No turning back...

It's official! I have registered for the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon on August 31. Can I plan on anyone joining me? If you are interested, I have a coupon for 15 bucks off if you register by April 30. Just a few days left...

HRC vs. BHO

I predicted HRC's 10 point victory last night. Now she has no reason to back out and the superdelegates have something new to consider. I did some research and this is what I calculated. When selecting a nominee, they need to think big picture. Do you want someone that wins primaries? Do you want someone to win the general election? If HRC were to win the same states in the general election that she won in the primaries, she would have 255 electors. If BHO were to win the same states he won in the general that he won in the primaries, he would only have 231 electors. The likelihood of either candidate winning all of the same states is slim to none, but a consideration in selecting the nominee, nonetheless. If BHO takes NC, as expected, and HRC takes Indiana, then the results are 246 and 266, respectively. That takes HRC to 4 electors away from the win. I am by no means a Hill backer, but I am just putting it out there. Something to think about...

You may say, any Dem will win California. Don't speak too soon. Gov. Arnold is on the McCain train and that will be a factor in taking the Left Coast.

Regardless of the outcome on the left and the way things are today, we win in November.

Summer Break

I am officially on "Summer Break" from school. Of course, that meaning is extremely different in the Adult world. It is a very nice feeling to come home and not even know what to do with myself! I am thinking about picking the banjo back up for the summer. Maybe that could be my summer learnin'? I have lots of books that I want to read, so that could keep me busy. We start training for Rock-n-Roll in May but that won't take up too much time from my life. I mean, I trained during the semster and it was fine. Any other ideas?

CELEBRATE!

So, tonight was my last night of class for the semester. Woo-hoo! I have to finish my project and then I am on a break until fall. I have been in class for the past 4 semesters straight, so I am greatly anticipating the summer break. How did I celebrate, you might ask? I finished off a bag of potato chips. Yeah, I ate chips at 9:00pm at night. I ripped the bag open to finish the contents and all but licked the inside clean. And, I didn't even care because I don't have ENMA 604 anymore!

I HEART Trader Joe's!

I made a trip to the other side of the water for my TJ fix yesterday. The usual crew couldn't make it, so Ollie and our friend, Bobby, went with me. We had a blast. Bobby and I are old shopping buddies. We use to make trips North for IKEA but have found a new bonding experience: Trader Joe's. Ollie says we aren't allowed to go together anymore because we pressure one another to buy things. I guess we will just have to leave Ollie home next time. :o)

I guess I couldn't leave him behind because who would document the trip?? Check out the beautiful flowers!!!

Operation: Other Brother

I cannot wait to share this wonderful story. One day last week, a friend of mine, Michelle, called me in the middle of the day. I was curious about the call, so I took it while at work. The emotion in her voice indicated that something had happened. She began the conversation like this: "Did you know I had 2 brothers that were adopted?" First of all, I knew very little about her family life and that statement confused me. Did she mean her parents adopted 2 boys or that they put 2 boys up for adoption? She continued to explain and I will give you her sister's account (somewhat abridged) from MySpace: "For those of you that don't know about my life, there were 4 kids in our family. Our 2 brothers were adopted out 23 years ago. My mother left when I was young and my father passed away shortly after.
Recently, Michelle received a message on MySpace from Jordy-Bob asking if she had a little brother who was adopted. She told me about the message and we both thought the sender was our brother and were determined to find the answers. I went to Jordy-Bob's page and found a friend of his online. I sent a quick message giving a brief history of what was going on and after a number of complicated messages between several individuals, Jordy-Bob logged on. We chatted for a few minutes through MySpace and before long I gave him my number. As a result, I spoke to my little brother on the phone for nearly 2 hours! He had some information about our mom that was devastating but cleared up a lot of confusion. I finally have some concrete answers to questions I've always had about her, my dad, and their decision to adopt my brothers out.
We still have another brother who turned 27 last month. His name is Raymond Richards and is reported to have moved to the East Coast in 1985."
Can you believe a family torn apart is slowly being mended? It is amazing to see God's perfect timing and the result of His healing. I am sharing this story for two reasons. The first reason is to encourage others. We don't always understand the whys and hows of life, but we can be confident that our Heavenly Father has it all under control. For reasons unseen, this family has experienced life in a way many of us cannot imagine. But, my God is a God of redemption and restoration. This concept is very real for these folks right now. The second reason is the launch of a new campaign: Operation Other Brother. (If you know me at all, I name every project I conduct.) So, I am asking any and all readers to share this story and begin the search for Raymond Richards. It can't be difficult to find him with the wide networks we have created on the World Wide Web! So, please join me in the pursuit to find Raymond Richards and help this family to be reunited completely. If you have more questions, email me!