A visit to the ER

How did you spend your Sunday morning? I had expected to visit my home church at First Reformed in Zeeland, but instead, I decided I need another type of healing and visited Holland Hospital's Emergency Room. It all started Saturday night when Peter Van Wylen invited me to play ultimate frisbee with him, Brian Mulder, and some other friends. Of course, I jumped at the chance. The game was going well until I dove to knock a frisbee from the outstretched hand of Peter. I landed directly on my knee cap and found myself limping for a good amount of time afterwards. Later that night, I was in considerable pain whenever I moved. I woke up about every hour because of the discomfort.

When I woke up Sunday morning, I couldn't move my knee at all. So, my mom and I paid a visit to the ER. The doctor x-rayed my knee and found it to be negative--no broken bones. He thought I probably tore a ligament or tendon, but those would heal on their own if given enough time. He gave me a black Velcro leg brace and told me to keep the knee elevated and iced, and prescribed some vicatin for the pain. The official diagnosis was a knee sprain. Sarah called her dad (who is an orthepetic surgeon), and he confirmed that it was probably a bruise or something to the elements under my patella.

Sunday was a rough day. I did not feel good at all (I think my allergies for the past weeks may have combined with a small infection to knock me out). Plus, I was sad that I was staying in Holland for the week instead of teaching one of the last weeks of computer class this year or running with me kids. Sarah helped me make the decision to stay by asking guiding questions such as "do you need to be there for anything this week? can you be an effective teacher with your leg up on your desk the whole day? do you have any sick days left?" So, I decided to forgo my flight to Philadelphia and hunker down at home for the week.

The time has passed quickly already! I've had a bunch of papers to do for my masters program, which worked out well that I'm here just hanging out. Tony came to visit last night, and it was great to talk with him about how he's doing...he's so excited to marry his girlfriend for almost four years, Christen Conner. Their wedding is going to be beautiful; I can't wait!

I'll have to get some pictures of my nifty brace. Until then!

Maria's Calvin graduation

My sister is a college graduate! Maria completed all her undergraduate and student teaching requirements for Calvin College, and we celebrated with a huge graduation ceremony at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday. When I saw there were over 800 graduates, I got a little nervous about how long it would take. Thankfully, Calvin has graduation down to a science: two moderators read off the names immediately after each other, while the president met them in the middle to shake each person's hand. There were a few pranksters who did things like adding the word "rules" to the end of their name. (my name would have been read as "Eric De Boer Rules", for example) Some others--all of whom were male, I might add--decided to have some fun by kissing the president on the cheek, a few more than once. While it wasn't Hope College, I thought the graduation ceremony was well done.

Maria was excited to be done. She says that it feels like her time at Calvin is done, and she's looking forward to beginning work at Holland Public Schools this fall as a full time elementary Spanish teacher.

Here are some pictures of her graduating, along with the new graduate with her Bushhouse grandparents, brothers, and parents. *sigh* She's getting all grown up!



Friday Calvin had a special commencement address for its education students. My parents, Maria, and I went there directly after picking me up from the airport. It was neat that they celebrated their education students specifically through that! They called each one up by name and gave them a nice "Calvin College Education Department" keychain. None of the few guys who were there were elementary education, which was kind of sad. I used some of my spare time at the graduation ceremony itself to check, and five of Calvin's 68 elementary education graduating students are male. While that trend continues to make finding a job for me a bit easier, that also reflects an unfortunate reality for students growing up in a home without a positive male influence.

Before the education ceremony began, my parents took Maria and me up to where my dad proposed to my mom during her senior year (his sophomore). Thankfully for me and my sibs, she said yes! Here they are, nearly 30 years after his proposal.

Pomp and circumstance

What does that title actually mean, anyway??

Yep, I made it home safely from Philadelphia. Mom, dad, Maria, and I attended Calvin's BBQ and education convocation last night. Things went well--dad reconnected with friends from Chicago and his childhood, Maria ran into a few friends and picked up a nice "Calvin College Education Department" key chain, mom enjoyed the experience, and I ate plenty of free food. All parties were satisfied.

Back on the home front, my dad and I tested various bluetooth devices for my cell phone, with mixed success. I've become fairly frustrated with bluetooth, as I have yet to find the perfect combination of microphone, speaker, and charging battery elements. Maybe I'll find something today.

Jordan and I played a little guitar last night. I felt like I had to relearn several key chords! To my shame, I haven't been playing as much as I had hoped this year. When Peter, Brian, and Scott visited in January, they all recommended that I get a stand so my guitar isn't hiding in its case all the time. I didn't listen to their advice, and now I'm wishing I had done so. Perhaps I'll do a better job of picking it up this summer.

Today, my grandparents are driving up from Chicago to see Maria's graduation this afternoon. I last saw them in Florida, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

While we were at the Cubs/Phillies game on Mother's Day, a website called Philly2night.com came and took our picture! It's a good way to easily drive traffic to a website...hey, it worked for us!