Thanksgiving...

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! I'm kicking myself because I normally take tons of photos, but alas, I took very few this year... I think it is because the turkey just would NOT get done... :) We went shopping in the morning Thanksgiving day and got home too late, but the 'directions' said the bird would only take 4 and a half hours... Well, 5 hours later, the little timer had not popped out yet!! I finally started using the meat thermometer, when 5:30 rolled around, I was like, "You know, why does it HAVE to be 180 degrees?" It ended up working out okay though because Cory and Jessica did not arrive until about 5:15 and we ended up eating about 6:00.

We had the table set at about 3:00...

Tanner was 'supposed' to be taking pictures... :)

Dinner...

We had a great dinner and a good time though. I guess we will start decorating for Christmas tomorrow and then again on Sunday after church is out. I did actually have to go to the office on Thanksgiving day, but it was only for about 20 minutes... Had to cycle power on a server that was not cooperating remotely... Tis life... The kids all have their "Christmas lists" ready to go and laying on my desk... :) I made the mistake of going to the mall Wednesday, wow, it's almost nauseating... Of course I only go to the mall about 2 or 3 times a year... Luckily my kids know the meaning of the holidays! I think I may have mentioned this before, but it cracks me up. Chance is writing a story about how he murders Santa Clause because he has nothing to do with Christmas, his teacher seemed amused, I wonder if she really was? :)

Movie Night...

I don't watch them that often, but did tonight... The kids had their own they were watching, and Carolyn and I were watching one in my office... Luckily there is a pause button on the remote, I don't think I've watched a movie at home without utilizing that since I've had kids... :) Taylor finally wound down and ended up in her favorite spot, my lap...



I literally watched the last half of the movie in that position! The kids are VERY excited about tomorrow. Carolyn spent all day cooking, so we should have a great meal tomorrow. I have to decide when to get up to put the bird in the oven! Hopefully it's not too early!

I hope that everyone who reads this has a great Thanksgiving! I'll post some pics tomorrow!

The Holidays...

Well, they are here... We have our Thanksgiving dinner planned and everyone is happy about the menu... Of course once that is over, the aspect of dragging all the 'stuff' out of the attic and setting it up was weighing on me until about ten minutes ago... Taylor came into my office with a picture from last year and asked me, "Dad, are we going to do the lights and stuff like we did last year?". Of course I replied, "Yes, of course, do you like them?". To which she replied, "Yes, I can't wait, I'll help you set them up this year Dad."...

Immediately after hearing that, the sense of drudgery passed, now I can't wait either... So soon there will be lights, wreaths, trees, etc all over the house and a great time will be had by all while we decorate our home for the holidays! I do though throughout the endeavour make sure my children know the reason for the season... I'm sure I'll post pics of it all... :)

Birthday Parties...

I'm sure anyone with kids gets the 'Birthday Party' invites brought home... These events are normally at places like Chuck E. Cheese, these places are designed to suck the money out of your wallet... Well, Tanner had one to go to today, so first we had to stop at Wal-Mart to get a gift (which is why people have birthday parties)... Then we dropped Tanner off at Chuck E. Cheese and I asked when to come pick him up, about an hour and a half they said... So Chance, Taylor and I went to eat, still an hour to kill... We went to a few more places, then headed back... Well, Tanner still had a cup full of tokens to use up, so of course I had to get some for Chance and Taylor... So needless to say, four and a half hours after leaving the house this morning we finally made it back home. The kids had 50 cents worth of useless trinkets and I was out fifty bucks... We did have fun though, so I suppose it was worth it, I think though that instead of sending out birthday party invites, people should just send out requests saying, "It's my kids birthday, so if you just send him/her 20 bucks, we won't send your kid an invite to the party"... :) That way everyone wins! I guess that just makes too much sense though... :) I do kind of like that machine that 'draws' the pictures though...

What Are We Doing?

What I mean by that is this, "Christians" argue about so many things, I'm sure that anyone who glimpses into the religion is like: "Umm, no thanks!".

It sickens me as well, I grew up in Baptist churches as most of you know, some may not, but most every church I ever attended ended up getting split down the middle over the most ridiculous of things. Some of the issues were so ridiculous, I could hardly comprehend how a church could split on such things. Of course most of the time I was too young, and had to rely on my parents who were usually at the forefront of such splits. The older I got though, and as I read the Bible, I kept thinking to myself, this isn't right...

Back to the title for a second, are we not here to tell others about Christ? Not argue about things that don't matter? Of course thats where the people start screaming: "It does matter!".... So say them...

My cousin has an interesting post, and I think the root of that discussion is the reason for most of this... Do people not realize that Satan has been unleashed onto the earth, that he is free to do whatever he pleases pretty much? His SOLE purpose is to discredit God and get people to turn away from God? Stunning how few know that. Well, not really, since all the people who do are too busy arguing about the semantics rather than doing what they have been instructed to do...

Here is a postcard I found today on the Internet:



The site:

Post Secret

People send in postcards with their 'secret' admissions, confessions, or whatever... Some are quite sad...

That postcard though is likely the thought of a LOT of people who just have no clue... So all the "Christians" sit around arguing about the stupidest of issues, while there are plenty of souls out there who would love to hear about God... I guess the point of this entire post is, we should stop arguing (not saying we can't discuss), but we should expend our efforts in trying to reach more rather than arguing about the semantics... Satan is a powerful foe...

Christmas Lists...

Anyone with children I'm sure is starting to get "Christmas Lists"...



My own children have been writing their own "lists" for days now... I do tell my own children the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercialization factor is more "in your face" now than ever before... They were putting Christmas items out the day after Halloween in many stores... How many though know the true meaning of Christmas? What if we never even put up a tree or decorated? Most would say we had forsaken Christmas. What if we bought no gifts for anyone, not even those who had given us gifts? I'm sure most would talk about us, referring to us as "Those people"...

Yet how many people even know what the meaning of the holiday is? I'm sure most do, but how many include the meaning of the holiday in the festivities? I love the holiday season, Thanksgiving, where we can all be thankful for our great country and think and reflect on what we are all thankful for. Christmas, where we celebrate the birth of our Lord. Then the celebration of the New Year. I disagree with many of the "things" that are tied to the holidays by the marketers and the people who profit from the holidays, but if you can wade through all of that without getting caught up in it, it can be a great family time...

Dreaded Fall Chores...

The bad thing about having so many trees in your yard in the fall is: leaves! Luckily I don't have to actually bag them like a lot of people do, I just blow them into the woods. I also use my pressure washer to 'blow' them, which works a LOT better than my leaf blower, which I haven't used in several years actually after seeing how well the pressure washer did it...

Before

After (obviously)

I think I need one of those leaf and lawn vacuum's...

Welcome Home Andy!!!

I'm sure your family is jumping up and down with anticipation right now, but less than 3 hours to go... Of course I'm sure you are as well! I hope you all have a wonderful reunion tonight and get to spend LOTS of quality time together over the holidays!

Welcome Home! Thanks for serving your country!

Facts...

You hear it everywhere... "Well, science says x, y and z, so how can you prove God exists?"... Now this new film says, "The Color of the Cross" and they depict Jesus as a black Jew... Who is right and who is wrong? "Well, my version of the Bible is more accurate than yours"... On and on it goes...

I don't pretend that my voice is the voice of authority, but I do know one thing... God did unleash Satan and his angels on the earth to try and get as many people as they could to turn their backs on God... Not only that, but He gave Satan dominion over the earth... My cousin had an interesting post on this today, Satan Hits a Homerun!, an interesting read...

You hear people talk about the 'end times', people have been talking about that since the day of the Resurrection... Who is to say if we are in the 'end times' or not... Not us!

Maybe we are, maybe not... The only thing we should be concerned with is, "Are you ready?"...

The thing that science cannot 'prove', the thing that people argue about, faith... I think that people who claim to believe in God argue about the stupidest of things... I doubt God is pleased... Of course I don't know that for a fact... What I do though, is read the Bible and use my own judgement... Which God has given me the faculties to do... I've virtually discarded all of the books, opinion pieces, etc that everyone else writes and stick with the Word... I'm so sick of getting tied up in the tedious "Well, you have to understand the Greek"; "You have to know the Hebrew"; etc, etc, etc...

No, you don't... God promised us He would make His Word available to all, you don't need a degree, nor do you need to understand Greek and Hebrew... Of course you can't tell the so-called scholars that...

I'll take the Bible I have and make my own opinions based on what it says... I'm tired of arguing with people about all the "little things"... Of course I'll continue to do so if I disagree, but always in a nice way... :)

I do have an open mind, believe it or not... There are a few things where I do not though: I believe there is a God, I believe that He will one day come back and take us (if we have accepted Him) to heaven if we are still alive, I believe that God gave everyone talents, yet most don't use them... I also believe that God will judge us all some day... It's a fascinating topic, and therefore the arguments...

Heaven...

As I sometimes do during lunch, I went to the bookstore today to look around (I love bookstores)... As I was walking to pay for the only Sidney Sheldon book I haven't read that I picked up on the bargain table, I saw this one on a different bargain table near the checkout:



My old neighbor and I were sitting on her front porch shortly after her son died, and she was telling me about this book. She told me how much it inspired her, but of course I soon forgot the title... Well, now I have it... I read the reviews people gave on Amazon... I should have waited until after I read it, but too late... I'll let you know what I think, just curious if anyone else has read it...

Here is the gist of it:

As he is driving home from a minister's conference, Baptist minister Don Piper collides with a semi-truck that crosses into his lane. He is pronounced dead at the scene. For the next 90 minutes, Piper experiences heaven where he is greeted by those who had influenced him spiritually. He hears beautiful music and feels true peace.
Back on earth, a passing minister who had also been at the conference is led to pray for Don even though he knows the man is dead. Piper miraculously comes back to life and the bliss of heaven is replaced by a long and painful recovery.

Falling Apart...

I know, a lot of posts... Our Country is falling apart though... It's split fairly even though, but the wicked seem to be winning more and more... So why do we lose? Sure, there are the scandals involving Foley and Abramoff, but those are two people... Scandals? You want to talk scandals, I could write for weeks and months about the Democrats involved in scandals... Difference? Media!! The media wants the Democrats to win... The problem is that the people who do want the Country to head in the right direction do nothing... "I'm busy doing the Lord's work"; "I have children to raise"; "I can't find the time what with church and all"... The excuses are endless... It's nauseating!

Well... Here it comes, it will get much worse... Rest assured that the Dems will try to impeach the President, they will raise your taxes, they will try to pull out of Iraq, our Country will be attacked by these extremists, and they will claim victory... I say bring back the 'men' who used to make the tough decisions... Lincoln, Reagan, Roosevelt, etc...

Iran and Syria...

Great! Let's all hold hands now and sing 'Kum Ba Yah'...

Syria and Iran could choose partnership...

The honeymoon hasn't even started... The Dems don't even take control until January... Crap! I guess I'm soon to lose all of my tax cuts as well?? Probably. Will we withdraw? Likely. Will they attempt to impeach the President? Count on it. Will the terrorists attack us again after they do all that? ABSOLUTELY!!!

Cave in to these people? They do not care. Their sole function in life is to DESTROY us. Yet, we voted these fools into power... Not me of course, but Americans did... We are one people, and the majority rules.

These people want nothing more than to see the destruction of America. People are so stupid though... Wow... I cannot believe that people are as stupid as they are... I wonder if these idiots think that now that we have voted the Democrats back into power that they will hate us any less? The answer is NO for the morons that read this... What can you do? Cast your vote and hope the 'leaders' you vote into office give a shit about you... The Democrats have proven for over 50 years that they could give two shits about the people, they only care about their own power...

Need Extra $$$?

Well, if you can get your hands on any of the latest holiday toys, it's easily had...

#1: Fisher-Price Elmo T.M.X.

WalMart - $39.97

Of course they are sold out online, but they still ship to local stores... They go for $99.00 each all day long on Ebay, some even fetch higher prices which will likely even go up as Christmas nears... So if you are lucky enough to spot one, buy it!

#2: Air Hogs Radio-Controlled Storm Launcher Vehicle

WalMart - $69.97

Get the battery and charger for $29.97, total outlay: $99.94... Going on Ebay for $159.00, buy an extra charger for $29.97 and snag an extra $20 bucks, going for Ebay with two chargers: $199.99... I actually saw several of these at WalMart today, I may go back and get them... :)

#3: Baby Alive Doll

WalMart - $39.97

If you also buy the 4 accessories that come with the doll, going all day long on Ebay for $120.00 - $140.00... Total outlay for the doll and accessories: $71.69... They had five of these at the WalMart I went to today...

On and on it goes... Guess it depends on where you live as to whether or not they will be available... There was no one fighting over them in Acworth though, although they did not have any of the Elmo's, but I asked one of the clerks and she said they do get them in, but they go pretty quick...

Best Toys 2006...

The Bible in a More Just Language...

Nice...

Article here...

So now we have a PC version of the Bible...

Revelation 12:12 "Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."

Luckily though, Satan will never prevail...

Revelation 20:1-2 "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,"

Veteran's Day Trivia...

Can you name the people in our family who have served and are serving in the armed services?

Happy Veteran's Day!!!

GOP Furious About Timing...

So the GOP is furious about the timing of the Rumsfeld resignation??? Huh???

Article Here...

I'm glad they lost now... Are you kidding me?? They all ran away from the President, a couple did not even show up when the President came to campaign for their sorry races... Get out! You can't drown the Captain of the ship and expect him to still be in your corner...

Get over it, come up with a strategy that works, and STOP whining!!!!

Off They Go...

Well, we knew it wouldn't take long for the Race to the White House to begin...

Iowa governor announces White House bid...

I'm not sure who this guy's advisor is, but he should probably go ahead and get rid of him as soon as possible. I mean, would you vote for this idiot:



“Americans sent a clear message on Tuesday. They want leaders who will take this country in a new direction,” Vilsack said in a statement. “They want leaders who share their values, understand their needs, and respect their intelligence. That’s what I’ve done as governor of Iowa, and that’s what I intend to do as president.”

I laughed so hard when I started reading the article, I'm sure the people who sit near me at the office were wondering what was so funny... I mean sure, Americans sent a message, but I don't think it was directed towards old Tommy...

Disappointed???

I thought I would be, but I'm not amazingly enough... I don't really even think the Democrats won, I think the Republicans LOST it!! They have squandered their six years in power and did not deserve to be rewarded for being so incompetent... What we need is a new party I think, a third party... Maybe Joe Lieberman will continue on with the whole Independent party concept and more will follow, probably wishful thinking, but we do need a third party I think...

Frist and Hastert?? Both are incompetent I think! If Frist for one second thinks he has a shot at the Presidency, then we will have affirmation that he indeed IS a complete moron... I can't remember a more incompetent leader of the Senate... If the leaders had also worked more closely with the President, rather than distancing themselves from him so often, maybe they could have together done things differently and would still be in power, but no... "The ship's in trouble, quick let's go drown the Captain" was the mentality instead... Hastert obviously is an incompetent leader, most people didn't even know who he was until the Foley story broke out, if people don't know who the leader is, they are worthless leaders... Yet the Republicans decided to keep that fat idiot at the helm longer than any other Speaker ever! Yeah, it was time for them to lose...

Plus, I think that had they won, they would have been like, "Heh, we didn't manage to do much of anything, yet the people still want us in charge." Then come 2008, the people would have been so pissed off at the Republicans they would have elected Charles Manson as President just to get them out of the White House... I think with the Democrats in charge for the next two years, it will give the Republican candidate a much better shot at the White House in 2008! Or just maybe, there will be a viable Independant candidate who just happens to have the bankroll necessary to buy, I mean win, the White House in 2008...

I also wish Allen would just take it like a man and admit that he lost rather than make us all wait until what? In VA (and Daniel can correct me if I'm wrong) they can't even have a recount until after November 27th I believe... Get over it Allen!! You lost, get out of the way and just let them have the Senate as well... You guys blew it!! Better luck next time!

I think Rush Limbaugh says it best: "I feel liberated. I'm just going to tell you as plainly as I can why. I no longer am going to have to carry the water for people who I don't think deserve having their water carried."

He's right... The Republicans currently in charge have been carried by a faithful base, the talk shows who somehow managed to keep the base energized, and the bloggers who also helped contribute in keeping the base motivated even as they watched the 'political capital' get squandered at every turn... Even though I did vote Republican down the ticket yesterday, I'm now glad that the entire base did not... Maybe the ones who did not were the smart ones, we'll see... I know a lot is at stake, but there comes a time...

Lame Duck...

I think it will happen... President Bush will soon be a 'lame duck'... I can't say I'm surprised, we'll see though the tallies are still coming in, but the people have spoken... Of course most of the people speaking are complete morons, but what can you do? It is what it is... We survived Carter's presidency, hopefully we will survive this... Of course the stakes are high, we'll see...

Breakfast of Champions...

See if you can locate Chance and Taylor...

(Not to leave Tanner out, he has made all A's except for one B last period since he started school... :) They are all good students though... Now just to figure out where I'm going to send them for Middle School... Uggh!

I Voted, Did You?

I think that people who do not vote should have their right to vote taken away... Say if a person has not voted for 10 years or something, then just strip them of their right to vote since they obviously don't care...

The Rainier and Colder the Better...

Hopefully it pours down rain tomorrow and is cold all day long... Statistics show that Democrats do not like to venture to the polls in inclement weather...



Statistics that have a track record, like the one above, I can live with... These polls however are a different story... So many are within the margin of error and I am beginning to question the 'correctness' of them anyway, we'll see how that works out...

Oh, and if you are planning to vote Democrat you no longer even have to go to the polls. The Democratic National Convention this year has rolled out a new program where they will be sending mobile polls to your place of residence... They will give you a ballot and allow you to then vote in the safety and comfort of your home... It sounds like a pretty sweet deal, I hope the Republicans soon follow suit... The best part is you don't have to even notify anyone, they will just show up... This year, since it's the first year, they will also be giving out $50 gift cards to the store of your choice... Sweet deal! So I'll be slogging to the polls in the rain, and if you are planning to vote Democrat you don't even have to leave your house??? I hope the Republicans catch up with the superior Democrats by the 2008 election...

Republicans Are Out...

That's what anyone would think anyway reading the headlines: NYT "G.O.P. Glum as It Struggles to Hold Congress" and Newsweek "GOP Looking for a Lifeboat" are just two of the many... Republicans give up on House, focus on trying to maintain the Senate, on and on it goes...

I would offer though, that many of the polls I look at are within the margin of error... Does that not mean it's a tossup?? Why yes, it does! How scientific are polls these days anyway? Over half of the people I know do not even have land lines anymore, they only have cell phones, so they are never polled, yet they all vote. I would dare say many people under say 35 only have cell phones these days, so they all are not included in any of the polling, so is the polling data even relevant? I've saved a lot of these polls coming down the backstretch and I'll compare them to the actual results and we'll see just how correct the polls were in general.

I think there are basically three crowds of people though that will be voting:

1.) People who hate Bush so much that they are voting Democrat and could care less what the consequences would be (or idiots as I call them)
2.) People who love Bush and will vote Republican no matter what
3.) People (like myself) who disagree with how the Republicans have used their power over the past six years, but realize what a disaster it would be for the Democrats to take control

I do think there will be a high turnout for this midterm election, it will be interesting to see how high it is...

One thing that does irritate me, is the "phone calls" from candidates and you answer the phone and its: "Hi, this is Bob, I'm running for whatever, I would really appreciate your vote." Huh?? Don't call me at night just so I can listen to a recorded message... I actually started to put together a list of the people who did call me, I've had 12 so far, and was going to vote for whoever was running against them... Then I scrapped that idea because I'm voting all Republican because I think the Democrats winning anything would be disastrous... We'll see what happens, I'll be glued to the TV Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday... (I'm taking the day off Wednesday just so I can watch the potential circus unfold)...

42%...

There is that number yet again, confirming what some of us have known all along... According to a recent Harris Poll, 42% of Americans are not completely sure whether or not there is a God...

Which could explain I guess why nearly half of Americans vote Democratic... If people are not sure there is even a God, then it would explain why they could care less about some of the issues pointed out by Daniel's recent post: Vote Nov. 7 & Vote RED!

It's astounding reading some people's opinions on the topic of whether or not there is a God, but this one takes the cake I think: There is no God...

Unconditional Love...

That's what God gives us... That's what I give my children... I heard President Bush talk with Sean Hannity about that, and I thought, my parents gave me 'conditional love'... I prefer unconditional love myself... That is what I will give my children, no matter what, unconditional love...

Zero Tolerance...

So normally we would be out right now going from house to house, getting candy... We decided not to this year because we now feel that it is the Devil's holiday and we as people who believe in God and His Holy Word should not only not participate, but we should shun the holiday altogether. My kids still tonight feel the same way:


So they decided to play with cars and trucks instead! I commend my children for listening to me read them the evidence as to why we should not participate in the holiday in any way, shape or form, but for also not succumbing to the worldly vision and hounding me about why they cannot dress up and participate like all the other kids... It was actually their decision not to btw...

They are as I write this having a great time upstairs playing. Luckily no one has knocked on the door requesting candy, because I'm not sure what I would have done. We did not buy candy to pass out, I guess I would have done what my kids have done and told them that it is the Devil's holiday, and we don't think we as believers in God should participate... Then maybe I would ask if anyone had any questions... Maybe have the chance to witness.

I Love This Guy...

Not only is Senator Kerry stupid enough to insult our troops in harms way a week before the election, but he then goes on a tirade in a hastily called press conference and not only inserts a shoe in his mouth, but both shoes and a dozen other things... Thank you Senator Kerry!!

I'll bet you money that right now, Theresa is beating him about the head telling him to keep his mouth shut... Here is a man who thinks that he has a shot at 2008? Laughable!

This train has left the station... The politics have been nasty. The main stream media has done everything in their power to ensure a Democratic win. It's all about the hatred of President Bush by these wackos, and I can't believe that they stand on the threshold of regaining power... Are people that stupid? Yes, they are!

Luckily the junior Senator from Massachusetts is an idiot! Not saying that it will sway the election, but it will drive out some of the Republican base that prior to his idiotic rants would have stayed home!

A Democratic congressman said this: "I guess Kerry wasn't content blowing 2004, now he wants to blow 2006, too."

I hope that is what happens...

The Devil's Holiday...

That's what my kids call it... After we had decided to not participate in any way, shape or form, I had wondered how my kids would react as it drew nearer... Actually I'm amazed that I've not had a call from the school or an attorney yet, as my kids go to school and tell their friends that it is the Devil's holiday, and they ask them why they participate... I just called them all down to my office, and we had a little talk, because I know that tomorrow they will get it from all sides... They are unanimous still, they do not want to participate in "the Devil's holiday"! Kudos to them! So we will just hang out at home, I'm sure I'll tell them some stories, the Judgement Seat of Christ came up this evening while we were talking, maybe I'll tell them that one...

Organization...

So up to the attic I went in search of all of my photos... I can't find them!!! I found a few, of course there are dozens of boxes up there that have not been opened since we moved in, all with rather cryptic scrawlings on them: kitchen, living room, contents from sideboard, contents from hall closet, etc, etc... Who knows what was in the sideboard or the hall closet almost six years ago??? So now I have a new chore, organize the attic... Ack!! (that was for you again Andrea :)

I did manage to find two photos though of when Andrea lived with me in Columbus, OH... The photos are of Matthew's 1st birthday party...

Andrea and Matthew

Timberly, Andrea, Timothy and Matthew

Now I am on a mission to find the rest of my photos... I'll let you know how that works out! I've got so many, and it irritates me that I can't find them!!

Congratulations though to Adam and Andrea!!! I wish I could have found more photos to post...

Mr & Mrs Adam and Andrea Van Meter

Okay, I shamelessly stole this off of Andrea's blog... I wish them a long and happy life!!!

The Van Meter reception is January 27th, not sure where yet, but I guess Andrea Van Meter (I like the sound of that :) will let us know!!

Here's a fact some may not know, Timberly, Andrea and I used to live together in a townhouse in Columbus, OH... Timberly used to work in the mornings, so I would watch Andrea during the day while Timberly was at work... Using the term 'watch' loosely of course... :) I'll dig up some pics and post them later... I think they are in the attic... So I would drag Andrea around town with me while I ran errands, etc.... Of course I did not literally 'drag' her, but she obviously had to come with me... I remember one Christmas, I did not even decorate until a few days before Christmas, then I started feeling guilty and luckily a friend of mine, not sure if Andrea remembers or not, but Brock's mom owned a company that decorated people's houses for Christmas, so he came over and we all put a tree up and decorated the place... Memories... Funny!

Congratulations to the newlyweds!!!

Christ Like...

So how many people do you know who are? How many people do you know who strive to act as Christ did? Christians... They almost nauseate me to tell you the truth... I'll admit that I have not regularly attended church for over 22 years... Every church I ever went to though, people got so worked up over the most ridiculous of issues... I've attended a LOT of them though, so I CAN speak from experience, and not just one church... I'd list the churches, but it's not my intention to 'create divide', just awareness of the issue...

I was listening to Bill Maher on The O'Reilly Factor, Bill had him on after CBS would not let him talk about religion on the Katie Couric 'Free Speech Segment' that she does... (No wonder she is so far down in the ratings) Maher declined to participate though when he realized that it wouldn't actually be 'free speech'... Bill O'Reilly however, did let him have free speech... (Side note: people who detest O'Reilly are morons, he allows everyone to speak freely on his show, the main stream media however does not, the people who are the most pissed off are the ones who are just now realizing that they no longer have a 'lock' on telling all of Americans what the 'news' is, and they can no longer spin it the way they want... ANYONE you hear screaming about O'Reilly, or any of the other people on cable news shows that don't censor or spin the news to the liberal left leaning, are likely people who hate America and want the news spun to their benefit)

Back to Maher though, you can go read the transcript on Fox News if you want, but Bill Maher said this, "Jesus as a philosopher is wonderful. There's no greater role model, in my view, than Jesus Christ. It's just a shame that most of the people who follow him and call themselves Christians act nothing like him."

Could not agree with him more, and I agree with very little Maher has to say... So called 'Christians' give Jesus Christ a bad name... I've never met a person who claimed to be a Christian that gave Jesus a 'good' name... 'Christians' pick and choose issues to believe in, I call it selective sinning... If 'Christians' disagree, they just ignore it, it's nauseating...

What these so called 'Christians' do not realize is how much influence they have on so many people... I disagree with virtually everything Maher has to say or do, but I get from his comments that if he actually saw a Christian who was trying to be Christ like, he likely could be turned to Christ... It's sad really how many people claim to be 'Christians', yet are likely not... I'll bet there will be many surprised people when we all stand at the Judgement Seat of Christ, and God says, 'I never knew you'...

Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0...

So, you think you know the difference between the two? Go ahead and take a stab at it... I was trying to explain it to someone today, and gave up...

I'll clue you in later, unless someone gets it right! :)

A Fence - Huh???

So we are going to build a 700 mile fence on the Southern border? Ummm... Isn't the border 1,951 miles long? So what is the purpose of the fence then? Of course the bill (or law now) provides no money to actually build the fence, so that means it will likely never even get built, no? Kind of reminds me of a cartoon I saw a few days ago...

Eureka!!!

We finally have not only proof, but a solid number! According to a recent Gallup poll, 42% of Americans are absolute, utter morons... So at least we now not only have proof, but we have a number to start from... 42% of Americans are so insanely stupid, they think that President George W. Bush himself (with help from the vast right wing of the Republican party) is the reason that the price of gas has gone down in recent weeks...

Can you even make this up?? Not on a good day!

So now you can take the other 56%, and it goes slowly up in varying degrees of stupidity from there... "Huh?" you might say, "What about the other 2%?"... Well the other 2% includes myself and the very miniscule amount of other people whom I don't consider to be morons...

Technorati, etc...

So I spent a week trying to get Technorati to actually say when my blog was updated, rather than 'Updated 352 days ago'... Of course I didn't literally spend the whole week doing that, but did attempt a few times each day... Anyway, I FINALLY got it working...

I've realized that I have not kept up with some of the Internet technologies like I would have liked to, and now I'm paying for it... I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I love new technology... Of course working in IT, I guess that's a good thing, it would suck if I didn't like it...

Just simple things though, that you would think I would know by now, I don't... :( I can barely even make changes to my blog, although I'm starting to just experiment more, I need to start another blog for nothing more than to just try different things out... Luckily I'm a quick learner, you meet some people who can still barely even turn their computers on and create a simple spreadsheet or other Office document, and it's like, "You know, maybe you should persue something else..."

Another topic that has always interested me is the markets... Not just stocks, but futures, commodities, hedge funds, all of it! I used to daytrade a few years ago when that was the 'thing' to do, and have decided to start paying more attention to that interest of mine, although I'll trade on paper this time first... :) I did start a blog about it... Should be easy to find... :)

I do subscribe to a few investing magazines (I use my Delta SkyMiles :) but the last subscription I had to Barron's, I never even looked at a single issue of it... I guess I'm just too used to getting my info online... By the time Barron's land's at the end of the driveway, as far as I'm concerned it's old news... We'll see how the whole investing thing goes again... Should be fun anyway! :)

Privacy??

Are there people who still think it exists?? Try this site out:

Abika...

Trace e-mails back to their source, run background checks, IM names and even chats in some cases, anything you have ever bought online, etc, etc, etc...

Not so fast to the "that's why I don't go online" person... Trust me, they know just as much about you... Ever used a credit card? Do you have a bank account? Social Security number? Birth certificate? Court records of any kind? Then they know about you as well...

The only way to have privacy in this day and age is to "go off the grid"... People who have not already realized that are past the point of no return... :)

Brilliant or Stupid?

I'm leaning on the side of brilliant currently... I read about him in the USA Today this morning on my way to work (yes, I read the paper every day from front to back during my brutal commute to the office :)...

His blog here...

USA Today article...

Just from browsing a little through his blog it seems that he very likely will not only get out of the situation he is in, but will likely profit from it as well...

Tick-tock, tick-tock...

Just as in the past several elections, it's going to be a very small percentage of the voters that actually determine the election results...



Kind of a disturbing thought though to think that Pelosi could possibly be third in line to the Presidency... It's also kind of interesting how they try to keep her out of the spotlight as much as possible, if the average American knew what kind of a person she is, they would likely all run to the polls and vote the opposite...

The Heretic...

Walking across a bridge one day, one man saw another man standing on the edge, about to jump off.

So the first man ran over and said, "Stop! Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" the second man said.

The first man said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

"Like what?" the suicidal man said said.

"Well, are you religious or atheist?"

"Religious."

"Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?"

"Christian."

"Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

"Protestant."

"Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

"Baptist!"

"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?

"Baptist Church of God!"

"Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"

"Reformed Baptist Church of God!"

"Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?"

"Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915!"

The first man said "Die, heretic scum!" and pushed him off.

Honest Mistake...

Hillary Clinton and her driver were cruising along a country road one evening when an old cow loomed in front of the car. The driver tried to avoid it but couldn't - the old cow was killed.

Hillary told her driver to go up to the farmhouse and explain to the owners what happened. She stayed in the car making phone calls to lobbyists.

About an hour later, the driver staggered back to the car with his clothes in disarray. He was holding a half empty bottle of expensive wine in one hand, an expensive Cuban cigar in the other and was smiling happily, smeared with lipstick.

"What happened?" asked Hillary.

"Well," the driver replied, "the farmer gave me the cigar, his wife gave me the wine, and their beautiful twin daughters both flowered me with kisses."

"My God, what did you tell them?" asked Hillary.

The driver replied: "I said, I'm Hillary Clinton's driver, and I just killed the old cow."

Ack...

That was for you Andrea... :) I really needed to go to work early tomorrow, and had stated that on Daniel's blog... One of my kids though has come down with a fever, so that went out the window... My wife is going to school now and has a test tomorrow, so I don't even have to go to work now... So I guess I'm home alone with Taylor tomorrow... The only reason I even posted this is because I hear all these people I work with talking about "I can't do that because I have a meeting" or "I don't know that I'll make it because I have to work"... With me, it's family first, all of the rest after... Taylor is sick with a fever, the rest can wait, period...If anyone doesn't like it, fire me...

Wedding Bells...

I always like it when people decide to get married... Well, my niece is about to take that step! Congratulations Adam and Andrea!!!

October 28, 2006

People...

So I went downtown this afternoon to meet Timberly for lunch, I try to go downtown as little as possible, and normally only go there a few times a year... Timberly was in town for the Society of Neuroscience's annual meeting:

Society of Neuroscience...

So needless to say the place was overrun with people and I detest crowds of any kind... I was supposed to meet Timberly at the CNN Center in Atlanta (obviously):

CNN Center...

The CNN Center is directly across from the Georgia World Congress Center:

GWCC...

Which is where Timberly was attending the annual meeting (she was presenting as well), well I got there about 30 minutes early and walked through the GWCC checking out what was going on, then decided I'd had enough of the sheep milling aimlessly around so I decided to head on over to the CNN Center, well that was worse... More sheep, more aimlessly milling about, snapping photos as if they were looking at the eighth wonder of the world so I went outside to try and find a spot far less crowded wait on Timberly and her friend...

Timberly and her friend then showed up and we had lunch and chatted about the conference, our families, etc... Then it was time for Timberly to head back to get her stuff and head for the airport... So I headed back to my vehicle, and of course went down the wrong elevator, looked around for my car (why all of the freaking garages there have to have a red level, floor 5, row B I'm not sure) I finally made it down the right elevator and to my car and headed back to the Interstate and to the office that houses my little cubicle, all the while vowing to NOT go back to Atlanta for at LEAST six months or so... :)

300 Million??...

That is all I've heard about practically for the past several days...

"The nation's population officially hit 300 million at 7:46 a.m. EDT Tuesday, when the Census Bureau's population clock rolled over to the big number." according to MSNBC...

In classic fashion, our government is so big, there is so much bureaucracy and red tape that they have little clue what is really going on...

I am here to say they are wrong though, you read it here first!!

The 300 million mark was reached on March 16, 2002 when Juan brazenly waded across the Rio Grande to become the 300 millionth person in the USA...

Scams...

Err, I mean fundraisers... So do your kids have fundraisers at their school? Mine do, WAY too many! This one took the cake though... They had all had an 'art project' in their class, then one day, these magnets came home... "Here are the magnets we made out of your child's art project"... Well, the kids already thought they were theirs to keep, but to 'keep' them it was $5.50 each... So $16.50 later, we now have 3 new refrigerator magnets... The kicker though was there was also a form included in case you wanted your 'child's art' to be printed on a wide variety of items (keychains, calendars, luggage tags, mugs, mousepads, etc), all at a cost of course... I don't normally buy into the whole fundraiser thing, but I thought this one was rather sneaky... They gave the kids the magnets as if they were theirs, but sent the parents forms saying, either return the magnet or pay $5.50... I remember when Chance first started Kindergarten, his first fundraiser, Carolyn and I bought like $150 worth of crap so that he would "win" a prize because we didn't want him to feel left out... We learned quick though, and that was the first and only time that happened... I know they need to raise money for various things, but don't be sneaky... The kid's coach I think does it best... On Friday's you can buy a Chik-fil-a biscuit for $2.50, he always sells out, Chik-fil-a gives him the biscuits for like $1.00 each, and he uses the proceeds to buy equipment for the kids to use at PE and recess... No scam, you know you are paying $2.50 for a chicken biscuit and even though you know you are overpaying a bit, you know the money is used for equipment your kids will use... Okay, I'll get off my soapbox... The magnets my kids made:

Chance's Magnet...

Tanner's Magnet...

Taylor's Magnet...

Honor Roll...

We had conferences at the kids school today, and for the first time ever, EVERYONE is on the Honor Roll!! Way to go kids!!

Weekend Project...

So we have these pots on the wall right next to our house, we usually have to replace the flowers in them twice a year... So it is time in GA for pansies... Last year our pansies lasted throughout the entire winter it was so mild... So it was time to replace them... I also decided to change out the soil because it hasn't been changed in nearly four years, and also I saw my neighbors plants which were huge, and I asked, what are you feeding those things? She said that they don't use soil, just manure.... Hmm I thought, so I decided to do the same and filled all the planters with bags of organic manure/compost from Home Depot, I'll let you know how it works out... :)

Getting started, did I say I hate planting stuff?? I do, but I enjoy the results, so I do it!

Finally done, just have to clean up... We had a ton of pansies left over, which Carolyn planted in that other bed we had put the rocks around... Pictures did not turn out that well, I'll take another one later... :)

Poor Wuggles...

Well, Tanner's hamster made it about two weeks... They were all sad for about 10 minutes, then the hamster was forgotten... I would have just tossed the durn thing in the trash, but we had to bury it...

Interesting Site...

Want an iPod for $2.70? How about a Harley for $7.35? How about a 42" plasma HDTV for $13.50? A 2006 Mini Cooper for $50.43? A Hummer H3 for $36.65? Sound too good to be true? Well, it's not... The site lauched in mid-December of last year, and expects to rake in $5 million in revenue this year. It has run over 200 such auctions since it started, how could they possibly be profitable you might be thinking? Well, apparently most of the revenue comes from companies like CBS, Fox, Lifetime, etc which get charged for running the Limbo promotions under their own brands and on some of the auctions, users get charged 99 cents per bid... Interesting... They managed to get $9 million in funding though from Azure Capital Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson...

Limbo...

God...

It's almost comical how many people think they know what God thinks... The arguments go back I'm sure to the moment Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden... I can imagine Cain and Abel arguing about which sacrifice God would prefer... So if they started arguing that soon after being thrown out of the Garden of Eden, I guess it's amazing that we are not arguing more than we do as a people... God has many names, I'd go into them here, but they are too numerous for this post, God has always been and always will be... Think about that for a minute and try to wrap your brain around it... Nearly impossible to do! I wonder though what God must think about us arguing about such silly stuff all the time? I'm sure he is not very happy. I just wonder how many people read the same Bible I do? Genocide? God has commanded it in the past, not just genocide, but kill every man, woman, child, and animal... Slavery? God has allowed the Israelites to be enslaved many times... I guess the thing that kills me the most are the idiots who talk about peace... There has never been peace on the earth, and I doubt there ever will be. We currently are the most powerful nation on the earth, how long though? Look back at history... Although, I would dare say, that most of the idiots who spout half this stuff know ZERO about history. Look back in time, human behaviour does not and has not changed no matter the time period you look at. It likely never will. I just get tired of talking to and/or arguing with people when they know nothing about history and only argue from a very limited knowledge of events current and in the past... It's all I can do actually to barely even feign interest... Get your facts straight if you want to talk to me... I just now heard a commercial about "Stop the Darfur violence"... People just don't get it... Any country in this day and age where the people still live in tents and or mud huts, ummm... The people must not be very strong... The people who try to act as if we, the USA, should solve all these issues are idiots. I can't speak for God, but I'm sure He agrees. If the people of a country are not strong enough to grow their country, well, what can you do?? Look at some of those countries that were impacted by the tsunami not long ago... There was that one group of people who hadn't had any interaction with any outside people in years and years, if ever... So back to my original post about God and people who think they know what He wants and peace activists who want to hug trees and for there to be peace.... Idiots! What other word is there? If you can think of one, let me know... Read the Bible, study history, then get back to me... I know I'm not very eloquent on my posts, but I don't feel it's necessary... I can be eloquent, but I type these posts up in a few minutes as a thought strikes me, and do not 'prepare' material for them, I reserve that for other things... :)

The Dems Plan...

Conclusions...

I've come to the conclusion that likely 90% of the American population are complete morons... I'm amazed that we are still the sole remaining Superpower... We won't be for much longer, trust me... We might hold off for a few more years, maybe even 50 or so, but the average American citizen is so stupid, we are destined for failure... History people! We probably wouldn't reach failure status so quickly if the entire freaking world didn't want to see us taken down a notch or two... They do though... The average American though has ZERO clue what is going on! The 10% though that do know what is going on will never be able to clue in the rest... Enjoy it while you can! We do have a few years left, based on the stupidity of the average American though, it won't last much longer... Too many people get wrapped up in their own lives, think they can do nothing, and it's sad... "I'm too busy" "I've got kids to raise" "I don't understand" "I don't know that I can do anything"... On and on it goes... We are doomed as a Nation, trust me... Unless miraculously people wake up, I don't see it happening though...

Appease vs. Destroy...

Trading...

So, anyone with kids, do they 'trade' stuff? Then later want it back? Mine do! "Dad, that is mine" "No, I traded x for it" "Well he/she took x back" "Well I can't find it anymore"... On and on it goes... So I started a new 'policy'... Now if my kids want to 'trade' things or 'buy' things from each other, I have a log book... They have to write down what they traded, bought, whatever, and each party has to write their name... Problem solved! Of course the kids like the idea so much, they are coming into my office every few minutes to 'trade' something and put it into the log book... It's hilarious! :)

Office Remodel...

So when we first bought this house, one of the first things I wanted to do was to make one of the bedrooms an office... While I was playing around with all my digital photos last night and today. I found all the photos of when I converted one of the bedrooms into an office (With help from Titus, Cory and Carolyn of course... :)

I get tired just looking at the photos, then I thought why not try out that site I had mentioned earlier, photoshow.com, so I did... I managed also to figure out how to turn off the music... I did choose the 'fast' setting, but it's still not very fast... So watch it if you want to... :)

The Jeeps...

I was SO glad when we finally got rid of these things, it took me nearly two years to get grass growing again in the huge 'track' that circled the house... Luckily I was able to pawn them (along with the bulldozers) off on Andy and Petra when they were here a few years ago... Luckily it was also night time when Andy and Petra were here or they might not have taken them as they were not in the best shape by then... :) The kids loved them though while they had them...

Lesson Plans...

You know... Not sure why I start out with that, but whatever... I'm sure most of you have read many of the posts that I have deleted... Some have accused me of claiming that 'I was always right' or that 'I was stubborn'... Well?? Who isn't? Do the same people that accuse me of that not act the same way? Of course I think I am always right! Stubborn? Depends on the issue! Show me a man who does not think he is right, and stand by his beliefs and principles, and I'll show you a person who is a spineless bastard... Of course I stand up for what I believe in, not only stand up for it, but shout it out!!! Anyway, my children are getting older... My oldest I see not only does the same thing, but he is two or three times as stubborn as I am... Ack!! Yeah, I know! So it takes a delicate approach, no, I don't beat the shit out of him to force him to succumb to my belief system... I don't threaten him with bodily harm of any kind, you know what, I TALK to him... Guess what, he listens!! I'm fairly new to this whole Fatherhood thing, my oldest is barely nine... So I AM still learning, but I know what DOESN'T work... I DO know that I should have gotten my children in church earlier than I did, but I didn't because the churches I went to as a child and a teenager nauseated me... I probably went for nearly twenty years without going to church... Thanks to the 'baptist' arguing about silly crap that doesn't even matter... I could go on and on... The point is, my children need guidance, not beatings because they don't see eye to eye with me... They are people that God has entrusted to my care for about eighteen years... I intend to do my best! I had a GREAT talk with my oldest this evening, and we have made a pact with each other! I did not beat him because he lied to me, I explained to him the 'facts' of life... Not only did he understand, he grabbed my neck, hugged me, and thanked me... You CANNOT force your 'beliefs' on the people that God has entrusted to your care for a few years, to think you can is ludicrous...

Flashback I...

So if anyone has been reading my blog, you will know from the previous post that I have been looking for a digital picture sorter... The one I mentioned in the comments on my last post I love... It is very quick, lets me preview thousands of pictures without delay... So I may have a few of these 'flashback' posts... I literally went through nearly a hundred thousand photos in about an hour... I thought I had 250 thousand, this program was smart enough to recognize duplicates... Since I just finished (or am almost finished :) with the boys room (for the 3rd or 4th time I think) these stood out to me for some reason...

My kids wanted a 'fort' in their room, so I decided to build them one... This was 2002...

Nearly done with it, and WHAT a chore it was...

The 'semi-completed' project... I tore it down less than a year later because the guys outgrew it, and I did not take into account that Chance (the red bed) might get hot sleeping so close to the ceiling... They thoroughly enjoyed it though while they had it... :)

Their room now... Which I just finished, or am still working on... Minor details left, which I tend to just let ride... :) Plus, there was another remodel between the two... So that makes three makeovers in a little over five years... No wonder I can't ever finish this house, I keep redoing everything... :(

Digital Pictures...

Okay, so Google just bought YouTube... Many are talking about it, I realize that YouTube was one of the most popular sites on the web and of course the owners (who started it out of their garage) are now billionaires... Of course anyone thinking, "Hmmm... I should start a site like that", the guys who started it were spending nearly $1.5 million a month in traffic and hosting fees... So yes, it does cost some money to make money... You know what I want? Whoever comes up with it, I'm sure will be the 'next big success' company... I want a program that can sort my digital photos and actually do it so that I can find the picture I'm looking for... I have nearly a quarter of a million digital photos and I can NEVER find the one I am looking for! Every time a new program comes out that claims it can 'sort and organize' my digital photos, I ALWAYS download it and put it to the task, it ALWAYS fails miserably! I just downloaded two more yesterday though, so I'll put them to the test and let you know how they work out, I'm not getting too excited just yet though, I'll let you know how they work out... :)

Yeah, I Know...

Thanks to all my readers for staying with me... I'll tell you, I'm amazed that you have... I will promise you now though, that I will not go off on any 'family' tangents... It's over for me... I'll only continue my blog in the fashion in which it was started... Which is why you guys all read my blog... So, keep posted, lots more to come... :)

Bugs...

I DETEST them... So anyway, I just saw one, IN my house... So I just spent the past 20 minutes hosing down the perimeter, every window, under the sinks, the bathrooms, okay... I hosed down the entire house... I don't like bugs... :)

Photoshow.com...

Slide Show...

I posted it directly on here, but couldn't figure out how to turn the music option off...

Saturday Project...

So today we decided to go try to find some rocks to put around that flower bed we put in a while back because all the mulch kept getting washed away when it rained, and we just wanted to... :) We hit the jackpot at a new subdivision they are building near ours, so three loads later we had plenty of rocks to get started...

If I had it to do over, I would have backed the van up a little closer to where we actually needed the rocks...

Finally done...

Different view...

Chance liked it, he says it's his new 'bike track'... :)

Okay, Stop It Matt...

Yet Again...

Again...

Myheritage.com...

Hypocrisy...

You know, I know a LOT about hypocrisy having grown up in Baptist churches and even from some of my own family members, but the Democrats take the freaking cake when it comes to hypocrisy... This whole issue with Foley, yeah, he is wrong and a pervert, but for them to act so sactimonious as if no Democrat has ever done that, there was a Dem that not only played with the pages, but had sex with a 17 year old one not that long ago, what did the Dems do? They promoted him and gave him a leadership position, and they act outraged about this?? I'm not saying it's right, but you cannot have two standards... At least with the Republicans, they resign, the Dems, they refuse, even if they had sex with a page or are caught with their hand in the freezer with $100K in bribe money... This I think was a political ploy because they are so desperate to regain power, and they know they cannot do it on their stance on issues or their 'plan' for our future, because they basically don't have one... Of course I'm disgusted with the Republicans as well, they have squandered their leadership and done pretty much nothing... The people who made Frist the leader of the Senate were idiots, he has been a worthless leader... Hastert?? He needs to lay off the twinkies and start doing something... Here is what I hope happens, I think the Republicans need to lose control of the House, but I hope they retain control of the Senate, which I think they will do. It should be a wake up call... Can we survive a few years with Pelosi as speaker of the House? We survived Carter's Presidency, no? So yes, of course we will... If I was in charge, I'd send them all home and say start over... I know that these nasty politics are here for now, possibly to stay, but wow... Are Americans THAT damn stupid?? Is everyone SO busy playing video games and watching American Idol to give a shit what happens to this Country?? I say yes!! We'll see what happens, but it will get MUCH more nastier in the next few weeks...

Middle East...

Interesting map... Who has controlled the Middle East over the course of history?

Maps of War...

WooHoo!!!

We've lived in this house I guess for about five and a half years, but there are NO girls for Taylor to play with... There are PLENTY of guys though, so Taylor is forced to run around with about six boys... When the boys go over to play at the other guys houses, of course she is stuck here asking, "When are the boys coming back, I don't have anyone to play with"... Our neighbor next door, Mrs. Hicks, bought a different house and moved this past weekend, the house sold almost immediately, and a couple with a little girl who is six years old moves in next week!!! They were over here looking at the house when I was outside painting those lights I made for the kids, and I saw the girl, and called for Taylor and told her that there was a little girl, maybe she will move in! The people who bought the house came over today and said that their little girl had been looking at Taylor, Carolyn told them that Taylor had been doing the same... So thankfully Taylor will now have a female playmate!!!

I'm Calling It Now...

Mitt Romney... I think I did that before, but then I deleted my blog... I bet Mitt is the Republican nominee...

What's on Your Desk?

Of course my desk is normally a LOT more cluttered than it is in the photo, but once a month or so, I sort through everything and either file it or chunk it... I was thinking though after I did that today, it's kind of interesting to see other people's 'work spaces'... So I thought I'd post mine... :)

ER...

So I was taking the trash out and somehow stabbed myself in the leg with a piece of glass that was poking out of one of the trash bags... At first I just had Carolyn pour some peroxide on it and put a bandaid over it (much later in the evening, that's where it would have stopped had I been able to do it over... ) Then I thought, you know, maybe I should call my doctor and ask if I should get a couple of stitches (bad mistake), of course he said yes...

Well, there is nowhere to get stitches in Paulding County except at the ER... Tanner thought it would be fun to watch me get stitches, so he asked if he could go (a decision he regretted later), so I said sure, lets go... Off we went...

We checked in, an hour later a nurse took my vitals, 30 minutes later they took my insurance information, then about 45 minutes later I went back to a room, 15 minutes later some guy came in and gave me 3 stitches (which took all of about 5 minutes)... Then we waited, and waited, I was just about ready to walk out (I didn't, because I was thinking, what if I have to come back later with a REAL emergency, I might be flagged in the system as 'that problem patient', so we continued to wait)... About 30 minutes later the nurse came in and checked my vitals again and gave me the whole spiel about pain pills (I told her I wasn't in pain), she continued to drone on... If I felt like I needed antibiotics (I told her I didn't want any), on and on she went... Finally I was told I could check out... So I paid my $50 ER co-pay and we left...

Moral of the story? If it's not life threatening, NEVER go to the ER...

It would not have been so bad if the ER had actually been busy! I saw nurses chatting by the station, other people making coffee, others doing not much of anything, etc... (There were about 4 times that I came very close to just walking out, but back to my prior comment, I did not want to be flagged as 'that patient' in the system, because knowing my luck I would have had a heart attack or something on the way home and ended up back at the ER, but instead of being a heart attack victim, I would have been 'that problem patient', which is the only reason I continued to wait patiently or rather impatiently... ) I have been in busy ER's before, and it's understandable to have to wait... I think there must be some unwritten rule for all ER's though, make EVERYONE wait a minimum of 3 hours, NO exceptions!!

Amateur Videos...

My kids are into this whole video making thing, but the light sucked pretty much... So I decided to solve the issue by making some 'portable' lights for them... Here is the result, I'll post one of their videos once they have made it...

Almost done...

I built two of them for them...

It's amazing how this whole video making thing works, I've learned a lot though... I did buy them a shotgun microphone, and a microphone stand with a boom, but then I started looking at prices for lighting, I was like, umm... NO! So I just made them myself... When they have a video made, I'll post it on YouTube and link to it here... They are having a blast with it though... :)