Category Archives: Confessions

Things about me you probably never wanted or don’t need to know.

Voted

I voted. I voted for the candidates that I figured best represented my view of the world. I did not vote a party line, I did not vote for Obama, and I did not vote for McCain. I feel better about my vote simply because I voted for a representative and not a party.

If anyone tells you, “A vote for * is a vote for #.”. Where values of * and # are political figureheads and don’t represent your views tell them that the last time you checked this was still America land of the free to vote for whomever you choose. If Obama represents your ideals, vote for him. If McCain represents your ideals, vote for him. If you are not represented by either of them then do yourself right and pick a “3rd party” candidate who had the guts to run in the face of the genuinely oppressive Dems and Reps. Show the two bigger parties that bullies are not appreciated. Clearly neither party has stopped the 10,000,000,000,000.00 debt.

Don’t just do something, sit there. Don’t let the masses move you. Sit and think. Figure out who is your representative. The Internet gives you access to a number of resources to help you learn about the representatives you have to choose from. Vote with your conscience and not with the flow.

The View From Here is Amazing

Today I installed Windows Vista Premium 64 bit edition on the family computer.  Good golly it took me long enough to get everything working and happy (including buying a new wireless card) that I could have made the switch to Linux (Ubuntu of course).  The good thing is that now we should be set to make the switch to cable from satellite and use the DVR features in Windows Media Center for good instead of evil.  The view in vista, once I got accustomed to things, was an improvement.  I don’t regret putting the upgrade off, but I’m glad that I have finally jumped the shark and moved to Vista.

Of course there are things that make upgrading frustrating, but for the most part, its a good change and I’m hoping that the 64 bit OS will maximize most of my experience.  Of course I also haven’t installed iTunes, which will be the most important switch since the family’s music is hiding in the backup folder… oh the zoo-manitee.

Consistency

Every time someone brings up a vacuum and mentions it not working I am 99.999% likely to make a ‘that sucks’ joke.  In which case its not funny, it is entirely predictable, but I can’t leave it alone.  It is like my daughters and the knock-knock jokes.  They tell the same joke over and over and yet its always funny.

Or why did the chicken cross the road?  Pretty much any answer will do, they just laugh and laugh.

Thankful Thursday: Three Nadias

Good grief!  Its been a long time since I was thankful on a Thursday.  So I’m going to be thankful today for three Nadias.  In alphabetical order 🙂

Our WorldVision child is named Nadia.  We get periodic stuff about her well being, but after hurricane Ike caused a lot of trauma, I’m glad to hear that she is well.  I’m thankful for the opportunity to sponsor a child and and that she’s growing up and maturing with health and food and a family.  We need to send her a letter to tell her that.  I’m a bad sponsor in that department, but I’m thankful for the opportunity nonetheless.

My second Nadia to be thankful for is my niece.  When I look at these pictures I just smile.  She’s getting bigger and bigger and soon she’ll be getting married talking to me instead of just smiling at me.  I’m thankful she’s growing and is generally a healthy well taken care of baby girl.

Lastly, but not leastly: our friends daughter Nadia just makes us smile (and sometimes cry – in a good way) when we get to see her in person and online at the YouTube.  I’m thankful for our friends and their amazing care for not only their daughter, but so many others directly and indirectly.

Thank you to all three Nadias.  You bless us.

Thankful Whatever Day

Today is Friday.  The day after Thursday, which is the official day of thankfulness around here, but since my posting is as consistent as a politician in a tough week of financial news, I’m just going to post a bit of thankfulness today.

One Set of In-Laws are in town and I’m thankful for them.  They really are swell folks and I’m enjoying the time with them.

My mom had her birthday Wednesday – she’s a great mom, and I’m thankful for her a lot.

Abby is growing up a lot the last couple weeks.  We put her into a charter school program and we really, really like it.  I’m thankful for her

My sister-in-law who is living with us constantly makes us smile.  She’s a blessing and we hope that we can get some more time with her before she finds a scad of friends and leaves us in the dust 😉

Time with friends.  We’ve also had some friends over in the chaos of the last few weeks and enjoyed their company.

Time with family.  My brother’s family came into town a few weekends ago and I’m finally getting to blog about it in tiny micro-bits: We love them and had a great time.  Pictures should be forthcoming some time this year.

Thankful Thursday: My Ex-Girlfriend

I was just telling my mother via IM that I was glad to have had the girlfriend I had before Jessica because she really made Jessica stand out.  That probably sounds like a slight, but later changes in her life lead me to believe that she grew a lot as a person, as did I.  The ex-girlfriend is often a marker for comparison, and I just didn’t have a lot of girlfriends so this one had the unfortunate position based on a weird High School boy and his whims as well as various other circumstances which will remain shrouded in mystery because she doesn’t need me to air things that I have no business airing. I’m genuinely grateful for the roughly three months we ‘went out’ because it gave me a greater context.  The XGF had to put up with my ‘no kissing’ rule which meant that on a few occasions when she wanted me to kiss her I had to refrain and she probably felt I was holding back.  Perceptive, and accurate.  My no kissing rule involved not kissing a girl unless I knew I was going to marry her.  That made things a bit restrictive as you can imagine.  But with out the XGF I would have missed out on Jessica’s brilliance in the particular context I did.

Jessica’s love for Christ, her genuine listening to me, and her commitment to her family and desire to respect her parents made her stand out like Yao Ming at an ewok convention.  Her honesty was compelling.  Her asking questions and wondering about biblical things meant she was trying to sort through things and make sense of what she was learning and it meant: she was learning.  Jessica was an amazing friend before she was a girlfriend and it was just brilliant to watch her grow in life, in the Lord, and in her desire to make something of her life.  Of course she also looked amazing, had a great brain (her intelligence has always kept me humble) and she liked good food – so it was a great match.  Jessica’s desire to serve her friends was also amazing.  She was still a teenager, but a teenager with a compassionate attitude of service and her willingness to serve blew my mind.

Without the XGF I’d have still probably been drawn to Jessica, but I was very glad to have the contrast that I did.  Jessica is really who I’m thankful for, but I’m also thankful for and still sometimes pray for the XGF simply because she’s a person whom I cared for and I hope she’s doing well.  I hope she’s found a great guy, and I hope that she’s living a great life.

Lat-eral Damage

My latissimi dorsi are hugely sore.  I have been playing Wii Boxing for the last three nights.  Parts of my body that don’t understand exercise are being exercised by a video game system that I didn’t even know could work me out.  Its the bomb.

Or in the words of Switchfoot, “This is the bomb that I’ve been waiting for.”  I’m very, very glad to be sore.  I need to exercise this sad frame and turn it into a fighting machine for my 31st birthday next month.

They Are Growing So Up

Tonight while going over an alphabet book with Evie we got to the Strawberries (and of course the letter S) and she said, “We have strawberries! They are growing so up!”  Her expression of their getting bigger and ripe is so fun.  She’s growing so up herself.  My two girls sure do bring me joy.