We are getting a little more used to pacific time - of course going to bed early and sleeping for 9 hours doesn't hurt either! We had a very pleasant morning and everyone was in good spirits. We had breakfast in the restaurant downstairs then drove to downtown Seattle!
The drive over was very nice - I was able to see a cloud free sky and from what I understand that is a rare sight here! We went to downtown Seattle and parked close to the Pike Street Public Market. This is the one made famous by the Pike Street Fish Company - you might have seen them if you've watched leadership videos or read their book FISH! or FISH STICKS! They made a fortune by talking how they made their fish stand the best in the market by working together as a team and having a good time. They toss fish and make a lot of noise as they are doing it. Personally, I wasn't all that impressed - they just appeared to be playing to the crowd gathered.
The Public Market was teeming with life and is a very cool place. They had a lot of fish markets (five that I counted), a bunch of flower stands, several vegetable & fruit markets and a whole bunch of vendors. It was crowded and we had a good time, got plenty of photos and had a fabulous lunch. We were able to cross the street and watch them make cheese, saw the original Starbucks then took a monorail to the Space Needle. For our family in San Antonio, the Hemisphere tower is much nicer but the views from the Space Needle are gorgeous! You can see the snow capped mountains, the bay, the river as well as the city. It was a very pretty view and I got plenty of photos. Yes, the skies clouded up and it rained most of our time there!
Close to the Space Needle, we visited the Science Fiction Museum. They had a bunch of neat displays, some costumes from movies as well as props. We had a good time there. Attached to it was a Music Museum - we didn't spend much time there. Of course, it continued to rain!
The hardest decision of the afternoon was where to eat - they just have so many good places to eat. The girls got mac & cheese and cheese curds from the place that made fresh cheese. I went to a russian stand that make beef & cheese piroshky's. They also made a great apple and cinnamon roll. A piroshky is like a really big buttery croissant stuffed with beef, cheese, onion and some spices then baked.
I was surprised about the homeless population in Seattle - every street corner had someone asking for money. Seattle must be aware of this population because they've created a newspaper the people can sell for a dollar.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with the trip back to the hotel, a quick nap for the girls and then we went back out for the evening. The area we stayed in near the airport was quite congested - the mall area was quite packed out. We spent about an hour searching for a mexican restaurant - since it was her last evening to choose, that was my wife's craving!
After driving around for an hour, we wound up at a restaurant a couple of blocks from the hotel! It wasn't bad but wouldn't crack my top 300 restaurant list.
The girls went to the pool and spent some time while I got the clothes packed up. Tomorrow will be a quick day at the hotel then a long day elsewhere so our organization skills will be challenged especially if we are going to make it to church tomorrow morning - we found a small church close by that has service at 11am.
Day Twenty Seven comes to close as I hear the Seattle rain on the side of the building. I'm not really looking forward to Day Twenty Eight but we have to go through one more good bye before we can begin preparing for hello.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Day Twenty Six - February 26, 2010
I didn't sleep very long - we arrived minutes before midnight and were in bed by 1:15 pacific time - my body was still on eastern time and I was wide awake, but not very refreshed at 3 am pacific time!! I had to force myself to go back to sleep for a little while longer finally getting up at 5:30 am.
After a quick shower, I startd puting away clothes and getting things organized. We just dropped all the bags, changed quickly into our pjs and that was it for day 25! The girls slept together in one of the beds and I was able to put away both bags and organize the room without bothering them!
Shortly after 6:30, I woke the oldest daughter and had her shower and get ready. Instead of actually waking the little one, I just flipped on the TV and let it wake her up!
It wasn't much after that when I heard from my wife. Instead of having to wait until 4pm as we originally thought, she would be getting off around 8:30 am or so which was nice. That helped get both girls going and we were out the door a few minutes after 7.
When you get a rental car after dark and are totally tired, you don't always remember important facts the next morning like "which car is mine?" I got to the point in the parking lot where I thought I had parked it and hit the emergency button on the key FOB - we had a grey Chevy!!
As we got outside the hotel, we were greeted with that famous Seattle rain! It was in the mid 40s but the rain was cold! We had a 45 minute drive south on I5 to the army base - on the way we stopped for breakfast at Jack-in-the-Box!! Had been about 15 years since I had eaten at Jack's place - it was pretty good. The girls didn't enjoy the milk - it was that fake california stuff where they take a little bit of milk, some milk fat and water, swirl it together to make something that looks close to milk but not really!
We drove through Tacoma and then continued to Ft. Lewis arriving a little after 8:15. My wife was in the process of finishing her muster and team meeting so our timing was pretty good. We were able to pick her up and get off the base by 9am!!
One thing about my wife, she's not a big fan of the military food so she's lost some weight. I think it was her main mission this weekend to pack on a few extra pounds! She has a complete adversion to MRE's - I never had an issue with them but she refuses to eat them. No matter, everyone was happy to see her.
We came back to the hotel and all three girls went swimming. The hotel we are staying in is okay. We're close enough to Seattle it will be a short trip and far enough away from the military base my wife won't have to worry about that for the weekend! The girls had the pool to themselves in the morning - I sat on the side and read the paper - was nice not having to have all my senses on full alert for a little while!
Our internal clocks are totally messed up so we were starving around noon pacific time plus we were a little groggy! We drove over to the local mall which was quite nice and had lunch at Rainforest Cafe. The food was good but you still pay for the atmosphere there just as much as you do the food. We walked around the mall for a few minutes then headed back to the hotel for a nap! That nap felt wonderful!!
Of course it was raining so we headed over to the same mall - it appears the indoor mall is of major importance here because it was packed! We had a nice supper and walked around a little bit. After that we came back and we just took it easy in the hotel!
Day twenty six comes to a close, here's looking forward to day twenty seven!!
After a quick shower, I startd puting away clothes and getting things organized. We just dropped all the bags, changed quickly into our pjs and that was it for day 25! The girls slept together in one of the beds and I was able to put away both bags and organize the room without bothering them!
Shortly after 6:30, I woke the oldest daughter and had her shower and get ready. Instead of actually waking the little one, I just flipped on the TV and let it wake her up!
It wasn't much after that when I heard from my wife. Instead of having to wait until 4pm as we originally thought, she would be getting off around 8:30 am or so which was nice. That helped get both girls going and we were out the door a few minutes after 7.
When you get a rental car after dark and are totally tired, you don't always remember important facts the next morning like "which car is mine?" I got to the point in the parking lot where I thought I had parked it and hit the emergency button on the key FOB - we had a grey Chevy!!
As we got outside the hotel, we were greeted with that famous Seattle rain! It was in the mid 40s but the rain was cold! We had a 45 minute drive south on I5 to the army base - on the way we stopped for breakfast at Jack-in-the-Box!! Had been about 15 years since I had eaten at Jack's place - it was pretty good. The girls didn't enjoy the milk - it was that fake california stuff where they take a little bit of milk, some milk fat and water, swirl it together to make something that looks close to milk but not really!
We drove through Tacoma and then continued to Ft. Lewis arriving a little after 8:15. My wife was in the process of finishing her muster and team meeting so our timing was pretty good. We were able to pick her up and get off the base by 9am!!
One thing about my wife, she's not a big fan of the military food so she's lost some weight. I think it was her main mission this weekend to pack on a few extra pounds! She has a complete adversion to MRE's - I never had an issue with them but she refuses to eat them. No matter, everyone was happy to see her.
We came back to the hotel and all three girls went swimming. The hotel we are staying in is okay. We're close enough to Seattle it will be a short trip and far enough away from the military base my wife won't have to worry about that for the weekend! The girls had the pool to themselves in the morning - I sat on the side and read the paper - was nice not having to have all my senses on full alert for a little while!
Our internal clocks are totally messed up so we were starving around noon pacific time plus we were a little groggy! We drove over to the local mall which was quite nice and had lunch at Rainforest Cafe. The food was good but you still pay for the atmosphere there just as much as you do the food. We walked around the mall for a few minutes then headed back to the hotel for a nap! That nap felt wonderful!!
Of course it was raining so we headed over to the same mall - it appears the indoor mall is of major importance here because it was packed! We had a nice supper and walked around a little bit. After that we came back and we just took it easy in the hotel!
Day twenty six comes to a close, here's looking forward to day twenty seven!!
Day Twenty Five - February 25, 2010
As far as long days goes, this one was very long! The day started off exactly the same as all the other weekdays so far. Life was uneventful through breakfast, getting on the bus and starting the day. Once the youngest daugter was on the bus, I ran over to the church. I was going to move a set of steps from behind the modular building to the back of the pastor's new home so the bank inspectors could access the house - the guys installing their house will build a deck out back later and add steps for the front as well but for now the only way to get in was a ladder. The steps to the modular were attached with two long bolts so I changed the plan and moved a picnic table to the back entrance. Once I fortified it with bricks and made sure the steps were okay so the pastor's wife could get in there "lady like" with a skirt on, I figured things were good enough. Actually the picnic talbe worked out quite well. I came back home and the oldest daughter was about to leave, so I started getting things into the car so we would be prepared for our flight out later in the evening.
For as dumb as our dog is, she seems to know when something major is going on! All morning long she was up and down the stairs. Around 11ish, I lifted the garage door and put the VW in the garage causing the dog to go absolutely wild! So, I figured no better time than then to take her to the kennel. Dropped her off, ran by the bank, filled the Expedition up with gas, put the last of the bags in the car, folded and put away the last of the laundry then waited for the little one to get home.
As she got off the bus, I put the alarm on the house and we drove over to the high school to pick the oldest daughter up early. Our area had a slight threat of snow but the weather held off. Traffic from the high school to the airport was light and we timed it very well. Once at the airport, I found a great parking spot and we went in.
I just love the airline's newest money making proposition - charging for each bag. One bag I had weighed 5 pounds over their limit so the lady was going to charge me an additional $150.00!!! I pulled the bag back, moved somethings from that bag to the second bag and then both of them were well under. I'm pretty sure the airlines didn't reduce each person's ticket cost by $25, so they are making out pretty well on the bag situation. Actually what is really happening is more people are just not checking their bags, they are dragging them onto the airplane and trying to cram them into the overhead bins!
We had supper in the terminal then went through the TSA security checkpoint with no problem. Our departure gate was close by and we had time to sit and relax a little before departing. The little one is not a big fan of "things she has too much time to think about" so I worked hard to keep her from worrying about the flight. We watched a couple of airplanes taxi out, one taxi in and she was okay. Well, until we were airborne!! Once she closed her window I knew we had a problem. A little bit of talking and then we were able to open the window again - she was able to slowly accept where we were at. Then the pilot announced "We are now at 34,000 feet and will be here for the duration." That caused some minor concern but she did well.
We arrived at Atlanta early and it was a good thing!!! We were at Terminal A and had to go to Terminal T!!! Hartsfield is a very nice airport but we had a long walk from A to T! The trains they have were filled to the brim and I doubt another person could have gotten in there. They do have moving sidewalks so that was nice. Still, we were all happy to make it to Terminal T!
Our flight from Atlanta to Seattle was just under 5 hours long. The plane left about 10 minutes late but the pilot was able to make up for it. I had tried to keep my wife informed of the details via text messages all day long, but I would learn later she had a really, really, really long day in the field and knew nothing of what we were doing until much later in the evening. The flight to Seattle was drama free - the little one slept a good portion of the way wedged between the oldest daughter and myself. The flight did have television and movies on a tv in the back of the headrest so that was nice. They also had a flight information channel that showed the track of the aircraft, altitude, speed and other stuff like that. The coolest thing was the track of the aircraft - you knew where you were all the time.
We arrived in Seattle a few minutes before midnight pacific time - to our bodies it was 3 am so I was pretty close to 24 hours of awake time! Of course the "24 hour car rental" wasn't really 24 hours inside the airport - we had to go over into the garage, down some stairs and find the rental counter. Fortunately the hotel we reserved was less than half a mile away - when I walked into the hotel I told the young lady there "we have been awake almost 24 hours now, please make this drama free - any questions you need answered can wait until tomorrow." She was very understanding and I think she wanted to get back to her tv show as well - I parked the car and we were asleep in less than 30 minutes at 1:15 PST!! Very long day!!
Day Twenty Five comes to a close early on Day Twenty Six - here's looking forward to that 26th day!
For as dumb as our dog is, she seems to know when something major is going on! All morning long she was up and down the stairs. Around 11ish, I lifted the garage door and put the VW in the garage causing the dog to go absolutely wild! So, I figured no better time than then to take her to the kennel. Dropped her off, ran by the bank, filled the Expedition up with gas, put the last of the bags in the car, folded and put away the last of the laundry then waited for the little one to get home.
As she got off the bus, I put the alarm on the house and we drove over to the high school to pick the oldest daughter up early. Our area had a slight threat of snow but the weather held off. Traffic from the high school to the airport was light and we timed it very well. Once at the airport, I found a great parking spot and we went in.
I just love the airline's newest money making proposition - charging for each bag. One bag I had weighed 5 pounds over their limit so the lady was going to charge me an additional $150.00!!! I pulled the bag back, moved somethings from that bag to the second bag and then both of them were well under. I'm pretty sure the airlines didn't reduce each person's ticket cost by $25, so they are making out pretty well on the bag situation. Actually what is really happening is more people are just not checking their bags, they are dragging them onto the airplane and trying to cram them into the overhead bins!
We had supper in the terminal then went through the TSA security checkpoint with no problem. Our departure gate was close by and we had time to sit and relax a little before departing. The little one is not a big fan of "things she has too much time to think about" so I worked hard to keep her from worrying about the flight. We watched a couple of airplanes taxi out, one taxi in and she was okay. Well, until we were airborne!! Once she closed her window I knew we had a problem. A little bit of talking and then we were able to open the window again - she was able to slowly accept where we were at. Then the pilot announced "We are now at 34,000 feet and will be here for the duration." That caused some minor concern but she did well.
We arrived at Atlanta early and it was a good thing!!! We were at Terminal A and had to go to Terminal T!!! Hartsfield is a very nice airport but we had a long walk from A to T! The trains they have were filled to the brim and I doubt another person could have gotten in there. They do have moving sidewalks so that was nice. Still, we were all happy to make it to Terminal T!
Our flight from Atlanta to Seattle was just under 5 hours long. The plane left about 10 minutes late but the pilot was able to make up for it. I had tried to keep my wife informed of the details via text messages all day long, but I would learn later she had a really, really, really long day in the field and knew nothing of what we were doing until much later in the evening. The flight to Seattle was drama free - the little one slept a good portion of the way wedged between the oldest daughter and myself. The flight did have television and movies on a tv in the back of the headrest so that was nice. They also had a flight information channel that showed the track of the aircraft, altitude, speed and other stuff like that. The coolest thing was the track of the aircraft - you knew where you were all the time.
We arrived in Seattle a few minutes before midnight pacific time - to our bodies it was 3 am so I was pretty close to 24 hours of awake time! Of course the "24 hour car rental" wasn't really 24 hours inside the airport - we had to go over into the garage, down some stairs and find the rental counter. Fortunately the hotel we reserved was less than half a mile away - when I walked into the hotel I told the young lady there "we have been awake almost 24 hours now, please make this drama free - any questions you need answered can wait until tomorrow." She was very understanding and I think she wanted to get back to her tv show as well - I parked the car and we were asleep in less than 30 minutes at 1:15 PST!! Very long day!!
Day Twenty Five comes to a close early on Day Twenty Six - here's looking forward to that 26th day!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Day Twenty Four - February 24, 2010
As far as days go,today was quite busy! Once again our routine saved us during the morning and everyone is reacting consistently with that. In all honesty, our entire day is going pretty smooth and I think discipline and sticking with a consistent plan is so important. The girls are reacting favorably to how we are handling things so far.
We did make a minor change to the teenager's routine this morning - I had her lay out her clothes for this weekend so I could go through it and check what she had and didn't have for the trip. We normally forget one or two things with her each time and I'd like to eliminate that issue this time. If possible I hope to get all of our stuff in one large rolling duffle bag and then we can get the rest into small carry ons - things like video games, a book or two and laptops.
I also had to remember to send notes to school about pulling the girls out of school - did that. I will still need to call the attendance line at the elementary school or that lady will get upset again! I also had to write a check to the high school for the teenager's lunches.
The rain started quite early this morning. We are supposed to have rain all day with it turning to snow just after midnight. Their thought of snow is much different than the north - here an inch causes complete gridlock - anywhere else they would just drive right through it. I pray it doesn't cause the flight to be delayed or cancelled. We are flying through Atlanta and they had some groundstops today due to the weather but the forecast for tomorrow is better.
Only one load of laundry today. I filled in the extra time by searching for DVD's to take to my wife so she'll have something to watch when they don't have Internet access. We do have netFlix so she can log on there and watch instant movies or TV when they have web access. But being in a war zone, I doubt she'll have a lot of Internet access.
I did get an e-mail from the president of the board of the nonprofit and they decided to go with the other candidate. After talking with her, I had to agree I would have done the same - very hard to compete under those circumstances. The lady did say she had some contacts that were beginning to look for people with my qualifications and she did ask if she could forward my resume to them - I told her sure. But when one door closes, another tends to open - a company from Canada is looking to expand their curriculum development presence here in America and they called this morning asking if I would be interested in talking with their Project Manager. More than likely they are going to go after some government contracts and need to assemble a team before bidding - normally the bidding requires a complete bio of the team in place - I won't let them use my bio without at least a personal services contract in my hand. What I really need to do is find some quiet time and really, really decide what I want to do - the first thing I have to answer is do I want to continue to make money for other folks or do I want to do something on my own?
After stopping by the barber shop, I went to WalMart. We didn't need much but we still were out of a couple of items including parts of tonight's supper. I spent the afternoon running errands and answering questions. I also gathered up my clothes for the trip as well as the youngest daughters. I just talked with my wife and I'll get her clothes together once this is posted.
Supper was good - we had country fried steak, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn and bread. Even better, we watched Phineas & Ferb while we ate!
Anticipating many people asking for my wife's mailing address, I ordered a bunch of photos from our online storage company - Ofoto.com. The prints are fifteen cents each and right now they have a special where you receive free shipping so that was nice. Our former church in Rockville, the church in my wife's hometown and our current church were the churches I planned on sending the photos to. For the church in my wife's hometown, I used a photo of my wife and her mom from USUHS Graduation in May. Our "surrogate grandparents" in Rockville gave my wife a framed photo for the same graduation - I used a photo of her holding that photo (lot of photos there) for the Rockville church. For our church I used a photo of her carrying a bowl of "slime" from last years Fall Festival. I purchased a bunch of Avery Labels, typed in her mailing address and ran 400 of them off on the computer. We put her mailing address on the back of each photo and I'll mail them to the pastor in Rockville so he can distribute them as well as to my mother-in-law - she'll pass them out in her church. I took them to our church tonight and the pastor will distribute them Sunday to those not there tonight. For our family, I took a really good photo of my wife from our December visit to the Aquarium of the Smokies and did the same thing with the address. The folks in the churches can use the photo like they do missionary cards - put them on their refrigerator or other prominent place in the house and when they see the card, they are reminded to pray for her. Having the address on the back is just a bonus for everyone.
The rain continued all evening so attendance was down at the evening service. At least the spirits were high there though! A lot of positive things are happening in this church and that is so nice. We have been praying for a choir leader and we might have found one - at the very least he is coming to visit Sunday. I saw his listing on Craig's List under nonprofit jobs of all places, forwarded it the pastor and they have been in communication since. I wish finding a church van/bus would be that easy!
The girls devotion tonight was "Something Beautiful" referencing Psalm 37:18-23. It talked about Jesus taking something that seems worthless in your life like finishing last in a race, blending it with positive things and then it starts to bloom. Speaking of blooming, I just remembered that we have snow crocus' starting to pop through the landscaping in our front yard!! They are vibrant green with a yellow flower - they should be a little taller and more visible when we get back. My devotion tonight was "The delight of sacrifice" referencing 2 Corinthians 12:15. It talked about laying down your life for a friend, doing the hard thing when you really don't want to do it.
I'm off to get my wife's clothes ready and pack the bag - my bed is loaded down with clothes so there is little room to sleep! I purposely did that so I would pack the bag before going to bed tonight! Day Twenty Four is in the books, here's looking forward to a long, long Day Twenty Five!!
We did make a minor change to the teenager's routine this morning - I had her lay out her clothes for this weekend so I could go through it and check what she had and didn't have for the trip. We normally forget one or two things with her each time and I'd like to eliminate that issue this time. If possible I hope to get all of our stuff in one large rolling duffle bag and then we can get the rest into small carry ons - things like video games, a book or two and laptops.
I also had to remember to send notes to school about pulling the girls out of school - did that. I will still need to call the attendance line at the elementary school or that lady will get upset again! I also had to write a check to the high school for the teenager's lunches.
The rain started quite early this morning. We are supposed to have rain all day with it turning to snow just after midnight. Their thought of snow is much different than the north - here an inch causes complete gridlock - anywhere else they would just drive right through it. I pray it doesn't cause the flight to be delayed or cancelled. We are flying through Atlanta and they had some groundstops today due to the weather but the forecast for tomorrow is better.
Only one load of laundry today. I filled in the extra time by searching for DVD's to take to my wife so she'll have something to watch when they don't have Internet access. We do have netFlix so she can log on there and watch instant movies or TV when they have web access. But being in a war zone, I doubt she'll have a lot of Internet access.
I did get an e-mail from the president of the board of the nonprofit and they decided to go with the other candidate. After talking with her, I had to agree I would have done the same - very hard to compete under those circumstances. The lady did say she had some contacts that were beginning to look for people with my qualifications and she did ask if she could forward my resume to them - I told her sure. But when one door closes, another tends to open - a company from Canada is looking to expand their curriculum development presence here in America and they called this morning asking if I would be interested in talking with their Project Manager. More than likely they are going to go after some government contracts and need to assemble a team before bidding - normally the bidding requires a complete bio of the team in place - I won't let them use my bio without at least a personal services contract in my hand. What I really need to do is find some quiet time and really, really decide what I want to do - the first thing I have to answer is do I want to continue to make money for other folks or do I want to do something on my own?
After stopping by the barber shop, I went to WalMart. We didn't need much but we still were out of a couple of items including parts of tonight's supper. I spent the afternoon running errands and answering questions. I also gathered up my clothes for the trip as well as the youngest daughters. I just talked with my wife and I'll get her clothes together once this is posted.
Supper was good - we had country fried steak, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn and bread. Even better, we watched Phineas & Ferb while we ate!
Anticipating many people asking for my wife's mailing address, I ordered a bunch of photos from our online storage company - Ofoto.com. The prints are fifteen cents each and right now they have a special where you receive free shipping so that was nice. Our former church in Rockville, the church in my wife's hometown and our current church were the churches I planned on sending the photos to. For the church in my wife's hometown, I used a photo of my wife and her mom from USUHS Graduation in May. Our "surrogate grandparents" in Rockville gave my wife a framed photo for the same graduation - I used a photo of her holding that photo (lot of photos there) for the Rockville church. For our church I used a photo of her carrying a bowl of "slime" from last years Fall Festival. I purchased a bunch of Avery Labels, typed in her mailing address and ran 400 of them off on the computer. We put her mailing address on the back of each photo and I'll mail them to the pastor in Rockville so he can distribute them as well as to my mother-in-law - she'll pass them out in her church. I took them to our church tonight and the pastor will distribute them Sunday to those not there tonight. For our family, I took a really good photo of my wife from our December visit to the Aquarium of the Smokies and did the same thing with the address. The folks in the churches can use the photo like they do missionary cards - put them on their refrigerator or other prominent place in the house and when they see the card, they are reminded to pray for her. Having the address on the back is just a bonus for everyone.
The rain continued all evening so attendance was down at the evening service. At least the spirits were high there though! A lot of positive things are happening in this church and that is so nice. We have been praying for a choir leader and we might have found one - at the very least he is coming to visit Sunday. I saw his listing on Craig's List under nonprofit jobs of all places, forwarded it the pastor and they have been in communication since. I wish finding a church van/bus would be that easy!
The girls devotion tonight was "Something Beautiful" referencing Psalm 37:18-23. It talked about Jesus taking something that seems worthless in your life like finishing last in a race, blending it with positive things and then it starts to bloom. Speaking of blooming, I just remembered that we have snow crocus' starting to pop through the landscaping in our front yard!! They are vibrant green with a yellow flower - they should be a little taller and more visible when we get back. My devotion tonight was "The delight of sacrifice" referencing 2 Corinthians 12:15. It talked about laying down your life for a friend, doing the hard thing when you really don't want to do it.
I'm off to get my wife's clothes ready and pack the bag - my bed is loaded down with clothes so there is little room to sleep! I purposely did that so I would pack the bag before going to bed tonight! Day Twenty Four is in the books, here's looking forward to a long, long Day Twenty Five!!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Day Twenty Three - February 23, 2010
The first month continues to fly by and all is still going well. The morning before school routine works very well so no adjustment needed there. Two loads of laundry were out of the dryer before 8am, all the dishes cleaned and put away, trash out and house was clean. Both girls made it safely to the bus without issue or problem once again.
I started gathering stuff up for the trip this weekend - looking for things we haven't used for a few months like bathing suits and shower shoes. I started digging through the DVD's to take them to my wife so she has something to watch on those days she has free time and the Internet is not available.
The dog went to visit the vet this morning to get her flu shot. That is a requirement by the boarding kennel she'll be going to. Parts of Virginia had a deadly outbreak in 2009 and they are being proactive. It was almost $30.00 for a 2 second visit to see the vet - what a tough job! While we were waiting to see the vet I had the lovely opportunity to sit close enough to this young man, maybe 17 or 18 who was shuffling through his Yu-gi-oh cards. Without prompting he started talking with me and his opening statement was "let me show you how I'm going to win the Phantom Challenge this weekend!" He was very excited about it so I said okay. For the next several minutes he was speaking a language that I had no idea what he was talking about but I let him go on. Then he made a mistake - he showed me his favorite card and took a breath!! I jumped in there and started telling him about my favorite baseball card - a Pete Rose rookie card! Now I was speaking a language he didn't understand because it was obvious that he had no idea who Peter Edward Rose was or is and probably the only baseball this young man had ever seen or played was on a video game. I asked him what kind of bubble gum did he get with his cards and before he could answer I started telling him about that flat piece of pink cardboard they used to stick in baseball card packs - if you had a dollar you could buy 10 packs and get a big wad of that gum in your mouth and you couldn't hardly breath but your jaw looked like you had a tennis ball in there or something! He said he didn't get gum with his cards. Then I asked him what did he do with his cards other than shuffle them and have challenges with them - did he ever put his cards on the tires on his bike with a clothes pin and listen to the noise as he rode his bike?? Yes, I was being annoying but it was kind of enjoyable on my part - he was trying to be annoying with his cards, I was just a little better at it than he was. I'm sure Saturday morning when he's battling some gnome guy, an elf, maybe a pixie dust throwing wombat or even a wanna-be warlock, he'll tell this story about some guy boring him with a Pete Rose baseball card story!! On my way out I wished him good luck! I think he was still trying to absorb what had just happened in the conversation a few minutes earlier!
The rest of the day was quiet. I ran a few errands and was able to work on Make A Difference e-mails for the month of March and April - we have some pretty good books coming up that we are reviewing.
We did have one small dramatic event this evening that could have been really bad - the youngest daughter took the dog outside for a walk, the dog spotted a cat and the race was on!! The dog ran across the street chasing the cat. Fortunately our daughter didn't chase after, she came inside to get me - I walked across the street and hollered for the dog, it turned around and came streaking past me and back to the house just barely missing a car driving on the road. That would have been bad!! The dog ran in the house and straight to the garage door - she knew she was going to doggie prison for awhile after that. Subsequent visits to the yard were on a leash.
Tonight was clean out the refrigerator night for supper - I had leftovers from the past couple of nights with a salad and the girls had pizza. I'm trying to run the refrigerator down kind of low because of the weekend trip but it still looks as if I'll need to run by WalMart for a couple of items. When we get back it will be the first of the month and it will be time to change filters, shower curtains, tooth brushes and do a good inventory of the pantry, cleaning supplies, paper towels and laundry products.
The pastor's roundtable was good tonight. We have some things we need to work on but the communication is getting much better. The pastor's new modular house is now on the pads and looks very nice in its new location. I'll still have a ton of room for the community garden and we talked about that as well - I've enlisted the help of our head deacon to find me a roto-tiller and he volunteered to talk with the family next door about possibly helping. They are a mennonite family and they have a terrific garden in their backyard - from what I gather, they have been very good about sharing with the church and they set up a small roadside stand in mid-summer. Their knowledge would be a great help to our efforts.
My wife had a relaxed day today with only one short meeting. The scheduling at this school isn't very good at all! But she was able to relax, have a good meal or two and we were able to talk a few times. Sometimes you just don't realize how many decisions get made during a day regarding the functioning of a house until you sit back and think about it.
The girls devotion tonight was "No results" referencing 1 Corinthians 3:5-9. It talked about not getting discouraged or angry when you show love and friendship in the work of the Lord that isn't returned. My devotion was "The determination to serve" referencing Matthew 20:28. I liked this one - many pastor's believe they are superior to the people they are supposed to be serving. Chambers used Matthew's text and Paul's life to talk how pastors are spiritual leaders and must never feel or act superior. I fully embrace the concept of servant leadership - I also realize there are many times I fail but during those times of failure, I do my very best to fail forward.
Day Twenty-Three is in the books, here's looking forward to day Twenty-Four!!
I started gathering stuff up for the trip this weekend - looking for things we haven't used for a few months like bathing suits and shower shoes. I started digging through the DVD's to take them to my wife so she has something to watch on those days she has free time and the Internet is not available.
The dog went to visit the vet this morning to get her flu shot. That is a requirement by the boarding kennel she'll be going to. Parts of Virginia had a deadly outbreak in 2009 and they are being proactive. It was almost $30.00 for a 2 second visit to see the vet - what a tough job! While we were waiting to see the vet I had the lovely opportunity to sit close enough to this young man, maybe 17 or 18 who was shuffling through his Yu-gi-oh cards. Without prompting he started talking with me and his opening statement was "let me show you how I'm going to win the Phantom Challenge this weekend!" He was very excited about it so I said okay. For the next several minutes he was speaking a language that I had no idea what he was talking about but I let him go on. Then he made a mistake - he showed me his favorite card and took a breath!! I jumped in there and started telling him about my favorite baseball card - a Pete Rose rookie card! Now I was speaking a language he didn't understand because it was obvious that he had no idea who Peter Edward Rose was or is and probably the only baseball this young man had ever seen or played was on a video game. I asked him what kind of bubble gum did he get with his cards and before he could answer I started telling him about that flat piece of pink cardboard they used to stick in baseball card packs - if you had a dollar you could buy 10 packs and get a big wad of that gum in your mouth and you couldn't hardly breath but your jaw looked like you had a tennis ball in there or something! He said he didn't get gum with his cards. Then I asked him what did he do with his cards other than shuffle them and have challenges with them - did he ever put his cards on the tires on his bike with a clothes pin and listen to the noise as he rode his bike?? Yes, I was being annoying but it was kind of enjoyable on my part - he was trying to be annoying with his cards, I was just a little better at it than he was. I'm sure Saturday morning when he's battling some gnome guy, an elf, maybe a pixie dust throwing wombat or even a wanna-be warlock, he'll tell this story about some guy boring him with a Pete Rose baseball card story!! On my way out I wished him good luck! I think he was still trying to absorb what had just happened in the conversation a few minutes earlier!
The rest of the day was quiet. I ran a few errands and was able to work on Make A Difference e-mails for the month of March and April - we have some pretty good books coming up that we are reviewing.
We did have one small dramatic event this evening that could have been really bad - the youngest daughter took the dog outside for a walk, the dog spotted a cat and the race was on!! The dog ran across the street chasing the cat. Fortunately our daughter didn't chase after, she came inside to get me - I walked across the street and hollered for the dog, it turned around and came streaking past me and back to the house just barely missing a car driving on the road. That would have been bad!! The dog ran in the house and straight to the garage door - she knew she was going to doggie prison for awhile after that. Subsequent visits to the yard were on a leash.
Tonight was clean out the refrigerator night for supper - I had leftovers from the past couple of nights with a salad and the girls had pizza. I'm trying to run the refrigerator down kind of low because of the weekend trip but it still looks as if I'll need to run by WalMart for a couple of items. When we get back it will be the first of the month and it will be time to change filters, shower curtains, tooth brushes and do a good inventory of the pantry, cleaning supplies, paper towels and laundry products.
The pastor's roundtable was good tonight. We have some things we need to work on but the communication is getting much better. The pastor's new modular house is now on the pads and looks very nice in its new location. I'll still have a ton of room for the community garden and we talked about that as well - I've enlisted the help of our head deacon to find me a roto-tiller and he volunteered to talk with the family next door about possibly helping. They are a mennonite family and they have a terrific garden in their backyard - from what I gather, they have been very good about sharing with the church and they set up a small roadside stand in mid-summer. Their knowledge would be a great help to our efforts.
My wife had a relaxed day today with only one short meeting. The scheduling at this school isn't very good at all! But she was able to relax, have a good meal or two and we were able to talk a few times. Sometimes you just don't realize how many decisions get made during a day regarding the functioning of a house until you sit back and think about it.
The girls devotion tonight was "No results" referencing 1 Corinthians 3:5-9. It talked about not getting discouraged or angry when you show love and friendship in the work of the Lord that isn't returned. My devotion was "The determination to serve" referencing Matthew 20:28. I liked this one - many pastor's believe they are superior to the people they are supposed to be serving. Chambers used Matthew's text and Paul's life to talk how pastors are spiritual leaders and must never feel or act superior. I fully embrace the concept of servant leadership - I also realize there are many times I fail but during those times of failure, I do my very best to fail forward.
Day Twenty-Three is in the books, here's looking forward to day Twenty-Four!!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Day Twenty Two - February 22, 2010
We're back to the weekday routine once again! The weekend was quite relaxing and very enjoyable - we were able to take it easy but still accomplish a lot. Now comes a shortened week at the house as we will be leaving Thursday evening to fly to Seattle for the weekend!
The morning went very well and our routine continues to work well for us. Both girls made it off to school in pleasant fashion. After talking with my wife, we decided that the training manager job with the travel load wasn't right for us. I sent the supervisor an e-mail early this morning so they could move to their second choice and give them the chance to spend Tuesday at the ERT. She responded in a very complimentary manner - said she would think of me each time she laced and tied her shoes!! No news from the nonprofit position yet.
The first contractor came over a little earlier than I anticipated - he would have been here much earlier if he had been able to follow simple directions. Finding our house is not that hard but talking with him on the phone turned it into an event! I did not have a warm fuzzy about this. His wife drove him here, evidently he had lost his driver's license or failed to renew it or some story I'm not too terribly interested in. We had already discussed in length over the phone exactly what I wanted but I guess he is a more concrete thinker and he needed to actually see my garage and go over one more time exactly what I wanted. He was able to create a materials list and then gave me a quote for his labor - it was exactly what I expected him to say so that is a good sign. We agreed I would get the materials per his bill of materials and he would do the work - I have found when dealing with contractors, or guys that need their wife to drive them to job sites, the less opportunity you give them for increasing the cost, the better. I'll get all the materials and have them delivered to the house. So, we agreed on our deal as well as the terms and shook hands on it. Once I get back from Seattle, I'll call him and remind him of the deal, get the materials and let him go to work.
A little later the gutter guys showed up. Our landscaping has taken a serious beating over the past few months and it is going to take some work to get it back to where it needs to be. The gutter estimate was very good - once we return from Seattle I'll pay for the work and they'll install it shortly afterward. The guy giving me the estimate was from Kentucky and he noticed the UK sticker on the side of the car - always good when you have that bonding in situations where you want someone to do work for you - in this case I'll use my wife's Kentucky roots! As we were standing on the porch talking about the estimate, of course it started raining! The weather here certainly isn't postcard material.
I also worked a little with getting estimates for a roman shade over the bathtub in the master bathroom. That window is a series of those glass blocks stacked in a large square pattern 46" x 46" - you get a ton of light and heat into the bathroom from the sun for almost the entire day - I want to knock down some of that heat before the summer sun arrives again. That one bathroom can heat up the entire upstairs and if you forget to close the door, it can have an impact on our cooling bill.
The dog now has an appointment for doggie daycare while we are gone. The thing about doggie daycare is they always get you for something - this time she has to have a dog flu shot before they'll board it. As with everything else, it will cost more than a human flu shot PLUS she needs a booster in two weeks thus the cost doubles! She'd better start fetching something and bringing it to me to make up for all this!!
The girls both had productive days in school. The youngest one worked ahead in her homework a couple of days - they have a structured program for their spelling words. The teenager picked her classes for her senior year and we talked about it for a little bit to make sure her plan was solid, then I signed it off.
We started the process of finding summer camp for the little one. I've been watching a couple of them for the past few weeks and today the Girl Scout book arrived with their camp information in it. The good thing about that is it is just around the corner and we get a nice discount if we schedule prior to April 1st. Each week has a different theme and her t-shirt population will explode as well!! Each week the campers get a new t-shirt based on the camp of the week. I did remind her going to camp was based on continued good school performance (which won't be an issue with her) and if I'm working or not. It looks like they are doing some neat things each week - Art Explosion, Camp Beverly Hills, Dance Up A Storm, Fun by the Pool, Girl Power (great, just what I need!), Go Green Art Week, Virtual Competition, Wacky Water Holidays Week, Wild Life Week and You Go Girl! Week. They also go swimming, canoeing, do arts and crafts, cookouts and other fun camp activities as well. Those ten weeks will get her through summer if we need it.
The teenager got a call from her job that she passed her drug test and the supervisor is going to call her tomorrow to work something out for her to start her computer training.
We had a chance to talk with my wife's parents tonight and they are doing good. I also had a chance to talk with my wife between classes this evening and she had a productive day - she qualified on today's weapon - the squirrels out back should probably enjoy their last peaceful year before she gets back!
Supper was outstanding or horrible, depends on who you talk to. If you are 8 years or younger, it wasn't so hot. 9 years and above thought it was great. I fixed pork schnitzel, corn, bread and scalloped potatoes. Actually the little one liked everything but the potatoes - I asked if she tried it and she said she didn't like it; when I asked if she took a bite, she said 'no' then took a deep breath and a bite - I knew I was going to get the thumbs down as she had already convinced herself they weren't good. No problem, she had eaten all of her pork, corn and bread so it was more potatoes for the rest of us!
The girls devotion tonight was "Serena's Shoes" referencing Matthew 6:25-33 - what do you do when you feel alone? My devotion was "the discipline of spiritual tenacity" referencing Psalm 46:10. It talked how tenacity is endurance combined with absolute certainty that what we are looking for is going to transpire. I like that definition.
Day Twenty-Two is in the books! Here's looking forward to Day Twenty-Three!
The morning went very well and our routine continues to work well for us. Both girls made it off to school in pleasant fashion. After talking with my wife, we decided that the training manager job with the travel load wasn't right for us. I sent the supervisor an e-mail early this morning so they could move to their second choice and give them the chance to spend Tuesday at the ERT. She responded in a very complimentary manner - said she would think of me each time she laced and tied her shoes!! No news from the nonprofit position yet.
The first contractor came over a little earlier than I anticipated - he would have been here much earlier if he had been able to follow simple directions. Finding our house is not that hard but talking with him on the phone turned it into an event! I did not have a warm fuzzy about this. His wife drove him here, evidently he had lost his driver's license or failed to renew it or some story I'm not too terribly interested in. We had already discussed in length over the phone exactly what I wanted but I guess he is a more concrete thinker and he needed to actually see my garage and go over one more time exactly what I wanted. He was able to create a materials list and then gave me a quote for his labor - it was exactly what I expected him to say so that is a good sign. We agreed I would get the materials per his bill of materials and he would do the work - I have found when dealing with contractors, or guys that need their wife to drive them to job sites, the less opportunity you give them for increasing the cost, the better. I'll get all the materials and have them delivered to the house. So, we agreed on our deal as well as the terms and shook hands on it. Once I get back from Seattle, I'll call him and remind him of the deal, get the materials and let him go to work.
A little later the gutter guys showed up. Our landscaping has taken a serious beating over the past few months and it is going to take some work to get it back to where it needs to be. The gutter estimate was very good - once we return from Seattle I'll pay for the work and they'll install it shortly afterward. The guy giving me the estimate was from Kentucky and he noticed the UK sticker on the side of the car - always good when you have that bonding in situations where you want someone to do work for you - in this case I'll use my wife's Kentucky roots! As we were standing on the porch talking about the estimate, of course it started raining! The weather here certainly isn't postcard material.
I also worked a little with getting estimates for a roman shade over the bathtub in the master bathroom. That window is a series of those glass blocks stacked in a large square pattern 46" x 46" - you get a ton of light and heat into the bathroom from the sun for almost the entire day - I want to knock down some of that heat before the summer sun arrives again. That one bathroom can heat up the entire upstairs and if you forget to close the door, it can have an impact on our cooling bill.
The dog now has an appointment for doggie daycare while we are gone. The thing about doggie daycare is they always get you for something - this time she has to have a dog flu shot before they'll board it. As with everything else, it will cost more than a human flu shot PLUS she needs a booster in two weeks thus the cost doubles! She'd better start fetching something and bringing it to me to make up for all this!!
The girls both had productive days in school. The youngest one worked ahead in her homework a couple of days - they have a structured program for their spelling words. The teenager picked her classes for her senior year and we talked about it for a little bit to make sure her plan was solid, then I signed it off.
We started the process of finding summer camp for the little one. I've been watching a couple of them for the past few weeks and today the Girl Scout book arrived with their camp information in it. The good thing about that is it is just around the corner and we get a nice discount if we schedule prior to April 1st. Each week has a different theme and her t-shirt population will explode as well!! Each week the campers get a new t-shirt based on the camp of the week. I did remind her going to camp was based on continued good school performance (which won't be an issue with her) and if I'm working or not. It looks like they are doing some neat things each week - Art Explosion, Camp Beverly Hills, Dance Up A Storm, Fun by the Pool, Girl Power (great, just what I need!), Go Green Art Week, Virtual Competition, Wacky Water Holidays Week, Wild Life Week and You Go Girl! Week. They also go swimming, canoeing, do arts and crafts, cookouts and other fun camp activities as well. Those ten weeks will get her through summer if we need it.
The teenager got a call from her job that she passed her drug test and the supervisor is going to call her tomorrow to work something out for her to start her computer training.
We had a chance to talk with my wife's parents tonight and they are doing good. I also had a chance to talk with my wife between classes this evening and she had a productive day - she qualified on today's weapon - the squirrels out back should probably enjoy their last peaceful year before she gets back!
Supper was outstanding or horrible, depends on who you talk to. If you are 8 years or younger, it wasn't so hot. 9 years and above thought it was great. I fixed pork schnitzel, corn, bread and scalloped potatoes. Actually the little one liked everything but the potatoes - I asked if she tried it and she said she didn't like it; when I asked if she took a bite, she said 'no' then took a deep breath and a bite - I knew I was going to get the thumbs down as she had already convinced herself they weren't good. No problem, she had eaten all of her pork, corn and bread so it was more potatoes for the rest of us!
The girls devotion tonight was "Serena's Shoes" referencing Matthew 6:25-33 - what do you do when you feel alone? My devotion was "the discipline of spiritual tenacity" referencing Psalm 46:10. It talked how tenacity is endurance combined with absolute certainty that what we are looking for is going to transpire. I like that definition.
Day Twenty-Two is in the books! Here's looking forward to Day Twenty-Three!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Day Twenty One - February 21, 2010
The peacefulness of the weekend morning is quite wonderful! School days are usually rushed and you seem to miss quite a bit of what is going on in the world around you. But this morning was very nice. It was already in the low 40's when I got the paper - I was able to go on the back deck and just sit and enjoy nature for a few minutes. Plus it was the first time I've really been able to survey the damage this winter has done in the back yard - several limbs have fallen and a few more need to come back. The grass is dormant and lifeless. We have several squirrels that were running through the yard and the trees on the back of the property and a flock of orioles were feeding in our backyard as well. The nature God created for each of us can certainly make you feel quite small at times. I learned to love feeling small when I was on an aircraft carrier - there cannot be a "smaller" feeling than to be on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier engulfed by total darkness, the only sound was the hull of the ship cutting through the waves and looking up to the heavens to see an impossible number of stars, planets, moons and other heavenly objects. I think God created moments like this morning to remind us that we all need His help to make it each day.
All went well this morning. Our Sunday routine is a little different than Saturday but it was stress free. I showered then got the teenager up and pointed toward the shower. I was going to let the little one sleep another 20 minutes or so, thus I went downstairs and started breakfast. The youngest daughter came down a few minutes later and she was in a good mood so we got breakfast ready. After the teenager showered and dried her hair, breakfast was done and we enjoyed breakfast together while we watched Pink Panther on Boomerang - the girls think the older cartoons like The Flintstones and Jetsons are just ancient and they don't always get the humor so they always have a lot of questions. The Pink Panther cartoon today was one I've seen close to a hundred times - the little guy is conducting an orchestra and the Pink Panther causes him problems - at the end, the little guy goes away and Pink Panther finishes conducting the orchestra in the Pink Panther Theme. Our girls are too logical and think too literal to get something like the Pink Panther - I keep telling them it's not funny if I have to explain it!
After breakfast I showered the little one, dried her hair and got her dressed. It helps so much laying out church clothes the night before and removes all stress, especially for the teenager!
Before we left, I put meatballs and sauce in the crock pot on low so we could have meatball subs for lunch. Sunday School was great and the material was very powerful - Dr. Woodard did a great job and gave me a lot to work with on this one. I'm finding that his writing is working well with my skills and thus we are having a great class each week. Our lead deacon spoke with me afterward and paid a compliment on the class - said he is learning so much - always humbling when a leader of the church recognizes you but I also must remember the glory cannot rest in me, we are working from God's book not mine. The class is starting to grow and we had a full room today so I was thankful for that.
The church service was very good today. In my Sunday School class I always stress that if you don't get something out of worship service, then you cannot blame the pastor, the sermon, the music or any other reason - we are in church for one reason only and that is to worship God - if I fail to get something from the service or I am less than satisfied, I have no one to blame but myself. The church was very much alive today and the greatest majority of folks were there to worship, not to be preached to. I still have a personal struggle with parts of Sunday Morning worship service - I just feel incomplete. Still, I was able to get past my personal shortcomings and have a wonderful worship experience.
After meatball subs for lunch, the afternoon was relaxed and very good. The guy who was supposed to meet me at the house about the garage wasn't able to make it so we rescheduled for tomorrow. I'll already be at home most of the day and the gutter guys are supposed to be there at 11:30am as well. Besides the two groups coming to the house, the only pressing need I have is to schedule doggie day care for Thursday through Monday.
The girls took advantage of the beautiful weather and played outside for a couple of hours today. They also had a chance to play some of their new video game - it is quite a weird game and is one of those role-playing games but you still have to beat each level to move forward. Whatever happened to the good old days when Mario went running through the sewer and beat up Bowser??
I did have several opportunities to talk with my wife today and we had an extended discussion about the training manager job. We also had a chance to catch up on a few other things we missed out on talking about this week. I gave her all the flight information for this weekend as well. I think everyone is looking forward to the trip!
The girls had choir practice at 5:15pm. I let the teenager drive us to church both times today and she also drove us home from the morning service. I'm really praying that practice will help her - my alternate prayer is that if she doesn't improve, I won't turn to alcohol to keep my nerves calm!!! There are things she does really well; there are things she does really bad; there is no middle road things!
While the girls went to choir practice, I went out to the back of the church lot and started measuring for the community garden. If the city doesn't call me back this week, I'm going to formulate my own strategy. I feel our success rate will be imminently higher with the professionals help but I also have confidence that God will bless this endeavor if I have to do the planning. I am also confident that the plants that perish in my pursuit of helping others will one day bloom abundantly in my front yard in heaven - of course in heaven the squash plants will all produce chocolate glazed donuts instead of squash - so will the okra and tomato plants as well!!!
Evening service was very good. The atmosphere in our church is so relaxed and so loving; it is just a wonderful place to spend time with God. Normally the Sunday evening service has 10 or 12 people there, but tonight we had 21. I hope if you've gathered nothing else from this blog and are going through or preparing for a deployment of a loved one that you understand just how important it is to be intimately involved with a strong, bible believing church - just don't go to the services but be actively involved in the worship of God. The second thing you must have is a positive prayer life. Everything else is just details if you have these two things right in your life.
We drove through McDonald's for chicken and fries on the way home. We kind of wish we had held out for Popeye's instead once we did get home but there is always the next Sunday we are in church! Those red beans, rice and spicy chicken would have hit the spot though. Yes, you can also say heartburn around 2am as well!!
My devotion tonight was "have you ever been carried away for Him?" referencing Mark 14:6. It talked about being of value to God. The girls devotion was "Questions" referencing Luke 2:41-52. It talked about patience.
Day Twenty-One is over; we have 32 Sunday's left in the schedule for this deployment! I can wrap my mind around 32 much easier than I can the total days of 32x7 (yes, I can do the math but I don't want to think about how many actual days there are). In all honesty, if the rest of the time goes by as fast as the first 21 days, I'll be very happy. Here's looking forward to day Twenty-Two!
All went well this morning. Our Sunday routine is a little different than Saturday but it was stress free. I showered then got the teenager up and pointed toward the shower. I was going to let the little one sleep another 20 minutes or so, thus I went downstairs and started breakfast. The youngest daughter came down a few minutes later and she was in a good mood so we got breakfast ready. After the teenager showered and dried her hair, breakfast was done and we enjoyed breakfast together while we watched Pink Panther on Boomerang - the girls think the older cartoons like The Flintstones and Jetsons are just ancient and they don't always get the humor so they always have a lot of questions. The Pink Panther cartoon today was one I've seen close to a hundred times - the little guy is conducting an orchestra and the Pink Panther causes him problems - at the end, the little guy goes away and Pink Panther finishes conducting the orchestra in the Pink Panther Theme. Our girls are too logical and think too literal to get something like the Pink Panther - I keep telling them it's not funny if I have to explain it!
After breakfast I showered the little one, dried her hair and got her dressed. It helps so much laying out church clothes the night before and removes all stress, especially for the teenager!
Before we left, I put meatballs and sauce in the crock pot on low so we could have meatball subs for lunch. Sunday School was great and the material was very powerful - Dr. Woodard did a great job and gave me a lot to work with on this one. I'm finding that his writing is working well with my skills and thus we are having a great class each week. Our lead deacon spoke with me afterward and paid a compliment on the class - said he is learning so much - always humbling when a leader of the church recognizes you but I also must remember the glory cannot rest in me, we are working from God's book not mine. The class is starting to grow and we had a full room today so I was thankful for that.
The church service was very good today. In my Sunday School class I always stress that if you don't get something out of worship service, then you cannot blame the pastor, the sermon, the music or any other reason - we are in church for one reason only and that is to worship God - if I fail to get something from the service or I am less than satisfied, I have no one to blame but myself. The church was very much alive today and the greatest majority of folks were there to worship, not to be preached to. I still have a personal struggle with parts of Sunday Morning worship service - I just feel incomplete. Still, I was able to get past my personal shortcomings and have a wonderful worship experience.
After meatball subs for lunch, the afternoon was relaxed and very good. The guy who was supposed to meet me at the house about the garage wasn't able to make it so we rescheduled for tomorrow. I'll already be at home most of the day and the gutter guys are supposed to be there at 11:30am as well. Besides the two groups coming to the house, the only pressing need I have is to schedule doggie day care for Thursday through Monday.
The girls took advantage of the beautiful weather and played outside for a couple of hours today. They also had a chance to play some of their new video game - it is quite a weird game and is one of those role-playing games but you still have to beat each level to move forward. Whatever happened to the good old days when Mario went running through the sewer and beat up Bowser??
I did have several opportunities to talk with my wife today and we had an extended discussion about the training manager job. We also had a chance to catch up on a few other things we missed out on talking about this week. I gave her all the flight information for this weekend as well. I think everyone is looking forward to the trip!
The girls had choir practice at 5:15pm. I let the teenager drive us to church both times today and she also drove us home from the morning service. I'm really praying that practice will help her - my alternate prayer is that if she doesn't improve, I won't turn to alcohol to keep my nerves calm!!! There are things she does really well; there are things she does really bad; there is no middle road things!
While the girls went to choir practice, I went out to the back of the church lot and started measuring for the community garden. If the city doesn't call me back this week, I'm going to formulate my own strategy. I feel our success rate will be imminently higher with the professionals help but I also have confidence that God will bless this endeavor if I have to do the planning. I am also confident that the plants that perish in my pursuit of helping others will one day bloom abundantly in my front yard in heaven - of course in heaven the squash plants will all produce chocolate glazed donuts instead of squash - so will the okra and tomato plants as well!!!
Evening service was very good. The atmosphere in our church is so relaxed and so loving; it is just a wonderful place to spend time with God. Normally the Sunday evening service has 10 or 12 people there, but tonight we had 21. I hope if you've gathered nothing else from this blog and are going through or preparing for a deployment of a loved one that you understand just how important it is to be intimately involved with a strong, bible believing church - just don't go to the services but be actively involved in the worship of God. The second thing you must have is a positive prayer life. Everything else is just details if you have these two things right in your life.
We drove through McDonald's for chicken and fries on the way home. We kind of wish we had held out for Popeye's instead once we did get home but there is always the next Sunday we are in church! Those red beans, rice and spicy chicken would have hit the spot though. Yes, you can also say heartburn around 2am as well!!
My devotion tonight was "have you ever been carried away for Him?" referencing Mark 14:6. It talked about being of value to God. The girls devotion was "Questions" referencing Luke 2:41-52. It talked about patience.
Day Twenty-One is over; we have 32 Sunday's left in the schedule for this deployment! I can wrap my mind around 32 much easier than I can the total days of 32x7 (yes, I can do the math but I don't want to think about how many actual days there are). In all honesty, if the rest of the time goes by as fast as the first 21 days, I'll be very happy. Here's looking forward to day Twenty-Two!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Day Twenty - February 20, 2010
Saturday's start out relatively peaceful with the girls grabbing a little extra sleep. I took advantage of the time and got a few things done. My wife had called back last night around midnight our time and confirmed they were getting liberty from 1600 Friday until 1900 Sunday. Originally they had been anticipating liberty on March 3rd, 4th and 5th - that was during a testing cycle for the girls during their state exams here so we had decided we would not be able to pull them out of school those days. However, we are going to go this weekend - it will be good for everyone plus I can take my wife a few of the things she needed but didn't have room for the first time and bring back some of the stuff she doesn't need. I worked a few hours in the morning having Expedia, Hotwire and a few airlines information up on separate tabs and finally got what I felt was the best deal for us - we'll be leaving late Thursday evening from here and arriving just after midnight Seattle time. That'll give us the chance to get some sleep, adjust a little bit to the time zone difference and then pick up my wife when she is ready at 4pm Pacific time. I was able to package a deal for a nice hotel, roundtrip airline tickets and a rental car for those days. Girls will miss two days of school (Friday and Monday), but I feel this is completely more important right now.
For the most part the day was relaxed and nice. Breakfast was good as I scrambled some eggs, fried sausage and we had biscuits with jelly, an apple and some milk. The weather was gorgeous here and the girls went out to play on the trampoline for a while with the dog. The dog doesn't think much of the trampoline but she'll hang close by while they are out there. We did have one stressful part of the day and that was when we drove to the post office. I let our teenager drive and to be very kind, she didn't do too well. There was some traffic on the road but I don't think that was the issue today. We finally made it to the post office then we drove over to a gas station. Yes, it was a 7Eleven but a different 7Eleven than the one she appears to have a grudge or issue with and she did well this time - I saw no part of my life flash before my eyes this time and she actually stopped close enough to the pump that the hose would reach it! I'll take my victories with her driving wherever I can get them. From there we drove back toward the house and stopped at Great Bridge BBQ for lunch. They have really good carolina bar-b-que, the type smothered in vinegar. My wife is not a fan so I don't get to go often but today we did. From there we stopped at GameStop so the girls could pre-order some game coming out March 13th and they pooled their allowance to buy a game for the PlayStation 3. They've done well with it and I haven't heard any fighting.
I made my wife's hot dog sauce for the movie night at church tonight - everyone enjoyed it very much; I could taste a difference but either everyone else was starved for sauce or they were being kind. My wife is one of these people that was created to cook for fellowships, everything she brings in there is the hit of the party. Each church has different favorites but this church really enjoys her hot dog sauce and banana pudding - one young fellow asked where the pudding was tonight and pastor told him we all were waiting on October to get here!!! The movie was pretty good - Flywheel. It was about this used car salesman - the acting wasn't high quality but it was a good movie. It was made by the same group that made Facing the Giants.
The girls devotion tonight was "snowcones and eggs" referencing Luke 19:1-10. It talked about telling a lie and thinking you got away with it. My devotion was "The initiative against dreaming" and referenced John 14:31. It talked about getting busy with what God has put in front of you instead of merely meditating over it.
Day Twenty is in the books - here's looking forward to another Sunday and Day Twenty-One!
For the most part the day was relaxed and nice. Breakfast was good as I scrambled some eggs, fried sausage and we had biscuits with jelly, an apple and some milk. The weather was gorgeous here and the girls went out to play on the trampoline for a while with the dog. The dog doesn't think much of the trampoline but she'll hang close by while they are out there. We did have one stressful part of the day and that was when we drove to the post office. I let our teenager drive and to be very kind, she didn't do too well. There was some traffic on the road but I don't think that was the issue today. We finally made it to the post office then we drove over to a gas station. Yes, it was a 7Eleven but a different 7Eleven than the one she appears to have a grudge or issue with and she did well this time - I saw no part of my life flash before my eyes this time and she actually stopped close enough to the pump that the hose would reach it! I'll take my victories with her driving wherever I can get them. From there we drove back toward the house and stopped at Great Bridge BBQ for lunch. They have really good carolina bar-b-que, the type smothered in vinegar. My wife is not a fan so I don't get to go often but today we did. From there we stopped at GameStop so the girls could pre-order some game coming out March 13th and they pooled their allowance to buy a game for the PlayStation 3. They've done well with it and I haven't heard any fighting.
I made my wife's hot dog sauce for the movie night at church tonight - everyone enjoyed it very much; I could taste a difference but either everyone else was starved for sauce or they were being kind. My wife is one of these people that was created to cook for fellowships, everything she brings in there is the hit of the party. Each church has different favorites but this church really enjoys her hot dog sauce and banana pudding - one young fellow asked where the pudding was tonight and pastor told him we all were waiting on October to get here!!! The movie was pretty good - Flywheel. It was about this used car salesman - the acting wasn't high quality but it was a good movie. It was made by the same group that made Facing the Giants.
The girls devotion tonight was "snowcones and eggs" referencing Luke 19:1-10. It talked about telling a lie and thinking you got away with it. My devotion was "The initiative against dreaming" and referenced John 14:31. It talked about getting busy with what God has put in front of you instead of merely meditating over it.
Day Twenty is in the books - here's looking forward to another Sunday and Day Twenty-One!
Day Nineteen - February 19, 2010
At least the numbering of the daily blogs is pretty easy this month as they correspond with the day of the month. I wish all the decisions during this deployment was that easy!
Day nineteen found us all starting out a little groggy and slow to get moving. Wasn't a lot of meaningful conversations during breakfast - we called it the caveman morning with plenty of grunts and non-audible responses. At least the dog was full of spirit and once the little one took the dog for a morning walk, that woke her up and brought more life to the house.
Everyone made it outside in time for the bus. I spent most of my morning working on laundry and doing the PowerPoint for my presentation later in the day. For the most part the morning was quiet and productive. I was happy with the way the presentation turned out, read through it a couple of times and put it away for the rest of the day.
The afternoon was busy. Around lunchtime I received an e-mail from a friend telling me the foundation had asked them for a reference on me - during the interview the board president said she was only going to ask for references on the person they were most interested in hiring. If the offering of the position comes down to a writing contest from references, then I feel pretty confident because my references are all outstanding writers! So we'll see what happens from there.
I have been trying to get someone from the area to call me back about installing gutters on our house - each website you go to has a customer response/contact form they ask you to fill out and so far, I've had zero luck. I saw a local company's truck today as I was at the post office, looked up their website and sent them a request - they actually called back and someone is coming Monday morning to take some measurements and work up a quote. Our house is new construction and the builder didn't feel the house needed gutters - boy was he ever wrong on that one!! The rain here this past year has made a real mess of our landscaping and I'm concerned about what it is doing to the foundation. This year I'm going with upgraded gutters, leaf guards, reinforced mountings and downspouts. Next year or the year after I plan on installing a rainwater reclamation system to help water the landscaping - right now I don't know if that means simply rain barrels or an underground system. But the first and most critical step is to get quality gutters up.
I also plan on adding a second level to part of the garage. We have a seriously tall garage and so much space is wasted. After November's nor'easter I also have some minor concern about flooding - the water was at record levels here and it just barely touched our foundation but the garage is the most vulnerable. I also want to make room to fit both cars in the garage as well if needed - the weather here is paying a real toll on our cars. A friend at church gave me the name of a decking guy he felt comfortable would do a good job. He's coming over Sunday afternoon to see my vision and let me know what he can/cannot do.
The youngest daughter came flying off her bus and was full of excitement! She had found the library book she had been hunting for and was so excited to read it!! She dumped her stuff in the formal living room and went straight to the table - she grabbed a snack and something to drink and started reading. I had to pull information from her on how her day was and I think the dog was ticked off as well - she stood there with the ball in her mouth waiting on her friend to play with her!! I wound up throwing the ball for the dog but I don't think it was the same. Not to put out the fire of her excitement, I let her enjoy her book and snack. It didn't take her long to finish it, she must have been reading it on the bus and then she was able to put up her book bag and jacket, then take the dog out in the yard for 20 minutes to play.
The oldest daughter got home and immediately started lamenting her chemistry test she took earlier in the day. She always does that so I just listen and let her go. The teacher will post her grade later in the evening and we'll see what she was fussing about - the teacher just posted and she only missed one question so she did well.
Just as we started loading the car to go to the teen program, the phone rang. The interview from Wednesday called to let me know I was their "candidate of choice" and the supervisor wanted me to come spend some time at the ERT (Elizabeth River Terminal) on Tuesday and get a better feel for the facility. We talked for about 15 minutes or so as I expressed some concerns I had from the interview and she was able to alleviate some of them. We also talked about money and benefits. I told her my biggest concern was the travel and how that would impact our family - I agreed to spend a few hours at ERT Tuesday and we'll go from there. I will openly admit the money they are offering is very enticing and the benefits package just cannot be beat. I also like the thought of the bonus program they have in place and that could significantly increase the base salary - this company actually pays your taxes on the bonus so it is a real bonus. I'll go into Tuesday's visit with an open mind but it cannot impact my ability to work with the youth program at church and most definitely, it cannot be a burden to our family. With my wife gone and no family locally to help, I cannot see how his would work. I'll make a couple of phone calls this weekend though.
The teen program went well. I'm so glad to see some of the adults from the church showing up to support the program. I don't know how I would think if I was a kid again and came to a program a church said they supported and then only one or two adults were there. If the folks who already believe in the information being put out aren't there to support it, why should I be interested? Of course we do know that God's invitation is personal and private, different for each one of us but I have to think that excitement generated around a program would have to be a positive one. The pastor's wife showed the kids how to make biscuits, sausage and gravy. It was very good and I'm not a big fan of gravy.
During the evening, my wife had a chance to call. She had a long, tough day and was feeling it. They gave them a break for a couple of hours and she was heading back to the barracks to take a quick shower and grab some food. They announced that instead of the family visitation being March 3, 4 and 5 (when we couldn't come because of school testing cycles) it was being moved up to next weekend. She gets liberty from 4pm Friday until 7pm Sunday. The girls will miss two days of school but that is doable because they won't be testing. I'll work on the arrangements later tonight. We hadn't planned on seeing her again but this will be good for all concerned.
The girls devotion tonight was "Love in action" referencing Ephesians 4:31-5:2. It talked about keeping peace in the family and helping out instead of moping when things don't go your way - quite appropriate! My devotion was "The initiative against drudgery" referencing Isaiah 60:1. It asked if we see God in the routine, mundane chores of life.
Day nineteen was quite busy but a very good day - here's looking to Day Twenty!!!
Day nineteen found us all starting out a little groggy and slow to get moving. Wasn't a lot of meaningful conversations during breakfast - we called it the caveman morning with plenty of grunts and non-audible responses. At least the dog was full of spirit and once the little one took the dog for a morning walk, that woke her up and brought more life to the house.
Everyone made it outside in time for the bus. I spent most of my morning working on laundry and doing the PowerPoint for my presentation later in the day. For the most part the morning was quiet and productive. I was happy with the way the presentation turned out, read through it a couple of times and put it away for the rest of the day.
The afternoon was busy. Around lunchtime I received an e-mail from a friend telling me the foundation had asked them for a reference on me - during the interview the board president said she was only going to ask for references on the person they were most interested in hiring. If the offering of the position comes down to a writing contest from references, then I feel pretty confident because my references are all outstanding writers! So we'll see what happens from there.
I have been trying to get someone from the area to call me back about installing gutters on our house - each website you go to has a customer response/contact form they ask you to fill out and so far, I've had zero luck. I saw a local company's truck today as I was at the post office, looked up their website and sent them a request - they actually called back and someone is coming Monday morning to take some measurements and work up a quote. Our house is new construction and the builder didn't feel the house needed gutters - boy was he ever wrong on that one!! The rain here this past year has made a real mess of our landscaping and I'm concerned about what it is doing to the foundation. This year I'm going with upgraded gutters, leaf guards, reinforced mountings and downspouts. Next year or the year after I plan on installing a rainwater reclamation system to help water the landscaping - right now I don't know if that means simply rain barrels or an underground system. But the first and most critical step is to get quality gutters up.
I also plan on adding a second level to part of the garage. We have a seriously tall garage and so much space is wasted. After November's nor'easter I also have some minor concern about flooding - the water was at record levels here and it just barely touched our foundation but the garage is the most vulnerable. I also want to make room to fit both cars in the garage as well if needed - the weather here is paying a real toll on our cars. A friend at church gave me the name of a decking guy he felt comfortable would do a good job. He's coming over Sunday afternoon to see my vision and let me know what he can/cannot do.
The youngest daughter came flying off her bus and was full of excitement! She had found the library book she had been hunting for and was so excited to read it!! She dumped her stuff in the formal living room and went straight to the table - she grabbed a snack and something to drink and started reading. I had to pull information from her on how her day was and I think the dog was ticked off as well - she stood there with the ball in her mouth waiting on her friend to play with her!! I wound up throwing the ball for the dog but I don't think it was the same. Not to put out the fire of her excitement, I let her enjoy her book and snack. It didn't take her long to finish it, she must have been reading it on the bus and then she was able to put up her book bag and jacket, then take the dog out in the yard for 20 minutes to play.
The oldest daughter got home and immediately started lamenting her chemistry test she took earlier in the day. She always does that so I just listen and let her go. The teacher will post her grade later in the evening and we'll see what she was fussing about - the teacher just posted and she only missed one question so she did well.
Just as we started loading the car to go to the teen program, the phone rang. The interview from Wednesday called to let me know I was their "candidate of choice" and the supervisor wanted me to come spend some time at the ERT (Elizabeth River Terminal) on Tuesday and get a better feel for the facility. We talked for about 15 minutes or so as I expressed some concerns I had from the interview and she was able to alleviate some of them. We also talked about money and benefits. I told her my biggest concern was the travel and how that would impact our family - I agreed to spend a few hours at ERT Tuesday and we'll go from there. I will openly admit the money they are offering is very enticing and the benefits package just cannot be beat. I also like the thought of the bonus program they have in place and that could significantly increase the base salary - this company actually pays your taxes on the bonus so it is a real bonus. I'll go into Tuesday's visit with an open mind but it cannot impact my ability to work with the youth program at church and most definitely, it cannot be a burden to our family. With my wife gone and no family locally to help, I cannot see how his would work. I'll make a couple of phone calls this weekend though.
The teen program went well. I'm so glad to see some of the adults from the church showing up to support the program. I don't know how I would think if I was a kid again and came to a program a church said they supported and then only one or two adults were there. If the folks who already believe in the information being put out aren't there to support it, why should I be interested? Of course we do know that God's invitation is personal and private, different for each one of us but I have to think that excitement generated around a program would have to be a positive one. The pastor's wife showed the kids how to make biscuits, sausage and gravy. It was very good and I'm not a big fan of gravy.
During the evening, my wife had a chance to call. She had a long, tough day and was feeling it. They gave them a break for a couple of hours and she was heading back to the barracks to take a quick shower and grab some food. They announced that instead of the family visitation being March 3, 4 and 5 (when we couldn't come because of school testing cycles) it was being moved up to next weekend. She gets liberty from 4pm Friday until 7pm Sunday. The girls will miss two days of school but that is doable because they won't be testing. I'll work on the arrangements later tonight. We hadn't planned on seeing her again but this will be good for all concerned.
The girls devotion tonight was "Love in action" referencing Ephesians 4:31-5:2. It talked about keeping peace in the family and helping out instead of moping when things don't go your way - quite appropriate! My devotion was "The initiative against drudgery" referencing Isaiah 60:1. It asked if we see God in the routine, mundane chores of life.
Day nineteen was quite busy but a very good day - here's looking to Day Twenty!!!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Day Eighteen - February 18, 2010
From a personal perspective, the day started out kind of crappy - I woke up with a throbbing headache for some reason. Not wanting to take any chances, I took some aspirin and drank plenty of water - I suspected I was a little dehydrated.
In spite of my headache, the morning still had to go forward and everyone did their parts. In fact, other than the headache, the morning was very good. The little one did her breakfast again today without issue, the dog cooperated and the oldest daughter has finally figured out how to shower in less than 10 minutes! Once the little one got on the bus, I drove off for my interview.
Traffic was a little heavier this time but I was still there in under 30 minutes. Bad thing about driving east toward Virginia Beach is the positioning of the sun right over 264 and it blazes in the front window - I also noticed how dirty my windshield was!! Of course the sun hitting me in the face didn't help my headache much but I figured I would survive.
I had breakfast at Burger King just down the street from the interview site, tied my tie and then went to the office. The office manager who was supposed to open the office door hadn't shown up yet so I had a chance to meet the board chairman and board president in the hallway outside the door as we waited. It was a pleasant, relaxed conversation. The interview itself was very good - just the three of us and we talked about strategic plans, the board composition and the role of the board. The chairman wasn't at the initial interview so we went over my history a little bit - he was exceptionally sharp and asked some very good questions. He's on a few other boards in the Virginia Beach area as well and I've seen his name in the paper several times. About half way through the discussion my headache really started pounding, almost like I had a heartbeat behind my eye!! This was a true test of personal fortitude - the chairman is a very soft speaker and my head was thumping louder than he was talking! But I survived and we closed the discussion. On the way to the car I felt horrible so I just sat there for a moment. It was 32 degrees and I rolled the window down on the way home - the cold blowing on my face seemed to help. I got home, took two more aspirin (I know, waaaaaaaaaaaay too many but too bad) told the dog to be quiet and dropped into bed. At least I had the foresight to set the alarm for 1pm - just in case I did go to sleep at least I'd be awake early enough to be "de-groggy" when the bus arrived.
When the alarm went off at 1, the headache was gone and I felt much better - nearly human again! The little one arrived home first with another library book. A little later the teenager arrived home and all was well.
Supper was an easy one tonight - we had hot dogs, sauce and fries. After loading the dishwasher, I took the little one to song/dance class at Hurrah Players. The oldest daughter stayed home to give the dog a bath. Actually most of the normal "show mommies" weren't there tonight so the classes were better - at least the hallway where the parents were was better! I was able to work more on my presentation tomorrow night and fine tune that.
The devotions tonight were pretty good. The girls was "The Onion" and referenced Hebrews 12:12-15. It talked about being angry about things you cannot change and what to do with that anger. My devotion was "The Initiative Against Despair" and referenced Matthew 26:46 - it talked about despair when we have done something we shouldn't have. This actually worked well with what I am going to talk about to the teens tomorrow - failing forward.
Day Eighteen is done and in the books - here's looking forward to Day Nineteen!
In spite of my headache, the morning still had to go forward and everyone did their parts. In fact, other than the headache, the morning was very good. The little one did her breakfast again today without issue, the dog cooperated and the oldest daughter has finally figured out how to shower in less than 10 minutes! Once the little one got on the bus, I drove off for my interview.
Traffic was a little heavier this time but I was still there in under 30 minutes. Bad thing about driving east toward Virginia Beach is the positioning of the sun right over 264 and it blazes in the front window - I also noticed how dirty my windshield was!! Of course the sun hitting me in the face didn't help my headache much but I figured I would survive.
I had breakfast at Burger King just down the street from the interview site, tied my tie and then went to the office. The office manager who was supposed to open the office door hadn't shown up yet so I had a chance to meet the board chairman and board president in the hallway outside the door as we waited. It was a pleasant, relaxed conversation. The interview itself was very good - just the three of us and we talked about strategic plans, the board composition and the role of the board. The chairman wasn't at the initial interview so we went over my history a little bit - he was exceptionally sharp and asked some very good questions. He's on a few other boards in the Virginia Beach area as well and I've seen his name in the paper several times. About half way through the discussion my headache really started pounding, almost like I had a heartbeat behind my eye!! This was a true test of personal fortitude - the chairman is a very soft speaker and my head was thumping louder than he was talking! But I survived and we closed the discussion. On the way to the car I felt horrible so I just sat there for a moment. It was 32 degrees and I rolled the window down on the way home - the cold blowing on my face seemed to help. I got home, took two more aspirin (I know, waaaaaaaaaaaay too many but too bad) told the dog to be quiet and dropped into bed. At least I had the foresight to set the alarm for 1pm - just in case I did go to sleep at least I'd be awake early enough to be "de-groggy" when the bus arrived.
When the alarm went off at 1, the headache was gone and I felt much better - nearly human again! The little one arrived home first with another library book. A little later the teenager arrived home and all was well.
Supper was an easy one tonight - we had hot dogs, sauce and fries. After loading the dishwasher, I took the little one to song/dance class at Hurrah Players. The oldest daughter stayed home to give the dog a bath. Actually most of the normal "show mommies" weren't there tonight so the classes were better - at least the hallway where the parents were was better! I was able to work more on my presentation tomorrow night and fine tune that.
The devotions tonight were pretty good. The girls was "The Onion" and referenced Hebrews 12:12-15. It talked about being angry about things you cannot change and what to do with that anger. My devotion was "The Initiative Against Despair" and referenced Matthew 26:46 - it talked about despair when we have done something we shouldn't have. This actually worked well with what I am going to talk about to the teens tomorrow - failing forward.
Day Eighteen is done and in the books - here's looking forward to Day Nineteen!
Day Seventeen - February 17, 2010
This morning was a day in which I was very thankful we had practiced our routine enough that it was a habit for each of us! In order to make it to my interview in time, I had to leave the house at 7am - the direction I was going would lead me directly into the teeth of the traffic in our area so I wanted to make little room for issues. Both girls cooperated fully and it was a very positive morning. I'm still considering the moving of the milk container and drinks down lower to be a success - I'm not worried about the milk being warmer on the door because I'm only pouring two or three cups at a time into the container for her and I can keep a good track on the freshness of that milk. Plus the little one really enjoys taking care of her own breakfast - this morning she had cereal and the mess was no larger than normal.
The oldest daughter did well also. I started the towels this morning a little earlier than normal and she was able to fold them before she left for school. Today she also made sure her little sister got on the bus - a good test for the future if needed.
The interview - ahh, nothing like a good face-to-face interview. The interview took place at their administrative offices which are on the port. The person I would potentially be working for flew up from Houston. She invited the local project manager and the local EHS representative. While the lady from Houston was very attentive, the two local guys were much more interested in their blackberries and answering text messages. Those of you that have worked with me know my feelings on electronics in meetings but I was able to overcome my internal desire to grab their blackberries and hold them until the end like some teacher gone mad over a kid chewing bubble gum or something! But as I learned more about the position, I came to the realization that the two people I would be in contact the most would be an issue and the job wasn't really as they had spoken it - I learned their definition of light travel was really travel of nearly 40% of each week - instead of a quarterly flight to Houston for a national meeting, the job was responsible for five terminals located up and down the east coast, from Newport News to Baltimore, Philly, Newark and one other port in Jersey.
I do have a question for all the people that ask questions in an interview - I understand the importance of have pre-written out questions approved by HR prior to an interview - but my question is if you were asked the same exact questions, would your answers be the same that you are looking for in the interview?? And if you're going to ask me a question like "if you had to mentor Mary, what steps would you take?" Ummm, maybe if Mary was important enough for me to mentor, wouldn't I have a little more information about her such as who, what, when, where, how and maybe why? Certainly don't give me a blank stare when I come right back to you and say "why do we want to mentor Mary?" and an unacceptable answer from you is "well, that is training's job" - if you don't want a canned, thin answer, don't ask a canned, thin question.
The presentation of lacing and tying shoes went well - I was able to locate blue and yellow laces so my demonstration looked exactly like the drawing. One guy was going to jump on my presentation that I didn't have permission to use the photos from the website - I think it angered him when I produced an e-mail from the website owner giving me one-time rights to use the photos (thanks Ian)!!
Needless to say, the cost of me taking that job went up significantly during the interview. I've worked with putz's before and I'm sure I'll work with them again - it's just going to cost your more for me to do so.
The worst part of the morning was I missed an opportunity to talk with my wife before she went to class. But the drive home was pleasant and I had plenty of time to think as I normally do after an interview - I felt I did well so no matter what comes from the interview, I'm good with it.
The afternoon was spent with the tax professional. The lady doing our taxes has 23 years in the business and we got along well. We did have a complicated tax return this year with part year earnings in Maryland, unemployment, purchasing of a house, interest, donations, 1099's for consulting and many other things. We killed a small tree with all the paper but in the end all turned out well. The federal government will not allow you to e-file the homeowners credit with your original return which is silly in my opinion so once we receive our original return payment from the government, we have to file an amended return to reflect the homeowners credit.
While I was sitting in the office with the tax person waiting for the forest to be felled so we could print the papers, I was thinking wouldn't it be better to just get rid of the tax system, have everyone pay 7.5% of their base income via employer deductions and then everything you purchase would be subject to a 2.5% federal tax - we get rid of all that government bureacracy, saving us how much in infrastructure and salaries, countless trees would be saved and if my memory of the Laffer Curve is correct, more people would actually pay their taxes increasing the money available for the federal government! The downside to that is all those folks in the IRS would lose their jobs and unemployment would temporarily rise but we could offset that by selling the IRS buildings and equipment across the country. Take all those IRS workers in DC and make them tour guides at the Smithsonians or walking guides for large groups through the national mall. So, we all know that isn't going to happen anytime soon but instead of expansion of our government, maybe we need to contract it.
Supper tonight was pretty good - we had chicken, fried potatoes, mac&cheese and corn. I'm not a mac&cheese fan but the girls are and they really wanted it last night - I've gotten into a personal mindset that mac&cheese works well with ham steaks but they didn't hit me with the idea until I had the chicken going. The girls were happy so that's all that matters.
The Wednesday night church service went well. Small group but we are continuing to work our way through the ABC's of Christian Growth. In all honesty, this is a really basic course for those new to faith but I am finding it to be very good and the church is building a very solid base using this course of study. Even better, everyone gets to participate by reading, answering questions and more importantly, asking questions!
Each of us had a chance to talk with my wife after church for a nice chat. She had been busy and had a rough day - said she was sore from carrying litter patients and doing training. But it was nice to talk with her about all that had happened the past couple of days.
My devotion for today was "The initiative for depression" and referenced 1 Kings 19:5. Chambers had battles with depression during his life and this is one of several times he writes about it. He did make one good point that I'll store away - as humans if we have the ability to exault something or reach the highest highs, we also have the ability to become depressed and reach the lowest of lows. I hadn't thought of it like that and his devotion today will help in the future. The girls devotion was titled "Family Photos" and referenced Psalm 51:5; 58:1-5. It talked about a little girl who thought her sin wasn't as bad as her friend's sin - we had a nice chat about it and looked at Romans 3:23.
Day seventeen is done and I think I'm ready for tomorrow - here's looking forward to Day Eighteen!
The oldest daughter did well also. I started the towels this morning a little earlier than normal and she was able to fold them before she left for school. Today she also made sure her little sister got on the bus - a good test for the future if needed.
The interview - ahh, nothing like a good face-to-face interview. The interview took place at their administrative offices which are on the port. The person I would potentially be working for flew up from Houston. She invited the local project manager and the local EHS representative. While the lady from Houston was very attentive, the two local guys were much more interested in their blackberries and answering text messages. Those of you that have worked with me know my feelings on electronics in meetings but I was able to overcome my internal desire to grab their blackberries and hold them until the end like some teacher gone mad over a kid chewing bubble gum or something! But as I learned more about the position, I came to the realization that the two people I would be in contact the most would be an issue and the job wasn't really as they had spoken it - I learned their definition of light travel was really travel of nearly 40% of each week - instead of a quarterly flight to Houston for a national meeting, the job was responsible for five terminals located up and down the east coast, from Newport News to Baltimore, Philly, Newark and one other port in Jersey.
I do have a question for all the people that ask questions in an interview - I understand the importance of have pre-written out questions approved by HR prior to an interview - but my question is if you were asked the same exact questions, would your answers be the same that you are looking for in the interview?? And if you're going to ask me a question like "if you had to mentor Mary, what steps would you take?" Ummm, maybe if Mary was important enough for me to mentor, wouldn't I have a little more information about her such as who, what, when, where, how and maybe why? Certainly don't give me a blank stare when I come right back to you and say "why do we want to mentor Mary?" and an unacceptable answer from you is "well, that is training's job" - if you don't want a canned, thin answer, don't ask a canned, thin question.
The presentation of lacing and tying shoes went well - I was able to locate blue and yellow laces so my demonstration looked exactly like the drawing. One guy was going to jump on my presentation that I didn't have permission to use the photos from the website - I think it angered him when I produced an e-mail from the website owner giving me one-time rights to use the photos (thanks Ian)!!
Needless to say, the cost of me taking that job went up significantly during the interview. I've worked with putz's before and I'm sure I'll work with them again - it's just going to cost your more for me to do so.
The worst part of the morning was I missed an opportunity to talk with my wife before she went to class. But the drive home was pleasant and I had plenty of time to think as I normally do after an interview - I felt I did well so no matter what comes from the interview, I'm good with it.
The afternoon was spent with the tax professional. The lady doing our taxes has 23 years in the business and we got along well. We did have a complicated tax return this year with part year earnings in Maryland, unemployment, purchasing of a house, interest, donations, 1099's for consulting and many other things. We killed a small tree with all the paper but in the end all turned out well. The federal government will not allow you to e-file the homeowners credit with your original return which is silly in my opinion so once we receive our original return payment from the government, we have to file an amended return to reflect the homeowners credit.
While I was sitting in the office with the tax person waiting for the forest to be felled so we could print the papers, I was thinking wouldn't it be better to just get rid of the tax system, have everyone pay 7.5% of their base income via employer deductions and then everything you purchase would be subject to a 2.5% federal tax - we get rid of all that government bureacracy, saving us how much in infrastructure and salaries, countless trees would be saved and if my memory of the Laffer Curve is correct, more people would actually pay their taxes increasing the money available for the federal government! The downside to that is all those folks in the IRS would lose their jobs and unemployment would temporarily rise but we could offset that by selling the IRS buildings and equipment across the country. Take all those IRS workers in DC and make them tour guides at the Smithsonians or walking guides for large groups through the national mall. So, we all know that isn't going to happen anytime soon but instead of expansion of our government, maybe we need to contract it.
Supper tonight was pretty good - we had chicken, fried potatoes, mac&cheese and corn. I'm not a mac&cheese fan but the girls are and they really wanted it last night - I've gotten into a personal mindset that mac&cheese works well with ham steaks but they didn't hit me with the idea until I had the chicken going. The girls were happy so that's all that matters.
The Wednesday night church service went well. Small group but we are continuing to work our way through the ABC's of Christian Growth. In all honesty, this is a really basic course for those new to faith but I am finding it to be very good and the church is building a very solid base using this course of study. Even better, everyone gets to participate by reading, answering questions and more importantly, asking questions!
Each of us had a chance to talk with my wife after church for a nice chat. She had been busy and had a rough day - said she was sore from carrying litter patients and doing training. But it was nice to talk with her about all that had happened the past couple of days.
My devotion for today was "The initiative for depression" and referenced 1 Kings 19:5. Chambers had battles with depression during his life and this is one of several times he writes about it. He did make one good point that I'll store away - as humans if we have the ability to exault something or reach the highest highs, we also have the ability to become depressed and reach the lowest of lows. I hadn't thought of it like that and his devotion today will help in the future. The girls devotion was titled "Family Photos" and referenced Psalm 51:5; 58:1-5. It talked about a little girl who thought her sin wasn't as bad as her friend's sin - we had a nice chat about it and looked at Romans 3:23.
Day seventeen is done and I think I'm ready for tomorrow - here's looking forward to Day Eighteen!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Day Sixteen - February 16, 2010
Just to start, I did think of another item that needs to go on the “Change-out” list for the first of the month – shower curtains! We just did that the day before my wife left and they are still in good shape – next trip to WalMart I’ll have to pick up a few. I keep a small pad of paper above the sink to capture all of these “aha” moments and make sure I remember. Like I’ve said – the more things I have written down, the less I have to worry about forgetting.
Some days are tougher than others for different reasons. A lot is going on and without having my wife around to talk through them, I find I am second and third guessing myself a lot more than normal - naturally she thinks differently than I do and has a different perspective on a lot of things and that is one of the gazillion things I miss about not having her around. I know I don't have the ability to think or react the way she does, yet I still find myself trying to keep her views in play as I make decisions. Even though we talk on the phone, that doesn't really count - body language plays a much larger role in the way humans communicate - phone calls and e-mails completely remove that large chunk of communicating. The girls are very talkative but there are still things you don’t talk about with children.
We all had a very productive morning. The little one was so very excited to make her own breakfast – you would have thought a five star chef had made those waffles for her! But she enjoyed pouring her own milk and a glass for her sister as well. I’ll chalk that up as a good suggestion!! I’m sure we’ll have a different entry another day when she drops the milk on the floor but for now, we’ll go with good.
Was cold when we went out to meet the bus this morning but it soon warmed up as the sun came out. We had beautiful clear skies and temperatures in the mid 40’s.
After my run, I watched the movie 300 before taking a shower. My wife absolutely hates these kind of movies – it was pretty violent – but I enjoy a totally guy movie complete with violence from time-to-time. Can’t watch them very often but I wanted to see this movie for awhile. I’m sure they embellished the story line some but I still enjoyed it. Of course, it gives the term “tough guy” a whole new meaning when you are watching 300 and folding whites fresh from the dryer! But I can check 300 off my list, she can come home now!!
I drove over to the local educational store today to pick up a wooden shoe for tomorrow’s demonstration. I found what I was looking for and then went to Target to get a package of blue shoe laces and a package of yellow shoe laces – I’ll have to magically morph them into one lace but that’ll be easy to do. I also checked all the buttons on my jackets – I plan on wearing the same one I wore last week to tomorrow’s interview. Thursday I’m wearing a light tan jacket – those buttons are on there pretty good too!! I also ironed my shirts and slacks for both interviews.
I found all the information for the tax visit tomorrow afternoon so that was a positive – they were where I thought they were. I also finished the written portion of my presentation Friday night to the teenagers – I’ll just have to put together a PowerPoint to reinforce and hold their attention! I’m going to talk about John Maxwell’s book “Failing Forward” – we all fail, it is just a matter of which way do we fail – forward or backward? I feel this is rather important for teens to hear that we all fail and how to react to it in a biblical manner. So much on TV and in books is geared toward success, doing great things, instant millionaires and all that – sometimes when we stub our toes not only do we hurt physically but our ego’s get bruised as well. If we know how to react or what to do AND if we realize others make mistakes too, it might help the teens cope in a better fashion. Even as an adult, if I make a mistake I can get into the thought process that “well, I’ve really done it now, I might as well go ahead and do this or that” which would make the situation even worse.
Little one was the first one home today – her homework was to find her spelling and vocabulary words in magazines and cut them out – this was a horrible homework assignment and much harder than it sounds – we found six of the twelve and I’m writing a note to the teacher to let her know we abandoned the search. The little one also has a loose tooth – hope the tooth fairy has a big wallet because she doesn’t think her teeth are worth a quarter – she holds out for those dollar bills!!
The teenager came home in a good mood and had a good sized load of homework. We didn't see a lot of her tonight as she was holed up with books all evening.
Supper was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn and bread – it was very good if I must say so myself! After supper I went to the pastor’s roundtable and we had a good meeting. The contractor started digging the footers for the pads where the new modular will go – the pastor and his wife will be moving on the property once we get the modular installed, probably around the first of April or so and that will be nice.
Rest of the evening was quiet. I did have a chance to talk with my wife a couple of times today and she was okay. She had gone for a run in the morning – they had class later in the evening today due to scheduling issues. I’m not so sure the training process she is going through is as productive as it should be and there is no doubt the length of the course could certainly be shortened considerably.
My devotion was “The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative”, referenced Ephesians 5:14 and talked about initiative that was truly inspired, not merely conceived in our minds. The girls’ devotion was “Almost isn’t enough” and referenced Acts 26:22-23, 27-29. It was a story about a young person who only thought parts of the Bible might be right. We had a pleasant discussion about it and then we went to 2 Timothy 3:16 which says "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" - we talked about the word ALL in the passage.
Going to wrap up Day Sixteen and try to get a solid night’s sleep so I’ll be ready for tomorrow – Tuesday through Sunday I stay pretty busy and the interviews only add to that load. Here’s looking forward to Day Seventeen!
Some days are tougher than others for different reasons. A lot is going on and without having my wife around to talk through them, I find I am second and third guessing myself a lot more than normal - naturally she thinks differently than I do and has a different perspective on a lot of things and that is one of the gazillion things I miss about not having her around. I know I don't have the ability to think or react the way she does, yet I still find myself trying to keep her views in play as I make decisions. Even though we talk on the phone, that doesn't really count - body language plays a much larger role in the way humans communicate - phone calls and e-mails completely remove that large chunk of communicating. The girls are very talkative but there are still things you don’t talk about with children.
We all had a very productive morning. The little one was so very excited to make her own breakfast – you would have thought a five star chef had made those waffles for her! But she enjoyed pouring her own milk and a glass for her sister as well. I’ll chalk that up as a good suggestion!! I’m sure we’ll have a different entry another day when she drops the milk on the floor but for now, we’ll go with good.
Was cold when we went out to meet the bus this morning but it soon warmed up as the sun came out. We had beautiful clear skies and temperatures in the mid 40’s.
After my run, I watched the movie 300 before taking a shower. My wife absolutely hates these kind of movies – it was pretty violent – but I enjoy a totally guy movie complete with violence from time-to-time. Can’t watch them very often but I wanted to see this movie for awhile. I’m sure they embellished the story line some but I still enjoyed it. Of course, it gives the term “tough guy” a whole new meaning when you are watching 300 and folding whites fresh from the dryer! But I can check 300 off my list, she can come home now!!
I drove over to the local educational store today to pick up a wooden shoe for tomorrow’s demonstration. I found what I was looking for and then went to Target to get a package of blue shoe laces and a package of yellow shoe laces – I’ll have to magically morph them into one lace but that’ll be easy to do. I also checked all the buttons on my jackets – I plan on wearing the same one I wore last week to tomorrow’s interview. Thursday I’m wearing a light tan jacket – those buttons are on there pretty good too!! I also ironed my shirts and slacks for both interviews.
I found all the information for the tax visit tomorrow afternoon so that was a positive – they were where I thought they were. I also finished the written portion of my presentation Friday night to the teenagers – I’ll just have to put together a PowerPoint to reinforce and hold their attention! I’m going to talk about John Maxwell’s book “Failing Forward” – we all fail, it is just a matter of which way do we fail – forward or backward? I feel this is rather important for teens to hear that we all fail and how to react to it in a biblical manner. So much on TV and in books is geared toward success, doing great things, instant millionaires and all that – sometimes when we stub our toes not only do we hurt physically but our ego’s get bruised as well. If we know how to react or what to do AND if we realize others make mistakes too, it might help the teens cope in a better fashion. Even as an adult, if I make a mistake I can get into the thought process that “well, I’ve really done it now, I might as well go ahead and do this or that” which would make the situation even worse.
Little one was the first one home today – her homework was to find her spelling and vocabulary words in magazines and cut them out – this was a horrible homework assignment and much harder than it sounds – we found six of the twelve and I’m writing a note to the teacher to let her know we abandoned the search. The little one also has a loose tooth – hope the tooth fairy has a big wallet because she doesn’t think her teeth are worth a quarter – she holds out for those dollar bills!!
The teenager came home in a good mood and had a good sized load of homework. We didn't see a lot of her tonight as she was holed up with books all evening.
Supper was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn and bread – it was very good if I must say so myself! After supper I went to the pastor’s roundtable and we had a good meeting. The contractor started digging the footers for the pads where the new modular will go – the pastor and his wife will be moving on the property once we get the modular installed, probably around the first of April or so and that will be nice.
Rest of the evening was quiet. I did have a chance to talk with my wife a couple of times today and she was okay. She had gone for a run in the morning – they had class later in the evening today due to scheduling issues. I’m not so sure the training process she is going through is as productive as it should be and there is no doubt the length of the course could certainly be shortened considerably.
My devotion was “The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative”, referenced Ephesians 5:14 and talked about initiative that was truly inspired, not merely conceived in our minds. The girls’ devotion was “Almost isn’t enough” and referenced Acts 26:22-23, 27-29. It was a story about a young person who only thought parts of the Bible might be right. We had a pleasant discussion about it and then we went to 2 Timothy 3:16 which says "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" - we talked about the word ALL in the passage.
Going to wrap up Day Sixteen and try to get a solid night’s sleep so I’ll be ready for tomorrow – Tuesday through Sunday I stay pretty busy and the interviews only add to that load. Here’s looking forward to Day Seventeen!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Day Fifteen - February 15, 2010
Today was quite the busy day and a lot was accomplished. Even though today was supposed to be a day off from school but they had to go to make up for a snow day, both girls woke up in good moods and did a good job getting ready. The little one didn't like the thought of today's lunch at school so we packed PB&J, chips, twinkies, juice and a fortune cookie! The twinkies were actually those little 100 calorie packs and just the right size for her - of course the teenager would have to eat several packs to get a taste though! The fortune cookie was left over from last night's stop at the chinese restaurant and she thought that was a nice touch when she came home from school - she even saved the fortune to share with me!!
Our morning routine continues to work well for all of us and we have it pretty well down pat. We did make a couple of changes today though - the little one really wants to help more and be more independent so we took a container, poured some milk in it (enough for one bowl of cereal and maybe two cups of milk), moved some things around in the refrigerator so she could easily reach it. We also moved the lemonade and a gatorade bottle down lower for her. I'm leaving a bowl and plate on the counter for her so we'll see how that goes starting tomorrow morning. She wants to make her own breakfast - its not like she's cooking omelets or baking bread - she's talking about pouring a bowl of cereal or making a couple of toaster waffles for herself.
After the girls left for school, I went over the grocery list and got the coupons ready. A load of darks in the washer then dryer, a quick workout and shower - also had a chance to talk with my wife for a few minutes on her way to the chowhall and class - all sounds good there. Our time to be able to speak to each other daily is fleeting and this time next month she will be in a place where we'll rarely be able to talk with her.
Wal-Mart wasn't very busy this morning and I was able to get my list filled without much problem. I also spent a few minutes in the women's section looking for a dress or skirt for the oldest daughter. It is so hard to find her dresses that she'll wear and are appropriate for church. Some of that stuff they are selling for girls her age is downright awful - the stuff that is semi-respectable is of such poor quality it wouldn't be worth taking home even if we did like it. I was able to find a white sweater and a black skirt with white polka dots on it though. Maybe soon they'll have some nice spring/summer dresses coming out. I also picked up a pair of jeans for the youngest daughter. My main reason for grocery shopping was filling out the weekly menu, ensuring we had all we needed and I wanted to stock up on a few items. As it appears I'm closer to going back to work, I'll have to be really good about being organized and not running out of things. We also have a plan as it relates to certain items like tooth brushes, shower items, air filters for the house and all that type stuff - on the first day of the month I'm going to change out all the tooth brushes, change the household filters, and give the dog her heartworm and flea stuff. That'll keep us going pretty good for those items. I also have reminders programmed into my e-mail account to remind me of certain items at certain times such as bills due, normal maintenance and all that - the less I have to commit to memory, the better. With the coupons, I wound up saving $26.10 in coupons today!
Weather was pretty today - we started out at 24 degrees but was up to 49 by 11am. It did rain some this afternoon but nothing like our weather people forecasted. Yesterday I had started on my "homework" assignment for my interview Thursday morning - it had to be mailed in to the board president by the end of the day Tuesday. I finished it today with the help of a few friends, wrapped it up in a pdf and sent it to her a day early - she replied cheerfully with a thank you! I spent an hour working on "how to lace and tie a shoe" and it looks pretty good. I'll fine tune it tomorrow and practice a few times - that interview is Wednesday morning.
Supper was good - we had burritos, refried beans and pears. Everyone enjoyed it. I do have one complaint though - while those flat, ceramic stove tops look really neat, they are one serious pain in the bottom to keep clean - every little drip or dribble that hits the hot burner area turns a dark black instantly and you get this dark steam build up around the burner as well - I'm beginning to think the stove top makers are in cohoots with the guys that make the cleaning products to increase their sales as well!
After we got the dishwasher loaded and started, we drove over to the church to clean up from the weekend's festivities - that took the three of us less than 30 minutes to clear the ceiling, pop the balloons and pick up any mess. I'm pretty sure our dog has an issue with church or being on church property - everytime I take her over there she goes absolutely nuts for some reason. I'll probably just start leaving her home for now on, it just isn't worth the aggravation.
I did pick up some ice cream at the store today - those M&M Cookie ice cream sandwiches are a big hit around here! We always have at least two types of ice cream in the house but the easier and more convenient you make a treat, the greater the chance they'll disappear quicker! The girls ran downstairs around 8:30 to have theirs tonight. I'm not much of an evening snacker - my danger time is early afternoon to snack and for the past 15 days now I've been too busy to go hunting for a snack so that is a positive!!
The girls devotion tonight was "Me First" and referenced Luke 14:7-11 - it talked about not exalting yourself. We all agreed we really need to teach the dog this lesson, she absolutely has to be first in everything and will flat run you over to get up the stairs or out the door! My devotion tonight was "Am I My Brother's Keeper?" and it referenced Romans 14:7 - it was one of those painful messages where Chambers tries to get us to realize we are responsible for the souls of others.
I got an early start today, waking around 4:15 am so I'm wrapping up Day Fifteen - through groggy eyes, here's looking forward to Day Sixteen!!!
Our morning routine continues to work well for all of us and we have it pretty well down pat. We did make a couple of changes today though - the little one really wants to help more and be more independent so we took a container, poured some milk in it (enough for one bowl of cereal and maybe two cups of milk), moved some things around in the refrigerator so she could easily reach it. We also moved the lemonade and a gatorade bottle down lower for her. I'm leaving a bowl and plate on the counter for her so we'll see how that goes starting tomorrow morning. She wants to make her own breakfast - its not like she's cooking omelets or baking bread - she's talking about pouring a bowl of cereal or making a couple of toaster waffles for herself.
After the girls left for school, I went over the grocery list and got the coupons ready. A load of darks in the washer then dryer, a quick workout and shower - also had a chance to talk with my wife for a few minutes on her way to the chowhall and class - all sounds good there. Our time to be able to speak to each other daily is fleeting and this time next month she will be in a place where we'll rarely be able to talk with her.
Wal-Mart wasn't very busy this morning and I was able to get my list filled without much problem. I also spent a few minutes in the women's section looking for a dress or skirt for the oldest daughter. It is so hard to find her dresses that she'll wear and are appropriate for church. Some of that stuff they are selling for girls her age is downright awful - the stuff that is semi-respectable is of such poor quality it wouldn't be worth taking home even if we did like it. I was able to find a white sweater and a black skirt with white polka dots on it though. Maybe soon they'll have some nice spring/summer dresses coming out. I also picked up a pair of jeans for the youngest daughter. My main reason for grocery shopping was filling out the weekly menu, ensuring we had all we needed and I wanted to stock up on a few items. As it appears I'm closer to going back to work, I'll have to be really good about being organized and not running out of things. We also have a plan as it relates to certain items like tooth brushes, shower items, air filters for the house and all that type stuff - on the first day of the month I'm going to change out all the tooth brushes, change the household filters, and give the dog her heartworm and flea stuff. That'll keep us going pretty good for those items. I also have reminders programmed into my e-mail account to remind me of certain items at certain times such as bills due, normal maintenance and all that - the less I have to commit to memory, the better. With the coupons, I wound up saving $26.10 in coupons today!
Weather was pretty today - we started out at 24 degrees but was up to 49 by 11am. It did rain some this afternoon but nothing like our weather people forecasted. Yesterday I had started on my "homework" assignment for my interview Thursday morning - it had to be mailed in to the board president by the end of the day Tuesday. I finished it today with the help of a few friends, wrapped it up in a pdf and sent it to her a day early - she replied cheerfully with a thank you! I spent an hour working on "how to lace and tie a shoe" and it looks pretty good. I'll fine tune it tomorrow and practice a few times - that interview is Wednesday morning.
Supper was good - we had burritos, refried beans and pears. Everyone enjoyed it. I do have one complaint though - while those flat, ceramic stove tops look really neat, they are one serious pain in the bottom to keep clean - every little drip or dribble that hits the hot burner area turns a dark black instantly and you get this dark steam build up around the burner as well - I'm beginning to think the stove top makers are in cohoots with the guys that make the cleaning products to increase their sales as well!
After we got the dishwasher loaded and started, we drove over to the church to clean up from the weekend's festivities - that took the three of us less than 30 minutes to clear the ceiling, pop the balloons and pick up any mess. I'm pretty sure our dog has an issue with church or being on church property - everytime I take her over there she goes absolutely nuts for some reason. I'll probably just start leaving her home for now on, it just isn't worth the aggravation.
I did pick up some ice cream at the store today - those M&M Cookie ice cream sandwiches are a big hit around here! We always have at least two types of ice cream in the house but the easier and more convenient you make a treat, the greater the chance they'll disappear quicker! The girls ran downstairs around 8:30 to have theirs tonight. I'm not much of an evening snacker - my danger time is early afternoon to snack and for the past 15 days now I've been too busy to go hunting for a snack so that is a positive!!
The girls devotion tonight was "Me First" and referenced Luke 14:7-11 - it talked about not exalting yourself. We all agreed we really need to teach the dog this lesson, she absolutely has to be first in everything and will flat run you over to get up the stairs or out the door! My devotion tonight was "Am I My Brother's Keeper?" and it referenced Romans 14:7 - it was one of those painful messages where Chambers tries to get us to realize we are responsible for the souls of others.
I got an early start today, waking around 4:15 am so I'm wrapping up Day Fifteen - through groggy eyes, here's looking forward to Day Sixteen!!!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Day Fourteen - February 14, 2010
Happy Valentine's Day! While we don't have a lot of major holidays to survive during this deployment, we do have several important dates - Valentines, my wife's birthday, our anniversary, our oldest daughter's birthday, my birthday and our youngest daughter's birthday. If there is good news on the holiday front, my wife is slated to be home before Thanksgiving and Christmas - I've been deployed through those holidays before and no matter what your home situation is like, those are tough. On the ships I was on during holiday cruises, the mood was always somber during holidays.
To make this Valentine's Day tougher, it fell on a Sunday. That Sunday morning service just doesn't feel right without my wife.
With all that said, today was a very good day. I woke up early, was able to read the paper and shower before getting the girls up. The morning routine is going quite well and we had a good breakfast - egg, sausage and cheese breakfast burritos, hashbrowns and bananas. I also made chocolate milk - nothing like a thick glass of Ovaltine in the morning!! While I like Hershey's syrup on ice cream, is still prefer Ovaltine in my milk!
I felt brave today and the roads were clear so I let the teenager drive to church this morning. My wife called just as we were pulling out of the driveway so she got to hear me remind the daughter of the rapidly approaching ditch on the way - for some reason she loves to hang entirely too close to those drainage ditches on our road!! She was a little rusty and I take most of the blame for that - she hasn't driven in awhile - the weather can take some of the blame as well. I do hope I can find the strength to allow her to keep practicing - as I say that I can vividly remember the intense humping action of the car from her hitting the throttle too hard and then letting off to compensate - but I have to be strong and allow her to do this.
Sunday School was good - we had several new folks in class today. We reviewed the chapter test, discussed a few items for clarification and started the new chapter. The first two chapters of Dr. Woodard's book are key to understanding the concepts later on in the book so I went extra slow on them and reinforcing the information. I'm very happy to report that everyone has been bringing their books with them to class and some have even been reading them during the week!! I was really worried we'd be busier replacing "lost" or forgotten books but that hasn't happened.
The 11am service was excellent - our visitors to Sunday School stayed with us for service and it was very good. We brought the Secret Pal bags to church and the pastor's wife distributed them after church. My wife received one as well from her secret pal as did our youngest daughter. My wife received a writing kit, pens and chocolate!! The youngest daughter received a really cool Build-A-Bear kit - it was actually a dog, but she gets to stuff it and sew it up.
During service, I was surprised by the pastor - he had me come up front and he gave me an "award" for being the "right man" - it was very nice. The church also recognized the lady of the month and she was quite deserving of the recognition.
We're going to grow feathers as we had chicken, fried potatoes and veggies for lunch!!! For supper tonight I stopped by the local chinese restaurant and we had orange chicken, rice, broccoli and of course, fortune cookies!
This afternoon I ran by the library to pick up a book I needed for some research on my "homework" project for this week's interviews. I wanted a particular graph I remembered from a book and couldn't find it online - I was able to check our library online and hold the book until I got there.
I let the teenager drive us back for evening service and she did somewhat better - we still don't have a warm fuzzy about her need to hang so close to the ditches. Evening service was very good - it is somewhat relaxed and is a true worship service. A newer member who used to be a pastor at another church delivered the message and did well.
We had the chance to talk with my wife on the way home. She had class most of today and it was a linguistic lecture on islamic languages. She will be re-issued her weapons tomorrow and attend classes as well all day - your weapon is your buddy and it never, ever leaves your side so she'll be sleeping with it as well as dragging it around.
We have deciced we are not going to count down total days - that is rather maddening and causes you to stress too much about the wrong things. We have deciced we are going to count down Sunday's though - 33 to go!
The girls devotion tonight was very similar to the message Dr. Yoho delivered Friday evening - "Valentines" and referenced 1 Corinthians 13:4-10. It talked about God's love. My devotion was "The discipline of heeding" and referenced Matthew 10:27 and Chambers talked about when to be quiet and when to talk. I actually understood this one - well, at least I think I did!
The girls were supposed to be out of school tomorrow for President's Day but the snow day a couple of weeks ago is causing them to be in school. I'll take advantage of the day to get my final writing project on lacing and tying a shoe done for my interview this week - did you know that mathematically there are over 2 million different ways to lace your shoes? Did you really need to know that? Phineas & Ferb taught me something a month or so ago I'll probably never forget - that little plastic tip on the end of your shoe lace is called an aglet!! They have a great song about it too - fortunately for your, my singing voice isn't such that I could do it justice so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Day Fourteen comes to a close - here's looking forward to Day Fifteen!!
To make this Valentine's Day tougher, it fell on a Sunday. That Sunday morning service just doesn't feel right without my wife.
With all that said, today was a very good day. I woke up early, was able to read the paper and shower before getting the girls up. The morning routine is going quite well and we had a good breakfast - egg, sausage and cheese breakfast burritos, hashbrowns and bananas. I also made chocolate milk - nothing like a thick glass of Ovaltine in the morning!! While I like Hershey's syrup on ice cream, is still prefer Ovaltine in my milk!
I felt brave today and the roads were clear so I let the teenager drive to church this morning. My wife called just as we were pulling out of the driveway so she got to hear me remind the daughter of the rapidly approaching ditch on the way - for some reason she loves to hang entirely too close to those drainage ditches on our road!! She was a little rusty and I take most of the blame for that - she hasn't driven in awhile - the weather can take some of the blame as well. I do hope I can find the strength to allow her to keep practicing - as I say that I can vividly remember the intense humping action of the car from her hitting the throttle too hard and then letting off to compensate - but I have to be strong and allow her to do this.
Sunday School was good - we had several new folks in class today. We reviewed the chapter test, discussed a few items for clarification and started the new chapter. The first two chapters of Dr. Woodard's book are key to understanding the concepts later on in the book so I went extra slow on them and reinforcing the information. I'm very happy to report that everyone has been bringing their books with them to class and some have even been reading them during the week!! I was really worried we'd be busier replacing "lost" or forgotten books but that hasn't happened.
The 11am service was excellent - our visitors to Sunday School stayed with us for service and it was very good. We brought the Secret Pal bags to church and the pastor's wife distributed them after church. My wife received one as well from her secret pal as did our youngest daughter. My wife received a writing kit, pens and chocolate!! The youngest daughter received a really cool Build-A-Bear kit - it was actually a dog, but she gets to stuff it and sew it up.
During service, I was surprised by the pastor - he had me come up front and he gave me an "award" for being the "right man" - it was very nice. The church also recognized the lady of the month and she was quite deserving of the recognition.
We're going to grow feathers as we had chicken, fried potatoes and veggies for lunch!!! For supper tonight I stopped by the local chinese restaurant and we had orange chicken, rice, broccoli and of course, fortune cookies!
This afternoon I ran by the library to pick up a book I needed for some research on my "homework" project for this week's interviews. I wanted a particular graph I remembered from a book and couldn't find it online - I was able to check our library online and hold the book until I got there.
I let the teenager drive us back for evening service and she did somewhat better - we still don't have a warm fuzzy about her need to hang so close to the ditches. Evening service was very good - it is somewhat relaxed and is a true worship service. A newer member who used to be a pastor at another church delivered the message and did well.
We had the chance to talk with my wife on the way home. She had class most of today and it was a linguistic lecture on islamic languages. She will be re-issued her weapons tomorrow and attend classes as well all day - your weapon is your buddy and it never, ever leaves your side so she'll be sleeping with it as well as dragging it around.
We have deciced we are not going to count down total days - that is rather maddening and causes you to stress too much about the wrong things. We have deciced we are going to count down Sunday's though - 33 to go!
The girls devotion tonight was very similar to the message Dr. Yoho delivered Friday evening - "Valentines" and referenced 1 Corinthians 13:4-10. It talked about God's love. My devotion was "The discipline of heeding" and referenced Matthew 10:27 and Chambers talked about when to be quiet and when to talk. I actually understood this one - well, at least I think I did!
The girls were supposed to be out of school tomorrow for President's Day but the snow day a couple of weeks ago is causing them to be in school. I'll take advantage of the day to get my final writing project on lacing and tying a shoe done for my interview this week - did you know that mathematically there are over 2 million different ways to lace your shoes? Did you really need to know that? Phineas & Ferb taught me something a month or so ago I'll probably never forget - that little plastic tip on the end of your shoe lace is called an aglet!! They have a great song about it too - fortunately for your, my singing voice isn't such that I could do it justice so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Day Fourteen comes to a close - here's looking forward to Day Fifteen!!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Day Thirteen - February 13, 2010
We woke up to snow this morning covering the grass but fortunately nothing on the road or sidewalks. It snowed until about 11am or so but by noon, all evidence of the snow was completely gone.
The morning was very good and peaceful. I was brave enough to get back on the scales and found I have lost 5 pounds (6 total) - of course that always puts a smile on your face! I let the girls sleep in while I went out to the garage to get in a good run - it was quite chilly in the garage at first but felt pretty good later on. After a good run, I turned on the oven and got breakfast going. This morning was bacon, eggs and cinnamon rolls with a glass of milk.
I had an appointment this morning with the tax preparer - the girls weren't interested in going so they lounged around the house. I did give both of them something to do while I was gone including giving the dog a bath - that is always a fun chore! The time at the tax office was good, the lady doing our taxes this year is very good and has been doing taxes for 24 years. I need to find a couple of answers for her, but we'll finish up Wednesday afternoon.
Driving from the tax office to home in the snow, I had the chance to talk with my wife before she went to class. She sounds so much better and said she had a decent night sleep - that is hard to do in an open bay barracks so she must have been really tired. A friend at church last night mentioned they had giant ladybug pillows at WalMart - she knew our youngest daughter really likes ladybugs - so I stopped there and picked up one giant ladybug pillow, one giant heart pillow, one Wii game (Redneck Games - it is very cute) and one Nintendo DS game (Chicken Shoot - it was funny as well) - these were for Valentine's Day for the girls and I gave them to each of them while they were talking with their mom on the phone this afternoon. I figured they could use the giant pillows at movie nights at church - those hard seats get rough on your backside! Maybe we can talk the pastor into moving the movie into the church where at least the seats are padded.
The rest of the day was spent in various household chores and lounging around. I did three loads of laundry and we got that put away, cleaned up the garage a little bit, cleaned the hardwood floors, had lunch (we cheated and went to Sonic) and ran the vacuum. After lunch, we watched Coraline - well, more accurately the girls watched Coraline and I took a nap in my chair!
The church has a nice program for the ladies called "Secret Pals." Those that are interested let the pastor's wife know and they trade information - you don't know who your secret pal is (hence the name Secret Pal - duh) and once per month you discretely leave a bag or gift in a special area of the church - the pastor's wife then distributes the gifts. All three of my girls have someone so we took care of that today as well and have them ready for tomorrow. My desktop computer also caught a bug three weeks ago and I'm taking it over to a young man at church - I hope he can get it working but if he can't, I'll stick with my wife's laptop for a little while - while I understand the need and applaud the convenience of a laptop, I still like a desktop computer best for typing and working on. I will make sure I do a daily backup somewhere with all of my stuff though - the pastor was telling me about mozy.com last night - they appear to be a little better than other online storage locations because it does an automated backup during idle times on your computer. I'm going to do a small 2GB test for a few weeks to see if it something I like or not. You can go unlimited, which is greater than 2GB for $4.95 a month with the automated feature. When I was searching for all of our tax papers, I realized we have a ton of necessary stuff (not terribly important but would be a real pain to be without) in our files - I think I might start slowly scanning some of that stuff in and storing it on an external drive or on a site like mozy.com.
Supper was very good if I must say so myself!! We had white rice, sweet and sour chicken, peas and corn. I combined the chicken with the sweet/sour sauce after the chicken had baked - it turned out quite well.
The girls devotion today was "Melissa's Valentines" and referenced Micah 6:6-8 - it talked about the best way for kids to show love was through obeying. My devotion was "The Devotion of Hearing" and referenced 1 Samuel 3:10. I had to read this one three separate times to get an understanding of the reading - Chambers talked about the obtuseness of the heart and mind; he (Chambers) wants us to have the attitude of a child and always say "speak Lord, for thy servant heareth" without allowing outside things to interfere.
We have laid out everyone's clothes for tomorrow morning, I just need to review the Sunday School class assignment again. I spend a few minutes with it each day as well but the night before teaching I go over the entire section, add my speaker notes and highlight some areas to keep me on task. I'm really thankful for the way Dr. Woodard has laid this book out.
I'm wrapping this one up a little early tonight - the Kentucky basketball game comes on a 9pm so I'd like to relax and enjoy a little of that. At 9:30pm MLB TV has a 30 minute preview of the Reds on tonight and I'll probably flip between ESPN and MLB TV to catch those. We did turn on FoodTV for a few minutes today - when my wife was home, I could always tell where she had been watching TV at last because that was the channel it was on!
A little early but Day Thirteen is done; here's looking forward to Day Fourteen!
The morning was very good and peaceful. I was brave enough to get back on the scales and found I have lost 5 pounds (6 total) - of course that always puts a smile on your face! I let the girls sleep in while I went out to the garage to get in a good run - it was quite chilly in the garage at first but felt pretty good later on. After a good run, I turned on the oven and got breakfast going. This morning was bacon, eggs and cinnamon rolls with a glass of milk.
I had an appointment this morning with the tax preparer - the girls weren't interested in going so they lounged around the house. I did give both of them something to do while I was gone including giving the dog a bath - that is always a fun chore! The time at the tax office was good, the lady doing our taxes this year is very good and has been doing taxes for 24 years. I need to find a couple of answers for her, but we'll finish up Wednesday afternoon.
Driving from the tax office to home in the snow, I had the chance to talk with my wife before she went to class. She sounds so much better and said she had a decent night sleep - that is hard to do in an open bay barracks so she must have been really tired. A friend at church last night mentioned they had giant ladybug pillows at WalMart - she knew our youngest daughter really likes ladybugs - so I stopped there and picked up one giant ladybug pillow, one giant heart pillow, one Wii game (Redneck Games - it is very cute) and one Nintendo DS game (Chicken Shoot - it was funny as well) - these were for Valentine's Day for the girls and I gave them to each of them while they were talking with their mom on the phone this afternoon. I figured they could use the giant pillows at movie nights at church - those hard seats get rough on your backside! Maybe we can talk the pastor into moving the movie into the church where at least the seats are padded.
The rest of the day was spent in various household chores and lounging around. I did three loads of laundry and we got that put away, cleaned up the garage a little bit, cleaned the hardwood floors, had lunch (we cheated and went to Sonic) and ran the vacuum. After lunch, we watched Coraline - well, more accurately the girls watched Coraline and I took a nap in my chair!
The church has a nice program for the ladies called "Secret Pals." Those that are interested let the pastor's wife know and they trade information - you don't know who your secret pal is (hence the name Secret Pal - duh) and once per month you discretely leave a bag or gift in a special area of the church - the pastor's wife then distributes the gifts. All three of my girls have someone so we took care of that today as well and have them ready for tomorrow. My desktop computer also caught a bug three weeks ago and I'm taking it over to a young man at church - I hope he can get it working but if he can't, I'll stick with my wife's laptop for a little while - while I understand the need and applaud the convenience of a laptop, I still like a desktop computer best for typing and working on. I will make sure I do a daily backup somewhere with all of my stuff though - the pastor was telling me about mozy.com last night - they appear to be a little better than other online storage locations because it does an automated backup during idle times on your computer. I'm going to do a small 2GB test for a few weeks to see if it something I like or not. You can go unlimited, which is greater than 2GB for $4.95 a month with the automated feature. When I was searching for all of our tax papers, I realized we have a ton of necessary stuff (not terribly important but would be a real pain to be without) in our files - I think I might start slowly scanning some of that stuff in and storing it on an external drive or on a site like mozy.com.
Supper was very good if I must say so myself!! We had white rice, sweet and sour chicken, peas and corn. I combined the chicken with the sweet/sour sauce after the chicken had baked - it turned out quite well.
The girls devotion today was "Melissa's Valentines" and referenced Micah 6:6-8 - it talked about the best way for kids to show love was through obeying. My devotion was "The Devotion of Hearing" and referenced 1 Samuel 3:10. I had to read this one three separate times to get an understanding of the reading - Chambers talked about the obtuseness of the heart and mind; he (Chambers) wants us to have the attitude of a child and always say "speak Lord, for thy servant heareth" without allowing outside things to interfere.
We have laid out everyone's clothes for tomorrow morning, I just need to review the Sunday School class assignment again. I spend a few minutes with it each day as well but the night before teaching I go over the entire section, add my speaker notes and highlight some areas to keep me on task. I'm really thankful for the way Dr. Woodard has laid this book out.
I'm wrapping this one up a little early tonight - the Kentucky basketball game comes on a 9pm so I'd like to relax and enjoy a little of that. At 9:30pm MLB TV has a 30 minute preview of the Reds on tonight and I'll probably flip between ESPN and MLB TV to catch those. We did turn on FoodTV for a few minutes today - when my wife was home, I could always tell where she had been watching TV at last because that was the channel it was on!
A little early but Day Thirteen is done; here's looking forward to Day Fourteen!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Day Twelve - February 12, 2010
I'll go right to the end of the day - don't you just love it when you are a small part of something so big and it is just about to take off into something fantastic?? Tonight was just such a night - my wife and I were named Youth Directors at our church the week before she left and one of the first things we were able to implement was a teen program. We took a thought pastor's wife had been hanging on to for sometime and combined it with a more "traditional" teen program and we wanted to add a service element to it as well. The pastor's wife is teaching the kids to cook a main course each Friday evening and I have the pleasure of delivering a message. This week a group of teens (most of them do not regularly attend a church anywhere - only three of the chilren there tonight regularly attend our church) cooked lasagna, made salads and dessert for the congregation while Dr. Yoho came to our church to deliver a wonderful message on love from 1 Corinthians 13:1-12. I greatly enjoy Dr. Yoho and his mannerisms as well as the way he presents the materials - it is quite the pleasure just to listen to him. Let me be quite honest with you, Dr. Yoho is perhaps one of the two absolutely smartest and most educated people I have ever met when it comes to the Bible - not to compare them but he is on equal ground with Dr. Carroll from Central - these two men can get so deep into the Bible that it gives an entirely new meaning to Bible studies.
The pastor's wife had finished decorating the fellowship area and it really did look good - when we first arrived tonight we filled the fountain with cherry soda and turned it on and started melting the chocolate for the dipping fountain. I also brought strawberries, angel food cake and pretzels. The food and dessert were excellent - it was so nice at the end of the meal to hear the teens laughing and having a good time, truly enjoying themselves in a church setting and being comfortable. I find a lot of very good things about Trinity but what I really enjoy is the commitment to people this church has and how everyone is accepted. Even the adults tonight were laughing and enjoying themselves. While the teens missed out on Dr. Yoho's message, I think they learned quite a bit and will feel comfortable enough to come back.
Today was a good day from start to finish. I had an interview at 9:30 this morning so figuring in traffic I knew I'd have to leave early so I could ensure I'd find the location. Both girls cooperated very well and the morning was very smooth. Traffic to the interview was good and without delay - I had plenty of time to sit down at Burger King close by, enjoy a warm (not hot, but warm enough) breakfast and drink a soda (I don't do coffee, tea or anything hot to drink), review my notes, tie my tie and then drive the two blocks over there. I arrived about 20 minutes before the interview but didn't get out of the car until 9:20 - then potential disaster struck!! As I was pulling my suit coat off of the hanger a button snagged on the door and popped off! Not the impression I wanted to make for an executive director's position - two buttons on and one missing in action. Fortunately, my past life experiences keep me somewhat prepared and I had a sewing kit in the glove box - I put that button back on in record time and made it to the interview in a very timely fashion.
I felt the interview went well - the president of the board did ask me one question before I left that gave me some concern about my qualifications for the position - they always have to do that to you for some reason.
The drive home was good - this particular location is less than 30 minutes from our house and a couple of blocks from the Atlantic Ocean. We are not interviewing at the agency's main office but if that one is close to this area, I can see where the summer commute to/from Virginia Beach will be tough. When I got home, I got my usual terrific reception from the dog. Don't you just love dogs - no matter what they have been through, they always find time to be so happy when you get home. My dog is extra excitable - if I walk out the door for 5 seconds and come back in, she treats me like I've been gone for weeks - why can't people be so excited to see each other like that?
After walking the dog and coming in the house, I was putting up my jacket when the phone rang. My phone interview from yesterday (Thursday) was calling to set up the second interview!! I am one of two finalists for the position. The supervisor is flying in from Houston next week and I am meeting with her management team Wednesday morning at 8:30 am. I have some homework I need to work on the next few days - they want me to create a job sheet on how to lace and tie a shoe then I have to do a 10 minute presentation during my interview. This is a pretty standard interview technique for training positions so I'm comfortable with this. The one thing I like about this particular job is the supervisor's commitment to hiring only trainers that have a degree and/or a credential in the training field - too many companies slight training by hiring or "promoting" people into a training job without a degree. Would you hire a janitor for a doctor's position? Probably not unless he had a medical degree! Why would you hire someone for a training position if they didn't have a training degree? Let me answer that - you are just paying lip service to your commitment to training, that's why! The ability to operate a video camera and a computer to create PowerPoint slides doesn't make you remotely qualified to work or run a training department. Okay, soap box put away.
I spent the rest of the day getting housework done and going over my stuff for tomorrow's visit to the tax professional. We have a very nice stack of papers for her to work with - I'm kind of hoping my preparation will result in a nice stack of money for me to work with!!
Once the girls got home, I took the youngest one to WalMart with me so we could pick up some strawberries, cherry soda and melting chocolate for the fountain. The oldest daugther stayed home to get ready and walk the dog - we stopped back by and picked her up. While I was gone, the president of the board from today's interview had called and wanted to schedule a follow-up interview. I called her back and found out I was one of two finalists for that position as well AND she gave me a homework assignment before the interview. I think I'm going to play the lottery!!!
The oldest daughter once again had a positive day - a story she had written for an essay contest was one of seven selected as honorable mention. She does write some creative stories and did a very nice job with this particular one.
My wife was rather sore today from yesterday's hand-to-hand combat training and she spotted a few more bruises on her body. She sounded a little better today as her allergies were giving her a temporary break. Today was all classroom for her group - probaly more to allow them to recover than anything else. Her next day to relax is March 3rd so it will be a long couple of weeks for her. The good news is her Skype and NetFlix connections are working well on her new Netbook so she'll be able to use those if she has any free time at her final destination. She did call tonight while we were eating at the church and everyone was able to say hello to her - nothing like a long distance group hug!
I think the reason things are staying positive and productive for the most part is due to our commitment to prayer. Our days start and end in either the Bible or a Bible study devotion. If you are going through a deployment or your loved one is about to be deployed, I cannot stress enough the comfort you will get from a positive prayer life. Tonight the girls' devotion was part 2 of "The Heart Box" and referenced Psalm 18:1-3. It talked about giving your life to Jesus. My devotion was "must I listen?" and referenced Exodus 20:19 - Chambers talked about us not listening to God.
It took two glasses of water, but I think I'm over the sugar coma I induced into my body from the dessert at church! Day Twelve is over and here's looking forward to Day 13.
The pastor's wife had finished decorating the fellowship area and it really did look good - when we first arrived tonight we filled the fountain with cherry soda and turned it on and started melting the chocolate for the dipping fountain. I also brought strawberries, angel food cake and pretzels. The food and dessert were excellent - it was so nice at the end of the meal to hear the teens laughing and having a good time, truly enjoying themselves in a church setting and being comfortable. I find a lot of very good things about Trinity but what I really enjoy is the commitment to people this church has and how everyone is accepted. Even the adults tonight were laughing and enjoying themselves. While the teens missed out on Dr. Yoho's message, I think they learned quite a bit and will feel comfortable enough to come back.
Today was a good day from start to finish. I had an interview at 9:30 this morning so figuring in traffic I knew I'd have to leave early so I could ensure I'd find the location. Both girls cooperated very well and the morning was very smooth. Traffic to the interview was good and without delay - I had plenty of time to sit down at Burger King close by, enjoy a warm (not hot, but warm enough) breakfast and drink a soda (I don't do coffee, tea or anything hot to drink), review my notes, tie my tie and then drive the two blocks over there. I arrived about 20 minutes before the interview but didn't get out of the car until 9:20 - then potential disaster struck!! As I was pulling my suit coat off of the hanger a button snagged on the door and popped off! Not the impression I wanted to make for an executive director's position - two buttons on and one missing in action. Fortunately, my past life experiences keep me somewhat prepared and I had a sewing kit in the glove box - I put that button back on in record time and made it to the interview in a very timely fashion.
I felt the interview went well - the president of the board did ask me one question before I left that gave me some concern about my qualifications for the position - they always have to do that to you for some reason.
The drive home was good - this particular location is less than 30 minutes from our house and a couple of blocks from the Atlantic Ocean. We are not interviewing at the agency's main office but if that one is close to this area, I can see where the summer commute to/from Virginia Beach will be tough. When I got home, I got my usual terrific reception from the dog. Don't you just love dogs - no matter what they have been through, they always find time to be so happy when you get home. My dog is extra excitable - if I walk out the door for 5 seconds and come back in, she treats me like I've been gone for weeks - why can't people be so excited to see each other like that?
After walking the dog and coming in the house, I was putting up my jacket when the phone rang. My phone interview from yesterday (Thursday) was calling to set up the second interview!! I am one of two finalists for the position. The supervisor is flying in from Houston next week and I am meeting with her management team Wednesday morning at 8:30 am. I have some homework I need to work on the next few days - they want me to create a job sheet on how to lace and tie a shoe then I have to do a 10 minute presentation during my interview. This is a pretty standard interview technique for training positions so I'm comfortable with this. The one thing I like about this particular job is the supervisor's commitment to hiring only trainers that have a degree and/or a credential in the training field - too many companies slight training by hiring or "promoting" people into a training job without a degree. Would you hire a janitor for a doctor's position? Probably not unless he had a medical degree! Why would you hire someone for a training position if they didn't have a training degree? Let me answer that - you are just paying lip service to your commitment to training, that's why! The ability to operate a video camera and a computer to create PowerPoint slides doesn't make you remotely qualified to work or run a training department. Okay, soap box put away.
I spent the rest of the day getting housework done and going over my stuff for tomorrow's visit to the tax professional. We have a very nice stack of papers for her to work with - I'm kind of hoping my preparation will result in a nice stack of money for me to work with!!
Once the girls got home, I took the youngest one to WalMart with me so we could pick up some strawberries, cherry soda and melting chocolate for the fountain. The oldest daugther stayed home to get ready and walk the dog - we stopped back by and picked her up. While I was gone, the president of the board from today's interview had called and wanted to schedule a follow-up interview. I called her back and found out I was one of two finalists for that position as well AND she gave me a homework assignment before the interview. I think I'm going to play the lottery!!!
The oldest daughter once again had a positive day - a story she had written for an essay contest was one of seven selected as honorable mention. She does write some creative stories and did a very nice job with this particular one.
My wife was rather sore today from yesterday's hand-to-hand combat training and she spotted a few more bruises on her body. She sounded a little better today as her allergies were giving her a temporary break. Today was all classroom for her group - probaly more to allow them to recover than anything else. Her next day to relax is March 3rd so it will be a long couple of weeks for her. The good news is her Skype and NetFlix connections are working well on her new Netbook so she'll be able to use those if she has any free time at her final destination. She did call tonight while we were eating at the church and everyone was able to say hello to her - nothing like a long distance group hug!
I think the reason things are staying positive and productive for the most part is due to our commitment to prayer. Our days start and end in either the Bible or a Bible study devotion. If you are going through a deployment or your loved one is about to be deployed, I cannot stress enough the comfort you will get from a positive prayer life. Tonight the girls' devotion was part 2 of "The Heart Box" and referenced Psalm 18:1-3. It talked about giving your life to Jesus. My devotion was "must I listen?" and referenced Exodus 20:19 - Chambers talked about us not listening to God.
It took two glasses of water, but I think I'm over the sugar coma I induced into my body from the dessert at church! Day Twelve is over and here's looking forward to Day 13.
Day Eleven - February 11, 2010
Looking at my schedule, I just knew this was going to be a busy day and boy was I ever right! Day started off with the alarm going off at 5:00 am. Went in to check on the little one and she was already awake and waiting on me - she was just so excited to go back to school! Wish I could get her that excited about cleaning her room.
While she showered and got dressed, I started my Bible readings for the day. Of course at the good parts I have to go scrub her head and then soap up the washrag so she can do her body. Other than those two things she's pretty independent when it comes to showers. I dried her off, helped her get dressed and made breakfast for her - while she ate, I finished my Bible reading.
No issues with the teenager this morning - she's slow most mornings and this one was no different. Her first words today were "isn't it Saturday yet?" At least she is consistent. At 6:00 am the youngest daughter has eaten, made her bed, brushed her teeth and the rest of her morning routine, angered the dog and has her jacket, gloves and hat on ready to go outside to wait for the bus. Of course the rest of us "slackers" know it will be a full hour so I encouraged her to take off her jacket, hat and gloves and relax. As you might have guessed, every 15 minutes I heard "how much longer?" If the bus is late today, it might not be a pretty sight!
Finally her bus picks her up. I'm able to get back on routine a little with the teenager's help. I will admit she has done quite well since her mom left and has been a big help - while she's not good at finding things to do on her own, she doesn't mind asking what can she do to help. The little one on the other hand has tried to take over the "mother" role and is busy keeping tabs on everyone - I had to talk to her this morning that while I appreciate her concern for my safety, I probably didn't need to report to her all of my actions and I certainly didn't need her permission to leave the room. The youngest daughter has a bossy streak in her and is a very strong-willed person - at the same time, you have to be very, very careful how you correct or discipline her - I'm keeping all of that in mind as I make sure she stays in the "daughter" role and not assuming more than she should.
The morning was very positive with a very good phone interview for a training manager position. I have a very hard time reading my performance on interviews but I feel I did my best, had good positive answers to all the questions, the right amount of experience and the right amount of can-do spirit as well.
A little later in the morning, I went over to the church to start decorating for Friday night's activities. The teens are going to cook lasagna for the adults and we are having a special guest speaker, Dr. Yoho. I've heard him speak one time in our church, had a chance to talk with him and I've read several of his books - I consider this to be quite the special night to get to hear him again. Our family also has the incredible opportunity to financially support his Missions 300 writing ministry on a monthly basis. I decorated the ceiling of the modular trailer where we will be eating - last year our family decorated the fellowship hall at Central and I used the same theme/materials - pink and white tafeta material was draped from the ceiling and I put red and pink balloons in there - that gives the lights a nice glow. In the middle of the room, I took a hula-hoop and suspended it from the ceiling. I tied red and pink balloons all around the hoop to create a balloon chandelier. Very nice effect. The pastor's wife will decorate the tables and the rest of the room. I also took our chocolate machine and our punch fountain over as well. I'll need to pick up the chocolate, strawberries and pretzels as well as some type of reddish colored pop for the fountain at Wal Mart Friday.
Both girls arrived home as scheduled and full of their days activities. The little one had her homework finished before the teenager got home. I made sure the youngest one felt like eating spaghetti for supper - didn't want a repeat of that from Tuesay!! She was okay with it, so I cooked spaghetti - we added salad, baby carrots and bread to complete the meal.
The teenager had a ton of homework so I took the youngest to her dance/singing class. I still stick to my thought process that we are in the wrong element there but she really enjoys it - as long as it remains fun for her, we'll continue. The classes are okay, it is just the infrastructure and the mothers. The building just isn't set up for that many people, it is cramped and not laid out well. Add to it all the mothers that are just convinced their little darlings are the next mega-star and you have some really intersting people watching! To make matters worse last night, one guy kept going out to smoke about every five minutes - of course when he came back he caused the entire hallway to smell of smoke. About the time the smell would clear out, he'd go out to light up again - I've been second hand smoking my whole life, just some days are worse than others.
During the time I was at church decorating, our friends from Maryland called to check on us. They are an older couple who became like "surrogate" grandparents to the girls while we were there. A very lovely and wonderful couple, both in their mid-80's. Once I was sure our youngest was in her class and it started, I stepped outside and spoke with them for several minutes. Also during the day, the pastor from Central sent me an e-mail catching me up on the news there, mainly snow related, and let me know that Mr. Oglesby had passed away - he was 95 years old and he was so nice - he would never let me walk up to his pew to shake his hand, he insisted on coming back to speak to our entire family and shaking each person's hand. His wife passed away a couple of years ago and he just wasn't the same after that. Right now the plan is to have a memorial service for Richard in March and if pastor has it on a Saturday without terribly bad weather, we'll do our best to go - by far the least we can do to honor a man who was so good to all of us. I imagine there was quite a great parade in heaven when he arrived.
My wife added to her bruise collection yesterday in hand-to-hand combat training. She also had a snotty nose, probably from allergies related to living in a pre-World War II building and full of 70 years worth of germs and crud. It was raining there so someone ordered pizza and sodas for supper - we don't want our soldiers getting wet, do we? She found out they would be having class each of the next three days for sure so not much rest for her. We've been watching the impending offensive in the region where she is slated to go - our prayer is that it will be over with before she gets there and their team can be part of the recovery for the region instead of the insurgance.
Rest of the evening was good. I did some final research for the interview for Friday morning. My devotion today was "Is your hope in God faint and dying?" and referenced Isaiah 26:3. I will say that Mr. Chambers must have been quite the straight shooter and didn't pull many punches. Ther girls reading was part I of "The heart box" from Psalm 19:16-22 - this part was about sharing.
Day Eleven is done, here's looking forward to Day Twelve!
While she showered and got dressed, I started my Bible readings for the day. Of course at the good parts I have to go scrub her head and then soap up the washrag so she can do her body. Other than those two things she's pretty independent when it comes to showers. I dried her off, helped her get dressed and made breakfast for her - while she ate, I finished my Bible reading.
No issues with the teenager this morning - she's slow most mornings and this one was no different. Her first words today were "isn't it Saturday yet?" At least she is consistent. At 6:00 am the youngest daughter has eaten, made her bed, brushed her teeth and the rest of her morning routine, angered the dog and has her jacket, gloves and hat on ready to go outside to wait for the bus. Of course the rest of us "slackers" know it will be a full hour so I encouraged her to take off her jacket, hat and gloves and relax. As you might have guessed, every 15 minutes I heard "how much longer?" If the bus is late today, it might not be a pretty sight!
Finally her bus picks her up. I'm able to get back on routine a little with the teenager's help. I will admit she has done quite well since her mom left and has been a big help - while she's not good at finding things to do on her own, she doesn't mind asking what can she do to help. The little one on the other hand has tried to take over the "mother" role and is busy keeping tabs on everyone - I had to talk to her this morning that while I appreciate her concern for my safety, I probably didn't need to report to her all of my actions and I certainly didn't need her permission to leave the room. The youngest daughter has a bossy streak in her and is a very strong-willed person - at the same time, you have to be very, very careful how you correct or discipline her - I'm keeping all of that in mind as I make sure she stays in the "daughter" role and not assuming more than she should.
The morning was very positive with a very good phone interview for a training manager position. I have a very hard time reading my performance on interviews but I feel I did my best, had good positive answers to all the questions, the right amount of experience and the right amount of can-do spirit as well.
A little later in the morning, I went over to the church to start decorating for Friday night's activities. The teens are going to cook lasagna for the adults and we are having a special guest speaker, Dr. Yoho. I've heard him speak one time in our church, had a chance to talk with him and I've read several of his books - I consider this to be quite the special night to get to hear him again. Our family also has the incredible opportunity to financially support his Missions 300 writing ministry on a monthly basis. I decorated the ceiling of the modular trailer where we will be eating - last year our family decorated the fellowship hall at Central and I used the same theme/materials - pink and white tafeta material was draped from the ceiling and I put red and pink balloons in there - that gives the lights a nice glow. In the middle of the room, I took a hula-hoop and suspended it from the ceiling. I tied red and pink balloons all around the hoop to create a balloon chandelier. Very nice effect. The pastor's wife will decorate the tables and the rest of the room. I also took our chocolate machine and our punch fountain over as well. I'll need to pick up the chocolate, strawberries and pretzels as well as some type of reddish colored pop for the fountain at Wal Mart Friday.
Both girls arrived home as scheduled and full of their days activities. The little one had her homework finished before the teenager got home. I made sure the youngest one felt like eating spaghetti for supper - didn't want a repeat of that from Tuesay!! She was okay with it, so I cooked spaghetti - we added salad, baby carrots and bread to complete the meal.
The teenager had a ton of homework so I took the youngest to her dance/singing class. I still stick to my thought process that we are in the wrong element there but she really enjoys it - as long as it remains fun for her, we'll continue. The classes are okay, it is just the infrastructure and the mothers. The building just isn't set up for that many people, it is cramped and not laid out well. Add to it all the mothers that are just convinced their little darlings are the next mega-star and you have some really intersting people watching! To make matters worse last night, one guy kept going out to smoke about every five minutes - of course when he came back he caused the entire hallway to smell of smoke. About the time the smell would clear out, he'd go out to light up again - I've been second hand smoking my whole life, just some days are worse than others.
During the time I was at church decorating, our friends from Maryland called to check on us. They are an older couple who became like "surrogate" grandparents to the girls while we were there. A very lovely and wonderful couple, both in their mid-80's. Once I was sure our youngest was in her class and it started, I stepped outside and spoke with them for several minutes. Also during the day, the pastor from Central sent me an e-mail catching me up on the news there, mainly snow related, and let me know that Mr. Oglesby had passed away - he was 95 years old and he was so nice - he would never let me walk up to his pew to shake his hand, he insisted on coming back to speak to our entire family and shaking each person's hand. His wife passed away a couple of years ago and he just wasn't the same after that. Right now the plan is to have a memorial service for Richard in March and if pastor has it on a Saturday without terribly bad weather, we'll do our best to go - by far the least we can do to honor a man who was so good to all of us. I imagine there was quite a great parade in heaven when he arrived.
My wife added to her bruise collection yesterday in hand-to-hand combat training. She also had a snotty nose, probably from allergies related to living in a pre-World War II building and full of 70 years worth of germs and crud. It was raining there so someone ordered pizza and sodas for supper - we don't want our soldiers getting wet, do we? She found out they would be having class each of the next three days for sure so not much rest for her. We've been watching the impending offensive in the region where she is slated to go - our prayer is that it will be over with before she gets there and their team can be part of the recovery for the region instead of the insurgance.
Rest of the evening was good. I did some final research for the interview for Friday morning. My devotion today was "Is your hope in God faint and dying?" and referenced Isaiah 26:3. I will say that Mr. Chambers must have been quite the straight shooter and didn't pull many punches. Ther girls reading was part I of "The heart box" from Psalm 19:16-22 - this part was about sharing.
Day Eleven is done, here's looking forward to Day Twelve!
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