Way to Go!!!!!!!!!

Red Sox winning another series!!  3 in my lifetime!!  And in Boston, a perfect fitting to the beginning of the season, which was ripped away by the Boston Marathon bombings.  Redemption!!

Great games...late nights

Going to bed days in a row at midnight is taking its toll, but what an ending and a redemption for the Sox last night.  They definitely deserved it.  Play like that again for 2 more games.  At this point, the series has to come back to Boston and very fitting. 

GO SOX!

Game 1

One down, three more to go...

1 Corinthians 13 for Moms

A new take on the famous "Love is patient, love is kind" verses from 1 Corinthians...

1 Corinthians 13 for Moms
I can read bedtime stories till the cow jumps over the moon
and sing "Ten Little Monkeys" until I want to call the doctor...
but if I don't have love, I'm as annoying as a ringing phone.
I can chase a naked toddler through the house while cooking dinner and listening to voice mail.
I can fix the best cookies and Kool-Aid in the neighborhood
and I can tell a sick child's temperature with one touch of my finger...
but if I don't have love, I am nothing.
Love is patient while watching and praying by the front window when it's 30 minutes past curfew.
Love is kind when my teen says, "I hate you!"
Love does not envy the neighbors' swimming pool or their brand-new mini van,
but trusts the Lord to provide every need.
Love does not brag when other parents share their disappointments and insecurities,
and love rejoices when other families succeed.
Love doesn't boast,
even when I've multi-tasked all day long and my husband can't do more than one thing at a time.
Love is not rude when my spouse innocently asks, "What have you done today?"
Love does not immediately seek after glory when we see talent in our children,
but encourages them to get training and make wise choices.
Love is not easily angered,
even when my 15-year-old acts like the world revolves around her.
Love does not delight in evil (is not self-righteous)
when I remind my 17-year-old that he's going 83 in a 55-mph zone, but rejoices in the truth.
Love does not give up hope.
Love always protects our children's self-esteem and spirit,
even while doling out discipline.
Love always trusts God to protect our children when we cannot.
Love always perseveres,
through blue nail polish, burps and other bodily functions, rolled eyes and crossed arms, messy rooms and sleepovers.
Love never fails.
But where there are memories of thousands of diaper changes and painful labor, they will fade away.
Where there is talking back, it will (eventually) cease.
Where there is a teenager who thinks she knows everything,
there will one day be an adult who knows you did your best.
For we know we fail our children, and we pray they don't end up in therapy,
but when we get to heaven, our imperfect parenting will disappear.
(Thank you, God!)
When we were children, we needed a parent to love and protect us.
Now that we're parents ourselves,
we have a heavenly Father who adores, shelters us and holds us when we need to cry.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these *is* LOVE!!
--Author Unknown

Red Sox..again?

Great ending last night with a grand slam to win the ACLS!  Will they win against the Cardinals?? (who are supposed to be VERY good this year??)  It will be a very red play-off game.  But, we hope the ones with red sox win in the end.

Week in review

College visits, random thoughts...

• College is absurdly expensive, maybe even go far as saying prohibitively expensive!
• Anna loved the colleges she visited, loved the dorms and the people she met
• Met lots of great people, was able to talk to professors and in one case the head of the education department!
• Ohio roads are the worst, lots of construction and accidents
• Kentucky roads are much better
• gas is more expensive as you travel north
• sick of fast food for awhile now...

Meanwhile, the government is back to work and everyone at the Lab is happy.

School starts again and the next 9 weeks will be Anna's last with color guard.  Only one school we visited has color guard, so not sure she will be doing it in college. Only 2 more football games, unless they go on to the championships.  Practices for "Emma" are getting more intense as there are only 3 weeks left until Tech Week.

Gabriel also has only 2 more rowing events left, as the fall season is always shorter.  There is the Secret City Race (home) next weekend and then the Head of the Hooch (in Chattanooga) the following weekend.

Marian is off with me this afternoon to a Chili Cook-off.  I have entered in the spicy/hot category.  It is at a Children's Museum and she and a friend will have fun in the museum while I am handing out samples of my chili.

We all went to a Corn Maze last night, the kids were in the haunted section, while Bogdan and I went to the regular one.  I really don't see the appeal of the whole thing, not my thing, but the kids seemed to like it.

Government Shutdown and Furloughs

Some of you may be wondering if Bogdan has been affected by the furlough.

Well, the answer is both yes and no.

He has been gone on a business trip for a week, so in that sense, he has not been affected.  He still went on the trip, it will still be reimbursed, etc. 

But, he is still technically a government employee, so yes it will affect him.  He has been told that the Lab is ok through the end of the month (October) and then mandatory furloughs will take place.  He is not allowed to do any lab work while gone and the neutron source will be shut down indefinitely. 

Which also means that in a sense the town of Oak Ridge will be dramatically affected.  If there is a long-term shut down, this town will be severely affected.  This town exists because of the Lab.  All the shops, stores and fast food places will take a big cut in revenue.  Especially the fast food places, that get a LOT of revenue from Lab personnel. 

Overall, as everyone agrees (except those in power!), the shutdown is a bad thing for the nation and its people.

Tropical Storm Karen

My family has no doubts that I can become a hurricane.  But, hope that it doesn't do too much damage, lest my name be tarnished.

Kids are almost done their 1st quarter at school, which ends next week.  Then there is fall break for a week.  Anna and I will visit colleges that week, and there are a few fall things happening. (Dirt bike festival, corn mazes)  Not huge plans, but it will fill the week.

October will be filled with Regattas almost every weekend (this is the only one free).  We've had perfect weather this past month, hopefully it will continue for the races.  Of course, the fall are actually head races and not regattas, you can look up the difference online if you are interested. 

Anna continues with color guard for the marching band and October is the last "Official" month for games, but if the team goes to finals, then she will be there.  Rehearsals for "Emma" have also started, so she is busy. 

Gabriel and Max are mostly rowing after school, but keeping busy with things like football games, homecoming dances and so on. 

Bogdan is off to San Francisco for the week for business.