Cloudy Days of Winter

This past week was an okay week. It was long for a four day week, but okay none the less. These winter weeks are tough sometimes, however. There is not a lot of sunshine on some of these days, and I (Ryan) struggle with seasonal depression. I don’t take medication for it, simply because I never want to have to take a pill to be happy. If I would admit there have been times in the past when I should have sought medical attention for it. But I am much more able to cope with it these days. It seems to subside much quicker as I get older, and I have learned ways to ignore it.

Enough about that! Hmmm, what else is going on? Amy and Cassidy went to the library today. Cassidy loves going to the library. We both want to encourage her to have a love for books. We believe this will develop into a love for learning.

Sad news on two fronts this week. First, Amy’s brother and sister-in-law got divorced. It seems like that is happening more and more these days. Love and marriage are both commitments. The feeling comes and goes. People think that just because they don't “love” each other anymore means that it must be all over. How sad. Second, a young man from the area got killed in Iraq. His girlfriend (fiancee) was a student at Mt. Vernon High School. Many of my students knew this young man, and they were all pretty upset about it. This was hard, but as a Christian I have quite the different outlook on death. God has our number, regardless of where we are at. What matters is rather or not we are ready, not where we are at when it happens. I hope this soul was ready to depart. This young man served his country. What a great honor! I can only hope that when my number is called I too am found doing something so worthy.

Happy thoughts? Hmmmm, the school board voted this week to build a new school. Big big step. Much more must go into this for it all to happen, but it looks very promising! Just a few years ago people were saying it could never be done. With God, all things are possible! Let's keep praying for this community!

Pregnancy Update

Due date: March 9th
Current Week of 40 total: Week 33, day 3
Next Doctor’s Appointment: January 23

Progress: Not much to report. Amy is still having a good amount of discomfort. She has been having some pains in her side. She thinks this is normal. We are really trying to decide on a name. Amy still wants “Ruthie.” We both retain veto power, and I’m afraid I will veto this. Mainly because I know someone named “Ruth” who is (in my opinion) an evil woman. We are still tossing around "Tayla." We both like it, but unfortunately it is a Native American name that means “Wolf.” I’m not sure I want my daughter to have a name that means “wolf.” That leaves us with “Callie.” We both like that name. We had thought about naming Cassidy that, but our dental assistants name is Callie. I think we can both deal with that now. Hmmm, this is really hard.