Child Greatness, Part One. And some follow-up.

(Follow-up):  Everyone's a Critic (other blog), in which I discussed the funeral of a teenaged boy Matt and I both knew, and various aspects of the service with which I was satisfied, dissatisfied, or had no opinion about. Following the service Matt and I discussed a number of, ah, funerary preferences, from his perspective as a minister and mine as a daughter whose mother died suddenly when she was in college. One topic was the music, and last week we Matt and I were listening to this song, and he said this version would've been "perfect" for this kid's funeral, that it instills hope and faith in God: I Know My Redeemer Lives.

On a related note (music, note, gosh I'm hilarious) one of the other songs they played at the service was "O Glorious Day," which I really like (I am not generally a fan of contemporary Christian music, though I like it more than I did 5 years ago) - we also heard this at our Wednesday night contemporary service, when we were visited by a group of residents from this program in South Carolina. It's not a substance abuse treatment facility per se, it is not licensed or advertised as such, but all the men there are in recovery from substance abuse issues. It is a faith-based (Christian but non-denominational) program where the average length of stay is 2 years; there is daily chapel attendance and Bible study, in addition to AA/NA, vocational training and life skills, etc. It's a great place, our church designates some funding for them every year, and various groups have been down to visit the facility. I was really hoping my older brother (he's the Loved One I talked about earlier, in case you thought it might be my dad) would go there after he completed detox, but that hasn't come to pass. Anyway, they have a choir of about 20 - 25 men who came to perform for us, mixing hymns, contemporary music, and testimony/witness (I am really uncomfortable with both those terms; I'd rather use, "story"). "O Glorious Day" was the first song they sang.

And now for something completely different ...

Here's some recent … drama? That's not the best term, perhaps another will come to me as I'm writing. [Later: "flash-in-the-pan excitement that has since subsided somewhat but I'm still interested" - maybe I'll just stick with drama].

A few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to become a commissioned officer in the US Navy. This had never occurred to me before in life, never. I have been thinking about seeking employment at the VA ever since I went to that conference a month ago in Wilmington, but this would certainly be a serious step further. This is how it happened:

Random Ramblings

The last few weeks have been really busy for the Hudson-Smith crew, lots of developments and changes. We have secured a townhouse to rent in the New City, and have visited Simon's new school and the New Church, where David will begin attending a 3-hour per day "summer camp" as soon as well arrive. We feel much better about the move now that those major issues have been resolved, and it's a great little house and it's exciting to think about everything that's coming up in the next couple of months.

We'll be living in a little town home community off one of the major streets in the New City; I am nearly dizzy with anticipation of all the retail (that will be open on Sundays; yes our current NC mountain town is so small, the blue laws or whatever prevent anything but gas/groceries/restaurants from being open. Or are blue laws just about alcohol? We didn't have that either, Sunday or no, until last summer). There is a park right next door - there are a couple of short paths through a little patch of woods, so we can walk over with the boys any old time. 

Driven to - Wait, What Was I Talking About?

I really do not know how I completed college (much less graduated summa cum laude) without a psycho-stimulant to help me pay attention. As articulated (!) here, the neuro-psychologist who diagnosed me with ADHD (2 years ago?) said, I likely simply had to work a LOT harder than I would have to have worked otherwise, if I hadn't had this TBI in high school. This is what happened yesterday:

I will begin with the acknowledgement that a different conversation in similar circumstances, a conversation with a friend or meeting someone for the first time, would likely have been quite different and I would've focused better. But really, this was impossible; I was self-monitoring because it was a somewhat important scenario (me meeting the senior pastor from The New Church and his Wife; Matt meeting one of his other Co-workers for the first time), and even when I realized I needed to man up and refocus, my attention would wander again immediately. I did manage to keep my verbal observations to a minimum.

Please Read This

This was posted on Scary Mommy yesterday; I think this woman was really brave to share her story and what she's going through currently: Moving Past a Loss. If you are not familiar with the emotional process of a miscarriage, the entry and the ensuing comments (mine's down at #120, I hope it helped) will probably help you understand more. Thanks.

Yawn ...

Not sure what the next couple of months will hold as far as "ability to post/blog." We are starting to realize this moving thing is for real - this weekend Matt and I are going to visit about 7 rental homes, and get an official-ish tour of the new church. We've started to pack up some books, pottery, etc.; I actually got a package of color-coded Avery moving labels but I think that may ultimately only serve to make me think I'm further along than I am ("I have labels. I'm obviously way too organized to have to worry about this."). Something about that last sentence is really awkward, I admit, but I'm not currently motivated enough to do anything about it.

Regular Stuff

I would say, we are slightly getting back to normal. But I'm not sure what "normal" typically is for our family, and I think even that is off the table for the near future due to the upcoming move.

I was out of town for four days last week, attending a conference in Wilmington and then checking out a few homes in our upcoming city. Either right before I left or the moment I got to Wilmington, I caught some terrible cold germs - Monday evening I started feeling poorly and that continued all day on Tuesday. As I was heading back last Thursday, this giant wave of fatigue hit me hard, and I ended up checking into a motel for a couple of hours to take a nap. (Not really, but) this felt like some sort of personal failure. I mean really, paying $60 to take a nap because I couldn't stay awake? But it was necessary; there was no other way to be safe. Whatever virus or whatever it is, is still hanging around - I skipped church and Simon's soccer game on Sunday, and laid low all day yesterday because I felt basically terrible. Today is a better day, and I'm going to get out and about in the sunshine some.