This one was good, too....

My Favorite American Idol Song of the Night

Well, the one where the comedians sang back up was funny, but I really liked this.

It Will Be an Interesting Time

Mike was told a couple of weeks ago he was going to be moved. He had no say in the matter. Last week the conference office called to get the contact information for the person at church who would tell everyone Mike would be leaving. They wanted to email the letter to be read at church. Mike pointed out they had not contacted the appropriate committee yet, so they would not be aware of the impending move. To make a long story short, the district superintendent came to meet with the committee that evening. They have no idea who will be placed here. The meeting didn't go well. I'm told she was made well aware of their displeasure. She went off to confer with the bishop who in the end decided the move was on and the announcement was to be made. The church refused to make it.

Church Council met last night and the matter was discussed. It seems that the conference is required to confer with the church and the pastor before making any moves. They did not. The church sent a letter of complaint not only to the district superintendent and the regional bishop, but to the entire Council of Bishops. The today the church contacted one of the leaders of the conservative movement within the national church. It seems our little church may well be at the center of a national incident.

A True Hero

I was reading on the internet about the death of a woman, Irena Sendler, who saved 2,500 Jewish children during WWII. It is a fascinating story. She lost the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore. There's a puzzler for you.

The Sound of Silence

I am here in my house. Alone. No one else is here. It is quiet. No Josh to make irritating noises to see how long it takes me to yell at him -- I mean nicely ask him to quit making obnoxious sounds. No Jeremy to talk incessantly. No Mike wondering why we don't have a certain food item in the house that he hasn't wanted for months, yet wants now.

Oh, rats. I should have known it was too good to last. Caleb just saw someone walking down the other side of the street on the far end of the block. Scruffy feels the need to join in on the barking. Looks like they are scaring the the dangerous trespassers away, though. They are now walking away from the house. Mission accomplished.

The Nap

The boys had a lock-in at church last night. Naturally, they got very little sleep. This afternoon I told them they had to take a break from tv and computer games. I was nice enough to give them a 15-minute warning so they could wrap things up, but Jeremy was not happy to hear this. I left the room and come back in five minutes to find him fast asleep. Now this is a bit of a minor miracle. Jeremy does not under any circumstances whatsoever nap. Ever. He has been like that most of his life.

After about an hour, he rolled off the couch. He stumbled into the kitchen. He came right back in the living room and sat beside me on the other couch. He was very upset and told me he didn’t want to make any tea. Confused, I asked him if he wanted to drink tea. He replied that he didn’t want to make ME any tea. Now I was really confused and wanted to know why he thought I wanted tea. It seems he had a dream that I had told him to go make me some tea. Apparently he was sleep walking. Too funny.

Unsobby Coffee

A couple of months ago McDonald's came out with a fancy line of coffee. They wanted to compete with Starbucks. Being the birthplace of Starbucks, it definitely caught the attention of the local media who immediate got a coffee connoisseur to test the java from the two companies. McDonald's won. I've been thinking I should try it, so when I got a coupon in the paper I decided to give it a go. It is pretty good.

Click on the title above for your own coupon. :^)

Life In a Northern Town

Just because I like it...

I thought Mike's fine was bad....

Mike got had to pay mega bucks for parking in a no parking zone at a Seattle hospital a while back. The truck got towed and he had to pay a ticket on top of that. I thought that was bad until I saw this....

Blog Guy, I’ve read that America’s big cities are running out of parking places. I know you travel the world. Are other cities trying anything new?
You bet. Berlin is looking at so-called “momentum parking.” You leave your car, and a huge crane hoists it up 500 feet, then lets it go. The impact buries it several feet down, thus taking up far less room than an ordinary space.
I don’t believe that. You’re just making up stuff to go with stupid pictures again.
I’m serious! It’s happening in ‘Potsdamer Platz,’ which is German for “My car went platz!!” You can look it up.

Ok. It's really "unidentified artwork" but it was funny.

Momsense

If you are a mom, you know you've done this. If you have a mom you've heard it!




What about dads, you ask? Well Anita has done one for them, too!



by Anita Renfroe

The Refrigerator

We have a refrigerator sitting in our basement that Mike’s parents bought before Mike was born. We used it to keep milk, pop, veggies, etc. in so the kitchen refrigerator wouldn’t be so crowded after trips to Costco. It gave up the ghost last winter. It’s amazing that it lasted over forty years. I feel kind of bad to be taking it off to the dump today. It seems like it should go to the Museum of They Don’t Build Them Like They Used To.

How to cope with stress

Fill out your tax form using Roman numerals.

Why?

Apparently the hot new sport is extreme ironing. You take an iron and ironing board on vacation with you and photograph yourself ironing. Why??? I do my best to never iron at home. Why would I want to do that on vacation?

Harry Potter Puppet Pals

You must check this out! (Joshua says to be sure to tell you he is the one who showed it to me.)



Then check out this version:

Snow: Day 3

Here we are at the end of March. The first day of spring has come and gone. The cherry trees are in bloom. Spring flowers are in bloom. Trees are budding. Snow if falling for the third day. So far we've only gotten trace amounts, but you never know -- it's starting to stick.

The Blarney Stone

The Blarney Stone is a block of bluestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Blarney near Cork, Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of gab (great eloquence or skill at flattery). The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446. The castle is a popular tourist site in Ireland, attracting visitors from all over the world to kiss the Stone and tour the castle and its charming gardens. (You can see the stone in the picture between the green on the vertical bars.)

When we lived in England, we took a trip with Mike’s parents to Ireland and were able to go see the Blarney Stone. It was not at all glamourous and was extremely difficult to get to. You have to lay down on your back and lean over the edge of the castle ruins to kiss it. Jerry actually kissed it, which was no easy feat.

The locals do have a secret surrounding the stone. Since all the tourists kiss it, they urinate on it. :^)

You Will Never Be Sorry

YOU WILL NEVER BE SORRY
...for thinking before acting
...for hearing before judging
...for forgiving your enemies
...for being candid and frank
...for helping a fallen brother
...for being honest in business
...for thinking before speaking
...for being loyal to your church
...for standing by your principles
...for closing your ears to gossip
...for bridling a slanderous tongue
...for harboring pure thoughts
...for sympathizing with the afflicted
...for being courteous and kind to all.

It's Just Wrong!

I paid over $35 to fill my gas tank today. It was only 9 gallons for goodness sake. I'm so glad I don't have the minivan anymore. I guess I should find comfort in the fact that the moose don't have to walk under any more pipelines in Alaska.

Josh's Tae Kwon Do Testing

Here is Josh (in the middle) showing his kicks before the black belts.

Orange Belt for Josh!

Joshua got his orange belt in Tae Kwon Do today. Since he changed belt colors, he got to break a board by kicking it.