Certain uncertainty...

Appetizer What are you proud of? Wow, this is a tough one for an appetizer. I am proud to be a small, tiny part of the work we are doing at Gracepoint Church. Does that count? Thing is, it really isn't "us" so much as it is Christ in us... Soup What is the best thing you’ve ever won as a prize? I am not a person who wins things, as a general rule. When I was in school and there were specific competitions, I had a better track record. I remember participating in the Duke TIP in jr high. Since we couldn't afford for me to go to their summer camp, they sent me some pretty cool books. Oh, man, my nerd alarm is going off right now... Salad Name something you do that is a waste of time. I am often found on the time suck that is YouTube . Oh yeah, and I will play Chicken Invaders until my wrist is throbbing. Main Course In what year of your life did you change the most? 2003. Married in December of 02 and moved 2800 miles away ten months later. Dessert Where is...

1) If you had something which changed your life, would you want to share that something with those whom you love? 2) If you had knowledge which would change the world, what would you do with that knowledge? 3) Have you ever witnessed a miracle? 4) What is your mission field? 5) What is the most important lesson you are teaching/ will teach your children? 6) What was the most important lesson your parents taught you? Seriously, I am curious. And that means you, you lurker-person.

Brought to you by Slate and The Explainer . When experiencing nausea due to post-nasal drip, it is a bad idea to read about the taste of human flesh. This might be what it takes for me to make that final step into vegetarianism. Ick.

I love numbers. I love how numbers can tell a story; I love how numbers sing a song, I love that numbers can paint a picture. But the stories told, songs sung, and pictures painted vary. Numbers can be, and very often are, manipulated. After reading this , this , and our power bill for March, I decided to do a little digging. Nevada Power has a "green power" program which we can choose to support (min $5 each month, but we can give more). This doesn't say how much guilt is allayed on the dollar , but I can pretty much bet it ain't much. See, this is where the money goes . Wow--three whole houses! (Mom, I know you can hear my eyes rolling, but please understand that it is totally justified.) Thankyouverymuch, I will save my ten dollars each month and use that money to buy something useful, like a programmable thermostat or water heater blanket. On to our numbers: Last year's average daily usage peaked in July and August at 57 KWH and 50 KWH respectively...

Woohoo! Big sale on McCall's patterns at Joann's this weekend. Everything was $1.99. Here is the take: Yay! Fair warning: some of you related-type people may be seeing some of these again.

Brought to you buy CBS, NCAA, and whoever made our too-comfy-for-lying-down couch. It is a bad idea for one to fall asleep watching the UNLV game and then wake up at two-thirty when one's darling husband comes come. It is a worse idea to take a shower at two-thirty and trick your body in to thinking it is up for all day. I wonder if it would be worse yet to go have a glass of wine and maybe get another couple hours of sleep? Sheesh.

Appetizer Who is your favorite news anchor/reporter? Why? Well, he is no longer an anchor, but I admit to having a teensy weensy cruch on Tony Snow . Does that count? Soup Name 3 foods that are currently in your freezer. Edamame, pineapple juice concentrate, English muffins. Salad If you were to have the opportunity to name a new town or city, what would you call it? Happydale. It sounds like an asylum, but I like it. Main Course What will most likely be the next book you read? That is easy: City of God , as it is next on my reading list. Dessert What's the first thing you notice about the opposite gender? Wow, this question totally touched a pet peeve of mine. Gender is masculine, feminine, or neuter; Sex is male or female. Gender is for words or a set of characteristics; sex is a biological designation for people, plants, or animals. So, what I notice about gender is that I need to make sure my adjectives agree with my nouns. (In Latin class, that is). What I notice about...

Found on the Las Vegas Craigslist under "pets"

Perhaps it is time to get that resume polished and circulated. Now that Mr Bush has given you his support, it is time. If you doubt that, just check with Donald , Harriet , or Michael . They'll tell you-- the death knell has been sounded. Incidentally, the local news this morning reported that you had been given the "thumbs up"-- it was scrolling across the ticker over and over again. I wonder if the irony was deliberate. You see, contrary to popular belief, the "thumbs up" sign was not given to spare the gladiators, but to slay them. Everything is in place for your demise, sir. I guess the bright side is that you could have been a fall guy in the last administration .

My boss came up with this little tidbit today... "Well, actually, Italian cars were very good until the communists came." So, there you have it. Communism is responsible for the poor quality of Italian engineering. Oh, and the death of millions.

Great Value = Peter Pan Authority = Science Diet I think I may start making Tele's food at home...

This is it until next week. I am going to abstain from unnecessary internet this weekend. I have lots of sewing to do and I want to spend some time with Jonathan sans computer. Oh yeah, and we are going to see Spamalot on Saturday-- super yay!! Appetizer Name two things that made you smile this week. Trying to bust my boss for sneaking a cigarette and instead catching him sneaking a peek at someones girlie mag stash. He actually blushed. Walking through Sam's club with Jon-- it's like color commentary for life. Soup Fill in the blank: Don't you hate it when ________? You have just gotten tucked in all comfy to bed with a good book and then realize that the front door is not locked? Salad When you can't go to sleep, what is your personal remedy to help yourself drift into Lullabyland? If it is really bad, I get up and iron. Otherwise, I simply close my eyes and listen to the cricket scores on BBC radio. Main Course What is something about which you've always won...

Katrina is hosting another reading challenge , and I am ready with my list: When I Don't Desire God (John Piper) I have been "meaning to" get to this one for quite some time. Crimes Against Logic (Jamie Whyte) Sitting on my bookshelf for way too long Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult) Because I need one more thing to make me cry. City of God (Augustine of Hippo) Ashamed to say how long this one has sat on my shelf. (Through four moves) The Twelve Caesars (Suetonius) Two of my favorites: history and classics. What could be better. The Aeneid (Virgil) In English this time. Der Steppenwolf (Herman Hesse) I missed this one in school. We read Siddhartha instead. As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner) Love love love him. The House of the Seven Gables (Hawthorne) This is mostly because I never could stand his work when I was younger. I am going to try again, with fifteen years under my belt. Ok, they are now out there for anyone to see.

Neil Simpson has a great analysis of a recent Time Magazine article . This paragraph particularly resonates with me: The author probably doesn’t realize it, but there is something perverse about asking the money question after the women are pregnant. They are assuming what they should be proving, namely that the unborn aren’t humans worthy or protection. If they want to use costs as a reason for birth control, that is one set of arguments. But once the human being exists we shouldn’t be debating whether or not to kill her to save money. After all, if we are just after cost savings, why not kill poor people outside the womb? Amen. What makes us fell the need to place an economic value on a life? Anyway, Neil says what I would like to have the eloquence to say. Go. Read.

Dr. Singh, my high school Latin teacher, allowed three parties each year: Pre-District Forum, Pre-State Forum, and an Ides of March Party. Ides of March was the only "real" party, I suppose. The parties before District and State Forums were also meetings and last minute polishing of orations. Of course, all of these parties were decidedly uncool. It was "Latin Club," after all. The thing is, I much prefer the uncool parties to the cool parties I attended. Perhaps my criteria as to what makes a party "cool" are different than the average person, but I would much rather party with people who can converse without resorting to single syllable words. I like sentences with more than four words, and I deplore prepositions at the end of those sentences. So, in honor of the holiday, I would like to share a couple little tidbits of useless knowledge: In March, July, October, and May The Ides fall on the 15th day, The Nones the 7th; And all besides Are two days ...

I love how God keeps trying to get through to me. I love how He speaks to me over and over until I get it through my thick head. I wonder if He smacks his forehead with the heel of his hand and exclaims, "Stooge!" when I FINALLY get it. I would. (What does it say about me that I can totally picture Terry Gilliam animation here?) I can almost picture God making one of those 1950's teaching movies : "Boys and girls, this week's lesson for Kelly is worry. See how she holds on to concerns and refuses to turn them over. Watch here, see the circles under her eyes. If only she would let me take care of things, she would be able to rest.' 'Here she is at work. Listen as her boss tells her how worried he is that there are starving animals. Oh, it sounds like she has made a breakthrough. She just reminded him that I have things under control. Perhaps this will be the end of our film, but I doubt it. Having known Kelly since before she was formed, I can ...

I try to avoid controversy here. It is perhaps spineless of me, but that's life. My primary reason for abstaining is that I grew up with the knowledge that opinions are "like a##h@les-- everybody has one." (Pardon me for being so crude) I have since been emboldened, thanks to this post over at Queen of Swords . Anyway, I heard a blurb on the "news" this morning about a pastor in Amherst who is refusing to marry any couple until the state of Massachusetts allows gay marriage. (I use the quotation marks because this story is far from newsworthy-- pastors have been doing this for at least 5 years) The story irked me enough to break my blogging silence on this thing we call marriage, and I know that some people will be disappointed with my thoughts. To those who are disappointed or surprised, please remember my crude second sentence. I am married. Happily, hard-workingly, wonderfully married. I was married according to the traditions of the UMC, and the laws...

My husband is darned near perfect. He has this one fault: making decisions. This is a typical conversation in the car on the way home: J: How was your day? Me: Not bad, not bad at all. Just pretty hectic. Yours? J: Oh, pretty good. I am tired, though. Me: Me too. And hungry. J: Yeah. Me: What would you like for dinner? J: Oh, I don't know. Whatever sounds good to you. Me: What sounds good to me is to not have to decide. J: (silence for at least a one mile)... I don't know...*heaves a sigh* Me: (crossing my arms) Hmph. Last night, however, I heard about this new book . Folks, I have solved our dinner decision problems. I simply need to made a bracket of dinner choices and let Jon do his thing. The Enlightened Bracketologist just saved my evenings.

My flesh? Sound asleep. Well, my brilliant plan to get to the implosion didn't work out so well. I was able to fall asleep pretty quickly (by 6:30 or so), but I awakened a little before ten. I didn't drift off again until just after midnight, so the alarm at one was not welcome. None of this stopped me from waking Jon and sending him out, though. Aren't I a thoughtful wife? I know. So, he went down to the strip, cameras in hand, to take in the sights. The full set of photos is here .

That is, the first one we will witness in person. It is 6 PM, and we are headed to bed. The alarm is set for 1:00, when we will climb into the car, cameras in hand, and head over to see the Stardust go down in a cloud of dust. Pictures to follow (if the flesh is strong enough)...

I think it is crazy that the Gore family has a monthly utility bill that is more than my annual. I also think that it is their right to pay for as much energy as they require. What I cannot stomach is the idea that he (or anyone) can buy his way into "carbon neutrality". I love that Vice President Gore pays himself to offset his energy usage-- priceless. BTW, I am not a economist , but I think carbon offsets sound like a way to assuage guilt and nothing more. Out here in the mojave, they are encouraging people to put rock in their yards, thus reducing their water usage. This is a great idea for water conservation, however, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to build a brick oven around a house, does it? Transpiration works for us all! I love that IKEA will be encouraging customers to reuse bags. This makes sense to me-- giving the consumer the choice. (At TJ's , they give customers drawing entries for each bag brought in-- either a cloth bag, or even reusin...

Saving time + Saving Money = Happy Bass Player's Wife. Pardon me for being excited about something so silly, but I am tickled to death that I can get milk delivered to my door each week. And by milk, I do mean hormone free, cold filtered, very very fresh milk . This means that I can eliminate at least two trips to TJ's each month, and any time I can save that time and money, I am a happy girl. Now Winder's is just in our area (Las Vegas and Southern Utah), but check out this page to find a milkman in your area (Continental US only, I am afraid). (Diamond Organics delivers nationwide, but they are a little spendy for me.) So, in this week of a kitchen WFMW , I give y'all the milkmen, not dead at all. Head over to Shannon's and see what works for others .

There is apparently an epidemic of phony accents-- I don't know how I missed this, but there were some interesting vocalizations going on during Senator Clinton's speech in Selma this weekend. The text is here. (Harmless enough.) But this is the fun part: I cannot get over this, really. As a southerner, I should be offended. I'm not, though. I am, however, practically wetting my pants listening to this. Over and over again. Drudge has a little bit more on his show. Podcast here. Not h/t Queen of Swords .

Lots of garbage floating around and not really coming out. I am looking forward to a weekend of rest and friends and not cooking dinner because it is officially grill season at the bassplayer's house!! In the meantime, I am participating in this week's feast, mainly because answering questions is all I can handle. Without further ado: Appetizer What does the color pink make you think of? Pink always makes me think of my sister-in-law, because she really doesn't like pink. Anytime I come across some pink little novelty, I smile and think of her. Soup Name something you thought you had lost, but later found. A letter from my father, which was included in my Agape bag my Emmaus weekend . I got up and 5:30 am on a Saturday and searched for it. It is a treasured possession. Salad In 3 words, describe this past week. Get over it. Main Course What are you obsessed with? Confession time, I guess. I am terribly competitive, and it doesn't manifest itself in the healthiest ...