20:47 - Jordan's XC Kix Off

It's that time of year again . . . the blog will be dominated by cross country news, whether you like it or not. Today was Jordan's first XC race in Indiana. It was a home meet and it was a beautiful day for a run . . . sunny and in the upper 70s with, for Indiana, low humidity.

Race day was not without controversy. Yesterday, Jordan's alarm didn't go off and he missed the team's 6 AM practice. Unfortunately, the day before, the coach had told everyone that missing practice would result in being held out of the race. This was Jordan's first missed practice and he has been one of the most dedicated members of the team. I guess the team rallied to his cause, though and convinced the coach to let him race, apparently in exchange for some extra team wind sprints after practice next week.

Just before the start of the race, the four teams each did a "run out," taking a short jog past the starting line and then huddling up. It was cool to see the Blackhawk guys circle up for a quick prayer.

Jordan didn't get off to a fast start, at least as far as I could tell. I had expected him to be one of the leaders from the beginning but he started well back in the pack.

The course was, of course, rather flat (and kind of boring . . . I imagine that will be the norm this season no matter where the races are held). There was only one little hill . . . more of just an incline. Oh, and a nasty little dip right by the finish line that caught some of the girls by surprise in their race.

As the race wore on, Jordan worked his way up through the pack. There were probably about 30 runners, I'm guessing, and early on he was probably about 20th.

Coming to where the runners neared the final stretch of the race, Jordan ran right by us. He was inspired, no doubt, by my encouragement to "Run hard!" MelodyJoy joined in, her first cheerleading experience:



Jordan did finish well, in 11th place at the end, with a time of 20:47. I asked him if he should have kicked sooner and he said he just didn't have anything left to kick with.

Last year, his first race--the Lakeview Invitational--was 22 minutes flat, though all of his subsequent times were faster than today's. I noted that Lakeview was a mile high but Jordan countered that there wasn't any humidity there. His coach was pleased with today's performance. His next race is Wednesday evening.

Not Melody, But Still Pretty Cute

My financial aid director forwarded this video to me and it was just too cute/cool not to post here.

Quote of the Week

"For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong."

- attributed to H. L. Mencken

A Trip to the Zoo

Today, our new friend Mary took Jeannette and MelodyJoy to the Fort Wayne zoo. It was a perfect day for it, with sunny skies and low humidity. Melody got to feed the Canadian Geese, which were just as big as she is. I'm not sure that they actually qualify as official zoo animals.

She also got to try the merry-go-round, though Jeannette says she was pretty uncertain of the whole thing. Looking at this picture, I wonder if the problem wasn't really the ride itself but rather the fact that she was sitting on a large rodent of some variety.

In honor of Jameson, Mary and Melody took sat astride a very slow--nay, even stationary--tortoise for this picture.

Melody enjoyed the sea lions.

Melody on the Downward Slide

Aunt Laura asked for a video of MelodyJoy on her new slide . . .

Quote of the Week

“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for that day."
- Abraham Lincoln

Drive On, Melody

This isn't really anything special but I know there are some parties in certain parts of the world (e.g., Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington) who are eager for more family stuff, especially about MJ, so here are two little video clips I shot tonight on our back porch.

Prayer Partners from Florida to Illinois to LA

I had a neat experience this week. The faculty arrived on campus as classes start next Monday and on Wednesday morning I was scheduled to address them for a half hour about our enrollment goals. As this was to be my first time in front of the faculty and our chancellor, I was concerned that it go well. Late Tuesday night, it occurred to me that I could ask some of my admissions friends around the country for prayer support by sending an e-mail to the "Christian Fellowship Special Interest Group" (that's the name it was given) listserv of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. I composed a note that read:

It just occurred to me that I should send a quick note to the SIG to ask for some prayer support . . . Wednesday morning at 10:45 Eastern, I'll be making my first presentation to the faculty at Taylor University Fort Wayne . . . sharing with them some very audacious enrollment goals for Fall 2008. I would sure appreciate your prayers if you think of it . . . that I'll articulate things well and that we'll all think and problem solve as a team.

I'm very impressed with those I've met at TUFW so far and the "how can we help?" mindset of most. When it comes to asking faculty to help build enrollment, especially to build enrollment in a significant way, it can sometimes be a touchy matter, especially when you haven't yet had time to build many personal relationships and don't necessarily know who is "friendly" and who is a landmine.

Then I went to bed.

So how did Wednesday morning go? Well, let me just insert here the e-mail that I sent out last night to the listserv:

Just a quick note to follow up on my e-mail from last night. This morning I sat in the faculty meeting, both listening to our chancellor and checking my e-mail. It was very moving to see message after message pop up on my screen from across the nation. Some were brief ("Done") and others were prayers actually typed out on my behalf. Can you imagine how affirmed and supported I felt? After the chancellor finished his two hour "state of the university" talk, it was my turn.

My presentation seemed to go very well. I was extremely relaxed . . . so much so that I rolled right through my time limit and had to be cut off 15 minutes later. I spent almost no time on our big, hairy audacious goals (which may help explain why things went okay) but I felt that I was well-received and that the faculty are at the very least open to doing their part if we will facilitate their efforts and equip them. They're willing to give me a chance, and that may be all you can ask.

Because I didn't get into the numbers much, I think I now need to meet with each department individually regarding their goals, but that may be a blessing in disguise (except when it comes to finding time for all those meetings).

Thank you, friends, for your prayers and support. I definitely felt it and I thank God for a good start to my relationship with these professors.

Big Girl Bed

A couple of days ago, Jeannette decided to experiment with taking the side rail off of MelodyJoy's crib, converting it into a toddler's bed. We really were not sure how this would work but decided to give it a try. The first afternoon, shortly after Jeannette put her down for her nap, Jeannette heard the bedroom door upstairs open and little feet pad out. Using her sternest voice, Jeannette scolded, "MelodyJoy Marie, you get right back in that bed now!" Melody dutifully crawled back into bed and went to sleep.


We've all made a big deal out of how she is sleeping in a "big girl bed" now. She doesn't even get out of it when she cries and fusses in the middle of the night (which she does pretty much every night, wailing for "Mommy!" or "Daddy!" over and over again.

In the morning, she'll get up and play fairly quietly with her toys on the floor of her room until one of us hears her and comes in.

School's In for Autumn

Tomorrow is the first day of school for the boys. Just a half day.

Staff Retreat

Today was my first Enrollment Services staff retreat at TUFW. We traveled about 75 miles to Winchester and the Winchester Inn, a beautiful bed and breakfast. It's the biggest B&B I've ever seen and the rooms are beautiful. In addition, it has an indoor swimming pool, game room, 300 DVDs you can watch, and more.

We met almost all day, starting off with an icebreaker and devotions. For our icebreaker, we did one of my favorite exercises, where each person drew a picture of their family's dining room table from when they were growing up. It's always an interesting way to learn about each other's backgrounds. Below we have Myka and Leo taking their turns . . .


Tonight, we all went out for dinner at a local restaurant, Mrs. Wick's Pies, and then we played a series of volleyball games in the backyard . . . I'm proud to say that my team was undefeated.

Simpsonize Me

Across the Threshold

On Wednesday, August 1, we drove directly from Wisconsin to Fort Wayne and to the bank to get our down payment check and then to the closing on our new house here in Fort Wayne. From there, we immediately headed for Arlington Park so that everyone could see it in person for the first time. Someone had suggested that Jordan needed to carry Jeannette over the threshold. I'm not sure I quite get that but nonetheless . . .



Jameson was pretty excited about seeing the house and he called Colby Mueller in Klamath Falls to tell him about it. He didn't even want to leave the house in order to go get dinner.
The three boys spent the night sleeping on the floor in the master bedroom while the rest of us hit the Marriott Courtyard for a short night's rest before the moving truck arrived on Thursday morning.

Unloading the truck went fairly smoothly and we haven't found too many broken items. Jeannette has the house about two-thirds set up. Some things are still in boxes in the garage while there are other parts of the house that we simply don't have furnishings for yet. We're enjoying the neighborhood (and by "we" I primarily mean everyone else), walking the paths, playing in the swimming pool, having dinner with some neighbors and playing pool at the clubhouse.

A Visit to Great Grandma Vinje

While we were with Jeannette's dad and step-mom in Janesville, we made a one-hour side trip to New Glarus, Wisconsin, home to Mavis Vinje. On the way, Jeannette recounted some of her childhood memories of trips to visit her grandma and Aunt Gail. She has many fond recollections of walking around the little town, going swimming and getting exotic (for her) snacks.

We went to the retirement home where Grandma Vinje lives. Interestingly, it's one of the places where she herself worked many years ago.


Grandma was in good spirits, with the exception of some bitter feelings resulting from that day's pork chop lunch. "I grew up on a farm and I know pork chops and those were not pork chops!"

Our main entertainment during the visit was MelodyJoy, who discovered the Culligan water dispenser. Every 30 seconds or so, she would ask Jeannette or me "Little bit?" while holding her thumb and forefinger very close together. When we would give her permission, she would squeal and run to get some more water.

Fireflies

After a night in Rochester, Minnesota, next to the Mayo Clinic, we headed to Janesville, Wisconsin, last Sunday to spend a couple of days with Jeannette's dad and his wife, Debbie. Our first evening there, the kids had fun chasing down fireflies in the backyard.

Reptilian Morning

While it may not rank high on the list of "must see" destinations on the Travel Channel, the Reptile Gardens in Rapid City were a high priority to our own "Turtle Boy," Jameson. The morning after seeing Mount Rushmore, Jameson, MelodyJoy, Phillip and I made a point of stopping by . . .

As soon as we arrived, we went to the snake show, where a very entertaining young man showed us a number of snakes, including this cobra . . .

From there, we hit the alligator and crocodile demonstration where this same fellow told us all about the creatures and pulled one out of the water, sat on his back and stuck his hand inside the gator's mouth.







There were some enormous snakes and other exotic reptiles on display, as well as mirrors from the New York world's fair and a tic-tac-toe playing chicken who handily defeated Jamey. Truth be told, the animals were in pretty cramped and primitive quarters for the most part. I doubt it would pass muster in most parts of the country, especially the West. Still, we had a good time before we had to rush off for our next destination, Rochester, Minnesota.

Mount Rushmore

From Cody, Wyoming, we headed for Rapid City, South Dakota and Mount Rushmore. It was a full day's drive and we ended up getting to the memorial around 7:00 PM, which gave us just enough time to tour the site and museum, watch a couple of movies about the carvings, listen to the park ranger's talk, and see the presidents lit up while the national anthem played. This was probably my fourth time at Mount Rushmore and I'd been wanting to see it at night. I especially enjoyed how close we were able to get to the statues, standing right underneath them at the base of the mountain.

In the museum, they have a "life size" picture of Lincoln's eye.

Gone But Not Forgotten

To my three or four faithful readers . . . I have not forgotten about this blog . . . I just don't have time right now to make more updates about the move and settling in here. I will catch up sometime soon. Things are going pretty well so far, though!