I'm Being Interviewed and The Dude is No Help at All!

So someone wants to interview me via e-mail; and as I'm looking over the questions they sent me, I tell the dude that for me, the toughest question on there is "What excites you most about your husband being a pastor?" I can name a few things that excite me; but to pick something that excites me most -- I'm going to have to think on that a while.

So I tell that to the dude, and he gets this silly grin on his face and starts listing potential answers for me:

• potluck leftovers

• using the church baptistry as a hot tub when no one else is around

• cranking up my cd's on the church sound system and having a pretend rock concert

• "I guess they're probably wanting something spiritual sounding there..."
  

:insert eyeroll here:

So anyway, then he says, "I'll know when I find the perfect church for me, because I'd be able to say all those things in front of a pulpit committee and have them all bust out in laughter."

Needless to say, I'm still thinking on my answer...

In Which a Dog Nearly Gets a Piece of Me

I've been pretty absent from the blogging world lately. I guess life's been a bit too boring! But today -- a little excitement. I went for an afternoon walk and was nearly bitten by a dog! The owners were in their yard as I walked by, and the wife immediately started fussing at her husband that he was supposed to be watching the dog and "what if that'd been a child walking home from school?" Neither of them seemed interested in me at all as I walked by their corner lot, which was a bit perplexing. Were the shoe on the other foot, I'd have run over to make sure the passerby was okay and to apologize, but whatever! I let her fuss at him and just kept walking.

The dog didn't seem to break any skin, but he got a good piece of my jeans in his mouth -- right behind my knee. Later on this week, I may try to catch them in case they didn't notice that the dog almost got a piece of me. The lady is a retired teacher from the local school district, so I don't expect any problems. Still -- weird! At least it wasn't a large dog...

It's Fun, It's Free, and It's For the Kids...

Check it out! From the creator of Veggie Tales -- a new Christian media network available free to all via the internet:

Find these videos and more at JellyTelly.Com



to add this video to your blog or website, just grab the following code (and if your blog is 3-column like mine, just change the width and height values to 400 and 246):

<object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/N1cEZ75TkDc&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/N1cEZ75TkDc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object>
<a href="http://www.jellytelly.com/" title="for Christian movies, videos, and games, visit the Jelly Telly media network">Find these videos and more at JellyTelly.Com</a>

A Prayer for President-Elect Obama and Crew

Papa, I know this was a historic election in so many ways, and I'm so grateful that we can still transfer power between leaders in a relatively peaceful fashion. I lift up president-elect Obama to you this evening. First, I pray for him spiritually. May he seek your face and walk with you intimately. Please surround him with wise advisors so that he may govern wisely.

Second, I pray for his safety, and ask that you would protect him and his family from anyone who would cause them harm. Likewise, I pray for the safety of our nation, that you would help him to discern any future catastrophe and prevent them from happening.

I pray for his continued health and for the health of his family, that you would enable him to govern in the position you've allowed him to be elected to without distraction. I pray for him and his family today as they grieve their loss. Please grant them the comfort only you can give.

Papa, as you know, we've come a long way in our country in that a black man who might have been unfairly killed 40 years ago, can be elected president. Please help the experience to be a good one, and embolden your people to stand against the sin of racism so that we may wipe it out from amongst our people.

As for Michelle, Malia, and Sasha; I pray that you will surround them with your grace as they enter an even more scrutinized lifestyle with heightened protections. Please keep them safe as well, and please help them to have a normal childhood, free from the incessant photographers who often stalked the Kennedy's.

As per usual election, there are a number of people who are ecstatic and a number who voted for someone else. Help us to come together as Christians and work together for the causes we hold dear -- whether it's reducing abortions, helping the poor, caring for your creation, working to live at peace with all people, reaching out to those in destructive lifestyles or the myriad of other issues you may have laid on our hearts ; I pray that you will help us to listen to your voice and obey your will. I also pray that you will help us to hold our leaders accountable to the values we hold dear.

And lastly Papa, I have noticed our nation becoming more and more polarized with each election. Please help our nation to heal, and please help Christians and families who have alienated each other over a vote to reconcile.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Plants That Are Inherently Evil

Here are my top three offenders. I generally avoid cacti and plants with thorns, but here are a few others I've found that are hazardous to me, despite an innocent appearance. Beware these evil plants:

1. Asparagus Fern -- It's a nice looking plant -- interesting foliage with little red berries in the fall. But... for those who dare to transplant it, they'll find evil lurking near the roots. Thorns, in fact. You probably won't notice them until after you've grabbed the plant and they're poking sharply into your hands.

2. Yucca -- It looks like a non-poking alternative to cactus; but beware. One session of pulling weeds near this plant is excruciating. That long green foliage is deceptively sharp on the ends. Each part of your hand that bumps into it will sport a red welt for several days.

3. Creeping phlox -- It's a nice-looking groundcover that blooms early in the spring (late winter in Texas). But beware -- that pretty textured foliage turns into sharp needles when dry. They will inevitably end up lodged in your fingers when you're working nearby.

So that's my list. Anyone else know of a deceptively evil plant? Please save my hands the pain of finding them out the hard way!

It's More Than Possible. It's IN-Possible!

And if you've never watched The Three Amigos, then that title just went right past ya. I've been reading a new book, which I'll refrain from naming, and came across the so-called word, "inpossible". Now, normally I look right over typos and such when I'm reading something another person has written; but when I'm reading a book published by a major company, there's just this expectation, ya know?

That wasn't the first mistake I found either. What's ironically comical (at least in my grammar nerd brain), is that the writer used a whole page to thank people for their help -- including a relentless proofreader, as well as an editor with whom she worked closely.

So let's say maybe that error wasn't there when they proofread, and it was somehow a problem with the mass market edition only. Maybe it was because this was a grocery store reprint of the book. I say this because at Wal-mart, I recently picked up another book by a well-known author, and was stunned at some of the errors in the first few chapters.

What do you think? Does producing cheaper books for discount stores necessitate cutting out on some of the proofreading? Or was my experience just a coincidence?

Interesting Week For Us

We had a fun week (sarcastic laughter). The dude had his gall bladder removed last Monday morning, and then Monday evening after visiting him in the hospital, our middle child decided to play superman off our bed and landed on his arm (yes, the one attached to the hand he writes with). So, back to the hospital we went.

Then Tuesday morning after only a few winks of sleep, I had to get up early and go over Algebra homework with the oldest son before getting ready for school. He'd completed it before we went to visit their dad, but he convinced me we'd run out of time for dinner and dad, and could go over it when we got back home. For some strange reason, we never got to it! Speaking of which, we found out Friday that the arm was for sure not broken.

Wednesday night, it dawned on me that I had better keep a watchful eye on Hurricane Ike, and stocked us up for that on Thursday morning, just in case. Friday evening, I hurried to mow the lawn to keep the mosquitoes down in case it was several weeks before we could mow again. The dude told me I was his hero. Thankfully, we were mostly missed, phew! Anyway, I spent a good bit of Saturday catching up on sleep.

Yesterday, I realized just how fortunate we are to have electricity. People 30 miles away from us do not have it, and aren't expecting it to be restored for 3 weeks. It's not that they had that much wind damage, but simply because they get their electricity from places like Beaumont that were much harder hit.

I also have realized we're pretty fortunate to have gasoline. Many people without electricity have gas-powered generators and are venturing out to other towns for their needs. Thankfully for them, we did get a cool front through Texas on Sunday. I know that'll help immensely this week, but it won't be long before it backs up as a warm front. I hope a lot of progress is made this week, as the Texas heat gets to be a bit intolerable without a/c, even this time of the year.

All in all, our daily stresses are nothing compared to those of others. I'm thankful this week for a husband who has mostly recovered, a son who can bathe and dress himself again, electricity, clean water, a home that is still standing, and so much more.

Our association of churches is getting a group together to relieve the volunteers who have been working so hard serving those displaced by Ike, and I hope that I can arrange childcare so I can be a part of it.

That's it for now!