Sunday Morning Snow

The girls are in Kansas City this weekend… Denise, Nadine, Sherri and Lauren drove down for two days of shopping, movies and marbles with Denise and Sherri’s cousin (aka “the other sister”) Barb and her daughter, Alex.

That left me at home, bachelor style.  I worked Saturday and got up to the church-quiet house and a sparkling white blanket on the ground today.

I own a gas powered snow-blower, but couldn’t bring myself to fire it up out of concern for my neighbors.  Surely they’re sleeping in.  So shovel in hand, just like dad used to do it, I ventured into the driveway.  It was almost eerily still outside, and cold but not brutally so.

I stopped about halfway down the drive, chuckling at myself for being the lone moron in the neighborhood up on a January Sunday morning off from work, shoveling snow at 6AM.

I grew quiet and stood in thought for awhile, allowing the random flake to descend onto my face and melt against my skin.  I reflected on how fortunate I am in all aspects of my life, and decided it was a gift to be shoveling this morning, not a chore.  (This comes as a revelation to those who know me, as I used to gripe incessantly about not being born and raised in San Diego or some other temperate location.)

The driveway is clear and I’m back inside now, a strong cup of raspberry tea in hand, and I’ve got some chicken in the slow cooker.  Should be ready in about six hours.

I’ll be glad to have the girls safely back home this afternoon.

Have a blessed Sunday, all.

 

Busy holidays come to an end

We’re all tuckered out from a whirlwind of a holiday season this year.  Seems like just yesterday we were celebrating Thanksgiving; since then, we’ve moved into a new home, hosted a Christmas celebration, hosted a couple smaller dinner parties, and threw my brother-in-law a surprise 50th.

We’re settling down into a nine week stretch between New Years and my birthday (I know we’ve got winter all but whipped if I can make it to my birthday).  We look forward to rest, recuperation, some good home cooking, reading, and the NFL playoffs (okay, so I’m the only one in the house really enjoying the playoffs – GO STEELERS).

Nadine began 2nd semester at Burke last week, including a couple new advance placement classes.  She just ordered her cap and gown for graduation if you can believe that!  In fact, she’s over the halfway point in the school year, exciting and hard to believe at the same time.

She’s currently daydreaming about a tattoo and her trip to Hawaii late next month…

 

Two naked boys

Denise and I walked into the master bathroom yesterday afternoon and, to our horror and disbelief, discovered Nadine in the whirlpool tub with two naked boys.

Okay fine, so they were merely our little nephews, Ryan aka “Ryno” and Kyle, but still… readers should avert their gaze if easily offended.

A host father’s wrath befell the older ringleader, Ryan. His penance was to help me fix the washing machine. I must admit, Brandon (his daddy) has him on the fast track to mechanical aptitude; Ryno was back in my good graces in no time.  Good work with that flashlight, kid!

Note: I apologize profusely for exposing my tighty-whities in the following photograph. At least there is no evidence of the dreaded “refrigerator repairman butt crack”, the sight of which -I’m sure- would be more ghastly than the bubbly vision of our young daughter in a jacuzzi tub with two naked boys.

 

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 will go down in the memory banks as a very special occasion for our family of three.  On the one hand, I feel a certain void from my mom’s absence this year, but the love I receive from Denise, Nadine and my extended family makes up for moments of melancholy.

Anyway… the holiday was really several holidays leading up to and including Dec. 25th.  We packed a lot in considering we’ve only been moved into our new home since early this month.

On the 23rd, we spent a day on my dear brother Michael who lives in a manged care nursing home 250 miles away round-trip.  He enjoyed the tree, gifts and candy he received from us along with Denise’s family and my sister, Lori.  We sang Christmas carols, told jokes, and spent quality time together.

I worked all day on Christmas Eve, but nighttime featured a quiet affair at my mother-in-law’s house.  Her husband Terry executed the finest standing rib roast I have ever eaten.  He had a beautiful Christmas Town diorama constructed in the formal dining room as well, and I captured some interesting no-flash images of it.

Christmas Day arrived.  I couldn’t greet my girls out of bed because I again left the house shortly before 6AM to go to work.  I changed a flat tire on the interstate for a young Latino mother with three small kids in the car.  Despite the cold and wind, it felt nice to do something good for someone in need; much of my job entails taking away liberties and delivering bad news, so the service side of being a cop is always a refreshing change of pace.

After work, we had family over for our first ever Christmas celebration, at least hosting at our house.  The previous home we owned was small and not at all conducive to gatherings of this sort, so it was a treat to open our house up and share it with loved ones.

The night was punctuated by way, way too much good food, tooth-cracking cold beer from the snowbank near the patio, laughter, games, and of course the obligatory gift opening.  Nadine made out like the proverbial bandit and thoroughly enjoyed all the nice presents she received.

After everyone had left for the night and the house had quieted down, our German daughter gave Denise and I a thumbs-up and said it was a great Christmas.  That’s the best present we could have asked for, thanks sweetie (but the photo frame you surprised us with is beautiful!).

[yawn]

Wow, I’m tired.  So I’ll sign off tonight with an array of photos from the last three days and a link to the Christmas Prayer I wrote and read to the family before dinner.  Sorry in advance for the lack of photo editing (e.g. red eye).  It’s been a long week and I’m bushed.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Frigid cold

Nadine’s getting her first taste of winter in the American Midwest.

We’ve got friends coming over for dinner tonight and some family members who will help us celebrate the new house and all our blessings on Christmas Night, so I didn’t want people falling on the treacherous pavement.  Thus, I spent two hours in the wind and cold this weekend, chopping and scooping ice measuring 1.5″ thick from our driveway.  Ugh.

Yet as my wonderful mother-in-law reminds me, dealing with Old Man Winter is part attitude and part dressing for it.  Alright Marion, I’m finally listening.  And I’m finally enjoying the change of seasons.

Nadine’s on break for two weeks and is loving it.  Denise has been a blur in holiday preparations, shopping and cooking.  We’ll be sure to post photos from the various Christmas gatherings we’ll be attending, so stay tuned.

For now though, I pray that God heaps abundant yuletide blessings, happiness, peace and prosperity on Nadine’s family and friends back home.

 

[sigh]

Finally!  I’m relieved because we are, at long last, moved into our new home.  We are unpacked and settled, and not a day too soon.

We all got somewhat run down the last couple of weeks.  Nadine’s been fighting off yet another cold (somewhat depressing for her because she’s normally a pretty healthy girl); I had an acute sinus infection I cured with repeated daily use of a NeliMed Sinus Rinse; and Denise was diagnosed with ‘walking pneumonia’ the day before yesterday and was put on a course of strong antibiotics.  She is getting good rest for the first time in a week (thank God) and I’ve taken up the slack around the house.

Nadine has final exams next week before the Christmas break which she eagerly anticipates.

Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers…

 

Happy 17th!!

Nadine turned 17 years of age today!

We regret that she couldn’t have her family and friends from back home around her on this special occasion, but it was an action packed birthday nonetheless (and Nadine did get to talk to her family on the phone earlier).  Nadine, Barb, Sherri, Lauren and Alex went to the mall and shopped, eventually returning to my mother-in-law’s house for games and dinner.

The feast we had tonight rivaled the Thanksgiving meal.  Whew!  Too much good food and too much dessert (a decadent chocolate cake, homemade by Denise, and peppermint ice cream among other goodies).  We all sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Our German Daughter and she got to open lots of fun gifts including a flat iron, pajamas, new sunglasses and other “snuggy” items as the girls in our family refer to them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NADINE!!

 

The aftermath

Wow, does that ever go fast!  Hours of labor in the kitchen (usually at the hands of our talented and beautiful wives) only to see all that food wiped out in about 30 minutes!

Our family had much quality time together eating, playing games, watching football on TV, relaxing and, later on, taking in the Christmas lights in downtown Omaha.  (Nadine has officially been indoctrinated in the American tradition of eating on Thanksgiving night.)

Ever wondered why eating turkey makes you sleepy?

 

Thanksgiving Day Message

Thanksgiving.  Seems like an eon since my last post.  I can’t enumerate sufficient adjectives to describe how hectic this fall has been for our family, but among other news items I’ll share with followers of the OGD blog is this: we’re moving!

No worries Andreas and Beate.  We’re taking Nadine with us (ha!), but into a more spacious home that will better accommodate the dinners and cookouts we enjoy hosting.  This transition, 18 months in the making, will provoke future posts when I can afford time to author them, but for today I’d simply like to offer a few thoughts about what Thanksgiving means to me.

I am thankful for my creator.  I reject the notion of nothing existing for forever; then something popping out of nothing for no reason; then that something reproducing; then intelligent, thinking life emerging from that something which came from nothing which reproduced for no apparent reason.  No, I cannot view this planet -much less the entire solar system- as some freak accident of cosmic proportions.  If matter and energy are at the root, where did the matter and energy come from to begin with?  So above all, I’m thankful for the Lord.

Next, I’m thankful for Denise, my cherished wife, who led me from agnosticism to Christian faith by the manner in which she lived her life.

I’m thankful for my citizenship, for being born in what I propose remains the single greatest nation to live.  And I’m thankful for the brave men and women in the United States Armed Forces who have safeguarded our democracy and freedom both here and abroad.

I’m thankful for family, both biological, through marriage and through the bond of the Thin Blue Line, that unspoken fraternity that ties law enforcement officers together throughout the world.

I’m thankful for Our German Daughter, Nadine, who has enriched our lives and provoked us to step outside ourselves in the role of surrogate parents, mentors and role models.  I’m especially thankful that Nadine will be able to have her first Thanksgiving experience here in the States in just a couple hours – she’s very much looking forward to food, family and fun.

I’m thankful for our Catholic priests in the local diocese and throughout the world, and for all religious leaders and clerics who would shepherd the faithful entrusted in their care to a relationship with God and, I pray, eternal salvation.

I’m thankful for my health: mental, physical and spiritual.

I’m thankful for my job which allows me to provide for my family.

I’m thankful for my co-workers who fight the criminal element alongside me.

I’m thankful for my late parents, neither of whom are here to celebrate this day with us, for the love, guidance and support they gave my sister and I and our younger brother, Michael.

I’m thankful for the time I had with other loved ones no longer here: Joni, Richard, Paul, John, Jimmy, Jerry and the whole lot of you, may you rest in peace and be in joy this day.

Finally, I’m thankful for the insight and grace I have to realize the spirit of Thanksgiving has nothing to do with gluttony and gridiron.  That’s what this day used to mean to me, and I was missing the point entirely.

 

Good news; bad news

Which one you want first?  Okay, the good news: Denise and I attended Parent-Teacher Conferences Thursday night at Burke.  In a nutshell, all Nadine’s instructors are positively thrilled with her performance.  She’s a straight ‘A’ student – perfect marks!  We received several positive remarks about her maturity, work ethic, and attention to studies.  In short we’re very proud.

Bad news is, our girl came down with strep throat!  No worries Andreas and Beate, it’s a pretty common childhood ailment here, one I have a long history with actually.  It doesn’t seem to befall adults like it does children (fingers crossed, heh) and Denise took Nadine to the doctor earlier today.  She’s on a course of antibiotics, is resting and drinking plenty of fluids, will enjoy Denise’s homemade chicken soup tonight, and will be on the mend in no time!

Thanks for checking in on our family.  Sorry posts have been relatively scarce lately, we’re just swamped. More later, have a great weekend.