Year / 2008

by Greg

Too Much

The word of the day in the Campbell home is “busy.” It’s been the word for many days, many weeks, and even many months. We know some of the causes (one being that we have five children, one of whom is an infant) but we just keep scratching our heads when we look at what life is now, and think about what it used to be. How did we get here?

I left the house this morning to take a quick trip to the library to return a DVD. My plan was to drive, but when I stepped out the door, I realized I had left my keys inside. I debated for a few moments whether to go and retrieve them, or to just go for the walk to the library I had originally wanted to take. (I had reasoned that feeling short for time, it would be better to just drive.) I eventually decided to just walk, as the circumstances seemed to dictate.

On my walk (which was begun at a hurried pace) I was greeted by our 4-year-old neighbor girl from her window where she was eating breakfast. I said hello with a smile, but kept on going. As I turned the corner, I was greeted by several more people just enjoying a nice morning sit on their porches. I began thinking, “Man… I wish I could do that…”

As I got to the library, I saw that they have placed a couple rocking chairs on the front porch. All I wanted to do when I saw them was sit in them with a nice book, and maybe a cold iced tea. Don’t you? Why is there no time to just sit, relax, and enjoy some quiet time? Is it just me?

I don’t think that it is.

These thoughts have been bothering me for a good long while now. We continue to feel rushed almost every day of our lives. Whether it’s just taking care of the kids, or me trying to balance work for around fifty different clients, or any of the various other endeavors I have undertaken (my Buffalo Bills website, or this blog, among others)… there’s always something to do. It can even be fun, relaxing stuff like home projects, just playing games, and/or visiting with friends and family, etc.

There’s just always a lot to do.

We have been pretty social of late. Whether visiting friends or family locally, or semi-locally (we have family about 90 minutes away) or even chatting with friends online or over Facebook, there are plenty of people to keep in touch with. It’s amazing because, no matter how many people we get to spend time with, there are three more we didn’t get to. So crazy!

When I saw the rocking chairs today, I just wanted to go back to a time when there was no internet. Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love the internet. I think it’s just incredible. Instant information and communication right in your home. Really incredible. But I harken back to the days when the information you got was by word of mouth (so it traveled a bit slower) and the communication you had was with people within walking distance, or perhaps a horse-back ride’s distance. Much simpler times.

I think I am longing for that. For simplicity. Are you? Do you feel like you are stretched incredibly thin? We do not have a cell phone (just an emergency one) because we don’t really want to be accessible everywhere we are. But almost everyone else is. You can reach them anytime, anywhere. They are always “connected.” If not by regular phone calls, then by text messaging over the phone. The iPhone sure looks like a fun toy to me – seriously, amazing device – but I am not certain I want to be “connected” everywhere I go…

I scan the bookshelves in my house and just long for a free afternoon to sit and read and soak in and think along with other thinkers. I long to just relax and enjoy a quiet read. I long to just sit, really. Not always be doing. I am always doing. Even if it’s just fun.

So where does that bring me to? I haven’t officially decided yet, but I think I might be approaching a cease and desist of some sort. Temporary, as far as I can tell now, but still quite complete. Complete meaning, whatever I choose to cease and desist, I really will.

It could be any number of things. Facebook. Instant Messaging. Reading blogs. Reading other websites. Watching DVDs. Playing vintage video games. Playing Facebook word games. 🙂 Perhaps even blogging. (Though, probably not. Blogging is usually a great and necessary outlet for me when I finally get a chance to “take in” again.) I might even set aside a certain time of the day to read/reply to emails. That takes up a lot of time, too. I get emails every five minutes or so. And I usually read them right away. Whatever it is, I think I might start the C & D as early as Monday.

Should be an interesting experiment.

Would love to hear from anyone reading this who feels the same way. Are we too connected? Too much to do. Too many possibilities, informationally, entertainment-wise, relationally, etc? Or, am I overreacting, and perhaps a relic from a time long gone? Your thoughts are invited. Post below.

This weekend, I will be pondering all of this very much.

Hopefully not too much. 😉

[NOTE: Further proof that I am too busy? I began this post at 9:22 this morning. Distraction after distraction has kept me from finishing it. Argh.]

by Greg

Nacho Libre

So, I am not a fan of silly movies generally, but our friends talked enough about the movie Nacho Libre (and how much they loved it) that I eventually decided to watch it. Jen even did… mostly. 🙂 We watched it with them again this past weekend (at least, highlights of it) and it’s just hilarious. Silly. But hilarious. 🙂

Here’s a few good clips I found on YouTube 🙂

Encarnacion

Little Hug, Big Kiss

Fantastic

by Greg

A Subtle Difference

In a conversation with a friend yesterday regarding home schooling, I described our thinking on the matter in a way I don’t think I have previously.

You may recall from previous posts here that to us, home school is not school at home, but more a philosophy… a way of educating. It’s learning from every moment of life, rather than a more structured “this is school time” approach. It works well for us, and we have no intention (as far as we can see now) of changing the way we train/educate our children.

Some folks we know take a more “year by year” approach. Sometimes it’s based on the thought, “I’m not sure how long we (or I) can do this…” But others see participating in government schools as a “part of life” and see more benefit than detriment, especially when their kids are older.

What I realized yesterday – as the words came out of my mouth – was that for us, our kids’ “education” is not as much about schooling as it is about parenting. We “home school” (differently than most people we know) because we feel we are in the best position to train our kids how to live. There are many factors, but overall, it’s the way we parent, not just an “educational” choice.

So, for as far as we can see, we’ll keep doing it this way. You certainly can’t know what tomorrow will bring, but what we know now is that we love doing life together as a family, and learning and training as we go.

by Greg

12-21-12

Mayan CalendarFor some reason the topic of the world ending in 2012 came up in a conversation with a friend yesterday. So, I decided to look it up online and found a History Channel documentary from a couple years ago called Doomsday 2012: The End of Days.

It was pretty interesting stuff… There are several strange coincidences involving not on the Mayan calendar predicting the end of time on Dec 21, 2012, but a Chinese ancient book and a few other things. Even a computer program designed to predict the stock market has predicted major catastrophes accurately, and seems to predict the biggest one in the year 2012. There is even some astronomical event (the earth and sun will be perfectly aligned with the center of the Milky Way galaxy… which might be bad…) which supposedly only happens every 25,000 years or so.

That’s a pretty rare occurrence.

Jesus said we won’t know when the end is coming. I believe him. But all this stuff is quite fascinating, and I can’t wait till December 21st, 2012. 🙂 It will be funny when/if that’s just a normal day…

by Greg

Ads

You may have noticed that there is now a little rotating ad banner here at GregsHead.net? That was added (not all that easily!) yesterday to give the site a slightly new appearance, and to allow you – the reader – a chance to both find some great services we recommend, and support GregsHead at the same time.

The advertisers in the rotation will pay a commission on any sales generated after their ad is clicked. I personally picked all of these ads, and do use their services (and can recommend them). So, if you’d like to help out… click the link and check out what they have to offer.

Much appreciated.

by Greg

50

We got back late tonight from quite a party. It was a gathering of many old friends – and some new – to celebrate a milestone. Unfortunately, it’s rather rare these days, and not just due to “natural” causes.

Jen’s parents will be celebrating fifty years of marriage on June 25th of this year. Fifty. Not being alive fifty years, which is strange enough. Fifty years of being married.

In a recent conversation, it was brought up that Jen’s mom has been driving a school bus for thirty years now. That’s a real long time to do that. But, when I put to use my excellent math skills, I deduced that my mother-in-law had been NOT driving a school bus for TWENTY years prior to that 30-year feat.

My mortgage will take me 30 years to pay off. I am just slightly past 30 years on the planet. 30 years is a long time.

And then there’s 50.

Congrats to my second mother and father. Fifty years of living life together, and loving people together. They are quite good at it. The room was filled with people who have been loved by Jim & Carolyn, and the air was filled with many stories from those previous 50 years. And from all appearances, there will be many more to come.

Jen & I have only eclipsed ten years of life as one. It feels like longer – in a very good way. I can’t remember not being married to Jen. But we’re only a fifth of the way to where her mom & dad are this month. Incredible.

Life passes quickly – Tim Russert was gone this week in a heartbeat – but sometimes we get to enjoy it for a good long time. It’s good to stop and look back at all that has been and celebrate the good gifts God has given us.

Driving home tonight, I just felt like telling my family that I love them. I love who we the Campbells are, and I love being the dad of this family.

Fifty years seems far off now, but I bet these days now will seem like “just yesterday” when we get there.

On we go.

by Greg

A-Social, or Hyper-Social?

FacebookI have been spending a lot of time using Facebook of late.

Whether just playing word games with friends, or making use of their live, instant message chat feature, or just keeping in touch with friends however possible – I’ve been there.

I am a people person (as I have said before) and so it would make sense to find me at a “people” site. But is connecting with people on Facebook really a social activity?

We were talking with our friends about social networking sites, and how in a strange way they are almost a-social. It’s almost a way to keep from seeing people, and really interacting with them. By leaving a message here or there, or even using the real-time chat, some may consider that they are enjoying a relationship with another human being, and in a way they may be, but in reality, they are staying home and spending time on the computer instead of being with people.

My take on that was that I use Facebook to stay in touch with people I couldn’t otherwise, and to just add to the other communication I have with friends who are local. It’s another way to communicate.

What I noticed recently was that my time is spent very differently these days. I don’t do a lot of things I used to do. I was talking with Jen about that… what has changed? And the only thing I could figure was Facebook. I’ve been using it a lot, and that corresponds with the time I have not been doing other fun stuff I used to do. And that’s been fantastic. I have totally enjoyed keeping in touch with people I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to talk to.

And that’s what I think Facebook does for me. It actually is too social. 🙂 Maybe instead of a-social, Facebook is really hyper-social? You see, maybe we were only meant to relate to the people we could actually visit with in a given day? But now with electronic means of connecting – and Facebook makes that even easier! – I can have daily conversations with many folks I have met along the way in life.

That can fill up your time!

So, we’re feeling a bit busy lately, and maybe that is why. We’re hyper-social! Well, at least I am.

I may try a week or so without Facebook soon, and see what happens to my time. Could be an interesting experience.

But then, would that be a-social, or even anti-social? Would definitely be some sorta “social”. 🙂

by Greg

The Crying Wall

Earlier this week, after a big storm blew through, I noticed my wall was peeling! The paint on the 6-inch wall under my office window had bubbled up and was coming off! There was water under the paint somehow, so I tried to dry it off, but noticed it was still coming. I checked for leaks, but really couldn’t find any. It was just coming through the wall!

I peeled the paint off and tried to dry it up, and find the source. I figured it was the air conditioner, but there was nothing in on the unit itself, and nothing in the window track below it. The only “source” I could find was the bottom corner of the trim on the left side of the window. Somehow, the water was coming through the wood, and draining down into the drywall! It was beginning to erode away!

Later that day, I ventured out on the roof to see if I could find the source of the water. I could not. Nothing. Looked totally dry, and was covered by a roof above the window. It HAD to be coming from the a/c, but I couldn’t find any water on it either?!!?

A friend I was chatting with about this online said, “Maybe it’s one of those miracle walls.” Perhaps it was an appearance of the Blessed Virgin… but I couldn’t see her face in the wall… I considered perhaps demonic forces causing my wall to weep… but thought better of it.

But it was very confusing… 🙂

I finally decided to check the other side of the unit, and sure enough, it was wet on that side. Somehow the condensation was draining into the window track, through the wood trim, all the way to the other side. Tricky! I had not leaned the unit back enough, so a quick tilt did the trick.

I will need to plaster and paint now a bit. But, nothing too major.

But at least we figured out the source of the mysterious Crying Wall. 🙂

by Greg

It’s Transition Week

Julia and her Nuk

We go through this with most of our kids. Alex was the worst so far… he loved his Nuk. (Pacifier, binky, plug, whatever you call it…) But he only took a few days of screaming and he was free of it. It’s definitely hard work, and takes perseverance by us, the parents… and lots of love, hugs, and reassuring… but in the end it’s worth it.

Well, it’s Julia’s turn. She has gotten very whiny if her Nuk is not in sight, and we just felt like it was a good time to wean her of it… and actually, she’s doing pretty well so far!! She wants to “be a big girl” and is excited to show her Grandma this weekend that she can sleep (and go all day, too) without a Nuk! We’ll see if she can do it! So far two nights down, and she’s getting the hang of it!

It will be better for her, and all of us when the Nuk is gone… but…

She is pretty cute with it, no? 🙂