GOOD MONDAY MORNING!

I can't believe we are starting our second week of fourth grade today! Shane is loving all of his curriculum, SO FAR!!! I pray that continues. He received a 100% on his first Spelling Test Friday and only missed one problem on his math quiz!

Friends, once again, I would like to ask for your prayers. I've learned that you ladies (and few men) who read my blog, are people of prayer, so I present to you my next challenge.

I really should have shared this with you last Monday, the day I had to stop my medications for the Rheumatoid Arthritis. You see, this Tuesday, ( 9/11 ), I will be having a breast biopsy done. My meds can cause free bleeding, so for apparent reasons, I was told to discontinue them the week before the biopsy. I also had to discontinue my daily vitamin, due to it containing vitamin E, which can also cause bleeding.

Many of you probably remember that back in Nov. through May, I was in terrible pain and hardly slept at all. My old meds were no longer working for me. I turned to blogging as an escape from pain. I'd be up all hours of the night suffering. Thus, the title of my blog "MIDNIGHT MUSINGS".

Needless to say, without my anti-inflammatory and pain meds, I don't function well. The first day off of them this week, I must admit I was A-OK, but by Wednesday, I felt like I was in a full blown withdrawal. I had the chills and shakes and felt so weak. My joints began hurting and I was seeing joints swell up right before my very eyes! I couldn't concentrate and my speech was slurred; and all this while trying to get through the first week of homeschool with Shane. Oh, and did I mention I was really GRUMPY??? With the Lord's help, we did meet most of our schooling goals for the week. I know it was due to my church family and my dad's church family praying for me. I am some better now. What a sweet blessing to know that other's can approach my Heavenly Father on my behalf! It seems the withdrawal stage is over but I feel as though I have the flu and some joints are achy each day, and you guessed it -- I CAN'T SLEEP! I know this is only temporary. I was instructed to start my meds back up a few days after the biopsy, so I'm thinking around Friday.

A little sample of my swelling! and oh the pain in that middle finger especially!

NOW, what I would seek your prayers for right now is for me to get through one more week with minimal pain. Also that the biopsy goes well and the growth isn't malignant. God's will be done!

BLESSING IN A BOX !
The Leonard family picked Shane up for S.S. and church Sunday morning. Agustin was at work, I was in pain! When they brought Shane home after services, they also brought 3 delicious pizzas and 3 different types of sodas! YUM! I had never tried Papa John's Barbecue Pizza.

It was awesome and we all highly suggest it! Thanks Kim and Mike, Alex, and Ashley for being such a blessing! I also enjoyed their company as it helped get my mind off of me for an hour or so. Of course, since Mike was here, I got plenty of laughing in!!!

Here's Mike on New Year's Eve, 2006. No it's not what you think! The guy IS NOT drunk! The adornment of the little flashlight on his head was assisting him in his quest to find one of the girl's missing pieces of jewelry, which was lost while we were in the yard setting off fireworks.