Party at School

I took this week off work, but my kids are still in school, so I've been hanging out at their school a lot, eating lunch with them, visiting their classrooms for pre-break parties, etc. It has been great. I helped serve hot cocoa to my oldest son's class, I've eaten lunch with all of them, watched one group test how strong their toothpick bridges were, and rocked the house at two class parties. I don't spend a lot of time at their school because of my job, so this week has been really fun for me. It's great to see my kids with all their friends. I even got to meet a pretty little girl who has a crush on one of my sons. :) It makes my son uncomfortable, but it makes me smile every time I think about it.

Partying with my kids this week at school is getting me excited about Christmas. One of the kids' classes put on some Christmas/Hanukkah plays during their party. It was so sweet to watch them. And it was really cool to have them exposed to some Jewish culture. The story of Hanukkah is a great story of faith and liberty.

I LOVE Christmas! I always feel like a kid again around this time of year. I hope you all have a fantastic time this season celebrating some of the coolest stuff that's ever happened. Make sure you play with some new toys, eat lots of good food, eat lots of junk food, and do whatever else makes you happy.

Merry Christmas!

Wealth of Nations

I started reading Adam Smith's 'Wealth of Nations' the other day. I know I have weird tastes, but I love to learn and there are so many classics I haven't had time to read yet. Sometimes I can't get through them (I choked on Aeschylus a few years ago), but if I can get the right perspective on a book and see the beauty of the author's ideas, I usually learn some great things. There's a reason that certain classics endure for centuries.

Adam Smith

One thing that struck me at the very beginning - Smith makes the case that one of the origins of wealth in certain nations derives from the division of labor. When people focus their efforts on a narrower field of study, they can often be much more productive than if they try to master every piece of the process. He looks at several industries (e.g. pin making - who knew?) and cites examples of the productivity achieved by factories that pipeline the process by dividing the labor. Compared to typical production rates achieved by people working alone, the number of products manufactured by the pipeline process per person is hundreds of times greater than the single-person model.

I don't know whether his theory holds up in every industry (I think it does) or if there is some point at which that correlation between increased productivity and narrower fields of study breaks down (I think it may), but according to his studies, that concept makes a big difference in productivity and contributes greatly to the wealth in a nation.

None of that was really new to me, except maybe that pin-making industry :), but then he threw something at me I hadn't thought of before. In order for this division to work, there have to be a large number of people. Towns and cities, for example, would benefit from this model of the division of labor whereas rural settlements can't afford to have 10 people out of a total population of 1,000 specializing to produce thousands of pins a day.

But here's the kicker. Transportation can enable the formation of larger groups of people even if they are spread out geographically. Thus, through trade, groups of people can rationalize even greater degrees of specialization to provide goods and services to people in other places, knowing that other goods and services that they are not producing may be procured from others who are likewise specializing and producing valuable products. So transportation can form larger 'virtual communities' and enable a greater degree of the division of labor, which leads to greater productivity. The advent of cars, trains, and airplanes has probably done more to increase the world's wealth than I had previously thought.

Then I thought that in our age where we place an ever greater emphasis on services, communication may serve as well as transportation when the desired services are based on information. The advent of the internet has probably contributed and will continue to contribute a great deal to our wealth as we seek to provide value through the exchange of information - ideas, solutions, software, etc. These products may have value, but don't require transportation to enable their utility. But they do require communication. And thanks to the internet, we have a pretty large 'virtual community' that continues to grow.

I love it when an idea helps me see things in a new way. As any economist reading this can tell, I'm no economist, but I may know just enough to be dangerous. I've barely started the book, so I look forward to learning more from our friend, Mr. Smith. Maybe I'll share a little more as I get farther along. If you are an economist, or a wannabe like me, please share your thoughts. I like to learn from living people as well as dead ones.

We Are All Karamazovs

I read Dostoyevsky's 'Brother Karamazov' a while ago and wrote some of my thoughts at the time. I recently read it again because ... well, why not? I enjoyed the book and didn't know what else to read. I had a couple more thoughts as I read it this time and I wanted to document them.

Knowing the basic storyline really helped me focus on Dostoyevsky's ideas without getting distracted by wondering how the story would end, how the trial would turn out, whether Dmitri really killed his father, etc. Two things came out clearly that I hadn't quite grasped before.

 Fyodor Dostoyevsky

First, each brother represents an aspect of human nature. The oldest brother represents the physical; the second represents the mental; and the youngest represents the spiritual. Although some wonderfully graphic arguments are brought about contending against God and absolute morality, I think it's clear where Dostoyevsky stood on the question. At the end of the book, the only brother who is truly happy and free is the youngest who represents the spiritual side of man. The oldest brother is in prison with plans to escape, though we never learn whether those plans come to fruition. The second brother is terribly ill and possibly mad and/or dying.

Second, very near the end, a prosecuting attorney is making a speech in which he discusses the nature of the Karamazov family and he talks about each of the brothers in turn. It's a very lucid speech except for the conclusions he draws about the crime he's prosecuting (which I think is pretty ironic) and I get the sense that Dostoyevsky was using this character to share some of his own philosophy with us. Although the prosecutor is wrong about the case, his philosophy is more sound than the philosophy of the defending attorney, who happens to be correct about the case. Among other things, the prosecutor claims, more or less, that we are all Karamazovs. And it occurred to me that that is exactly what Dostoyevsky wanted to do with his work. His story of the three brothers is an analysis, not only of eternal questions including God and the devil, but of human nature. He examines the extremes to which human nature will tend when emphasis is placed upon one of the three aspects of that nature - the body, the mind, or the spirit. His conclusions on the happiness of humans who choose a certain path based on those different elements of our nature are seen in the state of the characters at the end of the story. Though the fates of all three are uncertain at the end of the story - the end is a bit unsettled compared to many books I've read - the state of each character at that point is sufficient to understand Dostoyevsky's view on the ultimate ends of three fundamentally different approaches to life.

Tolstoy, a contemporary of Dostoyevsky and one of my favorite authors, is mentioned in the book and I understand that Tolstoy had a copy of Brothers Karamazov with him when he died. Knowing the circumstances of Tolstoy's death, I believe he must have had a great love for the book. I can understand why. It's a deep and powerful piece of literature.

Great Ideas of Philosophy - American Freedom

I am sorry to plug a product on my blog, but I have to give credit to the author when I quote him and I feel the need to quote because he says it so well.

The product I refer to is a course on CD called "Great Ideas of Philosophy". You can find a summary of the course here. The lecturer is Dr. Robinson and the course is fantastic. He has opened my mind to many new ideas (new to me, at least) and awoken me at times from a kind of dogmatic slumber. Seriously. I'm working through the lectures for a second time and I think I may go for a third someday.

I was impressed recently by one of his lectures entitled "The Federalist Papers and the Great Experiment". He discusses the experiment of the American Republic as a culmination of some of the products of recent European philosophy (e.g. Kant, Reid, Montesquieu) and as a practical implementation of some of the theorizing that had been going on for some time. In spite of its intellectual heritage, Dr. Robinson makes the case that the American experiment was original in certain ways, but that's a topic for another blog post.

He tells us that Montesquieu, among other things, proposes the necessary ingredients for three different types of government. For despotism to flourish, he says, the required disposition among the populace is one of fear. For a monarchy to flourish, the required disposition is honor. And for a republic to flourish, the required disposition is virtue. I'm not prepared to defend that proposal, but I'll let Montesquieu handle that. I just want to focus on the last piece of it.

Montesquieu

I love the United States. I feel so blessed to live here. I've lived abroad and visited other countries and have always enjoyed myself. I love the diversity I see among people, cultures, food, etc. Every land has beautiful scenery, interesting history, and unique ideas. I think all of that is great. But having been born in the US, I have a special love for this land and its people and though I've loved living in and visiting other countries, this is my home.

One of the things I love about the US is our heritage of freedom. And I believe we have become a great country in large part because individual citizens have had the freedom to work hard and succeed. New ideas, inventions, and technologies have often been encouraged and protected and I think the US has helped to raise the standard of living of its own people and, to some extent, the rest of the world. The US is not the only country to have made the world a better place (and it has admittedly done its share of evil), but I love it for the good it has done.

Drawing on Montesquieu's idea, Robinson claims that "power without virtue is a sure path to a life without a point". He later adds (emphasis is mine),

Whatever differences there were among the Founders, there was one thing that united them all. This sort of experiment in self-governance presupposes an instructed population, products of a good education with a point ... and the point being the development of citizens, the use of the resources of the community for the express purpose of creating that most unique of human entities -- the citizen, the responsible, informed, inner-directed, virtuous person. This is quite different from one trailing degrees, having Ph.D.s, enjoying expertise, great celebrity, being able to act in movies, etc. No, it's a matter of character. And the view was that that character was forged chiefly by observing good examples and through education. Jefferson thought public education was the absolute foundation of this. So the answer to the question, "What kind of creature is right for self government?" is one that a worthy government works to create. One doesn't come out of the womb with the status of a virtuous citizen. As Aristotle taught, it's a lifelong labor.

Professor Robinson, Oxford University

Education (and I will add religion) as a path to virtue - and virtue as the necessary ingredient for a successful republic seem to have been ideas behind many of the writings of the Founders around that time period.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free ... it expects what never was and never will  be." - Thomas Jefferson

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams

"Republican governments could be supported only be pure religion or austere morals. Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private virtue, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics." - John Adams

 "A republic must either preserve its virtue or lose its liberty." - John Witherspoon

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Benjamin Franklin

"Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks - no form of government can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people is a chimerical idea." - James Madison

At one point in his lecture, Robinson says, speaking of the chief architect of the Constitution, "Madison knows human nature to be fickle, gullible, foolish. The right kind of government can't rid human nature of its defects, but it can control them long enough for persons to engage in the lifelong mission of self-correction."

I see a correlation between virtue, freedom, personal responsibility, individual growth and development, and so on. I don't completely understand all of the interdependencies, but I'm grateful that our founders had the wisdom to see some of this and offer us a system of government that limited the possibility of tyranny and has often served to encourage the kind of virtue that makes true freedom possible.

When I Grow Up

Today, I asked my youngest what she wants to be when she grows up. Her unhesitating answer was "a mom".

Dad: "Anything else?"
Child: "No."
Dad: "Do you want to be a grandma when you grow up?"
Child: "No thanks."

Recently, I randomly asked her what makes her happy. She's a very decisive child - once again, with NO hesitation and in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice, she replied, "The world."

I love children.

The Flu

It seemed like just another cold last Monday. I was congested and exhausted, but I was also freezing! Especially my legs - I just can't keep them warm enough. I thought that was weird, but every cold is a little different.

I gave it to Emily a few days later because we share everything. She had a massive sore throat and a slight fever. After telling the doctor all of this yesterday ... and remembering that I had had some muscle aches that I didn't really pay attention to, he told me I have the flu. So that's why I feel like I have 10 colds all at once.

He told me the coldness I feel was just a symptom of fever. I had the chills. I guess that made sense, but I've never felt chills like this before. He also told me I could be sick off and on for as long as four months. That was exciting.

I feel like hud, my brain is mostly disconnected, and I'm practically useless at work. I don't feel like moving, so I haven't made it in to work very much in the last week. The good news is my body does know how to kill this thing. The bad news is it may be a long battle.

But I'm enjoying some extra rest, taking some time to read, and spending a little extra time with my kids. None of them have been sick yet and I'm hoping it skips over them. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Divorce

I learned recently of a couple we have known for years who got a divorce a couple months ago. Obviously we're not really close, so it didn't hurt a lot to hear about it, but it was a bit shocking.

It's strange to see that happen. Emily and I have seen some of our friends and acquaintances dissolve their marriages in recent years and although I don't judge the participants for ending their marriages, it still strikes me as sad every time I hear of it happening. I've learned how hard marriage can be and I wouldn't judge anyone for failing to keep their marriage alive. Still, I have a feeling that many of these marriages could be preserved if the participants worked and sacrificed to make it work. I think maybe our society has made it so easy to dissolve a marriage that when things get tough (and they always do), it's easy for the couple to say "well, we tried" and give up.

I know it's hellish to be in a relationship that has gone sour, but having been through hell once or twice and finding my relationship with my wife even sweeter than it was before ... it's worth paying the price.

Eleven eleven eleven

A couple hours ago, it was 11:11 (eleventy-eleven) on the 11th day of the 11th month of 2011. And I missed it! Luckily, I'll get another chance to enjoy the moment tonight.

There must be some mystical significant in this happy circumstance. A good omen. I see happy times ahead. At least until 11:12.

Running

I went running this morning and, according to my low-quality GPS from my iPod, I ran 2.5 miles with an average 7.5 minute mile. That's pretty good for a desk-bound engineer like me!

I've never been a great runner, but to rehabilitate my ankle, which I broke in January, my orthopedist recommended running as the best exercise to get my flexibility and strength back. So over the last 3 months, I've been slowly building up to about five miles per week. I've noticed a significant improvement in the ankle, so the doc's prescription is working.

I ran with my third son at a mile-run that his school did last Saturday. We crossed the finish line at the same time, but I couldn't believe how much I hurt. He gave it his best and he was hurting too, so I felt ok that I kept up with him, but when that kid grows up, he's going to leave me in the dust. He has been known to run an 8 minute mile. At his age, that is pretty amazing. Saturday, he started off sprinting (I sprinted with him, which was a BAD idea) and we did it in about 9 minutes.

A few weeks ago, we heard of a teenage boy at church who runs about a 4:32 mile. I just about fell on the floor. This is a high schooler! I think my time in high school was usually around 7 minutes, maybe a little faster, but I'm pretty sure I never broke 6 minutes. Good thing I have other talents. I like having the opportunity to run and keep in shape, but I don't think I'll ever be a great runner. I'll leave that to my son and our teenage friend.

Star Wars and Candy

Saturday was a lazy day and we ended up finishing the Star Wars trilogy. That felt good and wasteful at the same time. I needed a down day, so I'm ok with that.

Now that my kids had seen the redemption of Darth Vader, their next set of questions dealt with how he became what he was. If he could become good again, how did he become evil in the first place? Well, thanks to the George Lucas empire, we have three more movies to answer that question!

Oh boy. I don't think I can take that much Star Wars in so short a time. We'd better wait a little before watching the other movies. A guy can only take so much of the Force. Actually, I'm not sure I want my kids to see the third movie yet, so we may have to wait a long time. I think it's probably a bit dark for such young minds.

Saturday night, we had a 'Trunk or Treat' at my church. People decorated the trunks of their cars or vans, most brought some kind of a game, and handed out candy to kids as they went around the parking lot. It was so much fun! My oldest decided to bring a toy basketball hoop and ball so everyone could shoot baskets for candy. For some reason, that was a big hit and I had a great time supervising the game. We tied the hoop to the car and let the kids take shots.

And now my kids are loaded up on candy! Number three has very little self control and ended up with a stomach ache last night. Hopefully a few more of those will inspire him to develop some discipline. I have my doubts, but I'll hang onto hope for him. He's a brilliant child, but that intelligence doesn't seem to spill over into common sense sometimes. I guess he takes after his dad.

Star Wars

I have neglected my childrens' education. We watched Star Wars with them this week and it was the first time they had ever seen it. But it's never too late to set things right, so I am making amends for my neglect.

Apparently they've heard about Star Wars quite a bit from friends at school and they knew a lot of the characters' names. They wanted to see Yoda, but I thought we'd better start at the beginning (or in the middle depending on your perspective) and watch the original 1977 film first. Maybe we'll get to Yoda this weekend.

I'm not a big-time Star Wars fan - obviously, since my kids hadn't seen it before this week - but I think the storyline is really good and the movies are classics in their own way. Good vs. evil, the Force, cheesy acting in parts, a fighting corp of Jedi (religionists/philosophers/warriors), some of whom embrace evil, sometimes awkward dialogue, and ultimately redemption. I like the story for its cut and dry distinction between good and evil and I like it for the religious overtones.

Yoda makes the movies great all by himself. Frank Oz's voice coming from a little, green, mystical, mighty, warrior muppet who spouts wisdom and a philosophy of life and warfare that rivals some of the great philosophers of all time. What's not to love?

It has been fun to see my kids get excited about the movies. Running around the house last night with imaginary blasters and light sabers, they did their part to save the galaxy. It reminded me of their play acting after we watched the Tron movies. It's so cute to see them doing the same kinds of things I used to do with my brothers ... inspired by the same movies I watched as a kid.

Aristotle on Friendship

After I finished school a couple years ago, while looking for things to pursue with so much extra time on my hands, I began writing this blog. I also bought some courses on CD to listen to while driving. With extra time and some extra computing power in the brain, I enjoyed using those resources to learn about various topics. I've listened to lectures on philosophy, values (economic/philosophical), C.S. Lewis, Buddhism, etc.

I took a break from listening to them for a few months when life got busy with buying a house, moving, fixing up houses, selling a house, and everything that went with all that. I started listening to one of the philosophy courses again last week and it has been so delightful. I know that makes me weird, but I'm ok with that. I love philosophy. Which is cool because the Greek word philosophy means 'love of wisdom' (philo = love and sophia = wisdom). So I think that means I love the love of wisdom.

Aristotle

Here are some of my thoughts from what I heard during one of the lectures on Aristotle. Aristotle laid out three types of friendships: 1) friendship based on sensual (not necessarily sexual) pleasure; 2) friendship based on utility; and 3) friendship based on virtue. Aristotle is not opposed to friendships of the first two kinds, but he does recognize the transitory nature of such relationships. In the first, when the pleasure dies or becomes stale, the friendship is dissolved. In the second, when either party sees no further use for the other, the relationship is dissolved.

In the last, however, friendship can last as long as both parties strive after virtue. This is a choice and does not have to depend on circumstances outside the control of the participants. In this way, the final form of friendship can potentially last forever. Aristotle calls this kind of friendship 'teleia philia' or completed/perfected friendship. The expression is intended to convey a type of friendship that realizes the highest ideals of human associations, grounded in the end purpose of such relationships - virtue. In this kind of relationship, a person wants for his friend what is best for his friend, not necessarily what is best for himself. The needs of the two friends don't have to be mutually exclusive, but when they do oppose one another, such friends, motivated by pure love for one another, will tend to seek what is best for their friend. This reminded me of the high Christian ideal of charity or Christlike love. It also reminded me of Emmanuel Kant's assertion that the only thing that can be said to be truly good without qualification is a good will.

I thought about these kinds of friendship and came up with a few examples of each from my own life. There are times where I enter into brief relationships with others for the pleasure of having someone to talk to and share ideas. This is pretty rare for me, being a bit of an introvert, but it does happen. Part of my friendship with members of my family derives from physical closeness, cuddling, enjoying a good meal with them, a movie, etc. However, if those relationships were based solely on these physical pleasures, they would be extremely shallow and easily destroyed. Thankfully, there are other foundations for those relationships.

Although my children are occasionally helpful to me, I don't find myself motivated to be friends with them for what they can do for me. With my wife, however, I am very motivated by the mutual benefits we offer one another. We specialize in different areas of domestic life and help one another make a beautiful, comfortable home. Other relationships of mine based on utility are found in business. Though I enjoy talking with colleagues and customers, a significant portion of our relationships are utilitarian. We can help one another achieve things through cooperation and each of us benefits materially from the relationship.

I like to think that in many of my relationships, both business and personal, I am also motivated by a desire for the welfare of the other person. I hope this is true in my marriage if nowhere else. I won't claim special knowledge of this motivation simply because I'm not certain I have fully realized this ideal. But I am convinced it is real and attainable.

I also believe that a good, healthy relationship need not be motivated solely be the last of the three motivators Aristotle describes. A healthy marriage, for example, should be rich in all three bases of friendship. To be strong, the foundation of the relationship should be virtue. But marriage partners should help one another with their various responsibilities and activities (utility), and they should definitely seek to bring pleasure to each other ... probably in that order. Maybe that's what makes marriage so great. It can be the perfect combination of every aspect of friendship. And maybe that's why it can be so painful - when that ideal is not attained.

Emily and I have felt the disappointment of frustrated expectations in marriage, but we've decided to work on it and make our relationship the best we can. And with God's help, it seems to be working. I am happier in my marriage today than I have ever felt in my life and I see the joy it brings when we approach it with the right expectations and attitude. I can't claim we've realized the ideal, but it feels like we're approaching the ideal of teleia philia, a perfected friendship.

Report Cards

My kids got report cards recently. Here are some of the highlights:
 

Child #1, teacher comments: "To say that [your child] and I share a love of reading is an understatement. His craving for the written word is immense. I appreciate that he gives his personal best, is a good role model and friend, and is always using his lifeskills. He is a wonderful addition to [our school], but especially our classroom." Child #1 had a nearly perfect report card.

Child #2 hasn't received a written report card yet, but from what my wife heard at the parent/teacher conference, she should be getting a near perfect report also. She struggled initially with the expectations of a higher quality school, but she seems to be doing really well now. I'm proud of her for working so hard even when it seems so difficult.

Child #3 had a perfect report card except for handwriting. Can't fault him for that; my handwriting is awful. Teacher comments: "[Your child] is a very hard worker who is smart and funny. ... [He] likes to learn new concepts and strives for perfection in math. ... Overall, [he] is a delight! He consistently gives his personal best throughout the day."

Well, this father's heart warmed right up when he read some of those comments. I love my kids and it's great to see them recognized and valued by others. And I'm so happy that they're doing well in school. Education is super important to me and I'm glad they're tasting success in that area of life.

Hebrew

I love languages. Being religious, I have long had an interest in Hebrew and Greek because of their connection to the Bible. Having learned German and a little Spanish, I am really interested in Latin as I've come to see the relationships between the three languages I speak (caveat: my Spanish is really bad) and I understand the power of knowing the language that influenced all of them heavily.

I won't claim any significant expertise in Hebrew, Greek, or Latin, but I've dabbled a bit in studying them to help me understand the Bible better and for other purposes. I thought I'd share a couple of interesting things I've learned about Hebrew.

As I understand it, ancient Hebrew had no markings for vowel sounds and the pronunciation of Hebrew words was largely transmitted orally through the years. Modern Hebrew now has such markings. The ancient Hebrews had a word for God that they wrote as JHWH (transliterated to Latin letters), but they considered the name of God too sacred to utter, so they never spoke it out loud. Consequently, we don't know how they pronounced JHWH. Two variants on the pronunciation are commonly used today: 1) Jahweh, where the w is pronounced like a v; and 2) Jehovah. The former seems more likely to be correct on the first syllable, but the second is more commonly used today. No one knows for sure how JHWH was pronounced, so both versions seem to be acceptable. The translators of the King James version of the Bible often translated JHWH as 'Lord', though a few instances of Jehovah can be found.

This leads to a lot of interesting insights on names and words found in our Bible. For example, Hallelujah is a combination of two words 'Hallelu' or a form of 'Hallel' meaning 'praise' and 'jah' or a shortened form of JHWH (Jahweh or Jehovah). So Hallelujah = Praise Jehovah or Praise God.

Names like Isaiah and Jeremiah and any names ending in -iah, -jah, or -ia (all versions of 'Jah') contain a shortened form of the name of God (JHWH). For example, Isaiah means 'salvation of God' where I presume Isa = salvation.

Another name for God found in the Hebrew is Elohim. This is really interesting because the 'im' suffix indicates the plural form of a noun. The singular form is never used, but is thought to be Eloah. Much like JHWH is shortened to Jah for creating other words, the name Elohim is often shortened to El to create names like Samu-el, Ezeki-el, Dani-el, Isra-el, etc. Israel, for example, was the name given to Jacob after he wrestled with an angel and means 'God prevails' or 'one who prevails with God'.

I love languages. I think it's fascinating to learn things like this about Hebrew because of the knowledge that opens up about so many things in the Bible. But it's also just fun for me to learn about languages for the joy of learning. I don't know why, but I get a kick out of it. I think maybe I'll spend some time studying languages after I retire.

Another cool little Hebrew factoid: much like our word for the family of letters we use to make words derives from the first two Greek letters (alpha + beta => alphabet), the name for the Hebrew family of letters is a combination of the names of the first two Hebrew letters (alef + bet => alefbet). I can pronounce the names of the Hebrew letters, but I can't write them. In fact, some of them look so similar, I wonder how people can distinguish them quickly while reading! I suppose you get used to it like anything else.

I think it's fascinating to compare the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin letters and see similarities in names, sounds, and letter shapes. Like Latin has influenced so many of the modern Romance and Germanic languages, there were older languages and dialects that influenced these ancient languages and account for their similarities. But that's about as far as my knowledge goes right now. I would love to learn more about the origins of these ancient languages someday.

Soul Surfer

At Emily's suggestion, we watched a movie last week called "Soul Surfer". It was REALLY good!

It has some of our favorites actors in it and the story was really inspiring. It's about a girl who is competing in surfing competitions and while surfing one day with some friends, her arm is bitten off by a shark. The story deals with how she copes with this event and it's really beautifully done. Ultimately, she teaches herself to surf with one arm and continues to compete.

My daughter broke her arm last week and she's learning to cope with limited use of one of her arms. It's been pretty challenging for her. But it's temporary. Watching that movie and seeing that young woman's courage was really inspiring for me. The movie is based on a true story and the actual woman really does seem as courageous as the movie portrayed her. That woman lost the complete use of her arm for the rest of her life. The psychological toll that must have taken is beyond my ability to comprehend, but I got a taste of it watching the actress deal with it. It was really cool.

I think the best part of the movie was when she went on a mission trip and found the resolution of her difficulties through helping other people. I think there's a beautiful truth there - it seems that what is often required of us in order to overcome our problems is to forget our problems and help someone else deal with their problems. I don't know why that is exactly, but I think it has something to do with learning to love others. To love them so much that we forget ourselves. I think that may be one of the fundamental purposes of this life. Love and friendship are so important.

If you haven't seen the movie, you might want to check it out. I love it when the entertainment industry produces such positive, uplifting material.

Communicating with Children

Bill Cosby recorded an awesome standup routine called "Himself" that I used to listen to when I was a kid. I still have some of it memorized. There are lots of family/marriage/parenthood jokes and they're great because they really ring true.

Among the many nuggets of wisdom he shares is the idea that children are brain damaged. If you haven't seen it, I'll let Cosby explain it to you himself:



When my children were babies, I couldn't communicate with them very well at all. I would sometimes try to reason with them saying things like, "Look, I know you're tired, but crying about it isn't helping." or "I know you're uncomfortable, but I've got to tell you - you'd feel a whole lot better about yourself if you'd stop pooping in your diaper." For some reason, they never really responded to those bits of parental wisdom. But as they've gotten older, I find that I'm able to appeal to their reason more and more. My oldest can have a pretty intelligent conversation with me and I can make logical arguments with him that he understands. I compare him with my youngest who repeats the same acts of disobedience over and over and seems, at times, an awful lot like Cosby's "I dunno!" brain damaged child.

And then I thought of myself and how I sometimes repeat the same stupid mistakes over and over and over again. And I think that God must look down on us sometimes with a smile and a shake of his head and think "Brain damage!". It occurred to me that this experience of being a father could be leading me to a much greater understanding of what God sees when He looks at us. There are times I get frustrated with my children when they repeat the same mistakes over and over again. I don't think God gets frustrated with us. But I imagine there are times when His attempts to communicate with me are about as effective as my attempts to communicate with my dog, who in all respects, is even more retarded than my brain-damaged children. When I talk to my dog, I imagine he hears his name, a few command words like "come", "go", "sit", etc and the rest sounds like the teacher in the old Peanuts cartoons.

The only downside for me in this analogy is that my dog really seems to try to understand me. When I'm talking to him, I have 100% of his attention and he seems to hang on every word. Maybe I should try to be as faithful to God as my dog is to me.

More Jobs at the Old House

Last weekend, a friend came to help me finish up the work on our old house. We finished a little bit of work on the retaining wall and then filled in some cracks in the cement stairs leading to the house. The fun part was taking down the playset and fitting it in the van. I'm guessing my friend is really good at tetris because he got the whole thing in there, which was great. We had a few tools we had to leave behind because they wouldn't fit (e.g. ladder, wheelbarrow), but the whole playset went in one trip. It was great! And thanks to him, we were done in time to get home for dinner. Without his help, I probably would have left around 9 or 10.

It has been a lot of work, but we're finally done and we're probably going to close this week. I'm so thankful this is working out for us and I look forward to owning only one house again. And I'm thankful for friends who are so willing to drop everything to help out.

Till We Have Faces

Some years ago, I read a book by C.S. Lewis called "Till We Have Faces". It's my favorite of Lewis' works. I'm sure you've read a book or seen a movie where you're led to believe something - a certain paradigm for viewing the world and particularly whatever story is being told - only to have that paradigm dashed near the end. I had that experience with this book the first time I read it. I bought into the story Lewis was weaving and took the part of the main character without regarding the hints Lewis was dropping of another reality. Near the end, I had a pretty dramatic wake-up call as I saw what had actually happened as the main character realizes the same things I was coming to understand. Lewis is a master storyteller.

I recently picked it up again and read through it, knowing how it ended, and savoring the two opposing viewpoints as the story weaved itself so beautifully in my mind. I enjoyed it so much that I read it a third time shortly after I finished the second reading and even more interesting ideas presented themselves to me as I went through the exercise again. I am in awe of Lewis' talents as an author, an artist, and a philosopher. I'm grateful he was able to capture some of that philosophy for me to enjoy years after his death.

The story is a retelling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche, but with a very interesting twist. It's Lewis' twist that gives the story its power. And it sets the stage for Lewis to share with us some of his thoughts on life and on God. But his philosophy isn't in your face in this book. You could read the book and just enjoy it for its symbolism, beauty, and genius. But if you're interested in his philosophy, it's a lot of fun to tease it out as you read. And if you're like me, it may take multiple readings to really grasp what Lewis is trying to say.

One of the things that struck me on my last reading was Lewis' thoughts on love. And it occurred to me that what we call love is very often something different. It usually has elements of love in it, but often it's mixed with greed, jealousy, pride, and even hatred. Near the end of the book, as Orual, the main character, is forced to examine her life and motives, I felt compelled to examine my motives and I have determined that much of what I often call love is really selfishness. I think we're born with a great capacity to love as children, but it's mixed with a very self-centered view. This selfishness seems to be so ingrained in our natures that it would take a miracle to change us into loving creatures. As Orual says, "I was ... ugly in soul ... greedy, blood-gorged. But if I practiced true philosophy, as Socrates meant it, I should change my ugly soul into a fair one. .... [But] a horrible memory crept into my mind of those days when I had tried to mend the ugliness of my body with new devices in the way I did my hair or the colours I wore. I'd a cold fear that I was at the same work again. I could mend my soul no more than my face. Unless the gods helped.".

If I say I love my wife, that's probably true to a large extent, but if I'm honest with myself, my feelings for her are mixed up with the good that I derive from the relationship and a selfish desire to have her near me for the way she makes me feel and the benefits I obtain from being with her. That may not necessarily be bad, but it's easy for that to become something negative if I'm not motivated by a pure love - the kind of love that says "I want what's best for you even if that brings pain to me." Orual is faced with a decision where she ultimately chooses something for someone else and she selfishly makes a choice that brings misery to everyone. She's not an evil character, but near the end of the book, she undergoes a transformation that teaches her (and the reader if he's paying attention) about what love really is and she experiences a kind of revolution and cleansing of the soul that prepares her to meet God (or the gods) and her loved ones after she dies.

There is so much to this book and I've given it a very inadequate review here. I can't even explain the meaning of the title of the book without giving away something that might make the book less powerful for you. But I highly recommend it. And if you have a chance to read it or if you've read it before, let me know your thoughts. I feel like I'm a little better man for having worked through it a few times.

Thanks Lewis for the life you lived and for your wisdom that you've shared with me over the years. I hope you have found the beauty you were seeking.

Retaining Wall

The buyers of our old house asked for a few repairs, one of which was the replacement of a rotting retaining wall. I've been toying with replacing that wall for years, but never had the desire/guts to do it. I decided to go ahead and tackle it now that someone else asked for it as a condition of sale. I seriously underestimated that project.

It took me the entire day yesterday. My muscles ache, my hands and arms are scratched and irritated, and I've been humbled by some extremely heavy railroad ties. But I did it. Here's a low-quality picture of the new wall with a few of the old ties sitting by the new wall. Some of the lower ties were in decent shape, so I left them alone. You can see a small color difference between the old and new. I had already hauled away most of the old wood when I remembered I hadn't taken a picture. It looked a little more impressive before, but you get the idea.

The third row from the top is one eight-foot railroad tie. I can't pick up an entire tie by myself. All I can do is pick up one end and move it around that way. After several unsuccessful attempts to get that sucker on top of the wall and several silent prayers, I tried pushing it up the side of the wall. I got it even with the top of the wall, but couldn't get it on top. Then the idea came to me to let one end rest on the tie just below the top and swing the other end around and lift it enough to get it on top of the wall. A little more sweat and blood and I got it pushed into place. It's hard to explain how it worked, but after struggling with it for about 20-30 minutes, I was able to get it where it needed to go.

Every time I take on a new project, things come up that I wouldn't have imagined tackling and the project becomes more difficult and takes longer than I originally estimated. This project was no exception. I had to bring most of my tools from the old house. I ended up borrowing several tools from a neighbor like a reciprocating saw (my circular saw didn't quite cut through the entire width of the railroad ties) and an axe so I could use the butt end to slam the spikes into the railroad ties (that darn rubber mallet just wouldn't cut it). I should have used this as an excuse to buy a sledge hammer, but I didn't want to run to the store again.

My biggest mistake was underestimating the weight of the ties. A little research online tells me new ties might be 150, even 200 pounds. Maybe I'm weaker than I thought, but they seemed like more than that to me. All I know is they're HEAVY! The guy at Lowe's told me he had a friend who at one time carried two of them, one on each shoulder. I have never been and never will be that tough.

Another fun things that popped up was the failure of my extension cord. I had a long cord and a short one. The long one didn't work, so I used the short one for a while, but found it didn't reach far enough to do what I needed. I debated going to the store again (already sick of doing that), trying to repair the cord, or finding some other workaround. After a minute of debate, I sat down for about 15-20 minutes and spliced and taped the wires where the cord had been cut. I hadn't factored that little adventure (one of many) into my original estimate. But it worked.

Anyway, the wall is done; Brett is sore; and he feels pretty dang good about it. Another Saturday should wrap up some small cement repair projects and the disassembly and loading of our old playset so we can set it up at our new home. Our youngest has been praying for several things every night for weeks. Among them are pleas for help in selling our house and help in bringing our playset to our new house. The buyers wanted the playset, but partly because of those prayers, I negotiated to keep it. I figured if God was willing to answer that first request, I could help with the second. It's worth a little extra work to help answer those sweet little prayers. Funny how something like that can tug at my heart and make me do something I wouldn't normally have done.

Missing Teeth

My youngest had an accident a year or two ago where she injured her two front teeth. Recently, my wife noticed a cist-like growth on the gums just above one of the teeth, so one dentist visit later, and ...

no more teeth! I think the abscess is gone now too. The bad news is that the loss of those teeth is a little premature. The good news is she'll be able to sing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" a little longer than most kids. Lucky girl.

A few days after the teeth-pulling adventure, she smacked her face on a shelf at the grocery store. I still don't really know how that worked because I wasn't there, but Emily can tell you more about it. She ended up with a really big green bruise above her left eye. I'm pretty sure she looked like an abused child for a few days. Thankfully her eye is looking much better.

Life knocks you around a bit, but thankfully almost everything heals with time and patience. I think with God's help, those things that don't seem to heal with time may end up being healed someday too.

Bowling Night

We went bowling last night and had so much fun! I can't really explain why we had so much fun, but we all agreed it was one of the best nights we've had together in a while. We all cheered for each other, some of us danced and acted crazy, and one of the best parts was watching as my youngest would roll the ball down the aisle and cheer for herself as soon as the ball left her hands. It was so sweet!

The downside was getting beaten by my wife and oldest son. Here's the rundown:

Child #1: 104
Emily: 103
Brett: 102

No lie; those were the three highest scores. Oh well. I had a blast anyway. :)

Our Old House, Community Fun, and Old Books

Last week, on the very same day, we got an offer to buy our house and another offer to rent it. We're negotiating to sell and it looks like the deal's going to go through, so I'm really excited. Hopefully we'll have that off our backs in a few weeks.

We were down in the old community working on the house last Saturday and decided to stop by a community event we used to go to regularly. They had a fire truck, armored vehicles, and a tank that the kids could look at and for some of the vehicles, they were allowed to get inside and mess around. There were lots of booths, mostly full of things the kids don't care about. And there were some blow-up bounce houses and slides.

You know what's funny, though? We were there for a couple hours and the biggest draw for all of us was a used book sale going on in the courthouse. We spent more time there than anywhere else including the tank or the bounce houses. I'm pretty sure that makes us weird, but it makes me really happy that my kids all love books.

And even though I really love our new home ... I love our old home too. There are a lot of things I'll miss about it. But I'm also grateful to be where we are now.

Parade

Our community had a parade about a week ago and our kids had a blast. You can't tell from the picture, but trust me ...

Emily and I had a blast too. It was so fun watching them and it was cool to see some of what the community has to offer as various groups came parading by. Seeing the high school bands was one of the best parts. The high school we're slated for has a REALLY good band. That's cool because I played the trumpet in high school in a really high quality band and that was a great experience for me. I'd love to have my kids have that kind of experience if they're interested. I can see at least a couple of them wanting to do that.

Later that day, we went by an outdoor mall and walked around. There was a Borders there and we popped in to look at the clearance sale. I picked up a couple of Shakespeare's works for about $0.15 each. There were quite a few on the shelf, so I guess poor William isn't in as big a demand as he used to be. I think he's great. He's not quite my favorite author, but for 15 cents, I'll take a classic to have on the shelf.

The kids found other entertainment. Climbing on the statues at the mall was pretty fun too.

I love our new home.

Roller Skating

We went roller skating on Labor Day and had such a good time. My kids have only done it a couple of times before, but the three oldest picked it up again after a few minutes. The youngest had never done it before and she was so miserable at first. I was able to help her cheer up a bit, though, and she worked really hard at it.

Her salvation was a training device I'd never seen before. It was a PVC pipe assembly with wheels on the bottom. Check this out.

After that, she was golden. Look at the smile on her face! Within just a few minutes, she was skating so fast, I was a little nervous. That little girl has such drive. She wanted to be able to skate like her older siblings and she was awesome. We gave the trainer back after a while and she got out there by herself and she was fine after that.

I love holidays.

New Home Scorecard

Every time I think about it, I feel really grateful for our new home. Here's my latest scorecard:

• House: We loved our old house, but the new one is fantastic. I think it is just about perfect. I have told my wife several times that when we die, I want a house like this one in heaven.
• Neighborhood: Our subdivision has about 30 homes in it. I think we had about 8 or 10 neighbors come by in the first couple weeks to welcome us. Many of them brought gifts. Our kids have made friends with several of the neighbors and they love to ride bikes and play together. Our old neighborhood was great too, but most of the time we lived there, there were no children for our kids to play with.
• Community: Something about the area just feels like home. The community seems really well kept and people seem to really care about their surroundings. We went to a local parade recently and it was a blast!
• School: I've already blogged about this, but the school system we're in now is amazing!
• Commute: My commute is 5-10 minutes shorter each way. One of my favorite things is on the way home, I have several places where, if I see traffic is backed up, I can get off the main road and take alternate routes. Much easier on the nerves.
• Church: Our new ward is amazing! The church we attended in our old house had a lot of really wonderful people in it, but the culture was unhealthy for several reasons that I won't explain here because I don't want to offend anyone. I'm sure our new church has its problems, but I haven't seen too many yet. Maybe it's still the honeymoon stage, but I LOVE our new church family. There are so many fantastic people and the Spirit we feel together is so uplifting and sweet.
• Scouts: My son is in Cub Scouts and he was pretty unmotivated to attend the Scout program where we used to live. Since moving here, he has been so excited to go to every single meeting because it's so well organized, they do fun activities, and he feels like he's achieving some of the scouting goals.

So far, this new home has an A on all counts. Based on what I've seen so far, I'm ready to settle down for the rest of my life. That may be partly because the pain of moving is still fresh in my mind, but I've told several people that I want to die in that house. And the weird part is I think I'm serious about that.

Religion and Open-Mindedness

Sometimes it seems to me that religion is antithetical to open-mindedness. I've collected a few quotes below from religious leaders from my church and one from scripture that encourage open-mindedness. The sentiments are very refreshing.

"We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out true Mormons." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 316)

"I want to say to my friends that we believe in all good. If you can find a truth in heaven, earth or hell, it belongs to our doctrine. We believe it; it is ours; we claim it." (Discourses of Brigham Young selected by John A. Widtsoe, p. 2)

 "... the most prominent difference in sentiment between the Latter Day Saints and sectarians was, that the latter were all circumscribed by some peculiar creed, which deprived its members of the privilege of believing anything not contained therein, whereas the Latter Day Saints have no creed, but are ready to believe all true principles that exist, as they are made manifest from time to time." (The Journal of Joseph: The Personal Diary of a Modern Prophet, p. 203)

"One of the grand fundamental principles of Mormonism is to receive truth. Let it come from where it may." (An American Prophet's Record:  The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith, p. 395)

"... study and learn and become acquainted with all good books, and with languages, tongues, and people." (D&C 90:15)

My experience with religiously-minded people has been a bit mixed. One thing I love about the church we've been attending since we moved is that the members of the church seem to generally be well educated, but are also open to new ideas.

Have I mentioned that I love our new home?

Feminism vs Femininity

A friend of mine recently posted about her reaction to the ending of a play version of The Little Mermaid. Apparently, in this version, Ariel kills Ursula and King Triton says Eric doesn't need his permission to marry his daughter. My friend expressed some uneasiness with this feminist indoctrination creeping into a play intended for children although the points did seem to be lost on her children.

What I thought was interesting was the reaction of some of the people who made comments on her post. There were four comments from people who felt strongly enough about feminism to state their disagreement with my friend's position. No supportive comments were made. That got me thinking enough to post about this.

I think it's great that women are more free right now than they have often been in history to pursue their lives in the way they think best. I think it's great that many women today feel empowered and able to choose what they want out of life. But although we have the feminist movement to thank in part for this progress toward freedom, there have been some undesirable side effects of the feminist program, in my opinion.

I think that feminism, taken to extreme, takes away some of what makes women feminine. My reaction to what my friend wrote about the play's ending was: "What the heck was Eric doing while Ariel was single-handedly saving the day?" That's great that Ariel was able to kill Ursula, but isn't it the man's job to protect his loved ones? What do we lose by rewriting the play such that Ariel is forced to take up the sword, trident, or whatever it was, and do the dirty work?

Somebody's got to do it, certainly, and if I'm not around and my family needs defending, I want my wife to feel empowered to do whatever it takes to protect them. But if I'm there, guess who's grabbing the gun. And that's not a misogynist act; it's a loving one. It's not an attempt to say that my wife is incapable of doing it, but rather, that it's my duty to do it. The truth is I am more capable of fighting than she is, but I don't take on the task because I seek to minimize or belittle her abilities. I do it because I love her. If someone's going to be on the front lines, I'd rather do it than have her put herself in danger for my sake.

Another reason I consider it my duty to do the dirty work is my belief that those kinds of acts are not exactly feminine. It seems to me that a woman loses something of her femininity by willfully engaging in violent acts. And by engaging in various other nonviolent acts in an attempt to show men that women are just as capable of doing everything men do, I think many women have lost much of their femininity. I think the extreme feminist agenda has taken away something of the incredible beauty of womanhood from many of the women who have bought into the feminist worldview.

Women don't need to be coddled, but there is something sweet about a man caring for his wife and doing things for her that she might be able to do herself, but doing them to show he cares for her. My wife likes to feel protected and she likes it when I'm at home because she feels more secure. I don't think she's a wimp because of that; I think she's a sweet woman who trusts me to take care of her.

There's a scene at the end of Disney's Tarzan where Tarzan and Jane are frolicking through the forest and the newbie is keeping up with the guy who's been 'snowboarding' on the treetops his whole life. In fact, she's doing just as well as he does. But somewhere in the middle of this romp, he catches her and she lets him hold her for a few seconds as if she were a little baby. Then they go back to their romp. I love that scene because I think it captures a little of what I think a healthy marriage relationship needs. Tarzan didn't feel threatened with Jane's snowboarding skills and she didn't feel the need to prove herself to him, but even though she became very capable, she wasn't afraid to be held. To me, it looked like an act of love not one of tyrannical dominion.

And about Triton disclaiming his authority as a father ... maybe it's old fashioned, but I think it's sweet when a man asks the father for permission to marry his daughter. That doesn't mean the father has the right to be a tyrant and abuse his authority. If he did - and I know that some do even without that quaint old custom - I might encourage the abused young couple to elope. But what's wrong with asking? Does it minimize a woman's freedom for her boyfriend to be respectful of her father's position?

I think the feminist movement has had some good come of it, but I'm afraid the net effect hasn't been very positive. I also believe, for example, that feminism has contributed to the breakdown of the family and although I didn't touch on it above, that connection makes the net effect extremely negative from my perspective.

After seeing the reaction to my friend's post, I think the beliefs I've outlined above may put me in the minority. Not that I care what others think in the sense that their beliefs don't threaten my beliefs or my feeling of self worth ... but I am curious about the prevailing sentiments. So what do you think of feminism? And don't be shy; I really would like to know. Even if you disagree with me. Especially if you disagree.

Earthquake!

I was in Virginia yesterday on business when the 5.8 quake hit. It was weird. I don't think I've been in an earthquake since I was a child and I wasn't exactly sure it was a quake at first. I certainly didn't expect a quake in Virginia.

I was in a meeting in an office on the fourth floor with two walls of windows. It felt like that office might just slide off the building and crash to the ground. That might seem unreasonable, but being that high up, seeing outside on two sides of the room, and feeling the whole building sway ... that was kind of freaky.

I've been in stronger quakes than that, but that was quite a long time ago and the memories have faded a bit. Yesterday felt pretty surreal.

I think that by the time I realized what had happened, the quake was over - it only lasted a few seconds - and although it shook us up a bit, we went back to our meeting after a few minutes of animated discussion and finished our work. So it wasn't awful, but it was pretty freaky and I'm glad I don't live on a fault line anymore. California is beautiful, but I prefer the South.

Awesome School

My wife went to a parents' night for our oldest son's class last night and she was so impressed. She told me every single child in the class had at least one parent attending. Some had both. It feels like a different world here. At our old school, maybe half of the kids would have parents attending something like this.

She also told me there were about half a dozen sign-ups to help with the class as a room mom. Woah! Emily was the room mom for TWO of our kids' classes last year because no one else would sign up!! Now we have a class where about six parents have already volunteered?!

I've seen the correlation between parental involvement and academic excellence before, but this is really driving that point home for me. This school is one of the best in the state. I think I know one of the reasons. This is so refreshing to see so many parents who care so much about their childrens' education.

I love our new home.

Iowa Straw Poll Humor

Sometimes Jon Stewart is crude, but he's almost always pretty funny. I don't think a steady diet of Stewart would be healthy, but this segment of his is REALLY good.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a big fan of Ron Paul, which may be one reason I thought this video was so funny. It may help to know the results of the Republican Iowa Straw Poll before you watch it.

Place	Candidate	Votes	Percentage
1	Michele Bachmann	4,823	28.6%
2	Ron Paul	4,671	27.7%
3	Tim Pawlenty	2,293	13.6%
4	Rick Santorum	1,657	9.8%
5	Herman Cain	1,456	8.6%
6	Rick Perry (write-in)	718	4.3%
7	Mitt Romney	567	3.4%
8	Newt Gingrich	385	2.3%
9	Jon Huntsman	69	0.4%
10	Thaddeus McCotter	35	0.2%
—	Scattering	218	1.30%
Total		16,892	100%

Source: Wikipedia

Note that third place Pawlenty dropped out of the race after the results came out. It may also help to know that Mitt Romney, who is a "Mormon", didn't actually run in the poll, but he got quite a few votes anyway.

Here's the video. Enjoy.

The Daily Show
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Favorite line: "What?! Jon Huntsman?! Huntsman got 69 votes! If all of Jon Huntsman's supporters met at the same Ames, Iowa Quizno's, the Fire Marshall would say, 'Yeah that's fine; no problem. There's still some tables open in the back.'"

Two Houses

I never wanted to own two houses. A neighbor of ours (we'll call him Charlie) moved out to get his kids into a different school and his house sat vacant for about three years. I felt really bad for him, but I always told myself there was no way I was going to do that. Hmm ... I should listen to myself more often.

Now I find myself in a similar situation for similar reasons. Our house has been on the market since March and we haven't had any offers yet. About a week ago, someone moved into Charlie's house. They're doing a lease-to-purchase and I talked with Charlie when he pulled up to the house. Odd that we happened to meet when neither of us lives in the neighborhood anymore. We talked about our situations and I described to him my conversations with myself (see above). He laughed and I went on to tell him we felt good about the choice and we felt like God would take care of us. He then told me that although they were really strapped carrying two mortgages, he had seen God take care of him. He said God had placed work in front of him in really amazing ways and although they had very little savings, he has always had enough work to take care of his family and his obligations. This from a small business owner in some very difficult economic times. I felt a really sweet feeling come over me as he described his experiences. Charlie is a good man and I wish him the best.

Now I'm hoping we can find someone to buy or lease-to-purchase our old house. We tried really hard to make sure the two mortgages wouldn't stretch us beyond our capacity, but I'm uncomfortable with this much debt. It will be really nice when we can turn one of those into some cash. Given the state of the economy and the real estate market, I don't know when that will happen. But I'm trusting God to take care of us. I felt like He led us to make these decisions and I believe everything will work out for the best, whatever that means.

School is Fun

New schools, new friends, new experiences. I have been so excited for my kids and they have been pretty nervous. I understand. I remember being the new kid in school.

Their first day of school came recently and I heard it went really well. My oldest came home saying something like "I want to go to school every day!". That's good news because ... he will. :) I was so thrilled to hear that. And it sounds like the others had really good experiences too. My second child, who is generally quite shy, came out of her shell a little and made a friend.

They rode the bus to and from school and that has been great too. At our last school, the bus driver separated boys from girls and typically yelled at the kids. We opted out of the bus system. Their new bus driver sounds really sweet and the whole school seems great! I am so happy for them. I think education is extremely important and knowing that they're having positive experiences makes me really happy.

I love our new home.

New House

We just bought a new house! Cool, huh? There's a beautiful area in the city a little closer to where I work with really good schools and a really nice church congregation that we're excited about. House prices have typically been crazy there, but the recent slump has made it more affordable. We're still paying more than we would like, but we feel like it's worth it and we're excited to be in that community. I'm also excited for my kids to get into some really high quality schools.

Here's a picture of the house from the front. It's really beautiful inside and out.

Here's my favorite part, though. It has a bidet in the master bathroom. Who doesn't want one of those? We'll be living like aristocrats now.

Last weekend, I installed a hot water heater and that was a fun experience! I had never done that before, but thanks to whoever invented Sharkbite connectors, I felt like I could do it. If you ever have to do a plumbing job with high-pressure pipes and you don't want to sweat pipes (like me), check them out. They are AWESOME for the amateur. I wouldn't have attempted the install without those. And thanks to my brother-in-law who pointed them out to me and gave me confidence that I could do it. Our new house now has hot water. And we're going to be really busy moving in this weekend. Maybe once we get settled, I'll have some more time to post random thoughts to this blog. Thanks for reading!

Family Reunion

We had a family reunion recently and my brother got married. It was really nice! Keystone is a great place to vacation and we really enjoyed it. Here are a few photos of the trip.