Wisconsin Christmas

We're making plans to spend our winter vacation in Wisconsin? Darek - can you make up a secured Wisconsin Christmas website where we can keep track of information; info that can be shared among us - like itineraries and drawing names? The blog is fine for some things, but not others.

Who Can Comment?

Stacie says that one way to avoid getting spam comments is to restrict comments to those of us who are registered posters. That sounds good to me. What about the rest of you?

Time to Switch?

Mom washed her cell phone in the laundry last night, so we're shopping... at least for a phone. And since we are no longer under a Cingular contract, we thought we'd consider other plans. What do you guys have? Jeanette thought David, Brady & Kath and Stacie and Darek all have Sprint. Is that true? AJ has Cingular. What's the consensus?

And, by the way, don't click on the links from these bogus Comments. As soon as I posted this, comment #1 appeared. Stacie, can you delete this? Can we prevent them?

2 Posts are Better than One

Janaye - where did your post go? It was good! I think we must have posted at the same moment.

Lanes R Us Too!

Her friend changed her plans, leaving Janaye stranded in Aggieland and late for appointments and obligations in Abilene. Janaye decided she needed to get back to school and work asap and David agreed to loan her his truck for a few weeks. As the sun went down on a frustrating Sunday, Janaye pulled out of College Station, driving a standard transmission (she doesn't really know how to do) pickup truck and headed northwest on Route 6.

We got wind of the plan as she approached Waco, some two hours later. Sitting in our Acura, waiting for AAA to fix our weekend Jeep rental flat tire, we called Janaye and tried to get more details. She was tired, yet determined to press on.

Once we hung up and recalled her saying that she was headed north on I-35 (the wrong way) and couldn't talk on her cell phone, we decided to call in the troops.

325-864-1617.

We pulled Katherine and Brady from their premiere review of Fargo . They immediately sensed our concern and together we launched Operation Rescue Janaye.

It was the sort of thing that made you thankful to God for inventing cell phones. We called David who was getting a call from Janaye who was also getting a call from Brady who was calling his brother, Brenton, and his wife, Jenna. On our other cell phone, we called Katherine and reached Brady who asked us to stand by.

The rendendezvous point was established at 2100 hours at the Waco Cracker Barrel. Janaye agreed to meet up with the Lanes of Waco and from there, if the Lanes determined that Janaye was not crazy or dangerous, she'd get an invitation to bed down for the night at their ranch.

Imagine the relief of Janaye's parents when they discovered Operation Rescue Janaye was a success. The trip to Abilene was intercepted. And everyone got a good night's sleep!

Thank you, Brenton and Jenna. Thank you, Brady and Katherine. Thank you, God!

We dedicate today's blog entry to the Lanes - our beloved extended family.

Daddy Does California

I had been to Pepperdine at Lectureship time and when it was time to take Lera there as a freshman. But this was my first time to step into Lera's world as a Wave. I had such a great time -- thank you, Lera!

It felt a little strange living with five women again, familiar but strange. Lera's apartment-mates were gracious and didn't act like I was the inconvenience that I was. We palled around mostly with her sweet roommate, Jen. (Hey, Jen, I found Dr. Selby's final exam on the internet! Take a look!) Jen's mom, Wendy, came to our cookout on Friday and unsuspectingly brought her Scrabble board at Lera's invitation. Now, I'm not sure if there was any collusion, but Lera managed to pull off a win against her old man, and the rest. I guess a Pepperdine education really does pay off.

I got to see AJ, AJ's parents, Stan & Jane, AJ's apartment (a college male's dream apartment - hangs over the Pacific Ocean, jukebox, surfboards, rooftop living room), the Volunteer Center, Gary & Tammy Selby, and a whole lot of people that Lera loves and who love Lera.

Late Friday night, we all went to a pep rally for the basketball teamscalled Midnight Madness. AJ and his roommates were selected to be the hosts. They dressed up as Super Heroes and interjected humor, sexy moves and corny skits between all the typical pep rally stuff - player intros, cheerleading, dance teams, etc. AJ and the guys were hysterical. I'll never forget AJ's green-faced
Incredible Hulk git-up.

We ate twice at the Malibu Kitchen, a retro deli, and I drank a Vernor's (first visit) and a Bubble Up (second visit).

Saturday morning, Lera drove me, Jen, AJ & his folks to Santa Monica to volunteer for the Walk to D'Feet ALS. We got cool red tee shirts. We painted faces and helped with traffic control. It really felt good to be an encouragement people who have suffered a lot or watch their loved ones suffer.

Thanks, Lera, for showing me how you do California!

Can't wait to see you again on your next break home.
Dad

Hurricane Katrina: UPDATE

As you may have read earlier, my car was hit by a hurricane Katrina evacuee who didn't want to go through insurance. I just wanted you to know that he came through with the money, and my car is now fixed and even better than before.

Danley & Sons

Danley & Sons. Has a nice ring to it! See the work-in-progress at the emerging Kid Central website. The image on the home page is a shot Brady took during our morning kids' assembly at Central with a couple of four year-olds in prayer. The logo for Kid Central was developed by Darek. We've been considering a mascot. Anyone have an idea? Anyone with ideas for content that would make this website worth returning to?