Rainy Day Coping Mechanism

Today Charity let the boys pass some of the rainy day in the house by giving them our digital camera (that's when you know you've really had something a LONG time...You let two boys have it!) and letting them go to town taking pictures of themselves.

Maybe this was so she could get a little peace?...

(Mom in her favorite chair!)

Here are a few favorites!






(A picture of Sam as a baby-such a cutie! Remember him like that?)

Willow

Today we found out that our former cat, Willow, has died.

We had Willow for a few years and she even made the move South but we sent her back up North because she was such a good cat to breed and we could find no one in driving distance that could become a "daddy" with her.

She was a great cat and while she was very vocal, few people met her that didn't find something to like about her.

We aren't sure what she died of but they are speculating that it could have been from a broken heart. Cats in general and hairless cats in particular are very prone to stress and depression when they are relocated and everything else about Willow seemed healthy.

This was Sam and Jo's first pet and through teary eyes they tried to finish their hotdogs today for lunch.

Willow was always very good with the boys and very loving with them. She saw them through every fever(which some may say was because of how warm they were!..But I like to think it was her compassion.)

Josiah was very confused why there wasn't a "kitty doctor" that could save Willow from dying. It was very sad.

Goodbye, Willow Naked Harmless! We hope you've gone somewhere very sunny.

I fell.

I fell down today.

Normally that wouldn't be such a big deal, but I landed on a wardrobe bar. (Pictured to the right.) When I stood up, I didn't think that I had hurt myself that bad, but then I started seeing drops of blood all over everything in my truck. After I bled down the hallway in the office where I work, I soon realized that the office staff had come to the consensus that I needed to have it looked at.

I fought against it for awhile, but when I couldn't get it to stop bleeding, I knew that I had to go. So, my 8-year-old son may have gotten stitches at a younger age, but now we are both part of the stitches club. I even got stitched up in the same room that he did.

Unfortunately I also had to get a tetanus shot. (Yes, that is how you spell tetanus! Look it up if you don't believe me!) The shot was rather painful, especially for a guy who doesn't like shots, and they say that my arm is going to be really sore for the next few days.

Mostly I am posting about this because I am a blogger. And bloggers think about blogging at all times and in all situations. We also keep our camera phones with us so we can illustrate all of these situations. So, I couldn't wait to post the pre-stitched photos. Here they are: Gash Picture #1 and
Gash Picture #2

Bit-O-Honey

Thanks to the Mast General Store, I have rediscovered the Bit-O-Honey.

I haven't had any since I was a kid. My dad used to get them all of the time. At least the way I remember it, it was all of the time. In reality, he probably only picked that candy a few times. Regardless of how often my dad purchased these little delights, they always seemed like an "adult" candy to me.

I can't actually remember any exact event that led me to believe this. Maybe it was because the adults wouldn't share their Bit-O-Honey's with me. Or maybe they had a fear that I would choke on it or something (...it is a very chewy candy). Possibly it was a little bit of both; they convinced themselves that I wouldn't be able to handle it's awesome chewiness, so they hoarded them all for themselves!

Eventually I was able to get my hands on one. I felt like I was intruding into the land of adulthood with my stolen bit-o-sweetness.

All of that put aside, I am lovin' these candies!

Unfortunately I can't eat just one. I stick one in my mouth, and it never lasts as long as I really want it to. I chew on it for awhile, enjoying every little squish of juicy honey-nutness, then suddenly it disintegrates. The flavor lingers for awhile, mostly due to the little bits that have attached themselves to my teeth. Once that last little bit has been wrenched loose with my tongue, I give it a quick chew then catch a glimpse of the jar out of the corner of my eye. I usually end up having a little pile of wrapper debris before I force myself to stop.

a poem (not my own)

Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
       We will grieve not, rather find
       Strength in what remains behind;
       In the primal sympathy
       Which having been must ever be;
       In the soothing thoughts that spring
       Out of human suffering;
       In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.

—from "Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood" by William Wordsworth

The Slowest Ever!

I have been asked to teach the counseling class again. I was really hoping that this would happen, because I really enjoyed the last time that I was able to do that. (And, I have to say that it is a good sign, when you are asked to do something again... It means that they must not have hated me the first time I did it.) This time the topic is Progressive Sanctification in Counseling.

First I have to say that every time I am given a topic, I seem to be hit with all kinds of things in my life to help remind me of why God has really allowed me to teach this class. I can assure you that God has not allowed me to teach because of my great knowledge on a particular subject, or because of my amazing ability to present a lesson. No, no, that is most definitely not the case. The reality is that God allows me to teach because of my great need to learn and grow myself. Quite humbling, if you ask me.

When I was given the Idols of the Heart topic, God began to reveal in me all of these idols! I was full of them! I thought I was doing pretty good on this idolatry thing, but no! Far from it!

Well, this topic has been no different. From the time the teacher told me that I was going to be teaching Progressive Sanctification to this exact moment, as I am typing this post, God has shown me over and over again in these last few weeks, that I have not arrived. I am still in great need of Sanctification myself.

Second, I also have to tell you that I am the absolute slowest note writer -- ever! I hate to sound childish, but it takes me forever to complete a set of notes. As you can tell, it is Saturday night, and I have to teach tomorrow, and I am still making revisions. Crazy. I find that the most difficult thing is just coming up with a basic outline that makes sense to me. I will spend hours trying to formulate the flow of the lesson: all of the transitions between points, nice illustrations, etc. When I was a school teacher, I just needed the basic material, and I could wing the rest. It always came so naturally.

Truth is, I probably over prepare, but hey, these are adults that I am speaking to. It just seems so different!

Anyway, I better get back to work. I still need to practice teaching this thing 100 more times before I feel comfortable.

g'night...

The Lawn Mower Man

(It is a "moving" story...)

I was in Jacksonville, MS. I was almost done unloading a 10,000 lb. shipment (which is a story in itself), when my boss calls me. He tells me that there is another driver that has an overflow. (For you non-truck drivers, an overflow is when everything that is supposed to fit on the truck, doesn't fit.)

The other driver had relayed to my boss that there were just a few items left over, nothing that one person couldn't get by himself. He also said that everything was moved to the garage. Sounded easy.

And it would have been easy if this other driver had actually been telling the truth.

I didn't arrive at the residence, which was way down near the coast, not too far from New Orleans, until about ten at night. Now remember, I had already unloaded an entire shipment of stuff, then I had spent nearly five hours driving to this location. To be completely honest, I was pretty tired before I had even arrived, but I kept telling myself that it was just a little bit of stuff. Nothing too difficult for a mover like me!

So, like I said, I pulled in about ten that night. Oh sure, everything was in the garage, but it was a three car garage! And it was full! There were a couple of dressers and an entertainment center, two entire lawn furniture sets, several pieces of exercise equipment, etc., etc., tons of stuff! I couldn't even begin to tell you how much stuff was there. The picture that I have here barely does it justice. All I can say is that it ended up being 4,500 lbs. worth. (That is about a half a truck load.)

I couldn't believe it. Right after I pulled up to the house, the owner came out and said, "Well, I gotta get to bed. Good luck. See you later."

Umm, yeah. Sure. I'll get all of this up here.

So, I started working. One piece at time I moved all of that stuff up there. I called upon all of my many moving skills to tote, drag, and roll everything up that ramp. Until...

It was about one in the morning. I had been ignoring it the entire time, glancing at it out of the corner of my eye, but ineveitably I had to deal with it. It wasn't a little riding mower, it was one of the big ones -- heavy duty stuff here. I thought that I could push it up the ramp. I have done that before with much smaller mowers. Didn't work. Then I thought that I might be able to pull it up the ramp, so I tied a strap onto it and I was able to get it about half way up, but then I had visions of it rolling back down the ramp and crashing through the back of the garage. I quickly rolled it back down.

Then I said to myself, "I am smart guy. I know geometry, calculus, advanced mathematics... I can figure this out." I stood there for about 10 minutes, and right before I dozed off in that standing position, the solution hit me.

I want you to know that I am posting this video, knowing that I will be made fun of for this. Please take into consideration that I had been awake since about 5:50 that morning, and it was now about 1:30 the next morning. I tied two straps onto the mower, and as I tightened the straps, it gradually pulled the mower up the ramp.




All I can say is that the mower made it up there. After it was in the truck, I quickly strapped it off and drove to the nearest hotel.