A Day To Count Blessings--With Updates

News of the week:

My friend who kept trying to teach me Swedish, Brother Pehrson, passed away somewhat suddenly on Monday.--I am so grateful to have known him.  He was so kind to try and try to get me to say something in Swedish, anything!!  He and his wife also were "extra grandparents" to the Overfelt children. 

My brand-new niece, Keira, was diagnosed with a cardiac defect.Sounds like she's doing fine and they're just going to monitor her with echocardiograms every three months.

Cousin Laurie's grandson, Skyler, started chemotherapy for leukemia today.  He's...4?  5?  He's just a little guy.Well, Sky's not doing very well as of this writing.  Thank Heaven for a large, strong, loving, extended family that is praying their hearts out for Sky and his mom.  I know that, whatever happens, it will be fine.  "Fine" doesn't always mean what we think it should mean at the time, but that's okay.

SuperMario told me that he could schedule R's surgery for "sometime in September".  If he marks the case as "somewhat urgent", he could operate as soon as two weeks from now.  Keep praying that the endoscopy tomorrow shows a Crohn's-free duodenum.Yahoo!  Good job on the prayers, everybody!!  The EGD demonstrated just a little bit of erosion from heartburn, but nothing in the duodenum.  So the surgery will just be to take out the short, diseased segement that has been bothering him for two years now.  Annnnd...Rowdy interviewed for a new job today, here in my own department!  Funny about the timing of that, but it is what it is.  R and I would work just fine together, and it's not like he would be over my exact section and techs.  And I know he would be wonderful at this particular job.

Sublime

I eat two Oreos in the morning
I eat two Oreos at night
I eat two Oreos in the afternoon
It makes me feel all right

I eat two Oreos in time of peace
And two in time of war
I eat two Oreos before I eat two Oreos
And then I eat two more

Daddy he once told me
"Girl, you be hard workin' girl"
And momma she once told me
"Girl, you do the best you can"
Then one day I meet a man
He came to me and said
"Hard work good and hard work fine
But first make sure you're fed"

Whoa rock me to the night
Ja say

Getting a Grip and Letting Go

I was awake this morning between 2 and 5 am, thanks to cramps and thoughts.  At about 3, I gave up lying in bed and came upstairs to get some pain reliever and heat up the "cornbag".  Then I laid down on the couch and turned on the TV, happy to find that Cheers is on the Hallmark channel in the wee hours of the morning.  Then I set about weaving.

A talent you may not be aware I have is tapestry weaving.  Yes, I come from a long line of masters at weaving what my dad calls "A Tapestry of Doom".  Take one little thought, one little fear, and from them make an intricate design of misery and worry and woe to hang on the walls of the mind. 

So I had plenty of raw material to work with in the middle of the night--starting with Rowdy's illness.  His surgeon, Doctor SuperMario, has created a tapestry of doom of his own, certain that R has need of considerable rearrangement of his digestive system.  To support his plan, he ordered an abdominal ultrasound, that I was able to arrange for this morning (and was 100% normal, thank you very much).  But, I was stewing about that (I also make a great stew, to eat while I weave), and that lead to fretting about how everything was going to get done over the next couple of months--getting Keiler back home and settled and feeling loved and appreciated and motivated, doing my part in the Stake Primary's upcoming inservice and other activities, work, making sure that all of our family members who are going to chip in some way to help us out (my folks, R's folks, SIL Super T) all feel appreciated and loved and that their needs are met, training with and fundraising for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation's team that will run the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll half marathon....

But anyway...the phrase that came to mind somewhere in the midst of this sleepless night was "get a grip and let go".  There have been times in the past where I have felt overwhelmed or beaten down or lost much worse than I felt in the middle of last night.  Those experiences were navigated with Divine help, and things always turned out much better than I could have imagined.  I KNOW that Heavenly Father is watching over us, and we have the strength to get through whatever is coming up.  I also know that we only have to approach these things one day at a time, one second at a time, even.

Anybody want to buy a used loom?

A Very Merry Un-Birthday To Me!

Rowdy couldn't wait to give me my birthday presents.  He's worried that he will be recuperating from surgery on the real day, about five weeks from now.

So, after a very nice day at work, I came home to this surprise...

A gorgeous, carbon-fiber road bike...a Trek Madone, as well as a perfect-weight cycling jacket.  I think I have to call the new bike "Black Beauty". 

Yes, that is my natural bootie.

Then I went on an 18-mile ride with awesome biker chick, Amber.

American Ninja Warrior Expo 2010

A handy placard to indicate the terminus of the queue.

Rowdy signed up to run the "mini" course.  I missed seeing him run it, because I was in line to get autographs from Ninja Warrior (Satsuke) All-Stars

 

 

While I was in line, I was interviewed by a Japanese television network.  They asked me who my favorite Ninja Warrior was and why.  I said, "Makoto Nagano, because he is humble, strong, a good competitor, he always is able to conquer the course and he is supportive of his fellow competitors."

This is Brian Orozco, one of the American Ninja Warriors, sporting an ironic handlebar mustache.  He was super-nice and signed my shirt.  Another American Ninja Warrior, Levi Meeuwenberg, also was signed my shirt and was also super-nice.  He asked me if I was going to run the course today.  Ummm...naaahhhhh.

For those of you who don't follow Ninja Warrior, Makoto Nagano is the guy in the center.  He is the first person to conquer Mt. Midoriama.  His day job is being the captain of a fishing boat.  Each of these guys was so gracious, shaking hands with each and every one of the people who came through the line for their autograph.

And here is my signed shirt!

We followed it up with French-dipped sandwiches at Philippe's.  They were delicious, but the LA traffic is enough to drive a person insane!  It took us an hour to go the 15 miles from Venice to Downtown LA.

The Genesis of Childhood Dreams and Their Realization

My grandparents gave me this book when I was 4 or 5.  It made me want to travel.

It is now out of print, sadly.  I bought a copy off of exlibris.com several years ago.

When I grew up and was able to see some of the places Richard Scarry introduced to me, it was so thrilling.

I Love A Man In An Iconic Uniform