Water Watching and Road Running

I heard through the grapevine that it has been too long since a photo of Isabella showed up here. Who am I kidding? Nobody needs to tell me it's time for some granddaughter sightings. I'll see what I can do between now and Tuesday.

So, without further ado, let's see a sweet little picture of Isabella, taken in Ouray. (Hey, how come no one wants 'further' ado? Where does the first ado come from?)

I changed it to sepia and added a torn paper border. I also cropped it to focus only around Bella. I wanted a close-up of her face, but didn't find one I liked that is within the last 3-4 months. I'll have to fix that.


Then, I was playing with inserting one photo into another and came up with this one of Lindsay and Ben running away from the family in Ouray.

Prayer for Mother-in-law

Please pray for Kathie and family as we go to see her mother this weekend. She seems to be weakening in her fight with cancer and the doctor has modified his prognosis down to weeks or days. Of course, the Great Physician may still choose to cure her. In any case, we request prayers for doctors, for wisdom, for understanding, for His will.

Mmm, Mmm...Good

One definite good thing about my upcoming surgery. Lyndsay has offered to provide some meals. Too bad I have to wait another 10 days.

Four Weeks Without Driving??

Hey, the doc tells me I cannot drive for 4 weeks following my surgery. Wow, that's a long time. I think I'd better drive several hundred miles every day until then so it can all average out.

The surgery also means that I will delay my job search until mid-Sept with a hope of starting something in early Oct. I will keep watching for opportunities to apply for, though. Keep this search in your prayers.

I have not added anything to iTunes for over a week. At this rate, I'll never catch Susan.

The photo book is nearing completion. It looks good, if I do say so myself.

When Should You Pray?

Well, we should be in prayer constantly. However, I was actually referring to my upcoming surgery. Tuesday, Sept 4, at 2:30pm PHX time. So, I welcome any and all prayers.

Otherwise, nothing new. Still, I will trust His timing.

Ouray Photo book in final review status. iTunes song count is now 4411, although I did not work on it since Monday.

Let's Just Get It Over With

I left a voice mail for the surgeon today. Let's just go ahead and get the surgery done ASAP. I know he said there is no real hurry. It is a slow moving cancer and he is fairly certain it has not spread, but now is a good time since I do not have a job. I can stay home and complete my recovery.

Hey, readers, I did have a teacher suggest I could be her paraprofessional while they search for a full-time person. Hmm, it would pay the bills, right?

While looking through my LPs, we came across an ad campaign record put out by McDonalds back in the 70s. That was pretty funny. However, we had a copy that said we did not win, so I don't know why I still have it.

DKW, I am at 4401 songs now. Nowhere near Susan's 13K, but I'll do what I can.

Have y'all ever heard Anuna? I like their music, especially Dulaman. That is really cool. I moves back and forth between 6/8 and 7/8 (I am not sure how to annotate 6 eighth notes per measure and 7 eighth notes per measure). You can hear (and see) some of it on You Tube at http://youtube.com/watch?v=odS8Xu7ZyEA. Dulaman comes in at about 1 minute into the video. This also shows some of the songs from the PBS special that I saw the other night. They will be in concert here in PHX in Nov in Mesa.I may have to go. They also show they will be at Borders here Aug 21 at 7:30. Hmm.

I also see that you can hear the entire song on their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/anuna. Also check out the chords they build in Song of Oisin.

What Are You Reading?

Something I had forgotten since I was unemployed 2 years ago is that I tend to do less reading for pleasure, even though I had more time. Kathie, Ali and I all enjoy reading. I think Kyle reads some, but certainly less. I don't know about Lyndsay.

Anyway, isn't it exciting as you near the climax of a story and look forward to what you will learn in the following pages? I was in the shower this morning thinking about not doing any reading when I realized I never call the Bible something I read for pleasure. How sad for me, huh? It is not that I don't want to read the Bible, and I do enjoy reading it but it does seem to come second. Right now, if not always, it should be the place where I look forward to seeing what I can learn from the Author. Some days, I let the whole day go by and the only Scripture I read is from my Verse of the Day (VOD). That is a difficult admission, even to myself. I resolve to fix that, starting today.

Today's VOD is Luke 12:6-7 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

So, what are YOU reading?

No News Is Good News...I Hope

It's been a few days since I added a picture, so here is one of the group up on Engineer Pass south of Ouray on July 2.

No news today. No doctor appointment. No jobs. Well, I did sit in on a conference call about a network marketing job, but I cannot imagine myself doing that. I am still taking the Oracle CBT in case that direction works out.

Something Got Better, Something Got Worse

Saturday night, I got another US Airways lead from a former coworker. Reservations had openings for managers, and Karla was talking to some Res people. She would get me the contact info on Monday. Well, the positions are actually already filled, so I missed it by that much.

I had my eyes checked this morning. Somehow, I scratched the left lens of my glasses and it is always cloudy looking. So, I went to Nationwide and it turns out my eyes are a little better than 2 years ago. Weird, huh? The doc said that is not unusual, but I have never heard of it.

iTunes count - 4175. Oh yeah, I asked my firend Susan about her iTunes song count. Guess what it is? You can imagine I am leading to a higher number, but she said 13,000! I've got to get after it.

Happy 31st Anniversary, dear.

Come On Down, It's a New CAR!

That's right. Keith and crew got a new car this week. Well, it's new to them. Luckily, I caught a shot of it before they headed back to scenic NV. Ooo, and he got personalized plates, too.







Well, I wanted to move on to brighter topics, but then I saw what verse was displayed and thought I'd share it with you. However, it is obviously aimed at me. I think you'll agree when you read it. OK, Lord. I am listening.
Ps 119:130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

They Said Not To Do It

Kyle, Lyndsay, let me apologize right now for not calling you immediately. To everybody else, let me explain. When I got the biopsy results, Kyle and Lyndsay had left for Las Vegas for the weekend. I did not want to ruin their trip, so I decided to tell them when they got back. Then, I decided to go ahead and blog it because people knew when my biopsy was. No worries, right? After all, they would not check the blog during their trip. They haven't before.

You can guess what happened. They went to check in for their flight and went ahead and looked at the blog. There was my announcement, and they hadn't heard yet. So, Kathie and Alison, you were right and I was wrong. Kyle said to always tell them. They would have dealt with it and then been free to relax on their weekend.

Sorry. I should have learned from 2005 when I let them go on their honeymoon and did not tell them I had been laid off two days earlier. So, next time, full disclosure to the family. I love you all and was just trying to spare you worry.

I Wanna Be Like Daddy

I am sure that, as a child, I said that more than once. And if I didn't say it, I probably thought it. Well, I must have done it once too often because I have one of his medical issues.

I found out yesterday that I do have prostate cancer. I don't know the extent yet. We meet with the specialist next Friday at 8am. Luckily, they seem to have caught it early, so we'll see.

Next Monday is our 31st anniversary. Can you imagine having put up with me for that long? Or even half that long? I am certainly a lucky man and thank God for Kathie every day.

Have I been praying for patience lately? It certainly seems that God is working a number of things in my life. I know I am seeking His will, and will trust Him in all things, even this new development. Today's verse is I Sam 16:7 The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

You know what? Maybe when I said I wanted to be like Daddy, God didn't interpret it as my earthly father? Shouldn't we all want to be like Him?

There's no need to fear

Nice verse for the day. James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. If I believe that, I cannot be depressed about the lack of replies to my job applications. And Luke 12:27-31 says Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Anyway, when I started this post, all I was thinking about was that I am starting to worry about not having a job or even a prospect of one right now. Then, all those verses came to mind. My original title was going to be "What? Me worry?" Now, I'll give it another title.

I feel your prayers and support. Thanks to all of you for checking in on my blog.

Back in School

So, Kathie and Alison are back at school. Kathie has 25 first graders and Alison is an aide in a classroom of 20 kindergartners. She is trying to decide if she thinks she wants to pursue teaching certification. Actually, Leigh is back in a classroom, also, but I don't know any details.

I am back into nothing. Well, not entirely true. I am doing some things, but not getting a paycheck. I am studying Oracle 11i, creating a photo book of the Ouray vacation (Rick, where are your photos?), and ripping my old LPs into iTunes. So, my number now is 4034 songs, and I have 2 James Taylor albums that need to be finished. You rip them, reduce the noise, reduce the clicks, normalize the amplitude, then add them to the iTunes library. I am also trying to help my beloved with house straightening and laundry.