The Classroom is FINISHED

Yea! I spent all week organizing and getting things laid out correctly, and we spent this weekend getting the chalkboard up on the wall. It finally looks like a classroom.

It's sooooooo nice to have somewhere quiet and "focused" to go in order to work on lesson planning, etc - a place where I have everything I need at my fingertips, without having to walk into other rooms in order to search for each piece! There is even a storage cabinet in the closet that contains all the beakers, test tubes, and other materials needed for his science experiments throughout the year.

I still have some lesson planning to do, and daily supplies (paper, pens, etc.) to purchase, but for the most part, I'm done! The hard part is over with. . . it will be smooth sailing from now on.

An environment rich for learning - he can "see it," he will "hear it," and he can "do it." Perfect.

Let the MADNESS Begin . . . .

Well, Philip and I took advantage of Damon's absence this weekend. We spent all weekend moving furniture, etc. Damon's room is normally upstairs along with is playroom. However, with School about to begin (5 weeks total), I will be turning his large playroom into the "schoolroom."

So, some changes were needed. We moved the office from one of the downstairs bedrooms up into the loft area. Then, we moved Damon's bedroom down from the upstairs bedroom into the downstairs bedroom that used to be the office. Next, we moved the playroom out of the large room upstairs into Damon's "old" bedroom. Then, we had all the furniture, books, etc. to move into the "old playroom," or now, we call it the Schoolroom.

Anyone confused yet?!?!? HA HA!

Yes, it was quite the madhouse here this weekend. Thankfully, we didn't have any house showings - boy, they would have walked into a war zone! However, we did it, and were very proud of ourselves once it was complete.

My job, however, is far from being complete - I still have a room to settle, supplies to purchase, and lessons to plan. However, I believe that I will actually be at a stopping point a couple of weeks prior to school starting, so I will be able to have some BREATHING TIME before the school year begins.

Maybe a massage is in order . . . . . . . humm . . . . . definitely!!!!

Here are a few pictures of the madness that we created - these are the BEFORE pictures of the school room. . . . I'll post AFTER pictures when I'm done "being creative."

Our Annual Trip to Arkansas

Well, Damon and I go to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas every summer for a week-long visit to Meme and Pappy's house. I finally have the pictures in, so here we go - a nice recap of our trip. This year, we did some things that we hadn't done before - so it was nice to have some new items on the agenda.

One thing we did was go to a magic show. This was a show featuring "Maxwell Blade" of Hot Springs, Arkansas. It was in a cozy little theater, about the size of one side of a small sanctuary. We were very up close and personal with the magician, and it was really fun. He was very witty and really interacted with the audience. We forgot the camera, so the pictures were taken with a camera phone - hence, they didn't turn out very well - but I will post them anyway:

1) He took a volunteer from the audience without telling the poor kid what he was going to do for his next trick. . . he pulled out the guillotine and demonstrated/tested the device on some carrots which were promptly demolished. The child's eyes grew very big. Once the kid was in the apparatus, he began telling Mom that he loved her and for her not to cry too much. . . it was pretty funny to say the least. Needless to say, there were no emergency room trips or blood on stage, so the kid came out OK. I still haven't figured this one out yet. . . . . especially since new carrots were placed right next to his hands, and they were demolished, while the child wasn't. (Much to his little sister's dismay - she actually pulled the "trigger" so to speak - after being informed that she would NOT get in trouble for doing her brother in . . . ) :)

Damon was called up on stage to assist in a mind reading trick. . . .



Our next adventure consisted of going up on a mountain horseback riding through the trails. We didn't get any pictures this time. We ALWAYS go horse back riding when we go to Arkansas. We all enjoy it so much. Damon had quite a spirited horse, which meant LOTS of trotting for him. Even though he was at the front and I was at the back of the line, I always knew when his horse was taking off I"d hear a bouncy "Whoa" and lots of giggles.

We also went to an Alligator Farm. We have never been to one of these, and truthfully, didn't know that one even existed. This was also a petting farm, so Damon really enjoyed the farm.








Damon pet the goats, Ostrich, the deer, a spitting Llama and even a real live alligator!


They had other animals at the farm, so we also saw Cougars, a Peacock, Leemers, a turkey, a white wolf and of course, Alligators!





We also (as a new activity) went up on the mountain and dug for crystal quartz. Damon always enjoys visiting a rock shop and bringing home a souvenir, so I thought he might actually enjoy digging for his own. . . . .

Damon had several good finds, and brought home about 20 quartz crystals! He really enjoyed it.



We also had a visit from Damon's cousins, Tayton and Caitlyn. Christy's brother and sister-in-law, Brandon and Mandy, also came along for the visit. We gathered at the beach for some fun in the sun. .. . . .






And, a fishing trip completed our visit. Success! However, there will be no fish for dinner tonight. . . . the pickings were slim. All in all, our visit was just perfect ! Until next time . . . .

Doctor Results

Well, I was finally able to talk to another doctor, and his opinion agreed with my Oncologist/Hematologist. So, here are the facts: 1)Official diagnosis: Secondary Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) - aka "Pre-Lukemia" 2) What does this mean? a) My bone marrow "factory" is not producing enough blood cells, and some of the ones it is producing are malformed. The malformed blood cells are unable to carry iron/oxygen (and everything else) to the rest of the body as it should, resulting in severe anemia. b) This is also the reason my spleen is enlarged - the spleen's job is to "eat up" cells that are not functioning correctly - so, when the blood cells pass through the spleen, it absorbs them, causing it to eventually become enlarged. c) This syndrome is labeled as "Pre-Lukemia" because in 40-60 % of the cases, it will turn into Lukemia over the passing years - it could be in a matter of 5-10 years, or 30 years down the road. Lukemia in the adult stages of life is not cureable . . . but can be treated and slowed down. Right now, my body does not have any signs of being anywhere close to Lukemia - so that was good news - and my Dr. will continue to watch it closely. 3) What can be done about it? a) in SEVERE cases (cases leading towards Lukemia), a bone marrow transplant is suggested. However, I am not a good candidate for a bone marrow transplant because my body has been exposed to Chemotherapy and Radiation. I run a HIGH risk of rejecting the transplant, therefore leading to even more serious health problems. b) in some cases, they will treat it with Chemotherapy - but since my case is CAUSED by chemotherapy, it is really dumb to subject me to more chemo - it will only cause more problems . . . . so we WON'T do this one. c) treatment usually consists of just treating the symptoms, which will include: i) periodic blood transfusions (but not too many, as too many can cause a severe spike in iron, and result in having to do treatments similar to dialysis in order to filter the overflow of iron in the body) This will give me more "correctly functioning" red blood cells, more white cells and more platelettes. However, they will diminish over time as they get used up - and in time, another transfusion will be needed - but we can't go overboard on them (as stated above) - so we combine it with other items listed below. ii) periodic iron infusions (which, last time - during chemo, caused a brief bout of kidney stones, and I was in the emergency room hooked up to morophine 2 nights in a row - but maybe that won't happen again when we do this in the future) iii) monthly "Arinesp" shots - which give you more energy, and help to keep you out of the anemic state - I had these during chemo. iv) PRAY that this doesn't turn into Lukemia over the upcoming years - That's pretty much all I have for you now - I know a lot of you were waiting to hear what the doctors had to say . . . and there you have it. I'm not happy about it, but what are you going to do?!?!?!? I had to have the chemo or I may not be alive for very many years - but at the same time - for the cure of one thing to turn into the cause of another is quite the BUMMER. I'm a "fix-it" person, and the fact that there is no "easy fix" for this problem is driving me crazy. However, I'm not showing signs of anything worse at the moment, so I'm fixating on the good news, and dealing with the rest the best I can. Pray for me! I can definitely use it! Love, Christy