If it's Monday, it must be another Clinic day

We set off for Houston for a 10 AM appointment for labs. Hard to imagine that there was still a bunch of traffic at 9:15 and 9:30 AM....what time do people go to work around here?! We still made it in plenty of time--we are getting pretty good at negotiating the various highways and exits and ins and outs of traffic. Emery was weighed and is holding steady...no gain, but no loss, so we are happy. Labs showed her red blood count to be low so we settled in for a transfusion. Thankfully, her platelets were fine. I think the transfusion finally got started about 2:30 PM and would take three hours. We can always find ways to while away the time and it is kind of peaceful in a way because we know we can't go anywhere so might as well just relax.

I talked with a woman whose husband once worked in Alaska and she says he has always wanted to return. She had lots of questions about where we live and what our life is like. I ended up giving her my business card and told her to call us if they ever came out. :) Her daughter was born with Cystic Fibrosis and after a lung transplant, developed lymphoma. They have been through so much, and meeting other families certainly makes us count our blessings. We also chatted with another woman whose mom lives in Amarillo and had heard about Emery. Small world, yes! Dr. Thompson stopped by (though it's not his Clinic day) and visited for awhile. He's always upbeat and tells us how great Emery is doing. We certainly like hearing that.

Of course, by the time we finished up, it would be rush hour traffic and we have learned that there's no point in trying to drive anywhere in it. We decided to grab some dinner first and eventually got home close to 8 PM. Even easy days drag out! We are grateful, though, that Emery is progressing so nicely and other than a complete cure right this minute, we couldn't ask for much more.

I got to talk with Aidan for a few minutes tonight and that always makes me happy. When he was in Alaska last summer, we had lots of fun playing card games like "Crazy 8," "Old Maid," and "Go Fish." I was in Target the other day and saw those games for $1 so sent him some replacements. He was thrilled and told his mama he wanted to play cards tonight. So cute. His sweet sister Ally is about to have her 3rd birthday so I need to find some bday presents for her. And our other little cutie Elle's latest escapades are documented by her mama here.

Rich has been busy back home, including providing a private food and wine pairing for the folks who were high bidders on the item at our Channel 8 auction. Check out our friend Steve's blog here for photos and a very nice commentary on the evening.