Movember: The Swelleck

November is MOvember.

I wanted to call this one the CHiP but, so far as I know, neither Ponch nor John sported a soup strainer for any extended period of time.

Naturally, the king of the stash is the man himself, Tom Selleck:



Seriously, Tom Selleck is like one of those monasteries preserving the wisdom of civilization through the dark ages. He is like a one man monastery of the masculine moustache.

So I thought of calling this one the "Magnum". But who am I kidding? Sadly, I am more Ron Swanson than I am Tom Selleck:



 But I aspire to rise above my inner Swanson and possibly scratch the underbelly of the great Selleck (wait . . . that sounds wrong).

 *Ahem*

In honor of Movember, I give you the Swelleck:

Seriously though, (unlike the Swelleck) prostate cancer is no joke. If you are a man over 40, get checked regularly.

Also, don't beat your kids.

Quote of the Day

There is nothing progressive about being pig headed and refusing to admit a mistake

- CS Lewis

Tummy Time

Movember: The Bubba

As I mentioned before, November is MOvember.

I am calling this little gem "The Bubba".

When I stepped out of the bathroom, the wife cringed. "You think this is ugly?", I replied, "You should take a good look at prostate cancer."

If you are a man over 40 you should be screened regularly. Git 'er done!

BTW . . . the breast cancer people have these funny but irreverent t-shirts:

I was trying to come up with an equivalent slogan for prostate cancer. I have a couple of ideas but so far nothing I would be willing to wear on a t-shirt.

Any ideas?

Movember: The Daddy-o

November is MOvember.

 For those who don't know, Movember is a month in which participating men start out clean-shaven and grow a big-ol' stash to bring awareness to men's health issues in general, men's cancer in particular and prostate cancer specifically. If you are a man over the age of 40 - you should get yourself checked regularly. Seriously, prostate cancer will kill you if you don't catch it.

So this is not technically a stash but I figured I would go big and pare it back. I am calling this one the Daddy-o since I am pretty sure Dad's are amongst the very few who are allowed goatees these days.

As dads we sorta get a "dad-credit" when it comes to fashion and grooming. After all, when all the hard-bodied, flat-bellies are going to the gym, paying $40 for a haircut with highlights and cruising the bar scene, Daddy-o's are changing diapers, getting the kids to school and helping cook meals that their kids will never eat - let 'em grow a goatee if they want for Pete's sake!

All together now!:


Gas station glasses, 
Don't care what the masses 
Think about me and my sweet goatee . . .

Quote of the Day

Before the truth "sets you free", it tends to make you miserable.

- Richard Rohr in Falling Upward

Little Surfer Girl

I am way behind on posting photos! This is from Me and Annie's latest "go out" in October. It was a little stressful as the wife and I were the only "AB's" that were at the event so it was just Annie and I going solo without much of a safety net. Well, we didn't get dressed up for nothin' . . .

The board is a "Wave Ski" that Mad Man Mark loaned us. The seat worked great for Annie!

Surf's Up!

Annie was deliriously happy the rest of the day. Here she is still feeling the stoke an hour later . . .

Quote of the Day

Our mind, it seems, is more pleased with universals: never-broken, always-applicable rules and patterns that allow us to predict and control things. This is good for science, but lousy for religion.

Everytime God forgives us, God is saying that God's own rules do not matter as much as the relationship that God wants to create with us.

- Richard Rohr in Falling Upward

Me and Cousin Blake Watching the Fountain

Quote of the Day

"Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them."

- Dalai Lama

Quote of the Day

"It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends."

- Albus Dumbledore

Quote of the Day

"I don't like that man. I must get to know him better."

- Abraham Lincoln

Medical Update: Kyphosis and Broken Femur

Most people are familiar with scoliosis - when a spine bends side-to-side instead of growing straight up and down. Fewer people are familiar with kyphosis which is like scoliosis only the spine bends front to back. Annie was born with a kyphosis. In her case, her spine bends outward from her back so there is a bony bump just below the center of her back.

(I was going to post an Xray but my scanner won't work)

The doctors told us when she was born that this would most likely get worse and eventually require surgery but the key is to put off the surgery as long as possible. There isn't much that can be done aside from making sure Annie sits up straight in her wheelchair but, of course, she does not spend all day in her wheelchair - she is often on the floor army-crawling, tumbling and playing as three-year-olds do.

Well this past Monday we went in for our 2-year kyphosis check up and the curve has gotten worse. The doc wants to see us back in 6 months and he estimates that corrective surgery will happen around age 5.

It's a real drag to know that there is something wrong with your child's health and that it's worsening and there is nothing you can do about it (even if you knew this was coming).

To top it off, Holly noticed on Wednesday that Annie's left thigh felt swollen and warm. There was no discoloration so it was something of a mystery. Naturally, Annie wasn't having any discomfort as she can't feel her legs. When the swelling and heat did not dissipate, we took Annie in to her pediatrician. Xrays showed that Annie has a crack in her left femur.

(again, my scanner is not working)

There are no signs of trauma (bruising etc.) so most likely Annie just turned the wrong way and it cracked. The doc explained that a cracked femur is often called a "Toddler's Fracture" because it occurs so often in toddlers. The doc comforted us by explaining that his own able-bodied daughter had a toddler fracture just from jumping up and down and with Annie's leg bones being less dense than most, it's not surprising that this happened. So Annie is now sporting a hip-to-toe fiberglass cast for the next three weeks.

I know that no parent has complete 100% control over the health of their child but these two blows back-to-back this week have had the wife and I pacing the house at all hours out of sheer adrenaline fueled by worry, frustration and a little despair.

So that is the latest.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Leggo Your Ego

I won't say "all", I won't say "most" and I even won't say "many" but "some" (and here I am being generous) act according to the following:

- "I am in 100% control of my destiny"
- "When things go poorly - it's because someone else has done something wrong
- So it's no wonder I am MAD
- So I will disengage from everyone who is different than me
- I know exactly what is wrong with you, society, the world, the universe - just ask me!

This may come as a shock but . . . . You. Are. Not. God. And you know it.

If you are an atheist, you know there is no God so you couldn't be him/her. If you are a believer you by default believe that someone/something else is God so you couldn't be him/her. If you are a believer who ACTUALLY believes you are God - get medication. No. Really. NOW.

1) You are not in 100% control of your life.

2) Sometimes things are going to go poorly.

3) It is a waste of energy to get angry about 1 and 2

4) So Carry On - Slow and Steady

5) You don't need to have an opinion about EVERYTHING. This may come as another shock but most people aren't interested in your opinion anyway (they are just waiting for you to finish so they can express THEIR opinion)

Richard Rhor in his book "Falling Upward" explains that we spend our adolescence trying on different personas. In my elementary school, you were the class clown, the guy who was REALLY good at kickball or the smart kid. In Junior High you were either a nerd, surfer, soch or hesher. In High School it was either jock, soch, smoker or geek. When you go to college, your persona is further solidified by your major of study.

By early / mid-twenties, you begin adding addenda to your persona by way of a spouse , children, cars, house (and by addenda, I mean your are the jock-engineer who is married, has two kids etc).

The trouble is, while these persona constructs are helpful in adolescence and early adulthood (Rhor says they are a survival mechanism) they are ultimately false. You ARE who God MADE you from birth. This is not to discount lessons, experiences and detours along the way but at the very core, you are not this false persona - you are more than conservative or liberal - more than marathoner or couch potato - more than even a father, mother or spouse - you are an incredibly unique creation of God at your very core.

Unfortunately, it usually takes intense suffering to strip away that false persona - that false ego. God help you if your adult career comes with a recognized label such as "Priest", "Doctor", "Professor" etc. The more you identify yourself to others with a label, the more supernatural help you are going to need to wipe that label away (read "suffering"). And that is where I am at.

I am not God. I confess that I have acted like I was from time to time and occasionally I forget that I am not God still; but more and more I am remembering:

That Figures

We Shall See

Keep Calm and Rock On

Slow and Steady

I Don't Feel Strongly About That

I am trying to leggo my ego.

More opinionated folks may argue that I am quitting - throwing in the towel - despairing out of exhaustion. From where I sit, it is the exact opposite. YES I am exhausted but I am exhausted from pointlessly kicking against goads.

When you go through a period of intense suffering, when you are forced into survival mode for an extended period of time, there is a mental, spiritual and emotional pruning that happens. You find yourself in a sinking ship and you are continually throwing things overboard so that in the end you are left with only that which is truly important to you.

And the truly important to me is not politics, religion or money. For me, the truly important is God (as I understand him) my daughter, my wife, my friends and family and regular old human beings that I randomly encounter every day (as CS Lewis said, "You have never met a mere mortal"). I no longer want lesser things to stand in the way of more important things.

This is not to say that I don't have ANY opinions or that I don't enjoy a good and vigorous debate. It's just that in the increasingly rare moments that I do debate, I am more interested in you proving me wrong than in me proving you wrong.

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" - Proverbs 27:17

Things are going to go wrong today. I am not in 100% control to stop it. So I am learning to Keep Calm, Rock On, Slow and Steady and I don't have the time or energy to have an opinion about every last detail of life.

I am not God. And that's okay.

I don't want to suggest that I have reached some sorta zen-like Buddha calm (do Buddha and zen go together?) because most days I feel more like Michael Douglas in "Falling Down" than Buddha, Jesus or Mother Theresa . . .

But rather than falling down, I am trying to "Fall Up" as Richard Rhor terms it.

I am trying to leggo my ego (and believe me, it's A LOT to let go of).

Quote of the Day

"The more one judges, the less one loves." 

- Honore de Balzac

Yep: 5 guys vs In-and-Out

http://youtu.be/dZXpkZJLy30

Quote of the Day

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." 


- Dr. Seuss

I Don't Feel Strongly About That

When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

-Proverbs 10:19

In the past (maybe even in the present), others might have described me as "opinionated" and I wasn't, really. I just had a very clear and concise worldview that allowed me to boil the generalities of any situation into "yes" or "no". I wasn't opinionated - I was decisive (you decide if there is a difference).

My Christian faith has always been an important part of my life and for much of my life, I was actually paid as a speaker to deliver my opinions to others. My worldview was so well thought out (it really was) that even if I didn't have an opinion about something, if you asked for my opinion, I could manufacture one on the spot and defend it with zeal. I had knowledge but I had not walked through the crucible of fire that burns off the dross and leads to wisdom (I am not saying I am wise now, however).

It is not only flattering to be asked your opinion but it is empowering as well. To be asked your opinion is to be given a measure of control.

"Where do you want to go for dinner?"

"I want to go to XYZ"

All of a sudden you have skin in the game. You have staked out a position which you must defend.

Really? Do you have that much extra energy to expend on all these opinions? Of course the issues go deeper than dinner - we can talk religion, politics, money . . . but I don't have the energy. Generally speaking, I just don't have the energy anymore.

For reasons that need to be addressed in a different post, there is something about intense suffering that strips away your NEED to have an OPINION about EVERYTHING. It's not that "I don't care". I just don't care enough to bleed over it. Yes, I "care" but I rarely feel "strongly" these days.

I DO NOT NEED TO HAVE AN OPINION ABOUT EVERYTHING IN LIFE!

And since I do not need to have an opinion about everything in life, I find that dogmatic lines are blurred. I have very little use for labels anymore and consequently, I have very little use for labels that you may want to ascribe to me. Am I fat? Sorta. Am I built? Kinda. Am I lazy? A little. Am I athletic? In a way. And so on. Am I conservative? On some things. Am I liberal? Kinda. Am I Christian? YES (but I'm lousy at it). Yes, I teach an adult Sunday School class but I don't really enjoy it and am surprised every week when they don't "fire" me.

A few weeks ago, I walked out of Target and there were a couple of people collecting signatures for a voter initiative; "Sir, are you in favor of gay marriage?" they asked. To which I replied, "You know, I don't feel strongly about it either way". They stood there in stunned silence as I walked past.

=And "no" I am not going to explain my position on gay marriage so don't bother emailing me about it - "I don't have strong feelings about that"=

And spare me all the, "All that is required for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing" BS. I have opinions. I just don't have as MANY opinions.

More and more, I find myself just shrugging, and saying, "I don't have strong feelings about that". It's not that I "don't care" it's just that I don't care enough to go down that forensic road with you at this moment. I have prioritized my emotional energy and I find that on most days "I don't have strong feelings about" whether we order from Round Table or Papa John's.

What I feel strongly about is that there is some sort of pizza here within the hour - you all work out the details . . . and I am happy to chip in . . .

Quote of the Day

“If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus is just as selfish as we are or we’ve got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition. And then admit that we just don’t want to do it.”

 – Stephen Colbert

Quote of the Day

‎"All I ask is the chance to prove that money can't make me happy." -S. Milligan

When the Load is Heavy - Slow and Steady

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own.

- Matthew 6:34

We all have those days: days when our "to-do" list runs off the bottom of the computer screen or runs onto a second piece of paper. There are some things that can be bumped to tomorrow - in the grand scheme they are not the end-all-be-all. But then there are days that you look at the truly urgent items, the truly important tasks and appointments and you realize that not only some of the chaff needs to be bumped to tomorrow but some of the wheat as well. That's a stressful situation.

We are all familiar with the concept that "it will never all get done" but what about those days when it ALL ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY HAS to get done? In the past, I used to get up earlier (showing up at work as early as 2:30am - no joke). I used to surge into the day on a wave of adrenaline. I used to "put the pedal to the metal" - floor it! - and race into an impossible day with a brick wall at the end of it. No more. Nowadays I am more likely to downshift.

Things are going to go wrong.

You will NEVER be in complete control of your day.

So you might as well "Keep Calm and Rock On"

But how do you "Rock On" in the face of an impossible day? I have learned to accept my limitations, downshift and repeat, "Slow and Steady".

My usual routine is to pull up my "to-do" list in Google Tasks each morning and start shuffling things to tomorrow. They won't all get done, so why pretend? I prioritize what is left of the truly important things but even then an impossible day awaits me. It makes you want to quit and sit on the couch all day watching WW2 movies (for me at least). I have already failed and the day hasn't even started.

Slow and Steady


Yes, things go wrong. Yes, I am not totally in control. Yes, I should keep calm. But I also need to Rock On. And the usual frantic charging into the day just no longer works for me.

I have been told that one of the concepts of Alcohol Anonymous is not staying sober for the rest of your life, the rest of this year, month, week, or day but to simply decide "I will not drink right now". You repeat that over and over and you manage to make it through the day, week, month and so on. One foot in front of the other . . .

As anyone who has ever had to literally tow a heavy load (boat, trailer etc) will tell you, when you have a heavy load to pull, the lower gears work better than the upper gears. The upper gears may be faster in general but they don't have enough power to pull the heaviest of loads. In an odd reversal, when you have a heavy load to pull, you will go faster and farther in a lower gear than you will in a higher gear. Slow and Steady is the name of the game.

When I am facing a day in which I know I will not get everything done that needs to be done, I simply decide to put one foot in front of the other "now" - Slow and Steady. It's 6am and I am going to choose put one foot in front of the other until 5pm and then I will allow myself to quit for the day. What gets done, gets done. Tomorrow is another day and if the Lord allows me to live till tomorrow, I will worry about tomorrow when it gets here.

Very, VERY, VERY important things may (and have) fall(en) through the cracks. But at least I have a decent chance of getting the single most important thing on my to-do list done today.

I am going to do the absolute best I can today AND NOT A BIT MORE. Because that really is all that I can do anyway. That's reality. No point in "losing it" in a stew of frustration, anger and depression at not being able to do the impossible.

BTW - If you want to shriek and wail that I am not doing enough fast enough - downshift yourself and pitch in or go tell it to your shrink. In the meantime I will Keep Calm and ROCK ON Slow and Steady in the lowest, most powerful gear . . .

That Figures

We Shall See

Keep Calm - Rock On

When the load is heavy - Slow and Steady.

Keep Calm - Rock On

I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength

- Philippians 4:12-13

A man's wisdom gives him patience . . .

- Proverbs 19:11a

Pain is just weakness leaving the body.

- US Marine Corps

"Keep Calm, Carry On" was a WW2 British morale poster. I recently saw a parody of it that said "Keep Calm - Rock On" which I prefer.

For all my moralizing about "That Figures" and "We Shall See", I still get really creased about things from time to time. However I find that it doesn't seem to happen as often as it used to. If you are lucky, there is a certain amount of present strength that can come from past suffering. It may not come right away - you may feel broken and defeated for a time - but hopefully you come out on the other side with a new perspective and an, "I have faced worse", strength.

I find myself repeating "Keep Calm - Rock On" when I find myself despairing of circumstances. I can feel the panic, the despair (anger even) welling up. My dear cousin calls it "flooding" which I initially dismissed as hooey but now believe as gospel. When this happens I try to recall:

1) That Figures: Jesus himself promised we would have troubles

2) We Shall See: Life has never been and never will be mine to control 100%. I can do my best to steer the boat but the weather is not up to me. Quit shouting at the wind and concentrate on the rudder . . .

Keep Calm and Rock On

When things fall apart or get frustrating you can get angry, you can get depressed (which is just anger without enthusiasm) but it won't change those two fundamental truths. In fact, when I find myself start to get frustrated it is usually because I am refusing to acknowledge these truths, "That Figures" and "We Shall See".

On a funny side note: I think about this video quite often when I am dealing with all the bureaucratic BS that goes along with this semi-ridiculous life:


http://youtu.be/Kmmgx_jPlKI

"It going to be a problem."

"I figured! (They say it's going to be a nightmare . . . something about hell-on-earth . . . )"

Stuff is going to go wrong, sometimes it will derail the best laid plans. Sometimes, in hindsight, the stuff you thought was going wrong was just stuff going right in an unexpected direction.

So you might as well tell yourself to "Keep Calm and Rock On" chances are you have faced down worse. And if this is the absolute worst you have ever faced, with any luck it will remain worst you ever have to face and you will be able to draw strength from it for future challenges.

Big Huge Caveat: Sometimes a pithy slogan isn't enough. By that (in my unprofessional, non-medical opinion) panic attacks are never okay. When I started having panic attacks a couple of years back, I knew exactly why. I could point to half-a-dozen circumstances that would drive any sane person around the bend. The fact that I could explain my anxiety proved to me that I wasn't "crazy" and didn't need help. I thought professional help was for those who were having panic attacks for no reason. I was wrong. If your present situation is driving you to panic attacks or debilitating anxiety, get professional help. It may involve medication, it may not. I waited far longer than I should have and endured far more pain than I needed to. And since hurting people tend to hurt people, those around me endured more pain than they needed to as well.

That exception aside . . . .

We Shall See

Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple

- Barry Switzer

Now listen you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil"

- James 4:13-16

Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth

- Mike Tyson

You are not 100% in control of your life. In fact, you are really only in control on the margins and even then only because God, The Universe, Karma and the Flying Spaghetti Monster have allowed you to be. Want proof?

You did not have control over whether you were born in a hospital in the US or a mud hut in some third world country. Your parents probably got to decide whether they would eat right and exercise but even they did not have 100% control over whether you were born with a mental or physical disability. You can choose to wear your seat belt and obey traffic laws but you do not get to decide whether you are t-boned in an intersection by a texting teenage driver who runs the red light. Eat right, exercise, get a good job, a beautiful wife and wonderful kids - get a brain tumor and die young anyway (This has happened to not one but two people I have known).

In recent conversations with adults who have suffered spinal cord injuries far too many of their stories go something like this: "I was driving and the next thing I knew I woke up in the hospital  and couldn't move my legs". We are all a fraction of a second from a chronic or terminal injury or illness.

The fact that you are even alive today is not entirely up to you. You are not in 100% control. Life is a gift and like all gifts, you don't get to control what is underneath the wrapping. Oh sure, we can be good boys and girls and send Santa our wish list but Christmas morning is never 100% what we want or expect. Some gifts in life are better than we expect, some are not.

We Shall See.

I find I am making far fewer declarative statements than I used to. While I have both short and long term goals for my life, I find that I hold those plans much more loosely now. This plays out in little ways in my day-to-day life. Ask me if I will be at your house for dinner next Thursday and my answer will not be "Yes" but rather, "That's my plan . . .". "Will you be home by 2pm?" not "Yes" but "That's my intention . . ." It's a subtle shift in wording but a huge shift in how I approach the world. And of course, when things don't go as "planned", "That Figures".

This is not fatalism or a shirking of responsibility for those things we do have control over but rather learning to live with the truth of James 4 as opposed to the illusion of 100% control. I don't pat myself on the back as much these days as if I can claim 100% responsibility for my successes and I don't beat myself up as much these days as if my every hardship could have been avoided if only I "coulda-shoulda-woulda". I can tell you that my life at 41 is in some ways very different than I had planned. Some of that I had control over and a whole bunch I didn't.

What will my life look like in 1-3-5-10 years? Well, I have some ideas and some plans but, in the end, it's not entirely up to me. The next batter up just might hit a double sending me from first base to third or, as the great theologian Mike Tyson said, life just might punch me in the mouth.

It's the truth and that's okay.

We Shall See.

Quote of the Day

"Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason"

- Jerry Seinfeld

That Figures

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33

The past 5 years have been ones of upheaval for me personally. Over those years I have come to a set of 5 guiding phrases that I find myself repeating like a mantra. Those phrases are:

1) That Figures
2) We Shall See
3) Keep Calm - Rock On
4) Slow and Steady
5) I don't feel Strongly About That

 I thought I would write a series of posts on these phrases - not for YOU, you understand - but for me - to help clarify my thinking about them.

"That Figures" 

No less than Jesus Christ himself promised us that we would have troubles. Things won't always go our way. And yet, I (used to) find myself getting exasperated, angry, incensed (even) when my day would not roll out according to the script I had written in my head. I am learning to believe John 16:33.

Sh*t is going to go wrong today - I PROMISE you. It's okay, it may harm you, it may maim you but most likely it won't kill you. I no longer expect the coffee maker to work. I don't expect my car to start. On the upside, I am greatly pleased when the coffee maker DOES work and the car DOES start.

 There are people who go their whole lives without the beating I have had in the past 5 years. And that's fine (please understand - this is not "poor me-ism". As a church leader recently exclaimed upon hearing my story "THAT IS FU*KED UP!"). But there is a certain depth of character that I have felt that I don't think I would have without the hardships of the past 5 years. I am not suggesting people who don't suffer are more superficial. I am just saying that I was more superficial before my recent suffering. Me. Not you. Me.

Have I gone from optimistic to pessimistic? No. Both are false extremes. I am learning to BELIEVE Jesus in John 16:33. I am becoming more REALISTIC. And I suppose that is maturity. More and more, when things go wrong in my day, it doesn't surprise me. I am not entirely caught off-guard and consequently I do not experience as much frustration. My past suffering has brought more present peace. Nowadays, when things go wrong, I mostly stop, shrug, and say, "That figures".

Trouble is exactly what was promised.

"That figures".

Dogs

by Aaron Kramer

Looking foolish next to the tree in a one o'clock rain:
umbrella aloft, the leash in my other hand—
I wanted my late-coming neighbor to understand
that dogs are worth the expense, inconvenience, and pain;

their tails are truthful, no coiled rebellion beneath
a loving look; they are quick to kiss you, and quick
to fetch for you, and —should you raise a stick
threateningly—they are quick to show their teeth;

and better still (but this I never revealed),
when you bring downfall home, the death of a hope,
their nonchalant manner does more for you than a drink;
and best of all, when triumph's to be unsealed,
such lack of respect they show for the envelope,
—your fingers halt, the brain cools, and you think.

Quote of the Day

"He who risks and fails can be forgiven. He who never risks and never fails is a failure in his whole being." - Paul Tillich

Quote of the Day

You must ask for God's help...After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. - CS Lewis

Signing Up

http://youtu.be/8tB_ugQ4psQ

Dog Owners: Holy Cow this is Funny

http://youtu.be/VMeXGE_a8Gg

Would You Just Look At Me for a Second?

(Minor language warning) http://youtu.be/xSSDeesUUsU

Punkin' Patch

Contemplating Hay . . .

AND THEN THE GREAT PUMPKIN WILL RISE OUT OF THE PUMPKIN PATCH BRINGING TOYS TO GOOD BOYS AND GIRLS!

Quote of the Day

"It is too easy to make commentary on my life from your luxury box." - unknown

The Husband

by Joseph Mills He comes every day to eat lunch and sit with her in the sun room. Sometimes he reads letters out loud from their children or friends; sometimes he reads the paper as she sleeps. One day the staff makes her favorite cake to celebrate their anniversary, and he tells how, to buy her ring, he worked months of overtime at the factory, so she thought he was seeing someone else. "As if I would look at other women when I have Pearl," he says, shaking his head. She begins to cry and tells him, "You're sweet, but I miss my husband." He pats her hand. "I know," he says, "It's all right. Try some cake."

Take It Now . . .

Because this may be the last time I look directly at a camera for the next 6 months . . .

Reusing Words

by Hal Sirowitz

Don't think you know everything,
Father said, just because you're good
with words. They aren't everything.
I try to say the smallest amount possible.
Instead of using them indiscriminately
I try to conserve them. I'm the only one
in this household who recycles them. I
say the same thing over & over again,
like "Who forgot to turn out the lights?
Who forgot to clean up after themselves
in the bathroom?" Since you don't listen
I never have to think of other things to say.