It's official. Jeremy and I have closed on our property on the Chowan. We are excited, but we have a long way to go before we can call it home. The first project is to slope the cliff that we are sitting on. The lot is about 60 feet above the water, but CAMA is allowing us to terrace the cliff. Hopefully, we can get that done before they change their minds. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys their weekend...3-day weekend for some? The banks are closed Monday for MLK.

Ed's Progress

Two weeks down and four to go. This week has been okay but Ed is definitely feeling the effects of the treatments. He hasn't been sick but has started feeling more tired than usual. He's been working all week on the same schedule as last week. We go back to Chapel Hill on Tuesday for a follow-up visit. Thanks for all your prayers.

I've still been able to go to my linedance class even though I feel a little guilty doing it, but I think Ed wants me to go and I know that it's good for me.

Greetings

Everything's cool in Edenton, except the weather. We've been having warmer than usual days the last two weeks - Temps in the 70s. Like everyone else, I've been trying to get back into the swing of things since Christmas. Amber had her first church league basketball game last Saturday. Even though she wasn't the star player, no one had a better time that she did. Just hanging out with your peers makes most anything fun. She surprised me how well she kept up with what was going on since they've only had 2 practices. She did shoot once at the opponent's goal, which made us all cringe. At our church, we only have 1/2 of a gym with one goal to practice which confuses beginners. Her league ages is Kindergarten - 2nd grade - so you know that it's amusing! Refs don't blow the whistles too often.

Enjoying seeing a movie called Cold Mountain. Chick flick with a civil war theme. It's very good and comical also. Check it out, but not for children. It's on Stars channels in January.

Read a good point in my S/S lesson for the 7th and 8th grade class last week. It goes something like this. "What the eyes see, leaves a picture on the heart. Whether the picture is good or bad, there's a chance that your hands and feet will act it out in the future. So I guess the children's song that we sang, "Oh be careful little eyes what you see" is still meaningful for even us old folks.

Happy New Year to all! Aunt B.

Ed's progress

Well, one week down and 5 more to go. Very few side effects, basically the week went pretty well. They started the chemo pump on Monday and Ed had his first radiation on Monday. The pump has been going 24 hours except for a couple of times when I guess the cord got kinked. When that happens, the pump starts beeping to let you know to straighten it out and start again. After supper on Tuesday night, Ed and I were sitting at the table when I noticed blood on his shirt in the area of the port. It was fairly dry but there was a rather large area on his t-shirt. Because the blood had dried, we really couldn't tell where it had come from so off to the emergency room we went to have it checked out. They changed the bandage and said everything looked okay, was probably just where the needle was working in the port and Ed's activities had caused it to bleed. Ed wasn't interested in going back to the chemo doctor on Wednesday to get it checked out as the hospital suggested so they will probably fuss at him today when he goes back to get his second bag of chemicals. Then on Friday he hit the area with a piece of steel and it started bleeding again but not as much. He has continued to work all week, taking out at 11:15 for his radiation treatment and then coming back after lunch at 1:00. So far it's worked out well.

Cathy and Jeremy came by on Saturday night after a family Christmas gathering at Jeremy's grandmother's in Hillsborough. During the night Jeremy started with vomiting and diarrhea. He was better on Sunday but had some temperature and felt pretty drained but was able to keep chicken noodle soup down. Hopefully no one else will be affected. So far, so good at our house--don't know about Cathy.
They are in the process of buying a lot on the Chowan River close to Colerain Beach. Everything was going well until Friday when they found out that there is a lien on the property, not on the people they are buying from but on the original developers, they think. They haven't had time to check it out yet but should know more soon. Hopefully it can be cleared up and they can go forward as planned. Maple is doing well in her new home and Millie, according to Cathy, says, "Dog, what dog? I don't remember any dog. Scratch my belly."

Daddy said that Bertha was having some abdominal pain on Sunday morning. Asking about how it felt when he had appendicitis. Hopefully it has cleared up.