Notebooks & Tenacity

So I've been trying to get a new laptop for a couple of months now. It's a drag hauling around my tower for things where I need a computer, I wanted a DVD burner, it lets me do work at home, and we needed a computer at home as well.
I finally convinced my boss to allow me to get one and I ended up with a really nice one. 1.66 Ghz dual core processor, widescreen display, over a gig of memory and a DVD burner.
I'm so pumped. I had a budget of $800 and found a VAIO for $799. The one I wanted was a little 12" screen one that was awesome. Too bad it was $2200. Oh well. At least now we have a computer at home, or wherever we take it. Ah, the sweet joys of tenacity. JM

Opportunities

So this morning I got the opportunity to lead worship for the main worship service. I love doing it. It's so much fun. I played with the youth band and they did awesome. They do a really good job of playing the songs in a way that is conducive for people to worship.
A friend of mine called me afterwards and told me that it looked like that I really love my job. That's one of the best compliments a worship leader can get. That I look at home leading worship, and that I enjoy it. That's probably what God wants, anyway, for us just to enjoy being able to worship Him. JM

Trust

My daughter who is 10 months old is the messiest eater I've ever seen in my life. Granted, we're still feeding her, but she shoves her hands in her mouth and then rubs her hands all over her face. It's funny because I'll put the spoon in her mouth, and ten she'll shove her right hand in there to like push in any stuff that might have squeezed out the side. It's like she doesn't trust me, which is weird because I've never shown her that I can't be trusted to provide her food.
I guess that's kind of in our nature. To want to do things ourselves, I mean. We're more comfortable when we're in control. God has promised that he will always provide for me so I don't need to worry, but it makes me feel more comfortable when I'm in control. Maybe someday I'll learn just to relax in the comfortable bliss of not being in control. JM

Tough Stuff

I don't cry. Ever. I haven't cried at least since I was 10. And I've had stuff to cry about. Tonight was one of those times when I wish I could. A 6th grader in my middle school group at church had a stroke this morning and can't feel anything on his right side. At the hospital the doctor's were talking about the prognosis and what they planned to do. It's way too soon to see if he'll fully recover or anything like that, but it was just so sad. I kept imagining it being my son laying there. I wouldn't know what to do.
Makes me think more about how much God loves me. He sent his son to suffer and die for me. To me the harder part of that is the suffering. I hate watching my children suffer, and the worst either of them has experienced is two stitches. Not beatings, ridicule, and crucifixion. I cannot imagine. JM

I love New Year's Resolutions. I usually make about 10. I only keep about 2, but that's a lot better than most people, and I end up a lot better off than I would be if I hadn't tried anything.
So here's my list for this year:
1. Run 1,000 miles
2. Read 18 books
3. Write a book
4. Learn to play 4 U2 songs (city of blinding lights, beautiful day, new year's day, and elevation)
5. Be able to rep 135 pounds on the bench press
6. Learn Adobe InDesign and Premiere
I'll probably add more later, but that's a pretty good start. JM

Speaking Of Relative

If you think you're poor, like I am, then check this out.
http://www.globalrichlist.com/
Pretty interesting. JM

It's All Relative

Since I'm concerned about dropping a few pounds, I've been weighing myself a lot recently. But I do this on two different scales. One is a doctor's type scale at the gym and the other is a pretty standard issue bathroom type scale. I trust the gym scale much more than I do the one that I own.
There is a massive difference between the two scales. At home I weigh 142. At the gym I weigh 149. I certainly like the 142 better, but I think the 149 is more accurate. The seven pound difference is pretty dramatic. While the 142 number is measured naked (giggle - he said naked), I do have some light clothing on at the gym (big shock!). But from my estimate, my clothing only weighs 2.5 pounds. So I guess my real weight is right around 146.5 right now.
All this to say that my level of fatness is relative to which scale I'm on. Again, while I'm certainly not fat, I would like to lose a few pounds. It's just a personal thing that I would like to fix about myself because I can. JM

Whatever

So yesterday we did some Christmas shopping. My wife wanted to run into Snip-its to get my son a stocking stuffer. Evidently they have these little play dinosaurs that she thinks he'll like. The time was 5:52 pm and they close at 6:00 pm. She came back out empty handed because they had already counted down the drawer. So instead of getting the little dinosaurs that she wanted, my wife was given two $2 off coupons for haircuts.
Snip-its didn't care about us. They cared about walking out the door at 6:00 pm. Even with that being the case, they should have just given my wife the dinosaurs for free and then rolled the deal on the register the next morning. Talk about pathetic customer service. Stupid coupons. JM

In Hot Pursuit

So I've started asking the powers that be at my place of employment for a laptop. It should be a fairly easy sell for several reasons. One of the main people who would need to approve it has told me several times that I need a laptop. Also, I'm kind of seen as a computery person at my job, which is odd because I know little to nothing about them. I don't care much about what I get, I would just like it to be able to burn DVD's, be small, and let me accomplish work from home that I can easily transfer onto the network. Hopefully I'll know something soon. JM