Schemper ’08 Voter’s Guide:

The elections were last night. My biggest frustrations with politics are that nothing is straight forward, and no one is completely honest, so I’m going to try to be as un-political as possible so you can know who you’re voting for. (Oh, did I not mention you’ll be voting for one of us this year?) Here are your choices:

Elia May—1 ½ years already! Her most used phrases are, “Snat! (Snack)”, “I do dat!” (to which I tell her I’d just as soon put on my own pants), “Peese! (Please!), and, much to my dismay, after watching one video of Barney, she now sings “I love you, you love me…hut! (hug)”. Elia makes it her business to get into everyone else’s—and has become much more effective since she’s learned that moving chairs allows her access to a whole new level of success. I keep trying to remember if Kate was this much of stinker at this age, but I’ve gotta say no. Elia is friendly, not afraid to jump on people or babies, lively, and adorable. She has to dance if there’s music playing, no matter her mood or where she is—even if she’s standing on the kitchen table. (She started dancing to the noise of the bread maker this morning.) Once she’s gotten a taste of something fun, she can’t forget it, so after we’ve flown her around the room she’ll spend the rest of the night with her back to our legs crying, “Weeeee, weeeee!” I miss the girl when she’s sleeping, but ironically, her bedtime is my favorite time of the day.

Kate Jayne—3 ½ years old now! She’s my helper, loves her daddy (“he’s my guy!”), the library, videos, singing, and our neighbor Gabby. Today when I asked her what she was drawing, she said, “It’s a lady who’s sad and cranky and had to go to the bathroom.” I paused, the toilet still filling from my recent flush. “Is that me?” I asked hesitantly. “No!” she assured me, and then we both laughed…though I’m not sure why she was laughing so hard. Kate has started copying my phrases. Some of the more appropriate examples of this are, “I don’t want you to worry bout it, ok?”, “How wonderful!”, and “I don’t know, I’ve gotta find out.” Kate sometimes is a “little bit shy”, which I assure her is cool, though we do practice saying ‘hi’ back to people in public. Kate’s biggest fear (besides talking smoke detectors and ladybugs) is that I’ll eat her food while she runs to the bathroom…and that I’ll eat her “all gone” (because I love her so much…we’re saving up for therapy.) She shows surprising patience with her sister, even though Elia continues to “get in her business” a lot! As with most people, when Kate is tired, she’s a little bit cranky, and when she’s cranky she’s a little bit stubborn…but most of the time she’s wonderful company, and her continuous questions keep us on our toes. (“Mom, is today tomorrow morning?” Or, “Do you want to share? That’s what friends do.” This is the kind of nonsense that Barney feeds our children.)

Greg Kenneth—31 still. He remains too busy with teaching Media Studies and American Literature. Although this is his third year, he’s constantly changing things, which is probably why he’s such a good teacher and why his girl students talk about how cute he is. Hmmm, no those two things may be unrelated. As we speak, he’s grading (hopefully) his fourth class of essays, which he recently dubbed, “The biggest mistake of my life.” While I can’t fully agree with him, it’s definitely up there on my list too (yes, I keep a list…doesn’t everyone?) Greg coached freshman soccer again this year and enjoyed getting to know the other coaches on their all-expenses paid trip to the National Soccer League convention in Baltimore last winter. (They’re planning their second trip to Kansas City this January.) He will be spending his spring break in Los Angeles with his siblings who live there—his first trip back since we moved. This will be a welcome change from last year when he spent his week off re-shingling the pool shed, installing a bathroom fan, an attic fan, four outdoor lights, and a new pool cleaning system. Greg spent his summer working a bit for an organic farmer in exchange for produce and secrets of the trade. We did a substantial amount of canning in the fall, and Greg started churning his own peanut butter, but he would really like to make his own flour someday. Seriously. And wine. And still write a screenplay. The question with Greg is never if he can do something well, it’s if he finds the time to do it. I am thankful for this fact, as he makes plenty of time to be with the girls. Greg spends his luxury time reading seed catalogues and dreaming of the new lines of acorn squash and Brandywine tomatoes for next years’ garden.

Sarah Patricia—32. Yikes. But that’s cool. I had surgery last June to repair the damage done by my children, and am now bellybuttonless (due to the umbilical hernia repair). I’m a mutant. But that’s cool too. I babysit a boy Elia’s age two days a week, clean two houses and one office building, and still volunteer with the Holland Junior Welfare League, though I have serious thoughts of quitting that (for many reasons, only one of which is I enjoy a good Dancing with the Stars Results show on Tuesday nights.) I attend a MOPS group still, and a Beth Moore Bible study, which I love (besides the fact I just remembered it’s tomorrow morning and I haven’t started my homework yet). Tonight is Wednesday night, writing night with my friend Sue at the coffee shop. Last August I met twenty-some Dordt friends in Park City Utah to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of graduation (thus Greg’s solo vacation this spring). It was a very fun trip! Life seems manageable most of the time—this feeling comes and goes with Kate’s moods, Elia’s degree of stinkerness, and how late I stay up at night. It’s still my hope to stay home until Elia is three, and the fact that this time continually goes faster and seems more enjoyable may suggest that I’m getting the hang of this thing. Or that I’m dead inside. Either way works for me.

So, there you have it. You may cast your ballots today. To do so, just write your chosen name on a five dollar bill and mail it to me—I’ll tally the results. (I can be trusted, I’m non-partisan.) We’d like to thank you for your support. There certainly seems to be a lot more uncertainty in life lately, but I can think of so many examples (in just our lives) of how God has provided everything we need. And He promises to always do this, which is the most straight-forward and honest comfort I can think of, so I’m holding on to that. It is with much love that we’re sending you this voters’ guide. Just whatever you do, please vote…I could really use the cash.

sarah4u62@hotmail.com; gschemper@hotmail.com