O is for Ooops

"Oops!" That's what I thought to myself this morning shortly after arriving at the office. What did I do? Well, let me begin back in August...

Prior to my birthday, my wife had placed order through a certain online mega-retailer for Big Country's Greatest 12" hits CD. I had a number of Big Country 12" records back in my college days and really enjoyed the extended remixes of these songs. The CD was not released here in the US, but was being sold as an import. After a short while, my wife got an emailer from the aforementioned mega-retailer that they would ship the CD some time in October (my birthday was in September). OK, whatever... As October puttered on, my wife got another email stating that they hoped to ship the CD sometime in November. OK, I'm getting a little impatient here... I went online to the Big Country official web site went to the contact us page and posted an question of how fast I could get the CD if I ordered through them. After getting a reply, I placed an order through their online store and my wife cancelled the mega-retailer order. Well, yesterday, my CD arrived (still ahead of the latest mega-retailer estimate)! I was excited. We listened to it on the way to (and then home from) Costco. I ripped the CD and created a playlist so that I could put it on my iPod and listen to it at work today. I got to work and was ready to crank up the extended remixes only to find that I had neglected to sync the new playlist to my iPod. OOPS

N is for nap

Naps are good. Even if my six-year old doesn't agree with me. I don't know if I'm just exhausted or if I'm coming down with something, but I took a nap that lasted over an hour and it felt good. I'm still a bit tired and wonder if there's another nap in store...

M is for Mountain Dulcimer

While at the Cedar Creek Reenactment this weekend, my wife and I purchased a mountain dulcimer. It's intended to be an instrument we'll share, although if we both really get into playing it, I could see us picking up a second one. So far, I've already figured out how to play "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" and "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross" on it. It's great that I already know some hymns in the key of D!.

L is for Love

I continue on with my alphabet posts (sorry that they are coming a little less than daily) and today I proclaim L is for Love.  I love God.  I love my wife.  I love my sons.  I love to play guitar.  I love to watch baseball.  But I wonder, do people know this things because I say so or because they see it in my life.  It's probably some of both, but which ones are there evidence of in my life?

K is for Krispy Kreme

Hot, fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Yum yumm. Even buying them at the grocery store and putting them in the microwave - good stuff. Just writing about them is making me hungry.

J is for Jennifer

As I continue my trip through the alphabet, of course J has to be for Jennifer, my dear wife. You can get to know her through her her blog.

I is for Indeed

indeed = in fact, in reality, in truth.... A picture is worth a thousand words and today's In the Bleachers nails it.

H is for Hope

According to dictionary.com, the first listed definition of hope is "the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best." I definitely have hope in my life. Some of the things I have hope for are

• That God will daily cause me to become more and more Christlike
• That God will be glorified in my life, my marriage, and in my family
• That my sons will grow up to be godly men.
• That the 2009 Redskins will play a home game without being booed by the home fans.
• That the 2010 Washington Nationals will lose fewer games than the 2009 Nats
• That I'll be able to make it all the way to Z before becoming tired of my alphabet posts.

G is for Grilling

I love to cook on the grill. I own a Weber Performer grill which is a gas ignited charcoal grill. I've had many proud moments as a griller. One was the Fourth of July a few years back. I had two grills going and we had about 30 people over. Someone offered to grill for a little while so that I could eat. I said "no thanks" and pointed to my half eaten hamburger to right of one of the grills "I've got everything under control." Another proud moment was when I managed to grill every Sunday for about five weeks in a row - in December and January! In fact, on of those Sundays, my boys and I cleared a path in the snow from the door to the grill. As I said, I love to cook on the grill.

F is for Foolish

1.Lacking or exhibiting a lack of good sense or judgment...

Foolish? Am I foolish? I hope not. For the last week and a half in our family Bible study, we've been studying Proverbs. We've been learning about wisdom and seeing the contrasts between wisdom and foolishness. Proverbs 1:7 says "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." Fools despise discipline. Sometimes I bristle at discipline, but do I despise it. I'd better not. For it is far better to fear God and heed wisdom now than it is to try and find wisdom elsewhere when I need it...

E is for Eager

Today's word is eager. The number one definition from dictionary.com reads "keen or ardent in desire or feeling; impatiently longing." I'm not sure if people would describe me as being eager, but I've got a nine-year old son that certainly could be described as eager. He lately has been eager to help out around the house and can get disappointed if there's nothing he can do to help. He's been eager to eat the homemade fudge I made the other day (and he was also eager to help with that). It's good to be eager about worthwhile things (and no I'm not saying that being eager for fudge is a bad thing) and maybe I should be more eager about some things in my life.

D is for discursive

OK, discursive isn't a word I use regularly, but when I look at the first definition of it "passing aimlessly from one subject to another; digressive; rambling," I thought, gosh that sounds like my average work day. At times, I find it very easy to get distracted by some other "emergency" whether at work or at home. I know that I could stand to have a little more focus in my life. Hey, it's the ninth inning and it looks like the Nats are losing again.

C is for Chuck

I continue my trek through the alphabet. C is for Chuck - Chuck Bartowski, that is. Chuck is one of my favorite TV shows and I wish I didn't have to wait until spring for it to be back. I love the nerd action on the show and I love the spy action too. There's comedy, romance, nerds, spies, and JeffSter! Until Chuck comes back in the spring, I'll have to find something productive to do with my Monday nights!

B is for Banjo

Banjo, yep, I own one. It's hiding in a closet somewhere. I bought a used banjo many years ago because I thought it would be neat to try and play Cheap Trick songs on the banjo. I don't think I ever got very far with that. Oh, well, it seemed like a cool idea at the time. I used it once in church when we did a song from Jars of Clay's Redemption Songs. I honestly can't remember the last time I played it. Maybe I should pick it up one day soon...

A is for Apathetic

I admit it.  Sometimes I might be considered apathetic.  "Having or showing little or no emotion"  Yeah, that could be me.  "Not interested or concerned"  Yeah, I've worn that definition, too.  I just don't care (smirk).

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... Love your neighbor as yourself."  OK, that doesn't sound like apathy to me.  "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."  Oops, I'm guilty here.

"Heavenly Father, forgive me for not loving you as I should and not loving my neighbor.  Help me to be more like You because You are Love!"

Thus begins my journey through the alphabet picking out various words from the dictionary and finding the good and bad within me.  At least 25 more posts to come!