Quick update...

Good news on the medical fronts. My nephew's kidney biopsy didn't show any rejection issues, but they think there may be some scar tissue where the kidney connects, so his bladder isn't getting fully emptied. We're hoping and praying for a non-surgical solution, because it doesn't sound like a very fun surgery if it becomes necessary. My mom's biopsy came back clean, so we're thankful for that. In other news, my brother-in-law got a church out in Minnesota. That's kind of a mixed blessing - on the one hand, it's nice that he found a church to pastor, but I'm going to hate having them so far away from us. I've been really glad to have the chance to have the family here near us instead of out in Iowa (where they were previously). It's been nice to get to know my nieces and nephews and to see them grow up right before our eyes.

Prayers needed...

The next couple of days will be kind of scary for our families. My nephew, Cole, is having a kidney biopsy done tomorrow. He was born with only one kidney which functioned at about 25% capacity and had a kidney transplant about a year and a half ago. He has been doing quite well, but lately one of the levels they measure in kidney patients has been rising, which isn't a good thing. I'm praying that they'll find out that the problem is something that's easily corrected.

The following day, my mom is having a lump removed. It's an outpatient surgery, and the doctor thinks it's just a calcification, but it's still surgery and a bit nervewracking. So if you're a praying person, please take a second and remember Cole and my mom as they go through their procedures.

Have a great day!

I knew it was coming...

I got ambushed at church today. I knew it was going to happen, just not this soon. I had decided to drop vocal choir while we're so busy at work, so Thursday was my first day of semi-freedom. This morning, Lila (our director) caught me and asked about the Christmas concert. Nothing much - just one or two solos. Hopefully I'll be able to scale back to 50 hours by November so I have some extra time to get these ready. Why, oh why, did I ever decide it would be fun to play bell solos?

Maybe I like 80s music a little too much...

A while back, Rita had this quiz on her blog, and of course, I had to take it. I don't know what the range of scores is, but I scored a 166.5. Now I have to confess, there were a couple that I guessed at, but there were also several that I thought were quite easy and the person who made the quiz gave more points for because he/she thought they were difficult. Anyway, give it a try and see how you do.

What a weekend...

We, or at least I, have had quite the weekend. It started off as my weekends usually do, with work on Saturday morning. After I got out of work at 11, we took off for South Higgins Lake State Park for my family reunion. We've been holding it there the weekend after Labor Day for as long as I can remember - I think it's been going since even before I was born. I convinced my sister-in-law to bring the kids up, even though she's on Brian's side and not part of the family that was reunioning, we usually always have at least one friend join someone, and I wanted to be able to show the kids where I've been going for years and years. They had a blast - we ate lunch, then went down to the lake to swim - one of the best things about this park is that the lake is always clean and you can walk out for probably 1/4 mile before it's even up to an adult's knees, so it's great for kids. Anna and I walked out and she giggled all the way. After swimming, the kids played baseball with some of my cousins and some of the other kids whose families were camping there this weekend while the adults sat (or stood) around the fire.

In what seemed like no time at all, it was time to pack up and head home. It was great to be able to see all the cousins that we only see once a year, and I had the added bonus of sharing some of my memories with my nieces and nephews.

Today, my friend Heather had complementary tickets to the Michigan Renaissance Festival. If you live in Michigan and you've never had the opportunity to attend, I highly recommend it. There are all sorts of shops selling things like jewelry, art, leather goods, period costumes, woodcraft, and much more. While you're shopping, you can attend different shows. Probably the most popular and well-known show is the Ded Bob Show. I've seen it several times - so many, in fact, that I could probably do the show as well as the entertainer. It's always fun to catch it, though, and this year was even better, because Heather got picked on to be one of the audience volunteers.

One of the new things they had this year was an area where you could feed lorikeets. We went in and were immediately rewarded with birds on our hands and arms. After they finished the food in my cup, one of them decided that I might taste pretty good and started nibbling on my arm. It didn't hurt, but it was kind of funny.

I'll close with a few pictures I took at the Zucchini Brothers, Ric Roc, and the Rogue Blades shows. Have a great week!

Guess what came today?

That's right! Now I can read books two through four!! If you don't hear from me, you know what I'll be doing...