Way Too Much Information About Randy Peterman » Thankful Thursdays

Four Tired

Randy Peterman — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:28:39 +0000

I’m sitting at my favrite tire store. The staff are friendly. I’m thankful Jessica noticed the rear left tire was low. It had a screw in it. I’m waiting about 45 minutes for Discount tires to repair it. And I’m thankful this tire was not flat next week, we’ve got a long road trip planned.

Sad News, Good News

Randy Peterman — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:21:12 +0000

I wanted to post here something that I never, ever would want to post. Last Tuesday (when internet connectivity was only on my iPhone and my emotions were too intense) Jessica and I drove to the hospital in Ukiah, California and after the morning and part of the afternoon in the ER learned that Jessica had had a miscarriage. This is not the sort of thing you expect. This is nearly the worst case scenario. We cried a lot there in the hospital. I wrote notes on my iPhone about how I was feeling, but I won’t post them as they’re far too intense for me to publish without feeling like its too much. They’re also feelings that I don’t have any more because we’re OK. We’re trusting the Lord that He’s used this to get our attention. Prior to the unexpected fourth pregnancy (our first pregnancy was also a miscarriage), we we had planned on no more pregnancies. Except that now our hearts are set on having a third child that we can hold, love and prepare for a life of intensity.

My brother, sister, and I were all born in Ukiah, CA. It was strange and backwards to go to the same small town and discover that this expected Peterman life would not be seeing Ukiah. After the doctor’s gentle disclosure of the diagnosis, “Fetal Demise”, we went to eat (having missed breakfast and our normal lunch) at a place where I recall eating with glee as a boy, the Mutt Hut. Something about the place, and the honestly tasty hot dogs, brought a sense of comfort that sounds stupid as I write this. I was with my wife, who I loved, looking forward to my two healthy girls, whom we both love dearly, and eating food (which we really needed). Ukiah has a movie theater there that I remember as a child. I went there once as a teenager, too. Ukiah now has another memory in my heart and mind now: the place where Jessica and I decided we will try for a third child – a place that has some endings, but also an important beginning. The beginning for the plan for three Peterman kids for Randy and Jessica.

We’re doing OK. We’re doing well. We’re doing this on purpose. And we’re looking forward to seeing this little child we didn’t get to meet on this earth in heaven.

Work

Randy Peterman — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:09:31 +0000

My Grandpa Peterman once responded to my statement that he worked too much that I had a negative attitude about work. He went into further detail about it, but let me say that I did have, and sometimes still do, a negative attitude about work. This video (contains graphic description about sheep castration) got my attention in a big way:

Work is a good thing – I’m glad to be employed and part of the problem of our economy has been the glamorization of not working. Or working less. I don’t like to be exhausted from work (which I have been in the last few weeks) but I do like honest physical labor, good intellectual challenges in coding, and to achieve something that is sometimes mundane, sometimes new, but always a job well done.

Keep up the good work. And if you’re not, change that.

WordPress 2.7 Wows Me

Randy Peterman — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 03:10:42 +0000

I had installed WordPress 2.7 as a beta last month. When the final release came out WordPress notified me, but instead of like previous versions, it just let me click a link and it handled the upgrade on the server with very little fuss. It was like buying a 2008 Honda knowing that when the 2009 Hondas came out you could push a button and for free your Honda would upgrade to the latest. Before several steps were required, now, I just click a button. Wow.

The new interface for administration is very clean and polished and easy to use. Wow.

The ease of editing posts has been taken up just a notch, which is quite nice. Wow.

I can install plugins from within the plugin interface without having to download and unzip zip files, it just works. WOW!

Thanks to Matt and the rest of the team at Automattic for a fantastic release that is well worth the upgrade.

Thankful Thursday: Three Nadias

Randy Peterman — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:05:52 +0000

Good grief! Its been a long time since I was thankful on a Thursday. So I’m going to be thankful today for three Nadias. In alphabetical order :)

Our WorldVision child is named Nadia. We get periodic stuff about her well being, but after hurricane Ike caused a lot of trauma, I’m glad to hear that she is well. I’m thankful for the opportunity to sponsor a child and and that she’s growing up and maturing with health and food and a family. We need to send her a letter to tell her that. I’m a bad sponsor in that department, but I’m thankful for the opportunity nonetheless.

My second Nadia to be thankful for is my niece. When I look at these pictures I just smile. She’s getting bigger and bigger and soon she’ll be getting married talking to me instead of just smiling at me. I’m thankful she’s growing and is generally a healthy well taken care of baby girl.

Lastly, but not leastly: our friends daughter Nadia just makes us smile (and sometimes cry – in a good way) when we get to see her in person and online at the YouTube. I’m thankful for our friends and their amazing care for not only their daughter, but so many others directly and indirectly.

Thank you to all three Nadias. You bless us.

Thankful Whatever Day

Randy Peterman — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:12:43 +0000

Today is Friday. The day after Thursday, which is the official day of thankfulness around here, but since my posting is as consistent as a politician in a tough week of financial news, I’m just going to post a bit of thankfulness today.

One Set of In-Laws are in town and I’m thankful for them. They really are swell folks and I’m enjoying the time with them.

My mom had her birthday Wednesday – she’s a great mom, and I’m thankful for her a lot.

Abby is growing up a lot the last couple weeks. We put her into a charter school program and we really, really like it. I’m thankful for her

My sister-in-law who is living with us constantly makes us smile. She’s a blessing and we hope that we can get some more time with her before she finds a scad of friends and leaves us in the dust ;)

Time with friends. We’ve also had some friends over in the chaos of the last few weeks and enjoyed their company.

Time with family. My brother’s family came into town a few weekends ago and I’m finally getting to blog about it in tiny micro-bits: We love them and had a great time. Pictures should be forthcoming some time this year.

Thankful Thursday: My Ex-Girlfriend

Randy Peterman — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:48:11 +0000

I was just telling my mother via IM that I was glad to have had the girlfriend I had before Jessica because she really made Jessica stand out. That probably sounds like a slight, but later changes in her life lead me to believe that she grew a lot as a person, as did I. The ex-girlfriend is often a marker for comparison, and I just didn’t have a lot of girlfriends so this one had the unfortunate position based on a weird High School boy and his whims as well as various other circumstances which will remain shrouded in mystery because she doesn’t need me to air things that I have no business airing. I’m genuinely grateful for the roughly three months we ‘went out’ because it gave me a greater context. The XGF had to put up with my ‘no kissing’ rule which meant that on a few occasions when she wanted me to kiss her I had to refrain and she probably felt I was holding back. Perceptive, and accurate. My no kissing rule involved not kissing a girl unless I knew I was going to marry her. That made things a bit restrictive as you can imagine. But with out the XGF I would have missed out on Jessica’s brilliance in the particular context I did.

Jessica’s love for Christ, her genuine listening to me, and her commitment to her family and desire to respect her parents made her stand out like Yao Ming at an ewok convention. Her honesty was compelling. Her asking questions and wondering about biblical things meant she was trying to sort through things and make sense of what she was learning and it meant: she was learning. Jessica was an amazing friend before she was a girlfriend and it was just brilliant to watch her grow in life, in the Lord, and in her desire to make something of her life. Of course she also looked amazing, had a great brain (her intelligence has always kept me humble) and she liked good food – so it was a great match. Jessica’s desire to serve her friends was also amazing. She was still a teenager, but a teenager with a compassionate attitude of service and her willingness to serve blew my mind.

Without the XGF I’d have still probably been drawn to Jessica, but I was very glad to have the contrast that I did. Jessica is really who I’m thankful for, but I’m also thankful for and still sometimes pray for the XGF simply because she’s a person whom I cared for and I hope she’s doing well. I hope she’s found a great guy, and I hope that she’s living a great life.

They Are Growing So Up

Randy Peterman — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:04:40 +0000

Tonight while going over an alphabet book with Evie we got to the Strawberries (and of course the letter S) and she said, “We have strawberries! They are growing so up!” Her expression of their getting bigger and ripe is so fun. She’s growing so up herself. My two girls sure do bring me joy.

They’re Merely Five and Two

Randy Peterman — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:15:02 +0000

Tonight we went looking for a present for Jessica’s upcoming thirtieth birthday. Abby and Evie and I went out on the ‘hunt.’ Abby kept eyeing rather expensive jewelry at the Target. “That looks beautiful, lets get that!.” I had to gently tell her no because the budget was not in the $120 range for the girls’ gift. Evie liked everything that sparkled. Upon discovering that Target didn’t have anything but a Wii, which I wanted to buy “for Jessica” but did not, we headed off to Kohl’s to find some jewelry there at Abby’s request.

At Kohls she spotted a pair of ear rings that had a strand of rainbow colored glass embedded in them. A rainbow that certainly catches the eyes of the young onlookers. I totally disappointed her by saying that mommy would probably not have an outfit to go with the ear rings. Needless to say we did not find any jewelry at Kohl’s either because what the five year old liked the two year old didn’t like. What the five and two year old liked daddy didn’t like. And what daddy liked the five and two year old were sure would make mom look ‘boring’. Next time we go out I’m bringing cash and eash one of them will get to pay for their respective gifts, and it’ll help them learn that the $400.00 necklace is really out of their reach.

We walked to the register with Abby telling me that she had enough money in her piggy bank at home for the gift she wished we were buying. I love her confidence, we just need to work on the financial math :)

Thankful Thursday: Listy Edition

Randy Peterman — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:43:07 +0000

Yesterday I watched the girls playing outside. Evie had been bundled up and put on one of her hats (I should have taken a picture) with little bits of material spiking out atop it. Abby was running about playing in the small remnants of snow as she likes to do even though we tell her to avoid the mud. Jessica was doing something in the kitchen next to me (I believe dishes were being put away, but I don’t recall clearly enough). Life was good. I’m very, very blessed to have the family that I do.

I’m thankful for

My family
My friends
My clients
My church
My Bible study group
My blogs
My house
My general health (parasite aside)
My country (wacky as some of it may be)
Pictures to remember much of this by
The imagination I’ve been given
You for reading this

Thankful Thursdines Day

Randy Peterman — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:09:13 +0000

This Valentines day I will simply state that I am thankful for my bride. Yeah, I’ve been thankful for her before, but she does rock the Casbah. In fact, speaking of rock, Abby was surprised to learn that Jessica liked rock music. For some reason the constant kids music Jessica would play to pacify the children led Abby to believe that Jessica would prefer to listen to kids music and the cranky daddy was the one who liked rock music.

Turns out my Ska, Rock, Classic Rock, Alternative Rock and generally music loving wife isn’t as big on Backyardigans as Abby had first thought. I’m thankful for that, too!

Thankful Thursday: Christmas Time

Randy Peterman — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 16:57:27 +0000

I loves me some Christmas time. Once I get past the fear of having purchased the worst possible gift for Jessica I enjoy the time. I have a psychological disorder that probably has a name but I don’t know it, so I’ll call it GivingJessicaTheWrongPresentPhobia. I am always afraid she’ll open up the present and say, “You got me this?! I hate this! It is the worst present ever given on a holiday other than the time that you didn’t ask me out on Valentines day.” This fear is not a legitimate fear, but the part of my man-brain that second guesses every thing I do in regards to Jessica works over time there and is always on vacation when I say something that causes an argument.

We had a great time with family and even got to video chat with some family in other parts of the country. I loves me some Skype, too! I was able to get a mere 5 hours of sleep or so the night of Christmas Eve, but that was OK, too. We had an enjoyable Christmas eve service at church as well. You can listen to the recording of the MP3 here.

I am thankful for my family yet again, and I’m also thankful for the thoughtful gifts that I received – I hope nobody else has GivingRandyTheWrongPresentPhobia ;)

Friday Grab Bag ‘O’ Stuff

Randy Peterman — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 19:43:50 +0000

This last week has been quite a week. Its been a week where I have had ups, downs, sideways, diagonals, and hobbitses. This week they announced that there will be two new J.R.R. Tolkien based films. Peter Jackson will be producing, but not directing.

I got to do help participate in the potty training of Evie. Which is going.

I got to give some feedback to a client that I felt needed to be stated, even if it wasn’t popular.

I got to go to the doctor regarding my parasite. The doctor didn’t quite believe I have a parasite even though I have the lab results to show that I did, in the past, have a parasite – maybe its gone now. I’m skeptical.

I got to hug and kiss my wife and tell her that I love her. That’s important and good to do.

I got to hug and kiss my girls and tell them that I love them. That’s also important and good to do.

Lots of other stuff happened.

Merry Christmas a few days early – which I’ll repeat on the actual day of celebration.

Thankful Thursday: Lotsa Family

Randy Peterman — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 18:22:57 +0000

This week has been a tough family week for various reasons, I’m not going to blog all of the details other than to say that I love my family. Extended, immediate, far, near or otherwise. I love you all a ton. Last night I slept half the night in Evie’s new twin bed (with her snuggled up next to me) so that she could sleep and I could sleep. I love her lots and am thankful for her, even if at two in the morning she was screaming her head off because she didn’t want to sleep in the new bed that cost us money that she can’t comprehend. Hopefully today will have a good daytime nap she likes on the bed, and tonight we’ll have her sleep happily in it.

Hicks

Randy Peterman — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 04:57:54 +0000

My grandparents have a pond on ther farm in Northern California. A mere thirty miles from the rocky cliffs of Mendocino. I think that Mendocino is a Spanish word for hippies and liberals, but since I only took two first year courses in Spanish you should probably look that up. Yes, I took the first year course twice. Es muy bueno. El queso es viejo y tiene molde. Anyway, my grandparents pond supplies the water that comes out of their faucets. The water tastes like fish swim in it. The fish do swim in that water, so I feel good about it tasting like pond water.

The problem is that I’m on a business trip down to Grapevine, TX. The water here tastes like fish swim in it. After being filtered by a multi-dollar filtration system that I’m sure the city paid good money to have put in incorrectly. The water has probably been filtered with a fish net and a pair of used pantyhose. I know that sounds cruel, but you’ll find that they have signs that indicate that the water is ‘Superior’ by some random test that is performed by drunk people who have had their tongues cut out. The drunk tongueless people find the water superior to the toilets that they were reversing into the last time they stepped past drunk and into vomiting mode.

The upside is that our friends the Mason’s gave us several bottles of contraband. I believe we have several bottles of bottled water that has been filtered to the point of tasting like nothing. Nothing is exactly what water should taste like. It shouldn’t taste like fish, kool-aide, teriyaki or Coors. Oh , or perier. But God has grace so that when we defile the water with labels like ‘Coors’ or ~~Naive~~ ‘Evian’ the water doesn’t just turn into air through an instant evaporation process so that we’re smitten for suggesting that God’s creation wasn’t good enough.

I just wanted to let you know that I like water… I just like it to taste like water and not sushimi gone awry.

Oh, and I’m thankful for the Mason’s giving us water that you can drink and be proud of.

Welcome Declan!

Randy Peterman — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:07:49 +0000

My buddy Dave, through his lovely bride, Darlene, is now the proud father of a little boy, Declan. Congrats Dave, Darlene and the girls!

Sure, its not Thursday yet, but I’m thankful for their baby nonetheless.

My Favorite Self Composed Song

Randy Peterman — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:21:25 +0000

I did a series of Birthday Songs over the last couple years for friends, co-workers and pretty much no family. However, my all time favorite ditty that I wrote was an instrumental song I never got to finish. The music was so good in my proud opinion that I never could fit words that I felt conveyed quite what the music did. You can listen to it here.

I’m really thankful for my parents having raised me with music in my life. From a Grandpa that plays the saw to a wife who supports my crazy musical fantasies (one day I will be a famous musician, just you wait) I’ve been blessed with this talent (though I need to keep honing it for sure). I loves me some music and I love to play for people – maybe some day I can hang out with you and we’ll play some music together.

Thankful Thursday: Our Friends the Masons

Randy Peterman — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:04:16 +0000

Our friends the Masons are coming into town to visit this weekend. They’re bringing their little girl Nadia for us to meet for the first time. That’s pretty exciting by itself, but also we’re going to Estes Park with them. Its rather wintery in Estes Park compared to the planes of Aurora, but we’re really hoping for some beautiful pictures, fun times driving and chatting, and of course laughing about the crazy stuff in life.

We’re rather thankful for all of our friends, but its nice to have the Masons come and join us.

Thankful Thursday: America

Randy Peterman — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:22:08 +0000

Yup, I’m totally copying Louanne. She probably thinks I am all out of things to be thankful for so I’m copying her. Well, sort of. You see a few weeks ago I was in Texas at a conference and I had a chance to talk to a guy living in Poland. He’s Polish so that’s not a huge surprise, but anyway… This guy was telling me all about how he was dealing with the after effects of the Russian occupation of Poland. He and the rest of the nation that is. The Russian culture (at least the ones that were occupying Poland) as he described it involved drinking much Vodka. Much, too much, Vodka to the point of many people drinking and driving and the catastrophes that were caused by this drinking and driving were still normal in Polish life.

On a much lighter note they have no paved highways that consistently get you from point A to point B. I can drive to many parts of the country in my Honda within two days time on nicely paved roads. He can drive what should only take a couple hours on paved roads in 6-7 hours of time. On dirt roads. Uphill both ways. OK, not really uphill both ways, but its a total pain.

I’m glad that we have the huge amount of freedom, its not the stuff that is reported on often, but its freedom. We’re facing the problems that countries face when melting pots become too diverse and not enough melting, but we have most of our freedoms in tact and we’re in good shape in many regards. I’m grateful for being born and raised here. I just wish I had understood how great freedom was back when I was younger so that I could have paid attention and rejoiced with others in freedom rather than taking the freedom a bit too literally and focused on note passing and stupidness that is associated with immature Jr. high schoolers and such.

Thankful Thursday: Singing Children

Randy Peterman — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 16:32:07 +0000

My girls both sing loudly about random things they are thinking. Abby will walk around on our terrace in the back yard and sing loudly about princesses, God, jungle gyms, bikes and rocks. Loudly. Evie, right now as I write this, is singing in the other room as well. I can’t make out what she’s singing, but she’s doing it joyfully. There’s something wonderful about little girls singing and making noise that just brings a smile to my face. I am thankful to God for my little girls and their singing. I hope they never stop – as long as they keep off of American Idol. Heaven forbid they get on national television singing some made up song about jungle gyms ;) [not really - unless the judges mock them]