Renaissance Festival

We had a surprise event yesterday. We went to the Texas Renaissance Festival. A friend of ours had two free tickets, so we only had to buy two more for the whole family to go. As it turned out, our neighbors were going too, so we met up there and had a fun time.
The first three images you see below are of Megan on the bungee cord-trampoline device that gives you the ability to jump very, very high in the air. I didn't catch the name of the thing. You see from the sequence of shots that she starts with apprehension and ends with uncontrolled laugther.






The second three shots are of my son on the same device. You can see he had no fear. He immediately started doing flips. I think he spun three times in one of the jumps. I believe he had fun.





The following are a couple random shots, including our neighbor's daughter getting her head chopped off. It was a different kind of event, with different kind of people, and all very fun.

Thanks

We are in the fast-paced holiday season now. Once Halloween arrives it seems (to me) that time accelerates until we get to New Year's day. It is a great time of year, I wish it lasted longer. We just had our Thanksgiving celebration. We had my parents, my wife's parents, my nephew and his friend over to our house. We ate more than necessary. It was a nice time to spend together. I can't make a complete list of everything that I thank God for, but here are a few things that come to mind:
1. A wife to spend my life with
2. Two kids to experience life with
3. No major accidents or illnessess
4. Time to spend with my parents and in-laws
5. Plenty of good-paying work (even during tough economic times)
6. A growing relationship with God through Jesus Christ
7. Experiences and friends all around the world

I pray that I never forget to be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy the Holiday season!

Honor

We had a great evening. Our daughter was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. We are proud parents. Not proud in the sense that her accomplishment reflects on us, or is proof that we are good parents. We are proud that she has worked hard and put her best into her schoolwork. She used her time wisely to do the job at hand (schoolwork) to the best of her ability. We are so pleased that she is honored for her dedication and accomplishment.
In an era where people become "celebrities" because their father is rich and they are spoiled, it is great to see a bunch of young boys and girls get recognized for doing their best at something that will have a positive impact on their lives and the lives of the community.

I Liked Waiting

For the first time, I actually was happy about having to wait in line. I went to the voting location at my normal time, 7:00 a.m. I have been voting there since we moved here in 1996. I have never, ever had to wait in any line. Today the line ran out from the voting room out nearly to the street. There were around 80 people in line when I got there, and almost that many when I left 40 minutes later. I did not grumble about having to wait, I was happy to see that people were exercising the privilege to vote.
I am definitely not a political activist, but I have to say that I encourage everyone who has not already done so, to go stand in a long line, then vote of course. I also encourage people to look beyond the marketing tactics and look at voting records, to see what these candidates are really all about.

Homeward Bound

It has been a pretty good trip. I am in the Tokyo airport right now, just doing a quick post. It was sad to say "goodbye" to my friends in Thailand, since I don't have any trips planned to go back. That may have been our last visit. I should treat every goodbye as possibly the last visit, since I actually do not have a guarantee that I will see them again. I don't think it would be appropriate to get all sentimental and such, but just not to take relationships for granted. They are a blessing, and I don't know how long they each will last.
I used to take friends for granted. I thought, "hey, I can always make new friends, no matter where I move." Well, life has proved me wrong. It is not that I can't make friends, it is just that I can't replace the old ones, they are special and can't be replaced.
I can't wait to see my family.
Off to gate 22.

Say "Cheese" or "Lunch"

I had a reminder today that I am back in Thailand. I went to the client’s office in Bangkok for a pre-meeting before heading offshore. I found out that we hadn’t exactly followed all the rules in my last four trips to the rig, so today we had to do some paperwork that I wasn’t prepared for. The logistics coordinator asked if I had my regulation-sized visa photos with me. I was fresh out of those believe it or not. So, she replied “no problem, we can get them done here, follow me.” So, I followed her. We went by all the office cubicles, out the office door, took the elevator down to the lobby, then out the front door, across two lanes of traffic, between several clusters of street vendors, and into…a tiny restaurant. I stood there and looked around a moment while the logistics coordinator spoke briefly with the waitress. I noticed that all the tables were prepared with place settings and food. They were just minutes away from serving lunch for a pre-planned party. The waitress quickly moved a table in the corner about two feet away from the wall. Removed one chair, then spun the other chair around with its back against the wall. I noticed that the walls, on one side were “decorated” with a white non-reflective cloth, which apparently served well for the visa/passport photo background. They quickly set me down, whipped out a tiny tripod-mounted camera, had a brief discussion between themselves about framing (I assume that was the point of discussion), then said “cheese.” Within about 2 minutes of the flash going off the waitress had the table and chairs back in place and was seating the guests that were now pouring into the restaurant. Two photos popped out of a printer. She plucked them out as she whisked by, handed them off to the logistics coordinator, and resumed seating guests. What can I say? Welcome to Thailand.

A Good Paddling

I’m on my way to Thailand, again. This will likely be the last trip, which is both good, and bad. Good in that I won’t have any disruptions from my routine at home, and should be able to spend more time with my family and catch up with the routine work that gets puts aside while I travel. Bad in that I won’t get to see the friends that I have made there. I had just gotten through the flurry of activity that followed Hurricane Ike, and that surrounded the final post-production and premiere of my movie “Spirits Among Us.” That flurry of activity, plus the effort of negotiating my first distribution contract had me feeling like I needed a little R&R (relaxation and restoration). What I really needed was a good paddling.

So, I loaded the birthday gift my wife bought me (a kayak) onto my car, and took off for an afternoon of kayaking. I used to kayak or canoe on a regular basis, but those types of activities, like many other recreational activities had been put aside over the last several years to make room for more important activities. It is interesting that I typically think of recreational activities as just something you do that has no fundamental value, just a frivolous luxury. But, it actually re-creation, a kind of restoration that lets you get back to “who you are.”

It was not until I went without almost all forms of recreation for several years that I started realizing the value of them. I’m just now starting to schedule-in recreation as part of my “to do” list. If you have been keeping up with my blog, you know that if I don’t schedule it, I don’t do it. While the kayak and I glided down the waterway I could see God all around me in His creation. Everything was quiet, even my mind. Anyway, here a few photos of a mighty fine paddling I had last Saturday.