I Found my Blog...

...amidst the new sea of boxes here in Virginia.

Here is the blog post that I started on day 2 of our journey north from Florida.  As you can see, I didn't get very far.
You see, I was driving a vehicle for 3 days straight.  And in my vehicle were 3 children.  Lots of snacks.  Some luggage.  Lots of books and toys and stuffed animals.  And a golden retriever who mostly watched Florida disappear out the back window but occasionally faced forward and drooled on Lilly.  There wasn't much time for blogging. 

My eyes were focused squarely on the lovely red Chevy Avalanche in front of me loaded with precious cargo that we didn't want to entrust to the packers:  The "good" bikes.  The computer.  The TV.  And my amazing man. 

 
Then we arrived to our destination.  Our lovely new home in Oak Hill, VA. 

Physically, it felt good to get out of the car and stretch.  Emotionally, we were each mourning losses from what we'd left behind, but also eagerly and, perhaps, somewhat anxiously anticipating what might lie ahead in this new place.  And mostly, we were tired.  But we had only just begun to move.

Less than 12 hours after setting foot in our new, empty, lovely house, the BIG TRUCK that had taken away all the boxes and furniture just 3 days prior showed up with a team of great guys to unload and fill up this new house. 

Boxes surrounded us yet again.

That was nearly 2 weeks ago.  And I'm not sure what happened to all the days in between then and today, except that we've been unpacking.  And registering at new schools.  And researching new swim teams.  And driving the marching band carpool (thank GOD for carpools...and new friends for Jared right off the bat here.)  And playing with new friends on our street.  And swimming in the community pool that we can walk to (but don't have to clean and balance chemicals as we did in Florida!!).  And shopping for all those things we need for the house as we set up and spending hundreds of dollars to attempt to restock the pantry to a functional level. 

Let's see, what else have we been doing?

• Rejoicing at getting our I-797 approval from the US Department of Homeland Security so we are nearly ready to send our dossier to China for Isabel. 
• Continuing to give Lilly 3 doses a day of potent antibiotics to hold off her infection until we can see Dr. Campbell in Philly. 
• Awaiting assignemnt of a primary care provider so we can get a referral for an ENT specialist for Anna to get a hearing aid for her left ear.  

Moving is most definitely like giving birth--you forget the pain until you're in the midst of it again.  So here we are...reminding ourselves that it usually takes us 6-12 months to truly feel at home and settled, both in the house and in a new community.

Until then, I am trying to be at peace with the chaos. 


     

Cantilinas on the Move

Started on Saturday, July 30th:

PCSing is like giving birth: you forget the pain until you're in the midst of it again.

We are sitting in our pet-friendly hotel room in Wytheville, VA as I type. This past week has been such a flurry of PCS chaos and emotion, my mind and spirit were all a-jumble as we left Niceville last evening. I have since had a lot of time to reflect and think, having put roughly 450 miles behind us in the past 24 hours.

The pack-out began last Friday, with packers in my home Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. We spent the intervening weekend pulling all the original boxes out of the garage attic and getting everything ready for the packers. As more and more of our household goods disappeared into boxes, both Lilly and Tad the golden retriever grew more anxious...

Blogging in a Sea of Boxes

Yes, folks, we are on day 3 of our pack out.  This move is really happening.  Our computer is set up on a borrowed folding table, I have suitcases strewn behind me on the floor, my kitchen has officially been closed roughly 24 hours, the dog has taken to sticking to my side as he watches strangers put things into boxes.  Lilly is trying to wrap her mind around this whole experience...thankfully her antibiotics are keeping fevers at bay and she is physically feeling well again.  She is having major separation anxiety issues, not helped by the fact that I have lined up play dates every day to get her out of the house while packing continues.  The older kids have been enjoying WAY more sleepovers than we ever let them do...soaking up every minute with FL friends before a new chapter begins.

In about an hour, the settlement on our new home will be completed, and we will be homeowners in both Florida and Virigina.  Scary thought.

Our tenants are here in Florida, awaiting our departure so they can move out of the TLF on Eglin and get into their new home.  We had them here for dinner and they are a wonderful family.  We are blessed with peace of mind leaving our house in their hands.

Tom's replacement at the hospital is here, waiting for the change of command on Friday...spending these last few days securing a boat for all the water recreation his family plans to enjoy in this place.

Tom and I find ourselves bouncing from one task to another...slowly and steadily ticking all the items off of our to-do lists. 


We are saying our goodbyes to dear friends...I am having a hard time leaving behind some of the wonderful relationships we've built here. Thankfully, facebook and e-mail and blogging make it easy to keep in touch. But there is no replacement for sharing a meal, a playdate, or some prayer time in person with another.

Isabel is blissfully unaware of the chaos in what will soon be her forever family. We recently learned she is living with a foster family, with an older brother and another child from the orphanage. We got some updated photos, which was a wonderful surprise in my e-mail inbox last weekend. Our last piece of paper needed for our dossier to go to China was supposed to be here before the move...it is looking like it might be slightly delayed and our tenants have agreed to continue to receive our mail here so that it can be overnighted to us in VA and we can press on toward Isabel.

As we begin our new adventure, I know God has new friends, new church family, new ministry opportunities, and new experiences for us to enjoy and learn from.  Hared will hit the ground running with band camp starting at his new high school the day after we arrive in VA.  A week from today, I will be driving the band camp carpool with folks I have only met through e-mail so far...life rolls on!

Summertime Life: Somewhat Normal for Now

But really, who's to say what's "normal"?  Summer vacation never really seems to "normalize" for me--I love my kids and I love the fun things that summer brings (pool time, 4th of July, outdoor concerts, beach days, water parks, watermelon).  But I never really feel like we are "settled" into any semblance of a routine, which makes me feel a little undone.  Yes, Amy, it's called "Summer VACATION."  Vacation means we are vacating that which is normal, right?  So I'm trying to get over it.  Get over the continually messy house (people live here, OK?), get over the constant grazing in the kitchen, get over the never-ending pile of soggy pool towels needing laundering, get over my summer hairstyle that never really varies from the basic ponytail--unless you count "wet ponytail" as another style. 

We are on the fringes of massive life changes.  We will be--Lord willing--closing on our new home in VA on 19 July.  Packing starts on the 25th (possibly as early as the 22nd).  When the packers are done, I will need to do a thorough scrubbing of the house so that it's completely ready for our new tenants.  Tom's change of command is on the 29th, and we will basically change our clothes after the ceremony, climb into our vehicles, and set the GPS for north.  Our fingerprints for the adoption are taken, and we are awaiting that final piece of paper (immigration approval) so that we can get our dossier through the final authentication stages through critical review at our agency, and sent on to China (hopefully--again Lord willing--before we hit the road).  We're coming, Isabel, really we are!   

Every day I try to stay focused on the to-do lists, but I am easily distracted.  The reality is that I want life to seem "normal" right now, since our past few months have been anything but that.  And yet (as I mentioned above) I am unable to conjure up "normal."  Each day brings new adventures, final appointments...laundry...final music lessons, writing farewell notes to friends I'll miss dearly...laundry... mentally making lists of things to pack in our vehicles for the drive, setting out on the dinner adventure each afternoon (emptying out the freezers and pantry before the packers come--what can I make with a can of tuna, a jar of tomato sauce, and some dried Chinese mushrooms...hmmmmmm....)...oh, and did I mention laundry?

So I'll just roll with it.  We are definitely living the "normal" Air Force pre-PCS life.  And that is most definitely an adventure that constantly reminds me that our sovereign God is even bigger than the US Air Force. 

Happy Summer to you!

The Time Warp Week: The Back Story and the Nitty Gritty

So, last week, doing normal life at home after our crazy previous three weeks, I noticed that Lilly was starting to act a little whiney and clingy. Didn't think much of it...we all have good days and bad days, and she just seemed to be a little off. I attributed it to just the irregularity of a summer schedule, and a week that was particularly heavy on doctor's and dentist appointments for several of the kids. Lots of time running around, doing things that aren't necessarily fun. I also, of course, felt some mama guilt over the amount of time I seem to spend lately making phone calls, answering e-mails, scanning documents, etc. for the wide array of things we have going on (see previous post...)

One of those medical appointments happened to be some booster shots that Lilly was due to receive. Those happened on Tuesday. Tuesday night, Lilly had low grade fevers. We figured it was the MMRV vaccine, gave her tylenol, moved on.

Wednesday, we did some fun things--library, Niceville splash park--in addition to the running around, and she was mostly ok. No more low grade fevers, just a little clingier than usual.

Thursday, we went to her usual Thursday morning OT appointment on the other side of town. She was acting much more clingy than usual, and was quite noncompliant during our session, which was cut short because we had to go straight to her dental appointment. Lilly's anxiety at the dentist (where one might think they were pulling her teeth out one by one without novacaine should one hear her wails from the waiting room) is almost equal to her anxiety about needles. While at the dentist, I noticed that one of her surgical incision sites (still under steri strips) was looking a little funky.

Friday was a pretty fun day to play with friends and have a family date night at the beach (it was Daddy's pick). By late Friday afternoon, it was clear she was coming down with something, choosing to simply sit in my lap at the beach and at dinner, rather than playing in the sand or playing in the fountains as Destin Commons with Jared and Anna.

That night is when the high fevers began. Friday night--103.8. Yikes.

Saturday Anna had a swim meet at which I was signed up as a timer. Tom stayed behind, got Jared to drop off for a week at Boy Scout Camp in Tennessee, and nursed Lilly through the day of fevers up and down. We figured surely the fevers would be over later that evening. Not so. continued high fevers through the night...102-103-ish. Even as high as 104 at one point.

Sunday, ANna and I were back to the meet, Tom again playing nurse to our feverish one. He had decided if her fevers continued to spike so high, he would take her to be seen at the ER. We were starting to be concerned it wasn't just immunizations, and it wasn't just something viral since there were no other symptoms of viral illness and the fevers were just so high and lasting over the course of so many days. Knowing on of the possible complications of the VEPTR is post op infection, Tom decided to wait no longer and take her in.

And so began our time warp week.

She was a very sick little girl. Initial blood work showed a white call count more than 3x the normal level. The ER folks immediately got a pediatrician and orthopedic surgeon involved in her case, arranged transport by ambulance to the local off-base hospital for MRI. So, as Anna and I were leaving the meet after our second long hot day in the sun swimming (Anna) and timing swimmers (me), Tom texted me to tell me he was with Lilly in the ER, awaiting an MRI to get a look at her hardware to make sure there were no visible pockets of infection around the rods--a possible complication of her surgeries.

Anna and I met them just in time for me to sit with her and hold her ankle (her hand was too far up into the tube for me to reach) for a 1 hour and 45 minute MRI session--her first ever without sedation. She did really well. I was stinky from sweating in the sun all day, and was freezing in my light weight clothes that had served me well in the hot summer Florida sun.

Sitting there by her side for that long stretch gave me the first of what would be many opportunities to pray fervently for my child and to reflect on God's character, as I envisioned possible emergency air ambulance transport to Philly and yet another major surgery on her tiny body.

Making what could be a really long story much shorter, here is a snapshot of the week from there:

Sunday: MRI at Fort Walton Beach medical center, admitted by midnight to Eglin AFB hospital for IV antibiotics. Her white blood cell counts were up to 30,000. Yikes.

Monday: more blood work to look at white coounts and other markers for infection; consultation with Dr. Brothers, Eglin's orthopedic surgeon, who also consulted with Dr. Campbell at CHOP. They agreed that Dr. Brothers should go ahead and--with sedation--clean out Lilly's incisions, re-dress them, and culture them to check for infection. Results: basic staph, which is pretty much everywhere on our skin and not a cause for enormous concern. No sign of anything deep in the tissue; incisions healing nicely.

Tuesday: more blood work. Lilly is a tough needle stick--tiny little veins, big huge loud lungs. Not a pleasant experience for anyone involved (especially at 5am), least of all Lilly. Anyone in military uniform or scrubs was quickly becoming "the enemy" and I feared I would soon be considered "one of them" because of my role as the one who had to hold her down and convince her that everything they were doing to her was for her good.

They decided to tag some of her white blood cells with radioactive isotopes which, when re-injected into her bloodstream, might give them some clues as to where the source of the infection might be. Because we knew she had much blood work in her near future, they decided to insert a PICC line, allowing them vascular access without continued fishing for veins with sharp needles. Nothing by mouth was ordered starting Tuesday night. The PICC line would be inserted tomorrow at Fort Walton Beach.

Wednesday: Ambulance transport arranged, yet again, to FWB Hospital, then a long wait in their facility as they determined whether they had the right equipment in the right sizes to insert a PICC line. A long day of fasting for both of us. Finally determined they could proceed; I again felt like such the bad guy as Lilly angrily fought the administration of the versed (meant to make her calm and a little loopy--in reality it only lowered her decibels a few notches as she screamed "No! I'm not brave yet! I'm not brave yet! Don't let them mama, I'm not brave yet!" :( ) My heart was breaking for her. Sedation--by injection into her leg--followed, and--at my insistence--I stayed in the room for the procedure. Painful to watch, it took easily 4 times longer than they thought it would. Lilly's sedatives were beginning to wear off by the end, and she looked at me with pleading eyes that said "get me out of this place." We thought the worst was now over and no more needle sticks would greatly reduce Lilly's trauma in this ordeal.

We weren't done yet.

Thursday: One of Lilly's surgical incision sites looked MUCH worse this morning. Dr. Brothers cultured it superficially, and scheduled her for OR time later in the day to For the second day in a row, NPO (nothing by mouth) was ordered so they could sedate her later in the day to actually open up a few of her incisions and probe more deeply around her hardware for any deeper pockets of infection. This was the day they had also planned to re-inject her white cells (drawn successfully through the PICC line early that morning) into her bloodstream. The problem: by the time the white cells were back from Pensacola where they had been "tagged," the PICC line had clotted off. It was no longer a viable vascular access point to administer meds or to re-inject the white blood cells. The OR time that had originally been planned to simply open incisions now also turned into a race against the clock (so the blood cells wouldn't expire) to get 2 IVs inserted, white cells injected, next dose of antibiotics administered.

Friday: finally a day without anything too scary. Simply watching the make sure fevers didn't return and continuing on IV antibiotics.

Saturday: cultures from Thursdays' procedure came back showing simple Staph infection, showing sensitivity to a wide array of antibiotics. Plan made for discharge Sunday (that would be today). Lillly awakened this morning saying "Today is an esasy day" and knowing that she would soon go home too gher "comfy bed." By noon, we were receiving dis hare instruction9s and receiving her oral antibiotic to cointinue at home for the next 4 weeks. \

It was a wonderful birthday -resent foor Anna to have her sister home--and it felt jhust SO good to be in our house (even with it as messy as it is) and be in my kitchen and simply be all together (Jared made it back from Scout camp too)...

But we weren't done yet.

Roughly 6 hours later, we were on our way back to the hospital. This afternoon, Lilly started acting like she didn't feel good and she wanted to just chill out in front of the TV. I gave her her next dose of antibiotics and took her temp. I can almost kick myself for doing that. 101.4. Didn't want to believe the thermometer was right, so I took my own temp. 98.6. Tom didn't want to believe it either so he tried a different thermometer. 101.8, his own temp with the second thermometer was 98.4.

I took the dog for a walk because I didn't want to think about what I knew was coming. Tom, meanwhile, called the doc who has been working with us at Eglin. When I got home and saw his face, I knew we were packing back up and headed back in. The birthday cake I had in the oven for Anna had 4 minutes left to bake. We let it finish, let it cool a bit while we packed back up (my clothes were all still dirty from last week...I scraped the bottom of the drawer to find something to wear tomorrow) packed up the lovely dinner that a friend of our friend Tiffani had prepared for us and headed back. I asked Tom if we couldn't just enjoy one night i our own beds, but knowing that the oral antibiotics were not keeping the infection at bay, he knew we couldn't afford to let her miss any more doses of the IV meeds.

Before we could enjoy Anna's birthday dinner together at the hospital, therefore, Lilly had to endure 3 more needle pokes in the attempts to draw blood for lab work and insert a new IV. Her poor arms are scabbed and bruised from all that she has been through. My heart is literally breaking for her.

At the same time, I know folks are praying, and God is graciously giving me His peace and His Holy Spirit to remind me of His presence. I know all things work together for our good and His glory, and am patiently awaiting His leading. Praying that He gets the glory in this situation, in our hearts, in our attitudes and in our love for others.


I am feeling blessed indeed, by visits from friends, meals prepared and delivered (even by some folks I don't even know.) Neighbors are helping with Tad and the yard work, and taking care of Anna and Jared.

Words cannot even begin to describe my emotions about all of this...another post will have to address those...

What a Week.

If you are a follower of this blog, then you know that my last post was written in the throes of Lilly's first VEPTR expansion in Philly. And I think I left you hanging just before Tom and I began our whirlwind househunting weekend while Lilly recovered from surgery with family in New Jersey and Jared and Anna spent the first few days of their summer vacation with friends in Florida. That's where my blog updates abruptly ended.

And, as you may have noticed, it has been awhile since I have blogged anything. This is not because there is nothing to share, nothing happening in our lives. Not because we dropped off the face of the earth. Not because I want to keep my loyal readers in the dark. Oh no. That is not why. Mainly it's because I'm lazy. Yes. Oh, and maybe because Facebook is a shorter and sweeter way to shoot out quick updates. But even my Facebook page was a little quiet until this past week.

I guess the main reason(s) I have not been blogging is this: We are getting a house ready to rent. And have been searching for tenants. And buying a house in another state. ANd preparing to move in roughly 7 weeks. And adopting a 4th child on the fast track. And doing "normal life" with 3 active kids, now on summer vacation. And dealing with some medical issues for Anna (hearing loss in the left ear). And, this week at least, entering a total time warp and unexpectedly spending a week in a hospital room with Lilly and her mystery illness involving high fevers and infection of unknown origin.

OK, so that's why. I know, a sorry excuse to neglect the blog. My apologies.

Oh, one more reason not to blog from the confines of this hospital room--I had no internet access. That is a truly VALID excuse, don't you think? My rockstar husband, however, who happens to work in this hospital, managed to have the computer folks here extend the WiFi to our floor, so now I have internet access on my iPad (my mother's day gift from my awesome man.)

So I am now without excuse, sort of.

Since there is WAY too much to give you great detail on each of the things we are currently up to, let me just give you a quick update on each:

The VEPTR Expansion: it went well, she grew another inch, and her recovery in NJ with loving grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and friends (and without Mama and Daddy nearby) went really well. Big kudos to Auntie Em for her amazing ability to juggle multiple children of multiple ages and keep Lilly happily distracted and greatly entertained.

The Move: Our house hunting weekend was ultimately successful. It was a whirlwind that started on a Friday when I left Lilly in NJ, drove to Philly to pick up Tom, headed to Northern VA (through old stomping grounds in suburban Maryland that were strangely familiar yet also oddly different in many ways after 10 years), and stopped briefly at the Tomatz' house (friends who moved to N VA from FL last summer)where we dropped off our suitcases and hopped into our realtor's car. For the next 36 hours, we drove all around the Vienna, Fairfax, Herndon/Reston areas of VA and walked through easily 20+ houses, some gorgeous, some not, some convenient, some not. Took lots of notes and looked at lots of photos online. In the evenings we enjoyed great food with the Tomtatz' and turned their living room into our command central, commandeering their computer and printer for our hunt. Our realtor was wonderful--let us know if you need a recommendation for a good one in the DC area--and made extremely efficient use of our limited time. The bottom line: on our 3rd day of looking, we put a bid on our first choice house, waited a few days for a reply, then--when learning our bid was not accepted on house #1, put a bid on our second choice house, around the corner in the same great neighborhood as the first one. Things are now rolling along on that front--inspection completed, awaiting appraisal, and we should be closing by 22 July.

Renting the House: Our initial tenants had to back out of renting it as he got a job elsewhere in FL, so, momentarily panicked, we rapidly put the word out and created an ad on militarybyowner.com. Within 12 hours of our initial panic, we already had a [phone call from a military family in Japan who were eager to send us a security deposit and sign a lease asap. They are excited about the house and the neighborhood, and we are excited to have a military family that is interested in renting for at least 2 years. Praise God!

Anna's Hearing: Anna starting complaining a few months ago that she couldn't hear well out of her left ear. This coincided with the onset of another viral illness, so I attributed the hearing issues to the virus and assumed it would clear up with time. Several months later, however, the issues persist, and she complains of hearing static, "morse code," and strange noises rather than voices or actual sounds in that ear. We had a hearing test administered,and have a followup hearing test scheduled for Monday. We will follow up with ENT and possibly some radiology studies top see what is happening with her...

And, finally, Lilly's surprise hospitalization and a week in a time warp. Which is another post of its own that will have to wait until another time to draft.


PS--but I am still lazy.

Philly Logistics a Little Rough This Time

This will not be a long post, but wanted to fill you in on our first day in Philadelphia, and specific prayer requests for the next several days:

Sunday:

• We arrived safely yesterday after mostly uneventful flights. Lilly snoozed during the second leg of the trip, and was pleasant during the entire trip.  We got word just before our connecting flight departed that the Ronald McDonald House was full for the night, and that the staff there would attempt to secure a room for us at the Omni Hotel in downtown Philadelphia at special rates for us.  I would find out once we hit the ground in Philadelphia whether that worked out.  

•  Once we landed, I had a voicemail confirming that we could stay at the Omni.  Although it is technically located on the same street as the RMcDH, it is located in the heart of Philadelphia's historic district (2 blocks from the Liberty Bell), roughly 4 miles from the RMcDH, and 3 miles from CHOP.  There was a possibility that a room would open up at the RMcDH for Monday night, so we could only stay at the Omni for one night at that rate.  If no room opened up at RMcDH, we would have to re-book at the Omni to get the same rate again. 

• So, we made the most of our lovely location last night, heading out to see some sites and find some dinner.  The historical sites were all closed since it was Sunday evening, but we were able to see the Liberty Bell through the glass, and I splurged on a "budget" (20-minute) horse-drawn carriage ride around the historic district for Lilly and me.  Lilly was mainly interested in the horse and the "poop bag" attached on his harness, but the guide gave some great history for me and it was a really pleasant ride.  Until the end.  When we arrived at our disembarking location, the guide led Lilly to pet the other horses in the row.  The final horse proceeded to attempt to eat LIlly's hair ribbon, and when I quickly jerked her away he turned his slimy mouth onto my shirt, nipping it and leaving behind a nasty brown streak of saliva all over my shirt and dripping onto my pants.  Yuck.  The driver of that horse looked dumbfounded, but made no attempt to help or apologize.  I left feeling angry, but thankful that our hotel was just around the corner.  We quickly changed clothes and headed back out in search of Chinatown, which I had noticed on the map was not far away. 

• We picked a good restaurant--you could tell because it looked like a dive on the outside but was filled with Chinese people enjoying dinner.  Lilly was so excited to have some jiaozi and noodles. She easily ate 3 times more than me, and I wondered if she would ever stop!  The waitresses were all taken with her and gave me the Chinese menu (but I was happy they gave me the English menu too since I never was very good at deciphering Chinese menus and this one used traditional Chinese characters rather than simplified).  The food was delicious.  Forget Philly cheesesteaks!  Philly Chinatown was way better.
• Back to the Omni for our complementary "Milk and Cookies" that they provide for their younger guests.  Then bath and to bed.  

Monday:

• So, not having a car here (but having a large suitcase, a stroller, a back pack, a small backpack for Lilly's toys, and a car seat that I brought so she could get safely in a cab from the airport to our lodging) and no longer having a room after check out this morning meant that we had to leave our luggage in the Omni before heading out on foot for CHOP.  It was a little misty this morning, but not raining outright, so it was a pleasant morning for a little hike to Lilly's pre op consults.  I was thankful for the chance to stretch my legs.  45 minutes later, we arrived, a little early for our appointments.  Thankfully we had a little time to kill, because I received word en route that the RMcDH once again did not have room, and the Omni also did not have any rooms unless I wanted to pay $300 for the night.  Plan C was the Ronald McDonald House of Southern New Jersey, a little bit farther away but only $15 a night with dinner.  Call made; room secured. 
• Pre op consults with Dr. Campbell went well--she has grown as inch since February, and everything looked great on her x-rays.  Anesthesia cleared her for surgery tomorrow, and she survived (with much wailing and gnashing of teeth) the blood draw for lab work.  
• Weather was great for a long walk back to the Omni to collect our luggage, grab a cab, and head to the other RMcDH.  Along the way (as Lilly snoozed in the stroller), I ducked into the downtown Macy's to snap some photos of the beautiful lobby and pipe organ I had heard about. 
• Our cab ride from the Omni to the RMcDH was NOT the highlight of my day.  The driver pretended he knew where we were headed when I gave him the address, but it was quickly apparent to me that he had no clue.  I knew we were going WAY out of the way.  Finally he admitted he was lost and began asking pedestrians about McDonald's.  His English was not great, and people had no clue why he wanted to know where McDonald's was.  I tried to show him on my GPS phone where we needed to go but he waved it away.  He did eventually stop the meter, but only after he had racked up a $30 fare (for what should have been only about a 5-mile ride).  We had to call the House for directions.  When we finally made it, he claimed that I could not pay with my credit card because he had stopped the meter.  The RMcDH folks were wonderful, and spotted me the cash.  I called in a complaint on him.  And I felt humiliated that my first impression here was not so good.  
• Dinner, however, was yummy, and the house has great play areas, computer area (hence this blog update), laundry facilities (taking care of that horse drool as I type), and a shuttle back to CHOP tomorrow for admission and surgery (no more crazy cab drivers for me, thank you.  The 3-mile walk, however, will be missed...)
• We are bracing for a long fast tomorrow, since Lilly can have nothing to eat after bedtime tonight, and nothing but clear liquids until 9:30am tomorrow.  We show at CHOP at 11:30 for an afternoon surgery.  Surgery itself should be a breeze, but Dr. Campbell has a long and more complicated surgery before hers, so I am praying that one goes smoothly and LIlly's case is not pushed to Wednesday.  

Thanks in advance for your prayers for:

• Good rest tonight;
• Supernatural ability to entertain Lilly and pass the time while we both go without food in the morning (I fast when she does--not fair to eat in front of her);
• Dr. Campbell's first case tomorrow--building a ribcage from a clavicle for a little girl who has no ribs on her right side.  Yowzers.  
• Dr. Campbell to have wisdom as he determines the best way to lengthen Lilly's rods, safety under anesthesia, and a smooth recover.
• Logistics of leaving luggage at the House while I spend the night in the hospital with Lilly tomorrow night, then retrieving items on Wednesday when Tom's sister, "Aunt Judi" kindly comes to whisk us up to Grammy's house.
• Logistics of Tom coming on Friday and our house-hunting this weekend, that Lilly would be ok and adequately pain-free for us to leave her with her cousins so we can be quicker in our house hunting efforts.
• logistics of Jared and Anna with good friends at home.  

All for now. . I guess it wasn't so short after all...thanks for hanging in there with all these words and no photos!