Merry Christmas.

In him was given so much, that heaven could give no more.

Of all the things that Mark said this morning, this is what I remember. It was part of his opening prayer. I don't know exactly where it came from, just that it was part of a book of prayers. Some day I will send out Christmas cards and this is all it will say. Not four words, but quality words nonetheless.

Merry Christmas. God bless you all.

Dito.

This almost made me tear up.

Toes Part 2

It's official. My toe is broken. I spent the afternoon at the ER with Mary. I gave in after I lost my footing going up my stairs last night and landed on my toes. It was painful; I had to crawl up the stairs. It was pathetic. So, I feel like I am back at square one. X-ray shows a clear break. It looks like it split in half and then shifted over a little. They still can't do anything. Tape it to the other toe. Keep it elevated. Ice it. Wear a boot. And carry a cane!!! Actually, that was our idea. I just wanted to have something help me walk and they gave me a cane. Awesome.

Toes

My poor boy broke his toe last Monday. At least that is our diagnosis. It looks broken and feels broken. Not much a doctor can do, so he didn't go to the doctor. He has it wrapped to the another toe. He's taking advils and keeping it elevated as much as he can. Oh, how did he break his toe? He was going down our stairs to check the mail. He slipped and his toe went into the railing. It's been a few days and he is feeling better. But Jessie and I still need to be careful not to accidentally step on it - we aren't the most graceful creatures.

Yesterday, our little family started decorating for Christmas. We cleaned up to some holiday tunes and then decorated as we watched the Army/Navy game. I think it was around halftime when I started lighting candles around the house. I got this fun new Yankee-like candle that smells like Sugar Cookies. It was on sale which is a must because I can't bring myself to spend $20 for a candle. So, I was carrying it to the living room when it came out of my hand and straight onto my foot. Pain. Pain. Pain. A scream that even caused Jessie to come to the living room to see what was going on. It landed on its corner at the base of my two toes. I think it landed on a vein. It was instantly purple and swelled. I'm holding the candle now and I wonder how much it weighs - 22 oz candle, brand new, glass jar. Man, it hurt. Yes - I cried, a lot. Well, I can't walk right now. I hobble around because I can't put any pressure on it - it kills. I don't think the toe is broken but I wonder about the foot itself. Hopefully it will get better. It took Timmy a few days, so I am going to give a few days too. If not, I may need to see a doctor.

So for now, Timmy and I are a matching set with busted up feet.

Beer

I'm currently watching The Biggest Loser and I learned this interesting fact:

If you drink 2 beers a week for one year, you will have consumed 15,000 calories. The average American drinks 6 beers a week - that's more than 45,000 calories a year from beer.

Only two months late.

Last September, the weekend after Labor Day Weekend, Timmy and I went to Orlando. I promised to blog some pictures, but the pictures were on my phone until very recently. Here are some of those pictures.

Here's Timmy outside of Universal Studios. I liked it. It was okay. I liked that they were shows or show-like. We thankfully didn't have lots of people there. No more than 10 minutes in line. But there was a Rock the Universe concert - ah man, thousands and thousands of youth groups. We could have done without them. So we did and didn't go back to the park on Saturday when we expected them to be there all day.



Here's me outside of Islands of Adventure. I didn't like this place much. Why? Because I don't like rides. They make me cry. Yes, cry. I cried twice, maybe three times. I got onto that one ride that takes you straight up and then drops you - Doctor Dooms' something or another. Well, I started freaking out when the guy locked me in and made him release me. I walked away and started crying. And I cried at Jaws - even though, I think that's at Universal. I know it isn't a scary ride at all, but I hate the building of suspense. That's what freaks me out. So it ended and I started crying and told Timmy I didn't want to go on any more rides. I think there may have been another ride where I cried, but I can't remember.



I can't remember the name of the restaurant. It was at Islands of Adventure and it was in a tree and it was cold and I ate turkey.



Mostly the parks were just an excuse to go away and stay at a nice hotel. We stayed at The Peabody. Definitely that fanciest place I have ever been. It was one of those places where you look at what you're wearing and what everyone else was wearing and then you felt silly. This was the view of our room. I think we were on the 9th floor of like 25 or so. That's the pool. It was on the roof (can't think of the right word). Of course, we went there everyday.



The room itself was disappointing, especially compared to the Lancaster Arts Hotel(which we absolutely love!!). The TV in the bathroom was booty whack and not worth blogging. But the bed was super comfortable and they had cable. So, we watched tv. I love watching tv in hotel beds :)



So, besides hanging at the pool and watching tv, we were nerds. Here's Timmy seeking clarification on some nerdery.Can you see his little bottle of scotch next to him? We got that the first night we were there.



And yes, I have been sucked into nerdery. Not nearly as bad as Timmy and Neilie. But there I am on vacation and playing Middle Earth. Oh and that's my Manischewitz - mmm, classy.



I missed Jessie terribly. The first night we went out. We ended up at one of those dollar tourist shops, after visiting the local liquor store. I found this adorable little stuffed dog that reminded me of my baby. I held it for a half hour, tried not to buy it, but it was no good. It slept at my bedside each night we were away. I said good morning to it and good night. And I gave it kisses. I know, I know, there is something deeply wrong with me. When we got home, Timmy put a red collar on it. Now it really looks like J-J,



Overall, I am glad I can say I did the Universal thing, but Timmy and I don't like people enough to deal with lots of tourists. And we did miss the pup. So, next year, it's all about renting a house by a lake where we can take our dog. That would be a great vacation.

J-J

Today I bought Jessie a Christmas stocking. It matches ours perfectly - thanks Target for bringing the same stockings back. Now, her "J" can hang with our "T" and "M." I told Timmy that for a moment I thought about buying stockings for our not yet conceived children - Target won't continue this stocking line forever. Yeah, Timmy thought I was special too. Anyway, here are some pictures of my puppy that have been lingering on my phone.

So Jessie adores Timmy. I mean, she loves me but she ADORES Timmy. Here she is napping with Timmy.




Yeah, she likes to hang out in my favorite place - the nook of Timmy's arm. I'm okay with it. I just remind her that I came first.



Ah and there's me and my doggie. I scare her sometimes with how much I love her.

Yes, I am alive

I haven't blogged in forever. I've been too busy at the church and then when I get home, my hurting eyes don't want to look at computer monitor anymore - that's why my scrabulous response time hasn't been the best.

So, yeah, I'm sitting at the church waiting for this conference to end. This is my third conference in 6 weeks. Yes, our third conference that we are hosting in 6 weeks. I'm completely drained. Next week is our anniversary celebration and that's our last major event for the year. This conference has particular has me beat. It is the regional youth leaders conferece - so about 50 of the vineyard youth leaders from the East Region (Maine to Virginia). And honestly, most of these youth leaders act like the youth. There is so much energy and noise. This is the first time when I have felt the need to go away and be alone for a little bit (the introvert in me). But it's been really great too. Good stuff.

Other news....

I got a hair cut this week. I was desperate for it. Got rid of a lot it, but I still have a lot it. That's usually the case when you start off with really long hair. But it feels great to be able to wear it down again.

Timmy bought me an Ipod this week. :) It was supposed to be a Christmas present and then it was going to be an early christmas present then it became it - oh let's just buy it and my parents can buy you accessories for Christmas. I haven't had time, though, to get set up. Mostly because I need to finish sorting and renaming most of my songs. Then it will be all ready to go into the pod.

One of the reasons why I wanted an ipod was because I wanted to remove my music collection from my computer. My mini at home as been ridiculous and we suspect it may have to do with the almost 6000 songs in my iTunes. So, this week I deleted almosst 1200 songs, between 4.5 - 5 GB. Timmy laughs because he has less than that on his computer and I had that much to throw away. Cleaning out my music was an interesting thing. Most of what I deleted were full cds that belonged to Jeremy and Heather. It was so weird to delete it, like I was deleting a huge part of my life. But it isn't. Thankfully, Jeremy remains a good friend, and I always look forward to talking to him

Let's see...what else...

Jessie started happy pills. Prozac for doggies. Not sure if it's really working, but then again, we haven't been putting much effort into training.

So, yeah, my dog - I love her to bits!! She is so worth all of her issues. She brings so much joy to my life. I really miss her tonight. I went back and read my old blogs when we first got her. She's so cute and she makes me so happy. I got a little teary eyed. I want to kiss her and snuggle with her. Most of this is probably because I am approaching white pills :)

Also being effected by my approaching white pills, all the new babies and baby announcements have me whimpering...."Timmy, can we have a baby?" Thankfully, he knows me and my cycle well enough to know when it's just the hormones talking.

Timmy is great - even better than the dog. He brings much joy to my life. He's worth all his issues too :)

Alright, it seems that the conference has come to an end and the youth leaders are just socializing. I'm going to start cleaning up and give them a hint that they gotta go.

Til next time...

Just Curious

Okay, so this is probably a bad post to come back with after a long layoff, but I was just sitting here at the computer and wondering if there are any other dirtbags out there who would smell their finger right after taking a bandaid off - even though they know it's going to smell gross. Maybe I can chalk that one up to nostalgia or something.

Thanks for reading.

Wow.

That's all I could say as Steve Robbins read this tonight at class. We were talking about the discipline of fasting, in particular, national fasting. He noted that three different American presidents have called for a national day of prayer and fasting. Abraham Lincoln, during his presidency, called for a fast on three different occassions. Below is the proclamation. It is incredible.


Senator James Harlan of Iowa, whose daughter married President Lincoln's son Robert, introduced this Resolution in the Senate on March 2, 1863. The Resolution asked President Lincoln to proclaim a national day of prayer and fasting. The Resolution was adopted on March 3, and signed by Lincoln on March 30.



A Proclamation

Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.

And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th. day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.


Done at the City of Washington,
this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three,
and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.

--By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward, Secretary of State.




Washington, D. C.
March 30, 1863

To Whom It May Concern:

To whomever commented anonymously on my previous post:

Movies

Anyone from our area interested in purchasing some cheap movies of questionable quality should stop by the Hollywood Video on Chester Pike in Sharon Hill. They're going out of business (for whatever reason) and you can purchase any of the "library" videos for $7.49 a piece. I went over there tonight and got:

The Incident at Loch Ness (Indie Film, a mockumentary in the spirit of This Is Spinal Tap)
The Sea Inside (Foreign Film)
Run Lola, Run (Foreign Film)
The Experiment (Foreign Film)
Kingdom of Heaven (My only major studio purchase - because everyone can always use a little Orlando Bloom)

I'm so interesting. I know. You don't have to tell me.

How about 165 words?

For the last couple of Sundays, Mark has been challenging us to write our stories in 100 words or less. He feels it's important for all Christians to be able to share they story in a short and concise manner, so that when the opporunity arises you are prepared. Well, a hundred words is hard. I like to talk, especially when it comes to my story with Jesus. But here is my attempt. It is 165 words and you know what, it'll have to do.


__________


Melissa's Story

"I knew there was something more: I could feel it. I’d get intrigued when I heard God’s name. I thought about church but church was scary and weird. I was ashamed and embarrassed to ask anyone because I felt like I should know these things – it seemed everyone else did.

When I was 17, I gave in - asking my uncle a question and then accepting a church invitation from my cousin. I cried the entire service. I didn’t know why; I just felt something. The sermon title was “You can be happy,” about how Jesus could bring happiness to my life. I just kept crying. Then someone asked me if I wanted to pray and I actually wanted to pray.

I left the church, thinking 'I’m not sure I know what just happened but I know nothing will ever be the same again.' That was ten years ago, and nothing has been the same since. I found that something more – it was Jesus."


__________


So, what's your story?

Speaking of Jessie....

The Kaisers told me an interesting story on Sunday. I left Jessie in the Kaiser backyard on Sunday while I went to church and Timmy was at work. When I picked her up, they told me that Jessie had a "traumatic morning." Apparently, while Mary and George were driving home from church, they saw a couple walking a dog that looked like Jessie. Mary's reaction "Wait! That is Jessie!" In her church dress and heels, Mary runs down the street to the couple, asking them if that was there dog. She calls out "Jess" and sure enough if her typical manner, my dog starts shaking her butt and wagging her tail.

The Kaisers think that while she was in the backyard she must have somehow hit the gate. The gate must have been unlocked and popped open. Out comes my dog. Chester and Buffy remained inside like good doggies. Apparently, the couple that had her, saw her cross Oak Lane three times. In case you aren't familiar, Oak Lane isn't a fun street; I don't like making a left hand turn out of the Kaisers because of the traffic on this street. But she crossed it three times and then made her way to Scully's a local business down the street from the Kaisers. That's when the couple found her. They said they were walking her around, hoping that her owner was out looking for her. If they hadn't found the owners, she was going to call the number on her tag in the morning. (Up until two days ago, Jessie only had her license tag and her microchip, so there was no home number on her.) Thankfully, they were walking her along Oak and Mary and George were driving home at the same. If not, Missy and Timmy would have had a very bad Sunday.

I start crying if I think about it too much. Going to bed at night without her. Waking up and not knowing if she was safe all night. She has a microchip, but that is only helpful if someone finds her and takes her to a shelter or vet. I, of course, think she is so beautiful and so great (despite eating poo and suffering from separation anxiety), that I fear whoever found her would keep. But God took care of us on Sunday. And I am so grateful.

Beast Of Burden

Here's a few pics of Jessie modeling her new dog backpack. At first she skulked around with her tail between her legs - generally looking persecuted and uncomfortable. Before long, though, she was trotting along like always. It was just a trial run, so she only had a 20oz bottle of water in each side pouch. I'm hoping to work her up to carrying all of her own supplies for future backpacking trips, though. We'll see.

Continuing Christian Oddities

Building on Melissa's previous post (and my comment to it) about goofy church signs and such....

A church sign in Upper Chi - "God's gift is the church, assembly required."

A license plate coming down Oak Lane - "It's time to vote for Jesus."

And, lastly, this nugget of awesomeness from the checkout line at Acme:

Scrabulous Part 2

I am working from home this afternoon, compiling the data from Sunday's surveys. I can do that at my desk at home, which is great since my computer at the church is dying and needs to go to the hospital. So, while I sit here, I decided to give into Scrabulous. That was this morning. This afternoon, coincidently, is the National School Scrabble Championship on ESPN. These 12-14 years are making me feel very, very pathetic.

In other news not related to Scrabulous - my dog eats poo. It's really nasty. I love walking her.

Also, Jessie barked at me a few times this morning. I could tell she wanted her balls that rolled under the couch, so I got them. Well, now she keeps barking me and it's an angry bark "Missy, get my toys!" Uh-uh. I tell her to go sit down and threaten the spray bottle. Then after a little while, she comes back at me and barks some more. She has become quite talkative lately.

Oh yeah, Timmy and I took some pictures from our recent trip to Orlando. However, they are on our phones. I don't know how to download them onto my mac and I don't think Timmy has thought of it. But soon enough, we will share our exciting pictures from sunny Florida. Don't get to crazy - they're not that exciting. Just enough to make a blog :)

Scrabulous

So I just finished my first game of "Scrabulous" on Facebook. It's basically an online game of scrabble, for those not in the know. My final score was 428 points, which is a personal best to say the least. I present to you the fabulousness of the words I used, along with their total points. (Keeping in mind that several were placed in such a way that they formed two or more words on the board, along with various triple word/triple letter spaces.)

1. Paying - 14 points
2. Tutu - 12 points
3. Oregano - 14 points
4. Azure - 72 points
5. Wince - 41 points
6. Bird - 27 points
7. Inflect - 34 points
8. Hovering - 96 points
9. Kraut - 28 points
10. Em - 23 points
11. Loom - 11 points
12. Vibes - 42 points
13. Pe - 14 points

Yessir, that was one fine game of Scrabble.

Awesome.

I was clearing off my computer desktop at the church and came across one of those infamous church signs. It read:
"Tired of being a loser. Turn to God."

Yay!

Our flights are booked. We leave for Orlando the afternoon of Thursday, September 6 and return the afternoon of Monday, September 10. Not a week, but a nice long weekend. I'm excited. A few months ago, I asked Timmy if we could go away. I was frustrated that we didn't book anything earlier. I was stressed and wanted to know that something was booked. Well, we didn't. Timmy didn't see any reason to book early, and I forgot about it. And now, it's booked. He didn't forget - he's so good to me :)

It's Official

After the third morning in a row of walking the dog in a chilly, consistent drizzle: I am tired of living in Seattle. We may return to Philadelphia weather at any time now. Please.

For The Love Of Terriers....

It's amazing what a rainy day can turn up. After having Jessie for almost two months now (all along believing she was some sort of Rottweiler mix), I have just today decided that she is almost certainly a Jagdterrier - even if only in part.

The whole venture began last night with me looking through my trusty old "Reader's Digest Book of Dogs" for pieces that might fit into the puzzle of our dog. As I flipped by the page of the Jagdterrier I was immediately caught by it's ears. Very few dogs in the book had such small and distinctly shaped ears. As I went on to read about this animal I came across the following: "It's stubborn, nervous nature, however, has made it one of the few terriers which has not been widely accepted as a companion dog." Well smack my bottom and call me Harry! That sounds like my dog!

So on this fine, rainy day I endeavored to find some more facts and images of this..... terrier. Early on, it became clear that the Jagdterrier is not a very prolific breed in these United States. This kind of made me second guess my feeling that Jessie might be one. But as I read further, I saw that they are actually used for hunting dogs - most commonly racoons and squirrels. Jessie was rescued from an overcrowded shelter in Virginia. Who's more likely to hunt racoons that Virginians? That's what I'm talking about. Anyway, it's difficult to find any halfway decent pictures of the Jagd, but from the small ones I was able to google, I have become quite convinced.

So, now, it is with trepidation that I present to the world pictures of the Jagdterrier that I fear incriminate our puppy:

























































Sigh. It seems nearly irrefutable at this point. I have a terrier.

My one consolation may be the fact that one source claimed Jagdterriers are often used to hunt such creatures as black bears. I was skeptical, but then came across this picture of a couple of the little fellows cornering a mountain lion:































Eh, I guess it's at least a tough terrier. Or something.

IKEA's "Small Business, Big Dreams" Contest

I have to say that I do love working and worshipping in Media. I wish we could live in Media, but we might need a small miracle to afford that. In the meantime, you gotta watch this video and gotta vote for Media.

We're not in Kansas anymore...

Dororthy may have meant it negatively, but I say it with a heart full of joy and relief. I am home safe and sound from my trip to Kansas City, Missouri. I am grateful to be back with my boy (though, he did have to go to work) and my dog. Don't get me wrong. Nothing wrong with the city. In fact, they were calm and kind, a great change of pace. And the conference went well, and I am glad I went. The Lord spoke very clearly to the team. We were touched by his Spirit and feel loved and challenged. I wasn't depressed while I was away. In fact, I was suprised by how okay I was, but man, I day dreamt about coming back home, jumping into Timmy's arms and Jessie jumping on me.

For those who don't know, I spent the last few days at a conference at the International House of Prayer (yes, IHOP) with a few of the leaders from our prayer ministry team. I have a lot of questions and hestitations about major parts of their statement of faith, but I am amazed by their passionate love affair with the Lord and their unwavering pursuit of holiness for Him. They are completely committed to a life of prayer and worship - literally, 24/7. What would happen if the church fully gave herself over to an uncompromising life of prayer and worship - I can't imagine. I can't even imagine what my own life would look like if I gave myself over to an uncompromising life of prayer and worship.

Alright, I need to get going. Back to life and back to my abnormally busy schedule. I need to go do some work, even though, I fear I may fall asleep - man, I am beat.

FYI

Timmy's laptap is currently out of service. That means no computer in the cold room. That means no blogging because who wants to sit at the desk, especially in this heat, to ramble off nonsense. Alright, back to the cold room - peace out!

Too much info?

This may be gross and most of you will probably say "what?" but I have to share:

Yesterday, I was walking Jessie. Since she has been sick for a while, I wanted to know how she was doing, so I was taking particular notice of the consistency of her bowel movement. And what I saw made me smile and I said "that's my girl. that's what I wanma to see." Then I thought of Ashlie and the fact that I thought of Ashlie made me laugh out loud. I just felt that Ashlie would understand me. I remember once reading on her blog...forgive me if I misquote you, Ashlie...since she has had a child, she is obsessed with poo. I just had a vision of Ashlie being really excited when Willow is no longer sick and her appreciating my happiness over the fact that my dog no longer had diarrhea. So, yeah, just wanted to share...

"It's that time of year...

...when the world falls in love. Every song you hear seems to say 'Merry Christmas. May your new year dreams come true.' "

Okay, so new years isn't here, but Christmas in July is! Happy Christmas in July. Yup, July 25. Unfortunately, this year we haven't gone as crazy as we have in the past. The mellowness of the holiday is for two reasons:

1 - We got Jessie and she has us pretty busy in readjusting to a new way of living. However, we both decided that instead of buying each other presents, that the doggie would be our present. So although she isn't red and green and didn't come in a bow, we have been playing with our Christmas in July present all month long.

2 - The spells of heat have made us very lazy and trapped in our bedroom (aka the cold room). And when it isn't hot, we just want to sit in our living room and be lazy. Yes, we are a lazy family :)

We have done a few little things. We decorated cookies on Monday. We watched Love Actually a couple weeks ago. We like to watch It's A Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (in July and December). We didn't get home last night until late and we have group tonight, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. The only real thing on my list is that I want a picture of us with Jessie on her first Christmas in July. I'm not sure if she will let us do that.

For those of you who don't know our story and are wondering about this whole Christmas in July thing, this celebration is all about one thing: Tim and Melissa. The real Christmas in December is about the birth of our savior; Christmas in July is about Tim and Melissa. Two years ago, Timmy decided he did not like that I hated the holidays. He decided we would celebrate Christmas in July as a way of reclaiming holiday cheesiness for joy instead of sadness. We watched christmas movies all month. We listened to christmas music. We decorated. We set up a tree. We baked and decorated cookies. We sent out cards with our first official picture as a couple. We even went away for Christmas in July weekend and for our weekend trip to Connecticut, we remembered the miniature Christmas tree and our stockings full of gifts. Of course, the most important part of the month was "Christmas morning" and the present that awaited me at the bottom of my stocking. It was my ring.

This "Christmas in July" is the second anniversary of our engagement. So this morning when Timmy woke up to go to work, he leaned over, gave me a kiss, told me he loved me, and asked, "will you marry me?" Christmas in July is about us. It's a time for us to have fun and be silly. It's a time to reflect. For me, it's time to be even more grateful for Timmy. He is very intentional about reclaiming unhappy memories and situations and putting our stamp on them. Life is so much better with him. Well, it seems our Christmas in July present has to go outside and create her own present. Not as beautiful as a diamond, but it's the life we wanted and she herself is pretty darn cute :)

It's been a rough week for the Kaisers.

On Saturday night, as I left French Creek, I checked my voicemail to hear the voice of my dear boy saying, "Missy, I pulled my back at work and now I'm at the ER." What?! My freakout instantly began. This was my first time away from Timmy and for the last year and a half, I was paranoid that something would happen to one of us while we were apart. So, my first thought when I got that voicemail was, "this is why I didn't want to leave him!" Thankfully, God showed me right away how I was playing into the devil's games. I said a short prayer outloud, where I reminded myself - and God :) - that He loves Timmy more than I do. As soon as I got reception again, I called my boy. He was okay. He was on drugs and he was going to go home. Also, he wouldn't be able to work for a few days - and I was okay with that. Marti got me safely home where I gratefully rejoined my boy and my dog.

Then this afternoon, when I got home after work, Timmy and I noticed that Jessie was freaking out. She was licking her mouth non stop. She was licking the base boards and the floors. I thought maybe she ate something off the floor that tasted gross; she refused to drink water. I gave her some ice cubes. I know she loves them, but she swallowed them without biting. Her belly was growling really loudly, like when I had the stomach flu. She was hacking and belching. Then we noticed that her belly was swelling. So much for staying calm, Timmy and I start freaking out without wanting to let on to the other how freaked out we were. We call our vet; they gave us an appointment for Friday 9am - well, that's no good. So, Timmy goes online. He reads that dogs sometimes lick the floor when they can't find grass. They eat grass when they are trying to induce vomitting. So, we take her outside. She is eating the grass like some starved child - the only word that kept coming to mind was "desperate;" she was eating as if she were desperate for this grass. Timmy and I are worried. I tell him I want her to see a vet today and ask him to call his parents vet. I stay outside with the dog. I petted her and I prayed for her. She continued to eat, hack, and belch. Timmy was gone for a while and I was worried. He eventually came down. Timmy tells me that he was online again and he read about this condition called bloat.. Of course, this condition is fatal if it isn't addressed in an hour or two. The vet that Timmy called (not ours or rather what was ours) told us to come in right away because it is such a serious thing. So we went to the Old Marple Vet Hospital.

On our way there, Jessie threw up all the grass she ate. She seemed much better almost instantly but we still went inside. Within a few minutes they took Jessie away and it was three hours until we got her back. Thankfully, she didn't have bloat - a xray showed that right away. They did notice an obstruction of some sort, but they said it could just be gas. I thought maybe it was the dead bird :) Either way, she got some more needles. We left with more drugs to add to her existing medicine cabinet, and she's on a bland diet of chicken and rice for a few days. We were really grateful for Dr. Lee who seemed to actually care and who listened to us. The staff there was great. We have found a new vet. Can you imagine if it were that thing and Jessie died because the other place told us to wait? If this condition is the second leading killer among dogs and is especially common in the deep chested dogs like my Jessie... My goodness, I don't want to think about it. She is home, safe and sound, sleeping on my side of the bed while I type on Timmy's side. Unfortunately, Timmy still had to go to work. But I don't have to go in early tomorrow, so the morning will be time for Missy, Timmy, and Jessie to cuddle in bed together - ah man, what's become of me.

My heart goes out to all the people we saw tonight who weren't as lucky as we were. There was one girl. She looked my age. She came in crying. She was quiet as were the two guys you came with her. She kept crying and smiling at the dog - I think they were putting the dog to sleep. As soon as I saw her, I started crying. All I wanted to do was hug her. I don't remember ever wanting to hug a stranger so much. Then there was the family that came in with the beautiful husky. They weren't sure what was wrong with him, but he was so lethargic that his back legs were giving out. A short time later, they were joined by the rest of their family. Again, a 20something woman came in crying, and I started to cry again. Then the saddest - two woman came in. One of them holding a dog wrapped in a towel. Just as I started to cry again, they brought Jessie out and she "attacked" me. I needed to see her. All this sadness was too much. I needed to see my doggie. Later, Timmy told me that the dog in the towel didn't make it. That his family found him in the tub. Apparently his trachea collapsed; it's common among his breed.

Jessie's sleeping with me tonight. I want her to be close. Man, if I am this way after having a dog for two weeks, I don't know if I can handle parenthood...or maybe that's why I can handle parenthood.

Alrighty then...

For the last few weeks, I have been participating in The Truth Project, one of which is being lead at Blue Route by one of our members. Last night, we talked about science. It lead to a lesson on Darwinism and this was one the quotations mentioned:

“It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid, or insane (or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that).”

You can imagine our shock. Kris's reaction was priceless. If you know her, you can ask her about it. This is a topic that I have been thinking a lot about lately. Mostly because I watch The View and Joy Behar said she could never vote for someone who didn't believe in evolution. So, it's been on my mind and I was happy to have that be our topic last night. Just thought I'd share.



Reference: Dawkins, Richard (1989), “Book Review” (of Donald Johanson and Maitland Edey’s Blueprint), The New York Times, section 7, April 9.

Reality Check.

This morning Jessie ate a dead bird. Chewed it up and swallowed it. We noticed that dead bird two days earlier. So, she ate a dead bird that had been rotting in this heat for at least two days. Reality check: Jessie is a dog; she is not "my baby girl."

Memory Lane

I'm not sure exactly why I think of things sometimes. But for whatever reason, I was thinking of Boglins the other day.

For those who don't recall these fine toys, they were small rubber puppets shaped like foul swamp beasts:














What more could a kid want out of life?

A FREAKING GIANT BOGLIN, THAT'S WHAT!



















That's right, these Boglins were more than twice as big. And what's more, the eyes moved from side to side with the flip of a lever. Truly phenomenal.

Of course, these thoughts lead me to the Internet. (Where all deep thoughts eventually lead, like the tributaries of the Atlantic Ocean.)

And on this search for nostalgia, I came across some other fantastic toys that cluttered my bedroom floor long ago.
























Ah, Madballs. A glorified Nerf ball, complete with wacky names and scars. I personally had Lock Lips, Aargh while my brother was the proud owner of Snake Bait and Oculus Orbus. In fact, Oculus Orbus may still be resting comfortably in the basket of dog toys at my parents' house. Well, providing Chester hasn't since destroyed him.

I thought that Wolf Breath looked familiar, but I didn't remember having him as a toy. The only other Madball that beckoned to me like a Siren was Slobulus. He was very popular, and nearly impossible to find - even in consumer Meccas like Clover and Bradlees. Then it hit me, I had Wolf Breath in the Freaky String Blaster!


















A cool plastic pistol grip ended with a Madball face at the muzzle. With a smooth pull of the trigger, Wolf Breath's mouth would open, his small red LED eyeballs would begin to flash and a glorious stream of Silly String would let loose from his mouth. Or that's how it was supposed to go, at least. In reality I think the silly thing ended up clogging more often than it fired. And what right minded parent would buy a replacement can of Silly String once the original was spent? Not mine, that's for sure.

Much preferable, I'm sure, to parents were the M.U.S.C.L.E. Men.










I truly wonder what genius inventor came up with these things. "Hey, lets make miniature space alien wrestlers our of peach colored rubber! Kid's will eat them up!" Because, sadly, we did. They were cheap, you could trade them with friends, and they were easy to bring to school for recess entertainment. (And by "entertainment" I mean ramming them into each other on the cafeteria table only to get bored a few minutes later.)

Of course, no nostalgic trip would be complete without mention of the most revolutionary technology of the day:





















Photon wasn't just a toy, it was also a crappy TV show. But more importantly, it was cheaper than Lazer Tag. So Photon was the way for my brother and I. Each starter set came with a gun, a target and, most importantly, a Photon ID card. Few things make a kid feel so important like an ID card. Shoot, I was proud of my library card. Imagine how much more incredible it was to have a photo ID that identified me as a Photon Warrior!

What made Photon superior, in my mind, was the fact that you didn't need to have the target affixed to your person in order to play. Each gun was a self contained target and phaser. It makes me wonder what the purpose of the target was. I suppose it could've worked out for a base to defend or whatnot. But in our eyes it was just another 9V battery to wear out, so it quickly got left on the toy room floor. The phasers, on the other hand, were used far past even the time when they ceased to function mechanically.

Thankfully, Lazer Tag's prices eventually came down so I was able to get in on that goodness as well.

While Photon was mainly a brotherly diversion, it was Lazer Tag that occupied countless hours of play for my best friend Aaron and I. If Photon was magnificent for it's function, Laser Tag was revered for it's form. The sleek lines of the black pistol were truly a thing to behold. And the red LED's on the target eerily resembled (almost to the point of copyright infringement) those of Kit from Knight rider.

















And, of course, Lazer Tag also had a wide assortment of awesome options. My accessory of choice (ie: the one that was on clearance at Best) was the Lazer Tag Helmet:























Helmets were like ID cards - almost always AWESOME. (Okay, go ahead, fill in your own "short bus" comment here.) But seriously, what better way to make a hasty transition into the world of make believe than to slide on a helmet - like Luke Skywalker when he first settled down into an X-wing fighter.

And I mean, come on, if you had to choose between wearing a cool helmet and this thing:

















Yeah. No contest.

Well, I've wasted an inordinate amount of time on this post already, so that will have to end out trip for the time being. Long live the Internet. (Or not.)

I'm Ridiculous.

This bug season has been horrible. I was so excited last week when all the bites on my feet starting healing up. However, just as they were healing, we got a dog who needs/likes to walk several times a day including in the evening. It was so bad yesterday. Benadryl isn't working, or maybe, I'm just weak, or maybe I'm really sensitive. Growing up, I was told that the bugs like latin blood. Whatever it is, I have all these bites and all these welts over my legs and arms. Thankfully, not all the bites are agitated. I can see lots of bites that aren't bothering me. It was so bad yesterday that I decided the only way for them to get better is for me to cover all of them up with bandaids. Bandaids are fine when there's one bite rubbing against your sandal. One bandaid isn't ridiculous, even two bandaids aren't ridiculous. I have nine bandaids on: four on my left leg, four on my right, and one on my arm. And again, these are the ones that are driving me crazy and I can't resist scratching them.

Also riduculous - my nasty looking burn on my arm, next to my bandaid. How did I burn my arm? On the George Foreman grill. On this little countertop grill. Sigh. I'm a mess right now.

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True...

Well, we went and looked at the house in Folcroft today. It was certainly somewhat less than perfect, but after a few hours messing around with the IKEA home design software - I was actually convinced that it might actually work for us.

Then, this evening, we got an email from Iris (the realtor, and Melissa's sister-in-law) saying that the previous quote for mortgage payments that we got was actually flawed - the result of a system malfunction that occurred during a lighting storm. So instead of the payment being $540, it would actually be $872 a month. The former would be $110 less than we're currently paying for rent. The latter, $222 more. Sigh. That would be a real stretch even before we took on the added expense of a dog and her upkeep.

So it appears that we're going to be hanging out in our current shack for a while longer. The good news is that at least having Jessie around has seemed to improve relations with our neighbor. Silver lining. Or something.

Our Dog

If you know Timmy, you know he loves dogs and he comes from a big dog family. I, however, reluctantly became a cat girl late in high school when "the most bootiful gata in the world" came to live with us. Up to that point, I was petrified of all animals and Midnight helped me overcome most of my fears.

I knew when I married Timmy that our family would include at least one dog. The question was when? In an attempt to hold back any baby desires I may have, Timmy developed the expression "YDB" - yard , dog, baby. The order of life for the Kaisers. Only problem with that was he really wanted a dog and we don't have a yard. So, everyone was shocked when we announced that Jessie had joined us - "you're out of order" they said. It's true. What can we say. Timmy's always wanted a dog. He held out pretty well until the Youngs got Moby. And when he noticed a moment of weakness with me, he took advantage of it.

We found Jessie online. She was staying at the Sussex County SPCA in Georgetown, DE. I left work early last Tuesday and we made the two hour trip. We told people that we were going to visit a dog, but we both knew that unless Jessie was evil, she would be coming home with us. And she wasn't evil. She was super sweet and we were in and out of the SPCA in a half hour.

This is Jessie with Timmy outside of the SPCA before getting into the car. She was scared.




We made our two hour trip back home. Within fifteen minutes of the car ride, she wanted to join me in the front seat. Instead I went in the backseat with her. She laid cuddled between me and the seat, her entire face hiding under my underarms. She's a snuggler and, for the most part, I love that about her.




First night at home. Jessie checking out our neighbors. Timmy took this picture because it is reminscient of Pork Chop the Dog aka "the best dog ever." Everyone who knew Pork Chop and sees Jessie is shocked at the resemblance. Apparently, Jessie is a miniature Pork Chop. I, unfortunately, wouldn't know. Sadly, I never knew Pork Chop.



Here's Jessie at the Kaiser home meeting everyone for the first time. She's shy and a little jumpy. We think she may have been yelled at or treated not nicely by other people. So, she isn't too keen on strangers and quick movements and loud noises freak her out. She has grown very attached to us, particularly me. I think it's because we bonded in the ride over and she came to work with me on Thursday and Friday. But don't get me wrong, her tail goes crazy when she sees Timmy.



Timmy told me that George would be really cute with Jessie, and it's true - he's really cute with her. She is getting better with him. However, she looks a little freaked in this particular picture.



We were hoping that Jessie would be able to hang out in the Kaiser yard until we got one of our own, but there's a problem. She likes water and wants to go in the pond. Here's Jessie stuck. She found her way next to the pond but couldn't find her way out.



Jessie's a happy dog and she's getting happier with every passing day.



For the most part, she is a chill dog. However, it appears that her main form of affection is to jump on you and nip at you. Timmy read that it may be the shepherd part of her mix. She likes to wrap her entire mouth around my wrists or ankles. She doesn't press down or hurt me but that's not a good habit to get into.



More resting. She's so cute.



But that's what Timmy pretty much wanted - a dog to play with at the park and a dog to watch tv with him at home. I like my new family :)

Missy's Odd Sights

I saw two signs the last two days that made me say "what?"

1 - Outside of a car recycling shop in Delaware: "Jesus recycles people. We recycle cars." Huh? What does that even mean?

2 - Outside of the Holy Trinity Church in Lansdale, there was a big professional banner that read "Under the same management since 1AD." You paid someone to make that?

Odd Sights

I was driving home from work this evening and saw a sign out in front of a cemetery that said "Free Dirt". I suppose it's not all that strange of an offer if you think about it, displacement of matter and all that. Still, it just struck me as a bit odd. Hmmm.

Sort of Apologies

To those who read our blog and would prefer not to read something new every day about a dog: my apologies. But I figure I read enough blogs about children and the gross things they do, so this is some kind of blogging justice. Right.

That said - I've never been happier to be standing outside at 5:30 in the morning watching a dog pee. After another round of frustrations last night as Jessie first did #2 at my parents house, then came home and did #1 in our kitchen I was relieved (pun intended) that we at least would not have to worry about her messing in the bedroom during the night. So I got up this morning and, indeed, she had kept things clean. I got up, threw on my clothes from yesterday and took her outside. (And, might I mention, she now walks up and down the steps on her own - no more having to carry her like the first day and a half!) So after a couple minutes of pacing the front lawn chanting, "Just go pee.... Just go pee....," (as a website on house training said to do) she actually peed! This was followed by much belly rubbing & rejoicing, followed by a 15 minute celebratory walk around the block (again, per the website.) During this ensuing walk, she stopped and dropped a deuce after about 5 minutes. Again, I've never been so happy to see such a thing. Truly.

So now all I have to do is get ready for work and hope (for Melissa's sake) that Jessie isn't too wound up from a walk to go back to sleep for a couple of hours until Missy's ready to get up. (Did I mention I ushered Jessie back into the bedroom, as to avoid any destruction of property and/or hair on my uniform?)

Again, for those who would prefer not to read a blog about a dog's bathroom habits, I apologize. It's just where my world is at right now. :)

It's a Girl.

YDB has changed to DYB. It's true- we caved. Okay, mostly I caved.



Her name is Jessie. We adopted her Tuesday afternoon from the SCPA in Georgetown, DE. She is a rottweiller/shepherd mix. They think she is between 8-12 months old and don't expect her to be get much bigger. She's between 35-40lbs.



We'll tell you more about her and how she came to join our little family later when we have time to blog the new pictures. In the meantime, these are the pictures from the SPCA site that made us take a two hour trip to "visit" a dog.

Where's Delta Force?

I have only seen 16 of these movies.

America Film Institute (AFI) TOP 100 U.S. FILMS
1. "Citizen Kane," 1941.
2. "The Godfather," 1972.
3. "Casablanca," 1942.
4. "Raging Bull," 1980.
5. "Singin' in the Rain," 1952.
6. "Gone With the Wind," 1939.
7. "Lawrence of Arabia," 1962.
8. "Schindler's List," 1993.
9. "Vertigo," 1958.
10. "The Wizard of Oz," 1939.
11. "City Lights," 1931.
12. "The Searchers," 1956.
13. "Star Wars," 1977.
14. "Psycho," 1960.
15. "2001: A Space Odyssey," 1968.
16. "Sunset Blvd.", 1950.
17. "The Graduate," 1967.
18. "The General," 1927.
19. "On the Waterfront," 1954.
20. "It's a Wonderful Life," 1946.
21. "Chinatown," 1974.
22. "Some Like It Hot," 1959.
23. "The Grapes of Wrath," 1940.
24. "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," 1982.
25. "To Kill a Mockingbird," 1962.
26. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," 1939.
27. "High Noon," 1952.
28. "All About Eve," 1950.
29. "Double Indemnity," 1944.
30. "Apocalypse Now," 1979.
31. "The Maltese Falcon," 1941.
32. "The Godfather Part II," 1974.
33. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," 1975.
34. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," 1937.
35. "Annie Hall," 1977.
36. "The Bridge on the River Kwai," 1957.
37. "The Best Years of Our Lives," 1946.
38. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," 1948.
39. "Dr. Strangelove," 1964.
40. "The Sound of Music," 1965.
41. "King Kong," 1933.
42. "Bonnie and Clyde," 1967.
43. "Midnight Cowboy," 1969.
44. "The Philadelphia Story," 1940.
45. "Shane," 1953.
46. "It Happened One Night," 1934.
47. "A Streetcar Named Desire," 1951.
48. "Rear Window," 1954.
49. "Intolerance," 1916.
50. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," 2001.
51. "West Side Story," 1961.
52. "Taxi Driver," 1976.
53. "The Deer Hunter," 1978.
54. "M-A-S-H," 1970.
55. "North by Northwest," 1959.
56. "Jaws," 1975.
57. "Rocky," 1976.
58. "The Gold Rush," 1925.
59. "Nashville," 1975.
60. "Duck Soup," 1933.
61. "Sullivan's Travels," 1941.
62. "American Graffiti," 1973.
63. "Cabaret," 1972.
64. "Network," 1976.
65. "The African Queen," 1951.
66. "Raiders of the Lost Ark," 1981.
67. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", 1966.
68. "Unforgiven," 1992.
69. "Tootsie," 1982.
70. "A Clockwork Orange," 1971.
71. "Saving Private Ryan," 1998.
72. "The Shawshank Redemption," 1994.
73. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," 1969.
74. "The Silence of the Lambs," 1991.
75. "In the Heat of the Night," 1967.
76. "Forrest Gump," 1994.
77. "All the President's Men," 1976.
78. "Modern Times," 1936.
79. "The Wild Bunch," 1969.
80. "The Apartment, 1960.
81. "Spartacus," 1960.
82. "Sunrise," 1927.
83. "Titanic," 1997.
84. "Easy Rider," 1969.
85. "A Night at the Opera," 1935.
86. "Platoon," 1986.
87. "12 Angry Men," 1957.
88. "Bringing Up Baby," 1938.
89. "The Sixth Sense," 1999.
90. "Swing Time," 1936.
91. "Sophie's Choice," 1982.
92. "Goodfellas," 1990.
93. "The French Connection," 1971.
94. "Pulp Fiction," 1994.
95. "The Last Picture Show," 1971.
96. "Do the Right Thing," 1989.
97. "Blade Runner," 1982.
98. "Yankee Doodle Dandy," 1942.
99. "Toy Story," 1995.
100. "Ben-Hur," 1959.



the source

What?

Even I can't buy this.

grrr

First bug bite of the season. On my big toe. Just at the perfect spot to rub against my sandal. Grrr.

Super Disappointment

I remember back when "Super Saver Shipping" from Amazon was a good deal. It said that the shipping might take a little while longer, but things still usually arrived to my door within 4 days of me placing an order. But now they don't even process your order for at least that long. I ordered a book and a CD on Monday and they still haven't even shipped yet. I wonder do they keep a queue of their "lesser customers" who were foolish enough to take advantage of a bargain, and they'll get around to those orders when they have nothing better to do? Or is it simply the fact that a lot more people are ordering from Amazon these days? Either way, it's disappointing at best. You really can't get good help these days.... unless you're willing to pay for it.

Catching Up

I've been a blog slacker for the past week or more. So here's a pictorial review of some of the highlights:




















We saw this wonderful turtle while walking down at the Tinicum Wildlife Refuge.



















I wore Chester the dog out by taking him on a 3 or 4 mile walk at Ridley Creek State Park.
























I took a self portrait in which I think I look oddly similar to my dad.
























I spent Friday evening hanging out with my buddy Moby while his parents were at a wedding in Lancaster.
























And finally, on Saturday I got a sweet picture taken with Crozer's newest ambulance.

.....

Now you all know what I've been up to. Consider yourselves informed.

It's Time.

A decision has been made: it's back to VLI for me. Many of you may know that I joined the program in the fall of 2003 and left the spring of 2004 for personal reasons. The plan was always to go back. I remember telling someone "the ideal would be to do this when I have a part time job." When Timmy and I became engaged and we decided that I would be quitting the firm, I realized the time for VLI may be approaching soon. Well, VLI is coming back to BRV in the fall. After much thought, prayer, and discussion, I went from "scared and I don't think so" to "scared and nervous" to "scared and hesitant" to "scared and yes" to "not as scared and maybe even a little excited."

The excitement came when I called VLI to ask about transferring my previous credits. All my credits transfer, which means 2 of my 7 quarters are complete, 2 of my 5 projects are complete, my evangelism mentoring is complete, and my preaching/teaching mentoring is complete. Although as suspected, MDT would like me to do preaching/teaching again - and I'm not entirely opposed to it. All this good news, also means that Timmy and I don't have to pay for two quarters, saving us over $1000. I don't have to officially enroll until the Spring of 08 and will be done in the Spring of 09 - I can do that. I will, however, be sitting in on the Fall 07 and Winter 08 classes. It will be good to refresh my brain with the stuff I studied a few years ago. It'll also be good for team-building, that I be a part of the class from the beginning instead of coming in late. The only drawback to having everything transfer over is that also includes my lackluster GPA. At the time, my life was beginning to unravel and, well, my grades were showing it. That's why I decided to leave and focus on what I needed to focus on. Now, that GPA stands. However, I would rather bring up that GPA than start all over again - ew.

So, that's that. And seriously, when I don't think of the actual tests, papers, projects, and time discipline required, I'm excited. I am committed to the calling on my life. I am committed to the Vineyard. This is an ideal time for me to do it: part time job at the church, no children, and a husband who is completely supportive. What better time is there for me.

At Last

Gillian Elise

Baby, Mom, Dad, and Big Brother are well. Congratulations Stevenses!

HEROES SPOILERS! DON'T READ UNLESS YOU'VE ALREADY WATCHED IT!

Is that enough forewarning? If you haven't watched the Heroes finale yet, but plan to, don't read on.

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Okay, so I started to reply to Ashlie's question of "what exactly didn't you like" about the Heroes finale as a comment, but it turned out to be too long, so it's now going to be a post of it's own. Please excuse my insane ramblings about a television program.

First off I thought the whole deal with Nathan flying Peter into space to explode was stupid. The point of Claire shooting him in the back of the head was that he wouldn't be able to regenerate, thus preventing him from going nuclear again as he obviously couldn't control that particular power. If Nathan picked him up and flew him high into the stratosphere and then he blew up, it would (theoretically) kill Nathan but Peter would survive, fall back to earth and be able to explode again. So what's the point? It makes no sense.

Also I felt like Sylar "died" too easily. They build this guy up all season as being the ultimate bad guy and then he basically lays down and dies with very little fight. I guess I maybe just wanted something a little bit more sensational. Something more like the fighting done in the "future" between Peter and Sylar.

The little allusion at the end that Sylar either crawled or was dragged down the manhole was pretty stupid too. Was everyone so preoccupied with Nathan and Peter's actions that they neglected to notice that their arch villain's body disappeared whilst they stood around hugging and giving each other knowing smiles?

I don't know, I just felt that the whole ending was somewhat contrived and an unfitting end to what was otherwise a season filled with buildup and mystery. Plus it was basically like any movie nowadays where it "ends" but leaves almost every storyline wide open for a sequel. Nathan can come back and just say he let go of Peter and flew off before he exploded. Sylar (or Sylar's evil blood, if you ask Melissa) can come back and try to take over the world again. Peter can regenerate and go out into the desert somewhere to try and gain control of his nuclear power.

That's mostly what I didn't like about the finale. Now you know.

Oh, and Parkman got shot 5 times in the chest & abdomen. He would most likely be dead. There are too many vital organs for every bullet to somehow avoid hitting something. Medically speaking. But hey, stupider things than that happen on Grey's Anatomy on a regular basis.

Entertainment Fails Me Again

Just got through watching the Heroes finale. It sucked. It was stupid. It basically made the entire season feel like a waste of time. Sort of the same deal as the Matrix - all of the endings that people theorized were so much better than the real thing. Either that or somewhere along the line somebody guessed what the "surprise" ending was going to be, so they had to change it to something so ridiculous that nobody would possibly guess that's how it would turn out.

The Depths

My mania for a dog has reached new lows. Yesterday afternoon I took my parents' dog Chester to Ridley Creek State Park.

I must admit, he made a much better walking companion than I had anticipated. I attribute this mostly to the fact that he's a fatty fat and he probably couldn't muster the energy to tug on the leash after the first two inclines we climbed. Whatever the case, though, he walked mostly right at my side the whole time and only occasionally stopped to smell the various scents that the forest has to offer.

I must also note that this dog has the character of a paper bag full of wet socks. One might expect a canine companion to interact with you when you stop for a water break, but Chester basically never even sat down and just kept poking around in the weeds. Even on the handful of moments when I tried to give him an encouraging pat on the head he seemed disinterested at best.

I guess the moral of the story is that beggars can't be choosers. He walked well the whole time and didn't drop dead in the middle of nowhere, so I guess that makes it a good day. But I still want my own dog.

No Shrek The Third

I was tasked with getting American Idol results while I was at work and Melissa was at kinship last night. This, unfortunately, ruined a perfectly good episode of Ghost Hunters for me as I was unable to bear actually watching the Idol results show and instead had to keep flipping back and forth to see if they were going to eliminate somebody or what. They finally revealed the ousted contestant with 3 minutes left in the program. An entire hour of filler and then the big culmination of the show, the ousted pseudo-singer performing the last song that America deemed not good enough, had to be played with credits rolling over the bottom of the screen as they'd run out of time. Good planning, FOX.

Oh, yes, the weakest link in the competition of three ended up being Melinda Doolittle, whom I earlier this month pointed out to bear a striking resemblance to a certain big, green cartoon movie star. This morning I was checking out FOXnews.com, that bastion of almost news, and I read this confounding statement regarding same Shrek-esque performer:

Her career is arguably the one most eagerly anticipated of all of this season's contestants' and the endless hours spent on clothes, makeup and hair throughout the season have clearly had a major impact on the girl. In other words: Along the way she somehow got hot.
























Wow. Allow me to quote the venerable cave man from the Geico adds, "Uh, I have a response...... What?!"

I mean, saying, "Her image is improved," might be on the outermost boundaries of acceptable. But hot? Seriously? If that's the case, I need to do some serious reevaluation of my rating criteria.

what the heck???

Driving into work. Listening to the radio. Feeling a little urbanesque. 102.1 has a commercial. 96.5 has a commercial. 104.5 has.... R.E.M.??? What? "The One I Love" is not part of the rotation of Rumba 104.5 Orgullo Latino. Sigh. It appears that the curse of 104.5 continues to haunt me. Another station I loved at 104.5 that gets the boot. Now, it's Radio 104.5 - that's lame. And Rumba has moved to 1480AM - super, super lame. They couln't even keep it on the FM dial.

Eureka!

I finally found a house that we could afford! Sweet.

You Don't Say....

On Tuesday morning we were milling around the kitchen, getting breakfast and whatnot, when my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, so I let it kick over to voicemail. Upon listening to same voicemail, it turns out the message was from a fellow at the National Bone Marrow Donor registry. I think it was back in 2001, they had a donor drive at the fire house in Collingdale and I registered then. Now here it is some 6 years later and out of the blue I get a call saying that I may be a match for a 37 year old man with leukemia. Hmm. Imagine that. I only vaguely remember actually registering, and I don't suppose I thought about all of the little details back when I did. Yet here I am, and regardless of previous thought (or lack thereof) I'd put into it, how could I not follow this possibility through? And so next Monday I'll have some blood work done that will help to determine whether or not I'm most suited to be a donor for this gentleman. Details to follow, I'm sure.

Ethnicity

For dinner on Tuesday evening, Melissa took a stab at making some Puerto Rican rice and beans to go with our tilapia filets. I simply had to take a picture of this monumental event.

O'er Amber Waves of Trash

They've blocked my usual riding path at the Tinicum Wildlife Refuge with construction of another crappy boardwalk for walkers. So I tried taking an alternate route, which usually involves having to walk across a little marshy section and getting my feet all wet and stinky. As I approached the end of the trail, however, I saw a clearing and what I thought was a place to cross the water! Wonder of wonders, had they done something intelligent and cleared a bridge? As the horizon fully came into view, however, I realized that it was not in fact a bridge. It was, instead, a rainwater swelled log jam of various reeds, branches and general garbage. Oh the splendor. I tried to snap a picture, but I'm not sure it does the spectacle justice. Here it is, nonetheless: