Fires, Family, and Friends

Hi there~

Well, last week was sure intense here in S. California, with all the fires burning. Oceanside was pretty much surrounded by fires, but I don't believe any were in O'side. My house, townhouse, and the kids are all fine, thankfully.

I was actually away, up at my sister's home when the fires started. I wanted to spend some time with her as she recuperated from her breast cancer surgery. I also attended her post-op appointment with her. Basically, things are looking very favorable for a good outcome. The two lymph nodes that tested positive for cancer turned out to be the only cancerous ones. And it doesn't appear that the cancer spread to any tissue beyond the tumor, which was removed. Lori will start chemo sometime this month, and later will have radiation. But with these treatments, the prognosis is very good, and the chances of a recurrence are low. So we're really relieved at the report, overall. Chemo will be no picnic, but we hear that there are meds these days to counteract the worst of the side effects.

Lori and I had a wonderful time together. Each day we ventured out to take care of errands or attend appointments, and each night we ate dinner at another fantastic restaurant. We saw a good movie at the theater ("Rendition") and rented another good one another time ("The Holiday"). It was a great getaway for me, and Lori seemed glad to have me around. I ended up staying a couple extra days because of the fires here in San Diego county. It just didn't seem like a good idea to come back in the midst of all that! I finally returned last Thursday and could see two big fires from the air as I flew in. The air was smoky for several days and my eyes really stung. It's much better now, and I think the fires are just about out. Some people I know were evacuated from their homes, but thus far I haven't heard that anyone's house burned down (among people I know, that is. Plenty of people lost everything... the stories are so hard to hear.)

Moving update: my plan is to move furniture the weekend after Thanksgiving--and actually start living there full-time then! (My landlord says, jokingly, "What's your hurry?"... since I've been paying rent since September 15.....!) It's the craziest move ever, I'm sure. But it's progressing. Brenden is putting together some office furniture for me that I ordered from Office Depot--and got an UNBELIEVABLE deal on! It's a long story; maybe I'll write about it eventually. Other progress is thanks to my old friend, Anthony, who worked with me at K-Wave 20+ years ago. He helped me paint a wall that I wanted "textured" with a ragging technique. And he's also changing out every light switch and electrical socket so that they're white instead of ivory. After the paint job, the ivory ones didn't look good at all, and Anthony volunteered to replace them! Another friend is helping me research what TV to get (a big project that I just can't manage right now). And another is standing by to change out all my interior door handles, because the existing ones are old and yucky. I am so blessed to have wonderful people around me that know how to do these things and are willing to help! Oh, I shouldn't neglect mentioning my landlord, Bill, who has put numerous hours into fixing up the place. Some things were essentials, but others were just because he's nice.

Prayer request: that someone--anyone--would want to buy our house, which is still on the market. We've lowered the price again. Ugh. We may not be able to get rid of it. I guess renting it out is an option, but not a real desirable one. Just pray that something happens soon with it!

Well, that's the news from Oceanside at the moment. Next time I'll write more about Bree and Cassidy, as well as Brenden. They're all doing pretty well. I'm just getting tired and need to close for now.

May God bless and care for you, as he does me every moment of every day.
~Kim