This is Gail. This is a time of new experiences. I'm trying my hand at adding to Craig's blog.

Friday Carl traveled with the Oahe-Pierre Special Olympics basketball team to compete at Mitchell. This is the first time Oahe Inc. has competed in Special Olympics. Craig and I stopped to see the team play a game against Huron. Oahe-Pierre started out with a 8 point lead, but the seasoned Huron team rallied in the second half and pulled out a victory.

I did take a few pictures of the team and will get them on the computer as soon as I learn how.

Carl and the team seemed to be enjoying themselves. Craig and I were glad to see all of them and cheer them on. After the team ate, we hugged Carl good-by and started the drive to the next new experience.

The team played another game at 3 pm and got back to Pierre in the evening. Even after a long day, Carl went to Pot of Gold bowling with the Pit Crew house guys and had fun. He told us he bought a new bowling ball.

Last night we stayed in Albert Lea and I had time to read the instruction book for my cell phone and sent a text message for the first time.

We're in Rochester and settled in the Gift of Life Transplant House for the medical experience of getting Craig in long-term remission from multiple myeloma.

The house is an elegant 1911 Georgian colonial built by a Mayo doctor. The original house is used as common areas and has one dining room. The 60 rooms are in a new Georgian colonial style addition behind the house. Our 3rd floor room with bathroom is large & pleasant. We should be very comfortable here. The 3rd floor ballroom has been converted to a common sitting and TV room and there are a couple reading rooms . I'm looking forward to relaxing there.

There are 3 large communal kitchens and dining rooms and ours is in the addition. It's hard cooking in a strange kitchen and our pantry, freezer, and refrigerator space are in different corners. We need to sanitize the counter area before and after we cook and sterilize the dishes after we wash them by hand in very hot water. It will take awhile to get used to cooking with a third of the patients/care-givers and no dishwasher.

There are 3 other patients from South Dakota here, but we haven't met them yet. Many are from Iowa and Minnesota and there is one patient from Italy.

Craig is fasting this evening and needs to be at the clinic tomorrow morning at 7:30 am for tests. We're not sure what will be tested and will be given more details tomorrow.

There is a transit bus from the house to the clinic. We plan on using that often. It's about 5 blocks from the house to clinic, so I could walk occasionally. Parking is a challenge close to the clinic.

Craig is feeling pretty good tonight and looks good. We found a Hy-Vee and Craig didn't get tired shopping. He hasn't felt well the past couple weeks since his last chemo treatment. The chemo did kill the cancer in his blood, bone marrow, and one lesion, but left him tired.

Pastor Urbach suggested we call the pastor from Trinity Lutheran here and planned on doing that. Tonight we discovered the church is a half block away.

We need to be ready for the bus at 7 am tomorrow, so it's time to close. Thanks for all your prayers and support. Gail