Barefoot Summers

Memorial Day has come and gone, June is two days away... The time of barbecues, swimming pools, and sunburns is here! I love living in California's Central Valley because summer lasts so long. We normally have barbecue/swimming/sunburn season from April to November. Sure, much of it is near 100 degrees, but still! One of my favorite things about summer is going barefoot. As much as I like to buy shoes, I like even more to not wear them. I grew up in Bakersfield, CA but now live in Fresno. One of my sisters (Joleen) who also lives in Fresno and I have noticed a trend. It doesn't always apply but often does: People from Bakersfield prefer going barefoot. And my corollary: We love summer. If you were to go a grocery store on a summer weekend, when I was growing up, you would see that most of the people there were a) wearing swimsuits, b) buying meat, charcoal, and beer, and c) barefoot. Okay, most adults usually had at least one piece of clothing in addition to their swimsuit. And not everyone was barefoot, but some were, and I don't think I've EVER seen that in Fresno. I miss that. So, my carefree days of leaving my house without shoes are gone, but you can't take summer away from me! Start the barbecues and get out the sunscreen--summer's here!

And the winner is...

Hale of De do do do, De da da da! Congrats to Hale and everyone else who correctly identified this week's mystery lyric as part of the great song "Small Town" by John Cougar Mellencamp.

80's Mystery Song Lyric

I hope this one's not too hard...

No I cannot forget where it is that I come from

Email me your answer. I'll post the winner and their answer late tonight!

And Another Thing...

I have an idea for a new look for this blog. I should have more time next week and might be able to work on it then. No promises. But I'm not revealing anything until I put it up. And then you can tell me if you like it or think it stinks! Of course, if you have some great idea, I'm always open to inspiration!

Personality Differences

I'm sorry I haven't been posting real regularly. I've been busy. (By the way, I can't stand it when people use that excuse.) That reminds me of an interesting little thing that will become the subject of this post...

I have taken many personality tests. (Believe it or not, the tests say I have one!) Most of them break all personality types into four or sixteen (four major, with four sub-categories in each) categories. One of the tests with four categories was explaining differences between the four using this example: You are scheduled to meet a person at a particular time and place. The Dove personality (this test used bird types to identify the personalities) will be on time and not mind if you are late. The Owl will also be on time but will be bothered if you are late. The Peacock will be late, but not mind if you are also late. The Eagle will be late, but will be upset if you are late. So you want to take a guess at who I am? Yes, the ridiculously selfish Eagle. That's right, my time is more valuable than yours. Isn't that ridiculous? The sad thing is when I heard it, I knew it was true of me, and so I've tried to let the Peacock tendencies I have take over in these situations. Of course that still means I'm running late. But at least (now) I won't yell at you when you are too!

With which bird do you identify?

What Happened?

I went to a wedding this weekend. I stood in the foyer waiting to sign the guestbook when I realized I hadn't been in a church like this one for a long time. The walls (in the foyer and the sanctuary) were covered in long, dark wood strips reaching all the way to the high ceiling (probably about 80 feet at its highest point). Above the door were several stained glass windows. The sanctuary was long and tall and, at the front, had a big raised "skylight" of stained glass artwork. My husband who is a structural engineer made the observation that nobody would build anything like this anymore because of the cost. I agreed, pointing out as an example that our church is in the process of building a new facility that will be large and metal. But I kept thinking about this. It would be irresponsible, I reasoned, to spend twice as much money as necessary to build a church building just to make it ornate. But this thinking doesn't fit with what I read in the Bible...

Exodus 25:1-9
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution. "This is the contribution which you are to raise from them: gold, silver and bronze, blue, purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, rams' skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastpiece. "Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. "According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it. "

For the construction of the tabernacle, God asked the people to contribute, not just general building materials but their finest possessions to adorn the place. The next few chapters go into the details of all of it and it is to be a place full of, essentially, artwork and fine craftsmanship.

2 Chronicles 3: 5 - 7
He overlaid the main room with cypress wood and overlaid it with fine gold, and ornamented it with palm trees and chains. Further, he adorned the house with precious stones; and the gold was gold from Parvaim. He also overlaid the house with gold--the beams, the thresholds and its walls and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

This passage refers to Solomon building the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. Again, a more-than-functional, highly adorned place.

I imagine (though I don't have anything to prove this) that that temple was the probably the most beautiful building in Jerusalem. So why do the most impressive new buildings in my city house retail stores and movie theatres? What happened? Certainly there are many churches throughout the world that have become icons of architecture because of the beauty of their design. But have any been built recently?

I find myself using the reasoning some of Jesus' followers used in Mark 14 when a woman poured very expensive perfume on Jesus' head. "Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor." Jesus, of course, defends the woman's actions and even promises that she will always be remembered for doing this.

So I'm left with these questions: Is it a waste to make a place of worship ornate for God's glory? If no, then is it wrong to spend as little as possible just to make it functional, freeing up the money that would have been spent on ornamentation to be used for other good purposes? What happened in the history of the church that has led us to value economy for God's glory over beauty for God's glory?

And the winner is...

April again! She's quick and she's right. Read April's blog 1015 ON A SATURDAY NIGHT. She and quite a few others knew the line was from U2's "With or Without You".

80's Mystery Song Lyric

It's time for everybody's favorite part of the week: Sara's 80's Song Lyric Contest!!! Name the title and/or artist of the song that contains this line...

Sleight of hand and twist of fate

Email your answer here. First one with the correct answer wins!

Lack of American Idol Commentary

I haven't said anything about American Idol here for several weeks now. I didn't get any complaints so I don't feel too bad. But I feel a little bit bad just because I was so consistent for so long and then just quit. But I haven't even watched it for the last several weeks for various reasons. I guess this last part isn't as fun for me as the earlier parts. I guess I just feel it doesn't make that much difference at this point. Once it was down to the top 6 or so, they were all very talented, and winning is only go to help them go so far if they can't hold their own without having the world watch them on TV twice a week. So, in my mind, it's as good as over until the next round: Come September, whose names are you still going to remember?

Re-post: New Blogs

Blogger has a weird thing where the date and time you start writing a post becomes associated with that post, even if you don't post it for a few days. This happened with my "New Blogs" post (see below). Anyway, since I figure many of you missed it since it was buried under earlier, but later-dated entries, I thought I would re-post it here...

I've been meaning to introduce you to some of the blogs I've been reading of late. As I mentioned in a previous post, friend and loyal reader April finally caved to the pressure and started a blog which she may or may not ever post to, but already has several times. Yea April!!! Read her blog 10:15 ON A SATURDAY NIGHT here.

You can also read de do do do, de da da da (which, incidentally, is quite difficult to type) by friend, reader, and April's husband: Hale.

Family Jules belongs to another friend and reader, Jules. She's currently got a very funny video you can check out over there. She also has a weekly movie line contest that I lose every Friday.

I've been reading Shlog by Shaun Groves. He is neither a personal friend nor a reader. At least not yet anyway! He's always got great thought-provoking stuff there.

While I'm sharing some blogs I've been reading, I thought it might be fun to find out what my readers read. So, what is one blog, other than mine or your own, that you read on a regular basis?

And the winner is...

April of 1015 ON A SATURDAY NIGHT! (That's right, for those of you regulars around here, April now has her own blog!!!) April (as well as quite of few others) knew that this line was from "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" by Georgia Satellites. Thanks to NerdDad who sent this link to some misunderstood lyrics from the same song.

80's Mystery Song Lyric

Here's this week's lyric. For some reason, this has always been a favorite song of mine. Of course, that fact will probably not help you figure out the answer, even if you know me.

I got a little change in my pocket going jingle lingle ling

What song is it from? Who sang it? Send your answer to me and I will post the winner and a link to their blog late Friday.

New Blogs

I've been meaning to introduce you to some of the blogs I've been reading of late.

As I mentioned in a previous post, friend and loyal reader April finally caved to the pressure and started a blog which she may or may not ever post to, but already has several times. Yea April!!! Read her blog 10:15 ON A SATURDAY NIGHT here.

You can also read de do do do, de da da da (which, incidentally, is quite difficult to type) by friend, reader, and April's husband: Hale.

Family Jules belongs to another friend and reader, Jules. She's currently got a very funny video you can check out over there. She also has a weekly movie line contest that I lose every Friday.

I've been reading Shlog by Shaun Groves. He is neither a personal friend nor a reader. At least not yet anyway! He's always got great thought-provoking stuff there.

While I'm sharing some blogs I've been reading, I thought it might be fun to find out what my readers read. So, what is one blog, other than mine or your own, that you read on a regular basis?

I Had A Dream

I had a dream of a blog post. I would tell of how I went to the Central Coast for a few days and got to hang out with sis, bro-in-law, and nephew. And most of all, I would recount the excitement of the kayaking my sister and I did. I would include a picture or two of the shore taken from out on the water. I would tell of the interesting sea life I saw and I would tell you how much fun I had paddling along and how sore I was the next day. I would... but... they wouldn't rent us kayaks because it was too windy!!! Both of us were SO bummed--we were so looking forward to kayaking together. Well, we got to hang out together anyway. And we discovered a new drink with classic taste and rebellious temperature: 20-degree Below Hot Chocolate.

I also had a fun time just hanging out with my fam and seeing my baby girl play in the sand for the first time. (She thought it was tasty.)

You can see some more pics at The Barber Shop here and here.

And the winner is...

This week's honor goes to NerdMom of NerdFamily. Congratulations to all those who correctly answered "Walk Like an Egyptian" by the Bangles!

80's Mystery Song Lyric

You have until Sunday:

All the old paintings on the tombs
They do the sand dance don't you know

What and who? Mail your answer here.

Treasure Hunt

You know the classic question: "What would you do for a million dollars?" Last week I learned my answer to a variation on that question: "What would you dig through the trash for?"

Monday I realized that I thrown out UPC codes I needed for a free offer I was going to send in for. Not only had I thrown them in the wastebasket, but my husband had already emptied all the wastebaskets (including diapers) into one big bag and deposited that into the big canister outside, where many similar looking bags already resided. The offer was worth a net $22, and I decided digging through all that wasn't worth $22. (ThiswillworkMan AKA IcanfinditMan thought it was.)

Q - Would you dig through the outdoor garbage can to find $22?
A - No

On Wednesday, my stepdad was looking through my newspaper for a ($13 value) coupon he wanted. He didn't find it and I suggested that maybe it was in Tuesday's paper, but I didn't see it lying around. A few minutes later I opened the recycling can in the kitchen to toss something and saw Tuesday's paper buried under various cans, bottles, boxes, etc. I decided to grab a couple sections and search for the coupon which I quickly found.

Q - Would you dig through the indoor recycling can to find $13?
A - Yes

Now, would it have made a difference if in the first case it had been cash, instead? Maybe. I don't know. So what about you: What would you dig through the trash for?