Taking a moment to share

Well, we've traveled enough to go to Okalahoma City and back in the last two days. Thursday morning we left at 6:00 to make it to Columbia for Emily's doctor's appointment. Then on the way back, the flooding forced us to take two different detours. We arrived home at 4:oo p.m.

Then Friday, we left home at 9:30 to go to St. Louis to speak with financial aide about Zachary's tuition, etc. Knowing there was a pile up on I-44 we took Highway 100 to avoid the congestion. The traffic was terrible, making us late for our 1:00 appointment. On the way home, we decided to take the intersate anyway, thinking that everyone else was taking the long way around like they did in the morning. A normally two and a half hour trip took us 4 hours, but we did get a lot of pictures and I got to read my new book, Love is in the Merde. I'd have to admit, though, that this book is pretty annoying. All the protagonist can think about is sex. I want more French culture. I'm tired of listening to him whine about his sex life.

Well, I have work to do, so I'd better go. I have found a lot of interesting people through this site. I have put their web sites on my list of interesting people. Check them out.

Surgery is in the future: Needing comfort and advice

We visited the doctor today and got our fears confirmed. She did tear her ACL. "In two pieces" was the way Doctor Thornburg put it. Her growth plates are just about closed, so they need to confer and decide if they are closed enough to go ahead with the surgery. If not, then she'll have to wait a while to let them close up more. I don't know which will be better, to have the surgery right away and deal with missing school or to wait until school is out and do it. Her basketball season starts the first week of school, at least practice does, so she'd miss less basketball if we did it sooner than later, but is that a good reason to rush the surgery?

Recovery will take 4 to 6 months. I sure hope Emily can handle this. She is a wonderful girl, but being the baby in a family with two older brothers has, I admit, spoiled her. She's used to being coddled and she doesn't handle pain very well. She won't even take a pill to make herself feel better.

Last night, she was crying uncontrollably, so I stayed up with her and helped talk her through everything. I was finally able to go to bed after midnight. Poor thing, she says her entire life is falling apart. To a seventh grader, I am sure it is. She is only 12 years old, . . . I know. I really do know that this is nothing compared to what others have to deal with. I am humbled every time I think about what my fellow teacher, Sheila Wigger, has had to endure with her youngest daughter, only two, having kidney cancer last year. All the surgeries they endured were life-threatening. Emily will be okay. She will walk and run and jump and play. We don't have to fear whether she'll survive this ordeal. We have so much to be thankful for. Yet . . . It's funny how knowing this and being completely convinced of it doesn't do much to take the edge off my emotions.

If you have any suggestions as to when we should do the surgery, now or once school is out (if we have that option), please post a comment. I'll be checking. :)

Wow, what a difference a day can make. Yesterday, I was rather stoic about Emily's injury. I wasn't really bothered at all, telling myself, "Oh well, whatever will be will be. There is more to life than basketball, and this may very well be the best thing that has ever happened to her. Now she will be able to choose other avenues in life." I still believe all that, but today I simply can't control my emotions. I have teared up about twenty times and completely cried twice. I know that everything will work out, yet I'm sad for what is most likely lost. Thanks for "listening."

Prayers requested

We just got home from Branson, where my daughter, Emily, played in a MAYB basketball tournament. This afternoon, during the last game, Emily seriously hurt her right knee. She says she heard a pop. She's in a lot of pain. It has swollen despite the ice we've kept on it and the Ibuprofen we've given her. We are hoping we don't have to go through another ACL surgery. After Zachary's back in 2004, we know all too well how difficult this is. Yet, at the same time, I know that God is in control and whatever happens we will be able to handle as long as we lean on Him. Still, we'd appreciate your prayers. Thanks.

Reflection: Literacy Academy

My favorite thing is the six word story. It should help us teach the importance of word choice, but also help us teach the kids to boil down their ideas into manageable parts. Rhonda and I were talking about how good this would be for science. I realized that this would be an excellent way to end each novel we read in my 11th grade class. We discuss theme, etc. Now they'll have to come up with a six word phrase/sentence to sum up each novel. I'm very excited.

I am also excited about the blogging. I love to write and talk to people. I have often felt like today we are so ostracized from our peers. We run here and there. I am on automatic pilot, stuck on full speed. I push push push and then go go go. It's hard for me to slow down even for a minute. This lets my mind get out the thoughts that are screaming for me to unleash. I don't feel like I need to critique myself. I can just let go. Oh, how I need to let go.

Now, back to being ostracized. It's a neat thing to be linked together with the members of our Literacy Academy. I know had we not done this, my busy life would have made everyone lost to me forever, well, except for Rhonda and Marjorie. Being a part of this blogging community makes me feel a connection, and I'm very thankful for that. I just wish we could use this at our school. Maybe we can use it like some kind of an enrichment program. Hey, it might be a Career Ladder program. I'll work on it.

Thanks for everything. I've really enjoyed the Literacy Academy.

IM-POR-TANT?

So, this is my first time blogging. Perhaps the trick is having something important to say. In whose mind, I wonder? Importance is in the "mind of the beholder," I guess. Will what I have to say matter to anyone else? How can my mind make a difference to your mind? Will you come away from this blog understanding yourself a little bit better? Will writing this blog help me understand myself better?

Words floating around in cyberspace, coming together to create meaning, on your computer screen,
How bizarre that the touch of my fingertips can produce a complex message sent across the air unseen,
On their journey to your desktop, do my words crisscross,
Do they bump into strangers as they jockey for positions lost?
Does my meaning spiral on its way, or does it dodge fireballs,
Of thoughts sent by you, crashing, splashing down the ebony falls,
of my hazy mind . . .