So we went to this great Christmas party. We had a blast. We had great food, great conversation, and we played "The White Elephant Game". It was a kick. One of the popular items was a really cool Starbucks cup. I got the first one, and it got stolen from me :-( then I got the Christmas one, and it got stolen from me :-( then I got the first one back, and it got stolen from me again :-( so I settled for a Starbucks gift card.
Well the joke is on those two cause Santa brought me the fist one and it's bigger brother :-) So now I not only have the cup but I have a bigger one and the gift card. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
So if you remember my post "So I have been a..." you would have read that I made a elf page of Gram and Gramps and my mom and dad...... it is pretty much the coolest thing I have ever done. I stop in from time to time just to laugh my butt off so here you go....
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1355852953
hahahahahahahaa I just watched it again hahahahahahahaa
So I have been a little naughty this year..... I was sent this email titled "I Got Elfed" from a friend and I took it upon my self to make one of me and Robin and send it to a bunch of people before telling her =)
Lucky for me she loved it and posted it on her blog, so I decided to post it on mine =)
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1327895783
So that doesn't seem too naughty right? Well it gets worse. So this morning I decided to play with the Elf yourself site and decided to make an elf out of my gram and gramps, and my mom and dad. It is AWESOME!!! I haven't told them yet =) I am lucky gram and gramps already gave me our Christmas gift, but mom might return mine after I show it to her. Pending the reaction of the elf stars I will post the link =)
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!! Remember mom it's the season for forgivness =)
So this was one for the books. I had a great weekend. I started by working Friday night, but it was cool because I did it all in my sweats from my living room (that is so nice).
Then Saturday I woke to the surprise of snow =) Then it was breakfast, and coffee =)
Then I surprised Robin with tickets to Trans Siberian Orchestra the sweetest Christmas show to go too. It is high volume, high energy, great sound, and awesome effects. This is the opening act before security showed up.
Robin and I headed into Seattle around 2 in the afternoon we stepped out of our front door and about halfway to the car the sky let go of a fabulous snow storm. Here is the drive down Hwy 522
After arriving in Seattle we walked around the Seattle Center, got a coffee =) and decided to head further downtown. We caught the Monorail and headed to the mall. After walking around getting new watches, and new video games, and eating dinner we went to catch the Monorail back to The Center, but after arriving to the loading dock we found out that the Monorail has broke down. So we went out into the snow to catch a cab, so we don't miss the concert
It was amazing to be in downtown Seattle while being in the Christmas season, and it snowing.
I was also very thankful that the roads were not very bad on our way home =)
Sunday was great to say the least. We found out that first service at TRC was canceled, but second service packed enough punch for both services. You can see the condensed version on P Jeff's blog.
Sunday SEAHAWKS VICTORY!!! The boys in Seattle started the season a little rough to say the least, but are making the best of the season. Each week they are putting It out there like their season depends on it (cause it does). I would love them to holdon to the end of the post season and beat the undefeated New England Patriots for thier first lose in the season (happy thoughts). That as most of you know would cause Robin and my relationship to be teated beyond all tests =) and I'm sure we would do just fine....as long as my team wins hahahaha.
After Church on Sunday Robin and I went to storage and got out the Christmas stuff, then went to my parents house and borrowed dad's truck. Then we went to Lake Stevens and got our Christmas tree. It is 9ft (I always wanted a big tree) and then the project starts. First we unload the tree and leave it outside while we take dad's truck back, and get Robin's car which has the saw in it to cut off the bottom of the tree trunk. Then we get back and do the cutting. My room mate and I carry the tree into the house and place it in the stand. The tree is too big for that shallow of a stand, so we lean the tree into the corner of the living room and head for the store. We got a nice deep tree stand (holds alot of water, makes for less watering) finally the tree is standing on it's own. Now we just need to decorate =)
So for me I had Monday off due to the fact that I worked on Friday after Thanksgiving (normaly a paid day off, but got called in for an emergancy) so I stayed up until 1:30am playing my new video game =) and sleped in and enjoyed my day off.
Yep...One For The Books...a great weekend.
So I heard this on the radio on the way into work this morning and it is remaining in my brain so I guess it is time to spit it out.
I got this from theBostonchannel.com:
BOSTON -- Lawmakers on Beacon Hill are set to consider a proposed ban on spanking children in the commonwealth.
NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported that the issue is set for debate at a Statehouse hearing Wednesday morning.
The Boston Herald reported that State Rep. Jay Kaufman filed the spanking ban petition at the request of an Arlington, Mass., nurse who wants Massachusetts to become the first state in the country to stop corporal punishment.
If this proposal does become law and parents are caught hitting their children who are under the age of 18, they could be charged with abuse or neglect.
So if you don't believe in spanking that is your own way, but in my family that is how we got taught what not to do after we did what we are not supposed to do. For me it was always worse, not because I'm a boy, or because I was worse than my sisters. It was because of my pain tolerance. My parents had to spank a little harder to get the point across, and I took the life of many of wooden spoons because of it =). I hate it when people call spanking hitting. I know that is "technically" what it is, but I grew up with this form of discipline, and my parents are great parents and they have never hit me. I have had more spankings than I could ever count, but I also believe that I am a better man because of the way my parents raised me.
Child abuse needs to stop, but I am not talking about that. I am talking about people that don't believe in spanking as discipline. Pushing their beliefs down on good parents that are teaching their kids that you reap what you sow. You do good, mind the rules, show respect to your elders and you get no punishment. You don't do good, you break the rules, you disrespect your elders and you get a spanking. "Reap What You Sow" Simple, right? I know someone who is a great parent and she did not believe in spanking her kids, and no form of punishment seemed to work. She was being run over by her kids constantly. She didn't know what to do to get these kids to understand you just can't treat mom with disrespect like that. At the advice of wise council she decided to try spanking, and now those kids are so great to be around, and they listen to their mom the way a kid should. They learned that doing wrong comes with a price. I know for me I would say growing up I wish my parents didn't believe in spanking, but now looking back I would not be the man I am today if they hadn't.
My personal opinion is this (and I don't care if you agree or not) the kids today need to be spanked, they need to learn when they are young that you do wrong and it comes with a price. I don't think a child needs a spanking for every wrong turn in his/her life, it should be last resort for the situation, but I think it also need to be consistent. If it is not consistent then there is a loop hole for them to get through. It isn't a spank first talk later kind of thing, and it can go to hard and to far (that is abuse), it is a boundary, a guide line to follow. I am thankful that my parents taught me to reap what I sow, cause that saying goes two ways.
Wednesday night is going to be amazing. FREE concert at The Rock Church
About 1 year ago God protected, and spared my life. I was in an accident that still causes me to ride in a car with anxiety, and I still can not sleep in a car anymore. I came to work this morning and there was an accident on the same road in the same place (crazy). Here is how it all went down for those who didn't already know.
It was November in 2006, along with my boss, and good friend Cris Engel. We were ridding to work in the Metro Van Pool, on a rainy morning. I took my normal position, which was the front passenger seat, hood over my head, i-pod playing some good tunes, and a good nap =). So I wake up to the driver saying "Oh s*** here we go!" Not the best way to wake up let me tell you. I opened my eyes to see what I learned later to be a Toyota 4-Runner on its roof spinning across the lanes (from left to right) of I-405 S. the car in front of us started to move out of the way, but the 4Runner had not stopped coming across. The car in front of us hit the 4-Runner, which stopped it from crossing the lanes, but it also killed the momentum of the car trying to escape. So our small gap for avoiding the collision grew to nothing real fast, and the wreck begins.
The Van Pool of Death (not really, no one died) impacted the car in front of us first with the front driver's corner,
and it wrapped around the front of the van and stopped passenger door to passenger door. When this collision happened Cris got thrown up into the roof between the driver and myself with his back. Then I heard it...the worst sound in the world after hitting another car...the sound of another vehicle trying to stop. Then the big bang happened. We got hit so hard from behind Cris got shot back down into the the front/rear seat so hard his shoulder went through the side window. I felt like a pinball game. Now that the window was gone I couldn't tell if the sounds we were hearing was another impact coming in or the normal sound of traffic on I-405 S. When it was all done a State Patrol Officer came to the van and made sure we were all ok, and asked us to get out and move to the side of the Interstate. We got out, and got our first look at what the Van looked like. We were all very blessed to have angles watching over us. Cause what we found when we got out is that a Ford F-350 with full utility bed, full of parts, and tool to work on cranes and hit us square in back end.
We all came out a little sore, a little banged up, but we were alive.
I know that Cris, and myself share a new found fear of being a passenger no matter who is driving.
I still don't sleep while ridding in cars anymore. But I keep trying =)
