Old song

It's an old song but a familiar one. Life has been busy around here. We've been to ball games, church, work, the store, and numerous other places over the last two weeks. Can I remember some highlights? I'll give it a shot.

The county where Preston is from wanted to "redetermine" his status and his need for an adoption subsidy under the Title IV-E program as a special needs child. I did a bunch of research and we were fairly prepared when we went in. After some discussion, I got them to finally admit that they did not want to pay their portion any longer and wanted to leave us with the federal and the state portion.

I told them, "The letter I received from you does not indicate your desire to reduce his subsidy or renegotiate. If that's what you want to do then we have to be notified of your intention to reduce his subsidy, your reason for doing so, the law that supports your reason, and the information needed for us to file for a fair hearing in the event we disagree with your decision. Which we already do."

This pretty much ended the meeting. I don't think she thought we would know what our rights were. Sheila and I went to dinner afterwards since we had not been able to celebrate our anniversary.

Preston had a game last weekend and hit a couple of good ones.

Work this week has been busy. I ran Chicago leaving Sunday night and got home early in the day on Tuesday since no one in Milwaukee ordered anything. We had a driver on vacation so I was covering his run on Thursday but I ended up leaving on Wednesday for Streetsboro, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. The Harrisburg drop was a remake and they needed it by Thursday and I wasn't sure I could have it there if I waited to leave Thursday morning. Plus I knew I wouldn't get enough sleep at home to get up early enough, so I left Wednesday about noon. Got the Streetsboro and one of the Pittsburgh drops off which left one Pittsburgh and the one Harrisburg drop for Thursday. I miscalculated though and didn't have enough hours to get all the way home on Thursday so I slept out about two hours away. All is good though.

Spent the last two hours driving in Friday morning and then loaded trucks the rest of the day. Other than that there's not a lot going on. Just trying to get the house together so we can move. There's one other thing but I'll put it in another blog.

Ya'll have fun.

Bored

How on earth can I be bored? I've got a wife, six kids in the house, plus two nieces sleeping over, (one who is married but her husband is in Iraq) and a boatload of stuff to do.

But it's 8:47 on a Saturday morning and Preston is the only one awake besides me. I thought I heard Josh clapping upstairs but all is quiet now. I've been down to the corner for my coffee, none in the house, and I get online and find out ITunes has a new update. So I downloaded that. Now it's checking my library. Checking it for what? Overdue tunes?

My good friend Dawn, (AM, you'll get a kick out of this), yes, she's my lady carpenter friend, spent part of Thursday and Friday fixing the soffit on the front of my house. Seems the roof needs repainting, (tin roof) and water got behind the wood soffit and fascia and rotted it out. Wasn't a lot of wood or work, but it's way up there and I don't do ladders like I did in my younger days. She did a great job and it looks like the rest of the soffit, like there never was a repair.

We don't own this house but since we're moving in July, I wanted to get this taken care of before we left. Just seemed like the right thing to do.

I'm not sure what we're going to do today. Maybe go for a picnic, or walk around the mall. Who knows. But the weather is nice, finally, and I'm sure it'll be a wonderful day.

Ya'll have fun.

A day late, but much much richer

I should have blogged about this yesterday...but...it didn't happen. Travel, work, one thing or another. But I was the first one to make the call. I called her before she called me. So there!

I remember standing with some friends of mine in the sunshine on a bright June day and watching this gorgeous young woman walk across the grass towards me. My college roommate at the time, Bob Reece, commented on how beautiful she was. I could not disagree. She was all in white and had some lovely flowers in her hands. What they were, I can't remember, I was looking at her face.

My father stood behind me, waiting with the rest of us. All my family was there, including a grandfather who is now 96. Plus more friends than I ever thought I had.

And she certainly was gorgeous.

And she still is.

It's been 25 years since that day in June and though she deserved better than she got, I never deserved as much as I received. And I will always be thankful that she said yes when I said, "Will you marry me?".

She has been a wonderful wife and an unbelievable mother who will move heaven and earth for her children. I hope for 25 more years with her and the light that she brings to my life.

Happy Anniversary, Sheila. I love you.

I cannot imagine, nor do I want to.

We live in a small town. Around us are mostly small towns. Word travels fast when something terrible happens. I did not want to write this at first but you all have become friends. We share hurt with friends, right?

Late Saturday night a young lady went racing down the road with 5 little kids in the car with her, none of which were hers. Not a single seat belt was in use. She did not make it to her destination, whatever that was. Nor did any of the children. Four people are gone now, three of them being little children, and two are in critical condition. There are lots of rumors flying and lots and lots of people in more heart pain than they ever imagined possible. A few of these people I know personally.

My niece was working as the receptionist/intake person at the ER when the ambulances came in with these little ones. She had wanted to be a nurse. She's not so sure now. She cried for an hour after her shift was over.

I learned today that the little 8 year old who passed was a classmate of my son Preston. I asked Sheila how he was handling it. She said he was mostly angry. I'm sure he's wondering why.

I'm sure a lot of people are wondering why. I would be too.

If you pray, pray for these people. If you send good thoughts, send good thoughts for these people. Whatever you do, do it for these people who are asking why.

I just ask for peace.