Monday, September 12, 2005

Nothin' but Smiles

Today was the first morning at Crawmers where we didn't have tears, wails and clinging to mommy's body as she tried to leave for work. After a great Friday and reminding Cameron all weekend that he had school on Monday, I simply set him down when I signed in this morning and he led himself to the breakfast table and the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal that awaited him. No texts or emails from Ruth all day, and when I picked him up at 4:30 he had an excellent report... nothing but smiles all day long!

I should also add that tonight before bed, Cameron and I sang a "goodnight Bruce" and an "I love you Bruce" song after he simultaneously fed and terrorized the poor fish, poking at him wherever he swam. Then it was off to bed, (... "goodnight house...") where Cameron announced (for the first time ever) his book request for the evening: Goodnight Moon. So good night wishes all around.

Here's hoping everyone who gets FSN saw the great Beaver Game against Boise State on Saturday. Boise State was ranked 15th in the nation going into this season (... yah, I said it too... "huh?") and had something to prove after their pitiful season opener against the Georgia Bulldogs. The Beavers reminded the Broncos that they were in OUR HOUSE, and although they started slow, the game ended with a dramatic field goal by Serna to capture the game in its final seconds. Serna almost made up for his miss in the season opener at LSU last year. Almost. But what a difference a year makes; last year we were opening the season on national television in Louisiana... this year Louisiana is receiving national attention of a very different sort.

Courtney and her team did well in their meet in Eugene, placing third in the team scores. Courtney won third place in the beam. Not bad for a team of newbie level sixes in their debut event. We are especially excited and anxious for her winter "tour," as she actually has a meet in North Idaho at Coeur d' Alene. After cajoling them and stopping this short of begging them for ten years to make a trip up to NIdaho, we are finally going to get Mark and Charlotte up there. In the dead of winter, but hey, beggers can't be choosers.

Work continues to consume both of us during the daytime; it's hard to leave it at the office but having a 2.5 year old helps immensely. I am once again overwhelmed by the generosity of Central Oregonians who give of their blood, their time and their treasure. As of Friday, no fewer than $236,000 has crossed my desk for hurricane relief; this is just the money I personally have handled and doesn't include much of our district offices' reporting nor the people who live in our zip codes who donated online through redcross.org. When I think that this disaster is only two weeks old it helps put much into perspective: this incredible amount of money that I have forwarded and continue to forward to our National Headquarters represents more than twice our contributions to our local efforts for the entire fiscal year. That being said, our organization is under tremendous pressure in carrying out our mission and (just between me and the blog) our local staff is starting to feel this pressure. We do continue to receive incredible support from our donors, supporters and the media so morale remains as high as it can be for those of us who already put in 110% before the hurricane hit.

No word on the house permits. Can you believe final permit approval is the responsibility of one guy and he goes on vacation in three-week increments? Sheesh.

Have a great week, everybody!

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