drive west err...to west

we drove to a little town called west after our youth event last night. the youth event was a blast and I'm a little sore from the pseudo-sumo wrestling, it was a bunch of fun.

West is a little town between Austin and Dallas- it was settled by Czech's back in the 1800's i believe and are know for all things czech, for most that means kolachies. we went here for ours. I'm tired, we didn't get in after our little drive till about 4 am. good night

reap what you sow

yesterday was an interesting one. I felt less beat down by the cold and headed in to work, despite my serious lack of sleep, believing everything was ok. kept busy and all was going pretty good then it happened. I told my boss about what is going on with Kelly and that I may need to take some time off for testing or more, then I started crying. yep, right there. then I was pretty much useless.

Lately I've been stetting at my desk all day without getting up much, often skipping lunch, because I've been really busy with some new projects, I've even been working late to just keep afloat. But yesterday I knew I needed to get away for a bit, it was absolutely gorges outside so I decided to walk around the block so to speak. on that walk I can't say God and I had a conversation, but I did talk to Him, I told him my fears, I told him my desires and I told him that I realize that I'm not in control here and I need His help.

The walk was good, and I was able to get a bit of work done back at the desk. Funny thing the ways God works, I was on the phone with one friend and chatting with another online when on the phone my friend started praying for Kelly and I, specifically against fear at the same time my friend online was telling me to not fear. guess what, I had some fear going on. Fear in and of it self isn't necessary a bad thing, it is when you allow your self to be consumed by it, when you give it the power to take away hope that it is bad- i was headed down that road, thankfully a couple friends spotted that and helped lead me back on the right path. it is difficult to get anywhere productive in life without friend who are willing to help out in times of need. I'm so grateful that I have friends who I know will rejoice with me in my glad times, cry with me in my sorrowful times and kick my butt when I'm being stupid.

Then I went to church- Kelly had to stay home with the kids, they are still a little sick- I headed to church more upbeat than I had been earlier in the day, looking forward to whatever God had planned for the night. Well lets just say that God continued to pour out his love for Kelly and I. During praise and worship, Eric our youth pastor asked me to step forward, I did and he told the kids that Kelly and I have been a very important part of the youth ministry for the last few years and that we give our time, love and other stuff and now it was time for the kids to give back a little. He explained that the kids have been sick off and on for a while and he told the kids that Kelly got news that she may have some health concerns, then a room full of kids surrounded me, reached out their hands and started praying.

Anyone who thinks that our younger generation is useless or is going straight to hell is flat out wrong. In fact this young generation has the burden of carrying on the torch of our faith. Think of it this way, Christianity is only one generation away from complete extinction. This fact compels me to work with teenagers, encourage then in their faith, help them with the struggles they face, answer the questions they have, love them, and show them through my actions that while some see Christianity as a religion that you follow because of obligation or tradition, Christianity for me is a lifestyle and relationship. I'm not alone, there are others who also see and desire to live out their lives as Christians because of a relationship with a Man who came to earth, life a perfect life, died a horrible, torturous death and miraculously rose from the grave, ascended into heaven and is alive today.

Because He is alive and because I do my best, though I do fail at times, to live out my life following after Christ, a room full of teenagers prayed for me, my wife, and our children. more than praying idle words, they showed their love, they gave hugs and many offered their help to us should we need extra hands around the house or someone to watch the kids. they should be careful what they ask, we just may take them up on it. No amount of words can express the joy and thanks in my heart because of what those kids did for my family last night. When I got home and told Kelly all that happened, she stopped me and asked what time all the praying occurred, I estimated that it was around 7:30- Kelly laughed and told me that about that time she and Ros got extremely joyful and just started dancing around, hmm- I wonder why?! ;o)

after the little love session, Eric did something that I still feel like was too much in some ways, though I know God was involved. Eric told the kids that the offering was going to be a little different, it was going to go to Kelly and I. ::what?!?:: Eric continued and said that right now, Kelly and I don’t need to worry about making dinner and he though it would be nice if the kids gave some money so we could pick dinner up or go out a few times. I had, and continue to have some mixed feeling about it- primarily, I am not worthy, I do not deserve this and there are so many more people that could use this money more than I. Eric handed me a wad of cash after service and told me it was mine, that I couldn’t refuse it. God did the same but my pride tried to overrule, the pride lost out.

this is where it gets interesting, you see I actually wrestled with God a bit on some money issues on the way to church last night. I have a great job, that provides well for my family- Kelly stays at home with the kids, we have a nice home and good vehicles, but after all the bills are paid there isn't much money, and sometimes we've found ourselves having to do some juggling. We've learned that we have to budget and plan so that we are using our money properly and not wasting it. I'd like to make more, not for the sake of making more and having more stuff, though I would like those things. Kelly and I still plan to start our business in the next few months, and we feel that God is leading us that way and that there is a great opportunity to grow financially through our business endeavors. On the way to church last night, I was wrestling with some issues related to money and in the end, I felt God was telling me to wait on Him and He will surprise me in ways I could not imagine. So there I stood knowing that God was backing up his claim earlier of surprising me as The offering was going around and Eric handed me the money. The money those kids gave for my family isn’t a huge amount, though it was a decent amount. I feel like I won the lottery- only better. I believe the jackpot of the texas state lotto was $64 million, what I got last was so much more. Thank you kids, thank you God.

My boss’ boss just came to my desk to let me know that he and his wife spent time in prayer for Kelly and I and wanted to know how we were doing. Sometimes I don’t like my job much, God continues to show me that He has blessed me and I should be more thankful though. And having a boss that prays for me is a huge thing I won’t forget.

the joy

I've been learning stuff tonight. how to be a better father, how to be a better husband and how to understand phpbb a little better.

I taught Ros how to thumb wrestle tonight, she doesn't get it all but she understands that the point is to get her thumb on top of mine, I foresee many fun matches throughout our lives together. It seems that Noah is starting to teeth, night time has been tough with him, I just put him down. He is a little bit of a momma's boy, when he is tired there is no one else that can calm him down, Kelly needs her rest so rather than bother her, I dealt with it. not the easiest thing to do- for some reason (probably because he's only 6 months old) he won't listen to me or discuss what is wrong, he would rather cry and fuss. he is better now, and we got to spend some guy time alone. it is fun to have another guy in the house.

my friend ken finally made it over to my boards, but funny thing, he couldn't register. Turns out the theme I just switched to for my default didn't have a link to the registration page, so I dug through the code, found where to make some changes, created a little image and now anyone can register on my boards. I'm feeling rather geeky. and I like being a geek

in case any of you were wondering how I did last semester, I was finally able to log into the system at school today and get my grades- and I got A's. now kids you can be like me too and get good grades, the trick is taking bunches of notes and studying alot. actually I don't take many notes or study all that much, yes I am that guy in class that bugs the crap out of everyone else because I crack jokes through class, never read my book but I still manage to get the grade. it is a gift and a curse, in high school I studied maybe a total of 10 hours all 4 years and did even less homework, I only passed because of tests- now that I'm older I wished that I would have applied myself just a little more back then. If i had I just might have already gotten my degree and I wouldn't have to still be in school. don't be like me, apply yourself, and even if you retain info like a sponge, do something challenging and get through it, it beats spending your nights and weekends away from friends and family to get that needed piece of paper to advance in your career. there is a reason why it is called a Bachelor's degree, you are suppose to get it while you are still single.

good night everyone, I have to go to work in the morning and it is soo late already, I know that I'm gonna be very tired- ah well, I can blame the cold if anyone asks.

one more thing, we had an avocado tonight, they were on sale for $0.58 each, I picked up 4. none were ripe yet, the first became edible tonight- the remaining should be ripe soon. have I mentioned that I really like avocados?

thank you

thank you all for your encouraging words, prayers and love. it means more than I can say.

other than having a cold that is kicking my butt, I'm doing better- I stayed home from work yesterday, Kelly and I were both sick so Ros and Noah took care of us. not really but they were great despite our inability to tend to all of their needs, my kids are awesome and I owe it all to my wife and her hard work with them day in and day out.

this weekend we spent some time in prayer and discussion and research and we feel better about the future and whether or not Kelly has cancer again and our options, still I am concerned but we won't know much more until May when some more tests are run, a sign I hope that the Dr. doesn't think we need to worry much.

again thank you.

the perfect ending for the week I've had

Now, I realize that I have a great life, I have a great job, a house, two vehicles an awesome wife, perfect kids and wonderful friends. but this week has really sucked. there is no other way to put it.

Today, Kelly got a call from her Dr. today, some thyroid level is off and they want to recheck it. normally that wouldn't be of much concern, but my beautiful bride had thyroid cancer almost 8 years ago and there is a little concern. honestly, I'm scared. So is she. I trust that God will take care of us but there is something that still makes me cry when I think about Kelly having cancer again.

I've been telling God how much I need her this afternoon, I think he's heard me- I know he has because she is at home waiting for me and I know that if it weren't for God, I wouldn't have a woman like her.

all this and I get to teach sunday school this weekend, the subject is - 'experiencing God', should be fun.

back to our regularly scheduled programme

ahh life- isn't is just grand sometimes, and yet others it is crappy. today is crappy- in about an hour I'm getting in a bus to head to a hotel conference room and listen to some upper management blab. they call it a town hall meeting but it is nothing of the sort, a true town hall meeting is where you gather people and allow them to share ideas and concerns and those running the meeting are actively looking for other viewpoints. today's meeting is part of an ongoing attempt of making us conform to the company's way of thinking. this job pays my bills, my family is where my loyalties lie.

in other news, Kelly took Noah to the Dr. today, he continues to be congested and it appears that he has allergies. that sucks!! we are going to have to make some changes in light of Noah's allergies, this is one of those moments in parenting that isn't fun at all.

back to work I go so I can be caught up before heading out to the town hall meeting

looks like we made it

me thinks that my little issue is fixed. woo hoo!

i'm such a geek

one step closer

this is so fun, somehow I totally jacked the code in my template- there is a lesson to be learned, backups save you, I isolated the piece of code that was messed up and replaced it with what I had in an old backup, problem is that backup doesn't have some things I've added since then. I think im in the clear though, I can publish to php again and soon I'll have everything added back.

not that you really care though, but hey, I have your attention I might as well blab. ;)

houston we have a problem

my commenting is down for a short time, the problem isn't really with the commenting code (at least I don't think so), for some reason when I publish this as PHP I'm getting a parse error, if I publish it as HTML, no problems, but my comments only work if the page is published as PHP. the joy.

life- yeah it beats the other options

so where to start?

Rosalyn is absorbing so much knowledge it is frightening. all weekend long she addressed me as 'chris', it is interesting to hear your 2 year old address you by name, it is kinda cute but she knows that I'd rather her call me daddy and that is why she does it. she is a strong willed child, not sure where she gets it from, Kelly and I aren't strong willed (yeah right!!!) what were they thinking when they let us get married and have kids.

This morning we (Kelly and I) discovered that Rosalyn can now bypass the nice doorknob covers we have strategically placed around the house to limit Ros' access. the two big ones being the one on the inside of her room's door to keep her in there at night and during nap time and the one on our bedroom door to keep her out when we are sleeping and such. I was in the shower and Kelly was still in bed when Rosalyn opened our door and hopped into our bed, as I was drying off, I poked my head in our room and saw a bewildered wife and a proud child. then at naptime, when Kelly was taking a shower and she thought her daughter was sleeping, lets just say Kelly was a little surprised when the bathroom door started opening.

I just changed the doorknob on Ros' room with a doorknob that locks, except the lock is on the outside so until she learns how to unlock her door with a penny we are safe.

Kelly and I like to make salsa, it is fun and with the amount of salsa we eat it saves us some money, in addition we can control things like heat and flavor. Now Kelly and I can eat some pretty hot stuff, we've been known to burn some other people with our cooking (kids just ask Dan about hot food at the Larson's) so the other night Kelly is making salsa and she asks how hot I want it, I tell her HOT!! She made it and I proceeded to eat.

WOW
She added a couple extra red chili peppers to ensure it was hot enough, it was. I've eaten some really hot stuff in my life, I've had wasabi eating contests with friends were we ate very large amounts of the wonderful green horseradish until one of us caved in, I've eaten habanero paste at the denver airport (funny story I'll have to tell later) that would make most gringos pass out- now Kelly's salsa didn't compare to these experiences but the stuff she made was still hot, hot enough that the burn was a little bothersome, but I could take the edge off by continuing to eat the salsa, kind of a 'hurts so good' situation. as long as i continued to eat it I was fine, only when I stopped did it become a tad too hot for comfort. lets just say I ate a bunch of salsa, to the tune of 2-3 cups. Kelly found it rather amusing that I continued to eat the salsa after explaining that it was so hot. Our lives are so exciting, can’t you tell


Now I’ve debated on whether or not to post this next part, and I’ve decided to go with it.

Intimacy in marriage is important (it is more than that, it is crucial for the survival of a marriage), intimacy has many forms. unfortunately our society equates intimacy with sex; intimacy is so much more than sex. So the other night Kelly and I were intimate- we held each other sans clothing, and it was not sexual. Why would I tell you this?? I don’t know really other than to share with those who are currently married and with those that will be some day that moments of intimacy in a marriage are needed. Non-sexual moments of intimacy are needed in a marriage, and it is usually the wife who needs it and it is usually the guy who either doesn’t know to or just flat out wont do it. Sex in marriage is needed too and can and should be intimate, but marriage and life are about so much more than sex.

For the guys- take time to listen to your wife, know that she is different from you, sometimes she just wants a back rub or to be held without pressure of ‘going all the way’. It is OK and you will survive.


Wow, all that and I didn’t get to talk about driving the Saturn home from Kelly’s dad’s house and us being a 2 car house again or the fact that Noah is a climbing maniac child, another day another post.

bizarre randomness

so far this year I've eaten close to 10 avocados. I love ‘em. I could eat one a day or more, they are just so great. probably not the best for me in the world, though they are healthier than most folks think, they are pretty high in many nutrients. and they taste so good. That’s all, just me thinking about the great fruit known as avocados.

ohh what we miss by not waiting

Noah ate his first non-breast milk food the other night, I think he liked it. it was some oatmeal baby food. the milestones of a person's life are so interesting. Noah has grown so much and developed such a personality in the 6 months he's been living in our world. i am amazed daily in the small things that God reveals to Kelly and I through our kids. I know now why so many people start going to church when they have kids. Kids have a way of making God's wisdom so real in our lives.


I just got off a conference call that lasted about an hour and a half- sad thing is that not much was accomplished. work is getting increasingly frustrating. I want to quit and just do my own thing and be successful, though I know that I must have patience. stupid waiting

will the insanity ever end??

well I guess life isn't that insane but I thought it made a nice title, what do you think??

Rosalyn has finished her round of antibiotics and appears to be doing better and Noah is getting back to normal himself so life at the zoo is better for Kelly and I.

Kelly had a girl's night out with some friends; she hasn't had to opportunity in a long time to do that so it was really good for her to get out spend some quality time with the . They ate here, pei wei happens to be our favorite place to eat, since Ros can be loud, she likes the kids honey chicken with noodles and we can all eat for less than 20 bucks. once Noah starts eating I guess we'll have to change that to 25. he is worth it.

While Kelly was off having fun with her friends, I was at home with the kids, their schedules were messed up and they missed their naps so they slept most of the time Kelly was gone.

I vegged. It was nice

then I did something I wish i hadn't- I watched part of the surreal life. Ohh my. Ron Jeremy, Tammy-Fae and Vanilla Ice. I want 23 minutes and 51 seconds back of my life. good thing I can multi-task and I did other stuff wile I watched. if you haven’t seen it yet, don't bother and if you have, I'm sorry.

...just another manic monday...

Kelly and I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting and hanging out with Parke yesterday. good times. it is funny, he's a friend I met over the internet, now we've met in person- life, technology and the way that our culture is changing because of things like the internet is so very interesting.

I’m a geek, I have friends that I only know through the internet, that is pretty cool.

leaving for the day

my work day is ending (though a little late, i've been busy this week). I'm excited about this weekend. we have a couple of big things going on, we are actually getting the saturn from my father in-law's house on Saturday and Sunday we get to hang out with Parke (chicago kid), he's coming to town this weekend and he is gracious enough to hang out with our crazy family, fun times to be had by all. I hope you all have a good weekend.

remember that killer bees are mean and Jesus loves you, the moral here is hang out with Jesus and not killer bees, though that may be obvious, i didn't want anyone to be confused ;)

what do you think?

I'm thinking of doing this

I've always kind of wanted dreadlocks, now i can do it and not be smelly or dirty. wonder what Kelly would think?


here are a couple of pretty funny links:

#1

#2

money, money, money

Kelly is looking into the possibility of working part time. I have very mixed emotions about it. She is only looking at doing it one place though, Weight Watchers. She is a 'lifetime member' meaning that she has reached and stayed at her goal weight. And apparently Weight Watchers only hires people that are 'lifetime'. I think she would enjoy helping other people attain their goals and she has wisdom to share about the process. She went to a little informational session about working for WW earlier this week and she is suppose to be contacted for an interview shortly. it will be interesting if she does it.

Switching gears- I hate reality TV, think it stinks but last night I watched the apprentice, the latest one where 16 people compete for a job with Donald Trump- interesting. I kinda liked it. I won't be able to watch any more shows though, it will start showing on Wednesdays and that is Church night.

lastly, this story is pretty entertaining, long read though.

interesting reading

this story on wishful thinking's blog is interesting, though it isn't very surprising to me, the society we live in doesn't teach, endorse or enforce personal responsibility.

I wish I had a basement

this is a great story. if only she had a cast iron pan.

the elevator ride

yesterday as i left work, I was waiting for the elevator. about the same time a Hispanic guy walked up and pushed the button for the freight elevator. the doors opened immediately and he walked in, I was still waiting on my elevator. you see this guy was on the janitorial staff, I'm in management, we ride different elevators at work, that is just the way it is. but he decided to break the rules- he invited me into his elevator, and I accepted. the ride down was short, but we had a conversation, it was well past 5- he asked if I was headed home, I told him yes and that I had a long day- i asked him the same. through our conversation I found out that he was working his second job and that he had a long day too.

I also learned something else in that conversation- though it wasn't anything he told me directly. I learned that I really need to judge less, and love more. that there are people that want to talk to me, just to talk and that God has given me the ability and responsibility to share joy and love. I could have very easily thrown up a wall, and not accepted his offer or just as easily pretend that I didn't see or hear him, though that would be wrong. I'm glad i didn't.

Next time I hope my elevator shows up first and I can ask him to ride with me!

comments

I've added comments, if you need the same check this link out

can you feel the love?

a commercial came on with cindy crawford and her daughter- when Ros saw it she pointed to the little girl and said "Rosayln" then pointed to cindy and said "mommy!" made Kelly's day. Kelly called to share the love. I asked who Ros thinks I am on TV and apparently I'm Doug from King of Queens? nice

stupid virus

Noah has a stomach virus, i think that Kelly and I have it also. The Dr. told us to make sure he doesn't get dehydrated and wait it out. the joy.

Today I got some great info that will assist in the creation of our little company, not sure if I shared that Kelly and I are starting a business this year- we are, it is going to be a food manufacturing biz and today I got some helpful phone numbers.

still getting people with interesting searches- the latest is 'eskimo family pictures'

what the

it is winter. this weekend though you would have thought that it was late spring, the temp friday and saturday was in the 80's, I had my AC on most of the weekend. then I head out to work this morning and it was 29 degrees. Texas is so weird. I'm about to head home for lunch, Noah has a Dr. appointment, his congestion won't go away and Ros started on antibiotics last week for the same thing, the joys of parenthood.

how people find my site

though most people who read my random babbling do so because I've asked or they know me and they read for amusement, there are those poor souls who find out about this blog other ways- here are some of my favorites-

a google search on 'where can i buy a elephant for my zoo'

another google search on 'cowgirl boots' this one looks like it was from France

and lastly a search on the motherinlaws.com website for 'mother in'

however you found me, I hope your visit here is pleasant- drop me a note and let me know what’s going on in your world

Happy New Year!!!!

I hope you are safe and well in the new year.

Kelly and I have spent the last 8 New Year's Eves together, that is a bunch. wow, I feel old. last night we put the kids down to bed, they've been a little under the weather so we skipped out on a youth event. Then we had a wonderful dinner, followed by some Champaign and some lindors chocolates. thank you to my friend Ken for the suggestion of the chocolates way back in the day, they are oh so good. ;)

We were watching the Dick Clark special, and I don't know if we missed it or what but it seemed like they totally blew off the change to midnight for those of us here in the central time zone, oh well.

Happy new year, I hope last year was good, and this year better. and I pray that you are blessed beyond your imagination and that you would know Christ more in the new Year.