Miles to go before I sleep

Yep. I have to pick up Emily from the airport in Sac tonight after 11pm. Her flight from NYC is supposed to land at 11:18. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for her luggage and can get by with the free 30 minute parking. If not... oh well.

Got a free CD in the mail today. Matt Maher's Empty & Beautiful pre-release CD arrived and is already loaded into my iTunes. I just need to plug in my iPod and update it now. Many thanks to Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer for announcing this freebie.

Looking forward to tomorrow night's American Idol. I haven't heard yet what the theme is... I'm very curious. Last week's results were quite surprising. I can only imagine what this week will bring.

Read a really good book last week and have been meaning to mention it here, but I kept forgetting. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah is the story of two girls who become friends in the 8th grade and how that friendship grows and changes as they go through life. If you grew up in the 70's/80's/90's, you'll find yourself reliving scenes from your life as you are reminded of the music/tv/pop culture of the times. Kate and Tully's unlikely friendship, forged as outsiders in their school, spans over 30 years. We see them make tough choices, bad choices, impossible choices... And in the end, you will feel as if you knew both of them.

Spring break

We're all on spring break here in the Pass the Prozac house (well, everyone except Brian...). Emily is getting plenty of driving practice. She drove a bit over the weekend (to church and back, to the BX, the shoppette) and has taken every chance she can get to get behind the wheel this week. I think she will be a fine driver once she has a few more miles under her belt. She hasn't been out on the highway yet ... I think I'll let her dad handle that!

Sunday was a rather long day... it began with me waking up a bit later than I had intended. I didn't set an alarm, and my usually reliable internal alarm didn't wake me up until 6:22. Wouldn't have been too bad if I wasn't supposed to be at church at 6:45 for rehearsal before the 8am worship. BUT... I managed to shower, dry my hair (mostly), throw on foundation and clothes, and be driving out the main gate of the base as the clock read 6:45. I hit every light on green except for 1, never exceeded the speed limit, and made it to church by 6:55 (I even put on my blush and lip color while I drove. Anyone know the new term for that?? You can see it here.). There were others not there yet (although most were) and they hadn't started. Can you say "lucky?" Anyhow, sang for 3 services and left church a little after 12:45. Brian was busy at work grilling steaks for our Easter dinner. My legs were killing me from standing so much at church... counting rehearsal time, probably 3 hours or so. I'm still working out the soreness.

Had fun tonight chatting with John Dobbs tonight while he was doing a live u-stream during American Idol. I was able to get a little preview of what I would get to see out here on the left coast by listening/watching the broadcast on his tv when he turned his webcam to show me. I'm hoping more of his regular readers will come and chat with us next week. (Hey Terri, Donna... I'm talking to you! And anyone else who comes here that also reads John.)

And about AI, I know I haven't said much about it this year. I'm not as thrilled with the top 10 as I was last year's.... can't see myself going to the tour concert with Emily this year unless she is just dying to go, but even she isn't as into it this year as she was last year. My favorites are David Archuleta, Brooke White, Michael Johns, and David Cook. For some reason, I don't want to like David Cook... but I can't deny he has talent.

In other news.... who has/hasn't heard Chris Sligh's new single??? (Remember Chris?? AI top 10 from last year?) Go. Get. It. Now. It is titled Empty Me, and is great. Ask John... he took my advice. If you want to hear it first, I found what I think is the entire song in streaming media here.

No big plans for the week... just keeping up with the house and laundry and watching the kids enjoy their free time. They've been having a blast playing with their friends who are also on break this week. Friday night is a big 6-month celebration for Celebrate Recovery at church; we're having a barbecue dinner before the usual start time. I'm on worship team and will have to arrive an hour earlier to get in a little rehearsal time. Of course, I don't mind, since I like singing.

I'm ready to kick back with a little HGTV before turning out the lights... hopefully I'll have more to tell soon.

Good stuff

Maybe I am one of the last people to hear about this guy, but I have to mention Dr. Randy Pausch and his "Last Lecture". Randy is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in his last weeks of life; he has been fighting pancreatic cancer since Sept. 2006 and was told late last summer that he had about 3-6 months of good health left. Amazingly enough, the latest update at his website 2 days ago shows him still enjoying good health. At any rate, you owe it to yourself to watch the video of his lecture (also available with closed captioning), or at least read the transcript. Personally, I preferred watching him. He has a remarkable outlook on life, and I guarantee you that what you will hear is not what you'd expect from a man who is dying and is the father of three young children. It is a little over an hour long, but worth it. He did do a very condensed version (around 10 minutes) on Oprah, which can be found at YouTube if you search for his name and Oprah.

Newest favorite song: In Your Presence, by Charity Von. Actually, until I looked for it at iTunes, I had no idea who sang it. It is one we've done a couple of times at church. Simple song, simple melody, easy to harmonize with. Check out the lyrics (and then get yourself a copy):

In your presence
I find comfort
In your presence I find peace.
In your presence
I surrender
Lord, I give you all of me.

And in your presence
I fall on my knees.
For you are worthy
In your presence
I hear angels sing,
"Holy! Holy! Is the Lamb of God!"

Forgot to mention that last weekend was our ladies' retreat/conference at church. We were blessed to hear from Renee Swope, from Proverbs 31 Ministries. Can't say enough nice things about her. She was so transparent with us about her life and what God has brought her through. The weekend left us all renewed and refreshed.

Playing catchup

So last Sunday I was ready for the weekend to be over, and tonight I am actually ready for it to start. (Although I dare say this weekend will be full of all kinds of work around the house again...)

It's been a jam-packed week of activities, none of which included moving furniture. Of course there was the usual running to and from Emily's school, with occasional stops for Starbuck's on the way. I don't think I ever told about the morning I drove through Starbuck's after dropping Emily off. Rory was in the front passenger's seat and wanted to share my hot chocolate with me. The barista volunteered a cup of whipped cream to entertain her. She *loved* it. And I was able to drink my hot chocolate in peace.

On Wednesday, the kids and I attended KUDOS (Kids Understanding Deployment OperationS) with our neighbors. The kids got were issued "uniforms" (desert-colored t-shirts with the KUDOS logo on them), got some camo face paint, and went through "out-processing", where they received dog tags, "passports," and some other gear (including a pocket Bible). They got to see chem gear, satellite equipment, and walk through a C-5 airplane (these are huge cargo planes that are large enough to carry 6 Greyhound buses, plus passengers upstairs). They learned a little bit about some military customs (coin checks), saw examples of ordnance (land mines, mortars, etc.), tried on protective gear, and manned a fire hose. All that, then they received a "homecoming" complete with flag-waving and music. Our neighbor and her children were decked out in some of her husband's flight suits, so they definitely looked the part. They were actually interviewed by an NBC station (one that we don't get here, for some reason).... I am waiting to see if there is ever anything put up at the website to see from that. One of the local papers also interviewed my friend and published a picture of our group walking across the tarmac after deplaning the C-5; one of her kids and Halle are very easy to see in it. Unfortunately, this newspaper only allows subscribers online access, so I couldn't even see the article online.

Today the kids were treated to some fire safety lessons. They got to go through the base fire department's "fire trailer," which offers a simulation of the kind of smoke you could have if your house were on fire. The kids were able to see (or not see, as the case may be) how difficult it was to see anything through the smoke (the fireman explained that "real" smoke would be even harder to see through) and practice getting down under the smoke and evacuating the trailer by exiting a window and using a fire escape ladder. In addition, the older kids were able to operate some simple liquid fire extinguishers.

And while we're on the subject of fire safety: A friend sent an article to our homeschool list about a news story about the usefulness of smoke alarms. It appears so many children sleep through them, that they really don't do the job they are intended for. If you or someone you love has children, please read this news story.

I wound up not attending our homeschool group meeting last night... I opted for praise choir rehearsal instead. This weekend, the church is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a large outdoor service and I will be helping out by adding my voice to the praise choir. We'll have to take 2 cars on Sunday, because I will need to be there at 8:30 (service starts at 10).

I was able to serve at Celebrate Recovery tonight by being part of the 3-person worship team for it. I really love using my voice like this... a few people were talking to me afterwards tonight about it and I said that I felt about singing the way Eric Liddell (the Christian runner in Chariots of Fire) felt about running. He said, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." When I sing, I feel God's pleasure. Is there anything you do that causes you to feel His pleasure?

I guess I've gone on long enough... you know this week will be more of the same, plus getting ready for a birthday sleepover next Friday night for Halle's 9th birthday. Hopefully we will get a lot done as far as cleaning and rearranging furniture before then!

There it goes...

Just watching the $$ fly by this weekend... We took the kids to the movies yesterday afternoon to see the latest Shrek installment. Kids loved it. We laughed as well. I liked the music; these guys have a great way of using old songs in the soundtracks. I wonder how many more Shrek films they'll be able to squeeze out before the Shrek gravy train runs out?

Then I bought 2 tickets for Emily and me to go see the American Idols tour when it comes to Sacramento in July. OUCH. That was painful. But Brian pointed out that he has spent that much taking Noah to baseball games, so it was definitely the right thing to do. All the floor seats were taken already (although there were auctions for floor tickets beginning at $90), but we still managed lower level seats that will hopefully give us a decent view.

I also reserved us a room for the homeschool conference in Modesto at the end of July. Thankfully the conference negotiated pretty good room discounts and we'll be staying at a nice place right next to the convention, a Doubletree. The kids will have their own conference to attend, so they will have plenty to keep them busy while we're attending sessions and shopping. I haven't registered them yet... that will be a few more $$ to add to the outgo.

Surprisingly enough, tonight's activity is actually FREE. We're heading out to the local ballpark (which closes at the end of the month due to not enough support) for a free concert. It's actually a full day of concerts that started earlier today, but we are mostly interested in the last 2 performers, Lincoln Brewster and Todd Agnew.

Very cool song

They've been playing this song a lot on XM32; it's a new group called Rush of Fools. Love the lyrics and the harmonies in it! I wanted to post the actual group video, but they don't have it on YouTube. You can see their video at their website, though. At least this way, you get to see the lyrics.

Happy Easter

The Easter Song, Glad

Music, music, music (or "I've been tagged")

Before I get to the real reason for the post, thanks to everyone who got a kick out of my little April Fool's post. Believe me, if it hadn't been a joke, I don't think I'd be in any shape to be writing blog posts. I'd probably be in a nice little padded room, pumped full of happy pills.

My favoritest Omaha preacherman, Jim, tagged me this morning with a music meme. He said that I'd "love it." He knows me pretty well. I'm supposed to list 7 songs I'm listening to these days. So here goes:

1. You Never Let Go, Matt Redman: I love the reminder that God is holding onto us whether we are enjoying a time of peace or a painful time. The singer in me loves the harmonies in it.
2. He's Always Been Faithful, Sara Groves or Zoe Group: I have both of these on my IPod and listen to both versions. Zoe's acappella track is mesmerizing. Like #1, it reminds me of God's faithfulness and helps me see past today's "light and momentary" troubles.
3. I'll Join the Rocks, FFH: More great harmonies... and it talks about continuing to sing and praise God even when all the other singing stops.
4. Blessed Be Your Name, Tree 63: I'm sensing a them here... praising God in any and all circumstances. And there's harmony! (We sang this one and #1 yesterday at church... I was definitely into it.)
5. I Will Lift My Eyes, Bebo Norman: More harmony! I guess it goes with the theme of most of the other songs on my list right now, too.
   
6. We Fall Down, Kutless: Probably about as rockin' as I get... has an awesome guitar part at the beginning. And has some cool harmony (as if you couldn't guess).
7. Everlasting God, Lincoln Brewster: Part of me wants to say, "It has a good beat and you can dance to it." I just enjoy everything about this one... the music, harmonies, and words.

Funny, this was harder to do than I thought it would be. And I could probably pick a whole lot more, but then you'd get really bored.

Friday fun

Happy Friday to all and welcome to the weekend! It's opening day for the new Disney flick, Meet the Robinsons, and I imagine we will make time to take the kids at some point this weekend. Would love to see the Digital 3D version, but it appears the closest theater for that is about an hour away in Petaluma. We'll have to think on that one.... You know I'll post my review once we do see the film.

We have a fairly full day today, what with the usual school and chores around here. We're invited to a park day in the afternoon, so we will have to work diligently if we hope to go. Then once we get home from picking Emily up from school, Noah and Halle will have piano lessons, and I have an appointment to get the tubing replaced on my hearing aids.

Here are some links for your perusal this weekend:

They didn't study. I don't know if I would have had the guts to try this when I was in school, but it sure makes for some fun reading now.

5 Minutes for Mom is giving away a free Dyson vacuum. Not just any Dyson, but a new lightweight version. Sounds like the perfect vac for folks in a 2-story house... something easy to carry upstairs.

This sounds like a great CD. I've already heard a couple of these songs on XM 32, I think. Either that or at the Worship Together website. (If you're a sheet music junkie, register at the WT site... they give free sheet music downloads each week!). Oh, and BooMama is giving away one of the CDs (but don't feel like you need to go give me any more competition for one).

Your daily dose of "Awwww..." You know research has shown that looking at cute is good for your health, so click!

Hi-tech help for lost children. What a very cool idea.