February 14 – “You’re Going Places”

We made our yearly February trip to wherever Josh lives yesterday.  It’s just been a thing we have tried to do to be with his family somewhere near his birthday (It’s on the 16^th, I think).  It worked out well this time because we also got to see Zak and Caleb play in basketball games. 

On Caleb’s level they don’t keep score.  The games are more about teaching the boys the game.  (Long pause here).  Caleb’s team won 12 to 9.  Not sure who it could have been that kept up with that tally.  Caleb was a fly in the other team’s ointment on defense.  Zakary’s team faced one of the tougher teams in their league, and they did it without one of their key players.  His absence, unfortunately, showed.  The other team had a superstar outside shooter, a lumbering hot dog, and a decent point guard.  Final score?  48-18 Bad Guys.  Zak did a great job of setting some of the best screens I have ever seen, though. 

After the games we decided (well … Christi and Chris decided) to go by “The Grain Silos.”  Yep, the Chip and Joanna Gaines, Fixer Upper TV show, Magnolia home store.  It’s one of those “New Iconic” places that you go to just to be able to say you went.  Thing is, the line to get inside was wrapped around the building outside … and around the block.  We didn’t stop.  But we have “Seen the Silos.” 

Now the other reason we went to Waco this year was to be a part of a big reveal moment.  Josh presented the six of us – Christi, Chris, Zak, Caleb, and Luke – with one of those kids’ Valentines (mine was a Charlie Brown saying, “You’re going places”).  The cards were attached to clue gifts that we “might need.”  Chris got a sunglass case.  Christi got some hand sanitizer.  Mine was an energy drink.  He sure hit the nail on the head there.  Then  he told us, “All those things are clues to another Valentine’s gift that I got you.  Turn the cards over and you will notice a letter on the back of each one.  See if you can figure out what those letters spell.  And it starts with DadDad’s.”  (Hence the significance of Charlie Brown’s “You’re going places” prophecy).  My letter was a D.  It didn’t take Zakary long to rearrange the letters, though.  Before we knew it, he had it.  D-I-S-N-E-Y.  Yep … we’re going to DisneyWorld.  The boys all jumped up and down and did some screaming and lots of hugging.  Luke even squealed and sang, “Going to DisneyWorld.”  I slipped on my Mickey Mouse sweatshirt to get into the spirit of things, and they realized that we would be joining them on the little excursion.  They seemed genuinely happy to have us, especially when they found out we had never been before.  Now, we’re not going until May.  That should give us enough time to save up to pay for the whole thing.  Maybe we could start one of those FaceBook GoFundMe accounts?  Aw, I’m sure it’ll all work out.  I might even start getting a little excited … soon.

1 John 4:11 says, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Father, thank you for our chance to be a part of such an exciting moment in Zak and Caleb and Luke’s lives.  Amen.

February 13 – “You Can’t Lose”

We are in Waco for the day.  Made it here with not too much difficulty.  There was a lot of traffic going through Houston (Imagine that.  What a surprise, right?).   I think it picked up again further down the road, but to be honest I was either too engrossed in the movie I was watching on the computer or, perhaps dozing a bit off and on. 

THE REVIEW:

I’m sure the dozing couldn’t possibly have been for very long.  The movie I was watching was, after all, so very exciting.  Into the Woods.  Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Prince Charming, Jack and the Beanstalk.  All woven into one massive tale.  I had seen it before but I obviously forgot one minor detail.  They sing.   A lot.  It’s one of those made for the movies operas that they sneak through without telling anybody.  I really liked the concept, and it was well done as far as the movie aspects were concerned.  And I suppose the people could sing.  Way better than I can, anyway.  Lots of struggle and angst and dealing with death and relationships.  Even had some lopping off of appendages.  Well, one toe and one heel in an effort to make the slipper fit.  Oh, and the slipper was made out of gold instead of glass.  If you can stand the musical interludes, I would say the movie is worth watching.  If the singing doesn’t strike you, it can also be quite the inspiration for a few winks in the car on a four hour drive.  Either way, you can’t lose.

1 John 4:10 says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Father, thank you for those forty winks yesterday.  I’m sure I must have needed them.  Amen.

February 12 – “Welcome back, Cortana”

Well, imagine my surprise this morning when I turned on my computer and was met with a blank screen and the message, “We are updating Microsoft Windows.”  And a very large circle indicated that the process was 3% completed.  Great.  The one morning I had hoped to get a few things done quickly before we left for our whirlwind trip to Waco to help out with the grandkids there.  Oh, well.  Now I’m typing in the car as my esteemed chauffer maneuvers her way through traffic. 

The download did complete before we left home.  Thank goodness we had Cailyn spending the night.  That meant we had to take her to school, so the computer had some time to finish its installation.  In fact I had time to play with it a little bit.  The Windows 10 start menu had completely stopped working.  Whenever I tried to access it, it kicked me completely out of the program and rebooted itself.  Thankfully I never deleted the menu from Windows 8.  The hot new search engine shut down as well.  That would be the copycat Siri woman.  She lurks near the bottom left corner of the screen and promises to do whatever you tell her.  Except she had gone on vacation for an undetermined period of time, so I completely ignored her advances. 

With the new download, however, those glitches have apparently been corrected.  Cortana spoke to me again, and even followed some basic commands.  She opened Word so I could type this, for example. However, when I asked her to provide me with the best route between Galveston and Waco, she insisted that I download an app that was specifically dedicated to her efforts.  It was free, so it did my part.  It was taking  a really long time for her to communicate with the new app, though, so I canceled.  Now I don’t know if she can do it or not.  Maybe I’ll give her another chance later on. In the meantime … Welcome back, Cortana.

1 John 4:9 says, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”

Father, thank you for repaired glitches.  Reminds me of how you work to repair glitches in my life every day.  Amen.

February 11 – “Sporting the look”

OK.  Here are the official results of my consultation with my rheumatologist about the piercing pain in my heel whenever I walk or stand for a long period of time or just make it  to the end of another day.  Ready?  “It will get worse and worse and then it will get better.”  Wow.  What an exciting prognosis.  Now I know he was more focused on teaching the student docs that came in with him (and I am fine with that.  In fact, it is always kind of fun) and on getting me the Xeljanz medication that the insurance company started charging an exorbitant deductible for.  And in fact, before I left the office, his crew had contacted the manufacturer and the specialty pharmacy.  The manufacturer paid the deductible.  And on our way home, before we got too far from the office, I got a call that we could swing by the pharmacy just a few blocks away and pick up the medication.  Gotta admit … that was impressive.  But … that’s not why I went for the appointment.  My heel spur issue.  Best I could understand, all I can do is wear those padded inserts in my shoe, do stretching exercises, roll a tennis ball around under my foot, and ice it.  So in a nutshell, treat the symptoms.  Sigh.  Add one more pain to my list.  Maybe I can start using Mom’s old wheelchair and get preferred parking and free trips to the head of the line.  Not quite ready to give up the ghost just yet, though. 

Cailyn was already in bed asleep when I got home from the Ash Wednesday services last night.  Turns out she didn’t go to softball practice like we expected.  Her new glasses came in, and she was raring to go pick them up.  I didn’t get to see them on her until this morning, but they are really cute on her.  Not many people can sport the glasses look and still be drop dead gorgeous … Felicity Smoak … Kara Danvers … Cailyn Vaughan.  Awesome company.  She picked them out herself, too.  They kind of remind me of a pair that I had when I was a kid.  Nostalgic moment.  Here’s praying that all goes well at school today.  I asked if she was excited to show her friends.  She replied, “I’m more excited to show Mrs. Schaff.  She wears glasses, too.”  It never ceases to amaze me the influence a teacher holds with the kids in her class. 

1 John 4:7-8 says, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

Father, thank you for the minor medication miracle.  That stuff really does help.  Thanks for the excitement Cailyn has going for her about those glasses.  And walk with teachers today.  Give them the energy to match that influence.  Amen.

February 10 – “Got it done”

I get to find out a little more about my heel problem today.  At least I hope I do.  Yesterday when Chris and I were up at the church cleaning, I stepped and turned on that foot and it felt like a knife was stabbing me.  Not a nerve pain, mind you, which I have described in much the same way.  This was a full on knife stab in the heel.  Knocked me almost to my knees.  Needless to say I limped through the rest of our cleaning experience.  I did get the marquee changed to announce the Ash Wednesday service tonight, though.  That was my ultimate goal for the day.  So this afternoon we head up to see my rheumatologist, who by the way is no longer covered by my insurance.  Not sure how much that will cost.  I did follow proper procedure, though.  My new PCP told me to go see him.  I also need to ask him about my xeljanz prescription.  The specialty pharmacy that was supposed to call me back within 48 hours last week sometime still hasn’t.  so I have been off of that med since Sunday.  I can tell a difference in the swelling already.  We’ll see what he says.

On a happier note, Cailyn spent the night with us last night.  We had the fun job of getting her to do some homework.  The school sends home a week’s worth of homework on Mondays, and the kids turn it in on Friday.  It sounds daunting, but Cailyn handles it without batting an eye.  In fact last night we completed all of her math and most of her spelling.  She just has to write out her words and she’ll be done with that.  And on top of that, she read for a good 20 or 30 minutes.  Now all that remains is reading 20 minutes every evening.  Wish I had been that motivated back in the day. 

Well, actually her homework was kind of fun.  One assignment was to have an adult scramble up the spelling words, and she has to unscramble them.  She was excited to do that one.  Apparently it was already a favorite.  Another was to trace out each word on an adult’s back and see if he can figure out what it is.  That became a competition between Nani and DadDad.  In a brilliant finish, Nani came back to tie the game in the final seconds.  Finally, she had to write her words in alphabetical order.  Not as fun as the others, but we were already on a roll, so we still did a lot of laughing.  Got it done, too.

1 John 4:4 says, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Father, help Cailyn and all our little guys maintain a love of learning in creative ways.  Amen.

February 9 – “What are you doing here?”

Cailyn was in a performance at school last night.  It was the usual PTO monthly meeting where one grade level entertains the crowd before the president makes whatever announcements are needed.  It’s a great tradition that is apparently a Southern none.  When we were in Denver I went to the first PTO meeting at Josh and Nathan’s school.  After all, I had been the PTO president for a brief stint in Mansfield.  When I finally located the meeting, I was asked, “What are you doing here?”  Just like that.  No pleasant greeting.  No “Glad you care about our school.”  Just “What are you doing here?”  Not exactly a welcoming bunch.  They let me stay, but they obviously didn’t want me anywhere around while they talked about what was “best” for my children in that school.  They learned to expect either me or Chris, though, whenever they had any kind of meeting that we felt like we deserved input into.  And that experience, combined with a myriad of others, led to … the next year we started home schooling. 

So … we went to the PTO meeting at Cailyn’s school.  The gym was packed out with parents and grandparents and siblings.  All of the first graders filed into the room and up onto the stage.  We located Cailyn.  It helped to be sitting next to her Mommy.  Who better to hone in on her own daughter than a Mommy with a movie camera, right?  The kids did a really great job.  The theme was A Salute to February.  Songs about Groundhog Day, President’s Day, Mardi Gras, 100^th Day Day (That would be the 100^th day of eth school year, I’m pretty sure), Chinese New Year, and for some strange reason, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  Not sure how that one snuck from January over into February’s program.  It just didn’t fit.  Maybe there weren’t enough holidays in January to make up an entire program so they had to do something else.  Maybe they didn’t have a program in January.  Other than that, I’m pretty well set on all the February greatness in America.  Nice job, kids.

After the program we got to “officially” meet Cailyn’s new American Girl doll that looks a lot like her.  April did give us a sneak peek before the program started.  Not that she was in any way kind of excited about carrying around a doll in her huge purse.  As I told her last night, if you carry a big purse, the whole point is to fill it up.  That’s the immediate perspective of a husband and a child, so she needs to expect it, right? 

Spoiler alert … The big news about this particular doll was that it wears glasses.  Get the connection?  The doll wears glasses so it can look more like its owner.  There it is.  Cailyn just found out that she needs glasses.  I’m glad she found out before softball season starts.  They will help immensely, even with that big old ball.  Can’t wait to see her sporting them.  She seems excited as well. 

1 John 3:23 says, “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.”

Father, watch over Cailyn when she gets those new glasses.  Help her to remember that you (and we) love her just the way she is … just in case someone out there makes fun of her.  I’ve been there.  It hurts.  Amen

February 8 – “SBCP”

Ah, those super bowl commercials.  Gotta love ‘em.  Well, some of them. Anyway.  Our SOUPer Bowl Commercial Party went pretty well last night.  We had around fifteen people, all clutching their BINGO cards and watching carefully for that one commercial that would fill out their row or their “X” or their four corners or their fully covered card.  Those were the requirements to win one of the fabulous prizes provided (albeit indirectly) by sponsors of the super bowl.  Josh won first and collected his eight pack of mini-Pepsi’s.  George garnered a pack of Butterfingers and a bag of Doritos – double victory.  And Cory managed to sneak in at the very end to nab the bag of Skittles.  The race was intense at times, but certainly all in good fun. 

It was hard to name a clear winner among our crowd this year.  We were very disappointed in the Budweiser Clydesdales.  Their brief appearance didn’t even make sense.  And the Marilyn Monroe Snickers one was just odd.  We laughed at the Axe “Who needs abs when you have the nose” spot.  At least that very first segment of it that actually showed the nose guy.  Our off-premises correspondent, Chris, texted in his vote – a tie between the singing sheep of … I don’t remember what they were singing for.  Maybe a truck?  I know there was one of them in there … and the Super Bowl babies.  That’s the one with the children born nine months after their parents’ favorite team won the super bowl.  It was creative for sure.  I guess they were advertising the super bowl itself?  My personal favorite was the Doritos ultrasound, hands down.  The baby just couldn’t wait to get his hands on a Dorito, and when Mom tossed it to the foot of the bed … it was time to be born.  Very cute.  And I understand it was a contest submission as well. 

The sleeper of them all, though, was the one that no one could decide if they should really like it and laugh uncontrollably or if it was just wrong on so many levels.  You know which one I mean.  Mountain Dew’s Baby monkey pug-dog.  Strange.  Odd.  Certainly memorable.  Sara insisted that it was the stuff nightmares are made of, at least in her world. 

The food was great.  Chili and all the fixin’s.  Ribs.  Chicken nuggets.  Five layer dip.  Even left-over cake from Sara’s bridal shower.  She brought it over once the shower ended.  We had a strong pro-Bronco crowd, but at least one Carolina backer (Josh) made for a fun evening of give and take during the time the actual game was on.  I did get one rise out of the crowd when I attempted to give the trivia game answers.  Who knew that some people actually wanted to watch the halftime entertainment?  There weren’t even any marching bands or drill teams.  We paused the action (miracles of modern technology), finished the trivia business, and hurried back to all the singing and dancing.  Of course that meant we had to stay off of Facebook as the game wound down to prevent seeing those spoilers posted by those people watching in real time (downside of modern technology). 

Thanks to everyone who came.  Put in on the calendar for next year.  Who knows?  Maybe one of those other sponsors will kick in for a BINGO prize … BMW … Audi … Toyota … Axe.

1 John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.”

Father, thank you for the friends and fun we had last night.  Amen.