A blonde driving her car through downtown Moncton became lost in a blinding snowstorm. She didn't panic, however, because she remembered what her dad once told her: "If you ever get stuck in a snowstorm just wait for a snow plow to come by and follow it."
Sure enough, pretty soon a snow plow came by and she started to follow it. She followed the plow for about 45 minutes. Finally, the driver of the truck got out and asked her what she was doing. She explained that her dad had told her that if she ever got stuck in a snowstorm, to follow the plow. The driver nodded and said, "Well, I'm done with the WalMart parking lot. Do you want to follow me over to Best Buy now?"
I worked in Fred's loft today and got about halfway done getting it down to the studs. First I had to rip out a box on the floor that served as the base for the mattress that was up there. I think the box was built to hold more weight than the floor could ever handle. 
Then I began ripping out the paneling and the insulation behind it. Fred has a nice metal roof now, but before they put it on the cedar roof leaked. That caused the paneling to delaminate in places and most of the insulation to get wet and then moldy. (No pic of the blackened insulation because this is a PG rated blog) So yes, this is a pretty gross project. And yes, Mother, I'm wearing a mask.
The bad news: there was no honey in that hive.
The good news: there were no bees, either.
There are, however, lots of tiny moths wintering between the paneling and the insulation, and they're not happy to be roused from their mid-winter slumber.
That Bible study last night?
Yeah, not so much.
The problem with group discussions is that the result can be the sum of the group's ignorance.
My youngest son and daughter posted this pic of themselves on Facebook. Only a dad can understand what that does to the father's heart.
And now that they've posted it on Facebook I'm free to mention here that Josh has completed an impressive professional accomplishment.
A couple of years ago he came to the realization that pediatric occupational therapy was not a career for an old man, or even a middle age man. Spending your day down on the floor working with little children is a young person's job. So he began exploring related fields for an option.
He settled on hand therapy which, as it turns out, is the term they use to describe the branch of therapy that covers everything from the shoulder down. There are fewer than 6,000 CHT's (Certified Hand Therapists) in the U.S., a pretty low number compared to the over 200,000 physical therapists in the country.
Part of the reason is that the path to becoming a CHT is rigorous. First you have to be either a physical or occupational therapist with a graduate degree in that field (Josh is the latter). Then you need 4,000 hours of supervised work in the field of hand therapy, followed by a very tough 4-hour exam on physiology, treatment methods, and other stuff I don't understand.
Josh took that exam a couple of months ago and got word yesterday that he passed. He is now officially a CHT. He's been working in that field for over a year, which is how he reached that 4,000 hour threshold. (No, he doesn't work 26 hours a day; they accepted some of what he did while working in the pediatric clinic.) He works four days a week at a private clinic owned by a group of hand surgeons seeing their patients post-op. Fridays he works at the Mayo clinic in Scottsdale. They're expanding that area and plan to hire additional hand surgeons which will mean adding one or two more CHT's. Josh has been told he'll be offered that position, so he'll have a decision to make if/when that time comes.
About four months ago Steve successfully completed the tests and the monster project to become an MAI. I have no idea what the M stands for but I'm pretty sure the other two are Appraisal and Institute. It's the top level in his field and he did all of that way faster than normal. Now Josh has done the same - reached the top of his newly chosen profession.
To say we're proud of our sons is an understatement. They're both bright, have a strong work ethic, and have earned the respect of their professional peers. What matters more to their parents is that both are men of character and good, devoted husbands & fathers. But all of the above comes as an outgrowth of the overriding priority common to both: the love God and are committed to doing his will.
T'ank you, Fadder, for the blessings that are our sons.
No comments:
Post a Comment