Just so those of you knowing she's travelling today don't worry.  We're vegging in front of the TV.  More details later.

They're uploaded to Shutterfly...

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Hope you enjoy them!

I had a LOVELY early birthday party on Saturday!

My mom and dad and David showed up around 11:30 so that I could have some good visiting time with David before everyone showed up.  We did have a good time.  And before everyone else showed up, I took a Xanax, so I had fun once everyone else was here, too!  David bought me a very pretty pre-planted flower pot full of hot pink geraniums for the front porch.  Pretty Pretty.  And Mama and Daddy bought me a pink tooth (my razr is pink, so the pink blue tooth is hereby a pink tooth), and it came with a pretty leather cover for my phone and they bought me a cute leather carrying pouch for my pink tooth.

It was "come & go," but no one goed.  They all got there and just stayed. But it still turned out fine.  David's sponsors from USAFA came and brought me a huge bouquet of daisies.  Mike & Leigh-Ann (who is fighting late stage ovarian cancer), brought me a really fun framed Funky Winkerbean cartoon about fighting cancer, but then below it is a section about Jehova Nissi, God who fights FOR us.  Becky and Ken brought me a book for praying for your kids.  It's written prayers, mostly scripture, with blanks to put your child's name into it.  Brenda and Mike brought me the willow-tree angel of Courage.

Not that it's about the presents...

My mom bought 3 HUGE cakes from Costco.  A lot of the cake wound up going back to USAFA with Jake. 

This morning, we went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and Colton asked to be excused from the table while we were waiting for our food.  He went and bought me 3 very cute tulip shaped tea-light holders.  He was so proud.  Bought it with his own money and everything.  And since it was the last one, and there wasn't a box, the lady behind the counter wrapped it for him.

My "Oldest Son," Dennis, donated money to our Disney trip, and also gave us enough for Paul and me to go away for the weekend to Taos or Santa Fe.  YAY!  We'll likely go to Taos.  We've talked about it, but didn't have the money for the hotel.  But we do now!  Thanks again, Dennis.  He left today, but we'll see him again soon.

OK, I'm falling asleep.  Smooches and hugs.

I uploaded the NHS induction, Rohan's field trip to the Museum of Nature and Science, and the rest of Ciera's birthday to Shutterfly.  If you want to see...

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2AZtXDZyzZMXgQ

Today, he is subbing 2 half-days at our kids school.  This morning, he taught HS.  After lunch, he transitioned to 7th grade PE.  He was playing kickball with the 7th graders.  He's 45 years old.  Rounding 2nd base, he seriously pulled his hamstring.  However, he continued to play kickball for 2 more class periods.

I just got an email that he's struggling to walk.  But he doesn't want me to make a doctor's appointment.  Now, I get poked, prodded, etc by every doc under the sun, but he doesn't even want to see his primary over a major pulled muscle.

When oh WHEN is he going to learn that he's not 13 anymore???  Thankfully, 7th period is being spent watching a movie with the 8th graders.

Ay yi yi...

Got 2 Birthday packages today.  One from my Grandmamma, who sent me a pretty hat box, and some uber-cute sparkly wedge flip-flops. 

The other one?  From Mike Shanahan.  Coach of the Denver Broncos.  It has an autographed picture that says "Happy Birthday," and a very cool birthday card with the Broncos emblem embossed on the front.  Hehehe... A friend of my mom's works for Mike Shanahan, and so she had it sent to me.  It was a sweet thought.

Last night, around 6:00, it was pouring rain.  Ciera had dressed Meleia up to take her picture in the rain for some reason.  But look at these pictures.  Look at what the rain changed to above 7,000 feet....

Yes, folks.  That's snow.  There were a few inches on the ground when we got up.  Nothing on the roads.  This is why we cannot plant annuals until June 1st at my house...

 I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping this as updated as perhaps I should.  The "downer" days around chemo really affect my mood and my desire to do much of anything. And unfortunately for you, that includes blogging.

We did get to surprise Ciera on Sunday!  It was wonderful!  I was only strong enough to stick around for about an hour, but it was good to see her with her friends and to see her so surprised.  I guess about a week ago, she said to Meleia, "I can't believe my 16th birthday just came and went with no recognition."  Now... NOW she's been recognized.  She had a great day.  About 20 kids showed up and they played frisbee and volleyball.  We took our stereo which holds 50 CDs and had Meleia raid all of Ciera's music to crank up.  They ate sugar until they popped and grilled hot dogs.  It was lovely.  A few pictures (I'll post a link to more when I get them uploaded)...

With "big brother" Jake

With her parents

Yakkin' with some friends

Walking across the field with Zach & Collin.

A short story about that last picture:  Collin has lymphoma.  His diagnosis has been hard on my girl.  It's been hard on him, too.  But I just love that last picture, because in it, he's just a teenager.  Walking with his friends.  They all just look so relaxed and like they're enjoying each other's company.  It's very cool.  BTW, Collin outlasted me at the party.  I wish I were 16 again!  NO! NO I DON'T!  Take that back...  I wish I had the ENERGY of a 16-year-old again!

It is positively pouring rain outside.  And the dogs are out.  Shoot.  They all have shelter, but whether they're smart enough to use it is the question.  Olie is so scared of thunder it isn't funny.  He is probably huddled under the deck thinking that the world is coming to an end!!!

I found out that my baby brother is flying into town for my birthday this weekend.  I can't wait to see him and hug his neck.  Mama and Daddy and Paul and the kids are hosting a come and go open house for just a few people on Saturday so that I can feel like I had a party, but not have to have a whole party.  If I sat down and thought about everyone locally that was important to me, we could wind up with 50 people at the house.  But I'm not up to that.  So, we invited just a few couples and we'll have a good time.  I'll take my Xanax and will be nice and relaxed.

OK, time for the rain to stop so that I can go down to the hospital and get blood drawn!

It's day 3, and the icky day post-chemo.  I'm in bed, feeling a bit of heartburn despite the meds, and sleeping on and off.

I did get the transfusion yesterday, and it was wonderful.  I haven't "pinked up" as much as they would like, but it will get better, I guess.  Dr. H said that I should have gotten my aranesp shot last week even though we skipped chemo, but I didn't, so that might contribute to the hemoglobin drop.

The ultrasound showed that the clot in my leg is gone.  Which means that the swelling in my leg is unexplained.  So next week, I'll likely be having another CT scan to see if we can figure out what's causing all the swelling.

My mom is here, which is very helpful. 

I'm hoping Ciera doesn't read here today:  Tomorrow is her surprise Sweet 16 party. It was in the planning before I had to postpone chemo, so I'll only be able to go for a short while.  Her friend, Collin, who has cancer, is coming, and he has chemo every week.  So, I should be able to do it...  I don't know.  We'll have to see.  We're having it up at the church camp.  We'll have volleyball and cookout hot dogs and music.  It should be fun.  She'll enjoy it, I think.

Now to get her there...

OK, off to rest a bit more.  Must conserve energy for tomorrow.

 Well, despite the mystery fever, I had chemo today.  The stat bloodwork showed that my hemoglobin had dropped a full point since last week.  I was 9.1 last week, and 8.1 today.  Which would explain why I couldn't keep my eyes open yesterday. 

So tomorrow, I also get a blood transfusion.  And I'm also having another ultrasound of the upper leg to see if the clot has come back.  If it hasn't, then I have to have another CT scan.

One picture of Ciera and Paul at the NHS Induction:

We are very proud of her.

No one can get those links to work.  Grrrr... So I've uploaded one of the songs from Ciera's Vocal Variety Show last night to the Xanga server.  Let's see if THIS works...