I've just returned (11/21/06) from attending the 2006 Society of Biblical Literature conference held this year in Washington, DC. My description of the conference will be both personal and professional. My second to the oldest daughter lives in Reston, VA, so we drove there and stayed with her over the weekend.

We got a chance to see her in action teaching first grade at the Lorien Wood School .She does very well and we are extremely proud of what she has accomplished. She recently applied for a position as a part-time tutor and out of the hundreds of applicants she was chosen. It doesn't surprise me in the least -- Heidi has the intelligence, skills, and personal qualities that a teacher needs to be effective. It's obvious that the children love and respect her.

In July, 2006 I traveled to St. Andrews, Scotland to attend the St. Andrews Conference on Hebrews & Theology . I was fortunate to be able to have my wife, Suann, accompany me.

It was quite a trip getting there, though I think everything went pretty well -- considering. We left the Dayton airport in the late afternoon and arrived at the Newark, NJ airport. I was a little worried when we got on the plane and I discovered that my aisle seat armrest was fixed. Being a big guy, I count on having an aisle seat where I can lift the outside armrest and sort of spill over into the aisle. I was going to be crammed in between two armrests for the 6 - 7 hour flight to Glasgow. Everyone around us was eyeing an empty row of seats nearby. Suann kept nudging me, wanting me to say something to the flight attendant. I kept quiet and remained patient. Finally they seemed like they were getting ready to get going. The flight attendants were standing near us and were obviously getting ready to make some seat changes. I kept waiting. The flight attendant then looked straight at me and asked me if I would like to move and then had Suann and I move to the empty row. What a relief!