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Just a quick update on the sickness currently ravaging our house:

Amanda - Recovering. Feeling better, but is really tired.
Brandon - Well. Has gone to school every day this week.
Caleb - Sick. Woke up yesterday with a cough and fever.

Brian - Staying well, by the grace of God.

I’ve had the same email address since 1995. It’s bmgraw ~(at)~ mindspring ~(dot)~ com. That’s the email address that I give out to everyone, if they need to get in touch with me.

Well, I’ve gotten fed up with the amount of spam that it receives, and the fact that I’m paying a small monthly fee for dial-up service that I don’t use anymore. So I’ve been weaning myself off of it. But, good grief!! I had no idea exactly how much email I get at that address.

So here’s the deal. If you’re sending me email at the address listed above, stop. Cease. Desist. I’ve probably already told you what the new address is, but I’m not going to post it here, for spiders to pick up. If you still don’t know, and really want it, post a comment. I’m hoping to cut the Mindspring account off by the end of April.

This was definitely not our typical Easter. We didn’t get to go to our annual Easter Sunday School lunch, and I really missed that. I spent all Sunday morning in the parking lot at church, and didn’t even get to slip inside for a few minutes.

Amanda, of course, spent all weekend sick in the bed. She didn’t get to play in our Good Friday service, nor at church on Sunday. She went to the Doctor yesterday, and while she doesn’t have the flu, she does have a “flu-like virus”. I’m not sure what the difference is, but okay.

The boys and I spent pretty much all weekend just playing. I can’t tell you how many times we played Sorry, Monopoly, Checkers, and assorted video games this weekend. While it was a lot of fun, I wish that I could have gotten out with them on Saturday. It was an absolutely gorgeous day.

Brandon was well enough to go to school yesterday, and both boys will be there today. That means I get to go back to work, and sort through even more items to get caught up.

Just enough time to squeeze out an update…

Amanda - went to see a specialist this week, and is going back for an endoscopy next week. She’s in the bed right now, with a cold that she got from…

Brandon - Downstairs, watching TV. Today’s the first time since Wednesday that he hasn’t been running a fever. But he is coughing a lot. Slinging his cast around like it weighs 2 ounces.

Caleb - Along with myself, has managed to avoid all the illness in our house. He’s currently playing Disney video games in his room, in the fort we made this morning.

Deals - I got a sweet deal on an LCD Monitor yesterday. A 19″ flat panel from my least-favorite comptuer supplier. MSRP - $529. Brian’s Price - $275. Our monitor has been having some trouble lately, so this deal came along at just the right time. And saving money is a good thing, because this morning I got…

Bills - I have a hard time understanding how a 5 hour trip to ER can rack up $4900 in charges. Thank you, Lord, for a job with health insurance. And of course, for…

Easter - He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! I’ll be in the parking lot all day at church tomorrow. It’s supposed to rain and storm tonight and tomorrow. In fact, if Amanda were feeling better, I would have volunteered to work at the National Weather Service again tonight. Oh, well…

Well, it’s official - a broken bone. Brandon has a mild break of the bone right above his elbow. He’s in a hard cast now, and we go back in 3 weeks to see how things are healing. The best case scenario is that the cast comes off then, just in time for baseball. If not, we’ll have to play it by ear.

Brandon’s taking this a lot better than I am. He got to pick the color of the cast (Orange, for Auburn - his favorite team), and apparently was telling all of the people on the way out of the doctor that this was his first cast. I hope he can keep his spirits up for the next few weeks.

As for me? Every time he winces from the pain, I feel a knife in my heart.

…Another trip to the Emergency Room.

Tonight’s patient? Brandon. I was giving the boys horseback rides in their bedroom around 8:15, when Brandon fell off. He landed on his arm, and immediately started grabbing his elbow and screaming. At 9:00, we rolled into Children’s Hospital South.

His X-Rays were negative, but he is in a splint now. He will be seeing his regular doctor tomorrow, after a specialist looks at his x-rays. Please pray for the best…

Last night was Hunter Street’s annual art show for the Kindergarten and Preschool departments. First we were treated to some great songs:

Then we went to view the boy’s artwork:

I’ve uploaded some other pictures to Flickr as well. Enjoy!

Meet Paula & Andy

Paula and Andy are some good friens of ours, and are trying to adopt a baby. They are working with a wonderful agency out of California that will match them with the birthmother that God has chosen for them.

Part of their job in the adoption process is to let others know that we want to adopt a baby. They have been asked to propagate this information on them via email to friends, and ask those friends to email other friends, who will email other friends, and so on. So I’m asking you: Please pass this link on to those that you know.

The link gives information about Andy & Paula, as well as information on how to contact Lifetime Adoption and the adoption process. I ask that you’d remember them in your prayers.

After walking to the mall for lunch today, I discovered that I left my wallet in my desk at work. Co-worker Dave was kind enough to lend me his credit card, so I could eat some lunch. I used it, and signed his name.

Which made me wonder: What happens if I sign my name as “VOID” or “VOID TRANSACTION” on a credit card receipt? Would that allow me to get away without paying for something?

I’m just wondering…

We have just returned from the Emergency Room.

Amanda has been having severe pains today in her chest. She’s had these before, about once every 3-4 months. Today she had 5 episodes where her chest/abdomen would constrict, causing her extreme pain. Each one lasted for about 15-45 minutes. After talking with a lot of good friends, she decided to go and have it checked out tonight.

A night in the emergency room ruled out the possibility of any heart problems (good!!) but also confirmed that she has gallstones (bad!!). She has to follow up with our primary care doctor, and make an appointment to have her gall bladder removed.

I’m grateful that it was nothing more serious, and that she’ll finally be able to put these episodes behind her. Thank you all, for your thoughts, prayers, and offers to help us with the boys tonght. And a special thanks to you, Steve, for sitting with the boys while Amanda was getting stuck, re-stuck, re-re-stuck, cat-scanned, and x-rayed.