Special Agent Carter Gets Ink

Check out the latest newspaper article from the Victorville Daily Press, last Friday 07/11/08. The photo on the cover is of Dave’s back… they like to shoot him from behind so the words “Federal Agent” show up nicely.

And by shoot him, I mean “photograph” him!

A Friend’s Art

Way back when, before we had kids, Dave & I had special friends called the Careys. We hung out alot, went to church together at Cypress Church and shared life together. Carrie worked as a recruiter for Biola and Rob was an elementary school teacher.

I would meet with Carrie once a week, at the Denny’s in La Mirada off the 5, to have breakfast & pray with each other afterwards out in our cars. We met weekly for almost 4 years, I think. Eventually Dave & Rob started meeting (at the same Denny’s, on the same morning… the waitresses thought it was funny that the wives sat at a different booth than the husbands). It was a gift to have friends invested in our growth.

Well, both of them had an inkling that God may be calling them overseas and Dave & I watched & prayed with them through the whole process. It is hard to watch dear friends follow dreams that don’t include physical proximity to you, but real friendship demands that we place obedience over personal preference.

We were sad to see them move, but they followed their dream and have taught at Black Forest Academy in Germany for the past 11 years. Carrie has taught violin, been an encourager of girls and Rob has taught and coached basketball. Their kids have grown up as German kids & are just the sweetest. We are so proud of them and their example.

Here is a link that I just got to Rob’s artwork, primarily sketches. He is an amazing artist… I have a particular fondness for ink and watercolor I think, because that is what my dad’s sketches were usually in.

Check his artwork out & remember thank God for folks like the Careys.

Summer = Swim Lessons

Here we are…enduring the yearly ritual called Swim Lessons at RCC. I have to say, for the price, these kids have really learned how to motor about in the pool. And, you cannot beat the entertainment of people watching.

You get so see the doting parents & toddlers with their saggy swim diapers. You get to see the Mommy & Me classes with moms of all sizes overcoming their swimsuit-in-public aversion; You get to witness the screaming 2-year old girl (wrapped in a Disney Princess towel) who doesn’t understand the concept of “your lesson’s over and you have to get OUT now, sweetie” as her mom whisks her out, kicking and hitting, out to her minivan; You get to witness how successful the Disney Marketing Machine is with their target consumers (noticing Pirates of the Carribean swimtrunks and Disney Princess everything).

We get to enjoy this trip 4x each week and we’re now on our second session. Despite the fascinating people-watching, I actually did smile at my kids’ progress. I was in awe today, watching Emma master the butterfly, breaststroke and kickturn. When did she get so accomplished? Thomas splashes wildly as he attempts to keep his head under water for his version of freestyle. And Sammy cracks jokes to his bikini-clad instructor in a 7-old attempt at being dashing.

Aww. Its summertime again. Now where did we put our High School Musical towel?

Quick Palm Desert getaway

Forgot to post a few shots from our very brief run out to Palm Springs. Whoever thought that baking oneself out by a pool in 115 degree weather could be even remotely enjoyable needs to bring themselves in from the sun. Hot is bad. Extreme hot, extremely bad. Air-conditioning is good.

We did enjoy an unexpected room change at 3:00am precipitated by the famous last words, “mom, my frew up” to which I darted up, mommy-adrenaline flowing yet half-unconscious, hoping it was just a bad dream. Oh no, it was quite real and the realness extended over half the pull-out bed in the livingroom section of our Embassy Suite.

At 3:00am our suite didn’t smell so sweet so we called the front desk & they had mercy on us. Maybe it was the voice of delirious desperation… “please, help us, we need a fresh room”. More likely it was Dave’s status as a Silver Platinum whatever that delivered such cordial and responsive service. Didn’t care. I’d take it.

So, after muttering a prayer for the poor hotel maid who’d have to tend to Room 305 the next morning, we packed up sleeping kid bodies and shuffled off a few doors down. Thank goodness for packing light and maintaining a sense of humor. How grateful we were to just move rooms.

And I know it sounds gross, but how often in life do I get to have someone else clean up my kid’s mess? Not often enough, says I.

God will complete His good work

What a comforting thought today…. the completion of Project Dawn is God’s good work that will done on His schedule, under His perfect, watchful eye. My part in this journey is just to obey the next thing He shows me. Yes, I’d like the whole picture. Yes, I’d prefer it to be easier. And, if it came in a magic pill that tasted like coffee, that would even be better.

What a relief to know that my mess ups, my sin, my inability to flawlessly execute this Christian life…. none of these things can stop a God intent on completing his good work He began in me.

As I take my personal steps of obedience, He’s uncovering some very old and ancient tears. He’s finally shedding His light on hidden places of brokenness inside me and it is messy. It is grieving work. It leaves me raw and feeling quite unprotected at times. But it is His time and I’m grateful that I don’t have to heal myself. I just have to get my butt to the doctor. And I have to be open with the community of saints He’s surrounded me with. I need to reach out and let folks know.

So, if you are in a raw place of obedience with God, know that I’m right there with you. Waiting, soul in hand, for the Lord to show Himself. Yearning to know Him deeply. Trusting that He will complete His good work that He started in me.

Recital Fun

OK, I complain about the marathon days and long nights, but going through Dance Recital season is really a joy. Yes, its long… 4-5 hour shows for 4 nights in a row. Yes, it can get expensive with costume fees, recital fees, gifts for classmates & teachers, flowers, babysitters for the brothers while Emma is photographed, tickets and “oh, you need new tap shoes too? Sure, why not?” But after all the griping, its really amazing to stand back and watch one’s little girl just blossom & shine.

This is the shy little girl who wouldn’t even consider performing in front of people her first year in dance… after she saw the pretty costumes and the updos and make-up on her friends, she reconsidered and dove in the following year.

What a beautiful thing it is to watch the talent and joy just unfold as Emma dances. It brings tears to my eyes to think of how quickly it flies by. So, if you hear me gripe about how my feet hurt from running the girls to the stage or if you hear me complain about the cost, just remind me about my blog post and I promise I’ll shut up.

A Good Day

It was a very busy, hectic, non-stop day.

Got to go network with some very cool folks at the Church 2.0 forum down at newsong church in Irvine… basically a real-world meeting of a Facebook Group I belong to called “Church 2.0″ hosted by a nice guy, Greg Atkinson, out of Dallas. The whole premise behind this gathering is to exchange ideas with church leaders who use innovative technology to live out life in God’s kingdom in cool ways.

There were folks from Sandals, Mosaic, Mariners, Rock Harbor and Saddleback besides countless others who are just living out their passions for God. I am wired to thoroughly enjoy this kind of interaction, where ideas flow and everyone can learn from each other. There was definitely an entrepreneurial spirit, innovation, creativity and energy flowing… and the neatest part is that we all loved and served the same awesome God.

It wasn’t just about the cool, hip technology… it was seeing new ways that people are connecting God’s heart to the neediness around them. It was asking questions like “how do we make church more relevant & transparent”

Overall, it was a good day. My networking parts got to engage other innovators & I just walked away thanking God for what He’s doing in His Church.

Listings of firms by NAICS codes

Per overwhelming demand, here is the link for the listing of firms by NAICS codes (see previous post). You can peruse the pdf at your leisure, or if you are so inclined, there is an Excel spreadsheet version of it too. Don’t know why you’d need it, but it is there.

So there, budding economists & statistic nerds & random mom friends, have fun.

P.S. I must correct a statistic in my previous post… the number of firms who in the business of Processing Meat from Carcasses is 1,240. (My day job looks better and better when I think of working at one of those places.) 

Odd jobs and numbers

As part of my research I’m doing for a Marketing Plan, I found myself on the US Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy website. I know, sounds governmental and boring and statistical, but I found myself amused at the listing of types of jobs out there. There is a classification system called NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) which basically lists out every imaginable (and some unimaginable jobs) that exist. For each NAICS code, you can see the count of businesses that conduct that kind of work.

Did you know, for instance that there are…

• 228 Broom, Brush & Mop Manufacturers in the US? Wow. Never thought about it.
• 466 Mattress Manufacturers. Why do we need so many?
• Only 237 Drive-in Motion Picture Locations in North America (and Riverside has 2 of them)
• 361 Blood and Organ Banks. How’d you like to be a teller there?
• 3,716 Barber Shops vs. 65,105 Beauty Salons. What, do guys not need haircuts?

Dave thinks its odd that I find these statistics interesting. He thinks this stuff clutters the mind. I just think its funny to see what kinds of odd jobs are out there.

It also makes me appreciate my job when I think that I could work at one of the 68 Carcass Processing Plants.

Coop’s wedding pics

Last weekend our family took a roadtrip up to Stockton (about 6 hours north of us) for Lindsey Cooper and Raj Lulla’s wedding. It was such a great time & you can check out pictures on Dave’s Facebook profile.

What a gift to see two friends, surrounded by so much love, join their lives before God. I just love weddings. And the kids were phenomenal on the whole trip… so that makes it even nicer.

God bless you, Mr. and Mrs. Lulla, on your journey together as husband and wife!