Summer New Years

It was nice at the New Years Party to be able to grill outside, and to not have to worry about snowy road conditions. I think the runners didn't mind not having to layer up either.

For this reason it has been mentioned that perhaps we should permanently move the New Years party to Labor Day, or some other day in the summer time.

Personally, I don't want to move the party. I love having a New Years Eve bash. I certainly am sad that I won't be able to host one this year. Besides there are some people who find it easier to come in the winter time. However, I do have to admit that a summer party is also appealing.

So why not two parties. Perhaps we can have an annual labor day bash and a New Years bash. Besides, who says we can't get together multiple times in a year.

What does everyone think?

New Years, Part II

The trip to Ft. Wayne and back was quite nice. There was a little bit of construction on 24 near Defiance OH, however, traffic was moving at the construction speed limit so it wasn't a big problem. I must admit, as I was driving past lines of construction vehicles, I made an attempt to see what types there were, and wondered if there were any machines that my company has done work with. I didn't get that good a look though, seeing as I had to concentrate on that whole matter of driving. Speaking of work, there were brownies today in honor of the company's 3rd birthday (it came into being when Euclid-Hitachi left Euclid OH).

Getting back to the New Year's party/weekend...

I learned this weekend that:

• a four-year old can learn the phrase "hand sanitizer."
  
• running on New Year's in September is warmer than on Jan. 1
• 9 adults and 3 children can survive in a house with 1 bathroom and only have a line people get up early for church on Sunday
• "bunderbolts" is a word (at least in the world of some assembly required furniture)
  
• on should inspect the area you're placing a piece of furniture before completely assembling said piece
• Dr. Sherman's quote "Art Modell is a chiseling weasel" is a quote that will live in infamy forever... or at least as long as it is common ground between the Steelers' fans and me
• Even the best laid plans for a game can go awry when the roll of the dice does not correspond with the posted probabilities
  
• whoever estimated the length of time for such games does not know my friends
• the "camera priest" (so named because of a homily... long story) has been reassigned from Scared Heart (which is too bad)
• one should bring bug spray and limit the amount of exposed skin (ie wear long sleeved shirt, long pants) to a drive-in theater
  

In addition to these life lessons, there was Saturday Night Baking on Saturday morning, and time spent around young children and Rose friends. Probably lots of other stuff that neither Shaelin nor I have discussed; but there's only so much rambling I can do at a time.

Happy New Year

So as I write this I think most of the people who read this blog are in my living room celebrating the New Year. However, I could not let pass this momentous time to reflect about the previous year... Actually, I only had four hours of sleep and there is no way that I could possibly reflect on anything sensible.

Instead I will note a few pieces of wisdom that have come to mind from this party.

- Be very careful when a four-year-old is pretending you are a mountain

-Congressional districting should definitely be done differently, but coming up with the best solution is not as easy as you thought. And deciding is probably not worth losing sleep over.

-Zoa actually is a word.

-We all use lots of acronyms without ever knowing what they stand for.

-Wikipedia is useful.

- One bathroom is not enough for 12 people who are all trying to get ready for church.

Some financial advice:

Buy stock in disinfectant products!

Okay, maybe it just seems that we are using that much.

In order to curb the outbreak of giardiasis, we are disinfecting the entire house. Namely anything that might go into a child's mouth. And also anything that a child might touch, since that child might then put their hands in their mouth. So, in a word, everything.

For those of you coming to the party, you really don't have to worry about catching this parasite. Just follow these rules:

1. D0 not put random objects into your mouth.
2. Do not share food or drink with the children.
3. Avoid handling dirty diapers (as if you needed a rule for this).
4. Wash hands well and often.

Really, if proper hygiene is used, this infectious protozoa is not very contagious. It's just that children tend not to use proper hygiene and tend to put things in their mouths a lot. It can only be contracted by direct ingestion of Giardia Lamblia cysts (well, there's one other way, but I really don't want to think about it), the important thing is that it is not an airborne pathogen.

More info later.

Thankfully...

God does not call the equipped, He equips the called!

UGH!

I was going to write a really long post about my day.

Instead here's a summary.

Power struggle with Abigail
Find out Sammy has strange intestinal parasite
Find out I have same parasite
Call Nana to babysit
Go to appointment, spend an extra half-hour driving because of road construction
Go to Walgreens only to discover nowhere in Fort Wayne has Sammy's prescription
Buy chocolate ice cream
Watch children terrorize house
Put children to bed early
Eat chocolate ice cream

In Memory of Jonathan Carbaugh

When I was growing up, a very nice lady named Lucy Carbaugh lived in the house two doors down from us. (Do all neighborhoods have a nice little old lady, or is that just a stereotype?) Anyway, we liked to go and visit Lucy from time to time. She would feed us cookies or other snacks. Especially, she was known for her zucchini bread, which we all loved, until you told us it had zucchini in it.

Sometimes when we would go to visit Lucy, she would be babysitting her grandsons Jason and Jonathan. Jason was one year older than me. He seemed like a nice kid, and as far as I can remember he was pretty much normal. Sometimes we played together.

But Jonathan was not a "normal" little boy. He suffered from Cerebral Palsy. He mostly seemed to be a sweet little boy. But he couldn't physically do much, and he couldn't really communicate well. When he got a little older, he was able to use a computer, and that helped. The adults around us always said that Jonathan was smart. I never believed them. I guess because he seemed like such a little kid, I never thought it was possible that he could be intelligent. I believe them now.

I wish I could say that I had played with Jonathan, and that I had spent time getting to know him. I wish that I could be counted as one of his friends. What a blessed opportunity it would have been for me to have the chance to know someone who was trapped in their own body like that.

But no, mostly we avoided or ignored him. We didn't make fun of him, we just didn't bother him.

I hadn't thought about Jonathan Carbaugh in years, probably since I graduated from high school. He didn't cross my mind at all... Until I heard that he had passed away.

He passed away Sunday, after suffering from ill health. And I am filled with a sort of regret. I am wishing that I could feel that I had lost a friend. I am wishing that he would have been my childhood playmate.

At least, this realization will help me to encourage my children to befriend those who are handicapped. I can't go back.

But with God's help we will all go forward, and maybe somehow we can make a difference in someone's life.