School's out update

Now that school is out, I'm so busy! Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? :-) It is really nice not to have to get up at 6:00 AM, though. My days consist of trying to do chores, trying to get my kids to do chores, trying to get my kids to do some schoolwork every day, trying not to let my kids play on the computer all day, and trying to keep cool. It has been so hot. It's been in the upper 90's for days and days and days now. Apparently it's kinda early in the year for this many consecutive days of upper 90's. Thankfully it's not too humid here. I try to avoid going outside for any reason except to go from an air conditioned car directly into an air conditioned building, so I'm surviving, but I also miss being able to be outside!

The only time of day I can be outside is in the evening, and that's when the mosquitoes are out in full force. It makes me so mad! I truly hate mosquitoes! My kids have heard me say I hate mosquitoes, and they immediately call me on saying a bad word ("hate"), but I tell them hate is only a bad word when you are using it about a person. And mosquitoes are not people, so it's all good. Dave, is there any way you could whip me up a quick batch of DDT in your lab? I'd pay serious money for it! Seriously, maybe I should push for an addendum to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) that legalizes the use of DDT for MS patients who otherwise can't go outside at all. It's discrimination, I tell you! :-)

The boys finished the school year off well. Brigham's teacher was so proud of him. Remember how he struggled with reading at the beginning of the year? He was on the verge of being sent to that "special" class for reading (horrors!). But he finished the year reading above grade level. He still doesn't love reading, but it's no longer 20 minutes of pure torture for him (or me, having to help him through it).

We had our end-of-year party last Saturday. We ended up with 16 kids, which was just right. Any more would have been too crazy. They mostly swam, but also jumped on the trampoline, rode bikes on the sports court, and at the end we had a scavenger hunt (started with a clue to a certain location where they found another clue to another location, etc.) to find a treasure chest filled with candy bags. One of the kids told his mom on the way out that it was "the best party ever," so I guess it went ok! We had 2 teenagers from the ward here as life guards. They did a great job and were incredibly helpful. Ben was the barbecue man, and I couldn't go outside at all because it was too hot, so the teenagers handled a lot of the refereeing type stuff. A few moms stayed for a while after bringing their kids over to help me get food prepared and taken outside, which was also very helpful. So all-in-all it wasn't terribly stressful, and the kids all had a really good time.

Our first week of summer was pretty good. We got a new computer for the boys. Just a desktop and a small flat-screen monitor, less than $250 for the whole thing. So the boys can play games and stuff and not be using mine all the time. Of course, now one of them uses mine all the time and another uses the other all the time! My goal is to do a limited home school agenda each day, and then let them do whatever they want the rest of the time (well, plus their daily chores). We do math and writing and reading each day, and we'll do science experiments and stuff for fun once in a while. They've been doing pretty well with that. They are happy to do schoolwork, just a little too silly sometimes, and I have to rein them in. But the computer use was a little unreasonable last week, so this week we instituted a new rule which is no computer games until after 3:00 PM. I let them go on the internet for some educational games during the day, but no regular old games until after 3. I thought I'd get a lot of resistance, but actually I got none! They accepted the rule and were happy doing other things without me nagging them at all.

On Saturday the boys had a Tae Kwon Do demonstration at a local theater just before and after a showing of "Kung Fu Panda." The movie was great, by the way. I have a pet-peeve about supposedly kids movies having more adult themes. It bugs me. Can't a kids movie just be for kids? Why do they think they need to have more "adult" themes-- do they think adults won't take their kids to the movies without them? Maybe. Anyway, Kung Fu Panda is a kids movie just for kids. It has great messages, great animation, and lots of great martial arts sequences!! The boys' TKD instructor had them perform some moves and patterns, and then had them line up to side kick boards. He brought really thick boards again, and I was doubtful. There are thin, 1/2 inch boards specifically used for karate and stuff that you can buy from martial arts suppliers, but he brought regular 3/4 inch boards from Home Depot or somewhere. Last demonstration the boys were at, he brought those as well, and I'm not sure anyone broke a board! So I was very proud of Brigham when he took his turn and BAM, broke that board right in half. He was one of only 3 or 4, I think, and definitely the youngest and smallest. He was very proud of himself too. It's a hard thing as a twin mom, to want to praise one twin, but not make the other twin feel bad. So I praised him and then quickly tried to change the subject. When we got home, Joseph got out one of the thinner boards he had broken at an earlier demonstration, and broke *that* board in half, so he could say he broke a board too.

A week ago Sunday I had to give the closing prayer for Stake Conference. I was nervous but it went well I guess. My strategy was to never actually look out onto the congregation, and I was successful in that strategy. :-) And then they gave me one of the beautiful flower arrangements afterward, so it was worth it.

Ok, so the next few things I have going on for my transplant are:
This Thursday my last MRI. I think all of us (Ben and the boys and I) will go out to Houston on Wednesday night and spend the night and then spend the day doing fun things around Houston (Children's museum, etc.), and showing the boys where the hospital is so they have some way of visualizing where I'll be. My MRI isn't until late afternoon, and then we'll drive home afterward.
Next Wednesday and Thursday I go in for the final preliminary tests, meet with an MD Anderson neurologist, sign all the final consent forms with Dr. Popat (the transplant doctor), get the catheter placed in my chest, and start the stem cell mobilization medication.
The next Monday I'll go back to Houston for the stem cell collection. This can take from 1-4 days depending on how I respond. I'm hoping for 1 day!
Then the next Friday morning we are flying to LA!!

It's all happening fast, after such a long delay, and I'm getting nervous again. I was starting to get nervous in April, too, when I thought things were coming down fast then, but this time I *really* think it's going to happen. I'm most worried about my boys. And about me missing my boys!! I'm dreading being apart from my boys a lot more than the transplant.
Ok, that's my update for tonight.