Happy July

Well I miss my mom. There are so many times I have wanted to pick up the phone to tell her something. It is very hard to lose your mom. I loved the service--it was comforting and soothing and the funeral home was beautiful plus it had the same view that my mama had for the last 7 years of her life. Sue had some of the cremains put into a silver, tear-drop "vault" necklace and I got it this week. It gives me such comfort to wear it as it sits next to my heart. I will say I am a fan of cremation, however and for the record, cremate me.

Connor and I got back to Geneseo on Monday evening. It was a warm night and we found that Trevor had joined a soccer team, had spent the night at a different friend's house each night and had "managed" the movers. He did a wonderful job, and although he made friends with the movers and maybe let them slack a bit too much, we are slowly getting all the things where they need to go, save for Connor's trundle part of his bed. I can't work out how to get that up the stairs, even IF Trevor is strong.

Here are photos of the rooms that I have all ready, and of the outside of the house. We have mowed once and tomorrow will need to do it again. Geneseo is BEAUTIFUL. The weather is wonderful and it gets cool every night. We don't have air conditioning, but we don't NEED it. This week was the air-show and the town festival. We met many of our very nice neighbors and are settling in well.

Cousins Bond

This is a time for us all to gather and learn about our family and family history. Cousins Kira, Trevor, Dakota, Connor AND Amelia, when possible are spending quality time together. This is what family is about. The kids have adventures each day and they come back and tell Grandma about their outings! Grandma is loving the activity and the photo-reports! Today Neil and Dale arrive, and more stories will unfold. Grandma is sleeping more and more, but she is still in her apartment, and she is still doing some of her activities of daily living. I am just so thankful I can be here this month and stay with her!

Rainbows and Safeway-- Must be a sign of good things for all

Kira snapped these photos the other night. If she only knew the symbolism!

Ameilia says "G.G"

Stephanie, Sue, Grandma, Kira, Amelia, Linda and Dakota A fun Saturday afternoon at Suzie's house with Spaghetti and Meatballs! I think Mama looks great. She is having a few hematoma (bruising) episodes, but again she is in great spirits.

Update on Ginny's condition

Thursday June 5th 2008
Kira and Linda arrived in Rapid City yesterday to find mom fiesty! The weather in Rapid is dreadful...rain and flash flooding, but the good news is that we missed the hailstorm. Mom looks well, albeit pale and wan. She is taking care of all her daily cares and last night she was up later than I was! This am she awoke earlier than did her daughter or granddaughter.

Status report: Doctor visit. Weekly questionnaire. All activities are ongoing. No pain. No discomfort. Mild fatigue. Answer to the question, what is the biggest problem this week? Mom's answer-- I am sad that Hillary is OUT.
Answer to this question: Sexual Difficulties? Yes...I'm not getting any.

So you can see her humor is totally in tact.
Her white blood cell count is now down into the normal range, meaning the chemo is doing its job. Her platelet count is 5000, which is so abnormally low (normal is between 150,000 to 300,000) that the Dr. Schroeder says it is amazing she is not having major bleeds. We will monitor her for bleeding and we had to stop her bungy-jumping habit. If she does begin to bleed
we will attempt to manage via transfusion. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, she is amazing us all.

New Home

This will be our new home. The Spencer family is officially moving to Geneseo, NY this summer as Linda accepts a job wt SUNY Geneseo as an assistant professor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders. I beieve I have the best family in the world, as they have been supportive and very brave in accepting this adventure. Here are some photos of the new digs

Rehearsing

Please don't let the ice ruin our beautiful snow cover. The skiing has been the BEST ever here and the gift of our last Iowa winter needs to be extended!
Nathan has kept our sidewalk the dryest and the cleanest on the street.

Finally BLOOMS for the Cactus

If you have followed this blog for several years, you know that year after year, I was disappointed about the Easter Cactus and how it lacked blooms. I got a Christmas one in 05. Just last week, the first week of 2008, we found this!

Five years and you are OUT...we move on.

Five years, and you are out…we move on.

So you know I have an obsession with cacti of the Easter type and the Christmas type. I bought my mom and my sister plants several years ago, and they bloom faithfully. I got an Easter Cactus for our family five years ago IN BLOOM, and we have NEVER seen the darn thing bloom since. SO, this year we go ourselves a fully blooming Christmas Cactus. Lets see if this sucker will bloom next year! It sure looks pretty THIS year!

So the Christmas Cactus Blooms!