I guess I jinxed our early spring weather by writing about it last time...because winter has returned to the northwoods! Last week we had temperatures in the 50s, it was so wonderful. Friday night we were supposed to get a snow storm, but when we woke up Saturday morning, there was only a dusting on the ground. We thought we'd escaped the return of winter...but we thought wrong! Sunday morning we woke up with about 6 inches of snow on the ground, and it hasn't stopped since. DJ came to plow our driveway yesterday morning, and he had to come back and plow again this morning. We have probably gotten around a foot at this point, but it's still coming down! It looks more like winter right now than it has all winter. I'm sure most people in town are rejoicing right now, hauling out their skis and snow mobiles. Personally, I am counting down the days until we leave for South Carolina!
We had a pretty uneventful weekend. Saturday afternoon we went to a benefit for a little boy named Lance. He is 7 1/2 and in the first grade here in Rhinelander. He was on Anna's flag football team, and he has cancer. He's been fighting it for a year now, and in December his parents were told the cancer had spread to his brain and he only had 2 weeks to live. Well, it's almost February and he's still going strong! When they did a second MRI to look at the progression of the tumor, it was gone!!! There is a lot of talk about miracles in Rhinelander lately, and also talk that it was never a brain tumor at all...but an infection. Apparently the two look the same on an MRI. Anyway, Lance is currently in Houston with his mother, receiving treatment at a children's hospital there from a doctor who specializes in this rare cancer. He now has to undergo 7 more months of chemo, at a cost of $2000 every 3 weeks...which insurance will not pay. They said the drug being used isn't FDA approved for a recurrence of the type of cancer Lance has. The ironic thing is that NO drug is approved for a recurrence of this cancer, it is such a rare thing that they haven't tested drugs for it. But his family is so strong, they are feeling so blessed to have this opportunity to "tame the beast" and have their little boy alive and with them...you can't put a price on that. So, we went to the benefit, which was a huge success and a lot of fun. Lots of kids games, clowns, silent auction, raffle prizes, bake sale, spaghetti dinner, etc.
On Sunday Anna went with a friend of hers to an ice skating show in Minocqua. Her friend Lauryn is an only child, so her parents often let her pick a friend to go with her special places. Last summer Anna went to the Wisconsin Dells with Lauryn and her family. They live just down the road from us....Anna and Lauryn used to attend school together before Anna moved to Nativity. I'm happy they have maintained their friendship.
Noah is feeling better, still coughing a little bit at night but not running a fever anymore. Unfortunately, I think I caught whatever he had, but it's not so bad to have it as an adult. Give me some Dayquil and Nightquil and I'm good to go!
I've found a couple of really great things to do while we are in South Carolina. One is a boat tour out of Georgetown, SC...very close to where we are staying. It's a 3 hour ride, takes you to a barrier island where you can do some shelling, bird watching, and there is a historic lighthouse on the island too. The other is a day trip to Charleston, about an hour south of where we are staying. Spend some time in the historic city, and go to a place called Boone Plantation. There are original slave houses there that were shown in the TV show North and South.
One more thing before I go. My dad is in the hospital in Liberty, MO. He was having trouble breathing on Saturday night, so he went to the ER. So far nothing has shown up on any of the tests, but he is supposed to see a cardiologist today and have some more testing done. He has a history of a heart attack, almost 9 years ago I believe....so this was pretty scary.Please remember him in your thoughts and prayers.
Better get going. Trying to catch up on laundry, as always! Wish me luck, the new session at the YMCA starts today. I've signed myself up for 2 classes, and one of them starts tonight. It's a basic step class, from 4:15 until 5PM. I also signed up for a Women on Weights class on Thursday evenings. Pavan is taking a cycling class on Wednesday afternoons. Gotta get in shape forour time at the beach!
More later,
Rebecca
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