Fall from Grace? Examining the Tour-de-Lance

I'm so tired of hearing about poor Lance Armstrong.  He hasn't lost a thing, really, and there's no reason to feel sorry for him at all.  Several years ago Lance defeated cancer, and good for him, I sincerely mean that, good for him.  Unfortunately, it was his cancer that confirmed his disbelief in God. 

From his book, "It's not about the Bike: My Journey Back to Life," (Title is a little ironic now isn't it?), he writes:

"I had developed a certain distrust of organized religion growing up, but I felt I had the capacity to be a spiritual person, and to hold some fervent beliefs. Quite simply, I believed I had a responsibility to be a good person, and that meant fair, honest, hardworking, and honorable. If I did that, if I was good to my family, true to my friends, if I gave back to my community or to some cause, if I wasn't a liar, a cheat, or a thief, then I believed that should be enough."

Oops.  So much for fair, honest and honorable, not a liar and cheat is out too, however he has given back to his community; to a certain cause, something he believed in. Doctors, Treatment, Self; "believing in whatever I chose to believe in, that was the most important thing, I decided. It had to be."

No Lance, it's not the most important thing.  Sorry. More from his book:

"At the end of the day, if there was indeed some Body or presence standing there to judge me, I hoped I would be judged on whether I had lived a true life, not on whether I believed in a certain book, or whether I'd been baptized. If there was indeed a God at the end of my days, I hoped he didn't say, "But you were never a Christian, so you're going the other way from heaven." If so, I was going to reply, "You know what? You're right. Fine."

If things continue as they currently stand, I really don't believe that's what Lance will be replying to God.  You see, Lance is still alive, but he's not really living.  Lance hasn't lost anything because he never had anything to begin with.

He's got no hope and is "far off": Ephesians 2:12-13
His trust and belief in man and self is wrongly placed: John 14:6
He does not know God and therefore does not know love: 1 John 4:7-8
He does not have life: 1 John 4:9 and John 1:4
He has no confidence for the day of Judgment: 1 John 4:17
He cannot live without fear: 1 John 4:18

Lance may feel ashamed, although it doesn't appear so from his latest "confession" with Oprah, but he may feel ashamed.  He might be embarrassed and may have difficulty "rebuilding his reputation."  The days ahead might be hard for Lance who was once hailed as an all-time great athlete, king of his sport of cycling.  Maybe even harder than his battle with cancer, I don't know.  But I do know this for certain, there is a bigger battle in Lance's life.  One that he is losing every day.  Thankfully, there is still time....

Lance is still alive...A self-described competitor, a win-at-all-costs competitor....

It's not too late.  Here is the winning formula (for starters):

⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Lance hasn't lost anything.

Fortunately, he has everything to gain.

21774 - Jack's Room a.k.a. the Library

This ain't your Grannie's library. No sir. We got bright colored walls, dark curtains and a drum set! Jack's room wasn't done before we left for camp. Tandy got started on it as soon as everybody left town Sunday and by that evening was finished. Jack wanted an orange wall. When we were at church on Wednesday getting help with the pre-mentioned squares and I mentioned that the North wall, (the one closest to Stillwater) would be orange, Randy Hampton got really, really quiet. I said, "It's going to be ok Randy" and he said, "I can't breathe." We quickly found a nearby brother with the antidote printed on his shirt in crimson and after Randy recovered we continued with our conversation. Poor OU fans......good people......weak constitutions. Anyway, Jack just wanted one wall painted orange and that's it, but since we had already purchased the paint we convinced him to put gray on the other walls. It's an OSU color I told him and he argued with me, but I'm looking at my cup here on my desk right now and the logo is outlined in............gray.

I win.

I know many of you can't bear to look at the color orange but with the gray to offset its brightness the room looks pretty good. It is the same sidewalk gray that we used to do Jeff's room. His sheets are OSU, which Tandy found at Overstock.com for about 1/3 of the price of local retail, ($90 versus $280 local) and she finished off the windows with some black curtains. I don't have any in progress pictures because I was gone to camp, but here are a couple of finshed room shots. I plan to print copies of both J's rooms and post them on the door so that they will have a reference of what a clean and organized bedroom is supposed to look like.

There's only one more room left at the end of the hall. What color will it be?

21774 - Jeff's Room a.k.a. the Doll Room

So, having painted the girls room, Tandy moved on to Jeff's room later that week. Jeff had settled on a two color scheme, which in itself is fine, but rather than having different colors on separate walls he wanted squares. Squares! Anyway, Tandy said, "yes, ok." I have since been trying to teach Tandy a new word that many would consider the linear opposite of yes. Well, the damage was done, (Squares? Sigh.) and the painting was begun. Four walls of sidewalk gray and then the squaring could begin. Squaring begins by taping off the walls in an up and down pattern, realizing that the squares are not of equal size, pulling down the tape in an up and down pattern, retaping the walls, then looking at Jeff and saying Squares!?! what were you thinking? Why not stripes? After a break to go to Wednesday night worship and get some advice (lots of advice, some of it was even helpful), the walls were once again retaped in an up and down pattern this time in an acceptable manner. Squares were achieved!

Squares!


Taking the picture down the walls like this give it the illusion of being convex, it was really weird to look at and we thought that Jeff might need dramamine when we were done to get to sleep without getting sick.


Tandy thought that the walls looked like the Holodeck on Star-Trek The Next Generation when they were all taped up like this. She's really Trekkie that one, oh, I mean tricky. So, once the paint was (mostly) dry, you might as well get down with your squareness, right? She was just going to do a "few", but then Amanda wanted to try a few, and soon enough it was 1:00 am and most of the squaring was done.


The remaining wall was taped and mostly painted by the time that I got home from work the next day. Here's Picasso finishing up the last of the red squares. Another quick coat of red and off comes the tape. Voila!


The finished product looked much better than I anticipated. This project took 3 days I think and Jeff spent them in the living room on the couch. He had no idea that he was getting new bedsheets and stuff and was quite surprised by his black/red comforter and sheets. So far there have been no reports of motion sickness or sleeplessness from Jeff.

Next we will move across the hallway where no squares will be found. Stay tuned!

21774 - The Girls Room a.k.a. the Guest Bedroom

Tandy was going to surprise everyone by painting rooms and installing new curtainry and bedstuffs while we were gone to camp. The secret got out though and on Amanda's birthday while Jack and I were out helping a friend with his blown-down fence, Tandy asked Amanda if she wanted to see her paint color and Amanda replied, "Cool, can we paint too?"

So, after a couple of hours of helping a friend I returned home to a wife covered in paint from top to bottom and a formerly white room with dramatic changes. Tandy and I later went to town for some groceries and we could see the bright blue through the curtainless windows all the way out at the road. For me it brings to mind memories of the ranch in Johnson City. The room that was always simply referred to as The Blue Room.


Here is Amanda in the mostly completed room. Her new bedsheets are blue and orange. The quilt on top is reversible and with Elizabeth's lime green and hot pink sheets it is a startlingly colorful room. I will post a picture later of the completed room with the new curtains, (also colorful) and the finished walls. There are currently plans for the girls to put bright colored, (green, orange, yellow, etc.) handprints and stars and stuff all over and they will also put their names over their respective closets in, wait for it, silver.

Later, we had some LC's pizza for dinner, and then Amanda cut the ice cream cake and the cookie cake. Craig likes cookie cake. Believe it or not, Jack made a smart remark just prior to the taking of this picture.

So, that was Amanda's birthday-day, (we did a small party thing after camp). Once the painting got started, it was hard to stop. Hang on, there's more on the way.....

Minor Adjustments at 21774

So, how do you make a house, a home? Little by little. 21774, formerly route 1 box 110A, has been home for me for a long, long time even though things have changed over the years. I can't run and play on the other side of the creek like I did when I was younger because there are some trees down and it has grown over a little bit. But, it was never really mine until I signed papers for it 2 years ago. So, to make it mine I work the yard trying to get it back under control and make it a place that the kids can run and play in. I am desperately trying to win the war against poison ivy but so far have only succeeded in making it mad. I have killed and pulled up bags full already early this spring, which is great, but I must say that the new growth since then is absolutely lush. Leaves of 3 let it be they say, but I say Leaves of 3 kill it me!!

We are also working the inside little by little to make it uniquely ours. I posted previously about some of the changes. The next few posts will highlight more recent changes at 21774. It is slowly becoming our home. It's about time I guess, we've been there 2 years now. Audrey said the other day when she saw the changes that, "It looks like my uncle Craig's house now." That was really a sweet thing to say and Aud, I appreciate it.

So first up is a "minor adjustment." We purchased a new refrigerator a few weeks ago. Our old one died almost a year ago I guess and we borrowed Richard and Angie's extra one for a while. It's a side by side and the shorter doors really work well at the end of that counter even though the refrigerator is bigger than the old one was. Speaking of bigger......the house was built in 1973 and the spot for the refrigerator is pretty much standard sized. Standard for 1973 that is. Since then, refrigerators have gotten bigger, but the spot has not. So the excitement of a new refrigerator was briefly dampened by the realization that it would not fit in the spot made for it. Minor adjustments were required. I debated cutting the countertop back to increase the space, but Tandy wouldn't let me do that. As I began to cut the trim on the dining room side of the spot she realized, "Oh, if you cut my countertop, I get a new one don't I?" Oh well, maybe next time. What I thought was going to be a big operation turned out to be pretty simple and although it needs a little touch up paint, it looks pretty good.


More to come, stay tuned.......

For This Reason......

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24 (NASB)

Well, there you have it. It's pretty simple really. Man grows up, man leaves home, finds a helper, ("It is not good for man to be alone."), becomes one with his wife, and eventually, (with a few exceptions), become father and mother and the process begins again. It is the way we were designed to interact with one another from the beginning. It is natural and it makes sense. Man and Wife fit together. They are uniquely designed to compliment and to enhance each others qualities by their differences, not in spite of them. Man and Wife become one in a way that no one else can; emotionally, physically, and spiritually. These bonds are described in detail in the books of Genesis, I Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians as well as other scriptures in the Bible. Nowhere, however, is there made a provision for any other type of family system and it is a perversion of the Word to press these natural functions into any other mold to suit a personal preference.

How can Man and Man or Wife and Wife become Mother and Father? How can either become one flesh? Neither one can compliment the other, because they are the same. It is not natural and it does not make sense. The notion that this is the result of a gene is simply preposterous. An entire generation is being deluded into thinking that this is somehow natural. It's being taught in many schools and our children are buying into it as well. But I have to ask how is this gene passed on? The day that a man and a man, (or woman and woman), reproduces, will be the same day that an evolutionist creates life from non-life. When that day comes I will post a lengthy apology on this same blog to all that I have offended.

If you have followed the news lately at all you will know that Miss California, Carrie Prejean, made quite a stir when she stood up for her beliefs on this subject recently. I will not extol the virtues of miss Prejean in this post, and I have no plans to begin living my life by her definition of moral value. I do not know where she attends worship, or even if she attends regularly anywhere. I do know that she claims to be a Christian and live her life by Christian values. I also know that she does or has done some things that I would consider risque or perhaps even immoral, but then, so have I. If she is trying to live her life as she claims, then she is, perhaps, no more a flawed follower of Christ than I myself am. Just because she, (and I, and everybody I know), makes mistakes, does not necessarily make her a hypocrite. What this post is about is the one character trait of hers that has clearly been on display that I wish more of us who claim to be Christian would show.

She was asked the one question that she hoped would not come up in the competition. Her answer many say cost her victory in the competition. (You can make up your own mind about that but, the asker of the question, a militant, gay blogger who was one of the judges, gave her zero points for that portion of the competition and surely that hurt her chances.) After being vilified by the press and numerous other threats she was asked if she regretted her answer. Not only did she not regret it but when asked if she had it to do over again replied, "I would not change my answer." She refused to set aside her principles for the "popular answer."

Today I read an article written by one John Tantillo titled "Miss California USA Should Quit or Be Fired", read it for yourself here http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/05/02/miss_california_usa-2/. His reasoning for this is marketing. You see, she does not represent herself or her own ideals but that of "everyone." I'm guessing that he believes that all of these beautiful women that parade around for our viewing pleasure are not allowed to have any thoughts of their own, but rather be just hollow shells that follow the establishment rule. He says:

Now, Miss Prejean is using the Miss California platform to promote her own beliefs and her own brand –not the state she is supposed to be representing. As a result she is not upholding the responsibilities of her crown. She is, after all, Miss California, a representative of a state and a people that are many things but unanimously anti-gay marriage is not one of them.

Her decision to star in a television ad campaign for the National Organization for Marriage should be the definitive last straw in the question of whether she continues as Miss California.

From a real marketing perspective both sides (the Miss California people and Miss Prejean) would benefit from a divorce. The Miss California organization could regain its brand identity and Miss Prejean could freely do what she seems intent on doing anyway: representing her own agenda.

I'm quite sure that for whatever reasons miss Prejean decided to compete, "using the Miss California platform to promote her own beliefs and her own brand," was not at the top of the list. As far as I can tell, from the vote of the people anyway, California is not unanimously pro-gay either. I just don't see that she is "representing her own agenda", I believe she was asked a question and she answered it truthfully and honestly. And, o my, has she paid a big, big penalty for that. But really now, is there anything at all that she could have said that wouldn't have offended somebody? It's just not possible, I mean there is a chance that a majority of people that read this post will agree with it, but there is a greater chance that somebody doesn't agree with my opinion on this and will be offended. Anybody's opinion on anything, stated or unstated, disagrees with somebody else somewhere. It's only her "agenda" because so many that have a loud voice in the media disagree with her. by that reasoning John Tantillo's article, from its title all the way down to the last period, represents an agenda, no doubt. If Carrie Prejean, (and by the way what a strange name that is, Prejean, what are Prejeans? Shorts?), had answered differently what would the outcome have been? I would imagine that all of these voices that have blistered her for the last couple of weeks would have been vocal in a much different manner, praising her for her forward thinking and holding her up as a hero for "gay rights."

Ridiculous.

I submit that God needs more of His children speaking out publicly in support of His Word, nevermind the backlash when everyone finds out that we've got flaws. Legalized immorality is still immoral. It's still sin. But if we don't start speaking out soon, it's going to happen. I for one am tired of my belief system and way of life being brutalized daily and replaced by new "normal" and "accepted" values and behaviors. There is only one pure and exact truth, and I will use it as my guide. It's time to tell the media to shut up.

--end rant--

Craig

Update:
Before I could finish writing this post, the Donald comes out in support of Carrie:

"Carrie will remain Miss California," Donald Trump said at a press conference Tuesday.

Trump, who owns the Miss Universe organization, praised Prejean for her "honest answer" when she was asked a "very tough question," noting that it was the same answer that President Obama has given.

Ultimately however, Trump said that after careful review, the pictures taken were "fine," and that while some were indeed risque, many were in fact "quite lovely."

Quite lovely indeed Mr. Trump, yes in fact, generally speaking, pictures of half-naked women usually are quite lovely. It's just one reason why pornography is such big business. I'll not comment here on the morality of President Barack (an obscure passage in Romans) Obama and how well he has stuck to his statements of belief publicly, (or privately). **sigh**

Well, hooray for the Don sticking up for his girl. And hooray for Carrie sticking to the truth and winning at least a small victory for morals. And hooray for, finally, the end of this post.

See you soon,

CD

Breaking the Silence

It has been 1 year and 3 days since I posted on this blog. As I look back through the posts I see that it started out much like a self-counseling journal with a lot of posts dealing with feeling and hurts. Over time it moved into thoughts and ideas, musings and random irritations, and then finally, the post on the Expelled movie I guess would be considered political.

So, why am I back?

I was a bit stunned by several comments referring to how good I was at writing. And stunned also by who these comments were coming from, I mean, I had no idea that I had that many people, (well over a dozen!!..some of whom I had not met until I began attending worship at NorthMac) reading my blog. Anyway, those comments got me to thinking that perhaps I should consider writing again, and it is in fact, very therapeutic. But the real reason I'm back is because I am annoyed to the point that I want to holler at anyone who will listen and I'm afraid, once again, that this next post will be somewhat political/religious in nature.

So stay tuned for a rant, or discount my return to the blogosphere altogether if you wish. Either way, if you were at one time a loyal reader, I know you will first have to overcome your shock that I have posted again.

Peace,
Craig

I'm an Idiot

"Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed".......Go See It

Yes, it's a documentary. Yes, you will probably learn something. At a movie no less. But to hear World renowned leading Evolutionist and God-hater Richard Dawkins explain the origin of life here on earth is by itself worth the price of admission. I mean, I got the chuckles, but this lady in front of us was absolutely rolling with laughter. Get this......

I'm an idiot. Because, I believe in God and Intelligent Design. That makes me an idiot. Close minded, prejudiced and incapable of critical thought. Stupid. I'm an ID'er. Poor, poor pitiful me. Well, before you begin to feel sorry for me, let's examine the alternative for a minute. Logical, well-reasoned intelligent thought and critical thinking........

Says Dawkins when asked about the origin of life, you know, the big question. How did life begin?:

Well, we don't really know, can't be sure in fact, and let's face it there's really no way of being sure since we have no evidence that corroborates what we think that we might or might not know about the beginning of life, but.......

Perhaps, somewhere out there, (gesturing specifically to a non-specific area "out there"), just maybe, there was a race of very highly evolved beings that came to this planet long ago and "seeded it" for life. That is, gave it the jump start needed to begin life here.

That's not all, he goes on.

That race, of course, evolved in the same Darwinian manner until they reached the point that they could come and begin life on another planet.

So, I have to ask, how did life begin for this mysterious other race from far, far away? I suppose, if you follow his logic(?), then there must have been yet even another race, before that one, that evolved and "seeded" that race so that they could evolve and eventually "seed" the earth. And so on, and so on. Where did life begin Mr. Dawkins?

All of this intelligent, scientific information of course begs the question, when will we humans evolve to the point that we can go and "seed" the next planet "out there" for life? Or, is that why we are really going to Mars now "to explore"? Perhaps that explains why aliens always come to earth and attack. Because they are mad at their "parents" for seeding them on a harsh unliveable planet like Mars. Maybe "Mars Attacks" and "Independence Day" are documentaries too.

When asked, (several times), if he believed in any god. Any god at all mind you. Mr. Dawkins replied, "I can't. If I do profess a belief in a god, then everything I believe in, is false." What if there is a God, what if you are wrong? "Then I will say, Why sir, did you make yourself so hard to see?"

Well my friends, after weighing the evidence, I believe you can happily call me an unevolved idiot. The life of an evolutionist is completely based upon conjecture. There is not one shred of evidence to support anything on which they lay their entire belief structure, and that, is the only "fact" that is supported and upheld by every scientific experiment the evolutionist uses.

Disclaimer: This blog contains only the barest hint of exaggeration, everything else is as true as I can remember it directly from the mouth of "Dr." (what a joke) Richard Dawkins. For instance, "Mars Attacks" and "Independence Day" are completely fictional movies, not documentaries. Really, go see it, it's the funniest documentary you've seen in a long time. Unless, of course, you have been "seeded" with an open-mind full of logic and critical thought.

You Know What's Funny?......

When the alarm clock goes off and the song on the radio is, "Why Can't We Be Friends?"

It's 6:00 am and you've woken me up. Again. That's why.

Click, snooooooozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Did YOU do Anything Exciting this Weekend?????

I went to Jeff's last ball games on Saturday and then home to clean out the garage a little bit (we are still moving in). Nothing terribly exciting. Although Jeff's last game was pretty exciting. They lost on a last second shot that hung on the rim forever before falling through the net. Other than that, the kids went to their mom's house, Tandy took Elizabeth over to a friend's birthday party for the afternoon, and I just hung out at home and burned some of the trash that we had in the garage. Some old boxes that weren't any good anymore.

It was a nice afternoon, kind of cool with a slight breeze.

A little dry.

Excellent conditions for burning stuff.

Grass for instance.

Most of the back pasture in fact. Even with only a slight breeze grass fires are much faster than, oh I don't know, let's say a 40 year-old man running 250' of garden hose from the house to the fire one hose at a time. (Get a hose, hook it up, run back and get the next hose, run it out, hook it up, repeat, repeat, repeat) It takes water a little time to run out of a long hose like that and it doesn't have a lot of pressure either. It doesn't, for instance, fill up a 5 gallon bucket very fast at all. Which is not helpful when the fire has already extended beyond the hoses reach. In fact, this is about the time I would recommend giving up and hollering for help.

If your neighbor happens to be named Charlie or, Darrell (his son), you could yell CHARLIE!!! DARRELL!!!! or something along those lines and if you are very lucky one of them (Darrell) will stick his head out of the garage and holler back, "HEY WHAT'S GOING ON NEIGHBOR?" immediately followed by "I'LL GET MY HOSE AND WORK IT FROM THIS SIDE!!!, YOU CALL THE FIRE DEPT YET?"

I hadn't but they did and help soon arrived. A couple driving by stopped in and started helping us fight it, the county sheriff stopped by, and then 2 trucks from the Deer Creek Fire Dept. It didn't take them long to cruise around my pasture and Charlie's pasture a few times and get it all put out. They managed to get to the cedar trees before they took off in flame. And they managed to save the boat that belongs to the neighbor behind Charlie's place.

So when they arrived I finally got a chance to breathe something besides smoke and catch my breath a little. Charlie was out on his golf cart watching the goings on as he would say. I climbed over the fence and said, "Well Charlie, I decided you needed a little excitement today." He just laughed and said that "It just evens things up." They had started a brush pile fire a few years ago that got away from them and came into our yard he reminded me. "It's a shame," he said, "that it didn't go the other direction and clean up that eyesore over yonder (my neighbor to the north)." I think I'll leave that for another day........

All in all the better part of 3 or 4 acres was burned off Saturday. I guess you might consider that exciting. As Charlie said, it's a good thing we both keep those pastures mowed down good. It could have been much, much worse. He also noted that, especially if we get a little moisture, that in a few days it will be green all over. I said, "Unfortunately, my wife will be home before that happens." If you click on the pictures you will get a look in much greater detail.

I likes me some occasional irony, it keeps life light-hearted and fresh. Notice how the grass fire went all the way around my burn pile with touching it? Classic irony..............it's a beautiful thing.

Absence and Fond Hearts, Part 2........

January 30, 1929 - November 11, 2003

Jack Dodgen

"You can't choose your family"

It's a quote usually used in jokes about dysfunctional families. In my case it's a blessing. I could not have chosen for myself anyone better than the father I was blessed by God to have. I was told not long ago by a friend, "You remind me of your father". It's the best compliment that I could hope to receive. I only hope that someday I can be the same kind of man to my boys that he was to me. He was my hero and I greatly miss him.

I don't have any more words to say, but I'll happily read your comments if you have them and you are willing to share them.

A Song and a Brownie Frosted with Memories

Amanda's first chorus event at Deer Creek was a music and dessert review. It's an idea that was new to me, but it was a pretty good one. I mean, who would argue with free dessert while being serenaded? There were 2 long tables loaded with all kinds of dessert from homemade to store bought and 2 risers set up for a high school choir and a middle school choir. It was pretty crowded there, in the lobby of the Alumni Hall, and Amanda's group was set up to the side in the shadows so my pictures didn't turn out very good. The singing was great though and really helped the desserts go down. As if dessert needed any help, sheeeesh. The high school groups sang songs by class period and then in a combined group, then the middle school sang some songs and then all sang combined. The middle school group is pretty big, I didn't do an official head count but I'd say there was around 40 girls and 1 boy in the choir. All in all it was a pretty nice evening. I moved around the room and tried to get a decent picture, but I didn't do very well.

The stupidest thing occurred to me at one point. Mom had not gone to a lot of the kids events in the last year or so because she couldn't see to drive at night. It occurred to me that if she were still here that she surely would have been there to see Amanda sing that night, and suddenly I had the sads in full force. What's stupid about it is if mom were still here she'd be living at home and I wouldn't be and the kids wouldn't be at Deer Creek in the first place for her to come and see anyway. But, I thought it and it made me sad and on we go. I'm sure that this won't be the only reminder from Deer Creek that tells me that I miss mom and dad. After all, I'm living in their house.

I started a facebook of my own a few days ago. I never had any interest on my own, but a niece invited me, and a lot of the extended family has a facebook, so I joined up. They have started a group called I HEART the Lazy J, to remember all things Granny and Papa Dodgen. Well, I don't just HEART the Lazy J, I own it. It's my home. But if you HEART the Lazy J, and you're reading this, then you probably know why I'm crying right now and you know what I wish was different out there right now. So many years of memories of coming in the back door, not as the master of the house but just as the son. I guess I still wish on some days that I'll open that door and hear dad call out Hellll-oooo from the other room, or see mom sitting at the table drinking tea and looking out at her birds. Still though, it's home, and if I have my way about it I'll not live anywhere else from now on. And to everyone that is a HEARTer of the Lazy J, that back door is still as open to you as it has been for going on 30 years now. If you are nearby, stop in, anytime. It's a lot different now, but it's a lot the same too. There's a balance there that I guess I'm still learning. It's both comforting and saddening at the same time to look at Tandy sit and watch the television while she works with her needle and thread. It's new, and yet it sometimes brings a flood of memories of another gal that used to do the same thing. I don't know how to explain it, you either get it or you don't.

Come by, we'll have dessert and sing a song, then maybe we'll remember those that have led the way before us. After all, they were the HEART of the Lazy J, and they are the reason we love it so much.

Half-Baked Alaskan

I hadn't seen my friend Chuck in years. In fact, I pretty much gave up on seeing him. The last time he was here was for work-related training and he said then that he had pretty much reached the end of the classes for his line of work and he wasn't sure when or if he would return. Then, a couple of months ago, a mutual friend asked for my new address and how to get there so that he could pass it on to an old friend that wanted to come visit. Chuck's habit in days past was to just show up out of the blue. Sometimes school would last just a few days, other times it would be for several weeks. One Sunday morning as I was getting ready to leave for church, I went out the garage to check on something and I almost ran into him as I walked out. He grinned and said, "Am I too late for church?" Good times, good times.

Well it's been a long time, and this class was only a week long, but we were able to get together for a couple of visits while he was here. He came on Thursday evening the day before he flew out again. We had bratwurst and potato salad and Mountain Dew for dinner. I guess we've had that or something like it every time we get together. Then we spent the evening catching up on each other's lives. He's been to Iraq a couple of times, not to fight necessarily, but to help provide for and maintain the troops that did do the fighting. He went on a trip to Israel, (all of these adventures were with the guard reserves), and had some great stories of the holy land and some of the things that saw while he was there. He brought back some salt crystals from the Dead Sea. He said that the salt forms big crystals and sinks to the bottom and you can feel them with your feet, but even in only waist deep water you can't bend down far enough to pick one up with your hands. His kids, like mine, have grown up in the years since we've been together. He was shocked to see how big my 3 had grown. Each of them are now taller than he is, (although that's no great achievement, he's not very tall). He showed me the website of the church in Wasilla and some pictures of their youth group trip snowmobile riding and sledding. Time passed too quickly and soon we were saying I'll see you sometime down the road. I really hope to one day take a vacation to Alaska and visit him and his family there, fish for some salmon, or maybe do some other hunting, but definitely tour the mountains and glaciers with camera firmly in hand.

Some friends defy distance and time. Who knows when we'll meet again, I sure don't, but I'd bet when we do we'll pick up the conversation just like it was a day or two ago that we had seen each other and not months or years. Some other friends and us are talking about getting an RV and driving up to Alaska for a week or two. So far it's just talk, silly talk even. But who knows, sometimes talk turns into action and maybe one day we'll head North, way North.

Until then, Godspeed Chuck, take care....
I love ya brother....

11th Place Isn't Bad at All

Not when you haven't ever run on a team before. But Jeff improved from having never run to finishing in 11th position in his last meet this year. He was close to running in the district race the next week, but not quite, maybe he'll do that next year.

They started out back behind the school, about 10 different schools were there.

I saw Jeff in the middle of the pack and he saw me too and started to angle over towards me.

He looked right at me for that first 100 yards while he ran to the edge of the path in front of me.

Then he broke out in a crazy, ain't I somethin' grin as he passed by that I almost missed completely with the camera.

The next time I saw him was over a mile later and he wasn't quite as grinny as he was at the first pass.

But at the end, what was left of him was hustling towards the finish line in position for a medal.

Tired but well rewarded for his efforts, he got home in 11th place. Pretty cool. Deer Creek won the meet and finished with 6 runners in the top eleven in this race. Jeff learned what it means to be on a team and made some new friends. He had a couple of days off and then basketball practice started last week.

Go Antlers!

Just Another Day....

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 10, the 283rd day of 2007. There are 82 days left in the year.

On this date in the year:

1775 - General William Howe is named the interim commander in chief of the British army in America, replacing Lieutenant General Thomas Gage. He was permanently appointed to the post in April 1776

1780 - A powerful storm slams the islands of the West Indies, killing more than 20,000 people. Known as the Great Hurricane of 1780, it was the deadliest storm ever recorded

1795 - The United States mint hired its first two female employees

1813 - Composer Guiseppe Verdi was born in Le Roncole, Italy

1830 - Queen Isabella II is born, she died in 1904 and was queen of Spain from 1833-1868

1845 - the U.S. Naval Academy was established in Annapolis, Md.

1877 - the U.S. Army held a West Point funeral with full military honors for Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Killed the previous year in Montana by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Custer's body had been returned to the East for burial on the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, where Custer had graduated in 1861-at the bottom of his class

1881 - Charles Darwin published "The Formation of Vegetable Mold Through the Action of Worms." (Let's not forget Darwin's stellar posthumous work as worm fodder, no book has been published on that to this date but certainly evolution cannot continue without a food source. Thank you, Chuck!!)

1886 - the tuxedo dinner jacket made its American debut at the autumn ball in Tuxedo Park, N.Y.

1900 - Actress Helen Hayes is born

1901 - Henry Ford drove one of his own vehicles in his first and last automobile race. Today Ford is the only automaker that can lay claim to victory in the Indy 500, Daytona 500, 24-Hours of LeMans and Daytona, 12 hours of Sebring, the Monte Carlo Rally, and the Baja 1000

1911 - Revolutionaries under Sun Yat-sen launched their overthrow of China's Manchu dynasty

1917 - Jazz musician Thelonious Monk is born

1935 - George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess" opened on Broadway

1943 - Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China

1949 - Country singer Tanya Tucker is born

1957 - Milwaukee Braves win World Series game 7 over the New York Yankees, 5-0

1964 - the 18th Summer Olympic Games opened in Tokyo, Japan

1969 - Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre is born

1970 - Fiji became independent after nearly a century of British rule

1973 - Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned his office pleading no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion

1979 - Wayne Gretzky played his first NHL game and scored the first of his NHL record assists for the visiting Edmonton Oilers against the Chicago Blackhawks

1985 - U.S. fighter jets forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody

2002 - The House voted 296-133 to give President George W. Bush authority to use military force against Iraq. The Senate followed on the 11th

2004 - Superman actor Christopher Reeve died at 52, after becoming a paraplegic in a horse riding accident in May 1995

2006 - Google Inc. purchased YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion in a stock deal

Aaaaaaaaaaand, finally, in 1967, 40 years, or 14,610 days ago.......

The Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits the placing of weapons of mass destruction on the moon or elsewhere in space, entered into force

In 1967 there were approximately 3.7 million births in the US.
In 1967 the US population was approximately 179,323,175 people, 50.6 persons per square mile.
In 1967 in the US there were approximately 1,800,000 marriages and 479,000 divorces.
In 1967 in the US there were approximately 1,712,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)

The top songs were:

To Sir with Love by Lulu
Windy by the Association
Somethin' Stupid by Nancy & Frank Sinatra
The Letter by the Box Tops
Happy Together by the Turtles
Daydream Believer by the Monkees
Ode to Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry
Groovin' by Young Rascals
Light My Fire by the Doors
Hello Goodbye by the Beatles

Last but Oh, most certainly not least:

Craig Howard Dodgen, who is not a weapon of mass destruction and will therefore thankfully be allowed access to space and the moon if he so wishes, was born.

More than you wanted to know........

Fair Fireworks, It's Spectaculous!

I've only once or twice tried to take pictures of fireworks and they just haven't come out very good at all usually. I'm much better at taking pictures of roses that have just been rained on. And, while I'm thinking about it Annaleise, you are quite welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's pretty rare I think that you have enough available light to take pictures of fireworks, but when you are standing in the midway at the fair that is definitely not a problem. I think I still need some work on technique and some fine tuning but there are one or two shots here that show some of the colors that we saw Thursday night. The last one is a picture of the "big finish" and therefore has no detail due to the multiple simultaneous explosions. It's not a great picture, I just like saying, "multiple simultaneous explosions." Sounds like the guys on Mythbusters. Happy Birthday, Oklahoma!!

A (state) Fair Assessment of Tandiwork

Centennial day at the fair was Thursday the 13th and tickets were only 100 cents each. What a deal! Regular ticket prices were 8 dollars for adults so I saved almost 45 dollars on the entrance fee. Tandy entered two items in the fair this year, which was the other reason for going on opening day. As I understand it, we were far too excited to wait until the weekend to see how we fared at the fair.

Here is a picture of the whole gang, excluding the photographer of course, arriving at the fair. It was very crowded that night.
This is Jack and his girlfriend Mariah.

First stop was the arts and crafts building. Tandy was nervous and in a hurry to get there.

Jack's OSU blanket won 5th place! Doesn't that just beat all? Well, all but the top 4 places anyway. Not pictured is a crocheted OU blanket that placed 9th. Tandy was pleased with 5th place but disappointed that it didn't place higher. She says that she would like to make a blanket of several of the big 12 schools and put them in a book. She thinks the team colors of A&M and KU would make really nice blankets.
She was less hopeful about her tablecloth and was quite excited to see that it won 1st place. Now that really does beat all. Oh, except for best in show. For those of you that were there, this is the tablecloth that was on the guest table at our wedding. Not pictured is an extremely elaborate blanket with intricate details of an Indian (Native American) scene. It was easy to see why this blanket won best in show. What do you get when you enter stuff in the fair?
A blue ribbon and a yellow ribbon on this day. And a bit of excitement from the competition. If you make it by the fair this week, both items are in the arts and crafts building across from the live cooking show in the lefthand case along the wall. Check it out and tell all your friends, "I know who made that blanket/tablecloth." It'll be neat!!
What did I get at the fair this year? A cowlick and a corn dog. What else do you need?