Charles And Diane Columbia Seminary March 2009

Hello from Charles 3-29-2009

Prayer needs - I ask you to keep our neighbors the Chars in your prayer as they deal with their 5 year old in ICU battling pneumonia while also dealing with the loss of a parent at the same time since the 5 year olds grandfather on the mother's side passed away. Truly a test of strength to go through all of this at the same time. - update 4/1/09 after almost 2 weeks in intensive care, she was finally well enough to go into the regular ward and should be home soon

Now for the main news

As our friend Vicky in Oklahoma pointed out, the weather is wonderful and changing all the time these days. Since I last wrote we have had wonderful sunshine, heavy rain and several inches of snow, almost like a whole year's weather crammed into a month. Still today it is cold but at least not raining. Other day I came home to find the kids paddling in the playground area which had turned into a large pool. All I can say is that they did not get back into the house wearing those clothes from the playground.

We stopped by Columbia Church this morning which is within walking distance of the seminary since the annual ING Marathon happened today and it makes getting to our regular church not very pleasant. It seems in Georgia like in several other cities the rights of the runner precede the rights of the worshippers. If you look really hard you will not find it in the American Constitution however if you have money you can overcome selective parts of this founding law.

On the subject of running, I took part in my first 5k (run on a Saturday) for 9 years and was a good 25% slower than I was when I last ran a 5k. Was comfortably beaten by a 7 year old and a guy with a limp (there were others in the race however it is those two that I remember most). When the weather warms up a little I will work to make up that 25% and more.

We had to bury our second fish of the year as the tank was hit again by the ich. It was the Celtic Red Wag (because he had a red dorsal fin when it should be black) that bit the dust. Fortunately we were prepared this time I treated the tank quickly before any others passed on. So we are now down to 7 fish.

Cub Scouts had their Blue & Gold Banquet last weekend and S got the Arrow of Light plus his religious knot (previously we had a nice ceremony at Emory Presbyterian Church where he got his God & Family Medal - Pastor did want to know what Pizza had to do with the award and I advised her that she really needed to be there to understand) and several other awards. There is a flint headed arrow sitting on our TV right now as we work to find a place for it to go. S is now attending regular Boy Scout meetings since the Arrow of Light is the last main award for Cub Scouting and his new target is the Eagle badge. To make sure that my entire den got their Arrow of Light we had a last Webelos Camp Out which one boy was required to attend to get his outdoor badge. It turned into a rain fest. The original date for the campout was thundered and snowed out, then the following sunny weekend 2 boys could not make it so we left it in the hands of God for the following weekend and ended up with heavy rain instead. One of the other boys parents decided not to pursue the campout due to the rain so 4 boys were left. We had a key to the scout lodge so we held some training in there. I also had some night vision equipment so I let the boys see what it was like to walk around with them on. During the rain I was able to whip up a peach cobbler cooked in the cast iron pot with charcoals for heat. Only dangerous moment of the evening was when the gas regulator on my camp stove caught fire since its seal had started to leak. Fortunately at the time I was wearing leather gloves so I was able to turn it off but it did melt the control knob.
At 4AM in the morning I dreamt that I was lying in a river and sure enough, rain had got between my groundsheet and bottom of my tent. Pressure provided by my weight was enough to make the moisture wick through into my sleeping bag. Reason for my newly created river was that I had not folded the groundsheet enough under the tent so rain was coming off the fly and being channeled under me. Rain also meant that I had to drive reasonably fast over the camp road so that I did not get stuck in the mud since my van does not have off-road tires on it.
Prior to the camping weekend, S also ran his last official Pinewood Derby. Was not last but still not much of a challenge to the other cars. I have wisely been informed that the secret to faster cars is alignment more than anything else and the guy that advised this, his son won. B built a car as well for fun and it did well in the no rules competition since it was loaded with weight.

At 5AM on a busy Wednesday morning following the weekend campout I got up so that I could take S to school for a trip to Tybee island. 3 large buses were waiting and just before 6 AM his teacher showed up so that I could leave. S had a wonderful time, shrimping, playing in swamps etc. and truly enjoying himself. He even got to stop off at a Civil War Fort on the way home. For Diane, B and me it was a change to not have him around but we all missed him.

B has been busy with her girl scout cookie sales and made her target of 275 boxes being sold. For a few days I was a popular person at work as I provided the sugar high to my fellow office workers. Thin Mints and Samoa's were the favorite again this year. Diane supplied the cookieholics on campus with their needs.
Both the kids are into soccer this spring and have played one game each. B's team held to a draw, S team was soundly defeated. Will keep you informed as the season progresses. Also trying to get them both back into swim lessons especially for S since he will need to be ready to swim at scout camp. However it will be with a new swim instructor since their previous one is unavailable.

It has been a busy month this month due to the annual tax paperwork, scouting and Diane's mid term exams. Free is how I feel now since my den leadership days are over, the tax documents are done and Diane exams are behind her for just now. On another plus note, I have passed my Honors Degree in Business Information Technology with a 2:1 and should receive a Diploma any day now. Had to explain to Diane that a 2 grade was good since in the US a 4 is excellent so a 2 is at the wrong end of the scale for her. With all this new freedom comes responsibilities so expect me to be doing some more work around the house.

Report cards came home the other day and we were surprised to see a B on S's card however on further research it turned out to be a mistake on the teacher's part and he is supposed to have corrected it. B is doing very well as well. Today she advised me that she would like to make money in art either by being an illustrator or a decorator of cakes. I think that it is great that a 8 year old is thinking about her future.

On the subject of wear and tear at Seminary, I think I may at last have a solution to Diane's wheelie bag dilemma. Her walking destroys about a wheelie bag every 2 semesters. Yesterday I went to the last Chance Thrift store and found an inline skate for 5 dollars with good wheels. With some hardware from the local hardware store, I have been able to take the wheels from the inline skate and put them on her bag. Now whenever they wear out, I know exactly what wheels to buy and can replace them somewhat easily.

Diane is becoming quite the speaker as I was witness to her presentation one recent Wednesday evening at a Church function. She seems not to be as scared of doing it as she once was.

Well that is it for just now, I will work on getting more photos onto the site and will badger Diane for an Update.

Charles