Uggh, again.

No, you don't have to tell me that I should be writing my sermon instead of posting here. I know, I know. But sometimes you just have to wait until the time is right, you know. However, I do hope that the "right time" doesn't coincide with Andy's "right time", as we only have one computer and we are both preaching on Sunday. We should be alright, though.

You may be wondering why I am even writing a sermon...I certainly am. Well, this Sunday is youth Sunday. Originally we were going to do a skit or something instead of a sermon. The entire worship service was to be planned two weekends ago at a retreat. However, when my uncle died those plans changed. Sooo, we did speed worship planning in youth group last week. The kids did an awesome job for never having done it before and only having an hour and a half. But with that short time, we just didn't have time to get a drama created. Thus, I am left writing a sermon. I really like preaching...it is the getting there part that is burdensome.

Well, not that I am any more insprired than I was a paragraph ago, I should go do something productive. Even if I go do chores, at least I am slowly getting rid of ways to procrastinate. Eventually I will have to sit down and right that dang thing.

If any of you out there have a great Esther sermon, you let me know.

My Uncle Tim

Andy and I are in Nashville, TN staying at my aunt's (my mom's sister) house. Early Monday morning, shortly after I returned home from the emergency room after scratching my cornea, my 49-year-old Uncle Tim had a stroke. On Tuesday his situation worsened and they knew he wouldn't make it through the night. Suprisingly he did, which turned out to be good in some ways because they were able to initiate the organ donation process. He was declared brain dead, and officially dead, at 10:50am, but was kept alive via respirator so as to enable the donations. The visitation was tonight and the funeral will be tomorrow. All my family is here supporting my aunt, which is good, but, obviously, the entire situation is pretty sad. So, I certainly would appreciate prayers for my aunt as she learns how to live her new life as a widow. Fortunately she has a great support network through her fellow teachers (she is a first grade teacher) and through church connections. Also, my mom's other sister lives about 5 minutes away, and their parents are about 30 minutes away. No matter what, though, it will be so hard. Andy and I will be home Sunday evening.

How Hallmark Inspired Me...

So, I was so pumped up by the commercial during last night's HHoF that when, in yesterday's paper, I came across a listing seeking volunteers to help teach adults how to read I called 'em and signed up. I don't go to my orientation until the end of Feb., but I am excited about it. I tried to volunteer at two different animal rescue organizations, but go no response. After that I kind of let the volunteering thing go. But I really need something to do with my time and to get me out of the house and interacting with actual people. So, this will be great I think. Woop! Woop!

Oh, Hallmark, How I Love You!

Tonight we watched the Hallmark Hall of Fame, The Water is Wide. It was so great. First of all, it was based on Pat Conroy's book by the same title about his experience teaching impoverished African-American children on a isolated island off the South Carolina coast. So, how many things are there that I love in this description: Pat Conroy (I even have the cookbook he wrote!), children, and South Carolina. It was so great. And, suprisingly, the actors managed to do a decent job with the Southern accents, which is always a nice surprise. In addition to enjoying the movie, there are all those great Hallmark commercials interspersed throughout the movie. There was a new one tonight about a elementary teacher helping an adult man learn to read. She starts him out with The Pokey Little Puppy, which is awesome, and he slowly progresses. At the end of the commercial he goes home and reads, for the first time, all the father's day cards his daughter has given him. It was awesome!

Also, the Hallmark Hall of Fame offered me the chance to chat with my wonderful friend, Lindsey Wade. She is my Hallmark hero. Way back when when we were in seminary (okay, yeah, eight months ago), Lindsey and I would get together and watch our beloved Hallmark Hall of Fames. And sew quilts by the fireside while we watched ...not really, but it sure sounds nice. Anyway, it was great to talk to her and I am looking forward to seeing her when she comes to visit us...which must happen soon!

Until next time...

iTunes error

So, I inadvertantly told iTunes to import 800 songs from our previous music library. And, for some reason, I feel like I have to stay computerside until it is done. Thirty minutes or so later, we are on song #107. Fortuntately I got out of bed at noon today. I must have known I had something important to do tonight. (One day your life might be this exciting...if you're lucky!)

Today I began the adventure that is tax filing. I think I would rather lose my hair than do that crap again. Clergy tax laws suck. I recognize, of course, that there are some benefits to them. But for the non-math inclined, which most clergy are, it sucks. (It's when you really wish that you were Darren and Sarah...) I guess, though, that I should be thankful for TurboTax and the wonders of the internet making the job slightly more easy.

The rest of the day was spent reading Mary, Mary by James Patterson. It was a cheesy, easy murder mystery book, but I needed something light after having just finished Stephen King's The Stand. The Stand was really good, but not light at all. I guess a major battle between good and evil never is, especially when it is staged in the midst a plague.

Normally I leave the house at least once a day, if only to go to the gym. Today however, the man kinda got me down (what with the taxes and all), and I couldn't quite muster the energy. Thus, my outing for the day was to the mailbox. (Like I said, one day your life might be this exciting.)

Tommorrow, however, my mom is coming to town for a conference and Andy and I are meeting her in DC at Old Ebbitt Grill ("a Washington insitution") for dinner. (And she is bringing us a King Cake. I love Mardi Gras: cake and beer. What more could one want?) So anyway, that should be fun. It is a great place to eat with an extensive wine list. Plus, it is just down the street from the White House, so maybe I can give Ole' George the finger while we are in town!

Okay, so something cool I saw on the news last night: Harry Connick, Jr., Branford and Ellis Marsalis, and several other prominent musicians got fed up (rightfully so) with the federal, state, and local governments fucking around and not adequately encouragin the rebuilding of New Orleans. So, they are teaming with Habitat for Humanity to create a musicians' village. The goal is to create affordable housing for people who make their livings playing music in New Orleans, which is not very lucrative for most of the musicians. In short, it is their attempt to bring both people and music back to the city. It is very cool, I think.

Oh, on a related note, check out www.abita.com. It is a brewery in LA that generally has pretty good beer. The cool thing, though, is that they have created fleur-de-lis Restoration Ale. It is a special beer that they are selling and a portion of the profit from each six-pack goes towards the rebuilding effort. They have t-shirts, hats, and other trinkets, as well as the beer for sale on the website. I bought a shirt (that Andy thinks is ugly) that has the beer's slogan on it: Rebuilding the Big Easy, One Beer at a Time. So appropriate, I thought.

Well, I'm not sure I can come up with any more random thoughts right now. I am also pretty sure that I won't be able to sit here until iTunes is dones with all 800 songs. So, until I make another computer mistake...

Damn computers!

Okay, so I want you all to know that I had a long-for-me post written and the dog-gone computer crashed. (Robert, where are you when I need you?) So, perhaps I will try again later, but for now I am going to pump some iron at the gym.

And, yes, this does mean the application, for better or worse, is done. Hooray! We'll all learn the outcome in about a month...unless I don't get in, and then only I will learn the outcome.

Until next time, when hopefully the computer behaves...

Discipline

Okay, so I have decided to enforce a rule upon myself. I am not allwing myself to write a post for this blog until I finish my Univeristy of Maryland School of Social Work application. I have procrastinated on this endlessly. If I can sit here and right something for this blog, I can write the mere two pages that I have left for this application. So, I'll be seeing you...after I get my act in gear. Bummer.

Be So Excited!

Okay, so I figure I should join the modern world and start a blog. Perhaps I am a little slow on the uptake...be kind to me anyway. I will keep this short, as in less then five sentences, as I sitting in sweaty gym clothes, the sun is setting, and it is too dark for me to see the keyboard. (I do know I could turn on the light, yes.) Until next time...when the light is on. EMSA