We found out today Dad has to have lung surgery very soon. He has an enlarged artery going to his lung and if they don't fix that it could burst and he could bleed to death. I know that God is sovereign and that He works out all things for the good even when we don't understand the rhyme and reason of it all. I'm so scared and alone right now. The one actual friend(one I can talk to on the phone etc.) I have is so busy right now with finishing up her degree, her sewing business and substitute teaching that she is never able to talk. She's working studying or sleeping. I don't have anyone at church I can talk to, Mama is as freaked out as I am so I don't want to burden her with how I am feeling. Anyway all we do is fight anymore so that would just be adding gasoline to the fire, I mean we almost got into a screaming match at Wal-Mart today because we were both so stressed out over everything that's happened lately. Any prayers that could be said for me and my family would be greatly appreciated.

We were standing in front of Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau when he reached into my backpack. I asked him what he was after because I knew he already had his camera. He reaches around me and I see the little red box. "Oh my god!" I look at him in shock... and giggling with nervous excitement. "So, will you?" says the many of many words. "Of course... you know I will." Giggles and kisses. And it was done.

There is so much to say about the trip and I don't even know where to go from engagement. It all feels a bit anti-climactic. I now say that everyone must go on at least one cruise in their lifetime... and after that one you will long for another. I have never been treated so well, eaten so well, or lived so well. Nothing beats the fresh sea air on your face and the sight of whales frolicking in the waves. It's an experience you will never forget!

I know I said this before, but I am just absolutely itching for autumn. Today, I even wore a light sweater (which is fine in the cold, office airconditioning, but not great in the 85 degree heat outside). I can't wait for October for cooler weather and my birthday, and November because my dad is coming for a visit. He just bought tickets today, so it's official. He'll be here for two weeks.

By the time my dad gets here, the fall semester will almost be over. I'm really enjoying my class and the university where I teach this semester. Teaching for an hour and 15 minutes is not as draining as those marathon five-hour sessions over the summer. Also, I really enjoy my class and look forward to seeing them Tuesday and Thursday nights. Their first essays are due next week -- should be interesting to see what kind of writers they really are.

The kitty is growing so fast, and Penny is increasingly jealous of Adam or me giving her any attention. I keep telling Adam this is what it'll be like when our second child is born, though I'm thinking it might be this way with our first if Penny behaves anything like this.

Tonight, we're going out to dinner for either burgers or barbeque -- we haven't decided yet, but I'm already starving. Adam is working all weekend, so I'll be busy cleaning the house, preparing for next week's classes, and doing various odds and ends. Have a lovely weekend, and may visions of autumn dance in your heads.

I was just up in Minnesota again—yes, again—courtesy of some friends who were going up for Labor Day. I went to the State Fair with my family and ate various foods-on-a-stick. I enjoyed myself, but came back to Kansas City on Monday with the realization that summer is ending and it is time to get busy. I spent a few hours yesterday and today helping out TheCall's office with some data entry, and I will have my hands full with the freelance editing projects I've lined up for this month. I am working toward my next belt test. And of course there will be long hikes with friends as the weather cools off.

Still, I need to look at my schedule and focus on setting aside time for the L-rd. Vacation has been fun, and working and exercising are necessary, but it is too easy for me to fill my time with "fun" and "necessary" and neglect what's eternal. So I keep trying to find the balance.

Sometimes I don't do so well, even in an environment of prayer. When you stand on the wall for a while, sometimes you get distracted and fall off. But it is so important—and I am preaching to myself here—to not give up that pursuit of time with the L-rd. Time with Him is something we must fight for, even if the only time we can find in busy schedules is a few minutes before leaving for work or during a load of laundry, even if we don't hear anything or the Word seems dry. We must pursue Him without letting guilt be our motivator or act as a wedge between us and Him; we have to seek Him out of love as well as obedience.

I know a lot of my friends and family are dealing with this issue. How about you? How do you wholeheartedly pursue and sustain a relationship with the L-rd in the midst of full schedules and family needs?

You’ve probably heard of Ubiquity by now. It was causing quite a buzz a few days ago before Google Chrome came along and stole all of its thunder.

Ubiquity is an experimental Firefox extension that bills itself as “a powerful new way to interact with the web.” One way to describe Ubiquity that gives you a clearer idea of what it’s actually all about is that it’s Quicksilver for the Internet.

We’re all used to the point-and-click, foreign and unnatural way of interfacing with the web. Ubiquity tries to change the way we interface with the web by allowing us to use language rather than buttons and endless URLs. For instance, if I want to post something I see on the web to Twitter, I’d usually have to copy the text, navigate to Twitter, log in, paste the text and press submit. With Ubiquity, I can select the text, summon Ubiquity and type “twit this.”

For me, when I realized that the developers had connected the word “this” to various means of input selection, I realized that there have been many simple ways to create more human interfaces for a long time, but we’ve ignored them. Let’s be honest, there’s nothing technologically groundbreaking about getting a computer to understand “this” as the text within your selection, but in the current state of the web, there’s something groundbreaking about it from a user interaction point of view. ...

Continue reading.

Police detained hundreds demonstrators on the final night of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Approximately 250 people were arrested shortly before John McCain took to the stage to accept the presidential nomination. That's in addition to the 422 people who had already been arrested earlier in the week.

Riot police held approximate 300 people, including journalists and observers for nearly an hour on an overpass spanning Interstate 94. Police instructed the crowd to get on the bridge, then announced that everyone on the bridge was under arrest.

The Joint Information Center offered conflicting accounts about the status of the assembly permits for last night's gatherings. When I called at 4pm, a spokesman told me that the organizers of the March were slated to march from the capitol, through downtown, around the xCel Center and back to the capitol and that the protest was set to go until 7pm.

By 5pm, CNN was reporting that the cops on the ground were telling protesters that their permit had expired. According to some reports, Sheriff Bob Fletcher announced that he was rescinding permits at news conference late Thursday afternoon, but when I called to confirm, the Joint Information Center told me that no permits had been revoked.

Journalist Paul Demko was briefly arrested and flex cuffed on the bridge. By Thursday, the police had learned that it's bad PR to arrest journalists and protest observers along with demonstrators. Mind you, they still cuffed them, but they segregated them and let them go early.

According to one theory, the group on the bridge was a breakaway from a separate gathering, which was not permitted to march through downtown--hence the arrests on the bridge.

Police used tear gas, concussion grenades and pepper spray to control the crowd.

The RNC took out a $10 million insurance policy to pay off police brutality settlements. This is the first time party host committee agreed to take out such a policy. I wonder how high their deductible is.

The students have begun to open up and talk to me, ask for advice, and I see God's favor already over my life.  I am blessed to be a Raider, I am blessed to have my Father's favor, I am blessed to get up every morning and make a difference.... not to mention get paid for it too! ; )

Graph is from this report, which notes:

Arctic sea ice extent averaged over the month of August was 6.03 million square kilometers (2.33 million square miles). This is 1.64 million square kilometers (633,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 August average,

However, August 2008 was still 670,000 square kilometers (260,000 square miles) above August 2007, despite the record-breaking rate of decline over the past month. Why would this be? The best explanation for this is that this summer did not experience the "perfect storm" of atmospheric conditions seen throughout the summer of 2007.

Even though August ice extent was above that of August 2007, the downward trend for August ice loss has now gone from -8.4% per decade to -8.7% per decade.

I wanted to laugh, but I figured that wouldn't make me sound any older.  Not that I'm offended or whatnot at being taken for younger than I am -- I guess I was just never aware that I sounded like a child when I chat on the phone!

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1535485&w=425&h=350&fv=videoId%3D184095]

Sounds harmless, yes?  Probably.  It's not a BAD book.  It's not a GREAT book either, not by any stretch.  I'm not really buying the characters--I don't know what makes Bella so intriguing.  I don't really understand why she doesn't want to leave Edward's side.  I'm actually not even sure how she got into this whole vampire mess to begin with, especially since she seems to have no previous pull towards the supernatural.   And then, in two seconds of talking to Edward, she's in love with him, wants to be by his side forever, will do anything for him, yadda ya.  I actually was waiting for something to be revealed about him hypnotizing her, but no.

PLUS, I don't really enjoy Edward's character.  He feels a little misogynistic, always telling Bella what to do, how to behave, how to think.  It is very controlling, but then maybe that's what vampires are all about??  I have no prior experience.

Also, the book is like 500 pages long and it doesn't even get interesting until the last 1/4 of the book.  There's a lot of set up (which maybe, I think/hope has to do with the fact that this is the first book in the series and hence, a lot more needs to be set up), and the pace moves slowly. 

All this said, I will probably read (at least) the next one.  I'm hoping it will get better, and I feel like I need to give it a chance.  I definitely stayed out of the whole Harry Potter insanity, and so I am going to power through Twilight, so at least I'm hip to one fantasy-kiddie-book-craze.  If anything, I'm doing it for my friends.

I like mornings at our house. There is peace. I like beginning the day this way.

ThinkProgress has put together an analysis based on the prepared remarks (a total of 38,055 words) of the convention speakers, looking at how many times Republicans said various words. A glimpse at conservatives’ priorities:

Bush Administration Bush: 1 Cheney: 0 Gonzales: 0 Rumsfeld: 0 National Security War/Wars: 38 Surge: 14 Nuclear Weapons: 4 Diplomat(ic)/Diplomacy: 3 Torture (McCain’s): 3 Guantanamo: 1 Osama Bin Laden: 1 Afghanistan: 0 Torture (not McCain’s): 0 Economy Jobs: 36 Economy: 27 Middle Class: 2 Housing: 1 Social Security: 1 Unemployment: 1 Other POW: 14 Maverick: 11 Hockey Mom: 5 Tyrannosaurus: 1 Elvis: 1

Health Care Health Care: 26 Medicare: 1 Medicaid: 1 Environment/Energy Drill/Drilling: 18 Nuclear (Power): 10 Clean Coal: 7 Environment: 7 Gustav: 6 Climate Change: 1 Global Warming: 1 Green Economy: 1 Katrina: 0 Science Technology: 13 Internet: 1 Science: 1 Stem Cell: 0 Civil Rights Immigration: 5 Gay/Gays: 0

The New York Times has an analysis of the Democratic convention here.

Not elitism: getting a good education as a scholarship student.

Here is her story as told by H (and recreated as faithfully as possible by me):

Well, we had to board up both houses and we were trying to leave ahead of contra-flow.  But Mina had decided to hide in the depths of the house, you know, like she does when I really need her to be out.  And I realized I hadn't seen her in hours and then I noticed the front door was open and I'm like "Oh my god, what if she got out."  But I figured she was just hiding from noise and dogs and such.  So we went to my house because the renters didn't do ANYTHING before leaving and, oh!  Did I tell you about the spiders?  So it's late at night and we're putting up a board and there's a HUGE spider and I make Casey kill it by stomping on it but THEN there are like a gajillion spider babies exploding everywhere.  That's when I say "screw this! We really have to get going like RIGHT NOW because of, um, contraflow!  That's it!  Off we go!"

So we go back to the house and find Mina THANK GOD and pack her, the two dogs, and all the stuff into the car.  Also, I couldn't find either of the cat carriers that I know are somewhere so I had to make one out of a box with tons of holes punched in it and tape.  So we put the box on top of all the stuff and Mina starts the pathetic "Oh god you hate me, I want to die" noises that she makes even when you pick her up so we don't take her all that seriously.  After 30 minutes she stops scratching.  An hour later, I look back and her entire head is poking out of the box.  She had nommed one of the holes until it was wide enough for her head to poke through.  A few minutes after that I hear this weird noise, look back, and Mina has lugged her body through the nomming hole.  And now she insists on riding up front in someone's lap, preferably whoever is driving.  So . . . yeah.

We FINALLY make it to Ruston and stop at my mom's house.  And you know how during Katrina, even, Mina wouldn't eat or anything on the trip?  Well, same thing this time.  And so we finally leave my mom's house on our way to my grandmother's and you know all those hills?  Well Mina freaks out and starts drooling all crazy and there's like these clear threads coming out of her mouth and then it turns into bubbles and then I guess she's trying to throw up from motion sickness but she hasn't eaten so all this weird gooey shit keeps coming out until me, Casey, and the entire front of the car are covered in kitty hork and it's just so bad.  Casey's all like "Damn, I took a shower so I could be clean and non-smelly to meet your grandmother and now I'm covered in kitty goo, so . . .whatever."

At this point, I was laughing too hard to hear any more story.  Because "kitty hork" is just too good at making me giggle.  Mina is fine, H is fine, the houses are fine.  And yes, it's a sad story of a sick cat.  But it's also funny as hell.

Last weekend, one of Alex's friends from work stayed with us.  He would've been stranded at his house all weekend (his vehicle-operating roommate was on vacation), so Alex offered him our guest room.  I felt bad that we're sort of homebodys and there wasn't much exciting to do!  We spent many hours playing Rock Band, though, and I have to say I'm becoming a better fake drummer every day.

On Saturday, our friends Cody & Phil from back home came over for dinner.  Cody goes to school in NoVA, and Phil was out visiting him over the long weekend.  We grilled out and had more food than all of us possibly could've eaten - despite the fact that I forgot to serve the chips and potato salad!  It was wonderful to see both of them again and re-connect with what we're all doing these days.

Monday was a glorious, work-free day.  We went to Old Town to take advantage of some Labor Day sales.  I was particularly excited about Crate & Barrel's advertised 70% off.  Though nothing I got actually ended up being on sale (a new toilet bowl brush, cutting board, and hamper), I was glad that I finally got to use the gift card given to us at our wedding.  Of course, a trip to Old Town wouldn't be complete without eating at La Madeline and shopping at Ann Taylor LOFT.  Loft was having quite the sale themselves, and I got a couple of shirts for $17.  A bargain, if you ask me!  (Which you obviously did.)  Monday evening was spent with friends.  Maery Beth & Jason Turner hosted a cook-out for friends & neighbors.  I had a wonderful time relaxing, eating good food, and talking with friends!

Tuesday was spent doing catch-up from the weekend: laundry, cleaning up the first floor, ironing, and doing dishes.  We had the second fencing contractor out to give us an estimate.  Though his initial estimate was almost double the other company's (!), he decided to match their price.  I had been hoping that one or the other would be lower, and that would make our decision for us, but no such luck!  I suspect that if we do decided to install the fence, we'll go with the second company.  The man seemed very dedicated to his work and told me about a couple of features that his price included that his competitor's didn't.  We haven't made the final decision on whether to put one in or not - it's the price of the fence plus the price of a lawnmower.  Yet it would be so nice to have a contained backyard, with Oscar and with new job possibilities... more on that later.

Last night Bible Study was at my house.  I love hosting, but boy - it felt cramped!  Next time I think I'll have to scoot back the couch to make room for additional dining room chairs in the living room!  Our discussion seemed more weighty and delved deeper than it normally does, at least in my opinion.  I have a burden to be transparent with these wonderful women, and last night that seemed to come to a head.  I know that personally I need more accountability and revalation of my sins.  Hopefully very soon I will have an accountability partner - someone who can really get in my face and love me to the point of hurting my feelings!  I feel somewhat like a caterpillar wanting to emerge from her coccoun, to employ an old cliche.  Nevertheless, I yearn for change in my own heart more than I have for months.  Now there's cause for a smiley-face sticker for God!