last month feebird and i got to go on a little trip to durango to check out fort lewis college. she brought her rastamon socks!!!
i picked her up in albuquerque and we hit the road.
we got to stay at a b & b called apple hill farm just outside of town. i think we drove from there to durango and back about 50 times in two days. seriously.
like 2 jedis on a mission, we covered the town with our amazing turtle power.
the giant vintage barbie head pez dispenser drew us into the candy store and this pretty much displays how productive our trip was. it was a blessed break getting to talk, laugh and pray with my cutest homegirl the sisterbird!!! 
franco was sweet to give us some dough to eat a nice meal.
yummeeee. i can't remember the name of the restaurant, but it was thai or vietnamese or a combo (i think) and it was super tastey! we ate so much we both got sick, but maybe...
that's because we finished the night at the wild horse saloon dancing with cowboys! old cowboys, mind you. it was directly across from the restaurant, it was friday night, we didn't have anything else to do so what the heck. initially we debated-- that's what we usually spent half of our time doing, and then we forced ourselves to pay the cover, get our hands stamped, and stared in awe at the flux of locals in boots and cowboy hats lured onto the dance floor under the spell of the "movin' on band." i highly, highly recommend going here if ever you visit durango, and if you live there i hope you go once in while! it was a blast! once "sweet home alabama" began playing there was no stopping the bird. she was the only gal dancing alone in her own world which had a lasting effect on the single dudes. for the rest of the night she was asked to dance again and again. i finally hit the floor with her when lady gaga came on. we were told, "you girls have class. where ya from?" here is feebird gettin' down for the millionth time.... she's in the white pants. it was so great to dance again. it's been forever! the next day we sought that rocky mountain high so we drove north and realized there was no way were going to hike in all that snow. it was awesome though and we could see snowboarders here and there dropping down slopes which made birdie kind of jealous. it made me think of injuries.
that's because we finished the night at the wild horse saloon dancing with cowboys! old cowboys, mind you. it was directly across from the restaurant, it was friday night, we didn't have anything else to do so what the heck. initially we debated-- that's what we usually spent half of our time doing, and then we forced ourselves to pay the cover, get our hands stamped, and stared in awe at the flux of locals in boots and cowboy hats lured onto the dance floor under the spell of the "movin' on band." i highly, highly recommend going here if ever you visit durango, and if you live there i hope you go once in while! it was a blast! once "sweet home alabama" began playing there was no stopping the bird. she was the only gal dancing alone in her own world which had a lasting effect on the single dudes. for the rest of the night she was asked to dance again and again. i finally hit the floor with her when lady gaga came on. we were told, "you girls have class. where ya from?" here is feebird gettin' down for the millionth time.... she's in the white pants. it was so great to dance again. it's been forever! the next day we sought that rocky mountain high so we drove north and realized there was no way were going to hike in all that snow. it was awesome though and we could see snowboarders here and there dropping down slopes which made birdie kind of jealous. it made me think of injuries.
we headed back to town and went on the colorado trail (thanks steph!). 
we couldn't get very far as it was also pretty snow packed, but refreshing to get out and breathe the wonderous, colorado air.
the last morning we took our final walk (of about 40 because we could never decide what to do) around town in the spring sunshine. 
this street reminded us of tacoma. 
headin' out. texting, texting, texting. 
by the way, after her first day in town, fee decided she could not live in a small town being the california girl she is. we spent about 5 minutes at the college just to see it and that was that. so our primary mission was accomplished and our secondary mission of getting a break and having some good old fashioned fun together was complete as well. thanks to God and parents for a great time!!!
until we meet again... love, kookmaster
phineas birch has been practicing the art of candymaking, candyeating, and chocolatiering since he was .5 years old. his mentor is, i assume, his father of the sudarshan federation, and his mama, lauren. all we know here at the northern central region of the southwest institute for candida enhancement is that it is some of the best confectionry we have ever tasted. It even rivals chocolate gods such as 
my mom finks i bewwy hansom. see my giant patitos.
the surgery was nervewracking and more intense that i expected. the port is under his skin and they told us a needle would need to be inserted (by me!) into the port each time he gets hooked up to the IV. my knees got weak when they told me this. what i had done before (4 years ago when he had this same treatment) was connecting tubes that come out of his skin and using screwtop syringes and tubing with a very sanitary and precise method. the nurse trains you and then you're on your own. that was enough stress to keep me awake at nights. fortunately this nurse assured us that they would be putting a needle in that would stay all week and we just hook him up to the tubing, keep the line clean and patent, program the pump etc, etc. that's what's happening and it's going.... okay. it's a hard adjustment and n feels crummy today taking in so much liquid. they are going to make changes so he isn't so nauseated.
holding down the fort. this weekend i went to my office and abducted all of my unused plastic drawers and teaching tubs, washed them out, made labels and set up a nicely organized medical station in our bedroom for the ease of nurses, parents and myself. i am in awe that all this is going on. it's overwhelming, but full of the grace of Jesus. amazing grace. n is such a MAN.
today was a snow day so i got to stay home. actually i worked a lot here since i missed 2 days last week to help n. we have an excellent nurse who comes once a week to change the dressing, draw labs and check on us. a couple boxloads of medical supplies (including the IV formulas) arrive from coram healthcare weekly via courier. we get vitamin IVs from the doc and do those once a week. it's an intense regime.
