Conservative Papa

Jury Duty, originally uploaded by Michael Sallmen.

Monday I waited in a jury selection pool. At 9:30, they told us to come back in an hour because the judge was still knocking out cases. At 11:40, they told us to eat lunch and be back at 12:45. How efficiently they waste so many people’s time! By 1:00, the judge came and apologized for the long wait, but they cleared 41 cases with guity or no contest pleas. They let me go by 2:45 without selecting me.

Five years, three children, and more fun than a human being should be allowed to have!

This date will forever be branded in my memory. As a nine-year-old, the Loma Prieta earthquake really shook me up. I was convinced the Rapture was in progress. In the following days, I remember being impressed with a great peace and sense of God’s presence.

There were myriad aftershocks. For weeks afterward, one of us would shake the dinner table just to see if anyone would jump up to find cover!

Here are a few more pictures:

An upper deck section of the San Francisco Bay Bridge fell onto the lower deck.

Another double-deck structure, the Cypress viaduct, was the site of loss of life and heroic rescues.

I’m an uncle again! My brother joins me the in the father-of-two-boys-and-one-girl club. His first daughter, October, was born just this morning. At 7 pounds, 11.6 ounces, and 20.5 inches she seems to be quite healthy! Carolyn’s sister has two daughters, but somehow it feels special to have “my own” niece, now. Paul should post more details on his blog once he gets out of the hospital, but I couldn’t wait to break the news.

Carolyn usually says goodbye when I leave for work with the words, “drive safely.” Andrew has picked up the phrase and uses it as a mantra to the extent that I wonder whether I might be going to work as a crash dummy!

Today, after a “drive safely” admonition, Andrew reminded me that I should ask a policeman if I have any questions. Also, he assured me, a tow truck would tow my car away should I happen to get into an accident.

Last week, I was trying to watch the children while their mother grabbed a few much-deserved Z’s. Isaac became fussy, probably wanting to eat, I reasoned. Trying to delay the inevitable waking of Mama, the Maker of Food, I set him up in the baby swing. No dice. Isaac kept fussing.

Andrew and Esther knew what to do. They covered him with their ample supply of McDonald’s Beanie Baby bears. Before I knew it, Isaac was asleep!

Here we are in the operating room. A nurse offered to take our picture. For those who just have to know, Carolyn is still being put back together behind the drape!

The name Isaac means “laughter,” and Isaac is well on his way to living up to his name. Nathanael means “gift of God” or “God has given.” The modern spelling is Nathaniel, but we chose the New Testament spelling. Nathanael is the name of one of the Twelve Apostles. Jesus said of Nathanael, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” We hope that Isaac Nathanael will have a similar reputation. (more…)

Salary.com has a special salary wizard for mothers. I threw in some numbers and calculated an annual salary of about $250,000 for Carolyn. Since she often does more than one job at once, I didn’t bother making sure the number of hours worked only added up to the amount of time that she is awake. Hey, she’s on duty when she’s sleeping, anyway! I think the number of hours I threw into the wizard added up to just about 24/7. Here’s the data:

Oh, and there is a “Dad” calculator. I threw in some numbers for me and came up with over $160,000.

Yesterday morning, I walked into the kitchen singing, “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!” in my just-got-up bass voice. Andrew walked in after me and said, “I hear you like a cow.” Not sure what he meant, I asked my three-year-old to explain. What he meant was, “You sound like a cow.”

Later I told this story to my dear wife. “No comments from the peanut gallery,” she giggled. Not even my family appreciates my great talent. Shows the thanks I get for making breakfast!

Moooooo!