CHANGE!

Been a serious hiatus here, huh? Life has a way of running with us, and best intentions too often are lost in the rush. I planned to be a regular "poster" here, but guess that plan was somehow unconsciously undermined on the first attempt. Hopefully, I can get back in the habit now.

Some substantial changes in our lives since last I posted. Son graduated high school last June and is now away at university about 5 hours away. Quite a change for our household, but I think we are coping okay. He seems to be enjoying all the new things happening in his life and --as always, thriving in the academia. He is a Mathematics major and has 18 credits for this semester. We "talk" with him fairly frequently via IM; sometimes he's conversant and we can actually learn something; sometimes we get one word answers to our questions and no substantial elaboration on the topics we bring up. He came home last weekend, so was great to physically connect. He said he is most enjoying his Logic class and his beginning Japanese class. He also has Calculus II, Computer Science, and a University Seminar class. He has joined the Chess club and attends a Lutheran Student Fellowship bible study as well. Sounds like he stays as busy as he wants, admits to having lots of homework, but relishes in the new freedoms of being "on his own." We parents are learning to adjust to the "incomplete" feeling around the house. Prayers for all of us with these new roles in our lives are appreciated.

We did enjoy exploring around Bozeman when we took him to college and getting to know the area a bit. Enjoyed a relaxing soaking evening and the historical ambiance at a Hot Springs nearby and also a quick meander through the scenic highlights of Yellowstone National Park when we took him down for Orientation in mid-summer. Fun family getaway time--except missing part of the family for part of it. We are looking forward to heading that way again in October when we have a 4-day weekend from school for teacher convention days. Should be good.

And, beautiful daughter has had a hurricane beginning to her junior year, and is going full force after a few weeks in. She was excited to audition for the Theatre department's first production of the year in mid-August, and thrilled to get a fun role in "Arsenic and Old Lace", and very busy rehearsing every day for four or five weeks, and performed three times last weekend to very enthralled sold-out audiences. The princess performed magically in her role as the quirky and stylish Dr. Einstein, an accomplice to the psychopathic evil brother-baddie. But, more importantly, she had a blast doing so, and was so blessed having extended family come to witness her blazing performances. Thank you both Grandpas, Grandma, brother --coming home from college, 4 aunties, uncle and 5 cousins for supporting her in her artistic passions! She had a breather week this week, enjoying her heavily artistic load of classes this semester (Painting 1, Acting 4, Concert Choir, Shakespeare, Yearbook, U.S. History, and Spanish 1) and then she heads off to Ashland, OR very early Monday morning for a fun-crammed week at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She is very excited; Mom and Dad are wondering what we will do with NO kids in the house for nearly 6 days.

We went to the Open House at the high school this evening, listened to an informative presentation from the Principal, and then traipsed about to her classrooms doing a "Meet & Greet" with her teachers. Most of them we've met before, but a couple were new. Always so nice hearing others "brag" about and compliment your kids. Daughter received several more "kudos" from passersby who recognized her from the play as we wandered the halls tonight, and from a couple teachers as well. Of course, a couple teachers needed to know how the son was doing away at college too. Such a blessing having schools where folks are so personable and truly dedicated to and genuinely concerned about our kids. We've felt blessed through all 14+ years of our "education experience" with our kids in this valley, and this's coming from one who has been employed by same said education system for most of those 14+ years. Thank you, God!

Warm sunny weather this fall so far. We acquired a used canoe this summer and had a chance to take it out a couple times in the early summer --once with the daughter, and once with the son. Busy times never allowed it again until a couple weekends ago when we went out on a pristine lake in the nearby National Park for a couple hours on a Sunday afternoon. So peaceful and relaxing, even if we need quite a bit more practice at it before we become proficient waterway navigators. The warm weather is definitely too warm for my classroom on these sunny September afternoons, but temperature aside, I continue having fun helping out Middle School kids who struggle with reading. A third teacher to work with and a classroom of 6th graders were added to my schedule this year. Amazing the difference one year makes in maturity levels of students at the Middle School age, but change is always good to keep us challenged, yes?

A striking, peaked, crystal-looking plaque elegantly inscribed with her name and a pleasant bonus envelope were the "gifts" bestowed upon the lovely bride during her recent recognition for 15 years of ministering to "seniors" in her office job at the retirement complex. She continues to feel blessed by very positive relationships with both residents and co-workers, and she relishes in keeping everyone there well cared-for.

Okay, so indeed, rambling tonight. I'll cease for now, and plan to post again soon. Remember to enjoy the sunset at the bottom and the game at the top of my blog page, and comment every now and then too--even if brief-- so I know if anyone is ever reading this.

Abundant and genuine blessings to all!

Just A Bit

You remember the song from White Christmas where the four leads (Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney. . . ) are singing on the train on the way to a ski vacation in Vermont and they very harmonically sing, "Snow. . snow. . . snow. . . snow" each in perfect key in their own range? Anyway--that's been the theme song-refrain running through my mind for our past couple days here. While it is not sticking too much because it's borderline cool, it is falling plenty off and on and making everything rather wet. Needless to say, it's been a bit frustrating for the tennis team. The season is two and a half weeks in, and they have been able to have only two practices outside on the courts, and their first competition is this Saturday. Guess they'll do what they can. Son likes when they get to get some actual practice with rackets and balls and nets in; the running and exercises of "strength and conditioning" are not his favorite moments, but he has a good attitude about it all. I hope he has a fun season, despite the somewhat uncooperative weather.

Our precious daughter has been little Miss Social this year--spending last Friday evening at another birthday sleepover of a friend. Think they got more sleep this time, it sounded like, but still had fun. This particular friend doesn't live too far away and she and the princess seem to have quite a bit in common. They are in Acting 2 together this semester and both are writers too; guess they shared some of their stories with each other at the party. What fun to see kids meeting and making friends with a variety of neat people!

We're excited to see Spring Vacation coming up this next week. We plan to head out of town for a few days for a little getaway. Hoping it's a bit warmer and less wintry on the Oregon Coast. Will enjoy the waves and sounds and smells of the sea--even if in sweatshirts and needing to return to a hot tub soak and a mug of hot tea, I guess. Will be good to get away and spend a few free days with the family in "vacation mode." We'll return to town in time for the Passion days services and celebrations at church. "My Girls" will both contribute their angelic voices to the choir anthems during the many services--what a blessing to listen to!

At school, my kids have been reading this book called Loner. It's a 1963 (My--how old!) publication by Ester Wier and was a Newbery Honor book. In it, an orphan boy who has no name finds himself with a sheepherder woman in the mountains of Montana. When the boy and the sheepherder meet, she decides he should have a name, so she gets out her Bible and says for him to randomly open and put his finger down to find a good name. Of course, being as he has just wondered into the life of a shepherd, he opens to the book of Samuel and happens upon the name David. He is given that name, and of course wants to learn all about his namesake from the Bible. Along the way, of course, the story of David and Goliath is mentioned, and alluded to--in fact becomes a significant allusion toward the end of the book. But anyway, I was very surprised--and saddened-- that when I was reading this section with my kids, hardly any of them knew the Bible story of David and Goliath! I didn't physically tally the results, but out of the 12-15 kids I read with in my groups throughout the day, maybe 4, at most 5--knew the story. I was dumbfounded! I guess I expected that even if they were not Sunday School attendees or church-goers, they would at least know that story. I remember even reading it in a "fairy tale" book of giants that my Dad has from his childhood. Anyway, it was an eye-opener, and a good chance to share the story, AND its important truths about God. We've finished the book in most of the classes this week; it is a great book, and most of the kids enjoyed reading it.

So, life drizzles and rushes and sleets onward. End and beginning of the month is a busy time for beautiful bride at her work, so she is looking forward to our getaway quite heartily as well. I know the daughter needs a bit of a break from school too--lots going on this past month. Son will miss a few days of tennis practice, but it is okay. Gets pretty intense as soon as we return with tournaments or matches most every week.

Such a blessing that even though we can "vacation" from our daily routine and witness God's scenery and imagination out in His broad, beautiful world, our God is constant and true, unchanging and dependable. What a comforting miracle He is! Praying your journeys through and remembrances of His passion in the coming weeks lead you ever closer and more deeply committed to Him. May Easter Alleluias resound gloriously in your lives! Blessings of Hope, Joy and Peace, friends!

Milestones

Well, we all survived our first "prom" experience. Actually, it came off rather blessedly, I think. Son had a super good time, and looked quite dashing in the formal duds (again, no paternal prejudice--honest). We rented a black tux jacket with tails and a psychedelic stained-glass patterned cummerbund with matching bow-tie from a costume shop, very inexpensively, that he wore with black pants and shirt. His date also looked very charming in a sparkly yellow/gold-ish gown, coordinating nicely with the lovely wrist-corsage of yellow and peach carnations that a florist friend put together for us at a bargain price. We took photos of them and the friends that they rode with before they left--both formal ones and silly ones, with all four of them engaged in a sword battle. Fun. After the prom, they all came back to our house, to have some ice cream and wind down for a bit. We parents certainly delighted in getting to visit with them all and be a part of their evening too. We feel blessed that it was a simple and fun event for them without involving a lot of drama, emotion, or $. Now, we have one positive prom experience under our parental belts, so hopefully when the lovely daughter's turn rolls around, it will also be just a simple and relatively stressless occasion.

This past week also marked 19 years of wedded blissfulness for the lovely bride and I. To celebrate that, I took Friday off from school since beautiful bride wasn't scheduled to work, and we spent a marvelous day together. It was a sunny day --thank you, God-- so we decided being outdoors was a good plan. Purchased some tasty pastries from a bakery downtown (a coconut, almond, apricot scone and an apple oatmeal bar) and ate a breakfast picnic soaking up sunshine and admiring the breathtaking mountain scenery from a dock on a beautiful lake in the nearby national park. When the sun appeared it was going to be obscured behind a cloud for an extended period of time, we decided to continue our adventures. We stopped to buy delicious deli sandwiches from a country convenience store en route and ended up at a different nearby scenic lake eating our picnic lunch. After finishing the flavorful sandwiches, we reclined back on the gravel bar for quite awhile, simply basking in the beauty and the glorious sun on our faces. Had to force ourselves to continue on in time to retrieve son after school to take him to tennis practice. We did make it right on time. Wow! Abundance of scenic beauty, glorious sunshine, and my gloriously beautiful bride--what a blessed day!

After church on Sunday, we drove up to my parents' to help celebrate another family milestone, my Mom's 72nd birthday. Her birthday was Friday, but the weekend worked better for all the family to get together. Of course, there was plenty of tasty vittles: tacos, spaghetti, salads, chips & dip, and desserts. My precious ladies had baked an apple pie and a coconut cream pie to bring to the festivities. (Both were superbly delicious!) Plenty of family (24 in attendance, I think) to connect with too. Good to see some folks we hadn't seen for months, and have a bit of a visit--even if only brief. Lovely bride and I did manage to get in a bit of stroll in the fresh air; just walked on the road as it was too wet and slushy to try venturing on the trails through the woods, or down by the crick. Did enjoy watching the baby calves in the pasture for a bit as we wandered by. Still revel in delight and marvel at baby animals--even after 45 years of witnessing God's sweet miracles every spring.

So, even though it was snowing and sleeting and blowing again this morning, there are signs of spring in our lives. Actually, much of our snow has melted in the past few days--amazing how rapidly it can disappear! And, it is a blessing seeing God's careful handiwork displayed in our lives --through all our milestones and in the precious everyday. Praying spring sunshine seasons your life with plenty of miracles and marvels this week. Blessings, friends!

Delinquency, Decisions & Delights!

My--it has been so long since I have posted. I did begin to once during "down time" at school one afternoon, but was interrupted so frequently, I found it too difficult to accomplish. So, again, please pardon the delinquency here, and I'll see if I can complete this one before my attention is called elsewhere. Pray all are having a blessed and cheerful spring. Our spring is taking awhile to get here. Been a bit wintry (more snow and below zero temperatures) again in the past week or so, and we still have a foot or so of dwindling snow covering the ground. Still do appreciate the sunshiny days, which we have had an ample amount of this winter, comparatively. Such a blessing, soaking up the cheery warmth out in the brisk freshness of late winter air. Praying for more sunshine anytime God decides to gift us with it.

And speaking of decisions, MIT decided to reveal their application decisions on-line, posted on Saturday, March 14 at 1:59pm (Eastern Daylight Time). Clever, posting them precisely at "pi." 3.14159. . . Since our brilliant son has memorized pi out to the hundredth digit, I thought there may be some positive connections going on. We drug him out of bed around noon (we're two hours earlier than Eastern time) to log-in to the site and check it out. He was much more relaxed about the whole shebang than I was, having dreamed all night about the outcome--with both possibilities playing out rather dramatically in my subconscious. Clad only in his scant sleepwear, with both parents peering over his shoulder, he calmly input the needed user name and password to reveal a very diplomatic and professional letter informing of their regrets that they were "unable to offer" him a spot at MIT at this time. He matter-of-factly responded with something akin to "So, now we know. . ." and calmly proceeded with other web-surfing journeys. It seems that while he would have thrilled at the opportunity to study at MIT, and had the drive to go through the intense application process, he knew the acceptance statistics (about 12% of applicants) and figured his chances quite slim. He feels he probably did not have as much involvement with extra-curricular math/science activities as they would have liked to see. So, I don't think he is experiencing major disappointment, and is probably feeling relieved to finally know the decision. Looks like his plans will be to attend MSU in Bozeman, so we are looking into what scholarships are available, and continuing to meet deadlines, fill out forms, and all else that goes into finalizing and formalizing all this college entrance stuff. Calm and inquisitive son just seems excited about the whole idea--being out on his own, studying "cool stuff," and experiencing our big, wide world. And, maybe, mom and dad are somewhat more comfortable with the idea of having him be only a few hundred miles away instead of a few thousand. What a joy knowing we can all rest in the divine wisdom of our loving God!

So, delightful daughter wasn't home for the big revelation on Saturday as she had spent the night at an impromptu slumber party with some friends. She was delighted to have the opportunity to "hang out" with them on a Friday night and until mid-day on Saturday. Sounds like they had a good time, snacking, watching DVD's of a favorite baseball/romance anime' series, talking about "boys," and whatever else sweet and silly teenage ladies do at sleepovers. I think it was a particularly welcomed end to a bit of a stressful week: with a couple days of standardized testing, a big chemistry assignment due, and a choir concert to perform. Her concert was on Tuesday evening, and --as usual-- was indeed delightful! Daughter was blessed to have Grandma and Aunt, Uncle and cousins attend the performance with us. The program was titled "Color My World With Music," and many of the songs performed contained color words. Daughter's Select Women's group chose to dress in all black, and the princess looked beautiful and elegant--no paternal prejudice here, I promise--as she joyfully sang their selections, some with the other all-girl choir, some with the men's group, and a couple pieces by themselves. The program was a fun and colorful collection of inspiring melodies, culminating with all the choir groups, about 100 melodious voices, joining together on "What a Wonderful World." Louis Armstrong would have gotten goosebumps. Their choir director is phenomenal and succeeds remarkably in making choral music a fun and beautiful experience for everyone involved--singers and audience!

I had a quick chance to be delighted again by their choral artistry on Monday afternoon. A choir from another high school joined them for the day to work and learn together, and they performed the two pieces they practiced together at 1:30, just before the other school's singers had to get on their bus to return home. I was able to duck out for a bit from my school to come over and listen; I was the only audience member besides the directors and a video operator, and I immensely enjoyed my private concert. One of the songs they performed which the daughter really delighted in singing was an Italian love song called "O Oki Manza Mia," and the lovely wife remembers having performed it in a choral group sometime in her choir-rich history as well. It is a soul-touchingly beautiful anthem. Again, I will declare, what a blessing having a musically gifted family is--especially for one so musically-challenged as I.

And, the spring sport seasons started yesterday. Our son's tennis team spent the first day of practice with snow shovels attempting to remove the foot of wet snow that covered the practice courts. If the weather allows them to be outside, they will be pushing and tossing snow again this afternoon as well. If the winter weather patterns continue--snowing and sleeting and blowing as I type--they will have "strength and fitness training" in whichever school's gym they can find available. Spring sports sometimes have a bit of competition with weather not necessarily spring-ish in these climes. I don't envy the track coaches dealing with 100+ track athletes when they can not be outside. As the son jumped into the car when I picked him up from school to take him to the tennis courts to shovel, he informed me he would need some money to buy tickets, as he was going to the prom this coming weekend with a girl who has been his good friend since junior high. She asked him, and he agreed to go. This is all new and foreign territory for us, and maybe further complicated because it is a "friend-thing" instead of a "date-thing." Any advice as to "expectations" and such would be appreciated. He did e-mail her last night posing a few questions, so maybe she will help us out a bit. Neither son nor his friend drive, so fortunately they plan to ride with another junior high buddy and his date who do have a car. Attire, corsages, dinner? We have lots of questions and unknowns. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out--mostly we're just praying it is a good time for them all. I did make it into the high school this morning to purchase the ticket, so so far--we're okay, I guess. Help, if you have any experiential advice!

Had to take the car in for some help yesterday, so we're transportationally disadvantaged this morning--we don't all fit into the pickup, comfortably. I made two trips from home to school as my school is on a mixed-up testing schedule so I had the flexibility to be a bit late. The wince-inducing grinding sound that has been coming from the front passenger side when I braked for the past few days forced me to call our mechanic. Fortunately he was able to schedule us in this morning and the car will be ready to go with new brakes all around today after school. Our mechanic is the father of one of our son's long time friends; he is an excellent and hard-working mechanic and a wonderful Christian man, so it's such a blessing having someone so trustworthy and honest and caring to deal with in these issues.

Well, our delinquent spring is poking his timid nose out now; God has decided to bless us with more sunshine now as I complete this post. How delightful!! Thanks for tuning in, and I pray your day, week. . . is blessed with the sincerest of delightful moments.

"Ice Day!"

Was quite surprised, but joyful, to get the 6:50 phone call this morning from my vice principal informing me that school was cancelled today. Roads around were too hazardous to travel after a night of rain and then freezing temperatures in early morning. Mostly overjoyed for the kids, as I hadn't begun the arduous task of rousing them from their cozy slumber yet--only had flicked on the light, which penetrates near-imperceptibly into their underslept and over-burdened consciouslessnesses. Felt like such a hero quietly flicking off their light and leaving the kids to their uninterrupted dreams for several more hours. Both are diligently trying to fight away a few annoying throat/nose/head discomforts, so getting more sleep was definitely a bonus for them this morning. Now followed by a restful weekend, maybe they will whip this bug before they get real down and out. They are blessed by so seldom being sick that it is extra frustrating for them on the rare occasion that something does catch up with them. They both finally arose around 10:30 or so, and have enjoyed some relaxing Wii game competition while being force-fed popsicles and hounded to keep guzzling water.

Both stayed after school on Thursday to audition for their all-school musical production of Singing in the Rain. Lovely daughter had stayed on Wednesday as well. Doesn't seem there is usually a long wait for the cast posting, so they should know how busy their next several weeks may be soon enough. Our "Princess" is also in an Acting class this semester, so will get to perform in a play for sure in May; don't know what it will be yet, as their teacher said he will tell them once all the class has completed presenting their "Monologue Triple Play" assignment. Daughter was up too late researching, choosing, and memorizing pieces for this assignment early in the week. She ended up choosing Theseus' speech about the creative imaginations of lovers, poets, and madmen from A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Kevin Bacon character (Ren)'s plea to the city council for allowing their senior class to have a dance from the 80's movie Footloose, and the elven introduction of Lord of the Rings relaying the history of the Ring of Power. She had them well memorized and volunteered to perform on the first day. Fun for her, even if contributing to a bit of stress and sleep deprivation. Such is the life of high school students in 2009.

Have spent ample time with the son recently handling "paperwork" for all the college, testing, and financial-aid issues; however, the true blessing is that it isn't "paperwork" anymore. Amazing how quick, easy, and direct it is doing it all on the computer. He has been accepted and offered scholarship monies by both Concordia-Moorhead and MSU-Bozeman so far, but is still waiting to hear from his top choice, MIT (Boston). They don't reveal news to their applicants until April, so we're still trying to meet all the deadlines and keep the options open. Son does seem to get pretty excited reading about all the math courses and interesting opportunities that may await him in college. Quite a journey, I'm sure, that God has planned for our son; will be exciting to watch Him reveal the mysteries of His plans, and let Him guide us all through it.

Still find myself connecting on Facebook often--probably too much time spent there--but what a blessing to hear from l-o-n-g ago friends from high school or college! Staying just briefly and snippet-ed-ly in touch with extended family there is great too--especially compared to the usually "no news is good news" word of non-digital life. And all the photos--what stupendous serendipity to partake of! So, am praying for help finding a happy balance of my time spent on "tech-connections" and face-to-face communication. Any thoughts or ideas on this issue to contribute? Am curious of others' perspectives and opinions.

In the interest of not creating a distraction from the heavy homework load, we didn't turn on the TV on Super Bowl day; knew we could watch the fun ads on You Tube later, and we're not really a sports-oriented family. This resulted in a "family contest" to see who could be the latest in learning of the results of the game. I happened to lose first when I connected to Facebook that evening to immediately have posts flash in front of my eyes announcing someone's joy or gloom over their team's loss or win. Daughter confessed after school on Monday that she thought she was the loser as she apparently overheard friends' Super Bowl conversations right away when arriving in the morning. Son declared himself the winner, as he managed to last until 4th period before inadvertantly learning of the Steelers' win. Amusing how we find to amuse ourselves.

So, school personnel always comment on how February is the "longest" month--even though it has the fewest days. Something to do with mid-year apathy, lack of motivation, and long stretches with no breaks. I was feeling that this week. What a blessed little surprise God gave me today with the "Ice-Day" cancellation. I'll say it again: what an amazing and mysterious Lord we have! He displays His love and care for all people in the most creative and unexpected ways. Praise Him, and may you all discover Him and His mysteries mightily this week, month. Blessings, friends!

Lessons and Observations From My Corner of the World

* Having a "root canal" is not as horrendous or dramatic as many years of life have lead you to believe.  But, possibly as big an "Ouch!" to the checking account.

* Taking a day off from school to have a root canal, coming home after the hour and a half in the dentist office, getting back in bed and sleeping for a lot of the afternoon feels a bit like cheating, but -- boy, was it nice!

* Life in the classroom really can go on perfectly normally, even in your absence.

*  No matter how many semesters that your children bring home 4.0 on their report cards, it still makes a father PROUD!

* Watching movies of Shakespeare plays as a family with your teenage kids --who are as equally engrossed and enjoying it as you are-- on a weekend night is a very cool blessing.

* I really DO treasure the very rare sunshiny days in winter here.

* Having good attendance and therefore getting to skip taking semester finals is a cool treat for high school kids.

*Using your children's earned "days off" as an excuse to take a day off yourself in order to do a family getaway to soak in a hotspring really isn't a bad idea.

*  Facebook can take up a lot of time, but it is fun to "feel connected" to many people you otherwise wouldn't.

* I feel like a snob when --in a public setting, like soaking in a hotsprings-- I almost prefer I was back in Japan, so it would be easier to ignore all the conversations happening around us.

* It is an unexplainable feeling to see high school drama productions come off very powerfully knowing it was totally created, written, directed, tech-ed, and performed by the students.

* Watching your son have lots of fun acting the craziest role in the play is rather emotional too.

*  Every song sounds better when it is sung by your daughter, or wife!

*  Celebrating good report cards with a quite pricey meal at a tasty "Korean Barbecue" restaurant that we all enjoyed is not a waste of $.

*  Most phone calls these days are colleges wanting to talk to your soon to be graduating son, or are "courtesy calls" that have "no message" to leave.

*  I really would like to spend more time with extended family more often than life currently allows.

*  No matter how old or how innocent and trustworthy your kids and their friends and families are, a father still feels a tinge of "concern" when the kids are at overnight birthday parties. 

*  Managing and prioritizing my time wisely enough to make the time to post on this blog as frequently as I'd hoped to is much harder than I anticipated.

 *  Knowing whether anyone is even reading this, and therefore whether it is a valuable use of my time, is impossible to discern.  Any comments anyone wishes to post will be appreciated, and will be responded to.

*  I always wish the most blessed of times to all my friends out there.  Blessings, friends!  

AKEMASHITE OMEDETO GOZAIMASU

That's the Japanese greeting for Happy New Year! I finally completed writing all my Christmas cards today, and most of the batch I did today were headed off to friends in Japan, so the words were on my mind. I've written them in hiragana (Japanese phonetic alphabet) several times today in gold ink across the top of our picture greeting cards. We certainly find it touching and encouraging to still receive many cards from Japan even after nearly 18 years since we came home. So, what does the New Year hold for you?

As you may know, New Years is thought of very seriously in Oriental cultures. The last few days of the year are spent in deep cleaning and focused preparation for the fresh new beginning to the New Year. (I wish I had picked up a bit of that "cleaning" idea; I'm afraid that element has been much too neglected in my New Year's preparations.) Here in America we tend not to get too serious about New Years. The idea of a "resolution" may skim across the radar of our psyches, but often not much other attention is given to this piggy-back holiday that stretches out our vacations. It seems that the older I get, the less likely I have become to put much thought into "changes" or "goals" for the New Year. In conversation with my kids yesterday, who keep trying to encourage me to truly pursue my "ideal goal" of being a professional writer, the idea of completing a piece and pursuing publication was put forth as a good New Years' resolution. I somewhat sheepishly had to admit to my daughter that I have had the "I will be a published author this year" resolution more than a few times in years past. And here I am bumping up on mid-to-late-middle-aged, and I still have not been published for pay. I can recite you any number of reasons (excuses?) for not more furtively reaching for this "ideal goal" of mine--but, maybe 2009 is the year for me to let some of that "Oriental thought" rub off and seriously resolve to stretch myself toward these idealistic heights. With my children's encouragement and the success of a friend from college who just sold her second novel spurring me on, I'll see where I reach to. I'll keep you posted.

So, the family is enjoying a mostly-relaxing vacation; most of us. Poor bride has been scheduled to work most of the days that the kids and I have been off from school. I have risen early with her each day to chauffeur her to work, as I see no value in subjecting her to the added stress of dealing with the uncertain winter driving conditions. She was off for a couple days, so we braved the snowy weather and drove to my parents for a bit of family Christmas festivities. Much of my large extended family was there --plus a few extras; a few of my nieces and nephews are of the age where they like to be accompanied by their "special someones." So, we had a feast --(Mom) Grandma's usual and desired menu of meat, potatoes and gravy, fresh homemade bread, salad fixings, etc.-- and did the gifting for those of us who weren't able to be there on Christmas Eve. Traditionally, my family has always "opened" our Christmas stockings on the last day of Christmas, Epiphany on January 6, but this gathering was the "observed occasion" for that tradition as well, since many of the folks wouldn't be around then. Always preceding the passing out of the stockings, one of the younger kids of the family reads the Biblical account of the wisemen coming to visit the child-King Jesus from Matthew, while a couple other little-ones move Grandma's stuffed Nativity figures to match the narration. It's always a very touching scenario--properly focusing our thoughts, educating our "young'uns," placing importance on the truly important matters, and passing on our unique family traditions and sharing them with the "extras." And, it all was a good time.

We had a chance to visit with my two most geographically distant nephews who were home, listening and learning about what all is happening for them. One nephew is a Lance Corporal in the Marines and is scheduled for several months deployment on a boat later in January. He is excited about all the interesting countries he will get to see, but isn't necessarily looking forward to the intense and cramped working conditions on the carrier. We certainly pray God's protective hand on him and his crewmates. Another nephew manages a music store in the deep South and always has interesting stories to tell. Missed seeing two of the nieces who had to return to their jobs earlier in the week, but certainly enjoyed hugs, and snippets of connectivity and conversations, and cups of tea with the other three adult nieces. Good seeing my brother, sisters and spouses as well. Life has a way of not allowing us to meet up often enough. In the end, though --even if it is too brief and too infrequent-- it certainly is wonderful to catch up with each other and be reminded again of God's divine providence for all of us in the precious gift of family.

Son has spent much of his vacation in his usual inverted "natural biorhythm" schedule, going to bed in the early hours of morning and rising for the day not too long before Mom gets home from work after her day-long shift. He reads and researches for hours on the computer, plays his new games --computer and gaming system, reads some from his ever-present, tall stack of books from the county library, and he finished up the last essay for his application to MIT and got all sent before the January 1 deadline. He even drug out some Physics homework one evening as if preparing to finish up some lab write-ups, but was promptly distracted before such task was accomplished. Oh well. . . it is vacation! Lovely, creative daughter usually has been on the computer typing away on one of her many stories for a long while in the morning and early afternoon before her brother is up and about. It seems she usually chooses to satisfy her "movie-appetite" on most evenings, re-watching favorites, or picking and choosing "best scenes" from many to view and possibly sing-along with. I have seen evidence of her late night (after her Mom and I have gone to bed) activities in the charming anime' style illustrations scattered about the living room in the morning. I've gathered that most of the detailed artistic drawings are visualizations of the characters she has created for the stories she is composing. She got her most-wished-for Christmas gift from us: an electric guitar, so she has been exploring with it as well. Her closest cousin taught her a few chords and the opening bars to "Smoke on the Water," so she is working from there. There has been talk for months of starting a girl rock band with her friends. We'll see how far that goes. . . Nonetheless, I do so treasure the raging creativity, unmasked ambition, vivid imagination, artistic perspective and intense focus of my children. Of many young people I know, really--don't you?

I got to have a couple good visits with my 91-year-old Grandma during this Christmas break. It was marvelous, as I am very close to her--spending a lot of one-on-one time with her during my teen years. Again, recent life hasn't allowed long visits with her for years, so it was truly special to spend some extra time with her. Even though the circumstances surrounding our chance to visit were far from fortunate--Grandma was hospitalized the day after Christmas to treat a blood clot in her lung--they were somewhat fortuitous for me and favorable for a good visit. Grandma was in town, not busy, and not going anywhere; I was enjoying lazy, unscheduled vacation days, had just dropped lovely bride at work, my kids were still in bed--there was nothing to distract or limit my time with Grandma. The clot began dissolving rapidly after they began the medicine regiment and Grandma felt much better quite quickly. The staff at the hospital were very personable, cheery, and caring, and Grandma was allowed to return home after less than four days. I still marvel at God's mysterious ways, and how he knew I needed a good dose of "Grandma-therapy" in my life this week, and creatively provided for it. I praise Him for His creativity, but feel somewhat selfish feeling blessed that God provided for me at the loss and inconvenience for many others of Grandma's loved ones. Does this make sense?

Winter has arrived here quite vehemently in the past few weeks. There is maybe about two feet of snow on the flat now, and more is falling as I type. We've had sporadic, but frequent snowfall for several days now, making Christmas and New Years appear very wintry. Earlier in December we had about a week of sub-zero temperatures, but has been in the 20's since about Christmas Eve. It's been a few years since we have had so much winter, so it's a change. We may get our workout this winter shoveling the driveway, although I have a very caring neighbor across the street with a snowblower who has been remarkably generous with his time clearing our driveway, as well as other folks on the street. God provides so much more than we could ever ask or want. Praise Him, again!

Well, have you played the "hangman' game at the top recently? I do a word or two each time I come here. It's always quite entertaining. Another feature about it that I have discovered is that after you have finished --won or lost-- and it shows the mystery word, you can click for a definition and it will take you to a dictionary site entry for that word. Pretty cool if you happen across a word that is new or not quite familiar to you. Lovely bride gave me a handheld electronic Word Game for a Christmas gift, and I have thoroughly enjoyed playing some scramble and boggle type games on it. Fun! Words are truly some of the finer enjoyments in life, don't you think?

Okay--incessant ramblings this evening indeed. Let me bid you "Good Even" and save some topics left undiscussed for future posts. Do be blessed and bask in the glory of God's providence and love for you in this New Year. Happy 2009!