I’m not Catholic. I’m not a fan of the Catholic Church. I’m not saying all Catholics are going to hell or anything. If you’re Catholic, good for you. I pray you figure out grace and faith based salvation. Many Catholics have.

That said, Catholics have a lot of traditions that are pretty good ideas. Lent is one of those. In the Bible, 40 seems to be a good number for fasting (giving something up). So Catholics, for Lent, give up something for the 40 days before Easter. This has also spawned a not-so-great tradition of “Fat Tuesday” (a.k.a. Marti Gras) which is basically a day to abuse all your vices as much as you can before you have to give them up for Lent. It’s kind of like eating a bathtub full of ice cream the night before you start your diet. Yeah. Whatever.

I think it’s a good idea to fast especially for something that you should probably give up anyway. And I’m a firm believer in the idea that if you can do something (or not do something) for a month, you can make a good habit (or break a bad habit) that will last. New Year’s resolutions are great, but they don’t have a short term goal like Lent does.

I’ve got to be more productive, both at home and at work. So for Lent (which started yesterday… Yeah, I’m late. Sue me.) I’m going to give up personal surfing at work and I’m going to get up a little bit earlier in the morning to do my blog surfing before work. That way I’m not cutting into my productivity time at home either.

I’m predicting the unfortunate side effect that my own blogging output will take a hit. Maybe not, but it seems likely.

That’s my committment. What are you giving up for Lent?

Have you ever tried to run through deep, soft sand? Or even worse, running through water along the coast that’s just about knee deep. It’s nearly impossible. You spend a lot of energy without going much faster than a walk. And if you do it long enough, you’ll end up falling down.

That’s how my life has felt the last few weeks. Crazy stuff going on at work has had me in meetings more than in my office. As interim youth minister (along with Tammy and another part-time staffer), we’ve been barely keeping our heads above water with event after event (staring with our Halloween night to this weekends Disciple Now), keeping the Sunday school classes upright and moving forward, and evaluating minister candidates. Tammy’s facing some health issues. And all of my various sports and hobbies have been stagnant.

With that said, let me assure you I am richly blessed. God has smiled on our home in ways I can’t explain, express, nor ever deserve. I just needed to vent a little and that’s what blogs are for, right?

Thanks to you, my humble readers, for your comments, cross-links, etc., and the smiles you’ve brought me. Don’t worry about me. God is my strength. It just feels good to whine about life once in a while. Just don’t let it become a habit! (That’s a note-to-self, by the way. Nothing more.)

My entire life can be summed up in this weeks white boa… Dangit, I forgot my lunch AGAIN!

How many kids with ADD does it take to screw in a li… HEY! Let’s go ride bikes!!

What a great game. I was rooting for the Cards. Oh well. The game was awesome anyway.

I saw almost all the commercials, but only heard about half of them because we put on a youth party for the game and the din was overpowering. It was a great party, just loud. It was the first year we got a TV signal in The Loft (our youth room with the concrete floor and exposed metal roofing) where we could use the stage sound system and big screen projectors.

The party seemed to be a great success. We did Superbowl bingo, a football squares grid, and an eating contest. I made chili for the first time in years. The mild batch was really tasty and several of the kids loved the extra hot batch. They’re stomach linings are young and strong. They should enjoy them while they have them.

The commercials this year where not the best ever, but they were pretty good. (I think last year was better.)

Here are a few of my favs (roughly in reverse order of how much I liked them).

Coke’s insect heist – Cute award

Pepsi Max’s “I’m good.”

Hulu’s mush brain

Monster’s moose mount

Bridgestone’s potato heads

Bridgestone’s hip rover

Career Buildeter “It’s probably time.” – Probably my favorite

Still, I’m not sure any of them beat last year’s talking stain. I still chuckle just thinking about it.

Be sure to vote for your favorite (and catch any of those you missed) on Hulu.com/superbowl/

When you’re planning a mission trip to Mexico (which I am) on which you will be responsible for several dozen teenagers (which I will be) stories like this have a deep impact.

Read Yon’s note, then follow his link to listen to the radio news piece. In a world as complex and interconnnected as ours, don’t take anything for granted.

I made a very short trip to my folk’s ranch this weekend. We only got to share two meals. But we did run through about $40 worth of ammunition. I delivered Mom’s Christmas present, a snub-nosed .357 revolver. Dad set up a really nice little gun range in a deep creek bed. Mom seemed to have a great time and she is a crack shot. I strongly recommend against showing up on the ranch with malicious intent.

While I was there, I got caught up on the family news and was really surprised (as I always am) to hear how many distant family members are following the blog (many of whom I have not seen in years if not decades).

Gee, no pressure there!!

So, again I find myself apologizing for my lax performance. I know you all must be thinking how rotten it was of me to do just a handful of Work-From-Home-Friday videos and then leave you all hanging for over a month. And I assure you, the wait is far from over. (Maybe it’s my way of getting back at the Universe for the cancellation of Firefly.)

Sadly, I am forced to make the difficult decisions, like spending my time raising up other people’s kids to be Godly men and women instead of filming myself in the shower with my clothes. It’s a tough choice!! But, and I know you may not agree, my fear of God is bigger than my fear of my second cousin whom I’ve not seen since before puberty.

Forgive me, dear readers. And, if you have grace enough, don’t give up on SYNS. There will come a day when my time will be own again and this blog shall rise from the ashes like a phoenix… in the shower… with its clothes on!!

Amen.

As I mentioned, I’ve backslid pretty badly on the nutrition and fitness front. I like to say I’ve padded my weight so I’ll have better weight loss numbers to brag about. But the truth is, I’ve just been lazy and gluttonous over the holidays. Sadly, those days are over. Time to get healthy again. Which brings me to the first white board quip of twenty aught-nine.

Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

Yes. Yes it was. Thanks for asking.

Today is Boxing Day. The weather in Dallas was very… Dallasy. Muggy, windy, and nearly 80 degrees. So, we spent most of the day indoors, enjoying every minute of our “us” time.

For Christmas, St. Nick surprised Tammy with a Wii. I did capture her ecstatic proclamation on video (“We got a ‘weewee’!!”) but I doubt it will ever see publication. *wink* We did go out and do a little shopping to find Mario Kart. We played Wii sports, Mario Kart, and Lego Batman with great relish. (And yes, both of us are feeling the wee effects of Wii sports. I’m too young to be this old.) As I type this, Tammy is in the other room virtually cursing and virtually throwing her virtual clubs into the virtual lake. (“No! Too hard! Oh no! Not in the trees!! STOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOP!!”)

I got a plethora of t-shirts, some not even from my wish-list! I also got a professional tripod to get my photography “tack sharp.”

Tammy made a feast fit for a king and we’ve been enjoying the leftovers: ham, stuffing, and green bean casserole, plus pie and cake!

Speaking of pie and cake, I’ve spent the last month diligently preparing for my new years bulge battle. I figure if I “pad” my numbers before the 1st, then I can brag of losing more weight! Pad… get it? Literally!!

We also made two trips to the movies. Bolt was “so awesome” (Once you see it, that line will make you giggle.) And Despereaux was inspired. Seriously. Reviews to follow.

Now, I’ve got some actual work to do, which I am procrastinating on at this very second. Need to prepare a few Sunday school lessons and nail down plans for the youth New Years Eve parties.

Today, I finally had some time to download all the video from my camera. There’s lot’s of holiday stuff on there, the 70’s Thanksgiving youth party, Thanksgiving in Amarillo (including a trip to Arnold’s you don’t want to miss) and Tammy and I decorating for Christmas.

It’s been a nutty holiday season for me. I can’t believe it’s almost over. I’m working at the church for a few hours tonight, then about five hours tomorrow morning, a youth party tomorrow night, church on Sunday, and a teacher’s party Sunday night. I doubt I’m going to have time to edit this new footage.

I know the excuses are getting old, but I really can’t wait to get it up and posted. It’s burning a hole in my… harddrive… I don’t think that makes sense.

I’ve updated my T-Shirt wish list! w00t!!

Clicky clicky.