MOVING DAY ...

Hi Friends,

You may not hear from me for a while, but don't worry. The major moving is about to begin. Today, they picked up our PODS container, and tomorrow it will be delivered to our house in Oxnard. We spent today (me and the kids/ Bill was at work) giving the house a thorough cleaning for the new owner. I also had an appointment to get my bloodwork done and to meet with Dr. Menco, the oncologist. My bloodwork was good, and he is in agreement with Dr. Cohen that we'll probably do the IV steroids for my last 3 chemo treatments. Fun, fun, fun! I did a couple other errands while out -- went to the pharmacy, picked up some medical records, and went to the grocery store. But largely, we just spent the day spit-shining the house. The kids were a big help, and I was very proud of them!

Tomorrow is Cameron's first day of school at Channel Islands High School. He is a bit nervous, so let's all pray that it goes well for him. Bill is going to take him in the morning, and drop off the motorcyles, quads, etc. at the house in Oxnard. Then he'll come back to get the rest of us and the beds. And we'll all go there and start unpacking. I have nothing left to do here. Bill still has some work to do sorting and cleaning up in the garage, but we have until September 9th when the closing of this house occurs. So, he has plenty of time to get it done! He has Tuesday and Wednesday off of work this week to help with the moving, and then Friday is his usual day off plus it's Labor Day weekend, so we can add the next Monday off. Hopefully we'll get a lot done this week. Next week after Labor Day, the homeschoolers and I will be starting back up to school. It's time, so we're all looking forward to it. I don't have chemo scheduled for September yet, but we'll work around it.

I'm going to head off to bed soon. I'm still working on a bit of laundry. Cam and Bill have to get up early and leave by 6:30 a.m. to have Cam to school by 7:30 a.m tomorrow morning. I plan to get up with them, send them off, and then go back to bed. I'm just not a morning person!

I'll try to blog from Bill's laptop, but I don't believe our internet/TVs, etc. will be set up from the new house until September 7th. You may have to call me on the phone if you want an up-date :)

Much Love,
Michele

DON'T STAND STILL ...

Because if you do, Bill may bubble wrap you and put you in our PODS container :-)

Hi Friends!

Sorry, I haven't blogged for a while. But I've been doing 2 things. 1. Packing. and 2. Resting and recovering from packing.

I'm happy to report that we have packed up the entire house. The PODS container is almost full. The kids are getting testy today because Bill is putting TVs and stereos (things they value) into it. The only things not in it from the house are our beds. I was teasing Bill when I went to bed last night, and I told him I was afraid I'd wake up in the PODS container still sleeping in my bed. Luckily, that didn't happen.

Anyway, as you can imagine the packing kept us quite busy this week. We have boxes and bags piled up on our front porch for the Salvation Army. The kids were quite good about packing and sorting through all of their things. And of course, there were many outgrown toys and clothes to bless others with. We also had some furniture that we don't want to take along to the new house, so that will go to the Salvation Army as well.

Today, I am going to help Bill with the garage. Brandon is here entertaining the boys, and they are currently on a bike ride. Tomorrow we are meeting with the landlords of our new place to exchange our checks for their keys.

Please continue to pray for my sanity. Although -- I find sanity can at times be overrated. After all, Normal is just a setting on your dryer!

Much Love,
Michele

Cameron's Orientation/Molly's Bat Mitzvah Pictures

Hi Friends!

I wanted to post some pictures of Molly that Bill took at Sandy's Bat Mitzvah. As you can see, she had a lot of fun. And then, here are some pictures that Bill took of Cameron today at his new student orientation. He is going to Channel Islands High School where he will be a Raider.

Bill and Cam left early this morning as they had to be to the high school by 8:15 for an orientation that lasted all morning. It went well, and Cameron is all signed up for his classes and familiar with the school. He is most excited about taking marine biology and geography, and I think he'll do really well with them. He is also planning to join Bible club and possibly fitness club. So, he seems to have a great attitude about the whole thing. After the morning orientation, they had lunch at Subway and then went to Bill's work for the afternoon. They got home around 7:30 p.m. tonight. So, I think Cam will be glad not to accompany Bill to work tomorrow. His first day of school is Tuesday, September 1st.

The rest of us slept in a bit later than them. It was a quiet day in the neighborhood as all the Simi Valley schools started today, so all the neigborhood kids were gone and busy. When I got up, I ran a few errands, then tidied up the house, and worked on some laundry.

This afternoon, Annie brought us Big Gulps and some lunch from McDonald's. That was a nice surprise! Then after feeding Molly, Nate, and Isaac, I took them outside in the back to sort through all the toys back there. We needed to decide what to pack, what to donate, and what to throw away. It was a pretty hot day, so after a couple hours of working outside on that -- all the kids went swimming.

We ate more left-overs for dinner. And currently Bill and Isaac are packing more stuff into the PODS container. I have 2 more loads of laundry that I am trying to get finished before going to bed. I'm hoping I can make it that long.

Tomorrow, Cam and I are going to see Shirlene for haircuts. And since we're done packing the whole lower level of the house, it'll be time to move upstairs to the bedrooms. Also, we have our final meeting of the Heaven Bible study at our house tomorrow night. So, no rest for the weary, I guess! I am getting excited about the move, but at this point -- I just want to go now!!! I suppose I need to work on my patience!

Much Love,

Michele

MORE PACKING AND GENERAL BUSYNESS...

Hi Friends!

Bill took Cameron into work with him, so they could stop at his new high school and fill out all the necessary paperwork. They left around 8:30 a.m., and when they were done, Cameron went to work with Bill. They just got home.

As for the rest of us. We started the day recycling. We had 3 huge bags full. So, we made over $16, which was enough for lunch out at McDonald's. We also took Nate and Isaac over to Shirlene's Barber shop for haircuts today. When we got home, I needed to rest for a while.

After my rest, the kids and I worked on packing up the kitchen. That was a big project, but we got it all knocked out. I was proud of the kids and all their help.

We finished around 7 p.m., and then had dinner. I am going up to bed to lay down for a while. Isaac is excited about putting some stuff in the PODS container with his Dad tonight. He's been waiting all day to do it. The things that make a 7 year old's day!

More tomorrow ...

Much Love,
Michele

MONDAY MANIA!!!

Hi Friends!

I fear that I may have overdone it a bit today, so I'll catch you up and then head off to bed. I woke up this morning by 10 a.m. -- pretty respectable for me. Isaac and I got ready and went off shopping as it was his day. We started at the shoe store where Isaac arrived barefoot because he "hates all his shoes." Nothing ever feels right! After MUCH debating and trying on every pair of size 2s in the shoes store, I convinced him to buy 2 new pairs. He ended up with a pair of brown boots and a pair of black slip-on tennies. So, off he went to Wal-Mart wearing his new boots!

Wal-Mart was an adventure, to say the least! We were fairly successful. He bought shorts, shirts, sunglasses, hats, and everything a 7 year-old needs to be fashionable. We had to stop mid-way through the shopping when he became exhausted and needed lunch from McDonald's. We also took a trip over to the toy cars to spend his allowance money. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a single pair of pants that met his exacting standards -- they all felt too hard! Maybe once we move to Oxnard by the ocean where it's much colder, he'll change his mind and buy some pants. But, for now, I'll choose my battles.

We arrived home at around 1 p.m. -- just in time to see our PODS container being delivered. That was very exciting for all the kids. They enjoyed seeing it dangle in the air. And the driver uses a big spider-like contraption to lower it by remote control. All of the children in the neighborhood were lined up in our driveway watching!

After that, I had a few errands to do -- stopped at 2 houses in town to pick up some stuff from FreeCycle. We got a bunch of girl shoes, toy and shoe closet organizers, and a magnetic chore chart.

And then when I thought I was finally home for the day-- Bill called and said he'd registered Cameron for Channel Island High School. He has a meeting with his counselor tomorrow, and new student-orientation on Wednesday. So, we needed all of his records from Royal today. And off I went to get them. Mission accomplished! Royal High School was crazy, though, because school starts on Wednesday!

After all that, I think I officially got home around 3:30. The house was looking a bit trashed between packing materials and kids' stuff. So, we all took a break and did our chores. Then Molly, Isaac, and I packed up the family room, which was our goal for the day. After supper, the kids went swimming. Bill just got home as he had a doctor's appointment and had to work late to make up for it.

I need to sign off now and go rest ...

Much Love,
Michele

EVERYONE'S PACKING ...

Hi Friends!

We got up this morning, and we got right into packing. Last night, I successfully packed up the bathrooms, front entrance, and hallway (including bookshelves and closets). So, today my goal was to pack up the dining room (it's more like our schoolroom). I spent the morning doing that. Molly is really into helping me pack, so that's a big help especially because she does all the running around and busywork. We spent most of the morning packing, and the boys were busy doing "boy stuff." Will, from next door, had spent the night.

In the afternoon, I took child #3 of 4 back-to-school shopping. Today it was Cameron's turn. We stopped at Del Taco for lunch and then went over to Target to shop. We had a pretty successful shopping venture, buying tennis shoes, underwear, socks, belts, jeans, and shirts. We also bought a binder as well as assorted school supplies there like pencils, pens, etc. It was really crazy and it seemed like EVERYONE in Simi Valley was shopping. We found everything we needed at Target except for a backpack and eraseable pens. So, we drove over to Staples and picked up those two things and came home. I had Cam try on his jeans and I was very thrilled that they fit him (he's a 30x32), because he refused to try them on at the store. Like a typical teenage boy, he insisted he could tell they fit by holding them up against his body!

After the shopping excursion, which was fun -- but ended up taking about 3 hours, I came home and napped. It really wiped me out! I slept for several hours until it was time for dinner. Susan Harper came over tonight and brought us meatloaf and other assorted goodies for dinner. So, we all ate dinner.

Currently Molly is upstairs packing in her room, and Cameron is going through his DVDs and videos, sorting and packing them. The little boys are playing on the computer, and Bill is getting ready for the work week. Our PODS container is being delivered tomorrow, so he was working in the garage today. Since the container will be in front of the garage, he wanted to put all the motorcycles, gokart, quad, etc. onto the trailer, so that they'd be out of the way.

We found out that Cameron will be in the Oxnard school district based on our new address. School will start for him on September 1st. The timing is perfect as that's the day we take possession of our new rental house. We're not sure which high school he'll be going to, but Bill will make the arrangements this week. Cam and I had a nice chance to talk today while shopping. He is a little nervous about starting at a new school, but he is also looking forward to having a fresh start.

I'm going to sign off and turn in early for bed tonight. Tomorrow I am going to pack the family room, take delivery of the PODS container, and take Isaac back-to-school shopping. Isaac is very anxious to go and has been waiting patiently while all the other kids went. So, I'm looking forward to a little one-on-one time with him tomorrow!

Much Love,
Michele

CHAPTER ONE, 3152 LONDON LANE ...

Hi Friends,

Today was a busy day for someone still recovering from chemo. The people buying this house had a home inspection scheduled for 9 a.m. So, we were all up by 8 a.m., tidying up the house and getting ready. The home inspection seemed to go well. Nate, Isaac, and Molly went over to Judi's to hang out. The inspector was nice enough to work around me laying in my bed. There not much home inspectiion to be done in the master bedroom. Anyway, that took until about 11 a.m. We also got to meet the buyer and his fiancee. They seem very nice and are very excited to buy our house.

From there we drove with our realtor, Rick, into Oxnard where we looked at a house in a new housing development called Riverpark. It was a caravan. Bill drove in his car, because he had to go to work afterwards. Annie drove me and the kids in our SUV, and the realtor followed us.

The pictures above show the house on London Lane, which we looked at. It's a 4 BR, 3 BA (with 2 car garage) townhome -- about 2000 square feet and quite new. We are going to rent it for the next year. Our lease starts Sept.1, 2009 and ends Aug. 31, 2010. Yes, there's a reason we're renting for a year and we do have a plan. But that's Chapter Two, and we're not ready to reveal it yet.

In the meantime, we can move into the house on London Lane Sept. 1, and we have to be out of this one in Simi Valley by Sept. 9. So, I guess, it's time to start packing. The PODS container comes on Monday. The house in Oxnard is 15 minutes away from Bill's work, and while it's a townhome -- there are 13 parks and tons of jogging trails and bike paths to keep the kids busy.

After checking out the new place,we stopped at Soup Plantation for lunch. Bill went to work, and he is still there. The rest of us came home, and I immediately lay down to take a nap. I had to go to sign the rental papers with Bill, but that was a big outing for me. By the time we were half-way through lunch, I was feeling quite queasy.

After a nap, I woke up to Shirlene picking up Nate for his usual Friday night sleep-over. She also brought us dinner -- a delicious spaghetti and Italian sausage casserole. We made some rolls and had a great dinner -- everyone except Bill that is! Nate is going shopping with Shirlene tonight for more skinny jeans in different colors. And other than that -- I showed Terry and Judi and Shirlene pictures of the new house. They're happy for us, but sad that we'll no longer be so close.

I'm going to sign off and lay down in bed. By the way, in the new house one bedroom with a full bath is downstairs. Bill and I are going to take that one, so that we don't have to navigate the steps. Nate and Isaac are going to share the huge master bedroom suite, and Cameron and Molly will each have their own room with a full bath in between. I think the master closet is big enough for all of our clothes, and the laundry room is upstairs!

Much Love,

Michele

CHEMO PHOTOS

Hi Friends!

I'm downloading some photos from Annie's camera, and I came across these photos she took on Monday. It was my chemo, Round #9. Are we done yet?

Love,

Shel

WEDNESDAY...

Hi Friends,

I'm just going to write a bit before going back to bed. I'm still feeling very sick to my stomach and headachy today. When Bill got up at 7 a.m. for work, I sent him downstairs for Vicodin (for headache) and Zofran (anti-nausea) pills. Then I went back to bed until about 10:30 when the kids started waking up. I know, it's great because we're still on a summer sleeping schedule :-)

The kids did their chores and had a brunch-type meal. Then, Annie took my kids and Judi's kids to the park. They all seemed to have a good time. Cameron stayed home to "take care of me" and I got a nice nap from about 1-4 p.m. Currently my stomach is pretty upset again, so I'll probably go back up to bed after I finish this. I am trying to get some laundry done today (with help from the kids), because it's easier to do a few loads every couple of days. Laundry never stops, and I don't want Mt. Washmore waiting for me when I'm done puking.

Right now Judi and Annie are watching the boys outside. They're all swimming, except Cam who never swims. He's being a typical teenager and watching TV. Molly and Heather are playing computer games.

I'm looking forward to Bill coming home soon. He has promised to take the kids on another outing tonight.

More tomorrow ...

Much Love,
Michele

TIRED TUESDAY!

Hi Friends!

This will be a short post, but I wanted to assure you that I am still alive after my chemo yesterday. It was less fun than usual as it took 3 sticks before the oncology nurses were able to find a cooperative vein. I think my veins are more tired of all this than I am. They've packed up and went home.

But we accomplished Round #9, and that's what's important. Annie and Shirlene took me. We also had an appointment with Dr. Cohen. He is attempting a bunch of medication changes to deal with my current issues, which are severe headache, swelling and pain of ankles, knees, and hands, and chronic fatigue with sleep issues. Hopefully, the medication will help -- but he feels I'm back in a lupus flare and wants to nip it before it progresses to where I was last year when this all started. So, he has me keeping a headache/pain log, and I will see him again in 2 weeks. If things haven't improved, we will have to go back to doing the high-dose IV steroids for 3 days along with each Cytoxan (chemo) treatment. I have mixed feelings. I hate to do the steroids again, but I do want to stop the lupus before it progresses too far yet again!

Last night, my friend, Carrie, brought us dinner. I heard it was great, but I stayed upstairs. Even the smell of food for me right now is torturous. Today, Bill is at work and the kids are puttering around. Nate is over at Judi's and Heather is over here. Terry, our sweet neighbor, is bringing dinner tonight. Bill and Cameron are going to skip Boy Scouts, and Bill promised that he'd take the kids to the park tonight. They really miss out an activities when I'm down and out!

I just feel very sick to my stomach and weak today. I slept until 10:30 a.m., and I think I'm about ready for a nap. My headache was nasty when I woke up, but it's calmed down a little with my morning dose of Vicodin.

It looks like we'll be renting a home in Camarillo until we decide on a permanent house to buy. We have found a very nice 4 BR/3 Bath townhome 15 minutes away from Bill's work. The rent is reasonable, and we can relax there while deciding where to live permanently. We need to be out of this house by Sept. 9th, and we should be able to move right into the townhome and have Cam start school in that district. We will be looking for a home in that school district as well, so Cam will be able to finish high school in one place.

That's it for now... Good night ...

Much Love,
Michele

CHEMO ROUND #9

Hi Friends,

I just have a few minutes, because it's about time to leave for chemo. These are pictures of Nate taken in his new "Back to School" clothes. I have been taking one child at a time school shopping, and yesterday was his day. He is really into the latest fashions, and he wants to look just like his idol, Brandon. We had a good time shopping yesterday.

We also made it to church at 11 a.m. And we took all the kids to see the movie, UP, which was hysterical :-) After the movie, we did the park. And generally, had a busy, but fun day!

I'll write more after chemo.

Love,
Michele

THE BEST MADE PLANS ...

Hi Friends!

I knew I was in trouble yesterday when I woke up feeling VERY sick to my stomach. So, it would appear we have a virus making the rounds here! And even though I sprayed Lysol on everything, I had caught it. And unfortunate coincidence (for my stomach), but fortunate (for my kids) was that I had ordered groceries online. They were delivered yesterday morning. Luckily for me, Molly stepped up and put most of the groceries away herself.

I spent most of the day in bed, but I have just enough medicine presribed to me to be dangerous. I found that with a combination of compazine (prescribed for my usual chemo nausea) and vicodin for my head, I could be somewhat functional.

Isaac's big excitement was that something he ordered with his birthday money showed up yesterday. He spent most of yesterday putting together a police big-rig lego set. Itty Bitty was more impressed with the box that it came in :-)

Nate went to Brandon's last night. He was having Brandon withdrawals this week as Brandon started back to school. So we hadn't seen him all week. They came back this morning and are outside skateboarding.

So, basically I conserved spoons yesterday in order to be able to go shopping. Molly had her heart set on going to buy her Bat Mitzvah dress. We talked about having Annie take her if I was too sick -- but that didn't seem the same. So, I managed and of course, we had a great time even if I wasn't feeling my best. Molly got not one, but two dresses as she looked great in everything! She also got some other Back-to-School wardrobe essentials. And we got some baby items for Dr. Cohen's little one. It's been a while since I've been little baby girl shopping (think 13 years!), so that was fun.

We stopped at Mimi's on the way home for a late dinner, arriving home around 10:30 p.m. (shortly after Bill called, saying "Surely, there aren't any stores open this late!") I was really tired and went right to bed only to wake up an hour later. Apparently, my body was confused and thought it needed a nap rather than 8 hours of sleep. I battled insomnia for the rest of the night.

I am hoping to get some household stuff done today. Also, I would like to make it to church at 5:30 today. I am feeling better, but not completely, so -- please pray that I'm not sick in time for them to make me sick (with chemo) on Monday!

Much Love,

Michele