Maybe, perchance, perhaps….we might possibly be seeing the end of the illness marathon somethime soon. So far, it’s been a record three and a half weeks of colds, stomach flu, and various viruses. We’ve also added in there, several doctor visits, an ear infection, a couple of dermatologist visits, three dentist check- ups, and uh….I’m sure there is some more, but I’d rather not try to think of it…it’s already a painful enough thought. Anyway, we are down to a couple of runny noses and Jeff running a low grade fever as far as contagious diseases go and I think these things have been going on so long, that they aren’t very contagious anymore. Don’t worry, that doesn’t mean we are all going to suddenly have obsessions with spitting on other people’s door knobs or anything!

Speaking of spitting, we also have our share of non contagious ailments. I believe I’ve already mentioned James visit to the dentist where he had a dead tooth pulled. I also got the pleasure of visiting the dentist and discovered that for the first time in my life I have to have something besides just a cleaning. I have made an appointment to have two fillings put in. Alas, great teeth should last forever…even if we abuse them! So, I’m looking forward to this new experience.. They aren’t large areas, just tiny pin holes on the side of two different teeth.

And speaking of new experiences, Jonathon has his share of problems, though they aren’t as pleasant. He’s had some bleeding of a sensitive nature and when we went to the doctor to find out the cause, she suspected that the opening in his “equipment” is closing over and set us up with a urologist. At least the situation isn’t painful for Jonathon, for which I am VERY grateful. There is no infection it seems, only some sort of stubborn scar tissue.

And speaking of scar tissue, Brandon had a dermatologist check up and had a pound of flesh removed from his body…not really, just 6 moles, but this morning, while he was taking a shower, the pain was intense enough that he passed out over it. Not to worry, God worked things out so that I walked into the bathroom to talk to him just before it happened and I could gently let him down to the floor, so he wasn’t hurt. Anyway, this cheery situation is awaiting results from biopsys on the “samples” removed from his person to find out if they are canerous---oh goody! I’m glad we did it though.

And speaking of cancerous, I’m headed for patch testing myself at the dermatologist. I’ve had some skin problems for about a year and a half and I’ve tried all the doctors suggestions, all my friends wacky ideas, and many other things, including personally lancing the blisters off my hand hoping they would just not come back. Now, I’m reduced to having people intentionally attempt to make my skin irritated by the 23 most common skin allergens. I’m thrilled about this process as you can see…my only hope is that it will reveal something that leads me closer to fixing the problem.

And speaking of fixing problems, things aren’t all bad. Don’t get me wrong, there have been numerous days in the last three weeks that I have just cried my eyes out over being so overwhelmed with everything, but there have been good times too. This past week we had several days in the 50’s. The snow all melted away and the boys had some GLORIOUS days of outdoor play. We took some walks and I found myself outside in short sleeves and bare feet a couple of times. I’ve also had some fun in the Fairwood kitchen working on meals with some of the men. We’ve had one of three scheduled swap days and I get the pleasure of working with some excellent chefs of the male persuasion. I have another one coming up tomorrow and I am looking forward to it. We’ve had some meals with the Bible School lately and that has been a nice break. I say break, but I’m sure most of you know that break means a break from one thing so I can catch up on another.

Speaking of catching up another thing I’ve been enjoying is learning to play raquetball. Several weeks ago I went to the “Y” with a student and friend here and she taught me how to play. The next morning in a fit of (as Brandon calls it) over ambtitousness, I went up to the gym at 6 am and beat the ball around the walls for a half an hour before I started the day. Yesterday I went up again with previously mentioned buddy (Bet’nay, BJ, Gunslinger Girl) and we played again. Now we’ve played a total of three games and on the third game I actually got 6 points. It was quite thrilling since the other two I was a big fat zero. It is great for cardio and I’m enjoying the exercise. This morning I did some toning stuff and I am hoping to continue the insane morning regiment in hopes of allowing the feeling that I’m a big bloated blob of buttery blubber ( say that three times fast) fade fast. It’s already fading and that’s exciting. (Brandon just said he’s going to start calling me “Bluttery Bubber”- I think it has a nice ring to it…ugh!) Anyway, the regular workout is good for me and it is also giving me a bit of a head start on the day. Of course, one must crawl out of bed to do such things and that’s my biggest difficulty! Sometimes I feel almost nailed to the mattress for all the effort it takes me to drag my body off the bed. Perhaps if I slept on nails it wouldn’t be as difficult to get up…but then I don’t think I would sleep very well either.

Speaking of sleeping well, I will leave you with the stupid story of the day. Jonathon was playing quietly in his room and as usual had been instructed to stay there “until his clock said a 3”. So later in the afternoon, he comes running into the kitchen saying, “My clock says the right time, I can get up now.” I looked at the clock and it was only 2:22pm, not 3, so I told him he was mistaken. He said his clock did say it was time and for me to come and look at it. Upon arriving in his room I discovered that his clock did not say 2:22 as mine did, so I asked him how it came to say what it did. “Oh it changed all by itself.” He replied. Oh, no it didn’t! You changed it didn’t you! “Yes, I did.” He said. So I instructed him to stay in there until it said a 3 and I reset his clock. The funny part was that he had mistakenly changed his clock to say 7:00am- when he’s allowed to wake up in the morning, not the afternoon time of 3pm. Oh well, it made it easy for me.

And speaking of easy, I’ve written long enough and should pay attention to my army once again.