Found this little gem last night…
...while cleaning off one of our bookshelves. Completely forgot I had it.
Robert's Rules of Order, published in 1907. The signature on the inside cover is that of my great-grandmother. Pretty darn cool.
A day with family
Today we had the chance to enjoy what is an increasingly rare occurrence: all four of my siblings and my parents were here in Hiawatha to visit, giving us the whole family in one place at one time. (Well, almost the whole family: Andrew's wife Heather had to stay back in Washington and work. We missed her.)
I have such a great bunch of siblings. Three brothers who are godly men, working hard and making their way on both ends of the country and in the middle. (Andrew & Heather are in Washington; Ryan is in Brooklyn, NY; Aaron and Emily are in Wisconsin.) One little sister who is just a shade (OK, maybe a little more than a shade) spoiled by her big brothers but who can keep up with all of us, anytime, anywhere. Mom and Dad came down from Wisconsin for the day, too, so we had lots of fun and frivolity and food. Much Mario Kart was played, many hot dogs were consumed, and much shrieking was heard from the girls as they ran between parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunt.
Clever and cheesy wordplay seems to be a hallmark of our family gatherings. We have a predisposition for puns and a love of mangling phrases. One such highlight from the visit is worth repeating, if only as an illustration.
Andrew, talking to Ryan, mentioned something about a "love cube". I have no idea what that meant. However, it immediately made me think of the song "Love Shack", so I started singing a twisted version:
"The love cube is a polygon where... we can get together..."
OK, yeah, cheesy. They indulged me with a chuckle. But then Ryan, per usual, came up with a retort.
"So, if you were involved in that love cube polygon thing, would you be... a... 'polygonist'?"
Groan.
Anyhow, it was a great blessing to have everybody under one roof, if only for a day. God is good.
Top row, L-R: Andrew, Rebecca, Ryan
Middle row, L-R: Dad, Mom, Chris, Katie (being held), Becky, Aaron, Emily
Bottom row: Addison, Laura
(click to see a bigger image)
It only looks like I’m flipping off the camera with a doublewide finger…
I actually just sprained it bad playing basketball last night. Ouch!
10 years
Last Sunday we visited Noelridge Park Church for the morning service so Laura could participate in the AWANA recognition Sunday. (She's been a regular there in Cubbies even though we've not been attending Noelridge for the past 18 months.) As we got ready to go Sunday morning, I noted to Becky that it was nearly ten years, to the day, since the first time we visited Noelridge, immediately after we moved to Iowa.
That was then...
Ten years. Nearly a third of our lives to this point. In one sense I look back and say "wow, time flies"; but in another sense I look back and remember all that we have lived through in those ten years, and it does, indeed, seem like a long time.
- Ten years ago we had been married less than a year, two kids moving across the country to an unfamiliar city and state. Now we're both into our thirties, have three kids of our own, and Iowa feels a lot like home.
- In ten years we've been from an old rental farmhouse in the country that leaked heat like a sieve in the winter, to unintentionally renting a house in town from the most notorious landlord in Cedar Rapids, to owning our own place, to starting to wonder when/if we'll outgrow our own place and have to look for something else.
- In ten years we've gone from being young newcomers at a church to being in and out of leadership, to then dreaming up and leading a church plant, and then finally being led away from the church plant to participate in a different church.
- In ten years we've gone from knowing no one here to having made a lot of friends. Then it's just sad to see them go. We were sad to see the Majerle's move to Minnesota five years ago, though we were glad we could buy their house.
This summer, particularly, feels like the end of an era, with the Garner's moving to Indiana and the Finley's moving to Texas. I guess now we have new places to visit on vacations. - In ten years Becky's job description has changed from "CAD drafter at a stone quarry" to "wood shop worker" to "mom of one" to "mom of two" to "mom of three". I'm pretty sure she likes her current job description best.
- In ten years my job description has been more consistent, changing only from "software engineer" to "software team lead" to "software certification specialist". I'm hoping to make the certification thing a long-term gig. Hopefully this fall it'll all come together.
- In ten years I've gone from being a smooth-cheeked youngster with plastered-down hair to slightly-less-plastered-down hair to a beard and shaved head. I've had this look going for three years now, and think I'll be keeping it for a while. Sooner or later I won't have to shave the head as much.
- In ten years Becky is still the beautiful woman who took my arm and came to Iowa sight-unseen. She's still kicking butt on the softball field every summer, growing yummy stuff in the garden, keeping our household running smoothly, and making our home a place I always want to come home to, and never want to leave.
I can only imagine the changes I'll have to reflect on if I'm still writing on this blog or something like it ten years from now... teenaged kids, middle age... I can wait. But if the next ten years are as rich and full and wonderful as the past ten have been... I will (continue to) be a man most richly blessed.
This is now...
[Well, it's the latest I've got. We still haven't gotten a family photo taken since Katie was born.]
Canadian Travels and Weird Internet Friends
This week business took me on my second-ever cross-the-border trip, once again to Canada, though this time to a part of Canada (Toronto) that felt much less alien then last time (Montreal). Something about them still speaking English in Ontario makes it a little more comfortable.
Anyhow, there wasn't much time for sight-seeing as we sandwiched a day of customer meetings and round-trip travel into a 48-hour window, but I did get the chance to finally meet, in person, some "weird internet friends": Dan, Laura, and Wally. First, a little photographic evidence, then, the narrative.
Dan and Laura:
Wally, Dan, and me:
It should come as no real surprise by now to anyone that reads this blog that I have a group of "weird internet friends". We've had some visit in our home, and met up with others in Minneapolis, Nashville, Lincoln, and Charlotte. Each time I've found them to be decent, enjoyable people, and we've had great times visiting. I had a little extra anticipation this time, though; Dan and I had hit it off so well online that I figured our in-person meeting would either be brilliant or amazingly awkward.
This meeting fell into the brilliant category. Without minimizing my enjoyment of Wally's company at all, I have to say that Dan and Laura felt less like new acquaintances and more like long-lost family. We had a fantastic time visiting, eating dinner, and drinking coffee far too late into the evening.
While it is a nearly 12-hour drive from Toronto to Cedar Rapids, I extended the invitation to Dan and Laura that I'd extend to any of my weird internet friends (and you know who you are) - any time you have a long weekend and want to come visit, we have a spare bedroom, an expandable dining room table, and all the excitement of Eastern Iowa for you to enjoy on your visit. Hope to see you soon.
Home again, home again…
As a friend noted the other day, it's a bit of a weird feeling to know that you're driving only two to the hospital, but when you come home there will be three. But it's a great feeling, too, to finally leave the hospital and bring folks home. Becky and Katie were discharged on Sunday morning and came home to two excited sisters and two grandparents.
Since she came home there has been a steady stream of visitors: my brother Aaron and his wife Emily came down on Sunday for a few hours, my parents came down to visit today for the day, and my sister Rebecca and her roommate came down this afternoon and will head back tomorrow. Such excitement for such a small person!
Katie was awake and hungry a good bit of the night last night and has then managed to sleep a good bit of the day today. Hopefully we can get her schedule switched around this week so we can get some better sleep... or, I should say, so Becky can get some better sleep; I'm afraid I slept through most all of it last night.
Such a blessing to have a home with a beautiful wife and three beautiful little girls. God is good.
It’s a girl!
Katherine (Katie) Paige Hubbs
born March 20, 2009 at 11:22 am
7 lbs, 13.5 oz 20.5" long.
Everybody is doing great.
Warm enough to enjoy the snow…
Today it hit 42 degrees for the high. Finally we were able to get out and enjoy the snow for a while, throwing snowballs, making snow angels, basically just enjoying being outside.
Tomorrow is February, which means we've only really got another six weeks of real winter left. Woohoo!
There are more photos in the set on Flickr.
