Day 47

Vacation Day 5- Got an earlier start to the day. Enjoyed a hotel breakfast of sausage, scrambled eggs and shared my daily bagel with Cass. Shuttle to Union Station and then the Metro to Arlington Cemetary. Metro goes outside on this trip which is pretty cool.


Arlington was amazing. We started at the Tomb of the Unknowns. On a daily basis they put wreathes on the tomb and play "Taps". Pretty powerful. Gotta admit it brought a tear to my eye. The changing of the guard was great too. Carson and I stayed for a second changing and stood right down in front of the guards. The incoming guard has his weapon inspected and then he is looked over. Carson was in awe. OK, I was too. Then as we hiked over to JFK's burial we stopped for a horse drawn wagon that was taking the body of a soldier to his grave.


As a family we talked about walking to the Lincoln Memorial rather than taking the Metro. The "vote" was 50-50. The parents won and we walked. Not a popular decision at first. Used the Arlington Bridge to travel over the Potomic River. Went to a local eatery and used their nice table and umbrella to eat our sack lunch. PBJ and chips. Sal also brought lemonade packets we poured in our water bottles. That is pretty awesome. It sprinkled a little and we were glad to have the umbrella table.


Lincoln Memorial was overwhelmingly big. On the wall it had the Gettysburg Address. When I was in 5th grade living in Bluffton, Ohio, Mr. Shaner had us memorize the Address. I memorized the whole thing then, but only could remember the first line now. By the way, Mr. Shaner is the teacher I remember the most from growing up. He taught and demanded respect in the classroom. He had a paddle he used when we got out of line. Wonder if he could do that today? Nope. Too bad.

Followed the Reflection Pool down to the Washington Monument. Ran into some people from Newton at the "Kansas" pillar along the way. They knew the McMullen's so we knew they weren't lying. Also took pictures by the "Alaska", "Nebraska" and "South Dakota" pillars. We are diverse.

Another highlight from today was watching all the joggers. They are everywhere. Tried to pick out which ones were the secret agents and FBI. If you live in DC it must be a requirement that you jog.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped to do some shopping at Union Station. Got back early so showered, ate and took a nap. Hopefully I can sleep tonight. It was a super day.

Day 46

If you want the full affect of this post, follow the link below, listen to the song while you read.

LIFEHOUSE- Halfway Gone

DAY 46- That's right, the sabBRADical is half over. Its going so quickly. But that's ok. I've been looking forward to August 1 and being back at church; seeing all the youth and all our other friends. I'll be ready. But for now, it's vacation!

Vacation Day 3 (Monday)- Drove from Ohio to DC. Sal had a devo on Contentment for us from the life of Daniel. A little too practical. Came into town at 4:30 pm which meant we hit the traffic. Kinda fun, actually. Very easy to find the hotel and the Garmin just re-enforced my good decision making. :) Of the three HIE hotels we have stayed at so far, this one is in the middle. But leans toward the very nice. They not only provide breakfast, but also supper, if you get back in time. That should help the pocket book. We laid around, went swimming and played Skip-Bo.

Vacation Day 4 (Tuesday)- The hotel also provides a shuttle to Union Station on the hour. You have to sign up ahead of time. The earliest available time for today was 11 AM. This allowed us to sleep in and then grab the shuttle. Today during devotions we were challenged with Dependability from the life of Noah. Carson made up a little jingle he sang us throughout the day. What a kid.

At Union Station we had the experience of trying to figure out the subway (Metro). Took us a little bit, but we figured it out. I have an APP for that on my phone which helped.


Grabbed a nutritious meal of Pretzels & Cheese and headed into the Holocaust Museum. Started out with an hour lecture called First Person. They had someone who survived the Holocaust share their experience. Wow. Then took a couple of hours to walk through the display. I still can't get over all the dead bodies. Makes me wonder how we (the USA) will be held accountable for the bodies of the aborted children we do nothing about.

Walked up to the Washington Monument and took in the White House/Capital Building/Smithsonian/etc.


Headed to the Museum of Natural History. Sal found out the Butterfly display was free so we spent some time there. Went in this butterfly chamber with a hundred or so live butterflies. They were beautiful.


Made our way back to the hotel. We were tired, hungry and a "little" grumpy. And when we got there, the cupboard was bare! All the free food was gone! So we had another nutritious meal at McDonald's.

Day 44

SATURDAY: Day 44 of my sabBRADical, but Day 1 of our vacation. Planned to leave the house at 8 AM, but I've learned from youth events to have the time you tell everyone we are leaving and to have a time you really think everyone will be there and ready to go. I used to just push for the time we set, but people weren't there and I was stressed before we even left town. So I was hoping we would be gone by 9. Got out of Hesston by 8:45 so there was no stress at all...until I didn't obey the Garmin (GPS) and went out of town via Lincoln rather than the I-135. It took a few miles, but it caught up with me on where we were going. I like GPS systems, but in my opinion you still gotta know where you are going. Computers are way too literal and can take you places you don't wanna go. Lunch in KC at Subway. It rained so hard from Ottawa to half way between KC and St Louis. Wow! Made driving interesting. We are driving the King's Suburban. It did great in the weather and the kids love the DVD player. We weren't even gone before Carson wanted Pirates of the Caribbean.


We are staying at all Holiday Inn Express (HIE) hotels along the way. So I'll give my two cents on our accommodations. In St Louis, everything was small. Small room that was upgraded to a small suite. Small pool. Small workout room. Small business room. Small breakfast area. Union Station was just down the street and it was raining, so we headed over there for supper. Had Panda Express. I love the Kung "Pow" Chicken. By the time we were done with supper the sun was coming out so we headed downtown. Being the cheap guy I am (or should I say "money conscious") we drove around for 10 minutes looking for a parking spot. Didn't want to pay $6 to park to see the Arch. Found a great spot and walked to the Arch.


Rode in the those cool little pods to the top of the Arch. There's a couple great stories I could insert here, but MOST of what happens on the vacation stays on the vacation. Let's just say there were some memories that were made.


SUNDAY: Day 2- Got on the road by 9. Again, timing was a great success. Hilly roads and tons of trees highlighted the drive. Sal started us off with a devo about being attentive to the needs of others. Taco Bell in Indianapolis for lunch. Drove past the Colts football stadium. Amazing. Would love to see a game there. Carson hooked the Wii up to the DVD player. So Sal drove and I took a little snooze to the sound of light sabers. Got in a 45 minute nap and awoke as were coming through Columbus. Our HIE is in Zanesville, OH. About 45 minutes past Columbus. Brand new. Big room that was upgraded to an even bigger suite. Big pool. Big exercise room. Big breakfast area. Big business room that I'm sitting in right now. Very, very nice.

Day 42

GARAGE: By Thursday we had all we needed to get done on the garage before I left on vacation. The picture below does not include the soffit, roof and Tyvek being completed. Now all that is left is the windows/doors, siding and a concrete lip on the front and a pad on the back. Three things I have loved about the garage:
1) Physically working my tail off. The sweating. The aches. The pain. I've loved it. Don't get that sitting at a desk in an office.
2) Sense of accomplishment. I'm building myself, my family, a garage. I'm doing it. Kyle is telling me what to do. But I'm building it with him. Amazing.
3) Getting to know Kyle. What a great guy Kyle is. I mean, it's not that I didn't like him before this, but I just have realized how much I didn't know about him. Hard working. Efficient. Funny. I've made a good friend.

NEBRASKA: Ok this technically has nothing to do with my sabBRADical, but all I've been doing for the past week or so is waiting to see if the Huskers would move to the Big 10. Big picture-great move and great reasons to move. Historically-hate to lose the games with the teams in the central part of the US. I think it could have all been avoided if Big 8 would have held together from the start of the Big XII, but that's water under the bridge now. To all my Midwest friends in OH and PA who follow the Buckeyes and the Lions, I can't wait for 2011!

FREE STUFF: One of my favorite things about Hesston is Free Friday. Last weekend were the city-wide garage sales. Today everyone puts out the stuff they couldn't sell so that on Saturday morning the city can pick it up and take it to the dump. That means people from other towns come into Hesston today and go through other people's stuff that is sitting on the corner of their property. It's so funny to watch people slow down and evaluate whether they want to stop or not. Tonight while jogging we watched people with their high beams on driving up and down the streets. One man's junk is another man's treasure.

Day 39b

I already screwed up what day of my sabBRADical I am on. Last post should have been Day 37. Mr. Joy (my Jr Hi math teacher) what be so disappointed.

Really not much has happened the last couple days. Carson, Cass and I had supper with my Mom and Dad on Monday night. Today Kyle and I put on the facia, sheeting and tar paper. Weather permitting we will shingle tomorrow. This afternoon between 1 and 3 pm we took 3 breaks to get something to drink it was sooooo hot and humid. At about 5 pm when it finally started raining I just sat in the garage and relaxed. It was cool to be sitting a building I was helping to make and that we will get to use in the years to come.


Tonight I did a Soduku and helped Cass study for tomorrow's Driver's Ed test. If I was working my normal job, I would be counseling at Senior High Camp right now. Man my bed will feel nice tonight.

With a lack of any real info to tell you, I will take the opportunity to let you know we are going on vacation Saturday. We will be gone from June 12-29. There will be people staying at our house and taking care of our pets. So don't even think of stealing my snowboard. We are heading to Washington DC for 6 days, Philadelphia for 4 days, New York City for 2 days and Bluffton, OH for 2 days. Depending on internet access, I will either be updating daily or there may be bigger gaps in my posts. We'll see how it goes.

Day 39

GARAGE: Trusses are up and the garage is ready for sheeting on the roof. Also a little more sheeting to go up on the gable ends. Forcast looks good for work, but bad for heat. I'll have to pace myself this week.

WEDDING: My cousin Stuart was married on Friday. The wedding was at Westlink Church in Wichita. Never been in there. The reception afterwards was in their "youthroom". Wow! Guess they have like 500 students in their ministry. Pretty amazing.

Then on Saturday we went to my Uncle John and Aunt Trudy's house. All the aunts/uncles/cousins that were here for the wedding got together again to go swimming and eat supper together. Played our traditional killer game of croquet. Those Busenitz boys are very competitive. Luke usually comes from behind to win. This year JD just beat him. Nice to have the title stay with the "Burkholder" name.

WHEELCHAIR: Mom started using a wheelchair this weekend. It was a tough week overall for her. The wheelchair has helped with her mobility but obviously the need for it indicates it is harder for her to get around on her own. Not sure what this will mean for accessibility to the house or how long Dad can care for her. He does such a great job. I would rather "act" than "react", but not sure how that will transpire this time. God has been so faithful. I am glad I can trust Him for this transition as well.

SUNDAY: Attended Hesston Mennonite Church today. Many people don't know I'm on sabbatical so it's fun to see their looks of confusion when we walked in the church. Have some great friends that attend there and we enjoyed our time of worship this morning. Pastor Murray had a great message about using your gifts and following the Call God lays on your heart in ministry. Used the examples of Elisha out of I Samuel 19 and Isaiah out of Isaiah 6. We also liked how they have a half an hour fellowship time between SS and church.

This afternoon we hit the pool over in Mom & Dad's subdivision. Since they pay for it, but never use it, we try to get their money's worth out of it. Met a great couple (Ryan & Lisa and Alexander, their 2 year old) while we were there.

Day 33

Alright...this is going to be confusing. To calculate what day of my sabbatical I am on I will need to add the day of the month to the 31 days of May. Man! May was sooo easy!

THE DRYER: Friday the dryer quit. To resolve the problem I put up a clothes line. Sal wanted more. I went online and Google said I needed a meter to test different parts of my dryer for continuity. Yeah, didn't make sense to me either. Tru Valu sold me a meter. I couldn't get it to work. Took it back. Seems you have to put a battery in it. Ohhhhhh. Started taking the dryer apart. This is a difficult task in itself. Kept taking out screws and hoping I could put them back in the right place. Finally gave up and called the 800 # on the inside of the dryer door. $129 + parts to repair anything. Or $193 for a year warranty. I hung up on them. Called Sears in Newton. They gave me the number of Darren Weems, otherwise known as Super Repairman. Darren talked to me over the phone and told me what was wrong with my dryer. I met at an exit in N. Newton to pick up the thermal fuse for $15. If I bought weed, I think that is also how it would go down. He also made me close my eyes and walked me through removing the dryer drum. I thought he was crazy. But he said if the fuse went out I needed to not only replace the fuse but also clean the inside of the dryer so it wouldn't overheat again and ruin my motor. Today I replaced the fuse, removed the drum, cleaned the vents & motor, put it all back together and (drum roll, please) it works. I still am in shock. Call Darren if you have appliance trouble (316-772-7617). He works out of his van making calls across central Kansas. Amazing. $15 for fuse + $15 for air nozzle to clean dryer = $30.

THE GARAGE: We started framing the garage on Tuesday. I got out my tool belt from 20 years ago when I was a part-time construction guy so I could be a part-time intern youth pastor. Had to move the belt 3 notches bigger to get it to fit. 20 years and a few more than 20 pounds ago. Tuesday I almost died in my own sweat. Hot and humid. Out of shape. Today went much better. We have the walls up and two sides sheeted. Jordan came over and help lift the garage door header. Thanks buddy! Tomorrow hopefully we'll get the trusses.