Monday, June 05, 2006
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
A Photo Journal
Well, it's been over 2 months since we've posted our last blog. Much has happened since then. The semester ended, and not a day too soon. After a pretty rough semester, it actually turned out okay in the end. I was convinced that my students hated me, but I got many pleasant and affirming emails at the end of the semester. I even managed to slug a positive rating on ratemyprofessor.com, where college students highly rate and berate their professors. I must say though, that I am glad the semester is over.
The week after finals was busy too. After several false alarms, our new goddaughter, Reid Karielle (spelling corrected after this was first posted-thanks Mama Sonya!!!), was born on May 2nd to happy parents Juan and Sonya and an ecstatic big brother, Vidal. I have pictures above of Sonya, Vidal and Reid (Juan was too busy taking pictures). I was supposed to be in the delivery room while Sonya was giving birth. They called at 7am to say that she was 6 centimeters around 6am. Because Sonya was in labor for over 30 hours with Vidal, I figured I had time to get there. The hospital is only 5 minutes from our house - we got there just at 8:30am and I was shocked to walk in and see Sonya coddling her baby. She was born at 8:10am. I was so disappointed to have missed the birth. Usually I would be scared to watch it all happen, but as Anthony and I get closer to someday getting pregnant, I really want to see what the birthing process was like. Reid had the sweetest little cry..she sounded like a little kitten. I was so amazed by Sonya and her strength...she didn't even look like someone who had given birth just 20 minutes before. She looked so beautiful, and was walking around being her silly self that night! We're going to enjoy watching Reid grow up.
The day after Reid was born I had foot surgery to re-align my left big toe in order to remove a bunion. They didn't put me all the way under, just in a light sleep-wake state, although I do remember hearing a saw at one point during the surgery. The stuff they give you makes you not care if they were cutting your toe off...which, er, they actually did. They had to cut the bone, realign the toe, and put a pin between the bones to straighten it out. I can't even explain how much pain I was in, but the worst is over. Praise God for the pharmaceutical companies who make the good stuff to keep you happy in the midst of pain!
Other things that have happened since our last blog include Anthony preaching about financial stewardship in May. You'll see a picture of him in his fancy stewardship suit, which would make him look like a mafia dude if he had a big gold watch on and a cigar hanging out his mouth. He's been busy with his band working on a new demo. Can't wait for them to start playing out again.
The photos above capture most of the fun things that have absorbed our time over the past month or so. Fun on Easter weekend with Anthony's family in Lancaster county, baby Reid's birth, our 3rd anniversary, and our church's Memorial Day picnic. Don't have any pictures of the foot though...I'll spare you the gore. I would end by promising to post more often, but I don't like to break promises. Enjoy.
Lori
The week after finals was busy too. After several false alarms, our new goddaughter, Reid Karielle (spelling corrected after this was first posted-thanks Mama Sonya!!!), was born on May 2nd to happy parents Juan and Sonya and an ecstatic big brother, Vidal. I have pictures above of Sonya, Vidal and Reid (Juan was too busy taking pictures). I was supposed to be in the delivery room while Sonya was giving birth. They called at 7am to say that she was 6 centimeters around 6am. Because Sonya was in labor for over 30 hours with Vidal, I figured I had time to get there. The hospital is only 5 minutes from our house - we got there just at 8:30am and I was shocked to walk in and see Sonya coddling her baby. She was born at 8:10am. I was so disappointed to have missed the birth. Usually I would be scared to watch it all happen, but as Anthony and I get closer to someday getting pregnant, I really want to see what the birthing process was like. Reid had the sweetest little cry..she sounded like a little kitten. I was so amazed by Sonya and her strength...she didn't even look like someone who had given birth just 20 minutes before. She looked so beautiful, and was walking around being her silly self that night! We're going to enjoy watching Reid grow up.
The day after Reid was born I had foot surgery to re-align my left big toe in order to remove a bunion. They didn't put me all the way under, just in a light sleep-wake state, although I do remember hearing a saw at one point during the surgery. The stuff they give you makes you not care if they were cutting your toe off...which, er, they actually did. They had to cut the bone, realign the toe, and put a pin between the bones to straighten it out. I can't even explain how much pain I was in, but the worst is over. Praise God for the pharmaceutical companies who make the good stuff to keep you happy in the midst of pain!
Other things that have happened since our last blog include Anthony preaching about financial stewardship in May. You'll see a picture of him in his fancy stewardship suit, which would make him look like a mafia dude if he had a big gold watch on and a cigar hanging out his mouth. He's been busy with his band working on a new demo. Can't wait for them to start playing out again.
The photos above capture most of the fun things that have absorbed our time over the past month or so. Fun on Easter weekend with Anthony's family in Lancaster county, baby Reid's birth, our 3rd anniversary, and our church's Memorial Day picnic. Don't have any pictures of the foot though...I'll spare you the gore. I would end by promising to post more often, but I don't like to break promises. Enjoy.
Lori
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Traveling Nightmares
Well, last week was a ridiculously busy week for me (Lori). On Monday I flew to
I had a bunch of meetings on Wednesday and then I was taking the Amtrak to New York that evening for 2 back-to-back conferences...the first in New York City (Friday and Saturday), and the second in Washington, D.C. (Sunday and Monday). I was giving a lecture at the meeting on Saturday...the last session for the entire conference. Much to my surprise, people actually showed up, and were wonderful. My lecture was about race and obesity. Everything went well in NY. I spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning with my parents. They're so wonderful - I'm never hungry when I'm home...my mother makes sure to keep me well-fed...or overfed! Meanwhile, my dad always finds ways to give me a little money "for a rainy day." My sister Andrea took me bargain shopping on Thursday - I realize that I hate shopping. It seems so monotonous. I did find a great blazer for $10 and awesome bag for $16, so my labor was not in vain. J
I visited with my good, tried-and-true friends on Friday night and we had a great time over a fancy West Indian meal in
On Saturday night I hopped on an Amtrak bound for D.C. My ride was relaxing and uneventful. I got in around 11:30pm, so I was ready for bed when I got there. The Sunday meeting was about advocating to the House and the Senate for public health issues. We learned how to talk to politicians and their staff about the issues we are focusing on this year, which include focusing on (1) health and physical education as part of the No Child Left Behind Act "qualified teachers" requirements, (2) increasing funding for school health programs, and (3) increasing funding for efforts to eliminate health disparities. On Monday we actually had appointments with legislative staff on Capitol Hill to highlight what we are asking the legislators to do. It was really neat - we met with the legislative aids for Senators Allyson Schwartz (
After the hill visits I packed up to come home, and this is where the drama begins. My flight was scheduled to leave D.C. at 5:25pm so I caught a cab around 3:30pm to head to the airport which I thought was 15 minutes away. The fare would have been a flat rate of $14.50. Well, turns out I was flying out of Dulles (45 minutes away) and not Reagan airport (15 minutes away). The fare suddenly jumped to $55.00!!! Thank God my dad slipped me a little extra cash, because the taxi did not accept credit cards. So needless to say, I'm already irritated at this point. I checked in fine and waded through an extremely busy, tiny terminal for United and finally boarded my plane. The plane was a small jet, but the air was so thick and hot that I seriously thought I was going to pass out. After everyone boards and fastens their seatbelt, the captain welcomed us aboard and told us that we are going to be delayed for and hour and 40 minutes, so we needed to de-board. I had a connecting flight in
Lori
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Monday, March 06, 2006
Loose shoulder
Today I am discovering what it would be like to have only one arm. Yesterday Anthony's parents came to visit. They arrived in tiem for church and we were planning to take them to the Jamaican restaurant in town. When we got to the restaurant, we realized that they were closed on Sundays. We decided to settle for Perkins instead. I could imagine that Mom was a bit relieved...seems like she's had some bad experiences with Jamaican food in the past! Well, after a great meal, with great conversation, we were on our way home from lunch. I had just spotted a friend from church who was turning around in the parking lot. Anthony and I had to get some gas for our car, so I moved to tell Dad how to get back to our house from Perkins. I stuck my arms out the window and began to point where the road was, making long swinging motions, back and forth with my arm extended. Suddenly, and it's almost as if I felt it coming, my shoulder slipped out of the socket and dislocated. I was screaming in pain, much to the confusion of everyone around me, including Anthony, his parents, and his 5-year-old neice who was riding with us in the back seat of our Jeep. I was trying to tell Anthony that my shoulder slipped out between my screams. I knew that in that past (this is a recurring injury), if I hung my arm down at the side, it would slip back into the socket. Anthony ran over looking very confused, but trying to figure out how to help me as I said "Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" I finally got my shoulder to slip back into place, and I felt an overwhelming need to throw up. I was so hot that I was sweating...I can't even explain the pain I was in. Anthony dropped me off at home and went out to buy me a sling and a hot-cold pad. I was fine in about an hour, but little things like washing my hair, putting on my knee-high boots and typing on a computer are much more complicated that they used to be. Actually typing and blow-drying my hair have been surprisingly easy despite my gimp! I would attach a picture of me in my sling, but, er, I don't have one. I am so blessed to have such a loving husband who takes care of me! He's so sweet.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
February '06
Well, this month has come and gone...it was quite uneventful for us. The latest news for me (Lori) is that I thought I lost $2,000 worth of equipment from my lab on campus. I thought I left it at church, but it turns out that I left it in a classroom I gave a lecture in one Friday afternoon. Sad thing is, it took me 2 weeks to realize it was missing! We had people at church looking for it, and I even had campus and the town police filing reports for it. It was actually found the same evening I "lost" it and returned to one of the administrative assistants in my department. She had it in her office for 2 weeks! That just goes to show that i need to visit her more often. Oh yeah, and I need to work harder on NOT being an absent-minded professor.
Lately I've been dealing with the struggles of managing a university classroom. I am a pretty lax teacher, and my lectures are usually very open to discussion and input from the students. After my first exam this semester, I had a small revolution in the classroom. Students were complaining (in class) about their grades and arguing with me about why the wrong answer should have been marked right. That debate simmered, and a week later, after administering a quiz, the same problems popped up again. I left class that day feeling frustrated with teaching, and I felt like a bit of a failure. This was completely different from what I experienced with teaching last semester. I had a wonderful group of students who were eager to learn and were very respectful. You know, I hear that students in England stand up when the professor enters the room. I don't think it'll ever get that good here in the States...not that I want an ovation when I enter. Well, maybe just once! Anyway, I had a nice conversation with a seasoned professor in my department, who has won awards for teaching. She gave me really helpful advice that I used the very next lecture, and things appear to be going much better. The second exam is in two days from now, so we'll see if her advice made an impact on post-exam revolution. That's all for me...I am really going to try to write more often. Perhaps on a weekly basis.....
Lori
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Hi this is Anthony, Lori said I have to write quick before the month is over. I just finished hooking up our phone line to our new Vonage VOIP router. Basically this means all our calls will now go out over the internet instead of the regular phone lines. 500 minutes of local and long distance for $14.99 a month is hard to beat. Plus we get caller id and voicemail for free.
My big project for february was redoing the website for the Africana Research Center at Penn State University . The updated site will probably go up tomorrow. I also purchased some software for my studio to make all my recording sound more professional. I had used a demo version of this software when mixing down my album, but now I could afford to buy them.
Lori and I are putting about half our income right now towards paying off debt. We plan to be out of debt except for our mortgage by December. It's hard to watch all that money go by without touching it, when we don't even have real couches yet, and we're sleeping on an air mattress, but in about 10 months.....look out Tempurpedic. I encourage everyone to check out Dave Ramsey ( www.daveramsey.com ) if you want to get fired up about getting out of debt. Makes you realize how nice it would be to actually be able to do with your money what you want every month rather than sending it away towards payments.
My band is going through some lineup changes right now which makes it difficult to book any gigs, but we're still trying to practice regularly and getting ready to do some recording soon for a new demo. The good thing is that through the hard times that we've been having as a band, it's caused us to grow closer spiritually. We realize that we can't effectively minister to other people we play for if we can't even minister to each other within the band. The experiences that some are going through are making us all realize how important what we're trying to do is going to be to people who are hurting.
If you haven't bought our CD yet, you can buy it from just about anywhere on the web
www.anthonystauffer.com
www.cdbaby.com
www.amazon.com
www.christianblues.net
Or on the itunes music store, or on napster....
Oh yeah, the other big story for the month. One of my very good friends from high school, Dan Kreider, won the superbowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I make it a point to tell everyone that we're friends. That makes me sound important because I know him......hehe
That's all for me, if Lori tells me the password for this thing, I'll write more often.
Anthony
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