UPDATE FROM MB

First off, Melinda, what a great blog entry. My sister read it and was laughing the whole way through it...she could totally see those events being played out!
Now, I would love Lisa Cowden to write a little "fly on the wall" excerpt from her "drop by visit" on Monday....let's just say that my many hats were not fitting so well that day...thankfully, she voluntarily put a few of them on for me and came to my family's rescue!!! YEAH FOR MRS COWDEN!!

My last post was on March 14th, while we were still on vacation. Here is a quick review of the last 2 weeks:

~On our way home on the 15th, we stopped at our friend's house in Wilsonville, OR for a planned reunion with Seattle friends from Bruce's UW days. (after he graduated from OSU, he moved up to Seattle to work with a christian fraternity ministry) He had friends fly in from Texas, Colorado and California-a huge surprise for Bruce-and other local friends were there that we had not seen for 20+ years! It was a great time of sharing stories, laughing, looking at college day photos (and really laughing), eating, praying, reminiscing, catching up with each other and just being together once again. In many ways, it seemed like no time had passed....other than some obvious evidence of new hair-dos, a few extra pounds and some offspring running around!!! This was a very special time with some very special people from a very special time in Bruce's life!! Here is a link to some pictures from that reunion:
http://picasaweb.google.com/geoff6482/BrucePortlandNavReunion


~Bruce spoke the following evening to some college students from our NWHills Church Group. (see the March 17th post). It was very rewarding for Bruce to share with a group of young men and women who are at the same place he was 30 years ago! He knows what a crucial time in life this is to have friends who are like minded, who will live life together, encouraging one another to strive to do what is right and to love God!! Bruce's college friends are still his close friends today...doing the same thing....encouraging each other to love and good deeds!

~Bruce was actually coming down with a chest cold the last few days of our vacation. He happily persevered through the busy weekend and then crashed the rest of the week. He was put on a very strong antibiotic to prevent pneumonia and his cough cleared up in just a few days.

~Even though Bruce has fully recovered from "the crud", he continues to be very weak and tired. His pain is mostly under control (except his back that aches on and off from being in bed and not being active) but he is struggling with constant nausea, his appetite has decreased and he is spending most of his time in bed or in his recliner. Oxygen was delivered earlier this week to help with the nausea and fatigue. He has used it a couple of times and it seems to help a bit. He has had a few good moments where he actually got to go exercise with Spencer at our neighborhood clubhouse, heated up his own leftovers and walked Isaac thru the process of hand washing some dishes....and needed naps right after each activity! Even though Bruce does not like to be physically "down", he continues to be "up" emotionally and is as kind and thoughtful as always, even funny at times....those strong pain meds really work well!! :)

~Spencer is home for spring break and getting lots of good rest and good food and his brothers and sister LOVE having him home....as do his parents! There is nothing better than having the whole family together!!

~Amah and Poppy (MB's parents) came down from Seattle late Tues night. I realized that I was pretty burned out and needed help juggling everything: time with the kids, time with Bruce, maintaining the household, making sure the kids had fun and not "shushing" them all the time, doing what was necessary to care for Bruce...basically just handling life! My Mom and Dad are a breath of fresh air, they fit right in and know our routine, they love on the kids, they are here to do whatever is needed.....and then some!!! What a blessing and encouragement to have them here!

~Our lives right now are full and very unpredictable. I know that we have so many people who love us and want to help out in any way possible. The best way to love and care for us right now would be to respect our need for rest, family time and limited interruptions. With that said, the best way to contact us would be through email or blog comments. Though we have loved the encouraging phone calls and the friendly visits to the house, they take more energy than we have right now. Thank you so much for honoring this request!

I believe that is enough to get everyone caught up with the Alexanders. Again, thank you to everyone for your support, love and prayers. We need them and are strengthened by them!

With Much Love,
MBA