"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.


Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." -- Ephesians 3:14-21 (ESV)





Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Snap Movie Reviews

I managed to see/watch 3 movies while on vacation.

In the theater, I saw Green Lantern. I was worried because it got mediocre reviews, so I lowered my expectations going in. First, I have to say that Alamo Drafthouse rocks. We need one in our location. Best. Movie. Theater. Ever. I find it mildly hilarious that there's only one outside of Texas and that one is in Winchester, VA. Random.

Anyway, Green Lantern - I went with my Dad. We both liked it. It's a set-up movie. If you go in knowing that, then I think you'll like it. It sets up the subsequent sequels well, imho. 3.5 stars out of 5.

On DVD, I watched two movies:

1. Secretariat - it's not the best quality movie. It was weirdly filmed - part regular film and part hi-def and the editing couldn't hide the switch back and forth. However, the story is remarkable. How is it that even when you know how the story ends, you still get tense? I give it 4 stars mostly because of the story itself and because the horse racing parts are great.

And in honor of that amazing horse, here's his Belmont Stakes record-breaking race:



2. The King's Speech - Wow. I've long wondered how horrible it must have been to grow up a royal child. To live with the pressure of knowing you are not your own person, to be in the public spotlight all the time, no sense of normal. There's a small window into that in this wonderful movie. Colin Firth was brilliant and deserving of his Best Actor win. Geoffrey Rush was equally brilliant as Lionel. I love the movie, everything about it. 5 stars.

And in honor of King George VI, here's the now famous speech:

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

A Bit of Random

1. Snap Movie Reviews

Red (DVD) - hilarious. 3 stars
XMen First Class (theater) - awesome. 4 stars

I plan to see either/both Thor and/or The Green Lantern while on vacation, if I can work it out (see #3).

2. Snap Book Reviews

Evidence, Jonathan Kellerman - loved. 4 stars
Deception, Jonathan Kellerman - also loved. 4 stars
To End All Wars, Ernest Gordon - harrowing, inspiring. 5 stars

Next up is Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. My Kindle is loaded with the audiobook and the ebook, so I'm hoping to get some read on my way out to my parents (see #3) and while at my parents.

3. Vacation!

We head out for separate vacations tomorrow. The boys are flying west to visit Beau's parents. The girls are driving west to visit my parents. Good times to be had by all.

4. Modern Medicine

I went to the dermatologist yesterday to have a suspicious spot looked at. It is not cancer. However, he removed it and will biopsy it to be certain. That spot is on my waist and hurts every time I move because the waistband of my pants is right at that spot.

The other skin news is that I have rosacea. That tidbit came out of left field (and right after I was told that I look 10 years younger than I am, which was the best part of the visit.) Turns out that flushing/blushing problem is a chronic issue that will only get worse. Woo!

And that's all I've got for you. Exciting stuff, I know.

Flag Day


I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Efficiency At Work

My job requires a clearance. Back when I transferred to this office/position in March 2010 I was granted an interim Top Secret until the actual TS was blessed by the powers that be.

I got a weird email with a .jpg attachment today. It looked official, but the .jpg was odd, so I sent a direct email (not a reply) to that person to inquire about the validity of the weird email. She then called me in response. Her email is real. The .jpg is a copy of the letter to notify me that my TS was granted. The letter is dated today, my job title on the letter is my previous job title, and the two pooh-bahs CCed are my previous management.

Turns out about 300 files have lain fallow while the HQ powers replaced the person who previously held the position of clearance blessing. Wow.

My boss came to my door when he got the new email with the updated, current information. He had a good chuckle that it took 15 months from when I transferred over. In reality, from when the OPM investigation began in September 2009 to today it took 21 months to receive my clearance.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Parenting: The Toilet Edition

Incident #1: Molly decided that playing with the powder room toilet would be fun. She took the shape blocks and tossed them in. You know that bucket with the lid with the shaped cut outs? Yeah, those blocks got baths. I noticed there were a bunch of those blocks in the sink and asked Jesse why they were there. He mumbled something about Molly playing with them in the toilet.

I also noticed that one of the hand towels was missing. Jesse has been filling up the sink in there to play with a water toy he got from Burger King (evil kid's meal), so I figured it got soaked and Beau tossed it down the basement for the weekend laundry. Little did I know - she put that into the toilet, too.

So before bedtime, Jesse decided to use the powder room potty before heading upstairs. He flushed and then called to me, "Mama, the water isn't going down!" I went to investigate and help him wash his hands and found the water was not flushing. I made a mental note to ask Beau about the toilet playing and to take the plunger down (it gets stored in my bathroom).

Beau got home from his small group and I woke up long enough to tell him about the toilet. That's when he informed me about the towel going in there. I told him I'd try plunging the toilet in the morning and went back to sleep.

This morning I remembered to take the plunger down. With the first flush and plunge, I managed to bring up two more blocks (red triangle and blue circle). I grabbed the triangle, but couldn't get the circle before it went back down the hole. I plunged a second time and didn't see the circle. Plunged a third time and it didn't seem to be working. Plunged a fourth time and the circle shot out of the plunger. I grabbed it. By that time the water had finished the cycle so I flushed and plunged again. It still ran slow, but it did go down some. Nothing plunged out. At that point I gave up and washed my hands.

Beau tried when he got up and managed to get out another block and the water shot down the hole. His and Jesse's mission is to keep Molly out of that bathroom without supervision by Daddy.

Incident #2: We had an intentional diaper breach this morning. Molly must have needed to go potty when she woke up. She pulled the changing pad off of the dresser, took off her diaper, and we think she then pooped in the corner behind the door (that's where we found the poop). When Beau got up there, she was laying on the changing pad and trying to clean up with wipes. Fortunately, she didn't seem interested in the finger painting that her brother did when he pulled off his diapers at this age.

I guess it's time to stop playing at potty training and to get to the intensive work of getting that girl to go on the potty. She seems more than interested. Oy.