I'm in!

Count me IN! I know my parents and (AMAZING) siblings will be so relieved that they won't be getting a lame tie or knick-knack mailed from Texas this year. (Right, Russ? Remember how much you liked those stuffed Mexican frogs?)

So, anyway, this year, the grownups in my family are only getting a Christmas card, but my nieces and nephews are all getting DVDs. Cinema classics that everyone should watch! (Also known as "lame ones.")

God in my bloodstream...

This passage from Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love stopped me dead in my tracks:

"If faith were rational, it wouldn't be--by definition--faith. Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch. Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be...a prudent insurance policy.

I’m not interested in the insurance industry. I’m tired of being a skeptic, I’m irritated by spiritual prudence and I feel bored and parched by empirical debate. I don’t want to hear it anymore. I couldn’t care less about evidence and proof and assurances. I just want God. I want God inside me. I want God to play in my bloodstream the way sunlight amuses itself on water."

Wow. (Betcha' wish you had this book in your hands, huh?)

Ready for Thursday?

Snugglebunnies!

Kake-1. Kristy-0.

Oh, what a horrible night! Apparently, old ladies should not eat kake at Kake & Karaoke and then expect to sleep. I had an all-night tummy ache after sampling so much "kake." (Maybe spelling it with a "k" is what did it. So wrong.)

In happier times, before the kake sampling began. This red velvet cake, with a DELICIOUS secret ingredient in the frosting, was fun to make because Kirsten and her trusty KitchenAid came to the rescue. (I don't know that I've ever made frosting from scratch before. Or a cake, for that matter.) So fun! Check out the swans filled with Red Hots...yum!

And while my cake got points for sentimental value (honoring the upcoming nuptials of Lloyd & Dianne--the FIRST wedding in our new building), it didn't win. An amazing peanut butter & Oreo cake with chocolate drizzle was the clear crowd favorite, meaning that the youth group leaders win again this year. (They're gonna' be so conceited.)

Oh, and the karaoke...who knew it was so much fun? If you have to be up all night, sick to your stomach, it's no small mercy to still be chuckling at the thought of "Love Shack" and "Crazy Train"...and your sister performing"Play That Funky Music, White Boy."

You missed the NPR puzzle? No biggie.

Did you miss this morning's NPR puzzle? No worries! It was my day to type up the NPR puzzle transcription and send it out across the globe. (And by "across the globe," I mean lots of people in the U.S. and that one guy in Australia. Oh, and I think there's some lady in Deutschland.)

Click HERE to read the puzzle and play along! And if you'd like to get the puzzle delivered to YOUR email Inbox each week, look for the "Join this group" option after you follow the link.

Sunday so far: Up early to tape/type/transcribe puzzle, walked two dogs in the GORGEOUS sunshine, bought work gloves at Big Lots (isn't it great how weird Big Lots is...have you seen the plastic Elvis guitar filled with popcorn? Deliciously tacky!), and listened online to Sunday Baroque and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!.

Next up? Finishing up the church bulletin, working on an online 8th grade scavenger hunt, and setting up a VCR to tape tonight's America's Funniest Home Videos so I can catch Linda's cat, Archie, tonight!
Linda and I laugh about our love for our flawed animals...we don't think they are mean, but rather misunderstood. When people call Archie "Satan Spawn" or when May Bee is referred to as "Devil Dog," we are the first to jump to our pets' defense. And if you love flawed creatures as much as we do, you will LOVE Berke Breathed's latest interview. (He doesn't give interviews often; you'd better check it out!)

Who knows if Breathed is awesome because he is a Texan or Texan because he is awesome (chicken vs. egg), but he has been a hero of mine for ages. There is no telling how much money I've dropped on Bloom County-related books and merchandise over the years...I'm a sucker for that penguin. (So is Harper Lee! She actually wrote Breathed and asked him to reconsider sending Opus off gently into that good night.)
Can't wait for church tonight, btw. I know there's going to be a surprise announcement that's going to elicit GASPS of disbelief. As church bulletin-typer-upper, I'm sometimes privy to the congregational grapevine. (Karen's face as the announcement is made will probably rival anything Archie is going to do on AFV!)

P.S. If you really did read that Berkeley Breathed interview, you'll know how a picture snapped of one of the dogs rescued from Michael Vick's foul compound inspired the comic to write his first novel. That photo is HERE.

P.P.S. Please consider supporting the Best Friends shelter or subscribing to Best Friends magazine. NO MORE HOMELESS PETS!!