Two Thumbs Up!

The kids and I took #1 Daddy to the movies today for Father's Day - we saw Cars. Now I don't go to the movies often, for a variety of reasons. First of all, it is expensive. Second of all, the people are annoying. Today was no exception to either, but I must say that it was worth it. Cars is an excellent movie! Disney and Pixar have once again put together a great picture. It's not just for kids (altho there were PLENTY in the theater today!); I'd recommend it to anyone. This is one we will buy when it comes out on DVD. Once again, Disney, well done!

The next Disney feature we are looking forward to: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. It opens July 7.

Legends I Love

As I sit here at midnight, listening to music I downloaded off the Internet, I decided to make a list of legendary artists I truly love. In no particular order:

1. John Denver
2. Johnny Cash
3. Willie Nelson
4. Elvis Presley

These are the sounds of my childhood. Their songs bring me back......their songs bring me comfort........sometimes their songs bring me tears. I love them.

Summer ramblings

Well, everyone is back and things are settling down around here - we have even abandoned the Big Adventure, which was to sell our house and have a new one built in another neighborhood. But we love our house here - it's great! So why put ourselves thru the stress, ya know?

Summer has settled in and it is HOT. Almost too hot to go out during the day. I know people enjoy the pool and the beach and everything - I enjoy air conditioning, myself. But the kids love the pool, so we do go sometimes. They have some fun summer activities coming up, too, so no one's getting bored around here!

Daughter had a great time in NYC with Bubba and Aunt Katie - it was a trip full of "firsts" for her! Her first airplane ride, first time to NYC, first time to ride in a cab/subway/bus, first time to see and do a lot of things - first time to take a trip away from Mom and Dad! (I missed her terribly!) She's a more worldly girl now. Why, oh why, does she have to grow up??

We're already half-way thru June. We've even already had our first named storm of Hurricane Season (thanx for taking that one for us, Florida - glad you fared well). For the record: I will NOT be doing a repeat of last year's Rita evacuation (we like to call it the Runaway Scrape). I think I'd rather float on my roof than drive 19 hours to Dallas again, thankyouverymuch. I'm just sayin'. There has to be a better plan.

Enjoy your summer, everyone! So far so good for me!

Where did everybody go?!?

It seems I am one of the only people around here who isn't taking a vacation right now! Three families on my street, plus three more in the neighborhood that I know, are in Florida right now (FIVE are at Disney, and one is visiting family). My best friend is in St. Louis. In a few days my daughter will leave for New York with my parents to visit Bubba and Katie. I'm feeling a bit abandoned here! Last year at this time we were headed to beautiful Hilton Head Island, South Carolina for a week-long vacation with Bubba and Katie and our parents. It was great! This year we took our big trip at Spring Break, so we're spending the summer at home. But that's OK - another Big Adventure awaits! More details to come soon....

Summertime and the livin' is easy!

It is officially summer. Dance recital is over, school is out, and the cicadas are whirring in the trees. Daughter was a bit sad about the end of 6th grade today - she loves school - but she is looking forward to the break and to the many adventures she'll have this summer (including visiting Bubba in New York!). Little Son was not as sad about finishing 3rd grade - the first thing he said when he got home was, "Tomorrow I get to sleep late!" That's my boy!!

I must say I am looking forward to the rest that summer will bring. No schedules, no routine - I will enjoy not having to drive all over the place every day, back and forth to schools and to the dance studio - I hope to enjoy a weekend getaway in Corpus Christie to see a Hooks game - we'll spend some time at the neighborhood pool and maybe the beach - I plan to restore my soul - and when summer is over I will be refreshed and ready to take on our regular busy schedules again. But for now the "Lazy Days of Summer" sound pretty good to me!

Like no business I know...

This weekend was the recital for the dance studio where I teach part time. Every year we have it at The Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston. There is a Friday afternoon/evening/night rehearsal, then three performances - one Saturday afternoon, one Saturday night, and one Sunday afternoon. Dancing Daughter had three numbers in the Saturday afternoon performance, then went home with the rest of the family. Being a teacher, however, I had to be there for the whole rehearsal and all three shows (I also danced three dances in all three shows). Needless to say, tonight I am EXHAUSTED! The tendinitis in my ankles is killing me and I am SO looking forward to the summer break!

Some things I learned this weekend:

1. No matter how many times you tell the parents, remind the dancers, and tell them all again, some will show up late to rehearsal and miss their turn.

2. No matter how many times you tell the parents, remind the dancers, and tell them all again, someone will come to the recital without all of their costume. This absolutely crushes little girls.

3. Despite spending nearly 6 months learning these dances, not all the students have them memorized. I had to memorize 11 different dances and I did fine. Some of them still had to watch me in the wings prompting them as to what step came next.

4. Waiting your turn to dance on stage is very hard when you are a child. So is being quiet while you are waiting. Tap shoes are not quiet. This is especially true of a class of six little boys.

5. Two- and three-year-olds in pink tutus with flowers in their hair on stage are cute no matter what they do (which usually is NOT the dance).

6. It's good to see old friends that come back for the recital; I had a great time talking with ladies I haven't seen in YEARS.

7. All of the frustration thru the year is worth it when the girls dance well and we all get compliments and flowers and gifts.
There's no business like show business!

Happy Mother's Day

Today was Mother's Day - not everyone IS a mother, but everyone HAS a mother, whether they are still with us on this earth or not. I love my mother dearly and no words can describe how much I respect her and honor her. I can only hope that my own children feel the same way about me.

This morning I awoke to gifts from my children - on the island in the kitchen sat a box of chocolate candy from Little Son (Russell Stover assorted creams - my favorite!), a CD from Navy Son, and a beautiful plate from Daughter that she decoupaged herself. And on the floor, from Naughty Little Boy Dog, a turd.

Happy Mother's Day.

Out of the mouths of babes.....

So I was at a scrapbooking class earlier this week (Hen Party - that's a blog for another day) and the women were talking about funny things their kids say. While I could go on and on about the hilarious things my kids have said, this one woman's story totally cracked me up:

Kid: "Mom, do kids sex?"
Mom: "No! Kids do NOT sex!"
Kid: "How old do you have to be to sex?"
Mom: "You have to be married. And 40."

One Last Hurrah

I think Naughty Little Boy Dog knows he's having his "procedure" tomorrow - you know, the one that makes him less manly and more well-behaved? He has been quite a pill this evening - running around the house like a freak, stealing underwear and socks from the laundry, barking at Good Girl Dog for no reason, howling for fun (he has a famous "Woo WOOO!" that is quite funny). He has probably snuck off somewhere and hiked his leg on something, for all I know. I told him he has lost his right to be a Daddy Dog. But there is hope he can become Good Boy Dog after all.

Jesus - God or Man?

Yesterday was the third and final sermon in our church's series on The DaVinci Code. In a few days you can listen to it here. Our pastor explored the various questions of just who Jesus was by referencing the Gospel of Mark. Jesus was indeed a man - flesh and blood. He felt hunger and pain; He laughed and He cried; He bled. But throughout the Bible there is indisputable evidence that Jesus was, and is, indeed God the Son. His deity was not created by the church in the fourth century, as The DaVinci Code claims. I hope that anyone who reads the book or sees the movie, and has questions, will do some research - there are countless books and articles out there that clarify the fact and fiction of The DaVinci Code. And I pray that Christians will not be shaken in their faith, but will use this opportunity to speak with others about Christ. The Truth WILL set you free.

And enjoy the book and the movie - aside from all this controversy, it is a great story!

Praise the Lord!

My beautiful 12-year-old daughter was baptized today and it was a glorious celebration - both in Heaven and at the baptism! She had a lot of family and friends there to celebrate with her, and it made for a wonderful, blessed day. God is good.

You can read Nana's account of it at her blog: Bubba's Mom

Not just a mom

A recent study by Salary.com calculates that the average stay-at-home mom would earn $134,121 a year if she were paid for all her work. I used their personalized calculator, and I have a hypothetical annual paycheck of $185,019! Wow! As a stay-at-home mom, I would of course say that you can't put a price on motherhood, but gee, I sure would like to see some of that hypothetical money! Or at least have the satisfaction of knowing what I'm "worth" the next time someone says to me, "Oh, you're just a mom?"

We don't need no stinkin' spell check!

To the males in my life for whom spelling is a challenge (you know who you are, and you've passed it on to my offspring!), please be encouraged by the following:

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid, too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe tuo fo 100 anc. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

And by the way, I DO personally think spelling is important, so don't try to pull this crap with me.

What About Mary?

This was Part 2 of our church's series on The DaVinci Code. A very good sermon on Mary Magdalene; in a few days you can listen to it here. But again, the basis of the message is that Dan Brown took quite a bit of literary license in writing The DaVinci Code (altho he apparently believes many of the things he has included in the book). There is no proof that Mary Magdalene was married to Christ or that she bore his children - Brown's basis for this claim comes from the Gnostic Gospels, specifically from the Gospel of Philip (which, ironically, never mentions Christ and Mary being married or having children, and most of which completely contradicts the life and teachings of Jesus). There is not even proof that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute - Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century accidently made that remark and since then that label has stuck with poor Mary. Was that Mary in the painting The Last Supper, or John? The early sketches of DaVinci's painting actually name the people in the picture, and beside the person that many claim to be Mary Magdalene is the name "John". Maybe Dan Brown didn't know that......or maybe it just made for a really good story. A best selling story. Do you believe everything you read?

I gotta be me!

From Navy Son:

Where Did This Bible Come From?

That was the title of the sermon in my church today, the first of a 3-part series on The DaVinci Code. Hopefully within the next few days you can listen to the whole thing here. But for now, I'll hit the highlights because I was fascinated by what I didn't know!

The first page of The DaVinci Code states that "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate." Oh really. Well, the Bible is a document, and an excerpt from the DVC book states, "The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not magically fall from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book." It also states that "the Bible as we know it today was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great." Apparently he chose which gospels did or did not go into the Bible based on his political agenda. In reality, Constantine was a Christian, and documents from the Council of Nicaea in 325 never mention his picking and choosing the gospels. The Old Testament was put together somewhere between 400 and 100 B.C., and the content is EXACTLY the same as what we have now. For a gospel to be considered for the New Testament, it had to be written by an apostle or one directly mentored by an apostle, and the content had to be consistent with the life and teachings of Jesus. The general consensus of what was to be included in the New Testament was pretty much established by 300 A.D., so for SEVENTEEN CENTURIES we have had the same book. What about the Apocrypha, you ask? These gospels were written WELL after the New Testament gospels (like 120 years later), so there are no "first hand accounts" of anything. The church authorities did not include them in the New Testament because they were not written by an apostle or one directly mentored by an apostle, and most were not consistent with the life and teachings of Jesus. The Bible that we have is exactly how it should be - exactly the way God wants it to be. And exactly the way it has been for centuries and centuries. So, Dan Brown, perhaps not all your descriptions of documents are accurate. There are many other historical inconsistencies in the book - i.e. Romans did not invent crucifixion, the Persians did - and Constantine did not shift the Sabbath to Sunday from Saturday to coincide with the pagans' veneration day of the sun! There are far too many more to list. If you are curious about something you have read in The DaVinci Code, do some research on it and see for yourself what the real truth is. Jesus is the way, the TRUTH, and the life.

Friday or Monday?

My Friday felt more like a Monday today. It started off as soon as I woke up and heard it storming outside. Big thunder and lightning, hard rain. Wish I could sleep in, but I must get the kids off to school. Good Girl Dog is scared of storms, and she peed on the carpet this morning. OK, I can deal with that. She's scared. I get everyone ready to go and we are out the door. Now, I drive daughter to school every day because she goes to a magnet school for gifted & talented kids and there is no bus service there. And every morning the dogs ride with me to take her to school. They love it. Since I never get out of the van, I just pull some pants on under my nightgown and put a t-shirt over it - no shoes. No one's gonna see me, right? I decide since the weather is so bad this morning that I'll just drive son to school, too - no sense making him wait for the bus in that mess! So out we go to the van. I open the side door and put the dogs in. Son opens other side door to get in and Naughty Little Boy Dog jumps out and takes off down the driveway! It is POURING! Crap! So we jump in the van and go after him (he is FAST) and finally catch up with him down the street - he saw a neighbor getting into his car and ran up to him, so Nice Neighbor Man picked him up and held him out to me at arm's length (wet dog - yuk!). I then have to get out of the van, in the pouring rain, in my attractive outfit with my nightie hanging out, to get Naughty Dog. Throw Naughty Dog into the van. We're off. But wait - when we drive back by the house, the garage door is up. Push button. Push button again. It won't go down. I get out to see what's up with THAT - apparently when son lunged to try to stop Naughty Dog, he knocked a bucket in front of the door sensor. Fixed that. Door going down now. We're off again. Back out of the driveway, I'm dragging something under the van. Shit! I get out AGAIN in the pouring rain to find the trash can lid wedged in the front wheel well (I guess I ran over it - heh heh). I pulled it out, threw it in the yard, and we're off again. Got kids to school, came home, and went back to bed! I figured I deserved an extra couple of hours of sleep!

Later as I was checking my e-mail my long-time friend and neighbor sent me an IM that said, "Are you having a good morning?" My reply: "I'm having a shitty morning." And she says, "Yes, I saw. Nice outfit by the way." I wonder how many OTHER people saw me chasing Naughty Boy Dog around in the rain with my nightie hanging out?!?

I called the vet today and got a price on getting Naughty Boy Dog neutered.

The DaVinci Code

OK, I am a little behind the times, but I am currently reading The DaVinci Code. It has been on my "To Read" list for some time, but I was finally convinced to pick it up after church on Sunday; this coming Sunday our preacher is starting a sermon series on the book - a "search for the truth" as he calls it. With the release of the movie less than a month away, millions of Americans will come away from it with a distorted viewpoint about Jesus, presented in a way that sounds surprisingly plausible; the line between fact and fiction will blur. I had heard rumors of the controversies within the book, but now that I am reading it for myself I am seeing how this could shake the beliefs of many Christians. I know what I believe. This book has not changed that. But just how powerful will this piece of fiction be? What questions will people be asking? Was Mary Magdalene really Jesus' wife and the mother of His child? Did the church suppress the truth and fabricate Jesus' claim to divinity? Is the Bible, as we have it, really accurate and authentic? Did Jesus really come back from the dead? I think that God can and WILL use this moment and this book and movie for His glory! What an opportunity for believers to set straight the claims presented in the book and movie and discuss Christianity with others! If one person is brought to Christ thru this experience, then it is well worth it.

And by the way, I just don't see Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon. He is SO Harrison Ford!

Doggie Breath

Today my puppy (OK, he's a year old, but to me he's still a puppy) ate up daughter's tube of American Girl lip gloss - Chocolate Mint flavored. Now every time he comes into the room I smell it! Sure beats Dog Breath!

Naval Piercings and Such

Chatted with Navy Son today via Instant Messenger. Found out that he has gotten a tattoo on his back, AND had both his nipples pierced. I didn't believe him until he showed me on his WebCam. For some reason I just laughed. I don't believe that would have been my reaction when he still lived at home.