Filler

I am at a loss at what to post today, so I thought I would start with that and see if anything would come to me, but nothing has yet. Early yesterday, I went to the doctor's because I had a big spot spot in the middle of a big red spot in the back of my throat. It looked worse than strep throat, but it was just an ulcer, so I just have to deal with the pain for another two weeks. Late yesterday, my two older daughters went to the zoo for a special members' night with my wife, while I took our youngest to my parents, who were supposed to go with us, but cancelled because it was too hot. Today, nothing is planned. For posting purposes, I wish there was a question to answer because I need a prompt...or maybe this is God's way of saying I should get back to my dissertation.

Olympics

I am really enjoying what little of the NBA Finals I get to watch. I got to see much of Game 1 and the end of Game 3. I'm learning about a lot of young players that I didn't know anything about. I'm curious to see who will be playing basketball for Team USA later this summer.

I'm also curious to see some of the other events since my girls have been having fun at gymnastics classes in thier first year. Claire has also done a number of running events at school. It will be nice to have something we both like to watch. They naturally don't watch sports with me, so I end up watching shows like Barbie Fairytopia with them.

Weight and Faith

I missed weighing in last week because we were on vacation, so I was glad to weigh in this week, but worried it would be one step back with what was available (or not available) to eat on vacation. Instead, it was three steps forward, as in another 3 pounds lost. That's only 9 pounds total since I started keeping track again this spring.

I restarted when I discovered I had put on 11 pounds over the past year. I had quit keeping track after I was 20 pounds overweight, lost 30 pounds, and seemed to be maintaining it. Before I just worked out less and ate less, so although I wasn't as heavy, I wasn't that much healthier because I probably lost some muscle in the process. This time the weight loss is slower because I'm also putting on muscle. That should mean the pounds of fat that I've lost is greater than the total pounds I've lost, which is a good thing.

So although I only have about 2 pounds to get back to where I was, that's still only 10 pounds below my overweight weight. I could lose another 20 pounds after that and not be underweight. Since there's a 30-pound healthy weight range, I'm going to aim for the lower end. If I get there, that's great. If I don't, that's still good compared to the average person.

The last time I was this weight, my aunt and cousins were worried that I was sick because I looked so thin. That's probably because we were at a restaurant with a bunch of average Americans, whose average weight is not a healthy weight. I'm not competing with anyone besides myself.

The same is true of my faith. It seems the average Catholic or Christian is not always very vigilant. In such an environment, it's easy to let your guard down thinking at least I'm not as bad as so-and-so. However, that's judging others and that's something I can't do. I don't know what gifts God has given them, but I do know what gifts he has given me and the responsibility that comes with. Others may have been given different gifts with different expectations to fulfill. Either way, I will always try to do what is mine to do from God.

Happy Father's Day

God bless all the dads reading this and the dads of all the readers reading this.

Happy New Year

I just noticed that this post had been saved as a draft. It was started January 5th, but there was nothing more written than the subject heading. So hopefully the first half of this year has gone well for you and that the next half is even better.

9th Anniversary

My family stayed in Columbus two extra days after attending Cousin Lisa's wedding and got back late Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday were busy because my oldest daughter Claire still had school. So my wife Nancy and I didn't plan anything special for our anniversary yesterday because there were too many things to do. However, my sister-in-law Jen called to baby-sit if we wanted to go out. So even though things didn't settle down until after 9 o'clock at night, we got to have dinner alone at the Cheesecake Factory. It was great a night and it's been a great nine years.

Claire's Run

When my daughter Claire came home from first grade with a gym report card this winter, I learned that her class was involved in the President's Challenge. The President's Challenge has national benchmarks for each age group for each event. If you score at the 50th percentile or better you meet the national standard. If you score in the top 15%, you meet the Presidential benchmark for that event. The events include a quarter mile run, a shuttle run, a stretch, sit-ups, and pull-ups.

Claire didn't meet any Presidential standards this winter, but met a lot of national benchmarks. So we replaced our Pittsburgh Plan blast-off exercises with variations of these exercises to see how she'd do at the end of the year. She got the Presidential standard in the quarter-mile run with a time of 1:58!

You can check out the different age group scores at https://www.presidentschallenge.org/challenge/physical/benchmarks.shtml or http://www.adultfitnesstest.org for adult scores. If you take the adult test, be careful how you interpret your results. I am not certain that the percentiles they give you are really for all adults and not just the adults that enter the data into the system. I envision that the kind of person that enters data into the system is more physically fit than the typical person since they are on a fitness site.

Two down, five or more to go

My doctoral program has a completion checklist to make sure a candidate knows what needs to be done to earn the degree.

1. Pass the first 13 classes with at least a 3.00 (which I did three months ago).
2. Pass the Comprehensive Exam (and 96 pages later, I just did that).

3. Get approval for my Concept Paper (which is like a 35-page pre-proposal).
4. Get approval for my Proposal (which is another 80+ page document).
5. Get approval for my IRB App (to conduct the testing for my study).
6. Get approval for my Dissertation.
7. Pass the Oral Exam

The comprehensive exam was nerve-racking because you may not resubmit your essay like you could for class assignments. If you fail the first time, you have to pay to take it again (over $2000). If you fail the second time, you are dismissed from the program. I know two people who have had to take it again, so it is not an empty threat. The other steps are less nerve-racking.

The other steps need approval from your committee first and then the University. You often go back and forth with your committee until they feel it will pass University requirements. Even though you only get 2-3 chances with the University before you may be dismissed, if you follow your committee's advice, you shouldn't get to that point. Nevertheless, there doesn't appear to be a lull in my studies any time soon.

Last year at this time, there was a lull in my studies where I finished the manuscript of my book on faith. Although that manuscipt is not scheduled to be published yet, I haven't given up on it. I also want to make it as good as it can be. I understand publishers are more willing to take a chance on a first book, than on a second-book of a writer whose first book was a flop. So assuming my disseration takes another year, although I have up to three years before I would face dismissal, that manuscript will be my focus again.

I have a plan, but since my original plans have changed, there's no reason to talk about my current plans because they likely will change as well. It's important to have a plan that can be refined to take advantage of new opportunities or avoid potential disasters that may arise. Therefore, there's no point in boring people about the details of what you plan to do. It's better to just do it and show them afterwards.

Catholic Gasoline

Laughter is good, so this is good for you:

Sister Mary, who worked for a home health agency, was out making her rounds visiting homebound patients when she ran out of gas. As luck would have it, a Texaco Gasoline station was just a block away.

She walked to the station to borrow a gas can and buy some gas. The attendant told her that the only gas can he owned had been loaned out, but she could wait until it was returned. Since Sister Mary Ann was on the way to see a patient, she decided not to wait and walked back to her car.

She looked for something in her car that she could fill with gas and spotted the bedpan she was taking to the patient. Always resourceful, Sister Mary Ann carried the bedpan to the station, filled it with gasoline, and carried the full bedpan back to her car.

As she was pouring the gas into her tank, two Baptists watched from across the street. One of them turned to the other and said, "If that car starts, I'm turning Catholic."

Family Watchdog

Few people like to talk about sexual abuse, but this is a useful service to sign up for. First of all, I searched where I lived and then I signed up for updates to be notified when an offender has moved close to me, so I don't have to keep going back to the website unnessarily.

http://www.familywatchdog.us