Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (Part 1)

As of 3:00 this afternoon, Heritage Academy is out for summer vacation. Couldn't resist posting this. Also, anyone know where I can buy this video? I would love to own it, but alas, I think it's out of print.

Paul McCartney making mashed potatoes

This is rapidly turning into Paul McCartney week. I know it's almost 10 minutes long, but I think you won't regret it if you find the time to watch. I like this video because:

1. The mashed potato is my absolute favorite food in the whole wide world (followed closely by the mango).

2. It's a great lesson on how to prepare the mashed spud (I like it when he uses that word).

3. In addition to "spud" I enjoyed hearing other interesting words like "toppy bit".

4. My mom taught me to chop an onion the way Linda taught Paul, so I think that's kind of cute.

She's Passionate About Education

This link will take you to Miss USA's fall at the Miss Universe Pageant last night in Mexico City.

Personally, I thought she fell quite gracefully.

What I thought was funny was what she said after she answered her question.

If you listen closely, I think she can be heard saying, "Good nachos." (Buenos nachos) and she concludes with, "Mucho gracia".

The Beatles - Till There Was You

Long story short, while trying to come up with the previously posted George Harrison tune, I accidentally bought the CD entitled With the Beatles thinking the song I was looking for was entitled "All I Got to Do" rather than Blow Away. But, the "All I Got to Do" on the With the Beatles CD was the one that went "Whenever I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I want you around, yeah, all I gotta do, ew, ew, ew ,ew, ew, ew is call you on the phone and you'll come running home"...you get the picture.

Anywho, I was glad I purchased said CD in error because it contains this lovely ballad by Paul.

I like this song because:

a. Paul is my favorite Beatle.
2. I always liked the musical "The Music Man".
III. It's not a typical Beatle song.

Enjoy!

George Harrison - Blow away (1979)

I found the song I was looking for! Yea, for me. So, it's not in sync, oh well. Enjoy!

Blog surfing

I was at the Slice of Laodicea blog and clicked on Bob DeWaay.

I was glad I did because I was able to read his article on true and false unity in the church.

I especially liked the last couple pages under the heading: False Unity is Man Centered.

He has a lot to say about the corporate vision of leading a church, about how once the corporate vision is adopted, people who disagree are labeled divisive.

Here's a quote from the article: "Those who have replaced the unity of the Spirit and the unity of the faith with unity of the pastor's personal vision are the truly divisive ones. They are guilty of the very charge they level against dissenters within the flock. Such leaders are causing dissensions and hindrances because they have willingly laid aside the teaching of Christ and His apostles in order to promote the wisdom of man."

Here's another: A "factious" person in the Bible (Titus 3:10) was one who departed from sound doctrine or Biblical practice, not one who failed to help religious leaders fulfill their vision for the future success and glory of a religious corporation.

Tinky Winky

Everyone has their Tinky Winky moment. You know, when you say something stupid that takes on a life of it's own and becomes your legacy. For me it was the time on a road trip that I told one of my children who was thirsty to, "Swallow your spit." Taken out of context, it sounds terrible, well, come to think of it, in context, it sounds terrible, as well, but I digress.

Jerry Falwell and Tinky Winky comes to mind as another example of this.

Mr. Winky said in an interview with Salon.com that it was a traumatizing experience.

"It was traumatizing, really," says Winky, who now owns a holistic healing center and makes occasional appearances on British TV. "I'm a very private Teletubby. I just wanted to get away, go over the hills and far away. But when you're 7 feet tall and purple with an antenna on your head and a TV screen in your belly, where are you going to go?"

Po declined to comment.

Winky then went on to say that Falwell was divisive (must have been listening to Matt Lauer who had taken in Anderson Cooper the night before).

But, let's face it, Teletubbies were creepy, so Falwell didn't get it all wrong.

I thought Douglas Wilson had nicer words to say about Falwell.

Burl Ives on Wookieepedia

One of my dad's favorite singers was Burl Ives.

I was surprised to find an entry for him on Wookieepedia.

I was more surprised to find a site called Wookieepedia.

Wish we had a moral majority

I liked Jerry Falwell and was very sad to hear of his death.

Jerry preached the gospel and applied it to his life. Isn't that what being a Christian is all about? Go, make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey.

And, what did he get for his effort?

I found the above Falwell family photo and I would say he got blessed.

From what I can tell by listening to the national media, anyone who knew the man (from Larry Flynt to Al Sharpton to Franklin Graham) said he was a kind person. Any "news"person who didn't know him is calling him divisive. (I couldn't believe that Matt Lauer didn't really give a bio of the guy this morning, but rather just referred to him as divisive).

Did you know that he started Thomas Road Baptist Church in 1956 at the age of 22? It started with 35 members and now has over 24,000.

Did you know that he founded Liberty University in 1971 and there are over 20,000 students there today? And all Matt can come up with was that the guy is divisive.

As if the goal of being a Christian is unity and inclusiveness.

I will miss seeing him on TV news shows. He was articulate, witty, polite, and bold.

You know how on those news talk shows everyone talks over each other and screams their point as loud as they can? Well, Jerry didn't do that. He just sat there with a smile on his face, waiting politely for his turn.

And, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that sometimes I think our country is in the mess it is in not because of non-Christians who are promoting their agendas, but because Christians think the gospel is only about "getting people saved" and politics is bad. Or, worse yet, they don't want to tell people what the Bible says about abortion, or homosexuality because then someone might be offended and not pray the prayer. Well, if you are one of those people, I say wake up.

Our country doesn't have a king. We have a bunch of citizens, each one with an important voice. Use yours. It's your duty. YOU are the government.

As the election rolls around, read your Bible, apply it to your life and your country's politics, and at least vote for people whose beliefs honor God.

Shopping, Dinner, and a Movie

While the boys were camping with Boy Scouts, Katie, Beth, and I had a wonderful evening last night filled with shopping, dinner, and a movie.

First, we stopped by Target where we met up with Nikki and Mark (fresh from the ultrasound) and saw their first photos of baby boy "Beeper" Wallace.

Here's Beeper!

Then, it was off to Noodles for some carbo-loading to prepare us for shopping.

We stopped by Old Navy to pick up some 2 for $5 flip flops...a summer necessity.

Finally, we came home to watch The Greatest Game Ever Played (which we had picked up at Target). It was a sweet movie, and yes, I cried at the end.

"Sihn" Paris Hilton's Petition

"My friend Joshua started this petition, please help and sihn it. i LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!"

Got that quote off of Paris Hilton's My Space. She wants everyone to "sihn" a petition to have Gov. Arnold pardon her!

Let's see, Paris, you are caught driving drunk and have your license suspended.

Then, you are caught speeding while driving with your license suspended.

The officer gives you a "pass" when you tell him your publicist told you your license wasn't suspended.

A few weeks later you take off in your car and speed while driving in the dark with your lights off.

You are caught, have to go to court, and show up 10 minutes late.

The judge sentences you to 45 days in jail and you want people to "sihn" a petition to have the Governor pardon you.

Good luck.

Please Don't Eat the Pansies

Dear eater of my pansies,

Two weeks ago, I purchased a flat of lovely pansies from Wagner's Greenhouse. It was a beautiful spring day and I managed to plant a whole flat of pansies. Purples, blues, yellows, oranges, and whites (Mr. D tells me to always put a little white in the mix and it will make things pop!) I noticed yesterday that several of the pansies in the planter by our front door have been eaten.

Now, I know that a pansy is an edible flower, but I want to point out to you, dear pansy eater, that they are not your flowers. They are mine. I have chosen not to eat them (although I did try one the other day and found it tasted like eating a leaf), but rather to look at them, so please leave them alone.

I don't know who you are. Perhaps you are Mr. Bunny who I have seen in the front yard. Or, perhaps you are Calico Cat who Mr. D saw sitting by the planter last evening. If you are the wandering cat with the bell, I would like to point out to you that my girls have left you milk in the past and would be happy to do that again. Just ask. Or, maybe you are Chip or Dale, the little chipmunks who reside in the wood pile by the back patio.

Whoever you are, please stop eating my pansies.

Thank you,
MamaD

No idling in the carpool lane, and one sheet of TP, please.

Sheryl Crow's good friend, Laurie David, who also happens to be the producer of Al Gore's Oscar winning movie "An Inconvenient Truth", said in an interview with The Rocky Mountain News that she wanted Al Gore to adopt her, he's such a great guy.

When asked what changes she had made in her own life to stop global warming, she replied:

"I don't believe everyone has to do everything. I don't do everything. It's about everyone doing something. I have changed as many lightbulbs as I could to (higher efficiency) bulbs. I started a new idling rule at the school carpool lane (cars dropping and picking up kids can't idle their engines more than 30 seconds). I bring a garment bag to the dry cleaners (instead of having the dry cleaners wrap her clothes in petroleum-based plastic). I drive a hybrid."

I love these Hollywood people. They do their little part to stop global climate change by starting a new "idling rule" in the carpool lane. How LA is that? It's an "inconvenient truth" for kids to have to take a bus to school. And, changing the lightbulbs isn't going to help a lot as Laurie jets about the world telling the rest of us who aren't jetting around the world what we should do.

I, for one, am glad Al Gore is not my dad. Although, I remember hearing from his daughter that he makes good toast.

That's My Boy!

Last night Tim made a list of things he'd like to accomplish and or invent in life. Here's what he's got so far. (He gave me permission to blog it).

1. Car powered by nuclear fission.
2. Finding the melting point of wood.
3. Flame tempered wood
4. Car powered by nuclear fusion.
5. Eat my weight in banana pudding.
6. Create a new letter to be added to the alphabet.
7. Create fire without use of flint or tinder.
8. Write a musical about table salt.
9. Disprove the existence of cats.
10. Make a boomerang that doesn't return.

So, what's on your life accomplishment list?