Brenna's 2nd Birthday

Tonight we were invited to Brenna Morgan's 2nd birthday party, along with
a crew of other babies here in Klamath County who were
adopted from China in the last year or so.
Brenna's parents, Bob and Tanya, were the first in our circle to adopt.

From left to right: Brenna Morgan (none too thrilled
with the picture-taking process initially), Sophie Lyman, MelodyJoy Muntz,
Mia Dentinger, Maci Hurtado, Kayce Little.
This was our first time meeting Mia, Maci and Kayce.
Mia's and Maci's folks traveled to
China at the same time as our friends, the Mortinsons.
Kayce's older sister, Chelsea, used to work in the admissions office at OIT.

Moms and Daughters.

MelodyJoy in an outfit we brought back from China.

When it was time to go, Sophie gave MJ a goodnight kiss.

Quote of the Week

“Everyone is
someone’s disciple.”

- Antonio Chiareli

Because It's My Blog . . .

In this edition of "Because It's My Blog," I have some more photos of the cutest little girl in Klamath Falls. No, in all of Oregon. Hmmm, perhaps all of the Western United States. Why do I do this? Because it's my blog. And because I know it's what you really want.

MelodyJoy and Mom

Yet Another PR

Jordan ran the 13th Annual Northwest Cross Country Classic race at Lane Community College today. It was a great race day, with temperatures a little on the cool side at race time and a pretty fast course with a couple of little hills thrown in. Some of the runners struggled with the hills, both up and down, so they must have been tougher than they looked from 200 yards away.

It was the biggest field I'd seen Jordan race in. In the open division, there were 184 runners. Jordan finished 112th in a time of 20:22, which was another PR for him but slower than we had all hoped for. I thought he might break 20 minutes today, but on the other hand, he was sick one day this week, as were several others on the team. He finished 2nd for Hosanna, just ahead of John Shaw and about 40 seconds behind Corey Collins.

Great story: Corey ran a really strong race. He was well in front of John and Jordan the whole way. We found out afterwards that he thought he was way behind the two and so he kept running as fast as he could, trying to catch up to them. Well, that wasn't going to happen unless he lapped the field!

This year I've realized that I really enjoy watching Jordan's races. When he first went out for cross country, I thought it had to be the most boring spectator sport ever. What I didn't realize was that on most courses you get to see each runner at least three or four times if you just move around a little and, as Jeannette pointed out yesterday, the races only last 16 to 30 minutes, so it's not like football or baseball, where you may be sitting on the bleachers for two or three hours.

Jordan had a big cheering section today, with all of us in the family plus Grandma and Grandpa Muntz, Grammie Joyce, his cousin Alexia, Aunt Kathy and Uncle Scott, who delivered Jordan to Lane CC on his racing motorcycle this morning.

A Photo That Will Make Jeff's Stomach Hurt

Just down the street from us are a string of brand new homes. One of them has this note on the fence by its driveway. Ouch! This is not something you want to see if you're the owner of Bowers Fencing, to say the least.

My buddy Jeff owns a fence installation business in Illinois. I know he puts similar little plates up on his completed fence jobs and I can imagine what he's thinking when he looks at this picture . . . probably something along the lines of "man, I'm glad it's them and not me." Probably just the thought of something like this happening to his business gives him the start of an ulcer. Of course, this would never happen to Jeff or his crew . . . they have only the most satisfied of customers. Right, Jeff?

Quote of the Week

“I cannot plead innocency of life, especially of my youth, but I am to be judged by a merciful God, who is not willing to see what I have done amiss. And though of myself I have nothing to present to Him but sins and misery, yet I know He looks upon me not as I am of myself, but as I am in my Savior . . . I am therefore full of inexpressible joy, and shall die in peace.”

- John Donne

Be Afraid . . . Be Very Afraid

Sick Day

MelodyJoy developed a fever yesterday so I had to stay home with her this morning while Jeannette taught her pre-school class at Hosanna. As you can see, she thinks she has the know-how to be a big help to me as I try to get my work done. Let it suffice for me to say that she's wrong. But she's still my favorite executive secretary.

The Mazama Mud Run

Today, Jordan ran in the annual Mazama Mud Run, a two-mile race featuring mud bogs and ridiculous behavior, such as sliding face first into gigantic mud puddles in the middle of the race. Jordan finished 11th, though I'm not exactly sure how much it's worth.

His next race is on Saturday in Eugene.

Jeannette Celebrates #39

Jeannette decided to celebrate her 39th birthday over the course of three days this year. Actually, she had little choice in the schedule, since Jordan and I were gone for most of Friday, when her birthday really was.

Yesterday, we drove to Medford to do some shopping and she eagerly spent her birthday money from Mom and Dad, we hit our favorite family restaurant Red Lobster and we went to the airport to greet Dan and Sandi Mortinson as they returned from China with their new daughter, Jenna.

Today, we couldn't let her fix her own birthday dinner so we went to Schlotzky's and she opened her presents there. This photo is of her first ever gift from MelodyJoy, a picture book of children in Chinese orphanages.

PS: If you question whether this really is her 39th birthday, all I can tell you is that's her story and she's stickin' to it.

XC Update

Jordan had two races this week and both gave him some trouble. The first was on Tuesday in Medford at the Crusader Invitational, with a whole bunch of 1A, 2A and 3A teams.

The Bear Creek Park course is a fast one but temps were close to 100 degrees and Jordan didn't do a good job of getting hydrated before the race. (Famous last words: "I'm saving my Gatorade for afterwards.") About halfway through the race, it was clear that he was laboring. He still managed to record a PR of 20:43 but he was well behind his teammates. He could have done at least a little better if he simply had known the course better, since he came around the final bend and saw the finish line when he thought there was still a fair amount of race left to run. He sprinted the last 150 meters at a pretty quick pace. Last year, he ran 24:10 on the same course.

Yesterday, some of the team traveled to Coos Bay for the 10,000 meter Prefontaine Memorial. This was a huge open race with over 1000 runners. Jordan finished 160th out of 571 male runners in a time of 43:47. I think this means he averaged 7:03 per mile. Interestingly, he outran all but thirteen of the 365 women in the race.

Even though the weather was cool, Jordan again messed up on his hydration and after the race he was pretty sick with heat exhaustion. As he put it, he "puked all over the BiMart restroom." It was Lucky Saturday at BiMart, I guess. His coach says he's now known as the BiMart Annihilater. After hours on the bus eating only saltine crackers and ice chips coming home, I think he's learned his lesson now.

His next race in Tuesday: The Mazama Mud Run. I'm hoping for dry weather and shoes that don't get wrecked.

Quote of the Week

“A person can walk into any organization and immediately discern if the leader is projecting shadow or light. Light is hope, freedom and joy which spring from the leader’s inner life. Despair, control and uptightness are shadows that can also spring from that same inner place. When leaders are out of touch with their inner life, the shadow side unconsciously increases its power.”

- Parker Palmer

High School Crashers

Every fall, the Oregon University System admissions staffs gather for a half day of training before hitting the road to recruit students. We do something that is quite unusual in Oregon, in that the seven universities actually travel together from high school to high school around much of the state, presenting the value of public higher education and "selling" our individual campuses.

Last year, our OIT staff closed the program with a skit based on the reality shows Tommy Lee Goes to College and The Simple Life with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. I played Tommy Lee while Marleigh Luster was Nicole and we introduced Trevor Oswald in his debut starring role as Paris Hilton, mini skirt and all.

Yesterday, we all met on the campus of Southern Oregon University for the training and the OIT staff closed things out with a new skit based on the movie, The Wedding Crashers.


Don't worry, I didn't sing. John Duarte and I played "tour crashers" joining the OUS group to look for "little valedictorians and salutatorians all around the state" who are just waiting to fall in love with a college.


Angela, as Moonbeam from the University of Oregon, is driving the OUS van to our school visit while Marleigh, as MaryBeth from Western Oregon, asks why the van smells like stale cigarettes and cheap gin. We learned that the OUS van is never to be referred to as "The Party Van."


Periodically, Brandy would call time out to point out the error of our ways. Along the way, we learned that PSU has drive-by shootings after every class, OSU has the state's best student-to-tavern ratio, the University of Oregon's slogan is "Of is Our Middle Name," and that appropriate van discussion does not include asking your team leader if she is pregnant, even if she is.

Jumpin' Jordan

Melody's First Merry-Go-Round

The Tulelake Fair

We had a very nice time at the Tulelake Fair, just across the border into California today. The Tulelake Fair is neat in that admission is free and no alcohol is served. This year, for the first time ever, we just bought the boys those "unlimited ride" bracelets and turned them loose in the carnival. They had a blast and were very adventure in the rides they chose. While it's hard to think of $22 as a bargain, I think we got our money's worth on them.

MelodyJoy also got to experience her first merry-go-round ride, first with Jordan and then with Phillip and Jameson. She thoroughly enjoyed it and I may try to get some video of her ride up here soon.

Just before we left, Jordan plunked down five bucks to try the bungie trampoline, or whatever you call it. He had a great time jumping and turning flips, though he had to have gotten a mighty bad wedgie!

It was nice to go out and do something as a family when we know that schoolwork and my own travel season are just about to kick into high gear.

Jordan's Lakeview Meet

Saturday was the Lakeview Invitational, held at 6200 foot elevation at the Cottonwood Meadows camp area west of Lakeview. Jordan and the rest of the Hosanna team did very well. Every returning team member recorded a personal best in this meet.

Jordan finished 9th, just a step behind teammate John Shaw. They're enjoying a great rivalry! He might have tied or edged him out but Jordan broke stride just three or four steps from the finish line. His offical time was 22 minutes but I was timing the race myself with a stopwatch and we're pretty sure that they wrote his time (and John's) down wrong. I think he ran a 21:54, with John just a second quicker.

Quote of the Week

“Focus groups are to research what bumper stickers are to philosophy.”

Kevin Clancy, Chairman and CEO
Copernicus Marketing Consulting

First Race of the Year

After a couple months of training, Jordan had the first cross country race of his sophomore year this afternoon, the Basin Ice Melter . It was a 4K race this year, held in Moore Park, which has some steep terrain. All five local high schools ran. Early in the race, I was disappointed that he was well back in the pack and there were two other Hosanna runners in front of him.


The photo above was taken as they descended one steep, dusty path and turned the corner back up the hill. By this point in the race, he had moved up a little and was second for Hosanna. When they came back down the hill, he was still in a similar position but then in the final third of a mile or so, he picked up the pace and ended up crossing the finish line half a step ahead of John Shaw, who is a senior on Hosanna's team, and finished in 23rd place.


I think his real time was probably 17.03 minutes (I was slow on clicking the shutter) and it was a good hard run. Here's hoping that it bodes well for the rest of the season! His next race is Saturday near Lakeview.

Melody Expresses Herself

Yesterday morning, I was taking care of MelodyJoy while Jeannette worked. At one point, I tossed her in the air a couple of times, which she loves, then I put her down and said, "I need to fix lunch now." She immediately burst into the heartfelt demonstration shown above. After about 15 seconds, I realized I needed to get this on video for posterity's sake.

Please note three things:

First, the band-aid on her head has nothing to do with her tears. It's just there to keep her from scratching at a mosquito bite (now a month old).

Second, when I stopped taping, she continued crying for another five seconds or so, then quit instantly when I started playing the video back to her.

Third, at about the 42-second mark of this clip, if you watch very carefully, you can see MJ's famous "shooting tears," that just pop straight out of her eyes. I swear that I've seen these shoot out a good 1/2 inch from her face before falling onto her chubby cheeks.

No toddlers were harmed in the making of this video.

The MelodyJoy Hotline

Whenever Jeannette gets on the phone, MelodyJoy likes to grab her own phone as well.


I videotaped this yesterday while Jeannette was chatting with MJ's Aunt Laura. If you like the little video below, there's another cute one at www.youtube.com. Just type muntzp into the search box and scroll down to "Melody Talks It Up 1".

Being Kind

On Sunday, Pastor Robin Maxson gave a very interesting sermon based on some of the research that he's doing for his new book on singleness and marriage. He said that a worldwide survey of men and women found that both sexes rated "kindness" as the second most important attribute in a mate. (Men rated "vitality" as #1 while women listed "security" at the top.)

He also told about a study on divorce rates that found that there was only one group that had significantly lower divorce rates than all the rest: Orthodox Jews. The study's author interviewed a number of Orthodox leaders about relationships and discovered one common thread as they described what makes for a good marriage: Kindness. He said that they have a saying along the lines of "when two kind people marry, nothing can separate them."

And, of course, one of the Fruit of the Spirit is kindness.

It was Pastor Robin's advice that you should look first and foremost for a kind person to marry and that you can often tell if he is kind by how he treats children and old people, those who may not be able to repay kindness in the same measure.

Thinking on my own kids, it seemed to me that this was good advice. And, on reflection, I realized that if Jeannette had followed this advice, she never would have married me. I'm not a particularly kind person generally. I even thought about how I teased Jeannette leading up to the evening when I popped the question back in 1983. It was funny, and has made for good stories, but probably wasn't especially kind.

On the flip side, I've been fortunate that I married a kind person. Jeannette is very compassionate and caring as a rule, putting others before herself (sometimes to a fault). Guess I got lucky. Hope my kids get lucky, too . . . and I hope their spouses get lucky, as well.

My Letter to the Editor

OK, in my last posting, I wrote about reading In Touch Weekly. Just to prove that I do have higher standards normally than reading bottom-of-the-barrel entertainment news, I thought I'd post here a letter I had published in last week's Chronicle of Higher Education. It's no big deal but, at the same time, it's nice to have someone judge that something you wrote was worth repeating in print. Here is the letter, as it appeared in the Chronicle. As the ellipses demonstrate, as usual I was too wordy and required a bit of editing . . .




http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i02/02b01702.htm

From the issue dated September 1, 2006

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Saying Yes to Several Colleges

To the Editor:

Thanks for the great bunch of articles in the special Admissions & Student Aid section in the July 7 issue. ... "When College Advising Must Cross Cultural Gaps" was particularly informative. I applaud Carolyn Alessio for her work and for her concern for students. One comment she made in passing, however, is troubling.

Alessio wrote: "One day my student Jimmy told me he was removing his application from consideration at an Ivy League university. Startled, I asked why. He said the state university that had accepted him needed a deposit of $100. I pointed out that many students put down more than one deposit, and encouraged him to seek a fee waiver."

She was right to push him to contact the university to ask about alternatives to the deposit. However, it was wrong to suggest that it is acceptable to submit a tuition deposit to more than one college. The National Association for College Admission Counseling's Statement of Principles of Good Practice includes the admonition that high-school counselors should "counsel students not to submit more than one admission deposit, which indicates their intent to enroll in more than one institution." ...

What's the harm in saving a place for yourself at two different colleges until you're certain you've made the best choice, or wrung the last financial-aid dollar out of one of them? There are potentially two victims. The first and most obvious is the jilted college, which has made plans based on the expectation that the student who has sent in a deposit will enroll. Perhaps more important, ... the student may lead the college into turning away another applicant who really did want to enroll.

It's a loss for both the deserted institution and the thwarted applicant, and a selfish choice on the part of the student who sent deposits to more than one college. ...

Palmer Muntz
President
Pacific Northwest Association
for College Admission Counseling
National Association
for College Admission Counseling
Alexandria, Va.

Director of Admissions
Oregon Institute of Technology
Klamath Falls, Ore.

http://chronicle.com
Section: The Chronicle Review
Volume 53, Issue 2, Page B17

---

Copyright © 2006 by The Chronicle of Higher Education

True Confessions

I have three confessions to make . . .

1. I was in Les Schwab buying new tires late on Friday and there was a past issue of In Touch Weekly magazine there that someone had left behind. I took it.

2. I took it, at least in part, because Jessica Simpson was on the cover. So sue me.

3. I actually read most of the magazine.

OH MY GOODNESS! What an incredibly bad publication! Not only is the content amazingly lame, the writing is worse than what one would find in a junior high school newspaper. Among the critical pieces of news I found were . . .

Jessica Simpson recently wore the same black dress that she wore in 2000, but they point out that she “looks even better!” now. (Exclamation point included. In Touch uses a lot of exclamation points.)

Angelina Jolie’s ex-husband rides a motorcycle and so does Brad Pitt! Can you believe it?

Madonna insists that her concert clothes must be washed in vodka, because it’s good for getting sweat stains out.

Rob Schneider, star of such film classics as Deuce Bigalow, European Gigolo and The Hot Chick, said, “I, Rob Schneider, a half-Jew, pledge from this day forward to never work with Mel Gibson.” (Yeah, like that’s gonna really impede Gibson’s future projects. I can see Mel asking, “Rob who? Is that the kid who was on Silver Spoons? Oh, that's Ricky Schroeder. Whatever. Pass me some Evian with lemon. Make it a double.")

There was also a side-by-side comparison of Britney Spears' husband Kevin Federline (K-Fed) and her former boyfriend Justin Timberlake which included grainy photos with breathless captions such as:

• “Kevin’s been known to bowl.”
• “Justin’s also been seen bowling.”
• “Kevin’s cute in a white skullcap.”
• “Justin has worn one, too.”

In Touch's subscribers must read at the third grade level. Yeah, it was time well spent . . . not. And confession is good for the soul.

Primping

And so it begins . . .

Frisbee Golf, Muntz Edition

Since playing frisbee golf with my staff from Oregon Tech was such a hit last Monday and because Angela Stewart said they really enjoy playing as a family even though Aubrey is very young, we decided to go to Crest Park today to play a round. Sadly, this appears to be the closest I'm going to get to a family vacation this summer. Maybe we'll squeeze in another family outing before the Labor Day Weekend is over.

Anyway . . . everyone knows how much Phillip and Jameson despise any sort of physical competition, so it was fun to get everyone together and all be able to do something like this together. Jamey's good buddy, Colby Mueller, came along, too.

It was a beautiful day for being out. Maybe a bit warm but Jeannette brought popsicles for all of us to eat in the shade after the seventh hole.

I would say that Jeannette played with a handicap, but some might be offended that I would characterize my daughter in such terms. Actually, the handicap wasn't so much that she had to throw while carrying MelodyJoy on her hip as it was that she was using a pink Disney Princess flying disc . . . not exactly a competition-level piece of equipment. But, then again, when the best frisbee in play is a giveaway from Biola University, it's clear that no one had an particularly big advantage.

For much of the course, our drives consisted largely of yelling, "Good roll!" though I did have the misfortune of having the wind get under one of my throws, ending with my disc landing out of bounds . . . beyond the barbed wire fence in territory that Darci and Trevor explored on Monday . . . their example helped me recover well to record just a four or five on that hole.

After we finished the nine holes, we spent a little time on the playground there and Jordan and Phillip took Melody down her first "big" outdoor slide . . . big meaning it was taller than five feet . . . nowadays it's unusual to find anything very high, I assume because everyone's afraid of getting sued if some kid slips off the top step. Melody was holding her breath as they came zipping down the slide.

She also got her second exposure to swings and seemed to enjoy them a lot more than she did last week. Since I know there is a select audience out there who care about nothing in this blog except pictures of MJ, I'll close with two swingin' photos.