Happy New Year!! So many things run through our minds when we do the whole “new years resolution” thing, and reflect on what the past year has brought to us, and what we “vow” to change for the New Year. Why is that? I think it is because we are a people who are never quiet satisfied with who we are and what we are doing. I am too fat, too thin, too short, spend too much time at work, don’t spend enough time working, don’t spend enough time with family, spend too much time watching TV; and the list goes on and on. Some of us need that critical insight - some need tweaking, some need an overhaul! Our past year has been a BLURR! Our one and only son graduated, was accepted to college, ... read more

As easy as the words came to describe what we were going through when we were preparing to make this trip, I am finding it difficult to find the right ones to fill you in on what life has been like since we have arrived. Not the general life itself, as that is all coming along smoothly; but the real life that is going on here in Africa. A plethora of emotions transcends words. The look on a face can say more than the right string of letters in the right combination, put together with punctuation marks. What can you say about, for example, the little girl in the first picture? She was playing with this piece of red plastic on the way to one of the Bible studies we went to today. She was unconcerned ... read more

All Work ?? For almost two years now I have wondered what it would feel like to walk out the door of the office building where I work and know I did not have to go back. Today, three days into “other employment”, I sit on our front porch wrapped up in a blanket, eating Kashi cereal and watching the dew burn off the grass when the sun’s rays finds it from the shadows like a fire smoking just before it burst into flames. It’s barely 50 degrees, and the calm of the morning was deafening. WOW! …. That pretty much sums it up! A year ago one of the Managing Partners of the company I work with was conducting our yearly evaluations. It came my time to sit and listen to what they had to ... read more

Now that we have the dropping off done, we are under control and ready for the next step. Joshua is settling in his new home for the next 4 - 6 - 8 years …. (Yikes!). As you can see there isn't much space. Anthony, being the handy man that he is, has built some shelving that we are taking down this weekend for the guys to have at least some way of organizing their mess. I was stunned they wouldn't let me color coordinate their clothes or alphabetize their CD's, but maybe this will at least get it off the floor! IMAGINE that! I just hope the guys appreciate it. Our house however, is quiet … quiet and messy … not just messy .. I'd say it was a wreck! But that is fine with ... read more

I was told after the last entry that I should put a tissue rating on these entries … 1 tissue rating means give it a few minutes and your OK, 5 tissue rating means you could be red faced for 30 minutes to an hour or so, 1 box tissue rating means take the rest of the day off. I think the last one was a 1 box rating .. sorry for not letting you know of the rating system up front! Maybe you had some sick time built up you were able to use. This one is probably not but a 1 or 2 tissue rating depending on how many Hallmark cards you have read lately! And I promise, with the exception of just giving you an update on how Joshua is doing, this will ... read more

We were sitting in a room full of couples, moms, dads, and grandparents. The lights down, a power point presentation running and a box of Kleenex in the middle of each table. The speaker was giving an unsuccessful speech to prepare us parents for our children leaving home. The words were coming out of her mouth, I saw the pictures, but they were not of the Microsoft family she had pasted into her presentation. The pictures I saw were of Joshua. Squatting in front of our home in Monterey sipping the water from a puddle on the sidewalk where it had collected when Anthony washed off the sidewalk after mowing the yard. I saw him peeking out of the dryer from the perfect hiding place when he decided to play hide-and-seek without telling me and I ... read more