Not one complete thought.

My mind is all over the place. Everywhere. I logged onto Facebook to give a quick update from the hospital and was horrified to learn of a shooting spree at an elementary school in Connecticut. Horrified. So as I sift through my musings, I thought I'd blog a bit for sorting:

1. Praise God my Benjamin came through his surgery today. He has struggled with some pain due to spasms but has perked up this afternoon and is talking and even smiling a bit. The surgeon was able to fuse his wrist bones to correct the deformity and to lengthen tendons in his elbow for some range of motion there. We can not know how everything will turn out yet...but we do know -- and you can tell from my photo here -- that the arm is straight again! A big improvement from here:

And though I can not see through the cast...the x-rays look cool!

2. If you color-code your triplets at birth, you may affect any color-decisions they make for the rest of their lives. Yes...Benjamin was blue, Mason red and Claire yellow. When the surgeon asked Benjamin to pick a color this morning, he didn't even hesitate to say "blue". It is exactly the color that was "his" as a young trip!

3. When people sing about dreaming of a White Christmas, they fail to mention the biting pain to toes and fingers or the stinging blast to legs even through pants. Oh my goodness. It looks beautiful outside this hospital but oh dear me, I have become an Arizona girl with thin thin blood and an affinity for flip-flops with bling. Brrr and brrr.

4. Sometimes hanging onto things for sentimental reasons works. I bought a long all-purpose coat when we left Alabama for Chicago in 1995. It endured four hard winters there and five more in Minnesota before we moved first to Texas and then on to Arizona during Wade's school and training years. I gave all our winter coats away to charity after a year in the desert. The kids had outgrown their's and I knew life without snow pants and mittens was a great fit for my kiddo in a wheelchair. But I couldn't part with my coat. Couldn't give it away.

So when I reached into my closet searching for something that would keep me warm....I found my 18 year old coat....and it still fit. Now, I may not be rocking the fashion world this week but I was warm getting from the hotel to the hospital today and it made me smile.

5. Having the encouragement of friends on Facebook pop up on my phone sure makes surgery days a tad bit less lonely.

6. I am glad to be a Mama. Regardless of the pain of watching my child go through surgeries -- I am glad to be the one to offer him comfort and point him to his faith. Regardless of the exhaustion of days like today, I am grateful to be the one chosen to receive the gift of this young man in my life (and his brother and sisters!). Parenting is not easy but oh it is a blessing.

7. I think that is all, but I hate not to have a list of ten.

8. Did I say I miss my other three?

9.  Will you join me in praying for the families in Connecticut? I can not even imagine.

10. You are a blessing. Thank you for covering us in prayer. Again. We are so grateful. Please continue to pray for healing and recovery for Benjamin as well as for safety while my little family is divided.

Much love!