Monday Passed, Tuesday Arrived, Big Deal

So it's Tuesday the 31st of July, 2007. What's happening today, right now? Various people are sleeping, various people are awake, various people are dying, various people are being born. Life goes on like normal, but STOP! Something's different. What is it? Ah yes, you have stopped everything to read this post. You have hit pause on the giant Tivo of life. In all sincerity, I thank you. Thank you for taking a moment to read my thoughts. That's what this blog is - I just write whatever I'm thinking at the moment. If you see a day where I don't post a blog, now you know why: I just wasn't thinking.

So what will you do today? Go anywhere? Do anything? I'm going home afterwork and relaxing with my wife. Maybe we'll go walking or something. It never hurts to get a little exercise, 'specially since she's growing a kid.

So did you hear that Marvin Zindler died? Liver cancer or something. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but he always freaked me out with the white hair, blue sunglasses and LOUD voice. I never watched any of his news reports (because he freaked me out).

So the movie 300 came out today on DVD. Did you ever see it? I saw it twice. Yes, it has two scenes where I had to avert my eyes, but the rest of the movie was soooooo good. It's got some of the coolest fight sequences I've ever seen. I think they used some new camera techniques or something. And yeah, they all die in the end, but everyone knew that to begin with. It's still a great movie.

Oy, just 8 hours left to work today - I might post something else later, or I might not. Either way, thanks for stoppin' by! Later,

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Monday is Here Again!

It happened. I knew it would. You knew it too, you just didn't want to talk about it. The weekend ended, and Monday showed up again. I guess we should be thankful for Mondays, though, because it means we got a weekend. Imagine if the week went straight from Friday to Monday - no weekend! Ugh. Anybody have a good weekend? I hope so.

I started serving on Tech Team with my church this weekend. It was really cool. I started on camera, and I gotta say, it's a lot harder than it looks, but it's really fun. I got to church at 6:45 am, and left at 1pm.

Aren't you so glad you're not a celebrity? I am. Sure, it would be nice having that much money, but they have no privacy! Everybody has to know every little thing about them! I enjoy my privacy too much for that life. Ever see the movie Papparazzi? I don't know if I spelled that correctly, but it really focused on how harrassed celebrities are. On the other hand, if are trying to get into that lifestyle, you have to know what you're getting into. There's no way anyone could want to get into Hollywood and not believe they're going to lose their privacy. It's like being forced into a life-long documentary about you, and you can't get out. Every second of their life is on film - either movie or camera. I shudder to think how miserable some of them must be. (shudder)

If you haven't noticed, I have a new poll. You can vote on it, or don't, whatever. Later,

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Saturday

Well another weekend has shown up. Crazy thing, I'm not writing this from home. Am I at work you ask? No I'm not. A parent's house perhaps? Again, no. I am at James and Lynne's. Bestest friends in the whole wide world.

Got to go to the shooting range today! I was soooo happy. I shot 200 rounds through my Glock 23, and I've attached a picture of my very last target. Yeah, it's pretty good. It's my very last bullet, too.

Anybody else having a good weekend? That's good. I get to do camera for the Met tomorrow morning! That's gonna be really fun, and I'm really excited, but on the other hand, I've only had one chance to practice. I don't know exactly how good I am at it. I think I did alright, but I'm kinda nervous about it. It's one thing if no one can see what you're doing, but it's going to be up on a big screen in front of 1500 people, so a mistake would be very noticeable. This is a short post, I know, but I didn't have much time, and I felt like doing something.

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Can I Get an Amen?

Good Morning Boys and Girls! It is finally Friday. Can you believe it? I think you can! It's about time it got here, too.

So the wife and I went to see the new Harry Potter last night - The Order of the Phoenix, and I must say, I have no idea why they called it that. They only mention the Order like 4 times in the whole movie. My wife would say "read the book," but I just don't want to now that I've seen the movie. What about you? Can you read a book after you see the movie or does it have to be the other way around? If I'm going to do both, I have to read the book first. Except then the movie's not quite as fun, because you already know what's coming.

I'm going to tell you something important now, but you must understand why I am telling you. I am not telling you so you will be inspired to run out and spend money, call me, or mail me a card, I'm simply telling you because, well, it's happening. My birthday is now less that two weeks away. Am I looking forward to it? No, not really. After 21, every birthday is just another year older. I'm not worried about actually being old yet, but I'm certainly not getting any younger. "But it's still your birthday, aren't you a little bit excited?" Well, I'm excited about what I might get... Isn't that what birthdays have become? Who can get you the coolest, most expensive gift? Yeah, I'm a little excited to see if anyone gets me something I want, but if they don't, I understand, cuz I have a fairly expensive list. I don't I listed anything under 25 bucks except one CD. It's sad, I know. Plus, like I said before, I'm just turning another year older, and how exciting can that really be? Christmas is a different story, just in case you're getting worried about my view of other holidays. Yeah, I start looking forward to Christmas on December 26th. I watch each month go by, and I count down to when the next Christmas will get here. Of course, if you remember how many days there are in a year, it's pretty easy to tell when it will get here...

So you know, I've been looking forward to going to the shooting range all week, but it finally hit me today, the shooting range is probably underwater. With all the rain this week, and how low down it is, I'm sure it's flooded. If I have to, I'll go to Top Gun (Indoor range), but I doubt anyone else will be able to come with me, cuz it's out of the way, and how many people are really gonna want to do that? Oh well.

Usually all the rain and gloomy weather would come across as depressing, but with today being Friday, it's not so bad. I can rejoice in the fact that when 5:20 gets here, I can be out the door, and I won't have to walk through that door again till Monday morning. I think this weekend will be a good one.

For those of you wondering, the first doctor's office visit concerning Small Change #1 (da baby) is the 7th, so please don't ask how it went yet. Once the 7th has come and gone, feel free to ask questions. In the mean time, mommy is doing good, experiencing increased hunger and fatigue already, but doing good otherwise. Later!

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Just another Thursday in this CrAzY world...

Check out this news story forwarded to me by my wonderful wife:

Town Considers Ban on Teens at Mall
AP
Posted: 2007-07-26 12:39:22
Filed Under: Law, Nation

FRESNO, Calif. (July 26) - A shopping mall's plan to ban teenagers from entering shops and restaurants unless accompanied by an adult has been put on hold after the city attorney questioned its constitutionality. The Shops at River Park had planned to limit evening access for minors on weekends beginning Aug. 3 in an attempt to rid the center of its reputation as a teen hangout. The rule required that anyone under the age of 18 be accompanied by someone over the age of 21 after 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.But the new policy concerned City Attorney James Sanchez, who warned police not to enforce the ban, saying it could violate state or federal civil rights laws regarding free speech and the right to assemble. On Wednesday, the mall's developer announced the ban would be delayed at least a month to allow for public input at community meetings."What we're trying to accomplish is to protect everyone's rights - the young people and the old people," said developer Ed Kashian.

A concerned parent later commented on the story, and for your sake I won't include the entire quote, but check out what this guy did!

As it is now, we have stopped trying to go to a local mall on Fri or Sat because of the number of do nothing kids. Several have tried to grab my wife's purse, and yet others have plowed into my daughter's stroller with complete disregard to anything remotely close to consideration. The one's with the purse, I grabbed two and knocked them both into a support column. And one who literally knocked my two year old daughter over in her stroller, cussed her outand tried to take a swipe at the stroller like it was our fault. He was picked up and promptly thrown into the fountain and knocked back in every time he tried to get out.

Bravo, Dude! That's hilarious. Man, I tell you what, people better be thinkin' twice before they try to mess with my wife or child(who, yes, is still on the way)! Those of you who know me well understand what I'm talking about. I mean, come on, messing with a man's family, that's just something you don't do if you care for your own safety. Gotta be a moron or something to do that. And you know what, if I was that idiot in the fountain, I'd stay there until the PO'd father walked off.

Now to address the news story. I agree and I disagree. Why, you ask? Well, don't worry, I'll tell you. I think that any city is wrong to censor admittance into a public place based on age, race, sex, hair color, shoe size, or anything. Anybody that we struggle to keep out will just find another place to hang out, and I'd rather see teenagers hanging out at the mall rather than the back alleys behind the mall or around bars. There's another solution to fixing that problem - parents need to do their job as parents and actually give a crap about their kids. If I'm offending you, get over it. If your child is under 18, you should know where they are and what they're doing, and if you don't trust their life to the friends they're hanging out with, you should be with them. If your children are still living at home, YOU are responsible for their safety. How many 12 or 13 year-olds do we hear of that are being abducted from parking lots or movie theatres because they weren't with someone who could protect them? It happens all the time. My children will be safe because my wife and I will be with them, and we will die before anything happens to them. Even better, any ill-minded attacker will die before my children come to harm.

I think if parents do their job, their children will not be hanging out at the mall or movie theater with nothing to do but swap spit and get high. Moving on...

I DO agree with the idea of stopping underaged kids from hanging out in large groups in public places. I hate going to the movies on friday nights at WillowBrook AMC because it's gang night! Saturday night isn't a whole lot better. Yes, I am always armed around there, but I don't want to use it! I'd like to be able to see a movie without wondering if someone's going to steal my car while I'm inside, or if someone's gonna try to jack my wife's purse as we leave. Granted, there are people over the age of 18 who are just as likely to try something, but come on, why do all those kids need to be hanging around outside all night? I remember being 16 (mostly cuz it was only 6 years ago), and we didn't do that. We picked a friend's house to hang out at, and stayed there till midnight or later. Yes we were out late, but at least our parents knew where we were, we were within 30 feet of an adult, and we were in a safe environment. Now that we're older we pick a pool hall or something, but we're older, can take of ourselves, and we're not just hanging around staring at people. Oh well, you're tired of listening to this now, aren't you?

I've got a great quote for you: I'm a nobody, nobody is perfect, therefore, I am perfect!

Ha ha ha... yeah, OK. So anyway, just one work day left this week, and then freedom for two days! Going shooting this weekend (finally!). I'll get to test out my new gun and make sure it works. yeah, you think i'm kidding. (Phew) gotta try to go to bed earlier. I'm tired all the time, and that's just not fun. Only got three and a half hours left today. Later!

"Okay, pull the pin and count to what???"

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Moving Too Fast

Ever have one of those days when the whole world needs to just STOP? That's today. I'm wishing I had a remote control with a giant PAUSE button. I would be mashing down on that sucker so hard it wouldn't know which way to go. I mean, if the phone's not ringing, then someone's got something for me to do, and if not that, then I've got tons of paperwork on my desk that's overdue, and everythingneedstobedonerightnow! Can't do it! It's only 10:30 in the morning, and I'm exhausted! My wife is exhausted too, but she's pregnant, so that's ok. Love ya honey!

Y'know, just between you and me, I'm thinking I should go to an allergist. I can't barely breath out of my nose! I can look up my nose in a mirror, and I can see that it is really inflamed on both sides. I'm almost used to it; I mean, you grow up in Texas, chances are you're allergic to something. I am allergic to the city of Houston. No joke! We leave town, I can breathe.

I love cake. If the inventor of cake were still alive, he or she would always be welcome in my house. I made a cake two days ago (Well, Betty Crocker made the mix, and I added ingredients), and I'm fixing to eat what's left of it. It's soo good. ok, well, maybe it tastes a little better because I'm hungry.

Saw on the news today that some guy was given the first bionic hand with moveable fingers. That's pretty cool. It'd be pretty cool too if you could take over the hand by Wi-Fi like the iPhone. Guy's just walking along and all the sudden he starts slapping himself and passersby. He wouldn't know what to do with himself!

...Soooo........

Yeah, I don't have much to say today. Not much has happened. Oh well, I can go to lunch in 15 minutes, maybe something good will happen then. Later.

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Every day is a Monday

Ever have one of those days where everything is ticking you off?

That's today.

I have no idea why, and the fact that I'm upset for no reason is ticking me off even more!!!!! It's a vicious circle. Maybe if I was a woman this would be easier. I could blame it on PMS or something. My day started out hunky dory (I've never figured out how exactly that's spelled), and the next thing I know, I'm mad...at what? I have no idea.

such a nice day outside, blue skies, few clouds, maybe there's a bird chirping merrily somewhere...

wouldn't know though, cuz i'm stuck inside

i'm just full of cynicism today. Oh well, that's why you read my posts, right? Oh yeah, some of you are looking to see how Melissa's coming along with the pregnancy thing. Well, for all you curious people out there, only one thing has changed since yesterday: today, she is one day further along! Ha ha, so funny.

NO.

Anywho, how was your weekend? I mean, really, how was it? No one ever answers my questions on this thing, so I'm not sure why I assume you will, but I have a feeling about you. You're different - I can tell. You're not like those other blog readers who just read and move on to another website. You actually care about what's going on with me, and you can't wait till you get to the end of this post so you can tell me your thoughts. In fact you're considering jumping to the end, leaving a comment, and then coming back to finish of the post, but DON'T! Wait till the end.

My weekend was so long, I thought that Saturday night was Sunday night. I was starting to complain that I had to go to work in the morning, and my wife pointed out that we still had another day to go. I spent a long time up that our church on Friday night and Saturday morning/afternoon for a Men's Conference. It was really good. The worship was especially great. Saturday night, we all went to Hido (it's a Japanese place). It's like Benihana's, but it's actually worth the money. Very nice place. Yesterday was really nice too, because after church, we took a nap, and then just lounged around the apartment reading and watching tv. I even made a cake! Please don't be too impressed though, cuz I used the Betty Crocker stuff. I can't even make mud out of scratch. Oh well. At least I made it. Melissa made a loaf of bread with her bread maker (wedding gift). It makes really good bread, but they'll never win first prize in the most beautiful loaf of bread contest, that's for sure.

Anybody watch the news this weekend? I didn't. Anything good happen? Really? Well then maybe you can leave a comment and tell me about it! Thank you so much, you're too kind.

Found out something interesting about Larry the Cable Guy. His real name is Dan Whitney, and if you look for him on You Tube, you can find a couple videos from a loooooooong time ago. He's actually skinny, with a mullet, and accent-free! It's not nearly as funny as his recent stuff. We did catch a joke that he re-used, though. He met this girl with a beauty mark on her cheek, and then later as they were makin' out, it started moving. Turned out it was a tick! Ba dum, Chssssssch. (How do you type out that sound?)

Caught a tree frog in the office today. He was stickin' to the man. Get it? Instead of stickin' it to the man? Tree frogs, and they're sticky...with the tree..... Gee, tough crowd. He was very sticky.

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Saturday - still pregnant!

In case you haven't heard, my wife is pregnant! Yeah, very exciting! We've only known since wednesday, so don't ask me if it's a boy or girl, please. My sister asked me and I said we were gonna wait 'till Christmas to find out. So let that be a warning to you. We will find out when we find out, and if you ask me, i'll push the asking date back even further. So there. No, i really won't, but please don't ask me. I promise the day I find out, I will post it. If you're a family member, don't worry, I'll call you. Our first doctor's visit is two tuesdays from now, I have no idea what they're gonna say other than, "well, you're pregnant for sure!" "Gee thanks Doc." Whatever.

For those of you that are interested in me, I still have not been able to go the range with my new gun, but i'm accepting it...for now. The time will come soon enough. I'm hoping the time will come next saturday, but i'm trying not to get my hopes up.

Anybody want to give me an idea of how soon a woman can start acting pregnant? My wife is like five weeks along, and she's already asking me to get stuff for her. Not freakishly weird stuff like anchovie-flavored mac and cheese, but "Baby I can't get up and get a glass of water, can you get it for me?" LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR: I would still get her the glass of water even if she wasn't pregnant, but is she really far enough along to act semi-helpless. Baby, just so you know, I love you dearly and will do anything for you.

Man, only gotta wait till March. Maybe April, but it would have to be like the first couple days of April. Ha, that would be absolutely hilarious if we had a baby on April Fool's Day. It would be funny for like 5 minutes. Well, ok, maybe we could have a little fun with it. "Hey Bob, I had a kid today!" "Oh, really?? "Nah, April Fools!" "Ha ha!" "No, April Fools again! We did have a kid today!"

Yeah, so that stopped being funny before I finished typng it, but I figured I'd finish it anyway for the sake of the one person on the face of the earth who might think it funny. Better get going (dinner date). Later.

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Guess What...

We're pregnant! That's right, sometime in March next year, we will have a little money! Yay! We found out last night and I now have a countdown timer running for you to watch. I will also keep you updated with all the doctor's visits and everything, and when we find out the actual due date i will be sure to update the countdown timer. Don't have much more to say about it now, but i will of course keep you, my fan base, updated.

YEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAWWWW!!!!!!!!

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Stupid News

Can't believe this - well, nevermind, I can believe this, it's just really really sad.

Malaysian police were left red-faced after a man who abandoned the theft of a $280,000 Porsche for lack of fuel attempted the crime a second time and drove the sportscar out of a police station, local media said.
The suspect had first attempted the theft on Monday at a luxury car showroom in northern Penang state, local papers said. Dressed smartly in a suit and tie, he asked for the car keys and promptly sped off, smashing through the glass windows.
The car was later found abandoned a short distance away, its fuel tank empty.
The New Straits Times said the man kept the keys and returned with a canister of petrol to a local police station where the car had been towed. He drove off with the Porsche, ditching it later after he discovered roadblocks had been set up to stop him.

That's crazy - it's one thing to steal it in the first place, but then to do it again to the same car and out of a Police impound lot? Sheesh. If he wants a Porsche that bad, he should just buy one.

Anyone ready for Friday yet? I know I am. Problem is, it's only Thursday. All that wishing you just did for Friday to be here? Totally wasted. It's still Thursday. It's been another long week, just like all the other weeks before. Here's an encouraging thought (at least to me): remember that movie that came out about the anti-christ child on 06-06-06? Well, that was over a YEAR ago. It doesn't seem like that long ago to me. It's very encouraging, because that means the rest of this year is just going to fly by before we know it. Hmm, kind of scary though. Better get busy accomplishing stuff. But what to do? .......

I tell you what I'd like to do - go to the shooting range. I bought that Glock 23 I've been rambling on and on about forever. Still haven't been able to try it out yet. I think it's the longest I've ever taken to try out a new purchase. Technically, I have used a Glock 23 before, but it wasn't mine. It's different. Ladies, you can associate here, too. Is it the same trying on the sample shoes in the store as it is to try on the shoes that you bought? Of course not. Same thing here - I just want to try it out - make sure it works and everything, plus it's really fun. Enough gun talk for now (if Melissa or Lynne are reading this, they thought this entire paragraph was unneccessary. I know I probably spelled that last word wrong, but I can never remember what letter doesn't get doubled there. Oh well.

What's everyone doing for the weekend? I'm taking my wife shopping as sort of a belated birthday present. She loves getting new clothes (what woman doesn't?). Seriously, are there any women out there who don't enjoy new clothes? That's a scary thought - what are you supposed to let them buy if they're upset? I shudder to think it could be true. Moving on, we are also going out with the family to Hido's for dinner. If you haven't ever been to Hido's, you should go. In the words of my wife, "It's like Benihana's, but actually good food."

It's funny, when I say the family, I actually mean my family, her family and our best friends James and Lynne and their new son, Isaac. Yet I can still refer to the group as "the family." It sounds so Godfather. "I'm callin' the whole family in for this one."

I better get back to work. Later!

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It's Been A While

So yeah, it has been a while since the last post. I think I lost half my normal fan base on Wednesday, though. Lynne has to watch her baby now, so I don't think she's going to have as much time on her hands anymore. Not that watching her baby is a bad thing, in fact I think it's a terrific thing, but it is probably going to keep her away from here for a little while.

So, I read the news today, and sadly I couln't find a whole lot to rag on. That's ok though, it's not like I really have all that much time to be talking about anything other than work. Today was so super busy, the only thing I want to do is go home. And do I get to do that? Well, yeah for about 20 minutes, then it's off to a job interview (hopefully). I'm not gonna tell you where, cuz if you don't already know, then I don't want you to find out. Well my wife finally turned TWENTY-ONE on Sunday. Yay, she can go get herself drunk now. I'M JUST KIDDING. She doesn't get drunk, and even if she decided to pick up the habit, there's no way I'd let her do it alone. We didn't do much, but I think I'm taking her shopping this weekend, cuz she loves to do that. I'm going to a Men's Conference that's supposed to be really good. Oh well, time to go home. Later!

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Thursday has arrived, and so has Isaac!

It's finally happened! Isaac Singleton has been born! 3:45 pm, 8 pounds 2 ounces, and 20 inches long! Big ol' baby! My wife and I got there about 2 hours after he was born and I gotta say, he's a good lookin baby! His momma and daddy are so proud. LOTS of family visited yesterday, and I bet a lot more are gonna be visiting today.

Well, tomorrow's friday, and I'm soo glad. This week has been really long it feels like. I keep waking up and thinking, "gosh, it's only _____!" I mean, the days themselves have been going pretty fast, even though we've been working an extra hour each day, it just seems like the week itself is taking forever to close.

Saw a pretty crazy accident last night. A little car rear-ended an SUV, and the SUV flipped. But that wasn't the crazy part. It was still facing the right way on the road! I don't get how that works. It was facing the same direction I was, but it was completely upside down. Must have spun a little bit, too. Like I said, crazy.

Read about something very interesting on Yahoo! news today. There's this condition called Face Blindness. The technical term is Prosopagnosia. This one lady was talking about how it affects her, and she said it took her four years to memorize the faces of her kids. That's crazy/scary. Their son has the same problem and they had to call the cops one time to help them find him, cuz he couldn't remember what his parents looked like. I'm sure we can all agree that there are a few people out there we wouldn't mind forgetting, but I can't imagine not being able to remember anybody. I mean, faces are usually the only thing I remember about people. How insane. The video I watched said that all you need is just a reminder who the person is and then you're fine until you meet them next time, but what if you don't have anyone with you to help you remember? There's apparently a spot in the brain that serves as recognition software, and it's totally separate from actually remembering the person. You remember that they are real, and you know everything about them, you just don't remember what they look like, so you could meet someone, and then run into them 5 minutes later and not remember ever seeing them before. That's gotta be strange. If you click on "Face Blindness" up there, it will take you to the video, and the yellow word will take you to the main website analyzing the problem. Some pretty interesting stuff.

Well, have a wonderful Thursday, I'll post more tomorrow, and maybe I'll have some better pics of Isaac. Later!

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It's only Tuesday??

Well, I guess yesterday was so long, I thought it was two days worth. Can't believe it's only tuesday. Did you see that Vince Vaughn is gonna be in a Santa Claus-type movie? The amazing thing is that even with all that weight he's put on, he's not even gonna be Santa! Ha ha ha... moving on. Umm, oh! Read on the news this morning that it has recently come out that cats do not always land on their feet! That's just terrible. I'd hate to be the cats in that experiment. "OK we got the 35 foot drop coming up!" "MEEEOOOOOUUUCCCCHHHH!!!!" ......Oh come on, you could at least give me a smile at that one! Tough crowd today!

So what's up today? I'm working, and then going to a job interview probably. Trying to bring in some more dough! Yeah we'll see how that goes.

This song is one of the first ones that playe don my computer this morning, and I thought I'd share it with you. I've never heard the entire thing, but I included every verse just cuz. Enjoy!

COME THOU FOUNT

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

Sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,

Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;

Here I raise my Ebenezer;

Here by Thy great help I’ve come;

And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,

Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;

How His kindness yet pursues me

Mortal tongue can never tell,

Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me

I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;

Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,

Take my ransomed soul away;

Send thine angels now to carry

Me to realms of endless day.

It's a really beautiful song with a very true message. Have a great day!

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The Reaper And The Flowers

There is a Reaper, whose name is Death,
And, with his sickle keen,
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,
And the flowers that grow between.

"Shall I have naught that is fair?" Saith he;
"Having naught but the bearded grain?
Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me,
I will give them all back again,"

He gazed at the flowers with tearful eye,
He kissed their drooping leaves;
It was for the Lord of Paradise
He bound them in his sheaves.

"My Lord has need of these flowerets gay,"
The Reaper said, and smiled:
"Dear tokens of the earth are they,
Where he was once a child."

"They shall all bloom in fields of light,
Transplanted by my care,
And saints, upon their garments white,
These sacred blossoms wear."

And the mother gave, in tears and pain,
The flowers she most did love:
She knew she should find them all again
In the fields of light above.

O, not in cruelty, not in wrath,
The Reaper came that day;
'Twas an angel visited the green earth,
And took the flowers away.

I've loved this poem since I first read it about six months ago. It seems so peaceful even with such a sad sound. I think maybe because it illustrates well just how marvelous God is. We may see tradgedy in a situation, when in reality, God is bringing glory to himself. We may never understand why he removes something from our lives, but He always knows why because He is God, and His ways are far above our own.

I read something interesting today in my devotional. First, check out these verses from Psalms:

91:7 "A thousand my fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you."

91:10-12 "No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone."

91:15-16 "He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long live I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation."

Sounds pretty encouraging right? Yeah, but in my devotional, John Piper points out that just because we put our faith in God does not mean we are safe from all harm. Don't get me (or him) wrong, I'm not saying we have no protection at all, but some people take these verses to mean we will be forever protected from all harm because "If God is for us, who can be against us?" If we look around, we can see bad things happening to strong Christians all over the world. Has God forgotten them? Did they do something to tick Him off, and therefore He no longer feels obliged to protect them? Of course not! God has pledged to be our Protector forever, but sometimes He does allow trial to come our way! If nothing bad ever happened, think how weak we would be. We would be totally helpless and would feel like we could do without God. Through trials, we truly learn how to rely on God for strength. Consider this, if you go a month with nothing bad happening to you, you start to think "Hey, I'm doing fine on my own - I don't really need God's protection." How do you think you've been doing so well? God has been watching over you. So I think that sometimes when we get a little headstrong, He lets something come along that puts us back in perspective.

I think that we are strengthened by trials. "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." You've heard that saying, right? Of course you have. It's not in the Bible, but it's true. The only real way to make it through trials is to lean on God. He will be faithful to bring you through. So that can translated to say that the more trials you make it through, the stronger your relationship with God will be. That's encouraging, isn't it? I think it is.

Don't be discouraged when you go through a hard time. Don't think that God is punishing you just because things aren't going well. In church yesterday, the pastor said this:

"You are either A) coming out of a storm, B) in the middle of a storm, or C) going into a storm."

Bad things happen to good people - but that doesn't mean God isn't in control or that he doesn't love you. If you are going through a tough spot, ask God what He wants you to learn through it. And be encouraged, it won't last forever. "God makes ALL things work together for good; to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

God Loves You!

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Good morning people! I was gonna give this post a title, but the computer's not cooperating. How was your weekend? Mine was pretty good. Went to the gun show - that was pretty cool. Saw a few movies (at home), and saw Ratatouille in theatres. It was a very cute and funny movie right up till the end. The could have cut the last 20 minutes off the movie and not lost a thing. Anyone ever seen Rain Man? Good movie, but I don't think I'm ever gonna see it again.

Read on Yahoo today that you can "handle anger" by feeling without reacting. That's great. Someone spills a whole cup of coffee on you, and you simply look at them and say "I am so filled with rage toward you right now, but I'm not gonna do anything about it!" Now if that don't make you feel better, I don't know what will. Another suggestion was to "look within." OK, hmmmmmmmmmm... I'm looking within, and you know what I see? ANGER. Yes, this is working wonderfully. The very first point was my favorite. "Love and Anger are two sides of the same coin." Oh how cheesy!! They say that anger and intense emotion just show that you truly love someone. AAGH! Yeah, that makes everyone feel better!

Enough of that for now; I'm only 21 and I'm already showing the signs of being a bitter old man! This is terrific. I'm just gonna have to be more positive.

I LOVE EVERYBODY

...Yeah not helping. Still feeling cynical. Oh well, the phone's ringing. I'll have to post more later. Maybe I can be a little more positive.

...Yeah right.

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Friday!!!

I had a post planned for today, and then I couldn't get the pictures to work, and then I got the feeling that no one wanted to read it anyway. End result? You get this as a post. Enjoy.

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The Morning After

Anyone do fireworks last night? Were they just so amazing? Yeah ok whatever. We did some. Coulda done more, but just didn't feel like spending the money. Food was good though - went over to the in-laws. Always good food (partly cuz it's free). My wife and I spent literally half our day yesterday in bed. We didn't get out of bed 'till noon, and even then, we only got up long enough to cook breakfast, and then we went back to bed for another three hours. It was pretty nice. I'm thinking I probably could have gotten up and done stuff, but it wouldn't have been very fun alone, so I didn't. .......anyway........

So, anybody read the news this morning? Check this thing out - Zebrula. Half zebra, half horse. Supposedly, these things have been around since the 1800's but this one is special because it's coat is disctinctly split between zebra and horse hair. I think it looks weird. Just plain weird. Not cute, not necessarily ugly, but very weird. I think scientists should stop messing around with creatures and stop trying to play God. Humans weren't meant to be creators like that. Our stuff comes out weird and messed up - like this poor thing. Now, if someone wanted to mix a Great Dane with a Chihuahua, THAT I would pay money to see. A three foot-long body on three inch-long legs. Golf ball-sized head with pancake-sized ears. Good grief - this is also why I'm not a scientist person, cuz I would make some weird crap.

So coming to work today has made me ask yet again, why don't they just give us the rest of this week off? Who really wants to come back to work after having Wednesday off? Still two more days to go! It's like a second Monday, and nobody appreciates that.

Did you see that Rush Hour 3 is coming out in August? My wife and I are gonna go see it when it comes out for my birthday. That will be very very fun. Neither Jackie Chan or Chris Tucker are that funny by themselves, but with the right script, they can be hilarious together.

We are all waiting with baited breath for the arrival of Speck Singleton! (I know his real name, but I'm not allowed to say it). He was supposed to come out last friday, and he's being stubborn. Of course, who am I to speak; I was a week and a half late. I think the person most ready for him to come out is his mommy. She would love to be able to do normal things again like paint her toenails, and fit into most of her shirts again, and all those things us unpregnant people take for granted. Let's all hope that he comes out soon! We're all also hoping he doesn't come out on a special day. We missed out on July 4th, and I think the parents are hoping he's not born on 07-07-07. That would be kiiiiinda cool, but only for so long.

My wife's birthday is coming up soon too. She'll finally turn 21 on the 15th. I can finally take her clubbing!! Ha ha, just kidding, I've never set foot in a club, and I don't care if I ever do, unless it's as a Law Enforcement officer stopping a fight. Hee hee, high-power pepper spray. Sooooo much fun. Nah, seriously though, I'm getting her a . What? You actually thought I was gonna tell you? No no no no no. She reads this blog. Honey, I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna spoil the suprise. Besides, she always guesses what I'm getting her anyway. I'm sure this post has gone on for too long already, so I'll end it.

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Questions to Ask Yourself...

**What if the birthing process involved popping the woman’s stomach open like a pimple?
**What if we walked on our hands instead of our feet?
**What if the 70’s never happened?
**What if our clothes were adhesive like band-aids?
**What if our appendages (arms, legs, fingers, etc.) snapped on and off like a socket set?
**What if Superman was real?
**Where would he live?
**Would he still wear spandex?

I feel that these questions (and more to come later) should be considered at least once a day. Don't you?

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I would love to go here someday

Happy 3rd of July!! ...wait...

So I got online today, and the first thing I see is "12 Pregnancy Myths." They had nothing better to write about? OK, yes, I read them, and yes, it was entertaining, but still, that's all they had? That's minorly pathetic. As a result, that's the best thing I now have to talk about, cuz I like to make fun of the news.

When you think about it, myths are rather ridiculous. I mean, seriously, who thinks these things up?? "You can tell the gender of your baby by the position of sexual intercourse when the baby was conceived." (Read the Whole Article) Says who?! Some guy figured he'd get his name in the science books by making some huge discovery. "Hmm, now what's really gonna get me the attention I want?? OH! I can tell the sex of your baby!" Good grief.

Moving on, did anybody out there ever see Miami Vice? Was I supposed to watch some other movie or TV show first for that movie to make sense? You don't even get to know the characters, but it's like there's some background info you're already supposed to know. I like the movie because Colin Farrell drives a REALLY nice Ferrari, but other than that, the movie's not that great.

Anybody out there have to work tomorrow? Well, obviously some of you have to work, because the whole world will never take a day off. In fact, if that happened, we'd probably all die. Someone would stop cleaning the air, so it would fill with smog, the added polution would raise the temperature, which would then melt the polar ice caps, which would cause the whole ocean to rise like 100 feet, and we'd all drown, except for those hermits in the mountains, and they might as well die too, cuz they're never gonna mate with each other. There, now you have a logical explanation why the whole world can't take a day off at the same time. Scary ain't it? Oh well, I have the day off tomorrow, and I couldn't be happier. A day away from the office. Wonderful! Doing fireworks? I'm not if I can help it. It's a huge waste of money! You spend like a hundred dollars and get ten minutes of "oohs" and "aahs" and then you're left to clean up the mess. Or if you're like most of our neighbors, you leave the mess outside to eventually get picked up by everyone else. And they say people are naturally good. Hmph.

Why do they leave a holiday right in the middle of the week? Getting the middle of the week off stinks, because after enjoying the day, you still have to go back to work for two more days! They should either move the celebration to the end of the week, or just give you thursday and friday off. I know some companies that get the whole WEEK off! That would be great, but I work for STANLEY, and it's just not happening. At least they give us one day off.

I should probably get back to work since I'm staring at my screen trying to think of something else to write about. That right there is called writer's block, and I have run smack dab into it. Have a wonderful Tuesday, and I will talk to you tomorrow!

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It's Monday again, and iPhones are already BROKEN...

So tell me, did you? Did you go waste 500-600 dollars on the iPhone?? If you haven't are you going to?? Please tell me if you do. My sister's boyfriend, his brother, and their mom all went and bought them. I just don't understand spending that much money on a phone for three reasons.
1) It's the first edition! They ALWAYS have tons of problems. Look at any large technological marvel that's come out, and it always has bugs. The first IPOD Mini's were recalled for their batteries, there was some kind of cell phone that was like exploding on people, XBOX 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 both ate people's games and overheated. The first version is always the guinea pig model and should not be trusted, let alone purchased.
2) This is technically two reasons (a) In six months it will be outdated!! Someone else will have come up with a cooler, newer, more powerful TOY, and this one will be next to obsolete. It happens every time someone comes out with a new car, phone, laptop, or TV. There's always a better stronger one on the way. Just watch. Remember the RAZR cell phones? How many different models do they have now? I let my wife buy the PINK ones when they came out, and she practically hates it now. (b) It's not gonna be $600 forever! The price of my cell phone when it first came out was $450, and I got it for free over the internet. If you just wait like 6 months, I'm tellin you the price will drop dramatically.
3) I may need to say this a little slowly. IT'S A CELL PHONE!!! You know how much sensible stuff you can buy with SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS?? Forgive me for shouting, but good grief folks! That's just insane. Maybe it's just me - maybe just because my wife and I are both having to work to support ourselves, and tossing 600 bucks on a cell phone just because it's new and cool doesn't strike me as very responsible.

To me, the craziest part about that phone, is that if you check the news, you'll see people are already ripping it apart to see how it works. I mean they are literally tearing it to pieces; some people are being almost surgical about it, and one video on youtube.com shows guys beating one with a hammer. That's just not cool. Then you are really wasting your money. So crazy. Of course, they're all first edition, so they're probably gonna break in a month anyway.

OK, enough ranting for now. How was your weekend? Mine was AWESOME. We spent almost three hours at the gun range with NINE different guns. For those of you that care (and those of you that don't), I'll list them! We had.....a .22 target pistol, a Kel-tec .380, an XD 9mm, a Glock 17 (9mm), a Glock 22 (.40), a 1911 (.45), a .22 rifle, and TWO Bushmaster AR-15's (.223)!! OH, it was soooooo much fun. My hand still hurts from all that shooting. After that, I spent 8 hours on a ride-along with Jersey Village Police Dept. That, my friends, is the true definition of fun. We pulled some people over, gave tickets, searched a car, and arrested one lady. So so so so so much fun! Sunday was nice, church at 11:30, lunch at Fuddruckers afterwards, and then home to write a paper (bleh) and watch The Interpreter (great movie). Didn't get to sleep till 12:45, but hey, that's what weekends are for!

Well, better get back to work. Later!!

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