Scripture

For the last 6 months, wherever you go in our house, you will run into scripture. God's word is what has kept us sane, strong and it's the source of our hope. We've read the word, prayed the word, and believed the word. God's word was true yesterday and it's true today. Thank you Lord!

Tommy's Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Tommy's 26th birthday at Shogun. The usual cast of characters were present plus Uncle Greg. These video's aren't very good, but you'll get the idea. We all ate LOTS and had a good time. (The "chef" is tossing shrimp at us.)

Baby Shower (Part 2)

We had the shower at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a beautiful day to be sitting out on the deck overlooking the Marina. I've had their cheesecake before, but for some reason this time it was unbelievably awesome. Yum... turtle pecan...

I was able to get a picture of me and my girls.

Amber (holding Michael), Sunny, Elaine (Steve's mom), me and Jena.

Jules, Jena, Dee, Elaine, Sunny, Amber, Lauren, Kim, Krisleen

Now we just wait patiently for the arrival of Olivia Sarang.

Belated Birthdays

While out in LA we celebrated a belated birthday for Chris and Amber's which actually occured while we were there. This was a delicious berry cream cake from Urth Cafe. All organic, all the time!

The birthday duo, Chris & Amber. Michael, Jr. was trying to horn in, but we told him he had to wait until the end of March to celebrate his birthday. We celebrated at Malibu Seafood and then stopped at a park overlooking the ocean to walk off the scallops and cake. It was a beautiful day.

A Shower for Baby Olivia (part 1)

If you've been reading Amber & Jena's blog you know that we all just got back from a quick trip to LA. We hosted a baby shower for Sunny & soon to be baby Olivia. The weather was perfect for an outdoor party.

Every little girl needs a pink Cardinals onesie

and baby leg warmers.

Krisleen, Kim, Dee and Elaine

(I'm sitting there totally oblivious to the fact that my forehead, nose and chest is turning bright red!)

Lauren, Sunny and Jules

baby Michael and Amber.

Can you tell that he thinks he should be hanging out with the guys and not at a baby shower.

Spring is Here!

March 21 marks the beginning of Spring, and according to conventional wisdom, represents a time of new hope.

More important to me, today is Tommy's birthday, and a time of new hope and blessings for him, too. It's been a rough year for him, but he's dispensed with challenges before and he will again.

Early in our marriage, it seemed like a son was born to us every other spring. Chris and Mike were exploring their interests in movie-making and talking very early ...

But we did not achieve "My Three Sons" status until Tommy rode into town ...

He had a way of winning hearts (and trophies) and choosing winning teams:

It's with the hope of a new Spring and the pride of a father that I wish you Happy Birthday, Tommy!

Traveling Companions

On the way to LA last week, I traveled with Jena and Elaine. One of them spent most of her time sleeping. Can you tell which one?

She did spend some time playing Family Feud with her grandma-in-law.

Marriage: The Final Frontier

My brain doesn't work per specs, and often blends various parallel lines of thinking together.

For example ...

The other day, some action by Kim once again challenged my logic circuits, and set me to thinking about the wonders and mysteries of married life. At the time, I was busily trying to find a Star Trek DVD. The two thought threads suddenly merged, and set me to pondering how the Star Trek crew would handle the task of marriage counseling. That's a normal question, right? After all, they lived in an advanced era in which alien relationships were a fact of life.

One by one, I considered the possibilities ...

Kirk? He was unmarried and passionate. Once, he kissed Uhura. On another occassion, he fell for an alien life form. And ... he talked! ... like ... this! Granted, he was an insightful leader and much admired across the galaxy, but Kirk would not be an effective marriage counseler.

Spock? He was logical in the extreme. However, he lacked emotion, and who could sit in an office and converse straight-faced with a man with pointed ears? Believe me, I've tried the logical approach in marriage, and it does not work. I don't know why not. Live long and prosper, Spock, but until you develop an emotional attachment to some female species, you're no good to me.

Then it hit me like a dilithium crystal explosion ...

Scotty! Here's a guy who labored selflessly in the bowels of the ship, seemingly patching the engine together when it was almost falling apart. His I'll-see-what-I-can-do-captain-but-I-can't-promise-anything attitude was priceless. Through ingenuity and sheer pluck, Scotty kept the USS Enterprise hurtling through deep space at dizzying speeds, though he struggled mightily keeping the ship's shields at full strength. His gift? Improvisation.

Scotty would make a great marriage counseler.

That solved, I turned to other pressing problems in my world ...

Humor for a Tuesday Morning

DIY Lawn Care

The excitement level of this post is on par with watching grass grow.

Literally.

Through the years, we (and by "we", I mean me) have varied from treating our yard ourselves to having a lawn service perform the honors. By "treating our yard", I mean fertilize with crabgrass preventer in early spring (now), fertilizer with weed control in late spring, and fertilize again in the fall for a final feeding.

I've come to the conclusion that it's far better to do this yourself. I can do it exactly at the best time without waiting (and with the exact amount). It takes about 15 minutes per application.

On the other hand, lawn services today insist on 7-8 treatments, usually do it at the wrong time (because I'm not they're only customer), and bill me incorrectly. To me, it only takes one call to a billing person to spoil any feeling of convenience offered by an external service.

On top of that, some kid usually visits periodically insisting the world will end if a special $100 treatment is not applied immediately to correct some chemical imbalance or halt an attack by a new bug loosened upon American lawns by Malaysian shipping interests (or some such story).

This chore now falls solidly in the category of "I'd rather do it myself". Maybe it traces back to the farming roots of the family. Maybe I'm a control freak. Or frugal.

With that said, application #1 was administered this week. Crabgrass starts to germinate when temperatures achieve 50 degrees, and I hate crabgrass - it even sounds distasteful. Pictures of the front and back yard - post treatment - are shown.

Look closely, and you will not see crabgrass.

Michael is always suggesting ideas for a family motto. I suggest: "At least we have nice lawns". In Latin.

Spring Chickens

When I was growing up, all of the family birthdays, with one exception, were in the second half of the year. The exception being my brother, who always seemed to disrupt my parent's timing.

When I married Kim, her birthday in early January required followup shopping trips just after Christmas shopping. But the rest of her family fit the "late birthday" pattern.

Now it's all different ...

Three sons were all delivered in February/March. Four grandbabies came in January, March, April, and July. The daughters-in-law tend toward the Spring.

Which is all to say ...

Happy Birthday, Amber!

The Economy as a Shield

There seems to be a powerful correlation between economic strength and national safety.

During the Depression of the 30s, America was seen as disabled by the global community, and Nazism and fascism expanded unchecked. It was our factories which fueled the strength we exhibited in WWII. Later, the Iran hostage crisis plagued us during a troubled economy in the late 70's. The Berlin Wall came down in the 80s and we enjoyed peace simply because the world was keenly aware of our overpowering economy.

Peace and prosperity go hand-in-hand. Individual liberty is enhanced by free market principles which level the playing field and defy the buildup of a class-based society.

Which is why we should be intently focused on building the private economy and avoiding any complicity in fattening the public sector. Our safety may depend on it.

Happy Birthday Mike!

Mike was in town to attend a wedding. It happened to be the day after his birthday. We ALL love a party! So....

Delicious turtle icecream cake.

Grandma Callaway, cousin Matt, and a man giving our pizza the eye!

And the rest of the gang!

Happy 30th Mike!

Hike Report

Last weekend, we completed a hike in preparation for longer ones to come. If the idea was to endure hardships to make future walks easier or to build appreciation for a warm homestead, we were totally successful.

Although only 45 minutes north of home, there was a lot more snow on the trail than expected, it was colder, and a dampness in the air was ever-present. Once anything got wet, it stayed that way!

Still, there were interesting things to see, and the woods are always strangely serene when under snow.

Someone should write a poem about that.

Recalling the 70s

[Happy Birthday to son Michael, who barely missed the 70s.]

The 70s, to borrow from Dickens, was the best of times and the worst of times.

It was a low point for the country ... The Vietnam War was a lost cause by this time, Watergate was a three-ring circus, inflation and interest rates were sky high, the Iran hostage crisis was demoralizing, and President Carter officially declared we were suffering from malaise. The guy may have been right, but he didn't need to verbalize it!

If you doubt the darkness of the 70s, consider this: the Cardinal baseball team was 0 for 10 in the decade, though they were in three World Series in the 60's and would be in three more in the 80'. I think the term "bummer" was coined in the 60's, but it truly fit the 70's.

However ...

... on a personal note, it was entirely different.

More good things happened in the 70s than in any decade of my life. I obtained my drivers' license, graduated from high school, successfully navigated through college, raised my commitment level to God, dated and married a cutie named Kim, started a family, acquired my first business suit, landed a good job, bought my first new car, and generally kept moving forward. Most of my basketball career occurred in this decade. The music was good, and my taste in CDs still runs back to the 70s.

So Dickens was right. You can often experience great times in the face of unfavorable circumstances.