It was a trying weekend here at Casa Good Soil. My sweet nephew, Jacob, was in a very bad accident Friday afternoon. He was life-flighted to the the major trauma hospital in the area to rule out a head injury. All looked well and as they related the good news to my brother and sister-in-law that his head was indeed intact, Jacob's blood pressure pretty much disappeared. His heart had "popped like a balloon" at impact, and the bleeding into the surrounding sac had finally accumulated enough to prevent his heart from pumping - pericardial tamponade for you medical folks. They opened him up right there in the ER, got out some of the blood and rushed him off to the operating room. Two days later he was talking, asking for food and sitting on the side of his bed. It's good to be 17.

My brother and sister-in-law have of course, been to hell and back, both because of what might have happened and because of what has already happened. My brother shared how he had been so angry at his teenage son for so long and that's all he could think of while Jake was in surgery. Well, father and son have a second chance to try to fix their relationship during what will probably be Jake's last year at home. I just wish for my brother that he could view this second chance as an opportunity to enjoy more of the wonderful relationship that they had shared up till now. But that's not the case and I'm sure it will be a challenge for him as he tries to bridge the gap to his son.

And then there's the introspection. How am I spending my time? Will I look back at this time when one of life's tragedies comes my way with nostalgia or regret? What about you?

The hardest thing in life is knowing which bridge to cross and which to burn. - David Russell

I probably won't be around much anymore. I'm keeping the blog up, but I'm going to be spending this time on some better things. For you lovely ladies I've been fortunate enough to get to know, you have my email and I have yours, so we'll be in touch, I'm sure.

God bless all of you, and I can't think of a better line to steal today than Dy's:

Kiss those babies!

The place where God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet. - Frederick Buechner


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Click on the picture for a slideshow!

I'm home again in Texas, and it's wonderful to be here! I missed by husband and kiddies.

Luke is now 8 and Peyton is 6. Boom. Like that. How it happened, I'm not sure.

Did you know that Montezuma has been to China? Me neither, but apparently he has.

We start school tomorrow. I can't wait. I've missed it terribly. I'm not planning on easing into it, but if we tire out, I'll just stop for the day. We'll get up to full speed in a few days, anyway. I want to get moving fairly quickly, because we'll be taking a week off in September and another in November for some traveling. Since I would have a revolt on my hands if I tried to school on days that the neighborhood kids are home, we need to school when they do.

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. -Aristotle

That quote doesn't have anything to do with anything, but I like it, so enjoy!

I leave today on my trip. I've started another little blog to journal my trip. Please come over for updates!



I love vintage travel posters. In college I had them hanging in my dorm room. They hint at a time where travel was glamorous and exotic. When my dad retired from the Air Force, he became a commercial airline pilot. Whenever we flew, we got dressed up because it was a big event. Over a few years we went from being dressed up like everyone else on the plane, to being the only ones not wearing jeans and t-shirts. It's great that travel is so accessible today, but I do truthfully long for that romantic image of travel that those early posters hinted at.

I'm off to Xi'an today. I hope you'll come over to the other blog while I'm there and keep up with the work we're doing. Have a great weekend!

Sewing. Yes, that's what I do when I have a lot to do. Find something unrelated to the task at hand and become absorbed in it. Isn't that brilliant?

Last night I finished Peyton's quilt. Luke's is almost done and I hope to finish it before I leave. I also want to make a handy-dandy little fanny pack thing to hold my passport and money out of cute Denyse Schmidt fabric. Oh, and a pinchushion just because.

I've cut out all the pieces for two Wee Wonderfuls animals from her Put-Together Book. Also cut out the materials for a pair of Bitty Booties from Heather's free download to give at a baby shower the day after I return. I have them divided up into ziploc bags to take on the plane with me. My quilt shop had a cute little Flying Shark that is allowed on planes and cuts thread. So, I should be set for the flights. Unless I just take the Xanax, then I may have several projects to finish when I get back!

Today the kids and I are going swimming. Then we will pack my suitcases full of baby cereal for the children after their surgeries and as many stuffed animals as we can fit in there. Tonight we'll grill steak and watch a movie. It should be a good day!

This is the week of getting it all together for my trip to China. Yesterday I went to My Wonderful Doctor. He gave me the hairy eyeball about waiting so long to come in, but I really only needed a tetanus booster. He also gave me some cipro in case my tummy gets upset (and I picked up so acidophilus that doesn't require refrigeration at the pharmacy for all you wacky homeopathic types who are going to comment that I need it ;o) ), some Ambien so I can sleep at the right time, and some Xanax. I haven't mentioned to you my problem with claustrophobia. It's gotten worse as I've gotten older, and I had a little trouble with it on the way back from San Francisco.

I've been stressing that I'm going to panic and try to dig through the side of the plane with my fingernails, so my sweet doctor gave me Xanax. Now, I hope not to take any of these, I never even took my T3 after childbirth or my laparoscopic appendectomy. But it's nice to be prepared.

So where does the crack come in? Well, I've been downloading songs from iTunes for Bud's iPod to take on the trip. I could spend days on this. I love going through the iTunes essentials. My favorites so far are the One Hit Wonders of the 90's.

Here's what I have so far:

The Girl from Ipanema by Astrud Gilberto
Green Onions by Booker T and the M.G.s
Yellow by Coldplay
Talk by Coldplay
A Long December by Counting Crows (this always makes me cry, has since 1997).
At Last by Etta James
Upside Down by Jack Johnson (I'll add more of him from our own CDs)
Fade into You by Mazzy Star
When You Come Back Down by Nickel Creek
Don't Speak by No Doubt (closet Gwen Stefani fan here)
Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts
Ever the Same by Rob Thomas (of Matchbox Twenty fame)
He Gave me You by Sierra

Now I have to stop and go through our CDs before I buy anything else. It's unfortuante that when Bud set me up with this and showed me how to download the tunes, he plugged in his credit card. Now I'm accountable.

And, I've got to stop listening to my new music, or I won't be able to stand it by the time I leave!