Busy, busy, busy

                I have taken a look at my schedule and the next month or so is so full of stuff that I won't have a lot of time to post.  I will post when I can, so don't despair (not that you would).  I just can't seem to find anything worth talking about for extended posts so I am just going to wing it for now.  This weekend was interesting.  I had duty Sunday so was completely unavailable.  Yesterday, the family and I went out and got shopping for school supplies done.  We also bought what we needed to launch some model rockets with the boys.  David has his built, Mathew will get his built this afternoon, and John should be able to finish his as well (John's is actually a higher level one).  I look forward to launching them sometime this week. 
                   As I said, my schedule is pretty full.  Next weekend I have a campout with the boys, which I am looking forward to.  Next week, I am in RTAP class.  That is a program for the military to help us transition to civilian life.  It teaches us how to write resumes and translate what we do in the military to skills needed in the civilian world.  Over all it is a great class that will help me as I move closer to retirement.  I will then be one week away from my trip to the grand canyon.  As I said, I have a pretty full schedule. 
                     Not much else worth saying, so I guess it is time to sign off.  Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Why are weekends so full?

           This weekend was an interesting mix of events.  First of all, we were blessed by a visit from my brother-in-law, Joe.  The downside is that we didn't get to dedicate a day to hang out with him since we had so much other stuff already planned.  But I am getting ahead of myself.  Friday afternoon, we had a septic expert come out and lay out what exactly would be required to repair our septic system.  The upside is that it is going to cost about half of what we thought.  The downside is, that we will most likely have to change the listing for our house from a three bedroom to a two bedroom which could cost us significantly.
            Saturday started off well with my bible study in the morning.  Joe joined me and we had a good discussion on Luke Chapter 12.  It was a good time in all.  Immediately after that we went next door to help my boys build pinewood derby cars.  The bodies were cut and mostly painted by noon which was the end of the event.  That was a good thing as I had to go to work at 1:30.  We got home, ate lunch, and then spent what little time I had left before work discussing the problem with my disc drives on my Computer.  I never did fully find out what my family did while I was at work, but I will assume they had a good time.  Sunday morning we had church.  Then we had about an hour to get back to the church to finish the boys' cars.  Then at 4:30 I had another meeting at church.  We finally were able to sit down and enjoy each other's company for about 3 hours until we had to go to bed.
          Overall, it was a great weekend that went well.  I now have to go to the pier so, I will sign off for the day.  Thanks for reading and, as always, thanks for reading.

What makes a great weekend.

           What a great weekend!  The weather was awesome (we actually had two days of sunlight in a row).  The time with the family was great and it was the Easter celebration.  In all it was wonderful.  let me break down how it went.
            I got home from duty Saturday morning and was able to enjoy a bath.  We got the boys to clean house (the wife and I did dishes and other chores while they worked) and were able to relax after lunch.  I then had softball practice at 2:30 (which turned out to be 3:00) and that became a scrimmage.  It was a great time.  Then we got home and went out for date night.  That makes any day great.  Anytime I get to spend 4 hours alone with my wife without worrying about my boys is a great time.
           Sunday morning came around I I got to work.  I was the coordinator for cooking the brunch for those serving during the morning services (about 200 people).  I was in charge of getting the food and making sure it got cooked and served.  I had a great group of people working for me and it went great.  We had a ton of food left over and everyone got fed.  I was happy with how it went.  I was also worn out when it was over.  the boys then invited a few friends over and we did an Easter egg hunt at our place and had a good time there.  Over all it was a great day.
           Then today happened.  So far, I woke up late and was about 30 minutes late to work and I have 2 appointments today.  The first is for my eyes (I need new glasses) and the second is for my Shoulder ( I need a new one of those as well, but I think I will end up with Motrin instead).  Either way it should be interesting. 
            Over all, I have to say this weekend was the best I've had in a while.  Not to many arguments and in all it was a good time.
             Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Three days of friends means a happy exhaustion.

            So I had a busy weekend.  Initial plans had us hanging out with friends Friday night and Sunday night.  That changed Friday night while we were entertaining the first of our friends.  Another friend called to see if we were busy and wanted to get together so we invited them over for Saturday night.  That made last night the first night we were able to get the kids to bed at a decent time since last Thursday.  I am still tired.  It was a good time and worth it though.  I do look forward to passing out in bed this evening.
            I am currently in the midst of planning brunch for 200 people and finding that it is a huge deal.  What makes it even more wild is, not only the fact that this is my first time leading such a deal, but it is the first time I have been in charge of something so huge.  I have some plans in the works for it, and I keep finding more and more that needs doing.  I meet with the church secretary today to finalize a few of the details and figure out exactly what I will need.  We'll get it done.
         Other than that, not much is going on.  I find that I am falling behind on answering my boys questions so I will try and answer the next one today.  I still have a few things left to do before that, but I should get to it. 
         Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Not your usual weekend.

           So this has been an interesting weekend.  As you may have noticed, I didn't feel like posting Friday.  I just didn't have anything constructive to say.  Mainly because I found out I was going to go to Graves this week and didn't feel like posting it until I told my wife.  This is a good thing as I can now participate in AWANA without interruption.  It also means I will be on days next month.
            I actually got of at a decent time on Friday and was able to spend some time at home.  Our 2 middle boys had special functions to go to, so we got to have dinner with our oldest and youngest on Friday.  Then Saturday, our second participated in AWANA bible quiz.  He did alright for his first time.  Then we got home and had about 4 hours to set up our food for Sunday's game.   That didn't go so well.  I messed up the hard boiled eggs (i think I overcooked them) and thus was unable to make deviled eggs like I wanted to.  I did set up the ribs though.
            It didn't get any better on Sunday.  I had to work overtime and thus missed church.  I got home around 3pm and we barely made it to our friends house for the game.  The down side was that my wife put the crock pot on keep warm vice low, so we had to wait an extra 2 hours to enjoy the ribs I made.  They still turned out OK, it was just a little disappointing to not be able to eat the ribs when I thought we were going to.  So, yeah, it was an interesting weekend.
          That's about it, so thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Short Pointless post

           It was an interesting weekend.  It has snowed off and on and none of it stuck.  We got our shopping done and managed to spend a little time with the boys.  Unfortunately they got sick Saturday so we missed church on Sunday.  In all it was interesting.  Today is interesting because it is snowing again, but this time it looks like it may actually stick around.  Tomorrow should be interesting.
         I really am at a loss as to what to say.  I really don't have any issues pressing me other than what I pointed out last week.  Luckily, we have the means to take care of our issues, we just haven't acted on them yet.  I really don't have a lot to say on top of that.  I will do some research or something and maybe have a decent post tomorrow, provided I don't get a snow day.  Anyway, have a great day.

The 2nd Amendment: What I read into it.

           This weekend was a bit insane.  It started off with duty on Saturday.  That went well until midnight when I got woke up to be told to go back to sleep.  Same thing happened again about 2 hours later.  Then around 3:30 I got woke up yet again to let someone into an office.  Needless to say, I was worn out by the time I got home Sunday.  I got about 3 hour of sleep before I woke up.  Then around 2pm my wife noticed the toilet was draining slowly.  After a bit of trouble shooting, I realized I was going to have to crawl under the house to fix it.  Since it was already dark out and I really didn't feel like going under the house at the time, I decided to put it off until this afternoon.  In all, the weekend wasn't all that great.
            On to the meat of the blog.  Today, I want to address an article I found on my local news site (KOMO news if you want to know).  It was about an anti-gun lobby holding a vigil.  The article was interesting on its own, but the comments following it really brought to light an interesting mix.  The majority of the comments (9 out of 10) were pro-2nd amendment.  This makes me wonder if the anti-gun movement is a majority movement or just something that a minority is trying to push on the majority.  That is beside the point though.  The real interesting part of the entire thing was the politicians stance. 
             To quote, "U.S. Representative Jim McDermott, (D-WA),  whose colleague is Gabby Giffords, said certain guns should be banned.
             "The whole issue of these clips that will shoot 33 bullets in an instant, you don't need that if you're hunting, you don't need that, that's only for war or terrorism, and I think they ought to be banned," he said."
             The funny thing is, the 2nd amendment had nothing to do with hunting and everything to do with defending one's rights against a tyrannical government.  I may not be a Constitutional lawyer, but if you read the constitution, study the revolution and historical era, it seems pretty obvious, why the second amendment is in place.  I am sure there are those that will refute some of this, but the fact is that the second amendment wasn't put into place to protect hunters and hunting, but to protect the people from their government and each other.  It reads, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."  The framers realized that without the privately owned guns, there would have been no revolutionary war.  This is why the second amendment reads arms, not guns or firearms.  It was meant to include any weapon needed to fight a war so that the citizens had the means to defend themselves and reclaim their government from a corrupt and/or tyrannical leader. 
               If you follow this thought then you have to ask about the word militia.  The idea behind this was in the definition of militia.  According to webster-dictionary.org this definition is: "In the widest sense, the whole military force of a nation, including both those engaged in the military service as a business, and those competent and available for such service; specifically, the body of citizens enrolled for military instruction and discipline, but not subject to be called into actual service except in emergencies."  With a bit of basic understanding, you can say that you are a part of the militia once you have signed up for selective service since you are considered available to serve and have not yet been considered incompetent to serve.
                To limit weaponry to only that needed for hunting spits in the face of the second amendment.  I enjoy hunting, but the second amendment in no way, guarantees the right to hunt, only the right to keep and bear arms.  In itself, that phrase is powerful.  It ensures you have the right to buy, hold, obtain ammo for, and care for your arms.  It ensures you have the right to carry, transport, load, fire, and show your arms.  It means that, sense the word arms is used, these arms may include, rifles, pistols, shotguns, machine guns, cannons, howitzers, tanks, rocket launchers, missiles, etc.  Look up the definition of arms and you will find that it is pretty broad.  Do I think I should have an M1 Abrahms in my drive way?  No, but I believe I have the right to it based on the definitions.  Besides, you have to be able to afford the weapons as well.
            Which begs the question, what, exactly, infringes on ones rights.  Does making it harder to obtain infringe on my rights?  Does a requirement to register my arms infringe on my rights?  What does that mean?  I don't believe making you register your arms infringes on your rights.  You are still allowed to keep and bear those arms.  Making it harder to get a weapon does.  Think of it this way, if what you have to do to get that weapon is more than it takes for you to get a drivers license, it infringes on your rights to bear arms.  This is especially pointed since a drivers license is not a right.  Could you imagine if you had to have a 30 day waiting period every time you went to buy a car?  Or better yet, a 30 day waiting period every time you went to renew your license.  Take a look at what you have to do in Chicago to own a gun.  Now replace the word Gun with car in that list of requirements and claim that it doesn't infringe on you.  "Cars aren't the same as guns," you say.  You're right, you have a right to keep and use guns.  You don't have a right to a car.
            Wow, I just went off.  I guess I had better end this.  I enjoy reading your opinions on this and would appreciate any insight you may have.  If I am wrong in something, please let me know as I am not above admitting when I am wrong. 
             Thank you for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Christmas foods: Or how to gain 10 pounds and enjoy every minute of it.

           It's a new week and time for the weekend update.  To begin, I guess I have to start with the final days of the show.  They went great.  My sons and wife enjoyed it and in all it was a great time.  The final cast party is tonight and I am looking forward to it.  In all, it was a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 
           That actually covered the weekend.  Between the show, sleep and church I really didn't have time for much else.  I did get to make my first batch of divinity today and it turned out awesome.  I look forward to enjoying more of it at the wrap party tonight. 
           Now for the fun stuff.  Since I didn't get any comments or suggestions for themes for this week, I think I will go themeless.  Themes get in the way of free thinking and free flowing thoughts anyway.  Today i think I want to talk about Christmas foods.  When I think of Christmas foods, the first thing that comes to mind is the vast array of candies.  Divinity is the first that comes to mind.  I love it, but I only make it at Christmas time.  Same thing with fudge.  Why?  Why do I limit myself to these treats once a year?  I guess mainly because I tend to gain so much weight when I eat them.  Then there is the question of Christmas dinner.  The variety of what is acceptable for Christmas dinner is as varied as, well, the candies available.  Some believe ham is the only way to go, while others tend toward a repeat of Thanksgiving with turkey.  Still others end up with a Hodge podge of meals that would blow your mind.  I lean toward the whatever is in the stocking and around the house, but I follow my wife's wishes and make a meal for supper.  We've been sticking with ham the past few years, so that is probably where we'll go this year.
            So what is your favorite Christmas food?  What about dinner, do you go ham, turkey, or the more traditional goose?  Or is there something else that you just can't do without on Christmas?  Either way you look at it, Christmas is yet another holiday, that is, at least partially, defined by its food.
            Have a great day and thanks for reading.

Thanksgiving: The turkey isn't just what you eat, it's what you're left with.

           Wow, what a weekend.  As much as I love thanksgiving, I am glad it is over.  As I may have mentioned last week we had a bug going through the house.  All four of my boys had it at one point in the week, but all were over it before the holiday.  Thanksgiving went off pretty well, the turkey turned out all right and the boys ate decently.  As of today, we have exactly 2 pieces of cherry pie left out of 4 total pies (2 pumpkin, 1 apple, and 1 cherry).  In all honesty though, we had to throw one of the pumpkin pies away due to mold (I forgot to put it in the fridge).  My wife got sick Friday and was down all day.  She was mostly over it on Saturday, which was a good thing, because the kids had gone insane by that time and needed to get out of the house. 
            With the sickness going around and the holiday, we realized they had only left the house 1 day the entire week.  This meant that by Friday, they had had enough of each other and were bound and determined to kill each other one way or another.  So Saturday morning, we took them to Toys-R-Us, gave them each notebooks (I took notes for the toddler), and told them they could write down whatever they wanted for Christmas.  They took a couple of hours going through the aisles writing down toys they wanted and now mom and dad have a long list to go shopping with.
             After that, we took them to eat at McDonald's, mainly because they have a playground there and it is cheap.  We let them go wild for about an hour then took them home.  Apparently, that wasn't enough because within 5 minutes, they were at each other again.  It didn't stop until late Sunday night, when we finally sent them to bed.  By then, both mom and dad were worn out.  So as I said, what a weekend.
            Thankfully today was a school day and they all felt well enough to go to school.  I got to make sugar cookies with my youngest and made about 7 dozen so all in all it was a good thing. 
           Well that's about it for today.  Have a great day and remember kids, the day is only cloudy if you look at the sky.  OK, that didn't make any sense to me either, but it is what it is.