2009 Resolutions (like I kept any of the 2008 ones..)

Have you decided on any New Years Resolutions?

As you know, I am a planner and a list maker. I love to plan stuff. Actual execution on those plans is a whole different story. I usually execute on the big stuff but tend to over plan and think I can fit in more than I actually have time for. So every year, I make long, detailed lists of things I will never have enough time to do.

So this year, things are going to be different. This year I've decided to only list three things that I absolutely am going to do and I am going to concentrate on doing those things. Then of course there are some other things I am going to list, but only as nice-to-have items and if I don't get to those, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

The first item is that I'm going to get out of debt. By the end of 2009, I resolve to be completely out of debt, except for my mortgage. That means credit card debt and a car loan. That's it. My nice-to-have's following this are: I'd like to make an additional mortgage payment and I'd like to build up our emergency fund so we can actually handle an emergency. Daleen and I are looking at how we can do this. I don't know what we will end up doing, but all options are on the table.

The second item is that I am going to lose weight and get in shape. Yeah, isn't this one on everyone's list every year? But I resolve to lose 20 pounds and shave 10 minutes off my Ukrops 10K race time from last year. As you know, my blood pressure was reading high at the end of 2008 and I want to put off going on meds for that as long as possible. (Although, because of family history, I will most likely be going on them no matter what I do.) This should be easy. All I have to do is eat less (hmmm.... doing less of something and spending less money on food....sounds like a good idea.) and exercise more (getting more out of my YMCA membership). It's a no brainer. Now all I have to do is get over this silly resistance I have to actually going out of my house to go to the gym. Once I get there I'm always glad I went. I just get tripped up on that little curb that always seems to get in the way of going there. I just need to make it a priority.

The third thing I resolve to do is spend more time with Daleen and Colin. I finished my school program last summer and I figured I would have lots of extra time for them, but instead, I just made myself busy with all sorts of other things. I was reading recently that it is important for people to spend quantity time with their families. Basically, in order to get the best quality time with your family, you need to maximize the quantity of time you spend with them and the quality moments will just happen. Colin and I spent the day together yesterday. The whole day. I wore him out for a change instead of the other way around. We went all over the city doing all kinds of stuff and we had tons of fun. We started at Bass Pro Shops (spending a little Christmas money), went to the Richmond Children's Museum among other places, and ended up at my friend's new apartment in Chester, playing Guitar Hero with his two daughters. I couldn't have planned on our having that kind of fun. We just ran amok and the fun just happened. The best part was that Colin was completely pooped when we got home. He ate dinner and went to bed without complaint, which doesn't happen often.

Like I said, I have other things I would like to do this new year. I have the usual laundry list of home improvement projects. Then there is our trip we are taking to South Africa this summer. We're going to visit the in-laws for 2-3 weeks. While there, I'm going on a week-long hunting safari. Then we're going on a vacation to Sun City, which is the largest resort city in the country, followed by some time at my in-laws house. I've been trying to learn their language, Afrikaans. It's sort of like Dutch. All these years I have been married and travelling down there and I feel guilty they all still have to speak English to me, even though it is a second language to them. I feel I should make an effort to at least try and meet them halfway on the language thing. It's the right thing to do.

There are a bunch of other things I have planned for this year, but like I said, I have three primary things to focus on. I'm going to work my hardest at those primary things and hope to have time for all the rest. This is going to be a good year. I'm optimistic. I have an unbelievable amount to be thankful for. I'm really hoping to get my act together this year. I really am.

So, Happy New Year to you all. If you have made some resolutions, I'd love to hear them. I'm convinced 2009 is going to be a good year. A year is a long time and who knows what's going to happen? Anything's possible....

The New Adventures of Finger Man and Nebulous Boy

In the sprawling metropolis that is Powhatan, Virginia, there are new Super-Heroes ready to do it all...fight crime, fix bad attitudes, and even prevent tooth decay with their miraculous powers. No, it's not the Upright Citizens Brigade.... it's Finger Man and Nebulous Boyyyyy!!!

What powers you ask? Well, Finger Man has the power to break the tendons in his own hands while doing average, ordinary tasks around the home. And Nebulous Boy? He has the power to repeatedly get croup and end up with a month-long regimen of nebulizer breathing treatments.

Yep, we're all messed up at the Crews house this month. I have this nice and shiny finger splint on the middle finger of my right hand where I pulled/tore a tendon, and Colin is getting daily breathing treatments to, once and for all, beat a case of croup that doesn't seem to want to go away.

I mentioned my finger trouble in my last posting. You wouldn't believe the attention this stupid thing has gotten me. All kinds of people have asked me about it. Today I took Colin to the Richmond Children's Museum. (If you have small children and you have never gone...YOU NEED TO GO! I will blog more about this amazing place sometime.) Anyway, they have this new thing where they have what used to be a real ambulance that has been set up for children to climb around in, with working lights and all kinds of toy equipment for them to play with. Some little girl thought my splint was part of the medical toys and got really upset when I wouldn't take it off and share it with her. I repeatedly told her it was for real but she didn't believe me and I was just a "bad man". Then everywhere else I go I get asked about it... work, Food Lion, church, etc.. If you really crave attention or feel like nobody wants to talk to you...you gotta get one of these finger splints!

Since I have been getting asked so many times about what happened, I have made up all sorts of fun stories as what really happened is just plain boring. I have told some people it happened at practice at my Ultimate Fighting gym (shoulda seen what I did to the other guy). Then I told some people it happened while scratching myself (I had this unbelievable itch). My favorite is the one I have told about walking in the drug store, saw it, and just had to have it. (It's going to be the "IT" fashion accessory of 2009.)

Here's what really happened. I was out hunting this particular morning and my hands were pretty much freezing the whole time. Then when I got home I was taking off my long johns and the elastic around my ankle didn't want to go over my heel. So I reached down and fought a little to pull it over my foot and suddenly I felt something funny on my hand. It didn't hurt, but when I lifted up my hand, I noticed the finger tip of my right middle finger was hanging down and wouldn't go straight. It didn't hurt. It didn't even really look creepy or anything. It just looked weird.

So I did what any real man would do. I splinted it with Scotch Tape and a piece of one of Daleen's emery boards. I later got my new shiny splint and finally made it to see the doctor. He liked my shiny splint and said it was the right one to be using. Then he gave me the bad news. Gotta wear this sucker for 6 weeks to see if the tendon will heal. If not, I'll have to get minor surgery on my hand to repair the tendon. He even gave me a referral to what he said was, the "Best Hand Surgeon" in Richmond and his name is (I am not making this up) J.E.B. Stuart. At that point I was looking for the Candid Camera crew. I then asked if he was aware that J.E.B. Stuart was a Confederate Civil War General who died in the 1860's. Come to find out, this modern day Mr. Stuart is a descendant of the General and apparently his folks decided on a family name. That's fine. If he can fix my hand, I don't care what his name is. By the way, my dad is a HUGE Civil War nut and I can just see his face when I tell him J.E.B. Stuart might be operating on my hand. He's probably going to faint.

And then it's on to Nebulous Boy. Remember when I mentioned Colin had come down with croup when he was in South Africa? Well, even with the meds and breathing treatments he got over there, he never really shook it completely. After returning home, he continued to have a bad cough at night. Finally it got worse and we took him to see his doctor. The diagnosis was that he still had croup and we are now the proud owners of our own nebulizer and a couple of boxes of meds to put in it. He is in the middle of a month-long series of breathing treatments designed to get rid of the problem completely. Luckily, the doctor gave us this really cool fish-looking mask that Colin actually doesn't seem to mind wearing. He even asks about his fishy mask when we tell him it's time to get ready for his treatment. It's odd though. I felt weird about buying a nebulizer for him. I never had one when I was a kid. Nobody I knew as a kid ever had one. However, now I have been asking around and now it seems like we have been the only parents who didn't have one. Are kids developing more breathing problems these days? Or are we getting better at treating them? I don't know. To be honest, I don't remember any of my friends getting croup when I was a kid either, so I'm wondering if breathing problems are just becoming more common. I hope not.

So, we're still all messed up around here this month, but eventually we'll be fine. It's just going to take time. And I was only kidding about the crime fighting thing. Perhaps I could temporarily blind perpetrators by the shinyness of my finger splint. And maybe Colin can scare them away with his Darth Vader'ish sounding breathing when he is getting his treatments. If you find you are in need of people with those kinds of superpowers, then just give us a call. We're one heck of a super-duo.

Christmas Accomplished

Uhhhh...hellooo?? Anybody still reading this??

It's been so long since I've posted that I'm wondering how many people are left checking this blog. I'm sorry for not getting back to you all sooner. It has been a crazy Christmas.... but a really great one.

I didn't write anything leading up to Christmas Day because I was busy trying to get everything wrapped up at work. I was also working frantically on my lines for the PCC Christmas play that I've been telling you about. The play went well. Actually, it went great! It was just a totally amazing team effort and everyone did exactly what they were supposed to do, exactly when they were supposed to do it. Without everyone's commitment to the team and everyone working hard together, we wouldn't have had anywhere near the success that we did.

To be honest, I was nervous about the whole play thing. Even now, I am pretty darn surprised I managed to get through two shows without missing a single line. I definitely had plenty of difficulties to overcome to do that. First of all, I have terrible memory. I mean, I'm like that guy in the movie "Memento" who, because of a traumatic brain injury, wakes up every morning and has no idea who he is, where he is, or what he's supposed to be doing. To overcome my memory problem, I reverted back to my old remedy.... flashcards. I had all my lines on flashcards that now look worn and discolored from all the practicing I did. Another issue that came up was my right middle finger. I broke the tendon that holds up my fingertip the Saturday before Christmas. (Didn't break a leg... broke my finger instead.) So, for the next six weeks, I have to wear this shiny metal finger splint. Hopefully it will heal in six weeks. If not, I'll need to have surgery which I'm sure will be fun. At least I was ok to take the splint off for the show. My super shiny/flashy splint might have been a minor distraction.

The last major obstacle I had in getting ready for the play was my voice. Two days before the play, I woke up and couldn't speak..... not a word. I went to the doctor and found out I had "Viral Laryngitis". Believe me, I begged the doctor to help me. When he said there really wasn't anything he could do, I even asked if he could just give me a shot in the neck with some steroids or something. Alas, I had to go and tell my friend Sandy who was directing the show. Needless to say, her eyes got a little wide when I told her and I think she believed I was joking at first. Rehearsing with my throat like that definitely wasn't fun. When I wasn't rehearsing, I was whispering to everyone else and chugging Motrin like it was going out of style. All I can say is the rest, the Motrin, and all the prayers definitely did the trick. My voice was good to go for the two shows and only started to fall apart right at the end of the second one.

Later Christmas Eve was spent with friends and we got home in time to put Colin to bed, get Santa Claus set up, and get to sleep ourselves. Then a wonderful thing happened. Colin slept late on Christmas morning! A Christmas miracle! (he doesn't sleep late) Daleen and I enjoyed a moment to ourselves before we went in and woke him up.

To say Colin liked his Christmas toys is an understatement. He got a lot of stuff, but not too much. We learned our lesson this time. Last year (his first Christmas) we went completely overboard and got him way too many presents. He had so many new toys he actually became quite overwhelmed and frustrated. He actually had a gift request this year which surprised me. I asked him on Dec 22nd, "Who is coming on Christmas Eve?", and he replied, "Santa Claus". Then I asked him what he would like for Santa to bring and he smiled and replied, "A camera." Apparently the child care section at our YMCA has a toy camera that he has been playing with a lot ever since we got our awesome family Christmas photos taken by the extraordinarily talented (and very patient) Sarah Brawley. So, he got his camera and has been taking pictures non-stop. The camera actually works. The pictures are extremely low resolution (1MP) but the camera is extremely rugged and made for a 3yr old. Of course I have tried to help teach him how to use it, but it has been more fun watching him try and figure it out on his own. He's getting the hang of it. By the way, his other favorite toy is a toy garbage truck that even came with a little plastic pile of trash. Photography vs. Trash Collection..... a kind of weird yin-yang sort of thing, but it's his world, we just live in it.

Other than that, we spent a lot of time with friends and family. Ate too much. And just enjoyed some seriously needed downtime.

Then yesterday was Boxing Day. It's a sort of English holiday that they also celebrate in South Africa where Daleen is from. Well, in SA they now call it the Day of Goodwill. But, she still regards it as Boxing Day. Traditionally, it is the day you're supposed to go out and give to the needy and to your employees. The idea is, you've been blessed during Christmas and then you're supposed to go out and spread it around. I like that idea. I once asked her why they call it Boxing Day. She rolled her eyes and said, "Silly man, It's the day you pack everything away and put all of your Christmas stuff back in it's boxes." Ahhhhh.... Another good reason to celebrate Boxing Day.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. Whatever it was you really wanted for Christmas, a particular gift, downtime, time with family and friends, a call from an old friend or relative, whatever it was, I hope you got it. For me, it was family time and giving back something to my community. On Christmas morning, in the middle of opening his gifts, Colin stopped what he was doing, stood up, and walked over and picked up a present that was for Daleen. He took it over to her and simply said, "Merry Christmas Momma" and gave it to her and then gave her a hug. She looked at me, but I never taught him to do that. It was a little thing, but he figured it out on his own. For a moment, he wanted to stop and give a gift to someone else. That's big, especially for a 2 yr old. I think he gets it.......

Did Shakespeare Ever Have Trouble?

Last Sunday, we had our first full stage rehearsal that went through the entire Christmas play that I am in. I told you about the play a few weeks back. It's called "Imagine Christmas" and Powhatan Community Church is running two shows of it on Christmas eve.

The rehearsal overall, I thought, went really well. We still need a lot of practice, but my friend Sandy, who is in charge of the overall production, said she felt really good about how everything was shaping up. Sandy and the production team have been hard at work on this and it shows. Everything they have put together so far is pretty amazing and now we just have to get the thing polished up and make sure all the gears are meshing together. We are running out of time though as Christmas eve is quickly approaching. I imagine this is going to be our usual PCC thing where we run up to the last minute and everything comes out awesome. That's not to say we aren't going to have some problems come up. Last minute problems are also a hallmark of any good PCC production. However, my friend Beth has already said, "Everything's going to be fine." As I mentioned before, when she says that, you can bet that it's going to be ok. I wonder if old William Shakespeare ever had problems like we do when running one of his productions. I think his biggest trouble must have been when getting ready to do a show at the Globe Theater (outdoors) and he saw the rain clouds building. I imagine he must have had a similar saying though such as, "All shalt be not unwell."

So how did I do on Sunday? I wasn't nervous on the stage but for some reason, I kept forgetting a couple of lines here or there. I had basically memorized my lines on paper. However, it's a whole different ballgame when I am interacting on stage with my friend Chad (the other talking angel). There is just a lot more distraction and I am moving around which seems to cause me to drop a line or two. My strategy to fix this is just going to be to memorize my lines even more, meet with Chad a few more times offline, and then try and concentrate more when I am back onstage.

Apart from my lines, Beth, Chad, and another friend, Regina, all offered me some great criticism on my acting that I think will help me play this part a lot better. When it comes to acting, I feel like the great baseball player Yogi Berra when he was in grade school. According to an interview he did a long time ago, his teacher came to him one day about his extremely poor academic performance and told him she didn't think he knew anything. Berra responded by saying, "You don't know the half of it lady. I don't even suspect anything."

Beth, Chad, and Regina all have a lot of experience in doing these stage performances and I really respect what they have to say. Some of it is easy. Regina reminded me not to forget to look forward and face the audience instead of always looking at Chad. Then there is the harder stuff. Beth gave me some advice about projecting more and not holding back. Likewise, Chad has been encouraging me to really cut loose and get loud and get a little crazier. That's the harder part because it really isn't me. But I seriously value their opinions and expertise and if that's what they think will make my part better, than that's what I'll just have to learn to do.

We have another big rehearsal on Sunday and then a couple of more before Christmas Eve. I'll let you know how it all goes. I know I've asked before, but if you're really not doing anything Christmas Eve, you should come and check us out. It's going to be a great show. You won't be disappointed. I promise....

Day of Reconciliation & Day of the Vow

It's December 16th, which is a public holiday in South Africa where my wife Daleen is from. The intention of the Day of Reconciliation is to foster reconciliation between different racial groups in the country. The holiday came about in 1994 at the end of Apartheid and was instituted by the new government, led by Nelson Mandela and the ANC. Prior to 1994, December 16th was known in South Africa as the Day of the Vow or the Day of the Covenant. This was a public religious holiday commemorating the Boer victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838.

In South Africa during the 1830's and 1840's, there was a mass exodus of white farmers of Dutch descent from the Cape of Good Hope. This exodus was known as the Great Trek and involved great numbers of Afrikaner farmers (the Boers) moving northward from the cape and into the interior of the country. There are many reasons for the Great Trek. Mostly, the Boers were escaping from what they perceived to be oppressive colonial British rule. Also, the South African interior proved to have superior farming conditions.

This mass migration of white farmers northward caused many conflicts between the whites and the nations of indigenous tribesmen that occupied the land where they were moving. From an American perspective this is somewhat interesting. White people, expanding outward in covered wagons, fighting off the natives..... almost sounds like the American west doesn't it? There are actually quite an amazing number of similarities. Anyhow, eventually the Zulu leader Dingane sent the Zulu army, about 10,000 men, against an encampment of 470 Boers led by Andries Pretorius along the banks of the Ncome river. The Boers circled the wagons for protection and then, before the battle, they took a public vow that in return for God's help in obtaining victory, they promised to build a church and would keep the day as a Holy Sabbath.

The vow they took is translated as:

"Here we stand before the holy God of heaven and earth, to make a vow to Him that, if He will protect us and give our enemy into our hand, we shall keep this day and date every year as a day of thanksgiving like a sabbath, and that we shall erect a house to His honour wherever it should please Him, and that we also will tell our children that they should share in that with us in memory for future generations. For the honour of His name will be glorified by giving Him the fame and honour for the victory."

Needless to say, the Boers won a lopsided victory (3,000 Zulu killed vs. 3 Boers wounded) and the battle pretty much ended the Zulu opposition. The battle was called Blood River because of the water turning red from the blood of the fighting. And the Boers kept their promise. They built the church which still stands, and they kept the date as a public religious holiday.

In post-Apartheid South Africa, the Day of the Vow has been criticized as a racist Afrikaner holiday and celebrates the success of Western forces over native Africans. However, many people still celebrate the holiday and say it has nothing to do with racism. Many Afrikaners say the holiday is simply giving thanks to God for deliverance from certain destruction. Their belief is that thanksgiving for the deliverance of God is independent of race.

Race is such a huge issue in South Africa. Even with the end of Apartheid, race is a major aspect of the national culture. You just can't get away from it. Without the racial aspect though, I like the idea of having a day to give thanks for God's deliverance over insurmountable odds. It's very much like the American Thanksgiving holiday, where the settlers gave thanks for their survival under some extremely harsh conditions. I also like the current holiday in South Africa that falls on December 16th. The Day of Reconciliation. I think they need a holiday like that to remember where they've been and where they are heading. It's been fourteen years since the holiday was changed. A lot of things are different now in South Africa, but so many problems remain. A Day of Reconciliation is a good thing. It's a great thing. But they are still facing some very large challenges. Perhaps together, they should take a new vow.....

The Bookworm

It's time again! Out with the old and in with the new!

I just finished my latest gaggle of books and now it's time to start reading some new ones. Most people I know read their books serially. You know, start one, finish one, and then start another one.... like normal people. I, on the other hand, just because I'm a wierdo, tend to read several books in parallel. I'll start a book that looks interesting. Then, while I'm reading that, I'll find another one that is also interesting, and so on and so forth. What happens is I'll end up with books scattered around my house in different stages of being read. The downside of this is that it takes forever to read a book. The good part though, is that I never have to go find a book when I want to read. There is usually one right where I happen to be.

This time the main books I was working through were: When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.

I picked up When You Are Engulfed In Flames when I went to see David Sedaris a the Landmark Theater in Richmond. As I reported earlier, the show was amazing. I got the book in hopes of getting it signed, but my sister convinced me a warm plate of nachos at Mojo's was much better than standing in a long, slow line, waiting to have David scratch the inside of my book with a Sharpie. She was right.

The book was great. It a collection of essays, mostly biographical, very funny. If you like David Sedaris, you'll love this book. If you've never read his stuff and are looking for something that is an easy read but will make you think a little, you should give him a try.

The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team was given to me by my friend Sammy. We are getting ready to have the big annual meeting of our church's Small Group Leadership Team (that awesome team I'm on that I was telling you about) and it is required reading. To be honest, I was planning on reading it anyway. Several people I know have read it and told me how good it was. They were right. It's quick and I read the whole thing in two days (normal people could probably get through it in an afternoon). If you are on a team or lead a team, any team, you should read this. It's told as a fable, but you can identify with everyone in the story and anyone would get something out of it. I've already started thinking about how to apply what I've learned to team I am on both in and out of work. It will make your team stronger and more productive, I promise.

The Year Of Living Biblically was a book I borrowed from my friend Johnathan. It is a memoir of a year spent trying to live out, quite literally, all the rules and laws found in the Bible. A.J. Jacobs spends the first nine months in the Old Testament and the last three in the New. In the beginning he states that he is indeed of Jewish heritage, but that "he's Jewish like the Olive Garden is Italian." He's basically an athiest. But he truly dives right in and gives it his best shot. He does some crazy stuff in his pursuit, learns a lot, and you can watch him change throughout the pages. It's a very interesting book and I liked it very much. The funniest parts were all the times when his wife started to get fed-up with his whole project and would try and thwart his efforts. For example, it says in the OT that when a woman is having her...ahem.. "special time of the month", a man is not supposed to sit where she has sat down because she is ritually unclean. After Jacobs mentions this to his wife, the next time she is having her.... well, you know... she goes around and sits on every stick of furniture of the house. The Year Of Living Biblically is a lively, fun book. It has dancing, indoor tent building, old guys coming by to check for mixed fibers in clothing, and lots of crazy beard growth. You'd love it even if you're not religious, or a Christian, or Jewish, or anything else.

The final book I recently finished up was 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne. It was on the discount rack at Barnes and Noble and I thought, "Why not?" I figured it was a classic and should be a good read. It was an interesting book, but I wouldn't call it fast paced adventure like I was expecting. Most of the book is devoted to explaining the oceans and waters around the globe and sea creatures inhabiting them. In our modern age of information, the facts and technology Verne describes can seem sort of dull to us. Although I can understand how, in France in the 1870's where most folks hadn't really gone anywhere and there were no cars or large scale electrical production, a story about an electrically driven submarine travelling into strange foreign waters would be of real interest. Verne apparently patched together things he had heard and read about these foreign places into one book. I did find it interesting to note that Capt. Nemo's name comes from the word nemo which, in the Latin translation of the Odyssey by Homer, is the answer Odysseus gives to the cyclops Polyphemus when asked his name. In this instance it is translated as "no-man" or "no-body".

So, what's next on my reading list? A bunch of Christian/church books. I just started The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry by Bill Hybels and Russ Robinson. Also, I have two books called It and Pop Goes The Church. However, you can bet that by the time I get though those, I'll have read a few others as well. Of course there are all the other magazines, news websites, and work material I need to read too. Something really fun I am starting to read at work is VIISta Product Line Advanced Ion Beam Optimization Techniques. Yeah, if you can't sleep at night, I'll loan it to you. It's more powerful than a whole box of Lunesta.....

The Diamondheads

Went to see Neil Diamond last night in Charlottesville. It was a great show and all I can say is that when I start qualifying for senior citizen discounts, I only hope to be in as good of shape as that guy.

I am not one of those freaky Neil Diamond fans (a Diamondhead). I like Neil the same way as I like Jimmy Buffett. I like him and I can sing along to a few of his greatest hits, but I don't own all of his CD's and I wouldn't go far out of my way to go to see a show of his.

However, when I heard on the radio that he was going to be playing in Charlottesville, I remembered that Daleen, my mom, and my sister Carla really like him a lot and would love to go see him perform. When I mentioned the show to Daleen, she got all excited and immediately asked if we could go. So, the morning the tickets went on sale, we were on our computer, ready to go, and bought three tickets. One for each of us and one for my mom. My sister already knew about the show and was getting tickets to go with some of her friends.

Daleen, my mom, and I headed for Charlottesville yesterday at around 3:30. Carla came later with her friends after she got off from work. The show started at 8:00, but there is a great restaurant in Charlottesville we wanted to hit for dinner. We went to The Shabeen, which serves traditional South African food. The food there is amazing, the service is great, and it's as close as you're going to get to the real deal without having to take an eighteen hour plane ride. I had the South African farm sausage (boerewors) and a type of corn meal mash which is not unlike grits (pap). Daleen had a steak pie that was awesome and my mom had lamb kebabs (sosaties). We had an excellent bottle of wine and finished everything off with ice cream and a twisty, honey-soaked, sort of doughnut thing (koeksister). I'm serious, the next time you're in Charlottesville, you should check them out. They're right across the street from the end of the pedestrian mall in downtown.

After dinner, we headed over to the John Paul Jones arena for the show. We got there just a little over an hour early and had a short wait till they opened the doors. While waiting, we talked to some other folks in line. The ladies standing behind us had seen Neil sixteen times previously. They were trying to guess which sequined shirt he was going to be wearing that evening... the black one... or the white one... By the way, the John Paul Jones arena is a great place to see a show. It's not all that large on the inside and the event staff definitely have their act together.

Once inside the arena, we got our seats transferred. They had closed off the area where we were originally supposed to sit, but they gave us new seats... behind the stage. When we realized we'd be looking a the back of Neil's head, we went back and they gladly changed us to seats where we could see the front of him. (During the show, several times, he did go around and sang to those folks sitting behind him.)

The show itself was great. His band was terrific. Like I said, Neil Diamond is in incredibly good shape for someone who has been performing for longer than I have been alive. He played some songs off his new CD and he played a bunch of old favorites. The audience, as you can imagine, consisted of mostly older folks. The crowd seemed somewhat subdued in the beginning of the show, but basically everyone was on their feet by the end. At the beginning of the show, they announced Neil would play for the entire show and there would be no intermission. At this announcement, we wondered how long the band would play. It ended up being two solid hours....amazing.

When I told a friend at work we were going to see Neil Diamond, he said, "I thought that guy died." "Oh no", I replied. "He is alive and well and selling lots of extremely expensive tickets for his shows. He is definitely doing something right." Overall, the show really was a good time and we had a great evening. Daleen, my mom, and my sister Carla all really enjoyed it. I can report that Neil Diamond is alive and well and has the kind of energy most folks his age would probably love to have. His best songs are just as good as they ever were and seeing them done live was a lot of fun. One thing you can tell though... he has been performing for over three decades, and he knows his audience. He knows what they like and has mastered the art of showmanship in regards to the folks that go and see him regularly.

So would I go see him again? When I bought the tickets for the show last night back in October, I was thinking this would be a once in a lifetime thing. Something we at least wanted to do one time. I have no doubt he'll be coming back for years to come and if the mood strikes us, we'd definitely get some tickets again..........

Don't Forget....

Today is December 7th.......remember?.... it's Pearl Harbor Day!

See...There is a reason a bunch of channels are for some reason showing old World War II movies like Tora!Tora!Tora! today...

So here's your history lesson for today:

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the US at the naval base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941. This attack later resulted in the United States becoming militarily involved in World War II. It was originally intended as a preventive action to keep the U.S. from influencing the war Japan was planning to wage in Southeast Asia. The attack consisted of two aerial attack waves totaling 353 aircraft, launched from six Japanese aircraft carriers.
The attack sank four U.S. Navy battleships (two of which were raised and returned to service late in the war) and damaged four more. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer, destroyed 188 aircraft, and caused personnel losses of 2,402 killed and 1,282 wounded. Japanese losses were minimal, at 29 aircraft and five submarines, with 65 servicemen killed or wounded.
The strike was intended to neutralize the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and hence protect Japan's advance into Malaysia and the Dutch East Indies, where Japan sought access to natural resources such as oil and rubber.

In 1940, the U.S. halted shipments of airplanes, parts, machine tools, and aviation gasoline, which was perceived by Japan as an unfriendly act. The U.S. did not stop oil exports to Japan at that time in part because prevailing sentiment in Washington was that such an action would be an extreme step, given Japanese dependence on U.S. oil, and likely to be considered a provocation by Japan.
Following Japanese expansion into French Indochina after the fall of France, the U.S. ceased oil exports to Japan in the Summer of 1941, in part because of new American restrictions on domestic oil consumption. As the Japanese high command was certain any attack on the United Kingdom's Southeast Asian colonies would bring the U.S. into the war, a preventive strike appeared to be the only way for Japan to avoid U.S. naval interference.

The attack was an important engagement of World War II. Unintentionally occurring before a formal declaration of war (which had been scheduled to be delivered shortly prior to the attack beginning), it pushed U.S. public opinion from isolationism to the acceptance of participation in the war being unavoidable. The lack of warning led President Roosevelt to call it "a date which will live in infamy".

The bottom line is, we got caught by surprise and the Japanese beat us up pretty badly. At the time, the Empire of Japan had quite a large war machine and they decided to use it on us. The result that day for us was disastrous.

However, many in the Japanese navy at the time knew this would undoubtedly bring the U.S. into the war against them and predicted their ultimate demise. Japanese Admiral Yamamoto upon learning the fact that America did not receive the declaration of war until 55 minutes after the attack started, noted that nothing would infuriate the Americans more. He is quoted as saying "I fear that all we have done is awakened a sleeping giant, and filled him with a terrible resolve." Later, Admiral Hara Tadaichi summed up the Japanese result by saying, "We won a great tactical victory at Pearl Harbor and thereby lost the war."

We should remember Pearl Harbor Day. There is a lesson to be learned here and we could be in trouble if we forget it. The attack was the 9/11 of its day. We have to be vigilant and prepared. Most importantly, we should remember those men and women who, without any warning, were killed just for being American and for defending our freedom. Occasionally, I'll see a guy wearing a shirt or hat that says Pearl Harbor Survivor. You used to see it on some licence plates but I doubt even very few of those people are still driving. However, when I do see it, I think about what kind of hell that day must have been and how that one single day changed those people's lives forever. It could happen again... I hope it doesn't.

Home At Last

My family is finally home.

I leaped out of bed at 3:00AM last Thursday morning to head to Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. to pick up Daleen and Colin from their four-week trip to visit her parents who live in South Africa. I headed out the door of our very clean and well-organized (yes, I finished cleaning and putting everything away in time) house at 3:45 and headed north. Of course, I-95 is just one big 24-hour traffic jam anymore and naturally, I got stuck in traffic as I approached Northern Virginia. However, I managed to get to the airport at 6:15. Their flight was scheduled to arrive at 6:00, so between immigration, baggage claim, and customs inspection, I thought I had plenty of time. I didn't have to wait long though. Their plane actually arrived at 5:30 and they came out shortly after I arrived. We had a great reunion. There were lots of hugs and Colin was very excited to show me his new toy excavator. There was no traffic on the ride home. Colin slept the entire trip in the car and Daleen dozed off after we talked a while. (18 hours is a LONG time to spend on a plane and anyone is wiped out after making that flight.)

We got home and promptly unpacked the suitcases. This was a lot fun where Daleen and Colin showed me all the nice stuff they brought back with them. This time those items included: an awesome curio for my sister for Christmas, mayonnaise, chutney, dried fruit, two bottles of the best wine on the face of this planet, Indian spices, books, chocolates, and household cleaner (Handy Andy - this stuff will clean anything off of anything!).

That evening, I had arranged a small surprise welcome home party. Just a few friends over for dinner. It ended up not being much of a surprise though as I was being cryptic about what we were doing for dinner, and I kept running around the house putting things away and cleaning. My doing those things automatically made her suspicious enough to ask if people were coming over, as that is not what I normally do at our house.

During our get-together that evening, I downloaded the photos from her camera and we had a little slide show. I picked a couple for your enjoyment as well. The first set are from the vacation resort Daleen and Colin stayed at with her parents. Daleen's dad absolutely loves golf so of course, Colin got to play too.

The View From Their Chalet

Grandpa Teaching Colin The Finer Points Of Golf Colin Watching His Grandpa Play With Keen Interest Colin Retrieving His Grandpa's Golf Ball (nice view eh?) Colin Saddling Up For A RideThe majority of the trip was spent at Daleen's parents house. They recently sold their farm and moved into a smaller house. Daleen said she was sad to not be going back to the house she grew up in, but the new house is very nice. She said it was close to the Tzaneen Dam, but from the photos, the dam is right across the street.

The In-Laws New House

The View Of The Tzaneen Dam From Their Driveway (banana farm off in the distance)

Since they've been home, we have been just trying to relax and reconnect. We got all of our Christmas decorations and tree up. (Colin has only managed to break one ornament so far.) Then on Saturday, we went to the Richmond Christmas Parade, which I think Colin really liked, although he said it was too cold for him, even though he had on a large insulated coat and was covered up in a large blanket. I think he's still used to being in shorts and a t-shirt. His internal clock is still off as well. Saturday morning he was up around 3:30AM. Then this morning, he woke up at 5:30. He has some more adjusting to do but he'll be fine.

We've had a great couple of days together as a family since their return. Distance certainly makes the heart grow fonder. I'm glad they had such a great trip, but I'm even more glad they're home safely. We're all getting back into the swing of things and Colin will be heading back to school on Tuesday. It is hard to have such a great family that lives so far away and going to see them is getting more and more expensive. My brother-in-law set up a Skype account when Daleen was over, and we can now use our online video/voice connection to keep up, which will help, but it's still not the same as being there.

We already had a trip to go in June and we're still going over again then. Even if Daleen just saw her folks, I still want to go and see them too and just be over there. Most of you have heard me say before that South Africa really is the most beautiful place on Earth. There is just something about the land and the people that are addictive and we still talk about moving there. That was actually the original plan when we got married. Unfortunately, the country is still in a large state of change and nobody really knows where things are going to end up. Daleen has kept her SA citizenship though, so we can at least keep that option open. In the short term, our visits will have to do. Daleen and Colin had a good trip (except for Colin getting sick), but they and I are glad they're home at last.

Oh, and by the way, Daleen was totally stunned when she walked into our newly renovated laundry room when she got home....Score!

In The Final Stretch

Daleen and Colin are going to be home on Thursday morning and man, I have a lot of work to do.

Things are looking good though and I think I might be able to finish everything I wanted to do with time to spare. The laundry room project is in it's final phases of construction. The room itself is painted and the new tile floor is down and it really looks amazing. I have the new cabinets painted as well and those are installed along with the trim. All I have to do now is install the new countertop, deep sink, and faucet and tidy everything up. It has been quite an odyssey though. I made such a mess of our house that I'm glad Daleen wasn't here for it.

Here is our kitchen and dining room when I was putting the floor in (all the stuff in the laundry room had to go somewhere). It too bad you can't really make out the washer, dryer, and the hot water heater in the lower left corner of the first picture. Those took up a lot of space:

Here is the old laundry room floor:

And then here is the floor with the ceramic tiles glued down (I still have the tile spacers in and the grout hadn't been laid down yet, but you get the idea):

The worst part of the whole project was tiling the floor. It is a very slow and tedious process. It wasn't so much the work that was the biggest problem. What was my problem was that I had to turn off my water and take out my hot water heater (because it resides in the laundry room.) Not having running water for a few days wasn't a very festive experience. I went to my parents house every day to shower and fill up my gallon jug of water so I could brush my teeth in the morning (somewhat important) and make coffee (extremely important). Needless to say I am very happy to have my water turned on again.

So, now that the project is coming to an end, the next phase of my time alone is beginning. I am now turning into my own Dept. of Sanitation and it's time to get the house cleaned. While the paint was drying today, I started on the bathrooms. The burning in my eyes from all the Tilex and bleach fumes is just now finally starting to subside. I can tell you there is not a single microorganism alive in any bathroom in my house. Ever been to an indoor swimming pool where they use enough bleach to kill the bacteria and all the swimmers? Yeah, its like that....nice and sterilized.

Now that I have my water turned on and have my washer and dryer back in place, I have also started back in on the pile of laundry that has been building up. Luckily, I have a bit of ironing to do and have already been thinking about what movies I want to watch while I tackle that.

Once the house is clean, I still want to change out the water filter for the house and I need to replace my heat pump filter. Also, all those leaves I got up the other week? Well, all their little buddies have now leapt onto my lawn and it looks like I didn't do anything. If I have time, I'm going to try and do something about them.....well, actually I think the leaves are just going to have to wait. I doubt Daleen will be dissappointed if I don't get them up.

I went out yesterday and got Colin a little welcome home gift and I still need to run over and get Daleen some flowers before Thursay morning arrives. When they get back, I want everything to be just right so they can simply come home and relax. I told her on the phone that people were worried about me cooking while she was away, and that there is a popular belief that I'm sitting at home, in the dark, in front of the TV, subsisting on Hungry Man TV dinners. I then joked that I was going to get some of those TV dinners, and when she gets back we'll have to lay low one night in the dark in front of the TV, so I can at least see what I missed out on. She replied that she would rather I go and pick up some Allen's Chinese instead..... good idea.

So wish me luck on getting everything done in time. I'm off from work tomorrow so I should be ok. I'm actually hoping to be done early tomorrow so I can have one night to just relax and go to bed early. I have to work Wednesday and I have a work function that evening so really tomorrow is going to be it for me.

I've said it before but the past four week have just flown by. I knew they would. Daleen said her time with her family has gone by quickly too. Colin is doing much better now and is almost completely over his illness. When we spoke today, I could hear him in the background going to town on my brother-in-law's piano (do you think there is some musical talent there??) Daleen says they're ready to come home now and I'm definitely ready for that too.

I would like to say thanks to all my friends and family who have helped me out over the past month. I had enough invites to dinner that I probably never needed to buy groceries. Thanks for the help with my home projects, for hunting trips, and for being around to talk to. Thanks to my sister who put on Thanksgiving at her house this year. I can honestly say, I don't think I felt lonely for even a moment while my family has been away and that has really been the best help anyone could give.....