Tonight was a fun filled evening. Unfortunately we couldn't all be at the same venue.
My friend Tom McMahon, nominated me for a "Change Maker" award at Arc. Thanks Tom, it was really nice to receive that. I was very moved when I read the letter talking about the award.
My three bowlers - Vicki, Matt and Rachel all went to their bowling banquet. Yes they had PCA's - after all if you're getting an award from one organization, it's really bad press if the cops show up because you weren't caring for your children :)
Vicki medaled in both singles and doubles this year taking 3rd place in each. The other two didn't medal, but they bowled well and had fun.
It's fun to see the accomplishments of my kids and it was a nice treat to be recognized at Arc.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Twitter prayers
Our modern electronic culture has moved from your basic text and email to a non-stop in your Facebook twitterpating maniacal craze. People are spending countless hours tweating, twitting and facing life. While I am certain that some of this is good, consider the number of hours talking to no one. Well yes I suppose you do talk, but not face to face. (And to be fair, it's not unlike what I'm doing now. I'm talking to no one, just writing my opinions).
But consider numbers like 400, 5,000, 10,000 etc. Why are those numbers important. I've heard of people on Facebook having 400 "friends." Now I'm not the most popular person on the planet so maybe I'm not a good example, but I KNOW I don't have 400 friends. MAYBE 40. So why is that important. First of all, no one has 400 friends. If we say they have the 40 I mentioned, what are the other 360 doing? They're simply voyeurs looking into that persons life. They're "watching" that person via the internet. Watching some fairly intimate details. Watching and waiting for an opportunity to cause some kind of harm. Think I'm kidding, read or watch the news.
The other two numbers 5k and 10k are fairly large. Those are the number of text messages (or twits, tweats etc) that ONE person has done in a month. Do the math - 5,000 divided by 30 is 167 per DAY which is about 7 per hour for EVERY hour which is about 1 every 10 minutes! For 10k that's about 1 every 5 minutes! Is it any wonder that we feel stressed out!
Finally consider this recent development. Today is the "National Day of Prayer." We have had a formal National Day of Prayer for 58 years. For the first time in 7 years, the office of the White House will NOT have any kind of prayer meeting. HOWEVER, they will begin to Facebook and Twitter in the coming days.
So instead of getting on his knees and talk to God to ask for guidance, our newly elected 'savior of the world' will get on his BlackBerry and talk to the rest of the world to tell them what a great job he's doing.
Sorry I gotta go, I have 10,000 prayer messages to get in before lunch.
But consider numbers like 400, 5,000, 10,000 etc. Why are those numbers important. I've heard of people on Facebook having 400 "friends." Now I'm not the most popular person on the planet so maybe I'm not a good example, but I KNOW I don't have 400 friends. MAYBE 40. So why is that important. First of all, no one has 400 friends. If we say they have the 40 I mentioned, what are the other 360 doing? They're simply voyeurs looking into that persons life. They're "watching" that person via the internet. Watching some fairly intimate details. Watching and waiting for an opportunity to cause some kind of harm. Think I'm kidding, read or watch the news.
The other two numbers 5k and 10k are fairly large. Those are the number of text messages (or twits, tweats etc) that ONE person has done in a month. Do the math - 5,000 divided by 30 is 167 per DAY which is about 7 per hour for EVERY hour which is about 1 every 10 minutes! For 10k that's about 1 every 5 minutes! Is it any wonder that we feel stressed out!
Finally consider this recent development. Today is the "National Day of Prayer." We have had a formal National Day of Prayer for 58 years. For the first time in 7 years, the office of the White House will NOT have any kind of prayer meeting. HOWEVER, they will begin to Facebook and Twitter in the coming days.
So instead of getting on his knees and talk to God to ask for guidance, our newly elected 'savior of the world' will get on his BlackBerry and talk to the rest of the world to tell them what a great job he's doing.
Sorry I gotta go, I have 10,000 prayer messages to get in before lunch.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Accepting Jesus
You may have wondered from recent posts how my "Raising Prices" theme got sidetracked with political talk. The reality is that the rules our government makes are highly important in the discussion of raising our kids. If we have a bad government, we have to stand up and say so. If we do nothing, our children will suffer the consequences.
Fortunately no matter how bad a government may be, God can still be at work. Consider what Laura said about our 6 year old the other night:
He was in bed tonight and I could hear him crying. I went in his room to see what was the matter. He said he was crying because he needed a kleenex (we strongly discourage getting out of bed once in it). He said the other reason he was crying was that he hadn't prayed yet so he could go to heaven. I asked him if he would like to do that now. He said he would. We talked about how only Jesus can take away the sin that we all have and that sin separates us from God. He repeated a prayer after me. We went out to tell Dad and I noticed that he was almost glowing. We told him we were very excited and told him that he will never be separated from Jesus again because He lives in his heart now. His face was so peaceful and then he took a deep breath and his whole body relaxed.
This kind of night is what we as Christian parents look forward to. This world is messed up and has nothing to offer us for eternity. There really is only one way to peace and to heaven and it is through Jesus Christ. Now regardless of the crapola faced on this earth, my son will enjoy an eternity completely crap free. What could be better than that?
Fortunately no matter how bad a government may be, God can still be at work. Consider what Laura said about our 6 year old the other night:
He was in bed tonight and I could hear him crying. I went in his room to see what was the matter. He said he was crying because he needed a kleenex (we strongly discourage getting out of bed once in it). He said the other reason he was crying was that he hadn't prayed yet so he could go to heaven. I asked him if he would like to do that now. He said he would. We talked about how only Jesus can take away the sin that we all have and that sin separates us from God. He repeated a prayer after me. We went out to tell Dad and I noticed that he was almost glowing. We told him we were very excited and told him that he will never be separated from Jesus again because He lives in his heart now. His face was so peaceful and then he took a deep breath and his whole body relaxed.
This kind of night is what we as Christian parents look forward to. This world is messed up and has nothing to offer us for eternity. There really is only one way to peace and to heaven and it is through Jesus Christ. Now regardless of the crapola faced on this earth, my son will enjoy an eternity completely crap free. What could be better than that?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
100 is such a nice number
It's time for report cards class. How many of you can count to 100? Jimmy A+, Susie B-, Rachel C, 'savior of the world' D.
Oh I'm sorry 'sotw' you can count to 100, but you have not accomplished anything meaningful before you reached 100. 100 days that is. Yes we're actually talking about the first 100 days of the newly elected 'savior of the world.'
While the rest of the world is drooling over the accomplishments, I am simply drooling. I realize there are a number of possibilities as to why I am drooling, but that's beside the point. Consider these possibilities:
-A private sector company's president was ousted
-Numerous high level appointees have been turned down or stepped down because they didn't pay taxes
-We now pay to kill babies in foreign countries
-We are allowed to make and kill babies in the name of research
-Known enemies of the state are now free
-Other known enemies of the state will go free
-Enemies of the state are laughing uproariously at us because they know we won't really hurt them anymore
-TRILLIONS of dollars have been thrown away and my portfolio is still in the toilet
By now you may be saying 'wow, he's lost it.' Well folks, there are verifiable stories for each one of the above mentioned actions. Now you know why I'm drooling. I'm seething so bad, it's just leaking out.
You wanted change. You got it. How's it going now? Not so good? Too bad you were fooled by all of the rhetoric.
If you think 100 is a nice number, just wait until we get to 1000. By then things should be bad enough that you'll finally see the truth.
As for me, I've got a drooling problem to control.
Oh I'm sorry 'sotw' you can count to 100, but you have not accomplished anything meaningful before you reached 100. 100 days that is. Yes we're actually talking about the first 100 days of the newly elected 'savior of the world.'
While the rest of the world is drooling over the accomplishments, I am simply drooling. I realize there are a number of possibilities as to why I am drooling, but that's beside the point. Consider these possibilities:
-A private sector company's president was ousted
-Numerous high level appointees have been turned down or stepped down because they didn't pay taxes
-We now pay to kill babies in foreign countries
-We are allowed to make and kill babies in the name of research
-Known enemies of the state are now free
-Other known enemies of the state will go free
-Enemies of the state are laughing uproariously at us because they know we won't really hurt them anymore
-TRILLIONS of dollars have been thrown away and my portfolio is still in the toilet
By now you may be saying 'wow, he's lost it.' Well folks, there are verifiable stories for each one of the above mentioned actions. Now you know why I'm drooling. I'm seething so bad, it's just leaking out.
You wanted change. You got it. How's it going now? Not so good? Too bad you were fooled by all of the rhetoric.
If you think 100 is a nice number, just wait until we get to 1000. By then things should be bad enough that you'll finally see the truth.
As for me, I've got a drooling problem to control.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Hold on to your CAPS
My advice for this post is that you hold on to your CAPS. Yep, look it up. Your CAP is going to be taxed. Well not exactly your cap, but if you exhale too much you'll be taxed. Think I'm kidding? Here's a quote from an article at "http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/apr09/8348" "In his address to the U.S. Congress in February, Obama called on lawmakers “to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution ..."
Carbon based pollution is what you exhale every time you breathe! Those who love our Mother the earth truly and deeply believe this. Sure they're talking about factories or energy producers, but they're also talking about you and me.
When our newly elected 'savior of the world' was on the campaign trail he said this "You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers."
While the focus in this quote is on the raising of your taxes (without calling it a tax), you must read a little deeper. He said "...natural gas, you name it.." Alright, let's name it. Carbon dioxide. You put too much into the atmosphere and you get taxed.
It appears to be a stretch doesn't it? But think about all those people in years gone by who didn't believe people like the Wright brothers, or that we could put a man on the moon. It sounds far fetched when I say it too, but it's really right around the corner - or right out your nostrils to be accurate.
Carbon based pollution is what you exhale every time you breathe! Those who love our Mother the earth truly and deeply believe this. Sure they're talking about factories or energy producers, but they're also talking about you and me.
When our newly elected 'savior of the world' was on the campaign trail he said this "You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers."
While the focus in this quote is on the raising of your taxes (without calling it a tax), you must read a little deeper. He said "...natural gas, you name it.." Alright, let's name it. Carbon dioxide. You put too much into the atmosphere and you get taxed.
It appears to be a stretch doesn't it? But think about all those people in years gone by who didn't believe people like the Wright brothers, or that we could put a man on the moon. It sounds far fetched when I say it too, but it's really right around the corner - or right out your nostrils to be accurate.
How was your TEA?
Did you attend a recent TEA party? As much as I wanted to go, life just gets in the way and I can't get to things like that. Nevertheless, I can have my own pitea (pity) party right here if I want to.
Are you impressed with your new government yet? I am. I've never seen anyone spend money so fast. And money we don't have to boot! Here's what really baffles me. What are they thinking? Seriously. Think about when you were a kid. Did your parents EVER tell you when the Ice Cream man came "Go out there and ask him to put it on our tab?" If you did, I'm moving in next week.
And how about at the baseball game? Did dad ever tell the Sno-Cone guy or the Cotton Candy guy 'Hey my kid is short this week, can we get one and we'll settle up next game?' Once again, if he did, I want him to take me to the ball game.
Even if they did, what would the Ice Cream, Sno-Cone, or Cotton Candy guys have said? They'd have said, "stick it in your ear." But they would have used nice kid words like, "Sorry sonny, bring me some cash and I'll give ya the best I've got."
If we all followed what I'm calling the "Ice cream man rule," we'd be better off. If you ain't got it, don't spend it. That's what I want our government to hear. Not that they'll listen, but hey I feel better because I just dumped my TEA (and I hate tea).
Are you impressed with your new government yet? I am. I've never seen anyone spend money so fast. And money we don't have to boot! Here's what really baffles me. What are they thinking? Seriously. Think about when you were a kid. Did your parents EVER tell you when the Ice Cream man came "Go out there and ask him to put it on our tab?" If you did, I'm moving in next week.
And how about at the baseball game? Did dad ever tell the Sno-Cone guy or the Cotton Candy guy 'Hey my kid is short this week, can we get one and we'll settle up next game?' Once again, if he did, I want him to take me to the ball game.
Even if they did, what would the Ice Cream, Sno-Cone, or Cotton Candy guys have said? They'd have said, "stick it in your ear." But they would have used nice kid words like, "Sorry sonny, bring me some cash and I'll give ya the best I've got."
If we all followed what I'm calling the "Ice cream man rule," we'd be better off. If you ain't got it, don't spend it. That's what I want our government to hear. Not that they'll listen, but hey I feel better because I just dumped my TEA (and I hate tea).
Monday, March 23, 2009
Hockey Pride
We just completed the MN State Adapted Floor Hockey tournament this last weekend. It was the 3rd time we've been involved with Matt and Josh on the team.
The first two years we were State Champions. This year's finish was not first, but still an impressive 3rd place.
The teams we had to play to get 3rd place were tougher than in previous years because we were not the number one seed.
This year was special for a different reason. In the first game, we were tied with Rochester 0-0 going into the third period. Around 5 minutes into the 3rd, Josh scored the first goal. He followed it shortly thereafter with his second tally and we led 2-0. The reason he scored those two goals was his dogged persistence in the corners. He worked so hard to earn those goals.
In the semi-final they lost a heartbreaker to Dakota 3-2 in OT. Let's just say that I don't want to talk about the officiating. However Josh once again led the way with one goal and one assist. Once again he was often the first player to the puck digging hard to gain possession for a shot or a pass.
In the third place game, he and teammate Jacob Wiehle were gunning for top honors in the scoring department. They played a formidable Brainerd team, but with these two "hot shots," Brainerd struggled to get the puck in our end. Josh tallied 4 goals and 1 assist and his teammate scored 5 times for a 10-3 victory and third place honors.
I mentioned that this year was special for a different reason. For the first time, Josh made the All-Tournament team. A dozen players are selected for this honor based on effort, sportsmanship and productivity. In past tournaments, Josh has been in the shadow of other deserving players from our team who won the honor. This time his hard work paid off.
I told him after the first game that I was so proud of how hard he worked. His coach told him that he felt it was Josh's best game to date. Many other players, coaches and parents complimented him throughout the weekend.
This award was special for me because we have worked with Josh over the years to be more aggressive and work hard to attain things. When he played community basketball in elementary school he often waited for the ball to come to him. He really didn't know better at that time. We worked and drilled on the importance of hunting down the ball in order to help your team. Those years of seemingly unrelated events and drills paid off in this tournament.
I told him once again after the loss to Dakota that I was equally as proud of him because he worked so hard.
These kinds of events come so few and far between that when they do they're sweet and worth savoring. Now I am savoring and sharing the pride of my star floor hockey player with you - enjoy.
The first two years we were State Champions. This year's finish was not first, but still an impressive 3rd place.
The teams we had to play to get 3rd place were tougher than in previous years because we were not the number one seed.
This year was special for a different reason. In the first game, we were tied with Rochester 0-0 going into the third period. Around 5 minutes into the 3rd, Josh scored the first goal. He followed it shortly thereafter with his second tally and we led 2-0. The reason he scored those two goals was his dogged persistence in the corners. He worked so hard to earn those goals.
In the semi-final they lost a heartbreaker to Dakota 3-2 in OT. Let's just say that I don't want to talk about the officiating. However Josh once again led the way with one goal and one assist. Once again he was often the first player to the puck digging hard to gain possession for a shot or a pass.
In the third place game, he and teammate Jacob Wiehle were gunning for top honors in the scoring department. They played a formidable Brainerd team, but with these two "hot shots," Brainerd struggled to get the puck in our end. Josh tallied 4 goals and 1 assist and his teammate scored 5 times for a 10-3 victory and third place honors.
I mentioned that this year was special for a different reason. For the first time, Josh made the All-Tournament team. A dozen players are selected for this honor based on effort, sportsmanship and productivity. In past tournaments, Josh has been in the shadow of other deserving players from our team who won the honor. This time his hard work paid off.
I told him after the first game that I was so proud of how hard he worked. His coach told him that he felt it was Josh's best game to date. Many other players, coaches and parents complimented him throughout the weekend.
This award was special for me because we have worked with Josh over the years to be more aggressive and work hard to attain things. When he played community basketball in elementary school he often waited for the ball to come to him. He really didn't know better at that time. We worked and drilled on the importance of hunting down the ball in order to help your team. Those years of seemingly unrelated events and drills paid off in this tournament.
I told him once again after the loss to Dakota that I was equally as proud of him because he worked so hard.
These kinds of events come so few and far between that when they do they're sweet and worth savoring. Now I am savoring and sharing the pride of my star floor hockey player with you - enjoy.
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