First some background:

We’re sitting at lunch recently when a table of women next to us is engaged in conversation about each of their “baby’s daddies.” As in: “My baby’s daddy went to the market. My baby’s daddy stayed home.”

We’ve noticed this trend for some time and feel comfortable identifying this as an actual “thing”. Kind of like “hottie” entered the American lexicon to stay (at least for awhile), “my baby’s daddy” is set to make a move.

Fast forward to today. We’re eating lunch at the Original Pancake House (today was “O”), and the waitress has an issue with us. Two people ordered “french toast Charlene” and got “french toast”. When we informed her, she said, “Oh, I didn’t hear you say ‘almond'”. (The full, proper name for this dish is Cinnamon Almond Nut French Toast Charlene. She was somewhat indignant that the proper name wasn’t used when ordering.) While she was off fixing this issue, I noticed that the eggs I ordered (“over easy”) weren’t just runny, they were basically clear covered with a marginal layer of white. In other words, they weren’t cooked at all. So I pointed this out when she returned. She replied, “Didn’t you say ‘over easy’?”

“Well, yes,” I replied, “but I did want them cooked.” She huffed and went away. When she brought them back (cooked, this time), she said, “Is this how you wanted them?”

“Yes, this looks fine,” said I.

“Well that’s ‘over medium’.” She turned away before I had the opportunity to thank her for the egg etiquette lesson.

This got us to wondering about the worst possible list of people to be chastised by. I immediately offered “waitress” as a possibility. Someone chimed in “parking lot attendant.” Someone else added “bathroom attendant.” And then Ben said, “Jerry Springer.”

We spent the rest of the time trying to think of anyone worse to be chastised by then Jerry Springer. What could he possibly have to pass on to anyone else as a usable life lesson? And that somehow turned into a Jerry Springer episode: “I married my brothers baby’s daddy.” I laughed until I cried.

Incidentally, I’ve been unable to find any reference anywhere to “eggs over medium” and – believe me – I’ve looked. For those interested, here’s a link that’s all about eggs. And if that’s not enough, whip out the vinegar and make yourself a naked egg. Very cool.

Since we’ve been growing our family at a faster rate than our house will support (having twins can do that), we’ve been looking for a new place to call home. I don’t know if you’ve done this lately, or if it was a frustrating experience for you, but here’s the general problem:

The houses that we love; we can’t afford.
The houses that we can afford are either too small, need too much work, or are in neighborhoods that are questionable.

So this has been going on for some time, and let me tell you, it’s been very frustrating. Until this morning.

This morning, I heard a story on the radio about home prices in California. Now, I’ll readily admit that living in California has certain benefits not found here in Indiana. The ocean comes to mind. The weather, hills, and redwoods, too. But factoring in all of the good stuff with all of the bad (like O.J., earthquakes. mudslides), I can’t imagine living there.

It’s recently been reported that only 18% of the population in California can afford a median-priced home, and the average home price has now topped $500,000. Lest you think otherwise, the amount of house that half a million buys isn’t much.

So, all in all, while the plight of Californians isn’t really making this process any less frustrating for me, it does help to put things into some perspective.

From my Dad:
This evening, the wind blows in across the Neuse River and lights on the front windows of our home. It is unlike the southerlies that come in summer or the harsh wind from the north that chills us in winter. It is more of a welcoming to spring or the coming summer that we have waited for seemingly forever. Warmth! It promises warmth! As soon as it has passed, our lives will turn to the south in anticipation of the life enhancing rays of warmth.

If we could look forward to anything with greater eagerness, what might it be? Perhaps the shining faces of our grandchildren’s next visit? Maybe the pleasure of a fine golf course with mature grass and manicured greens? Hauntingly, the soft touch of our lover’s hand at bedtime? Such thoughts are these!

What do we want? What do we need? We have all that we could wish for in a lifetime. Sometimes, we think of what might come after we pass from this earth because we find it difficult to imagine that anything could be finer than what we have had here. Could it be? And will we know it?

So many questions. So few answers! But how happy we are that we can experience what is here and now. All of life is not so cheerful, but when we contemplate all that we have done, we feel that we have had the best of it all. If there is more beyond this, then we hope that we will have prepared ourselves for the better part of it.

But for now, we will wait for the southerlies.

Have you heard the story of Donald Herbert, the New York firefighter who very suddenly — after almost ten years without speaking — sat up and said, “I want to talk to my wife”?

Donald had been very seriously injured in December, 1995, when the roof of a burning building collapsed and pinned him underneath. Experts estimated he was without oxygen for six minutes. Over the past ten years, Donald has been almost completely blind and struggling with rehabilitation. His memory was nearly completely gone; he was unable to recognize family and friends, and he had very little ability to communicate. In fact, simple monosyllable responses were all he could muster, and those were exceedingly infrequent. Until Saturday.

On Saturday, Donald suddenly came to life. He sat up and told a member of the nursing staff that he wanted to talk to his wife. When they called his house for him, his 13-year-old son answered the phone. “Impossible,” thought Donald, “he’s not old enough to talk.” Donald spent the next 14 hours talking almost incessantly and was up most of the night visiting with his family and friends with whom he had been suddenly reacquainted. Some of them he recognized by their voices, even though he hadn’t remembered hearing them for a decade.

Doctors are a little baffled. Though these cases are extremely rare, they do happen, often without any known impetus. People do sometimes emerge from the most remarkable situations and, in some cases like Donald, show little signs that anything was ever wrong.

Welcome back, Donald. I’m thrilled for you and your family. May God continue to bless and keep you.

We’ve been playing “the guessing game” quite a lot around the house recently. Since I first introduced this little gem to Lily, she can’t seem to get enough. Here’s how it works: Someone thinks of something and offers clues to the rest of us. “I’m thinking of something purple” or “I’m thinking of a food that is yellow” or “I’m thinking of something white and cold inside.”

If Lily is offering the clues, they generally run along the lines of “this girl with long blond hair pricked her finger on a spinning wheel”, or “this girl went into the woods and found a cabin”, or “this girl has red hair and swims in the ocean.” Essentially, all of her clues are about girls from stories, most often a princess of some sort.

For Jack, though, things are different.

“It flies” is the only clue that Jack provides. From this clue, the answers are usually Buzz Lightyear, a kite, a duck, or an archaepteryx, which everyone knows is a flying dinosaur. When you guess right he says, “That’s right! It is an archaepteryx! Good job, Lily!”