Sorry: Taking some time off.

My poor hubby is sick, I just hosted my whole family for Christmas, and I'm trying to get my house back in order.

See ya next year!

Oh goody, goody! A new gadget!

I just found this site a few days ago. It's really neat! It's called Scribd. You can upload your documents, stories, drawings, photos and then they get processed into several different formats to share or to keep private.

I thought it was really cool. I've created a few resources over the years and I've wanted to share them. So one of the really cool features is that you can embed your documents into your site. So here's a couple of the Advent calenders I created.

Enjoy!

Here's the Santa version:



And the Nativity version:



How stinkin' awesome is that? Right? Fully functional pdf-ers on my blog. Who knew?

Merry Holidays???

OK, warning soapbox moment. And if you have a comment that's great but I'm not open to a debate right now. There are, I'm sure, plenty of places to debate this issue online. This just isn't one of them at this time. Thanks.

* * * * * * * *


I am a Christian. I hope you've picked up on that by now. If not hopefully it's not a huge shock. But anyways I am and I'm proud of it. That fact is the most important thing to know about me. I believe in Jesus Christ. It is a deciding factor for everything I do. It makes me who I am. It decides what I am doing on December 25th every year. I'm celebrating my holiday.

Traditionally, Christians(Evangelicals) don't have that many "Christian" holidays. I can think of 2. Easter and Christmas. Christmas is the celebration of Christ's birth and Easter is the celebration of his resurrection from the dead. That's it. Our 2 holidays. We get 2 days of the year that are distinctly Christian celebrations.

And this brings me to the problem. We aren't even allowed to proclaim it. We can't "Go Tell it on the Mountains". People aren't allowed to tell us "Merry Christmas" because they might offend someone who doesn't celebrate the birth of our Lord.

I think this whole "Don't say Merry Chrismas" thing is getting out of hand. I in no way think that we "own" the cold weather or the month of December. But we do "own" Christmas. It's named for our Savior. No matter how you celebrate it, everyone knows that it's "Christ"mas.

People know that the star on top of many Christmas trees stands for the star the wisemen followed to find the Baby in the Manger. The Angel on other trees stands for the Angel of the Lord that proclaimed the birth of the Christ child to the shepherds watching their flock. I think most people know or have seen a nativity. That's the point of this holiday. The birthday of Jesus Christ.

I know that there has always been debate over the origin of the traditions, the specific date of His birth, confusion over the tree in the house, guilt over the excessive spending, stress, hustle and bustle and all the rest. But basically, if no one has ever told you the story of Christmas. Here it is:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

(John 3:16)

It was so simple Charlie Brown. God loves you. He sent his son as a baby into this world. God put on skin. He came into "your" world. And why? So that you would believe and accept His gift to you. He loves you.

A baby was born and I don't know of any society that doesn't celebrate that. New life is always a celebration. It's a big deal everywhere. Let Him have his birthday. Allow us the 25th of December or any day for that matter to say Merry Christmas or Happy Birthday Jesus. If you see me on the street or anywhere wish me Merry Christmas. I promise it won't offend me. It would be very much welcome. Cause although the stores and apparently the library have no problem with carrying Christmas books, gifts, toys, decor and what not they have a huge problem with words.

Okay, that was long but I'm glad I got it off my chest. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Also, I thought this
video was pretty funny so I thought I'd share. Enjoy!

Thank God it's Raining!!!

Okay, we haven't had any "significant" rain here (Georgia) in forever. The Governor and everyone else has been praying for rain.

Well tonight. 30 minutes ago. It rained. And it's still raining. So, Hooray God!

Did you watch Pushing Daisies tonight? If you missed it I totally suggest you check it out online tomorrow. It was great as always. There was the sweetest exchange between Ned and Chuck. She says "What do you need to be happy?" and He says, (dramatic pause) "You."

Be still my heart. That show is so sweet. I wondered what I would do will all the free Wednesdays till Lost comes back on. I'm so happy this show came along. The writing is amazing. The characters are so refreshing and lovable. I don't miss Lost at all right now. And that's saying something.

Journeyman- Show Review and a < spoiler > of sorts

After the new Heroes episode last night NBC premiered a new show called "Journeyman".

Okay, first off I guess I'd probably watch just about anything after getting all pumped up for Heroes. (Which I thought was a very disappointing season starting episode.) But after the first 10 minutes of extremely bad acting, it started to grow on me. It kinda started to grow on me. It reminded me of Quantum Leap. (Awesome, awesome, awesome beyond belief. So sad it's gone.) Okay but back to Journeyman. About halfway through Brandon says "I got it. I figured it out."

I'm of course going "What?"

< spoiler >

He said it's this very common sci-fi theme. Time travellers from the future, go back in time and find a person who is about to die and recruit them. They offer them the chance to live but leave everything they know, let everyone think they died and travel through time to work for them.

Which leaves me to believe that the guy (Journeyman) is himself about to die and that somewhere in the season we will find out why he started traveling. My genius husband. He's addicted to science fiction. Not crappy sci-fi or horror but the good stuff. Card, Asimov, etc.

Anyways, I enjoyed Journeyman. I hope the acting gets better and that the plot doesn't start to go sour. If you saw it, what did you think?

Hooray! for Lost and what to do with the free time.

Terry O'Quinn won an Emmy for his role as John Locke on Lost. I personally am shocked that this is the first Emmy that Lost has won. It's the absolute best show on television. Well, when it is on television.

I've gotta tell ya. The producers of that show have some major nerve expecting us stick around and wait 8 or 9 months to see what happens next. I mean what are we suppose to do in the meantime?

Lost-related stuff to do to make the most of your time while waiting for Lost to come back:

1. Learn the lyrics and music to "You all Everybody" by DriveShaft.
2. Play the numbers 4-8-15-16-23-42 in the lottery.
3. Read Bad Twin.
4. Make a mix tape of all the songs that have been featured on the show.
5. Read Stephen King's The Stand which was featured in The Other's book club.
6. Plan a Lostie's dinner party only using what they have available on the island.
7. Set an alarm to go off every 108 minutes.
8. Memorize the seating chart for flight 815.
9. Go "Downtown" & "Make your own kind of music"
   
10. Learn to say "I love you" in Korean.
11. Learn how to catch fish in a net.
12. Locate the hometown of each Lostie on a frappr.
13. Learn to make a baby carriage with just a large knife and vines.
14. Build a raft.
15. Watch the previous seasons including all the behind the scenes stuff.

Anyways, that should be enough to get you through the slump. If nothing else watch Grey's or Heroes. Hope that helps. See ya soon!

Works for me Wednesday: Brands

Okay, I'm not super picky about brands very often but here are a couple I just can't live without.

Pepsi: I know I'm gonna get into some trouble being in Georgia but sorry I think the taste is smoother.

Scotts tp: The rolls seem to last for years. And from time to time Target has a really great deal on Scotts.

Brawny: You really can wash a whole sinkful of dishes with one paper towel. I've tested it. Target usually has a really good deal on these as well.

Pace: This is not me it's my husbands favorite. And unless you get some really awesome gourmet salsa the cheap stuff is just not worth the money.

Starbucks: Another of my husbands favorites. I have to agree with this one. Coffee that comes out of a brick or a can isn't coffee. Sorry to offend. Besides they have the best tea lattes. Soy Chai Latte, oh boy I need one right now.

Pop Tarts: the cheap ones are just gross and they crumble all over the place.

Fish Stick: I think they are Gorton's. They sell them in huge bags at Wally World. They are so good, crunchy and buttery. The other ones I've gotten (and there have been many) are disgusting.

Okay, so maybe there are a few brands that we stand by. I'm off to get another Pepsi out of the fridge.

Have a good one!

Book Meme

Snagged this from Amanda at ohamanda.com.

What are you reading right now? I'm reading River Secrets by Shannon Hale. This is an awesome series by the way. It's adolescent lit. I'm afraid but still awesome.

Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that? Well, I've checked out the Desert Roses by Tracie Peterson so I guess that's next. I've read everything that Lori Wick, Linda Windsor and Liz Curtis Higgs have written. And they are my favorites so I'm just sampling the shelves right now.

What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now? None. We don't really read magazines. There is a copy of A Skeleton in God's Closet on the shelf in there though.

What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read? A short story by some random author about some people traveling in the south and in the end they were all killed. Sound bad already, right? I don't know what the teacher was thinking.

What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone? Oh, probably The Scarlet Thread or Redeeming Love both by Francine Rivers. Also by Rivers, The Mark of the Lion series. All of her books I read the same way. I read about halfway thru, come to an abrupt stop, put it down, swear that I am not going to finish reading it because I can't believe she did that. Get a good nights sleep and then finish reading the book. I get so involved in her books. I know the question said one book but come on you know you can't read just one.

Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they? Only because they have to call me and tell me I have fines.

Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all? Scarlett. I read it when it first came out and I've never been able to talk anyone else into reading it.

Do you read books while you do other things? Yeah. Sometimes with the tv on in the background.

When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits? If they did I didn't hear them cause I was reading. lol. I didn't get teased. My family just couldn't understand why I read so much.

What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?Oh my gosh, uhm every book I read. Once I start reading I can't put it down. And I have a really bad habit of starting books at bedtime.

If you’re a reader, tag you’re it! If you play along, leave me a comment so we can all see what you’re reading now!

Tendencies and such. . .

I have a tendency to over react. Don't judge me!

If I feel like I'm missing something or I feel left out of the loop I freak out. I get paranoid. I feel like I'm being dissed. It's really silly. I know. But there it is. I admit it. I over react.

I shared this realization with my hubs last night and got a big ol' eye roll. Like I thought he wouldn't already know this.

Ah, looking inward. Lovely.

Anyhoo, I subscribe to a e-newsletter call the Generous Wife. If you haven't heard of it you should totally go check out the site that it comes from. It's called The Marriage Bed
(It's basically a Christian sex site. Okay, I know what you are thinking and you, my friend, are a pervert. Just kidding. It's not bad. I really wish that I had found this site when hubs and I first got married. It is very helpful. It's a great place to go and talk to other Married Christian women and men who have the same questions that you do. So check it out. )

All that was to say, the Generous Wife e-newsletter comes to my email everyday and gives me tips on how to be a generous wife(thus the name). The other day my tip was to include my husbands friends. Or get to know them and have them over or something like that. Not a problem you might say. Big problem if your husband doesn't really have any friends. I thought about who his friends are and I was like, uhm, he doesn't really have any outside of work. And his work friends? Questionable, very questionable. They are not the kind of people we associate with unless you are forced to spend 9 hrs per day, 5 days per week, 52 weeks per year with.

I notice that his friends outside of work are my friends husbands. That's kind of awkward too. It's not like he chose them. He kind of just got stuck with them. So this seemed so easy back in school. You ate lunch with someone everyday, they watched your stuff, you shared notes and homework and you were friends. But now it seems so hard. We don't really have anyone telling us where to go or who to be friends with. Ah, the joy of growing up.

Gettin' prepped for the school year!

Well, it's that time again! Time to start gathering the curriculum and trying to schedule the upcoming school year.

We homeschool. I think I mentioned that. So I don't know about anyone else but I think that because we have taken the summer off it's gonna be hard to transition back into "learning". Not that we stopped learning. We just switched subjects. Math got switched to beating Lego Star Wars II on the Game Cube. Spelling got switched to building Lego structures. Reading the classics got replaced with a newfound love for "junior" graphic novels.

Oh well.

I remember with fondness the summer I got hooked on Scarlet by Alexandra Ripley. I read for hours and hours. I think that's the only book I had time to read that summer. It was long.

Anyways, back on topic. I'm planning our school year. Here's what I've got so far:

For the 6 yo and 8 yo
History- M/W/F

• Story of the World (Ancients) story book
• Story of the World (Ancients) Activity book on Fridays with our group
  
• Our Young Folks' Josephus-Antiquities of the Jews and the Jewish Wars

Math- daily

• Saxon 1 or Math u see(6yo)
• Math u see (8yo)

Spelling- daily

• A Reason for Spelling (8yo)
• Still not sure for the 6yo

Science- T/Th and Friday Lab

• Abeka Exploring God's World
• Science Experiments on Fridays with our group

Bible-

• Awana on Wednesday Nights
• Scripture Memorization
• Bible Stories

Anyways, that's what I've got right now.

Mom My Ride

I thought I'd share this. It's really funny!

I stayed, I folded, I conquered. . .

the laundry that is. This is what I've been doing all day.

I lost count but I think it was about 8 loads. 2 of those were sheets and blankets that I just forgot about. So I "cowgirled up", fought the temptation to sit and read all day long and made about 20 trips up and down the stairs.

Not fun but I'm done with the mountain of laundry that has been growing in my basement laundry room. Yippee!!! Plus I caught up on some TV Land Classics while I folded. DH and the kiddos can have a wonderful time putting it all away. I'm D-U-N.

Prayer Request- Please Pray!!!

I'm probably going to be offline for a bit cause I'm going to visit my dad in the hospital.

My dad has been in the hospital for most of this past week. He was throwing up blood and they put him in the ICU. My mom is worried. I'm not super worried but I'm going to go help out anyways. My dad is a big people person (pastor) so I think it will be good to go see him. It should lift his spirits.

A little info about my dad. His name is Jonathan McGuire. He has been a pastor in the Church of God for over 30 years. He has 4 kids and 5 grandkids. He's one of those people who'd give you the shirt from his back. He loves to tell a bad joke.

The doctors are toying around with the diagnosis of Cirrhosis of the Liver. Which doesn't sound right cause he doesn't drink. I've been reading up on it online. We are praying that the doctors are wrong. I know that they are trained professionals but God is the great physician. He can heal my dad. Please pray!

Here's a photo of my dad. Just in case you want a face to go with the name.

I thought I'd include this scripture from James 5:13-16:

13. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

14. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

15. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

16. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Ok, so anyone else Lost?

Ok, uhm, once again **spoiler alert**

I'm not gonna give a full out recap 'cause I've seen some other good ones: here and here

I'm confused and not gonna have a great summer, fall and winter trying to figure out what this all means.

1. So they got off the island?
   
2. Was is just Kate and Jack or everyone?
   
3. Who was in the coffin?
   
4. Did it(the coffin) seem small to anyone else?
5. What would make it inappropriate for Jack to get a ride with his ex?
6. Who is the "he" Kate is getting back to?
7. Shouldn't she be in jail?
8. Isn't Jack's father dead?
9. Why, oh, why didn't Charlie close the door behind him?
10. Locke is back!!!
11. Why didn't Ben look all that surprised when he heard that Tom hadn't killed Sayid, Jin and Bernard?
12. Hurley is AWESOME!!!
13. So is Sayid! He killed that guy with his feet!?!
14. I'd love to know the translation of what Jin said when they threatened to shoot him.
15. Where and what is the temple?
16. Does it have anything to do with the 4 toed foot statue?

Tell me what you think. I'm confused and intrigued. Nothing new there.

In "Late" honor of my 31st. . .

Here are 31 things about me.

1. I was born in Huntington, West Virginia.
2. I'm a procrastinator.
3. My actual birthday was last Monday, May 14th.
4. I got spoiled for my birthday.
5. I have the sweetest husband ever!
6. I've tricked him into thinking that I'm the best wife ever.
7. I have low self-esteem sometimes.
8. I wear size 9 shoes.
9. I wish I wore that dress size. lol.
10. I want to lose weight but I've never tried.
11. I'm pretty comfortable with my body but I'd like to be healthier.
12. I love to interupt myself and change subjects.
13. My husband sometimes keeps up.
14. I love books.
15. My favorite author is Lori Wick.
16. Linda Windsor, Liz Curtis Higgs and Francine Rivers are tied for a close second.
17. I love a good love story.
18. My only regret is that I didn't see how awesome my husband was the first time I saw him.
19. I love movies.
    
20. I took a movie critique class in college and it ruined me.
21. Mars attacks is the worst movie ever made. <---period!
22. I won't even discuss #20.
    
23. My favorite chick flick right now is Laws of Attraction.
24. I have a bachelors degree in Journalism.
25. I've always loved writing.
26. I don't think I'm that great at it.
27. I've been told I'm pretty good.
28. I do origami!
29. See I told you I interupt myself.
30. Unusually big things make me laugh. (I'll tell you later.)
31. This was easier than I thought.

Wow, that was actually fun! I hope it was educational.

Lost Again?

First of all let me say OH MY GOSH! Major ***spoiler*** if you didn't see Lost last night.

That was one heck of an episode! My favorite character is poor Hurley. Favorite quote from last night: "Yeah, I love you too. Whatever."

I was bawling as Charlie cowboyed up and went off to die. I thought the exchange between him and Claire was lovely.

I don't like Juliette. I think she's gonna sell them up the river. I'm still not sure what's up with Jack. He's not the same since his week with the others. He's always been a nice guy but I just don't trust him anymore. Sorry.

I've read that the girls that Charlie saved in the alley was Sayid's lady. And that one of the ladies in the Looking Glass was Ben's childhood friend. It's so weird the way they crossed paths.

I heard somewhere that TV Guide predicted that there would be 5 major deaths before the end of this season. Here's my prediction for the red shirts:

1. Bernard
2. Rose
3. Juliette
4. Desmond
5. John Locke(I still don't believe he's dead).

So sad. . .Anyways. I cannot wait till next week. What will we do all summer? I think I might freak out from withdrawal. Usually when that happens I cope by watching the 4400. It's usually on during the summer.

Shows I'm gonna miss this summer:

1. Lost
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. American Idol
4. Heroes

I'm sure we'll find something else to watch but those are the best right now. Maybe I'll get a life. lol.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I know it's not till tomorrow. But don't we deserve to hear it everyday?

To all you crazy ladies . . .

• With offspring clinging to you at all times
• Who are raising your grandchildren(my parents, don't ask)
• Who came before us (Thanks to our Grandmothers)
  
• Who are raising "little Mommies" right now
• Whose children have left the home but never your hearts
• Who are raising your children as a single parent(prayers)
• Who are raising your children while in the military(thanks and prayers)
• Who live with a mountain of __________ (insert your fav: laundry, dishes, clutter)
• You.
  

I'm sure I've forgotten something. But God knows who you are and He loves you very much. You make a huge difference even when it feels no one is listening. God hears your prayers in the night for those crazy kids. And those just as desperate ones in the daytime when you think you don't have what it takes.

And just in case no one tells you: Thanks for everything you do! Happy Mothers Day!

Lost Anyone??? Warning: spoiler

Major spoiler if you haven't seen last nights Lost.

spoiler alert

Okay so Locke is what. . .dead? Curiousity did kill the cat. Or so we think. They can't kill Locke.

Can they?

And Ben. . . You think you know the guy. Jeez. No wonder he wanted Locke to kill his own father. He thinks they stink. And he's gonna wipe out the Survivors just because?

And what on earth is Jacob? And why does he need help?

I'm just as Lost as ever. I love that show.

My tv favorites

I don't think I've blogged about my obsession with Lost or Grey's Anatomy. So here goes.

I LOVE Lost. I've been hooked since the beginning. I've never missed an episode and I've been known to watch re-runs and re-re-runs. I've checked out all the sites. I go to sleep every Wednesday night wondering how it's all gonna play out.

I am sure that years from now I'll still think about how Walt appeared in the woods and how Mr. Ecko was killed by a giant puff of black smoke. As much as I love it I also am afraid of it. It comes on less than 2 hours before I go to bed. So I lay there thinking about it and it kind of freaks me out. I mean it's quite a ride! You are on the edge of your seat the whole show and then "bam" it's over. But it's never really over. You leave with more questions than answers. It's crazy and I love it. period.

Now Grey's is different. I love it and I watch it. But if I miss it, I miss it. I'll catch it online. I love the narration. And the characters are rich and pretty well developed. I wonder if it's possible to have such a great show with all the twists and turns and not have so much sex. I mean it's like the only way people in Seattle can interact is to end up in bed. I think it's the rain. (No offense to those who really live in Seattle. I love rain. And I've heard the coffee is the best. Not that I like coffee.)

Anyways, the point is the show is great but I think it's a guilty pleasure for me. In that, I feel guilty at seeing so much pleasure.

Another of my favs is Desperate Housewives. Another very guilty pleasure. I can't say that I've seen every episode or visited the message boards. But I know that every Sunday night I can turn on ABC and expect to see lots of scandal. Cause I really don't have much scandal in my life. Thank you, God!

The housewives crack me up. And the narrator is awesome. Her name is Brenda Strong and she use to be on my favorite show Everwood. sigh. I miss it so much. Which brings me to the following memorium for cancelled shows that I loved and that have passed on:

(No particular order, except the first which is the most awesome sitcom of all time.)

1. NewsRadio(poor Phil)
   
2. Frasier
3. Everwood
4. Wings(It was funny)
   
5. The Cosby show
6. Moonlighting
   
7. Cheers
8. The Wonder Years
9. Space Above and Beyond(For my husband)
10. Star Trek Enterprise
11. Hidden Hills(where the heck did it go? It was a decent show.)

To be continued when I recall others. . .

Smog, Heat and the Zoo don't mix!

Okay, so it's now Thursday and I haven't posted since Monday. Well I have an excellent excuse.

Tuesday was our home school day at Zoo Atlanta. The kids had a very short fun time. We arrived at 10:45 and finally got parked(don't even get me started) at 11:30. I knew we had to be out of there at 2 cause I pick up kids in the afternoon. So 2 1/2 hours in 90 degree weather with a severe smog alert at a smelly zoo. I left on time. Picked up the other kids. Arrived at home, called DH at work and begged for help. I then spent the rest of Tuesday and that night and part of Wednesday praying to the porcelain throne.

Needless to say I don't do well in the heat. I've never done well in the heat. I've done some research online and I've seen some references to sun allergy and heat exhaustion. I think the later is the case. I get really hot and start feeling like I'm gonna pass out. I have a really bad headache, chills and nausea. It usually puts me out of commision for about 24 hours. Thankfully I have a very understanding husband who comes to rescue me.

So anyways, there's my excuse.

To Do List

1. Mail that package
2. Get groceries
3. Laundry
4. Get picnic stuff for zoo tomorrow

Friday night is movie night. . .

After waking up yesterday with a killer headache and popping a couple of E*cedrin I spent the day on a weird buzz. But hey, I didn't have a headache anymore.

My adorably awesome husband works a 12hr day every Friday. Which really stinks but the kids and I have gotten acustomed to watching a movie every Friday night to kill the time. We've seen tons of movies together. Last night we had company for movie night. My dear friend and her kiddos who live on the next street came over and we split a bucket from the Colonel and watched Ice Age-The Meltdown. It (the movie) was alright. Nothing to brag about. We had a great time in spite of it. I think we'll do it again. (Not Ice Age).

I remember doing movie nights growing up. It was the best. We got to stay up way too late and eat pizza or popcorn. It was fun to sit down with my parents and not be feel forced. I have lots of great memories. Thats probably why I love movies so much. It's something that we are passing down to our kids. They love movies. Good movies. Not mindless crud. lol.

We make them talk about the movies we see. Plot, character development, bad acting, etc. They need to know that there is more to a good movie than action and cg(computer graphics). It's got to have something that makes you want to watch it again. We don't want them to walk in to a theater and just turn off their brains. And then leave and say "Eh, that was cool." Someone. . . stop. . . make that lots of someones worked for years on that movie. And you just walked in switched off you noggin and drooled on yourself for 2 hours. I'm not sure what that says about our culture.

Movies use to be art. They use to mean something. Right?

Anyways, that's my rant for the day. See ya tomorrow.

My Movies Age Gauge

You said your birthday is 5 / 14 / 1976
which means you are 30 years old and about:

57 years 3 months younger than Zsa Zsa Gabor, age 88
45 years 11 months younger than Clint Eastwood, age 76
43 years 3 months younger than Kim Novak, age 74
40 years 3 months younger than Burt Reynolds, age 71
36 years 3 months younger than Nick Nolte, age 67
35 years 1 month younger than Ann-Margret, age 65
29 years 2 months younger than Billy Crystal, age 60
26 years 6 months younger than Whoopi Goldberg, age 57
23 years 10 months younger than Robin Williams, age 54
19 years 10 months younger than Tom Hanks, age 50
17 years 6 months younger than Jamie Lee Curtis, age 48
15 years 1 month younger than Eddie Murphy, age 46
5 years 10 months younger than Jennifer Lopez, age 36
2 years 9 months older than Jennifer Love Hewitt, age 28
11 years 11 months older than Haley Joel Osment, age 19

and when these movies were released in the U.S. your age was:

Star Wars: 1
Animal House: 2
Star Trek: The Motion Picture: 3
ET: 6
The Terminator: 8
Top Gun: 10
Planes, Trains & Automobiles: 11
Steel Magnolias: 13
Home Alone: 14
Wayne's World: 15
Jurassic Park: 17
Forrest Gump: 18
Fargo: 19
Saving Private Ryan: 22
Toy Story 2: 23

Keeping the Faith. . .and the House

I recently finished began and finished The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers. Oh my gosh. What a moving series! These books are awesome and long. I stayed up till almost 2am some nights reading. I just couldn't put them down.

Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Francine Rivers writes really moving Christian fiction. The kind of books that you really can't put down. . .

Well actually I have put them down. I've gotten so ticked off while reading some of her books that I just said to my husband, "No, I am not finishing that book. I cannot believe he(character) did that." You get so into the stories that you see things in yourself. The characters stories reveal things about yourself. She also wrote Redeeming Love which I stopped reading about halfway through and then finally finished after a week of fighting with myself.

For instance, The Mark of the Lion series is all about faith. In the first, a slave named Hadassah learns to trust in the face of death. Now, I've never been in a "face of death" situation (to my knowledge). But it put my own lack of faith into perspective. I realized that I always seem to have a backup plan. I expect that God will see me through but in the meantime I tend to try to solve the problem myself. Not good. I have majorly messed up things this way.

Anyways, I could go on and on. My lack of faith could fill up a few volumes, I'm sure. All this is to say read the books. They are awesome. Sometimes heart-wrenching. I have to be very careful when reading Francine Rivers books not to forget that I have a life. Make sure you have a box of tissues. And a very understanding husband. Cause my housework didn't quite get done. Enjoy!

Scarlett O'Hara in 5 minutes

You've really got to love homeschoolers (biased). This girl is hilarious. Whether you've seen the movie or not you'll love it. I am a huge fan of the movie and I was rolling in the floor laughing.

By the way if you'd like to see more homeschoolers in action check out this new site:
http://wholesomechildhood.com/homeschoolvideos/