Do you ever ponder the evil in this world?

So, the alarm goes off at 4:00 a.m. and you stumble out of bed, grab your McDonald's uniform and get dressed. With puffy eyes, you walk into work, grab your headset and begin a new day's work at the drive through window. It's not a glamorous job, but it pays the bills. You're thankful to have a job these days.

And then. Lucifer's Posse comes through the drive-through lane and up to your window.

Deep breath, everyone. It's just a hamburger.

Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — Police said a customer fired one or two shots into a Salt Lake City McDonald's after the driver of the car he was in was told the restaurant was not serving lunch yet.
Police said the female driver of a white Dodge Intrepid pulled up to the drive-thru and ordered from the lunch menu early Sunday but was told only breakfast was available.
Police said two men then got out of the car and one pulled a sawed-off shotgun from the trunk, shooting into the drive-thru window once or twice, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Monday. No one was injured.
The car then left the scene.

Youth Volleyball

Princess signed up for a youth volleyball team. It's a 6 week league played outdoors on grass courts. Here is Princess with her team on the first day of practice/play. She has two really good friends on her team.

After instruction for an hour, they play matches. It was a beautiful day and seems so idyllic.

What is wrong with this picture?

While watching horse riding lessons on Friday, I sat in my car with my notebook (computer) in my lap. It was a beautiful day and, smiling, I watched as a horde of 5 year old girls descended on the ranch for a birthday party. One mother/grandmother drove up next to me and unloaded her children. After making a few trips from the car to the picnic tables by the riding arena, she decided she was finally finished making trips back and forth.

At which point she held up her key fob and "beep-beep", locks her car. The one in the picture.

Alrighty then.

Purse Dump

Just ignore my red nose. If you've been around, you'll remember that I laugh and then cry when I really hurt myself.

I hit my head -hard- and needed to find some Advil. We were out of Advil in the medicine cabinet, so I told King to look in my purse. He's the king, afterall, and quite courageous. However, the line of courage was drawn at the contents of my purse. What is in that black hole of a purse?



Well, let's see:

1 wallet
1 bible
1 hand sanitizer bottle (warm sugar vanilla, of course)
3 packages of Eclipse gum (cinnamon inferno - cause I like it hot, baby)
1 bookmark
2 mints from Abuelo's
1 snack bar
1 chapstick
6 pens
1 pencil
1 set of keys
1 ipod holder, sans the ipod
1 Blackberry
1 upopened hand warmer, from a pkg of two
6 earplugs, running loose
2 earplugs, in their case
Can you tell I have migraines?
1 driving glove
3 coupons
9 receipts
5 unused napkins
3 used napkins
1 sad looking, partially used tissue
1 cookie cutter, ice skating boot-shaped
2 safety pins
1 loose penny
1 bottle of Advil
1 bottle of Phazyme
1 bottle of Excedrine
1 bottle of herbal pills
1 bottle of potassium cloride
7 packages of Lactaid
and 47 chip crumbs.

So besides being a migraine having, bible toting, drug carrying, Blackberry using, hand warmer needing, receipt storing lady ... I have a lot of stuff in my purse. No wonder the King did not venture inside.

Wild Turkeys

On our spring break trip, we had the opportunity to see Thanksgiving lunch a little early. In the field by the road were a covey of wild turkeys. The two Toms looked just like a kindergarten craft project. They were so cute.

You know you are a Texas when...

the waiter has not brought your drinks and you need to take Excedrine for your migraine, so you swallow your pills with a huge dollop of salsa.

One Trip Queen

I wish I were making this up. Wishing that this was Photoshopped. It's not. This is a family joke now ... this behavior. This is from 3 years ago, but sadly, my behavior has not changed much. If I make a trip to do something, I try to carry as much as possible. It cuts down on how many trips I have to make, afterall. Can you see the cylinder of tea falling beside my right hip? Yes, this is common. I try to carry so much that I drop and drop and drop as I walk.

Groceries? 3-5 bags per trip from the car to the house.

Laundry? 5o pound laundry basket hauled in one big heap to the laundry room instead of 4 trips of roughly 10 pounds each. oh, I kid. Sort of.

And, for the record? Can we ignore the junk in my hallway? If only I walked through the house tidying up like I carry groceries! Maybe my hallway would look different. Maybe.

A Most Beautiful Sight

Only 6 more months 'til football season!

Interview with the Princess

1. What is something your mommy always says to you? I love you

2. What makes your mommy happy? Chocolate

3. What makes your mommy sad? Country music

4. How does your mommy make you laugh? tickle me

5. What was your mommy as a child? I don't know

6. How old is your mom? (correct answer given) :)

7. How tall is your mommy? 5'4"

8. What is her favorite thing to do? snuggle Daddy and I

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around? work

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? the church plant (Mars Hill Church Underground Austin...coming soon)

11. What is your mommy really good at? hugging

12. What is your mommy not very good at? singing country music

13. What does your mommy do for her job? PDF Complete computer work stuff

14. What's your mommy favorite food? chocolate

15. What makes you proud of your mommy? I don't know

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? Reepicheep

17. What do you and your mommy do together? sew

18. How are you and your mommy the same? we both like horses

19. How are you and your mommy different? she's older than me

20. How do you know your mommy loves you? she gives me all sorts of kinds of gifts

21. Where is your mommy's favorite place to go? home

22. Her worst place? Hollisters

Birthday Gift Receiving Tip

Ann is preparing for her son's birthday party and it reminded me of the way I have helped Princess receive gifts at her birthday parties over the years.

I love birthday parties. One thing I do for Princess is have each of her guests individually sit beside her when she opens the present. Each person gets a turn being close when their present is opened. That way two things are served: 1) the guest gets to literally give the present to the birthday girl and 2) I have a photo documentation of what said guest gave the birthday girl. Handy for writing thank you notes. It has also turned out to be a sweet way to encourage focusing on being thankful to that person for giving the gift.

For more fun tips, hit the WFMW on Wednesdays at We Are THAT Family.

Making the Smile Turn Down

Mary says it much better than I can. Hop over to Owlhaven for a terrific idea regarding teaching kids the effects of poor choices/bad behavior.

Misplaced Zeal

Dear Mr. Retina,

It is with great appreciation that I write today. Because of your enduring and faithful work, we can see. It is perhaps your faithfulness that I must address today. You see, your zeal is overdone. You are overzealous, my friend. Your need for being noticed in a photograph is, quite frankly, annoying. Must you scream out at us when we flash our camera? Do you really need to be so noticed?

Please, on behalf of amateur photographers everywhere, I beseech you to lay low. Please do not give our friends and loved ones the red eye. Our precious pets appear as though some green monster has taken residence behind their cute little eyes.

Enough is enough. You have ruined pictures for years. I implore you to cease and desist from these overt attention-grabbing actions. From now on, please do your job of reflecting light in a demure and unobtrusive way.

With much gratitude and hope for better photographs in the future,

The Queen

Swimming, In March?

Yes, ma'am. On March 9, 2009, my girlie jumped in the pool with one of her girlfriends. They said it was a little cold, but not too bad. Makes me shudder. I will not be in the pool until June. I must have upper 90 degree days, many of them in a row, and have a chaise lounge nearby to sun on. Princess, on the other hand, just wants to be a fish.

Go get 'em, Princess. I'll kiss your little blue lips when you crawl out of the pool.

Cottontail Bunny in our yard

You know it's Spring when you see a bunny in the yard!

Little Bunny, where did you go?

Girlfriends

Princess had a friend spend the night Sunday night. They played outside on the swing, explored the creek, heard an animal in the bushes, freaked out, ate dinner al fresco, played Wii and crashed. A great day, indeed.

A Real Steal

Do people not think before naming their business? How many people are going to trust a real estate agent who works for Jesse James Real Estate?

I got your back, Babe

I may be small, King, but I'm pulling the load for you. See you soon!

Snack Attack

From Yahoo news:

BOSTON – What is 7 feet long, weighs 30 pounds, has eight arms and fits in a box slightly larger than a milk crate? Truman the octopus. Truman squeezed into a clear, acrylic box while trying to snag his lunch at the New England Aquarium in Boston.
Aquarium workers often place food inside locked boxes for the intelligent animals to crack open. It's what the aquarium calls an "enrichment activity," but it didn't go as planned Thursday.
In this case, crabs were locked in a smaller box inside the bigger box, which is 14 inches per side. The impatient Truman bypassed the locks and squeezed his body through a 2-inch hole in the exterior box.
He spent about 30 minutes inside before slithering out, delighting staff and guests who witnessed the spectacle.
He never did get the smaller box open.

Popularity Contest

A recent Harris poll rated the most popular heros. How romantic. Let's see the basics according Mr. Harris Poll:

What Makes a Hero?

The public gives multiple reasons to explain their choice of heroes. Those mentioned most often include:
• “Doing what’s right regardless of personal consequences” (89%);
• “Not giving up until the goal is accomplished” (83%)
• “Doing more than what other people expect of them” (82%)
• “Overcoming adversity” (81%), and
• “Staying level-headed in a crisis” (81%)

With that in mind, let's look at who was nominated. Again from the Harris poll:

These heroes were named spontaneously. Those surveyed were not shown or read a list of people to choose from. The Harris Poll was conducted online among a sample of 2,634 U.S. adults (aged 18 and over) by Harris Interactive® between January 12 and 19,2009.

The list below is in order of popularity. The first number after the name is their rating in 2001 and the second number after the name is their rating in 2009. For example, Obama was not on the list in 2001, but ranked #1 in 2009. Jesus ranked #1 in 2001, but got bumped to #2 by Obama in 2009. (More on that later...)

Base: All Adults Rank July 2001 January 2009
Barack Obama *, 1
Jesus Christ 1, 2
Martin Luther King 2, 3
Ronald Reagan 6, 4
George W. Bush 19, 5
Abraham Lincoln 7, 6
John McCain *, 7
John F. Kennedy 4, 8
Chesley Sullenberger *, 9
Mother Teresa 5, 10
God *, 11
Hillary Clinton 29, 12
Billy Graham *, =13
Franklin Delano Roosevelt 15, =13
Mahatma Gandhi *, 15
Colin Powell 3, =16
George Washington 13, =16
Bill Clinton 10, =16
Condoleeza Rice *, 19
Oprah Winfrey 14, 20
Sarah Palin *, 21
General George S. Patton *, =22
Bill Gates *, =22

*Less than 1% in 2001.
“=” prior to a number indicates a tie

So, it's all very interesting. And telling.

So, first, let me get this straight. Jesus and God are listed separately? Um, hello? Let's not vote for them if we don't even know who the person is, shall we?

Now that's settled, can we address the issue that God didn't even make it on the list in 2001? Wha-? I mean, was no one polled in 2001? I think it's so interesting that Jesus and God are seen as different people. I know most people don't believe Jesus is God, but still. It surprises me that God didn't make the list and Jesus did. At number one.

Now, can we talk about the qualifications for being a hero? As seen above, let's compare our #1 and #2 on just the first qualification:

• “Doing what’s right regardless of personal consequences” (89%); #1= Buzzer sound. Sorry, even the Dow Jones gives him a skunk score on this. #2 = "Ding" I'd say dying and rising for mankind qualifies Jesus as having done the right thing regardless of personal consequences.

Also, isn't it heart-warming to know that someone who wasn't even listed in 2001 has bumped Jesus to #2? Isn't it a further delight to know that this person is leading our nation? Moreover, how about the fact that Obama never disputed that he should be more popular than Jesus. Atleast, not that I can find.

Bless his honey heart. I don't want to be standing nearby when Harris poll #1 stands before Harris poll #2. It's not going to be pretty.

I'm not totally neurotic

I am not obsessed with skunks. I'm not. I promise.

It's just that it's spring time. I'm outside more. The skunks are out more. We're sure to interact at some point.

Tonight, turning off the road and into our driveway, we thought we saw a skunk. It reminded me of the pictures my neighbor took last summer. One Sunday morning, this is what they saw in their front yard.

Have you ever heard to rinse your yogurt cups so that creatures won't be attracted to the yogurt cup and get their heads stuck? I had heard that, but come on. Really.

Oh, yeah. Really. He really did get his head stuck. He really did run laps around their front lawn ... ready to spray anything that came close to him.

Anything did come close.



They came too close, as you can tell from the black dog in the background. The corgi is about to get a full-face shot in this picture.

Just so you know? There really are skunks out there.

They really do like yogurt.

You really should rinse the cup out.

Disclaimer: No animals were hurt in the filming of this blog posting.

Energy!

I increased my calcium three days ago and can I just say .... I feel GREAT! Calcium levels are critical to my Periodic Paralysis and there's no way to tell if they are high enough except by how often I have paralysis. Yesterday, I had so. much. energy. And no episodes.

This is the first morning in WEEKS that I have been able to get out of bed without being paralyzed. Normally, King brings me potassium and after it takes effect, I can get up and walk.

I'm just a little excited to be back to my energetic, playful self.

Fire Ant Hill

I've decided what King's life is like right now.

Picture a man bound with ropes, tied to a stake and "planted" in a fire ant bed. A large ant bed.

It's not one deadline. Or one discouraging phone call. Or one grumpy employee.

No. It's thousands of little things that sting and irritate to the point that he's swollen with ant bites.

Poor guy. You'd never know it. He doesn't let on that he's being stung to death. I see it though.

We're blessed that we get to work together, at home, 24/7. I know him so well. And it makes me sad that he's in an ant bed.

The good news is that I'm helping cut the ropes and soon time and effort will allow him to be out of the ant bed.

Annual deadlines are like this. This all too shall pass.

Character of God

I have had a migraine all day today. The kind of migraine that cannot tolerate light, sounds, hunger or smells. My neck hurts, my head hurts and I'm nauseated.

I have 4 different physical "ailments" afflicting me at the present. Thus, my lack of words.

So, on this painful day I will post what I know to be true... the character of God. Characteristics from Psalm 145, 146, 147.

Understanding 147:5
Protects 146:9
Just 146:7
Satisfy/Fulfills desires 145:16, 19
Near 145:18
Food Giver 145:15, 146:7, 147:9
Gracious 145:8, 13, 17
Compassionate 145:8-9
Slow to Anger 145:8
Abounding Love 145:8
Faithful 145:13, 146:6
Righteous 145:7, 17
Hears 145:19
Saves 145:19
Guards 145:20
Greatness 145:3, 147:5
Goodness 145:7,9
Acts/Works 145:4-6, 12
Mighty 145:11
Helps 145:14, 147:6
Raises 145:14, 146:8