10.21.2004

It's a......

BOY!

We're so excited. Of course, now I'll have to either explain to Clint why we're not naming him Clint, or lie and say that we are!

Just got Barbara's vote for John (also a no, there are entirely too many Johns in my family already), and a vote for Ezekial from a guy at work, and a vote for Gabriel from Gabrielle. My brother is currently trying to teach my niece Zoe to call him Little Fellow.

But you'll never find out until he's here! It's a secret.

See you all later, we're off to Pismo Beach!

10.11.2004

The Happiest Place on Earth

Today someone at work said something about the Tiki Room. And it reminded me. I've been to Disneyland hundreds of times and so I have a lot of good memories of the place (and some bad: grad night was a total nightmare). But today I was reminded of probably the most fun time I ever had at The Land.

I was eighteen and in the middle of my first year of college when my friend Tim and I decided to spend a day at Disneyland. It was the middle of the week, so it was pretty deserted there anyway, and the overcast January skies weren't attracting any crowds, either. This was in the days before California Adventure so we could still park close to the gates and walk in instead of waiting for a tram for 15 minutes. Once inside, we began making all the rounds to the best rides, waiting 5 minutes at the most. Somewhere in the middle of the morning it began to rain, and then it began to rain pretty hard, but we didn't care. We found a forgotten umbrella on Space Tours and used it for a while, then ditched it when we realized we were getting just as wet as we would be without it. At Space Mountain we discovered that the flooring in line was slippery when wet. The lines were totally clear, and with a good running start we could slide all the way down the ramps. Line surfing!

We took refuge in the afternoon inside the Tiki Room. I hadn't been in since I was about four. We were two of only about six people in there, and I couldn't understand half of what the animatronic birds were saying. At about four o'clock Tomorrow Land closed due to flooding and the whole park was under about a foot of water. Then at six they finally gave up and closed the park altogether. Tim and I had long since given up any pretense of trying to be dry and were happily jumping into the deepest pools of water. We slogged arm in arm down Main Street toward the exit in water up to our knees, waving at all the people who were riding out on the trolley. They were laughing at us and snapping pictures, and I'm sure they now all tell their friends about the "crazy Americans" they saw acting like lunatics in the rain!

Back at the car Tim dug out an Army blanket for us to wrap up in, and we stopped at a Taco Bell on the way home for food. They treated us like we were refugees! The workers turned up the heat for us and were very concerned for our health. We couldn't stop laughing.

Happiest place on Earth? Maybe that day it was.

10.10.2004

Yes, I'm still alive

Poor readers, did you think I had left you? Are you even still here? I apologize for the unforgivably long absence! Please forgive me. Again. I have a really really good reason this time, I promise! It's because.....I have seen the future.....and it wears tiny hats and diapers. But not yet. Right now it just makes me sick and moody. Yes, there is a baby on the way! It's due March 13th, and I've just begun to feel better after months of nausea and exhaustion. Needless to say, we're so excited! We get to find out if it's a boy or a girl on the 19th of this month, and I can't wait to stop referring to it as "it." How rude! I'll keep you all posted on the details (because I'm sure you want to know). So far it's been an interesting experience, and I don't regret a thing and I'm so happy. But I will admit that a glass of merlot would be really nice....

So anyway...haven't done a whole lot since China, for reasons listed above. Mostly I've been lying around enduring the heat. I'm so glad it's finally cooled down! We're getting ready for our annual camping trip to Pismo Beach in about a week and a half. It will be nice to get away for a few days.

Went to my 10 year class reunion last night. What a trip. There were only about four people that I wanted to see, and I got to see three of them. The fourth, Elisa, is forever lost to me, I suppose. I can't find her anywhere. But I got to see the other three, and two of them were an absolute delight. The third was one of those disappointing experiences where you find that one of your best friends has become a stranger to you because of too much elapsed time and too few common experiences. Sad, but I know it happens. It was interesting to see what had become of my classmates. Some things were expected, some a total surprise. A couple of the guys had returned recently from Iraq, some people are in full time ministry, some are in medicine, some have done well in their own businesses. Everyone seemed so happy and successful!

But of course, that's the only kind of person you see at a reunion, right?