Such Things

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. - Philippians 4:8

Name:
Location: Edmond, Oklahoma

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Popcorn, Pizza and the Plastic Tablecloth

First of all I started this post 2 days ago and because of various distractions and trying to make all of the words fit together, I am just now getting this published. It may not be complete, but I don't want to disappoint my audience. So here goes:

I can't remember when it started, but a few months ago Ryleigh added to our bedtime ritual the need for me to tell her stories of my childhood. Sometimes she is pretty specific - "tell me about some time when you scraped your knee". Other times she's pretty easy " it's okay if you tell me a story you've already told me". We've talked about basketball and t-ball, aquariums and waterbeds, a dog name Casey and a horse name Dandy, little screwdrivers and the clips to mom's rollers. Tonight we watched the food channel before bedtime and they were talking about all of the wonderful things you can do with corn. They took a tour of the plant where Fiddle Faddle is made. They showed the caramel and nuts getting mixed together with the fresh popped popcorn. Then they went to another small kitchen where a woman made several varieties on flavored popcorn. She had fruity flavors like cherrry and bahama mama or some silly thing like that, but she had her own version of caramel corn that had a clear coating and wasn't too sticky.

Needless to say I had popcorn on my mind. So at bedtime I told Ryleigh about how dad would make caramel popcorn for us. He'd make a batch of popcorn and put it in one of those giant stainless steel bowls. Then he would mix together butter, brown sugar and marshmallows and melt it in the microwave. Once it was all stirred up he would pour that concoction over the popcorn and stir it all together with a wooden spoon, and set the bowl on the floor on a big plastic tablecloth. The next thing you knew everyone in the room had was licking the caramel off of their sticky fingers while we sat around an empty stainless steel bowl. It was so good when you could eat while the popcorn and caramel were still warm. I've have not had anything like it since, but I have it on good authority that they still make it the same way - I guess they just forgot to invite me over last time they made it.

Thinking about the plastic table cloth on the floor also made me think of homemade pizza. Everybody would pitch in to make the pizza. We started with a Chef Boyardee pizza kit that included dough mix, sauce, cheese powder and sometimes an imitation, dehydrated meat product. Of course that wouldn't do for a topping for us. We piled high hamburger, canadian bacon, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese. When the pizza was ready we'd put paper plates in those wicker plate holders, gather around the plastic table cloth in the living room and sit down to watch Dukes of Hazzard or Little House on the Prairie or some other show that we could all sit down and watch together.

Thinking about sitting around the living room together made me think of dad with a lit candle and the lights out telling those silly stories. I don't remember much about the stories other than my dad - who worked very hard and wore suits everyday at his serious job - talking in a goofy voice and distorting his face in such a way that he couldn't blow out the candle a few inches from his mouth. I remember everyone laughing and smiling then, and it's makes me smile just thinking about it.

Thinking about those times just reminds me how important it is to spend time with family. We go out of our way sometimes to plan big vacations or throw elaborate parties, but often the biggest impact is made on kids by just including them in the everyday things that we do. Make a pizza, pop some corn, tell a story, enrich a child.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

All in a Day's Work

I don't particularly like my job. I know that's not a lovely thought, but bear with me. I'm sure there are people who really enjoy what they do, and they look forward to waking up every morning so that they can go do it. Not me. That's ok with me though. I've never really thought that work was supposed to be enjoyable. If it were fun it wouldn't be called work; it would be play. Anyway, the great thing about going to work everyday is getting to come home. When I leave in the morning I make the rounds and make sure I get hugs and kisses from everyone. I usually kiss Ryleigh, then Clark, and Andrea last. If I go out of order and Clark doesn't see me kiss my lovely wife good-bye, he will scold me, in Clark speak - "Daddy, mama, nguh guh". That last part is his wild card word that means anything that he doesn't know the word for .... and horses. Once I've made the rounds kissing everyone, sorta like the old host of Family Feud, I am serenaded to the door with "bye, bye daddy, bye bye daddy". That doesn't make leaving any easier, but I leave with a smile and a lasting image of my sweet children.

Oh but coming home is great. I walk into the door and automatically I'm greeted with loud shouts of "DADDY!" Ryleigh continues to chant "daddy's home, daddy's home" while Clark rushes to greet me with a great big hug around my legs. I pat him on the back and before I can set down my keys and the mail it's "daddy, go" and I have to follow wherever he leads me. Tonight, he met me in the kitchen and, after our usual greeting, he starting saying "patty take, patty take, patty take" and clapping his hands. I was distracted by Andrea and Ryleigh talking to me at the same time, but he continued "patty take, patty take, patty take" clapping his hands and looking up at me with his big brown eyes. "Patty take, patty take, patty take", man he's persistent, "patty take, patty take". Finally I squat down and say "patty cake, patty cake baker's man". He is smiling widely and clapping along, "bake me a cake as fast as you can, roll, pat it and mark it with a B", with emphasis on the B, "and throw it in the oven for BABY and me". He claps and goes off and does whatever he was doing before, and just like that I've quickly forgotten about whatever I did at whatever that place is that I work.

Well that's all for now. It's late, and I need a good night's rest so that I can come home from work tomorrow. I hope you all have a great day.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Think About Such Things

Ever since my brother Brad, the online marketing expert , started using a blog to share family stories, random thoughts and to promote his As Seen on TV Product Store, I've eagerly gone to his site each day to see what he had to say. On days when Brad doesn't write, like many others, I go away disappointed, mostly because I miss reading his entries, but also because there have been days when I had something I wanted to say and I needed an outlet. Well now I have that outlet. I certainly don't write as well as Brad, but I am going to take a shot at sharing some of my views, telling some family stories, and opening up some topics for healthy debate.

How did I come up with the title "Such Things"? Our church had a series of lessons on Wednesday nights covering the scripture from Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Each week a guest speaker from a different congregation would come and speak about one of the virtures listed in that verse, the first week for example was "Whatever is True". Getting to church at 7pm on Wednesday is a struggle for me. I usually get home from work at 6pm, eat a quick meal with the family, round up the kids, rush to church, and if things are going well, we're only about 5 minutes late. One night in particular I remeber being tired and not in a great mood, but as God often does, he put me where I needed to be to hear His Word - "whatever is lovely... think about such things. " That lesson that night helped me shift my thoughts away from what was bringing me down, to something that gives me hope.

We've all heard the expression 'mind over matter'. What are you putting into your mind? We are bombarded with negative images from the news, foul language is present in just about every tv show or movie that we see, and song lyrics encourage hate and violence. It's no wonder that there are so many divisions in our coutry when all we seem to hear about is the negative stuff. My goal is to make this blog about those things that meet the criteria of Phil 4:8. I won't guarantee it, but I hope my words can be a positive influence. I look forward to writing, and I welcome your feedback and debate.

Monday, July 11, 2005

The Price of Freedom

This is an image from the Traveling Vietnam Memorial that made a stop in Midwest City, OK a few years ago. It is a 1/2 size replica of the memorial that is in Washington, D.C., and even at 1/2 the size it is a stunning sight. From the time I first read it, I've been unable to get the sentence "The Price of Freedom is Written on the Wall" out of my mind. As it applies to Vietnam it's written on this wall about 58,000 times, but the price of freedom is also written on headstones and memorials from Arlington National Cemetary to Iwo Jima to Normandy to Edmond, OK.

It would be nice to think that peace could be accomplished at a negotiating table and sealed with the stroke of a pen. It would be great if we could all just shake hands and get along. Unfortunately that is not the case. Sometimes you have to use force to protect your way of life. Sometimes you have to roll tanks and drop bombs to stop evil dictators. How many more lives would have been lost if Hitler had not been stopped. The Greatest Generation wasn't made great by sitting at home and staying out of harm's way. They are great because of how they persevered through war, what they learned from it, and what they accomplished. Hitler was not stopped with a treaty; he was stopped by force. Our nation is certainly better because of those who sacrificed their lives, but American soldiers saved the world from the tyrannical Nazi regime. Only time will tell us what effect the current war will have on the world, but we have already seen a regime change, historic elections and democracy begining to take hold.

It's been said that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.

"We make war that we may live in peace" - Aristotle

"I swear upon the altar of God eternal hostility to every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson

"No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace from his acquiescence." - Woodrow Wilson

"There is no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: Defeat it or be defeated by it. And defeat it we must." - Tony Blair

"Except for ending slavery, Fascism, Nazism, and Communism, war has never solved anything." - www.protestwarrior.com


Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Independence Day

Independence Day was, in a word, exhausting. After a stormy night that included torrential rains and hurricane force winds, we were up early to prepare for the 4th of July parade in Edmond and returned home at 11pm after closing out the day with a spectacular fireworks show.

I've always liked fireworks shows. Our 2 year old Clark has already learned to 'ooh' and 'ahh' at the appropriate times during the show. What kids don't like bright lights and loud noises. The picnics are always good too. This year we feasted on fried chicken, beans, deviled eggs, cole slaw, fresh fruit - even cake and ice cream for my birthday. What about the watermelon? In my opinion it never tastes better than on a hot, sunny summer afternoon. But I think my favorite part about our Independance Day activities is the parade. Part of our tradition is to pick up 2 dozen doughnuts, take a thermos of coffee, sit at our usual spot on the parade route and eat our breakfast while we wait for the parade to begin. We could stop right there and that would be a pretty good day. When it is finally time to begin, 2 of Edmond's finest motorcycle police officers lead the way followed by several police cars, fire trucks, marching bands, boy scouts carrying a giant flag. The mayor of Edmond, our US Representative, and the police chief all ride by and wave. Several local businesses get into the act as well such banks, sign companies, dentists, pet clinics. As the Edmond Electric truck drove by I smiled knowing that an OG&E hat set atop my head and that the men in orange could work circles around those yahoos from Edmond. The kids from boys town ride their horses, bringing much delight to my horse-loving children. The shriners, oh the shriners, they might need an enitre blog to themselves. Old time cars chugged along and old-timers drove their tractors decorated with streamers and ribbons and with flags proudly flying. Some looked like they were just taking and break and would drive straight back to their fields from the parade. Bands from the local high schools marched with their flag corps leading the way, reminding me of my niece Kirstyn who spent many hours working on flag routines. I couldn't keep track of all the pageant winners from Miss UCO to Miss Teen Oklahoma to the Rush Springs Watermelon Queen, but they all had the crown, the sash and the wave .

Those things are all great, the kids love it and I get lots fo video tape to commemerate the occasion. But the reason I go and what makes it special to me are the floats and cars and buses that come by carrying our veterans. In the five years we have been going to the Edmond LibertyFest parade I don't think I have one minute of video tape of soldiers or veterans, because when they come by I set down my camera, I stand up with my wife and children and with our heads held up high we clap for the men and women who bravely served our country. It seems like such a small thing to do for someone who put their life on the line for the freedon and independence that we celebrate that day, but I think it is extremely important that we show our appreciation to these courageous people. It was an exhausting day for me, but at no time did I come under enemy fire. I was hot in my shorts and t-shirt, but the temperature in Baghdad yesterday reached the mid 120's and they wear long pants and long sleeve shirts, kevlar vests, gloves, and boots. I spent the entire day with my children, watching their faces as they took in the sights of the day, squirting each other with water guns, riding in a neighborhood parade while all the soldiers have to cling to is a picture of their family probably wrinkled and faded from being carried with them every where they go. It was an exhausting day, but when it was over I laid down in my bed, next to my wife, and slept soundly having fully celebrated and appreciated being an American

I hope sometime during your Independence Day activities, and every day for that matter, you stop and remember that our freedoms don't come free. May God bless all of those who have served and those who continue to serve this great land of ours and God bless America!