Ignorance is bliss

Yesterday we went to Macon for local counts. Today I talked with our regular oncology nurse. She told me James' counts for this week--Hgb, 10.7; Platelets, over 700K; ANC, ~900... Then she said there were no blasts (baby leukemia cells). I thought that was really weird. Of course there were no blasts, there haven't been any since...well, since the fourth week of treatment, March 2007.

I don't remember what I said in response now, but Lauren went on to ask if I knew that James' counts from last week showed three blasts. That is why they wanted me to get him checked again so soon. I was too tired to ask why last week, so I just 'went along'. I got the call from a new-to-me nurse, since our regular nurse was out of town last week. I think that must have been Providence. In some ways, I wish I would have known. It might be revealing to see how I would actually respond to that kind of news...and then again, maybe the Lord just knew I didn't need to add that to my plate last week and that He would take care of it.

Thank you, Lord.

Puttin'up apples

Right down the road from my mom's is an apple orchard. They have all kinds of apples. At harvest time, they can be bought for $16 a bushel...which is between .33 and .38 per pound. So my mom picked some up for us and she and my dad came for a visit. And to deliver apples!





We learned from an experienced apple saucer in Minnesota that if one wishes to eliminate the risks of burning applesauce, cooking it down in the oven is the way to go!

We canned 31 quarts of applesauce, froze 16 qts of cut up apples for pies and crisps and dried 6-1/2 gallons of apple slices from four bushels. We have 2-1/2 more bushels to put up yet.

It's great to have home preserved foods in the pantry.

A life courageously lived

David North passed from this life peacefully last week. We had the privilege of being at his Celebration of Life on Sunday and I am very much looking forward to meeting David in Heaven one day. In the meantime, please pray for his sweet family (mom, dad, 6 sibs and 2 sibs-in-law, plus grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles) as they heal not just from losing David, but from the inevitable scars that come from fighting a chronic illness with a loved family member for five years.