peace joy and love...love love love

it has been weeks since we last posted. to be honest we have been enjoying not having much to post.  this blog served a great purpose in the intensity of the spring and summer, updating people about ginny's illness and our coping household. ginny's cancer is still hibernating.  she feels good and i have to say she is looking great and her energy is increasing.  i am smitten with her new soft curly hair...adorable.

we have had a wonderful fall, with the energy and excitement of renovating and now the pleasure in living in a finished space.  christmas is on its way and we are have already hosted 2 christmas parties in the new space. it holds up well.  at one point had over 60 people standing and sitting in our living room/dining room/kitchen.

ginny and i will be spending our first christmas together...i know that that must seem strange...but the call of jayme & dustin (our niece and nephew) has taken me to british columbia the past two years...they still call, but will wait until after christmas to see auntie kirsten...

to celebrate our first christmas spent together, we bought a tree...a big one...and we have hung up our stockings (gotta have stockings).  ginny's brother dan will be with us and her sweet mother too.

and our Minnesota winter has arrived...

we spent much of this morning digging out...first BIG storm of the year left us with much to move...lots of snow...but beautiful...so beautiful (that is the canadian in me i think)... and we took advantage of the bright sun and snow and took a few pics...

 i am a big kid...

peace...joy...and BIG love....
ginny and kir

take a peek

well the renovating is over.... here is the living room and dining room...pics of the new bedroom to come...

p.s.  we are well...ginny is feeling good...really good! :)
kir & gin

good news....good good news...

good news today...ginny's cancer is behaving and it is contained in her abdomen...it is quietly sleeping...no cancer in her lungs...we are celebrating!

here is my beautiful ginny...

p.s. house renovating almost done...will have pics and an update soon!

renovation is happening...full speed ahead...friends scott and brad helped out and the walls are up...

framing for the new closet for the master bedroom

hanging rock!

new entrance into the closet

the wood stove was once here...now the shell of our new entertainment built-in...

the new wall in the living room...the closet is on the other side...








next week the mudding and taping pro will do his thing...then we will prep the floors...the second week of october the painter will arrive and then in late october the floors go in and the new furniture arrives...woo hoo!

renovation renovation renovation

we started ripping apart our house...the plans are ambitious...but we are well on our way...

















reno began with the bathroom...we love it

the next project (living/bedroom) started with taking out the closet between the living room and our bed room....

then the wood stove came out...

the flooring was next...

the new flooring is waiting for the new construction and painting to be done...

we purchased new furniture this past weekend...we are anticipating the finished product...

we will post again once the walls are up....woo hoo

breathing easier

well we met with dr. peethambaram and ALL of ginny's fungal and bacterial tests have come back negative...confirming dr. p's first response to the "spots" in the lungs...it is simply inflammation caused by the 6 rounds of chemo and is not an infection...so ginny has been taking steroids for the past two weeks...at her check up this week her lung x-rays are showing improvement...ginny is coughing less... september 20th we go again for a CT scan...to check on the lungs and also to take a look at the original cancer sites and make sure that they are behaving...ginny feels good and is looking great...

to change the subject completely...i started teaching at riverland community college this week...I AM LOVING IT!  it feels really great to be there...in 1996 i decided that i wanted to teach at the college level and after 8 years of college and an additional 6 years of waiting after getting my master's degree...here i am...i am so glad that i am liking it...it would stink if i didn't given the time waiting....

i am teaching introduction to sociology, cultural diversity and sexuality and relationships...i have to say that my favorite class is Sexuality and Relationships...so much fun!
kirsten

goose down

my beautiful ginny...

no mushrooms growing

today was a mayo day...some news to report...

1) ALL of the biopsies and tests done on ginny's lungs are negative...ALL of them.  the conclusion?  the stuff in ginny's lungs is not really stuff (infection) but a bi product/side effect of the chemo that she received...her chest x-ray today shows that the inflammation in getting worse and so she will begin steroid treatment to control the inflammation which will also treat the coughing.  It is a short regiment of steroids...it will be quite aggressive for two weeks...then another chest x-ray and then if things are getting better they will begin to reduce the dosage...ginny is quite concerned about the side effects with the steroids...she will also be taking an antibiotic to insure she does not get sick while being treated with the steroids...pills pills pills

2) she will continue to take megase to treat the original cancer.  in 5-6 weeks there will be another CT scan to assess the cancer.

3) we asked about travel (we are planning to visit friends overseas this year)...we have been advised to wait and not plan yet...the oncologist wants to get the lung "issues" under control and would like us to wait until after the next CT scan before making plans...still many unknowns ahead...a little sobering...a reminder of the nature of the disease...

ginny looks good...she is eating well...and her hair is growing back...she realized today, as we waiting in the mayo waiting room, that her eye lashes had grown back...we will get photos taken and get them posted...

i am busy with the end of summer...prep for high school programs...prep for teaching 3 college classes this fall...work with the Welcome Center (it is a very part time contracted gig that i took on)...and rehearsal every night...i am indeed nuts...i am performing in the Riverland Community College 13th Annual Alumni Show "A Little Night Music"...i have done several alumni shows over the years...anyway...the show opens in a week and we are deep into an insane rehearsal schedule...the show ends the 21st and college classes start the 23rd...never a dull moment!

kirsten

defy gravity

this past weekend was our local relay for life event...ginny and i were captains for a team...great friends joined the effort...it was so good to be able to participate and to raise cash for cancer research...

here are a few of the photos from the evening!

what a motley crew...

we raised $9222...that put us in 3rd place...not bad for our first year :)

the team name came from the show WICKED...i feel like ginny has defied gravity this year....

so good to be celebrating with ginny...

thank you to all of those who donated to the team...and thanks to our girls... kate... jess... melissa... kelley... andrea... emily... janet... penny & amy

ginny update

we have had several update requests...i am sorry for the lapse in info...there just has not been anything to share.  we are still waiting to hear the "culture" results for ginny's lung infection. we go to Mayo on monday to meet with dr. peethambaram to hear the results and find out about the treatment plan for the infection.  we are looking forward to this as the infection has gone untreated for the past 4 weeks...we will also be inquiring about the cancer treatment (the shrinking tumors in her abdomen and colon) and the plan there as well.  we will have an update on monday evening!

beautiful british columbia 2010

after spending a few days with erika and chris working on the painting projects...we packed our bags and made our way into the interior of british columbia.  erika's in-laws, ken and helen, have a beautiful home in the heart of the province.  a great place to spend summer days.

off to the lake...ginny and jayme in the boat...ken and helen's home in the background

snorkles and more...dustin is ready for the lake

miss jayme and her grandma helen

water time...go papa go!

woo hoo....faster papa...faster!

sisters are we...

sisters are they...

we left the boat and took a trip up to margaret falls...a favorite spot...

  

jayme playing in the pool at the base of the falls

bring it on...

a little water time

ginny jumps on board the kir water taxi...a dry ride from the shore to the boat...



thanks to ken and helen for the invitation to visit and their incredible hospitality...i love my family...i surely do!