Jean Scores for Bellevue High January marked the last month of the regular season of gymnastics. But Jeannie Beth is not finished.  She has worked hard, and by the accounts of the coaches, with a great attitude.  A few disappointing performances here and there only challenged her to work harder.  Her diligence paid off at the Roosevelt vs. Bellevue meet where she placed 4th on the beam, 7th on floor exercise and 6th in the all around competition.  In her last two meets she added a modest routine on the uneven parallel bars so that she could score on all four events.  At the final meet at Ballard, she was 11th in all around. But the big news at the end of the regular season is that she has made the top six on her team (on the beam) and will therefore compete in the Kingco 3A championships at Mt. Si on February 6th, and probably at the 3A Regionals on the 13th.  She would even advance to State with her team if they excel at Regionals. So, while other teammates were competing in the junior varsity championships on January 30th, Jean was home (and her dad was relishing her having made the end-of-season varsity team!)

Nathanael Turns 21   Nate treated his parents and grandmothers to lunch at Gwinn Commons for his birthday.  For his present I had Nancy get him an HP P1006 LaserJet printer.  The laptop I got him for Christmas had Windows 7 on it so he needed the printer (and Nancy needed his old one as hers had broken down.) He claims his classes are going well, and by retaking Calc III in the fall, his GPA is back up above 3.5.  I was happy to learn that in November he was named to the GNAC All-Academic team for Cross Country. He hangs out with his dorm friends, his U Scholars friends, and of course his running friends.  He's considering moving into a house or apartment with runners next fall. At the 2nd Annual Falcon 5K at the end of January, many of his teammates raced around Green Lake, but Nathanael got to be the Falcon mascot again -- a role he was born to play!

Indoor track has been iffy for him this month.  He has not been allowed to race due to the required qualifying times at the UW indoor races.  So he will travel to the University of Portland on Friday, February 5th for his first mile race this year.  The mile is his event in the indoor season.  Breaking the 4:30 mark would be great for Nate.   Others on his team have had good results. Senior Chad Meis ran an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying time of 4:11.39 in his first mile this year, breaking the SPU record.  And senior Jessica Pixler (many time national Division 2 champion) broke her own SPU and GNAC mile record with a 4:33.46 at the UW indoor track.  (So Nate can at least say he's faster than the nation's fastest woman!)

Bits and Pieces

  I watched the 2009 movie Watchmen on DVD, obtained from the library.  And, yes, it was R rated and very violent.  But it was a great movie (of its genre) because it developed the characters of the vigilante/heroes and had an unpredictable and entertaining plot.  "In an alternate 1985 where former superheroes exist, the murder of a colleague sends active vigilante Rorschach into his own sprawling investigation, uncovering something that could completely change the course of history as we know it."    

   I continued to follow BCS wrestling.  This included Saturday tournaments in Puyallup, Nooksack Valley, and Mabton. I am treated very much as part of the team.  I have again been hired as the official photographer for the 1A Tri-District Regionals to be held at BCS on February 13th.

  In SBE we are in a period of hiring two new faculty members, which means interviews.  One task that I take on at these is to conduct each candidate on a brief tour of SPU. 

  We were sad to learn that EvergreenBank was taken over this month (by government order) by Umpqua Bank.  Nancy's father was a founding director of EvergreenBank. Nancy also owned much EvergreenBank stock which is now worthless.   Ouch!

  On the 30th, Nathanael, Nancy, Grandma Jean and I used the set of Taproot Theatre tickets that Annie could not use and saw C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. I read this book, perhaps before my coming to faith.  No doubt it sowed good seeds. The theatre itself, damaged in the big Greenwood fire on October 23, 2009, reopened this week.  Susan Rutherford is on their Board of Directors and she and Grandma Ginger are big supporters -- as are Nancy and I to a much smaller degree.