Say What?

Third Day, Thief This is probably more personal than I'm comfortable sharing but I've always considered my blog to be a place where I can come years from now to reminisce about my life and the road I've traveled. I'm not one who's prone to tears but as I sat down to write in my blog this morning the tears flowed freely. I was considering some music to add to the beginning of this post, something Easter related. As I did that I was reflecting on the loss of Hosanna (my former church) in my life and how sad that has been for me. Couple that with the words below from the song I've linked above describing an innocent Jesus on the cross suffering for my sins. I was overwhelmed with emotion. I don't know where my spiritual life is headed. I'm so far from where I was not so long ago. I still believe that Jesus is my savior but I've grown so distant from the church as I struggle to understand the disconnect from too many of us who claim to follow him b...

Rachel arrived home in Rochester last night having survived another cross-country trip with her volunteer group made up of college students on spring break. They traveled to Atlanta, Georgia doing volunteer projects along the way. She sent me the photo to the left the other day. They'd ordered 52 pizzas for 4 buses of 160 students. I don't know for sure but I think they needed more. She was proud to have managed to get by with just deodorant and one shower in the first five days. If she was typical of the general population on the bus, I'm not sure that even 52 pizzas could overcome their stink. But she was no doubt thriving in that bohemian environment. I'm looking forward to hearing in detail about how the trip went. Tammy got a packet of information in the mail yesterday from Stony Brook, NY where Rachel will be attending college next year at Stony Brook University  on Long Island for at least the first semester. They're planning a trip in August to move h...

I received my furlough notice  via certified mail last week. I'm happy to do my part! Not really. I have no idea what effect the furloughs will have on air travel in the US but I have a hunch it won't be good. What people don't understand is that many of the furloughs due to sequestration haven't even happened yet. That's definitely the case for air traffic controllers where our furloughs have been pushed back until April 21st at the earliest. If you're accustomed to getting your news and misinformation through talk-radio, it's quite likely that you won't be aware of that. I expect the majority of air traffic delays will be on the east coast where staffing is most critical, where they're already working a boatload of overtime. Once the furloughs begin the overtime spigot shuts off. That in and of itself will be enough to affect their ability to handle traffic I would think. Compound that with a further reduction in staffing due to furloughs and we...

Tammy returned home Thursday night from nearly a week-long stay in Sanibel Island, Florida with Brenda. Brenda's parents rent a condominium for 6 weeks each year and invited Tammy and Brenda to stay with them. The weather could've been warmer during their stay but considering the huge snowstorm they missed out on here, they weren't complaining at all. She came back with some color so that's all that matters. The most fun they had was when they rented kayaks and spent a few hours floating through the protected mangroves. Tammy came back all excited wanting to do some kayaking this summer. I'm in! I've been kicking around the idea of getting a kayak for a while but we'll just rent for now. I was happy that she was able to briefly leave our frozen world behind because it's been since August 2009 that we were last on vacation. I'm fine with staying put, preferring to work on some other obligations first, knowing that for me, retirement is just aro...

Joe came by Thursday morning and we went over some details of our porch and deck project before signing the necessary paperwork to get the ball rolling. He'd like to begin sometime in the next two to three weeks, even before the snow is gone. I suppose that works. I hadn't anticipated the project moving along this quickly but the sooner we get it done the sooner we can put the finishing touches on the landscaping around it and begin enjoying it. There are still several things we'll need to work out, mostly stuff associated with the gas fireplace. We're considering a stacked-stone front with a wood mantel but we haven't quite figured out how we'd like it to look. We were at the Home and Garden Show over the weekend and stopped at a booth that specializes in fireplace fronts. We'll be visiting their shop sometime soon to get some ideas and maybe hire them to do the job. Speaking of the Home and Garden Show—I found a steel palm tree there that I thought wo...