Category: My So Called Life (Page 4 of 7)

My Year with Twitter

12/31/2008 / Blake

Twitter is interesting. I signed up and didn’t get it at first. I posted maybe once every 2 months. But then once I moved to Oxford I started really getting into the swing of it. It helps when you have people you know in “real life” using it as well. So when Pat (@tapdraw) started using it too, we both seemed to explode with it. If you don’t twitter yet, you should. It’s easy. Fun. Informative. And makes you cooler (right?)

Anyhow, I saw Pat did this, so I figured I’d give it a try. But it was really hard to cull down my twitter posts from 2008. So I’ll not put them all on the first page. But here are some highlights of my Twitter posts from 2008 [taken from about 34 pages of twitters (or 717 updates)].

[Keep Reading]

Is Santa coming to your house?

12/24/2008 / Blake

This past week or so I’ve had a few conversations and read a few blogs (1 & 2)about whether I/we should tell our kids that Santa Clause is real or not. Early on, before our first kid was old enough to even talk I’d heard the idea that telling kids that Santa is real, that he’s always watching, that he has super natural powers, and will bring good gifts to us if we are nice instead of naughty can be damaging. Damaging if you line it up next to telling children that Jesus is real, always watching, loves us, and gives His grace and mercy even though we’re undeserving.

But what happens to a kid’s mind when they grow older and realize that the whole Santa thing has been a ruse and that their parents had been pulling their leg about this guy? Will they start to question the validity of the Jesus guy as well if the Santa guy reality is blown out of the water? On one hand it makes sense, but then again, I know plenty of people who love and believe in Jesus, but thought Santa was real earlier too. So I don’t know.

But the perceived dilemma was solved for us when our oldest was deathly afraid of Santa early on. Now she knows he’s not real. And she doesn’t try to tell other kids that he’s not real. I’m not sure where our 2nd one is on Santa. She’s never asked either way. But we’ve decided not to “lie” to our kids by telling them that Santa is real. A lot of people will probably think we’re scrooges for that. Especially family.

But I was surprised by a few conversations where I found similar thinking. And then I saw a series of blog posts called “Giftless Christmas” by Shaun Groves. Really eye opening. Counter culture. And cool at the same time. I know that Christmas Eve might not be the time to sit down and read through four posts, but I encourage you to read it at some point if you have children.

Shaun Grove: Slaying Santa Clause Shaun Grove: Going Giftless Pt. 1
Shaun Grove: Going Giftless Pt. 2
Shaun Grove: Going Giftless Pt. 3
Shaun Grove: Going Giftless Pt. 4

So.. What happens at your house? Do your (or will your) kids believe in the whole Santa Clause thing?

Fantasy Football comes to a rest

12/23/2008 / Blake

So after a tumultuous season of Fantasy Football things are now over. And I would congratulate whoever won, but I can’t do it now. Because how self centered would it be if I were to congratulate MYSELF for winning the the whole thing? I mean, I won the Orchard Oxford 2008 Fantasy Football League.

And it would be like tooting my own horn or something if I were to say, “Congratulations, Blake!” Plus it would also seem weird if I started talking to myself in 3rd person. My wife would give me a sideways glance but the people I work with might start questioning my sanity. And how lame would it be on top of all that? I mean, it’s just fantasy football, right?

So, since I am not able to congratulate the winner of the 2008 Fantasy Football season here with The Orchard, I’ll just post a small screen cap of the winners.

orchard-oxford-fantasy-football-final-results

Christmas is coming. The goose is getting fat…

12/19/2008 / Blake

Hard to believe that Christmas is almost here. Only 6 more days. I think most of the pre-Christmas errands are done. Only one or two quick trips to make to tie up a few loose ends. This year The Wife and I bought each other a dining room table for Christmas. I like it a lot, but I don’t think it will play any XBox 360 games or double as a HDTV. But we’ll see.

We haven’t really gotten Rowan anything. He’ll only be 9 months at Christmas. He’s a baby; what does he care? Some people think that’s a horrible way to think. But we never really got any of the kids anything for their first Christmas. Actually Addison was only 6 months old and Ella was barely a month old. And of course the grandparents took up any slack. But before your first birthday you are much more interested in the wrapping paper than what is actually inside the box.

But along those same lines, I think it’s much easier to buy a gift for a 7 year old than a 4 year old. Personality and preferences have developed much more by then, so my seven year old can tell me more of what she wants. I’ll ask my four year old and she’ll offer up one or two suggestions, and then start telling what she wants for other people to have. In some ways I see that frustrating grandparents because they want to “get her something” that she’ll like. But I think it is sort of refreshing that she doesn’t have this huge list of things that she wants. She’s just happy to play with what she’s got. In fact, whatever her big sister wants is what she wants. Because she really would like to be like her big sister. And Christmas shouldn’t be about what we get anyhow, right?

Christmas this year will be different. We live a lot closer to all the family. So instead of driving 3+ hours from Clinton to make a North Mississippi Tour, we’re only 35 min away at the closest and 75 at the furthest. So that means I’ll be able to sleep in my own bed each night. But even when we drove longer distances I always made it a point to have my family in our beds on Christmas Eve. Some disagreed with me, but I felt it was important.

A tradition we’ve had the past few years might get tested. In years past since we were in Clinton on Christmas Eve because of attending church services, we’d always get some Pizza Hut carryout for our Christmas Eve supper. Not sure what will happen this time though. Might be back to LASAGNA at my grandmothers.

But a new year. A new routine. But hopefully not a loss of what Christmas is all about.
picture-2

Phil Wickham :: Beautiful

12/13/2008 / Blake

A few months back I saw mention of Phil Wickham on Brody’s blog. They were friends and Brody was telling folks that Phil was an awesome singer/songwriter ontop of being an awesome guy. Then a bit later Brody helped release Singalong, Phil’s free live worship album. I downloaded it back in August.

But just recently I spent time listening to it. And then when figured out that I had it all out of order in iTunes it made a big difference (it’s a live cd recorded at a worship meeting.) Anyhow, one of his songs is my new favorite. It’s called BEAUTIFUL. Last night it gave me chills as I really listened to the lyrics. That doesn’t happen often. So I figured I’d share it with you. Listen to it up above and tell me what you think.

The cd is a masterful mix of originals, traditional hymns, and a great blend of Phil’s voice, his guitar, and crowd singing along.

Anyhow, give it a listen. You can get the cd yourself for free from his website. It’s really good.

Hope your holidays have gone well so far. Let me know how you are. (lyrics are below)

[ht: Brody] Continue reading

Advent Conspiracy

11/29/2008 / Blake

We should all look at doing this. And not just at Christmas.

The Advent Conspiracy Promo Video from theadvance on Vimeo.

Kidd Kraddick & The Brown Bag Turkey

11/22/2008 / Blake

A few years back Bev and I decided to invite all the family over to our house for Thanksgiving. I wondered if I should cook a turkey. I’d never cooked one before. So the pressure was on. ?

But then I was listening to Kidd Kraddick, and he spoke of his perfect, but obscenely simple, recipe for turkeys. I told Bev about it. She wondered if it was legit or would really work. I decided to give it a go with a backup plan of running to KFC for chicken.

But it turned out wonderfully! And now in our new home in Oxford, we have a lot of family coming over for Thanksgiving again. So I’m dusting off the [sorta] Famous Kidd Kraddick Brown Bag Turkey Recipe for everyone.

You can check it out here for yourself. You’ll amaze your family.

No, this turkey recipe won’t burn your house down because you’re using a brown paper bag … but it will taste great!

First, take everything out of the inside of the turkey. There will be a giblet bag and some other stuff. You don’t want to leave that in there.

Next, add vegetables to the inside of the turkey. This is easy because the veggies are just for flavor … you’re going to throw them away later.

You don’t even have to peel anything. Take an onion and cut it into quarters. Roughly chop a nice long carrot. Do the same to a couple of stalks of celery. Add several cloves of garlic that you mash between a broad kitchen knife and the counter.

Throw it all inside the turkey.

Then rub the turkey all over with olive oil. . . not butter because butter usually has salt in it and that will dry out the turkey.

Salt is the enemy of a moist turkey! Make sure the whole bird is covered!

Put the turkey in a roasting pan and cover it all with a large brown paper bag.

Staple shut. If you have a huge turkey, use two bags, sliding one end of the turkey into one bag and the other end of the turkey into the second bag. It won’t stick to the bird because of the olive oil. Sprinkle the bag all over with water. Place into pre-heated 375 F oven, ON THE MIDDLE RACK.

The bag won’t burn because paper burns at 451 degrees (remember the book?) and we’re at 375 degrees. The advantage of the brown paper bag over the Reynolds’s cooking bag is that the paper breathes so the turkey roasts. In the Reynolds bag the turkey steams, giving it a different taste. Also the brown paper bag retains the same advantage of the plastic cooking bag … no splatters all over the oven.

Roast for 13-15 minutes per pound. When you think it’s ready, shove a meat thermometer through the bag and into the turkey and give it a minute to register. Make sure it doesn’t touch the bone. The thermometer should register between 163-170 degrees.

Remove from oven, cut away the bag and remove from basting pan. Don’t throw out the drippings! To make the gravy, strain the pan juices into a really big pot. Any juices that accumulate on the turkey platter get poured into the pot.

Add six oz. of boiling chicken broth and 1/8 cup of cornstarch to the gravy to thicken it up. Cook at low heat and stir and cook and stir. If it seems like it isn’t going to be thick enough, add a little more corn starch.

Question: Can I use one of those disposable foil basting pans?
Kidd: Yes. It doesn’t matter.

Question: What about the talk that brown paper bags are unsafe for cooking?
Kidd: If you mean unsafe because of fire, it is important that the bag doesn’t make contact with the heating element of the oven. If you mean because of the recycled paper bag releasing toxins into the turkey, all we can say is that this recipe has been around for over thirty years. We’ve been posting this recipe for over ten years and never had a single complaint that anyone got sick. We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of emails that it’s the best turkey they’ve ever tasted and the perfect recipe for first-time chefs!

Enjoy!
-Kidd

Tonight should be COLD!

11/21/2008 / Blake

Off and on this high school football season I’ve been going to different games and taping them for a friend. He then compiles a lot of differnt game tape and sends them off to a recruiting service. They in turn cut them up and make tapes to send to college coaches.

On my end, I just tape them. And I help out a friend while getting to see some decent football teams. When I did the first one back in late August, it was hot and sticky. But as the months have gone on it has gotten colder. Last week @ Senatobia it was cool and damp. Then raining. Then raining sideways. Then just damp and cold.

Tonight’s forcast looks like this to the left. And I think that is without any wind chill factored in. So it’s a good thing I get to stand on top of a press box high up in the wind to get the best vantage point for videoing the game. My mom thinks I’m crazy. She said she wouldn’t do it for $500. I’d do it in shorts and a tshirt for $500.

What’s the coldest you’ve been? Did you lose any fingers? And what’s your best tip for staying warm out in the cold?

I’m the dad of two daughters.

11/15/2008 / Blake

And when I watch things like this video below, it makes me glad that my third child is a boy.

[ht to D.]

Last week in bullets

11/03/2008 / Blake

Here is a recap of last week in bullets:

All three kids had croup. I don’t know why it’s called the croup. But whatever you call it, it usually means not a lot of sleep for the parents.
Halloween happened. For the night we went to the courthouse lawn where there were lots and lots of booths and games set up for the kids to play and get candy. I was impressed. The candy wasn’t excellent, but it was a great community event.
There was a lady there who was at least 11 months pregnant there who had on a halter top and then painted her belly to look like a HUGE jack-o-lantern. It was impressive and gross at the same time.
Afterward we went to UM to the physics department. They had Spooky Demonstrations. And I got to dip my hand in liquid nitrogen. Interesting. And we ate ice cream made with liquid nitrogen.
Went to Barnes & Noble with Ella. She played with the trainset while I read books on photography. It was good to be alone with her for a while. Watching her play and interact with other kids was nice.
I think we had our biggest Sunday yet at The Orchard yesterday. 180 folks and then a handful of kids.