Floored

Well the family room is back together. I finished the touch-up (mostly) in the dining room as well. Tonight we will try to get the bottom of the china hutch and the small blinds back into the dining room. I will start doing touch up in the kitchen. Pictures to follow.

Disappointment

From an article by Dr. Gary Smalley

People disappoint us—what do we do?

Neither marriage nor any other human relationship makes one whole out of two halves. When you expect a human relationship to turn your half into a whole, you're headed for disappointment. Why? Because what really happens is that you believe that this other (flawed) person will make up for your personal deficiencies. This is when your heartache and disappointment and disillusionment double. It's not hard to see why. In your experience, do two unhappy or incomplete people normally form one happy couple? Not without God making it happen!

You, and not someone else, choose how you will react to what life throws at you. You, and no one else, decide what you will do when someone pushes your emotional buttons. I believe that only by taking personal responsibility for your thoughts and submitting them to God will you find the secret to building strong relationships. Your focus on God and allowing His changes in your life determine your level of happiness and fulfillment. For me, "God alone is my happiness, life, love, and fulfillment." Look up Ephesians 3:16-20.

Have you put your expectations in other people for happiness?

w00t!

Floors are done. Now comes the hard part - clean & restore. E is working on windows (one-handed) this morning and may run out later to get the felt pads for the bottoms of the furniture. We will wipe down everything again and start doing touch-up painting tonight. (Took a picture with my phone but it didn't turn out very well, I will upload real ones after we get furniture back in.)

The s/w release last night went well and I was able to join the family at the pizza parlor for dinner after the game (we won 8-3).

Blessings on your day
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“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.” 1 Timothy 2:5-6

Fall Update

E filled out HR paperwork, saw her boss, went to Occupational Health.

Doctor re-affirmed the restriction and ordered her back for an eval on Monday. Right now she can't lift her arm to shoulder level. Doc put her on pain meds and mumbled about a possible rotator-cuff injury.

Doc may order an MRI based on how things are doing Monday.

:(

Almost Done

E called to say that the floors will be done after lunch today, w00t!!!!

She is on her way into the hospital to see her boss and HR. She won't be allowed to work until the doc lifts the restriction. Nurses can't work at all if they have any restrictions :( The amount of paperwork will be horrendous, I am sure.

Today I am working on "new stuff" at the office. This means that basically I have no idea what the heck I am doing. I spend a lot of time undoing, redoing, scouring the help docs and reading error messages. In some ways this is fun - in others it is intensely frustrating. I am very careful to fully document what I am doing so once it works I can do it again.

N has his first real game tonight at 5 p.m. I have to work tonight and won't be able to attend :'(

Fallout

E took a nasty spill last night leaving work. She caught a crack in the sidewalk (fyi - the Dansko shoes are history, they are too unstable and will get replaced this weekend). She ended up in the ER and had x-rays of her elbow, hip and shoulder (??). Fortunately nothing was broken but she isn't moving very fast. We got home about 2:15 this morning. I am sure she will be multi-colored by now. E won't be going to work today and may have to be out more days depending on her shoulder. Right now she can't lift anything (which is a problem for a nurse).

First Look

Visa Update (2)

From RF via email:

Dear Ms Otto,

I am replying to your letter of 21 March in Ms Ferguson's absence.

Your appeal was forwarded to the UK via the diplomatic bag (Reference FCO0051990) on 8 February.
The bag is notoriously slow. We await a response from AIT. In the meantime your documents have been added to your file and I will update Ms Ferguson on her return

Regards,
Des Brewer
SECO
British Consulate General

The Littlest Firefighter

In Phoenix, Arizona, a 26-year-old mother stared down at her son who was dying of terminal leukemia. Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent, she wanted her son to grow up and fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible. The leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son's dreams to come true. She took her son's hand and asked, "Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up? Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life?"

Mommy, "I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up."

Mom smiled back and said, "Let's see if we can make your wish come true."

Later that day she went to her local fire department in Phoenix, Arizona, where she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix. She explained her son's final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her six-year-old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.

Fireman Bob said, "Look, we can do better than that. if you'll have your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make him an honorary fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if you'll give us his sizes, we'll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat-not a toy one-with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots. They're all manufactured right here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast."

Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his fire uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck. Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven. There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, the paramedic's van, and even the fire chief's car. He was also videotaped for the local news program.

Having his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply touched Billy that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible.

One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in the hospice concept that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital.

Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition. The chief replied, "We can do better than that. We'll be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favor? When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire? It's just the fire department coming to see one of its finest members one more time. And will you open the window to his room?"

About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder up to Billy's third floor open window. 16 firefighters climbed up the ladder into Billy's room. With his mother's permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how much they loved him.

With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, "Chief, am I really a fireman now?" "Billy, you are, and the Head Chief, Jesus, is holding your hand," the chief said. With those words, Billy smiled and said, "I know, He's been holding my hand all day, and the angels have been singing." He closed his eyes one last time.

New Floor a'comin

They start laying boards down! w00t! The grinding is done so I guess we can start vacuuming the upstairs. I am asking E to take some pictures so I can post the progress.

Concrete Blonde

Anyone remember that group? They were big in the 80's and early 90's. Looking at my house makes me think of them. The flooring guys finished most of the tear-out yesterday. Today they are grinding the tile areas to get the last of the adhesive up. What a horrific job, we have been pretty good at keeping the upstairs closed up and dust free so far.

Today's verse (below) is a stark reminder of what we can expect in this world. E and I were discussing this Monday in the context of the cancer patients for whom she cares. It is so easy to lose sight of the fact that this life here on earth is very, very temporary. One way that I like to look at it is that we are "in school" here and when we graduate, we go home to be with Jesus. The trials and suffering that we go through here can be described in terms of homework and tests.

We get hung up on what happens to us as if this was all there was. We wonder why "good people" have to suffer with horrible diseases. The truth is that God has chosen to use them in ways that we are not capable of handling. God will never give us trials that exceed our ability to handle (although it most always seems that way). God never allows things to happen except that a) He is aware of it, b) it is part of His plan and c) it will work towards "good."

It is because of these things that James reminds us to:

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance (James 1:2-3)
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Verse of the day

For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. Philippians 1:29

Jackhammers

They had to bring in a jackhammer this morning. I guess the tile was glued down better than they had hoped (which nicely validates my decision to pay someone to do the whole job). The cat is locked in the bathroom and I am sure is thoroughly freaked out by the noise. Dog is locked in the garage/backyard. He was very sad that there was no couch to lay on last night. He paced and paced and finally lay down on the carpet. Tonight he will be laying on concrete if he wants to stay downstairs.

Empty Floor

Worked yesterday to get the place ready for the flooring folk. Put the last coat of paint on the baseboards, unloaded the counter tops, relocated the computer and moved the furniture to the garage. Today (nowish) they will come and start tearing out the old floor. I did rip up some of the carpet in the toy room to get an extra coat of sealant on the floor where the cat peed. I will spray it again tonight. The store told me that spray urethane works as well as anything (hope they are right).

Tonight I think we will be having dinner at J&K's.

Easter was nice. The kids came up Friday night. The cookout was great (K-Man did the grilling). Sunday I was out of the house by 6 a.m. to go to church, I worked at all 4 services. We had 2,650 at the last service (a new Bayside record). We did have one casualty at church, though. Saturday night, my bosses' boss got into it with one of the executive pastors. She ended up walking out and resigning the position. It is really too bad as she was one of the few that have held that post that was successful in mediating the chaos. When crunch time comes at church, everyone in "power" tries to take over everything they touch. It makes the staff edgy and nervous as they end up getting direction from 5-10 different folk. The whole idea of "chain-of-command" goes right out the window. Sometimes it is hard to remember that we are a church and not a cut-throat Fortune-500 company.

Blessings on your day

No Class

Well my Sybase class is finished. I enjoyed this one and feel that I learned something. E picked up a chicken from Sam's for dinner tonight (no idea who will be there - teens tend to make lots of last minute plans) while she was shopping for the cook-out tomorrow. Considerig the condition of the house, we might well be "out" ;)

Noah and I will be working at church tonight. I expect the service to be packed. Kidlets are arriving tonight (again I am shrugging on the ETA). AJ and AC are coming up as well so we will have a full house. SE is still working on baseboards. I have to trim one of the sets of vertical blinds and get the last set down for cleaning. We are going to leave them down until the floors are done.

AR worked with his mom today to unload the entertainment center, all that is left there is the electronics. Guess I will move the 'puter back upstairs as well as I need the wireless connection working (I am on-call this coming week). We will sure be glad when this is all done.

I hope to get the watering system back online tomorrow as well so my garden doesn't dry out.

Painting Finished

Finished all of the major painting last night. Now comes the touch up work. I can do that as I get time and may wait until after the floors are done (I am sure they will ding stuff up and I will need to do touch up after they leave anyway). I will put the painting gear away tonight and start putting stuff back together Saturday. Of course we will be tearing down the house this weekend to get ready for the floors anyway.

The doctor visit was a bust. I waited 45 minutes in the exam room and he didn't hear a word I said. Guess I need to get the list out again and try to find a doctor that will listen to me.

SE and her boyfriend celebrated their 1 month anniversary last night by going out to BJ's.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:7- 8

Cookout

All the children will be here for Easter this year. Because E works on Sunday at the hospital and I am at church all morning helping with Easter services, we are doing a cook-out on Saturday. It won't be fancy (burgers. tater salad and snausages) but it will be fun. By Saturday all the painting should be done and we can start moving furniture out to the garage.

A footnote for those that know our friend Brian: his mom had surgery this week for a bowel obstruction. They had to remove a 3 inch section and everything went well. He is down in FL with her and will probably stay out the week.

A New Day

Got to work early today 'cuz I have a doctors appointment this afternoon. I hate changing doctors. It always takes a year or more before the doctor starts really listening to what you say and believing you. Hopefully I can get a referral to an allergist and a urologist.

I worked on accent colors last night and finished the insets and the space under the cabinets in the kitchen. If things go as planned, I will roll the kitchen tonight. SE will start on the baseboards today as well.

As I logged into my class this morning and chatted with the instructor I came to the conclusion that living in CA is a "good thing." He is in Chicago and looking at a high of 34 today with snow flurries.

Dinner was good, SE's boyfriend came for dinner and then they went shopping. AR had a date (w00t!) and finishes up at the dentist this morning.

1John 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Spiritual Warfare

I love today's devotional from Walt Henrichsen on Spiritual Warfare. He starts with the quote from Ephesians (below). At one point he writes:

From all outward appearance, you do wrestle against flesh and blood, contrary to what the Apostle Paul says. You wrestle against competitors in the marketplace, your friends and neighbors who treat you different from how they want to be treated, and against yourself. Paul himself said, "The good that I would I do not, but the evil that I would not, that I do." [Romans 7:19] But when you look below the surface, you find that you do wrestle against "principalities and powers."

It is very easy to loose sight of the fact that every issue we face in our lives has a spiritual component. Now not everyone is capable of hearing this (when we are walking in deliberate sin, we hate hearing God's Word OR we may simply not be willing to consider the spiritual issues). Not all Christians are able to communicate this "gently and in love" (we have to be careful to present the Word the way Jesus did with His followers - not the way He did with His detractors).

The enemy wants you to be miserable!!! He wants you struggling, depressed, angry, rebellious and ineffective. He attacks you directly, by circumstances and by the words and actions of others. He will attack your marriage, your family, your relationships, your integrity and your emotions. He will never, ever, EVER give up.

When we remember this, we have a far better chance of walking through the trials in our lives and coming out the other side stronger. When we are in the Word, in fellowship and in prayer it is much, much easier to remember this.
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Ephesians 6:12 (NLT) For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Ouch

I am starting to feel it from the painting. I painted for about 3 1/2 hours last night. It isn't the actual painting as much as the odd and bizarre positions I have to put my body into to reach the areas that need painting. I did all the edge work for the accent color, added some more texture and worked on the kitchen edge work. After looking at it, E thinks that maybe we should use the accent color in some of the small walls in the kitchen :) I think that would look nice (if I have enough of the semi-gloss).

Tonight I will get SE set up on baseboards (assuming that she is home). The dinner experiment last night turned out very well. A shame I didn't write down what I did, eh? Tonight is London Broil with some as-yet-to-be-determined sides.

Still in class at work today so my postings will be light and quick.

Blessings on your day.

2 down

2 days of class finished and wow does my brain hurt. The instructor is really pushing us. Of course in order for my brain to hurt I have to be able to follow the material at least part way so I guess that is good. E called to tell me she was turning down the crockpot to "warm" as it was boiling on low.

SE will pick up her step-bro from work and take NO to baseball practice at 5:30, then she is having dinner with her SO. I will go straight to ball practice as I have NO's glove in my car :p

That means a late start on painting tonight, guess I won't get as much done as I hoped.

Making Headway

SE, NO and I finished rolling the walls in the dining room. Tonight I will get the inset/accent color painted and (hopefully) finish up the cut-out in the kitchen.

AR & SE are working on chores today. I picked up the last of the paint this morning (the accent color and the trim paint). AR did well his first day at work. He says he will soon be the assistant chef :)

I started dinner in the crockpot this morning. Stew beef with mushroom soup, diced tomatos curry and ginger.

Well back to class. Blessings on your day.

Country music

I am not a fan of country music. There is one, however that I really like by Carrie Underwood titled Jesus Take The Wheel. No matter where I am emotionally when I hear it, it speaks to my heart.

She was drivin' last Friday on her way to Cincinnati
On a snow white Christmas Eve
Goin' home to see her Mama and her Daddy
With the baby in the back seat
Fifty miles to go and she was runnin' low
On faith and gasoline
It'd been a long hard year

She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention
She was goin' way too fast
Before she knew it she was spinning on a thin black sheet of glass
She saw both their lives flash before her eyes
She didn't even have time to cry
She was so scared, she threw her hands up in the air

(Chorus)
Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
'Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
Save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel

It was still getting colder when she made it to the shoulder and the car came to a stop
She cried when she saw that baby in the back seat sleepin' like a rock
And for the first time in a long time she bowed her head to pray
She said I'm sorry for the way
I've been livin' my life
I know I've got to change
So from now on tonight
(Repeat chorus)

First Class

Not speaking of air travel but rather my day in Sybase training. The class made my brain hurt. I guess that is good thing as the last time I took one of these I was bored. After the 1st day's instruction I already have a handful of things I want to try out on our systems.

Tonight for diner we will probably be cleaning out the fridge. There is a lot of leftover food that needs to be eaten (although less than I thought as a house full of teenagers can process a lot of food!).

After dinner my plans are, of course, more painting :)

Psalm 30:5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

Retraining

Did have a few set backs painting this weekend. My can of spray-on texture was too old, my roller pan was dented (making the middle of the roller too "wet") and the roller covers were too short. Our walls have pretty heavy texture, particularly around the fireplace so I need a roller with at least 5/8 nap.

Of course my spackle was too old also, but then it usually is. I just don't paint often enough to keep some of this stuff usable. BTW, "spackle" wasn't in my spell-check dictionary :)

Training Day

Actually training week. I am taking an online class this week on database optimization and tuning. Of course unless you are an alpha-geek that is meaningless :) Suffice to say that I am tied to my chair and have to keep telling people to go away most of the day. The instructor is in Chicago where the highs have been in the low 40's - I feel blessed.

May you all be blessed this day as well

Jobs & Pizza

So the reason we went with the new pizza parlor this weekend is that it is owned by J&K's friends. Not only that, AR got a job there (w00t!!!). He starts today at 2 pm. Of course this will bring challenges as well as we only have 2 cars for 3 people (who all have jobs).

With SE working at Big-5 and AR working at the pizza place (I'll post the name for you Ro'vil folk when I can) we have new opportunities for discounts. Maybe JM will post a comment with the name, address and number). The pizza is pretty good, mostly specialty ones. We had BBQ chicken, Ranch, Pesto and a classic combo. The standard is a thick crust but they will do a thin or super thin crust on request.

Birthdays

It was NA's birthday this weekend (as well as mom's - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!)

We try to celebrate with the kidlets in a personal fashion. As much as NA and I love sushi, buying for the whole group just didn't make it this year (the buffet is closed and Mikuni's is a bit pricey for 10 people). We tried out the new pizza parlor (more on that later). It was pretty good.

BTW, NA is now the latest teenager in the family at 13 years of breathing on this world. Easter weekend the family will recognize NA for his accomplishment :)

Painting

Start the painting this weekend. It is wonderfully freeing to paint when you don't care about the flooring and baseboards. RF and NA helped out with the ceiling on Saturday. E and RF helped me "cut out" the walls on Sunday. Finished all of the edge work except for the bits over the cabinets in the kitchen. I am going to use the trim color inside the insets. We are looking for someone to give us a quote on putting bi-fold doors on the lower inset to use it for storing some of the china. WHY? Well because the china hutch covered one of the windows. We had forgotten how much lighter and open the room looks so we will not be putting the top half back on. So now we need someplace to put the china :)

Stable again

As of 3 pm today, our systems are more or less stable. We will be doing another s/w release tonight but I should be able to handle it from home. This release was in my top 3 ugliest for sure. I know it wasn't the worst but it was the worst since I started working here.

E & SE have been unloading the china hutch today as that has to come out for me to paint. I have to unload the wine rack as well and clear the top of the cabinets (E's teapot collection).

So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. Hebrews 4:11 (NLT)

Great verse today, don't ya' think? I am definitely looking forward to some rest soon. E is off tonight and AR wants the car to run with his friends. RF, NA & HR are coming up tonight to spend a little time with us this weekend. NO has ball practice tomorrow and then a birthday party for his friend (ad team mate) P.

I'll let you know how the painting goes :)

Happy Pi Day!

Well on this Friday morning things could be better. My boss was here all night (still at his desk as we speak). The s/w deployment went badly. Turns out there was a bug in one of the pieces I wrote and QA looked at it for 2 months without seeing the problem. Niiiiiiiice.

It is donuts and coffee for breakfast.

S/W Push

Getting ready for my first BIG s/w release (push). The task list runs to 2 pages and spans 5 hours. I will put in 13-14 hours today before I make it home. Fortunately I am eligible for OT pay (unlike my former life at The Money Store).

Had a nice lunch with E at Mimi's today. Saved 1/2 of it for my dinner tonight. SE is picking up NO from daycare and taking care of him tonight. She is a treasure!

Overall it has been more or less quiet today. E had a kind of difficult time last night. One of her patients was put on "Comfort Care" while she was there which means to push pain meds to keep them comfortable and wait for them to pass on. She also had a student with her at the time.

Oncology takes a special gift, that's for sure. Part of E's job is to help the family understand what is happening and to do whatever it takes to keep the patient in as little pain as possible. Often this means dispensing medication that would never be permitted under "normal" circumstances. It means holding someone's hand while they die and being a shoulder to cry on for the family.

E is an amazing woman and a phenomenal nurse. After less than 2 months she has already received numerous heartfelt thanks from families and patients including at least one letter to the hospital.

Resting Up

Gonna go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow will be a long day at work. I get to my desk around 8 and probably won't get home before 10. We are releasing new version of our programs to 2 of our systems tomorrow. One of the releases set a record for the number of database changes included. AR just got back from his friend's house (they are hard-core paint ballers).

Dinner was ... adequate. SE and I shared the duty tonight and she will have it solo tomorrow. Her SO came over for dinner as well. He is a really nice guy and a joy to have around. After dinner I took food over to the hospital for E.

This weekend I will start prepping for the painting marathon. S&G delivered the base today which will need to be painted before it goes on the wall.

A few parting thoughts from Walt Henrichsen on control and our lives (from a Christian perspective) that seem particularly relevant to me today:

Nobody controls his own life. The following rhetorical questions reveal this fact: Did you determine when you were born? Your parents? The color of your skin, hair, or eyes? The country in which you were born? Your gifts, abilities and intelligence? The circumstances that flow through your life, such as whether you contract cancer? In all probability, you will have no say over when you die. When asking yourself what it is that you control, you conclude that, by and large, only your attitude over what you cannot control. Most of life you spend deciding how you will respond rather than initiating what you will do. Even the decisions you make set in motion events you can only barely discern before the fact and over which you have no real control.

When Chicken Means Beef

Tonight is Chicken-Fried-Steak. What is chicken-fried anyway? If it is steak why is it called chicken? I am thinking that the easiest side dish (that we haven't had in 3 or more days) is hash browns. NO is at ball practice right now courtesy of P's dad (funny thing is that we actually call him "P" so it isn't just obfuscation).

Looks now like the kids won't be moving back to the area. The step-dad is resigning from his current position and returning to the Fresno office. Guess my dreams of actually attending my children's events is so much dust in the wind, eh? Better schedule the car for a tune up and new tires as I will be back to the driving bit again soon. I have a little over 60K on this set of tires and brakes - not bad for factory installed.

Not Accountable?

An excerpt from today’s Henrichsen devotional

People do not want to fear God because of their commitment to their own autonomy and they do not want to have to give account for their behavior. If you understand that there are eternal consequences for temporal behavior, even for those secure in Christ, you will fear. Grace does not eliminate accountability. The absence of fear indicates a misunderstanding of God's grace.

A very interesting topic and one that is often overlooked by the churches of our generation and ties closely to my post yesterday (Facing the Future). When we recognize that our choices will impact not only our future here on earth but our rewards in heaven we have a much better chance of “choosing wisely.”

The recent scandal involving Governor Spitzer is an excellent example of the failure to consider consequences and accountability. He drove his administration on the platform of reform yet obviously felt he would not be called to account for his OWN actions. He failed to consider the consequences of his choices and committed only to satisfying his own desires.

Revelation 3:3 'So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

Sproing

Spring has sprung! All the pear trees are blooming as are the plum (all ornamental of course). Some of the trees even have a little green on them. The rose bushes are putting out foliage along with my hydrangea. Of course for all you allergy sufferers none of this is news. The grasses and molds are very high right now. NO's allergist is trying him out on a new inhaler and suggesting we go back to Zyrtec.

SE seems to have gotten a new job at Big 5. They had her fill out paperwork and gave her a handbook. She asked for 25+ hours/week so hopefully she can work enough to pay the bills. Her step-dad took her to dinner last night which was nice. RF might be driving her youngest siblings up for a visit this weekend. It is going to be tough over the next few weeks to keep the house from looking like a war zone. Redecorating is always messy.

Oops

Had mac-n-cheese not cous-cous. NO's little league practice is Wednesday not tomorrow. However, tomorrow E is off so we get to have dinner together, w00t!

AR is upstairs taking a shower and the little boy is in bed. Most of the trash is down to the curb, coffee is made and the filing is done. Need to work on lunches and get something out for dinner tomorrow (thinking beef). SE and I watched the first episode of Tin Man last night (her SO endured it ;). If you have never seen it, check your SciFi channel listings. Think Frank Baum meets Chris Carter. Well off to finish up and on to bed.

G'night all

Snausages

Anyone remember that commercial? I have been told that I have an odd memory (by my wife) as those type of things stick for decades but I can't remember to pick up milk on the way home.

So anyway, it looks like brauts are whats for dinner. Guess we will have cous-cous or something with them. Tonight I well help close out the evangelism conference at church. AR has a dentist appointment at 11 tomorrow morning and I have one on Wednesday. NO and his buddy PJ have RWLL practice tomorrow afternoon at 4.

Facing the Future

There seems to be a fatal flaw in most people. It manifests most strongly in children but seems to exist in many of us (I avoid saying "all" only because I am sure that someone, somewhere does not have this flaw). It is this - we can't see beyond our actions to the consequences. You see this often in the choices teens make. We get so caught up in what we want that we forget that there is a price to pay after the dust settles.

The most stark and compelling example of this in my life is chronicled in sparse detail below (March 5, When Bad Things Happen). When I chose to leave my first wife, dealing with the issues of a blended family were nowhere on my map; nor was the pain of looking my children in the eyes when they sobbed "why." I focused on my own discontent and ignored (or failed to properly consider) the question "now what?" I ignored all who tried to warn me including my God.

Over the course of the last 10 years I have had the answer to the question of "now what" hammered home many times. I love my wife and stepchildren dearly and can not imagine life without them (or NO). At the same time I recognize that the vast majority of the struggles over that same time are as a direct result of that initial decision.

I like to think that I am older and wiser and that I make better choices. The truth is that without constant vigilance (and yes - prayer) I am still in danger of making destructive choices today. Perhaps one of the things that has changed is that I am (a little) more willing to listen to advice from people that have walked down my paths, see where they lead and love me enough to warn me. I work to surround myself with other Christians who will gently (or not) let me know when I am straying from the "safe" paths and correct me. At those time I (mostly) listen - and when I don't, God is standing there waiting when I crawl back to Him broken and bleeding to guide and help me as I deal with the consequences.

Blessings on your day

Can you hear me now?

Had a nice long conversation with my grandson at lunch today. We discussed his day and I heard all about his problems. No idea what is for dinner tonight as I didn't get anything out of the freezer. It does get hard making a menu particularly when I get home so late. Most of my meals have to have short prep times.

We had a speaker at church this weekend talking about evangelism. I have been helping out and will go back tonight at 7. E took AR in complaining of a headache. Doc says he has a severe sinus infection and should probably be screened for allergy in a couple of weeks. NO had HIS first visit with the allergist today as well. The Doc is concerned over his tonsils and may refer him to an ENT.

Down and Dirty

Let’s talk flooring. After 3-4 years of looking, talking and pondering we have chosen (yes and even put down a deposit on) flooring for the down stairs. We bought from S&G Carpets in Rocklin. They are a joy to work with, low pressure and willing to negotiate pricing. In the end we got a better ‘per-square-foot’ price than any of the discount places. Since we are having them do the whole job, the installation is guaranteed for as long as well own the home (the flooring has a life-time warranty on the finish).

S&G uses a line that was developed for them called “Lantern” (can’t find a website describing it). The finish is hand-scraped and the color is weathered-pecan. We will be doing the entire downstairs excluding the bathroom, entry-way and laundry room (to avoid the most likely areas for a serious water spill). They are delivering the base-boards on Wednesday. We considered the vinyl stuff but could not find a dealer that had any laid that we could walk on (another reason that we like S&G, they have large sections of flooring down).

They will be starting on the Tuesday after Easter and will be done by Saturday. E is picking up paint at Sherwin-Williams today (6142 Macadamia for the walls, 6137 Burlap trim) for the dining area and kitchen.

Maybe I will take a picture of the flooring sample and post it later.

Of Mice and Menus

I know how eagerly some of you wait for me to post the menu for the evening so here it is:

BBQ boneless pork ribs
Sam's Club red potato salad

Now that the menu is out of the way, we can get down to the real issues at hand. We have a wireless mouse & keyboard combo on our home 'puter. I don't know who designs these things but they obviously have access to an unlimited supply of batteries. The mouse consumes them almost as fast as the Wii controllers. The keyboard can go for 6 months or better. The mouse barely makes it 6 weeks. Phew! AM I glad to get THAT off my chest!

It will be just the boys for dinner tonight as E is working and SE is having diner with her SO and his parents (down in Benicia, which, BTW is NOT in my spell check dictionary). Hopefully by the time I get home all the rock (2 yards of 1 1/4 inch salt and pepper landscaping in case anyone cares) will have been transported to the backyard by a Herculean effort on the part of AR. (He mowed the lawn yesterday, it is REALLY nice to have a teenage boy in the house again. He is a great kid and an enormous help around the house.)

I will be taking dinner into the hospital for E tonight as well.

Peanuts

I subscribe to a number of RSS feeds including the Quote Of The Day. Todays quote was from Charles Schultz and I can really identify with it

Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?"/ Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."

Blessings on your day

Entering the Compound

So as I arrived home last night it occurred to me that we might be expecting black helicopters circling the neighborhood soon. In the evening, the ever vigilante neighbors are out scrutinizing all the cars that go by. Periodically, barriers are erected to impede traffic. Pedestrians are interrogated. The children run in armed packs. Temporary barricades are erected (in practice perhaps?) blocking access to strategic assets.

I am sure that I have seen unmarked sedans with people holding binoculars parked at the end of the street lately. I will start checking the news before I leave work at night. I may also start carrying a change of clothes and important documents concealed in my car (in the event that relocation becomes an urgent priority). Be sure to stock up on non-perishable food and water as the utilities are controlled by "the man."

My Friend

My best online buddy TH started a blog. I will add a link to the left if it is ok with him. He is a great guy who I have known for about 5 years now. We met in one of the MSN groups. We are like brothers as we have shared a lot of our lives over the last few years.

Dentist

Well I went to the dentist today. JM recommended one. Her friend's mom is the hygienist. Since it has been a year since I have been, I was apprehensive. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. The dentist gave me a clean bill of health (and the hygienist did a great job! My mouth used to hurt for 1-2 days afterwards. This time I couldn't even tell). I will go back next week to get a filling replaced that is starting to wear out.

E went to Wally world last night after work to stock up on snacky stuff. SE was still up so she helped her unload groceries at midnight (!!!!). Tonight is SE's turn to cook. I think we are having salmon in a pink sauce. AR heads to the DMV to get his CA drivers license. Since he isn't 18, he has to bring a birth certificate. E's friend from RN school and her hubby took E out to lunch today :).

NO had his first practice last night. It seemed like the boys all forgot about 50% of what they learned last year. I think it will be a good year, however as almost all the boys have experience at the farm level.

Blessings on your day

Why Bad Things Happen (long)

There are several ways that "bad things" can happen to anyone, even Christians. First, we can sin and get caught by the consequences of our actions; if we rob a bank, we will get put in jail. Second, we can get caught in the consequences of someone ELSE'S action; I will provide some examples from my own life. And third, God may allow bad things to happen so that we can learn and grow (sometimes we never do understand the "why"). The first one is obvious to most people. The problem arises with numbers two and three. With your permission, I will address these with examples from my life.

Example 1: I was raised as a Christian in a Christian home. I was saved early and rededicated my life to Jesus as a teenager. I married at age 23 and settled down to live my life. For a variety of reasons, I chose to turn my back on God and my family and, after 17 years of marriage and 5 children, I divorced my wife. My wife was not a bad person. In fact, she was a very strong Christian who honestly loved me. Through no fault of her own and through no plan of God, she was left crushed, devastated and a single mom. Because she was married to me, she was caught up in the consequences of my actions. The pain and struggles she went through as a result of my choice were not sent from God as a test nor were they as a result of her sin. Plain and simple, bad stuff happened to her simply because she was closely tied to me.

Example 2: My MIL (Mother-In-Law) from my current marriage was bitten by a mosquito while vacationing at the shore on the east coast. This was 14 years ago. As a result of that bite, she contracted a very rare, fatal disease (Amyloidosis) that is also extremely painful. LD was a devout Christian and truly was a Godly woman. For the first 6 years (prior to me meeting her), she went to prayer meetings, healing services, doctors, hospitals.... Whole churches prayed for her, laid hands on her, claimed healing for her. God said "no." No one could understand why God would allow her to suffer like He did. She was in excruciating pain constantly. I won't even describe what the disease did to her body, but it left her virtually an invalid. Throughout the course of this disease, she often wept with despair, cried out to God, got angry sometimes; but never once gave up her faith. She never turned her back on God. She remained true to her calling.

This is where I entered the picture and our lives intertwined. My marriage in shambles, my life a wreck and my faith completely dead - I met her daughter. I will skip the details, but suffice it to say, I went to Pennsylvania, packed up her daughter (an only child) along with LD's grandchildren and moved them to California. Again, she responded with love and grace. After having met me once, she threw a birthday party for me the day before we left for CA.

Because of her illness, she often couldn't sleep. E and her mom had a rocky relationship, so when mom called (often at 8:30 or 9 p.m. our time), E would talk for 3 minutes and hand the phone to me. Mom and I talked for hours at a time. Over a period of months, that Godly woman slowly drew me back to God. She never condemned me or judged me for my divorce, stealing her daughter, violating God's law or anything else that happened. I was eventually even arrested for domestic violence and mom was the first one to offer forgiveness and encouragement. As a direct result of her presence in my life, my relationship with God was restored. If it hadn't been, my marriage to E wouldn't have lasted 2 years. Today we have been married over 8 years and have been blessed with a little boy, NO.

My relationship with God has been a struggle since then, mostly due to my own poor choices; but if LD hadn't entered my life, I would never have made it this far. Six years ago, God answered her prayers and healed her. I miss her more than I can describe, but I know that she is in a better place now and I will see her again one day. If God had taken her home earlier or if He had healed her of her disease, we never would have had all those late night conversations on the phone. She changed my life - and all because God allowed her to be stricken with a painful, fatal disease.

I am not saying that we always know why God allows things to happen. There are many times that we have no answers at all. The one thing I know for sure is that His promises are true and He is faithful to keep them. God has promised that He would never allow more in our lives than we can handle and that "all things work together for good for those that love God and are called according to His purpose." The Bible never promises an easy, pain free life. It does promise that if we choose to follow Him, it will work out OK in the end.

Studies

Some things that might help people read these:

I always break the studies down and label them (Pt1, Pt2, etc) to keep them from getting too large.

I use the "label" function and flag each study as "study" and the topic (Hebrews, angels, etc.). Clicking on the topic/label below a post will bring up all posts that contain that label. I also added a "list of labels" to the left.

I invite (encourage) people to post their thoughts and comments regarding these studies (or anything else).

Hope that helps 8-)

Angels, Pt 1

Angels – Angel means messenger.

Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.

1Corithians 4:9 For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.

1Timothy 3:16 By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.

Hebrews 2:16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.

Angels are created (Psalm 148:2,5; Col. 1:16),

non-human, spirit beings (Heb. 1:14).

They are immortal (Luke 20:36),

innumerable (Heb. 12:22)

invisible (Num. 22:22-31)

sexless (Matt. 22:30), and do the will of God (Psalm 103:20). These angels have a ministry to believers. They guide (Gen. 24:7, 40), protect (Psalm 34:7), and comfort (Acts 27:2, 24).
There are good angels (Gen. 28:12; Psalm 91:11) and bad angels (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6). The only angels mentioned by name are Gabriel (Dan. 8:16; 9:21 ), Michael (Dan. 10:13,21; 112:1), and Lucifer (Luke 10:18). Michael is always mentioned in the context of battle (Dan. 10:13) and Gabriel as a messenger (Luke 1:26). Of course, Lucifer, who became Satan, is the one who opposes God.
Angels were originally created for the purpose of serving and carrying out the will of God. The fallen angels rebelled and became evil angels. Satan is such an angel (Isaiah 14:12-16; Ezekiel 28:12-15).

Hebrews, Lesson 5, Pt 1

Hebrews – Lesson 5, 2:5-9

The topic of the passage in Hebrews is once again angels.

Hebrews 2: 5-9 For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. 6 But one has testified somewhere, saying, "WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? 7 "YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; 8 YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET." For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. 9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

Once again, the author compares our Lord to angels. The very first point he makes is regarding the “creation” of the future. In Exodus, we see this point made for the first time:

Exodus 23:20 "See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you.

The angel is sent to guide (remember that angel means messenger) and direct. God reserves the right of control over the future. This reiterates what the author stated earlier:

Hebrews 1:14 Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.

The passage is a reminder also, of our own future as we see later in Hebrews:

Hebrews 13:14 For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

Good Morning NorCal!

It is a bright, sun-shiny day here i NorCal. Winds are light and the temperature is mild. We have been running in the mid to high 60's for over a week now. NO has his first RWLL (Roseville West Little League) practice today. We are scheduled for a "dirt" field at 5. I am leaving work early to pick him up from daycare. I had hoped to get to work early enough to avoid charging PTO but it didn't happen.

Boss-man is out skiing today and I am headed to a design session with my fellow DBA. This will be the 3rd design for our real-time ETL (how we load our data warehouse/reporting system from the production database). Ok, that is enough technical jargon :)

The verse for today is truly amazing. To think that we are the brothers and sisters of Jesus - that we have the right to call God "Father" is an incredible thing. It brings into sharp focus just how personal our relationship with our Lord really is.

I pray that you have a blessed day

Hebrews 2:11 (NLT) So now Jesus and the ones He makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them His brothers and sisters.

Chili

We had chili for dinner. Actually we planned to have chili LAST night but I forgot it was the team meeting until after E had gotten it ready. Fortunately, she used the crock pot so we covered it and put it in the fridge. I got it out this morning and plugged it in. SE is out job hunting. She got a call from Kohl's for an interview (w00t!). AR is watching the Speed channel and NO is in bed. I finished up the team roster and master schedule and mailed them off. I think I will head to bed in a bit as I am dragging.

Identity Crisis (pt 2)

As I get older, it feels like my identity shifts. When I was younger, my identity revolved around my friends. As I grew, my identity was in my job. As my job increased, so did my ego. Finally God allowed me to go through a series of career set-backs that removed "job" from the picture as far as my identity goes.

Now I see my identity in my relationships. First of course, is my relationship with God. It seems that this offends some people. I try not to quote scripture "at" people while at the same time staying true to the Word. The problem comes when the only real answer to a question lies in the bible. Why are people so unhappy to hear that the answer is a spiritual one? Why is that so offensive? I know that there have been times in MY life that I didn't want to hear that either. Usually those times were when I was walking somewhere God didn't want me to be (and knew it).

My identity is also defined by other relationships (healthy or otherwise). Of my earthly relationships, by far the most important is that with my wife. She is the center of my (earthly) universe. Many are the days that coming home to her is all that keeps me going (mind you I have far and far to go as a husband, I feel inadequate at this almost all the time). Following close behind is my relationships with my children. This too has changed dramatically over the years. I see more and more that I need to focus on the essentials and trust that God will handle the incidentals.

Lastly, I am defined by my relationships outside the home. These include friends, other family members, neighbors, church, little league, etc. Much of the time, these are the toughest. These people get only vignettes from my life and have to make judgment based on (in many cases) incomplete knowledge.

I am - A Man of God, A Husband, A father, A Friend, An Emplyee, An Acquaintance. Through it all, only God really knows who I am.

blessings on your day

Time Change :)

Really looking forward to the time change this weekend. We don't start baseball practice until 5:30 so without the time change, we could not practice at all (getting rather dark by 5:30). The exception is on days when we are assigned an actual dirt field to use. The league added a couple of fields this year so each team will get more practice time on a real baseball diamond. On regular practice days, we are planning to use the playground at NO's school. Last year we used the grassy area and found that it slowed the balls down to the point that the kids were not prepared to play on a dirt field.

Pizza and Baseball

We had our first team meeting at a local pizza parlor last night for little league. NO is on the Red Sox again this year. Someone else will be the assistant coach this year and I will help out with score keeping. Our neighbor will be the team parent and NO is excited to have PJ on his team this year. There were lots of familiar faces and some new ones as well. We are getting a rather late start this year due to some roster issues at the league level. We have our first practice Wednesday.

Life is rough

It has been a very difficult week. Seems like everytime something good starts, the rug gets yanked out from under you.