menos Peru

Well, after the two rounds of antibiotics, I wound up sick again. It's been really frustrating, because I have been careful about what I eat and my activities and sleep. After a trip up to Austin to check out houses, I came back with swollen pus-covered tonsils again, so instead of going to the MD for another round of antibiotics, I went to the Chinese Medicine doc. He gave me some intense acupuncture and 2 bottles of Chinese herbs, and a few days later I am much better! I am so happy I didn't have to get more antibiotics...another huge testament to the powers of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine). Even though I was slightly skeptical due to my sort of hopelessness toward getting better, I knew that antibiotics couldn't be the answer, that there must be some underlying issue that was not going to be treated by just killing bacteria. So thanks to TCM my immune system is up and fighting again and I am feeling much better.

Alas.... I have decided that my body would likely not fare well in super polluted, parasite filled, hot and humid jungle Peru, so we canceled the trip. Justin actually made the executive decision and we were in fact both--despite being sad about missing the clowns and kids--really happy to not be traveling anymore. I will however be traveling up to Iowa to get my horrendous tonsils removed, as I feel at this point they are doing me more harm than good. They are filled with cysts and scar tissue and even the new discovery of some holes....I so wish I could share a picture with ya'll :)

The great news is that we have found a place in Austin. It's rather temporary (maybe until November), but it'll be perfect to give us a chance to get to know Austin, and it's on the south side where we wanted to be. It's a covered air-stream trailer in the tree-filled yard of some older hippies who built their own straw bale house. There is plenty of room for gardening and even some bee-keeping....who knows maybe even some chickens. Yay! We are very excited and relieved to have this taken care of at last.