Why my husband calls me hun.

Okay, first I will show you a few pictures.  And then I will tell you what is going on with Joel's treatment.  And last of all I will share a story about Grant's pet name for me.  Just a warning…. you will need kleenex.

My baby girl is trying to turn me into an Oma in about a month.  

Ari had a fortune cookie tonight.  He really hoped it would say that "a tall beautiful blond woman would change his life".   He was disappointed when it said that "you have all the assistance and luck this month to succeed".  I don't understand my boy.

So about Joel, he was supposed to start treatment again on Wednesday but when he went for blood-work on Tuesday, the results showed that his counts had drastically dropped.  We were kind of shocked cause they had been so high the week before and he has been feeling really good.  They will do more blood-work on Monday and maybe he will be able to start treatment again on Tuesday.  So we are now paused at 57 more days until he is in Maintenance.  We are still hopeful that he will be finished before Christmas.  I am thankful for an extra week to fatten him up.  He has a new favourite food…. chips and dip.  The chemo depletes his body of everything good, especially calcium so he gets some wicked charlie horses.  Last week he had them in both legs at the same time, the one only lasted about a minute but in the left leg it lasted about half an hour.  I give him calcium supplements daily but after last week I doubled the dose. I am currently reading the book "Childhood Cancer Survivors" because I want to be aware of what Joel needs to look out for when this is all done.  It says that often the kid's bones are like swiss cheese after treatment and they need to take extra care not to break them.
Joel is out at a birthday party with friends tonight.  He is feeling normal and is a happy boy.


And now for my sappy story (don't forget the kleenex, grab a whole box just to be on the safe side).

I have memories of my dad calling my mom "honey".  I had an uncle and aunt who called each other "sugar" and "darling".  We lived right beside them while I was very young and we heard those terms of endearment used regularly.  My brother and his wife call each other "babe" and it is just so very adorable.  My sister and her husband always called each other "sweetheart".  I think they still do after many many years of marriage…… I will have to ask her about that later.
So, last week while we were all sitting down to a nice dinner, Grant said "hun, could you pass the salad dressing".  The youngest in the house (just 5 years old) asked the question that none of us has ever thought to ask before.  She said, "Papa, why do you call mama hun"?  He did not say something cliché like "it is because she is so sweet" or something silly like "it is because she is so sticky and attracts all the bees".  But instead, without missing a beat he answered her…. word for word….. I am so not kidding you…… He said, " It is because she is related to Attila"
Needless to say, there have been no more pet words or terms of endearment used this past week.  I wonder if he will dare call me "hun" ever again.