On the Road

Of the 592 hours that have transpired in the month of June thus far, I have spent approximately 60 of them driving around the country in our minivan. (That is 10.1%) When we are on these road trips, there are only three activities in which I can engage without getting car sick: 1)Driving, 2) Listening to music or podcasts or audiobooks, and 3) Thinking. Of course, all three of these activities can be engaged in concurrently. I tend to think alot as the scenery along the interstate blazes past us at 65 or 70 or 75 miles per hour. Here is a collection of some of the more coherent of my thoughts from the road.



Part One - "The Blame Game"
We ate at a Cracker Barrel on Monday night. Our waitress had only one star on her apron. I'm assuming that means she is either new on the job or not very good on the job. Actually, I think it was a combination of both. I ordered my steak medium--it was well-done. My mom didn't want gravy on her potatoes--there was gravy on her potatoes. The camel back-breaking straw was when my wife ordered country-fried steak and was given country-fried chicken instead. When Danielle mentioned this to our waitress she said this, "Oh, did they do chicken?" Her intended implication here was, of course, that it was not her fault but rather the fault of the cooks in the kitchen who prepared the food. That really irritated me. As if the cooks would just spontaneously decide to prepare something totally different than what was on the order form. "Hey guys! It's says steak, but let's do chicken instead!" Or maybe they just got the raw steak and the raw chicken mixed up because they look so much alike! What we have here is a classic case of blame-shifting. The girl didn't want to admit that she wasn't listening very carefully when we ordered our meals. I hate blame-shifting! I especially hate it when I do it! Would that we all we would learn how to admit when we are wrong!


Part Two will be forthcoming...

Our New Location

For those of you who have been wondering about our upcoming move, here is some geographic information...

Uncut Updates

Sometimes, in my effort to put together videos for this website, I tend to get a little too picky about the final product. It often takes me several hours to get a 5 or 6 minute video together. (What can I say? Greatness has its downsides!) I decided today that I would do something totally out of character for me--put a video on the site completely uncut and unedited! That's right, I will film only one take and slap that puppy on the blog without another thought. No music, no graphic, no touch-ups for the audience. Just me, my family, and the camera--the way home videos ought to be. My main reason for doing this is to provide quick updates on the goings-on in our lives. So here is the first installment in what I am calling, "Uncut Updates." (But you won't see that title on the video anywhere.) Hope this week finds all of you doing well!

Eldan's Two Year Pictures

These were taken by our friend Amber Walsh at a local park called Dawes Arboretum. Thanks Amber!

An Overlooked Blessing

Did you ever make one of those "never" statements?

Like...

"When I am a parent, I will never give my kids a bedtime!"

or...

"I will never work at a place that has a dress code!"

Well, I am glad to report that one of my "never" statements has been shattered irreparably. For several years I had boldly proclaimed, "I will never get a minivan!" Well, guess what? We are the proud owners of a 2000 Ford Windstar--the "Tan Van". In truth, we bought the vehicle in the middle of April, but I have been so busy with the end of school and the move that I had not yet taken the time to mention this blessing to my blogience. (I just coined that term--"blogience". It's blog and audience, in case you didn't catch it!) I must tell you that, in spite of my earlier aversion to the idea, I am very, very glad we have this vehicle. It is something for which we have been praying for over a year. Every time we would take a trip in the old green Cavalier; every time we would feel the pressure in our lower backs from hunching over to put Eldan in his car seat in the old car we would think of how nice it would be to have a bigger vehicle. We had to be pretty picky on our price range, but we found a friend who was willing to sell us this low mileage vehicle for a great price. What's more, I was able to sell the green car to a different friend for an equally great price! All in all, the whole business has turned our rather well. We have already put the van through its paces--it has been from Ohio to Florida and back, and is currently half-way through an Ohio to Colorado round trip. We love travelling in it and it has performed very well. The only glitch was a tire blowout in Kentucky but that was more the fault of the Kentucky Roads Department than anything else! I have included a few shots of the newest member of our family!