Social Networking: Evil? (Thursday, 09/16/10)

Note: For the past several weeks (or month), I have compiled this series of posts concerning social networking. Since there is always something happening on these sites, my opinions may be a little outdated already! lol! But I'm still going to post them.... so enjoy!
 


Ahhh... the ability to connect with friends and family on a daily bases, and in real time! One of the greatest ideas, or is it?

As you may know, the Internet draws every out into one big community. Some people are smart, and others... well, you get the idea...

I'd like the discuss the woes of social networking, but more specifically, Facebook. I knew I would not get all my thoughts collected within one post, and I'm not sure how many posts I will end up writing concerning this idea. The are several things I want to address (or rant about). Lol!

A couple years ago, Lydia and I took the plunge and joined two social networking sites: MySpace & Facebook.

At first we were hesitant. We had heard so much bad stories about them, how they need to be avoided, how they can ruin your lives, lead you into temptation... etc. The main thought from many: they're evil!

Well, we talked about it, looked into it, and decided to go ahead. There were several friends on both sites, and they seemed to be fine with it. We posted a little bit of info about ourselves at first, and were very careful on who we added as friends. However, to our surprise, there were friends on there that we hadn't heard from in years! It was exciting! 

There wasn't very many relatives on there, but as time went on, more joined. And wouldn't you know it... more friends have joined too!

So do I think it's evil? Well, not if you do it right! I'm sure if someone really wanted to, they could stalk me. But it would be pretty boring. I post more puns and one-liners than anything else, so they really don't have much to go on! lol.

Perhaps there might be a possibility I might offend someone. Sure, it happens. It's not that I do things on purpose. But these are social networking sites, they involve people, and people can easily make a mountain out of a molehill. I just try and do whats right, and if someone has a problem with it, they can address me with the issue. If they hold a grudge about something and don't tell me, its not my fault!

All in all, as long as everyone plays nicely, these sites are a great tool for keeping in touch and updated with friends and relatives! Now that's cool!

~Matt

Posting about Social Networking (Wednesday, 09/15/10)

I've been meaning to write a series of blog post on Social Networking... my thoughts, opinions, and observations. So, for the past month, I have written (and put into thought) several posts on the matter, but haven't posted them yet. So much has been going on, that I wanted to make sure each post was clear and to the point before posting them. I don't want to come across as harsh or negative, and I definitely don't want to offend anyone.

I think I've gathered enough thoughts on the subject to go ahead and start posting them. So if interested, keep an eye on this blog!

~Matt

Malachi: Happy Birthday (Wednesday, 09/15/10)

Wow...! It's amazing! Three years ago Malachi was born!

It's surprising see how much that the little baby boy God gave us has grown. He is definitely all boy, and a handful at times... but we are so thankful to have him as a part of our lives!

He's very smart for his age, and has proven himself to be a help when needed. Competition from his older sister gives him a drive at times, which is good. He can stand up for his own, and is usually easily excited to try new things. He's my little buddy, and truly a fun little guy!

Happy Birthday Malachi!!! 

~Matt

Explaining The Stone Age...or rather, those folks from Bedrock!!!

Being the good parents that we are, we give our kids vitamins every day. We want them to grow strong and be healthy. We usually get the generic brand from Walmart that consists of animal characters like elephants, monkeys, and bears.

Over a month ago we purchased Flintstones vitamins. Unfortunately, Mysia and Malachi don't know who the characters are! lol

We had some explaning to do... Bam-Bam, Pebbles, Betty, Wilma, Fred, Bearney, Dino and "the Great Gazoo"! It's not easy to do, seeing they've hardly ever seen the cartoon!

However, that's going to change! I just picked up season 1 from the library, so we'll be watching those before dinnertime each evening! (I was getting tired of the same PBS shows anyway!

~Matt

Week Rundown! (09/05/10 - 09/11/10)

Sunday:

With the mini-van out due to a leaking water pump, our associate Pastor, Tim, picked me up early so that I could get to church to drive the church van. Lydia and the kids took the car to church.

Earl Koon, missionary to Australia for 40 years, preached in the morning service. I remember hearing him in Sunday School when I was in 2nd grade! He brought a great sermon, and he was a joy to listen to. After services, Ralph offered for me to come to his house tomorrow to put in a new water pump. Boy, that was a relief! We had been worried on how the week was going to work out, with our tight schedule, trying to find a place that would do it and work with our warranty.

There was no choir practice, so we had an extended afternoon, in which we all took naps. For the evening service, Lydia and I had the toddlers. Mysia sang a special with Sam.


Monday:

I had originally planned for today to be a lazy day. Just hang around the house and do nothing. Well, that wasn't the case.

The kids got up and an early hour, something they wouldn't do normally. I turned cartoons on, and then headed out the door. I picked up a water pump for the van, and then headed over to Ralph's house. We worked on the van for about 4 hours. The water pump was difficult to get to, but Ralph knew what he was doing.. and he got it on. I tried to help as much as I could without getting in the way. It's sad to note that I'm not much of a car guy. (but I'm learning!)

Lydia took the kids over to my parents' house, and they where just sitting down to eat when I finally showed up. We hung out there for a good part of the day, and didn't leave until that evening. We played with the marshmallow guns, visited outside. M&M got to play with their cousin Elijah as well!


Tuesday:

With the holiday being yesterday, it made today feel worse. We weren't really ready to get back into the weekly schedule!

Lydia picked up Malachi after picking Mysia up from school. When I got home from work, they were already home. The evening was pretty normal. We got the kids in bed at a decent time. Lydia did homework of course. And we got to bed later then we wanted to.


Wednesday:

Mysia had Daisy Scouts today, and in spite of the rain, met at one of the parks on the other side of town. Since it was closer to church, Lydia decided that they'd meet Malachi and I there instead of coming back to the house. So after work, I picked up Malachi from daycare and we headed home to grab a bite real quick. At first, he didn't really want to eat his sandwich I made, but when I pulled out a can of olives, and said I'd share, he ate it up quickly! He had more fun eating olives off of his fingers!

We met the girls at church. Services were great, and the kids we taught were in a good mood despite the gloomy weather.


Thursday:

In the afternoon, Abigail met Lydia at the house, and they picked up Mysia from school. We wanted Abigail to know where the school was, and where to get her on the occasions we're not able to do so.

When I got home from work, Lydia had already picked up Malachi as well and was working on dinner. Abigail had decided to hang out for a it before going home, so she had dinner with us. Soon after supper, Moses came to hang out Lydia left for her mom's house. Her mom was holding a 'Spa' party, and Lydia was excited to go.

We watched tv for a while, and then I got Malachi ready for bed. I then helped Mysia with her homework before getting her ready for bed as well. Once the kids were down, we popped in a movie. Abigail left in the middle since it had gotten dark, and she didn't want to stay out too long. Moses stayed until the movie ended. By the time he left, Lydia was on her way home.

Lydia worked on homework for the rest of the night.


Friday:

Around 5:45 a big thunderclap shook the house and woke us all up. I heard Malachi get up and run to Mysia's room. He started crying and Mysia hollered out that he was vomiting. Then I heard him run down the hallway. He vomited all the way!

Great....! :(

We got up and started cleaning up the mess, the poor guy started having diarrhea. Well, I started not feeling to great either. (Come to find out, Abigail had went home last night and was feeling ill as well) Malachi and I ended up on the couch, and had several vomiting moments before Lydia with Mysia for school.

We napped and when he woke up, I turned on the cartoons. We both were in a 'dumb' state of mind. The poor guy was weak. After a while I convinced him with some toast, and it worked. He was able to keep it down. (the red Gatorade was not much fun earlier)

He and I had a long afternoon nap, giving our bodies the rest they needed to re-cooperate. It worked! Well, it worked too good for Malachi! He was going at 200% afterwards! He started bring out his toys, and bounced around the house! I guess it was a good sign!

Lydia and Mysia came home around 4ish, after picking up supper from the store. We watched a bit of tv, and played with the kids for a while. We all got to bed at a decent time too!


Saturday:

If it wasn't for my sickness yesterday, I had originally planned on mowing at least the front lawn. But the rain had flooded our yards once again, and there was no way I was going to be able to even get the mower out of my shed! Go figure!

At 10, we met at the church for discipleship meeting. Our church does a discipleship course, and we had been wanting to participate. We realize our schedule is already a bit hectic, but we really want to participate in this course, and see what it may challenge us! It sounds very exciting!

On our way home, we stopped by the library. We all picked out several books. The kids got to enjoy the children's area as well. By the time we got home, they were tired. So we made lunch and put them down. Lydia and I were tired too, so we took naps as well. Boy did that feel good!

After supper, I did a grocery run. I accidentally left my bank card at home, so I had to leave the cart in customer service, run home, and come back and pay for the items. That made me feel idiotic. But, I know that it happens to other people at least once. As long as I don't do it again, I'll be fine!


~Matt