Christmas Eve service at Monterey 1st Pres

Christmas Eve service at Monterey 1st Pres, originally uploaded by jeremymeehan.

First post in a long long time...

Well it's been way too long since my last post. One of you recently asked if I was on a blogging sabbatical or something. No. I guess life just got busier or something. A shame because I like sharing what is up with us. In a one-sided kind of way it makes me feel more connected to friends and family.
So here's today's high and low for starts. (it's only 3:30pm - the day is still young). The low is when I got a taste of what Laura goes through most days - simply trying to get ourselves and Selah out of the house for a New Years brunch at the Porters.
Thanks to the Auel's generous hand-me-down, Selah had her first night in a toddler bed Sunday night. It's actually gone pretty well. Having taken the crib down and created new space in her room we decided it was time to help Selah take more responsibility for the cleanliness and order in her room. Without a place to put things it's difficult to ask too much of the little squirt. So last night Selah and I went to IKEA while Laura had a brief respite from the craziness in our home. Pressing through the tantrums Selah and I returned with all sorts of $1.49 and $5.99 spring loaded barrels and container filled racks. This morning I went in her room and decided to set all this up. Great fun! It reminded me of reorganizing my bedroom when I was a kid.
Recently I had bought an art cart from Office max that was marked down to $25. I had $15 credit for used ink cartridges that I'd returned. So, on impulse, I bought the $10 bargain and brought home to assemble. Well one of the parts was broken and as a result one of the wagon wheels wouldn't attach. For the next two weeks the cart sat delicately balance. Being in the fix it mood, and lacking the proper tools, I went to the garage and got my Gorilla Glue. If I couldn't fix it then I'd glue it so well that it could never break.
Once I got everything set in place - I figured Selah and I would take a shower while the glue set. For some reason it's tempting to do projects when you're supposed to be getting ready to go.
After the shower I forgot that there was wet glue in my daughter's bedroom 10" off the floor. What a foolish novice daddy I am. Selah always always wants to work on whatever project I am. So -- as you probably guessed -- once I'd dried Selah off and let her go for her regular naked streak around the house - she found the glue.
Meanwhile I went about my business trying to get us ready to go for a brunch we were close to being late to.
When I looked into Selah's room she was crouched over, still naked, trying to get the wheel of the cart to separate from her glistening Gorilla Glue hands. Crap.
I picked her up - pulled the wheel from her hands and carried her to the kitchen where I put her in our sink. I wasn't worried about her health so much as I was worried about her having her fingers stay stuck together for the next three weeks. I started working to separate the fingers and wipe as much excess as possible from her hands. Paint thinner is about the only way to get this stuff off your hands and I'm not thrilled about putting chemicals on Selah's hands. Laura is much less stoic (and reckless) than I am when it comes to solvents and skin. I'd need to confer with her about this.
I quickly weighed the pros and cons of having Selah's fingers stuck together for a few weeks. If you've had a toddler you understand.
I waited a minute for Laura to come on to the scene as she was busy getting ready to go. We agreed on paint thinner treatment and I went to the garage and brought back to the kitchen. The paint thinner worked - and so did the paint thinner fumes. Even though we'd used this quickly - in a minute or two - Laura and I think that Selah was a little loopy as we got her dressed. Great - now our kid is losing brain cells.
I joked that the Porters were going to remark when we arrived, "The Meehans are here!" "Wait. Why are Selah's fingers glued together? Whoa -- she's high as a kite!" They'd wonder what crackpot parenting book we've been reading.

That was the low point of today.

The high point was after Selah woke from her nap. She came to our bedroom where Laura and I had been taking a much needed nap. (so nice that Selah can independently get up - sometimes) She made her way up onto the bed with three helium balloons from last nights New Year's Eve party. Our angel child gave one to mommy and one to daddy so that we'd all have a balloon to play with. She's so nice sometimes.
I'm not sure how we rediscovered the wonders of static -- but here's a way to laugh yourself to tears. Rub a balloon on a comforter till it gets a good charge. Then throw it towards your child's head. Once within 8" of their head the balloon will stick to their little head. I don't know what it was about Selah's expression when this happened -- but we were laughing hard as we watched our confused child rove around the bed with a satellite stuck to her head. She thought it was great too. The simple pleasures of parenting are the best sometimes.
I told Laura that now we needed to find the cats. Hehe.

That was today's high.
And that was today's post.

Strange to think that this was ever common.

Whoa!!! This is cool...

Old friends from college and high school, Jim and Virginia Imlah, now live in Sicily - serving in the Armed Forces. Jim took this picture from their home of Mt. Etna erupting. Click on the image to see larger print. Thanks Jim and Gin for sharing - thanks for serving overseas too.

Free advertising for Pedoodles

Several months ago I bought Selah a pair of Pedoodles shoes. At the time I was ashamed to say how much they cost ($30) because I thought it was way too extravagant for children's clothes. We don't have a lot of money - but I was sold on what I saw as quality and Selah's second hand and hand-me-down shoes were worn out or too small.
The first thing I noticed about these shoes was how much easier Selah could walk and run in them. She seemed much more sure footed. The soles are incredibly soft - but have not worn down after months of nearly daily wear.
So basically these shoes have been awesome - and it's rare for me to write a review about some great product that you gotta know about. But ... if you have kids, are going to have kids, or want to know what to get Selah for a gift (wink - wink) -- here it is. These are great shoes and worth what we paid for them. Maybe you'll be so lucky to inherit them when Selah outgrows them.

Selah singing with Heather Nova

Bridgecity and Bridgetown

Interesting bridge facts about our Portland bridges. Picture at right is of the St. John's Bridge.

The Broadway Bridge: Portland's only red bridge opened in 1913. It is the world's longest double-leaf bascule bridge (whatever that is).

The Steel Bridge: The world's only double-deck bridge with independent vertical lifts connects Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park and the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade, via a sidewalk cantilevered off the bottom (railroad) deck.

The Burnside Bridge: Some 760 submerged Douglas fir tree trunks help support this span.

The Morrison Bridge: Opened in 1958, the Morrison is the third bridge built near the spot where a mule ferry carried travelers from bank to bank in the mid-19th century.

The Hawthorne Bridge: Built in 1910, the Hawthorne is the oldest operating vertical lift bridge in the United States. More than 5,000 bicyclists cross it every day.

(Facts taken from The Portland Bridge Book www.bridgestories.com)

Steve Duin on Don Miller's new book

Steve Duin often writes things that make me think - sometimes he connects with a shared view that makes me cry. For all the flak the guy gets - I really appreciate his candor and voice in The Oregonian. Yesterday on his blog he posted a brief comment about Don Miller's upcoming book, Let Story Guide You: Why Some Lives Make Sense and Others Don't. Don's voice and heart are a welcome part of Imago Dei Community -- when he speaks I'm dared to wrestle with paradoxes, inconsistencies in my thinking, and hardness in my heart. Thank you Steve for supporting Don!

I never said I was a skilled plumber...

Now that the mystery is solved I can look back and laugh -- so now I'll tell the story. About a week ago our toilet stopped flushing. It was clogged. (You're wondering why I would blog about this ... but stick with me. I may save you a lot of time someday).
So I, being the man of the house, figured that it was simply because she, being the woman of the house, was not using the right plunging strategy. I have the wisdom of generations of all-knowing-Meehans' plunging secrets passed down to me. I couldn't fault Laura for not having had the benefit of this plunger's guild knowledge. However after 20 minutes of plunging like a machine I surrendered.
My mind flew back 20 years to our family's home in Corvallis. I remembered the time I flushed a bar of soap down the upstairs toilet -- curious to see how many flushes it would take to wash it away. I didn't realize that I would never get to observe this experiment as the bar got lodged where the toilet is seated on the waste water pipe. Being the caring older brother, honest, and full of integrity I quickly pinned the prank on my younger brother. I think that this is the first time that I've confessed this. So David, if you're reading this I'm really sorry. For years I've felt really bad about this -- especially about the spanking delivered by our Dad. Dad, I'm sorry too.
Seeing as our daughter is now 18 months old and we're beginning to explain poo and weewee to her I wondered if my karma with David had come full circle. Was I eventually going to have to take the toilet completely off the floor to find the Tupperware lid that Selah threw in the toilet? ... Wanting to avoid removing our toilet I referred to our handy dandy Black & Decker: Complete Guide to Home Plumbing (packed full of color illustrations!). As I turned to p. 226: "Fixing Clogged Toilets and Drains" a doubtful voice whispered in my ear, "I bet your dad never looked up how to unclog a toilet in an illustrated book for dummies..." I'll have to take that one up with my counselor.
Anyway the book reminded me that there was a tool I did not yet own. This is the best part of unexpected projects: an excuse that you have to buy a new tool. This tool isn't sexy for sure. But hey - any trip to the hardware store is a good trip to the hardware store right? I explained to herself that I HAD to go to the store to buy a tool so that we could use our toilet. At 7:55 on a Sunday night I took off for Home Depot to buy a 'snake' or a plumber's hand auger. I arrive at Home Depot to see that they've closed at 8:00. Good grief. I head to Fred Meyer hoping that other souls need this tool so badly that Fred Meyer carries it. Lucky me they do. $10.99 later I'm on my way back home with new tool. Though it's now nearly 9pm, and I can think of lots better things to be doing on a warm august evening, I feel like I'm experiencing a rite of passage as a father and husband. I've turned 30, bought my own home, and now it's time to buy a snake to clear my clogged toilet. Nice.
I get home and herself is in her pajamas and I grumble about having to fix the toilet. She kindly speaks words of encouragement. I enter the throne room.
The snake is a simple tool. I shove the end of the 15' cable into the toilet basin and push it as far as it will go. After tightening a wing nut you twist the cable using the hand crank. The end of the cable twists against whatever is in it's path hopefully dislodging it. No one ever mentions that all this tool does is push said object further into your sewer system ... hmmm ... this could go badly. After quite a bit of cursing and praying I give up. The cable won't go further than about 18 inches. I'm pretty sure that the reason isn't because of a clog - but simply that the snake can't turn the necessary corner. If you've never seen a diagram of a toilet's inner channels this might be hard for you to visualize. Once you realize how convoluted this path is - you realize what a miracle it is that toilets work at all!
This causes me to have a flashback to about 13 years ago. Ben Potter, a pair of dentures, a bottle of bleach, a gallon of ammonia... But that is another story.
I sit down on the edge of our bathtub and resign myself to the fact that our toilet probably needs to be removed to access the clog. Some freakin' rite of passage! It's getting close to 10pm and I'm tired. I sit down of the tub again and procrastinate after turning off water, disconnecting line and loosening all the nuts (I didn't need the book for this - I remember watching my Dad). I sit there and think about what I'm about to do. This is why plumber's get paid so much. Trying not to procrastinate further I gently lift the toilet tank and basin together and immediately realize how tight our bathroom is for space. Where am I going to go with this thing? With precision muscle control ("umph, grunt, eroh!) I'm careful to not hit the toilet tank against our pedestal sink 3" away. As I squat and shimmy walk backwards water exits the bowl onto my feet. I manage to pivot and lean the thing against the tub rim. After sloshing toilet water all over the floor, my feet and the bathtub I managed to get the toilet, upside down, into our tub. Upside down because I'm thinking that I need to put the snake up the bottom of the toilet to - ahem - clear the clog. No clog.
After 20 minutes of shoving the snake down our sewer pipes and twisting it, Mark who rents our basement comes up to see what is the matter. I didn't think about it - but it was getting late and this was making quite a racket. Mark wasn't miffed, he just wondered "if someone was trying to break into the house and doing a poor job of it." I assured him that wasn't the case - though I wouldn't mind if someone were to break in and burn this whole bloody place down! I asked Mark whether he was sure he wanted to own his own home...
Noting the time and that it was important for us to have a toilet tomorrow - even if it wasn't flushing properly - I decided to return the toilet to its place. As I grunted the toilet into place I struck the corner of the tank against the lip of our pedestal sink.
Kcrekkkk kkkkkkkkkk kkkkkkkkk kkckkc kkckkc kkkckkkc kkkkckk kkkk kkkkk...... The sound continued for like 30 seconds. Each second that passed I expected our sink to fall apart right then. I watched as the hairline crack continued left to right for about 18 inches. Still, it never shattered. I didn't know whether to count my blessings or light the house on fire. I couldn't believe it. I reconnected everything and turned the water on. After filling the tank I flushed and nothing had changed!
Defeated I showered off, mopped the floor, scrubbed the toilet and headed for bed. I said to Laura, "The toilet is still clogged. Oh, and don't lean on the sink too much."

To be continued....

David!

I know... I'm on a series of posts -- all with photos of children. Surely there are few subjects more important though...

Photos by Patrick Wilson

Selah has been growing the last couple of days. Patrick took some photographs of her today while he and Rachel took care of her. Thank you Patrick for the beautiful pictures.

Selah and Emily

LOVE PORTLAND - September 8, 2007

Please go to the Love Portland site and sign up to participate in an event! I'm excited about the bridges we're building for our community. If you don't live in the Portland area - I guess you're excused. But maybe you can involve yourself in your own community?

Now for something hilarious and embarrassing.

Yes, this is the Best of Oldschool Imago Film. Found this on youtube and had to share with you. Our pastor among other celebs at Imago - making complete fools of themselves.
All for the gospel.
Amen.

I don't know who you are - but I know you're out there...

Scroll down my blog page and you can see an updated imaged in the right margin.

Red marks indicate subscribers to this blog.

Memories from Cronemiller Lake

Tonight a photograph posted on ORblogs Photo feed brought back a lot of memories for me. I grew up about 7 miles north of Corvallis, Oregon. Next door to our home was the OSU McDonald-Dunn State research forest and Peavy Arboretum Park. Over 10,000 acres of forest without automobiles was free for the exploring. Just inside Peavy Arboretum and very near our home was Cronemiller Lake - a small man made lake created sometime between 1933 and 1942 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as part of Camp Arboretum. The lake was used to collect irrigation water for the nearby forestry nursery.
My family moved to our home on Arboretum road in 1986 - I guess I would have been 9 years old. From then till around my sixteenth birthday I spent a lot of time in this forest. Riding my bmx and later Diamond Back mountain bike I spent endless hours with Dan, Agatha, Andrew, Jenny -- and even more hours by myself.
I especially remember finding an entire deer skeleton once with Dan. Nearly all the bones were intact - and we pretended to be detectives - piecing together the cause of death. We found lots of jumps for our bikes, ran from bee hives, claimed to see black bears and 8 point elk.
With the girls things were more focused on the adventure and mythology of the woods. We'd find cement foundations - the only remnants from some old CCC building - and pretend that Laura Ingalls Wilder had lived there once fighting off Indians. We'd pretend we were lost and that we'd have to survive on whatever blackberries and miner's lettuce we could find to eat.
Another time I had been given a remote controlled boat for a birthday I think. This wasn't a super expensive one - just the kind that you put four AA batteries in and hope it doesn't sink. Repeatedly I would drive the boat into Cronemiller lake - past the range of the controller's signal strength. This always stressed me out a bit. The only option was to wait till a breeze blew the boat closer to one shore and back into range. Once, the batteries went dead while it was in the middle of the lake. Lots of salamanders, water spiders, voles, and frogs rode on that little boat. I guess I was inspired by the stories about Ralph S Mouse I'd read at school. I wish I could say they all fared well on their boat adventures. I don't know what happened to that boat... I suspect - like a lot of my mechanical toys - I took it apart and never put it back together. At least not with all the parts working.
Later, when my sister Robin and David got older we all would go to the duck pond, Cronemiller lake and the forestry cabin. I look back now and realize the blessing of having lived next to such a beautiful place.

Selah, August 10, 2007

For the driver that gave me the finger ...

... after I created additional space so they could take more time to parallel park. (I think that he must have thought I was positioning to steal his spot)

Image from Bob Blog - local Portland pastor.

I subscribe to his blog. There are more where this came from.

Some are VERY funny.

Check this out - change the world.