Howdy from Home!

Our first full day home in over two weeks.

Ahhhhhhhh!

Feels good.

Despite the fact that I really haven't stopped moving all day, and yesterday as well, it is sure good to be home.

Our 2+ week at Kingston General was almost like staying at the Hilton! (How I would know this, I haven't got a clue... I've never stayed at the Hilton.... but you get my drift...) We were unbelievably well pampered by hospital staff, and I must say that it almost felt like a bit of a retreat for me.... excluding the "concerned-about-Blake's-health" part.

But once I got home, and saw JUST how much this family REALLY NEEDS ME...... my body kicked into high gear and I've been non-stop since.

The look of the house wasn't quite as bad as it was when I returned home from a previous hospital stay back in May. It truly was a disaster zone then! But this time, it was a smidget tidier. Jon worked very hard this week on cutting lawns and trimming arounds trees, etc. He laboured quite a few hours on Jake's pick up. They even actually DID do laundry this time, although it was quite caught up before Blake's admission to hospital.

I did find it extremely gross to open my dishwasher and find cups and utensils with mold on them.

Yah.

That's right.

I said mold.

How is that possible, one would wonder??

Well, we have the world's most absolute poorest working dishwasher in the world. You can NEVER put anything in the dishwasher that has any bit of food on it. Even toast crumbs! They're the worst!

So I don't think some boys rinsed their milk-stained cups and egg-yolk-covered forks and coffee-with-flavoured-Coffeemate-creamer mugs before placing them inside the dishwasher. Now imagine them sitting there for over a week in a closed air-tight dishwasher before someone receives the phone call that we're coming home that day from the hospital and then they rush to start the dishwasher.

I couldn't even stand the thoughts of running them through the dishwasher again, so I re-washed them by hand.

Blech!

Gag me.

So I found the counter top...... Yup! Sure enough, it was right there where I had left it! Then I found the design on the kitchen floor after I swept up some dog hair and pieces of grass and some other stuff that I really have no idea what it was.

And the toilet??? Well, Mr. Toity was another story. He basically partnered up with Mr. Dishwasher and made me gag. I mean, you must remember..... we were at the hospital for two weeks. And out of those fourteen days, our hospital toilet was cleaned almost every single day.... sometimes twice a day! So, Mr. Toity here at home got a well-needed bath yesterday!

And the rest of the mess of the house is pretty much the dis-organized mess I left it in.

I changed all the bedding today on ALL the beds. Usually when I do that, one of the kids ends up getting the stomach flu and barfing all over their sheets. So for about ten years now, I usually only wash one bed at a time. Pretty sure it's one of the things on the Murphy's Law List.

Tonight we were extremely spoiled with a fully prepared hot supper, compliments of a dear sweet woman, Norma Smith. I have known her since I was eight years old. She attends the same church I do, and I believe she has prayed for me since I was a little girl. She is the woman who led me to the Lord many years ago at J.M.S. (Junior Missionary Society). She's definitely a prayer warrior! Anyways, we had roasted potatoes and meatloaf and baked beans, and there's a chocolate cake on the counter just waiting for us to inhale it! We're saving the cake for just a little while longer this evening while we watch a movie.

Thankfully, Mrs. Smith could stay and have supper with us before she headed to the church for Prayer Meeting. She is such an encouragement and a wonderful example of a Godly woman. I love her to pieces. I hope we're neighbours in heaven someday!

Thank you for supper, Mrs. Smith!!!! We love you.






One more thing before I update you on Blake. I cannot believe how much things can change in just two weeks. My flowers have exploded! The hollyhocks are coming out beautifully. (Above picture is not my hollyhocks. It's an internet photo.) And I have other flowers around my house that I have not got a clue what they're called, but they're so pretty. Nice yellow ones and pink ones. Some of the hostas are flowering already, and they always smell so nice and perfumy (is that a word?). My grapevine that I am growing up the side of my deck has simply exploded and is bursting forth with life. I need to train the straggly ends to wrap around the beams and go up on top of the overhang, which will provide shade in the hot summer sun, since we have no trees around our home.

The only flower not taking off this year is my yellow-bell vines. I think it's because there were some weeds choking them out, so today I pulled those picky ol' weeds (some that were as tall as I am! How did THAT happen!?) and hopefully the yellow bells will now have a chance to grow. The ones around the stairs are fine, but the ones around the chimney and side of the deck are struggling. They originally came from my Grandma Steenburgh's home, so I want to ensure they keep on growing for many years to come.


OK. Enough about me and my dirty house and my pretty (or struggling) flowers. You want to hear about Blake because....... "it's ALL about Blake!". (Again, family joke! Don't worry.)

Blake is doing WONDERFULLY. He feels really good. His body is still a bit weak, but that's expected. His colour continues to get better and the best part is that there is no pain. Now, I did just realize that I haven't checked his arm all day regarding the cellulitis, so if you can just hold on one second..........

......................

...............

OK. I'm back. The arm looks pretty good. The redness is hardly there. That's a good thing. He's taking Cephalex (I think that's the proper drug name... I'm too tired to go check the bottle) and obviously it is doing it's job.

He was playing XBox 360 and Guitar Hero with Jared this afternoon and it sounded so wonderful to hear him laughing and playing once again. Jared must have slaughtered Blake in the game because I could hear this holler from the rec room, "NOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo........!!!".

That's quite a change from the last three weeks when there were times that he would have hardly enough energy to even whisper a word or two to me.

We are thanking God that the Remicade seems to be effective and working to heal Blake's intestines. We are praying that the paperwork will move speedily across the desk of the government officials (with a big of stamp of "APPROVAL") and that everything will fall into place next week for Blake's next dose.

Dr. Hookey (whose name I have been mispelling for two weeks now.... sorry Dr. Hookey!) seemed very confident that Blake will have his next dose in a timely fashion, and we are thankful for his kindness and helpfulness in this area.

Blake heads to the Gastroenterology Clinic on Friday afternoon for a quick check up. I'm assuming we'll see Dr. Depew, but it could also be one of the other two doctors in that office. On Monday, we are to call Dr. Hookey's office and he'll tell us what the next step is, as far as getting the next dose.

I'm just so pleased that Blake is feeling well and responding to the Remicade. Thank You, Lord!

Jake left for the Big City again this morning. He received his Grade 12 Graduation Diploma last night from PECI. Perhaps you'll recall from an earlier post, I wrote how we had rang the cowbell and did some "hootin' & hollerin'" when Blake received his diploma in 2008. Of course, the Principal had announced for everyone to hold their applause until all graduates received their diplomas, but... come on now..... we're hillbillies, for goodness sake!










So, in keeping with a new tradition, once Ms. Moon announced the name "Jacob.Jonathon.Dane.Found", you could hear hand clappers and a loud clanging cowbell, and a pretty darn proud family of parents, brothers, grandparents, a cousin, and some aunts cheering and hollering and shouting "WAHOOOO, JACOB!!!!!". We certainly had the attention of the many hundreds of folks who were in attendance. But for those who knew us, they weren't surprised..... we're The Fraser's, of course. Naturally we celebrate for all to hear! As Principal MacKenzie-Coates handed Jake his diploma and shook his hand, she looked at him with an expression that said, "I am SO not surprised to hear that!". haha

Jaybo, we love you. We are very proud of you "toughing it out" and getting your high school diploma. You're a tough nut to crack. One day you'll grow up and understand where your Dad and I are coming from with many of the things we talk to you about. Sometimes, you're so much like your Dad and me, it's frightening! You have both of our tempers and stubborness, which is NOT a good cocktail by any means whatsoever; but you do have a very caring heart, more sentimental than I realized when you were younger; and you're not the least bit afraid of hard physical labour. I'm glad you inherited those two traits from us for sure. Get rid of our bad traits and genes; keep the good ones, making them stronger and stronger. We love you with all our hearts, more than you'll ever ever know. ("Dat's our story and we're (s)tickin' to it".) We miss you when you're not here; but praying that God is watching over you every minute. Visit often so your Momma Daddy doesn't cry. Love you. XOXO

And on that note, folks, before the tears start rolling, I hear some Chocolate-Cake-a-la-Norma calling my name. Have a nice evening, and we'll chat again soon.