scoey's conundrum: Family

Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts

the 1st day of school, & other monday morning musings...

Today is the first day of school for all 3 kids - Pasty is starting his senior year. IDoey is a freshman. TheWeez is off to 7th grade & Middle-School. Preparation for the day included everybody in bed, willingly & of their own accord, by 10 p.m. Lunches packed. Clothes washed, pressed & laid out. 3 mostly self-sufficient humans getting themselves together... nice.

And then this a.m., everyone up no later than 6. No real rushing - just the familiar sounds of Pasty downstairs with Mike & Mike, Weezer's hair dryer, & IDoey's humming. The inexplicable & matchingly liberal application of Axe Body Spray or Ralph...

The funny part is that we all ended up at the counter in the kitchen... with theBean, (starting her week off with a Day Off of Work,) willingly making breakfast ala "short-order-made-to-order.." What a site to see.

Then I realized that it was time for the kids to head out... & I flashed back across the 13 years of First Day of School that we've done.

Pasty's first day of pre-K at Seeliger with his little siblings jealous of his chance to get out of the house & go to PLAY.

Our first day of school upon our move to Sparks - mid-year of all times... Pasty was a good sport through a tough situation.

IDoey's first day of Kindergarten with Mrs. Martin.

The day that all 3 kids finally went to school together.

Pasty's move to Jr High, then High School. Then IDoey's.

And now Weez is out of elementary & into the world of 12 going on 25...

I wanted to get them to pose for a picture, but I couldn't find the words. They were stuck in my throat behind a big lump. My eyes were swimming & I found that all I could really do was sit & look at them in their morning routine.

Coffee helped compose me, & I finally eeked the words out - & asked the 3 kids to pose by the stairs. Without a word of complaint, they did, & went into the familiar routine of goofy silliness that characterizes & lets steam off of such moments. Let me take several pictures even.

And then off.

Sigh.

the world as I remember it...

Time passes. A blink, & POOF...

Thursday evening blogging while I'm waiting for my next cab-fare...

I’ve been counting down for the last 12 weeks… & I’m down to double digits. Monday, I’m off to the Center for Spiritual Renewal in Christiansburg, VA – where theBean & I went last year. This year, I’m flying solo for a 7 day rest, renewal, counseling, & solitude trip. Can’t wait. I’m planning on reading, going to a couple of baseball games (Salem Red Sox), & hanging out on the fringes of the Virginia Tech (VT) campus – there are tons of good eateries & loitering spots that I plan to occupy. Hmmm. Can’t wait.

Stop & go driving in the heat is most likely my least favorite thing these days… seems like with the schedules that we’re keeping, I am trying to enjoy it & make the most of my transit time. To Golden Eagle. Church. To Reed High. Home. Repeat.

So I try to make it so that I’ve always got a Speech on mp3 to listen to – I’ve taken to loading my phone to make my solo time in the car “listening time.” It’s good… but I’ll take highway driving hands down.

Both boys are in ‘double-days’ for football right now – meaning – they have 2 practices a day for the next 10 days – helmets & shorts until Monday, then lots of hitting in full pads to get ready for Week 1 of the 2009 season. Go Pasty. Go IDoey…

Just got a new paperback copy of Lord of the Rings for my trip – I hope it smells good. I love the smell of a good book. Isn’t that viert?

I love the coolness of the evenings lately – very nice. Now THIS is the Nevada I know.

TheBean has had a turn or 3 with “positional vertigo.” Thanks to Christine the Gifted Ear Doctor & the Mighty Hand & Outstretched Arm of the LORD, she is up & about, walking in straight lines again.

I thought Ellie was small, then I saw Ellie’s cousin, my nephew Trevor… He is small. Then I saw Baby Zoe – now SHE is really small. And she makes the same ‘Weezy” noises that gave my Weezer her nickname. I wonder if there’s something in the girly DNA in the fam…

New shoes. Nike Sparq (with an Q!) Which of course makes them eXXXXXXtra cool. And boy can I run fast & jump higher than ever.

Sometimes all a man needs is a tortilla filled with cheese. After its been heated in a pan, of course.

Its funny to me that incredibly terrible movies keep coming out every week, & people keep lining up to go see them, as though somehow its required to do so. Goodness. Not even free popcorn with butter all ov-ah could get me to the theatre... Oh, for a Hitchock classic. Like “Notorious.”

School starts up again for us in just a couple of weeks - & all 3 of the kiddos will be out of the house, M-F, by 7 a.m. That’s not late, no, no, it’s earl-ay, earl-ay…

And on that note, what ever happened to the Spin Doctors?

I’m interested to see how the whole “Michael Vick is back in the NFL” will be playing out in Blacksburg & the VT campus…

More & more I find myself singing little songs that I have made up, somewhere, sometime, for some reason. And I find myself… amused. And the best part is that the iPhone now has a Voice Recorder just in case I generate a gem that I can send to Jack’s Big Music Show or to the Wiggles (if the Wiggles are still around. Must check into that…)

Over/under for the number of fantasy football teams I will have this fall = 10. Currently, I’m taking the “under.”

cleaning the freezer & other musings on a Monday...

I'm not pregnant, but I'm nesting. Went through the pantry with theBean. Swept it. Through away stuff with shelf life that ended in 2007. Truly.

Went through the refrigerator. Ditto. Found a milk carton, (MILK!) that expired in December 2008. Ouch. Never even saw it. Found some food that Julia made. (Yes the Julia that went back to Deutschland in February...) Nice. (NOTE: This doesn't reflect on anyone's personal cleaning habits... it's just a blog, man.)

Today, I decided to tackle the freezer, since theBean was headed for Shift #2 on the day. Went through the freeze-dried foods, the unwrapped icy-treats, & other stuff that one finds in the freezer. Then, I came across some Drumsticks. You know, that incredible tasty ice-cream treat that sits on a sugar cone, covered with quik-dry chocolate & peanuts?

Well, what I found were the 'heads' of the drumsticks. Turns out, the cones had all be eaten, & some kind soul had placed the drumstick heads back into the freezer for anyone that might want the leftovers.

So I did what anyone would do. I ate the chocolate off the ice-cream & put them back in the freezer. Silly us. :)

Went to the Hand Dr. for I-Doey. Got the stitches out. Looks good - like he'll be able to start in with his summer weights & football stuff tomorrow - just no contact drills for the next 3 weeks, at which time more X-Rays will be taken to check on the progress of young I-Doey's finger.

We're hoping, praying & believing for a complete recovery, without any of the finger-hypersensitivity that the Dr. said might be a possibility. Here's to healing. Woohoo!

According to my 2 oldest children, I may be showing signs of getting smarter. Or at least being smarter than they thought I was. I will update you on any more progress I make.

I'm ecstatic - the book re-release that I've been waiting for is finally here... Jerry Cook's classic, Love, Acceptance, & Forgiveness: Being Christian in a Non-Christian World came out last week. This has been one of the books that has most formed my outlook on life, the Church, & my view of God.

If you have never read it, by all means, get a copy & do so. If you have, get the re-release today. It is the classic you remember that has been brought up to date & made even better... its even got a 'study guide' included in the back.

On my second reading of the re-release today. :)

Thinking about how thankful I am that the Bible doesn't need to be updated.

I believe that we're on the brink of something large. A fundamental shift in the way we live, work together, & carry out life. Not trying to come up with the Next Big Thing, but rather trying to cooperate with what I believe are the doors that are opening in front of us.

New ways of doing my job - new roles, with other things not happening any more. Trusting that God has provided & will provide for what comes next. Thankful I don't have to have all the answers, but just do my part. And encourage others to do the same. Wherever they are. Cryptic enough?

I think I'll go eat some more chocolate off the Drumstick heads.

musings on the 1st of July

Let's just say that I've been a bit... deliberate in my blogging the last few weeks... meaning, its been slow. Not because there's nothing to blog about, (because, really, has that ever stopped me before,) but rather because I'm processing in my head. And I'm back, with an intent to bring the cheese.

Today is anniversary #20 of my marriage to theBean. When I think back through all the little 'coincidences' that led to us connecting that 3rd week of June, 1988, it boggles my mind. Perhaps I'll spend a little time revisiting the birth of our adventure.

I'm not much of a Destiny believer (meaning: there's 1 person out there for me & Destiny will bring us to-gev-uh...) which automatically identifies me as a "chick-flick hater" (not true: I'll watch 'em. Just don't buy into 'em.) And as a "non-romantic" (also not true: I may not be the Dr. of Love, but I have been known to be able to romance, wine, & dine my girl...)

However, there were more than a few 'what if's' that had to come together - when I was reminiscing about that with theBean, I asked her, "How could I get so lucky that you would love ME?" She said, "Hmm. Good question. You must've just been in the right place at the right time..." With a smile.

I was thinking about my life, & wondering if I would enjoy it if my job had a "summer break" - like my 3 kids do. Sometimes, the loads of free time, lounging around, doing whatever, whenever, however seems attractive. And then I realize that one of life's great joys is the ability to do something with purpose...

Mind you, I'm not talking about deriving my worth from work; instead, its knowing that my life matters. Being able to put my hands to something, to give my all & do my best plays a role in the feeling of contentment. I've been reading through Ecclesiastes & found something that sums that up for me:

Here is what I have seen to be and fitting: to eat, to drink, & enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward...Ecclesiastes 5:18 NASB

Perhaps the doldrums, depression, & discontent come from not having something to apply one's hands to? Not just a job, but a place to volunteer, help out, give of oneself. Hmmm.

Just booked my time at CSR for the 3rd week of August. Me & theBean spent some time there last year & it was life-changing. If you'd like to reminisce (I know I did!) you can check out the posts from last August HERE

Current reading list:

Love, Acceptance, & Forgiveness - the re-release by Jerry Cook. Sweet. It just came out, & I can't put it down.

Mother Kirk - by Douglas Wilson - a study in practical ecclesiology (the study of church doctrine,) in the reformed tradition... Hmmm.

The Mishnah - though I'm using it more as a resource & research book rather than reading through it cover to cover...

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality - Peter Scazzero - revisiting this in advance of my solo August journey to CSR...

Time to go work out. Then home to shower, put on my foo-foo clothes, & out to dinner (which will be, most likely a slab of beef,) with my One, myBean, the love of my life, mother of my children, most B-E-A-Utiful woman in the entire world...

Sigh.

whew...

I was at my 14 year old son's baseball game, City Tournament don't you know, reading, waiting for it to start. All the players were running through their warmups, taking groundballs, playing soft-toss, the usual preliminaries...

I was jerked from my book world with the calling of my name. My son was walking towards me, holding his right hand with his left, gingerly... like when he was small & had an owie... I (calmly) ran over to him to see what was up - well, it turns out that what was up was he had taken a bad hop grounder off of the tip of his middle finger... and it was bleeding...

Upon closer examination & in conferring with one of his coaches, I could see that his fingernail was sitting at a 45 degree angle... & that there seemed to be something wrong with the end of his finger... but we couldn't see it through the blood.

I'm solo at the game, glad I'm there, but now wrestling with the fact that now I have to parent, & to make tough decisions. No panic. Banish worry. Be calm. Pray for peace.

We have to go to the ER, just in case this is more than just a busted nail. Which hospital?

My mind raced... called our insurance carrier in the car... driving towards the nearest hospital with a hope that I wouldn't have to pass it by & go somewhere else. Didn't. Hoped for an empty waiting room. Yes.

Went through triage, (can't see anything because of the blood,) & saw a doctor within 1 hour (a personal record for me & mine for ER trips.) X-rays. Answers.

The tip of the finger is broken off (open distal phalanx fracture) & bone is protruding from the fingertip, through the flesh. Dr. wants a game plan.

Clean it. Stitches. Reset. Split. More Xrays.

Everything went according to the game plan. Thank you Jesus.

Next up, due to the severity of the break, we're off to a hand specialist to see if surgery will be required to repair the finger. Unknown.

Today, I sit at my desk, a card table in my room really, & ponder the thoughts that flood my mind, & fight for attention. The feeling of powerlessness that washes over me watching my son in pain, lots of pain. Worry about the unknown: will it heal right? WIll he need surgery? What will it cost?

I think back upon the ride over to the game, where we prayed for him for peace. Confidence. Strength. Thinking it was for the baseball game. Revisiting the hours in the ER where he recalled our prayer & laughed at the irony of how our evening ended up, & that the answers to prayer looked a lot different than him trying to hit a baseball.

Facing my own fears. Inadequacies. Powerlessness. But not living or acting out according to how I feel or how things seem to be... rather, trusting & choosing to trust that God is in control, & is near. Not that He's ever far, but the sense of His being "WITH" us is tangible.

Surprises...

There's lots of things in the world that I don't understand. I've just found another one.

Yesterday, a priority mail package arrived. Looked like something I'd get from Amazon if I'd ordered a book... but this was from ATT. Hmm. Wonder what they could be sending?

After opening the package, I discovered 3 things:

Turns out, due to a glitch in the ATT computer billing system, 1 member of our family has had their phone bill separated from the rest of the "ATT Family Plan"

This is I-Doey's bill, covering his phone line. It is 262 pages long.

It has 14,114 reasons why we chose to go with the 'unlimited texting' plan. 14,114. Texts. 1 person. 1 month. Or, 470 per day.

Truly, right now, I have no response.

Friday musings...

Sitting at the completely clear & clean kitchen counter, coffee nearby, preparing for blog-age is one of my favorite things. Esp. on Fridays, which is my day of rest.... I love it. Along with brown paper bags, wrapped up with string of course...

I'm really, really looking forward to my first Aces game - hopefully 4/18... Preliminary weather report: High of 68F, low of 40. No rain, light wind.

So say we all!

Life is simpler without having to put up a pretense to try to impress others. It's at least less work. I want to "be comfortable in my own skin,"... I think that's how Bono put it...

As background, I occasionally have blood sugar issues - when I don't eat often enough, or don't get enough protein, my blood sugar plummets, as does my outlook, mood, demeanor... you get the picture.

On that note, kids are funny. And pretty quick learners too... we were having an interchange with theWeez about a particular series of choices she made that resulted in us needing to have a "Talk." Obviously, didn't fully appreciate how the "Talk" was going, & further, had issues with the method of Presentation that I had chosen. But rather than take it up a notch & try to argue, bluster, or complain, she just said:

"When was the last time you ate? You should eat something, & then we can talk..."

Nice.

Easter is this Sunday... I'm looking forward to it - the story of redemption never gets old. And I never want to just go on 'auto-pilot' & mail it in either, just because its Easter. May I never lose the wonder...

NOTE: No rocks were thrown during the writing of the following paragraphs...

Easter, along with Christmas Eve, seem to be times where churches are more prone to troll for newbies using the "Be Our Guest" scene from the Beauty & the Beast Disney film... where we put our best on, place our best foot forward, with the best music, best speech, & best egg hunt for the kiddies. All in the space of 70 minutes... & just in time for the next best service.

It seems to be more designed for a christian culture than for one of pre-christians... to attract christians from other churches to come & see. I ponder consumer-church... Hmmm...

END NOTE

I was asked out on a date, for tonight, by theBean. Don't know where we're going - it's a surprise. I'm going to do my best to make myself extra pretty... :)

monday musings...

Home after a great weekend spent in Portland with theBean's cousin Christy & her husband Levi. And their little dog Winston. It turns out after 3 days together, we remembered to take 2 pictures. 2. Silly us. Hopefully, we can snag some of the pics that Levi & his family took when they came over for dinner on Saturday...

Christy is 9 years younger than theBean & was the flower girl in our wedding... it rained (not unusual for Portland :) which was beautiful. I loved the steady but tolerable showers, the cloudy-overcastness, the glimmers of sun breaking through the clouds for seconds at a time. The food they cooked for us was incredible, & we hope to get several of the recipes to make our own...

Both Levi & Christy work at Multnomah University, which is about 5 minutes walk from their house. As I've stated before, I absolutely love the higher ed environment, & my recent grad school pursuits were really fired up seeing the school & talking through all the ed. options that Levi will be exploring. Lucky.

Words can't really describe the impact of the weekend - catching up with Levi & Christy; watching theBean with her cousin, & finding how eerily similar they are. Like the same foods. Can't breathe too well through their noses. Both think they're pretty funny & laugh quite a bit. Have an interesting time pronouncing certain words, esp. words with an "S". It was priceless.

Makes me wonder about the power & wonder of knowing & being known... & the comfort & encouragement of seeing someone that is 'like' you... hmmm...

Came home to sun. I love Reno. Clear blue skies. Light wind. Still manages to be freezing cold at night. I love it!

4+ mile run with Brother today... the good news is that I'm still feeling it... hips, knees, ankles are doing well, which makes me happy. I'm working up to a regular schedule of 5 miles (3-4x/week) & hope to do a 10K one of these days.

Reading through CS Lewis' sci-fi trilogy... just finished the 1st one, & started Perelandra last night... Thursday, I start the finale......

I enjoy the trilogy because the main character, E. Ransom, is based on JRR Tolkien... & at the same time is a completely unexceptional individual... whom nonetheless is chosen for an extraordinary series of missions, to battle evil incarnate with seemingly nothing but his wits & a growing spiritual sensitivity... good times.

Finally caught the BSG finale. Meh.

the good news is...

...this work week is only 3 days long, due to the impending Thanksgiving holiday. The bad news is... there's still just as much to be done as is in a normal work week, but with 2 days less in which to accomplish it.

So the only sane & right thing to do is... to downsize the work load for the week. In a marked departure from what I would have done just a few short years ago, I will intentionally do less, & aim to 'walk life' at a leisurely pace.

Rather than try to pull off 3 marathon days in which everything I can think of doing is crammed into a 30 hour span, I will do what I can... prioritize & finish the "Have to's;" delegate what can be delegated. Put off til next week the stuff that can wait.

Then, I can enjoy the time off, be thankful for what God has provided for me, & truly BE present, emotionally, physically, & mentally for the food, football, family, & friends.

And that is something that I can be truly thankful for.

gone drivin'

Though we never left the driveway, a good time was had by all.

#1

Guess who's 1 year old today?

Yep. Ellie Grace.

She's walking. Talking. Driving. (At least sitting shotgun in the driveway.)

And she gets SOOOO excited when the pastries bag shows up every morning, filling the office with "Nananananana" which obviously means, "Unk, I would like a blueberry scone, please."

Happy Birthday, Ellie G.

Mickey

My brother, Johnny, was something of an artist - & the thing that we all wanted him to draw for us was his "Mickey Mouse" - just Mickey's head. He'd sign the bottom of the picture with a flourish... we had tons of them.

Maybe it was because Disneyland is/was such a happy memory for all of us - one of our favorite places on earth to go together & spend time & build shared memories. Perhaps it was the Mickey Mouse pancakes that we ate at the River Belle Terrace... (which, by the way, my dad could make better & more of, for cheaper... :)

When Johnny got sick, drawing Mickey was a miniature vacation, I think, for him & for us. Throughout the illness & treatment, Mickey (along with baseball cards,) remained a way to escape the reality of what was going on, if just for a few minutes.

Here I am 18 years after his death, missing him. I regret that my 3 kids never got to know my brother personally... I am intentionally & purposefully trying to help them get to know Johnny & what he was like through stories, pictures, & the little things he liked & disliked.

And one of the things he liked, was Mickey. And when Mickey Mouse is around, it doesn't seem like my brother is so far away, & it gives me hope for the time when we'll be reunited.

Last Saturday, I got a Mickey tattoo on my left shoulder blade - because it reminds me of my brother, John Leavy Locke.

I've got a good heart...

Over the last week, I've been undergoing tests on my heart, some of which I've written about HERE. Yesterday, I went in for my 'evaluation', where the good Dr. Nylk (rhymes with Milk) would interpret for me the results of all the tests I had last week, & let me know what, if anything, I'd need to do to follow up...

After arriving & being ushered to the chilly examination room, I had the privilege of waiting an hour. I took the opportunity to reflect, send text messages to theBean, & to kick back with my eyes closed... Waiting has its perks.

Dr. Nylk came in & started with, "Great news," which I think is a nice way to start a 'heart-test-result-evaluation' if you ask me. The EKG is 'perfect,' (his word, that he used throughout the evaluation.) The echo-cardiogram is 'perfect, as a heart should be.' The thickness of the heart muscle is 'perfect.' The results of my lipid panel (cholesterol test) show that my LDL (bad) levels are well within acceptable limits at 97. My triglycerides came in at 88, also very good, & my HDL (good) levels were a whopping 85, which he said was incredible, as it is a real treat to get the HDL level on most people to 40.

The evaluation bottom line: I don't need to go back, & he doesn't ever want to see me again.

Hooray.

Part of my reflection in the waiting room was about the process that I've been going through in getting my heart muscle evaluated... going through various tests, examinations, indignities, & pokes, then waiting to hear from someone with some good perspective, someone who could speak with authority as to the health of my heart. It reminded me how similar this process has been to my own journey on emotional health & well-being, my time at CSR, meetings with Chuck, re-evaluating priorities, values, & asking God to 139me. I may blog this in more depth...

I'm glad to hear that my test results were 'perfect'. I also underestimated what the effect of said results would be on my kids, esp. the Pasty Gangster. He held onto me for about 10 minutes & told me how happy he was that my heart was good. At one point, I tried to detach from his squeeze (he's 6', 180# of solid muscle & he was loving me TIGHT) & he said, "Dad. I'm not done."

I want the results of my spiritual heart exam to be good as well. For me, & for my kids, & for the kids they eventually have, because a bad heart can be & is often hereditary.

Here's to good hearts.

Tuesday afternoon...

A couple weeks back, I found out that my brother Moe had been diagnosed with HCM - I wrote about it HERE. This week is test week for me... meaning Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday I get to undergo a barrage of tests, pokes, & prods to see if this potentially hereditary thickening of the myocardium of the heart is something that I have as well.

Yesterday, I had the EKG, which is a way (invented by the Germans!) to monitor the electrical activity of the heart. Eileen attached 11 sticky pads to my chest, & then hooked me up, one electronic tentacle at a time, to the EKG machine. She turned it on & left it running for a good 10 seconds, then switched it off, & reversed the tentacle attachment process. Then, in a swift motion, (& with nary a warning, I might add) proceeded to remove the sticky pads from my chest. As I'm not a manscaper, this hurt. 11 times.

Then it was on to the blood pressure check, ala the arm cuff. Only this time, it was taken on both arms, also by the aforementioned Eileen.

The doctor came in about this time, & placed the icy cold (is there any other kind?) stethoscope on my chest, back, neck, etc. & asked me to breathe. And flex. Cool. Day 1 of the testing was then over, with another round of tests to be set up for ASAP. And no real interpretation of the results of the day, other than, "Doesn't look bad."

Today was echo-cardiogram day, which is an ultrasound of the structure of the heart. For those of you who have had an ultrasound (like when you're pregnant) you know exactly what comes next... the goop. Keith applied the goop, liberally I might add, to my chest, & spent the next half hour doing his best to make sure that there wasn't anywhere on my chest, neck & stomach that didn't get covered with the stuff. Nice. Thanks. But the good news is, when it was done, he gave me a paper towel, 1, one, paper towel to clean myself up. Let's just say that I needed to go get a few more. Like 12.

And, no interpretation of the results yet. That comes later; next Tuesday actually.

Tomorrow I go in to LabCorp, after 12 hours of no food, (which obviously makes us Oh so Hungry...) to get blood drawn - to test my cholesterol, among other things. After that, I eat (of course) then I'm off, solo :(, to Danville for the Fall Pastors' Conference, which goes until Friday.

Good times.

And the times, they are a-changin'. Again.

Big changes are afoot in the greater organization I & our church family are apart of... What's happening seems to be a realignment.

I say, "Yay."

This should make life over the next few months a bit interesting.

a fleeting reflection

Disneyland is one of my favorite places in the world – when I get old, really old, & retire, I want to get a season pass so that I can go to Disneyland whenever I feel like it, which would probably be monthly, for at least a few days at a time. Especially during the Christmas holidays.

I was thinking about why I feel the way I do about Disneyland, & I believe it has to do with what it represents to me. When our family went on vacations when I was but a wee lad, it was to Disneyland. And this was back in the day when you had to pay an entrance fee, then had to buy tickets in order to get onto the rides, A-E, with “E” tickets being the really cool rides, like the Matterhorn & later on, Space Mountain, & the “A” tickets being the waste of time rides, like “Small World.”

Disneyland meant Mickey Mouse pancakes, at the River Belle, which tasted so much better than any other pancakes because they had ears. It meant “Pirates of the Caribbean” 10 times. It meant ice-cream at day’s end. It meant buying one of those “Lollipop Guild” lollies that you know you’re never, ever going to be able to finish. It meant getting so tired that I couldn’t even keep eyes open, no matter how hard I tried. It meant dragging myself out of the park, 1 hour after closing, trying to make it all the way to the hotel across the street from the park. It meant family, all together – the good, the bad, the happy, the sad, the fighting with siblings, the sheer joy of the shared experience.

My kids currently don’t appreciate Disneyland in the same way (or at the same level of fervor,) that I do, but I’m betting that will change as time goes by… if not for the sake of Disney as the king of all commercial opportunities, but for the time that it means is spent together. It might seem like a waste of time, resources, money, & all kinds of other prudent sounding things, but I think going to Disneyland is worth it. And maybe we’ll go around Christmas again.

It could happen…

Save Ferris

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Ferris Buehler

We try to have family meetings on a regular basis; not just in the middle of a crisis, or even in its aftermath, (though sometimes by necessity it happens then...) The purpose of the meeting is to take stock - individually & as a whole - of what's happening in our lives. What we're enjoying, & what brings life; what we're struggling with, & wish would just go away. (NOTE: family members are exempt from the list of things that need to 'go away.')

Entering school year 2008/2009, I am struck by the need for this time together - to be able to have every member speak out & be heard, & maybe more importantly, to hear others. I think its because it gives us time & pause to regroup; to reprioritize; to change; to forgive; to give focus to something that has been neglected, forgotten, or avoided; to remind ourselves of who & what we want to be - again, as individuals & as a family. To pull in close, & feel the strength of standing together, for each other.

It's a girl...!

Before you start offering congratulations on a little 9-month surprise, (no, we're not having a baby,) I need to 'splain. Or if there is no time, at least to sum up. Our family is growing.

Coming up on 8 September, Julia Kern, a 19-year old from a town in the SW of Germany, near "Ottesweier", is coming to live with us for between 6-9 months... depending on her VISA (not the credit card, the application to stay in the US.)

The picture above was taken in May of this year - Julia is wearing the black shirt, & is standing in the front (middle), right next to her big little sister Linda, & her parents (on the left). On the right are two of my favorite people - Johannes & Anja Livelli - & we had just spent the evening eating pizza & drinking the local red .

When we've talked to people about Julia's impending arrival, they inevitably ask:

How did you find her?
TheBean & I know her pastor, Roland Lorenz. We've been getting together each November at the Foursquare Germany Pastors Conference. Julia has wanted to visit (& live) in the States, & Roland helped us to connect with Julia & her family in August 2007... & we've been in touch for the last year planning this... (Roland is in the picture below...)

Where is she going to stay?
In our house. In one of the rooms. Not with Pasty or Joey...

Why would you have someone stay with you for so long?
We like having people live with us - there are qualifiers for that... :) Part of it is that we love Germany, college students, & relationship-based Christ-following. This is the perfect situation where they all come together.

What if it doesn't work out?
Then I will have a series of cool blogs to write. :) I think we'll grow through this, & we'll make it. She's low-maintenance, great with kids, & it's not something we're freaking out about.

What do your kids think?
Depends on when you ask them... We talked about this A LOT & made the decision about it as a family.

Just about every time. Just about every question.

So, it's on - insta-family addition, w/o the pain of diapers. We'll never be the same. Can't wait.

No, yes I can. But we are looking forward to it.

Milestone...

This a.m., my daughter, the Weez, the youngest child, the only girl, the character actress, the songster, the Princess Buttercup... is off to Jr High Camp... as a camper. Sigh...

Time flies.

scoey's conundrum