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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

My Household

Craziness! On top of my daily issues which usually involve tough mornings while I try to eat and get my damaged system moving, if you know what I mean, we have Lucas to deal with. Technically, he was classified as a student in Chile even though he was teaching which meant he could still be on our insurance with a grace period until his job benefits kick in. As such, we scheduled him for surgery for removal of a pilonidal cyst he has had for several years. I guess these things tend to be familial. His first cousin had the very same thing. Lucas' became infected while in France last fall, and the doctor said it needed to be removed. Last Thursday, he had a giant gaping hole carved into his body. Dave is taking care of him by changing the dressings, keeping it clean and taking him to doctor appointments. To be honest, even if I was up to my normal everyday activities, Dave would still be doing this rather unpleasant job. I knew when I was 14, I could never be a nurse or a doctor.

On Sunday afternoon, our priest, Cynthia, came to our house to do the Eucharist for tired Dave, patient Lucas and cancer me. I loved it. It was a complete joy to have this intimate time for prayer, tears, and laughter. I mean we were kind of a pathetic little group.

Next, on Monday, our beautiful daughter returned from her trip to the Amalfi Coast of Italy where she participated in an opera festival. She came back full of stories and pictures about all of the wonderful people, the friends she made, and the gorgeous voices of all involved. Kaley received some positive feedback about her voice and she learned some technique she will be able to put to use. After all of the frantic phone calls about her infected foot, it finally did heal with a significant scar and after some powerful antibiotics. At least Dave doesn't have to be nursemaid to her too!

Lucas' girlfriend, Magali, is still in California doing a Fulbright scholar orientation before she returns to Seattle to continue her studies at the UW law school. I have her permission to tell about some of her "Magaliisms" which make her so endearing. First of all, she speaks fabulous and rapid English. She is easy to understand and she writes and reads highly difficult materials in English. But sometimes, a word or two gets a bit mixed up. When Lucas told her about the word for hummingbird, she later repeated it in conversation as "humping birds." When Lucas was applying for this particular job he landed, during the interview process, Magali told him she was certain he would get the job because he was such a "weener" (meaning winner, of course). Finally, last night, this darling girl who was raised in the Alps and is undoubtedly unfamiliar with some of our American crawly things, told Lucas about the horrible "cockrocks" in the bathroom!