THE MONTH OF JANUARY 1999

• Parker had his first birthday, and we celebrated it at John's Mom's home.  Pictures and details can be seen in the Pictures Directory.
• Tamara and John left Parker at his grandparent's house over the New Year's Eve and Day holiday, hoping to pick him up on Saturday, January 2.  We didn't realize the weather would dump on us snow and ice, and we didn't realize the PA Department of Transportation would take the weekend off and not plow the roads.  We traveled two and a half hours on the highways at 50 MPH, and was never able to pick Parker up!  We were only seven miles from the grandparent's home, when the car got stuck the roads were slick, and my car could not exit this small valley and travel up the roads).  We eventually made it up the road we came down (only by the grace of God and his angels, because I could not get the car out of first gear for fear up losing traction, and the tachometer was registering on the big 6, which is "Red Line time" for transmissions.  It was not until Sunday morning that a parishioner with a truck took me down to get Parker (better traction).
• Speaking of Sunday, church was canceled due to inclement weather - the roads and parking lot were still full of ice.
• Tamara had the worst of it, driving through the snow and ice. She has to travel 10-15 miles to her workplace, and sometimes the journey was scary.  As for John, his travel distance is 100 yards to the church.  He did have to endure winds and snow on his journey, but not as badly as Tamara.
• And, in one day, John shot 4 rabbits, using only 7 Shotgun shells (that's good shootin')!  We hunted among acres and acres of Christmas trees, which are good places for rabbits to hide.  It was a beautiful day with all the snow on the ground.

 
  THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 1999

• The month began with John getting the stiffest neck and the worst shoulder pains he has ever had.  He is seeing a Chiropractor, who is helping to remedy the problem.
• John, Tamara, and Parker didn't watch a single minute of the Clinton Impeachment Trail, expect for the final vote on the two Articles of Impeachment (John watched that).
• John has begun to do some jogging, slowly at first, because he feels his exercise schedule is lacking.
• Tamara ate the best homemade salsa this side of the Mississippi.  She said it was just as good and hot - if not better - than what she used to eat in California and Arizona.  That is a high compliment.
• The Callahan three enjoyed a VeggieTales marathon one day.
• Parker officially likes Teletubbies, Zoom, Elmo on Sesame Street, and Jeopardy (he sits quietly in John's lap during Jeopardy, always jumping at the sound of the Daily Doubles.  John and Tamara try to answer the questions - they are glad they never made the show).
  
  
  THE MONTH OF MARCH 1999


• "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." Someone made a bid on the Callahan home in Ohio. We weren't getting any money for it, but we were not losing any. We thought the house would finally be out of our hands. HOWEVER, the folk who wanted to buy our home had a $1000 check bounce, had their loan disapproved (even after they were "pre-approved" - the wife's credit is terrible), AND their parents stuck their nose into a sitaution not concerning them and told our "buyer" to reduce the price of the house because of certain repairs needed on the home. Needless to say, we had to drop them, and the house is still on the market.
• Parker is trying to form words and phrases, but he still talks in gibberish. His tongue and jaw are actually trying to work with each other - it is a lot better than hearing (or seeing) him saying, "Ba,ba,ba" or "Dah,dah,dah."
• Again, Parker loves the outdoors, especially since the weather is warmer and longer. He still complains bitterly when taken inside (at least for a minute or two).
• Parker can crawl down the "carpeted" flight of stairs (leading to the second floor) by himself. AND, he can walk (standing and all) down the outside deck stairs by himself. He grabs the rail or a parent's finger, and walks down without problem.
• Lent for the Callahans was both stressful and inspiring. We are glad it is April. We are tired of the winter, too. We are glad it is Spring!
  
  
  THE MONTH OF APRIL 1999
  
• Tamara's sister Sharon came from Washington (state) to see us. She really liked Parker, and spent hours upon hours with Tamara. The first night they talked until 1:30am (It was only 10:30pm for Sharon). But, they did go to sleep at a reasonable time the next night. Although the visit was short, we really enjoyed our time with her.
• We had another potential buyer for our home, but they could not make the monthly payments. So, we accepted a bid from another person, a single mom. She will buy our home at a better price than we have been expecting; however, she will buy the house AS LONG AS her house sells (in Akron). The house is still being shown under a "Contigency" mode, which we hope will pan out for us soon.
• A crew from the church in PA went out to Ohio with Tamara and John and helped them clean up their house. They fixed some electrical work in the attic, straightened a leaning garage outside, fixed the porch steps, raked and mowed and cleaned gutters. The whole day was long but very rewarding, thanks to those who helped us.
• The Callahan Sweepsteaks (incorrect spelling) continues onward... We had nine people submit bids, and on April 30 our house has been on the market for 334 DAYS!!! Is that not ridiculous?.
• John went on vacation from April 19-25 and missed Parker and Tamara tremendously. He went down to Virginia to view Civil War battlefields (nothing like seeing the places they fought to understand the history). He visited Fredericksburg (the Sunken Wall and the Memorial Cemetery), Manassas (where the North and South first fought), and Chancellorsville (the place Stonewall Jackson was shot). He also visited Spotsylvania (the Bloody Angle), and the Shrine of Jackson (the place he died of pneumonia). Later, he traveled to Charlottesville and visited Jefferson's home, Montecello (which means "Little Mountain"). The "history lesson" was great for him, but what came next was better. He went on retreat for a 72-hour weekend. It was through "Walk to Emmaus" (theme comes from Luke 24): it was a time for men to retreat together, and it was an excellent time for fellowship, learning, and re-creation. It is an experience that moved John in many ways - he won't forget it too easily. It is available to everyone who wants to work on their discipleship in Christ's name.
• One day the weather was beautiful, and we decided to spend the time outside. We spent so much time outside, that Parker wanted to go in! That was a first - he usually hates being taken into the house after playing outside. On that day, however, we really wore him out. Parker continues to speak a language other than English. We think he is trying to speak in sentences. His expressions are cute, and he is very playful.


THE MONTH OF MAY 1999

• Tamara's Mom visited for a weekend. They planted a plethora of flowers around the house; well, actually near the deck of the house in the back. John went on a "mission trip" with the youth - they helped to clean a camp before it opens in the Summer (a lot and a lot of raking!).
• Parker got another tooth, which makes a total of eight of them in his head. Over the Memorial Day weekend, he has not been sleeping through the night, always waking up with crying and complaining. We think other teeth may be coming in.
• The last day of May will make it 365 Days that the House in Ohio has been for sale. However, things are happening and we are confident that it will sell in June! We hope we can report this in the next month's review!!!
• Tamara and John saw STAR WARS on May 29th, and it was excellent. Should I tell you what happens in the end? Oh no, we cannot do that, except we can tell you that the movie was great! It fits in nicely with the "earlier" movies.
• Tamara sings with three other women (as a quartet), and they shared their music with our church on Pentecost Sunday. They also sang at a Mother/Daughters Luncheon Banquet, where they performed music for 30 minutes or so. From what John and Parker heard, they did an excellent job. Tamara also plays piano for our church once in a while. She adds a lot to our music ministry.
• And finally, we think Parker, after playing on the piano for some time, has found the first bars of "Rach 3" by, of course, Sergei Rachmaninoff. (Well, maybe not, but you could say his playing is, ah, "complex and innovative".)


THE MONTH OF JUNE 1999

• We are sorry that we haven't kept up the Chronicles for a while - we are living in our bedroom where the only A/C unit is (there is one in the study of the house, but the bedroom is more comfortable). We put the TV upstair on the dresser with a long, long cable connecting from the living room. The only problem with living upstairs is Parker keeps opening the door to get into his room and all the cold, dehumidified air escapes. The months have been very hot and humid - walking across the lawn from the church to the house is like traversing a desert: glaring and oppressive!! Unfortunately we haven't had much rain. What little we get comes in 20 minute spurts with heavy thuderstorms (more wind and lightning than rain).
• We had Vacation Bible School from June 14-18. The days were not too hot yet. We had 27 kids and youth participate and enough adults to help with teaching, crafts, singing, etc. Tamara was the music woman, and John was a teacher dressed as a surfer dude named Rip Tide. Parker was babysat in the nursery downstairs and had his own fun. We started at 6:30pm and ended around 9:00pm. By Thursday this routine started to become tiring, although we didn't want the time with the kids to end (as usually happens with helpers in VBS). Parker had it with not seeing Mommy and Daddy all week, and he finally became overstressed and unmanagable at a church picnic on Saturday, where he wouldn't sit still for anything or anyone. He just had too much time with other people and not enough with his parents, and he missed us. I said to Tamara, "I got some bad news. I think our son likes us, I mean he REALLY likes to be with us." To which Tamara replied "Oh, no." On Sunday, June 20, the church held a service with the kids from VBS. They sang their songs and told us what they learned. For the first time, Rev. John didn't dress in a robe or even in a suit and tie. He wore his surfer dude outfit which included a T-shirt, bright yellow bathing trunks, sandles, Terminator-type sunglasses, and a white nose (to keep from sunburning, of course).
• The house. Oh, yes, the house. Well, to make a really long story short, it ain't sold yet. The "deal" in May fell through, much to our anger. It has been, what, a year and a month now! A lot of showings but no offers. What will July have in store for us?


THE MONTH OF JULY 1999

• Let's get the house issue out of the way first! We received a bid and signed contract (our third one, is that a charm perhaps?) at the middle of the month, and we HOPE this will be the last couple we have to deal with. The price is not completely right, the deal looks better for them than for us, but we are in "dumping mode". The house must go and go soon, because it has eaten into our budget too much. But, I digress...
• We spent the Fourth of July weekend in Guys Mills, PA, a place outside of Meadville. We met with John's uncles and aunts and had a fireworks show on the lake near his Uncle Bill's home. The first night John and Tamara and Parker stayed in the (cooler) house of his grandmother. The next night we stayed in our tent on the other side of the lake. Parker woke up Daddy with a bright smile and a finger up his nose, which didn't make Daddy happy in the least. It bled and bled, until Daddy had to go to the bathroom and plug it up with toilet paper. That is not a fun way to wake up in the morning, let me tell you! We returned to home and church on July 4, and spent the afternoon in the bedroom. That evening, John and Tamara watched five different firework displays all around their house, from the north to the south, ranging from miles away to only hundreds of feet away. Told you we got a great view from our house on that hill!!!
• John performed his tenth wedding on July 24. Not too big of a deal except that John thinks he may only do one wedding per year as pastor of Clinton Church.
• Parker may be the only one in the Callahan household who can tolerate the heat outside and inside the house. At night he sleeps in his own room, until the parents are ready to go to sleep. Then he is moved to the playpen in his parent's room, where the air conditioner is. By the time he gets there his head is usually full of sweat, because he still likes to sleep with his flannel blanket over his head. Mom and Dad have tried to relieve their son of one of his prized possessions, but just like Linus' blanket it can never be taken away when he sleeps.
• Parker is doing an excellent job with walking and running. He can run very fast without falling - the parents used to be able to keep up with him as they crawled but not anymore. Parker can throw a ball with minimal accuracy. He has mollars popping up in the back of his mouth. He is using a spoon on his own and feeds himself with gusto. He loves to wrestle with Dad and sometime Mom. He likes the stuffed animal from FAO Swartz called "Patrick", and he still watches Sesame Street in the morn and Zoom in the evening. He really likes Elmo's World, which Mommy and Daddy can repeat almost word for word because the segments repeat so many times.


THE MONTH OF AUGUST 1999

• The house! Oh, yes, the house! IT FINALLY SOLD. Closing occurred on August 27 - mortgage payments ended soon thereafter. YES!!! It only took 450 plus days to sell the domicile in Ohio. But now, ahhhhhh, it feels soooooo good not to have that burden any longer.
• August was a cooler month for us. The A/C in the bedroom was still used at night, but we could live in the livingroom during the day and night. John has been picking a lot of strawberries from his plants. We also harvested a "good many" tomatoes, although most of them had that black rot on the bottoms. Still, they were very good (if you eliminate the black junk).
• John went on a canoe trip with other pastors. He traveled 10 hours to Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada, canoed for five days and camped for five nights, portaged canoes and backpacks over land for distances of nearly a mile, and enjoyed the whole experienced. It stayed sunny for all but one day, the last day. Let's say that John and everyone else got very WET!!! The only other problem was the lunch meat. We carried a hunk of salami with us, which was very good the first few days; however, it turned greasy and didn't tasted as good on Friday (the last canoeing day). It is an event John wants to attend again. Vacations and study leaves should happen until the last week of the year. John is looking forward to "business as usual" for the church in September.
• Parker still enjoys the outdoors. He works wonderfully with puzzles and games. He is addicted to his number and alphabet puzzles. If we keep them in his room upstairs, he will disappear there and not return downstairs until we call for him. We now keep the puzzles in the livingroom. He is learning his numbers and alphabet slowly but surely. He can say: A, B, C, D, E, G, I, L (it's cute how he touches his tongue to his upper teeth), M (very short m, like staccato), O, P, Q (almost), T, U (his mouth turns into fish lips), V, Y, 2, 6, 8, and 10. Pretty good, a?! When Parker retreats to his bedroom, he sometimes gets into a closet (we call it the Clubhouse - it is more of a storage room than a closet) and rummages through his toys, the ones we try to hide from him but he knows where they are! We will have to put a lock on that door.

 
  Pictures Directory                 Give us an Email                    Going Home