Cars, Cards, & Kids

My car, a 1996 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, has 188,000 miles and is still running strong. Ever since we became debt-free, I have been threatening to buy a newer model. Because my beautiful spouse works two jobs and refuses to buy name brand anything, I have been given the green light to upgrade my ride. I have my eye on a 2004 or 2005 model Interceptor. The suspension was upgraded in model year 2003 and the horsepower was raised to 250 in 2004. I think I can get my hands on a car with at least 100,000 less miles on it than mine for about $5,000. Bethany's niece Jessie is almost 17 and is needing a safe and cheap car, so after getting a thorough safety inspection, my current car will be hers. We both win!

Upon further discussion with my gainfully employed spouse, it became apparent that she isn't quite comfortable with the idea of my testing the professional poker player waters. I am a decent player and I've been studying more now than I ever did in college, but since she's throwing me a bone with a new car I have decided to put my poker plans on the back burner. Still, if we ever get our stimulus check, I'd like to have a little fun with some of the money.

We answered even more questions from our social worker yesterday in an effort to move the adoption process along. We are now waiting for Homeland Security to make an appointment for us to get re-fingerprinted for background checks and THEN, then we think we will be done with everything on our end. After that, we will wait to hear final word from China and within 6 to 8 weeks of that we will fly across the world to meet our son. We have read three baby name books and are still not sure what to name the little guy, so we welcome your suggestions. His Chinese name is Jiang Yizhan, but that's a bit of a mouthful so feel free to submit your ideas.

The Week in Sports

Alex's last baseball game of the season took place on Thursday. He got a couple hits and made some good plays in the field. Perhaps more importantly, he looked darn good doing it.

Bethany and Charla competed in another triathlon, this time in Cameron, MO. Bethany finished 6th in her age group while Char received a medal for finishing 3rd. And yes, they looked darn good doing it.

On Saturday night, Doug and I challenged our wives to some hoops action. The boys won both games despite some elbows and hips being used as weapons by the girls. They made excuses, too. Something about completing a triathlon hours earlier and drinking wine. Blah. blah, blah. All that matters is that the husbands emerged victorious. And we looked darn good doing it, too.

PS: I tried to upload several really good photos to accompany this posting, but my horrifically slow dial-up connection won't cooperate today!!! There are drawbacks to living in B.F.E.

While You Were Working...

Here is a list of some of the things I've been up to this week:

1. Helped coach Alex's baseball team.
2. Played softball.
3. Went fishing with Alex in Clear Creek in Rock Bridge State Park.
4. Read "Treasure of Khan" by Clive Cussler.
5. Took Alex to the dentist to get his first cavity filled.
6. Took pictures of a chubby possum eating our cats' food on the back porch.
7. Gave our pet rats a bath.
8. Chatted with friends online.
9. Made homemade pizzas for dinner.
10. Played video games with Alex.
11. Rekindled some old friendships.
12. Watched a couple Cardinals games on TV.
13. Drank six beers.
14. Played fetch with the dogs. (Yes, Princess is learning the game.)
15. Rode bikes with Alex.

I never get bored. Retirement is pretty awesome.

Theta Xi

Did you know that I was a "founding father" of a fraternity? In the fall of 1990, about a dozen of us guys at Mizzou got together and formed our own fraternity. Our house was a combination of what you would get if you combined the houses in "Animal House", "Revenge of the Nerds", and "Old School." I was fond of saying, "Travis Naughton- rush chair. Damn glad to meet you." In 1991, we actually rented our first 'Fraternity House" and it was glorious. Before we could move in we filled two flatbed trailers full of trash that we cleaned out from the previous tenants. A putrid bag of potatoes in the pantry actually moved on its own right before our eyes. You couldn't count the number of maggots in it. We cleaned the bathrooms with oven cleaner to remove years of unmentionable filth build up on every surface. Somehow we made the place livable and 13 of us moved in. While we lived there, many unforgettable events took place that can only be retold over a few beers and a lot of laughs.

At its peak, Theta Xi had nearly 40 members. We had official "Colony" status from the national organization while we awaited our permanent "charter." We even had a colonization ceremony. (Recall the scene in Revenge of the Nerds when the big, black president of the national "Tri-Lam" fraternity came to give the nerds their charter.) That was us! We went on road trips to Ames, Iowa; Rolla (for St. Patrick's Day); Cape Girardo (to be at the epicenter of the New Madrid earthquake that never happened); and Carbondale, Illinois (where we partied at Fred's Dance Barn, a combination of Bob's Country Bunker from "The Blues Brothers" and "Porky's" bar.) Long story short: we had a lot of fun as members of the fraternity.

After a few years, Theta Xi lost members to graduation, flunking out, prison, and sobriety. Today, Theta Xi Fraternity, MU Colony is no more than a blurry collection of memories. I had the good fortune to recall those good times and visit with two of my "brothers" yesterday at a park in Columbia. Tom Hancock and Rich Gleba lived in the notorious house at 1611 University with me and 10 other brothers. It has been 18 years since we first met and nearly that long since we last saw each other. On Sunday, we spent over two hours getting caught up and learning about each other all over again. We shared stories and laughed a lot. That's what I remember most about the time we all lived together- we laughed a lot. When you are an 18 year old freshman in college you have no idea that the life you are living will be so fondly remembered and so sorely missed after another 18 years have passed. I hope that we can get the old gang together for a 20 year reunion so that all of us can re-live those glory days. In the meantime, if you are a former Theta Xi brother and have contact info for others, please send me an email so we can start to coordinate a get together. Of course we'll have a keg for the party, Bill. Only this time, we won't have to build a false wall in our house to conceal it.

Adoption Update

I wanted to take a moment to bring you up to speed on where we are in the adoption process. We were informed yesterday that we have received "Pre-approval" status from the Chinese. Next, we need to have our social worker update our file to reflect that we are capable of raising a "special needs" child. Then we have to renew our visa applications and resubmit fingerprints for criminal background checks. Once all of that is done, China will give us a Letter of Seeking Conformation. This will be the referral that officially grants us the approval to adopt our little boy. Our agency seems to think that this should happen in a few weeks. Then China will send us a travel itinerary and we will hop on a plane a few weeks later. So, we are getting close. It has been 13 months since we were officially "logged-in" to China's adoption program. It has been 20 months since we started the adoption process. It has been over 5 years since we began trying to add another child to our family. Needless to say, we are quite anxious to complete this process. The hardest part now, though, is knowing that our son is all the way on the other side of the world waiting for his mommy and daddy to come and take him home. "We'll be there as soon as we can, kiddo! Hang in there, buddy."

Thanks to everyone for your support, prayers, and well-wishes. We really appreciate it.