I believe in the power of prayer. I am 100% sure of few things, but one of those is that our Father is faithful and good to those who love Him. One of the people that RRL and I are friends with is hurting. Her health has rattled her young body more than anyone deserves. She is amazingly strong, having endured more than most of us will face in a lifetime. Christine, her husband and family have been such an encouragement to so many others during this tough time for them and now they have a simple request- to pray. Please read the following link then commit to join me in joining them to cry out on Christine's behalf. Just for a moment, right now, as you read this, just stop and pray. Just beg God to completely heal Christine, take away her pain, and let her have a healthy pregnancy. Then pray for Christine, Matt, Jack (their son) and their baby on the way. Also pray for their parents and others that are giving so many hours right now by Christine's bedside. THANK YOU!
For more information go to the blog of Christine's mom and read the post called "You are invited..."
http://www.melindagayle.blogspot.com/
Thanks, in advance, for joining this fight, even if you do not know Christine!
ABL
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
An update, a vintage outfit and a motorcycle
FIRST AN UPDATE:
If anyone cares, the way we score our family brackets is as follows:
One point for a first round win, 2 points in the second, 2 points for sweet sixteen victories, 3 points elite eight, 3 points final four wins, 4 points for a national champion selection. We also give 1/2 of the total for upsets (ie UNLV-7 over Wisconsin-2 was 2 and 1/2 points).
The family challenge currently stands:
ABL 34 1/2 (but I still have a chance to rebound with 7 of my 8 elite eight picks still standing)
RRL 36 (again, I still have a chance, just need my Vols and Commodores from TN to pull through with one more win as I chose these and neither of my other two competitors did.)
KJL sittin' pretty at 38 (He thanks all the big dogs that somehow managed to avoid many upsets in the first round)
Now a picture of a vintage outfit:
Can you believe that my brother wore those overalls more than 20 years ago? The colors are totally back in, so we made a showing at church. Either my mom or grandmother made this outfit, stitched with love. KJ sure made it handsome!
Finally a random about a motorcycle:
I have a thing for blatant disrespect for the law while driving. I do not think that a little speeding falls into this category, but I do think 100 miles an hour would qualify, as would crossing the solid white line just to merge quicker on the interstate, and would not wearing a seat belt. I saw one such display of blatant disregard this weekend- a motorcycle (single rider) in the HOV lane. How can you even make that kind of look ok? I was not in the HOV lane (although I could have been) and he did have a motorcycle buddy not far behind. Do motorcycles somehow qualify since I guess they technically are better for the environment or something? Isn't that the purpose of an HOV lane- to encourage carpooling? Does anyone know something about this that would save me from the bitterness I have toward these motorcyclists? Random, I know.
Have a great night,
ABL
If anyone cares, the way we score our family brackets is as follows:
One point for a first round win, 2 points in the second, 2 points for sweet sixteen victories, 3 points elite eight, 3 points final four wins, 4 points for a national champion selection. We also give 1/2 of the total for upsets (ie UNLV-7 over Wisconsin-2 was 2 and 1/2 points).
The family challenge currently stands:
ABL 34 1/2 (but I still have a chance to rebound with 7 of my 8 elite eight picks still standing)
RRL 36 (again, I still have a chance, just need my Vols and Commodores from TN to pull through with one more win as I chose these and neither of my other two competitors did.)
KJL sittin' pretty at 38 (He thanks all the big dogs that somehow managed to avoid many upsets in the first round)
Now a picture of a vintage outfit:
Can you believe that my brother wore those overalls more than 20 years ago? The colors are totally back in, so we made a showing at church. Either my mom or grandmother made this outfit, stitched with love. KJ sure made it handsome!
Finally a random about a motorcycle:
I have a thing for blatant disrespect for the law while driving. I do not think that a little speeding falls into this category, but I do think 100 miles an hour would qualify, as would crossing the solid white line just to merge quicker on the interstate, and would not wearing a seat belt. I saw one such display of blatant disregard this weekend- a motorcycle (single rider) in the HOV lane. How can you even make that kind of look ok? I was not in the HOV lane (although I could have been) and he did have a motorcycle buddy not far behind. Do motorcycles somehow qualify since I guess they technically are better for the environment or something? Isn't that the purpose of an HOV lane- to encourage carpooling? Does anyone know something about this that would save me from the bitterness I have toward these motorcyclists? Random, I know.
Have a great night,
ABL
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
I MUST BE CRAZY....
...Cameron Crazy!
That's right folks, I'm pretty much throwing the family challenge this year by picking my Blue Devils to GO ALL THE WAY! In all honesty, they will likely lose in the 2nd or 3rd round (maybe even an early loss to VCU), but that is not stopping me. Its tough when your reputation as a true fan meets your reputation as a strong-bracket-selector. This year, I choose fan.
March Madness is more than just basketball in our family. It is like a national holiday. Seriously, I LOVE IT! I love the basketball, the bantering (on the court and in our home), the chance for any team to make history and come out on top. It doesn't matter what your season was like (except for bracket placement- and as evidenced by Air Force not getting a bid, even that doesn't really matter), every team has a shot. It doesn't matter whether you've been a fan all season or not watched a single game (which, sadly, is my status this year), every bracketer has a chance. The slate is clean, any player could just be a few weeks away from being a hero...and any family member could just be a few weeks away from a WHOLE year of bragging rights.
Even KJ has a bracket this year. We just play for fun and of course bragging rights (which by the way have been rightfully mine for more years than RRL since inception of our family challenge). KJ chose number one seeds all the way (the only fair thing to do) and flipped a coin from final four to the end. He has Kansas as champs.
RRL picks FL, Kansas, Memphis, TX with FL going all the way.
I have FL, Duke, UNC and Memphis with Duke going all the way...I MUST BE CRAZY!
So girls, get out your brackets, be American and participate. If nothing else, your husbands will appreciate the effort. LET ME KNOW YOUR PICKS!
ABL
That's right folks, I'm pretty much throwing the family challenge this year by picking my Blue Devils to GO ALL THE WAY! In all honesty, they will likely lose in the 2nd or 3rd round (maybe even an early loss to VCU), but that is not stopping me. Its tough when your reputation as a true fan meets your reputation as a strong-bracket-selector. This year, I choose fan.
March Madness is more than just basketball in our family. It is like a national holiday. Seriously, I LOVE IT! I love the basketball, the bantering (on the court and in our home), the chance for any team to make history and come out on top. It doesn't matter what your season was like (except for bracket placement- and as evidenced by Air Force not getting a bid, even that doesn't really matter), every team has a shot. It doesn't matter whether you've been a fan all season or not watched a single game (which, sadly, is my status this year), every bracketer has a chance. The slate is clean, any player could just be a few weeks away from being a hero...and any family member could just be a few weeks away from a WHOLE year of bragging rights.
Even KJ has a bracket this year. We just play for fun and of course bragging rights (which by the way have been rightfully mine for more years than RRL since inception of our family challenge). KJ chose number one seeds all the way (the only fair thing to do) and flipped a coin from final four to the end. He has Kansas as champs.
RRL picks FL, Kansas, Memphis, TX with FL going all the way.
I have FL, Duke, UNC and Memphis with Duke going all the way...I MUST BE CRAZY!
So girls, get out your brackets, be American and participate. If nothing else, your husbands will appreciate the effort. LET ME KNOW YOUR PICKS!
ABL
Friday, March 9, 2007
My Life in Pictures
This is mostly for Elisa...I certainly do not want to be charged a fine for not posting. Who knew there were bloggerland policemen that could charge fines at their own discretion? I have lots going on and with that comes lots of introspection and a few funny stories. Never fear, though, its too late for me to put them into words now so I won't bore you with it all.
I'll just share one disgusting story and some parenting advice, then leave you with some pictures:
Last night RRL and I ate dinner at a local fastfood restaurant. I wasn't very hungry so I ordered a kids meal and, as is my custom when I order a kids meal, I got milk. I shook the container, inserted straw and took a giant swig....of the most disgustingly soured milk I've ever tasted in my life. I started flailing my arms for RRL to pull over so that I could spit it out (what didn't already go down that is) and promptly shoved an entire small order of curly fries into my mouth to buffer the flavor...it didn't work, I can STILL taste it (24 hours later). You have NO IDEA how entirely grossed out I was...and still am. YUCK. We were in a hurry so RRL quickly went back inside, traded my sour cream for a root beer and we left. No fit pitched or complaint filed, we just went on about our business so we could make it to the movie on time. What would you have done?
The advice- if you MUST let your kids get milk at a fast food restaurant (I wouldn't recommend it), smell and taste the milk before handing it to them. They will thank you later.
Now for the photos:
KJs buddies that I hang out with once a week. Next week all three of them are staying at our house...ALL WEEK. Should be interesting, and probably a lot of fun!
Favorite recent fam photo, but I wish it hadn't been a ponytail day. At least the boys are handsome.
Uncle M Day. We spent a few hours on Tuesday celebrating my brother. We talked about Paraguay, looked at pictures and KJ wore his Paraguay soccer jersey. We tried to call him, but couldn't get through. KJ loves to play with the phone.
"Back off, I'm doing it." My mom, a best friend, my sister-in-law and my husband celebrated bdays this week. My recent favorite thing to do is make personalized photo cards. Four in one week was a challenge, but a lot of fun. KJ for some reason doesn't really understand the concept of "sit still, look at the camera, hold up your sign, no turn it the other way, don't eat the sign, great...NOW SMILE". Here is one of my favorite photos that did not make the cut for an actual card.
Ok, Elisa. Hopefully that will buy me another week or so, fine free.
ABL
I'll just share one disgusting story and some parenting advice, then leave you with some pictures:
Last night RRL and I ate dinner at a local fastfood restaurant. I wasn't very hungry so I ordered a kids meal and, as is my custom when I order a kids meal, I got milk. I shook the container, inserted straw and took a giant swig....of the most disgustingly soured milk I've ever tasted in my life. I started flailing my arms for RRL to pull over so that I could spit it out (what didn't already go down that is) and promptly shoved an entire small order of curly fries into my mouth to buffer the flavor...it didn't work, I can STILL taste it (24 hours later). You have NO IDEA how entirely grossed out I was...and still am. YUCK. We were in a hurry so RRL quickly went back inside, traded my sour cream for a root beer and we left. No fit pitched or complaint filed, we just went on about our business so we could make it to the movie on time. What would you have done?
The advice- if you MUST let your kids get milk at a fast food restaurant (I wouldn't recommend it), smell and taste the milk before handing it to them. They will thank you later.
Now for the photos:
KJs buddies that I hang out with once a week. Next week all three of them are staying at our house...ALL WEEK. Should be interesting, and probably a lot of fun!
Favorite recent fam photo, but I wish it hadn't been a ponytail day. At least the boys are handsome.
Uncle M Day. We spent a few hours on Tuesday celebrating my brother. We talked about Paraguay, looked at pictures and KJ wore his Paraguay soccer jersey. We tried to call him, but couldn't get through. KJ loves to play with the phone.
"Back off, I'm doing it." My mom, a best friend, my sister-in-law and my husband celebrated bdays this week. My recent favorite thing to do is make personalized photo cards. Four in one week was a challenge, but a lot of fun. KJ for some reason doesn't really understand the concept of "sit still, look at the camera, hold up your sign, no turn it the other way, don't eat the sign, great...NOW SMILE". Here is one of my favorite photos that did not make the cut for an actual card.Ok, Elisa. Hopefully that will buy me another week or so, fine free.
ABL
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