Yeah, so I haven't blogged in a while.  Sorry about that, it's been a wild couple of weeks.

Three weeks ago I was in St. Louis for the big Christian booksellers convention.  The convention isn't as big as it used to be, since, well, there aren't as many Christian retailers as there used to be, but it's still by far the best place to do a bunch of press interviews all in one spot.  I think I did about 15 different radio, TV and print interviews in the span of about 36 hours.  And boy were my arms tired.  Okay, not my arms… but boy was I tired.  It's fun to talk about What's in the Bible, and I get really energized when I'm describing the work God has us doing, but as an introvert, I'm totally wiped out afterward.  Now we wait to see what impact all those interviews will have on the new series.

The week after that was the annual Vischer Family Reunion up at my grandpa's farm in southeast Michigan.  All my uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews come in for a week of fun and fireworks at grandpa's lake.  (I'm in charge of the fireworks show.  Whee!)  About 40 people stay in two houses spread across a 60 acre farm.  It's a little bit nuts, but it's the highlight of the year for my kids.  

And then last week – related to the prior week – my grandpa Vischer passed away at age 95.  He'd been declining pretty rapidly for the last year or so, and I had speculated to a friend that I thought he'd probably hang on until the 4th of July when the whole family was there, and then as we all packed up and headed home, he would too.  And sure enough, the week after the big family reunion, Grandpa went home for a reunion of his own.  If you've read my book, this is the guy who bought me my first puppet and loaned me his Super8 home movie camera to make my first animated films.  He was also the first person on Earth to buy a VeggieTales video – sending in a check and an order for two copies before the first video was even halfway produced.  He ended up buying about two cases (literally) of that first video, passing them out to friends and family all over Michigan and Ohio.  So he was a pretty significant guy in my life.

But he went peacefully in his sleep about four hours after we had all gathered around him in his room to sing some good old fashioned hymns.  And now he is finally back together with my grandmother (his beloved "DeNell"), who has been waiting for him in heaven for more than 15 years.  Let's hear it for a godly heritage.

So, anyway, that's why I haven't blogged in a bit.  I'll be a little more reliable going forward…

Oh, by the way, if you work at Focus on the Family or have access to their chapel services, I'll be the chapel speaker this Friday morning.  See you there.

Now… back to work!