“Warp Factor Seven, Mr. Sulu.”

They say “Time flies when you’re having fun”. That is of course unless you’re Kermit the Frog, in which case you say “Time is fun when you’re having flies”. Either way, it’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to document anything and I’m going to try to ‘catch you up’. Hold on tight, we’re gonna move fast.
Greetings from our nation’s capitol. I’m here for a training class (it’s work stuff. You’d find it boring). As I sit in my hotel room and look out over the Potomac (well OK, I’m looking out on a building that looks out onto Reagan National Airport which overlooks the Potomac) I think back over the events of the last several days.
As I was anticipating a quiet weekend last Friday, Julie’s younger brother Dave decided that re-roofing his house in the ninety plus degree heat just wasn’t any fun anymore so he thought it would be a real hoot to fall off the roof on his head. Well I doubt that it was a conscious decision he made, especially since he ended up with two broken arms, a fractured skull, a fractured back, a broken collarbone, broken facial bones and broken ribs (and other various and sundry injuries). If it weren’t for the familial trait of a hard head that he shares with the Princess, I question if he would have survived the fall. Be that as it may, the whole family got to make a ‘flying run’ to St. V’s in Toledo (actually Dave was the only one flying. He got airlifted there on a LifeFlight helicopter). But to the credit of modern medical science his doctors believe he should make a full recovery in due time. The Princess (in her ever pessimistic way) quipped to me on the way home that since things happen in three’s and since she and her brother were both hospitalized, there would have to be another. I told her that was just an old wives tale and that she was just being silly. Boy was I stupid.
In the midst of all THAT excitement, Julie’s dad decided he wasn’t feeling the greatest either. Thinking that he had a problem with his blood sugar, Julie convinced him to go to the Emergency Room on Saturday night to get checked out. Much to our surprise, Julie’s mom called a little later to say that they were admitting him to the hospital thinking he may have had a heart attack. He was eventually diagnosed with a condition called ‘total heart block’ (at least I think that’s what the doctor said it was called. It was REALLY late on Saturday night). That is a condition where the upper and lower chambers of the heart do not operate in unison and therefore do not supply enough blood to the body. At any rate, the doctors implanted a temporary pacemaker around midnight Saturday night to keep his ticker running correctly until they could implant a permanent one. He didn’t have to wait long though since he got his permanent one at 7:30 Sunday morning.
While that surgery was going on I was at the 9am church service that was being led by Miriam’s youth group to celebrate their mission trip to Arizona. The youth did a great job and I truly believe that great blessings await many of the youth in that group and the world at the hands of the youth in that group. I feel that The Spirit is strong in several of them.
After church and a quick trip to the hospital to check on Julie’s dad I set out for Washington DC. What should have been about a seven hour trip took almost eleven because I drove in rain (and some severe thunderstorms) through most of W.Va, PA and Maryland. It cleared up just as I was approaching Washington. After driving around for about an hour looking for my hotel (because my laptop battery had died, rendering my map, directions and reservation information useless) I FINALLY found the right hotel and got checked in. Apparently there were no rooms available in the Marriott hotel I had requested (the one where my training sessions are being held) so my overachieving Administrative Assistant (who routinely goes above and beyond the call of duty) took the initiative to book me at the closest Marriott hotel. She probably told me this and as usual I wasn’t listening. Anyway, this would have been all well and good had I taken the time to actually READ my reservation and see where a room was waiting for me. Oh well.
Monday had me learning a lot of stuff about radio waves and Julie playing food delivery girl to all the shut-ins. I think we’re all going to collapse in bed tonight and sleep VERY well.
I’ll blog more about a ‘deliberate’ life when I’m no longer moving at what Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise would call “Warp Factor Seven, Mr. Sulu”. Until then I’m just trying to hang on and I hope you do the same.
Check back soon (and often)
Dave and (the no longer the most unhealthy Princess) Julie