Hectic Week

The last week has been hectic, to say the least.  Let's start with last Saturday.  Emily was out running errands when I hear Isaac crying.  He had fallen while trying to carry a large toy truck up to the top bunk (I have no idea why).  I checked the arm and didn't think it was broken.  On Sunday morning, Emily has a minor car accident.  No one was hurt, but it has had us down to one vehicle.  By Monday, Isaac still isn't using his arm.  The earliest appointment we can get him is for Thursday.

Throughout this, I am trying to catch up from being gone to Garmisch the week before.  (I'm still not caught up, if you're wondering).  A Europe-wide suicide stand down absorbed most of my week through Thursday.

 

On Thursday, Emily calls when I'm in a meeting and Isaac's arm is broken.  (I win "father of the year" for that one, I'm sure.). 

 

Friday, was a good day.  I had three soldiers and myself helping a soup kitchen in Mons tear out some old ceiling and plaster so they can expand their ministry.  You see us sitting with the debris we pulled out of the building in the picture.  I haven't been that physically exhausted in a long, long time.

 

On top of it, I had 1-1.5 hours of physical therapy on my ankle three days this week.  Apparently, I wasn't supposed to just run through the pain for the last year and a half.  The physical therapist all but called me stupid during the initial consulation.  She was less than thrilled when I told her I didn't have time to come to the clinic on Thursday or Friday.

 

OK, there's my massive dump of information.  Hopefully, this week will be better.  When Em and I looked at schedules, I'm not sure this one will move any slower.  If we can just avoid any extra conversations with hospitals or police officers, it'll be an improvement.

Birthdays

I think these two pictures sum up a lot of what you see at children's birthdays at a certain age.  There are moments where everything is unbelievably exciting and here is a happiness that is almost beyond expression. 

However, the sugar buzz, excitement and  constant stimulation of the crowd and new toys in the house at least a few times create a huge crash.  All of a sudden, the tears are pouring.  There's no clear understanding of what is wrong (at least that's my perspective).  Since it was Isaac's birthday, I put the smiling picture of him.  I actually do have pictures of either child in either phase.



CAST-E

2nd Signal Battalion, 5th Signal Command UMTs

So, the past few days have been spent in Garmisch, Germany at Chaplain's Annual Sustainment Training (CAST-E).  If you're wondering, a week of briefings aren't exactly exciting.  There were some interesting briefings, but it's mostly stuff they could have given us in writing just as effectively.  It's always nice to see some old friends and the other chaplains in our brigade.  That's the real benefit to this training.  I remember almost none of the training because my retention disappears quickly after 4 hours sitting in a conference room.  This is especially true when the sessions focus on army field manuals and doctrine.  I understand that it matters and is necessary for chaplains to understand.  It's just not exactly something most of us get excited to hear about.  I'm utterly exhausted after a week of being around people constantly.  Yesterday, the drive back took 11 hours thanks to road repairs throughout Germany. 





SHAPE Fest 2012

I’ve always been told that having a third child is a game-changer.  This weekend, we’re keeping some friends’ little girl (Claire’s age).  Their junior-high daughter is also staying with us, so she has been amazingly helpful at the house.  However, we spent this afternoon at SHAPE Fest.  The big sister hung out with her friends (as she should have) and Emily and I had three kids to watch.  Even with the double stroller we were outnumbered.  There’s definitely a huge difference between two and three children. 

Em actually reminded me once that she was the one that had wanted to stop at two.

 

This week is one of those that I dread each year.  I have to go to Germany for a few days for Chaplain's Annual Sustainment Training.  I'm sure once I get there, I'll enjoy getting to see some friends again.  I just hate being away from work and family for a week.  It's not a workaholic thing.  I'm good with being on vacation with my family instead of at work.  I just will spend the majority of the next week sitting through briefings that provide minimal new information.  The scenery will be amazing (Garmisch, Germany).  The lodging will be nice enough.  It'll just be a long, long drive to start and end a long, tedious week.

 







Greatest Race Ever

So, yesterday I ran the "Troll Extreme Run" here in Belgium.  Troll is the sponser.  The run is a 12k run through the woods with a couple of dozen obstacles.  I notice another huge difference between the States and Europe about a mile into the race.  We were climbing over a pill of tires with wires hanging down over the pile. One of the guys on my team (to the right) bumped a wire.  It was had electric current running through it.  No race in the States would have actually electric shocks as one of the obstacles.  It took over 2 hours to go 7+ miles.  Running on the streets, 7 miles would take about half that long.  I realized how dirty I was the first time we swam across a canal.  I got out, looked down, and realized that I still had mud down my shins.  By the third time across the canal, I was relatively clean.  I like this type of race far more than a marathon.