1' 35"

Hey guys!

We thought that you might like to see what we have been into this fall via some pictures. So here is 1' 35" of the Fall of 2007....

Rodney

Cabinet space...

Nothing really to say, just thought some of you might like this picture of Kate in the cabinet. Can you imagine being this small. She just unloads that cabinet and climbs in on her own. I guess if we ever can't find her we could always look here.

$38.67

Over the last several weeks, our small group has been walking alongside a family that we have gotten to know through connections at school. From the initial mention of coming alongside a family and not knowing exactly where that would lead us, each person in our small group has been eager to help in whatever form that took. Over the last few weeks, we have had the chance to have a picnic with these new friends as well as help plug them into the life of our church. It has been a pleasure being a part of a small group that sees the need to look beyond the four walls of the church to the community that we all live in and see how God can bless others while using us as the tool.

Today, we had the chance to help them around their home. The long of the short of it was that the exterior of the home needed to be painted so that it didn’t begin to rot with the dampness that comes with Winter. Since this would likely be one of the last weekends of the year with warm, dry weather, we decided that this Sunday afternoon would be the time to do it. I have included some pics below to show the before and after.

The $38.67... We had prayed for some guidance about just how to undertake the things that we were getting into; just some wisdom and guidance to do the best we can, in this case choosing the right materials and having enough time and so on. I called a good friend that shares a heart for this kind of stuff and also works with painting and contractor-type stuff day-in, day-out. In five minutes, he (& He) provided materials and advice that were going to cost ~$200. In the end, it was $38.67 to make a profound impression on some new friends.

Pachelbel Bedtime

Hey everybody... it's Laura. I told you when I deleted my blog that I might jump on Rodney's if there was something that I really wanted to say. Well, today I ran across something that I just had to share. I laughed until I cried while watching this. If you are a parent you will definitely be able to identify with this guy. Not only is it hilarious, but it's very sweet too...make sure and watch until the end.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Kindergarten!!!

Mary Elizabeth claimed a big step toward 'big girl' status today when she walked into her Kindergarten class. She walked in like she owned it and never looked back. She took a backpack full of stuff, including the all important water bottle. She bought her lunch in the cafeteria, carried the tray and all that goes with it.

Her teacher's name is Ms. Willis. She and Laura have worked together before when Laura was there helping out.

Here are some pics of the day. I hope you enjoy. We're proud of her.

Rodney

Pink Jeeps, Tlaquepaque, and In-N-Out

Friday and Saturday, August 3 & 4--

Friday was the final day of vacation in Sedona for us and we made the most of it. The girls had been noticing all the jeep tours through the week, particularly the Pink Jeeps. These tours took people up into the red rocks on various 4wd tours, some rough roads and other crazy rock hopping. So, we surprised them with this and a little final hoorah on Friday morning at 8. Our guide came by to pick us up. His name was Chip and he lived in Flagstaff. Chip was a very interesting guy. I was expecting some kid in flip-flops with an iPod, but we got a banker. Chip has a bachelors and masters degree in things that bankers do and has worked at 3 banks over the course of 20 years. He said he got fed up with it all and always thought that doing those tours looked like fun. He applied and got rejected. He waited a year and, through the course of 6 interviews, a driving test, and a written exam covering the ecology, geology and cultural history, he passed. Said it was the best thing he ever did. Anyway, he took us through the rocks for about 2 hours and it was the neatest thing we did all week. We stopped to look at different flowers, rocks, geologic formations, take a hike up to an overlook point and take some good pics. It was a lot of fun and the girls were thrilled.

Tlaquepaque is a fancy art gallery village in Sedona. There are nothing but generally swanky shops there with great art, sculptures, pottery and the like. I don't what else to say about Tlaquepaque, but it is worth walking through and would be better done as a date w/o kids - some of that stuff cost more than our house.

Saturday--According to Laura, one of her highlights from the trip was going to the book loft - 40% off moving sale. She and the girls went in and got some good books that they had eyed all week, but at 40% off. She hates to shop, but loves the deal. The final bright spot for the trip was going to In-N-Out in Phoenix. It is a burger restaurant that only does burgers, fries, and drinks and various combinations on that. It is a place to go if you are near one - they are only out west. Laura like a single animal style. I went for a protein, fries, and water on the way home, but got a single, fries, and choc shake when we got there a week before. The owner is a believer as the story goes and has put small font Bible verses on the cups, wrappers, and the like (John 3:16, Proverbs 3:5, Rev 3:20).

That is it for Sedona. I hope that you all have enjoyed our vacation and my recap of it.

Rodney

3rd grade!!!

Today was Emily's first day of 3rd grade. She was excited to go and went in like a pro. Here is a picture of her from today. She has her favorite teacher again, Mrs. Taylor.

Rodney & Laura

Omelet #37 & Snoopy...

Thursday, August 2--

As I remember today, we really didn't do much other than hang out and swim. Of course, we started the day with breakfast. There is a neat restaurant in Sedona called the Coffeepot Restaurant. It got this name b/c you can eat on the roof and see Coffeepot Rock. -Sidebar: Most of the rocks, particularly the red ones are a sandstone with lots of iron, thus the rust. Because sandstone is so soft compared to limestone and basalt in this area, it erodes quicker. This faster rate of erosion has yielded some neat shapes in the rock. There are probably a dozen or so named rocks around town... Coffee Pot Rock, Snoopy Rock, Elephant Rock, Chimney Rock... -- Anyway, this restaurant is home to 101 omelets and some other good things. I had #37 and Laura had #62. I don't remember much about hers, but mine had feta cheese, spinach, and avocados. Amazingly good! The coffee wasn't bad either.

The rest of the day we spent around the pool and the girls met some other little girls from Buffalo, New York to play with for a while. Here are a couple of pics, including Elephant Rock and one of Snoopy Rock (not the big rock, but the smaller one to the lefty - Snoopy laying on his back).

More tomorrow.

Rodney

Trout, Swedish Oat Pancakes, & the Grand Canyon...

Wednesday, August 1--

Today we got up relatively early and left Sedona for Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. The route that we took to get there is/was listed as one of the top ten scenic drives in the country. The highway was Scenic 89A and it wove about 25 miles up Oak Creek Canyon from Sedona to the top of a plateau and on into Flagstaff. If you are familiar with the drive from Gatlinburg to Cades Cove, this was similar with the twisting roads, but constantly up with steep walls on one side and large drops on the other. I think that mom about ripped a hole in the seat she was grabbing so tight.

We didn’t spend too much time in Flagstaff other than to eat breakfast at a place called Brandy’s Restaurant and Bakery. It was good, I had trout, eggs, and a Swedish oat pancake. From there, we left to go to the Grand Canyon. The drive to the canyon is nice all by itself, something like 70 miles at between 6,000 and 9,000 feet, relatively flat. The girls enjoyed it. It is a neat change of scenery, sort of high desert with absolutely no towns, just a few houses. We finally made it to the South Rim around 11AM. It was awesome to see the look on the girl’s and mom’s faces when they saw it. Same reaction that I had, total disbelief that the canyon is that big. We kicked around the rim till dark doing everything from going through visitor centers, art galleries, and just generally gawking at the beauty of it all. I have to say that it was somewhat frustrating to me having gone down 3 times to stay on the rim with all the tourists, especially the tour bus tourists. I don’t think that I have ever spent that much time on top looking down. I enjoyed using the binoculars to pick off backpackers on the way down or up and to see the Ranch and Indian Gardens. I think it made me realize how much I enjoyed it all and how proud I am at having done it. It just made me want to do it again all that much more. We all hiked down the Bright Angel Trail about 20 – 30 minutes and back up so that everyone could see what it is like to get away from the rim and all the people and all the buses. In just a few feet it was quiet, calm, and peaceful. I think that is what is so addictive. The strange thing about it all was that it was August 1 and the temp on the rim was about 65 degrees and the wind was whipping. The temp at the bottom was reported to be 100 on this cloudy day. We hung around and had dinner at the Arizona Room restaurant on the rim. It was good. We were so hungry from all the walking and hiking. Here are some pics of the day.

More tomorrow.

Rodney

$1 million dollars a month and the Haunted Hamburger...

Tuesday, July 31--

Today we spent the morning... swimming. It was hard not to swim in such a nice pool and the girls loved it. It also took a little edge off their energy. The water was always just about the right temperature and the air was almost always a little bit cooler. Most of the times we swam, the air temperature was 75 degrees, which seems a little bit cool for swimming, but the water more than compensated.

After lunch we met up with the photographer to get the family picture made. I found the photographer through Google. He was a nice fellow and took us out to a scenic spot that had the red rocks and mountains in the background and a juniper tree for the foreground. This was his special picture taking tree that he used in many pics. We haven't seen the results yet, but I suspect that he got something that is workable. I think he took 90 or so pics in 20 minutes using all kinds of combinations of us around that tree.

After the picture, we went to Jerome, Arizona, which was a mining boom town in the late-1800's and early-1900's. I tried to explain what mining was to the girls, but I could never communicate the concept. So, we went to the Jerome Mining Museum. It was actually a neat place to visit and I think it helped the girls understand a little more, though they were still looking for rocks they could buy with their money. The thing that I found fascinating about the museum was the scale model of the mountain they had. The mountain had the town in place on the side and then underneath it had the network of mining tunnels to scale. I think it said that were 200+ miles of mines under that mountain. It was really neat how they dug down and then sent tunnel out like spokes on a wheel from the main vertical, then went lower and did it again, and again, and again. They said at the peak of production, the companies were profiting a million dollars a month from the minerals extracted there. Eventually the town took the companies to court and sued b/c the mountain was settling (town sliding). The companies ended up paying each resident $58K as I remember. The history of the place is amazing.

After this, we wondered through the town, which is basically stores and homes along a series of switchbacks up the mountain highway - mostly hermit-like artists. Jerome is also the home of the Haunted Hamburger that Rachel Ray visited in here $40 a day show. It was truly a hole in the wall place, but it had a beautiful view of the Verde River Valley and they had awesome food.

More tomorrow.

Rodney

Shops, sculptures, and swimming...

Monday, July 30 --

We were scheduled to get a family picture taken today like the ones some folks have taken at the beach, except in the red rocks of Sedona. The monsoon season that I mentioned yesterday caused the photographer to reschedule since we were going to be out during that part of the day. So, with no other plan, we hung out around Sedona today, checking out the little shops, riding the trolley, and spending time at the pool. There are parts of Sedona, particularly the 'touristy' street that are like Gatlinburg (read this as derogatory) - little shops cashing in on tourists that don't know any better. Not to beat the town down, there are other parts of Sedona that are really neat that are basically high-end galleries with paintings, sculptures, pottery, and the like. There were some really pretty things on display, and after checking a few price tags, we decided that it would be better for us not to go in than to pay for breaking stuff. There was a sculpture for $258K, paintings were commonly ~$2K, and pottery bowls for several hundred dollars, but they were pretty. Of course all this pales in comparison to the natural scenery. ...Anyway, we rode the trolley around town to see where all it would go and then spent the rest of the day around the pool.
More tomorrow.

Rodney

Don't slop your dripper...

Sunday, July 29-

This morning we wondered around the timeshare property trying to find the swimming pool and the creek. We found the creek easily, but had a hard time finding the pool for some reason. After a couple of trips around the loop we finally stumbled on the pool area. It was an indoor / outdoor pool with hot tubs inside and out. You could swim through a tunnel of sorts to go from one to the other and back. I don't know if it was the pools or the combination of the pools and the setting in the red rocks that made it so neat. Needless to say, we spent many, many hours there over the next few days.

Around 11am we left Sedona and headed to Clarksdale, Arizona for a scheduled train ride at 1pm. The train ride is called the Verde Canyon railroad and takes about 4 hours to complete. The train leaves from the depot in Clarksdale and travels up the Verde Canyon alongside the Verde River. The train has inside and outside cars and we could switch between them whenever. It was a really neat experience to ride the train up this canyon with a beautiful river in the foreground and big, high desert mountains in the background. The girls loved it. They spent a lot of time on the outside car b/c they could see better than inside. -- Sidebar: July and August are the monsoon season in Arizona. The humidity goes up (from 5% to 30 - 40%) and it storms most every afternoon. The storms are big, sometimes violent, and often have lots of lightning associated with them. -- So, when the train stopped in Perkinsville to move the engine for the trip back, we were treated to one of these awesome storms on the return trip. There was lots of lightning in the distance with dark blue clouds that made for some great views of contrasting colors. -- Sidebar: Perkinsville is a small, small community that use to be a single ranch a hundred or so years ago, just a small ranch, 20 miles wide and 30 miles long. As I understood the story, the wife sold the ranch for $1,800 using a quick claim deed while her husband was away gambling and so on. He came home to nothing, she bought a horse and a rifle and then left town.

After the train ride we went to the Blazin M Ranch for a cowboy dinner / dinner show. This was pretty neat and had the setting of a old west town, though sort of 'campy' if I may use that word, hopefully in the correct way. The dinner was good and show was a blend of humor, western swing / ballad-style music and some poetry - Rindercella. Have you ever heard this? The leader of the band recited this poem in its entirety, from memory. Read it to your family, it is funny.

This was a busy day and we were worn out, but it was what mom wanted to do and it was one of her 'retirement' trips. More tomorrow.

Rodney

Montezumas Castle...

Saturday, July 28--

Hey friends!

We are having a great time in Sedona with my family. We have done some neat things like ride the Verde Canyon railroad (4 hours), go to the Blazin' M Ranch (cowboy dinner show), get a family picture made, and go to Jerome which is an old mining town turned ghost town turned artist hideout. We ate at the Haunted Hamburger in Jerome which is one the places that Rachel Ray ate at when she did the $40 a day thing in Sedona. It was the best place we ate at since being here. Today we are off to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.

Emily wants everyone to know that she had a great time going through Sedona and riding the trolley. Mary Elizabeth really enjoyed Montezuma's Castle, a National Monument that still has the dwellings intact in the cliff face.

I'll fill in the gaps and add some pics when we get back - probably writing about what we did that day the week before. There are several more 'big' things left to do and I'll add then as we do them hopefully.

Rodney, Emily, & Mary Elizabeth

Tag - your it...

Hmmm, I saw this thing going around a few days ago and though it was interesting, but never imagined that someone would send it my way. So, just to set the ground rules, according to Michale, I am suppose to tell you seven ‘random’ things about me that you may not know, and then pass this on to a few other folks. I suppose that you could go backwards from here through Michale and read about strange things that other folks have experienced.

1. I won the 4-H biscuit making contest in the 4th grade. This needs to be qualified first. My dad was the principal at my elementary school, which definitely had its plusses and minuses. Sure, my brother and I got to drink all the chocolate milk we could hold between 6:45 and 7:30 in the morning Monday through Friday, but if you ever got an award or won a contest or anything positive, it was b/c ‘your dad is the principal’. So, when I won the baking contest in the 4th grade, it was b/c ‘my dad was the principal’! I’m not bitter, really.
2. I had dinner with Miss America when I was a junior in high school. Kellye Cash was her name and I think she was crowned in 1986. It was a neat experience to say the least. She is probably the most famous person that I have ever met, at least that I have realized.
3. I went sailing for a week on the Chesapeake bay the summer between my senior year in high school and when I started college. This was a YoungLife camp of sorts that just happens to be on the Chesapeake Bay. Me being able to go came about b/c someone had to back out on the trip. It was a cool experience. A group of about 8 kids and 3 leaders (about 2 years older than us) rode the Greyhound from Cookeville to Cambridge, Maryland and got on a 100 foot sailboat, complete with 2 sails, a crew of three, and completely stocked with food for a week. Once we were on board, they took our watches away, divided us into groups of 2-3 people, and set sail for our first destination. Each group had tasks that they had to complete each day, and those responsibilities rotated – cooking, cleaning, and driving. I was paired with another guy. On our cooking day, he and I stood on the bow sprit of the boat and netted crabs (easy picking since it was mating season for crabs in the Bay – for some reason they float on top of the water). We probably caught 50 of them and had streamed crabs for dinner that night. Cleaning day was... cleaning day. Driving day was awesome. When it was your turn to drive the boat for the day, the captain of the boat set you down with the charts and showed you where you were. Your job was to figure out where you wanted to go and get the boat there by dinner. It was cool for the simple nerd reason that we had to use a blend of geometry and orienteering to get where we wanted to go. So, did I mention that this boat had something like a 7 ton keel underneath it? So this massive counterweight begged me to ask the captain about rolling the boat over on its edge, you know, like they do in the America’s Cup. If we had the speed, we could do it was the response. Later in the day, when the temperature was driving the winds, we managed to get that speed, and we rolled the boat over to the point that the side walkways were completely submerged, something like driving your car on two wheels and being able to reach out the windows and touch the ground. The other neat fact about this trip was that the Perseid Meteor showers were occurring at the same time. I slept out on the deck of the boat with a friend and watched dozens of shooting stars each night. There were so many and they occurred so frequently that you didn’t have to pay attention to see them.
4. I am an Eagle Scout. I finished the process on March 25, 1989, two days before I turned 18. If Scouts taught me anything, it was a self-reliance that I can do anything I need to do. That doesn’t negate any hard work or any resourcefulness that may be required. It is funny how simple things like having to build a fire hot enough to boil water or camping through severe storms will teach you things about yourself that you don’t realize until years later. I always thought it was odd how the twelve points of the scout law (trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, brave, clean and reverent) and the fruits of the spirit seemed to match, at least generally.
5. I have hiked the Grand Canyon three times – 1998, 2002, and 2004, in three different seasons – Spring, Summer, and Fall This is one of those thing that you never think you’ll do, but it is soooo addictive. I have hiked it from the South Rim twice (1998 and 2004), down the South Kaibab trail to Phantom Ranch and then back pup on the Bright Angel Trail. In 2002, we hiked from the North Rim on the North Kaibab down to Phantom and then caught a raft and rode out to Lake Mead. This trip was by far the most interesting, just because of the time spent. The hike in was ~ 16 miles in August. We hiked from 45 degrees at 7 in the morning through 125 degrees in the afternoon and lost more than a mile in elevation. The raft trip was about 200 miles and included rapids that make the Ocoee and Natahala seem like ripples in tub – 10 foot standing waves at Lava Falls that made our 37 foot boat stand on end.
6. In July 1998, Laura and I drove across the country to Yellowstone and stayed for a week. It was probably the best trip I have ever taken. We stayed in a cabin about 300 yards from Old Faithful for a week, for only $200. The neat part of it was that the tourists, the ones that only show up on buses, don’t start showing up till around 9:30 or 10 in the morning and then disappear around 4 in the afternoon. Before and after those times, we and the other cabin people basically had the the geyser fields and hot springs to ourselves. There were three very memorable days. Day 1 - We took a day and drove from the Old Faithful area north to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River and then back south through the Lamar Valley. It is a neat drive that takes you past paint pots (colorful clay bubbling) to this enormous waterfall and then back through a lush, grassy valley with a meandering stream and bison everywhere. Day 2 – We went to the ranger station and wrote down the geyser predictions on the geyser map. We spent they day going from one geyser eruption to the next and managed to see 13 geysers go off. It was really neat. Sometimes we sat for a long time waiting which was cool too. Day 3 – We waited until late in the day to start touring through the hot spring fields. Because of the elevation and the western longitude, it stayed light until 10 at night. So, we were milling about hot springs in sort of twilight conditions, sort of ethereal.
7. I have a security clearance, but that’s all I can say about that.
   

So, that’s seven things about me. Now, who should I tag... I’ll think about it and put a comment here soon to let everyone know.

Heaven

I’ve been reading through Velvet Elvis or the last few weeks, on and off.  It is a great book for several reasons, but mainly b/c it gives me reason to think about where I am on different topics.  I was reading the other day somewhere in the book about Heaven and what that would actually be like... a perfectly restored Earth if I remember correct, the Earth before the fall.  I don’t know that I have ever really thought about the particulars, what it would look like and so on, and I don’t know that the author is correct, but it does give me a better mental picture.  Anyway... after Kate’s dedication today, after lunch with all the family, I was sleeping & reading in the shade on the porch swing in the backyard and couldn’t help but think about this definition of Heaven.  The sky was a deep blue, the breeze was just right to give a little sway, the temperature was very comfortable, I was in and out of sleep... there were no lawnmowers, weedeaters, or dogs barking.  It was perfect, at least by my standards.  I think it is just a testament to our finite minds that we cannot comprehend how God could restore moments like this to anything better, but I look forward to it.

Mom

Today was Mother’s Day of course and I thought I would take a minute to tell everyone how great my kids’ mom really is.  Laura is a great mom to our 3 girls.  Within her there seems to be an unending supply of patience for watching ‘shows’ and reading books.  Making a different lunch for each one is no problem and searching through stacks and drawers of clothes for the one special shirt is certainly OK.  The girls no without a doubt that their mom loves them and has no other mission in life than to be their mom.  She’s a good mom!

Thon

Some of you are already laughing, I know you are.  

I was walking around in the yard this evening and heard that faint, odd sound that I have grown accustom to hearing – singing, like really bad opera.   Could it be the sirens on the rocks in O Brother, Where art Thou?   Could it be some little kid out ‘doing a show” in the yard for mom or dad?  It could be any of those things, but it isn’t.  It is one of our backyard neighbors.  

Several months ago, I discovered that it was the diagonal backyard neighbor one night about 10PM while I was standing on the deck.  When I realized where it was coming from, I went down to the yard to the back fence and then walked along the fence until I was at the corner of our yards, actually I was in theirs.  It was dark, but I was just beyond the reach of their flood lights. So I stood there, listening to this singing - singing into a phone and then hearing someone sing back through the phone - and then realized that this person was also twirling a riffle and alternating with a flag.  I kept watching, the singing, twirling, and flag throwing continued.  As I stood there, I realized that I could not really tell whether this person was a he or a she, really couldn’t.  

Flashback about 15 years to English 102 and having to revise papers that were full of errors using a Harbrace Handbook, version 13.  I was all too familiar with chapter 12 (commas) and chapter 18 (spelling) and got tired of it all and started reading through those later chapters that got into odd things, like androgynous pronouns, like Thon.  The intent of these androgynous pronouns was to give writers / speakers a way to discuss a person w/o distinguishing or implying their (thon’s) gender, less one be considered sexist.  So, to be proper, which I have never been accused of being, I should say “Thon is going to be here around 3 this afternoon” if someone asked me when someone was going to be here.  I know, it is crazy.  Google it, it is there, take the wikipedia link.

Oh yeah, sorry it has been so long since the last post.  Too many irons in too small of a fire.

1968

I was out in the yard this afternoon picking lettuce when one of the neighbor kids showed up like he always does when someone else is out in the yard.  He is around enough that I figure I can treat him somewhat like one of my own.  So as we sat there picking lettuce and radishes, talking about this and that, I took the opportunity to ask him if he knew what Easter was all about.  --- I knew that the girls had been doing some evangelism of their own.  They had been talking and arguing with him that Jesus really did die and come back to life – Laura had to settle the argument.  Somewhere in the midst of this, Mary exclaimed that ‘We’ve been telling him that Easter is not just about hunting eggs and the Easter bunny!” ---  So I knew they had talked it out and that he ought to know something.  So I asked him if he knew what Easter was about. He said, ‘No, I cannot remember’.  So I went through some questions with him, asked him if he knew who died and so on.  He then asked me when Jesus died.  I said it was a long, long time ago. His response, ‘You mean in 1968?”.  I tried to explain that it was a couple thousand years ago, but he couldn’t comprehend that, so I relented and said that it might as well been 1968.

First Fruits...

The planting that Mary and I did on March 2 has finally paid off, 29 days later. On that day, we planted several things, including radishes, spinach, arugala, and mixed lettuces like the stuff in the bag at the store that looks like small oak leaves.

So, on Saturday, after a long 'work' day as Mary calls it, we picked some arugala, spinach, radishes, and all those different kinds of lettuces and used them in our supper. We made a pasta dish that is based on linguine, grilled shrimp, arugala, parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes, sea salt, EVOO, and some fresh pepper. Grilled chicken works well as do grilled scallops. I would hold it up to any I've had at a restaurant. The remainder of the greens ended up on a salad.
Here's the recipe:

1 lb favorite pasta
1 lb shrimp marinated in garlic and salt
Handful of arugula
1/2 package of sun-dried tomatoes (could also use 1 roasted red pepper)
1/2 cup sliced parmesan
EVOO
sea salt
fresh black pepper

While grilling the shrimp, begin to boil the pasta. While this is happening, get arugula, tomatoes (or peppers), parmesan, EVOO, salt and pepper ready. Drain the pasta when it is finished and put 1/3 in a large bowl. Add about 1/3 of arugula, 1/3 of parmesan, 1/3 of tomatoes, & 1/3 of shrimp, a pinch of salt and pepper and 1/4 cup of EVOO. Repeat the process until it is all in the bowl. Stir (fold) well. Serve it hot and sprinkle some parmesan & EVOO on top. Then eat your pasta, eat your bread, and... enjoy life.

1 blue

The 4 pinks have been gone since Wednesday, so it has just been me, the lone blue. The pinks went to Georgia to visit Aunt Sarah for a few days and see the sites in Macon, Georgia. They have had a good time checking things out, going to parks and so on. I am sure that the primary pink will blog about this when she returns.

Their having been gone has given me cause to think some about life with 4 pinks. Let me say at the outset that 1) I know they are all sweet, 2) I know they are all precious, and 3) someday they’ll not want to hang with this blue and they’ll be gone. I know, I understand. But... typically I feel as if I am living within a musical with people breaking into song w/o any apparent reason at any given moment. I typically don’t like musicals as some of you know – goes back to one called ‘Into the woods’, it was a tragedy, believe me. I imagine that we would all agree that it is hard to see the bigger picture when you are in the middle of daily-ness. And maybe that is what having some time alone does, it gives you the chance to take off the helmet, come out of the foxhole, and consider the larger perspective. When they left on Wednesday things were good, I enjoyed the quiet and the chance to watch a complete TV show and sleep through the night (though the primary pink would argue that I do this most of the time). Thursday came and went. Friday is here and will soon be gone, and it is entirely too quiet around here. Simple things like wandering around the yard looking at ‘spring’ happening before our eyes with the girls – can’t do that if they’re not here. So, I will be glad when they are home and will try to learn to appreciate musicals, both the cast and the songs they sing.

Podcasts

I have an iPod, have had one for a couple years.  I started out just listening to music, but then got hooked on Podcasts.  I guess it is fair to say that I am addicted to them.  Most of the ones I subscribe to are pastors from around the country whose books I have read.  Listening to Podcasts from around the country gives you this perspective that you are a member of that body – I mean you could walk into their church and carry on a conversation about the current sermon series with a regular church member as if you sat on the front row each Sunday.  It is kind of like that episode from Andy Griffith where the outsider comes to Mayberry and seems to know a lot about the town, though the town doesn’t know him – he had been receiving the Mayberry newspaper through the mail for years.  I have been thinking about blogging about some of these Podcasts and the general thoughts they cause me to think, start a conversation.  It might be boring in concept, but these guys wade through stuff that is  provocative and thought provoking – not that my friends-of-the-cloth are not.

Are you interested?  Hope so.

Refreshing...

It may sound strange, but I am proud of my Pastor. He has been wading through 1 Corithians on and off for the last few months, taking it a chapter at a time - all about being deviant, deviating from the norm. Last week it was chapter 7 and this week chapter 8. The other night he and I were talking and he said he was wrestling with chapter 8 and making it relevant to this generation, but knew that he had to take it head on, straight-forward. It doesn't matter the issue, he tells it straight like it was intended and not like some would rather it be told. It ruffles feathers for some and that is good - hopefully makes folks think about what they believe. If you don't question why things are the way they are, then you should have your feathers ruffled I suppose. For others, like me, it is refreshing!!! Refreshing to have a person in his position call it like it is as opposed to what the 'institution' and tradition give us. I mean, the very idea of being honest and transparent is rare. How many times have you heard someone teaching and think that they are just about to drive the point home, just to back off and go soft... not here.

You can listen / watch his sermons on the church website if you want. Or, check out his blog, it usually has posts throughout the week that relate to what he is wrestling with in his sermon prep. Most of you reading this go to church with us, so maybe this is for those that are checking in on our family from a distance.

Frozen peas...

that's what you get when you plant peas this time of year.... some will find this funny.

It is that time of year again. Each year when the Maples and Red Buds begin to show just the slightest tinge of red, I get Spring Fever. One of the ways I go about curing the bug is to start thinking about my gardens - what am I going to plant? when will I start? will the guy across the street come over again this year to tell me how 'he would have done it'? I built a couple of 10' x 4' raised beds last year and had more vegetables and herbs than I knew what to do with. Whenever we were gone for a day or two, we got neighbors to pick tomatoes and squash - whatever was ready - as a way of sharing and connecting. This dovetails with some posts from friends talking about the community aspect of gardening. I guess I have been part of this 'community' gardening-type thing for most of my life, but didn't realize it since it was just life.

I grew up with two gardens - the 1/2 acre we had as a family and then the acre that my grandparents down the road had. From this you can tell that gardening, both vegetables and flowers, was a part of my life - work in our family garden was mandatory, working in grandma's garden was just expected, just what you did. I remember having so many tomatoes, onions, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, beans, corn, squash and the like that we gave it away, froze it, ate it, ate it again, and in some cases probably still threw some to the cows because we didn't know what else to do. If there was even more, we (grandma and the grandkids) sold it to 'meat & threes'. Really, I remember loading my grandparents car trunk with everything and going to a restaurant in town and opening the trunk to sell it to the lady that cooked.

I'll keep you up-to-date about my garden as we progress through Spring.

Guess what is missing???

Friday afternoon Mary and I were outside piddling around in the yard, talking about spring, and so on. Then she up and asked me about taking the training wheels off her bike, affectionately known as the Jitterbug. I said that she would probably be ready this summer and that once we take them off we won’t put them back on – no going back. She thought for a moment and said how about now? We fumbled around for a few minutes getting the tools out and the bike flipped over and off came those training wheels.

We went through all the ‘pre-no-training-wheels’ check list – helmet on, shoes tied, one foot on the forward pedal, one foot on the ground, push down and go – if you look down, you go down; if you look forward, you go forward. Next was the amazing part. She got on, I gave her a little push and there she went riding through the yard. She was very determined when she stopped to get going again without help. This went on and on and eventually she was riding the length of our short little street and even turning a circle in the cul-de-sac. Needless to say, but of course I have to, I am proud of her.

4 pinks and a blue

Have you ever heard someone say that they like their coffee with a 'pink and a blue'? For those that are not up on coffee lingo, pink refers to Sweet' n Low, blue refers to Equal. It dawned on me for some reason that our family is a mix of four pinks and a blue. It sounded like a good blog label for a series of posts.

I can honestly say that I never thought that I would be the dad to three children, mush less three girls (pinks). Don't get me wrong, they are a blessing unlike any other and each of those 'blessings' is very individual and unique. I have learned (am learning) to appreciate each of them for their own personalities and approaches to life. While each of my girls (Laura included) affect me in different ways, I have begun to see how my life is going to be different as the result of being the one lone blue in the middle of four pinks. Example: this evening after small group some of the men went upstairs to check out the bowling game on the Nintendo Wii. Never mind how cool the the game was and that the inertial controller could actually put spin on the ball - you just hold the control and treat it like a bowling ball. How cool is that! (If we were honest, we could have stayed for a couple of hours playing.) But the world of Nintendo or Xbox is something that I really doubt I'll ever get into - I mean, they don't have Dancing Princess or High School Musical games do they? But sometimes there is that part of me that watches other dads and sons playing their Wii or Xbox and kind of misses that father/son stuff - but I have been given pinks. I know that there is a whole world of daddy/daughter stuff out there and it is all good, just different from what dads grew up doing. So, I'll continue to let my first two pinks give me 'foot massages', continue to braid their hair on request, and continue to live inside a musical - it is sweet.

Passing the swim test... In the snow

Emily, Mary and I went to the YMCA today to swim today after having been gone for a week.  It was neat to swim and see the snow falling outside.  We made a deal that we would swim and play for 30 minutes and then I could swim some laps and then go back to swim and play some more.  So that’s what we did.  We played and messed around for about thirty minutes and then went to the lap pool.  I turned my laps while the girls sat with their feet dangling in the 10 foot section - while the lifeguard was watching.  Got that done and Emily asked if she could jump into the 10 foot section and swim to the ladder.  Fine with me, she can swim.  For several weeks, I have been sort of pushing her to take this swimming test that the Y wants kids to take so that they can go down the slide and generally swim unsupervised, at least by parents.  So, after jumping in and getting to the ladder, I began to ask her why not just go ahead and ask the lifeguard to watch her for the test.  She kept on saying yes, then no, then yes...  saying she was nervous.  I finally got her on a ‘yes’ moment and got the lifeguard to watch.  Now Emily, as some of you know, is or can be as determined as anyone when it comes to proving herself.  So, there we were, Emily, Mary, me and the lifeguard.  The lifeguard told her she had to swim w/o stopping across and then back.  Em gave me the 'look', went under, pushed off the wall, came up, and was swimming like I have never seen - kicking, head down, taking breaths, digging deep - she owned that lap.  We get to the other side, she took a breather and did it again.  When she got to the other side, the lifeguard looked at her and smiled and said, “OK, good job... go slide”.  I guess in the grand scheme of things this was a small hurdle, but it was good to see her go after something hard.  The best part may have been that Mary was as happy for Emily as Emily was for herself.

The Grand...

I am taking a stats course for work this week in Fairhope, Alabama. Usually I am traveling alone when I do this sort of thing, sitting in class all day, brain well into overload by mid-afternoon on the first day, and no one but a group of strangers to hang with at night. Sometimes this is OK, but it gets old; this week that part is different. This week Laura and Kate came with me. It is nice to see them in the afternoon when I am finished as opposed to staring at a TV or hanging with a bunch of folks that are feeling the same way. In addition to Laura and Kate coming along, there are two other things that make this trip better than usual - location and great friends.

Location - Fairhope, Alabama is about as good as it gets. It combines the simplicity of a modern-day Mayberry with Old Southern charm and coastal living. I think that they actually have a 'town botanist' to make sure that the flowers and landscaping around town look just right. And to top it off, there is this hotel, locally referred to as The Grand. It has a neat story.

Friends - Jeff & Amy Powell... Jeff and Amy left Smyrna a little more than 3 years ago to move here for a job. Jeff and I worked together in Nashville and shared many drives to and from work. We had dinner with them tonight at their home and it was like we had just seen each other last week. For three and a half hours, we talked about life, kids, family, work and on and on. That must be the sign of true friends, that no matter how long it has been since the last conversation, you pick up just where you left off feeling fully at home in their company. Friends like that are few and far between. I think that Solomon said that he could only find 1 in every thousand that he could really connect with deeply.

The Things that Amuse Us...

Laura's sister Sarah, who lives in Georgia, hasn't seen Kate since Christmas and asked if we would post a picture or two of her. As you can see from the pictures, Mary has become quite the mother-type and Laura managed to take a picture of Mary pushing Kate in a baby-doll stroller the other day. Kate didn't seem to mind and actually seems to love Mary 'taking care of her'. So, here you go Sarah, and whoever else would like to see some Kate pictures.

Snow... finally!!!

Finally, we get some snow. I think that this is the last memorable snow we had was in the Winter of 2003; Emily was almost 4 and Mary was 18 months. Here are some of our pictures from today. Watching them wake-up to see snow outside is equal to, if not better than, than Christmas morning.

Digging out the jeep...

Angel #1

Angel #2

Face full of snow!

The final product!

Sharpening the Saw

Laura went out to eat with some girlfriends tonight (Omni Hut) - something that was well deserved and probably long overdue. I am glad that she went, but I cannot say that I always feel that way; it is hard to come home tired, ready to chill-out and then minutes later see her walk out the door. She needs it - I understand, but it is still hard. I cannot imagine living in the world of endless videos, reading books, always something to clean, always someone that needs you for something, always. I can barely make it through Swan Lake & the Twelve Dancing Princesses once, much less twenty times. Being a mom is all Laura has ever wanted to be and I believe that she is loving each minute, give or take some here and there. Though I imagine being 'needed' can get tiresome, I also believe that it is the most rewarding feeling.

Laura always encourages me to 'get together with the guys', though I believe that we are more properly called men or dudes (those that remember Carl P. will appreciate that comment). I kick around ideas about going to see a movie, going out to eat, camping... with some other men. For some reason it is always hard to get men together just to hang out. Maybe it is that most of us have been gone all day and just want to be home with the family? Maybe we aren't as social as we would like to think? Maybe they feel guilt about being gone for work and missing so much of family life? There is probably some element of truth in all this, but it seems that we men need to share the company of other men - to sharpen the saw and so on.

Take time to talk

Have you ever been in a public place and seen an aquaintance, someone that you know descently well, but not well enough to be excited about the prospect of talking with them? Well, that was me today. I was out and about and saw a fellow that I know, one that I really have nothing to talk about with, but at the same time it would be awkward to just say 'hey' and keep walking. So.... I made the move and began the conversation. We talked kids, work, church, small groups, making time for things that count and on and on, for thirty minutes! As we parted ways, I realized that what began as a casual, not-quite contrived conversation actually was good for both of us. It gave us a chance to connect with someone out of our normal circle of friends and have a conversation, just for the sake of having a conversation, not to accomplish anything, not to sway an opinion, or get the scoop, just to talk. It seems that we (I) get in such a hurry to cut to the chase and get things done, that we (I) miss the chance to connect with people. I guess there is a time to talk as well as a time to walk, but I think that I will try to make an effort to do the former as opposed to the latter.