You know you're working too much when you dream about your job. I had a "community meeting" last night where a certain neighborhood had talked about all their homes having only brick or stone, and that's what they want for a new building coming in their community. In my dream, I dreamt that I was walking around the community, and half the homes were vinyl siding, and I was really confused. Scary!
Our school system is really weird. They'll cancel school at the drop of a hat when there is a dash of snow on the ground. The poor kids in "western loudoun" have to drive on gravel roads, which could be slippery, or could have a potential of possibly being dangerous.
Nonetheless, here's the dilemma. It started snowing at 7am this morning. Long after many parents have left for work, long after school buses have started their routes, and too late to cancel. Now that pretty much everyone is at school, and the roads are "oh so dangerous," what do they do?
Do they let kids out early? They couldn't do that, b/c that would force parents to leave work early and it would also concede that it's safe to drive on snowy roads, but only if the kids are leaving, not going to school.
Do they keep the kids until normal release time? This is probably the best bet, hoping that the roads melt before this afternoon.
Or do they keep the kids all night long? This is the interesting question. If it is so dangerous to go to school when there is an inch of snow on the ground, which requires them to cancel school on many days like today, then what makes it so safe for them to leave school with the same amount of snow on the ground? Wouldn't the roads be just as dangerous and they could be liable if a student is injured on the way home?
Looks like the teachers better be pulling out the board games and marshmallows....
yeah- it's called Plasma.
Our friends who came over to watch the Daytona 500 today just so happened to have purchased a 42" Plasma TV from Costco on their way over. Feeling like we'd be poor stewards of our possessions if we left it in the car for 5 hours, Mr. M. and I took it out and hooked it up (boys and their toys!).
Granted, I don't have HDTV at our house, but just watching it in Standard Def at 42" is simply amazing. Unfortunately, our friends remembered that they had bought it, and they decided to keep it and not leave it here for us. =(
The next get-together will be at their house....
Can you believe NASCAR is back already!!?? WOOHOO!
Friends are coming over to watch the Daytona 500 with us tomorrow. Still haven't made the jump to HDTV -- events such as the one described below with our kitty put a dent in our ability to make frivolous entertainment purchases.
Maybe I can afford one by the World Cup -- then again, it starts the day our baby is due -- maybe in my next life.
GO TONY STEWART!
**Some portions of the below text are NOT for the faint of heart**
The latest, and hopefully final, update on our kitty's stomach issues was discovered today, a full week after her "episode."
While cleaning out the litter box, I noticed a bit of red in a portion of her "business." Remembering what the Dr. had said about Dido having possibly swallowed a string, and remembering that I had enticed her out of our bedroom with a red ribbon the night before she got sick, and not being faint of heart -- I took a venture down biology lane.
Lo and behold! The entire ribbon, probably a foot long, was in her doo-doo (Dido's doo-doo! lol). I had never dreamed in a thousand years that she would have, much less could have, swallowed the whole thing. But there it was. Thankfully, it had made it all the way into her stomach, and it had passed (probably due to all the fluids she was given in the hospital).
Who would have guessed that a 10 cent ribbon could cost us $1,500. But that's the joy of parenthood.
Now, whatever happened to my Livestrong band.....
Check this out:
http://www.worldmag.com/articles/11492
Dr. Bonicelli is a former professor of mine. One of the best.
After another night and morning of kitty sickness, we took the little thing to the Animal Emergency Hospital on Sunday morning (after 8 inches of snow!).
The Dr.'s initial fear was that she had swallowed a string which had subsequently caught around the base of her tongue. THANKFULLY, that was not the case (or else she'd have been facing major surgery to remove the string).
She stayed overnight in the hospital- we almost sent flowers. =) She had an IV to get her hydrated and pump her with antibiotics.
Then, this morning we took her back to the vet, where she spent all day under their watchful eye. We were finally able to bring her home tonight, and she is almost as good as new! We even managed to get the first pill down her!! (not a fun task)
So, now to watch her B's and M's (Bobby's World, anyone?).
We missed her- glad she's back!
You know, ketchup used to be spelled catsup. But that's not the point.
Our poor little kitty, Dido, has some sort of stomach bug. She's gotten sick (to put it mildly) about 8 times in the last 36 hours or so. It's pretty gross, but thankfully not too difficult to clean (as long as we can find it!!).
She is super-lethargic, barely moving, and overall quite pathetic. She hasn't eaten much, which may be good or bad.
Here's hopin' our patient gets better soon.
I'm going to attempt a "series" of posts on an interesting topic: CCM (or Contemporary Christian Music). Growing up, my brother and I listened to our share of CCM, enjoying the truly great artists (Rich Mullins, Michael Card, etc) and quite often mocking the cheesy songs/artists.
Thus, I've decided to start remarking on certain CCM songs today. I'm not judging based upon music quality, but upon lyrics- dumb lyrics that people write just so the song is "Christian".
A bit of background- I've gone through cycles of radio listening habits- from Christian to secular to sports and back to Christian. These days it's a combination, often sports radio (if Ang isn't in the car) and Christian (if she is). Secular stations are now a sort of last resort, if there's just nothing else on (partially due to the fact that our favorite station changed its focus and started doing more 70's and 80's music- not in Ang'e range of tolerance).
And the WINNER is.....
The first CCM song to incur the mocking blow of DcD is- "I Choose You" by Point of Grace (you can download a clip here) .
Here's the chorus:
And I choose You
All my attention, affection
And all my devotion’s for You
If everybody’s worshipping something
I choose You
Did you catch that? "If everybody's worshipping something, I choose You." What kind of argument is that? It's like saying "Hey, everyone's doing drugs, so I choose pot." The only reason you're giving for worshipping God is that everyone else has chosen a God/god/idol, so I might as well choose the Almighty God.
Here's my question- If everyone isn't worshipping something, do they still choose God? If there's no longer the "peer pressure" to worship something, then will they still think it necessary?
My argument (and strong belief) is that our worship of God is borne out of pure humility, thankgiving, and adoration. He is our Creator, Savior, Redeemer, and Glorious King. Now if that isn't enough to get you to worship God....
I've added a new link to my sidebar. My brother, a pastor in Phoenix, AZ, posts most of his sermons online. It's a very worthwhile read.
Eschatalogical Hints
So the local Republican appears to be officially in shambles. And one word describes the reason: GROWTH.
Whether it is an accurate statement or not, the Republicans are deemed responsible for the "rampant growth" in Loudoun County. Ergo, any recent election has become a "referendum on growth" and the Republicans have gotten smashed.
The Republican party in Loudoun needs to take a very serious inventory of its members- typically they are fringe, hard-right idealogues whose message doesn't portray to the common citizen in Loudoun. Property Rights can't remain the sole mantra of the local party if the moderates continue to defect and vote Democrat. There needs to be a return to the key components of Republican thinking: less government, lower taxes and spending, and key social issues.
Growth has become thy downfall, o once mighty Loudoun County Republican Committee. May you have the wisdom to recognize this.
Nice game- couple of key interceptions kept it interesting. Not too impressed by Big Ben's performance, but his defense bailed him out.
