Forever in Peace May You Wave

American Child

The following link is to a song that I love and particularly today the message hits home.  I do thank God for where He chose to put me and for the freedoms that I have.  I thank God for the people who came before me who were willing to fight and die so that I can have the freedom of speech to post this blog tonight.  I thank God for my brothers who serve our country in the military.  For Eric, who has served overseas in Korea and Iraq.  I'm so thankful for his willingness to serve so that the rest of us can be here and feel safe.  I love our country and I am proud to be an American. That's all.  Goodnight. :)

http://youtu.be/3c1x3wcbvAc

But Wait! . . . There's More

So after my post from last night, I feel this post is necessary.  So, This morning, I left my house with four dollars to my name.  (As you'll know if you read my last blog post) :)  Over the course of the day, I spent $1 (Thank goodness for Customer Appreciation Day at Jimmy John's!) and when I got home, I was joking with my friend about my $3, only to discover that I got a check in the mail today for close to $140!  I had sold some textbooks online last week.  I wasn't expecting the check to come until next week!! God is so good to me. :) So, after buying a few supplies that I needed at Target, I now have not just $3 but $123!!! Amazing! :)  "And now you know the rest of the story" to quote Paul Harvey. :)

It's All About Perspective!

As some of you know, I've had some financial troubles recently.  Things were not great to begin with but they got even worse after I had to take my cat to the Vet ER (That's a story for another time.).  Anyway, because of the ordeal with my cat and then some bills that automatically are withdrawn from my bank account, I became overdrawn.  So then even after I got paid, I still was left with hardly any money at all because I was stuck paying stupid overdraft fees.  So today, I braved all and went to my bank website to see if I actually had any money.  I admit I was too scared to look before.  (I haven't used my card since Saturday.)  To my surprise, I have $4!!

These days four dollars doesn't buy what it used to.  I could buy one gallon of gas (that IS depressing, ok moving on).  I could buy four Pepsi's from the vending machine at work.  I could buy four McChicken sandwiches from McDonalds or two sandwiches and two drinks.  I gotta say, I have never been so happy to see four dollars as I was to see that tonight.  No, it isn't much, but "Little is much when God is in it." and I am trusting Him that four dollars is going to see me through.  If He could increase the widow's oil, He can certainly sustain me.

This past week I've been noticing that the brakes on my car are really bad.  But due to the afore mentioned situation, I won't be able to get them fixed for a while.  I was actually getting a little scared driving my car, but felt like I had no other option, but to drive it.  So today, God took that choice away from me.  My car simply did not start this morning.  I sorta think it was God's way of letting me know I am NOT to be driving that car.  Is it highly inconvenient? You bet, but am I relieved not to be driving it? Absolutely.

Will I be financially "out of the woods" anytime soon? Probably not, but God knows what's going to happen and there are worse things than having no money.  Like having no job or having no food or no one who loves you.  It's all about your perspective. 

P.S. This last picture came up when I searched Google images for "four dollars" and it struck me so funny, that I wanted to share it.  Has anyone actually seen this movie? lol Also, my four dollars are not looking for vengeance.

Note to self . . . No, Really!!

Dear Rebekah,

It was lovely spending time with you this week.  Monday was such a gorgeous day and I really enjoyed the Memorial Service and the grilling out! It's true! Everything does taste better on a grill! And throughout the week, I appreciated how you wanted to spend some time outside getting some air and just being outside of work, but if you do not start wearing sunscreen, you and I may finally come to that parting of the ways.  Which would be extremely awkward at this point.

Sincerely, Epp E. Dermis

Simple Pleasures

I am sitting here with Kaia cuddled up to me (with Puppy of course) and Faith and Mama Wentz and we are watching Toy Story. I am reveling in the fact that I have no homework I have to work on.  It is amazing.  That's all I wanted to say. :) Hope all of you are enjoying such simple pleasures. :) G'night ~

Sixty Seconds Ain't Gonna Cut It!

For those of you who don't know, I listen to a particular podcast on a very regular basis.  What podcast is that, you may ask? Starkville House of El or SHoE as it is fondly called.  This podcast is dedicated to the television show Smallville that just ended its ten year run on the CW (formerly the WB).

First, I'll tell you about how I came to love Smallville.  My brother, Eric, recommended the show to me a few years back.  I am thinking it must've been in 2006.  He told me that the show was really good and that it was about the origins of Superman.  So going into it, that's all I knew. [I have to make a confession right here.  Prior to Smallville, I had never even seen a Superman movie. I know.  Shocking, isn't it? But I digress.] I went to my local library and got the first two seasons of Smallville on DVD.  It all worked out better than I thought because I ended up getting the flue that very day and so I spent close to a week at home in bed.  Hmmm what could I do for a week at home, laid up in bed? I know! I'll watch that show I got from the library! :) I think I got through seasons one and two during the time I was sick and I was chomping at the bit for season three!  I don't remember exactly how long it took me to get through the seasons.  Our library didn't have season five so I ended up borrowing it from a friend.  I then got caught up on what was the current season (season six) and ever since then I have kept up with it pretty regularly.  So that leaves me at about 2007.

Let's fast forward about two years to 2009.  I also need to mention that I am a Lost fan.  I had been listening to Damon and Carlton on the Official Lost podcast and I had the thought "Hey, I wonder if there's a good Smallville podcast?"  So, I went to iTunes and the first podcast it brought up was SHoE.  So, I figured I'd give it a listen and see how I liked it.  Well, I didn't like it . . . I LOVED it!!! I started with Episode 117 unedited for the Smallville episode "Hex"  Here's what I liked about it:

1.  These guys (just Steve and Derek at the time) had Southern accents.  My family has roots in the South and I, myself, was born in the mountains of Northern Georgia, so the podcast immediately had a comfortable, familiar feel to it.

2.  Steve and Derek were also HILARIOUS!! They had the same sense of humor that I did and I found myself chuckling often and outright laughing at the comments they made and/or observations.

3.  These guys had some real insights into Smallville and Superman.  They knew about the mythos and they could explain why things worked or didn't work for the show

4.  They never once believed that Chloe was Lois.  (This probably isn't that pertinent, but I never though Chloe would be Lois, so I was kinda surprised that there were people who did.)

5. (and some people might call this a negative, but I don't.) It was long!! I loved the fact that it was long.  I liked listening to podcasts while I was at work. The Lost podcast would sometimes go 25 minutes at its longest, so when I saw that these guys' podcasts ran anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours, I was like "Sweet! This'll keep me entertained at work!"

These are just a few of the things that I enjoyed about the show.  I also enjoyed hearing Derek going into Rainman mode and list all the episodes of Smallville in order.  I loved Steve randomly bursting into song (mostly because I am always doing that) and I just loved the overall format.  I saw some people's reviews on iTunes that were like "oh these guys know their stuff, but they get off topic too much." I'd like to slap those people, I LOVE when they get off topic, because that's usually when the hilarity ensues!! hahah

Listening to SHoE then led to my listening to Geek Out Loud (The official podcast of www.geekoutonline.com).   It also led to my getting a Netflix account, which has opened up a whole slough of television shows and movies that I have been able to enjoy.  But more than that, it led to a real love for Superman.  As I mentioned earlier, I had never really even seen Superman before.  I went out after watching Smallville and listening to SHoE and bought Superman: I - IV on DVD ($10 at Target, what a deal!) and watched all of them.  I have since grown to love those movies (okay, maybe not IV so much, Mark Pillow at his best) and have acquainted myself more fully with the mythos.  SHoE definitely broadened my geek horizons.

For the past two years that I've been listening to SHoE some really big stuff has gone on in my life.  My dad had cancer and was then diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.  We are grateful to God that his cancer is now gone, but my father's Parkinson's is a reality that we have to deal with every day.  It adds a lot of stress to my family and sometimes things get to be more than we can bear.  I am a Christian, so I know that God is watching out for me and my family and that He will not give us more than we can bear, but sometimes things can get discouraging.  Outside of my faith, this podcast (and Smallville) is one of the things that never fails to bring a smile to my face. For a little while, I can forget about the insanity that makes up my life and get lost in a fantasy world, where a man can fly and super heroes really do exist.  The guys over at SHoE asked for video submissions of 30 to 60 seconds where we could just say a quick thanks or tell them what the podcast has meant to us over the years.  I'm sorry, but 60 seconds just wasn't enough for me to say what I needed to say, so I decided to blog it. (Besides, I'm not that photogenic anyway lol)  So, here's to the guys of SHoE, not just Derek and Steve, but the guys who started it and the ones who stepped in when they were needed, Joe, Robin and Damien (btw, my car's name is Damien lol) I appreciate everything you've all contributed and for making this such an unforgettable experience.

I don't think there's any other way to end this post other than saying ♫ Thank you sooo much ♫ and of course "You ARE great!"