Just got off the phone with my doctor and the biopsy is benign.woo hoo... I feel so good knowing for sure. At least now I can go on and know that it's been checked and the mass is out of me. Thank you so much for all the prayers and good wishes.. God is so good to us all the time.


love you! Mary

Beauty Abounds....

It is such an incredibly beautiful day. The birds are singing and everything is so bright and green. I haven't seen the lawns this green without loading them down with fertilizer. You know the green where it all looks crisp and fresh? Well that's it. I am going to take a photo of it right now and post in a bit. I have made some decisions regarding home schooling. In the past I have treated my schedule much like I did when I was teaching in San Diego, very regimented. I had to when I was teaching in the public system; they have schedules to keep. But, with home schooling, I can make my own schedule and teach the days I want to teach. So here's the plan. We will hit the books hard Monday-Thursday and then take Fridays for projects and "me" time. I really need this because for those of you who do not home school, if I don't take a day, I will not get any time to myself. The weekends are spent doing "family" things and "God" things, ie. Church, etc. The kids are all for this schedule as well.

This year the boys, and Anabelle, have decided that they want to take foreign languages other than Spanish, which they have all had. Robby is in his third year of Spanish but wants to learn Japanese as well. Andrew wants to learn Latin, Nathaniel and Anabelle French. So, we did what every home school family does; we bought Rosetta Stone curriculum and they are taking those languages. Rob and Andrew are having it installed on their school laptops and had to be permission from the Principal at the High School. He was impressed that they are taking those classes and o.k.ed it for them to have it loaded.

Well, I am going to have a nice hot cup of tea and am going to sit out on the veranda and listen to the birds. Talk soon. Love you!
Mary

I think the title of my blog really fits my life, especially right now, this very minute. I am sitting here, trying to type, but am finding it a bit difficult. As many already know I have been having some health issues regarding tumors and some breast lumps that are suspicious. My world for the past four days has really be taken over by circumstances way beyond my control, but definitely in God's control. The short version is this.
Last week before we took Meggie to school I had a follow=up appointment from my mammogram and had to have an ultra sound done of my left breast. That was last Tuesday. We left for Northwestern on Thursday and got home Sunday late. When we arrived home I found a letter from the clinic stating that they tried calling me but were unsuccessful and that I need to get in contact with my doctor as soon as possible regarding the results of the ultra sound. So.. Monday morning I called my doctor and he told me that he wanted me to see a surgeon here in town. I called the surgeon he recommended and his receptionist told me that they already had my file and that the surgeon wanted to see me that very afternoon. I am thinking, "hmmm... something's fishy in Denmark" I went to the appointment with Bob at 4:45 and the doctor examined me and told me not to show him the area...to see if he could find it.. well.. he found it right away and told me that I had two options.. one was to have the area removed and biopsied and the other was to come back every two weeks for ultra sounds to see if there is growth. I opted to have it removed... so he set me up to have the area removed on Wednesday morning. The area removed was rather large, not my full breast, but about 1/4 th of it.. I am awaiting the results and should know tomorrow. In the mean time I have been taking the pain killers, but they make me sick to my tummy, so I am calling tomorrow for a different RX. I am glad that I had them remove the area instead of just sticking a needle in and hoping to hit the right area. it's not just a little bump. It was an area about 4 x 2 inches behind my breast but on top of the rib cage so they had to literally go behind to get to the area. Well.. that's probably more graphics than anyone would ever want so I will shut up now and just ask that you all pray about this. I feel good and really believe that the results are going to be good. Well.. enough for tonight, I am heading up to bed. Hugs.
Mary

Hi there!

Lots going on here. We are getting ready to take Megan to school on Thursday...two days from now... She is heading off to the big city and Northwestern, as you all know. She is super excited and a bit on the scared side. I can't blame her. I remember being a bit scared of facing college, but I didn't go away like she is doing. All will be fine. The kids are getting ready to start a new school year. Classes start on Thursday for them as well. Rob and Andrew are taking a few classes up at the high school...ie. Spanish III, Drama, Meistersingers, regular chorus, and Chemistry. They are taking the rest of their academic load here at home.

I have some great scrapping news.... I was just chosen as a team member for a new scrapbooking site, Creativity {Unbound}. It's a totally new concept of blogging where we go beyond just scrapping and will actually be teaching online classes, much like I already do for my site, but with a much larger audience. We will also be hosting swaps, posting challenges and have some interest in our site from manufacturers. Check it out... here's the link... www.creativityunbound.blogspot.com
seven gals were chosen because of our varied gifts and talents and as a whole group.. it's going to be amazing.

Well... It's gettng late and I have to run. Love you and I need to post some photos... so behind on that..

Mary

Whew! It's over! Woot Hoot. OK.... here it is... the Parade of Homes is over and I am so glad. It was the most work I have ever thought or imagined possible The kids and Bob were unbelievably helpful and worked so hard to get their rooms ready. You would be so proud of them. There were so many people that came through and the most accurate count thus far is... 440 presold tickets and 380 onsight tickets sold... that's a lot of people coming through. Everythinglooked great, especially using all of Nana's beautiful antiques and Bob's great grandmother's silver.. It's late and I am super tired so I will write more later. Love you.


Mary

OK... so we are now five days away from Parade of Homes and having about 800 people tour the house...and I AM GOING CRAZY.... Actually today wasn't as bad as yesterday, so I guess there is hope. I have been busier than I ever thought possible. Saturday I painted the upstairs bathroom and gave the front of the house an extra coat of white paint..on the original clapboard. It looks nice and clean and only took three hours to do. Yesterday I spent the day in the Library going through books and papers. That's all done now and that room looks great. I also did four loads of regular laundry and then washed all the feather beds, which took forever to dry, etc. So... I finally hit the sack at 3:35 am after cleaning the kitchen. I was really mad at the kids because I had asked them to clean the kitchen and instead they camped out in the living room and watched movies until 12:30 am. I made two huge meals yesterday and told the family that I was only cooking big meals so they would have energy to help.... instead, it was too much and they all wanted to sleep... hmm... going to have to use another tactic. So... this morning I was up at 7:40 and woke everyone up. Andrew finished cleaning his room. Nathaniel was in the dog house so I made him clean toilets...hehehe... Megan sorted material. Belle helped me, Robby was at work...as was Bob. I shampooed the bathrooms, library, living room, and the boys' rooms. Then.......

A reporter from our local newspaper, the Public Opinion showed up and wanted to take interior photos. The music room was clean and set so I let her take photos in there... whew... now.... It's dinner time and I AM NOT Cooking a thing...we are going out and I will get back to the house when we get back... gosh... there's such a difference in getting the house company clean and tour clean.... urch..... Bob just pulled up so I will post more late tonight....
until then...

Mary

It's an incredible day!
The sun is shining and the kids are actually happy cleaning their bedrooms. Can you believe that?
After posting yesterday I thought that I need to take the focus off me and share a few blessings with you all. I don't know if I have been holding back posting this because of selfishness or what. I don't like to share some things..lol.



The last Wednesday in July, my little brother and wife, Donnie & Shelly, became grandparents. Haley had her baby is she is so very beautiful. Elin Rosa-Lee arrived at 9:53 am weighing in at 6lbs. 30z and is 19.5 inches long. I have been selfishly enjoying myself whenever I sneak up to their place to hold the baby. She is sooooo stinking beautiful. Haley is doing well and looks fabulous. Watching her hold Elin and experiencing all those instinctive things that jump into action has been a lot of fun. It's a side of every woman that changes the moment she becomes a mother. She is so very intuned to Elin even though motherhood is so new to her. I think that's what makes all new moms so beautiful. I am very proud of Haley and her wisdom. She is getting ready to go back to school, is working full time, and now has her own apartment, which is really great. It's more of a town house than an apartment, with three stories, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a great lower level with washer and dryer.

So, now that Donnie and Shelly are grandparents, I can let the cat out of the bag... no I am not expecting.. whew! David and Brandi are expecting and are due in March, so that means I too will be a grandmother. I am just glad Donnie beat me to the status of grandparent. hehehehe.

Other happenings around here... I will post about the kids and all their adventures tomorrow.... Until then... Love you!

Hi all,
Seems like it's been forever since I blogged....well...it has. So much going on here with life in South Dakota. Kids are all getting ready for school to start and I am still winding down with some health related issues. Many of you know that I have been going through a series of tests and appointments due to my dentist discovering two rather large tumors in my lower mandible. Bob and I spent two full weeks down in Houston at MD Anderson with various doctors to determine the seriousness of these tumors. They are bilateral and are pretty close to identical to one another. To make a long story short, they appear to be benign and a biopsy cannot be done of them because of their proximity to the nerves that control my lower mouth and jaw. If these nerves are severed I will not have feeling, etc. Removing them at this point isn't a good option because it would neccesitate bone grafting, extensive dental work, and plastic surgery...so we are taking a wait and see approach to this whole thing. We will be monitoring them and rechecking them every six months. I completely trust the oncologists at MD Anderson for a few reasons. First, because they are the best in the US, rated above any other cancer facility including Mayo. Secondly they actually have DDS MDs in oncology whereas the other facilities do not... highly specialized. Thirdly, they see 100,000 patients a day and only come across a few cases like mine, where as other facilities have never come across something like this.

I told you it's a long story.... The bottom line is this... God is good! HE is in charge of my life, not me, not the doctors, so I place my trust in Him. If I hadn't waited and trusted the people God has put in my path during this journey I would now be jawless...and in need of several surgeries. But in God there is peace, direction, and hope....I am now awating to get an appointment down in SF for an MRI check of my left breast...I had a mammogram done and there is some concern that needs futher checking... I figure that dealing with the second concern is much easier than dealing with possible bone cancer. God is good.

Being away from the kids for so long really made me home sick. It also made me look long and hard at my priorities and direction of my life. Bob and I had some great quality time alone and after twenty years of marriage I can honestly say that I am blessed to be married to such a wonderful loving man. Soooo... now that I am home, we are getting ready to take Megan off to school, get her all moved in to her dorm, get boys' settled up at the high school, order curriculum for the school year, and get the house ready for the parade of homes which is in less than two weeks from now. It should be an adventure. Thanks again for all the wonderful prayers, notes, emails, and cards. I love you all.

In Christ
Mary