Since my last writing, the semester at King has drawn to a close; our fall commencement was two weeks ago. I knew several of the graduates from my statistics class last spring, which made the experience more meaningful. However, I would have called it more memorable had one of the name-announcing marshals taken the $100 bet (not from me, but from a colleague) to read his names like a pirate. The cessation of classes means I have had more time to work on my dissertation research, provided I can get back into some semblance of a rhythm.
What could possibly disrupt me at this time of year, you ask? I thought you might. Since Sandi has to work both on Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas, we decided to head home to visit family this past weekend. This, of course, meant that the world had to go haywire. What started as a morning rain in Bristol became a snowstorm by the time Sandi got off work on Friday afternoon. Undaunted, we hit the highway, traveling at a rollicking speed of thirty miles per hour until we reached Wytheville. At that stage, we decided to stop at an open gas station, refuel, and break our wiper blades free of the ice that had accrued. It had taken our typical drive time to reach the halfway mark, which is pretty much what we had expected upon departure. We did not, however, expect to spend five hours sitting almost completely still on Interstate 77. After a dozen or so update text messages, a best-two-out-of-three rock-paper-scissors game, and four separate movements of less than two hundred feet, we were finally able to continue our journey at 2:30 AM. While we never saw any concrete evidence of a reason for the delay, we surmised from road conditions that 'the Man' had held us down while he got his roads plowed. Never had the BP station at exit 14 seemed so lovely. The remainder of the trip was slow but uneventful, save for the sighting of five -- count 'em, five -- snowplows traveling in single file along US Highway 52 once we entered North Carolina. Our weekend journey took us a mere thirteen hours, all told.
Once we finally got home and got a bit of sleep, things were more pleasant. On Saturday, we hung out with Sandi's family and watched G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra, which somehow managed not to wreck one of my childhood fantasies. We also played several rounds of Street Fighter IV before calling it a night. Sunday featured a birthday party for our youngest niece, Camryn, who has now been a part of our lives for a full decade. Man, that makes me feel old.
After a normal-time trip back to Tennessee, we have been busy with little things. For instance, we had put off a trip to the grocery store until after our voyage to North Carolina. We are quite prepared for the coming holiday, with cinnamon rolls and ham at the ready.
Take care, everyone!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving to All!
And to all a good night! That sounds off for some reason, but now is not the time to dawdle on such things. I have over two months of updating to do. Excited yet?
We have been officially awaiting placement for a year as of last month. This meant that we had to update our home study with Bethany. We got to do a fresh round of doctor's appointments, background checks, and financial records; fortunately, we were not required to update our fingerprints at this stage. We had a meeting with Mark after the October waiting families meeting, where we received a little pep talk to go along with the formalities and the box-checking and the whatnot. He made a point of noting that the wait can be discouraging -- which it is, at times. We were officially re-approved on October 29; if all goes according to my malevolent schemes, there will not be a second re-approval necessary. Insert your preferred diabolical laughter here.
We have an additional feline member of the household, of sorts. We have been adopted (oh, the irony) by one of the neighborhood cats. We have dubbed our new benefactor Prince, as Kakolookiyam is too much of a mouthful. Based on his unabashed sweetness and ready litterbox usage, we have surmised that he is an abandoned housecat. He is also as deaf as a post. No, this is not the typical selective deafness inherent with the species; we can readily sneak up on this cat if he does not see our approach. The various members of our household have adapted to him in their own unique ways: Ashe follows him around constantly, while Samus tolerates his existence (after her initial olive branch extension resulted in a pimp slap) and Peaches makes noises like this dude every time she sees him.
With today being Thanksgiving and all, and with us in Bristol rather than a Carolina to celebrate with family, we participated in our customary tree-trimming extravaganza. We made egg salad, bought a sliced ham, and ate way too many snacks while setting up our Christmas decorations. To be honest, Sandi had succumbed, so some decorating had actually been done before today. We still need to put our lights out on the porch; we ran out of sunlight getting our eighteen hojillion ornaments on the tree. I am finishing off our stock of little weenies as I write.
Have a safe and happy holiday weekend, everyone!
We have been officially awaiting placement for a year as of last month. This meant that we had to update our home study with Bethany. We got to do a fresh round of doctor's appointments, background checks, and financial records; fortunately, we were not required to update our fingerprints at this stage. We had a meeting with Mark after the October waiting families meeting, where we received a little pep talk to go along with the formalities and the box-checking and the whatnot. He made a point of noting that the wait can be discouraging -- which it is, at times. We were officially re-approved on October 29; if all goes according to my malevolent schemes, there will not be a second re-approval necessary. Insert your preferred diabolical laughter here.
We have an additional feline member of the household, of sorts. We have been adopted (oh, the irony) by one of the neighborhood cats. We have dubbed our new benefactor Prince, as Kakolookiyam is too much of a mouthful. Based on his unabashed sweetness and ready litterbox usage, we have surmised that he is an abandoned housecat. He is also as deaf as a post. No, this is not the typical selective deafness inherent with the species; we can readily sneak up on this cat if he does not see our approach. The various members of our household have adapted to him in their own unique ways: Ashe follows him around constantly, while Samus tolerates his existence (after her initial olive branch extension resulted in a pimp slap) and Peaches makes noises like this dude every time she sees him.
With today being Thanksgiving and all, and with us in Bristol rather than a Carolina to celebrate with family, we participated in our customary tree-trimming extravaganza. We made egg salad, bought a sliced ham, and ate way too many snacks while setting up our Christmas decorations. To be honest, Sandi had succumbed, so some decorating had actually been done before today. We still need to put our lights out on the porch; we ran out of sunlight getting our eighteen hojillion ornaments on the tree. I am finishing off our stock of little weenies as I write.
Have a safe and happy holiday weekend, everyone!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Er . . . Update Time! Woo!!
Another month has passed, and we continue to wait. Classes have begun at King, and we continue to wait. I am teaching a course with fifty students and an experimental online homework checking system, and we continue to wait. The USA Network shows hour after hour of NCIS to keep us occupied, and we continue to wait. I think you get the general tenor of our lives by now.
The high point of our past month was Sandi's birthday celebration, which we dubbed Sandipalooza. The occasion fell on a Friday this year, so she took off the whole weekend to party like it was 1999. We went to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg, where we could easily have spent a very large portion of our natural lives. The simple act of wandering about the tunnels under the marine tank was great fun. From there, we hit up the local Olive Garden for the traditional Sandi birthday supper before we called it a day. The remainder of our weekend was spent alternating between relaxation and systematic removal of the nursery carpeting. Needless to say, Sandi enjoyed her birthday festivities to the core of her being.
Not all of our experiences have been pleasant, however. We received a message from Mark about the Family First Adoption Loan program Bethany had sponsored in conjunction with a Michigan bank, which was our planned method of covering our final placement fees. The fact that I used the past tense in that last sentence should give you the direction this is heading. Due to a number of defaults on these loans, the program has been discontinued. We have gathered information on several other loan and grant programs, so we still have options. However, to say that we were disappointed by this understates the matter considerably. Keep us in your prayers as we move forward.
Take care, everyone!
The high point of our past month was Sandi's birthday celebration, which we dubbed Sandipalooza. The occasion fell on a Friday this year, so she took off the whole weekend to party like it was 1999. We went to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg, where we could easily have spent a very large portion of our natural lives. The simple act of wandering about the tunnels under the marine tank was great fun. From there, we hit up the local Olive Garden for the traditional Sandi birthday supper before we called it a day. The remainder of our weekend was spent alternating between relaxation and systematic removal of the nursery carpeting. Needless to say, Sandi enjoyed her birthday festivities to the core of her being.
Not all of our experiences have been pleasant, however. We received a message from Mark about the Family First Adoption Loan program Bethany had sponsored in conjunction with a Michigan bank, which was our planned method of covering our final placement fees. The fact that I used the past tense in that last sentence should give you the direction this is heading. Due to a number of defaults on these loans, the program has been discontinued. We have gathered information on several other loan and grant programs, so we still have options. However, to say that we were disappointed by this understates the matter considerably. Keep us in your prayers as we move forward.
Take care, everyone!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
No News is Good News . . . Er, Right?
I have absolutely no excuse for the lack of updates during the month of July. Well, I have one really flaky excuse: a distinct lack of stuff to report. I spent most of my days in the office talking about my dissertation -- to my resource material. Meanwhile, Sandi went to work at the bank at a somewhat higher clip, since her teller supervisor is currently on maternity leave. We started playing a new (old) video game over the weekends, but few of you would consider that noteworthy. Beyond that, there is a dearth of information for me to impart. I suppose our current fascination with NCIS might be exciting, if you happen to work for CBS or something.
As usual, we went to Knoxville on the last Tuesday of the month for a waiting families meeting. Our guest speaker for the evening, who was to have been our guest speaker previously, was a birthmother with a fascinating story. Cammy's journey to an adoption plan actually led her back to Christ. She hails from the great white north of Minnesota, which made for a wacky twist accent-wise. It was nice to hear a different birthmother perspective, as the only birthmother we have heard speak has a wildly open (and slightly frightening) relationship with her adoptive family. Cammy started working with Bethany after moving to Tennessee, despite the fact that her adoption was conducted privately rather than through a Bethany office. She is extremely personable; she playfully slapped my foot early in the meeting, for a reason neither Sandi nor I could remember later. That sounds more like life in the South . . .
Okay, now on to this month. Bethany was doing its quarterly thang in the Tri-Cities area tonight, so we had a picnic at Warriors' Path State Park in Kingsport. The park itself is really nice and surprisingly massive. As one would expect in a picnic environment, families were tasked with supplying foodstuffs, whilst the Bethany folks brought various tasty beverages and eating paraphernalia. Sandi and I opted to make a dish of banana pudding (complete with store brand vanilla wafers) and a hefty bowl of ham salad. Needless to say, plenty of other quality victuals were available; I had some excellent chicken casserole, a nice pasta salad, and these awesome 'dessert burgers' made with a peppermint patty, colored frosting, and vanilla wafers. Of course, we never gather for a Bethany function without some sort of edifying speaker, and tonight we got to talk with Wes Patten, who founded local charity Hope House. Wes has a great ministry working with crisis pregnancies in the Tri-Cities area, and some of the women have placed children for adoption with Bethany. The entire discussion was excellent, and I am jazzed to hear that they work with birthmothers past placement (or postnatal for women who choose to parent). However, the thing that sticks out most in my mind is a story that makes me glad for adopting through an agency. One of Hope House's young women had decided to place her child for private adoption. As a result of collaboration between attorneys in Tennessee, California, and Germany, this young woman went to Missouri to deliver her baby, who was placed with a German family. Umm . . . yeah.
Updates should be more frequent as this month progresses. Take care, folks!
As usual, we went to Knoxville on the last Tuesday of the month for a waiting families meeting. Our guest speaker for the evening, who was to have been our guest speaker previously, was a birthmother with a fascinating story. Cammy's journey to an adoption plan actually led her back to Christ. She hails from the great white north of Minnesota, which made for a wacky twist accent-wise. It was nice to hear a different birthmother perspective, as the only birthmother we have heard speak has a wildly open (and slightly frightening) relationship with her adoptive family. Cammy started working with Bethany after moving to Tennessee, despite the fact that her adoption was conducted privately rather than through a Bethany office. She is extremely personable; she playfully slapped my foot early in the meeting, for a reason neither Sandi nor I could remember later. That sounds more like life in the South . . .
Okay, now on to this month. Bethany was doing its quarterly thang in the Tri-Cities area tonight, so we had a picnic at Warriors' Path State Park in Kingsport. The park itself is really nice and surprisingly massive. As one would expect in a picnic environment, families were tasked with supplying foodstuffs, whilst the Bethany folks brought various tasty beverages and eating paraphernalia. Sandi and I opted to make a dish of banana pudding (complete with store brand vanilla wafers) and a hefty bowl of ham salad. Needless to say, plenty of other quality victuals were available; I had some excellent chicken casserole, a nice pasta salad, and these awesome 'dessert burgers' made with a peppermint patty, colored frosting, and vanilla wafers. Of course, we never gather for a Bethany function without some sort of edifying speaker, and tonight we got to talk with Wes Patten, who founded local charity Hope House. Wes has a great ministry working with crisis pregnancies in the Tri-Cities area, and some of the women have placed children for adoption with Bethany. The entire discussion was excellent, and I am jazzed to hear that they work with birthmothers past placement (or postnatal for women who choose to parent). However, the thing that sticks out most in my mind is a story that makes me glad for adopting through an agency. One of Hope House's young women had decided to place her child for private adoption. As a result of collaboration between attorneys in Tennessee, California, and Germany, this young woman went to Missouri to deliver her baby, who was placed with a German family. Umm . . . yeah.
Updates should be more frequent as this month progresses. Take care, folks!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
A Fresh Perspective
You may recall that my glasses broke during my trip to Nashville during the spring semester. If not, shame on you. Arranging an appointment with an optometrist during the school year, given my course schedule and typical method of reaching campus, would have been problematic. Ergo, I spent the remainder of the term using a homebrew solution straight out of the 1950's; Sandi affixed the sundered frames using an ingenious blend of toothpicks and bandages.
This had a couple of unanticipated side effects. The most obvious was a striking resemblance to one of these awesome dudes. Secondly, our solution to the broken frame problem was less solid than that of, say, soldering the frames back together. As a result, I had to readjust my glasses fairly often -- but only one ear at a time.
A couple of weeks ago, I finally went to see an optometrist, after much prodding from Sandi. I promise that I was not trying to avoid said appointment; rather, I am easily distracted by research, housework, and shiny objects on the pavement. Today was the day I went to collect my new spectacles. I immediately ascended at least two quantum levels of studliness when I first donned the new eyewear. A small tear in the space-time continuum occurred (seriously, I got the old frames during the Clinton administration), but I patched that rip before leaving their office.
Furthermore, Sandi had an appointment of her own today. She was able to use her old frames for new lenses; after all, they actually came from this millennium. Hopefully, these new glasses will help with her work at the bank, which obviously includes a great deal of staring at little font on a computer screen. She was also able to use our vision coverage to look into a pair of prescription sunglasses, thanks to the whole frame recycling thing. To make a short story long, we will both have new glasses soon.
Ashe is still little and adorable, but her claws are like twenty little phonograph needles. She has also decided that the leafy patterning on our comforter was an enemy in need of painful death. Needless to say, she usually strikes the offending fauxliage while one or both of us are under said comforter. We have suffered several little pokes as a result of these sorties, but nothing that could leave us as part of a Ted Nugent song. As a partial solution to the leaf problem, we flipped over the comforter; this has reduced the attacks somewhat.
Enjoy the weekend, all!
This had a couple of unanticipated side effects. The most obvious was a striking resemblance to one of these awesome dudes. Secondly, our solution to the broken frame problem was less solid than that of, say, soldering the frames back together. As a result, I had to readjust my glasses fairly often -- but only one ear at a time.
A couple of weeks ago, I finally went to see an optometrist, after much prodding from Sandi. I promise that I was not trying to avoid said appointment; rather, I am easily distracted by research, housework, and shiny objects on the pavement. Today was the day I went to collect my new spectacles. I immediately ascended at least two quantum levels of studliness when I first donned the new eyewear. A small tear in the space-time continuum occurred (seriously, I got the old frames during the Clinton administration), but I patched that rip before leaving their office.
Furthermore, Sandi had an appointment of her own today. She was able to use her old frames for new lenses; after all, they actually came from this millennium. Hopefully, these new glasses will help with her work at the bank, which obviously includes a great deal of staring at little font on a computer screen. She was also able to use our vision coverage to look into a pair of prescription sunglasses, thanks to the whole frame recycling thing. To make a short story long, we will both have new glasses soon.
Ashe is still little and adorable, but her claws are like twenty little phonograph needles. She has also decided that the leafy patterning on our comforter was an enemy in need of painful death. Needless to say, she usually strikes the offending fauxliage while one or both of us are under said comforter. We have suffered several little pokes as a result of these sorties, but nothing that could leave us as part of a Ted Nugent song. As a partial solution to the leaf problem, we flipped over the comforter; this has reduced the attacks somewhat.
Enjoy the weekend, all!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Another Month Older . . .
No deeper in debt, though. If you get that reference, you earn one thousand bonus retro points.
The end of June and onset of July have roared past us. Keeping up with a feisty kitten has that effect. We decided to introduce Ashe to the house bit by bit, in a highly regimented fashion. Initially, we gave her free rein to explore the living room and office, using a ridiculous blockade of shelving units to keep her from the kitchen and bedrooms. Since Ashe is sufficiently petite to fit through the widest gate openings, additional units were required to block access through these slots. We then let her check out the bedrooms and bathroom while keeping the kitchen off limits. Yesterday, at long last, the little pistol has finally been given access to the entirety of the Carroll household. I, for one, am grateful we have reached this stage; stepping over the makeshift barricade to pour a drink or prepare supper was getting old (and occasionally painful).
Feline relations have, on the whole, improved. Peaches has taken to the little one much faster than either Sandi or I had anticipated. We have gotten used to seeing one gray blur gallivanting after another on paths through the house. However, Samus, who has gotten rather lazy, is less enthusiastic about new play sessions. Our biggest issue has been Peaches' insistence that she partake of the same hearty fare as her new little sister. No amount of mediocre adult cat food can replace the aura of mystery surrounding Ashe's kitten chow, it seems. On the other hand, perhaps the flashy new bowl is the big thing. Who knows?
I have continued work on my dissertation at the office, which made for quite the sense of déjà vu today. This is to be expected, with a holiday over the weekend, but I seriously saw no one on campus. Maybe they decided to get even with me, since I was a no-show after a horrid bout of insomnia overnight on Tuesday. Our sleep schedules were both disrupted that night, but we are pretty much back on track now. The holiday gets Sandi her first weekend off in four weeks -- and only then if you count being laid out with a stomach bug as a relaxing time.
Have a safe and happy Independence Day, everyone!
The end of June and onset of July have roared past us. Keeping up with a feisty kitten has that effect. We decided to introduce Ashe to the house bit by bit, in a highly regimented fashion. Initially, we gave her free rein to explore the living room and office, using a ridiculous blockade of shelving units to keep her from the kitchen and bedrooms. Since Ashe is sufficiently petite to fit through the widest gate openings, additional units were required to block access through these slots. We then let her check out the bedrooms and bathroom while keeping the kitchen off limits. Yesterday, at long last, the little pistol has finally been given access to the entirety of the Carroll household. I, for one, am grateful we have reached this stage; stepping over the makeshift barricade to pour a drink or prepare supper was getting old (and occasionally painful).
Feline relations have, on the whole, improved. Peaches has taken to the little one much faster than either Sandi or I had anticipated. We have gotten used to seeing one gray blur gallivanting after another on paths through the house. However, Samus, who has gotten rather lazy, is less enthusiastic about new play sessions. Our biggest issue has been Peaches' insistence that she partake of the same hearty fare as her new little sister. No amount of mediocre adult cat food can replace the aura of mystery surrounding Ashe's kitten chow, it seems. On the other hand, perhaps the flashy new bowl is the big thing. Who knows?
I have continued work on my dissertation at the office, which made for quite the sense of déjà vu today. This is to be expected, with a holiday over the weekend, but I seriously saw no one on campus. Maybe they decided to get even with me, since I was a no-show after a horrid bout of insomnia overnight on Tuesday. Our sleep schedules were both disrupted that night, but we are pretty much back on track now. The holiday gets Sandi her first weekend off in four weeks -- and only then if you count being laid out with a stomach bug as a relaxing time.
Have a safe and happy Independence Day, everyone!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Nine Years? Really?!?
In the midst of a full midweek day yesterday, Sandi and I celebrated our ninth anniversary. 'Celebrate' is a bit of an overstatement, as we had little opportunity to do anything grand. Beyond wishing each other a happy anniversary and feasting at a Knoxville Chik-fil-A rather than our customary Sonic visit, not much of note marked the occasion. Oh -- we also got some doughnuts. However, in the midst of a culture that cannot seem to get enough of the implosion of a marriage barely older than our own (no links this time; if you are in the dark, count yourself blessed), I wanted to say how much my life with Sandi means to me. I love you, Sweetpea, and you are awesome.
Take care, all!
Take care, all!
Monday, June 22, 2009
And Now, a Sixth Man
Finally -- we can rotate somebody off the basketball court during games. The whole 'iron man' routine (not to be confused with, you know, Iron Man or "Iron Man") was getting tiring. Apparently, you can also play football with this many people.
The Holly Help folks have been seriously delayed by frequent thunderstorms and pre-registration at King, so we received permission to take our own collection of Poké Balls in an effort to catch a kitten. On Saturday afternoon, we went to campus with Sandi's coworker and King mathematics alumna Kelly with our carriers and a stash of feline comestibles. Within half an hour, we had nabbed one of the little guys, but another thunderstorm kept us from getting another. Kelly graciously let us have the one we got, and thus Ashe became the newest member of the Carroll household.
We were unsure how quickly a feral kitten would acclimate to home life, but Ashe has proven pretty adaptable. While she is still far more nocturnal than we would like, she already purrs when held or petted. She has also (I am outrageously happy to report) taken to litter box usage quite rapidly. She -- oh yeah, Ashe is a girl -- spends most of her time in our carrier, with several sessions of cuddling interspersed. During the day, while Ranger is outside, we remove the carrier's gate and place it inside the Big Bazooka's kennel. That way, she can check out the surroundings yet still have a safe place to retreat.
Peaches has acted more or less as she did when Samus arrived on the scene: a combination of territorially defensive and interminably curious. Samus is on the whole disinterested; the presence of the carrier seems to bother her more than the addition of a new cat. Their actual interactions have almost completely occurred within the aforementioned kennel framework, as Ashe had not been to the vet before this afternoon. There has been a fair bit of hissing and growling, but no arched backs or slap fights have erupted. Ranger has yet to meet the little one. Ashe deserves a chance to get used to the house before confronting our mini-colossus.
Ashe had her first vet visit this afternoon, and things check out. She weighs a whopping two and one-quarter pounds, which puts her at about eight weeks old. Her feline leukemia test came out negative (yay!), but we have to treat her for roundworms over the next few weeks. She was quite eager to explore the animal hospital. To be honest, she is quite eager to explore everything, but we are trying to pace her exposure to all this new stuff.
The upcoming week promises to be hectic, as we have a waiting families meeting tomorrow in Knoxville, along with an eye appointment. Maybe we will get some uninterrupted sleep tonight. Maybe . . .
Have a great week, everyone!
The Holly Help folks have been seriously delayed by frequent thunderstorms and pre-registration at King, so we received permission to take our own collection of Poké Balls in an effort to catch a kitten. On Saturday afternoon, we went to campus with Sandi's coworker and King mathematics alumna Kelly with our carriers and a stash of feline comestibles. Within half an hour, we had nabbed one of the little guys, but another thunderstorm kept us from getting another. Kelly graciously let us have the one we got, and thus Ashe became the newest member of the Carroll household.
We were unsure how quickly a feral kitten would acclimate to home life, but Ashe has proven pretty adaptable. While she is still far more nocturnal than we would like, she already purrs when held or petted. She has also (I am outrageously happy to report) taken to litter box usage quite rapidly. She -- oh yeah, Ashe is a girl -- spends most of her time in our carrier, with several sessions of cuddling interspersed. During the day, while Ranger is outside, we remove the carrier's gate and place it inside the Big Bazooka's kennel. That way, she can check out the surroundings yet still have a safe place to retreat.
Peaches has acted more or less as she did when Samus arrived on the scene: a combination of territorially defensive and interminably curious. Samus is on the whole disinterested; the presence of the carrier seems to bother her more than the addition of a new cat. Their actual interactions have almost completely occurred within the aforementioned kennel framework, as Ashe had not been to the vet before this afternoon. There has been a fair bit of hissing and growling, but no arched backs or slap fights have erupted. Ranger has yet to meet the little one. Ashe deserves a chance to get used to the house before confronting our mini-colossus.
Ashe had her first vet visit this afternoon, and things check out. She weighs a whopping two and one-quarter pounds, which puts her at about eight weeks old. Her feline leukemia test came out negative (yay!), but we have to treat her for roundworms over the next few weeks. She was quite eager to explore the animal hospital. To be honest, she is quite eager to explore everything, but we are trying to pace her exposure to all this new stuff.
The upcoming week promises to be hectic, as we have a waiting families meeting tomorrow in Knoxville, along with an eye appointment. Maybe we will get some uninterrupted sleep tonight. Maybe . . .
Have a great week, everyone!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Who Let the Bugs Out?
I am sorry for the post vacuum, but the month of June began with an unfortunate case of stomach viruses. Sandi and I took turns celebrating our anniversary month with gastrointestinal distress. In our typical fashion, I was down and out for a day or so, while Sandi was waylaid for the better part of four days with symptoms massively worse than mine. Thanks for the high Constitution score, Mom and Dad! However, Sandi's illness had both of us on a truly bizarre sleep schedule, so I was still really thrown for a loop when the time came to return to the routine. I am happy to report that we are both back in fighting form -- not that we fight or anything.
The only thing that has really changed around here of late is our preparations for an addition to the family. Yes, the time has finally arrived . . .
. . . For a new cat. As is probably the case for most college campuses, we have a collection of feral cats at King. Recently, a pair of these little critters hooked up and had a litter of kittens. After this startling new development (but not before, because that would have been just crazy), some folks decided it might be in everyone's best interests if the cats were captured and neutered. Traps have been set, courtesy of local organization Holly Help, on campus to lure in the crew, but funding is only available to alter the parents. At this stage, the only real option with the kittens would have been euthanasia. Being the softies we are, we could not let that happen, so we will be adopting one of the wee ones soon. How Samus and Peaches will respond to the expansion team remains to be seen.
Oh, I almost forgot. We planted a bush in the front yard on Sunday. Sandi had seen the plant at the local greenhouse a couple of weeks ago, and we made the purchase on Saturday (which, by the way, was also the occasion of a fabulous visit from my parents and grandmother. Thanks for coming, guys!). The new flowering shrub helps fill one of the burned-out spots in the lawn from our oil tank adventure. It also looks quite nice, in my humble opinion, although its tendency to shed entire flowers at once is something that requires adjustment.
Your patience is appreciated. Take care, everyone!
The only thing that has really changed around here of late is our preparations for an addition to the family. Yes, the time has finally arrived . . .
. . . For a new cat. As is probably the case for most college campuses, we have a collection of feral cats at King. Recently, a pair of these little critters hooked up and had a litter of kittens. After this startling new development (but not before, because that would have been just crazy), some folks decided it might be in everyone's best interests if the cats were captured and neutered. Traps have been set, courtesy of local organization Holly Help, on campus to lure in the crew, but funding is only available to alter the parents. At this stage, the only real option with the kittens would have been euthanasia. Being the softies we are, we could not let that happen, so we will be adopting one of the wee ones soon. How Samus and Peaches will respond to the expansion team remains to be seen.
Oh, I almost forgot. We planted a bush in the front yard on Sunday. Sandi had seen the plant at the local greenhouse a couple of weeks ago, and we made the purchase on Saturday (which, by the way, was also the occasion of a fabulous visit from my parents and grandmother. Thanks for coming, guys!). The new flowering shrub helps fill one of the burned-out spots in the lawn from our oil tank adventure. It also looks quite nice, in my humble opinion, although its tendency to shed entire flowers at once is something that requires adjustment.
Your patience is appreciated. Take care, everyone!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Workshop 2: Quantitative Boogaloo
I have spent the last couple of days back at the campus Emory & Henry College participating in a follow-up workshop to the one I attended last May. Only one other King College person attended this year, but we were able to carpool. I will be receiving another stipend for my work, and another plan is in place for a grant application. This, of course, means that we need to get to the business of spending last year's grant money. While we have done quite a bit of what we set out to do (albeit a semester late, thanks to the core curriculum revision), most of our funds are still liquid.
Last week, we had ordered a new doghouse for Ranger; since he now spends his afternoons outside, shelter is of more importance. I am proud to report that the Big Bazooka can actually lie down comfortably in this new model. Moreover, its moderate-density plastic construction makes it unlikely that he will attempt to consume it.
We had another waiting families meeting in Knoxville on Tuesday, which took on a surprising twist. Our guest speaker, a birthmother named Cammy, failed to show up. Our best guess is that she got her days confused thanks to the holiday, but in any case, this meant that Mark had to do a bit of improv. Fortunately, this smorgasbord night did not devolve into an in-depth discussion of legal risk in the adoptive process. That is always a possibility on 'open-mic' nights, but the closest we got was discussing the Adoptive Taxpayer Identification Number which might be necessary.
I wish I had more exciting news to report, but this has been a slow couple of weeks. We will post an update as soon as Sandi meets with the spine specialist; yes, it has been two weeks since the referral. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Last week, we had ordered a new doghouse for Ranger; since he now spends his afternoons outside, shelter is of more importance. I am proud to report that the Big Bazooka can actually lie down comfortably in this new model. Moreover, its moderate-density plastic construction makes it unlikely that he will attempt to consume it.
We had another waiting families meeting in Knoxville on Tuesday, which took on a surprising twist. Our guest speaker, a birthmother named Cammy, failed to show up. Our best guess is that she got her days confused thanks to the holiday, but in any case, this meant that Mark had to do a bit of improv. Fortunately, this smorgasbord night did not devolve into an in-depth discussion of legal risk in the adoptive process. That is always a possibility on 'open-mic' nights, but the closest we got was discussing the Adoptive Taxpayer Identification Number which might be necessary.
I wish I had more exciting news to report, but this has been a slow couple of weeks. We will post an update as soon as Sandi meets with the spine specialist; yes, it has been two weeks since the referral. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
A Cold Day in Knoxville
The first half of the weekend was largely uneventful; when you distinctly recall how nice the employees were at the new grocery store you tried, little of note is happening. Sandi revisited one of her previous video game purchases while ailing from a stomach bug that hit us both. The weather has taken a turn for the less wet, which means that Ranger has been able to spend more time outside, which makes for a happy Carroll household.
On Sunday, Bethany hosted a picnic for adoptive families at Tyson Park in Knoxville. Each family was supposed to bring a covered dish for the occasion -- a problematic situation for those of us with a two-hour drive. Sandi and I settled on sausage balls, and we spent the morning getting them baked and ready to go. We ended up about half an hour late due to some inexplicable foot-dragging on our part. The fact that we drove past the park (in spite of a 'Bethany Picnic' sign at the entrance) and had to circle back to it exacerbated our tardiness a bit. Once we arrived, we got to see a couple of families from our earlier waiting families meetings who have been placed. Catching up with Chris and Leigh Ann, who are the proud parents of an adorable near-Christmas baby named Chloe, was fun, although the weather was a bit uncooperative. After several days of warmth, the temperature took a nosedive that made the afternoon a little chilly. At least I had talked Sandi into wearing full-length pants rather than capris.
I am proud to report that we performed a successful experiment during our trip. Since the conditions outdoors were supposed to be nice and sunny, we decided to leave Ranger in the back yard rather than leaving him in the kennel for six hours or more on a nice Sunday. In hindsight, this could be the cause of our aforementioned lollygagging. We were quite concerned that the Big Bazooka would hurdle the gate and trail us after our departure, so we circled around the Food City parking lot and drove back past the house. We held our breath when we saw a large black dog loping along the street, but that big fella had several pounds on Ranger. By the time we got back to the house, our beloved half-giant had begun a fresh patrol of the yard, acting confident that we would return. This is a boon, as leaving him in the kennel for extended periods during the day has never really been part of our plans as dog owners. He has stayed outside while we have gone to work the last two days, and we still have no ill news to report.
Have a great week, everyone!
On Sunday, Bethany hosted a picnic for adoptive families at Tyson Park in Knoxville. Each family was supposed to bring a covered dish for the occasion -- a problematic situation for those of us with a two-hour drive. Sandi and I settled on sausage balls, and we spent the morning getting them baked and ready to go. We ended up about half an hour late due to some inexplicable foot-dragging on our part. The fact that we drove past the park (in spite of a 'Bethany Picnic' sign at the entrance) and had to circle back to it exacerbated our tardiness a bit. Once we arrived, we got to see a couple of families from our earlier waiting families meetings who have been placed. Catching up with Chris and Leigh Ann, who are the proud parents of an adorable near-Christmas baby named Chloe, was fun, although the weather was a bit uncooperative. After several days of warmth, the temperature took a nosedive that made the afternoon a little chilly. At least I had talked Sandi into wearing full-length pants rather than capris.
I am proud to report that we performed a successful experiment during our trip. Since the conditions outdoors were supposed to be nice and sunny, we decided to leave Ranger in the back yard rather than leaving him in the kennel for six hours or more on a nice Sunday. In hindsight, this could be the cause of our aforementioned lollygagging. We were quite concerned that the Big Bazooka would hurdle the gate and trail us after our departure, so we circled around the Food City parking lot and drove back past the house. We held our breath when we saw a large black dog loping along the street, but that big fella had several pounds on Ranger. By the time we got back to the house, our beloved half-giant had begun a fresh patrol of the yard, acting confident that we would return. This is a boon, as leaving him in the kennel for extended periods during the day has never really been part of our plans as dog owners. He has stayed outside while we have gone to work the last two days, and we still have no ill news to report.
Have a great week, everyone!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
This is Totally Awesome!
Food City, our local grocery store, now carries diet sodas that are not plain cola. I drank Diet Dr. Wow with my supper; I never thought this day would come!
Why is everyone looking at me so angrily?
My assessment hoodoo at school has finally drawn to a close. Well, it had, but another clump of data trickled into my inbox late this afternoon. After that minor addition, my assessment material is finished. In other news, I attended a meeting this morning to discuss our ongoing quantitative literacy project -- you remember, that thing from my workshop last May. I have ended up taking the role of point man, which would normally mean my job is to take the first hit from sniper fire; however, I and my colleague Donna have split the responsibilities of our group down the middle. From here, I will devote my energies to the completion of my dissertation, which looms like this thing. In my spare time, my fevered mind has begun rewriting the lyrics to Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence" in the mold of a chump trying to complete his doctorate.
We appreciate the prayers that have been said for Sandi and her ailing back. If only I had something to report on her condition. After receiving the MRI results, her doctor recommended a CT myelogram to properly diagnose whatever is going on in Sandi's spinal region. As this procedure involves a lumbar puncture, she was curious what other options were available. Now she is awaiting an appointment with a spine specialist. Keep approaching the throne of grace on this one, folks.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone!
Why is everyone looking at me so angrily?
My assessment hoodoo at school has finally drawn to a close. Well, it had, but another clump of data trickled into my inbox late this afternoon. After that minor addition, my assessment material is finished. In other news, I attended a meeting this morning to discuss our ongoing quantitative literacy project -- you remember, that thing from my workshop last May. I have ended up taking the role of point man, which would normally mean my job is to take the first hit from sniper fire; however, I and my colleague Donna have split the responsibilities of our group down the middle. From here, I will devote my energies to the completion of my dissertation, which looms like this thing. In my spare time, my fevered mind has begun rewriting the lyrics to Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence" in the mold of a chump trying to complete his doctorate.
We appreciate the prayers that have been said for Sandi and her ailing back. If only I had something to report on her condition. After receiving the MRI results, her doctor recommended a CT myelogram to properly diagnose whatever is going on in Sandi's spinal region. As this procedure involves a lumbar puncture, she was curious what other options were available. Now she is awaiting an appointment with a spine specialist. Keep approaching the throne of grace on this one, folks.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Unexpected Mother's Day Drama
Our weekend began on a rather productive note, which means that my lazy self was highly dissatisfied. Last week, we purchased the necessary materials to install a ClosetMaid shelf system in our laundry area, but general ennui prevented us from installing it. Sandi's drive to accomplish things could no longer be denied by Saturday, meaning that the shelf system is now in place. On the whole, our work went without a hitch -- except for the trip to Lowe's to exchange some too-long vertical rods. We actually spent about fifty dollars less on the project than we first thought, thanks to that exchange and a few excess brackets. The new shelves greatly expand our storage space in the back of the house. At present, we have our winter blankets back there, along with my collection of board games. Should that concern me? Eh, no bother.
"Where is the drama in that? I've read Willa Cather stories with more action!" Yes, I can read your minds. I said the drama was on Mother's Day, after all. Once we had called those awesome women who gave us life, we spent the afternoon wrapping up the tense political maneuvering of Final Fantasy XII. After we vanquished the final boss . . . er, bosses . . . um, or should it be boss . . . whatever, we settled in for a gorgeous cutscene bonanza as the story drew to its close. During the final narrative, we heard a weird metallic scraping noise from outdoors. Since we experienced a lost mailbox and a useless car a couple of years back as a result of a similar sound, we tried to figure out its source. The good news is that our property remained inviolate this time; the bad news is that our neighbors across the streets from us had a car against one of their trees. Intense rubbernecking ensued, along with two police cars, a fire engine, and an ambulance. We have yet to figure out exactly what happened, but the kerfuffle made me miss some of my game's finale. While I doubt anything vital occurred amidst my distraction, it is frustrating all the same. Ranger was also thrown way out of whack by people camping along our frontage, and he has been quite exhausted since the shenanigans came to a close. As best as we can gather, no one was seriously hurt, but we think the house's owners are currently away. Talk about a rude return . . .
Have a great week, everyone!
"Where is the drama in that? I've read Willa Cather stories with more action!" Yes, I can read your minds. I said the drama was on Mother's Day, after all. Once we had called those awesome women who gave us life, we spent the afternoon wrapping up the tense political maneuvering of Final Fantasy XII. After we vanquished the final boss . . . er, bosses . . . um, or should it be boss . . . whatever, we settled in for a gorgeous cutscene bonanza as the story drew to its close. During the final narrative, we heard a weird metallic scraping noise from outdoors. Since we experienced a lost mailbox and a useless car a couple of years back as a result of a similar sound, we tried to figure out its source. The good news is that our property remained inviolate this time; the bad news is that our neighbors across the streets from us had a car against one of their trees. Intense rubbernecking ensued, along with two police cars, a fire engine, and an ambulance. We have yet to figure out exactly what happened, but the kerfuffle made me miss some of my game's finale. While I doubt anything vital occurred amidst my distraction, it is frustrating all the same. Ranger was also thrown way out of whack by people camping along our frontage, and he has been quite exhausted since the shenanigans came to a close. As best as we can gather, no one was seriously hurt, but we think the house's owners are currently away. Talk about a rude return . . .
Have a great week, everyone!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
When the Heavens Opened
Like much of the southeastern United States, we have been experiencing a near-constant spate of rainfall over the last week. This is largely good news, since the area has been in a pretty severe drought situation. On the other hand, day after day after day of wet weather brings a host of little headaches. Getting the lawn mowed has proven to be quite troublesome in this environment; I managed to get the front yard trimmed before another dousing tonight, while the back of our property has yet to see the blade.
The climatic conditions also wreak havoc on the psyche of a certain black-haired quadruped who graciously allows us to share his space. Ranger truly functions best as a member of the Carroll household when he has ample opportunity to patrol our outdoor environs, but this is not actionable in the face of a deluge. Part of the problem is our lack of any shelter for the Big Bazooka. However, even if such hospitality were available, we have little reason to believe that Ranger would make use of it. We are down to our last rawhide bone, so keep us in your prayers.
Sandi's back situation remains much as it was when last I wrote. She made it through the MRI on Wednesday, although the 'lie still on your back until we say move' requirement left her in substantial pain by the dénouement. Her medications have left her extremely tired over the last several days, so I have been largely a bachelor at night -- albeit a bachelor who needs to tend to a sick loved one. As I said last time, prayers are coveted.
In closing, I feel the need to mention this, as it impacts one of my longest-running loves, the Los Angeles Dodgers. While part of me wants to go all Kenesaw Mountain Landis and just start the whole league from scratch, there is a nonzero probability that the story is one of a legitimate mistake. In any case, I now find myself in company I never wanted to keep. By the way, my own personal ethos prevents me from following that last link.
Enjoy your weekend, folks!
The climatic conditions also wreak havoc on the psyche of a certain black-haired quadruped who graciously allows us to share his space. Ranger truly functions best as a member of the Carroll household when he has ample opportunity to patrol our outdoor environs, but this is not actionable in the face of a deluge. Part of the problem is our lack of any shelter for the Big Bazooka. However, even if such hospitality were available, we have little reason to believe that Ranger would make use of it. We are down to our last rawhide bone, so keep us in your prayers.
Sandi's back situation remains much as it was when last I wrote. She made it through the MRI on Wednesday, although the 'lie still on your back until we say move' requirement left her in substantial pain by the dénouement. Her medications have left her extremely tired over the last several days, so I have been largely a bachelor at night -- albeit a bachelor who needs to tend to a sick loved one. As I said last time, prayers are coveted.
In closing, I feel the need to mention this, as it impacts one of my longest-running loves, the Los Angeles Dodgers. While part of me wants to go all Kenesaw Mountain Landis and just start the whole league from scratch, there is a nonzero probability that the story is one of a legitimate mistake. In any case, I now find myself in company I never wanted to keep. By the way, my own personal ethos prevents me from following that last link.
Enjoy your weekend, folks!
Monday, May 4, 2009
So It Ends, and So It Begins
The fiendishly short spring semester at King College has officially come to a close. My final course grades are submitted, and we had another rainy commencement on Saturday. One of the students implicated in my cheating incident -- the copyee, rather than one of the copiers -- was let off the hook once we surmised that she was an unwilling participant in the affair. I spoke to one of the other two after the final exam; he offered no defense when confronted with the evidence and seemed more concerned with how his course grade would be impacted. In other news, two of my differential equations students received incompletes due to a preposterous number of baseball-related absences. They will hand in missed homework problems to elevate their work to a C level. My other classes proceeded more or less as expected; thankfully, I prevented no graduating seniors from receiving their diplomas.
I still have a bit of college-related work to do before flinging myself onto the jagged rocks of my dissertation. As part of King's accreditation process, we have to assess our performance at accomplishing our curriculum's objectives. I was handpicked to monitor the quantitative thinking portion of the core curriculum, which means I have to collect course evaluation and exam score data from all faculty responsible for courses in the area. Does anyone else want to be handpicked for the job?
We went to a waiting families meeting in Knoxville last Tuesday. Our guest speakers were a repeat for us, but their story has a new wrinkle. Wendy and Henry have a very open relationship with their child's birthmother, as was the wish of exactly one of them prior to the adoption. However, their birthfather has come back onto the scene; needless to say, this is a fairly uncommon occurrence. The Bethany office continues to be quite busy, so keep Mark, Terry, and the others in your prayers.
Speaking of prayer, be thinking of Sandi over the next few days. For a good couple of weeks, she has been experiencing pretty consistent pain from her lower back down her left leg. She went to the doctor last Wednesday, and it looks like she has a slipped disc in her back. This disc has been pinching her sciatic nerve, which is odd because we have spent most of this time kidding that her sciatic has been acting up, based on a quote from an old episode of What Not to Wear. That will teach us to quote television shows, let me tell you. Anyway, she has been on a couple of different pain medications since the appointment, and an MRI is scheduled for Wednesday to assess the situation more completely.
Have a great week, everyone!
I still have a bit of college-related work to do before flinging myself onto the jagged rocks of my dissertation. As part of King's accreditation process, we have to assess our performance at accomplishing our curriculum's objectives. I was handpicked to monitor the quantitative thinking portion of the core curriculum, which means I have to collect course evaluation and exam score data from all faculty responsible for courses in the area. Does anyone else want to be handpicked for the job?
We went to a waiting families meeting in Knoxville last Tuesday. Our guest speakers were a repeat for us, but their story has a new wrinkle. Wendy and Henry have a very open relationship with their child's birthmother, as was the wish of exactly one of them prior to the adoption. However, their birthfather has come back onto the scene; needless to say, this is a fairly uncommon occurrence. The Bethany office continues to be quite busy, so keep Mark, Terry, and the others in your prayers.
Speaking of prayer, be thinking of Sandi over the next few days. For a good couple of weeks, she has been experiencing pretty consistent pain from her lower back down her left leg. She went to the doctor last Wednesday, and it looks like she has a slipped disc in her back. This disc has been pinching her sciatic nerve, which is odd because we have spent most of this time kidding that her sciatic has been acting up, based on a quote from an old episode of What Not to Wear. That will teach us to quote television shows, let me tell you. Anyway, she has been on a couple of different pain medications since the appointment, and an MRI is scheduled for Wednesday to assess the situation more completely.
Have a great week, everyone!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Like Avis®, Huh?
If I could find a way to look sheepish across the tubes of the world wide intranetweb, I would certainly be doing it right now. Since "I'm" and "sorry" are the only words I can use here, why do anything other than use them and move forward, eh?
I am currently locked in that frenzied time of every academician's life right now -- exam week. Yes, you read that correctly; King College's semester is already at an end. Our commencement will be held a week from tomorrow, which is at least two weeks earlier than any school with which I have been affiliated through the years. No one on campus seems to know exactly how this happened, but with the calendar in place, we have no real choice but to press forward. I gave my first exam this afternoon, with two more to follow on Monday. After that, I have my statistics final on Thursday to wrap up the semester.
How I wish that were the only thing occupying my time at school right now! I have spent the last couple of days dealing with a violation of the college's honor code; for those of you well separated from campus life, that means I have a cheating incident. From my discussions with colleagues, I have discerned that mathematics is in a somewhat unique position when it comes to cheating and the catching thereof. In most disciplines, a professor notices a student suddenly writing well or otherwise producing work of an unusually high level, which leads to a discovery of cheating or plagiarism. On a typical mathematics test, however, cheating is typically comes to the fore when a collection of students all do the same thing wrong. For instance, I received three calculus tests which all featured the same typographical mistakes and bizarre algebra errors from one line to the next. Per college policy, I have acted on the infraction and executed appropriate discipline, and the accused have been notified of the proceedings. Did I get any graceful mea culpas or, as a music colleague received, apologies for poor decisions? Would I have written that last sentence if I had? One student seems genuinely shocked by the circumstances, whereas the other defenses ranged from "I did badly, how could I have cheated?" to the ever-popular "our grades were different." We will see how the tunes change when folks see the evidence before their eyes.
On a cheerier front, Sandi went to Johnson City for a waiting families meeting last Thursday night. I, sadly, could not make it due to my teaching responsibilities, so Sandi invited her co-worker (and King College mathematics graduate) Kelly to the meeting. They both enjoyed the experience, and Kelly said she would probably have lots of questions for Sandi in the future. I hate that I missed the meeting, though, as Jerry and Belton (from the now legendary Surreal Life post) were this meeting's special guests. Does anyone else think of old Scooby-Doo cartoons when you hear that?
The pets have been pretty happy with the onset of spring -- well, once the blasted thing finally decided to hang around. Ranger has actually been able to stay out in the back yard as late as eleven o'clock for the past couple of weeks, and the cats get excited whenever he leaves the house. The Big Bazooka is, in fact, one of the main reasons I sat at the computer to write this evening. As Sandi got ready for bed tonight, we left him alone in the living room while I hung her clothes in the closet. I got one pair of pants in place before we heard him doing something; my investigations revealed that he had pulled a blanket off our chair Smiley. I took that away from him and returned to my work. One blouse later, I check on him and find a towel pulled off the top of his kennel. I toss that into the kitchen and try to finish up the hanging. After I get the last piece put in its place, I again inspect the living room, only to find the loveseat cushion in the floor. I replace it and rub Sandi's aching leg for a couple of minutes, when we hear yet another noise outside the hall. This time, he had sent Smiley's cushion into the floor. When I returned to the bedroom, Ranger was in his kennel.
I hope to update you further soon; in particular, I get to go to another waiting families meeting in Knoxville next week. Take care, everyone!
I am currently locked in that frenzied time of every academician's life right now -- exam week. Yes, you read that correctly; King College's semester is already at an end. Our commencement will be held a week from tomorrow, which is at least two weeks earlier than any school with which I have been affiliated through the years. No one on campus seems to know exactly how this happened, but with the calendar in place, we have no real choice but to press forward. I gave my first exam this afternoon, with two more to follow on Monday. After that, I have my statistics final on Thursday to wrap up the semester.
How I wish that were the only thing occupying my time at school right now! I have spent the last couple of days dealing with a violation of the college's honor code; for those of you well separated from campus life, that means I have a cheating incident. From my discussions with colleagues, I have discerned that mathematics is in a somewhat unique position when it comes to cheating and the catching thereof. In most disciplines, a professor notices a student suddenly writing well or otherwise producing work of an unusually high level, which leads to a discovery of cheating or plagiarism. On a typical mathematics test, however, cheating is typically comes to the fore when a collection of students all do the same thing wrong. For instance, I received three calculus tests which all featured the same typographical mistakes and bizarre algebra errors from one line to the next. Per college policy, I have acted on the infraction and executed appropriate discipline, and the accused have been notified of the proceedings. Did I get any graceful mea culpas or, as a music colleague received, apologies for poor decisions? Would I have written that last sentence if I had? One student seems genuinely shocked by the circumstances, whereas the other defenses ranged from "I did badly, how could I have cheated?" to the ever-popular "our grades were different." We will see how the tunes change when folks see the evidence before their eyes.
On a cheerier front, Sandi went to Johnson City for a waiting families meeting last Thursday night. I, sadly, could not make it due to my teaching responsibilities, so Sandi invited her co-worker (and King College mathematics graduate) Kelly to the meeting. They both enjoyed the experience, and Kelly said she would probably have lots of questions for Sandi in the future. I hate that I missed the meeting, though, as Jerry and Belton (from the now legendary Surreal Life post) were this meeting's special guests. Does anyone else think of old Scooby-Doo cartoons when you hear that?
The pets have been pretty happy with the onset of spring -- well, once the blasted thing finally decided to hang around. Ranger has actually been able to stay out in the back yard as late as eleven o'clock for the past couple of weeks, and the cats get excited whenever he leaves the house. The Big Bazooka is, in fact, one of the main reasons I sat at the computer to write this evening. As Sandi got ready for bed tonight, we left him alone in the living room while I hung her clothes in the closet. I got one pair of pants in place before we heard him doing something; my investigations revealed that he had pulled a blanket off our chair Smiley. I took that away from him and returned to my work. One blouse later, I check on him and find a towel pulled off the top of his kennel. I toss that into the kitchen and try to finish up the hanging. After I get the last piece put in its place, I again inspect the living room, only to find the loveseat cushion in the floor. I replace it and rub Sandi's aching leg for a couple of minutes, when we hear yet another noise outside the hall. This time, he had sent Smiley's cushion into the floor. When I returned to the bedroom, Ranger was in his kennel.
I hope to update you further soon; in particular, I get to go to another waiting families meeting in Knoxville next week. Take care, everyone!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
A Slow News, Er, Month
Remember what I said last time -- about posting more during spring break? Yeah, those were good times. I find myself in a strange predicament, as I have little to report despite being ludicrously busy over the last three weeks. I will try to hit the highlights (such as they are).
The Thursday after my last update, my department chair Andy and I took a group of students to Nashville for a sectional meeting of the Mathematical Association of America. Our primary reason for the trek was a Math Jeopardy! competition for undergraduates. While the team did not make the final round, I was proud of them for actually attempting to answer questions. I also had the opportunity to listen to some mathematical talks, whose quality ran the full gamut of quality. I have to say that Andy comes up with some of the best talk titles in the entire mathematical community; amidst a session boasting discussions of inequalities for polynomials and iterative root-finding methods, he spoke about maximizing the spectacle of water fountains. As an added bonus, I heard the author of my analysis textbook (who is also the president-elect of the MAA, apparently) lecture on the winding paths that lead to some mathematical proofs -- a modern extension of his writings. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I saw several of my professors from Wake Forest, one of whom was honored for his teaching. Congratulations, El Hughbo -- you deserve it.
The trip has greatly influenced my time since break, but not in a way one would typically expect. While getting ready for bed Friday night, as I prepared to clean my glasses lenses, the frames broke. In half. For those playing along at home, I have appeared in public without glasses fewer than ten times this decade. My naked eyes can barely detect movement beyond two yards. This meant that Andy had to drive the entire way back to Bristol. I have since gotten the frames reassembled, but a visit to the optometrist is in the works.
Upon the resumption of classes, I have been juggling two new courses on my schedule. In addition to a topics course on partial differential equations, I am teaching statistics in the graduate and professional studies program. I learned about the evening course the week before break began, which means that I had about ten days (after subtracting trips) to spin a course from straw. Adding to the fun, the GPS program ignores spring break, so I was in Nashville when the class was supposed to meet for the first time. This, combined with a fresh batch of tests to grade, has kept me in near-constant motion while on campus of late.
Sandi's work at the bank has continued more or less as usual. However, a higher-up mandate has precluded more than twenty minutes of Internet usage during the work day. Since down time at work was the time Sandi typically read my blog posts, I suppose you can blame BB&T suits for my lack of updates. Yes, that is a much better direction for finger-pointing than at me.
I promise to try harder (you know -- like Avis®) on keeping you abreast of our latest news in the weeks to come. Should I fail, you have my permission either to give me mean glances or to stick your tongue out at me when next we meet. Take care, everyone!
The Thursday after my last update, my department chair Andy and I took a group of students to Nashville for a sectional meeting of the Mathematical Association of America. Our primary reason for the trek was a Math Jeopardy! competition for undergraduates. While the team did not make the final round, I was proud of them for actually attempting to answer questions. I also had the opportunity to listen to some mathematical talks, whose quality ran the full gamut of quality. I have to say that Andy comes up with some of the best talk titles in the entire mathematical community; amidst a session boasting discussions of inequalities for polynomials and iterative root-finding methods, he spoke about maximizing the spectacle of water fountains. As an added bonus, I heard the author of my analysis textbook (who is also the president-elect of the MAA, apparently) lecture on the winding paths that lead to some mathematical proofs -- a modern extension of his writings. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I saw several of my professors from Wake Forest, one of whom was honored for his teaching. Congratulations, El Hughbo -- you deserve it.
The trip has greatly influenced my time since break, but not in a way one would typically expect. While getting ready for bed Friday night, as I prepared to clean my glasses lenses, the frames broke. In half. For those playing along at home, I have appeared in public without glasses fewer than ten times this decade. My naked eyes can barely detect movement beyond two yards. This meant that Andy had to drive the entire way back to Bristol. I have since gotten the frames reassembled, but a visit to the optometrist is in the works.
Upon the resumption of classes, I have been juggling two new courses on my schedule. In addition to a topics course on partial differential equations, I am teaching statistics in the graduate and professional studies program. I learned about the evening course the week before break began, which means that I had about ten days (after subtracting trips) to spin a course from straw. Adding to the fun, the GPS program ignores spring break, so I was in Nashville when the class was supposed to meet for the first time. This, combined with a fresh batch of tests to grade, has kept me in near-constant motion while on campus of late.
Sandi's work at the bank has continued more or less as usual. However, a higher-up mandate has precluded more than twenty minutes of Internet usage during the work day. Since down time at work was the time Sandi typically read my blog posts, I suppose you can blame BB&T suits for my lack of updates. Yes, that is a much better direction for finger-pointing than at me.
I promise to try harder (you know -- like Avis®) on keeping you abreast of our latest news in the weeks to come. Should I fail, you have my permission either to give me mean glances or to stick your tongue out at me when next we meet. Take care, everyone!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
I Need a Break from Break
Remember what I said way back in the mists of time about holidays? If not, then take a moment to reminisce. Sandi and I drove to Winston-Salem individually, as we took Wayfarer to Bobby so that he could act as a broker for our beloved Saturn's sale. She left at around ten in the morning; however, after I concluded my last class on Friday, I was stuck on campus for an additional two hours. We headed to my parents' house on Saturday to sort what stuff of ours had been stored in their basement, which took a good chunk of the afternoon. I then helped Bobby change the oil in each of our cars. After church and lunch on Sunday, we helped Joyce rearrange the beds in her house.
All was not work, though; I found time on Friday and Saturday nights to play some video games with Sandi's brother Chuck and his daughter Haley. If you happened to watch me wander about a Ghost Recon or Halo 3 map dispassionately dumping ammunition into my many, many foes, you might find my real-life pacifism somewhat confusing. I also toyed with X-Men Legends II on Sunday afternoon -- coming close to bringing the game back to Tennessee with us that night.
We spent today relaxing. Well, except for the 7:00 AM alarm for me to get to Paws & Claws to pick up the Big Bazooka . . . and the bins that needed to go to the basement . . . and the load of laundry . . . and the dishes that needed to be washed. Other than those things, we relaxed with Final Fantasy XII and sitcoms on the idiot box . . . and the pizza and taco salads we had for meals. I told you -- pure relaxation.
Since I am blessedly free of papers for a few days, I hope to post some more as the week progresses. Take care, folks!
All was not work, though; I found time on Friday and Saturday nights to play some video games with Sandi's brother Chuck and his daughter Haley. If you happened to watch me wander about a Ghost Recon or Halo 3 map dispassionately dumping ammunition into my many, many foes, you might find my real-life pacifism somewhat confusing. I also toyed with X-Men Legends II on Sunday afternoon -- coming close to bringing the game back to Tennessee with us that night.
We spent today relaxing. Well, except for the 7:00 AM alarm for me to get to Paws & Claws to pick up the Big Bazooka . . . and the bins that needed to go to the basement . . . and the load of laundry . . . and the dishes that needed to be washed. Other than those things, we relaxed with Final Fantasy XII and sitcoms on the idiot box . . . and the pizza and taco salads we had for meals. I told you -- pure relaxation.
Since I am blessedly free of papers for a few days, I hope to post some more as the week progresses. Take care, folks!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Erm . . . Thank You?
A few years back, I saw some commercials which featured people getting into massive trouble (by, for instance, asking a non-pregnant woman when her baby is due) and exonerating themselves by expressing gratitude for -- something. Since it has been two full weeks since I last said anything about our lives, I feel in much the same boat. Hopefully explaining the title does nothing to mitigate the flow of magic from those two little words.
I was prepared to write something last Sunday, but I was waylaid by a migraine as I awoke that morning. I spent most of the week frantically striving to stay afloat a huge mound of papers; the fact that two of my three classes required corrections on their first tests is the main culprit for my struggles. We are approaching spring break at King, so Sandi and I are planning a trip to North Carolina as a brief but welcome getaway.
As usual, we headed to Knoxville for a waiting families meeting on Tuesday. I really look forward to the 'icebreaker' introductory questions Mark asks us at each meeting, and this one was a real hoot: if we could be a superhero, who would we be and why? To the dismay of virtually no one, I had my answer immediately. As an enormous stickler for rules and such, I find myself drawn to Wolverine as a near-polar opposite. Sandi drew a blank, although I pointed out later that she should have gone with Elastigirl from The Incredibles. Most of the big names, except for one nerdy outlier, got mentioned -- even Aquaman, for crying out loud. Once the meeting was officially underway, we talked about interim care -- a topic Sandi and I had suggested last month. Our guest speaker is part of one of the Knoxville Bethany office's interim care families, who take care of babies between birth and placement. While we do not know what our eventual situation will entail, I can take comfort in knowing that good folks are there in the meantime.
Moving forward to this weekend, we took on the most formidable home-improvement project of our lives. Upon moving into our house, we noted that the bathroom sink had a steady drip, which has since degenerated into a constant trickle of water. Tired of wasting gallons of hydrogen hydroxide every day, we set out to fix the blasted thing once Sandi got off work on Saturday. In another episode of 'who built this place?', we had a nonstandard faucet setup. After two trips to Lowe's, our mission shifted from fixing the leak to replacing the wretched fixture. As I crawled into the too-small cabinet under the sink, I found to my dismay that our house's water shutoff does not really act as advertised; this put my work on a strict timetable. I am proud to say, however, that we now have a functional and non-leaking faucet in the bathroom. Yay for progress!
I think that catches you up on our lives over the past two weeks. Have a great week of your own, everyone!
Seriously -- Aquaman?!?
I was prepared to write something last Sunday, but I was waylaid by a migraine as I awoke that morning. I spent most of the week frantically striving to stay afloat a huge mound of papers; the fact that two of my three classes required corrections on their first tests is the main culprit for my struggles. We are approaching spring break at King, so Sandi and I are planning a trip to North Carolina as a brief but welcome getaway.
As usual, we headed to Knoxville for a waiting families meeting on Tuesday. I really look forward to the 'icebreaker' introductory questions Mark asks us at each meeting, and this one was a real hoot: if we could be a superhero, who would we be and why? To the dismay of virtually no one, I had my answer immediately. As an enormous stickler for rules and such, I find myself drawn to Wolverine as a near-polar opposite. Sandi drew a blank, although I pointed out later that she should have gone with Elastigirl from The Incredibles. Most of the big names, except for one nerdy outlier, got mentioned -- even Aquaman, for crying out loud. Once the meeting was officially underway, we talked about interim care -- a topic Sandi and I had suggested last month. Our guest speaker is part of one of the Knoxville Bethany office's interim care families, who take care of babies between birth and placement. While we do not know what our eventual situation will entail, I can take comfort in knowing that good folks are there in the meantime.
Moving forward to this weekend, we took on the most formidable home-improvement project of our lives. Upon moving into our house, we noted that the bathroom sink had a steady drip, which has since degenerated into a constant trickle of water. Tired of wasting gallons of hydrogen hydroxide every day, we set out to fix the blasted thing once Sandi got off work on Saturday. In another episode of 'who built this place?', we had a nonstandard faucet setup. After two trips to Lowe's, our mission shifted from fixing the leak to replacing the wretched fixture. As I crawled into the too-small cabinet under the sink, I found to my dismay that our house's water shutoff does not really act as advertised; this put my work on a strict timetable. I am proud to say, however, that we now have a functional and non-leaking faucet in the bathroom. Yay for progress!
I think that catches you up on our lives over the past two weeks. Have a great week of your own, everyone!
Seriously -- Aquaman?!?
Monday, February 16, 2009
The Thrill of Repetition
In most fields of human endeavor, there are a select few people on the frontiers, pushing the boundaries of what can be done and occasionally challenging a paradigm or two. You know -- guys like Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Einstein, and Chuck Norris. These trailblazers do the heavy lifting of our development. Then there are the rest of us, whose lives are dedicated to filling in a corner or two. I fall soundly in the latter camp, although I once had aspirations of the former. Making matters even worse, I find myself immensely excited over stuff the rest of the world takes for granted.
As a demonstration, I spent most of my non-grading time last week writing a piece of computer code to approximate solutions to an equation using Euler's method (the man's name is 'oiler,' by the way -- pronounce it like the first fifteen seconds of this at your own peril). I felt like some sort of savant, despite the fact that no self-respecting person past his or her junior year would ever use this scheme for anything that matters. In defense of arguably the most prolific mathematician of all time, he developed this technique centuries ago, and the method is still a valuable pedagogical tool. Unfortunately, no such argument can be made for me. This pattern repeats; I became similarly ecstatic last fall when I generated code to perform straightforward calculations.
Maybe a part of me enjoys simply playing around with computer programming. After all, I did minor in computer science. I am also a student of a person who gets a charge from things like this. Dr. Page, my undergraduate calculus professor (and in many ways, the model for my teaching style), displayed great pride in a program which seemed to duplicate one of our graphing calculators' built-in commands.
Be careful if you are around me for a long time. It would seem that this disease is communicable. Sandi and I have been participating in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University for the past several weeks, and part of the package is ninety days of access to his website's budgeting and financial tools. We spent most of Sunday afternoon recreating these tools within an Excel spreadsheet. This followed a Saturday dominated by the license board from Final Fantasy XII. What sort of nerds are we, anyway?
Have a great week, and go buy some Lysol® before you catch the bug!
As a demonstration, I spent most of my non-grading time last week writing a piece of computer code to approximate solutions to an equation using Euler's method (the man's name is 'oiler,' by the way -- pronounce it like the first fifteen seconds of this at your own peril). I felt like some sort of savant, despite the fact that no self-respecting person past his or her junior year would ever use this scheme for anything that matters. In defense of arguably the most prolific mathematician of all time, he developed this technique centuries ago, and the method is still a valuable pedagogical tool. Unfortunately, no such argument can be made for me. This pattern repeats; I became similarly ecstatic last fall when I generated code to perform straightforward calculations.
Maybe a part of me enjoys simply playing around with computer programming. After all, I did minor in computer science. I am also a student of a person who gets a charge from things like this. Dr. Page, my undergraduate calculus professor (and in many ways, the model for my teaching style), displayed great pride in a program which seemed to duplicate one of our graphing calculators' built-in commands.
Be careful if you are around me for a long time. It would seem that this disease is communicable. Sandi and I have been participating in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University for the past several weeks, and part of the package is ninety days of access to his website's budgeting and financial tools. We spent most of Sunday afternoon recreating these tools within an Excel spreadsheet. This followed a Saturday dominated by the license board from Final Fantasy XII. What sort of nerds are we, anyway?
Have a great week, and go buy some Lysol® before you catch the bug!
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Power of the Intertubes
We had another relatively quiet weekend, filled with everyday things like laundry and our PlayStation 2. We had a slight -- almost microscopic, really -- windfall from the sale of Sandi's remaining rubber stamp collection, which gave us the opportunity to go out to eat on Saturday. This was a fortuitous circumstance, as Sandi has had a craving for Fatz Café salads for the better part of two weeks. One of my former students was our server, and she described me as an 'awesome' teacher. Wow, that sounded less arrogant in my head.
I have mentioned previously that we have put one of our cars up for sale. I have also promised myself that no tears will be shed, but that is beside the point. We posted the car at craigslist.com and have gotten a fair bit of interest from the site. Recalling a suggestion from our home inspector, we also posted our oil tank in the 'for free' section. What oil tank, you say? At some point in the past, whoever owned our house evidently had taken it upon himself/herself to heat half the block for several winters at a time. Our heat pump made the thing obsolete, but its ludicrous bulk left it as a hideous five-hundred-gallon fixture beside the house. A couple of guys in the area contacted us and agreed to haul it off our property so that they could use it for a furnace. While the initial contact was made last week, climatic conditions forced us to wait until today for the removal.
This evening, the guys came by with a Bobcat to make the pickup. None of us really expected the hijinks which ensued. For starters, the beast was buried close to a foot into the ground, which added something like six tons (more or less) to its mass. We also have a very narrow channel of real estate leading from the side of the house to the road. To make matters worse, the ground around the tank is still a bit damp from last week's precipitation, so the Bobcat could find no purchase as it tried to drag the tank upward. Moreover, we probably still had thirty or so gallons of oil inside the stupid thing, which makes me thankful for safety and lack of explosions over the past eighteen months. The whole operation took about an hour, but the monstrosity is no longer our problem. I have a newfound respect for what two good old boys and a Bobcat can accomplish. In other news, hooray for this guy for all the help in this transaction!
I have some other stuff to do before bed, so I bid you adieu here. Um . . . adieu. Seriously, this is it. Get off the lawn!
I have mentioned previously that we have put one of our cars up for sale. I have also promised myself that no tears will be shed, but that is beside the point. We posted the car at craigslist.com and have gotten a fair bit of interest from the site. Recalling a suggestion from our home inspector, we also posted our oil tank in the 'for free' section. What oil tank, you say? At some point in the past, whoever owned our house evidently had taken it upon himself/herself to heat half the block for several winters at a time. Our heat pump made the thing obsolete, but its ludicrous bulk left it as a hideous five-hundred-gallon fixture beside the house. A couple of guys in the area contacted us and agreed to haul it off our property so that they could use it for a furnace. While the initial contact was made last week, climatic conditions forced us to wait until today for the removal.
This evening, the guys came by with a Bobcat to make the pickup. None of us really expected the hijinks which ensued. For starters, the beast was buried close to a foot into the ground, which added something like six tons (more or less) to its mass. We also have a very narrow channel of real estate leading from the side of the house to the road. To make matters worse, the ground around the tank is still a bit damp from last week's precipitation, so the Bobcat could find no purchase as it tried to drag the tank upward. Moreover, we probably still had thirty or so gallons of oil inside the stupid thing, which makes me thankful for safety and lack of explosions over the past eighteen months. The whole operation took about an hour, but the monstrosity is no longer our problem. I have a newfound respect for what two good old boys and a Bobcat can accomplish. In other news, hooray for this guy for all the help in this transaction!
I have some other stuff to do before bed, so I bid you adieu here. Um . . . adieu. Seriously, this is it. Get off the lawn!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Keep It Together, Man
I am sorry for having to step away for a moment. Sandi can vouch for how close I feel to that car.
Our weekend was uneventful yet productive. We caught up on laundry and the dishes, ate out within our budget, and still had several hours to just chill with Final Fantasy XII. That last bit was all thanks to Sandi, as either the laundry or the dishes can easily take up a whole day if I tend to it by myself. I have to find out why I drag that stuff out so much.
It is time for tests in my classes, so I was in the office until late this evening writing up the first of the beasts. Oddly enough, the hardest one to write will probably be the one for my calculus class, because my time at Virginia Tech never gave me the chance to write a test for that material. I have found that getting the initial skeleton of the test in place takes longer than working from the blueprint for future classes. Have any other teachers noticed this?
The weather caused a delay at King this morning, and there may be yet another tomorrow. It has the side benefit of making my walks home from the office prettier -- if more frigid. Moreover, the snow and cold strand Ranger indoors, which taxes all our nerves. I came home tonight to a rearranged living room, whose origins lie in blocking his view of us from his kennel. Sandi wants to do more, but the current electrical and cable configurations stand at odds with her vision.
Wish me luck as I administer and grade stuff for the next week and a half. Take care and be safe, everyone!
Our weekend was uneventful yet productive. We caught up on laundry and the dishes, ate out within our budget, and still had several hours to just chill with Final Fantasy XII. That last bit was all thanks to Sandi, as either the laundry or the dishes can easily take up a whole day if I tend to it by myself. I have to find out why I drag that stuff out so much.
It is time for tests in my classes, so I was in the office until late this evening writing up the first of the beasts. Oddly enough, the hardest one to write will probably be the one for my calculus class, because my time at Virginia Tech never gave me the chance to write a test for that material. I have found that getting the initial skeleton of the test in place takes longer than working from the blueprint for future classes. Have any other teachers noticed this?
The weather caused a delay at King this morning, and there may be yet another tomorrow. It has the side benefit of making my walks home from the office prettier -- if more frigid. Moreover, the snow and cold strand Ranger indoors, which taxes all our nerves. I came home tonight to a rearranged living room, whose origins lie in blocking his view of us from his kennel. Sandi wants to do more, but the current electrical and cable configurations stand at odds with her vision.
Wish me luck as I administer and grade stuff for the next week and a half. Take care and be safe, everyone!
If You Love Something . . .
Very little of consequence has occurred around here of late, with the exception of a momentous decision on my part. Caesar and the Rubicon have nothing on this, I tell you. I have . . . bear with me here . . . I have . . . this is really tough to say . . . I have put my beloved Saturn, Wayfarer, up for sale. With my walking to campus, the poor thing has just been sitting idle in our driveway for weeks at a time. I think I drove her somewhere once in the entire month of January, and she deserves better than that. If you know someone with a lot of love in his or her heart who needs a dependable car, let us know.
Um, would you excuse me for a moment? I think I have something in my eye.
Um, would you excuse me for a moment? I think I have something in my eye.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
That's Incredible!
There are no crazy stunts or video game competitions, but you do get two posts in a single week. You can thank me later -- with whatever denomination of dollar bill you see fit.
Our second waiting families meeting of the week was held in the new co-op building in which Bethany will house the office of Julie, our home study writer. The setup there will be pretty sweet when it is completely ready; they have a little café area, several meeting rooms, a big conference room, a library (complete with a copy of Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, although I could not locate Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands a Verdict on the shelves), and at least two (2) jars of Smucker's® jelly. We had a bit of trouble finding the place because that area of Johnson City features several roads which vanish for a while and then resurface on the opposite side of your current street. In our hometown, this is known as 'pulling a Clemmonsville Road.'
The meeting's topic was the hospital experience. Our guest speaker tonight is a social worker with the Holston Valley Medical Group, who has worked with Julie for a while. While much useful information was dispensed, something near the beginning of the discussion somewhat sent me into a place academics like myself call 'la-la land.' Part of the paperwork birthmothers fill out at the hospital authorize adoptive parents to do things such as feed the baby without the presence of hospital staff; without this, someone would have to be in the room in case we were to do something like, oh, drop the baby. At this stage, I must explain that I have an intense, irrational fear of baby-dropping. Seriously -- I have nightmares where I drop my child and am instantly ostracized by the entire planet as a baby-dropper, complete with fingers pointed in my direction. In the worst scenarios, a social services worker is actually parachuted to my location to get the infant away from my obviously perilous mitts. This problem of mine has arisen at previous meetings, and everyone is quick to assure me that I will not drop my child and that children are pretty resilient. After my ears took in the words 'drop' and 'baby' tonight, the gears were set in motion, resulting in a burning desire to ask what would happen if we were to drop our baby in the hospital. While folks once again tried to calm my doubts, I did notice that my question was never really answered.
Between shudders at the thought of the cry 'baby-dropper,' I was able to determine that hospitals (at least the one where our speaker works) do their best to accommodate adoptive parents during the birth. However, the hospital is not under Bethany's control, so we must be prepared for unexpected complications and general wackiness. For instance, the birthmother's confidentiality can easily be compromised if we get slapped with wristbands containing her full name. There is also a risk that the birthmother could change her mind about the adoption plan while in the hospital, with us in the next room. While we have no need to dwell on these possibilities when there is a perfectly good chance of my dropping the baby, we have to be prepared.
In closing, I need to issue an errata to my last post. The Knoxville Bethany office made sixteen domestic adoption placements last year, rather than the seventeen I claimed. I would have simply edited the post itself, but I thought it good for posterity to see that I am fallible. So little evidence presents itself, after all.
Stop laughing!
Our second waiting families meeting of the week was held in the new co-op building in which Bethany will house the office of Julie, our home study writer. The setup there will be pretty sweet when it is completely ready; they have a little café area, several meeting rooms, a big conference room, a library (complete with a copy of Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, although I could not locate Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands a Verdict on the shelves), and at least two (2) jars of Smucker's® jelly. We had a bit of trouble finding the place because that area of Johnson City features several roads which vanish for a while and then resurface on the opposite side of your current street. In our hometown, this is known as 'pulling a Clemmonsville Road.'
The meeting's topic was the hospital experience. Our guest speaker tonight is a social worker with the Holston Valley Medical Group, who has worked with Julie for a while. While much useful information was dispensed, something near the beginning of the discussion somewhat sent me into a place academics like myself call 'la-la land.' Part of the paperwork birthmothers fill out at the hospital authorize adoptive parents to do things such as feed the baby without the presence of hospital staff; without this, someone would have to be in the room in case we were to do something like, oh, drop the baby. At this stage, I must explain that I have an intense, irrational fear of baby-dropping. Seriously -- I have nightmares where I drop my child and am instantly ostracized by the entire planet as a baby-dropper, complete with fingers pointed in my direction. In the worst scenarios, a social services worker is actually parachuted to my location to get the infant away from my obviously perilous mitts. This problem of mine has arisen at previous meetings, and everyone is quick to assure me that I will not drop my child and that children are pretty resilient. After my ears took in the words 'drop' and 'baby' tonight, the gears were set in motion, resulting in a burning desire to ask what would happen if we were to drop our baby in the hospital. While folks once again tried to calm my doubts, I did notice that my question was never really answered.
Between shudders at the thought of the cry 'baby-dropper,' I was able to determine that hospitals (at least the one where our speaker works) do their best to accommodate adoptive parents during the birth. However, the hospital is not under Bethany's control, so we must be prepared for unexpected complications and general wackiness. For instance, the birthmother's confidentiality can easily be compromised if we get slapped with wristbands containing her full name. There is also a risk that the birthmother could change her mind about the adoption plan while in the hospital, with us in the next room. While we have no need to dwell on these possibilities when there is a perfectly good chance of my dropping the baby, we have to be prepared.
In closing, I need to issue an errata to my last post. The Knoxville Bethany office made sixteen domestic adoption placements last year, rather than the seventeen I claimed. I would have simply edited the post itself, but I thought it good for posterity to see that I am fallible. So little evidence presents itself, after all.
Stop laughing!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Look -- Something Adoption-Related!
For the first time in a while, Sandi was off work this past Saturday. We had invited my parents to visit once we knew of this beauteous happenstance, and confirmation came on Friday morning. As an added bonus, my aunt, uncle, and grandmother were also coming to see the house for the first time. My uncle had technically seen the house, since he helped us move, but I digress. We had a great visit and look forward to the next time the gang can get together in our neck of the woods.
I can hear your collective voices now: "What does any of that have to do with adoption?!?" "Do you not know me any better by now?" comes the wicked riposte. Anyway, this week features not one, but two waiting families meetings. Tonight had us journeying to Knoxville to hear the story of an adult adoptee, from what are sometimes called the 'dark ages' of the adoption process. If Dawn's case is typical, the name should be 'inky pitch black lightless abyssal ages.'
Her birthmother did not want to place her for adoption; both her adoptive and biological parents received patently false information about each other; there was no follow-up counseling of any kind. Anyone who knows me well knows how well I handle dishonesty, but perhaps the most telling evidence is a copy of records Dawn requested for medical purposes. Any identifying information on the papers is methodically cut out with scissors. Could they have made it seem any more like something was missing from the woman's life? When people get wistful about the good old days, they seldom remember that things like this happened. Or things like this and these, for that matter.
While the story above is somewhat less than heartwarming, my indignation was blended with a profound sense of gratitude for the care Bethany takes in dealing with birthmothers and adoptive families. The mountain of paperwork we had to submit seems quite worthwhile now. On another positive note, the Knoxville office has already placed two younglings this year, after seventeen placements last year. Go God!
Look for further updates on our Thursday meeting in Johnson City. Have a good one, folks!
I can hear your collective voices now: "What does any of that have to do with adoption?!?" "Do you not know me any better by now?" comes the wicked riposte. Anyway, this week features not one, but two waiting families meetings. Tonight had us journeying to Knoxville to hear the story of an adult adoptee, from what are sometimes called the 'dark ages' of the adoption process. If Dawn's case is typical, the name should be 'inky pitch black lightless abyssal ages.'
Her birthmother did not want to place her for adoption; both her adoptive and biological parents received patently false information about each other; there was no follow-up counseling of any kind. Anyone who knows me well knows how well I handle dishonesty, but perhaps the most telling evidence is a copy of records Dawn requested for medical purposes. Any identifying information on the papers is methodically cut out with scissors. Could they have made it seem any more like something was missing from the woman's life? When people get wistful about the good old days, they seldom remember that things like this happened. Or things like this and these, for that matter.
While the story above is somewhat less than heartwarming, my indignation was blended with a profound sense of gratitude for the care Bethany takes in dealing with birthmothers and adoptive families. The mountain of paperwork we had to submit seems quite worthwhile now. On another positive note, the Knoxville office has already placed two younglings this year, after seventeen placements last year. Go God!
Look for further updates on our Thursday meeting in Johnson City. Have a good one, folks!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Out of the Gate
We are now one week into the new semester at King, which means my class rolls might finally snap into something permanent. I am teaching one section of Calculus I, Differential Equations, and a topics course in analysis. It has been several years since I last taught first-semester calculus, so I had to go rummaging through the last of our boxes from the move to find my old lesson plans. That had the unexpected benefit of unearthing the power supply to my own personal soda machine. You read that right -- Phil's office has its own vending services. I am that awesome. My analysis class should be interesting, as the textbook I chose gives some historical motivation for the stuff we see in those abstract first-year graduate courses that leave almost everyone at sea. If your interest is piqued, take a look at David Bressoud's A Radical Approach to Lebesgue's Theory of Integration. Go over to amazon.com; I can wait.
Sandi had to work this weekend, but we had some time to spend together in the afternoon. She had been home sick from work on Thursday, when she had started sewing a miniature blanket from remnants of her previous quilting endeavors. Its size upon completion made its utility somewhat questionable, so we decided it would be better off as a pillow. Our time after church on Sunday was filled with the most glorious of all possible weekend activities; I speak, of course, of an afternoon nap.
Those of you who know me well have most likely noticed that my writing here is conspicuously devoid of information about my hobby of games, be they electronic or tabletop. In an effort to keep this about our family experience, I shunted my ramblings on my beloved pastime to another blog, which you can find here. Sandi also included a link to my blog on the sidebar, although I was apparently unable to unseat Steven Curtis Chapman atop the list. We will discuss that at some other time.
I am seriously tired right now, so I should probably stop writing before I say something silly -- well, sillier than usual. Have a great week, everybody!
Sandi had to work this weekend, but we had some time to spend together in the afternoon. She had been home sick from work on Thursday, when she had started sewing a miniature blanket from remnants of her previous quilting endeavors. Its size upon completion made its utility somewhat questionable, so we decided it would be better off as a pillow. Our time after church on Sunday was filled with the most glorious of all possible weekend activities; I speak, of course, of an afternoon nap.
Those of you who know me well have most likely noticed that my writing here is conspicuously devoid of information about my hobby of games, be they electronic or tabletop. In an effort to keep this about our family experience, I shunted my ramblings on my beloved pastime to another blog, which you can find here. Sandi also included a link to my blog on the sidebar, although I was apparently unable to unseat Steven Curtis Chapman atop the list. We will discuss that at some other time.
I am seriously tired right now, so I should probably stop writing before I say something silly -- well, sillier than usual. Have a great week, everybody!
Monday, January 12, 2009
I Forgot to Mention . . .
My brother-in-law Stephen sent me a link to an article in the Wall Street Journal last week, which in turn led here. Take special care to note the top job on their list, and try to withhold your envy. As it turns out, Mel Brooks was right. It is good to be the king!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Preparations
Our week was largely uneventful -- and wet. Since eastern Tennessee has been in a drought for most of the time we have lived in the area, I tend to shy away from complaining when rain arrives. However, the necessity of keeping the Big Bazooka indoors during the scads of precipitation that have fallen of late stretched all our nerves quite thin. Things were serious enough that I took Ranger for a walk while it was still drizzling. Good times.
Classes begin at King on Tuesday, so I have returned to the office in the daylight hours. We are in the process of amending the core curriculum (you might hear it called the general education curriculum elsewhere), which means the department needs to massage some of its lower-level courses to better fit what is to come. As a no-longer-newbie, I get to shoulder some of this responsibility while teaching my current courses and hurling myself back into my research. Strangely enough, I am looking forward to this semester.
God smiled upon our little household this weekend, for not only was Sandi off work, but the weather cleared sufficiently for Ranger to get some time outdoors. We greatly enjoyed doing absolutely nothing of import yesterday; our time was spent playing Blue Dragon on our Xbox 360. This morning, we tried out a new church, which we will visit again next week. We then went to Lowe's to buy an electric fireplace insert and proceeded to laze about the house for the remainder of the day.
Wish us luck as the new semester takes flight. Have a great week, everyone!
Classes begin at King on Tuesday, so I have returned to the office in the daylight hours. We are in the process of amending the core curriculum (you might hear it called the general education curriculum elsewhere), which means the department needs to massage some of its lower-level courses to better fit what is to come. As a no-longer-newbie, I get to shoulder some of this responsibility while teaching my current courses and hurling myself back into my research. Strangely enough, I am looking forward to this semester.
God smiled upon our little household this weekend, for not only was Sandi off work, but the weather cleared sufficiently for Ranger to get some time outdoors. We greatly enjoyed doing absolutely nothing of import yesterday; our time was spent playing Blue Dragon on our Xbox 360. This morning, we tried out a new church, which we will visit again next week. We then went to Lowe's to buy an electric fireplace insert and proceeded to laze about the house for the remainder of the day.
Wish us luck as the new semester takes flight. Have a great week, everyone!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
With Three You Get New Year
I apologize for the lack of updates, but the days following the Christmas holiday have been quite full for the Carroll household. Tomorrow, we will have to get back into whatever will compose the 'swing of things' for this brave new year.
In a much-welcomed snub of our longstanding New Year's traditions, we had company. Joyce and our niece Haley traveled up here from North Carolina, along with B.J., to celebrate the dawn of an arbitrarily-assigned new orbital period for planet Earth. The arrival of guests meant, of course, that I spent the first half of the week straightening up the house for the occasion. Our little house was quite full from Wednesday afternoon until Saturday morning, when the sojourners returned home. Despite the fact that Joyce and Haley were here for almost three full days, I find myself at a loss for writing material in hindsight. Perhaps Tolkien was right when he wrote in The Hobbit that "things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to." We loved having them stay here and look forward to their next visit.
We spent this afternoon changing the feet of our new loveseat. I always do enjoy ham; I would eat it on a tram -- wait, where was I again? Anyway, the thing originally came with these skinny spindle feet that we knew would frown on our constant sliding of furniture. Yesterday evening, one of them finally had enough and walked out on the rest of the piece. At this juncture, we decided we might as well get some completely new feet made of sterner stuff. Other than that, the day has been fairly quiet. Sandi awakened to an upset stomach, while rainy weather has stranded Ranger inside to build up massive stockpiles of energy; a walk will most likely be in order tomorrow afternoon.
Happy New Year, everybody!
In a much-welcomed snub of our longstanding New Year's traditions, we had company. Joyce and our niece Haley traveled up here from North Carolina, along with B.J., to celebrate the dawn of an arbitrarily-assigned new orbital period for planet Earth. The arrival of guests meant, of course, that I spent the first half of the week straightening up the house for the occasion. Our little house was quite full from Wednesday afternoon until Saturday morning, when the sojourners returned home. Despite the fact that Joyce and Haley were here for almost three full days, I find myself at a loss for writing material in hindsight. Perhaps Tolkien was right when he wrote in The Hobbit that "things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to." We loved having them stay here and look forward to their next visit.
We spent this afternoon changing the feet of our new loveseat. I always do enjoy ham; I would eat it on a tram -- wait, where was I again? Anyway, the thing originally came with these skinny spindle feet that we knew would frown on our constant sliding of furniture. Yesterday evening, one of them finally had enough and walked out on the rest of the piece. At this juncture, we decided we might as well get some completely new feet made of sterner stuff. Other than that, the day has been fairly quiet. Sandi awakened to an upset stomach, while rainy weather has stranded Ranger inside to build up massive stockpiles of energy; a walk will most likely be in order tomorrow afternoon.
Happy New Year, everybody!
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