UPPER MICHIGAN

FIREMAN

WATERFALL

Rocky Fork, Indiana

GOALS

It always bothers me a little when people don't update their blog much...but I realize I'm the most guilty of doing that. I have a co-worker who made it his personal goal one year to blog every day. I didn't have a blog at the time, and thought that should be pretty easy. Now that I've had one for several years, I understand that's a pretty big task. I don't think I'd make that my personal goal because it would become legalistic for me to do, and I hate legalism. Lately, I've had to remind myself what my blog is for...it's for me, a journal per se. I just let others peak in. Of course, I don't put all the real private stuff on here, but generally, I do put the things that interest me, my photos, my thoughts, articles that speak to something I care about, and to practice writing in a semi-intelligent way. So, if you do happen to check here on any regular basis, my apologies for not having anything up lately. You can rest assured, if I ever decide to stop posting, I'll let you know.

With that, here are several goals I do have, and assuming blogger.com doesn't go away, I hope to check back in ten years to see if what I wrote came about.

In ten years, I hope to be doing one of the following:
1. Living in the Phoenix, Arizona area
2. Be involved in cross cultural ministry, hopefully in Asia somewhere.
3. Own my own business, being blessed with enough success that I can have extended time overseas (see #2), while at the same time, helping others who have a desire to extend Christ's love but who don't have the funds to do so.

SENIOR PORTRAITS

I just finished shooting my first senior portrait session with Liz's friend Allysa. I think we had 5 locations, all outside, and man, was it hot.Not July hot, but hot enough. I wish we had more time. There are some cool places around Wooster to use as backdrops, including a cemetery. I think we rattled off almost 400 photos, so I'm hoping they'll be something they can use and like.

A BEAUTIFUL WEED

SEAN'S HEART CATH

Everything went very well with Sean's heart cath. today. Of course, he was pretty nervous leading up to the procedure, and cried terribly when the nurse came to take him away. I can only imagine how terrifying it seems to him. Still breaks my heart. But as we've learned about Sean, he cries about it, but willingly lets the doctors and nurses do as they wish with him.

During the two hour procedure, the doctor put in a "plug" or coil into the fenestration to seal the whole after first putting a balloon in to see how the pressures and blood flow looked. We were able to see video of the heart cath at work, and it was absolutely amazing to see how the heart works. Sean has two pretty strong ventricles, so that is a plus for him, and the doctor said, though making no promises, Sean will have a pretty good heart now. Before the procedure, his O2 levels were 90. After-94. Tomorrow they may reach 96 or so. He will no longer be on blood thinner, but will take a baby aspirin along with blood pressure medication. Hopefully he'll be off the diuretic sometime soon (makes him pee a lot, and being in diapers still, that's a lot of diapers to go through).

Anyway, all looks good for now.

A DAY AT THE ZOO

QUOTES OF THE DAY

"I don't want to play it safe by just waiting on the future."
"If we are not intentional, we become people who 'wish we had' instead of those who are 'glad we did'".
"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." (Diane Ackerman)

-all quotes from the yet to be published book, You're Stronger Than You Think, The power to do what you feel you can't. by Dr. Les Parrott and Bill Dallas

FUTURE PHOTO BACKDROP

GAS STATION

I took a trip today to my northern most account in Michigan. I enjoy my visit once I'm there, but it's usually a long, lonely drive before I get there. My Sirius radio keeps me company and I'd be lost without it (not really, but it sounds dramatic). Anyway, Michigan has been hit pretty hard these last years, and seeing this gas station on my ride to Alpena speaks to many buildings like this along my journey to Alpena, Mi..

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FOXNews.com - LONG-HATED ONE CHILD RULE MAY BE EASED

It's all about the economics.

FOXNews.com - Long-hated one-child rule may be eased in China

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SEAN'S HOMETOWN

From a blog written by David Frum:

To leave Beijing is to leave a city where Western-style affluence is at least everywhere visible for a nation where wealth is concentrated at specific points. I’m staying now at one such point, the campus of Shantou University, a university funded by the philanthropy of the Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing. The guesthouse of the university in particular is one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve seen in China – although it should be said that beauty is rare here, the Chinese preferring to buy grandiosity when they have money to spend.


Shantou itself however is a grim place, a struggling industrial city in southern China, home to a big toy manufacturing industry and to the world’s largest garbage dump for electronic remains. Mao-vintage apartment blocks rust alongside the shattered hulks of pre-1949 housing, the latter still used as shelter for the very poorest. Scavengers work the town garbage sites, where slow fires smolder. Shantou is a place where scooters outnumber cars, where drivers have not yet mastered such concepts as driving the right way on a lane of highway, and where chicken cartilage still counts as meat. And yet there are thousands of places in the interior of China much poorer still.

MAIL CALL

Getting the mail today was a little more special than usual. One month ago, Will sent one of his basketball cards off to his favorite player, and today, received it back...with a signature. Very cool.

CORRECTION

I previously posted that Sean's Heart Cath is on May 12. IT IS ON MAY 11th.
Just a minor detail.

GETTING CLOSER

I don't remember blogger being so difficult to change out header photos, but I'm getting closer.

SHRINK TO FIT

Blogger doesn't actually believe me when I say I want my photo to fit the screen. That's annoying.

DID IT AGAIN

I was leaving one of my stores when I look at this elderly lady sitting in her car, probably reading, though I thought she was slumped over, and I stepped wrong coming off the curb, and sprained my bad ankle again. I was already thinking I was going to have life long problems with this ankle, now I'm convinced of it. Blasted!

LAST NBA GAME OF THE SEASON

I took Liz to the home opener of the Pacers v. Denver Nuggets, and Will and I wrapped up the season by going to a Pacers v Orlando Magic game. It's always been kind of wierd going to the Pacers since none of us really care about the Pacers, but since they aren't that good of a team, tickets are pretty cheap. I think we had our best seats ever tonight, being 17 rows from courtside...$30 a piece.

I told Will, if the Pacers ever get good, we're going to have to find a new team that stinks so we can get cheap tickets. For now, we enjoy Pacer ball so we can see the teams we really love.

EASTER SUNDAY

We had a good today. After a great church service we came home and had the traditional Easter meal of Lasagna. After lunch, afternoon naps, and a little NBA, all five of us headed to do something we haven't done for seven years...geocaching. Click the link below if you're unfamiliar with this activity, but simply put, you get yourself a GPS unit, go to the geocaching website, download the coordinates, and look for hidden "treasure". All five of us had a good time looking for the hidden caches in the local arboretum. There are a few pick and one video posted below for your pleasure.