A Great Day!

My grandfather had surgery on his face Tuesday. He had a melanoma that had returned, and his doctor sent him to a specialist in Dallas. It was a fairly traumatic day. They removed a large section, tested it, came back to remove more, tested it, came back to remove more, and tested it. Thankfully, they got it all that time, but he was left with a hole in his face that was approximately 2"x3" from what I understand. (If I have the dimensions wrong, please correct me.) He had plastic surgery afterward, which involved taking a skin graft from his neck to cover the hole. Mom says he has 6" of sutures on his neck that makes him look like someone slit his throat. They spent about 6 hours on the road and about 12 hours at the clinic, which made for a very long day for all of them. We are just so very thankful that they were able to get it all and that the surgery didn't leave his face misshapen. Please pray for continued healing.

Our family all burns easily, and we didn't have sunscreen when I was a kid. This scare has motivated me to get an appointment with a dermatologist to begin regularly checking my skin. I don't want to have cancer, but if I ever do, I want them to catch it early. Mom said that Marci did the same thing. Great minds....!

Today, I had one of those productive mornings when most of "the list" was checked off by 10:00 am. It was the kind of morning that left me wondering why most days I am barely out of my jammies by that time. I finished cleaning house and finished all the laundry, including bedsheets! I guess it had something to do with the knowledge that Karl was on his way home from Spain. Garin and I did the grocery shopping and came home and played outside. We played our version of baseball and a little golf (kid style) and had just gotten to work decorating the driveway with sidewalk chalk when Daddy drove up. YAY!!!

Karl got in the shower, and Garin immediately started stripping down. He wanted in! He loves getting in the shower with Daddy and imitating him. It's a great way to teach male grooming, and I think he needs a little more of that and a little less time with my makeup brushes!

We went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse, where a napless Garin ate with his eyes closed. By the time we got home, however, he had his second wind. He went straight to the shelves with all of the balls, bats, horseshoes and various other athletic equipment, and grabbed a volleyball. Then he wanted the other volleyball. Then he wanted the basketball. Then he wanted the football.....tennis ball, racquetball, wiffleball....you get the picture. We had 5 seconds of volleyball, and then he wanted to play basketball. Karl held him up for a dunk, but Garin wouldn't let go of the rim! It got a little hairy, but he finally let go as I was headed for the ladder. Daddy could only hold him up that high for so long! In the end, he chased the multitude of balls all over the driveway and under the cars while his Daddy and I practiced overhand serves, jump serves and volleys.

Garin's asleep, Karl is exhausted, and I'm sweaty. It's been a great night!