MONDAY NIGHT MUSINGS

- On Thursday, July 9, CJ had his epigastric hernia surgery. Bryce and his dad gave him a blessing the night before and it was a good thing CJ is such a light eater because he couldn't eat at all that morning. We didn't know that we wouldn't be able to be with him while they put him under, and I was nervous that he would not be ok leaving us to go somewhere with a total stranger, so we opted to have him sedated. It didn't affect him as much as it did Mattie when she was sedated earlier this year for her VCUG, but I think it helped. He left with the very friendly, and British, anesthesiologist without any trouble. Bryce and I only had enough time to get some breakfast at the hospital cafe before we were called back because the procedure was over. They don't bring the kids out until they wake up, just in case they have some sort of reaction, so it was a relief when within minutes of waiting in the post-op room, we saw CJ being rolled in. He was sitting up eating a red popsicle and it was possibly one of the greatest things I've ever seen...  

- I noticed yesterday that Mattie's second bottom left tooth is finally coming in!

- We went to our house on Saturday and finally got our list of fixes to the builder. Hopefully he'll have them all taken care of before we get there in a few weeks.

- Last night we were sitting in the living room and I was at the piano. Bryce's parents have a book with simplified hymns that I like to play, so I started playing Teach Me to Walk in the Light, which CJ sings the chorus to all the time. Sure enough, CJ came over and snuggled himself next to me on the bench and started to sing and play. We probably sang through and played the song 4 times - everyone singing too - when I told Bryce to go get the camcorder. And then sure enough, we went to go sing it one more time, and CJ was done. He wanted to sing by himself, he didn't want anyone else singing or playing. So we got him on film singing some sort of a cappella, which is ok, but we missed the opportunity. How many times does that happen?! Argh!

- We woke up to rain this morning! I know, you're saying, "It's Seattle. Of course you woke up to rain." But we've been having a major heat wave the last week and it was incredibly refreshing to have some overcast and cool air.

- Speaking of heat wave, we went swimming last Wednesday, for the first time this season. It was a private pool, and it felt so refreshing. CJ was so excited about it and couldn't wait to go, but as soon as we go there he was done. He didn't want to get in...so I made him. Then he just whined about wanting to get out...but I wouldn't let him. I just kept telling him, "No way. We're gonna swim and have fun." Then he just started talking about going home the whole time. I was kind of embarrassed, to be honest. We had been invited to a friend's parents' house, who hardly ever invites people, and the parents were there with us as CJ just complained the whole time. Ugh. And to think, we were gonna sign him up for swim lessons. Good thing we didn't do that. Hopefully next year will be better. Mattie, on the other hand, would have just jumped right in if we had let her. We're gonna have to keep an eye on that one for sure!

- I got to talk to my brother online yesterday. Normally, this isn't a big deal. In the last year or two, I've developed a nice IM relationship with my brother. It's been a great way to get to know him better, especially because he's in MI and I'm in WA, and we never really see each other . That and he's 14 years older than I am. But last night was different. It was 9:30 PM for me, but 8:30 AM Monday for him...because he's in Afghanistan. 

- Today while I was shopping, I pulled into my parking stall and saw a woman walking toward my door. The first thing I thought was, "Oh no. What did I do this time? Cut her off or something?" Expecting the worst, I opened my door and braced myself. But to my surprise, this nice older woman asked, "Do you have someone serving in the armed forces?" She must have seen the decal on our car. "Oh. Yeah. My brother is serving overseas," I replied. And then her response made me teary: "Thank you so much for serving our country." She's thanking me?! What have I done?! What have a really sacrificed? I'm not the one who left his 3 kids behind for a year. I'm not the one who left his career on hold for a year. I'm not the one living in 115+ degree weather with sandstorms everyday. I'm not the one living through bomb attacks and dealing with the evil of evils. I'm not the one risking my life for what I believe in. So all I could sputter out in response was, "Oh. Thank you." But the real thanks goes to my brother, and all the men and women he serves with who make the freedoms that we often take for granted possible. Love you, bro!

Happy Monday!