Friday, May 28, 2004

Our Weird Friends

Well, our bible study had a BBQ last night to celebrate the coming of summer. It hasn’t rained here in two months but, guess what? It rained. Despite the precipitation, several of the guys, who are addicted to their Play Stations, got a projector and projected their soccer video game on the entire back side of Walt and Emily’s house. They sat in the rain and played their game while the rest of us sat on the covered back porch and talked about a wide variety of topics, including the merits of pomegranates. Yes, pomegranates. Many of the young adults in our study recalled their memorable childhood experiences eating this tart fruit out on their front lawns, wearing old clothes, to avoid staining their good clothes, carpet and furniture. Todd said he always ate the seeds. Several other people reacted harshly: "YOU ATE THE SEEDS? No way!!" After about twenty minutes of this conversation, someone commented on how amazed they were that anyone could talk about a piece of fruit for such an extensive amount of time. Leave it to our friends at bible study!

Oh! . . . and . . .

May you have a memorable Memorial Day. Enjoy your three-day weekend!

Thursday, May 27, 2004

Yawn

Last night we took a walk and, after arriving back home, I promptly fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up Kevin was watching TV. My contacts had dried up inside my eyes and I could barely see what was on the TV screen. All I could make out was a bunch of glittery confetti falling down on a stage. If you can believe it, this is the first episode of American Idol we’ve seen - and we only caught the last five minutes of it. While my vision was still distorted, my ears picked up on the fact that there was some big hype over some Fantasia lady. Kevin turned to me and said, "I presume she won?" "Yeah, well," I said, rubbing my eyes, "It’d be a shameful waste of some good confetti if she wasn’t the winner." So, we suppose that the confetti, coupled with the fact that she was crying, is good indication that she’s the winner. "Ya know," I observed, "It’s probably healthy (?) to watch this stuff now and then so we can truly be a part of our culture." Kevin agreed - as long as we don’t get hooked on TV. "Maybe we should watch stuff like this once every other month or so," he said.

I heard this morning that almost as many Americans voted for their Idol as voted in the last presidential election. If that isn’t sad, what is?

Petrol

So . . . we were driving in our car. We were stopped at a red light and Kevin observes that there are two gas stations across the street from each other. One offers unleaded gas at $2.15 a gallon and the other offers it at $2.36 a gallon. Suddenly he starts screaming. (Sudden bursts of loud noises are very uncharacteristic of Kevin.) "Who in their right mind would go to that gas station?!" he shrieked, as he pointed toward the one that was 21-cents more per gallon. "I just don’t get how that gas station can stay in business and charge so much!" At that precise moment a young woman in a green Toyota drove up to the pump at the more pricey station. "NOOOOOO!!!!!" Kevin yelled. "Don’t go THERE you bone-head!!" As she proceeded to start pumping her gas, Kevin continued on his rampage: "YOU ARE SUCH A RETARD!!!" He then put his head in his hands and started pulling his hair. At this point, I was clutching my sides in pain because I was so amused and laughing so hard. It was all very entertaining.

Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Watchin’ the Daisies Grow

Actually, last night’s game for our nameless church softball team was pretty good. I’ve been trying to think of a good name for it. But my creative juices simply aren’t flowing. And, since none of the other fans in the crowd seem anxious to christen our team, I’ve given up on finding a proper name for it entirely! We were down seven points and then we caught up in the last inning. Because of the tie, the game was extended. There were some tense moments and some exciting plays at the end. Kevin hit some good ones and caught a couple flies. I cheered and screamed until my voice was gone. It was fun. We ended up losing by only four points. Yeah, we still lost. But at least we lost with our self-respect still intact.

"I don’t mind losing if I can lose with dignity." -- Kevin Koons

I was officially dubbed the "team mom" by some observers because I took care of our guys by cheering them on and feeding them snickerdoodles. :) I’m finding that I like my role as "team mom." It’s very gratifying.

Mysterious Concoctions

I enjoy cooking. (And I like eating even better, by the way.) At first, I thought I’d hate cooking because I thought it would become a mundane drudgery. And, honestly, I’m sure it can become just that. But, I’ve decided to control my attitude, again, and have turned my "cooking life" into an adventure. I simply never know what’s going to happen next. In order to keep up all the excitement, I have to find new recipes all the time. I’ve joined several e-mail lists and get about 5-6 new recipes a week. They are starting to pile up in my cooking notebook because I don’t have time to try them all!!! Last night I made a dish called Greek Souzoukaklia. It was a beef skewer thing with raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg. After mashing everything in a bowl, before pushing it on a skewer, it looked rather like oatmeal-raisin cookie dough. Only not. The phone rang at just about the time I was contemplating the appeal of my dish. It was Kevin. "Um, honey," I said. "I hope what I’m making for dinner tonight is edible." Kevin is great. He never complains and is willing to try anything.

It turned out that this Greek-thing was actually pretty good. Very, um, different. But in a good way. ;) All of life is an adventure . . . an adventure just waiting to happen.

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Quote

"I'm not bossy. I just have better ideas than everyone else."

Hot Topics

I realize I talk about current events a lot but, hey, I’m submerged in them constantly. What can I do? Today I am pondering the uproar over that woman in Arkansas who just had her 15th child in less than 16 years. (I swear they are an ATI family from their picture on the internet. I probably met them at Knoxville once.) Today, a radio talk show host called for women like that to be forced to wear Norplant. (No kidding!) At this suggestion, I was utterly offended. Maybe I’m super sensitive to this issue because, also today, I read about a proposed initiative entering circulation in California to "encourage small families." Good grief! Last time I checked, we live in the U.S.A. - not China! And where are all these N.O.W. women now who supposedly believe in and tout "reproductive rights"? What about women who want large families? What about their reproductive rights to decide to have 15 children vs. abort them and have them sucked into a sink? Family size is a personal decision every couple must make for themselves, following the dictates of their own consciences. The radio host seemed to think family size should be regulated by the government. Isn’t that scary? Big Brother government should mind its own business in this matter. That’s what I think, anyway. Soon, what area of our lives will government not intrude upon?

And, on another matter . . . today I watched, on c-span, the oral arguments before the California Supreme Court regarding the issuing of same-sex "marriage" licenses in S.F. Kev’s and my constitutional law professor, Jordan Lorence, argued the case against the validity of the licenses, along with the deputy attorney general. "Our guys" did a fantastic job, while the opposing counsel, the S.F. city attorney, didn’t make a single coherent argument. Let me tell you - if the high court rules with S.F. on this case, all my confidence in the judicial system gets flushed down the toilet. I am, even now, crossing my fingers and holding my breath for justice.

And, on a personal level, we found another really cool house we liked last night in Rocklin. It went on the market yesterday and when our realtor called this morning it had already sold. Bummer. Here we go a lovin’ and a losin’ again!

Monday, May 24, 2004

Skylarking

At this precise moment, I can feel every muscle in my body crying out in pain. "Why?" Well, because on Saturday I played Duck, Duck, Goose! with a bunch of "big kids." At one point, I started chasing this really cocky guy around the circle and was gaining on him. I became so convinced that I could tag this guy, and make him sit in the mush pot, that I felt it was worth sacrificing my face over it. I leaped into the air to take a dive at him, missed tagging him by mere inches, and landed flat on my side, skinning my knee badly and getting grass stains on my clothes. Kevin says that my competitive streak is going to be the death of me someday. We also played volley ball - my favorite game of all time. And Kevin spent a lot of time entertaining Marybeth, age four, by throwing her up in the air, giving her rides on top of his shoulders, making silly faces, teasing her, etc. During dinner, she didn’t want to eat her hamburger. Her mom was distressed because the kid, apparently, never likes to eat protein. The next thing I know, Kevin turns his charm on Marybeth and she is stuffing her hamburger down her throat at an alarming rate. Kevin has amazing powers over women. ;)

We also went to a rally to protect marriage at the capitol. A friend of mine from Eagle Forum asked me if I knew of any guys who could be in a skit. Kevin was the official photographer for CRI but I figured he could spare a few minutes to be in the skit so I volunteered his services. I told Kevin, "Don’t worry, you won’t have to say anything." Turns out that he had the second largest speaking role!! (Sorry, Kev!) But it was great because, while he was on stage, he got to chat with Alan Keyes for a while.

As we wandered around downtown before going to the rally, a homeless person asked us for money. Maybe I will be reprimanded for this when I get to heaven, but I’m always skeptical that my money will be used to buy crack if I just hand it over, scott-free, to a homeless person. (Maybe I would feel more convicted if we didn’t live in a country that already takes money from my paycheck to offer all kinds of freebies (food stamps, shelter, healthcare, etc.) to people in unfortunate situations.) After passing the beggar on the street, Kevin turned to me: "You know, once we become a cashless society, we’ll no longer have to be assaulted on the streets by beggars. Won’t that be nice." "Nooooooo," I replied "The beggars will just get smarter and start carrying swipe machines to accept credit card donations." Imagine that!

On Sunday afternoon, Kevin had his final SCSO concert of the year. During the first half of the concert I was squashed between two very "swollen" men. ("Swollen" is a PC term for FAT.) Because of this, it was hard for me to fully concentrate on the chorale and orchestra. During a moment of despair, my eyes longingly wandered over to the box seats perched just above the male vocalists. To my delight, one of them was empty! During intermission, I swapped seats and sat all by myself in Grand Tier Box No. 2! Ahhh . . . it was simply luxurious. I was able to stretch out my legs and the view was fabulous. (I could see all the strings on the instruments and practically all the whiskers on the faces!)

As I sat there, alone in my box seat, I couldn’t help thinking about President Lincoln at Ford’s Theater. How very sad. (My heart went out to him.) But, other than that, I enjoyed the remainder of the concert in perfect tranquillity and comfort.

Friday, May 21, 2004

The Scary Party

Oh my gosh. Just so you know - if you’re ever at a loss for blog material, all you need to do is go to the DNC blog (called "Kicking Ass: Daily Dispatches from the DNC") and read a few of the posts. That will give you plenty to get mad about. Today I read this post entitled "A question for Log Cabin Republicans." The comments on this post are incredible. If these people continue to take over our country and push their agenda, we are in big trouble. (Understatement!) I cannot believe the hatred they have toward Christianity - or any religious viewpoint. I wanted to post a comment about "one-sided tolerance" so badly but, in order to do so, I had to give them my e-mail address. Because I don’t want daily e-mails telling me to vote for John Kerry, I declined. Ugh.

Also . . . get this. The whole reason I was on the DNC website was to research the democratic party platform. Here is a little blurb from the 2000 platform introduction: "When Thomas Jefferson was elected as our Party's first president in 1800, America was a young country trying to find its place in the world. Two hundred years later, Democrats gather at a moment of vast possibility to nominate Al Gore as America's next president." I almost died laughing when I read this. How can anyone be proud to compare Gore with Jefferson? Do they actually think that’s progress?

The real question - how can a Christian be a democrat? I’ve met a few Christians who claim this status. How can that possibly be?

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Gender-neutral hormones?

Hi there. I feel that all I’ve done all day is write things under pressure. Writing is such a joy. Writing under pressure is such a pain. First thing this morning, I wrote a piece on the liberal push for a gender-neutral society. I woke up the other day, sat up in my bed, and my first thought was "the liberals are pushing for a society where gender means nothing." Seriously! I must have had some pretty scary dreams the night before but forgot about them. Usually I don’t wake up contemplating such heavy subject matter.

Life has been good lately - minus losing that ridiculous house. I’m telling myself it was a "ridiculous" house because we lost it. If our offer had been accepted, it would be the most wonderful house in the world. I fully believe that a person can control their thoughts to make them a happier person. It’s an art. (Or maybe it’s a science?) Sometimes it takes a while to learn, but it’s worth it! Whenever bad things happen, we can respond in a good way or in a bad way. It’s entirely up to us. I hate it when people walk around sulking all the time - it’s like "okay, you’re having a bad day, but the rest of the world shouldn’t have to DEAL with it. Take your hormones off the rollercoaster, pleeeeeeeezzzz."

But I’m starting to get preachy now, so I’ll stop. Have a great evening . . . and make sure to think happy thoughts. ;-)

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Lost Love

The hour of noon came and went on Monday. Nothing eventful happened - until the next day. We tried some "behind the scenes" dealing, upped our offer $3,000 beyond the asking price - but we were still beat out by another offer. The market is SO incredible here. How it vexes me. I keep telling myself that God has something better for us. But it was hard to lose this beautiful house. I have doubts in my head that keep yelling "you will never find anything as wonderful and the prices on homes (in the area we want to live in) are rising DAILY." [sigh] I have learned one lesson, though: The next time around, I’m going to try not to get so emotionally entangled with a stupid piece of real estate.

But I am reminded . . . It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Hopefully someday I will find truth in that adage.

Monday, May 17, 2004

The Hour of Decision

We did it. We made an offer on a house. Our realtor faxed us the offer, we signed it late on Saturday night, and faxed it to the seller’s realtor. Kevin read every word of the offer before he signed it. I . . . well, how shall I put this? I was more concerned with looking at the photos of the house on the internet and deciding the most important things surrounding this business venture - like how to decorate and where to put what.

The deadline to accept our offer is today at noon. I’m counting down the seconds. I keep glancing at the clock on my computer and wondering if it’s accurate. (I even opened up my cell phone to see if the time matched. My computer clock is three minutes fast.) Of course I realize that, in transactions like this, often things don’t happen they way they’re supposed to happen when they’re supposed to happen. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

We are trying not to get our hopes up too much, though. The market here is so incredibly hot that sellers tend to get their offers presented to them on an Excel spreadsheet. Yesterday we were so excited that we hopped in the car before church - clad in our pajamas! - and headed to the subdivision where "our home" is located to explore the area better. We discovered a huge wetlands preservation behind "our subdivision" that has a bike trail. That made us even MORE excited about "our new house."

Stay tuned for more updates - coming soon to a computer screen near you!

Thursday, May 13, 2004

No place like . . .

Today I’m working from home. Ahhhh . . . There’s nothing better than writing press releases in my pajamas. Well, um, er, there is. But, for now at least, I’m havin’ fun. Isn’t the modern world so wonderful? All you need is a laptop and an internet connection and you can work from anywhere.

Ya know, this staying home stuff is kind of nice. I had a leisurely breakfast with Kevin (since I didn’t have to take a shower and rush out the door with him) and then I turned on my computer. No traffic. No panty hoes. No eating microwave popcorn for lunch ‘cuz I forgot to pack one. This is great. :)

The reason I didn’t go into the office today is ‘cuz Kevin needed the car and my boss said I could just stay home and work. Kevin is going to a Federalist Society meeting today at the Delta King. He was doing some research on local involvement in the community and discovered that the CA Young Lawyers Association board of governors is having its elections soon. It only takes three other young lawyers (under 36) to recommend you and you can be on the ballot. Turns out that there’s only one guy on the ballot right now and the deadline to submit your candidacy was yesterday. Kevin was all bummed that he didn’t find out sooner so he could run. (I was bummed too. I was already starting to get excited about making bumper stickers and yard signs, giving speeches, and kissing babies.) I think it would have been hilarious if he had put his name on the ballot and got elected without campaigning. Some people vote for candidates for the stupidest reasons – “I like the name Kevin better than the name Bob” for instance. Well, I don’t know personally if this is true. But it could be likely?? In any event, the golden opportunity is gone for the next three years.

Last night we went to the Cordells’ so Kevin could accompany Mr. (Tom) Cordell and Theresa on the piano. They are going to sing “All I Ask of You” from Phantom of the Opera this Friday at a recital. I just love the Cordells. Each one in their family is in such a different stage of life than we are (raising teenagers, being a teenager, etc.). I think it’s good for us to get out of our own little bubble-zone and be around them. They are such wonderful friends to us – and so fun too! Angela recently started working for CRI and I’ve been giving her a ride to work. Last Monday Mrs. (Chris) Cordell made dinner for us as a “thank you.” I’ve never had anyone make a homemade meal for me and deliver it to my house. And Chris is such a great cook, too! It was awesome. It was such a “random act of kindness.” Thank God for people like that. They make this world a better place. I hope I can be more like that.

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Random Conversations of Yesterday

Kevin: I’m really glad I’m not a family law attorney. I read about a lawsuit yesterday where the only dispute was whether the ex could come pick up the kids at 9 or 9:15 on Christmas morning. He insisted he could come at 9. She demanded he come no earlier than 9:15. The judge finally decided he could come at 9:05.
Amy: The only thing worse than being a family law attorney would be being married to that kind of person.
Kevin: Seriously.
[pause]
Amy: You know, I would never divorce you for financial reasons alone. Think of how much money it costs!! I mean, you work all your life to build assets and then you lose half of it plus litigation costs. I’m way too cheap for that!
Kevin: Gee, thanks. I’m glad to hear you’d be willing to endure living hell to save a few bucks.
Amy: Oh, stop that! I’m not planning on ever divorcing you any way!!!
_______________________________________________

Yesterday I ate lunch with Karen and the chairman of CRI’s board at the California Pizza Kitchen. Karen told him that she was going to treat me to a peanut butter milkshake at Johnny Rocket’s afterwards. (Do I have the coolest boss or what?) That’s when Tim, our chairman, told us that he visited the first Johnny Rocket’s in North Hollywood many years ago and, after a pleasant dining experience, talked to the owner and told him, "You know, your joint here is a great concept. You really should think about turning this into a franchise." They had a few discussions after that evening and the owner asked Tim to help him franchise. But, you see, Tim had already started two new businesses that year and didn’t have the capital readily available to start a third one. So, he told him, "Good luck!" A few years later Tim read in the paper that Johnny Rockets had gotten so big it was opening a store in Tokyo. As he told us this, he got a faraway look in his eyes and said, "Boy, I really missed the boat on that one." I swear, he’s one of the most interesting people! Just when I think that he’s just a "nice guy," I find out that he’s the mastermind behind the Johnny Rocket’s success story.
_______________________________________________

Aren’t we lucky? Kevin’s cousins, here in Sacramento, have season tickets to the Broadway series and this is the second time that they haven’t been able to go. So . . . last night we saw Thoroughly Modern Millie. It was pretty funny. There was a great scene where these two people suddenly fall in love. The music, lighting, singing, dancing and acting were all terrific and perfectly depicted the "love at first sight" feeling. It also poked fun at people in love and how they unknowingly do stupid things. The music was so great I told Kevin I want to get the CD.

At intermission, we walked outside and I commented to Kevin that "anyone can get the second half of a Broadway show for free because the attendants don’t guard the doors during intermission." Kevin got this horrified and shocked look on his face: "Amy, I can’t believe you would even think about a thing like that!"

That’s what I love about Kevin. His mind is sharp but it is also pure and good. I am the devious one in this relationship. Not that I would actually be bad, but every once in a while I might think about it - or at least nonchalantly notice an opportunity to be bad and comment on it. And, I have to admit, sometimes I like saying things for shock value alone. ;)

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Shameless Plagiarism

Okay, I stole this quote from my friend Meredith’s blog. But I couldn’t resist because it really struck a chord with me. It’s so true - we miss out on so much in life because we are either lazy, afraid, or don’t want to transcend our "comfort zones."

"Not many of us are living at our best. We linger in the lowlands because we are afraid to climb the mountains. The steepness and ruggedness discourage us, so we stay in the mist of the valleys and never learn the mystery of the hills. We do not know what is lost by our self-indulgence, what glory awaits if we only have the courage to climb, or what blessings we will find if we will only ascend the mountains of God!" ~ J.R.M.

Monday, May 10, 2004

Spontaneous Fun

Whenever a person is consumed with various cares and pressures in life, he/she faces two options: 1) be responsible or 2) forget your worries and live it up. So, that was our predicament on Saturday – do we stay home and work, work, work or do we cash in our $20-off coupon at Six Flags? We decided to choose the option that was best for our mental health and well-being . . . we headed for the ‘coasters! (Note: In deciding what I should do with my life, I often resort to the "ten year test." This simply means that I ask myself: "Among all my options, what will have a bigger impact on my life ten years from now?" Because of the "ten year test," I have often forgone sleep to make memories. And, you know what? I’ve never regretted it! You see, ten years from now, I probably won’t remember that I was tired the next day or the dishes had to sit in the sink for an extra eight hours. But I will remember all the good times. That’s my theory any way. Take it or leave it.)

I LOVE ROLLER COASTERS!!! The faster they are, and the more loops and corkscrews they have, the better! As we walked through the gates at Six Flags, I felt like a little kid again. In fact, Kevin even told me that he felt like he was taking his little kid to a theme park - not his wife - because I kept jumping up and down while holding his hand. Just imagine it . . . "Please, daddy! Can we please go on that one next?!" To which he would reply: "Yes, Amy, just be patient. We can do it all - but not all at one time!" (It was very hard for me to contain myself.)

Our favorite rides were Medusa and the Tasmanian Devil. The lines were practically nonexistent on Saturday - so that was good. It always is a pain when you go to theme parks and pay 40 bucks to stand in line all day in the sun!

The most surprising aspect of the whole day was what we enjoyed best. The best thing we did all day was not ride on a roller coaster. Kevin wanted to go to the Butterfly Gardens. At first, I balked at the idea. And then I thought, "He’s being such a good guy to take me on all the rides - so I’ll do something that he wants to do." You know, every time Kevin suggests we do something, it usually turns out to be a winner. (Mental note: Amy should listen to Kevin more often.)

Oh my word! The Butterfly Garden was probably the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in all my life! We entered this building with tropical, balmy temperatures. There were signs everywhere that said: "Don’t touch the butterflies - let them touch you." I took in the garden setting surrounding me - there were many trees and plants and a large pond. A winding dirt path led us into the heart of the garden. And, then, before I could comprehend what was happening a group of butterflies fluttered past us. There were so many brilliant colors, I wanted them to fly slower so I could see them better. As we continued to walk along the path, the butterflies started coming out from what seemed like nowhere. Sometimes they would fly past us from behind, startling me. And other times they would be perched on a leaf or petal, slowly opening and folding back their bright wings. I had never before seen such beautiful butterflies. In fact, I didn’t even know that they existed like this. Some of the butterflies were bright royal blue. Some of them had red, white and black zig-zags. I saw one butterfly that had bright yellow upper wings and bright red lower wings. I don’t think I breathed during my whole Butterfly Garden experience . . . because it was all so amazing and unreal. I felt like I was walking in a fairy tale dream. And I didn’t want to wake up.

Life is comprised of so many beautifully diverse things. Everything is good - roller coasters and tropical butterflies.

(Oh, but I won’t disturb the pleasantness of this whole blog by telling you how, as we were walking toward a park bench, situated beneath a roller coaster, in order to look at our map, someone puked from several hundred yards above us and, had we been three seconds closer to our destination, we would have been hit with the sticky mess. But, like I said, I won’t give you details about that incident!)

Mother’s Day Truths

Okay, this post is a day late, but I still believe these quotes deserve a forum.

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. -Tenneva Jordan

The commonest fallacy among women is that simply having children makes them a mother--which is as absurd as believing that having a piano makes one a musician. -Sidney J. Harris

Thursday, May 06, 2004

Entreating the Almighty

Today has been a little bit tense. Karen excitedly told me that she would not be able to participate in the National Day of Prayer rally, after all, because of a schedule conflict. "You could do it, though!" I immediately exclaimed: "Karen, I can’t do it! Look at how I’m dressed!" My eyes then fell to my open-toed sandals. (I hadn’t planned on being in the public eye at all today.) That wasn’t enough to convince Karen. She tried to persuade me that I looked just "fine." (Hmph!) So, anyway, an hour later I found myself sitting on the south side of the capitol lawn with a bunch of other people waiting to be one of the official "prayers" at the rally. We had all been assigned different issues to pray about. I was asked beforehand to pray for the media - that the Truth would prevail and news would be reported without bias. My "time slot" was at 1:15 but I ended up going on stage at 2:30. (There were some very long-winded saints at this rally.)

You know, I’m not sure what I expected when I went to this rally today. I’m ashamed to say that I’d never before been to a National Day of Prayer rally. Now that I’ve been to one, I hope I can go to a similar rally every year for the rest of my life. It was amazing, encouraging and refreshing. God was boldly invoked, in the most public place in the state, by a group of people that love Him and want His mercy. During one phase of the rally, I got in a small group with 5-6 other people and prayed with just them. In just my group, there were several nationalities and denominations represented. (The best was one guy who was a native American Indian - in head gear and everything - who boldly proclaimed the saving grace of Jesus Christ. "I would like to apologize that my people are so hostile toward the white man and are so bitter. I thank God that I personally have been set free from the fray through Jesus Christ," he said.) I thought it was great that a bunch of evangelicals could all come together, put aside their doctrinal differences, and publicly pray for God’s blessing on our country. By saying this, I’m not implying that doctrine is not important. I think doctrine is very important - and the Bible does too, by the way. But sometimes I wonder if people in certain circles are slightly too judgmental about how other fundamentalist Christians view the Bible. I’ve heard it said that the different denominations tend to emphasize different aspects of the Trinity. The Pentecostals tend to emphasize the Holy Spirit, the Baptists tend to emphasize Jesus Christ the Son, and the Presbyterians tend to emphasize God the Father. Could it be that God is pleased that His Fullness is worshipped and adored by the collective denominations? Just a thought.

Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Feriar!

That means "celebrate" in Spanish. I know this because I looked it up in an English to Spanish dictionary. :) 4,000 Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5, 1862. There are two reasons why all of us should celebrate Cinco de Mayo. 1) The French were defeated. 2) It’s another excuse to eat Mexican food.

Tonight we have some friends coming over. I planned out a Mexican menu for dinner before I knew we were having company. So, two of the things I’m making tonight are new recipes. Here’s hoping they're not a total disaster. I’m making homemade salsa for the first time ever. This could be bad. But, hey, it’s the "unknown" that makes life exciting.

Here’s wishing you and yours a muy feliz Cinco de Mayo fiesta.

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

Hot Date at WalMart

The IQ of the average WalMart customer must be in the double digits. I’m convinced. (Note: This is not a personal assault on you if you happen to shop at WalMart. Hey, I shop at WalMart. Not that I boost the average IQ of the customers any.) But, as I was saying . . .

It was pushing 10 o’clock when we went to WalMart last night. Fortunately, we only had a few items to buy. We were planning on going out for dessert but, by the time we got in the car to drive to our date, the restaurants had all closed. So instead, we went to WalMart. Kevin was dismayed by this. "I can’t believe I’m going to WalMart on my date night. That’s what my parents do."

When it came time for us to purchase our items, the checkout lines were all very long. (We are not the only idiots that shop late in the evening.) And we were tired. We thought to ourselves, "The self-checkout lines must be faster."

WRONG.

Before I continue, I will stop and reflect on why it is that I feel compelled to blog about all the interesting things that happen to me while I’m in checkout lines at retail stores. Or maybe they’re not interesting. I just think they are and blog about them.

Do you know how many hours we had to wait in line for the customers in front of us to figure out how to use the self-checkout system?!! Kevin had his arms loaded with our stuff and I walked around all the lines to try and find one that wasn’t being held up by someone having problems with the system! If we weren’t so frustrated, we would have been very amused. One lady was trying to push her item, a little plastic basket, down on top of the scanner. She didn’t seem to understand that she needed to pull it across the face of the scanner. I thought to myself, "Hasn’t she ever watched the checkout clerk do it all the years before they invented self-checkout counters?!" Then there were people who were having a tough time punching the right buttons on the screen. The screen kept blurting out: "Please wait for assistance. Please wait for assistance." I think I heard that little mantra in my sleep all last night. And then there were the people who just blankly stared at the machines, not even knowing where to begin - even though the screen said: "To begin, please press here."

It’s enough to make me reconsider whether or not WalMart is my favorite store. ;-) As we left, Kevin muttered under his breath, "I hate WalMart."

But I already knew that.

Monday, May 03, 2004

Starved for Cinema

I’m the type of person who is, generally speaking, too cheap to pay nine bucks to watch a movie in the theater. Kevin’s not too cheap but, in light of the fact that he’d rather watch a movie from the comfort of his pillow, on the living room floor, with the ability to pause the movie for random bathroom breaks and snack times, he agrees with me that it’s usually better to watch movies at home than at Regals.

I was especially delighted to receive, buried with a bunch of other junk mail, a coupon from Blockbuster for video rentals at 99-cents each. :)

Certainly I'm not alone when I say that I've often been burned by watching movies that are either a) completely demoralizing or b) an utter waste of time. So, this time around, as I entered the video store, I was armed with several recommendations by trusty sources. We hit the jackpot. All three movies we got this past week were very enjoyable. Here are some of my meager little musings. (I will leave full-blown movie reviews to the prowess of other bloggers.)

1) He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not - Recommended by my sister, Christy. Wow. This movie is all about obsession and its consequences. For a French movie, it is surprisingly clean. We were really taken off guard at the end. I love a movie that can totally mess with my mind.

2) Big Fish - This movie made me cry like crazy. Don’t get the wrong impression - it’s also a very funny, creative, and original film. I think I cried because I saw a parallel in my life and was able to really grieve, for the first time, over a lost loved one. It really struck a chord with me. It’s a movie about life and death and people who mean a lot to us even when we don’t always understand them.

3) Secondhand Lions - This is a good one but, honestly, I think I expected more of it than I got - probably because so many people highly recommended it. (Even Michael Medved!) ;) We still enjoyed it, though, despite some mild philosophical problems we encountered. This movie definitely has both funny and touching moments. It is a good story about a boy becoming a man. And Haley Joel Osmont is always great.

Besides being vegetables for most of the weekend, we helped some friends pack up and move and Kevin had a choral performance. His chorale sang a Haydn piece and a Mendelson piece. (Did I spell that right?!) It was fabulous. I especially liked the soprano soloist. Her voice was very soothing and gentle - which is a hard thing to pull off when you’re a soprano (no offense to my soprano friends!). We went to coffee afterwards. It was fun to be escorted to coffee by a man in a monkey suit. I felt all significant . . . or something like that. ;)