Labor Day

I don't remember the last time I blogged about my favorite holidays. I am sure I have in the past, but in honor of today, I will once again drop my top 5 on you. They are my favorites for various reasons, but not the greatest, but my rationale covers it. (That probably doesn't make sense in your head, but I know what I'm blogging)

5) Labor Day - It is always nice for the kids to get a day off right after school starts, and the consistency of it being the first Monday of EVERY September helps me not forget it. (That is a common theme among most of my favorite holidays) I also usually throw a pretty sweet cookout on LD also. 
4) Easter - This is a true holiday I am grateful for and is worthy to be on the list. Many people might think it should be first, but this is my list and my  reasons have little to do with the reason for the holiday and more to do with the day itself. Every Easter, my daughters get together with their cousins for a HUGE Easter Egg hunt. (Very spiritual) It is a fun time for the whole family.
3) Memorial Day - To me, Memorial Day is the Labor Day of the spring. It is almost the kickoff of summer and I LOVE summer. I cookout every Memorial Day and truly am excited for it.
2) Thanksgiving - TG used to be my favorite for years and years. AMAZING food, the Dallas Cowboys and a long weekend. I enjoy getting together with my whole family the day after TG at my house each year also. It is a tradition my wife and I started after we moved to Valpo. Such a great day! 
1) Fourth of July - Independence Day took the title this past year. I have always enjoyed the fun of the day, the warmth of the middle of summer, the food and fireworks. However, the past 2 years I've begun putting a LARGE fireworks show on for our church and that has moved this bad boy to #1.

So there you have it. Not deep or incredible, but a little insight on my thoughts and favorites. No intention of spiritual breakdown or respect of the day, otherwise Christmas, Veterans Day and St. Patty's would have made the cut. President's Day used to be in there too, but it's too commercialized now.

We shall see, we shall see.

I have decided for the tenth or eleventh time I will attempt to blog. Back in the previous decade I was a blogger of lore on MySpace. I would blog weekly with a decent group of readers (over 100) and we had a nice little community. Then Facebook hit and MySpace started dying. I don't hate Facebook for killing MySpace I hate Facebook for all kinds of reasons. It's in my earlier blog here. As my time at MySpace wore thin my blogging came an end as well. MySpace was my ego filler. I truly blogged waaaayyyy too much about myself and fed my ego to an enormous size. I eventually turned my blogs into a 1 copy book that is over 400 pages long. It is a beast. I guess it is like a public diary or journal. I enjoyed it greatly, but when it came time to part with MySpace, my heart never really bought back into blogging. Also the fact my readership dropped by 95% when I entered the indie blog circuit. I also missed the feedback. So here I return with another attempt to restart my blog. It will probably last a month or two and then fall off the planet. My conflict has been, do I blog for myself or others. That has a huge influence on my content. We shall see, we shall see.

I know my twitter account is pretty goofy. @dougjusttweeted I did a self-invented tweetrun of about 10 or more tweets in a row for 20 minutes. It was fun, but was much more blog worthy than tweet worthy. I may have wiped out a bunch of my tweet followers after that, or they may love me even more. And again I say, we shall see we shall see.

That Didn't Take Long...

It's funny how getting away from something for just a little while can catch up with you quickly. I guess my blog is a great example of that. I started to blog again and was having fun, but then after a few short days without blogging, it turned into weeks which later became months. I admit, I blog for various reasons, but I thought I was back on and sure enough I got off track. The point of all this? Our life is much like my blog. We have to pay attention to it. If we don't, it will get away from us. By that I mean, I life with God, our health, our finances, you name it, without attention and discipline, things get lost or out of control. No damage was done by me missing blogs, but it was a good reminder.


It's funny, I started blogging again to prepare for a blog on our church website, and now that it's ready for me I am not quite ready. I'll have to get a few more blogs like today to cover up some of my goofy ones from the past.

The Book Is Getting Closer

I have set a goal to write a book this year. Now this is not a normal book. This is a children's book. I came up with a concept for it about 3 years ago. The story is based off a character named "Irwin the Incredible." I have several other characters slightly planned for the book including his two best friends, his annoyingly perfect younger brother, his arch nemisis and "the girl." I am looking for inspirational kids books right now. Michael Ian Black has several kids books that I am looking into. My problem is I find myself trying to avoid being too much like Calvin and Hobbes or Phineas and Ferb. Oh well, I'll work on it, I am excited for it.

In Through Nose, Out Through Mouth

"In through nose, out through mouth. Don't forget to breath, very important Danielson." - the always wise Mr. Myagi

I had to remind myself of this today. Sometimes I get so busy that I forget to breath. Mr. Myagi was right. The "in through nose, out through mouth" is called a deep cleansing breath. I learned that in pregancy class. (I call it pregancy class because I don't know how to spell Lamaze) I am catching up with things, but I haven't put in this many hours in years and years. I know that the hard work and effort will be worth the cause.

I must admit, I can't wait for May!

A Saturday Night Blog

Us vs Them. I just saw a commercial that mentions Us vs Them. It was interesting because it is from our friends at PayLow who generously let us use their parking lot on Sunday mornings as an overflow. It just struck me funny to hear that phrase.

My Twitter account is rocking. I still have no followers, but dang I am funny with it. I don't announce everything I do, but I do put a few funny ones out there.

Today I announced a few of the movies that were based on my life. Here are a few:
The Dark Knight
Stomp the Yard
O Brother Where Art Thou
The Godfather
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Nacho Libre

I've never seen Stomp the Yard and I am watching O' Brother right now, so that could have a little influence on why it is on the list.

I've participated in a bunch of Fantasy Baseball Mock drafts to prep for my league draft in a few weeks. It's a lot of fun. I can't wait for Fantasy Baseball.

This is an old school goofy blog with no rhyme or reason. I guess it doesn't matter until my blog gets linked to the church website and then I'll have to make some sense.

Glorious

Yesterday was a pretty cool day. I got in my first mock draft for Fantasy Baseball, I did a few things around the house and I GRILLED STEAK! Yep, with snow all around in the middle of February. I typically pull the grill out in maybe late March, but usually April. This was so awesome. I know it's not a big deal to most, but for a freezing cold NW Indiana boy, it was a treasure. I probably won't grill again for a while, but this was a nice treat.

The Social Network

I enjoyed the movie. The concept of a "social network" is rather incredible. They say 1 in 12 people have a Facebook or something like that. None for yours truly, however, it is pretty amazing how much information I miss by not being "connected." It is also quite incredible how much stuff is put up there. I guess if you want people to know what is going on you use the Facebook. We are rehabbing our media outlets at church right now and I do have to say, it is pretty incredible how quickly people will connect with something. I checked on the facebook thing and we had 171 friends in 2 days. WOW. I guess if it is used for good, we will see great things from it. I hope the world doesn't come to a place where you are required to have a Facebook to be "connected." I will be in trouble then, because it will confirm my true thoughts...The MARK OF THE BEAST! I'm kidding, but right now I am still safe, everyone else is Facebook'd.

The Days Get Sadder...

Please note, this is not a sad blog per se, just a sad moment for me.

Today I signed up for a Twitter account.

I know, what the heck are you thinking? You already have a blog that only your Dad reads, now you are making a Twitter for him to have to read also? Yep.

We are re-strategizing our approach at church to attack the masses with communication and social networking outlets. I refuse to Facebook, but I will "attempt" to Twitter. If it goes as expected, I will hate it. Most likely, I will grow madly addicted to it and wonder how I ever lived without it. I mean who doesn't want to know what I am doing?

If you dare, it can be found at:
http://twitter.com/dougjusttweeted

I'm short?

I was recently informed I am short. This surprised me. I don't think I'm short.

You're A Lot Smarter Than You Look

A few years ago I figured out how that (You're A Lot Smarter Than You Look) phrase was brilliantly cutting. I had always heard stories of how "Bless Your Soul" meant something like "you poor fool" but my phrase puts it in plain english. You aren't as dumb that you look. WOW. This phase is the opposite of me perfectly and my prediction that the impending blizzard wouldn't be that bad. Yoinks. I messed that one up. Oh well. I posted some pictures below that should help capture how wretched it really is.



The Front of our House - January 4, 2011



Our Mailbox Covered In Snow



Birdbath in backyard covered by snow



Cindy and Chop at the sledding hill

This Blizzard Goes to 11!

The hype for the "blizzard" that is amassing itself upon our nation right now is the biggest weather issue "non-hurricane / earthquake / natural disaster" that I've heard of ever. The warnings for this have been topping EVERY news market. Even my beloved Sportscenter is detailing the devastation this winter storm is to bring. I just snowblowed the driveway a few minutes ago and my reaction...Meh? Now tomorrow morning it may move to amber alert and merit a Wuhhh??? If it is worthy, I will blog it out.

It was interesting for me because I have participated in the "madness" agreeing to close the church office early today and close it for tomorrow. Pastor Todd was wise to recommend it, I agreed with him. Maybe it's my old age kicking in or some sense of wisdom gradually approaching, but it just seemed right. I hope we are wrong and the world looks the fool on this one, but I think they may have pegged this dude right. I am not terrified or worried about it, just prepared to spend a few extra hours with my family enjoying the day tomorrow.

Nephew Ranking

I have FOUR nephews. I have ranked them... in order of which one I think will try to kill me first.

1) TJ aka Declan McKee
2) SKameron Sorensen
3) Shamas McKee
4) Cameron Myers

Yes, I realize that Cameron Myers isn't my "nephew" but I am pretty sure he will try and kill me at some point in our lives. He's got those shifty eyes you can't trust. Also, my nephew Kodie Sorensen isn't on the list because I don't believe he would ever try and kill me.

With or Without

As I have recently attempted to return to blogging, I realized that blogging without followers really seems pointless. It reinforces my arrogance and need for attention, however, it is also an excellent practice of discipline to blog NOT to feed ones ego. I of course believe someone will read this and it will mean something to someone so I venture on.

The wrestling continues in my blogging on my desire to have this profound blog, and another part wants to share about the joys of eating beef again. I guess the purpose of the blog should be discovered and then the quality of the blog can be determined.

On a positive note, my father had successful knee replacement surgery on his right knee yesterday. He has needed this for over 5 years. He has been in a large amount of pain and it hurts to see him walk. Once his rehab is completed and he is on his way back to normal they will fix the other knee and then my dad will be so much better off. We have prayed for a breakthrough in this for many years and it is great to see God beginning to answer those prayers. Why did it take 5 years? I don't really care, i am just glad it is happening.

The Kiss

As a return to blogging continues, it is an interesting process. It requires creativity, which comes in spades for me, but also reason, which I sometimes create and sometimes comes in spades for me.

Today is day 18 of a 21 day fast I have been on. The beginning of this blog several years ago detailed my first experience with a 21 day fast. That fast is very different than this one. My first 21 day fast was a pure Daniel's fast which I don't recommend unless you are really into it. It was very difficult and required an immense amount of discipline, but also sacrifice. My sanity was lost through that fast because EVERYTHING had to be scrutinized that you ate. No preservatives, no sugar, no anything. It took more effort finding something you could eat to qualify it. That was the last pure Daniel's fast I participated. Each year I have modified the fast and I am pretty happy with my current one. No meat, no sweet and no caffeine. It requires discipline, sacrifice and patience. That patience lies in the tray of Hershey's kisses on my end table. For days and days they call to me, just to eat one. No sweet=no kisses. Each time I see those, I say a prayer as a reminder of my fast. Sure, my current fast doesn't require the discipline, sacrifice and patience of a Daniel's fast, but you better believe it requires every one of those things. And for that, I am happy and I believe God is pleased.

To Foo or Not To Foo...

My Foo Fighters have made me an offer that may be too hard to refuse. They are currently having a contest titled "THIS VIDEO SUCKS" requesting indepentent film makers to send them a short reel and they will select 11 of these directors to make them 11 videos for their new album. A video per song. For those unaware, I love Foo. I have little doubt that I could succeed greatly at this project. However, I have no idea at the time committment it may require or the potential of my brain exploding if I meet the Foo's. I am considering making a film Thursday on my day off to woo the foo. We shall see, we shall see. 

To Profound or Not...

I think a main reason I don't blog anymore is a sense of need to blog something profound. Since leaving the SPACE and "blogworld" I have become much more protective of what I allow on the web.

I put my old blogs into a book and re-read all of them recently. I was insane. I cannot believe the things I blogged about. From the utterly ridiculous to the embarassingly transparent. I guess I felt comfortable in the community I was sharing in, but still that was a lot. I am wrestling right now with how much or little I should blog about. Sad.

I don't really know where this will go. If it comes down to me needing to only blog about profound things, this will be a blog of few blogs. If I can get past my pride a bit and just go for it, this might be a fun blog. We shall see.

Time To Blog

There was a day when I couldn't wait to blog. A day when I was so excited to share and have others view the great nuggets of wisdom I had to offer.  I am pretty sure most of it was my arrogance and ego, but still it was a part of my life. I have a book of my blogs titled "I HAVE BLOGGED!" that is over 400 pages. So as I consider a return to this world, I do it with anticipation and hesitance. Still, you will never ride a bike again if you don't get back on it. Unfortunately, I am more of a cowboy. If there was only an analogy for me.