Merry Christmas Eve^364 !

The title may require a bit of explanation. As you may know, Christmas is by far Sandi's favorite time of the year -- yes, even ahead of Flag Day. She wished me a merry Christmas Eve Eve on Tuesday, which led to my greeting today.

The holiday has come and gone, and Sandi and I enjoyed the chance to be together for a whole day. Unlike folks with children, we got started at about 9:30 in the morning (if you beat the sun to verticality, my heart goes out to you) with our traditional breakfast of cinnamon rolls. We had gathered our gifts from family during the trip home last weekend, and our next order of business was opening everything under the tree. Some of the highlights are a new fantasy novel from my mother, DVD's of the Chronicles of Narnia movies from Sandi's mom, and a set of hole saws which I will never use (like I know how). Sandi got me two new video games, and I returned the favor for her, along with an extender for her screwdriver. As an aside, I have finally reached the point of considering tools viable gifts -- for others. Note that only one person in our home could find a use for objects such as this.

The babies were not forgotten. In keeping with convention, Peaches and Samus received a stocking of toys each, and Ranger had a stocking as well. I am proud to announce that fully one of the toys for Ranger has lasted to see tomorrow. A tennis ball with Santa extremities was decapitated within minutes, while a knobby rope toy was deknobbed in the name of the treat stuffed within. The lot of us spent the rest of the day relaxing, snacking on ham and Moravian Lovefeast rolls, and playing with our new gadgets. I stayed up much later than I should have, primarily to see a really good episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation on the Sci-Fi Channel. Who could have seen that coming?

Sandi had to return to work today; apparently, federal law requires banks to be closed for no more than three consecutive days (how this plays into BB&T's Saturday hours, I cannot say). She also has to work tomorrow morning, whereas I will return to the office on Monday. In my time at the house today, I washed up the dishes from yesterday's foodstuffs and retrieved an end table from the basement. I have resisted the urge to spend the whole day watching Highlander reruns, but the struggle has not been an easy one.

I hope your holiday was as pleasant as ours. Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

The Sounds of Silence

I went to campus today to get some work done before the holiday, unaware that I would place myself in a Simon and Garfunkel song in the process. While there were cars, I did not see a single person milling about the place. Every building was locked, and the only lights I saw were those without a switch. The experience was more than a bit unsettling. I suppose I should be happy there were no neon idols on display.

Due to an unfortunate turn of events at the bank (please keep Sandi's coworker Peggy and her family in your prayers), Sandi got off work an hour early today. This had the benefit of extra time to do things prior to our trip to see Speedway in Lights at, well, the speedway. We were at the racetrack a good while longer than we had expected; we were in line for over half an hour before we had the opportunity to pay admission. The wait was worthwhile, though, as the display was quite impressive. What do dinosaurs and marine life have to do with the Christmas season? The answer, of course, is . . .

WHO CARES -- THEY ARE
AWESOME!

On the way home, we stopped by the grocery store to buy what we needed to get through the remainder of the year. Sandi has another short day at work tomorrow, and after that the celebration will commence. Woot!

I should mention that we traveled home over the weekend, while Paws & Claws braced itself for another shelling from the Big Bazooka. We had the chance to get together with our niece Camryn and my mom to celebrate their respective birthdays, which are now immortalized as a sequence of ones and zeros on a server somewhere. How sweet is that? Sandi got some really good pictures of the rapidly growing B.J., and she will probably succumb to the posting temptation over the holiday.

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

They Really Like Me!

The misquoted reference in the title is pointed at my student evaluations. I should backtrack a bit to say that the evaluation process we use at King is a good bit different from the system we used at Virginia Tech; the form is oriented toward student perceptions of learning outcomes, rather than purely rating the quality of the instructor. Last year, my evaluation results were lower than I would have liked, which was obviously disappointing. I made a conscious effort to forge a better connection with my students, and I think that endeavor contributed to much more positive evaluations.

I received some bad news this afternoon while I was on campus. I had agreed to teach an additional course in the graduate and professional studies program next semester, which would have contributed a bit more income. However, that arrangement has fallen through, and I will not be doing the course after all. This could be a blessing, though, as it will give me more time to finish my dissertation in the spring.

I have been watching Gaslight for the last hour and a half -- a move I am beginning to reconsider. While the film is very well made and features some high-powered acting talent, I might have some trouble sleeping after its fiercely psychological and somewhat creepy motif.

Take care, folks!

. . . And Then There Were None

After a marathon grading session yesterday in the office, my exams are scored and filed. Unfortunately, the registrar's office had closed by the time I was finished, which means I have yet to submit my final grades. I could have done that today, but I took some time to look at something other than my office walls. The pouring rain outside did little to sway me toward the walk to campus.

The School of Arts and Sciences faculty had a progressive dinner tonight, so Sandi and I were relieved of the responsibility of planning a meal. Given the amount of angst that sort of decision causes us, this is a blessing. All we had to do was prepare a dessert, which led to something astounding. As has been mentioned before, I am not a baker; my skills lie in the preparation of things involving meat, noodles, meat, vegetables, meat, and meat. Sandi had agreed to make the rocky road brownie bites from the Bethany dinner for the festivities, but she decided to conduct an experiment. Since I had tangentially partaken in the preparation of the last batch of goodies, she chose to give me the business on this run. Needless to say, tensions ran high in the kitchen whilst I prepared our contribution. I rose to the occasion, however, and the brownie bites turned out at least eleven kinds of awesome. Does this mean that now I have to make the desserts, too?

The dinner itself was a great time. We were split into smaller groups to distribute the workload on the hosts. In our case, five families gathered at the home of one of the English faculty, and we each contributed something to the meal (technically, our dessert came later at a full gathering, but quit splitting hairs). We had pork tenderloin and smoked turkey, along with a broccoli salad, green beans, some Greek potatoes, and little rolls. With two department chairs along for the ride, a lesser couple would have been intimidated; mavericks like us, though, can hold our own. It helps that Martin and Vanessa are really cool people, too. Sandi got to put some faces to the names she hears me constantly toss about conversations, and I had the chance to meet some folks' husbands and wives. Yay for acculturation!

By the next time I write, I will have participated in my third graduation ceremony at King. This will officially upgrade in sweetness once I can get this blasted dissertation written, since that means I can get the super-sweet felt tam instead of the boring old mortar board. On the other hand, the dean of the School of Education commented that my voice would do well announcing names at the ceremony in the future, so this could be a double-edged sword.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Halfway Home

Technically the title is incorrect, as I have yet to grade the two exams I have given thus far. In a maneuver so shrewd that even its planners fail to comprehend it, the college arranged exam schedules such that my afternoon courses all have 'early' exam periods, while my morning classes got to sleep in. On one hand, this could be considered a gracious move to students who spent the entire semester trudging to early class times; however, it might also be seen as a violation of long-built rhythms which serves no purpose but to lower overall scores. In any case, I only have to get up before the sun one more time this term -- yay!

The faculty serve a late-night exam breakfast to students on the Sunday of exam week, and I volunteered to assist tonight. This goes against most of my internal drives, as watching other people eat bacon does not fit my definition of fun. I did have fun, though, seeing my kids getting a chance to relax amidst the tempest of examinations and papers. There was even a hefty loadout of prizes ranging from board games to a portable DVD player. Do you know which of the contiguous forty-eight United States was last to declare Christmas an official holiday?

Please keep me and my students in your prayers as we forge through the remainder of the exam week. Have a great week of your own, everyone!

Somewhat a Misnomer

Classes have ended at King, and we will soon be plunged into the chaos of the exam period. Before that, however, comes the longstanding tradition of 'reading day.' Ostensibly, this day gives students a chance to study before their final exams begin; my experience indicates a reality of mass non-studying. I did, in fact, have a couple of students come by my office today with questions, even if one of them was a misinterpretation of an announcement. I wrote a take-home exam for my analysis class in the remainder of my time on campus today.

The education honor society held a faculty appreciation dinner today, whose promise of free foodstuffs always appeals to my inner graduate student. They really manage to put together an impressive spread; even I found it hard to leave room for everything on offer. During last semester's dinner, I won a drawing for a basket of 'phat lewts,' and the sponsors even took a photo of me feigning surprise at the calling of my name. Rather than a drawing, this time a game of skill determined the prizewinner. I was tasked with the rapid-fire assembly of a snowman from a plastic bag of assorted mess. After a furious fifty or so seconds, I was edged out of first place by the chair of the biology department and had to settle for a consolation prize. Honestly, I cost myself the win by forgetting to use everything I was given, but I claimed a moral victory in attaching stickers without actually exposing their adhesive.

The bank is getting into the Christmas season, what with the lack of final exams and all. Sandi and I went to Lowe's in search of burgundy garland for decorating the lobby, and they did their gift-giving name draw today.

Enjoy your weekend, folks!

And There Was Light

Our weekend was a good bit busier than we had anticipated, but this was a good kind of busy. I got up Saturday morning, planning to get the Christmas tree upstairs for trimming. The phone rang at about 11:30 AM, while I was in the basement and unable to answer. As I returned to the kitchen, I caught the end of a message from Joyce that she and Bobby had just left the house and were on their way. Er, what? I called Sandi to make sure she knew about this, and the explanation was quite simple. Whilst in North Carolina for Thanksgiving, Bobby had us take a look at a loveseat he thought we might want. Since our sleeper sofa (lovingly donated to the cause by my cousin Lori) has all but disintegrated under the onslaught of the Big Bazooka, we decided to take it, but neither of our vehicles would allow for transporting the piece. Joyce and Bobby were able to arrange things such that they could deliver the new seating this weekend. They brought along B.J. (who, by the way, has eyes like Tony Curtis) for moral support.

While he was in town, Bobby took a peek at the lighting in our kitchen -- or, rather, the lack thereof. You see, the overhead light fixtures gave up the ghost within a couple of months of our moving into the house. Due to our highly restricted access to the attic and our general cluelessness regarding wiring, we had done nothing to address the problem. With his advanced electrical acumen, Bobby was able to ascertain that the only problem was a faulty switch, and thus our kitchen is again well-lit.

After our guests left, we spent the remainder of the day trimming the Christmas tree. We have a new (to us) tree this year, which is a good deal thicker than our longtime greenery. This complicates the ornamentation, as getting hooks onto the tuftlike branches can be a bother. Following our longstanding custom, we prepared snack foods like Chex Mix® and little weenies in barbecue sauce. It should be noted that little weenies are more likely to tempt me to lawbreaking than pretty much anything else on earth. The finished product -- the tree, not the weenies -- looks impressive; Sandi will get pictures posted at some point.

I wanted to mention that Ranger did just fine at Paws & Claws while we were gone. The ladies there had taken to calling him the Lone Ranger; whether that is a reference to his lodging in a single gimongous kennel or simply the classic television hero, I cannot say. Due to B.J.'s somewhat diminutive stature at present, we decided to board Ranger for our next trip home as well.

Eventually, we might get to actually rest on a weekend. Have a great week, everyone!

Live From Winston-Salem

I apologize for the massively delayed update, but my days have been -- for lack of a better word . . .

stuffed.

Hot on the heels of my last batch of tests, I had to give another in all four of my classes, thanks to the aforementioned short time between the holiday and final exams. This meant that I have had to write and grade fifty papers on wildly varying subjects. In addition, I was responsible for filling out assessment forms for the quantitative thinking portion of the college's core curriculum.

Complicating the situation further, Thursday evening held the final waiting families meeting of the year. You may notice that the day is off from our previous jaunts to Knoxville; the Bethany folks had arranged for a special speaker from Emory University. Dr. Karen Kuehn Howell is a specialist in the longitudinal effects of prenatal drug usage. We got a metric truckload of useful information from her lecture, which has produced some rather surprising results. Would you believe that the two drugs with the most profound long-term effects on children are legally obtainable by anyone over the age of 21? She kept her material fairly general-audience, and for almost everyone in the room, that was just fine. Leave it to the academic in the back to want more statistics and fancy terminology, eh?

I neglected to mention that the trip on Thursday almost got the hook. After one last trip to the doctor, Sandi is back to normal. She had been put on an antibiotic dosage normally reserved for people with stuff like pneumonia, and her body did not take kindly to it. She finally returned to work on Friday.

We spent the weekend sorting through our Christmas decorations. For the first time since we were married, Sandi actually parted with some seldom-used holiday items. We also did a spectacularly lousy job of packing up the stuff last year; four or five whole bins were either empty, almost empty, or filled with miscellaneous packing materials and no actual decorative goods. While the gear was unpacked, we went ahead and put everything in its place for the season to come. The tree and its trimmings are pretty much all that remain. If someone asks really sweetly, Sandi might post a photo collection.

As the title suggests, this post is being generated on Joyce's computer rather than our laptop. For (we think) the first time since 2004, we were able to visit the mother country for Thanksgiving. Although Sandi still has to work on Friday (who knew that banks are open on Black Friday?), the lack of crack-of-dawn attendance required by the retail business meant that we could steal away this afternoon. Joyce and Bobby have a new puppy named B.J., and Sandi is cooing all over the little guy. The initials stand for the new parents' names; I, however, will most likely call him Bazooka Joe. Due to the whole 'new puppy' thing, we decided to board Ranger for the first time. We picked a place called Paws & Claws, and they let the dogs play and socialize. I think he will enjoy his time there, provided his usual hyperactivity in the presence of something new does not get him ejected.

At last, I have you up to speed. Hey -- wake up! Hey!

Are We Better Yet?

To add to the ongoing medical drama that has been the last couple of weeks, Sandi went back to the doctor on Monday and was promptly put on another dose of antibiotic. She went back to work this morning; she was there for almost fifteen minutes before coming back home. She actually looked a bit worse when I got home from school today than she did last night. I presume that the high dosage of azithromycin in her system is messing with her body. She will make another stab at going to the bank tomorrow. Hopefully she will be able to make it, for she is close to going stir-crazy in the house.

As far as I am concerned, my day started on the wrong foot when my sleep cycle was disrupted. Have you ever had to awaken directly from REM sleep? Between punches of the snooze button, I kept sliding back into the exact same dream, in which one of my colleagues from King was hiding on the campus of Virginia Tech. He seemed pretty cheerful; he was just looking for a place to conceal himself and a couple of students I did not recognize. If you have any idea what that means, please make sure not to tell me. The rest of the day suffered from the poor beginning, but I like to think I can keep something like that from impacting my teaching.

That pretty much covers our last few days. Take care, everyone!

Happy Birthday, Chuck!

Sandi's older brother is officially thirty-six today. As a mathematical fun fact, that is the first number which is the product of the squares of two distinct prime numbers. We hope he had a total blast. Sandi had bought a birthday card for him a month or so ago, but we . . . well . . . forgot to put it in the mail so that it would arrive on time.

Sandi's antibiotic finally uncorked her congested sinuses yesterday. Unfortunately, this means that the unpleasantness has now migrated into her nose and throat, and a case of bronchitis is right around the corner. She has already decided that work tomorrow is not going to happen (clients at the bank like for their tellers to, you know, have a voice), which will give her the chance to visit the doctor for another round of medication.

Have a great week, folks!

Ahhh . . . Down Time

Our week was without many major incidents. Sandi got back the results of her ultrasound, which showed no abnormalities. This is good news in that her gallbladder is not a problem, but she is a little disappointed. As odd as that sounds, having a known medical reason for her issues would ease her mind a bit.

My week at King went quite well. In my analysis class, I got to work through a proof which used pretty much every important technique we have seen during the semester. I also did a short dramatic piece about how mathematics really works; there is a great deal of scribbling, quite a lot of papers get crumpled up, and periodically a pencil flies across the room. My other classes are going smoothly, albeit without aerial pencils. Due to the late Thanksgiving this year, I only have a couple of days of class after the break. I plan to have some student presentations during those final meetings.

We have a guest this weekend -- our fried Beth drove down to Bristol from Salem, Virginia. She and Sandi are scrapbooking buddies; they drove to Sevierville today to check out a big scrapbook supply store. This gave me the opportunity to head to the office and actually keep up with my grading for once.

I think that pretty much covers what has happened up here for the past week. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Is It Over Already?

I cannot speak for Sandi, but this weekend has been a blur for me. We accomplished quite a bit, which is never something my lazy streak likes to admit. Sandi came home from work yesterday with some wood and brackets to put up some shelves over the doorway to our office from the living room. Unfortunately, we had to run back to Lowe's to buy another piece of wood for one shelf, due to a mishap in drilling for the brackets. Ranger also got a new rug to cover the floor of his kennel, and it almost made it a full day before his teeth found their way through it.

This is but part of an overarching plan to get the house arranged for our Christmas decorations; today, I moved two end tables downstairs to open up the office floor. In addition to lining the new shelves with books, we dropped off a load of stuff at the Salvation Army and deposited a rather massive pile of recyclables. On our way home, we bought a bale of straw for Ranger to use as a bed in the back yard. Finally, I was in desperate need of a haircut; Sandi thinks it is the first I have had since the school year began. That would explain the ridiculous mound of hair which resulted.

Have a great week, everyone!

Can We Borrow an Apple or Eight?

Since yesterday was election day, Sandi and I hit the polls for the first time as residents of Tennessee. We had to vote on electronic machines which look like touch screens but are actually worked by a bizarre wheel system. My dislike for the gadget was palliated when I learned that we are apparently returning to paper ballots in the future. After our rollicking participation in the electoral process, we went to the grocery store for a much-needed restock of our foodstuffs.

As I think I have mentioned before, Sandi has been under the weather for the last few weeks, and she went to the doctor today in an attempt to figure out what is wrong. She was prescribed an antibiotic for a sinus infection, which is about as surprising as a loss by the Duke football team. Beyond that, she will also be having an ultrasound to check out her gallbladder. She spent the rest of the day at home, and she went to bed early tonight. This gave me the opportunity to watch Big Trouble in Little China, one of my all-time favorite 'guilty pleasure' movies (Army of Darkness is the other). On a serious note, please keep her in your prayers.

Take care, everyone!

See -- Not a Week!

Well, I managed to grade one class' tests by the end of the week, thanks to some forgotten meetings I had to attend on Friday. I also went by the post office to mail an application for an adoption grant through Shaohannah's Hope, Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman's adoption awareness organization. We will let you know what comes from our efforts there.

During the week, one of my former students asked me to go to the play being performed on campus. Not like a date, mind you -- she is a theatre major and was on stage. I had meant to attend one of the performances last year, but funds were a little tight. Sandi and I went to the show last night, and we were quite pleased with the performance. Another of my students also had a starring role. The play is called Alabama Rain, which is described as a 'Southern gothic comedy' for you theatre buffs. It is quite funny, although a little weird at times. For instance, a character dies in the opening scene but appears throughout the remainder of the play; moreover, everyone else keeps talking about how she stinks. My students did very well, including a hilarious scene where one delivered a dialogue while pausing to spit every three or four words when she says something about someone's dying.

We went to Johnson City today, because Sandi had a burning desire for food from the Olive Garden. After stuffing ourselves, we went to the mall to get a yoga mat for out Wii Fit sessions. After the return to standard time, we are as recharged as we can get for the coming week. Hopefully you feel the same way, since you have no real choice but to move forward.

Have a great week, everyone!

Snow -- in Octember?!?

You get 1337 bonus cool points if you know where I got that title.

Both Monday and Tuesday featured Phil walking to campus amid a shower of little snowflakes. While there was no accumulation to bother the greater Bristol area, Sandi was quite happy to see snow. Sandi's coworkers could not remember that last time we got snow before November. The weather remained cold today, but there are no further forecasts of the white stuff on the horizon.

As it was the fourth Tuesday of the month, we headed to Knoxville for our waiting families meeting. We had a trio of guest speakers, who shared with us how they have approached telling their children their adoption stories. The big point I took away from the discussion was to answer the child's questions without bombarding them with scads of extra information; given my general tendency to gabble for hours at a time, I will need to practice.

I administered the last of my latest batch of tests today, which means I will spend much of tomorrow up to my elbows in grading. Most of the tests were shorter than usual (due to the amount of time I had to allow for each problem), so I can hopefully plow through them without a great deal of fuss. Sandi has been a bit under the weather for the last couple of days, but she seems to have soldiered through the worst of it.

Hopefully I will find time to write next without a week-long hiatus. Take care, everyone!

A Temporary Promotion

For a little more than an hour, I was a full professor. Well, not really, but I played one on TV. Well . . . not actually on TV, but I did participate in a murder mystery on campus this evening. As Professor Charles D. Manding, I was one of the suspects in the death of library director Reed Books. Yes, every name involved is a pun of some sort. I had quite a great deal of fun with the part; my character was an expert on the mating habits of weevils, which is completely disjoint from anything I have ever studied. I found a picture of a weevil online and carried it with me, calling the critter Mortimer and insisting that it lived in a box of organic oatmeal in my kitchen. Moreover, I spoke in a mousy voice and was constantly wringing my hands at about chest level. For all I know, everyone else in the library wanted to hit me, but I enjoyed the experience.

My trip back to King meant that Sandi would have to find something to do while I was gone, so she decided to pull up some more carpet. She also did some sanding on the freshly exposed wood flooring. The results look pretty good, apart from the threshold of the bathroom, where she had to rip up a transitional tack strip.

My next batch of tests is in the offing, so keep both my students and me in your prayers. Have a great Wednesday!

All Right -- Who Invited the Frost?

The temperature on my trip to campus this morning was a balmy thirty-three degrees. While the nip in the air definitely accelerated my pace on the journey, I think I will need to dig out my winter coat for the days to come. The rest of my day was pretty uneventful, apart from the convocation speaker who inexplicably had to compete with a radio during his lecture. Have you ever tried to focus on a discussion about skepticism and Christianity while the Beatles play in the background?

Over the weekend, Sandi and I took Ranger to a soccer game. The big guy almost made it to the second half before his excitement required a trip back home. A couple of my students saw him, and his size made an impression. Sandi was also able to (at last) complete Paper Mario, a video game she began playing while we still lived in North Carolina. In case you want to keep score, the game was released two console generations ago.

Take care, everyone!

A Funny Thing Happened . . .

What in the world could have happened in the eighteen hours or so since that last post? I am glad you asked.

My afternoon office hours are the only official on-campus responsibility I have on Thursdays this semester. Several students stopped by my office with questions today, which is out of the ordinary, but that was not the highlight of my afternoon. Since I share the third floor of my building with the chemistry department, I am accustomed to labs taking place while I am doing my mathematical thing. However, I do not typically hear the familiar notes of John Williams introducing the arrival of Darth Vader. Sure enough, I look up to see the Sith Lord heading into a classroom, conspicuously garbed in doctoral regalia (do you plan to ask if he has the sheepskin?). Lord Vader evidently administers the second organic chemistry test of every academic year. I asked a few bystanders if he found anyone's lack of faith in the Grignard synthesis disturbing. A couple of brave souls challenged him with lightsabers, but they fell victim to a mighty Force choke. I have no idea how I missed this occurrence last year.

While not quite as outrageous as this, the occasion made for quite a few laughs.

Reality?!? Run Away!!!!

Okay -- you can turn off the Monty Python voices in your head now.

With fall break clearly in the rear view mirror, life must go on at King. For me, that meant turning in midterm grades, which were due at noon today. This would not have been a problem, except for the tiny fact that I had forgotten to do so much as pick up my grade sheets from the registrar's office before 11:15 AM. Thanks be to God for spreadsheet software; with an old-school gradebook, I would never have completed things in time. In glorious fashion, however, I submitted my stuff a full fifteen minutes before the deadline.

Sandi's day, I regret to report, was not as straightforward. She was supposed to get off work at 2:15 this afternoon; instead, I got my usual 'on the way home' call at almost 4:00 PM. This was not a fortuitous turn of events, to say the least. Compounding the issue, the scheduled short day meant that Sandi did not have a lunch packed for the occasion, so she was quite peckish by the end of her time at the bank. I went out to get something after I arrived at home, and she hit the hay shortly after her Wii Fit training for the evening.

Some good news to contribute, though: our profile is now visible on Bethany's website. Well, it would be if I could access their site right now. Our birthparent letter there is an alpha version, but Sandi is pretty sure we can get that fixed with a minimum of fuss.

I think that sums it up for now. Have a great night, everybody!

It's Break! Hooray, Break!!

Yes, the semester has reached its midpoint at King College, which conveniently coincides with Columbus Day. To sweeten the pot even further, Sandi was actually off for the weekend; while she was scheduled for Saturday, she was able to get off due to her having worked every Saturday prior to a holiday since starting at the bank. We have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to spend time together.

Over the weekend, we did our parts to stimulate the nation's economy. Sandi went to Hallmark on Saturday to gather a fresh batch of ornaments, while I took some time on Sunday to spend the remainder of my birthday money. Sandi finally found a Wii Fit package, and the subsequent embarrassment at our lousy physical conditioning has taken up a good portion of the last couple of days. Not everything has been fun and games; we also rearranged some of the bins in the basement.

Our big mission for today was to rake the leaves that have accumulated in the back yard. We also seized the chance to actually mow the back yard for the first time in a few weeks. I have to mention at this point that we have no trees on our property, yet we had to rake up five bags of leaves this afternoon. Does anyone else have this problem? To make the situation even more ridiculous, I left the bags near the fence (with about a foot of space between them and the chain-link), and Ranger somehow managed to get his teeth on one of them. Of course, the poor plastic never stood a chance against a determined Big Bazooka, and a nice little pile of leaves is sitting in front of our gate now. I really should have known better . . .

Sandi has to return to work tomorrow, whereas I have another day of respite prior to the second half of the semester. That should give me just enough time to catch up our laundry. Have a great week, everyone!

Who Needs Sleep?

We had a great time visiting our families in North Carolina this weekend. In addition to our usual routine of seeing our parents and having fun with siblings and nieces, Sandi's aunt and uncle were in town. Since they live south of Savannah, we do not get to see them all that often. I invited her uncle Mike to our usual Saturday night gaming session, but he was unable to make it. In case that was not enough to fill the docket, our longtime church had its homecoming services on Sunday. As must always occur when large numbers of Baptists gather (seriously -- check the bylaws), a fellowship meal was scheduled in the evening. During the festivities, the current staff was called onto the podium to be recognized. Here comes the interesting part: the church now has three or four people who do the things that were mostly my responsibility alone. I am still trying to decide if that is a testament to the growth of the church or to my incredible awesomeness.

Unfortunately, amid the joys of the weekend lurked a monster. As is customary for our return trips, we stopped along Interstate 77 to give Ranger a chance to do his business. Sandi took the opportunity to dig her phone out of her purse -- and found it was not there. I had called her phone before we left to make sure it was in her rather full purse, and I heard a clear ringtone come from the pocketbook. I failed to notice, however, the pile of stuff underneath her purse, which was the actual resting place of the blasted phone. This meant some backtracking was in order. Thankfully, Joyce and Mike were willing to meet us several miles up the road from Winston-Salem, so not all our progress was undone. It has cost us quite a bit of sleep over the past couple of days, though . . .

Little else of note has happened since our triumphant return to Bristol, but I want to pass along a pair of prayer requests. Firstly, our pastor in Winston-Salem was involved in a motorcycle accident on Saturday, and he is still in the hospital. Also, my good friend Steve, who was discharged from the Army a while back, is being recalled into active duty.

Have a great week, everyone!

Workin' for the Weekend

Before I fill in the blanks of the past few days, Sandi wanted to make sure her last post was clear. We have not been chosen by a birthmother for a placement; however, we are finally at the stage where our profile will be among those shown to prospective birthmothers. Our profile will also be available on Bethany's website.

For the first time since the second week of classes at King, I do not have any papers that need to be graded. I plowed through the last of the dusty homework sets this afternoon, and I had graded all my tests by yesterday morning. On the upside, my Calculus III students did really well on their first test; a couple of folks were a single arithmetic boo-boo from a perfect score. Unfortunately, my Analysis students did not fare so well. That kind of hurt, since I was pretty happy with the test I had written. From the 'What the Heck?' department comes another news flash: I had a student come to class yesterday whom I had not seen since August. I had no contact with her during the intervening month, although I did see her around campus occasionally. I had presumed she was planning to drop the course, but that is evidently not the case.

Things have been sporadically crazy at the bank for Sandi. The current economic downturn has caused a few folks in this area to panic, despite the fact that BB&T avoided the lending fiasco which is generating much of the hysteria. I found the fact that someone emptied a five-figure checking account to stuff the cash under a mattress simultaneously amusing and frightening. I suppose this is what happens when people fail to pay attention in history class.

On a happier note, we will be heading home for the weekend. Have a fantastic weekend of your own, everyone!

Finally ...

This is just an email I sent to Mark and his reponse:


Homestudy?
Hi Mark, I don't want to be a bother... but, do you have any info about our homestudy? I hope your week is going well. We're going home this weekend, and I'm very excited for tomorrow to come. :) Sandi (and Phil)

Response

Yep.......Terri (within the past hour) has given me the edited version that I will correct and verify tomorrow. Your approval date will be October 3, 2008 and I will send your Approval Letter to you via e-mail tomorrow!

Julie already has your Family Profile but I will "load-in" Lauren's copy tomorrow and also mail a Family Profile to Chattanooga.

So.......as of tomorrow morning you are official.

Congrats!

Phil's Birthday

Rocker

Happy Birthday to Me . . .

Yes, my birthday has now come and (almost) gone. At the moment, Sandi and I are in the midst of the most exciting stretch of years -- to a number theorist. The positive integers from 27 to 32 each are interesting in some mathematical way. Exactly what those interesting properties are is left as an exercise for the reader.

The celebration began yesterday, when we headed over to King to watch a couple of soccer games. The good news is that we won both games; the bad news is that the weather was less than glorious for our viewing experience. We spent most of the second game under umbrellas to shield ourselves as much as possible from the rain. Between the sporting events and Sandi's shift at the bank in the morning, there was little room for anything else yesterday.

As the birthday boy, I got to choose where we went to eat lunch today. We ended up going to Smokey Bones' Barbecue and Grill, which has some pretty good ribs. The restaurant also features a volume control system which lets you listen to one of the televisions around the dining area. While we awaited our entrees, I opened a pair of birthday cards from my mom and Sandi; as a constant reminder of my growing sappiness, I found my eyes quite moist during the reading. After the meal, we hit the mall for a present-shopping trip. I picked up a couple of video games, and Sandi found a new top for work at Lane Bryant. On the way home from Johnson City, we had to stop by Lowe's to buy a new air filter for the house. Incidentally, can anyone tell me why the air filters at Lowe's are sandwiched between fashion bath fixtures and plumbing supplies? We took it easy for the rest of the day, and we finished another video game before Sandi hit the hay.

I need to retire soon myself -- just as soon as I can chuck the last of the rowdy partygoers out the door. Have a great week, everyone!

Fall Decorations

Are We Home Already?!?

Today saw us running back and forth from work; we both had to report for duty before Mark came by the house this morning. I arrived back home first, and Sandi managed to beat Mark here by a good margin. Watching her was a little cute, because she was outrageously nervous beforehand. She was less anxious for our home study interviews, if you can believe that. Once Mark got to the house, he got the grand tour of all six (count 'em, six) rooms before we went over our openness questionnaire. We are glad we had the chance, since we have changed our minds on a few things we had written waaaaaay back in March. Now for the good news -- our home study should be approved by next week! To make the situation even crazier, we found out that Mark has already shown our profile to a birthmother. This is obviously not standard procedure, but the situation looked like a good match, and our home study could be completed on the quick if the need arose. In the end, the birthmother chose none of the families she saw, but this new development was a revelation for us. You can most likely guess how Sandi felt, whereas I found the news a little sobering. We are no longer in the realm of theory; all these shenanigans are really coming to fruition.

This evening, we drove out to Gray for a waiting families meeting. We were pretty happy about the location, as it saved us three hours of drive time from our usual monthly sojourn. Moreover, we were fed, and we were able to assist by contributing some drinks left over from my departmental dinner last week. Tonight's guest speaker, Ruthie (apologies if this is misspelled), has experienced almost every type of adoption imaginable. She and her husband have adopted both internationally and domestically; they have a biracial child; two of their adopted children are biological siblings; and they were on the receiving end of what can only be described as an 'unplanned adoption.' Once again, I find it interesting that their birthmothers are older women, while most of us tend to assume that teenagers are the ones placing children for adoption. We also got fliers for the November meeting, which will feature a researcher from Emory University who specializes in the effects of substances on children in utero and afterward.

I think that has covered all the bases. Sandi will let me know tomorrow if I left out anything. Take care, everyone!

Just Another Manic Monday

Hands up if you saw Bangles lyrics coming! Anyone??

I feel duty-bound to let you know what the weekend held for us, but before that, I need to let you know about Sandi's work on the old rocking chair brought our way from North Carolina. She envisioned a pleather cover for the seat, with some skirts which would be washable in the event of a messy-poo (apologies for the obscure technical term). To that end, she and Joyce had found some fabrics on our last trip to the home country. Unfortunately, the material was not quite enough to cover the seat completely, so we had to find some more fabric. That led to a Saturday trip to Johnson City, where we found an even better match for our nursery decor in a tablecloth material. As usual, we have pictures of the assembly, which Sandi will post upon request.

Since Mark is getting his first impression of our house tomorrow, we have been working to get the house in tip-top shape. Most of yesterday was spent working toward that goal; this gave Sandi a convenient justification for her typical shenanigans. Closet doors -- gone! Extra cabinet -- moved! New video games -- denied! We are pretty much ready for his visit now, apart from some vacuuming for the morning.

My day at school was highlighted by an insanely long faculty meeting, which had been wedged into a hole in the convocation schedule at King. At the moment, I am in the midst of my first round of tests for the semester, and everyone knows how much I love grading.

In closing, I would like to send a birthday shout-out to Joyce, so . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! ! ! !

Have a great week!

So I Tap Phil to . . . Do Something

Fear not if the card game reference above went over your head; there will be no more. To make a short story long, I have been extremely tired for the last couple of days. Yesterday was the nadir, as I basically came home from my office and fell asleep on the sofa. A part of me still fears that I might be fighting the illness that sent Sandi to the mat pretty much all of last week, but it seems more likely that I have merely drained my energy tanks during Sandi's incapacitation.

This evening, we noticed a UPS truck on the road in front of our house. We figured there was a delivery across the street -- until we saw a brown-clad guy walking up to the porch with a box in hand. Since Sandi's DVD of the original film The Women arrived earlier in the week, we were expecting no packages. We were even more perplexed when we saw the address label, which said the box came from Sandi's parents. The confusion turned to chuckles when we saw the package's contents. To fill in some backstory, nearly every trip Joyce makes up here to visit entails a care package of snacks from Bobby (Sandi's dad). We had remarked on the lack of such victuals a couple of weeks ago, and Joyce confessed that she had forgotten the shipment. You now have a single guess as to what we found in the box. Bobby even sent some treats for Ranger and the cats.

The only other thing worth mentioning is that this month's waiting families meeting is actually being held in the Tri-Cities area. In addition to the usual proceedings, we are getting a meal this time. Hooray for free food! That morning, Mark will be visiting our house to see the place for himself; we will also go over our openness questionnaire and fee agreement with him then.

That pretty much gets you current on our lives. Have a great day!

Seven Years Ago Today

With the whirlwind of activity around this house over the last twenty-four hours, the significance of today's date could have eluded me easily. An event like the terrorist attacks of 2001, however, has a tendency to freeze things in your mind. I still remember that I was sitting in Dr. Baxley's office at Wake Forest, plowing into my thesis research, while the world around us was transformed. When I heard the news from a fellow graduate student, I thought he was recounting a scene from a movie. Not until later did I realize the gravity of what transpired that morning. The thought of so many people suffering -- so much, so quickly -- still shakes me to my core now. Sandi, who worked in the pharmacy at Eckerd at the time, was glued to the store's little break room television, along with everyone else at work that day. She was unable to get in touch with me at school; this led to my carrying a cell phone. I suppose that makes one more thing for which I hold Osama bin Laden and his thugs responsible.

What? Did you expect me to be deep and serious for an entire post?

Mr. Phil Renovates His Dream House

This week gives Job a run for his money in the 'full of days' department; more has happened around here than we really expected (or intended). For starters, Sandi's fatigue at the beginning of the week was, in fact, a harbinger. She remained tired for the next couple of days, regardless of the amount of sleep she got during the night. She finally went to the doctor yesterday, and she is apparently the victim of a nasty stomach bug floating through the area. Sandi has not gone to work for the past two days, but we expect her to be back at the bank in the morning.

Now for the fun stuff. We had missed a call on Tuesday from Dixie Home Crafters about our gutter guards and storm door, but Sandi's presence at home got things put in order for a Wednesday installation. When the team arrived to get to work, the door was hinged on the wrong side; also, the gutter guards were the wrong color (a rancid-looking brown from Sandi's account). With nothing to do, they left. Fast forward to the afternoon, and a different team arrives at the house with the correct gutter guards, and they get them put into place. We still have our rotten storm door, though. We get a call from the original workmen in the evening, who would now like to install the door. They arrived at about 8:30 and set to work, and hilarity ensued. Settle in for a wild ride on this one. The old door had both flat-head and Phillips-head screws along its frame; there were different frames used in its installation; the thing inexplicably had an extra sill; the doorway itself is below standard height; its width barely allowed for the new door to fit; and part of the threshold had to be popped out of place for everything to work. The workers had to saw both the door jamb and the door itself before all was said and done. This, of course, made Sandi and me quite nervous, since our neighborhood is pretty quiet by 9:00 in the evening. I was writing a list of stuff for this post during the installation; you know things are going downhill when you overhear someone say, "Yeah, it's that bad" over his cell phone. The poor guys also needed to chisel out the old latch, due to a ridiculous number of nails used to anchor it. When they were finally finished with the work, I must admit that the door looked nice. I think the contractor was pleased that he had managed to make it work. We went outside to check out the finished product with both doors closed -- and the storm door would not open. Thanks to the cutting required, the two doorknobs directly abut each other, making the handle on the storm door hard to turn. Who else saw this coming? Even with that little issue, we are very happy to have the new door in place, including the pets. Sandi has some pictures to post of the day's events.

Okay, now I can tell you about what happened today. As I mentioned previously, our new dishwasher was supposed to arrive today. A confirmation call placed the delivery between 9:00 and 1:00, so we arose at the earliest possible time to avoid Murphy's wrath. This is much less eventful than the door saga, which is like saying that your reading assignment is shorter than the Edda. The installation guys had some trouble getting the new machine to start, but that was quickly resolved. Our cabinets are also shallower than normal, so the dishwasher sticks out a bit from the countertop. By now, Sandi and I would not have been surprised to find that the old unit was powered by an overworked hamster. The most interesting part of the day happened while the work was ongoing; Sandi noticed an older gentleman walking up our sidewalk. I went out to speak with him, and his car had run out of gas in front of our house. Since the gasoline in our mower can almost dates back to the Reagan administration, I volunteered to drive him back to his home to collect a gas container of his own. Things went smoothly in this endeavor -- except that the poor man left his keys in the car and had to climb into his own back yard to get his gas can. At least there was a reason I stayed home today.

Given the course this week has charted, I hope the weekend gives us some time to relax. Take care, everyone!

Back to the Mines

As I write this, Ranger is lying at the floor near my feet, merrily gnawing on a beefhide bone. He is very grateful to return to his usual routine after an exciting weekend. Joyce and my mom got here safely on Friday night, carrying with them an old family rocking chair for the nursery. My angel hair dish was tasty, but the pasta had some serious attachment issues, which shot the presentation somewhat. With a late arrival time, not much else happened before everyone not named Phil was ready to hit the hay.

On Saturday, Joyce and Sandi went to Lowe's to buy some spray paint for the 'new' rocking chair. They also stopped at Bojangle's for some biscuits to keep us full before our trip to Knoxville. The dinner went well, and Sandi's desserts were a success. Mark actually asked who had brought the rocky road brownies at the start of the program. We had heard a couple of the stories from the panel discussion, but that does not lessen their impact in any way. We also got the chance to hear from the mother of one of Bethany's birthmothers, which was a perspective we had not seen before. I particularly love how the panelists had the potential to torpedo people's preconceptions of a birthmother; two of the stories involve birthmothers who were over thirty at the time of their adoption placements. The end of the evening's presentation was a video by Christian singer/songwriter Mark Schultz, who was adopted. We also saw a video detailing how the song came to be. If you aren't familiar with his music, the man has a remarkable talent for writing lyrics which reduce me to tears in seconds. Seriously, every other song the guy does leaves me sobbing. After we adjourned, Mark and Terry (I think I have misspelled her name in previous posts -- many apologies) got the chance to meet our moms, and we ended up being the last family in the room. We finally got back to Bristol shortly after midnight and collapsed into unconsciousness.

After we went to church this morning, I had planned to make some skillet lasagna for lunch. I had to substitute pastas, however, and we ended up with skillet macaroni instead. It still tasted good, which is the most important thing. We also discovered that our dishwasher had given up the ghost, so Sandi spent some time comparison shopping online before settling on a new model from the Home Depot. The installation should go down on Thursday, meaning that Sandi will have to rely on the Phil-o-Matic 3000 for her dishwashing needs until then. Incidentally, the Phil-o-Matic 3000 is the single slowest machine available for this purpose -- get yours today!

The moms left at about 4:00 PM, and Sandi basically crashed afterwards. Two consecutive nights awake until midnight caught up with a vengeance. We had supper quite early, and she went to bed before 7:00. I have no plans of staying up late myself, since I have my awesome early class in the morning.

I have (hopefully) embedded some YouTube videos of what we saw at the meeting last night. Enjoy, and make sure to have some tissues handy. Have a great week!

Another Weekend Looms

Sandi and I spent the evening preparing for company this weekend; each of our mothers will be visiting for the upcoming Bethany dinner. They were able to get a carpool arranged, and we look forward to seeing them tomorrow evening. To celebrate the occasion, I will be making some angel hair pasta with Italian sausage and red bell peppers. On Wednesday, we received a new kennel for Ranger, since he looked rather pitiful if he stood in his old one. I think the old box will actually fit inside his new bed, which I find somewhat amusing.

There really is nothing else to report, so I will take this opportunity to boggle your mind with something I discussed with my Concepts of Mathematics class yesterday. We are discussing a branch of mathematics called set theory, which deals with (get this) sets of objects. We call two sets equivalent if they have the same number of elements. Now think about the set of numbers

{1, 2, 3, 4, ...}
-- mathematicians call this set the natural numbers -- as well as the set of even numbers

{2, 4, 6, 8, ...}.

Which of these sets would you say is larger? Your gut would probably say the natural numbers, since the even numbers are contained within it (that is, the even numbers are a subset of the natural numbers). However, you can pair up each even number with a unique natural number if you divide by two. This implies that the two sets are, in fact, equivalent. So there are just as many even numbers as there are natural numbers. This serves as a lesson of sorts in how we have to be careful when we find ourselves talking about the infinite.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

News from Bethany (not that news)

Bethany Christian Services has updated their look and logo. Check it out here.

Laboring Away

I hope everyone had a fulfilling Labor Day. As is typical for my career in academia, I had school-related stuff to do throughout the morning and afternoon. I was somewhat shocked to learn today that the University of Tennessee does not hold classes on the holiday; in my previous lives at three other institutions, no one has taken a break on Labor Day. I last had nothing to do on the first Monday of September when I was a senior in high school, although in my family, Labor Day was generally the day that we partook in such thrilling activities as hedge trimming and laundry.

Sandi, with her fancy new banker's hours, did not have to go to work today, so she spent the time weeping over my absence. Between bouts of unmitigated bawlage, she was able to take care of a hefty backlog of junk mail and other stuff that had accrued in the course of our home study cleaning. She also baked some excellent blueberry mini-muffins, which served wonderfully to bridge the culinary gap between lunch and supper. Upon my joyous arrival home, I was sent to the grocery store to acquire everything we were unable to get during our weekend shopping trip. Along with our usual mish-mash of foodstuffs, we had to purchase supplies to make a couple of desserts for the upcoming extended family dinner. We decided to make a harvest apple upside-down cake and some rocky road brownies for the occasion; well, Sandi will be doing the baking, since desserts are strictly her province. My job during such endeavors is the performance of an elaborate interpretive dance for motivation. This keeps me as far from the oven as possible.

I hope the week and month find you all well. Have a great week!

The Surreal Life

Grim Fandango -- have I really gone a full week without posting any updates here? That is, like, the insanity of a manatee! I wrote up a summary of our weekend below; check it out, if you are so inclined (and you had better be).

We finally returned to Bristol at midnight or so Monday morning, and it has taken us most of the week to get ourselves in order. For instance, we finally unpacked our bags this evening. Sandi and I have taken turns fighting some bug which left us with all the energy of a three-toed sloth on an antihistamine. To give you an indication of its impact on our lives, I went to bed at 8:00 PM yesterday. The flipping sun was still in the sky, and I was asleep! What in the world is up with that?!? Sandi took the opportunity to do some more decorating in the nursery; you should take a peek at the pictures below.

The big event of the week was our monthly waiting families meeting in Knoxville on Tuesday. The topic of the discussion was multiple adoptions, and we had a couple who had adopted three children through Bethany as special guest speakers. Their (greatly condensed below) story was fascinating, primarily because they simultaneously adopted two children who were not siblings. Bethany generally requires a one-year interval between adoption proceedings, but one of the two bouncing babies in this situation was the biological sibling of the couple's first adopted child, and the family had already entered the finalization stage for the adoption of their second child. This made for some interesting thought processes on my part during the ride back to Bristol. As you may know, one of my few real skills is looking at a set of circumstances and generating a 'nightmare scenario' within its framework. This couple's adoption journey has now forced my poor brain into knots trying to top its bizarro-world qualities.

Amazing as it is, the meeting itself was not the surreal part of the evening. After we adjourned, we had to hand in a form for the upcoming extended family shindig; Mark has a knack for getting us to hand him stuff even after we have finished all our paperwork. We got to talking to the guest couple, and they are both from Winston-Salem. Being able to talk about the Reedy Creek area and the quality of Lexington-style barbecue on the other side of the Appalachians made for a wild experience. To compound the zaniness factor, Jerry and Belton had originally planned to have a family with biological and adopted children, much as Sandi and I had envisioned.

I think that pretty much covers what we have been doing for the last week, unless you want me to go into the subject matter of my analysis class. No? If you insist, I will call it a night. Have a great weekend!

An Overlate Update . . . er, Mate

As mentioned previously, Sandi and I were in North Carolina last weekend. The trip was our first back to the home country since our beach trip, so the agenda ended up more than a little full. We had to pull the old Scooby-Doo trick of splitting up to get everything done. While Sandi and Joyce went to Walnut Cove to visit her grandfather, I headed to Mt. Airy with my parents to attend a get-together with Dad's side of the family. Andrea and Stephen were able to get away from Columbia as well, which made for the most complete collection of Carrolls in a good long while. By the way, a complete collection of Carrolls has roughly the same street value as a Betamax copy of The Star Wars Holiday Special.

On Sunday, our home church (that makes us sound like missionaries -- I need to find a better phrasing) had a home speaker: Dr. Ergun Caner, from the divinity school at Liberty University. Since my only prior knowledge of Dr. Caner was that he got into a silly-string fight with students at Andrea's graduation, it goes without saying that I went into the morning service with massive expectations. I found him to be a very engaging speaker, in spite of his media-unfriendly facial hair; his humor easily outstrips my best comedic efforts. Moreover, his messages had a good deal of theological meat to them, which is always a huge bonus in my book. His role as theologian and apologist got me thinking about what I might be able to do when I have a chance to go on sabbatical; if my mathematical colleague Bill could study the piano at Cornell for a year, can I wrangle some theology classes? Of course, this would be several years down the road, so I have a while to formulate my malevolent schemes.

This is where I would normally wish everyone a good weekend, but that is in the post above. Seriously -- what are you expecting here? Go home, and get off the lawn!

Nursery Setup

They're Off!!

The first week of classes had a rollicking start at King. Of course, this is exaggeration, since most of the campus does nothing more than hand out syllabi and maybe give a quick introduction to the course on that first day. To make matters worse, I decided to cancel my afternoon classes due to the large number of race-induced absences (many sports teams and other school-affiliated groups do fund-raising, and the men's vocal ensemble is singing the national anthem at some event on Friday). I do get to teach some stuff in my morning classes, though, and I am pretty excited about my analysis (think advanced calculus) lecture tomorrow. I managed to find a book which gives some motivation for the material, which is one of the largest stumblingblocks most students have with the class. In case you are interested (you know who you are), I recommend A Radical Approach to Real Analysis by David Bressoud. While it is not the actual textbook I am using, it does a quality job of giving you the backdrop of the subject.

Once Sandi gets off work tomorrow, we will be on the interstate for a weekend with our families. I hope you enjoy yourselves as much as we will. Take care, folks!

. . . And Then There Were None

Our home study has come to its end. Well, technically it still must be written, but our portion of the study has come and gone. Our home study was this morning, and things went just as well as our previous meetings have proceeded. We gave Julie a little tour of the house, and we had to answer a few questions. Nothing was as difficult as that 'values' mind-warp from the first interviews; we verified that we had smoke detectors, a fire extinguisher, the types of heating and water we have, and so forth. We also had to provide immunization records on Peaches, Samus, and Ranger. Curiously, the pets' records would be unnecessary if they stayed outdoors full-time; apparently children spend even less time outside these days than I thought. Perhaps rabies has become a disease of the great indoors?

Classes start tomorrow for me, so I had to take a quick trip to campus to print out my syllabi for tomorrow. After that, we followed our usual post-study routine of playing video games. Having finished Final Fantasy VII, we moved on to its successor Final Fantasy XII, which has virtually nothing to do with the previous and intervening games. That is one of the trademarks of the series -- that, and heroes with ridiculous hair. Keep me in your prayers at the start of this semester; I am teaching a class at 8:00 AM, which requires me to get up at an absurd hour so I can walk to campus. Those poor Calculus III students . . .

Fleeing Bristol prior to the upcoming race, we will be headed home for the weekend. We look forward to seeing many of you then. Have a great week, everyone!

A Birthday Extrrrrrravaganza

Since my faculty workshop concluded yesterday, we were able to spend Sandi's birthday together -- a distinct advantage of summer birthdays. To celebrate the occasion, Sandi and I headed to Johnson City for lunch at the Olive Garden. Afterwards, we hit the mall so that Sandi could check out Lane Bryant for some nice shirts to wear at the bank. We also visited GameStop, where we bought a new game for the Wii.

Of course, Sandi felt a burning desire to accomplish something during the day, so we went to Lowe's and bought lumber and hardware to set up some shelves in the nursery. After we got home and relaxed for a little while, we rolled up our sleeves (not really, since we were wearing short-sleeved shirts, but you get the idea) and got to work. My outrageous physical weakness made the process of holding up the shelves while Sandi checked our laser level and screwed things into place more exciting than it should have been. The finished product looks very nice, though, and Sandi was able to display her collection of Thomas Kinkade plates. You can check out some pictures of our handiwork below.

On Saturday, we will both be on campus for freshman move-in day. I will be representing the mathematics department at a check-in fair, while Sandi will be helping out her boss do something bank-related. Unfortunately, this means we have to get up early that morning. Oh well; you sacrifice for work sometimes. Have a great day, everyone!

When Dumb Wiring Attacks

Before I get into the meat of this post, I thought I should tell you about a little tidbit we discovered at yesterday's picnic. While we waited for the chance to introduce Sandi to my colleague Bill's new wife Elizabeth, we were talking to Ray, the head of the physics department (to be more precise, Ray is the physics department, and the astronomy department as well), and his wife, Andrea. We were discussing the adoption proceedings, and amazingly, they actually worked with Bethany years ago. We had heard of a Tri-Cities branch from the Knoxville folks, but we had no idea I worked with some of its former members. Did you just feel that? I think the world just shrunk a bit more.

That helps transition me to today's news . . . well, in no way at all. Several weeks ago, we received a night light for the nursery, which Sandi happily took into the room to put in place. She found, much to her chagrin, that the outlets in the nursery were inexplicably upside down. Fast forward to today, and when Sandi arrived home from work, she wanted to realign them. This, of course, requires someone to go downstairs to cut the breakers while she works. Did I mention that our breaker box is completely unlabeled? So I go downstairs with my cell phone to determine which breaker juices the wiring to the nursery. This is where things get ridiculous; I had to kill two breakers to knock out the power to those two outlets, which are on opposite walls. Also, it would seem that this maneuver also killed the electricity to the entire living room. Get this, though; the outlet on the shared wall with the living room was on the other breaker! In addition, these two breakers power most of the bedroom (the television was still operable, but by this time I was out of eyelids to bat) and the refrigerator's outlet in the kitchen. Call me crazy, but this does not seem like typical electrical work. I have theorized that this house was some contracting apprentice's final project; either that, or we are on the cutting edge of home design. Um, great?

The cumulative fatigue of the day is about to claim me. Have a great day tomorrow!

Yes -- Phil Works!

On the whole, I tend to leave my working life out of conversations with others; the shop talk of a mathematician is prone to leave people's eyes rolled into their skulls. However, it is once again the time of year for classes to resume, and my faculty workshop for the coming year begins in the morning. With a full year of faculty responsibility under my belt, now the real fun begins . . .

Most people would have no way of knowing this, so now is as good a time as any to mention that I am teaching an extra course this semester. The dean decided another section of pre-calculus would be a good idea, and I stepped into the breach. On the upside, I get paid more for the additional workload. Since I am no longer a newbie, I will also be doing committee work for the benefit of the college community this year. I have been placed on the Information Technology committee; the only thing I know about this is that meetings are evidently well-stocked with refreshments. I am also overseeing the 'quantitative thinking' portion of the college's core curriculum -- perhaps due to my participation in the numeracy workshop over the summer.

Sandi and I went to a campus community picnic this evening at King. We had a pretty good time, and we met some new people. This might seem unusual, given the college's size, but flux is somewhat built into the framework. One colleague in the biology department went to England for a year (on sabbatical, I suppose), and pretty much his whole department had changed by the time he returned! Sandi also had the chance to get a quick baby fix from the faculty children who were present. I tell you no lie; the theater chair's daughter has the sweetest hats!!

Down the Home Stretch

I am sorry I have not gotten the chance to post an update since the interview on Thursday. In case you were eating the furniture with worry, things went very well. Julie called us "a hoot," and there were not any questions which really put us on our heels. The toughest going came when each of us was asked to give three words to describe our marriage; this was complicated by the fact that we could not duplicate words -- no, not even synonyms. Sandi called us 'fun,' 'sweet,' and 'solid,' whereas I went with 'whimsical,' 'cooperative,' and 'communicative.' Of course, if you know us well enough, you most likely could have put the lists to the people without my giving you the names . . .

As the games list attests, we finished Final Fantasy VII over the weekend, and we were also able to do a bit of downsizing in the basement. We took a carload of stuff over to the Salvation Army for deposit. I was out of commission with a headache today, but Sandi definitely enjoyed not having to work for the first weekend in a month.

All that remains for us to be an official 'waiting family' is the home safety check. Given the amount of time and effort it has taken us to reach this point, it seems strange to be not simply able to see the light at the end of the tunnel but to also make out the scenery beyond. Have a great week, everyone!

T Minus Twelve Hours

Give or take a few minutes, anyway. I spent the day tidying up the house, which was much less arduous this time. In the morning, we will need to vacuum and straighten up the sofa, but otherwise we are ready for this interview. Sandi and I briefly discussed what sorts of questions we might get asked tomorrow. She went to bed early to capitalize on the lack of a crack-of-dawn early alarm in the morning.

In your prayers, please include fair weather for the interview. If Ranger must sit in the kennel during the proceedings, we may very well lose our marbles.

I suppose that covers everything for now. Oh, except one thing -- heavens to mergatroid, my wife is using Internet shorthand . . .

Family/Friends Weekend

Here's the info I have so far on the Family/Friends Meeting:

Domestic Waiting Families Annual Extended Family Dinner

July 30, 2008

To Our Domestic Waiting Families:

SAVE THE DATE!!

Bethany of East TN will hold our Domestic Waiting Families Annual Extended Family Dinner on Saturday, September 6th at 6:30 PM at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in West Knoxville.

This is a wonderful event we hold each year that allows you to bring your family members (and friends) to meet with our staff and to learn more about adoption. We'll have a great time of dinner & fellowship together and then a special panel of adoptive families and birthmothers will share their adoption experience with you, your parents and any other friends & family members you want to bring that evening.

I'll send you more details about this event by 'snail mail' next week.....but save the date now and plan to attend this "can't-miss" event!

Mark

That's all I have right now but I really hope someone will take advantage of the opportunity to meet Mark (He's a hoot!) and have any question's answered that you may have.

Like Philip said our 2nd homestudy visit is Thursday and only one more remains. By the time we have this meeting (on the 6th) we should be "OFFICIALLY" waiting.

I also wanted to second what Philip said; we were both very excited to get to show off the nursery. It's not finished but at least it feels like one.

TTFN

Another Weekend Closes

As I mentioned last time, my parents came into town for a visit yesterday. Oddly, they actually beat me to our house. You see, I received a text message from Mom at 8:30 AM saying that they were leaving. Working from the assumption that my travel time from the Winston-Salem area to Bristol is about three hours, I left the house to drop off some recyclables at 11:00 AM. As I pull into the parking lot, however, Mom calls me and says they are at the house already. Er . . . oops? To inform the curious, my drive time includes a rest stop (since we virtually always have Ranger with us, a straight shot is impossible), and they were able to make the trip on a single gas tank. Moreover, my dad does not have my lawful stupid paladin-like obsession regarding the strict observance of speed limits; he set the cruise control at a blistering sixty-nine miles per hour on the interstate.

We enjoyed the time we got to spend with them. Ranger got the chance to show off his commands from obedience class, and the nursery decor was a big hit. Once Sandi got home from the bank, we went to lunch at Fatz Cafe, whose name does not feature an accent. I suppose the odds of a restaurant chain from South Carolina looking French are pretty slim, now that I think about it. Peaches even came out from under the bed to say hello, which is pretty amazing. They headed back home around 5:00 PM, leaving us to Final Fantasy VII and a good night's rest.

I wish I could report something really exciting today, but not much has happened. We played more Final Fantasy this afternoon and generally braced ourselves for the coming week. Keep those prayers coming for our couple's interview on Thursday; there is no telling what I might end up saying without them. Have a great week!

Staggering into the Weekend

Sandi had a nightmarish day at work today. She was scheduled to work until 5:15, but she ended up staying at the bank until it closed at 6:00. Why did this travesty occur? Since today is not only Friday but the first of the month as well, there was a great convergence of paydays. Making matters worse, the third day of the month falls on a Sunday, which meant that pretty much all Social Security checks hit today. To add just an extra pinch of insanity, Sandi's boss is on vacation this week, so the lobby staff was shorthanded. By the time my poor wife finally made it through the door, she was fresh out of energy; she ate supper and headed straight for bed. Then she gets to get up and go through another four hours of banking fun tomorrow morning -- yay!!

Things are looking up tomorrow, though, for my parents are driving up to visit from North Carolina. This will be their first chance to see the refurbished nursery in person, which is pretty exciting. Of course, that means I will need to do some last-minute cleaning in the morning.

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

Graduation Day

Well, it was graduation day for Ranger, anyway. Our last obedience class last night was a great deal of fun. Each dog began with a front-and-center display of our commands, including his or her trick. Sandi and I had to switch off during this portion of the class, because I cannot get him to roll over. Afterwards, we played a game where we moved along a taped-off game board with commands in each space. Two games were played in total, and Ranger and I won the second heat. Since dice were involved, this of course means that Sandi did our rolling. Each dog got a graduation package with treats, a toy, and a diploma as a reward for completing the class. Sandi had her camera; if you ask her really nicely, she might post the pictures here.

Ranger had us more than a little worried before class started. After his walk, he more or less collapsed on the living room floor; we could barely get him to drink any water. Once we got into the room, though, he kicked into approximately ninth gear. He wanted to get up close and personal with each and every classmate in class as the room filled, and he felt the need to jump on both of us as well as Karen, the instructor. I joked that he was trying to fail the class so he could come back for five more weeks. Karen mentioned something called an 'extinction burst,' which can occur when a dog has been trained to stop a behavior. This burst occurs right before the dog abandons the undesired behavior for good, so keep your fingers crossed. We were still very proud of our big guy; Karen even mentioned how much he had improved to the whole class before we adjourned.

Sandi had quite a day at work today. Due to either an unusual electromagnetic disturbance or a concentration of swamp gas igniting near a weather balloon, the bank was slammed like it was the first day of the month. By the time she got home, she wanted nothing but to take her mind off work. I suppose most of us feel that way at times, but seldom does Sandi suggest playing video games within five minutes of arriving home. We spent the evening with Final Fantasy VII, and she went to bed early tonight.

Two Down, Two to Go

Since there was no update yesterday, I am certain everyone is dying to know how our interviews went. In short, Sandi got a big thumbs-up, whereas experimental brain surgery was recommended for me before allowing me to parent a child. Then I ran along a wall and plummeted into a thirty-foot-deep spiked pit. No -- wait, that's not how it happened . . .

To tell the truth, the interviews went quite well. Most of the questions were pretty straightforward and were not designed to make us scratch our heads in deep thought. Sandi went first, so I hung out in the bedroom and played a game on my Nintendo DS while Julie and Sandi talked. A little more than an hour later, Sandi and I switched places (and games, in case you were curious). Julie asked me about my family makeup and my educational background; we also went over my vocational and spiritual history. The only question that took more than a couple of minutes to answer was one about the values my parents instilled in me. Please do not misunderstand -- my mom and dad did inculcate me with values and beliefs. A wanton goody-goody such as myself seldom arises through random happenstance. Rather, those ideas tend to exist in the part of my mind which operates subconsciously, so it took me some time to draw them out in verbal form.

Once the interviews were over, we were able to set up dates for the remainder of our home study. Our couple's interview will be on August 7, and the home safety inspection will be on Tuesday, August 19. This works out well for us, because classes start at King on the twentieth. After Julie left, we spent the rest of the day relaxing. We ordered pizzas and occupied our afternoon playing Final Fantasy VII on the PlayStation 2. And the evening and the morning were the interview day.

Sandi slept pretty poorly last night; I think the stress of the impending interviews gave way to a release of sorts that kept her from resting much. To make matters worse, the air conditioning at the bank was evidently on the fritz today. She went to bed early tonight in the hopes of getting caught up before she goes to work tomorrow morning.

It feels strange not to be grabbing my book to do a page count before posting messages now. Anyway, have a great weekend, everyone!

Time Flies When You Have Tons to Do

Has it really been a full week since I have written anything here? I apologize from the bottom of my heart for the dearth of updates. Well, I suppose now is as good a time as any to fill in the blanks of the past days.

I spent last Wednesday and Thursday continuing to help Andy with his roof, which looks quite good now. I was not able to help him finish the job, but Craig was probably able to work more quickly with me out of his way. On Friday, I helped another of my colleagues, Bill Linderman, get a piano back into his house from a repair place. I, along with the other three guys Bill had enlisted to help with the move, was rewarded with lunch and a homemade apple cobbler.

My original plan was to get an update posted on Saturday, but that went out the window when we received a surprise visit from Joyce (Sandi's mom). As the pictures below can attest, we now have our crib installed in the nursery. I think the visit and delivery helped lift Sandi's spirits from the delayed interviews. Overall, we had a great weekend, even though I had to do a great deal more work than I had anticipated [wink wink].

Monday's highlight was Ranger's next-to-last obedience class, where we really just reviewed our stuff from the previous weeks. Our next (and final) meeting is a 'graduation' class, where each dog is supposed to showcase a trick of some sort beyond what we have done during the course. We plan on having Ranger roll over; although crawling would be adorable, he is way too prone to lift his fanny from a down position to pull it off with a week's work.

Yesterday, being the fourth Tuesday of the month, brought our waiting families meeting in Knoxville. The topic of the get-together was 'meeting a birthmother,' which is a scenario most of our office's adoptive parents will experience. I gathered two main things from our discussion, which had two guest couples who had adopted from our office. First, it is completely normal to feel awkward at the start of the meeting. Second, beyond the first point, there is no way to predict what will happen during the meeting. I also wanted to let you know a bit about our social worker, Mark, who is the most delighfully politically incorrect guy I have ever met. One of the guest families had adopted a child whose birthparents are from India. At some point, the little boy in question was called Indian, which compelled Mark to add, "not like 'whoo whoo!'" with one hand over his mouth and the other in the air. Good times. On our way home, Sandi and I discussed the sorts of information we would like to have from our birthmother in case there is no future contact.

Our first interviews are tomorrow morning; this, of course, meant that today was spent whipping the house into tip-top shape for the occasion. I cleaned the bathroom and kitchen, and we dusted tonight before Sandi went to bed. Unfortunately, the weather did not allow me the chance to mow the front yard. We hope Julie will not think less of our yard for having a week's growth on it. Now that I think about it, I still have to douse our sofa and chair with Febreze prior to retiring myself. As always, prayers for the morning are coveted. Oh, and in case you were wondering, I finished my reading assignment Monday night, so there!!

Current Status: 392 / 392 (100.0% completed)

There Was a Floor Under Me Before, Right?

Our first interviews for the home study were supposed to be on Friday afternoon. After a phone call from Julie, the Bethany worker who will be conducting our interviews, there has been a change of plans. Feel free to conjecture how Sandi felt about this alteration of the schedule. Julie apparently had three sets of interviews to do that day, and she had a church function that evening to boot. We will now get the interviews underway next Thursday (July 24) at 10:00 AM. Keep us in your prayers.

Ranger's class last night went very well; the earlier walk seemed to burn just enough of his fuel tank to calm down the big guy. Our primary focus was the 'heel' command, which keeps him at my side while I move from one point to another. Ranger was one of only two dogs who pulled off the trick in a single run, and we got a thumbs-up from Karen during our turn. She attributes our success to our work with targeting over the past few weeks, whereas I credit my outrageous awesomeness. Unfortunately, our beloved dog has had tummy trouble today, which may be the result of an inadvertently large quantity of treats he received during class. I leaned toward the floor for something, and half my pocket's reward stash fell to the ground. You live and learn, I suppose.

I spent most of the day on the roof of Andy, my department chair. His roof was essentially disintegrating, and he asked me to assist him in laying a new layer of sheathing. My extensive experience in this field, also known as 'some guy's garden shed,' was indubitably what brought me to mind. Craig McDonald, another professor at King, was also furthering the cause. As it turns out, Craig's daughter is considering adoption. Her experience will in all likelihood be quite different from ours, since she and her husband live in Scotland.

I think that sums up the last couple of days for us. Have a great week, folks!

Current Status: 291 / 392 (74.2% complete)

Phil Gives a Book Report

As my progress indicators have implied, I am plowing through my last reading assignment before our home study interviews. This particular book consists predominantly of interviews of adults who were adopted transracially (that is, they are African-American or biracial while their adoptive parents are European or European-American). The adoptees differ in their opinions on the propriety of transracial adoption, but each states unequivocally that he or she loves his or her adoptive parents.

The cornucopia of thought on the issue is interesting, but the most fascinating part to me is the image of 'black' culture which emerges from the pages. The people in the interviews describe meals of fat back, greens, and cornbread as traditional 'black' food; they also mention a tendency in African-American families to administer corporal discipline with belts and switches rather than a bare hand. This strikes me as odd because these things were standard in my family, which, as anyone who knows us can attest, could only get whiter by stumbling face-first into a vat of bleach. Of course, there are other factors which make my cultural background much different than that of an African-American, but I find myself wondering how large a portion of African-American culture is, in fact, Southern culture that stuck with the people in the years following abolition. The parallels I have seen make me even more convinced of how ridiculous the claims of 'racial superiority' made by bigots are.

I think that is more than enough deep thought for the night; let me tell you about our requisite wacky occurrence for the day. As I walked up to the house this evening, I saw our neighbor, Robbie, knocking on our front door. Upon closer inspection, I noticed everyone's favorite backyard escape artist sitting there with him. Apparently, Ranger had hopped into the bed of Robbie's truck after extricating himself. I was greatly concerned that our loving dog had once again clambered over the fence, but upon closer inspection, I found something much simpler to explain his escape. The gate to our back yard was open, which means that he merely popped up the latch and simply walked free. We typically counter this maneuver with a locking clip on the latch, but we must have forgotten this time. Fortunately for us, Ranger and Robbie get along fabulously.

Current Status: 246 / 392 (62.8% completed)

In defense...

I did not break the lamp. we just turned it once too much in the wrong direction. Since we have both been guilty of turning it wrong, I think we are both guilty of breaking the lamp.

Also, I do have to admit I love "Jon and Kate Plus 8". Jon and Kate remind me so much of Philip and myself that it's scary. We can relate to their marriage so much that it makes me wonder if we'll handle our kids the same way (which is basically good).

I've been very proud of not only Ranger but also Philip. He's handling Ranger, most of the time, like a pro. It's very encouraging to watch.

The nursery is looking very good. I'm looking forward to when we can go home and get the crib. I was going to order the bedding off the registry but it was temporarily unavailable. Oh well, maybe next pay day. I do have to say, though, I hate cutting in and doing trim work. It's way too tedious.

Oh well, that's all for now, if you missed the pic's post, check out the 6th.

Monday, Monday . . .

Due to a meeting with a gutter-installation guy, I was stranded at the house today. That meant I had to putter about the place in order to feel like I accomplished something. I ran the dishwasher and did a load of laundry; I also changed the sheets on the bed. We finished painting the walls in the nursery yesterday, so only the trim still needs attention in there. Apart from the dismantled daybed in the midst of the room, it looks quite nice. As you can tell from the pictures Sandi posted, the color goes wonderfully with our nautical artwork.

Today's obedience class featured the 'follow' command, along with a more sophisticated version of our 'leave it' work from last week. I think I need to take Ranger on his pre-class walk a bit earlier in the future; rather than burning his nervous energy, the exercise seems to merely amp him up for the occasion. He is still doing very well, though.

After class, Sandi broke our living room lamp. Not intentionally, mind you, but it is broken all the same. She turned its dial in the wrong direction, and the poor thing will no longer turn off. Apparently, our next lighting element will have a push-button instead.

< RANT STYLE="over-the-top" >

Before signing off for the night, I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank my sister Andrea for getting Sandi hooked on quasi-reality television. While we were all at the beach, Andi watched Jon & Kate Plus 8 one evening, and now my dear wife cannot get enough of those adorable sextuplets and their wacky adventures. Please do not misunderstand -- I have no real problems with the show, even with a family of ten going to Disney World on a single income. However, Sandi watched another show tonight about a family of fifteen for no other reason than its presence in the time slot before Jon & Kate Plus 8. After this program, which featured a man who could take his whole family to 'kids eat free night' at a restaurant with nary a twang of guilt, Sandi proceeded to go digging about the World Wide IntraNetWeb for more information. Granted, her quest was not unwarranted, but look at what we have become.

< / RANT >

Current Status: 180 / 392 (45.9% completed)

Happy Independence Day!

I suppose I should say 'I hope you had a happy Independence Day,' since I am not getting to the computer to post this until almost midnight. Hopefully this will not be a problem for you.

Our day did not go as planned, as Sandi was not really up to painting in the nursery. Instead, we spent the day playing video games (note the addition to your left). In true Fourth of July fashion, we had hot dogs for lunch and hamburgers for supper; I tend to forget that I make a pretty mean burger because we freeze all our ground beef as soon as it gets home. Ranger's walk this evening was particularly interesting, thanks in large part to all the people in the area setting off fireworks.

We plan to knock out the last of the painting tomorrow, as soon as Sandi gets home from work. Beyond that, we have no real plans, so we might be able to add another game to our list! What?

Current Status: 142 / 392 (36.2% completed)

Classical Conditioning and You . . . Er, Us

Yesterday's obedience class with Ranger went quite well, granting his expected hyperactivity in the presence of a half-dozen dogs, several of whom are quite vocal. After showcasing the big fella's mastery of our commands from last week, we began working on a couple new instructions. The first order of the evening was 'down,' which we had already been working on with a fair degree of success. Later, though, we started teaching Ranger to 'leave it,' which cues him to refrain from trying to get a treat from our hands. Sandi and I view this as a Pavlovian gift from the heavens, the mystimagical key to the gate of a behavioral promised land . . . or, at the very least, a way for us to stop our dog from attempting to play with any cat who ventures through the living room.

Our instructor has noticed that Ranger has issues when it comes to pulling against his leash. Unfortunately, this behavior is most likely my fault, since I tended to try to plow through his walks when he was a wee puppy, regardless of what he was actually doing. In an attempt to curb his sled-dog training, Karen suggested a Gentle Leader headcollar. It has worked quite well thus far, combined with a stubborn refusal on my part to move forward on a walk while he pulls at the lead. Getting the thing on him can be quite entertaining for the outsider, however; the headcollar is about as popular with Ranger as a Tommy Lasorda guest appearance at a Giants game. We also purchased a new kind of collar for him, but I fear we got the wrong size. The one we have is supposed to fit such breeds as mastiffs and Newfoundlands. We are playing this one by ear for now.

I came up with a snazzy way to ensure I finish my last reading assignment prior to our interviews on the eighteenth. Each time I post something here, I will conclude with a count of pages read versus the total required in this third book. Were I still a reasonably talented programmer, I might try a fancy progress bar image, but I should most likely try to minimize ways to procrastinate.

Current Status: 100 / 392 (25.5% completed)

Well, I think this is snazzy . . .