March 1, 2006

It's hard to believe we will be back in Iowa City for five days starting on Friday. Things have seemed "normal" around here for the past couple days. That is good! Tonight Chloe and I attended Ash Wednesday services at our church. That left Tina and Leah some quiet time and a chance to go visit the Sunset Home. Church started out with a soup supper by the youth group, with proceeds being donated to Leah' s medical fund. Thank you to all who participated. Chloe made it through the service without any toys, books, etc. thanks to our neighbors in the pew, the Cashman family. When I realized I forgot the entertainment bag, I had to strategically locate us and it worked out well. I hate to admit that I was sidetracked a few times during this meaningful service......but Chloe did a few cute things. First, after a couple of the prayers, she would say Amen outload, always a second too late. The other which maybe isn't so cute is that she kept finding Asian beetles and handing them to me. I couldn't wait to wash my hands. Naturally, I had to report to Leah when we got home that Chloe was on her best behavior.

Tomorrow afternoon Leah and Chloe are going to have some pictures taken by Deb Smith. They are excited about that. Leah's appearance is no longer that of someone in a concentration camp due to her weight gain over the last month. I have compared her new look to that of a wrestler whose season ended a week ago. I call it the "puffy" look. Do we care? No, vanity isn't real important in our lives right know. But to be informative, I thought I would mention it.

Our schedule this weekend is to have Tina and Leah leave for Iowa City early Friday morning. I will drive down and take over Friday night through Sunday night when Tina will come and finish things out with Leah until a Tuesday evening return. The only downfall for me will be the fact that Leah is a BED HOG. She expects us to sleep with her, yet we are only allowed a few inches to sleep on our side. We will get in an argument about it and I'm sure I will lose eventhough I am the parent. Other than that, I am looking forward to reading many books and watching many videos with Leah during her weekend of chemo and hope that Supermom Tina can get a much needed restful weekend.

Blessings,

Chris