HARMLESS THOUGHTS

This is my current backgroud, thanks to Portland Studios . I just loved this picture when I saw it. I don't know, it kind of reminds me of myself. You should check out their site . They have several different really cool designs, and they even have a section of e-cards that you can send. Great stuff.

pet peeve -- n. Informal Something about which one frequently complains; a particular personal vexation. The left turn lane. There are many stop lights that have a left turn lane. It is a really great idea, you can get out of the way of the other drivers while you are waiting to turn left. That way, all of those people who are wanting to go straight can get going. Some of these stop lights even have a left-turn arrow. Another great idea. This way you can make your left turn quickly, before the light allows all of the oncoming traffic to go. But sometimes you don't quite make it through in time. The arrow changes to yellow, and then it disappears. This means that you can still turn left, you just have to wait until the oncoming traffic has cleared before you can go. So... What do you do? You pull out into the intersection and await an opening. And if that opening doesn't come, you can make that turn when the light turns yellow and the oncoming traffic has to stop. This is OK . ...

(posted by Charity) I can remember being a little girl and truly waiting in expectation for each Christmas to bring some sort of magical "miracle". I bought into the theory that December 25th can produce a joy you did not anticipate in a way you could not imagine. Then I grew up. Sadly, as many of you can attest to, Christmas is usually only as special as you make it with the right focus and a heart of giving and thanksgiving. It can, in fact, be a difficult day with disappointments and reflections that can actually bring pain on this joyous holiday. Loved ones that are absent are missed and the day usually ends, for me, with many sad good-byes. Several people in my life has asked me to write about what I am learning during the recent loss of our baby this past month. I used to have a blog that I enjoyed very much but having given it up, I don't have opportunity to share like I used to. I will in time find a way to record all the things that have happened and the journey ...

(posted by Charity) I've been asked to post some of my favorite pictures from our Christmas visit home. It was hard with so many to choose from but here are a few. We still have to open gifts with the boys this week due to the unexpected ice storm that drove us North early and I'll be sure to feature a few of those later. Enjoy and Happy holidays! -Charity (Click to enlarge) Mom and Charity and the "Christmas Candy" extravaganza! GG looking at the album that I made for her for Christmas. Final candy results...mmm-mmm good! All of the siblings together for the first time in 2 years! Bill, Jeannie, Julie, Charity and Travis Siblings and Spouses Christmas 2005 Little sister...Big Boss! Charity still tells everyone how to organize. Brandi (Travis' wife on the far right- gave us a special surprise with the announcement of a new baby. We had fun crying and laughing together this year...Thanks Brandi, for my special gift.) Dad's Christmas shirt for this year. Jeann...

So... Last Wednesday they told us at school that there might be an ice storm, and they handed out the back-up schedule for the last two days, in case of a delay or a closing due to the weather. Having lived up in the northerly parts of the United States, where they don't close school no matter how "bad" the weather gets, I didn't think much about it. But sure enough, early Thursday morning the ice had accumulated. School was of course cancelled, much to my relief, because I had actually slept in and would have been late, which is one of my biggest fears. I have 4 alarm clocks set in my room each night just to keep this very thing from happening. I didn't wake up until 8:30, and frantically raced around the house until I could figure out whether or not there was school. We immediately decided that with my day off, and the hardships of the past few weeks, we should go out for breakfast. We deserved some IHOP (International House of Pancakes). We set off on ou...

She's Home! Last night after the doctor came to visit her room, he reluctantly said that she could go home. The infection isn't all the way gone, but he felt like she was healthy enough that she could go on home with a couple of prescriptions. He released her around 6:30, but the nurse didn't get around to taking the IV out until almost 10! So, we sat up there one more evening, watching our AFV. Now we are just hoping that she will be well enough that she can travel in a week. We are really (...REALLY) looking forward to this Christmas break. Probably more than we have looked forward to one for a long time. Some rest, some relaxation, some family, some friends... all of these things are looking really good right about now. Thanks again to all of you that prayed for my family these last few weeks. We have needed it, and it is truly appreciated.

As I said before, it has been a hard couple of months. But you know, you can have family time anywhere! And America's Funniest Home Videos can always bring on that smile. It is currently my children's favorite show, and no family night would be complete without it... Even a family night at the hospital. On a serious note: I would truly appreciate your prayers at this time. We are hoping that this new antibiotic does the trick, and that she will get to come home tomorrow. And even after she gets home, it is still going to be a difficult road to complete recovery. It has been almost three months of non-stop sickness of one form or another. We are really, really ready for a nice restful Christmas break, and it would be nice to have one with a healthy family. Thank you all for your encouraging comments and e-mails. They really have meant something to me.

Well, since the last post that I typed, it has been a busy time. On Thursday, while I was still at school, I received a call from my wife saying that the doctor needed her to come in again. I guess that there was some of the placenta left after the first D&E (Dilation and Evacuation). The first one was really hard. Mostly for my wife. Right after finding out that we had lost our baby, she has to go in for this procedure. And it is a pretty extensive procedure. I personally feel like anything that you need to be put under for, is a little scary. So here we are a week and a day later, and they tell us that we need to do it again! Not good news. So, we go in for this procedure. I am really feeling for my wife, but I am also trying to get geometry papers graded while I am sitting in the hospital. After the procedure is over, all I am hoping for is that my wife can start to get healthy again. It has been so long, that neither one of us can remember what normal life was like. The next da...

(posted by mommy) ....As HE holds our little one, I find myself being held. How comforting to know that His arms are big enough for the both us. Held Two months is too little. They let him go. They had no sudden healing. To think that providence would Take a child from his mother while she prays- It seems appalling. Who told us we’d be rescued? What has changed and why should we be saved from nightmares? We’re asking why this happens To us who have died to live? This is what it means to be held . How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life And you survive. This is what it is to be loved . And to know that the promise was When everything fell we’d be held . This hand is bitterness. We want to taste it, let the hatred NUMB our sorrow. The wise hands opens slowly to lilies of the valley and tomorrow. This is what it means to be held. How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life And you survive. This is what it is to be loved. And to know that the promise was When everything...

On Tuesday, October 25, 2005, at around 11:30pm, my wife woke me up and showed me a pregnancy test. I wasn't all that surprised by this pregnancy test, that was being held in front of me. I was expecting her to take one sooner or later. I was a little surprised that she was showing it to me in the middle of the night, but only a little... I have known my wife long enough to not be too surprised about pregnancy tests in the middle of the night. I also need to mention that we weren't too surprised about the results. This is something that the both of us were hoping for. As soon as she showed me those two little blue bars on the test, I was immediately convinced that we were going to have another baby, and that I was now going to be the father of three children... great (I thought) now it is time to go back to sleep. Five pregnancy tests later my wife was convinced. Because of some symptoms that my wife was having, we decided to see the doctor a little earlier than originally pla...

I think that my 8th grade prealgebra class is suffering from a severe case of logorrhea . Thankyou Dictionary.com word of the day, for providing me with the final diagnosis for this class' problem!