So it goes...

Well, she's back and life is back to approaching normal. She and Jill and the rest of the team arrived at 11:15 last night, so we're all a little tired and cranky. She had a great trip with many stories. If you're interested in seeing some of the photos, they have some on the Church's website at: http://www.iglesiabiblica.org/ Otherwise, I'll put a bunch into a photoshow in the next week or so and publish it out. I'll also be selling the complete photo collection for $2995.00 for anyone interested. Just make the check out to "Over the Top Roofing Inc." Please no further questions at this time. I'm going to go and take a nap now, before I go to bed. Buenos Noches. Jim

Well, I've come to the end of what I might term "a bit of a long week". I seem to be battling a case of CFS...Constant Fatigue Syndrome. A weariness that can only be explained by two children, two felines and a mentally challenged, infant canine. I came out the victor, albeit battle scarred and limping. Dazed and confused comes to mind. But to keep this from being a big downer, I'll change course and focus on the positives of the week. Things like; Ben never once got beat up at school because I dressed him funny. Toby didn't get lost or run away, though I think he was thinking it might be a more stable environment. Chester and Isabel seem unfazed by the whole deal. Of course they sleep 20 hours a day. I found the matches to 3 odd socks today. Boy I'm setting the bar low. I need to get back to work. The carpet only has 2 small holes in it from Toby. (Hey, it could be worse.) I can still recite my address and social security number...if you catch me before 5 PM ...

Blogspot's image upload is giving me grief, so no photo today. A video at the bottom though! Picture my cat Izzy here --->>> {:-X One would think that the weekends would be easier as a single parent, but they aren't so much. Some of it is my doing, as I'll explain later, but in general, the world of dirty laundry and pet maintenance doesn't stop on Fri. Sure, there's no "work" for Dad, but as I can attest, "work" was the least of my problems this week. Heck, I'd even say work was fun this week. My quiet cubicle, my computer (sans kid grime), my cd player, why, I might even go tonight and put in a few hours. Seriously though, it has been a good day. God chose to have mercy on me by sending two of the best weather days of the year our way today and tomorrow. That has made all the difference. There's nothing worse than stress cloaked in gloomy weather. Sarah rolled in at 7:30 AM from her overnight lock-in thing and promptly fell o...

At breakfast this morning, Ben asked how old he would be in dog years. I quickly computed 7(dog years) x 9 (Ben years) and told him 63 years old. Sarah said that that was wrong that "dog years" should be calculated as follows: 10 years for the first year, 7 for the second , then 3 for each year after that. Not to be showed up by his sister, Ben said it was actually 7 years for the first year, then 5 years for each subsequent year. Ya know, when I was a kid it was always a 7:1 ratio, pretty simple stuff. I don't know if these kids are blowing smoke, or if they're teaching something different in the schools now days, or what. I only know that it interrupted a perfectly good bowl of oatmeal, and now of course I have to google it to find out what the real answer is in case it should actually matter someday. I had one of those scary moments on my way home for lunch today when you don't remember like 1/2 of your ride. I remember getting in my car and my first turn, the ...

The circumstances of the week have required me to drive to work every day, so I can drive back at noon, let the dog out, and drive back to work. This really is a stupid human trick because I live 1.8 miles away from work. I can barely roll my windows down and I'm pulling into work. This drive however has become my little bubble of bliss, my bastion of solitude, my no-think tank if you will. It is my chance to turn my music to my volume and just check out for 8 minutes at a time. I call it "8 minutes for Jim"; a time when I don't have to pick up any socks, stop the dog from tunnelling into the back of the couch, or try and remember who's turn it is to play first on the computer today. Grant me this one wish...please bury me in the Santa Fe with Casting Crowns rattling my dead old fillings. I'll need a double sized lot, but if necessary, you can compact me prior to burial. (Think Green) That truck is my favorite place on earth...at least this week it is. So I ...

So I stop at a Mobil Gas station for milk on the way home. It's priced at $3.80/gal. No way I say, I just paid 3.00 on Mon. at a different station. So I go in protest to said station where I promptly pay $3.89/gal. Where is this milk from, the Middle East? I've seen price fluctuations, but this is ridiculous. It was a gorgeous fall day here today until 4:31 when it started to rain. Yep, I get out of work at 4:30. Hmmm... Things are much better today so far. Of course, I'm kidless at the moment, but that will change within the hour. I know it's getting late in the week because of some telltale signs around the house. Signs like: The laundry I did two days ago still has not folded itself or put itself away. What is the wait-time on this, can anyone tell me? We are almost out of Mom's homemade desserts (cookies and brownies). Sarah and I will either bake some choc. chip cookies tonight or its oreos for everyone! The dishwasher is has only been run twice or so since Don...

Are we there yet? As expected, this was likely the longest day of the week. With School, Soccer, and Boys Club and Nexus, it just keeps on going. If I didn't know that Donna was having a long day as well, I'd complain. (I am anyways ;-) Lesson #1 learned today: Making lunches ahead of time is only "organizational" if you then pack the lunch in the backpack at Go time. Yes, I got the call from Sarah, luckily before I headed to work, so made the dropoff w/little interruption. So in my trivialities of the day, I begin to think about what might be happening in Guatemala. I think about the good that is being done and that has been done by the many who have served before. It makes me think of Donald Miller, author of "Blue like Jazz" and how he said that he once had dreams of owning a Volvo. When he started to think about the story or movie of a man whose goal it was to own a Volvo he thought it made a pretty boring story. He then challenged himself and us to ma...

Well, it's starting to take effect. I got on the scale today and I've lost 3 lbs. Hmmm...That works out to about a 10 lb loss by the time Donna gets back. I don't think its from lack of food so much as additional workout. You're kind of in Rev mode all the time when you're the only parent. Which brings up an interesting story today. I got a phone call from Sarah at 3:45 today confirming that they were home from school. "Great, thanks for letting me know. Bye Bye" I thought to myself. No, from there it went into an argument over who gets the computer first. "Ben got to go first yesterday" Put Ben on. "Sarah said she'd let me go first if I helped her with something." Ben says with the tears starting to flow. Put Sarah back on. "Please let Ben go first" , I say. More tears. "But he went first yesterday and the day before...blah, blach blah" (More tears). Is anyone out there feeling my pain yet? I reply through gritt...

The kids have been enjoying the "Spanish for Dummies" DVD's that have been in our car since Donna started her Spanish crash course a few weeks ago. Of course the word the memorized first was Bano which means bathroom. Some things are so predicatable. I got a call from Donna at about 5:30 CDT and she said all was well. All she said was Guatemala was "very different" from the US and/or what she expected. She said it was going to be a very interesting week. That was about all the report I got. We continue to keep her in our prayers here and look forward to the next report. Sarah and I had a great night last night. We took Toby to the dog exercise park in Brookfield and he did OK. Being the smallest dog there doesn't help, as he tends to garner most of the attention from larger dogs not to mention the occasional raptor passing overhead. (Tastes like chicken!)We ate out at Oscars and watched Ghostbusters later that evening. Couple that with the frozen pizza we ha...

Hello all, Today begins an adventure that I thought I'd capture in a blog. Donna took off for an 8 day short-term mission trip to Guatemala today, and so I've got mom/dad duties. It should be and interesting week and I love to write, so I thought this would be a great way to capture my thoughts and allow you all to partake on the journey with me/us. We dropped her off at Jill and Steve's last night about 10:00 PM. Sarah had a bad time of it, saying goodbyes and such. She has such a big heart for family, so it's tough any time either of us leaves. The 6 of us said a prayer for safety and God's protection before we left, which was comforting for all I think. She's better today...at least so far. This morning Donna called about 9:20 to say she had made it to Charlotte, NC. Hooray for leg #1! Ben had his soccer game today and, well, let's just say they remain winless. (Lost 6-0). They fought to the bitter end though and I was very proud of all of them. More impo...