Hurtling toward Oregon with all five kids in tow after a week chock full of commitments and preparations (one of the crazier of which included extending the height of our chicken enclosure to keep them from flying over)! Looking forward to my 20th class reunion this weekend, visiting Justin's parents for several days in NoCal and hopefully helping them out more than hindering as Dad R recovers from knee surgery, and then back to Portland where we will shoot the photographs for my cousin's beautiful Indian wedding. I drove most of the 14 hour trip while Justin managed the busy backseat crew (I had the easier job). Munching on dried apricots and listening to my choir part for the Bach Magnificat on repeat for hours on end--far from boring as that might sound, I'm super stoked--this might be the most melodically complex piece I've ever performed. (Seems kind of fitting given the current complexities of life.) It makes me think of that classic 80s toy that I loved, with four colors of buttons that played tones in a complex sequence that you had to remember and repeat back in order to win. I'm determined to win! (So if you see smoke coming out my ears don't worry, it's just my inner computer crunching though the choir homework.)
Learned more from Audrey's doctors this week about the specific type of complication she has in her esophagus repair site and the unusual surgery they plan to do to fix it. Dr J says it's a parenchymal leak, and he wants to cut out and reform half of the esophagus rather than a full re do, curling the new set of sutures away from the trachea to discourage this from occurring in the future. Because Audrey is keeping her lungs fairly healthy so far, we have their blessing to plan the surgery around our family's needs, which is a huge relief. Right now we're leaning toward January, but still discussing and praying about it the next couple of weeks before putting that in stone. Thank you for your continued love and support!
