2015 and 2016 Word

I introduced my word of the year for 2016, marriage, over on my stroke blog, in a post titled Divorce last night. In recap of my 2015 word, Sing, I thought it would do me good to write an overview post of 2015.

I wasn't real sure what impact of Sing would look like, but I originally chose it based on this quote:

"Hope is like a bird that senses the dawn and carefully starts to sing while it is still dark." - Unknown

I think 2015 was, indeed, a year of cautious hope emerging, as characterized by steps like posting a public resume to "put myself back out there" to be contacted for public speaking and such.

My own voice is still not strong nor on key, but is certainly improved enough over the past year that I often find myself singing around the house now, when no one else is around.  Our daughter took grand prize in a local talent show this past year and won a free year of weekly music lessons as a result!

2014 contest. I couldn't find her picture from 2015 where she won.

My hair has grown a LOT, but this was also the year, mid-year, when I decided that in addition to headcovering for spiritual reasons, I would also adopt the purely personal/cultural choice of no longer wearing my hair loose in public, saving it for my husband's viewing. Nothing to do with my faith, just a personal gift from me to him, so this as as "down" as you see it now:

In thinking through skills gained this past year, it is such slow progress now that I rarely see day-to-day changes, but one big-picture change that has happened since last year is that this was the first year I was able to wrap Christmas gifts since the strokes! Singing indeed!!! Thanks to my husband's wisdom, I did not accept a single Christmas party invitation this year and did not put up a traditional tree (this little "wall tree" is 3 feet high, flat the back side, hangs from a single hook, and took well under 5 minutes to totally set up. Because it was such a low-stress, low-energy December, and with the slow gains added over the past year, I was able to work on a couple of presents each day, over the course of several weeks, and even though I don't have enough fine motor dexterity to type with both hands, I was able to wrap each of these presents, all by myself!

With my kids' help, I also manged to make 3 double batches of my great-grandmother's cranberry bread (one of the double batches was both wheat-free and egg-free and turned out very dense, so one of the skills I need to work on for 2016 is better taste and texture in allergy-safe cooking) that I used to make as Christmas gifts every year before the strokes. We also made a quadruple batch of chocolate peanut-butter balls. (I know that this could be adapted to be top 8 allergy safe by using a different nut or seed butter, but surprisingly actual peanut butter works with the unique needs of our family!) Turn a strokie, a 12-year-old and a 9-year-old loose in a kitchen, add late night hours (we started early in the evening but it took hour so was very late when we ended!), and it was a recipe for MESS and hilarity!!! But we managed. We did it! :D

I'm call Christmas 2015 my "cranberry Christmas." Not only did I make cranberry bread again (see it pictured on the cooling rack to the left), but my gifts seemed to carry a beautiful color theme - a cranberry-colored tea kettle from my in-laws, a set of three bakeware stones from my kids and a large Pampered Chef stoneware that was cranberry glazed from my hubby. :) (My parents got me a pair of earrings and 2 sweatshirts that aren't pictured because they aren't this color.) :)

Kendra, I thought you would enjoy seeing my butterfly corners. :)

Edited to add: (I forgot to mention that a large part of 2015 revolved around tummy pain, surgeries and recovery. Glad to leave that behind in last year!

I also went #WheatFree this past fall and have lost nearly 20 pounds since mid September. Now to see if I can loose 20 more and KEEP it off this year!

Wheat-Free Christmas Treat

I am planning to try this what-free treat with my kids over their break in a few weeks. Don't want to loose it before then!

Aunt Donna' Peanut Butter Balls (via Linda Lindsay)

Mix
1 16oz jar creamy any seed or nut butter (peanut butter, sun butter, etc.)
1 cube butter or margarine
1 lb powdered sugar

Add
3 cups crispy rice cereal.

Mix with hands. It will be crumbly. Squeeze enough to make walnut sized balls. Place on cookie sheet and freeze overnight.

In a double boiler, add 12oz semisweet chocolate chips, a large Hershey special dark chocolate candy bar (6.8-8 ounces), 1/2 of a stick of paraffin wax (In the canning section. I believe it is called parowax). Sounds wierd, but it works!

With toothpicks, dip frozen balls in chocolate mixture and place on wax paper. Using a spoon with chocolate to cover holes. Drizzle with extra chocolate to beautify, if desired. Store in container in fridge.

My previous photo showed 4 batches. Fyi, 3 batches of chocolate will cover 4 batches of PB Balls.

Enjoy!

Photo credit: Linda Lindsay

My mouth is watering already! Can't wait to try!!! I anticipate this becoming a new Saake family favorite tradition.

A really cool idea is this reverse advent calandar, counting days until Christmas by giving instead of getting: http://eatnorth.com/eat-north/julie-van-rosendaals-reverse-advent-calendar

Small Businesses #30DaysOfThanks 11 (Shopping Guide)

I'll be doing a whole post about vets on my Daddy's birthday (Thanksgiving Day this year), but couldn't let today pass without at least some mention.

I'm trying to get really creative with "thankfuls" that benefit and bless others as much as I have been blessed. With holidays coming, it is my hope that I can help boost business a little for my courageous friends, many of whom have been part of my own journey for years. Thus today's post about small business women in my life and their books, curriculum, art, music, family businesses, etsy or eBay pages, or other business affiliations. I thank you each for the long nights, tears, family stress and long hours you put in to make your businesses both emotionally and financially profitable. Thank you for sharing your help, lessons, tips and encouragement along the way!

Christmas is nearly upon us already! If you are looking for gift ideas, please support a family business this year! In a moment, I'll be sharing a wide range of resources you may wish to choose from! (Please note, company/product names are the clickable links, so touch the name of the goods and services to go to owner websites.)

Over the years I've tried all kinds of home-based business from cleaning supplies and vitamins/nutrition to gift wrap to dolls and stuffed animals to a couple lines of mineral makeup to some jewelry. Basically, when I found products I loved, I bought in, to be able to purchase for myself at consultant discount and to make a little money as well! A couple years back, I wrote about the process of God pruning me. Just before my strokes I had felt God firmly guiding me to resign from all but one business I was involved in. It made no sense to my mind at the at the time, but after the strokes, I was so thankful for His wise leading!

I do still have my Lilla Rose hair clip page as the maintenance of this page takes little to no ongoing effort on my part  - figure 8 or Flexi clips, AMAZING little gadget that actually holds your hair, doesn't slip and doesn't pull!!!. (See YouTube to understand what makes them so unique! And here is sizing help.) 

Two friends who are more actively selling Lilla Rose are my friends Kendra D. and Kristi Bothur (who does the whole inventory-on-hand, shows, parties, etc. thing). Kendra, my stroke buddy, learned this great tip for left-handers, if you want the pin to slide in from the left side on any pin that has a clear top to the design, "after you place the order, immediately email them with the order number and item number and ask for it to be made left handed.".

This is a passionate issue to me as my husband and I owned a small store for the first few years of our marriage. That business failed. I want the best for my friends. If you are putting yourself out there into the competitive world of commerce, this is my token of support and thanks today. Every woman listed here could really use your support and encouragement! I've tried to cover lots of friends, but am sure I left many good friends off, so I ask for your forgiveness if you should have been included and I accidentally left you off this list. Please reply in the comments with an explanation of what you do and your link!!! 

When I think back over my own years of business ventures, it was the message boards at Christian Work At Home Ministries (CWAHM) where I made many of my connections. Thank you Jill Hart!

Women like Carissa Wooten Fulkerson (now) of Stone Street Soaps (amazing soaps and body products, both in look and feel, hand crafted, family made, packed and shipped, including specialty items and special orders) is the first to come to mind, for we entered so very many business attempts together before she invented her own fantastic business!

 

Yes! These are soaps!!! I gave several as gifts last year and everyone raved!

Leesha Heins sells Pampered Chef. I am currently hosting a party for her. Orders may be placed through Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015. (If you are on Facebook, please join the show page. While you don't need to "be there" at any set time, Leesha will be posting information, specials, and answering questions there!)

I am also hosting a Perfectly Posh event for Kathy Owens, open through noon this Saturday, November 15, with fun pampering products like "The Caffeinator" skin stick to "Wake up sleepy eyes and tired skin with a perky jolt of caffeine." Karen shares a promotion from corporate, available on purchases of $25 or more (excluding perks and other discounts) and only while supplies last:

Perfectly Posh

So far, neither of these shows have any orders placed, besides my own, so please grab your favorite drink, then drop by and take a look!

The following loved ones aren't posted in any kind or order, neither alphabetical nor by business/product type. As friends sent me links, I added them. With brain injury, this has become a full 3-day project, so I apologize to my fellow OCDers but this is what I could manage, so please see my heart in seeking to share these girls and their enterprises with you! I also see I got some of the background messy with all my copy/pasting. I've fixed as much of this as I can figure out how too. I'm sorry it still looks messy in places!  If I got anyone's details wrong or messed up links, please let me know right away and I'll be glad to edit in changes.

If something interests you, even a little, please visit the link. And if you can find it in your heart and pocket book to make a purchase or three, even better! Don't forget to open the comments to either add your own business or check to see what other links might already be added there for you to visit! ;) 

Shelly Benoit Hendricks has just published 3 beautiful new books on living with chronic illness (or with someone who is ill) including So You're Chronically Ill, Now What (look for a more in-depth review, information, links and give away upcoming on my illness blog, hopefully next week).

Bethany sells Jamberry "Gorgeous nail wraps that last up to 2 weeks on fingers, 6 weeks on toes. Latex-free, vegan, gluten-free, made in the USA. Less than $4/mani or pedi! Over 300 designs, so there's something for everyone."

Mandy Forster Stevenson also sells Jamberry. :) mandyrae.jamberrynails.com

My dearest friend, Susan, introduced me to her friend Laura Mizzell Baker and Paparazzi last year. I was HOOKED quickly. All necklaces come WITH matching earrings for the single price of only $5! Kids jewelry is only $1. Let's just say this makes for some great gift giving!!! For anyone on Facebook, Laura has also teamed up with Theresa Daniels to launch a private, invite-only (I have permission to invite my readers ;) ) The Sparkle Boutique, a WIDE variety of inexpensive jewelry, and they will research your interest to find exactly what you are looking for! Much there is in the $5 (or less!) to $12 range as well.

My friend Tammy sells an adorable clothing line called LulaRoe. I plan to do an in-person pop-up boutique with her once I loose more weight and am excited to see my living room turned into a clothing boutique for a few hours while friends visit and try on favorites! Until then, or if you don't live near me, order through her facebook page at /groups/tamimajtanlularoe/ or visit the main company page at www.lularoe.com then email her at lularoetamimajtan@gmail.com. In the Reno/Sparks, Nevada area, Tammy invites you to "stop by [her house] and shop, which has a much larger variety then the website. But if they see something online they want, they can use this code for free shipping: TAMIMAJTAN."

Kim, mom of twins with a degree in Childhood Development and a preschool teacher in a classroom setting for 12 years, is the author of LessonPlansPlus, where she has "taken our expertise in planning preschool lessons and shared it in an easy-to-follow format.  Our goal is to provide you with fun, flexible, educational preschool lesson plans for use in any setting.  Whether you want a few extra ideas to freshen up your current preschool lesson plans or you need an entire curriculum from scratch, we have what you need..."

Gratefulfoodie, Caroline Moassessi, is a personal friend and hero of mine (and she car pools my kids every afternoon too!) food allergy and asthma blogger.  I'm excitedly watching for more news from http://www.gratefulfoodie.com/.

Conny Hutchinson is a consultant with Mary & Martha (a faith-based company, related to DaySpring)

Terryl Hicks sells Thirty-one.

Suzanne Anderson Boyd has Anderson Square Jewelry Studio or facebook.com/AndersonSquareJewelry/?fref=ts

Abby Morton is the owner and designer behind "Mavora" Art and Design, started in 2006, offering custom stationary and supplies (like custom bags) and party invites (showers, weddings, etc.). The company is named after a group of lakes in New Zealand where Abby met her husband Tim. Abby is a real-life friend who greatly gave of herself and blessed me after my strokes, but has since moved. I miss her! 

The gift Abby made and brought me in the hospital. (Please forgive my poor photography.)
She also designed the header on my Given Me A Thorn blog.

Melissa Bogue writes, "I promote and sell an incredible, life changing line of products by LifeVantage! Protandim is an incredible all natural health supplement. We also carry a few other lines including an awesome skin care line called Life Science and a supplement for dogs called Canine Health."
"You can learn more about Protandim right here: www.abcliveit.com. If you watch the first video that comes up (just push the PLAY button in the middle of your screen, you'll have the chance to watch a short 12 min. video that explains about a truly phenomenal product that was featured on ABC's Primetime Investigation. Please message me back if you have any questions about this, as I will be happy to answer any questions, or help in any way possible."


Melissa Bogue also says, "I am a single Mama of three young children and am providing for them 100% on my own. I am an associate with Legal Shield and sell very affordable pre-paid legal plans and Identity Theft Protection that covers each member of your family. I am here to help, so please contact me today with any questions!" http://melissabogue.legalshieldassociate.com/

Lisa Copen of Rest Ministries has created (and makes) her own line of inspirational jewelry, GutsyGoodness. facebook.com/Gutsygoodness

Nancy Peters is a Beachbody coach. Please join her at Getting Fit with Nancie and you are welcome to message her on facebook with any questions.

My friend Kathy (who helps clean my house ever since my strokes) sells Amway. She asks that you help support her son, Justin, in his new Amway business.

Julie Ann Farmer Anderson sells Usborne Books and More.

Mel Vogt sells Arbonne.

Stephanie Ross sell Norwex.

Stephanie Glayton Burrage is a friend an incredibly talented photographer. To order a 2016 calendar of beautiful central California in the spring (pictured below), paypal $20 (includes shipping!) to  stephanieburrage@gmail.com via Paypal. You may reach Stephanie via facebook at /stephanie.burrage.

Barbara Burke Vandervort owns Vintage Rose Fashions and is just getting started again after several years off caring for a family member. https://www.facebook.com/Vintage-Rose-Fashions-38932566710/

Jennifer Davy Cameron selsl handmade greeting cards. - "I will post Christmas cards after Remembrance Day. Here is a link to my Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/Cameron-Cards-336779916413715/?ref=bookmarks&hc_location=ufi "

Michelle Clausen Glassmaker owns and makes adorable hair fashion (even custom requests) at Cotton Candy Bows. https://www.facebook.com/Cotton-Candy-Bows-147882571894458

Michelle Glassmaker also sells Plexus.

Jennifer Smith Adams owns ReedemedCoverings. Facebook.com/redeemedcoverings

Sharon Hope Betron Delabar sells affordable headcoverings and much more at NOVEILNOEVIL.COM "I'm still adding inventory!". 

My friend (and former writing group leader) Jeanette Hanscome, already has a few published books (including co-authoring of RUNNING WITH ROSELLE, and the writer of GIFTS, Volume 12 of The 12 Days of Christmas series), but I would especially like to highlight her upcoming devotional, Suddenly Single Mom:

Suddenly Single Mom, Jeanette Hanscome

And once again,

#30DaysOfThanks

Late December 2014

A recap of recent days:

A week ago Friday I had a 2-hour interview with three sweet ladies from my hospital's publicity group, an hour of that on film with two big light and two cameras just a couple feet away from my face. That night I went out to hubby work Christmas party. I love playing dress up, though it does take a lot out of me.

Last Monday, two of those ladies met me at my new gym to film my water exercise class (had been on a two week trial membership there, with last Monday being the first day of the official new membership my in laws blessed me with for Christmas - what a way to make an entry, showing up with a film crew on my first day as a member! LOL). That afternoon my parents took us across town for an emergency orthodontic repair for our daughter.

Sunday was our 15-year-old's birthday. After dinner that night, I went out into the cold and learned about muscle "spasticity" on a whole new level. My hubby steadied me and helped me hobble to the car, thankfully avoiding the piggy-back-ride we actually considered.

The weekend through Wednesday morning found me madly cleaning, organizing, doing laundry, wrapping gifts (quite a trick with clumsy hands that can only master gift bagging but not tape scissors or wrap, or a long-enough term memory to even know what is in the bag I just packed before I get it half way from our bedroom to the tree - I only made one major blunder in forgetting my brother-in-laws gift at all, but I got to be as surprised as our kids were on Christmas morning as they unwrapped their gifts) and packing.

Tuesday night we attended a Christmas Eve-Eve service and I wore ear plugs (to help me be able to tolerate the neuro stimulation of the music. Even though I already have much hearing loss, what I do hear, I do not process correctly, thus cannot tolerate loud sounds without nausea and confusion and physical pain.) and Signed (because I could not hear myself sing) all the Christmas carols.

Early Wednesday afternoon (24th) we were all loaded in the car and headed to my in-laws' farm about an hour away.

Thursday, we spent with 11 family members and two bathrooms, later in the day, joined by an adopted sister and her friend as well. I was in bed around 8pm, both Wednesday and Thursday nights!

Friday was a rest and family games day. The 27th marked exactly 20 years since I learned my body not only disliked the idea of GETTING pregnant but that CARRYING a baby was to be equally as challenging. I'm still trying to unwrap all the emotions of miscarriage when mixed with a mother's earthly grief, longing and loneliness and the wonder my own near death experience and transformed understanding of Noel's Heavenly reality.

Saturday, we came home to piles and PILES of clean laundry to be sorted then all those Christmas blessings to get put into new homes. I also took my first shower since Wednesday one I had access to a shower chair and hand rails again.

Sunday was church, then roast left overs with in-laws and more games. About 4 more hours working on that clean laundry yesterday afternoon!

Today has been water therapy, my parents went and adopted a cat. And now to get dinner started.

Tomorrow night we are getting together with some dear friends, visiting back here from out of state. Their son was our 15-year-old's best buddy when they were 4 years old! Kathy is coming to help me un-decorate my tree tomorrow!

Insurance and some family medical testing feel like a yo-yo ride too. Not even planning to work on my book anymore until kids go back to school Jan. 8. I still haven't finished all that laundry putting away yet.

This past week, we did confirm my decision that I am going to cut a few inches off my hair. Not that I don't love the length it has finally reached, but because I cannot manage this length alone now. I want it to still brush my shoulders or come a little bit past, but I've got to be able to get a brush through it myself, something that I haven't been able to do in at least 6 or 8 weeks now since the length has become unmanageable.

Today's Shooting

Today's (and other recent) tragedies leave us reeling. Rather than trying to speak on an issue I am still trying to process myself, I direct you to the free chapter PDF (for a limited time) of the book Hope for the Weary Mom. My heart just absolutely aches for all the brokenness, and emptiness and horror these families face today. Praying for God's comfort, peace and grace to see everyone involved through these very dark waters!

From a friend's wall on Facebook. No artist credited. :(

Unfortunately, I have a sliver of an idea of the pain these families are facing right now (as do many of my friends), the unexpected loss of a precious child, right at Christmas time, though under very different circumstances. I have talked with my (earthly) kids about this much, but have no idea how to begin broaching the subject of why such evil  exists in the world. How and What to Share with Your Children offers some good starting points.

Find more thoughts, in the form of a helpful prayer by Max Lucado, here.

12 Days of Christmas Receipt

I'm sorry I missed three more days of  #NHBPM posts. I've been pretty sick, so the need for sleep often took precedence over blogging!

I'm not even checking the suggested themes for today, because I am interrupting the regularly scheduled posts with a funny from our 12-year-old son. He started the day wondering how much "True Love" spent on gifts for the Twelve Days of Christmas. So he sat down and did the math for how many of each things the song describes as given (if you were to add to each list, each day, like on the third day, given three french hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge with a pear tree), then did internet searches for values of each item, then totaled up the costs.

He also researched the history of the song. (We found conflicting stories. Both the traditional version, similar to the story I grew up on, and the much more skeptical Snopes one, that we felt raised some good questions, but did so rather biasedly.) A few times our son had to get creative with his searches, but he did this entirely on his own. (For "calling birds" he priced "canneries" and for "lords a leaping" he looked up "male dancer, hourly rate," and "Maids A Milking" was the hourly rate for "maid service," etc.)  Here's the bill he came up with:

12 Partridges $600.00

12 Pear Trees $239.88

22 Turtle Doves $615.78

30 French Hens $450.00

36 Calling Birds $1,800.00

40 Golden Rings $19160.00

42 Geese a Laying $8,064.00

42 Swans a Swimming $6,300.00

40 Maids a Milking $3,400.00

36 Ladies Dancing $5,040.00

30 Lords a Leaping $3,750.00

22 Pipers Piping $2,200.00

12 Drummers Drumming $339.36

Subtotal $5,1959.02

Tax 8% $4,156.73

Total $56,115.75

Thank You for Shopping With Us!

(Please don't copy without permission.)

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Today I am thankful for such blessings of fun and creative kids and the gift of laughter!

 

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Jennifer Saake's First Published Book: Hannah's Hope : Seeking God's Heart in the Midst of Infertility, Miscarriage, and Adoption Loss

Book-in-progress on drawing on the fruit of the Spirit in times of trial: Harvesting Hope from Heartache

Next book-in-progress: 6 strokes at age 39, Stroke of Grace

Future manuscript in the plans: Given Me a Thorn, the apostle Paul's story as applicable to living with chronic illness

Birthday Reflections

Dec. 21 already. Amazing! I'm reflecting on "birth" right now - the birth of the Son of God (that came at the cost of a Father's greatest grief), the birth of our first living miracle (10 years ago this morning I was just starting labor), and the births we never got to enjoy, our little ones awaiting us in Heaven.

Joel Samuel, who shared a due date (2 years later) with his big brother and would now be turning 8, has been especially on my heart these past couple of days. His name means "The Lord will repay the years the locusts have eaten," and we named our son in faith that after so much heartache (deep financial struggles, multiple failed adoptions, miscarriages...) God surely had something more in store for us than years of tears and loss that had marked our first decade of marriage.

We had no idea what form that "something more" would be, perhaps emotional, spiritual or even physical tangible blessings, but we clung to the hope that His "more" would be perfect in His right timing and that He would not leave us adrift in the despairing grief that threatened to sink us. My heart is full with all I want to write on the kindness and grace God has washed over us in the eight years since Joel left my womb for Heaven, including two more living miracle babies! Yes, there have been hard times too, like my recent diagnosis of a retrovius (XMRV is one of only 3 known human retroviruses, the most well-known being HIV), but God has been so gracious through it all.

It seemed for so long we were the ones grieving, in need of tangible financial or other help. This Christmas, when so many are struggling, we live in a warm home with bountiful food, God's blessings overflowing. My eyes tear as we hand warms socks and an energy bar to the man with the cardboard sign on the corner, as my husband quietly walks forward to pay for lunch for the man who digs through his pocket and turns to walk out of the fast food joint because he doesn't have the change to cover a value meal, as we place a few small gifts of love in a friend's arms to put under the empty tree in her tiny apartment. We do it for Jesus. We do it for Joel.

[Edited Dec. 26 to say, after dedicating this entire post to Joel, I realized belatedly that it was actually Hannah Rose who shared a due date with our oldest J. She is the one that would have been turning 8. Joel would have been due in September, as we had two back-to-back miscarriages.
There, Mommy-guilt for having mistaken dates surrounding the lives and deaths of my children, now somewhat relieved by this admission. As this is a mistake I still can't believe I would ever make "in my right mind," and especially one I'm still shocked that it took me nearly a week to even realize I had made, I'm chalking this one up to CFS/XMRV "brain fog". :( ]

Yesterday we enjoyed the blessing of a long, leasurly lunch with Rick's parents to celebrate Big. J's addition to our family 10 years ago - such a wonderful change of pace after 19 weeks of spending my Sunday afternoons hooked up to IVs! (On top of that, my hives are even starting to clear up. What a blessing!) We'll celebrate him again tomorrow (his actual birthday) with my side of the family.

My brother, sister(in-law) and nephews got in from Washington yesterday evening and spent the night with my parents. We will be seeing them in a couple of hours and spending the next 10 days together, so you might not hear from me much until the end of the year. As a "Christmas gift" I wanted to point you to a current blog give-away for Joy Dekok's wonderful book, Rain Dance. It takes on some heavy topics (infertility, post-abortion syndrome, grief - topics that scared me away from the book for far too long) but is an amazing read and will touch your heart. Enter to win your own copy at http://www.crazy-for-books.com/2009/12/blog-tour-review-giveaway-rain-dance-by.html

Joy & IVIG 18

I just posted about Joy over at InnerBeautyGirlz. Would love to have you swing by and read a bit more about our infertility joureny, a personal Christmas tradition, a give-away drawing, and a new shade of Affordable Mineral Makeup™. :)

IVIG #18 started off a little rough, but about 4 hours in I took an amazing turn and actually felt pretty decent for the end of the infusion and ever since! I am still incredibly tired, but I did not come home and crash and actually functioned reasonably well all day yesterday even after getting up with a sick child in the night and doing lots of extra loads of laundry thanks to her tummy bug. I still don't feel "good" but surprisingly "better" than my normal post-infusion days. Six more weeks to go.

I convinced the nurse to leave off the PICC line security tape "butterfly" this week. I'm at pretty high risk for loosing my PICC line without it, BUT I have very few new hives from this last dressing change and the old hives are starting to heal dramatically! I did try a vitamin supplement again last night (that I had started shortly before the hives first began, but stopped about a week ago in case there was any connection) and the existing hives did flair up noticably within half an hour of taking those, so I think I will continue avoiding them until we are fully finished with the IG. But the biggest culprit really does seem to be that PICC line butterfly and both the immediate and ongoing improvement in my pain and frantic itching levels without using it at the last banddage change is DRAMATIC improvement!

Sweetest Day

My husband and I met 19 years ago this coming Tuesday, Oct. 20. That year it was a Saturday. I later learned that it had been "Sweetest Day" and I thought it was amazingly "sweet" that this is the date we would remember as the day we met. :) My curriosity drove me to learn the history behind this holiday I had never even heard of before, and I found it was rooted in the desire to show encouragement to orphans and shut-ins, both groups near and dear to my heart. There are probably better links out there, but here's one I could quickly find this morning:
http://www.theholidayspot.com/sweetest_day/history.htm

Rick, thank you for investing the past 19 years of your life into mine. I love you always!

Our Family Passover

Last night we used the book Celebrating Biblical Feast to observe a family Passover Sedar. (Yes, I know passover actually started on Thursday, but we aren't about legalism as much as learning, observing and remembering, so the symbolism was what we were really aiming for.) We had a fun, busy, little-bodies-squirming, some-mistakes make and learned from, and lots of learning and laughter evening. My parents were able to join us and even though my dear hubby came home sick from work and landed in bed before the evening was over, he stuck with us as long as he could.

My mom came an hour before dinner with her long white linnen tablecloth and helped me set the Seder plate while 6-year-old R had fun setting out our china and crystal. She couldn't wait to get dressed in her hot pink Hellow Kitty tights and pink satin dress. I drew the line at the princess crown though, reminding her that the evening was in celebration of the Lord, not her. ;) Dinner took us about 2 hours and I was exhausted by the end, but it was such a worthwhile evening. I was so thankful for my parent's help in clean up as Dad helped calm down excited kids with several bedtime stories and Mom helped me load up the dishwasher and put away food. I only wish we would have remembered to take pictures.

I didn't make it to the grocery store for matza crackers until a couple of hours before sunset on Thursday afternoon, so as you can imagine, the shelves were pretty empty by then! 9-year-old Big-J and I made our first attempt at matza-ball soup and the leg of lamb turned out really well. We did not try the traditional whitefish because Big-J looked green just at the sight of it in the store and I was afraid we were going to need to call for a sick "clean up on isle 5" so I placed that jar of oily fish quickly back on the shelf and made other selections. We ended up with chocolate-covered matza because that's what was still available, but it was labeled "kosher for Passover" and "imported from Israel" so I guess it was authentic enough, but made for interesting "sandwiches" with our bitter herbs! :) I was just glad that we found some kosher items at all, since when I asked about matza at the first store we tried, the clerk gave me a blank look then said I could try the asian or hispanic food sections.

I found another blog this morning that shares another family's passover adventures this year. I think I will borrow some of their ideas for future observances, especially the tips about keeping things simple and focused for younger ones to really enjoy the experience as I know that much of what we did was over the heads of our 3- and 6-year-olds this year!
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Editing on Monday morning to add another family Passover story I found. This one written by a 19-year-old homeschool grad, telling the story of sharing this special meal with her parents and siblings. Since I also graduated from high school as a homeschooler, this young lady holds a very soft spot in my heart, though I've only met her through her blog posts. I enjoyed reading of their family's celebration as well and find it interesting just how many variations there are in the same basic observance of traditions.