A Fresh Bouquet

Hello, how are you? Thank you for coming over to the liver blog.

I just wanted to show you pictures of the latest edible delight that the mother of Aidan's friend, Chan, brought down to us. You may remember that she is the one who got Aidan through swimming lessons while we were chasing after Bob's lost liver.

Anyway, she also happens to be very talented at creating beautiful food and delivering it to us. Lemon chicken salad; and tasty and pretty Korean delights that we don't know the name. Once when we had guests over, our wonderful Andersons, she surprised us with some kind of a fried rice dish that we all devoured in about five minutes.

Just thought you'd like to see her latest delivery, an edible bouquet that she wrapped in ribbons.

Isn't that so nice?!

Have a wonderful evening.

With love, T

PS

Just to be clear, Bob *will* be 100 percent after his heart surgery. :-) In case you were wondering.

T

Power Surge, Power Outage, Powers that Be Not Afraid

Hello friends and welcome to the liver blog. Thanks so much for coming over.

Don't you just want to strangle change? Just when we were all really loving the post-thyroid surgery power surge, it had to go and turn into the pre-heart surgery power outage panic scramble. Back and forth like a pendulum. Moving forward, backing up. Going forward, backing up. Thinking forward, backing up. Next cliffhanger: June 21 is last day of this liveslative session. Then we go back into haitus of the heart. Fully back in session end-o-August or so. Forward, forward, FORWARD. . .drop.

I am sending a thousand thanks to Phil and my colleagues at LWR. Oopsie, looks like I'm going to take some more time off again. I've lobbed so many projects to the fabulous Phil and he just catches them like a pro. So many projects that he has to remind me what I've asked him to do. I've asked him to help me think. And thank all the volunteers we know about who have done stuff this past year on behalf of the mission of LWR. With very little of anything from me, who is supposed to be supporting and nurturing them. Aren't you glad I'm not your supervisor? (That doesn't count you, Becky :-)

And eight days without my husband! What is that about? I made it through 6 months without his liver, but I cannot make it eight days without him. I mean, who will unplug the toilet and make dinner and handle absolutely everything while I lob projects to Phil? Plus, the truth is Bob's not 100 percent even though he looks it and mostly acts it. So it's a crying shame, he had to go and cancel his trip to NYC. Sorry everyone! I'm really, really sorry. It's just been one of those years.

If you are really sick and tired of us being sick and tired, I totally understand if you leave this dog gone blog and never come back. I really do.

And for the rest of you. . .well, what can I say. Thanks so much for hanging in there with us. I guess we're just entering month # something of a reminder that we need YOU, our friends, neighbors, family, colleagues, prospective colleagues. I promise to God and to everyone, we will never ever forget that.

OK, let's lighten up here. Let's see. . .lighten up, Aidan is taking a play bath, I'll go and ask him for a joke. Be right back. . .I'm back. Here's the joke:

Question: What did the booger boy say when he bonked his head and everyone started to laugh?

Answer: It Snot funny.

Laters, gators.

With love, T

End of School, sniff, sniff, get me a kleenex

P.S. This is a public school. (I just say that because I find that many people assume we got our kids in a private school. Uh uh. :-)

With love, T

Amanda Goalie Girl Rocked!

She didn't let one single goal attempt past her, she said. She jumped. She blocked. She dove. She balled her body around the ball on the ground while the other team tried to steal it. I hope that nice soccer dad posts more pictures so I can maybe see for myself. They won 3-0. Sam's team won 8-0. Cheers! T

But Get Me a Musician

And then, while the musician was playing the power of the Lord came on him.

*

I don't know about you but as for me, lately, music can move me to crying so easily. And honestly, it's not like I'm crying constantly anymore like I was just after the liver came back. No, mostly I am composed. Really. Just normal life stuff. But I go to church or to the dance studio, and the artistry just takes me somewhere deep inside and all around and brings it out.

Maybe indeed it is the power of God.

And so it was even extra sad to watch the Cambodians in our church cry at Mr. Bun's funeral. A lot of their eulogies were in Khmer so I could only imagine what they were saying. I imagined it was about how this man was able to preserve for all of them a little piece of their collective crystal clean classical Cambodia; through the celestial sounds of this pure music which Mr. Bun could play and teach like a master. I wondered if it helped people to forget the killing fields which they escaped. And if it transported them to a time and place where they were together with their whole families.

What is home changes when you leave it. You change and it does. And you transform your new home. It all kind of fuses together. The melting pot really is true to some degree. So a little piece of classical Cambodia is now home at our church and all of St. Paul. and beyond.

Mr. Bun won a Bush Foundation Fellowship last year, went to Cambodia to retrieve a bunch of instruments (photos left), came back and started a music school. What's interesting to me is that the person who will now lead the school is a non-Cambodian woman, speaking of the fusion of home cultures.

Musicians from the school played today for Pastor Sue's farewell. Her last day at Christ Church on Capitol Hill. Dog gone. No more Mr. Bun leading the Khmer Choir. And no more Pastor Sue. So home changes even if you don't leave. But we know we will eventually leave here too. Destination change. Get me a musician.

Speaking of home and leaving and whatever, we booked Bob a ticket to NYC for next weekend. He will be together with his whole family.

I hope you are all having a lovely Sunday afternoon. Thank you so much for coming over to the liver blog. I wish I had nine lives to live simultaneously so I could be with you all in person, or at least write to you all, all the time.

With love, T

P.S. Here's the whole reading that Pastor Sue brilliantly came up with for Mr. Bun's funeral:

Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What have I to do with you? Go to your father's prophets or to your mother's." But the king of Israel said to him, "No; it is the Lord who has summoned us, three kings, only to be handed over to Moab." Elisha said, "As the Lord of hosts lives, whom I serve, were it not that I have regard for King Jehoshaphat of Judah, I would give you neither a look nor a glance. But get me a musician." And then, while the musician was playing, the power of the Lord came on him. 2 Kings 3:13-15

Just a few things that I love

I love taking Sam to soccer and hearing the other kids say, SAM'S HERE . . .WE GET SAM . . . NO, SAM'S ON OUR TEAM . . .WE WANT SAM!

I love getting a home delivered fresh hot vanilla mocha latte while still in my pajamas, ala Patrick on his way up to the neighbor through the ceiling for his next delivery.

I love that Amanda can create and forget as many internet accounts as she wants and it only messes up the cyber superhighway and not our apartment.

I love my mom. Hi Mom! Haven't seen you for awhile! Here we are right after my surgery. Flower bouquets from left to right: peppermint tulips from Sarah Ford, roses Carol and Ragaey and the twins, golden delights from Becky and Mark. The bouquet from all LWR had not yet come at the time of this picture.

Thanks for coming over! Take care.

With love, T