My Frakkin Blog!

Hey everyone..I’ve been selected as one of the Top 10 blog posts for The Blog Award Challenge for this Post: I Blog, You Blog. We All Blog. Why? Go check out the nomination site to see the Top 10 selections. Read the rules for being able to nominate the best blog for the award..and if qualified..please vote for my submission. You are allowed to vote for three in all. So…if you read the others and like them…by all means…vote for them too!

Pretty cool, ain’t it? (for you English majors..I know..ain’t isn’t a word!)

If you haven’t figured it out by now, you will probably come close to being able to figure out my age by the time I finish this…

I was in high school when the first Battlestar Galactica show aired. With that show you knew who the bad guys were (cylons) and who the good guys were (The Galactica Fleet). With this new series, the longer it goes, the less I’m sure. There are religious parallels as well as political parallels happening within this show that really has my mind doing some serious twists and lots of thinking.

I generally don’t like to watch T.V. that really makes me think, but I’m really getting in to this series. Once I got over the character changes from the original series, it got much better. So…here’s what I’m getting out of this series from this season’s episodes..and that are really making me scratch my head.

Religious parallels: In the opening episode, Baltar has been led to another section of the ship by people who apparently see him as a messiah. He is unshaven and wrapped in a tattered blanket. The visual image is that he is somewhat “Christ-like.” The “worshipers” and Baltar believe in only one God as do the cylons. The rest of the fleet worship 12 gods (which just happen to be the Greek Gods of mythology). One could almost consider the Galactica fleet as worshiping pagan Gods. In any case, Baltar miraculously heals a little boy. He prays to his God that his life be taken instead of the boy. Later in the episode he is faced with the possibility of his own death. He is asked by the cylon (number six) who resides in his head whether he is willing to die to save the child. He states he will sacrifice his own life. He has his throat cut, but not enough to kill him as he is saved himself. From this point forward we continue to see more parallels to him and Jesus and Jesus’ journey to gain followers and preach the gospel. In this last episode the Aries worshipers destroy the home of Baltar and his followers. Essentially, he and his followers begin their persecution and ridicule for their beliefs.

Political parallels: With Baltar and his followers claiming religious persecution, President Roslin attempts to “protect” Baltar and his followers by separating them, not allowing them to have more than 12 followers (another religious parallel - 12 disciples) together in any one single location, and by suspending their rights to assembly. While she attempts to suspend the civil liberties of these individuals, Lee Adama forces a vote. In any case, President Roslin is trying to push this through under the guise of protecting the fleet. There are those in the U.S. that believe President Bush has attempted to do something similar with regards to the supposed suspension of civil liberties and surveillance of terrorist communications in this country.

Now - here’s my quandary - the cylons must be evil since they are robots, not of flesh, and they destroyed all of humanity and they are chasing down the remainder of the fleet in order to destroy the last of humanity. The cylons believe that humans are imperfect and need to be destroyed. The cylons believe in one God and that those who worship multiple Gods are worshiping false idols. So, their beliefs parallel Judaism, and with Baltar being portrayed as a messiah, this is similar to Christians. The Galactica soldiers are beginning to take on similarities to the Roman soldiers in that they are enforcing the laws of the fleet as they relate to Baltar and his followers.

Baltar just told his followers that God loves them all because they are perfect. Whereas, our God loves us all because of our imperfections and therefore the reason he sacrificed his own son for our sins and imperfections. More of those mixed messages in this show.

Is this show attempting to bash Christians and Jews through such symbolism? I really can’t tell any more. Or, am I just thinking way too much?

I picked this one up over at Military Mom’s place…you should check it out, and participate even!

Q. Whats your cell ring tone?

A.
When friends call -
“Go Stillers” - Steeler’s Voice Ring-tone
When wife calls -
“Halelujah”
Anyone else calls -
“Flight of the bumblebees”

Hi All…sorry for the delay in updating the blog today! But, Mary kept me extremely busy with the ol’ “honey do” list…plus I had two assignments due today.

Anyway - here’s a word of advice - if you ever get it in you to want to put up your own chain-link fence dog kennel…DON’T!!! What a pain in the ass that thing was today! It took me almost 6 hours today to put that together. It doesn’t show anywhere on the outside of the box that you literally have to put that thing together yourself! We bought a 10 x 10 kennel so that our dogs could have some room to run around outside without needing to be on a leash. We don’t have a fenced in yard because we have a preserve area behind us. We aren’t allowed to put up a fence there.

So..when we saw this thing, it looked like it came in pieces that you just connect. NOPE! I had to build the frame then hang the gate then hang the fencing. That stuff is not very light at all! BUT BUT BUT! Yup..there’s a huge BUT! (no..I said BUT, not BUTT!)…As we are sitting down this evening, enjoying our dinner, our neighbor came to the door. She just happens to be the president of the Master Association. We live in Phase IV of a very large sub-division and we have our own Homeowner’s Association that reports to the Master Homeowner’s Association. Anyway, she tells us we can’t keep the kennel. That it has to come down! Talk about blowing a gasket!

Long story short, it doesn’t say anywhere in our bylaws that we can’t have a kennel. In fact, the only thing it says that would even closely resemble the situation we have going on here is that if we put up any permanent fixtures on our property, we would need to contact and get approval from the association first. We have a HUGE wooden playset in our back yard that makes this kennel look like mail box…and nothing was said about that. So..it’s just our neighbor trying to exert her authority over a matter she has no say in just because she doesn’t like the way it looks. Like I said, I blew a gasket, mostly because of the amount of time and sheer frustration that went in to putting that thing up.

My wife is calling my older son tomorrow to pay him to take it down..then she’s taking it back to the store for a refund. She’s non-confrontational like that. Rather than fight for our rights, she’s taking the easy road out. Oh well…at least it’s not on my “honey-do” list any more!

While I was in the military I had access to all the BDU’s I could buy. They’re very comfortable and multi-purpose. Considering I could get them at the BX they were pretty cheap. I just came across a website where you can get them pretty cheap, close to the same prices I got them for while I was in the Air Force. Since I’ve gotten out, I’ve been looking for a place to get a decent pair of BDU’s…I just found that place. So, if any of my ex-military buddies (or hunters) out there are reading this, you can get your BDU pants at this site!

Disclosure Statement: This is a PayPerPost sponsored ad.

You know…for a small lady, my wife sure can spit out the expletives like a big ol’ truck driver! I know if she sees this she’s gonna rap me on my head! As usual, chaos all around the house! Ryan begging for something to drink, Kylie walking around tired and whining, Max jumping around like he has springs in his legs, Abby getting jealous of the attention Crystal is getting and bouncing her around the kitchen…..

Mary’s in the kitchen getting Ryan a cup of Sprite…spills the whole cup…..All I can say is…Wow! I don’t think I’ve heard language like that in a very long time! Guess she’s gonna need a neck rub later! I’m not saying a word! I learned that last month! :^)

I just came across a really cool website. Where are all of my Texas friends? I’m sure you guys can vouch for everything here. There is this place in Orange, Texas called Shangri La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center. (Check out the pictures here).

Since we celebrated Earth Day this past Wednesday, and all the major television networks have changed their logos “GREEN” this is the perfect time to tell you all about this place. They were the first project in Texas to earn the U.S. Green Building Council’s Platinum Certification for LEED®-NC (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – New Construction). What this means is that this is a very eco-friendly and have received the highest rating possible for green building and performance measures.

For those of my friends who have not been to Texas, the city of Orange is located in the southeast corner near the Louisiana border along I-10 which makes it easily accessible. The city itself is a “preserve city” which makes it a perfect location for the Shangri La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center. One of the really neat things, among many, that you will learn while you are there is how plants actually filter pollution from water when you visit their water demonstration center. However, one of the highlights, and probably most fascinating elements, is a 1200 year-old pond cypress tree they’ve named “The Survivor” that is located in their Nature Center. Think about that for a second…that tree has been around since the early 1800’s! This tree, alone, has survived many hurricanes and other natural disasters that have hit near that section of Texas/Louisiana.

School is about to come to an end very soon and many of you might be planning your summer trips right now. Go check out the website and see everything they have to offer, then make sure you add the city of Orange, Texas and the Shangri La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center to your trip itinerary.

I admit..the only purpose for this post is just to put up some pictures!! These are in no particular order..and..now that I have a working camera…there is going to be some serious picture overload here now!! LOL

Kylie hangin out in the kitchen

Kylie posin’ for mommy in the kitchen

New member of our family. This is Crystal
hangin’ out in the kitchen! Guess this was a kitchen kinda day!

Ryan eatin’ breakfast in the kitchen. Okay already with
the kitchen pictures! LOL

Max the Yorkie chillin’ on the couch. Yay..not a kitchen picture!

Ryan and Kylie in Ryan’s 4×4 in the driveway.

Apparently, neither my wife or I have taken a picture of Abby yet. Guess I’m going to have to take some and get those up here. She’s a cutie too! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the pix! Trust me, there will be plenty more where these come from!

(bringing this back to the top for those who wanted to see it again)

This is sub-titled “How to break an oven door!” Please reference the diagram for this discussion!

Okay..by now..most of you are probably thinking I take great pleasure from blogging about the misfortunes of my family! This is furthest from the truth! In all actuality, this is documentation of events in case Children and Family Services ever decides to come and investigate. I need to have witnesses to the calamity to prove that I have absolutely nothing to do with any of this! They would never believe me. I can’t possibly make up this stuff!

So..reference the diagram. This is the floorplan to the first floor of my house. Those are the steps in the middle that Kylie fell down. She was only on the third step..still don’t know exactly how she did it! Anyway..moving on. This is about how the oven door got broken that I referenced in this post Don’t put the puppy in the oven! I figured you guys need to see this layout in order to be able to get the same picture that I did.

So..here’s the key.. R = Ryan, K = Kylie, and Mx = Max (the puppy). This is where each of them were when it happened. I purposely left off Mary…you’ll understand why in the moment.

So..I’m at work. I get my usual “hubby check” phone call from Mary. It’s the usual daily banter about how my day is going, how her day is going, some of the stuff she’s done around the house, etc. She was sitting in the master bedroom watching her soaps while she was talking to me. She had told me that one of the things she had done that day was to polish the wood floors in the living and dining rooms. While we’re talking she tells me to hang on..I asked her what was going on…she’s walking out to the kitchen when she says..”Shit! I’m gonna have to call you back.” I asked her what’s going on. She says that Ryan got hold of the floor polish and soaked the dog with it. So..I told her I would call her later and let her go so she could deal with that little problem.

It was only about 15 minutes later when she calls back frantically - Ryan is crying hysterically in the background…she must be holding Kylie in her arms because Kylie is crying also and it’s very hard to hear anything else but her….here’s that conversation —

Mary - Oh my God! You’ll never believe what just happened?

Me - What? What happened? (I’m getting worried..everything that could possibly go wrong is going through my head right now…dog is poisoned because of the floor polish…Kylie fell again reinjuring her arm…Ryan was running from Mary and busted open his head again..etc etc)

Mary - I’m not sure I should tell you!

Me - What? What’s going on?

Mary - You will never believe me. It’s probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done! (She sounds like she’s getting ready to cry now)

Me - What?

Mary - I broke the oven door!

Me - You broke the oven door? How the hell did you do that?

Mary - Well, not exactly the door. I shattered the glass in the oven door.

Me - Really? Are you okay? What happened?

Mary - I don’t know if I should tell you. You’ll probably laugh at me.

Me - Okay..seriously. What happened? I won’t laugh.

Mary - Promise?

Me - Promise.

Mary - Okay…I took the can of floor polish from Ryan. I guess when he was spraying it on Max, he got it on the floor also. As I turned to put it on the counter, I slipped and fell. When I fell I guess the floor polish flew out of my hand because next thing I knew..”BANG” the oven glass was shattered and sprayed everywhere! Did you know that stuff breaks up into tiny little pieces?

Me - (holding in the laugh now) - Really? I thought it was a plastic bottle?

Mary - It is! I don’t know how it broke the glass. I guess I must’ve thrown it so hard that it just shattered the glass.

Me - (still trying to hold in the laugh) - Okay - so, is everyone okay? No one got hurt or cut by the glass?

Mary - Well..no. But, when I fell, I screamed..the glass shattered and went everywhere and made a very loud noise..which scared Kylie so she started screaming, and it scared Max and he’s still soaked so he went slipping through all the glass, then Ryan realized what happened and all he could think to ask me was “How are we going to eat now?” and I told him I won’t be able to use the oven..so now he’s crying.

Long long long silence as I am trying so hard not to just break down laughing hysterically myself now. I have the full image of this now playing out in my head..and..knowing how clumsy and klutzy the three of them are..plus..Ryan only thinking about food…It was almost too much (plus, everyone was okay)!

Mary - Are you still there?

Me - mmm hmmm

Mary - You’re laughing aren’t you?

Me - mmph no

Mary - Yes you are!

Me - uh uh.

Mary - You promised!

Me - (Straining with everything I have to not laugh) hhnnn! Gotta call you back!

Mary - Fine!

NOTE to DCFS: Really! I didn’t make this up!

I’m sure some of you remember my discussion previously about us wanting to breed yorkies and the fact that the female yorkie we got has some major problems and we have been struggling the decision as to whether or not to take her back and get one who does not have any health problems. Well…Ryan put a damper on the original plan to get a new one.

I got a phone call from my wife today…I guess she decided 2 dogs wasn’t enough. We are now the proud owners of a maltese as well! Have any of you guys ever heard of Morkies? I keep thinking of Mork and Mindy when I hear that…never heard of them before.

In any case, I’m thoroughly convinced that after I do pass on to the heavens…my wife is going to be one of those dog ladies with something like 100 dogs! Oh well…I’ll post pictures of all three of our little puppies as soon as I can..probably tomorrow!