This picture post starts with an animal, why????  Because, the reason she was here (in front of the fireplace)
                                 

It started slowly, teasing us with small flakes coming down in flurries that would start and then stop, Friday evening.
  

Today's To Do List:
*  Take meat from freezer to thaw for tonight's dinner
*  Make phone calls
*  Poke and prod girls to finish their laundry (I'm really trying to get them to takeover that job)
*  See if the vet will be in today for Chirper's claw trimming, and Sushi's rabies shot
*  READ MY BIBLE AND GET THAT WORD DEEP IN ME (probably the MOST important thing today)

Be Blessed  ~

The tradition is to eat, open gifts, and then have the birthday cake.  For some reason, the children were more hungry than the adults and even the pets got some fried chicken, since there were quite a few pieces left over!

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I have a busy few weeks ahead of me.  I told Jesse I didn't think I'd be able to get done all that needs to be done.  He said, "You won't.  But, it will all be okay."  I've chosen the most important things for "my tasks" and am trying not to get distracted.

My chest is pretty sore.  It was fine until they did the biopsies and now there is a constant deep bruising or aching feeling in the lump.  Of course there is an ache . . . they took chunks of flesh out of it!   And, they are trying to tell me I will be amazed at how sore I'm *not* after surgery.  They tell me the nerves are interrupted when surgery is done on a breast. But, as I suspected, they begin to come out of their "interrupted state" and start to talk eventually!!!  My little biopsy sites are definitely squawking!

I didn't sleep well last night.  My left knee always bothers me when there is rain (or snow) coming and I was limping for several days last week.  That threw my left hip out of its normal position and last night my back ached from my left hip across my lower back.  It woke me up at 2:30am.  Then, I realized I was enormously hungry, wishing I had eaten more of Annamaire's birthday dinner. 

At 3:45am, I got up to take 2 Tylenol (I'm trying to not take anything for these minor pains) and a couple Tums for my stomach.  I came out to the den and read in my Bible.  Despite the distance of the den from the bedroom, the light woke up Jesse. He came to check on me around 4:30am.  I went back to bed and slept a bit restlessly until 8:00am.  Interrupted sleep and not enough of it - yuck!  I feel draggy today, but have to keep moving.  There are only so many days left before I won't be able to do things for a while.

I'm meeting with our pastor friend at 4:15am.  I'm planning on leftovers for dinner, so I won't feel rushed in our meeting and like I have to get home to cook dinner.  Jesse took Rissy to have her back x-rayed this morning.  I need to wash my hair - so it is a "long shower day" for me!  If I put the clean dishes up from the dishwasher and do a bit of laundry, I'll feel like I've accomplished a bunch.

Today's To Do List"
*  Stay awake

Be Blessed  ~

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Friday, I spoke with the girls' therapist myself for almost an hour.  Then she saw the girls.  Rissy really unloaded.  She's the one who has been the most quiet since my diagnosis, and the one I feared had the capability of realizing how sick a person can get from treatments, etc.  I was glad a relationship has been bridged between the therapist and the girls . . . AND, me!

While I was there with the girls, Jesse's sister called to say she had booked a flight and was coming next Wednesday and staying until the end of May.  She'll be WONDERFUL as a caregiver, a fill-in Mom & homeschool teacher, not to mention the support she'll give Jesse.

THEN, the surgeon's office called (while we were still at the girls' therapy appt.) with the results from my tests on Wednesday.  She said my liver showed a little something, but they weren't concerned with that at all.  My left hip and T-2 (the 2nd thoracic vertebrae) showed either arthritis or something else.  The radiologist AND surgeon think it's "old age" (my words!) but want an MRI to be sure.  So what does that mean? . . . . YEP!!!!  One more appointment at the hospital next week. 

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The next week:
Nikki and her family arrive on Monday.  Tuesday is  my first appointment with the surgeon.  The girls have their regular therapy appointment on Friday.  Somewhere in there Rissy will have her physical therapy appointment.

The week after NEXT:
My birthday is on Sunday.  Nikki and her family leave on Monday.  Jo Ann will change bedrooms (we're keeping the guest room for Nikki's family until she's gone).  Rissy will have physical therapy some time and the girls will have their Friday therapy appointment.  Rissy's physical therapy may need to be canceled, but keeping the therapy appointment on Friday is important.  BUT, Friday is the day of my surgery, so I don't know if their therapy appointment will also be canceled.

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The plan is to let JoAnn start to see (and take over) the household responsibilities as I slowly fade into the background.  I've already talked to the girls, but will again, about them obeying Auntie JoJo.  I have written recipes down for Rissy to put in her recipe box - recipes that are in my head and things the family enjoys eating.

Somewhere, IN MY SPARE TIME (!!!!), I'll make lists of household things that only I know.  Like how to mix Chirper's food, when to feed the bird, and other odd pieces of information that someone else might find useful.

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We interviewed a girl last week who was REALLY SWEET.  She lives an hour and a half from us.  She called today and I told her we had the surgery part covered, but I wouldn't know what or how frequently I would need chemo therapy until I was sent to the oncologist after surgery.  She said she'd be available to help out when I have a week of chemo AND if JoAnn needed help we should give h er a call.  SO SWEET!  Thank you Hope for all you did to bring her into our lives! {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Hope Ann}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

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I'm going to sit in front of the fire, enjoy the view of snow before it melts tomorrow, and spend time with Jesse.

Be Blessed  ~

Rissy woke up in the morning crying because she wet the bed.  She's 8yo and I don't even remember the last time she wet the bed.  It's no big deal.  We have plastic mattress protectors on all of the beds.  But, Rissy was humiliated and it put her on edge almost all day. 

All 3 girls have various stages of a cold.  Makes them *all* on edge.

All of us got ready to go to Rissy's physical therapy appointment.  Rissy was frantic because she couldn't find her 2nd black shoe - the ones she wears almost all the time.  She became hysterical and we told her just to wear her white tennis (athletic) shoes.  We got out of the car and noticed Rissy was wearing two "right* shoes!!!  She was further humiliated and upset. (sigh)

We all went into her appointment, which normally is 45 minutes long.  I wanted Jesse to see her exercises so he can make sure she does them properly.   They had a woman there to consider orthotics for her and no therapy exercises were done.  We were there an hour and a half - not 45 minutes.  They made plaster cast molds of Rissy's legs and she burst into tears.  When she was able to talk (FINALLY) she wailed, "I don't want to wear these on my legs!"  We explained they were "molds" to make her brace and not permanent casts for her legs.  There was an adult brace available and we showed that to Rissy to calm her fears.  In the middle of being fitted for braces, Jesse knocked on the door and said LUCI was wearing Rissy's missing black shoe and handed it to us in case we needed it.  (rolling my eyes)  It was determined that Rissy had double scoliosis but is young enough to be treated.  AND, her one leg is 3/4 of an inch longer than the other when measured from hip to inside ankle bones.  No wonder she hurts!

We left and decided it was best to go to Wal-Mart for groceries, since we have had an updated snow forecast of "maybe 1 -3 inches" to "definitely 3 to 8 inches" in our city.  I had a grocery list and methodically zipped through the store.  We were supposed to meet with people from a church who could possibly help care for the house and children while I'm recovering from surgery, etc.  So, we felt rushed in the grocery store.

We came home, quickly made sandwiches and ate our lunch.  I decided NOT to clean the house because I wanted them to see how behind I have gotten with just appointments to tend to - not to mention surgery recovery!   The minister, his wife, and the prospective helper came and were as nice as they could be.  I talked about what I thought might be necessary for the helper to do and showed them around the house.  I don't know what will come of it all, but I felt blessed to have met more Christian people!

I have the girls' therapy appointment this afternoon and I've already been interrupted several times as I wrote this.  So, no proofreading or spell check again today.  I've become an open book lately - right down to my typing and gramatical flaws!

Be Blessed  ~

I'll highlight what went on yesterday, since Rissy has a 10:30am physical therapy appointment.

1)    There was some confusion about what was to be done to me yesterday.  Some orders from the surgeon's office where not right.  It was finally straightened out and the two tests were ordered, as planned.

2)     A gal brought out some barium liquid for about 5 of us to drink as we sat in the waiting room.  I heard two people moaning, one girl gagging and swearing she was about to throw up, and the lady across from me tried her best to drink the stuff but curled her lip after every swallow.  I asked her what made it so hard to drink and she just said, "It's the most vile stuff you could ever imagine."  I had cotton mouth from eating sausage (dumb) and not drinking for the past 4 hours.  I told her, "I'm so thirsty, it would have to be pretty bad for me not to drink it."  She assured me it was that bad.

     I went to the restroom before opening "my bottle" and while I was in there I prayed,   "You know, Lord, you turned water into wine and I believe you can do it again if I ask.  So, I'm asking you to turn this into something I can drink easily."  I went back to the waiting area, opened my bottle and, immediately, drank two cups of the stuff.  IT TASTED SO GOOD - I kid you not!!!  The woman across from me (the one drinking but curling her lip) looked at me in amazement.  It tasted like a berry flavored smoothie to me!

3)     Next, I went to have an IV put in.  The stuck me 5 or 6 times (last year nursing students) before calling a "seasoned" nurse to help.  They DID say my being dehydrated had a lot to do with finding their way into my veins.  Apologies were profusely offered and I explained they hadn't hurt me at all.  We got the IV in , via the "seasoned" nurse, and they put the contrast into the IV site. 

4)     I went to my chest and abdominal CT scan and again, found VERY nice people.  They allowed me to change my headcovering to one that I can lay on my back without smashing.  VERY PATIENT.   They told me what to expect and I heard the machine doing its thing.  A women came to me and said, "We're seeing something really strange in your abdomen."  (Yes!  I immediately felt fear and then prayed God would take it away.  He did.)  She asked me, "Do you have some sort of pins?"  I'm thinking, "Now who would have put pins in my abdomen - pins go in the bones, right?"  Suddenly, I remembered . . . On my first visit for the mammogram I must have worn the same dress and had clipped 2 safety pins inside my dress in case the skirt of the dress wouldn't stay up around my waist when the top of my dress was removed.  Sure enough - two safety pins were taken from my waist band in the dress!

5)     I went from their back to the waiting room and read while I waited for the bone scan.  After almost an hour, I was called.  Super nice guy - I'd met him earlier when he took me back to have my IV inserted.  We went to the bone scan room, and I began to remove my headcovering to change into the other one.  He actually TURNED HIS HEAD, as if I were undressing, while I changed.  SUCH RESPCT from all of the hosptial personnel - amazing!!!  I told him my left knee was bothering me (usually when it rains) and asked if he'd mind paying special attention to that.  Not only did my knee look good, but everything looked fine.  He commented, "You back looks great for someone your age!"  I had to explain that I had been healed of a severe degenerative disc disease several years back.  I told him how my x-rays showed my spine collapsing, vertebrae on top of vertebrae and that I was send to a specialist.  That day, at orthopedic ward of this huge hospital, doctors scratched their heads and finally called in the head of the orthopedic wing to look at my new x-rays.  The head Orth. guy said he couldn't explain the difference and my spine was youthful for a person my age.  (I had had back problems for over a year and had been told I soon be in a wheel chair and most likely die by age 60!)  Yesterday's bone scan guy looked at my scan again and said I was a walking miracle.  Praise God!  I told him that was why I wasn't too worried about this cancer diagnosis.  I changed caps again and he turned away again. 

6)     I got home and there had been a call from the state insurance people.  The woman had left a message and when I returned her call she was as nice as she could be.  I was approved for state insurance under a cancer grant (or something) and they would follow me all the way through including reconstructive surgery if I chose.  I've never been impressed with state insurance people, but this gal was WONDERFUL!

7)     We've been looking for someone to care for my family and house while I'm down and Jesse's sister (JoAnn) called to say she would be able to come for a month.  She's done home health care for years, her best friend had a double mastectomy, AND I'm so very comfortable with her.  We only have to buy her ticket.  THEN, his borther (James) said he would come too if need be.  I thought, perhaps when I start chemo, he would be helpful if I have a nauseaus or tired couple of days.  I think chemo lasts about a month, too.  So, I have a call out to the surgeon's office to asked about dates and we will book Jesse's sister on a flight for sure.

This was way longer than it needed to be and I'm not going to take the time to proof read or spell check.  Just wanted everyone to know how things went and that I'm doing well and God is continuing to open doors and carry me with no effort on my part.

Today's To Do List:
*  Rissy's appointment
*  Grocery store (we're expecting snow this week end)
*  Laundry

That's about it.  I'll continue to make sense of junk piles as I find the time!

Be Blessed  ~

Yesterday afternoon, I talked with the surgeon's nurse.  I'm beginning to cherish this gal.  She is SO patient and kind and answers ALL of my out-of-the-ordinary questions!  Everything she said may not sound so great to you who read this, but to *me* much of what she said was an answer to prayers.

1.    She said the MRI showed about half of my left breast involved with cancerous looking material.  BUT . . . (here's blessing #1)  there is an enlarged lymph gland and that is *not* considered unusual with this type of breast cancer.  The glands are trying to fight the disease invading my body (which is why we have lymph glands) - which is what I thought all along.  She said there are many lymph glands around the armpit and the MRI showed only ONE gland involved.  Her encouragement went further . . .

2.     The enlargement in the lymph node is called "in situ" which means it is clearly defined within margins and ISN'T traveling anywhere except within those margins.  "In situ" means "contained" and is GOOD NEWS. (blessing #2)

3.     My left breast showed some odd dense places that they don't believe are cancerous - but could be in the future.  She said, "I'm not telling you what to do, and I don't want to scare you, but . . . if it were me, I would have both breasts removed."  THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED!!!!  The woman's center said they would never consider double mastectomy if the right breast was fine.  The surgeon's nurse said not only do they consider it, the doctor recommends it and would ESPECIALLY recommend it due to the density found in my "good" breast.  I don't want to contemplate doing this all over again in the future - it's hard to balance things with my large family.  (blessing #3)

4.     The type of surgery they do these days has greatly changed from when I was involved in hospital work.  They no longer cut into the muscles unless the cancer has invaded the muscles.  Mine has not, according to the MRI on Monday and they will know everything for sure after today's plethora of pictures.  BUT, she said the breast tissue and nerves are very forgiving and differently made from the abdominal area.  Recovering from a mastectomy isn't like having a C-section or another kind of cut made in the abdomen (I can tell you, that C-sections are no picnic) and I will be surprised at how bad it *isn't* going to be.  (blessing #4) 

        I told her I had no fear and am looking at this like having a baby.  Everyone wants that darling baby, but no one looks forward to the labor and delivery part.  I don't want cancer in my body and what I will do to get that removed won't be the fun part - but I definitely want the outcome of no cancer.  Cancer free is MY baby!

5.     She said if I had help for 3 weeks, I should be amazingly fine.  We're looking for someone to come live with us for a while to care for the house, children, and a little bit of help for me.  She thought 2 months wasn't necessary and 3 weeks was more reasonable.  (blessing #5)  We aren't rolling in the bucks and less help means less of a cost to us.

6.     We didn't discuss chemo therapy and I will ask the surgeon my questions regarding that at the April 7th appointment.  I will have lots of questions for her, I'm sure.

7.     The nurse and I discussed reconstructive surgery and she said the doctor automatically puts "tissue expanders" in when she is finish with the surgical removal.  *IF* I elect to have reconstructive surgery at a later date, the state's insurance I'm receiving will pay for that too.  (blessing #6)  That sounds like "cosmetic surgery" to me and I was surprised that state insurance wouldn't consider it cosmetic, too.  I don't know that I'll choose that, because that would mean another surgery and more help needed.  Since I wear a cape dress or a vest over a dress, I'm trying to hide my breasts anyway.  Jesse said he'd rather have me breastless than not at all.  I agree.  But reconstructive surgery is an option way in the future and nothing that has to be decided now.  The surgery won't leave my chest "concave" but flat.  She said the surgeon removes all but a bit of the tissue attached to the skin and my own skin flap will be what covers the breast area.  No chance of rejecting foreign tissue implants.

8.     I told her of my faith and my trust in God.  I said I may appear odd when the surgeon meets me because I am experiencing NO FEAR - only have practical things that nag at me; but, I completely trust God's involvement in my life which includes this hurdle.  The nurse said, "Well, we'll be right here praying along with you all the way!"  MY DOCTOR AND HER NURSE WILL PRAY WITH ME?????  AWESOME!!!!  (blessing #7)

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Sorry no pictures today.  They wouldn't be appropriate to go along with the above narrative!!!!!

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Today is my CT scan and bone scan.  I just finished eating.  They want no food or water four hours prior to the tests.  I think I heard the radiology gal mention the word "barium" - so, I guess I WILL be given something to drink before my tests and when the dye is injected.  I don't have to be there at  noon, but at 12:30pm, which gives us more time to relax and get ready to go.  Jesse will keep the girls and leave me there - I will call him when it's time to come back - they said about 3 hours.

I've wolfed down 3 link sausages, 2 scrambled eggs and an apple fritter (and my precious morning coffee).  I cheated by about 15 minutes, but I bet they'll be okay with that!  LOL

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I don't know how many of you might know of people who come to help people in my situation (domestic live-in help) and two women are helping me now make contacts with "plain communities" that send daughters to help for a minimal amount of pay - called mission work.  Some of you might have a link to people who do that type of thing - so I'm asking for as many of you that have those types of contacts to put out feelers for us. 

Just message me, if you know of a possibility, and I'll give our info and phone numbers to you.

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Huge departure from the rest of this post.  We have been having temperatures around 70° and higher.  They are predicting SNOW (!!!!!!) starting Friday through Saturday.  Some pretty HEAVY snow up north.  Is that crazy, or what?  Well . . . I suppose that's simply Oklahoma!

I'm going to say good bye before this becomes any longer than it already has become!

Today's To Do List:
*  Shower and wash my hair (another "no deoderant" day at the hospital - rolling my eyes!)
*  Wash dishes that didn't fit in the dishwasher last night
*  Think about what I want the thawing ground beef to turn into for our dinner tonight
*  Pack my favorite relaxing CD "Quiet Beauty" in my purse - just in case they let me listen to it at the hospital
*  File a few things so my desk continues to look clean

Be Blessed  ~

I woke up in the middle of a dream where Jesse's sister, JoAnn, and I were elbowing each other out of the way to view a small TV screen.  I woke up with Sushi in the middle of the bed nuzzling me and my arm was elbowing *her* away.  That's a good reason why I don't put too much stock in dreams and what they "really" mean!  I would never push JoAnn in real life.  She hasn't been "pushy" - not EVER.  And, watching something on TV isn't all that important to me.  So, what did my dream mean?  It meant the dog was licking me and I was pushing her away.  Not to mention the fact she isn't allowed up on the bed!  END OF DREAM INTERPRETATION!!!! LOL

I had a nice surprise this morning, after my surprise rude awakening!  I came out to the kitchen to find Jesse cooking breakfast.  (it rained last night, so he's home, unable to mow lawns)

I had another lovely surprise late yesterday.  I've ordered some things for Annamarie's birthday and a few books for myself.  Packages have been arriving over the past week or so.  In my mind, everything I have ordered has already arrived.  Imagine my dismay when we arrived home and there were 3 packages on the porch!  Jesse was right behind me and I was saying, "I have no idea what that could be!"  He, jokingly, asked, "What have you been spending money on this time?"  I drew a blank and truly had no clue what I had ordered, which led me to wonder if I had a disorder or addiction of ordering and spending money on the Internet!!!  I was so relieved to find the one box was a pair of shoes JESSE had ordered!  The second smaller one was a DVD I had ordered for Annamarie's b-day gift (at a discounted price).  Finally - the last package.  FOR ME!!!!  A box for me!!!! 

My sister sent me a box!!!!  My desk is full of cards, flowers, and now gifts from my sister's box!
                                

CHOCOLATE!!!!!  Oh, yum!  I've seen them, but never bought a package, because I'm cheap, I guess!  Of course, I did the only polite thing one does when they receive a gift, I opened the red sack and ate one.  Oh, DOUBLE yum!

Since it is too wet to mow, I think Jesse plans to go have his mower blades sharpened.  I plan to make friend Emily's banana bread - two loaves!  Rissy wants to watch and learn how to make the bread because she loves it.  Well, the truth is, ALL OF US love it!  It doesn't last long and I cringe at the calories I'm consuming, since I spread butter on the hot bread. 

Well, let's just not go there.

Change of subject!!!

LOL

Jesse's good friend's (Camilo) wife sent home a beautiful table runner, looks like she crocheted the ends.  I hate to use it on the kitchen table because we are such slobs when we eat.  It's too small for my massive dining room table.  But I'll find a place to use it.  It's too pretty and so thoughtful of her. 

And that's it for today on the home front.

I took a quick bath and got dressed for my MRI - had to be there at 10am and it's a half hour drive.  Got there right at 10 sharp.  Jesse took the girls and I told him I'd call him when it was time to pick me up.  Another woman (with her husband) was in the waiting area and nervous as all get out.  She'd had the same procedure done before and was almost crawling the walls.  I asked her about the procedure and she said they make you lay on your stomach with your arms above your head.  Oh!  Oh!  Not another arms-above-my-head procedure!  I accepted the Valium, not because I was nervous, but because I was hoping it would relax my back.  That's when they told me I could lie with my arms down at my side.  AND, as *I* told them, 10mg of Valium does nothing for me - and it didn't.  I chose no music and wished I'd brought a CD for them to pipe into ear phones, but I wasn't sure how things worked.  I'll bring my favorite CD on Wednesday on the off chance they do the same over at the hospital.  I accepted the ear plugs, they moved me into the MRI machine and I was back out in 20 minutes - NO BIG DEAL!!!

I called Jesse to pick me up and we left and went to Wal-Mart to grocery shop.  A woman in a church we attend had a sudden death in her family and I needed to pick up things to fix them a meal tonight.  We came home from Wal-Mart and put up the refrigerated stuff and then Jesse took us up the street for lunch.

We came home after our late lunch and I began to bake for the family in need.  Several phone calls came in that I had to return once my cooking was under control   Then I realized my cell phone could no longer be charged and the battery was low.  The port is bad (like I suspect is wrong with my camera) but, fortunately, Jesse had an extra cell phone.  With all of these future appointments and my cell phone as my contact number . . . I definitely needed a cell phone.

I finished cooking and returning phone calls and then we called to make arrangements to drop off the meal for the church family.  We stopped at Jesse's mother's house after we picked up a prescription for her and eventually made it home again.

I am tired.  Jesse is washing dishes - the ones I dirtied while cooking for the church family.  I have no appetite, so I'm eating popcorn and will have a juicy apple for dinner.  Mainly I'm thirsty.  I didn't drink much coffee this morning because I knew I'd have to be trapped in an MRI machine for a while.  After that, we were on the run all day and I never really had a nice long glass of water.  I know!  You're thinking, "If she's thirsty, why is she eating popcorn?"  And my answer is, "I don't know - I just am!"

I have a little bit of achiness in that lump.  I had NO PAIN until I started seeing doctors, etc.!  Just kidding!  I'm glad they found this lump to be serious and something can be done about it - but it is tender inside today and I'm sure it's from the snips they took the other day for biopsies.

We had a nice surprise, Nikki and her family are coming for a visit April 6 -13.  I go to the surgeon on the 7th, so she will know right away what the surgeon has to say.

Then I saw the source of her irritation

Sushi has bothered Stormy past Stormy's limit and it's hysterical to watch Sushi taunt Stormy and then Stormy takes off chasing the dog all over the house!  She runs with her ears back and her tail between her legs like she's afraid the cat will take a chunk out of her!!!  VERY amusing!

I'm so busy - and it's not like I don't have a million things on my plate - but I took the time to just sit and enjoy the cat and dog show!

I'm off to finish my popcorn, find a cold apple, and chill before it's bedtime.  We have strong, tornadic storms all around us.  This could be an exciting night!

Be Blessed  ~

The post today is a quick one and mainly written to prove to friend Lori K. that, at one time, I DID, indeed, have chickens in my kitchen!

She went with someone recently to pick up a crate of the little peepers and I told her I remembered when I gave my oldest daughter permission to bring home all the chicks (from the school's science project) that no one else took home.  I think they had a dozen eggs and only 7 hatched.  We ended up with FOUR of the darling yellow, fluffy things.

My first experience with chickens!

I had NO CLUE they would go through an awkward, ugly stage with long necks that had no feathers; nor did I know, those soft yellow fluffy feathers would turn to white, stiffer feathers.  What a dummy!  And, yes, Lori, the smell of chicken potty rates right up there with the "gag" reflex stuff - YUCK!

I was going through boxes of junk today and found these old photos.  The last pictures I took of the chicks, because soon after this "photo shoot" they were no longer considered "cute" by me!

Proof of my chicken kitchen:

Not many of you know that we had a parakeet named Joshua.  He named himself "Joshie-bird" and was extremely smart, had a good vocabulary, AND lived to be a little over 12 years old.  He loved playing with the chickens - chasing them AND being chased!

Just another one of those rare tidbits of information about me, and my crazy life, that no one knows about!