"Only one life, 'twill soon be past
Only what's done for Christ will last."

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Things Happening Fast

What a busy time.

We are at the clinic with Ed every other day again for chemotherapy. This should wrap up on the day before Christmas.

Today we saw the psychiatrist, who is pleased with how things are. Ed is tired, though, and nursing a cough. Utmost precaution is taken at the clinic for keeping "bugs" from spreading. The flu is going around, and that is problematic.

If Ed gets a fever he ends up in the hospital, the last place he wants to be right now.

I am so grateful for the wonderful team at the clinic. They seem to enjoy seeing Ed every time, always happy and full of smiles, encouraging him. It must take a very special person to be so upbeat in the face of hundreds of young cancer patients! I am so impressed.

Ed enjoys seeing each nurse or health professional. Today our psychiatrist told Ed that he always looks forward to seeing Ed. There's always something interesting to talk about! (That was nice!)

It's rather freeing to not worry about Christmas decorations this year. I think housewives tend to get a little stressed over the holidays whether they mean to or not. There is just more to do than sit around!

I know some people would find it worse to sit than to be doing something, and those people thrive on the details of pulling off perfect celebrations! I admit I'm not like that.

I prefer my knitting and my books, my cup of tea and a fireplace, my cats and my pups lying at my feet! I do love a cozy Christmas time though, and that involves PREPARATION!

This year I'm doing my best to find a few meaningful gifts for my family, but it won't have the year-long prep and shopping that I've been guilty of in the past.

I know they will understand.

What a fun weekend we had! Friends visited us, and we moms went to the Minnesota Historical Society to see the "Toys" exhibit. Toys from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. So many memories! I doubt our kids would have had as much pleasure in it. Half the fun was seeing all of us old people getting silly over old commercials for toys playing on the old televisions. Very clever staging! How simple we were then!

We went to Cafe Latte on Grand Avenue in St. Paul after a brief turn around the Cathedral. My friend hadn't been there before. I recommend Cafe Latte---the salads are delicious, and the CAKES!!!!! Indulge. It's worth it.

That evening we went to a wonderful concert. Our suburb has a non-audition band that is superb! They had great sound! Friends of ours invited us to hear them sing in the 100 member choir, beautiful Christmas music. Also a youth vocal ensemble sang. Really excellent!

On Sunday we drove downtown Minneapolis to the sing-along "Messiah" at St. Olaf Catholic Church. Like last year, this was wonderful fun. You cannot hear "The Messiah" too often in my opinion, and when I hear it I always want to be singing it! Certainly we'll be singing it in heaven.

Something wonderful happened while we were there. My friend sat down in the alto section and a couple of women sat down next to her. She thought they looked somewhat familiar. Lo and behold, my friend had taught the younger gal in Budapest, Hungary, 10 years ago! Out of all the hundreds of people in that auditorium the LORD had those two sit right next to each other! Isn't He good?! They had a sweet reunion.

Also on Sunday we celebrated my son's 22nd birthday. My daughter-in-law made the most scrumptious white cake with almond flavoring and we all enjoyed it at their apartment. Soon they will be moving to Oklahoma---next week, to be exact! It was fun to celebrate with them.

Ed cannot be too far from the clinic. One hour radius, they said. Especially when his blood counts are low, which they will be for this next weekend. The chemo starts to bring it down about now, and we need to be extra careful while his counts are lower. This means that he will not get to Iowa to his grandparents' Christmas event. Disappointment all around!

Yes, there are some things that are simply not wise. Really, though, we do many things around here to make up for it. It's so good to be in a city with practically endless possibilities for something interesting or fun! In some ways we are spoiled.

I don't know if I'll have time to write over the next week. Maybe, between a few batches of cookie baking?
If not, I wish you all, my readers, a very merry Christmas, and a very happy New Year!

God bless you. Thank you SO MUCH for your faithful prayers and interest!

(Of course if I see prophecy stuff I'll be posting!)


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