Tonight is the Night

More suspenseful than any game 7, the Air Guitar Championships are kicking off their U.S. Round tonight in Washington, D.C. All contestants are competing for a chance to show their gift at the World Championship in, where else could it possibly be, Finland.

Don't bother trying to rush home to set the DVR, this championship is not televised. Call the cable company, write to your congressman, and text message your mom. Something must be done to end the censorship of the next, great Olympic event.

And remember: Make air, not war.

Church Discipline vs. "Communion as a Weapon"

I just read this article and am interested to see what other Christians think about it. In case you can't stand to leave our blog, I'll give you a quick summary: Douglas Kmiec, a former Justice Deparmenter turned private university professor, was refused communion at his church for endorsing Barack Obama, who's running on a pro-choice platform. The article mentions that there are politicians that have also been refused communion at their respective churches for the same reason, but that Kmiec's situation is quite unique because he's no longer a public figure, but a citizen.
My gut tells me that it doesn't really make a difference. I can only say what is true for my family and, if it falls short of God's truth revealed in His word, I hope that my favorite, more Biblically-educated readers will not hesitate to hold me accountable. As a Christian, I vote my conscience. To me, life issues would seem to outweigh any other political issue currently being discussed and would, therefore, sway my vote for a presidential candidate. However, I've learned that every issue out there is a Christian issue.
In our house, there's an on-going discussion about taxes. One of us feels that a flat tax is the most equitable option that doesn't punish the people who work hard for their money, and the other feels that a flat tax would hurt the poorer people by taking a bigger chunk of their pie. There is a Biblical context for these issues regarding our responsibilities with the gifts that God has entrusted to us. Healthcare. Plans are being crafted to enlist the United States to pick up every man beaten on the road, throw them on the back of her horse, and take them to a place to be taken care of. Yes, an exaggerated allusion, but you see the direction it's going (side note: if a boat and a car is a 'she', does the same rule apply to a country? Discuss).

So how do you decide which issues outweigh the others in the matter of moral importance? Boundless.org started a good discussion last month about finding a balance between truth and grace. Unfortunately, I can't find the article now, but one of its main points was that, in the end, all will be judged. I think that's also referenced in some other writing (i.e. John 12:48). So some folks use this when they argue that abortion should not be a governmental issue.

So I throw up my hands to my brothers and sisters in Christ. No candidate will hold 100% of the beliefs that my family has written on our hearts, so how do you decide what your conscience can live with and what it can't?

Note to self: add "discernment and guidance to all peoples" to prayer list.

It's a relief to know...

...that the 15-year-olds, armed with their mad text messaging skills, are still not strong enough to take over the world. I went into the American Idol 15-hour finale figuring that David Archuleta would come out on top because there's no way the average adult can compete with the 500-letters-a-minute teeny-bopper crowd and their all-powerful crush on the 17-year-old crooner.

David Cook, thank you for showing us that there is hope. Thank you for showing us that there is still a chance in this world for conversations that don't begin with OMG and end with TTYL.
Furthermore, thank you for being a rocker.
I can't wait to buy your album.


I survived my first season as an American Idol fan. Hey, some things you just marry into.

Laser Tag, Tetherball and the Itch That Won't Quit

Just to get the uncomfortable part out of the way, I was bit by at least a million mosquitos on our camping trip last weekend. My modest estimation is based partly on the 10 bites I have on one ankle.

Despite the mass amount of bugs (our tent site was backed right up to a marshy area), we had a great time. Derrel actually likes camping! At least our latest version of camping. Because of the heat, and the tireless bug situation, we decided to take a quick jaunt around the corner to visit a couple of wineries. WARNING: The wineries in Temecula all charge for tastings; don't expect any generosity off of that vine.

We also may have enjoyed the great outdoors by way of bumper boats and laser tag at the closest Mulligans in Murrieta. So yes, we had a good time. Whether that relates to our actual camping trip or not, I'm not sure.

And yes, that is a bar right in the center of a campground.

Three's Company, but Four's a Mean Round of Settlers of Catan

Congratulations to Home Sweet Ebert on recently finding out they're going to be an aunt and uncle again.

We are about 6 and 1/2 weeks along, and are expecting little Jemimah/ Japhael in early January. A video of our budding bundle of joy can be found on this other website
(possessive parents, always trying to claim all the bragging rights).

All right, I'll share the joy. Congrats to the Mitchell family for being the ones to give us our newest niece/nephew!


Love you guys.

Wine, Paddle Boats and the South Beach Diet.

The conversation started something like this:
"Pleeeeeease?! Two s'mores never killed anybody!"

Derrel and I have been on the South Beach Diet for about a week (halfway through the treacherous first phase). We are also leaving for our first camping trip together this afternoon. Despite a couple of modifications in my own diet plan (my lack-o'-chocolate-milk meltdown last Saturday), we've been good about sticking to what we can eat, but I knew that once Derrel conceded to my s'more pleas, it was all downhill from there. We may be wavering a bit this weekend ("In-N-Out is the only logical dinner option when we have to get there in a mad dash to put up the tent before the sun goes down,").

Originally I had decided to camp in Temecula because Derrel is a wine fan, and I thought that would soften the tent-pitching blow of the trip. That was, of course, before we went on a diet where there's NO alcohol in the first two weeks. Another instance where South Beach must never know of our activities this weekend. I'm hoping this trip goes well. Derrel has been camping 1.3 times in his whole life (the .3 being when he slept in his truck). We've got an air mattress and plenty of beef. He should be able to survive.

I guess I have to incorporate paddle boats somewhere.
There will be paddle boats where we are going. If we can trick ourselves into not realizing how much like exercise it is, way may give it go.
Otherwise, you'll find us playing Scrabble with melted marshmellowey tiles.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Excuse me, ma'am, but your Republican is showing...

Look at me.
This is my frustrated face.

I thought that working in education would make me more sympathetic to the plight of the state worker. That I'd be down in the trenches shoveling the oppression that the teachers and the classified staff were being buried in, and that I'd be more than grateful for the good ol' California State Employees Association, rather than viewing it as a parasitic organization.

My experience has shown me no trenches. There are some gopher holes, burrowed and lived in by the President and "representatives" of my local CSEA chapter. Wow...where are we, and why do I want to sing the Caddyshack song all of a sudden?

Anyway, it all started one day last December. I was signing all of my paperwork for my new, big-kid job with the School District. This was when I found out that, even as a classified employee, the school district was a closed shop. I could either pay $36 a month to "have a voice, but not a vote," or $38 to be able to do both. Choices, choices.

There have been multiple personnel issues where the union has automatically assumed that the fascist supervisors and directors in the district are in the wrong, and that the problem has nothing to do with holding an employee accountable for constantly coming late and never finishing projects correctly or on time. Because of the ridiculous amount of power that the union holds in our district, the employee has to be put on an improvement plan, which means the supervisor has to babysit him every moment of the day, give him his tasks and they order they're to be done in, every day. So when his supervisor is out for a day, he can also take the day off, because she is not there to feed him his Cheerios and change his diaper. I had friends in college that went through years of school to get a degree in the job this guy hasn't been doing. It's frustrating to think back to how difficult it was for them to get jobs after graduation, while this guy is cozy and coddled in his mindless existence in the department.

I'm bitter that, every month, my family is making a contribution to this lunacy. I should have just as much of a right to refuse union "protection" than I do to request it. I'm bitter that our district is allowing the union to have this much power. It seems to me that those of us who are doing our job have no retribution to fear. If we feel we have been fired unjustly, there is wrongful termination suits that could be filed. If people don't want to work, then they shouldn't be employed. In my experience, every personnel situation that has come about thus far the union has latched onto and exacerbated solely for the purpose of sucking the situation dry to sustain it's own existence.

CSEA....punishing the people that work so you don't have to!