Does this smell funny to you?

So times are tuff for a lot of people. I feel blessed that I have a job that seems secure, or at least as secure as a job with a company that is owned by a Belgian that is dependant on oil, can be. I'm not rich, never will be, unless you are interested in buying Diaper Boy, the game. I do, however, recognize that I need to tighten my belt, which is getting harder and harder with the ever growing belly that resides, well, around it. One way I've done this is to not eat lunches out as often. Most weeks, I eat out once or less, a far cry from 1 year ago. There are always exceptions, like getting up a 5:30am and being so damn tired that I walk out of the house without filling the cooler I call a lunch box. I'm just glad that I at east remembered to put my pants on before I left, perhaps I should put my pants in the fridge to help remind me. One of my new food staples is yogurt. I've never been much of a yogurt fan, but never hated it either. As long as it's fresh, I feel fairly safe in eating it. I had a really bad experience with a spoiled dairy product that I didn't know was spoiled until I had half a pint down my gullet and realized something was amiss. Said dairy product made a second showing in the sink as I used every stomach muscle I had to retrieve it. Seeing as how I worked at a restaurant, I caused quite a commotion in the kitchen. Today I opened my yogurt to see a slight "liquid" that was covering the solid lump below. I checked the date on the lid, May 19, 2008. Since today is April 23, 2008, I figured it was probably good and began to stir. I must have stared at it for a couple of minutes, thinking in my head "Do I try it?" Milk regurgitation was flashing before my eyes and I really didn't want to go down that road again. I gave it a sniff, smelled OK. I touched my tongue to the spoon, nothing revolting. I decided to dive in and keep my fingers crossed. I have little experience in the yogurt arts, so I'm not real sure how bad it can look and still be good, but I think this was ok. If you never hear from me again, seek out the AE container in my trash at work and sue the piss out of them, so maybe you won't be poor like me and forced to eat a rotten milk product for both health and economical reasons.

What time is it?

So we were awoken to a storm this morning at 3:30 and I haven't been able to go back to sleep. It hailed for probably 5 minutes, which left a huge pile of hail stones outside our front door. I took a picture of it, but it is still at home on my camera. Here is a picture I took with my phone at 6:30am. The pile is smaller, but you get the idea.

The boys were none to happy about all of the racket and came running into our room. By the time we got them back in their beds, I was wide awake. The worst part of the deal is the boys never went back to sleep either, pray for their teachers today, they will need it.

I think they are missing the point.

I read this article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080420/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_clashing_christians

The gist of it is, a bunch of "Christians" got into a fist fight on the site of the tomb of Jesus. I'm not sure, but since these two groups are on the same side, they might want to try and work things out peacefully. If you are standing on holy ground, you might want to follow the teachings of the one you are proclaiming to believe in. Just a thought.

Love and the Pope.

First off, the Pope is in the US and I heard something that I thought was weird, tell me if you agree. During his visit to Washington DC, he was given a 21 gun salute. Does that seem a bit inappropriate to you? I don't see how the leader of the Catholic faith, which teaches peace and love, should receive a blast from 21 guns to celebrate his visit. Release 21 doves or pet 21 kittens, but the gun thing? I guess our president is from Texas, maybe he had something to do with the selection. Perhaps it was a cabinet position called the secretary of parties, and Cooter had some extra ammo laying around. Seems like an odd salute to me.

I found proof that you can die of a broken heart. This is the first paragraph of an obituary in the Des Moines Register yesterday:

Colleen Wilbert went to be with her Lord April 13, 2008. Her husband, Robert Wilbert, joined her on April 15, 2008. They passed away at the Carlisle Care Center surrounded by their loving family.

As sad as this is for the family, how heart warming is the actual story. Sounds to me that he was so much in love with his wife, that after she passed, he just wanted to be with her, so he joined her. If my perception of the events is wrong, don't tell me. I want to believe that he loved her that much. (tear)

This is cool

It's called Freedon Ship, and if you haven't heard of it, it's a floating city. I'll include the website for you to look through, but I'd love to see this thing happen. I wouldn't live on it, but I think it would be cool to see. It's a huge "boat" that is actually a city, with a runway on the top deck and they claim a marina out the back. You can buy "property" on it, prices vary, see your real estate agent for actual price list, or stay in the hotel. It's supposed to have a shopping mall and a casino, 2 things every city needs, if you ask Iowa government. I'll say that the drawings make the thing look kind of ugly, but I'd visit given the chance. Does anyone else see "Titanic 2" in the future?



http://www.freedomship.com/

Not sure how many stars that is.

I don't know if you read the comments section of my blog, but if you don't, you have missed a great review. The highlight is, "This post is likeable." I about cried myself to sleep with the amount of kindness shot my way. I mean, likeable, please, I'm not all that. And to see that I'm read around the world means my opinions are wasting time in different languages and time zones. If I can just get a few billion more, I just might be able to shut down society for the 2 minutes it takes to read one of my posts, but I dream. I went to the blog that was attached and there was a great picture of a steak, which was nice, but I couldn't read anything else. I'm guessing they have advertisers that pay for each hit they get, so I tossed a few pennies in their pocket for the review, anything to help. Then, to top it off, I got a hug. You have got to love the Brazilians, so affectionate. Plus, anyone who will review a blog about kids with diapers on their heads, I like. My kind of people.

Part of my life.

If you know me, have read this blog, or are in my family, then you know my history of sinus problems. We'll yesterday was one of my banner days where I woke up with a sinus headache and I know, the rest of the day will only get worse. I spent an hour outside with Makiah and Max, throwing snowballs at each other (yes, we had snow AGAIN), then and hour laying in bed with a queasy stomach and that headache. I know my only relief will be to toss my breakfast and sleep, so without my permission, my body did just that(sorry, no pictures). I usually have a issue like this once a year, where it gets this bad. I hope this was it, cause that is a crappy way to spend a Saturday. I'm feeling a bit better today, but going without food for a day does a number on your strength.

I learned last week that one of the 2 guys that works for me is leaving to follow his true job path. I hate to see him go because he is a good worker and a friend, but I also know that he wants a career in accounting and we just can't offer that right now. Now I'm back to trying to hire another person to replace him. I've had pretty good luck at hiring in the past, but it's always a little nerve racking making sure you get the right person. I'm still waiting to hear what my travel schedule is for the rest of the year. Loosing a guy will make that even tougher, so we'll see how it goes. I do know I have a trip to Southern CA in Jan. to do a physical at one of my warehouses. Marcy is going with me, so I will work a few days and then we will spend a few days sight seeing. It's a good way to get my airfare paid for and some of the hotel rooms. That's a long ways away and we still have to figure out childcare, so keep your fingers crossed we get it figured out.

I just realized it is a little more that 2 months until we leave for the beach. The boys are really excited and have all ready asked about our next trip to the beach. I begged them not to worry about the next trip until we complete the first one. I have a bunch of brochures to look through to see where else we will go on our way down, but have yet to get them out to see if there is more we want to do. I'm hoping to have a better idea of what we are going to do over the next week, I'll post it when I figure it out.