing the job, we watched a movie.  Then at 7pm I went to plow again.  Another 4"-6" had accumulated in that brief time. I'm tellin' ya, CRAZY!  (But I'm not gonna lie, it is FUN!!!)

It seems that one day you wake up and look in the mirror and everything has changed.  Things sag that once was firm and tight... like the skin around your eyes.  Come on - what did you think I was talking about?!  There are wrinkles that weren't there before, missing hair that was once full and let's not even mention the fact that we avoid the bathroom scale at all cost - and it all seems to happen over night!  

Believe it or not, that is what happened to Dawn's snowman after we got pelted with snow for the last 24 hours (my last post had a picture of what it looked like before aging and gaining weight).  We happen to live just south of the snowbelt which means that if the winds are coming off of Lake Erie just right, we get tons of snow!  It just happens that the winds are just right because this storm has dumped about 12 inches so far and it looks like we are in for another 12"-18" by Sunday night.  

I stopped in the middle of plowing my driveway this morning to take this picture, and yes, there is a plow behind that pile of snow!  What is more, I am planning to go out in another hour or so and plow another 4"-5".  That cycle will continue as long as the storm keeps on dumping that beautiful white stuff.  Some people complain about it, but that comes with living in this area.  We happen to think that it is just another great part of living in Northwestern PA!

The one down side to all this snow is the driving aspect.  Not that it bothers me, in fact, I see driving in snow as another form of an adventure.   But today, Jackie is driving home from Pittsburgh alone.  Today was the sad day that Will caught his flight back to California and Jackie chose to drop him off at the airport.

That brought back many memories for Dawn and I from the days when I was stationed in California and we corresponded for nearly three years!  That meant we only saw each other once or twice a year for a couple weeks at a time.  No e-mail, no cell phones, no computers to skype with - only telephones (that cost a fortune so we only called every other week or so) and old-fashioned US Mail.  So when it came time to get dropped off at the airport, the deep felt grief and pain of separation was excruciating!

Sadly, that is what Jackie and Will are experiencing right now and Jackie has to drive home in this crazy snowstorm!  Lord, please stay near her and help her return home safely.

The distance and time spent apart definitely builds strength into the relationship and the reunion brings greater joy.  There is no replacing that deep sense of anticipation!

We are already missing you, Will.  It has been remarkable to see how well you fit right into our family - it is as if you have been part of the family all along!  Godspeed as you return to CA and get back into the normal day to day routine and may He bless all that you do out there.  We certainly look forward to seeing you again soon (although, not nearly as much as Jackie is looking forward to it!).

An interesting aside... This past Wednesday we went to see Emily and on the way home coming across the Fort Pitt Bridge in Pittsburgh, believe it or not, a motorcycle passed us!  Snow all over the place and that knuckle-head was out riding!  Granted, the roads were clear BUT IT WAS FREEZING!  Some people are simply CRAZY!!!!!