Pilgrims at Oak Ridge

Caleb Austin Rampey 7 lbs, 15 oz, 20 and 1/4 in. long Born 8/29/08 at 7:06 am Congratulations to Andrew, Melanie , and big brother Sam . We love you and can't wait to meet Caleb.

Some days I feel like all I do is try to convince people to stop smoking. It definitely gets old always telling people that smoking is bad for them and that they should quit. And then there's the fact that people NEVER, EVER actually quit. At least that is what it feels like. In spite of the fact that the smoke is damaging to them, is the biggest reason why they are in the hospital, is causing permanent damage to their children's lungs, they smoke on. But I try to not give up, remembering all the scientific studies that show that people whose doctors talk to them about quitting, or offer to help them are much more likely to quit. But today, I was completely shocked when one of my long-time smokers with numerous other problems came in and when I glumly asked him how much he was smoking, he replied, "I quit. I haven't smoked in a few weeks." What?? This was unexpected. I had given him some Chantix at his last visit, and apparently, that stuff works really well. (I...

Sorry for the general lack of good blogging around here lately. I'm not sure if it's my new second year schedule (which is slightly easier, meaning I finding myself wasting more time), the fact that not being in the hospital as much means I have fewer good stories to tell, or just the fact that we have been traveling a little more recently, leaving me with less time to think of what to write about. Most likely it's just a combination of many factors. I've just been feeling a bit overwhelmed by a variety of things lately. Since I don't have anything real to post, I'll share my newest favorite recipe, something I made to bring in my lunch box to work. (That could be a post for another day.) White Bean Dip 1 can cannellini beans 2 tbsp. olive oil 1-2 tsp garlic 1 tbsp chopped onion 1/2 tsp. fresh grated ginger 1 tsp. cumin 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. cardamom salt and pepper to taste Combine all ingredients in the food processor. Serve with sliced veggies. Healthy, ...

Seriously, he just keeps getting better. He made me a turkey sandwich for dinner on Wednesday. But this was not your boring, average turkey sandwich. It was a turkey sandwich, grilled to perfection, with tomato, red onion, and a smear of pesto. And you know how I feel about pesto .

1. Each of the many pens lying around our house has the name of a different drug company on it. (this morning I was jotting down some sermon notes with an Ambien pen. I hope that doesn't have any effects on the sermon.) 2. The number of bottles of Hemoccult developer around the house. Believe me, you do not want to know what this is used for. 3. I can barely find room in the bathroom for my hermeneutics book thanks to the many back issues of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

1. I awoke, got ready, and ate breakfast all while my husband and his study partner were having a long, detailed discussion about what is contained in the moral law and whether or not the Sabbath is a creation ordinance. 2. Last night, I found on the floor in the bathroom, a nice (and very thick) book entitled: The Hermeneutical Spiral: A comprehensive introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Apparently someone wanted some light reading around.

On my little jaunts across the internet, I often find great links to some cool shops. Since I don't have any other ideas floating in my head today, I thought I'd share some of them with you. Jewelry: Miss Fickle Media - I just really love these mostly nature inspired pendants. Sofia Masri - Very cool handmade ceramic earrings and necklaces. Leafing earth - Neat, flower-inspired earrings. Littleput Land - Scrabble tiles, covered in paper, made into necklaces. Prettier than they sound. But just as dorky. Starry Design - pretty silver jewelry. Paper Goods: Chewing the Cud - Clever notecards. Craft Pudding - Handmade stamps. Lexie Sullivan - Notecards. Presslings - letterpressed notecards. 12fifteen - notecards and coasters. ilee paper goods - more pretty cards. Sweet Paperie - cool stamps Artwork: Creative thursday - cute paintings that would be great in a kid's room. Sarah Jane Studios - Her prints remind me of something from vintage children's books. Toys: Ko...

So I enjoy watching olympic diving and gymnastics as much as the next guy. But I think there is something inherently lame about judged sports. You shouldn't need a panel of six people giving their opinions to decide who "wins" at a sport. This is particularly lame when the judges give bad opinions. Aubrey and I have been experiencing righteous anger over the American gymnasts not getting the medals they deserve. We were particularly peeved last night over the "tie" between Luiken and the Chinese gymnast who looks 11 years old. But even worse than the tie itself, was the method employed for breaking the tie. If I understand the scoring it goes like this: Each routine is judged by six judges, each assigns a score, the highest and lowest score are dropped and the remaining four scores are averaged out, and that average is the final score. When there is a tie, they automatically do this: They take the four scores that averaged out, and they then drop the lo...

While I was in seminary, and for several years afterwards, I figured that I would start my pastoral career as an assistant pastor somewhere. This seemed to make sense because starting as an assistant pastor is like starting in the shallow end of the pool. A logical place to start before you make your way into the deep end. As an assistant you do not have as many big decisions to make. You don't have to preach every week. And when it comes right down to it, the buck just doesn't stop with you. But instead, I have now started pastoral ministry by jumping into the deep end. Having found a church that is willing to have me fill in for them as a solo pastor, I now do every thing that I had thought would take years to work up to. And the great part about it is that I am really enjoying it. In fact, now that I'm swimming around in the deep end, I think the shallow end doesn't look so appealing anymore. I get the privilege of preaching every week, I get to make the big...

I love the Olympics. Jeff and I even broke down and got cable because during the last olympics, we didn't have TV at all, and missing all the skiing and ice skating made me sad. So I convinced him (finding out he could get ESPN made it a little easier) to get TV so we could watch. But I've been a little annoyed by a few things at this games. 1. The women's beach volleyball attire. How is that a uniform?? Basically they are playing in their underwear. Come on, ladies, put on a shirt. 2. A few days ago, I learned that one of the most creative parts of the opening ceremony, the foot-shaped fireworks "walking" to the stadium, was actually fake ; a computer generated sequence that took over a year to make was spliced into the rest of the footage. Lame. 3. In an even bigger display of fakeness, the cute girl who "sang" during the opening ceremony was just lip-synching, the real child singer apparently wasn't cute enough to take part . What??!? What kind of...

Last week I was swimming at the Y. In between sets I was resting at the wall, and the lifeguard walked over and asked if I had ever swam competitively. He said I had really good form. These are the thoughts that then went through my head. 1. What a nice compliment. I am a good swimmer, aren't I? 2. Has he ever seen competitive swimming before? Because the truth is I'm nowhere near a competitive swimmer. I don't do flip turns, I only breathe on one side, and I'm glacially slow. Michael Phelps I am not. 3. Was he hitting on me? Maybe I should beat him up. In the end I decided to accept the compliment and swim on. Although later in my workout I again saw him moseying towards my end of the pool while I was again resting on the wall, and I decided to start another lap sooner rather than later to avoid move awkward conversations.

Physicians most certainly make the worst patients. I know I hate trying to make appointments to actually go and see a doctor. Tuesday, I cornered one of my attendings to get them to look at my ankle. Thankfully, he didn't see anything he was too concerned about, but did want me to get xrayed. The x-ray looked good, so apparently I just have a bad sprain. I was starting to worry I'd spend the next month in some kind of cast. That is fortunately not needed. The ankle is slowly starting to feel better. Swimming is just about the best exercise, I've decided, because I've gone the last two days and that really seems to make my ankle feel better. Then last night, Jeff and I decided to go on a walk with the dog, as is our nightly custom. I decided I would be fine to walk the full mile-long loop, complete with several steep hills. This morning, my somewhat sore ankle tells me possibly I should have taken it a little easier on my first walk. At least I didn't go running.

Sorry for the absence - we were a little busy with luncheons, rehearsals, relatives, nephews, and, of course, the wedding. Austin and Elise are now wed! It still is a little strange that my little brother now has a wife. Jeff and I got a great little mini-vacation in Cleveland in the process. The wedding itself was a wonderful reflection of both my brother and his beautiful wife (!!) who love each other greatly, but the Lord even more. Friday, just before all the excitement really got started, I went for a little run in a local park and ended up with a very swollen, bruised and painful ankle. I ended up on crutches for most of the weekend, and am going to try to get x-rayed tomorrow morning before clinic to make sure nothing was broken. That's what I get for trying to exercise on vacation. I just spent at least five minutes trying to get some great photos uploaded, but for now blogger apparently is having fits, and as it's really hot in this room I don't have patience to wa...