Waiting on Evacuation Orders

It's 6:46 PM and William and I are sitting in the hospital. We arrived at 9:45 AM for a simple blood draw and labs. Usually a 1-2 hour excursion. Today it will be close to an 11 hour excursion. William is currently receiving a platelet and blood transfusion. But not at the same time for any of you medical minds who gasped while reading. Evidently it's really bad to transfuse the two at the same time (bad side effects).

But even better, I'm frustrated with UCSF who was supposed to read our labs that were faxed (the whole purpose of today's morning visit) and let us know if the harvest is still on---kind of a big deal in the Book of Mother's Caring for Their Sick Child Who Has Cancer When Children Are Not Supposed to Get Cancer! I'm practicing patience, but it's hard when the doctor forgot to check the fax machine and has gone home already. So he'll call me in the morning when he gets in and will let me know whether to go to the hospital here for one more lab and wait period, go straight to S.F. or just go back to sleep because the whole thing is off. (read with as much sarcasm as you can muster!)

I blame my dad for rubbing off on me when I find myself thinking up life lessons for seemingly meaningless events. Thanks, Dad! I think?! Sometimes I wish I could just let those events pass. But in the case of today's thoughts, I consider the life lesson fairly poignant.

As I keep a packed suitcase and continue to refine what I need and don't need---sometimes learning the hard way (Thanks, Denise for breaking into my house and bringing my cell phone charger this week!)---I can't help but think how being ready to go at a moment's notice applies to the "big" picture: LIFE.

This past year I finally started my food storage. What is that you say? It is a gradual stock pile of life sustaining essentials so that if a rainy day should occur, our family will survive without needing to burden others. I've dry pack canned things like rice, flour, sugar, oatmeal, beans, and powdered milk. And I buy up extra things when they are on sale, i.e., tomatoes, green beans, evaporated milk, brown sugar, granola bars, cereal. We have two 50 gallon drums of water and smaller bottles in the house. We planted a garden. I've purchased extra first aid items, a small propane stove, and extra wax rings for the plumbing adventures that happen with lots of little boys! (I can whip a toilet off the floor and find a clog with my eyes closed. Well, almost closed. I squint and hold my breath)! We have also tried to set aside extra money in our savings. (Your welcome, Medical Insurance Company!) This gives our family the assurance that we can be self-reliant and prepared for any emergency. We're not there yet.

Going a step further, Ryan and I try to teach our children the qualities they need to be productive members of society. I hope my children know about our faith and dedication and that of their ancestors, understand the value of hard work, education, patience, love, kindness, empathy, gratitude, service, and cheerfulness. I could go on and on, but it's a little depressing because I realize how much work I have to do. I want our children to know how much they are loved and the greatness they can achieve.

We never know what is around the corner. That's part of life. It was in the fine print when we all signed up! We prepare each day so we can tackle the trials of tomorrow. Sometimes we have false alarms, but those keep us in check and help us realize our strengths and weaknesses. In the end, we are stronger and more prepared than we were when we started.

Now that I have that off my chest, I'll sit and work on my attitude while I wait in frustration for our evacuation orders to send us to San Francisco.

p.s. William wanted to make sure I let you all know we got a new windshield. Now I just need to find time to get a police officer to sign off on it. I better not get a rock chip any time soon!