The Sun will come out...

tomorrow (or so song goes.)

Yeah, I know. Over three weeks without posting. Sheesh! I'm such a slacker. I missed all you folks, though, so here I am again. What was I doing, you ask? More of the same, really, and a few new things. Still studying for an exam. I'm also looking forward to playing for a musical production of "Annie" coming up in April.

Then there's the planning for a mini-vacation with the kids for the Spring break. I was thinking Washington D.C. What do you think? Has anyone been there during Spring break? Too crowded? Let me know.




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On to a different topic; I listened to an NPR report that said that Americans change their religion (or denomination) quite a bit throughout their adult lives. I found this to be very interesting and so I pondered about the reasons for this. I was raised a catholic but now, I attend a protestant denomination. Why? That's a hard question to answer and even harder to answer without disagreeing with someone out there, so the short answer is that I took my religious education a lot more seriouly as an adult and looked for the right answers, or truths, and that led me to where I am today. (There! That's the best I could do to avoid insulting someone.)

How 'bout you? Have your religious views changed some? It's a good question.

On that serious topic, I leave you with a funny someone sent me a few days ago:

FOR CATHOLICS ONLY:

AMEN: The only part of a prayer that everyone knows.
BULLETIN: Your receipt for attending Mass.
CHOIR: A group of people whose singing allows the rest of the Parish to lip-sync.
HOLY WATER: A liquid whose chemical formula is H2OLY.
HYMN: A song of praise usually sung in a key three octaves higher than that of the congregation’ s range.
RECESSIONAL HYMN: The last song at Mass often sung a little more quietly, since most of the people have already left.
INCENSE: Holy Smoke!
JESUITS: An order of priests known for their uncanny ability to find colleges with good basketball teams.
JONAH: The original “Jaws” story.
JUSTICE: When kids have kids of their own.
KYRIE ELEISON: The only Greek words that most Catholics can recognize besides gyros and baklava. (For you non-Catholics it means Lord have mercy.)
MAGI: The most famous trio to attend a baby shower.
MANGER: Where Mary gave birth to Jesus because Joseph wasn’t covered by an HMO. (The Bible’s way of showing us that holiday travel has always been rough.)
PEW: A medieval torture device still found in Catholic churches.
PROCESSION: The ceremonial formation at the beginning of Mass consisting of altar servers, the celebrant, and late parishioners looking for seats.
RECESSIONAL: The ceremonial procession at the conclusion of Mass led by parishioners trying to beat the crowd to the parking lot.
RELICS: People who have been going to Mass for so long, they actually know when to sit, kneel, and stand.

Waking up the kids for school...

... shouldn't be so hard!

Well, it's not hard for all three of them, really. The boys get up and are dressed in ready to go in no time, but that's because they have "stuff" they want to do. The oldest one wants to get up and have enough time to play a round or two on his Playstation, while the little buddy absolutely just LOVES school and can't wait to get there. (He must have a girlfriend or something!) Really, he loves doing all his work and can't wait to show me his test scores. It's like surreal!

It's my girl who is NOT a morning person. That girl will not get out of bed and will lie about being dressed but just being under the covers. Last time, I lifted the bedsheets and there she was, in her pj's with her school clothes under the bedsheets as well. She said she wanted to get dressed under the covers because it was too cold, and I FELL FOR IT!

Sheesh...

Any ideas? What have you done that has worked for you in the past?

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I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day with your sweethearts!

My Kids must Eat the Toilet Paper!

Some of you know that I have my kids every other weekend from Friday afternoon to Monday. So here's the thing... I always have plenty of toilet paper on Thursday but by Sunday, I inevitably hear a child calling from the bathroom:

"Dad!!!! I need toilet paper!!!!"

So I yell back, "look under the sink!!!"

Then they say, "I did and there's no more!!!

Does this only happen to me or any and every parent out there? Sheesh, there was like a six pack under the sink on Thursday! I've thought of picking between one of the following choices:

1. Assigning them one roll each and telling them that they have to make due with that one roll. (hee hee)

2. Buying much bigger rolls.

What I AM good at...

I'm good with computers. I just am. Some people are good with Math and others music. Some make millions by being a competent throwing a ball in a hoop. I just have a knack with computers and know how to make them work. What's best is that I really like them. I really like my job as a "computer fixer" as my kids call me.

What does this mean? Well, I'll tell you what it doesn't mean. People actually think that because I'm competent with computers that I can actually fix ANYTHING that runs with electricity. People ask me for help when their VCR's are blinking 12:00 12:00 12:00 and have been doing so since they bought it back in the 90's. Then there's the fax machine. Now that I can sort of understand, kind of.

Cell phones are another thing. My job does require that I configure the more fancy phones that sync up with Outlook and things like that, but I'm asked for help on ANY kind of cell phone. I honestly don't know how to make the alarm work on these things, or how to add a contact on EVERY kind of phone.

I've been asked for everything from a car radios to a toaster ovens and I can honestly say, if I keep this up, I'm might be useful around the house one day.

What are you good at?