The Answer is: Honey BBQ Wings

The question is: What was for dinner last night?

What did YOU have?

Shutterbooth

Checkered and our son went to a sports banquet last month and declared it the most perfectly run social gathering they had been to in a very long time (and that should be no surprise because Butoku Karate Doju is the best run sports program/school we know.) One of my guys' favorite elements at the banquet was the photo booth. I remember photo booths from my childhood where for too much money, we could get a strip of photos - sometimes two, sometimes four, usually in black and white. I used to see them at train stations (I think) and then, more recently, at arcades.

The photobooth at the banquet was free to guests and seems to be part of a franchise. The photo strip was capped off by the corporate logo of the hosting group (in our case, the karate dojo's.)

There is also a website guests could access after the banquet where they could view their pictures, the pictures other guests took that night, and order copies of photos in different sizes.

I liked the Shutterbooth idea so much, that I really thought about having a party of my own or another wedding just so I could rent one. Then I learned that the prices start at $800 and thought I would just use my own camera to take some pics instead.

It would be fun though, wouldn't it?

FF: Where Walmart and Facebook Vie for Attention

~After a FF absence of a few weeks, I return amazed by how much I missed all you fragmented bloggers. Thankfully, I've had Facebook to keep me company during my self-imposed absence.

~Someone I know just had a prescription increased from 1.25 mls to 2.5 mls, yet when the script was picked up at the pharmacy, the directions said .5 mls. A call from the pharmacist to a clerk in the doctor's office resulted in a dosage of 10 mls until the patient and pharmacist agreed that didn't sound likely. A second call from the pharmacist to the doctor's office finally brought about the right dosage of 2.5. Yikes!

~I got my hair cut at ... WalMart. $15 later, I look better than I have in months although the stylist may have been on speed.

~While walking into WalMart, I watched a very aggressive driver bebop around other cars and finally land in a handicapped spot. She and her cell phone parked and walked in front of other drivers to get into the store. As she entered the store, she raised her keys behind her head and pressed the lock button. Since she never looked back once, I do wonder how long it took her to realize that she had not pressed the lock button, but that she had pressed the remote start button.

~On Tuesday morning between 10 and 11 AM, I was told by three different clerks to have a good night.

~My friend sent me an email last week and referenced the song, "Why don't we just dance." I spent two days fretting about why she wanted to dance with me. Then I finally reread the note and realized she was just saying she had heard the song and liked it and she hoped we could meet for coffee. That I can do.

~Facebook has apparently not done anything to improve the rate with which I reply to email.

~FB has, however, offered yet another form of entertainment as I watch my friends interact with their daughters' boyfriends. In their FB posts, the boyfriends are all so cautious and solicitous of the moms' health, welfare, and social calendars. "Hope you have a great day, Mrs. So and So."

~And finally one last Facebook mention: next summer I have a high school reunion. This week I was overcome with doubt that anyone would remember me and that begat panic that maybe I never even had any friends in high school. When I hinted at that on FB, I received some absolutely lovely notes from high school classmates - although not nearly as many as I might have thought SHOULD respond!

Worth the Listen

Of all the songs I heard for the first time last year, I'm pretty sure this one was written just for me. Okay, maybe it was written for you, too. Enjoy.

He is With You
by
Ronnie Freeman

There's a time to live
And a time to die
There's a time to laugh
And a time to cry

There's a time for war
And a time for peace
There's a hand to hold
In the worst of things
In the worst of things

He is with you when your faith is dead
And you can't even get out of bed
Or your husband doesn't kiss you anymore
He is with you when your baby's gone
And your house is still
And your hearts are stone
Crying "God what'd you do that for?"
He is with you

There's a time for yes
And a time for no
There's a time to be angry
And a time to let it go
There's a time to run
And a time to face it
There's love to seek
In all of this
Through all of this

He is with you in the conference room
When the world is coming down on you
And your wife and kids don't know you anymore
And He is with you in the ICU when the doctors don't know what to do
And it scares you to the core
He is with you

We may weep for a time but joy will come in the morning
The morning light

He is with you when your kids are grown
When there's too much space and you feel alone
And you're worried if you got it right or wrong
Yes He is with you when you've given up on ever finding your true love
Someone who feels like home
He is with you

When nothing else is left and you take your final breath
He is with you

He is with you

Here is Mandisa singing this beautiful promise.

Family Pictures We Did NOT Send at Christmas

Sunday School and Me

In a moment of tremendous guilt (standing in line at Best Buy on Black Friday) I mistakenly accepted a call from my pastor. I knew that whatever it was he would ask, my response would be, "Sure, Pastor, I can do that." I also knew that I would not want to do whatever it was he asked. How did I know how that would transpire? Because that's how it always transpires. Since I have no Catholic guilt, it must be a woman thing ~ this foresight and insight and hindsight.

My latest service to the church? I am the developer of discussion questions for our family Sunday school class. It's a class where entire families sit and review whatever Bible story the pastor has just preached about. Although it pains me to admit, I love this class and may have said so on Facebook -- where my pastor is my friend. You can do the rest of the math on that one.

Last Sunday our topic was John the Baptist. Let's see how your J the B knowledge holds up.


Key Verses:
Isaiah 40:3
Malachi 4:5
Matthew 3:1-12
Matthew 14:1-12
Mark 1:1-8

Warming up our Memory Banks…
• Who were John the Baptist’s parents? (Zachariah and Elizabeth)
• How was he related to Jesus? (some degree of cousins)
• What was remarkable about his birth? (parents' age and infertility)
• What did John the Baptist eat when he lived in the desert? (locusts and honey)
• From what animal was his clothing made? (camel)

• Did everyone else who lived at that time dress like John?
• John the Baptist’s job was to prepare people for which person?(no)
• What did John ask the people to do? (repent)
• In what body of water did John baptize others? (Jordan River)

Starting to See the Sparks Fly from our Brains…
• John the Baptist was a prophet. What is the job of a prophet (saying “To prophecy,” doesn’t count!)
• What was it that John prophesied? (the Messiah would soon arrive and that hearts needed to be prepared for his arrival)
• Why was baptism important? (it is an outward sign of a heart made right with God)
• John’s simple clothing and lifestyle was a visual protest against what?(self-indulgence)
• Why did so many Jewish people not understand why they needed to repent?(because as descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they were assured of their place in Heaven)


How does this apply to my own life?
• Other than repentance and baptism, what else did John say people needed to do (Matthew 3:8)? (live a life bearing proof of their repentance)
• Some of the religious leaders of John’s time were caught up in the popularity of John’s message, but it was mostly a show for them rather than a genuine lifestyle change. Does this ever happen in our time?
• Like the Jewish people of John’s time, do we ever rely on things other than repentance to get us to Heaven?

Coming next Sunday to a class near me: the baptism of Jesus.

It Was Sweet

The school break is over and I wonder if my children will ever believe that I don't like sending them back into the crazy routine of school and after school activities any more than they want to give up most of their free time. So while they cling to the hope of another week off in February, here's a brief recap of our holidays.

~The first glimpse of evidence that Santa had stopped by for a visit.


~This was shortly after she learned that Santa had forgotten to buy one of the three things she requested and just before she learned that while he had purchased fragrances for her, they were not the fragrances she took him to the store to show him. This may or may not have impacted her decision to lobby us to let her move to Kentucky to live with her grandparents.

~Steady rain and wet wood made for a slow and steamy fire. (That doesn't sound exactly like I intended to say it...)

~Although there are no pictures (my mother thinks that maybe I don't exhibit the best editing skills in my pictures of her), we had a very nice visit with my parents. It's never easy to leave and the visit always seems inadequate.

~New Year's Eve brought my lovely friend by for a night of pizza, conversation, boardgames and a gaggle of kids in a hot tub.


~And then there was finally New Year's Day.
No appointments. No obligations. Just a book. A fire. And pajamas.

A very fine holiday season indeed!