Making time to connect

Picking up on yesterday's post....Ever wonder how you can live with another person and not talk with him/her? Here’s a typical evening routine in the Hanson house.

She puts a kid to bed; I clean-up the kitchen.
She picks up toys, I check my email.
She reads her email, I pack my lunch.
She makes some tea, I do something for work.
Don't forget the TV.

Notice we’re near each other, but never close. We hear the other, but no one’s talking much. I call this a rut. We’ve been in one and I know we’re not alone. It’s easy, low energy, and often ‘comfortable.’ It’s consistency in a chaotic world.

Do you know what else? It’s bland as all get-out. We've been making a lot of effort that as we are doing different things, we'll steal just a moment for a hug or kiss or "I love you." We figure it's good for the kids to see this - even if Sophie finds it funny.

This is a hot topic for me so look for more posts about it.

January

Wow....where has Tim been? Sorry, ya'll - holidays keep one busy. Add to that the new time-wasting activity of Facebook, and blogs are so 2007.

Anyway, 2009 is off to a fun start.

Why? Well, I've been enjoying exploring some romance with Jennifer in our relationship. No juicy details coming here (this is a family blog). You don't realize how after a few years you forget some of the really simple little things that make you feel connected and appreciative of each other. And then have two kids on top of that and life becomes a blur.

One fun activity we're doing is the 40 Day Love Challenge through familylife.com. I get an email each day of something to do with my spouse - Jennifer.

So take a risk and 'wow' your mate. It's fun. I'll have another post soon with ideas for the creatively-challenged.

This is the relationship fire. Ooooh, aaah. Now grab your poker and move those logs around. Stir up that fire. Nice!

Verse of the day

"As in water face reflects face, so a man's heart reveals the man." Prov. 27:19

This is special verse for Jennifer and me. It basically, says that a man's heart reveals his true nature. It get's past the superficiality and goes to a person's actions; that's his character. Something like judging based on the content of a man's character (apologies to Dr. MLK Jr.).

I have always had a mental picture of a mountain lake, like this picture, with an incredible reflection.

There are more neat stories about how this verse has been a part of our relationship from early on, but many of them are Jennifer's and I'll let her share them if she wants to :)

What a game

OSU 34, Cal 21

Thanks to my brother-in-law who scored two tickets to yesterday's game, I got to witness one of the more memorable wins in Beavers football history. What a game!!!

There's not much more to say. It is so much more amazing being there in person.

This picture is the Pick Six by Keenan Lewis that sealed the game. It happened practically right in front of us (we were in the scoreboard endzone, four rows up).

What are people thinking?

Here is a sad story about what's going on in Nebraska - and a lesson in unintended consequences.

OMAHA, Nebraska (CNN) -- Nebraska officials said they're concerned about an apparent rush by parents to drop their teenage children off at hospitals before lawmakers change the state's troubled "safe haven" law.

Four children have been dropped off at Nebraska hospitals in the last two days.

The latest cases came on the eve of a special session of the Legislature on Friday to add an age limit to the law. On Thursday, a boy, 14, and his 17-year-old sister were dropped off at an Omaha hospital; the girl ran away from the hospital, officials said. A 5-year-old boy was left by his mother at a different hospital, officials said.
The day before, a father flew in from Miami, Florida, to leave his teenage son at a hospital, officials said.

"Please don't bring your teenager to Nebraska," Gov. Dave Heineman told CNN. "Think of what you are saying. You are saying you no longer support them. You no longer love them."
Nebraska's safe haven law was intended to allow parents to hand over an infant anonymously to a hospital without being prosecuted. Of the 34 children who have been dropped off at hospitals, officials said not one has been an infant.

All but six have been older than 10, according to a Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services analysis.

(acknowledgement to CNN.com)

Safe Haven law sounds good in theory, but the repercussions are significant. Perhaps these kids will be better off, perhaps not. There are all kinds of factors that precipitate each abandonment (let's call it what it is) - mental/emotional stress, economic crisis, abuse, drugs, alcohol, behavior problems, etc. But there is no good excuse for a parent to treat their child like this...not when there is so much help available in this country.

Frankly, I hope they track down the dead-beat parents. They should not get out of their parental duties, because of inconvenience. Pray for these kids to find better homes.

I'm a fan, but not that much

Jennifer told me that I should post something on my blog about how my favorite baseball team, the Red Sox, won their two recent World Series titles in years that we had a new child: 2004 and 2007. Last year, I watched the Red Sox win while we were in the hospital after Cole's birth.















This year, no Hanson offspring and no championship. Sorry Sox.

The Pensieve

Sometimes, when I have too many thoughts in my head, I wish I had one of these....













How great would it be to have your own, personal pensieve, just like Dumbledore?