Ronamy

Them's the Breaks

2009-09-30T07:59:00.000+08:00

Last Thursday Gavin was at an undisclosed location - most likely in our backyard - playing on some monkey bars (suck it, insurance, because I know you're going to call asking where it happened, looking to push the cost off on somebody else). Yadda, yadda, yadda, he hurt his elbow. The result, after a few trips to the doctor is...

We're not sure if it's fractured or if it was dislocated, but something's going on because of the swelling so the doc decided to wrap it up for about 3 weeks and see what happens.

(Oh yeah, Amy said not to pay attention to her laundry hanging on our dining room chairs to dry.)

Congratulations and Beware!

2009-09-16T22:46:00.002+08:00

As of 9:00 AM on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009, Keely has her learner's permit.

Kid Fish at Lake Pflugerville

2009-06-10T20:57:00.001+08:00

About 10 years ago when Reagan and Gavin were still too small to fish, Grandpa took Keely to a Kid Fish event at a park near our house in Missouri City. They gave out corn for bait, but Grandpa had a secret weapon: chicken liver. As a result, Keely caught some nice catfish and the kids around her were quite jealous because all they had for bait was corn. Stupid corn.

There was a similar event this past weekend at Lake Pflugerville so Gavin, Alex, and I packed up a cooler with snacks – and headed out to the lake with our fishing supplies. After Gavin and Alex graduated from Kid Fish University, we settled in to catch the big one and snag one of the cool trophies.

But we weren’t prepared because I had read somewhere online that they didn’t stock with catfish – so once they told us there that they stocked with 500 catfish I called Amy and she graciously agreed to go on a chicken liver run for us before going to get her nails done with “the girls,” i.e. Keely, Reagan, Nikki, and Olivia.

But it was no use. It was hot and the snacks tasted good. The rocks kept the boys entertained for a few hours. But nobody caught a thing other than some small perch and what not.

The boys didn’t seem to mind, though. They had lots of fun and I explained to them that that’s why they call it Kid FISH and not Kid CATCH. Sometimes you catch ‘em and sometimes you don’t.

We did catch some memories and I’m glad we went. It recalled a lot of memories of Grandpa and how much he loved to fish. We didn’t talk about him much except for Gavin to tell Alex how good of a fisherman his grandpa was – but he was there for sure.

We’ll catch ‘em next time.

Memorial Day 2009

2009-05-24T22:21:00.001+08:00

Amy and I were talking the other day and we realized that it’s already been about 5 months since we’ve returned home from Taiwan. Wow. That’s simply amazing to me and it’s hard to believe that the kids are finishing up their last days of school and summer is looming large.

We had talked about going to Granbury or even Houston for the weekend but after being gone so much we decided to hunker down at home and just … be. We’re still trying to find a church home (that’s closer to home) and since we’ve been gone most weekends we just haven’t made much progress in the last 5 months. So that was a big reason to stay home.

So mom came down to spend the weekend with us and when I asked what she wanted to eat, the first thing on her list was crawfish. Twist my arm. So yesterday (Saturday) we sat on the back porch and watched an awesome storm roll in and cook and eat a pot of crawfish – about 17 pounds to be exact. This is prime season right now and they are pretty large:

Since it was a pretty lazy day without much going on I was able to spend the time to purge them well and weed out the dead ones. The result was tremendous:

Besides purging them well I also did a few new things. Instead of putting cloves of garlic in the boil I used about a cup or so of crushed garlic. This really gave everything a stronger, more infused-garlic flavor. In addition, mom told me that dad used to put butter in the boil. This was news to me, but we tried it and it made a pretty noticeable difference in the flavor and some might say it was easier to pull the meat out of the tails. Whatever – it was good.

Today’s menu is simple: ribeye steaks on the cast iron skillet outside with butter. Tomorrow’s menu? A few walks around the block, hopefully.

More Roomba Craziness

2009-05-22T04:14:00.002+08:00

Today the Roomba was running in the other room and after a while it occurred to me that he was working overtime for some reason today. So I got up (sigh...) and went on the hunt. Nope - not in the living room. Nope - not in the kitchen. And then I hear him in the laundry room behind a shut door.

Somehow he got into the laundry room and shut the door on himself and was going back and forth and back and forth, frantically trying to find his way out. His poor "Dock" light was blinking really fast which means he was about to run out of juice.

As soon as I opened the door he made a beeline to his docking station - looking like somebody running to the toilet about to pee their pants.

As I said the other day, we're in no danger of Skynet shenanigans just yet folks.

Bad Roomba!

2009-05-13T22:48:00.003+08:00

I've discovered that a good way to get brownie points with Amy when she's working and I'm at home is to vacuum for her. That typically means that I press a button on the Roomba and then quickly escape to my office and shut the doors to keep said Roomba out of my space. It doesn't sound like much but it's the thought that counts.

So there I was, sitting in my office working very diligently, when I hear the Roomba's motors stop running and then I hear something I've never heard before - a very pitiful series of low beeps and murmurs coming from somewhere in the other room.

I rushed out of my office and searched frantically for my little worker which was nowhere to be seen! I was really starting to get worried that my brownie point-generator had somehow made a break for it when I found it:

Notice the sad little red light. Also notice that the stupid little robot ate half a roll of toilet paper before it finally gave up in the robotic equivalent of a fetal position.

I don't think we're in danger of any Terminator or I, Robot revolutions just yet folks.

Poor little guy...

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-13T21:26:00.004+08:00

One of the aspects of being in Taipei for a year that really concerned Amy was whether or not there was an Olive Garden there that we could visit for Mother's Day. There wasn't but it turned out not to be an issue since we weren't in Taipei for Mother's Day. It's funny how things have a way of working themselves out - one way or another.

Beating the crowds to Olive Garden has become an integral part of our Mother's Day ritual. We slowly creep towards the restaurant across the open parking lot in our car, silently searching for the competition. You don't want to be too early, and you certainly don't want to be too late - lest you spend half your Mother's Day sitting on a bench in the sun wishing the losers who got there before you would choke down their grub and get out.

I must admit that the looming challenge of getting in and getting out with the right timing is something I look forward to. As we leave the restaurant every year it's like parting the Red Sea with so many people jammed into the lobby waiting to get our precious seats.

We spent the rest of the day just lounging around the house and ended it with an hour or so at the pool with The Neighbors. A perfect Mother's Day, from my perspective, to show Amy how much we love her and appreciate everything she does for her 4 kiddoes!

We've been doing this since 2003 so this is a great tradition that we all look forward to, kind of like getting Christmas ornaments at Christmas. Thanks to Amy, it lives on. Here's a look back at previous Mother's Days over the last several years:

Happy Mother's Day 2009!

Cancer Sucks

2009-05-13T04:26:00.002+08:00

Given all that we've been through in the last year, I've developed a professional opinion that cancer sucks. I've always been pretty sure about this but after losing Dad to it I'm 100% positive now.

Enter Amy. Not my Amy, but a friend's wife who recently found out she had breast cancer. I had lunch with him today and everybody always asks why we came home from Taiwan early and that of course leads to the "cancer sucks" discussion. But Greg had one up on me today.

Throughout the ordeal with Dad what petrified me the most was that it could've been me or Amy. It's a terrifying thought if you let it be. After talking to Greg about these thoughts he again had one up on me. He told me that Amy thinks the same way, only she thinks what it would have been like if it were her kids. Even more terrifying.

I've only met Amy once but this affected me so much that I thought I'd share it with you to get you thinking about the blessings in your life. If you get a chance, head over to her blog and read her ongoing story as she battles the cancer.

http://www.amyshealth.com

Click on a Google Ad while you're there to support her fight. Our prayers go out to Amy, Greg, and their kiddoes. Cancer sucks, but only if you let it.

Friday Night Express Game

2009-05-08T21:12:00.001+08:00

We had planned to head to Houston this weekend but at the last minute we decided to stay at home. With an unplanned Friday night in front of us we decided to take the kids (and Alex) to a Round Rock Express game at the Dell Diamond.

Most of us had been to the Diamond a few times for school events, games with friends and other things, but we'd never been as a family. It's such a great venue with really close seats and access to the players.

Gavin seemed to enjoy the game but the others were more fixated on the snacks. Amy was able to effectively multi-task: watching the game, fixating on the snacks (cotton candy in her case), and people-watching.

We had a good time - the game was fun and the snacks were yummy. I'm not sure I could afford the season tickets snack bill (hot dogs, curly fries, cokes, hamburgers, cotton candy and lots of it, dippin' dots, funnel cake, and Miller Lites for me), but every once it in awhile it's some good fun!

Goodbye, Grandpa

2009-04-20T01:21:00.002+08:00

Not a whole lot to say about things this morning, but after about a year of fighting cancer, my dad finally won the fight this morning about 3:00 AM. His family had been gathered since earlier in the week and he was in the "height of his glory" (as my mom would say) with all the grandkids being able to share in his last few days.

As in life, he did it his way and in his own time. If the hospice nurses told us to expect something, he would do the exact opposite. That's just the way he was, God bless him.

Cancer sucks. But I'm thankful that his last few months were on his terms for the most part. We've got some pictures and some stories to tell at some point, but not now. We could sit around and mourn his passing, but he'd scorfully look at us and tell us to move on - that we had lives to live.

I'm sure he's finally fishing this morning - for the first time in many months. I wonder if in heaven you catch a record crappy every time, or if God likes fried fish and gumbo? If so, God's in for a treat today. :)

Goodbye old man. We're going to miss you, but we're so thankful that you're not in pain anymore.

The Fishin' Hole

2009-03-29T05:19:00.003+08:00

Our (house-less) land in Granbury backs up to an old stock pond. Last week for Spring Break we caught about 40 or so fish - mostly perch - with Uncle Steve and ColtonCaleb. This weekend we're up here with Grandma, Grandpa, and James and Kristi and we were afraid it was too cold and windy to go fishing, but Gavin wanted to go, so we headed out this afternoon. Within a few seconds of dropping his bacon in the water, his Zebco 404 starting growling as he struggled to pull in what I thought was a pretty frisky perch, but it turned out to be...

And a few minutes later he caught this little feller:

Not trophy fish to be sure, but he sure had fun catching them. This was his third one:

And then as quick as they started biting, they stopped. We caught a few more perch but they just shut down completely. We threw them all back so that someday they would be trophy bass.

We'll be heading back tomorrow and hopefully it will not be as cold or windy so Grandpa can join us.

Video: Get the Hail Out of Here!

2009-03-27T03:53:00.001+08:00

We were standing in the kitchen last night during a storm and out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of light and then I heard a loud crack. The next thing I knew it sounded like machine gun fire hitting the house - we were being pelted by penny-size hail! It only lasted a minute or so and I don't think there was any major damage, but I was able to capture some of it on video. Check it out:

When Seagulls Attack (Trying Again)

2009-03-19T20:10:00.002+08:00

A lot of you sent me emails saying that either the blog entry was blank (it wasn't, it had a video embedded) or that you couldn't view the video because you weren't my "friend". It's true - you're not my friend and I thought sending you a video that you couldn't see would be the perfect way to tell you that.

But since I have a soft heart I'm going to let you have one more shot. If you can't see this video in your email, go to the website www.ronamy.com.

The story behind this video is that I found some footage on our flip camera from back in January that I think Reagan had taken. We were there for the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa and James had taken the kids fishing and they decided to feed the seagulls. Well the video was all shaky and even turned sideways. I was on a flight from Burbank to DFW this week and I thought I'd kill some time with the new iMovie software and see if I can turn it into something interesting to watch. This is the result. Enjoy!

Gavin and Kayci Go To Sonic

2009-03-09T20:42:00.003+08:00

This weekend we headed back to Houston to help mom and dad continue to get settled into their new digs. It's slowly but surely becoming "home" to them and that's good. On Saturday we drove up to Brenham for Noble's first birthday and Kristi asked the kids to spend the night. They didn't have a change of clothes, they didn't have a toothbrush, and Keely didn't have her laptop - but what the heck. You can read all about their adventure's on their blog but you can see the results here:

They made a short video of Kayci and Gavin and their quest to get ice cream in the middle of the night (6:30 PM) in Brenham. (It's another video, so you have to go to the website to see it.) They did a great job and they're already planning their next production!

The New Target is Open! The New Target is Open!

2009-03-06T03:38:00.002+08:00

After years of waiting, the Pflugerville Target is open! We eagerly rushed into the new shopping paradise only to find ... a regular old Super Target. I'm not sure what I was expecting but for some reason I was kinda let down. I guess the Target part is okay - but the grocery part is kinda ho-hum. They didn't have several things that were on our list.

But ... the shopping carts were awesome. I wanted to get two of them and race up and down the empty, perfectly stocked aisles!

Check out those wheels! Next up: Chick-fil-A. Oh yeah!

Time Machine Dec 2008: Modern Toilet experience

2009-03-05T23:21:00.012+08:00

The long awaited Modern Toilet post has arrived. I am sorry it has taken me so long to post. I tried several times to post these back in December, but I am not very computer savy and for one reason or another I just could not get blogger to work in Taiwan at the end and considering I could not read Chinese I could not figure out what to click on to change the site back to English for me. But I digress.... One of the last outings I went on with the ladies was to the restaurant The Modern Toilet. I was really excited about going on this outing because I just couldn't believe it until I saw it. Here is the outside sign advertising the restaurant. The toilet was huge I don't know if you can tell that from this photo, but wow!

Of course we all took a group photo out front. Looking at this picture now makes me miss all of them.

This is the actual front door of the restaurant.

You could choose from various tables to sit at I took several shots because it just seemed so weird to see bathroom items in a restaurant.

The Modern Toilet stays in theme through out the restaurant including the sink to wash your hands.

The seats were a variety of toilets with beautiful seats. There were three toilets per side of the table.

Lunch! Doesn't it look good!

I ordered Thai coconut chicken. Here is my tray of food. The presentation of the food was so funny. The poo in the back was the cover to my soup. The toilet had a top and in the bottom it had a tea light candle burning to keep the food warm. The food was very good.

Here is the hot tea I ordered for my drink doesn't this make you just want to drink? Actually the tea was very delicious.

As part of the meal you get a dessert of soft serve ice cream served in an Eastern toilet. The taste was not the best but the experience was fun.

You could purchase a variety of items for souveniers but this one was the most interesting. You could purchase your own stuffed poo if you so desired. You could also purchase all of the dishes as well. If we had not already had our things packed out I would have bought some but since my suitcases were already overflowing I only bought a toilet magnet.

At the end of the meal I needed to use the bathroom. This restaurant was full of western toilets to sit on so I don't know why I was shocked to find only an Eastern toilet as an option in the bathroom.

After my experience I knew that I had to take the kids on Saturday. I just knew they would love it. We got up on Saturday and headed out to the MRT. I think I was more excited than the kids, but I knew they would enjoy it once they got there.

Here are a few shots of the kids at our table.

Here's a picture of Reagan and Gavin's food they ordered some kind of spaghetti dish. It was a little different than traditional spaghetti. Notice the shape of the dish though.

Keely ordered a cold drink and it was served in this urinal glass. How would you like to drink your drink from something like this? You could have purchased a souvenier glass that was basically a portable urinal, but I just couldn't do it and none of the kids were game either.

Here's a picture of one of the walls. I just loved the graphic. It is funny to see these graphics at a place you eat.

Here's a great shot of Keely trying to look disgusted by the dessert served in Easter toilets. She didn't really eat it she didn't care for the taste.

In the entry way there are a few photo op places. I guess they tried to set up a peaceful place for you to pretend to do your business. Doesn't Gavin look comfortable?

Here's Keely trying to look busy. She's such an actress.

Reagan couldn't do this without laughing. But isn't she just typical Reagan. When I see this photo I immediately hear her giggle in my head.

I took this photo out front at the end of our experience. These are some pretty cheesy photos.

Time Machine Jan 2009: Dancing with the Fooch!

2009-03-05T22:22:00.008+08:00

We learned a long time ago that having smaller, more convenient versions of the digital camera is useful because you always have it with you to capture those unplanned moments. Video is the same thing and we've taken to carrying our new Flip Video Mino camera with us often. Back on New Year's Day we captured this little gem of our nephew Fooch dancing to the Peanut Butter Jelly iPhone app.

Forget Dancing with the Stars... I wanna see Dancing with the Fooch!

Remember - for videos you actually have to visit the ronamy.com website because they won't come through in email. Enjoy!

(You can read more about Fooch and his adventures here: http://www.andreanchad.blogspot.com/.

Time Machine Dec 2008: Taipei Feet

2009-03-04T22:54:00.003+08:00

We have a little bit of catch-up to play with our blog postings. Once we made the decision to transition from Taipei back to Pflugerville late last year we kinda went head's down to make it all happen in a short period of time.

On our last weekend in Taipei as a family (I was leaving the following Monday to pave the way for the rest of the clan) the kids wanted to visit the local Chili's in Tien Mu one more time. I snapped this picture when nobody was paying attention and I've always liked how it captures a moment in time.

I've been playing around with an online photo editor called www.picnik.com and that's what I used for the effects and the text.

As much as I'm not a huge fan of Chili's, I'll miss these little outings in Taiwan. If we were having a rough week and just wanted some comfort food we'd head down there and have the Fajita Wrap or Buffalo Ranch Chicken sandwich. When you walk in, you could be at any Chili's in the U.S. - you could swear you were in the Hutto Chili's or even in Granbury! The menu was the same - the decorations were the same - the only difference was the Taiwanese wait staff.

And in all honesty - the wait staff in Taiwan is much better than their U.S. counterparts.

Enjoy the picture. I'll see if I can get Amy to blog about her experiences at the Modern Toilet restaurant sometime soon.

"No Dumping" Update

2009-03-04T01:15:00.002+08:00

I need to post a follow-up to my mini-rant below on the City of Pflugerville. I got busy last week and forgot to do it. I reached out to the city and quickly got a response saying that the sign in question was "too high" and that they would lower it so it woudln't be visible from our backyard. Wow! So we are no "No Dumping" sign-free! Thanks to the city and their quick response!

Thank God! It's the Uh, City Government

2009-02-26T04:58:00.007+08:00

As if property values weren't plummeting enough. And as if the looming water tower you can see from our backyard isn't enough of a deterrent to keep people from buying our house (at some point in the future). This week we found a new reason to NOT buy our house, courtesy of the City of Pfugerville:

This is a view from our backyard. You can just barely make out the water tower (sarcasm) but if you click on the picture and enlarge it you can now clearly see a sign that states "No Dumping".

My guess is that this all started with a utility lot behind our house. Over a period of time this lot became overgrown and collected a lot of trash that gets blown in across the Central Texas prairie. Somebody probably complained to the city at some point because people walk through that lot (via a nice sidewalk) to get to and from the schools from the neighborhood.

So the city probably came out, mowed the lot (which they should be doing on a regular basis) and cleaned it up. Good for them. Then somebody thought, "Hey - if we put a No Dumping sign here then we won't have to clean it again! Think of the money we'll save!"

Well I have news for them. Not only is this sign now an eyesore for the neighborhood (especially us!) but it won't stop the trash from blowing into this corner lot and gathering there - especially if they don't keep it mowed!

So the intent was good - but the execution (as is usually the case for any level of government these days) is piss poor.

Thanks for the eye sore and thanks for "solving" a problem. Here's my taxes so you can go "solve" somebody else's problem.

Pottsboro Slumber Party

2009-02-23T23:14:00.004+08:00

When we made the decision to return home prematurely from Taipei, Amy and I decided to keep our schedule open so that we can have time for family. Usually the Spring and Fall are booked every single weekend with games, activities, etc. and we end up going months without having a chance to go and see family.

This past weekend we wanted to be in Granbury for a POA meeting on Saturday morning. Grandmommy and Grandaddy were also there and we got to stay in one of the beautiful lakefront homes that he's trying to sell. Waking up to the sounds of the lake is always a treat and the view from the back of the house is just ... unbelievable. The house is awesome and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the right person snatches it up.

We were keeping Saturday afternoon open and were either going to return home to Pflugerville or maybe even drive down to Houston to see Grandma and Grandpa. On Friday night Marsha and Cindy (my cousins) called to say they were going to be in Pottsboro with Me B and Pop (my aunt and uncle). They wanted us to drive up for a fish fry and slumber party. We had seen Me B in Houston a few weeks ago for my dad's surgery, but we hadn't seen the others since the reunion last Summer.

So we decided to go from a lakeside view in Granbury to a lakeside view in Pottsboro - about a 2.5 hour drive. We got there just in time for dinner and we feasted on some white bass that Pop caught last year on the lake. The girls couldn't resist having Cindy do their nails and then we finished up the evening with a game of Mexican Train dominoes:

On the way there, the kids got into a spirited discussion about what kind of cousins they were to Cindy, Marsha, and the like. First cousins, second cousins, third cousins... Gavin summed it up for everybody: "I don't care, they're just cousins." Voila:

Marsha graciously donated her bed to Amy and I so that she could have a slumber party with the kiddoes downstairs. Except for Geoff's nocturnal methane emissions I think a good time was had by all:

Next week our weekend trips continue with a trip to see Grandma and Grandpa in Houston!

"Life is Good"

2009-02-07T22:07:00.003+08:00

Wow, has it really been almost 2 months since we posted anything here? Sorry about that. Shortly after I posted this, we began a whirlwind of moving back to Austin from Taipei, Christmas, New Year's, etc. We've got lots of pictures and stories that we'll eventually post here - like the ones that Amy and the kids took when they ate at the "Modern Toilet" restaurant in Taipei (yes, Gary, it's real!).

2008 was such a year. We started it with hopes of moving to Granbury, TX and building our dream house on our dream land (2.5 acres with a pond). We put our house on the market right about the time we were informed that we were in a recession. Timing has never been one of my strong suits. But we shortly learned that in a buyer's market you are generally more excited about your house than the rest of the market.

Then in May we lost my Grandma Clarkson. This was sad, but part of the roller coaster of life:

"You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster. Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride! I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it." - Grandma, from the movie Parenthood (1989)

By June I think we were starting to realize that our house wasn't going to command the price we were hoping to get. That same month, my company asked if I would move to Taipei with my family for a year. This was an unbelievable opportunity both professionally and personally and it just "felt right" so in Ronamy fashion we made a major life decision in a matter of minutes. As it turns out, Granbury was NOT the "Great Move of 2008" after all.

July 28 was the day that we flew from Austin to Taipei to start our adventure. On July 23 (Amy's birthday) I got a call from my Mom saying that the doctors found a tumor in my dad's esophagus. The pathology report hadn't come back yet, but given his weight loss I think we all feared the worse. Within a day, the doctors confirmed our fears: he had cancer.

And we were faced with a major decision: stay or go. After several days of counseling from friends and family and lots of prayer, we decided to go. We didn't know what the future would hold for dad's treatment and both he and mom encouraged us to go.

We had a life-changing experience in Taipei. We had to move to one of the biggest, busiest cities in the world to realize that our lives were too complex: always on the go, running from event to event...

By November, the stress of being away from Mom and Dad while they were dealing with dad's illness became too much for me to handle. I was burning the candle at both ends - in the office in Taipei during the night and taking calls with the rest of the world at all hours in the night. My boss was the one who finally asked me one day, "How's your dad?"

That question immediately made me realize that while our time in Taipei was a rich blessing of immeasurable quantity, we needed to be home. This decision was even further confirmed when I stopped by during a trip to the U.S. to see mom and dad for dad's birthday.

As fast as my company got us to Taipei, they brought us home. I can't say enough about that. At great cost to them, my well-being and the well-being of my family was their first priority. Within 2 weeks, our stuff was packed back up and on a ship heading for Houston through the Panama Canal. Again.

After a long and difficult set of Radiation and Chemo treatments, the doctors told us that the tumor in dad's esophagus was practically gone and that the best course of action would be to remove the affected and surrounding areas to ensure any cancer cells hiding out could be removed from his body.

2008 came and went, not with a bang, but with a whimper. Goodbye.

A date was finally set for the difficult surgery: Tuesday, February 3rd and we all began to look forward to that date, hoping it would be the day dad was cured of cancer.

On Friday, January 30th I was on the way home from the airport after a long week of meetings in Vegas and filming a video for work in Cupertino. All I wanted to do was to go home, see my family, meet Keely's hairy-legged boyfriend (more on that later I suppose), and go to bed. I called my mom just to check in and she said that they had spent the better part of the day running errands and that they were both going to lay down for an afternoon nap.

An hour later I got a call from Kristi (my sister) that started with, "Ronny, where are you?" (How sad of a commentary is that question? No telling where I am these days!) "Mom just called and said that her house is on fire. They're ok."

It took a few seconds for the magnitude of the situation to fully sink in to my thick skull. I tried mom's cell phone a few times before I finally got her. As soon as I heard her voice I knew I had to get there as soon as possible. It's about a 3 hour drive.

James and Kristi arrived before the sun went down and were able to snap a picture of the damage. We got there about an hour later. By then mom was more calm and we were able to go into their townhouse and assess the damage. The fire itself only damaged one room: mom's sewing room. Even then, the damage was minor. The window blew out from the heat and the back of her TV was melted and some Willow Tree statuettes were singed and broken (but even more precious now).

The next day we drove back and removed what we could from the apartment. The vast majority of damage from the smoke and water. They were lucky and we were able to remove most furniture, but things like the couch and mattresses were lost because of the water (they soaked it up like a sponge).

For a brief moment, we forgot about dad's impending surgery. It's amazing to me how much capacity we have for trauma. God tells us that he won't test us beyond what we can handle. I guess that's right.

We had a great day on Sunday at our house. Dad rested on the couch, watching fishing shows in HD and we did what we always do when we gather - cook! Dad even felt good enough to cook a gumbo for lunch. We had fajitas for dinner. The kids had a good time going through mom and dad's memories - listening to stories, remembering forgotten memories. God knew we needed this time.

Our kids stayed with "the neighbors" (Nicole and Marcelo - one of many unbelievable blessings!) during the week and we loaded up to get mom and dad into a hotel for the night.

Tuesday came and we gathered at the hospital back in Pasadena. My Aunt Lois had flown in from Kansas on Monday to be with my mom during all this. We knew it was going to be a long surgery. At one point we got an update from a nurse saying that everything was going well and that we should go get some lunch. We had just gotten to the restaurant when we got a call from the hospital saying that the surgeon wanted to talk to us.

The drive back to the hospital was long and silent. Red lights were excruciating.

When we got there, we learned that dad was fine and recovering from the surgery. But then he told us that he decided not to perform the full surgery because he had found "millimeter-sized" groups of cells throughout his abdomen which meant that the cancer had already started to spread. Who knew how long ago that happened? These cells just could not be detected without looking inside of him.

"So this means he's incurable?"

"Yes."

Then the anger sets in. Stupid cancer. You always hear about it taking loved ones away from other people, but not you. Not your loved ones.

We all kinda went our separate ways that afternoon, trying to comprehend what we'd just heard. Over the next couple of hours, we slowly started to realize what a blessing this diagnosis was. Because he didn't have the full surgery, he wouldn't have to spend 8-9 months in constant pain - recovering from the "cure"! The irony in all of this, and I think that's just the way it is with stupid cancer is that the treatment ultimately causes more damage than the disease.

The next day we set about finding a new home for mom and dad and generally dealing with the aftermath of the fire. In many ways, this was also a blessing because it kept us all busy while trying to come to grips with the situation.

She found a new town home literally next door to her office at Kinder Care and only a few minutes away from dad's doctor's and the hospital! What a difference 24 hours makes! At this point, our anger had ceded (for now) and the rest of the week began to shower us with more blessings, both big and small.

We'll take what we can get and through it all, "Life is good."

(I snapped this picture in my mom's sewing room on the day after the fire.)

Tim and Janet, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa... just know that your family is with you through all of this and that we love you. And your friends are right there as well, waiting to get the news every single day and wondering/asking how they can help. People that you don't even know are asking about you. We'll get through this with some tears and some anger, some laughter and some joy. We're all praying for you and we're blessed not only by your presence in our lives, but by the richness of the blessings that are sprouting up out of the ashes. Through it all, life is good, and God is great.

Deja Vu and a Dose of Reality

2008-12-02T19:21:00.003+08:00

Didn't we just rush around to get visas and passports and movers in order? Sure seems like it.

Things have kicked into high gear around here as we prepare to leave Taipei. Now that the initial surge in excitement has abated, I'm left with a little sadness. The people and the culture here definitely grow on you and before you know it they're a real part of your life - or maybe what you hope your life can be like.

So now we're left with dealing with the relocation companies and sending copies of passports and visas and all the other minutiae associated with an international move. I didn't realize how much the last move took out of me until this week when it really started up again in earnest. It's hard work! I know Amy and I are both very thankful for the enormous amount of help the company has provided through both transitions.

The movers come tomorrow. That was fast. They called today and said "When can we come see what you have to move?" When I said, "How about this afternoon?" They said, "No problem."

Then we he got here and looked over our stuff to move he asked when we wanted it packed. I said, "How about tomorrow?" He said, "No problem."

See what I mean? Life here is just - less complicated.

The good news is that we'll have most of the paperwork and literal heavy lifting done by the time I leave the island on Sunday. That will leave Amy to just relax for a few weeks while the kids finish up their semester.

So just as fast as it started back in May - it's ending. Don't get me wrong, we want and need to be at home in Pflugerville right now and that's not in doubt at all. But that doesn't mean that I won't miss the people, the food, the markets, the smiles, the nonstop questions like, "What do you think of Taiwan?", and many other things. For me, the good news is that I'll be back often and that's comforting during a time of changes once again.

See you in Texas.

Making Hamburgers Taiwan style

2008-11-29T09:51:00.004+08:00

On November 15th Reagan's actual birthday. We had the opportunity to do something kind of fun. We went to this restaurant called Royal Host where they were going to teach the kids how to make hamburgers. My two chefs were the only Americans but they enjoyed the process just as much as the local kids. We went with a friend from church so she translated everything we needed to know.

First the kids were given two patties of meat to work with. They were supposed to put them together to make a ball of meat. Here are a few photos of them working with the meat.

Once they made a nice ball of meat they were supposed to throw it between their hands to make it ready to be flattened into a patty. The chef walked around to help the kids if they needed help making the ball ready. At one point the chef traded balls of meat with Reagan so he could help her. The look on her face was priceless. If looks could speak the chef would have heard her say " I don't want that ball of meat that you have been touching, I don't know where it has been." But with our language barrier and Reagan's politeness she said nothing.

Once all the kids were finished they pressed their patties and went downstairs to cook their patties. The manager informed the kids that due to the griddle being so hot it would be a safety hazard to let them actually cook their burgers so they just got to watch.

Once the patties were ready they went back upstairs to create their burger with the trimmings. They had butter, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and ketchup.

The boy standing beside Gavin piled on the butter. Most of the kids piled on the trimmings more for fun than for them to actually eat their burgers. Reagan and Gavin are true Clarksons they were making their burgers to eat.

I think Reagan and Gavin were the only two who actually ate their creation. The kids had a great time. Gavin was reluctant to go at first I had to make him because I had already paid for him to go, but when it was all finished he commented on how much fun he had and he was glad I made him go.

Making Cookies for School

2008-11-29T09:31:00.004+08:00

Reagan wanted to bring something to school to celebrate her birthday. If we were at home we would make cookies or cupcakes no problem. Well here in Taiwan without an oven our choices are limited. I then remembered the chocolate oatmeal no bake cookie recipe I got from my mom. What a perfect recipe.

I remember making these cookies with my mom as a little girl and her telling me that she used to make these cookies as a young girl too. It was kind of fun reminiscing during the cooking process.

As we were making the cookies I told Reagan the secret of how you know that the chocolate is ready for the oatmeal. This is always the hardest part for me because I always want to stop before it is actually done. You are supposed to drop a few drops of chocolate in a cold glass of water to see if it clumps together when that happens it is ready for the oatmeal.

We stirred for a long while and they were finally ready to add the oatmeal. I was so proud that I was so patient and cooked it longer so it would it be perfect. We added the oatmeal and proceeded to the table to drop the cookies on the wax paper. You have to do this fast.

As we were doing this I soon realized that we had cooked the chocolate too long because the chocolate was too dry to really form great cookies. Some formed but for the most part it became chocolate covered oatmeal. Back to the drawing board.

We had enough supplies to make one more batch so we started over. It wasn't as nostalgic as the first time. I was a little stressed that I had to get this batch right so she could have cookies to take to school. We mixed it up again and stirred the right amount hopefully and the second batch was ready.

We started placing the second batch on wax paper and realized the chocolate could have cooked a little longer but we were still able to make cookies. All in all it was not our best baking endeavor but we were able to find enough cookies to put on the tray to take to school for her birthday. We ate the ones that didn't make the cut. They were delicious.

I am thankful for moments like these. I will cherish this memory always. I hope Reagan will as well.