Samples

I've gone three days without posting, which has left me with three separate topics to discuss.

1) The massacre at Virginia Tech has been on my mind non-stop. I have a hard time not watching CNN all day long. On Monday I was shocked and numb, but yesterday the tears came when I saw the faces and heard the stories of the victims. I can't get over that Israeli professor, a Holocaust survivor and a genius, who sacrificed his life so that his students would have time to escape through the window. What an amazing man.

I keep imagining the whole thing playing out at A&M. I had all my Spanish classes in the Academic Building and that's where I see it in my mind. I insert all the memories and grief I have from the horrible day Bonfire collapsed. Except that was an accident and this was a mass murder. Oh, Lord, this world is so painful.

2) Completely switching gears. I am about to talk about my appointment with my OB/GYN, so any males or easily embarrassed females should stop reading now. Thanks. On Monday I had my annual appointment that is every woman's privilege. That is just the highlight of my year, let me tell you. I got to have a blood test that my doctor said would check my cholesterol and who knows what else. So he's about to find out how many french fries I've eaten in my lifetime. On top of that, I'm pretty sure I had high blood pressure that morning because I was so dreading my exam, so nervous about whether my son was going to be charming or demanding, and so hoping that my weigh-in would make my doctor proud. The most noteworthy moment of the appointment was when my doctor began the discussion about family planning and, completely unprovoked, proceeded to give me a handful of samples. It's not important that I identify what these samples were. Our moms and grandmas read this blog, you know. But you can imagine how many close calls I had with all these samples behaving like Mexican jumping beans and trying to escape my purse-slash-diaper-bag any time I opened it in public. It was a humbling day.

3) Today BooMama is hosting a love offering on her blog for a young woman named Heather. Heather is a designer at Swank Web Style (they designed my mom's and BooMama's blogs). She has a husband and three children. One of her children, Emma, has autism and mitochondrial myopathy. Heather just got the devastating news that she herself has an inoperable brain tumor. The fundraiser is to love on Heather's family and help ease the burden of the unimaginable costs they are about to incur as they seek treatment in another city. If you feel led to pray or give or both, please stop by their blogs today.