What an answer!

OK, how's this for an answer?

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

What am I supposed to learn?

Today is perhaps the crappiest day I've had, apart from the day my dad died.

As I was on the way to take my daughter to school, we hit a patch of ice, and slammed, pretty hard, into the curb...

Long story short, a trip to Tires Plus gave us the damage, two bad wheel bearings, two bent wheels, and an alignment needed at the least. Almost $900 to fix it... Guess we're not driving anywhere real soon.

So we limped home, safely. No one got hurt, but...

Still, we have the night together, and we have other ways of getting where we need to go.

But in all of this, I know that God will make it work out for the best for us and our kids. I don't know how it'll happen, but I wait for it.

I can't feel my knees!

Lord, have mercy!

It'll be dropping to probably below zero degrees tonight, or maybe even below! I just walked home with the wind in my face.... BRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The things I do to get around cheaply in this state. Half-a-mile walk in sub-zero wind chills... I'm stupid, or brave, or both... (Probably the latter!)

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My old band mate is tempting me with some recording equipment... Once I can afford to build my own PC, then maybe I can afford the recording gear...

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I'm so waiting for the "Heroes" episode I missed because apparently the cable in our condo doesn't like cold weather. Stupid coaxial cable...

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I'm home, I warm, my kids are beautiful, even when sleeping, and my wife loves me.

Life is good!


(P.S. I was so happy seeing you doing yoga when I got home. I hope you saw my smile. I'm proud that you did it on your own, under your own initiative. See, you don't need a gym to do yourself good... ;) )

I'm gonna do it!

Thank God for decent Jury Clerks!

I called her this morning, and explained why I missed my jury selection, and she was so understanding! I was so happy! My next date... well I guess I shouldn't post that here, so no biggie. But I'm not really in trouble. *YAY*

I'm getting a new schedule come March, and I thought it'd be better, and it is, but not as good as I thought. I'll be working from 10:30am t0 7:30 pm M-F! The only problem is with bussing. Even that early, I'll get home around 9pm... >:( But, if I work just a half hour of OT each day, it'll only be 20 minutes to wait for the bus... Go figure...

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I heard something last night on a repeat of the Bob Davis show on one of the local Talk Radio stations that I like to listen to when I can. It kind of intrigued me. There was a study that people with more money were happier than people with little money. But Bob asked the question: "Is it that money buys happiness, or that happy people just draw money to them?"

That really got me intrigued. Could my outlook on life be causing me to fail constantly? Can I really put that much faith in the Biblical adage, "As a man thinks, so is he"? Could God mean that litterally?

I think I'm going to put that idea to the test. I'm going to honestly try to be thankful for everything that happens to me; to see the good in all things. I'm going to count how God has blessed me every day. I'm going to praise Him for the good in my life, and stop dwelling on the bad. I'm going to try to keep my mind on "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable...anything...excellent or praiseworthy". I'm going to see if God will bless me for this contentment. Not to test Him, because I know He's able, but to test me, and see if good things come to me.

Hey, it's worth a try...

(P.S. Thank you for being such a great mom to my kids, my darling wife! You are the reason we have such good kids, my love!)

The panic of the masses

...Why does everybody seem to think it's the end of the world when something bad happens to them, and it's really funny when something bad happens to someone else? Wouldn't the world be a better place if those things were reversed?

Think about it...

Jury Duty

...If it's so blamed important, why don't they do something to remind you, like the library does when you have a book in... A simple automated call couldn't hurt, could it?

Ok, now I'm truly a geek

Ok, I must admit that I was sort of skeptical about this blog. Who would think that good Wil Wheaton would have a blog open to just everyone? But there it was, WWDN, in all it's glory.

For those of you who don't know, Wil Wheaton was the star of Stand By Me and a was in a little TV show called Star Trek: The Next Generation as the young Wesley Crusher. Now I'll warn you, he sometimes uses a bit of coarse language, but what do you expect from an ex-to-hopefully-future-Hollywood star? But he's genuinely putting down his thoughts, and gave a wonderful review to my favorite TV show, Heroes! The man likes good TV, at least!

Anyway, if you know of the guy, you might like to check it out....


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And for some depressing news...

I missed Jury Duty because I was sick. That's not the depressing part, but I forgot to call to let them know I was sick!

I'm really stressing about it, because I don't want to go to jail because of Contempt of Court or anything... I honestly wanted to go, but did just about everything wrong... I don't want to go to jail, or pay a huge fine or anything... I worry...

*sigh*

I suck at life...



(P.S. My wife is the greatest! I'm so thankful because she keeps an even mind, even when I'm freaking out... Thanks, Hon!)

My late Thanksgiving list

I Thank GOD for:

My awesome mother! She's the best cook in the world, and she means more to me than I can ever say... And even if I could say something, it wouldn't be nearly enough.

Thanks for Broadband! Makes life so much easier.

Thanks for "Heroes" on Monday nights on NBC, because it's one of the only shows my wife and I have in common...

Thanks for "Doctor Who" for the same reason...

Thanks for my kids, who always manage to make me smile, even when I don't want to...

For my great job!

For the people I deal with every day, because with out them, I'd not be getting paid at all...

For Woodland Hills Church, who has directed me in the right direction for going on 4 years now...

For Ken and Dawn Kelly, for opening their home to our family...

For music, and all it can express that words cannot...

For true and honest love, without which my life would be meaningless, (and without which, I'd probably be somewhere I don't want to be.)...

For sunflower nuts!

For cold winters and unbearably hot summers to help me enjoy Spring and Fall all the more...

For hot chocolate...

For big Thanksgiving Turkeys...

And more I can't think of now...

Sorry...

maybe more to follow later....

Why doesn't "Climate Control"...

...really control the climate? Seriously, right now I'm burning up, and when I was previously sitting elsewhere, I was freezing!

«¡Feliz cumpleaños, mi princesa!»

Well, today is my daughter's 7th birthday, and she, unfortunately, couldn't spend it with her friends. She has a fever, and a bad cough, so we're making her rest, and loading her up with good things, like fluids and vitamins, and good rest to boot.

But her day started great. Her daddy (ME!!!) played my guitar and sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She then opened up her gifts, some wonderful clothes, and a brand new tea party set. We also had our first family tea party. It was great, although the little boy crashed into the tea table, and spilled milk all over himself. Oh well, we still had fun.

For more info (and probably pictures to boot) visit my wife's blog. You can find the link to it in my links section. The one that says "Kim's Blog".

But then I had to work, and on this, of all days, I wanted to stay home. But duty called, and I went to work anyway. It sucked a little more than normal, but, hey, what can you do?

Why won't fall just come?

I've been waiting for it since July 31st, and I'm sick of waiting!

I want it cold. I want to wear more clothes. I want to have to cover up in my bed to stay warm, and not have to kick off all covers because I'm sweating up a storm! I want to see the trees bare. I want to get ready for the snow to fall. I want the other end of summer!

A new "Obsession"

I have found the greatest TV show, at least in my opinion, in a long time.

And no, it's not Doctor Who, though that is one of my favorites.

It's Heroes on NBC. I'm hooked after only the first two episodes. Already a twisted, complicated plotline, obfuscated by a man who can shift time. Anyway, I'm glad to see that they replay the episodes on the website, each day after the night's episode. Since I work 1p-10p every Monday, I would usually miss it. But this way, I can watch it whenever I can!

That and the DVR, I can record it, and watch it later.

Anyway, I can't get enough of it. Check it out!!!

PB & J...

...makes the best comfort food, I think... At least when that's all you've got around. But it tasted so yummy tonight, after a long day, and far too much coffee just to stay awake at work.

Think I'll have another tomorrow...

Naw, tomorrow is turkey and cheese, with pickles!

The end of the week...

Well, it's the end of the week. YAY! was the first thing I thought of when I got done with work tonight. It's been, for some reason, an extrodinarily long week for me. Nothing bad happened. In fact, it's been about the best week I've had in a while. But the week really took it out of me.

But it's the weekend, and tomorrow is the right way to start it! I spend the whole day with my kids, out of the house, enjoying their minds. What a treat!

Ok, so it's good night for now.

God Bless y'all!

It always rains when you don't think you'll need an umbrella

That's what happened to me today. As I got off the buss on the way to work, I step off the bus, and a cold rain started falling.... I hated that...

Alright, where were we...

Ok, so I've been gone. Sorry. Too much to explain. But life... I won't say how it's going, because if I do, it'll all get messed up, even if it's bad. So I'm not going there. I don't want to jinx it.

But I do have a wife, who I love dearly, and two darling children, who constantly fill my reserve of love with theirs. I'm making a go of it, but they'll always cheer me up. I'm proud of my girl, so smart... Ah, the joys I'm having right now, despite anything else, my family is the best thing to happen to me.

Thank you, God, for my Family. They're a most wonderful blessing regardless of Life's happenings.

Amen.

I'm such a ogre when I'm tired

Ok, I admit it. I'm a real ogre when I'm tired. I expect too much and get frustrated when I don't get what I think I want. Then I somehow turn that back on those around me.

I stink when I need sleep. I say the stupidest, most petty things, and expect others to take them seriously. How did I become such a creep? I don't know, but I don't like it one bit.

So why do I have a family who loves me? God is gracious, that's all I can say. He blesses me most richly when I least deserve it.

I'm sorry. Those for whom that was meant for know who you are. But don't accept my words. I hope my actions can say I'm sorry better than words, because I'm a big talker. My words are as cheap as the air I breathe. I'd rather just shut up, not say a thing, and at least stop from making things worse...

Thank you, family, for loving your ogre...

My new *other*blog

Did any of you see that new link over ----> there?

Wait, not there, but -------> here!

Shoot....

Wait a moment...
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somewhere THERE! --------------------------------------------------->{

the one that says The Musings of the Iceberg? Well, that's a less serious blog for me. Just random thoughts. Insights. Whatever. Mothing really personal. Just more general thoughts and random ideas. It's not going to be nearly as in depth as posts here are, just questions and brief observations. Thanks!

Potty Training

Why does the first part of Potty Training feel more like the child training the parent, rather than the other way round?

A great day to be alive

Today was a good day. Not because something really great happened, (though just being with my family for any part of the day is great) but just because God continues to smile on me and my family. Didn't get much chance to pray today, but I did read God's word, and learned new things that I'd probably heard before, but forgot, about Joseph. (You know, the guy with the amazing technicolor dreamcoat?) Work wasn't overly stressful, and I made it home safe to my family once again (this time without missing my bus stop!)

This almost seems like a time of rest, but I can't take time to rest too long. If I rest beyond what I should, I get complacent, and don't do the work I know needs to be done. So God, grant me my full measure of rest before giving me the will to do the task set before me.

My wife went back to the gym today (YAY!) but didn't get a chance to stay long, because our son, still potty training, had a messy diaper, and my wife forgot to bring in the "equipment" to change him... But I know she'll go back... I think she's getting addicted (yay!).

Anyway, it's late, and we're going to see family tomorrow. So it's off to bed for little old me.

As always, keep me and my family in your thoughts and prayers!