Grandpa’s Obituary

~~~
Day’s Verse:
…But the humble will inherit the land
And delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

Psalm 37:11
~~~
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
~~~

Grandpa Sullivan’s obituary appeared in the Seattle Times today.

Amazing that 138 words can sum up an entire lifetime of living. The 138 words:

George F. SULLIVAN George Sullivan was born August 30, 1918 in St Paul, MN and passed away peacefully on March 11, 2009. He worked for the CCC before enlisting in the Navy at the start of WWII. His tour of duty included New Caledonia, Guadalcanal, New Guinea, and the Philippines. George earned a BS in electrical engineering from University of Minnesota and then applied it at Boeing Aircraft in Seattle until he retired in 1981. He was an avid bridge and chess player for many years. Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Marjorie, sons Greg and Joe, daughter-in-law Mare, and granddaughters, Katie (Ian Ferguson) and Colleen (Jordan Boye). Special thanks to the staff of Evergreen Hospice Center. A memorial reception will be held at Madison House, 12215 NE 128th Street, Kirkland on Tuesday, March 31 at 2pm. Continue Reading >>

California Trip, Part II

~~~

Day’s Verse:

A righteous man may have many troubles,

but the LORD delivers him from them all;

he protects his bones,

not one of them will be broken.


~~~

Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.

~~~

The day of the wedding, as I mentioned, we woke up at 3:30 am. This felt somewhat painful, having gone to bed some time after 10 pm the previous night. Fortunately, the 3:30 alarm was a mistake, so we were able to remain in bed a couple more hours. Unfortunately, I usually wake up permanently when I wake up at all, almost totally regardless of the time. I may have dozed off, but eventually we got up at around 5:30, since the bridesmaids at least had an excessive amount of primping to accomplish before the wedding commenced at 1:00 that afternoon. Continue Reading >>

At Sea Without a Paddle

~~~
Day’s Verse:
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:18
~~~
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
~~~

Life has been pretty rough lately. Since Grandpa Sullivan passed away two weeks ago — or perhaps even earlier, since the layoffs in mid-February — I have been on a stormy emotional ocean, buffeted here and there without any real say in the matter. First down into a trough with the news about Grandpa; I never had a really good cry about that. The work week was highly stressful and I forced myself to keep functioning. Then, just a week after that, we flew out to California for an emotional high point: Colleen and Jordan’s wedding! Time to be happy! And I was… but I also burst into tears when I forgot to put a bag in the overhead bin, a massive overreaction I ascribe to all the strong emotions swirling everywhere. When we got back from California, we found out that Ian was immediately starting shift work — another major low. I burst into tears again at life group last night and, after Ian left for work (at 9:00 pm, which is just not right), significantly dampened a good number of Kleenexes. The bed felt really big with only me in it. This morning I woke up, not to Ian’s watch, but to my nasty alarm clock. Continue Reading >>

California Trip, Part I

~~~
Day’s Verse:
Sing to the LORD, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.

For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Psalm 30:4-5
~~~
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
~~~

Because my safety is their priority, the TSA diligently confiscated this forbidden item from my bag in Logan airport:

Yogurt

But in two X-ray scans and one bag check, they cleverly missed this fine item, which I had forgotten about: Continue Reading >>

Motion Blur in California

~~~
Day’s Verse:
The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Exodus 33:14
~~~
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
~~~

Our whirlwind trip to California for Colleen and Jordan’s wedding is over. We spent two full days in Pasadena and most of two days traveling there and back. I will update with lots of details in the near future, but until then I leave you with an early-morning photo I took of a bus going by on Colorado Boulevard outside our motel. Continue Reading >>

Analysis of Peanut Butter-for-Crisco Substitution With a Cookie-baking Methodology

~~~
Day’s Verse:
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.

Psalm 33:22
~~~
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
~~~

Hypothesis
Really cheap, oily peanut butter is interchangeable with Crisco in peanut butter cookies.

Methods
Replace 1/2 C. Crisco with 1/2 C. peanut butter in cookie recipe. Prepare as directed otherwise.

Results
Before baking, cookie dough exhibits extreme crumblyness and requires heavy compaction to form into 1″ dough balls. Continue Reading >>

A Little Comedy

~~~
Day’s Verse:
I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

Psalm 27:13-14
~~~
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
~~~

The comedy show last night was, as expected, profane. However, we heard one joke I thought was funny. The comedian is also a pharmacist, and one time (he says) he had a 90-year-old lady come in. She bought condoms. She asked, “So, these things help protect me against disease, right?” The pharmacist said, “Yes.” “Good,” the lady replied, “Because my boyfriend is 92 years old and he has diabetes and glaucoma.” Continue Reading >>