Back at the lake

First weekend back in Corbin and we managed to get back down to the lake with friends. It was nice. I love it there and I hope that we can do it often. It's fun watching the kids get to do things that are new to them, but I kind of took for granted being around when I was growing up. I had the same thought as we were sitting out in the back yard the other night watching the deer eat apples that had fallen from Dad's apple tree. (It has now become my quest to get some really good pictures of those deer, by the way. I'm sure there are goofy stories that will be slightly embarassing to me and are the kind that make Kel wonder why I get obsessed over not-so-important things to follow soon . . .)

I'd call our first week back a very good one. Mom and Dad have been very flexible and gracious as we have moved our family in and taken over half of their house. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that they now have full access to the grandkids. (what, you guys are here too?) Believe it or not, it was never my plan to turn 30 and then move back in with my parents.

I'm sure it wasn't my parents' plan either, but I'm thankful that they don't seem to mind.

-Jeff

Never say never

When will we learn to just stop talking? Here's some background you may or may not already know. When we first got married, and probably even before, I took every opportunity to try and explain to Kel how Corbin was actually the center of the universe. It's pretty apparent, if you stop and think about it. If it takes 6 degrees to get to Kevin Bacon, it should only take 4 to get back to Corbin. Since Kel was not from there and was not ready to accept this idea, she boldly stated on several occasions: "I will never live in Corbin."

That's all it took. We soon found ourselves moving into our first house -- in Corbin, of course. Also, predictably, she loved it. We had some great relationships with friends, a great church family and lots of opportunities to serve. Work was going very well, but there were some connections at work to Louisville. Again, some careless statements were made: "If we ever move, I'd love to go south. I wouldn't want to go any farther north, and definitely not Louisville . . ."

You'd think we would learn. Of course, we soon found ourselves hauling all of our stuff, and our now larger family with Ally, into another house -- in Louisville. We plugged into a great church and formed amazing new friendships. Along the way, we've added two more sons to our traveling circus of a family, and even though we really had no prior connections to Louisville before, we felt very settled. At this point, we were aware of the pattern. We even jokingly said a few times: "I'll never live in Hawaii . . ." But even at the same time, without a second thought, we would say to each other: "As much as we miss friends and family and all of the familiar things about Corbin, we know we'll never live there again. There's just no way. I mean, how could we?" And we absolutely believed it. 100%

For the record, I'm currently sitting parents' living room -- in Corbin of course. "Work" has brought us back again, and at this point it is still very surreal. We're back for the forseeable future, whatever that means. I guess until we foolishly and boldly make some statement as if we actually knew what the future held.

This is interesting though: Before we were pregnant with Drew, we were having a conversation with my cousin when she asked if we were open to having more children. The last time Kel and I had that conversation ourselves, the answer was a pretty firm "no." When she asked, however, without hesitation we both answered "yes" at the same time with no hesitation. We looked at each other, completely surprised, and began to realize that God had been quietly working on us and we were being prepared for Drew who came along not long after. I think the same thing has been happening to us lately. I can look back and see a desire for things that I always associated with "home." You don't have to look far, the last post on here speaks for itself and that was long before this opportunity was ever presented. Don't get me wrong, we were extremely happy where we were, and it has been/will be extremely tough to leave. Even a few weeks ago, I would have laughed at the thought.

But I cannot imagine having never met Drew even though his arrival was a great surprise. So I'm excited to see what God is preparing us for here -- again.

-Jeff

Wrapping it up

I took the week off of work to get some things done around the house and to have some family time, and a couple of very predictable things happened:

- One or more kids got sick
- I didn't get half of the things I wanted accomplished
- The week was over far too quickly

In spite of it all, I think we had a very good week. We had several frustrating moments stuck in the house with sick/crazy kids. I don't think I'll remember those, though. I'm pretty sure I'm going to remember the good yard time we had.

One of the main things I wanted in our new house when we moved was a useable yard. Our previous yard was tiny, not very kid friendly, and completely unlike what I had growing up. As much as I got frustrated with it, I felt even worse for the kids. While our new yard isn't the biggest, it is definitely much more comfortable and kid friendly - and this week we took advantage of it.

This week was about the water hose, bare feet, and chasing the kids around with bucket-fulls of water flying. There was the night sitting in the grass with Ally and Ben watching the stars come out and seeing who can spot the next one first. Seeing them sitting still and laughing in the grass - a bigger step than you might realize for Ally in particular - felt good. There was the bat darting in and out of the yard that Ben was always a second too late to look up and see - and Ally flinched every time we mentioned it. It was fun - it was exactly what I was missing at the old house.

It felt like home. (I think the bat sealed the deal.) It was a good week. I can't believe Monday is almost here.

-Jeff

Got my finger on the pulse

That's right. People just know that when you need to find out what the likes, dislikes, wants, and needs of our culture are - you come to me. That's why I was invited to take part in a focus group for Fazoli's to evaluate some possible new menu items. Not really. I just happened to be in a Fazoli's and filled out a survey. But either way, I got paid to eat some food and tell them what I thought about it. Not a bad gig.

So at the test kitchen, I heard one of the employees (a 'food engineer') talking to another person about his background. Seems that he started as a pharmacy major and then made the apparently easy transition to food science. This was because, as he explained, the fields are very similar.

Now I'm not completely naive. I know that we eat a ton of stuff that is mass produced and is full of who knows what kind of chemicals, preservatives, etc. We are talking about manufacturing here, not home-cooking. But hearing the ex-pharmacy student turned food engineer talk for some reason really made that sink in for a moment. Of course, I completely forgot all about that as soon as the food started showing up. I mean, I did have a job to do after all.

(By the way, if you need paid evaluations of any of the following:
new golf courses
all-inclusive vacation resorts
Oreos

... then I'm your man!)

-Jeff

Does the fire marshall know about this cake?

A couple of weeks ago . . . it happened. I turned 30. I woke up, same as any other day, but I'm pretty sure out there in the distance somewhere . . . . I could just make out the sound of my sister laughing. (Completely ignoring the fact, mind you, that she's knocking on the door of that same milestone herself . . .) Oh yeah, she's been waiting for this day for a long time.

Actually, the day came and went with a whimper. The whimper was mine - as I was fighting some kind of cold that day and as usual I was a lousy patient. All in all, though, it really wasn't a big deal and I didn't expect it to be. But it wasn't all that long ago that the thought of turning 30 was the pure definition of 'becoming old.' Pretty funny, really.

I remember several things about turning 20. Within a little more than a week of turning 20 I also got married. I distinctly remember still feeling like a kid when faced with the suddenly all-too-real responsibilities of being a new husband and 'official grown up.' It took a little bit, but Kel was definitely ready to start having kids before I was. I clearly remember thinking to myself: "I'm still a kid, I can't be having a kid . . ." I was 24 when Ally was born. I remember the fear when we first came home with her from the hospital and it really sank in that we were on our own with our new baby - and there weren't nurses coming in to help every couple of hours. I definitely felt like a kid.

I had a lot of growing up to do. I still do. The twenties kind of felt like adulthood with training wheels. Yes, you have responsibilities and you learn a lot, but you are kind of expected to still mess some things up because you're young. I'm not so sure the same applies to the 30's. I have a fear that I should have learned more than I did . . . You know, like how it's cute when the 3 month old baby finds his hands and starts sucking his thumb. But when you're that kid sucking your thumb in the 3rd grade it's not so cute anymore. I think I might be that kid.

I guess we'll find out. For now, I'm just going to enjoy my twenty-something wife for another month or so. Then we'll both be 'old.' Just ask my sister.

-Jeff

So I've been thinking

about starting a blog . . . oh, wait. I already did. I just don't post there anymore . . . Well, that's got to change. There have been a ton of things happening lately. I don't say that in order to say that I've been too busy, but more because there's a lot of stuff that I'd like to write about.

More to come, I hope.

-Jeff

The Face of Genius

Kel's cousin made the comment the other day that she thought Drew looked very wise. Now, I'm not sure I would use the word "wise" for someone who regularly poops themselves, but I know where she's coming from. Drew is typically very alert and always seems to be studying everything around him very carefully. I don't remember the other kids being like that quite so early. Although, with the circus that is our house there is plenty to keep him occupied.

It makes me think of my earliest childhood memories. Some, I'm convinced, were very early. Most of them are completely random. I saw a picture recently of me and some of my cousins at my grandparents' house and I looked very small. But I remember that day very well. My cousin Chuck had just gotten one of those nerf boomerangs (had to be the coolest thing I'd ever seen) and I was amazed. It was green with yellow grips. We took turns throwing it and chasing after it unnecessarily (since it kept coming back to where it started.) Nothing important, but I've never forgotten it.

I remember being outside one time when I was pretty small and seeing my dad across the yard waving for me to come over to where he was. For some reason, I ran the other way and went inside instead, and I remember being really upset that I didn't do what he said. I'm positive Dad has no recollection of such an insignificant event. Completely random, but burned in my brain forever.

It then dawned on me that Ally (and quite possibly Ben) are already older than I was in many of the memories that I remember pretty clearly. What are the things that will stick in their memories? Gulp. What are the things that are already cemented in there? Hopefully, they are good memories. But, it doesn't take me too long to think of things I hope aren't the ones that stick. Times I got too upset, or times I was too harsh with them. They've seen me at my best, and at my worst.

The good news is that they still seem to be pretty fond of Dad. I guess I haven't messed them up too badly. Come to think of it, I'm sure my parents made plenty of mistakes with me as they were figuring this parenting thing out - but I have no memories of those. Still, I'm going to try and be more aware of how permanent every situation could be in their minds. No pressure . . . :)

-Jeff