Dear Readers,
Some days you just need a laugh, or an "awwwww" or even a large amount of sugar. Hopefully these links will supply you with the first two, while you go in search of the latter. Check your mailbox, friends, there's some virtual cotton candy stuffed inside...
Baby animals, including more than just puppies and kittens:
http://justcuteanimals.com/page/2?fp_type=news
Funny, clean memes:
http://cleanmemes.com
Faith in Humanity Restored (Common Grace, y'all):
http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/heartwarming-tales-that-restore-our-faith-in-humanity/
Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts
Friday, February 12, 2016
Monday, May 12, 2008
Keeping the Faith
Jesus didn't promise sunshine and kittehs. Following him means taking up one's cross daily, and in a sin-stricken world at that. Thankfully, there are companions along the way--family, friends, and websites.
What? Did I just say "websites"?
Oh, did I. The past year has been (as my good friend and coworker Tony would say) a "Praise the Lord/ Lord have Mercy" rollercoaster. Ups and downs. We've had the joy of sharing in celebrating a dear sister (both literally and in the family-of-Christ sense) marrying a wonderful brother. The pain of losing of losing our first child. The overwhelming, chance-of-a-lifetime, wonderful trip to Asia to celebrate the Hwangs' wedding once again, to attend another wedding, and to finally meet up with my birth family. The struggles and frustrations and joys and pressures of our jobs and school. The fear of wondering if Dad Garrett had prostate cancer (he doesn't) and the fear of finding out that Dad Crane was in need of a heart transplant (keep reading). Sharing with so many the joys of marriages and births and careers and adoptions and graduations, and sharing with far too many the grief of deaths and illness and depression and abuse and theological despair.
Through it all, we've clung to our faith in Christ Jesus. How, you ask? (Let's pretend you did ask, okay?)
As I said, through websites. Okay, the primary (and easy) answer, is "by grace." By the gracious, constant presence and protection of the triune God. By community and sharing and crying and counseling and medicines (shocking!) and prayer and reading of the Word (sigh... far too little on those last two!) and pursuing spiritual disciplines and sheer stubborn God-given determination.
How else would we have gotten through the past couple of weeks, in which we traveled to four different cities (Denver/Colorado Springs, Raleigh-Durham, DC, and Houston/Galveston); celebrated/mourned on Mother's Day, pushed through what would have been the due date, attended a conference, freaked out/rejoiced in a donor heart becoming available for Dad Crane, celebrated/freaked out about the graduation (and thus departure) of so many fabulous students, and celebrated Mom Garrett's birthday, all in the same two days?
How? (Sorry, I'm getting there!) By a (growing) understanding of our sinfulness and God's holiness, a desire to see redemption...
... and a weird sense of humor. So I present, for your reading/clicking pleasure, sites that help me examine my faith, laugh at my failings, and praise God for loving us all anyway:
The character who does Bible scenes out of Legos (you have to see it to believe it!) appears not to be a Christian, but in some ways, I'd say he appreciates the Bible more than a lot of Christians I know (probably me included). He does have something of an agenda, though, which is evident in some of his interpretations of the passages. And there's some non-G rated stuff... but that's the Bible for you!
I mentioned the classic, sacrelicious Lark News in a previous post. My new, fabulous find (thanks to Tim and others for showing me the way) is all about Stuff Christians Like. Whoo hoo hoo hoo hoo! Wait. I do that. And that. Oh, and I do that, too! Ouch.
I've also stumbled upon the Wittenburg Door. Yes, they know they spelled it wrong. (No, I didn't know.) It's similar to Lark News, so when I find that I haven't procrastinated quite enough for the day, I head there. Particularly fabulous was the... interview... with NT Wright. (And no, I'm not quite sure if the entire thing is made up or not! Sheesh. Must I admit all my ignorance, all in one post? What will I do in further posts? Make sense?)
I also mentioned Snopes in that previous post. Specifically, if I need to feel superior about how intelligent I am (mostly after I go to the other websites and find that I don't get most of the jokes), I visit the Religion page, or the Glurge Gallery.
There are also several good sites (with less satire, more theological discussions, but still a sense of humor) that Team Redd could no doubt direct you to, that I've visited from time to time. When I really want to stretch myself, though, I go to a website for the "satirical church service for the thinking masses." It's basically a comedy routine that mocks the Western Evangelical church stereotype. These folks are not Christians, and I doubt they've ever met a Christian they liked, much less respected. While I could probably never attend a "service" (show), because even my irreverent self would probably get offended and "prove" their point that Christians are fun-haters, the website sure makes me think. About what I take for granted, what I practice and preach, and where I get distracted from Jesus and focus too much on me and "my" church.
And when I really need to get back to basics, I go here. Because I'm oh-so-pious... and a little bit of a tech geek.
Praise the Lord... Lord have Mercy!
What? Did I just say "websites"?
Oh, did I. The past year has been (as my good friend and coworker Tony would say) a "Praise the Lord/ Lord have Mercy" rollercoaster. Ups and downs. We've had the joy of sharing in celebrating a dear sister (both literally and in the family-of-Christ sense) marrying a wonderful brother. The pain of losing of losing our first child. The overwhelming, chance-of-a-lifetime, wonderful trip to Asia to celebrate the Hwangs' wedding once again, to attend another wedding, and to finally meet up with my birth family. The struggles and frustrations and joys and pressures of our jobs and school. The fear of wondering if Dad Garrett had prostate cancer (he doesn't) and the fear of finding out that Dad Crane was in need of a heart transplant (keep reading). Sharing with so many the joys of marriages and births and careers and adoptions and graduations, and sharing with far too many the grief of deaths and illness and depression and abuse and theological despair.
Through it all, we've clung to our faith in Christ Jesus. How, you ask? (Let's pretend you did ask, okay?)
As I said, through websites. Okay, the primary (and easy) answer, is "by grace." By the gracious, constant presence and protection of the triune God. By community and sharing and crying and counseling and medicines (shocking!) and prayer and reading of the Word (sigh... far too little on those last two!) and pursuing spiritual disciplines and sheer stubborn God-given determination.
How else would we have gotten through the past couple of weeks, in which we traveled to four different cities (Denver/Colorado Springs, Raleigh-Durham, DC, and Houston/Galveston); celebrated/mourned on Mother's Day, pushed through what would have been the due date, attended a conference, freaked out/rejoiced in a donor heart becoming available for Dad Crane, celebrated/freaked out about the graduation (and thus departure) of so many fabulous students, and celebrated Mom Garrett's birthday, all in the same two days?
How? (Sorry, I'm getting there!) By a (growing) understanding of our sinfulness and God's holiness, a desire to see redemption...
... and a weird sense of humor. So I present, for your reading/clicking pleasure, sites that help me examine my faith, laugh at my failings, and praise God for loving us all anyway:
The character who does Bible scenes out of Legos (you have to see it to believe it!) appears not to be a Christian, but in some ways, I'd say he appreciates the Bible more than a lot of Christians I know (probably me included). He does have something of an agenda, though, which is evident in some of his interpretations of the passages. And there's some non-G rated stuff... but that's the Bible for you!
I mentioned the classic, sacrelicious Lark News in a previous post. My new, fabulous find (thanks to Tim and others for showing me the way) is all about Stuff Christians Like. Whoo hoo hoo hoo hoo! Wait. I do that. And that. Oh, and I do that, too! Ouch.
I've also stumbled upon the Wittenburg Door. Yes, they know they spelled it wrong. (No, I didn't know.) It's similar to Lark News, so when I find that I haven't procrastinated quite enough for the day, I head there. Particularly fabulous was the... interview... with NT Wright. (And no, I'm not quite sure if the entire thing is made up or not! Sheesh. Must I admit all my ignorance, all in one post? What will I do in further posts? Make sense?)
I also mentioned Snopes in that previous post. Specifically, if I need to feel superior about how intelligent I am (mostly after I go to the other websites and find that I don't get most of the jokes), I visit the Religion page, or the Glurge Gallery.
There are also several good sites (with less satire, more theological discussions, but still a sense of humor) that Team Redd could no doubt direct you to, that I've visited from time to time. When I really want to stretch myself, though, I go to a website for the "satirical church service for the thinking masses." It's basically a comedy routine that mocks the Western Evangelical church stereotype. These folks are not Christians, and I doubt they've ever met a Christian they liked, much less respected. While I could probably never attend a "service" (show), because even my irreverent self would probably get offended and "prove" their point that Christians are fun-haters, the website sure makes me think. About what I take for granted, what I practice and preach, and where I get distracted from Jesus and focus too much on me and "my" church.
And when I really need to get back to basics, I go here. Because I'm oh-so-pious... and a little bit of a tech geek.
Praise the Lord... Lord have Mercy!
Sunday, May 04, 2008
How to be Difficult...
... it's worked for me, anyway!
Organize furniture so it is NOT feng shui.
Shoot the cats with the spray bottle.
Not answer the cell phone.
Curse.
Pick fights with Georgia fans.
Change the lyrics to praise songs that are theologically questionable. Sing loudly.
Multi-task.
Continue drinking from a Nalgene bottle.
Hit the snooze button. Several times.
Run 5-15 minutes late. For EVERYTHING.
Talk incessantly about things like ICHC, Stargate, and the cats.
Start reading 5 books at once but never finish any of them.
Take 5 big, heavy books on a trip. Read none of them.
Get weird urges to vacuum at 3 AM.
Support Obama just to spite Clinton.
Keep a blog. Pout if no one reads it. Repeat.
Organize furniture so it is NOT feng shui.
Shoot the cats with the spray bottle.
Not answer the cell phone.
Curse.
Pick fights with Georgia fans.
Change the lyrics to praise songs that are theologically questionable. Sing loudly.
Multi-task.
Continue drinking from a Nalgene bottle.
Hit the snooze button. Several times.
Run 5-15 minutes late. For EVERYTHING.
Talk incessantly about things like ICHC, Stargate, and the cats.
Start reading 5 books at once but never finish any of them.
Take 5 big, heavy books on a trip. Read none of them.
Get weird urges to vacuum at 3 AM.
Support Obama just to spite Clinton.
Keep a blog. Pout if no one reads it. Repeat.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Guilty Pleasures
When I'm procrastinating, here are some of my favorite sites to go to, other than the obvious Facebook and Wikipedia options:
(Thanks to Kennan, Gaines, Jason, Kara, Tammy, and the gmail running banners)
T-shirt Mayhem.
Sheer Failure Brilliance (Kennan, I wrote that pun just for you)
So Wrong but so True!
Also hits a little Too Close to Home...
Safer than YouTube
Kind of Lame, but I dig the Mean Kitty stuff...
Stuff + Cats = Awesome. (The ones of just "cute cats" are lame, though)
Our life in Grad School...
Debunking Urban Myths and all of Great-Aunt Edna's emails!
Yes, I checked Snopes on this one--it Really Does Help Breast Cancer Research! (as well as the other causes)
No guarantees on the ratings. Most are G to PG-ish. Enjoy!
(Thanks to Kennan, Gaines, Jason, Kara, Tammy, and the gmail running banners)
T-shirt Mayhem.
Sheer Failure Brilliance (Kennan, I wrote that pun just for you)
So Wrong but so True!
Also hits a little Too Close to Home...
Safer than YouTube
Kind of Lame, but I dig the Mean Kitty stuff...
Stuff + Cats = Awesome. (The ones of just "cute cats" are lame, though)
Our life in Grad School...
Debunking Urban Myths and all of Great-Aunt Edna's emails!
Yes, I checked Snopes on this one--it Really Does Help Breast Cancer Research! (as well as the other causes)
No guarantees on the ratings. Most are G to PG-ish. Enjoy!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Shiny and New
I've updated the look of our blog, and Kennan & I both really dig it. Pretty exciting.
In other changes, I just now figured out that the VenerableLauraStu is no longer. Sad. But NegusBoy now rocks the house with both Negii.
Oh, and a shout-out and love to Sarah-belle, on whose blog (now listed on our links :) I first saw the poll. Now that's a fun feature. Vote up, folks! The cats await news of who they must get rid of next.
In other changes, I just now figured out that the VenerableLauraStu is no longer. Sad. But NegusBoy now rocks the house with both Negii.
Oh, and a shout-out and love to Sarah-belle, on whose blog (now listed on our links :) I first saw the poll. Now that's a fun feature. Vote up, folks! The cats await news of who they must get rid of next.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
No, Really.
I voted for Ron Paul in the Primaries.
I can eat an entire jar of pickles in one sitting.
I love small dogs that bark a lot.
My favorite colors are red and black.
I wish I lived in Texas.
I know all the words to "Enter Sandman."
My secret ambition is to meet Janet Reno.
I've decided to become a nun.
I once caught a fish this big...
I think David Hasselhoff is hot.
My cat likes to eat peanut butter.
My favorite magazine is Star.
I've been calm and obedient since 1978.
Yes, Happy April Fools' Day! You decide which ones are true.
I can eat an entire jar of pickles in one sitting.
I love small dogs that bark a lot.
My favorite colors are red and black.
I wish I lived in Texas.
I know all the words to "Enter Sandman."
My secret ambition is to meet Janet Reno.
I've decided to become a nun.
I once caught a fish this big...
I think David Hasselhoff is hot.
My cat likes to eat peanut butter.
My favorite magazine is Star.
I've been calm and obedient since 1978.
Yes, Happy April Fools' Day! You decide which ones are true.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Where to Start?
Aw, shucks. Sam linked us off his blog, and here I haven't posted in months. Let's not discuss how long it's been since Kennan posted.
So I now return, with gusto, in the name of international friendships and recycling!
If you are expecting anything epic (either in meaningfulness or length), this post may disappoint you.
If, however, you are expecting a bit of rambling of what our life has been like for the past several months, here it is... in no particular order... the good, the bad & the ugly:
we've finally started recycling, and I'm pretty excited about it... Kennan has become as addicted to Facebook (the applications, mostly) as I am... we got to leave the good ol' US of A for the first time ever, traveling to both Taiwan and Thailand to go to two weddings and to meet my Thai family... we lost our first child to a miscarriage in November, and though we're sad, are healing... the groups at Emory and Tech are doing well, and I'm still loving my job... GT lost to Fresno State in the bowl game (AGAIN) and I'm disgusted with my team (but pessimistically hopeful for next fall)... we got the complete series of Stargate SG1 for Christmas and it's fabulous... I've been using the word "fabulous" a lot lately, and I'm not sure why... our cats are as bad and as cute as ever... our unbelievable friends threw a surprise party (happy b-day Kennan/condolences/bon voyage) for us before we left for Asia, and I have never before felt so loved or humbled... seeing the Taipei 101 "explode" with fireworks on New Year's eve was fun, but a little freaky... I'm finally reading "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis, and it's excellent... I continue to be amazed by how God loves us even when we're angry at him... Aaron and Becky are engaged, and that's super exciting!... I'm pleasantly surprised by the array of choices in the presidential election thus far... 99.7 is now Q100 and 100.5 is now a rock station with some of the old 99x peeps, and it's confusing... it snowed in Atlanta the day we got home from being in 95+ degree weather in Thailand... our apartment flooded while we were gone, and the Hwangs and the Mustains saved the day!... I turn 30 this year and am a little freaked out by that... Paul and Sarah are eagerly awaiting the sprouting of The Bean and (I'm excited that) I'm excited for them... Pretzel the Bear is now a world traveler... it was great to see family at Christmastime and I don't know where 2007 went... we slept from 9:30 pm Tues. to 6 pm Wed. when we got home from Asia... we're doing much better about our sleep schedule now and it's 10:30 so I'm going to say goodnight!
So I now return, with gusto, in the name of international friendships and recycling!
If you are expecting anything epic (either in meaningfulness or length), this post may disappoint you.
If, however, you are expecting a bit of rambling of what our life has been like for the past several months, here it is... in no particular order... the good, the bad & the ugly:
we've finally started recycling, and I'm pretty excited about it... Kennan has become as addicted to Facebook (the applications, mostly) as I am... we got to leave the good ol' US of A for the first time ever, traveling to both Taiwan and Thailand to go to two weddings and to meet my Thai family... we lost our first child to a miscarriage in November, and though we're sad, are healing... the groups at Emory and Tech are doing well, and I'm still loving my job... GT lost to Fresno State in the bowl game (AGAIN) and I'm disgusted with my team (but pessimistically hopeful for next fall)... we got the complete series of Stargate SG1 for Christmas and it's fabulous... I've been using the word "fabulous" a lot lately, and I'm not sure why... our cats are as bad and as cute as ever... our unbelievable friends threw a surprise party (happy b-day Kennan/condolences/bon voyage) for us before we left for Asia, and I have never before felt so loved or humbled... seeing the Taipei 101 "explode" with fireworks on New Year's eve was fun, but a little freaky... I'm finally reading "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis, and it's excellent... I continue to be amazed by how God loves us even when we're angry at him... Aaron and Becky are engaged, and that's super exciting!... I'm pleasantly surprised by the array of choices in the presidential election thus far... 99.7 is now Q100 and 100.5 is now a rock station with some of the old 99x peeps, and it's confusing... it snowed in Atlanta the day we got home from being in 95+ degree weather in Thailand... our apartment flooded while we were gone, and the Hwangs and the Mustains saved the day!... I turn 30 this year and am a little freaked out by that... Paul and Sarah are eagerly awaiting the sprouting of The Bean and (I'm excited that) I'm excited for them... Pretzel the Bear is now a world traveler... it was great to see family at Christmastime and I don't know where 2007 went... we slept from 9:30 pm Tues. to 6 pm Wed. when we got home from Asia... we're doing much better about our sleep schedule now and it's 10:30 so I'm going to say goodnight!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
WAUGH!
I was goofing off on MySpace (mistake #1, many of you might say). I came across a comment someone had left for a friend. It had bubble wrap to pop. I started popping. THEN, all of a sudden, this horrible, scary horror-movie face popped up on the screen, screaming! Waugh! I screamed (which added to the chaos) and am just so thankful that it's not 3 AM in the morning and glad that Kennan is still up to help me calm down.
What a dirty, low-down trick. If I ever get my hands on that person...
Anyway, WAUGH! not only describes that little shockeroo, but also life as of late.
Good WAUGH, bad WAUGH (exhausted WAUGH, too-much-sugar WAUGH, you name it)...
Good WAUGH: my inbox is down to 381 (since getting the number up from 666 to 777 seemed a daunting task, I opted to go down, instead)... Kennan passed his 2nd round of his written quals (next stop, oral quals and then 4 more years of grad school)... Easter choir practice started again (exciting, but time consuming)... more and more friends having birthdays, graduating, getting married, getting pregnant, having kids, etc. etc. (makes me feel old)... the groups at Tech and Emory continue to grow, as well as finding other discipline-specific groups to work with (great, but the nagging question is: Am I up to it?)... we got to go to the Chicago area for the annual GFM Staff Conference (so great, but rather overwhelming and exhausting-I need a vacation now!)... my awesome supervisor was in town (are you reading this, DP?)... Spring is finally here (but I know THE POLLEN is on its way!)... GT is going dancing (but will probably lose in the first or second round)...
Bad WAUGH: seeing friends lose children, marriages, parents, jobs, etc. (SO hard!)... realizing how badly I've fallen out of touch with so many friends from P-ville/college days (how do the years fly by so quickly?)... we tried to go to the Christmas Choir Reunion Party but got hopelessly lost in frickin' Sandy Springs (please don't try to tell me the suburbs are easier to get around than Midtown!)... The aforementioned evil popup (my heart is still beating so fast!)... seeing good friends struggle with budget/fundraising issues (why, O Lord, have you been so gracious to me?)... talking with a mentally-ill homeless man about Jesus (he seemed to be getting it, but then he started talking about how the sun used to be a man until he ascended and that someday we'll all have to pass through the sun to be purified)... our sleep schedule is a disaster (it's almost midnight and we're both still wide-awake)... one of the cats horked a hairball all over the dining room table (ew! ew! ew!)...
And how is everyone else? Any WAUGHs to share?
What a dirty, low-down trick. If I ever get my hands on that person...
Anyway, WAUGH! not only describes that little shockeroo, but also life as of late.
Good WAUGH, bad WAUGH (exhausted WAUGH, too-much-sugar WAUGH, you name it)...
Good WAUGH: my inbox is down to 381 (since getting the number up from 666 to 777 seemed a daunting task, I opted to go down, instead)... Kennan passed his 2nd round of his written quals (next stop, oral quals and then 4 more years of grad school)... Easter choir practice started again (exciting, but time consuming)... more and more friends having birthdays, graduating, getting married, getting pregnant, having kids, etc. etc. (makes me feel old)... the groups at Tech and Emory continue to grow, as well as finding other discipline-specific groups to work with (great, but the nagging question is: Am I up to it?)... we got to go to the Chicago area for the annual GFM Staff Conference (so great, but rather overwhelming and exhausting-I need a vacation now!)... my awesome supervisor was in town (are you reading this, DP?)... Spring is finally here (but I know THE POLLEN is on its way!)... GT is going dancing (but will probably lose in the first or second round)...
Bad WAUGH: seeing friends lose children, marriages, parents, jobs, etc. (SO hard!)... realizing how badly I've fallen out of touch with so many friends from P-ville/college days (how do the years fly by so quickly?)... we tried to go to the Christmas Choir Reunion Party but got hopelessly lost in frickin' Sandy Springs (please don't try to tell me the suburbs are easier to get around than Midtown!)... The aforementioned evil popup (my heart is still beating so fast!)... seeing good friends struggle with budget/fundraising issues (why, O Lord, have you been so gracious to me?)... talking with a mentally-ill homeless man about Jesus (he seemed to be getting it, but then he started talking about how the sun used to be a man until he ascended and that someday we'll all have to pass through the sun to be purified)... our sleep schedule is a disaster (it's almost midnight and we're both still wide-awake)... one of the cats horked a hairball all over the dining room table (ew! ew! ew!)...
And how is everyone else? Any WAUGHs to share?
Friday, January 12, 2007
eh
Lots to share, but not much motivation to do so. I figured I'd better break the silence, though.
Thought for today: I think it's well worth the $20 fee to have the vet clean the cats' teeth. The last time I tried, Newton clawed up my torso and Cider bit through the little finger cover/toothbrush thingie.
Good times. Happy New Year, everybody!
Thought for today: I think it's well worth the $20 fee to have the vet clean the cats' teeth. The last time I tried, Newton clawed up my torso and Cider bit through the little finger cover/toothbrush thingie.
Good times. Happy New Year, everybody!
Monday, November 13, 2006
Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin-eater
I'm stealing Laura's idea/last Sunday's Bible study icebreaker question...
In the fall, I love the
sight of the crowd at Bobby Dodd stadium as the players run onto the field...
smell of nutmeg and eggnog...
sound of AP's "Behold the Lamb" cd...
taste of pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce and stuffing and leftover turkey sandwiches and... and... and...
feel of crunching through piles of leaves on a walk with my best friend...
So what have the Cranes been up to? Our friend Katherine got us amazing seats at the Miami game: 5th row up, right above the players' tunnel. Whoo hoo! She caught #6 Pat Clark's glove (I was so jealous!) after the game. It's a disturbing sign of my personality that I coveted a sweaty glove...
Choir practice has started up and we're having a blast. I had a slight panic attack last night when I thought that the finale for The Amazing Race was the same night as the Christmas Celebration, but it's a week earlier; so everything's okay. Priorities, people!
What I do love about Choir practice is that the emphasis is on speaking (or singing) the gospel, not on having a performance. It helps me not be so prideful about my singing abilities. It's a good reminder that whatever gifts God has given to a person, he does so that he might be glorified.
We helped to host a baby shower for Team Redd & the Frazers... that was a lot of fun! It was no typical shower, mind you! We watched the game (we didn't play very well, but at least we won; and that means we're on our way to Jacksonville for the ACC Championship!), had a finger football tournament, and ate large amounts of meat, in addition to the usual present-opening, cutesy-cake-eating, girly-squealing good time you might expect to see at a baby shower.
And in case you were wondering, there are few things more wrong, yet more entertaining, than putting a crumpled up ball of masking tape on your cat's back, right between the shoulder blades where he can't really reach. I'm such a mean pet parent.
In the fall, I love the
sight of the crowd at Bobby Dodd stadium as the players run onto the field...
smell of nutmeg and eggnog...
sound of AP's "Behold the Lamb" cd...
taste of pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce and stuffing and leftover turkey sandwiches and... and... and...
feel of crunching through piles of leaves on a walk with my best friend...
So what have the Cranes been up to? Our friend Katherine got us amazing seats at the Miami game: 5th row up, right above the players' tunnel. Whoo hoo! She caught #6 Pat Clark's glove (I was so jealous!) after the game. It's a disturbing sign of my personality that I coveted a sweaty glove...
Choir practice has started up and we're having a blast. I had a slight panic attack last night when I thought that the finale for The Amazing Race was the same night as the Christmas Celebration, but it's a week earlier; so everything's okay. Priorities, people!
What I do love about Choir practice is that the emphasis is on speaking (or singing) the gospel, not on having a performance. It helps me not be so prideful about my singing abilities. It's a good reminder that whatever gifts God has given to a person, he does so that he might be glorified.
We helped to host a baby shower for Team Redd & the Frazers... that was a lot of fun! It was no typical shower, mind you! We watched the game (we didn't play very well, but at least we won; and that means we're on our way to Jacksonville for the ACC Championship!), had a finger football tournament, and ate large amounts of meat, in addition to the usual present-opening, cutesy-cake-eating, girly-squealing good time you might expect to see at a baby shower.
And in case you were wondering, there are few things more wrong, yet more entertaining, than putting a crumpled up ball of masking tape on your cat's back, right between the shoulder blades where he can't really reach. I'm such a mean pet parent.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Fortnight in Review
Over the past several weeks, I have had or at least overheard a number of interesting discussions/arguments. To wit:
college football vs. pro (college, all the way)
Calvinism vs. Armenianism (Happy Reformation Day!)
celebrating Halloween vs. not (pass the candy, please)
church planting model vs. church growth model (megachurches freak me out)
redemption of the entire earth theology vs. redemption of souls theology (for lack of better terminology; and as for my stance on this issue, let's just say that I've been accused of being a "neo-Calvinist," whatever that means)
Georgia Tech vs. U(sic)GA (not even a contest)
cats vs. dogs (actually, we like both... but when you live in 650 sq. ft...)
PCs vs. Macs (I'm quite happy with my Dell, but the pro-Mac commercials do make me laugh)
small house/small commute vs. big house/big commute (see "cats vs. dogs")
Daylight Saving Time vs. Arizona (not sure I really have an opinion on this one... it does bother me that AZ also doesn't celebrate MLK Day)
bunny ears vs. cable (we watch way too much TV as is!)
Team Trivia vs.... well, okay... versus nothing. I just wanted to mention that we got first place tonight! WHOO HOO!
Palestine vs. Israel (do NOT get me started on this... let's just say I listen to NPR)
Episcopal/Presbyterian church government vs. congregational church government (all in favor of not voting on every little thing, say AYE)
T-Mobile vs. Cingular (Cingular has rollover mins. but you sure do pay for them)
Skittles vs. Starburst (I like that Skittles are both crunchy and chewy)
Theism vs. Secular Humanism (sheesh... whether or not we descended from monkeys, some people sure do still act like apes, and on both sides of the argument)
Greek (fraternities & sororities) vs. non-Greeks (okay, so I'm not Greek and not the greatest fan of the system, but I've had my stereotypes challenged, and that's a good thing)
Yup, it's been an interesting couple of weeks indeed! I love having diverse friends, even when it makes life confusing and/or aggravating. So has anyone else had any good discussions that they'd like to share?
college football vs. pro (college, all the way)
Calvinism vs. Armenianism (Happy Reformation Day!)
celebrating Halloween vs. not (pass the candy, please)
church planting model vs. church growth model (megachurches freak me out)
redemption of the entire earth theology vs. redemption of souls theology (for lack of better terminology; and as for my stance on this issue, let's just say that I've been accused of being a "neo-Calvinist," whatever that means)
Georgia Tech vs. U(sic)GA (not even a contest)
cats vs. dogs (actually, we like both... but when you live in 650 sq. ft...)
PCs vs. Macs (I'm quite happy with my Dell, but the pro-Mac commercials do make me laugh)
small house/small commute vs. big house/big commute (see "cats vs. dogs")
Daylight Saving Time vs. Arizona (not sure I really have an opinion on this one... it does bother me that AZ also doesn't celebrate MLK Day)
bunny ears vs. cable (we watch way too much TV as is!)
Team Trivia vs.... well, okay... versus nothing. I just wanted to mention that we got first place tonight! WHOO HOO!
Palestine vs. Israel (do NOT get me started on this... let's just say I listen to NPR)
Episcopal/Presbyterian church government vs. congregational church government (all in favor of not voting on every little thing, say AYE)
T-Mobile vs. Cingular (Cingular has rollover mins. but you sure do pay for them)
Skittles vs. Starburst (I like that Skittles are both crunchy and chewy)
Theism vs. Secular Humanism (sheesh... whether or not we descended from monkeys, some people sure do still act like apes, and on both sides of the argument)
Greek (fraternities & sororities) vs. non-Greeks (okay, so I'm not Greek and not the greatest fan of the system, but I've had my stereotypes challenged, and that's a good thing)
Yup, it's been an interesting couple of weeks indeed! I love having diverse friends, even when it makes life confusing and/or aggravating. So has anyone else had any good discussions that they'd like to share?
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Throw-a-Fit Thursday
Registering a 10 on my suck-o-meter scale right now:
Fraternities who take up all the student tickets so that they can dress up, get drunk, turn around not facing the field and talk to their "brothers" the entire game.
Mosquitoes.
Cat poop.
The IRS.
Shirley Franklin and her Pothole Posse.
Brady Quinn and his creepy, soccer-mom-on-crack mother.
People who drive 55 mph in the fast lane, then SPEED UP as you're trying to pass their worthless, out-of-state butts.
Overly negative people.
Fraternities who take up all the student tickets so that they can dress up, get drunk, turn around not facing the field and talk to their "brothers" the entire game.
Mosquitoes.
Cat poop.
The IRS.
Shirley Franklin and her Pothole Posse.
Brady Quinn and his creepy, soccer-mom-on-crack mother.
People who drive 55 mph in the fast lane, then SPEED UP as you're trying to pass their worthless, out-of-state butts.
Overly negative people.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
A Day in the Life
So behind in posting! I've had all sorts of brilliant ideas that never came to fruition. Seems I've gotten lazy these days...
So here's a little bit of mental potpourri:
The trip went well but I'm glad to be back home... it's amazing what a car can smell like after 3 days of driving... our alarm clock radio woke us up the other morning to the lovely news that our friends in District 4 have finally regained consciousness and voted Cynthia McKinney OUT... I found out that one of my IV coworkers is on the front of Jill Phillips' newest album (3rd from the bottom left, with one arm raised)... Lime & Thai Chile Peanuts from Trader Joe's are tasty, but do not burp up well (ew)... no matter how old you get, you're always their "baby," and as time goes on and sweet little old ladies shrink, they accuse you of growing... I went through some of my old stuff at my parents' house and found my Headstart (Pre-K) diploma and cardboard mortarboard & tassel; I think I'll put that on my resume... the old adage (cliche) "You can't go home again" is shockingly accurate when you go from being Southern Baptist to Presbyterian... Tennessee is lovely country, but ain't nothin' in comparison with fair New Mexico, especially Los Alamos... apparently all good Presbyterians own pipes (Sam, you bad influence, you)... Nashville needs to pick up and move a little closer to Atlanta, so that I can go to things like the no cover charge, multi-Square Peg concerts being held on Tuesday nights... second cousins grow up really fast... it never fails, if you don't pack a book on a trip, you want to read, but if you bring an entire honking box, you find other things to do... no matter what was in the box, cats will brave all manner of odds to sit in the thing... cats, at least our cats, have perfected the art of looking both innocent and insolent at the same time... MySpace is taking over the world and that scares me... dinner tastes better when shared with friends... if anyone actually read all this, not only are you a loyal friend, but you have entirely too much spare time on your hands...
Yesterday was a marvelous day of "lasts": my last day selling shiny things at Pier 1 and Mom's last chemotherapy treatment. Whoo hoo! That's not mental potpourri, folks, that's news.
So here's a little bit of mental potpourri:
The trip went well but I'm glad to be back home... it's amazing what a car can smell like after 3 days of driving... our alarm clock radio woke us up the other morning to the lovely news that our friends in District 4 have finally regained consciousness and voted Cynthia McKinney OUT... I found out that one of my IV coworkers is on the front of Jill Phillips' newest album (3rd from the bottom left, with one arm raised)... Lime & Thai Chile Peanuts from Trader Joe's are tasty, but do not burp up well (ew)... no matter how old you get, you're always their "baby," and as time goes on and sweet little old ladies shrink, they accuse you of growing... I went through some of my old stuff at my parents' house and found my Headstart (Pre-K) diploma and cardboard mortarboard & tassel; I think I'll put that on my resume... the old adage (cliche) "You can't go home again" is shockingly accurate when you go from being Southern Baptist to Presbyterian... Tennessee is lovely country, but ain't nothin' in comparison with fair New Mexico, especially Los Alamos... apparently all good Presbyterians own pipes (Sam, you bad influence, you)... Nashville needs to pick up and move a little closer to Atlanta, so that I can go to things like the no cover charge, multi-Square Peg concerts being held on Tuesday nights... second cousins grow up really fast... it never fails, if you don't pack a book on a trip, you want to read, but if you bring an entire honking box, you find other things to do... no matter what was in the box, cats will brave all manner of odds to sit in the thing... cats, at least our cats, have perfected the art of looking both innocent and insolent at the same time... MySpace is taking over the world and that scares me... dinner tastes better when shared with friends... if anyone actually read all this, not only are you a loyal friend, but you have entirely too much spare time on your hands...
Yesterday was a marvelous day of "lasts": my last day selling shiny things at Pier 1 and Mom's last chemotherapy treatment. Whoo hoo! That's not mental potpourri, folks, that's news.
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