Other news

We're not proceeding with the legal action against Wood's former employer. We cannot bear to have the comments made about the racial makeup of our family, and about our daughter, made public. We live in a small town, and it would be front page news. It hurts my heart too much to even contemplate. Are we taking the easy way out? Maybe. Too much on our plates right now.

G has been learning about MLK Jr at school. She was shocked, to say the least, that people were treated so poorly because of the color of their skin. She said "but momma, didn't they know that God created everyone in all different colors?"

Can they hear me?

Dr's appt yesterday. He appeared to listen to my concerns about the type of surgery I could get up here, and the type that I really wanted that isn't available up here and I'd like to have it done elsewhere. Then, he proceeded to tell me, that he ALSO thought I needed to consider having my ovaries removed. Gave me statistical numbers about amount of years added to survival after having this done at age 35 with my particular issues and risk factors (umm, I'm older than that already). Somewhat in shock, I tell him "wow, that's a bundle of surgery you are recomending" I told him I had reservations about being thrown immediately into menopause. He responded "you aren't having any more children, are you? So you might as well go ahead. I don't see why you would even hesitate". Yup, we can get rid of any body parts that aren't currently being used. Am I really using BOTH kidneys?????

Then, he tells me that he thinks I've been reading too much, and have too many options in front of me, that I need to go back to the local surgeon and reconsider having the mastectomies done here. That I'm giving myself unecessary anxiety. Ok, you've just signed me up for 3 significant and major surgeries and you think I have unecessary anxiety????? I just don't think they hear me. I'd bet he'd ask questions too, if it were his life, his surgery.

ET child with cancer...

Some of you know that another family near us adopted siblings in 2006. We are the only 2 families (thuse far) in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with Ethiopian children. Their adoption was far from smooth, with the younger child having to have an extended stay in Ethiopia due to testing positive for TB. Shortly after she finally arrived home, her older brother was diagnosed with Leukemia. He was treated successfully and has been in remission for only 9 months. His cancer is back, and his prognosis is poor, having had responded to the treatment for such a short time frame. Ultimately, they are looking at a bone marrow transplant for him - probably a daunting task to find a match for an Oromo Ethiopian.

Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers. They have been through so much. As I've recently found out, getting specialized treatment in the UP is challenging, to say the least. They must travel to Wisconsin to get treatment for David. Here's a link to David's Caringbridge site:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/davidgockenbach

Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts for our family. They are greatly appreciated. I'm finally fully recovered from my latest surgical procedure and starting to feel more positive. I see my dr tomorrow.

I'm still here....

The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.

We are all moved, and the essentials are unpacked. I have curtains in all three of the bedrooms as of last night, so I'm considering us more or less "settled in". The dynamic duo seems to LOVE being in a smaller house, so many of my fears there were unfounded. We've had some exciting adventures - gas leak, electrical short (only when you used the microwave AND lights at the same time, though)

I'm not immensely talkative about myself at the moment. I am looking towards some pretty major surgery, which at this point I'm not inclined to have up here. I'm searching outwards - Marshfield, Detroit Metro area, Milwaukee or Minnesota. It's hard for me to focus on it, however - or anything. I don't want to think about work - I just want to stay home with my family, set up my new home and let the world pass me by for awhile.

Parenting advice

If your child has a stomache ache, it is probably a bad idea for them to consume blue raspberry flavored pop. Because later, when they start throwing up in vivid blue all the way from the very front of the church to the back, as you desperately try to get them to the restroom to no avail, it definitely is an unholy experience.

Trust me on this one.

Paint emergency

I discovered while moving boxes yesterday that the girls rooms at the new house, recently painted by the prior owners, were painted with a very low quality FLAT paint. Ok, that will last about 15 minutes!

Off to the paint store today. Now I need to get at least one of the two rooms painted prior to move it. If I get it done today, it would be much easier without the furniture and beds in the room. Is one coat paint REALLY one coat? And to find exactly, WHICH boxes I packed my painting supplies into! Painting isn't considered lifting, right?

Feeling better

Last night was bad, I had a lot of pain and couldn't get comfortable. I didn't go into work today - probably my first sick day in I don't know how long. I felt terrible when I woke up this morning. A lot of discomfort. But it's amazing how good I feel this evening.

There was a SLIM chance that my biopsy results would be available after 4pm today. I called my dr's office at 3:55pm, and got the recording that the office is closed after 3:30pm on Friday. Oh well, I tried. But my outlook is more positive, and no matter what, we'll get through this. I'll try again for the results first thing monday morning.

Finishing up packing the boxes that need to be moved tomorrow. We got the keys to the new place early this evening. When we took the girls over to drop off some stuff, Daddy had hung a jungle print shower curtain in the main bathroom along with some really fun Lion and Monkey towels. The girls thought that was sooo cool and everyone is really picking up excitement about the move. Some folks who work for me are coming over in the morning to move boxes, and big sister M is spending the night tonight and will serve as babysitter extrodinaire. When M spends the night, we stay up late and watch Law and Order reruns. I love it.

We will not be moving the majority of our furniture until the 17th, when we close on our current home. And the new house has no appliances, which are being delivered on the 17th as well. So we have a few days to move all the smaller stuff.

Wish us luck!