Bye bye October

Is it supposed to be 75 degrees entering November?

This past weekend went well. I picked up Jalen for his first weekend visit to our home since June 2005. Noah responded to him surprising well, even giving him the nickname "JJ". Nick felt he had to compete with everyone else for his big brother's attention and finally ended up working himself into a spanking. Although I've seen him sporadically during this past year and some change, I hadn't fully realized just how much he's grown. While Nick is probably going to be tall and slender, Jalen is probably going to have an offensive/defensive lineman's body. He's at least 5'8", outweighs me, has hands that are equal in size to mine, and can wear my shoes. My shoes range from a 13 to a 14, depending on the manufacturer, but he can fit them all. Whoa. And he hasn't hit his growth spurt yet. I think my grocery bill is about to double. Luckily his waist size hasn't changed since we last had him, so the pants we had for him still fit. It was funny seeing him tower over people at church who haven't seen him in a while (like Summer). He got to hear two timely messages from Mr. B. and Mr. Meredith to boot. We spent Sat. nite on the couch munching popcorn, watching my Seminoles lose to Maryland again. At least his Miami Hurricanes had already lost to Ga. Tech. At least my Cowboys won Sunday night, keeping me from leaping from the 3rd floor of my lab.

I found out that the hot dogs at Fuddrucker's are really good. More expensive than an entire pack of Hebrew Nationals or Ball Park's, but good - as are the onion rings. (And the oatmeal raisin cookies).

I dreamt last night that the baby is going to be a boy.

I wasted several hours last nite watching VH-1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s". I'm a sucker for those type of shows. I remember watching like 8 episodes of "I Love the 80s" (or was it the 70s) in one sitting. Yeah, that was a really productive day.

More emigration

Buckblog over at It's a Paul World has an interesting take on the latest South African LCG-to-RCG defection. Dr. Bob Thiel talks about it as well. I guess there must be something in the water down there.

I needed that

Thanks Moni.

A labmate called me in the lab to chat because she hasn't seen me since before the Feast (I've been coming in at night to accomodate the M.R.S.'s school schedule). We had quite a good talk. She feels just as despondent and adrift as I do when it comes to school matters. The two of us share many concerns and frustrations about our degree progress. It is comforting to know that I'm not the only one here feeling inadequate, unprepared, and at times like quitting. I think I'm more to blame for my situation than she is for hers, but finding a kindred spirit is always nice. I found out from her that another mutual acquaintance just had his December graduation pushed back to May, so the three of us are planning to drown our sorrows in a couple of adult beverages one day this week. (OK, so I won't exactly drown my sorrows, but you get the idea...) Yep, I like doing science less and less by the day.

Desiree, if I don't get the van, the M.R.S. will kill me. I'd much rather have an Escalade or Navigator. Quick question - could the Jetta hold 6?

Firefox is trippin'

Firefox just removed all of my bookmarks. And required me to create a profile when I opened it. What gives? I don't recall updating Firefox recently. My PC has been doing some strange things lately. Firefox has been freezing up; Windows MediaPlayer won't play - troubleshooting led me to believe I had a bad sound card. That was validated in my mind when iTunes wouldn't play either. Today iTunes decided to play - but MediaPlayer still refuses. The computer is also refusing to recognize the CD/DVD rom, meaning I can't burn files to CD to work on at home.

PS: Anyone out there trying to give away a van? I could feel my testerone levels dip as I typed that line.

The best-laid plans and whatnot...

Genesis 4:1 - Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived...

Genesis 29:35 - And she conceived again...

The shock is slowly wearing off. Guess I need to step up the search for a *gasp* minivan.

Stunning news

I just received some stunning news tonight. I need to see how things turn out over the next few days before I say more. Don't worry - the news wasn't bad, just shocking.

Daytona Beach mini-recap

Back from the Feast. For 10 days I didn't go near a computer and I didn't die. I got deathly ill, but didn't die. I think I'm on the road to internet recovery.

The Feast was exceptional. On the way down I scored major brownie points by taking the M.R.S. to Paula Deen's joint.

Our trip down was fairly smooth, and once we got checked in we found our temporary dwelling to be quite nice. I didn't get to hear very many complete sermons (thanks, Noah), but the portions I did hear were exceptional. It's always encouraging to me to hear about the kingdom and the wonderful meaning of the Last Great Day. It's always nice touching base with old friends, and we made some new ones as well. It's also funny how relationships develop amongst parents due to seeing each other in the lobby after taking the young ones out of services. I got to know a couple of people from Minnesota that way, as well as MD and TN residents. Of course Nick made quite a few new friends, and did a better job of dividing his time between the old and the new than I did.


The M.R.S. and I (as well as a few other Anderson members) got the opportunity to be a part of the Festival Chorale this year, which was an exilerating experience... Mr. Thomas directed us and his excitement and zeal were contagious. We sang the hymns "God is our Refuge" and "Be not Afraid" a capella (Summer, you were absolutely correct about that song), and on the Last Great Day we sang "With the Sound of Trumpets" with piano, sax, and trumpet accompaniment. The music as a whole was excellent. The kids sang "Won't it be Great in the World Tomorrow" with piano, electric bass, and flute accompaniment; the hymns during services were accompanied by M. Thomas on cello and Mary D. (13 years old!) on flute. Mrs. Winnail sang a POWERFUL, inspiring version of "The Holy City", accompanied by a Mr. McCarty on piano, and he also played a classical piece for offertory music on the LGD. Mrs. Thomas sang a soprano solo as well from Handel's Messiah... Which one was it now... Oh yeah - "How Beautiful are the Feet of Them"...

I think 13 babies were blessed this year on Family Day. The Anderson congregation helped out with the Scavenger Hunt for everyone and the Treasure Hunt for the kids. We were all pretty nervous about how things were going to turn out, but all I heard afterwards was positive feedback. The winning teams were rewarded, although one young member of the Village People would've appreciated a more material reward. You had to be there to understand. :-D

The most memorable sermons for me were Mr. Whitaker's sermon (ah, what was the title???) and Mr. Frank's Last Great Day sermon. Wonderful sermonettes were given by Mr. Ponder (GA/SC/AL), Mr. Poole (Anderson, SC), Mr. Beyersdorfer (Joplin, MO), Mr. Kobernat, Mr. Ames, and Mr. Brown (Tallahassee). I know I'm leaving some people out, but I'm at work and my notes are at home. I think you guys get the picture though - it was a rewarding Feast. I'm also looking forward to checking out Feast sermons from our library. Maybe then I'll get to finish watching the "Behind the Work" video (thanks again, Noah).

Oh yeah - Noah's deathly afraid of the ocean. And he was quite probably the most well-known young man at the Feast. Let's just say that he wasn't afraid of being heard during services. Or shy about singing. Or songleading, for that matter.




PS: Annette, I think your parents think I'm strange.