Happy Wedding Day Iowa!

Congratulations Iowa!!!!

Show Them So They May Believe

This Sunday's sermon is found here.

Eight Months To GO!

The Truth

Fail

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Is this stupidity or a failure of the American school system?

Observation

I saw a bumper sticker on the road today, it said, "#1 Spartan Fan!" I had to wonder, "How does that person know that?" Then I had to ask, "Why would a company make bumper stickers or even tee shirts with the '#1' anything on it?" You could only sell one of each!

Do two fathers who both are wearing a "#1 Dad" shirt have to duke it out to settle who truly is THE "#1 Dad"?

Weekend Stuff

I have decided that Nick and I can probably survive anything! This is the third move we have made in as many years. I know we both are getting tired of moving.

Of course, the weather is not cooperating. It was wonderful on Saturday and we got two of the biggest pieces moved, but now it is raining and toting things in the back of a pick-up is not an option. So we switched vehicles. I will be loading stuff into the car and doing the drive.

Sunday went well. I was a bit in a tizzy because everything was all over due to the move. But the people were good about it. I brought the sermon that I was going to preach but decided it was not going to work. So I put aside the just preached off the cuff. Not too bad if I do say so myself.

I preached about how we need to learn to speak to the people in the language they understand. I also talked about how the term "Christian" is getting hijacked and how we are just letting it happen.

Then, more moving.

I Doubt It!

Sermon for Easter 2 can be found right here!

Why the Teabaggin Won't Work

The more I watch the news about the Teabagging, the more I realize the problem that they had: Nobody read a poem and it was light out.

The more I watch about protest, the more I figure there has to be something magical about bad poetry and candles. I could help the teabaggers by coming up with words that rhyme with "teabagging:"

• gagging
• bragging
• sagging
• dragging

And, instead of the Iambic Pentameter, how 'bout we do Limericks! Or, maybe we can be like Emily Dickinson and sing all the poems to "The Yellow Rose of Texas."

And people, really, if we don't have candles, how are people supposed to take this seriously! These teabaggings needed to be at night with candles! I know that you all are suffering. You probably had to use Lipton teabags instead of Tazo. But a few candles would have set the mood! Candles, poetry, a little mood music... Those are all things that make for a good teabagging.

But seriously, what is it about bad things happening in our communities that bring out every wannabe poet and causes a run on the Yankee Candle store? We have to have the protest, or vigil, or whatever, at night so that we can play with fire. And the bad poetry, please...

Now for something completely different..

Moving is going well. We are excited about getting to be in a city again. The weather has been cooperating. My cold seems to finally be getting better. Writing a sermon has not been a priority, but something will come together.

Here is hoping all is well in your world.

New Place

The New Place!!
Not a big kitchen, but bigger than what we have now.

Don't you just love the "Bring the Outdoors Indoors" rail? Hummm..... could the place have been built in the 70's?

And speaking of 70's, don't you just love the built in vanity? This is probably going to become dining central for the critters.

I am able to move because the job has been nuts. The 2nd in command at my old place decided that since another store asked for me, I was GONE! The new store didn't realize that I was immediately released... So I have two weeks off, without pay, to move. It will work.

Boy I hate the previous place I worked!

Easter Recap

Well, Easter 2009 is fading into the mists of memory...

Actually, the day was quite good. Sunday worship went well. We had a pretty good turn out. (Not as good as Nick had, but close!)

Then I came home and Nick had made a roast. He is such a good cook! It was great! We tried something different this time though, instead of making gravy, we poured the drippings right into the instant potatoes. It wasn't too bad, a little salty, but not too bad. Nick decided to call them "Gravatoes."

Since it was a sunny afternoon, I decided we wanted to do a little geocaching. (Nick was a good sport and went along. I am the one who gets into the high tech hide-and-seek.) So we drove around the countryside trying to find the cemetary so we could find the cache.

Of course, since it was nice, and since neither of us have to work tomorrow, (Nick has a day off, me, that is a whole seperate blog post!) we decided to see what was happening in the world on Easter.

We drove to Hell, MI and found that it was open! Kind of appropriate.

We then went to Ann Arbor to have a beer at \'Aut\ but they were not open.

Now we are finally home and just hanging out.

All in all, it was a pretty good day!

Happy Easter to all!!

Happy Easter!

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Happy Easter!

Here is the sermon for this Easter!

Maundy Thursday

I so love my job! I was told that I would be transferring to a new store on Monday. I called the new store to find out about schedules and when I should appear for my first day.

I have just received a call from the new store telling me that they didn't know that I was coming that way. I am not on the schedule. I am not approved to move.

SO

I have no idea what I am going to be doing next Monday. I have tomorrow through Sunday off. Then, who knows??????????

I got off work early today because I still am coughing an hacking. My nose is red and sore and I think I am dehydrating through my nose.

I just love our medical system here in the US. I have no sick days, I have no medical insurance. If I was sick for more than three days, I would have to produce a dr's note. (Dear Mr. Kotter, Please excuse Benton from work today because he is spewing mucus from almost all orifices. Benton's Mother Doctor) Now, to produce this note, I would have to go to the MD (did I tell you that I do not have insurance and would have to fork over $75 for an appt?)to get a note. And because I do not get sick days, I would be out the pay for those days. This whole thing would cost over $200. And this is just for a cold.

Oh, did I forget to mention the verbal "counseling" for not coming to work so I would not spew mucus into everyone's coffee?

Then, last night, Nick woke up at 2 am with burning, itchy, painful skin. We are finding that benedryl is working, but benedryl, and a whole four hours of sleep is not conducive to driving.

So, now I am going to go to Lansing to pick him up and drive him to his church service in Flint. Then tomorrow, we will drive to Lansing so I can get my car and do Good Friday service.

Then comes Easter!

And Monday?? Who knows!

Happy Passover

Polling Methods

A friend of mine who lives in Iowa just informed me he got a telephone poll from the office of Congressman Steve King (R-5th Congressional Dist.)

They asked him if he thought marriage should only be between a man and a woman. He said, "No" and they hung up on him.

Accurate sampling methods, huh?

Crazy Making

OK, I am about to take the whole management of the store where I work and throw them into the lake and drown them. They are complete idiots!

Case in point: I did not go to work yesterday. I woke up coughing, stuffed nose, and terrible sore throat. My throat was so sore I thought I may have had strep throat. And as I work with food, I decided not going to work was probably a good thing.

So today, even though I didn't feel much better, I decided to go to work because we are short staffed and I also need the bucks. When I got to work, I got called back to the bosses office and was "counseled" for taking off work. I was reminded that by taking off, it puts my coworkers in a difficult situation. To which I agreed.

Now, I need to mention that this is the first sick day I took since I worked at the place. The first sick day in over a year.

When I got back from the "counseling," I was given a paper and asked to read and sign it. On this paper it said that if we had a sore throat with fever, we weren't supposed to come to work!

So, I followed the directives I signed, and I get a mark on my record for it! Like I said, crazy making.

I did find out that my transfer has been approved, so I will be transferring stores next week. This info kind of led me to step out a bit and slam one of my bosses. She deserved it. She has no idea what is going on at Starbucks but will change the schedule when we give it to her. She placed a new person to work alone for four hours and to close alone. This person was not certified and should not be working alone. It is against the contract the store has with Starbucks. This woman is one of the worst managers I have ever dealt with.

Go Vermont!

This just in Vermont overturned the veto! Gay marriage is legal in Vermont! Do I hear the dominoes beginning to fall?

It's Snowing Again

Yesterday I woke up to over six inches of snow. Quite the change from the warmer weather we had been experiencing over the past couple of days. I kind of like days like this because you know that it is not going to stick around for long. It is snowing again this morning, light little flurries.

I am sniffling, sneezing, coughing, and my throat hurts. I took yesterday off and did absolutely nothing. I don't feel much better today, but we cannot afford to have me take another day off. So I am going in at 3 pm today, drugged to the gills. I hope it goes ok.

I do have the Good Friday sermon finished. I need to start working on the Sunday sermon. I cannot reuse one of my past ones because they don't just work. I like some of my past Easter sermons, but I do need to write one for this Sunday. I will have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off this week so that will be good.

Nick has to do services on Thursday also. I managed to dodge that one.

I feel like I got the whole Holy Week thing backward. Usually you go through the whole thing and then get sick. This year I guess I decided to get sick first!

He Did It For YOU!

The Good Friday sermon can be found here.

Palm Sunday

Well, now starts Holy Week, the most deadly week for clergy. What is sad is I am going into the week feeling tired. Then add the increased hours at work due to losing coworkers. And trying to get the transfer in place so I don't have to do a ton of driving to get to work. But enough of that.

Today's church service went well. I thought the sermon was ok, but the congregation seemed to really get into it. I had people coming up and thanking me for it. Looking at peoples' faces while I was preaching, I would have thought I was going to get lynched; but I guess it was good.

Moving is happening. Nick and I have been moving things into my office at church, but my office is not very big. I was feeling "boxed in" (yes, that was a pun!) today before service. But at least we are getting the stuff out of the apartment.

We probably won't be doing much moving today. It is supposed to start raining and then snowing. SNOWING??? And not just a little snow: Somewhere between 6 and 10 inches! Oh well, it won't last. Just Winter having one last hurrah.

Well, that is all for today. Have a great Holy Week!

Yeah Iowa!!

Gay Marriage is legal in Iowa!!!

My home state comes shining through in rainbow colors! People think Iowans are backward, but I think we are just well grounded AND visionary.

Life Mimics April Fools?

I guess maybe I either was too subtle or life is too close to April Fools jokes.

I was joking about quitting. I put the "April Fools!" in the picture to give it away.

What is scary is that when I did get to work yesterday, I found that life was a bit too close to fiction. We did lose another person at work. Then we had a manager saying that having two people who have only been training for a week and two day (respectively) working alone is perfectly ok. People are not supposed to work alone until they have been certified, which may take up to a month. We are all taking a hands-off approach to this. If the management says so, then who are we to tell them they are wrong.

What I also find sad is that in retrospect, the scenario I posted is plausible. What a messed up spot.

I've QUIT!

Starbucks has just pushed me too far! I don't know how they expect anyone to work in those conditions. They have fired two more coworkers. We are now down to three employees and two trainees! We cannot leave the trainees alone, so the three of us have to work to not only keep the place going, but to also train the new people. That means NO DAYS OFF! I have to come in on Sundays after church and make sure the close is done properly.

Well, I've had it! There is no way I am going to do it. They can just close the place down for all I care!!

While I am at it, I think I am just going to keep going and move to Montana. The stuff is getting packed anyway!

Sleepless Night

Sleep is not coming easy tonight.

I suffer from the logical error that plagues many with depression: the thought that what is now will be forever. It causes all kinds of problems. It creates a feeling of helplessness that is very difficult to drive away. Also with this thought is the underlying thought of: Is this really worth it?

The thought of "is it worth it" would not be an active suicidal thought, but more a passive feeling. It may be manifested in some lack of attention to detail or a carelessness in critical situations. I also wonder if it manifests as an "accident" to finally push the system to change? This last question is a bit frightening to me. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed that just about anything seems better than what I am doing.

Being tired, unable to sleep, and having a propensity to depression is a bad combination.