Arthur has one blue ball.

Well I have so much to share. So I'll just start at the beginning.

The concerts this past weekend went well. Friday nights concert was probably better than Sundays. But all in all they were good. I was also glad that they were over. They made for a very busy weekend. I never really connected with this group. So I don't know that I'll sing with them again. I'll definitely not be singing with them in the spring and summer since my sabbatical runs from late spring into early summer. We'll see how I'm feeling in the fall.
Saturday I baby sat for a couple of parisioners. One went to a wedding and the other was in nursing clinicals all day. So I stayed with their 4 year old and their 9 month old. The 4 year old is full on ADD. I technically was only alone with them for two hours. But I was so over them at the end of that two hours. Particularly I was over the 4 year old. And at one point he was just repeating the same phrase over and over and over. "You can. You can. You can. You can. You can. You can. You can. You can. You can. You can. You can." Imagine that repeated about 500 times. (Only a mild exaggeration.) I came away thinking, I do not want to have kids ever. Ever!!! EVER!!!
Then Monday morning I boarded a plane at 6:45 for Florida. I'm here for a total of 8 days. This is the longest I've been in Florida with my family in probably 8 years. Maybe more. The plane ride was actually pretty good. I had a short layover in Cincinatti. Both of my flights left early and arrived early. I was upgraded on the second leg so I had a lot of room. I do though have one question: I went to the bathroom a few times on the plane and I need to know this, how do people have sex in those tiny little bathrooms? Really, I just don't get it. And I guess it is clear that I have never gotten it, if you know what I mean.
As I was arriving though I realized how anxious I am about this visit. I found out at the end of last week my brother had not received a chemo treatment last Monday as we expected because his white blood cell count was too low. Yesterday as I was flying he was having another cat scan. He'll get his results next Monday, the day before I leave. I've talked about having a new normal. Well for me that new normal feels like every bit of news we are going to get is going to be bad news. So I didn't want to get off the plane--if I didnt' get off the plane then perhaps time would stop and we wouldn't get any more bad news. Realistic? No. But that is what I was thinking, particularly that is what I was feeling. I'm just afraid all the time--I can't imagine how my brother feels. I was riding with my grandmother today and she was saying that she believes my brother is going to get well. She doesn't know when and she doesn't know what doctor will be the one with the cure but she believe it will happen. I wish I believed that. Instead, when I see my nieces and nephews I wonder if they'll remember their father. I didn't see my brother today, I'll see him tomorrow. But today I kept his youngest son and daughter, tomorrow hopefully my father can help and I can get over to spend a little bit of time with him. A little bit of time is really all anyone gets with my brother. That didn't come with the cancer that comes with his personality. I'll keep writing about what I'm feeling and experiencing.
Today, I changed flourescent light bulbs, bought a freezer, pushed the niece and nephew on the swings, played ball, ate barbecued chicken, played rummi-kub and talked on my nephew's toy phone way, way, way too many times. Oh I also read some books to my nephew. Today's title is a line from one of those books. I'm not making that up. That is what the children's book said. If feel like it was kind of this inside joke for all the adults who have to keep reading the same books over and over.
Until tomorrow, from Florida, peace out!