Does bad news really come in threes?

Well, we made it through Arlene's funeral. It was short and a beautiful day outside. The chaplain surprised the kids and I by using my comments I made in her online obituary guestbook. He summed up his message by quoting me, which was sweet but made me very uncomfortable. The kids did okay, but shortly before the service started, I found Ben on his knees in the grass, bending over face down. When I pulled him up, the poor little man was bawling! Arlene's husband came over and gave him a hug, but I'm sure it broke his heart too. So this whole week, we've kind of gotten sad at odd times.

So then last night, we receive a call from Teddy's grandma. His grandparents live in Portland and we see them about once a month. We used to see them more, as the entire family used to congregate for special events and holidays. But his grandparents had a falling out with his mom and sister about 7 years ago and then this past year with his other sister. So visits aren't what they used to be. Anyway, Grandpa had a stroke about 3 months ago, but when we saw him about 3-4 weeks ago, he was looking okay. However, I guess he's been losing weight quickly and they took him to the hospital to investigate. Turns out he has cancer everywhere in his body. They're sending him home today, hospice is coming in, and the family has been told to see him quickly.

So, we got the cancer diagnosis for Teddy's mom in May; our neighbor died of cancer last week; Grandpa will most likely die by August of cancer--I think I hate cancer. My maternal grandfather died of cancer when my mom was 13. My beloved maternal grandma died of brain cancer 8 years ago. Now this. What a hard concept to comprehend for my kids. We've especially been trying to hit hard the idea that just because Arlene died, and now because Grandpa is, doesn't mean Grandma Jinny will.

Anyway, that's our news. Cancer sucks. Next year, for sure, we are doing a team for Relay for Life--anyone want to join us?

It's been awhile...

I know it's been awhile. We've been busy with Vacation Bible Camp at our old church; Summer Jam at our new church; Horse and Day camp; Volleyball camp and soccer tournaments. However, we have the next 4 weeks off of any camps, just have swimming lessons 2x a week and one more CYT camp in August. It's a relief and definately gives food for thought for how to structure our coming school year.

Today, we're dealing with sad news. We found out yesterday that a dear friend of ours died. Her name was Arlene and she was our neighbor at the house we just moved from. I'd known her my entire life. Of my 33 years, one year I lived about 5 miles away from her. Eight years I lived 3 blocks from her. Ten years I lived 3 houses down from her. Two years I lived 2 houses down from her. Ten years I lived next door to her. Two-three years in there, I lived within 10 miles of her, but my grandma lived 3 houses down from her, so I still knew her. It was just this past 10 years, being her neighbor, that the kids and I really developed a relationship with her, though. My kids loved her. They would disappear and I'd call and call for them, only to find that they'd rode their bikes the 30 feet from our driveway to hers. Their bikes would be down on her driveway and they'd be at her door, with a picture or a flower. They loved her deeply.

Every Christmas and Halloween, the kids would get a treat from Arlene. At Halloween, it was a baggy of treats and candy. Christmas would bring tasty cookies. We were so busy this year with the house that I didn't get to see her much between Halloween and Christmas. I sent the kids over with cookies 2 weeks before Christmas, but didn't hear anything back from her. On Christmas Eve, her husband came over to let us know she was in the hospital and they thought she had lung cancer. Turns out they were right.

We didn't see much of her the next 2 months, as she was recovering and going through treatment. Then we sold our house and moved 3 blocks over with my mom. We saw her husband, but not much of her. May 1st, the kids took her some paper flowers and Sophia made her a book (with empty pages). Well, Arlene wasn't there, but Sophia left her book anyway. Arlene knew it was from Sophia and sent her a thank you card. Also in May, when we were getting ready to move here, Teddy took the kids over and visited with her a bit. Since moving here, I've been promising to go see her. But we didn't. I haven't seen her since Halloween, or thereabout. I regret that deeply. I regret making a promise and not following through. I regret not going over to pray with her. Not even a note or a card to let her know I was thinking of her. I feel terrible, seriously terrible.

My poor kids were crying so hard tonight. Ben can't process how much he loved her and misses her. Madeleine is just so sad. Sophie doesn't really understand. But I do and it hurts so bad. It reeks of missed opportunity; lost innocence; a grieving husband, sons, mother and brother. It plain sucks. She passed away on Tuesday and her service is tomorrow. Was she a Christian? Not that I know of. But she was a great lady who had a huge impact on my children and I will forever be thankful to her for that.

JORDAN, ARLENE
May 27, 1942 ~ July 15, 2008- Arlene Jordan, 66, of
Vancouver, WA, passed away on July 15, 2008. She was born on May 27, 1942 in
Olympia, WA to Paul and Ethyl Auvinen. Arlene enjoyed gardening, hiking, and
camping. She was a NASCAR fan, and all around loving wife and mother. Arlene is
survived by her husband, Wayne Jordan of 44 years; sons, Rick and Garry Jordan;
her mother, Ethyl Auvinen; and brother, Jerry Auvinen. She was preceded in death
by her father, Paul Auvinen. A graveside service will be held on Mon., July 21,
2008, 2:00 p.m. at Evergreen Memorial Gardens, Vancouver, WA.Published in the
Columbian on 07/18/2008

Settling In

So it's been a long month of unpacking boxes, throwing stuff away, trips to my favorite Swedish furniture store and then hours of putting together the fun stuff I find, and lots of fun adventures getting used to a whole new life for us. Why is it so new, when all we did was move? Well, we're in a totally different part of town, which means our grocery stores and our gas stations and the places we run to for a quick unhealthy bit to eat--all these have changed. So we're just getting used to it all. The creaks our house makes or trying to make our house smell like us like our old one did. We've had 2 rodent adventures (those of you who know me know how much I hate rodents). We've had a couple falls down the stairs. We've thrown out a ton of stuff and will be having a massive garage sale soon. Anyway, that is why I haven't blogged for the whole month--each time I sit down, I'm too tired or I hear a box calling my name.

We have a jam packed summer of fun activities. I probably overbooked the kids, so we'll see how well we all do. Mimi almost broke her nose yesterday, we're waiting it out today to see if the swelling goes down. If it does and her nostril is still plugged, then we have to go see the dr. about fixing it! Never knew VBS could be so violent! The funny thing is it's at our old church--we jokingly told each other it happend on purpose to get back at us for leaving! That's funny because it's not true, but it has been bittersweet going there everyday. As much as we know God wants us where we are, and as much as my husband would rather eat dreaded pineapple everyday than go back there, I still miss it. I miss a lot of the people, I miss the smell of the place, I miss our pastor. But I also know it's not good for me to be there and I need to obey God and my husband, and part of that obeying is not bellyaching about missing the old place or bellyaching about the people there that still hurt me or get to me. Either I commit to God's plan for our family or I live in a state of constant rebellion, which is no fun. So this whole year has been a HUGE learning process and I'm anxious to have some down time at some point this summer and reflect on where we've been and where we're going.

I'll try to be more regular about posting-but for now, I"m off to enjoy the 90 degree weather!

First post from the new house!

We're in! We're not settled and there's lots of boxes in my house still, but we're in. The kids are doing so much better; we've met a lot of new neighbors and they seem very friendly; I've found a dead mouse in my Tupperware (I knew our old house still had mice in the garage!); and I'm not getting any sleep! But each day we love it more and more and we're getting used to all the sounds this house makes and trying to make it smell like our home.

Two nights ago, I made my first full dinner here. Ben, my 7 year old, came in the door and said, "MMM, something smells good!" (Oddly enough, it was chicken and rice, which 20 minutes later he promptly turned his nose up at it because he doesn't like chicken or rice, but I think it's only my chicken because he eats chicken nuggets, baked chicken breast, KFC, etc.!) Anyway, I heard him go into Madeleine's room and say, "Mimi, I don't mean to be rude, but our house hasn't smelled at all like our house until today. I walked in the door and it smelled like our home!" Isn't that sweet?

Also, today, Sophia, my 5 year old, came upstairs and saw me putting clothes away. She dropped what she was doing and said, "You do not need to do this alone!" then proceeded to take 9 trips up and down the stairs, bringing me clothes from a box. This from my "uncoordinated" child who dislikes running or sweating! She then dressed up in my old prom dresses, at one point wearing a velvet short jacket, no shirt, a black cape, a Batman chest thing, and put a rose in her mouth and struck a pose. We saw her change almost into a different kid from her last day as a 4 year old to her 5th bd! Its' been so cute and fun!

I'll try to update on Teddy's mom more later, and also fill in the details on Disneyland later.

WHOOSH!!

That's all I can say about our life lately. We arrived home from Disneyland late on Tuesday night, only to take my MIL to the dr the next day and then to sign papers on our house today! My MIL also had surgery today, and we will move on Saturday to our new house! YAY!!

Disney update will be saved for later. For now, here's an update on my MIL--

She has been diagnosed with Stage 3 Cervical Cancer. Surgery today showed no evident cancer in her lymph nodes! She has already begun chemo and will be undergoing 5-6 weeks of radiation. Her prognosis is much better than we originally thought, with hope that she can be completely cured. Of course, that diagnosis only comes after a treatement regimen followed by 5 years of cancer free appointments, so we realized today that we are on a long journey. However, my husband now has hope that his mom will be here for the next holiday, and that alone has comforted him. My kids are doing okay. They saw her after her surgery today, only because she wasn't hooked up to a lot of machines--she just looked like she was in bed sleeping. However, Ben got really sad for her and began to cry, so we knew it was time to leave.

I just can't begin to explain how comforting it is to know that we have more hope than we thought in this! I do, however, request prayer specifically for her spiritual well-being, as well as that of the rest of the family. Also, I request prayer for reconciliation between certain members of the family, including my MIL. We will be talking with some of these people over the weekend, filling them in on the situation, and we can only hope that hearts will soften and forgiveness will be abundant. Lastly, I ask for prayer for my MIL for her treatments she will need to undergo. SHe is a very private person, not liking anyone to see her partially naked or anyone waiting on her. Some of the procedures related to radiation are going to be extremely hard for her to endure and I would pray that she would be calm, comfortable, not feel any more than she needs to and also that she would be at least partly agreeable towards her dr's and nurses! But I also pray that she would have fantastic dr's and nurses (mostly she has so far) and that they would be people she looks forward to seeing--the more she likes them, the more likely she is to let them work on her!

Okay, that's enough for now. Probably the next time I post, I will be doing so from my NEW house!! YAY!!

A sweet and sour journey

THE SWEET: We leave for Disneyland in 8 hours! Well, our plane leaves in 8 hours. We leave the house in 6, which is why it's crazy that I'm still up. But I've been doing some last minute stuff for the house and the loan and what-not! Anyway, we'll be there for 7 days, so think of us every once in awhile over the next week and when you do, go ahead and be jealous. Go ahead. It's okay. :)

THE SOUR: I switch now to a very somber mood, however. Details can follow later, but for now I can share that my mother-in-law found out Friday night, through a dreadful ER visit, that she has cancer. We don't know for sure what kind yet, but it's of the womanly nature in the nether regions. Piecing the puzzle together with all her symptoms and with what the doctor did say, as well as some friends who are nurses, we kind of have an idea of what's going on but not the severity or the exact kind. It's been really hard on my husband, and hard not telling the kids when they wonder why daddy's crying in the bathroom. It's hard on me too, not knowing what to do for him to help and not letting myself think too much about what this means because I need to be strong for him.

Anyway, there's a lot more that could be said, but all I ask for at this point is prayer for her healing, both physically, emotionally and spiritually, as well as these same things on a lower level for all 3 of her kids, her husband and her grandkids.

I'll post an update and some Disney pictures in about a week!

WE GOT A HOUSE!!!!!

I've been so absent for a few reasons.

1. The house situation was looking bad. Hopeless, in fact. Then last Tuesday, when we thought we could get no lower, we got bad news and felt even worse than worse. Then, after a reality shifting night at Ladies Bible Study, we had a miraculous thing happen--most of this is a story for another time. Anyway, we got a tremendous answer to prayer and WE FOUND A HOUSE!!! Yay! More on that later.

2. I've taken a furlough from Weight Watchers until after we get back from Disneyland and move into the house. I have had a hard time losing/keeping it off since Pennsylvania and decided that instead of spending money to gain weight, I'll just try to maintain what I've lost and enjoy myself in Disneyland. Then I'll joyfully go back to the program the first of June!

3. I've not felt like blogging. But now I do. So now I'm back. Not that I have many readers. But to those of you who do check in on me--thanks. Hopefully I can spread a little joy and no more negative mojo!

That's it--pray for Spring weather to come soon! This weird stuff is the pits! :)