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Archive - August, 2008

Facebook Confessional

August 31, 2008 in facebook,hey look a chicken,ranch dressing with 5 Comments

I have a confession to make: I don’t really get the whole facebook thing. I know how to become some one’s friend if they invite me to do so and how to send and receive flair, but all the games and stuff, I just kind of struggle through. I’ve got like 2 pages of requests for games and whatnot, but I’m just a little intimidated by it all.

However, being inspired by a new group that I recently joined, “I love ranch dressing” (and who doesn’t?), I have created a group of my own: “Hey look, a chicken!” If you are on facebook, or want to join, won’t you please join my group and send me a friend request? It’ll be fun! (How pathetic was that?)

A Trip to Sam’s Club: Part One

August 31, 2008 in but I digress,coffee,communion,convergence christian church,dog poop,hokey pokey,larry laprise,me being silly,morgan freeman,sam's club,shawshank redemption with 3 Comments

I went to Sam’s Club yesterday. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Sam’s Club, it’s a big warehouse store that sells things in bulk. Just picture a Walmart store on steroids. I’m not one to buy many things in bulk, but you can never have too many paper towels and rolls of toilet paper. You NEVER want to run out of toilet paper! I also needed to get some communion supplies for Convergence Christian Church. I know I haven’t blogged about it, but we’ve been meeting as a core group since July, and began meeting on Sunday mornings (and evenings) on August 3. It is our practice to celebrate communion each Sunday.

We have been using the disposal type communion with the wafer (Styrofoam) and grape (rancid) juice (diluted) conveniently wrapped in one container. We have priced traditional communion trays, but have decided to hold off on this particular purchase. I have also come to the realization that those gold trays must actually be made of gold, because they are priced accordingly.

I’m kinda known as the “go to” gal when it comes to finding creative solutions or just finding stuff in general. I’ve even been compared to Red — Morgan Freeman’s character in The Shawshank Redemption. (If you remember the movie, Red could find anything and smuggle it inside the prison.) I’m actually pretty proud of this distinction, and so I consider each request a personal challenge. Our senior pastor (hee-hee, I still can’t get used to that) Jeff called and asked if I could find some small cups for communion. He would bring the grape juice and the bread/wafers.

This is what I came up with: At Sam’s, I picked up some 1 ounce plastic containers (like the ones they might provide to squirt ketchup into at some of your finer eating establishments). We now have communion cups for at least the next couple of Sundays, as these particular containers come in boxes of 2000.

I am now three paragraphs into the post and haven’t even mentioned what I originally intended to write about. (Shocking, I know.) But that cool. I’ll save it for another post. (It’s really good, so check back!) I’ve gone too far down this rabbit trail to turn back now. I’ll let you know how the little one ounce containers work out. Our worship begins in a mere 4 hours. And since Sunday morning services are currently being held at la casa, I need to check the floors for dog poop and put the coffee on. I can’t wait!

Whether you are meeting at a church of 5000 or 5 today, or no church at all, may you experience the power of worship that brings you into His presence and — above all — glorifies His Holy Name. Because despite what you may have been lead to believe by Larry LaPrise, noted lyricist of “The Hokey Pokey”, THAT’s really what it’s all about…

And speaking of Larry LaPrise, I came across this obit while researching this blog post:

What with all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the almost unnoticed death of a very important person. Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote “The Hokey Pokey”, died peacefully at home. He was 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in… and then the trouble started.

Thanks for indulging my silliness (again). Be blessed!

Note to Self: Write a blog post

August 28, 2008 in ADD,blogging,but I digress,organization,pegboard,post-it notes,procrastination,rabbit trails with 6 Comments

I’ve been taking a self-imposed hiatus from blogging. I didn’t make a conscience decision not to blog. But as the summer started coming to an end, I realized that I needed to spend some time doing several things around the house I have been putting off. Case in point: Two weeks before my kids went back to school, I happened to notice that their backpacks were still hanging on their hooks in the mud room stuffed with the papers they brought home on the last day of school of the PREVIOUS school year.

Clearly I am a bit of a procrastinator when it comes to things I deem unpleasant such as organization and filing of paperwork. Not that I’m opposed to the idea. Quite the opposite. The IDEA of being organized and having a place for everything and everything in its place is incredibly appealing to me. I just have a hard time making the jump from wanting it to doing it.

As tempting as it seems at times, I cannot blame all of my shortcomings on the fact that I have ADD. The whole organization thing is definitely associated with it, but I can’t throw my hands in the air and say “It’s not my fault, I’m ADD!” Well, actually I could, but if I did, my house would be a total pigsty and I would never have anyone over. Plus, I don’t want my kids to think it’s okay not to take care of their things.

So, in the past few weeks, I’ve reorganized my kitchen cabinets and drawers, sorted through and given away all my kids’ clothes that don’t fit anymore, and completely organized my daughter’s belongings. If any of you out there have a 7-10 year old girly girl, who is in to American Girl dolls, Barbies, Bratz, stuffed animals, becoming a future rock star, arts and crafts, jewelry, clothes and all things “fancy”, then perhaps you may relate to what a monumental task it is to organize the totality of their possessions. Let me just say, “Pegboard is NOT just for the garage anymore!” I’ll probably do a write up on my other blog about all the places I have used pegboard in my house. It is awesome. (But, once again, I digress.)

You might be saying, “Why did that take several weeks? That really doesn’t sound like so much to do.” I would agree with that statement if I was a normal person. If you’ve read this blog more than once or twice, you are aware that I am not what you might consider a “normal” person. I have a tendency to get sidetracked by my dreams of the perfect scenario for the given situation. For example: Instead of simply removing the papers from my kids’ backpacks, throwing all but a few away and then rehanging the backpacks on the hooks, I decided to that I needed to make these really cool backpack clipboard hooks that I saw in a magazine. And before I did that, I had to finish painting the faux tile border on the wall that these super cool backpack clipboard hooks would go on. (This particular border has been taped and ready to be painted for approximately 6 months.)

I won’t bore you with ALL the rabbit trails this particular home project took me down, but maybe this gives a clearer picture of the craziness of how my brain works. The best visual description of my thought process came from my friend Jeff (who is a tad ADD himself). Picture each one of your thoughts as random and seemingly unrelated notes jotted down on several haphazardly placed post-it notes. Some stuck on top of one another, others simply losing their stickiness and falling away, completely forgotten. Welcome to my brain.

Cover Songs and Remakes: Some good, some not so good…

August 7, 2008 in cover songs,craptastic,kurt cobain,remakes with 6 Comments

As a vocalist on a praise team for the past 10 years, I’ve sung a few different versions of old hymns and contemporary Christian songs. Some would argue that the old hymns should not be changed — that they lose something when we try to make them more contemporary. For the most part, I would disagree with that statement. If done well, updates to old hymns can be enjoyed by those who have loved them for years and, at the same time, expose a whole new audience to the great messages in these old classics. With a few exceptions, it really boils down to personal preference in musical styles. I know I’ve been guilty of song snobbery in the past because of my personal preference and how “we’ve always done it in the past”. If I’m being honest, I would have to admit that I have been downright insulted at times when a new worship leader has come in and completely changed the arrangement of a song that I held as sacred. But really, that’s just being silly. I can only be insulted if I choose to be. And as many of you already know, I’m not easily insulted.

Secular music is awash in remakes. “Listen to your heart” was recently remade. I thought the song was awful the first time around. To hear it again on Top 40 radio is just painful. You really should let some sleeping dogs lie. Both times around, the song is truly craptastic.

And speaking of cover songs that should NEVER EVER be done, check out this little snippet. I would not be so bold as to assume the final destination of Kurt Cobain, grungy lead singer for Nirvana, but I imagine being forced to watch this performance over and over might be some form of cruel and unusual punishment…I know it was for me. (Although, I must admit — it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it!)

By the way: I have changed my comments section to allow anonymous comments, so you don’t have to sign up for anything to comment. I only say this because I’m very curious whose reading my silly ramblings! If you’re a regular reader but have never commented, it would be great if you just said “Hi” and from what part of the world you’re reading from. No pressure…just curious!