Santa Claus at Wendy's

We took the kids to Wendy's after church yesterday. Braydn and Sydnee met Santa, Dawson was only brave enough to run up to him and grab a free toy and run.

Junk and Happiness...

I will probably never understand exactly what it is that God is doing in my life, but I have finally realized it is not really that important that I understand. I can choose to be happy or sad; I believe that happiness is not only a choice but a moral obligation. I am not talking about joy. I think joy is given from above; happiness is my response to it.

Something I observed about my son Braydn that I think I can learn from is that he chooses to be unhappy too often. He does not understand our discipline for him. He gets totally focused on some small thing, sometimes an item headed for the recycle bin, maybe a bottle cap. His obsession so often has no importance at all. It is just something that keeps him from seeing what is really happening around him. He becomes oblivious to the rest of the family, to his sister’s cry for help, to his mother asking him a question.

Then the next day, he finds some other item that takes over all of his attention, the important item from yesterday goes into his stash. He has a small fishing tackle box filled with junk. He loves all of this junk; he treats the items almost like scars, he cares for them and seeing them remind him of where he got them and what happened. If you dare remove an item from the box he only knows to respond negatively. He thinks of these things as his treasures. He gets very angry if we don’t let him have it out all the time. His mother loves having a tackle box that barely closes because it is so full of junk on the couch all the time.

But it is just junk…

I think we are like this with God sometimes. We get focused on things that we think are important. We can’t stop thinking about them. We get obsessed with them and we feel like our life is one continuous string of important crisis after important crisis. I wonder how often God looks at our crisis’s and see’s a small piece of plastic? A pop bottle top, something that was not a big deal to him at all because he understood that it was just distracting us from him. Not that our important crises are not important to him. He sees them for what they are, something he is in control of. He could take them all away at once and make it all better but maybe we can learn something from them. Maybe we can learn to choose him, to choose happiness instead of dwelling on our junk.

As Braydn’s dad, I understand that most of the junk he keeps will not hurt him for now. There will come a time that he will need to let it go. He will need to focus on other more important things. I can work with him slowly, one item at a time and teach him that other things in life have greater value that pop-tops. I can show him love and understanding. God does this for us.

Wow... Home...

The last few days have been an emotional roller coaster ride. We have not posted in a while because despite feeling that Asher was making substantial progress each day it was hard to put anything up here.

We arrived at the house a little bit ago with Asher. Yes he has been released from the NICU early. Praise the Lord.

We are blessed to have such a group of friends

This morning looking at this update site Matthew noticed that it has been visited by at least one person in every continent of the world. It is so reassuring to know that Asher and his family are completely surrounded by friends and family who are pulling for us and committed to praying for our little angel. 

Here is the ClustrMap from this morning. The red dots represent visits to the site. The map updates once per 24 hour period. Clicking the image will allow you to see a full size version.

We are blessed to have such friends.

Not much happening... But quite a bit is going on!

Matthew went to Asher's 8 and 11 AM hands-on appointments. When he arrived for the first one the Neonatal Physical Therapist was evaluating Asher's ability to bottle feed. She was very happy with his progress. Working the nipple, swallowing and breathing all in the right order and for the appropriate duration each is a lot of work and coordination that most of us probably never think about. 

Today is Nana Cheri's last day here to help with the kids. Andrea is going to miss her. She leaves for Phoenix on Wednesday morning very early. She got to go with Mike, Linda, Mandy and Jodie to Red Lobster and have the all you can eat shrimp. A good chance to spend some quality time together. 

Andrea went to her doctor appointment at 10:00 so they could check on her blood pressure and see how she was doing. They were happy with her health. Her blood pressure was ok (well for her) and they checked her incision. Everything seems to be fine.

A friend of Matthew's from work brought some chicken and potatoes for dinner. Braydn, who hates potatoes, asked for seconds. Tony, we are going to need your potato recipe!

Just a quick update. Thanks for reading.

Braydn Meets Asher

Time for the proud big brother to meet the new little rascal. Seems everybody else is fighting a bug so he got to come into the NICU and meet his brother. He was very proud.

He got just as excited about getting a turn to take photos with the digital camera. First he tried some shots of Asher. Next, he took a photo of the view from Asher's room that you might be interested in seeing.



Then, he took a shot of all of the rest of us in the room with Asher. They let mommy and daddy be in the room with him as Daddy's arms are pretty full. The nurse in the photo is one of the many Awesome "mommies" that Asher has taking good care of him in the NICU. We all joked the other day that Asher has staff.

You can see Andrea got a new haircut.

Asher Meets Uncle Kelly

Kelly and Toni drove down from Denver to meet Asher Zane. Kelly is Asher's uncle and Godfather. Here is photo of him holding Asher for the first time. He didn't want to put him down and he could not believe how small Asher was.

Only two people can go in to the NICU at a time and it is for a limited window of time just after he gets his "hands on" appointments every 3 hours.

Hopefully Miche will be down to meet the little guy sometime in the next week. Andrea's siblings are all hoping to come at Thanksgiving time so they can meet him.

Hungry Baby

We are walking out of the hospital as this is being posted. We just finished feeding Asher. He ate 25ml out of his 30ml from a bottle! He is making such great progress.

Andrea got to spend much of the day with her mom as well as her aunt Linda and uncle Mike. Sydnee has not been feeling well so the kids still have not met the baby.

Mostly today has been a restful day. Asher's mommy and daddy got to be with him when he turned 7 days old at 12:18 today.

Great News!

As of just a little bit ago Asher is out of his incubator and in a standard baby bassinet! We are overjoyed.

Nana Cheri Holding Asher

Here is a great photo of Nana Cheri holding baby Asher. She is out here in Colorado helping with stuff around the house and with the other kids.

Andrea has really enjoyed having her mother's support and encouragement during this difficult time.

Thursday Night - Mommy and Daddy Visit Asher

Asher is back on oxygen when his mommy and daddy stop in for his 8 PM feeding. The nurses explained that it is normal for him to go back on Oxygen with everything going on.

Matthew shot a quick video of Andrea rocking Asher in the chair.





This video is the first that seems to portray an accurate view of just how little Asher really is. You can see at the end of it when Andrea is using her pinky finger to push his oxygen tube in place. See the screen-shot below.

Bottle Feeding!

Today at Asher's 11 o'clock feeding change etc. they let Andrea try feeding him 3ml via a bottle. He does not seem to quite get it yet as far as what he has to do with that thing but he is starting to get the sucking down. They told us that swallowing is not something the baby can do until between 34-35 weeks of development. As of tomorrow he will be 34 weeks so this is the time to start trying the bottle. He is up to a total of 24ml of mother's milk (mostly through his feeding tube) and is still on the IV as well. To give an idea of how much mother's milk he gets each feeding 24 ml = 0.811536545 US fluid ounces. This is humorous considering mommy has been able to produce an average of 5 fluid ounces each time she pumps.

Andrea and E-ma got to get lunch together with Matthew this afternoon. It was simple but it felt like a celebration for the many blessings that God has brought in to our lives as well as the way that Asher is progressing so well. Andrea is doing very well despite feeling torn between being at the NICU and being home with the other little ones.

Andrea - Headache at the Hospital

Andrea is at the hospital visiting the baby. Her headache has been getting worse through the morning. She finally stopped at the nurses station and asked them to check her BP. It is very high so the doctor is having her go home and be sure to hydrate well and put ice on her neck.

Mommy Holding Asher

Andrea is doing so well. She hasn't even been taking any major pain medication. She is just on Motrin. Here she is holding Asher before she was discharged from the hospital. He is just snuggling in with her and enjoying the time rocking. He loves it when we kiss him. It is much easier to kiss him now that the IV is not located on his head anymore.

Here is a quick video clip of him rocking with mommy.




Zooming in for a closer video he looks like he is chewing gum...





It is hilarious how premature babies look like little old people.

Papa Jerry and E-ma Hold Asher

So, Papa Jerry drove from PHX to Colorado Springs on Friday night then back to PHX on Tuesday so that he could bring E-ma to help with the kids and stuff. Monday night he got to have a special meeting with Asher. They pulled him out of his incubator so that they could rock in the chair for a few minutes.

Next, E-ma got her chance to hold him for a couple minutes. Here she is with tears in her eyes getting to know her newest grandson. You can see in both of these photos that he has his "crown" on. This is his IV that had to be moved from his foot because his foot had problems.

E-mail Sent To Co-Workers and Friends

Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers over these past few days. Andrea and I feel so blessed to know that we have so many brothers and sisters holding us up in prayer (and food, Susan makes a killer lasagna).

I have attached a picture of or newest family member to this email. They are hoping to start feeding him later today with his feeding tube. So far it has just been used to get yuckies out of his tummy.

Andrea is doing very well. She just went for her first short walk a few minutes ago to go see the baby. He looks so sweet sleeping in his incubator. Makes you just want to hold him. Andrea is healing magnificently and may get released as soon as tomorrow or the next day. My mom will be here helping with the kids and providing morale support this week and next. Andreas mom is here this week but may stay longer. I don't know how we could manage without them.

They have told us that at this point his target date to leace the NICU is his due date (day after Thanksgiving). He is a strong little guy so he should get released in 5 weeks or so.

Again thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray. We have some challenges ahead managing our home and providing breastmilk to a baby living in an NICU 15 miles from home, but God is good and we know he will give us strength and provide our every need.

Thanks again,

The Nimeth family

Oh and he is 17.5 inches long and weighed 3 lbs 15 ounces. ;)

Andrea Holding Asher

The Grand Entrance - Asher is Born

After a morning of nervous waiting, it was time for surgery. Matthew would accompany Andrea in the operating room.

It was amazing how quickly everything happened. Seemed like only minutes passed and they could hear a cry. Matthew was sitting behind the curtain with Andrea and could not see the baby either. The doctors were talking about something and the voice of the Neonatal Dr. saying something about him "looking good" could be heard over the hum. As Matthew looked behind where he was sitting he could see that the Anesthesiologist was surfing the web on his iPhone oblivious to the miracle that had just happened. Andrea said, "just wait." to Matthew hoping they would get to see the little guy together so Matthew waited. Less than a minute later the Neonatal Dr. called out, "Daddy come over here."

Matthew leaped out of his seat apologizing to Andrea for leaving her side, excited to meet his son and being careful to not look over at the surgical procedure taking place. Coming up on the group of Neonatal staff working on the baby Matthew caught his first glimpse of Asher. Just then he peed (Asher, not Matthew).

"Well those parts are working." One of the nurses said. Matthew cried and struggled to find his camera and snap a couple of photos. He stashed the camera back in his pocket and walked over to Andrea as she asked how the baby looked. "He is so handsome." Matthew said in a daze.

After that Matthew was asked to cut the umbilical cord and he was handed the baby so that he could carry him over to Andrea for her first introduction. She kissed baby on the face before Matthew and baby were ushered down the hall to the NICU.

Asher Zane Nimeth, born on 10-11-08 at 12:18 PM
3 lbs 15oz, 17.5 inches long

No Soup For You! - Er bagels anyway...

So Andrea woke up at the hospital and begun having breakfast with Matthew. She ate her banana and just as she had had a bite of her bagel with cream cheese, Dr. Weary came in to talk about what was up. She politely put aside her breakfast...

Andrea a couple of hours before surgery

"Looks like we will be inducing you today!" He said. Andrea's eyes got big. Then she asked him a question that would forever alter her opinion of bagels. "Is the baby still in a breech position?"

"Oh, he is in a breech position?" The Dr. asked. (Keep in mind that the Dr. had just come on his shift, in fact he was still wearing jeans. He hadn't had a chance to read her entire file yet and he is not Andrea's normal Dr.) "Hmm, we'll need to do a C-section then, we will need to wait until noon so that the food in your stomach is gone."

The nurse sadly carted Andrea's uneaten bagel out of her room and we thought we could hear her start munching on Andrea's bagel as she walked down the hall. (That part is not true, she ate very quietly.)

This was a bit scary. Andrea has never had an operation before.

Not Tonight!

By the evening they decided that they wanted to give Andrea some steroids so that the baby could get an advantage outside the womb. This would mean that she could go to sleep and get some rest (night number 2 in the hospital). Matthew stayed at the hospital with her to keep her company.

Hospital beds and couches are so amazingly comfortable. If you have not tried getting a good night sleep in one we highly recommend it. It might even change your life.

Friday - What Now?

Matthew got Sydnee and Dawby ready for the day and packed up some clothes and stuff for them. Who knew what this day would have in store. At the Hospital they had taken Andrea in for an advanced Ultrasound session. The results of this?

1) They found some problem with the placenta.
2) They determined that baby had not grown in over 2 weeks.
3) They determined that it was likely that Andrea would need to be induced early.
4) They confirmed that the baby was in a breech position.

The doctor told us to expect Andrea would begin being induced by evening time. This began a flurry of text messages and cell-phone calls trying to make all of the needed arrangements for a very early baby.

Great Friends

Matthew had to leave Andrea at the hospital alone Thursday night. Laura had graciously missed her class that night so that she could continue watching the kids. Matthew dropped Braydn off at a friends house who could watch him overnight now that he seemed to be feeling better. Dawby and Sydnee already missed their mom quite a bit.

Bed-Rest! Who is Gonna Watch the Kids?

Thursday afternoon Matthew's parents decided that they would drive from Phoenix to the Springs so that Matthew's mom (aka E-ma) could come and help try and extend Andrea's pregnancy by watching the other kids for a week or two. They planned to leave on Friday afternoon.

At the Hospital

When Matthew arrived at the hospital they had already determined that Andrea would be staying the night at least. They were beginning to see signs of very advanced Preeclampsya and they were concerned for her health. Mostly we waited around and hoped for the best. It was looking like she was going to be on bedrest for a long-long time.

Phone Calls

The first call Matthew made was to some dear friends named Kris and Laura. They have 3 girls near the ages of our children and they are both Nazarene Bible College students. They happily agreed to watch the kids while Matthew went to the hospital. Time to get the kids all ready. Oh but calls to Matthew and Andrea's parents had to be made.

The Appointment

The doctor decided that Andrea's blood pressure was way too high. She sent her immediately over to the hospital. Her doctors office has a directconnection to the new hospital. They sent her over to the Birth Center, she was admitted, and she was put in room 3306. They started more testing and at this point she was waiting for Matthew to show up at the hospital. He had to find someone to watch the 3 other rugrats.

Headache from God...

Matthew stayed home with a killer headache. This made going to the doctor's appointment a little easier on Andrea because she was able to leave Dawby and Sydnee home with him (and Braydn was home sick) while he waited for the Excedrin to kick in. She had not been gone for very long when She called home telling Matthew that she had just been sent to the hospital.

It is amazing how quickly a headache goes away when you have a rush of blood and adrenaline go through your body.

Sunday, busy... Weekend

I have been wanting to write and research a bunch lately. So busy. I just watched the DVD called "Sunday" offered by Invisible Children. It was amazing. Our weekend was actually one of the most restful we have had.

Glen Eyrie Castle

Spent the day today at The Glen. It is such a beautiful place. I miss a lot of things about living there. Beautiful place to view God's glorious nature.

Bring it all together

My "web-presence" can best be described by Bilbo Baggins, "I feel like butter spread over too much toast."

Where have I been?

I broke down and bought a Yamaha Zuma. It has been a lot of fun. The Schwinn still awaits an engine and it is sitting in the garage friendless.

Unsaid things

Unsaid things. I thought them but my lips didn't understand the clock. "Follow your compass not your clock" they say. Lost it?

Love her

Love her as Christ loved the Church. He laid his life down for it. Love her without hesitation, or self consideration.

Today is...

Today is my 6th wedding anniversary. I love my wife more than anything else in this life. She is my holy gift, my one and only.

Goo on a new bike?

Last night I spent some time getting the stuff off the bike. I started cleaning tape and stuff off the frame, I cannot believe how much goo and stuff gets on these things. I still do not have all of it off. There were a couple of places where I thought there was a small scratch and it turned out to be just packing remnants and tape backing. I also noticed that the fake leather material that covers the seat is slightly separated/bubbled in the very center of the seat, I am guessing that I might be able to take the seat apart and re-glue the material down. I am also thinking about getting a brown leather seat that is a little bit larger.

Tonight I am going to try getting these things done before I go to my Bible study:

1. Remove the reflectors from the wheels and handlebars
2. Finish removing all of the gunk off the frame and components
3. See if I can fix the seat upholstery
4. Go for another ride!

I am also thinking about trying to find a tank (or fabricate one) that mounts in the frame (A) instead of above it (B).

In the begining...

So... what it this blog about anyway? Well, I needed a place to write about my bike-related endeavors. A place to write about bike modifications, motors, rides, types and all of the other stuff that comes to mind. Colorider of course is a combination of Colorado-rider I live in Colorado and I ride. I know clever.

I have already kicked this off with a bang. Last night I bought a Schwinn Jaguar cruiser style bike. Add this to my Trek mountain bike, and my classic Schwinn Stingray sitting in the garage. My wife is really excited about my filling the garage up with "one more thing." We won't even talk about the TerraTrike I purchased earlier this year.

The goal behind the new cruiser is that I plan to Install a 2-stroke motor onto it and maybe even try it out as a commuter. It just sounds like a very fun project. So far I have decided that I know I want to go with the 2-stroke for simplicity's sake.

So what got me going on this crazy idea anyway?

Over the last month or so I have been looking around at some of the less expensive motorcycle kits. Everything from the Kikker 5150 Hardknock to a number of other kits out there on the market. I have been wanting to build something with two wheels, something that is greener than my car. Something fun though. Since I finished with my MA I have been feeling like I needed something to fill the homework/thesis gap. Not that I have a ton of time on my hands, I just feel the need to get my hands dirty making something. I want to spend time with my 5-year old tinkering on something.

I am pretty handy. I'm the kind of guy who would happily hand paint flames on his own car (I did it this last Christmas eve), I love to make stuff and I am not shy about standing out in a crowd. Seems like a motorized bicycle is a perfect project.

This last weekend I was walking in Old Colorado City with my family when we stumbled upon Whizzers of Oz (local Whizzers dealership). They had a bright red bike out front, I knew that was the sort of project I was looking for. Bikes, motors, sweet! There is something so cool about the idea of getting back to the true roots of motorcycling.

I am pretty sure I'll be going with and engine from Thatsdax.com I emailed the address on the site and I am working out a pickup for next week. No postage or waiting. I have already got my brother and my dad all stoked up about this project. They both want to do one too.

Progress on the motor-bike so far includes:

1. Bought the "host bike" for $119 USD at Target (brand-new men's 26-inch Blue and silver Schwinn Jaguar)
2. Filled the tires up to full capacity (40 psi)
3. Adjusted the seat, it was completely loose. (Seriously after seeing how loose it was I am thinking it wouldn't hurt to go over the whole bike with a wrench set and make sure it is really put together correctly.
4. Applied a small flashlight to the handlebars with some electrical tape as a temporary safety device.
5. Took the bike on it's maiden voyage around the block just to get a feel for it (the tires were so flat in the store I didn't get to ride it until I got it home, I think they do that to prevent people from taking them for a spin in the store).

Future "plans" (just what I got in my head so far):

1. Install the motor
2. Get it running well
3. Customize/accessorize (I love the old school fenders but want the sturdier ones than the factory ones you get these days, I'd love to do some cool stuff with the tank and maybe a rack in the back and some hand-built lighting solutions. Signals? Whitewall tires?)
4. Design a custom paint scheme
5. Strip the whole thing down and paint
6. Reassemble
7. Start a second one :)

Triking not as much as I'd like to...

I have not been riding my trike as much as I hoped. The simple truth is I am too out of shape to make it all of the way to work. I do love riding it I mean really love riding it. I plan on taking it camping this weekend so that should get me in even better shape. Kelvin's materials (that come with the bike) say that you get a free new butt and legs with the bike and he was right. I have found that I am gaining weight in numbers due to the muscle gains in my legs while I watch my gut get incrementally smaller.

I spent the last week building a small cargo trailer for camping and stuff. It will make it possible for me to bring my bike to work and that way I will be able to ride during lunch.

Checking out the new (non-public) version of Terra Trikes new web page http://www.terratrike.com/index.php I read about a guy that has ridden a trike almost identical to mine over 4700 miles across the US. He also does artwork and stuff. I posted a link to his site on mine and titled it "Kindred Spirit" he has some amazing stuff. He is a weird guy though and actually lives in a hobbit hole.

I wish I lived about 7 miles closer to work.

Moleskine Love

Moleskine journals have been holding my memories and journal entries since I started using them early in 2002. I bought my first one around the time I started dating my (now) wife. I was killing a lunch break at the local bookstore near my office and saw them on the shelf. I bought one immediately. After the workday was finished I stopped and bought the other 3 that were on the shelf for fear that I would never get another of these little notebooks. So like Bruce Chatwin, I stocked up. I could already see I was gonna to like them even though I was yet to write my first journal entry. It was as if someone took my idea of a perfect notebook and manufactured it.

My Moleskine Ritual:

1) I begin by stamping my Chinese red signature stamp in the center of the inside cover page. A missionary friend brought this stamper with my name (essentially, it is not perfect) translated. It has its own little box with a sliding door. 

2) I write the number of the journal spelled out (one, two, three...) on the top edge of the pages (with the cover closed) using a Sharpie laundry marker. 

3) I painstakingly write page numbers on the bottom of each page. I continue the numbering from the pervious book. This also gives me a chance to properly break in the binding.

4) I pencil in my name and address inside the front cover of the book, I usually write a reward amount.

5) I start using it.

I use Moleskines for a number of different things. I keep a reporter squared pocket size for work, I use it for all of my odds and ands notes. todo's etc. I follow David Allen's GTD workflow and this pretty much serves as my capture device. I use the Cahiers and Volants for specific writing things. I keep them for prayer journals, poetry books, quotes, story and writing ideas. I even use them to track the mileage on my car. They fit great in the glovebox.

I became addicted to the Volant series of Moleskine notebooks nearly the day they were available. Ironically, they discontinued production of these so I bought up as many as I could afford and pleaded with corporate to bring them back into production. They sent me a number of packets of old stock for free (shipped direct from Milan) with apologies that they had gone out of production. Some of the packs they sent were labeled for sale in Germany and other places. I recently saw on the Moleskine website that the Volant (means nimble) is being brought back into production. Just yesterday I e-mailed the company telling them thank-you. The company I buy them from here in the USA cannot get them yet though. 

I give Moleskines as gifts to friends, I use them for everything I can, and I even surf the web reading blogs and stuff about what other people do with them. I thought that when I went on my medicine for OCD I would find out that this too was just another OCD-driven compulsion. It is not, I still like them.

Pens vs. Pencils in my Moleskins?

In my journals I use pencils because I enjoy the freedom to write anything I please knowing that I can always go and erase it later if I am afraid of someone reading it. Otherwise I use pens, my favorite pens so far are Fisher Space Pens. Small, high-quality, and skip free. The ink seems to do very well on the Moleskine paper. I do a bit of watercolor in a Moleskine sketch book and I now see they have released watercolor paper filled books too. 

Not Riding...

So I am sitting at home sick. I actually just had to pause in my typing so I could sneeze. I am really wishing I was feeling better. The new machine in my garage is calling to me. I wish I was out riding it. Of course, my legs and butt remind me every couple of minutes that they are desperately trying to prepare for the long rides I am planning for this summers commute.

In what I think was a desperate internal plea for resolve, I taped 4-sale signs up in my 1969 VW yesterday and parked it out on the main road for visibility.

I have already lost 2 pounds since I got the tricycle. That is something.

the lawn chair itself

This photo linked from: http://www.wizwheelz.com

My Speedy Lawn Chair

Yesterday... I picked up my new TerraTrike. also known as my "speedy lawn chair." I ordered it a week ago from Angletech in Woodland Park. As far as customer experience goes I really appreciate Kelvin's low-key "welcome you into the fold" style of salesmanship. He is a teacher at heart, I say this not because of anything he said to me but as a teacher myself I recognized this in him. The week I waited to get the trike was one of the longest week's of my adult life. It was worth the wait. The first ride I took on it was with Dawby on my lap. We drove it up the block and back, try doing that on a mountain bike. 

I have made a few minor adjustments to the trike since I got it, adjustments like switching from 1 small rear view mirrors to two larger ones. I have added a small aluminum rack to the rear of it and mounted a small set of waterproof panniers (bags, I know sounds like a funny name for underwear). 

My plan has been to commute from home to work on this bike 90% of the time this summer. i am realizing tow things though after about three nice rides on it so far this weekend. 

1) I am out of shape. 

2) I am out of shape. 

3) I am out of shape, but riding this thing is going to get me into better shape.

I am not sure exactly how long the commute will take me each day. My average speed seems to be around 11 MPH (unless I really get myself huffing and puffing).  My entire commute is 16.31 miles one way according to Google Maps Pedometer.  I have been watching the weather to see if I will be able to ride on Monday to work. I'd like to start my workday at about 7:30 and I think I should plan a worst-case-scenario commute duration (for this first ride) of 2 hours. So... I need to leave home by 5:30. I truly expect that as I get into better shape I will be able to do the commute in just over an hour. A co-worker of mine (Dale) rode his upwrong bicycle almost all summer last year and he lives in my area. He said that it takes about 1.5 hours for him to get to work and 1 to get home. Looking at the pedometer there seems to be a slight altitude increase to work. I am guessing that this accounts for the difference in duration for his commute.

I joined an online community for Recumbent cyclists called Bent Rider Online. I have already gotten a bunch of great advice related to rain gear and stuff for riding in wet weather.

Seems like a great resource so far.

Done!

It feels so good to be done. I just walked around and said goodbye to everybody and to my amazement there were only two people in the entire office I did not know.

It is hard to say goodbye but I am ready to go home.

Last Class

In less than an hour my last class session in Australia begins. This has been a very rewarding trip. Difficult to be away from home for so long but I know that I have grown through the experience.

Just got back from having fresh fish on the dock. Fish-n-chips mmmm....

This morning as I rode the train into the office I was reflecting on the fact that it was my last commute here. Many of the faces on the morning train had become familiar and a co-worker (Eddy) had even become a riding partner who occasionally shared a bench and a conversation with me in the morning.

This morning in prayer groups, it came to mind just how special the "mateship" (Australian for friendship) has been with so many of the people here. I know that I am loved by people in Australia.

G'day!

Dune

I realized that I hadn't really posted any photos of myself. Here I am in front of the shipwreck.

Stockton Beach and Nelson Bay

Started the weekend off with a bit of tourist shopping. Got to get surprises for the kids and Aussie stuff for people back home. Saturday, Mic picked me up in his 4x4 and we headed to Stockton Beach NSW for a bit of off-roading. I forgot my camera so the photos you will see are linked from Wikipedia. We shot several photos with Mic's camera and he is burning me a CD. I saw my first shipwreck from here. IT is called the MV Sygna and about half of it has been sitting on the coas since the seventies.




We spent a couple of hours off-roading in the dunes. The sand is beautiful white and very smooth.

Here you can see a photo of the beach that seems to run forever. We stopped and swam for a bit but there were bluebottles (jellyfish) all over so we had to be careful. I got a bit too much sun.


Sunday I attended church with Kerrie and Rick former YWAM missionaries. They are really great people who I enjoyed getting to know. It was a nice casual service and the pastor has a real heart for the lost.

Later they drove me to Nelson Bay to get some fish-n-chips. I love this opportunity to get so much fresh seafood. For dessert I had some Tiramisu ice cream.... MMMMMM...

We worked off the deep fried food (and sweets) with a nice hike up one of the local lookouts. Here you can see Rick and Kerrie on the trail that is paved with nice bricks most of the way up. It reminded me of the yellow brick road.




Starting about half way up there were very large scary spiders hanging over our heads, I tried to get some photos of them but only one turned out very well. If you look at the photo below you can see one hanging from the tree. At one point in the hike, the realization of how many spiders were over me that I wasn't even aware of game me a full-body-shiver.

When you get to the top of the lookout, the view is spectacular. See the photo below.


I tried to get a quick video of some of the view as well. This is a pretty popular place for whale watching. I saw a couple of dolphins on the way down.





After this hike I was soaking wet with sweat. The humidity was so high you cannot help but get sweaty. The cool think though was that unlike in Colorado if you get the least bit out of breath it only takes a couple seconds to catch it again. Gotta love sea level oxygen.

We walked through the touristy area of Nelson Bay and I enjoyed looking at the boats on the docks.




As I am pasting this post to the web (Monday morning) the Superbowl is beginning in the US (Sunday evening) Go Giants!

Training Continues... Jetlag Picks Up

The last couple of days I seem to not be able to get enough rest. I have been sleeping poorly and have been incredibly tired. I think the time difference is really kicking in now. I never feel like the clock is right.

Classes have been going pretty well. Next week I have a bunch of new material that I will be covering so I will be spending much of the weekend preparing for this.

The Heat... It is hot... too warm... and sweltering

Last night I slept terrible. Seems like if you are too cold at night it is easy to get warmer but when you are too hot you just cannot cool off. I think there was something wrong with the air conditioner because even though it was fully cranked up to5 degrees (c) and it ran all night the room was so hot. It was even hotter outside though. I got maybe a total of 1 or 2 hours of sleep. Plus, the mozzie (mosquito) bites from this weekend had fully progressed to the point of full-itchiness. I got a couple on the top of my left hand that are driving me crazy. I forgot to mention that when I was in the bush this weekend I got a leech on my butt. Yeah not fun.

Leech bites are worse than mozzie bites and they are all over the grass waiting to grab a hold of you and crawl up your leg. I saw a few of them on a branch and they walk along using each end of their bodies as a leg of sorts. They find the nicest warm spot they can and latch on. When they bite you they inject some sort of blood thinner so that they don't even need to suck the blood out of you like a mozzie would, your own heartbeat just fills their little bellies for them. The wound they leave itches soooo bad. The photo below is about what they look like.

Adventures this weekend

This weekend was quite busy. I started things off with a morning of sleeping late on Saturday. Then I did a bit of shopping and got sick on a chicken sandwich. I went to church with a guy from work (James) where the sermon was quite good.

I taught James how to make "Judgment Burgers" (a favorite college meal).

Sunday night I swam at Newcastle beach.

Monday was a public holiday so I went with Mic and his family to the bush. See video below.

Crickets for Lunch

For lunch I sat down with a bunch of the guys in the office to watch a cricket game. This is a game that gets played for 5 straight days up to 8 hours a day. One game. I really do not understand what they see in this game. :)

Greetings from one of my classes!

Here is one of my classes saying hello. Especially to my wife. I shot this at the end of one of the class coffee breaks.

The Trip is Getting Long...... It is well with my soul.

Well, right now it is Friday morning here. I have nearly completed 1/3 of the entire training program for Australia. My voice is tired so I will be looking forward to the weekend. My feet are very tired too, standing all day for training then walking to the train station and then from another station to my hotel is quite a bit of exercise. The weather has been very humid lately. Looks like it might rain today. This humidity reminds me of being in the Dominican Republic.

Last night I went over to Mic's house and had dinner with his family. His children are very sweet. It is so cute to hear his 2 year old girl talk with an Australian accent. She likes all the same things that my daughter likes, she has Dora the Explorer on everything. Their 4-year old son reminds me of my son Braydn. He even got his Cars (movie) toys out and showed me all of his collection.

They served pumpkin as part of dinner, it is baked and quite good. Turkey was the main dish and I think they went out of their way to make me feel at home. I really love them. My wife would be instant friends with Mic's wife. They have a lot in common. For dinner they got a special Australian treat. I think it is called Pavlova. Basically it is a crispy meringue that is baked until it is nearly the consistency of a cookie, then there is a custard put in it after backing and it is covered with exotic fruits. It was amazing. The meringue melts in your mouth. It was awesome.

A minute or two after I stepped into their house, I saw a photo of Wess Stafford (Compassion President) with their children displayed on their wall. My family has known Wess for some time now so it felt as if even through his we were friends already.

I just found out this morning that I missed hearing Dawby say "DADA" - his first word. I cried when I heard about this.

If you are reading this blog please lift my wife in prayer as I could tell she is feeling discouraged about my being gone. She is working on enrolling Braydn in a kindergarten today. There wasn't anybody available to watch the kids for her so she is having to run all over town with the kids and get the paperwork finished.

It is hard being home but I know God is building me through this experience. I continue to get great feedback on how the training is going and I know God is using me here to further his kingdom.

Well I have been in the office now for nearly a half hour and I am still pretty much the only one here.

One thing I rally like about this place is they start every morning off with prayer groups, I have been assigned the team that refers to itself as, "The Sons of Thunder." We read a passage from Mark each day and then lift one another and this ministry in prayer. This has been a time of strengthening for me.

Australian Pizza, Trains, Toilets, Cash and The Date

Last night I stumbled on a "ma and pa" pizza shop. I ordered an "Americana" pizza. It had ham and onions on it. The ham was shredded as if it had been run along a cheese grater and was practically the same texture as the onions. After putting the sauce on the crust they put nearly an inch of ham and onion shreds on the pizza, then they add a think layer of cheese that becomes browned and crusted. The cheese doesn't even make contact with the crust except for at the edges. The result is an almost sandwich like pizza experience. Oh yeah, and the large was the size of an American small.

I have been riding the train to work, you can tell that the train system is really meant for locals. There really are no signs or anything telling you which train goes where you are going. I find myself asking locals which train goes to Warabrook in order to get on the right one, and you'd think it was the train on a certain platform, that is never consistent either. The ride is nice. I am rather surprised to see the graffiti on the walls in the train track areas. It looks like it was lifted directly from Los Angeles suburbs.

Toilets here tend to have two separate flush buttons. One does a half flush the other does a full flush. I have not had the courage to ask anybody yet but I am assuming this is for when you have differing levels of need. :) I guess if you do a number 1 you use handle number one, a number 2 would call for handle number 2. Most public toilets seem to have walls that have no cracks where people can see through, they are very private with higher doors etc. Also, they mostly seem to have an indicator that changes on the door to tell people that the stall is occupied. I wish we had that.

The paper money is not made of paper here. It is made of plastic, Nearly all of the cash seems absolutely pristine. It lasts forever and even if you fold it it takes it's original shape again after a short time. The smallest note is a 5 dollar bill, they have coins for everything smaller and there is no penny coin, everything is charged to the nearest 5 cents. this makes it very easy to deal with the change. The 2 dollar coin is about the size of 3 dimes if they were glued together. The one dollar coin is the size of two quarters if they were glued together. there are no quarters but they have 20 cent coins and 5 cent coins and none of the sizes make any sense at all.

The system for writing a date here is different from the US. I knew this coming here as many other countries use the same system. I think I prefer this format now that I am used to it.

Classes and Such

Thought I would post an update on how classes are going. I have held a total of 2 of them so far. To me it is lunch break on Tuesday right now. I am getting ramped up to teach another session this afternoon. Overall, everything is going pretty well. I was worried that all of my silly little jokes that I tell during class would not translate. I like to keep my students laughing because they learn and stay engaged at the same time. Well, lets just say that not only do most of my "jokes" translate well (and by jokes I mean that I just kind of make fun of things as I go, it is not like I have a comedy routine I use each time or anything) but I am finding that a lot of the things I say that were not intended to be funny come off as funny. My only concern is that sometimes I think it is funny in a bit of a off-colored way. Oh well, all in innocence.

I am having a good time teaching over here. Honey, can I apply for a job here? Feel like moving to the other side of this planet? :)

I have a really cool office here (better than in Colorado). I am posting a video of the classroom I am teaching in and my office below.


My Australia office (notice the solid glass wall that joins the patio, I love this feature).




The classroom

When God Shows Up

I just got back from a jog on the beach. I ran nearly a mile up the coast hoping to see the sunrise. When I got up to Nobby's beach I stood in the surf (my shoes are soaked) and had some amazing quiet time with God. I think that the sunrise was probably one of the most beautiful sights i have ever seen.

God is so good.

Clip of the beach my first morning in Australia

The cool moist breeze felt very good on my face. It was too cloudy to see the sunrise but I am sure I will catch one one of these mornings. I found a good place to go for a morning swim. They call them the ocean baths and it is basically a seaside pool that is ocean water. The point is that it protects you from the waves.





There were a few people out walking and running on the seaside walkway. I ran into a guy from work (in Colorado) who was out for a run.

Off to head to work in just a bit.

In Newcastle...

I got into Sydney and was immediately impressed with how nice everybody is. People do not relate to each other here the same way people do in big cities.

I went with Mic up the "mountain" here in the area. A quick hike but I got a couple of great photos. I also ran into a couple of the kids friends while I was up there.

More tomorrow.

Mr. Monk, Don't Panic! Your Tickets are Confirmed.... Sort of...

So I stop over by my supervisor's desk at around1:45 or so and tell him that I will be trying to scoot out of the office a bit early so I can get started packing etc. and he wishes me well. Then, I get back to my desk and realize that the itinerary for my trip that I had in my OneNote notebook is the wrong itinerary. I scramble to get a hold of the... corporate travel agent and eventually get a photocopy of the ticketing information... Problem solved right?


Wrong. I just got off the phone, (literally half way through writing the last paragraph the phone rang) it was the corporate travel agent. "Boy is God watching over you, Matthew!" she said. Sooo, somehow some sort of a mix-up made it so that my flight/tickets got canceled. Now I will be leaving earlier about 6 hours earlier, and getting there 2 hours later than originally planned. Plus one of my connecting flights goes through Vancouver now too. Thank God for a travel agent who catches this sort of thing before it is too late.

View from across the harbor

I just found this great photo of central Newcastle as seen from across the harbor. It was posted on Wikipedia. I am pretty excited to see this beautiful city.

2 Days... Houston...

Actually, Los Angeles, Sydney, then on to Newcastle. I cannot believe all of the preparations needed to get ready for a trip like this. You got to get prescriptions early, (thank the Lord I remembered that) get bills taken care of ahead of time. Find a proxy for meetings that will be missed...

Thought I'd share something I am planning on doing for my kids while I am gone. I cam going to take one of each of their small stuffed animals on the trip with me. I may be including them in some of the photos and stuff you will read on this blog. That way each of them has a friend who has traveled with Daddy even when they could not.

This morning my friend Richard called me after having read through the book "Dinner With a Perfect Stranger" it is a really great read if you have not read it before. It is a fictional story of a man in modern day America who gets an invitation to supper with Jesus. The conversation between them is intriguing as most Christians and even many non-believers have thought it would be amazing to have a conversation with Jesus face-to-face.

4 days and counting...

This Friday I embark on my trip to Newcastle NSW. I am heading over there to hold a training event for 3-weeks. This blog site is where I plan to write all of the details on what I am doing and stuff.

Stay posted!