Chilly October

Goodness...it has been rather brisk in good 'ol Southwest Missouri the past few days! I'm wondering if this is a preview of the winter to come...I'm holding out for some serious snow(NOT ice)as it's been a good long time since we've had anything worth getting out and playing in. Since I'm planning for snow, I've begun a new knitting project...not giving up on the old one, but just needed a new challenge. My good friend, and amazing knitter, Sarah Kerner (see her cool blog here)helped me to get started actually knitting in the round using the "magic loop" technique. I think I'm actually going to end up with a hat! I'll keep you posted, and although we all know I'm the WORST about getting pictures posted, I promise to try to get something up here soon.

Speaking of pictures...on Sunday, we took Sylvie out with our new friend Alex Crowder to get some pictures. Alex is the girlfriend of Brian Fitzgerald, a guy Darrell and I play with in our praise band at church. She is an absolutely AMAZING photographer, and I hired her to do some fall pictures of just Sylvie. You can see a sneak preview of 3 of them here. Not to brag, but I just think we have the most beautiful daughter (and handsome son too!!). God has blessed us with a wonderful family.

Projects at work are continuing and multiplying. Still exciting work, although sometimes overwhelming. I'm really looking forward to 2009 and all it will bring in terms of beginnings and progress.

Until later!

Fall, Autumn...whatever

I think this may be my favorite season of the year, and hence, I've taken up my walking quest again. If you know me, you know that this walking thing comes and goes for me, but I'm really trying to keep it as a somewhat regular part of my routine as it tends to really make me a happier person. At any rate, I walked today, 2nd time this week, and it felt good. Lately I've changed up my routine a bit and have been bringing my walking clothes to work with me so that I can take long walks around the neighborhood where I spent most of my growing-up years. It's been fun to reacquaint myself with the streets and houses that were once so familiar to me.

Things at work are good...busy and good. It's been fun to see people begin to step out and seek areas to serve as a result of our Revealed study, and I am praying the trend continues. I really get a lot of joy out of watching people connect, whether it be in small groups, service teams, whatever...it's neat to watch them find a home here and begin to grow in their faith.

Well...it's off to an evening meeting for me, and then the Haase tradition - Thursday Chinese Night!! Yeah!!!

Fun Crazy Week

This past week started off bittersweet, but actually went on to be a lot of fun, and a great week of catching up, recharging, and getting inspired to continue with this amazing, but challenging job in front of me. The funeral for my sweet friend's dad was last weekend. It was a beautiful service, and a chance for many of us to catch up who had not seen each other in a number of years. Saturday evening, Dyke, Aaron, Julie, Cathy, and I all met for drinks and to look over some OLD pictures from back in the day. It was a really wonderful time and so good to see these people again. They were such a huge part of my childhood/teenage years, and it brought back many good memories.

On Tuesday, Matt Kerner, Tim Smith, Angela Robinett and I all jetted off to South Bend, Indiana for the annual Innovate conference at GCC. It was awesome, as expected, and it was also GREAT to just relax and laugh with these 3 other crazy people who I adore. We had some funny experiences (Tim and I stuck on the runway in Chicago for an hour and a half with a guy from Holland and a priest...you had to be there; and getting lost a million times with Kerner who supposedly has the "spiritual gift" of direction). I missed Darrell and the kids, but it just felt good to not be responsible for anyone other than myself for a few days.

Now it's back to work, but I'm excited to see what's in store. It feels like things around here (Schweitzer) are on the brink of change....in a good way. I feel very blessed to be here.

Another Day...

Well...today was the day. The father of one of my closest childhood/teenage friends passed away. He was diagnosed just a few months ago with a very aggressive cancer, and although they tried a couple of attempts at treatment, it was quickly obvious that nothing was going to achieve any kind of a cure. My friend, Alek, was in town a little over week ago to see his dad, and we met for a drink. I hadn't seen him in probably 15+ years, although I had seen his parents fairly regularly over the years. The whole thing has really thrown me into the past. I have vivid memories of spending time at the Webster house...especially on snow days when my mom was at work and his mom was at home. I remember playing in the snow for hours and then coming in to warm up and his mom making hot chocolate for us. I can remember being there when his dad would come home from work, and he always just included me as though I were a part of their family (and I craved being a part of a "normal" family like that when I was a kid). Then there were all the times when we were in high school, and I would spend hours talking to Alek on the phone or hanging out at his house. He was like a brother to me, and his parents felt like family to me too. It's just so strange to think about his dad being gone. It just reminds me of how time is passing so quickly, and how this is the kind of stuff all of us have to face. I'm not quite sure what all of the lessons have been in this crazy, difficult year of being 39, but I hope soon I can look at all of this and make some kind of sense out of it, or at least some kind of peace.

Happy Birthday Jacob!

It's official....my baby son is now 16 years old. It's so strange I can hardly believe it. I always thought "older" people were so goofy when they talked about how
time speeds up the older you get, but it's honestly true. We had a weekend-long celebration, starting with dinner at Gilardi's on Friday night. Grandad then surprised Jacob at home by passing on his 2003 Alero to him. Jacob was completely surprised, and completely thrilled. Dad (Grandad) gave him a good talk about being responsible, etc., and Jacob seemed to take it very seriously....at least we hope.

On Saturday, Darrell, Jacob, and Grandpa went to the shooting range so Jacob could try out his Uncle Jeff's shotgun, and then we all met up later at home for cake.

MeMe and Dave took us all to lunch at Red Lobster on Sunday afternoon, and on his actual birthday (August 25th), Jacob started his sophomore year.

Today will be attempt #1 at obtaining the coveted driver's license. I am picking him up after school to take him to Ozark (we hear Springfield is rather difficult). I am hopeful this will be the first and only try necessary as it will be much more convenient for Jacob to get himself to school at 6:15 a.m. for cross country practice!

Fall is Coming

I cannot believe this is the last official week of summer! But, as usual, I'm actually kind of looking forward to fall. The kids start school next Monday, and I think they're both actually ready. I'm certainly ready! With this being my first year working at the church, I'm learning the ebb and flow of things a little, and realizing that I really should've taken time off during July when things were slow. Things are certainly not slow now...yesterday was an unbelievable day with back to back things that just kept coming up and needing to be dealt with. The biggest mistake I made was making a "to do" list when I got here yesterday morning. Needless to say, I didn't get very far with that. Today has been somewhat better.

I'm really looking forward to this conference I'm going to in a couple of weeks (Innovate 2008). I was (and still am) hoping to take someone in the church with me who might be interested in stepping up to lead in the hospitality ministry, but so far, no one has become apparent. At this point, it'll be me, Matt, and Tim going....guess I'm a little outnumbered, but I can usually hold my own! I've just decided if we don't find someone else to go, I'll use this as a time to get recharged and come back with hopefully some new ideas that will be well received.

All for now!

VBS is Complete!

Tonight's the finale of VBS at Schweitzer for 2008, and it really was a fun time. The 2nd graders were a lot of fun, and other than having to play nurse to one of the kindergartners who fell down, split her lip, and was just about to pass out from hyperventilation, I don't think we had any major catastrophes. I'm a little bit tired, but really glad I got to participate this year.

I can hardly believe there are only 3 more weeks until school starts! Where on earth did summer go? I called and got details about car insurance for Jacob, and heard pretty much what I expected to hear. It's certainly not cheap, but we'll figure it out somehow (send donations to 4219 S. Linden....: )).

Today is my mom's birthday. I called her at work and we chatted and made plans to have dinner tomorrow night at Argentina Steak House which should be fun. I'm really grateful to have a relatively young mom. My sweet friend Paula is in the midst of walking her mom through end-of-life issues, and I can see the truly excruciating experience it is. Not to say that I don't do my share of worrying about having to do this for my parents in the future, but I am glad I (hopefully) can put it off for a few more years. Heck, my dad is in better shape than I am, or ever have been for that matter!

Well...off to gather the 2nd graders for the program!

Until later.