Anybody know any Christians in South Korea? Specifically, we'll be in Seoul. I'd love to get in touch early.
Thanks!

It's unofficial (but inevitable). We're going to Yongsan Army Garrison in Seoul, Korea. Still deciding whether to do 1 year or 2. Obviously a neat opportunity for the family to get some exposure to a very different culture, but it's a bit scary - not least because it's an army installation instead of an Air Force one. Still no idea what the job will actually entail, but we shall see. God certainly cares for us, and He certainly does it in His own way as His wisdom dictates. I am, in some ways (mostly future ways), excited to see what He has in store for us. Pray that He will continue to bless us, and that we will be reminded that He knows what He's doing. And make travel plans - you can get free lodging in Korea starting this summer!
We will have family somewhat locally, in Okinawa. He and his new bride are headed there in April, or a little later if they can't get Zap (their Husky) over in a timely fashion...

Is rampant. Take for example, the innocent, lovable Dr. Seuss classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
Loveable Who village. Sweet Cindy Lou who. Christmas Carols even with no food or presents.
But a careful reading reveals the unconscionable sins of the Whos. They were cannibals! After all, the Grinch steals their last can of Who Hash. Disgusting.
How can one not have his or her worldview shattered by such fairly masked horror?

Done a lot of driving in the last week. Wednesday we drove from home to Oklahoma City. Driving with three kids (and a beautiful wife) is kind of like trying to run a marathon carrying two fifty-pound bags of wheat -theoretically possible, and a lot more rewarding, but it may take a few extra minutes. In this case, we arrived at 4 AM Thursday. We did stop for a catnap at Wal-Martat 1230, so it was only the last 30 minutes I was actually feeling tired.
We celebrated New Year's Eve with my sister, brother-in-law, dad, mom, niecephews, brother, and Vic's mom. Then we got up a little late Friday morning, and I ran (3.5 miles at a pace indicative of carrying bags of wheat), packed up the cars and headed to Waco, TX via both Dallas airports (collecting her and a friend of Justin's). We stayed (14 of us) in a house provided by her parents. We arrived (almost) in time for the rehearsal, because James was the ringbearer. Saturday was a little crazy, getting everyone ready for the ceremony and pictures and everything, but in the end, they exchanged vows before God and witnesses and all :-)
Then Sunday, after morning services (which was a trick finding the building, but we managed) we headed back to Oklahoma. On the way, we passed the Oklahoma Horseshoeing School, which we thought was a little funny but I guess people need to learn it somewhere. Then we noticed that it was the South Campus and really got a chuckle out of it.
So now we're spending a week with my sister and family :-), then heading down to San Antonio for Sea World and a conference for work.
Got a new book from Vic on randomness in daily life, which I'm enjoying. Also got some Settlers of Catan expansions from the in-laws :-).
I lost about 12-15 pounds in December, and I hope to run enough over the next few weeks away from home to not gain it back.
That's most of the significant stuff for now. Currently, we're helping Mary go through her stuff in storage (OK, if you want to be all technical about it, I'm shirking that by staying inside in the warm and providing a Pleo update, but it's the family task.) Mom and dad are flying out today, and Mary tomorrow. Justin, Nate, and Jordan will stop by mid-week on their way to points north.
That's it for now. Live long and prosper.

This will be fairly random...
Finished Gen 6 Sunday. It's hard to sit down and do that.
Family is in Waycross, so I'm miserable and lonely.
Put in my assignment preferences because they'll be sending me somewhere this summer, and I want to give them as much help as possible. Please pray that that God will send us where He needs us and that He will need us somewhere with snow. And thanks to Bill for helping me decide what to put!
I made chicken and yellow rice, green beans with minced garlic, and brownies tonight. We were out of the pre-minced garlic so I had to cut it up myself and can still smell it on my fingers a bit. Making chicken and yellow rice is very...mmm...tempting when one is trying to low-carb. (I was making it for a friend at work who just had a baby). But making brownies is just torture. All that beautiful tasty chocolate stuck to the spoon and the side of the bowl and I couldn't even lick it. On the upside, the low carb eating is paying off very well, and I got to pet and smell the head of a sweet 1-week-old little girl when I dropped off the food :-)
Lord willing, I'll run 6+ miles (about 10k) tomorrow morning. I ran 6 miles last Wednesday, then got talked in to running 4 more (that 10 miles for all you math genius types out there). Makes we think I might try to run the Mercedes half marathon again. Then I could show up for services with them all smelly after my run, and walk around in back because sitting could be fatal. We'll see.
OK, scratch the "fairly" in my first line and replace it with "totally."
Work is going pretty well -- I finished a task today that I thought would take me into next week :-) Only 2 billion more to go...
I love my kids. They're amazing. And cute. And fun. And tiring. And far away :-( so they're mostly just tiring her and I wish I was there to help. Sigh. You all are cruel taskmasters, driving your federal employees so hard ;-)
Well, off to finish some laundry. Have a great Christmas and and wonderful New Year!

Update to the update: Traveling to San Antonio after some time with the family in Oklahoma, but on the drive back from San Antonio we'll have to stop for the night Saturday and want to know if anyone knows of a congregation along that route where we could worship Sunday morning? Probably someplace near I-10 in Louisiana would be best.