And so it goes...

As July comes to an end, so too do my good, summer feelings. I don't like August. School reconvenes in August. My dad died in August. August is the gateway to autumn. My emotions and outlook on life take a nosedive in August. Tomorrow's blog post will be entitled "2013- The summer that wasn't". You'll see why soon. I don't like to be a downer, but I'm not always happy and sometimes my sour feelings will come through with my words on this blog. My whole blog would be disingenuous if it was sunshine and rainbows all the time. I think today and tomorrow will reflect some of these negative feelings (hopefully making this blog a genuine reflection of my true thoughts and feelings). And so it goes...

The Seven Dwarves

**Disclaimer** The idea for this blog post is not my own. I got it from a friend and do not want to take credit where it is not due. The idea is not mine, but expounding on it and writing about it are my original thoughts.

The seven dwarves go to my church. I'm not talking about little people and would never make fun of others in any way. I'm saying every church is a wonderful mish-mash of people with amazingly different personalities. These personalities fit those of the seven dwarves pretty well. Think about it for a minute:

Doc- All churches have those intellectuals who tend to be natural leaders because of their super smarts. We have people in our church who have degrees in Old Testament theology, who speak Hebrew, Arabic and Spanish. Lots of churches have smart people.

Happy- Do you ever wonder how somebody can be SO happy all the time? It doesn't matter what's going on, it seems as if some people wake up happy and just get happier as the day goes on. We have these folks in our church too. I have never seen these folks without a smile on their faces.

Grumpy- The flip side of happy. Some folks just never seem satisfied with anything. They seem to whine and complain about everything and want to make sure everybody knows they are not pleased about something. These types of folks are rare in our church, but let's be honest... we all know who they are.

Sleepy- Everybody comes to church tired at some point. It's human nature. Depending on how stimulating the sermon is or how long the sermon is, can determine the amount of sleepy people in a church. Our pastor is not long winded or boring. We love him dearly and he is a true treasure. But sometimes people get sleepy in church. It's so quiet and peaceful and lends itself well to heavy eyelids from time to time.

Bashful- Churches are full of introverts. Some people are so shy and quiet that I rarely (if ever) hear them speak. Not everybody comes to church for social interaction, and I'm completely okay with that.

Sneezy- This one is kind of tricky. It's not that one person sneezes all the time, but because the church is so quiet, it's difficult not to notice when someone does sneeze. More often than not it's someone coughing rather than sneezing. It's probably happened to all of us. You feel a cough coming on and you do your best to suppress it. This only makes things worse and you try to cough as discretely as possible. As you may guess, your body won't cooperate and sends you into a coughing fit. As much as you hate to do it, you have to get up and leave to avoid disturbing everybody in the church.

Dopey- I deliberately saved this one for last... and for good reason. I would never call anybody in my church Dopey. Goofy might be a better descriptor. I know Goofy is not one of the dwarves and is a different Disney character, but you'll see what I mean. Some people in our church have a goofy sense of humor. Admittedly I am one of them. There are just some folks in the church who tell corny and cheesy jokes and you love them for it. I won't mention any names, but we all know who they are :-)

So? Which one am I? I guess I'm a cross between Bashful and Dopey. I am quite quiet and I am fairly introverted when it comes to social interaction at church. I am also one of those guys who is always making wise cracks and telling silly jokes.

Can you picture the seven dwarves at YOUR church? I'll bet as you were reading the descriptions certain people were coming to mind already.

Nothing Better

After work today I got to spend the entire evening with Sveta. We played games, swam in the pool, had dinner and had a wonderful ride taking her back home. Quite simply there is nothing better than spending time with grandchildren. What a blessing!

Metal Detecting Cross

People who know me well, know I love my hobby of metal detecting. Other hobbies such as golf or fishing cost money to participate in. Metal detecting is not only free, I actually make money every time I do it. Granted, digging change out of the ground isn't going to do much for my retirement fund, but it money is money. Speaking of spare change buried in the ground, I think you'd be shocked at the sheer amount of money that is actually in the ground. Show me a patch of grass and I will use my metal detector to dig money up. It blows my mind to think there is that much money in the ground, but there is. I rarely get to go metal detecting because I hardly ever have time to do it. Most of my so called spare time is usually spent doing other things. House maintenance, yard work, time with family, visiting grandchildren etc... However, even though I don't get to do it much, I still have a jar with nearly $100 in change that I have found. Found with my metal detector. One. Coin. At. A. Time!

People often ask if I've ever found anything valuable. The answer is no, not really. I did find a penny dated 1835 that is worth about $20. I have found lots of silver coins which are worth a little more than their face value (depending on the current price of silver on the market). I have found numerous silver charms, but never any gold. That day is coming though :-)

I saw an article recently that I thought was interesting. It's about a metal detecting guy (I think he's a cop) who made a cross of all the scrap metal he ever found (you didn't think coins were the only metal in the ground did you?). I won't be doing anything like this, but I thought it was neat enough to share the story.

Ripe on the vine

I mentioned the grape tomatoes I planted this year for the first time. We have been harvesting them for the last 2 or 3 weeks and they are maturing by the dozens. There are way more than we can possibly eat. The larger tomatoes (Better Boys) are just starting to ripen. We picked the first one yesterday and it is beautiful. I don't like eating tomatoes, but I love growing them. Tami is the opposite. She likes eating them, but has no interest in growing them. This is why we get along so well... I grow 'em, she eats 'em. The perfect arrangement!

It's a jungle out there!

I've spent the majority of the last few days working outside. Of all the things I have seen in my yard, what has struck me the most is the absolute and complete invasiveness of weeds. It really is amazing how weeds can grow in every nook and cranny. They grow in sunny areas and shady areas. Wet areas and dry areas. I don't like weeds and I'm not saying they are beautiful, but I can appreciate them for what they are... part of God's creation. After the fall of man in the book of Genesis, God told Adam that man would toil for all his days and the weeds (I think the Bible uses the word thistles) would be relentless (please pardon the paraphrasing). The point being, there would always be work for man to do. Well, let me tell you folks, God was NOT kidding. My yard is a mass of weeds... and I really try to take care of my yard. I shudder to think what it would look like if I didn't stay on top of my yard work. It really is a jungle out there!

It hurts so good!

The weather was gorgeous today! Relatively cool temperatures and low humidity made for excellent conditions for working outside... and that's exactly what I did. After having coffee on the deck and reading my Bible, I got started on a number of projects that had been put off for too long. I worked all day and all evening and didn't quit until it was almost dark. I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I was finished. Now I'm sitting in my recliner and my muscles have had time to tighten up. I am really sore, but the pain is worth it. I feel like I got some exercise and sweated off a pound or two. It was a very good day!

Proof Positive --- Movies Stink!

Remember when I said most movies are trash? Remember I said finding anything worth watching is very challenging? Well, here's proof positive. I saw this article on the Fox News website today. It basically says that the four movies with the biggest budgets have all flopped this summer. They say it's because the story lines and characters aren't worth a plug nickel. All of the money is being spent on special effects. Movie makers think with the advances in technology, special effects will be enough to draw moviegoers in. Not so. People want movies with some meat... not just a bunch of glitzy special effects. This article affirms what I already knew. They just don't make many good movies anymore.

Click the link below to see what I'm talking about...

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/07/24/blockbusters-go-bust-big-budget-movies-keep-going-belly-up-this-summer/?intcmp=features

There are very, very few movies I will pay full price to see. It has to be something really special to get me to spend $10 per person at the theater. The few movies I am interested in seeing, I will rent and watch in the comfort of my own home. Call me an old scrooge, but I can't stand going to the movie theater. There are several reasons I say this. The moviegoing public annoys me in general. Talking in the theater, phones lighting up everywhere, people kicking my seat, people crawling over me while getting up and leaving for the restroom or to get an overpriced bucket of popcorn. The reports of bedbug infested theaters is enough to keep me away as well. There are so many things I don't like about going to the movie theater, that they far outweigh any reason I could come up with FOR going. Of course there are exceptions (taking my grandchildren to a movie for example)...

Another Minion Clip

Enjoy another Minion clip. I don't know why these little guys amuse me so much. To the tune of Barbara Ann:

Despicable Me! Number 2!

Sveta recently announced that she had gone to see a movie. When asked which one, she proudly announced, "De-stickable Me Number two!". Translation= Despicable Me 2. We haven't seen it yet, but thoroughly enjoyed the first one. Sometimes kids movies are more enjoyable than ones for grown ups. We enjoy the jokes embedded in these movies that only adults would understand. Film companies (like Pixar et. al) have this aspect of the industry figured out. Parents are much more likely to spend money taking their kids to a movie if they are likely to enjoy it as well. Our favorite part of the Despicable Me movies are the characters known as the minions. You likely have seen these little, yellow guys in advertisements. They are hilarious! I have included a short video of the minions above. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. I will post more minion videos in blog posts in the next few days.

Zero Dark Thirty

Tami and I have noticed a lack of quality movies released recently. There are lots and lots of movies available for viewing, but the vast majority are nothing but trash. However, we did see a movie recently that is worth mentioning. Zero Dark Thirty is the story of the hunt for and eventual elimination of Osama bin Laden. It was not a great movie, but it was good enough and well worth the rental.

I say check it out if you like a good drama. Please be forewarned... they do show the torture of some of the detainees and there is some STRONG language. I'm guessing it's on Netflix (although we don't have it). We got ours out of the Red Box.

Home again!

Abby's plane landed at CVG at 11:30 last night. Everyone made it back safely, but were totally exhausted. There are lots of good stories that are yet to be reported. We will look forward to hearing all the details in the next few days. We thank the Lord our little girl is back home safely.

I never thought...

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Meyer. Today is our 22nd wedding anniversary. I am so thankful God put us together. When I was younger, I always dreamed of being married with children and living in a nice house. I never thought that dream would come true. I never thought anybody would want to marry somebody like me. As I grew a little older I figured I would get married, but also figured I would probably have to settle for someone out of desperation. I never thought somebody like Tami would ever even give me the time of day. As is so often the case, I was totally wrong and God had big plans for my life. On July 20, 1991, Tami and I said, "I do". The match made in heaven was complete. Not only did God send me the woman of my dreams, he sent me the best mother on earth, a wonderful grandmother and my best friend. He sent me a God fearing, smart, caring, beautiful wife. I never thought I would be this happy in my marriage. Wrong again! For about the billionth time in my life I was selling God short. My marriage is amazing. Of course as it is with all marriages, it has its ups and downs. The ups outweigh the downs by about 10,000 to 1. I could not be any happier with my wife and I am so thankful for her. I never thought it could be this good, but it is this good and even better. I never thought... That's the song we danced to at our wedding. "I never thought", by Dan Hill.

It also brings to mind this favorite from The Flintstones:

Eager

You know the old saying. It's nice to go on vacation, but's it's always nice to come home. I feel the same way about Abby being gone. It's been very nice spending time with Tami while Abby is in Mexico, but I miss her terribly and I'm eager for her to get home. I'm not suggesting Abby is on a so-called vacation... missions trips are lots of work. It's just that it's been nice to have some time with my wife, but it's time for Abby to come home. Hurry home, Sweetie!

Mexican Orphans

As expected, Abby has fallen in love with the orphans in Vera Cruz, Mexico. We have heard (via Facebook) that she is having a life changing experience and doesn't want to leave on Saturday.

We jokingly told her not to bring a Mexican child home :-) Her sister went to a Russian orphanage on a missions trip and ended up adopting a little girl.

I scream, you scream

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Sveta has opened her own ice cream shop. In reality it's a small booth made of cardboard. Her other grandparents made it for her. It has cups, napkins, spoons, and a till for money. In the photo below you can see she even made her own sign. Obviously this Goppa had to stop in for a delicious ice cream sundae. The pretend ice cream was delicious and the shop owner was very cute :-)

One funny story. When making the ice cream shop, Sveta proudly stated that she knew how to write "ice cream". This is not surprising. She is doing very well with her reading and writing skills. When given a pencil and paper, this is what she wrote, "DQ". I don't know about you, but that spells ice cream to me.

More Photos of Elliott

We went to visit Baby Elliott again today. Actually Tami made a few meals for the Mortons and we needed to deliver them to the house. We were driving right by the hospital so obviously we HAD to stop in. We also had Uncle Michael with us and he wanted to visit his new nephew. Here are some more photos...

I always wanted a boy!

Throughout Jessi's entire pregnancy Sveta made no secret of her preference. She definitely wanted a girl. A little sister all the way. What 5 year old girl would ever ask for a BOY? She also said she wanted a girl because she thought the name Elliott was weird. Well, as you know, Sveta did not get her little sister. She must have quickly gotten over her disappointment though. She came out with the following zinger:

Yesterday morning, upon entering the hospital room to meet her new brother, Sveta said, "I always wanted a boy! This is a dream come true!"

Out of the mouths of babes! I'm sure Sveta is already in love with her new brother. I know the rest of us are :-)

Baby Elliott

What an evening! We got to visit our new grandson, Elliott Morton. It goes without saying that he is a beautiful baby (perhaps I'm a bit biased?) I would give you a better description, but I think the photos below speak for themselves. But first I need to make one correction--- birth weight was 8 lbs. 10 oz. Not 9 lbs. 10 oz. as previously reported.

It's about time you got here!

Such a pretty head!

Sorry this is sideways, but here's Grandma holding him!

And Elliott makes 4

FINALLY!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to announce the birth of my second grandchild.

It's a BOY! Mother and child are both healthy and doing well.

My grandson, Elliott Morton was born at 6:21 this morning. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 10 oz. and is 20 inches long. We hear he has lots of hair. I can't wait to see him. Tami and I will be going to the hospital immediately after work today.

More information later as we get it.

BIRTH day

The time has come! Baby Morton has made no indication that he/she intends to budge. Therefore, Jessi will go into the hospital tomorrow morning to be induced. Sometime tomorrow, Tami and I will be grandparents again. There's another little tidbit that makes tomorrow extra special... it is Jessi's birthday! Baby Morton and Mommy will have the same birthday. Awwwwwww! We are so excited we can hardly stand it! Stay tuned! I will post gender, length, weight and name as soon as I can.

Pie in the sky

Spending all this quality time with Tami has me dreaming about retirement. I am really looking forward to the day when we can spend all of our time together. However, that day is a long way off and (being a realist) I know my retirement will look a lot different than it does in my dreams. I often dream of spending winters in Florida. Doing whatever I want in warm weather. I also dream of spring, summer and fall days at a lake house of some sort. I'm smart enough to know I'll never have one like this. It probably costs about a gazillion bucks. It sure is a pretty picture though.

It ain't all bad...

As you know, Abby is in Mexico on a missions trip. Based on the limited information we have gotten so far, things are going well. We'll keep praying.

Now don't take this next statement the wrong way, but with Abby gone for a week, Tami and I have taken the opportunity to reconnect and relax. Believe me, we're not happy that Abby is gone and we miss her terribly. However, a kid-free house has afforded us the opportunity to discuss a lot of things that have been put on the back burner for way too long. We also took the opportunity yesterday to have dinner on the deck and to take a refreshing swim. Today we we went out for a very nice lunch to celebrate our anniversary a week early. The actual date is next Saturday, but that will be a busy day and a celebration will not be possible. I guess what I'm saying is we miss Abby terribly, but we're not going to sit around crying about it. We may as well have some nice time together while we have the chance. It's actually a precursor of things to come. In fact, I have dubbed Tami and I a pair of ENITs. (i.e. Empty Nesters In Training). It ain't all bad...

Landed Safely!

We have been following the progress of Abby's trip via United Airlines flight tracker. We just got word that the team landed safely in Mexico a few minutes ago. We are going to continue praying for them. More information as we get it.

8 Days and counting

8 days late and counting... Apparently Baby Morton is content with his/her current living arrangements. He/she has given no indication that he/she is planning on joining us in the big beautiful world. Actually since Jessi is 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced, it seems the big entrance is quite near. The doctor said her water could break at any moment (which made our big family dinner last night at the Outback Steakhouse very interesting. Am I the only one who was praying they had a really good mop?)

Jessi has a doctor's appointment Monday (assuming the little stinker isn't born by then). He did say this week that if she doesn't go into labor by Wednesday, he will induce.

On another note--- Jessi's birthday is Tuesday. You don't suppose the little whippersnapper is waiting for Mommy's birthday, do you?

Stay tuned!

Sweet 16

Happy Sweet 16th Birthday to my youngest daughter, Abby. I can't believe my baby girl is 16 years old. I'm really feeling my age!

Abby is REALLY hoping the baby is born today. She said she wouldn't mind sharing her birthday at all.

Perfect Timing

Still no baby. We're waiting....

We had dinner with Jessi and Sveta Monday evening and she reported that she is no more miserable than she was a few weeks ago. The doctor is willing to induce labor and asked Jessi if that's what she wanted. The doctor checked everything. Mother and child are both doing well and there is currently no health-related reason to induce. At this point she is willing to wait and let things happen naturally.

I think Jessi put it best:

"The baby is 6 days late by the doctor's timing. He/she will arrive just in time by God's perfect timing".

And......... the wait goes on :-)

Bathroom Break

As a teacher, there are many things that either annoy me or hinder the learning that is supposed to occur in my classroom. Sometimes both of these are one in the same. The top of the list has to be the never ending requests from students to use the restroom. It seems like I can't teach for two minutes before somebody is raising their hand and asking to leave the room. As a teacher, I must quickly decide if this is a ploy to get out of the room due to boredom or if the request is legitimate. If I had to guess, I'd say 75% of my students abuse restroom privileges. When students are constantly leaving and re-entering the classroom it's quite difficult to have any continuity to lessons and is downright disruptive. It's a problem that's as old as the educational process itself. What is a teacher to do?

I have jokingly said that we should catheterize the students each day when they come in the door. Knowing that won't happen (haha), what other options are there? Trying to limit trips to the restroom works for a while, but sure as shootin' some little rascal will tell you it's an emergency and do the "pee pee dance" until I relent and send him to the bathroom. We've tried giving the kids popsicle sticks as restroom passes (two per person/per day), but that doesn't seem to work either. I read about one teacher who made the students carry a toilet seat to the restroom every time they went. This practice was quickly halted because it was humiliating to the students (oh brother!). That's why I found the following comic so amusing. As a teacher I've always wanted to do something like this, but obviously knowing I never could. It's okay to dream, though. Right? I think it would definitely cut down on the hundreds of trips to the restroom.

An incredible opportunity

We received a phone call this evening from a man in our church. He told us there was a last minute cancelation for the weeklong missions trip to the Mexican Indian Training Center in Cordoba, Veracruz in southern Mexico. He offered for any member of our family to go on this trip free of charge. Due to work commitments, Tami, Michael and I cannot go. However, Abby has no work commitments at the moment and has excitedly agreed to go. What an incredible opportunity this is. She will travel with a well-trained church team to minister to and help some poverty stricken people in the area. Abby will be part of the team conducting the Vacation Bible School. She is so excited. She is just about ready to jump out of her skin. I am proud of Abby for wanting to serve the Mexican people and for her willingness to give up part of her summer to help people who have so much less than she does. The people who have gone in years past have come back with amazing and incredible accounts of their time there. I know this will be a real life experience for Abby. I cannot wait to tell you all about it. She leaves this Saturday, July 13th (2 days after her 16th birthday) and will return on Saturday, July 20 (Our 22nd wedding anniversary).

Please pray for Abby and the entire team. Pray for their safety, pray the Lord's work will be accomplished. Most of all pray that God will be glorified in all the team does.

The Mexican Indian Training Center is located at the black dot (the one on the land, not in the Gulf of Mexico).

Dreaming of better weather

For all the time I spent yearning for summer to come, I must say this one has been quite a disappointment. It has been raining for most of the last two weeks and the upcoming week doesn't look to be any better. We have barely had any time to get in our pool. It's the same old story... weather is nice while I'm at work, cruddy when time allows for swimming and other leisure (sigh!).

All this ugly weather makes me think of the wonderfulness of San Diego. The following photos were taken from the balcony of our hotel about 3 weeks ago.

Areal Flooding

I cannot recall a summer with this much rain. I'd have to check meteorological records to be certain, but just going straight from memory, I would have to think this is one of the wettest summers on record. As I type this, there are flash and areal flood warnings all across the Tri-state. We were in Northern Kentucky today and came across a road that was covered with rushing water and washed out. Why were we driving rural Kentucky roads in a rainstorm? Well, we were attempting to pick up Abby who is vacationing with a friend and her family at Elk Lake in Owen County, Kentucky. They are currently stranded in their cottage. The dam is the only way in or out of the resort and the dam has been closed to traffic due to high water and safety concerns. I also saw on the news the panhandle of Florida has gotten 19 inches of rain in the last 3 days. That's unbelievable! Earlier this summer there was flooding in the Dakotas and along the east coast. It doesn't bode well for outdoor summer activities, but all this rain does have a few upsides. Everything is staying nice and green. I also haven't had to add any water to my pool this year... the rain has done it for me.

Overdue

It's official. Baby Morton is now overdue. Baby watch intensifies from here on out. We are are waiting impatiently for a phone call at any given moment. Poor Jess. I know she's miserable and more than ready to deliver.

Michigan J. Frog

When we were in San Diego we came across this interesting guy. It reminded us of one of our favorite cartoons, "One Froggy Evening". Ladies and gentlemen, the star of that cartoon, the one and only Michigan J. Frog! Surely you remember this hilarious cartoon from Warner Brothers and Loony Toons, right? The frog who sang and danced for the guy who found him, but only sat and croaked when he tried to show him off to others and make money. If you haven't seen it, look it up. You won't regret it.

Here's what we found in San Diego:

And here's a snippet of Michigan J. Frog himself.

Due Date

Happy Independence Day! Today we remember the forefathers who risked being accused of treason against the crown along with their very lives to sign the Declaration of Independence. Despite our many problems, we still live in the greatest country on the face of the planet. God Bless America.

On a more personal note, today is Baby Morton's due date. Will our precious grandchild decide to enter the world today or will the wait go on? We are so very excited.

Share the wealth

I think this one speaks for itself. Commentary from me would be pointless and redundant.

I'm alive and well

Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
-Mark Twain

Apparently there are reports on FaceBook today that I passed away. Although this is news to me, I completely understand what happened.

For the third time in less than a month, my tiny school district has experienced a death. The assistant high school principal died of a heart attack today. He was 54 years old. His name was Gerry Myers. Obviously our surnames are similar. The reports on Facebook are saying, "Mr. Myers from St. Bernard school passed away". See the problem? I'm here to tell you that Mr. MEYER is alive and well. Sadly, Mr. Myers is not.

I don't have a Facebook account, so I'm receiving the reports of my death second hand. I sure hope people are saying nice things about me :-)

No Spring Chicken

I've known it for a while. I haven't really wanted to face it, but the fact is undeniable. I'm not a spring chicken anymore. I've noticed that I tire more easily and I take naps whenever I can. It used to be that I would never, ever take a nap. I used to be able to work in the yard almost nonstop. Now I get worn out quickly and take frequent breaks. My summer job is really taking a toll on me this year. The job is physical in nature, but not what you'd call back breaking labor. This kind of work didn't bother me when I was younger, but now my back hurts all the time. Things hurt for no apparent reason and things take much longer to heal than before. I realize I'm still a middle aged guy, but I'm definitely starting to feel my age. Getting old is a strange thing. If you're like me, you never thought it would happen to you. Inevitably it IS happening and there is no escaping it.