As promised...

Samuel Scott Tigchelaar, welcome to our world.

As I'm sitting by the fireplace in Lawrence enjoying New Year's Eve with family (sans Uncle Awesome, sadly) I thought it time to post a few pics of the newest addition to our family...

Not - so - sweet dreams, perhaps?

Big sister Charlotte is enjoying her new brother, as well.

Happy New Year to all of you. Many blessings in 2009!

And then there were two...

Grandchildren, that is. Here's a welcome to Samuel Scott Tigchelaar, born 12/27/2008 at 10:58AM. 8 lb., 4 ozs. and 21.5" long. Big sister Charlotte, and mom & dad are all well and excited about this precious new addition. Pics to come!

Writer's Death Has Wide Effect

Amazing the widespread effect of the death of a writer. See this article...
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/nascar_cancels_remainder_of_season

Bookending August

I noticed that the last post I had done was at the beginning of August. So, never let it be said that I've only posted once in August. Just in the nick of time...

Okay, okay...

I was reminded yesterday that I haven't posted for a while. Yes, I've noticed also.
Since the last post, we've been busy going about our lives. Over the 4th of July, we traveled out to Athens (our last trip there!), going through Chicago on the way to pick up Scott. Had a great couple of days with the whole family, including final visits to some favorite places (O'Betty's Hot Dogs and Avalanche Pizza). Watched the fireworks on Thursday evening with Charlotte, who was only mildly impressed.
Throughout July, it seems my schedule was work, go to meetings, and mow the lawn. Every now and then, Kathy & I would see one another. I think that is now a bit better under control (or is it just denial - as I write this, on Saturday, I'll soon get ready to go to work for a 9AM meeting, then I'll be mowing the lawn...).
The exciting news is that Jana & Jeff have found a place to live in Kansas. We'll be going down there next weekend to help them move in. This is an exciting new development for us; this will be the closest they have lived since they have gotten married. In fact, one of the branches I service for my job is about 1/2 way to their house...I can foresee Kathy riding along from time to time and meeting Jana there to spend a few days with Charlotte (and Jana & Jeff, too).
I'll try to be a bit more faithful in posting in the future. Thanks for visiting.

Phew.

This afternoon, I finished my last securities test. This one wasn't quite the monster I took in May, but with the hectic schedule I've had recently, there didn't seem to be a lot of time for study (or was I just tired of studying?).
When one's brain is old, as mine is, it seems to take a lot more effort to make the stuff soak in. Maybe it's my need to understand the logic and concepts, which don't always seem to be present when one deals with government regulations.
Anyway, I passed, with score to spare.
Phew.
I'm vegging out tonight. Tomorrow, I leave for St. Paul for a follow up week of training. A week on the road, away from work and home, neither of which I wish to be away from.
This shall pass.
Hope all is well with y'all.

Happy Father's Day

Yesterday, I found myself in kind of a funk. I couldn't really put a finger on what was wrong, just a non-specific "downer" feeling.
As I was riding on my lawnmower, it occurred to me - I missed my dad. Seeing all the spots on Tim Russert, which mentioned the relationship between Tim & his dad, made me think of my dad, and all the fond memories I have of him. He's been gone a little over a year now, but rare is the day I don't think about him or mention him in conversation.
Most of all, I miss talking to him. I've got a lot of questions for him; guess they'll have to wait.
I've had conversations with my kids already today, wishing me well for Father's Day. I wonder, however, how I stack up as a dad. Methinks there could have been improvements made, but I'm sure about everyone might think that in retrospect. I count myself as blessed to have such a wonderful family, certainly beyond what I deserve...
So, hope all you dads have had a great day. Enjoy your time with your kids, they are priceless moments you will treasure forever. And, if you've still got your dad, be sure to keep the relationship alive and well.
No regrets.

For all you who vainly visit each day hoping for a new post...

It's in process. It's been just a bit busy lately, with the new job and studying for some additional securities exams (one down, one to go)(exams, that is, not jobs...). So, I've got some great plans for awesome posts, just a little weak on the execution of late. So, hang in there, keep visiting, it will pay off...I promise.

Tulip Time brings...

Welcome visitors. Not the least of which would be family. Kathy went down to KC Wednesday to pick up some VIP visitors, ant then took them on a tour of their soon-to-be new home, Lawrence, KS...After the campus tour, they came to Pella for Tulip Time festivities, as well as fun at Papa and Nana' house.More pics later.

A slithery surprise

So, I got a call from Kathy the other day, just as I was about to leave work and head home. She said she needed some help making a problem go away...




...specifically, this 3 ft bullsnake in our greenhouse.

Ah, springtime in Iowa, when the trees begin to leaf out and a young snake's thoughts turn to sunning on a pile of wood. Little did he know the hoe (garden hoe, that is) awaiteth...

This was supposed to be my spring post...

but as I sit here at my desk this morning I am watching snow fall outside the window. On April 12.

Not unprecedented, mind you, but certainly unwelcome. At least by me.

I must say, I am more than ready (is there a word for that?) for Spring and Springtime weather. Of course, after a run of years where the tulips have been long gone by Tulip Time, this may bring another issue - tulips not open by Tulip Time.

Just goes to show that we aren't in control.

Hope it's nice where you are.

Kinda windy today

Here's the view from our deck.
Or something like that. Better have rocks in your pockets if you go outdoors.
Maybe this will dry things out a bit :-)

March is the cruelest month...

as this photo shows.

March 27th. It was nice yesterday. Not so nice today.
As a matter of fact, we got so much HAIL this morning they had to blade it off the highway.
What you see above is snow, which is coming down quite enthusiastically as I write this.
Grrr.
When exactly is this global warming thing supposed to kick in, anyway?

Fessin' up time

In response to Jean’s challenge (mizjean.blogspot.com) here are a few of my unusual characteristics:

1. I am a pretty casual guy in a lot of respects, but completely anal about being on time. This may come from 14 years of OTR trucking, or it may be an inherited trait from my mother’s side. Either way, if I am to be somewhere by, say, 5 o’clock, I will often be there a few minutes early. I become irritated when those riding with me aren’t ready to go when I am. I am also completely annoyed by people who “time manage” by wasting my time. Get over yourselves, already.

2. I have “presentation preferences” in food. I like ketchup, tomato sauce, and even sliced tomatoes (on sandwiches), but will not eat tomatoes by themselves. Also with strawberries – OK sliced in desserts (yes to shortcake!) but not ok alone. Alternatively, I will only eat bananas solo – not as an ingredient (with the exception of banana bread). No fruit salads or jello with banana slices or even banana splits, please. Also - Every proper serving of trail mix must contain all elements – peanuts, almonds/cashews, raisins, and M&M’s. Any missing ingredient means a do-over.

3. I spend a lot of time in my office in my stocking feet (or slippers). Not in meetings, but when by myself. Shoes are an invention designed to cause discomfort. Had God wanted us to wear shoes all the time, he wouldn’t have made stocking feet feel so good.

4. I can talk more on the phone to people I don’t know so well than people I consider friends (or family). Friends or family I prefer to talk to face to face. I also stink at small talk in all situations. I’m a get to the point type of guy. Remember the scene in “Planes, Trains, And Automobiles” where Steve Martin goes off on John Candy, telling him “…when you tell a story, have a point! It makes it so much more interesting for the listener!”? That’s me, although not quite that direct.

5. I’m a terrible passenger. If I’m not driving, it’s best if I’m in the back seat, not paying any attention to what is going on. Too many miles driving, I suppose. I’m one of those people who press a dent in the floor on the right side when I think that we should be slowing down and the driver isn’t responding appropriately. I’m a good driver (IMHO) but I don’t think that that translated into being a good teacher. Not that my kids are bad drivers (they aren’t), but I think my teaching method may have been frustrating for them…

6. One more thing – when on praise team in church I do not like to put myself in a situation where I will refer to my fellow praise team members by name. If I do, I will invariably FORGET THEIR NAME even though I’ve known them for, oh, say, 15-20 years. I blame it on age. Or, perhaps, some unknown brain abnormality. Whatever, it has happened enough that I don’t want to go there anymore. Ever. Until we start wearing name tags at all times. Which I may need in a few years anyway.

OK, that’s six. Phew. Michelle, your turn. Also – how about you, Jana and Scott???

Spring has Sprung

Well, the temps have been above freezing for several days now, and I must say it is a welcome development. The only downside is that our road is complete muck. I think driving out the other day I actually drove over the roof of a truck that had sunk in a particularly deep mudhole.
Well, not quite that bad, but you get the idea.
I spent Saturday gathering up branches and burning them (doing my part to contribute to global warming, and not a moment too soon, I might add) and also on a ladder with a chainsaw cutting branches out of trees. Plenty o' firewood now.
I am glad for the turn of the seasons - however, let me rant a bit about this irritating exercise practiced twice yearly of confusing us all as to what time it is.
Enough.
I'm convinced that daylight savings time is a tool of the devil to create confusion and discouragement.
It's now proven that it DOES NOT create energy savings. In fact, it INCREASES energy consumption by 10-15%.
So, enough already. Let's set the clocks now and be done with it.
The first candidate who campaigns on a platform of one time, all year gets my vote, because I frankly am not impressed with the credentials of the current crop.
Do your part - let's start up a blog time protest and end this insanity.

So, today...

We're suffering from a basketball hangover.

This has been an amazing season for our teams, with the girls making it to the substate game and the boys making the state tournaments, which were played this past week in Des Moines.

After making it successfully through the first round game, we encountered Western, our counterparts from NW IA. It was a tough loss - after we led for 3 1/2 quarters WC pulled ahead and took the victory (and the eventual state championship).

Yesterday afternoon was the consolation game, but the boys had left it all on the floor against Western, emotionally and physically. Kinda a bummer for the fans, but even more so for the boys.

A bright spot was when one of the starters from last year who has not dressed or played all year because of a heart condition that - momentarily - took his life this past summer (PTL for portable defibrillators!) was able to come into the game for about two minutes and score a 3 (and a couple of fouls). Heart warming in the midst of what was otherwise a downer afternoon.

Now, back to real life. Sigh.

Who's ready to join this guy?

PLEASE! NO MORE! ENOUGH ALREADY!

I'm not saying we've had a lot of snow, but...

here they are clearing my driveway...just kidding, of course. But I'm ecstatic that it's going to be above freezing this weekend. Maybe it will start the melt slowly so southeastern Iowa doesn't wash down the Mississippi.

Ah, yes, how well we recall...

Last evening we had the opportunity to visit a bit with Jana regarding her latest grad school acceptance (U of Ga - still too far away for my tastes) and then visited a bit with Charlotte, who has become VERY yakky. She talked, sang, counted, talked, sang, counted, blew kisses, talked...you get the idea. As we were talking to Jana we could hear her in the background continuing to talk, sing, count, etc.
Brought to mind when Jana was a young lady about Charlotte's age. As she grew, we eagerly anticipated when she would be able to talk with us. One evening we were on the way to my brother's house, and Jana had talked over half way there (5 mins.) and showed no signs of slowing down. We looked at one another and I asked Kathy - "Where is the button that shuts her off?"
Don't be shutting Charlotte off, Jana & Jeff. Enjoy every stage. Especially the ones where she still likes you.

A fairly normal week...

...was enjoyed by Kathy & I. Here's how it went:
- Spent practically all of Monday snowed in. Got to know my county supervisor better, as well as one of the superintendants of the road graders. Finally got plowed out late afternoon, we were in the car and headed to town minutes later, preparing for the possibility of getting snowed in again the next day...
- Which didn't happen. However, our girls did lose in substate Monday night, freeing up our schedule for this week. Tuesday night, our guys pretty much obliterated their opponent in district play, setting them up for a substate match on Saturday evening...
- And, yes, I spent a portion of pretty much every day this week scraping ice from sidewalks as it would melt. Job security.
- That is, when it would melt later on in the week, as it was colder than billy heck for a good portion of the week (billy heck being defined as zero)...
- Went to a concert in the new auditorium at the new high school. MUCH more comfortable seats, AMAZINGLY better sound, an enjoyable experience all around
- Saturday evening we went to the substate game. Almost everything that could go wrong did in the first half, especially when our starting point guard went down with an ankle injury with 2:34 left in the first half. We took a 6 point lead in to the half, and the team came out on fire in the third quarter, finally winning by 21 points. Now making plans for the week of boy's state...
- Sunday, we were finally able to be back in church after a snow cancellation last week. A great day.
Hope your week was fairly normal, as well.

OK, so this whole weekend storm thing is getting old...

Another weekend, another storm. As I write this, there is rain causing ice on the trees (about 1/8 - 1/4 inch) which will turn to snow in a bit.
Blizzard warnings are out for our area.
Hope we can keep our electricity.
Yikes.

A Busy Time Of Year

When you get to be our age [AARP eligible] you would think that things would calm down a bit. However, that is not the case of late. First, our respective jobs are keeping us pretty busy.
Then, there is basketball.
See, we are big basketball fans.
High school basketball.
Pella Christian High School basketball, to be more precise.
And this has been a good year. We have one of the better teams I can recall ever following. And, my observations are supported by third party evidence (see 2A rankings here - http://www.desmoinesregister.com/)
So, if you've been trying to contact us in the evening, our cell phones are your best bet.
And, by the way: Boy's state tournaments are the week of March 3. Keeping my calendar open. Just in case.
Oh, yes, both boys and girls have a shot...the girls are one game away from state as of last night. Girl's state begins the week of the 25th of February.

When you're hungry...

You'll do about anything to get something to eat. Like this guy...


Here's a broader view.

That can't be a good position for food digestion.

I Never Knew A Road Grader Could Be So Exciting!

But when it FINALLY came down our road at 11AM today, I must admit I was stoked.
One snow day is enough.
For both of us.
This keeps up, we're gonna need a 4wd.

So, we never get snow like we used to...

Which is normally true except for this winter, which has been more like the winters of old. Looks like we got another 10-12 inches last night and today. Finally stopped at about 1PM, now we wait for the road grader to get our road open...
We are having a snow day at home, and it really suits both of us just fine.

A Fast Trip, A Fun Time

5:04AM Saturday morning found us leaving home to meet with our kids in Chicago. Note: AT NO OTHER TIME FOR ANY OTHER REASON will Kathy get out of bed at 3:30AM on a Saturday.
After an uneventful trip in, we picked up Scott at his palatial estate in Mokena, and then proceeded to Crestwood to meet with Jeff, Jana, and Charlotte at the motel. From there, we lunched at Trinity's new bookstore/cafe, where Mindi (Jana's friend) joined us for a trip to Shedd Aquarium.As you can see, the trip to downtown gave Charlotte time to catch a few zzz's. Thanks to Uncle Awesome's great skills in smooth picking up and carrying, she was able to stay asleep from the car all through the walk to the aquarium.
We ALL had a great time at the aquarium, Charlotte was like a little sponge observing the various lifeforms on display. She later regaled us with tales of what she had seen [turtle - biiig turtle - in a-pond! little turtles - two little turtles! dolphins - swimming! penguins!]
After some AMAZING pizza (both deep dish and thin crust) at Palermo's, we called it a night.
The next day, we attended church with Scott, and then lunched at Harrison's, where Scott works part time. Ginormous sandwiches, followed by desserts to put you in a food coma, then on the road back to Iowa.
Where we hit snow not to be believed.
All the way from the river to Iowa City.
Ditches so full of cars and trucks you had to stay on the road.
But, we made it home, and backed in by the house just in time to hear the winning touchdown scored by the Giants.
So, Brady, what about that 38 points your team was going to score?
It was a great time. Now to rest up...

So, remember the break I mentioned?

Yesterday, the temps went from 41 at 6AM to 4 at 6PM. Ick. On top of that, we had gale force winds.
Back to sucking $2/gal LP out of the tank.
At least it was warm enough to melt most of the ice before the refreeze.

Finally, a break

From the cold. And, from the extreme busyness of last week.
First, the cold, or lack of it. 41 degrees when I got up this AM, expected to get into the 50s today. I really don't mind winter, but the really bitter cold thing we were having for the past while got old fast. Also, we've been having sunny days, which helps my attitude tremendously.
Busyness. Had something every night last week but Wednesday, when I was able to get home by 7. No break on the weekend, either, as I was involved in teaching a class at church Fri eve and Sat AM, then on praise team Sun AM. It was all a good kind of busy, but it does wear on an old guy.
I think I've got a couple of evenings to be home this week. Then, we go to Chicago Sat AM to see the kids and our granddaughter. Fun. Quick trip, we will return on Sunday, but worth the effort. It will also give us a chance to see Scott's new place.
Hope you have a great week, also.

Cold

Yes, it evens looks cold. -10, right now. Brrr.
Yesterday, it was about the same.
This is when cars are reluctant to start [and I don't blame them].
Yesterday was a busy day, meetings until 2PM, then to DM to run a few errands with Kathy. I'm looking forward to a lower key day today, basically church, lunch and naps.
Naps. Mmmmmm.

(Another) Snowy Day

We have had winters that have not lived up to the billing in years past. However, that has not been the case this year.
Snow has occurred on a weekly basis, at minimum. Overnight, we received another couple of inches of snow. Plenty of wind, also, to drift things up a bit.
Makes me glad to have my snowblower.
Hope the road grader comes by so I can get into my office today...

Early Sunday AM

I'm sitting here at my desk. Early. I've been up now for about 1 1/2 hours, because I have procrastinated planning a service for the 27th that HAD to be done today.
The good news - it is done, ready for tweaking.
The bad news - it is COLD this morning.
More good news - no new snow to deal with.
More bad news - that means I don't get to run the snowblower this AM.

Yesterday afternoon I worked at the radio station. A local Contemporary Christian group (the station plays CC music) had dropped off some CD's they had made. I grabbed a copy, b/c I saw they had included a cover of "Free Ride", which if you are of my generation you will recall was originally done by the Edgar Winter group (http://www.edgarwinter.com/home.php). One of a number of classic rock songs I have thought was adaptable to a faith message. Haven't listened to it yet, I'll let you know how it turned out.

In other news, I took a lead from Scott (relvalations.blogspot.com) and looked up who I share a birthday with on famousbirthdays.com. I have known for years that I shared a BD with Stevie Wonder. However, I also learned I share a BD with Bea Arthur and Dennis Rodman. Yikes. So, before you look, think carefully - do I REALLY want to know?

Happy Birthday, Scott!

Our son (in whom we are well pleased) turns 27 today. Before he left to go home after Christmas we celebrated his birthday.

Here he is blowing out the candles on his BD cake. Note there are not 27 candles, we live in an older home and we were concerned about the fire hazard...

Happy birthday, son. We look forward to celebrating many, many more with you.

Caucus Night in Iowa

I caucused last night, something I am in the habit of doing. However, as you may have heard by now, last night was anything but ordinary.
First, Kathy attended. Something she has not done before. And, judging by a turnout that was probably 5 times what was expected (early reports suggest a total turnout statewide of around 343,000) a lot of others attended for the first time, as well.
There was a line around the building to get in to our Pella caucus. That has never happened before, to the best of my knowledge. While it took a while to get in and to get settled, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in what I was seeing. This is what so many have - and are- risking all for, the freedom to have a say in what is done by our government.
And have a say they did. I interpret the resounding victory by Mike Huckabee in my caucus (he received 809 of the 1278 votes cast) as a voter base standing up and saying "We've had it with politics as usual, with the attack ads, with holding our noses and voting for someone that does not believe as we believe." I believe the D's said the same thing with the clear victory enjoyed by Senator Obama.
This could be an interesting race. I'm just glad the focus is off Iowa for now; back to herbicide ads on TV and quiet telephones.
Phew.