Bye-Bye Pinkeye

WORD COUNT: 22,156

Seventeen years ago …

Hebrews 11:17-31 November 14

to not look to this world's riches 9511.14

He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as a greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 26

If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in simplicity, with people who are inventing religions. We are dealing with fact. Of course anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about. (Mere Christianity)

Today …

I would like to say that the author of the New Testament book of Hebrews and C.S. Lewis, respectively, stole those lines from me, but as I not only have no desire to bear plagues upon myself for altering Scripture – how I read Revelation 22:18 anyway – but also have gotten way less scholarly in my middle age (the weight I'm losing must partly be brain cells), that's a mite unbelievable. I figure I've offended enough people like that.

Yesterday (day 55) was Jeffrey's first day missing school, and BOY was he bummed out about it. But when we got to school with him and Sarah we were advised to get it treated, for over the long weekend – school was closed Friday for a teacher workday and Monday because Veterans Day had been the day before – he had developed bacterial conjunctivitis, pinkeye by any other name. And according to Mrs. Burckhard it's been going around there and another elementary school in town … not pretty.

So before I had to go to work yesterday I called Dr. Cadwalader our kids' pediatrician (it was funny to hear Jeffrey try to say pediatrician; he came close, but we settled on “kids' doctor”) and got Jeffrey in straightaway; Sharon drove us to the Medical Arts building and we met Martha there during her courier rounds and got prescribed for the boy a bottle of Moxeza that we're supposed to give a drop of into each eye morning and evening. Man does it hurt, so Jeffrey claims while screaming as we do it!

I don't like having to hold his eyelids open for it, but I must say he is handling it a lot better than I would. And both the kids are back and happy at school today, while Martha and I are at work and this morning I called Mike our handyman to check on the casing for our washer and dryer hook-up as well as our shower doors and also the City of Minot to check out an obstruction on our water line ninety feet from our house, where it runs into the sewer. Is it our or the city's responsibility?

And from this morning …

SARAH: (puts her arms around MARTHA): You're a lot skinnier!

MARTHA: (to SARAH) Why thank you honey!

SARAH: (puts her arms around DAVID): And you're a lot weirder!

Thanks a lot, David