Stardate 090131.9

Captain's Log:

Our country is facing many challenges today; not least of all, the growth of the federal government. Unless you dwell under a large piece of granite, or have only just arrived from your home on a celestial body in the far reaches of the galaxy, you must know that we, as a nation, have a new president.

Now, over the past few months (during the election), I made some factual comments about how things are going to be run in the United States when the new administration takes over. So far, things seem right on track. I got many comments to the effect of "get over it" or "find something good in the situation; don't always focus on the negative". Fine: our new president is tech-savvy. I found something good. Now let's focus on the factual events that have taken place over the past 11 days.

1. Pro-abortion memorandum has already been signed.
2. An economic stimulus package that will essentially hurt the economy in the long run, has been pushed through the house by a vote of 244-188 and is now in the senate.
3. The bi-partisanship that this administration claims to be striving for is non-existent. The evidence is in the vote for the stimulus package. All 244 'yes' votes were democrats...not one single republican voted for it. Why is that? The stimulus is a bad idea, and they know it. All but eleven democrats voted the party line.
4. A task force was started, to be headed by vice president, Joe Biden, that will create "green jobs". In other words, money from the stimulus package (which comes from our tax dollars...all $817 Billion dollars of the stimulus) will be used to create new jobs that help the environment and the country as a whole...right...another government program that increases the power of the central government.

I am sure in the weeks to come there will be more news and activity coming from the oval office, but for now, I think that is enough for the American people to stomach for one night. Oh, but I did find his comment the other day rather interesting; he said, when addressing Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) about the republican opposition to the stimulus, "I won. I will trump you on that." Hmmm...I don't know. To me, that doesn't sound like his campaign promise of "I will hear both sides equally, and then decide on the best course of action."

For now, I think that will be all. Until next time,

Lorimer

Stardate 090122.8

Captain's Log:

I had to return to work this morning after an awesome five-day weekend. Brittany and I went to South Carolina to visit my grandparents. As we were both off of work for a few days, we decided to take a break and tour Charleston.

We left Melbourne after church on Sunday morning and drove the six hours to Charleston. We made the obligatory stop at Cracker Barrel for lunch. After arriving at my grandparents around 2100HR, I made all of the introductions since this was the first time my grandparents had met Brittany, and then we ate dinner and went to bed.

Monday - 19 January

Brittany and I both woke much later than normal, and after eating a hearty breakfast, we left the house. As she had never visited a plantation before, we decided to go to Middleton Place Plantation and spend the afternoon. We spent hours wandering the grounds after riding a horse-drawn carriage around the old rice fields. As afternoon moved steadly onward into evening, the cold became to pervasive and we were forced to retreat to the house where dinner awaited us. My grandfather had made his famous macaroni and cheese which, I must say, I ate quite a lot of. After dinner, the four of us played a game of Hand and Foot before we all hit the sack.

Tuesday - 20 January

We awoke late, again, and ate our breakfast/lunch and set off once again to explore Charleston. This time the two of us went downtown to the historic district for a walk along the battery. We walked past block after block of ancient houses, many of which dated back two hundred years or more. Once we had seen our fill of multi-million dollar homes, and we were too cold to continue, we drove over to Waterfront Park. We spent very little time there, for the cold wind was growing stronger. We went home for dinner after only a brief tour of the park. My aunt and uncle came to dinner and met Brittany. After dinner, we played another game of cards and went to bed.

We drove home the next day, and took our time on the drive as it was a very nice day. And that was our Charleston trip; our first vacation together. All in all, it was a perfect weekend.

Until next time,

Lorimer

Stardate 090111.6

Captain’s Log:

 

Once again, I take my time posting and life just flies by.  So much has changed in the past few months, and it needs a proper telling.  To start things off right though, Happy New Year to the readers of this marvelous weblog. 

 

2008 ended with some excitement as I got engaged on New Year’s Eve.  Brittany Clemensen and I are engaged and will be married on the 20^th of June.  Now, as most of you know, I am not normally one to give loads of details, but for Brittany’s sake I will try to properly retell the story. 

 

Brittany and I met in church on August 20^th when Seth and I were discussing his latest cell phone.  I sat down in their pew for a few minutes before the service and as there was no room next to Seth, we had to talk across the girls (Melodie and Brittany).  Well, almost a month passed and we started casually seeing each other; however, we consider September 20^th, the day Brayden was born, as the day we officially started dating. 

 

By November the 10^th I knew she was the one God wanted me to marry.  I was out late walking—as I’m often prone to do—in my neighborhood, and the creative portion of my brain kicked into high gear.  The words of a poem issued from my brain with a rapidity belying the mental and physical exhaustion my body was feeling at such an hour.  Within just a short time I had the perfect poem written and edited.  When I got back to the house I typed up the poem and erased the original copy from my phone so that it would not fall into the wrong hands.  The version I had just typed up was placed in a virtual vault and locked with two separate passwords so as to keep the nature and content of the poem a secret until the day when it would be needed.  I wanted Brittany to be the first to hear or read the poem, so I showed it to no one. 

 

Another month went by and we continued to grow closer and more in love, but she started getting antsy.  She couldn’t understand why I hadn’t asked her yet.  Well, for the entire month of December I had been working toward that end, but there were a lot of things that needed to be done without her knowledge.  I had to get her father’s permission, get the go ahead from the other parents, find out how all the siblings felt about it, buy the ring, decide when to do it, and then actually propose.  So, all of those things were being planned and completed behind the scenes and she was wondering when I was going to get my act together and just ask her.

 

I got all the opinions I needed over the month of December, and while the two of us were up in Chicago for her brother Stephen’s wedding on the 20^th, I asked Mr. Clemensen for his permission to marry Brittany.  He said he’d love to have me as a son-in-law on three conditions: that we don’t have the wedding anytime soon, that we have the wedding in Florida (it was excruciatingly cold in Chicago…), and that we have cake at the wedding.  I’m only joking, of course…well, I’m partly joking…those weren’t the only requirements. 

 

Now, through all of this I had been researching rings and the “four C’s” of diamonds, so that I could make an informed decision.  We returned home from our trip on the 21^st, and three days later I bought the ring. 

 

When I ordered it I was told that it would ship on the 29^th of December and be over-nighted to my house, so I wasn’t worried because I didn’t need it until the 31^st.  Well, Monday came and went sooner than I thought it would and the ring was not shipped.  That was when I started worrying, but I need not have done so for God had things under control.  All day Tuesday I was on the phone with the company walking them through the process of checking the diamond, setting the stone, and finally shipping it to me.  I made sure they knew that I needed the ring within 24 hours.  I must have called them six or seven times that afternoon to check on the status, and finally, right before close of business, they shipped it via Fed Ex for next day delivery.  I tracked the package all morning on Wednesday, and as soon as it was placed on the truck here in Melbourne, I went home to wait for it so I could sign the receipt. 

 

Well, Brittany was home when I got there, because she was doing some laundry to get ready for work.  This presented a slight problem.  I was going to have to explain what kind of package would require me to come all the way home and provide prove of receipt.  Fortunately, a co-worker of mine was also having something shipped to my house that was supposed to be delivered that day.  Well, I signed for the package when the Fed Ex driver showed up and told her that I was going to stash the box in my truck to make sure I didn’t forget to take it to work. 

 

After lunch she went to work and I went to church.  We were to meet at my house afterwards, because we were going over to Seth and Melodie’s for a New Year’s party.  I removed the ring from the shipping box and placed it in my pocket before I got home.  She hopped in the car and we drove away from the house, headed south on US-1.  She looked at me and asked where we were going.  I said that I wanted to do something special for her tonight, so I was taking her to see the fireworks over the river.  She was very excited.  I drove down to the Eau Gallie library, for behind the building there is a lighted pier that extends out over the river.  We walked down the pier and looked to the north where fireworks were already going off.  After a few minutes of casual conversation, I turned to her.

 

“I wrote you a poem a couple months ago,” I said as I turned my head to the north again to resume my fireworks viewing.  She stared at me for minute.

 

“Do I get to hear it?” she asked.

 

“Oh, you want to hear it?” I pretended surprise as she rolled her eyes in feigned exasperation.

 

I turned to face her and launched into my poem.  The poem is written to be nice and sweet and all that throughout; however, it builds on itself piece by piece and it was not until towards the end when she started to realize where the poem was going.  After I said, “To you, my love, I’ll always be,” I reached into my pocket as I got down on one knee in front of her.  As I was simultaneously reaching for the ring and dropping to my knee, her hands flew up to her mouth and tears sprang into her eyes.  I finished the last refrain with, “Yours Alone,” (dramatic pause) “will you marry me?” and though she couldn’t speak immediately, the nodding of her head revealed the answer right away.  She was eventually able to get the word out through what I hope were joyful tears and I slid the ring onto her finger.

 

After a few more minutes of fireworks, we left the pier for the party, happier than ever.  Little did she know, but the New Year’s Eve party she thought she was attending was actually our engagement party that just happened to fall on New Year’s Eve.  There were quite a few people there that we had invited from church. 

 

I guess it’s a good thing she said yes…that probably would have killed the party otherwise.  Of course, calls and texts flew from our phones all night to various family members and friends informing them of this drastic but wonderful change in our lives.

 

Now we are left with only 160 days until the big day, so the planning has kicked into high gear.  Please pray for us as we move into this new chapter in our lives, and for those who have been praying throughout, thank you very much for your help and concern.

 

And so begins the story of Lance and Brittany.  More to follow. 

 

Lorimer