Internet

Watch this 1993 CBC report about "Internet" and see what people thought about it back then.

Ahh...I just go it. When Al Gore said he created the Internet, he meant he created the "the" in the phrase "The Internet". Watch this clip and you'll understand.

Steaks on the Grill and Other Stuff

Man, we ate right tonight. Somebody gave us some fresh, vacuum-packed meat that we thought was roast meat. Brooke thawed it out yesterday and unpacked it for the Crock Pot tonight. When she unpacked it, she told me the news...it wasn't roast, it was some good lookin' steak! So I fired up the grill tonight and we ate good for dinner. Brooke cooked some baked potatoes while I grilled the steak and it was wonderful!

So while the meat was cooking, Amanda was out playing. We looked in the turtle pen and saw that one of the turtles seemed to have been moving around because the dirt where he was buried was disturbed. We investigated more closely and saw that Grumpy O' Mally was trying to burying himself a bit deeper. We covered him back up with a rug to let him hibernate a bit longer. We were glad to see him moving around and discussed how we missed seeing the turtles.

Thinking about how I enjoy seeing the turtles when they are out (and listening to my wife harass me about this) made me think about the mundane things that I enjoy in life. Here's a few I thought of:

• Seeing the turtles in their pen when I walk home from work
• Letting Boo lick the water off my legs after I get out of the shower (who knows why she likes it so much, but she waits at the door just for this 'special privilege')
• Giving Boo just a dab of toothpaste when I brush my teeth in the morning (she puts her feet up on the bathroom counter top waiting for this one)
• Walking Amanda to school each morning (one day I was in a hurry and let her walk herself the remainder of the way once she got to the crossing guard...then I was upset with myself for the rest of the morning and haven't done that again)
• Going to Quick Trip and filling my giant 52 ounce super-insulated mug with Diet Coke
• Waking up in the morning, running to the restroom first thing but having to stop and check my e-mail (while I do a little dance) first
  

OK, I'll stop there. I'm sure Brooke will let me know how glad she is I shared that last bit of information with the world. But these are things that I think about, you know, the "little" things in life that help make it enjoyable. Like stakes on the grill and other stuff.

Geocaching Friends

On your right are GeoPunkin and seekhim17. On your left are our friends ATMA. If you did not know, these are our geocaching names. This summer, Amanda and I met this couple at GeoWoodstock 4 and spent an afternoon caching with them. They live in the Houston area and e-mailed a while back saying they were coming this way for a few days of caching. On Saturday, we rode with them to Mesquite and did 30 caches together. We had a great time catching up with them. We're hoping to see them in North Carolina over Memorial Day weekend at GeoWoodstock 5.

There's more than one way to cross a creek!

See the little "pipe thing" right above the GPS Amanda is holding? That was the cache!

ATMA. These people are serious cachers...2,216 finds to date and they are going out again tomorrow! We always learn a few new tricks hanging out with them.

GeoPunkin being silly with what was definitely the
most clever cache container for the day...a giant bolt.

My Valentines

These are my Valentines
The two halves of my heart

Idiot Hijacker Gets What's Coming To Him

Speaking to the gunman during the hijacking, the pilot realized the man did not speak French. So he used the plane's public address system to warn the passengers in French of the ploy he was going to try: brake hard upon landing, then speed up abruptly. The idea was to catch the hijacker off balance, and have crew members and men sitting in the front rows of the plane jump on him, the Spanish official said.

The pilot also warned women and children to move to the back of the plane in preparation for the subterfuge, the official said.

It worked. The man was standing in the middle aisle when the pilot carried out his maneuver, and he fell to the floor, dropping one of his two 7mm pistols. Flight attendants then threw boiling water from a coffee machine in his face and at his chest, and some 10 people jumped on the man and beat him, the Spanish official said.

Read the Fox News story here.

Pahrump, Nevada Vying For Most Anti-American CIty?

Repeals English-Only law and permits flying of foreign flag by itself. Read it all here. I guess Bank of America should move their credit card headquarters here.

President Rush Limbaugh, Vice President Ann Coulter

Click the pictures to view a promo video for "The Half Hour News Hour" which will air this Sunday. Wow, wouldn't it be great to have a ticket like this to vote for in 2008!!

Imagine That

Democratic legislators and Planned Parenthood are against a proposed bill in Tennessee that would require a death certificate to be issued for aborted babies as a way to track how many abortions are preformed.

Here's a quote from the Fox News article, "Keri Adams, vice president of Planned Parenthood in Tennessee, on Wednesday called the proposal an attempt to terrorize frightened and vulnerable women who are seeking abortion."

If abortion is "just a medical procedure" as these people claim, what is so terrorizing to "frightened and vulnerable women"? Would they be terrorized if they were asked to report a tooth extraction?

Let's just face it...issuing a death certificate would force these people to think about what they are really doing...killing an innocent child.

Quite a Morning

It actually started around 11pm last night when I looked at my new Pocket PC and saw two appointments for today: 1) Brooke in San Antonio for PTA convention and 2) Hero's Welcome. Oops, I forgot about Hero's Welcome when our church was going to meet with another group at DFW airport and throw a big "Welcome Home" deal for the incoming troops. I thought the flight would be coming in around 9am, but I called the number to check the time. It said the flight would be arriving at 8am (ETA). Since we were supposed to arrive at the airport 30 minutes before that, it meant that I would have to get Amanda up at or before 7am to make it. After keeping her up late last night, I decided we probably would not make it.

Our phone rang at 7:15am this morning, and Amanda started stirring. I could tell she was probably not going to just turn over and go back to sleep, so I called the number one more time to see what time the troop plane would be arriving. It said 8:30am, so I asked Amanda if she wanted to go back to sleep or go greet the troops. She was out of bed in no time.

Most of our group met at the airport, but some wanted to ride the church bus, so Amanda and I got on. Her tummy started hurting a little before we started loading the bus, by the time we got on the bus she was laying down. Realizing we would be gone for at least 2 hours, I asked her if she could make it that long or if we should go home. She opted for coming home, so we hopped off just as the bus was pulling out.

We got home and she laid down crying. Then she told me it was her chest that hurt and not her tummy. I figured it was just gas and did not worry about it too much (she tends to have a flair for the dramatic). We prayed and she laid down. Thirty minutes later she was squirming and crying saying her chest still hurt. I was pretty sure it was just gas, but I could never live with myself it was something more serious and I did not take her to the hospital because I was to cheap to pay for an ER visit. I had her put her shoes on and was about ready to head to the hospital when I was able to think clearly long enough to call my mother who used to be an RN. I told her what was going on and she confirmed my suspicions about it being gas and recommended a drink of Coke and walk before worrying too much. Short version, half a glass of Coke and half a mile later everything was fine. Gotta tell ya, I'm sure glad I am not going to be making 2-and-a-half years worth of payments to the hospital/ER for gas pains!

To celebrate Amanda feeling better and to make us both feel better about getting up early and not getting to go greet the troops, we decided to run by Krispy Kreme (is that good for a gassy tummy?). On the way, we saw a lady with car trouble along the side of the highway. Thinking she had a flat and seeing that she was alone, we looped around at the next exit to see if we could help. She ended up being out of gas, so I pushed her car off onto the shoulder (she was on a bridge) and ran back home to grab some gas from the church mower shed. We gave her about 3 gallons and she was on her way. Got to witness to her a little bit and invite her to church before she left. So we then brought the empty gas container back and headed out to Krispy Kreme.

I would say we felt like the Marines getting more done by 10am than most people do all day, but I think we were more busy than actually getting stuff done. Nonetheless, it was quite a morning.

Our Big Date

Well, we've been talking about it most all week. Friday finally rolled around and Amanda and I went out for our first Daddy/daughter date. Here we are, all dressed up and ready to go out. She didn't quite understand the lessons I'm trying to teach her about how a boy should treat her when she's old enough to be thinking about real dates, but she definitely got the part about being important to and loved by Daddy. Amanda's first love language is physical touch, but I think quality times comes in second and is becoming more important to her.


Amanda wanted to get dressed up, so we did. She knew we were going to Cotton Patch to eat (so she could use her coupon). Here we are at Cotton Patch in Mansfield. What she didn't know was that I planned on taking her to see Night in the Museum afterwards. She asked if we could go to the mall, so I said, "Yes, we can go to the mall, but I want to take you to a different mall. And I have a special place I want to take your first." Fortunately, the Cinemark Theater at Six Flags Mall does not look much like a theater from the outside, so I was able to surprise her. She was excited since she had mentioned wanting to see this movie. We got home around 9:30pm after a great evening together.

We don't like it when Mommy is out of town, but this is definitely something we will do again when she is. It makes Amanda feel special, it is a joy for me, and it will give her a standard to use one day in the future when younger guys want to take her out on a date.

Billary '08

Dressin' Up for my Date

My wife is going to be out of town this weekend, I'm not going with her and I've got a date on Friday night with a girl who has caught my eye. Does that sound bad?

I guess for some people, that might not sound bad (shame on you!). But for the rest of us, let me explain. When Amanda and I went geocaching this past Saturday, she traded items at a cache and got a coupon for a free kids meal at Cotton Patch restaurant. She has been anxious to use the coupon, so last night I told her I would take her out on a date Friday night while Momma was gone, and we would go to Cotton Patch.

Well, we were talking about this on the way to school this morning. I reminded Amanda about our date and she asked me if we could dress up. I told her I thought casual would be more fun, but she disagreed. She then told me I needed to ask Brooke to get her (Amanda's) "hair stuff" down from the top shelf of her closet. I reminded her that Mommy would not be here Friday night and I wasn't real good with hair. "That's OK, I can do it myself" she told me, undaunted. So I guess I'll be dressin' up for my date. Check back here for pictures!

Keeping Things In Perspective - Cool!

I'll tell you what. I'm proud to be representing African-American coaches, to be the first African-American to win this. That means an awful lot to our country. But again, more than anything -- I said it before -- Lovie Smith and I are not only the first two African-Americans, but Christian coaches showing that you can win and doing it the Lord's way. We're more proud of that. - Tony Dungy

Amanda Makes Some New Friends

Here's one more picture from yesterday's geocaching. We saw these kids sitting there looking lonely, so Amanda introduced herself and sat down to read with them

The weather has been great this weekend after all the cold and rain we've had recently. Amanda and I went for a six mile bike ride today.

Been Way Too Long!

GeoPunkin and I went geocaching today. We only did 8, but it felt good to be at it again. Here are just a few pics from our adventures today.

A bamboo patch Amanda thought was really cool!

Here's one we found near 7-Eleven on Park Springs and I-20 frontage road.

Amanda always wants to do a the goofy shot, so we did this one for her.

I Know What I Was Made To Do

About my junior year in college, I was having a conversation with my Mom. I knew the Lord had called me into youth ministry and I had decided that was the career path I was going to pursue. My Mom pointed out how that was a little ironic since I was not a natural people-person and since I was a homebody. But we talked about how God equips you to do what He has called you to do, and I think my time as a youth pastor was testament to that very thing.

As a youth pastor, I was bit of an anomaly because I was organized and could administrate things. Not many of my youth pastor friends could do this, and to be honest, even fewer of them cared that they could not! And then, a couple years ago, the Lord changed my heart and my ministry and I transitioned to become the Administrative Pastor at our church. Now that I've been doing this for two years, it feels like this is a more "natural" fit for the gifts God has given me although I am so very thankful for my 15 years and youth pastor and have no doubt I was doing what God wanted me to be doing at the time.

But as natural my career seems, I have found something even better. I have found something that fits my heart's desire like an Isotoner glove fits your hand...I am a Daddy. My eyes are tearing up just sitting here thinking about it. When I first got married, I didn't want to have kids. It wasn't like "I never want kids", I just wasn't in a hurry. And then, only a few months before we found out Brooke was pregnant, something had begun to change in my heart. And then, when I found out I was going to be a Daddy, there was this overwhelming desire to be Daddy to a little girl. And God heard my heart's desire and answered it. If I had to choose just one thing that I think God created me to do in this life, I would have to say it was to be Amanda Kay's Daddy. Of course I couldn't do this without the love of my life, Brooke who is the greatest Mommy to our little girl. We're a team, and it's been quite an adventure!

So why the sudden pouring out of my heart amidst all of my political, anti-monopoly and dumb joke postings? It's because of this song by Rodney Atkins. Brooke listens to 99.5 The Wolf, so it is always on the car and I've been leaving it on recently. There is this song, Watching You, that can make me tear up every time if I let it. He's got a son and not a daughter, but his song is about the awesome privilege and responsibility of being a father. There's just not too much that can beat that. So anyway, here's the video if you want to watch it. If you're a Daddy, I think it will tug at your heart, too.

Tea Anyone?

Amanda having a tea party with Bunny & Puppy

NFL Stealing Plays from RIAA Playbook

RIAA, the Recording Industry Association of America. They say they are trying to protect the revenue due recording artists. Many feel they have gone overboard threatening people with lawsuits so large they are intimidated into plea bargain type arrangements. Now it seems the NFL is stealing plays from the RIAA playbook.

INDIANAPOLIS — The NFL has nixed a church's plans to use a wall projector to show the Colts-Bears Super Bowl game, saying it would violate copyright laws.

NFL officials spotted a promotion of Fall Creek Baptist Church's "Super Bowl Bash" on the church Web site last week and overnighted a letter to the pastor demanding the party be canceled, the church said. Initially, the league objected to the church's plan to charge a fee to attend and that the church used the license-protected words "Super Bowl" in its promotions.

Pastor John D. Newland said he told the NFL his church would not charge anyone and that it would drop the use of the forbidden words.

But the NFL objected to the church's plans to use a projector to show the game, saying the law limits it to one TV no bigger than 55 inches.

The church will likely abandon its plans to host a Super Bowl party.

You can read the rest of Fox New's NFL Thwarts Church's Plan to Show Super Bowl here.