Blake Thompson daht NetI'm just saying….

Sometimes after I’m in bed, and maybe I’ve fallen asleep already or I’m up reading or listening to something, I hear my 2 year old crying.

So I go in there and she’s usually just sitting up in bed and giving a sleepy cry. Now it’s sometimes hard to reason with a 2 year old when they’re wide awake. But try to have a conversation with one at 1am after she’s been asleep for a while…and it’s near impossible.

So after asking if she needs to potty or if she’s hurting somewhere and getting “No’s” to each of those questions, I ask “Do you want me to pick you up?” She squeaks out a “yes….” So I pick her up and she nestles into my chest and shoulder. She calms down and her breathing begins to regulate.

I’ll hold her and sway around a bit. Maybe walk through the house a little. But she is soon ready to lay back down. I guess it’s something about resting in you Daddy’s arms that is comforting. Soothing. More than comfortable.

I think I feel that need sometimes. But I’m wanting to just be able to crawl up into the arms of my Heavenly Father, nuzzle in, feel His arms around me and just rest and feel His presence.

That’s a need we all have. And it’s something that God wants us to feel the freedom to do.

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It’s nearly 1am and I’m not tired. But I should be. And I will be.

Tonight was another Jr High Dance up at the church. Seems the all the jr high kids want to “crank that soulja boy” over and over. They can do it with attitude too. But after a dance, with the take down and clean up, I come home and catch up on some football scores.

Tomorrow will start early. Addison’s got 2 soccer games, with the first one at 8am. Should be cool and wet at that time, huh? We may head up to Starkville after lunch to watch some Bulldog football. Should be an easy win for us, right? I mean, Gardner-Webb. But the Dogs should be 3-1 after tomorrow. When is the last time we could say that?

So if we go, that means not much sleep tonight. Not much tomorrow night. Then a full day w/ the church stuff. I’ll catch up on Monday!

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We got the MacBookPro at the office a while back, but it was just this week that I really dove into playing with iWork (which I had preinstalled when I got it.) I’d used Pages a few times for some simple word processing and hadn’t really looked at Keynote much at all.

We were going to be putting together a new Youth Newsletter. Most of the ones I’d seen done or even done myself were with the trusty ole  Microsoft Publisher. Man, how amazing was it when I first cranked out a newsletter with it in 1997? Sad thing is, most of the stuff I’ve seen done with MS Pub 2003 looks like the first version I ever had.

But Pages has blown me away. It’s got so much drag and drop functionality. Once you learn the way something is setup or tweaked, it’s like a simple one-two-three process. Our newsletter is going to look almost professional (based on my limited skills for sure.) Apple’s Pages is sort of a cross between what you know to be MS Word and MS Publisher…but better. And you must know that I’m using iWork 06. Apple just released a newer version that now has a spreadsheet program with it (Numbers) and Pages & Keynote have updated features.

Also, we’re going to be using Keynote a lot too since we just got ProPresenter (buh-bye, MediaShout.) I’ve noticed Granger Community Church using it some and want to use some of their ideas with the announcement slides. Keynote is a program that belly laughs at Powerpoint.

So, my feet are barely wet with iWork right now. But I’m liking how the water feels. And when I end up getting a Mac of my own soon (-er than later I hope), I think I’ll have this installed on it as well.

When the newsletter is complete I’ll post a pdf of it.

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You know what a palindrome is, right? A word, phrase, verse, or sentence that reads the same backward or forward.

Watch below. Weird Al has mastered the English Language.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Nej4xJe4Tdg[/youtube]

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It was a win all around… My local high school team won. My U8 soccer team won. And my college team won. Could it get any better?

Mississippi State actually won a road game AT Auburn. And after playing a college this coming weekend that started out as a HIGH SCHOOL way back when…we should be 3-1. Now that’s a crazy thought. But we’ll get smacked around pretty good with the road trips after that. So no worries. I’m counting the chicken on the 22nd, but none after that. I guess we’ll know we can at least be 3-9 this season, huh?

The Clinton Arrows are better than people gave them credit for. No doubt.

I wouldn’t have thought it, but girls U-8 Soccer can actually be exciting. Our 8am game got started late because the ref was on the wrong field. And then we got out to a slow start. 0-2 deficit. But then we kicked it in and  won 7-3. How’s that for a comeback? Addie is for sure one of the younger girls on the team. But she tries hard and gets a good lick on the ball sometimes too. She’s getting better I believe.

I preached Sunday morning at The Connection (the 3rd worship service at church which is “contemporary”). It went really, really well I thought. Preached on turning to God in times of trouble. Had some pretty personal stories in there. Used the video from 99 Balloons. And extra effort went into choosing songs that related directly w/ the message. A good morning indeed…

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Okay, I’m about a week removed from my trip to The District. All in all, I’d say it is a great place to vacation. I’d even consider living close by maybe. We saw tons, and there is still lots more to see. But here are some bulletpoints that came to mind while I was there:

• DC may be the most diverse place I’ve ever been to when you consider all the tourists.
• I’ve no clue why people from Bangledesh and Peru want to take pictures of a statue of Abe Lincoln.
• Having a laptop and a hotel with free high speed internet is now a must on vacations (helps with numbers, maps, directions, menus, schedules, prices, distances, movies, email, blogs, facebook, newspapers, espn.com, and instant messaging.)
• The Yellow Line seems to be the slowest of the Metro Rails.
• But the Metro Rail system is a nice way to get around.
• The burgers at Five Guys are big and HUGE!
• The burgers at ESPN Zone are pretty good too, and still HUGE!
• But if you walk around all day, I think it doesn’t matter how big of a burger you eat.
• 75% of people on the streets in China Town smoke when they’re outside.
• China Town has a lot of non-chinese people in it.
• Could almost be Africa Town at some point.
• I didn’t meet anyone named George in Georgetown.
• But I think Georgetown is a really cool place.
• But I could never live there….real estate is WAY above my means.
• Georgetown U is pretty cool too. A pretty diverse campus. And they have mad school pride. Part of me wishes I’d gone there.
• I like the Circulator.
• National Community Church is doing some great things there in DC.
• Most of the “nice” people in DC seem to be from the South.
• It’d be cool to do a segway tour of DC. But those things cost over $5k.
• Seems people either run (lots of runners around Capitol Hill) or smoke (lots of smokers everywhere.)
• If I liked coffee a lot, I’d probaby hang out at Ebenezeer’s Coffee House.
• But if I wasn’t in that area, I’d be okay. There seemed to be about 1.5 million Starbucks around DC.
• Somethings look smaller in person. Some look bigger.
• Jason Bourne is a very bad man…in a good way, of course.
• I wondered if George Bush always looks that happy to see people on the sidewalk or if he was genuinly glad to see ME.
• I want to read some books and watch some movies again that are based in DC since I know where stuff is now.
• If you can help it, try to fly into Ronald Regan Airport…it’s much easier/cheaper to get to your hotel from there.
• Most of the areas we went to were pretty clean. I was impressed.
• It’s really loud in both the Hard Rock Cafe and ESPN Zone.
• Stadium Seating is best for movie watching.
• There are cops everywhere in DC.
• Food is really expensive in the Smithsonian Museums.
• The Loews Theater in G’town gives one free refill on your popcorn and your drink. Now that’s awesome!

That’s it for now. Now I want to go back and spend more time.

Who wants to go with me?

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It’s funny.

I go away on vacation and post at least once a day, if not twice.

Then I come back home and the blog gets nudged to teh side a little. It wasn’t on purpose, but it seemed that the days got filled with work and soccer and birthday parties and school visits and sleep and movies on DVD.

But now that Labor Day has come and gone, we actually got a vacation in, and now college football has started, I guess Summer is scooting towards the door while Autumn is about ot start knocking. I just wish Mr. Autumn would come a little sooner since it’s still blazing hot outside most of the time…not that I’m complaining.

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I SLEPT IN ON A SUNDAY. Man, that’s the first time I’ve done that in a long while. I loved it. Actually woke up and watched a movie before getting out of bed.

We hit our new brunch stop in the Air/Space Museum and then set out for our biggest day walking yet. We spend a little time in the American History presentation in the Air/Space Museum. The actual American History Museum is under renovations right now, so they put a few of the most popular items in there. It was quite impressive. I’d like to come back to see the whole collection some time later.

We walked to the Jefferson Memorial. We passed the Holocaust Museum, but the line was out the door. So we kept moving. After the Jefferson Memorial we walked all the way to K Street and 14th to get on the Circulator Bus. I’d been wanting to go check out Georgetown University and this was out best option instead of walking (ha ha! more to come on that).

So as we moved through Georgetown (the neighborhood) to get to the University. As we rode and then walked through impressive areas with shops, row houses, and expensive cars we admired most of what was around. But as we approached the campus we could hear someone singing. We could see a huge wall surrounding the campus. As we approached a gate there was a buzz in the air too.

We walked in and rounded the corner and saw literally thousands of students. The SAC Fair was going on. Yes, the SAC Fair!!!! I didn’t know what that meant either, but I saw signs up everywhere. Turns out it’s the Student Activities Commission and they have TONS of student organizations set up tables and try to recruit students to their causes or social gatherings. There were the very serious to the very silly and all things in between.

I started to try to see how many free t-shirts I could drum up posing as a student. But decided against it. But I was really looking at the Hoya Habitat for Humanity one. I did score some Tootsie Rolls while The Wife got some cotton candy. Then I had to go by the bookstore to get a Georgetown t-shirt. I’ll wear it proudly. I can see why people have some Georgetown pride. Seems like a great placed to go to school.

Then we hightailed it out of there to go to the theaters and watch The Bourne Ultimatum. Good movie.  We left the theater to walk along the Waterfront. Lots of shops, dining, and a fantastic view where you can see into Virginia and a little of DC. So now comes more walking…

We walk to the JFK Center, then up to Washington Circle, and then to DuPont Circle. From there we start back south and pass The White House, and decide since we’re fairly close we’ll go take a picture of a restaurant called Ella’s Fired Pizza. Would have eaten there but we were full of popcorn (the theater gave you one free refill…now that’s a great theater). Then back south yet again to the hotel. I added it all up and we walked probably over 12 miles today.

Back at the hotel. A little US Open, a little hot chocolate. And a little blogging. Now it’s almost midnight here in The District. Our ride to the hotel is supposed to be downstairs at 7:30am. If it doesn’t then we’re here in DC for longer than intended.

All in all, it was more than a fantastic trip. We saw tons, but discovered many more things to still see or spend more time on. I would love to come back and spend more time. There are lots more pictures I’ll put up and some short video snippets that will show some surroundings and encounters too. I’ve still gotta tell the story of seeing The Prez, and I’ll have a general review of Washington and things I learned while here.

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I slept in…way in. Like just past 10am. Now that’s what I call a vacation. I’m still thankful for my room darkening shades.

So after brunch at the cafe in The Air & Space Museum we made our way up to The Archives. We were able to see some very old, yet very real documents and writings while there. And in The Rotunda were The Bill of Rights, The Declaration of Independence, and The Constitution. Quite impressive. Then we made our way to China Town. We took our time, walked around, and poked our heads in a few shops. The deeper we went the more “ethnic” it seemed. Lots of China Town seemed fairly common with maybe a few signs here and there in Chinese. But as we got further north into it, there was more and more authenticity to it all.

From there we decided to try out hand at the Metro Rail system. After staring at the ticket machines like a statue for a bit we finally bought day passes. And then after going up and down the escalator a time or two, we figured out how to tell which colored train was going where, and we set out to Arlington National Cemetery. There are over 300k soldiers buried there. Acres and acres of grave stones. We saw Kennedy’s grave and his brother Bobby’s grave too. As the sun beat us down, we made it to the Tomb of the Unknowns. As an added treat we saw the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Just happened to walk up at the right time.

We made quick time back to the Metro and hopped a few trains to get to Ebeneezer’s for the 5:05 church service. But we got there at 5:20ish. But we were a part of a little bit of worship, and got to hear Mark Batterson deliver the sermon. It was on Throwing In The Towel: Serving like Jesus did by washing feet. It was good and he ended w/ a nice challenge to actually do what the Bible tells us we should. It’s a nice setup there in the bottom of the coffee shop. Packed house too. NCC is doing something different and special in DC…

I got to meet Mark briefly afterwards. Nice, what you see is what you get, sort of guy it seems. I didn’t take hardly any of his time. He’d already had a few people talking to him so I figured he was ready to catch his breath. I was right. As we made our way up and out of Ebeneezer’s, I looked back and saw him already headed down the street too. I think he lives nearby and was on foot headed back home. Also got to say “Good game” to Heather Zempel who is the Discipleship Pastor. She’s an LSU grad…and I was still stinging from the spanking we’d gotten a couple of nights before. She didn’t rub it in…

We took the Metro back to the hotel for a brief rest before heading back out for a late supper. We first went to the Hard Rock Cafe, but after sitting for a few min we decided to head over to ESPN Zone a couple of blocks away. I could watch a few different college football games at once while The Wife could watch some US Open. Everyone wins. And I had the 2nd burger in as many nights. Again, good..but I’m about “burgered out”.

That was our day. It ended with US Open while falling asleep in a King sized bed…

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So after sleeping longer than I expected to, the day started in a dark hotel room. But soon after we set out. We breezed through a few places as we were finding out feet. But we hit what I call “Monument Row” or something. We walked The Mall then saw the Washington Monument, The WWII Memorial, The Reflecting Pool, and the Lincoln Memorial. There were tons of people there taking pictures of Big Ole Linc. I took a picture of people taking pictures of people by Linc. It made me wonder how many digital cameras are in the DC area at any given time. TONS! You see tons of point and shoot cameras, and then plenty of SLR’s too.

Also while up at the Lincoln Memorial I was struck by how many different people there were there. I wished there was some sort of bubble or indicator over each person’s head to tell where they’re from. Some are obviously not from the US, but others look like they could be locals but are definitely not speaking English. There was one point when I bet at least a fourth, maybe a third of the people around me were not Americans. I guess they have a big interest in Lincoln and all things USA.

We moved on to the Vietnam Memorial, then started walking up Constitution Avenue. It says it’s a Snow Evacuation Route…but snow was far from anyone’s mind. It was HOT! We witnessed a wreck (nothing bad) as we turned up 17th St. to head towards La Casa Blanca.

We actually got to see The Prez. I’ll put the details in a further post, but suffice to say that it was unexpected and sort of weird all at the same time. If it really was him in that limo, he seemed really happy to see us standing there on the street corner. And all the foreigners around me were really happy too. You’d think royalty was passing by, which to them…I guess he is pretty close. Love him or hate him, he’s one of the, if not THE, most powerful men in the world.

So then we pass on to check out the Hotel Washington with an outstanding view of the DC Skyline from it’s rooftop restaurant. Then we hit the White House Visitors’ Center. Then stand outside Ford’s Theater (which wouldn’t be famous w/o a certain murder happening there) before realizing we were wiped out and needed to go back to the hotel.

After watching a little US Open in the room, getting cleaned up and rested, we… Read the rest of this entry »

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