PurdyScene

So, what kind of homeschooling family are we?

2011-04-05T18:22:00.002-04:00

Eclectic. Very eclectic.

There are so many different educational methods and philosophies out there. How on earth do you choose the "best" one?

I am a researcher at heart. Or possibly just obsessive. The jury's out. But anyway, I love to research and learn. I started reading. And reading. And reading and reading and reading. I started talking to my homeschooling friends and my public education friends and family members. I looked up state standards. I ordered catalogs. And I read a lot.

After quite some time, I realized that we love literature, history and science. Those needed to be key areas we emphasized in our schooling. We have a huge amount of children's literature so it made a lot of sense to start there, as unit study homeschoolers. 6 hours a day. Starting at 9 and ending around 3. We did everything like she had done in school except that I allowed her to start 90 minutes later than her public schooled friends (because I'm so very nice, you see).

We were going to do hardcore second grade!

My units were AMAZING!! In fact, we were a bit overwhelmed by the awesomeness of my units. And Haley, who had unmedicated ADHD (among a lot of other learning and neurological issues) lost interest in our units after about 10 minutes on Monday mornings. Seriously. Kind of rough when they were designed to last a week. We fought through that challenge for months. And it was truly a fight. E.v.e.r.y. day. All day. But hey, her anxiety was getting better. :)

In desperation, I threw out most of what I had spent months working on and decided to get focused on what turned her on to learning. Life improved immensely and although I had to mourn what I wanted our school to be, I'm really loving what we've come up with instead. It's much more wonderful.

So this is what our new and improved homeschool life looks like:

Haley gets up whenever she wants to get up (she's always need a few hours more sleep than other children her age). That's usually around 8. She eats breakfast and plays, usually all morning. She can be on the computer, watch tv (we have PBS and Qubo), do art, build with her legos, clean the house (something she does for fun!), take a shower, whatever she wants to do (within reason).

When we start school we always write and draw. She either does an entry in her journal (her choice of topic, three complete sentences and a picture - next year I'll be choosing the topic) or she does an entry in her animal book (she is making a book about animals: I read information about the animal, she writes three complete sentences about the animal and then draws a picture of it). Not sure if we'll stay with the animal book or move to a geography book next year. We usually use this as handwriting practice, too (Haley has fine motor delays so I don't push too hard here, yet she's made huge improvements).

I always read a scripture story to her (usually using the LDS Gospel Art picture kit) and we'll briefly discuss it. We'll do this next year, too.

She reads to me. We used a lot of different items for readers this year. We'll do that next year, too. She has completed the sight word lists we have.

Next we do we spelling. She has a different spelling task 3x a week. We do five words at a time and I'm currently choosing them from sight words lists (she's learning to spell all 500 words we have as sight words). She's almost done with this! Earlier this year we focused on word families.

She does math, usually worksheets because that is one area where she can typically work independently. She loves math! We are currently looking for a good math curriculum for next year.

She does phonics. She just completed a huge phonics book. Now we're looking for something new to use. Maybe Explode the Code (6, 7, 8) next year (or sooner). Just something to reinforce what she's learned and to continue working on some of the more difficult concepts.

Then we do some basic grammar or reading comprehension skills or analogies.

Next is health (we've been focused on emotional health lately). We only do this about 3x a week.

Next we do history and geography. We currently use Story of the World, Volume 1 (Ancient History) for history. We supplement a ton for geography and history, mostly with living books. This is one of my favorite parts of the day. :)

Then we do science. Other than math, I think this is Haley's favorite part of the day. We just do whatever we want, mostly using living books. This is super fun. We've done a lot of fun stuff this year! I'm considering a science curriculum for next year but I'm not sold on the idea. What we're doing is working really well for us.

That's it, except for art and music and physical education. We do those when we want to add them in. Haley is really musical and artistic so this doesn't feel like school at all.

And every night we read aloud (more). We focus on chapter books at night. Jason and Haley and I snuggle together in bed and read and read. It's fabulous!

So, that's what we do, except when we are on a field trip or visiting Grandma or going to the doctor.

Start to finish it takes about 2-3 hours (except the nighttime reading). Perfect!

How did we become a homeschooling family?

2011-04-05T17:37:00.000-04:00

Jason and I are, admittedly, somewhat snobbish about education. We have strong feelings about education and have been vigorously advocating for our daughter for, well, 8 years. We had never seriously considered homeschooling until last year. We knew about it. We had plenty of homeschooling friends. I, specifically, had thought about it many times and every single time I immediately rejected the idea.

Haley has been a very challenging child to raise. Frankly, I needed a break from the parenting challenges. While I've never sought ways to be away from her, I admit that a few hours of peace a day while she was at school were warmly welcomed. Plus, she had an IEP so she needed the extra help she was getting from the professionals at school. She needed the socialization (a problem area). And come on, we all know only certain people homeschool. We weren't those people.

Enter first grade, her fourth year in public school. The year didn't go well. The teacher was fine (and very sweet and kind) and Haley did pretty well academically. Unfortunately, the same issues we had for most of the four previous years were still there: unrelenting anxiety, poor socialization, no real special education services, bullying (Haley was both the bullied and the bully).

In my anguish over my child's emotional health, I started feeling extreme resentment about the whole public school life we were living. Very early morning school start, complaints of a tummy ache or headache almost every day, fights about going to school almost every day, calls from the nurse multiple times per week due to said tummy ache or headache, inane homework, fundraising stupidity, too many uneducational movies shown during the school day, administrators overly concerned with the bottom line and restrictive special education policies that meant that my daughter was getting exactly 3 minutes of special education each day (yes, seriously, 3 minutes per day.) This doesn't even touch on the neverending battles we were enduring with the school district just to provide the IEP (let alone trying to get them to actually follow the federal laws). I was startled. Was there anything we were enjoying about the school experience?

My answer was that, no matter how many positives there were, we obviously weren't enjoying it enough. The cons far outweighed the pros. I was a bit dazed, to be honest. I've always defended public education. My parents both worked in public education. My mother was an elementary school teacher and my father was an administrator at a public university. Public education was practically in my blood! Many of my extended family members and friends are talented and loving public educators. Education is extremely important to me. Public education blesses the lives of countless children. I certainly had some great experiences growing up in public schools (on the whole, the school district I grew up in was very good). I was having a hard time reconciling my new feelings to my ancient beliefs. :)

Aside from an extraordinary special education preschool teacher, Haley has largely been lost in the shuffle (easy to do in an elementary school of over 830 students). Her school experiences were leading to her dreading school and hating "learning". Some of this was the fault of the school, some of it was due to Haley's disabilities and challenges and some was due to her personality. I'm sure plenty of other children (especially "typical" students) in our school district are thriving. I know many of them and the ones I know seem to be doing fine. But overall, public school was a failure for Haley and that was simply not acceptable to us. Especially not when we had the means to fix it.

Thus, the homeschooling journey began. And it has been FAR better than I would have ever imagined. Far, far, far better. So good, in fact, that I can't imagine NOT homeschooling now.

I guess we are those people, after all. :)

Just pondering

2011-03-31T09:47:00.005-04:00

I've always loved etymology. :)

School: I love the ancient Greek word skhole. It means leisure spent in pursuit of knowledge or time used for intellectual discussion. How awesome is that?

Learn: to get knowledge; to be cultivated.

And studying these words today lead to studies of words like "know", "knowledge" and "wit". So glad for my 7th grade gifted class on root words. Coolest class I think I ever had in school. Off to have "school" and hope that we can have some intellectual discussions today. :)

Curricula or not?

2011-03-31T08:53:00.005-04:00

Now that we've started to find our way through the maze of home learning, the big question becomes curriculum. This year we've used a hodge podge of curricula. It's worked for us, sometimes really, really well. But it's been a ton of work and I've had to throw out great curricula I created because it didn't fit Haley's learning style, her interests or was too much work for the educational payoff. We've concentrated our efforts, condensed our volume of work and found true learning without all of the superfluous bells and whistles.

So what about next year? I'm currently trying to find a language arts program and a science program. Maybe a math program. Or maybe not. Which brings me to an even bigger question: How school-y are we going to be?

I know we are going to continue with our relaxed attitude. "Unschool" is not something I think will work for us--I'm not sure I can relax that much. I am, after all, a control freak. Haley is generally resistant to challenging herself. So while I believe in the concept of "unschooling", especially in children with internal motivation, we're not ready for that. Since I don't want to move backward in our educational journey, that leaves me with continuing what we are doing.

Choosing exactly what to do and how much to do and when to do it is a huge decision. I hate to waste money buying something we'll hate or that won't work. So I'm researching, researching, researching and trying to walk that fine line between following our interests and forcing a set curriculum on Haley. I'm trying to find a balance between home learning and home schooling. Schooling is unimportant to me but learning? Learning is essential. And joyfully learning is vital!

Deschooling thoughts (or, in other words, finding our way)

2011-03-30T11:07:00.022-04:00

I know. Jason and I completely stink at updating our blog. Please don't throw tomatoes at us. We are nice people. Promise!

I've been thinking a lot about our homeschooling journey. We've gone in a huge, curving, oops-I-missed-my-turn type of journey to get from a simple point A to point B. I think our meandering journey was a necessary part of figuring all of this out.

Before we made the decision to pull Haley out of public school, I had read about the concept of "deschooling" but didn't grasp how much I needed to deschool myself. I haven't been in school since I graduated from college in 1995. Still, deschooling for me has been the somewhat long and quite difficult process of getting rid of my old ideas about "school" and replacing them with the ideas in my heart and mind about learning. I have always been a learner. Somewhat of an obsessive learner, actually. What I really needed to do was stop trying to make our home a school like the one Haley used to attend (which didn't meet her needs) and follow my heart about how she might learn best.

We started in August with all kinds of schedules and a huge list of things a second grader "needed" to know. I was obsessed about making sure we did 5-6 hours a day of hardcore "school". No extra stuff until we finished with "school". Talk about stressful! This tactic is a bit amusing in hindsight, since anxiety was a huge reason we chose to homeschool.

I felt guilty for the first few months, constantly worried that we weren't doing this "right". It's already laughable, just a few months later. There is no "right" way to homeschool. I realize that now.

Things have been hard. Within months of beginning, I had to throw out all kinds of curriculum choices, things I had worked hard to put together. I had to adapt to Haley's attention problems and extreme emotional impulsivity. I had to adjust to being with her 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I had to adapt my schedule to fit her back into it. I had to really focus on her intelligence, humor and creativity because I knew that in order to be successful, we needed to emphasize her strengths and minimize her weaknesses. But the "how" of doing that was hard to find.

After struggling for a few months, I decided to be "lazy". To relax. To watch her and listen to her and see what happened. I realized that Haley is an auditory learner. That didn't mesh with my teaching style at all. Huge problem! I had been feeling that in order to be a supermom and extraordinary teacher, we should be doing lots of hands-on activities. You know, "fun stuff". I added lots of multi-media, activities, songs, games. That stuff went over like a lead balloon.

What did Haley really want to do? Listen. She loves to be read to, she loves to listen to music, she loves to listen to shows. She even likes her worksheets (but only with music or tv noise in the background). Most of the other stuff I was hoping we would do? Nope. Nada. No interest. In fact, if I had a nickel for every time she threw a fit over something "fun", well, I'd be ready to head on a nice long European vacation by now.

I really should not have been surprised. Haley is amazingly verbal. She remembers everything she hears. She prefers oral reporting and discussion over writing. She's very musical. She always wants sound in the background (tv, music). She rarely makes eye contact when I'm reading to her but she's soaking it all in. SHE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY. Why was I forcing her into learning in a way that made her irritated and uncomfortable. She WAS learning. Why was I stressing so much?

Now I am better able to give her what she needs. I'm letting go of those old schooling notions and learning to embrace our, quite lovely, reality. Haley is thriving. She has very little anxiety about "schoolwork" now. She is curious and loves to ask questions. More importantly, she's figuring out how to find answers to her questions. She has learned SO MUCH already this year and we still have two full months to go. That is exciting!

Deschooling has been hard for her but it's especially and surprisingly been harder for me. That wasn't what I expected at the beginning of this adventure. It's turning out to be a great lesson in patience and trusting myself.

For my non-Facebook friends

2010-05-12T14:53:00.005-04:00

Sorry, I can't get them rearranged. Anyway, that's some of the work we've been doing. A lot still needs to be done but we're getting closer. I'm loving all of the fun colors we've used. Makes me so happy!

All I Want For Christmas, a Haley-ism, and a BONUS Picture!

2010-01-05T16:22:00.007-05:00

My wife casually tore into one of the gifts her parents gave her for Christmas. Chaos ensued around us as kids ran here and there, playing with new toys, and adults carried on a half dozen loud conversations. However, as Kelsee let out a loud gasp, the room grew quiet. Then she let out an excited series of shrieks and squeals. I was sitting behind her, so I peered over her shoulder to see what what had her in such a tizzy. The box, which usually held a new shirt or pair of pajamas, held one tiny item. That tiny item represents HIM, a man that constantly has my wife bubbling with joy. Now, HE sits on her bedside table. She gazes adoringly at his picture every night before she goes to sleep. And she sighs contentedly. When she wakes up and sees HIM, she giggles like a schoolgirl. By the way, written on the inside of the giftbox was a simple pickup line "You got me, babe!", as well as the promise of hours of his services. Now, you might think... ...What horrid parents! Giving their married daughter a MAN who was not her husband. ...Shame on Kelsee! I mean, goodness, she's married! ...Poor Jason, a victim of all this...this...debauchary. See, the thing is, HE's visited our home before. Often. Usually, while I was at work, he was in my house rendering his services in the family room and the bedroom. I'm ecstatic that he's visiting again, and hopefully, when he's done rendering his services in the kitchen, my wife will be satisfied. Who is this man? Rick, the carpenter, who will--finally--give my wife the kitchen she desires... ---- On another note, two days ago we were sitting around the table talking about Kelsee's birthday, which was yesterday. Kelsee jokingly lamented that she had only one more day before she was as old as me. Haley, the always sweet(??) daughter, went out of her way to comfort Kelsee. "You don't look old at all, Mommy. You don't have lots of ruffles like Dad!" Thanks, Haley. ----- Here's a picture to go along with the previous post about Haley's FHE lesson...

Haley and The Rebuke

2010-01-04T22:24:00.002-05:00

The name of a new chapter book for older kids? Nope. The story of our Family Home Evening tonight? Yep. Haley was so excited to teach our Family Home Evening lesson tonight. She worked hard, cutting out paper footprints and writing things in them like "Help Mom", "Be Naughty", "Do Good", "Say Bad Words", etc. She taped them to the floor making a pathway to a picture of Jesus, which she taped on the table. The object was when you got to a footprint, you read it. If you did the good thing on the paper, you went forward. If you did the bad thing on the paper, you went backwards, and had to start over and pick a new route to the end. Haley made it in the fewest steps. Kelsee got hung up a couple of times (I won't say which obstacles stood in her way, largely because I enjoy sleeping in my bed). I had a really hard time getting past "Listens to bad music". Cameron just kind of gave up part way through. Then Haley told us if we want to get back to Jesus, we need to be clean and pure. Ouch. Thoroughly rebuked by a seven-year-old! Seriously, though. What a wonderful kid, and what a clever activity! She's growing so much in her faith and understanding of right and wrong. She's a great example to me. I feel ashamed that I'm not a better example for her. Time to work harder!!!

Here's One I Forgot

2009-12-17T14:22:00.004-05:00

Look! Haley did pretty good on this spelling test. She only missed one... This is funny on so many levels, not the least is the fact that Haley is the naughty word police in our house...

Haley Is a Gem...Plus Anniversaring in NY

2009-12-15T16:28:00.006-05:00

This post is a hodge podge of items, but they are all interesting. Really. Just ask me. BTW, can you pick out the made up word in the title of this post? Winner gets to eat dinner tonight. Moving on... The clever narratives below apply to the picture immediately following them. -------------- The funniest thing about this picture is Haley's tooth. You know the one. You can't miss it. The tooth that used to occupy the hole on the right moved out and the tooth on the left tried to move in. Needless to say, Haley wasn't the only one grateful when the offending tooth fell out, even if it did happen at 4:00 in the morning. Haley's photographic talent on display again in this beautifully framed shot. This is a view from one of the examining rooms at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. I think she was going for a visual representation of the depressed inner city economy. And we see why seven-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to wear makeup! Seriously though, Haley and Kelsee decided to go for a spa day, complete with mud mask. Notice no picture of Kelsee? Curious... Another of Haley's famous photographs. This one was either going for the motion blur (she was swinging in her indoor therapy swing at the time) or was just trying to embarrass Cameron. The effect of all the Christmas specials on network television. (Ignore the hole in the ceiling, please. Leaking pipes in the kitchen above; it was not a failed attempt at decorating.) It's obvious this picture is fake. The clothes are too fancy and there's too much hair. Just so's you know, this was taken inside the Albany Visitor's Center during our 15th anniversary trip this past weekend. A miracle, huh, that Kelsee would stick with me for that long, you know, considering I apparently have no neck. The final stop before we boarded the plan to return home was at the first Shaker site in the United States. This location is the burial site of the founder of Shakerism, which is a dying movement. Once there were 300 believers at this site alone. Now, the only active Shaker site in the US (in Pennsylvania) has only seven believers. Hung outside the gift shop was this Shaker recruitment poster.

Fashionista Extraordinaire

2009-11-03T11:50:00.002-05:00

I have nothing of value to add to this post, unlike all my other posts which are full of wit, humor and intelligence. Right. Anyway, these pictures speak for themselves. What a kid...

Love Me Tender...

2009-10-28T11:46:00.006-04:00

I have Haley-isms! I do. Just bear with me while I get there... You know, you haven't lived unless you've seen and heard an Elvis impersonator live. I'm not kidding. Actually, you haven't lived until you watch your seven-year-old music nut of a daughter watching an Elvis impersonator live. My stepdad, TC, used to be an Elvis impersonator, back in the day. He's still a HUGE Elvis fan. I've heard some recordings of him singing Elvis, and it was pretty impressive. Anyway, his 70th birthday bash was last weekend. It was a surprise party, but the biggest surprise came just after the meal. His kids planted him in a chair in front of the whole group, turned down the lights, turned on some disco strobe and out comes Elvis!!! He lives!!! Actually, Mom said it was an in-law of TC's or something (I met a lot of folks that day; it's hard to remember who belongs to whom). I have to admit, I found myself smiling. A lot. It was funnier than... well, it was funny. However, Haley's reaction was the best. She was leaning forward, her elbow on the table, her chin resting on her hand, with a huge grin and wide eyes as she watched it unfold. At one point she leaned over and asked: "Do you think Papaw knows that's not the real Elvis? We should tell Papaw that it IS the real Elvis." Her expression was priceless. Unfortunately, the room was dark and I have no flash on my camera phone, so I couldn't capture Haley. However, here are a few pictures. The brightened circle-looking spot is highlighting my stepdad. Good times. ---------- Speaking of my camera phone, when I'm uploading pictures from that device to my computer, I often come across a random series of pictures, like below. Wonder how those got there... ---------- Haley-ism time... So, we visited Bowling Green and Mammoth Cave National Park a couple of weekends ago. As we were driving the curvy roads through the park towards the visitors center, we hear the curly-headed wonder pipe up from the backseat. "This road is soooo curvy, I'm getting sick. I think I'm going to hurdle." Dang, I love that kid.

Yes. Even more.

2009-09-03T10:13:00.006-04:00

Random Haley cuteness

Amber, Grandma Dee and Haley

Kennedy and Haley

Celebrating with the Morehead State Eagles at the NCAA basketball tournament!

Haley with Brody.

Sami, Zach, Haley, Kennedy, Hannah.

The whole rowdy group. Fun times!!

Hensley family reunion fun

Cameron carried Haley back after she got too tired on the hike.

He's a great cousin and she loves him so much!

And even more pictures!

2009-09-03T09:52:00.008-04:00

At Cave Run Lake (our favorite summer hangout spot):

Haley and Zach fishing off the boat.

Our little fish - Haley loves swimming and jumping off the boat. Happy times!

2009 Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma's house:

(Harper, Kennedy, Brady, Blake, Haley, Zach)

Camp Kappes - art day at Aunt Hanna's house:

Fourth of July at Aunt Kristin's house: Above are all Kappes cousins. Back row: Sami (10) holding Brody (5 months), Haley (6), Hannah (8), Graydon (4). Front row: Alexandria (3), Savannah (7), Kennedy (5), Blake (2), Harper (3), Brady (4), Zach (4) and Scout (1).

More pictures because I neglected the blog for far too long

2009-09-02T21:39:00.005-04:00

Cameron, first day of school:

Haley, first day of school:

Haley at the lake with our family:

Vacation in St. Louis:

More pictures from Spring/Summer 2009

2009-08-31T15:28:00.006-04:00

Granny Hensley, Cameron, Jason and Haley. Granny died in April and we'll always treasure the pictures from our trip to see her in February. Haley welcomed a new cousin to the family in February - Brody Barnett.

We found Haley like this one night - her blanket is falling apart and she was asleep with her face sticking out one of the holes.

These next pictures are from a trip to the local children's museum over spring break:

Easter Egg Hunt at church:

Updates on the kiddos

2009-08-31T14:07:00.010-04:00

Some pictures from spring/summer:

Haley and mommy at Fort Fisher, NC. Spring break trip to the NC coast.

Haley and Daddy on the ferry.

Atlantic Ocean. Near Fort Fisher, NC.

On the ferry at Fort Fisher.

At Fort Fisher.

At the aquarium.

With daddy at the aquarium.

CAMERON

School started here three weeks ago and it's been a great start for Cameron (16, a junior). He seems to like most of his classes (he says he's bored so that means everything is fine) and FINALLY got into a special class he wanted to take - small animal technology. There is some girl at school that's chasing after him and with the unlimited texting on his phone, he's been especially busy lately. :)

Cameron made a big decision this week - he was ordained to the priesthood. In our church that can happen at 12. Cameron hadn't attended church regularly since he was pretty young. He's struggled with figuring out his beliefs. He has always been respectful of our beliefs and participated in our prayers, family nights and church attendance. He's been attending youth activities and seminary (a scripture-based course offered to high school students in our church). That said, he didn't seem to be particularly interested. Seemingly out of the blue he asked what he needed to do to receive the priesthood so that he could assist in the duties the other teenage boys have at church. He's been working with our bishop and Sunday was the big day. Jason ordained him and it was wonderful - many of his family members attended church with us to support him. What a great day!

Cameron is like a different kid than the one that moved in with us 18 months ago. He's made such huge strides. We're so proud of him - he's a great kid and has really grown up a lot lately.

HALEY

Haley is my sweetie pie. Every morning she climbs in bed with me for some snuggles. If we didn't have our snuggle time each day, I'm not sure how I'd get through the rest of the day. I love it!

Haley just started first grade. She's very close-lipped about school. As far as I can tell, she seems to be struggling more this year. I think her teacher is a lot more experienced and doesn't gloss over things as much. She definitely has a clearer picture of Haley's abilities. In one way, I prefer that. I want to deal with things head-on. But it hurts. A lot. I hate that she struggles.

We won't rewrite her IEP until late September so she's receiving the same services this year as she did last year (consultative services for OT, a tiny bit of PT, 15 minutes of SPED a day). I'm betting that she'll get more support this year. The positive is that it does sound like the special education teacher really is working with her this year (Haley talks about her). Haley also talks about the people that come into her class to watch her every day. We can't figure out who they are. One might be the remedial reading teacher (we did just sign papers to approve her having remedial reading). I'll be anxious to see what they report. We told Haley to ask them or her teacher who they are and why they are "watching" her. LOL She does like being a detective. ;)

Haley isn't doing well, health-wise, other than her eyes. Her eyes are doing better! We might even be abe to stop the eyedrops by Christmas. Other than her eyes, things were going okay until late spring/early summer. She had headaches almost daily this summer. Developed acid reflux this summer (her docs say it's common for kids with hydrocephalus). Lately she's also seemed more confused and slower at processing things. She's even been struggling with buttoning her clothes, putting clothing on backward - stuff she's been able to do for years. Plus she had two more seizure-like episodes in June and had to stop her horseback riding lessons. It's just been a tough summer in that way.

She's seen her neurologist, ophthalmologist and pediatrician in the past two weeks. She had an EEG and MRI last week. We see her neurosurgeon on Wednesday. Acid reflux drugs seem to be helping the reflux. We increased her headache meds but we're not sure that's helping. Her neurologist doesn't feel that the headaches she's having are related to her migraines. Hopefully the neurosurgeon will have some ideas. If not, we'll be back to the pediatrician. *sigh*

On a better note, we had a great summer together! We did so many fun things. We spent a lot of time at the lake and went on some fun trips. Plus we had Camp Kappes - with all 13 cousins for a week. The best part about the summer was that we had no schedule - Haley even got to stay up until 8 pm! *gasp* She really thought she was a big girl. :) Having a six year old has been fun!

Hey, We've Got Pictures of That!

2009-08-29T10:09:00.007-04:00

Real quick, and then I'll get on to the pictures...another Haley-ism! When we go to the lake, according to Haley, there is something we ALWAYS have to do to keep us safe...Mom makes us put on sunscream. Which is fitting, since if Haley is in a bad mood, she screams at us about having to put it on. On to the pictures... Haley watching fireflies. You can't really see them; they are the little white lights all around the grass. She was absolutely fascinated. Hey! Haley stole my phone and decided to do some self-portraits... Bet you can't guess whose hair this is. Here we are at the neurologist's office a little more than a week ago. Kelsee decided that we hadn't taken pictures of Haley recently, so here we go. Nothing like going for the random. Is that a real smile? Almost. Haley is notorious for refusing to give us real smiles during pictures. She gives us the Kourtney-patented, Kally-improved posing smile. This one was taken like 350 pictures into this photoshoot. I call it Dazed & Confused. Our next photoshoot was actually taken for Haley's benefit. She had an EEG and MRI done a couple of days ago. She was VERY curious about what the EEG tech was doing, so we took pictures. Here she is trying to put an electrode somewhere in Haley's curls. Haley was a great sport. Her face here shows an interesting mix of emotions. She was fascinated being "wrapped like a mummy", but was also a little anxious about the whole thing. Towards the end of the EEG, she started complaining about tummy aches and afterwards, as we were walking to the MRI, she just burst into tears. Adrenaline letdown? Of course I'm right there with her! Kelsee and I held her hands or her arms or legs the entire time. That was partly because she was a wiggle worm, but it was mostly because we just wanted to reassure her. BTW, she loved the fountain of curly hair pouring from the top of her new headwear. Gotta love the hair. This is right after the EEG was over. Haley is pouting because Mom's taking ANOTHER picture. We're good for at least one of these every shoot. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! More to come...

The Return of the Purdi...

2009-08-25T16:14:00.002-04:00

Hey, I remember this place... I'm going to try to resurrect this blog. We'll see how well I can keep up with it. I figure the best place to start is by telling everyone all about me and what I've been up to. OK. Seriously, we can't go wrong with Haley-isms. ----- Did you know, according to Haley, when she has a sore on her tongue, she has a "tastebug". We've tried to tell her they are called "tastebuds" and everyone has lots of them, though they only hurt when one is swollen. She still doesn't seem to grasp it. The other day she told me her mouth her because she had four tastebugs! Poor kid. ----- Speaking of bugs, Haley had a small littly itchy bump on her hand. After scratching it raw, she grunted in frustration and said, "I hate having bee-hives on me." ----- There are actually more Haley-isms, but my mind has gone blank. No excuses. I guess I'm only good for thinking a limited number of hours a day. I'll be back with more at an as yet to be determined time in the future.

A Plethora of Haley-isms

2009-01-27T11:26:00.004-05:00

Kelsee and Haley were talking the other day about a little Preschool friend of Haley's. The little boy was deaf. Haley looked at Kelsee and with an expression that said she just "got it", she said: "Hey, he's just like Daddy!" --------- As most of you know, Haley is quite the linguist. A new word has crept into her vocabulary, and this morning made an appearances. When talking about the snow that fell last night and the possible rise in temperature, she lamented: "It will melt all that glorious snow!" --------- We have a rule in our house. Each person is entitled to one food that they don't have to eat, no matter how often it is cooked for dinner. Everything else they have to eat. Mine is brussel sprouts and beets (I get a bonus; I'm the dad), Cameron's is green beans, and Haley's is peas. (Kelsee is willing to try most everything, so she doesn't have anything on the list.) Anyway, the other day, we had peas and cream corn as side dishes for dinner. Haley thought the cream corn looked gross and didn't want to eat it. We gave her the option: cream corn or peas. She said peas. She put on her bravest face and put a bite in her mouth. After chewing for a while, her face lit up. She looked at Kelsee and said: "These peas make mashed potatoes in my mouth!" --------- Haley's Grandma Dee got a baby chihuahua looking dog recently. Haley has become completely enamored with the dog. During a recent visit, she noticed that the dog (named Bridgette Rae) seemed to pee often, as young puppies often do. So she went out to my mother, and with concern on her face, said: "Bridgette Rae is peeing all the time. I think she has a bladder infection." Now Haley is no stranger to bladder infections, having experienced them a few times herself, so she would know. (Speaking of which, if you want to send that girl into giggling fits, ask her about peeing in a cup.)

Kids...

2009-01-12T12:45:00.001-05:00

Haley's five-year-old cousin Kennedy came for a sleep over on Saturday night. We took the two of them to a fun little coffee shop and then the MSU basketball game before having a party at Kelsee's parents' house to celebrate Kelsee and Kirby's birthdays. While we were driving along, the following exchange took place: Kennedy: Kelsee, how old are you? Kelsee: I'm 35. Kennedy, in a shocked tone: Wo. Haley, in an even more shocked tone: Wow, Mom! And you're not even dead yet. Kids...

Merry Day After Christmas

2008-12-26T08:29:00.002-05:00

Funniest story told during the Holiday and its Eve... Kourtney's family was singing Christmas songs the other day. This exchange took place between five-year-old Kennedy and her dad, Kris. Kennedy: Daddy, you are singing the wrong words! Kris: Kennedy, I've been singing these songs since I was a kid. Kennedy, in a sympathetic tone: Have you always sung the wrong words? If you know that kid, you'll know why we laughed so dang hard at that one. ----- Haley was the perfect picture of a six-year-old at Christmas. It started first thing when she awakened, realized it was Christmas morning and almost hyperventilated: "It's Christmas! It's Christmas! It's Christmas!". It even went as far as breakfast, where she downed our traditional sausage balls and informed Kelsee that they were "brilliant"! Have I mentioned I love that kid?

Pictures for the Masses

2008-12-23T09:14:00.003-05:00

Just trying to increase readership of our blog... Picture time! We went out to Roscoe Village on Saturday when we went to Columbus for Hannah's baptism. It happened to be their Christmas celebration, so Santa made a stop to color with the kids. Awesome! He even drew a picture for Haley. Here she is showing her gratitude: And of course, Haley and colored pencils can't be in the same room for 20 seconds with the little artist making use of the drawing implements... OK. So this next picture has some motion blur, but the story is so sweet, I just had to share it. Kelsee had wrapped the presents for me, Cameron and Haley and placed them into some big sacks (like Santa would carry), each with our names embroidered on them, and placed them under the tree. I had not yet wrapped any of Kelsee's (I know I procrastinate; leave me alone), and Haley commented on the absence of presents for her mother. Even though we explained, Haley was still concerned. She disappeared for a short while we went about our normal activities. When she returned, she handed Kelsee a a brown paper bag tied closed with a ribbon. She told Kelsee that it was present for her with all her favorite things. Inside the back were indeed many of Kelsee's favorite things. Without our knowing, she had gone outside and gathered leaves, sticks, rocks, walnuts, and pinecones, then grabbed a few things inside pencil, candy, picture of Haley. This picture says it all: Here's Haley at her class Christmas party. The freaking looking blurry kid is Blaine. He's not really freaking looking or blurry. It's just the picture. Honestly. BTW, all the kids are wearing jammies because the received an "in school snow day" for filling their compliment jar. And last but not least, one of the coolest buildings in existance: the Longeberger Basket Company's home office. Seven above ground stories complete with easy to grip carrying handles, located in the middle of nowhere several miles from Columbus. Amazing...

Can't Tease Haley...

2008-12-19T10:00:00.002-05:00

On Wednesday night, we went caroling with our ward youth. As we drove from one house the next, Kelsee and Haley were reliving last year's caroling--Haley and JT, one of our older young men slipped down a muddy hill and had to spend the rest of the caroling covered in mud. (As an aside, Haley's always kind of had a little crush on JT. We tease her from time to time about it.) Anyway, when the talk on Wednesday turned to JT, Cameron leaned over and started teasing Haley: Cameron, in a sing-song voice: Haley and J.T, sitting in a tree... Haley, without missing a beat: One fell off and bumped his knee! Kind of took the wind out of Cameron's sails, it did. Later that evening, after we finished at one widow's apartment, we were climbing back into the van. A dog in a neighboring apartment was going nuts, barking and howling non-stop. Haley shook her head and said: "That dog is throwing quite the fit." Gotta love that kid.

Sometimes it Sucks...

2008-12-17T09:14:00.003-05:00

We're now facing some of the true agonies of raising a child, especially a multiracial child. Seems there are a few kids on the bus who like to poke fun at Haley, for one reason or another. First it was the kids who told her she was dumb. I wasn't aware of it until one night when we were working on sight words (words you recognize just by seeing them; you don't need to sound them out). She has been having a hard time with those, and that night was no different. Finally, she started crying in frustration and said "Those kids on the bus were right. I am dumb." I absolutely wanted to throttle those kids. Kelsee and I, of course, had to remind Haley that she is just in kindergarten and is still learning. I told her that just because someone says something doesn't make it true. We reminded her that she has a vocabulary twice that of most kids her age and more than many kids older than her. We also took her through her addition table, which she does well at. When we were done, she was feeling much better. I still want to throttle those kids. Then yesterday she tells me about some second or third grader on the bus who calls her "Brownie". I asked her why she called her that, and Haley says it's because she has brown hair and brown eyes. I asked Haley if this girl calls other brown hair, brown eye kids that, and Haley says she doesn't, that it's Haley's "special name". By the way, Haley is likely one of the only multiracial children on the bus. I'm POSITIVE she's not the only brown-hair, brown-eye kid... Anyway, she told me that sometimes she's being nice when she calls Haley that, but other times she's being mean. Uh, what the...??? OK. I'm so glad my daughter has help working on her self-esteem every afternoon on her way home from school. Did I mention I want to throttle those kids?

Random Stuff for Mid-December

2008-12-16T11:19:00.007-05:00

First, a Haley-ism. You know, because that always draws people in... Last night we were singing some Christmas carols after FHE. Haley was in form, singing at the top of her lungs. (As an aside, Cameron was also in form, feigning ignorance regarding the words of the songs.) We sang "Away in a Manger" and then "Silent Night". Kelsee kind of lost Haley and I on the second and third verses. When Kelsee started in on "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", Haley jumped back in with gusto. Kelsee and I sang along until we came to one part of the song, and then we lost it. Haley's version: Good tithings we bring, to you and your kids... Good tithings for Christmas and a Happy New Year! ------ By the way, here is the effect on a Microsuede couch when you've been sitting for too long: Butt imprints immortalized in time!!! ----- Speaking of pictures immortalized in time, here's Haley outside before school during our first day of snow flurries... She doesn't always walk this way. Honest. She was spinning circles trying to catch the flakes on her tongue. And here's one... Who decided to teach Haley to take pictures with my cell phone? Huh? HUH?

14 And Counting...

2008-12-11T11:07:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Kelsee and I "celebrated" our 14th Wedding Anniversary. I put the verb above in quotes because here's how we celebrated: 1. We had a fight the evening before. Yes, we made up before we went to bed. (Everybody, get your minds out of the gutter. It wasn't like that, and even if it was, I wouldn't tell you here.) 2. I slept through the alarm and was awakened by Kirk (my friend and the guy I carpool with) calling my cell wondering where I was. I showered and was out the door after a hasty kiss for my wife. 3. I forgot that I had a gift for Kelsee that I wanted to have waiting for her when she woke up, so I called her while I was on the road and told her where she could find it. (I'll explain why I didn't just wait until I got home in a moment.) 4. I worked all day. 5. I went and administered a final exam for one of my classes. 6. Several students ended up staying after the final exam to received last minute help completing some assignments. I didn't leave until 9:40. Mind you, I mentioned it was my anniversary, and we even talked about it for a while. The students kept saying things like "your wife is going to hate us" or "I'm almost done". 7. I arrived home about 10:30, exhausted. 8. Kelsee was tired and also not feeling well. We chatted until about midnight about this and that, then ventured to the land of nod. 9. That's it. 10. Seriously. Kelsee made a good point last night, though. We don't need to wait for a specific day to commemorate our marriage and love. Hopefully, we're commemorating every day. We're even commemorating during a three-day romantic excursion to the mountains of West Virginia starting tomorrow. The thing is, I think we are both most looking forward to sleeping in each morning. That and the absence of anyone who speaks Whinese. (If I walk into a restaurant and hear a whiny kid, I'm going to dump my entire bowl of salsa/bottle of A1/plate of linguine over his or her head. I'm guessing his or her parents will hug me with tears of gratitude in their eyes, and everyone else will be jealous because they didn't think of it first.) I really don't care what we do on our trip, as long as I'm with my sweetie. (Sure, you can use words like "cheesy", "suck-up", or just roll your eyes, but that doesn't make the above sentence any less true. So snicker all you want. If everybody had as good a marriage as we do, the world would be a heck of a lot better place.)

Haley, Haley, and More Haley

2008-11-26T08:58:00.003-05:00

Did I mention this post is all about Haley? We had some snow a couple of Sundays ago. Not much, but enough to just barely dust the ground. As we drove past the rolling hills and farmland on our way to church, Haley gasped. We looked at her. She was wide eyed and pointing at the big round hay bales, their tops covered in white snow. "Those look just like that cereal!" she exclaimed. "You mean Frosted Mini-wheats?" Kelsee clarified. "Yeah, just like those!" What an imagination! She often points out clouds as we drive, telling us what object or animal they look like to her. Or she'll see scribbles on a piece of paper or a blanket piled up on the bed and tell us that it looks like something to her. As soon as she points it out, of course, it's obvious. Pretty amazing. ------ Cameron and I rented The Incredible Hulk last week, which meant Haley wanted to rent a movie, too. She chose the original cartoon "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". I told her she could watch it the next day. Needless to say, when we got home from church, she bounded into the house exclaiming, "Let's watch The Grunch! Let's watch The Grunch RIGHT NOW!" ------ A while back Haley was snuggling with Kelsee while they flipped through a magazine. They came to an advertisement that prompted Haley to blurt out: "Hey that looks like Grandma Kappes!" Kelsee and I ROARED with laughter after we scanned the picture: ------ The other day, Haley had just finished making some very astute observation. Kelsee responded by telling the curly-haired imp how smart she was. Haley smiled sweetly at Kelsee and said "I save all my good thinking for you, Mommy." Don't you just love kids?

Rise and Shine!

2008-11-10T09:56:00.003-05:00

Haley is not a morning person. (OK. It's relative. After 7:30, all bets are off, but before then...) Anyway, when we wake her on weekdays, usually around 6:00 or 6:15, she grumbles and complains about being tired or sick. She came up with a new one the other day. Me: Haaaleeeey...time to get up. Haley: *grumble* Me (shaking Haley): Come on, Noodle. Get up. Haley (stretching): *grumble* Me: Got to get up so you can get ready for school, sweetie. Haley (sitting up): I didn't tell you but I had to go the doctor at school yesterday. (She calls the school nurse the doctor.) Kelsee: Really? Haley: Yeah. She said I was sick and that I should stay home today. Yes, it was a lie, a fib, a fabrication. We still busted a gut. She didn't stay home, however, much to her chagrin.

Birthday party at Kappes grandparents' home

2008-10-23T17:26:00.003-04:00

We had lots of fun with our family at Haley's birthday dinner. We had Haley's favorite dinner - taco salad! Yum!

Lots of birthday cuteness!

2008-10-23T17:17:00.006-04:00

Haley had a great birthday and had tons of fun at the circus! She loved getting an art easel and some new Groovy Girl items and lots of other fun things. We've been overrun with presents!

Phobia...

2008-10-23T13:09:00.002-04:00

Haley has a lot of anxieties and fears. She has never been a good sleeper and has genuinely been awakened by fear several times in her short little life. This last week at school there's been lots of talk about Halloween, and of course, the various monsters that go with it. Two nights ago she started back into her "I'm afraid of monsters so I can't fall asleep in my own room" routine, which we've not seen for a while. I was able to placate her, however. Last night, though her phobia was in full vengence. Kelsee was the one putting her to bed, and when "I won't be able to fall asleep because I'm afraid of monsters" didn't look like it was going to work getting her into our room, Haley became desperate. H: *wailing* Mommy, I'm afraid! K: Of what, Haley? H: I'm afraid of heights! K: Heights? Haley, do you even know what that means? H: *sheepish look* K: Afraid of heights means you are afraid of going up in high places. H: Oh...*resumes wailing* Well, I'm still afraid of it! Oh, that kid... --------- I'm down a half-century from my March 2008 weight. Holding off on the new wardrobe, though. I like the "kid wearing his daddy's clothes" look.

A Moment of Self-indulgence

2008-10-17T09:27:00.003-04:00

This post is total self-indulgence, for me, of course. Read at your own risk. I don't know if this ever happens to anyone else, but sometimes I just get these collection of things in my head, and I can't get them out until I write them down. This is one of those times. There is probably nothing in this post of any value for anyone else, but just consider this a brain purge so I can actually accomplish things next week. I started running a 2 3/4 mile route yesterday morning. My muscles were screaming at me when I was done. I did more walking than I wanted, but whatever. Today I ran it again and did much better. I think I probably walk less than a quarter mile during the whole route, though I have no way of knowing for sure. Again, whatever. It feels good, and it's not a competition against anyone but myself. I'm proud of myself, considering I started walking a 1 1/4 mile route in mid July and began running it a week later. I'm down three pants sizes and my business casual attire that I wear to work are pretty baggy. I even bought a new pair of jeans and gave a perfectly good pair in my old size to goodwill. Usually I get rid of clothes because they wear out or I outgrow them. I can't remember the last time I "outshrunk" something. I don't know how much weight I've lost since I don't own a scale and I'm not about to pay my nurse practitioner for weekly visits to help monitor my weight, especially since it was never about the weight for me. It was about my family. We'll be back to our program after this brief break... -------- If it wasn't for music, I don't think I could survive running. MP3 players were made for runners, I'm sure of it. Anyway, if I could only have 10 songs on my jogging list, right now it would be these, in no particular order (only one per artist): 1. Timebomb - Godsmack 2. Gettting Away with Murder - Papa Roach 3. Qwerty - Linkin Park 4. Grind - Alice in Chains 5. Pure Trauma - downset. 6. The Beautiful People - Marilyn Manson 7. Psycho - Puddle of Mudd 8. Head Like a Hole - Nine Inch Nails 9. Sabotage - Beastie Boys 10. Down With the Sickness - Disturbed (Most of these are Alternative Rock, with lots of guitar and bass. I mix in bunches of other songs: rap, rock ballads, classic rock, some R&B. But these are fixtures.) Now, back to our program. -------- After years of staying fairly stable in weight (I was still way overweight, but I wasn't really gaining anything new), I suddenly began putting on the pounds again. I wasn't any more sedintary than before, though I think I was eating more. Regardless, I found myself with considerably less energy. I couldn't keep up with Haley for long, I didn't have the energy to give to Kelsee in the evening, and I was really starting to feel it in my joints. When Cameron came to live with us in spring, things in our lives obviously went topsy turvy. Because of the stress, I was more tired then ever. I needed a boost, so I began cutting back on the food I ate. I didn't stop eating what I liked, I just ate less of it. If I wanted a greasy burger, I ate it. Knowing me, there was now way I was going to move to some diet. So portion control was my goal. I don't think I consciously began doing that, but when I had a series of five or six doctors appointments over the spring and summer, I began to notice a trend. After about the third visit, I realized my weight had gone down 3-5 pounds each time. Now when you are as heavy as I am, weight fluctuation isn't strange, but I decided to make a conscious effort to watch my food intake. By my last visit in late July or early August, shortly after I began running, I'd lost 35 pounds. I started running because I could tell that I would start to stabilize in my weight loss if all I did was portion control. At first running was excrutiating. My cardiovascular system sucked. I couldn't run very far without getting very winded. I think if I hadn't been playing basketball once a week, it would have been worse. Anyway, my muscles ached and my joints throbbed. I did a lot of walk-running, trying to increase the running distance and decrease the walking. I also realized that I was killing myself on this 1 1/4 mile route (which I'd actually bumped up to 1.6 miles). I had a big hill at the beginning, which meant that I was pretty wasted after I got to the top. I decided to choose a new route and increase the distance. Bingo! I was now running 2 miles without killing myself as much. I mean I still had bad running days and good running days, but my new route only had little hills, so I didn't have to expend as much energy at the beginning. Last week, I extended that route to 2 1/4 miles, but that didn't really test me more than the 2 miles. So I extended it to 2 3/4 miles yesterday. Yesterday, I hurt. Today I feel good. I'm shooting to get up to 3 miles, and then decrease my walking distances to as little as possible. Who knows? Maybe I'll run one of those 5K charity runs or something one day. The best part? I'm able to hang with Haley when we play (at least for longer; kids have boundless energy). I'm get less sleep (since I'm teaching three classes this semester), but I have more energy throughout the day. Which means I'm better company in the evening (I guess we'll let Kelsee be the judge of that). I think I'm happier, too. And physically I feel better. Now if only I can get rid of the other stressors in my life...Oh, well. C'est la vie.

A Blissful State of Random...

2008-10-03T09:58:00.007-04:00

Haley has expanded the Purdy Lexicon by leaps and bounds. Her latest can be explained with this story: Haley needed to go to the restroom. Sometimes she takes forever (she is nothing if not my child). This particular time was one of those. After what seemed to be an eternity, she emerged and announced to anyone in earshot: "I had a melty poop." So now, in our home, a possible symptom of the flu is melty poop. ------------- During my sister's nearly three week stay at the hospital, I became intimately acquainted with the idiosyncrasies of the parking garage, most especially the painfully slow elevator. While I was often in a less than alert state of mind during my elevator wait, I did happen to once take stock of my surroundings. I discovered the most interesting set-up. Either someone had a great sense of humor or they just wanted to tempt people. ------------- We took Haley to see Ringling Bro/Barnum & Bailey Circus. Wo, talk about sensory overload. I didn't know where to focus my eyes or ears at times. Anyway, it was awesome. Well done, funny, exciting, and not horribly expensive. Haley had a blast. For the first time she really seemed to get into something like this without having to be coaxed. When she went with Kelsee, Austin and my mom to see High School Musical on Ice, she just sat kind of in a trance, though she says she had fun. At the circus, however, she would clap enthusiastically at the right times, laugh at the jokes (even the more subtle ones) and just responded exactly as appropriate. Very nice investment, indeed. Here she is at the circus, with that award winning grin: ------------------ Speaking of the circus, Haley's favorite parts were the clowns. And their were bunches of them. She loved them, laughing and clapping at their antics. Needless to say, we had to do a clown cake for her birthday party the next day. Kudos to my Honey for another awesome cake. --------------- Just another couple of random pics of Haley in an effort to increase our blog traffic and number of comments. ------------------ So all the humor aside, let me wrap up with what I feel is a sweet though heart wrenching picture. This tender moment of Cameron and his mother was taken a couple of days after she was admitted to the hospital and placed in the ICU. I miss you, Tanya.

Race for the Cure

2008-09-24T10:52:00.003-04:00

My good friend, Heidi, recently walked in the Portland, Oregon Susan G Komen Race for the Cure walk. She walked in memory of two very special breast cancer victims in my life: my paternal grandma, Geneva Kappes and one of my best friends, Lori Clay. She also walked in celebration of my friend, Deana Steppe. I was so touched by Heidi (she's a young breast cancer survivor) and her willingness to let my friends and family be honored and remembered while she walked.

Thanks Heidi!!

Funeral Information and Obituary

2008-09-18T10:22:00.002-04:00

Tanya's funeral information is below. The link to her online obituary is also below. Viewing: 5:00-8:00 pm, Thursday, September 18, 2008 Kerr Brothers Funeral Home, 3421 Harrodsburg Rd, Lexington, KY Funeral: 1:00 pm, Friday, September 19, 2008 LDS Church, 1789 Tates Creek Dr, Lexington, KY Graveside service and dedication: Immediately following funeral service Bluegrass Memorial Gardens, 4915 Harrodsburg Road, Nicholasville, KY (just across the Fayette-Jessamine County line) Obituary: http://www.legacy.com/kentucky/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=117592756

And then there were two...

2008-09-16T17:19:00.004-04:00

1:50 pm. September 16, 2008. That date is now etched into my mental and emotional record, placed right below November 5, 1995. Tanya is gone. Just as I hoped, she passed peacefully. One moment she took a breath, and the next moment there was no more. Mom and Mike were standing on either side of her bed, holding her hand and her head, respectively, when it happened. I'm sure as time passes I understand why this moment was so long in coming, when it seemed as though everyone was prepared for this at least a week and a half ago. At least I feel in my heart as though she is in a better place, released from this mortal prison we call a body, and placed into the arms of my father and grandfather and other loved ones. I'll post additional details of viewing and funeral, etc as I get them. In the interim, those who wish to send flowers, please donate to the Huntingtons Disease Society of America instead. Because I'm such an accomodating guy, I've placed a link to their online donation page. Click below and help the cause. Please. For me, for my mom, and for my sister's kids. Thanks for all those who have loved and supported us through this process. https://www.hdsa.org/donations.html

Tanya

2008-09-11T12:01:00.008-04:00

We're still waiting for Tanya, Jason's sister, to complete her journey here on earth. It looks like it will be today but we've thought that off and on for most of the week so we really just don't know what to expect. Jason has had some very tender moments with her and I know that those mean so much to him. I've said my goodbyes and expressed my love for her and I feel as much peace as I can considering the circumstances. Cameron is very private in his grief - he's said his goodbyes to his mama but he's struggling. Haley doesn't understand what's happening. Our hearts are hurting so much. There's just no getting around it. This hurts. Last night I was thinking about Tanya before she got so sick and I was distressed when I had a hard time remembering details of things we used to love to do together. I realized (again) that she's been sick for a very long time and I was reminded of how very much we've already lost. I decided to share a few thoughts about her here (I can't get my pictures to load but I will post some of her later). Tanya has two truly outstanding qualities that I automatically think of when I think of her: her kind, gentle nature and her positive, "keep-plugging-along" attitude. Those two things make her easy to love and be with. Everyone that truly knows Tanya knows how sweet-natured she is and how determined she is to just keep moving forward. Tanya loves music; before she got so sick she was a talented pianist and vocalist. She even attended BYU on a music scholarship. Tanya loves tv and movies (I have so many fond memories of her curled up on the couch with her kids cuddled all around her). She loves to read. She is a girly-girl. She likes pretty things and being pampered and doted on. More than anything else, Tanya loves being a mom to her five children. They are her life and they bring her so much joy. Tanya has a gorgeous smile. It stretches from ear to ear. When I think of her smile, I smile. It reminds of good times we've shared and happy memories she's made. She loves her kids so much and she delights in their silly antics, their artwork and schoolwork and their affection for her. She always smiles when Jason and Mike and I tease her or someone tells her a corny joke. Her happy countenance often brings peace and happiness to her family and friends and it's something I've grown to count on in my life. The tragedy of Huntington's Disease is that it steals your loved one little by little and much, much, much too soon. I'll never forget Tanya's sorrow when she wasn't able to play the piano any longer, drive her car or to physically take care of her children anymore. But Tanya impresses us with her acceptance of the situation - not that she likes it but that she is able to still find joy in what she is able to do and that she is able to keep her faith in her Heavenly Father and His plan strong. Tanya is a special person: a gentle spirit, a loving wife and mother, a wonderful sister and daughter and a special friend. I'm so grateful that she is my sister-in-law and my friend. In some ways I've grieved for her for a long time but this dying thing - it's so hard, so painful. Yet we know it's time. And we are letting go because it's the only thing we can do for her now - lovingly let her go, wrapped in our love, so that she can shed her crippled and ill earthly body and let her spirit fly free. I love you Tan-O. I'm going to miss you so much. But I know I'll see you again and I know your dad is waiting to hold you in his arms again. Goodbye my sweet, loving friend. You changed our lives by being you and we'll always hold you close in our hearts.

First day of school Haleyisms

2008-09-11T11:54:00.002-04:00

I need to write these down so that I don't forget them... As Haley came in from her first day of school, she let out a huge sigh and said, "I'm woooo-oooorn out" and collapsed on the couch. She told me that she had a great day but then gave me her list of complaints: - '1,2, 3 eyes on me' - that's all my teacher said today. I can't stand it anymore! - We didn't learn any math OR science! - We ran out of time for the library! *grumble, grumble* - All I did today was wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, waaaaaaiiiiiit. But she had a great time. If she says so! :)

Remember That One Time...

2008-09-09T09:29:00.003-04:00

For those of you who tune into this blog and casually peruse my light-hearted prose, I'm shifting gears today. If you don't want to read a lot of emotional reflection, you need to just wait until the posts return to their humorous slant. It's been a week now since my only sibling went into the hospital with severe pneumonia. The lack of oxygen apparently led to a minor heart attack and what looked to be partial renal failure. Her body temperature spiked at 104 before she stabilized. In this week, Tanya has gotten worse, then improved, then gotten worse, then improved until Sunday afternoon, she really took a tumble. Her CO2 levels hit more than twice the normal level, which mean that her body was refusing to expel all that gaseous waste. Nothing seemed to work. Tanya's husband, Mike, signed a DNR Sunday night. Yesterday morning, early, a doctor mentioned that he didn't think she'd last the day. So we sent Haley to school, and Kelsee and I loaded Cameron into the van to go say his last goodbyes to his mother, thinking we could just wait it out. Sometime in late morning, they decided to remove all her various life-sustaining devices and move her to a private room outside of ICU so all her family could be with her as she passed on. However, she took another upswing once the feeding tube was taken out, so the little fighter decided to hang on for at least one more night. As I write this, I wonder how she is since I've not yet heard from anyone at the hospital. I just can't go spend another day at the hospital today. I prepared myself, and had a very tender moment with her yesterday when she was lucid and responding to my words. It was my special goodbye. On one hand I hope they call me if she takes a turn for the worse so I can make an effort to be there for the end, if not for myself then for my family. On the other hand, I'm at peace if she passes before I see her again. Grief is a very interesting thing. Everybody does it in their own way. There is no right or wrong. There were nearly 40 family members and friends at the hospital yesterday, many of whom stayed for hours waiting. Dozens of other friends and family called in. It was a remarkable outpouring of support, and one my sister would have loved to see had she been more aware. My mom really benefited I think from all of TC's family around her. I, on the other hand, am a very private person when it comes to my emotions. Just ask Kelsee how hard it is to get me to express my feelings, and she's my best friend and lover. I write my emotions here because writing is therapeutic to me and it's easier to bold or honest in cyberspace. Anyway, I tried to keep a stoic presence in public, but when it was just me and Kelsee, I was often in my own state of emotional catatonia. This is harder than when my dad died. Kelsee said it could be because I'm older and have more life experience. That's part of it, I'm sure. I'm sure I'm also feeling this more because Tanya is a peer, just two years older. We experienced life together as siblings, dealing with our childhoods in a way parents couldn't. She's been sick for a long time, but I still feel a new pang knowing that I can't turn to someone when I have a childhood memory and say "Remember that one time..." Even as recently as six months ago I could still share the memory with Tanya and she'd smile or laugh. That's gone. Sometime in the near future, it'll just be me talking to the air, and no one else will have that knowing nod as they join me in reverie. Does this sound like a heaping tablespoonful of woe-is-me? I guess it does. C'est la vie. I'm prone to bouts of self-pity, but they are usually fleeting. I'm sure more will occur as I sit around waiting for my sister to die, whether that be days or weeks. On a more positive note, when my emotional state is heightened as it was yesterday, I tend to be all touchy-feely. Anyway, during the dozen or so elevator trips yesterday, I had the opportunity to travel with several new mothers and fathers. I saw at least a half dozen tiny bambinos on their way home with their dazed parents. I don't know what their lives will be like, but at that moment all seemed right in their worlds. With death comes sadness and mourning. With birth comes joy and hope. I count myself blessed that I know that after death we will have that same joy and hope again. Don't tell me there is no God. I've seen and felt too much to believe otherwise.

It's All About the Presentation...

2008-08-21T10:43:00.004-04:00

Most people who know us know that we are rabid Olympics fans. We attended events in Atlanta in '96 and Salt Lake in '02. We each have our favorites. For instance, I love volleyball (the indoor variety, both mens and womens), while Kelsee tolerates it at best. She has been really into the cycling road races, which just isn't my thing. We both enjoy glimpses of the "Olympic" sports. You know those sports that you only really ever watch during the Olympics: fencing, wrestling, weightlifting, various field events, whitewater, rowing, etc. We do watch the swimming, gymnastics and diving enthusiastically, as well. Anyway, normally we aren't too much into the running events. We watch and enjoy, but really not to the same level as the other stuff above. Well, that changed this year, at least for Kelsee, and for one primary reason. Ato Boldon. She sighs when she hears his voice, drools when she sees him. We've been watching most of the Olympics on TiVo, and every time they flash to the NBC Broadcast team, the remote flies up and points to the television, the image of The Man paused. Then slowly, oh so slowly, she advances the recording. Sheesh. I decided to take a pic of the image she was most fascinated with the other night... This particular picture elicited air kisses from my dear wife. That's OK. I got back at her by swooning over the US womens volleyball team. I was going to take a picture of the scene we paused for Cameron. He found excitement in the Olympics only during womens gymnastics, and most particularly the little firecracker Shawn Johnson. I wasn't going to take a picture of her flashing that million dollar smile or shaking her tush at him. I was going to take a picture of him mesmerized, his chin resting on the floor and his eyes bugging out. He said he doesn't have a problem marrying a woman who makes millions of dollars more than him. Kelsee said she wouldn't have had a problem marrying a man who made millions more than her, either. Gee, thanks.

A Week of Firsts

2008-08-19T12:22:00.004-04:00

It's official. Haley is a student. She started kindergarten last week, and the event brought a range of emotions into our home, especially with her mother. I leave her to share that if she chooses. Anyway, she was so excited, but then I think the stress caught up to her on the first day. She was so anxious, she wouldn't even give us a real Haley smile for the pictures. Cameron gave us a real smile, which was pretty monumental in and of itself that early in the morning. Anyway, here are some pics... Best we can do of the new student for the official "backpack on and posing on the front porch" picture. Just a minute before she's grinning the biggest grin and practically bouncing. As soon as the camera comes out she looks like she is trying to fake a smile after losing her favorite pet. Now, Cameron, on the other hand, is totally genuine. I'm not sure if this is because he's glad to be out of the boredom of our house for the bulk of the day, or if it's because he had no less than four girls call him up that week saying they couldn't wait to see him and give him the biggest hugs. Every guy reading this is nodding their heads to that second option. Kelsee tries to get a smile again from the anxiety riddled five year old. Really, Haley. You can do better than that. Fine. We give up. Anyway, school seems to be going well for both our students. My class starts this week. Wonder if Kelsee will take a picture of me on my first day, or do we not do that with teachers? ----- Another first... On Monday, as I was waiting for my carpool while Kelsee was helping Haley get ready for school, I hear a shreik from the munchkin's room. I dart into the room to see her mother practically bouncing on the bed and Haley beaming. Seems Haley wanted Kelsee to feel how sharp Haley's teeth were (why, I have no idea). When Kelsee felt one of the lower front teeth, it really wiggled. Sure enough. Haley's first loose tooth, and it is REALLY loose. Kelsee is spending the day making a tooth fairy pillow. I never got one of those. I feel robbed. ----- This morning Haley decided to play family photographer for the first time. This series is entitled "Morning in the House..." Me, waiting on my carpool... Cameron, refusing to look at the camera. However, this shows just how heavy his backpack is. Man, I don't miss school... Now, right here should be a picture of Kelsee standing in the bathroom blowing her hair dry making a funny face. However, I've learned a valuable lesson in my short 13+ years of marriage. Don't post pictures of the wife without prior written approval. (Must be written, mind you, or you open up a Pandora's Box...) If I receive the necessary legal documentation, I'll post it. Otherwise, just use your imagination.

More in Our 'OK. That was Random...' Series (plus bonus Haley-ism!)

2008-08-13T12:02:00.007-04:00

You know what? I have the awesomest wife in the world. When I woke up bright and early--or dark and early--I was treated with a lovely note from Kelsee. She'd obviously written it some point during the night. Love you, too, baby. ----- Last thought on jog-walking. Endorphins are amazing things. I hurt when I run, yet I find myself looking forward to it each morning. It's just wrong. Endorphins should be outlawed. ----- Haley-ism We were downstairs watching TV. Haley was scratching some spot on her arm, a little white bump had formed there. She scratched some more, then looked at Kelsee. "I have beehives on my arm!" ----- We went to the Kentucky Horse Park yesterday. We only had a few hours as I had to work in the morning and Haley had a OT appointment late in the afternoon. For those who don't know, the KHP is a huge place, site of the annual Rolex Three Day equestrian event and the first non-European site of the World Equestrian Games (in 2010). It's also the burial location of Man-O-War and the home of several other famous retired horses. They hold any number of equestrian activities there and have many stables, barns, and museums. Anyway, some pictures, with my comments below each. Ladies and Gentlemen! Cigar! (No, really. Cigar. I know it looks like a horse...) Anyway, Cigar was a big name in horse racing during the middle Nineties. Horse of the year in 95 and 96, won 16 straight races (obliterating the competition). He didn't really start racing until he was a four-year-old or something, but he's a big name in the racing world. I was giddy to see him. An interesting note. This picture of Cigar I took at the Hall of Champions, where they bring in a few really big name horses to show the crowd. Most of the horses really liked to SHOW the crowd, if you know what I mean. Everything on display. I don't have any pictures of that, but it was a fascinating example of Classical Conditioning. The handler would just smack her leg with her hand, or turn the horse in a circle, and he'd just, well, retract. Sometimes. Amazing. Haley didn't comment on it, so I breathed a sigh of relief. (As an aside: Did I ever mention I had a roommate in college who competed in rodeo. He had a walking stick made of a horse, ummm, appendage. Yet I digress...) Part of the activities at KHP is the Parade of Breeds. They bring out five or six different breeds and show you all about them. Really neat to see how different they all are. This guy in the picture was huge, and so was the horse (a Shire, used by Medieval knights). Haley has become really fascinated with horses over the last year or two. She had a ball at the horse park. Oh, and imagine that! We can see her chewing her gum. Some things never change. This is just about the biggest horse I've ever seen. There were actually two of them. Percherons, one of a breed of draft horses. They were each about 18 hands high (a hand is 4 inches) and weighed a total of 4300 pounds. Amazing. Here's Haley petting the head and neck of this tiny Percheron. Did I mention that he weighed nearly 2200 pounds? Like that handler would be able to stop him if he decided to bolt over the top of those little kids. Yikes. Time to find another horse... Ah, here we go. Some miniature pony. It's not a Shetland, but it's similar. Here's putting that pony's size in perspective. It would need to be concerned if I decided to bolt, not the other way around. (By the way, I hate the camera. See how big it makes me look? I'm sure it has nothing to do with the uncontrolled eating and sedentary lifestyle I used to live.) Hey, Kona Gold thinks our blog is funny! Thanks, big guy! (Kona Gold: set the fastest time ever at Churchill Downs during the 2000 Breeders Cup Sprint. It seemed like he made this face every time he, uh, extended. Pervert...)

Oh, My! Now the Peaches!

2008-08-11T10:28:00.003-04:00

We've reaped quite a harvest on from our peach tree. Maybe five dozen peaches. Mind you, this is a dwarf peach tree that we got for free from someone; we new it had pretty flowers, but never knew we'd get this reward! Our first two summers were pretty anemic. Anyway, recall my post about our tomatoes? (My Tomatoes Are Horny!) Looks like they aren't the only virile produce, and now I think I know the source of our peach population explosion... Who knew my blog would end up pornographic? Playfruit Magazine Online. (Ugh, that was an awful attempt at humor. Oh, well. You can't win 'em all.)

Running without a Basketball? Blasphemy!!!

2008-08-04T11:05:00.002-04:00

Life got pretty busy in early March when Cameron came to live with us. An unintended yet pleasant consequence of that was I forgot to eat. I mean, I still eat meals, but I forgot to have that second helping or the late night snack. I've had a couple of medical issues that involved me going to the doctor five or six times since March, and I realized after the first visit (where I weighed in at a hefty... you'd like to know, wouldn't you? Tough...) that I needed to get serious about losing weight, but I didn't put much thought into it, as usual. Anyway, I discovered at the second visit that I'd lost like five pounds and hadn't really done anything. So I began to be more aware of it. Each subsequent visit to the doctor showed more weight loss, such that I was 25 pounds less of a man at my last visit about a week and a half ago than I was at my first in March. And you know what? It really wasn't hard. I decided a couple of things. First, if I wanted a double cheeseburger or any other decadent food, I'd eat it. I wasn't going to go on some weird freaky menu diet. I'm just going to do portion control and cut out most of my snacking. I had a nutritionist who once told me losing weight is about attitude change more than anything. I also know that cutting back food intake can only take you so far. Now, I need to interject that I'm trying to lose weight for a few reasons: 1. Haley is a typical five-year-old in the sense that her energy far exceeds mine. I need to be able to keep up. 2. Big guy clothes are more expensive then little guy clothes. 3. Airplane seats are really small, and the seatbelts are really short. 4. Genetically, I'm probably going to have major problems with my knees. They don't need any more help getting trashed. 5. Other health reasons, which I'm sure nobody really cares about, so I'll leave them alone. 6. I want my wife to think I'm kinda cute, but I'm not sure losing weight can help all that much in the ugly department. Anyway, I decided about two weeks ago to add to my exercise regimin, which right then consisted of one night of basketball a week and lots of walking from my desk to the bathroom to unload my Mountain Dew. I have started jog-walking. I call it jog-walking because part of the time I'm walking, and the rest of the time I'm "jogging", which actually resembles my walking except I move my arms faster and bounce higher with each step. I definitely don't go any faster. I've learned a few things about jogging... 1. People who do it for fun are gluttons for punishment. When I'm done, my knees hurt, my ankles hurt, I can't catch my breath and I stink. I don't mind any of these things if I'm dribbling a basketball, but just for the sake of running? 2. Running in the late evenings really interrupts the evening, and takes away from my couple time with my better half. So I decided two days ago to begin running in the morning. However, running in the morning hurts worse than running in the evening. 3. Running in Kentucky in August sucks for two main reasons: humidity and hills. Yuck. 4. Running is an individual thing. Cameron tried running with me last Friday night. I told him to run at his own pace, to push himself a little, but not to wait for me to catch up or try to keep up with me. He seemed perplexed, but I soon left him behind and finished probably five minutes ahead of him. 5. Thank goodness for MP3 players and metal music. Makes this running thing tolerable. 6. Completing my circuit each day comes with some feeling that is surprisingly and disturbingly satifying. I'm not saying I like it, but I guess I can see how someone might become addicted to it, in a completely morbid way.

More on the Reunion

2008-07-24T08:11:00.003-04:00

Friday night at the reunion. We're walking down the little road from the dining hall to our cabin. It's almost dusk. As we pass people walking our direction, we catch wind that we have a visitor near our cabin, and not a visitor we were anxious to meet. He roamed around our cabins for a while, and we actually decided it wasn't so bad. As a matter of fact, we almost became oblivious to him, and he never even seemed to acknowledge our presence.

As it began to get darker, he disappeared. We didn't see him again until the next evening, practically at the same time. While a few people were a little on edge to see him again, most of us just looked at him with mild fascination. Some even decided to get him to pose for a picture, but he wasn't very cooperative. We snapped a few anyway, then just turned our attention to other things. He milled about the outside of our cabins for a little while, and then just faded off into the night. We didn't even get his name, but he definitely added interest to the reunion.

Here's a picture I was able to get:

Family Reunion Spawns More Haley-isms

2008-07-21T08:38:00.002-04:00

First a note on my last post: For those who were offended by my horny tomato reference, let me just say: get your mind out of the gutter! I was referring to the fact it looked like it had grown a horn. I can't imagine what else you thought I might be referring to. Sheesh. ------------ New Playlist stuff: Psycho by Puddle of Mudd Du Hast and Ich Will by Rammstein (they're German Metal) The Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson (he gives me the creeps, but this is a good song) Temperature by Sean Paul ------------ Here's stuff from the weekend: We had my Hensley Family Reunion this weekend. It's an extravaganza. Starts Friday afternoon, ends Sunday morning, with a Saturday sandwiched in between (information for those who are using something other than the Julian or Gregorian calendars). This event is an annual tradition of swimming, eating, talking, hiking and sweating. It's held at a 4-H camp complete with air-conditioningless cabins. It is fun in the oppressive summer sun. Haley's favorite part, next to the endless swimming, is seeing her cousins. All of them came on Friday night, except Alex, who came with my sister and her husband on Saturday. Haley asked me at one point on Friday night: "When is Alex going to join us?" Every year we have an auction to help offset the costs of the event, and every year we have our eyes set on one particular item. Last year it was a nice pair of binoculars. This year Kelsee and I had a conflict. I had my eyes set a dancing Santa. Kelsee had her eyes set on a soup tureen (fancy name for soup serving bowl with a big spoon). We are now proud owners of a ceramic bowl. Anyway, Haley has become somewhat enamored with the bowl. Yesterday evening, Kelsee made a killer creamy chicken corn chowder thing, and Haley asked if Kelsee was going to serve it in the new bowl. Kelsee told Haley that we would use that for special occasions. Haley nods her understanding, mentioning a few special occasions (first on the list was Daddy's birthday, much to my delight.) She then looks over to kitchen cupboard with the special China we inherited from Kelsee's grandmother and says: "And we can serve it with the Chinese plates." Speaking of yesterday evening, we had a short thunderstorm that rolled through, which prompted Haley to make a similar comment to one that I don't recall ever mentioning on here. So let me go back about a year and a half. It was a time when Haley was becoming afraid of thunderstorms. We were talking about safety, and we told Haley about tornadoes and how to be safe from them. For family home evening, we made a tornado plan, and took Haley to the basement to show her where we should go in the case of a tornado. A few days later, we were beset with a typical spring thunderstorm: lots of wind, thunder, lightening and rain. Haley was becoming more and more alarmed. At one point she says: "Shouldn't we go downstairs so we can be safe from the tomato." We start this post with tomatoes, we end with tomatoes. Fitting...

My Tomatoes Are Horny!

2008-07-18T08:41:00.003-04:00

It all started with my former neighbor's dog. Sure, he may have been tied to one of the big maple trees in their half of our shared back yard, but that didn't stop him from being a gigolo. He had a steady parade of much larger female canine visitors. Well, he and his owner moved away last summer. Yet, he must have left his power behind. I went out to the garden a few days ago to check for any ripe vegetables. I saw one ripe Rutger tomato among a cluster of tomatoes. So, of course, I picked the normal looking fruit. Imagine my surprise when I turned him (yes, it is most definitely a him) over and saw...well...an appendage! I'm sure we now have a cluster of disappointed feminine tomatoes.

Back to work

2008-07-15T14:31:00.003-04:00

A few years ago my mom and I created a business making and selling custom made children's clothing. We mostly sell using eBay but do quite a bit offline, too (making more money that way!). We had a lot of fun but life got busy for both of us so we've taken a long hiatus. We're back to selling some things we designed and made earlier. Maybe in the fall we'll get back into the swing of things. Or maybe not. LOL We'll see!

Come see what we're doing: http://myworld.ebay.com/81gingerbreadlane

The good, the bad and the ugly.

2008-07-15T10:02:00.004-04:00

It's easy to share the fun stuff - the trips, the funny stories, the cute pictures, the parties and celebrations. You know - the things we scrapbook - the things we love to remember. But what about the reality of our lives? It's sometimes not pretty but I'm going to throw it out here anyway. Haley is really struggling with a lot of things right now. Most days her behavior is really poor and we don't know how to help her. I wish it was as "simple" as the medical diagnoses. If it was just that, I'd feel confident. But the social/emotional/behavioral stuff is kicking my butt. It's so hard not to take her attacks personally, yet I know it's not truly personal - I just happen to be with her 24/7 so I bear the brunt of it. It's so hard to continually garner all of my patience and resolve and love, to speak gently to her and act gently with her when she's raging at me, kicking me, hitting me, spitting on me and then to have her scream at me to stop yelling at her, stop hurting her - I know she's not in control of this behavior but it still hurts. It's horrible to feel like you can't help your own child and that they see you as the aggressor when you're doing everything in your power NOT to react to their rage. The NLD diagnosis does explain a lot of it but how do we help her? I've read a ton of books and websites, I've spoken to other parents dealing with this, we see her specialists regularly, I pray. Then the strategies we implement don't seem to be very helpful and it feels like a losing battles some days. It's stressful and overwhelming. And then we have a good day and I feel hopeful again. One of her doctor wants to add more medications but we don't feel comfortable with that. He also keeps saying that this is just life with a brain injury, that the main thing that's consistent with brain injuries is that brain injured people are inconsistent. I keep feeling that there has to be something we can do to help her cope with her life better. She is such a beautiful little person - so full of wit and sweetness and curiosity and fun. She's bright and capable. She's so funny and has such a wonderful mind. She has a truly astounding memory. She is very musical and artistic. She loves to create things. She brings so much happiness to us. But she's also significantly disabled in invisible ways that impact practically everything in her life. She misinterprets most social situations (I could even say most interactions with anyone else which is at the top of our frustrating list today) and is avoiding eye contact more and more. Emotionally, she's getting colder and less empathetic. In many social situations she is pretty much non-responsive - even with people she knows well. She is so rigid and obsessive in her thoughts. She fatigues so easily. She has very few coping skills, very little attention span. Her vision and visual perception are impaired. She has poor coordination/motor skills. She has numerous sensory integration problems. Lots of anxiety. The list goes on and on and on. And yet you look at her and she appears so typical. People just have no idea how challenging her life is - for her and for those of us that love her so much. It's heartbreaking. And yet she is a fighter and so are we. I know things will be okay. But I also know that our future is not going to be easy. And that's hard to face - even with strong faith, a loving and supportive family, great friends and great medical and therapeutic resources.

More on Camping

2008-07-11T10:33:00.003-04:00

A couple of add-ons to Kelsee's camping post:

As we were telling Haley about the cave we were going to explore, and as she often does when she doesn't want to do something, she animatedly listed the reasons she didn't want to go into the cave. One, bears, and two, popsicles. Huh? She clarified: it's really cold in a cave and they have ice. Oh. Icicles. Gotcha.
In the lovely waterfall we played in, I movement caught my eye. A crawdad (crawfish, crayfish, whatever)! I was excited, as only dads can be when presented the opportunity to share with their child something new. I picked it (as you can see from the pictures in Kelsee's post). Haley had a guarded fascination with it. On our way home from our trip, we stopped once more to frolic in the cool stream of water. As we approached, Haley asked if the crab would be there. Kelsee corrected her. Crawdad, not crab. So Haley proceeded to ask me several times, as we played in the water, if the crabtree was there.
I love camping. Really I do. Just a couple of things that bug me, pun intended: 1) That's right. Bugs. I have no problem with bugs in general. I love working in my yard, and often find my hands wrist deep in all sorts of creepy crawlies. And when we're camping, I don't mind bugs when I'm messing around the site, or even eating. But when I go to sleep, and I glance up to the top of the tent, illuminated in the lamplight, and I see ants and mosquitos and spiders and various other insects just waiting to share my sleeping bag with me... Yuck! I'm not afraid of them, I just find the thought of waking up to feel insects exploring my skin to be a rather unpleasant thought. 2) Speaking of sleep, why must the ground be so hard?!? We've tried an air matress, but this doesn't work well if both sleeping mates aren't the same size. Kelsee ended up plastered against me all night, and in the summer, that's the last thing you want. Plus, if you get a cheap mattress, it deflates as the night goes on, which means you are on the ground anyway. For the most part we use foam mattress pads. Three of them. On top we pile two sleeping bags and a comforter, before climbing on top of the pile ourselves and topping it off with a sheet. Still, I wake multiple times in the night and ask myself why I hate myself so much. 3) The key to dutch oven cooking is the right number of coals. We made mountain man breakfast, and the potatoes never got cooked, and the egg was less than solid. However, we made cobler and BBQ chicken one night and everything was phenomenal. I guess it's more of an art than a science. 4) Rain is our friend. Rain is our friend. Rain is our friend.
Last thought on cameras. So we were relegated to using the camera on my cell phone because our digital camera has disappeared. On one hand, bummer. On the other, this gave me a chance to us my new camera phone. When I was reading the reviews on my phone (a Samsung Blackjack), some guy said it took better pictures than his digital camera. While that didn't play a factor in my getting the phone, I filed that tidbit away in my mental filing cabinet. Let me just say, that guy must have had a pretty crappy digital camera. As you can see from the pictures in the last few posts, they are hardly quality. And those were the best of the lot. Sheesh.

Camping Extravaganza

2008-07-10T11:05:00.005-04:00

We went on a three day camping trip this week and discovered a beautiful area practically in our back yard (less than 2 hours away). We had intended to go to Cumberland Gap National Park (3 hours away) but decided at the last minute that we didn't want to waste the money on gas when we had just been there a few months ago. Instead we decided to go to Carter Caves State Resort Park (about an hour east of us). When we arrived on Monday morning we realized that we'd never be able to handle that campground - rows of campsites intended for RVers that like to socialize. Ugh! We camp for the peace, quiet, seclusion and beauty of being in nature. That campground was NOT going to work for us. We took a drive through Tygarts State Forest and then visited the park's Visitor's Center (ahhh, so many memories from numerous trips I've taken there since I was a little girl). At the store Haley used her money to buy a huge lollipop. She left the building and immediately crashed to the ground (I think she missed a step - she has very poor depth perception). The lollipop was shattered beyond recognition. After ascertaining that Haley was not really hurt, her soft hearted daddy made another trip to the store for another red and white lollipop. Tears dried and lollipop licked, we tried to convince Haley to go spelunking with us. Haley was terrified of going into a cave because bears live in caves but we finally convinced her to trust us and spent an enjoyable hour or so playing in Laurel Cave and the waterfall inside an adjoining cave.

Still in search of a campsite, we decided to drive to another state park about 20 minutes away. Same problem. A campground built for social RVers. We were now almost and hour and a half from home and had nowhere to stay for the night. We knew we could drive back to Cave Run Lake and stay in one of their campgrounds but we were already planning a trip there in September so we really wanted to branch out. In desperation, I pulled out my map and noticed that right across the Ohio River was a national forest with lots of camping. Once we had cell service I called my sister to have her look up the phone number for the campground closest to us. When we called they had openings with electricity (a necessity for Jason's CPAP). We started heading in that direction. At this point I have to add that I am a compulsive and obsessive planner. Flying by the seat of my pants on vacation is nerve-wracking for me. And Haley? She was pretty hysterical about the fact that we weren't camping yet and were never going to find a place. She's pretty obsessive and compulsive about a lot of things! We crossed the river (on a poorly marked bridge) and arrived at our campground within 25 minutes of our initial call. It was GORGEOUS!!!! This was definitely a wonderful surprise! We spent the next three days cooking in dutch ovens, playing rummy, making S'mores, swimming at the beach, walking on the boardwalk at the lake, reading, playing with caterpillars, listening to the birds, trying to stay dry with huge thunderstorms rumbling all around us and just enjoying being away from everything. All three of us had a great time! In fact, we'd gladly return to the same spot next year. Here's a link to the area where we were: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/wayne/recreation_sites/ves_recreation.html Haley says her favorite parts of our trip were playing in the waterfalls, eating BBQ chicken and roasted corn on the cob, swimming at the beach and playing with bugs. I can't wait for our next camping trip!

The Cookie Monster

2008-06-30T15:22:00.004-04:00

The other day, everyone wanted chocolate cookies, so I decided to take the initiative and throw a batch together. I pulled out the mixer and all the ingredients, grabbed the Tollhouse recipe from Kelsee's recipe box and went crazy. Anyone who would have stepped into the kitchen would have realized how lost I really was, but everyone wisely kept their distance. Anyway, after a whirlwind effort, and spooned some globs of dough on a cookie sheet and baked away. Ten minutes or so later, I pulled hot cookies from the oven. I examine discs. They looked like cookies. They smelled like cookies. But how would they taste. I bit into one. Hmmm... not bad. Still I'll let the fam do the tasting. Kelsee was reading a book in bed, so I took her a couple, complete with a glass of milk (yes, I am the perfect husband). She commenced to tell me that were probably even better than my mom's (which is quite a compliment; my mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies ever, in our eyes). Cameron snuck a few while I was upstairs, and told Kelsee they might have been the best he ever had. Haley just ate hers without breathing, which is a compliment, I guess. Apparently, they all felt like I could add these to my short list of culinary masterpieces, which also includes grilled cheese sandwiches (affectionately referred to in our home as cheese toasties), tuna fish sandwiches, fried eggs and toast. So, not that I have this newly discovered talent, Kelsee decided to go for broke and have me make some more over the weekend. Let's just say that lightening rarely strikes twice in the same spot. These cookies were OK, but nothing to write home about. Still that didn't seem to stop Haley from enjoying them to the fullest:

Speaking of messy kids, Haley's cousin Blake celebrated his first birthday yesterday. He seemed to enjoy the cake...

Happy Birthday! -- A Haley-ism

2008-06-23T11:51:00.002-04:00

Haley and I were sitting in the van outside Kelsee's parents house on Friday night. We had just spent the evening with her family and now were waiting for Kelsee to come out so we could go home. Somehow we got on the topic of birthdays and I mentioned to Haley that mine was coming up soon. The following conversation took place... Haley: You should have a High School Musical cake, Daddy. A Gabriella/Chad cake. Me: No, thanks. You might like a High School Musical cake, but not me. Haley: But you like Gabriella and Chad. Me: No, you like Gabriella and Chad. Haley: Maybe you could have a Dinosaur/Chad cake. Me, laughing: Um, no thanks. Haley: What, too Dinosaury? Me: Not really. Haley: Too Chady? Me: I'm just not interested in that. Haley: Well, what kind do want, Daddy? Me: Probably just chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Haley, after a second's hesitation: Excellent choice, Daddy. Thanks, kiddo.

New Games, Same Result

2008-06-18T12:27:00.002-04:00

OK. I just reread Kelsee's last post and I couldn't just let it pass. To quote my better half, with regards to the Wii: "I did well, especially with the bowling and tennis. I'm not athletic at all so this was a big surprise for me (that I did so well!)." I scoff at her surprise! What she neglected to mention is her prowess with pretty much any game she plays. While the games in question might have simulated sports, they were still games. And she kicks butt at games. I chalk it up to 60% intelligence and 40% competitiveness. Yes, that's right. My dear, meek, gentle wife is a competitive fiend. (Check out the asterisk at the bottom of this post.) Anyway, back to her gaming prowess...

Word games. Like Boggle and Scrabble. Kelsee is our resident wordsmith. We play boggle and I'll come away with 15 or 20 words or so. She'll have like 30 or 40. Only Kally has been able to provide competition in Boggle. Kolby could, if he wouldn't spend so much time looking for the obscure eight letter words. In Scrabble, she comes up with the 68 point words when everyone else is getting 10 or 12.
Strategy games. We are avid board gamers, and we play alot of the civilization/city building strategy games (Like Settlers of Cataan, Carcasonne, Attica, etc.) There are the occasional nights when I'll pull off a few wins, but most of the time we measure my wins in number per week and her's in number per night.
Card games*. Like Uno, Rummy and Phase 10. We'll play to 500 in Rummy and she'll beat me by more than 100. In Phase 10 she'll usually be up two phases by the time we're four phases in.
Computer games. She has a knack of figuring out a computer game quickly, then play it exclusively until she's mastered it or is bored with and then moves on to the next game. Only, it takes her much less time to master it than most people. Tetris, Bejeweled, Mah Jong, Jezzball, whatever. I'll play Jezzball and the game will be over in like four minutes. Her's will take 15 minutes and she'll be many hundreds of thousands of points higher than me.
Shower games. No, not like you think. Get your mind out of the gutter. I mean bridal shower, baby shower, etc. She came back from the most recent baby shower and I was actually shocked--I mean, SHOCKED--that she didn't win either of the games they played. I thought she was slipping, then she announced that she'd spent more time holding one of the babies that was there than she did playing the game.
Now, the Wii. She got the second highest bowling score of the night, just behind gaming junky Kirby and just ahead of athlete Kody. She ended up winning more tennis matches than she lost (even hitting her dad with her "racket" when he moved too close while she was swinging, or so she says).

Now, you might think there could be another answer to this (ie. maybe Jason just sucks at games). But she does this to everyone, not just me. We play party games sometimes at family parties. She more often than not wins or is on the winning team. Like Scattergories or Taboo. Even Trivial Pursuit. Cameron even comments on this if someone else wins when we are playing games.

Now to explain the * next to card games. There is the rare instance that we find a game that I win. Rare being the operative word here. Shortly after we were married, we went through a Rook phase. For some reason, I won more often than Kelsee. She would get frustrated, but when I suggested we stop or play something else, she'd just lean back in her chair and say "Deal again." One particular night, her competitive self was a major glutton for punishment. I went on quite a run, and she became more and more frustrated. Finally, after another loss, she looked at the stack of cards on the table, then looked at me, and then with both hands shoved all the cards towards me in anger. The cards littered around me on the floor, I vowed to her that we would never play that game again. She asked from time to time over the next few days, but finally gave up. We haven't played that game for 13 years.

And she's never gotten that mad at losing a game again. Of course, since she rarely loses...

I've injured myself

2008-06-16T12:47:00.004-04:00

I've got a sports injury (Yes, dear readers, scroll down and look. This really is Kelsee writing. Yep, I said I have a sports injury). I can hardly move my right arm and shoulder. My left one hurts, too, but not as severely as my right arm. We had a big Father's Day party yesterday. We grilled out, had great food. Enjoyed hanging out. We played tennis and baseball and we also bowled. I did well, especially with the bowling and tennis. I'm not athletic at all so this was a big surprise for me (that I did so well!). Usually we play cornhole at our big family parties. But yesterday we got ambitious. We branched out. We tried something new. And we had a lot of fun! But my poor, poor arm! I could hardly lift the gallon of milk for my morning bowl of Rice Krispies. Who knew a Wii could inflict such muscle damage? :)

Attack of the cicadas!

2008-06-16T11:48:00.005-04:00

Kentucky, like many other states, is having an "outbreak" of 17 year periodical cicadas. They only live for a few weeks and other than some relative harm to young fruit trees, they don't really bother anything. Except for the deafening noise. At night they are so loud outside that it can be hard to have a conversation in some locations. They are also really ugly creatures. They like to swoop down my chimney and die on my living room floor/hearth. Gross!

World's Worst Blogger award...

2008-06-14T09:51:00.003-04:00

goes to me! I promised Jason I'd blog a little with him if he'd set it up but so far, I've been a big dud. I'm not nearly as funny as Jason so who wants to read what I write?! Plus, I get all of my "talking" out on my favorite message board (hey MOFia girls!). But I'll try! Actually, the MOFia (a private message board I've belonged to for eons) is what has prompted me to write today. Thursday night a friend of mine lost her husband suddenly to a massive heart attack. He was close to my age and in good health. My heart is breaking. I'm having a hard time concentrating on other things. It's such a shock. Life has been hard the last many years for our little family. We've dealt with a lot of difficult things but I've always been able to see the silver lining in the dark clouds (sometimes it takes a while but I still see it eventually). Having my young friend lose her husband (and five beautiful, sweet children lose their father) has prompted me to look at all of the blessings I have in my life. Funny that Jason just did a list of things he loved - I was thinking about doing the same thing and was so surprised when I saw his latest blog entry. So, just because I AM so blessed, I'll share some of the happiest things in my life: Jason - He is my rock. I can't imagine my life without him. He makes every day a beautiful day! He makes me laugh all.the.time. He is the sunshine in my life. Even after 13 years he still makes me all swoony! Haley - Was I really happy before Haley was born? I can't imagine how I could have been because she is such a joy to me. She is a funny, spunky, spirited challenge but oh how I love her! My extended family - My family is crazy but I love them so much! We love to hang out together, tease each other and help each other. I'm so glad that I have all of my siblings and their families relatively close. Our lake outings, cookouts, family dinners and playdates are so much fun! Jason's extended family - Who couldn't love an ex-Elvis impersonator? Jason stepdad and mom are so good to us! We love the whole crazy group! Especially, Cameron. He's bringing a lot of interesting things to our lives - discussions about everything from teenage hygiene, dating and girls, acceptable music, the reality of God, anime, animals, strategy games, etc. While it's challenging to incorporate a 15 year old into our lives, he's a great kid and we enjoy having him live with us. Trees - I couldn't post about my blessing unless I posted about my obsession. I LOVE trees. I love being outside. I love hiking and camping. I don't love hot, humid Kentucky summers but I love all of the green trees! :) That's why living in western Washington was so great - we lived in a forest at the base of beautiful mountains. What could be better? Every day felt like a vacation! Kenny - as in Chesney. I love his music. Someday I'm going to be a beach bum in the Caribbean. Just wait and see! MOFia - I love these girls! My church family - We have such a great group of people in our church. Serving, worshipping and playing with them are such joyful things in my life. For the past three years I've been leading our Young Women (12-18 year olds) and I love it. They are such great girls! Books - Reading is my favorite pasttime. I ALWAYS have a book I'm reading. I can't NOT read. Internet - Because I always have an obsessive interest that needs research. LOL The color green - I painted my office a beautiful green color called Bermuda Grass. It's perfect! Bright and cheery. Everytime I look at my walls I smile. It makes me so happy! I wish I could convince Jason to paint the whole house this color. ;) This list will do for now. And I solemnly vow to do a better job blogging.

Things I Love...

2008-06-12T09:55:00.001-04:00

So, a quick Haley-ism. We were outside weeding the garden on Tuesday (something I'd not done since we planted it quite a while ago). Anyway, Kelsee was on the phone in the house working on something, Cameron and I were working hard, and Haley was trying her darndest to provide value to our weeding effort. However, it was dirty, hot work and we came face to face with quite a few bugs: ants, spiders, earwigs, rolly-pollies (such a manly phrase; still, "woodlice" is just creepy) and other creepy crawlies. Soon the mosquitoes decided to join the fracas. I was pretty oblivious to them, and Cameron seemed to be ignoring them. But Haley was getting increasingly frustrated with them. Finally, at one point she sighed and said: "I must just be a nabitat for the bugs." I tried not to laugh. "Do you mean habitat?" "Yeah. I must be a habitat for them." What a kid. -------------------- Speaking of my kid and working in my yard, they are just two of a list of many things I love.

Here is a sampling of this list:

Kelsee
Haley
Cameron
All my other family. Yes, all of them, as hard as that is to believe
Working in my yard -- planting, weeding, mulching, pruning, watering, enjoying...
Music -- everything from the hymns we sing in church to hardcore metal to classical to bluegrass to old school rap -- music just gets into my soul
Laughing -- Funny movies, funny books, funny jokes, funny conversations, funny-looking people, funny laughs -- they all make me laugh, which means that if I could see and hear myself, I'd laugh some more, which would start a vicious, unending cycle... (Get it... I'm funny-looking and have a funny laugh, which means, you know, that I would laugh at myself...oh never mind...)
Food
Shows about Food
Jokes about Food
Pictures of Food (notice the theme)
Sports
Ignoring my cell phone
Embarassing Cameron
Mythbusters -- Did you know you can accidently make a bomb out of your water heater? And, no, drinking Diet Coke and eating Mentos at the same time will NOT kill you.
Thinking about traveling -- A year or two ago and this one would have just been "Traveling", but I can't afford the gas anymore.
Reading -- Speaking of which, one of my favorite books is "An Incomplete Education". Awesome.

That's it. I have no other loves.

I'm kidding, of course. But I'm pretty sure know one else cares, so I'll spare everyone the complete list.

Another Post...

2008-06-06T09:57:00.001-04:00

I've posted twice in a week. Don't get used to it. Anyway, another cute thing Haley has begun saying. When she's adamently trying to make a point or be defiant, she will fold her arms, kind of smirk, and say, "So fair!". It comes out just like "So there!" and is a combination of that phrase and "No fair." Pretty funny. Also, we were talking last night about going out on the boat on Saturday. Haley, who had been digging in our swimming bag earlier yesterday to find her swimsuit, interrupted our conversation to let us know we were out of sunscream. Gotta love that kid.

OK, That Was Random...

2008-06-04T14:34:00.002-04:00

The title of this post is one of Cameron's sayings, but it seems fitting in this case... The other day, Haley, Kelsee and baby Haleigh were outside. Haleigh (who is older than one year and younger than two) was repeating everything Haley said. You know how little kids are, just thrilled with the newfound skill of forming real people words. Anyway, I guess Haley finally got tired of it. Haley: "Baby Haleigh, why do you always have to compete after me?" Kelsee: "You mean "repeat after me"." Haley, rolling her eyes and sighing: "Haleigh, why do you always have to copy me?" ----------- Speaking of Cameron, I find infatuation of him by the feminine gender to be wildly funny. As I've mentioned before (or maybe I haven't mentioned it before, but since I'm not going to reread my posts, just trust me on this), he's got a girlfriend and waiting list is the position is ever vacated. I know of four girls close to his age who have placed themselves on this list. Oh, and two that are a little younger. Haley's friend Alyssa (who's six) gives Cameron gifts. And the other day, I was reminded that Kennedy (who's four) has become enamored with Cameron. We were at the Watsons' to celebrate Mom Kappes's birthday. Bunches of people were sitting outside, but Kennedy was only interested in getting Cameron's attention. "Cameron, look at me!" she says and then eats the leaves off a shrub. "Cameron, watch what I can do!" she shrieks and then proceeds to jump in a mud puddle. Kris said that Cameron might be on his way to replacing Troy (from High School Musical) as her most talked about boy. Well, duh. Troy never comes over to visit. Anyway, it's wildly funny because he's a riot to tease. --------------- I was going to tell a story about me, but it's completely escaped me. Lucky story. -------------- Changed up my playlist a little. Added some of The White Stripes (thanks, Jared): Icky Thump and Seven Nation Army Dropped some of the songs by the ladies (Avril and Nelly) Added more Megadeth: Trust and Burnt Ice Added Led Zeppelin: Immigrant Song and Black Dog Added some more grunge: Alice In Chains (Man in the Box) and Soundgarden (Spoonman) Even added some German metal: Amerika by Rammstein -------------- Just once I'd like to have a presidential election where I liked someone. ------------- Bird-Magic! Celtics-Lakers! NBA Finals on NBC! ------------- Speaking of sports, other than those associated with the other horses, is there another person on the planet who doesn't want Big Brown to win the Belmont? (By the way, Kentucky's state song is better than Maryland's and New York's.)

More Haley-isms

2008-05-19T10:39:00.007-04:00

Hey, look folks! More Haley-isms are here. You know, since I've discovered she's a lot more entertaining on accident than I am on purpose. The other day (still my favorite phrase), Kelsee, Haley and I were in our bedroom just being lazy. Haley was standing on a chair next to the armoire trying to see if her gum or something was up there. Ever since we began the construction of the new rooms in our basement, it seems like we can't keep ahead of the dust in our house. Needless to say, Haley discovered this and says "You know what I like best about dust. It's just like snow." And then she proceeds to brush her own little blizzard off the armoire. -------- Hey, before we move on to the next couple of -isms, here's a small gallery of Haley, from our trip to Cumberland Gap (see our hiking post for part of our adventure). -------- Cameron was gone for a few days (he returned home yesterday). While he was gone Haley came up with some great plans. "We should move our house down the street, then he won't be able to find us." When we told her that probably wouldn't be possible, she came up with another solution. "OK. Maybe we should paint it a different color and then he won't know which one is ours." -------- Speaking of Cameron, as I mentioned before, he and Haley have a love/hate relationship. He loves to tease her and she loves to annoy him. Like siblings... Anyway, Cameron is always trying to get away from Haley, so we've had lots of talks about how his room is off limits to her unless he says otherwise. So she decided she needed to have a refuge of her own. Haley, being a visual person, decided to make sure her new "safe place" was clear to everyone. One day, she was quietly working on a little craft project. After a time, she brought her little craft over to Kelsee with a marker. She told Kelsee what to write on it, then went and hung it on her door. Here it is:

Yes, that's right. She traced her hand and cut it out. Can't really see what it says? How about now?

Gotta love that kid.

Haley-isms

2008-05-13T08:02:00.002-04:00

Hey, an entire post of Haley-isms! No inane ramblings about other weird stuff. You know, because I care. Haley got a bruise on her upper arm from some childhood activity. As usual with her various wounds, she became enamored with it, touching and commenting on it all the time. Anyway, we were sitting at the table, and this exchange occurred after Kelsee felt the bruise at Haley's request. Kelsee: Feels a little hard. Jason: Probably just a nice little blood clot under the skin. Haley (looking down in wonder at her arm): Maybe one of the carrots I ate went the wrong direction. ------------------ Anybody who knows Kelsee knows she's an avid reader, and has stacks of unread books at our house. The other day (there's that lovely phrase again!), Kelsee and Haley dropped me off at an appointment in another town, and they had about an hour or so to kill until I was done. They decided to drive over to the store so they could get a snack. Kelsee forgot to bring a book with her, so she was going to pick one up. Haley, matter-of-factly: You need to buy a book because you don't have any books. Kelsee: Yep. Haley, eyes rolling: Right, Mom. You have tons of books at home! Haley uses sarcasm. Who knew? ------------------ Two stories from Mother's Day: I woke Haley up early so we could make Kelsee breakfast in bed, which by the way was Haley's suggestion the night before. It took a little bit of an effort to wake her. She groggily made her way and sat in her chair at the table while I went into the kitchen to get started. I looked over at her a few minutes later and she was just staring at the wall. She then yawned and, rubbing her eyes, said, "I am TOTALLY out of it today." A little bit later, after she had finished her job of toasting and buttering bread, she was eating a piece of leftover pizza from the night before. I had nuked it for a minute or so, and the crust was starting to get hard. She bit into a piece of hard crust and looked down at her pizza quizzically. She reached into her mouth, trying to fish something out. Then she said, in a befuddled voice, "There was something hard in my pizza. What did I just eat--a pizza bone??"

The Post for the Sake of Posting

2008-04-28T12:21:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, Haley told me I was the meanest Dad in the whole world. I replied that I wasn't. She said, "Prove it." She also had a few tantrums, and after a screaming fit, she hid in one of the bedrooms at Kelsee's parents' house. I found her and she exclaimed through her tears: "How would like it if someone treated you that way? You wouldn't like it at all! You should just move away!" She then tried to hide under the bed and got stuck, which meant I had to rescue her. She sobbed and sobbed, but wrapped her arms so tightly around my neck as I carried her to the car. How quickly they forgive? By the way, she was mad because I was making her clean up the toys she played with. ------ Everyday when I get to work, I set up a music playlist, depending on what mood I'm in. Sometimes I just let it randomly pick songs from all my music. Sometimes I have a theme. Sometimes I just leave it with whatever playlist was already there. Today's--and Friday's--consists of: Complicated and Hot by Avril Lavigne Dreams by The Cranberries Hurt You So Bad by Crazy Town Thank You by Dido Bring Me to Life by Evanescence (my favorite Evanescence song) Paralyzer by Finger Eleven Fully Alive by Flyleaf Dig by Incubus Five songs by Linkin Park (my new favorite group): Qwerty, Crawling, Shadow of the Day, Nobody's Listening, One Step Closer Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth Say it Right by Nelly Furtado How Your Remind Me by Nickelback Champagne Supernova by Oasis Silent Lucidity by Queensryche Jigsaw Falling Into Place by Radiohead Creep by Radiohead Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden The Sky is Falling by Stuck Mojo Hunger Strike by Temple of the Dog I Hate Everything About You and Pain by Three Days Grace Temptation by Trik Turner Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve Dissatisfied by Zebreahead -------- Cornhole season has offically begun. (Get your minds out of the gutter; look up the game.) I started this season like the guy who has played second fiddle on his basketball team for years and wants to be the man, regardless of results. Kally's Kris and I were a force to be reckoned with last summer. We challenged all comers and rarely lost. It was obvious to all, however, that he was The Man. This year, I decided to compete against him. Didn't start off well. I had a rookie (Cameron) and we got smoked a few times. Then I traded Cameron for Kirby and we won two in a row in some long games. Kirby retired and I picked up Cameron and his girlfriend Beth (via phone). After plenty teasing from the rest of us, he quit and I played a few rounds solo before Kody showed up to finish the game. We lost. Who cares? It's a sign that spring is in full bloom. -------- Back on the topic of music, here's the evolution of my favorite music: Romper Room (???-1977) The Banana Splits (1977-1979) The Electric Company (1979-1981) Solid Gold (1981-1983) Whatever was on the radio (1983-1984) Run DMC (1984-1986) Poison (1986) Beastie Boys (1986-1988) Winger (1988-1990) Public Enemy (1990-1992) Michael McLean (1992-1994--Hey, I was on my mission; my selection was limited) The Police (1994-1995--The beginning of my "throwback" years; I couldn't catch on to the new music since I'd missed it for two years) The Pet Shop Boys (1995-1997) Creedence Clearwater Revival (1998) Pretty Much Anything 80s (1999-2005) Queensryche (2006) Daughtry (early 2007--this was the beginning of my musical rediscovery; the rest of these are in no particular order) Coldplay (2007) Evanescence (2007) Sean Paul (2007) Nickelback (2007) Collective Soul (2008) Linkin Park (2008--where I am now and have been since late February; will it last? Who knows...) I care way too much about music...

Boo!

2008-04-24T10:53:00.003-04:00

Cameron and Haley have a love-hate relationship. They say they can't stand to be around each other, but then they don't leave each other alone. Haley pesters Cameron and Cameron teases Haley. The story I'm about to tell comes to me from Kelsee's lips. Any similarities to real persons and/or experiences is completely intentional. The other day* Cameron had been doing his typical teasing of Haley and her friend Alyssa. Often Cameron's teasing consists of jumping out and scaring them. Anyway, Haley and Alyssa are in the backyard playing. Cameron in the basement with his music blaring. Kelsee comes out of the laundry room and notices Cameron is standing at the back door staged to jerk it open and scare the girls when they walk by. Kelsee quietly tiptoes up behind him (hey, who knew that a teenagers loud music would actually benefit someone else in the house?). At the moment he prepares to open the door, Kelsee strikes, screaming a horrific shriek. Cameron jerks, lets out a terrified scream, turns and collapses backward on his butt (while still screaming). Kelsee goes into fits of uncontrollable laughter as Cameron tries to regain his composure. "Shut up. Shut up, that wasn't funny!" Sure it isn't, Cameron. Kelsee calls me and leaves a message, laughing so hard I can barely make out the story. So then I call Cameron and channel my inner Bill Cosby. "Hey, Cameron." "Hey." "Kelsee called me a bit ago. Um, is your underwear clean?" "Huh?" "You know, because first you say it, then you do it." "Shut up, Jason. That's not funny." Sure it isn't, Cameron. I'm sure it isn't. --------- *This symbol denotes that this phrase is one of the best of the English language. With it, we can tell stories and we don't have to remember the day it occured. Works for any time in the past, be it days, years, decades, centuries or millenia ago. Also works great when having an argument with your spouse. "You always do that!" "When do I do that? You tell me the last time I did that?" "Just the other day..." "Whatever." The only problem is it allows your spouse to conjure up offending things you did 10 years ago and treat it with the same weight as some offending thing they may have done an hour ago, as if they are only getting even. -------- Speaking of Cameron, he has a MySpace page. Here's the link. His profile is private, so you can only see minimal stuff. But there it is all the same. He keeps pining for me to find the memory chip for the camera so he can take better pictures. I'm sure I'll get around to it, just like I got around to fixing his Playstation.

Flip the Switch, Already!

2008-04-22T11:25:00.004-04:00

My attempts at doing home projects is about as successful as trying to get a pet rock to shake hands. It's inherited. My dad sucked at home maintenance, and I guess God thought it would be funny to pass that trait to me. Still, I attempt to learn and do. If I don't have to rely on "freebies" or even "cheapies" from family or friends, I'm happy. I've learned to change the oil in my car (but why would I; I can get it done by someone else for $21). I can now change out my own brake pads. I've learned to hang new light fixtures and change out old outlets and light switches. This last one is still a lesson in progress. Kally's Kris came over while we were having our basement remodeled and ran wires for a new light in Cameron's bedroom. I planned to do the switch myself, but as this was my first attempt at putting a new switch where one didn't exist, I asked Kris for a little guidance. Over the phone he said to take the blah blah blah (I won't bore you with details of how to wire a switch). Anyway, I got my stuff together and headed to the basement to handle the job, which was a little more complex than I thought it would be. The carpenters had rigged a makeshift light fixture that involved an extension cord connected to exposed wires at the swith box. Anyway, I made the assumption that they had made the contraption work. I disassemble the rigging and proceed with the wiring. (Let me interject here that Kris is very good at explaining things. While it seemed to me to be complex, it was still very easy to follow his instructions. It also helped that he labeled each bundle of wires.) Anyway, I finish my work, check my wiring and flip the breaker switch. Nothing. I flip it off and rewire, making sure my connections were sure. Back to the breaker. Nothing. Did I misunderstand him? I mentally go over his list of instructions. No, I did it like he said. A little more fiddling around, but still nothing. I'm baffled. Maybe there is something I'm missing. I call Kris. He goes over the instructions and I check it all. Looks good. He's baffled. (He said that it could be he forgot to connect it at the breaker, but I'm sure he was really thinking, "How do you spell incompetence? J-A-S-0-N.") Anyway, on Saturday, he and Kally make a special trip to Mt. Sterling to try to resolve my issues (of which I have many, and only a few can they resolve). Kris heads downstairs, tools in tow. He checks for current along the wire bundle. Nothing. Must be a problem at the breaker box. My breaker box, as most do, contains lots of switches. Someone labeled them years ago, but used terms that were somewhat cryptic. I've tried to relabel as I've dealt with the various outlets and switches. Also in the box, but unlabeled, are four new switches installed by Kris--a double switch for the water heater and two single switches. One is for the light in Cameron's room to which I've become aquainted. The other one is covered in black tape and I is not connected to anything. Kris looks the box over and hesitantly, as if he's not quite sure, removes the tape from the extra switch and flips it. Now, I've often said that my life is a musical. Kelsee and I can sing a song to fit just about any situation (ask Cameron about our duet of "Would I Lie to You?"). Immediately upon Kris flipping this extra switch and a beautiful glow imminating from Cameron's room, the following filled my head: "Why can't they get the picture? Why don't they understand? We're not dealing with the planet of apes, we're talking about the modern man. So you people with them itsy bitsy teensie weensie tiny minds... Here's your sign. Here's your sign." Hey, at least I wired it right.

"Puff, my God, I'm draggin'"

2008-04-17T11:27:00.003-04:00

I need to blog this. It's only fitting that I do it. Kelsee and I had the opportunity to go with Kelsee's parents to a play. When her mother called and Kelsee asked me if I was interested, I accepted before really comprehending what the play was. Have you ever known someone who went through menopause? Well, I mean obviously we've all known someone who was, but did you know they were going through it at the time? OK. Then you can relate to "Menopause, the Musical". For those not in the know, this play is basically four women from varying origins going through menopause at the same time who meet up at a department store in New York City. They spend the play lamenting "the change of life" through witty interactions and lots of songs. You will probably be familiar with most of the tunes, as they are classics with different lyrics (as evidenced by the title of my post). Contrary to what some may think, I was actually excited to see the play. I read about it and it sounded good. Some folks mentioned that it was somewhat rique (whatever) and that there was one scene that might be outright embarassing to a guy (it wasn't). When we arrived, it became quickly apparent that I might be one of the youngest guys in attendance. Granted, it's not like I stood up and asked every guy their ages, but there were very few men who didn't show the signs of age. And while the guys were clearly outnumbered, there were plenty in attendance. Anyway, I have never attended a play or movie where the crowd--me included--laughed so hysterically so consistently. First off, the play was hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. However, what was even more funny was watching so many women, many of whom were weeeeelllll past the change, laughing so hard that they were keeling over, slapping each other on backs and just various other outward responses to humor. I had more than one fleeting moment where I wondered how many heart attacks the play has produced over the years. I was a little alarmed that I found one of the women in the play to be fairly attractive. I mean, I'm young and she's old. It then dawned on me. I'm not that young. And she wasn't that old. Which means I'm closer in age to women going through the change than I am to women who will get to vote for the first time this year. Anway, a very entertaining hour and a half. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to just laugh.

"You Have to Use Black Shampoo..."

2008-04-15T08:20:00.002-04:00

I had a kinda surreal experience at the store yesterday. I'll share that in a minute, but first a little background. Ever since Haley was born, people have been obsessed with her hair. I remember when she was was just a baby. We were flying to Kentucky to visit and while we were just walking down the aisle of the airplane, people would reach out to touch her head. It was like they couldn't help themselves. As soon as they'd do it, they'd seemingly come to their senses and act all embarassed and apologetic. Then we'd go places and people would come from across the room and make over her hair. Often times they'd want to give us advice on what we can use in her hair to help it stay so pretty and curly and not frizzy, etc. Anyway, when someone makes a big deal over her hair, we've gotten good at making a few canned comments. Anyway, yesterday Cameron, Haley and I were at Walmart. Haley is riding up on my shoulders. She hadn't had her hair washed, so it was frizzy and pulled back in braids. I heard a voice behind me. "Purdy!" Thinking it was someone I knew, I turned around. Standing behind me was a short lady who appeared to be of mixed race. She was looking up at Haley. "Her hair is so purdy!" Oh. She meant pretty. I broke out one of my standard responses. "Thanks. Too bad she doesn't like it much." Bad choice. "Well, you just don't put the right stuff in it you need to put oil in it it's just drying up there's this stuff in a blue and white bottle I don't remember what it's called here let me show you." With that she was off. I was too stunned to do anything but follow. I was able to gather my wits about me for a moment. "I need to grab something down this aisle. Cameron will go with you and you can show him. I'll meet you guys at the front." Nice of me to throw Cameron under the bus, huh? Anyway, I set Haley down, took my time grabbing what I needed (it was Stove Top Stuffing, BTW) and headed to the front of the store. At the front I saw some friends and was chatting waiting for Cameron to come back. To my dismay, they come around the corner. I'd beat them to the front of the store. She was glad to see me and I got caught up in her gravitational field again. As we were walking to the back, she looked down to assess Haley's hair. "Is her mama a woman of color?" she asked. "No." She looked up at me with such a quizzical look, I almost laughed. "She's adopted. Her birth father..." "Oh yes well my hair has three different types nappy straight and..." I lost her, but continued to follow. We got back to the specialty hair products and she started showing me bottles of stuff. "You need to get something that says oil like oil lotion or moisturizing oil just buy the cheap stuff it does't make any difference you can get a better selection at Kim's in Winchester you take the exit like you are going on the bypass and turn left i can't remember the name of the road oh Lexington Road or something anyway you keep going and it's on the right they'll fix you right up the korean lady there can help her husband doesn't know anything." She opened one bottle and squirted it in her hand. Before I can react she rubbed her hands together and began to rub it into Haley's hair. I was speechless. I glanced at Cameron, who was standing behind her. His reaction was a mixture of amusement and amazement. "See how nice that makes it you just need to do this everyday and then get a big brush and comb it and comb it." She was mimicking the act of brushing. Then she bent way over to get another bottle. "Excuse me," she said as she reached back to hike up the waistband of her pants. I'm guessing Cameron got an unexpected view. She proceeded to open this next bottle and squirt some in her hand. "See not much different you should just have your wife give me a call and I'll go with her to pick out some things we can get you folks fixed right up." She was rubbing this lotion into Haley's hair now. Haley's eyes were big as saucers and she was sort of grinning like she didn't know what to do. I third bottle was opened and she began to apply it to Haley's hair. While I was wondering if she was going to use every product on the shelf, she continued her tutorial. "You can use your shampoo our hair just doesn't like it it strips it you need to use black shampoo and you don't need to wash it every day i haven't washed mine since february i don't do anything with it unless i can get an appointment at the salon ok get your cell phone out." I obeyed, feeling a little like the folks in "1984". "My name is Amanda and my number is 859-498-7384 you just have your wife give me a call now i hope your isn't one of those types that will get all crazy because you've got some woman's phone number (I shake my head) just have her give me a call and i'll help her out girl your hair is so beautiful ok love you guys." And with that, she was gone. I was dumbfounded. Cameron was slackjawed. Haley was perplexed. We waited a few minutes and nobody ccould talk. I looked at Cameron. He looked at me. I looked at Haley. "Haley...Did you think that was...weird." She looked up at me. "Uh huh," she said, nodding. As we exited the store I commented to Cameron, who seems to get girls phone numbers every time it goes outside, that I can't go with him to the store anymore because I'd never before gotten a girl's phone number at the store. Must be contagious. I got home and told Kelsee. She laughed at me. Hysterically.

Don't Listen to Old People

2008-04-07T15:01:00.004-04:00

We spent Sunday enjoying a hidden little National Park in the southeastern corner of the glorious Bluegrass state. Cumberland Gap, the gateway for Daniel Boone to explore the west, contains some great history, scenic views and a pretty cool tunnel through the mountains. Anyway, on our way, we decided to stop at Pine Mountain State Resort Park. We drove up to the parking lot for the (in)famous Chain Rock overlook. I'd been there once; Kelsee hadn't ever been. Keep in mind, this "Chain Rock" is just a gigantic chain connecting a big rock to the mountain in an attempt to keep it from plummeting down on the sleepy town below. You know, should the mountain ever decide to let go of it. Kelsee kept asking me about the overlook and the hike to it. My recollection was sketchy at best. I last visited when I was like 15 or 16. We had a family reunion one summer at Pine Mountain and we all went for a little excursion to the rock. I remember I was unaware of what the rock was. To me, "Chain Rock" sounded like some rock formations that looked like a chain or something. My only real memory was feeling disappointed that we'd gone through so much trouble to see a chain hooked to a rock. I didn't remember how long the hike was or how nice the view was, just that it seemed like a hassle to get there. Back to the present--or the almost present of yesterday. We park at the trailhead. There is a short hike to a nice overlook that gives you a great view of Pineville and the surrounding valley and mountains. Shoulda left it at that. Kelsee seemed to really want to see the named spectacle, and I had no reason to deter her except some vague memory. As we stood at the trailhead next to a sign that said "Chain Rock - .5 miles", Kelsee asked this old guy waiting for his party at the top if he had hiked it before. He said he had, many times. She asked him what the hike was like. "Not bad," he said. So Kelsee rephrases her question, just to be sure. "Is it very steep or difficult?" "No. Well except for one small part, but its not very many steps." With that, we were off down the trail. Our party consists of: - Me, who would never be confused for a avid hiker. I enjoy hikes to some degree, but my shape is more conducive to rolling down trails than walking down them. - Kelsee, who has regularly been walking a mile to a mile and quarter a day since around the beginning of the year. This is in an effort to strengthen her back and legs, which have given her problems since her severe back injury and surgery two years ago. - Haley, whose cerebellar issues have dramatically affected her endurance and balance. A short distance later we found ourselves at the short, steep part. Not to bad. Another short distance later, we found ourselves at another steep part. A long, seemingly endless steep part. It seemed to scale steeply down the side of the mountain for what seems like a quarter of a mile, before inclining back up the last 1/8 of a mile. This last part up to the rock involves picking your way carefully from foothold to foothold before scaling the face of a solid rock. I carried Haley this last part because she kept tripping over rocks and roots. We got to the rock face and it became apparent that in order to see the fabulous chain, we'd have to scale the rock. After a very short discussion, we decided the old man was sadistic and I hoped that the rock and chain would fall so no one else would be duped by this idiotic venture.

Going back was slow going. Kelsee's legs went numb and almost deadweight less than a quarter of a mile into the return trip. I offered to use my wonderful scout knowledge to build a makeshift stretcher out of branches and fern leaves. ("I's an Eagle Scout," I says.) She scoffed at my offer, however, choosing instead to trust her own legs, no matter how numb and deadweight they'd become. It went from bad to worse when nausea set in about halfway back. I joked for her not to hurl on the trail. She didn't laugh.

I was sympathetic, though. She was a trooper and made it out and by the time we reached Middlesboro, seemed to be back to her old self. Two lessons learned here: 1. Don't listen to old people.

And

2. If you start down a trail and you notice resting benches every few hundred feet or so, turn around. It's a sign.

Family Update

2008-04-04T09:57:00.004-04:00

I figured now seemed a good time for a family update... I have no idea why, however. Haley: She's doing well. Though she's developed this habit over the last few weeks of calling me and Kelsee by our first names. Kelsee says this happened just after Cameron got here, so about a month ago. I didn't notice the habit until last weekend. Anyway, it got so bad on Sunday, I don't think Haley called me Dad or any derivative thereof without prompting the whole day. I finally got irritated enough to "talk about it", which never really works. Among my very rational arguments: 1. Appeal to her sense of being special (as in privileged). "No one else has the right to call us Mom and Dad. Just you." 2. Encourage respect. "We are your parents; we deserve it." 3. Invoke pity. "We waited eight years for someone to call us Mom and Dad." 4. Default parental response. "Because we said so." The following day, Haley was a major pill all day, smart-mouthed, sassy and rude, to the point that she and Kelsee had a "come to Jesus" meeting on Tuesday morning which included a round of "good mom brushing your hair/evil mom brushing your hair" after Haley accused Kelsee of being the meanest mom ever. Haley liked "good mom" better. She seemed to have lost her desire to call us Kelsee and Jason, until she got mad at me last night and called me that. *Sigh* Really, though, she's been fairly pleasant for some time. We've decided that she's beginning to recognize that she's unable to do some things or unable to do them as well as other kids her age. This is probably most apparent when we go to the playground or when she goes to gymnastics. Haley is the oldest in her class, and is one of the few that can't do handstands. Other kids her age are in the older class and doing much more advanced techniques. She used to enjoy gymnastics and couldn't wait for it, but she went last Tuesday for the first time in nearly a month. She was indifferent towards it when she got home, but mentioned she hated doing handstands. This might be the part of all of Haley's issues I most emotionally dread. We try to encourage her to do her best and help her focus on those things she does well: she is very artistic (you should see the concentration and designs she makes with fuse beads) and has a very nice singing voice. Listening to her sing is very pleasant; plus listening to her gives me the chance to realize how suggestive the words to all my favorite songs are. I'm mortified. Cameron: For the most part we are all adjusting. He did well with his grades during the first few weeks he's been here. We finally got him down into his room, even though it's not completed. He was definitely glad to be there. The only major sticking point is church. He doesn't want to have anything to do with it, and has mentioned he's disruptive, I'm sure in an attempt to get "kicked out" of it. Among my very rational arguments for why he has to go: 1. Appeal to his sense of being special (as in privileged). "It's what makes our home and family different (i.e. happy) from so many others." 2. Encourage goodness. "It's the right place for you to be; it's good for you." 3. Teach patience. "It's only five hours out of 168 in the week." 4. Default parental answer. "Because we said so." We're all still adjusting. We've learned that Cameron's palette is very similar to my mom's. He's willing to try new foods (and I think we've gotten out of the "Ewwww!" stage), but he just can't seem to handle spicy or very savory dishes. We are no strangers to sensory issues in our house. We've also learned that he likes to feel like he has control over something in his life. Trying to give that to him, but still exert the necessary parental controls is a whole nother matter. Kelsee: Doing OK. She had some old pains in her back and legs this last week, so that is a little discouraging. I think she and her mom are getting back into the custom clothing thing after a little hiatus. Haley came home with two new outfits, and Kelsee mentioned that they also made few boys' outfits. I'm unable to discern Kelsee's renewed interest level, but her mom seems to be gung ho. We'll see. Me: Doing OK. Missing teaching more than I thought. (Long story, but ultimately it comes down to state budget cuts in post-secondary education and the decision to give low level classes back to full-time faculty to minimize adjunct costs.) Hopefully, this is only a short term thing. I played ball on Wednesday after missing the previous week because of my pulled back muscle (see previous post). Felt good to be up and running, if that's what you can call what I do. Probably more like up and shuffling. My boycott of baseball because of the steriods thing lasted all of a month. Then I read the following sentence: "The Braves -- yeah, the Braves -- are our pick to win the World Series." (Jayson Stark, ESPN.com) (Full article.) I'm so easy.

Does it work?

2008-04-01T13:22:00.002-04:00

So I reread the first item in my last post: - Teenagers are moody, obstinate and vague. Most every teenager I know is this way: Cameron, Amber, most of the youth at church... - Haley acts like a teenager, and she's five. And that got me thinking about those logic questions they gave us on old acheivement tests when we were in school. You know the ones where they give you three statements and you have to answer whether it is true or false. For example: All pleems are gurums. All gurums are bobooks. All pleems are bobooks. The answer is true. Or: Some sunnahs are toubleenas. All caams are toubleenas. All sunnahs are caams. The answer is false. Anyway, I began to wonder if these method could really work in real life. Go with me here... Teenagers are moody. Haley is moody. Haley is a teenager. (See, it works!) Exercise burns calories. Sex burns calories. Sex is exercise. (They say you should exercise at least five days a week.) Talking can be annoying. Women always want to talk it out. Women are annoying. (Except you, Kelsee. I love to hear you talk.) Contractors make promises. Promises are made to be broken. Contractors should be broken. (Still waiting on my mulch from last spring.) Men are simple. Occam's Razor says the correct explanation is usually the simplest. Men are usually correct. (A truer statement I've never heard.) Computers are heavy. Paperweights are heavy. Computers are paperweights. (I must be a paperweight, too.) Buildings can be tall and square with no personality. Kally's Kris is tall and square with no personality. Kally's Kris is a building. (I'm kidding Kris. I'm kidding. You da man! Um, are you playing ball on Wednesday? Just curious.) Buildings can be short and round with loads of personality. Baby Blake is short and round with loads of personality. Baby Blake is a building. (A really small building.) I have no idea where this is heading. Aren't you glad you wasted so much time to read this. Glad I could help contribute to the declining efficiency of America's workforce!

Random Musings...

2008-03-27T14:37:00.002-04:00

Time for some random musings, as I'm sure everyone is anxious for... - Teenagers are moody, obstinate and vague. Most every teenager I know is this way: Cameron, Amber, most of the youth at church... - Haley acts like a teenager, and she's five. - I pulled something in my back that's not supposed to be pulled. I was scrubbing old glue off our bathroom floor (we pulled up the linoleum) on Friday and could hardly move until Tuesday. Kelsee says it happened because I was so unfeeling and demanding when she went through all her back troubles. She was joking. I think. - The doctor prescribed a muscle relaxer (Flexeril) and prescription strength Ibuprofen. Now, let me just say that I can take one Ibuprofen and stem an awful headache; a small amount of medicine reacts powerfully on me. Anyway, I took one of each on Monday night before bed, and then one more of each on Tuesday morning. Apparently Flexeril relaxes ALL the muscles, including the tongue and lips. On my way to work, I feel asleep behind the wheel while waiting the 10 seconds it took for a bus to cross train tracks. The guy behind me tested his horn. It worked. By mid-morning, my speech sounded like this: "Hmm per mphr mmorph rubur flurwd!" That phrase can be interpreted as: "I've fallen and I can't get up!" In addition, I learned that the brain is a muscle and that eyelids in the relaxed state are closed. Both refused to work by lunch. So now I can not only empathize with Kelsee, but I can empathize with anyone who's ever been in a coma. - We are destined never to finish a house project. I thought it was just me and Kelsee, but apparently not. Cameron has lost his painting momentum, too. My goal is to finish all the painting of his room and have him sleeping in there by the end of his spring break (the first weekend in April). Of course my initial goal was several weeks ago, and every weekend since then. If there was really such a thing as a parallel universe, ours would include us actually completing a project. - Speaking of parallel universes, Haley has me playing barbies with her now. It's OK. I'm secure in my manhood. I will keep telling myself that. - Speaking of manhood, I like the newer Hollywood version of "Pride & Prejudice" better than the BBC miniseries version, though I'm glad I watched the latter. Filled in a few holes. Dare I say that the former might be one of my top ten movies, which includes, in no particular order: From Russia, With Love Casino Royale (2006) LOTR trilogy (consider it an epic miniseries) A Few Good Men Glory National Treasure Pride & Prejudice (2005) Dead Poets Society Cool Runnings Miracle The Mummy (1999) OK, that's 11, but who's counting? And only one "chick flick". I'm still good.

Wow. All I Can Say is Wow.

2008-03-19T13:49:00.001-04:00

Just saw this video on youtube. For anyone who remembers "We Are the World", you MUST watch this. Wow.

Trip down memory lane

2008-03-17T11:25:00.008-04:00

The house remodeling/renovation is really overwhelming me this week so I was looking at old pictures to make myself feel better. We really have come a long way. Maybe that knowledge will re-energize me. The main level bathroom before, during and just after renovation in late 2005/early 2006 (I couldn't resist adding pictures of Haley - she was so little then!):

While I love grey and black and white - this tile was actually PLASTIC. We were just going to replace it with white tile and replace the flooring but once we got the tile off you can see that we had much more than mere cosmetic problems.

We ended up having to replace walls and the ceiling, we tore out an incredibly overbuilt linen closet and added that space to our room, added beadboard and moldings to the walls, retiled the shower enclosure up to the ceiling, added a new pedestal sink, tiled the floor, tore out the mirrored medicene cabinet and light fixtures, added new outlets, added an exhaust fan, replaced the faucets (and all other hardware) and painted. The only things that ended up being saved were the tub, toilet and window trim. What a huge project!!

My camera is at my MIL's but I'll take more "after" pictures when it returns. These "after"s don't really show anything.

Some of our favorite people -

2008-03-14T15:06:00.006-04:00

February was a wonderful month! My adorable sister got married to a great guy, my amazing Grandpa and Grandma Hobbs came to visit for two whole weeks and we took a trip with Jason's mom to visit his sweet Grandma for a long weekend. Jason already posted a picture or two of Haley at the wedding so I'll post some of Haley with her adorable great-grandparents.

Grandpa and Grandma Hobbs with Haley

Grandma Hensley with Haley

Now if only we could see Grandma Purdy. We have to work on that next.

Haley loves that she has so many grandparents. She'll tell you that she's the lucky one. I completely agree!

The great (never-ending) home remodel

2008-03-14T12:45:00.006-04:00

Will someone please remind me not to buy a fixer-upper again? When I start talking about how cute and charming it is, stage an intervention.

We are making progress. It's slow progress. The basement is almost finished, thanks to the professionals that actually know what they are doing. We should be painting tomorrow. On the finished side we will have a bedroom (for Cameron) and a playroom (couch, toys, TV) for the kiddos (I'm sure Cam will love the name of that room). The other side will remain unfinished with a large storage area and a laundry room.

When we bought the house, it was sold with a partially finished basement. That was kind of a joke. Paneling (even on the ceiling), one yucky light fixture and nasty old carpet was the "finish". To make it more liveable while we worked on other parts of the house we pulled up the old carpet and replaced it with new Berber. Eventually we painted the walls and added a fun new track light fixture. Then the basement flooded. Up came the carpet and out went the furniture (two stories up).

Here are some pictures early in the life of the basement:

Here it is with the demolition complete:

And here it is with the bedroom framed and drywall up with the first mudding completed.

I can't wait to post the "after" pictures!

A townhome?

2008-03-14T12:41:00.002-04:00

Haley was building with her Legos yesterday. A friend of mine saw it and told her what a great castle it was. Haley quickly corrected her and said that it was not a castle, it was a house. Two houses actually. Collected to each other. LOL!

Humor

2008-03-13T16:25:00.003-04:00

Haley told me the other day while we were reading a book that one of the people in the book was quite a character. As is she. And these folks:

About a boy

2008-03-10T14:00:00.004-04:00

We're excited to announce the arrival of a new child in our home - A boy named Cameron. He weighed almost 10 pounds and was born (almost) 15 year ago. Our nephew has moved in with us. He arrived Saturday. We're all adjusting. And the builders are building. We're hoping he'll be in his new room within a week. I didn't even cry when he started school this morning. It's the homework help that I'm pretty sure will make me cry. Stay tuned for adventures in Cameron-ing.

Haley-ism

2008-03-07T11:20:00.003-05:00

Haley, our five-year-old astronomer, continues to impress. Today, Kelsee was going to read Haley the book "The Reasons for the Seasons", a children's book that talks about seasons (duh). After finishing the first page, which briefly explains the Sun's role in our seasons, Haley says, "By my calculations, the Earth is cold while the Sun is hot." Very astute, my little wise one. ------ On another note, Coach Tyndall, MSU's basketball coach, was just named OVC Coach of the Year. What an honor in only his second season! I feel like he has already reinstilled a pride in our basketball program that has been missing for a long time. This year's team was a pleasure to watch. We can't wait to see what next year brings! Thanks, Coach! Keep up the good work.

On a serious note

2008-03-03T15:40:00.008-05:00

I just realized that we never really updated after meeting with the neuropsychologist. *sigh* I might have a different update next week after Haley sees her Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician for a follow-up but for now, this is what we know. Haley's medical condition has caused some developmental delays and concerns all along. She has non-progressive brain damage. We've felt very much on top of things and have been blessed to have great medical and therapeutic care for her. She's doing great. She's smart and funny and loving and compliant. Sometimes. In some ways. In some things. She also has a lot of difficulties - anxiety, poor attention skills, very poor coping skills, explosive outbursts, etc. Lately we've had trouble knowing how to help her. We knew she had Sensory Processing Disorder and we expected she would have balance and coordination issues due to her brain malformation but that didn't seem to cover the things we've been worried about. Turns out, she has Nonverbal Learning Disorder. She's very young for an "official" diagnosis (most children are diagnosed many years older than she is currently) but she fits the profile and even has most of the secondary attributes. NLD (also called NVLD) fits closely with pervasive developmental disorders. It has life-long implications. It is similar to Asperger Syndrome. NLD generally includes problems with the following skills: •motoric - lack of coordination, balance problems, and difficulties with graphomotor skills •visual-spatial-organizational - lack of image, poor visual recall, faulty spatial perceptions, problems with spatial relations and difficulties with executive function (neuropsychological functions including, but not limited to, decision making, planning, initiative, assigning priority, sequencing, motor control, emotional regulation, inhibition, problem solving, planning, impulse control, establishing goals, monitoring results of action and self-correcting) •social - lack of ability to comprehend nonverbal communication, difficulties adjusting to transitions and novel situations, and deficits in social judgment and social interaction •sensory - sensitivity in any of the sensory modes: visual, auditory, tactile, taste or olfactory NLD also has some typical assets - excellent rote memory skills, superior verbal abilities/vocabulary, high overall intelligence (but a large discrepancy between verbal IQ and performance IQ) and strong auditory abilities. What does this mean for Haley? Truthfully, we have no idea! But we expect that she'll continue to delight us and exasperate us. We're excited to see what the future brings for her and for us. Stay tuned!

Curious Georgia

2008-03-03T15:19:00.005-05:00

If you don't want to read even more about our obsession, errr, child, then please skip this blog... So, Haley has been curious pretty much since the day she was born. She's always asking questions about stuff - sometimes crazy stuff. She has an astounding memory and remembers seemingly everything she hears. I've been calling her Curious Georgia for years. The other day we asked her what she learned in Primary class (children's church program). She said "everything". Not feeling like that was a good enough answer I asked if she learned about Jesus or Heavenly Father. "Sure" she replies. Feeling a bit frustrated by the poor communication, I decided to tease Haley a bit. I asked her if she learned about Super Novas, the differences between communism and socialism, etc. In response to every question we asked, our sassy lassie said "Yep!" and giggled. Then Jason asked if she learned about the hidden agenda of Karl Marx. Or possibly the hidden agenda of Groucho Marx. I piped in with a question about Richard Marx and soon the adults were laughing pretty hard. Haley just gave us her typical disgusted look. Tired of teasing her, we went on to discuss something else. A few minutes later Haley said, "Uh, by the way guys, what do all of those words mean anyway?" She was serious. Curious Georgia. Jason and I just might not be smart enough to raise this funny kid.

Just Like Robert Redford

2008-03-03T08:20:00.001-05:00

So, let me set the stage. We're at the MSU game on Saturday. Haley's thirsty, so she and I head down to the concession stand. Zach (almost three) decides to tag along. No problem going down. However, heading back up the stairs with two drinks, a two year old, and a five year old with balance issues could be a problem. Haley has to hold on, so I carry the drinks, while Haley holds the railing and Zach's hand. Zach, who is much more steady on the stairs than Haley, is practically pulling Haley up the stairs. Haley, looking a little anxious, says, "Wow, Zachy. You are a natural at climbing the stairs." -------- The other day, Kory (or Uncle Stinky as Haley calls him) was coming over. He always wants to play around with the keyboard (musical, not computer). When Haley learns he's coming over, she says, "We need to hide the kapiano." Hularious (another Haley-ism).

I Called It! (plus: Warning! Haley Content)

2008-02-29T14:14:00.003-05:00

Aaah, to be loved. This picture was taken during the Easter egg hunt at our church last spring. She had a really hard time that day, for some reason. More Haley content after a brief sports blurb. ---------------- We went to the MSU basketball game yesterday, and let me just say my throat really hurts today. Let me set the stage... We're 3rd in the OVC. A win yesterday guarantees a home playoff game (top four at home). A loss yesterday and tomorrow (which happens to be against #1 Austin Peay) and we could finish as low as 7th. Anyway, we played Tennessee State last, in 7th at the time and victors in our meeting in Nashville a few weeks ago. We come out flat and lifeless and they come out on fire. The ride 68% FG shooting and 84% 3-pt shooting (10-12 from beyond the arc) to a 19 point half time lead. At halftime, as the teams are coming out of the locker room, I look at Kelsee and I say "I feel it. I FEEL it. We're going to pull this out." Her response: "I'm glad you do, but does the team?" Within a minute, the lead is up to 22 points and then It happens. The comeback. By the 9 or 10 minute mark it's in single digits. At the 3 minute mark or so we take the lead and never relinquish it. Final score: 84-76, Morehead. One of the most amazing comebacks I've witnessed in person. And just about the loudest I've heard it in Johnson Arena. Just amazing! And I called it. Sure, some will I was just the overly-optimistic fan trying to psych myself up. But I know the truth. After all, I have been (self-)dubbed "The Great Prognosticator." ------- So music is a pretty big deal in our family, as has been mentioned before here and other places. And Haley already has a clear idea of the music she likes (anything with a good beat, pretty much). I've made her a few CDs to listen to in the car, but we (Kelsee and I) have quickly tired of listening to "Celebration" and "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" and her other music. Anyway, I came up with the idea to do "family CDs". This would contain a combination of songs: one of Haley's, one of Kelsee's, one of mine, one of Haley's and so on and so on. At first, Haley liked the concept, then when her song would end and it was time for Kelsee's, you'd have thunk we'd have plucked her little curls out one by one. She's adjusted, thank goodness, but now a new attitude has arisen. Whenever we're listening to the CD and Kelsee isn't in the car, she gets this little shifty look on her face and says, almost whispering, "Mom's not here. Let's skip her songs." (She does the same thing to my music if I'm not in the car.) It's hilarious. She thinks she's being soooo sneaky. When we get back in the car, she'll taunt us by saying, in a sing-song voice: "We skipped your songs! We skipped your songs!" And then she'll giggle. She's our resident nut. On that note, if you do something that she thinks is silly or weird or crazy, she'll cirle her finger in the air around her ear and point at you. Like she has room to talk. Where do they get this stuff?

My Response to Kally's Post

2008-02-28T14:59:00.007-05:00

So Kally has a humorous post about the software that makes up a husband. Here's my response: First, the woman. The versatile multitasking system, but dang complex and not very user friendly. Then, the man. Simple and user friendly, but pretty limited in scope and function.

This Post has No Fitting Title

2008-02-21T12:33:00.000-05:00

Just read an interesting article: http://www.wsmv.com/news/15357541/detail.html Must really suck. --------- In other news, we tore off the wall and ceiling paneling in our basement. The good news is none of the studs are damaged from a leak in the corner of our basement. Also, the inside has a water barrier. The bad news is the inside has a water barrier, which means we are probably going to have to dig out our back yard and put some drainage in. We also have a leak under our kitchen sink that has come through the basement ceiling. However, I think this will be an easy fix. You know, since I'm a plumber. On that same note, on our visit to Indiana, my mom stated that my dad had absolutely no skill whatsoever when it came to home maintenance and improvement. Therefore, I do not take the blame anymore. It was inherited. ---------- We enjoyed the total lunar eclipse last night, thanks to God smiling down on us. As I listened to an NPR story about it on the way home from work, I lamented the cloudy sky. When I stepped out of basketball just after 10 last night and saw a clear sky, I was giddy. (Yes, men can be giddy, just not in groups.) Anyway, Haley happened to be awake when I got home, and she and Kelsee had been viewing it from the family room window. We got out my binoculars and braved the frigid night to view it a little closer. We could get a nice view of Saturn (though my binocs didn't show the rings) and the star Regulus. It was very nice. Several times last night, Haley just out of the blue started listing off all the planets, unpromted. She got Mercury ("Mercmury"), Earth, Neptune ("It's really cold"), Mars ("It's red") and Venus. With a little help she got Pluto ("Sounds like Playdough, huh?") and Saturn. She didn't remember Uranus or Jupiter. She also shared with us that she wouldn't want to stand on Neptune without her socks on shows because it is too cold. Keep in mind, during preschool two years ago they had a lesson on the planets, and I read a little book to her about the planets once a long time ago. That's it. Just another example of her amazing memory. She'll say "Do you remember...?" and share some obscure memory. We've ceased to question whether it really occured or not.

Here in my car, I feel safest of all...

2008-02-19T13:31:00.004-05:00

Funny Car Accident Old Lady - Click here for more home videos --------- So, I determined it was high time I posted about cars and driving. You know, since 1) a few years ago I came to the realization I was very opinionated, and 2) I really hate other drivers. A great combination indeed. I speed. Sure I do. Most people do. I've received four tickets in my day for speeding. And I've been pulled over at least twice more and warned. On the freeway, I rarely drive less than five miles more than the speed limit. I feel comfortable driving less than 10 miles more. When I'm running late, I will at times go just less than 20 miles more than the speed limit. This also happens when I'm listening to some good music and not really paying attention to my speedometer (a scary thought, indeed). I occasionally tailgate, but that's because I'm provoked. That's it. That's the extent of my potential moving violations. (Don't listen to my wife when she says I don't stop at stop signs. A clear attempt to smear my driving record.) I don't cut people off (usually) or run red lights (on purpose). I don't pass in a no passing zone or fail to use my turn signal. I stop before turning right on a red light (most of the time) and never turn right at a red light if the sign says I can't. I only make U-Turns if there is no sign forbidding it. I try to be curteous when I drive, waving at those who let me out in front of them, ceding the right of way to mergers, and slowing down when someone attempts to pass me. I pull to the left lane when passing a police officer on the right shoulder and slow down to the speed limit in work zones. I think those who don't do the things in the above paragraph are either awful drivers or jerks. Or both. Never has this become more apparent than at the intersection of Rosemont Garden and Nicholasville. Nicholasville Road is a tricky road because of the reversible lanes. Yet there are some things that are very clearly marked. For instance, their are two lanes on Rosemont where it intersects Nicholasville. One always turns left onto N-ville. The other turns left and right or just right, depending on the time of day. This is because in the afternoon/evening rush hour traffic, N-ville has only one lane heading into Lexington. There is one left/right turn lane and four lanes heading out of Lexington. (This is the opposite of the morning rush hour.) There is a sign a couple of hundred feet back from the intersection stating the hours. I can understand missing that. However, clearly visible even several hundred feet before that is a large sign hanging next to the traffic lights at the intersection. The sign is digital. It shows that you can only turn left and right in the mornings and only right in the afternoons. It has a nice bright arrow curving to the right and nothing curving to the left. It's big. And bright. And clearly visible. And bright. Anyway, every afternoon (not to be confused with occasionally) some idiot jerk decides to turn left from that right lane, which means that basically two lanes are trying to dump into one lane. This is problematic on many levels, not the least of which is that every lane on N-ville is full of cars. And the jerks on N-ville are already sitting in the intersection gridlocking (like they didn't know of the high likelihood of the light changing while they sat there.) You can always tell a person knows they are being a jerk because they refuse to make eye contact. If they thought they were innocent or at least clueless they'd be looking at you wondering why you were trying to cut them off. I refuse to yield the right of way to those morons, and have almost forced them into the curb on the side of N-ville. And yet they still don't look at me! Aggrevating. Other driving annoyances: - The guy at the light who refuses to inch forward so cars can get in the right turn lane even though he has half a car length of empty concrete in front of him and the guy behind him is revving his engine and very clearly can fit through with just another inch. - The person who passes in the no passing zone. - Tailgaters in the left lane who are tailgating a person who is already exceeding the speed limit by more than 10 miles an hour. - Drivers who don't get in the turn lane to turn left. (Why else would it be there???) - Drivers who weave in and out of lanes of traffic. I'm stopping because I'm getting frustrated. -------- On a more positive note, here's a good tip I read in e-mail. If you have a remote control with panic button for your car, keep it beside your bed. If your in bed at night and you here a prowler in your house, just press the panic button and pray it wakes the neighborhood. This doesn't apply to people who live in the country and miles from neighbors. You didn't want the neighbors to hear your late night parties or loud music or marital contentions, so you'll just have to live without this nice tip.

Let it snow...

2008-02-15T13:04:00.002-05:00

What's wrong with snow? It rocks! Kirk (the guy I carpool with) is from southeastern Texas. He hates the snow. It's cold and wet and stupid. Tim (my boss) is a motorcycle enthusiast. He hates the snow. It's cold and wet and stupid. I, on the other hand, love snow. I love watching it fall. I love seeing the way it shimmers in the sunlight. I love driving in it, playing in it and feeling the cold flakes melt on my face. My only frustration is we haven't gotten very much snow in years. Seattle is practically snow free. And the winters we have been back in Kentucky have been pretty mild. Aren't we due up for another winter "Storm of the Century"? How can I order one of these? Can I do it on the web? Needless to say, for the second year in a row we are heading for a weekend trip to visit my grandmother. In Indiana. Northern Indiana. It's supposed to be in the mid-20s or something this weekend. However, it's not supposed to snow until Monday, but I'm holding out hope that it happens faster and we get snow to drive in on Sunday. Plus, I'm hopping there is still measurable snow on the ground. I'm bringing Haley's sled. We will play in the snow, dangit!

A New Haley-ism

2008-02-07T10:53:00.000-05:00

So Haley has discovered the joy of my Palm Pilot. She wants to play games or draw on it whenever she gets a chance. Usually, she just goes to my work bag and gets it out. However, the other day I had taken it out of the bag to use as an alarm clock. Afterwards I placed it on the bookshelf. A few hours later she comes into the dining room where Kelsee and I were playing a game and asks, "Daddy, where is your stylusphone?" Needless to say I think I pulled something laughing so hard. ----- By the way, here are some pictures of Haley and some of her cousins at Kally's wedding.

The Many Faces of Haley

2008-02-04T15:37:00.001-05:00

Thoughts on a long weekend...

2008-02-04T08:46:00.000-05:00

From Kally and Kris's wedding to an MSU game to the Super Bowl. So much to say... Friday night: - Wedding rehearsal. So Kally decided to have all her little neices and nephews participate in the wedding. Plan was to just have them walk down the aisle in matching dresses (for the girls) and matching pants and sweaters (for the boys). Simple enough. Question was, how to do it. The initial idea was to have Hannah (7), Haley (5), and Kennedy (4) hold the hands of the younger ones (Graydon and Brady (3), Zachery and Harper (2) and Alex (1+)). Problem. Hannah is holding hands of Graydon and Harper. Haley holding hands of Brady and Alex. All the younger ones decide to go in opposite directions. Poor Hannah and Haley, trying to corral the little kids. And poor Kennedy. Zach just cried because he wanted to hold Brady's hand. Sheesh. Anyway, there was a good, albeit humorous, solution (see below). - I substituted for one of the missing groomsmen during the first runthrough. I have a couple of thoughts about this. First off, I've never actually been a groomsman. I attribute this to either the fact that I'm antisocial and have no friends, or the fact that most of my friends are old and/or married (sorry Jeff and Kirk). Not that I'm sad or anything. Far from it. My job was to chaffeur my daughter, my wife and a tree. No worries, no stress and no excessive standing. My kind of wedding. Needless to say, I was replaced after the first runthrough. I wish I could say I was victim of downsizing, but alas, I fear I was fired for poor performance. - After the rehearsal, we went back to Kourtney's house to help find music downloads for the wedding. We found a great hip hop version of "Here Comes the Bride". And while everyone joked about using it, no one had the guts. Wimps. Saturday afternoon: - Family pictures an hour before the wedding? I don't think so. We did get them done just after the wedding. Not only did they want to get all the kids to smile and look forward at the same time, they expected them to sit, on their own, on the step in front of the adults. Ooookay. Of course, even if they had gotten all the kids looking forward, they probably would have gotten all the adults looking down at the kids while saying "Look forward! Smile!" I also noticed they stuck me just behind Kally's veil. What's up with that? - The wedding was beautiful. I can say that. It truly was. It was full of all the sweet things weddings should be full of. Not to mention a little humor. As I said above, they came up with a solution of sorts to the kid issue. Someone come up with the great idea to have the kids just hold on to a navy blue ribbon/rope thing. Very quick thinking, if you ask me. Anyway, so here come the kids down the aisle, all pretty smiles and pretty clothes. Suddenly, Graydon, who was second in line, lets out a "Choo! Choo!", complete with arm motions. A couple of more Choo! Choo!s later and the train arrived at its destination. Had us all in stitches. Pretty cute. And yes, I said cute, as I'm secure in my masculinity. - As I said, the wedding was beautiful. Kally was glowing and, besides the fact that she was first marrying Kirby's wife (Kristin) as opposed to her own intended (Kristian), everything went off without a hitch. It was a brief ceremony, which is always nice. - Mom Kappes's new wedding cake recipe was awesome. However, it's a closely guarded trade secret, so I can't list it here. - The groom's cake was a hit, as well, as it depicted a scene that contained, in Kally's words, "All the things that Kris loves." It was basically a construction site, complete with red pickup, bulldozer, forklift, gravel, block walls and a port-a-potty. Since it supposedly contained all the things that Kris loved, I can only assume Kally was in the port-a-potty. - Speaking of Kally, I was all good until she and Kris were making their exit. I looked over at Dad and his face was all contorted like, complete with tears. Thanks, Dad. Thank a lot. I thought later that Kally was only 12 when Kelsee and I got married, which means I'd seen her grow up. She is more like my little sister, not just my sister-in-law. She's grown up into a remarkable woman, an interesting mix of Kelsee, Kourtney and her own free spirit. I think she's heading in the right direction in her life. - As for Kris, I had two interesting experiences regarding him last week. First off, we were playing ball on Wednesday and he just seemed off his game. At one point he expressed his frustration after a missed shot. Being on the opposing team, I teased him a little, and then excused his game, commenting "Your mind is on other things. You know what's happening in a couple of days." Innocent me was of course referring to his wedding. However, without skipping a beat, he drops the "boom-chicka-boom-boom" generic porn music line. Hey, whatever's on your mind, pal. The other experience involved a discussion between me and Jesse, an employee of Kris's who had come to play ball. We were sitting out a game waiting for our next run and we introduced ourselves to each other. I asked who he came with and he said Kris. He then proceeded to tell me that he had worked for Kris for four years and felt Kris was like a brother to him. "I think the world of him." What greater testament can you have than that? Not that I needed confirmation, but it never hurts. Saturday evening: - We headed to the Morehead basketball game (not Kally and Kris, who took the "get a room" line seriously). Nice win over a clearly overmatched Kentucky Christian team. We got a good glimpse of our key rotation guys next season, assuming we can keep these guys. Let me just say, the last time I enjoyed a team like this was during the Fick-Kinnard-Boardly-William-Majick-Witherspoon days in the mid 90s. Can we just pretend the Macy era never occured? Done. - Morehead is third in the conference at 8-5 and 11-10 overall. We've won 7 of 8. We have two seniors and a plethora of sophomores and freshman who contribute. Look out next season, folks! Sunday morning: - Church. Ivan taught the Young Men, so that was good. Sunday afternoon: - Nice, long nap. Sunday evening: - Super Bowl party. As usual, good food (way too much of it). A couple of good commercials, but nothing spectacular. A phenomenal game, complete with a play for the ages (near sack becomes miraculous catch). - This game might be one of the best SBs I've ever seen. Huge underdog pulls off unbelieveable upset over undefeated team many are tagging with the label of "best ever". - Manning's made the leap. - Super Bowl XLI and Super Bowl XLII, or Manning Bowl I and Manning Bowl II? - I don't care what anyone might try to say, but the Patriot's season IS a disappointment. I rooted the Mariners on in 2001 when they won 116 games (tying a record), but lost in the ALCS. Sure the season was fun, but without a title, they might as well have lost 116. Same thing here. 18-1 just doesn't have much of a ring to it. More of a thud. - Did I mention that the food was good? Sheesh, this is long. I'll leave with this wonderful video...

Random Thoughts...

2008-01-24T10:27:00.000-05:00

So earlier this week I created an exceptionally creative and humorous post about who I was writing this blog for. Unfortunately, I lost the post through some irritating and stupid action on the part of me and my web browser. I'd worked on it, crafting a work of art, and in the blink of an eye it was gone. Needless to say, I couldn't summon the creative aptitude to create another post. The only reason I'm here posting this at this point is that my brain has accumulated an assortment of random thoughts that I need to get up here.

Seems as though schools get cancelled for a lot less crappy weather now than they did when I was in school, or even a few years ago. Someone spits on the road and it gets too cold, they call off school. My theory has always been financial--we're a lawsuit happy society. Bus drives in difficult conditions, bus wrecks, kid gets hurt, parents sue. My friend Kirk adds another wrinkle to the finacial theory--it gets too cold, district must heat the schools, which ain't cheap. Since schools can't afford to provide all the services and programs to students anyway, they call off school instead of paying to heat the schools. Sounds good.
I'm feeling old. Twice this last week, Kelsee has assisted me in the this endeavor. 1) While watching a Morehead State basketball game last week, our little group was talking about the crowd favorite, a freshman named Ken Faried. Someone noted that he is still just 17, to which Kelsee replied, "Jason, he's half your age." 2) We were watching House Hunters International the other night, and the couple on the show, who were about 40 years old each, commented that they had done things conventionally for the first half of their lives and that they wanted to do things differently the second half. I mentioned that I thought that sounded like a good idea, to which Kelsee replied, "Well, your second half starts in five years." Add in Kelsee's observation of a couple of weeks ago that she thought I was entering a midlife crisis at only 34 and she's being very helpful to my efforts to age ungracefully. Thanks, honey. 'Preciate it.
Haley story: So we had a family home evening lesson recently about keeping the Sabbath day holy. Anyway, so we're at home late Sunday afternoon, and I just figured I'd sit down to watch catch a little of the NFL playoffs. Haley, who was messing with barbies in the same room with me, whips her head up and gasps within seconds of me landing on the channel. "Daddy, this is not keeping the Sabbaf day holy!" *Sigh* Chastized again by my 5-year-old. (BTW, this is the same kid who nearly panics when we pick up the sister missionaries and we have our non-church playing on the radio when they come out of their apartment.)
So, I'm trying to adjust to life with glasses. I still have good acuity (20/20 or whatever), but I've developed an astigmatism, which basically means my eyeball is an egg and not a sphere. Anway, the biggest irritation isn't getting smudges or water droplets on them. Nor is it knocking them off when I take my sweatshirt off. It's not the weird feeling of looking through pane of glass constantly, either. It's that I keep getting caught staring at people. I never used to wear sunglasses much, but when I did, I could follow people along with my eyes and stare a little longer at the interesting ones. Sunglasses are great, because you can hide behind them. Now my instinct is to stare when I have my regular glasses on and when people see me the glare at me or quickly walk away. I guess this is bringing out my creepy side. Someone's going to punch me someday.

Unusual Post

2008-01-14T11:40:00.001-05:00

This post isn't funny. It makes no attempts to funny, and that is unusual. I'm just feeling a little subdued at the moment. This was an interesting weekend. I'm not going to go into details, but it was a definite weekend of reflection. I woke up this morning feeling exceptionally glad I'm a member of my family. I feel like I have the best wife and daughter anyone could ever have, and I'm not sure why Heavenly Father blessed me that way. What did I do to deserve it? In spite of all my failings, weaknesses, inadequacies and idiosyncracies...

Moving Day (and a bonus Haley story)

2008-01-07T09:05:00.000-05:00

From a office with an window to a cube. Our company continues to grow, and our space can hardly contain us. So they took an old file room in the middle of our office suite and crammed six cubicles in there. Guess who gets the cubes? The IT and Development teams! Before, we were in offices on the perimeter of the suite, with great window views of the pond outside. Now the view consists of beige cubicle walls. But it's really not as bad as it seems, for me at least. 1. I shared my other office with one and a half other people. (Ever seen half of a person? Pretty gruesome.) We were separated with cubicle walls. 2. The position of my computer that made the most sense put my back to the window and the afternoon sun made it impossible to see my screen. I used to have my blinds open in the morning and closed in the afternoon. I got lazy and quit opening them in the morning. 3. My old office had a key pad you had to punch a code into to get in. While this was good for keeping the undesirables out, it was a pain in the butt. You had to punch in every time you wanted to get in. The sound was annoying on days when folks kept coming and going. The door was finicky and if you didn't close it just right the flashing silent alarm would go off and you'd have go up front and disarm it. But hey, at least my stuff was secure from all the hoodlums here. 4. In my new cubicle, my back is toward the entry, so people can sneak up on me and scare me, which should definitely add to the excitement of the day. 5. Since our office was locked to the unprivileged, I had to do garbage duty once a week. That also meant that our office never got vacuumed. You should have seen it. ------- On another note, a Haley story. Last night before we went to bed we were working with Haley on her letters as part of her "schooling." We have these big plastic letters. Kelsee would hold them up and ask Haley what letter it was and what sound it made. Occasionally, I would ask Haley for a word that starts with that letter. (This was probably in an attempt to not be left out.) Anyway, we got to V. When I asked her for a word that started with V, she shrugged her shoulders. I tried to give her a hint. "What did we drive to church today?" We drive a van, by the way. She thought for a minute, and finally said: "Vvvvvvv-ehicle." Only Haley.

Now That the Fun is Over

2008-01-02T13:43:00.000-05:00

Well, the holiday season is over. I'm not sure what that means exactly, at least with regards to my life. Fewer parties, I presume. Less eating. Well, at least less frequent eating. I can say that this was one of the most satisfying holiday season, though. We can thank Haley for that. First of all, there is nothing better than a little kid who is really starting to "get it" when it comes to Christmas. If Haley's life was like the Truman Show, we'd have handfuls of great soundbites as she built up to Christmas. She played the season exactly the way a kids should, complete with a never ending list of toy requests, questions about whether Santa was real, excitement at buying a gift for Mama (and the subsequent "secret" of keeping it from her), singing at the top of her lungs when we went caroling. A couple of stories... - As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, she carried her American Girl catalog around for days. Of course, Santa ended up bringing one, and that was her favorite gift, supplanting the Talking-And-Singing-Gabriella-from-High-School-Musical Doll. At least until that was supplanted by the Groovy Girl doll and accessories she opened a few minutes later. A few minutes later she opened a nightgown that her Grandma Kappes and Mama made for her AG doll that matched her own nightgown she'd received the night before, and the AG doll re-assumed the top spot. That changed again later that night when she received a trio of slumber party barbie dolls. But wait! That's not all! Then came the Karoake machine from Grandma Dee. Haley can't read, so the Karoake part isn't all that great. It's the fact she can play her own CDs and sing in the working microphone. Aren't we lucky? Now her favorite gift is whichever one she happens to be playing with. What a diplomatic child. - Haley is apparently an anxious child. So we'd been talking a lot about how Santa works. That he comes to our house on Christmas Eve while we are asleep and brings presents blah blah blah. Anyway, after we opened and put on our new pajamas at Kelsee's parents house (about 30 minutes from our house) we were all sitting around and talking preparing soon to head home. Haley and all the other cousins went back with their Grandma to look on the web on one of those track Santa websites and see how close Santa was to our state. At that time, he happened to be in Florida. Haley emerged from the other room with an anxious look on her face and came up to me. Suddenly she burst into tears. "Daddy I'm scared. We need to go home now. Right now. We're going to miss Santa and he won't stop at our house unless I'm asleep." Broke my heart! I consoled her and told her he was much farther away from our house than we were. Still we couldn't get out of there fast enough for her. - I sang a song in church during the Christmas program. Since this was only my third or fourth solo, I practiced it. A lot. I'd sing it in the shower. I'd sing it emptying the dishwasher. I'd sing it driving to the store. I'd sing it playing games. It got to the point that whenever I'd start to practice it, Haley would let out a groan, followed by: "Not again, Daddy!!!" - We had a ward Christmas party, ward caroling, primary caroling, a trip to Southern Lights with my family, a Kappes family party (Kelsee's dad's siblings and their brood), a birthday party for Kelsee's dad, Christmas Eve caroling, Christmas morning present-opening, Christmas afternoon present-opening (with Kelsee's family), and a day after Christmas present-opening (with my family). Sometime toward the end of all this, Haley sighed and said "I'm all Christmased out." And that was before the New Year's Eve party and spending half of New Year's Day with Sammi and Hannah. I know what you mean, Haley. I know what you mean.

Random. Totally Random.

2007-12-20T11:07:00.001-05:00

Just some random thoughts this past week. - Always knew Clemens was a user. - The writers' strike officially stinks. I should be able to go home after work this fine Thursday evening and watch a new episode of The Office. The love of money truly is the root of all evil. - We took our annual trek to Southern Lights last night. We went with my mom and my sister's family, as is the case most years. Someone had the bright idea that it would be nice to have a girls' vehicle and a boys' vehicle. That meant that Haley and Austin were in one car oohing and aahing over the lights, and I got to be in the car with Cameron (who was in act-as-silly-as-possible mode), Alex (who was in laugh-at-everything-Cameron-says mode) and Brandon (who was in talk-as-much-as-possible mode). Actually, it was quite fun. They tried to act like they were too old, but eventually the chatter turned to the lights. And Brandon even joined me for a rousing rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas. (Yes, I know Austin is a boy, but he wanted to be in whatever car Amber was in.) - Haley went to for her neuropsyche eval yesterday. Apparently she handled it very well. While we won't know the results of most of the testing for a week or so, we do know two things: 1) Academically, Haley is solidly average, which is a good thing. 2) She is very, very good at comparing and contrasting. - Speaking of Haley, she's exceptionally competitive. In everything. She wants to race down the stairs. She wants to race to see who finishes their food first. She wants to win every game. She wants to be prettier, bigger, smarter, faster, funnier than everyone else. What's funny is that she's often saying "Alyssa (the neighbor girl) thinks everything is competition." Another funny: when I was on my way home one day, she told Kelsee that the first one down the stairs to greet me at the door won a kiss with me. Nice. - Big K sodas aren't bad. They make the best red cream soda, in my opinion. There orange pop, mixed with vanilla ice cream, makes a mean orangecicle float. And I've just discovered they have a decent knock-off of Mountain Dew Code Red. - Our insurance and health care system sucks. For like the 86th year in a row, my insurance plan had a double digit increase in premiums and a decrease in coverage. And it still takes months to get in with some specialists. The issue is on the platform every election. Just once I'd like the president and congress to do something to make it better. - December 22. BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. Go Cougars! (BTW, the BCS sucks. So do conference/bowl affiliations. Nine of the 12 teams playing on New Year's Day have worse records than the Y and five of them are ranked lower. Plus, all six games have a larger payout than the LV Bowl. Sheesh.) That's all. Until next week...

What's the Point?

2007-12-17T08:21:00.000-05:00

Cold weather with no snow is pointless. It's like junk food with no flavor. It's like the emperor's new clothes, an All Star game with no winner, or a ballyhoo'd report on steroid use with no proof. It serves no real purpose. I mean, what do we look forward to in winter? Is it the breath-taking freezing wind gusts, or is it the beautifully falling snow, the outdoor activities with your kids, the adventure of driving among folks who act like they've never seen the white stuff, let alone drive on it? Plus doesn't it seem more like Christmast when it snows? No one sings "I'm dreaming of a brown Christmas!" And "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" most certainly didn't refer to walking across muddy brownspaces. I wasn't prepared for the snow last year. We didn't have lots, but when it did come, Haley and I attempted to sled down our little hill on 1) a large cookie sheet and 2) a garbage bag. Didn't work well. However, Haley and I made snow angels and had a snow fight (not a snowball fight; it was too powdery and didn't stick together well). We also built a snow mountain (no, not a snowman; see the previous parentheses). Anyway, I think Santa might be bringing Haley a sled this year, so we better get some measurable snow. We had plenty of white-free winters in Seattle. Let me leave you with a classic but excellent video. It's the Evolution of Dance at its finest.

Finding a Career

2007-12-12T08:31:00.000-05:00

Haley wants to be a cheerleader. She wants it so bad that she mentions it all the time. It's the first item on the list of things that wants to be when she grows up. (By the way, also on the list are soccer player, basketball player, doctor, mom and, added just last Saturday, hip hop dancer.) Haley doesn't just want to be a cheerleader in school. She wants to do it for a living. The last couple of weeks, Haley's insisted on playing cheerleader when I get home from work. This play consists of me laying on my back and steadying Haley with my arms as she stands on my stomach with her arms in the air. She chants: "M-S-U!" and I answer back: "Go-Big-Blue!". We do this a few times, then cheer wildly. This desire of hers does not come as a total surprise (does the phrase "born to boogie" mean anything to you?), but it does leave me feeling a little depressed. If you are a cheerleader, a former cheerleader, or a family member of a cheerleader, please feel free to skip the rest of this post. I have a problem with my daughter becoming a cheerleader. It's my problem. I recognize it is primarily ignorance or some other less than noble issue. I can't get the stereotype out of my head: ditzy and annoying. Sure there are other stereotypes, some worse, some better, but these are the ones I've personally experienced. I've watched cheerleaders chant "De-Fense!" when their team had the ball. I've been annoyed repeatedly by the shreiky cheers, including the worst: "Guuuuu!" instead of "Gooooo!" I've watched subpar pepsters distract from the game by building precarious human towers as the audience looked on in utter horror. (Bear in mind, I'm a fan of Morehead State sports, and their cheer squads have won like 50 national titles. Much of the above paragraph doesn't apply to them, which you would think would help placate my feelings.) Like I said, this is my own problem. I'm sure others stereotype me as a jolly fellow who likes food and sits on his butt all day. And they would be right. Which is exactly my point! Anyway, I guess I'll end this. I've got to hit the web to find some new routines Haley and I can try.

Haley - 5 going on 28

2007-12-06T08:41:00.000-05:00

Haley has suddenly developed a strong "mothering" attitude. A couple of instances: Situation 1 A few weeks ago she became obsessed with my evening personal hygeine routine. One night she after she brushed her teeth, washed her hands and put on her hand sanitizer (strawberry melon, given to her as a gift), she marched into the dining room where Kelsee and I were clearing the table. She positioned herself in front of me and the following conversation ensued: Haley: "Dad, before you go to bed you need to brush your teeth, wash your hands and use my sanitizer. OK?" Me: "Um, OK." Haley: "Promise?" Me: "Sure, honey. I promise." Of course I didn't do it. The next evening after she'd finished the same routine, she confronted me again. Haley: "Dad, did you brush your teeth, wash your hands and use my sanitizer last night?" Me: "No, dear." Haley: "But you promised!" Me: "I know. I forgot." Haley: "Promise that you'll do it tonight." Me: "OK." Now, what about Kelsee in all of this, you may ask. Nothing. Haley demands no nighttime hygeine ritual for Kelsee. I attribute this to one of two things: 1. I'm putting Haley to bed each night and she must think I stink. (This is apparently something females are born with, this concept that men are pigs.) 2. Kelsee put her up to this. ------- Situation 2 See the traffic school story on my Nov 30 post. ------- Situation 3 The other night, Kelsee and I had a fire in the fireplace. We had one of those four-hour firelogs in there, which apparently can burn for longer than four hours. Needless to say, we needed to go to bed, so we just decided to let the log burn out. We made sure everything flammable was away from the fireplace, and went to bed. Haley woke up and came to our room a few hours later and noticed the log was still burning. She commenced to confront Kelsee about it later, informing us that we should never leave our fire unattended because it could catch the house on fire. ------- Situation 4 Haley, the Peacemaker. Whenever Kelsee and I get in an animated discussion, which isn't all that often, Haley always attempts to intervene. (By the way, I don't yell, I animate. Kelsee yells.) Haley will tell us we don't need to fight, and if that doesn't work, she feigns a headache. No just so you know, to Haley any animated discussion is a fight, even if we aren't fighting. Kids. Anyway, couple these items with bribery (see Kelsee's post), drama, flirting, moodiness, and love of purses, jewelry and clothes, and we've got our hands full with a 20-something woman trapped in a five-year-old girl's body. Time to invest in some intimidating device to keep the boys at bay, or to keep her in line.

Just Because

2007-11-30T08:57:00.000-05:00

Another week has come and (almost) gone. Sometimes I just feel like I'm passing time just to pass time. I know that the ultimate purpose of life is to live and learn and get back to heaven, but it seems like sometimes I just move along the path of life with no other objective. Kind of boring, huh? Moving on... So a sister that Kelsee and I home and visit teach passed away on Wednesday. She also happens to be the mother of some good friends, and grandmother of some of our youth. Sad, but the family seems to be at peace with everything, which is nice. And her husband, parents, some grandchildren and all but one of siblings preceeded her in death, so I'm sure it was a joyous reunion on the other side. -------- The joy of having a high deductible insurance plan is that you get another day of celebration during the year--the day you meet the deductible. Well, we did it recently and now we're scrambling to schedule doctor's appointments left and right. (The bummer here is you start making a mental list of all the ailments you have, and that can be pretty depressing.) We had scheduled a neuropsyche eval for Haley, but it had been postponed until January. We were bummed because they are fairly expensive. However, after talking with the Doc, we were able to get it rescheduled back to this month. Definitely a blessing. Of course, we'll probably meet our deductible next year, anyway, but whatever. -------- Two home MSU basketball games, and I've not been to either. Another of the many impacts of increased gas prices is that I actually have to think twice before I hop in the car and head to a game (30 miles away). Can't blame the 2nd abscence on anything but stupidity. I had, ahem, traffic school that night. Or as Haley and Kelsee so eloquently put it, Naughty School. As I got ready to leave, Haley wagged her finger at me as she chastized me for driving too fast. She told me I better never do it again. -------- I'll leave on a humorous note, from the star of Man in the Box.