Two more days!

Lydia, Connor, Sam, and I are getting excited, and I'm sure Deb and Biz are getting itchy feet. After today's treatment (which may have already happened) there are just two cycles left: Wednesday and Thursday. I don't think they'll be disappointed to leave the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, though as Deb and Biz say goodbye, it will be with much gratitude in our hearts. The Lord has carried us, and especially Biz, through these days and he has used some great people and competent medical professionals in Houston along the way. Although this won't be "the end" of medical attention to address Biz's cancer and the side effects of her treatment, we have (Lord willing) jumped the major hurdle.
On Friday, the girls will say goodbye to the Pogues, and fly home. The Pogues' sacrifice on our behalf is well-noted, and our gratitude could not be greater--imagine having your life disrupted by a second family under your roof. I've always been told that fish and visitors stink after three days (a view which I find disconcertingly inhospitable...), but after two months anyone should be "sainted" or "knighted" or some similar thing.
Deb and Biz will touch down at 3:06pm. The kids and I will meet them at the airport and (imagine this) come straight home. We hope to bring them back to a warm, clean, comfortable home--the one they remember. There have been points over the last two months when Deb would not have recognized the place, but with a little attention over the next couple days we should pass muster. I know that Deb wouldn't care or complain, she'll just be glad to be home. But after all she's had on her plate for the last couple of months (along with an increased appreciation on my part for all that she does), I hope to make the transition an easy one. We'll call it the "Love Language" of house cleaning.
For Biz, the transition will be from "only child" to daughter with siblings. That's where life will become normal again--for all the kids--and thank God for normal.