Bacon Cake (click here)

This photo is of Shannon and several of her friends from ODF. From left to right: Andrew, Shannon, Anna, Abbie, Sara, Tim, Winsky, Ari, Todd, Jessica, Dave, and Dan.

Apparently, Winsky (center) is in love with bacon. He has a bacon air freshener, bacon wallet and eats bacon as often as possible. For his birthday, he wanted Jessica to make him a bacon cake.

WHAT? A bacon cake? I'm still so intrigued by this unusual birthday party that I had to blog about it.

Follow the link above if you want to try a cupcake version of this cake for yourself. Personally, I'm not quite there yet.

Paul Potts (click on link here)

I first learned about Paul Potts, at church, last June, when John Lynch played the "Britain's Got Talent" youtube video of Paul's first audition during his sermon. (Thanks John!) Of course, as many of you probably know, Paul won the competition and is now touring the world promoting his first album.

I'm particularly excited because Paul will be appearing for one night only on March 27, 2008, at the Ikeda Theater in Mesa.

Of all the venues in the US, like California, New York, and Florida; he's also singing here. It's going to be lots of fun.

The concert is Larry's birthday gift to me. We couldn't even get two seats together so off I go on my own. In fact, the concert sold out shortly after I purchased my ticket. There are hundreds of unhappy people on the Paul Potts myspace page. I'm sad for them but happy for myself.

This is all very strange for me since there is a little known secret about myself that I'll dare to share: I'm not all that fond of music. Wow, I said it! That's kind of different, isn't it? When most people describe themselves, they say they like music, and then they add more things to their list. I don't hate music, but I don't have an overpowering affinity for it either. I'm happy driving in my car without the radio on. Worship music doesn't always make me worshipful, sometimes-but not every time.

So anyway, when I say I like Paul Potts-it's a BIG deal.

Movie Pecs

In my opinion, the greatest movie pecs of all time belong to Ricardo Montalban in the movie, "The Wrath of Khan".

This belief holds true even as I consider Arnold

Schwarzenegger in the "The Terminator".

Of course, there are the "no pecs" of SpongeBob and Patrick to reflect on as well.

Oh, forget pecs! What I really love is the bald head of Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard.

The Adult Inside

This morning I dropped a glass bowl on the floor-no not on purpose-it broke of course, and while I was cleaning up the shards, I thought about my life. I'm rather pensive these days.

For instance, when Larry and I were first married, I didn't know how to clean nor did I make an attempt to learn. Sad, but altogether true. The incredibly patient Mr. Larry, just waited for my life to catch up with his. It did, finally.

I still don't like to clean, but I make an awful lot more attempts than I ever did. In fact, Louise and Lezlie came over for a movie night and Lousie said how clean the house looked. "It's because I was having company, it forces me to clean up." Again, sad, but altogether true. Why can't I clean up just for myself or for Larry? I am learning though.

When I talk with my dear friends about how far we've come spiritually and especially emotionally, I'm filled with joy because of what Christ has done in and through us. The truth is, I entered adulthood terrified of my grownup status, I would have liked to stay Peter Pan like forever. But marriage and kids and good friendships forced me to do what I would not have done for myself.

I cook, I clean (sometimes), I work, I make better choices, I guess I'm finally that adult I never thought I would be. And I'm happy about it.

Shannon at Work

This week I visited Shannon at Kindercare to read stories to her three-year-old class. It was a blast for me to see her in action at work.

I heard absolutely glowing reports from her bosses about Shannon's work and work ethic. It doesn't get much sweeter than that. Her faith in Christ and her beautiful spirit make me proud to know her as a person.

I got to see her as an individual, with different strenghths and abilities than I possess. I tried to see her for the first time, like an outsider would. She approaches her work with a sense of fun and playfulness, and she's fully engaged with each young life she touches.

Those kids may grow up and one day forget her, but I know she'll remember and cherish each interaction as a gift from their Creator.

The Ultimate Houseguest--Irene, NOT!

Dear Friends,

I've been trapped in my home with Irene Higgenbothom
for two and half weeks! I tried and tried but I just couldn't get free. (Once she's in--she's in, until she decides to move on. She's gone for now, though I suspect she'll return sometime in September.)

Anyway, I'm finally unshackled and am now able to blog my experience without Irene constantly looking over my shoulder. She really is a dear, but look here--she's got issues!

Poor Irene! She desperately wants a man, but the truth is, she wears too much makeup and her lipstick covers everything but her actual lips! And her voice, it's so loud and grating. She scares all (men and women), but the truly brave away.

Now that her vacation is over, she'll go back to being a high crane operator at the construction site. Irene loves looking down from on high and checking out all the men.

I'm sorry, I didn't introduce more of you to Irene while she was visiting, but I think you can understand why. If you really want to meet her, just stop by Grace Place and I'll hook you up. And if you're a single male, she really wants to meet you!

Ratatouille Movie

Larry and I saw Pixar's Ratatouille last night. What a cute movie! I like most G rated kid movies and this one was really amazing. The level of computer animation and sophistication that is standard these days makes me happy to support this area of entertainment. Take your kids or just go yourself, it's worth it.