I really enjoyed reconnecting with the extended family Saturday.
It's a shame we're so spread out, geographically. I would like to see more of these folks more often.
All the way home, while the kids slept (most of the way), I was visualizing maps. When kids are sleeping, we get a lot of time to think to ourselves during a car ride.
Now that I'm at a computer, I realize it would be fairly impossible to regularly get together with the whole extended family without inconveniencing someone much more than another.
Some ideas I considered:
Some family members are quite central for the PA families and are also closest to the least mobile and/or youngest members of the family. For this reason, we could all hang out in Myerstown, PA more often. They have a pool, too.
Maryland is the closest we come to a centralized location, in terms of visiting at someone's home. I've seen the bird's-eye views; I'd like to get a real-world view before Google gives me walk-through.
I even thought it would be cool to find some "centralized" location that would equally inconvenience all of us, in terms of drive time, but would be cool to visit. Sadly, no location of interest quite meets that expectation. A few come close: Virginia Beach, VA or Williamsburg, VA (an average drive of about 280 miles for everyone; with some traveling about 350). Fenwick Island, DE (an average drive of about 150 miles, with most traveling 200, and one couple going 345).
Perhaps, I should just focus on visiting the folks that I can as much as I can. The rest of you better get blogging. Virtual visitation is so much easier. Perhaps, with some techno-fun, we could set up a trio or more of homes for a web-camera web-gathering.
Looking ahead, our school calendar offers a nice break, this year, from Dec. 24 to Jan. 4. A visit to/from anyone/anywhere would be welcome between Decemeber 29th to January 3rd.
The time is approaching that I need to go back to the "daily grind" of teaching.
Every summer, Susan complains (a little) that I've "messed up her system."
This is the result of me doing more/most of the things she does during the school-year. The simple act of getting the kids up in the morning is quite a shock to the system to Susan. They tend to wake up about 6:30 and Susan has seldom been up before 7:30 all summer.
Yesterday, as part of an attempt to lessen this annual summer shock, I went into work to set my classroom up. I was only gone for the morning. When I got home, Susan was bemused to report, "You were gone for only a day and I already had to call poison control." (Eve ate some of the tomato plants. Not a big deal.)
Someday, I hope to be the "house-daddy." Until then, Susan will have to "cope" with "too much daddy" during the summer months.
years decades ago, I and a fellow counselor came up with motions that semi-mocked the song "Awesome God" by Rich Mullins.
Do a Youtube search today and you will see youth-groups, youth-choirs, and VBS programs utilizing many of these blatantly wrong motions.
For example... "REIGN" should not be signed with motions indicating "RAIN." The correct hand-language sign for "GOD" is not a finger pointed to the sky. The correct hand-language sign for "AWESOME" is not a Fonzie-styled thumbs-up.
There's much more, but I haven't found one in which there are more verses with even worse handsigns, but here's an example of how my heresy has spread...
