Category Archives: David

David, Holidays

A Golden Birthday

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According to the interweb, a ‘Golden Anniversary’ is when a couple celebrates their 50th wedding anniversary. My parents celebrated theirs five years ago, to much fanfare and family enjoyment.

But according to my beloved wife, a ‘Golden Birthday’ occurs when your age in years coincides with the day of the month you were born. So, for example, my ‘Golden Birthday’ was the year I turned 8, since my birthday is on the 8th of the month.

Parenthetically, it really was a ‘Golden’ day. It happened to fall on Columbus Day, which (at the time) was celebrated as a holiday in the city where I lived. School was cancelled, and we spent the day touring the many attractions of the city. Although I knew, intellectually, that it was the holiday that gave everyone an excuse to celebrate, I couldn’t help feel that, if they really knew, the people of New York City were celebrating my birthday.

So, if you were so fortunate as to be born on the same day as the number of your month, then I imagine you could have a ‘Platinum Birthday’. For example: someone who turned 11 on the 11th of November.

And I suppose if the years and the time of your birth lined up such that you turned 9 on September 9, 2009, then you’d really have it made. Maybe you’d call that your ‘Californium 252 Birthday’, since that is the rarest and most valuable metal?

Fascinating as this study of precious metals may be, today we studied (and enjoyed) a very precious person, more valuable to God and to us than his weight in Californium 252. Today, my youngest son David turned 16.

It was a pretty good day. Due to some late-night work last night, I was able to work from home (usually I am in the office on this particular weekday) and so I was able to take David to take his ‘Road Test’ at the 911 driving school. Passing with flying colors, David and I celebrated with a tasty lunch at Subway. We ordered his driver’s license online, opened presents, and celebrated David as much as we could, considering he has a cold and a difficult Algebra II exam that he had to take and submit today.

Scoring an impressive 96%, David may have outdone us all in driving prowess.

Scoring an impressive 96%, David may have outdone us all in driving prowess.

This evening, Sarah and David drove to Albertson’s to buy Kathy some grocery items. To some parents, such an errand may not seem to have any significance, but Kathy and I have been through this a few times already — we know what happens when a teenager gets their driver’s license. Suddenly, the world is their oyster, and they find many opportunities to enjoy the freedom of the road. It can be a very poignant time for a parent who is already reeling from the abrupt departure of three older children.

But who knows? David is, in many ways, a very unique young man — he makes his own way and doesn’t follow the usual rules of being a teenager. Maybe he’ll drive when he needs to, but will still find ways to hang out with Kathy and me and Sarah. Time will tell.

Tim

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Daniel, David, Silliness

My Sons, the Comedians

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For one reason or another, we like to laugh a lot in our family. Kathy and I have always keenly enjoyed each other’s sense of humor, and we’ve tried to incorporate a love for laughter into our children.

It may be that we have succeeded a little too well.

On Monday, I made some hard-boiled eggs in Kathy’s swanky Insta-Pot. We generally mark the eggs with a Sharpie so that people don’t try to scramble them for breakfast. Sometimes, if Kathy is feeling particularly cheerful, she’ll put little hearts on them, or even write messages like “I love Tim” on a few of the eggs. This can be a bit disconcerting for guests, so we try to pre-shell the eggs if we offer them in a salad to lunch visitors.

But Kathy was busy working on her computer, so she asked David to mark the eggs. It is possible that he resented the job — a fact I discovered the next day when I opened my lunch.

I'm not sure which is worse, that I ate the egg without hesitation, or that I was vaguely proud that my homeschooled child could spell 'poisoned' correctly.

I’m not sure which is worse, that I ate the egg without hesitation, or that I was vaguely proud that my home-schooled child could spell ‘poisoned’ correctly.

Recently, Daniel’s computer video card died. For several days, the computer would not display anything at all, until we figured out how to revert to the integrated video card on the motherboard. Since Daniel mostly uses his computer to play high-graphics video games, you can imagine how distressed he was.

Unbeknownst to Daniel, I recently ordered two new computers for my parents, but had them delivered to my house so I could install some additional hardware and software. Dan happened to be home when the computers were delivered, and he quickly made some alterations to the labels on the packages. Kathy sent me this sequence of pictures at work, to let me know my packages had been delivered, and were greatly appreciated:

Daniel spots the packages by the front door ...

Daniel spots the packages by the front door …

His heart leaps in hope ...

His heart leaps in hope …

Daniel can't believe his eyes, when he reads the address label ...

Daniel can’t believe his eyes, when he reads the address label …

A close-up of the professionally-printed address label ...

A close-up of the professionally-printed address label …

I’d like to think that God is honored by the fun that we have in our house … that the joy we take in each other brings joy to His heart as well. I guess we’ll find out in Heaven, if Jesus plays practical jokes — He’s had more than 2000 years to be working on some of them. If that doesn’t worry you at least a little, then you have no imagination …

Tim

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David, Project 365

Blue Platoon Honor Man

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This Fall has offered many exciting opportunities for David, as he embarks on his High School career. One such opportunity has been to follow in his older brothers’ footsteps, participating in the Naval Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC) program at a nearby high school.

"Sir, yes sir!"

“Cadet Recruit Recruit reporting for duty, Sir!”

It has been fascinating for me to watch him learning to march, how to wear a uniform, and to memorize the Orders of the Sentry. Even learning how to dress in ‘business casual’ attire (as they do sometimes when they don’t wear their uniform) is such a valuable skill for a young man. We are very proud of how David is excelling in the program.

Participating in NJROTC and running Cross Country in the same semester has been rather grueling for David.

Participating in NJROTC and running Cross Country (at two different high schools) in the same semester has been rather grueling for David.

Whenever they can get the local military bases to cooperate, the Junior ROTC program sends all the new recruits away to a Basic Leadership Training (BLT) weekend, where they are given the chance to learn some simple soldiering skills and to be shouted at by Marine instructors. This last weekend was BLT for David and the other recruits of his class; of course, it rained hard the entire weekend.

"These are the future leaders of the Cadet Corps," predicted the Colonel, as David and a few others were promoted to E-2.

“These are the future leaders of the Cadet Corps,” predicted the Colonel, as David and a few others were promoted to E-2.

Cadet families were invited to attend an award ceremony when the kids returned from BLT — David received a participation award, a swim qualification, and (most prestigious) Honor Man for his platoon. As a result of his exceptional conduct and achievement, David was promoted to Seaman Apprentice (E-2), skipping over the E-1 rank. Next time he wears his uniform, he’ll have two new ribbons and a shiny medal pinned to his chest, in addition to the ribbon for being Cadet of the Month.

This photo was taken even before David got his first ribbon.

This photo was taken even before David got his first ribbon.

It is remarkable to see how quickly David has acquired military bearing, and it warms my heart to hear him address other adults respectfully as “Sir” and “Ma’am”. I am excited to see how military skills and disciplines will open doors of opportunity in David’s life.

David's signature thumbs-up, waiting for the BLT ceremony to begin.

David’s signature thumbs-up, waiting for the BLT ceremony to begin.

Great job winning the coveted Honor Man award, David! We are so proud of you!

Project 365, Day 320
Tim

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David, Family, Project 365

A Daily Constitutional

Just before I was discharged from the Army (honorably, of course) I took 53 days of ‘terminal leave’ (it isn’t as deadly as it sounds) and explored Western Europe by train. Whenever I ran low on clean underwear, I returned to my central ‘base of operations’ near Heidelberg, where my brother and sister-in-law lived. I spent a lot of time in their laundry room.

My brother was frequently in the field with his tank squadron that summer, and poor Liz found herself in the awkward position of entertaining a feckless brother-in-law. (After all, training their kitten as a ferocious attack-beast could only fill so many of my hours). So one weekend, she took me off on a Volksmarch, and we were each awarded a valuable tin plate in commemoration of our achievement.

The German people are a hardy bunch, much given to brisk, orderly marching around the countryside, breathing large draughts of healthy country air. In a similar manner, our family has begun a new tradition: before we watch anything in the evening (whether it be a movie or some episode of a show on Netflix) we require ourselves to walk at least a mile (but in our own shoes, not in someone else’s moccasins).

An evening promenade with my youngest girl. You can see Sarah really has to push herself hard, to keep up with me ...

An evening promenade with my youngest girl. You can see Sarah really has to push herself hard, to keep up with me …

Some days we are more eager than others, but on the whole, it seems a healthy habit — helps to digest our dinner, and it gets us out-of-doors if we haven’t been out earlier (as is often the case with me, when I work from home). We use our Map My Run™ app on our phones so we get full credit for the exhausting walk — it is so nice to be patronized by the app: “Congratulations! This was your 49th fastest walk!”

Famed as we are for starting new traditions, it will be interesting to see if we are able to continue this habit. We’re already on our fourth day, which is not bad, by our standards. Maybe when my brother moves to town, he’ll take me on one of his famed ‘death marches’, carefully crafted to show me for the soft-bellied, programmer wimp that I am.

But there is always hope for the next generation. David has decided to take on the dual challenges of the Junior ROTC program at Curtis High School and the Cross Country Team at Lakes High School, this Fall. On top of three Potter’s School Classes and a bunch of other coursework, David is really raising the bar for himself, as he leaps boldly into High School.

What a fine, manly specimen!

What a fine, manly specimen!

This evening, David and I met to plan out his life, and to detail the steps he’ll need to take to place him in a position where he will be equipped for certain paths, should God offer them to him. It was encouraging to talk it out with David; he’s a level-headed kid with a good understanding of what his priorities should be. I’m so pleased and excited to see him briskly and firmly stepping into manhood!

Project 365, Day 245
Tim

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David, Project 365, Sarah

Living in the Dark Ages

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Today, we had a power outage. It was very strange — suddenly, around 10 am, with sunny skies, the power surged and flickered once or twice, and then snapped off.

Living in Western Washington, we’re no strangers to power outages. High winds, tree falls, flooding, ice on power lines; all these can (and do) cause power outages. But usually they happen in winter, and most often in the evening, when they are sure to be noticed. In such cases, you gather what candles and non-working flashlights you can find, gather around the dining room table for a game or a story, and go to bed early.

Our weather this Summer has been hot, and dry and calm, so when the winds picked up this morning, we were quite surprised. Our pretty green patio umbrella blew away and was destroyed, and one of the shed doors was wrenched off its hinges. Then the power went out.

I had been working on my Sunday School class (I write my notes and questions in MS Word, and do most of my research on the passage via the internet) and suddenly I was forced to revert to old-school methods. I felt a real solidarity with monks, living in the dark ages.

On the left, is a Bible presented in a strange form called 'print', and on the right is a quill and some parchment, which were used to record thoughts and ideas by primitive man.

On the left, is a Bible presented in an archaic form called ‘print’, and on the right is a quill and some parchment, which were used to record thoughts and ideas by primitive man.

It is surprising (to me, at least) how much of my life centers around work and entertainment, both of which tend to require electricity. I had planned to split my day between working on our church’s AWANA website and preparing for Sunday School, with maybe a movie thrown in in the evening. Without electrical power, I found myself at loose ends.

I zipped out to the Dollar store and shopped for a few things I needed for Sunday school, and picked up a few biscuits for breakfast (and, of course, a coffee for Kathy). We all caught up on our Bible reading. I read ten chapters of a Gary Schmidt book, What Came from the Stars aloud to Sarah and Kathy, and I developed my Sunday School class on paper. Eventually, the power did come back on (after six hours of barbarian life), and we celebrated by cooking a variation of our favorite Thai dish, Panang Curry.

There is just nothing quite like a good panang curry, for a hungry barbarian family.

There is just nothing quite like a good panang curry, for a hungry barbarian family.

In the evening, we drove to the airport to welcome back David, the returning prodigal, who reluctantly relinquished his life of luxury as a guest in California, in order to reclaim his rightful place in our family. After all, if he’d stayed away any longer, Sarah would probably have co-opted his bedroom as a craft workshop.

Hail the conquering hero's return!

Hail the conquering hero’s return!

Project 365, Day 241
Tim

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