Burning the Midnight Oil

Dear Lee

2009-03-30T16:31:00.003-04:00

I'm in absolute shock that I even have to write this.

Our dear Lee is gone. Too soon.

I hope the angels in Heaven meet him with punjana tea and some Hob Nobs...and good solid Anglican choral music.

I can't say much more.

Wow!

2009-03-07T12:09:00.001-05:00

Wow! I haven't blogged in a long time, have I? Umm...oops?! I guess Facecrack, er, Crackbook, um, I mean Facebook has kind of taken over the social sharing aspect. Oh well, I'll stick a recent photo of Alastair on here. He's eating avacado, or trying to.

Marked as Christ's Own Forever

2008-12-29T22:17:00.004-05:00

I've promised a picture of Alastair in his baptism outfit, and here it is. I might have mentioned this before, but it was the first infant baptism I had seen up close and personal. I thought it was very moving and lovely. Even my parents--coming from the believer's baptism tradition--enjoyed it (although my grandparents were told it was a "dedication" to keep the peace a bit).

Christmas was a good time had by all. Just the three of us, nice and quiet. Would've been better if I didn't have an annoying case of itchy hives that sprang out of no where. We're still trying to figure out if it's an allergic reaction to something or *just* hives. But the prescription of prednizone worked for about a day and then quit. Ugh.

Ohh, I should also include a picture of the little guy in one of his presents from Santa. He loves it, and we love it too because it gives us a minute or two to cook, clean, go to the lieu, etc.

If I have any readers left, I hope you continue to enjoy your Christmas season and have a happy New Year!

First Santa Visit

2008-12-20T17:23:00.003-05:00

No, I have not blogged in a long time.

Yes, I know I'm in trouble.

Yes, I apologize.

There just hasn't been time to sit down and write something up. I'm out for holiday now, so maybe I can spare a moment.

The most important thing to mention is that Alastair was baptized a few weeks ago. I had never experienced an infant baptism up close and personal (I grew up in a believer's baptism tradition), but I have to say it was beautiful. And Alastair was very well behaved...didn't squeal from the water or anything. We keep meaning to put him back in his baptism outfit and get a picture of him; I'll get to it as soon as I can.

Meanwhile, here's picture of his first visit with Santa. We'll enjoy it now, because next year I'm sure he'll be screaming.

Baby Talk

2008-11-22T12:42:00.004-05:00

Alastair was 3 months old yesterday. And his doctor's appt. was fine. The cardiologist said he was a healthy little boy. He does have a murmur, but it's rhythmic, which is good, and in all likelihood he will grow out of it. Thanks for the prayers.

Meanwhile, we finally were able to figure out how to upload video to YouTube. This is from a few weeks ago.

Midnight Oil: Vestryman

2008-11-16T20:14:00.003-05:00

We had our annual parish meeting today, and I was one of the members elected to Vestry. I'm kinda nervous. I hope I'm up to the challenge.

Say a prayer for Alastair. The little guy has an appointment Friday to check out a heart murmur. Doctor says it's more than likely harmless, but I'm praying nonetheless.

Here's a pic from last night of him eating his first cereal.

Sunday Baby Blogging

2008-11-09T19:34:00.004-05:00

The stay-at-home dad stuff seems to be going pretty good. I could get used to it, as a matter of fact. As I tell my wife: the house is still standing, and we're both out of our pajamas by the time she gets home...I'd say that's progress.

Meanwhile, folks at church were telling me good luck this morning. I couldn't figure out why until my wife explained, Honey, we vote for new vestry members next week. Oh yeah...I'm running for that, aren't I?

My goal for this week is to get Alastair a Christmas stocking, and get myself a flu shot. Not too bad of a week.

Here's a picture from a few weeks ago at the James River. He's been smiling and grinning for weeks, but we finally got the little guy to laugh tonight.

Happy (1st) Halloween!

2008-10-31T20:19:00.002-04:00

Friday Baby Blogging

2008-10-24T20:35:00.004-04:00

Alastair has had his two month check-up yesterday. Other than a heart murmur, he's in perfect health. We're going to a cardiologist next month to do an EKG on him and check out the heart murmur. From what the doctor said, more than likely it's perfectly harmless and he'll grow out of it. Of course, upon hearing the news, I had to sit down and take a Xanax. But I'm being told it's pretty much not anything to worry about.

But hey, give me credit: I'm not as freaky about that sort of news as I used to be. As a matter of fact, the last time my BP was checked, it was 116/76. Pretty good, eh?

In other news, I just received an official email from the George Washington University. I've been accepted to the Graduate School of Education and Human Development to work on a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership and Administration. Yay!

Meanwhile, here's another pic of my beautiful little boy.

Saturday Baby Blogging

2008-10-18T12:05:00.002-04:00

I'm Out!

2008-10-15T17:36:00.002-04:00

Today was my first official day as Mr. Mom. I have six weeks paternity leave to use, while the wife goes back to work. I have to admit I'm a little nervous trying to handle the little guy all by myself, but today turned out pretty good. I was even able to take him to the grocery store and he was as good as gold.

Thursday Baby Blogging

2008-10-09T19:44:00.002-04:00

You Want Me to What?!

2008-10-08T23:01:00.003-04:00

Sorry to not update on the happenings of the house. When school starts it gets super busy. I'll try to upload some more baby pictures this weekend. Speaking of which, Alastair continues to grow like a weed. Whenever I hold him, he seems to be bigger, or at least longer. And he's starting to smile and be more responsive. He's such a cutie.

Imagine my shock when I get a call a few weeks ago from the Senior Warden asking if I would consider running for Vestry.

What?! Me?!

I couldn't believe it. I'm so quiet and reserved at church, and I didn't think that I was active enough to be considered. I guess they're looking for some relatively youthful insight. As scary and intimidating as the thought was, I was also admittedly intrigued. Although I'm concerned with having a new baby and starting on a Master's degree in the spring, I told them I'd give it a try. If I'm elected, great. If not, then that's OK too. Besides...I was telling my father that the youth (i.e. 20- and 30-somethings) should get more involved in the leadership roles at his church, and then I get that call. The wife says maybe this is God's way of saying, "You too, buddy!"

Meanwhile, I'm counting down to the start of my Paternity leave next week!

Saturday Baby Blogging

2008-09-06T12:01:00.003-04:00

Alastair had his two week checkup a few days ago, and everything was just fine. The Doctor said he looked great and his color looked good, so she didn't even need to check his bilirubin count (she did her residence at Johns Hopkins...who am I to argue?)

In the meantime, we're staying inside today and being lazy, while Tropical Storm/Hurricane/Whatever-It-Is Hannah putters out over us. Here's a couple of my favorite pictures.

Update: At Least We're Home!

2008-08-29T09:39:00.002-04:00

We got to come home on Monday, but with a biliblanket. He's been using it until yesterday, when his numbers had stabilized enough to take him off. So the last 24 hours he hasn't been on a light...and the home health nurse just came and took today's blood check, so we'll find out in an hour or so what his numbers are now. If they're about the same, or lower, then he's pretty much done with it. If it's higher, they'll put him back on. The waiting game...grrrrr....

In the meantime, I've gone back to work for those lovely inservice days before school. Yesterday was our Open House, where many of the kids/parents came by to say hello. We've got a 4 day weekend, and then it's off we start.

It is amazing how much a little thing like that can pee and poop. I don't mind changing diapers, but that little guy will fill it as soon as I change it! Can't imagine where he got his flatulence from *looks away bashfully*. But he's such a cutie. I've never been all that comfortable around babies, but when it's your own, something clicks and you can't be around him enough.

I better get to burping duty...him not me. Hope you have a good Labor Day weekend, thanks for all the prayers and well wishes!

Update on Alastair

2008-08-23T19:51:00.003-04:00

I'm just at home for a minute. Alastair and the wife are still at the hospital, and might get to come home tomorrow. He was born CUMS Positive--something about his blood type being different than his Mom's and they somehow mixed while he was in the womb, which makes him more at risk for jaundice. They've got him in a bilo-blanket and bilo-bed to break down the bilorubins or whatever they're called. His bilorubin number keeps creeping up but it's still not very high, so they don't seem to be worried.

But of course...I'm a basketcase, because that's just the way that I am.

Everything else about him is fine; his vitals are good, he eats good, and is very strong for a 3 day old. He was born 7 lbs and 4.4 oz and 19 1/4 inches long.

We have wi-fi at the hospital, but Blogger is considered a "social network" and therefore filtered out. I can read blogs but can't comment or access mine to update from there. Hopefully, we ALL get to come home tomorrow. When we do, I'll try to post an update. If you wouldn't mind to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Meet Alastair!

2008-08-21T17:53:00.003-04:00

My Thoughts on Hillary Clinton

2008-08-17T16:56:00.003-04:00

As if anyone asked for my opinion, but that's what blogs are for.

I'm a political junkie, and I'm constantly checking out Taegan Goddard's Political Wire, among other websites. Sometimes I check out the comments to each blog entry, and on occasion, chime in myself.

Hillary is back in the news again after being given her speaking spot at the upcoming Democratic Convention. Whenever she gets back in the news the staunch Hillary supporters or PUMAs as they are called (Party Unity, My Ass!), come out in droves with vindictiveness.

I can't for the life of me understand their reasoning; the conspiracies they claim, and how Hillary was supposedly stabbed in the back by the powers-that-be. How can they claim this? Hillary Clinton was part of the establishment, she was the ultimate Washington insider. She had the support of virtually every Democrat in Washington. For the past four years, everyone has known that the nomination was her's to lose.

I guess no one counted on the success of Barack Obama. I remember Barack Obama's Keynote address in 2004, the one that shot him to political superstardom. I remember thinking, This guy's going to be president someday. I remember when he announced his candidacy for president. I thought, He won't get it this time (surely it will be Hillary), but he'll get it some day. But then his candidacy took off. He did much better with the people than anyone imagined. When the primaries came to Virginia, I looked at the candidates, and their positions, and their potential, and decided to vote for Obama. Nothing against Hillary; I think she would make a fine president, and if she'd got the nod, I would've happily voted for her in November...I just liked Obama better. Apparently, I'm not the only one who felt that way.

So we had a David and Goliath type matchup here. Obama, the new guy, the underdog, the outsider vs. Hillary, the presumptive nominee, the established one, with the deck decidedly stacked in her favor. Lo and behold, many democratic voters, like myself decided, to go with Obama. It's that simple.

But somehow this all adds up to a supposed conspiracy against Hillary, to the point that some of her supporters claim they will consider voting for McCain (who I used to respect, but he has since sold his soul to the Radical Religious Right). I can't help but just roll my eyes.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

2008-08-13T21:20:00.004-04:00

We're about a week away from the due date. And my wife got the nod from the doctor today that they will induce labor on the due date if he hasn't come already. Excited, anxious, and nervous all at once.

Meanwhile, I haven't felt any kidney stone related pain, so perhaps it's settled into the kidney and won't bother me for a while. And the blood pressure is down to around 126/76. Yay!

I went to an info session today for a Master's degree program at a local university. Hopefully I can start class this spring and finally reach that mid-career goal that I always planned.

As always, keep us in your prayers.

Oy Vey: The Sequel

2008-07-28T20:08:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I updated, but the basket retrieval procedure to get the kidney stone was unsuccessful. It was accidentally flushed all the way back to the kidney by the dye they use during the procedure. They decided to try a lithotripsy, or whatever it is that uses sonic waves to break up the stone, but they couldn't find the stone on an x-ray. And if they can't find it on an x-ray, then they can't do the procedure.

So basically I'm back to square one on the kidney stone. The urologist said it could start working its way back down soon, or not for a few weeks, or a few months...or it may never bother me again (yeah, right). I wanted so bad to be over this before the baby comes, but that's not going to happen. I suppose as long as they keep my pain meds up-to-date in case I need them, I'll be OK.

Meanwhile, the blood pressure has improved somewhat; it's no longer hypertensive, but I guess is technically pre-hypertensive, running on average about 132/80. I'm still holding out of seeing the doctor about it to see if it comes down more. We'll see...

The wife and baby are so far, so good. We have a few weeks still, but the wife would happily give birth now, if he wanted to make an early escape. The heartburn and now swollen ankles are getting unnerving for her. As long as I keep the Popsicles in stock, I'm not in trouble.

Oy Vey...

2008-07-15T11:43:00.002-04:00

Had another visit to the urologist today. The teeny tiny blimp on the x-ray that they thought was the kidney stone last time, was still there this time. I had hoped it passed and I didn't catch it. But every so often I get a slight twinge of pain--nothing severe--just enough to make me think, Nope, It's still there.

With a baby on the way next month, I know I need to put this behind me ASAP. So they'll do the surgical procedure to go in and get it on Thursday. It's a pretty standard procedure, so I'm not too worried, just dreading the recovery that comes along with it.

If you're the praying type, I hope you don't mind saying a little one for me that all goes well.

Reports of My Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated...

2008-07-02T22:21:00.005-04:00

...but nevertheless close...well, not really.

I’ve had my first real adult health scare. In mid-May, I had a cold (or allergies flaring up again) and had some chest soreness. I mentioned it to a coworker, who mentioned it to the school nurse, who then wanted to check my blood pressure. It was sky high. High blood pressure and chest pains means get to the doctor soon. My wife took me to an urgent care clinic, where I confessed I’ve had the chest pains off and on for quite a while, and have been scared of what it could be. They did an EKG, but the heart looked fine. Turns out to be muscular. The doctor poked at a certain spot and it hurt so bad I wanted to hit him. He was concerned about the blood pressure, however, and wanted to put me on meds. But we said we wanted to try diet and exercise first, and monitor the BP.

Problem is, the whole situation had absolutely freaked me out. I’m not usually a hypochondriac, but the more I read up on hypertension, the more paranoid I became. My blood pressure has always been 120/80, perfectly normal, and I rarely ever use salt on my food. But just like with the baby scare, I couldn't handle this rationally; my brain went straight to the worst case scenario, and I had the impending sense of doom all over again. Every little numbness, twitch, weakness, dizziness, and jab of pain I had I thought was a heart attack or stroke or anything else that hypertension helps cause. And of course, my BP wasn’t coming down because I was freaking out about it every time I went to take it. I started waking up with panic attacks and driving my wife up the wall. We went back to the doctor and told them what was going on. They asked me about my anxiety and if I was depressed. I said yes and kinda, and the wife was there to offer her observations. So I'm on some "happy" medication that keeps me a little more grounded.

As if that wasn't enough...a few weeks after all of that I had severe, SEVERE pain in my lower right back, to the point that I almost passed out; it lasted about 10 minutes. My wife looked up the symptoms, and it looked like I might have a kidney stone on the move. On June 11, the last day of school no less, I started getting that pain again on the drive to work. I waited for the school nurse to come in, and she called my wife to come get me and take me to the ER. The pain had subsided once I was there and had IV fluids being pumped into me. They did a CT scan and found the stone about 4mm big about a centimeter away from the bladder. They prescribed some pain meds and sent me home. I was more disappointed about the fact that I completely missed the kids' last day and didn't get to tell them bye, especially the outgoing 5th graders. Two days later I had to go back to the ER because the pain got away from me, my meds simply wasn't cutting it. They injected me with some stuff in the IV and I felt like I was floating on air. They told me to take my pain meds regularly, even if my pain wasn't that bad, to stay ahead of the pain (I've never been comfortable with prescription meds, so I was hesitant to take them unless I absolutely had to). My parents came to stay for a while in case anything else happened, and my wife didn't have to miss so much work.

Here I am, 3-4 weeks later, and I still haven't passed the kidney stone. I've been to the urologist twice, and the last time I was there, we agreed to give it a couple more weeks to come out naturally, or else we'll do the surgical procedure to remove it.

Throughout all this, we've monitored my blood pressure. I had a scheduled physical in between my ER visits where I showed the doctor my BP log. Even though it'd come down, he wanted to put me on meds. I talked him in to letting me track it a few more weeks. It's nowhere near as high as it was (summer vacation will do that), but it's still high, averaging about 130/80. Yep, I think he's going to want to put me on meds. I just dread it because 1) I'm afraid of side effects, and 2) I feel that at age 30, I shouldn't have to worry about BP. But alas, I guess that's the way it goes. I was glad to hear that he said the heart and arteries sounded fine.

The good news through all this is that because I've been more cautious about what I eat, I've lost about 25 pounds so far, and about 3 inches off my waist. I'm fitting in pants and shorts that I haven't worn in years. And I'm drinking much more water because of the kidney stone.

These are just my woes. The wife has had her share, too. Her blood sugar has been high; enough for her to be considered gestational diabetic. This isn't too big of a deal, she just watches what she eats and monitors her blood sugar. There's a good chance it will go away as soon as the baby's born.

Speaking of the baby, little Alastair seems to be doing just fine. He kicks up a storm and gives my wife a lot of heartburn. We've got his room painted and his Pack N' Play, and his Jeep stroller all ready for him. We're about six weeks away from the delivery date, so we're starting to pack up an overnight bag, and have started taking the Lamaze classes. After my kidney stone ordeal, I highly recommended to the wife that she just have an epidural.

I apologize for the lack of updates; as you can see, it's been very busy. For those of you who care enough to read this blog, I ask that you keep my family and I in your prayers.

Any Resemblance?

2008-04-10T20:01:00.004-04:00

Below is a 3D ultrasound picture of our son at 20 weeks. Next to it is a picture of me from the day I was born. Any resemblance? My wife seems to think so.

Update

2008-03-22T01:02:00.004-04:00

No, I haven't blogged in a while. At first it was because I was just too busy. Then the week from hell came along.

I'm not going too get too detailed here for the whole world to see here on cyberspace. The gist of it is, last Monday on the 10th, the day before my birthday no less, we received some startling and scary news from the doctor...a screening test showed an abnormal level of hormone in the baby, which raised our risk of certain problems from 1 in 842 (typical for a couple our age), to 1 in 23. Some birthday (actually it was my 30th so I was trying to forget it anyway). It was a kick in the gut for me, despite assurances from the doctor that there was a 95% chance that the baby is fine. We arranged for an ultrasound and a meeting with a genetics counselor a few days later, which I had hoped would give us some answers. Actually, it just raised the stakes. They looked for certain characteristics in the ultrasound. They couldn't see everything they wanted, but of what the doctor could see, our risks went even higher to 1 in 12. We opted for an amniocentesis to get some definitive results. It just seemed like anytime they told us something new, it was just more bad news. My heart had sank to it's lowest. I began to get this unavoidable sense of dread overcoming me. I literally worried myself to pure exhaustion...to the point where my stomach muscles hurt, like I'd just finished doing a hundred sit-ups. We, of course, would care for and love our baby come what may, but obviously no parent wants to see this happen.

An agonizing three days later and exactly a week from when all this began, we got the prelim results back...and the baby was fine. Such wonderful news, but even at that point, I couldn't help but just break down and sob. We'd been through the ringer, something that I could never wish a sworn enemy to go through, if I even had one.

We had a lot of people praying for us, and we are most appreciative of them. And a lot of good intuition from my mother-in-law and our friend Lee, who were like guardian angels watching over us.

I'll be asking at the next appointment about what exactly made that screening result so faulty. From what we've read, if the baby's age is off by just a day or so, it could affect the results. We may never find out the truth. But I do know the baby...my son, by the way...is healthy, and that if we're pregnant once more in the future, we will never take that test again.

{{{Lee}}}

2008-02-23T17:08:00.003-05:00

Here's a shout out to my good friend Lee over at Lee The Pisky's Musings. Prayers ascending for him and his family. I don't know that a lot of people read this, but if you're here and you do, add Lee to your thoughts and prayers. And pop on over to his blog and say 'allo.

President Obama?

2008-02-23T15:56:00.002-05:00

I've been reading up on all the political pundit websites, and it looks to me that Clinton's chances of receiving the Democratic nomination are now mathematically slim. Even if she wins Ohio and Texas, she probably won't win them with a percentage of votes that would give her the proportion of delegates she needs to clinch it. And the superdelegates are starting to line up with Obama, seemingly afraid to go against the rank and file voters(and that's probably the way it should be, for the good of the party).

Now if she happened to win the nomination, I would be happy to vote for her, and I think that she would make a fine president. That being said, when I had the chance to vote for her or Obama in the Primary...I went with Obama. I like her and all, but I didn't care for how she came into this election just assuming that she was going to have it handed to her. But her actions (along with Bill's) in South Carolina put me pretty firmly with the Obama camp. I'd expect her and Bill to get nasty with the Republicans (and would encourage them) but not with Obama, or any other Democrat. It just reminded me that, although the Clinton years were good policy-wise, they could be every bit as divisive and mudslinging as Karl Rove...just from the other side of the aisle. And I think a lot of people are just fed up with it.

I also think that Hillary is just in the wrong place at the wrong point of history. Once, she was a part of a movement that brought a young man into the national spotlight. He was savvy, charming, smooth talking, optimistic, and had a slogan of "change". He was running against the establishment, and unseated an incumbent Republican president (for which the GOP have never forgiven them).

Sixteen years later, we have almost the same situation. Unfortunately for Hillary, she's now on the other side of that movement. She's now part of the establishment, and up against what one could consider the shadow of her husband from 1992.

Saturday Cat Blogging

2008-02-09T23:14:00.001-05:00

Autumn likes our shoes. She's either laying on them or storing her toys in them.

Guess Who...

2008-02-06T21:17:00.000-05:00

Saturday Cat Blogging

2008-02-02T22:11:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try to join in on Lee and others in the pet blogging. We'll start off with our first furbaby, Stormy. This is an oldie but a goodie.

I'm Going to be a What?!

2008-01-19T15:31:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to put this on here for quite a while, I just haven't had the energy to sit and think up what I wanted to say. So here it is:

I'm pregnant.

Well, I'm not, I just have a beer gut. But my wife is. We found out just before Christmas. After a long time of trying, this is very much a blessing to us. We're very excited, albeit nervous, as is normal.

So all right, there it is then.

Holy Crap! It's Snowing!!

2008-01-19T15:25:00.000-05:00

This is what it's supposed to do in the winter! Thanks be to God! Now why can't it do this on a weekday?!

Happy Christmas!

2007-12-24T17:24:00.000-05:00

There's not as much under our tree this year as there has been in the past. But even at that, we now know we've been given the best Christmas we've ever had!

Hope everyone has Merry Christmas, a Happy Hannakuh, A crazy Kwanzza, a wonderful Winter Solstice, and a solemn and dignified Rahmadan....and to anyone else, have a nice day!

Grandly Illuminating!

2007-12-08T22:42:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of the Grand Illumination, Colonial Williamsburg's kick off of the holiday season. Enjoy!

More Fall Pictures!

2007-11-20T20:15:00.000-05:00

Here are more fall pictures. Click to enlarge.

Bruton Parish Church

Governor's Palace

Governor's Palace Gardens

Our humble home, and the huge tree in front of it.

Fall Pictures!

2007-11-18T16:40:00.000-05:00

Fall colors finally came to this neck of the woods (about a month late). I got so excited I thought I'd take some pictures. Click on them to view full size. Enjoy!

The Royal Governor's Pond/Water Canal at Colonial Williamsburg.

The Gardens of the Governor's Palace.

Quiz Time

2007-11-15T17:33:00.000-05:00

Eucharistic theology
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Orthodox

You are Orthodox, worshiping the mystery of the Holy Trinity in the great liturgy whereby Jesus is present through the Spirit in a real yet mysterious way, a meal that is also a sacrifice.

Orthodox

81%

Luther

75%

Calvin

69%

Catholic

69%

Zwingli

50%

Unitarian

Let's go Red Sox!!

2007-10-29T00:14:00.001-04:00

October 27, 2004 was a pivotal night in my life. I got a call from my mother telling me that my grandmother had passed away after suffering from Alzheimer's for 9 years. A few hours later, my beloved Red Sox ended their 84 year streak and won the World Series. Granny knew of my love for the BoSox, and I wondered if them winning was a nod from her. Tonight, October 28, 2007, my Sox win the World Series again. But more than anything else, I'm thinking about my grandmother...and missing her.

Yeah, OK, so...

2007-10-08T20:09:00.000-04:00

...I know I haven't said anything lately and I'm sorry. What else can I say other than it's friggin' busy. It's a good thing I resigned as a Harry Potter Chat room moderator, because there's no way on earth I could be doing that too.

So...why not a quiz?! Yay!!

You Are 52% Democrat

You aren't a full fledged Democrat yet, but it's likely the party that fits you best.

You probably consider yourself an independent Democrat. You usually support the party, but you also think for yourself!

How Democrat Are You?

Long Day, Long Week

2007-09-22T21:38:00.000-04:00

A loooooong week of school was capped off by a looooong day today.

It was supposed to be fun, and now that I'm reflecting and blogging, I guess it pretty much was so. We got tickets to King's Dominion Theme Park through my wife's work; they were half price and the park was only open to the employees of her company (which would be around 40,000 people total). I figured we'd pretty much have the park to ourselves. What I didn't count on was that the tickets were open to friends and family of employees...so there were a lot more people than I anticipated. Basically, it was about as crowded as a normal summer day. But then I noticed that, since they were open for a private event only, and not the general public, they didn't have all the rides open...and only a skeleton crew working the available rides. So the lines were loooong and slow-going, and of course I'm ever the impatient one.

There were some cool coasters there, I'll give them credit, but not worth the wait in line, and not worth the drive. I've got Busch Gardens just 5 minutes away. Yeah, they may be owned by the worst beer company in the world, and yeah they may serve Pepsi products (grrrr...) but their park is quaint, close by, and well maintained. And plus I know where everything is.

But She's Not Fat

2007-09-10T21:31:00.000-04:00

I'm no fan of Britney Spears.

In fact I think she's a talentless hack. She reminds me of some people I grew up with back in Tennessee, and every time I hear her talk I think she's coming straight from an episode of Jerry Springer. Yeah, I'll admit she's cute, although not as much as she used to be (neither am I), and like any 20-something guy, if I were single...and found myself alone with her...and we were both drunk...or not...and she didn't smell like cigarettes...well, I'm sure things would happen.

I didn't watch the recent MTV Video Music Awards. Like most people of my generation, I haven't watched MTV regularly since puberty, and besides I've always been more of a VH1 kinda guy. But I've seen the snippets of her performance. It was horrible. It was shameful. She acted like she didn't want to be there. She acted tired, or at the very least, high on something. Even the lip-synching was messed up. It cemented the idea in many a person's mind (including mine) that there are some serious issues going on in her head. And of course the talking heads on TV have raked her over the coals about it, which is perfectly typical. But I have taken exception to one of their charges: no, she's not fat.

Yes, she performed horribly. Yes, I'll agree she's not as skinny or fit as she used to be. Yes, I'll agree she's in no condition to wear an outfit like that (although the inner 17 year old in me thought it was perfectly fine). But, come on, people cut her some slack: she's not fat by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, she looks pretty damn good for someone who's had a couple of kids in as many years.

How far gone are we as a society when we look at her as she is now (who I would guess looks to be a size 8) and think she is too fat? What on earth does this do to our self-esteem? And what about those of us (and yes, me too) who are really and truly fat? I suppose we should just throw ourselves under a bus...if we can fit under one.

I wonder about all this talk about how we're becoming statistically more and more obese. I wonder if we truly are getting fatter...or the health industry has changed the definition of what obese is to a more stringent standard, and thus skewing the statistics. I've taught and supervised over 100 9-10 year old students in the past three years, and out of all of those, only three or four looked to have weight issues. That doesn't sound all that earth shattering.

If Britney's fat, then I want to be fat like her.

My Happy Place

2007-09-08T17:32:00.001-04:00

This was taken this summer in Portland, Maine. God willing, I will retire somewhere near here.

I've [Not] Been Everywhere, Man!

2007-09-05T20:24:00.000-04:00

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

A Quiz!!

2007-09-03T19:04:00.000-04:00

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Working Class Warrior, also known as a blue-collar Democrat. You believe that the little guy is getting screwed by conservative greed-mongers and corporate criminals, and you’re not going to take it anymore.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

George and the Hornet's Nest

2007-05-10T17:42:00.000-04:00

As I try to wrap my thoughts around our current situation in Iraq, I find that it sometimes helps to think in allegory. Perhaps this is from working with children for so long. In any case, read this short story and see if it might sound familiar.

There once was a man named George. George loved hanging out on his ranch. He was all the time mending fences and clearing out brush. Perhaps he was looking for oil. After all, he tried that many years ago, and he only ended up with a bunch of empty holes.

One day George was out cleaning brush, and he felt a stinging sensation on the back of his neck. He immediately slapped at the spot, and as he brought his hand back in front of him, he saw that he'd been stung by a hornet. A hornet? On MY property?! It's not possible! They must be invaders...

He noticed another hornet buzzing around and decided to follow it back to the nest. When he found the nest, he saw that it was very high up on a tall tree, and was very much unreachable. But he was sure that this was the nest. He tried to throw a few rocks at it to knock it down, but all he did was agitate the hornets swarming about the nest. He gave up and walked away grumbling.

George was very upset about being stung on his property. As he walked back toward the house, he noticed another hornet's nest; this one being much more within reach. In a moment of rage and vengeance, he punched in through the nest, his hand squeezed and smooshed every hornet he felt inside. Of course, he was getting his hand stung dozens of times, while killing very few hornets.

Some of his buddies saw him and came over to cheer him on. I'm fighting for freedom! Freedom to go where I want on this great land, he told them, his face twisting and wincing with pain (but desparately trying to hide it). With each new sting, he took it more and more personally, and became more determined to rid the nest of all the hornets.

After a while, George became weak from all the venom in his system. His friends, seeing his more delicate state, started to get a little nervous.

You know George, if you take your hand out of the nest and get away, they'll quit stinging you. Besides, these aren't even the hornets that stung you, they told him.

That's wimpy talk, George snapped back. How dare you question my judgment! That's very unpatriotic! What kind of message are you trying to send to me? Besides, I have a good feeling that these hornets are in cahoots with the other nest. I won't take my hand out until they're all gone, or they decide to quit stinging me!

This went on all afternoon, and George wasn't making any progress in killing all the hornets in the nest. In fact, there were actually more hornets that were coming to the nest to help defend it. Some of George's friends, seeing how utterly ridiculous the situation looked, eventually left George to his obsession. But a few of them remained.

OK, George said feebly to himself, I think I need a change in tactics. The few remaining people thought to themselves: Finally! Common sense is prevailing! Expecting George to pull his hand out of the nest, they were horrified to see George shove his other hand into the nest. There, George said, that oughta show 'em who's boss! He started killing hornets with both hands, his fingers reaching in futile of any hornet he feels. Of course in reality, they were overwhelming; the new hand was just something else for those hundreds upon hundreds of hornets within the nest to sting without mercy. And so the few people standing around left shaking their heads.

And George was left to himself, and is still there, actually. With both hands in the hornet's nest, killing very few hornets but getting stung many times. He's trapped there, fighting (ironically) for freedom. He will be remembered as the man who, because of either pride or anger, refused to take his hands out of the hornet's nest.

From Right to Left: My Political and Spiritual Journey

2006-07-28T16:38:00.001-04:00

I've remarked that I'm not the conservative that I used to be. An online friend asked what made me NOT conservative. Since it's such a long story, and I'm a lazy typist, I thought I'd copy it here. Not that anyone's going to read it, but at least it's here and I don't have to type it again.

I was conservative right up through 9-11. I watched Fox News and Bill O' Reilly, and listened to John Boy and Billy in the mornings on WQUT. I supported Bush while standing on the rubble with the rescue workers. I supported Bush when he sent troops into Afghanistan. Locally, I was just finishing up my first year of teaching, and Tennessee was going through a budget crisis. the Republicans in the state were willing to slash the education budget, which would have included cutting mine and about 100 other teaching jobs in the NE Tennessee region alone. Anything to avoid the dreaded income tax. At that point, I thought maybe it wouldn't hurt to vote democrat when it came to local and state levels.

Around the same time, Bush passed "No Child Left Behind", which at first glance looks good, but the more I heard about it and the deeper I dove into it, the more it dawned on me that it was essentially a sabotage of the public school system.

Also around that same time, Bush was picking a fight with Iraq, with a half-assed attempt to link them to 9-11. That really concerned me. But probably the straw(men) that broke the camel's back was the administration's reaction to mere questioning of their policies. They in turn, along with Fox News, Bill O'Reilly, John Boy and Billy, and other supporters would question the patriotism (and Christianity) of those asking the questions. That's a very dangerous attitude to have regardless of which end of the political spectrum it's coming from. It was then that a lot of things were starting to make sense, and I started to see through the veneer of God, guns, and gays that the GOP uses to rally the base and saw them for what they really were: rich, corporate, corrupt men who were determined to keep everybody else down. As silly as it sounds, I felt betrayed.

I reluctantly started looking more into the Democartic Party. I still was uneasy with them, with the perception that they were wishy-washy, and more concerned about hurt feelings than getting something done. The deeper I looked, the more I saw that perception wasn't as widespread as the GOP made it out to be.

Through all this, we weren't attending church regularly. When we did go to church, we would go up to my Dad's church 30 miles away. Because of the distance, we just weren't going, and we were starting to feel the void. We decided we should start looking for a church closer to home.

I grew up in the Christian Church/Chuch of Christ, the middle branch of the Stone-Campbell movement between the more liberal Disciples of Christ and the more conservative (noninstrumental) Church of Christ. Even in being in the middle branch, it's still pretty conservative and exclusionary (i.e. "We're the only one's saved"). My dad's church was conservative and fundamentalist, but thankfully, not exclusionary. That's to their credit. And I knew they were more the exception than the norm. We concluded it would be easier to be conservative in a liberal church than be liberal in a conservative church (that's not entirely true, but oh well...). So we decided we would use this as an opportunity to explore other, more mainline denominations...Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran...and even though they're entirely too liberal, we might even explore the Episcopal Church.

On Christmas Eve, 2002, we were both in bed by 10:30, she was asleep and I was wide awake quietly watching TV (very typical for us). At 11:00 I was flipping through the channels when I came across a church service. It was very high church...and I found myself really spiritually moved by it. If I had ever had a spiritual "a-ha" moment in my life, that was it. I'd spent my life turning up my nose to Catholic-like worship, a typical attitude of someone in my denomination. But I'd never experienced it firsthand. At first I thought it was Roman Catholic, but then I saw a woman priest, so then I thought it was Episcopalian. Finally at the end, they announced it was a presentation of The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Wow! The Lutherans?! I never knew. I woke my wife up and pointed to the TV and said, "This is what I want."

In my research on these denominations, I came across Beliefnet. Well, my wife found it, actually. There I lurked alot on the Lutheran board, the A/E board, the C2C board reading the discussions/debates/arguments, eventually finding my voice and chiming in on occasion. I think Beliefnet helped me move to the middle and beyond politically and theologically as well.

The policies and attitudes of the Christian right were becoming glaringly hypocritical to me. My new viewpoint in Christian beliefs changed my political beliefs in other issues besides the War in Iraq and education. In turn, my new political beliefs helped shed a new perspective on the teachings of Christ.

When we finally visited churches, we went to a Lutheran (ELCA) church, a Lutheran (LCMS) church, and an Episcopal Church. Out of the three, the one we liked the most was the ELCA church, so we joined them and became Lutheran. Denomination wise, however, I was ironically being drawn more and more to The Episcopal Church. I can't logical explain the appeal. I guess The Holy Spirit.

When we moved to Pittsburgh, we looked at Episcopal and Lutheran churches...with more emphasis on the Episcopal. But we never found any place we really liked. Now that were here we've pretty much found an Episcopal Church we think we'll really like. And our long journey on the Cantebury Trail will be complete. And I feel like a proud member of the Christian Left.

So if I have any old friends who in a one in a million chance come across this, maybe they'll understand a little better about "what on earth happened to me."

Uhh...oops?

2005-11-09T21:44:00.000-05:00

Wow. You'd think if I started this, I'd keep it up better than this. Oh well, I've always had this problem...I have plenty of things to say, I just can't sit still long enough to type them all out. Just ask my old high school Language Arts teacher.

Anyhow, on the politics front, I'm glad to see that the democrat was elected governor of my future state. Makes me feel a little bit better about moving there.

My Living Will

2005-04-19T20:47:00.000-04:00

I found this on a message board over on Beliefnet. In light of the Terri Schiavo fiasco, this sums up my feelings.

I, _________________________ (fill in the blank), being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means.

Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of peckerwood politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it.

If a reasonable amount of time (say, a few years) passes and I fail to sit up and ask for the remote control, it should be presumed that I won't ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my spouse, children and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day.

Under no circumstances shall the members of the Legislature enact a special law to keep me on life-support machinery. It is my wish that these boneheads mind their own damn business, and pay attention instead to the health, education and future of the millions of Americans who aren't in a permanent coma.

Under no circumstances shall any politicians butt into this case I don't care how many fundamentalist votes they're trying to scrounge for their run for the presidency in 2008, it is my wish that they play politics with someone else's life and leave me alone to die in peace.

I couldn't care less if a hundred religious zealots send e-mails to legislators in which they pretend to care about me. I don't know these people, and I certainly haven't authorized them to preach and crusade on my behalf. They should mind their own damn business.

If any of my family goes against my wishes and turns my case into a political cause, I hereby promise to come back from the grave and make his or her existence frightening.

Grade by Color

2005-04-09T17:58:00.000-04:00

Honestly, I've always graded papers in green.

For Your Entertainment...

2005-03-18T01:09:00.000-05:00

...so true, and so sad.

Ugh.

(By the way...click the title "for your Entertainment..." to go to MSNBC's political cartoon page)

The "kids"

2005-03-17T01:00:00.000-05:00

They are for now at least. They're bothed loved and spoiled, and their personalities couldn't be any more opposite. Autumn (the one on the left) has the personality of Rose from The Golden Girls, while Stormy (the one on the right) has the personality of Dorothy from the same show.

My wife has referred to them as "Odie and Garfield." I must say they keep us humble...we clean their litter box, that keeps anyone humble. Autumn is known to get a little, er, melodramatic; especially if she thinks she hungry. Virtually everytime you stand up from your seat, she thinks you are going to feed her. You can almost hear one of those little sad violins playing as she's doing her little show: MEOW! Mister, can you spare a morsel of food? I think my throat's dry! I'm weak! You can see my ribs, look! I haven't had anything to eat in soooooooo long! I think I'm dyin'! Are the light's fading? Oh, woe is me! Good-bye cruel world! MEOW! Meanwhile, Stormy just roles her eyes and walks away.

They're sometimes funny, sometimes annoying, but always precious. I'll never forget the day we rescued them from the animal shelter. They were so tiny, so fragile, so dependent on us, and so trusting in us.

Yeah, it's humbling.

The Blog is Launched

2005-03-16T19:30:00.000-05:00

Well, this is a test post, as well as a maiden one. I'll add on links and what not as soon as I learn how.

Something like these blogs gives me a reason to pause and ask, Who am I to blog? What do I have to tell and share? But I tend to think we all have a story; we all have something to share.

And so here I am. I have a lot of interests, and therefore a lot of opinions. From religion and politics, to arts and entertainment, to sports (Red Sox and Patriots..woo-hoo!).

So we'll see how this works out...at least its free.