What a Difference

1994 in Review

As Annette and I approach our 15th wedding anniversary on June 4, it prompts us to reflect back on the changes in our lives since that time and to think about what the world was like back in 1994. Here is a glimpse of what was happening in the year we were married:

Major League baseball players strike and the World Series was cancelled as a result

NHL locked out players in a dispute over salaries

Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the back of the knee in January by Tonya Harding’s boyfriend.

Whitewater scandal begins to be investigated

On June 13, 1994 Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were murdered outside Nicole's house in Brentwood, CA. On June 17th, OJ and his friend Al Cowlings took flight from the police in his white Ford Bronco, in a low speed chase which ended up at his mansion where he surrendered.

Republican majority in both houses of Congress is won in the fall elections of 1994

Susan Smith drowned her two sons in South Carolina, and then lied on national television claiming someone kidnapped them.

President Richard Nixon died of a stroke on April 22. He was 81.

Michael Jackson marries Elvis' daughter, Lisa Marie

Hit TV Show Friends Was Released

In 1994 the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed by Mexico, America, and Canada. (Note: NAFTA was signed in 1992. It came into effect Jan 1, 1994)

"Darn" Birds

When we decided to move to our current home outside the city limits of Union we expected to love it completely, but now after more than three years living here Annette and I both recognize the limitations of living outside of town. Going practically anywhere is at least a seven mile journey one way, so it forces us into consolidating trips. Previously we lived inside the city limits, less than a mile from Wal-Mart. That makes for some spontaneous trips at any time of the day or night. No more of that. Now we have dust from a gravel road, no access to cable TV, and I have a summer filled with what seems an unending list of yardwork. But there are many aspects of living here we love very much. I like seeing the occasional deer or turkey, the peace and solitude is wonderful, having a large yard is great, and the house is just exactly the way we designed it, so all in all we come out ahead.

In the spring one of the things I most enjoy is the comfortable temperatures and sleeping with the windows open. I can lie in bed at night and look out my open window and see distant lights of Union and, before the foliage obstructs my view, even lighting from an industrial center in St. Charles County. I really love it. I also love waking up in the morning to the sight of the sun casting warm rays of light on our greening backyard and trees, and I especially enjoy being awakened not necessarily by the alarm clock, but by the beautiful melodies of the songbirds in our yard. Of course, they start very early, like in the five o'clock hour, but what a brilliant time of day. First light on our yard and beautiful music from nature to wake me gently. I can just rest there in bed enjoying the beautiful melodies with my eyes closed, that is, until I hear footsteps pounding over to the window. When I open my still tired eyes I see Annette grabbing onto the window and slinging it shut, then pushing closed the blinds and drapes. "Darn" birds she says with disgust as she marches back to her side of the bed and tries, with no success, to go back to sleep.

When I opened the May 2009 issue of the Missouri Conservationist (which by the way is free to any Missouri resident or $7 annually to non Missouri residents) and found this short article on Missouri Songbirds I had to laugh, and I mean laugh hard, and show it to Annette. I promised her I'd get her the CD and maybe when it gets hot outside and we have to close our windows we can pop in the CD around five a.m. so she doesn't miss her morning wake up call. Of course she laughs about it when I make fun in the evening, but to her it is no joking matter at dawn.

If you're looking for a gift idea for Annette, definitely do NOT get her this CD. Ear plugs might work better.

Author Author

I recently received my alumni magazine from Webster University, which I hardly ever read, but in this issue was a two page layout devoted to alumni authors. I took a double-take when I saw a book which I own and which was written by someone I go to church with. I looked more closely and sure enough, it really was the same book. Micky, who goes to church with me and who has been through a lot in life wrote a book titled Journey to Joy. I haven't read my copy yet but this will probably inspire me to get around to it sooner than later. I guess I'm really lucky that I not only count Micky as a Christian sister but two others from my church are also authors, Kristi Neace and Steve Murrie. I don't have either of their books; Kristi's is for women and Steve's is for kids (Michael has a copy of Steve's and loves it).

As for other things going on with us, we're just in the process of getting ready for the kids to be out of school soon and preparing for vacation in mid-June. Just this week we bought our first item from Craig's List. We're taking our van to Williamsburg, Virginia on vacation so I wanted a car-top luggage carrier to make more space for us. We got it this week and it's pretty spacious and in good shape. (As I picture the luggage carrier on top of our van I can't help but hear the song Holiday Road in my mind from National Lampoon's Vacation).

The kids will be starting swim team soon so you'll be seeing a few pictures of swimming action in the near future. Michael had his last band concert last night. He plays the trumpet but has been rather uninspired in his playing so he won't be continuing on in the 8th grade. On to trying the next thing I suppose!

Girl Scouts In the Paper

Both Abbey and Mae are in the Girl Scouts and in the days leading up to Easter our house was filled with paper sacks decorated like the face of a bunny. Abbey spent a lot of time decorating these bags which were filled with goodies and taken to the local food pantry to be distributed to any family with children who received food from them around Easter. We were surprised to find a photo of this in our local newspaper, The Missourian. You can of course see Abbey on the far left.

Annette is the leader for Mae's Girl Scout troop, carrying on a tradition for the women of her family who have also served in that role. Not only is Annette serving as a Girl Scout leader, but her mother Ruth Ann also served in the same capacity way back in her day (as well as Ruth Ann's sister Sharon), and their mother, who we all know as Gran. It's probably just a matter of time before Abbey or Mae, or both, grow up to serve in the same role. In the meantime we keep on buying our share of Girl Scout cookies, or as I like to call them, "Cholesterol in a box."

Well, we are under threat of tornado right now so I'm going to get this image uploaded and get out of here! Thunder is rumbling in the background.

Best Buds

As we march through the warming days of May and toward June it brings back memories of so many special things that have happened at this time of year, such as the births of two of my children in May, and in early June my marriage to Annette and high school graduation.

Thinking of graduation reminds me this will be 19 years since I graduated (class of 1990) and it naturally made me think of a good friend. I met Bob in my very first class as a freshman in high school. We had Mrs. Groppel’s first hour English class together, and we forged a friendship that has lasted now almost 23 years. Over the years I’ve had a lot of good friends and shared a lot of good times and personal memories with them, but I don’t think any friend stands out more than Bob. From age 14 to 37 and counting, we’ve been friends. He moved to south Florida several years ago but I’ve had the good fortune to visit him three consecutive years, 2006 through 2008, once on a family vacation to Disney and twice because I bought a vehicle from him (he is in the auto auction business). Here we are pictured together with a pickup he bought for me. I was in Seattle in January 2008 for work and he called me from the other corner of the country to let me know he just bought a GMC pickup that reminded him of the pickup I had as a young adult, a big boxy full size GM pickup. I flew down to Florida and brought it home. Trucks are great, but good friends are better. Speaking of that, I need to give him a call.

Logan Valley

This past weekend Michael, along with a lot of other youth from church (and several adult leaders), went to a place called Logan Valley. It's near Ellington, Missouri and is a camp/retreat area where kids can spend the weekend, participate in some fun activities, and hear some good messages from the Bible. The theme this year was on peer pressure and how to resist it. On top of all the good teaching they got to do fun activities such as run high ropes and low ropes obstacle courses (which included a zip line) and go swimming, as well as stopping at a few attractions on the way home. Here Michael is wearing a shirt he got from the youth group and a hat he got on his weekend to Logan Valley.

Well tomorrow I'm off to my hunting camp to spend a Saturday chasing turkeys with my brother-in-law Willie. While I'm sitting in the woods with my shotgun waiting for a gobbler, Mae will be back home having several friends over for her ninth birthday party. Next Friday will be Michael's 13th birthday so it's a very busy month.

And then we have Mother's Day, and in early June Annette and I will be celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary, then in late June we're taking a family vacation to Williamsburg, Virgina. It just goes on and on!

A Pianist in the Making

Abbey has been taking piano lessons for some time now from my church pianist. She usually takes lessons on Wednesday nights before Awana and gets a 30 minute lesson, then comes home and practices throughout the week.

Because Abbey's instructor is also my church pianist, she has let Abbey on occasion play a song during church. This past Sunday she had another such opportunity. In this situation Abbey played solo with her instructor sitting right there beside her. She played Lord, Speak to Me, That I May Speak. She did a wonderful job. Abbey really seems to enjoy piano and she is very good at it. Now we may have to look at getting her something more advanced to play on at home!

Eight Is Enough!

If your first thought is of a TV show, then you're showing a little bit of your age!

Over the last couple weeks Annette has been called to substitute teach in the Union School District on eight consecutive days. Some are full days, some half days. Some as the teacher, some as an aide. After hauling herself into school for eight consecutive days I think she was finally ready for a break. Of course, those work days immediately make me think of the extra money we'll have as a result, but it also reminds me of just how much she does around our home. When she works, our house is crazy. Chaos reigns and it just reminds me how fortunate we are that she doesn't work outside our home on a regular basis. Sometimes when she tells people that she doesn't work people will ask, "So what do you do all day?" I suppose it might be easy to take offense, but what's the point? Here are a few things she does for our family I thought of over the last few days while she went on her eight day marathon:

1) Prepares breakfast, lunch, and dinner
2) Washes clothes for five, dries them, folds them, irons and puts them away
3) Keeps our house clean
4) Runs a Girl Scout Troop
5) Consistently looks for old items to sell and turns aging household clutter into cash
6) Calls to bark about errors in insurance premiums, bank fees, medical claims, and so on
7) Serves as the homework taskmaster, making sure it's all completed
8) Shops for all the family needs, and does so economically to save us money
9) Hauls kids to or from school, swim practice, band events, Junior Achievement, etc.
10) Puts up with me griping about where my lunch is, where my white shirt is, and why the kids rooms are so messy!

I am not easy to live with. Just to survive me is task enough!

As always, the Bible is perfectly correct as it states "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord." Proverbs 18:22. I definitely have found a good wife and favor from the Lord!