lamowonderland

warning: this post is for indulgent snow and dog lovers... so hopefully you can all be happy!

the weather outside was frightful! not really. it was beautiful. but driving home after work on thursday after sundown on a slippery snow packed and blizzardy freeway was terrifying and i won't be doing that again if i can help it!

apparently the lamo area got about 4 times as much nieve as fanta se. woo hoo! love that country livin'. the plowers wouldn't even come in the hood until sabado. however, it's all melting now with 50 degree days. what a wierd winter.

our garden tools got a little buried!

glad it wasn't trash day.

pacito y yo took an adventurous walk to the mail box. it was supposed to be my last day of work before winter break. what a treat! love getting that "campus closed due to weather and road conditions" text!

the neighborhood looked magical.

paco loooooooves the snow. he eats any snowball you can chuck at him and can track lost tennis balls in over a foot of snow. yes, that's right, folks. he even helped pull me out this embankment after i went in to take this photo and got stuck. he came right back when i cried "help me, paco!" and he let me pull on his harness to get out since my legs were all twisted up in three feet of snow. i pretended he was my hero and felt like i was 9 again. he's a rad dog, wouldn't you say?

it's because of all the brussels sprouts we feed him.

wally was so cold she had to get in the infared sauna. she loooooooves a sauna and cries to go in when it's off and gets ticked if we let her in and it's not on. she a real baby boo bear who knows what she wikes.

here is are the bully bunnies hippity hopping through the snow.

fanks for weading!

progress

gearing up for winter here..just a few weeks or so ago this was the morning routine when N's sternum cracked and he was stuck in bed for weeks on end. i'd rush off to work and our beloved friend and caregiver, maria, would give N his sponge bath in bed. everyday we say, "thank God for Maria!"

for the last month he's been on his feet 2-3 times a day using the walker with assistance getting up (i can get him up on my own now!) and following with O2. however, his tendons are so fragile and the left one is on the verge of tearing so he has to be careful. this week he feels the compensation in taking pressure off his feet causing a spasm in his upper back from bracing the walker. he is bummed and couldn't walk tonight. nothing is easy or dependable in this circumstance except God's faithfulness to provide grace and faith in Jesus, our Savior, whom He sent to heal all pain and sin through a horrible death that ended in coming back to life forever which He also promises to all who believe it! taking this offer has changed my life for good and the hope and peace i have is beyond words.

on this part of the journey, we are thankfully continuing stem cell treatments and n has made some seeming progress. he has gained some weight!!!! this hasn't happened for over a year. and his face glows like nothing i've ever seen. such a handsome lad!!!!!!!! lucky me!!!!! if hollywood found out how good these little cells make you look they'd be on it and they probably are already. thank you again to those who have donated to this cause.

my other handsome boy... POWERMAN!!! thank you, God, for gifts on this earth to comfort us.

MEJOR with age!

vino

queso

los blue jeans

...y Cho!

Happy Birthday to an incredible woman, mother, wife, sister, friend, dog worshipper, gourmande, supershopper etc. etc. etc.!

We would be lost without you!!! Thank you for all of your love, mercy, and sacrifices for us little peanuts.

KISSES FROM JESUS TO YOU!!!!!!!

two steps foward

it pretty much feels like 2 steps forward, 10 steps back around here, but right now we are in a couple of steps of progress. i hope.
steps back: about a month ago hils and maria were getting n up and his sternum "popped". we don't know if cracked or what (as it has done before), but he had to stay in bed for 3 weeks without getting up once. it was reeeaaaally depressing. then when he could finally get up he couldn't walk because his muscles were so weak that his tendons were tearing again (as they have done before... ever since mexico if you recall those days). however, his back is slowly healing so we could at least get him in the wheelchair to get in the bathroom for a spongey.
step forward: now he is actually using his walker while we wheel the O2 (photos in next post).

another step: despite the sternum and foot set backs, we may attribute some progress to the fact that n has been graciously given the gift of getting umbilical stem cell treatments. thanks to some very kind and amazingly generous donations, n has had 2 treatments. results are hard to tell with his issues being so layered, but possible benefits may be: 1. better white & red cell and platelet counts this month 2. gaining a couple of pounds. maria and i were giving him a high speed sponge bath this week before i dashed off to work and she pointed to his shoulder blades and said, "mas carne!/more meat!" she is so cute and she and n have such a special bond.

reality check: it's hard to get hopes up with what we've been through, but all i know is that i'm extremely thankful that we get to try these treatments. n has been wanting to do so for a long time. thank you, Lord, for the sweet people who have provided this chance. we'll keep you all posted. another eventful semi-disaster: pungent smell eminating from our bathroom for months. at first i tried to ignore it-- my usual first strategy for dealing with problems, but it didn't go away. then we had the "mold guy" come out and charge us a buttload of $$$ to tell us we had stachybotris (nefarious black mold) incubating in our dry wall in between the garage and bathroom (we had a couple of leaks in the summer). we are still getting it remediated (having a built-in cupboard and a good portion of the bathroom and garage walls etc. ripped apart so you could see clear through our bedroom to the garage and then cleaned up and repaired for another buttload of $$$). yikes.

meanwhile, it has been musical rooms around here with sleeping arrangements, but n is camping out in his mom's room, and while all the mess was going on i slept on the couch with paco for a little over a week (see above) while flora graciously woke me up after snoring all night with mom and dad who gets up at 3 am to work in his office/bedroom where hils remained sleeping, but now hils and i are back in my room where i actually sleep in my closet with my hito and hils is in our bed which is pretty much n's bed but really also mine (but used to be hil's) and n is still in his mom's room and waiting to move back anyday now until the last of the repairs are cleaned up which are being done by our neighbor dave who is a builder/architect/occasional movie extra who is in and out every morning patching up the dry wall while hils and i are still spaced out and looking embarrassed in our pjs and i forgot to mention that our other neighbor perry is the mold remediator (not the "mold guy"-- that's dan) and he also comes by to check in and he said that he has more work in NM because of all the crapola construction and plumbling which causes muchos problemas in this otherwise arid state. no big surprise given the work ethic here. they actually debated (and spent tax $ i'm sure) to change the state motto to "carpe manana" if that tells you anything. it's been sort of tiring as you can imagine. i can't WAIT until tubbery is back in our room because i really appreciate the space we share and hearing his sweet voice chime in with friendly and funny comments while we're all in the kitchen which is next to our bedroom.did you get all that, kids?another really crappy thing that happened is... nevermind!
just take note that if you dress like above don't expect to have a groovy time on a horseback ride for your birthday. i can't really mention details, but me and the person who had this really bad idea are really sorry and are so thankful to God for taking care of it and ensuring that no one was injured. ya es todo por ahora, amigos.
here's my lad putting up his feet and doing his daily heparin dose. what a trooper, wouldn't you say? thank you, Lord, for your mercy.

dr. bro and wendy

el doctor was in....("a merry heart doeth good like a medicine..." proverbs 17:22) and he cheered us up mightily!the end of my time at home was blessed with two very dear and old friends who came to visit and help. #1 was our other mama, wendy, one of the cutest people i ever knew. she spent a weekend with us. she and hils and jd go waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy back back back to the 60s... whoa dude... and have been through lots together. she and her boys were roomates with my mom and me when i was in high school. she helped me learn how to drive, sanitize the sink after cleaning raw chicken, and much, much more! we had not seen wen since we left CA 3 years back, so it was a very special treat. she was delightful and made our hearts very glad. she gave N a top notch pedicure, a big massage and lots of love. she loved paco, too! johnny was here as well so he wanted me to show wen the town a bit and to give me a day off. we had such a good time! we went to the farmer's mark up (sorry, but $8 for a bunch of arugula?! it costs un brazo y una pierna to shop there! it doesn't have to be that way!), counter culture cafe, and to some of my favorite galleries around the plaza. the mariachis were on stage to host the "king and queen of spain" to set off the local annual fiestas. vivan los conquistadores! this adorable couple was dancing in the rain.

we got to go to see the woodblock prints of one of my favorite southwest artists, gustave baumann (wendy's family name!), at one of my favorite local galleries. his american west scenes are soothing and quiet, and his colors are endlessly satisfying. it was such a relaxing day! thank you , dear wendell! we miss you so! our hearts were revived with your presence.our last guest of summer, was the former mcewan's scottish ale (no longer sold in u.s.!) northwest rep. en route from boston, paris, and denver to lamy. the infamous doctor eye visited his long lost, yet eternal pal on labor day weekend.

day 1: 4.5 hour crossword session, humbolt fog and porter

6 letter word for this activity; first letter is b and the last 4 letters are r-i-n-g. so glad they were on the same page... literally. for hours. sorry, just not my forte!

tim was an incredible servant to nathanael AND to me the ENTIRE weekend.

N used to be taller than tim. we were all a bit disoriented at first to see the height difference as tim always remembered N having an inch on him. n has gone from 5'11" to 5'7" due to his osteoperosis.

tim did about five million thousand dishes and tons of other chores while also helping his best friend ALL day as we prepared for the arrival of my in-laws and flora with lots of regular and special cooking. he now knows how to peel roasted poblanos and grate cheese in the cuisinart! i have to say that he will have the record for most chores done by a visitor in one day... and that is no small contest! i don't even think he knows what happened (the lunchtime beers helped:), but if he wasn't around i would have imploded.

i have not seen n so happy and so carefree for a long time. really carefree! geesh, tubbery. at times i felt i was in the boy's locker room, but it was all medical. there is a special bond between these two that is a gift from God. we sent the lad on his merry way, because as you can see below he has his hands full. thanks for lending us the devastating man, abbs. he is going to make an unbelievable dad!

here's to the new lad or lassie--paco's new playmate!

thank you wendy and tim for ministering to our needs and hearts in this most challenging season of life. you guys are both a kiss from Jesus!

host of helpers

august has been challenging, but sprinkled with some special visits and helpers. first of all, i got to see my mama's mama, gramma bamma, for the first time in over 2 years. she was born just over those hills in the distance. she visited her tia in her home town of mora, and then made a special trip to santa fe to see us. she and her amazing husband marty and my wonderful aunt (well... my mom's cousin, but i call her an auntie) jennifer came to our house one day and we met in town for dinner the next day. they doted on N, or natty, as bamma calls him:):):) and brought calabasitas and peas from our relatives gardens in mora...
fee bird was also here at the time since her dad had to return to california to do much needed work. she was AWESOME and adorable and made great progress with N. see... no oxygen and she got him outside and he was only holding one hand. we were so excited. she would make N laugh a lot and he would have to say: "i'm not listening, i'm not listening" so as to prevent any cracking up. she's the best! fee was very disheartened to hear that the saturday she left, N had a huge setback while her dad was taking her to the airport. after his sponge bath, he literally clung onto me for 20 minutes in a severe spasm that left him panting over my shoulder and completely locked up. thankfully maria showed up and she, hils and i got him painfully back into bed. he stayed there until tuesday afternoon. our best friend, meag had flown in sunday night to help while johnny took hils and flora to california to her dad's cabin for a much-needed vacation (to say the least!!!). we were so grateful to get him up and down safely. meag did amazing and was a refreshing breath of air and reminder of our beloved tacoma. it was sad to see her go and was a mini-vacation for me since she did ALL the dishes all day, was a calming presence to talk to, and helped so intensely and kindly with N and me. thank you, supermeago! we love you!!!!!

thank you, EVERYONE, who is helping in heart and in person. i know so many want to do something or say something to help, and every bit of love goes a longer way than you know. it means so much to me just to know people are reading this and are praying and caring more than i can see. thank you.

i will keep you posted.

the home hospital

it's been over 1 month now since nathanael has been bed-ridden. it's like nothing we've ever experienced and it has taken full time care to a whole new level. i'm not sure what it means with his degenerative condition so it's pretty daunting to think about the future.

his dad continues to be the only one who can get him up. sometimes it works, sometimes he has a spasm and has to go back down. there is little progress so i'm pretty freaked out. his max time for being up is anywhere from 5-30 minutes. we can bust out a sponge bath pretty quickly now. it helps that i am on a 5 week leave of absence from work now... i never mentioned that i switched jobs again to a 12 month position as a literacy coordinator at the community college. it's one position with a pay raise, and not 2 jobs--although i've been doing about 5 people's jobs all winter and spring since we've had a lot of turnover. it's been wacky, but i'm thankful for the employment and nice people to work with. it has been one of the most difficult times of our lives and i'm just trying not to be anxious about going back to work and balancing it all. it has pushed me to my limit. it feels like we're living in a hospital and being on call all the time. sometimes i can't even eat dinner or i eat breakfast at 2 pm, like today. i feel so badly for everyone... especially N because it makes it hard to spend any quality time together since every interaction now is a call for help. we are all worn THIN!!!

paco is the only one who still wakes up feeling groovy everyday and cheers us up with his puppy love and carefree ways. here is N in late may when he took a rare walk to the steps outside. it's very hard to believe we are at this point and i can only hope it will get better. N does have severe osteoperosis so i'm not sure if this is symptomatic of that--that's what i'm afraid of. we still can't get him in a vehicle to get the MRI and if it is a compression fracture as the doctor and PT suspect all he can do is what he's doing anyhow. i don't know how this happened or what it means.

watching the sunset over lamy together.

thank you, God, for my wonderful husband who loves me so much in the midst of such pain and for my hito pacito and for so much grace for each hard day.