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It is time….

04/23/2006 / Blake

I’m nervous about it. It’s a big step. But a step that I’ll have to make on two fronts.

MissSportsTalk.com is starting to get too busy to be hosted on it’s current server. I love the hosting company and their prices and their features. But I think I need more than they can offer. So I’m going to have to bump up to a Virtual Private Server. That costs more money.

Plus, I need more money. Seems expenses are starting to get close or exceed income. I know some of it is need of us tweaking our budget, but I need to take advantage of the potential that this site has for bringing in a little extra cash. So I’m going to attempt to put ads on MST.

This week I will switch to a new host, try to get the board upgraded to the latest software, and get ads placed on it. Then I’ll try to get it reskinned to look pretty much like it does right now.

Then we’ll see if I can find advertisers….

The Government giveth, the mechanic taketh away

04/20/2006 / Blake

Why does it always seem to be that when you find out you’re getting some uncommon ammount of money that there is always an expense that comes up?

Monday I finalized my taxes (nothing like the last minute, huh?) and was happy that I was getting some money back. I’m not about to go buy a new car or anything, but there have been a few things that The Wife and I have been talking about getting. Those things fall along various points in the Want — Need scale, but you know how that goes.

Then we take the Tahoe today to get some freon put in it. But turns out there is a leak in the line and a leak in the compressor. So that sets us back quite a bit. So now we have a much cooler air conditioner, but our tax refund took a major hit…and we’ve not even gotten the refund yet!

A pleasant surprise in the mail

04/19/2006 / Blake

Today it came in the mail. I really wasn’t expecting it. But as I unwrapped the package I saw on the desk when I got home, I could tell it was a tshirt. But the little card said, “CONGRATULATIONS! Please accept the enclosed t-shirt as our recognition of your outstand performance in this year’s Fantasy Football PLUS competition.”

Seems that hard work and waiver wire luck paid off last fall! Now I’ll be the envy of all my friends. Won’t my wife be proud!

My two bosses

04/19/2006 / Blake

DSCF0174

Originally uploaded by blakethompson.

A quick look at my two daughters. They light up my life. They make me smile.

Run From The Sun – Jackson, MS

04/19/2006 / Blake

Well Saturday was a busy day. Started with going to Home Depot for some trees. My dad bought us two red oaks and one red maple. So we dug a hole and planted the first one and then ate a quick lunch before the easter egg hunt at. But then it was off to Jackson for the Run From The Sun.

The plan was for The Wife to run the race while I waited w/ my dad and the girls. Then Addison would run the 1 mile fun run, I’d run with her, and The Wife would wait w/ my dad and youngest daughter.

But on the way to the run, The Wife calls and asks if I want to run it with her. She says that there are some friends from church there running it too. Now I still had my sights set on the April 28th run. Yes, I’d run a few times recently, but wasn’t sure if I wanted to run a 5K that day. I’d just drank a lot of Mt. Dew and it was HOT!

But as it turns out, before it all started, I decided to register and run. So as The Wife blazed on ahead, I started my slow plod to the end. For some reason, the race is called Run From the Sun, but it felt like we were in the blazing sun for about 95% of the race. But I finished the run in about 32 or so minutes. I was shooting for 31 because that would have meant a 10 minute pace per mile. But the killer hill up High Street in Jackson put a few minutes on my time.

After the finish, Addie ran the 1 mile. She ran it in 11:22 I think. She was the 2nd fastest 4 year old to run it. And she was really zooming the last little bit of it. She was quite proud.

Here are the race results in PDF format.

Friday's Taize' Service – Annointing w/ oil

04/15/2006 / Blake

I’d heard the name before, but never been a part. And we were running late as Addie, my dad, and I entered the church at about 6:04. I could hear the pastor reading scripture, but couldn’t see him. Only a table up front with candles and some containers up there. Then I saw Bob sitting on the front pew, facing the front like everyone else, as he was reading from The Gospel.

We took a seat and began to look at the bulletin. Hmmm. This Taize’ service isnt’ like a regular service.

Taizé, pronounced (Teh-ZAY) is an ecumenical, peaceful way to pray, using (easy to learn) musical chants, silent meditation, and scripture readings… a meditative, common prayer. Gathered in the presence of Christ we sing uncomplicated repetitive short songs like breath prayers, uncluttered by too many words, allowing the mystery of God to become tangible through the beauty of the Spirit in its simplicity. A few words sung over and over again (mantra) reinforce the meditative quality of prayer. They express a basic reality of faith that can quickly be grasped by the intellect, and will gradually penetrate the whole being.

After scripture and repeatedly singing “Remember me when You come into Your Kingdom” there was time for silent and reflective prayer. It lasted quite a while, then an invitation to light a candle and place it in a mini-sandbox of sorts as a sign of repentance and then to pray at the alter. If you desired to be anointed w/ oil and one of the pastors to pray over you, you’d cup your hands as a signal.

I told Addie I was going to go down and she was quite insistent that she knew how to do it. That she could light a candle. But I told her to wait and we’d explain everything at a later time. So I went up and prayed and was annoited and returned. And she still was saying she could do it.

I told her that people were doing it as a sign of turning from wrong living and telling God they wanted to live completely for Him. She nodded. And she wanted to go ahead.After explaining again that we’d talk about it later, she seemed to be okay w/ waiting. But then I began to think. Even if she, in her four year old head, doesn’t understand it completely, should that keep her from wanting to go down and pray? Heck, how many of the adults that go down understand it completely? Probably NONE. So we went.

She lit a candle, set it in the sand. And then we went to kneel. I prayed for her, and could her her whispering a prayer at the same time. I don’t know if it was one of her own, or if she was repeating mine. And then Davis, our Associate Pastor prayed over her for God to give her wisdom and understanding of Him as she grows and annointed her with oil.

It was quite special.

My dad is in town

04/15/2006 / Blake

Yesterday morning my dad called and said he was thinking of coming down to see us. So he’s here now. And he’s here in one of the busier weekends of our schedule it seems. Yesterday there was a birthday party/egg hunt, then a Good Friday service (more on that later) and then there was a concert of local bands to benefit Don Barr’s mission trip to India this fall.

Today will be a church wide Easter egg hunt, then the race this evening. The Wife is running the 5K while I run with Addie on the one mile fun run. We’ll see how she does. Sometimes she loves it, sometimes she’s really hesitant. But I’m thinking she’ll do fine. Her age bracket is 0-5. So I figure there’ll be some 5 year old kids that can run much quicker than her. But I just want her to finish it well.

Tomorrow is a morning of THREE services. And I get the honor of having the children’s sermon on Easter Sunday. It’s like the biggest day in all of the calendar for a children’s time. So if anyone has any outstanding ideas to share w/ me before tomorrow, be sure to lay them out right here.

But Addie is loving my dad being here. She has always loved him. But it seems she’s taken to an extra attatchment this weekend. Here’s an older picture of the two of them. Old pic of Mac and Addie

Friday's Feast

04/14/2006 / Blake

Feast 89

Appetizer
What movie soundtracks do you own?
Man, I have quite a few. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (c’mon, I was in high school), Batman, Titanic, Vanilla Sky, Braveheart, Last of the Mohicans, The Wonder Years, Forrest Gump, etc.
Soup
How much cash do you usually carry with you?
Usually zero dollars. Sad, huh?
Salad
Are you more comfortable around men or women? Why?
I’m equal opportunity.
Main Course
What is the most mischievous thing you remember doing as a child?
Putting a snake under a friends pillow. He went to bed that night and slid his hands under his pillow. Found a snake. Freaked out. Didn’t talk to me until our 10 year class reunion.
Dessert
Who is the funniest member of your family?
Years ago I would have said my grandfather, hands down.

What happened to the Dogs?

04/13/2006 / Blake

At one time this season, Mississippi State baseball was #1 in the country. 18 wins. Zero losses. Then they went to LSU and went 2-1 there. They kept the #1 ranking. But it’s been downhill since then. Since they were 18-0, they have gone 7-7. Freaking 7 wins and 7 losses. Something has gone amiss. And I hope they can get it back together.

I’m not ready to say that the game has passed Coach Ron Polk by. No way. But am I ready to say that he should be the coach for a long while…..doubt it.

Feverish kids

04/13/2006 / Blake

Fever is never good for a baby. I say baby, but mean a kid 2 or younger. Our oldest daughter used to get some pretty high fevers. It even spiked up to 105.x one time (that looks like a radio station). We got a little worried. It was weird that time because there was a friend over for supper. But we had to put her in a tub of warmish/cool water, sponge her down and give her a double dose of baby Advil and baby Tylonol. But anytime we called a doctor, they’d ask if she was eating and seeming in a fairly decent mood. She always was.

We never took her in, and the fever always broke finally. Usually over night w/ a lot of sweating and wet hair (looked funny when she woke up).

But our youngest has had a fever this week. Not nearly as high. But one of those lingering fevers that she smiles through unless she’s really tired or hungry. I wonder if it’s a family thing? Both of them have seemed to get random fevers w/ out any other symptoms except a runny nose.