Hacienda Frisbees

Our kids enjoy their collection of Hacienda Frisbees, yet they rarely actually throw them. They use them as bases, bug cages, obstacle cones, worm corrals, mud pie containers, hop-scotch targets, game boundaries, grass salad bowls, etc.

The sheer quantity has gotten to be a problem over the years though. We've thrown out dozens of the things (they crack quickly when jumped on in cold weather.) They were taking up too much room and even flowing out of our ball bucket.

This afternoon Landen and I decided to do something about this problem. We built a Frisbee storage device (patent pending) (not really.)

Nappanee's New Dairy Queen

Today Kylee told me she thought that the Dairy Queen was open. I said that I didn't think so, but that she could call the number for Dairy Queen and ask. So she did. A lady answered. Kylee asked if they were open. The lady said they are opening on Tuesday!

Prince Caspian

I took the girls uptown to see Prince Caspian tonight. I had read The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to Kylee and Makenna, but we had not read Prince Caspian.

We enjoyed the movie. I do hope we didn't bother the family two rows in front of us too much, as the girls did have quite a few questions as they tried to understand all that was happening. I'm not an expert movie-understander by any means, so their crutch itself was slightly lame. After a bit of a slow and slightly confusing (to a lame crutch) start, it moved along quite well. Definitely not one of my favorite movies, but I did like it.

Four things:

1. I always enjoy going up to the Nappanee Theatre to see movies. It brings back many fond memories of my childhood.
   
2. This is the first time I have taken my twins daughters to a movie theatre as seven-year-olds. I was wondering if it might be the first time I would take them to a movie and NOT have at least one of them crawl onto my lap. I'm happy to say the streak still stands.
   
3. (Not really much of a spoiler alert) My favorite bit of symbolism in the movie is a scene in which Lucy is standing beside Aslan and the sword-wielding mouse, Reepicheep. The injured mouse is brought before them. Even with the Mighty Aslan standing beside her, Lucy is the one who rushes to the mouse's side to use the gift of healing that Aslan had given her.
   
4. Shoot, I forgot the fourth thing.

DVD Review: Lassie (2006)

We watched Lassie at home as a family a number of months ago. All of us thought it was a terrific movie. So, as an end-of-the-school-year-treat (and so I could get report cards done) we watched Lassie in my second grade class today. This version of Lassie hit theatres is 2006, so it's pretty new. Yet only one of my students had seen it before. The kids in my class seemed to really enjoy it. A number of students mentioned that they thought it was great. I did pause it about four short times at the beginning and once at the end to make sure everyone was understanding what was going on.

Lassie is a fantastic family film. It's a story of love, loyalty, adventure, sacrifice and determination. I have found that any book or film character that kids can really connect with, who then faces something heart wrenching makes for a film or book that kids end up liking pretty well. This movie has more than one such character. You'll care about the characters in Lassie, your heart will be wrenched and you'll love the movie all the more.

I say, watch this one for sure (even if you don't have kids!)

My Solution to High Oil Prices

You know what bothers me about the high gas prices? People have known for years that these prices could be on the horizon and didn't do anything.

I bought my pickup truck in the summer of 2004. Later that year, while reading on the Internet, I had the thought, "Great. I bought this truck, now I'm not even going to be able to afford to drive it."

That fall, I remember meeting with Caleb Hunsberger and Ben Hahn for a Bible study upstairs at Flick's in Wakarusa. I recall telling them, "You know what I'm worried about? Oil."

I'm just an average Joe who did a little reading and had a sense that the run-up on oil prices was coming. The people in Washington aren't average Joes. They surely had better and more information than I did. Yet, they lead us to do nothing. (Last year they did raise future fuel economy standards somewhat - but I don't think it's enough and should have been done LONG ago.)

We didn't prepare very well, but even if gas hits double digits, we'll survive - just not as comfortably as we could have.

So here's my solution to high oil prices.

Power much of our transportation needs with electricity by:

• Building lots of nuclear power plants.
• Setting fuel economy standards way high, so they can only be met by producing plenty of models like the upcoming Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid.

Free Lunch

I went to McDonald's for lunch today with the other second grade teachers. I used my free Southern Style Chicken Sandwich coupon, then ordered a free Coke with my Lion card.

Searches

After blogging for about three months, I am starting to get some visits from search engine searches. Here are some searches that have brought people to my blog this month.

• kern bough
• piggy opera
• intrade american idol
• new dairy queen to open nappanee indiana
• ears pierced
• nikki speicher
• come on eileen rockapella
• democratic race in indiana
• sump pump discharge line freezes
• wakarusa childrens resale

Summer Reading & More Free Chicken

My summer reading order from Amazon arrived in the mail today. My goal for the summer is to finish The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, then read the books that came in the mail today . . .

• The Shack by William P. Young
• Uprising - A Revolution of the Soul by Erwin McManus
• Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

Oh, and the coolest thing about this Amazon order was that it came with a McDonald's coupon for a free Southern Style Chicken Sandwich. I think I will go to McDonald's, use the coupon, get out my panther gold card and ask for a free pop to go along with my free sandwich.

One Year Ago Today. . .

I took this picture.

Favorite Songs Week - Part 6

My favorite song to sing at church is "Jesus Paid it All."

When I sing this song, I sing it to Jesus, my savior and humbly express my utmost thankfulness for His sacrifice and forgiveness. Praise the One! He paid my debt!

Praise the one who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead.

Praise the one who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead.

Praise the one who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead.

Praise the one who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead.

Jesus Paid it All
by Kristian Stanfill

Grown Man Cries in Claire's

It was me. I wasn't sobbing or bawling, just choked up - twice. We we took a day trip to Ft. Wayne yesterday. One of our stops was Glenbrook Mall.

The girls wanted to look in Claire's, so we went in. We were about ready to leave when suddenly Makenna asked, "Can I get my ears pierced?" Kristi explained a little more about it, and ten minutes later her ears were pierced. After seeing Makenna hardly flinch, Kylee got hers pierced too.

I was the one who flinched. As soon as I saw the ear rings emblazoning the lobes of each girl, I wanted to rush up and tell them how pretty they looked. But I was too choked up. I couldn't speak, not yet.

Each girl sat so bravely, looked so pretty, growing up so fast, time going by too quickly.

Favorite Songs Week - Part 5

John Mellencamp is the only pop/rock star I have ever seen in concert in my entire life. Kristi and I saw him in concert at Conseco Fieldhouse on New Year's Eve 1999. It was a new experience for both of us and we enjoyed the show. "Jack and Diane" is my favorite Mellencamp song and one of my favorite songs overall.

Jack and Diane

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I went to the new Indiana Jones movie with Ben and Brooks tonight. I liked it. It was a little far-fetched; but I didn't mind, other than the far-fetchedness of a few of the things the mere mortals were able to do (i.e. monkey vines.) It was certainly action/adventure packed and quite a lot of fun.

And to go along with favorite songs week, the theme song is definitely one of my favorite movie theme songs.

Indiana Jones Theme

I'm Scared

I heard some bad news on Fox 28 tonight.

Favorite Songs Week - Part 3

Tonight is the American Idol results finale. I loved the 2006 season when they played Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" as a farewell song. I don't know that much about pop music from the past decade, but "Bad Day" is my favorite pop song from the 2000s.

Bad Day

Intrade.com

ABC News recently did a 20/20 story about a web site I track quite closely. The site is intrade.com, which is basically a futures market for current events. I do not have any money "invested" on this site, but the information is intriguing because it is a product of moves people are making with real money.

I just follow the site because I think it's interesting. I'm a current events and pop culture buff. So, I follow Intrade data to keep apprised of what is likely to happen in the future. I have been checking the site nearly daily for the last year, tracking the 2008 presidential election possibilities. I also recall using back in 2004 during the last election.

The American Idol futures have also been interesting to follow.

You can see the 20/20 story in the YouTube video.

Favorite Songs Week - Part 2

"Centerfold." This song's just got a ton going for it.

• It hit number one for six weeks in the winter of 1982.
• "J. Geils Band" is one cool sounding name for a band.
• It's got an interesting story.
• Any song with "Na na" in it, tends to be pretty good. "Kiss Him Goodbye" & "Every Move I Make" for example.
• The whistling.
• Is "The whole song" justifiable as a thing going for the song? Maybe I should like it better than "Come On Eileen."
• "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR."

Arm Burn

Today at work one of my students was at the overhead doing a game of Hangman for the rest of the class. So, I sat at the student's desk and raised my hand, ready to guess a letter like the rest of the participants. I probably only had my hand in the air for three minutes and my tricep was burning. That feeling sure brought back memories of that waiting-to-be-called-on burning feeling from when I was in school. On the way out to recess I said to a couple of kids that it had made my arm sore. To which Mackenzie retorted, "Yeah. . . try doing that ALL day long!"

Favorite Songs Week

"Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners is currently my all-time favorite song and has been for quite a while. Although, tomorrow's song has been giving Eileen a run for it's money recently. Come On Eileen hit number one for one week in April 1983, sandwiched between Michael Jackson's number one hits, "Bille Jean" and "Beat It."

Dexys Midnight Runners
I especially like the part from 2:45 to the end.

This version by Rockapella (of Where in the World is Carmen San Diego fame.) is absolutely sick, however. And I don't mean the good kind of sick.

Rockapella version
Listen at your own risk! It's truly disgusting!

50 Years Ago

My Grandma and Grandpa Culp, along with my Aunt Janet are mentioned in this "Remember When" article from the Warsaw Times Union.

50 Years Ago
April 30 1958
Janet Culp, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Culp, Nappanee, is doing a ballet number at the Indiana Nurses Association convention in Terre Haute this weekend. Janet, who used to teach ballet, is a student nurse at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne. Janet is doing "I Could Have Danced All Night" from "My Fair Lady."

Back to the 80s Day 7

Today written in the style of my 80s journal:

Sun. May 18, 2008

I went to S. S. & Church. After church Kylee, Makenna, Landen, Kristi, Rocki & me went up to La Fogata for lunch. Tara & Jody were there. We talked to them a little bit. I watched the Clevland vs. Boston game 7 playoff game. Boston won.

22 Years Ago Today

From my 80s journal:

Sun. May 18, 1986

I went to S.S. & Church. After church Steph came home & Grandma & Grandpa Culp ate dinner here. I talked to Heather this afternoon. After I talked to her, Steph, Mom & Me went to Donny Young's graduation open house. Steph was going with him last year. Well they broke-up wright about now last year. I think it was kind of hard for Steph. But I think she's glad she went. I watched "Micki & Maude" on VCR tonight.

• Donny went to Fairfield. I remember we gave his younger sister some of my parachute pants after I didn't wear them anymore.
• I went to the Nappanee Church of the Brethren.
• Stephanie is my sister. This would have been the end of her freshman year at Manchester College. I think they had a Jan. term, so their school year got out later than most colleges.

Fred and Evelynn Culp
Circa 1980

Back to the 80s Day 6

Today's events written in the style of my 80s journal.

Sat. May 17, 2008

I mostly worked in the yard. I got our fence by the ditch to stop leaning in one spot. And I mowed the yard. Kristi and I started to watch Grosse Point Blank on Tivo tonight, but I fell asleep.

March 28, 1986

From my 80s journal

Fri. Mar. 28, 1986

No school today, Good Friday. at about 10 Mike came down here & we played basketball, then at 11: we went to Central and played basketball with T.J., Brent, Jay, & Craig Bush. Then Me, Mike, T.J. & Brent went to Pizza Hut. Then we went to Shelli Kindigs. Heather, Kelley K., Stacy Cleveland, Alan, Ben, LaMarr, Jason & Alan Nuenamaker & Nikki Spiecher, Mikes going with her, were all there. We played basketball, tennis, frissbe golf & football. We talked alot to. We stayed there about 4 hours. When I got home I rode my 4-wheeler, I got stuck in this mud-leaf-water hole. I walked home. I got John Kuhns to help me get it out. We got it out.

• I was 15.
• We would have used bikes to get around Nappanee that day.
• I remember this day pretty well, especially playing at Shelly Kindig's and getting my three wheeler stuck.
• 1986 was filled with fun days like this for me. I remember 1986 as my favorite year.
• Central = Central School
• T.J. = T.J. Mishler
• Brent = Brent Warren
• Jay = Jay Crain
• Heather = Heather Smith
• Kelley K. = Kelly Crilow
• Alan = Alan Nunemaker
• Ben = Ben Hahn
• LaMarr = LaMarr Lakins
• Jason = Jason Nunemaker
• Nikki Spiecher = Nikki Speicher
• Ben Hahn and I are now brother's-in-law. Our wives are sisters.
• On the way to Pizza Hut one of us would have suddenly yelled, "FirstchoiceofPersonalPanPepperoni." Follwed quickly by, "Second" and "Third." Brent was the only one who usually got a supreme, so he didn't have anything to worry about.
• The mud-leaf-water hole that I got stuck in was in the woods behind Nunemaker's house. It would have been just to the south of where Andy and Jenni Wysong live now.
• I'm not sure how well my mom, sister and I would have fared had it not been for John Kuhn's serventhood.
  
  

Back to the 80s Day 5

Today, in the style of my 80s journal:

Fri. May 17, 2008

Brianna & Hailey came over. We got Pizza Hut for supper. Then we went over to the park to play. Kristi, Kylee, Brianna & me rode bike there. Hailey, Makenna & Landen rode scooters. When we got back, Cooper & Tilly brought their new duck over. Kern Bough's dog tried to eat it once, but it didn't get hurt. I started to watch a Dateline tonight, but I fell asleep.

18 Years Ago Today

From my 80s journal:

Wed. May 16, 1990

I went to Dairy Queen after school with Debbie, Jenni, & Alicia. It was fun. After Dairy Queen Alicia, Jenni & I went to Goshen. I washed my car tonight. I drove around in the country for about an hour. Troll Bridge doesn't exsist anymore. I wanted to stop by Heidi's or call her tonight, but I didn't.

• I had just gotten a 1985 Nissan 300ZX.
• Debbie = Debbie Pippenger
• Jenni = Jenni Hartman
• Alicia = Alicia Templeton
• Heidi = Heidi Freed
• I don't remember what we did in Goshen that day.

Back to the 80s Day 4

How I might have written about today, had it occurred when I was 15:

Thur. May 15, 2008

I showed the movie Matilda to my class today. It was good. At recess I played Kick the Ball Over the Fence with a bunch of kids. Kylee, Makenna, Landen, Mom & me went to McDonald's for supper. We got free chicken sandwiches. Tonight I went to a program at Nappanee Elementery School. Kylee and Makenna were in it. They had to go up on stage and read a book they wrote. I talked to Rocki on the phone tonight.

Kick the Ball Over the Fence

22 Years Ago Today

From my 80s journal:

Thur. May 15, 1986

Ange & Meg are here but I haven't talked to them yet. After school I played b-ball. I played with LaMarr, Matt Ingle, & Jason Nune. for 2 games. I won both of those & LaMarr & Matt both started for 7'th. The last 2 games I played, Matt Hockert played also. & I still won both of those.

I talked to Mike & Heather on the phone tonight.

• LaMarr = LaMarr Lakins
• Jason Nune. = Jason Nunemaker
• The basketball game was "21."
• My driveway was the place for basketball from about 1983 - 1989. The rim was low and the basketballs were small. T.J., Brent, Mike and I hand made the backboard with some of Mike's brother's (John Wesseler) precious oak. There was a three point line hand-painted with some of my mom's best acrylic artist paints. I was deadly accurate from behind this line. The hoop is gone now, but I'm pretty sure I could take a small ball to my mom's right now and launch a shot straight threw a non-existent hoop.

The Court

Remnants of the acrylic paint three point line remain to this day.

Back to the 80s Day 3

How I might have recorded today's events in my 80s journal.

Wed. May 14, 2008

I didn't do much today. It was cold and rainy. I read a chapter of Holes to Kylee and Makenna. I watched Cars on DVD with Landen. I watched baseball on ESPN tonight. The Cubs weren't on. They are doing pretty good. I'm going to watch American Idol pretty soon.

22 Years Ago Today

From my 80s journal:

Wed. May 14, 1986

My mom was off today so at noon she got me a Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pizza. After school Me, TJ & Brent batted. I cleaned my room & cleaned out my dresser after that. Dad called this evening he said Me & Ange were coming tomorow evening to look at houses. Then they were going to Kentucky Sat. morning. Mike & Nikki are kind of mad at each other but they aren't going to break-up. Heather called me tonight. We talked for about A half an hour. I also talked to Mike on the phone tonight.

• I must have eaten lunch at home.
• My dad, step-mom and sister, Meagan were in the process of moving from Kentucky to Nappanee. The plan was for my dad to buy Dal-Mar catering from my uncle, Dallas Gall. They did move to Nappanee for a few years, but the plan to buy Dal-Mar ended up falling through.
• Mike = Mike Engle
• Nikki = Nikki Speicher
• TJ = T.J. Mishler
• Brent = Brent Warren
  

Back to the 80s Day 2

Replicating the writing style of my 80s journal, today:

Tue. May 13, 2008

I worked from 7:30 - 3:15. I picked Kylee and Makenna up at 3:30. We kicked some balls around the yard. Then Kylee and Makenna got mad at each other. At supper we watched some of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Tonight Kylee, Makenna, Kristi, Landen and I rode bike up to the library. We saw Rocki and Cooper there. We talked to them a while then we went over to Ben and Lori's house. Then Brookes and Erica came by too. I watched American Idol tonight.

22 Years Ago Today

From my 80s journal:

Tue., May 13, 1986

I played basketball here at noon today. The choir concert was tonight. Heather had to do motions to one song. I watched MTV tonight Patrick Eweing was the guest V.J. After school Brent, T.J., & Me batted after school. P.S. The people who got citizenship were Alan & Debbi Pipp. & Jill Huns.

• "Batted" = hit tennis balls with a baseball bat. We took turns hitting, pitching and outfielding. Actually we didn't like how Brent pitched, so we didn't let him pitch very much.
• Brent = Brent Warren
• T.J. = T.J. Mishler
• Alan = Alan Nunemaker
• Debbi Pipp. = Debbie Pippenger
• Jill Huns. = Jill Hunsberger

From the May 12, 1986 issue of Sports Illustrated:

"THIS MAY BE MTV'S BIGGEST HIT
Say this for Patrick Ewing: He's got his money, he's got his Knicks, he's even got his MTV. The MTV part came last Wednesday, when the 7-foot Knick center recorded a one-hour guest VJ segment at Music Television's studios in New York City. The show, for which Ewing chose all the videos, is scheduled to be broadcast on Tuesday, May 13, at 10 p.m. E.D.T.

Ewing picked music ranging from Bob Marley's reggae to Eric Clapton's rock and even threw in, as a short selection (about 5'4"), Prince. He talked about the importance of staying in school and presumably scored a few points with his shoe company by
interviewing the popular rap group Run-DMC about its new single, My Adidas.

Ewing's height caused the studio crew a few problems. Cameras had to be moved back in order to fit Ewing on the screen. Cameramen were forced to stand on boxes so they could shoot him at eye level. And MTV host Martha (Spud)Quinn—all 5'2" of her—had to climb onto a desk to chat with Ewing, who was sitting down. "How's the weather down there?" she asked him. "There must not be too many guys bigger than you."

Back to the 80s Day 1

Today - 80s journal style:

May 12, 2008

I gave my class the end of the year reading test at work today. I got most of them graded at lunch. After work I went to the library with Kylee. We took movies back. The movies were Braveheart and Babe. Then we went back home and ate sloppy joes for supper. After supper we went to Cooper's baseball game. After that me and Makenna rode the Green Machines up to the library. We stopped and talked to Chris Knight on the way. At the library we looked at the Nappanee newspapers from 1983. We saw the artical from when lightning struck Central at recess. I was there when that happened. My dad called tonight.

22 Years Ago Today

From my 80s journal:

Mon. May 12, 1986

I played basketball here at noon with Jason & Heath & Eric Chupp. Stacey & Kelly were here watching. There was a track meet after school. Heather was there. After I got home Mom took me to the Mall to get new shoes for our choir concert tomorow. I got some off-white suade Deck Shoes. After we went to the mall we ate at TACO BELL. I saw another house for sale. It is on C.R. 7 close to the one on 52. When I got home I called Heather.

• I was in 8th grade.
• Jason = Jason Hahn
• Heath = Heath Fervida
• Stacey = Stacey Cleveland
• Kelly = Kelly Crilow
• The mall would have been Concord Mall
• We used to just leave school after we ate lunch, walk to my house and play basketball until we had to get back to class.

The Most Popular Link Is. . .

Feedburner is cool. Besides allowing visitors to subscribe to blog updates, it also gives me a peek at how many subscribers I have, how people got to the blog, as well as what links people are clicking from my blog.

So, what links are people clicking from this blog? Here's the top 10 from the past 30 days.

49 to Shelley Flickinger's Blog
41 to Rocki Stillson's Blog
26 to Rob Henschen's Blog
25 to Jon Andrews' Blog
17 to The Map of Visitor's Locations
13 to Makenna's Blog
13 to Derry Prenkert's Blog
13 to Kylee's Blog
9 to Tilly's Blog
9 to View My Profile on Blogger

I Love James

I hate graffiti.

I spent eight hours at Little Paws Playground today, helping out with the community work day. About three hours of that time was spent power sanding graffiti away.

While I know it is not as bad as many playgrounds, the graffiti there is disheartening; knowing how much time and money the community spent building the playground. On the bright side, Kylee and Makenna worked with us for about four hours today. After seeing how hard we worked at removing other people's graffiti, I'm pretty sure they would never dream of graffitiing something themselves.

So Long James

How To Bring Groceries Home on a Bike

After work today Kristi and Makenna went to Dick and Trudy's (Kristi's parents) to pick up Landen. So Kylee and I got to spend some time together. We decided to rides our bikes out to CVS to buy some Tic Tacs. It was a little chilly though, so we decided to stop at Martin's Supermarket to see if they had Tic Tacs there. (It's closer.)

After we got there, I thought that Kristi would love it if we brought something home for supper. So we looked around for something simple we could bring home. We ended up finding some Bountahn's egg rolls and chicken fried rice. On the way to the check out I spotted Martin's reusable shopping bags for 99 cents. I decided to buy one thinking it might make the ride home easier.

I was thinking that the reusable bag would offer better protection from tire-bump than the flimsy plastic bags. But when I got to the bike rack, I flung it over my shoulder, purse-style so I could use my hands to get the bikes off the rack. I thought to myself, "This is actually a really comfortable way to carry this bag. I'm going to try riding this way." So, I did. I rode all they way home that way, and actually forgot the bag was even there.

Now, I get a little uncomfortable holding Kristi's purse for her for even a moment in a store parking lot. But this bag has "Martin's" emblazoned on both sides - it couldn't appear to be a purse. But you know what? This was such a comfortable way to carry the bag that I would ride with it like that regardless of any apparent silk screening.

And yes, Martin's does have Tic Tacs.

Evangelical Manifesto Link

You can read the Evangelical Manifesto here. I quickly read the summary. I also looked over the list of charter signatories and noted Max Lucado's name.

Kristi's Journal

I had no idea that Kristi journaled about our first date on May 4, 1991. But she did and she posted her journal entry as a comment to my recent "17 years ago today" post. You can read her journal from that day at the bottom of this page.

The Mega-Church Didn't Work

My sister, Meagan, and her husband, Chris, just published a post on "why the mega-church didn't work for them."

I had been curious about why they left, so I found the post very interesting.

Newscenter 16

I took Kylee, Makenna, Tilly and Cooper to the rally in support of the Wa-nee teachers yesterday. Cooper got on the news holding one of the signs that Tilly made. You can see Cooper in the screen capture below. On a side note, nice radar image on channel 16's website on this cloudless day.

How Many Stars Are There?

According to an article on CNN.com, about 70,000 million million million. That is "about 10 times as many stars as grains of sand on all the world's beaches and deserts."

17 Years Ago Today

From my 80s journal (that spilled into the 90s.) A first date.

May 4, 1991
I worked from 10am - 6pm. After work I came home and got ready for my date with Kristi. I picked her up at 6:45 pm. I went in and met her mom and Grandmas. Then we left. We talked pretty much the whole way. Not about anything important though. We ate at Noble Romans. We talked quite a bit in there. Our waiter was slow. We were 30 minutes late getting to the movie. We saw "Dances With Wolves." I just saw it a couple weeks ago, so I told her about what we missed. Debbie and Jamie were there too. We talked to them after the movie. The ride home went fine. I asked her if her parents thought I was too old for her to go out with. She said no, but that they joked about it, and that it was the same age difference between Brad and Lori when they were going out. We got to her house at about 11:45pm. When we got to her house, Ben Hahn and Lori had just gotten home from NorthWood's prom. Oh, yeh, when we were eating at Noble Roman's, Kristi invited me to go to a lock in at her church this Friday night. So, when I got to her house I stopped the car and said "Well, I guess I'll see you Friday." Then she invited me to come in. We talked to Ben and Lori for about 30 minutes, then they went to the afterprom. I stayed another 15 minutes, till 12:45am, and talked to Kristi. When I left I kissed her on the cheek. She's a sweetheart. I'm happy with the way our date went, and with the way things are going.

• I had just finished my freshman year of college.
• I worked at Radio Shack in Nappanee.
• Debbie and Jamie Prenkert got married two weeks after Kristi and I did.
• Ben and Lori got married six months before Kristi and I did.
• The Noble Roman's isn't open anymore.
• The movie was at the theatre behind Best Buy in Mishawaka.
• Notice it says "met her mom and grandmas." I'm positive both of Kristi's grandmas didn't just happen to be there at the time I was picking Kristi up.
• The Prom, a first date. . . this must have been a terrifying day for Kristi's parents.
• I had a cell phone in my car, in 1991! Thanks Radio Shack!
• I liked my car, a 1985 Nissan 300ZX. Thanks Dad!

My car looked like this.

How'd They Find Me?

I received an exciting comment on my book review of His Little Princess by Sheri Rose Shepherd. Sheri Rose and her husband Steve left this comment.

Thanks for the great review Steve! Can we post a quote on my wife's site HisPrincess.com? Also, we'd like to donate His Princess, Love Letters from Your King to Rocki and the ministry the Lord has begun for her with women in prison. We are currently trying to produce a paperback because the hardback is not allowed in most prisons and ministries are forced to make copies of the letters and bring them in. Please send us your address (or Rocki's) so we can at least send a couple copies for now. May the Lord bless you. Steve and Sheri Rose Shepherd

Thanks so much Steve and Sheri Rose!

More Barbarian Way Thoughts

I've been reading The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus. From my recent reading, here are some quotes from the book that I have found thought provoking. If they sound interesting, consider reading the book, it's great.

• "We build churches that become nothing more than hiding places for the faithful while pretending that our actions are for the good of the world. Or we choose political and secular vehicles to try to advance our cultural values, strangely attempting to make unbelieving people act like civilized believers."
  
  
• "Not long ago Aaron asked me, "Dad, would you purposefully put us in danger?" "Yes," I answered, "of course." Without blinking an eye his response was simply, "That's what I thought. I was just making sure."
  
  
• "When we fear Him, we in essence begin to live a life where we are fearless."
  
  
• "I explained to him (his son Aaron) that was his choice, but this is what would happen. If he rejected the voice of God and chose to disobey His guidance, his heart would become hardened, and his ears would become dull. And if he continued on this path, there would be a day when he would never hear the voice of God. There would come a day when he would deny that God even speaks or has ever spoken to him. But if he treasured God's voice and responded to Him with obedience, then his heart would be softened, and his ears would always be able to hear the whisper of God into his soul."
  
  
• ""Dad, I think that if I had not been raised in a Christian home, I would not be a Christian," he (Erwin's son Aaron) said. You can imagine the rush of emotions going through me. It took all the restraint I had to not panic and stay calm. "Why do you think that?" I asked as if his statement had no emotional effect on me. Aaron continued, "I have way too many doubts and questions." "Oh," I said, sounding as relieved as I could. "I have those too. So what are you going to do?" I'll never forget Aaron's answer. It was one of the clearest confirmations that my son was not an unwilling member of a religion, that he, too, was a true barbarian. "Well, I've met God. So what are you supposed to do?" I affirmed, "That's a dilemma, isn't it?""

Google Desktop Sidebar

Google Desktop Sidebar is a way cool gadget for your desktop. It has tons of plugins. I use a Clock, Scratch Pad (where I record ideas for blog posts,) and Photo Slide Show.

The photo slide show is especially cool. You add the folders from which you want pictures displayed. It then picks pictures at random. You can click them to see them full screen. You can also click to remove pictures you don't want to show up anymore.

By the Way:

The picture in this screen capture was taken in April 2005 on the Miss Green River boat, Mammoth Cave National Park. This was one of my very favorite vacations we've taken with kids anywhere.

Evangelical Manifesto

I thought this article was interesting. Signed by 80 evangelical leaders, the manifesto:

"condemns Christians on the right and left for using faith to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible"

I'm looking forward to reading the manifesto when it is released. Isn't "manifesto" kind of a creepy word though. Makes me think of Ted Kaczynski.

Three Piggy Opera

Another teacher covered my class from 2:00 - 3:00 today so I could leave work early. I was able to attend a program Kylee and Makenna's class put on. It was such a cute show. I'm very thankful I was able attend.

Back to McDonald's

We went to McDonald's after the girls class program. I got another Southern Style Chicken sandwich. It wasn't nearly as good as the one I had Monday. I was disappointed. I suppose they will be sort of like the Filet-O-Fish; sometimes fantastic, other times not very good at all.

I shouldn't go to McDonald's that much anyway. I drank pop both days, since I get a free one with my Panther Card.

Here's a paraphrase of my conversation with the cashier:

McDonald's Guy: "May I take your order?"

Me: "Sure. I'll have one Southern Style Chicken sandwich. (Kristi nudges me) Make that two Southern Style Chicken sandwiches. A six pack of nuggets, no make that a ten pack of nuggets and I have a Panther Card for a free pop. And a cup for water."

McDonald's Guy: "All of our drinks our on sale for 99 cents."

Me: "No thanks, I think I'll stick with the free one."

Barack Obama

I guess Barack Obama's motorcade passed through Nappanee today. From what I heard, I just missed seeing the procession by about 20 minutes. Shirt anyone?