Me: We’re looking for a fast-growing shade tree to plant next to our front bedroom.

Nursery owner: Well, how tall do you want it to grow? How tall is your house?

Me: (thinking)

Kim: (in serious tone) Well, it’s a single-story house. I don’t know—100 feet?

Nursery owner: (looking at Kim like she’s crazy)

Me: (looking at Kim like she’s crazy)

Kim: (with a look that acknowledges that her calculations are a little off) Oh, no, it’s probably more like 65 feet.

Me: Let’s go with 15-20 feet.

Nursery owner: Right. Well, maples are probably what you’re looking for.

I love her more every day.

Fast forward a few years: I left my role at Community Food Bank to take on a newly-created role at Fresno Pacific University. I worked down the hall from Kim’s father, John, who has been vice president of finance there since 2003.

I left the university in February to pursue my own business; two weeks ago, an announcement circulated around campus that John would soon leave, as well, after accepting the job of vice president of finance for…wait for it…Fuller Theological Seminary.

(Didn’t see that one coming, did you?)

Obviously, this is an exciting time for John and the family. The transition will be slow, as Kim’s twin siblings will finish high school here, but within two years we’ll be the only family members left in Fresno—since that seems to be one of the re-occurring themes among boomerangs and creatives, this could get interesting…

Kim promised me we’d be foster parents for only two weeks. That was over four months ago.

This week, I discovered that the City of Fresno only allows four pets per single-family household. Maggie puts us at four, so we’re in the clear of potential violations, but I’m afraid Kim’s becoming too attached.

Kim’s also wanting a baby, so eventually we need to make room for one more. That’s a good reason for you to adopt Maggie, right?

In case you need more:

• She’s darn cute.
• She burps (but in the cute, abnormal way).
• At under 35 pounds, she’s portable.
• You won’t find a sweeter, smarter dog¹

¹I’m not kidding. Maggie has been accepted by all three of our dogs—including Darla, our alpha. She has never growled, barked or bitten, and would love nothing more than to curl in a ball in front of someone. (That someone could be you…)

Yep, those are for the kids…

I could write a book about the things I’ve learned in that time (not to imply that anyone would read it), but there are a few overarching themes/lessons learned:

• No person is perfect; thus, no community of people can be perfect
• You get out of a community what you put into it (somewhere a former school teacher is smiling)
• Success is a relative concept
• Dogs make everything hairier

For historical purposes, I’ll offer a short overview of the move out here:

I was done with school—and with the South; Kim and I had been dating long distance for a year and I wanted to be closer; I had saved enough money to buy a truck, rent a trailer and fuel the 2,211 mile trek. What I didn’t budget for, however, was the expense of two (yes, 2) transmissions and an extra three nights in Elk City, Okla., where the first one left me and my brother stranded.

After five years, I’m proud to call Fresno home. Most of the time.

Today’s Father’s Day lunch looked to be no different; Kim’s brother started the discussion before lunch was served, by questioning their mother’s visits to the tanning booth (evidently, all the kids have been warned about the threat of skin cancer and forbidden to tan). That conversation died quickly, so it looked like we were in for a normal meal.

We talked about movies.

We talked about vacation.

We talked about work.

And that’s where we took a wrong turn. In discussing work, we learned that Kim’s brother is facing a potential furlough at work, after a series of layoffs. That led to a discussion about furloughs, and I tried to lighten the mood by saying that my company was considering furloughs (see, I own the company, and before last week I was the only employee…).

To that, Kim responded: “Screw your company.” She’s a bit jealous that we offer such perks as Call of Duty timeouts and afternoon margaritas.

Her mom, unusually quick on her toes, explained, “Kim, I think you already do.”

Evidently, I blushed.