an interesting day

As I drifted off to sleep last night, I had the thought: I don't want to work tomorrow. And when I woke up this morning, I still wasn't feeling all that motivated.

And then it was a stereotypical Monday - things not going right, issues with one of the projects I'm responsible for, etc. I sat at lunch with my co-workers and said, "I just want this day to start over." Then I could have (hopefully) a better attitude and things would just go my way.

And then, over the PA system, came this announcement: "Please evacuate the building immediately." Okay, great - a drill. They happen from time to time.

Several hours, lots of confusion, many fire trucks and one HAZMAT team later, I got my do-over. We got to go home early!

Not to make light of the situation, which hospitalized at least one person, but it was definitely nice to get away from a not-so-great day. Today's events also illustrated the great need for Zondervan/Family Christian Stores to have an emergency plan in place. There really didn't seem to be one. I'm sure we'll have a new policy explained to us soon. In the meantime, we spent a lot of time standing outside and then sitting in a room in an office complex next door until we got the okay to leave.

Here's the scoop:
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6108405

We need to do better PR - FCS hardly gets a mention! :)

history

The death of Gerald R. Ford has been big news around here for the last week or so. And it makes sense - Grand Rapids is his hometown. As a history buff (and a GR native), I've found it fascinating to read the stories, talk to people and learn more about this man. Sure, I've been to the museum a few times, but it's taken these events to bring this man and his life into focus.

President Ford's casket arrived at the airport yesterday, and since my office is so close, a small group of us decided to head to 44th and Patterson to watch Air Force One land, and to see the motorcade.

There were a LOT of people there - and a lot of kids, which I loved. I'm so glad they got to experience this piece of history. We saw the plane land and after about half an hour, the motorcade made its way down the drive from the airport. We were standing in the airport entrance along with several hundred other people. The hearse went by fairly quickly, and then the car with Mrs. Ford and many cars following with various dignitaries (the only one I could easily see was Jimmy Carter). It was solemn, reverent and inspiring to see all of these different people - different ages, backgrounds, races - taking part together in a truly historic moment.

Today, Pete and I waited outside our house to see if we could catch a glimpse of the 21 F-15 fighters as they did the flyover of the final service today - and we did! Granted, they were a little ways off but there's no mistaking the noise.

Listening to and watching the services has been moving - I love the symbolism, the pagentry, the history, the gathering of leaders. But beyond that, I'm continually struck by the fact that while he was a world leader, he was also a husband, a dad, a grandpa, and how both inspirational and difficult it has to be for his family to have this be so public.

And that's my little taste of history...

Nautilus

Just finished a paper model of the Nautilus from "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea." Here is a picture. Sorry it's so dark - our camera is having problems and only occasionally will use the flash.

I still exist

It's been a long time since I posted but I aim to do better. I'm shooting for at least one post a week.

As Amy mentioned, I recently was promoted to the Assistant Supervisor at Crossroads. It gives me more responsibilities (which I am looking forward to) and a couple more evenings at home (which I am also looking forward to.)

I have also dived into a new hobby. It started when I was scheduled to lead an activity at work where we would go shoot off model rockets. I have a number of them and I help guys build their own (it's fun to watch them shoot off their own rockets.) It was not rocket-shooting-off weather that day so the activity became "Build Models with Pete." We only had a limited number of model rockets or plastic model cars and some guys had limited resources to purchase one of the models from us and I wanted everyone to be able to get involved. I had seen some paper models a number of years ago and figured I could find some on the internet to print out and offer for some guys to build. I was blown away by what I found and that I could download them and print them for free! I was hooked. If you want to see what I'm talking about Papertoys.com has some fairly basic models to build, Yamaha Motor has an impressive collection as does The Disney Experience and that is only a taste of what is out there.

dateline: nashville

I'm posting this from a hotel room in lovely Nashville, Tennesee! There is a group of us down here from work for strategy meetings with our big music vendors - Word, EMI and Provident. Each of these companies encompass record labels, who present their new releases to us. We listen to lots of new music and get to do some really fun stuff. Today was our meeting with Provident, and we heard some great new music from both new and established artists. And then we got to have dinner with Michael W. Smith tonight. I grew up with his music, and while I'm not the fan I was when I was 15, it's still a bit of a mind-boggling experience. And let's just say that he's pretty airbrushed on his album covers. :)

While this is a fun trip, I really don't like being away from home. I'm a bit of a homebody to begin with, and I have such a good reason to be home. Plus, Pete just got the exciting news this week that he will be the assistant supervisor of the home he works at, so we won't be able to celebrate until I get home this weekend. I'm so proud of him - it will be a great role for him.

We have one more meeting tomorrow (with Johnny Cash's sister, of all people) and then we're on our way back. Before I left, we put in a lot of work on our entryway (there is paint on the walls!) and we might be able to finish up this weekend. Woo hoo!

good friends

My friends Laura and Jill and Melissa (who took this photo - its quality is not her fault) came over about a week and a half ago to celebrate Laura's return to Spain. She leaves a week from today and will be working with Muslims in Barcelona - just the type of ministry God has gifted her for. I'm so excited for her, but sad she won't be here in GR.

I've know Laura and Jill since junior high - and they've known each other since kindergarten! We've gone from sitting together on the bus in middle school, through the drama that is high school, then supporting each other through all of the change that happens in college to weddings and babies (Jill has four!) and now homeschooling and Spain and new houses. Good times. And there's nothing better than simply sharing conversation, some Chinese food, homemade humus, wine, bread and olive oil on a Friday night. Life makes it a little more difficult to get together as often, but I treasure the times we do.

And I've had the opportunity to reconnect with some college friends lately. Several of us that worked together on our college newspaper are getting together Monday night (somehow, we all ended up in Grand Rapids and found each other after eight or nine years) and my roommate Andrea and I have just gotten back in touch after a few years. I've found that the older I get, the more difficult it is to make these kinds of friends. Maybe it's just the stage of life I'm in right now, and it's fine, but it's not as easy as it was in college and in my early/mid 20s. So I cherish the ones I have, try to stay connected to them, and look forward to the ones that may await.

rainy days and mondays

Yesterday was Monday and yesterday was rainy (VERY rainy), but, to paraphrase The Carpenters, neither of those really got me down. Instead, it was the woman who hit my car.

Yes, after years of accident-free driving, I've now been in two in the last 15 months. The one last year was my fault. Yesterday's (fortunately for me) was not. First, the good news: no one was injured. The bad news: my car is in the body shop for its second round of body work in 15 months. Soon, the entire front end will be brand new!

So I was headed toward work yesterday morning when a car in front of me slowed to turn into a health club on Burton. I slowed down too, since that's what you should do. There was a car waiting to turn out of the same parking lot. She later said she thought I was turning as well (though I can't figure out why - I didn't have my turn signal on). So car in front of me turns in, I start to accelerate, and so does the car coming out of the parking lot. And it accelerated into my passenger side. There's nothing quite like that sound of metal smashing against metal.

It's truly providential that on a dark, rainy morning, the accident was not any worse, the police officer was friendly, the tow truck drive was friendly, and the woman that hit me was extremely apologetic. And my gem of a husband was able to drive over and comfort me, give me a ride to the body shop and then a ride to work.

No pictures of the car to post - we'll just look forward to it looking as good as new.

my favorites

In lieu of another boring life update, I thought I'd post a list of some of my favorite blogs, especially since I can't figure out how to post the links on our blog template.

1. The Corner at NationalReview.com
http://corner.nationalreview.com/
This is a group blog on the electronic side of the political magazine National Review. They are all conservative politically, but what I appreciate is that they are thoughtful - not knee jerk. And it's a wide spectrum of people - a few athiest/agnostics, several Catholics, a few Jews and a handful of evangelical Christians. Some are employed by National Review, others with think tanks, the government, etc. One guy is a producer on the TV Show "According to Jim." And it's not all politics on this blog. Lots of interesting links. I have to admit - I check it at work at least once a day (don't tell anyone!) :)

2. Andrew Osenga - independent artist living in Nashville
http://www.andrewosenga.com/blog/
Andrew used to be the frontman for a band called The Normals - not your typical "Yeah God" Christian music. They have disbanded, and Andrew now plays with Caedmon's Call in addition to his solo shows and albums. He's also part of a community of independent Christian artists called the Square Peg Alliance, which also includes Andrew Peterson, a top favorite of both Pete and me. I'm going to Nasvhille for work next month and I'd love to check out a Square Peg show if I could (doubtful that would happen, but it's worth trying!)

3. My cousin Rachel
www.scottandrach.blogspot.com
It's a great way to keep up on my cousin Rachel's doings all the way over on the east side of the state. And congratulations again on your fantastic news! (Read her blog to find out what it is).

4. Following Austen - by Lori Smith
www.followingausten.blogspot.com
I stumbled upon this blog via AustenBlog and was hooked. Her posting has been spotty lately due to a battle with Lyme Disease, but she's a great writer and will have a book out soon about her summer following Jane Austen around England (my dream trip someday!)

There are others I randomly read, but those are the four I probably read the most. Follow the links and have some fun!

year two

I wrote this on September 5, but had problems posting it then. I'm actually posting it on September 26.

Two years of marriage under our belts...we've got this thing totally figured out. :) Okay, anything but, but it's been an amazing two years. I am so grateful for the gift God has given me in Pete and I pray I never take it for granted.

I think we'd both agree that the second year of marriage was more difficult than the first - not in a bad way, but I think we've reached a higher comfort level with each other, and more of our "stuff" comes to the surface. But we're able to work through it and, in the process, learn more about ourselves and each other. It's been very helpful to be married to someone who has worked in a theraputic setting for 6 years!

Anyway, we celebrated this weekend by heading to Detroit. Not the typical romantic destination and yet, it was perfectly wonderful.

We took in two Tiger games - one Saturday night (rainy, cold, Tigers lost) and one Sunday night (much nicer weather, Tigers lost). It's a blast to go to their games, even when they do lose. Comerica Park is beautiful, the game of baseball is fascinating and people are so excited to be there. It's especially fun to watch the kids (and the big kids who still get a kick out of going to a Major League game). We caught batting practice on Sunday night and sat near the bullpen so we could see the various pitchers warming up. Fun times.

Sunday, we drove around metro Detroit and visited the greatest store on earth (right up there with Target!), IKEA. Inexpensive furniture and any and everything you'd want for your home. It was packed with everyone in southeast Michigan, so it was tough to take everything in, but I got some great ideas. Pete tolerated it very well - I don't think he would consider IKEA the greatest store on earth (that might be Best Buy for him) but he faked it pretty well. We didn't buy anything major - just cheap batteries and Swedish sparkling juice for us, light bulbs for my parents. I wonder what their sales volume is in just a day - it's amazing.

But more than Tiger games and IKEA and everything else, it was special to simply spend precious time together.

life goes on

August has been a busy month...here's an update on what the Andersons have been doing:
- Side entryway is now devoid of any and all wallpaper. Awaiting coats of primer and whatever color we finally decide on.
- Pete just returned from camping in the UP with his kids (and other staff). A good time was had by all, but he was grateful to return to a shower, a toilet and a bed.
- Work has been super busy for me as we are full force into the Christmas season. That means loooong days (arrive before 7 a.m., leave after 8:00 p.m. - made easier by the fact that Pete was gone last week. Not sure how to balance that this week). But fun things too: I got to meet Phil Vischer, the co-creator of VeggieTales, last week. And I got to interview Pat Summerall, which was nerve-wracking. I mean, he's really famous! I'm always afraid of sounding like an idiot when I interview, especially over the phone. Anyway, here's the finished result: www.familychristian.com/summerall
- We celebrated Tori Anderson's 11th birthday on Friday. Happy birthday, Tori! I've only known her 2.5 years and I already can't believe she's 11. Pictures from that forthcoming.
- We think skunks have taken up residence under our deck. Calls have been made to Critter Control. The fun never ends!
- Currently reading: Pete's been reading Lloyd Alexander's series (can't remember the name right now). I've been reading The Summer of the Great-Grandmother by Madeleine L'Engle, book 2 in her Crosswicks Journals series. Highly recommended.
- And remember Whitney Cerak, the girl involved in the accident and misidentification of Taylor students? She's back at Taylor today to begin her sophomore year. God is so good. Read more: www.whitneycerak.blogspot.com