bath time...

Ella is so stinking cute at bath time! She just smiles and smiles and says all kinds of things that I can't understand. Probably something along the line of "I sure wish this water was a couple of degrees warmer, it's slightly a chill on my bum." But that's just a guess since I don't speak baby.

my experiment isn't a total loss...

Well, my little experiment in discipline and blogging has turned out to be a failure. 4 days into it I experienced my first major setback - Misti came home. Though it was cause for great joy, it also got me to bed much earlier than I had been bedding down before. With great gusto I prepared to announce my defeat but bravely soldier on to the finish line the next evening. All that soldiering on was totally intended but the follow through was lacking once I got ill after Sunday night's youth group message. As the minutes counted down I found myself sliding deeper and deeper into the dark abyss of "OH No... Not Strep!" which turned out to not be strep and instead has manifest itself into some very wearisome head cold. Therefore the last two days have kinda' been a wash.

But here I am moving forward - head cold and all - to complete the task before me.

It has been wonderful (even considering the aforementioned illnesses) having Misti and Ella back. I LOVE my little daughter. She smiles all the time and it brings me immeasurable amounts of satisfaction that Ella will do her "Ohh..." trick for me, and not Misti. And I am continually astounded at my wife's innate ability to mother. She's astounding! At any rate, time for some Chick-Fil-A.

Things I love... apart from the obvious.

1. Good Food.
2. Good Film.
3. Good Television.
4. Good Sport.

(not necessarily in that order)

Tonight, I had 4 of the 4 which from the standpoint of enjoyment makes this night a roaring success. I will work backwards.

I had chili that is about 2.5 days past its prime. Not so good, but I watched an episode of Psych and Burn Notice - 2 of my favorite television shows on the DVR. Those can make a bad meal not feel like so much of a waste.

Before the Chili incident I went to the movies with my students which served as a bonus because as we all know doing anything with friends is a major plus. I went to see Where the Wild Things Are on opening night. It's the first opening night I've been to since Star Wars 3. I must say it didn't disappoint, however I wouldn't go planning any trips to see it with individuals under 14. Though it may be rated PG, it is well over the head of most PG level children. But that is beside the point; I thought the movie was beautiful, well acted, and extremely well written. I feel like I could have watched that movie with my friends in Jax. and we would have been able to have quite the lively conversation to follow. And yes, the Monsters are scary but in that creepy David Bowie, Labrynth, sort of way.

Preceding the movie, I played a robust round of Disc Golf and had a wonderful time after joining in with 2 gentleman I had never met before in my life (I will call them Charlotte Bob and Big Philly, since I forgot their names pretty much immediately and they were from Charlotte and Philadelphia respectively. As you've probably guessed the guy from Philly was rather large and the guy from charlotte mentioned another disc golfer named Bob McDonald.)

Fortunately, for the Chili it didn't have to live up to the hype of it's peak performance because I had 2 of the most heavenly, delicious hotdogs sold on the face of the earth. To those in the know that is without doubt a Sandy's Chili Dog with the onions. It is one of only 2 dining establishments I know of that smells as good post meal as it does pre meal. I'm not sure how they do it, but my hat's off to both Sandy's and Tacos Del Rey for their fine dining smells.

All in all, a wonderful day off. Tomorrow brings an early breakfast with students (7:30) and a canoe trip for the other portion of the day. As a bit of an aside my canoe is nearly as wide as my white Ford Explorer XLT. I think I could do Jumping jacks on that thing and not flip it over.

Cheers.

Things I love... apart from the obvious.

1. Good Food.
2. Good Film.
3. Good Television.
4. Good Sport.

(not necessarily in that order)

Tonight, I had 4 of the 4 which from the standpoint of enjoyment makes this night a roaring success. I will work backwards.

I had chili that is about 2.5 days past its prime. Not so good, but I watched an episode of Psych and Burn Notice - 2 of my favorite television shows on the DVR. Those can make a bad meal not feel like so much of a waste.

Before the Chili incident I went to the movies with my students which served as a bonus because as we all know doing anything with friends is a major plus. I went to see Where the Wild Things Are on opening night. It's the first opening night I've been to since Star Wars 3. I must say it didn't disappoint, however I wouldn't go planning any trips to see it with individuals under 14. Though it may be rated PG, it is well over the head of most PG level children. But that is beside the point; I thought the movie was beautiful, well acted, and extremely well written. I feel like I could have watched that movie with my friends in Jax. and we would have been able to have quite the lively conversation to follow. And yes, the Monsters are scary but in that creepy David Bowie, Labrynth, sort of way.

Preceding the movie, I played a robust round of Disc Golf and had a wonderful time after joining in with 2 gentleman I had never met before in my life (I will call them Charlotte Bob and Big Philly, since I forgot their names pretty much immediately and they were from Charlotte and Philadelphia respectively. As you've probably guessed the guy from Philly was rather large and the guy from charlotte mentioned another disc golfer named Bob McDonald.)

Fortunately, for the Chili it didn't have to live up to the hype of it's peak performance because I had 2 of the most heavenly, delicious hotdogs sold on the face of the earth. To those in the know that is without doubt a Sandy's Chili Dog with the onions. It is one of only 2 dining establishments I know of that smells as good post meal as it does pre meal. I'm not sure how they do it, but my hat's off to both Sandy's and Tacos Del Rey for their fine dining smells.

All in all, a wonderful day off. Tomorrow brings an early breakfast with students (7:30) and a canoe trip for the other portion of the day. As a bit of an aside my canoe is nearly as wide as my white Ford Explorer XLT. I think I could do Jumping jacks on that thing and not flip it over.

Cheers.

Day 2

Day 2 of 7. Technically, I've already lost this challenge... Philosophically, my day doesn't actually end until i go to bed. I.E. challenge still a success.

I don't know why this has been bothering me but I was watching Top Gear (excellent T.V. show) on BBC America, when up starts the commercial break. Although I successfully managed to fast forward through most of the commercials (still a little slow at the reflexology of DVR), I would always catch a few seconds of the first commercial, an ad promoing the British Movie of the Week to which my first thought is "Great wonder what that will be?"

In my naivete, I wrongly assumed that for the British movie of the Week they might choose something, I don't know... British in theme? So many to choose from (literally), but let's face it the obvious answer to this question has to be The Hunt For Red October.

Truly there is nothing More British than a movie written by a prolific and unabashedly American author about a Russian Submarine captain defecting from the Russian military into American waters chased by American Admirals!

Hmmm... maybe they're just excited they finally get to stick it to the Ruskis by showing their finest submarine admiral had a British accent. Way to go Brits!! (I'm sorry if I've offended any Ruskis.)

In other news... Reign of Fire might be the worst movie I've seen the last 28 min. of - ALL TIME!! And yet, I've still watched all 28 min.

My thursday evenings are sad.

I can't wait until Misti and Ella get home.

internet part 2

Last time I blogged, I was pretty excited about having the internet. I had this suspicion that I might actually be more consistent in my blogging. That has obviously not been the case. So, in an effort to work on my very lackluster discipline, I'm going to set a specific, achievable, practical, and measurable goal for my situation. I'm going to blog for one week without fail. If I fail... hmm... I can't think of what I'll do, but I'll do something...

This week at a glance (so far)...
1. Gave plasma for the first time and it wasn't nearly as lucrative as you may think. But it will still be worth my time from this point forward. Give 2x a week and earn some pittance that can go toward my astronomical gas bill.
2. First Sunday that I did my own message to the youth - Magnifying grace - It was pretty much a rip off of what my church in Greenville did for their core values series. I thought it was so good, I decided to to do it myself! Good thing too, we saw 2 students come to know Christ! Now to disciple them...
3. Misti left town - which has meant a ridiculously out of balance schedule. I'm getting a taste of what life would be like without her and Ella, and it's not pretty.
4. Lots of prep work that makes me feel like I'm not getting anything done for the Youth group.
5. Discouragement in the wake of seeing Jesus move. This is the inevitable curse of the evangelist.

I love sharing the gospel. It is literally a fun activity for me, and yet after the rush of the experience comes the inevitable lows, at which point comes the attack from the evil one. My Spirit is attacked at it's lowest, which means lies and accusations - lazy, no one really likes you, you're not actually doing your job, you're not living up to God's expectations, blah, blah... blah, blah! It's depressing and being alone without Misti isn't helping any. I've stayed pure, my mind hasn't been roaming for something poisonous to devour - I guess, mostly my spirit is lonely. This is one of those times when having friends would be nice.

You know, it just occurred to me that I fell right smack dab into the trap. I've been so morose in my cold house that I haven't thought of anyone or anything else. Just my own sorry state. Sure it'd be nice to have friends that I can hang with, but I don't! I guess it's time to get over it and spend some time with Jesus instead.