Our Life

InterwebUser, of LolDog fame

2010-09-20T20:46:00.010-05:00

In other exciting news, one of my submissions to the loldog.com website (pictures of cute doggies with captions that brings happiness to the intertubes) was actually posted on the blog! With my name down at the bottom and everything! I'm famous! Well, at least my pseudonym, InterwebUser, is mildly famous-ish.

Here it is:

see more dog and puppy pictures
Ok, so the super cute dog may have had more to do with the selection than my caption. No, I don't actually know the dog. This picture had been submitted for captioning by someone else. But I captioned it! Woot!

In other news, I got two packs of diapers for Chelsea and Natalie for $5! Go go Gadget coupon!

Cheers!
Helen

Less Selfish / Inspirational Bonus Post

2010-09-16T18:14:00.002-05:00

To keep myself humble, I give you this (a really awesome email from some missionaries our church supports):

Washing the dishes. Cutting the grass. Taking out the trash and recycles. Grocery shopping. Cooking. Washing the clothes, hanging them out to dry, then folding them. Vacuuming. Dusting. Ordinary stuff, right?

I've often thought of them as necessary evils, with emphasis on the evil part. But as I prepared some Bible studies on Genesis 1 this spring, I read some comments that made me think about being in the image of the Creator. God's work in creation follows a pattern: after he created the original earth it was dark, formless, and empty. but he began immediately to glorify it, shining the light of his presence in it (before there was a sun or any stars), shaping the land and the sea, and filling them with glorious creatures of unimaginable variety and beauty. He took chaos in his hands, reshaped it, renamed it (birds, air, fish, sea, cattle, land), and judged it all good. Very good.

Then he made man in his image, male and female, and placed them in his garden to work it. And working a garden is, like washing the dishes and folding the clothes, ordinary stuff.

But this ordinary stuff is really quite glorious, isn't it? We take chaos in our hands (a pile of dirty dishes or clothes, a shaggy, dandelion-covered lawn), reshape it into an ordered stack of clean dishes or a neatly trimmed lawn, and then call it "good." It's simple, yes - but you can see in this simple work, if you look closely, the dim but clear reflection of our Creator. No other creatures under heaven take this kind of care - because no other creatures under heaven were made to reflect the glory of the Creator as his images.

Well, thinking this way can change your perspective on your "ordinary" cleaning and maintenance. It may not make you into another Brother Lawrence, communing with God among your pots and pans - but it could transform your chores from something to get done as quickly as possible into times of quiet, regular celebration and thanksgiving, that you could bear the image of the One who made the world and everything in it.

Something Interesting Actually Happened!

2010-09-16T17:58:00.003-05:00

My dear readers,

We have waited long for this day! I confess I thought it would never come, but today it happened. That's right, friends, today something worth blogging about has happened! I know! You should probably sit down.

Today, I found out that I am Employee of the Month! That's right, dear readers, your very own "Clin Micro, this is Helen" is employee of the month.

My work email server is down, but when it comes back up, I will add the little message about how awesome I am. To sum it up, I think it said I was nice. :D

I don't get a special parking space or anything (that I know about...), but they will make a giant poster of me to display at work. I think it would make an audacious start to an "I love me" wall.

So no, I'm not pregnant, but thanks for celebrating with me anyway!

Sincerely,
Helen Hurley
Employee of the Month

Spam Alert: Earn prizes for searching the internet! Yay!

2010-08-18T21:12:00.004-05:00

Hello friends!

So, some of us spend lots of time on the internet. If you would like to earn points toward fabulous prizes for doing searches on the internet, please click here or the banner at the top of the blog. It's completely free, no purchase necessary. You are randomly allotted points for searches done through their website (use just like Google). You also get points for participating in polls and surveys, and they do have the "complete this offer and get points" opportunities, but you don't have to do any of those.

So yes, it's about as gimmicky as frequent flier miles (you can get a Southwest Airlines giftcard, ironically enough), but if you're going to be doing searches anyway, every little bit helps, right? Plus I get points for referring people, so be sure to come back here and click the LINK after you're done checking the site out so that I get credit.

P.S. I'm putting this on my blog because I don't want to spam people's email, but if you're interested, it'd be awesome to get some referrals to help buy plane tickets to Patricia's wedding in California in January and to see my friend Jackie in Virginia hopefully next summer. Even if you just sign up and play around with it for awhile, it helps me out. Thanks for your consideration. :D

Couponing Sucess!

2010-08-15T22:07:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I haven't blogged about couponing for awhile (or anything else for that matter), so here it is!

Today's trip to CVS (yes, on Sunday, because they run out of the stuff on sale by Tuesday at the latest):

1 Purex Complete 3-in-1, $5.99 (see ConsumerReports article here)
Use $3/1 coupon
Get 2 Extra Bucks (EB)
final cost: $0.99

1 gallon Oak Farms milk, $2.99
Get 1 EB
final cost: $1.99

2 Sobe LifeWaters, $1.59
Sale, Buy 1 Get 1 Free
Use Buy 1 Get 1 Free coupon (available here)
final cost: free (no, I don't actually like them, but they were free!)

3 Band-Aid packages, $1.99
Use $3/3 coupon
final cost $0.99 each

1 Crest Pro-Health Clinical Gum Protection toothpaste, $3.49
Use $0.75/1 coupon
Get 2.50 EB
final cost: $0.25

After I used 11 EB from previous visits, I paid $0.69 out of pocket and received 5.50 EB for next time. Yay! My receipt says my total savings were $30.43, which is a little disingenuous because I wouldn't shop at CVS normally, but it's still a fun number.

The last time they had this deal on milk (it seems to be every other week), I paid $0.99 out of pocket and got 2 EB back! That was also a good shopping trip.

In other news, Matt is getting ready for school to start again for his second of four years of college, and I just got a new director at work. I think she will work out fabulously from what I've experienced thus far. :D

Google: What's for dinner?

2010-06-29T19:19:00.002-05:00

You know it's the end of the month when you google "sausage" and "cranberry" in a desperate search for dinner!

Sometimes, there are happy results. In addition to this tasty recipe, I even found ingredients for another recipe while I was digging around in the freezer. Here is the fortunate answer to my query (courtesy of Recipezaar.com):

Pork and Cranberry Sausage Rolls

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

2010-06-09T19:21:00.002-05:00

I got a letter from the Social Security Administration the other day. They wanted to let me know what my benefits will be.

Did you know that more people under the age of 30 believe in UFOs than believe that they will ever draw benefits from Social Security?

A Celebration of Culinary Greatness Worthy of Grammatical Indiscretion!!1!

2010-06-02T19:50:00.005-05:00

So, it was brought to my attention (by one of our three readers) that we should post something on our blog. After hours of scouring the internet, I have discovered THIS!! A super tasty chicken salad recipe, in honor of summer. Sentence fragment!

Best Chicken Salad Sandwich Recipe
By Angela Harris

My Quest for an Easy Recipe for Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Way, way back when I first got married and still tried to impress my husband (grin), I wanted to learn how to make chicken salad sandwiches. Not only that, but I demanded a chicken salad sandwich recipe that was easy, but also delicious.

I experimented with many chicken salad recipes over the years to get my easy chicken salad recipe just right. Finally, I hit on what I believe is the best chicken salad sandwich recipe ever. It is more than just a basic chicken salad recipe, but it has a bit of finesse. This delicious and easy chicken salad recipe will be right at home at a kids' lunch table or a bridal shower buffet. It can be simple or elegant.

I have served this chicken salad recipe many times over the years, and I have never failed to receive compliments and requests for my recipe for chicken salad. I had forgotten how much time and effort I had spent perfecting my recipe. Then, the internet came along and I realized that many cooks will use it for a cooking reference instead of traditional cookbooks. So, if you've been looking for a recipe for chicken salad, try this easy chicken salad sandwich recipe.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Easy Chicken Salad Sandwich Recipe
Chicken Salad Recipe Ingredients
3 cooked chicken breasts, chopped
1 or stalks celery, chopped- about 3/4 cup
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup seedless grapes, halved
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup salad dressing, such as Miracle Whip brand
2 Tablespoons coleslaw dressing (Marzetti's is good)
1 teaspoon each- paprika and seasoning salt
Coarsely ground black pepper, to taste

Simply mix everything together well. Chill for at least one hour before serving. It tastes much better if allowed to chill overnight.

Serve on toasted bread, croissants, or lettuce leaves. This easy chicken salad recipe also tastes great in pita pockets or hollowed tomato cups. Also try different breads such as Ciabatta or raisin bread.

This chicken salad recipe serves about 6

In the interest of full disclosure, I did swap real mayonnaise for the Miracle Whip, left out the green onions and added chopped almonds. Individual results may vary.

Yet another post about coupons.

2010-05-02T22:54:00.003-05:00

I am ridiculously behind on my couponing, so instead of facing the clutter, I was exploring some coupon web sites. One of them had an article that says that by couponing you can essentially make $100 an hour. Now that is encouraging!

http://www.frugallyfabulousmom.com/2010/03/couponers-make-100-per-hour.html

-written by Helen

a little extra holiday joy

2010-01-25T23:26:00.002-05:00

We all love the holidays. I especially love the holidays on clearance!

Today I found the holiday scents of the Glade scented oil candles on manager's special at Krogers for $1.29. Combined with my $2/2 coupon, I got two candles and two refill packs for 29 cents each! That's not quite as cheaply as I got them with the sale/Target giftcard/rebate combo, but still excellent.

One last Merry Christmas to you!

Helen

This Week in Couponing

2010-01-18T21:50:00.002-05:00

Now, I know not all of my three readers are couponers, so I tend to avoid inappropriate levels of coupon excitement on this blog. Hence the lack of posts. However, there are a few deals out there that non-couponers can also partake in this week. If you're really not interested, just read the bold headings and you can feel good about not completely blowing me off. ;)

Tomorrow (Tuesday) only, Quaker cereal for $1.20 a box!

Albertsons has a $3 off 5 Quaker brand products coupon in their weekly ad, available at the front of the store. There are multiple copies, and each has two of these wonderous coupons. The bottom line is that the following cereals (generally about $3.50 a box) are now $1.20 each: Life, Cap'n Crunch and Quaker Oat Squares, in various flavors. That makes the Quaker Oat Squares 7.5 cents an ounce! Matt's favorite cereal in the Malt'O'Meal brand is usually 13 cents an ounce at Walmart, so this is a good deal for any cereal, much less fancy smancy name brand cereal. Also $1.20 are Quaker Chewy Granola bars (yum!) and can o' oatmeal (as opposed to single serve packets) and instant grits. For details, click here. The grocery week starts over on Wednesday, so I'm a little late on the heads up. Remember that to use the coupon (and thus get the super awesome price), you'll want to buy in multiples of 5. This sale doesn't come around very often, so stock up!

Walgreens, Chips for $1.25 a full bag, Pepsi $0.63/2L or $1.50/12 pack:

Ahh, Walgreens! We have a bit of a love/hate relationship. Normally I wouldn't recommend non-couponers to attempt a Walgreens senario, but there is one exceptional deal to be had.
They have a SuperBowl deal on Pepsi products: Tostitos, Lays, Doritos, Pepsi (naturally), Gatorade, and Mountain Dew. The deal is buy $20, get 10 Register Rewards, which are like a coupon that can be used on anything in the store. So, for example, the chips are all $2.50 each, which is not a bad deal in and of itself. But if you buy $20 worth of chips (8 bags, for those counting), they will give you $10 to spend in the store, effectively cutting the price in half. That's $1.25 for a full-sized bag of chips. Yeah, pretty awesome. The trick is finding something worthwhile to spend the 10 Register Rewards on. They expire after two weeks, so if you are a non-couponer, you might want to buy your $20 of Pepsi products, get your Register Rewards (they always put it in the bag, so don't forget to grab them!) and then do a second transaction of just over $10 to use the Register Rewards on. If it sounds complicated, it is, but only a little bit. You won't be using any coupons other than the Register Rewards, so you shouldn't run into any trouble, but if you have any questions there is a quick tutorial HERE (scroll down to the Walgreens part) and you can always call me. The Walgreens on Boonville is my favorite, but you shouldn't have problems with any of them if you just want to do two transactions.

Non-couponer senario:
Transaction #1
$20 of Pepsi products
Spend $20 out of pocket, get 10 Register Rewards

Transaction #2
$10 of reasonably priced products
(Examples: $1.99 for Kelloggs cereals, $3.99 for Starbuck Frappucino (make sure you show them the store coupon in the ad), VanCamp's Pork and Beans 2/$1 (store coupon, nonperishable protein for the food bank!) 59 cents for Mac and Cheese (store coupon), buy one get one 50% off cosmetics, buy one get one free vitamins, $6.49 for Charmin isn't bad, diapers, etc.)
Use your 10 RR from the previous transaction to pay close to $0.00 out of pocket!

For those who are couponers, here are the other super awesome deals:

Accu-chek Aviva or Compact Blood Glucose Meter $9.99
Use $10/1 coupon from awhile back
Use $9.99 mail-in rebate (in box)
Final Price: FREE plus $9.99 rebate

Vick's NyQuil or DayQuil $5.00
Use $2/1 from 1/17 PG or
Use $1.50/1 from the previous PG
Use Buy 2 Vicks get 1 Puffs free (not sure if this one will work with the other q's, but it's worth a try for free tissue; use last and if it doesn't work, have them take the Puffs off your order)
Buy $20, get 10 RR
Final Price: $0.50 each after RR plus possibly free Puffs

Couponer scenario:
Transaction #1:
2 DayQuil ($5 each -$2 q= $3 oop)
2 NyQuil ($5 each - 1 $2q and 1 $1.5q= $3 oop for one, $3.50 oop for the other)
1 Accu-chek ($9.99 - $9.99q = FREE)
2 Puffs (FREE with Buy 2 Vicks get 1 Puffs free coupon, possibly)
$12.50 oop (out of pocket), get 10RR, get $9.99 rebate

Transaction #2:
2 Tostitos ($2.50 each)
2 Doritos ($2.50 each)
2 Lays ($2.50 each)
2 Fritos Dips ($2.50 each)
$20 - 10RR = $10 oop, get 10 RR

Recap:
Value of products: $52.99
$22.50 oop
10 RR for next week
$9.99 rebate in the mail
Money spent after RR and rebate: $2.50
Percent savings: 95%

And that is why I love couponing!

Disclaimer: This is by no means a comprehensive list of deals available or a full coupon match-up.

Ahh!!

2009-11-30T20:14:00.001-05:00

As if Hitchcock wasn't creepy enough...

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Your welcome for the free bonus post. ;)

Black Friday Fun!!

2009-11-28T22:54:00.003-05:00

Hello, dear readers!

I realize that I have not posted for some time. While you are no doubt used to this behavior from me, I do feel a slight (very slight, mind you) pang of conscious for leaving you for so long. Here is the update on our life that you have all been so very patiently waiting for.

This month, Matt finished up his first 40 Days for Life as an active participant. While there has never been an easy way to get stats for God's work through this effort, shortly after 40 Days for Life, the director of our local Planned Parenthood resigned and is now speaking against abortion. Praise God!

Matt is also spending loads of time on various art projects for his classes. It's been a rough semester, but we are looking forward to a strong finish and a long holiday for Christmas.

My work has been going well. I feel fairly competent (finally) in my job, and I am currently training a new employee, which is a great privilege. I had the entire Thanksgiving holiday off, which was wonderful!

Which brings us to Black Friday!

I'm no early bird, but I did venture out at 7:00 (once the true craziness had died down) with my sister and dear friend Patricia. I got a FABULOUS new outfit, some things for Matt, and a few Christmas gifts.

Black Friday is also a couponer's dream! I got the following items:

Infusium shampoo and conditioner
Herbal Essence shampoo, conditioner, and two hair sprays
Dove Ultimate Visibly Smooth antiperspirant (2)
Right Guard Sport antiperspirant
Degree Ultraclear antiperspirant
Colgate Total Advanced Whitening (2)
Vaseline Sheer Infusion lotion
Milk Chocolate M&Ms, 12.6 oz bags (2)

for a grand total of $10.72.
That's $10.72 for $72.32 worth of products.
And I have $13 of "gift certificates" to Walgreens and CVS. Yup, I made money after ExtraBucks/RegisterRewards.

I *heart* couponing!

If anyone wants any shampoo, let me know. ;)

Couponing WIN!

2009-10-29T23:32:00.002-05:00

As you, my three valued readers, may know, I now coupon. It's a hobby.

Today was perhaps my best shopping trip thus far. I will spare you, gentle reader, the gory details, but instead focus on the highlights.

Items gotten for free (yes, I mean free):
6 Betty Crocker Pouch Potatoes
2 Temptations Cat Treats
2 Yakisoba Noodle Meal Things

Items for nearly free:
13 cents each, 9 Hormel Chili with Beans
24 cents, 1 I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray
49 cents each, 3 Bags Birdseye Lightly Sauced Veggies
88 cents, 1 bag of fun-sized Nestle chocolates

The final score is as follows:
Total value of items: $77.81
Total Out of Pocket: $20.65
Total Savings: $57.16
Percentage Saved: 73%

Praise God for He has given me success!

-Helen

P.S. For those interested in the details, the how can be found here: mycouponcollege.com
Time invested: between 5 and 7 hours (keep in mind that this is my hobby, not just for the $$)

Controversial, but effective...

2009-09-03T09:48:00.003-05:00

When a porn store opened in Uniontown Indiana 3 years ago, 35 protesters decided to take photographs of all the patrons and post them on the internet. The store has closed and is now up for sale... and has lowered their sales price.

http://www.covenanteyes.com/blog/2009/08/26/truckers-pictures-taken-when-they-buy-porn/

My questions are about the Christlike-ness of this tactic. This is apparently not illegal because they have been doing this everyday for more than 1400 days in a row. On the other hand, where is the line between love and rebuke? Between loving the sinner and hating the sin?

Should the Coalition for Life adopt similar tactics?

It's important that you review their methods on their website before you comment.

Swiffer Wet Jet: Product Review

2009-09-02T19:44:00.008-05:00

As some of you may know, I'm a bit of a sucker for coupons (thanks, Jackie), so you will not be surprised to learn that when this Sunday's paper had a coupon for a free refill with purchase of a Swiffer Wet Jet Starter Kit (up to a $7 value!) I was intrigued. This intrigue, combined with a few hours of free time in the vicinity of Target, resulted in the purchase of said highly-marketed cleaning system. Target also had a store coupon (which I filched off a bottle of Cascade) for an additional $1 off the starter kit.

In addition to the perceived savings, my reasoning for the purchase is thus: Since 1) I now have approximately 15 square feet of moppable floor (the rest of the linoleum having recently been converted to wood), it seems unlikely that I will ever go to the trouble of filling the sink and wringing the mop for such a small space and 2) the floor in need of mopping happens to be the bathroom floor, it therefore follows that unless I want to instate a "shower shoes" policy for my entire bathroom, I had better come up with some other way of cleaning the floor.

Enough talk, on to the rating!

Ease of use:
Excellent. This rating does not include opening the rather cryptic box that the product came in, or the time it took me to find four AA batteries with which to power the sprayer. Really? It takes FOUR batteries to make a glorified spray bottle work?

Effectiveness of cleaning:
Excellent. The floor looks good. The scrubber pad and the bonus scrubber on the edge of the cleaning head work well.

Cost effectiveness:
Eh, not so much. The mop (let's be honest here) is $20, the cleaning solution is $5 for a refill, and the extra cleaning pads are $20 for 36 (which I just looked up on Amazon, having not anticipated this particular expense), plus the cost of BATTERIES for a MOP... Let's just say that they aren't losing money with these coupons. Although there were 5 $1 off refills coupons in the box, just to be fair, so the first 5 refills are only $4 a bottle.

Hygenic-ness:
Lovely. There is a long stick between you and ugly.

Versatility:
Variable. The pad doesn't fit between the base of my pedestle sink and wall, but they do have a cleaning solution for wood floors.

For the visual aid portion of my review, I contemplated exhibiting before and after photos of my bathroom floor, but I can guarantee that no one wants to see such a graphic before picture. That and the camera batteries had already been shanghaied by the WetJet. To protect our weak-stomached readers, I opted for an after picture only, although I did compromise by including the cleaning pad for comparison.

Would I recommend this product? Meh. Depends on your personal ratio of laziness/germiphobia to tolerance of buying endless pricey refills.

Be sure to tune in for our next coupon-induced product review: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

Art... Expensive, yet Edifying

2009-08-31T22:37:00.003-05:00

So today we bought "school supplies" for Matt... which for two college-level art classes costs approximately $265. Yeah. However, while we were spewing money at Hobby Lobby, I found a lovely painting (ok, ok, it's only a print, but still!) for half price! So $50 of birthday money later (thanks, Grandpa!) we are the proud owners of a lovely piece of art... in addition to roughly 10 million "different" pencils.

Coming Soon:

2009-08-26T22:40:00.003-05:00

Pictures of the new floor!!

Maybe tomorrow.

Probably the next day.

Wait, it's already 10:40pm? Hmm.

Happy Anniversary!

2009-08-14T17:54:00.002-05:00

Three years today! It's interesting to see how far we've come from those days of marriage counseling. If you haven't watched the video below, today would be a great to see it, in honor of our marriage! Hurrah!

Marriage... or should I say "Mawage"

2009-08-12T21:33:00.000-05:00

Honorable Sir...

2009-08-01T15:00:00.005-05:00

I have never written to any of my representatives before. For the most part, the American system works well and gives me ample opportunity to voice my opinion by casting a ballot. If the ballot shows I am in the minority, then it is rarely appropriate for me to try to impose my will or views or political agendas on the majority. Even in the ways that the American representative system is weak, it far exceeds the freedom and justice of any other nation in the world today, and I dare say most in history. For that reason, I've let the ballots speak for themselves in the past.

This is the exception. Not for the sake of imposing the views of the few onto the lives of the many, but for the sake of informing the many of their power to help the weak.

I've recently come across the plight of Gao Zhisheng. He has been repeatedly harassed, intimidated, silenced, threatened, kidnapped and tortured for great lengths of time by the Communist government of China. There is even reason to believe that he has survived assassination attempts disguised as accidents. His crime is defending the defenseless. He is a self-taught attorney who has made a habit of defending the poor and defenseless free of charge. He has been honored for his integrity and professionalism a number of times by his own countrymen. He has been voted one of the 10 best lawyers in all of China. Yet, it was his defense of Falun Gong practitioners (a form of the Buddhist school) in 2004 which instigated persecution by his own government. The judges arbitrarily refused to hear his case, so he published an open letter to President of the People's Republic of China, Hu Jintao and the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Wen Jiabao begging them to end the persecution of the Falun Gong practitioners he had attempted to defend. Within 3 months of this publication, his license to practice law had been suspended, his law office closed, his family put under 24-hour police surveillance, and his life threatened by government officials.

Since this time, Mr. Zhisheng has been abducted and tortured in ways that make water-boarding seem like a party game. His wife and children were harassed and abused by the Chinese police until they were granted asylum in the United States, where I presume they remain relatively unmolested.

These are certainly not all of the details, nor is Mr. Zhisheng the only rights defense attorney who has been so viciously savaged by the Communist Party. This is only one circumstance, but it speaks of the rampant brutality and utter disdain for human dignity that characterizes the modern Chinese government and Communism as a doctrine. This is only one of certainly hundreds of recent atrocities, which in turn probably represent thousands of successfully covered-up abuses.

If we as free intellectuals are so appalled by such trivialities as water-boarding, then the tortures that are the regular practice of the Chinese government should be entirely unacceptable. And they are. If we are to indenture ourselves to the Chinese to the tune of $2-3 trillion, we ought at least to have the foresight to change the unconscionable sadism of our masters before we are deeded to them.

Most importantly, however, I fear them. “Therefore I swear by God that I will seek out this man whom I fear until I find him, and strike him on the mouth. ...Because I am afraid of him...and no man should leave in the universe anything of which he is afraid. Who would condescend to strike down the mere things that he does not fear? Who would debase himself to be merely brave, like any common prizefighter? Who would stoop to be fearless—like a tree? Fight the thing that you fear,” (from The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton).

The current situation of Gao Zhisheng grieves my heart as a Christian brother, as a Marine, as a free American, and as a civilized human being. His is certainly not the first case of abuse that I've heard about, nor is it necessarily the most atrocious. On the one hand I am embarrassed that I must write this letter from a feeling of guilt for my lack of concern about past atrocities, but on the other hand I refuse to be paralyzed by that embarrassment lest I perpetuate my apathy.

As a Christian, I must honor my God and “grieve with those who grieve.” The Bible commands me to “do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with [my] God” (Micah 6:8). It is that justice and mercy that cause me to beg for this man's rescue. It is that humility that causes me to repent of past apathy.

As a Marine, I so willingly risked life and limb for freedom. Freedom for me, for my countrymen, and for others who could not fight for themselves. I wish that I could risk life and limb to affect the rescue of this one man, but that is not within my power, and that wounds me.

As a free American, I enjoy those inalienable rights which are endowed to all men by their Creator. I enjoy the sacred protection of those rights while others have them robbed away by evil, vicious men. We are indebted to our forbears who spilled blood and tears, who forsook home and comfort and renown so that we may keep our blood and tears, so that we may enjoy comfort and home, so that we may enjoy their renown as champions of freedom.

As a civilized human being, I cannot imagine the pain and suffering that this man has endured and continues to endure. Such debasement and brutal indignity ought to be railed against by any sentient being. Even animals will fight tooth and nail to escape torturous conditions. We humans should be so miffed at the degradation of members of our own race as we are the displacement of the “wood owl.”

America's own history of justice, of freedom, of personal sacrifice, of courage, and of compassion gives us a unique right, and even a duty to oppose tyranny, barbarism, and arbitrary injustice wherever it may be found. We have saved ourselves so that we might save others.

†

“'Who would condescend to strike down the mere things that he does not fear? Who would debase himself to be merely brave, like any common prizefighter? Who would stoop to be fearless—like a tree? Fight the thing that you fear. You remember the old tale of the English clergyman who gave the last rites to the brigand of Sicily, and how on his death-bed the great robber said, 'I can give you no money, but I can give you advice for a lifetime: your thumb on the blade, and strike upwards.' So I say to you, strike upwards, if you strike at the stars... You shall see him a falling star,' said Syme, and put on his hat.

'Young man,' said the Professor pleasantly, 'I am amused to observe that you think I am a coward. As to that I will say only one word, and that shall be entirely in the manner of your own philosophical rhetoric. You think that it is possible to pull down the [Central Anarchist Council]. I know that it is impossible, and I am going to try it...'”

In humble service,

Matthew Hurley

Conviction...

2009-08-01T11:45:00.002-05:00

This man is currently, as I write this, being tortured again by Communist China because he chose to decry the persecution of Christians in China. He has been kidnapped by the government several times and held for torture. The first time was for 50 days. And I can't even give up an hour each morning to read my Bible.

I'm going to begin writing a letter to my representatives. I'll post it here when I'm done.

God help me.

I can understand Pinky, but who's the Brain?

2009-07-29T18:28:00.002-05:00

see more Lol Celebs

Huh. The rest of the plan might go something like this:

Once you've got control of the "too large to fail" banks,

"bail out" the auto industry,

offer people $4500 to trade in their non-government-approved vehicles in exchange for government-made cars so that people are now dependent on the government for transportation (conspiracy theorists would assume that these new vehicles are bugged/GPSed)

oh, and since Medicare/Medicaid is in danger of bankrupcy, lets not fix those organizations, lets just take over the whole health care system! Because the government has done sooooo well being involved in health care in the past.

Rant over. The picture is creepy, for sure.

Singing Tesla Coil

2009-07-22T13:15:00.004-05:00

Who knew 500,000 volts could sound so good?

Yes, it's the Tesla coil that's making that sound. My modulating the frequency of the electrical discharge, they can control the pitch of the "sizzle" that it makes.

Empty Nest Syndrome

2009-07-13T22:57:00.002-05:00

and we haven't even had any kids yet!

Here's the little guy contemplating the vast world beyond his nest.

The next day, they were both gone.

Farewell, baby birds!

One Hundred Thirty-One

2009-07-08T19:46:00.002-05:00

That is the temperature my car reported when I got into it after work today. Yikes!

But now it's RAINING!!

A Face Only a Mother Could Love:

2009-07-06T19:33:00.004-05:00

We have baby birdies!! They are quite ugly, but this does not stop their momma from being irritated with me for taking pictures of them, so this is my one and only picture. I did wake them up, which probably caused them to use more energy, so I'm sure she has to work a little harder, but now the world can see her accomplishment!

This is momma bird:

I'm not entirely sure what kind of birds they are, but if one of my learned readers knows, feel free to enlighten us!

Oh, and this is a picture of our passion flower for Stephen:

And a bonus picture, because I may never figure out how to get the pictures off of my camera again:

Then there's the other kind of pizza:

2009-06-17T22:07:00.002-05:00

The Ugly Side of Budgeting

2009-05-27T19:01:00.005-05:00

is of course, when the money runs out. And now you know it, because you're using the envelope system, and there is no money in your grocery envelope. None. Well, there's a $20, but I'm saving that for something more important than cereal. Let me start at the beginning...

May 1st: Hurrah, a new month! Let's fill up these envelopes and hit the store!

May 5th(ish): Garage saleing is great, and so economical! Let's buy that bike!

May 10th(ish): Wow, cans of soup on sale for a dollar! Stocking up is so economical! I'll buy 28!

May 13th(ish): The cat needs food and flea meds and let's buy some more beer, oh and canned sodas are on sale!! Stock up on those (because, as previously mentioned, that's economical!)!

May 19th(ish): Hold the phone! There is $20 left in the grocery budget! How did that happen! What are we gonna eat for the rest of the month! I don't even have any meals planned! And the fun money envelope is empty, too, so no pizza! Gah!

It was actually surprisingly simple to survive. I attribute this the Holy Spirit encouraging me to buy a bag of potatoes, which is unusual for me. And the fact that we inadvertently made a dozen extra servings of stroganoff the one Sunday that my family came over for supper.

The first thing to go was the cereal. What do you eat for breakfast if there's no cereal? That's right! Potatoes! First with onion, then without once we ran out of onion (one tragically fell victim to mold, which was not appreciated at this juncture). Or you can eat chips... and then an early lunch.

Of course the milk didn't last very long, since it wasn't being used for cereal. We haven't had the heart to throw it away yet. Matt made toast for me from the very last heels of the bread on Monday, so no easy sandwich lunches there.

What we have eaten has been quite plentiful, actually. Just as good as what I normally cook. We had stroganoff (from the freezer) and rice, spaghetti, one last frozen pizza, baked potatoes with leftover taco meat, nachos with leftover taco meat and yummy corn and bean stuff that my mom gave me, chicken and dumpling soup using chicken broth I had frozen, frozen veggies, and the last of the carrots, and grilled chicken and squash from Mrs. Pryor's garden (that she gave us... we didn't have to steal!). Add to that our regular mooching (thanks, Theresa and Eric!), and we were good to go!

Tonight we're eating what I like to call "Poverty Pizza" made with leftover chicken and the crust is frozen dinner rolls mashed together (thanks, Marian, for the idea!). When Matt tried it, he said "Wow, this crust is really good! You could probably use it for dinner rolls, too!" Yes, yes you can.

Tomorrow, we'll have spaghetti, and we're resetting the budget this Friday, so I feel like we have survived this test! We have been very blessed; our budgeting technique so far has been "How much do we normally spend? Ok, that's how much is in the budget." It's good to know that I can slice my beans when I need to, like in the Mickey Mouse version of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Just to clarify, we're by no means destitute or anything. We are quite comfortable financially, but we just had an opportunity to stick to our budget and keep our money in line with our previously established priorities. And we did it! Take that, instant gratification!

And we managed to clean out the fridge, too:

Home Ownership, In Photos

2009-04-28T21:57:00.002-05:00

"Icky old faucet, bleh!"

"Facial Hair Meets Home Improvement"

"Concern"

"Beauty + Functionality"

"To Spray is To Love"

by helen

Well, there might be enough to say...

2009-04-15T10:23:00.006-05:00

I suppose that enough has happened to warrant the ever elusive post from Matt.

My mother recently had a birthday, as mothers are want to do from time to time, and we had the largest celebration that I can ever remember her tolerating being made for herself. Family came in from everywhere and friends who we hadn't seen in years. As a result, I received a number of questions that I suppose are the best format for this particular post.

"Hey there! I haven't seen you in so long; how are you?!"
I am doing well, thank you. How are you?

"So... you're back from Iraq..."
Well, yes. Most of us who went to Iraq came back at one time or another. Especially those of us who spent 90% of our time behind a desk.

Okay, okay, I'm mostly just making fun of that awkward small talk that happens between people who feel guilty about not having seen each other in so long, and yet feel close enough to be obliged to attend the celebration. Fortunately, most of the other people there were older than me and had more experience at this kind of interaction. As a result they were much more gracious than I and caused me to feel more comfortable than I normally would have. But on with what you really want to hear...

"So, what are you doing these days?"
The TAMU Saga
Well ultimately, I want to make movies. To that end, I've been compiling a portfolio and learning the tools of my trade. My goal is to use freelance CG work to fund movie making ventures. I applied to TAMU (that's Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University) and was pleased to discover that the VisLab (one of the most prestigious Computer Graphics Graduate programs in the nation) had opened an Undergraduate course in Visualization. I had been bothered that I'd have to get a BS in something and then try to get into the VisLab Master's program. Now, I can just go straight into the same work. I certainly won't learn the same things as in the Master's program, but I'll be much better prepared for that when I do apply.

Unfortunately, TAMU is dumb. While ACE recommends that my particular military experience and training are equivalent to 32 credit hours in various courses, and Duquesne University granted 21 of those hours for credit while I was studying with them, TAMU (being the military friendly school that they are) categorically does not accept any military experience or training at all... ever. What this means is that I am not a transfer student, which is how I applied, of course. Thus my application was summarily denied. Additionally, freshman applications closed the week before transfer applications opened, so there's no way to go back and apply as a freshman.

Fortunately, I met one of the professors at the VisLab (he goes to my church), and he's gone to bat for me. I also managed to find the only military-knowledgeable adviser at TAMU and she has asked that my application be re-evaluated, reminding the ever enigmatic "them" that as a veteran, I can be accepted as a transfer student with fewer than the normally required 24 credits elsewhere.

And so I wait...

Other than this minor drama, things continue much as they have in recent past. Helen is now the senior Lab Tech in the Clinical Microbiology Lab of the TAMU Vet School, with all of 4 months experience. Yes, as soon as she got there, the more experienced techs jumped ship. That was disconcerting, of course, but things appear to be just fine.

I'm still working with the tools of my trade and trying to put together a moderately interesting portfolio. For those of you who might know about such things, I recently changed from Lightwave to Blender, and then discovered Luxrender, so that's been an exciting journey. I put up some of my lastest stuff in Facebook today.

Our house is still fantastic. I still haven't put in the bathroom vent fan that we bought, or the new kitchen faucet that we bought. One of these days I'll have a weekend. I did, however, mow my very own personal lawn for the first time last week. It looks pretty good. We'll have to post some pictures sometime, but they'll probably go on Facebook, unless I can find a neat way to do it here.

Anyhow, I guess that's the big stuff. Let me know if there's anything else that I should have answered. More later...

Maybe all kittens are similar...

2009-04-12T18:43:00.001-05:00

Unicorns?

2009-04-11T20:32:00.000-05:00

I want this monitor!!

2009-04-08T12:11:00.002-05:00

Yes, it's in Russian, but it's still awesome. Just keep watching....

http://www.youtube.com/v/AAdku9YhSCI&rel=1

Okay, okay. If you're not hooked yet, they shoot an ASUS monitor with a CROSSBOW and it doesn't do a thing!! Hammer, nail, crossbow, nothing phases this monitor... okay, now go watch it.

Conversations

2009-03-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

Matt sweeps Helen into his arms while she is innocently playing on the computer.

Helen: Wait, I thought you were eating your cereal!

Matt: I was, but I fell in love with you again.

Ha!

In response...

2009-03-05T11:12:00.004-05:00

Matt asked a very good question, and once I finished my response, I thought it had turned into a blog post. So here it is.

Warning: graphic descriptions or partial birth abortion ahead. I'll indicate which paragraph to skip before you get to it, if you don't want to read it.

Matt asked:
"Recently I have been watching all seasons of "The West Wing" (I am in the last season). A recent episode focused on abortion, and one of the people said "there is no Biblical argument against abortion." (paraphrased) Granted, "The West Wing" is often called "The Left Wing" for a reason, but what is your argument against this? What is the Biblical argument against abortion (outside of "life is precious")?"

Firstly, I reject your premise: "outside of 'life is precious'." The fact that life is precious IS enough. The fact that God has given us his own image IS enough reason to abhor killing each other. But I know that's not what you meant, so I'll answer your real question.

And it's a very good question, actually. I have to admit that this argument is a little bit esoteric, but it is certainly Biblical.

Here's a great place to get an in-depth argument from a Catholic priest. I may not agree with everything the Catholics believe, but they are definitely leading the charge in the Anti-Abortion movement.

Let's start with the fact that to produce offspring is a command from God. While contraception is a little bit more difficult to discern, killing a child that already exist is clearly in defiance of this commandment.

Secondly, the Psalmist tells us that God regards prenatal children as being the same as children who have been born. See in Psalm 139 that God already has a plan written for this child before he is even formed:

Psalm 139:13-16
For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother's womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

Here also, we see that the life of a child is valuable based on the punishment prescribed:

Exodus 21:22-25
"If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."

The life of the child shall be paid by the life of the adult. Thus the two are equated, to some degree.

To be more esoteric, there is no significant difference between a prenatal child and a postnatal child. The only differences are: Size, Level of development, Environment, and Degree of dependency. Thus, we must argue that the life of anyone else who is smaller, less well developed, in a different environment, and more dependent should be subject to the whims of someone else, anyone else, in fact.

We cannot say that because the child is small, underdeveloped, inside of another person, and highly dependent that they are not a human.

So which humans get human rights, and which ones don't?

So which humans does God love and which ones does He not care about?

So the capricious killing of which humans is murder and of which others is abortion?

(the weak-stomached can skip this paragraph without missing much)
In fact, you can't even say that abortion is only of those children who are too young to survive after birth. Partial birth abortions are performed on children only 3 or 4 months before birth. THEY WOULD PROBABLY SURVIVE!!! In fact, this particular form of barbarism is entirely unconscionable. The mother's labor is induced, she goes through labor and birth, just like a normal birth, but once the child's head is out, the "doctor" stabs a needle into the back of the little baby's head a vacuums out his brains. The mother often feels the death throes of her little child as it's being killed.

This is butchery. This is absolute barbarism. Not to mention the brutal murder of a little baby, but how do you think it affects the mother to have felt her little one dying inside her? Of course, Planned Parenthood doesn't care. They rarely provide sufficient counseling or even warning about the psychological damage that any abortion, but especially partial-birth abortions cause to the mother.

In conclusion, abortion is a butcherous murder of innocent life which ought to be enough reason for even atheists to get up in arms about. But beyond that, the Bible doesn't use the word "abortion," but neither does it ever use the word "Trinity." The Bible teaches that killing people is wrong, and it teaches that all children are people, even the small, slimy, underdeveloped, needy ones.

This rollercoaster is getting old...

2009-03-02T14:22:00.002-05:00

Now it works even less than it did before :'-((((

WOO HOO!!

2009-03-02T09:11:00.000-05:00

It works!!!!! I'm am commensurately excited...

Sunday, Day of Rest

2009-03-01T22:56:00.001-05:00

Excitement and disappointment...

2009-02-26T13:58:00.002-05:00

Well, I got my new computer parts today. YAY!! I even made a video that I might post later on. Unfortunately, Lightwave is still having exactly the same problems. Sadness...

Groundhog's Day...

2009-02-24T09:25:00.006-05:00

On December 7th, 1941, the Japanese "woke a sleeping tiger" when they killed about 3,000 servicemen and civilians. The resulting outcry resounded around the globe, utterly changing the face of the world forever. Civilians volunteered for military service, factory work, and rations in order to devastate any reality of another attack from Japan. On September 11th, 2001 more than 3,000 non-combatant civilians were murdered in the blink of an eye. The resulting outcry was so great, that every nation knew about the attack. Two nations have since been turned upside-down in the wake of American retribution, and it has been one of the most globally relevant issues for the past 8 years running.

Every day, in the United States alone at least 3,000 non-combatant civilians are murdered by abortion. Sounds like a macabre Goundhog's Day, doesn't it? It's still happening because we still haven't gotten it right.

Fortunately, one 12-year-old has more... intestinal fortitude than most of the people who read or write this blog.

There are many things that I've been troubled by that I have not taken huge action against. In my opinion, many things like fighting poverty, fighting AIDS, championing gun rights, and ministering to the Pygmies of South America cannot all be everyone's call. You have to pick what God wants you to do and let God send other people to do the other things.

When 3,000 children are murdered daily, that's not a calling. That's an outrage. If 3,000 Christians were murdered daily, commerce would cease because the outrage would be so widespread. If an elementary school was gassed every day, there wouldn't be enough military in the world to stop the fathers from destroying whoever was committing such an atrocity. When 3,000 of our countrymen were killed at Pearl Harbor, we rained down such terrible vengeance and such total devastation that the world collectively gasped in shock.

I'm not calling for violence by any means. I'm calling for an outcry. I'm calling for the kind of collective groan of agony that we all let slip from our lips on September 11th, 2001. You remember where you were. You probably still remember the knot of grief that stayed in your gut for hours, maybe days afterward. That's what I'm calling for.

Today, 40 Days for Life will kick off in more than 130 communities world-wide. The 24-hour vigil will be held from Feb 25th, to April 5th. Go to www.40daysforlife.com and find a location where you can make your outcry public. They like for you to sign up, but you don't have to. Just go and pray. If there's not an abortion center within a reasonable distance from you, then just pray. Pray hard and pray a lot. God is doing work and closing centers, but we're far from finished.

"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." James 1:27

Ok, so I don't know how to make the video show up here...

2009-02-19T21:29:00.002-05:00

But click this link and it'll be just as fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK2OakMoW_c

And this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jdWH9N-JXI

That last one nearly killed me, and I'm not an easy laugher. I'm more the slight smile and maybe chuckle if I think it's really funny. Yeah. Wow.

Big Hair: Before and After

2009-01-28T19:38:00.002-05:00

Before and After

So yup, this is what my husband has been doing since he left the Marine Corps in July.

That's right, growing big hair and a matching beard.

I can't say I was particularly pro-beard in the beginning, now I really like it. Matt says it makes his head look more balanced. Well, appearances can be deceiving.

Was She Broken?!?

2009-01-25T00:19:00.004-05:00

We had little Meepers fixed on Thursday. It was very sad. She came home all dopey and gaunt and slept on her heated blanket all evening. The next day, though, she was already feeling much better and jumping up onto things that were probably too high (try keeping a cat from jumping, it doesn't work very well) and being a quieter version of her usual self. Today she decided that she really missed playing, but we've been trying not to play with her too much, since it is after all only the third day since her surgery. She looks her normal weight now too, which is a relief. That was our excitement for this week. Meep seems to still love us, despite her ordeal. Matt will be very happy to have his playmate back once she gets her stitches out and is back to normal.

The Day the Cat got Peed On

2009-01-07T23:34:00.002-05:00

That would be today, for those interested.

I won't say who did it, but what happened was that the cat, who likes to drink water out of the sink and jumps onto the sink via the (usually closed for that reason) toilet, decided to jump onto the (no longer closed) toilet while someone was peeing into it. She was then offended when she, erm.., got wet.

Today is also the Day the Cat got a Bath. It wasn't too bad, at least on the human end. Not too many claws, but some desperate clinging. Let's just say that it doesn't take too much water to flood our little bathroom.

No worries, she is back to her regular fluffy self, and appears to have forgiven all parties involved in the peeing and subsequent bathing.

Pictures when I find the camera cord, because even though she was a sweetheart for her bath, I still get to post wet cat pictures.

A bit of Christmas Humor

2008-12-23T18:40:00.004-05:00

http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2008/12/460-manger-management.html

Don't miss the amusing comments either!

Merry Christmas everyone!

New Job!

2008-12-23T16:30:00.002-05:00

Hurrah! I got a new job!

This actually happened 2 weeks ago, but I didn't start until Monday of this week. I suppose I haven't posted about it because I've really been torn between excitment and feeling like I betrayed my old work place

I think now that's it's actually happened, I'm done with regret and ready to settle in again.

I now a Technician I for the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory for the Veternary Medical Teaching Hospital at Texas A&M University. Whoohoo!

Pros:
in my field (biology, and one of my favorite biology subjects as well)
lots of benefits
"real" job
room for advancement anywhere in the university system

Cons:
have to buy a parking tag
have to get to work on time at 8:00 am
one hour lunch break instead of one and a half
still work weekends and holidays
don't get hang out with my old coworkers anymore :(

Also exciting this week: Pet Sitting.

One cat and one dog in our house in addition to our own adorable Meep.
All from different homes, so everybody's trying to get to know each other.
Right now I'm not sure if the dog is stalking the cats or the cats are stalking the dogs.

Lucy the dog is doing great. Not overly interested in the cats, so they are feeling better about being around her. Gaby the cat is meowing for pets, but she has to come to you, although she doesn't mind coming near the dog so much (she had a foster dog brother at one point, I believe). I managed to pry Meep off of me onto the back of the sofa, and after careful observation, she even came to sit on the coffee table a mere yard from the dog, so I think she's doing really well. To complicate the issue, I've been scolding Gaby for scratching the carpet, so I put a little cracknip on the scratcher thing to lure her to it... but there's been no scratching, only rubbing. And of course Meep's an addict, but fortunately there was no drug-related violence. Meep may be intimidated by Gaby's obvious bravery around Lucy.

I forgot how much dogs licked, but I think we will all get along smashingly and perhaps learn a little inter-species tolerance.

Merry Christmas!

I made a yummy beef pie for supper...

2008-12-20T21:12:00.001-05:00

until it fell to it's untimely death. That would be BEFORE we ate it. *sniff*

Alcoholisms

2008-12-13T21:10:00.003-05:00

Don't drink alone.

Don't drink when you're sad.

Don't drink when you "need" one.

Or for you "glass half full" types:

Drink with friends.

Drink in celebration. (of pretty much anything, actually)

Drink free of compellment. (that could be a word)

For those times when you are alone and sad and overly desirous, might I recommend chocolate. Rolos, or ice cream, or brownies, or brownies with ice cream and rolos.

This could also apply to catnip, except the chocolate part.

Meep.

Meal Planning, We All Hate It...

2008-12-13T17:42:00.003-05:00

but this week, I found a handy dandy website that did all the work for me! Hurrah! I like cheating. Here's where you want to go:

http://www.getbacktothetable.com/node/43

Ahh, now that's better!

Also, I bought Meep a scratcher, and it came with cracknip (or kitty crack, whichever you prefer), which was entertaining and sucessful. :D

And now I'm off to work for the 13th day in a row. Boo!

Christmas Humor

2008-12-13T16:06:00.002-05:00

I got home today and discovered a package on our front porch. I'm very glad I went through the front door.

At any rate, inside the package was a doormat with the following message: "Please stay on the mat. Your visit is very important to us. Your knock will be answered in the order in which it was received." But perhaps even more entertaining was the label on the back. It read as follows: "This perfectly fine, in not certainly adequate doormat is made from 100% Olefin Indoor/Outdoor carpet and printed with color-fast inks. Wash with hose and brush. Dry flat. Do not machine wash. Important things you should know about your new doormat. Warning: Do not use mat as a projectile. Sudden acceleration to dangerous speeds may cause injury. When using mat, follow directions: Put your right foot in, put your right foot out, put your right foot in and shake it all about. This mat is not designed to sustain gross weight exceeding 12,000 lbs. If mat begins to smoke, immediately seek shelter and cover head. Caution: If coffee spills on mat, assume that it is very hot. This mat is not intended to be used as a placemat. Small food particles trapped in fibers may attract rodents and other vermin. Do not glue mat to porous surfaces, such as pregnant women, pets and heavy machinery. When not in use, mat should be kept out of reach of children diagnosed with CFED (Compulsive Fiber Eating Disorder). Do not taunt mat. Failure to comply relieves the makers of this doormat, Simply Precious Home Decor, and its parent company, High Cotton, Inc., of any and all liability."

The package also included a plaque with the following message: "If we knew what we were doing it wouldn't be called research." - Albert Einstein.

Thank you, Grandma Keener, for the holiday humor. :D

Snow!! ...wait, what?

2008-12-10T18:51:00.005-05:00

So yes, it snowed today... in Texas. And real snow, too, not just sleet, even though sleet does count as snow in Texas. Frozen + falling = snow. Unless it's hail.

Anyway, here's the evidence:

Note snowflake in front of my eyeball:

Yeah, CRAZY. Especially since it was warm yesterday, and its supposed to be 59 degrees tomorrow. Yeah, I don't know.

And one non-weather related thought:

This is Meep's favorite place to be when someone is in the shower. We call her Peeping Meep.

A Pleasant Pounding

2008-12-06T21:46:00.004-05:00

Today, my mom, mother-in-law, and good friend (and distant relation) Carol Manthei threw Matt and me a pounding. Traditionally, when you move into a new house, people bring you a pound of sugar/flour/butter/coffee etc. to help you get established. Well, apparently everyone has adjusted for inflation because I got a lot more than a pound of many things.

For whatever reason, I wasn't really expecting people to bring me things, just see the house. I was very pleasantly surprised with all the goodies I received. That people are so generous near Christmas time makes me feel like a total Grinch.

But now that I'm up to my ears in detergent, kitty litter, foil, spices, pudding mix, ground beef, ice cream (candy cane, Mexican chocolate, and birthday cake, wow!), recipes and canned goods, I should have lots of extra cash for gifts and goodwill, right? Darn sinful nature. God and I are going to have to work on this one some more. Matt helps.

Everything I got was so very useful (maybe wedding showers should be more like this so you don't have to feel awkward about never using someone's very thoughtful gift), but I am especially thankful for the recipes with all the ingredients. I even got one recipe with ingredients AND a tupperware of the finished product. Now I can put off going to the grocery store even longer! Hurrah!

So thank you to everyone whom came and to everyone who helped plan this event. I shall try to follow your illustrious examples and not be a Grinch this Christmas.

Now I'm going to finish my ice cream, start on the bag of Fritos, and consider what ratio of cheap litter to my litter that actually clumps is most effective.

Cheers!

Meep's No Good, Horrible, Rotten, Terrible, Awful, Very Bad Day

2008-11-29T13:02:00.002-05:00

Poor Meep!

And it all stems from her fatal attraction for drawers.

My sister brought over a coffee table for us to watch for her because it doesn't fit in her 600 sq ft apartment. It's very nice, and has one long drawer and two little drawers underneath. Well, I put in the little drawers first (the drawers had been removed for moving purposes), and Meep apparently crawled under the table to investigate the new drawers. I didn't see her get under there, and when I put the top drawer in we all heard a very unhappy cat noise. She had apparently gotten something mashed in the drawer (it remains unclear). Needless to say, she was traumatized and went and hid under the bed for an hour, and then pouted around the house.

After that, Matt's grandfather came over and we gave him a tour of the house, and even discussed how Meep likes to get in the drawers of our dresser. It came up because I was putting up a few t-shirts and Meep jumped in the drawer and crawled behind it. We went out to dinner, then I ran some errands, then Matt and I were playing our respective computer games that evening and realised that Meep wasn't running over the keyboards like usual. I thought she was just pouting some more, so I called for her, and looked under the bed and in the closet. As I walked back through the bedroom, I heard a very sad little "Meep!!" coming from the dresser! Oh no!!! I opened the drawers and out crawls a very sad little kitty. We're not quite sure when she got in there or how long she was there, but she was very happy to be out.

Poor kitty! From now on, we're going to have to make sure to find the cat before closing any drawers. Hopefully, she discovered that drawers aren't the most fun thing after all.

Thumb Update

2008-11-21T20:59:00.004-05:00

So, my thumb has looked pretty much the same for the past 3 weeks, until today! Today after cleaning the kitchen, it turned that pasty white color and there was a giant crack in the middle and you could see the new skin underneath. Now various parts of it are cracking and peeling. I think my thumb is turning into a butterfly! Or at least a normal thumb again.

Also, here are the promised pictures, now that we have re-located the camera.

First, the most important room: the kitchen!

This side of the kitchen is all the storage. The cabinets are in pretty good condition, and note the dishwasher!

The wall to the right of the last picture has the fridge (it's cute, isn't it?) a closet for the water heater and our ancient stove that takes it's time boiling water. It's got one of those timers where you turn the little hand inside the clock with a stick on the outside. That's definitely one of the improvements I'd like to make on this house, although I am very glad that we have gas (appliances, of course!).

As you can see, there's really not a lot of counterspace (at all!), but today I came home and Matt surprised me by cutting a piece of wood to fit the top of a metal shelf we had. This is on the wall to the left of the stove, so it's a very convenient place for chopping.

Here is our rather cluttered dining room. The wood floor could use a refinishing, but I do like the corner built-in. There is a GIANT empty wall (not shown, it's the length of the room opposite of the window) that I don't quite know what to do with yet, though.

And here's me and Meep internetting together. She's such a sweety! When she's not standing on the keyboard that is.

The Star of Bethlehem...

2008-11-21T10:00:00.002-05:00

If you've never seen the Star of Bethlehem Presentation by Frederick Larson, you need to see it. He will be presenting in in person at Rudder Auditorium here in College Station on December 4th and 18th. He'll be in Houston on Dec 3rd and 12th. Whether you're scientifically minded or not, this presentation will bring you to a new realization that God the Covenant Keeper is alive and real. Ever since having seen this for the first time, I've tried to watch it again every year, and it never fails to bring me to my knees in awe of our Masterful Redeemer. If you'd like a copy of the DVD version, please let me know. I plan to buy several because this is one of the most unavoidable presentations of the Gospel that I've ever heard. The documentary is very well made (it's anything but boring), his science is well validated by external sources, and his theology is beautifully impeccable. Watch the trailer here.

The Best Soup Ever!!

2008-11-18T22:52:00.002-05:00

So I've been trying out new recipes from my Rachael Ray cookbook, and today discovered the best soup ever. Despite the bland name of "Creamy Broccoli Soup", it is anything but. I'd go on, but there really aren't words.

Rachael Ray's Creamy Broccoli Soup, paraphrased

4 (or 5) slices bacon
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or dried), chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a couple of dashes of Tabasco-type hot sauce (or cayanne pepper)
2 10-boxes frozen chopped broccoli THAWED (tricky tricky)
1 quart (4 cups, or 2 cans) chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup heavy cream of half-and-half
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (or green onions)
zest and juice of 1 lemon

In a large soup pot, cook bacon until crispy, about 3 or 4 minutes. Remove and drain on towel. Poor off excess bacon grease, cuz lets face it, there's a LOT in there. Add onions, garlic, and thyme to the surviving bacon grease (if you're not from the South, trust me, you want some grease in there) and season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, until for 4 to 5 minutes or until the onions are tender. Add the broccoli and continue to cook until the broccoli is heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the onions and broccoli to a blender or food processor with 1/2 cup chicken stock and puree until smooth. I know, it's messy, but sooo worth it. Return to soup pot and stir in remaining 3 1/2 cups of chicken stock and the cream, bring to a simmer, and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes. To finish the soup, add the lemon juice and zest (not a fan of zest, but the lemon juice makes a huge difference), stir to combine, and serve.

On top of ours, we put cheese (because broccoli soup should have cheddar, that's just the way it is), the bacon from the beginning chopped up, and the sliced green onion. It was beautiful and delicious. I ate way too much. This recipe supposedly serves 4, but Matt and I only got 2 and a half servings out of it. You could probably add salad and bread to stretch it out a little more. And the whole pot was only $5.46. I did get bacon for a dollar a pound, though, at the HEB. I might have to go back and get some more of that.

Enjoy!

The Thumb

2008-11-15T19:54:00.003-05:00

Yup, here it is. I smashed it. The line on top is the part that got pinched, and the blob on bottom is where it bled under the skin. And this picture is a week and a half after the event. Didn't actually hurt very much. Not that I let that stop me from freaking out. The diagram below is (roughly) a sketch of the compactor. A weight falls and hits a metal disc which transfers the impact down the rod to another metal disc that smushes the dirt in the core (pvc pipe full of soil, labeled sample) to simulate years of being run over by golf carts. The weight is dropped 21 times to achieve a specific level of compaction. Unfortunately, it tends to double bounce, which would result in a slightly different level of compaction than if the weight only hit once on each drop. So, for the sake of scientific accuracy, it is "better" to catch the weight after the first bounce but before the second bounce. If you miss, however... well, you get the picture (harhar).

To clarify the kitty paw prints, the cast iron skillet right next to that pan had been freshly oiled, so the paw prints are oil prints. I promise my cookware is not dusty.

Boxes are getting unpacked and disappearing into the garage (and some are shoved into a closet, nevermind that...) but there is still quite a selection of miscellania in the dining room. I think we're going to have to buy some more shelves. It'll be great once it's done, but there's still a lot of clutter to go.

Oh, and this is actually posted by Helen, even though it says Matt below.

Update...

2008-11-15T00:48:00.004-05:00

Well, a lot has happened since we posted last. Helen smashed her thumb (gross pictures later), we got internet (7 Mb!!!), I bought a paintball gun (oops, make that "marker"), oh yeah, and we moved into our very own house with our very own cat. Below, you can see Helen enjoying one of the many joys of home-ownership. We like to call it "who smudged this one?" You'll notice Meep's signatures in the pan on the shelf. Anyhow, we're finally online so you can talk to us again. Email, video mail, telephone, anything really. Well, that pretty much sums up the high-points, but Helen will surely go into greater detail. I will too, hopefully. Oh, that reminds me, pictures of my latest computer graphics projects will be up soon, so look for those. More later...

Another place to look...

2008-10-19T15:37:00.003-05:00

If you're booking travel, a friend of mine who travels ALL the time just became a travel agent. She was the one who set up the mission trip to Jordan that I went on in 1999. She and her husband have continued to dedicate their time to spreading the gospel, so use their website as another option when searching for any kind of travel booking. You'll find them at http://www.ytbtravel.com/kbmedlin, but I've got them in my Links too. They get a commission so if prices are the same, please pick the good guys ;-)

I hate transience!!!

2008-10-12T19:36:00.002-05:00

Yes, this is the first chance I've had to check my email in the past 3 weeks. Argh.

Anyhow, things are much the same as they have been for a while. We're still waiting on the interest rate things to settle down before we lock in, but we still plan to close on the house on the 7th of Nov. We had the chance to sit a house for some friends at church for about 3 weeks. That was a good chance to have a house to ourselves for a while and to let our parents have their house back for a while too. But now we're back again, so we'll be here until we move into the new house. They've been so gracious and hospitable to us while we've been here, we just hate to wear out our welcome.

We're going to have to get a friend for Meep. We're arranging to have Meep and her new friend both get to the new house at the same time so that neither feels that the other is intruding on their home. I'm hoping that we'll be able to find another young kitten at the shelter less than a week before we close on the house. We'll see how that goes.

Once we get into the new house and get internet set up, posts will be more regular, hopefully, and we'll be able to keep in touch with all the people we love. It's been so hard to juggle work and life and each other and chores and dreams and planning and friends and all that other stuff. We're both having a little trouble adjusting, so keep us in your prayers. Nothing bad, just stressful.

Anyhow, that's where we are for now. I'm hoping to get some more pictures up soon. More later...

So it's been awhile...

2008-09-15T21:11:00.002-05:00

I think Matt and I both wanted to be able to post that everything went wonderfully and we're now living in our quarter million dollar house and make triple digits a year, but obviously that's not what happened.

We're still staying with my parents, going on 8 weeks now. We were hoping to only stay a month, but that may have been unrealistic.

I am working for my step father at his soil testing lab (for golf courses and sports fields and other expensive stuff). His lab is one of 10 in the world that is accredited to do this type of testing, which is cool. Although it doesn't pay what I had hoped, I will have laboratory experience when it's time to look for a new job. So that's good, but not the end of the story. I guess it's not supposed to be the end of the story this early in life.

Matt works for a company that sells and repairs lifts and wheelchairs. He enjoys helping people, so I think it's a good fit for him. We only managed to get him into one class at Blinn this semester, so he's getting in lots of hours working, even though he's not getting as much schooling as we had hoped.

We did talk to the bank today about a mortgage, and it seems like we should be able to get a loan for a house. Now all we have to do is find it... quickly, with any luck.

So that's where we are. Somewhere between point A and point B.

On a different note, no one should make war movies. Ever. They're depressing.

Obligatory...

2008-08-05T14:45:00.002-05:00

Well, neither of us has posted in a while, but I felt like I ought to even though there's not really much to tell. Helen is working as a personal assistant for a family that she has worked with before, but she still needs a job with benefits. I've been accepted to Blinn College, but I can't get in touch with the Veterans Affairs guy so I can't register for classes yet. I can tell that's going to be another goat rope. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a year under my belt at Blinn and then transfer to TAMU. Anyhow, we're getting ready to leave for Denton so I've gotta go pack... I guess. Look for more info about my college and Helen's jobs and our kitten and an upload of a really cool special effect that Jacob and I put together. So, nothing's happened yet, but there is a lot of potential for some cool updates. And the suspense builds...

--Matt <><

Newest Hurley

2008-07-29T21:34:00.003-05:00

This is our new baby kitten. We have decided that she will have the nickname Meep, but are still working on her "real" name. Helen likes Picasso. She also thinks a little blog support would encourage the kitten's early development. And maybe help with the naming. Now all we need is a house to keep her in. Ha!

We miss you guys...

2008-07-28T10:18:00.003-05:00

Jackie, Jacob and Kathryn. And all you other guys too ;-) We are really excited to be back home in Texas with friends who we've known for a long time, but we made some friends up there in J-ville who we will never be able to forget. You all mean a lot to us so please keep in touch. If you move, we really want to know where so that we can call you when we remember to. Heck, maybe we'll even come visit.

Oh yeah, and for those family who we saw along the way, we made it alive... about 3 days ago ;-) Sorry. We've been so busy seeing and doing and visiting that we forgot to call or write or post here that we were okay. So, we're okay. Thanks for opening your homes to us while we were travelling. Helen and I both really enjoyed seeing all of you again and meeting our NEW cousins!

It's been hard for everyone to remember that we're not on vacation anymore. The two main differences are that we don't have to see everyone in the same week, because we'll be here for the forseeable future, but also that we can't really afford to visit for much longer because I need to start school and Helen is working on a couple of job offers. It's been hard for us to slow down too and remember that we have lots of work to do. It's going to be good.

Jacob and I are already working on our next movie project. You can see our most recent handiwork here. It's not very high quality, but that's because it's YouTube. Oh well. He and I shot that in about 5 hours with no prior planning while I was on vacation right after I got back from Iraq. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could finish the story, but he put together what we had and it worked out rather well. It looks like our next project will be a re-make of "The Cloak Project"... or perhaps a continuation... or maybe an expansion of it... we'll see what happens. So, look forward to the next one!

Helen and I both love you guys. We're glad to be back with family, and we're sad to be away from good friends. Keep in touch.

More later...

Almost home...

2008-07-23T11:35:00.003-05:00

I can't tell you how good it felt to cross the border into Texas. I know it sounds silly, but Texas really is my home and I love living here.

I didn't post yesterday, obviously, but we had a bit of an experience at our stop on Monday night. It was pretty seedy and Helen was worried, but Matt, Helen and I were all in the same room and I brought my pistol inside so she felt better after that. It was pretty interesting. The next day we pushed pretty hard because I wanted to get to Murphy early enough that we could say "hi" to everybody before we went to bed and still get a decent night's sleep. Driving that 22' truck through Dallas traffic was a hair-raising experience. It was definitely the most stressful hour of the trip, but we made it through unscathed, praise God.

Last night was good. We got the chance to rest for a while before everybody got back from Six-Flags and then we got to socialize for a while before we passed out. This morning was good too. Eating out is good every once in a while, but after 3 days of Mc D's, Wendy's, Hardy's and such it was really good to have a home-cooked breakfast.

Today is going to be good too. We get to go see Dark Night (the new Batman movie) at the IMAX!! Not just any regular theater where we'd pay $9, but a theater that's actually WORTH $9. We're not sure when we're going to do that, but it'll be good whenever we do.

Hopefully, we'll be able to spend the night tonight and drive home early tomorrow, in time for our appointment (seriously, what mini-storage makes appointments? whatever...) at the mini-storage that's going to give us a free month's rent. Helen even asked "what if we only want one month?" and they said "then you store your stuff for free." Pretty cool deal if you ask me. We've also gotta get the truck weighed before that, and after that (full and empty) and all before we get the truck back to Penske... before they close. We'll see how that goes.

It's going to be good to be home again. I'm really looking forward to living near family, friends, and good memories. I'm also looking forward to starting school at Blinn (as soon as I actually apply, that is), working on the fixer-upper that we might buy, and making more progress on this movie thing with Jacob.

It's good to be... almost home.

Progress!!

2008-07-20T22:26:00.002-05:00

We have arrived in Augusta, GA after a long trip that started about 5 years ago... but that's another story. Thank God for great friends like Kim and Kat! Kim brought Helen up here about 6 months ago to help her move in right before I got back from Iraq, and now Kat is helping us move back! Helen and I had originally planned to have a company move our stuff and then we'd drive both of our cars back. But then things got really crazy and it became a great deal simpler to just rent a truck and move ourselves. After measuring the Honda to decide if it will fit in the back of a U-Haul ;-) we decided that we had three vehicles to drive back to Texas. So, I called Kat and said something along the lines of "so, you wanna fly up here tomorrow or the next day?" and he said "well, the prices are the same, so why don't I come up today?" So 4 hours later, he was on a plane to North Carolina. Now, after driving for 8.5 hours, we've gone 350 miles with an average of 40 mph. Yeah, that giant, 22' long banana that I'm having to drive doesn't tolerate driving very well. The steering is really loose, the suspension bounces a lot, and it HATES Georgia roads. The very instant we crossed into GA, the rhythmic lumps in the pavement set up a harmonic vibration in the trucks suspension system so that it started bucking harder and harder until I finally slowed down enough to throw off the synchronized rhythm. It was really strange. Anyhow, as long as I don't go 50 or 55, I'll be okay... I think. We'll see tomorrow.

Goodnight...

We have Orders!!

2008-07-18T07:54:00.001-05:00

Huh.

I've got stuff to do!

The best laid plans...

2008-07-17T19:28:00.002-05:00

Thursday.

Still no orders.

Still no TMO.

Still can't plan anything.

Hate movers.

We're renting a truck.

We'll be home eventually.

Status: pending

2008-07-15T09:21:00.003-05:00

One would hope that this update would contain some guaranteed information... but it doesn't. Matt still does not have his orders (or Form 10660 or something like that). The reason this is important to you, the casual viewer (and to us too, now that I think of it!) is that Matt has done all the checking out that he can (including spending 5.5 hours waiting to give the Marine Corps their stuff back) without this piece of paper. Unfortunately one of the places that needs the paper to function is TMO, who is in charge of moving us. Basically, we have not been able to move forward on our planning for the move because we haven't been to TMO, specifically TMO's counseling session, and we don't want to do anything unreimbursable.

In summary, nothing to report.

Also, if anyone knows of a good moving company, I'd like to know about it. We have one picked out, it's a member of the BBB and American Moving and Storage Association (AMSA), but it has a C- from the BBB. The one with an A- from the BBB seems really sketchy, though, so I'm not really sure what that means. Blah!

But pizza is still yummy!

Update

2008-07-10T09:08:00.004-05:00

Well, you see, what happened was...

The short version is that due to administrative issues, Matt no longer gets to take terminal leave (for those of you just joining us, that is the leave that you take right before you get out, presumably so that you can continue to get a paycheck for a few weeks after you stop working and are applying for unemplo... I mean looking for a job). We are now able to leave on the 19th (he did get one day of leave, apparently). They do pay us for the days he doesn't get to take, so it's not a total loss. And we do have more time to figure out the whos and whens and wheres and hows of moving. If we had known this earlier, however, half of our house wouldn't be packed when we still have to live in it for 10 days. We haven't decided if that is a good thing or a bad thing. At any rate, our homecoming is somewhat delayed, but certainly not canceled.

Also, we had a snake under the porch yesterday. Yup, a big one. Probably 3 feet long, not a pit viper, dark brown on top and orange on bottom. Orange as in a florescent cone that's been left in the sun too long. Weird. I was clomping up and down the stairs putting laundry in the car to take to Jackie's, and I turned around to back into the house for more stuff and I saw this not insignificant snake head poke up under the stairs that I had been using for at least 3 trips to the car now. He was obviously trying to find a place to hide, and I was quite glad that he did not find the house (the glass door was closed now, but it has a gap at the bottom, and I had even left it open earlier!). He eventually slowly crawled off (with his head off the ground, which I thought was unusual) and under the house where there was a gap in the skirt. As long as he stays down there, I'm ok with that. If I find him in my toilet, or in a packed box, we're going to have some problems.

After a little research, I have determined (using the Davidson College website, thanks guys!) that my snake is most likely a Nerodia erythrogaster, the redbelly watersnake. Here's a glamor shot:
Photo J. D. Wilson.

The one I saw wasn't in the water, his tummy wasn't quite so bright, and he was a lot bigger. Here is a link to snake information: http://www.herpsofnc.org/herps_of_NC/snakes/Nerery/Ner_ery.html
Mine looked more like the picture on the bottom left.

Well, the time has come...

2008-07-08T11:06:00.002-05:00

Yup, I'm going to post! I know, I know it's exciting, but as the grandfather from The Princess Bride says "Keep yer shirt on."

Okay, maybe I'm not that exciting, but I try. Anyhow, the ACTUAL "time" that has "come" is the time for putting into action those critical skills that Helen and I learned in Highschool. Yes, it's time to cram! My last day at work will be on the 11th, so I'm interested in leaving that afternoon. (Yes, Jacksonville is that bad; yes, Texas is that great.)

There are a couple of problems, though. We haven't finished packing yet and we don't know who is going to be moving us yet. Due to Helen's inferior procrastination skills we did actually start packing on Sunday. I haven't taught her well enough, what can I say?

In the mean time, I'll be running around like a crazy man trying to get all of my administrative stuff done before I leave the Marine Corps (not my fault). Helen, on the other hand, will be desperately trying not to pack the WHOLE house while I'm gone at work (also not my fault).

If we can leave on the 11th like I want to, then we'll take a week or so to drive home. I'm really excited about stopping along the way to see family and friends. It's also going to be good to take it easy and not kill ourselves trying to get home. There'll be plenty of work to be done once we get home, so we'll enjoy the transition for a while. I'm not looking forward to shopping for houses, but I AM looking forward to owning a house that I can customize and make our own. It's one of those things that you just kind of have to do. It's also one of those opportunities to make some really big, really expensive mistakes all at one time. One does what one must...

I'm also looking forward to going to college. I still haven't applied to Blinn yet, but I will, I promise. Eventually, I want to graduate from Texas A&M with a BS in Computer Science and a BS in something else (I'm looking at Astophysics right now, but we'll see). Then I want to go to the Vizlab and get an MS in Computer Visualization Graphics. Unfortunately, my copy of Lightwave (the program that they used to make Jimmy Neutron and all the Star Trek special effects) is making me cry, at the moment.

For some reason, Lightwave suddenly decided that it doesn't want to work for more than about 5 minutes at time. After just a few minutes, it just crashes without saving any of my progress. It's very frustrating when I just made about 5,000 polygons, and then have to go back and make them again and hope that I have time to save before it crashes again. This means that I can't compile any kind of portfolio for my application to the Vizlab. Additionally, if I'm going to do any kind of serious projects, I'm going to need several computers and a better video card. I could build a few computers that would do the trick for about $400 apiece, but the problem is that the video card that Lightwave recommends for their software goes for about $3000. The one that I've got is top of the line (for PC workstations) and would probably suffice, but I think it's the cause of my stability problems with Lightwave. I guess that's what I get for choosing a very expensive carreer.

Anyhow, that's pretty much all I have to say about that. Now I'm going to go run around Camp Lejeune like a chicken with my head cut off.

More later...

the week, in Photo

2008-06-28T20:39:00.002-05:00

Yup, this picture pretty much sums up our week last week.

Those would be my new shoes. Pretty cute, huh? (Thanks for the Kohl's gift card, Kyndell!)
Also related to Jackie's and my exciting trip to Kohl's is my cute little green jacket... $3. :D And I wore that jacket to the movie we went to with Tim and Sherri (don't worry, you're not supposed to know who they are; they're friends).

If you look really closely at my leg, you can see the stripe of sunburn from my trip to the beach, again with Jackie, because we're friends. For sure.

Also, I wore my new shoes to the Schenck's (yes, there are that many silent c's) when the boys were pouring concrete, and I was concerned, but they survived the boy mud unmarred.

So there you have it, the week in a picture. For more entertaining pictures from this photo shoot, please see facebook.

HD TV... we know YOU will be sucked in, but what will it do to your pets?

2008-06-28T08:40:00.002-05:00

Activity

2008-06-26T16:26:00.002-05:00

So I haven't posted in awhile, but that's because we've actually been doing stuff! Exciting, I know. Matt had duty on Sunday, so he got to come home Monday at noon. That evening (after a nap) we went to a friends to help with his sidewalk pouring project and got it framed up (the actual work here was of course done by the boys), and then went back the next day to do the actual concrete mixing after work. Then on Wednesday evening we went out with some very sweet friends who bought us dinner for Matt's going away, if we ever manage to get the Marine Corps to sign all the papers that say we can actually go. We went to see Kung Fu Panda after that, which was not deep but entertaining. I went to the beach on Wednesday afternoon, and did laundry with her today, so we've gotten to hang out a lot this week, which is nice since I'll be leaving soon. I even brought my camera to the beach for blogging purposes, but alas, it stayed in the bag the whole time. We've been a busy bunch, but it's been fun!

Exactly how tall ARE giraffes?

2008-06-22T11:51:00.000-05:00

I always knew those squirrels were up to something...

2008-06-20T11:26:00.000-05:00

Item of Interest

2008-06-20T10:17:00.004-05:00

But he probably did! Haha! Who comes up with this stuff? I found this on a blog (www.stuffchristianslike.net, of course), and here are some of my favorite comments... because really, there's just so much to say here:

dyskyzed said...: So this post is awesome! Jesus on a dinosaur. The only way you could make Jesus OR dinosaurs cooler would be to put them together.
I feel I must point out though that the dinosaur is not a T-Rex. The claws are a dead givaway. The T-Rex only has two. My money would go with the smaller, three-clawed Allosaurus. The cool thing is, I only know this because I've been corrected by my six year-old daughter.
bpinks said...: gk- went to the flickr site, and in the comments found the best thing ever- a dinosaur should be referred to as a "Jesus horse".
Flicker site is http://flickr.com/photos/bar-art/414998399/

Jules said...: Things I love about this:

1)Jesus has a cape.
2)Jesus is riding the t-rex/allosaurus/raptor bareback
3)Dinosaur bridles were evidently readily available in first-century Palestine

What do you think Jesus did with His 'saur while he was preaching? Since dinosaurs clearly survived until Jesus' time (unclear what happened after that) there must have been a provision for this. Leviathan parking? Valet-o-sauruses? (Or is it Valet-o-saurii?) Actually, knowing Jesus, He would probably have parked His own 'saur.

Also why aren't there more parables involving dinosaurs? Since He "probably" rode them around, you would think they would make an easy and impressive visual prop. I for one am curious about the ways in which the Kingdom of Heaven is like a 3-ton carnivorous reptile. Mustard seeds. Pphhhhbbb.
Ne'er-Do-Good said...: I'm always inspired by haiku. Here's one for this post:

Mighty dinosaur
You look really fun to ride
What Would Jesus Do?
muskrat said...: so, when he rode in on the dinosaur, did the town's people throw down small furry animals instead of palm branches?
And of course I have no comment. Maybe if I play the piano or paint on the easel or tend my hydroponic flower garden... (and sadly, that was a Sims reference... hopefully no one got that.)

I am going to put a letter in the mailbox!

2008-06-17T07:15:00.002-05:00

That's right, at 8:15 on Tuesday morning, I am going to 1) not be asleep, 2) be fully dressed, to the point of wearing shoes, 3) leave the house (shocker!), and lastly 4) do something useful. I know, it's almost too much for me too. The only other thing I have to blog about is that my SIM family had a baby, but I'm pretty sure Matt would have a transient ischemic attack and die if I made a whole blog post about that.

His name is Squishy, which Matt picked out. Later I decided I wanted to name him Oliver.

Quote of the Day

2008-06-11T05:46:00.002-05:00

"A lot of Christian children songs are like sunshine deep fried in cotton candy served on a plate made of sugar and rainbows."

"The butt is not a billboard."

-Jon Acuff, stuffchristianslike.net

Update on the Hurley's

2008-06-06T09:03:00.002-05:00

Well, nothing extraordinary has happened since the last post, but in more mundane affairs, we've decided to cut back on our food budget, to practice being poor. Our current criteria is that whatever we eat has to be less than $1 per serving. Tricky, but not impossible. We're starting the third week, and here are a few of the recipes that have already become affordable stand-by's:

Split Pea Soup
split peas $0.76
1/2 large onion $0.58
2 carrots $0.16
a little butter
salt and pepper
Total for the pot is $1.52, and we got at least 4 servings out of it, so that would be about $0.36 per serving. Whoopee! Also, this recipe is reallly good.

Spaghetti
can o' spaghetti sauce $0.96
link of Italian sausage $0.58
1/3 lb of spaghetti $0.37
frozen veggie on the side $0.50
Total $2.41, at least 3 servings, so $0.80 a serving. I estimated on the amount of spaghetti I actually used. If you leave out the sausage, it comes to $0.61 a serving.

Pretty much any reasonable recipe can be converted to $1 per serving if you take out enough meat and add enough rice or beans to up the number of servings. If you buy those big giant bags of rice and beans, the rice comes out to $0.21 a cup dry, and the beans are $0.19 a cup dry, which is pretty affordable even in great quantities. Examples of recipes that are likely to be cheap: beans and rice (someone let me know if they have a good recipe), fried rice, very ricey casseroles, bean-based soups, etc. Sometimes I add corn muffins or biscuits on the side to make life more enjoyable.

One last observation: breakfast, it's expensive. Now, my husband eats a LOT of cereal, so those boxes don't last more than 5 servings. Add to that the 3 cups of milk in each bowl, and you can see the problem. So one bowl of cereal for Matt is $0.78 of milk and $0.50 of cereal, for a whopping $1.28 (assuming milk is $4.18 a gallon, and box of cereal is $2.50). And then you have to keep milk stocked, so you have to drink it quickly before it goes bad, which can result in additional loss. Instead we make pancakes. We found this nifty "complete" pancake mix, where all you have to do is add water, which is nice at 5:30 in the morning, and you aren't required to make a certain amount of batter because you can't figure out how to add half an egg. So instead of $1.28 a day, I buy a box of mix for $1.50ish which lasts 3 to 4 weeks, and all I have to do is put the pan on to heat up while I mix the batter and I have 2 or 3 pancakes in a few minutes (I haven't actually timed it; I'll see if I can remember to do that tomorrow morning) and I can get Matt's lunch together while the pancakes are cooking.

So there you are, my thoughts on frugality.

Weddings, weddings...

2008-05-27T18:05:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know how the weddings went.

Err.. they went well.

That's pretty much it; there were the usual tensions and things forgotten and all that jazz. Evan and Jenni forgot their marriage license and came back to check on it and make sure it was all squared away. I'm pretty sure I would not have done that. God saw; it's probably ok. Their wedding was at a beautiful lovely church, and their reception was in a lovely historical type building. And yes, we got lost on the way to the church, lost on the way to the reception, and we got to the church half an hour before the wedding and still had to change and shave (well, only Matt on that last one) and all that, but we totally made it in before the bride, and even before the grandmothers, I think. After that wedding we went to dinner with Evan's family (Matt's aunt, uncle, and cousin) and had a wonderful time laughing and talking. The memorable phrase of the wedding was uttered here: Matt was telling a story about his friend who was all but struck by lightening in Iraq, his aunt heard "all BUTT struck" and we all had a really good laugh about that.
Doug and Diane's wedding was also fun. We got to get to know Jenni a little better (Evan was playing his violin at Doug's wedding... very generous, there), swam in the pool at the expensive hotel (Matt and I were staying at the Motel 6 across the interstate, ha!), and again had some good times with family. I got to help serve and set up for the rehearsal dinner (Matt did too), which I had a lot of fun doing. Being useful and all that. Diane seemed really sweet, too.

Yup, so lots of driving later, we're safely back in North Carolina, our home was not eaten by a tornado, and we're generally back to our old selves. This involves eating pie with friends, if I can pry Matt from his computer game.

I love you, even if I don't call you because I'm a bad daughter. Or friend or sister or whatever.

Not much...

2008-05-26T13:11:00.002-05:00

Well, I posted another story for A World of Places next door. I hope you'll check it out. The link is in my links section to the right.

Things remain, in Hurleyton, much as they have always been. Ignoring and being ignored by the world of the "big folk." I've been fiddling with Lightwave a great deal. Something that I've enjoyed having the time to do this weekend, though I'm still frustrated that I haven't progressed to the point of making anything that's really worth showing. Still no final products, but I'll keep plugging away at it and one of these days I'll finish one of my dozen or so projects and you'll all get to say "Ohh!" and "Ahh!" and "Wow!" and other similar things.

Well, I'm taking the SAT for the first time tomorrow, so I'd better go practice some more. I'm pretty confident that I'll do really well, but I need to be sure that work all the rust out of my gears, as it were. More later...

Life in Jacksonville, NC

2008-05-09T12:07:00.002-05:00

Ah, Jacksonville! You're not so bad, even though everyone thinks I'm talking about Florida...

Here are some fun things about Jacksonville:

1. Finding the post office. I just found it 2 days ago, actually. It's a creepy "government" looking building with no sign and no parking in downtown where the speed limit is 20 mph, on the opposite side of town. There are "out posts" which aren't run by the government, so they can only take cash. Good thing I have that emergency $20 in the car! One is next to a Sonic, though, which is definitely a perk.

2. Blockbuster, Barbershop, and GameRoom. Yup, there is a sign that says this in Jacksonville, right across from base. If I were a marine with nothing to do, I'd go there. Matt likes to point out that there are 3 seperate businesses. Whatever. It's still funny.

3. Askew Building Supply. I am not joking. What's even worse is that his wife (I assume) operates the Askew Learning Center. Just drop your kids off for the day and they'll be mostly right about everything!

Hopefully I'll think of some more stuff for this list, but those are my favorites so far.

Ode to the Commissary Bagger

2008-04-25T18:45:00.002-05:00

Oh Commissary Bagger,
How I appreciate your service!
Conscientiously bagging my groceries,
The cold with the cold, boxes with boxes,
Cans with cans, thoughtfully sorted.
But why, oh Commissary Bagger,
Must you double bag everything?
I know cans are heavy, and have an edge,
But I think that they are not so devious as to
Rip their way through a bag during the
Ten-step walk from the door to the car.
I'm sorry I forgot my reusable bags,
Which indicate my preference for conservation
Of bags, although that doesn't help
Since if I brought my reusable bags you would
Use those anyway. I bought four bags
worth of groceries, and you double bagged three
of them. The milk doesn't need two bags,
in fact, I'd be ok with no bag at all.
The five bags of frozen veggies weren't that heavy, either.
I appreciate a job well done,
And I know you are working for tips only,
So I try to calculate a living wage in my head for you,
But I promise I will not tip you more for giving me more bags.
Save a landfill; please, one bag at a time will do.

If you need a little edification

2008-04-19T22:36:00.003-05:00

then you should play my new favorite game on MSN.com, Peggle! It's simply, slow-paced, and when you win you get fireworks and Beethoven's Ninth, which somehow makes you feel really good about yourself. The unicorn is a little creepy, but hey, that's some powerful music. If God feels the same way I feel when I win Peggle when we worship Him (diagram that sentence! ha!) then that would be awesome. Yes, this is really all that is going on in my life right now. Except for vague contemplations about moving back to Bryan and buying a house and getting some jobs to pay the bills until we can get that good job where you only need one at a time. But mostly Peggle.

Expelled...

2008-04-14T19:10:00.001-05:00

...opens THIS WEEKEND!!! Go see it or buy someone tickets.

The Cheeseburger Song is NOT Okay!

2008-04-05T20:55:00.003-05:00

For those fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with the song, it is a VeggieTales song of the "Love Songs with Mr. Lunt" variety. The lyrics are as follows:

He said to her "I'd like a cheeseburger,
And I might like a milkshake as well",
She said to him "I can't give you either",
And he said "Isn't this this Burger Bell?",
She said "Yes it is, but were closed now.
We open tommorow at ten!",
HE SAID "I AM EXTREMELY HUNGRY!!!!
But I guess I can wait until then......"

(Chorus)
Coz' your his Cheeseburger,
His yummy Cheeseburger,
He'll wait for you-ooo,
YAH! He'll wait for you-ooo,
Oh, You are his Cheeseburger,
His tasty Cheeseburger,
He'll wait for you-ooo,
Oh, he will wait for you.

(verse 2)
He stayed at the drive-thru till sunrise,
He may have dozed off once or twice,
when he spotted a billboard for 'Denny's',
Bacon and Eggs for half price,
How could he resist such an offer?
He REALLY needed somthing to munch!
Cheeseburger please do not get angry!
He'll eat and be back here for lunch!

(Chorus)
Coz' your his Cheeseburger,
He's priceless Cheeseburger,
Be back for you-ooo,
He'll be back for you-ooo,
Won't be so long Cheeseburger,
Oh lovely Cheeseburger,
Be back for you-ooo,
Oh he'll be back for you!

(bridge)
Coz' he loves his Cheeseburger with all his heart,
And there ain't nothing gonna tear you two-oo apart,
And if the world suddenly ran out of cheese,
He would get down on his hands and knees,
To see if someone accidenly dropped some cheese in the dirt,
Then he would wash it up for you,
Wipe it up for you,
Clean that dirty cheese up just for YOU!!!!!!

You are his Cheese-bur-GER

Really?? Really. This is a kids' program, targeting the Christian youth of our country, and they write a song about infidelity and try to pass it off as a love song? No! Thinking Christians should not let this happen! Let me rehash the plot for you: Boy declares undying fidelity to Cheeseburger... then runs off with the first CHEAP thing to come along! Because he "needs something to munch". As if that were a good reason for adultery. And people find this song amusing! Lots of people! It is teaching your impressionable children that it's ok to profess your undying love to one entity, then run off with a floosy when you become impatient, while STILL professing faithfulness to the first love! Adultery, premarital sex, psychological abuse, lying, giving into temptation... which of these do you want to teach to your children? I say that Christians shouldn't stand for it!

I'm sure you all think I'm over-reacting, and it's possible that I am, but we should think about the things we expose ourselves to, especially things presented as innocuous and family-friendly. This is what this song is saying. I'm just suggesting that we take the lamb costume off the wolf.

Alternatives

2008-03-29T00:23:00.001-05:00

Well, it turns out that I'm an alternate for two different clinical laboratory science programs, one in Colorado Springs, CO and the other in Columbia, SC. Apparently CLS programs are really skeptical about out-of-staters.

At this point, Matt and I are going to wait and see if one of the 8 to 12 spots opens up (although this seems unlikely, I'm not sure what the actual statistics are on this kind of thing). If there is an opening, I'll take it, but if we don't hear from them we're going to start planning to move back to Bryan so Matt can start college at A&M, probably next spring.

Matt is pretty excited about moving back to Texas, and it will be nice to be near our family and friends again. I admit I was really counting on this CLS thing to give a bit more direction/purpose to my life and give me a specific niche to fill. I'm a bit frightened of hunting for jobs because so much of that process involves being rejected. I suppose it's time for me to be an adult and do things that I don't want to do.

Ultimately, God is guiding all of this. He knows where we need to be, and He can see the things that we don't know. Maybe we'll have a baby earlier than anticipated, and I won't have time to be a clinical laboratory scientist. Maybe there's someone special Matt needs to meet in Texas, or maybe there's a better job for me, or a house we need to buy, or relationships we need to develop, or who knows what. I will trust God to lead us, and we will follow His urgings.

So, yeah. We still don't actually know where we're going to end up in four months, but there's hope.

This is the 100th post!!

2008-03-17T15:10:00.002-05:00

Wow, the one hundredth post! For this momentous occasion, I'd like to direct your attention to the following:

Generic Names for Soft Drinks by county

Yes, the conclusive data is in, ladies and gentlemen! It's "pop" in the north, "coke" in the South, and "soda" in California, Arizona, southern Nevada, the tippy north east of the US, St. Louis, and Milwaki. Weird.

Naturally, the verdict is that the South is right, the proper generic name is "coke," and California is predictably different.

This has been the 100th Post. Thanks for joining us.

Amusing Quotes of the Day:

2008-03-10T20:29:00.002-05:00

Helen: Do you think I'm fat?!?

Matt: No! ... That means yes.

note: for the record, Matt does not really think I'm fat.
.....

Matt: You should get a second life.

Helen: What? Where would I get a second life?

Matt: On the internet.

Another Post

2008-03-09T22:42:00.002-05:00

Well, I don't really have much to say but it's 11:45 (which is ridiculously late for a military family, let me tell you, but Matt doesn't have to work tomorrow), and I'm waiting for Matt to get tired of LightWave. I took a nap today and had a Dr. Pepper this afternoon, so there's really nothing to complain about except the change of schedule. I think I'll count my blessings, since I do that far too rarely.

1. I made fried okra today in my cast iron pan and didn't set off the fire alarm (granted, Matt unplugged the one in the kitchen before I started, but the one in the living room didn't go off, either).

2. I have plenty of counter space, cabinets, and a pantry.

3. I have a financially responsible husband

4. who is really cute

5. and very determined (especially with LightWave, apparently).

6. Our electricity bill is reasonable.

7. We do NOT have a hot tub (seriously, do you know how much it costs to run those things?).

8. One day we will have children (God willing).

9. We have very interesting friends here in NC.

10. Family. I meant to put this one earlier, but I forgot. I mean this, even though I haven't actually talked to my family in like 2 weeks. Whoops. I love you guys!

11. My bread of choice is a full dollar cheaper at the commissary.

12. I have a nice comfy bed waiting for me, and my bedroom is bright and sun-shiny in the mornings.

13. We have nice things, which we didn't go into debt to buy. Actually, almost all our nice things were gifts: the beautiful knife set, my fantastic pots and pans, my picture from Italy, my bread bowl. Some things we invested in ourselves: .... I was going to continue the listing, but I feel like I'm typing a "to steal" list, so I think I'll stop now..

14. Affordable, non-nasty chai tea mix from the commissary, and my electric kettle to boil the water in.

15. My sheets, which should really go under number 13, but I feel the need to return to thinking about my bed..

Ok, I think I should end this list before my thoughts get any more erratic. Thanks for listening.

Pictures!

2008-03-04T14:59:00.006-05:00

Haha! Points for me on the posting war! Anyway here is our little mobile home:

The view from the front door. This is Matt's Command Central (and yes, that is a folding chair).

A better view of our adorable little love seat, and the footlocker/coffee table.

And his strikingly similar big brother couch. For a few days after we got them, I would be sitting on one, looking across the room at the other, and try to figure out if I was sitting on the love seat or the couch...

Looking from the living room into the kitchen, and my cute little table and chairs.

Here's the kitchen. Note the abundance of counter space (yes, I'm serious). The sink looks over the little bar area to the living room, so I can watch TV on Matt's giant monitor while I do the dishes, or on my laptop if I put it on the bar.

This is me at the kitchen table. Behind me is the hallway. Our bedroom is straight ahead, there is the back door on the right and the bathroom on the left. Also on the left is a recessed area that is supposed to be for your washer and dryer... Right now it's acting as storage for all Matt's military stuff, and a couple of boxes of random stuff. That's a coat rack on the wall behind me.

Here is our shower curtain, concealing our ugly yellow tub.

Here's our toilet and linen storage thing.

Here's our sink and giant mirror. It's hard to get a good shot of the entire bathroom... cuz it's kinda small and angley...

This is our bedroom. Unfortunately it is green, as is our duvet, and my extra blanket... So even though we didn't plan it, we have a very very green bedroom. Whoops.

This is our beautiful Ashley dresser that apparently got dropped off a truck, and therefore we got it for next to nothing. Jacob glued it back together, and so here it is. :D

This is the yellow guest room with air mattress. Note that Matt ingeniously used a table cloth to cover the window, since there are no blinds in this room. The guest room is to the right from the front door, so completely across the house from our bedroom.

Here is the sink in the tiny half bath off the guest room.

See, I told you the guest bath was tiny.

So there you have it! The promised pictures! Enjoy!

Something Inflammatory...

2008-03-03T11:22:00.002-05:00

..A FLAMETHROWER!!!! Okay, maybe more of a LAME-thrower, but I thought it was mildly amusing.

I've decided that it's time to bump Helen's post. I posted a new discussion in Ludus, for those of you who know about it. It's about the post on my other blog, but I put it on Ludus for the people who don't check my blog, and to stimulate some discussion on Ludus too. So there it is, another shameless plug fo myself.

Another Domestic Update from the Wife

2008-02-27T21:35:00.003-05:00

Ok, so Matt always comes out with these controversial, idealistic posts that generate comments.. but for those of you who wonder about what our daily lives are like (aka, the womenfolk), here is a typical day:

5:15 am Alarm goes off the first time.

5:25 am Alarm goes off the second time. Hopefully we actually get up this time, followed by Matt getting ready and me making coffee and breakfast.

6:36 am Matt leaves for work, and I go back to bed.

After that it gets a bit sketchier. Generally I watch an episode of Dance Wars on the internet while I do the dishes that I should have done last night, followed by procrastinating and then lunch. Sometimes I run errands; today I checked the mail, took the trash ($1.50 per 30 gal. bag) and the recycling (free! we are so environmentally conscious now..) to the "convenience center," went to the commissary (hopefully we'll make grocery budget this month.. could be close, but I did remember to bring my reusable shopping bags. I told you we were environmentally conscious, plus they double bag EVERYTHING at the comissary, which leaves you with a MOUNTAIN of plastic bags very quickly), stopped by Sonic on the way home (Happy Hour!), looked for jobs on the internet, attempted to clean up the guest room since we'll be having a guest this weekend, and hung out with Matt when he got home.

So yeah, that's the daily frame work of our lives.

Now, I think I'll close with something inflammatory just to make sure I get some comments to this post... umm...

If you don't spay or neuter your pets, then you're a bad person!!! ...or a breeder. Whichever.

EDIT by Matt: In order to avoid upstaging Helen too soon, I'm posting a promised article on my thinking blog.

The new banner...

2008-02-20T21:46:00.005-05:00

About the fancy new banner to your left...

I've spent the last few years talking about how modern scientific thought has become a church unto itself and that it persecutes any "heresy" that dares suggest that Darwin wasn't the greatest thing since sliced bread. Well, Ben Stein is now my favorite person alive... except Helen. Go watch the trailer and you'll see why.

IF YOU'RE A CHRISTIAN AND YOU DON'T SUPPORT THIS MOVIE, THEN YOU'RE WRONG!!! You should at least go buy tickets at the movie theater. Don't worry, I'll harass you mercilessly until you buy a pair of tickets and give them to somebody. I'm dead serious. People complain about "them good fer nuthin' young 'uns" on the news and they help the children in China. If you don't support the spread of Christian thinking in your own home, then you are a hypocrite and you're building a future for your children that will be worse than persecution; it will be Godless.

Get off your butt.

I'm only yelling at those of you who are sitting on your butts. If you already are off your butt, then good for you, now go yell at someone who isn't.

Exciting news...

2008-02-17T15:50:00.002-05:00

Well, exciting for me, anyway. As you may know, I'm VERY interested in computer graphics and making the kind of 3D effects that you see in movies like Spiderman. IN pursuit of this endeavor, I bought a copy of Lightwave from Matt Kelling about 4 years ago. It comes with a thing that looks like a USB drive which you have to have plugged into the computer while you're using the program (it's called a dongle and is a means of verifying that I have a legitimate copy of Lightwave and not an illegal duplicate). Unfortunately, I lost this critical device about 2 years ago. Ever since then, I've kept the software in the hopes that I could buy a replacement dongle or otherwise fix my problem.

Well, while I was in Iraq I got REALLY serious about this whole 3D graphics thing and I decided to find out about buy a dongle. It was going to be $200. Not awful, but I still want to upgrade from version 8 (which I have right now) to the latest version, which would cost an additional $400. That's a total of $600, which is ironically the same amount that I payed Matt in the first place. Well, I hemmed and hawed for the year that I was out there using my absence from general civilization as an excuse to not buy the software and do LOTS of research about my options. Well, I can continue with Animation:Master (piece of crap), or I can buy a new copy of Lightwave. But if I'm going to buy Lightwave all over again, then I might as well consider buying something else. Well, Lightwave has several peers. Maya was at the head of the pack as far as quality goes, at $1000. Lightwave fell close behind, at $600. 3D Studio Max was also a contender at $900, and Autodesk brought up the rear as my least favorite, at about $1200. Either way you slice it, it's a LOT of money. This gave Helen hives (not really, but she hates spending money, especially lots of money). I reassured her that I wasn't going to buy anything without weeks and weeks of thought a research and she still had hives (not really, but I have to tease her). I reassured her that I wasn't going to buy anything before I came home from Iraq and the hives subsided a little. Then I got home from Iraq.

Now firstly, I should reassure all 3 of our readers that I do in fact "wear the pants" as it's often said. I make the decisions and Helen graciously and respectfully carries them out. To her credit, she enjoys this arrangement and maintains her own dignity with grace and royal poise. This is another way in which my father and I are very similar (and it confuses my mother a little): yes, I expect Helen to do what I say, but I would much rather that she agree with me that what I'm saying is correct. When my dad tries to convince my mother to come alongside him, she often mistakes it for being "wish-washy." Anyhow, the point is that I wear the pants, but I try not to be dictatorial. Helen is not inferior to me, nor should any other man think that Helen is to submit to him (only to "her own husband"), and I try to make decisions WITH her. Like this spending LOTS of money thing.

So, I tried to help her understand why I was interested in spending lots and lots of money and why it wasn't like buy a game or spending money on a hobby (I intend to support our family doing this). Well, the cool part is that not only did Helen understand what I was trying to do and support me (once she understood it), but I didn't even have to spend lots and lots of money!! That's right, I found everything that I needed to make Lightwave work on eBay for $120!! It's brand new, it's never been opened, the seller has great reviews and it's even cheaper than buying a new dongle!

Needless to say, I'm very excited about getting mail on Monday or Tuesday because I have both of those days off from work. If it doesn't come then I'll still be excited, but it won't be quite as cool because I won't have a bunch of free time to play with it.

Anyhow, that's the news from Lake Woebegone.

Happy One-and-a-half Year Anniversary!

2008-02-14T21:42:00.004-05:00

Today is our one-and-a-half year anniversary, and it also happens to be Valentines Day. So I got home from doing laundry at a friend's house (thanks, Jackie!) to find my wonderful husband had cleared out the last of the post-moving clutter, so now my house actually looks homey, and a lot more presentable. Isn't that the best Valentine's gift ever? I have such a great husband. Now if we could just find the camera, we could put up pictures of the place for everyone...

Adjusting..

2008-02-14T09:34:00.002-05:00

Well, the last week has been interesting. It's been interesting to see some ways that I've changed in the past year, but it's been even better for both Helen and me to see how each of us has stayed the same. There was a little bit of concern about how much we would have changed after a year of being apart, and it's been good to see that we haven't. It's also been interesting to adjust my habits. After doing, quite literally, exactly the same thing in exactly the same way for 367 days in a row, it's been difficult to adapt to this new routine. I should be all reaccquainted in the next couple of weeks. I've started back at work, but I'll probably change jobs again in about another week. It's good to be back in a routine that I'm familiar with. It's helped the transition a little. Helen has been absolutely perfect. She's been so careful to take note of my differences and my new neurosese. She's been so good at caring for me and taking care of all the logistics of daily life while I get used to being a "non-combat" Marine.

I appologize for the delay on the promised movie reviews. I'll try to get to those and a few more in the next few days. I've got a long weekend coming up soon, so I should have plenty of time. So, there you have it. In the words of the good Dr. Seuss "That's all there is, there isn't anymore." Except that there will be more later... Oh well.

Well, I'm back...

2008-02-08T21:00:00.000-05:00

I got back Monday and I've been enjoying not being in Iraq anymore. I was immediately surprised at how nice of a home Helen was able to make in such a short amount of time before I got back. She bought a bunch of really nice furniture and at really good prices too. The most expensive part was the bed, which I'm happy about because I've been ready to sleep on a real mattress for the past year or so. It's also been really good eat her fantastic cooking too. To put it simply, I'm very glad to be home, and I'm very glad that I never have to deploy again (well, there is fine print, but that is unlikely). I'll be sure to post more in the future, but right now I'm taking my time getting used to being not in Iraq anymore. More later...