Okay, so I’ve put off blogging about it long enough. It won’t be long. It won’t be pretty, but I have to get it out there. I have to get it over with. I may spoil a few things for people too. I have no idea.
Deep Breathing… And…
The latest Indiana Jones movie completely stunk. I was soooo disappointed. How could George Lucas even think that this was the way to end this portion of the Indiana Jones saga? How could Steven Spielberg even consider filling his movie with so much C.G.? How on earth could they think that we would accept the whole alien thing? I was hoping that maybe they would open a bag up and out would pop E.T. That would have been really funny.
I was okay with the movie up until they went into South America. The first 30 minutes or so of the movie was a traditional Indie movie. Great chase scenes. We saw the old Indie way of talking and doing things. I thought that there were a few too many references to Marcus Brody, but he was always a fun character to have around.
I was even okay with the weird grave yard kids running around, but man once Marion (Karen Allen) stepped back into the picture I sat through the rest of the picture with a look on my face like I had just smelled something bad. I was hoping, dare I say, praying that the whole alien thing wouldn’t pan out like it appeared to be panning out. I felt like they were making it up from the moment they left the grave site thingy with the conquistadors to the wedding. They knew that they wanted some kind of foreshadow to happen with the hat landing at Shai’s feet, but they didn’t have the in between part. I told Jeff that they should have let us, the true and loyal Indie fans write the missing pieces. Aliens? Arg! And I never want to see another red army ant in my life.
So there you have it. I, who wanted for months to see this movie, felt totally ripped off. I saw a commercial for some kind of contest to win something having to do with Indie and I said, “George and Steven OWE me that prize.” Okay, I’m done. I’ve let it go. Well, not completely, because every time I think about it I still shake my head it disbelief. I’ll be doing that for a while.
It’s time to focus on other things like the fact that today was our last day of on site co-op classes. We have one more class tomorrow and YIPEE! we’re finished with running around for a while. We still have book work to finish up, and we have testing to do that is required by the state.
I’ll end this post with one of J’s poems that was one of his last assignments in his writing class. It was his first poetry writing in quite a while. Jeff and I were pleased as pie.
“Book” by Jman 6/9/08
I’m a book. I live in a case with my fellows. I like all colors and wear a hard cover. My job is to teach the generations. My family are discover books, And my friends are The Hardy Boys. I vacation in Palm Springs. My favorite holiday is TV Free Week, And I move in the minds of all.
So, yeah. I am still here. I’ve just not had the opportunity to really invest in the blog this past few weeks. There are times when it seems like I have the time to invest, and then there are times like the past few weeks where I barely have time to get my family clean unders. I just returned from a full day of school work and volunteer hours with our local home school “co-op.” The days have been long lately, with little time to recharge. They are good days, though. They have been important days of investing in family and church. We are heading into a few days of rest.
I’ve had some fun friend time the past few days. It hasn’t been large chunks of time, but short little stints that are huge refreshers. I had some time Cheryl time during ballet and some Kristy time during the book sale. I also had opportunities to chat with some friends that I hardly see any more like Susan D. and Michelle.
We heard our first pastoral candidate this past weekend. He is obviously a learned man. He is a wealth on knowledge and has a clear understanding of scripture. He seemed a little more laid back during the afternoon Q&A time. My vote is still out there. I’ve decided to not make any decision until I’ve exhausted all opportunities to hear what Pastor Ben has to say. I grew up with our church having a search committee meet for months and months before making any kind of decision , so this is a little different sitch for me.
Random Thoughts 1. The Mole is back on. I used to love this show. This was before Anderson Cooper went all 360* on us. 2. The curriculum fair was good this weekend, however it’s hard to find new stuff when everyone seems to be using the same curriculum and reading the same books. 3. How can I have such large dusty bunnies on a book shelf? 4. Will I really not have to leave the house next fall before noon? 5. Will I really have a life outside of the van? 6. I daily think about the amount of money I’ve spent on gas. 7. I think that I covered my gas in the amount of books I sold tonight at the co-op’s curriculum sale. 8. How long will it take to make back any money we spend on bikes? 9. Does anyone want to car pool to Winco? 10. I think my brain hit empty. 11. I think I have no creativity in me. 12. I think that it’s time to refresh, recharge, reinvigorate… 13. Ah, the beach 14. Jeffy and I are going there soon. 15. Yikes! It’s been almost 15 years since I got married. 16. Wow! A lot has happened in 15 years. 17. Zoinkers! I’m glad I’m 15 years older. 18. Yipee! I’m going to the beach very, very soon! 19. I’m so thankful that our kiddos like the sames kinds of things that we did when we were their age. 20. What a treat that the kiddos were in “School House Rocks” this past year. 21. I still like listening to our “School House Rocks” sound track. 22. The politicians talk about ways to help our country get back on track. 23. The politicians say we should get out of Iraq. 24. The politicians say we should stay in Iraq. 25. The politicians say we need a stimulus package to get the economy going. 26. Have the politicians thought about maybe encouraging us not to spend?
On Sunday our services were a little different than normal. We had no sermon, but we did share in communion. We had a lot of music, and times for personal reflection. We were encouraged by our elders to submit to the Lord in every area of our lives. We were encouraged to pray for our next pastor, and to trust that God would bring us the right shepherd to lead us. We were asked to “Let Go and Let God.”
I keep coming back to Psalm 37 as a prayer during this whole pastoral search process.
Psalm 37 Of David. 1 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
The bottom line is we still need to pray for discernment and direction, so that when we do get to meet candidates for the senior pastor position we will know whether or not to okay the candidate.
This morning as I’m looking to see if it is possible to see Journey in concert, I come across their web site. I hear the familiar tune “Don’t Stop Believin’”playing as you enter the site. Jeff asks me what I’m looking at. I reply that I am looking to see if we can score some tickets to see Journey in concert. This when I hear from the youngest, sitting on the couch, “Hey, isn’t Journey an oldies band? I heard them on 99.1.” (99.1 is the oldies station in town.) There was an collective groan from the oldest members of the family. “What? No,” I hear Jeff say. I’m staying in denial.
I’ve posted the official Ellen performance of Journey at the end. The lead singer was a “little pitchy dog,” but it was fun. Jeff says he’s a power singer living out his dream of having the band that he was doing covers of call him and ask him to be their lead singer. Cool, eh? Wonder how Steve Perry feels about that?
It’s a little long, but if you are a Journey fan you’ll enjoy it. Neil Schon doesn’t stink as a guitar player. I just think that if he is going to stay back in time that he needs his old hair style. At least he still has his “guitar face.” Then… Now…
Holy Schinikes! I’m sitting here being a little decedent and watching Ellen. I’m listening to Journey sing live. It sounds like the Journey I listened to everyday in high school, but the lead singer is a small Filipino man. It is uncanny how much he sounds like Steve Perry. Has anyone else heard him sing before? I know that I’m totally behind on this one, but I was blown away.
Okay, I looked him up and here is a little clip of what he sounds like.
I could actually hear Journey live some time and still be brought back to high school because he sounds so authentic. Wow. It’s the little things that make me happy.
This afternoon I had my first official gig as a senior portrait photographer. It was a lot of fun, and I hope to keep building up my portfolio. I’d been praying one afternoon last week about ways to generate some extra income for our family that wouldn’t require a lot of my time away from the family, and this opportunity popped up right after I prayed. No joke. What a blessing. I’d show you a couple of the pictures, but I haven’t asked the family permission to post them.
What other prayers has God answered lately? Those answers are not always “yes” or “no.” Sometimes the answer is “wait.” It seems like we’ve had a lot of those answers over the years. We’re still waiting on a few. Any prayers requests worth mentioning? I know a few of us would love to life them up to the Lord on your behalf.
We headed up to the cemetery on Sunday afternoon to decorate the graves. Miss Judi says that her mom always liked to go up before Memorial Day to leave flowers at the graves so that they would be decorated for people when they came to visit. This is a tradition for us. Em is particularly excited for it since she gets to leave flowers and hear stories.
We heard stories about Gramps and Grammy J. Papa Dave said he got to know Grammy J on the phone. Every time he called to ask Judi out on a date Gwen would answer and say that Judi wasn’t home, but that she was at work. Then there was a discussion about when Dave asked Gramps (Papa Bob)for Judi’s hand in marriage. He said to David that he thought that that was a fine idea as long as he (Gramps) would be supported in a manner unaccustom. I think that I would have liked Gramps very much!
Sammie was more interested in drinking the water out of the vases by the tombstones than he was just sitting. He stayed with “the dog whisperer”, I mean Jeff while we cleaned off and decorated the graves.
We also heard stories about Grampa Art and Grandma Vera. Papa Dave mentioned something about how when his dad purchased an old army jeep his mom ended up with a washer and dryer.
We also made our way over to Uncle Morton and Aunt Hazel’s graves. Uncle Morton’s first wife, Echo, was buried there too. We made sure to pick up a flag to place by Uncle Morton’s grave since he served as a private in the First World War. There’s a story about Morton and Hazel and their curb feelers that they had on the\ white wall tires of their car. The kids would hear the car coming down the street and would run and tell their parents they were coming. Grampa Art and Grandma Vera had just enough time to down a couple more drinks before the car would finally stop in front of their house. I think there was something about the curb feelers scraping back and forth on the cement until Uncle Morton parked the car just right. I’d like to take the kiddos up north to some of the grave sites on my side of the family too. I think it is very valuable to take the time to pass on history, and to remember those people who fought valiantly for our freedom; even if we don’t agree with war.
Yes, the day has arrived to celebrate two special days.
I am assuming that my niece Kirsten is celebrating here special day NOLA style with her NOLA family and my dear friend “Ima” are celebrating it surrounded by her family as well. They are special gals in my life. I pray that they have a fabulous day of celebration.
These are the first gifts that came to my mind that what I would give them if I could…
For Kirsten I would make the world as green as possible…
For “Ima” I would make every night a good night’s sleep!
So earlier today I said I was feeling a little ranty. Well my mood greatly changed after hanging out with J’s middle school group this evening. It was the DVD release party for National Treasure 2. Our family hadn’t seen it, so we were looking forward to the evening. We all had a fun time. They needed another leader to help out with a pre-movie treasure hunt so I volunteered. It was at this point I wished I had worn my walking shoes. I stepped up to lead a group of highly motivated 7th grade girls. I would have been a part of this group in 7th grade. I can be, how do you say, um… competitive.
I realized that I was actually trying to run full speed with a group of teenage girls, and that I probably needed to come up with a plan for when I passed out from lack of oxygen. I also wanted to win, and I was just supposed to be with them to make sure that they completed all the “tasks.” I had to watch myself and try not to take over. That wasn’t too difficult because all of my heavy breathing was interfering with my ability to form sentences.
The “tasks” were things like drinking down a cup of lemon juice (Sistah Kim would have loved that one!), eating the treat out of a dirty diaper (a tootsie roll), spell out a word using foam noodles, run around the church twice (it’s not a small area to cover in flip-flops and an out of shape body), blowing a bubble, downing a can of generic cola, eating an entire large candy bar, hitting a whoofle ball through the bike racks, and singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. We had to complete each one before we opened the next clue. Why don’t grown ups get to do these kinds of things?
I can say proudly that my team found the treasure! Em knew where it was hidden and she went through the hunt with us and completed all of the tasks and didn’t give us any help! She was a trooper. I told that I didn’t think that I could have kept silent. I was really proud of her. I collasped into my chair when we were finished. Yet another reason for me to get back into shape. I think that I will be a little sore in the morning. Eye-yi-yi!
The movie was fun and filled with adventure. I can see why people either loved it or hated it. I tend to be a big sap for movies like this.
Here are a couple of quotes that caught my attention.
“A man has only one life time. But history can remember you forever.” “The last time I checked we make our living off of crazy!”
I agreed with this last quote whole heartedly. I am a hopeless romantic even when it comes to the American Dream.
US President: Even if something like that really did exist, why do you think I would actually just give it to you? Ben Gates: Because it will probably lead us to the discovery of the greatest Native-American treasure of all time; a huge piece of culture lost. You can give that history back to its descendants. And because you’re the President of the United States, sir. Whether by innate character or the oath you took to defend the Constitution or the weight of history that falls upon you, I believe you to be an honorable man, sir. US President: Gates, people don’t believe that stuff anymore. Ben Gates: They want to believe it.
I’ve not been a wife and mother my whole life, but I have been a dreamer. In highschool I was convinced I could marry Harrison Ford eventhough he is 24 years my senior, a movie star, and at that time married. I did end up marrying the man of my dreams. He doesn’t pack a whip. I get lost in a good movie or in creating music and art. I like doing those things with my family. I like reading books on a variety of topics and learning new things from other people. I really enjoy talking to other people about God
