The Week in Review

I think we'll go in reverse order.

The FDA showed up yesterday. There's been a quiet uneasiness in the air. The auditor found at least one thing today, but it was something we caught several months ago and fixed ourselves, but there was still a lot of tension. Our QA staff deserves a nice long break after this. And so does our CEO. Not that she'll take any break since she lives and breathes our company. And I know this will sound weird, but it just didn't feel like Friday to me. Perhaps it's because the auditor was supposed to come on Tuesday, but had to postpone. It was just an odd week at work.

My buddy Mike (a.k.a. Sarge) was in town and he came by to hang out last night. It was good to catch up. That's one of the amazing things about having soul bonds with other men. Even though we haven't seen each other in at least two years, we can be real with each other like it was back in college. He enjoyed seeing us and the girls and I hope he left encouraged in the Lord.

Uncle N came down on Wednesday since he had some red tape to work through with the state regarding his doctor's license. Thankfully he brought his dogs CJ and Abby. Last weekend M was dialing on her play phone and one time said "Hi Uncle N. How are your doggies doing?" I think he enjoyed loving on his nieces. And M enjoyed loving on CJ and Abby. The funny thing is that she isn't big enough, so she still runs away when they come to give her kisses.



The biggest news this week is that M is potty training. She started off getting it down half the time, but the last three days she's only had one accident. So she's having a lot of colored marshmallows for her success. She has been close for a while, but hasn't been really into it until this week. C has done a great job with her and I know she's a little relieved that we're finally getting to this point.

Sadie has had a silly week. She's been making a bunch of funny faces and grunting a lot. I'll let you check out C's blog for most of those photos, but I had to show you that my daughter has learned the air guitar.

That's it for me tonight. We'll hopefully get some good sleep in. We've been crazy and haven't gone to bed before 10:30 most nights this week.

It's supposed to be another rainy weekend here in Round Rock. I wish that God would space it out a little bit, but I'm not complaining. I'd much rather have to cut my grass once a week than have to water it every couple of days so it doesn't die.

Stay dry.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to me.

C let me sleep in till 8, at which time M woke up. While I was asleep C was busy making some yummy chocolate chip muffins. I also got a sweet card from my Babe and one from my Honey and Darlin'. Those are my nicknames for M and S. They put their handprints on it and M put some fun stickers and scribbled on it for me. It's definitely going on my instrument tomorrow.

After church we went to Nana's apartment to have lunch with her and Mamá & Pop-Pop. Nana made an exquisite roast with potatoes and carrots. We had brownies and ice cream for dessert. After Mallory woke up from her nap she was in a funky mood. But I coaxed her into sitting on the chair with me and I got her night-nights and pink blanket and we had some good snuggle time.
Then we went to Nana's pool and had some fun swimming, splashing and jumping. It was starting to sprinkle about the time that S was ready to go home, so we packed up and headed to the casa, giving plenty of hugs and kisses before we left.

When we got home, we had some family time before we took baths. Sadie was in an especially giggly mood and we were able to get some fun videos on the camera. We also had some fun daddy daughter time.

All in all, my best Father's Day ever.

Thank you girls for making this day so special.

Love,

Daddy

School's out for summer!

Too bad work ain't!

June has and will be an interesting month. The main reason is that the FDA will be here next week to do a site inspection and going through our records. Now, most of us are pretty seasoned vets at audits since there were a slew of them this year, especially Big Pharma in March. However, they don't have the power to shut your doors like the Feds do. For those of you who haven't been through an audit, I'll give you a brief overview.
1. The Audit team arrives and holds a brief meeting, w/ a schedule for their visit.
2. They take a tour of the facility--show and tell--and ask questions, usually wrapping up by lunch.
3. After lunch they dig into paperwork for the bulk of the remainder of their visit.
4. An audit boils down to two things:
A) Do you have procedures for what you're doing?, and
B) Are you following your procedures?
5. They'll do a wrap-up with the managers and send a formal report a couple of weeks later, which, if there are recommendations or deficiencies, we'll have a couple of weeks to respond with how we've fixed things or plan to fix them.

I feel fairly confident that we are on the right path to being FDA-compliant, but you never know. Our client sent an independent auditor to see how we're doing with things. He was able to bring up some things that we haven't thought of that we can put in place before next week.

But since our QA (Quality Assurance) department is scurrying around making sure all our ducks are in a row, our throughput has been scuttled. The thing is, we're exceedingly busy with several new products that we haven't tested before. And QC (Quality Control) is also R&D. It's been hard to keep up with all the work. Actually, I personally have hope our QA department won't be wound as tight as a Major League baseball. This week they were at what I like to call 'Def Con 5'. They had their doors shut and kept calling people in to make corrections. I didn't even try to make them laugh. They might've bit my head clean off. I shudder to think what next week will be like. Is there a Def Con 10? I think it might be invented.

Stay cool...if you can.

De Plane Boss! De Plane!

No, I'm not talking Fantasy Island, although that was a really fun show to watch back in the '80s. Too bad TV isn't what it used to be. That was back when it was truly must see.

Anyhow, God has given our little M very keen senses, including sight. There can be a plane at its peak altitude 10 miles away, but she sees that little trail of atmosphere and knows there is a plane in the sky. And she will point out each one she sees.

But do you remember the day the planes stopped? I do. I was on the bus to campus. We were sitting at the light at MLK and I-35 and a fellow passenger ends his cell phone conversation by announcing that a plane just hit the World Trade Center. Like probably most Americans, I told him "Ha Ha. Very funny. That's not something to joke about." But he was serious. I had worked in the EHS building during the summer and knew the President had a TV in his office, which was only a block away from where the bus left off at the Stadium. It was no joke. A minute after I get to the office the second plane hits. It was such a surreal day. It was the only thing people could talk about in class. The professor acknowledged it and then quickly got on with the day's lesson. But when I got home, I just sat in front of the TV and the computer, watching the horrific reality that we were not safe. I mean, terrorism happens in Africa, Europe and Asia. Not the US. How do the Israelis do it? Bombings, fire-fights, and kidnappings week in and week out. The part of the aftermath that had the most gravity with me was for weeks there were no planes in the sky. And living around 5 miles from ABIA, that's something that you notice quickly.

But will M ever understand that moment? Unfortunately, I think she will. There will come a day when a guy with pictures and schematics of Mansfield Dam and the Frost Bank Tower slip past a diligent patrolman and back to his cell to plot their insidious attack. She will be touched by terrorism. But will she have a President that will take a stand, albeit a tenuous, unilateral stand, against our enemies? Sure W hasn't had the best foreign policy, but would Al Gore or Flip-Flop Kerry have had the stones to do what he did? I faced some fairly harsh treatment by some guys while I was an RA at Texas, but nothing compared to the vitriol that President Bush receives, even daily. Only time will tell Bush's legacy, but I say "Thank You President Bush" for doing what you believed God was calling you to do. Remember that you are not the only one going through such trials, but you have a Friend who sticks closer than a brother, who has been tempted and tried in every way, but was without sin. Keep your eyes on Him, and you will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

God bless America.

And if that Mockingbird don't sing...

...Daddy will be a very happy man.

Seriously though! There is a mockingbird that makes its dwelling 100 yards south of our house and has the loudest pipes this side of the Morten Meyerson Symphony Center. (I got to play there two times in high school. Awesome acoustics!) Anyway, it must be mentally handicapped, because it usually sings each night from 1-6 in the morning, at which time the other birds take their cue from the rising sun. I mean, it just goes through its repertoire non-stop. It will usually do anywhere from 3 to 12 repititions before moving on to the next one. All I know is that it can't sing without permission from its Creator. He's obliged me a few times by closing its mouth long enough for us to get back to deep sleep. I don't want it dead...just silent.