So this isn’t another blog entry where I will try and wake up the world to the threat of inflation, terrorist ideologies, or anything else that matters. No this post is entirely about me. That’s enough reason to stop reading now, but if you’re really bored I could imagine that you might continue perusing a little further down the page. You may want to read because dedicating an entire blog entry to “me” displays pride, and as we all know “pride goeth before the fall.” So if you’re one of those sick people that’s reading to see me crash in a few days on another blog entry please continue on. I’ll be happy to keep 50% of all the earnings from your bet (for or against). Please send the checks made out to “cash” my current address.
In less than7 days I’ve made two local news outlets. The first was Channel 7 KSWO in Lawton, and the second occurred today when the Lawton Constitution published an article on my “Reprise Computer Solutions” project. The attention has been great for the project. I also think it’ll help out the Lawton/Ft. Sill area in getting people to step up their game and help their neighbors. We’ll have to see.
It’s customary when you make the news to tell your family members about it. So when I told my sister-in-law, Lindsay had a rather interesting response.
L: “You’ve been slacking”
J: “What do you mean?”
L: “You made The Herald Journal the first week you were in Logan. You’ve been in Oklahoma for months and they’re just now paying attention to you.”
I laughed. It was poetic, funny, and well-timed. Lindsay gets some serious cool points for that one. We chatted for a while online and discussed having her start the same project up in Logan. If someone would do it, it’s sure to be a hit.
I’ve been loosing cool points all over the place these days. This morning I lost cool points to the crock pot.
When Chrissy and I were first married I managed to volunteer to do the dishes. She smiled, I got hosed. Although she’s helped out now and again, it’s been my job for pretty much the past 8+ years. Sometime last week we had dinner cooked in the crock pot. I didn’t get to cleaning it right after it was done. It took a couple of days. Of course, after a couple of days, it stunk and it got cleaned.
This morning the crock pot was back in the sink defiantly pointing a finger at me and screaming! “HA” it said. “HA!” “Less than 24 hours after you cleaned me, I’m dirty again!” Oooohhhh it was an obnoxious conversation! I was loosing.
Now in my degree we were taught about escalating and descalating conversations. I’ve really wanted to escalate things. I knew just how I was going to do it. I was going to get the last word. I was going to win. I was going to get the sledge hammer.
You could imagine what would have happened if I followed through with the hammer. I mean, really. Whenever you do something violent there’s always someone in the background with a video camera. Whatever you do is bound to end up on youtube.
I graduated cum laude from USU. My professors would have read the blog and taken my degree back. Then the Army would have to take away my commissioning, and Chrissy would have to work longer hours at the “pizza biz.” That would mean more time away from the kids, and more babysitters. The babysitters we’ve hired are already getting a bit worn out from our kids. . . They’re high school students that need to be focussed on grades, not raising my children.
Ada, Mikkel, in the interest of your future, I left the sledge hammer in the garage, and walked away.
Generally when I want to win an argument with Chrissy I say, ” I’m a speech communication graduate, don’t mess with me.” The line doesn’t seem to be working on the dishes. So, if any of you guys have any extra cool points please send them along. I seem to be drastically short these days.
I’ve told Chrissy that she’s not the woman I married. No, that person is gone, and she’s been replaced with someone else. Someone I love better. I don’t take the time to comment on this blog about how much she means to me, because it takes a lot of emotional energy to put down in words feelings that I consider beyond words.
I prefer to leave certain emotions in abstract. They are better left as the colours of my mind. Although the English language has an immense lexicon of words, and an immense amount of flexibility with adopting new ones, none seem adequate. Sure I meet new words every week. This week’s word was pulchritudinous. It’s a rather poetically clever word. I like it a lot, but it just doesn’t seem good enough. Pulchritudinous has part of the colors of my mind, but it’s awkward to pronounce, and doesn’t match the sounds that go with the colours.
So all of this is a bit abstract, and maybe too complicated to understand. There have been times when I’ve highlighted some of the people in my life on this blog, and there are some who are wondering when I will highlight their influence on my life. Honestly, I’m just not ready to do that. For the same reason I can’t say good-bye to people. I simply let them leave, and after a time, pick up life from the last encounter. To me describing a person’s influence in my life, is confining that influence.
I recently was asked to write a letter of recommendation for a professor. It was a difficult task, because as much as I knew I had learned from her, I wanted to leave space to learn more. It’s uncomfortable to write the obituary of influence about someone you care about
The few times I have practiced writing about people here on the blog have been hard tasks to be sure. I have had to train myself to construct something on paper from a “thank-you” perspective or a “hello” perspective. Trying to write others though, it feels too much like I’ve said “goodbye.” It’s considerably easier to post blogs with neat little youtube videos than it is to write about the people who’ve helped make me, me.
What’s brought this all on? I’ve been facebooking and finding old friends from High School. Some are just now getting married, others celebrated their second Christmas’ together. A few have children. A small number of those have more than one. All of them have politely responded to seeing the photos on my facebook account. “You have a gorgeous family” and variations, have appeared in response recently. “Certainly you are blessed.”
What did I do to get these blessings? Well, some of it’s me doing the right things. A lot of it is God’s influence on my life, and a LOT of his influence comes from the good people I’ve been surrounded by, and how I’ve framed the learning opportunities in each relationship. Looking back it doesn’t feel like it took a lot of effort from me. The same thing would happen while hiking. The climb upward would be exhausting, but after reaching the summit it would feel like I could tackle more.
Constructing the obituaries for friendships also feels a bit like putting a limit on the hand of the Lord. Unlike Handel I don’t think I could claim to have seen God on his throne, but I have felt the influence of the angels he has sent me in the friendships I cherish deeply.
I will try and muster the courage to write thank-you introductions. My abilities seem lacking in the very thought, but there’s a void of “thank-yous” hitting the media, and since roeckerfam.com is a media I control, it should be used to this end.
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
Oh yeah, that’s right. I was TV in SouthWest Oklahoma. KSWO channel 7 did a news story on me. Read more here.
It’s nice to have attracted the attention of the news media around here. It seems that on a national level no one can say anything good about anyone else. On a local level, the stories of folks doing something good still get some attention.
Thanks to the KSWO news crew! They’re a great bunch of folks.
I haven’t yet put together all of my thoughts for the holiday season. I will tell you that among all the religions of the world this tradition is curiously different. Although other religions may attach a similar significance to their holidays, there is no other holiday reminding us of hope and love anywhere else but in Christianity.
The kids got the presents I made them today. Rainey’s been using his chalk-board more than the others. The marshmallow blow guns have been fun. I got Chrissy a few stocking stuffers, but I can share her present with everyone.
If you’d like to watch the high-def version click here. Then click on “Watch in High Quality”
There’s a lot of inaccuracies in our historical knowledge. Despite the greatest of efforts we still believe that during a revolutionary war naval battle, John Paul Jones said “I have not yet begun to fight!” Somehow we also associate Thanksgiving with Pilgrims instead of George Washington. There’s also a nasty rumour that Marie Antoinette offered an impossible solution to the crisis in France during the revolution. The food supply for Paris was more than lacking, it was non-existent. Bread prices went up, and then the staple commodity was simply unavailable. Marie is credited with saying: “If the people have no bread, then let them eat cake.”
It’s not true. She never said that.
Regardless of the origins, bread was a contributing factor to the French Revolution. Tonight history has shown the power of bread once again. There’s a young lady in our ward who’s been a delightful babysitter, and a welcome addition to our home on any evening. She’s firm and fun with the kids. The perfect balance for the three high-energy miniatures we leave behind in order to keep our sanity.
Yesterday we saw this young lady at mutual. She was talking to Chrissy, and a miracle happened. It’s worth a blog post. She asked if she could come babysit. The price tag: A loaf of Chrissy’s Zuccini bread. Thank goodness when zuccini was on sale we bought lots of it, shredded it, and have it tucked in corners of various freezers. So when the offer was on the table, it didn’t take much to say “yes.”
Tonight Chrissy and I went to Wal-mart and strategically went up and down aisles finding inexpensive gifts for our children to augment the gifts we’re making this year. Each kid is getting a book. There were two puzzles, some Matchbox cars, and other nick-naks in the cart as we left the store. A pretty good trip. We’ve only got one stop left to be DONE with Christmas shopping–and that’s for PVC pipe.
I know, for some folks a trip to Wal-Mart isn’t a date. To us it was. We talked, ran into some friends in the store, took our time, and didn’t have to argue with three different age groups vying for attention, or a particular toy. It was a great evening. When you’re thirty Wal-Mart is a date. Don’t fight it!
I can’t help but think of how our friendship with this babysitter has grown. We’ve had fun getting to know her. She’s probably the girl that gets less attention than she deserves. Her peers are a bit better at attracting the spotlight than she is. Without that attention she might feel that she’s a bit plain. We’ve found her to be anything but.
She walked off with a loaf of zuccini bread tonight–something she’d never tried until she was baby-sitting a few weeks ago. They say you are what you eat. It might just be I’m tired, or it might just be true.
She doesn’t know that the delicious bread she walked away with is a pretty stock recipe from allrecipies.com. Oddly enough it’s not the highest rated, first listed, or most commented on recipe. It is, from our experience, the best one around! We like sticking with things that are the best!
I wish I could tell all the folks that have those lonely days this time of year, who have moments where they feel a bit more plain than they’d like to be, to have a slice of this zuccini bread. It’s perfect. It’s perfect in the same way that we’ve found a great babysitter. It’s perfect in the same way that tonight–even though it was a date to Wal-Mart–was the perfect way to spend time with my wife. Each year we continually merge our families’ holiday traditions. It’s part of the magic of the season. It makes it feel like it was our first Christmas together.
There’s magic in that recipie, so if you’re in need of a little I’m more than happy to share!
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F ( 165 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and nuts; stir into the egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans.
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