We spent Memorial Day evening with the Morrisons, Gillards, Baleras and Mannings. Between the five families there are thirteen boys and one girl. We celebrated Charlene's birthday. Ken gave her a new barbecue grill and we broke it in with lots of hamburgers. All of these couples (except us) knew eachother as singles and have been friends ever since, so there are lots of stories and laughs to enjoy. Bjorn went back to Lynden tonight. He is excited about Jenny returning from Europe today and is planning to drive down to Corvalis next weekend to see her.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Sunday, May 29, 2005
A New Fence for Bowser
When we moved into our house a year and a half ago, I put up a 'temporary' fence to keep Bowser in. It was kind of tacky looking with left over lattice. The problem was we had to scramble over it to get into the yard since there was no gate. The fence also kept us from using our lawn at all. I kept procrastinating, thinking that we might get rid of Bowser, and then I could take the temporary fence down. Well, I guess I am resigned to 'til death do us part' with Bowser, so a fence I must build. Bjorn helped me out and we put the fence up with just the cost of the wire and gate hardware. The lumber was leftover from neighborhood deck jobs. Now we get half the yard and Bowser gets half. He's not too happy about it, because his favorite spot has been taken away.
On a more somber note, one of our close friends is suffering from a mental breakdown. His poor health in the last couple weeks led into a psychotic paranoia. We visited him last week at home and were quite concerned about his mental/emotional state. We learned this week that he was admitted into a mental health facility. Yesterday we visited him. It was very difficult going to see him as it was a lockdown unit with many severe patients roaming the hall. The facility felt forty years old and the staff were unprofessional. Our friend was highly sedated and mostly coherent though he got paranoid at one point. It was very disturbing to see a close friend in this condition and we constantly ask the Lord to restore him to health.
On a more somber note, one of our close friends is suffering from a mental breakdown. His poor health in the last couple weeks led into a psychotic paranoia. We visited him last week at home and were quite concerned about his mental/emotional state. We learned this week that he was admitted into a mental health facility. Yesterday we visited him. It was very difficult going to see him as it was a lockdown unit with many severe patients roaming the hall. The facility felt forty years old and the staff were unprofessional. Our friend was highly sedated and mostly coherent though he got paranoid at one point. It was very disturbing to see a close friend in this condition and we constantly ask the Lord to restore him to health.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Cooling off Southworth style!
What a scorcher! 90 degrees in W. Wash. Hope you enjoyed it. Well, I don't think it topped 84 in Southworth. The water always keeps it about 10 degrees cooler. I couldn't resist the temptation to spend the evening sailing. It was a great sail. The wind was very gusting at the south end of Blake Island, but the main sound had a steady stiff breeze. I stayed out to watch the sunset. Today in school we had two deputies from the sheriff's office present boating safety to the students. One of the deputies was in my youth group when I was a youth pastor! Wow! do I feel old! They did a great demonstration about hypothermia using a bucket of cold water. Check out the pictures on my photostream. Once again I am convinced to always wear a PFD on the water, especially when sailing alone.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Sidney Glen Space Center
Every May, the Sidney Glen grounds are transformed into the Kennedy Space Center, with a hundred rockets blasting into space, two at a time. All the sixth graders have the opportunity to make and decorate their own rocket. Then on one afternoon they blast them all off in front of the other students. The conditions were a little questionable today, with moderate to high winds, but mission control gave the go ahead. Every rocket is cheered on by hundreds of students. Most of the rockets landed in neighboring pastures, to be retrieved later by sixth grade teachers. The event has turned into an institution at the school, and students look forward to their day on the launch pad.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Multiage Music
This afternoon, our multiage class performed a music concert for parents. They performed along with the other fourth grade classes. There was a combination of singing, dancing and playing instruments. The weather has finally changed to a dryer pattern. After school, I washed the sails and hung them from the deck to dry. Calvin and I played tennis up at the high school. He seems to enjoy the game, but gets frustrated that he can't beat his dad. If he wins a game or two he's happy.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Parading Calvin
This weekend Calvin and the Sedgwick marching band are taking a three day tour. Today, they marched in a Bremerton and a Port Townsend parade. Tonight they went to Victoria. They will spend tomorrow sight-seeing, and then on Monday they will play in a parade in Victoria, returning home that night. Esther and I went to Sequim this morning where she had seen some ceramic pots for the front porch. We then went to Port Townsend and caught the parade and did some poking around town. We usually separate in PT, with Esther shopping in town and me strolling the marinas and bookstores. We ate at our old faithful - the Bayside Cafe.
Friday, May 20, 2005
I saw Satan fall like lightning
The fall of Anikan resembles Satan's fall from heaven: pride, and the desire for ultimate power. One would almost think that George Lucas had a model for the 'dark earth invader' I watched Episode III tonight with Markus and Calvin. I enjoyed it, but things happened too fast. Even the turn around of Padme's emotion was unnatural, but I guess it all had to happen in one last film. It is a bit heavy for young children.
There was no school today; I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just to prolong the school year so that we have less summer. Sorry for the cynicism, but our teacher's union doesn't seem to agree with me on very much. Anyway, the constant rain kept me from getting much done outside. I did purchase a new grass trimmer/bushwacker thingy today. I tried it out on blackberry bushes and it works pretty good.
There was no school today; I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just to prolong the school year so that we have less summer. Sorry for the cynicism, but our teacher's union doesn't seem to agree with me on very much. Anyway, the constant rain kept me from getting much done outside. I did purchase a new grass trimmer/bushwacker thingy today. I tried it out on blackberry bushes and it works pretty good.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Communication Team
Instead of my usual classroom duties today, I met with a team of staff members from our school. Our assignment was to brainstorm ways to help communication and leadership relationships at our school. The morning session was a little frustrating as we danced around the critical issues that need addressing; but in the afternoon, we were able to cut to the chase and construct some steps for improvement.
This evening I led the junior high group at our church, as the youth pastor was standing in line to see the midnight showing of Star Wars with high school students. We played a Star Wars dodgeball game and studied what the Bible teaches about angels, demons and the devil. It was a good reminder to me of the reality of these spiritual beings, because our culture interprets events and ideas soley in terms of physical and psychological dynamics.
This evening I led the junior high group at our church, as the youth pastor was standing in line to see the midnight showing of Star Wars with high school students. We played a Star Wars dodgeball game and studied what the Bible teaches about angels, demons and the devil. It was a good reminder to me of the reality of these spiritual beings, because our culture interprets events and ideas soley in terms of physical and psychological dynamics.
Monday, May 16, 2005
classroom breakin
Early this morning, our classroom was broken into and a few things were stolen. Missing so far are 6 laptops, a video camera and a garbage can (loot bag?). The thieves broke in through a window with a crowbar. They probably had ten or fifiteen minutes before the police responded to the alarm. In terms of street value, they chose the wrong things. The laptops are ten year old macs that have virtually no value. The video camera was high quality, but several years old. They left our two new eMacs, a video projector, and elmo video camera and Don's Bose stereo system.
Even though the laptops weren't valuable, they represent a great loss to me. Over the last six months, I have spent hours and hours on eBay, spending my own money, picking these laptops and their power sources. I have also spent a lot of time loading them with programs for the students to utilize. We used them on a regular basis in math for drill and practice, as well as higher level problem solving. The video camera had an added loss in that the case had the only tape of a classroom assignment from Don's masters program. As many of you know, being a victim of theft and vandalism is frustrating. There are no real persons as an object of your anger, just imaginations. There are also feelings of vulnerability and powerlessness. The only comfort is knowing that there are lessons to be learned, by ourselves as well as our students.
Even though the laptops weren't valuable, they represent a great loss to me. Over the last six months, I have spent hours and hours on eBay, spending my own money, picking these laptops and their power sources. I have also spent a lot of time loading them with programs for the students to utilize. We used them on a regular basis in math for drill and practice, as well as higher level problem solving. The video camera had an added loss in that the case had the only tape of a classroom assignment from Don's masters program. As many of you know, being a victim of theft and vandalism is frustrating. There are no real persons as an object of your anger, just imaginations. There are also feelings of vulnerability and powerlessness. The only comfort is knowing that there are lessons to be learned, by ourselves as well as our students.
Saturday, May 14, 2005
A three hour tour
No shipwrecks or deserted islands, just gusty winds, Yukon Harbor and Blake Island. Since I was alone today, and it wasn't raining, I took the opportunity to do some sailing. The wind was out of the southwest so there was no swell, but warm gusts came of the land. Having sailed these waters for almost two decades, I have started to notice patterns with each wind direction. (I know, I'm slow!) It was great to be on the water, dancing with the wind and waves. I also managed to do some domestic things like mow lawn, buy paint and meet with Olanders about building their deck this summer. Esther was with Camie all day in Sequim, Markus was at WWU with a couple of friends and Calvin was at Josh's. The weather continues to be muggy, but no rain.
Friday, May 13, 2005
The World of Widgets
I assume that those of you who are Mac users have your copy of Tiger loaded and are enjoying its features. For you poor PC users, Tiger is Apple's new operating system with many new features. One of my favorite is the Dashboard. Simply put, it is a screen with many little windows. Each window is a separate little program or window usually fed by the internet. The windows are called widgets, and there are hundreds of them available for free on the web. You can store them in a dock and activate them with a click. Some of my favorites right now are the sticky note pad, the dictionary, local weather (including current doppler), an address book and a daily Bible verse collection called Losungen. New widgets are being developed daily, so it's fun to check out the new ones. This evening, Esther is spending the night at Camie's and then they are going to Sequim tomorrow. Markus and Calvin are at a youth worship night. It's been an unusual muggy evening with the rain holding off. I went out on the boat for an hour, just putting around with the outboard on.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Manning Memorial
This evening was the memorial service for Bob Manning. It was a wonderful service. Over 500 people attended. There were several worship songs and Jason and Dennis sang solos. Jeff made a great video tribute. There were testimonies and John Edgecomb gave a wonderful message about what God wants to teach us through Bob's last five years. Bjorn and Marty came down from Lynden and Lindsey Widstrom came over from SPU. They all spent the night with us. It was nice to visit afterwards.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Bulthuis Brainiacs
Calvin was honored tonight at Sedgwick Jr. High Honor Society for his 4.0 GPA this year. All of the boys get excellent grades, at least until they get to college. (hem, hem)! The boys are always responsible about their homework and projects. We rarely have to remind them to study. They have an inner drive to excel in their classes. It makes for a very pleasurable experience for Esther and I at parent/teacher conferences.
Monday, May 09, 2005
What about Bob?
So much for 'a prophet is without honor in his own country' I spent today in interviews for the vice-principal position at our school. The position opened up because our current VP, Bob Richards, was hired only to finish out the year. There were about fifty applicants for the position of which we interviewed five candidates. The committee was unanimous in recommending Bob to the district. The personnel director and principal rubber stamped his selection, and so Bob gets to keep his job. Way to go Bob! The weather is dreary this evening, so I think I'll start straightening the books in my new 'library'.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Mom's Moment
Mothers rarely receive the appreciation they deserve. It's no exception in our house, so it felt good to give Esther some attention today. She had a tough week with much time spent with Camie. The boys and I gave her tokens of our appreciation, and we enjoyed a steak dinner at home. (Hey, I at least cooked the steaks on the barbee and cleaned the dishes!) The weather got crummier as the day wore on, so I wasn't tempted to go out on the water. Bjorn headed back to Lynden after spending the weekend. He was able to spend a day with Jeff, being an encouragement.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Teachers win again!
Every year the teachers of Sidney Glen play the sixth graders in soccer. CJ puts together three teams of sixth graders and they each get twenty minutes to tangle it up with the teachers. We actually have several good soccer players among the teachers, so it isn't really much of a competition, just a lot of fun. Esther spent much of the day with Camie, making the funeral arrangements and such. The service is scheduled for 6:00 pm, next Wednesday.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Bitter Birthday
To celebrate your eighteenth birthday the day after your father dies, I can't even imagine the emotion. Family and friends helped Missy (Melissa) Manning through a very difficult day. Jeff and the college group gave her an iBook, since that was what she had been hoping for. Esther spent the entire day with Camie. The coroner said that Bob had an aortic aneurysm and that the symptoms would have been flu like with whooziness. By the time the source of his symptoms would have been diagnosed, it would have been too late to save him. At this point, there doesn't seem to be a connection to his brain tumor.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Into the Arms of Jesus
This afternoon one of our close friends, Bob Manning, suddenly died. After surviving a brain tumor five years ago, he has been slowly recovering. He recently started working again and was enjoying the softball season. It is so hard to understand God's sovereign purposes in times like this, but we trust Him through it. Esther is spending the night with Camie and helping sort through all of the arrangements tomorrow. Please pray for Camie, Jeff and Missy.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Schooner Martha
Marc, Dan and I snuck out of the retreat on Saturday afternoon to check out boats in Pt. Townsend. As we were walking the docks we meet Robert d'Arcy who Skippers the one hundred year old racing schooner, Martha. He and his wife run sailing camps for youth all summer long. The boat is owned by a foundation which sponsors the restoration and operation of this historical vessel. Robert and his wife take about six young people at a time out on week long cruises in the Puget Sound and British Columbia. She is a beautiful wooden boat and just received a new paint job. We also checked out Point Hudson before returning to Fort Flagler.
Youth Retreat at Ft. Flagler
This weekend Esther and I helped out with the Harper Youth spring retreat at Ft. Flagler. Esther organized the food for the weekend and I tagged along as a chaperone. Fort Flagler is a beautiful location with it's sweeping view of Admirality Inlet. The weather was good and the program went well. Pastor John led the youth through the 'contagious christian' material. The youth seemed to really enjoy the teaching and the worship.
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