Thanksgiving '08

Well, another Thanksgiving at our house has come and gone.

Once more, I cooked a turkey, and since I'm a bit of a salmonella-phobe, it kind of freaked me out. My cousin had told me that the secret is to soak it in a brine. So I bought a Styrofoam disposable cooler to put it in overnight. Those things are ridiculous at keeping stuff in. By morning I had salmonella infected brine all over my kitchen floor. Nothing a good mopping with bleach won't cure. And as long as you don't go licking under my dishwasher, I think you will stay salmonella-free at my house!

So after a few days of much needed cleaning, my family and Tim's joined us for a pot-luck style feast of thankfulness. We had close to 30 in all. Thank you, Jesus, for good weather so the relatives could sit outside! Food was fantastic and I believe a good time was had by all as many of them stayed for awhile. I always believe it's a sign of good party when the guests are reluctant to leave!

We capped off the night with one of my many favorite Christmas movies - A Christmas Story. It was the perfect way to usher in this next season.

Josh always has a great time playing the Wii.

Of course Micah was a hit with baby-lovers everywhere.

Fortunately the lack of rain meant the kids could play outside.

Here was a funny point in the day. My niece, Lauren, who is engaged to the man sitting beside her, Chris, got her chance to finally hold the baby. Notice the look?!?

But now you gotta catch his look back! We're all pushing for a baby within 9 months of the wedding, but I'm not sure he's on board!

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Disneyland with the Platts

We headed off to Disneyland with some of our favorite Disney-goin' friends - the Platts. Lots of fun hanging with them all. I love how well the kids get along and how they love the same things. Decorating cookies and spinning in a teacup proved the big hits today!

All pictures taken with my phone... sorry for the quality.

Saw the "New and Improved" Small World.

One final pic in front of the first ever fake Christmas tree at Disneyland. Supposed to be more environmentally friendly, but I have to wonder about the impact on our planet of making and disposing of all that plastic. That's another post!

Wow! They're practically giving it away!

Remember back in July when I thought this was cheap?

This is this morning! HOLY COW! When you spend $600 a month on gas, these kind of things get you excited.

I think it's because Obama was elected. Woo-Hoo! Now that I don't have to worry about putting gas in my car, I guess I don't have to worry about paying my mortgage either!!!

I got the bug again

I scrapbook very sporadically, but the other day, I got the bug. I don't know why it sits dormant and then resurrects. But here are the results of my labor (and I am well aware that I am a year behind):

Another thing I'd love to see before I die

The text says:

Brussels in bloom

The Carpet of Flowers in the Grand-Place, Brussels. Close to a million

begoinia flowers were used to create the 300 square meter carpet

this week. The pattern is based on a medieval carpet design.

Unbelievable!

If I have 130 friends, why am I alone on a Saturday night?

This is a post that has been percolating in my brain for days.

I don't want to say I hate facebook. It definitely has its uses. It was instrumental in our WCHS Reunion. I love chatting with old friends and seeing their spouses and children. I know many people who have reconnected using the ease of facebook. I am not a Luddite. I enjoy technology and appreciate the ease it has introduced into our lives.

On the other hand, most everyone I know who goes on facebook regularly has been hurt, irritated, misunderstood, surprised, disappointed or just saddened by something someone has posted.

I know I have.

I went on facebook just now to see how many friends I have and to get the logo for this post and noticed several disappointing updates and comments. I am saddened by people's philosophies and choices and ways of expression. Every time I go on I find out things I wish I didn't know.

I think there is a kind of anonymity to facebook that people take advantage of. We all know who made the comment or joined what group, but they didn't tell us specifically, they just blasted it out into cyberspace. Who knows if anyone is even going to see it. Right? This pseudo-anonymity leads to saying things you might not have otherwise said. Would you really tell someone to their face that they are not invited to the party you are throwing or will you just put the pictures on facebook and if someone gets their feelings hurt, oh well. My favorite are the oblique comments that seem innocuous, but you know certain individuals will "get it."

I know those who are really social love facebook. It definitely fills the need to stay connected keep up to date with others. But I recently saw a study which concludes that facebook does not lead to intimate friendships. In general, you have the same number of true, close friends before and after entering the world of facebook. It seems that genuine friendships require time, energy, and actual contact.

I worry about what facebook is doing to actual friendships. I know I have felt slighted on more than one occasion when an actual friend takes time away from our time together to update their cybernetwork with what is currently transpiring in their life (Jenny, I am NOT talking about you!) I have been told by actual friends that if I want to know what's going on, I should check their facebook. I have all but lost contact with actual friends and the only way I know what's up in their life is to check facebook. I think they believe we are still in relationship because I should know what's going on. Of course knowing what approximately 6 billion other people know makes me the furthest thing from a genuine friend as you can get. It makes me a stalker.

See, I'm not a "million best friends" kind of person. Some people are and that is fine. I'm a "few, close friends that I devote time and energy to" kind of person. I don't think my kind fits with this new paradigm. I miss the actual conversations, the face to face encounters, the sitting with coffee while hashing something out.

I miss not knowing everything. I don't like knowing whose party I wasn't invited to or who someone voted for. I don't like knowing someone I'm friends with is joking around with someone who has hurt me. You can have parties without me, vote for whoever you want, or maintain whatever relationships you want. I just don't want to know about it.

I miss having acquaintances of whom I know only what they choose to reveal to me, personally. I'm tired of being disappointed by people I barely know when I find out too much.

I know you cannot uncork the bottle. The genie has been let out of this one. I know I'm spitting in the wind when I deeply desire to know people because they genuinely want to be in relationship with me.

Of course, here I am, venting out my feelings into cyperspace where no one will probably see it right? Where I can let myself be known, but not have to do the messy work of getting to know you. Here's a thought. Send me your blog link, I'll read it, and we can consider ourselves the best of friends!

Mouse Adventure

Once again, Disney nerds that we are, we competed in the semi-annual Mouse Adventure game put on by MousePlanet. Tim and I joined Darrenn and Jenny, while Chandler and Regan joined with Dylan, the Bambricks and my dad.

Many times in the last 9 games, we have placed in the top 3. This time, we did not. I was not that disappointed. Sometimes in the past, we have not placed because we didn't finish or guessed on too many. This time, we had real answers for every quest, we just got some of them wrong. There was only one time when I was ready to quit and go on Toy Story Mania.

This adventure included the usual types of quests:

~Identify buildings from close-up pictures

~Logic puzzle to determing the order of "stolen cars" using license plates near the Fly 'N' Buy

~Word Search

~Find one of a set of three (i.e. Tiny Tonnage, Swalli Baba, _______ Lady Beard)

~Code Breaking

~Trivia (GO Jenny!!)

~Spot what's NOT in the mural

~Another Logic puzzle to determine the correct pile of luggage in the Tower of Terror Fast Pass area.

~Another secret code using certain letters in certain signs

In addition, the answers to these nine quests provided clues to determine the Who, What, and Where of the overarching mystery to be solved. They are so creative in their set up and style of the quests. So when I say Word Search, forget the one in the newpaper. This involved finding the phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, etc...) in a word search, and reading the letters not chosen in such a way as to reveal the clue. They also have a Big Story in each Mouse Adventure that ties all the quests together. They really are very imaginative and brilliant to come up with all they do.

Overall, it was tiring, mentally challenging, frustrating at times, and yet, I can't wait to do it again!

Christi, good enough for your wee one? :-)

Best Buns Contest - Nobody told me!

Here is the story:

Brazil's Melanie Nunes Fronckowiak (R) and France's Saiba Bombote (L) pose after they won the female and male final of the "most beautiful bottom in the world" competition in Paris November 12, 2008. Some 45 finalists from 26 different countries took part in the competition to win a modelling contract and 15,000 euros prize money.REUTERS/Vincent Kessler (FRANCE)

I feel slighted that I wasn't told about this.

Regan is mortally embarrassed by this post...

Welcome Micah James

On Wednesday, my sister had her long-awaited baby, Micah James. He entered our world at 2:47 PM , weighing 7 lbs 8 oz and measuring 20”.

Josh and Malia welcomed their little brother, although Malia may have a hard time sharing mom!

Congratulations Lori and Alvin!

Who Really Cares?

In the days since the election, I was reminded of this book, Who Really Cares by Arthur C. Brookes. In it, he seeks to find out why some in America are very generous with their time and resources while others are not. This is a subject that should be very near and dear to every Christian's heart as we seek to help those in need.

Many of my fellow Christians, like Don Miller or the Sojourners, voted for Barack Obama because it appears to them that he carries forward Christ's mission of helping the poor and downtrodden. (Never mind the areas he comes in direct contradiction to Scripture such as allowing a baby who has survived an abortion to die on a cold steel table) Now if you care about the poor and downtrodden as we Christians should, I'm sure you have favorite charities that you believe are doing the Lord's work, so to speak. I know many care about the homeless or orphans or the hungry or those living in extreme poverty. You may believe a vote for Obama advances these causes.

You would be wrong.

You see, according to this book, it is those that value "strong families, church attendance, earned income (as opposed to state-subsidized income), and the belief that individuals, not government, offer the best solution to social ills-all" that are far more likely to give. Sorry to my liberal, social justice-seeking, do-gooder friends. It is the conservative Christians in our nation that donate their time and resources to help those most in need, not the protesters or picketers or the liberal politicians that preach hope and change.

In fact, lets look at our recent presidential ticket to see who, in fact, really cares.

John McCain: In 2007, the Arizona senator reported $405,409 in total income and contributed $105,467, or 26 percent of his total income, to charity.

Sarah Palin: In 2006, on $127,869 in income, she donated $4,880 to charity, or 3.8%. In 2007, on $166,080 in income, she donated $3,325, or 2%.

Let's look at our current administration.

George Bush: "Mr. Bush and the first lady, Laura Bush, gave $165,660 to churches and charitable organizations, a figure that represents nearly 18 percent of their total income of $936,111."

Dick Cheney: In 2005, the evil Dick Cheney and his wife gave $6.9 million or 78%! That is not a misprint - 78%!

Now, onto our Democratic candidates.

Barack Obama: From the years 2000 - 2004 he averaged 1.51% charitable giving, which was $2154 per year on an average income of $243,726. It was only when he began to run for president, and knew it would be released to the public, that he upped it to approximately 5%

Joe Biden: In 2006 he made $248,459 and gave $380 - .1%! In 2007 He made $319,853 and gave $995 - .3%.

You may say, well these are just the presidential candidates, they don't reflect normal American giving patterns. Actually, Obama and Biden fare even worse when compared to the average 2% given by Americans.

It is well documented that the more you believe in government solutions and liberal policies, the less you give to charity. If you are a Christian with a favorite cause who voted for Barack Obama, you have helped set our country on a course that will hurt those you are trying to help.

It's that simple.

As our country moves farther to the left, politically, we will encounter a very real-world effect on our favorite charities and causes as giving decreases.

And please, please, do not resort to the argument that paying taxes into government programs satisfies the call to help "the least of these". Never in scripture does Jesus tell us to threaten our rich neighbors with jail if they do not contribute to our favorite cause. Sorry, taxing the rich does not let you off the hook!

Nor does it actually do much good for those who need it, but that's another post!

No home phone

We just switched to FiOS, and in the process, we decided not to get our home phone up and running just yet. We are thinking about doing away with the home phone altogether. So if you have called my home yesterday or today or are thinking about tomorrow... sorry.

Call my cell/email me.

Anyone have a reason to keep the home phone? Should we just be done?

Separated at Birth?

My brother-in-law, Alvin (on the left), has run into his separated-at-birth twin at our new church. Not only is he named Al, but he has the same hobbies, same manner of speech, and the same habit of swinging an imaginary golf club while talking to you. The resemblance is so remarkable, that their kids and wives have mixed them up!

Just for comparison, I have included this picture of Alvin's REAL brother, Brian. Doesn't Al fit right in?

Final Thoughts on the Election

I know you are all going to go off and vote today! Don't forget your free Starbucks and Ben & Jerry's.

I think the biggest thing we Christians need to keep in mind is that God is Sovereign. He is in charge, He sits on the throne, this is His universe. He has a plan, and our job is to align our hearts with His. He is so much bigger than whatever happens today.

Today, we are not voting for a Savior or a Messiah, although from the coverage and the responses people have had to these candidates, you would think that we were. Rather we are voting as responsible Americans and God-fearing Christians.

Laws and leaders do not lead people to Jesus. We do. So vote... and then continue to demonstrate the love of Christ on November 5th, no matter what.

My new BFF - Obama

I had so much fun playing the part of Sarah Palin on Halloween, as you can see from my previous post. But just now, my neighbor brought over this picture of her nephew and me. I thought it was hilarious. He was a great sport about posing for this picture, and it really topped off the night!