Back to School...

I am back into teaching at OCC.  The Fall Semester started last week and I am settling into my routine.  I did not have as many "first-day-of-school-late-to-class-no-clothes-or-lesson-plan" nightmares during August as I have in the past.  I think it is due to the fact that I spent a good deal of time on campus during August (finishing a special project for my VP, learning our new online course management system, assembling my tenure application material, etc.) so I never really had to "go back" to school - I was already there.
Hurricane Irene ruined our last best chance to hit the beach before school started back up.  The boys are in swimming lessons every Saturday morning through October and my schedule does not have a "free" day until late September (right before my tenure application is due!)  Therefore, our beach going is likely over until next Summer.
One positive note about Irene...we cleaned out our garage the weekend before she hit.  As it became apparent that she was headed our way, we decided to try to fit our minivan in the garage (just in case a tree fell on the driveway.)  With some minor organizing (and by folding in our van's side mirrors) we got it in the garage rather easily.  Up until this point, we had "eyeballed" the van and garage and decided that it wouldn't fit.  Now that we know it will fit, we can keep it safely locked up whenever we need to.
Once again I am dealing with troubling issues at work - it seems that September is the time for those lately - and once again I am finding my only comfort as I turn to my Heavenly Father and Savior.  Perhaps September is the "humbling" point in my own Nephite-like pride cycle.  Even if it isn't, I am grateful to know that I have a loving Heavenly Father and Savior who are there to comfort me when the world cannot provide comfort.

Brad

Summer is here...

The past two days here on the Jersey Shore have been hot - "stupid hot" in fact.  I am looking forward to today's "tornado alert" to hopefully blow in some cooler weather before I have to tackle the jungle that is my lawn.

The lawn...we took some initial swipes at it with our push-reel mower; however, the weeds that make up 30-40% of our lawn (or so it seems) just grow too fast and too tall for our push-reel to accommodate.  Given that fact, the size of our lawn, and the amount of leaves that we have to rake and bag each year (over fifty 33-gallon leaf bags!) we decided to purchase an actual lawn mower.  We decided on a battery-powered model over gas (too expensive and smelly) or corded-electric (yard is too big and electric cords around a lawn mower is just asking for trouble.)  We were able to get it through Amazon.com.  I had a gift certificate from a textbook publisher (I do regular academic reviews of textbooks and online learning platforms) plus we could get free shipping.  It arrived yesterday and the battery is now charging up.  If all goes quickly I could have the front yard done tonight and the back done tomorrow or Friday.  Hopefully before Friday - I like to leave Fridays free (during the Summer) for time with the kids.

The kids...are all growing up way to quickly.  The boys' hair is about 10" long (last we checked) and should be ready to cut and donate by early fall (at the latest!)  They are growing so independent - their personalities and age difference are really showing.  I guess I've always thought of them as "the boys" and thus treated them very similarly (with minor adjustment for personality type.)  But there is a lot of difference between them that can be better explained by age.  I really hope I am up to working with them.  I sometimes think that I am failing at being the kind of father I want to be.  If I am failing now, how do I have any hope later?
Aside from their hair the boys are involved in cub scouts and love to play outside.  They love to read and watch Pokemon.  Last night we introduced them to "Mr. Bean."  My oldest was laughing so hard he had to stop eating so he wouldn't choke on his food.
My daughter is growing up too fast as well.  Her strong little personality is evident in all she does.  She is very good at telling everyone what to do (she even started counting at her oldest brother when he didn't do what she said - just like my wife and I do.)  She knows so many words, signs, and songs.  She sings to herself all the time.
My family is my joy and my anchor.  I am so blessed to have them!

I'll do my best to keep up a little better with my blog.  I plan to continue my Lent resolution of posting only non-political items (unless they are really important and relevant.)

For now, my daughter just woke up from her nap,

Brad

Can I be "proud" on Sunday?

Yesterday was Fast Sunday (if you're not LDS, you may have to look that up on wikipedia or something) and my family had a pretty impressive day.  I have regularly fasted for the standard two meals (Saturday dinner and Sunday breakfast works best for me) while my older son fasts for just Sunday breakfast.  My wife has not fasted since early 2008 due to pregnancy and nursing.  Well, yesterday she joined us in fasting for Sunday breakfast.  It was an awesome experience overall.  None of us complained or acting like we were hungry, tired or miserable through the entire experience.  I even think we had a noticeably more positive spirit in the home while we were fasting.

Another part of Fast Sunday that I am "proud" of is the testimony meeting part.  We have been sharing our testimonies with each other as part of Family Home Evening for several months now.  My wife and I have been encouraging our boys to share their testimony in church.  We have tried to set the example by having at least one of us share our testimony each month.  So Sunday I tried something a little different...I asked if one or both of them wanted to go up with me so we could share our testimonies "together."  My younger son eagerly accepted my offer and we went up together.  Once we finished my wife repeated the offer to my older son.  One of the young men in our ward (who was sitting in front of us) got in on the "let's go up together" discussion (reverently of course) and so all three of them went up and shared their testimonies one after another.

Overall, it was an amazing day!  My boys are growing up so fast.  It's a good thing to see them growing up in righteousness too.

Brad

For the first time in 2 years...

Today we broke out the Christmas decorations and began "festivizing" the house.  We haven't selected a tree yet, but we knew we had to get a start on decorating.  All of the kids were very excited.  Last year we were in Utah for Christmas, so we didn't decorate our house at all.  So the older two are excited to get back to decorating, while the youngest is experiencing her first "aware" Christmas at home.  I had a great time!  Once we got some lights in the windows, I turned off all the other lights in the house and we just watched and listened to the Christmas music in the background.

The holiday season has definitely started!
Brad

Injury updates...

In honor of my Utes win over "they who must not be named" from Provo, and my Chicago Bears' win over the Eagles, I thought I'd post something football related about my family.  I love football and other sports analogies, but they have been horribly overused and abused by our society.  I will therefore go with the standard injury update.

Daddy [likely] - minor stomach pains after eating fatty foods (pecan pie and milk chocolate being the latest culprits); general fatigue from lack of an early bedtime; continued sharp left elbow pain (when pressure is applies) from fall 3-4 weeks ago (I was holding my daughter and my elbow took the full force of my backwards fall.)

Mommy [likely] - neck and head pain from "throwing out" her adjustment from last week; fatigue (see Daddy); foot pain (wore some awesome - and hot - boots to church today; unfortunately, they lack support for standing/walking for long periods of time)

Older son [questionable] - hip pain and accompanying limp (possibly from injury 2 weeks ago), x-ray taken on Friday but no report yet; possible fatigue manifested by sleeping-in more than his siblings (he could also be turning into a tweenager)

Younger son [likely] - no injuries to report

Daughter [likely] - fatigue (though she slept for 11 consecutive hours last night); minor "bonkahead" as she calls them (no concussion indicated); moderate Mommy separation anxiety.

Overall, we are favored to survive this week.  The spread is 7.5 and the over/under is 44.5,
Brad

Saturday is(n't) a special day...

Well, I did accomplish a lot today. The boys bedding got washed, as did another load of laundry. Two loads of dishes got washed, the upstairs hardwood got "vacuumed" and the entryway stairs got swept. I also got grades completely caught up in over a third of my classes. Overall, very productive. Plus the Utes won. Who cares how they won, the point is: they won! I didn't watch any of it - I don't know if I could have even if I wanted to. I would have turned it off after the 13-0 score in the 3rd quarter.

So why is today not special? I don't know. I really needed to get some OCC work done, but I think that is the culprit. My mood (and I'm pretty sure my family's mood) takes a bit of a dive when I spend lots of time on the computer (most of my grading and "work" is through OCC's online portal "Ocean Cruiser" or the more general "Blackboard")

So what am I doing typing a blog entry when I've already spent all day on the computer? My wife is downstairs and I think she is done with her Primary preparation. I think I'll go downstairs and see if she wants some company.

I know I could use some,
Brad

Black Friday...

My "Black Friday" started late on Thursday at Toys R Us. I drove by at 11:30 to see over 200 people lined up still waiting to get in (they opened at 10pm!) I quickly drove on to Walmart.

Walmart does not close anymore. How, you may ask, do they handle time-sensitive sales, then? Well, they wrap the goods in black plastic and put employees of various levels of effectiveness as "guards" to prevent anyone from buying anything. Depending on which employee you got, you were allowed to (a) TOUCH & SEE NOTHING; (b) look, but don't touch; (c) pick what you want, but stay on the spot until 12am; (d) take what you want and go stand in line to wait to check-out at 12am; (e) "I'm not sure what's going on, so..., whatever!" Needless to say, I didn't find much and I plan to never go to Walmart for Black Friday again.

The family and I headed out to join my wife in her mid-morning sales run. We ended up staying out until 4pm! We got lots of good stuff, but were not as organized as we would like...(grrr!) The Asbury Park Press did not deliver our paper yesterday. I lodged complaints both online and via the phone system (nobody was at work) so we got both yesterday and today's paper today! A lot of good that does us! Asbury Park Press, welcome to my "enemies list"...say hello to Walmart.

Our last errand was over to Community Hospital to get an X-ray of my oldest son's hip. He's been limping and complaining of pain for over a week and our chiropractor recommended we get him checked just in case his growth plate or something else more serious is damaged (just to be safe!) We'll get the results tomorrow - so I'll let you know what's up then.

Time to eat ice cream and watch something silly,
Brad

Continuing our only Thanksgiving tradition...

My wife and I brought very few family traditions regarding Thanksgiving Day to our marriage in 1999. From 1999-2001 we actually went to both sides of the family for some part of Thanksgiving. When we moved to California in 2002, we had a two-year tradition of eating out for Thanksgiving dinner - which is when I first had duck. That died with 2004 as we hosted family members who were visiting California to escape the cold of Utah and 2005 as we hosted even more family members and friends from our ward. In 2006 we traveled to Utah for Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving Day with my in-laws and that Saturday with my family.

Our move to New Jersey and my teaching schedule at OCC ended any traveling over Thanksgiving. We invited a couple and their infant son over to our apartment for 2007. By 2008 we had moved into our home and we hosted the missionaries and a larger family from the ward. In 2009 we hosted the missionaries, a family from the ward, and one of my wife's former mission companions and her family (husband and 3 children.) This year we decided to just have a quiet Thanksgiving at home (unless we got an invitation from someone - which we did and we are so excited to go!)

Aside from the Thanksgiving Day meal/socializing, we have tried different "traditions" out to make the Thanksgiving holiday more meaningful. We tried having a "Thankful Tree." Beginning 1-2 weeks before Thanksgiving you cut-out pieces of construction paper (beginning with brown for the truck and branches and proceeding to red, orange & yellow for the leaves), write one thing you are thankful for on the paper, and tape the paper to the wall as part of the "tree" you are forming. You put one piece from each family member on the tree each day. By Thanksgiving Day you have a fabulous Fall-looking tree with all the wonderful things you are thankful for written all over it. This lasted from either 2004 or 2005 through 2008. I think we may have tried to start it last year, but we never even mentioned it this year.

The tradition that has really become a tradition is our Thanksgiving Eve dinner. This tradition started in 2005 and involves us preparing and eating (on the night before Thanksgiving) the Thanksgiving meal that Charlie Brown prepared for his friends on the "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" special: toast, popcorn, jelly beans (preferably Jelly Belly), pretzels, and a parfait. After the meal, we watch the special (along with Garfield's Thanksgiving.)

This year's edition of that tradition was awesome. My daughter loved it (it was the first year she could really appreciate it) and my boys enjoyed seeing her reaction to it. My wife found a great smoothie mix to use as the parfait and I picked up a quart each of Soy Nog and Soy Chocolate-Mint Milk to accompany the meal. We made too much popcorn, so we had to eat the rest while watching the two specials.

Overall, a fabulous evening. If you want to see pictures of our meal, you'll have to find my wife on Facebook!

Brad

Trying to change for the better...

Some experiences this past weekend have caused me to really look at my relationship with the members of my immediate family (wife and kids) very critically. As I have done so, I realize that I am definitely not being the husband or father I want to be.

With that realization in hand, I needed to determine the cause. And guess what...it was me. I mentioned on Saturday that my oldest was kind of moody. Today when I got home from work, even though it was really late (6pm) I came in with a positive attitude (I chose to do that!) I spoke only in a positive or calm voice, especially when offering correction to my children. The change in my behavior definitely set a much better tone for peaceful conflict resolution.

I haven't had much of a chance to talk with my wife (I mean really talk) so I don't know how our interaction will turn out. I do know that I am very happy and that I feel very close to her.

Did you have an amazing day at work? you might ask. No, not really. I enjoyed teaching, but even more bad news (RIFs and the like) came down today. So I am convinced the independent variable was my attitude and effort.

So now what? Now I finish this post and go about wooing my wife, that's what!

wink, wink, nudge, nudge, "know what I mean?"
Brad

A day of transition...

Well, my escapism and avoidance only lasted so long. I had nightmares most of last night - all of them involved being stalked or hunted down by some ominous hunter (not Hirogen, though, that would have been at least somewhat cool.) I woke up feeling agitated - and it showed in how I dealt with my family. I think that may be why my oldest has had such a sassy/moody day - he's keyed into his dad's mood a little too much.

Well, I was able to break out of my mood through raking leaves with the whole family. We threw ourselves into the front yard with 3 rakes and 2 garbage cans. My boys had already filled 11 bags before today and we got at least another 15 before we ran out of bags. We didn't even get to the leaves on the smaller side of our driveway - and that's just the front yard. The back yard is at least twice as big and has not been raked this Fall. Hard labor is ahead!

After finishing the leaves my younger son and I went over to Rich's II for their "last day of the season 1/2-price sale." We got 1/2 gallon of vanilla (for Thanksgiving pies) and 1 quart each of their pumpkin and egg nog ice cream. We had some for dessert tonight and it was wonderful!

Tomorrow I am teaching both the 12-18 youth in Sunday School and the Elders Quorum. The youth get a lesson on Eternal Marriage (we just finished the lesson on Chastity last week - so a natural segue) and the brethren get a lesson on Baptism. I love teaching, so it hardly seems like a burden to do so at church. I just hope that the Spirit will be with me - because that's who really teaches.

Brad

Finding an escape...

The atmosphere at OCC is absolutely poison. I am therefore going to fall back on some classic coping mechanisms - avoidance and escapism.

Fortunately, my drugs of choice are: my classes, the clubs I advise, my wife and children, my church calling, and the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend! Much better than Four Loko - but I really wouldn't know.

So, I spoke with one of the librarians at OCC and she indicated that we had a "chess and strategic games" club on campus. I am currently the interim adviser to the "Gamers" club, and we thought that those clubs may be one and the same. I have since found out that they are not. However, she wants to hold a holiday "board game" party. Only board games will be allowed (that means no pokemon, D & D, or other card-based role-playing games) and it will be open to the public. I think we could do it as a fund-raiser for a charity of her choice (donations at the door) and really have a great time with students, faculty, staff, and the general public. I know my boys would love it - I plan to take Axis & Allies, Fortress America, and Conquest of the Empire. I figure others will bring more traditional board games (Risk, Stratego, Chess, Checkers, etc.) and I don't want to subject them to some of my Avalon Hill games that have more involved rules (Frederick the Great, Panzer Blitz, Fortress Europa, etc.)

The club officially lists 91 members at OCC - so I hope it is alive and active. I have requested membership and inquired about the adviser and leadership. If it is not active, I would love to help activate it.

Ah, that was refreshing! It's always nice to focus on the positive aspects of my job!

This weekend we have plans to rake the massive amount of leaves in our yard and buy our last round of ice cream from Rich's II before it closes for the season (until mid-April.)

I've been losing weight this fall and may not be up to my usual Thanksgiving Day performance. Hopefully the ice cream will prepare me.

Brad

Back to work...

School hasn't officially started yet, but I am back on campus fairly regularly now. I have meetings of all kinds and I am trying to be a little better prepared for the start of this semester than I have been in semesters past (not looking promising!)

I do, however, have something to look forward to this semester - besides the genuine thrill I get from teaching (I am serious about that!) - we are going to Utah for Christmas and New Year's! Just got the tickets last night! We were initially going to get a flight that connected from Philadelphia through Houston to Salt Lake City; however, we waited until Wednesday to purchase the tickets because we had heard that airlines post new and good deals on Wednesdays. Our wait paid off. For just $2 more per ticket we found a non-stop from Philadelphia to Salt Lake City! We were also able to use our credit card rewards to purchase one of the tickets, so we only needed to pay for three (our daughter is still young enough to not require a seat.) I am so looking forward to being with family for Christmas. It will be the first time most of them have seen our daughter in person (she'll be 1 - and probably walking!) They will also be amazed at how tall the boys are (and how old and gray I look.)

Looking forward to December,
Brad

Murphy's Law...

My daughter has only fallen off of our bed twice. The first time was several weeks ago - that's when we realized we had to "barricade" her in during her naps. The second time was today - the day she is supposed to go to JCPenny's for pictures. She's fine, but I hope the bump on her forehead isn't too bad!

Plus it is pouring rain,
Brad

She's growing up too fast...

My 7-month old daughter can now crawl up the stairs! This morning she crawled over to the bottom of our staircase and pulled herself up to standing position. She's been doing this for about 2 weeks, but she has never attempted to climb up the stairs. Her first efforts came up about an inch or two short - she was trying to get her foot onto the step. This is how she crawls most of the time - on her hands and feet, not her knees. Once she figured out that she could put her knee on the step and pull the rest of her body up, she was on her way. The boys were totally excited and cheered her on all the way up. Mommy was playing the "safety" role while I recorded it with our video camera. It's both exciting and sad to see her achieve these developmental milestones.

I guess I had better put up some child safety gates!
Brad

A moment to brag...

Monday night, or rather, early Tuesday morning our daughter woke up and would not go back to sleep. Normally my wife can nurse her back to sleep. If that doesn't work I will rock her, either in the glider or walking around the house, until she falls back asleep. Well, after 30 minutes of walking/rocking she was not going back to sleep. Just as I was headed back to our room with her, she shuddered twice. This is one of her signals that she needs to go potty. So that's where we went and that's what she did.

Initially, I was somewhat annoyed that she had kept us awake at such an early hour just so she could go potty in the toilet. However, she kept us awake because she did not want to go potty in her diaper - she wanted to go in the toilet. That's amazing! I'd say I'm proud of her, but I overheard our primary president giving someone a lecture last Sunday on how there is no such thing as righteous pride - it is all evil. Even Heavenly Father says "in whom I am well pleased", not "in whom I am proud."

We just finished going through our boys' clothes and switching out the smaller sizes for the next sizes up. They are growing so freakin' fast! Fortunately, the need for more clothes was not too overwhelming. The need for shoes was, however. My older boy only has a pair of crocs that fit him. His brother has a pair of Sunday shoes, a pair of leather sandals, and a pair of crocs. Fortunately it is summer, and the younger one never wears running shoes if he has sandals.

Our organizing of the boys' clothes is part of our new Summer Schedule. Since I no longer have a class schedule around which to organize my day - and after spending a week haphazardly taking on the "to-do-list" with minimal success - we decided to schedule out our day on an hourly basis using our Google Calender. It has given us a new sense of purpose and given me a little extra boost of energy to get things done. I just need to work on getting up at 6am to exercise.

I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful.
I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful.
I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful.

-Brad

Reinventing the blog...

Lately this blog has become too political and sparse in its content. I have decided to make it more of a journal of personal and family happenings. I am doing this because my own journal writing has fallen off considerably - and I recall that my old blog during grad school often provided an excellent accounting of important events in my and my family's lives.

I am finished teaching for the summer - my two classes during the second five-week session were canceled due to low enrollment - and now have a "honey-do" list almost two pages long. I still have some commitments at OCC. Today, after I donate platelets, I will go in to finalize the grades for my earlier summer classes, write the report for the department assessments, and attend a meeting of the Advising Policy ad-hoc committee. Before next Tuesday I have to submit a budget for my team's part of OCC's Perkins Grant. After that, I will only have the College Senate and an ad-hoc bylaws committee to worry about until I start preparing for Fall.

That's all for today - I will try to post more regularly and include information about the family (especially the kids) to keep it interesting for everyone.

Looking forward to a more family-focused summer,
Brad

So much to catch up...

1. We closed on our house last Tuesday.
2. We found out we are having a girl on Thursday.
3. We finished packing everything up on Friday.
4. We moved everything into the new house and officially vacated the apartment on Saturday.
5. I taught the priesthood lesson on Sunday.
6. We all came to OCC today.

OK, some details...

Our ward members really came through on our move. Two people helped us pack up on Friday and about a dozen helped us move on Saturday. Because of all their help, it only took us 3 hours to move everything from the apartment to the house. Of course, now we have to organize everything!

The whole family was there for the ultra-sound on Thursday. It was really cool to see her little arms, hands and heart. When the tech said it looked like a girl, the greatest feeling came over me. My wife and I had suspected that it was a girl, and we were hoping for one. The boys are so excited to have a little sister, and I think they'll make great older brothers.

Well there it is for now. We've got a lot of work ahead of us as we settle into the new place, so you may not hear from me too often (so nothing new there!) I'll try to keep everyone informed as big events take place.

The happy homeowner,
Brad

A fun weekend...

Last Wednesday my wife's sister and her husband arrived to stay with us for the weekend. They spent most of the day Thursday resting (they were on their way back to Utah from Europe) while I taught my morning class and my wife attended her afternoon ASL class. Friday we were ready for some fun!

A family in our ward runs a parasailing business out of Point Pleasant and has been reminding us that we need to come try it out. With family in town our chance had come! We went up in pairs - I got to go with my younger son, then my sister-in-law and her husband went, and finally my wife and older son went. Neither of my boys are big fans of heights (nor am I, just ask my sister about the Eiffel Tower or the big ferris wheel at lagoon) but they both loved the ride and are ready to go again!

While the in-laws were in New York on Saturday, we went up to the Monmouth Mall to do some maternity clothes shopping and see WALL•E. I loved it! I even got a little teary at the end. The boys loved it too; unfortunately, my older son got impatient when we didn't get up and leave once the credits started. I guess we haven't done a good job passing down that tradition. The clothes shopping was also a great success. For dinner we went to 4 different places at the food court - isn't that what a food court is for?

I think we are going to try to have more weekends like that this summer,
Brad