Heigh ho, here we go!

Ready or not,
healthy or not,
we are off for a two week vacation!
First to the land of the four faces -
actually we'll be closer to the land of over 10,000 lakes then the four faces, (think mosquitos!)
Then to the land where the tall corn grows-
actually it'll just be knee high by the 4th of July (in case you were wondering.)

Sherry needs

As I've busily prepared for our trip to the Midwest to visit family, it has struck me how needy I am. E-mails to my mom and mother-in-law listing preparations to do ahead of time and items to buy so their kitchen will be safe for the "gluten-free," along with grocery lists full of specialty food items, to instructions for making their home environment as chemical-free as possible, portray me as, well, need I even say it? Very high maintenance.

I was curious to see if any other Sherry's in this world are as needy as me. Here's what I found with a Google search:

• Sherry needs instruction in phonics. (Poor thing!)

• All four of her children have special needs, which means Sherry needs a lot of time to care for them. (There is always a worse case.)

• The first thing Sherry needs to do is discuss the situation with her boss. (Yeah, every Sherry probably needs reminded of this every now and then.)

• Sherry needs a life... (I'm sure that's what my mom and m-i-l think by now!)

• Sherry needs to have a control group. (The above are sure they're "it.")

• The philosophy of life that was practiced by Shakuntala and Sherry needs to be implemented in all of our schools across every continent. ... (She must think a lot like me!)
  

• Sherry needs Milliken’s cell phone to see who he has called in the last few hours, but Julia is afraid to go into his bedroom. (Oops, I think this is from an episode of 24.)

• I hope y'all don't mind but my friend Sherry needs your help. (Quickly goes to the link to see if this means "you know who.")

In the good 'ol summertime...

Summer has almost arrived.

Here's a bit of what's happening at our house:

1) Adventures in the Family Kitchen - That's the name of a cookbook that I just purchased, along with several others, giving me recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet in which we will soon embark. We were hoping to have started the diet by now, but realized we probably should wait until after we're back from our time with extended family in the Midwest. We do have a part-time cook who started last week, so that should make it a lot easier to stay on the diet. Let the adventures begin!

2) As noted above, we are traveling to the Midwest to see family and friends. We will get in on a family reunion and the 50th wedding anniversary of my in-laws. This is the first time in almost two years that we will be traveling for a reason other then seeing a doctor. We're hoping we can have some FUN!

3) Erin is acting. She currently is a film actress with a role in a movie of a friend that studied filmmaking at UCLA last summer. After we get back from our trip, she'll jump into her stage role of "Lady Jane Grey" in the play, "A Queen's Friend" which will run for six shows in early August.

4) Brady has been asked to stand up for a friend at his wedding the end of July. That will take place in northeast Oregon. Brent and I hope to go along to help celebrate and also to get a peek at that part of the world.

5) We're looking forward to a fun week in July with my niece and two nephews from Utah as their parents take a youth group on a mission trip to an Indian Reservation not far from us. My parents are coming to help us with the kids, as we really wanted the "job," but didn't know if we were quite up to keeping up with the young ones on our own. I think "Aunty Susan" from Seattle will sneak down to help us out for a few days, too.

6) 2007 Trinity Fest - We use to host out-of-staters in our home during this week of learning and celebrating; it'd be great if we could start that tradition again. This year's theme is Histories and Stories from the Older Testament. Live music, theatre (Erin's play included,) workshops, lectures, a Ball, a feast. This is a hometown highlight we share we people from all over the world. Come share the fun!

7) I'm determined to find a time for us to go CAMPING. Especially since I have a cook that can help get all the food prepared in advance.

If we can do all that we have planned we'll know that our health is getting better. We continue to be encouraged by the support and prayers of y'all. We are getting some treatments that we think are helping us move in the direction of improved health and hopefully the diet will be the "icing on the cake" our bodies need, so that our fall plans will look as "normal" as our summer ones do. Thanks for stopping by. Happy Summer!

Bright spots

My husband spotted a snow bunting at our feeder the other morning. I didn't get to see it : ( These are not usually in our area, so it was a rare sighting.
My in-laws (in Iowa)are enjoying watching a pair of Baltimore orioles visit their goldfinch feeder. I'm hoping we'll get to see the orioles in a month when we'll be there. We saw an oriole or two when we lived at our place in Iowa, but never so close up. They are so bright!

On another bright note, one of Brady's images is Picture of the Day over at E-on Software. Go and see!

A promise

"He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint."
Isaiah 40:29-31

Prayers for Brady

So, we were in California last week visiting the chiropractor. Brady and Erin both needed adjustments and I was still holding. (I've held now for one year!)

Brady usually gets relief soon after getting his atlas adjusted. This time he didn't. His neck and head continued to cause him a great deal of pain. Something wasn't right, but we weren't sure what it was. The doctor thought perhaps he'd been out so long that it was taking him longer to get relief. My "mom" instincts knew that wasn't the case.

Thankfully, we had already planned on going directly to our biofeedback person, a couple hours or so from our home, before actually coming back to our hometown after California. We had treatments on Saturday. We found out that Brady has a virus that is causing neck and brain inflammation. Aha!

A virus like this can be very dangerous and so we are keeping a close eye on it with more biofeedback treatments. This morning he finally had a little relief from his intense pain, but this afternoon it's hitting him again. He is even feeling too badly to do his 3-D artwork which has been such a good outlet for him during his illness.

Please pray for God's continued protection for him. We are asking God to be merciful to him and take this virus away.

Triple crown hopes dashed by a nose

Al Behrman, Associated Press

Curlin (left,) the horse I had picked to win the Kentucky Derby, edged out Street Sense at the wire to crush the derby winner's hopes of a Triple Crown. The Preakness Stakes record time was tied. Another great race.