Sometimes Life Really Isn't Fair

There are few things that grate on me more than someone saying, "It's not fair!"  Of course it's not fair.  Life isn't fair and we were certainly never promised that it would be.  But sometimes life really isn't fair and I just have to say it.

Craig has been looking forward to the stake priest high adventure trip for several months.  They are going white-water rafting, caving and rock-climbing.  He has done all three before and was looking forward to doing them all again, especially the white-water rafting.  This year the stake made all the arrangements through the Boy Scouts, which means the BSA makes the rules.  We found out last week that one of the rules is anyone wishing to participate in the white-water activities has to pass the BSA swim test.  A few years ago this would not have been a problem, but the progression of Craig's FA now makes this impossible.  He can still swim, but there is little chance of his passing the swim test and there is no chance he will take it in front of the other boys.  When I got the email about the swim test I cried.

The stake YM president called to see if we could sign a waiver, but they stuck to their guns.  On the one hand I understand their position.  Making an exception for Craig opens up a can of worms for them.  On the other hand, everyone wears a life jacket and a helmet.  There is little chance of a bad outcome for Craig. 

We broke the news to Craig, who took it so calmly and so well that I was almost embarrassed about crying over it.  We offered to send him to EFY in Nauvoo instead.  After thinking about it he decided that would be much better than spending 2 days in camp without his friends, feeling bitter.  EFY in Nauvoo comes with a bonus.  They do all the regular EFY stuff and see the church sites and do baptisms in the Nauvoo Temple.  It's the same week as the rafting trip.  Now he will have stories to tell as well and his will likely involve cute girls!

Last week we also learned that Kelly has a pilonidal cyst which has to be removed.  It is outpatient surgery, but still rather involved and the recovery can take a while.  Hopefully she will be feeling decent after two weeks because she and I are spending a week in Nauvoo while Craig is at EFY.  She's understandably uptight about the surgery.  I can't blame her.  After telling Abby about it in my email last week, she wrote back that she thinks she has one too.  Fortunately hers can wait until she gets home. . . at least I hope it can.

And to top off the week, I finally took myself to the doctor.  My cholesterol is a little high, my iron is low and I possibly have sleep apnea.  The latter two account for why I drag myself through the day and doze off every time I sit down and read.  I've got a couple of tests I have to do while they try to figure out the cause of the iron deficiency.  In a three week period we will go from no one touching their deductible to three of us meeting it and then some.  It's going to be an expensive summer.  Thankfully we have some things to look forward too.

Well, I'm off to have some ice cream, in spite of my cholesterol.  Somehow ice cream makes life more fair.