Running around and finally getting wet! (Saturday, June 27)

It was Saturday morning, and the kids woke us up early…. again. So, I again I put in a movie and went to back to bed. Saturday is the only day I get to "somewhat" sleep in! After the movie was over, and the kids pounding on our door, Lydia and I reluctantly got up.

Now quartet practice has been a Saturday morning ritual for quite a while. Since us guys are gearing up for our big sing on July 5th, we were trying to make sure that we had some songs down! Noah wanted to record some more demos, this time with the quartet, so we also went over a few that we knew would sound good recorded. They turned out pretty good. (I've put the links to those songs at the end of this blog post.)

Since the kids got to bed late from the night before and woke up early, they both feel asleep before quartet practice ended. Which meant that Lydia wasn't going to get any quiet time to work on her homework!

After practice, Sam took me to the church. We had to decorate our classrooms for Vacation Bible School. The theme is "Passport To The Promised Land", so everyone was decorating for a trip back in biblical times! 

I took the church van home, and was working on some things on the computer when Sam called. He needed to go to Sam's Club and since we're both on the same membership, I needed to go as well! Our membership had expired! So when he came to pick me up, he dropped Abigail off. She was going to spend the evening with us, and play with the kids in the sprinkler when I got back. I wasn't gone too long!

It had been so hot lately that had asked Lydia to pick up a sprinkler on Friday when she did her shopping. She found a good one. I set it up in the backyard and we played in it! Lydia stayed inside to do her homework in peace and quiet. Mysia was enjoying the sprinkler, but not Malachi. Every time the drops of water landed on him, he cried. He's not much of one who likes to get wet in the face or on the head. The water pressure is so great, that our sprinkler covered most of the backyard. That meant that he didn't have any place to go to keep from getting wet! Even holding him didn't help. Once he found out that the yard swing was a safe haven from the water, he stayed there most of our time outside.

Abigail and Mysia were enjoying the water (and so was I), but that didn't completely satisfy them. We ended up bringing out the slip-n-slide. Soon after, I put it at the end of the slide that is on the kids' "fort". It was fun, and we had a blast. Toward the end of our fun, Malachi got over getting wet for the most part, and played a bit in the water.

We got the kids dried off, gave them baths, and put them to bed. Lydia still had some homework, so I got online and "stalked" a few friends on facebook. I ended up nodding off to sleep. So to bed we went!

~Matt


Quartet Demos:

Dioxology - http://www.box.net/shared/ybs496cu01

Gloryroad - http://www.box.net/shared/lp6ad2gvp8

Just A Little Talk - http://www.box.net/shared/3gqzmms9f6

One Scarred Hand - http://www.box.net/shared/3fidy4x0yr

Ride That Glory Train - http://www.box.net/shared/py4r6ptqqm

(and from a week before) Steppin' Out On The Water: http://www.box.net/shared/mjjj8u8yjf

Dinner, Meeting, and a Movie (Friday, June 26)

When Lydia picked me up from work, she didn't have the kids. She had dropped them off at my parent's house!

It was that time of the month, our night together, dinner and State of The Family.

Dinner was first. We had several options. I told Lydia of the list of places I had come up with, and she chose Rib Crib. It was the perfect place to sit, be served, and be able to talk without interruption. And talk we did. We discovered that even in the little things that happen, we can learn how God works in our live. Those little things teach us so much, and become an example to show us how much more we can learn biblical truths. We was so deep into discussion, the topic didn't end when we left for the library.

At the library, we entered into our State Of The Family meeting. It is were we go into the all aspects of our responsibilities of family matters…. Finances, dinners, child rearing and discipline, devotions, etc. It takes a lot of focus, and can sometime wear us out. But, we have found that it helps us keep on top of things, gives us the insight on what we need to focus on as parents.

We wrapped up our time together around 8:30 and headed over to my parents' house to pick up the kids. They were in the backyard, squirting each other with water guns. Can you guess who they wanted to attack when we showed up? After they were dried off, my mom suggested I run and get a movie. She thought it we could put the kids to sleep on the floor, and watch it before heading home. So I took Abigail with me, and picked up "Bride Wars" from the RedBox at the nearby McDonald's.

I missed some of the movie. Malachi didn't want to lay down and sleep. He wanted to run around and get into whatever he could find. When he finally conked out… there was only 5 minutes of the movie remaining! Go figure.

By the time we got to bed, it was already after 1 o'clock!

~Matt

The Cat Of Bubastes

I'm sure some of you may be wondering why I'm writing about a cat, and one from 'bubastes"?

It's a title of a book my mom encouraged me to read... er, listen to. Since I can listen to things at work, I listen to audiobooks from time to time. It helps when your sitting at a desk for eight hours a day! Not that I don’t enjoy listening to music, but I’m able to enjoy my favorite books,, and “read” ones I haven’t had time to. Most of the audiobooks are borrowed from the library, however, there are a few decent ones I’ve found on the internet that are made available for free. This one my mom encouraged me to listen to was from the library.

Written by G.A. Henty, it's captivating tale of adventure set in ancient Egypt in the time of Moses. It goes into detail about how the Egyptians lived, how they fought, what they believed, and how they worshiped. Henty has the characters wondering about their many gods and puts forth some great points on worshiping the one true GOD. It’s done is such a way that it doesn’t distract from the story, and yet everything is interwoven into a great read! I was impressed. Definitely worth reading!!!!

In fact, the book was so thrilling; I've requested a few more audio books of Henty's to listen to!

I did some research on G.A. Henty, and I’m guessing that even though his books were semi-popular when he wrote them, they’ve gotten an extra boost within the past few years. Many homeschoolers are picking them up and using them as part of the curriculum. And why not… these work as great literature, amazing history, and plus… they are enjoyable to read!

I didn’t realize that I’d be reviewing books on my blog, but hey…. It’s MY blog!!


~Matt

Christians in mourning… over MJ?

I know everyone isn't perfect. I'm not perfect, you're not perfect, celebrities aren't perfect, preachers/evangelists aren't perfect, and Southern Gospel singers aren't perfect.

…. Only Christ was perfect!

Now that I've said that, let me go into detail….

A southern gospel artist, who is friends on facebook to both Lydia and myself, mentioned in his status last night that he was "mourning the loss of Michael Jackson". There were others that commented, agreeing that it was a tragic lost. This rubbed Lydia the wrong way, and I agreed with her. She decided to comment as well, I advised her not to, knowing that people love to attack, especially on the internet. Well, she did, and boy was there a heated argument! They were so blindsided that Lydia would think of their idol as a sinner, that they didn't understand that she was upset that Christians would idolize someone who did nothing to further the Kingdom of God. Even the southern gospel singer chewed Lydia out.

Now, I take the side of my wife. Not because she is my wife, but because I believe she is right.

There is a fact that Michael Jackson was a raised as a Jehovah's Witness. But he distanced himself from the society/fellowship around 1987. (See article here)

It's sad that people (Christians) looked more to him as a hero, when his lifestyle did nothing to reflect Christ. It also makes me wonder why Christians think he did a "great service" to our music industry… when he was more of a distraction from the TRUTH. Now granted, there are many things in our lives that can distract us from Christ, and even those of us as sinners saved by grace live lives that can be a "distraction" from the Lord's work.

Now, am I sad that he died? Yes… he is still a soul, and I believe that every life lost is sad. I just don't think that Christians should Christians should idolize him as some great person who brought greatness to the world and mourn his death with more emotion then needed. What "good" did MJ do? What is it that he deserves praise and respect from the children of God? I would like to know the answers to those questions… because I'm confused on the matter.

Like a friend of mine said, "Funny the world cares so much when a celeb dies, but not an average soul". There is so much truth to that! And from what has been shown on facebook, there are many Christians that side with the world on this! Isn't that a sad fact?

I don't know about other sites, but when the death of Jackson was announced, facebook and twitter were both bogged down! Status updates were delayed up to an hour. Even the ones sent to the cell phones were delayed for several hours! My phone when off at midnight for my friends' statuses that I read hours earlier!

I'm saddened that a SG artist appears to be friends with God and the world… I'm not saying that he should have blasted MJ for being wicked etc. But that the artist praised MJ as a great person to be missed is hard to take in.

Another thing… Lydia referred to MJ as a pedophile in her comments. Of course, that probably didn't help things on her end. But let's look at the facts. Michael Jackson was publicly accused of molestation on three different occasions. One account was settled out of court. It is a fact that he slept in the same bed with boys, that much was proven. It is unclear whether he molested them. Now for the average Joe, that would be time in prison. If I slept with boys and accused on several accounts of molesting boys… would I get off as innocent? Would I be loved, praised, and adored by others… thought as a great person who brought greatness to the world? Would I even have friends or family that would talk to me? …….Yet, some Christians have no problem with MJ!   Do you see why I'm confused!!!

I could write more on this subject, but I believe I've written enough. I'm not trying to make people mad, but these are my thoughts and observations. Isn't that what a blog is for?

One last note: Spread the news…! CHRIST is still ALIVE!


If anyone is interested in reading the comments on the status of the SG artist, or wondering who the artist is…. You can email me: paaschcreativedesigns@yahoo.com

~Matt

Fly in my food…! (Thursday, 06/25/09)

Arg!

For those who keep up with my facebook status updates, this story will be a little familiar.

For lunch, I had packed leftover pizza that Lydia had put away for me the night before. When I took it out of my lunchbag to put in the microwave, I noticed something moving on one of the slices within the zip-lock bag where they were kept. It was a huge fly!

It was trapped in the bag! I reached in and took it out. It was weak. Poor thing……… NOT!!!!

Who knows if it laid/deposited it's offspring on my pizza, or whatever. Well, there went my appetite! YUCK!

Needless to say, I was out of any lunch. All I had in my bag was a few carrots, a yogurt for later, and one stick of string cheese. I told my coworkers at the lunch table what had happened. Besides grossing them out, they felt sorry for me, and took up a collection. I was able to get me a BLT wrap from the cafeteria.

I feel bad that I took the money, but they told me if I didn't, they'd go in the cafeteria and buy something for me and make me eat whatever they bought. Wow… what a nice group of friends! Lol




BTW, is your shopping done? There is now less than six months 'til Christmas!

~Matt

Facebook Stalking?

I've been accused of facebook stalking!

Okay, now that I've got your attention, let me explain. This accusation has not been by my facebook friends, but my coworkers. I get select facebook friend's status updates sent to my phone as text messages. So, I'm able to keep up with what's going on. It really helps me keep updated with my family! And some of my friends' statuses are hilarious not to miss!

I too, use texting on my phone to update my status throughout the day. That way, I also contribute to the status mayhem! Sometimes my post will be enough to generate a good response of comments from others. That is my aim.. it's sooooo much fun!

Now, back to stalking, if it could be called that. Now if someone voluntarily post information on facebook, and it's available for me to see, would it be considered stalking when I read it? They don't have to be my friends on facebook. And if they didn't want others to know, they should update their status!

I know that because of the statuses, I'm able to tell what's going on in my friends' lives. To me, that's cool. It's fun. And most of all…. It's facebook!

~Matt

Hamburgers and a Movie (Monday, June 22, 2009)

I ended up going in early to work, so Lydia dropped me off before taking the kids to the daycare. We all had a busy day.

When I got home, Lydia went to go give plasma, and I took the kids outside. It was hot out there! I was to cook hamburgers on the grill... but when I went to turn it on, I found we were out of propane. Thankfully, the other grill we have had a full tank and I was able to switch them out. When I lit the grill, all was well. But that wasn't the end of my troubles!

We were given a 'log' of hamburger meat from some church members a week before. Lydia had forgotten to give it enough time to thaw before I got home. So, after trying to cut the frozen log with a knife... I just scraped off the thawed, outer-layer of the meat log. No matter how sharp the knife may be, it just won't cut through frozen hamburger! Mysia wanted a bite, and of course, I had to explain "why" we don't eat raw hamburger.

Unfortunately, it was too hot to stay outside for long. Ozark humidity hits again! So we went inside! We watched some AFV while eating our hamburgers, and also ate ice cream! We were doing good for a while, until one of the clips showed a 1 year-old putting a frog in her mouth! Yuck!

After putting the kids to bed, Lydia suggested we watch a movie she got from the library. She watched it as part of her English class a week before, and wanted me to see it. The Emperor's Club was pretty good! It deals with a professor who tries to help a troubled student, only to regret his actions years later. A really good movie with a good moral… "What will your contribution be? How will history remember you?"

~Matt

“Hello Doll…..”

Ever watched the Andy Griffith Show? Ever seen the ones where Andy and Barney have the dates from Mount Pilot? The "Fun Girls"? One calls Barney "Berny" and the other has a deep, throaty voice and calls Andy "Doll". Sooo funny!

Well, I was thinking about this the other day, and I remembered one time when helping my dad on a Saturday. We were working at as installers, putting in curtains for a assisted living nursing home. And one of the nurses in charge had a very low, deep voice. I did my best not to laugh, but I wanted to ask her to say that phrase, "Hello Doll…."

Not to be mean to any lady who has a low vocal register, but I'd have a hard time living with Lydia if she spoke that way. I guess we'd be in competition when singing! I'm also glad that Lydia doesn't have one of those high squeaky voices that usually come with blondes!

I guess I'd better get off this subject… I don't want to offend too many people, especially those blondes!

~Matt

Father’s Day Weekend

Wow! What a weekend! Let's see if I can do a quick rundown on what we all did over the past few days!

Friday
I worked a little overtime, but not too much! Lydia had done grocery shopping in the morning, and was able to take a two hour nap the same time as the kids later in the afternoon. When I got home we watched some AFV and ate salad for supper. Lydia got to spend an hour on the phone with our sis-in-law Ana. Our aim was to try and get to bed early... we got the kids in bed, but Lydia had some homework to do, and I watched another episode of AFV. (yep, I'm addicted to it!)

Saturday
I woke up early… thanks again to our kids, who for some reason think that 6am is a good time to get up on the only day we could sleep in! Reluctantly, we got up and got the kids going. However, Lydia was still tired. I ended up putting "Homeward Bound" in, and we took an hours nap! The interesting part… I still had time to set up for quartet practice!

Around 9:30-10, the guys showed up for practice. Noah recorded two demo songs. And we went through 24 songs. At least 19 of them are ones we can pull of. 15 don't need extra work. So that made our day! We had little time to work on our a cappella arrangements for the patriotic songs we're wanting to include in our next concert. So we'll see how that goes!

For the afternoon, we were invited to our associate pastor's house for a church activity they were holding for their Sunday school class. It was fun. We spent 5 hours eating and visiting! When I got home, Sam picked me up and we went to Bass Pro to pick him up some clothes with my discount. Abigail tagged along as well.

Sunday
Although it was Father's Day, the day ran like usual, and I ran one of the vans for church. All of us father's were recognized during the morning service, and Pastor brought a wonderful message that was directed more toward us. Then for the afternoon, we stayed at the church and rested.

Our church's junior camp had been during the week, so the evening service was the presentation on all that happened with the kids. After services, we had VBS meeting and then I took a few of the van kids home. We went to my parent's house that evening to celebrate Father's Day. Ice cream was the food of choice! Yum!

~Matt

It made it here!

I'm sooooo happy! Yesterday, Lydia called me when she got home from school… a package had been left on our doorstep! It was my power adapter for my laptop!

It's been a rough week. Sharing a power cord between laptops wasn't much fun, but it worked temporarily. But know I can leave my laptop up and running without worrying about it dying. See, I don't just sit at my laptop hours at a time… the kids are constantly demanding attention, and there are so many other things going on or things that has to be done.

There is one rant I have though! When Lydia got home, the package was left on our doorstep, and a note on the door saying they left a package. What are they thinking? If someone is going to grab the package, don't you think they'll be smart enough to grab the sticky note on the door? Boy…….

~Matt

AFV: Oh what fun!

I've mentioned before that Mysia can get glued to the television. I can put on a movie, and she'll just sit there and watch it. Malachi, on the other hand, will sit for 10-15 minutes at the most before getting up and finding something to get into.

Well, there is one thing that will keep my son's attention. One kind of show that just keeps him glued…. America's Funniest Videos!

Yup! He'll sit there and watch with no problem, except the commercials. We have a few VHS tapes of recorded episodes from years past that I'll pop on to watch, and he loves it. I recently started plugging my laptop to the tv so that we can watch some clips from youtube! There is a vast supply on there!

Over the weekend, I got an email from the library that my hold for the first season of AFV was ready to be picked up. So over the past few evenings, we've been watching several episodes! And I love it. Of course, the kids do as well.

It's the only "reality" tv show that I can really enjoy! I love the humor, and the fact that stupidity can be caught on tape! What a joy! Lol!

Now, if only I can get Malachi interested in car/police chases!!!!!! Hmmmmm…

~Matt

LOL @ the News: PETA mad at Obama! He killed a fly!

I about laughed my head off this morning when I read an article on Fox News! It told a story of how PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is mad at President Obama for killing a fly during an interview with CNBC at the white house. They're so upset about it, that they're sending him a special bug catcher that will allow him to release those pesky insects outside!

It makes me wonder if PETA members avoid restaurants that use pest control. I mean, come on people…!

Are they against soap? Do they go to hospitals? If a fly is an animal… what about germs? If a PETA member is about to go under surgery, do they request that they tools not be sanitized?

Are they also against people using mosquito repellant? It derives mosquitoes from getting their source of food, and kills them if they get in contact of the spray! Oh the inhumanity!

These questions (and more) make me wonder how people can take things to the extreme, and live with themselves! I'm compassionate to animals in a way, but I like my meat to eat as well! And if I run over an animal, it's not my fault it decided to run in front of my tire! I'm not going to cause an accident and risk my life just to avoid an animal that runs in front of moving vehicles!

Oh, if there is an insect in my house, I'm going to kill it! And then I'm going to wash my hands!



Hey PETA… are you guys against diseases as well? Swine Flu, West Nile….?



~Matt

Computer Frustrations: Laptop Power Adapter

Now here's a topic for those who have a love/hate relationship with technology, and computers in general!

Over the weekend, my power adapter for my laptop quit working on me! It just doesn't work! No power flows through the cord. At first I thought it had a short in the wire or something. But no…. it's the black box/adapter that went out! Go figure!

Power adapters aren't universal. You can't just grab a cord from another laptop and plug it in, unless it's for that specific model. If you try, it could damage the laptop battery, or even the laptop itself!!!

So it is a good thing, for me, that Lydia's laptop is the same as mine. I'm able to use her cord to charge up my laptop! Of course, that also means I've got to be extra nice. Unfortunately, it also means that I'm not on the computer as much. So I'm behind on some of my stuff.

Anyway, Saturday evening was spent finding a cord online. I first went to check Wal-mart, since I knew if they had something that would work, I could go down to the store and pick it up. Uh… yeah right. Even though they carry Dell computer things, specific power adapters are out of the question! All they have to offer are "universal adapters" that run well over $100! Ouch! Forget that!

Dell wanted me to pay $80! And that didn't help either! I finally found a place that had good reviews, and the right cord…. For $16! Now that was more like it. Lydia and I decided to go ahead and order two, that way we have one on hand in case another one goes out!

So here I am… waiting for the shipment of my power adapter! I hope it comes soon! They shipped it Monday, so hopefully it will be here on Wednesday!

~Matt

Fish Fry! (Saturday, 05/13/2009)

I woke up around 5am hearing talking outside of my tent. Some were already up! So I got up, visited the porta-potty, returned to my tent, and went back to sleep! I ignored all the sounds.

Around 7:30, I heard Pastor's voice calling the men and boys together for morning prayer before breakfast. I shot up, quickly got dressed, and joined the circle of men as he started to pray. I was a bit disoriented, as those around me pointed out as we moved to get us some breakfast. Hey, I was enjoying my sleep.

After breakfast, most of the men headed toward the lake to do some fishing before lunch. I stayed behind. I hadn't purchased a fishing license this year, since I didn't catch anything last year. I figured that I'd just take it easy. So I say down and visited with my dad and a few other men. I was sitting on the porch swing, and soon I was sound asleep! I must have slept there for two or three hours! I didn't mind… it was great to relax!

I woke up, and visited some more. Sam and some of the teens arrived back at camp, and told me they had gone hiking instead of fishing. We noticed that it was still going to be a while before lunch, so I headed off with them in Sam's truck. They wanted to check out another trail they had found… it wasn't much, but it got me some exercise!

Lunch was great! Fresh fish… fried! Yum! Plus seasoned fries, hush puppies, coleslaw, noodles, and the list goes on! After we ate, Tim Banks (assoc. pastor) brought the devotion. Then we hung around for a bit and then packed our stuff and headed back to Springfield. Sam dropped me off at the church so that I could pick up the van for Sunday.

Like usual, the whole campout/fish fry was a blast! I look forward to it every year! And now I'm already looking forward to next year!

~Matt

A day off, and camping! (Friday, 05/12/2009)

Friday was a very busy day for one I had taken off as vacation!

Lydia left early in the morning to go give plasma and then hit Wal-Mart for grocery shopping. I was planning on sleeping in. I don't know what I was thinking… Since we've been on this new schedule, it has affected the kids. They woke up at 6!

Since they were up, I got them dressed and we went into the living room. They wanted to watch tv. Not this morning. They could play with their toys. I plugged my iPod into the sound system, and we listened to some good Southern Gospel. Malachi and I played cars for a bit.

Since Father's Day was coming up, I told Lydia I knew what I wanted. It was cheap, and it would be fun. She didn't care much for the idea. But I wanted it badly, and I wanted it before the campout. What was it? A washboard.

Now you may be wondering why in the world I would want a washboard. Well, it's not for washing clothes! We have a good washing machine for that! Ever since I was little, the guys at Silver Dollar City who played the washboard as an instrument fascinated me. I seen one last time at SDC, and I noticed the price… Thirty dollars! Ouch! I knew I could make one cheaper!

So with some internet research, I found I could a plain washboard for $15 or more. Sounded like a good deal to me. Plus, I knew that thimbles would be fairly inexpensive as well.

I spent 30 minutes or more calling around! Malachi and Mysia were climbing all over me. (I guess I need to learn not to sit on the floor when doing something like that) I called all the Ace Hardware Stores, Lowe's, Hobby Lobby, and Race Brothers… none of them had any in stock. Several said they could order it, but it wouldn't be in for another week or more! I wanted it for that evening! Finally, I had one place left. The hardware store a couple blocks away from our house. I didn't figure they'd have it, especially since they were a small store, but I was worth the try. Sure enough, they did! And it was only going to be $10!!!! They only had one, and they told me they'd hold it until noon!

When Lydia got home from her grocery shopping, I told her the news! I was excited. Her… not so much... You see, tapping gets on her nerves. And a washboard is the ultimate tapping noisemaker! Oh well!

Lydia started in on working on the flower garden at the front of our house since the weather was nice. Many of the roots were choking her rose bushes. I trimmed the regular bushes, while the kids played in the dirt and rocks. Soon afterwards, I took Malachi with me to go buy the washboard. When I got back, I added some of my own personal modifications to the washboard and packed for the campout. Lydia's sister, Adria, came over, and around 2:30, Lydia dropped me off at my parents' house.

My dad and I rode with Sam up to the campout when they got off work. When we arrived, we set up our tents, and ate supper. Lydia had bought some butterfly pork chops for me to cook. Boy… were they good!

We visited and helped others set up their tents. After the devotion that evening, Sam pulled out his banjo and mandolin. He played the banjo, Moses played the mandolin, and I the washboard. I don't know how well we did… but we had fun.

Then it was off to bed. I had my whole tent to myself!


~Matt

Thursday was my Friday (May 11, 2009)

Yep, at work... Thursday was my Friday. Since the yearly Men & Boys Campout and Fish Fry was scheduled for the weekend, I made sure to take vacation for Friday. That meant that Thursday was my last day to go to work for the week! Boy, did I like that!

I couldn't wait for the workday to end! I was ready for my day off!

When I got home, I didn't really relax... I mowed the lawn! I figured I might as well get it over with! Plus, there was mention of rain on Friday, I knew I didn't want to do it when I came back Saturday evening.

~Matt

Being Careful Online… a Stolen Picture

Okay, first off, I didn't have a picture stolen! At least, not that I know of…. But, I came across some news that scared me a bit. I post pictures of my family quite a bit, so this got to me, but I'm also a graphic designer, so I can somewhat relate to the other side of the story as well.

According to this blog and the AP, a family in St. Louis found out last month that a picture of their family was being used by a grocery store as part of an advertisement. The wife was emailed by a college friend who seen it. The thing is, the college friend lives in the Czech Republic! Come to find out, the family had posted the on their blog and social networking sites (like facebook), and the grocery store owner saw it and used it!

This goes to show that you have to be careful when posting pictures. Its one of the reasons I re-size my pictures before sending them out on email (besides the fact that when they're large, they take so long to load!). I've been told that some of the pictures I have of the kids, especially Mysia, could be used for getting them in to be used as a kid models.

If someone's going to use my pictures… I wanna get paid for it!

Now, as a graphic designer, have I used online pics? Yes… I have. But before you get on me, I should let you know that I only use them for the idea stage. I do not use stolen pictures/ artwork in my final design. I come up with my own alternative. If it's a texture or something, I'll alter it, so that it is not the same as the original.

I don't think it was right that the grocery store owner just pulled a picture from the internet and used it as part of an advertisement. I'm sure that the grocery store owner wouldn't want an image of his store used as part of another's advertising.

~Matt

California County Apologizes to Pastor….

Where was this in the national news two days ago? When the story initially broke last week... Fox, CNN and every news outlet was telling the story. Emails were sent out (myself included), notes were everywhere on facebook….

If you missed it, a pastor in San Diego, California was holding a Bible study in his home with no more than 15 people. The county issued a cease-and-desist order. If they wished to continue, they'd have to get a costly permit for the gatherings.

As I said, everyone went nuts online! And it was all with good reason.

But here's the thing that got me. I find out today, that two days ago, San Diego county officials apologized and that the order was wrongfully issued! It's a win for our rights as Americans, the right to worship! Hooray!

But where was this new development news in the media?

~Matt

The "new" news release: http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/pressrelease.aspx?cid=4972

199 Days…..

UNTIL CHRISTMAS!

Yup… I didn't realize that until Lydia pointed it out this morning when I called her on my break!

I know I'm probably coming across as annoying to most of my coworkers and friends… but hey….! It's sooo much fun! Lol

~Matt

Lydia has a new blog!

This blog was started by Lydia since I had one on Yahoo 360. She was trying to keep this blog for those who wanted to keep updated on our family. Well, as time went by, this blog became abandoned due to lack of time for her to update it. When Yahoo 360 closed, I took over this blog. I also expected that Lydia wouldn't have time to write on a blog regularly since she'd be starting college.

Well, one of her classes, Composition, has her keeping a online journal!!!

I know this sounds mean, but when she told me, I had to laugh.....

Anyway, if you want to keep "updated" with Lydia, her new blog is: http://ljpclassjournal.blogspot.com/

(her latest post tells about her brother Titus' return back to the States from overseas, and about the medals he's being awarded)

Cat got my tongue...? ...I wish!

Well, I've done it again. Open mouth, stick foot in! It never fails. I'm and idiot when it comes to conversation sometimes. Okay, most of the time. I'll say something, and it gets taken the wrong way and/or someone gets offended. Hey, I didn't mean it! But the damage is already done.

Of course, I realize that in my blog posts, I can come across the same way. I might easily offend someone, and not realize it! But I guess I'll just have to live with it.

Let me give you a recent example of what happened and you'll see what I mean. Although humorous, I often wonder if it may come back to haunt me or hinder a possible friendship! Golly… I hope not!

Well, remember last week I posted about helping our new neighbors move in? While helping, I was doing the neighborly thing and talking to them. I warned them about our yards flooding during heavy rain, I asked about their sump-pump, and I told them about how annoying the trains can be… especially during a severe thunderstorm!

As I rambled, I mentioned that we didn't get to know the people who lived in the house before them because there were tons of people going in and out of the house regularly. And the people before that were nice, but had big dogs. The mother of one of them nodded her head and added that she had to clean the siding under the back windows with the power-washer to get the muddy paw prints off. I told her that they the huge dogs would peak into the windows and that's why they were so muddy. Right then, I took the opportunity and told them about all the stray cats, and that I wished some of the dogs had gotten them. I also told them about the red fox we have in the neighbor hood, and how I was hoping he'd get rid of a few too. After that, the conversation dragged a bit, but all continued well.

Unfortunately, Lydia and I got talking a few nights later, and she mentioned that they had a pet cat. I said, "WHAT?" Come to find out, before I had headed out to help them move in, Lydia seen them bring in a pet carrier with a huge cat in it. They are cat lovers!

WHOOPS!!!!

~Matt

Costochondritis: The pain returns!

Remember how I said this week was busy? Well, I didn't expect any health issues to come along.  Of course, I've been fighting allergies for the past several weeks…

Tuesday evening I was playing with the kids, and I guess them jumping on my chest wasn't a good idea! That night while sleeping, my breathing was a bit shallow and Lydia said I was wheezing a bit. I didn't really think about it much that following morning, and rushed around getting ready to leave. It wasn't until we were in the car on the way to the daycare that I noticed my chest was tight. I also had to take shorter breaths than normal. And to top it off… I had left my medicine at home.

So after dropping the kids off, we stopped back by the house and grabbed my medicine. I took it easy while at work, making sure I didn't cause any strain on my chest or ribcage. The medicine (ibuprofen) helped relieve any pain, but the breathing problem wasn't much fun. At least I wasn't heavily attacked like months before!!!

Today (May 4), I'm feeling a whole lot better. The rest I had during the night helped. Hopefully, I'll be more careful from here on out. A major attack could disrupt everything, and plus… I don't want to be in that much pain!



A quick refresher for those who might be wondering what I'm talking about:

I occasionally suffer from a condition called "Costochondritis". It is an inflammation of the junctions where the upper ribs join with the cartilage that holds them to the breastbone or sternum. The condition causes localized chest pain that you can reproduce by pushing on the cartilage in the front of your ribcage. Costochondritis is a relatively harmless condition and usually goes away without treatment (and no treatment has been found). The cause is usually unknown.

Unfortunately, the symptoms mimic a heart attack, and it is very intense. Since there is no known treatment, all I can do is take ibuprofen to relieve the pain and hope it goes away quickly. If I catch it fast enough, I can take it easy and hope it doesn't worsen. When and if it does get bad, I feel like I just wish I could die. It hurts just to breath and I can find no real good position to relax that will help. The last time it got extreme, I ended up thrashing around on the floor trying to breath, but with every breath the pain would intensify. If I exhaled, it would ease up a bit. It's nothing I look forward to.

~Matt


A link: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/costochondritis

SG Quilt Blocks (a "Design" post)

Okay everyone, it's been a while since I've done a "Design" post… so here you go!

Several of the members on the southerngospelforums are planning to have a booth at the National Quartet Convention. Well, back in March, a post was made that someone should make a Southern Gospel quilt for the booth. The quilt will be made of blocks of SG artists, and anyone who wanted to submit a block or more could do so. I offered to do one of Gold City, and someone suggested I do one of our quartet as well. Sure, I could do that.

Well, time went by, and it slipped my mind. The "deadline" for the submissions was May 1st! I got a message a little of week ago, asking if I had started… whoops!  So I started designing. I was going to use "heat transfer" to make my blocks. Using Photoshop, I make the design, and then print it out on the heat transfer paper. After that, I iron the print onto the material, and I'm good to go!

I mailed the blocks out on Monday! Whew! I can't wait to see pictures of the quilt when it's completed!

~Matt

A New Schedule In Our Lives

This week has been busy! For those who don't already know, Lydia has started going to college. She is now taking summer classes, and they started this week! Her schedule of classes are from 8:30am to 2:15pm, Monday-Thursday.

Mysia and Malachi go to daycare during her class time. So mornings are really hectic! We wake up at 6, get everyone dressed and out the door by 7. The kids get dropped off at daycare at 7:20, and we head over to my work and I get dropped off. That gives Lydia enough time to make it to school, find a parking spot, and get to class. She has a break between classes to give her some extra study time. After her second class of the day, she heads over and picks up the kids, and then heads home. She doesn't have to pick me up until 5.

Anyway, that's our new schedule for the summer. Fridays will be a little different. Lydia will be just dropping me off at work and doing the grocery shopping before heading home and trying to study!

Of course, evenings will be a little different but at the same time, busy as usual. If anything specific happens, I'll post, but other than that, I think this blog will turn into more of my thoughts instead of just news on what's going on! Who knows! I just know I need to post more! hehehe

~Matt

Weird Internet Find: Still Feelin’ Fine

Today I came across an interesting song file. And I'll share it with you in a minute!

As many of you know, I love southern gospel music. Well, a couple of years ago, the trio called the Booth Brothers released a song called "Still Feelin' Fine." It is written by Mosie Lister, to follow up his classic song, "Feelin' Fine'', a standard in SG. The song is very catchy, and got a lot of airplay at the time it was released.

Well, doing a search on southern gospel things, and Booth Brothers in general, I came across a file that really threw me off! A DJ who calls herself "Dj Lass" took the song and gave it a rap feel with a strong beat. The first part of the song is nothing expected if you're wanting to hear the song itself, and it makes you wonder.. "what in the world???".

This is definitely not my "cup o' tea". But like I said, this is a weird internet find! I don't know anyone that this might appeal to…. I wouldn't even want to add this to any of my playlists!

If you're interested in listening, I've posted it here: http://www.box.net/shared/m0kazuta1y

A Day Outside! (Saturday, May 30, 2009)

Saturday was a really nice day… Lydia and I tried our best to sleep in. I even got up and put in a VeggieTales movie for the kids so I could get more rest. I forgot that they only last about 30-45 minutes. So since we had got new fish the day before, Finding Nemo was the next movie I put in! By the time it was halfway done, I was up. So much for sleeping in!

We ate breakfast, and I headed out to mow the lawn. The weather was nice, and it wasn't too hot, so by the time I finished, Lydia and the kids were already outside. Lydia decided to set up the new Slip-N-Slide we got for $5 at the store. Not to bad for the price! The kids loved it. And it was nice to play in.

I also brought out the tent and set it up. It needed cleaned out and aired out! Since it had rained on our canoe trip a week or more ago, it didn't get completely dry, and there was sand on it. Malachi and Mysia loved playing in it!

Around 1pm, I set up the outside table and brought out the leftover bean dip from the night before. We ate that and drank kool-aid. Mysia and Malachi were a bit cold at times, due to them getting wet. But they kept playing in the water after drying off in the sun, so it wasn't our fault!

Malachi was getting tired, so we went inside for naps. I guess we wore them out… naps were over 3 hours long! Wow! Even Lydia and I enjoyed the naps! So, even though we didn't get to sleep in much, we got a great nap!

After nap, we snacked on more food, and then went back outside. This time, we put the slip-n-slide underneath the kids' slide, and set the hose on it. This was more fun! Malachi wasn't so sure about the whole thing, but Mysia loved it. Even Lydia and I went down it!  It was a blast.

After a while though, we all retired to Lydia porch swing, and we relaxed.

We were all wore out!

(pictures and video on my facebook page!)

~Matt

New Neighbors (Friday, May 29, 2009)

Since I really don't remember what happened much of the week, I'll post what happened on Friday.

Lydia took me to work, and then went grocery shopping.

When Lydia picked me back up from work, we stopped back by the Wal-Mart and picked up some new pets! Yep, goldfish (real ones, not the crackers) were 25¢. So we bought four! That made the Mysia and Malachi happy. But it also meant work for me! When we got home, I took the one fish we had alive and put him in a container with the four new fish, and cleaned out the tank! Yuck!... not my favorite job! But it had to be done!

For supper she made supreme bean dip! She decided to use her new food processor and make guacamole to go in it. It was added to the refried beans, taco meat, salsa, sour cream, cheese and olives…. Boy, was it good!

We ate the food while I plugged my laptop into the tv and we watched an episode of Scooby Doo! While we ate, we noticed that people started moving into the house next door. Lydia went out and introduced herself, and then let them know that they could park in our driveway since they had several vehicles and our street is so narrow.

We ended up helping them move in. They are a young couple, not too much younger then we are, and this is their first house. It's good to have nice neighbors!

After helping them, we came back in, watched an episode of Woody Woodpecker, and then got ready for bed!

Memorial Day Weekend – Part 3 (Monday, May 25, 2009)

7 months 'till Christmas! – Sorry, I just had to post that here!




Lydia and I had decided that since we're always going to someone else's house for a holiday, that Memorial Day was going to be ours. We were going to enjoy our time at home. We were going to grill at our house, and enjoy the holiday at home, in our own backyard!

Well, we woke up to rain! Not something we were really looking forward to on a holiday we wanted to spend outside!

Anyway, we ate breakfast, packed the kids up, and once again headed off to the cemetery. This time, it was to meet up with my family and visit my grandpa's grave. Both my grandpa, and Lydia's grandpa are buried in the same cemetery, and not too far away either. While there, we took pictures under our umbrellas, and watched Mysia and Malachi run around. My parents had bought the kids little American flags, that they both enjoyed.

Back at home, we let them watch a little tv before putting them down for naps. Lydia and I got some things done around the house… chores! Blech!

Around 5is, my parents came over… they decided to join us for my hamburgers on the grill. Unfortunately, it was too wet to eat outside, so I grilled the burgers, and we ate inside. We watched have of the video of the Duttons (family musical group in Branson), and when Sam and Abigail showed up, we watched Mall Cop. By the end of the movie, Malachi was tired, and we got ready to put him to bed. In the meantime, my family decided to go ahead and leave for home.

So after the kids went to bed… so did we!

What a day!

Memorial Day Weekend – Part 2 (Sunday, May 24, 2009)

As usual, I got up and headed off to church early since I drive one of the church vans to pick p some of the adults =, teens, and kids. Lydia had the task of bathing both kids before church, because they were too tired the night before. Nothing was too different in services to make note of here, always a blessing, and always enjoyable!

After services though, Lydia headed off to the cemetery to meet up with all her relatives at her grandpa's grave. I got there a little late, due to the fact I had to drop off the my van people! It was a nice day, and by the time I got there, our kids were about to drive Lydia crazy. She also found out that high heels aren't something you want to wear to a cemetery… or on soft ground for that matter! Malachi kept wanting to climb on the tombstones, and Mysia kept running around.

For lunch we went to Hong Kong Inn and ate cashew chicken! Okay... let me correct that, Malachi ate cashew chicken; Lydia and Mysia ate sweet & sour chicken. It was good. And we all had a good appetite. I guess we got our kids hooked on one of our favorite dishes! Yum!

When we got home, we crashed and took naps! It was nice. Since we didn't have choir practice, due to the holiday, we took advantage of not having to be at church until 6! It was great getting that rest!

Memorial Day Weekend – Part 1 (Saturday, May 23, 2009)

Like usual, there wasn't any sleeping in. When you have kids, sleeping in is when they are staying with someone else! But we did have a lazy morning. We let them watch cartoons on tv while we did other things around the house.

Like I've mentioned before, Mysia gets glued to the tv…. Malachi, on the other hand, does not. He has to be right in the middle of what you are doing. That can be a hindrance or a help, depending on the situation.

They ate lunch and then they went down for a nap. –A short nap!  It wasn't what I had anticipated! So, when they woke up, I put Disney's Dumbo in. I had borrowed it from the library. It was pretty neat watching it again; it's been years since I've seen it!

Dumbo had one of the scariest scenes in it that I remembered. The Pink Elephant's on Parade. Perhaps because when I was little, I didn't understand that Dumbo was drunk, or that the parade of mean, multi-colored elephants was a bit disturbing! Whatever the case, I still don't care for that part of the movie!

We tried to feed the kids supper a little early but they weren't hungry. We dropped the kids off at Lydia's parent's house, and  Lydia and I headed off to our Sunday school class activity. It was held at our teacher's house. They had ribs and brisket! It was soooo good! We ate and fellowshipped until about 8:30. When we finally got home, the kids were so tired that they went straight to bed. So did we!