Simply (insert task here) to add (insert item here) to your blog

I don't profess to be the most technical person. However I do feel somewhat confident in working with computers, software, and some programming languages. I can whip out some pretty sweet VB apps. Write some smokin hot SQL quereys. Also, unlike a lot of the myths about men, I can even read and follow instructions. So would you think that using a very user freindly blogging program wouldn't be a problem? You might think that, but I have had nothing but problems in working with Blogger, especially with our pictures. Anytime I want to add something I get this annoying saving message at the top of my page element box. Sometimes it really does save it and sometimes it doesn't. Call me old fashioned, but if something/someone says its doing one thing and does another I really get annoyed. But for lack of interest in finding something better, and not being able to beat the price of this program, I think I will stick it out with blogger.

So here is the question of the day. We are trying to link pictures inside our post. You can see the success that we have had in one of our previous posts. We have fixed the head tilt problem, and can post a picture upright....yeah us. But, how do you experts get your photos inside the text of the post? We can post our pictures like a 4th grader at the bottom of each post (no offense to any 4th grader reading). We try to use the add immage button, but it either doesn't like the embeded HTML or the web link. So I'm askin for help from my peeps.

By the way, here is a picture of Peter on his first day of school.

Peter is in Real School

Peter is in Kindergarten. His first day of school was Monday. I took the morning off and Sarah, Clara and I walked him to school. It was really fun on the walk to school; Peter was walking so slowly, so I knew he was nervous. As outgoing as he is, he always approaches new situations with caution. He got into his teachers line and just stood there. Sarah tried to give him a hug and he stayed stiff, feeling out of place. A little later I gave him a hug and he hugged back. So Sarah tried again and met with success. I think that was important to her. Sarah and I were both pretty strong at the school. We both only teared up once. However during the weekend it was a totally different story. Sarah can post and tell you how her weekend went, but I balled like a little baby all weekend. This was my baby that is going to his job. He will not have a break from responsibility until he is old, maybe never. I have a hard time with that. Like most parents I think he has a loving personality and is so strong, but we have always been with him to protect our treasure. We have been trying to instill good values in him and training him to survive in this world. Now we have to truly let God do His thing when we aren't there. I think this is a lesson that I am not ready to learn. Well with His blessing I will have two more chances to figure this out.

Leadership Summit

It has been 10 days since my last post, and I hope this doesn't become habit. There was a lot going on this past weekend, and early this week. Last weekend was the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. For those of you who don't know, this is an annual event at Willow Creek Church in Chicago that is simulcast all over the country. They attract some of the greatest leaders and educators in the world to help educate the people on leadership philosophy, the power of leadership, etc... Anyway, this is a great event that I look forward to each year, it charges my batteries.

One of the speakers was Colin Powell. I have always respected the presence that he commands. Big news to all that I don't know the guy, but he is someone that I find myself respecting and wanting to get to know more about. He spoke on his "Powell Principles" and hearing him speak wanted me to find out more about him. In the next few months I will try to follow up on that desire. Although I really enjoy the academic aspect of leadership, and I think you can be taught leadership principles. I think you can get the most from someone who has lived the role. The problem with that is that there are a lot of good leaders, but they don't know how to communicate what they do. I found with Powell, he was an effective communicator too.

Another of the speakers was Michael Porter. He is world renown for his teachings on strategy and is a Harvard professor. I was very excited to hear his session. Last year they had another Harvard professor speak and he stole the show. I have to say I was thoroughly disappointed with his session. This conference is geared more toward a church leader (although applicable to all leaders). Porter knew this and tried to tailor his discussion accordingly, but it was a miserable failure. His overriding theme was that a church is spread to thin when it comes to offering services to people in need. He said that churches should only focus on their strengths and everything else should be redirected to another program which provides the same social aide. On the surface I agree with him, but the reason this was a bust is because he doesn't understand the role of the Christian Church and its programs. The church doesn't do these things only to be socially responsible and to provide a better world for all. The church does this to help people who may not have a personal relationship with Christ. Example: A church sponsors the Royal Family Kids Camp at $250 per person. The YMCA offers a camp at $50 per person. Porter would say use the Y camp and you get 4 times more output. But what he doesn't know is that the RFKC is sharing the gospel with the children and the counselors are showing them a love that they might not get at the Y camp. There are other details, but you get my point.

Additional items:
Impressed with Carly Fiorina (former HP CEO) and some of the things she said about leadership. Felt a little uneasy about other things she said though.

Have a healthy respect for Jimmy Carter. Don't necessarily agree with his politics or things he has done, but he does have some good leadership philosophies, and is a strong believer.

Overall, great conference, great people, great learning, great experience.

The Club

This weekend I used a guest pass to go to Lifetime Fitness with Sarah and the kids. This place was pretty awesome. It is set up like a resort, and you can do a number of things there that you can't do at any regular gym. The primary reason for joining was the pools. They have both an indoor and outdoor pool, and both pools have two waterslides that you can use. The deepest they get is 3'6", which is perfect for children. The pass was for 2 days. On Friday night we only swam. You should see Clara swimming in the pool. We put a life jacket on her (which she was extremely resistant to at first) and she paddles around the place asking for you to go far away so she can swim to you. One of the more amusing things about it is she keeps saying "my muscles" as if she is getting a total work out, which I bet she is. Peter is a fish and swims around without a life jacket. He does awesome, and next year will be the perfect height for the water. Anyway, it was a blast. The second day in addition to the swimming I got to work out with Sarah. That was fun and reminded me of before Peter was born....good memories. I am glad that they can go and have fun. Surprising as it may appear, I want to make fitness a priority in our lives. You may be asking yourself why I need a guest pass to attend the club where my family are members, and after going I want to be a member. However, the accountant in me wins out, and I cannot justify the expense when I can use the facility we have at the UP for free. What a party pooper.

On a side note, I was looking at this blog and it appears kind of dull. I will have to spice it up with some pictures in the near future.

It's Moving Time

This weekend and early part of the week has been all about moving for me. First, I get to help the Myatt family (sad...see below). Then I get to help my brother Wes move to North Platte (NP). This was a happy move because now they are much closer to us then they were in Yuma, AZ.

Anyway, Monday night Peter and I left the women home for some mans time to help my brother and his family move into a new home in NP. On the way we stopped in Grand Island (GI) to play some softball on my sister's co-ed team, and stay the night before finishing the drive to NP. This was a blast! It was the first time all of us had played on the same team, and I really enjoyed myself. I think Peter had a good time too. He watched for a little bit, but then ran around the rest of the game with some kids on a soccer field next to the softball diamond. It was a good night...I can't place the reason why though. Was it because I was with my family, or was it because I was in GI? Maybe I will think about it and use that for the subject of another post.

The next day we continued on to NP and started the move. My dad was there, and it was good to see him. I don't get to see him that often, and it was good to catch up a little bit. Wes had all of their stuff in a storage shed about 2 miles from his house. We had one pick up one van and two SUVs. The whole move took about 5 trips and 4 hours. The house is nice. It is a 3 bedroom ranch with a huge garage and two storage sheds. I can’t remember how big the lot is, but I think it is over an acre. Just the feel of it reminds me of Wes.

Peter played with Matthew all day and had a blast. On the trip back to Omaha, I let Peter sit in the front seat, and we looked to see how many different license plates we could see. He thought he was sooooo big. It was precious. He got out the map of Nebraska, and I was helping him to find where we were and where we are going. Even though he can't read he can make out the letters and is starting to put them together. That trip home was a really special time.

So although the trip was exhausting, and I had my doubts about doing it in the middle of the week, it was definitely worth it.