Countdown T - 9.5 Hours

So, the countdown to surgery is on.  Shawna will be heading in to surgery at 7:30am EST tomorrow morning.  We are set to be at the hospital at 5am for some last blood work that needs to be done and the lab there usually has a turnaround of 1 hour but just to be safe, they wanted it done 2.5 hours before surgery.  We're going to try to sleep a little bit tonight, but butterflies/nerves/anxiousness may keep the sleep to a minimum.  Thankfully, we won't have a whole lot else to do in the next few days but hang out at CHOP and catch up on sleep so all will be good.
The trip back to Philly was smooth today, although it was by far our slowest one way trip of the three we've made.  The previous two we made in 11 hours or a touch less.  Today was 12 hours on the dot due to 6, yes 6, stops along the way.  One of the directions from the doctors/nurses was for Shawna to drink an excessive amount of fluids today which doesn't coincide well with trying to make good time while traveling by automobile.  We foresaw this as being a problem (although one of the stops was due to my bowels, not hers, needing an emergency stop....a problem I've been told is genetic, passed down from my Grandma Carlson) and packed some of our boys diapers to use if need (yes, it's been done on trips before in the Carlson vehicle).  We never did resort to using those, though. 
These 12 hours were a bit more enjoyable than the last few trips of 10-11 hours, as we had air conditioning.  The last trip was done with the windows down most of the journey as my cars AC didn't want to cooperate.  Thanks to Jeremy and Hannah Stein and the suggestion and purchase of a quick AC fix kit from AutoZone (they met me at 7:45 this morning to help me...excuse me...do it for me) we got the cold air kicking.  That, along with finishing the book on disc Up Country and starting The Broker, made the trip seem very short.
It was tough to leave the boys, again, this morning at Shawna's parents house but it gives us a great sense of calm knowing that we leave them with two great sets of grandparents who love and care for them deeply.  Shoot, we think our boys enjoy this more than being at home with us.  Last week when we were out here Shawna tried talking to the boys on the phone, but was basically blown off because they were too busy playing with their new found best friend, Lilly the kitten at Grandpa John and Grandma Janet's house!!  Why do I get the feeling that when this whole journey comes to an end in late November or early December, we may end up taking home a new pet with us?  We're looking forward to the boys coming out on Thursday with John and Janet (Shawna's parents) for a long weekend before John, Myles, Peyton, and I journey back to Zeeland on Labor Day (that will be the definition of organized chaos!!!).  It was great to get back for a few days to see friends and family and we can't thank everyone enough for all the support through so many different avenues.  This whole journey wouldn't be possible without the support system we fortunately have around us.  It is impossible to describe it.  People are good.
Moving onwards and upwards from Philly!!

CHOOSING JOY

-Jeff