Tammy leaves tomorrow for Tres Dias (Spanish for "Three Days"). This time, she's working in the kitchen. As a candidate (first time), it's a great opportunity to retreat from the world and get close to the Lord. As a worker, it's an opportunity to serve others and to be a blessing to new candidates who are experiencing that closeness for the first time. It's also a marvelous opportunity for Dads to get close to their kids. Really close. 24/7. I'm not worried about it - we've done this before, once. We didn't burn the house down (we spilled juice on all the matches, and besides all the flammable substances were covered in some kind of weird goo - bubble soap, I think.) No one went to the hospital, though the insane asylum was looking like a pretty cozy alternative by Sunday afternoon. The dog was reverting to feral behavior, trying to bury her food in the carpet (her futile scratching was as close as it came to getting vacuumed). She finally gave up and just hunkered down in the corner, glowering, with a little slobber dribbling down her chin. No wait, that was my daughter... When Children's Services came (anonymous tip from the neighbors - they go so overboard about screaming, especially when it ends in gurgles and pitiful wailing), I explained the loose bricks barricading the kitchen as "an experiment" in pizza cooking. But the truck axle across the bedroom door was a bit trickier.

All kidding aside, I'm looking forward to spending lots of "quality time" (see first post) with my daughter, and to hearing about the wonderful things God has in store for my wife.

We'll only be blowing bubbles outside this time.