Average!

So, the big "4-0" is quickly coming. Actually, it's roaring up like a Mack truck with me standing in the middle of the road. Only 2 1/2 weeks away.

Don't know if it's because I'm tired from driving all night at work and unloading all day, etc, but I woke up in the bunk of the truck this afternoon with memories and moments from as far back in my ALMOST 40 years came streaming into my consciousness.

I'm kinda feeling a bit melancholy about it all right now!

As I was driving last night, I was listening to some sports talk show host explaining the difference between the players in College Football vs the quality of the players in the NFL. They also hit on the NBA, Golf, MLB, etc. The difference is vast, except for a very few exceptional players that move up to the next level.

So I started thinking about my life and see that through it all, I've been a 'college' level player.

In elementary I struggled with my studies - always average grades - and connecting with my classmates. All too often, my favorite part of the day - recess - ended in a fight because I wanted to be the best at whatever we were doing, ie dodgeball or tag or whatever and was just the middle of the pack and I'd get caught or out and get frustrated. (Interesting, I'd never thought of it in those terms or that way before.)
One thing, during those years, I was always good at was rollerskating. I loved the regular rollerskating we'd do at the school gym on Saturday nights. Can't make a life/career out of that though! :)

I think Academy, my Senior year, was about the best. I was a class officer, made it on the Volleyball team, was constantly involved with stuff and that was about the best grades I'd gotten in my life. (Still, they were pretty average though.) My Sophomore year I was trying to 'fit in' and barely did that. My Junior year year I was focused on one other person and didn't get involved in much else. I did a few intramural sports - but really just filled a slot on the team.

In college, I was so busy working trying to pay for college that I just 'passed' my classes - well all but one. Ended up with a HUGE "F" in algebra. Had to take 'bone-head' math to be able to graduate. With that and 'courting' Doreen, nothing extra really, I just existed.

I've never really done anything to 'stand-out' in my career. Pretty much feel like I've just been a worker bee trying to get the quota of pollen into the hive to get by. Just about got fired from 3ABN for asking the question, "why" too often. The 3 years moving was enjoyable - but extremely rough. Loved my time at LTR, but that all changed. The place operated just fine after I left.

Guess, I got to thinking about this a bit because when I was out with my shoulder operation, my partner ran with another guy for those 5 months and before I left, I could pack a warehouse extremely neatly and keep up with my partner. Well, the fill in could do it faster and better than me and I feel like I can barely keep up now. All it is, is stacking boxes, but I feel like I'm just barely doing enough to get by.

Maybe it is because 40 is coming, but I really feel kinda blase about my life. I have a wonderful wife, but at times, feel like I'm barely a competent husband/lover. My girls are awesome, but even after waiting 7 years to start with kids, not sure I have the maturity to help them be good people. I blow my stack way too easily - even after going through a Love & Logic course 3 times.

I always thought I was a pretty good racquetball player, and for the last two seasons, I've always finished 6th or 7th out of 10 or 11. Middle of the pack average - and that's in B league. Not even with the really good players.

In helping to lead our SS and my Builders class for Adventurers, I put quite a bit into it, but can't help but feeling it's barely adequate.

Humm, maybe I just need a really good night of sleep or to get past this upcoming reminder of how old I'm getting, which by the way is just midlife! Maybe this is my crisis! :)

Report Cards - Spring Midterm

Doreen and I had two very good Parent Teacher Conferences recently!

As much as I disliked school, I am so, SO, SOOO very thankful my girls seem to be enjoying it and doing very well!

All of Joelle's marks stayed satisfactory or went up this period! Yeahhh! The teacher wrote, "Joelle still has a bit of difficulty staying on task, but manages to get her work done! She is such fun to have in the classroom!"

Natalie's marks are all outstanding! No comment this quarter!

I love my girls! :)

Drama - Leave it to the Silver Screen

It's interesting how 'Drama' finds its way into our lives. We've got two situations right now that are both filled with Major Drama.

So is this life imitating art, or art imitating life?

Either way, I wish both the situation at church and the 'other' one would just calm down and let everything get back to an even keel! :)

No more drama! :)

Coin Toss

A friend this posted this on my Google Reader and I just loved it! It is SO true. So I wanted to share it with you!

Men are Just Happier People

Yup, I can see why! Read this and see if you agree with it too! :)

What do you expect from such simple creatures?
Your last name stays put.
The garage is all yours.
Wedding plans take care of themselves.
Chocolate is just another snack.
You can be President.
You can never be pregnant.
You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park.
Car mechanics tell you the truth.
The world is your urinal.
You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky.
You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
Same work, more pay.
Wrinkles add character.
Wedding dress $5000.
Tux rental-$100.
People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.
The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected.
New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
One mood all the time.
Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
You know stuff about tanks.
A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
You can open all your own jars.
You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.
Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.
Three pairs of shoes are more than enough
You almost never have strap problems in public.
You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.
Everything on your face stays its original color.
The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
You only have to shave your face and neck.
You can play with toys all your life.
Your belly usually hides your big hips.
One wallet and one pair of shoes one color for all seasons.
You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.
You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife.
You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache..
You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.
No wonder men are happier

Week vs Weak

WITHOUT GOD... our week would be: Sinday, Mournday, Tearsday, Wasteday, Thirstday, Fightday, Shatterday, Seven days without God - Makes one Weak!

Patience

Got this from Doreen's Aunt Debbie, who's daughter is fighting cancer right now! It was so good, I wanted to share it and remember it!!!

PATIENCE

When you choose to be patient, you respond in a positive way to a negative situation. You are slow to anger. You choose to have a long fuse instead of a quick temper. Rather than being restless or demanding, love helps you settle down and begin extending mercy to those around you. Patience brings an internal calm during an external storm.

No one likes to be around an impatient person. It causes you to overreact in angry, foolish and regrettable ways. The irony of anger toward a wrongful action is that it spawns new wrongs of its own. ANGER almost never makes things better. In fact, it usually generates additional problems. But patience stops problems in their tracks. Patience is a deep breath. It clears the air. It stops foolishness from whipping its angry scorpion tail all over the room. It is a choice to control your emotions rather than allowing your emotions to control you and shows discretion instead of returning evil for evil.

Anger is usually caused when the strong desire for something is mixed with disappointment or grief. You don't get what you want and you start heating up inside. It is often an emotional reaction that flows out of our own selfishness, foolishness or evil motives.

Patience makes us wise. Patience stands in the doorway where anger is clawing to burst in. Patience will foster peace and quiet. Patience is where love meets wisdom.

Few of us do patience very well and none of us do it naturally.

Report Cards... 1st midterm & Semester

I've had the girls report cards sitting on the desk to post the info on my page for way tooo long!

So here's the low-down on how my girls are doing in school.

1st Midterm '09/'10 year...

Joelle has a bubbly personality and is fun to have in the classroom. She's a good worker and would benefit for working more quickly. Every day she is showing more maturity and confidence.

We LOVE this report. Of course we kinda figured that she needs to focus a little better and work more efficiently - the SAME problem we're struggling with at home! :)

Natalie has leaped into her 1st grade year in a most outstanding way. She excels in all areas of curriculum. Natalie is self motivated and loves to explore and try new things. She is above grade level in her reading skills!

This is exactly the kind of report a parent likes to hear... my poor folks! **GRIN**

Semester Reports:

Joelle tries her best. She is often distracted, but will get back on task when reminded. She has a sweet, caring way about her that makes life happier for her classmates. She has some difficulty with consistency; sometimes excelling.

That is the epitome of my Joelle!!! :)

Joelle Iowa Test results has her in the 66th percentile. Hallelujah!!! It says, "Her overall achievement appears to be somewhat above average for 3rd grade." She needs a little work in Problem Solving and Data interpretation, but excels in Maps and Diagrams!

That is MOST awesome!

Natalie continues to excel in all content areas. She is very obedient and has such a positive attitude. She's a real joy to have in the classroom!

I'm so thankful to have to very good, precious little girls! I'm so proud of them!

Natalie Growing Up or The Golden Rule

Recently we've had a couple of 'issues' with Natalie and her classmates at school - unfortunately. Thankfully, we were able to turn it into a chance to teach her to "Do unto others, what you would have them do unto you!"

She had an incident with a classmate at school who was lying to her, and Natalie slapped the classmate for lying! Oy! So we had a talk and told her that was completely unacceptable and it appeared that she understood.

A couple of weeks later, she got upset at a little boy and pushed him. Well, that was it. We gave her an opportunity to think of a punishment for herself to help remind her to keep her hands to herself, or we'd come up with one for her.

By the time the deadline to choose a punishment rolled around, she hadn't thought of anything, so Doreen and I had one locked, loaded and ready to go.

The next Sunday she had invitations to go to birthday parties of two classmates. We had planned to attend both, but because she chose to be mean to other people around her, she could not be around friends - especially at a fun event where she 'might' be mean to others. So she was only allowed to go to one party - the one that wasn't as near as fun as the other one.

She did NOT like that much at all. She was really looking forward to going to the one.

We think it's worked though. Since then - no problems! We're continuing to pray that she continues to think of the Golden Rule when she is around her friends and classmates!!!

An Exercise in Responsibility for Joelle! The Followup

It was a rousing success.

Doreen said she checked on Joelle twice and both times she was up and getting bigtime stuff done!

That is absolutely amazing.

Now if we can just figure out how to get her focused ALL the time and get stuff done!

I am so proud of my girl!

An Exercise in Responsibility for Joelle!

Backstory...

Last night Natalie got sick. She couldn't keep anything, ANYTHING down. She'd take a small drink of water and about 8 minutes later - it'd come back up. Doreen had to tear her bed apart to get it washed, but it has leaked down to the mattress, so we laid her on our bed. I went to sleep down in the spare bedroom - had to get up early for work.

In the morning, I find that our bed got up-chucked on too and had to be remade. Then Natalie started with diarrhea.

I headed to work and was at it for 3 hours, during the time I got a text message from Doreen that she was starting to get the same stuff. So we worked out a deal that I'd come get the kids and take them to school. (Carpooling) and then pick up Natalie and take her to the Pediatrician to get checked out cuz we were worried about dehydration.

Sure enough, the Dr said she was starting, "to dry up." They thought they may need to IV some fluids into her, but wanted to try a medicine called Zofran first, then observer her for 45 minutes while taking little drinks of Gatorade - Cherry Flavor - to see if she could keep it down.

About half way through, she was keeping everything down and kinda perking up a bit. Success was had! So he wrote a prescription for her and an order for clear fluids for the rest of the day and sent us on our way.

At home - Doreen rested, but continued to get worse, almost to the point where Natalie was. So they rested the remainder of the afternoon and I went back to work for a bit.

This evening Joelle and I did everything around the house. Then we made supper, then lunches for she and I for tomorrow and did the bedtime routine.

Natalie will be staying home from school for one more day - just to be sure not to share the bug, and Doreen will need to relax.

So I showed Joelle where all her stuff is for her lunch to be packed in the morning and make a list of what she can make for breakfast and then all the 'responsibilities' she needs to complete by 7:30a to be out front of the house to meet our friends to carpool to school.

It is going to be very interesting to see if she can focus and get up and get everything done and be ready to go!

I can't wait to see the outcome!!!

P.S. As of this writing, both Doreen and Natalie are resting easy, not feeling the best, but better than this afternoon!

Hang in There

Got this from a friend on Facebook, (Thanks Kent T.) and I really enjoyed it so much I wanted to repost it here so I can read it again and again and remember the good moral in it!

Enjoy!


In the old days of the American West, ranchers would sometimes take a wild steed that they could not break, tie it to a burro, and turn the two loose. The steed would rear up on it hind legs, snorting with defiance, and off they would go out on to the range. Before long the bucking steed would disappear over the horizon, dragging the helpless burro behind.

Days would pass, but eventually the odd couple would reappear. The little burro would come first, with the submissive steed in tow.

What went on out on the range always brought the same result. The steed would buck and kick and pitch and pull, but the burro, willing or not, would hang on. Finally, the steed would become exhausted, and at the point the burro would take over and become the leader.

That’s the way it is in life. The winners hang on. They are determined and committed. They know that perseverance can bring you out on top.

Lack of perseverance is the reason most people fail in business, in politics, and in their personal lives. Success depends on staying power.

More Memories 20 Years Later

I LOVE having digital cameras and pictures! It is so easy to spend time looking at them and enjoying them!

I was just looking back through some of my pics from my 20 year reunion from Campion Academy in Loveland, CO and wanted to share a few more with you - just for fun! :)


Shawnda, Christi, Shon, Marijane, Ronda.














Sharon, KoriAnna, Kevin (was in a construction accident the week before our reunion), Rob & Stephanie. Our 4 year seniors.













Michelle, Stephanie, KoriAnna, Terry & Mike












Alisha, Dena & Stuart













Duane, Tom & Carol
















Heidi & Tammy















Kim, Brenda, me & Billy















Juli & Stephanie

Family Week

A few weeks ago, the girls school closed down because of the flu bug going around having over 40% of the students out. Luckily I was home because of my surgery and some other 'Divine' coincidences happened. So we had some fun hang out a the Chattanooga Discovery Museum, where the girls learned how people live and deal with handicaps, such as being blind...









...or having to get around in a wheelchair!













The next day we spent at the Chattanooga Zoo, here's a big monkey with my two little monkies! :)
















And my girls with a cute little goat in the petting zoo!



















And the 'hoodie' family on a bench at the zoo! Good memories!

Corn Maze

One of our Sabbath School socials this year was to go up to the Mayfield Dairy and have fun at their corn maze and activities. Here's my precious girls standing in front of an ear of corn made from milk gallon jugs! :)













No one got lost in the maze. They all made it out safely! :)












I hear the hayride was a blast! I didn't go because it was the Sunday after my surgery and I had no energy - but everyone had fun milking fake cows, seeing the actual dairy working and lots of other fun stuff they did, including dinner at Pizza Hut afterward! :)

7 Years and Counting!

My Natalie (Center) just turned 7 years old this weekend! Wow, how time flies. I was just saying to a friend, it seems like she was born a very SHORT time ago! Now look at her with Joelle and friends from her class at Playworld Down Under, where she decided to have her party this year!







She wasn't allowed to have an Ice-Cream cake there, and she's not a big fan of 'cake' so requested chocolate chip and poppy-seed lemon muffins. (We had ice-cream at home with family Sat night! Yummy!)












Family watching the kids and having fun chatting. I SO wanted to go climb around the thing with the kiddos, but cuz of my recent shoulder surgery, I'm not allowed to climb around like a monkey! :(











Natalie's gotten big enough, it was time for her to get a new, bigger bike. She LOVED it very much and they had fun riding together this afternoon!











Sabbath we went to the Michaels in Tellico Plains to their Church Plant, for Doreen and Larry to put on a musical church service with an organ, marimba and singing. It was VERY nice. After the service we headed back to the Michael's for lunch. Before we left, we swapped a Chicken that grew up to be a rooster they had given us earlier. (Too noisy in a subdivision neighborhood) and talked us into taking a couple of quail as well. Cute little things! Only, one of our chickens pecked one of the quail to death. So we'll have to keep 'em separate! How sad sin is! :(







On the way back home from the Michaels we were blessed to see this beautiful rainbow! Very, VERY beautiful!

What a FANTASTIC birthday weekend!!!

3rd Grade Play

On a Sabbath, recently, Joelle's 3rd grade class did the children's story at church. The put on a little play about the life of Daniel. They all did so well. Joelle was picked to be King Darius. She brought her lines home and we ran through them over and over so she could do them well. All the kids did great! So cute and great memories!

Surgery Details & Recovery OR SLAP Tear Fixed!

Oct 6 at 10a I had surgery to repair the torn cartilage in my right shoulder from a fall earlier in the year at work. Here I am being wheeled out of the hospital to the vehicle - obviously all bright eyed and bushy tailed! :) Making sure to bring my bag that has my footies in it I had to wear to surgery! Actually, the surgical table was very nice. I walked into the room and when I laid down on the table it was all toasty warm! Ahhhh! :)









This is what the Doctor saw when he first got inside. Where the bottom arrow is you can see the torn cartilage - it's kinda an upside down 'V.'










Here you can see the tear fixed, well at least you can see where the nice bow is he left all tied up in my arm! :)











Here's about 3 days post op with the dressing still over the surgical site. I was supposed to see him then, get the dressing removed and stitches pulled, but he came down with the flu. So I didn't see him for another 3 days! Boy that thing was getting itchy.






You can see two of the three sites he used to go into my shoulder laprascopically (don't think I spelled that correctly) to repair the damage. Love the design drawn on the top and the funky skin below the stitches where the tape from the dressing was. The front cut had 3 stitches and the side and back only had two. This is one week post op.





Here's the 'scars' almost 3 weeks post op. Thinking about getting a "Bronco" logo tattoo to cover it! **GRIN**













Here's the sling and pillow I had to wear for one week at all times and then to bed! What an uncomfortable thing! :)

















Of course my precious girls wanted to try it on! Awwww - Joelle!
















and Natalie giving it a go! :)

Cinderella at the Tivoli Theater

The Tivoli Theater in Downtown had a local group put on the story of Cinderella. One of my father-in-law's voice students, Lisa, was the 'backup' for the Fairy Godmother and her son, Tyler, was in it as well. So Larry got us tickets!












Just had to take this pic of my Pumpkin standing next to a pumpkin.











The girls LOVED the story and it was fun to see them react to the different scenes! A great experience!

Adventurer Leadership Weekend

The weekend after my reunion, I got to spend at Camp Cohutta Springs for an Adventurer Leadership weekend with my 'fellow' Adventurer Leaders at the Ooltewah SDA church. Here's a pic of me and Dale, the Busy Bee Counselor.








I slept there Friday night instead of driving the hour home and then back Sabbath AM. I was in cabin 8A. A nice place to sleep!













Of course, I always love camp/cafeteria food! Yummy!












We also learned some good ideas for our Adventurer clubs and families to help us all learn how to be better Christians. It was a weekend of LOTS of meetings, tons of information and good fellowship!!!