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!