Saturday, September 02, 2006

It's been a busy summer...

Been a while since I've done anything with this Blog. I find that life is very busy these days. Between work, family, and church responsibilities, I have precious little spare time for going on-line at all, to say nothing of actually composing a blog that anyone might find remotely interesting.
So, that is why, if anyone cares, there has been a dearth of posts on this blog.
Here are some of the things that have kept me extraordinarily busy lately:
I had a fantastic summer of trips to New England and to California -- I took more vacation time (real family vacation time) than I have in years, and I really enjoyed it immensely. In addition to our annual trip to the family convention, we enjoyed a brief visit with the H family in The Hills.
Then it was off to California for the wedding of Frances the niece. Tremendously splendid visit there with family and friends. The wedding was beautiful, and my dear niece couldn't have married a nicer fella -- I'm thrilled for them both. Someday maybe I'll post pictures of Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks. I fullfilled one of my lifelong dreams of actually visiting Yosemite, now I want to go back there and do some hiking and backpacking -- if I have to wait another 48 years to get back there, then I don't think I'll be in proper shape for the hike. But then, I still have to finish my hike of the Appalachian Trail. So much to do, so little time! Advice to my younger friends in the blogosphere -- pack in as much adventure as you can while you're young and free. Life gets very busy, good but busy, later on.
What else has been happening. Oh yeah, I did my annual two-week reserve active duty immediately after my vacation, so when I did finally get back to work, the backlog of stuff on my desk was enormous! Then, the bomb dropped. I was handed a consulting task for a customer I'd done some work for a few years ago. They wanted some new work done, and needed the job done in six weeks. It was a job that normally should take 3-4 months, and they wanted it done in six weeks. I would have passed on it, except for the fact that this is a customer that I have such deep appreciation for, and the job is one that has significant impact on our national security. So I said -- gulp-- I would do it.
I'm halfway through the project now, and I haven't worked this hard since I was on sea duty back in the old days. I've been working 12-18 hour days for the past two weeks.
Oh yes, in the midst of all of this, our (home)school year has begun. This year we've started a new system, called HomeSat, that involves beaming classes into the home via a satellite dish. We're not doing all our courses this way, but about half the subjects will be "beamed in." So far, so good, but the saga of "John installs the satellite dish" is one that deserves a full blog unto itself. Suffice to say, it was a bigger job than I expected, full of frustrations that come from trying to do something you've never done before. Redoing work because you messed up an important step the first time, driving back and forth to Lowe's/Home Depot six times in one day to pick up or return something that you needed but didn't realize you'd need. You get the idea. I was up till 2am on that little project.
And then there are all the sundry responsibilities that come with being an active member of one's church. I won't go into the details. Those of you who care about that part of my life already know the score. It's not so much the workload as it is the weight of responsibility and the concern that I have for my dear brothers and sisters. Yet, it is a burden I gladly bear, and without complaint. I love my extended "family" in KCM, and I will walk beside you through all the joys and all the trials that we face together -- may the joys be many and trials be few.
That's it for now from Mr. Busy.

P.S. I've had a couple of calls from folks who wanted to know how we fared through Tropical Storm Ernesto. We came through completely unscathed, thank the Lord. Lost power at the office for half the day, but our home never lost electricity and we suffered no damage. Received several inches of much needed rain, for which I am grateful.

2 comments:

TripleNine said...

I for one am glad to hear from you again. It sounds like quite the whirlwind summer, though I certainly wouldn't wind the national parks part of it myself. I just heard about the church, you have my prayers.

Claire said...

It was good to see you this last weekend. Thankyou for your choice to walk with your KCM family. We are the richer for it.