This is just a cropped sample from
MelodyJoy's recent 3-year-old photo shoot.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Happy Father's Day!
All day yesterday, MelodyJoy would come up to me and exclaim, "Happy Father's Day!" It was pretty cool, because it really seemed to be just another way for her to say "I love you, Daddy."
Yesterday morning, some guys came to clean our roof . . . somewhere between their arrival and my handing them a check for $508, I was standing in the street chatting with them. Melody came to the curb and said, "Can I come to you, Daddy?"
I said, "Tell you what, stay there and I'll come to you, okay?"
She responded, "That's a great idea, Daddy!"
Saturday, June 28, 2008
11 Days Later
The length of time between posts is often a good indicator of whether or not my life is out of control. In this case, as you can see, it's been eleven days since my last "real" post on the blog. Welcome to the asylum. We got back from Oregon on Tuesday night late and at midnight I was in Meijer restocking our refrigerator. By 8:00 Wednesday I was in the office and by the end of the day, my vacation was long forgotten and I was in need of another!
Last Friday and Saturday were TUFW's first summer orientation for this year. Thanks to some good work by my new staff, and the cooperation of others on campus, the event came off very well. Sometimes it was by the skin of our teeth but we problem-solved and stayed on our toes and it all worked out. None of us had ever done summer orientation on this campus before. One very positive thing was that we only had three "no shows" from amongst all those who signed up for registration.
Right on the heels of orientation in a feat of outstandingly bad planning, our annual Summer Honors College started on Sunday. Under any circumstances, that would have been questionable planning but it was made all the worse by the fact that--with a complete restructuring of TUFW's admissions office--the lead responsibility for both events fell on one person, whereas we originally had it split between two staffers plus someone from another department on campus.
Our theme was . . .
We weren't particularly thoughtful in selecting the theme, though I think it was a great one . . . I just went on the Church Art Works web site and looked for a t-shirt design that we liked and, voila, we had a new theme for the week.
Forty-four high schoolers from around the US (and even an MK from Nigeria) came to TUFW to take one of four classes. They were, generally speaking and overwhelmingly, a great bunch of kids. Even though the Summer Honors College program is a ton of work, having seen it in action from start-to-finish this week, I am convinced it is a great way to introduce kids to the university. As with the orientation event before it, the entire admissions counseling staff came through with flying colors to keep everything going smoothly.
Here is a video that one of our student workers made of the week. The highlight of the video is at the 4:17 mark:
Another aspect of this week was that Pam, one of Jeannette's friends from Klamath Falls (now living in Missouri), came to Fort Wayne to bring her daughter to Summer Honors College. Robin enjoyed her writing class and her brother, Brian, one of Jameson's old friends spent the week with us. Pam and her mother spent much of each day with Jeannette at our house.
On Tuesday evening, I took Jameson and Brian with me to the Fort Wayne Wizards baseball game. Brian went enthusiastically; Jameson reluctantly. We spent much money on snacks. I had to be there to present TUFW's "Teacher of the Month" award. Jameson documented the event for posterity. As you can see, Dinger was excited about the whole thing. He's pointing at a section of the crowd where the teacher's former students were cheering for her . . .
Lest you think this was a particularly impressive event for me to be involved with, you should take a look at that evening's crowd, as seen here . . .
After the third inning, Jameson, Brian and I moved from our seats in the ninth row right down to the front row behind the dugout . . .
. . . so we had pretty outstanding seats for most of the game. And, believe it or not, Jameson actually watched the entire game. One final handful of Mike & Ike candy got him through the last inning. I ended up talking with the father of one of the Wizards' pitchers, Jeremy McBride, for the last two innings and that was a lot of fun. He had driven up from Oklahoma City for the week and his son had started that night's game.
Back to Summer Honors College . . . SHC concluded last night with a banquet of sorts and most of the students' parents were there. It was a very nice end to the week. I sat with three students and it was cool at the end to hear one of my favorite girls say, with tears in her eyes, "I don't want to leave!"
From SHC, I went straight to another Wizards game. Last night was Taylor alumni night and so there were a number of Taylor and TUFW alumni and employees there. The Wizards blew the Dayton Dragons out but I stayed to the bitter end so that [a] I could chat with Jeremy McBride's dad again for an inning or so and [b] I could see the performers "Quick Change" do their act. You might remember them from that generally awful show, America's Got Talent . . .
Well, after the game, they came out to home plate and they did an act very similar to what you saw on TV, including the finale where he just throws glitter up in the air over her and when it settles, she's in a new outfit, but it was all the more impressive given the fact that they were doing it outdoors with an audience sitting at all angles. And, like the television studio audience, we gave them a standing ovation, too.
As you might gather, I basically did not see my family this week, but to give you an update, Jameson had all four wisdom teeth removed yesterday. These photos testify to the fact that he did not want his picture taken, but I wrestled him to the ground and got a photo . . .
As you can see, he's actually doing quite well. [Update on 6/29 - Not doing quite so well any longer . . . Jamey's pretty sore and grumpy now. He stayed in the house all day today and his face is a little more swollen. Still, I think he's doing better than Jordan did.]
In other family news, Phillip's glasses broke last week and so Jeannette made a trip to Sam's Club (that's what happens when you don't have vision insurance anymore) and these are the results . . .
Tonight, it's off to see the neighborhood fireworks show with friends. We've spoken with Jordan frequently in Oregon and it sounds like he's doing just fine. It'll be good to have him home next Friday. I've noticed that the house is both more peaceful and more boring in his absence.
Last Friday and Saturday were TUFW's first summer orientation for this year. Thanks to some good work by my new staff, and the cooperation of others on campus, the event came off very well. Sometimes it was by the skin of our teeth but we problem-solved and stayed on our toes and it all worked out. None of us had ever done summer orientation on this campus before. One very positive thing was that we only had three "no shows" from amongst all those who signed up for registration.
Right on the heels of orientation in a feat of outstandingly bad planning, our annual Summer Honors College started on Sunday. Under any circumstances, that would have been questionable planning but it was made all the worse by the fact that--with a complete restructuring of TUFW's admissions office--the lead responsibility for both events fell on one person, whereas we originally had it split between two staffers plus someone from another department on campus.
Our theme was . . .
We weren't particularly thoughtful in selecting the theme, though I think it was a great one . . . I just went on the Church Art Works web site and looked for a t-shirt design that we liked and, voila, we had a new theme for the week.Forty-four high schoolers from around the US (and even an MK from Nigeria) came to TUFW to take one of four classes. They were, generally speaking and overwhelmingly, a great bunch of kids. Even though the Summer Honors College program is a ton of work, having seen it in action from start-to-finish this week, I am convinced it is a great way to introduce kids to the university. As with the orientation event before it, the entire admissions counseling staff came through with flying colors to keep everything going smoothly.
Here is a video that one of our student workers made of the week. The highlight of the video is at the 4:17 mark:
Another aspect of this week was that Pam, one of Jeannette's friends from Klamath Falls (now living in Missouri), came to Fort Wayne to bring her daughter to Summer Honors College. Robin enjoyed her writing class and her brother, Brian, one of Jameson's old friends spent the week with us. Pam and her mother spent much of each day with Jeannette at our house.
On Tuesday evening, I took Jameson and Brian with me to the Fort Wayne Wizards baseball game. Brian went enthusiastically; Jameson reluctantly. We spent much money on snacks. I had to be there to present TUFW's "Teacher of the Month" award. Jameson documented the event for posterity. As you can see, Dinger was excited about the whole thing. He's pointing at a section of the crowd where the teacher's former students were cheering for her . . .
Lest you think this was a particularly impressive event for me to be involved with, you should take a look at that evening's crowd, as seen here . . .
After the third inning, Jameson, Brian and I moved from our seats in the ninth row right down to the front row behind the dugout . . .
. . . so we had pretty outstanding seats for most of the game. And, believe it or not, Jameson actually watched the entire game. One final handful of Mike & Ike candy got him through the last inning. I ended up talking with the father of one of the Wizards' pitchers, Jeremy McBride, for the last two innings and that was a lot of fun. He had driven up from Oklahoma City for the week and his son had started that night's game.Back to Summer Honors College . . . SHC concluded last night with a banquet of sorts and most of the students' parents were there. It was a very nice end to the week. I sat with three students and it was cool at the end to hear one of my favorite girls say, with tears in her eyes, "I don't want to leave!"
From SHC, I went straight to another Wizards game. Last night was Taylor alumni night and so there were a number of Taylor and TUFW alumni and employees there. The Wizards blew the Dayton Dragons out but I stayed to the bitter end so that [a] I could chat with Jeremy McBride's dad again for an inning or so and [b] I could see the performers "Quick Change" do their act. You might remember them from that generally awful show, America's Got Talent . . .
Well, after the game, they came out to home plate and they did an act very similar to what you saw on TV, including the finale where he just throws glitter up in the air over her and when it settles, she's in a new outfit, but it was all the more impressive given the fact that they were doing it outdoors with an audience sitting at all angles. And, like the television studio audience, we gave them a standing ovation, too.
As you might gather, I basically did not see my family this week, but to give you an update, Jameson had all four wisdom teeth removed yesterday. These photos testify to the fact that he did not want his picture taken, but I wrestled him to the ground and got a photo . . .
As you can see, he's actually doing quite well. [Update on 6/29 - Not doing quite so well any longer . . . Jamey's pretty sore and grumpy now. He stayed in the house all day today and his face is a little more swollen. Still, I think he's doing better than Jordan did.]In other family news, Phillip's glasses broke last week and so Jeannette made a trip to Sam's Club (that's what happens when you don't have vision insurance anymore) and these are the results . . .
Tonight, it's off to see the neighborhood fireworks show with friends. We've spoken with Jordan frequently in Oregon and it sounds like he's doing just fine. It'll be good to have him home next Friday. I've noticed that the house is both more peaceful and more boring in his absence.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Quote of the Week
“The problem with Christian culture is we think of love as a commodity. We use it like money... This was the thing that had smelled so rotten all those years. I used love like money. The church used love like money. With love, we withheld affirmation from the people who did not agree with us, but we lavishly financed the ones who did. I became convicted about these things, so much so that I had some trouble getting to sleep. It was clear that I was to love everybody, be delighted at everybody's existence, and I had fallen miles short of God's aim... I repented. I told God I was sorry. I replaced economic metaphor, in my mind, with something different, a free gift metaphor or a magnet metaphor. That is, instead of withholding love to change somebody, I poured it on, lavishly. I hoped that love would work like a magnet, pulling people from the mire and toward healing. I knew this was the way God loved me. God had never withheld love to teach me a lesson..."(Sorry for the lack of posts lately . . . simply an indicator of how nuts life is right now for me. Feel free to keep me in your prayers.)
Monday, June 16, 2008
Travelogue 10
This weekend was our last in Oregon, and it was nice that our trip coincided with Michelle Zarfas' wedding (more on that later, perhaps) and Father's Day. We spent almost all of Saturday and Sunday with my parents, my sister and her husband.
Jameson and I were messing around with the camera . . .
I pulled out several of the myriad of family scrapbooks that Dad has put together and we flipped through them for a little while, including ones that covered the years just before and after I was born and a couple of big trips to the East that we took after I was out of college . . .
Jameson and I were messing around with the camera . . .
I pulled out several of the myriad of family scrapbooks that Dad has put together and we flipped through them for a little while, including ones that covered the years just before and after I was born and a couple of big trips to the East that we took after I was out of college . . .
Happy Father's Day!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Travelogue 9
On Friday afternoon, I went to the a public water park in Corvallis with Jeannette, her two sisters-in-law, Jameson, Phillip and Melody and three of their cousins. I enjoyed playing with our new waterproof camera . . .
MelodyJoy got a chance to hold her second cousin, Tristan . . .
And here are all the cousins (minus the two oldest ones, who were at work) . . .
MelodyJoy got a chance to hold her second cousin, Tristan . . .
And here are all the cousins (minus the two oldest ones, who were at work) . . .
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Travelogue 8
Thursday, while Jordan continued to work on building the fence for Jeannette's mother, the rest of us decided to take off after lunch for a quick trip to the Oregon coast. Leaving from Albany, it made sense to head for Newport. I have to confess that I've never really liked Newport but as soon as we entered town, we headed for the first beach we saw, "Historic Nye Beach."
In typical Oregon fashion, the beach was chilly. More than chilly, it was WINDY. Jeannette thought it was the strongest wind she'd ever experienced.
We got there near low tide, which meant there were tidal pools to explore, teeming with sea creatures.
I didn't get a picture of it, but we saw rocks where starfish were literally stacked on top of each other and we saw another starfish in the midst of consuming (or regurgitating) some sort of hardshelled creature.
After some clam chowder and before we went back to Albany, we drove up to the Yaquina Lighthouse (I hope I spelled that right). I believe this is Oregon's second tallest and third oldest lighthouse. We got there right at 4:00 and they stop allowing people into the lighthouse at 4:00, which on the one hand was a bummer but, on the other hand, probably kept me from having a heart attack walking up all those steep stairs.
The rocks nearby were completely covered with all sorts of sea birds and the view was awesome. Unfortunately, the wind was so strong that we couldn't stand to stay out there for too long.
Coming home, though, our friendly law enforcement officers in Philomath managed to ruin my day with a speed trap. After driving right at the speed limit for over an hour (think "$4.05 gas"), I missed seeing the 25 MPH speed sign as we entered the town. And the cop showed us no mercy, writing a $175 ticket. It's been years since I got pulled over but I've never had a policeman write a ticket for the speed they say they clocked you at, but this guy did. Welcome to Oregon, Tourist.
In typical Oregon fashion, the beach was chilly. More than chilly, it was WINDY. Jeannette thought it was the strongest wind she'd ever experienced.
We got there near low tide, which meant there were tidal pools to explore, teeming with sea creatures.
I didn't get a picture of it, but we saw rocks where starfish were literally stacked on top of each other and we saw another starfish in the midst of consuming (or regurgitating) some sort of hardshelled creature.
After some clam chowder and before we went back to Albany, we drove up to the Yaquina Lighthouse (I hope I spelled that right). I believe this is Oregon's second tallest and third oldest lighthouse. We got there right at 4:00 and they stop allowing people into the lighthouse at 4:00, which on the one hand was a bummer but, on the other hand, probably kept me from having a heart attack walking up all those steep stairs.
The rocks nearby were completely covered with all sorts of sea birds and the view was awesome. Unfortunately, the wind was so strong that we couldn't stand to stay out there for too long.
Coming home, though, our friendly law enforcement officers in Philomath managed to ruin my day with a speed trap. After driving right at the speed limit for over an hour (think "$4.05 gas"), I missed seeing the 25 MPH speed sign as we entered the town. And the cop showed us no mercy, writing a $175 ticket. It's been years since I got pulled over but I've never had a policeman write a ticket for the speed they say they clocked you at, but this guy did. Welcome to Oregon, Tourist.
Travelogue 7
On Tuesday, after we got up and got dressed . . .
. . . we drove to Portland to visit OMSI, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Once again, we didn't do a good job of taking pictures. While the boys went to the Omnimax movie about dinosaurs, Jeannette and I hung out with MelodyJoy . . .
We were told that this Lufengosaurus skelton from Southern China is the largest complete dinosaur fossil in existence . . .
All in all, though, the highlight of our trip was probably the stop at Fuddruckers for burgers on the way home!
. . . we drove to Portland to visit OMSI, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Once again, we didn't do a good job of taking pictures. While the boys went to the Omnimax movie about dinosaurs, Jeannette and I hung out with MelodyJoy . . .
We were told that this Lufengosaurus skelton from Southern China is the largest complete dinosaur fossil in existence . . .
All in all, though, the highlight of our trip was probably the stop at Fuddruckers for burgers on the way home!
Travelogue 6
On Monday this week, while Jordan began work building a fence for his grandmother in Albany, I took Phillip to Corban College for a campus visit. He and Jordan both visited Corban last summer before our 
move but we thought it might be worthwhile for Phillip to see it again because their computer science major might be an option for him.As an alumnus, I was impressed with how nice the campus looks. A lot of the changes are substantive--new dorms, new chapel, etc.--but a lot are more cosmetic . . . a new paint job, stone facades, nice landscaping. That's not to say that the cosmetic items aren't a lot of work or don't cost anything, but rather that the smaller things can add up to make a strong first impression for a campus.
Phillip and I met with Bryce Bernard to learn more about the computer science program and I appreciated Bryce's honesty in spelling it out for us. Afterwards, I told Phillip that I really didn't think it was the
right program for him--it's really more of a business major with a computer information systems emphasis--and he agreed but still thinks it may be a possibility for him and he wanted to get the full campus tour. Next Monday, I plan to take both Jordan and Phillip to check out George Fox University. When you live 2000 miles away, you have to take advantage of opportunities to do things like this!This was my first visit to Corban since they built the long-awaited clock tower. I was never certain that a clock tower
was a real necessity but it does look nice and we were able to find the bricks that have my folks' names on them. I was also pleased to see that they've hung a new sign outside of the reference section of the library with Dad's name on it.
Travelogue 5
We have not done a good job at all of taking pictures of people on this trip. Maybe we'll get better before all is said and done. Here are a few from our time in Klamath Falls.
Jordan with "his" class from Hosanna, at Wingers for lunch . . .
Jameson and his friend Joey . . .
MelodyJoy and Sophie . . .
Jordan with "his" class from Hosanna, at Wingers for lunch . . .
Jameson and his friend Joey . . .
MelodyJoy and Sophie . . .
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