Zach Dotsey

Amanda told me that this morning, while she was lying in bed, Milly gave such a big kick that she could see the movement underneath the layers of covers and the shirt she was wearing.  My little baby girl’s getting strong!

We had a lot on our slate today, but we didn’t get much of it done.  Amanda’s mom, Karen Mercer, called and said that she was at Independence Mall here in Wilmington.  She and a bunch of her friends, they’re called the Yo Yos, were staying at a beach house for the weekend and they all decided to head to the mall.  Amanda and I had to go there so Amanda could exchange something anyway, so we met Karen there then we saw everyone else at lunch.  Michael, who lives two roads adjacent from Oleander, where the mall is, stopped by for some eating too, before he had to head off to work.

That ate up most of our discretionary time, but we did manage to stop by Hot Wax to look at neoprene tops.  Barry suggested I have one for Costa Rica, so I was getting one early for my birthday.  We’d called Surf City first, since I have a credit there, but they didn’t have any my size.  I saw one I liked at Hot Wax, but we decided on the way back into town (we had to let the dogs out for a bit and pick up our gifts for Nick and Amy Warkentien’s baby shower) to see what was at 17th Street too.  I ended up liking one at 17th Street the best- it’s a beavertail and front-zip neoprene top.  It just felt really comfortable and, like any good surfing apparel, made me feel like I looked like a super hero.

Before we left the house again, we decided to let Harvey stay out of his crate while we were gone.  He did good.  The only thing we found out of place was a seashell from the TV stand.

Nick and Amy’s baby shower was at Joel and Mia’s.  They were there, it being their house and all, along with Paul and Meagan Wicker along with their one-month-old baby Hannah, Tim and Jenni Cain and, eventually, Mike and Kirsten Paschal.  Amy’s brother, Andrew Cuthbert, showed up with his friend, also named Andrew, a little later.  They’d just driven in from Michigan.

We hung out there for a while then eventually went home to find out home undestroyed by Harvey.  I called Ed Castro to talk to him about our feelings on the group dynamic for the small group we had formed.  I basically told him that we felt that we were at an entirely different lifestage from the rest of the people in the group and that I thought that he’d make a really good group leader.  He told me that it was something he had felt called to do but that he’d never stepped up to do, and chalked my call up to a God Thing.  Amanda and I are going over to his and Tina’s house tomorrow to talk about it more in depth with them.

Amanda and I watched 30 Rock and The Soup before she went to bed.  I watched the Duke at Virginia Tech game on the DVR.  I already knew Duke had won because I kept up with it on my iPhone at the baby shower, but I had read about a lot of outrageously bad calls and no-calls, such as Gerald Henderson being slapped with a technical foul after being fouled on a dunk and Kyle Singler getting an intentional-looking elbow to the throat without so much as a regular foul being called on the guy who hit him.

The DVR cut off the game at about the three minute mark, so I missed another controversial call.  The ball was inbounded to Jon Scheyer and he was pressured, eventually having to take a time out.  Scheyer had a pretty blatant travel which was apparently pointed out and played over and over again, but no mention was ever made of the two Hokies fouling him to try to stop the clock, which also went uncalled, and nobody ever called out the refs for missing the incident with Singler earlier.  People say that it should have been a turnover and Va Tech could have tied it up, which may be the case, but they could also have called the fouls and put Duke ahead two more points.

Anyway, Duke had another hard-fought road win against a team that always plays them tough, so I’ll take it.  Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler each had 21 points I think, Henderson getting all but two of his in the first half with I believe the opposite happening for Singler.

Zach Dotsey
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Michael Mercer’s car got towed today from his apartment complex.  As best we can tell, his parking tag fell off his window and blew out.  Amanda picked him up, took him to the towing company, then had to go to the bank because they only accepted cash, went back and paid it (we’re getting paid back) then headed on back to work.  She was pretty upset about it, and not at Michael.

I had a talk with Jeff Winchester about our small group today.  Amanda and I e-mailed him some thoughts on it last night and he called me back today.   I’ll get more into that as the story develops.

After work I went over the the Warkentien house to help Nick move a bed from what will be the baby’s room into what is currently  the computer room after moving a couch out of it, into the hallway and then, after the bed was moved, into the baby’s room.  Amanda, on the way home from work, picked up smoothies for all of us, so I headed on home to meet her there.  Nick and Amy followed a little while later.

We used the homemade photography studio to take some pictures of Amy, and I think they ended up turning out pretty good, though I have yet to go through them all.  We were going to play Settlers of Catan once Michael got to the house, but when he got there Amanda and I were showing Nick and Amy how to play Poker (we had a disagreement about the betting and, I’ll admit, Amanda was right about it), so we just ended up playing a few hands of Poker and hanging out.  We never did end up playing Catan.

Zach Dotsey

Tonight Amanda and I went to Port City Community Church’s small group connection.  We’ve been to a number of them, so here’s a rundown.

The first one we went to was held in the old church offices on Shipyard.  We started a small group with  two other couples.  One couple never showed up and the other couple came for a few weeks, got married, and never showed up after that.

So we went to the next small group connection, this one also being held at the old church offices.  This one started off what I’d call the Golden Age of any of the small groups we’ve been involved with.  It lead to the formation of a group consisting of me and Amanda, Ben and Jessica Lambeth, Paul and Kim Ayers and Rob Peterson and Kristen Barriner.  There was admittedly a little friction and Paul and Kim eventually stopped coming, but the group was still pretty close.

A while after Paul and Kim left, we decided to see about adding to the three remaining couples so Amanda and I went to another small group connection, this one having been held at Studio 3.  There we ostensibly picked up two or three new couples, but only one ever showed up, and that’s how Elliot Clark and Melissa Nicholson joined our group.  Shortly after that though, Ben and Jessica moved to Winston-Salem.

Our group stayed pretty active though, mostly due to the online service called Group Finder.  People our age are wont to use the internet, and we picked up several couples that way.  We added Adam and Meagan Koch for a few months until they moved to Virginia, then we added Kyle and Lorin Van Zandt until they started their own small group, Brian and Kimberly Willows for about a week or so, Mike and Kaitlyn Boscaljon and then Justin and Lisa Hauenstein.  As I mentioned yesterday, it looks like we’ll be adding another couple via Group Finder- Mike and Sarah Nowak.

From the time we gained Elliot and Melissa up until today we also went to maybe three or four other group connections, but not in search of adding members.  We went to help out with the events, and that’s how we met Blake and Stephanie Konny who, though we were never in a small group together, have shared many a game night with us since.  The small group connections have been different many of the times we’ve been to them, in one capacity or another.  It’s an evolving thing with no real set formula on how to go about them.

So that’s the history of me and Amanda and PC3 small group connections up to tonight.

We went tonight because we recently disbanded the most recent version of our small group (Elliot and Melissa, the Boscaljons and the Hauensteins) because we just weren’t all able to come together consistently for a few different reasons and we wanted to be in an active small group.  We’ve been invited to join other groups, and I think we’d have gotten a lot out of them, but the church is in need to group leaders so we thought it would be best to start a new group instead of joining an existing one.  We just want to get one where we feel close with people who are going through the same or similar things in their lives, people about our age at the same stage in life.  We know how good a small group can be not only from our own experiences, but also from hearing other people talk about their own small groups.

Tonight we formed a group with three other couples, which also leaves room for the Nowaks and the Hauensteins, when Lisa is fully recovered and they’re ready to get back into it.  As we’ve seen in all but one instance, generally not all of the people you get together at the connection end up coming or staying for very long, so we’ll see what happens from this one.

Zach Dotsey

I worked on the desktop computer for a bit today.  A while back I installed a Linux operating system on it just to check it out.  I meant to install it on a partition of the drive so I could still boot up Windows, but I accidentally didn’t do that.  The Linux operating system (Ubuntu) doesn’t recognize the drivers for the wireless network card though, so I can’t connect it to the internet, and despite my attempts to remedy this situation, nothing’s worked yet.  I haven’t touched it in a while, but since I’ll be taking my laptop with me to Costa Rica I want to get it fixed so Amanda can have internet access while I’m gone.

I haven’t made any progress.

A couple weeks ago we got an e-mail from a couple looking to join a small group.  Amanda called them back and left a message explaining that we’d just disbanded our small group but that we were planning on going to the next small group connection to start a new one.  They called back tonight and Amanda talked to the wife, Sarah Nowak (the husband’s name is Mike, so that’s easy for us to remember).  They want to join us but aren’t able to go to the connection tomorrow night, so Amanda told them we’d save a spot for them.

There was a bit of basketball tonight.  UConn was playing a good game with Marquette.  Michael Mercer and I were actually both pulling for the same team- Marquette.  I think he wanted the Huskies to lose because it would help the Tar Heels, and I wanted them to lose because next to Carolina they’re my least favorite team.  Unfortunately our combined rooting didn’t help the Golden Eagles of Marquette and Connecticut’s coach, Jim Calhoun, won his 800th game tonight.

Virginia Tech played Clemson, which was an important game in for the ACC.  Clemson started the night tied for second in the ACC.  That game finished early in the Duke vs. Maryland rematch, so I didn’t see it but it was a close one.  Clemson did us Blue Devils a favor and dropped it, so if Duke won tonight they’d be squarely in second place in the ACC.

So that brings us to Duke at Maryland.  I’ve got to say, it was a really good game- the Maryland team that showed up tonight was nothing like the one that got shellacked by 41 points a month ago.  The game was close the whole way through.  In fact, with about five minutes left in the second half Duke went up by six points and the announcers said that it was the biggest lead by either team in the game so far.  Duke ended up winning 78-67.  It was a physical game, and in the last few road games, if it was close, tough and physical Duke faded away.

I have to give props to the Terrapin players for a hard fought game, but I can’t stand the fans.  First of all, they found out where the Duke players were staying and called them constantly throughout the night.  That’s not terrible, but it is obnoxious.

Then they all printed out pictures of Scheyerfaces.  Duke’s Jon Scheyer has a habit of making some pretty funny faces when he plays.  He’s even joked about it himself.  Again, not a bad thing to do, but they’ve done it for a few years now and it doesn’t bother Scheyer, so while maybe a little cute, it’s also a little lame.

So here’s my beef with them.  Nolan Smith took a hard screen and fell on the floor.  The legality of the screen has been debated, but I don’t think anybody felt that it was malicious.  Play continued and Maryland hit a three, so the crowd understandably cheered for that, but then after the game was stopped so Smith, still laid out on the other end of the court and obviously injured, could be checked out, the cheering continued.  And continued.  And continued.

In any other arena, no matter who was playing and who was injured, the crowd would have respectfully shut up and you’d be able to hear a pin drop.  I know Maryland fans hate Duke.  I get that.  But that was completely classless.  What bothered me all the more was that nobody mentioned how bad they were acting.  Later on the message board a Maryland fan stopped by to say that he was embarrassed by the behaviour.

The only good thing that came of it was that Nolan Smith’s injury really seemed to have fired up Gerald Henderson.  On the very next play he had one of his best dunks ever (see the #1 play of the game in the first video) followed by a few more good plays.

Zach Dotsey

There really wasn’t much going on today.  Amanda and I ate lunch with her grandparents, Peggy and Earl Lemons, at the mall.  Michael was working and I think Anna had her small group, so it was just the four of us.  Earl and I got subs, Amanda got Chick-Fil-A and Peggy got Chinese.  That’s usually the way it goes, although I’ll sometimes get Chick-Fil-A instead of the sub.

Amanda decided she wanted some Elizabeth’s Pizza for dinner, so she picked one up on the way home from work and we invited Amy Warkentien over to share in partaking of it.  Amy had gone to the baby doctor today, just a regularly scheduled checkup.  She left a little after 7:00 to go to Overflow at church, where Nick was working this evening.

Amanda watched the penultimate episode of this season’s The Bachelor, which featured a question and answer session with all the girls from the show (except the final two contestants, since they’re in the finale).  I don’t have a rant for it like I did last week, sorry.

Poor Amanda got another cramp in her foot tonight.  In other semi-health-related news, she said she can really feel Milly’s weight now.  If Amanda moves from one side to the other she can feel our baby and all that goes with her shift around a bit.

Zach Dotsey
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Jennifer Ann Warkentien sent a message to the members of I’m praying for Melissa Warkentien.

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Subject: She’s HOME!!!

Missy went home today…had her last radiation treatment this morning and the doctors decided that she was strong enough to go. The good news is that the tumor they were treating has shrunk enough that her lungs can expand a lot easier. She is breathing fine and able to walk etc.

A hospital bed and wheel chair (for emergencies) will be delivered to the house tomorrow. Until then, she is more than happy to sleep in her own bed tonight.   She will also have nurses visiting on a regular basis.

However, the bad news is that the Oncologist says it is only a temporary fix; the radiation has not taken care of the problem and the tumor will grow right back to where it was a couple of weeks ago. She will continue to pursue alternative (natural) treatments as the Medical Doctors say there is nothing more they can do besides keep her comfortable as she passes. Hopefully the other treatments will be able to work more effectively since she has received 5-6 units of blood while she was in the hospital. Her esophagus is burnt from the radiation and very painful at this point in time. That should start to pass this weekend. In the meantime, they have given her medication to help numb that when she eats…even with that she is pretty much on liquids, pudding, soup…soft stuff.

Her doctors and nurses were WONDERFUL and so many people helped out during her stay at the hospital. The cards, money, flowers, stuffed animals and most of all PRAYERS were awesome!!! Missy was encouraged by posting Bible verses on colored paper all over her walls as well as having a “Count your blessings” poster that she made all of us write on. The prayer map was a great success too!!! I used 105 pins in 16 different countries to represent every town where people were praying for her. Most of those 105 pins represented 10’s or 100’s of people. Thanks for sticking in there with us!

We don’t know what tomorrow will bring or the next day but it’s been two weeks since the doctors gave her “a few days”. Each day is a miracle and God has nothing more to prove to us. Whatever happens is for HIS GLORY!

2/24/2009
Jenni

I made a number of friends in fourth grade when my parents enrolled the four of us at Immaculata, a Catholic school at the church we attended. One of those friends was DJ Tunberg. I spent many nights at his house (sometimes there would be three of us- usually Steve Ceci or Kris Moore) staying up late, playing Nintendo and sometimes seeing what we could find on particular movie channels. His family ended up moving to Ohio.

I got an e-mail several years ago from DJ and we e-mailed back and forth for a little bit. Today I got a Facebook message from him and we ended up chatting through the website for a few minutes. He’s living in Italy, working as a meteorologist in the Navy. He’s also lived in Africa and Hawaii. He’s divorced and has a son with his ex-wife, but he sounds like he’s enjoying his life, overall. I think we are pretty alike, too. Neither of us has ever smoked anything, we don’t drink all that much and we’ve both got an artsy side.  He even still cheers for Duke basketball, but I don’t know how much he keeps up with it.

It would be great to visit with him, and in fact he’s going to be in Virginia soon, but the only time he’d have to come down here for a visit is while I’ll be away in Costa Rica. He did extend an invitation for me and Amanda to visit Italy, accommodations and transportation provided. I’d love to take him up on that, but at this point it would have to be a few years, what with the baby coming and all.

Other than that there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot going on today.  We started a new campaign at work, trying out some Google ads to help get the word out about a popular service.

Amanda went to the baby doctor today, by herself for the first time.  She had to do a glucose test, which she said wasn’t fun.  If not for waiting around on that she said she’d have been in and out of the place in fifteen minutes, but she had to wait an hour.  Her iron is low even though she’s been taking iron supplements.  She came to find out that taking them at the same time as her prenatal vitamins cancels it out, which nobody had ever told her.  We have effectively wasted more than half a box of iron supplement because of that, which was a bit annoying.

Amanda went to bed a little early tonight, not even staying up to watch Heroes.  I went ahead and watched it though, along with the Oklahoma vs. Kansas game.  Blake Griffin is still out, having been concussed in their last game, and Oklahoma lost.  Not only was I pulling for them because they are coached by Duke alum Jeff Capel (who, at this point would be my vote to take over the Blue Devils if Coach K were to step down today), but they’re also ranked ahead of Carolina.  Unfortunately, the Sooners lost.  So now I’ve watched two of their games and they’ve dropped them both.  I’m jinxing them, it seems, but at least Duke is re-energized and winning.

Michael Mercer was pulling for Kansas, I’m guessing because it helped the Tar Heels, and lamented that we never pull for the same team.

Battle for Tobacco Road, an HBO documentary about the Duke-Carolina rivalry, aired tonight.  I was excited about watching it, but I forgot about it when I canceled my HBO service.  Guess I’ll have to catch it on disc.

Zach Dotsey