Those crazy British films....

Tonight we were watching Masterpiece Theater. As is the norm, there was a British piece on very much in the style and dress of all of those Jane Austen movies. We happened to be watching a somewhat tenderhearted scene. A older man was wooing an older woman. They had a history and had almost married at one time. Here, years later, they sat in a room and he asked if he might call upon her after he returned from a trip abroad. As is customary in films of these time periods, the language was not obvious. It was not dripping with affectionate statements. It was rather on the formal-side. I often wonder how much my younger children understand when we watch these pieces. But, I did not need to wonder for long...

As the scene ended and the suitor parted, Lyd said with much dismay...."He's going to die."

I was puzzled by the statement. Why would she say this? Did she think the somber tone meant that he was dying? So I asked....

"Well," she sighed, "It always happens in movies like this. Whenever someone likes someone, they die."

I laughed, knowing full well that she was right. I then said that maybe this time, things will be different.

As the program drew to a close, we learned that on the trip back home, our suitor caught a cold which turned to pneumonia and yes, he did indeed die. I must say I was disappointed at this turn of events. But our no-nonsense girl was once again correct and our heroine was left broken-hearted once again.

Next time, perhaps I will save myself some time and just ask Lyd how it will turn out in the end.

The return.....

I know that Ski has posted that our blog is now defunct. However, I recieved a request to keep going so here I am. I will be back in a day or so to post again once I get me thoughts together. :)

So stay tuned.....

Transitions....

I received an email from a dear friend and sister in the Lord that I used to work with back in my days with the "green/blue bank". She mentioned that she reads and enjoys our blog. It was great to hear from her again and to hear that someone else reads our little space in the blogsphere.

Over two years ago, my friends and even a few pastors in our church started talking about social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, GodSpace and other sites that I never really knew anything about. Some of the bands I listen to like the Lost Dogs, Family Force Five and others have links to their MySpace pages where you can listen to songs and stuff, but I never really "got" the purpose except for fans to post "thanks for the add man" on a big list of evergrowing comments.

Our caregroup leaders have their own blogs and I've seen them refer to their FaceBook status and mention that it's quick and easy to update where a blog takes a good bit of time to compose. Last year our kids did an Abbott and Costello routine for our Homeschool Arts festival and one of my friends said he had posted some good pics of them on FaceBook. I've heard the podcasters I listen to talk about Twitter and FaceBook but over the past year I heard more and more people talk about things they were sharing with friends there. I tend to be a very slow adapter but I knew several of my friends had FaceBook and blogs so I thought I'd check it out. I asked them a lot of security-type questions and it seemed that MySpace was still pretty open and exposed while FaceBook was not.

Well, that was almost two months ago and I've got to say that B and I are BIG fans of FaceBook now. It's probably the main reason we haven't posted anything to our blog in a LONG time. The status messages in FB have a character limit so it lends itself to shorter, often more current content updates--which is easier for me personally.

SO, given the title of this post, I'd like to encourage all who read our blog to continue to follow our family's daily goings on by creating a FaceBook account (a VERY easy process) and sending us a "friend request". You'll get a much more accurate picture of what's going on with us if you do. We post pictures and have been able to reconnect with long lost friends and relatives as well.

If you're ready to join us, you can view my page on FB using this link. I'm doubtful I will have time in the future to post anything further to this blog. Becky might and I think she has set it so this blog can post on her FB page too.

Thanks to all (or the few) that have read this blog in the past. PLEASE come join me on FaceBook. It's very secure and can be a lot of fun with fairly little effort on your part.

Don't Be Afraid to try Something New

My mother made fish when I was a kid and I HATED it. She bought fish fillets frozen in blocks. When I was first married, I thought we would try some fish. The kids were little and I made some. I took one bite and almost hurled. I made the kids eat it and they STILL remember.

Since then, I have tried tuna, salmon, tilapia, and mahi mahi. I have liked them all. I eat them plain. They are all pretty mild tasting except for salmon. However, I always liked canned salmon.

Since the allergist has said that ds can have fish, I have been trying to feed it to him regularly. It is a common thought that if in the past you have had an allergy and then begin eating it that you should do so on a regular basis in order to prevent recurrence. Isaac had very mild reactions to fish in the past so we avoided it mainly on principal. We figured late introduction would be better than early with a kid like him. At our last appointment, we asked for them to skin test for fish. All went well so we tried. Our first try produced an itchy rash on his face, but he also gets this with chicken. Wierd kid, huh?!?!

So, today I went out to pick up our fish. A local store had dressed trout on sale. I thought that sounded ok. But when I got there, I found out what that meant. The fish was whole with a head and everything!! I hesitated, but the guy told me to fry it. So I bought fish with heads and eyes!!

I came home and breaded it with cornmeal and fried it in an iron skillet. Oh my!!!! It was sooooo good!!! It almost tasted like chicken. I am tempted to buy more, but I am not sure that they would be as good frozen. Only Isaac and I ate it because Ski doesn't like fish and he made something for him and the rest of the kids.

One small step

I'm more principle-driven than goal-oriented. For me, that seems to give God more leeway to rule in my life than setting specific expectations. Nonetheless, one "goal" I had for myself this year (well last year actually) was to run an actual 5K race. I run about 9 miles a week and have done so for over a year now, so I've covered the distance many times over. I also do all of my running (so far) outside instead of using a treadmill.

But I knew there would be a different dynamic when 673 other people were running the same course. One thing I didn't know was where to walk into the starting corral. C and L (my cheering team for this race) thought I should start near the front, but I knew MANY people would be passing me and I didn't want to get run over (literally).

The race was the Yiasou Greek Festival 5k and all I really wanted was a t-shirt, my two free tickets to the festival (a yearly date nite tradition for B and I), and to finish under 16min/mile without stopping or dying.

I had the pleasure of meeting up with a brother from our church (he encouraged me the last 400 meters to finish strong) who was also running so that was nice.

I finished 561st out of 674 runners with a 5K time of 31min, 39seconds. My iPod told me I also ran a personal best for the mile, which was cool. I averaged a little over 10min, 12 sec/mile, so goal met. I knew I started faster than normal, but I wasn't sure if I could keep it up all the way. The top three uber-runners in my age group (40-44) ran a 17 minute race so my time is about twice theirs. I finished 79th out of 104 dudes in my age group.

Overall, I think I was able to find open spaces in the crowd to run comfortably in. I didn't dare look behind me 'cause I knew that would slow me down. I was also really tempted to join the growing crowd of walkers during the last half of the race, but I've promised myself never to stop until the end. (keep putting one foot in front of the other and listen to the tunes)

My camera battery was low but C did manage to get one pic of me right after the race. Boy, I look beat! (=

Now I'll start training for a 10k. All glory goes to God for endurance and strength to persevere. He is good!!

Half of a Century

My initial trip to PA was due to the fact that my parents celebrated their 50th Anniversary. My mother said that she never thought that she would make it to her 50th. There is good reason for that. Both of my parents graduated from college and taught for a number of years before they decided to attend Seminary. My mother did not marry until she was 32. They knew each other a short time and were engaged within a matter of months. When my father finally asked my mother out, he asked her for TWO dates. But you see, the odds were against my father and very much so in my mother's favor. There were only a handful of women at the seminary amongst a sea of men.

We only had a small family celebration at my parents' home -- mostly because my brothers and I aren't great at planning.




The following Sunday, my brother took my parents to The Hershey Hotel for brunch and I got to join them. What a yummy treat for all of us!!

A look inside

**Behind the scenes at BnSki**

Turns out B and I were posting (450 mi away from each other) at exactly the same time last night. That's typical for us. I hit Publish and I looked and there were two posts, with exactly the same post time (8:36pm). After reading hers, I HAD to change the date on mine to de-emphasize it. As usual, B's post (even though self deprecated in her comment) was poetic, profound and very well written. It's like she's able to concisely describe the types of things that are always in my head, but I seldom talk about. I've been fortunate to visit three of her parent's homes and she captures the essence of them beautifully in a way that brings so many similar experiences of my own life to mind.

While she's been up north dealing with emotional, sentimental, often difficult but extremely important, once-in-a-lifetime things, my days have consisted of the "every day" of life that she handles so much of in our home. Dishes, meals, the dog, laundry, sweeping, getting 6 ski-bums where they need to be on time, groceries, pharmacies, and trying to remember to meet with God, laugh with my kids and do or speak something affectionate to my beautiful spouse that I miss so much. Oh, and that doesn't even count things like school, attitudes, yard maintenance, alleriges or extra-curricular activities.

As I read her beautiful prose and consider the typical nature of my "gee whiz, looky here" posts, I am SO THANKFUL for all the beautiful things God gives me through my sweet B--and all the hard work and sacrifice she does for our family. It's my privilege to honor her here, publicly, and to release her to do whatever God calls her to do outside of our home.

I miss you honey. I'm glad you're coming home soon. I'm SO grateful for you.

So until I kiss your smiling face again...1,2,3.