Father's Day

This past Sunday was nothing too eventful for Father's Day at our church. We had our District Superintendent as our special speaker. All the dads in attendance got a pie (I secured my favorite, which is apple).

I think back to Father's day services in California growing up. My dad was not all touchy-feely when it came to sermons on this day. I recall this was the day when he really gave forceful sermons on what it meant to be a father and to raise your kids in the Lord. He would say that it didn't matter anything else you did, you were a failure if your kids were brought up not knowing the Lord. To the Christian fathers, he particularly didn't let off the hook, basically telling them to get off their (booty) and be the leaders they are supposed to be.

I bet you that very, very few sermons this past Sunday were that forceful. I just don't think that's the way it's probably done anymore. Can't get too forceful, because you may have visitors and you don't want to offend anyone. I'm sure most services had their cutesy father moments and that was that (hey, it's basically what we did).

Spurs Win (yeah, whatever)

So the Spurs are champs again of the NBA. There's really nothing to dislike about the Spurs, so more power to 'em. But this year will forever be a "What if?" year for Phoenix Suns fans like myself. Those suspensions of Stoudamire and Biaw prior to Game 5 were devastating. I know the NBA has to remain tough on players that leave the bench, but I guess it didn't seem like what they did was all that bad, especially when they are not known at all for being aggressive. I'm not one to say a team lost because of the refs, but this year, the Suns may have indeed lost because of it.

Once again, it's wait until next year for the Suns. Meanwhile, in a few months I'll be awaiting the start of another promising Arizona Cardinals season that will begin with a thud and go downhill from there.

Farewell to the House on MacDougall

Last Wednesday, I walked out of our old house in South Bend for the last time. The new owner arrived in town and I stopped by to pick up the last of our stuff.

Strangely enough, absolutely no emotion from leaving a house which was the first house we bought after being married, where our kids spent several years. We so love our new house that we just don't think about the old one. The kids haven't asked once about going back. Of course, neither Dorene or I are terribly sentimental about these things either. Hey we moved, we're in a new place, and that's that.

In fact, I can't ever remember regretting a move. When we moved from Pennsylvania, I was too young to really remember much. When we moved from Lake Havasu City, I don't remember wishing I was back in Arizona. This even after moving from a resort city in the desert to the bustling metropolis of Pixley, California.

Leaving Pixley was no big deal because it was off to college. After that, moves were from my parents house to apartments and back again. After getting married, we were in an apartment, a rental house, then the house on MacDougall.

Lots of memories there, but I've been used to moving a lot, so it was no big deal. Anna's only regret? There's no ice cream truck where we're at now.

It's Our Anniversary . . and My Wife Left Me and Went to Georgia

No, that's not the name of a new country music tune, just what happened yesterday. We celebrated our 12th anniversary, apart from each other. But don't call up the counselors just yet.
Dorene left with with 11 others from our church on a work crew to Hephzibah Children's Home in Macon, Georgia. The home is run by the Wesleyan Church. She will be there all week and retun late on Saturday. Anna thought it was very funny and kept telling me, "Yeah, dad. Mom is going to Georgia on your anniversary!"

So, I have the kids all by myself this week. Haven't gone it solo that long before, but no problem. We'll have lots of fun. Dorene's parents will watch them through Wednesday, then I have Thursday and Friday off. Who knows what we'll do, but it's always nice to know that your kids look forward to "daddy time."

Falwell's Legacy

This is kind of a tough one. Was Jerry Falwell good for evangelicals or bad? Probably a mixture of the two. Good in that Christians did get truly more engaged in the political process when he came to the forefront back in the 70's. Bad in that he then became the face of the evangelicals anytime an issue came up and it was always him that appeared on all the talk shows. He occasionally had good things to say and would also say stupid things (i.e. saying we deserved 9/11 or the gay Teletubbie).

One of his biggest legacies is probably a supreme court case he lost. Larry Flynt won his case that his ad parody (tasteless as it was) was protected by free speech. Flynt famously said that "If they'll protect a scumbag like me, then they'll protect all of you." He has a point, and maybe that resonates more today in a post 9/11 world.

Falwell had really shrunk from prominence over the last 10-15 years. You just didn't hear as much from him, particularly after his misadventures taking over the PTL Club. I remember him saying he was going to shed the political limelight and focus more on his church and university, and that's basically what he did. There was brief commentary here and there after his death, and it could be that his legacy is a bit overrated.

But probably his most lasting legacy is what has become a very successful university. It's not easy building an institution of higher education from scratch, but he did it with Liberty University and it continues to grow and has even begun standing side by side with the big boys in the NCAA. Besides, the singers from DC Talk went to Liberty, so you gotta like that.

Cam Turns 5

Cameron was very excited about today. He's been talking about it for a long time. He turns the big FIVE today. Something about that he thought was really cool. Today is Dorene's last day of school, so Cameron gets to spend the day with Sarah, the pastor's daughter who often watches Cam. He especially likes this because then he gets to spend time with his best friend Lydia (and they are best of friends, they get along so well, it's amazing).

We had a birthday party for Cameron last Saturday, as Aunt Dee Dee came from Chicago and stayed with us. We drastically scaled back the birthday festivities and amazingly enough, Cam was okay with it. We're slowly catching on as parents that kids don't need a big blow-out affair.

Cameron loved all his presents, which included $$ from Grandma and Grandpa Dennie, some beach toys from Aunt Dee Dee, a chair from Lydia, a Dollar Tree giftcard from Marcie, and a "Cars" costume from us. He's at the stage where birthdays, holidays, etc. are all extra special as he gets so excited about all of them.

We rounded out the weekend by going to Ohio and spending the night with Tom and Paula in their new but soon to be former house. The next day, we went to Stu and Joyce's soon to be former house and had a cookout and had our usual fun time playing volleyball.

A fun weekend, but today is the big today. My little boy is 5, and so very proud of it.

We missed it . . .but l guess life does go on . . .

In the transition with moving to a new house, we had to cancel are cable t.v., which also meant we were basically without any local channels too. I have been completely out of the loop as far as news goes. For all I know, Brittney Spears could have announced her candidacy for president.

We've also not been able to keep up on some shows that one or both of us watch. We finally got cable back up (satellite this time . . .which is much cheaper), but the move has made us miss quite a bit.

Survivor - We missed last season, but got back into it this season. Watched pretty much every episode. But then missed a couple, then realized on a Monday that the previous night was the season finale. Oh well. (for those that watched, and not many did, Earl won; we were hoping for Yau-Man).

American Idol - Last night was the final, but I was out mowing my lawn, which desperately needed be done. Tonight is the finale where the winner will be announced, but this is also Dorene's concert at her school. So, even though we've basically watched every episode since January, we'll have missed the final two episodes.

24 - I missed the last seven episodes and then was able to catch the last half-hour of the season finale on Monday. Wow, they need to get this show back on track. I felt I was watching some kind of soap opera. Bill and Karen have their life back, Chloe gets domesticated, and Jack tearfully confesses his love for his girlfriend. It was the lamest closing this series has ever had. They need to retool for next year.

NBA Playoffs - Completely missed the Suns drive through the playoffs, which yet again was cut short. I would like to see Utah and Cleveland in the final, because neither team has ever won it all. I'll probably be able to tune in for the finals.

NHL Playoffs - Yeah right, like anyone in the country is watching these. I heard that a dramatic overtime game on Saturday was cut short as the network switched over to pre-race coverage of the Preakness. When talk about a horse race an hour away trumps coverage over an overtime playoff game, you know a league is in trouble.

20 Years Ago Today . . .

This past weekend, IU South Bend welcomed 200+ incoming students at our first orientation of the summer. I then realized that, wow, I just hit a milestone. I have now been out of college for 20 years. Yikes, when I was graduating from college, those that attended orientation this past Saturday weren't even born yet. I'm really that old? I guess so. Probably time for some sort of depression to sink in.

So, maybe this fall I need to make the homecoming pilgrimage to Huntington U. to see if anyone attends the 20 year reunion. The Class of '87 was pretty small, so not likely to see all that many, but who knows. I haven't been to a homecoming for about 10 years. The campus is so radically different now then when I attended, so it always feels odd to be back on campus. Yes, it's progress with how the campus looks now, but it's just so different.

Our New House

Last Friday, we met with our mortgage lender and title company and closed on the house. On Saturday, we loaded up the moving van and headed out to North Liberty, Indiana, home of . . . . nothing really, just us.

We had 3 couples from our church helping us move. Not sure when was the last time we were in a church that took an interest in what we were doing. With all the help, it didn't take all that long to get the big stuff moved out. We still have final clean-up to do in our old house, but the new owner doesn't take possession until June 8. We spent our first night in the new house on Saturday and that's where we'll stay now.

We really are glad we made the move to the country. It is so quiet and so peaceful. The kids have a huge back area to play in. We have a cow for a neighbor instead of a grumpy old man. It is just wonderful. We look forward to many happy memories there.

Mom and dad visited over the weekend and were also very happy for us. Of course, my dad already offered to help with different projects.

Okay, This is Weird

I bought a fish dinner tonight. What was the total? You got it . .$6.66.

Facing the Antichrist

On Friday night I bought a used copy of "Facing the Giants" from a local Hollywood Video store. The cost was . . . . $6.66

Ooohhhhhhhhh!

Helen Welker: 1914 - 2007

This past weekend we traveled to Ohio for the visitation and funeral service for my grandma. This was not an unexpected passing and was in fact very much desired by grandma. Her body had been shutting down for the last week and she finally passed away last Thursday afternoon, moments before she was headed to hospice care.

So there weren't really many tears at the funeral, except those of people looking back at some fond memories of grandma. She lived a wonderful life and together with Grandpa Welker, raised 4 great kids.

All 6 of her brothers were Nazarene ministers, which is pretty amazing. Her last surviving sibling, Doyle, is in his late 80's and he spoke at the funeral. I could have listened to him all afternoon. He was really good and indicated he's not done on this earth yet. With the energy he still seems to have left in abundance, I believe him.

Many other family members from Oklahoma, Arizona, and Colorado were there. It was nice seeing everyone again. The last time was in 2002 for my Uncle Dick's 90th birthday celebration/reunion. Not sure when we'll all gather together again. I guess it'll be for a funeral again, but I'd rather not have to think about that for now.

Once the funeral was over, we all waited out in the lobby or outside for the casket to come out. I was one of the pallbearers, along with five other cousins. As I was waiting inside, I stepped back into the place where the service was at and looked at grandma one last time. I watched as the funeral home employees with great care placed the coverings over Grandma, lowered here into the casket, and then finally closed the lid. Hmm, I realized I was the only family member in there during this time so it struck me that I was the last to see her face on this earth.

We drove out to the gravesite for the internment and then everyone stuck around for a while. When you only see family members once every several years, you don't necessarily want to get up and go too quickly.

I don't have as many memories of Grandma because we moved out west when I was in Kindergarten. But what struck me on this day was a sense of gratitude for the life she lived. You see, she raised her kids in a loving, Christian home. One of those kids was my mom, who raised us in a loving, Christian home. I am now raising my kids in the same way.

That's quite a legacy, Grandma, and I just want to say thank you.

Grandma Goes Home

My grandma, Helen Welker, age 92 went home late yesterday afternoon to be reunited with Grandpa Welker. This was completely expected as all life-supporting systems had been removed from her (and at her request). It was simply a matter of time.

She lived 11 years longer than Grandpa and really had a wonderful life during this time. She was able to live in a first-rate facility in Van Wert with all the amenities one could ever need. It was always comforting to us knowing she was well taken care of.

The last time I saw her was while she was still in the comfort of her little apartment, just a few months ago. She was feeling very tired from medication she was on but was still in great spirits. But, she was ready to move on from this earth.

These past couple weeks, she had surgery to remove fluid from her brain, and everything basically went downhill from there. She was kept from pain by constant doses of morphine and this just wasn't how she wanted to continue on living. During all this time though, my dad said she was always alert and always knew who was in the room with her.

What we didn't want to happen was for her to have to move to hospice care. But, unfortunately, that was what had to happen as Wednesday night was the last night she was allowed to stay in the hospital. However, God had other plans, and maybe even a little sense of humor about it all.

It was time to move Grandma out late yesterday afternoon. The ambulance was there, and they were moving the stretcher into the room. My dad said they were literally two minutes from moving her out when she passed away.

I think Grandpa Welker got a big kick out of that and will be teasing her about it.

Church Attendance

I recently read an article in USA Today about church hopping and how more and more people do this in search of the perfect church. The usual reasons were given, such as preaching, worship style, etc. It said that although people tend to switch to larger churches, the so-called "mega-churches" shouldn't be shouldered with the blame.

It gave this statistic: "The 1,200 or so megachurches (those with 2000 or more in attendance) are only one-half of 1% of all U.S. churches and account for only 5% of all weekend worship attenders."

So, then, why all the adulation heaped on the big churches if they are only a blip on the radar when you look at the whole picture? It seems like anything we are to learn about running a church, we have to learn from the mega-churches. All books, seminars, etc. are always authored by the mega-churches.

Churches should take a seminar from my brother Stu and his wife Joyce on how to build a kid's program bigger than the church itself (heck, maybe bigger than the town itself).

I hereby now could care less what Willow Creek does.

Lunch With Charlie

Earlier this week, I went to the annual Human Rights Awareness luncheon held in downtown South Bend. The Chancellor at IU South Bend had purchased a table and I was given a ticket to go. The guest speaker was Charlie Weiss, head coach at Notre Dame.

Coach Weiss is a very soft-spoken, laid back speaker. I have an inkling that he has a different persona on the football field. But as a speaker, he was really enjoyable. He spoke a lot about his wife and the work they had done with "Hannah and Friends" a group home they started for children with disabilities. Their daughter, Hannah, has severe mental and physical disabilities.

He admitted that up until a few years ago, he could really care less about charity work. He felt he had to take care of his family and that was it. He said his wife convinced him that they needed to do more. They were fortunate enough to have all they would ever need to take care of their daughter and should now give the opportunity for others in need to have such help. Thus was born "Hannah and Friends." It was nice hearing him speak, and gives a more human perspective to the guy soon to be prowling the sidelines again at Notre Dame stadium.

Playing Simon

Tuesday night, Dorene had her annual "Bison Idol" show at her school. This is a takeoff on "American Idol" and is at Brown Intermediate Center, home of the Bisons.

Her colleague that was going to be Simon could not be there, so she asked me to fill in. So, I went to Target and bought a black t-shirt, put on my jeans, and was all set to play Simon.

It was actually kinda fun. I don't do British accents very well, so I didn't try very hard at that, or it would've come across very lame. I stuck to the typical things Simon would say. My Simonisms that night:

"There's a reason someone else sings that song . . .so you don't have to."

"It was a bit cabaret for me."

"It was nice seeing you dance so we didn't have to just watch Paula dance." (the teacher doing Paula did a great job)

(after a singer sang "I Believe I can Fly")- "The song says I believe I can fly, but I didn't believe that you believed that you could fly. If I don't believe that you believe you can fly, then, oh what's the point . . "

"My hope is that all of America votes off Sanjaya tomorrow night and puts you on the show instead."

As for that last one, it did happen. The Sanjaya express finally came to an end. I have to admit, I started kinda liking the strange dude. He grabbed ahold of his 15 minutes of fame and extended it way, way longer than it should have gone. He knew what he was doing and just went for it. He even didn't do too bad in the last couple weeks. But this week, nope, it was time.

My original pick of Melinda to win it all, I'll still stick with . . .but watch out for Jordin!

I Know I Have Bad Handwriting, But . . .

Yesterday, I sent a note with Anna to give to her teacher indicating that she would be leaving early. When I got home, Anna proceeded to tell me how entertained her class was by the note. That is, by how bad her dad's handwriting is. She told me, "Dad, that 'D' on your note wasn't even right." She showed her whole class the note.

I said, "So, the point is, my writing is worse than a 2nd grader?" Anna's response was, "The point is . . .yeah!"

The point is, she is absolutely right.

No Longer Safe

Not that the situation in Iraq could get any worse, but I figured that it would only be a matter of time when the "Green Zone" would get infiltrated. Sure enough, it has and that's probably just the beginning. Because if we can't protect what is supposed to be such a heavily fortified area, then it truly never is going to get better.

Bush had this astute assessment: "It reminds us that there's an enemy willing to bomb innocent people in a symbol of democracy." Yeah, he's right, but it also reminds us that maybe we need to get out of there.

We Bought a House

Less than one week from when we sold our house, we have bought a house. It was kind of a quick, winding trip from when we sold our house till when we put in our offer on Monday night.

Last weekend, we looked at 5 different houses either in North Liberty or just outside of town. The first was this massive, remodeled farmhouse out in the country. Lots and lots of room, and I mean lots. The remodeling was very well done and there was a big yard. However, the basement looked like the one in the closing scenes of "Silence of the Lambs," except that one was better lit. My dad even said it was creepy. I just couldn't get past that. I'd eventually have to go down there to refill the water softener, and at that point the dead bodies would rise because I swore I saw an area where seances were once held.

The next house we looked at was across the street. This one had a brand new kitchen added on that was wonderful. It also had a great back yard with lots of space for the kids. But overall, the house was too small.

We looked at a new house in a subdivision with two floors and a basement, but hated it instantly. Even the realtor said it was a bad house. So we were in and out pretty quick.

We looked at another house in this same subdivision and it was incredible. Brand new ranch style with 3 bedrooms and a massive basement. Nice deck on the back with a great back yard. A true dream house.

Last in line was a Victorian style house in town. A charming little abode, but no central air, so forget it. It utilized an old boiler system, so to install central air would be very expensive. This will be a nice house for someone, but not us.

So, we were pretty much sold on the ranch house. But there was a problem . . .the price. Yeah, we could technically afford it (and the banks certainly said we could afford it). But it seemed like too much of a stretch. But we decided to pursue it anyway. Well, no, maybe not. Lots of prayer went in to this one and we decided that we simply probably could swing it. Well, no, we can't. Back and forth it went.

At the heart of all this was a sort of indulgence factor. We just didn't feel right jumping up to this level of a house. Our church has something to do with it also. Had we still been attending upper class Trinity Evangelical Free Church, this would have fit right in. But attending a blue collar church in the city, it just didn't feel right. We weren't being all self-righteous here or meaning to denigrate those with nice houses, but we just couldn't do it. Part of the reason we sold our house was to get rid of some debt we had incurred very stupidly (with emphasis on the "stupidly"). Upgrading to such a house, while technically within our means, didn't seem like the right thing to do.

So, we decided to take a second look at the house across the street from the farmhouse, the one that was too small. Amazing how second looks can go. Yes, it's not huge, but we absolutely loved it. It will serve us just fine.

But the big selling point is the back yard. There's a detached two car garage with pavement going all the way to back to another 3 stall building that the current owner used for tinkering. So, the kids can ride their bikes and scooters on pavement without having to be on the street (and without us having to watch them all the time). It is also very quiet. We were beginning to get very annoyed at two sets of kids from the neighborhood wanting to come over and play. They were kids that were not watched very well by their parents and we didn't want to become surrogate parents. Also, they were not the best influence and even Anna didn't like playing with them (and she is as social as you can get). What I went back to was how much Stu and Joyce's kids loved growing up in their house in the Ohio countryside. They had tons of space for outdoor activities, and that's what we wanted for our kids also.

So, we put in an offer on Monday night and are now waiting for the financing and inspection stages to run their course. It's a major change in style for us. A couple years ago, had you asked us if we wanted to move to the country, we'd say NO WAY. But both our kids love the outside, and this place just accommodates that in a big way. We'll no longer have to sit outside with them to watch them in the street and such. Just open the door and let them go.

Easter in December

This past Saturday, we had a community Easter egg hunt that we had to move inside because of the snow. Three weeks into spring, and an event was changed due to snow. Let's hear it for Indiana weather and global warming!

The previous weekend I mowed my lawn for the first time this year and was about ready to put my sweaters away. Any delay in having to mow is a good thing.

No Defenses Left

In a recent staff meeting, my colleague and Democrat adversary made a crack about the "last two stolen presidential elections." My boss then asked me, "Rick, are you going to take that?" My response? I told her I had no ammo left. It's just flat out impossible to defend the Republicans right now. I just have to sit back and let them fire away.

Thank you ever so kindly Mr. Bush.

SOLD!!!!!!!!!

We sold our house! It is a done deal. No more showings, no more having to clean the house every 5 minutes. We are outta there.

Things transpired very fast. Over the weekend, we had an open house which we spent a lot of time preparing for. We decided that this week we'd take a break and not even think about the house.

Well, yesterday afternoon, Dorene gets a call from our realtor. She has someone that needs to look at the house now. So, she scrambles to get clean what she can, but doesn't get too far. Dirty dishes are in the sink, the bathrooms aren't very clear. Furthermore, Anna is running a high fever and is home from school and Dorene is feeling sick too. Nonetheless, she gets things ready and as the potential buyer visits, Anna is sitting on the driveway totally lethargic while Dorene and Cameron walk the neighborhood with one of the dogs.

Within a couple hours of the showing, Dorene gets a call back that they are writing up an offer. Whoa, that's good news! We are to come by on Wednesday afternoon and sign papers. Later in the evening, we get a call. Let's move things a little faster. The realtor and buyer are coming to the house tonight to sign the papers so Dorene doesn't have to haul a sick child around. The realtor is worried that it'll be too late to still come by. We say, NO WAY, come on over.

So, at about 11:30 p.m., we sign the papers and the house is sold. Yeah, we still have to have an inspection, but we think everything will be fine.

We sold to a couple that is moving from California. She is a new graduate student at Notre Dame and he is an Episcopalian priest. We met her and she was really nice. She hopped on a plane this morning back to California. The plan is for them to move in the first week in June.

So, I guess we kinda need to start looking at houses now to move into.

Rick Dennie . . .Ping Pong Conqueror

Late last month, I competed in the intramural table tennis tournament at IU South Bend. This was my 4th year in a row and each year I have come up short, finishing 4th, 2nd, and 3rd respectively. Ah, but like my colleague Peyton Manning, I was destined to get that monkey off my back. Okay, maybe that's a bit of a stretch.

My competition was all students. As you can see from the picture, I'm looking a little like Taylor Hicks next to all the students half my age. I think I kinda intimidated them when I walked in with my nice paddle in the nice case, then got out the spray cleaner, wiped it down, kissed it . . .okay, scratch that last part. Kinda funny watching their reactions thinking I was this table tennis ace, when I'm far from that.

The competition wasn't as tough this year. I won all my matches and only lost one actual game the entire night. I stress "night" because we played old school in that we played games to 21. After getting used to playing games to 11, going all the way to 21 seemed like an eternity. We didn't finish until about 10:30 p.m.

My great reward was the t-shirt in the picture to the right which has "champion" on the back in big letters. Lucky for me, two students by the names of Jared and Duc chose not to play, because they would have absolutely smoked me.

It was a lot of fun. I love working with students and having the opportunities like this to take a break from my professional persona and interact with them in a more laid back fashion.

On Hiatus

Last week was Anna's spring break, so I took the week off too. No work, no blogging, no worries, just shut off everything I normally do and had fun with my kids. Dorene still had to work (her spring break is this week).

We spent a couple days in Fort Wayne with mom and dad. I visited the Three Rivers Table Tennis Club in Fort Wayne and didn't do too bad. I also was fighting a cold for a few days, so that kinda kept me down a bit.

For the latter part of the week, it was all focused on our house. We had an open house on Sunday so we were getting ready for it. We made a couple major changes in our house. We repainted and placed new carpet in our extra room that formerly housed a piano and now served as a playroom. Again, we were blessed with the assistance of Mike and Marcie. Mike laid the carpet for us, which saved us a bundle. Marcie helped us in cleaning out our workroom so that it looks much, much better. Essentially, we added two new rooms to our house. For the one we recarpeted, we bought a day bed, which essentially adds a new bedroom.

Now, would someone just please buy the house!

"Facing the Giants"

Sunday night, our church showed this movie (or "film" as churches typically call these things). This was a "Christian" movie, which typically means low production values, lame acting, and total cheesiness.

This movie did have some of that, but overall was actually very well done. It was about a football coach and the struggles he was going through both personal and with his team. At times, the movie was advocating a little too much of the "prosperity gospel" in that as soon as someone told God they were in control, immediate good things happened. But, for a so-called "Christian" movie, I thought they did a good job. The football scenes were especially well done for what was an extremely low budget movie.

But the making of the movie is a story in itself. It wasn't made through the studio system. It was written, funded and filmed by Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia (and you can tell it is a Baptist film). The church spent about $100,000 on the film. I'm not sure what they were expecting to happen, but they probably figured it would play the church circuit and go directly to DVD. However, Sony Pictures saw it and liked it and picked it up for national distribution. It got a fairly wide release nationally in theatres and ended up grossing over $10 million.

The actor who plays the coach also co-wrote the screenplay and directed. Pretty much every other cast member, extra and crew member came from the church. This was quite an achievement. I would have liked to have been part of that planning committee meeting when they decided, "hey, let's make a movie."

Yes, one could criticize this movie for being too schmaltzy at times and giving the impression that God has a vested interest in a football team winning the big one. But you gotta hand it to Sherwood Baptist Church for venturing out there and doing something no other church has ever done and succeeding in a big way.

Real, Not Real

I was home alone with Cameron the other night and Dorene called. When I hung up the phone, Cameron asked me who it was. I said, "It was the Pink Panther." Cameron said, "He's not real, who was it?" I said, "It was the American Dragon" (a cartoon Cameron likes). Again, Cameron said, "He's not real, who were you talking to?" I then said, "The Easter Bunny," to which Cameron replied, "He's real, but you weren't talking to him."

Meet Libby

This is Libby, the newest addition to our household. She is a golden retriever/golden lab mix. We got her as a 10-week old puppy from an Amish farm in Bremen. We've had her just over a month now, so she's a little bigger than this picture.

She is our newest "big dog" to replace Gabby, who we had to put down last May. Libby joins Daphne, a rat terrier and the world's most neurotic space-case of a dog.

NCAA Predictions

You read it here first:

The Final Four will be Butler, UCLA, Georgetown, and Ohio State. The final game will be UCLA over Ohio State for the national championship. Upset specials for Round 1: Oral Roberts over Washington State and Arkansas over USC.

Call your Las Vegas bookies now and place your bets! Remember, I correctly predicted "The Blood of Yingzhou District" would get the Oscar for best documentary short, so my credentials are solid.

Hug 'em or Whack 'em Upside the Head?

This past Friday night, both kids went back to our bedroom to go to sleep. I went back to check on them and while Anna was fast asleep, I couldn't find Cameron. I checked all his hiding spots but still couldn't find him anywhere. Dorene and I both started looking and were (loudly) calling out his name. The volume rose as it started to get a little bit uncomfortable being unable to locate him to the point we were basically screaming out his name.

He finally appeared back on the bed. He had been hiding in the cabinet under the bathroom sink, thinking he was in trouble because he had a butter knife.

In the wake of Polly Klaas, Jessica Lundsford, etc., we wanted to hug the little tyke. In the wake of making us panic because he was camped out under the sink as we screamed out his name less than 2 feet away, we wanted to whop the little @*#$! upside the head.

Needless to say, we did make it a learning experience that when mommy and daddy call out, he needs to answer.

In Search of the Flawless Candidate

The Republicans are in a bind. The front runners for the 2008 presidential nomination include John McCain with one divorce. Then there's Rudy with two divorces. Next you have Newt Gingerich, who just admitted to having an affair while he was going after Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal. Then there's Mitt Romney, who has not been divorced but is a Mormon (which could bring us multiple first ladies . . .oh Rick stop it, that was uncalled for).

So, what do do? Where's the one that evangelicals can get behind? Could it be that we'd have to settle for a candidate that is flawed? Surely there is no precedent for God using people with any flaws to assume the mantle of leadership?!?

You really can't even say "evangelical support" and "Democrat" in the same sentence, so no need to even go there (although many might, or just simply sit the 2008 election out).

How Rick lost his Ping-Pong Groove

The last several weeks at the South Bend Table Tennis Club have not been good. I was at the top of my game in January, but then things started to go south and I've yet to recover.

I hit my peak one night in January. I was at the #3 table and was poised to move up to the #2 table, where I'd go up against some very top notch players. In the final match that night against a player much, much better than me, I had managed to take it to a deciding 5th game. In that final game, I was up 10-8 . . .but, I let him come back and ended up losing.

Maybe that took too much out of me, being so close to my own version of table tennis glory. But ever since then, week in and week out, I come out with maybe one win each week, if that. I lose to players that I used to routinely beat, and I lose 3 games to none.

I'm playing in a big tournament this month. I have a week to get my ping pong groove back. We'll see what happens.

Our National Nightmare is Over

Finally, Anna Nicole has been laid to rest. If aliens from another planet are monitoring us, then they would have to think she was some kind of great leader or something, judging by all the air time she got on American television. It is mind-boggling how much time was devoted to this story over the past few months.

At least now we can move on to more important stories. You know, like how Britney is doing in rehab!

Meanwhile, in Iraq . . .

Final Notes on the Oscars

The reviews have been rather mixed on the show itself. I, and everyone at the Oscar party I attended, thought it was pretty lethargic. Just wasn't a whole lot of energy to the evening, both onstage and coming from the crowd. The beginning was weak, particularly in light of Billy Crystal's masterful openings from a few years back. The backlit acrobats were okay at first, but it kind of got old after a while. The stuff going on backstage was also very inane, not sure what all that was about.

Ellen DeGeneres wasn't bad, but she wasn't all that great. Very different style of hosting. Pretty low key, didn't really draw attention to herself. Much better than Whoopie Goldberg and probably more "safe" than Chris Rock or Jon Stewart. There wasn't a single Bush joke all night and I'm wondering if Hillary Clinton appreciated the Al Gore fawning that took place. My vote is for Will Ferrell or Jerry Seinfeld to host.

The awards were pretty spread out. Lots of different movies were honored. The big surprise was Eddie Murphy losing to Alan Arkin, although that was a pleasant surprise. You have to wonder what America was thinking when they voted out Jennifer Hudson from American Idol a few years ago. She basically upstaged Beyonce during their medley, although she was teetering on the edge of a wardrobe malfunction.

With just the Best Picture category left, I was tied with one other individual for the pool we all entered. She picked "Babel" and I picked "The Departed" so I walked away with a whopping $40.00. Actually, what made it happen was that I was the only one who picked, "The Blood of Yingzhou District" for Best Documentary Short. Yeah, I know, I'm brilliant. First time in 6 years I won the pool. This will fund my upcoming table tennis tournament.

Anna Turns 8

Anna turned 8 on February 17, but we didn't have her birthday party until this past Saturday. In the past, we had combined with a couple other of her classmates and had these big blow-out affairs. Kinda like the parents you read about that feel a huge birthday bash is critical to their child's development.

This year, we decided to scale back, although by the initial sounds of it, you may think otherwise. We rented the local skating rink in Niles, Michigan and invited all of Anna's classmates and friends at church. The cost to rent the rink was very low, thus making it very affordable.

For food, we just did nachos and cheese that we got from Sam's Club. For dessert, some cupcakes and ice cream. That was it. The kids just all showed up and skated for two hours and we didn't have to do anything else. Last year I had to help corral a bunch of first graders to do the Limbo. Never again!

Our pastor and his wife and 7 kids all came and hung. Aunt Dee Dee from Chicago was theree along with Dorene's mom. It was a good time. We also made presents optional. Anna is never hurting for anything and we said in the invitation that "Anna wants your presence more than your presents." Some still brought gifts anyway, but we wanted to take the pressure off. We had to drag Anna off the skating rink to even open the presents anyway.

Next year, we're going to eliminate the whole birthday theme altogether and just have a "Dennie Skating Party" in between Anna and Cameron's birthday where we'd invite anyone and everyone. Anna thought that was a good idea and didn't seem to care there would be no birthday party focusing on her. Note to parents: Kids don't always care that much about this stuff. YOU DO!

Notes on the Oscar Nominees

Some notes on the Oscar nominees as I get ready for my annual Oscar party where I am actually due to win the pool (I win about every 6 years).

Nominated for Best Picture . . .

The Queen
A much better movie than I was expecting. The movie covered the week from Princess Diana's death to her funeral, focusing on the outrage many Brits had with the monarchy's seemingly flippant attitude about Diana's death. Queen Elizabeth II had her reasons for the slow response, and even Tony Blair comes to her defense at one point. Tony Blair's popularity skyrocketed during this time, but things have indeed changed for him. An interesting portrayal of the Queen. I didn't think someone of her stature would drive an off-road vehicle by herself, but she does. Good as it was, this movie doesn't belong in the Best Picture category.

Letters from Iwo Jima
This was the second of two films by Clint Eastwood dealing with the WWII battle. "Flags of our Fathers" was the first and focused on the Americans that raised the flag and their lives afterwards as they were sent out on tours to promote war bonds. Jumps a little bit too much between time periods, but it's still a very well done movie. "Letters," which is subtitled, focuses strictly on the conflict itself and on a handful of Japanese characters. This is a much lower budgeted movie, but you get to know the characters much better, which for me made for a more involving movie than "Flags." It was very interesting seeing the Japanese point of view and how their soldiers and officers viewed the conflict. This is a very low key movie at first, not much happening. But once the Americans land, it kicks in. There are a few scenes that overlap with "Flags." For example, in that movie, you see the end result of Japanese soldiers committing suicide by hand grenade. In "Letters," you actually see it happening, and it ain't pretty. When you combine the two movies, it's really quite an achievement by Eastwood. For that reason, I would give this the Best Picture.

The Departed
It's directed by Martin Scorses, so two things come in to play: violence and profanity. According to screen-it.com there are 237 uses of the "F" word, so it's certainly overkill in that department. But wow, what a cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, and Alec Baldwin. The movie is 2 1/2 hours long but moves very quickly. Excellent story and great performances all around. But the expletives do fly.

Little Miss Sunshine
I really wanted to like this movie and found myself disappointed. For some reason it didn't connect. However, it's one I keep thinking about. I have a feeling if I were to watch it again I might have a different reaction. Maybe I just didn't think it was quite Best Picture material and thus went in with certain expectations, I don't know. What I do know is that "Olive" is a very memorable character, in fact, one of the most memorable in a while. The movie keeps growing on me in retrospect. It would probably be an upset if it won but I don't think people would be disappointed.

Babel
I wasn't too excited about seeing this movie because it's been called this year's "Crash." I thought that movie was a bunch of overhyped crapola and I'm still ticked off at it for telling my I'm racist whether I want to admit it or not.

But I was pleasantly surprised by "Babel". . .for the most part. The movie has 3 stories that interconnect in one way or another, even though the characters may be continents apart. The purchsae of a gun in Morocco affects what happens in Mexico. The movie is all subtitled, even when English is being spoken. The only major actors are Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. All 3 stories kept my interest and it all added up to a fairly good movie.

HOWEVER, there was a 4th story thread that gets a lot of screen time and is a major detriment, particularly because of the content. It's basically about a sexually promiscous deaf-mute Japanese girl. Leave this story out, and it wouldn't have mattered at all, because the other stories were strong enough. Yes, there was a connection to the other story threads, but the connection could have easily been made in other ways and this girl's escapades did not need to be included. It was a serious detriment to what was actually a pretty good other 3/4 of a movie.

Some Other Categories . . .
Best Actor
The only nominee I saw was Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson." A pretty good performance in a so-so movie, but he won't win. This is supposed to be Forest Whitaker's year, for his portrayal of Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland"(a movie I'd like to have seen but it never came here).

Best Actress
Helen Mirren all the way for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II, and she deserves it. Didn't see any of the other nominees.

Best Supporting Actor
Only saw Alan Arkin in "Sunshine" and Mark Wahlberg in "The Departed." Both were good, but this is supposedly the comeback year for Eddie Murphy, even though reportedly no one really likes him all that much in Hollywood and he puts out fluff like "Norbit." In my growing fondness of "Sunshine," Alan Arkin's character stands out, even though he didn't have a very big part. So, I'd give it to him, because it was a much less flashy role, which is the reason he won't win.

Best Supporting Actress
I didn't see "Dreamgirls," but evidently Jennifer Hudson was magnificent. But for my money, I'd give it to Abigail Breslin. Basically, when she was on the screen, I wasn't looking away. It didn't hurt that she reminded me of Anna. I guess 10 year old kids aren't truly supposed to beat out older actresses, but hey, Abigail has more acting experience than Jennifer Hudson. Here I go, first I say I didn't like "Sunshine" and now I'm wanting it to win all these awards.

Best Director
This is finally going to be Martin Scorsese's year, or so they say. I don't know, Clint Eastwood had quite an achievement with TWO movies, so he could snatch the oscar from him (or, they give the Directing award to Scorsese and Best Picture to Eastwood). However, I'd give the Oscar to a complete wildcard in this category for a movie not nominated for anything else. That would be Paul Greengrass for "United 93." That movie absolutely should have been nominated for Best Picture, although the term "movie" probably doesn't fit because it was in a category by itself. One of the more exhausting movies I've seen. Suspenseful in that you find yourself hoping the passengers can retake the airplane, even though, of course, you know that doesn't happen.

Best Foreign Film
"Pan's Labryninth" will easily win the Oscar, and for good reason. This also should have been in the the Best Picture category (both "The Queen" and "Babel" could have come out). A great movie. A combination of children's fantasy and 1940's Spain after the Franco revolution. Seemingly an odd mix but you may be hard pressed to find a more original movie this year. This will also likely win some technical awards like Art Direction and Makeup.

Best Documentary
I rarely see any the nominated documentaries, but I've actually seen what will be this year's winner, "An Inconvenient Truth." Can't imagine anything else winning and it'll be interesting to see if Al Gore is there to be part of the acceptance speeches.

Best Original Song
My prediction is that a song from "Dreamgirls" will win. Since 3 of the 5 songs nominated are from Dreamgirls, maybe that's not too bold of a prediction. Yes, there will be a performance by Randy Newman again this year for his song from "Cars," which will win the Best Animated feature category.

Best Documentary Short Subject
Yeah right, I have no idea. This is one of those categories that turns the tide at the Oscar party, seeing who picks the right one. The last time I won the pool, I was the only one to pick a documentary short called "Big Momma!"

Obama v. Clinton

I finally had a chance to ask two of my co-workers (both members of the South Bend City Council) who they preferred between the two Democrat front runners. Both overwhelmingly preferred Hillary, with one indicating she would be the best president in the history of the U.S. They both like Obama, but just don't think he has enough experience yet. Both of my co-workers are African-American, which I think will be an interesting sidebar to the primaries. Does this voting bloc side with the wife of whom Toni Morrison said was "the first black president" or does their vote side with who could actually BE the first black president?

Both Obama and Clinton are now going to try and negative campaign without it seeming like they are negative campaigning. It happened this week when David Geffen dissed Hillary, who then dissed Obama for not dissing Geffen, who then dissed Hillary for . . . .and so it goes. Republicans are going to sit back for now and see how this plays out.

Oh no, Vilsack just dropped out! That really mixes things up now, huh? He said he couldn't win because of the money. No, dude, you couldn't win because you were Tom Vilsack.

Let's Here it for the . . .Girls

The American Idol guys basically stunk up the place on Tuesday night. That left the girls with the task of getting things back on track. That they did and then some. There were multiple performances that were very good. My favorite from the initial audition, Melinda, came out and did Aretha. That's not always a good thing to try and do, but she pulled it off. She reminds me of the policewoman in the Police Academy movies that was always timid and shy but then when it was time to perform, she'd pull her gun on a bad guy and say, "Freeze, Dirtbag!" She was my initial pick (along with the long gone Baylie) to win, and I'll stick with her.

But, gotta also love Lakisha. Simon said the other 23 contestants might need to pack their suitcases now. He could be right. Dorene's favorite is Gina, the one with the red stripe. She did very good on a very difficult Celine song. Overall, a very good night for the girls.

There is a lot of talent in the guys, but they have to bring it up several notches to compete now. The girls have set the bar very high. In fact, Dorene and I commented that it almost felt as if we were in the final week, because so many of the performances were that polished. That does indeed leave room for someone to come from the back of the pack.

I'll still be looking forwawrd to "ABBA" night.

Run for Your Lives, It's the INDIANA FOG!!!

Anna's school got canceled today because of the fog. Visibility was, I don't know, 6 or 7 miles. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But as my family could attest to, you haven't seen fog until you've experienced Tulare County (CA) fog.

When you have to assume you are still on the road, that's fog. When good visibility is being able to see 3 of the center line stripes in front of you, that's fog. When you stop because you know there's a stop sign, but just can't see it, that's fog.

Stuck in the Mud

Today, both Dorene and I had the day off for President's Day. Anna had to go to school because of a snow make-up day. On our way out to pick up Anna, we stopped to look at a house that was for sale. However, as soon as we turned into the driveway, our van sunk into some very wet snow and mud. Tried as we could, the van wouldn't budge an inch.

Several cars went by but didn't stop, even though it was obvious we were needing help. Finally, a pick-up truck came by and did stop. Okay, I'm making this sound like some parable. We were simply stuck. No deeper meaning here. Only the mud was deep.

Anyway, this guy lived at a farm just down the road and saw us. He told us he'd go back and get his tractor. A few minutes later, he was back with the tractor. He hooked a chain up and pulled us out. We tried to get his address so we could send him something, but he'd have nothing of that. He stood and talked with us a while and told us the history of two houses up for sale that we were looking at. That was certainly very helpful and if we ended up with him as a neighbor, that would be great. So, thank you John (we at least got his name)for taking the time to help out a couple stranded city folk.

Snow Day

Today, all of us got to hole up in the house due to the snow. Anna's school called off, Dorene's school called off. Then finally, IU South Bend called it off. I found out this info at about 2:30 in the morning. I'm not sure who more anxiously watches the school closings scroll at the bottom of the screen, the kids or Dorene and I. Actually, that's a simple one, it's us.

We didn't do much of anything, and that was great. Today was Valentine's Day, so we gave the kids some candy treats. I gave Dorene some imported popcorn from Chicago (form Garrrett's, good stuff if you've never had it).

Dorene and I watched "Little Miss Sunshine," a moderately enjoyable but at the same time, moderately overrated movie. Some very jarring tone shifts as the movie wasn't always sure if it was a comedy or a depressing family study. Great performance though, by Abigail Breslin, who played 7-year old Olive. We were told that she reminded others of Anna, and she did. Wow, some of her mannerisms were exactly those of Anna. The dance scene at the end is one to rewind and watch again. This could have just as easily been a PG or PG-13 film, but they threw in some F bombs for good measure, which, as always, never add anything.

By the early evening, the roads were clear enough so we still had church. Dorene and I, along with the youth, threw a surprise birthday party for the high school leader, Joy, and she was completely surprised. Actually, her dad had called and said they wouldn't be coming because their car was stuck. We were like, "uh, we'll come get you." So, we drove the 20 minutes to pick up Joy. She remarked that there really wasn't much reason for her to go since by the time we got back to the church it would almost be over. Little did she know . . .

Now, it's late and I realize we all have to go to work/school tomorrow. That's okay, this made for a fun break. We are now officially ready for spring. Unfortunately, more snow is in the forecast.

Idol Predictions

Drum roll please . . .the next American Idol will either be Melinda Doolittle or Baylie Brown. Melinda was the one totally lacking in confidence but had a magnificent voice. Baylie is the Kellie Pickler/Carrie Underwood type from San Antonio that Simon said had "commercial" written all over here.

Other favorites that I'm hoping will last a while . . .

Sanjaya Malakar: He had a sister that advanced. His was the much better voice. He did a Stevie Wonder song and he was one of those that, to me, the music just flowed out of him.

Chris Sligh: He was really funny and should stick around a while for that reason. Not the best voice but I always like performers with a sense of humor (like Taylor Hicks).

Rudy Cardenas: A Latino has never won. This guy could make a run at it. He sang "Open Arms" at his audition.

My other favorite, well, I can't think of his name. But Simon thought he looked like Fidel Castro. He sang "God's gonna cut you down" at his audition. A look unlike any other contestant.

G-G-G-lobal W-W-W-arming

Now, I believe that global warming does exist. I know this big report recently came out in which all these scientists agreed that global warming is indeed a fact and that humans are to blame. But, as we sit here with record low temperatures in parts of the nation and lots of snow, you gotta wonder. Just seems like it would make it hard to have a global warming discussion when you are freezing your booty getting to work.

An Evolution v. Creation Debate

At IU South Bend today was a lunchtime debate on that well traveled subject of evolution v. creation. The event was sponsored by the campus Anthropology Club. A panel consisted of 3 faculty on the evolution side and 2 on the creation side (actually, one of those was a non-faculty who leads the Campus Bible Fellowship group).

Nothing new came out. I mean, what really could? The science faculty had all their data down as to why evolution clearly wins over creation. The creation advocates had all their reasons to why it's a matter of believing God's word. Both sides did an admirable job. The debate could have gone on all day without either side ever coming to a consensus. Although I believe the evolutionists were a little prickly at times and borderline scoffing, while the creation advocates got a little preachy.

Oh well, like I said, not much new to report on this topic. The debate continues. After it was over, everyone was invited to have a piece of cake in honor of Darwin's 198th birthday. I wanted to ask, "Was it created or did it just randomly appear while we weren't looking?" But I didn't.

A Great Kid's Film (but don't take the kids)

I saw "Pan's Labryinth" recently. It's been nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language film and some technical awards. If you've seen the advertisements or poster art, it may seem like a children's fantasy along the lines of Harry Potter or even Lord of the Rings.

It does indeed appear that way for the first few minutes. But trust me, it is NOT a kids movie. I am sure there are parents that have taken their kids to see it and have had to deal with their nightmares. If you have yet to see the film, then you will clearly know you're not watching Nickelodeon when the interrogation scene with the rabbit hunters takes place early in the film.

A very original film. Combines two storylines: Children's fantasy and 1940's Spain after the Franco revolution. Uh, what's that again? Yep, that's the two main storylines. Kind of hard to describe. But I absolutely loved it. Yes, it's subtitled. But like I will always say, if a book is good, you don't want to put it down. If a subtitled movie is really good, you forget you're reading subtitles. Both storylines are very well done and neatly intertwined. You never tire of either one.

This probably should have been nominated in the Best Picture category. It really is that good. Just don't take the kids. For the adults, you'll have some squirm moments too.

Winter Jam

This past weekend, Dorene and I went to the Winter Jam concert in Fort Wayne with 2 other adults and 10 youth from our church.It only costs 10 bucks to get in, so it's a good deal. A good mixture of bands, designed to appeal to several age groups.

The first group was "Sanctus Real," a group I really like, that has sort of flown under the radar. They've been around a while, but haven't really gotten all that big. They only played 3 songs, so they were on and off way too quick. I wanted to hear much more of them.

Next up was the hard-driving sound of "NewSong." Okay, just kidding. They were okay. Didn't play all that long and I was kinda bored by them anyway. Then, at the end, the band launches into some brief riffs of "(you make we want to) Shout" and "Sweet Home Alabama." Not bad.

Then came "Hawk Nelson," and they were easily the crowd favorite and were definitely the group I enjoyed the most. A sort of pop/punk sound that I really liked. They had a lot of fun out there on stage and didn't get all "worship moment" on us. Sometimes musicians should just play and not talk, because when they try to talk and be all profound, it just doesn't work. These guys just played and had a blast. Kind of reminded me of early Newsboys (before the worship genre got ahold of them and made them take it down a couple notches). I'll be keeping my eye on "Hawk Nelson" and checking out more of their music.

Steven Curtis Chapman came on next. I hadn't seen him since 1993 and have not really been a huge fan. But he actually did pretty good. Did some very amped-up versions of "The Great Adventure" and "Dive." But, what I really liked about him was his band. His guitarist was his 17 year old son and his drummer was his 15 year old son. The other guitarist and keyboardist were not related to the Chapman's but were brothers. They in fact have their own group, "The Following," which played a song as Steven Curtis briefly left the stage. I was impressed that Chapman has changed with the times. He wasn't just changing his style for today's youth, he was changing it for HIS OWN youth. I like that.

The comedian John Morgan came on, with his dead-on impression of George W. Bush. Now, the Coliseum was full, and I'd say that a sizeable portion were Republicans. But the response to this comedic bit was tepid at best. It just isn't funny anymore. Morgan said something about "you mess with the U.S.A., we mess with you." That whole bravado thing just doesn't cut it for me anymore. He also tried to equate himself as in tune with Christians, but with all the scandals that have taken place with Republican lawmakers, this just didn't resonate either.

The evening then closed with Jeremy Camp. Yikes, I didn't like him at all. He got the biggest cheer when he came on with his Peyton Manning jersey, and many seemed to like him a lot, but I found his set very boring. Ended the evening on a whimper. But overall, for $10.00, not a bad deal. Dorene said it was too loud. It was indeed loud, but it's never TOO loud.

Zimbabwe Loves the Bears!

Remember after a championship game when the players are all given hats and shirts commemorating their victory? I've always wondered, hmm, if they printed these for one team, then they had to be printed for the other team, too. Where do these alternate reality shirts and caps end up at?

Turns out, they all head out to Africa. They really do. The NFL donates them to World Vision, under the stipulation that they are sent far, far away. Which they certainly are. There are several countries that they can be sent to (Sierre Leone being a recent one) and evidently this year's country is Zimbabwe. It just kind of strikes me as funny that somewhere in the African plains, people are running around with shirts and caps that say "Bears 2007 Super Bowl Champs" or "Patriots 2007 AFC Champs" or "Seahawks 2007 NFC Champs."

A Season Complete

Wow, it's now official. The Colts are Super Bowl champs! Peyton Manning has the monkey off his back (and Rex Grossman's monkey just grew to King Kong size proportions).

Last night's game was not the most exciting game I've ever watched, especially after the game that got the Colts to the Super Bowl. The Bears couldn't really get anything going. The Colts didn't do much better, but they kept the Bears offense off the field for a very long time. They came through when they needed, and their running game did very well, which was critical in the rainy weather.

Several in our church gathered at a home to watch the game. Vast majority were Colts fans. There was one lone Bears fan, who we almost had to scrape from the ceiling after that opening kickoff. We watched on a big screen t.v., but it was within the NFL policy. It's always fun watching the game with a crowd, and as is the usual custom, the commercials can be just as entertaining. Although, not a whole lot of standouts last night.

A far cry from previous church sponsored Super Bowl parties I've attended. At Scottsdale Bible Church in Arizona, hundreds packed the church's auditorium. The MC was an NBC commentator who attended the church. One year, the half-time guest was Kevin Johnson. At the time, there was no bigger local sports celebrity than Kevin Johnson. Another half-time guest was a rookie golfer from Arizona State University who had just finished his final round at the Phoenix Open. A guy by the name of Phil Mickelson who we figured we'd hear more from in the future.

At Trinity Evangelical Free Church in South Bend, we didn't have the half-time celebrities, but it was still a very big gathering. During half-time (in Arizona and here) was a ministry-oriented moment.

Last night, well, was a little different. Much smaller crowd. So, we watched Prince perform. I must say, he did a very good job, and you had to love the light-up marching band.

The NFL Party Poopers

A church down in Indy wants to have a Super Bowl party. They are going to show the game with a projection screen TV. "Oh no you don't," says the NFL. The policy dictates that mass showings of the game can only be shown on a screen no more than 55 inches big. Way to go NFL! Way to squash that local team spirit!

The pastor of the church says they'll abide by the law, but is frustrated because now the only place to see the game with a large crowd would be at bars, which he states are obviously not appropriate places for children. Click here for the story.

Not sure what the NFL is worried about. The church I used to attend used to show the game on a large projection screen (to a very large crowd). It was always a lot of fun. During the halftime, they would have a brief outreach oriented moment. To my knowledge, no wardrobe malfunctions ever took place.

Catching Up on Some Authors

In the past few months, I've read novels by some authors that I had abandoned for some time. I read lots of their earlier stuff, then stopped at some point because their novels began to disappoint. But I've gotten reacquainted with 4 different authors with mostly positive results:

John Grisham: "The Innocent Man" is his first non-fiction work. It reads like a novel and the fact that it is true makes it all the more fascinating. In Iraq, the rule is that Saddam Hussein had to be executed within 30 days of the guilty verdict. It's a good thing we don't have that law here. The title of this book says it all, and if you are poor and cannot get good representation, then you just may be on your own in our criminal courts.

Stephen King: "Cell" is his latest novel to hit paperback and the first I've read of his since "The Stand." That could be why I had problems with it. The premise is intriguing. Some signal comes through all the cell phones turning people into zombies. A group of survivors are compelled to travel to Maine for some reason. Sort of similar to "The Stand" in which most of the population is wiped out and the few survivors are compelled to travel to Colorado. I didn't finish this novel. Something about it just didn't hold my interest. The characters weren't all that interesting, and despite the great set-up, it just didn't seem to do much with it.

Michael Crichton: "State of Fear" could be called the flip side of "An Inconvenient Truth." Basically, Crichton is saying, through a fictional story, that the whole global warming thing is a piece of crap. He makes some good arguments and the story itself is very good (which most of his are). Not sure why I stopped reading his novels. It's a little preachy at times but still a good read.

Dean Koontz: "Velocity" isn't his latest, but it's the one I decided to read to reacquaint myself with Mr. Koontz. His earlier novels were great, particularly "Twilight Eyes," "Lightning," and "Watchers." But at some point, I began having trouble getting through one of his novels. This is the first I've read in about 15 years. The plot is simple. A guy gets a note that if he calls the police, someone will die. If he doesn't call the police, someone else will die. The choice is his. In Koontz novels, lots of people do indeed die and the killers are usually pretty ferocious. But in the end, the hero comes out just fine. I really enjoyed this and will probably go back and begin reading some more of his that I missed.

Cleaning House Keeps the House Clean

A profound statement, I know. But, with our house being up for sale, we have to keep it in a state of cleanliness and order because we've had instances where we have a showing with just two day's notice. So, we need to have it in "show mode" almost constantly. We've found that doing a little bit of cleaning throughout the week helps keep it this way.

Mom, I guess you were right (which I know will promp a big DUH!!!). Spending a couple hours a week actually does make a difference. Yes, I know you've been saying this for a long time. Dorene and I both admit that it has been nice living in our house and having it clean basically all the time.

Now, if and when we move into our new house . . .

Cameron Gets Annexed

Since Saturday night, Cameron has been at Uncle Stu and Aunt Joyce's house. Since he was born, he has only been away from us for two nights in a row at the most. We've called every day to check on him to see if he's ready to come home or not. But each time, nope, he wants to stay. He's having a blast and just doesn't want to leave.

Finally, on Tuesday, he said he wanted me to come get him. Well, sort of. He said he wanted me to drive to Ohio to take him to Grandma and Grandpa Dennie's house. He would spend the night there, then I would drive back down and take him back to Uncle Stu's house.

Dorene talked to him last night and he was crying and crying and crying . . . .because he was going to have to come home today. Dorene's mom is going to pick him up and mom and dad's and for once, Cameron may not be happy to see his Grammy. We're very excited he's had such a good time and actually very surprised he stayed that long. I am sure that he'll be asking us the minute he comes home when he gets to go back.

By the way, the reason Cameron gave for not wanting to come home? "Anna's there."

Bush on the Air

I watched parts of the State of the Union speech, but that was about it. These tend to be glorified campaign speeches where they basically announce their plans to right every wrong and make the world a better place. Then the next day, all is forgotten.

One thing that I always find very irritating is the constant applause and standing ovations for every little thing that's said: "I want (applause) to tell you (applause) that (applause) last night's episode (applause) of "My Name is Earl" (raucous applause) was the greatest ever (standing ovation)." You then always have someone in the audience that is pointed out for some great deed they've done or accomplishment in their work. Last night it was the subway hero from New York and the founder of the Baby Einstein book/video empire. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Justices just sit there with hands folded.

Saw another politician live and in person today. Joe Kernan, former mayor of South Bend and former Governor of Indiana was on campus to speak at a program sponsored by our Career Services Office. He seems like a really nice guy. Not the most powerful speaker in the world, but very down to earth very real. Didn't sound all that political.

Waiting to Exhale

I am still worn out from last night's game. To quote some dialogue from Seinfeld, "I'm speechless. I am without speech."

What more can you say? The Colts finally broke through, and what better team to do it against than the Patriots. They had to play flawless once they fell behind 21-3, and they did. But it was one of the most exhausting experiences I've had watching a game.

School's out on Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday (or so I thought)

For the past 20 years, I have not worked on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. In Arizona where I worked, we had the day off even before the holiday became official. In a state university where I have worked for 15 years, of course the day is going to be honored. Same for the public schools. The South Bend Community School Corporation has always recognized the day, as did Veritas Academy, where Anna went for Kindergarten and First Grade.

So, I just assumed that as a student in the John Glenn School Corporation in North Liberty, Indiana, she would have the day off. Evidently not. We talked to family friend in the corporation on Saturday who confirmed that yes, no day off for this corporation on MLK. I was totally dumbfounded. I had just assumed that this was a day that all school corporations would want to take off and would truly want to honor King's legacy.

But that's not the case here. I am not sure why. I'm sure they have their reasons and that there are some powerful community leaders who are likely very critical of Dr. King and how he wasn't all that people say he was, yada yada yada. But, that's not the point. I've heard the arguments about how "white people" don't get a holiday, which is a load of you know what. We get the other 360+ days of the year. I think we can afford one day to honor an African-American leader.

No, we didn't pull Anna out of school that day. I'd never use my kid as a pawn in something her parents are trying to have changed. Plus, we didn't attend any MLK events that day, so we couldn't use that as an excuse. I was pleased to hear that her teacher was using the movie "Ruby Bridges" as a teaching tool that day (very good t.v. movie about a little girl desegrating a school in the south). In addition, it could be that many teachers want the holiday, but it's an adminstrative issue.

If anyone is ever unsure what the civil rights movement was all about, I highly recommend the documentary "Eyes on the Prize" and it's follow-up, "Eyes on the Prize II." This gives a very comprehensive overview of the movement and is excellent.

One thing that has always fascinated me is just how recent it really is that we officially treated blacks as second class citizens, even though the civil rights movement is often treated as ancient history. But, had Martin Luther King, Jr. not been assassinated, he wouldn't even be 80 years old yet.

All is Well

"24" and "American Idol" are now back on the air. All is well with the world now.

I think that Chloe could possibly get knocked off this season of "24." This is a show that doesn't play favorites. Anyone can die (and usually does). If not her, then maybe Curtis or Audrey. But you never know what's going to happen, and that's why it's such a good show.

Not too many talented people in Minneapolis for American Idol. A couple singers were okay and maybe they can punch it up in the next round. One of my favorite parts of the show is the second round, when they have to get in groups of 3 or 4 and perform. Lots of backstage politcs going on as they try to position themselves to make the final cut. Last night Simon mentioned an upcoming ABBA night. Can't wait for that one, because ABBA is one of my all time favorite groups. We'll see how much "Dancing Queen," "Waterloo," and "Take a Chance on Me" get butchered.

Starbucks Challenged

I don't drink coffee. Not at all. In fact, I've never even tasted a drop of it. Just never cared to. I get my caffeine fix via Mountain Dew and other soft drinks in the morning.

My wife is addicted to Starbucks. I'm usually not with her when she gets one because this is her treat. But recently, we went through the drive-thru at a Starbucks so she could get her fix. Now, I've never ordered at Starbucks before. When I want a drink, I go through the drive thru and it's basically, "large Pepsi" and that's it. But ordering at Starbucks was much more complicated. After a brief orientation session as to what she wanted, we made a couple dry runs before approaching the drive-up speaker. What Dorene wanted, was, quote, a "venti decaf sugar-free cinammon dulce latte." That's a total of 14 syllables for a beverage (which, by the way, costs much more than my large Pepsi).

Well, when I started into the order, I botched it by the time I got to "sugar free" and had no idea what I was ordering. Furthermore, I started laughing and Dorene was busting up. The person taking the order probably figured we had already had one too many lattes. I finally got the order out right. But from now on, Dorene is on her own at Starbucks and needs to do the ordering herself.

Colts, uh, Win

The Colts really make you nervous, don't they? When is that Peyton Manning offense going to kick it into high gear? Yes, a win is a win and they are in the AFC Championship game, but they don't let you relax. But a game with nothing but field goals? I did think the Colts final drive was a masterstroke of clock management, but they still made you sweat it out.

I'm hoping the Patriots beat the Chargers today because then the Colts get to play at home.

Have Mercy on Me, But I Don't Like This Music

For years I have tried to become a fan of Christian band, MercyMe. They are by far one of the most popular bands around, and their CD's sell very well. They hit it big with "I Can Only Imagine" and have never looked back.

But, I just don't get all the fuss. I still call their debut album one of the most painfully bland albums I've listened to. I rented it from the library multiple times, trying my best to become a fan. But, their music just doesn't do it for me. It all sounds very much the same, and just has nothing memorable to it (quick, name three of their songs; you can't do it, can you?).

I finally broke down and bought the latest MercyMe recording, "Coming Up to Breathe." I listened through it once (fast forwarding most of the way), and now it sits somewhere buried underneath some empty drink cups in my car. More of the same blandness I've come to expect from them. Why are they so big? I just don't get it.

Their music sounds like a continuous Phil Collins loop. I know I'm onto something there because I was told that at their recent concerts, they opened with "In the Air Tonight" and closed with U2's "I still haven't found what I'm looking for." So, even the band themselves admit they aren't very original. If I have to give them any credit, it's that their Christmas album is pretty good. But then again, those are covers of other songs.

For Christian bands that hit it big, I say more power to them. But for this group, I have to conclude: overrated in a big way. Y'all keep buying their CD's, though.

Soccer Takes America by Storm, part XXXIVXIVIX

Big news in the world of soccer. David Beckham, who is basically the Michael Jordan of soccer, is coming stateside to play for Major League Soccer. So once again, we'll be treated to stories of how THIS is the biggest news for soccer in America and how we'll finally all embrace this global sport.

Not gonna happen.

Bush's Surge

I just can't buy into it. I don't see how adding 21,000 more troops is going to change anything in Iraq. In the short term, it may indeed have an effect. But at some point, the troops leave and then things go back to how they were. I remember several years ago when the national guard went into Gary, Indiana when their murder rate was leading the nation. The murder rate dropped during the time the Guard was there, but when they left? Yep, things went back to how they were.

Iraq is a bit bigger than Gary, Indiana. The insurgency is so entrenched, that they'll probably just go into hiding for a while. Or, they may continue to strike, which will really be a devastating blow because it'll show how all the military might in the world can't effectively battle guerilla warfare in the streets. Nor will Iraqi civilians be any safer. If anything, it could get even worse for them. It's mind boggling how many Iraqis have died since the "liberation." Yeah, I agreed wholeheartedly when we went in. But now, I just want the troops to come home.

Good luck to those in the Bush adminstration trying to sell this plan. Let's see how the new Congress deals with it.

Cowboys, Colts and Ohio State

I wouldn't want to be Cowboys QB Tony Romo right now. He had a great year, coming out of nowhere and taking the Cowboys into the playoffs. All he had to do was catch a snap and hold it there for the kicker. It was a kick shorter than an extra point. That's it. If the kick is good, then the Cowboys go ahead and likely win the game. But he fumbled it. Not because of a bad snap. He caught it just fine but couldn't put it down on the ground. Romo-mania is on hold for now. I read that 5 fans greeted the Cowboys on their return to the airport. Dallas fans don't like to lose.

The Cowboys are the team I have rooted for the longest. I loved watching them during the glory Tom Landry "America's Team" days. They were very much loved and very much despised during those years. But you had to appreciate the teams of Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, "Too Tall" Jones, Randy White, "Hollywood" Henderson, etc. They were quite the team. But then things started to fall apart. Landry was unceremoniously fired after Jerry Jones took over the team. That was bad enough. So who do they hire to replace him? Jimmy Johnson, coach of the much-despised University of Miami. Yeah, yeah, he won the Cowboys a couple of Super Bowl titles, but I never liked him as a coach at Miami, and didn't like him as coach of the Cowboys.

Finally, he left. Luckily I wouldn't dislike the next coach, because the only coach I disliked more than Jimmie Johnson was Barry Switzer from Oklahoma. But they would never, oops, wait a minute, they hired Switzer. You gotta be kidding! Yes, Switzer brought them another Super Bowl title, because this was during the Troy Aikman and Emmit Smith heyday. But it was hard to root for them during this time because those two coaches I just didn't care for. The only one left to bring in that I don't care for would be Steve Spurrier.

As for my other team, the Colts need to play much better against the Ravens than they did against the Chiefs if they expect to advance to the AFC Championship. I'm hoping the Patriots can knock off the Chargers, because I feel better about the Colts playing them then heading to San Diego. As for the NFC, the Saints are a great story and I'd like to see them keep going. Around here, all anyone talks about is 'da bears, who I really think are going to 'da lose next week, despite their 14-2 record.

I can't say I'm that excited about watching Florida-Ohio State tonight. It just doesn't hold that much appeal. I'll periodically check-in to see the score and stick with it if it's close in the 4th quarter, but it just doesn't hold much interest for me. If Florida wins, that could cinch the move to a college playoff.

Do the Math: 2 is Less than 7

This week we took on the duty of babysitting our pastor's kids, while he and his wife attended a pastoral conference in Florida. Our pastor has 7 kids. Add our two kids to the mix, and we were watching 9 kids. Add one of Anna's friends into the mix last night, and we were watching 10. We should have added a couple more then we could have had our own "Cheaper by the Dozen"scenario.

Dorene stayed at the pastor's house the whole time, because it would have been too big of an operation to move to our house, and their house has more room. I was back to work this week so I would stop by in the evening, but then go back home to take care of our dog and cats, which I can confirm is much easier than watching 9 kids.

It actually has gone quite well. The pastor's kids are all very good and well behaved, and very fun to be around. They have Sara, Matt, Rebecca, Hannah, Lydia, Andrew, and Wesley. Sara is 15 and one of the most delightful teenagers I've met. She's a huge help around the house and last night brought Dorene a mint mocha from Starbucks, so she scored some huge points there.

But as Dorene was saying, any thoughts of ever having more kids has now gone completely out the window. She likes our numbers at home. Just our two kids, that's it. We can possibly add another dog, but that's as far as we'll go.

Notre Dame Keeps the Streak Alive

Last night, the Notre Dame football team made it 9 in a row! That is, 9 years in a row that they've lost a bowl game. Once again, they did it in typical fashion, by getting totally blown away.

For a much better performing Notre Dame team, turn your attention to basketball. Last night, Dorene had won free tickets to the Notre Dame v. Louisville game. So, her dad and I went to see the Irish take on Rick Pitino's bunch. Louisville played pretty bad, Notre Dame played excellent and beat them by 17 points (although at one point, they were up by almost 30). They only have one loss on the year, so this could be a good season. We'll see if Notre Dame fans can make the switch, because the basketball team just doesn't always get that much attention.

The Boys from Boise

If Florida beats Ohio State next Monday, can the BCS with a straight face truly crown them national champs while an undefeated Boise State sits there empty handed? I think maybe it is indeed time for a college football playoff.

Boise State won the game of the century against Oklahoma, but they won't receive consideration because their schedule was too weak. If Ohio State wins, then they are the champs and it's probably case closed. But if Florida wins, then the only undefeated team left standing is Boise State. Why shouldn't they be national champs? So what if their conference is weaker. They won on one of the gutsiest calls of all time, by going for the win instead of the tie. Give 'em the trophy. They are the "Hoosiers" of this football season.

Christmas 2006

We finally completed our Christmas tour for the year (well, almost, we still have one more delayed one to go).

This year, for our family Christmas, we stayed at a motel in town. Anna and Cameron just love going to motels and we had talked about this for a long time and they were very excited. We packed up everything after work on Friday the 22nd and headed to the Comfort Suites. We had dinner, swam for a while, then went back to the motel room to open presents. We decorated the room with lights and had our own spread of snacks and drinks. It was a lot of fun and this is a tradition we plan to continue.

We got up on Saturday and headed to Fort Wayne and Steve and Pam's house for Christmas #2 with my family. We had our usual paltry spread of food and drinks (yeah right, no one leaves hungry after one of our gatherings). Mom made her Cracker Jack, which I hadn't had in about 20 years. Pam made her famous beans and dad had his famous turtles. We then had our "dirty" gift exchange, in which you have the option of opening a gift or "stealing" one that was opened before your turn. My family was fairly nice and not too many gifts changed hands (and there were alliances at work to trade gifts).

Steve and Pam had houseguests that night, Allan, Carolyn and baby Conner. Actually, Carolyn wasn't there, she had to work, but dad and baby were there and it was great to have them as part of our gathering. Steve and Pam are going the extra mile and then some to give them a place to live while they get back on their feet. For many years, having a baby in the house would be Steve's idea of some sort of inner circle of Dante's Hell. So them agreeing to take this couple in was certainly admirable and a major disruption of a lifestyle they are used to.

We left Fort Wayne and returned home. We got the kids to bed fairly early because this was the night Santa would visit. Anna is not so sure about this whole Santa thing. She's convinced dad is involved somehow. Cameron, however, is very much into it. He was easily convinced that he had to get to sleep so Santa could visit. When they woke up the next morning, Santa had indeed come and they got to open their Santa gift and go through their stockings. Thus ended Christmas #3.

We spent the next few days at home. Didn't do much at all, just hung out with the family. Had a few of the pastor's kids over for the afternoon to play with the kids. Otherwise, just took it easy.

On Thursday, we headed down to Kentucky for Christmas #4. Dorene's parents have a cabin at Lake Cumberland. We spent two nights there, and then the third evening Dorene's brother, Rob and his wife, Connie, came over. Also present were niece Shon and her new husband, Aaron, along with their child, Jace. Rounding out the guests were nephew Sam and his looooong time girlfriend, Brittany. We also did a "dirty" gift exchange and Dorene's family is much more ruthless than mine. Gifts got stolen and stolen and it seems just about everyone had their hands on at least two different gifts. I started out with a basket full of Ale-8, which is Kentucky's official soft drink. This isn't just some passing fancy, Kentucky folks are passionate about their Ale-8. Go out to breakfast, and people order up a bottle. It's basically a type of ginger ale. Nothing all that great, but boy do people go crazy over it. I like it okay and figured a basket of it would be nice to take home. But no, Shon's husband steals it, despite my cries of, "But I'm from Indiana and can't get this stuff up there." Didn't matter, my desperate pleas went unheeded. Like I said, Dorene's family much more ruthless with this exchange. I ended up with some bath towels and Dorene ended up with, I'm not sure what. But it was a blast and we don't get to see Robert, Connie, Sam and Shon very much, so we really soak up the time we have with them. Cameron absolutely had a meltdown when we had to leave. He loves his Uncle Robert and wanted to go home with him.

We came home late on New Year's Eve. Got home just in time to see the ball drop in Time's Square. Ooh, yuck, I have to go back to work on Tuesday. Dorene gets another week off (sort of, we'll get to that later).

This weekend, we'll have Christmas #5 at Dorene's parents. No, our kids are not spoiled.

Mel Gibson, Drunken Racist, Perhaps, But Quite a Filmaker

I went to a late showing of "Apocalypto" the other night. This being the latest film from Mel Gibson and his first film released since his drunken anti-Jew rant a while back.

Say what you want about Gibson the person, but Gibson the movie director is really good. This movie would not be for everyone. For one, it's completely subtitled, so if you don't like reading your movies, you may not like it. It's also pretty violent. Remember, Gibson directed "Braveheart" and "Passion of the Christ," so he tends to keep the blood flowing. It's also about the ancient Mayans, something that doesn't exactly pop up in movies very often.

The movie starts out a little slowly, and has some kind of bizarre scenes talking about mating rituals and guys laughing at another guy for eating testicles and, well, it's kind of strange. But then, the movie kicks in as soon as the bad guys come to the village. From this point on, the movie is very intense and does not let up until the final scene. And that's no joke, it remains very intense all the way through. The final third is another take on the whole "Most Dangerous Game" scenario. It's all very well done. Does it add up to much? No, it doesn't, nor does it give a whole lot of insight into the Mayan culture and all that. But as an exercise in non-stop action, it more than fits the bill.

One quibble. In one scene, one of the Mayan warriors says the "F" word. Did that word exist back then? Also, in another scene, there is a line spoken that is a very famous line of movie dialogue. Was that intentional? No one else in the theatre reacted to it, but it stuck out to me. Just kind of weird these two very contemporary moments in a movie about an ancient culture.

Dorene's Christmas Concert

Tuesday night was Dorene's Christmas concert at Warren Primary Center. This year was different because for the first time since becoming a teacher, Dorene was doing a program with elementary kids instead of middle school.

As usual, Dorene put together one heck of a program. I, of course, am a little bias but she is one of the top directors in the South Bend school corporation. But, she really puts on a great program. It's never one of the cheesy little affairs, she goes all out. This year, she received tons of accolades from her principal, who said that in the days following the program, she received a non-stop stream of visits and phone calls from parents praising the program. But of course, Dorene only puts on the best. The thing is, those accolades mean nothing to her. Of course they are nice, but it isn't what drives her. Okay, yeah, a big part of it is confidence (she knows she's good!).

This year, the 3rd and 4th graders put on a full-fledged production called "It's Christmas, Carol." It's a modern day retelling of, well, of course you know what it's about. For the lead was this little dynamo named Autumn Martin. I mean, wow, she was really, really good. Tons of lines, lots of stage movement, even a solo. She nailed every bit of it. This is one talented girl and just a delight to watch on stage. She has a little sister, Jenna, that was part of the 2nd grade choir (prior to the above production were a couple songs by the kindergarten choir and 1st/2nd grade choir).

After the production was over, the evening ended on a rather poignant note. Dorene had all those that have family serving in the military stand and be recognized (there were a lot). Then, we had a powerpoint presentation of a marine sergeant named Matt Martin who is stationed in Iraq, which was done as a tribute to all those that will be missing family members this holiday season due to military service.

You see, Matt is Autumn's dad, so he couldn't be here that night to see his little girl wow the crowd. There were pictures of him in uniform and then several photos of him with his wife and two girls. You know, sort of puts the war in a little bit more perspective when you have this kind of connection. Seeing pictures of Autumn and Jenna cuddled up to him like he's the greatest person on earth, I just pray that Matt is able to come home safely to be with his little girls someday. Autumn is just one year older than Anna, so I can relate in a big way. Initially Dorene was going to try and do a live hook-up with him, but he was to be off on a mission that day, so it wasn't possible. Like I said, puts everything in a little more perspective when you can put a face on the soldiers over in Iraq and wonder, like pretty much all of America, why they are still there and is it all worth it.

The gymnasium was packed out for the program. For the spring, Dorene will have to move the program to the high school auditorium. She's set the bar way up there now, so people will certainly come in the spring with high expectations, which Dorene will deliver on.

The Christmas Program at our Church

Yesterday, we had our children's Christmas program at church. Dorene and I directed the musical called "Touch of an Angel" (no, not the t.v. show, that's touched BY an angel). A fairly typical kids program with some light drama and upbeat songs.

It went over very well and the congregation was really appreciative of it. One of the highlights was when the shepherds came in with the "sheep." In this case, the sheep consisted of our son Cameron, and 5 other kids ranging from 1 - 4. They were supposed to crawl up the center aisle. Cameron instead did a full sprint like he was a cheetah and lept up onto the stage. The littlest one, Wesley, just sort of lagged behind and eventually got up on stage, after a few pauses to dance to the music. All in all, it was a typical small church production void of the glitter and gloss of a mega-church.

But there was another highlight which trumped the others. The first two rows were full of family members of one of the kids in the cast. The entire family is unchurched but they came out to support their daughter. The daughter is one of Anna's classmates from her previous school. We have been picking her up every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening for church. She loves coming and her parents are very open to it. They've never attended themselves, but hey, you never know. Doors get open and God can work wonderful things once the opportunity is presented.

(un)Typical Playground Talk

Anna told us she was recently talking to a couple boys during recess. The boys were saying how school was so boring. Anna then proceeded to quiz them over Latin definitions. Why she thought they might find this a fun recess activity, I have no idea. The Latin word for toes is evidently "pess." Now, of course, these being elementary school boys, they thought she said something else that they thought was naughty. Anna came home and asked us if "P-I-S-S" is a bad word. We told her that it's not a word she should use and absolutely do not tell Cameron.

We also told her to maybe stick to talking about candy and Nickelodeon on the playground.

Hey, This is Work!

Cameron has been taking horseback riding lessons for the past month. After his first couple lessons, he started bugging me about buying him a horse. He was really enjoying it and this went on a for a couple weeks, "when you gonna buy me a horse, I really want one."

However, by last week, he had changed his tune. His instructor (Julia) does what I think is a very good thing. She doesn't just saddle up the horse and let him ride. She makes him fetch the bridle, the saddle, and all the other straps needed. She has him brush the horse and clean out his hoofs. In other words, all the work that goes into getting a horse ready, Cameron has to be involved with. Julia says some instructors will just do everything for the pupil, but she believes otherwise, and I think that's a good idea. It's never a bad thing to teach a little responsibility and exactly what is involved in something like this.

So, on this day, as Cameron was climbing on a stool and struggling with both hands using the brush, he said, "Daddy, PLEASE don't buy me a horse!"