Rush, rush, rush...

Yesterday was an "on my feet and on the go" kind of day. By last evening, when I finally sat down and could read e-mails the first one said, "Why haven't you been on your computer today, mommy?" That in itself told me my girl wasn't feeling too great. Normally I'm mom or momma, so when Laura says mommy, the clue light comes on. We began instant messaging and my instincts were correct. Our girl is pitiful. It's always hard staying "up" at the end of the year with all of the deadlines, but adding 2 campus jobs to the mix just put her over the edge, I guess. So this afternoon I'm headed to Denver to get my girl out of the dorm for a night. Hopefully a restful night in a hotel with her momma ought to do the trick. I packed up a care package and will give her good food and lots of hugs, and hopefully when I drop her off in the morning in time for her group project study session she'll feel recharged enough to face the last couple of weeks of school. From Laura's campus I'll head over to Amy's campus to load up the car with anything she won't need for the next 2 weeks. It's hard to believe it's time to begin bringing things home for the summer. It's been a long school year for the girls, and I'm thankful they're making it thru. Unfortunately, Laura won't get a break since she goes straight to a 3 week field session and then to her summer internship. And did I mention there are wedding plans to make? Somehow it will all get done. It always does.

Bethany's turn...

I just returned from the orthopedic dr's office with Bethany. Our girl has complained of knee pain for about 3-4 years. Her regular Dr first thought it was growing pains but finally decided he really didn't have a clue what the problem is since it's chronic. The Dr today (one of the world's greatest Dr's ever!) took one look at Bethany's legs and knew pretty quickly there's an issue. There's a name for it...something like "patella maltracking" or something like that. Thankfully, with a knee brace and exercises it should get much better and we can avoid surgery for now. I chuckled because this Dr (who is about 5 feet tall if she's lucky) looked at Bethany after seeing her x-rays and said, "Well, your growth plates have closed, so you can expect the same growth spurt that I'm expecting!" So after speculating that Bethany is done growing, it's now been confirmed. Our girl has topped out at 4 feet 9 3/4 inches. Great things come in small packages!!

In 6 more hours Amy will be done with her first full week of doubles and she can take the next 3 days to rest up for the next round. She's holding up ok...not loving it, but surviving it at least. The other day her mixology class did a beer tasting segment and Amy decided she absolutely hates beer. That works for me.

Tomorrow Brian goes back to work after almost 2 weeks off, and I'm quite sad about it. We've had fun together and I'm going to miss him. Even when he was busy getting the retaining wall built to get ready for the shed placement, it was a good feeling to know he was close by. He'll be back on the road again soon and it just won't be the same without him.

Annie seems a bit confused lately, and I think she's just wondering what "normal" is around here. There are always changes. She's a senior citizen now. She kind of likes routine. She follows me around like crazy and doesn't want to relax until she knows I'm planted somewhere. Good luck, Annie. Don't get too comfortable!

Praying the chef thru labs...

This week Amy has 4 straight days of 6am to 6pm, and after the first one she's already exhausted. My guess is that after food, a shower, and homework she'll be ready to head to bed. When you hit your knees this week and next, please remember our girl. We need to pray her thru these tiring days!

Life is what happens when you're planning something else!

Mom and I took Dad for his cataract surgery today...arrived around 8:30. They came to get him at 9 and at 10:30 came out to tell us he hadn't gone yet. At 11:10 they came out once again to tell us he could head home. Their machine broke and they'd been trying to troubleshoot it to get it fixed, but no joy. So Dad hadn't eaten since midnight, had an IV in his hand, had one very dilated eye, and had nothing to show for it all. Tomorrow they have to call the office to reschedule. Brian's reply, "Are you going to charge the Dr for 3 hours of your time?!!" Could be worse...the machine could have broken partway thru the procedure. I guess that's our silver lining for today.

Settling into a routine again...

Today is the first full week of double labs for Amy; she needs to stay healthy and focused. Brian is off work again this week and hopes to get more of the prep work done for his storage shed. The supplies are taking up half of the garage. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so he can get a lot done and he can, once again, get his car in the garage. This morning I'm taking my parents to an eye appt so Dad can have his second cataract surgery. It took about a month for the swelling to go down after his last one, which frustrated him. He's eager to see more clearly again.
Brian and I are in the early stage of planning a trip to the NW this summer. We're looking forward to visiting an area of the country we've never explored before and are open to suggestions of what to do/see. We're thinking of flying into Seattle and driving south to Portland before we head over to see friends in northern Idaho. It'll be our first trip in a LONG time with no girls. Nothing personal, girls, but we're really looking forward to it!

These just in...

Day 1 of Doubles for the Chef

Well, Amy survived her first day of doubles and still has a sense of humor. For the next 2 weeks she has doubles M-Th, so that will be the real challenge. I think I'll just copy her e-mail update so you can read it for yourselves....it's rather humorous and I'm not sure I can do it justice by summarizing in my own words.

"It was as exciting as it sounds. My day started at 5 am, same as always, and I started Purchasing and Product Identification (commonly known as Storeroom). The first half was so boring that everyone kept falling asleep, so Chef Kester (who isn't actually a chef) let us all take several breaks. The second half of the class was just filling all the requisitions for the other classes. I did learn that JWU spends approximately $10,000 per week on food for us to work with in class. Explains a lot about tuition.

Kester let me out at 11:45 so I could run and change into my dining uniform. For those who don't know, I'm taking doubles right now, which means I have class from 6 to 12 and then 12 to 6 to make up for the classes I missed when I was sick a while back (or whatever you want to call it). Then I started Mixology with Stebbins, who I had for Essentials of Dining Room Service back after Thanksgiving. She's really cool. We learned about the basics of Mixology today, and then we focused on coffee. We learned coffee service, coffee pours, types of coffee....you name it, we learned it. Then we spent about an hour trying different kinds of coffee (Brad had to drink mine for me--each time I took a sip I thought I was going to hurl. I don't know how you coffee lovers do it....). Then Chef had to go to a meeting so we went to dinner service and then we got to leave about 45 minutes early, which was great.

Overall the day was fine, but tiring of course and dramatic. In AMs, an 18-year-old girl in my class ran away to Vegas last weekend and got married. Kester made sure she understood how he felt about that, too ("I'm glad you're happy but I think you're stupid" something along those lines). Then Brad's girlfriend of 4 years dumped him so he's been really down lately, too.

Other than that the day was good....I'm going to go take a shower, ice my feet, and then go to bed.

Ames"

So there you have it. I'm really proud of how hard she's working to keep up despite the pace.

On another note, Laura & Ian did a big presentation yesterday for their Middle Eastern Development class and it went really well. And today Ian did his presentation for his senior project, and he was pleased with how that went as well. Everyone seems to be wrapping things up as this school year rapidly comes to a close. Just a little bit longer...the end is in sight!

Doubles

Tomorrow Amy begins double labs in order to make up one of the labs she had to defer earlier. (She'll have to pick up the second one next year.) She's supposed to be in labs from 6-12 and 12-6 (wearing different uniforms for each.) But the morning chef said she'll let Amy out early enough to get back to her dorm to change and grab a quick bite before she has to be in the afternoon lab. It's only for 9 days. How hard can it be, right? *cough, cough* The good news is neither lab is a food production lab, so she won't be on her feet all day. The morning lab is a storeroom class of some kind, and in the afternoon it's mixology (or "sip and spit" for those under 21.) The bad news is that sitting for long periods of time makes her feet especially painful when she has to stand. There won't be any jumping up and down quickly for her. I don't know much about the workload of the morning class, but I know the afternoon one is tons of memorization. It's going to be a very fast, yet very s-l-o-w couple of weeks for her! After that, though, she only has one more 9-day lab and she's done! Hang in there, Sunny!!!

road trip!

I just returned from a great trip to Denver where I had a chance to visit both of our college girls. My first stop was outside the meat cutting lab on Amy's campus where I watched her cut up chickens. She's practicing for the practical which she'll take tomorrow. Her class also made sausages today, and even though I'm not much of a sausage person, they actually looked pretty good. At 10:15 the class headed to the dining room for an early lunch prepared and served by some of the other classes. We had 5 courses, and I loved almost every bit of it. I'll admit, I just couldn't bring myself to try the fried frog legs. But the lobster bisque was wonderful, and so was the chicken dish which was baked in puff pastry. I wanted to get my camera out but everything happened so fast! If you set your utensils down in the 4:00 position on your plate (even by accident), your plate was whisked away. With each course came new utensils, and Amy actually had to instruct me on some of the table etiquette. It's a little different than our meals at home! We also had freshly baked rolls and a watercress salad. For dessert each person at the table was served something different. They were all beautiful, quite yummy, and very rich. After class Amy introduced me to Harry, her 71 year old friend who will graduate next month with his Culinary Arts degree. He and Amy have become special friends, and I've heard a lot about him, so it was nice to finally see the twinkle in his eye firsthand. He's delightful!

In case you're wondering, Amy is doing really well and is quite happy to be back at school. The incision on her neck from the drain is almost closed up. The main problem right now is that she has to keep it covered for class, but her skin is sensitive to bandaids, and each time she pulls it off she's left with raw skin. She's been using lots of aquaphor and is hopeful that once the incision closes up completely she'll be home free. It shouldn't be long now.

After leaving Amy's campus I headed over to Mines to see Laura. I would have loved to wrap my arms around her, but she's still unbelievably sore from the field day tricycle races on Saturday, and she's so bruised I was barely able to touch her. I did, however, get to see her beautiful engagement ring. I have to say that while the pictures I'd seen of it were beautiful, it was even more stunning to see it firsthand. She's a happy girl...glows despite her obvious pain. She and Ian still haven't had a chance to sit down with a calendar and someone from their church to set a wedding date, but that's one of the things they hope to accomplish very soon.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. But I'm happy to be home with my computer, a blanket, a cup of hot tea, Brian, Bethany, and our beagle...not in that order!

Tuesday plans

Amy called tonight and asked if I wanted to come up tomorrow for an early lunch served by the production class...a 5 course meal. So I'm going to go! Nothing like 5 courses at 10:15am! It'l be nice to wrap my arms around my girl once again. She's holding up really well, by the way. The hole in her neck hasn't closed all the way yet, but it's looking really good. In 2 days she'll be done with the meat cutting lab and into her doubles...labs from 6am-noon and noon-6pm. She has to make up the two classes she deferred when she was recovering from surgery. She'll make up one this trimester and one next fall. She has a lead on a summer job, too, so things are looking up. Yes, we believe in the mighty power of prayer!!!

No news is good news!

It's kind of nice that there hasn't been much to write about lately. All is quiet on the home front. Brian is in town, and if all goes well he'll have a week or so off work to catch up on some things around the house. Laura is pretty sore and bruised from riding a tricycle at field day but said it was worth it. We'll see how she feels tomorrow! Amy just e-mailed to say she and the boys want to come down in a couple of weeks, so that's something to look forward to. And Bethany just finished the 3rd of her 4 street driving sessions with Masterdrive and is feeling pretty confident. Mom's cataract surgery and recovery are going well; it'll be another week or so before Dad has his. So while things sound a bit boring around here, it's pretty sweet and we're going to enjoy it as long as we can. Calm is good!

Seafood allergy...

I don't think I can say this any better than our chef, so here are her words...

"I had to take an absence with class today :( I'm feeling fine, but it was seafood day, and that turned out to be a problem.

Chef knew I was allergic, so we'd decided I was just going to cut up salmon all day since that's the only one I'm okay with. I figured I'd be okay, since I only get affected when I eat it. But, no. I got to class, took the quiz (so I at least get credit for the day) and then we started production. When I touched the halibut, I broke out into a rash. Then about 8:30, I was so nauseous I had to run out to the bathroom because I guess the smell was affecting me really bad. Chef told me that I'd made it through half the day, so I should just go."


Our poor girl can't catch a break! It will be interesting to see how she handles being part of an industry where she's allergic to the food!

"Here Comes the Bride..."

Evidently after we left the Mines campus on Saturday, Laura and Ian went shopping for an engagement ring...and found one! Last night at 11 pm we got a phone call that said they're now officially engaged!!! They took a night hike in the mountains and Ian proposed, and of course, Laura said yes. So the fun begins...or so I hear. I've never been a mother of the bride before. But I'm sure looking forward to it.

For those of you who have never met Ian, let me assure you he's a keeper. He adores our girl and has a huge heart for Christ...the two most important qualities. He's tall (Laura only comes up to his shoulder) and has the curliest hair. He's kind hearted and tender and talented in so many ways. And he adores Laura...did I mention that one already? Ian will finish up his BS next month at Mines and is already taking classes toward his MS which he'll finish next May. He's a civil engineer...very brainy, but still knows how to have a great time. He loves the outdoors, plays semi-professional paintball, and adores our girl. (Some things bear repeating.) Laura comes alive when she's with Ian. We've known for quite awhile that he's the guy for our girl.

There will be some crazy days ahead for all of us now with so much to do. Laura will be a senior in the fall and is once again working as an RA in one of the dorms on campus. I'm not sure how easy it will be to fit it all in, but we're sure going to try! They have a church in Golden that they love, so I imagine that's where the wedding will be. So much to decide! Once again we could use your prayers...this time for a sweet couple who love Christ with all their hearts.

small town fun

Today Brian and I headed to the CO School of Mines to spend time with Laura, Ian, and Amy. And I have to tell you, that is one beautiful place to have fun! It seemed like the whole town of Golden came out to watch the cardboard boat races along Clear Creek. I guess the rule was someone from each boat had to cross the finish line with at least one piece of cardboard, and in some cases even that was difficult. Only a few boats made it downstream fully intact! The creek was ice cold, but spirits were high and everyone involved had fun. It was so much fun to people/dog watch, too. Made me wish our beagle had been there too, although I doubt "Princess Annie" would have loved the cold water as much as the other dogs did. She's had a pretty pampered life. After the boat races and lunch we headed to the intramural field to watch some "geeky fun." My favorite was the trebuchet...a huge catapult that flung milk jugs full of water thru the air at the imaginary "castle" made of cardboard boxes. It really was a fun day. I think anytime my college aged kids want BA and me to hang out with them, I'm going to jump at the chance. I'm just flattered they don't mind being seen with us!
People have been asking about Amy, and I'm happy to say she seems pretty good. Her neck still hurts, but she's doing well and has a great attitude. She's so happy to be back at school and already has fun stories to tell about her first 2 days back in labs. Hopefully any news from here on out will be culinary related instead of health related.
Bethany and Brian just took off to get in some driving time. She only has 3 more street sessions with Masterdrive before it's up to us to help her get her driving hours in. Before you know it, she'll be driving us all over town. She's doing a great job and has already "claimed" Brian's VW Jetta as her own. Hmmm. Guess it doesn't hurt to dream!
Have a great weekend...enjoy the sunshine...give thanks for the gift of another awesome day.

Back to normal, thankfully!

Another good day for the chef in labs, if you call cutting up frozen chickens in freezing temps with ice cold fingers fun. Not my idea of a good time, but Amy loved it! She finishes antibiotics on Saturday, so maybe after that she'll begin to feel normal again. It's nice that Friday comes on Thursday at her university. Brian said, "why don't you see if she wants to come home for the weekend and rest?" But she just got back...the last thing she wants to do is be home again! She's right where she wants to be for now, and I couldn't be happier for her.
On Laura's campus they have "E-Days" (Engineering Days) this weekend...lots of fun, crazy, and somewhat geeky things to do. And believe me, the engineers know how to have a good time. She wants us to come up for the cardboard boat races on Saturday morning, but I think she'll have a lot more fun without mom & dad around. Tonight she's on duty till 4am, and she said the kids are already rowdy. Could be a long night since she has to make rounds every 30 minutes.
Bethany and I had a lot of fun this week, but we're ready for Brian to come home tomorrow evening. We miss him when he's gone. Annie is so clingy these days I've taken to calling her "Velcro." She follows me from room to room and once I finally sit down in the evening she's all over me. I don't know if she's confused because we go from having a houseful to having a quiet house, or what. There's no such thing as "normal" around here anymore! Could be worse, though, that's for sure. Life is pretty darn good right now!

Thanks to Abba Father!

Despite everything, I still feel truly blessed!

Back in labs, part 2

Well, she made it! Her chef just asked that she leave the lab partway thru so she could change her bandage, which she did. But she said it's already scabbed over and looks good, so soon she won't even need to cover it for labs anymore. She loved being back on campus and in lab. It'll take some time for her energy to be back to 100%, but we expected that. And she only has one more lab tomorrow before she can rest over the weekend. And speaking of the weekend, Amy's boyfriend, Phil, was chosen to work at the "Taste of Vail"...only the top students were selected and it's quite an honor. Way to go, Phil!!
Today our local school district called a 2-hour delay due to wind/snow, and it was followed shortly by a cancellation text. Bethany and I took the time to be a bit lazy today. By about 11 when we finally headed out the door to run errands the sun was out and there wasn't any snow left on the ground except in shady spots. A free day...what a gift!!! She had all of her homework done, so we just played and had fun together. We had a blast, and the laughter was so refreshing after all of the uncertainties of the past weeks. Thank you, God!!

Back in labs, part 1...

I'm praying that no news is good news this morning. If I'm not hearing from her, I assume she's in labs and cooking up a storm. (Actually, today is day 1 of her meat cutting lab.) Hopefully the chef let her stay. Last night she texted me at 9:30 and said "Mitch is making me go to bed already!" He's one of "the boys" who was here over the weekend. I gave them quite a lecture about helping Amy take care of herself and he really took it to heart. He's my hero! Mitch said he'll make sure she gets plenty of rest, Phil is going to make sure she eats well, and Mike is on board for the emotional support. Gotta love it! I feel confident she knows what she has to do to stay healthy so she can finish out the trimester. The oozing had slowed down last night, too, so that's good news. Hopefully just a bandaid will be sufficient for labs. I'll feel better once she gets in touch after class which she assured me she would. So stay tuned...there will be more!
Thanks again for covering her with prayers. The Great Physician is watching out for our girl. It just doesn't get any better than that.

Plan B

The chef changed his office hours while Amy was away, so he wasn't there when she stopped in. So the plan now is to just show up tomorrow and hope he's ok with how she looks. We're kind of in limbo until then, I suppose. Hopefully the oozing will slow down and/or stop before 6am!

Not out of the woods yet...

Today the drain was taken out of Amy's neck and we were shocked to see it was about 7" long! Getting that and the stitches out was a rather painful process, to say the least. But the Dr felt it looks WAY better than it did and she's doing well, so he gave the ok for her to return to class. Of course we're thrilled! But she's had a LOT of oozing this afternoon and that's a bit scary for us. She'll only be allowed in culinary labs IF there's no current bleeding and she can keep a bandage on it that seals it all the way around. I sent her back with tons of bandaids of every shape, so hopefully she'll find something that will work. But first she has to go to office hours tonight to make sure the chef approves of the bandaging. If not, we're hosed. She'll be with him any minute, so prayers are critical! I'll keep you posted once we know how it goes.

Why I do what I do...

I've understand there are people out there who think all I do is talk about Amy, and lately that's true. The main reason I blog about what she's going thru is because there are SO many people who are praying for her all over the country...many we don't even know. Trying to keep everyone on the same page was getting way too difficult with things happening so quickly. If you feel that I'm invading her privacy, let me assure you she wants people to know how to pray for her, but she doesn't have the time/energy to update ya'll herself. Once the drain comes out on Tuesday and we (hopefully) get to take her back to school things ought to slow down a bit. A bit of calm would be nice.
The boys left this afternoon to head back to school. Laura & Ian are in the homestretch with their semester, and Bethany goes back tomorrow after her 2 week spring break. Brian heads to the DC area tomorrow, so Amy and I will have one quiet day to ourselves before things start hopping again! And tomorrow is my brother's birthday. Happy birthday, John!!

A full house!

Today we had a fabulous full house...all 5 of us, the 3 male chefs, Laura's boyfriend, Ian, and my parents. Talk about crazy! It was loud and funny and crazy...never a dull moment. After lunch several of them took off to "do the incline" on the west side of town. Afterward my parents headed home, Amy took a nap, and Laura & I had some quiet time all to ourselves. It was a nice distraction from the more serious concerns that have been using up our brain cells lately.
Yesterday Amy saw her primary care Dr who thinks it's time for us to see the hematologist again. The last time we saw him, the focus was the swollen lymph node that needed to come out. But now that Hodgkins lymphoma has been ruled out, it's time to focus on why she's still having abnormal reactions to things. Are the many issues of the past related or isolated incidents? Time to find out. We'll give her time to finish this round of antibiotics first, though...make decisions about school...etc before we start up again with our search for answers. Right now the pressing need is to get the drain out and decide if she'll be able to make it back to school or not. The rest can wait. I'm not sure how much more she wants to tackle for awhile.
Thanks again, everyone, for loving on her and caring for her. The cards, letters, meals, prayers...they mean so much to all of us.

Happy Easter, friends. HE IS RISEN!!!

How many chefs does it take....?

The three culinary students who are Amy's "boyfriends" cooked dinner for all of us tonight and it was fabulous!!! It was a bit boisterous at times. Kind of like Laurel & Hardy and a sidekick in my kitchen. Lots of laughs and joking around. But when they asked us to sit down and they served us dinner which had been plated on warm plates, it was obvious they knew what they were doing. What a meal!! Chicken cordon bleu and almandine green beans and garlic rustic potatoes...just fabulous! I've come to love these boys and really appreciate how protective they are of Amy. They really watch out for her and love her and treat her like a china doll...very sweet. So my home is always open to these amazing guys...Phil, Mitch, and Mike. Thanks guys!!

Is there a chef in the house?

Amy's beginning to feel like a walking pharmacy, I think, although she never complains. She knows her only chance of making it back to school this trimester is to do everything precisely to the Dr's specifications. And even then there's no guarantee. Her neck keeps swelling and she has to keep going thru a very uncomfortable procedure to get the goo out. I haven't seen a tear fall yet, but if I were in her shoes I'd be crying buckets. I know it's very, very painful. Last night Phil, Mike, & Mitch arrived which perked her up for a short time. But her energy level isn't up to speed yet. She quickly tired and was ready for bed. Today we see her primary care physician and we hope she can begin to help us put the pieces together to figure out why Amy's immune system seems to be sluggish...why she doesn't heal in a "normal" way. There are many things that seemed isolated at the time but we're beginning to wonder if perhaps there might be a connection.
Today while we're at the Dr, the chef boys (she calls them all her boyfriends) are cooking dinner for the seniors and us..chicken cordon bleu and all of the yummy side dishes. We're looking forward to it. I think I could get used to having private chefs in my kitchen!

out of the mouths of babes...

Amy's comment today about all she's going thru..."This is nothing compared to how much Christ suffered for us!"

Hang in there!

Just returned from the surgeon's office. He was glad we came in today instead of waiting till her appt tomorrow, although he said it wasn't as bad as he'd anticipated. He squeezed the swollen/hard part of her neck and pus came rolling out, so the drain is doing what it's supposed to. But obviously, the antibiotic she's on isn't working. He switched her to 2 different, strong antibiotics for 10 days, and she's to continue to use the Vicodin until she feels ready to step down to Tylenol. Yes, it hurt like the dickens, but Amy didn't even cry. I almost did, though, especially when he told me I need to continue to squeeze her wound at home to keep the pus from accumulating. We're to keep hot compresses on her neck as much as possible, and she's to take Probiotics and eat lots of live active culture yogurt. We see him again on Tuesday when he may or may not take the drain out, depending on how it looks. We have till the end of that day to let her college know if she'll be back in class at 6am on Wednesday. If she can make it back, great! If she won't be ready, this time she'll have to drop out and return again in the fall. So we're in limbo once again. Stay tuned...I'm sure there'll be more in the days ahead. Hang in there...we are!

another round...

We're not quite sure, but our chef just might be in trouble again. The swelling is coming back in her neck, and she has a hard knot again. Not much drainage when we change the bandages so we're not sure if the drain isn't working properly or if that's normal. But on Tuesday after surgery the Dr thought she'd feel so much better and be able to get by with just Tylenol or Advil. Instead, she feels pretty bad and is still on Vicodin. And she HATES taking Vicodin. I have an eye appt in an hour, but I think I'll call the surgeon's office first and talk to his triage nurse if I can reach her. One more time I'm asking for your prayers for our Amy. She's still being very brave, but just how long can this go on? I ache for her.