Elephant

My wife sent me a short story she got from a friend of hers. Thought it was funny....

My five-year old students are learning to read.
Yesterday one of them pointed at a picture in a zoo book and said,

"Look at this! It's a frickin' elephant!"

I took a deep breath, then asked..."What did you call it?"
"It's a frickin' elephant! It says so on the picture!"
And so it does...

" A f r i c a n Elephant "

Hooked on phonics...woo hoo!

Ok... Ok.... Ok!

So I'm struggling getting back into blogging, especially now that I've been introduced to twitter.... that's right, I said twitter. Very busy week back from vacation but a good week.

I've realized a couple things now that I've had a little time off:

1. I love my wife. She is a fun person to be around and hang out with. She is a great conversationalist because she likes to talk and yet is a very good listener. I had a blast just hanging out with her, planning and dreaming and working on some home projects. She is someone you should get to know if you don't already.
2. I love and miss my kids. While it was cool spending time alone with my wife (the first time we were alone in our home for a week in over 12 years), I miss getting to see and hug my kids. They are great kids. Kristen has done well raising them :) They are fun to hang out with and it doesn't hurt that, at least for now, they like to hang out with us too. I know they are having a good time and they are getting a vacation from us as well. Everyone needs a little time away (yes Charlie, I know that's from Chicago).
   

Glad to have had the time off and am trying to be more intentional about doing this more in the future.

Peace.

And so it begins...

...my vacation that is! I had an opportunity I could not pass up and am very thankful for the chance to take a little break. I love doing what I do, but everyone needs a little time away (I think there's a song in that).

This week is kind of bitter sweet. While I get a chance to refresh, my kids are also taking off for Arizona. I know they will have a great time, but Kristen and I will both miss them. Obviously we get time just the two of us which will be nice too. It's been 12 years since we've been at home just the two of us.

Yep, my daughter just turned 12 - can't believe it! I don't know where the time has gone. I've started to panic wondering if I've shared and taught her what she needs to know. She's oficially a tween. The "T" stage is next and I just don't feel old enough to be the father of a teen. She's a great kid.... er... um... I mean young adult.

Dang that sucks. Time just flies too fast.

I guess you just can't take anything for granted, including time. So, I'm off to enjoy my vacation though I anticipate blogging more than I have been.

Peace.

New Fragrance by Calvin Klein

Remember Kramer and the Beach fragrance he wanted to create (which was later produced on the show by Calvin Klein)?

I now think that they need to create a fragrance for women called BBQ or Charred... possibly Smokey would work as a name as well. Delicious!

What's better than the smell of a campfire or a smokey BBQ on your wife when she's been out grilling before you get home? Shoot, I love the smell on my own clothes!

Kooky I know but we're all made a bit different. My other favorite - orange blossoms! Love it!

What's your favorite scent?

The Skinny

What a whirlwind couple of weeks. Hard to believe everything that has happened, but here's what's been going on while I was away from my blog...

Went from running the heater to running the AC. Not a big deal to most but I prefer the cold to the heat.... definitely worth noting.

My wife left me for another state with my girls... course it was to visit my mom and help take care of her after brain surgery. Go figure.

Because of the above I was a single dad of two boys for nearly a week. No easy task though my boys did an excellent job of keeping me in line.

Kristen's mom went into the hospital to be put on dialysis... she is now home.

I have actually planned a vacation... hard to believe I know, but I am planning to take a week off within the next couple of weeks, including from the weekend services I lead at The Orchard. This will be my first weekend off since August of 2007.

My wife is so hot! Ok just on my mind and had to say it :)

Dropped off my workout plan because of most of the above and because I was bored. Supposed to start back again tomorrow.

Twitter has taken over... I know I haven;t been blogging but I hope you have been at least keeping up on the twitter section of my blog to the right.

Twitter rocks!

Lights... what can I ssssaaayyy abbboouuttt lights? Yeah that's right... I might just have been shocked too many times by live voltage. Thanks to Bradster and a few electricians, the project we started around the time I took my last vacation has been completed! Ok so there are a few small things to be wrapped up and it is not the end but the beginning. The lights are a huge improvement!

Uh yeah... for the above, we hung 46 lights, ripped down 30, re-wired 18, dangled off a truss to hang some of them and then I proceeded to dream about lights for the next couple of days!

My Mac power cable burned up. Apple replaced it the next day.


I'm rocking on Guitar Hero 3 - my first Guitar Hero experience. Course I'm playing on easy mode but my kids think I'm a rock star.

Started a new message series this weekend... we're linking with more than 1200 other churches for a series called OnePrayer. Great weekend!

I guess that's good for now.
Thanks for hanging out.