Definition of "Idea"

Eli was working on making a bird shape from some geometric shaped pieces. When he finished, he proudly showed it to me and explained:

"I wanted to make something. My brain said, 'Hmmm, how about making a bird?' So I listened to my brain!"

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On Monday I had a call from Dr. Duncan. We had had Micah get an echocardiogram and ECG on the 17th, because I've had all the kids get them since Charis's heart operation. So far none of them have had issues. I had even forgotten I'd taken him to have this done, but today Dr Duncan called, saying the echo didn't show any problems but the ECG showed some unusual signals. They'd sent the reading to Children's Hospital who had called back and said it warranted further investigation. The cardio team from the C.H. travel around and will contact me for an appointment when they're in the area in 3-6 months.

I'm wondering about calling the ped. back and asking for another ECG to see if that one was just a fluke, like he wiggled too much or something, and also to get more specific information about the nature of the irregularity. I could then look it up to find more about it myself. Dr Duncan said it was something about how the electrical signals left the left heart (or maybe he said left atrium) and moved downward. I don't know if he meant how the signals left his heart and moved to his leg (where they had an electrode) or how the signals moved from upper to lower heart.

I was feeling okay about it when he first called, but now I'm not sure I want to wait 3-6 months to find out if anything is really off.

Definition of electrocardiogram (ECG, EKG)
This is a tracing over time of the electrical potential between two points on the surface of the body caused by a beating heart. The electrocardiogram reflects the contractile activity of the heart muscle and can be used to identify a variety of cardiac dysfunctions including arrhythmias, infarctions, and hypertrophy.

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We are still waiting to find out if and how much the insurance will cover the "annex." We anticipate it will cover the walls and roof and that's it. We would have to borrow on the increased value of the house to finish the inside, or else save up for 20 years, after which we wouldn't need it any more! Having extra bedrooms would free up the downstairs for renting out, so it would be borrowing to invest in that sense. We had thought seriously of making it into a 2-bedroom suite for renting out, but Graham was told that just getting the necessary extra power and sewer to the area could cost $15,000 to $20,000, before paying for any building.

Jesse (14) drew up some plans for the proposed rebuilding of the area. (It's 20' x 40'.) We already knew we didn't want an operating pool because of having young children. He put in two bedrooms on the end, and a large games room for the rest of it. A pool table, foosball table, air hockey table, and ping pong table were neatly arranged in the central area, and four arcade games and large video game console with accompanying sofa sat all along one side. Outside he planned a basketball mini court. Hmmmmmm! I thought of making the pool itself into a storage area and bomb shelter, 80s-style, with thick rubber matting going up the slope instead of stairs, and a trapdoor at the top, perhaps coming up underneath the pool table! Hahaha! I also thought that a mini arcade isn't such a bad idea, if we can get them to operate only on tokens, which would be earned by completing one's responsibilities first.