100th Post!

Friday morning Barb and I took Dani back to school at Shenandoah University to start her sophomore year. By the time we packed the car and got to her dorm the campus was full of students who seemed excited about being back at school, and parents who were tired from hauling a ton of their kid's stuff up flights of stairs to the dorm rooms.

Upon arriving we were greeted by Rebekah, Dani’s roommate. They were roomies last year and are again this year. Rebekah’s a nursing major and a very sweet girl. Maybe Rebekah’s not all sweet but what isn’t sweet is funny and endearing. After filling out some forms and finalizing all of the paperwork for year two we emptied Rebekah’s SUV up the three flights of stairs and down a long hall. Then we did our car and afterwards made a trip to the storage space that the girls rented over the summer so they wouldn’t have to schlep everything back home. After dumping everything into their room we stopped for lunch at the nearby Bob Evens. Barb and I gave them kisses goodbye and headed back to Alexandria so I could spend the rest of the day and night at the office.

We’ve been in close touch with Dani and she is doing well. Her classes started Monday and she has a pretty full schedule but get this, she’s now on the field hockey team! She’s never played it before but she decided that it was something that she wanted to try. Of course I asked her if she is now a lesbian, not that there’s anything wrong with it, but she assured me that she is still heterosexual.


On Saturday, Barbara, my friend Doug and I went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. It was the opening day and we had a blast. The place was crowded and the weather was great. We saw a few shows,, did a few games and ate some very different foods. I had a good time throwing axes, death stars, and knives. We also rode huge wooden slides that ran down the side of a hill throughout the woods. The jousting was fun but Barb was getting concerned that the horses weren’t enjoying themselves. If you have a weekend day that’s open within the next few months I suggest you head up near Annapolis and spend a day at the fair.

Barbara and I have orientation for school on Friday morning. Barb has never attended school in Fairfax County so it’s new for her and I think she’s excited, I know I am. She’ll be attending the same school that Dani attended and I am looking forward to her being here every night. The only negative is that I’ll have to stop all of my women from coming over at all hours of the night.

Have a blessed day!
Jim

Beach Time for the Lawsons!!!

Dani & Barb on the beach

Dani, Barbara and I got back from our beach vacation last Thursday evening and we all had a wonderful time. The three of us haven’t been on an actual vacation in about five years. Dani and I have done mission trips and Barbara and I have gone on hiking trips and the girls have been on trips with Mary but we haven’t been able to work out a vacation until now.

The trip started out on a very low point. On Saturday morning we were packing our car and my computer guy (PC Buddy – good guy, let me know if you‘d like his number) stopped by to do some computer fixes at the house. While he was working on the computer he asked to see my Mac PowerBook that I use for work. I went to the car to retrieve it and you guessed it, my briefcase was stolen with the PowerBook and all of my work. So our first stop on vacation was at the police station to file a report and then a call to the owners of the firm I work for. To their credit, the only grief they gave me was for taking work with me on vacation. They're good people.

After starting our trip about five hours late we made it Ocean City, MD. I’ve always thought of OC as a pretty dirty town, someplace you go to if you only have one day to get away, but we stayed at a nice little resort about a mile west of the city and we had a great time.

Jim saving lives

The resort had activities for all ages of the family including themed swimming pools, indoor and outdoor.

Jim & Barb win 1st place in the resort scavenger hunt

We spent a few of the days at Assateague Island at the National Park while beached and hiked through the back bay seeing the wildlife and the ponies.

Barb & Dani on a Back-Bay island

Wild pony on Assateague Island

We took a sunset speedboat ride up the coast to Delaware with 20 other people, it was a bit chilly but great fun. Speedboat called "Thriller"

We spent a few hours at the go-cart track and the bumper boats.

Dani & Barb soaking and bumping each other

We drove up to Rehoboth Beach for an evening.

We spent plenty of time in the ocean and in the sand.

We had our daily-recommended amount of Boardwalk time.

My girls

On our last day, Dani’s friends Margaret and Emily drove up to join us and spend the night. They are always a joy to have around.

Barb, Margaret, Emily & Dani

The trip was so relaxing and refreshing. We woke up each morning and said, “what would you like to do today?” and we did just that. We really didn’t have any plans (other than mine, which was eating a meal at Phillips)

Gotta love those crablegs!

and we loved the whole trip. It only lasted five days but they were five well-spent days.

Now I’m back home and at work trying to recreate all of those files I lost with the PowerBook and getting friendly with a new computer. 51 weeks of this for one week of fun. It was worth it.

Video Work

I have been writing and directing some video work for my job. I thought I'd post some of them for your viewing. The first is a video for the World Hunger Program. Let me know what you think.