Random Thoughts

I'm just chillin' pool-side while KC gets her swim on, thought I'd impart some wisdom upon the world. Heat makes you sweat. While my hottie counterparts are in their bathing suits, I am still in jeans from church. And even though I am losing water weight by the gallon, what better way to spend a Sunday than watching the two most beautiful women in the world splash around a in a peanut-shaped kiddie pool. I am truly blessed beyond words; beyond my wildest imagination even. What could I have possible done to deserve God's two most beautiful creations?

Despite the heat, it is a gorgeous day. And the best part about today, is that its not tomorrow. I am trying to soak up every wonderful second of this holiday weekend. Plus, if it is tomorrow, then that means the next tomorrow would be a work day. So a today that includes a tomorrow with a non-working tomorrow following is always a good today. Even though tomorrow will be a good today, I don't know that tomorrow will compare to this today, because this today is pretty great.

OK... it is really, stinking hot. I had to go change into shorts mid-post.

We had our friends Matt and Leann Roberge and their kids Kennedy (Grace) and Carson over for dinner last night. It is the first time I have been able to see them since we left our previous house last summer. It was really great seeing them again; they are great friends. We had a great time with them and the kids had a blast! It made me realize how much I missed the availability of a close-by friend. We used to be able to just walk a few steps across the street and hang out and chat every evening. And by every, I mean whenever both of us happened to be home at the same time. He is in the Army and constantly going out of town to train other units across the state and country and my job requires me to be out of town frequently. So anyway, I have missed that frequent "manly" face time. This might sound gay, but I think manly bonding is underrated. I would argue that the right kind of edifying man-time is essential for all men, and especially married men. Don't get me wrong, the time you spend with your wife and family is ultimately the most important, but guys can't survive on shopping, romantic comedies, and tea parties alone. We need time to discuss manly things in our own manly ways. I'm not just talking boxscores and bodily functions either, although those definitely need to be included. We need insight from similar perspectives and edification in ways that women are not always able to provide. (I still love you, Honey) So anyway, it was great to talk to Matt again.

OK, I am going to join my family in the tiny peanut-pool. Have a great holiday weekend.

Official Diagnosis

We finally got an official diagnosis for my Grandfather. The week before they opened him up to try and seal off the portion of this lung where a bunch of fluid was collecting. That gave them the chance to look around and they found the same cancer cells around the lining of his heart. Initially, the doctor said that it didn't look like Mesothelioma typically does, but the biopsy of the tissue confirmed it last week. It is definitely Mes. and it now in the lining of his heart as well. The doctors said that it would typically grow out and away from the heart, filling his chest and abdomen. At this point, it is probably a long shot for him to make it to Father's Day next year. He has elected not to do chemotherapy, as he wants to be able to fully enjoy the good days he has left, instead of extending the inevitable for only a short time. He has been really weak since his surgery, but hopefully the pain medication will help him get up and around... He still has plenty of strength left in his body. That is the ironic thing about this whole situation. He is one of the healthiest, most fit men in their nineties. He has been the one caring for all of the older people in our family while their general health fails. Only something like this could have taken him down, and now, here it is. He has been so strong for so many people for so many years. I hope he realizes how much of an impact he has had through service and love. He has so much love in his heart, it is humbling. There is not a better person on this planet. And I hope he can look forward with expectant joy to the incredible celebration that will take place when the time comes for him walk with God that he has served so incredibly for so many years.

Please pray for him. This is him with Kennedy and I a couple years ago.

Bible trivial pursuit.

Growing up as a PK (Preacher's Kid), you get many unique opportunities that most other kids don't get to experience. As a for instance, Bible Trivia. An adaptation of the popular trivia board game "Trivial Pursuit", maybe you have heard of it. And, yes, there is an "app" for that.

I don't remember much about the game, other than you had to be a bible scholar to know any of the answers. My "phone a friend" would have to be Billy Graham, and "asking the audience" probably wouldn't help since I don't think most congregations could answer half of the questions. [I think "Who Wants to be a Bible Scholar?" could catch on in Churches and in religious circles! Maybe Dr. Dobson could host? (or Pat Buchanan, purely for entertainment value)] Anway... Even I, with a lifetime of "religiously" attending Sunday school (perfect time to use that little cliche, huh?), couldn't come close to answering except for some of the softballs like "Who did David kill with a sling?". Playing Bible trivia against a preacher is, let's just say, slightly against the odds, and I don't recall ever winning. I was a sucker for games, though, so I always tried. Now that I think about it... it was probably just my dad's way of getting back at me for beating him at chess. "Who was Asenath's famous husband?", "Who was Mary's oldest brother's farmhand?", "How many rungs were on Jacob's ladder?", "How many times did Isaac's goat stub his toe on the way to the watering hole?" How can a 6 year old answer these?!?!?!!! "What was Jesus's name?" I can handle that one! I think my parents still have it somewhere. I'll have to break that out again whenever I start feeling too proud. For now, I will stick to "Chutes and Ladders" and other simple games I can cream Kennedy at. We are trying to teach her humility. Just Kidding!!!

Well, until next time, always go for the yellow pie piece first.

Transmission terminated.

Trip to Indianapolis

This weekend, we took a trip to Indianapolis to surprise our friend while she ran a half-marathon. I picked up K from school after work and she had barely taken a nap, so she fell asleep in the car (and it's only about 15 minutes to get home).

So I brought her in and layed her on the couch and she slept until we left. We were staying with my friend and college roommate, Mark. We got to his place around 11 and put her down, then got her up at 6:30 to go to the race. It was c-c-c-cold and really windy, so we had to bundle her up, as you can see ......................................................

It was like 40 with 30mph wind gusts. She was a trooper. Mark was kind enough to get up early with us, fix us breakfast and drive us around town. He even braved the cold to walk with us and hold up signs and cheer for someone he had never met...She fell asleep in the stroller at the end of the race until we walked the mile back to the car, and then took a nap when we got back to Mark's house.

I think we might have fallen asleep while she did... there are several minutes that are unaccounted for... While we waited for Lindsy and Chelsea to get back from the race and Kennedy slept, we went out back of his house where there is a little retention pond (~ 1/5 acre) to wet a line or two. Mark had brought back about 8 bass from fishing trips to stock the little pond. The first cast, within 10 seconds, Mark got a hit and this is what he pulled out...

We weighed it at about 4.5 lbs. It was monstrous! Who knows how big it will be the next time he pulls it out. The girls got home shortly after that and we headed out to go to the cheesecake factory for lunch. mmmmm... just let that thought sink in... Unfortunately, they were booty-packed, so we had to go to Johnny Rockets instead. Not the end of the world... they have good burgers. After that we all went our separate ways. L, K and I stopped at the Edinburgh outlet mall and took care of some neccesary things. When it was all said and done, we didn't get home until about 10, so again, K had a late night. She was good the whole weekend though, as always.

It was great seeing Mark again... It had been awhile. Linds and I both had a great time together and with our friends. It was good to get away together. She will probably post more pictures and write about the weekend on her blog at some point, so keep checking hers.

I am staying at home w/ K this morning while Linds goes to church to see our friends' baby dedication. We all had a waffle breakfast together this morning for Mother's Day (yes, I cooked). K has green paste coming out of her nose and is coughing like a 80 yr smoker.

Mom, Happy Mother's Day! You are amazing.

Well, time for a tea party... peace out.

Post

I traveled to Raleigh, NC this week for work. It seemed like a really nice city. Very clean and welcoming from what I could tell. The travel down there kind of turned into a nightmare. I was supposed to leave LEX @ 4 go through CLT and get to RDU @ 7. So I got to the airport a little after 3 and checked in around 3.30 and they said the flight was delayed. Enough so that I would miss my connection in CLT. So I got rerouted through ATL, but that flight didn't leave until 6. By the time it all got figured out, it was around 4 and I didn't feel like leaving the airport for an hour just to have to come back. So I stayed. Then, my ATL flight got delayed another 1/2 hr, but by that time I had already got a book and was over it... (In the spirit of the blog and improving communication, it was a book about merging the personalities of you and your wife by the Parrotts). The descent into ATL felt like the back seat of a wooden roller-coaster and almost made me hurl. After a reroute around bad weather, I finally made it into RDU after 11 and the hotel around 12. So I could have driven in a shorter time!

Anyway, I went down to get some training on using our survey grade GPS while helping with a baseline monitoring survey for a stream. I'll try to explain that... Some other firm designed and oversaw the construction of a stream. Now we have to monitor the site for several years to make sure it stays reasonably stable.

In the past, we have surveyed with a total station, which is what you have probably seen surveyors looking through on the side of the road at some time. It's an instrument that shoots a laser at a prism that send it back and it can tell how far away it is and what angle up, down, or sideways. That is much better than stretching a tape and using a level and rod, which takes forever and is not very accurate at best. Well, now we can use a GPS (sort of like what is in your car) and just walk to whatever point we want and hit a button and it will get your position and elevation extremely accurately. So, I learned how to use that, while driving an ATV around the two mile site. When not on the ATV, we walked about 5 miles a day surveying and assessing the newly constructed stream and the veg monitoring plots around the site (we have to monitor planted tree survival). Below is a sample of what it looked like.

That was the first I have been out in the field since the turn of the year, so it felt really good to get out, even though the travel wasn't the greatest. I missed KC and LK.

The next post I will talk a little about the book I read during my travels.

bad news

Unfortunately, my first non-inaugural post is not a cheerful one. We received news last week that my Grandfather has developed Mesothelioma (sp?) and the projections for expectancy are not great.

This is going to be really rough and I will probably post a lot more about it in the coming days… Please pray for him and our family.