Month: October 2005




  • A long but fruitful weekend! Somewhere in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, or Wisconsin, I thought about how it takes more and more for me to feel like I did something in a day. Today’s bound to be a letdown – I’m only making it to Illinois today. *sigh* I’ll figure this out.

    My granddad is moving into his new apartment at a beautiful independent living space, and it was great to sit down with family from New York and just talk for a while… My cousin Luke and I hadn’t seen each other before our 18 hour Penske-rental-truck adventure this weekend since 2002, but we put away the miles like crazy. I’ve got some good pictures to post from all of it, but first…the Monday morning meeting.

  • A tuberous begonia against a paper birch.

    It was a crazy-productive day today! I’m
    leaving in 3 hours for New York to do lunch with my buddy Matt then hop
    in a moving truck and drive back to Milwaukee. Should be fun! Once I’m
    back, I just have a few more hours to drive to Waupaca to do some
    grading work and lots of chainsaw work! Always an adventure… never a
    dull moment.

    Entertainment options while Esther is in town next weekend:

    1. G Love & Special Sauce at The Rave
    2. Rembrandt and His Time Exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum
    3. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - she’s never seen any of them!
    4. Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker at the Pabst Theatre
    5. Fill in the blank: _________

  • A sugar maple leaf I caught in mid-air today.



  • Posting one of those posts I never read – an update to update, but I thought I might as well!



    Today I studied for a mid-term and took it. Hopefully I got an A – I
    spent 4 minutes studying for it. Chris asked me a good question last
    night. Why am I paying $20,000 over two years for a degree that I’m not
    working for, studying for, stressing over, or….horrors!….learning?
    Yes it is for a piece of paper, and yes, I think I’m learning things in
    the process. By and large, what I’m getting out of this degree I could
    have just read in a couple of books, but for some reason, I find the
    idea of spending enough to buy an okay car to be better than reading
    books. The redeeming values are really the people aspects. If I hadn’t
    started the program, I wouldn’t have met Pete, who wouldn’t have
    introduced me to Xanga, and I easily would have never met Esther. So,
    yeah, I’m glad I’m getting a master’s degree. Truthfully, though, this
    is super-easy graduate work. Easier than undergrad, but since I did
    next-to-nothing as an undergrad, it’s not saying a whole lot!



    My eBay habit is soaking up my Internet time. Sorry! But it’s rewarding
    and temporary…I’m already getting bored spending thousands of dollars
    of company money.     Some good buys like a biometric time clock,
    a laser printer, a color printer/copier, memory, and a tuner for the
    girls’ violins. Final thought…going to bed early is the only way I
    can consistently get to work on time – Crawford slang for within an
    hour of the designated time!

  • Double Wedding Trouble


    At this point, it’s full-blown wedding
    season for me. Sitting, standing, crashing, there are more weddings to
    show up for than weekends these days. This past weekend included two
    weddings on Saturday which proved to be amusing logistically, but
    Amanda graciously agreed to put up with the meandering party trail.

    First up were two friends from Stevens Point, so my buddy Lehnert was
    my alternate date for that wedding. Trying to look my best, I did get
    several hairs cut in advance and wore my bestest wedding suit that I
    bought the for the dinner Chris proposed to Cassie. At the reception
    for this wedding, the bride and groom pulled names of couples in
    attendance and required that they kiss – then the bride and groom would
    then and only then kiss – exactly the way that couple had. People
    would dip, kiss for an inordinately long period of time (PS: ever
    notice when text messaging on your phone that “lips” and “kiss” use the
    same numbers on the phone keypad?), but the people at my table had to
    out do everyone.

    Witness: Lehnert takes a sip. Transfers to Dawn. Dawn transfers to
    Bill. Bill transfers to his girlfriend, who conveniently spits it back
    in the cup. Hilarious – just look at the people behind us. The wedding
    party tried to repeat…but they didn’t realize that it was a gag on
    them – the first and last person take sips to make it look like there actually was a transfer!




    Wedding Saga Part Two:     So
    in between all of that, I went to Robert and Cynthia’s wedding
    (pictured above left) at Doctor’s Park on the lake (Lake Michigan – the one
    you can’t see across). The setting was beautiful but windy, and it started with Matt playing the piano and singing with Jessica. I’d post the video, but it didn’t turn out so well.

    Chris and Cassie will have their turn soon… Matt getting kissed by
    Ricky – lots of kissing! Wow! And Pastor Aaron about ready to chow down
    on that rose!






    At the reception, Marcy‘s family got wild, so did those same love birds.

    At the end of the night, I rediscovered the bubbles from the first wedding, and the flower girl’s night was set. So was mine.


  • Christina
    is home! She is nestled in the music room where there are French doors
    to keep out the noise, but she’s close to everything being on the first
    floor. Her cast goes up the length of her leg, but it doesn’t even hit
    her hip. In a couple of weeks, she’ll get it cut down below the knee
    which is exciting for her. The surgeon actually rotated her left leg
    outward into a straight line, cut and lengthened her heel cord
    (Achilles tendon), moved her heel bone, and injected Botox into her
    hamstring to relax it. The cast is supposed to stick around for 6-8
    weeks.

    Thank you for your prayers and support! She read all the comments and
    loved them! At this point, she’s sleeping a lot and watching movies or
    just relaxing with her siblings. Joe was playing the piano for her
    today. As you’ll see below, we also were making fools out of ourselves
    in the room with her…

    I had a haircut. Definitely look younger,
    but it may just be the immature poses. Won’t this be great material
    when I’m running for office someday. My shirt was $20 at Gap, the
    haircut was $16 plus tip, and the bowling shoes were $18. Sorry, no pics of the shoes yet. Joe and Zoe and I shopped at Mayfair Mall
    on Sunday, picking up some sweet bargains. Playing the TV fashionistos,
    Joe and I set up Zoe with two cute cute pairs of embroidered jeans and
    an embroidered sweater – all for $12.99 each. Joe snagged what he’s
    wearing below plus a sweater for under $50 too. Always fun with the
    self-proclaimed O-eys!

    Chrysanthemums.

    Victoria Zoe.

    Photographs.

  • Tomorrow morning at 6am, my little sister will be undergoing a complicated surgery to correct her gait in an operation called hip varus osteotomy or derotational osteotomy.
    Basically, her left leg and hip are not aligned the way they should be,
    and it causes her foot to turn inward and makes it harder to walk and
    run. It’s a big deal for her! While she’s looking forward to fewer
    trips and falls and less wear and tear on her foot and body, it means
    at least 6 weeks in a cast up to her waist or casts on both legs
    connected by a rod to immobilize them.

    Christina has had other operations since she was born with a mild case
    of cerebral palsy, but this is the biggest one yet…and still not a
    very well known operation. Not experimental, but certainly not common.
    From what I could make sense of it, the procedure involves cutting out
    bone in the hip socket to make the femur seat itself correctly. She’s
    also getting her foot operated on to grind down some bone there too,
    making this a 7 or 8 hour surgery. It’s supposed to be extremely
    painful, and she’ll be on a morphine drip. So…please pray for her!
    And our mom!

    If you’ve ever met Christina, you know she’s an incredible joy and a
    bucket of sunshine. I wrote this on my old blog back in March:

    My sister Christina turned 12 today! We shared a great family time
    talking at the table after her birthday dinner about her early moments
    of life. My mom touching her for a moment before she was wisked away to
    the NICU to stay in a plastic incubator until after a couple of weeks
    she could move into a regular hospital room and finally home.

    She
    is an inspiration to live with and an inspiration to so many people
    that meet her. Never ever letting her physical struggles deter her from
    doing what she wants, she has a powerful spirit about her that makes me
    think. I had surgery a couple of times and remember how painful that
    was. She has had many surgeries relating to her premature birth. In
    fact, she’s preparing for another one now. Recently, she’s received
    Botox to relax her leg muscles then gets the leg casted into a
    stretched position, a procedure that’s very painful for her to go
    through. [a separate procedure earlier this year]

    Your courage is motivating and uplifting, and your love
    of God is humbling. Christina, I love you and thank you for all the
    lessons you have taught me.

    Christina reads my site (okay
    everyone in the family does, even Chris on occassion), so whatever you
    post, she’ll see – and I can print this out and bring it to the
    hospital since she’ll be there for a couple of days.

    I’m gonna go buy her some animal posters she wanted off of AllPosters.com!

    Whoa, I made a number of errors
    in this entry….that my MOM took the liberty of correcting! She signed
    up on Xanga today so she could leave the comments… Woo Woo!

    Can’t….stop….making….shirts….and hoodies?

  • “Esther Falls Off Chair Towards Camera”

    Last week on Monday, Esther and I tossed
    around the idea of me flying out for the weekend… She found a great
    deal, and I said why not. God knows how to time things because in the
    morning, she found out her dad took a turn for the worse as his body
    was shutting down from cancer. Kristen
    dropped me off at the airport at 4:30a on Friday, and I got to Portland
    by that afternoon. Her sister Donna called to say that their dad had
    stopped breathing. What do you say as you drive all the
    way out there?

    I dropped her off as she wanted and headed back to her apartment. God knows how to time things because her brother, Jonathan,
    knocked on the door with his wife Jennifer. I had no idea who this
    short couple was. I mean, what was I thinking answering the door at
    someone else’s apartment without knowing? Thankfully not being ax
    murderers – either of us – we went out to dinner in Corvallis. The
    whole weekend was like this. Great times punctuated by sad moments.

    It wasn’t until about 2:30a when Esther came back with the news that
    her dad had died. It was bittersweet knowing that he wasn’t in pain any
    longer but in in heaven instead…. I was quiet for a long time. You
    can say that she was prepared for it, that she knew this was coming for
    a long time. Really, though, how can you be. Esther is an amazing
    person. She was every bit herself the whole weekend in a beautiful way.
    I would hope that I would have that same grace.

    God knows. I was praying the whole weekend, and so were many other
    people. I know she’s grateful for that support. On Saturday, we spent
    the day visiting her family and friends. I think they liked me. She has
    a pretty cool family….she really does. Oh, and can I show you the
    t-shirt I made for her?

    Thanks, I really was just looking for an
    excuse to model clothing. (A male model fallen on hard times, okay?)  I had told Esther that if I ever found a
    shirt along these lines, I’d buy one for her, and for her friend Zach
    who’s also dating a boy from Wisconsin… The whole thing seems to be
    entirely more amusing if you’re outside the state pictured.

    On the OSU campus, I snapped this
    troubled car that had gotten thrown up on the curb in a hit-and-run.
    You tend to think, “hahaha that sucks.” Right? End of thought? You
    don’t think that YOUR OWN TRUCK IS BEING ROBBED. Seriously. My truck’s
    tailights were stolen while I was in Oregon. Wh-Why? One of them was
    broken anyways… I was planning on getting them both replaced anyhow,
    but still. It was $200 that I was not planning on spending. Hopefully
    it goes smoothly, they ripped one of the light sockets in the process.

    I leave you with one last picture from the OSU campus that you can
    click for the full version. Through all the joking around this
    past weekend, through all the tears and heart-breaking sadness, there
    were many times that we shared together that were beautiful. Being
    there was the only place to be.

  • Fall colors…they were beautiful today. The sky was gray, even dark, but there was still beauty.


    Today
    the customer was near Port Washington – about a 45 minute drive for me.
    I found that I was being watched closely in this rural area.

    Seriously. Those sleuthing Holsteins
    were intimidating. Unrelenting. Always, always watching. Just a word of
    caution for anyone else going near Port Washington, Wisconsin.

    My friend works at this dealership down
    the road. He’s always puzzled by the car salesmen, and now I am too! I
    took this picture thinking that I may someday find it on
    eBaumsworld.com or CollegeHumor.com! Perhaps I should mention that the
    used car salesmen bought two double wide trailers to work out of in
    their parking lot. What is this? Kentucky? West Virginia?

    You can find plants like this on days like these. But keep looking. These flowers were footsteps away.

    Fall Days 043 crop

    On a sad note, I’m going to Oregon in a couple of hours to see my girlfriend, Esther …

    But the sad news is about her dad. She has updates on her blog.

  • Never pass up an opportunity to pee.