Some Christmas Family Fun

We had a good time with Leslie's family. Uncle Gary brought his new toy (a Wii with the Fit and Rock Band 2 with all the attachments). Before our time was done, almost everyone was into it. McGrooter was especially "funky" and even Leslie got hooked pretty quickly. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas from the Wallaces

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Black Friday

Black Friday Deals are so much less stressful online! Mom, let me know if you need specific suggestions from me!

I'm not really sure why this LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon is in "Toys" but if you want to buy it, you can save 10% today!

Ecuador Pictures

Ecuador


I wanted to make a quick post of my pictures from Ecuador. I've annotated most with a description. I'm adding other team members pictures as they send them to me, so you'll see the chronology of the trip start over again after the annotations stop. Below is a slide show if you'd rather see them that way.

Required Watching

As some of my closest friends know, I supported Fred Thompson in the primary campaign. I supported him because I believed he was the only candidate who truly represented the voice of genuine conservatism. I felt so deeply that I even supported his campaign financially. I've never done that for any other politician. But Thompson didn't make it through the primary, and that's okay because I know my ultimate hope isn't in any earthly regime. That said, I still feel strongly in who I vote for, even if I am frustrated in doing so.

I continue to get emails from Thompson's PAC, but don't have much time to read and watch videos. This evening, however, my brother-in-law sent me one of the videos and said I needed to watch it. So I did. And once again, I heard the voice of genuine conservatism, communicating what conservatives really believe. This message has been so distorted by our media that I think many who know conservativism's wisdom is worthwhile, have forgotten how to communicate it to their friends and family. So I'm posting this video for the 2 or 3 viewers that still happen by this site, in case they might have someone in their life who needs to hear this message. It's worth the 12 minutes. The only bad thing about it is it broke my heart that Thompson isn't on the ballot.

There are other emails I have received from friends and family that communicate concern over Obama, including one that I received multiple times from an African-American pastor. Much of his content was on target, but his hatred and language frustrated me to the point of closing out the video. There is a way to communicate the concerns we have about socialist-tendencies, lack of character, hypocrisy, etc...without being hateful and emotion-driven.

Okay, here's Fred's video:

Family Photos

Here is a link to view all the photos from Friday (use your arrow keys to go to the next photo). It was a lot of fun to look through them today, and strangely emotional. Bobbi Jo really captured some good images of the kids' personalities (each with one...respectively...most of the time). There were so many favorites for me that I lost count. Of course, I am biased as a father. So it's not like I expect any readers to look through, let alone enjoy, 180 photos! But they're there, for what it's worth.

Kids Pics

Yesterday, a friend of mine from work, Bobbi Jo, held a little photo session with the kiddos. She offered to do it over a year ago. We were going to conspire to do it to cheer Leslie up during treatment. But I could never make it work from my end. So yesterday afternoon it finally happened. I am so glad we did this, even though a picture session isn't the most enjoyable time. Bobbi Jo made it so much fun for the kids. The time flew by, and it was especially fun to see all their personalities. I had to run and get McGrooter a white shirt and by the time I got back, she told me she had at least 100 pics of Aggie. No problem for Miss Model. Trust me, we didn't teach her those poses! The Munch was her silly self, but Bobbi Jo managed to capture some of her with a real smile! I don't think we've ever done that. So check out the few pics that are a preview at bobbijobrooks.blogspot.com. And I am unashamed in making this plug...if you want someone who is stinkin' talented to take some pics for you (and she's especially great with the kids), visit bobbijobrooksphotography.com.

Bailout?

I received this rather insightful email today. Okay, it's not a wise move, but at least it's a funny poke at Washington's ridiculous idea of a bailout!

I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.

Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.
To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.

Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..

So divide 200 million adults 18+  into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.  That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college – it’ll be there
Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car - create jobs
Invest in the market - capital drives growth
Pay for your parent’s medical insurance / health care improves Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean  or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+  including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 (vote buy) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let?s bail out every adult US Citizen 18+!

As for AIG ? liquidate it.
Sell off its parts.
Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate.
Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.

Sure it’s a crazy idea that can “never work.”

But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!

How do you spell Economic Boom?

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion
We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC .

And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.
Kindest personal regards,
Birk T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic

New week, how volatile will it be ?

+19 pips when taking my morning coffee. The eurusd is already jumping higher. Fasten your seat belts.

tenants et aboutissants de ma pratique du trading

Je réponds ici à Orios qui me posait l'une ou l'autre question intéressante sur mon trading, ce dont je l'en remercie.

Hello Orios,

Vous êtes très perspicace   :-)   et je vais vous répondre sans faux fuyant, mais sans développer non plus sur 15 pages ( ça reste un blog) , bien que vos questions soient au coeur de la pratique de tout un chacun et nécéssiteraient une plus longue réponse.

Après près de quatre années de forex, je suis arrivé à un niveau acceptable dans la technique de scalping.
C'est une technique purement empirique, apprise sur le tas et payée cash. Il n'y a pas de fondement théorique. ( Du moins , je ne me prends pas assez au sérieux que pour me mettre à théoriser.)
En bref, je trade de façon opportuniste  quasiment toujours dans le sens du trend, en regardant les volumes et mouvements des futures eur-usd ( mon principal indicateur) , le pétrole, le dollar-franc suisse et l' euro-yen. Les copies écran que je poste vous montrent mon seul  environnement de travail .

Rien de plus et  pas d' A.T. Juste une très grande concentration sur les mouvements épidermiques générés par des rumeurs ou toutes autres causes identifiées ou non.

Le risque /rendement, l'espérance ne se calculent que sur base d'une série de trades. Aucun moyen de les déterminer à l'avance, puisque l'ensemble des possibilités ( outcome) est impossible à calculer contrairement aux jeux de pile ou face ou de dés. Ce qui a permis le développement du calcul des probabilités  par le Chevalier de Méré et Pascal. Mais ceci est une autre histoire...

Je ne me souviens pas avoir recommandé K Van Tharp. Certainement une bonne lecture également.
Tout ce qui peut agiter nos neurones est bienvenu.
N'hésitez pas à lire Douglas, il parvient à exprimer en termes clairs ce qui est confus dans notre esprit mais que nous soupçonnons et ce dont nous avons besoin comme confirmation sur nos comportement irrationnels lorsque nous sommes confronté à l'environnement du trading.

Chacun se crée sa propre réalité dans le trading, ce que vous percevez de la variation d'un pip n'est pas ce que moi ou d'autres perçoivent et ainsi nos réactions sont toutes différentes. Vous achetez, je vends.
C'est pourquoi, acheter, copier ou appliquer les méthodes des autres ne mènent qu' à des déconvenues car nos perceptions divergent. Ceci me semble capital.

Ainsi que l'ai expliqué, je travaille également sur d'autres stratégies : du suivi de tendance  principalement. ( trend following)
Le scalping me permet de 'financer' ces tentatives de saisir les tendances. Cette semaine ,volatile et cahotique s'il en est , j'ai fait plusieurs trades gagnant de 30/35 pips, mais le cout total  des diverses tentatives pour réussir ces trades à été plus élevé que les gains, et le résultat net de la semaine est une perte de quelques 40 pips.

Pas dramatique, mais quand on trade avec  deux ou trois lots , on parle d'argent véritable et il faut être prêt à des variations financières pas toujours réjouissantes. C'est à partir de ce niveau que l'on comprends réellement ce que  effet de levier veut dire.

Tout le 'jeu' consiste donc à faire plus de gains que pertes sur une série de trades. Monsieur de La Palisse en aurait dit autant, mais ça me  permet de mettre les choses en perspective.

Voia ou j'en suis actuellement. Je me considère toujours comme un ' étudiant' du forex. J'ajouterais qu'une pratique équilibrée du trading consiste à s'intéresser aux autres marchés: futures, options, futures sur indices , SP500 par exemple. Tout le temps  à analyser les nouvelles peut être mis à profit dans divers marchés qui offrent eux aussi des tas d'opportunités. Il serait malheureux de se limiter à un seul marché. Tout est intercorrélé.

Enfin pour parler ' outils et mécanique', je ne trade plus avec  Wanda  :-)
L'article ou j'explique mes critères de sélection d'un courtier permets de comprendre pourquoi.
Choisir son courtier
J'utilise principalement Interactive Brokers ainsi que certaines banques.

Bon week-end et trades à vous.

P.S: le blog sera très light ces prochaines semaines, je suis fort occupé avec d'autres activités professionnelles et deux déménagements.

week 37- trading results

No fireworks this week but the stats do not show the intraday reality: for example Wednesday has had swings between + 5% and - 5% . Tough week , a lot of volatility , choppy markets and spreads larger than usual .

Good Tunage

Thanks to my brother-in-law, I got to enjoy watching this wonderful video today. I kept waiting for the SNL trailer. But sad to say, it is real.



And speaking of good tunage, McGrooter has become quite interested in watching the Gospel Music Channel. And I'm not sure how scared I should be by some of his favorites. Beware, you probably need an extra dose of grace to appreciate his taste!

First, there's Skillet, a band I listened to years ago. This is his current favorite rock song. But the boy likes his rap too, including this ear candy by Mr. Del. You should see his mom dance to this one! And we can't forget all the kids favorite, KJ-52's Do Yo Thang. Then there is the entire family favorite, Joyful Noise. I can only imagine what the teenage years will be like! (by the way, for those who don't know me, I kind of like the music stuff so it's somewhat in the genes)

outils de reporting

Plutôt que poster des trades qui, finalement ,n'apportent pas grand chose au lecteur, je me suis fait la réflexion que les courtiers offrent très peu d'outils d'analyse efficaces des trades. Or il est indispensble de connaitre le profil des trades : nombre de pips, profitabilité, courbe de croissance du capital etc.

Les courtiers permettent de télécharger des fichiers textes ( csv) point barre. Après il faut se débrouiller. Je n'ai pas encore trouvé  de logiciel "universel" qui permette d'importer les données de différents courtiers.

Dans le passé , j'utilisais un programme bien pratique de reporting mais il est propre à un courtier que je n'utilise quasi plus.  Je suis limité pour l'instant à ne regarder que la rentabilité quotidienne comme sur le tableau ci-joint.

U.S. payrolls decline

+21 pips in choppy markets. Happy it's the end of the week. I am busy reading a very interesting booklet about trading psychology. Pity I can't post it as the material is more than probably copyrighted . The author is nowhere to find on Internet and his company is long gone  but I can't take the risk.

BOE, BCE rates unchanged

+11 pips : one scalp during Mr. Trichet 's conference and later after oil stats.

Factory orders m/m: up 1.3% better than expected

News trading : +8 pips at 10:00 am ( U.S. time) : the eur.usd futures tipped the move in the fx.

ISM at 49.9

+5 pips on fx and + 29 ticks on eur.usd futures

Hurricane Gustav lost power

As a result, oil price nearing  $ 100.50  ( QMV8 Oct 08 futures).

+6.5 pips but could not trade earlier because of other obligations.

GDP better than expected: 3.3% vs 1.9%

+8 pips on a quick short eurusd with oil higher but off peaks.

quelques pips ici et là

8 pips , mais je n'ai pas réussi à saisir une bonne tendance de 20 pips ou plus.

En tous cas , n'oubliez pas d'investir dans un billet pour vendredi :-)  c'est plus lucratif que le fx et moins risqué

Haircuts and Diaries

Aggie is getting to the age that she likes to carry around a notebook with her to write and draw in. She likes to show us her work, whether it is her art, or her words. She copied "Relay for Life" from Munchkin's t-shirt tonight and was especially proud of that. But the other night, as we were driving home, Leslie and I overheard her telling Munch that that her diary was also the same word as when you have to go to the bathroom really bad. After laughing quite a bit, Leslie explained that her diary was not her diarrhea.

Yesterday, the girls got haircuts. And if you ask me, I think they're about as cute as they can be.

 

McGrooter had to get in on the action, but was, of course, silly!

faut arrêter de se faire des films ...

Je ne sais pas ce que certains fument ces derniers temps dans les forums , mais  on peut y lire un bon paquet d'abérrations:

faites 100 pips par jour avec mon EA
de 5000 $ à 5.000.000$ en quelques mois
 rejoignez le club des millionnaires
etc etc...

C'est ce genre de slogans  qui donnent au forex une mauvaise réputation et font passer ceux qui s'y intéressent au mieux pour de doux rêveurs  ou des  gogos, au pire pour  des flambeurs ou des arnaqueurs.

Le problème du forex , c'est qu'il apparait pour certains comme un méga-casino planétaire qui ne ferme jamais.  La promesse de faire du fric à la vitesse grand V attise toutes les convoitises et espoirs les plus fous.

Pure hérésie .

«Tuez-les tous, Dieu reconnaîtra les siens.»  A n'en point douter , La vengeance divine fera merveille.

Plus prosaïquement:  ce n'est pas grave,  la plupart seront lessivés et délestés de leurs économies puis retourneront vaquer à d'autres lubies.   Ca ajoutera un peu de liquidité au marché.  :-)

Nearly another month has flown by since my last post. As with most everyone I know, we're busy. What's new?! :-) But we are doing well, despite the continued adjustment back to the school routine. The kids each seem to be enjoying their new classes and teachers. Leslie is still regaining strength and starts physical therapy next week.

My schedule has kept me busy. My latest project has been Leslie's school website. It started out as me volunteering to update and maintain the current website, but then no one had access to the past designer's material. So I "got" to re-design the site from the ground up. It is mostly finished now with just some final content to be added as I recieve it. The website is here.

I've also been on the road a good bit, with a trip to Michigan last week. I flew in and out of Detroit, but had the opportunity to criss-cross the state a few times, traveling to Grand Rapids, Holland, up through Midland and Bad Axe, and finishing in Traverse City. It was an absoulely beautiful time of the year to be there, and I was blessed with getting a nice rental car with a big sunroof! My meetings went well and even got to visit with a pastor who (after about an hour of conversation) I realized I knew from about 20 years ago! After one of my meetings, a couple on the missions committee took me out on Lake Michigan on their boat. We spent about an hour and a half on the lake and it was gorgeous. I'm trying to get in some visits to my northern states before it gets too cold, at which time I'll refocus on my southern (and warmer) states! I took a bunch of pictures with my camera phone which I've placed on FaceBook here (hopefully the link will work).

We're getting more involved in our church in Gainesville. I've begun teaching the college and young adults sunday school class and we're starting a small group in nearby Dawsonville in the coming weeks with another couple. We have also started Financial Peace University which will hopefully help keep us focused and motivated on the task of getting out of debt. Every time we watch Dave Ramsey, a ritual which Leslie keeps us disciplined doing regularly, I am reminded how counter-cultural this idea is. Yet it is also continually humbling as I am reminded of my past mistakes. So, for any young people who might read this, take it from me...avoid debt like a plague!

Tomorrow we are planning on going to the funeral of a friend from years ago, JoAnn Calderwood. She and her husband were friends of ours when we first got married. She died, unexpectedly, of a heart attack last week. She called Leslie the night before she died and they talked for about half an hour. It has been a shock to us both, but was especially to Leslie after their talk. Please pray for her husband, Gene.

Next week, I will going through a Bible study/workshop, called Living in Grace at work. It is a course that all of our new missionaries go through and is similar to Sonship. I've been trying to do it several times since I started at MTW, but things always seemed to come up. Leslie and I were supposed to do it together last spring, but I fell and fractured my back the week before. I'm disappointed that she and I can't do it together, but I am excited about this opportunity for me to be challenged.

On a lighter note, I'm happy to say that my "new" little Civic is doing great on gas mileage. I keep track of my MPG with every fill-up, thanks to my dad's training, and my lowest measurement so far has been 31 MPG for a tank. It's never been so fun to save on gas!

I meant to write something about each of the kids but it is late, so I will just say one thing about Aggie. She is growing up to be quite the young lady and really enjoys helping. Sometimes too much for her mother and I! But we're learning to be patient and foster this desire in her. She gets her stool (the one my dad built for me when I was 2) and brings it in the kitchen to help with meals, packing lunches, and anything else we'll let her do. During one of our meals this week, she was describing something from her day to me. In the midst of her dialogue she used the expression, "and you know, that freaks me out!" Leslie and I both had a good laugh. She loves "helping" the Munch do a variety of things, sometimes with Muchkin's protest. But since we don't know how long this might last, we are learning to cherish it and are trying to point her to Christ in and through it.

Crude price drop

Jolly happy it's the end of the week; I've been sweating like hell today ;-)  .In the end , a small loss of 5 pips all included but I accept this without any problem as at one moment I was down 170 pips.  Difficult to take the pulse of the day when just looking at statements, but you can bet there was some thrill.

vite fait, bien fait

+11 pips on a quick scalp when crossing 1.4850

less trading , more thinking

Something like +11 pips . O.K for the day, but I am furious I closed my last position too early, just before the plunge that reached 1.4700.  Also I chased the market too much, I should decide one position and stick to it.

Zew better than expected

+5 pips during the last attempt of the eur to go above the 1.4700 mark.  The market has been very jumpy around that value, especially in the september future 6EU8.

eurusd market ranging most of the day

I have been toiling like an idiot all day long just to get a meager 7.7 pips. I won't complain as I was down at some point 12 pips.   Ranging markets are the most difficult to trade. I keep a short bias for eurusd, we could reach 1.4500 if oil goes lower.

end of the week

+ 6 pips . I am sure more can be done, but I prefer to start the weekend earlier. The next week will be very interesting without doubt.

trading notes

Not so long ago, I used to scribble  lots of pages to remember what I did during the trading session.  These days, I seldom use more than two pages like the one attached. Basically I follow throughout the day the prices of fx , oil, and futures side by side with some remarks.

July CPI + 0.8%, higher than expected

Quite busy on other fronts yesterday, I just made 5 pips.

Today, after a dull morning, things got more interesting with the US stats. Choppy trading.

+14.5 pips scalping on one account( +2.5 +2.5 +0.5 +9)



and + 6.5 pips  trading a "hedging" system :  <7.6>  <25.5>  +39.6

trading mistakes

Well , yesterday was the kind of day you don't want to see too often. I lost the equivalent of an average of 17 days  work in just two hours time.  I made the following mistakes:

 chasing the markets , opening positions and reversing them one minute after...
trading two accounts at the same time , this can get you confused very quickly
I traded too large amounts compared to what I do usually. Four times the usual.
revenge trading
I got furious when several orders were rejected ( "Market has moved") by a  new broker with which I have opened an account recently.  About 20% of the total loss occured because I couldn't close a position.
Not having decided in advance a maximum loss . ( new rule from now on )

A good night sleep ( all positions closed) and back to work this morning.



+15 pips with 2 scalps.  Things are back under control   :-)

eurusd gets close to 1.49 overnight

Though I was highly convinced of this imminent move, I couldn't profit from it being reluctant to have pending orders at night  .

Anyway, +19 pips this morning to start the week on a good note.

eurusd down to 1.50 - 400 pips in two days

Nothing much to say: the graph is crystal clear

If there is something trading can teach you , it's humility : from this avalanche of pips , I just made a few ones. That's the scalper's number one problem ( at least for me) : he doesn't profit from huge and obvious moves. This said , when a move of 150 pips has already occured, it is difficult to embark without fearing a sudden reversal. After 250 pips, you  say " what the hell ?!". At 350 pips: "  whatever ..."  :-)



Shame, shame  : 13 pips...

ECB: "no bias on interest rate direction"

Quick scalp during Mr.Trichet conference ;  he did not sound really hawkish  and eurusd reversed its course : +6 pips



followed by the closing of two trades started the day before :  <12.7> , +24.1

net + 11.4 pips

Oil below 120$

A most difficult task recently has been  to get rid of my scalper's reactions. Oil lost 2.5 $ in less than 15 minutes which bode well for the dollar. The break came and I cut my short eurusd only after 5.5 pips gain, when there was a clear potential for 15 pips within three minutes. Sometimes I would kick myself.

US stats: income and spending better than anticipated

Slow start for the week : 5 pips  taken right after the stats following the 5' trend , but 1.5550 not broken so far.

Yard Sold!

Okay, so we didn't sell the yard, but we did manage to sell a bunch of our stuff. The yard sale was Friday and today, and it was more successful than I imagined. I wasn't sure it was worth doing both days, but afterward I am glad that we did. Friday was actually a better day for us than today. Our neighbor up the street also had a yard sale today, and I think we lost some of the traffic to them. Plus it was just plain HOT today, so I'm not sure as many people got out. I loaded up the leftovers and took them to the Potter's House. The garage is amazingly empty!

The kids also played a part in the sale by setting up a water and Gatorade stand. They worked hard, and we worked hard on them to use their manners, look at people when they were talking to them, etc...The older two were more diligent and were able to earn more than the Munchkin, who preferred to go inside when she got hot.

Afterward today, I grilled some chicken and we had dinner and played before putting the kids down. They were real troopers to endure the past few days with both Leslie and I so preoccupied with the garage sale. We're working with them to help them manage their money that they made with an envelope system for savings, giving, and spending.

As the school year begins, I will also start teaching a Sunday School class at church for the young adults and college students. I'm looking forward to it, even though it has been a long time since I have taught regularly. Leslie and I have always enjoyed working with college students and I think this will be a great opportunity for us to connect with and share with these young people. I guess I am a little nervous about teaching since it has been so long, but I hope it will be like riding a bike. It will be a good challenge for me to get back into the habit of studying regularly after being so focused on caring for my family and my work.

One other prayer request that I'd like to share is for my mom. She has a condition where her esophagus has shrunk over the years, to the point now that she can barely swallow much. After visiting a few different specialists, she is now with one who has been stretching her esophagus. It's a real challenge as each time she must be put to sleep, and afteward the pain is pretty bad. But she called today and sounded really good and seems to be doing better after the last stretching. Please pray for her healing and for the doctor's wisdom to treat her.

Yard Sale

Leslie has been working hard for the past few weeks getting ready for our yard sale tomorrow and Saturday. Tonight we were scrambling to get all the last minute things setup and signs posted. It's going to be hot the next two days, but we're hoping for a good turnout. The kids have contributed a few items of their choice and are planning on having a water and gatorade booth to make a little extra themselves. This is all a part of our Dave Ramsey liquidation. We've had a joke around our home that Dave has moved in with us for the past few months. We're working hard to cut spending and find ways to contribute all we can to our debt.

I would like to ask for prayer for a friend of mine at work, Mark. He and his wife were missionaries in Honduras until he was diagnosed with a brain tumor several years back. They had to move back to the states for his surgery and subsequent healing process. Although his health improved, they were unable to return to the field. A few months back, Mark began experiencing debilitating headaches and the same symptoms of the previous tumor. It seemed like he might have another one. However, a recent MRI indicated no tumor. Although we are all thankful, it is somewhat frustrating not knowing exactly what is causing these continuing headaches. The doctors told him it was stress. Although this is quite possible, I'm sure he still has doubts. Plus, how do you remove stress from your life?? So please pray for him and his family as they all suffer together through this. Mark has a great attitude, but I know he is really hurting.

Another friend of ours, Carol, is also experiencing some debilitating health issues. She and her husband, Bill, were some of our dearest friends in Birmingham. Pray for Carol and the doctors as they look for a solution, and for Carol's endurance through her suffering.

Leslie and the kids are preparing to return to school next week. It's hard to think the summer is over. But we've had a good one and have much to be thankful for. This year will have its own unique challenges for us as my travel schedule with work is still demanding. I really enjoy getting out and meeting with churches to discuss their missions ministries, but it is difficult being away from my family, and it is especially difficult on them.

Eurozone sentiment 89.5 vs 94.8 in June

+10 pips . Not happy since I missed two excellent opportunities due to software problems. I had to reboot the computer. Always have a back-up plan if computer goes on strike  :-)

...still here

Unbelievable? Maybe. After nearly a month of silence, I finally bring up my blog to write something. I don't have time to say much other than we're doing well. I will write more soon. The summer has flown by. Next week Leslie goes back and then the kids start on Thursday. It's hard to believe. Leslie is feeling better, but still not 100%. To me it seems like 100% though. She looks great. She even went with her dad to Stone Mountain on Monday and did a high ropes course there. But again, more to come later...if anyone even reads this anymore! :-)

oil declines, USD up 140 pips

Sharp decline of eurusd . Sometimes I got a contrarian instinct and it always go against me. At some point I bought (!!!)  at 1.5617 ; in a matter of a few seconds eurusd reached 1.5600 , then retraced luckily for my position. Never , ever, go against such powerful movements.

All in all, I made some 8 pips net and was lucky to save my skin for this time  :-)

Africa: the fx forgotten continent ?

Looking at the visitor's map of the last days, I noticed that it is rare to have visitors from Africa on the blog. I have not the pretention to believe that what I write should attract worldwide audience but this fact makes you wonder what might be the reasons of this absence.

Most probable explanations could be the scarcity of decent internet connections and average revenue of Africans, not enabling them to put money aside to invest in stockmarket  and other speculative ventures.

Cultural reasons : speculation could be far from daily priorities or political reasons : citizens from several african countries are forbidden to open accounts with European or US brokers.

Or simply the lack of adequate banking system: I have been living several years in Central Africa, banks were totaly inoperant and the simple notion of having a bank account was inexistant. Businessmen were importing goods paid in USD or Euro currencies, and selling them against local currency. ( thousands of banknotes to buy anything). 'Traders' were playing the role of banks by setting up exchanges were businessmen could trade full bags of local currency against USD , DEM or CHF . Daily rates fluctuating wildly with crazy inflation.

how many brokers do you need ?

Oil lost 10% the last few days, nevertheless Trichet is right when he fears second round inflation with payrolls, because where I work most employees have got a 10% raise over the last months.  And workers are still whinging about cost of living.

I haven't traded much this week , I made something like twenty pips, no more. Actually I made much better results on a demo account . I have been testing the platform of a bank that made recently a new offer for fx traders.

I have usually 3 brokers with three different base currencies to hedge somewhat my total exposure.  I am constantly looking for a lower spread, maximum funds security and best execution.

A low spread means a maximum of two pips. A 3 pips spread on eur-usd is not acceptable anymore . Going from 3 pips to 2 pips is a 33% cost reduction which is huge.

If you plan to make 100 trades with 1 lot  and a 3 pips spread, you have to realize that you start with a 3000 usd loss.  In any case, I prefer paying a 0.5-1 pips spread plus commissions rather than paying a full fixed spread. Do the math.

Oil jumping to 145 usd again

...and eur-usd following the move to 1.5820

10 easy pips scalp when the eur crossed the 1.58 mark.

your broker is the most essential partner in trading

Even before  testing trading strategies, the search for a decent broker is paramount to ensure any future success. Trading is a difficult enough activity  not to add problems with a trading platform  or concerns about a broker's honesty  . When trust is broken, it's time to leave.   Several items should catch your attention:

 is there a regular communication between you and the broker ? Does the broker keep you informed of future developments or do you have the impression that your opinion is of no importance ?
does the platform 'freeze' regularly ?
is the communication with servers often interrupted ?
are the spreads enlarged to ridiculous values during volatile periods ? This means that they are losing money against a particular category of traders at those times and that's the only protection they have found. Thus penalizing other traders.
is the company a privately held  one ? What do you really know about the people behind the company ?
is the broker trading on markets for his own with  customers money  without you knowing ? It's always too tempting to trade with O.P.M. ( other people's money).
are your funds insured one way or the other ?
I will not even mention sudden  spikes, slippage and other common tricks.

FX is mostly a non regulated activity and you are supposed to know what you do with your money. Nobody forces you to open or keep an account with one broker in particular. I just want to attract your attention that it would be very difficult to hope to grow an account regularly and trade with confidence if you were to face several of the above mentionned problems.

Your fx trading activity would just be some kind of an elaborate video game , which needs often rebooting  . No more , no less. Nothing close to what could be called a professional activity.

I see few advantages to stay with a less than optimal broker: some offer micro lot trading and this  can be useful for training purposes  without risking much of your  capital. Other than that...

only one trading screen: need no more

eurusd @ 1.5730 after ECB rate decision @ 4.25 and ISM

what a reversal ! Eurusd was playing with 1.59  some moments before the ECB rate decision and headed south very quickly after Trichet didn't use the 'code' words of vigilance etc in his speech. He also attracted the attention on a possible growth slowing in the Eurozone.  Because I am euro bullish, I have been reluctant to hop in the train downwards.

I only made 4 miserable pips , when I tought the day would be the royal path to 1.60 bringing at least 50 pips  ; how disapointing . Well, perhaps some other time.

1 Year Anniversary

Today we celebrated Leslie's one year anniversary of being a cancer survivor. Yesterday, the 28th, was the actual day. Mike & Becky took us to lunch along with Wil & Kristin, and Kyla. We had a wonderful time celebrating God's goodness to us over the past year.

VBS Week

Another week has slipped by, and blogging has not received any attention. It’s not that I don’t think about it. I do! But everything seems to crowd it out. And I hate it, because writing is such an outlet for me. I guess it can’t always be a first priority. Paying work must come first!

I had yet another trip this week. I managed to avoid the airport on this one, something I am always thankful for. I loved flying growing up. I loved going to the airport. But since 9/11, it has become a nuisance I only want to tolerate when necessary.

On this trip I drove to Valdosta and back. I visited ten churches in the three days and saw a lot of farmland in South Georgia. From the interstate there isn’t much to see, but the back roads from Perry to Americus and to Albany, as well as from Valdosta to Thomasville, have plenty of character. I even had a close call with a turkey.

As much as I love my visits with churches, it’s always good to be home with my family. This week, Leslie and the kids had VBS at our church. Before I left, I gave the kids “the lecture” about going to their classes and being friendly (and not clinging to mom). The girls weren’t especially excited. But when I checked in after the first day, I got a glowing report. Everyone was having a great time! Leslie taught the older kids (4th and 5th grade). Today I went to closing ceremony and enjoyed seeing the kids sing and do all the motions to the songs they’d learned. The Munch was particularly amusing as she left her seat to go up and sing. I watched her turn to Leslie and give her a very animated wink.

This morning I had the privilege of sharing a devotional with ten new missionaries who were finishing their assessment and training at MTW. The event is known as Interview and Orientation (I & O), and I always enjoy any part I get to play in it. Afterward we spent time in prayer for each of them as they now prepare to raise support and get ready to head to their fields.

I got to stop in and visit with my parents this week, and with my oldest sister and her family who were there. It was a short visit, but I managed to leave with two bags of fresh blueberries (exclusively for Leslie, according to my dad). So far, McGrooter has been the one to eat most of them though. The boy loves blueberries!

The summer is flying by and is nearly half over for Leslie and the kids. It’s hard to believe they will all be at the same school this Fall. Munchkin turned 4 this week and will begin pre-K. We celebrated when I got home on Thursday. I think we sang “Happy Birthday” to her at least three times, thanks to her older siblings.

Family Reunion

This weekend, I loaded up the kids and we headed to Brentwood, TN to my cousin, Lissa's home for a family reunion. Leslie was at a teacher's workshop in St. Simon's for the weekend so she wasn't able to go with us. We crammed into the Civic and headed out on Friday afternoon. For the majority of the trip up there, I thought I had made the worst judgment call. I was exhausted after a marathon of late night work and the kids were sharing a very small real estate of space. But we made it safe and sound Friday evening.

The entire weekend was a lot of fun, especially for the kids. I think there were 19 kids there, so it was exciting to say the least. Lissa and John really put on the spread and we all had a wonderful time visiting together. There were water balloon fights, a jumping house, time spent in the pool, a cookout, a clown, etc...

Today we headed home, and the kids and I did much better (thanks to two good nights of sleep). Below are some pictures from our time there.

beyond scalping

Easy one this morning: +/- 34 pips: bought eurusd @ 1.5400 and let it go upwards.

I don't know really why the euro went up, especially after the Irish vote refusing the Lisbon Treaty. I would have expected a decent fall  but it's the opposite that happened. So this leaves us with the usual suspects to explain the move :

oil climbing steadily
Israel planning to strike against Iran nuclear factories
Trichet announcing a rate hike soon if inflation goes up
signs of inflation creeping up in many sectors
workers going on strikes and asking pay raises which fuel inflation expectations.

Mom's Retirement

I never got a chance to put pictures of from Mom's retirement. Lara did a good write-up here if you want to read it or see more pictures. Here are a few from my camera...



And McGrooter and I spent some time in the shade yesterday with his new left-handed glove he got for his birthday. It's amazing how throwing a little ball really draws out the conversation with him.

day off

A few days at Bregenz in Austria, located on the eastern shores of Lake Constance, one of the biggest lakes in Europe. It is 63 km long, and at its widest point, nearly 14 km. Very pleasant city with friendly inhabitants, lots of outdoor sports and spectacular views from the mountains around the city. Picture: I have no clue who this guy might be ; was standing in the garden .

Good Report!

Leslie had her colonoscopy today, and the report was a good one. Dr. Moore explained that he didn't see anything to be concerned about. He could see where her colon had been resected and that was normal. He did take some biopsies from that area, but that was protocol. We expect nothing but good news from that. We were both relieved of course. Our family was too.

Leslie and I talked about the fact that neither of us were worried. After all the zapping and chemo she's been through, I didn't expect anything to be there. I think the real challenge before us is further down the road. Will it come back? But we know better than to live in fear. And really, this is a life lesson. None of us knows if we have tomorrow, or if our loved ones do. So we continue to delight in the fact that our hope in all of life rests in Christ.

I think Leslie is blogging tonight as well, so check her blog for updates.

In other recent news that I haven't had a chance to blog about, I sold my truck. With rising gas prices, we realized that a small car would suit my long commute better. I placed the truck on Craig's List, and within an hour received an email from a gentleman who bought it from me a day later. He needed a truck, and for a truck mine got good gas mileage. So it was a good fit. I did get other inquiries from the post, one of which I wanted to share. I got this from someone named "Captain Hank":

I'd consider swapping my 43' houseboat for your truck and camper top. Then you could liveaboard during the week, saving thousands on gas, instead of commuting.
If interested, I'll send you pictures and more info.

I have no idea whether he was serious or not, and I'm not sure that life on a house boat would really fit my style. But his email gave me a good laugh!

I ended up a week or so later with a little used Civic. So far I am pretty pleased, especially with my first tank of gas yielding 34 mpg with mixed highway/city driving. Ironically, I've been surprised by the number of comments I've gotten about it, all pertaining to the gas mileage. I think a lot of people are doing the same thing.

Relay For Life Pictures

I didn't get a chance to post any pictures from Relay For Life the other night, so I am adding a few now. The first lap of the relay was just for cancer survivors.

Here are the kids waiting for mom to come around the bend


And here is Leslie's family


Paul & Cindy came out to support her


And the exitement builds


Finally, Leslie came by with a big smile

how did you get here ?

The following keywords typed in Google landed you here :-)

Several keywords are in french since this blog is bilingual. I have yet to translate some parts of the site. I wonder how Google deals with multilingual sites from an indexing point of vue.

Relay For Life

On Friday evening, the five of us went to Flowery Branch High School to participate in the Hall County Relay for Life walk. We were joined by Leslie's parents, her grandfather and his friend Ethel, our friends Paul & Cindy, Kristin & Kyla, and several of the teachers at Leslie's school. It was a tremendous time together.

Leslie walked with all the survivors on the first lap. Then we joined her on the second lap for caregivers. The rest of the night we walked, talked, and visited with many people who were there. The kids and I all wore our Cancer Superhero t-shirts.

A lot of money was raised for the American Cancer Society. For us, however, the main point was to celebrate Leslie's fight against cancer and her continuing recovery. I was particularly proud of her, as well as the kids. They were troopers and lasted until nearly 11 PM. I brought them home, where we arrived with all three of them fast asleep in the back seat.

It's hard to believe all that Leslie has been through in the past year. But this was a time to reflect on God's goodness to us through it all, and thank Him again for His care for us.

Tomorrow we will travel to Griffin for my mom's retirement ceremony. We're excited for her and are so thankful that she will finally be able to finish at the end of June.

lower trading size: bad idea

Usual money management rule says : "decrease trading size after losses."
I am not sure this is optimal: you will need many more winning trades to recover the losses.
After the 80 pips loss and though my capital was not hurt, I traded lower and earned back 40 pips in one day without taking much risk, on the contrary.
Only problem is that the capital has not increased much.
That's why choosing your trade size is important: even after losses, you have to continue with the same value. Unless of course your trading method is definetely wrong, in that case you would go down even faster.

debriefing week 21

First two days were rather difficult : some 80 pips lost due to several errors:

trading stubbornly a range on the 'wrong foot'
chasing the market
I tried to keep positions longer than what is required by quick scalps to yield more profits; in fact I forced myself to leave open losing positions ( which is absurd for a scalper) . I closed several positions at 10 pips loss.
So far I paid an add-on to trade with my principal broker. ( a third party program). I was fed-up to pay and decided to trade directly the broker's platform. They have developed a trading application for fx traders and I have to admit they did a good job. So, good bye the add-on and the monthly fee. But in the process of getting used to the new platform, I made errors which have cost me some money. I am OK now with the new system.

The last three days of the week , I have been busy with the usual scalping activity yielding 5 to 10 pips a day.

Oh, The Irony of Politics

I try to bite my lip when political issues come up in conversation. I usually fail. And this is no exception. As I read the news today, I couldn't help but notice a picture of one of my "favorite" pastors, Rod Parsley. Don't ask me why I like to watch him. He distorts the Gospel, and in reality preaches a false gospel of health and wealth. But he is so intense. And his ability to twist scripture is amazing (in a bad way). I haven't watched him in years, but before we had kids Leslie would often come into the room and find me watching the hour of power, or whatever it was.

Anyway, back to the news. I saw this video with a caption below it about McCain's pastor problems. I thought, "I didn't know McCain went to church in Ohio!" That would be some commute for him, whether from DC or from Arizona (Rod Parsley lives and is pastor of a church in Columbus, OH). So I watched it. I heard McCain praise Parsley as one of the "great leaders in America" and something about "a moral compass." I thought to myself, "he doesn't know what he's saying or what he's getting himself into with this guy." Then he walks across the stage and shakes his hand. In that moment I was awed at the stupidity of political staffers and strategists. Rod Parsley doesn't represent evangelicalism any more than Rev. Wright represents "the black church." Now that's of course a whole other issue wherein many in America have generalized and stereotyped African Americans as a group based on color, but would never say "the white church." But I won't open that can right now.

The irony is that both men, who are both hungry for power, sacrifice so many things in joining together and end up creating a mess. I'm not talking about issues of theology and truth. I'm just pointing out the sickness of politics. "Who didn't check this Parsley guy out?" I can hear McCain saying. And I can imagine Parsley's inbox filling up with emails from supporters once McCain openly criticizes and rejects him. Both, I'm sure, are scrambling to do damage control.

But I've come to tolerate as much in our nation. That's politics in America. What sickens me more is what ABC did in this piece. How many hours of footage did they go through to find just the right clips to juxtapose next to each other to "create" these problems. Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of people upset by this. But what ABC is trying to do is create the same problem for McCain that garnered so much attention for Obama. That'll get the ratings up! Whether I like McCain or not, like Parsley or not, does ABC expect me to believe that any presidential candidate is going to find a pure band of supporters who share exactly every single view that they do? Of course there are views that Parsley will have that McCain will disagree with, just the same as Obama and Wright. Why can't the guy shake his hand on stage without ABC trying to attach all of Parsley's views on McCain? Good night, Parsley isn't even his pastor. Yes, McCain's staffers were dumb to set this up. They brought this upon themselves. It was a political mistake in the rules of politics. And because of the smirk on Parsley's face, I don't feel sorry for either one of them. But that is all so miniscule in comparison to the utter disdain I have for what ABC and other media outlets do to drive up ratings.

And that is why I say, "Rick and Bubba For President!"

Speaking of good books, a good friend of mine sent me an email about a book his brother has written. Baron (and his wife Jamie) took me under their wings when I was just a young pup in Hawaii. They played a large part in my spiritual growth during that time, and were very much my family away from family while I was there. Anyway, Baron's brother Eric has written the first in a series of books that is similar to The Chronicles of Narnia series, by C.S. Lewis. The name of the book is, Ryann Watters and the King's Sword. It sounds like the age range is for kids 9-15, so I'll have to check it out to see if my kids are ready for it. But I thought some folks out in blogland might be interested. If you want to hear more from Eric there is an interview on You Tube from a local Orlando show that you can watch. That got me more interested in the book, and it was fun seeing how much he reminded me of his brother. Here is part 1 of the interview, and here is part 2. You can find the book on Amazon by clicking here. And by the way, if you ever order from Amazon feel free to use any link here on my blog when going to order (even if you're not ordering that product). It doesn't change the price or experience for you, but I do get a referral fee which allows me to pay the extra portion of my electric bill from my daughter's nightlight.

Sad News

Those who know me probably know the impact Steven Curtis Chapman has had on my life. If not, you can read more about it here. Pray for their family today. My heart is killing me for them.

MARIA SUE CHAPMAN, DAUGHTER OF STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN, DIES IN ACCIDENT AT FAMILY HOME

NASHVILLE, TN...5/21/08... At approximately 5pm on the afternoon of Wednesday May 21st, Maria Sue Chapman, 5 years old and the youngest daughter to Steven and Mary Beth Chapman was struck in the driveway of the Chapman home in Franklin, TN. Maria was rushed to Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital in Nashville, transported by LifeFlight, but died of her injuries there. Maria is one of the close knit family’s six children and one of their three adopted daughters.

Here are some videos of Maria.

China Party

Yesterday, as I was taking Munchkin to school, we had this conversation:

Munch: I wish we had an airplane, Daddy.
Me: Really? Where would we go in it?
Munch: China.
Me: Oh really? And what would we do in China?
Munch: We'd have a China party!
Me: And what is a China party like?
Munch: That's where Mimi gets her good china out.

Not even four years old and already liking the finer things in life. That's my Munch!

Sportsmanship

My dad actually sent this to me. It's rare that what he sends isn't funny or political. This is neither. I'm not much on all the mushy stuff that goes around the Internet, although I'll admit that in the last year I've been more easily moved by the better of it. But I was glad I took the time to watch it, and I think I need to show it to McGrooter too.

Wii Stuph

What the boys want for the Wii...



What the boys should want for the Wii...

16th May scalping session

I must say I had a pretty good day , everything went beyond expectations: 49 pips for 10 trades. If there is one thing I look very closely, it is the average win and loss percentage.I had a 5.4 pips / trade winning average which is higher than the usual 1 or 2 pips/trade.

It's quite simple : you must strive to have the winning average close or higher than the average loss, or your win/loss ratio will have to be above 50 %. When scalping, my win/loss ratio is around 65/70 % which allows my winning average to be slightly below my loss average, though it is not an optimum situation.

In any case, I will do everything to avoid having any loss higher than 7 pips, otherwise it takes too long to get back the loss ( remember: if your average win is 1 or 2 pips, you need 4 to 7 winning trades just to recover this loss: allowing a greater loss is not good and put strains on your trading).

Cutting early losses makes sense because if you have a good knowledge of your trading statistics, a 7 pips loss will not affect your confidence since you have no doubt you will recover this without taking any additional risk. You just let the statistics work for you. The first lesson I learnt is that a trader that can't cut a loss will not make it at trading forex. You just can't think twice or hope , or wish that the trade will recover: at minus 7, I cut the trade. You wait two more seconds and the score is minus 10 then minus 15 . Wrong bet.

May 14, 2008

Only seven more days of school until Leslie and the kids are done. Actually, Leslie will have a few more days of post planning, but the big hurdle is getting to the last day of school. We're all anticipating that!

Just when I think Leslie is improving vastly, she seems to have another setback. I'll spare you the details, other than to say that it is more stomach issues. I don't know if this will be her normal for a while or if this too will end soon. I hope that for her sake it is close to over. Her strength does seem to be returning. Tonight, while I was reading to McGrooter and getting him in bed (one really tired little man), she was going over the catechism with the girls. When I went into their room, Aggie promptly recited the answers (with a beaming smile/smirk on her face). The Munch chimed in on a few of the answers from her bottom bunk. It was a fun moment, but McGrooter protested our seeming neglect of him in the practice. Leslie reassured him that she had taught him these things when he was younger, but we haven't practiced them. It was a good reminder that we need to have another go at it. Even if jealousy was his motivation, I was thankful that he was at least interested.

I'm pretty brain dead tonight and can't think of any more updates. Thank you to everyone who continues to pray for us. Sometimes it feels so petty sharing our life events on this blog, knowing that so many are dealing with so much more. Yet I feel such a great need for prayer. So thank you!

today's scalping session: +28 pips

Well, contrary to what I said in my previous post, I'll post the daily results as I have nothing else particular to write today . This is the usual scalping activity, though I try hard to escape from the scalping routine :-) . I am convinced there is more money to make in long-term movements but I can't grab a trend for the moment.

If you look closely to the table , you will see that several trades have a very short duration: sometimes less than 6 seconds. I hope my broker will not kick me out . I read in a forum that brokers sometimes " flag" scalpers and give them quotes with some slippage to discourage this activity.So far, I haven't noticed anything similar . Anyway, I couldn't care less : a breakout is a breakout and that's what I trade :-) . I am not using dirty tricks or cheating the platform: just trading short-term movements.

Another Friend With Cancer

A few weeks ago I received an email from some friends of mine through MTW, Peter & Stowe Shockey. Stowe has been diagnosed with stage three rectal cancer. I hurt so deeply for them. I guess I am now in tune in a way I haven't ever been before. You can read their story on their website here.

I first met Peter & Stowe at an MTW event known as the Vision Retreat. This is for people who are seriously interested in missions, and they were praying how the Lord might use them on the foreign field. They are both writers, and Peter is a filmaker. He and I hit it off immediately as he was interested in using film to extend theological education. So we talked shop and exchanged ideas, even though Peter is a professional and I'm just a hack. We've stayed in touch and met again this past November at the Global Missions Conference. There they got to meet Leslie and Stowe and Leslie had the opportunity to get to know each other. Little did any of us know the impact that would just a few months down the road.

The Shockeys have two daughters, and I would ask that you pray for their entire family. They have a very difficult road in front of them.

Today, I returned from a short trip to Macon to attend the Central Georgia presbytery meeting. Leslie had a rough day with her stomach and so as she was resting this evening, we read a new blog together. We don't know these people, but the wife has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. It was sobering to read, but it reminded me of how much we have to be thankful for. You can check out their blog here.

I had the chance on Friday, on my way to Macon, to stop in and have dinner with my parents in Griffin. They took me to J. Henry's, and we had a wonderful dinner together. We ran into a handful of people there who know Mom and I joked, as I have many times, that I'm going to get a t-shirt made that says "I'm Jody Wallace's Son." I've rarely gone anywhere in Griffin with her that we haven't seen someone she knows. Friday night we visited with one of the principals she used to work for and the chairman of the school board (who sent a wonderful piece of cake to our table). It makes me proud of my mom because she has had such an impact in that community. I think they're really going to miss her when she retires next month. But I am so glad she is finally getting to do so.

I know I am rambling tonight, but my head and heart are full of the many things I have to be thankful for. Coming home always makes me especially thankful for my wife and children. They have been such troopers during the ups and downs of life. Tonight it was such fun to give piggy back rides, and hugs. Spending time with my parents makes me especially thankful to have such opportunities. Even though our visits are so often brief, I am thankful for our relationship and our closeness. I'm thankful for my brother, who I spent years fighting with as a kid, because now we are really good friends. I got to see him briefly on Friday in between church visits and have lunch with him. His unconditional love for me is refreshing. I am thankful for the Body of Christ, as I witnessed a presbytery meeting today, during which men graciously dealt with the "business" of the church and shepherding their flocks. I am thankful for the Timberlakes, who graciously hosted me in their home Friday evening, and cared for me as a friend even though they didn't know me. Most of all I am thankful for a God who loves me, and continues to do so. I'm thankful for His care for me, even when I feel like my life is a wreck, and the constant reminders of His graciousness to me through my family.

7th May- scalping results + 28 pips

I post these tables for those who would be interested in seeing characteristics of fx scalping trades. It shows that scalping is one way of doing trades ,though it's probably not the most comfortable one : it is a stressing and time consuming activity. A positive aspect is that your risk is minimal as the rule is to cut immediately a trade going south.



I am presently more attracted to longer term trades with more potential and I spend a considerable time developping trading strategies. That's why I will not post daily scalping results anymore. My point was just to show that fx scalping is possible, but I don't think this activity would help you build a fortune :-)

CancerSuperhero.com

Today I got to work from home, so I was here when the gang arrived. And I was glad, because today some special t-shirts also arrived via UPS. I got them in time for Mother's Day, but of course couldn't wait. So I put one on each of the kids, and mine on me, and we marched into the living room where Leslie was sitting. Her reaction was worth every penny for the shirts, and all the time designing and uploading them to my newest project, cancersuperhero.com.

So here are the kids with their shirts from the front, from the back, and just a cute one of them on the couch. And I got one too. And yes, the Munch has her bathing suit on. She pretty much puts it on every day within 15 seconds of walking in the front door.

So why did I do this? Well, I wanted to celebrate the fact that Leslie fought cancer bravely. She endured surgery, radiation and chemo, and more chemo. She did it while keeping a full-time job teaching. She did it with three small kids. And she did it with a husband who was juggling three jobs, including one that involves frequent travel. And in doing this I thought, "other people might want to celebrate the same thing with their loved ones." So I created the same design with different relationships. It's not to celebrate cancer (duh!), or even becoming a "survivor." A lot of people fight cancer and lose the battle. But the way they fight is honorable. In an age where honor is missing, replaced instead by celebrity, I wanted to try and bring it back for Leslie.

Let me also say what I didn't intend by doing this. I did not intend to diminish God's glory in honoring Leslie. Any of you who know us know how we have only had Christ to cling to through this experience, and we are more than aware (we are deeply grateful), that by Christ's sufficient grace to us, we have gotten this far. I picked the term "superhero" because superheroes are human (typically). None are completely invulnerable. None are omnipotent. But they each something with "super human" strength. And I think Leslie has fought with the same strength.

So if someone you love has fought or is fighting cancer, celebrate their bravery, strength, and endurance. Visit cancersuperhero.com if you want and take a look around. I'm still adding a few more relationships, and I still need to tweak the way some things are showing. Many of the shirts have a bunch of different colors available, but you don't see those until you click on the individual item. Not all shirts have the "fighting cancer" logo on the back, and some of the sweatshirts and polo shirt has a smaller version of it on the top/back. Anyway, feel free to send me your comments/questions/suggestions.

The kids have already asked if they could wear them to school on Friday.

Oh yeah, and here is Leslie with her new hairdo.

my fx trading screen : just FYI

For some reasons , I use a single screen, so at first sight it looks a bit cluttered. It's a question of habit: I have everything I need under my eyes and I don't need to turn my head to browse various screens.

fx scalping : not as easy as some would believe

12 trades today for no gain, but no loss either. Nothing to do with luck, just hard work to get back the early losses. You don't bring in money everyday. For a scalper, the most important thing is to have the average profit higher than the average loss ; if not, the trader has to have many more winning trades than losses. Which was the case today.

Singing and Dancing

I've had a couple of videos in the works as of late, but we captured a new one recently that prompted me to finish them and get them on the blog. The first one is of Munchkin singing, a song she made up of course. You have to get to about one minute into the video to see the funniest part.



The next video is of Aggie singing and dancing, and then the Munch joining her. We obviously ;-) have some serious talent on our hands! The video they're dancing to is Aggie's favorite "movie" which she has watched incessantly since Christmas. Thanks to Mimi!

Kids Will Say The Darndest Things

If you haven't looked at Leslie's blog lately, she has finally updated it, and with a good post about some of the things the kids have said recently.

It was a challenging weekend for us all. Leslie continues to feel exhausted. She says she still feels like she did during chemo. She was able to get out on Saturday, but has paid for it. That, and she has tried to do too much around the house. I guess it points out my own inadequacies as a housekeeper. I did manage to get the yardwork done, and most of the laundry. But even that is still folded on the couch since I don't know where everything goes. I think the hardest part is that we all feel like everything should be back to normal, but life still feels far from that. There is just always so much to do, and I guess that is true in everyones' lives. I think when Summer gets here we might finally start to get caught up.

HP 35s

Look at that , man : that's a beauty. Those who read this blog have noticed I am a big fan of HP handheld calculators. Have been since 1980, starting with the HP 34 c.

July 2007 press release says: "HP today unveiled the retro HP 35s Scientific Calculator in commemoration of the original HP-35, the world’s first handheld scientific calculator launched 35 years ago. The new calculator is also HP’s most advanced scientific programmable calculator, featuring ample memory for keystroke programming, equation solving and more than 800 storage registers; 100 built-in functions; and a large, two-line display with adjustable contrast to easily view entries."

The suggested US retail price is around $60. Don't ask why but I paid last week 89 euro or the dollar equivalent of $137 here in Europe. Damn, I have noticed that we end up paying everything twice the price in the EEC: from contact lenses to about everything else .



Same with cars : I have to replace my old Merc 250 E with something more punchy. What about the new Mustang GT ? Prices start around $ 30.000 in the US. Fair price. O.K. I want one ! Well, you've got to be patient , son .

Nowhere to find in my country. Not distributed. I would have to go to a foreign importer specialized in US cars and after some research I understood I would have to pay twice the regular price at least. I don't even speak about the hassle of all the administrative paperwork.

Well, at least I can have dreams, it's still free in this country.

Rainy Saturday

A rainy Saturday isn't such a bad thing. We need the rain. And there's a ton of stuff that needs to get done around the house. I have piles of clean laundry that need to be put away, and piles of dirty laundry that need to be washed. Same with dishes. Then there are a few toys scattered about. There are websites that need to be updated, and videos that need to be edited, but those will have to wait until tonight. Of course, the grass needs to be cut again, but I don't think today is the day for that. I keep telling Leslie how much a riding mower would cut down on the time it takes to cut everything, but she's not going for it. Right now I am waiting on a phone call from a missions committee that is meeting today, to answer some of their questions and explain some things to them. So I thought I would try to write something. After all, it's been several weeks now since I've written anything.

It's been a very busy past few weeks. I just returned from a trip to Ohio and Kentucky. By the end of the week, Leslie really wasn't feeling well, with a sore throat among other things. The doc called her in an antibiotic and by last night she was starting to feel better. So she is at a shower for a friend from years back, and then an "end of chemo" party for the son of another friend of ours. He's just a tot, and has really had a rough go of it. Leslie had her appointment with the oncologist on Monday, and he was very optimistic. They've scheduled her colonoscopy and CT scans. I can't remember the dates.

My mom had a heart cath yesterday. They found her front artery was blocked about 40%, which is actually good news in that they can treat that with diet and exercise. So we were all a little relieved that she didn't have to have angioplasty or a stint or anything else more serious. I talked to her last night and she sounded really good.

The kids are all doing well. McGrooter has had a real hard time with his allergies this year. I think a lot of people have. His eyes have been so swollen and nothing has seemed to really help. But I do think he is finally beginning to feel better and his eyes don't seem as bad.

Aggie is continually entertaining. As I started writing this I heard her singing. When I looked at her, she exclaimed, "I'm at church. We have to be quiet." She was singing while holding her baby. She makes up many of her own songs. Now, she and the Munch are playing "swimming pool" with their baby dolls. They both have swim suits on, and a blanket spread out that is their swimming pool. Wait, now they've announced it's a picnic.

It's time now that I need to fix lunch. I'm sure my scattered ramblings have made little sense anyway. I'm either really tired or my allergies are hammering me. Okay, off to the kitchen I go...

Fewer jobs lost than forecast : +58 pips EURUSD

I don't often trade stats for the simple reason that economic stats are rather unpredictable , especially the jobs ones. Forex is a school of discipline but I allowed myself some room to play this one. The assumptions were the following: an average or slightly disappointing figure wouldn't sink the USD that much , especially with the actual recovery we have seen the last few days. But a positive or better number than anticipated would have a definite impact. Anyway, from time to time you have to allow yourselves to follow a hunch to release the pressure and give way to 'gambling' instincts . The amount involved in the trade was minimal, I was looking for fun but I am not crazy either. Stats trading can be devastating on your bankroll.

QuoteTracker

As written on their website: QuoteTracker is a Windows program that integrates with various datafeeds, brokers and financial sites to provide you with streaming real-time quotes, Live intraday charts with Technical Indicators, Level II quotes, Time and Sales, alerts, news monitoring, and everything else you may need to trade in today's market.
It also ties into major brokers to give you full Integrated trading from within the software.

Best of all: it's free.

I just discovered this amazing charting software and I must say I am extremely satisfied with the forex graphs : they are very clear , precise and the traders mind detect immediately any change and can act upon it.

Trading results week 17

Profit & loss on scalping activity: 21 trades and 43 pips gain or 4.5 % profitability on capital which is close to my 1% daily goal.

Bingo ! 1.60 for eurusd

Finally and much expected. I couldn't resist scalping a few pips when crossing the 1.60 mark. The trade was not necessary as I expected a violent reversal but it was fun to be above 1.60 for 1/10 of a second :-)

to catch a falling knife

Vous connaissez l'adage: "essayer de prévoir un rebond, c'est aussi dangereux qu'attraper un couteau qui tombe."

C'est vrai, mais pratiqué convenablement ( en coupant à la milli-seconde où ç'a repart à la baisse)  c'est parfois amusant.  Pour exemple le dernier trade de cette journée : +19 pips sur un rebond.



Pourtant la journée avait mal démarré  avec deux trades perdants :  -10 pips,  -20 pips ;

perte récupérée par la séquence suivante : +21, +3 , +3, + 19   . Bilan final: +16

Erreur du jour: deux premiers trades contre la tendance de la matinée : baisse de l'eurusd.

Home Again

Another whirlwind week for us is nearly over. I just returned from a trip to Birmingham this evening. The Munch went with me down to my brother and sister-in-law's while I was gone. She had a blast playing with the boys and being spoiled by Uncle Rob & Aunt Stacy. She even got to visit the Pell's and play with the new baby goats. Here she is going for a swing at the Pell Ranch. We also got to stop in and see Grandma and Pop on the way down. I had some wonderful visits while in Birmingham, both with churches and with friends there.

Leslie did well while I was gone, although she is worn out. This week is the CRCT for many of the students, including McGrooter. I think there will be relief when that is all over.

We found out this evening that my mom has some blockage in her arteries and the docs are most likely going to want to go in for a closer look. I'd really appreciate your prayers for her and dad during this time.

It seems to me like this blog has become more about my family's health issues than Bovine Theology. However, I continue to see God's sovereign hand in many aspects of our lives. For example, this finding with mom was discovered after another test that she had as a result of her cousin's recent findings regarding his heart. This particular test came back okay for mom, but they then decided to do a stress test which revealed the blockage in her arteries. Had she not gone in for the one test, which turned out okay, she would not have learned of the other, possibly more serious problem.

More than this, I was reminded once again of God's care for my family through our time in Birmigham and then bringing us back close to family in time for what we've been through with Leslie. As difficult of a time as it was in Birmingham, we have so many relationships that are truly special in our lives. I am also convicted of how often I get so wrapped up in my own struggles, that I fail to appreciate and cherish what God is doing in my life at that time. I so easily get focused on the negative things, and regretfully fail to realize that He is working through those very things to conform me into the image of Christ. Our God is a caring Father, which I am amazed by when I consider my own role of fatherhood. I am blown away by the love He has for me.

Thomson Reuters

1er jour de la fusion des groupes d'informations financières Thomson et Reuters.
Je prèferais le logo précédent au nouveau .

Logo mis à part, si j'avais encore un abonnement Reuters je saurais peut-être pourquoi l'euro à chuté brutalement de 1,5925 à 1,5870 vers 13h45. Sans services de news efficace , on est un peu dans le brouillard et à la merci des évenements. Je reprendrai probablement un abonnement quand son coût sera inférieur à 5-10 % de mes revenus nets. Sous cette condition , c'est un réel investissement.

bientôt 1.60 pour eur-usd ?

On aura probablement la réponse ce soir ou demain . Suspense ! Bonne journée aujourd'hui, pourtant j'avais totalement loupé la belle envolée de la matinée .( Je n'étais pas devant l'écran). Ensuite quand je rentrai dans le marché , ce fut pour prendre un short ;-)   hum, pas vraiment indiqué. Récupération de la perte  avec un deuxième trade  .Bilan de +22 pips pour  cette séance.

routine quotidienne

J'essaie de plus en plus de m'affranchir du scalping pur pour des trades avec une espérance de gain plus considérable. C'est loin d'être aisé: les réflexes acquis me poussent trop souvent à couper les trades avant qu'ils ne commencent réellement à porter leurs fruits. Ainsi aujourdhui, 2 trades qui rapportent 10 pips. C'est bon pour un scalpeur mais insuffisant au regard de l'objectif de 50 pips que je m'étais fixé. Ma première intuition et donc le premier trade était bon, suite au mauvais chiffre du Zew , il y eu un mouvement de knee-jerk ( zig-zag) ; après le rebond je vend l'euro en anticipant une baisse continue.

C'était bien vu, mais mal tradé j'ai coupé la pose moins d'une heure après ne voyant pas arriver le mouvement attendu. Impatience ! Toujours ce défaut !

Pour évaluer mes actions quotidiennes, je fais chaque jour vers 18h00 une copie écran des cours eurusd à 5 minutes , j'imprime le document au format A4 et je regarde ou se trouvent les erreurs de jugement. C'est assez instructif , j'annote les pages et au bout du mois les quelques 20 graphes ainsi obtenus me permettent de faire une révision très rapide des événements qui sont survenus.

End of Spring Break

Spring Break has come to an end. I am very thankful for the many ways God has blessed us this past week.

Leslie is feeling better today after getting the antibiotic in her system. Her fever is gone and she is regaining her strength. We celebrated McGrooter's birthday with a bang, although not the bang we'd planned (due to a quarantine of the house). I managed to finish a cake for him that we hope to cut into tomorrow.

I finally had time to upload some photos from our trip to the beach. We didn't pull the camera out much, but Leslie did catch a few good ones of the kids on the beach.

Pray for Leslie

Leslie has been really sick today. She woke up last night with a sore throat and a fever. The fever reached 103, which is really high for her. I went tonight and picked up an antibiotic for her, which she was nervous about taking. The last one she took really hurt her stomach. I'm not sure if it is allergies, a sinus infection, or maybe even strep. But she feels pretty yucky and has been in bed all day. Pray that she will get the rest she needs and recover quickly from this. The Munch has had a runny nose and a low grade fever as well.

Our Normal

This morning we have a 10-year-old girl in our house. She literally stood beside me while I cooked breakfast and explained to me all about her family, including her 14-year-old brother who drives her to church. It's because her dad has the flu and her mom is staying home with him. Her little sister is 2, and is just a baby (played by a baby doll). And then there is her dog (played by her sister, Munchkin). Are you totally confused now? I am! I think the explanation was longer than 15 minutes. It was quite intricate.

Leslie is not feeling well this morning and is still in bed. I took her some pancakes, which will hopefully make her feel better (or at least the chocolate chips inside them will). The pancakes are very healthy, really! They're my specialty. The girls call them panny-cakes. They include all-natural, organic milk, flour, eggs and sugar. Then I throw in un-natural chocolate chips for good measure. It's dad's special touch. I gotta keep things real!

Munchkin is still running around barking. I thought she would have grown out of this 3 months ago. She is now trying to lick my leg, but just for reetend (her word for pretend).

McGrooter is playing legos and using his shells he collected from the beach for weapons of war (I think). He and I got to go fishing last night right before dinner. Lake Lanier is still really low, but we found some worms in the yard and decided to go throw them in and see what happened. He got a few bites and I got one good one, but no fish. :-( He is very excited about his upcoming 7th birthday!

Aggie is now asking me if I want her to show me some of her moves. Sounds too much like Napoleon! After her first attempt, which she explained wasn't right, she did some kind of ballet-nsync-mc-hammer move. Of course, I offered my praises, to which she replied, "I learned that in karate." Yeah, she's never taken karate. Okay, now she is rubbing lotion all over my legs and feet, saying, "you'll smell good daddy." I can't tell you how much I hate lotion. Sun-tan lotion, body lotion, any kind of lotion. I'd rather be burned or have itchy skin than put that stuff on. But I especially despise having Bath & Body Works super-smelly lotion rubbed on me. Yet, here I am, smelling like cool cucumber or juniper breeze or something like that. And before I can even type this, both girls are now lying on the couch saying they are sick and asking me to rub their feet.

Oh my, just thought I would share a little of what our "normal" looks like. It's never boring, and never lacking creative imaginations. I just wish I could keep up. Sometimes it feels like what I think a bad drug trip must feel like. Then again, maybe I just need another cup of coffee.

Spring Break

Spring Break has flown by this week. It really didn't turn out as we expected, but then again, when does it? :-) We did have a nice trip to Myrtle Beach, although shortened a bit. We left Monday, a little later than we planned, about 11 AM. After a full day of driving, with plenty of potty breaks, and a circling pattern around Commerce, GA (for Leslie's tummy's sake), we arrived at the Wyndham around 7:30 that evening. They didn't have a room for us in the tower that had been reserved, which was a bit of a disappointment. The one we ended up in just wasn't as nice as last year. Actually, the first room they put us in had been smoked in so I asked if we could try another one. We finally got settled in and hit the sack.

The weather was colder than we wished. Leslie and the kids went for a walk the next morning, all bundled up. After breakfast, we headed down to check out the pools. Even though they were heated, the wind made it FREEZING! We decided since it was too cool for outdoor stuff (and both indoor pools were closed), we'd go do some indoor activities. We tried out the children's museum since our reciprocal membership allows us free access. We recommend the one in Myrtle Beach. There were lots of fun things for the kids, and I even enjoyed a few too! The neatest thing was when we came in and presented our family pass, the lady at the counter said to Leslie, "Oh, I know who you are." She lives in Myrtle Beach during the week, but Dillon, SC on the weekends. She attends the church where Leslie's sister and brother-in-law were before moving to Greenville. It was a real encouragement to hear how they have been praying for Leslie.

We took in a movie at the IMAX before heading back for some of Leslie's homemade spaghetti, and then I took the kids out for a walk on the beach. Wednesday, we got up and the indoor pool had finally been opened. The kids had a blast, although both girls hung on to me like glue. But soon the word was out, and the pool was packed. So we went upstairs for sandwiches, and then out to the beach after lunch. We enjoyed a few minutes of sunshine before the clouds rolled in and the temp dropped again. But McGrooter was bound and determined to get as far into the ocean as he could. I stood in the waves with all three of them, lips blue and shivering. Yet they kept saying, "this is awesome!" Soon, they'd had enough and we made some sand castles before heading in. We decided to go ahead and pack up so we could hit the road after dinner. We were supposed to stay another day, but with the cold weather, Leslie still not having much strength, and the funeral for Jan Kooistra on Thursday, we decided to head on home. We had a quiet ride back since we waited until night, and got home just after 2 AM. Leslie and I finally got in bed by 3.

I got up this morning and headed to the funeral. Leslie really wanted to go, but we couldn't work out for anyone to keep the kids. I wish she could have been there, and hope to get a video of it. The entire service was well done but I especially enjoyed the eulogy, which Dr. Kooistra did himself. The love they shared was truly something special. And Jan's selflessness will continue to be a testimony to others who suffer. It really convicted me, and I feel so inadequate to have any responsibility of suffering. I guess more than anything, I was convicted of how much I have to learn. Do remember Dr. Kooistra as you pray.

Leslie and the kids helped Grandad and Poppie in the garden today. Actually, Munchkin was the best helper. I got some grass cut, and then we all got in bed by 9. Everyone is good and tired tonight.

A Sad Day at MTW

Jan Kooistra, wife of Dr. Paul Kooistra (MTW Coordinator), passed away on Sunday. You can read more on MTW's website here. Although we knew Jan's health was drastically declining around the turn of the year, it was still very difficult news to hear. Leslie and I really didn't know Jan. I had only met her a few times. But we felt a special closeness to her because of her battle with cancer. Her testimony was tremendous (you can read some here). Dr. Kooistra's was as well. I never knew as I first heard him share about caring for her, the impact it would have in my own life. Please pray for the Kooistra's as they walk through this time of grief.

Taxes are done!

I feel like thanking God the taxes are done the way this man (from a Tyler Perry play) thanks God for chicken:



Funny is good after many hours doing taxes.

Smart Car

Leslie has returned to the blogging world. It's been a while because of her health, but I'm glad she's back at it!

I saw one of the new Smart Cars today riding around Gainesville. The thing is tiny! I couldn't help but take a picture of it at it when we stopped at a red light. I assume the appeal is the gas mileage this car must get. But the funny thing is that people are modifying this rides. I'm betting my Uncle Bob will get one like this with a Suzuki Hayabusa engine in it:

Dinner with Poppie

Poppie, Leslie's grandfather, joined us for dinner tonight. We had such a good time together. Leslie baked fish, and prepared some yummy veggies to go with it. Poppie sang to the girls, and of course Aggie had to be in his lap as long as he could stand it. Leslie wore herself out, of course, but still seems to be doing a little better each day.

The kids are really excited about Spring Break and our upcoming beach trip. The Munch was a little disturbed at first because her green floatie was in the blue van and "daddy sold it." She cried saying she needed her floatie. I was able to reassure her that her green floatie had long been unloaded from the van before daddy sold it, and was safely in the basement. I'm not even sure if she can still fit in it!

A Special Gift

We continue to thank God for Leslie's increased strength. Although far from normal (whatever that is!), we see a little progress each day.

We have had so many friends join in our celebration through emails, phone calls, flowers, and today a very special gift. My co-workers at MTW collected a monetary gift for us, and gave a very generous gift for "a weekend away." We were both very thankful and humbled by this. It demonstrates to us the love of God in that His people would share in our joy and progress through this trial.

Looking Forward

We now find ourselves looking forward. I guess we have been all along, and although we are certainly relieved Leslie's chemo is over, we are now anxious to hear positive results from her tests. In the meantime, we are focused on Leslie regaining strength.

Tuesday night was a rough one. After our celebratory dinner, Leslie was up much of the night. We're not sure what it was, but it was after 3:30 AM before we both got to sleep. Needless to say, Wednesday was a rough one, and Leslie ended up leaving work early to come home and go to bed.

Today was much better for our entire family. We also got some wonderful news! We found out we are going to be able to get away for a week to North Myrtle Beach. It's something we really wanted to be able to do, to celebrate and recover a bit. But we weren't sure that we could. A friend of mine worked some things out and we've got a really nice place for the entire week, for free! I am thankful for God's goodness to us in this and think it will be good for our entire family.

So now I've got to really focus on getting our taxes done so we can all really relax that week. Pray that I will finish them soon, and that I will find all the info I need to do them so we owe as little as possible this year. But especially pray for Leslie, that she will grow stronger each day, and that through it all our joy will be renewed.

Celebrating!

Well, there's not a whole lot more to say tonight other than we are celebrating! It seems almost surreal that Leslie is finished with chemotherapy. But it is a good surreal!

Tonight, Leslie's family joined us at Outback for a celebratory meal together. We had a great waiter who brought Leslie a huge piece of chocolate cake to congratulate her when he found out why we were there. Here is a quick video of the festivities:



When we got home, McGrooter asked Leslie, "So does this mean you are finished with cancer?" We both laughed, and exclaimed, "we hope so!"

We know we're not really finished with cancer, but it seems like we may be through the worst of it. Today was just 3 days short of 9 months since Leslie was first diagnosed, and boy what a 9 months it has been!

Most of all, I am thankful for Leslie. I am thankful that she will not have to continue to suffer like this, week after week. I'm thankful that now she will begin to regain her strength and maybe start to move toward feeling "normal" again. I am also thankful for the kids. On Saturday night, when I had to go to the store to help Leslie, McGrooter said to me as we were leaving and getting in the truck, "Dad, I'm thankful you and mom don't both have cancer." The kids often help me gain a fresh perspective.

I am also thankful for family and friends. Leslie's family and my own have been a huge help. Her parents have been especially helpful in many ways, but I have to say that her Dad, Mike, has been a real source of strength to me in his example and his words. I have grown to love and appreciate him in a whole new way.

I am thankful for my mom, who has come up on several occasions to stay with Leslie and the kids while I was away.

Today, it was especially meaningful to me as I shared the news with my co-workers, to receive so many notes and words of encouragement throughout the day.

Please continue to pray for Leslie, that she will recover quickly. In four weeks she will return to the oncologist to have further tests done, and our faith will really be tested during this time. And I guess it will be like this for a while, as we will continually be anxious to receive good news from tests in the months and maybe years to come.

It is Finished!!

...well, at least the chemo is! Her counts were too low. She and the doc talked and decided to just end it! I am so thankful and will write more later this evening. We're going to celebrate!!!

He is Risen Indeed

Today was a wonderful Easter Sunday. In fact, the whole weekend has been rather nice. We started off with a tax day for me on Friday, as I had Good Friday off from work. Leslie and the kids had early release, so they were home by 1:30 or so. We went out with some friends, Mr. Paul & Miss Cindy, and then to their house and back to ours. The kids had a blast...well, we all did because we felt like kids watching their huge home theater. With an 120" HD screen, the image was incredible, and the surround sound made both the HD content as well as the baseball game and Formula One racing game on the PS3 come alive. We all felt a bit woozy after a couple of laps around the track. Technology is fascinating! No Kip jokes, please!

On Saturday, I took the kids out so that Leslie could have some time to prepare for Easter Sunday. The plan was to have everyone over for lunch after church. Because it was such a beautiful day, we headed north to the mountains. I really didn't have a plan other than I thought we'd stop by to see a friend of mine who was having an open house for his business. Then I thought we might make a surprise visit to the cousins in Cleveland. But we ended up heading north to Helen, GA first, for lunch. We ate outside and then took in a round of putt-putt. It ended up being a little too exciting as one member of our clan was afraid to tell me that they were about to wet their pants, for fear of not getting to play the entire course. By the time I got to this individual, the pants were wet and we were packing up and heading home. Fortunately, I had a plastic bag in the truck to put down on the seat. We did get 11 holes in, so it was fun. But we didn't get to surprise the cousins or get to see any four-wheelers or mowers at my friend's business.

Once we were home, Leslie headed to the store with Aggie to get what she needed for lunch on Sunday. I knew she was probably trying to do too much, but I really wanted her to be able to do this because it meant so much to her. I got a call a little bit later from her in the store. Her feet were killing her from the neuropathy (side effect of the chemo), and she was exhausted. I made an executive decision to cancel all plans and took her home and got her in bed. I called her folks and they agreed to take over the Easter festivities and have everyone over to their place the next day. I ran the kids through the shower and got them in bed. I think Leslie was relieved.

This morning we got up and went to church. The music was wonderful today, with a guest quartet. Afterward, we spent the rest of the day at Grandad and Mimi's with Leslie's family. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch and then an egg hunt. When we got home tonight, all the critters went to bed without a peep. They were tuckered out! Leslie is tucked in and resting as well.

Below are some pictures from the day. I got a kick out of watching the kids, and the adults! I think Uncle Wil is still a kid at heart! Kayla, Wil and Kristin's 11-month-old, enjoyed her first egg hunt and playing with everyone.

Relay For Life

This year, our entire family is participating in the Relay for Life, sponsored by the American Cancer Society. Leslie and the kids participated last year. But none of us knew the impact of such an event in the life of our family in the year to come. This year it is a priority for me as well. And so all five of us will go and walk in, specifically in honor of Leslie as a cancer survivor.

Leslie is also the leader at her school for the Relay for Life. It was strange for me the first time I thought of her as a "cancer survivor." And it really struck me when I saw the sticker that stated so.

If you are intersted in sponsoring me during this walk, please visit my Relay for Life personal page to donate. The proceeds of this walk will go to the American Cancer Society to further research and offer support to individuals fighting cancer. The date of the relay is May 30, 2008.

Finally!

Well, where to begin? It has been too long, so I guess I will begin first with excuses. My main reason for not posting in so long is I had to two back-to-back trips that ended up being much closer together than it seemed when I first planned them (some time last year).

On Friday, February 29th, I headed to Edwardsville, IL, to be with Center Grove Presbyterian church during their missions conference. Edwardsville is a suburb of St. Louis. Since Leslie had just had chemo on Tuesday, my mom came up to stay with her and the kids while I was gone. The missions conference went well and the weather was unseasonably warm and beautiful. However, after the conference ended on Sunday afternoon, things started to cool off rapidly. By Monday, as I was driving around St. Louis visiting other PCA churches, the rain turned to sleet and eventually to snow. But the roads were fine and I ended up with a four-wheel drive, so I was confident. Then on Tuesday morning, the real snow began about 7:30. I was set to visit more churches on Tuesday and then fly home that evening. By 3:30 that afternoon there was more than 10 inches of snow on the ground, roads were snarled, and my flight was cancelled. It was nearly noon on Wednesday before I made it home. This is a photo that was taken about halfway through the big snow assault.

I then had until Saturday morning before I headed back to the airport, this time to go to Indianapolis for another missions conference. Leslie had recuperated well, or as well as I’ve come to expect. On an aside, it’s hard to convey how yucky this whole experience is without sounding like whining. I usually try to stay positive, not only on the blog but also in conversation. And I guess it is harder for people who see us to understand what it is like for Leslie while she is recovering, because when she is better and they do see her, she looks great! But during the majority of her physical struggles, it has been just the two of us. Some in our family have seen portions of this pain, but even they haven’t seen all of what Leslie has really been through. So all that to say, when I write that she is doing well or feeling better, it all has to be taken within the context of chemo. Chemo stinks. I’d have stronger words if I wasn’t writing in a medium that could be held against me! Leslie has endured, and is continuing to fight, a battle that most of us won’t ever face. And few face it at this stage of life, when you are trying to work, and mother three little ones, and deal with a lousy husband, etc… I’m not writing this because she needs pity or praise, but mainly so that I (and maybe you) will become more aware (and be reminded later) of the depth of struggles that a family goes through during an illness like this, so that I will be more compassionate, caring, and a servant to them. I know I’ve been around people going through great difficulties before, but I’ve allowed myself to be distracted by my own life. I’ve also realized that when people are going through really tough things like this, they use descriptions that we all use, like, “I feel crummy,” which means something very different than we do. When I feel crummy it might be a headache or fatigue, but when I write that Leslie feels crummy, it means that I am sparing you from some really gross details of things that are going on in her body. Maybe I should be more graphic (not for your sake, but for mine, in the future). I think of the impact of the gore in the movie, The Passion. I hope I never forget all that she has been through, and lose an awareness of what others are going through in similar situations. Anyway, I’ve got a lot to learn.

So I was home for a few days, which felt like very short days. I spent very little time in the office, but ended up working more than I wanted to from home. Friday, I spent the better part of the morning at an ENT’s office with a scope down my throat. The chronic sore throat that I have had for the past few months is evidently caused by some variation of reflux for which the normal treatment wasn’t working. It’s never encouraging when the doctor reacts, “oh wow, I’ve never seen one that bad before.” He had the monitor right in front of me the whole time and explained everything as we was going in through my nose and then down my throat. It was irritating to say the least, and it didn’t feel good at all when I tried to answer his question. But I was desperate to have a solution as the discomfort is actually keeping me from sleeping. Anyway, he increased one drug, a couple more, and a supplement of Zinc, and told me to stay away from citrus (but not from coffee!!). He also said not to clear my throat, cough, yell or whisper and to try to talk as little as possible to allow it to heal. Yes, as if that could ever happen. Not that I have any problem talking on my own, but my job now requires a great deal of talking and speaking to groups, and I was supposed to preach two days from this. He was thorough, though, and took his time, for which I was appreciative. I’ll go see him again in April.

By the time I left for Indianapolis on Saturday morning, Leslie was doing better. So my mom did not come up for this trip. As I was packing up to head to the airport, McGrooter came down to my office (about 6:15 AM) and told me he didn’t want me to go. Yikes! As if it wasn’t hard enough to leave without him saying that! He hugged on me a lot, so it was bitter sweet. I really thought flying out on Saturday morning would be a breeze as compared to a weekday. But there were two things I didn’t account for: 1) the beginning of Spring Break for many colleges, and 2) the blizzard that was brewing in the Midwest (a continuation of what caught me in St. Louis just a few days before). Driving there, the rain changed to snow, and boy was it coming down (at least for Georgia)! But it didn’t stick any where that I saw. When I finally got to the airport, it was busier than I have ever seen it. The lines for security were wrapped around and went places I never knew they could go. But just as I joined the line, I met a man and his family who were headed to Colorado to go skiing. As we talked he asked me who I worked for and when I told him, he said, “Oh, I know MTW. We helped plant a PCA church in Mississippi a few years back.” Well the 30-45 minutes it took to get through security went much quicker as we visited. They were neat folks and a real encouragement to me (three well-mannered and mature boys).

After deciding to skip deicing, we were finally airborne only an hour later than scheduled. We left behind many people who couldn’t get to their destinations in Ohio because of the blizzard event that was just beginning slightly east of Indianapolis. We hit the ground to a balmy 20 degrees, with a high expected Saturday around 26. I hopped in my car and headed for the hotel. After checking in and getting a little dinner, I went to my first meeting. It went until 10 pm, and then I headed back to the hotel to cram one more time for my sermon the next morning. We lost an hour of sleep, which left me at about 5 hours for the night after getting about the same the night before. My voice was really scratchy (as lack of sleep seems to make my throat worse). But God was good and I was able to speak during the SS hour, and then preach with only a few cracks and scratches. Afterward, I spent time with the folks there, and then went to lunch with a couple of families. It was a warm group of people, and a really encouraging time.

I spent Monday and Tuesday meeting with different pastors and missions leaders around Indianapolis (a town I really found was nice…with plenty of Starbucks’ locations everywhere I went!). Tuesday I drove over to Richmond, where my parents are from, and met with the PCA pastor and missions leader there. Afterward, I had just enough time to drive past the old Wallace farm before heading to the airport. I haven’t seen it in about 15 years. It really looked different in that most of the barns were gone. The few buildings that remained were really dilapidated. But the house had some improvements from what I could tell from the road. It was a fun little walk down memory lane. Here are a few pictures I snapped: Farm-1, Farm-2, Farm-3

I got home from Indy at about 9 PM on Tuesday. Leslie had received her chemo treatment that morning, and the kids were beginning to display some behavioral indications that daddy had been gone too long. Needless to say, it’s not the kind of homecoming you see in the movies. Leslie was resting, and the two oldest were asleep. But the Munch was wide-awake and wiggling in her bed. I got a quick hug, and laid down the law that it was time to close our eyes and be quiet.

Wednesday I actually got the kids to school on time! They have been tardy this year more than I care to count. I zipped on into work and spent the day on a team with two others, assessing new missionaries. It is always a joy to be a part of that process, but it was especially exhausting this time with all that was going on before it. I got home around 6:30 or 7 and Mimi had dinner going, and the two oldest through their showers (to my relief). I took over and got through the evening, finally getting a few minutes to go back to the bedroom and talk to Leslie. The cumulative effects of chemo have really built up, and her platelet counts were only 82,000 this time (the lowest they have ever been). But the doc decided to go forward anyway, I think just so we can get to the end of this. We are all, especially Les, weary of it. By 10 I was downstairs beginning the process of playing catch for being gone too long. Many customers had many requests, and I think my Inbox had over 500 new messages. Needless to say, the past two nights have been very late ones.

On Thursday I didn’t go into the office, but stayed with Leslie and took her to get her pump removed and get the “wonderful bone shot” that causes her so much additional pain. But it is necessary to keep her from bleeding, and since she is having some of those issues, this shot and what it does is especially important. We kept Munchkin with us for the day and really enjoyed some time just with her. She made us laugh so much! It ended up being especially beautiful yesterday, so after getting the older two from school, we came home to play outside and enjoy creation. McGrooter is really improving with the football, both catching and receiving. Aggie spent the better part of that time with Miss Cindy. She is the socialite and would much rather visit and talk about girly things than play outside or get dirty.

Today, Leslie really wanted to make it to work. But this morning she didn’t have the strength. After I took the kids to school she thought she might get ready and go in for half a day. She tried, but by 11:00 realized she still didn’t have the strength, and still felt too crummy. But she was finally able to get ready and pick up the Munch from her school about 1.

I am home today, still trying to play catch-up. I lost another customer which is good for the workload, but bad for the checkbook. I will hopefully get done with all of this so I can switch over to our taxes and get those done. Oh, a wonderful time of the year!

Yes, this is more of a book than I (or you) ever wished. But it was good to get some of this out and be reminded of God’s goodness to us in the midst of a difficult time. And nothing reminds me more of His goodness in the moments of life, than laughter. I think it is one of His greatest gifts to us. So, in line with that I must share these two pictures with you. The first, I came across last night while trying to find a file. It involves everyone's favorite televangelist, Rod Parsley, and my good friend Van (and some very bad photo editing skills). The second is of my favorite Uncle Bob (he is the one on the left...in the back row), on what must have been his first date. ;-) He finally got over his fear of women by the time he met Aunt Fran, for which we were all thankful. She has managed to keep him out of major trouble as they protect our nation's freedom and put the finishing touches on raising their two children (who are strangely normal, and well-adjusted for having such a father!). Of course, neither is probably as scary as this photo.