Pilgrims at Oak Ridge

Our suitcases are packed by the door with care, with hopes that in Colorado, we'll soon be there. Sorry for the bad poetry. We'll probably be pretty busy for the next week, so we're going to take a little vacation. Merry Christmas! "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given. And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace."

My wish for a white Christmas has been granted, in an extreme way. Over two feet of snow fell in Denver and other parts of Colorado this week. Hopefully it won't all be melted before Christmas. Sadly, the huge snow has caused some delays, and so Dave and Hannah can't come until the 27th. So far, Jeff and I are still on track to arrive tomorrow morning. Everyone can pray that the airlines are worked out enough for us to get there. We really don't want to get stuck in Cincinnati. I just got back from a quick trip home to see my family. Since I was off, and Jeff had to work, I went up to Seneca for a few days. My trip back included fairly heavy rain the ENTIRE way. Actually, it stopped for a second right when I got to downtown Charleston. Now that I'm back, it's time to pack and make a quick library run! I can't go on vacation book-less, after all.

Please go here to see some new nephew photos. I really loved this one, and couldn't resist posting it. He's really starting to look like himself.

Yesterday was the last day of my radiology rotation. Now, I'm free until February!!! No class, no going to the hospital. Hopefully January will include a trip to Iowa City to see baby Samuel . And it will also include a few more interviews . And in just one week, we leave to go to Colorado Springs, and to see Jackson ! (And the rest of our family, too!!) We can't wait. Especially me, who is hoping for a white Christmas.

It's finally blooming!! I was beginning to think my cactus was defective. It used to not get watered very much, but we moved it into the kitchen (right by the sink) and now it actually gets watered. It actually bloomed. And even in December.

This month I participated in a White Elephant hosted by Megan at Half Pint House . Yesterday I finally got my gifts!! Funny. And they actually came from Megan herself. Here they are: First off, anytime I get a package that looks like this I get excited. I especially love all the stamps. I received two videos. Paul Reiser's stand up, and a Carman video. From the back of the Carman video: Time 2, hosted by Carman, is a high-energy program that deals with the hard hitting issues that face our youth and world today. Ours is called "Drug Abuse: Breaking the Chains." Now I really want to find a tape player so I can watch this video with "live interviews and on-location reports, top Christian Artists, their music videos, and biblical answers to real questions about a real world." Hysterical. She also kindly included a wonderful-smelling candle that will definitely be put to use around our house this season. And she sent a camo-colored verse pack to my husband Jeff who...

Today was an exciting day for our church . We started as a church plant with the first official meeting in 1999, and have met in a few different locations, including one theater (before I started going) and more recently the James Island Senior Center , a great building but one where every week we had to set up and take down the chairs, bring all the nursery toys, and find enough rooms for all our Sunday School classes. (The senior high boys actually met in a closet. A large one, but still a closet.) For some time now, our sessions and leaders have been looking for a place to meet. Real Estate is somewhat problematic in the charleston area, at least if you are a buyer. (Sellers have it much better around here.) So we were looking for our own space. But nothing was to be found. Then, just a short time ago, an older congregation in downtown decided they were going to join with a congregation in West Ashley. The congregation had slowly dwindled down and was basically dying out. They were ...

Yesterday, I got back from my fourth residency interview. Even for an extrovert like me, these interviews get to be exhausting. First, there is dinner the night before where they try to stuff you full of food, while making sure you know what a good program this is. You have a chance to ask questions about the program. (Is there free food? What about free parking? Do I get to do C-sections? Can I go on a missions trip?) The next day starts usually with a few interviews. Usually you talk with the program director who again makes sure you know what a good program it is. Occasionally, they might ask you a question (Why do you want to go into family medicine? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What do you do for fun?) and my favorite: "Do you have any questions I can answer for you?" So again, I rack my brain trying to think of something since I already asked a lot of questions the night before. Note to self: ask fewer questions to the residents to make sure you still have ques...

I don't enjoy confrontation. In fact I somewhat dread it. I'm a peaceful guy, I don't like to get into arguments. Most of the time, if I don't get my way, I just deal with it. If my donut doesn't have as much filling as I had hoped, I deal with it. I'm not the type to go confronting people. I like to lay low, not cause a scene. But today I'd had it up to here (making hand motion). Aubrey has taken our car to Gerald's twice in the last two weeks to get a flat tire fixed, and they have not fixed it. The first time, she also asked to have the tires rotated, and they didn't do that either. Yesterday when she went in, she told them that the tire was still flat, and it had a bolt in it, and would they please fix it right this time? So this morning, when I saw that the tire was still flat, and still had a bolt in it, I was somewhat peeved. I called Gerald's and asked to speak to the manager. I explained the problem, and told him I would be ...

Since most of the projects I've been working on are presents, I haven't been able to post photos. Over the weekend, I started some other fun projects that are not top secret! Using the pattern found here , I made these trees, using some red felt from a very cheap christmas tree skirt I bought last year and then replaced this year. I also felted an old sweater of mine that I don't wear and used some of it for the blue trees. Even if you can't sew well, or even if you don't have a machine, you could still make these. It is only 2 seams, and then you stuff it and add some beans or rice to the very bottom for weight so they stand upright. Then you decorate to your heart's content! They are small, so it wouldn't take much cloth and you really can use anything - scraps of cloth or even old clothes--the possibilities are endless. You can also find a flickr group of these trees here , so you can see what other people did. By slightly altering the pattern, you can ...

So even though Andrew and Melanie posted these on their blog, I can't help but republish them here. Jeff and I have the cutest nephews around. Here I really get to see my big brother as a daddy. And 2 cute close-ups: And with a very, very thrilled and happy Grandma: And just to prove we have two adorable nephews, here is a recent and so-cute-I-could-cry photo of Jackson: See what I mean?

A few unconnected bloggable happenings..... 1. So right before Thanksgiving, it SNOWED in Charleston. In the almost 4 years I've been living here, we haven't even gotten ice before. But it snowed. Granted, it was only for 15 minutes, but still. Snow. In Charleston. And I missed it. I had just started my radiology rotation, and Jeff dropped me off at the hospital since the weather was cold and wet. After I went inside, it started snowing. Jeff tried to call, but since the radiology reading rooms are in the bowels of the hospital, I didn't get his call and never actually got to see the snow. 2. Last week on our way up to NC, Jeff and I stopped at a Taco Bell for dinner. While there, I checked my email. On my PDA. In TACO BELL. That is easily the strangest place I've ever gotten on the web. 3. This morning I ran (as a bandit, or whatever the term is for running in a race without paying) in the Reindeer Run. What a great race. Lots of dogs wearing antlers and bells. And ki...