THE FIRST 7

i am back from my self-imposed vacation from email, FB (for the most part) and blogging (i hope). i guess you could say i had a holiday hiatus of sorts...just needed to truly unplug and have as few distractions as possible throughout Christmas. it was nice. it really "set apart" the time for me...and gave me time to attend to such frivolity as adorning the dog in holiday attire.

my deer harrison

it was good (albeit harrison might disagree).
but now I'm way behind on here
and 
a lot has been going on. i can't believe we're already heading into the third week of january! my word! time has ripped by with lightening speed - just the first 7 days of 2012 alone have brought with them a torrent of change. 


it's been a mishmash of everything...from "out with the old, and in with the new", from challenging to exciting, from bittersweet to celebratory, from days where the lingering feelings of the "same old, same old" still taunts us to the days where revitalized energy has led to the rediscovery of old hobbies and interests, from the struggle to do the mundane to the ability to learn a new skill. 


and yes, a lot of it that was rolled into the first 7 days of the new year!  our "out with the old, in with the new" encompassed new carpeting! our home is a rental. we've lived here 13 years. the carpet was abused by many tenants before we moved in. we did our best but it really was time for it to go!  it was 20+ years old, the new was needed! the old had once been white but was now grey (gross!), the new is (ironically) grey (ha ha!). 

out with the old...

we had asked our landlord before christmas for new carpets. despite remarking at how expensive new carpeting would be, the landlord sent out a carpet guy to do an estimate but when we had not heard back after several weeks, we figured the non-reply was indicative of a "no". we were immensely surprised and thrilled when we got a call from the carpet guy the day before new year's eve saying,
"your carpet is in, i'm coming on the 3rd to install it!"
apparently the landlord had approved the request - but hadn't thought to tell us that! 
it was a mad scramble and a ton of work to move furniture on such sort notice but it was sooooo worth it! you really don't realize how much 'stuff' you have until you have to move it. contrary to how it may appear, i'm not a hoarder!!

i am not a hoarder. i am not a hoarder. i am not a hoarder.

we feel incredibly blessed to have the new carpet. we are enjoying treading on the plush newness and i'm becoming an avid vacuumer! and so very grateful to have the energy to be able to do so!

...in with new!
note: i was already vaccuuming circles around my poor exhausted hubby 

soft, squishy, springy underlay is also wonderfully forgiving on the knees as well! that has been a welcome comfort as many of the changes we've experienced in the first 7 days of the new year have required a substantial amount of time spent on our knees in prayer. prayers of thanksgiving, praise, awe at the wonder of how God works and prayers for wisdom and strength and for surrender, deliverance and ultimately continued healing. all of it is noteworthy enough to be deserved of its own designated post...which i'll get to eventually. for now, i'll start with the most recent because it is the most pressing prayer item.

last thursday, (jan 13), parker started a high dose, one week round of an antibiotic that hits the bugs in the brain. his response to this "provocation test" will determine whether or not we need to continue IV treatment (which would mean travel to the USA for a PORT surgery). you might recall, that the original plan was to have his picc line pulled the first week of january.(click here to refresh your memory) amidst all the changes there were, the removal of his PICC line was not one of them. this has been delayed because he had an intense herx during what was supposed to be his final round of treatment (this was over christmas). this intense response caused great concern as we saw a return of some psychiatric symptoms. this is an indication that he may still have "bugs" in his brain...neuro lyme is most effectively treated with IV meds. hence, the delay in picc removal and the need for this last minute, one week provocation test. we will be speaking with DR H this thursday (jan 19) and we expect a decision about IV treatment will be made at that time.


we'd appreciate your prayers...of course, we greatly desire that no more IV treatment will be needed however, we are specifically praying for God to clearly reveal what parker's body needs. love you all. thank you for your continued support. it is of great comfort to know that this pivotal week will be blanketed with prayers.