Five Years

I can't believe it has been five years! As of yesterday, our precious granddaughter, Sveta, has been in America for five years. I remember February 8th, 2012 like it was yesterday. The weeks and days of anticipation leading up to her arrival were difficult. The excruciating wait at the airport as the plane landed and we waited for the new family to enter the waiting area. The joy and elation we experienced as we saw this tiny little girl meeting dozens of people who had prayed for her safe journey to a new, and better life. The feeling of disbelief that this little Russian gypsy girl was now thousands of miles from the orphanage where she spent the first three years of her life, and was now in a strange new place that would be her home for the rest of her life.

Sveta arrived home to us ten days short of her 4th birthday. Here we are today just short of her 9th birthday. Watching her live, learn, and grow has been nothing short of amazing. We are so blessed to have her here, and I thank God that he was pleased to make her a permanent part of our lives. I truly cannot imagine life without her. The amount of love I feel for her cannot be measured. It is endless and boundless.

Here is the beautiful (almost) nine year old :-)

Fun with signs

I just can't seem to get enough of funny signs...

Duck Duck GOOSE

Sometimes it's the small things that keep a teacher going. Check out this photo of the geese I saw on the school playground this morning. This is HIGHLY unusual and brought a little smile to my face. Anything to break the monotony, right?

February

February... the month of my birth. How do you pronounce it anyway? I know I've always wondered. Is it Feb-yoo-air-ee? Or is it Feb-roo-air-ee? Apparently either pronunciation is acceptable and there is a bonafide reason why. According to an article I read:

In the United States, the most common pronunciation is feb-yoo-air-ee. Both Merriam-Webster and American Heritage dictionaries consider the common pronunciation correct, along with the less common, more traditional standard feb-roo-air-ee.
This gets fans of the traditional standard all worked up. But the loss of the first r in February is not some recent habit propagated by lazy teenagers. People have been avoiding that r for at least the last 150 years, and probably longer than that. Given certain conditions having to do with word stress and the other sounds in a word, we simply do not like to have two r's so close to each other. The name for the linguistic process where one sound drops out because another of the same sound is too close to it is dissimilation, and it affects lots of languages.
Consider your pronunciation of the following words, and be honest about whether you really say the r's in parentheses: su(r)prise, gove(r)nor, pa(r)ticular, be(r)serk, paraphe(r)nalia, cate(r)pillar, southe(r)ner, entrep(r)eneur, p(r)erogative, interp(r)etation. Not everybody drops these r's, but at the same time, nobody seems to get too upset when they hear others do it.
There are, however, a few cases of r dissimilation that get people very worked up, namely, lib(r)ary and Feb(r)uary. Lib(r)ary attracts attention due to its association with commonly disparaged dialects. Feb(r)uary only seems to attract attention when someone asks what the proper pronunciation should be.

So there you have it. The matter is settled :-)

Birthday Surprise Part 2

A few photos from my surprise birthday lunch. And yes, Elliott eats lemons like they're oranges. I can't believe the boy can eat lemons without making a "sour face".

Birthday Surprises

Yesterday Tami and Abby surprised me at work to have lunch with me. Today Jessi, Barry and the grandkids pulled a fast one and surprised me with a visit for my birthday. Below you will see the photo collage they got for me as a gift. LOVE IT!!!!!!

The big 5-0

I don't normally advertise this because I don't like being the center of attention. In fact, I don't like receiving ANY attention. However, today is different and I'm making an exception. I woke this morning a 50 year old man. That's right, folks, it's my birthday. I've hit the big five-oh! Half a century of living. Fifty years... it blows my mind. Physically I don't feel old. I am in good health and feel good most of the time. I do have the normal aches and pains a fifty year old has, but by and large I feel great. Emotionally it doesn't bother me to turn 50. I know some people freak out when they hit a milestone age, but not me. it's just a number. A really BIG number.

I am thankful today for the many people who got me here today. My parents (especially my mom), my siblings, my grandparents, my many friends, and all the people who either believed in me, or helped me somehow along the way. I am grateful for all the peaks and valleys that have brought me to this point in my life.

I guess the only thing that strikes me about being 50 is how quickly time flies. It was just yesterday that I was playing baseball with my friends at Franklin Park. It was just yesterday I was catching walleye on Lake Erie. It was just yesterday I was a awkwardly asking girls to dance at high school dances. Yet here I am today in the blink of an eye a 50 year old guy. Married for 25+ years to a wonderful wife and my best friend, three adult children, and three grandchildren. Yet here I am today approaching the twilight of my career knowing the days of planning my retirement will be here before I know it. Time is a funny thing and although it happens so slowly you scarcely notice... things change. But I will tell you there is one constant. The Lord has blessed me my entire life. He has blessed me in many ways that are evident (wife, children, grandchildren, extended family), and in countless ways that are not evident. I have been blessed by a God that sent His only son to die for my sins on a cross, and to save me from them. He said "I will never leave you nor forsake you" Hebrews 13:5. I take assurance in those words.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get busy living the next 50 years of my life.

Signs everywhere

You all know I love signs... especially funny ones!

Move Over!

I like posts like this one because it is true to life. I like talking about things that we can all relate to. Who among us hasn't been cruising through the grocery store only to have our path blocked by some clueless shopper? This is a matter of simple consideration for others or a lack of thought where others are concerned. The last thing I ever want to do is get in someone else's way or inconvenience them. It doesn't take much thought to pull your grocery cart to the side and not block the entire aisle. If everybody had just a little bit of consideration for others, things like trips to the grocery store wouldn't be nearly as stressful. This principle would be helpful in many areas. For example, when driving in traffic, things would go so much more smoothly if people were just a little more thoughtful and considerate of others. But the fact is many people are selfish. They are not interested in thinking of others. This "me first" attitude is the source of a lot of what is wrong in our society. If people would wake up to this, the world would be a much happier place.

Not to toot my own horn, but here is an example of what I'm talking about. I was standing in the checkout line at Kroger. I was in the express lane with 10-15 items. I was below the minimum, but awfully close to the maximum number of items allowed. It was my turn to checkout when a lady got in line behind me with one item. I told the cashier to not scan my items yet and to ring up the lady with one item first. The lady with one item AND the cashier were both surprised. I explained that is was no big deal for me to wait 60 seconds to checkout, and it got the lady with one item out the door quicker. Everybody gained something that day. It was a small gesture, and one that I wouldn't even mention except that it was pertinent to this discussion. It is only a single instance where thinking of others before yourself can make everybody happier. It would have been just as easy to go ahead and checkout while the lady with one item had to wait. It WAS my turn after all. But why be selfish? Why not brighten somebody else's day? Why not consider others? It really took very little effort, and others could benefit by doing the same. As my grandma Meyer used to say, "It ain't heavy if we all lift!"
***NOTE***
I don't think people who leave their carts in the middle of the aisle are "bad" people. Just oblivious, thoughtless, or inconsiderate.

Is it just me?

Please tell me I'm not the only one who experiences this...