WOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After being on the market for a year and paying two mortgages for 4 months I am praising God BIG TIME that we will be out from under that house. Mike and I will leave here on Thursday morning and close on Friday. We didn’t have to go but we still have a few things in the garage. It will be a weird thing to say goodbye to that house, though. Elijah was only a month old when we moved there. I loved the floorplan and the view out the upstairs familyroom. I am thankful God allowed us the opportunity to be there, be a part of FamilyLife and Grace Church, and so thankful for the friends who I met and helped me grow. Aside from our friendships,in a way, it feels like we are cutting the cord. I am thankful for the lessons learned and the financial difficulties as a result of this season of our life. All of it has helped me refocus on where God wants me and what He wants me to do….. to be in His will and to love Him with all my heart, soul, and strength.

Back in the late 70s, Cummins Engine Company put out a promotional song called “Hummin’ Cummins.” They were cashing in on the trucker/cb-radio/country music craze of the times.
I remember when it came out, every employee got a copy of it. I think my dad still has his.
In a meeting at work the other day, someone mentioned the song so I went on a google search.

Here it is in all its cheesy Cummins marketing glory:

Classic.

Mike said I sound like a lush after reading Blue Moon. All I meant was that I would have a beer and sleep very well. I drink so seldom that one drink can make me sleepy. Is that better Sir?

If you have not seen the “LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE” video on YouTube, this won’t make any sense. If you have, its pretty funny.

LEAVE BILL BELICHICK ALONE!

My dad brought a digital video camera to Luke’s game today and got some much better video than before.

The first is a touchdown Luke scored off of a reverse. His coach practiced this play with the kids in practice all last week and milked it in the game. They ran it about 4 or 5 times with different kids running the ball. Here is Luke’s shot at it:

Here is another touchdown run. He’s got a talent for seeing the field as he runs, cutting and improvising.

I’ve referred to New England’s head coach Bill Belichick as the “Evil Genius” since he beat the Colts in the 2003 playoffs and followed it up in the 2004 AFC Championship game, which ended up being a complete dismantling of of the previously nearly perfect Colts offense.

Now he has been caught cheating. Video taping the opposing team’s coaching staff to pick up on play calling signals. And it sounds like he’s been doing it for years.

The strange thing is, this makes me sad more than anything. Now, instead of knowing that Belichick and the
Patriots legitimately beat my favorite team, they might have cheated to do it. He’s no longer the evil genius in my eyes, he’s the evil cheater. I don’t want to take away from the players themselves though. Brady is a Hall of Famer and you can’t take that away from him but Bill and his staff should face some stiff penalties. And, the league should crack down on others if they are doing the same. It sounds like it may be a common practice. The league should not turn a blind eye to it. Either have the rule against it and enforce it or get rid of the rule but don’t create an environment where “its OK as long as you don’t get caught.”

Bill had a press conference yesterday but didn’t say much. He seemed perturbed that the press wanted to know more about the details of how he cheated instead of wanting to talk about next Sunday’s game. Sorry Bill, you’re going to be getting those questions for a while, get used to it.

Apparently there was another unreported incident when the Pats played the Packers at Green Bay in 2006. After the game, Packers corner back Al Harris praised the Pats coaching staff:
“It’s almost like they knew what we were doing, you know? You have to tip your hat to them. They ran plays designed for us. They ran plays that made us check out of some things. I don’t know who calls their plays, but Belichick is pretty good. Honestly, he’s pretty good.”

Pretty good at cheating.

Typically, I can’t stand beer. It tastes like the smell of urine. However, during the last 3 pregnancies I craved it! I couldn’t get enough of it. That is when I discovered O’douls (non alcoholic) beer. That was great. I could satisfy my craving and not worry about the alcohol.
We go out with Jon and Jessica Ballard a few weeks ago. She orders a Blue Moon. What in the world is Blue Moon? Is that an orange with it? One sip and I new I would hate it………….Uh, hey, this stuff is good. Colts first football game and Mike tells me to bring him home a beer. Get Blue Moon since you like it is what he says. I go to a couple different stores looking for Blue Moon and finally find it at Kroger. All they had was a case of it. So now, we have a case of Blue Moon sitting in the basement refridgerator and …….I am sleeping very sound tonight.

“I wish I knew how to quit you.”

*credit to DougO

Man!
Looks like they picked up right where they left off. The offense is a 3rd quarter unit, same as last year.

The defense lost some key players in the off season but I’ve been saying that I don’t think that will have much impact this season. Injuries on defense last season gave backups some experience. But the biggest problems they have faced were learning to play Dungy’s Cover 2 scheme. I think they finally figured it out in the playoffs last season and it looks like they picked up right where they left off.
Its only one game and I’m not saying there won’t be missteps but I think we will see more of the 2006 playoffs D than the 2006 regular season D.

Great way to start the season and Reggie scored some serious points on my 2 fantasy teams.

I saw this referenced on another blog I read. Richard Dawkins, one of the most vocal of the “new atheists” interviewed Alister McGrath, professor of historical theology at Oxford University. Alister is one of the most vocal critics of the new brand of atheism and of Dawkins.

First, I find this conversation interesting because it remains cordial and civil even though the two are on polar opposites of the debate. Second, Dawkins isn’t as big of an (excuse my French) ass as he has been in other debates I’ve seen or heard him in.

Richard Dawkins and Alister McGrath

About half way through, Dawkins gets hung up on the point that if God designed the universe and all life on the Earth, who designed God. His line of reasoning is that if life is so complex that it required a designer then God would be infinitely more complex than the life he created. Its is essentially the argument of infinite regress. In other words, if God created life, who created God, and who created that God that created God and so on…

The main assumption that Dawkins is making is that God exists inside the universe instead of a transcendent being existing outside the bounds of the universe. McGrath touches on that but I don’t think he drove the point home enough and let Dawkins drag him away from it.
But anyway, it is a very interesting conversation.

One other thing about my visit to the BMV…
I’ve worn glasses or contacts since 9th grade. My vision has never been terrible, I can see without my glasses. I just needed them to see the chalkboard in class, watch TV from a distance, read street signs at night, etc.

Back in December, one of my contacts ripped and one of the nose pads on my glasses broke so I just stopped wearing either. My intent was to go to the eye doctor but I never got around to it. After a month or two, I noticed that I didn’t have to squint to read things on the TV and I could read street signs while driving at night.

When I went to take the vision test, I realized I didn’t have my glasses with me and thought for sure I was going to fail it. I told the lady I would try it anyway. I passed.
I had not passed the vision test since I first got my license. I couldn’t believe it. It was verifiable proof that my vision has improved over the past 9 months by not wearing my glasses or contacts.
Weird.