When Its Springtime in Alaska its 40 below

I am going home to be with my mamma for a couple weeks on Friday.

Mom is having a disk removed from her neck. She will be having surgery on Wednesday, and then I am arriving on Friday. My uncle Steve, my mom, and I will be driving home to Soldotna, AK from Anchorage on Friday night. My uncle is trying to get a check up for the doctor up there to look at the cancer he has in his face and his ear while he is there.

I am heading home to basically help take care of things for Mom. She is flying me "back home". She wont be able to drive for at least two weeks. And, most likely she will not be able to do much more than sit with a neck brace on for a couple of weeks. (So Carrie if you wanna drive down for a visit I would love to see ya!)

So I am going up to play chauffer and housekeeper (though I think she will have a hard time letting me do a lot of the housekeeper stuff, and I am not sure she will want to eat my cooking!). It wont begin to make up for all the love my momma has given me over the years, but it is a little start. And, it is a good excuse to get away from work as well.

On some other personal notes:

Many of you may not know I have a thing for candles--especially in my office. The function in my office is twofold. One is I try to set up certain places in my office that are worshipful, spiritual places. Having candles in my office is one way I do this. Especially if I throw on some gospel (black gospel or country gospel) or some more aetherial Catholic worship music (like sacred opera arias or taize chants). It helps me get centered when things seem out of control. I dont say this very often. It seems so not keeping with my blue-collar roots (Get Er Done).

Do most of you know that no matter how little I have slept the night before I find it nearly impossible to go to sleep early. When I go back home to Alaska you better bet I will be online until the we hours of the morning while mom is trying to sleep in the other room with her neck brace and sleep machine.

For those of you who are more of the churchgoing sort, dont you hate it when you get part of the bread stuff stuck in your throat while you are taking communion. This is especially difficult when you are helping to lead communion in church like I was today. I had to wait until the organ started playing and people started passing the plates of wine (while actually grape juice for us Baptists of course). Then I hacked it up and reswallowed. Don't ya hate it when that happens?