Staying in Touch and Immunizations

I have to travel this week for a couple days, and, unfortunately, Susan has to take Susannah in to her two month check-up and immunization shots on Wednesday without me. I’m kind of bummed I will not be able to be there.

Well, the beauty of modern technology is that I can still “be there” through web conferencing. It is not just for business. It can be used to be there right in the doctor’s office.

We may not use that option, but I will certainly call Susan on Wednesday to see how Susannah is doing. She is going to be sore from the shots she has to take this time. There are a lot of shots: Hepatitis B, DTaP, Hib, Polio (IPV), Pneumococcal (PCV), Rotavirus. That is just the first time. She will go through a series of these same immunization shots.

I do not want Susannah to hurt, but this is for her good. I just have to trust the medical community knows what they are doing.

Thinking About our Daughter’s Future

About two and a half years ago, a couple months after Susan and I married, we met with a friend who had recently got into insurance sales with New York Life. We had death insurance on me through my company, Reynolds Web Solutions, but we didn’t have any insurance on Susan, so we decided on a term life option for her, similar to what I had.

Our friend has since gone on to bigger and better things, so our policy went into the hands of another insurance representative.

She came over a couple months ago to meet us and see if we wanted to switch to whole life insurance. We thought about it. Contrary to what some will say, it is not a bad way to go. It is somewhat of a forced savings plan if no savings are going into the bank, but since we plan on saving ourselves, hopefully making more in interest and through our investments, we decided to forgo the whole life option for now. We will keep our term life policies for now. That is not a bad plan either.

Now to our daughter. We are planning for her future, so we have to get a small policy for her. When she gets to be an adult, we can then transfer that over to her if she wants to continue the policy. And if, God forbid, something happens to Susannah, we will have the money for burial expenses. It is never fun to think about it, but life happens.

We know all things are in God’s hands, and we trust Him completely, but through scripture, it is clear that we should prepare for a rainy day. We just pray that the rain comes only in the form of mist rather than in torrents.

Susannah’s First Trip to the Beach

My niece turned 22 today. We met down at their new apartment near the Virginia Beach boardwalk to celebrate her life. She is married and enjoying it with her husband and best friend.

We decided to go down to the boardwalk and get something from Dairy Queen. Susan and I had forgotten Susannah’s stroller, so we drove down a bit earlier, parked at one of the parking garages and walked down while carrying Susannah in our arms.

We sat at one of the boardwalk benches to enjoy the cool ocean breezes and introduce Susannah to life in Virginia Beach when a woman walked up to us.

Seeing a couple with a newborn down at the beach was a bit unusual, so that was sort of expected, but I noticed right away that she was the homeless gal who actually helped pose one of my portrait models the year before. She got right into my photo session then and she seemed to be in a better frame of mind then. Now I could tell that she was probably a bit tipsy or drunk or something. I don’t know, maybe not, but she was slurring her words. She had on a t-shirt that had seen better days and baggy shorts.

Through a clear slurring of her words, she told us a number of stories about her family and things that had happened to her family. To my shame, I just didn’t trust what she was saying. I have no idea if any of it was true, but I still felt bad about feeling that way.

My wife is such a kind person that she spoke to this gal and treated her with such kindness and compassion. I was skeptical of her stories. My wife asked if we could pray with her for her family. We lifted her and her family up before the Lord, and we will continue to do so. Because of my wife Susan, I have more compassion for that woman.

I look at this homeless gal and I look at my niece and I see such radical stories. How did it happen to Terra that she is living on the street now? Has she ever been offered help? Has she ever been to drug rehab? Does she have a drug or drinking problem?

I am thankful for Katie’s growth as a woman and wife, but I am also thankful for Terra, the homeless woman I met. Her life is just as valuable as anyone else’s life. And I would love to see her lifted up and out of the mire of her life. Lord, I pray that she would get the help that she needs through whatever means necessary. Amen.

My Family Should Drink Healthier Water

I moved down to Virginia in the spring of 2000 when I got my first professional job. I moved down here and rented from my oldest brother and his family. The relationship worked out and I stayed living with them for four years until I married my wife in Aug 2004.

Even before I moved down here, my brother and his family have been dedicated Shaklee customers. Great vitamins and great products. We also used the portable water filters that Shaklee sells. It is a reverse osmosis, carbon-filtered lean and mean filtering machine.

Susan and I really need to move back to that filtering system. Ours just doesn’t cut it.

Now that Susannah is due Tuesday, March 13, I am becoming more and more conscious of what will go into her little body.

Britney Spears and Her Babies

Britney has two children now to take care of, she has decided to divorce Kevin Federline so she is doing it alone and it seems she has spiraled out of control. How sad to see Britney Spears go through all the things she has gone through. I really do feel sad for her. She is trapped in this gilded cage. It may be paved with diamonds and pearls, but it is still a cage.  Over a period of just a couple days, she has reentered drug rehab twice. I pray, Lord, that it sticks this time. Lord, guide her back to you.

How Do You View Yourself?

We are our own worst critic, and so it is funny to me why we want to have a mirror in every single room of our house. If we truly don’t like the way we look, why do we want to look? If I see any mirror–the reflective glass used for fancy shopping store windows or my wife’s Makeup Mirrors–I will look into them, check my hair, straighten my tie.

I think we look into mirrors just to make sure we haven’t fallen completely apart. I know I am very close to the breaking apart stage, I just hope it doesn’t happen to quickly.

Sympathetic to my wife’s pregnancy

I have become sympathetic to my wife’s pregnancy symptons, and it is the weirdest phenomenon. But I think it is true. I know it is mostly anecdotal (based on or consisting of reports or observations of usually unscientific observers), but it just rings true.

Susan has been taking naps just about everyday now since the early weeks of her pregnancy. And do I get tired as well. Yes. I feel like I need an energy supplement sometimes just to get through the tired times during the day.

We do the vitamin thing and we generally get enough sleep and we generally eat right, but maybe it is also a psychological thing too.

Outer Bank, North Carolina

I know those of us who live in the southeast know about the Outer Banks. If you are not from this area, it may not be as well-known to you, but it is worth it to check it out. In fact, check out this website for rentals in the Outer Banks, North Carolina area.

Susan and I got a chance to spend a couple of days down there in a house right on the beach. The ocean at the time was restless and the waves continued to crash onto the beach the entire time we were there.  I have never been an Ocean guy like some people are, but I have to say that it was an entrancing weekend. Our room was within earshot of the waves and all through the night, we listened and heard the crash and the roll of the surf. It was truly majestic. That weekend made me understand why some people say that they have to be near the ocean.

Hoodia is from South Africa

Susan and I have a friend named Jenny who many of you know.  And many of you know she is from South Africa as well.  Which is why when this thing called Hoodia  was being advertised last year for the first time, I had to find out what this stuff really was. Was it something that only grows in South Africa? Actually, yes. The only place in the world where hoodia grows wild is in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. Pretty cool, eh?

Do You Know The Heimlich?

I looked down the aisle of cubicles to see Dave facing me in the aisle. He backed up to another of his co-workers and was flailing. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but it looked odd. Something was off.

Dave then spotted me and pointed to his throat as he started moving toward me. My questions dissolved into action.

I ran up to him, grabbed him from behind just above the belly button and just below the chest and I thrust in and upwards three times. Out came the half a meatball out of Dave’s throat.

I had always wondered what it would be like to perform the Heimlich. I am glad it’s over. My whole body felt like jelly afterwards. And I pray I will never have to do that again!

Which brings me to the title question: Do you know the heimlich maneuver? Search and learn. You could save someone’s life!