A Miracle?

Lindsay recovering after her surgery

Yes, we believe so and wanted to share our good news with you all.

You may recall that daughter Lindsay had surgery last Monday, to remove a lymph node in her neck that the doctors were all identifying as cystic and abnormal.  She has been battling thyroid cancer for the last nine years, and after numerous surgeries, lymph removals and bad reports over the years, frankly we were praying for a miracle.  For a good report.  For no cancer.

Well that is just what we got this morning.  Her surgeon called to notify her that the lab report said "NO CANCER."

Our entire family is rejoicing in this little miracle, and whatever the future may hold, TODAY IS A GREAT DAY, and we are thankful for her good news.

Son Caleb with his girlfriend Stacy

In other random bits of news around here, our church has requested that son Caleb go in today and film the video announcements for Easter Sunday.  There is an actual "green room" permanently set up there where the weekly announcements are filmed and made into a weekly video.

That can only mean two things:  one - there will be several thousand people in attendance that morning, so that practically makes him a movie star, and two - Caleb is most certainly cooking up some comedy for the filming as I write this.  I saw that little twinkle in his eye when he told me where he is going.

Too bad I'll miss it - we are going camping this weekend for our maiden voyage of the season.

And, speaking of camping, the husband/lover/handyman has been busy over the weekend installing stabilizers on our fifth wheel.  He's got the two front ones on, and says he'll put the back two on while we are camping.

He also made an appointment to conveniently get the camper's yearly inspection done on our way to the campground.  We were able to reserve our favorite site at the Bald Eagle State Park in northern central Pennsylvania.  Our site offers a good view of the hillside which is usually teaming with all sorts of bird and other wildlife.  We make good use of our binoculars while camping in that spot.

In other upcoming adventures, we are preparing for our April 28th move in to our new lodge, two weeks from today.  What that really means for me is that my "hoarding" days are rapidly coming to an end.  Today I unpacked many of the purchases we have made for the lodge over the last six months, consolidated and rearranged, and labeled boxes for a smooth move in.

It will be good to have my home office back to normal again.

Daughter Sarah

Out in Ohio, daughter Sarah informs us that she is having Braxton Hicks contractions every now and then.
 Although her baby's due date is May 19th, all my babies came early and they say daughters typically follow their mothers in birth trends.  So, we anxiously await this little guy's arrival.  I hope he has the good sense not to interfere with our lodge move in week, although we will be unpacking and setting up a brand new crib and rocking chair to accommodate him and any other little ones that will come for a visit.

I've already been planning meals for the week of our move in, and while doing so I came across an article in Prevention Magazine (November 2013) about the next big thing in protein.

Apparently it's insects.  The article claims that "If insects are the next big thing in protein, then cricket flour is the gateway bug.  Ground crickets provide 5 to 7 g of protein in these bars from Chapul, with a taste entirely obscured by lime and ginger."

For a mere $17 you can get 6 cricket bars.

No.  Thank.  You.

In other silly news, I learned a new word this week, and you all know how much I like finding new words.  This one is the best ever:

jillick - to skip a stone across a pond

I suppose it's no surprise I love that word, huh?

And finally, and this is really random, I can't believe he ate those mushrooms!  I'm hooked on watching that Sunday night television show, "Naked and Afraid" on the Discovery Channel.  Last night the male contestant made a very foolish decision and ate an unidentified mushroom.  It wasn't long before he had a reaction in his mouth, and soon after that he became very ill.  Whether the illness was a result of eating the mushrooms or simply some sort of jungle virus is unknown.  Either way, I've gotta say, "What was he thinking?"

The contestants in their hut in Malaysia

Have a great day folks.  Eat crickets, not mushrooms.