It happens every year. I look forward to Anthrocon and try making plans, but something comes up and I have the weekend from you-know-where instead. 2 years ago it was the camping trip from you-know-where. Last year I preached the revival/campmeeting from you-know-where. This year was no different. Quite simply, I had some unexpected expenses and just didn't have the money to make the trip. Instead, we had a weird, horrible weekend. My attitude, as well as the attitude of the rest of the family, was pretty bad as a result.

It started off great because we finalized the adoption of our 2-year-old son, but it quickly went downhill afterwards. My laptop appears to be having progressive failure of the main Vista partition. We were worried for a while because we had just downloaded 100's of pictures from the camera, but I was able to boot to the command prompt & copy them to a flash drive. I have the skills & tools to fix it, but it's been slow -- both the laptop and the fixing process. I'm already impatient of the time involved and I'm ready to just pay someone to restore it

Then Friday morning, my 14-year-old accidentally stabbed my 11-year-old's foot with the sharp prong of a 5-pronged cultivator--think a straight rake with heavy, twisted prongs for tearing up dirt (or feet!). So we spent most of the afternoon in an express care clinic -- no stitches but still unpleasant for everyone.

Saturday evening my big black Lab dog disappeared. We walked up & down our road, looked in ditches & ravines, and hiked deep into the woods several times in case he was hurt or caught on something. Most of the time it's great being surrounded by 100's, probably 1,000's, of acres of rugged, hilly woods, but it's a nightmare when you're searching for a lost dog. I got a 6-inch-long cut on my leg and I'm still sore. It's Monday morning & we still haven't found him. We're going to call the humane society when they open at noon to see if he was turned in there. Their hours were heavily cut due to budget cuts.

It's been a depressing, stressful July 4th weekend. So how was your weekend??!!

Current Mood: depressed

Last week's trip to Michigan was a lot of fun. The 3-bedroom rental cottage was only a few hundred feet & 50 steps from a long sandy beach. The water temperature was only in the upper 50's and the high air temp in the 70's, but I had to play in the water anyway. Most of the time I was either at the beach or visiting my old 'hoods where I grew up. Except for a couple of spectacular thunderstorms at the end of the week, the weather was great.

One small issue is that I forgot about the Michigan mosquitoes. That part of Michigan has a lot of inland lakes & wetlands so we have lots of natural mosquito habitats. We used a lot of repellent that week, but we still all had a lot of bites.

My 2-year-old is doing better. The doctors are still not sure why he gets the blisters & infected sores, but we all think they might be allergic reactions (like hives) to something, possibly bug or mosquito bites. Either way he will be ours forever in 1 week. Thurs July 2nd is the adoption finalization. We're not having a single big adoption party this year like we did for the girls. Instead we're celebrating on our different trips with the family there -- Michigan, Pittsburgh next week, Tennessee next month.

I was looking forward to Anthrocon, but according to SwiftFox's latest LJ, I'm already missing it. ;-(

2 childhood idols died yesterday. Growing up in the 70's/80's, I've watched both of them over the years. R.I.P. Michael Jackson & Farrah Fawcett.

Current Music: TAPS

I'm already swamped at work. Plus my 2-year-old is in the hospital tonight with either a skin infection or a bad skin allergic reaction. He's on IV anti-biotics.

I love the church I'm in, but I miss preaching, ministering & being behind the pulpit. I need to find out if there's any possibility of a place for me in that church of 400-500. I'ld love to even preach a special service (or 2 or 3 or...) somewhere. Any takers? **sound of crickets chirping**

Next week WILL be better, because I'm going to be on the shores of sunny (but cold) Lake Michigan in my hometown. We're supposed to leave Friday, assuming my son is out of the hospital.

I'm planning to be at Anthrocon that Friday evening & Saturday morning at least. We're supposed to be in Buffalo that Sunday for my wife's nephew's graduation. He's always looked up to me & my wife, & it's a miracle he's even graduating, so we need to be there. So I'm not sure how long I can stay in Pittsburgh Saturday, hopefully long enough to watch the fursuit parade.

I really need to go to bed now...

Current Mood: tired

I've joked about Ohio being a third-world country, but according to this headline in today's Columbus Dispatch, we're really headed that way: Nearly 25% of Ohio children under 5 on 'brink' of hunger. Ohio has the 3rd highest rate of "food insecurity" in the nation, meaning 1 out of 4 families literally don't know where their next meal is coming from. Someone is not doing their job, but it's a combination of the state, churches, & charities not keeping up with the rapidly growing demand. I find it really sad.

I have relatives who work with agencies for adopting kids from 3rd-world countries, but parts of Ohio really are becoming 3rd-world (including the nation's most vacant neighborhood on the West side - 70% VACANCY). There's a big need in Ohio for foster & adoptive homes.

I'm thankful for my foster/adoptive kids & that they're well cared for (although they may not always agree).

Rev Marcus

Current Location: 4th world West Virginia
Current Music: REZ

Only 2 more weeks until Morphicon!! I'm looking forward to escaping reality. After further consideration, we're leaving our 11 & 14 year olds with grandma instead of bringing them. My wife & I need a break from them anyway.

Every April 30th & October 31st, I work late & then come in really early the next morning, because that's when my agency releases the semi-annual U.S. Savings Bond & Retirement Bond interest rates & redemption values. I'm the programmer in charge of the complex, convoluted C++ program that determines the interest rates & how much the bonds are worth. After last night's calculations, "EE" bonds are 0.70% and the "I" (inflation-based) bonds are a whopping 0.00%. That's right, ZERO, NADA! Our sales pitch should be "You won't make money, but at least you won't lose it either", but "Principle Retention" sounds better. Last November the rate was 5.64%. The sharp rate decline, which is due to a decreasing CPI (Consumer Price Index) and low market rate, shows how bad the economy is ATM. The "I" bond interest rate would have actually been negative, but my program corrects that since the regulations prevent savings bond owners from losing money. Here's our press release.

It's interesting to think that I could cause global economic chaos if my programming is wrong. Of course, there are numerous safe-guards in place to hopefully prevent that.

Current Mood: busy

I realized yesterday morning that I miss pulpit ministry & I miss preaching. That realization came from 2 dreams I recently had. In the 1st, I dreamt that my former co-pastor left his new wife and the country church she owns, and I was asked to be the new pastor -- a very real possibility WHEN (not IF) he gets bored and heads for warmer pastures. In my 2nd dream, I dreamt that instead of closing the church in December, we moved to a cheap, run-down storefront. Now several months have passed and the congregation grew, and we now have the opportunity to get a nicer, larger building with 3 or 4 storefronts in a nearby town. It was a very real dream without any of the surrealism that dreams often devolve into -- almost like a glimpse into a parallel timeline. Those dreams really made me think and wish they were real.

I'm thankful for my forced sabbatical that allowed me time to rest and deal with some hard feelings, but I'm ready to preach again. The Idaville, PA United Brethren church (http://idavillechurch.com) is still looking for a senior pastor (I still need to work on my resume), but Ohio's tentacles won't let me escape so I'll probably end up with a local church. The church I'm attending at the moment has over 500 members and a large staff, so I'm not sure what, if any, chance I have of ever preaching there.

Current Music: Kookaburra (kid's song stuck in my head)

My son Adam's 2nd whelpday was Saturday, so I was busy preparing and cooking for the party. At the same time I was trying to participate in the Morphicon online staff meeting. The party was at 4PM, but his biological father, bio-grandmother, and bio-great-aunt arrived at noon to visit him & "help". They're very nice and love Adam, but none of them were in a position to raise him. They agree that he's better off with us.

We were officially "matched" with Adam last Wednesday which means that we're approved to adopt him. There are a lot of red-tape steps to do things "officially", but really he's been with us since he was about 6 mos old. The adoption will be final when we go to Probate Court, possibly in the summer.

While the party prep & staff meeting were going on Saturday, we became chicken farmers. Another foster family we're friends with called last week that she'll be rescuing 20+ chickens from a bad farm situation and if we wanted some. We told her that we've thought in the past of getting some chickens, but it just never worked out, so we didn't really say yes or no. So, Saturday while the staff meeting was starting, the biological family was over, and my wife was out, she shows up with 4 dirty-looking hens. I don't think she appreciated my 1st comment that she just brought supper. Our property came with a nice chicken coop, but we hadn't touched it since we bought the place 6 years old. So Saturday & Sunday we were busy getting the chicken coop ready to receive 4 hens. They've alreay cost me $116 at the Tractor Supply! They've laid 4 eggs since then, but our 14-year-old daughter dropped the 1st one when she realized what it was.

The chickens are highlighting the differences between our kids. Our 11-year-old daughter is a farm girl who loves helping with the chickens (she wants a horse!). Our 14-year-old is a city girl who prefers the malls and absolutely refuses to touch the chickens or their eggs. I asked what's her problem since she likes to EAT chicken nuggets and eggs, but she didn't like my humor.

As for the 2-year-old, he's a lot like me. He has a natural curiosity, loves the outdoors, loves water, and is quite smart. He and I have really grown close. :)

Current Music: Not allowed at work!

Certainly wild, not so sure about wonderful. Let me give a few highlights (or maybe lowlights).

Friday night we stayed half-way on the West Virginia/Virginia border. Both my 14-year-old & I were throwing up sick at the hotel. She completely soaked her bed with it! We were changing sheets at 2AM. I still wasn't feeling real good on Saturday but we made it to Gatlinburg & spent most of the evening unpacking.

Sunday my step-family came over. Imagine 30 rednecks in a hotel suite, with half under the age of 10! That's either the start of a horror movie or a Jeff Foxworthy routine. They (not me) enjoyed it so much they came over again Tuesday evening. However, my wife was sick Tuesday & stayed in bed until 4PM when they started arriving.

The weather was wild. Sunday was near 80F, but then the temperature dropped 50 degrees in 24 hrs. Tuesday it snowed hard all day in the mountains & was even accumulating in higher spots. Hoping for better weather & a better time, we left Gatlinburg Wednesday for Murfreesboro (near Nashville) where my wife's sister lives.

Thursday was the best day of the trip. The weather was great and we went to an INDOOR waterpark (OTTER-TIME!). It's owned & operated by the city of Murfreesboro, so it was only $10 for the whole family. Here in SouthEast Ohio, we can't even raise enough taxes to keep schools running, let alone build & run an indoor waterpark!

Then Friday was the wildest day of all! We were in Wal-Mart getting some necessities when a major storm hit & the store had a tornado drill. Everyone was ushered to the clothing section in the middle of the store where there were no high shelves. After we were released to leave, traffic was horrible & we saw/heard at least a dozen emergency vehicles all running full-tilt in the same general direction. It turns out that an F2 or F3 tornado passed within a mile or 2 of us. It ripped through neighborhoods, destroyed numerous homes & commercial buildings, ran across a BUSY interstate (I-24), and made national news. A wife & her baby were killed. I've often thought about moving to the Nashville area, but I'm not sure I like the constant threat of severe storms & tornadoes. It's like Florida & hurricanes. At least here in hilly SouthEast Ohio we rarely have any type of weather that severe.

We came home on Saturday & was hoping to finally relax from vacation when our 2-year-old got a 104.1 fever on Sunday night. We spent Sunday night from 10PM to 4:30AM at the E.R. He has infected lymphnodes (don't know why) & was prescribed an anti-biotic. We got a few hours sleep Monday morning & I went into work at noon to find 100's of emails. It's now Tuesday & I'm still dragging, trying to catch up, but thank God for Starbucks.

Thank God for keeping us safe on the trip!

Current Mood: tired

WOW! It's been almost 2 months since my last post. Time flies when you're busy! There's always some weird crap or drama going on in my life. Let's see...

Our former 18-year-old foster daughter wants to marry her new boyfriend & move back in with us, while her former boyfriend is interested in our 14-year-old adopted daughter. Drama!

We're getting closer to adopting our 2-year-old son. The court terminated the parent's rights. The father gave them up willingly for us, but no one knows where the mother is after she ran off with her mother's boyfriend, and the word on the street is that she's pregnant with twins. More drama! Unfortunately, there's still a long, complex process in front of us before adoption can be finalized.

We're renting our old church building to the hell-fire preacher who was meeting in the spooky old mansion nearby. To help him get established, we're letting him only pay enough to make the interest payment on the mortgage, which leaves me & the other backers to pay the utilities & insurance. Maybe I'm being too nice since he was related to one of my step-dads, or maybe he just scares me... Even though I don't agree with some of his beliefs or style, I hope he succeeds. If his church "Freedom Mission" grows, he wants to buy the building from us.

At work, we're upgrading from SQL Server 2000 to 2008, which means upgrading dozens of VB 6, ASP, and Java apps. This will most likely be a 2 or 3 year project. We're also upgrading C++6 apps to C++ 2008. One of our C++6 apps that runs in 10,000+ banks has ran perfectly on a wide range of Windows versions for years. But the new C++2008 version only runs on Vista, or on Windows XP boxes that are up-to-date with patches & service packs. It dies on any older XP's or Windows 2000, and won't even execute on NT 4.0, which a few banks still run. Those 2 projects have been keeping me really busy. Has anyone messed with C++2008?

I jumped in blind with both feet into running the Morphicon Masquerade and ended up in the middle of more drama, but that's how I usually do things. I was looking at other cons for inspiration. Anthrocon has something called a "Masquerade", but it's not even judged so it's not really a true masquerade. It's more of a variety show, which is what Morphicon was leaning towards, but it already had a separate variety show (FVS). Morphicon needs some costume judging to set it apart from other cons. One my favorite masquerades to watch is at Marcon, so I've been looking at their info & process which appears to be quite good. I'm hoping to get my wife & kids in the Morphicon parade, and maybe my 14-year-old in the masquerade. I plan on dressing up for the parade & maybe for hosting the masquerade.

A week from tomorrow, we're leaving for Gatlinburg, TN (www.gatlinburg.com). We'll share a 3 bedroom condo Saturday 4/3 - Thursday 4/9 with my mother & step-dad. His kids & grandkids live near there. The nice thing about this condo is that it has an indoor pool & is close to downtown, but it backs up against a wooded mountain so we have a nice forest view. So hopefully I'll get to swim, eat fish, & play in the woods - otter bliss! I need that!

Current Music: FlyLeaf

I ended up canceling the trip to Columbus, because my wife gave me a much better gift - a stomach virus. It's a moving gift that keeps giving (and giving and giving...) The kids also have it too. If we're feeling better Saturday or Sunday, we may try to go for the day. I'm working overtime next weekend, so otherwise we'll have to wait a few weeks.