To record or not to record?

Two posts today. I have a lot on my mind.

Christmas has past and we had a lot of fun. Opened presents, ate good food, and shared our home and others' homes for great times of fellowship. Through it all, I captured about 45 seconds of video and maybe three photos for posterity.

My question is this: when do you break out the cameras? I feel like I am missing the action if I spend all my time trying to "remember" it. On the other hand, I will never get to see Savvy opening her presents while she was two years old. What do you think?

Tis the season to get on with it.

I LOVE Christmas. But there are limits.

Look, Christmas is my very favorite holiday. I really like how the entire Christian world takes time to celebrate the birth of Jesus together in our own ways. The secular world even joins in for the presents, but I digress.

One of the reasons the Christmas season is so special is that it is kept to within a month of so of December 25. Unless, of course, you are in retail. Then it starts somewhere around the summer equinox.

The official Christmas season for the Tindall household is from the day after Thanksgiving until the day after Christmas. After that, our lights go out. I took yesterday afternoon to take it all down. I find it amazing how the decorations seem to go up slowly, but the take-down can happen in an hour or so. I also think that the house breathes a sigh of relief after all the extra stuff vacates to storage and that large evergreen in the living room moves to the curb (or attic if you prefer).

I'm all for celebrating the Reason for the Season, but the decorations lose their luster on December 26. And, to all those who leave their lights up until spring, I ask, "You put it up in the cold, can't you take it down in the cold?"

The Christmas cold

Ah, the winter cold. No, not outside, in my head.

Here it is, Christmas week, the day of the Christmas uni-service at our church (instead of having two services), and I am wrapped in a blanket, on my couch, with a whopping head cold. So, here is my ode:

The Twelve Days of Christmas...with a head cold.

On da first day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...a fever of 103 (ok, not really, but it rhymes, so lay off, I'm sick)
On da second day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...two Alka Seltzer...and a fever of 103.
On da third day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...three ibuprofen ... two Alka Seltzer ... that's enough of that.
On da fourth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
four boxes of Kleenex
On da fifth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
five bowls of soup
On da sixth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
six sneezes looming
On da seventh day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
seven coughing spells
On da eighth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
eight gallons of O.J.
On da ninth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
nine cups of tea
On da tenth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
ten trips to potty
On da eleventh day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
eleven pounds of mucus
On da twelfth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
twelve hours of sleep

Alternate beginning lyrics:
One da first day of Chrithmath, my head cold gave to me...
a need for some vitamin C.
a desire for some TLC.
time to rest and watch TV.
comfort food..Chef Boy-ar-dee.
time to critique the Chrithmath tree.

Family Fotos

A few weeks ago, the very talented author of the Moop and Saba blog, took some quite professional pics of yours truly and the fam. Some of the very best are as follows:

There is some talent behind that lense. Anyone who can take this little tornado we call Savvy and turn her into a subject fit for the camera has found her calling. I'm presently shopping for frames (and where in the house to put them) for my hundred most favorite shots.

Happy All Hallow's Eve eve......eve

In honor of the most pagan of pagan holidays, here is a French man with WAY, WAY too much time on his hands. Really, what could be scarrier than the French?
He recreated MJ's Thriller using only his own voice....on 64 different tracks. What did we do before the Internet??

In a nutshell...

Life is busy. Here's a month's worth of posts:

Work life is settling down. My job is solid right now. The purchase of my company will have to be approved by the stockholders and then the government. That will probably take a while. As for now, everything is smooth and there's not much to report.
April's MK business is going gangbusters. She is at an MK retreat in San Antonio, TX this weekend and receiving training and contacts in addition to some awards for sales achievements. Go, April!
Savannah is doing great. The other day we were playing in her room, and I had the curtains open to let in sunlight. Savvy said that she wanted the light on in her room. I told her that we were using "God's light." She thought for a second and said, "I want to use the People's light."
Newton County is part of my territory at work. I made a trip up there this week and the colors are beginning to change. I suggest that if you want to see majorly impressive fall foliage, that you make plans to drive up Hwy 7 later this month. It will look like the mountains are on fire with all the yellow, orange, and red leaves everywhere.
Personal thought: I love the fall. It is my favorite time of year. The heat of summer is over and the comfortable days with the cool nights is the best. Don't miss your opportunity to get outside and have some family activities outdoors while you can. The cold is coming. Carpe diem!

World Changing Events

As many of you have noticed, I have been blogless for a few days. As I enjoy this life sucking, time consuming hobby, I try to post a little more often than once every ten days.
There have been some potentially life altering changes going on in my world. An offer has been made by a mega-huge company to buy my employer for almost $12 billion. That's 12,000,000,000 dollars...in cash. While I have been blessed to work for my company for over eight years, I must realize that it is possible for me to be searching for new employment in the near future.
There is a very deep peace within me about this whole situation. First, I have Jesus. There is NEVER any reason to fear when you know Him. Second, April's Mary Kay business. Even though she is just getting started in this venture, she has already blown past other consultants (some who have been doing this a lot longer than she) by being fourth (out of thousands) in sales performance. She has the fire in the belly, and she will be a success regardless of my employment status. Third, God has a plan. I have been able to witness to so many people who I never would have met were it not for this job. God has a plan for everybody. Sometimes we just have to get out of His way.
I ask for your prayers during this time. There are no details available regarding the purchase and my future. All I know is that I have a job right now, and that keeps me going. God will let me in on what I need as I need it.

A day of changed plans...and restaurant reviews

April and I were going to travel down to Louisiana to visit her parents today, but Gustav changed our plans. I wasn't so worried about the travel down there. Today is sunny and warm. It was the trip back that had me concerned. The Weather Channel virtually guaranteed a deluge of rain being created in the wake of the mega-ginormous storm. Since I don't like the thought of swimming home, we simply stayed home.
Anywho...since we had no packing, loading, and driving to do, we decided on a cheapy pizza and some hot wings for lunch. I had the pleasure of procuring said food and bringing it home. Smelling the goodness emanating from the boxes made me very ready for lunch to begin. The pizza was what it was...a $6 pizza from Little Caesars, but the wings were a downer. I got them at Wingstop on Prince St. which has been less than impressive the last couple of times we've eaten there. That made me think, "why do I return to places that don't make me happy??"
This train of thought lead to me to remember that I have a blog. A place to reach out and touch the masses. Why don't I share my all-important opinions on local eateries so that others may be enlightened? So here goes:

• Wingstop is not going to be on my list anymore. Their wings were literally dry, stringy, and very, very small today. Unless they improve the quality, they're out.
• Las Palmas (in the new mall) is the best TexMex restaurant in town. The prices are right, the service is efficient, and the food is unsurpassed.
• Smokehouse BBQ is head and shoulders above the competition. The owner has a grandson with health problems. Every year, he does a fundraiser for the Arkansas Children's Hospital. The food is awesome and the servers (even though they are usually college kids) are really good. Eat here.
• Whole Hog BBQ (in the old Shoney's place). I'm mixed on this one. While the food is downright great, the service is non-existant. No one greeted us when we came in. You must carry your own food to your table. That doesn't automatically exclude them from the good list, but they did not have trays, nor did they offer any help. It took me three trips to get all the dishes for our table. No offers to refill drinks, or ask if everything was OK. Eat here, leave no tip.
• Faby's is just plain good. They are located in the shopping center at Dave Ward and Salem. Family owned, good food in good portions, good prices. A little place that you may not have been told about. I've never seen them advertise. Try this place when you want something a little different.
• Gusano's...Hooters girls serving bad pizza. There you go.
• Blackwood's Gyros just remodeled their place in the last year or so. They went from a hole-in-the-wall diner with awesome Greek food to a classy establishment with awesome Greek food. Right off of Harkrider about a block from Oak St.
• Michelangelo's is probably the best Italian place I've ever been to. On April's and my date nights, this is the first place that makes the list, then we decide if we are in the mood for Italian.
• Brick Oven Pizza is like the U.S. Pizza Co. of Conway. Great pizza and fast. Try the Margharita pizza....none better.
• Holly's Country Cookin'. If you have never eaten here, you can't call yourself a resident of Conway (my rule). She's only open for lunch M-F. Get yourself over there and try her cookin'. Put her homemade chocolate pie on top o' yo' head and yo' tongue'll beat yo' brains out tryin' to get to it.

I hope this helps you, the beleagered diner. Your opinions and mine may differ, but remember, you came to me. :)

Happy Bday, Matt!!

Matt!

Happy Birthday, man! We're so glad that you enjoyed the box of goodies. Be sure to keep some of that stuff for yourself; don't let the other guys bum it all. :)

We hope you have a Happy Birthday, and to prove it, here is an attempt at something like a resemblance to a kind of birthday song...

Happy Bday! See you soon.

Kenny Loggins

Some of you may know that my birthday is August 1. April had begun asking me what I wanted for my birthday, but I couldn't really come up with anything, so I told her I would think about it. As I was listening to the radio, a commercial came on for the Kenny Loggins concert. I said, "This is it!" (yes, pun intended for you KL fans).
Fast forward about three weeks, and we are sitting in the rain in Riverfront Park waiting for the concert to start. Just before he goes on, the skies clear and the ponchos come off. Kenny takes the stage, and tells us that he is going to make this one THE concert because of all those who wussed out because of the weather. I have to say, he did. He was on.
Now, all those famous entertainers who are more or less "branded" feel the need to play their new stuff at their concerts. The audience listens politely, simply waiting this part out because the good songs are coming. This was not the case here, even the new stuff was great. I recommend you check out the newer songs here.
OK, so the concert swings to full momentum for "I'm all right" and the lead guitarist is just wailing away...the audience is feeling it...the sound equipment, not so much. During a particularly awesome guitar riff, the speakers make this horrible static sound and half the band ceases to exist (audibly, anyway). The drums and bass are gone, and the guitars lose half their volume. We figure the rain got into the system somewhere and shorted something out. Bummer!!
KL leaves the stage and the audience start chanting for the encore. A roadie comes out and announces the PA problem, and could we please hold on a minute. It should be noted that there has been no "Danger Zone" and no "Footloose" so far. A KL concert without these two? Yup. The sound folks couldn't fix the problem, so that was it. It was over. Except....wait....KL comes back out anyway. He tells us that the only things working are the vocals and the keyboard. He knows that we are ready to riot without hearing something, so he performs a slow (but very well done) song that I have never heard before. I applaud his honor. He knew that the concert was not going to be all it should have been, but he stepped up and performed off the cuff a song that I'm sure they didn't plan to play. It was well done, and I think it helped the audience calm down. He is a truly talented performer. He apologized for what happened and left the stage.

Randy Pausch...an inspiration

As I try to recover from my ever looming head cold, I have been surfing the net trying to entertain my brain. I never know what I'm going to run across while I read random pages from people who see fit to put their thoughts and feelings out there for everyone to peruse.

Tonight I found out that Randy Pausch had died. He died on July 25. He was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer over a year ago, and was told that he had 3 to 6 months to live. What made the world take note of him was his "Last Lecture" that he delivered to the CMU graduates last year. Below, you will find a small part of his lecture and part of an interview that he gave...

While his lecture was not notably spiritual in nature, he managed to speak some of the teachings of Jesus anyway. I can only hope that the graduates will take the next step and realize not only what does not bring joy and fulfillment, but Who does.

Sick, sick, sick

I've been lying low on the blogosphere due to my lying down in my bed for the last three days. I've been sick as a dog since Wednesday. After our community group meeting Tuesday night (when I felt just fine), I came home and went to bed a little more tired than usual. The next morning I woke up with the worst head cold I have had since last year. I thought I might be able to make it to work today, but I slept until 10:30am and just couldn't see myself doing it.
I would have attempted it if I had an office job, or could work from home, but I drive pretty much all day. I don't want to put other's lives and well-being in jeopardy just so I don't take a sick day.
Speaking of jeopardy, I found that it's now Teen Tournament week on Jeopardy. I've been watching this morning, and have known most of the "questions." I'm so glad that I can stand toe-to-toe with fifteen year olds at a trivia game. What a boost to my ego!

Say whaaaaat?!?

Out of the mouths of babes. Doesn't Psalm 8 have something to say about this?

Savvy has been in rare form this week. April and I decided to forego the fast food and cheap meals that we so very often eat, and treat our family to a nice dinner at Michelangelo's downtown. I have never had a bad experience there. The food and service are excellent. April had wanted a date night, but we weren't able to find a babysitter, so we brought the little tyke with us. Don't worry, this story ends happily.
Savvy has been very bad about going down for naps recently. She will fight them for everything she's worth. Most of the time, she will just get really cranky, catch a second wind about 8pm, and not want to go to sleep until 10pm. On this night, she couldn't hold out. She fell asleep in the van on the way to the restaurant, and stayed out for the entire dinner. She put her little head down on the table and slept through our ordering, conversing, and eating. We had a date night after all!
We had the most popular table in the place. Servers and patrons alike gave us the "awwwww, she's so cute!" "She's really out." And so on. God bless the sleeping children. She did wake up for desert, so she didn't miss out on everything.
OK, so on to the reason for the title of this post. Tonight, we had just finished eating with my family in Little Rock, celebrating grandma's birthday (79!), and were driving home. On the way, Savvy announced to her proud parents, "I wanna poop really big in somebody's potty."
We got home, she did her business in our potty (she seemed OK with that since she did not specify who "somebody's" potty was), and we began watching Backyardigans before bed. While singing along with the opening song, the words became:
"we've got the whole wide world to explode"
I'm so proud.

Mountain View, AR

The fam and I went to Mountain View for the last few days. Funny thing was, there was no cell signal in our area, but there was Wifi. It didn't matter much since I didn't have time to blog while we were there.

If you have never been to Mountain View, you are missing a treat. It has a really nice town square right in the middle of everything. The Stone County courthouse is literally surrounded by gazebos and restaurants. Every Friday and Saturday night, local musicians come into town and play under the stars.

Even though it was a million degrees, the musicians came out in full force Friday night. I captured a sample on my little digital camera:

It is only about a 1 1/2 hour drive from Conway if you take your time. There are plenty of places to eat and stay, so make a weekend of it sometime. I suggest going when it is a little cooler.

This is why

As a few of you know, I help corral a bunch of middle school boys on Wednesday nights during the school year. We take a summer break from "small groups," so I haven't seen my them since the end of May. Shane (youth pastor) called me today and let me in on some excellent news. One of these young men, Nick, gave his life to the Lord a few days ago. Shane told me he was at camp when he answered the call.
Pray with me that he takes seriously his committment and that he is prepared for the battles that lie ahead. Say a prayer of thanks, too. We have another friend for eternity!

Another work story

Most of you know what I do for a living, but you may not know what I do. I spend most days driving from store to store swapping out of date product, hanging signs, and napping...uh, reading email, etc.

Today, I was on Prince St here in Conway working in a store's parking lot, when BAM!!! Immediate thoughts: traffic accident, transformer blow, asteroid impact, you know, the normal stuff. I looked around and didn't see anything. Other people heard it, though, because they were pulling over and looking around, too. I looked across the street and saw smoke pouring out from behind some trees. Not a whisp of smoke, but copious amounts. I started to walk up the street to see what was going on, when I noticed the sign: "SWAT Team Training" How cool is that?

I didn't see any real action (bummer), but at least I know that I wasn't in the middle of a potentially bad situation.

On a totally unrelated note, April took our cat, Tia, to the vet today for some grooming. She is a Turkish Angora long-hair and summers are a tough time for her. Well, the groomer went above and beyond this time. I can't help but laugh everytime I see her. Does that make me a bad person?

The Lord will provide

I came to the realization today that my attitude should reflect the fact that I will live in perfect eternity with Jehovah-Jireh. I should seek the positives in all situations and know that God will never place on me anything I can't handle.
As I attempt to survive this rather torrid time of year, I realize that there are blessings to behold. I have been struck with the desire to wax poetic, in the form of Haiku...

crunchy, brown grass lies
my lawn has its own beauty
no need to mow it

Let's play a game.

It's a hot, humid, hazy Sunday afternoon. There's not much to do, so let's play a game. This one almost anybody can get in on. Try to watch this video and not laugh or smile. Can you do it? Take a deep breath, focus, and click this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfk7G1Osogo

How did you do? Post a comment and tell us your time. I'll be honest...I didn't make it past a minute.

If you make it through the whole thing, I'll be impressed.

Cabin Fever....summer style

I used to think that cabin fever was relegated to only winter months. The heat, my gosh, the HEAT has kept us inside much more than I remember in years past. This is the first summer that Savvy has been able to tell us what she wants and throw monster tantrums when she doesn't get it. Savvy wants to "go outside" all the time, and since we don't have a fenced yard, April or I have to be out there with her. I wonder if temperature has a different effect on little ones than adults?

If you have wisdom to impart to me, let me have it. We really enjoy the new Jump Zone, but their hours are so limited. They aren't even open to the general public on Saturdays! Play World is all right, but can get pricey and crowded. All the parks and trails in Arkansas are great, but the forecast for Monday is 103 degrees and not much less for the rest of the week. Help!

Dog days of summer

I travel quite a bit with my work. I often see very interesting and unique things as I go down the road. Traffic accidents (cars in wrecks, on fire, shiny side down...you get the idea), hillbilly yard art (toilet planters, saw blade paintings, barn murals, etc.), I've even seen a 1500 lb bull walking lazily along the side of the road.
Today, while traveling with my boss, we noticed something in a parking lot right in the middle of town. We saw it, drove by, and then looked at each other saying, "Is that really what we just saw?"

It's a self-serve dog-washing kiosk.

complete with a nice lady making use of the facilities (does that sound bad?)

Oh, yeah. This thing has it all. Table with drain, water hose with ergonomic sprayer, soap dispenser, blow dryer, fur vacuum...air conditioning...air freshener dispenser. This is the Cadillac of dog washing facilities! Only a shlub washes his dog in the yard! I have seen the future, and it is in Harrison, AR.

Getting ready for church

Just like every good parent, while I got ready for church, I plopped my little girl down in front of Sesame Street. I noticed something about her while she was sitting on the couch watching TV. See if you can spot it.

It's obvious! What else can ruin...uh, I mean, hold her attention so well? I thought an experiment was in order:



Now...my question is...who says that TV is not a good babysitter?!?

Post #2! (yippeeee....)

Wow! I feel the love. Eight comments on my very first post. Nice.

Some have asked (including Jennifer F in a comment --- props!) about Savvy's need for continued medical care. Well, the good thing is that she is done with Dr. visits unless a problem erupts. Not to get too graphic, but the doc did some doctoring and she has a little less skin now. They had to remove the blistered skin so that it would not be in the way of the healing process. I thought about posting a pic, but there must be limits to what one blogs. Believe me, you really don't want to see it.

Did you know that there is such a thing as First Aid Athletic Wrap? I didn't! This is the coolest stuff. It is basically a rubber material that is stretchy and sticks to itself. It is surprisingly secure and it keeps Little Girl's sterile gauze in place. It comes in about 50 colors so that your medical treatment doesn't have to clash with your style. April came home and said that Target only had purple (not the pink we were looking for). America is the best country on earth!

In the words of S: "Don't touch the stove!" Later.

The first of many (or very, very few) blogs....

I may blog every day for the rest of my life. I may post this one entry and be done for all time. I suspect something in the middle to be the actual result.

I am not creative/poetic/exceedingly literate. I just want to join the club and be accepted. :) (Do people still use emoticons? Post a response; let me know.)

This first blog must be mostly negative due to the events that happened this weekend. Savvy decided to see if the stove really does get hot. Result? A trip to Conway Regional ER and two bandaged hands. After having to deal with the very bad pain for almost three hours, she got treatment and the pain subsided. She hasn't shed a tear in over 24 hours. She is a remarkable little girl.

The diagnosis was second-degree burns and a need for topical anticeptic and Tylenol laced with codeine. I think the codeine worked a little too well. After all the trauma, she sat in the backseat returning from the hospital and boxed mommy with her new "gloves."

The big challenge has been her not being able to use her fingers because of the bandages. She has had to resort to holding things by placing them between both hands. Eating requires assistance every time. This reminds me of about a year or so ago when we had to feed her all her meals because she was still learning to eat.

On a more pleasant note, we spent yesterday morning at a birthday party at the new Jump Zone by Wal-Mart. That was a blast. Their giant inflatables where awesome! Savvy and I rode all of them. She even rode the huge pirate ship slide (about 15 feet long) by herself...twice!