Two Weeks Without A Post!?

I'm getting blog lazy!
Lots of hours at work, so I should have been making entries. Not sure why I've stayed away.

We have someone coming to the new house on Tuesday to tour and possibly make an offer. I know how crazy most of you think I am for having this home on the market so soon after moving. It's really a combination of things causing this decision. I really underestimated the distance and amount of driving that this move would cause. I figured it would be lots more miles for me, but didn't realize my wife would have to spend so much time in the van. The fuel cost is also a major factor.

I also have the property priced pretty high, so any reasonable offer will put us in good shape on the next house.


My second daughter has decided that she wants to transfer to another school next year. I'm not really surprised. Anderson University is a small school with strong (traditional) Baptist values, rules and regulations. Most of the students are locals that go home on weekends. She is bored and a little lonely.

I hope she finds a school that is a little cheaper. ;-)

My third daughter had her sweet 16th birthday last weekend. It was quite an affair! Not anything like the MTV parties, mind you, but fun none the less. She's got some really nice friends they did all the work. All we had to do was bring a large amount of food and stay out of the way. lol!

Daughter #2 even flew up to be here for the party (at her own expense). I'm glad she came up, but had a hard time with her spending that money on a plane when she could have saved it for other expenses at school. I think there were a couple of other reasons for her fly up, though. She wanted to see her friends and boyfriend. I think her Mom and I got about a half hour of her time to visit. I miss having her around. I'm glad she calls me every couple of weeks. It's good to talk to her and hear how she's doing in school. I'm very proud of her.

The rest of the kids are doing fairly well in school. They are getting adjusted to the routine and are not struggling so much with getting up in the morning. The two youngest had sibling withdrawal for a couple of weeks, but are enjoying having Mom to themselves all day long now.

I'm still waiting to see if she has any more time to get stuff done around the house like she said she would... I understand how busy she still is, so my expectations haven't been too high.

Well, that's enough for now.

Impact of 9-11

Yesterday marked the 6th anniversary of the attacks on the United States. I didn't watch any of the coverage (except what happened to be on the break room tv before I switched the channel). What does this say about me? Am I insensitive? Why don't I feel the need to join in the mourning and renew my outrage at what happened?

Maybe this is a reflection of a hardened heart. I don't know.
I have been more callous lately toward most everyone. It's not something I'm proud of at all. I want to care about people, but I can't seem to get up the energy to do it. All I seem to do is work, sleep and eat.

The death toll from 9-11 will grow by thousands more over the next few years due to toxins that were released into the air by the buildings collapsing. Aspestos and other carcinogenic substances will cause more and more deaths. Even to those who weren't in Manhattan at the time of the collapse. The wind carried debris for miles and folks breathed it all in. Each state that sent relief workers will see the increase in folks suffering.

The line for lawsuits forms at the Statue of Liberty...

Work, settlement and broken bones

I spent much of the Labor Day weekend doing just that... laboring.
I guess it's good to have the opportunities to earn the extra cash, but I think there needs to be a better balance in my life.

I had 1100 extra overtime hours last year (in addition to all the overtime that is built in to my schedule).
So far this year, I am at 400 extra overtime hours. Not as many as last year, but still a lot!

Settlement on the old house is in nine days! It will be nice to retire close to a quarter million in debt. 'Course, I'll also be getting rid of a quarter million in assets. So the debt to asset ratio will remain the same.

We actually have our current home on the market as well. Mainly to gauge interest, but there is always the possibility that if the right offer comes along... Our agent had a call on it this weekend and they want to look at it next week.

Rumor has it that the Fed is possibly going to lower the prime rate. This will be a nice change from the last couple of raises in rate. I'm hoping to refinance my adjustable real soon. It's not due to go up for a couple of years yet, but I'd just as soon lock in now as later. I'd be real happy with 5.5%


My fourth son fell on Sunday. Some of his brothers say he was climbing on the roof and fell from there to the picnic table (about 5'). He denies being on the roof. Either way, my wife spent about 5 hours on Monday at the hospital waiting and getting the results of x-rays. He broke one of the bones in his arm... his writing arm... Why does this happen the first week of school to a boy that struggles with writing!? Oh well. He's almost 10 and this is his first broken bone, so I guess he's doing pretty good overall. It was too swollen to cast it, so they splinted it for a while. This just means another trip (and the extra cost) to the hospital in a day or two for a cast. I haven't been keeping track, but I think we are somewhere around 9 or 10 broken bones for all my kids combined. Not too bad considering how active they all are. One nose, 3 or 4 arms, an elbow, a couple of toes, one leg, and an ankle. I think that's all of them. My wife broke a finger, and I broke my collar bone.
We ought to just have an orthopedist on retainer...

That's all for now.
I'm sure the excitement will crank up again in a day or two and I'll be writing again.
Thanks for reading and commenting (September!).

Pray

I'm asking my readers to please pray for my oldest.
She is (still) making decisions that are not the best. God has protected her thus far and I am grateful.

Why is it that kids have to make such poor choices?