Anything but normal

I am going to come clean on one of my nicknames.  It comes from the classic movie, Young Frankenstein (pronounced -steeen, not -stine) There is a scene where Dr. Frankenstein, played by Gene Wilder, puts a brain, that his assistant Igor hands him, into this huge 10 foot monster he has created.  The monster flips out and goes all crazy and psychotic before the Doctor sedates him.  He then asks his assistant (now this is really only funny if you can hear it in Gene Wilder’s voice with all the appropriate dramatic pauses)

Dr: “What . . was the name . .  of the brain?”  

Igor:  “abby?”

Dr:  “Abby, who?”

Igor: “abby . .normal?”
I was totally ok with being called “abby normal” because quite honestly I’ve always felt normal.  Until yesterday.  Yesterday when I looked down at the three things on my “to do” list, I realized: I am finally living up to my name - I am completely abby normal.  (Well, really it’s my life that’s abnormal, not necessarily me.  Except don’t ask my kids.  Or my husband)

TO DO LIST:

1. Call to reserve tennis court for Sophie’s lesson
2. Call plumber about kitchen leak
3. Call two priesthood brethren for a blessing for Kevin

Let me elaborate.  

1. Call to reserve tennis court.  Self explanatory and a normal thing I do.   
2. Call plumber.  Needs clarification, and thankfully, not a normal thing I do.  Friday morning I woke up to a puddle of water on my kitchen floor.  With a little investigation (just followed the dripping water trail from the cabinets), I found water seeping through the backs of my kitchen cabinets.  Several shelves were warped, the back dryboard walls wet and stained, the kitchen baseboards wet.  Ironically, I thought, “what perfect timing,” because today (Saturday) I had two drywallers coming to fix my kitchen ceiling and my master bathroom wall from the water damage caused in December from roof leaks during torrential rainstorms.  Unfortunately, they will have to come back in several weeks after all of the water is dried up.  That’s ok.  I can live with drywall holes in my kitchen cabinets and a dry wall hole the size of Sam in the computer room.  The electric fans just feel like extra furniture, except for the cords.  (By the way, the leak was from a main water line - a teeny pinpoint hole in a copper pipe - crazy)
3. Call two priesthood holders.  Again, needs some clarification, and again, not a normal thing I do. With Kevin’s first cyberknife appointment lined up for 2:30 pm on Friday, we felt it important for Kevin to receive a priesthood blessing from two worthy priesthood holders in our church.  We are completely putting our trust in the doctors, and our trust in the technology, to help kill this tumor and restore Kevin’s normal vision.  We wanted to show the Lord, that most importantly, we have trust in Him.  Kevin received a special blessing of comfort and assurance that the procedure will be successful.  We are so grateful for the friends that we were able to call on for this special and sacred blessing.

Yesterday Kevin tolerated the cyberknife procedure extremely well - 43 minutes of lying still on a board with a claw clamped on his face.  He will be getting four more treatments next week - Tues, Wed, Thurs, and Fri.  The doctors said, “we have ONE chance to get this thing so we’re going for it.”  Kevin was happy that all of the appointments don’t interfere with his work schedule. (whatever) So I am trying to embrace my “abby normal” nickname. It fits me, and I’ve been called worst things before.