Bobby's Fam

Getting Ready to leave

Let me start by saying this... I hate vacations. The last time I had a vacation was June, 2007. I have, quite possibly, the coolest job on earth (everyone who loves their jobs say this... if you cannot say that about your job, quit)! When you love your job that much, you can go longer between vacations (although I would not recommend it) without noticing much. As the time draws near for us to go "home" to Colorado, I'm starting to feel the excitement of having a vacation. I'm going to have to battle everyday the need to work, though. I know that taking two weeks off of work is going to mean that I'm going to have a pile to deal with when I return... for that reason alone, I hate vacations. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE going to Colorado to see family. I love the time to be able to re-calibrate myself. I love the time with my girls. But the sheer fact of knowing I will have two weeks worth of work to deal with upon return is more stressful than just not taking vacation. One of my goals of 2009 is to learn how to vacation well, how to take a proper Sabbath, and how to re-calibrate on a monthly basis. I'm not good at those things. I'm a workaholic. I have certain processes I live by, schedules I keep, and vacations and days off mess that system up.

With all that said, pray for us. We leave either tomorrow night or Monday morning for Colorado. It's been snowing there. Pray for clear roads and safe travels. For some reason I'm worried about this trip this year. It's funny, I'm less stressed about flying half-way around the world than driving my family to Colorado!

I've been so busy I haven't even posted to the blog here. I'm thinking about doing a fresh re-design for 2009, and doing a more "focused" blog. Being on staff of NorthWood has presented some exciting opportunities for me and the family and people are beginning to ask, "Where's your website?" Since this has, to this point, been a mostly private blog for family and friends, I'm going to have to do something, I guess. So, tell me, should I keep this one for family and friends and make another public blog? Or, do I just re-design this one to accommodate the public?

What say you?

Penn (of Penn & Teller)

You have got to listen to this. Penn (one of the duo of Penn & Teller) talks about a man who gave him a book. Pay attention to what this self-described Athiest says, "I don't respect anyone who does not proselytize." That's deep.

Trip Video

Here's a little video I put together on my free, rainy Sunday. It may sound funny, but making this video was one of the best personal worship times I've had in months! Enjoy.

Raining turns to Flooding!

Well, you can keep an eye HERE for more updates, but the rains and floods are getting worse by the minute. I've never in my life seen rain and floods like this. Stores are closed and the ones that remained open get a foot of water every time a car drives by! Major intersections are blocked by stalled cars, causing major traffic issues. I couldn't get a better video of the floods, but this video is of Huong, one of our GVI staff members going back to the office with some things we dropped off for her. At one point in the day, the knee-deep water you see here was waist deep! We did not make it to the orphanage this morning because of the flooding, and we'll see if we can make it tomorrow. But the weather says it's supposed to rain the entire time we are here. Start praying for us now! At this point we'll be lucky if we make it up to Sapa!

Rainy Hanoi Morning

It rained HARD all night long. It's still coming down in waves. Slept good (up at 2am, though... we'll see how I transition). This video was taken from the roof of my hotel this morning, gorgeous view of the lake!

In Hanoi!

We made it to Hanoi without a hitch (well, except for the guy 3 rows in front of me on the last leg of the trip losing his lunch. No worries, he made it into the barf bad... all 3 times). It's currently 3:30pm here (3:30am CST) and my brain is screaming, "GO TO BED!!!" But I know better. Tonight, we are going to see a friend put on a jazz concert at the art conservatory here in Hanoi... should be a blast! (The video below is just a test to see if I can upload my videos here easily).