Month: October 2009

Abundant Life

Teaching: Truth Matters – Part Three

Karen

Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.

If you would like to read my views on religion and how we got started with the ministry, you can read this.

Let’s get started:

There is a saying, “If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.” That is all well and good if you are looking for a duck. But what if you are searching for truth? What does truth look like? Truth has certain characteristics that distinguish it, and set it apart from theories, ideas, opinions, faith, and of course, untruth and lies. Christianity asserts certain specific truths, starting with the existence of God, the Father of Jesus Christ. If we Christians know the characteristics of truth we will be more able to both understand our own faith and communicate it to others. Also, we will be more able to understand the attacks on the Christian faith, and not only defend it, but hopefully win over our adversaries. After all, since the universe is based on truth, a faith based on truth makes sense to the mind and fulfills the soul.

As we of Spirit & Truth Fellowship have studied and examined the subject of Truth, we have come to recognize six characteristics that it has. [1] These six characteristics of truth are: absolute, correspondent, coherent, universal, exclusive, and objective. These characteristics are not totally separate. In fact, they dovetail into each other and overlap each other. Nevertheless, they define truth in distinctive ways that help us understand it and recognize it.

Absolute

When something is absolute, it means that it is not dependent upon anything else. We can better understand absolute if we understand its opposite, “relative.” Something that is relative has a necessary dependence on something else. For example, we tend to think of the passage of time as absolute, that one minute is the same for everyone everywhere. However, scientists can now show that time is relative, and that time for an object depends on the speed of that object. For any given object, time slows down as it approaches the speed of light. Thus time is relative, it is dependant on something else. However, truth is not relative; it is not dependant on anything else. An example of a truth is that God exists. He exists everywhere for everyone. He is not a different God at differing speeds, or with or without a gravitational field, inside or outside of a church, or for different people. He is the same for everyone, everywhere, for all time.

At this point we should note that not all truth is immediately evident to everyone. The fact that many people do not recognize the existence of God does not mean His existence is not a truth, it just means that they have failed to perceive the truth. Truth is absolute, not relative, so truth does not depend on people recognizing it for it to exist and be true. God does not have to be known or believed to be God.

Correspondence

Truth is absolute, so it corresponds to reality, the way things really are. Because truth exists, “reality” is what corresponds to truth. We understand this when it comes to true and false statements. A false statement is false because it does not correspond to reality. Police use the principle of correspondence to determine whether a person is lying. Does what someone say line up with, or correspond to, reality?

Christians must understand that people’s beliefs and perspectives, although real to them, may not be true. Douglass Grothius correctly observed that, “…we all have differing perspectives (which can be biased, prejudiced, ignorant, arrogant, uninformed and so on), but our perspectives only affect our sense of what is true; they do not determine truth. A perspective may be partially true, largely true, or mostly false…” [2]

We live in a world that elevates man’s ideas, beliefs, and perspectives. In fact, some people consider it rude and uneducated to assert that another person’s beliefs are wrong. They would be correct in their assertion if there were no such thing as truth, because then everyone could be correct no matter how widely their beliefs differed. However, there is truth, and because of that, people cannot hold inherently contradictory views of something (i.e., there is a God and there is not a God) and both be correct. In fact, because there is truth, the value of any given perspective depends on how accurately it corresponds to reality, to truth.

What makes lies and untruth dangerous is that they lead us from the truth. We see this in the world around us all the time. A lie or untruth about what is good to eat, or is a good medicine to take, can leave a person sick or dead. Sadly, the consequences of believing a lie about God and Jesus (such as they do not exist, or Jesus is not important for salvation) will leave one just as dead, but the death will be everlasting. Thus untruth and lies about God and Jesus are dangerous indeed!

Coherence

Coherence is internal cohesion and consistency. Truth cannot contradict itself internally or externally. In the debates between science and religion we occasionally here someone say, “Well, that may be true in religion, but it is not true in science.” Truth is truth in every category pertaining to it. It is not true to science that God does not exist, but true to religion that He does. Similarly, Evolution is not true in science while Creation is true in religion. When it comes to a single subject, there must be one absolute, internally consistent truth, and that truth will then correspond to the reality of the situation. In some cases we can observe something and have differing opinions about it, but in the end we will find that there was only one truth.

It is important to understand that truth is internally consistent when it comes to obeying God, and it is one reason that logic plays such an important role in faith. If God could be internally inconsistent, then we could not use logic as a tool to understand God or our faith. Logic is what allows us to extrapolate from the rules and regulations in the Bible to practical use in our world today. [3]

Understandably, the concept of internal consistency can cause Christians to be uncomfortable, because there are so many denominations on the earth today, each with somewhat differing beliefs. No matter how we try to explain it away to minimize our differences, there is not a different truth for different Christians. God asks Christians to get to the point “…that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought” (1 Cor. 1:10b). The way to get there is not by compromising what we believe, but by much prayer along with careful, diligent study of the revelation that God has given us about Himself: His Word.

Universal

Truth is universal in that it applies equally to everything, or every person, within a specific set of parameters. Another way to think of the universal characteristic of truth is that it is not provincial, parochial, constrained, or petty. Truth is ecumenical, broad, sweeping, and ubiquitous. Truth is not trendy or superficial. Because truth is universal, no one can escape it. For instance, in today’s world, death is a truth for all mankind, and there is a coming Judgment that no one will escape. No one that lives can avoid it or escape it, especially by simply not believing that it applies to them. No one can change the truth about death and the Judgment by deciding not to think about it. The danger in not recognizing that truth is universal is that some people act as if it does not apply to them simply because they do not believe it. That will work until it actually comes upon them, at which time the scripture will be fulfilled that says, “…there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12).

The universal nature of truth should drive each one of us to seek it until we are confident we have found it. Being content or comfortable with where we are and what we believe is not good enough. Many people say they are “content with what they believe,” but that does not make them right, and it can be a dangerous place to be if what they are content with turns out to be an untruth. God expects us to seek Him, and He promises that if we seek we will find. Interestingly, sometimes finding God actually makes us uncomfortable, because we may find that God has more for us to do than we are comfortable doing, or we may find that the evil in the world marshals against us in a way that makes us uncomfortable. That is when the truth of the next life becomes a true comfort.

You can find the original article here.

If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about God’s wonderful message, please visit the Truth or Tradition website. You can also keep track of the ministry through their Facebook page, their YouTube Channel, or follow them on Twitter.

Thanks for reading.

(Comments have been turned off. The information is here, it’s up to you to accept, or deny, it).

More from Write From Karen

Band

New Moves

Karen

We went to a football game last night because Jazz’s band had to play and it was unseasonably cold. We sat in the stands, on camouflage seat cushions (they are supposed to retain heat and make your butt warm and I have to say, they work!), shivering under turtlenecks, hoodies, coats, caps and gloves. We took our heaviest sleeping bag with us and all three of us (me, Kevin and Dude), shared it. Though we were bundled up, we were are numb by halftime.

But that was nothing compared to poor Jazz. He had to get out on the field, in paper-thin britches, the kind where the wind just blows right through, and not only play, but focus on his formations.

We heard, through Jazz, that his band director was not happy with their 4th place win last week in the Valhalla Festival. All he said was, “we can do better.” I was a bit annoyed that he said that, especially since they didn’t even make finals in last year’s Valhalla. But whatever. I think the kids know in their hearts they did well and I know Jazz feels proud of their accomplishment.

The band director complained that the judges didn’t know what they were talking about. I don’t know what those constructive comments are, but suffice it say, one of them must have been something about the band not moving enough because in last night’s performance, they had some new moves.

And they were awesome.

I think the director is really on track with these new additions. It transforms the whole show and makes it not only classy, but fun as well. In addition, they now have an announcer who explains the importance of color and how it affects our lives. (The show’s theme is “Light Evolving.”)

Jazz is supposed to go back to school today for an afternoon practice. I hope the kids can really tighten it up before next weekend’s big Band of America competition in St. Louis.

Luckily, the band director dismissed the band after halftime so we were able to hobble back to my car and drive home. It took my toes a good hour to thaw.

I’m taking his uniform in to get dry cleaned today. It’s looking a bit grungy and the gauntlets (the funky things on his sleeves) are downright nasty.

Jazz also mentioned that he might like to ask a girl to the homecoming dance next Friday night and I’m totally panicking about this. Not because it would be his first “official” date, but because I have no idea, NO CLUE, how to dress him. What do the boys even wear to homecoming nowadays and where do I go to him set up?

I’m totally freaking out about this and will likely do a little research on area men’s dress shops to get ideas. (Did I mention I’m a little freaked out??)

In addition, last night was the first time we’ve had to dig our winter coats out and Jazz’s coat is embarrassingly small. In fact, his friends teased him because it looks like a little boy’s coat and I must admit, it does.

Jazz is not a little boy anymore. *sigh* So, I will also spend today trying to find a decent coat at a decent price for him, too.

By the way, the pictures from the Valhalla Festival are back. I was pleasantly surprised to see they had taken so many of Jazz. Of course, he’s on the front line most of the time, so …. 🙂

Here are the pictures. We’ll likely pick the best one and buy copies of that. They’re expensive!

Pic One

Pic Two (love the expression in this one)

Pic Three

Pic Four (he’s not happy with this one, he’s not supposed to be leaning like that).

Pic Five (I really like this one)

Pic Six (this one is good too, though. I like how it captures more band members in background)

I had no idea band was going to be this expensive. Between making lump payments (to help pay for trips, truck rentals, uniforms), the price of OUR tickets to get into these places AND pictures and DVDS, wow. But hey, we’re making memories here and Jazz is loving every minute of it, so it’s totally worth the money.

We’ll just have to budget for the next three years. 🙂

NaNoWriMo

Character Introduction: Giselle Pratt

Karen

“I can’t believe you’re making me do this. I really don’t have time … what do you mean, ‘make time.’ I’m not your slave. You can’t order me around ….. well, technically, I suppose you CAN order me around, but still, I’m a professional, I shouldn’t have to deal with …”

She holds up a hand, her face contorted into a mask of disgust.

“Let’s get something straight here, missy. Yes, you created me, but I have a mind of my own.”

She crosses her arms and continues to address the person behind her.

“What do you mean ‘you’re counting on that.’ I make my own decisions and nothing short of deleting me will change that.”

She tilts her head to listen for a moment.

“Fine. I’ll do it, but I won’t like ….,” her smoky, dark blue/black eyes widen in surprise.

“Oh, hello.”

She notices that people are beginning to stare and she forces a strained smile.

“I didn’t see you there. How long were you…” she pauses before fluttering a hand in impatience. “Never mind. I’m glad you’re here.”

She takes a step back, suddenly feeling very much like she’s a bug stuck to a bulletin board and under close scrutiny by several pairs of eyes.

“I’m, um, not sure exactly what I’m doing here.” she says with a small laugh. “I’ve been forced, er, asked to address you so please, bear with me while I stumble through this.”

She straightens to her full 5’8 height and runs a hand through her spiky midnight-black hair.

“Let me introduce myself. I’m Giselle Pratt.” She waits for the recognition to sink in but becomes discouraged when she realizes that her name apparently doesn’t ring any bells.

“I’m the main character in Karen’s upcoming NaNoWriMo project.”

She shrugs and her voice falters when she notices some of your expressions.

“You … don’t … know about NaNoWriMo? Oh, I’m sorry, let me explain,” she says with an apologetic smile. “NaNoWriMo is the acronym for National Novel Writing Month and it’s a writing project that Karen participates in every November. In essence, because quite frankly the details bore me and I’m quite sure will bore you, it’s a challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days. And well, that’s about the extent of what I know. I only just arrived on the scene and I’m sort of stumbling through like the rest of you so …”

She looks over her shoulder and gives a low growl. “Stop pushing me! I’m doing the best I know how given the fact that you just sort of shoved me out here.”

She turns back to the monitor.

“So. Karen is under the assumption that you all care to know more about me. I mean, honestly, I’m like the most boring person in the world,” she clasps her hands behind her back and rocks on her heels for a few seconds before succumbing to her pent-up frustration. “Ya’ll seriously don’t know who I am? Giselle Pratt,” she speaks slowly, as if the enunciation will someone help. “Well, I must say, I’m just a teensy-weensy bit disappointed.”

She gives another exasperated glance over her shoulder before addressing the readers once more. “Don’t ya’ll read the newspapers? Er, maybe not. Since you’re here, online … okay.” She snaps her fingers. “You must have read about me online somewhere, right?” Her brows lift and she produces a hopeful expression.

“Well hell’s bells, this is disappointing.” She exhales slowly before continuing. “Alrighty then, we’ll start at the beginning.”

She rubs the palm of her hand across her nose as if she has an itch that needs immediate attention before continuing.

“As I said, I’m Giselle Pratt, but everybody calls me Elle. I’m the first female NASCAR Sprint Cup crew chief,” she finishes proudly. Again, she pauses for dramatic flare. “Geez, ya’ll are great for my ego,” she mumbles under her breath.

“Some say I got the position because my father, who’s a sports’ announcer for ESPN, pulled some strings, but I prefer to believe that I got the job because I’m skilled.” She puts all of her weight on her left leg and uses her right leg to scratch the back of her left calf.

“My older brother is a driver. He races for Howell / Adams. Maybe you heard of him, Parker Pratt?” Again, she raises her brows in expectation of recognition, but again is disappointed by the lack of response.

“Tap, tap,” she says with a chuckle while pretending to hit a microphone in her hand. “Is this thing on? Ya’ll awake?”

She clears her throat and continues.

“Alrighty then. I just found out I got crew chief last week. I have yet to actually DO the job, but I’m not worried about that, I’m quite good at my job. I know these race cars like a police officer knows his gun. I’ll be working with number 46, Shadow Lennox. I know, that’s a strange name, but hey, I don’t name them, I just work with them. Well, technically, I haven’t worked with him yet, but you know what I mean.”

She pauses to take a breath and rub her nose again.

“My mother passed away about three years ago, breast cancer,” she shrugs. “It was one of those freak things. As far as I know, breast cancer doesn’t run in my family but suddenly she’s got it, and it’s malignant and they can’t do anything for her. It was,” she pauses to catch her breath. “Hard.”

She scratches her temple before continuing.

“My dad has been a NASCAR sports’ announcer for about …” she tilts her head to try and remember, “geez, going on 15 years now.” She looks a little shell-shocked at that realization. “I suppose it was only natural that Parker and I would be interested in racing, considering we practically lived on the road and at the race track.”

She looks behind her.

“People are getting bored. Can I stop now?”

She heaves a sigh before turning back to face the monitor. “I have two younger brothers, but they’re trouble makers and not worth mentioning,” she says while looking vastly uncomfortable.

“I’m 27, never been married, no kids and I don’t have a lot of friends. Well, I have Allie. She’s kind of a NASCAR groupie, but I’d never say that to her face, it would hurt her feelings. She tried to get on with NASCAR, but she buckled under the pressure. She’s smart as a tack, but she doesn’t respond well to stress. And working in NASCAR? Is really stressful.”

She lifts a shoulder in a self-depreciating shrug.

“I can handle it. I’m actually really good in a stressful situation, but get me in a room full of people and I sort of freeze up. I don’t have the best people skills, which is why Allie is so good for me – we complement each other perfectly.”

She steps back and begins to unclip her microphone.

“Okay look, I’m done. I’m simply not that interesting and I have a ton of things to do to prepare for my first race on Saturday so, I’m going to gracefully exit stage right.”

Static scratches as she attempts to remove her audio piece.

“Damn it,” she mutters. “I can’t stand this tedious bull ….”

The microphone squawks and falls to the ground with a sharp thunk.

Giselle gives the readers a smart salute before exiting the area.

Confused? Don’t be. I’m writing up little character vignettes in preparation for the NaNoWriMo challenge next month. Stay tuned for more character introductions.

At the Moment

When it Rains, it Pours

Karen

Yes I know, that title is totally cliché, but it works. Because it’s true.

If the shoe fits …

Oh look, another well-worn cliché.

Springfield received five inches of rain in less than 24 hours. To say we are saturated would be saying dogs eat their own poop. It’s pretty stinkin’ obvious (get it? Stinkin’? Hehe).

weather1

It was a challenge to pick the boys up yesterday. They have to walk along side the road until they reach the tennis courts, and then cross the street to meet me. Only when it rains, water builds up by the side of the road (think river wide) and when the cars drive past, they inevitably splash water up on the kids walking on the sidewalk.

Some do it accidentally, some do it on purpose because let’s be honest, some kids are rotten and think it’s funny to drench these poor kids trying to walk home in pouring rain.

In order to protect my kids, I drove up onto the curb alongside this road and waited for them to come out. And even though it wasn’t that long of a distance to walk and they were both using umbrellas (which is saying a lot because HELLO! Teenage boys and umbrellas – not cool. But it was truly coming down), they still got quite wet.

But whatever, it’s water, right? They won’t melt.

At any rate, it was sort of hairy picking them up because traffic was horrendous and slow moving and I was parked on the side of the street that isn’t really accomodated to allow cars to park, so I had to hold my breath each and every time someone passed me in the hopes they didn’t rip out my side mirror.

But again, whatever, that’s a small price to pay to protect my babies. Right parents?

By the time dinner rolled around, our yard was flooded and the huge drainage hole across the street was close to over flowing. Kevin and I were watching “The Mentalist” (he loves that show – me? Meh), when we heard this gurgling under the house.

Uh oh.

So, went to our pantry (because my clever husband made an entrance to the crawl space through our pantry as opposed to having to go outside and through that way), and opened up the hatch.

Water. A lot of water.

Kevin grabbed a flashlight, got down on his belly and stuck his head in the hold to see what was going on.

A pipe had come loose on the sump pump and water was spewing everywhere – think geyser spewing.

So, the man donned his swim trunks, an old t-shirt, his old lawn mowing shoes, grabbed his tools and lowered himself into the cold, murky, wet depths below. The water came up to his ankles – there was about 8 inches of standing water.

Swell.

The man, half bent over and half crawling, pushed his way over to the sump pump. He worked on tightening the clamp and putting the thing back together. In the meantime, I’m fretting and laying down 30 old towels because I know he’s going to be oozing mud when he returns.

He finishes the job and lifts himself out of the hole. After making sure he’s not tracking half of Missouri across my carpet, we turn the pump back on and head outside to see if water is indeed spewing from the exit pipe.

It’s not only spewing, it’s GUSHING! That sump pump is really awesome.

Kevin stays in his swim trunks, just to make sure everything is on the up and up and I lay down some towels on the couch so he doesn’t turn my red couch into a rust color and we resume watching “The Mentalist.”

Because I worry, I got up to check on the water gushing from the pipe progress.

Only, there’s no gushing going on.

Aargh!

I tell Kevin, we turn off the pump and he again sticks his head down into the hole to see what’s up.

The bucket that he put the sump pump in is floating on top of the water. To give you a little perspective … the sump pump works quite similar to the floating ball in a toilet. When the water reaches a certain level and the floating ball reaches a certain level, the sump pump turns on and it pumps out the water, when the water recedes and the floating ball lowers, it shuts off.

But the pump (and the brick he had put into the bucket to hold it down) wasn’t enough weight to keep the bucket down into the hole, so the pump had shut off and we still have lake Springfield under our house.

So, once again, Kevin wraps up his flashlight and drill in a plastic bag and he goes under the house to drill holes in the bucket so surrounding water would get into the bucket, it would fill and yadda yadda yadda.

Again, it worked and water gushed out.

But when it stopped (because yes, I once again checked – I told you guys I was anal about stuff like this ), it didn’t have anything to do with the sump pump, but with the fact that there are grooves worn into our dirt floor and water was trapped in those grooves and not draining toward the sump pump. So Kevin plans on going back under the house this weekend to level out those grooves so the remaining water will drain.

There’s not much water left, but enough to cause health problems if we leave it alone.

So … it was a rather unpleasant night last night (especially for Kevin!). But I thank GOD that I’m married to a man who thinks about things like this because if Kevin hadn’t put that sump pump in, we’d have woken up to about two feet of water under our house and though we have a pretty big crawl space by comparison, it’s not deep enough to hold that much water.

Have you guys seen that commercial for FEMA flood insurance? Where the people are going about their business and totally ignoring the fact that their house is filling up with water?

I had dreams about that happening to us last night. Not fun.

Thursday Stuff

Girl Talk Thursday (GTT): Roommates

Karen

Today, we’re talking about roommates.

ME: I lived with three other girls for a short time period in my early twenties.

There was a black-haired woman, a blonde, a red head and me, the brunette.

The black-haired woman was the no-nonsense, smart one in our group. She also played referree a lot because when you have that many women under one roof, the amount of estrogen is bound to explode from time to time.

The red-haired woman was the good little Christian girl. And by that I mean, she was our voice of reason whenever the rest of us got out of hand.

Which was often.

The blond-haired woman was the party slut in our group. She had no problem sleeping with anything that possessed an ounce of testosterone. She lived to shock us and shock us, she did.

Then, there was me. I was often the hot head in the bunch. I went along with a lot of what the other girls wanted to do, but I was often the one who quit the activity first.

Together, we were quite intimidating. We all had different, and very strong personalities and we got into a lot of fights – girly fights, not knock down and drag ’em by the hair fights.

The red-haired woman got on my nerves a lot. Her holier than thou attitude was really annoying. But I butt heads mostly with the blond-haired woman. Her and I … never saw eye-to-eye on anything. Ever. And I suspect, now, that she was jealous of me.

We only lived together for one year before we had had enough. The black-haired woman and me moved out on our own – the blond-haired woman moved out and got pregnant (big shocker) and the red-haired woman moved back home with her parents.

In a lot of ways, the girls in the Sex in the City show reminds me of me and my three roommates. We had a lot of drama in our lives but unfortunately, we didn’t get along as well as the women in that show.

That was one experience I vowed never to repeat. It also reinforced why I don’t have a lot of women friends to this day — women totally get on my nerves.

______________________________

ME AND KEVIN: Kevin and I lived together for two years before we got married.

I’ll wait for the collective gasps of horror to subside.

I’m not sure how his family felt about the arrangement, but my family was not happy. My parents thoroughly disapproved of the arrangement.

And quite frankly, I never gave it much thought. Kevin and I worked together at a bank and he was six months out of his divorce from his first wife and sort of needing a place to stay. He had been renting an apartment at the time, but he had just moved in and the complex was rough — he was often woken up by yelling and fighting neighbors.

He was on the verge of moving back home with his folks when we met. My own roommate (the black-haired woman had gotten married and moved out and my new roommate was a liar and a thief and I thoroughly disliked her), was getting ready to go into the military and had one foot on the threshold when Kevin moved in.

It was a strange arrangement at first. B continued to live there until her arrangements had been finalized and it was cramped and … awkward. But we settled into a comfortable routine after she left.

I think, looking back, living together was the best thing for us. It was a trial “marriage” if you will, though neither of discussed getting married for quite some time. Living with Kevin convinced me that I could put up with him, even at his worst. (Because you don’t truly know someone until you live with them, in my opinion).

We were compatible on so many levels. I could see myself living with him for the rest of my life.

After about 18 months of living together, the practical side of my personality took over and I gave the man an ultimatum – either we got married soon or we would go our separate ways.

That sounds cold, right? But here’s the thing – I’m a realist. And I know that if men can take the easy road, they will. Why would he want to get married when he had everything but the ring?

I wanted more. And I didn’t want to waste any more time on the man if he didn’t feel the same way.

Lucky for me, he felt the same way and proposed.

I’ve thought long and hard about whether or not I would encourage my boys to live with their girlfriends before marrying them. Kevin looks horrified when I suggest it, but when I point out how well it worked out for us, he has second thoughts.

I still haven’t decided if I should encourage them to live with their girlfriends when the time is right, but if it helps them pick a better mate in the long run, wouldn’t it be worth it?

______________________________

THE BOYS: We talk about the future a lot. Well, I talk to the boys about their future a lot. I want them to know, in no uncertain terms, that they are more than welcome to continue to live in our house after they graduate provided they either

A. have a job and are actively saving for their own apartment

and/or

B. they have a job, and/or are going to school and saving for their own apartment.

I will not have 30 year old sons living at home playing video games all day.

Newp. It ain’t gonna happen. Again, I’m a realist.

This makes it sound like I’m being harsh, and I suppose I am, to a certain extent. Kevin and I are more than happy to help our sons start an independent life but we’re not going to support them, at least not financially.

And the boys know this.

Sometimes, when I “casually” remind them about our open invitation to live with us (with stipulations, of course), the boys will mention something about rooming together in their own apartment after they move out.

This really warms my heart. I can’t tell you how important it is to me to know they LIKE each other enough to even consider this as an option.

I hope it happens. I honestly do. Not only will it be good for them, but it’ll help me handle the fact that they are out in the cold, hard world, that they will be together and that they will look after each other.

I’m so blessed to have children who get along with each other, who consider each other best friends and who aren’t repulsed by the idea of sharing an apartment together when they become full-fledged, responsible adults.

I don’t know, it makes me feel like I’m doing something right, you know?

Thursday Stuff

Make it a Dirty Dozen, Please. Okay Fine, Make it Random

Karen

1. On an average, how often do you splurge and buy something for yourself?

Wellllll, funny you should ask.

First of all, I’m cheap. No big news there. But once in a while, I will get a wild hair up my … nose, and I will step outside my cheap box and actually want to buy something totally off-the-wall.

For example, my latest hair? Shoes.

I have developed a “thing” for ankle boots. *drool* Love them. And I have determined October and November are my favorite months because they are the PERFECT time to wear these yummy ankle boots.

I have two pairs right now. A clunky black pair and a pair that look like cowboy boots. LOVE THEM!

But I made the mistake of going to Shoe Carnival yesterday, just to see what they had (BIG MISTAKE!) and ran across these pretty ladies:

shoes Oh HELLO LOVER.

I tried them on.

Someone tie me down because I’m heading to heaven (wow, that couldn’t BE any more cheesy).

So, SO comfortable. I was actually salivating. (And just when you thought I couldn’t possibly make myself any more pathetic).

But the price tag brought me crashing back down to earth. Sixty-five dollars!? Are you INSANE!?!

I can’t spend that much on a pair of shoes – no matter HOW yummy. But I will confess, that is all I’ve been able to think about and now I’m thinking I MUST HAVE these for my birthday next month. The big challenge now, is to somehow convince my husband that I will die without them.

Yeah. He’s making funeral arrangements as we speak.

2.What is the last creative project you began/finished? Feel free to post a pic of it.

Creative? Me? Well, you’re looking at it. This blog is my latest creative project. This is about the extent of my creativity …..

Oh wait. That’s not entirely true. I just finished re-designing two headers for a few clients of mine. I suppose you could call them creative though I simply took elements of what they sent me and did a little something/something with them.

Want to see? Fine, twist my arm. 😀

header2

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*shrug* I don’t know, I like them. And I had a blast working on them.

My next BIG creative endeavor is, of course, writing my fifth novel … er, novella for National Novel Writing Month in November.

3. OK, Goldie Locks, do you consider your house too big, too little or juuuust right?

I love our house. I truly do. I think it’s the perfect size. We have a three bedroom, 1 1/2 bath ranch-style home and it’s on a big corner lot in an older, but classy, part of town. We are very comfortable here.

And the best part? It’s paid off. 😀

It is dated though. We (okay, KEVIN), are in the middle of planning a new kitchen. Kevin is going to recover our existing cabinets (do you guys KNOW how much new cabinets cost? Think $25,000!!!!!), possibly recover our existing counter tops (though that’s an experiment at this point), new appliances (because all of our appliances are at least 16 years old, if not older) and a new tile floor. We’d like to have all of this done by next Thanksgiving when it will be our turn to host Kevin’s family for Thanksgiving dinner.

We have no plans on ever moving from this house. Kevin talks about wanting a big brick house sometimes, but I only have to say one word to break him from that dangerous trance.

Mortgage.

We plan on updating and improving our house over the next several years and truly, that’s more than good enough for me.

4. What is your favorite outdoor chore?

Wait. What? You lost me at “chore.”

Ugh. I’m not a big outdoorsy kind of person. I LIKE the outdoors, but to actually get my hands dirty?

Um. No. I’m a total priss when it comes to outdoor chores. I’ve never mowed the grass (*blush* I KNOW. That makes me sound like such a spoiled brat, doesn’t it? But yeah, I can not lie), and I will simply laugh in your face if you even suggest gardening or landscaping.

Kevin does all of that. I stick to the indoor stuff. I LIKE being outdoors, but to actually work outdoors? No thanks.

I suppose, if we were going to get technical, I really enjoy camping. And that’s a pretty big chore in itself. And yes, I’m splitting hairs.

5. If you knew that cigarette smoking was not bad for your health but would be a weight loss tool, would you use it? Why or why not?

Nope. I tend to turn my nose up at “quick fixes,” of any kind. I prefer to do things the old fashion way – watching what I eat and exercising. I’ve never been one to jump on any diet bandwagon (though I confess, I have tried diet pills), and I get very impatient with people who think there is a quick fix to dieting.

I also get VERY ANNOYED with people who b*tch about skinny, hot, beautiful women. Seriously. Do you realize how much time and effort it takes to first get that way and then maintain it?! Lazy people will never be thin because it takes a lot of work to BE skinny.

(Like I’m skinny – not. But I’ve reached a point in my life where I’m feeling comfortable in my own skin so I suppose I feel like I can make that generalization).

There is no magic formula. The only thing that truly works is watching your food intake and moving.

Period. (Sorry to burst your bubble).

6. On a road trip, would you rather drive or ride?

Definitely, absolutely, no question about it – drive. I get car sick really, really easy (think going cross town easy), so it just makes a more pleasurable trip if I drive.

Like next weekend? When we travel to St. Louis for a band competition, I’ll be driving. I just have to or I’ll get sick. I could, and do, take motion sickness pills, but they make me so drowsy and loopy … I just hate that feeling.

So, I drive.

7. What do you consider a trivial pursuit?

The small stuff. It’s taken me a long, long, loooooong time to chill out about things. I’m a controlling person (GASP! Shocked??) and if things didn’t go my way, I’d get bent out of shape.

I STILL get bent out of shape at times, but overall, I’m learning to pick my battles.

Like this whole “I refuse to cut my hair because I’m trying to hide from society and I know it makes mom crazy” issue? Yeah, I’m over it. I figure hey, we have pictorial documentation of their unruly hair. I’m confident they will look back on these pictures someday, shake their heads and think, “WHAT was I thinking?”

THAT realization alone vindicates me. 😀

8. How long do you watch a movie or read a book before giving up on it?

Not long. I have a pretty short fuse when it comes to my entertainment. I usually know in the first fifteen minutes of a movie or the first 50 pages of a book whether I’m going to continue watching/reading it.

For example: Crank 2. That has got to be one of the LAMEST movies I’ve seen in quite some time. It supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek version of action / thrillers, and I get that? But wow, it was really, really terrible. If you don’t mind completely lame, stupid humor and lots and LOTS of blood and boobs, then watch it, otherwise, pass.

And I can not believe people gave it a 6.6 / 10 rating on IMDB. Seriously? I’d give it a 1.5. Don’t waste your time. Trust me.

9. Is there a song that you really love but are embarrassed to admit because it’s not cool or it’s racy or because it’s by Hall and Oates?

Backstreet Boys.

I know. TOTALLY LAME!!! But wow, I love dancing to their songs. They are so catchy and easy to sing to. My boys are absolutely horrified whenever their songs come on my iPod (I listen to my iPod on a boombox thingie), but they’re peppy and …. I like them.

Hush.

10. On a scale of 1-10 (10 = extremely) how spontaneous are you?

Probably a 3. I like to know what’s going on and I loathe surprises of any kind.

Just ask my guys.

11. Are you a food and/or beverage snob?

It drives my mom crazy whenever I ask for a bottle of water when we go out to eat.

And yes, I’d have to agree, I AM a water snob. We have a water cooler and we purchase distilled drinking water in 5 gallon jugs. I can not stand city water. It’s not that it’s BAD, at least, compared to a lot of cities (I’ve heard), but it just tastes so …. metallic to me. It seriously makes me gag. I can’t stand it.

And I don’t care what people say, I don’t LIKE drinking all of those minerals and crap they are required to use in order to sanitize it.

And coffee. I’m sort of a coffee snob, too. I use to drink Starbucks every day (until I figured out I was spending about $700 bucks a year! Ouch!), but now I drink brewed coffee in the mornings. I still don’t care for instant coffee, though Kevin and I went through Starbucks after lunch yesterday and they gave us a sample of their newest instant coffee and WOW! It was dee-lish and really packed a punch with the caffiene content. I have a feeling I’ll be drinking massive amounts of Starbucks instant coffee next month during NaNoWriMo.

12. Who/What are you trying to control in your life? (I hear people gulping and see them sweating in anticipation of how to answer this one.)

HAHAHA! This question amuses me.

I’m like the poster child for control. I have to control everything in my life.

And that includes everyBODY in my life, too.

That’s why I’ve never taken up smoking, or gotten hooked on drugs, or wish to take a flu vaccine because someone is telling me to take it … I don’t allow anyone or anything to control any aspect of my life.

I have a mind and I’m not afraid to use it. Of course, I didn’t say it was a GOOD mind, but still …