Spring 2010

After several requests from non-Facebookers, I have decided to update the blog. I apologize, but it's just so much easier to Facebook. The blogs are good for more in depth updates though.

This is the best our Japanese Maple has looked to date. The rest of the landscape around it looks bad because I don't work in it until after all the little helicopter seed thingys have fallen. I made the mistake one year of doing it before they fell. Then you have to deal with them after you've landscaped.

Let's see what has been going on since Valentine's Day. Caleb has really grown. He's wearing up to 6 month clothes now. He's really starting to develop his own little personality too. I took my first trip away from Kelli and Caleb when I went skiing out West at Sun Valley Idaho. Very fun but I missed my little family a lot. I had a lump in my throat as I drove to Nashville to catch the plane. The Easter Bunny came. Caleb attended his first art event when he went to see Gracie's recital last weekend. We planted Caleb's very own tree in our yard for Earth Day.

On a more serious note, I want to urge readers to stop and think about what I am about to tell you. I'll start out by saying that I don't fully subscribe to an external locus of control, but I do believe that some things happen in our lives for a reason. I believe God is ultimately in control of our lives, but making the right choice is important. That's why I put a lot of thought into things. How many times have you heard someone who continuously makes bad decisions beg God to fix something that they've screwed up? I don't think it works that way. I try to be as little maintenance as possible to the Lord. I don't want to spend much time on that topic, although, I have put a lot of thought into it. I actually wrote a paper on the topic in graduate school, and I still refer to it from time to time. One of the more memorable learnings I retained.

A few weeks ago, Kelli and I had a free Saturday. It was the first weekend we had planned to take Caleb to church after being away for nearly 2 months. We needed to run to Louisville to get her engagement ring inspected according to the warranty schedule and I needed to pick up a patio set for my parents. We thought about it and it would make for a long weekend for the little guy. We didn't want him to be fussy at church the next day.

I made the call: Let's go. We have to get used to doing multiple things with him at some point. I'll admit, I felt more than a slight hesitation in my soul about making the trip. We made the trip, and accomplished all we wanted. Ring inspected, dinner, picked up the patio set - and one very important thing happened while we were loading the patio set: Caleb took a nasty dump and Kelli had to clean him up in the truck as I loaded the patio set. Yes, it was frustrating because we were tired, and then, we had to deal with the crap. Before we left, Kelli asked me to throw the poopy diaper away for her so I took an extra 10 seconds to dispose of the diaper. An extra 10 seconds!

We started home. All was well and we were making good time. We'd be home by 10 or so which was about the time we usually start getting Caleb down for the night. Then, all the sudden, I saw glaring brake lights that immediately forced us to stop quickly on the interstate. We couldn't tell what was really going on because there were big trucks right in front of us. We were stopped in traffic for one hour and Caleb was very upset about the ordeal. He was fine as long as we were moving. Emergency crews showed up every few minutes.

Once traffic started to move, I realized there was probably less than 10 car lengths distance between us and the crash site. It was a very sobering moment as we drove by the crash and realized how bad it was. When we finally made it home safely, I looked on the Internet and found the local Louisville news coverage. Evidently, an SUV crossed the median into the southbound lane and hit a big truck (semi) head-on. There was a least one fatality.

The knot hit my stomach again as I realized that if Caleb had not pooped all over the place, and I had not taken the extra 10 seconds to dispose of it, the SUV could very well have hit us. We were in the left lane next to the median. I thought about that a lot over the next days.

Please try to be more aware of your surroundings, especially when driving. Try not to use your cell phones and especially don't text. I put my phone in the console and I use my Jabra Stone or the phone built into my truck (all handsfree). Even that is a little risky I think.

I could not imagine if we had been in the accident and Caleb was injured or killed. So when you are driving just try to take an extra second or two to think about the intersection or the lane you're in and look ahead a little. It might just save your life and make you a happier person because the people you love are also alive and well.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of late. These are sort of random, enjoy!