Hope and Glory

We are back from our anniversary weekend and all went well. Irvington is a sleepy little town largely being improved by one family that decided to invest in its future, and it is our third visit (the second for both Grace and the dog). Upon arrival the owner said "I am sorry for the reason for your visit, but glad to have you back." I know people love to make jokes about marriage, but that was a bit rough, so I said, "well some people think an anniversary is a reason to celebrate..." She had confused our reservation with another guest who was in town for a funeral. After that, it was all uphill. They got us a babysitter for Saturday night so JD and I could enjoy dinner out. About 10 p.m., we walked back to our cottage expecting silence and darkness. The lights were on, the kids laughing, jumping. The babysitter was sitting in a chair looking tired and said "Honestly, I lost control about 8:30." Later when we asked the kids their favorite part of the weekend Grace said, "the babysitter, she let us watch TV." Clay said, "Eating!"

It has been a good break for Clay. We wrestled the H1N1 shot for all of us from the pediatricians, and are working on getting the seasonal flu shots as well. Round two starts Thursday.

Happy Halloween!

1 cycle complete

When we go too long without posting an update, friends and family start to call and fear the worst. So I will try to do more short posts with quick updates. We are finished with the first cycle (one of eight). Ahead lies two weeks off chemo and our anniversary which we have decided to celebrate as a family, even the dog (we will discuss the wisdom of this decision in a future post). The past two weeks have been good ones, enjoying the fall weather, talking about halloween costumes and upcoming holidays. Typical ordinary days that we no longer take for granted.

Clay has tolerated the past several weeks of chemo well, his blood counts are in the safe range, and he continues to amaze us with his spirit. Today JD found him down in the family room at 6:15 a.m. - alone - wearing fireman boots and ski gloves. "What are you doing down here buddy?" "I am a fireman putting out fires!" (you had to ask?)

Mary