No Baby No Cry.

Let's face it: Nobody in America likes to wait. We live in a hurried and fast-paced culture where millions of people need to "gitt'er done!". So we keep going at a furious pace without stopping. Why? Because there's no time. Or so we believe. Then God says says something like, "Oh, you want a baby, huh? Well, you're gonna have to wait on that one. And just when you think you can plan it, I'm gonna make that baby come when I want it to, not you."
These past few days if not weeks have been pretty tough on my poor, loving little wife. She's got aches and pains, and a baby kicking and punching her internal organs wondering why his room keeps getting smaller. And because I'm the useless male-type person, I have to sit back and watch this all unfold. Sure, I help her where I can. But short of pulling off her round little belly and strapping it on me, there's not much more I can offer her for that kind of discomfort. So we wait. My poor wife waits too. She's said things like, "Its weird, but I'm actually at a point where I'm ready to welcome the pain". I've seen her in labor before. I'm never going to know exactly how bad she feels in labor but from what I gather its probably equivalent to being stabbed repeatedly in the abdomen with a blunt screwdriver. In any case, we wait as patiently as we can. I know that God makes us wait so that when it all pans out, He can say, "See that. It was all worth it!"

When it rains it pours.

Obviously, my previous posting of my ToDo list shows that there's much to be done at work and such. I've been attempting to work extremely hard at getting as much done at the new school as I can before the baby comes. It seems that this task is not immune to setbacks. For instance:

-Discovering that Verizon decided to delay our internet connectivity in the new building to the end of the week, after last week telling us that it would be done by today at the latest.

-Also discovering that the computer which managed our school's grades, classes, etc. had a major melt-down which destroyed even the hard drive and data.

-Repeated crashes of our brand new phone system, which leaves us unable to call out or anyone else to call into the school (which, I might add, is less than ideal for one who expects that his wife can call at any time announcing that she's in labor).

-A giant move-in-day for the school which included a host of furniture and other items...all except my stuff which sits in the upper room of a church 2 miles away. For some reason, my dilligence in getting the network set up and the lab running afforded me not to be able to stand outside with a bullhorn announcing, "Hey, you forgot about MY stuff!".

-Really crappy Verizon wireless service that drops off of the face of the Earth each time I walk within 200 feet of the new building. Yet another way my wife CAN'T contact me in an emergency.

So what's to do? Panic? Strip naked and run down the middle of the street shooting a pistol in the air while screaming at the top of my lungs again? (Okay, maybe you weren't supposed to know about that incident?) No. I'm gonna do what David did, what Abraham did, what Moses did. I'm gonna trust God and dive in. Besides, I can't find my pistol.

I've seen some neat stuff in my life...

...but this artist is just amazing. Scroll down to see it all, and also how he does some of it.

Things to do before September 4th

1. Move server to new building
2. Set up server to manage/authenticate all users on network.
3. Learn how to properly do the second thing on my list.
4. Learn new phone system at new building.
   
5. Set up 2 wireless access points for BIC Church.
   
6. Install and re-image 25 desktop computers.
7. Add new student and teacher accounts to active directory group.
8. Create new group policies for staff.
9. Review/edit student group policy.
10. Add all teacher computers to the domain.
11. Set up new staff members with computers.
12. Install wireless access points in new building.
13. Set up teacher computer and networked printer at Sandhill Road Campus.
14. Find storage and move extra computers to storage.
15. Install computer clusters in several teacher classrooms.
16. Review and plan curriculum and lessons for Spanish 3
17. Review and plan curriculum and lessons for Spanish 4
18. Review and plan curriculum and lessons for Spanish 8th Grade
19. Review curriculum and plan lessons for Digital Photography Course
    
20. Review curriculum and plan lessons for Intro to HTML Course.
21. Review curriculum and plan lessons for Modern Tech Essentials Course
22. Review all School Technology Program Curriculum (Grades 7 and 9).
23. Assist Meg on the delivery of our second child.
24. See Simpsons Movie with Brock.
    

The Poll Results Are In!

And I've got all the evidence in the world now that nobody really reads my blog. I've figured that the 4 measly votes in 30 days is a pretty good indicator of that. Oh well. "At least I have job!"

Overwhelmed by females.

Yesterday we had a birthday party for our daughter, and it was then that I realized that my little girl is becoming more of a 'girl' each day. The picture above displays the remnants of Audrey's birthday cake. What is missing? The icing, of course. She only eats the icing. This, to me seems to be the obvious signs of feminine taste. As a young boy, I'd always eat the icing too, but I'd never let the cake sit there. Gotta eat the cake. Its a preference of quantity that has always dominated my taste buds to some degree. But my daughter (and my wife as well) would prefer quality, sweet pastries, and sugar in varying degrees. Oh, I sure win with my daughter's preference to fruit over ice cream. That's something I've handed on. But eating only icing off of the cake is not from me. I told Meg that next year I'm going to save money and buy her (Audrey) a tube of cake icing instead of a cake. I don't think she'd notice.

The Things that People Do

I may not be much of an expert when it comes to naming children. Although, with the exception of my father, everyone has like our daughter's name. Anyways, it seems that we now live in a world where no absolutes, self-expression, and moronic stupidity are prevalent. At least for people who decide to name their children things like "@". I'm not kidding. Check out the article here:

Naming kids weird things, like @

And while we're at it. How about these people who make couches out of things such as mousepads, old computers, fed-ex boxes and whatever else they dream up after dropping acid:

crazy mouse pad couch

The adventure of Mr. Sh@rts Head and his sidekick Miss P@nty Head

As we left our heroes, they were last seen stranded on the love seat pondering ways to save the universe. Unfortunately, Mr. Sh@rts Head and Miss P@nty Head had, once again, misplaced their sh@rts and p@nties, resulting in yet another spoiled adventure. Tune in next time when Miss P@nty head says, "Hey Daddy, what's that on your head?"

(Note: Actual spellings have been modified to protect the innocent.)

Harry Potter and Metaamphetamines

I have enjoyed reading the Harry Potter series. I borrowed book 7 from my friend this time, since I didn't think it would be smart to invest 20 bucks in another of one of the maybe 3 books that I own. Anyways, the thing about reading Harry Potter is that it has an addicting element to it. Once you pick it up, you just can't get enough. Its very hard to put down. So hard that in the past 3 days, I've been not been able to get into bed any earlier than 1:30AM. In fact, the past two days, I've been up to 3AM. This stinks when you consider that I am awoken on average by 7:30am by my darling 3 year old daughter. Let's face it, 4 and 1/2 hours of sleep a night is not healthy. So I'm guessing that my addiction to Harry Potter might be what it would be like if I was addicted to Meth. I'd get no sleep, feel a longing loss and mental pain from not being able to read/have it, while all at the same time feeling guilty about it all. I'm nowhere saying that I understand what it is like to be a Meth addict. Those people need love and compassion. However, I'm quite thankful that J.K. Rowling doesn't put out several Harry Potter books a year or I'd be destined for rehabilitation and intervention.

Camping Photos

This is old news to some people, but we actually did go camping a week ago and took some pictures. Here are some choice shots to share:

http://picasaweb.google.com/abjurina/Camping_8507

Overall, it was nice to rough it for a day, but next time we do it, we'll make sure: 1. our children have had decent sleep. 2. Meg is not 9 months pregnant 3. I don't have a head-cold 4. Its not upper 80's with 75% humidity. I think that if we work with those above guidelines we should be all set for next time.

New Photoblog Added

Okay, I may be way ahead of myself on this one, but I've decided to start my own personal photoblog. If you like photography or pictures, give it a look if you want.

http://jurina.wordpress.com/

Being who you want to be

One of my most favorite songs on a lyrical level is a song by Switchfoot called "This Is Your Life". I've posted the lyrics to this song on my blog here before: http://thejurinas.blogspot.com/2005/02/good-music-good-lyrics.html

I can't help to continue to look at my job and really feel blessed that God has led me where He has. I have so many friends and acquaintances who really struggle with what they want to do in life. I understand to some degree because I went through that same realization not too long ago. I thought I wanted to be a computer programmer. For two years I trudged through it, convincing myself that this is surely where God wants me. I lied to myself repeatedly with thoughts of contentment at what I did. The reality was that I was miserable. I wasn't "who I want to be". I wasn't making a big difference in the lives of others as I was with teaching. I missed the relationships. Looking back, I realized that I was being prepared through that experience to appreciate so much more my gifts and love for teaching and serving others.

So I guess this is the challenge for you. To borrow from Switchfoot: "This is your life. Are you who you want to be?"

Some Fun Worth Sharing

My cousin decided to share a relatively humorous SNL video that he found on the internet recently. I found it funny enough to share...along with some other skits some of you might enjoy:

(I take no responsibility for the 'other' links or ads that might be available on these sites.)

Taco Town:
http://danwho.net/mp/index.php?id=snl_tacotown

Baby Toupees:
http://danwho.net/mp/index.php?id=snl_babytoupee

Swedish Chef Ringtones:
http://danwho.net/mp/index.php?id=snl_swedishchef

Evangelism Linebacker:
http://www.sermonspice.com/cart/?p=product&id=722

The Blonde Antelope:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3728266100951844857