80's Mystery Song Lyric

It's that time of the week again.... So put on your thinking cap (if it fits over your big hair and 4 inch diameter fluorescent pink hoop earrings) because it's time to guess the title and artist of the 80's song that contains these lines:

You're the one I'm dreaming of
Your heart fits me like a glove

Email your answer here.

Go West!

Last weekend we took a little trip to Paso Robles ("darn near paradise" according to one billboard) and to Avila Beach. Apparently everyone and their grandmothers read April's post about Avila Beach because it was pretty crowded. But we were able to find our own little spot near the water. The kids (and adults) had a great time playing in the sand and the water. The waves (and undertow) were particularly strong that day and the waves were pretty high (and breaking quite close to the shore). I imagine that had I checked into kayaking that day, it wouldn't have been allowed.... Anyway, here are some pics!

More To Come...

I'm writing to say I'm not writing. I have been running around non-stop the last four days straight. I want to write about some of the running around (the more interesting parts, of course) but just haven't had time. But you can look forward to some beach pictures and a review of a new CD.

And the winner is...

NerdDad of Nerd Family! NerdDad correctly identified this line from Don Henley's "Boys of Summer". I thought this was an appropriate song as summer seems to be drawing to a close. (That used to happen at the end of August back when I was a kid.) And what happened to it? (This summer, that is.) All of a sudden kids are getting ready to go back to school, families are taking their last-minute vacations.... Well, I refuse to go with them! Long live summer!!!

80's Mystery Song Lyric

Here's the line of the week. Guess the song and artist and email them here.

I can see you
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun

What I've Been Up To

(I know that to be grammatically correct the title should be "To What I've Been Up" but that doesn't sound quite right...)

I'm not a big jewelry wearer. Not that I don't wear big jewelry, just that I don't wear jewelry very often. But when I do, I want to wear something that's "me" which is generally not what I see in stores or in my mess of a jewelry box. So this last week I decided to make a few necklaces that are "me". Below you can see my handiwork, be it ever so simple...

New Species Discovered

Tonight after dinner my husband and I were helping my son look through his latest issue of Wild Animal Baby. We were pointing out and identifying pictures of different animals in the magazine when I asked my almost-three-year-old what one of them was. He answered "orange-chicken-bear." My husband and I both looked at him searching for clues as to what he meant and then looked at each other and started cracking up laughing. If you eat at Panda Express as often as we do, and you love their orange chicken as much as we do, then you may have figured out that the animal in question was... you guessed it: a panda bear. So, as of this evening, in our home, that lovable endangered species has a new name: Orange Chicken Bear.

And the winner is...

April of 10:15 ON A SATURDAY NIGHT. I want to give an honorable mention to tracihux who remembered for the first time to check my blog and gave me the right answer only moments after April's. Both ladies recognized the line from Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger". See the entire song here.

Roddick vs. Pong

80's Mystery Song Lyric

Sorry, this is so late, but at least it's here. This one falls under the (large) category of Sara's all-time favorite songs...

Risin' up, back on the street

What and who is it from? Email your answer here.

And the winner is...

Denise, friend of Jules! Denise is so good, she actually knew the answer without even reading the question! (Though it may or may not have been read to her over the phone.) She recognized the line from Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'". Congratulations Denise! Check back here every Friday for another mystery 80's lyric!

80's Mystery Song Lyric

Here's this week's line...

It’s a long day living in Reseda

You know you know it! Email the title and artist to me here!

Rescue Me

Rescue Me
by Sara Edwards

Rescue me from myself.
I need a savior.
Rescue me from myself.
I'll be the ruin of me.
Rescue me from myself.
I need a savior.
Rescue me from myself.

There's a part of me
Takes pleasure in
Things that cause me pain.
And I'm findin' out
As I look around
That there's no one left to blame.

Rescue me from myself.
I need a savior.
Rescue me from myself.
I'll be the ruin of me.
Rescue me from myself.
I need a savior.
Rescue me from myself.

I despise my thoughts,
I despise my acts,
Every word and every deed.
How much longer can
I win this game?
Come Jesus make me clean!

Rescue me from myself.
I need a savior.
Rescue me from myself.
I'll be the ruin of me.
Rescue me from myself.
I need a savior.
Rescue me from myself.

Rescue me.

Restaurants and Kids

I really hate to complain about stuff. Seriously. I'd like to only say good things about people and places, even if I have to leave out the other 99.9% of the truth sometimes. So that's why I'm going to tell you about two restaurants tonight, instead of just the one bad one. It's not a bad restaurant actually. Just not good for kids. Fairly recently, Fresno got a Cheesecake Factory. I had heard good things before and since they opened, and since the family was shopping nearby this afternoon, so we decided to have a nice dinner there instead of fighting the mall food court crowd. The hostess seated us and handed us our menus. Four identical menus for my husband, two-year-old son, one-year-old daughter, and myself. I asked the hostess if they had a children's menu. No, she said, but assured us we would find many kid selections on the regular menu, especially in the appetizer section, since the portions are smaller. A quick glance at the appetizers revealed eggrolls, spicy quesadillas, and buffalo wings. Those all sounded great to me but there was no way my son would eat any of those. The server came to take our drink orders. We asked if they had any kind of juice for the boy, apple perhaps. We have apple cider, she said. My husband then commented, You guys just don't like kids around here, do you? It's not that we don't like kids, she started. She pointed us to the appetizer menu and concluded by saying that, no, they're not kid-friendly. She left and the woman at the table next to us leaned over and said they were having the same problem. I started looking around the restaurant. We were sitting near the entrance so I saw every party the came in and went out. It would be conservative to say half of them included children. And, in case you are not familiar with The Cheesecake Factory, this is not the sort of restaurant one would consider "fine dining". (Restaurants that have ads in their menus rarely are.) When we were done eating, the server came with the cheesecake menu, which, at this point we had no interest in. She feigned interest in my daughter and then asked if we wanted some cheesecake. Upon our declination of her offer, she tried to help justify our answer by saying that our daughter was being a little fussy. First of all, we can just not want cheesecake. Second, don't tell someone their baby is being fussy--especially when she is presently quiet and smiling. So in conclusion, don't bother trying to take your young children to The Cheesecake Factory. (The food was great, just go alone.) If you really want to take your kids to a popular chain restaurant (also fairly new to Fresno) take them to Claim Jumper. This place (like most normal family restaurants) has a great kids' menu, that is made of paper and comes with a few crayons and pack of oyster crackers. Not only that, but for babies, they have a FREE snack plate with two kinds of cheese, a generous slice of turkey, mandarin oranges, and applesauce. They even have a special plastic placemat they adhere to the table in front of the high chair. Last time we were there, our daughter was occasionally squealing happily despite our best efforts to quiet her. We were sitting near the kitchen and I saw one of the server (not ours) walking our way with a blueberry muffin. He smiled at our girl as he approached and sat the muffin on our table. After we mentioned that we had not ordered a blueberry muffin, no matter how large and delicious it looked, he explained that the manager sent it over because she thought our daughter was cute. I'll never know if "cute" meant "loud", but it doesn't matter. They were more than accomodating and we will go back.

And the winner is...

April of 10:15 ON A SATURDAY NIGHT--the only one who (told me she) knew the correct title and artist of this week's 80's song: Paradise City by Guns 'n' Roses. You can read the lyrics to the entire song here.

80's Mystery Song Lyric

To go along with the topic of my previous post, here's this week's lyric...

Just an urchin livin' under the street
I'm a hard case that's tough to beat

Sound familiar? Email me the title and artist. First one with the right answer wins!

More Than You Want to Think About on a Friday (Sorry!)

Yesterday, I was talking with a friend and the subject of the US public welfare system came up. My friend, who will remain nameless for this story, said what I or most any other friend of mine would have said: The government shouldn't be taking care of the people who are supported by welfare, the church should. Being in an argumentative mood, I asked what she was doing about it. How was she eliminating the need for government welfare? Could she name one person/family she had helped? Now please understand, I wasn't attacking my friend, but using her to have an argument with myself. And though I hung up the phone more than 24 hours ago, the argument is still going on in my head. I have many thoughts and I'll try to share them in an organized manner. (We'll see how that goes...)

1. I'm not going to build a big case that Christians should be giving to the poor, orphans, widows, etc. I'm working on the assumption that that is required. But I will throw in a few thoughts on that: a) the "church" (who is called to support needy people) is not some organization but a group of believing individuals. b) There seems to be a common comparison in scripture between spiritual wealth/need and physical wealth/need. (I didn't say correlation, but comparison.) Kind of like how the relationship between Christ and the church is compared to that between husband and wife. We are called to give to both the spiritually and physically needy. I don't think we can dismiss the call to the physically needy as symbolic anymore than we can dismiss the commands given to husbands and wives and symbolic.

2. So what am I doing about it? My normal answer: I give money to organizations who feed hungry people. I think this is good. I'm not sure that we are necessarily called to do more than that. And yet... There's something inside of me that just knows that is an excuse. Inside, I breathe a sigh of relief because now I don't have to get my hands dirty. Just write a check. Voila! The hungry are fed! Besides, there's more to it than food. What about other living expenses? What about other needs that aren't fixed with money?

3. Who is "needy"? Is anyone in the United States really "needy"? I've heard people say that in the U.S. we really don't know what need is. Every nook and cranny of settled land is plumbed with working sewer systems and clean water. I imagine you can't get further than 100 miles from a grocery store. I don't know how true this is. I know there are people in my own city who may not have eaten today. I call that "needy".

Questions I haven't had time to research/think through yet.... (not that the last questions had definitive answers)

4. What do you do when your life doesn't intersect with lives of needy people? A few days ago I was thinking about how I was praying prayers of mediocrity. I hate that. I want God to work mightily in my life and all around me, yet I pray that he would keep/make things "okay". But I realized that sometimes I think I limit God by the way I live my life. I don't take risks. I hardly leave my house. (Not that God can't work mightily in my house, but still.) I don't interact with many people, especially people that might believe or think differently than I do. All that came rushing back to me as I started thinking about meeting people's needs. But am I supposed to go out looking for needy people, befriend them, and take them under my wing or what? That doesn't seem quite like the right thing.

5. Are we called to take care of the needy outside the church or only other believers?


Okay. There might have been more. If I think of anything, I'll add it in the comments. So, what do you think? Do you agree or disagree with any of that? Do you think any of it is misrepresenting scripture? I look forward to your comments!

Monday Laugh

I laughed when I read this and thought you might too...

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all the conflicting medical studies:
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausage and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. -- Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

And the winner is...

Brad (who happens to be my husband)!!! I'm so proud! Brad knew the line was from Men at Work's "Land Down Under". Admittedly, I don't think I would have got this one, though many of you seemed to think it was easy one. View the lyrics to the entire song here.

80's Mystery Song Lyric

Here's this week's mystery lyric! Email me your guess of song title and artist. I'll post the winner and the answer later!

I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich

Good luck!!!