The Doctor is in . . .

January 2009

Nancy keeps at it

In August 1992 we tore down our little house and began the never ending story of our new house construction. I was remiss last month in not recognizing Nancy's hard work in installing the last of the oak floor in the living room. My small part of the process included sanding and rubbing on the three coats of finish.

What remains is not a trivial amount. There is the "library", the small hallway, and the modest master suite (bedroom and walk-in closet), the second floor landing and the 15' x 32' "gym."

We are happy that the leaking washer was just a broken hose, easily replaced. Nancy had wanted to visit appliance stores.

Nancy took on yet another service responsibility with her PEO Sisterhood chapter. She's spent much of this month overseeing the scholarship process.

Nancy also got the first phase of an implant taken care of.

Nathanael turns 20

Nate came back after the snowy holidays to pick up at his 4:40 pace for the 5.25 lap 1600m at the UW indoor Track facility. Here he and teammate Daniel Friesen are running 2nd and third in lap three. Nate caught up with the leader but could not hold the pace. He fell to 6th in this race but pulled Daniel up to second by his pacing.

Nancy did manage to give him a bit of a much needed trim -- and also took 10 inches off Jeannie Beth's hair too.

I bought him clothes at JC Penney's for his birthday and this year I got to be the one to bake his cake. Even Diana
the cat got into the birthday celebration.

JB Now Considering Theatre and Dance Programs

Jean is already browsing college choices online. She has about 18 months to make up her mind. Right now she'd talking about Westmont College in California but I'm hoping she will do the fiscally sound thing and find her niche at SPU.

I captured these great portraits as she was preparing to go the the homecoming dance. Nancy had fixed her hair.

We are waiting on semester grades as the Fall semester has just ended at BCS. She may have earned her first non-A there, in AP Chemistry. She is not Nathanael and needs to find the areas that she is most passionate about. Frankly, I think she'll love computer science when she gets a taste for it. But she doesn't like to believe she's that much like me.

A Bad Case of NAS*

I'm pining for a Nikon AF-S VR 70-200mm F2.8 G lens, even though my 80-200 is adequate for my Track and Cross Country shooting. I used the solid Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 D to capture the hummingbird and the snowflakes this month. I can imagine why Birders crave the 400mm and even longer "prime" lenses. (Next time I want to catch the hummingbird from the sunny side so I can have a higher shutter speed and better color.)

A brief snow event produced these true flakes I caught with my D300.

* NAS: Nikon Acquisition Syndrome

Bits and Pieces
We are at Luke 18:35 at the end of January in our Saturday study.
We look forward to Laurie's visit in February-March. Both Nancy and I are near exhausted. January is easily my busiest month of the year work wise.

I will actually be paid to be the official photographer at the WIAA Tri-District Regional Wrestling Championships on February 14th. It's a job I did for free two years ago.

My Quote from December

“Westminster Abbey or victory.”

At the Battle of Cape St Vincent, February 14, 1797, Commodore Nelson led the boarding party onto the Spanish San Nicolas (80 guns) with the cry “Westminster Abbey or victory.” He used a similar form of words at the Battle of the Nile, perhaps showing his obsession with a glorious death in battle, finally achieved at Trafalgar. Using the captured San Nicolas as a bridge, he led his sailors and soldiers from his dismasted 74 gun Captain, to board and take the San Josef of 112 guns. His method for this double capture earned the humorous title, “Nelson’s Patent Bridge for Boarding.”

Note: At the Battle of Cape St Vincent, the British flagship was the HMS Victory under Rear Admiral Sir John Jervis (later Earl St Vincent.) This was also Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar.

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