A day off!

Carolyn, our council president, made the call earlier today to cancel all services and events at the church tomorrow, in light of the major winter storm that's about to hit us. Churches all over the area are canceling in advance, since the authorities are urging people not to travel except in emergencies until this blows over.

On top of the four or five inches of snow from last night, the next round (already starting, if my southern view is any indication) is supposed to bring another ten inches or so. Add in winds up to 40 mph, and you get a blizzard, which is just what the weather service warnings are saying.

So I get a rare Sunday morning off! :)

Word of the Day: Sabermetrician

This one's for you, Jeff.

Make mine chocolate

As many of you know, Gretchen is the proud "mom" of three adorable, feisty bunnies - Riley, Maggie, and Duncan. They're house rabbits, which means that they're house trained, just like a cat, and (except when Ellie's around) pretty much have free run of Gretchen's place. It's the most natural thing in the world, once you get over the fact that it's a trio of rabbits and not pooches - but what's the difference?

Gretchen's a saint, and has rescued each of her bunnies from an unhappy past, giving them a good home. Do you remember all the dalmatians that got abused or abandoned when families realized that caring for just one, not 101, was more effort than they were willing to spend? That happens every Easter to bunnies. Thousands of them are given as "cute" Easter presents, only to face neglect or worse when the cuteness wears off and the reality of a pet that can live ten or more years sets in.

In 2002, in an attempt to address the problem, the Columbus House Rabbit Society began a campaign to educate the public on the realities of living with a rabbit, and to discourage giving live rabbits as Easter gifts. Using ceramic pins in the form of chocolate bunnies as the symbol, the campaign's goal is to spread the message that rabbits should not be casually acquired and to educate the public about the special needs of these often-fragile creatures.

Real bunnies are living beings with significant needs. However cute they might look in an Easter basket, they should only be given to someone willing and able to give them a good home and all the care they need. That's just common sense, and common decency.

The Columbus House Rabbit Society's site, "Make Mine Chocolate!" gives lots more background, and an opportunity to get the word out this Easter.

Gretchen and I can only give a home to so many bunnies. ;) Please, this Easter, give cute chocolate rabbits that the kids can nibble the ears off of. Let the real ones find the homes they deserve.

At long last - the Big Announcement!

I've got some news. =)

Alright, so it's not exactly a closely guarded secret of state, but I've held back from posting my news to the blog until I was able to personally share it with all the friends and family I could get a hold of... seemed like the decent thing to do. It's been a month tonight, and I've made a heroic effort to avoid mass e-mailing, so I think it's finally time to return to the world of blogging with the news everyone's seen coming a mile away.

So, here's the scoop - Gretchen and I are getting married. Yay!

We've established a Flickr account for our upcoming wedding (yes, that's right, the wedding has an account all of its own), and you can see lots of engagement pictures there. That's also where we'll be posting pics as we look at decorations, clothing, etc., in the months to come.

The happy day will be December 29, and we're planning on holding the service at Gretchen's church in West Lafayette.

(That part won't be official until we're able to meet with one of the pastors at St. Andrew UMC - we were scheduled for our first premarital appointment this Friday, but a funeral here put that on hold for the moment, so we're scrambling to reschedule. I've let Gretchen know that if we need a backup, the pastor at St. John's would probably be pretty willing to accommodate us. ;) But I don't think there'll be any trouble getting our date "down south.")

Obviously, I'm delighted! Gretchen's the joy of my life, and sharing our days together is the most wonderful blessing I can imagine. It's pretty remarkable to flip the pages back a year and realize how my world has turned upside down in just a few short months. How can the days have flown by, but at the same time I feel as though we've known each other forever?

Ah, well... I guess I'll leave the deep metaphysical pondering for some other night. ;)

For now, I'm just glad to finally go public with the best news I've ever had to announce! Did I mention, "Yay!"? =)